entertainment

War is, at its most basic level, the Dramatic Fiction formula: Two parties, unable to reach a compromise peacefully, resort to attempting to violently impose their will on the other. This struggle is as timeless as society and dramatic fiction itself. Wars between our tribes have always been a fertile source for stories, not only...

The Western film is not only the most recent common ancestor for all of shooter cinema, but arguably the original action film genre, and as uniquely American as the single action revolver, lever action rifle and side-by-side shotguns that star in them. Fueled by the genre’s popularity in pulp magazines and novels, the Silent Film...

The Arsenal Firearms of Italy AF-2011 Dueller Prismatic Double Barrel Pistol from Arsenal Firearms Stars in James Bond SPECTRE This past summer, action movie fans huddled around YouTube to watch the second trailer for the new James Bond movie, SPECTRE. I felt a little sorry for Dave Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy, Riddick, and of course the...

Some pieces of pop culture are enormous enough to make craters, not just impacts. Even kindergarteners and Kalahari Bushmen recognize “Book ‘em, Danno.” and The Ventures driving theme song of drums and horns from CBS’s landmark television show Hawaii Five-O. Debuting in 1968, the series raised the standard for what audiences expected from their weekly...

As the Black Rifle gained success and popularity in service, so did its demand for use in movies and television. Try this one on for size: The AR-type rifle has been in front-line U.S. military service since 1962, not only longer than any other one rifle design, but longer than the 45 year span that...

When video game mega-publisher Electronic Arts (EA) announced in 2014 that the next installment in the long running multiplayer military first person shooter series Battlefield would not in fact take place on a battlefield, but rather feature a no holds brawl between cops and robbers in domestic civilian settings, I was worried. A game that...

I’m sure we’ve all had the pleasure of knowing a guy like Scott. For reasons unknown, Scott was not satisfied with the virtues of the nation of his birth and instead chose another favorite “home” country to champion: Germany. Scott insists on driving the same BMW E30 325i (complete with faux European front number plate...

If you haven’t caught any of Adam Reed’s FX Network animated spy spoof Archer yet, you may be forgiven for wonder why we’re covering a cartoon this month. One of the latest in a long running line of American satirical cartoons that stretch arguably back to The Flintstones, Archer deviates slightly from the formula established...

Nothing brings your priorities in life into sharp focus like your first time holding your own newborn child in the delivery room. I had been regularly carrying a concealed pistol every day since I had been licensed to do so a few years prior, but my reasons for doing so were vague and mostly boiled...

A look at the guns of Justified, from a gun enthusiast’s viewpoint. Everything you need to know about the FX cable television series Justified and its protagonist U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens (played by Timothy Olyphant) is established in the first scene of the first episode of the first season. Unable to tolerate the existence of...

While legendary author and artist Frank Miller made his reputation in saving the then moribund Superhero comic book industry, rescuing Daredevil from certain cancellation and turning Batman from kitschy camp into a gritty, tough, newly relevant story with his groundbreaking 1986 graphic novel The Dark Knight Returns, his first love was the American hardboiled noir...

By Peter Barrett. Lone Survivor Guns Article was originally published in the August 2014 issue of GunUp the Magazine. In the middle stages of our long war in Afghanistan, after the initial overthrow of the Taliban and before the desultory Coalition draw-down into isolated enclaves, the U.S. Marines operating in the Korangal Valley aggressively pursued and...

3:10 to Yuma When remaking a classic film, studios walk a tightrope between two equal but opposite risks. Should the new movie be a faithful reproduction of the original, or use the material to explore new areas the original left untouched? Lean too far towards imitation and the remake offers audiences nothing new beyond perhaps...

The Guns of Bad Boys: Sensible and Common Firearm Choices Michael Bay is simultaneously one of the most reviled and one of the most successful movie directors in the business. Critically pilloried for his simplistic plots, uneven pacing, clichéd characterization and dialog, and style over substance, Bay has laughed all the way to the bank...

  If you haven’t heard of Strike Back, don’t despair. It only airs on Cinemax in the U.S., which means that not everyone has access to it. That’s too bad, because it’s a show that has been tailor-made for gun nuts. The central premise of the show has the two main characters, Sergeant Damien Scott...