It’s that time of year again. Beloved shows are back on air and new shows are vying to find their way into our viewing schedule (and our hearts). The premiere period seems to be pretty tight this year and a lot of shows have started or are starting again within a couple of weeks of…
Category: Fantasy
Movie #18: Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons
As a kid, I grew up hearing Chinese folk tales as bedtime stories. The most well-known of them all is the Journey to the West: the story of the trickster-god Monkey King and his companions as they travel across an ancient China plagued by demons. When I heard that Stephen Chow, writer and director of…
Movie #14: Knights of Badassdom
I do love a good genre spoof. There are often a lot of inside jokes (most of which I actually get) and fun cameos. Often the plot is nothing too original, but that’s OK. In the case of Knights of Badassdom, the genre is fantasy role-play — specifically LARP (or live-action role-play) — where players…
Movie #13: Ragnarok
It is hardly surprising that people compare Norwegian director Mikkel Brænne Sandemose’s movie Ragnarok to something by Steven Spielberg (most obviously Jurassic Park). Once again we have a scientist (this time an archaelogist rather than a paleontologist) looking to prove his wildly dismissed theories about the past (in this case it’s about the site where…
Movie #12: Noah
I was pleasantly surprised by Noah, partly because director Darren Aronofsky was able to bring a new take on a story that is so familiar that it’s primal. In fact, this epic retelling of the story of Noah (played by Russell Crowe) may not be totally true to the account found in the Bible (or…
Movie #10: The Congress
I guess it’s not surprising, but so often with independent films with sci-fi themes, you are never quite sure what you’re going to get. Being science fiction gives them the license to go almost anywhere with story and character because the anchoring concept can be something totally out-there. The Congress is an odd blend to…
Movie #6: 300: Rise of an Empire
Another 300 movie was originally very exciting to me. 300: Rise of an Empire was not really going to be a sequel, but set around the same time and events of the first film. In fact, the movie is narrated by Queen Gorgo (played again by Lena Headey, borrowing from her own portrayal of Queen…
Movie #2: About Time
I may not be a fan of romantic comedy, but I make exception for the British take on the boy-meets-girl movie. The blend of dry wit with heart-warming sentimentality has made writer-director Richard Curtis a master of these movies, having been responsible for some of my faves such as Notting Hill, Four Weddings and a…
Super-fiction: Brilliance, Amped, Ex-Heroes, and Steelheart – Book Reviews
In case you have not noticed, superhumans are all the rage. Whether it’s being bitten by a spider, receiving a shiny green ring, being struck by some special lightning or meteor, or just by being born this way, people on screen are getting supernatural powers in droves. Movies like Amazing Spider-man and X-Men are obvious…
Alvin's Adventures in Pop Culture 