******REDWOOD-SIZED SPOILERS!****** My wife teaches high school animation, and we’ve both been fans of Laika Studios; a San Francisco-based production company specializing in stop-motion puppet animation. 17 years ago, it was love at first sight for both of us with “Coraline” (2009), Laika’s debut feature film based on the surreal Neil Gaiman novella about a…
“Godzilla Minus Zero” (2026) is a monster mash that doesn’t lose its humanity…
******KEIJU-SIZED SPOILERS!****** I’ve been a fan of Toho’s Godzilla movies for literally as long as I can remember. Used to have the Monogram model kit as a kid (with optional glow-in-the-dark pieces) and I currently own most of the movies on DVD/Blu-ray. In 2004, I attended the Hollywood premiere of “Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S” and saw…
How I stumbled into The Planetary Society’s Roundtable Discussion Tour in Pasadena California…
A little over a week ago (as of this writing), I was staying in a nice Hyatt hotel in downtown Pasadena, across from the Convention Center, where my wife was attending the ‘Lightbox Expo’ animation convention (she teaches animation and art), which I was not attending. I only tagged along to be with her, and…
From the Stage to the Stars: Remembering Sir Patrick Stewart (1940-2026)…
This has been a very hard week for Star Trek fans. First, there was the passing of Walter Koenig earlier this week at age 90, and now Sir Patrick Stewart at age 86, following an aggressive bout of Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia. Nevertheless, Stewart seemed to have remained busy until nearly the very…
Personal favorite roles of the late Tom Skerritt (1933-2026) …
Two days ago, as of this writing, I learned of the passing of actor Tom Skerritt from natural causes at age 93. One of the unspoken side effects of aging is that you live long enough to see so many of your favorites depart. While I never met Skerritt personally at any of the conventions…
Mel Brooks’ musical of “Young Frankenstein” is puttin’ on the ritz in the Inland Empire…
******SPOOKY SPOILERS!****** In the span of a month, my wife and I have gone to see comedian Paula Poundstone, comedian/world class art-collector Cheech Marin, and, as of this weekend, director/writer/comedy legend Mel Brooks’ 2007 musical adaptation of his own 1974 horror-comedy film “Young Frankenstein”; all at the modern, comfortable Lewis Family Playhouse. The Inland Empire-based…
Retro-Musings for Halloween: “The House that Dripped Blood” (1971) doesn’t waste a single drop…
******BLOODY GOOD SPOILERS!****** As a little kid, my favorite magazine (made of paper, for younger readers) was editor-publisher Forry Ackerman’s legendary “Famous Monsters of Filmland,” the behind-the-scenes horror magazine that launched more than a few careers, and inspired many of its young readers (my then eight-year old self among them). One image from that magazine…
Beaming up for “The Sixty-Year Mission: How Star Trek Changed Television and the World”…
Made by Star Trek fans for Star Trek fans I’ve been a fan of writer Mark Altman since his days at Cinefantastique magazine, which was a must-read for me in my twenties and thirties. I’d later buy Altman’s books, including “The Fifty-Year Mission: The Complete, Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History of Star Trek,” which he cowrote…
“Backrooms” (2026) explores other dimensions of horror …
******SPATIAL SPOILERS!****** Every so often, I like to do random image searches on my computer for liminal spaces. Images of deserted spaces between destinations; empty corridors, a bus depot late at night, abandoned offices, warehouses, etc. For some reason, I find the solitude eerie, yet oddly tranquil. Having worked retail for (too) many years in…
An evening with Cheech Marin: Culture, Comedy & Chicano Art…
Somewhere East of “East L.A”… Having recently seen comedian Paula Poundstone at the Lewis Family Playhouse, as well as the amazing one-man play “I’m Not a Comedian… I’m Lenny Bruce,” written and performed by Ronnie Marmo (“General Hospital”) the Inland Empire-based theater is quickly becoming a favorite venue of mine. Its auditorium is much smaller…
Retro-Musings for Halloween: “Tales from the Crypt” (1972) digs up up a few good scares…
******SPOOKY SPOILERS!****** Back in 1981, in eighth grade, I made the “Perfect Attendance Club” at my middle school (the only year I’d do so). The reward for our tireless academic dedication (hehe) was an exclusive auditorium screening of a horror anthology movie from Amicus Productions called “Tales from the Crypt” (1972), in full 16mm glory….
Making my newish car CD-friendly…
It’s a phase Longtime readers of this space might realize that I’m a diehard aficionado of physical media. I’ve already done a couple of columns on the collectivity of it (Still crazy after all these years…), and even the importance of it, in the age of streaming (My ongoing reasons for owning physical media). One…