I have really missed those “family” sci-fi films of the 80s–the kind that put Steven Spielberg on the map–and it’s like a warm cup of Nestle’s Quik to be enjoying the nostalgic comfort and thrill again in JJ Abrams’s new movie, inspired by those films. It’s virtually impossible to watch Super 8 without thinking of…
Category: Sci-fi
X-Men: First Class – Movie Review
I didn’t really know what to expect from this prequel to the X-Men movies. I had heard good things, and the director Matthew Vaughn did a great job with Kick-Ass (one of my favourite movies of last year). However, I didn’t want them to rehash old stories (though we hadn’t really seen the origins of…
Fall TV Sneak Peek 2011
I know it seems odd to be talking about fall tv already. The spring tv season (with its cliffhangers and surprises) isn’t even cold in the ground yet, and summer tv (with its fluffy lightness) is still on the way. However, because all the major US networks have their upfront presentations to advertisers in May,…
TV season 2011: So long, cancelled shows
I don’t know if things are worse this year, but there seems to be a lot of buzz around all the shows that aren’t coming back next season. I thought I’d take a few bytes to say “Good riddance” or “I’ll miss you” to the best and worst of them. (BTW, I might not mention…
Sucker Punch – Movie Review
Why does everyone hate Sucker Punch? Was it the giant samurai robots toting artillery guns? Was it the WWI steampunk German zombies? Was it the fire-breathing dragons or the armies of orcs? Or was it the emphasis on over-the-top, stylized visuals over a bleak and irrelevant storyline? Does anyone really care about the depressing fable…
Paul – Movie Review
Has the pop cultural marketplace become over-saturated by geek-chic? How else can you explain how a comedy from popcult satirists Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (who brought us such great send-ups as Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz) can take aim at sci-fi geekdom and produce something so unfunny and cliche? (Perhaps it’s the…
The Adjustment Bureau – Movie Review
When I saw the trailer for The Adjustment Bureau, I saw similarities to two other rather different movies and I wondered which one was closer. With mysterious men-in-hats who secretly manipulate the world, is it going to be a mind-bending proto-film-noir like Dark City? Or when boy meets girl and they are kept apart by…
2010: The Year On Screen
Movies Each year I am less inspired to go out to the movie theatres. The hassle and the hell of other movie-goers is rarely compensated by the big screen experience these days despite (or maybe because of) the move to go all 3D all the time. Seeing TRON: Legacy in the second row in IMAX…
TRON: Legacy – Movie Review
Oh the humanity! How can a movie that looks so cool be such frustratingly bad sci-fi? I recently re-watched the first TRON movie. Its blue-screen effects and geometric designs were groundbreaking at the time, but definitely feel dated now (though the light-cycle scenes hold up pretty well). However, it’s the ideas about technology that truly…
Alvin's Adventures in Pop Culture 