I swore I wasn’t going to do another column this month as my wife and I prepare to celebrate our silver anniversary this week (yay, us!), but something extraordinary happened last night. Vandenberg Air Force Base (some 200 miles/320 km away from me, near the cities of Lompoc and Santa Maria) launched another SpaceX Falcon…
Month: June 2024
From “Hawkeye Pierce” to “The Hunger Games”; Donald Sutherland, 1935-2024…
Donald Sutherland, 1935-2024 I’ve done a lot of tributes to late actors, writers, and other notable creatives on this site, and it’s usually when I have some small personal connection to them; such as a convention meeting, or some other little moment. But no, I’ve never met Donald Sutherland, nor have I ever seen him…
“Close Encounters of the Third Kind”; introducing Steven Spielberg’s 1977 UFOpus to fresh eyes…
*****MOTHERSHIP-SIZED SPOILERS!***** “If everything’s ready here on the dark side of the moon? Play the five tones…” When the COVID pandemic happened, my wife and I invested in a cheap Vankyo digital projector to keep up on our movies since movie theaters were shut down for months, and arguably, still haven’t fully recovered. Without the…
The Gorn Identity: Star Trek’s revision of an iconic alien species…
*****SAURIAN SPOILERS!***** Contrary to my own silly title, this is not a column about a reptilian super-spy who awakens with amnesia. No, this is about a little pet peeve of mine within the Star Trek franchise. I have been a fan of Star Trek since the mid-1970s with reruns of the original series of Star…
Prequel to the prequels: “Star Wars: The Acolyte” is a middling mix of “Kung Fu” and “Harry Potter”…
******STARSHIP-SIZED SPOILERS!****** A pupil leaves the monastic temple they grew up in, roaming to different lands, seeking new adventures, and getting into life-and-death scrapes as their unique skillset is often put to the test. That is the premise of both TV’s “Kung Fu” (1972-1975) and the new Disney+ Star Wars streaming spinoff, “The Acolyte.” And…
Actor William Russell (1924-2024) will be remembered across time and (relative dimensions in) space…
Yesterday, I learned of the sad passing of a Doctor Who original cast member, and it brought me back to 2019, when my wife and I attended the “Gallifrey One” Doctor Who convention in Los Angeles. Beyond being a Doctor Who fan, one of my motivations for attending was special guest, William Russell, the actor…
“Star Trek: Discovery” (2017-2024); the often-problematic series that reignited Star Trek ends its own ‘five-year mission’…
*****SPORE-DRIVE SPOILERS!****** Premiering in September of 2017 on the then all-new “CBS All Access” streaming service, which quickly became ParamountPlus, “Star Trek: Discovery” (DSC) has finally ended a five-season run; a season earlier than expected. Five seasons is two seasons more than the original “Star Trek” (1966-9), though a couple seasons shy of most Star…