Alvin's Adventures in Pop Culture

Alvin Gets His Geek On: SFX Convention 2005

When I arrived at the Metro Convention Centre on Friday afternoon for my first-ever science fiction convention, it was a bit overwhelming. There were tons of people (many in costume) and lines everywhere. I wondered to myself, “Am I as much of a sci-fi fan as these Wookie-fur-wearing, Klingon-speaking folks?” As I overheard conversations in…

Fifteen Flicks for Fall

Summer’s coming to a close. Blockbuster season (such as it was) is over. As we gear up for the battle of the Oscar contenders, there are still plenty of awesome offerings that aren’t necessarily all about going for the statuette. Here are my most anticipated films for the rest of the year. By the way,…

Capsule Movie Review: Mean Creek (2004)

“When a small town kid gets beat up by a school bully, his brother and his friends decide to teach the bully a lesson.” It sounds like the plot to an afterschool special. When the prank goes tragically awry, it starts to sounds like a coming-of-age melodrama. I think this film actually comes somewhere in…

Not your father’s Galactica

The brave new series that no one should miss I just finished watching the season one finale of Battlestar Galactica and I have to say that this is a totally awesome show. Conceptually it starts off in an interesting place—not that robots taking revenge on their creators is a new concept: everything from Frankenstein to…

Capsule movie review: The Forgotten

This title is so ripe for punning: “If only this terrible movie could be so easily forgotten!” Julianne Moore stars as a mother who is having trouble letting go of the memory of her nine-year-old son, who is presumed dead after his plane went down. She’s constantly looking at photos and videos of him to…

What I Watched On My Summer Vacation

For TV fans, summer is typically a dead zone of reruns. Most people might take the opportunity for some fresh air or sun tannage, but I intended it to be a time for catching up on the movies that I missed while my eyes were glued to the latest episode of Lost or Desperate Housewives….

Podcasts: An infotainment buffet

When the new iTunes version 4.9 came along, I and thousands of other iTunes users suddenly discovered the wild and wonderful world of podcasts. They are an amazing additional source of content, and if I didn’t already love my iPod for the music I might get one just for listening to podcasts. What’s a podcast?…

Book Review: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

SPOILER WARNING: IF YOU HAVEN’T READ THE BOOK, STOP READING THIS BLOG. I wanted to start out my blogging experience with this book because I’m a huge Potter fan and it seemed like a good occasion to begin. I knew I would have lots of thoughts about the book after reading it, and questions that…