What is culturemonkey? culturemonkey is life. culturemonkey is love. culturemonkey is the destroyer of worlds. culturemonkey is the new group pop-culture blog I'm trying out with Ryan and Jacob, with more contributors hopefully to come in the near future. The idea is that this is a site for short cultural criticism, either thoughts in progress or thoughts that have no place else to go.

First posts is from Ryan, and it's not-so-quickie, on the topic of cinema:

In the Hollywood blockbuster, the cultural face of U.S.-led globalization, what we have seen in the past decade or so is the resurgence of fantasy over all other genres, extravagant use of CGI, a gradual shift in emphasis to setting over plot and character, and more intensive cross-platform licensing and marketing strategies. Today the ideal blockbuster is part of an entire universe of image-commodities and commodified experience, stage managed in all their myriad formats by a single media conglomerate. Should the consumer wish, video games, animated series, comic books, novels, role-playing games and fan communities, all interrelated to an unprecedented degree of detail, can ensure a near-total independence from the reality of others. The blockbusters of the 21st century, including Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, The Matrix, Pirates of the Caribbean, and the granddaddy of them all, Star Wars, are not just movies, or even just stories: they are worlds unto themselves.

If you don't mind me saying so, and it's not like I can really take credit for it: it's smart stuff. Jacob's and my first posts should be up by this end of the week or the beginning of the next. Hope you'll check it out and keep coming back.