Category: Blog

Picture this: You’re in a meeting room at your tech company, and two people are having what looks like the same conversation about the same design problem. One is talking about whether the team has the right skills to tackle it. The other is diving deep into whether the solution actually solves the user’s problem. Same room, same problem, completely different lenses.

This is the beautiful, sometimes messy reality of having both a Design Manager and a Lead Designer on the same team. And if you’re wondering how to make this work without creating confusion, overlap, or the dreaded “too many cooks” scenario, you’re asking the right question.

The traditional answer has been to draw clean lines on an org chart. The Design Manager handles people, the Lead Designer handles craft. Problem solved, right? Except clean org charts are fantasy. In reality, both roles care deeply about team health, design quality, and shipping great work. 

The magic happens when you embrace the overlap instead of fighting it—when you start thinking of your design org as a design organism.

The Anatomy of a Healthy Design Team

Here’s what I’ve learned from years of being on both sides of this equation: think of your design team as a living organism. The Design Manager tends to the mind (the psychological safety, the career growth, the team dynamics). The Lead Designer tends to the body (the craft skills, the design standards, the hands-on work that ships to users).

But just like mind and body aren’t completely separate systems, so, too, do these roles overlap in important ways. You can’t have a healthy person without both working in harmony. The trick is knowing where those overlaps are and how to navigate them gracefully.

When we look at how healthy teams actually function, three critical systems emerge. Each requires both roles to work together, but with one taking primary responsibility for keeping that system strong.

The Nervous System: People & Psychology

Primary caretaker: Design Manager
Supporting role: Lead Designer

The nervous system is all about signals, feedback, and psychological safety. When this system is healthy, information flows freely, people feel safe to take risks, and the team can adapt quickly to new challenges.

The Design Manager is the primary caretaker here. They’re monitoring the team’s psychological pulse, ensuring feedback loops are healthy, and creating the conditions for people to grow. They’re hosting career conversations, managing workload, and making sure no one burns out.

But the Lead Designer plays a crucial supporting role. They’re providing sensory input about craft development needs, spotting when someone’s design skills are stagnating, and helping identify growth opportunities that the Design Manager might miss.

Design Manager tends to:

• Career conversations and growth planning
• Team psychological safety and dynamics
• Workload management and resource allocation
• Performance reviews and feedback systems
• Creating learning opportunities

Lead Designer supports by:

• Providing craft-specific feedback on team member development
• Identifying design skill gaps and growth opportunities
• Offering design mentorship and guidance
• Signaling when team members are ready for more complex challenges

The Muscular System: Craft & Execution

Primary caretaker: Lead Designer
Supporting role: Design Manager

The muscular system is about strength, coordination, and skill development. When this system is healthy, the team can execute complex design work with precision, maintain consistent quality, and adapt their craft to new challenges.

The Lead Designer is the primary caretaker here. They’re setting design standards, providing craft coaching, and ensuring that shipping work meets the quality bar. They’re the ones who can tell you if a design decision is sound or if we’re solving the right problem.

But the Design Manager plays a crucial supporting role. They’re ensuring the team has the resources and support to do their best craft work, like proper nutrition and recovery time for an athlete.

Lead Designer tends to:

• Definition of design standards and system usage
• Feedback on what design work meets the standard
• Experience direction for the product
• Design decisions and product-wide alignment
• Innovation and craft advancement

Design Manager supports by:

• Ensuring design standards are understood and adopted across the team
• Confirming experience direction is being followed
• Supporting practices and systems that scale without bottlenecking
• Facilitating design alignment across teams
• Providing resources and removing obstacles to great craft work

The Circulatory System: Strategy & Flow

Shared caretakers: Both Design Manager and Lead Designer

The circulatory system is about how information, decisions, and energy flow through the team. When this system is healthy, strategic direction is clear, priorities are aligned, and the team can respond quickly to new opportunities or challenges.

This is where true partnership happens. Both roles are responsible for keeping the circulation strong, but they’re bringing different perspectives to the table.

Lead Designer contributes:

• User needs are met by the product
• Overall product quality and experience
• Strategic design initiatives
• Research-based user needs for each initiative

Design Manager contributes:

• Communication to team and stakeholders
• Stakeholder management and alignment
• Cross-functional team accountability
• Strategic business initiatives

Both collaborate on:

• Co-creation of strategy with leadership
• Team goals and prioritization approach
• Organizational structure decisions
• Success measures and frameworks

Keeping the Organism Healthy

The key to making this partnership sing is understanding that all three systems need to work together. A team with great craft skills but poor psychological safety will burn out. A team with great culture but weak craft execution will ship mediocre work. A team with both but poor strategic circulation will work hard on the wrong things.

Be Explicit About Which System You’re Tending

When you’re in a meeting about a design problem, it helps to acknowledge which system you’re primarily focused on. “I’m thinking about this from a team capacity perspective” (nervous system) or “I’m looking at this through the lens of user needs” (muscular system) gives everyone context for your input.

This isn’t about staying in your lane. It’s about being transparent as to which lens you’re using, so the other person knows how to best add their perspective.

Create Healthy Feedback Loops

The most successful partnerships I’ve seen establish clear feedback loops between the systems:

Nervous system signals to muscular system: “The team is struggling with confidence in their design skills” → Lead Designer provides more craft coaching and clearer standards.

Muscular system signals to nervous system: “The team’s craft skills are advancing faster than their project complexity” → Design Manager finds more challenging growth opportunities.

Both systems signal to circulatory system: “We’re seeing patterns in team health and craft development that suggest we need to adjust our strategic priorities.”

Handle Handoffs Gracefully

The most critical moments in this partnership are when something moves from one system to another. This might be when a design standard (muscular system) needs to be rolled out across the team (nervous system), or when a strategic initiative (circulatory system) needs specific craft execution (muscular system).

Make these transitions explicit. “I’ve defined the new component standards. Can you help me think through how to get the team up to speed?” or “We’ve agreed on this strategic direction. I’m going to focus on the specific user experience approach from here.”

Stay Curious, Not Territorial

The Design Manager who never thinks about craft, or the Lead Designer who never considers team dynamics, is like a doctor who only looks at one body system. Great design leadership requires both people to care about the whole organism, even when they’re not the primary caretaker.

This means asking questions rather than making assumptions. “What do you think about the team’s craft development in this area?” or “How do you see this impacting team morale and workload?” keeps both perspectives active in every decision.

When the Organism Gets Sick

Even with clear roles, this partnership can go sideways. Here are the most common failure modes I’ve seen:

System Isolation

The Design Manager focuses only on the nervous system and ignores craft development. The Lead Designer focuses only on the muscular system and ignores team dynamics. Both people retreat to their comfort zones and stop collaborating.

The symptoms: Team members get mixed messages, work quality suffers, morale drops.

The treatment: Reconnect around shared outcomes. What are you both trying to achieve? Usually it’s great design work that ships on time from a healthy team. Figure out how both systems serve that goal.

Poor Circulation

Strategic direction is unclear, priorities keep shifting, and neither role is taking responsibility for keeping information flowing.

The symptoms: Team members are confused about priorities, work gets duplicated or dropped, deadlines are missed.

The treatment: Explicitly assign responsibility for circulation. Who’s communicating what to whom? How often? What’s the feedback loop?

Autoimmune Response

One person feels threatened by the other’s expertise. The Design Manager thinks the Lead Designer is undermining their authority. The Lead Designer thinks the Design Manager doesn’t understand craft.

The symptoms: Defensive behavior, territorial disputes, team members caught in the middle.

The treatment: Remember that you’re both caretakers of the same organism. When one system fails, the whole team suffers. When both systems are healthy, the team thrives.

The Payoff

Yes, this model requires more communication. Yes, it requires both people to be secure enough to share responsibility for team health. But the payoff is worth it: better decisions, stronger teams, and design work that’s both excellent and sustainable.

When both roles are healthy and working well together, you get the best of both worlds: deep craft expertise and strong people leadership. When one person is out sick, on vacation, or overwhelmed, the other can help maintain the team’s health. When a decision requires both the people perspective and the craft perspective, you’ve got both right there in the room.

Most importantly, the framework scales. As your team grows, you can apply the same system thinking to new challenges. Need to launch a design system? Lead Designer tends to the muscular system (standards and implementation), Design Manager tends to the nervous system (team adoption and change management), and both tend to circulation (communication and stakeholder alignment).

The Bottom Line

The relationship between a Design Manager and Lead Designer isn’t about dividing territories. It’s about multiplying impact. When both roles understand they’re tending to different aspects of the same healthy organism, magic happens.

The mind and body work together. The team gets both the strategic thinking and the craft excellence they need. And most importantly, the work that ships to users benefits from both perspectives.

So the next time you’re in that meeting room, wondering why two people are talking about the same problem from different angles, remember: you’re watching shared leadership in action. And if it’s working well, both the mind and body of your design team are getting stronger.

As a product builder over too many years to mention, I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve seen promising ideas go from zero to hero in a few weeks, only to fizzle out within months.

Financial products, which is the field I work in, are no exception. With people’s real hard-earned money on the line, user expectations running high, and a crowded market, it’s tempting to throw as many features at the wall as possible and hope something sticks. But this approach is a recipe for disaster. Here’s why:

The pitfalls of feature-first development

When you start building a financial product from the ground up, or are migrating existing customer journeys from paper or telephony channels onto online banking or mobile apps, it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of creating new features. You might think, “If I can just add one more thing that solves this particular user problem, they’ll love me!” But what happens when you inevitably hit a roadblock because the narcs (your security team!) don’t like it? When a hard-fought feature isn’t as popular as you thought, or it breaks due to unforeseen complexity?

This is where the concept of Minimum Viable Product (MVP) comes in. Jason Fried’s book Getting Real and his podcast Rework often touch on this idea, even if he doesn’t always call it that. An MVP is a product that provides just enough value to your users to keep them engaged, but not so much that it becomes overwhelming or difficult to maintain. It sounds like an easy concept but it requires a razor sharp eye, a ruthless edge and having the courage to stick by your opinion because it is easy to be seduced by “the Columbo Effect”… when there’s always “just one more thing…” that someone wants to add.

The problem with most finance apps, however, is that they often become a reflection of the internal politics of the business rather than an experience solely designed around the customer. This means that the focus is on delivering as many features and functionalities as possible to satisfy the needs and desires of competing internal departments, rather than providing a clear value proposition that is focused on what the people out there in the real world want. As a result, these products can very easily bloat to become a mixed bag of confusing, unrelated and ultimately unlovable customer experiences—a feature salad, you might say.

The importance of bedrock

So what’s a better approach? How can we build products that are stable, user-friendly, and—most importantly—stick?

That’s where the concept of “bedrock” comes in. Bedrock is the core element of your product that truly matters to users. It’s the fundamental building block that provides value and stays relevant over time.

In the world of retail banking, which is where I work, the bedrock has got to be in and around the regular servicing journeys. People open their current account once in a blue moon but they look at it every day. They sign up for a credit card every year or two, but they check their balance and pay their bill at least once a month.

Identifying the core tasks that people want to do and then relentlessly striving to make them easy to do, dependable, and trustworthy is where the gravy’s at.

But how do you get to bedrock? By focusing on the “MVP” approach, prioritizing simplicity, and iterating towards a clear value proposition. This means cutting out unnecessary features and focusing on delivering real value to your users.

It also means having some guts, because your colleagues might not always instantly share your vision to start with. And controversially, sometimes it can even mean making it clear to customers that you’re not going to come to their house and make their dinner. The occasional “opinionated user interface design” (i.e. clunky workaround for edge cases) might sometimes be what you need to use to test a concept or buy you space to work on something more important.

Practical strategies for building financial products that stick

So what are the key strategies I’ve learned from my own experience and research?

1. Start with a clear “why”: What problem are you trying to solve? For whom? Make sure your mission is crystal clear before building anything. Make sure it aligns with your company’s objectives, too.
2. Focus on a single, core feature and obsess on getting that right before moving on to something else: Resist the temptation to add too many features at once. Instead, choose one that delivers real value and iterate from there.
3. Prioritize simplicity over complexity: Less is often more when it comes to financial products. Cut out unnecessary bells and whistles and keep the focus on what matters most.
4. Embrace continuous iteration: Bedrock isn’t a fixed destination—it’s a dynamic process. Continuously gather user feedback, refine your product, and iterate towards that bedrock state.
5. Stop, look and listen: Don’t just test your product as part of your delivery process—test it repeatedly in the field. Use it yourself. Run A/B tests. Gather user feedback. Talk to people who use it, and refine accordingly.

The bedrock paradox

There’s an interesting paradox at play here: building towards bedrock means sacrificing some short-term growth potential in favour of long-term stability. But the payoff is worth it—products built with a focus on bedrock will outlast and outperform their competitors, and deliver sustained value to users over time.

So, how do you start your journey towards bedrock? Take it one step at a time. Start by identifying those core elements that truly matter to your users. Focus on building and refining a single, powerful feature that delivers real value. And above all, test obsessively—for, in the words of Abraham Lincoln, Alan Kay, or Peter Drucker (whomever you believe!!), “The best way to predict the future is to create it.”

Glen Powell has been chatting about Arnold Schwarzenegger’s enthusiastic reaction to the upcoming reimagining of The Running Man, saying the star of the original 1987 movie is “obsessed” with it. Powell, who leads the cast of the new version, also said that Schwarzenegger told him The Running Man is the only movie in his long […]

The post Arnold Schwarzenegger “Obsessed” with New Running Man Movie appeared first on Den of Geek.

1999 was a big year for movies. Fight Club, American Pie, and The Phantom Menace all proved popular for different reasons, while original sci-fi was still a booming genre. That year, two fascinating sci-fi films emerged, both determined to explore the idea that reality might not be what it seems. One was The Matrix (you’ve probably heard of it!) and the other was The Thirteenth Floor, a noir story that unfortunately got lost in the shadow of “bullet time” and leather-clad martial arts.

In The Matrix, Neo (Keanu Reeves) discovers that the world he lives in is a simulated reality created by machines, and that the “real” world is a desolate wasteland. But The Thirteenth Floor explores virtual worlds instead, building layers of simulation from 1937 Los Angeles to 1999 LA and beyond. Both films ask their characters to question what is real and which reality they will settle for.

Just before The Matrix and The Thirteenth Floor were released, Alex Proyas’ Dark City also posed the same questions. All three movies had distinct visual styles and approaches. Where The Matrix used that now-iconic green hue, inspired by phosphor-coated green computer displays and in contrast with the cold blue of reality, Dark City opted for German Expressionism—oppressively dark and rain-slicked. In contrast, The Thirteenth Floor was presented in rich color tones, from a sepia-tinged 1937 to a neon-dotted 90s cityscape.

Of course, The Matrix became a blockbuster and spawned three sequels, whereas Dark City and The Thirteenth Floor didn’t make any money. Although Dark City has gone on to become a cult classic, The Thirteenth Floor has been largely forgotten, and we’d argue that’s a damn shame.

The film stars Craig Bierko (The Long Kiss Goodnight) as Douglas Hall, a computer scientist who discovers that his colleague, Hannon Fuller (Armin Mueller-Stahl), has created a fully immersive simulation of 1937 Los Angeles. When Fuller is found murdered, Hall becomes the prime suspect and begins investigating Fuller’s last days. Eventually, he realizes that the simulated world is way more sophisticated than he thought.

As Hall navigates both the virtual 1937 setting and the 1999 world, he encounters characters whose lives and identities are intertwined across both realities. Betrayals and hidden motives slowly unravel, forcing Hall to confront the possibility that his own world may be a simulation.

The cast is solid, with Gretchen Mol and Dennis Haysbert in supporting roles. Arguably, Bierko isn’t an acting powerhouse, but inhabiting different characters gives him room to play. His more well-known comedy stylings (he famously passed on the role of Chandler in Friends, allowing best friend Matthew Perry to land the part) work in his favor as he drops into his baffled 1937 avatar, while his mugging is well-suited to another avatar’s more diabolical tendencies.

It helps that Bierko is paired with consistently fantastic character actor Vincent D’Onofrio, who is also playing several roles. In 1999, he’s an affable, floppy-haired techie. In 1937, he’s steely-eyed, dangerous, and far too observant of his surroundings to remain tethered to a virtual world. Bierko’s Hall has several suspects while investigating his mentor’s murder, and at key points in the story, it’s easy to become convinced that D’Onofrio could be all of them. He’s just that good at playing a calculating, suspicious character.

Loosely based on Daniel F. Galouye’s 1964 novel, Simulacron-3, The Thirteenth Floor deftly remakes Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s 1973 miniseries World on a Wire. With its similar themes of simulation and existential uncertainty but without The Matrix’s groundbreaking special effects (the closest you’ll get to that here is some neon green lasers and a dry ice machine in the virtual reality machine room), The Thirteenth Floor embraces a subtle, noir-driven central mystery that opts to explore personal guilt and romantic anguish instead.

Clearly, that wasn’t an approach that got butts in seats back in 1999, but if you love The Matrix and Dark City and pine for the days of original sci-fi, it might be time to give The Thirteenth Floor a look.

The post The Overlooked Sci-Fi Movie That Got Lost in The Matrix’s Shadow appeared first on Den of Geek.

After recent reports that a True Detective reunion could be in the cards, star Woody Harrelson has shut down any possibility of returning to the series. During an appearance on NBC’s 3rd Hour of Today, Harrelson declared that revisiting the world of True Detective is out of the question. “Never. Not a chance,” he said […]

The post Woody Harrelson Says “Not a Chance” He’d Return to True Detective appeared first on Den of Geek.

1999 was a big year for movies. Fight Club, American Pie, and The Phantom Menace all proved popular for different reasons, while original sci-fi was still a booming genre. That year, two fascinating sci-fi films emerged, both determined to explore the idea that reality might not be what it seems. One was The Matrix (you’ve probably heard of it!) and the other was The Thirteenth Floor, a noir story that unfortunately got lost in the shadow of “bullet time” and leather-clad martial arts.

In The Matrix, Neo (Keanu Reeves) discovers that the world he lives in is a simulated reality created by machines, and that the “real” world is a desolate wasteland. But The Thirteenth Floor explores virtual worlds instead, building layers of simulation from 1937 Los Angeles to 1999 LA and beyond. Both films ask their characters to question what is real and which reality they will settle for.

Just before The Matrix and The Thirteenth Floor were released, Alex Proyas’ Dark City also posed the same questions. All three movies had distinct visual styles and approaches. Where The Matrix used that now-iconic green hue, inspired by phosphor-coated green computer displays and in contrast with the cold blue of reality, Dark City opted for German Expressionism—oppressively dark and rain-slicked. In contrast, The Thirteenth Floor was presented in rich color tones, from a sepia-tinged 1937 to a neon-dotted 90s cityscape.

Of course, The Matrix became a blockbuster and spawned three sequels, whereas Dark City and The Thirteenth Floor didn’t make any money. Although Dark City has gone on to become a cult classic, The Thirteenth Floor has been largely forgotten, and we’d argue that’s a damn shame.

The film stars Craig Bierko (The Long Kiss Goodnight) as Douglas Hall, a computer scientist who discovers that his colleague, Hannon Fuller (Armin Mueller-Stahl), has created a fully immersive simulation of 1937 Los Angeles. When Fuller is found murdered, Hall becomes the prime suspect and begins investigating Fuller’s last days. Eventually, he realizes that the simulated world is way more sophisticated than he thought.

As Hall navigates both the virtual 1937 setting and the 1999 world, he encounters characters whose lives and identities are intertwined across both realities. Betrayals and hidden motives slowly unravel, forcing Hall to confront the possibility that his own world may be a simulation.

The cast is solid, with Gretchen Mol and Dennis Haysbert in supporting roles. Arguably, Bierko isn’t an acting powerhouse, but inhabiting different characters gives him room to play. His more well-known comedy stylings (he famously passed on the role of Chandler in Friends, allowing best friend Matthew Perry to land the part) work in his favor as he drops into his baffled 1937 avatar, while his mugging is well-suited to another avatar’s more diabolical tendencies.

It helps that Bierko is paired with consistently fantastic character actor Vincent D’Onofrio, who is also playing several roles. In 1999, he’s an affable, floppy-haired techie. In 1937, he’s steely-eyed, dangerous, and far too observant of his surroundings to remain tethered to a virtual world. Bierko’s Hall has several suspects while investigating his mentor’s murder, and at key points in the story, it’s easy to become convinced that D’Onofrio could be all of them. He’s just that good at playing a calculating, suspicious character.

Loosely based on Daniel F. Galouye’s 1964 novel, Simulacron-3, The Thirteenth Floor deftly remakes Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s 1973 miniseries World on a Wire. With its similar themes of simulation and existential uncertainty but without The Matrix’s groundbreaking special effects (the closest you’ll get to that here is some neon green lasers and a dry ice machine in the virtual reality machine room), The Thirteenth Floor embraces a subtle, noir-driven central mystery that opts to explore personal guilt and romantic anguish instead.

Clearly, that wasn’t an approach that got butts in seats back in 1999, but if you love The Matrix and Dark City and pine for the days of original sci-fi, it might be time to give The Thirteenth Floor a look.

The post The Overlooked Sci-Fi Movie That Got Lost in The Matrix’s Shadow appeared first on Den of Geek.

It looks like Finn Jones, who played Danny Rand in Netflix’s underwhelming Iron Fist series, may be quietly hinting at a return to the role. In a recent Instagram story, Jones posted a photo outside a Taekwondo dojo. Though this could simply be viewed as an innocuous image, fans are naturally speculating whether Jones is […]

The post Finn Jones Seems to Be Teasing an Iron Fist Return, but Fan Reaction Is Mixed appeared first on Den of Geek.

1999 was a big year for movies. Fight Club, American Pie, and The Phantom Menace all proved popular for different reasons, while original sci-fi was still a booming genre. That year, two fascinating sci-fi films emerged, both determined to explore the idea that reality might not be what it seems. One was The Matrix (you’ve probably heard of it!) and the other was The Thirteenth Floor, a noir story that unfortunately got lost in the shadow of “bullet time” and leather-clad martial arts.

In The Matrix, Neo (Keanu Reeves) discovers that the world he lives in is a simulated reality created by machines, and that the “real” world is a desolate wasteland. But The Thirteenth Floor explores virtual worlds instead, building layers of simulation from 1937 Los Angeles to 1999 LA and beyond. Both films ask their characters to question what is real and which reality they will settle for.

Just before The Matrix and The Thirteenth Floor were released, Alex Proyas’ Dark City also posed the same questions. All three movies had distinct visual styles and approaches. Where The Matrix used that now-iconic green hue, inspired by phosphor-coated green computer displays and in contrast with the cold blue of reality, Dark City opted for German Expressionism—oppressively dark and rain-slicked. In contrast, The Thirteenth Floor was presented in rich color tones, from a sepia-tinged 1937 to a neon-dotted 90s cityscape.

Of course, The Matrix became a blockbuster and spawned three sequels, whereas Dark City and The Thirteenth Floor didn’t make any money. Although Dark City has gone on to become a cult classic, The Thirteenth Floor has been largely forgotten, and we’d argue that’s a damn shame.

The film stars Craig Bierko (The Long Kiss Goodnight) as Douglas Hall, a computer scientist who discovers that his colleague, Hannon Fuller (Armin Mueller-Stahl), has created a fully immersive simulation of 1937 Los Angeles. When Fuller is found murdered, Hall becomes the prime suspect and begins investigating Fuller’s last days. Eventually, he realizes that the simulated world is way more sophisticated than he thought.

As Hall navigates both the virtual 1937 setting and the 1999 world, he encounters characters whose lives and identities are intertwined across both realities. Betrayals and hidden motives slowly unravel, forcing Hall to confront the possibility that his own world may be a simulation.

The cast is solid, with Gretchen Mol and Dennis Haysbert in supporting roles. Arguably, Bierko isn’t an acting powerhouse, but inhabiting different characters gives him room to play. His more well-known comedy stylings (he famously passed on the role of Chandler in Friends, allowing best friend Matthew Perry to land the part) work in his favor as he drops into his baffled 1937 avatar, while his mugging is well-suited to another avatar’s more diabolical tendencies.

It helps that Bierko is paired with consistently fantastic character actor Vincent D’Onofrio, who is also playing several roles. In 1999, he’s an affable, floppy-haired techie. In 1937, he’s steely-eyed, dangerous, and far too observant of his surroundings to remain tethered to a virtual world. Bierko’s Hall has several suspects while investigating his mentor’s murder, and at key points in the story, it’s easy to become convinced that D’Onofrio could be all of them. He’s just that good at playing a calculating, suspicious character.

Loosely based on Daniel F. Galouye’s 1964 novel, Simulacron-3, The Thirteenth Floor deftly remakes Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s 1973 miniseries World on a Wire. With its similar themes of simulation and existential uncertainty but without The Matrix’s groundbreaking special effects (the closest you’ll get to that here is some neon green lasers and a dry ice machine in the virtual reality machine room), The Thirteenth Floor embraces a subtle, noir-driven central mystery that opts to explore personal guilt and romantic anguish instead.

Clearly, that wasn’t an approach that got butts in seats back in 1999, but if you love The Matrix and Dark City and pine for the days of original sci-fi, it might be time to give The Thirteenth Floor a look.

The post The Overlooked Sci-Fi Movie That Got Lost in The Matrix’s Shadow appeared first on Den of Geek.

“If you saw his eyes right now, I’m sure you’d learn that even an android can… cry!” Those dramatic lines closed 1968’s Avengers #58, in which Earth’s Mightiest Heroes overcome their mistrust of the synthezoid Vision and induct him into their team. Between writer Roy Thomas’ melodramatic narration and artist John Buscema’s final splash panel […]

The post VisionQuest Will Address a Classic Avengers Question appeared first on Den of Geek.

1999 was a big year for movies. Fight Club, American Pie, and The Phantom Menace all proved popular for different reasons, while original sci-fi was still a booming genre. That year, two fascinating sci-fi films emerged, both determined to explore the idea that reality might not be what it seems. One was The Matrix (you’ve probably heard of it!) and the other was The Thirteenth Floor, a noir story that unfortunately got lost in the shadow of “bullet time” and leather-clad martial arts.

In The Matrix, Neo (Keanu Reeves) discovers that the world he lives in is a simulated reality created by machines, and that the “real” world is a desolate wasteland. But The Thirteenth Floor explores virtual worlds instead, building layers of simulation from 1937 Los Angeles to 1999 LA and beyond. Both films ask their characters to question what is real and which reality they will settle for.

Just before The Matrix and The Thirteenth Floor were released, Alex Proyas’ Dark City also posed the same questions. All three movies had distinct visual styles and approaches. Where The Matrix used that now-iconic green hue, inspired by phosphor-coated green computer displays and in contrast with the cold blue of reality, Dark City opted for German Expressionism—oppressively dark and rain-slicked. In contrast, The Thirteenth Floor was presented in rich color tones, from a sepia-tinged 1937 to a neon-dotted 90s cityscape.

Of course, The Matrix became a blockbuster and spawned three sequels, whereas Dark City and The Thirteenth Floor didn’t make any money. Although Dark City has gone on to become a cult classic, The Thirteenth Floor has been largely forgotten, and we’d argue that’s a damn shame.

The film stars Craig Bierko (The Long Kiss Goodnight) as Douglas Hall, a computer scientist who discovers that his colleague, Hannon Fuller (Armin Mueller-Stahl), has created a fully immersive simulation of 1937 Los Angeles. When Fuller is found murdered, Hall becomes the prime suspect and begins investigating Fuller’s last days. Eventually, he realizes that the simulated world is way more sophisticated than he thought.

As Hall navigates both the virtual 1937 setting and the 1999 world, he encounters characters whose lives and identities are intertwined across both realities. Betrayals and hidden motives slowly unravel, forcing Hall to confront the possibility that his own world may be a simulation.

The cast is solid, with Gretchen Mol and Dennis Haysbert in supporting roles. Arguably, Bierko isn’t an acting powerhouse, but inhabiting different characters gives him room to play. His more well-known comedy stylings (he famously passed on the role of Chandler in Friends, allowing best friend Matthew Perry to land the part) work in his favor as he drops into his baffled 1937 avatar, while his mugging is well-suited to another avatar’s more diabolical tendencies.

It helps that Bierko is paired with consistently fantastic character actor Vincent D’Onofrio, who is also playing several roles. In 1999, he’s an affable, floppy-haired techie. In 1937, he’s steely-eyed, dangerous, and far too observant of his surroundings to remain tethered to a virtual world. Bierko’s Hall has several suspects while investigating his mentor’s murder, and at key points in the story, it’s easy to become convinced that D’Onofrio could be all of them. He’s just that good at playing a calculating, suspicious character.

Loosely based on Daniel F. Galouye’s 1964 novel, Simulacron-3, The Thirteenth Floor deftly remakes Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s 1973 miniseries World on a Wire. With its similar themes of simulation and existential uncertainty but without The Matrix’s groundbreaking special effects (the closest you’ll get to that here is some neon green lasers and a dry ice machine in the virtual reality machine room), The Thirteenth Floor embraces a subtle, noir-driven central mystery that opts to explore personal guilt and romantic anguish instead.

Clearly, that wasn’t an approach that got butts in seats back in 1999, but if you love The Matrix and Dark City and pine for the days of original sci-fi, it might be time to give The Thirteenth Floor a look.

The post The Overlooked Sci-Fi Movie That Got Lost in The Matrix’s Shadow appeared first on Den of Geek.

Since it premiered way back in – wait, this can’t be right – 1997(!?!), South Park has never let a good holiday go to waste. Whether it’s Jesus going Rambo to rescue Santa Claus, a three-part Black Friday extravaganza, or the introduction of the “Hare Club for Men,” Comedy Central’s animated classic knows how to […]

The post South Park: Ranking The Best Halloween Episodes appeared first on Den of Geek.

1999 was a big year for movies. Fight Club, American Pie, and The Phantom Menace all proved popular for different reasons, while original sci-fi was still a booming genre. That year, two fascinating sci-fi films emerged, both determined to explore the idea that reality might not be what it seems. One was The Matrix (you’ve probably heard of it!) and the other was The Thirteenth Floor, a noir story that unfortunately got lost in the shadow of “bullet time” and leather-clad martial arts.

In The Matrix, Neo (Keanu Reeves) discovers that the world he lives in is a simulated reality created by machines, and that the “real” world is a desolate wasteland. But The Thirteenth Floor explores virtual worlds instead, building layers of simulation from 1937 Los Angeles to 1999 LA and beyond. Both films ask their characters to question what is real and which reality they will settle for.

Just before The Matrix and The Thirteenth Floor were released, Alex Proyas’ Dark City also posed the same questions. All three movies had distinct visual styles and approaches. Where The Matrix used that now-iconic green hue, inspired by phosphor-coated green computer displays and in contrast with the cold blue of reality, Dark City opted for German Expressionism—oppressively dark and rain-slicked. In contrast, The Thirteenth Floor was presented in rich color tones, from a sepia-tinged 1937 to a neon-dotted 90s cityscape.

Of course, The Matrix became a blockbuster and spawned three sequels, whereas Dark City and The Thirteenth Floor didn’t make any money. Although Dark City has gone on to become a cult classic, The Thirteenth Floor has been largely forgotten, and we’d argue that’s a damn shame.

The film stars Craig Bierko (The Long Kiss Goodnight) as Douglas Hall, a computer scientist who discovers that his colleague, Hannon Fuller (Armin Mueller-Stahl), has created a fully immersive simulation of 1937 Los Angeles. When Fuller is found murdered, Hall becomes the prime suspect and begins investigating Fuller’s last days. Eventually, he realizes that the simulated world is way more sophisticated than he thought.

As Hall navigates both the virtual 1937 setting and the 1999 world, he encounters characters whose lives and identities are intertwined across both realities. Betrayals and hidden motives slowly unravel, forcing Hall to confront the possibility that his own world may be a simulation.

The cast is solid, with Gretchen Mol and Dennis Haysbert in supporting roles. Arguably, Bierko isn’t an acting powerhouse, but inhabiting different characters gives him room to play. His more well-known comedy stylings (he famously passed on the role of Chandler in Friends, allowing best friend Matthew Perry to land the part) work in his favor as he drops into his baffled 1937 avatar, while his mugging is well-suited to another avatar’s more diabolical tendencies.

It helps that Bierko is paired with consistently fantastic character actor Vincent D’Onofrio, who is also playing several roles. In 1999, he’s an affable, floppy-haired techie. In 1937, he’s steely-eyed, dangerous, and far too observant of his surroundings to remain tethered to a virtual world. Bierko’s Hall has several suspects while investigating his mentor’s murder, and at key points in the story, it’s easy to become convinced that D’Onofrio could be all of them. He’s just that good at playing a calculating, suspicious character.

Loosely based on Daniel F. Galouye’s 1964 novel, Simulacron-3, The Thirteenth Floor deftly remakes Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s 1973 miniseries World on a Wire. With its similar themes of simulation and existential uncertainty but without The Matrix’s groundbreaking special effects (the closest you’ll get to that here is some neon green lasers and a dry ice machine in the virtual reality machine room), The Thirteenth Floor embraces a subtle, noir-driven central mystery that opts to explore personal guilt and romantic anguish instead.

Clearly, that wasn’t an approach that got butts in seats back in 1999, but if you love The Matrix and Dark City and pine for the days of original sci-fi, it might be time to give The Thirteenth Floor a look.

The post The Overlooked Sci-Fi Movie That Got Lost in The Matrix’s Shadow appeared first on Den of Geek.

Every Trekkie knows that Star Trek wouldn’t exist without ’60s sitcoms. I Love Lucy star Lucille Ball’s company Desilu produced the show, and she used her clout to help Gene Roddenberry get an unprecedented second pilot after CBS execs passed on the first. But a different ’60s sitcom helped continue the Star Trek legacy by […]

The post Star Trek: Voyager Drew Inspiration from a Forgotten ’60s Sitcom appeared first on Den of Geek.

1999 was a big year for movies. Fight Club, American Pie, and The Phantom Menace all proved popular for different reasons, while original sci-fi was still a booming genre. That year, two fascinating sci-fi films emerged, both determined to explore the idea that reality might not be what it seems. One was The Matrix (you’ve probably heard of it!) and the other was The Thirteenth Floor, a noir story that unfortunately got lost in the shadow of “bullet time” and leather-clad martial arts.

In The Matrix, Neo (Keanu Reeves) discovers that the world he lives in is a simulated reality created by machines, and that the “real” world is a desolate wasteland. But The Thirteenth Floor explores virtual worlds instead, building layers of simulation from 1937 Los Angeles to 1999 LA and beyond. Both films ask their characters to question what is real and which reality they will settle for.

Just before The Matrix and The Thirteenth Floor were released, Alex Proyas’ Dark City also posed the same questions. All three movies had distinct visual styles and approaches. Where The Matrix used that now-iconic green hue, inspired by phosphor-coated green computer displays and in contrast with the cold blue of reality, Dark City opted for German Expressionism—oppressively dark and rain-slicked. In contrast, The Thirteenth Floor was presented in rich color tones, from a sepia-tinged 1937 to a neon-dotted 90s cityscape.

Of course, The Matrix became a blockbuster and spawned three sequels, whereas Dark City and The Thirteenth Floor didn’t make any money. Although Dark City has gone on to become a cult classic, The Thirteenth Floor has been largely forgotten, and we’d argue that’s a damn shame.

The film stars Craig Bierko (The Long Kiss Goodnight) as Douglas Hall, a computer scientist who discovers that his colleague, Hannon Fuller (Armin Mueller-Stahl), has created a fully immersive simulation of 1937 Los Angeles. When Fuller is found murdered, Hall becomes the prime suspect and begins investigating Fuller’s last days. Eventually, he realizes that the simulated world is way more sophisticated than he thought.

As Hall navigates both the virtual 1937 setting and the 1999 world, he encounters characters whose lives and identities are intertwined across both realities. Betrayals and hidden motives slowly unravel, forcing Hall to confront the possibility that his own world may be a simulation.

The cast is solid, with Gretchen Mol and Dennis Haysbert in supporting roles. Arguably, Bierko isn’t an acting powerhouse, but inhabiting different characters gives him room to play. His more well-known comedy stylings (he famously passed on the role of Chandler in Friends, allowing best friend Matthew Perry to land the part) work in his favor as he drops into his baffled 1937 avatar, while his mugging is well-suited to another avatar’s more diabolical tendencies.

It helps that Bierko is paired with consistently fantastic character actor Vincent D’Onofrio, who is also playing several roles. In 1999, he’s an affable, floppy-haired techie. In 1937, he’s steely-eyed, dangerous, and far too observant of his surroundings to remain tethered to a virtual world. Bierko’s Hall has several suspects while investigating his mentor’s murder, and at key points in the story, it’s easy to become convinced that D’Onofrio could be all of them. He’s just that good at playing a calculating, suspicious character.

Loosely based on Daniel F. Galouye’s 1964 novel, Simulacron-3, The Thirteenth Floor deftly remakes Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s 1973 miniseries World on a Wire. With its similar themes of simulation and existential uncertainty but without The Matrix’s groundbreaking special effects (the closest you’ll get to that here is some neon green lasers and a dry ice machine in the virtual reality machine room), The Thirteenth Floor embraces a subtle, noir-driven central mystery that opts to explore personal guilt and romantic anguish instead.

Clearly, that wasn’t an approach that got butts in seats back in 1999, but if you love The Matrix and Dark City and pine for the days of original sci-fi, it might be time to give The Thirteenth Floor a look.

The post The Overlooked Sci-Fi Movie That Got Lost in The Matrix’s Shadow appeared first on Den of Geek.

With a title like Doomsday, it sure seems like the next Avengers outing will be a glum one. The film will not only see the great Fantastic Four nemesis Doctor Doom arrive in the form of the Avengers’ fallen comrade Tony Stark, but likely also feature the destruction of multiple realities, including the happy world […]

The post Shang-Chi Star Calls Avengers: Doomsday a Superhero Love Letter appeared first on Den of Geek.

1999 was a big year for movies. Fight Club, American Pie, and The Phantom Menace all proved popular for different reasons, while original sci-fi was still a booming genre. That year, two fascinating sci-fi films emerged, both determined to explore the idea that reality might not be what it seems. One was The Matrix (you’ve probably heard of it!) and the other was The Thirteenth Floor, a noir story that unfortunately got lost in the shadow of “bullet time” and leather-clad martial arts.

In The Matrix, Neo (Keanu Reeves) discovers that the world he lives in is a simulated reality created by machines, and that the “real” world is a desolate wasteland. But The Thirteenth Floor explores virtual worlds instead, building layers of simulation from 1937 Los Angeles to 1999 LA and beyond. Both films ask their characters to question what is real and which reality they will settle for.

Just before The Matrix and The Thirteenth Floor were released, Alex Proyas’ Dark City also posed the same questions. All three movies had distinct visual styles and approaches. Where The Matrix used that now-iconic green hue, inspired by phosphor-coated green computer displays and in contrast with the cold blue of reality, Dark City opted for German Expressionism—oppressively dark and rain-slicked. In contrast, The Thirteenth Floor was presented in rich color tones, from a sepia-tinged 1937 to a neon-dotted 90s cityscape.

Of course, The Matrix became a blockbuster and spawned three sequels, whereas Dark City and The Thirteenth Floor didn’t make any money. Although Dark City has gone on to become a cult classic, The Thirteenth Floor has been largely forgotten, and we’d argue that’s a damn shame.

The film stars Craig Bierko (The Long Kiss Goodnight) as Douglas Hall, a computer scientist who discovers that his colleague, Hannon Fuller (Armin Mueller-Stahl), has created a fully immersive simulation of 1937 Los Angeles. When Fuller is found murdered, Hall becomes the prime suspect and begins investigating Fuller’s last days. Eventually, he realizes that the simulated world is way more sophisticated than he thought.

As Hall navigates both the virtual 1937 setting and the 1999 world, he encounters characters whose lives and identities are intertwined across both realities. Betrayals and hidden motives slowly unravel, forcing Hall to confront the possibility that his own world may be a simulation.

The cast is solid, with Gretchen Mol and Dennis Haysbert in supporting roles. Arguably, Bierko isn’t an acting powerhouse, but inhabiting different characters gives him room to play. His more well-known comedy stylings (he famously passed on the role of Chandler in Friends, allowing best friend Matthew Perry to land the part) work in his favor as he drops into his baffled 1937 avatar, while his mugging is well-suited to another avatar’s more diabolical tendencies.

It helps that Bierko is paired with consistently fantastic character actor Vincent D’Onofrio, who is also playing several roles. In 1999, he’s an affable, floppy-haired techie. In 1937, he’s steely-eyed, dangerous, and far too observant of his surroundings to remain tethered to a virtual world. Bierko’s Hall has several suspects while investigating his mentor’s murder, and at key points in the story, it’s easy to become convinced that D’Onofrio could be all of them. He’s just that good at playing a calculating, suspicious character.

Loosely based on Daniel F. Galouye’s 1964 novel, Simulacron-3, The Thirteenth Floor deftly remakes Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s 1973 miniseries World on a Wire. With its similar themes of simulation and existential uncertainty but without The Matrix’s groundbreaking special effects (the closest you’ll get to that here is some neon green lasers and a dry ice machine in the virtual reality machine room), The Thirteenth Floor embraces a subtle, noir-driven central mystery that opts to explore personal guilt and romantic anguish instead.

Clearly, that wasn’t an approach that got butts in seats back in 1999, but if you love The Matrix and Dark City and pine for the days of original sci-fi, it might be time to give The Thirteenth Floor a look.

The post The Overlooked Sci-Fi Movie That Got Lost in The Matrix’s Shadow appeared first on Den of Geek.

1999 was a big year for movies. Fight Club, American Pie, and The Phantom Menace all proved popular for different reasons, while original sci-fi was still a booming genre. That year, two fascinating sci-fi films emerged, both determined to explore the idea that reality might not be what it seems. One was The Matrix (you’ve […]

The post The Overlooked Sci-Fi Movie That Got Lost in The Matrix’s Shadow appeared first on Den of Geek.

1999 was a big year for movies. Fight Club, American Pie, and The Phantom Menace all proved popular for different reasons, while original sci-fi was still a booming genre. That year, two fascinating sci-fi films emerged, both determined to explore the idea that reality might not be what it seems. One was The Matrix (you’ve probably heard of it!) and the other was The Thirteenth Floor, a noir story that unfortunately got lost in the shadow of “bullet time” and leather-clad martial arts.

In The Matrix, Neo (Keanu Reeves) discovers that the world he lives in is a simulated reality created by machines, and that the “real” world is a desolate wasteland. But The Thirteenth Floor explores virtual worlds instead, building layers of simulation from 1937 Los Angeles to 1999 LA and beyond. Both films ask their characters to question what is real and which reality they will settle for.

Just before The Matrix and The Thirteenth Floor were released, Alex Proyas’ Dark City also posed the same questions. All three movies had distinct visual styles and approaches. Where The Matrix used that now-iconic green hue, inspired by phosphor-coated green computer displays and in contrast with the cold blue of reality, Dark City opted for German Expressionism—oppressively dark and rain-slicked. In contrast, The Thirteenth Floor was presented in rich color tones, from a sepia-tinged 1937 to a neon-dotted 90s cityscape.

Of course, The Matrix became a blockbuster and spawned three sequels, whereas Dark City and The Thirteenth Floor didn’t make any money. Although Dark City has gone on to become a cult classic, The Thirteenth Floor has been largely forgotten, and we’d argue that’s a damn shame.

The film stars Craig Bierko (The Long Kiss Goodnight) as Douglas Hall, a computer scientist who discovers that his colleague, Hannon Fuller (Armin Mueller-Stahl), has created a fully immersive simulation of 1937 Los Angeles. When Fuller is found murdered, Hall becomes the prime suspect and begins investigating Fuller’s last days. Eventually, he realizes that the simulated world is way more sophisticated than he thought.

As Hall navigates both the virtual 1937 setting and the 1999 world, he encounters characters whose lives and identities are intertwined across both realities. Betrayals and hidden motives slowly unravel, forcing Hall to confront the possibility that his own world may be a simulation.

The cast is solid, with Gretchen Mol and Dennis Haysbert in supporting roles. Arguably, Bierko isn’t an acting powerhouse, but inhabiting different characters gives him room to play. His more well-known comedy stylings (he famously passed on the role of Chandler in Friends, allowing best friend Matthew Perry to land the part) work in his favor as he drops into his baffled 1937 avatar, while his mugging is well-suited to another avatar’s more diabolical tendencies.

It helps that Bierko is paired with consistently fantastic character actor Vincent D’Onofrio, who is also playing several roles. In 1999, he’s an affable, floppy-haired techie. In 1937, he’s steely-eyed, dangerous, and far too observant of his surroundings to remain tethered to a virtual world. Bierko’s Hall has several suspects while investigating his mentor’s murder, and at key points in the story, it’s easy to become convinced that D’Onofrio could be all of them. He’s just that good at playing a calculating, suspicious character.

Loosely based on Daniel F. Galouye’s 1964 novel, Simulacron-3, The Thirteenth Floor deftly remakes Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s 1973 miniseries World on a Wire. With its similar themes of simulation and existential uncertainty but without The Matrix’s groundbreaking special effects (the closest you’ll get to that here is some neon green lasers and a dry ice machine in the virtual reality machine room), The Thirteenth Floor embraces a subtle, noir-driven central mystery that opts to explore personal guilt and romantic anguish instead.

Clearly, that wasn’t an approach that got butts in seats back in 1999, but if you love The Matrix and Dark City and pine for the days of original sci-fi, it might be time to give The Thirteenth Floor a look.

The post The Overlooked Sci-Fi Movie That Got Lost in The Matrix’s Shadow appeared first on Den of Geek.