As 2016 draws to a close (thank goodness! It’s been a brutal and ugly year…), I decided to take stock of the entertainment I’ve enjoyed over the year. I’ve made two lists, for movies and for television, here goes… FAVORITE MOVIES OF 2016: 1. The Arrival. This year’s “The Martian”/”Interstellar”; smart science fiction movie…
Month: December 2016
“Passengers” is a more enjoyable ride than expected…
***** Asteroid-sized SPOILERS ahead; possibly even BIGGER than those already given away in the damn trailers… ***** Just saw this one today. My wife and I didn’t have very high expectations based on the decidedly mixed reviews and mediocre buzz. Kind of a shame, because this was a surprisingly good science fiction/romance/adventure movie. Personally I’m…
“To me, she’s royalty…” RIP Carrie Fisher, 1956-2016
Because 2016 hasn’t been enough of a dick punch? Today we just lost Carrie Fisher, who clung to life for days following a heart attack on an international flight from London to LAX. She was only 60. And to guys and gals of my generation? She will be (like it or not) forever Princess…
Happy Life Day! The holiday season in fandom…
I’m of a certain generation (Gen Xers) who remember the Charlie Brown “Peanuts” holiday specials (with the Christmas and “Great Pumpkin” specials being standouts), and the stop-motion Rankin-Bass produced Christmas specials such as “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”, “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town”, “Little Drummer Boy” and others. These were fond childhood memories of TV…
Cinematic Star Wars
***** If you’ve not seen Star Wars or any of its sequels, there may be spoilers ahead, so quickly; go watch ALL OF THEM RIGHT AWAY so you can come back and read this as soon as possible (hehe) ***** Okay, now that we have that bit of business out of the way, onto this…
“Rogue One”: a spoiler-filled review
***** The following review contains big, fat, hairy spoilers all over the place. So, if you’ve not yet seen “Rogue One” and you don’t realize that it’s a prequel about the theft of the Death Star plans that leads to the battle station’s destruction as depicted in the 1977 “Star Wars” movie? Then I can’t…
Lost geek treasures found
Today’s entry is about two of my favorite scifi series; Doctor Who and Star Trek, and how I’ve recently had the delight of seeing rare treasures from each. These lost pieces of the two franchises were thought to be long gone, but thanks to dedicated efforts from professionals, fans and BBC/CBS studios, what was once…
Is one ever ‘too old’ to enjoy geeky things?
As I turn 50 this weekend (technically Monday, but…), I realize that I am more than middle-aged. I’m an oldster. I’m soon applicable for a senior discount at Denny’s. I’m slowly going gray. Everyone on TV looks like a baby to me now. All of my favorite songs are ‘classics.’ The joints ache, and…
Godspeed, John Glenn…
One of the original Mercury 7 astronauts, John H. Glenn Jr, the first American to fly into orbit (in February of 1962), the oldest American to go into space (at age 77 in October of 1998) and a multi-term US senator for decades, passed away today at age 95. I’ve heard of John Glenn since…
“Shin Godzilla” (2016) re-awakens a sleeping giant of Japanese cinema
Managed to catch this one in a one-night event at a local cinema back in October. And after 12 years, Toho studios revives the Godzilla brand with a vengeance. ****** SPOILERS!!! ****** This was (at least to my recollection) the most powerful and politically charged Godzilla film since the 1954 (unaltered) original film “Gojira” (the…
What did we Trek fans get for Star Trek’s 50th anniversary?
As my title page graphic might imply, I’m a serious Star Trek nerd. I’ll be honest; I’ve way too much bias to ever speak/write on the subject with any true objectivity. It’s been with me pretty much since the age of 8 or so and will probably follow me into the urn (which…
The night I lost my Miyazaki virginity…
Last night, my wife took me (somewhat reluctantly at first) to see a 15 year-anniversary screening at our local cinema of one of her all-time favorite movies; the Academy Award-winning modern classic, “Spirited Away” (2001). The animated feature is from Ghibli Studios, and is generally believed the be the masterpiece of prolific and legendary Japanese…