Tour de Force; the long-delayed Star Wars Celebration 2022 returned to Anaheim with a vengeance…

Return of the Jedi. Twice delayed, understandably, due to the COVID pandemic, the Star Wars Celebration finally arrived at Anaheim, California, for the first time since 2015. When my wife Julia and I attended the 2015 show, we were only able to get tickets for one day (Saturday) of the four-day event, which felt like…

Remembering iconic sci-fi designer Colin Cantwell (1932-2022)…

Colin Cantwell, Rocket Man. This morning, I woke up to read that Colin Cantwell–a name I’ve known since my teens, and a man I had the pleasure of meeting three years ago–passed away at age 90, after a struggle with Alzheimer’s disease. No, his name may not be a household name in special effects, like…

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, S1.3; “Ghosts of Illyria” shares a few secrets…

*****STARSHIP-SIZED SPOILERS!!****** This week’s episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, “Ghosts of Illyria”, is a return to a storytelling device we’ve seen several times in the earliest episodes of new Star Trek series; the ship-wide epidemic. It was done in The Original Series’ (TOS) “The Naked Time,” The Next Generation’s (TNG) “The Naked Now”…

Diving into Luc Besson’s “The Fifth Element,” 25 years later…

*****SPACE CRUISE SHIP-SIZED SPOILERS!***** Acquired Taste. I remember seeing teaser trailers for French filmmaker Luc Besson’s “The Fifth Element” in early 1997, along with a dramatic TV spot during the Super Bowl (which, over time, has become more famous for its ads than the actual game). “The Fifth Element” promised an epic space opera, a…

Future Redux: “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” exits spacedock…

******STARSHIP-SIZED SPOILERS!****** Two years ago, sometime after Star Trek Discovery’s second season finale, I made a case on behalf of other Star Trek fans for a possible Captain Pike “Star Trek” series. Well, two years later, and the powers-that-be at Paramount+ have heard our pleas. “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” is a reality now, continuing…