Psychic School Wars (2012)

An Enoshima high school is visited by a new exchange student with unearthly psychic powers, who seems to be taking over and controlling the student body one by one. At the same time a short chain of unrequited love affects several of the students unaffected by the psychic control.

Psychic School Wars, which is directed by Ryousuke Nakamura and based on Taku Mayumura's 1973 novel, is one red-hot mess of an anime film. It combines an Invasion of the Body Snatchers thriller with a coming-of-age teen romance, and in doing so misses its mark in both directions. It is visually rather pretty, and its warm characters often manage to create some heartwarming moments, but its muddled narrative frustrates a lot more than it entertains.

The Pull List: 19 October 2016, Part 2

On the spaceship Hadrian's Wall, investigator Simon Moore is attempting to get to the bottom of the suspicious death of the ship's first officer. None of the crew want him there, poking his nose into places it doesn't belong - particularly Moore's resentful ex-wife. Moore is also addicted to painkillers, and somebody has broken into his cabin and flushed his supply down the sink.

Hadrian's Wall is a murder-mystery told in space, with an aesthetic and a nice retro tone that seems quite reminiscent of the 1980s. It follows a well-worn formula, with a group of suspects and a growing amount of evidence and clues. Kyle Higgins and Alec Siegel write a strong script with well-defined characters, but it's Rod Reis' artwork that really makes the book sing. It has a lovely painterly style to it that makes the book one gorgeous read.

I am still fascinated by the unexpected niche that Image has carved out in recent years, producing not just excellent science fiction comics but excellent science fiction crime comics. This is yet another great one. (4/5)

Hadrian's Wall #2. Written by Kyle Higgins and Alec Siegel. Art by Rod Reis.

Under the cut: reviews of Aquaman, Doctor Who: The Third Doctor, Doctor Who: Supremacy of the Cybermen, and Green Arrow.

Bride's Story Volume 1 (2008)

In the late 19th century, a 20 year-old woman named Amir has been pushed into an arranged marriage with a nearby family along the edge of the Caspian Sea. Placed into a new community with a distinctively different culture to her own, Amir must adjust not only to a new lifestyle but to her new husband Karluk - who is only twelve years old.

Bride's Story is a historical romance manga written and illustrated by the noted manga creator Kaoru Mori. It started in 2008 and has run through eight volumes to date. In 2014 the series was awarded the prestigious Manga Taisho award, after running second back in 2011. Going by its first volume it is a remarkable work, not just in terms of its strong character writing and warm-heated tone but also in terms of its exceptional art, and the careful and honest manner in which it approaches the rather unorthodox and worrying arranged marriage at its centre. There is some discomfort in recommending people read a manga about an adult marrying a child, but Kaoru Mori has done a fantastic job with this. It is one of the most entertaining manga series I have read in some time.

The Pull List: 19 October 2016, Part 1

The "Mona Lisa" has unexpectedly changed its appearance, leading the Louvre art gallery to call in dream painter Art Brut. It turns out to be part of a much broader crisis: unexpectedly transformed paintings leading to gallery visitors to commit suicide and murder.

This is a wonderfully odd and surreal sort of comic book, reminiscent of early DC Vertigo work such as Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol and Peter Milligan's Shade: The Changing Man. In terms of more recent comparisons I'm actually getting quite a strong sense of Jonathan Hickman and Nick Pitarra's The Manhattan Projects. The book clearly has one eye on fine art, with numerous references and inspirations thrown in, but it also does a fairly nice line in creepy horror. There's a splash page in particular featuring a mysterious child in a car and a field of cows that is about as unsettling as comics can get.

Martin Morazzo's interesting and eye-catching art style has a fairly noticeable similarity to Manhattan Projects' Pitarra, as well as regular Morrison collaborator Frank Quitely. Mat Lopes' colours are subtle and gently enhance the work without ever getting in its way.

This one's definitely for fans of Doom Patrol and/or fine art. It's rich with promise and ideas, and represents another nice original title from IDW. The more they publish original work the more I like them. As for this particular book, I think I may be hooked. (4/5)

IDW. Written by W. Maxwell Prince. Art by Martin Morazzo. Colours by Mat Lopes.

Under the cut: reviews of Star Trek: Boldly Go and well as a bonus review of last week's The Black Monday Murders.

To Live and Die in L.A. (1985)

Richard Chance (William Petersen) is an edgy Secret Service agent in Los Angeles. When his partner is gunned down during a money counterfeiting investigation, Chance becomes obsessed with taking down the elusive forger Rick Masters (Willem Dafoe). Teamed with a new partner named John Vukovich (John Pankow), Chance takes every step he can - both legal and illegal - to track down Masters and bring him to justice.

A synopsis of To Live and Die in L.A. makes it sound like an incredible crass and cliche-ridden potboiler, and to a large extent that's a fair assessment of the movie. It's a 1985 action film directed by William Friedkin that really does trade extensively on stereotype. The first half pushed my limit for tolerating this sort of silly machismo. The second half completely redeemed it, as Chance's actions grew more extreme and the film began to push off in unexpected directions.

This is not top-tier Friedkin; the director's earlier works include The French Connection, The Exorcist and Sorcerer, after all, and To Live and Die in L.A. would have to be pretty formidable to hit those peaks. It is a smartly directed film, however, and some clever direction and typically strong editing help to make it much more than the sum of its parts.

Lego The Lord of the Rings (2012)

So some years ago Lego started releasing construction toys based on the Star Wars films, and some years after that somebody had the bright idea of turning them into a videogame. Lego Star Wars was an unexpected delight, combining the appeal of both the science fiction movie franchise and the perennially popular Lego bricks into one package. Buoyed by success, the developer Traveller's Tales arguably went a little bit overboard, releasing such videogames as Lego Indiana Jones, Lego Batman, Lego Pirates of the Caribbean, Lego Harry Potter and Lego Marvel's The Avengers. To be honest there were only a certain number of trips to the well before the concept grew tired, and whatever number that was I am betting it was less than the number of Lego-branded games that have been released.

So in among all of these pop culture adaptations came Lego The Lord of the Rings, based on the three films directed by Peter Jackson. Like most of the Lego games it was released to multiple gaming platforms. I decided to sample the Nintendo 3DS version, since I have been enjoying using the console recently and had never tried a handheld version of a Lego game before.

The Pull List: 12 October 2016, Part 3

Britannia is two issues in, and it is already standing out as one of the most interesting books that Valiant has published. The current iteration of the imprint took pre-existing superhero franchises and re-invigorated them with good writers and artists, and it has since been slowly expanding that "Valiant Universe" into some interesting and provocative directions - the recent 4001 AD miniseries, for example, was straight-up science fiction of a style usually seen in Metal Hurlant. Britannia, on the other hand, heads firmly in the other direction. It tells a horror story in 1st century Britain, as a Roman investigator finds himself neck deep in Rome-versus-Britain violence and mind-warping demonic creatures.

It feels like a real break from the existing Valiant line-up, and not just a break but an opening: I am really keen for the company to keep pushing in this direction. New genres, strong writing and artwork, and handsomely packaged issues. This book doesn't just read well, it feels good in the hands. The paper is high quality, the colours are printed richly and it comes inside a beautiful matt finish cardstock cover. The content matches the packaging as well. The storyline is gripping and beautifully researched, the art is distinctive and atmospheric, and Jordie Bellaire's colours are some of the strongest work I've seen her do. This is a great comic book. (5/5)

Britannia #2. Valiant. Written by Peter Milligan. Art by Juan Jose Ryp. Colours by Jordie Bellaire.

Under the cut: reviews of Daredevil, The Sheriff of Babylon, and Southern Cross.

A Fish Called Wanda (1988)

A team of bank robbers undertake a jewel robbery, only for two of them to double-cross the others and land the leader George (Tom Georgeson) in police custody. They subsequently discover George relocated the loot before he was arrested, sending the duplicitous Wanda (Jamie Lee Curtis) on a mission to seduce George's barrister Archie (John Cleese) - so long as her idiot ex-CIA lover Otto (Kevin Kline) stays out of the way. Meanwhile George dispatches his stuttering offsider Ken (Michael Palin) to assassinate the sole witness who can identify him in court.

A Fish Called Wanda was a huge commercial hit back in 1988, managing to not only become a success in the United Kingdom but breaking out to an international audience as well. It won a pile of awards, notably a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Kevin Kline, and is regularly cited in 'best comedies' lists by audiences and film critics alike. It seemed well worth returning to the film and seeing how it has fared 28 years on.

In short, A Fish Called Wanda remains a comic masterpiece. It is an enormously funny comedy that benefits from strong performances and characters, a tight and focused storyline, great jokes and gags, and a really well defined sense of purpose. I think it is one of the best comedy features ever made.

The Pull List: 12 October 2016, Part 2

This week Marvel's ongoing comic series Darth Vader came to a close, after 25 issues tracking the character's transition from the disgraced lieutenant who got the Death Star destroyed at the climax of Star Wars to the all-powerful fleet commander seen at the beginning of The Empire Strikes Back. It has been a remarkably good series - not just great by the standards of a movie tie-in, but genuinely one of the best comics that Marvel has published over the last two years.

In this climactic issue Vader has his final showdown with Cylo, the treacherous scientist appointed by the Emperor as his replacement. At the same time there is also the matter of Dr Aphra, the renegade archaeologist that Vader hired to help track down Luke Skywalker - and who now knows far too much to survive. It is all wrapped up in the sensational art of Salvador Larroca and the colours of Edgar Delgado, the creative team that has worked on the entire 25-issue run with Gillen.

The key to this book's success is that Gillen has never lost sight of the fact that Darth Vader is a murderous villain. We root for him, and we enjoy watching him overthrow his enemies, but he never shows love or forgiveness and he will kill anyone in his way without hesitation. Gillen managed to tie in a lot of rich material from the film sequels, which surprised and delighted, but he never lost sight of what sort of character Vader was. That pretty much cemented the book's quality throughout. This is a great finale, and wraps up the title at a creative height: more comic books should do this. (5/5)

Darth Vader #25. Marvel. Written by Kieron Gillen. Art by Salvador Larroca and Max Fiumara. Colours by Edgar Delgado and Dave Stewart.

Under the cut: reviews of Descender, Doom Patrol and The Fuse.

Star Trek: Voyager: "Heroes and Demons"

It is 24 April 1995, and time for another episode of Star Trek: Voyager.

When three officers go missing on Voyager's holodeck, the Doctor (Robert Picardo) is sent into a simulation of the medieval epic Beowulf to find out what happened to them. While he prepares to fight the demon Grendel, outside the holodeck the crew stumble upon a previously-undiscovered and energy-based life form.

You really have to question why holodecks and holosuites were never banned by the United Federation of Planets. Whether in Voyager, The Next Generation or Deep Space Nine, they seem to constantly malfunction, misfire or generally threaten the lives of Starfleet officers. It is a running joke among Star Trek fans, since they really do seem to malfunction more often than they work. One wonders who on Earth would willingly use one. It was inevitable that Voyager would get around to a holodeck episode; my only surprise is that they go there so soon.

The Pull List: 12 October 2016, Part 1

Lois Lane has always been one of the best characters in DC's canon: a smart investigative journalist, bravely inserting herself into war zones and super-human crises all over the world. She also made a perfect romantic foil for Superman: he may be able to fly, break steel bars and use his eyes to burn holes through walls, but Lois would dive into dangerous situations without any of those powers. I honestly think one of the biggest misjudgements of the New 52 was to sideline Lois and hook the rebooted Superman up with Wonder Woman. There simply wasn't enough of a contrast between the characters to make them work.

In DC Rebirth Lois is right back, front-and-centre, and married once again to Clark. It is great to have her back: not just allowed to take a prominent role again, but as the pre-Flashpoint Lois. She's a little older, a lot wiser, and Dan Jurgens has made her the central character of Action Comics' next storyline. The New 52 Lois has sent a secret message to the pre-Flashpoint Lois for help, and that means impersonating her younger self and entering the offices of the Daily Planet for the first time in this rebooted reality. Jurgens has a masterful handle on the character, and the scenes play out tremendously well. Stephen Segovia and Art Thibert's artwork is intricate and attractive as well, and Arif Prianto's relatively subtle colouring enhances their work.

I think that Jurgens' current work on Action Comics is the best he's produced in years. It's good to see Superman treated so well. (4/5)

Action Comics #965. DC Comics. Written by Dan Jurgens. Art by Stephen Segovia and Art Thibert. Colours by Arif Prianto.

Under the cut: reviews of All-Star Batman, Batgirl and the Birds of Prey and Detective Comics.

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (2007)

Following the adventures played out in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Link and Tetra come across a ghost ship on the open ocean. Tetra boards the ship, which then vanishes. Link attempts to leap onto the ship at the last minute but fails; he wakes on an island and must begin the quest to track the ghost ship down and rescue Tetra.

The Phantom Hourglass is the fourteenth in Nintendo's long-running franchise of The Legend of Zelda videogames, and the first produced for their Nintendo DS handheld console. In broad terms it replicates the traditional story and gameplay of the Zelda franchise: Zelda (in this case a reincarnation named Tetra) has been kidnapped, and a young boy in green named Link must travel a fantasy kingdom and progress through a series of dungeons in order to rescue her.

Nanana's Buried Treasure: "Disowned and Exiled"

It's 10 April 2014, and time for the first episode of Nanana's Buried Treasure.

High schooler Jugo Yama arrives on the artificial island Nanaejima to continue his studies in one of its dedicated education and research schools. When he is assigned rental accommodation, he is shocked to find his room comes with its own ghost: Nanana, a compulsive videogamer obsessed with eating pudding, whose unsolved murder occurred ten years earlier.

Nanana's Buried Treasure is an 11-episode anime serial based on a light novel series by Kazuma Otorino. It focuses on Nanana, a ghost who - before her death - was instrumental in setting up a group of young explorers who located treasures hidden all over Nanaejima Island. Now that Jugo has moved in with her, there's already anticipation on my part that the subsequent 10 instalments will involve him hunting for treasure and solving Nanana's murder. It is a bright, light-hearted first episode, that would be great fun were it not for one major problem.

The Pull List: 5 October 2016, Part 2

It feels like it has been a long time since DC Comics published a prestige format issue: 40 pages of story, cardstock cover, perfect binding. It used to be their signifier for something a little higher-profile and more out of the ordinary that their usual monthly releases. It's quite pleasing to see the format return this month in the form the luridly titled Deadman: Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love.

I'm a big fan of Deadman, aka the ghostly acrobat Boston Brand, who fights crime by invisibly observing criminals and possessing other people's bodies. He's been well overdue for some kind of revival, since I think the ingredients are all there to make him a fairly mainstream kind of a hit with the right material. This new three-part miniseries - which I have to say looks suspiciously like a repackaged six-part miniseries, publishing two issues at a time - could be a step in the right direction.

Written by Sarah Vaughn and with gorgeous art by Lan Medina and colourist Jose Villarubbia, Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love drops Deadman firmly into the gothic romance genre. There's a haunted mansion, a murder mystery to solve from more than a century ago, and a romantic spark between the paranormally-sensitive protagonist Berenice and the usually invisible Brand. In some ways Brand fits into the tropes of gothic romance perfectly, but in others he stick out sharply from it. He may have all of his ghostly trappings, but at the end of the day he is still a costumed superhero. It's an interesting contrast, and thus far plays very well. I'm keen to see how this bimonthly series goes. (4/5)

Deadman: Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love #1. DC Comics. Written by Sarah Vaughn. Art by Lan Medina. Colours by Jose Villarubbia.

Under the cut: reviews of The Autumnlands, Batman, Giant Days, Nightwing and Revival.

Daylight (1996)

Former Emergency Medical Services chief Kit Latura (Sylvester Stallone), who resigned under a cloud after the death of several people, is dragged back into service when New York's Holland Tunnel collapses - trapping several survivors inside. After managing to get inside via a ventilation shaft, Kit leads the survivors in a race to escape before the entire tunnel floods with water.

It's actually rather funny noting just how similar the set-ups between Cliffhanger and Daylight are: both about everyday heroes played by Sylvester Stallone, both retired after a miscalculation lost innocent people their lives, and both forced to confront those mistakes in the process of saving the day the second time around. Both films were also, funnily enough, shot in Italy as a cost-saving measure. Beyond that, however, the two films split directions towards separate cliches. For Cliffhanger it was to Die Hard, and for Daylight it is to The Towering Inferno.

Cliffhanger (1993)

Mountain rescuer Gabe Walker (Sylvester Stallone) resigns after his last mission results in the death of a climber. Eight months later he is dragged back into service when a plane crashes in the Rocky Mountains. Reaching the crash site, he discovers that the plane's stranded passengers are an international team of criminals - and he is forced at gunpoint to help them located three fallen cases of money that are scattered across the mountain range.

Big, loud, stupid, and packed with ridiculous slow motion gunfights, Cliffhanger is a 1993 action film starring Sylvester Stallone and John Lithgow and directed by cheesy action movie master Renny Harlin. I am not sure if Harlin has ever directed more than one properly good film, which is The Long Kiss Goodnight. He has directed plenty of other movies that I enjoy for their rampant stupidity and over-the-top action sequences - including Die Hard 2, Cutthroat Island and Deep Blue Sea - but I would struggle to call any of them 'good' with a straight face.

So Cliffhanger has a Hollywood-friendly high concept, ridiculous dialogue, paper-thin characters, and story logic that simply doesn't wash, but ultimately it is just a wonderfully silly and rather fun action flick. Sometimes that is precisely what you want to sit down and watch.

The Pull List: 5 October 2016, Part 1

In Superman #8, Jonathan Kent's science project goes weirdly out of control, opening up a portal and depositing him, his father Superman, and his super-powered pet dog Krypto on a Pacific Island full of dinosaurs.

Go on: isn't that the kind of superhero comic you want to read more often? It's bright, it's energetic, and it's enormously fun. This is exactly the kind of optimistic, action-packed superhero adventure that I want from a Superman comic book, and it's jaw-dropping just how rarely we actually get one. On top of everything else, the book acts as a wonderful tribute to the late Darwyn Cooke and his acclaimed miniseries DC: The New Frontier.

The father-son relationship between Clark and Jon is the cornerstone of this book at the moment, and Tomasi and Gleason do an outstanding job with it. Guest artist Doug Mahnke - with inker Jaime Mendoza delivers some typically great artwork as well, adding a detailed and semi-realistic touch to the story. This is exactly what I want from DC Comics, and it seems as if with Rebirth they are delivering what their readership wants a lot more often than they used to. (5/5)

Superman #8. DC Comics. Written by Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason. Art by Doug Mahnke and Jaime Mendoza. Colours by Wil Quintana.

Under the cut: reviews of Aquaman, Doctor Strange, and Green Arrow.

Cast Away (2000)

FedEx employee Chuck Noland (Tom Hanks) is on a company plane when it gets lost in a storm and crashes into the ocean. He survives the crash, but finds himself trapped on a small island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with no means of escape or rescue.

That is, in all honesty, pretty much it for a synopsis of Cast Away. In narrative terms it is a very simple film: a guy washes ashore on an island, he survives there for a time, and he eventually tries to get home. I think that is perhaps why the film continues to be so consistently overlooked. Its director, Robert Zemeckis, is an acclaimed and award-winning director responsible for several massive commercial and critical hits including Back to the Future, Contact and Who Framed Roger Rabbit. People rarely seem to discuss Cast Away on a par with his more popular films, and I think that is more than a little unfair. The story of Cast Away may be simple, but the manner in which it is told - and the central performance by Tom Hanks - is remarkably good.

The Pull List: 28 September 2016, Part 3

DC's first big Rebirth crossover is currently running between the various Batman titles. "The Night of the Monsters" has now reached its third part in Detective Comics #941. Once again the book's regular writer (in this case James Tynion IV) has co-plotted the issue, with the script falling to Steve Orlando.

The storyline has seen giant monsters sprout from dead bodies in Gotham City, sending Batman and his various sidekicks on a multi-location mission to stop the monsters from destroying the city and to find out how the villainous Hugo Strange (still unseen) created them. This issue focuses mostly on Nightwing's race to Blackgate Prison, where yet another beast has emerged and where the emotionally damaged Gotham Girl has already headed to try and save the day.

On a basic level it's all pretty entertaining stuff, but if you pause for more than a moment to think about it it's obvious how much this story arc is less about telling a significant event and more about providing a four-week buffer for the regular creative teams to get ahead on their twice-monthly schedules. It feels disposable, as if nothing is really going to have mattered or changed by the end of it. It is simply a novelty-based six-issue distraction: entertaining, nicely illustrated, but utterly disposable. (3/5)

Detective Comics #941. DC Comics. Story by James Tynion IV and Steve Orlando. Script by Steve Orlando. Art by Andy McDonald.

Under the cut: reviews of Action Comics, Batgirl, and Doctor Who.

The Pull List: 28 September 2016, Part 2

In the Earth's future a new ice age has left human civilization in ruins, with walled communities closing their doors against roaming bands of pirates and raiders. Of even greater concern is 'frostbite', a new virulent plague sweeping the globe that freezes its victims to death from the inside out.

Frostbite is a new six-issue miniseries from DC Vertigo, boasting a script by Joshua Williamson (Nailbiter, Birthright) and art by Jason Shawn Alexander. Visually it is pretty great, with large-scale vistas and detailed street scenes that really sell the dire situation in which humanity has found itself. Narratively it feels much weaker. Post-apocalyptic fictions are a dime a dozen these days, and it takes a lot for an individual title to stand out from the pack and showcase something original. So far Frostbite has failed to do that - although it still has five more issues.

It is reassuring, as a long-time reader of Vertigo, to see the imprint continue to make an impact with new titles and fresh perspectives. It's disappointing that in this particular case the new book hasn't quite pulled together. Anyone looking for a post-apocalptic miniseries will find a lot to enjoy, but it could be a lot better. (3/5)

Frostbite #1. DC Vertigo. Written by Joshua Williamson. Art by Jason Shawn Alexander. Colours by Luis NCT.

Under the cut: reviews of Lake of Fire, ODY-C and Saga.

Milius (2013)

John Milius is one of those Hollywood writer/directors who never quite managed to become a household name, yet remains an iconic figure to film geeks and enthusiasts around the world. The films that he either wrote or directed are cult favourites, including Apocalypse Now, Conan the Barbarian and Red Dawn. The man himself is a fairly notorious Hollywood figure, famous for pointing guns at studio executives and other ludicrous manufactured behaviours.

His career is the subject of Milius, a feature-length documentary directed by Joey Figueroa and Zak Knutson released back in 2013. It was originally intended as a much more personal and almost autobiographical film, with Milius on board as an active and collaborative participant. A 2010 stroke, however, temporarily robbed him of his ability to speak, and this left the film with a terrible hurdle to overcome in order to be completed. The end result is a fairly traditional sort of 'talking heads' documentary, with Milius an occasional contributor through older interviews and audio recordings. If you are a fan of his work, it's a fascinating and fairly well balanced profile. Sadly his poor health seems to have robbed the film of its chance to be something really special.

Goodbye, Dragon Inn (2003)

A run-down Taipei cinema screens its final movie: King Hu's legendary wuxia film Dragon Inn. While the film plays the cinema's disabled cashier (Shiang-chyi Chen) slowly goes about her work, young gay men awkwardly use the theatre as a place to hook up, and the cinema itself may be populated by ghosts.

Goodbye, Dragon Inn is a 2003 drama by Taiwanese director Tsai Ming-liang. It is an odd little piece, told with a real minimum of drama and narrative. At the same time it is oddly compelling, like you are stepping into someone else's real life and not really being told a story at all. There's a concept in dining known as 'slow food', in which local ingredients and cooking methods are encouraged in defiance of the commercialised 'fast food' culture that dominates dining around the world. It makes me wonder if there is such a thing as 'slow cinema': a kind of film that wallows in its own local culture, and really takes its time to immerse into it rather than rush around telling a story with characters and a driving narrative. If there is such a thing, I think Goodbye, Dragon Inn might be a potential poster child.

The Angriest: September 2016 in review

It was great to see Top Knot Detective get so much coverage online this past week, and the response seems to have been huge: certainly it was on this blog where my review raced well ahead of all other posts to become the most-read piece for the month of September. You can read it here if you missed it, and certainly race to SBS On Demand if you still haven't seen it yet. It is must-see television.

Other popular posts this month were all film reviews: The Dark Knight, Captain America: Civil War, Fantastic Four, and Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. Two of those films are well worth watching. The other two... probably not. I'll leave it up to you to work out which is which.

In September The Angriest featured reviews of three 2016 films, 15 older films, 13 TV episodes, three anime episodes, and 51 comic books. A complete breakdown of the month's posts is included below the cut.