“The Orville”‘s sophomore season opener “Ja’loja” is the kind of fully character-driven story that “Star Trek: The Next Generation” rarely (if ever) had the courage to do without some kind of ‘space McGuffin’ B-story handy. With no particular mission or ticking clock to drive this episode, we spend this opening hour of season 2 really…
Month: December 2018
“SpiderMan: Into the Spider-Verse” truly tingles the spidey-senses…
I’ll admit, I wasn’t too keen on seeing the latest Sony/Marvel animated feature “SpiderMan: Into the Spider-Verse” (2018) for two reasons; (a) I’m getting just a little sick of cinematic superhero movies, and (b) because Spider-Man has already been rebooted several times in the last 18 years. That sentiment may seem a bit strange coming…
Happy holidays from a Middle-Aged Geek…
To those who’ve subscribed to this site as well as any/all casual readers, I just wanted to wish you and yours a happy holiday season, be it Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanza, Life Day or other (all alien holidays welcome, too). Best wishes for 2019 as well! Two years in now, 200 stories published with more to…
Deep Space Nine’s “Trials and Tribble-ations” is hip-deep in Star Trek love…
Star Trek’s 30th anniversary arrived in the fall of 1996, and it was a truly great time to be a Trekkie. I was turning 30 myself around that time, and Star Trek was everywhere; two concurrent TV series (“Deep Space Nine” “Voyager”), an explosion of books, a rather silly televised anniversary special on (defunct network)…
“Creed II”; a ringside proxy war of a new generation…
There’s something deeply appealing about the Rocky cinematic universe. That combination of the underdog story, colorful characters, irrepressible optimism, and the anticipation of a rousing (if unrealistic) boxing match or two. They’re as simple as a kindergarten lesson plan, formulaic as Diet Pepsi, predictable as a Swiss watch, but…I just love ‘em. They’re pure cinematic…
“The Orville” season one finally arrives on DVD (but no blu-ray)…
The Orville: Same great Star Trek taste, but half the calories. Creator/writer/producer/star Seth MacFarlane’s sci-fi/comedy series “The Orville” took a few episodes to grow on me, I’ll admit. At first, I wasn’t overly fond of some of the clumsily-inserted jokes and one-liners, but over time? Its earnestness, solid stories, diverse characterizations, and good-natured Star…
Nat Geo’s “Mars” warms a cold hell in its 2nd season…
Welcome to “Mars”… The first season of National Geographic channel’s new science fiction/documentary series “Mars” (based on the book “How We’ll Live On Mars” by Stephen Petranek) aired in late 2016 with six episodes telling the tale of the first group of humans to settle on the red planet. What differentiates this series from…
Doctor Who S11.10; “The Battle Of Ranskoor Av Kolos” ends less than triumphantly…
The 11th (new) series finale of Doctor Who is upon us, and like the rest of this somewhat uneven year’s offerings, it is (once again) a decidedly mixed bag. This season has hit brilliance with “Rosa” and “Demons of the Punjab,” only to fall flat with “Kerblam!” and “It Takes You Away.” Renewed Doctor…
Discovery Short Treks, 3 of 4: “The Brightest Star”…
After fighting with my CBS-All Access streaming service for about 40 minutes, I was finally able to stream the latest Star Trek: Discovery “Short Trek” through my iPhone and later onto my 21” computer monitor. Attempts to watch it on my living room TV via my Roku ended in many strangled curse words and…
Doctor Who 11.9, “It Takes You Away”…
The latest Doctor Who episode (S11.9), “It Takes You Away” doesn’t exactly have the most original central story idea to date, though a few heartstring-pulling (and genuinely bizarre) moments make it better than it could’ve been. ****TARDIS-SIZED SPOILERS!!**** If one is a Star Trek fan, then tonight’s Doctor Who should be familiar to those who’ve…