Were you a fan of 80s “creature features”? Y’know, B-movie horrors like Gremlins, Ghoulies, CHUD, Arachnophobia or even more serious ones like Alien? Well, this movie is a great throwback to those kinds of scary, fun flics. It all takes place on a single night in a south London housing project nicknamed “The Block”. As…
Category: Sci-fi
Prometheus – Movie Review
Prometheus raises a lot of questions, starting with whether or not this is really a prequel to the Alien trilogy. Let’s call it a loose prequel because there are no direct connections between this movie and the Alien movies. There are definitely a lot of echoes (prechoes?), including the self-serving super-corporation, untrustworthy androids, deadly creatures…
Men In Black III – Movie Review
Does the role of Agent J allow Will Smith to be cool, or is it Smith’s coolness that makes the role? Either way, Smith’s reprising his role as Agent J seems to have restored some of the Fresh Prince mojo that seems to have been lacking from recent roles (which have tended to be on…
2012 TV Season Wrap-up
Nowadays, courtesy of the Internet information machine, we are privy to what used to be considered “insider” info about the TV biz. We find out in May (courtesy of the “upfront” presentations where the networks unveil their fall schedules) which shows will be returning in the fall, and which ones won’t. We also get a…
The Avengers – Movie Review
When I heard that Marvel Entertainment was planning to do individual superhero movies that would culminate in The Avengers bringing all the characters and cast together in a superhero team movie, it seemed ambitious to say the least. Thank goodness they got a capable director like Joss Whedon, who’s also a genre/comic book fan himself….
Cabin In The Woods – Movie Review
Most of the hype around this movie is about two things: how it defies (or plays with) conventions of the horror movie genre; and how it took (courtesy of the fall of studios) three years to see the light of movie screens. I don’t have much to say about the second topic, but the first…
The Hunger Games – Movie Review
Happy Hunger Games! In adapting a book to screen, living up to the expectations of readers about how the characters look and act is not the only challenge. If you can make viewers tear up when a scene is moving, or jump when a scene is surprising even though they already know what’s coming, that’s…
Kraken by China Mieville – Capsule Book Review
A literate novel about odd, cleverly-conceived cults who worship ancient gods and primal forces; a magical reality right under our noses (set in London, no less!); an epic end-of-days scope worthy of Joss Whedon; not to mention a squad of occult police officers — these are all the crazy elements that I’d love in a…
70 Science Fiction and Fantasy Movies to Watch Out for in 2012
70 Science Fiction and Fantasy Movies to Watch Out for in 2012 (from io9.com) Link out for a great summary of the scifi/fantasy/horror horizon for this new year. Reading through the list, I noticed four odd trends, and one great one: Fairytale reinterpretations – We already have TV’s Once Upon a Time and Grimm, now…
Alvin's Adventures in Pop Culture 