Author Archives: williamjcobb

“The Sandblaster”: A New Short Story by William J. Cobb

Posted on May 19, 2026 by williamjcobb

I was working as a sandblaster on the coast of Texas, at an industrial park right off the Intracoastal Canal. A wasteland of bulldozers and cranes. Stacks of rusty metal pipes. A few scraggly palm trees, no grass, house or town within miles. That’s where I found her. Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction Writing, Free Fiction, New Short Fiction by William J. Cobb, Texas stories, William J Cobb Short Fiction | Tagged Free Fiction, ICE controversy, Texas Coast, The Sandblaster: new short story | Leave a comment

Review of “Project Hail Mary”: Ryan Gosling as Space Cowboy

Posted on May 12, 2026 by williamjcobb

“It’s E.T. meets 2001 meets Contact meets Arrival meets Wall-E”—with a healthy dose of Steven Spielbergian moments, most in outer space. Continue reading →

Posted in Ryan Gosling Movies, Scifi Movies, Space | Tagged "Project Hail Mary" review, Arrival, Barbie, Contact, despair, E.T., Ryan Gosling, Wall-E | Leave a comment

Review of “Widow’s Bay”: Just When You Thought It Was Safe to Go in the Water Again . . . .”

Posted on May 10, 2026 by williamjcobb

It’s something of a mashup satire of horror/disaster movies, with pointed references to such classics as Jaws, The Fog, and many others. Continue reading →

Posted in Apple TV's "Widows Bay" review, Horror Comedies, Horror Films | Tagged Apple TV's "Widows Bay", Jaws, The Fog, The Shining | Leave a comment

On the Demise of Texas Summer Camps and a Remembrance of Hells Past: It Wasn’t “Meatballs” or Camp Mystic

Posted on May 5, 2026 by williamjcobb

Although we played sports and had cookouts and ate hot dogs, it was less like Bill Murray’s iconic Meatballs (1979) and more like Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket (1987). More like Boot Camp than Summer Camp. Continue reading →

Posted in Camp Mystic, Summer Camp Stories | Tagged Friday the 13th film, Full Metal Jacket film, Meatballs film, Summer Camp in Texas | Leave a comment

Ran the Pittsburgh Half-Marathon Today!

Posted on May 3, 2026 by williamjcobb

The real treat this year: My daughter, Liliana, ran the Half-Marathon with me. She didn’t think she was going to make it and did great! Continue reading →

Posted in Pittsburgh Marathon | Tagged Running the Pittsburgh Marathon | Leave a comment

Review of “Dragonfly”: Chronicle of Broken Britain Packs a Punch

Posted on May 2, 2026 by williamjcobb

In “Dragonfly” the lives of Colleen and Elsie are heartbreaking but they seem real. Continue reading →

Posted in Broken Britain, Film | Tagged "Dragonfly" film, Adrea Riseborough | Leave a comment

Review of Paul Andrew Hutton’s “The Apache Wars”: Historical Origins of Cormac McCarthy’s “Blood Meridian” (1986)

Posted on April 27, 2026 by williamjcobb

Hutton’s The Apache Wars, a nonfiction work, provides great context and understanding to this era, and reinforces the visions of Cormac McCarthy. Continue reading →

Posted in Cormac McCarthy novels, History of the Southwest, Native American History, The West | Tagged Book Reviewing, Cormac McCarthy, Paul Andrew Hutton's "The Apache Wars", The West | Leave a comment

Review of “Beef”: Season 2 Imagines a World of Scheming, Conniving, Duplicitous Grifters

Posted on April 25, 2026 by williamjcobb

Think of it as The White Lotus meets Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite (2019). Continue reading →

Posted in Korean Film and TV, Netflix Series, Uncategorized | Tagged Cailee Spaeny, Carey Mulligan, Charles Melton, Netflix's "Beef" Season Two, Oscar Isaac | Leave a comment

Review of “The A.I. Doc”: Dumb & Dumber Meet the Digital Overlords

Posted on April 23, 2026 by williamjcobb

The documentary filmmaker Roher may seem a bit dim as an interviewer but the tech-world savants he interviews know what they’re talking about, without dumbing it down too much, and have many insightful tidbits to add. Continue reading →

Posted in A.I., A.I. 2027, A.I. Apocalypse, A.I. Documentaries, A.S.I. (Artificial Super Intelligence), Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares' If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies, Mustafa Suleyman's The Coming Wave: A.I., Power, and Our Future | Tagged "The A.I. Doc" | Leave a comment

Review of “Normal”: Bob Odenkirk Blows Up the Fonz

Posted on April 19, 2026 by williamjcobb

I don’t think I’ve ever laughed at so many people getting shot, stabbed, killed, maimed, or blown to smithereens—including Henry Winkler, aka The Fonz from TV’s Happy Days sitcom of the Seventies. Continue reading →

Posted in Action/adventure comedies, Bob Odenkirk movies, Movie Review of "Normal" | Tagged Bob Odenkirk's "Normal" | Leave a comment