The first question around most water coolers about The Amazing Spider-Man seems to be, “Did we need another reboot of the Spider-man story so soon?” and the second (if your water cooler is frequented by movie buffs) is, “Can Marc Webb do a good job directing it when his only claim to fame is indie…
Category: Sci-fi
Movie #9: Limitless
Why do they have to keep doing this? Limitless starts out with an interesting sci-fi premise, then squanders it as merely a gimmick to lure us into a relatively typical story. Some might argue that that’s a rather harsh critique of this movie which actually has some style and carries the premise consistently through to…
Movie #6: Real Steel
I am no fan of boxing movies, so I was pretty sure that the gimmick of having robots doing the fighting wasn’t going to make me enjoy Real Steel any better. The stories in boxing movies are always predictable: underdog rising-star makes it good, suffers set-back, then comes back for the win; all the while…
Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson – Book Review
Do you often feel like computers have it in for you? Do you fear that the more technology advances, the more it’s going to take over our lives? I don’t really share those sentiments, but after reading Daniel H. Wilson’s novel Robopocalypse, I did start to look at all the gadgetry in my daily life…
Movie #3: In Time
Even from the previews, it was obvious that In Time was going to be another one of those movies where a cool, sci-fi premise was going to be stretched over a weak story (cast with some attractive young actors), like The Adjustment Bureau, or Source Code. The idea in this story is that everyone is…
Movie #2: Attack The Block
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…
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…
