“They’re baaaaaaack…” From its debut in February of 2022 , the bi-annual fright-fest known as “CreepIECon” (the IE capitalized for the Inland Empire region of SoCal), returns every February and September (as “CreepIECon Aftermath”) for SoCal residents (and a few out-of-staters) to partake in their shared love of horror and the supernatural. It’s Halloween in February, or…
Author: A Middle Aged Geek
I am a happily married, progressive-minded, middle-aged science fiction geek. My interests included photography, reading, movies, Halloween, and all kinds of nerdy-niche things. After months of prodding from my wife (and my friends), I decided to 'throw down' with a blog of all of my nerdiest of nerdly thoughts and musings... here's hoping you enjoy!
Something is very very wrong on “Saturn 3” (1980)…
******SATURNIAN-SIZED SPOILERS!****** From my preteen and early teen years eagerly devouring every copy of “Starlog” magazine in the late 1970s and early 1980s, there were a lot of movies that caught my attention, even though I often I lacked the means (i.e. transportation) to see them whenever I wished. That, and my parents weren’t keen…
“Star Trek: Section 31” (2025) is a “Suicide Squad” knockoff that boldly goes nowhere…
******SPACE STATION-SIZED SPOILERS!****** I’m a real fan of Michelle Yeoh. Loved her work in “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” (2000), “Everything Everywhere All at Once” (2022), “Tomorrow Never Dies” (1997), and even her performance in the otherwise so-so romcom, “Crazy Rich Asians” (2018). Despite all of that, I have mixed emotions about her character in Star…
A crew of animated animals goes with the “Flow” (2024)…
******MANY SPECIES OF SPOILERS!****** From the mind of 30-year old Latvian filmmaker (and composer) Gints Zilbalodis and cowritten by Matīss Kaža, “Flow” (aka “Straume”) is a genuine passion project. Made using free online Blender software, the movie has an expensive, rotoscoped look to it. With no dialogue–let alone humans–“Flow” has a unique soundscape of real…
50 years ago, the “Planet of the Apes” TV series (1974) drove my younger self bananas…
******SIMIAN-SPOILERS AHEAD!****** In the dim time before “Star Wars” utterly changed my life at age 10 in 1977, there was another major sci-fi franchise that had me collecting its action figures, play sets, cereal bowls and other memorabilia; it was “Planet of the Apes.” I was only two years old when the first film debuted…
No, Star Trek: Discovery hasn’t been ‘erased,’ nor has any other Star Trek…
******STARSHIP-SIZED SPOILERS!****** In light of the wildfire emergencies here in SoCal–the worst of which are about forty-odd minutes northwest of me–I’ve been reluctant to punch out another column just now, in case my electricity is suddenly cut to prevent sparking from fallen power lines. However, since I need the diversion, here goes. For this column,…
Checking into the latest Doctor Who Christmas Special, “Joy to the Worlds” (2024) …
******TARDIS-SIZED SPOILERS!****** Okay, I know I’m very late to the party on this one (by nearly two weeks or so), but the holidays have been very busy for my wife and I (see: my last post on the “Duran Duran” concert in Las Vegas), so without further ado, let’s check into the ‘Time Hotel’ of…
Seeing “Duran Duran” live in Las Vegas was a great way to end a tumultuous year…
2025 promises to be a year of turbulence and uncertainty. At the time of this writing (January 1st, 2025), the United States has already seen two terrorist incidents, including one in Louisiana that has killed 15 people (at last count) and another suspected car bombing involving a Tesla Cybertruck in Las Vegas. 2025 is off…
Personal Log: My favorite Christmas gift of all time…
Inspired by the talented blogger from FireWatersite, who recently put together a great list of groovy Christmas toys he and others of our generation enjoyed as kids, I remembered my greatest Christmas gift of them all. These days, my wife and I are not all that into gift-giving for each other (to quote Elias Sandoval…
Retro-Musings: Disney’s “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” is still shipshape and seaworthy after 70 years…
*****AHOY! GIANT SQUID-SIZED SPOILERS!***** I’ve not read the classic 1870s Jules Verne novel “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” (“Vingt Mille Lieues sous les mers”) in decades, but I remember enough of it to know that the book survives reasonably well in its epic 1954 Disney incarnation, despite some obvious upfront ‘Disneyfictaion.’ The episodic adventures of…
Retro-Musings: “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians”; 60 years of a children’s Christmas anti-classic…
******STOCKINGS STUFFED WITH SPOILERS!****** We of ‘a certain age’ (Gen Xers, Boomers) often look back on certain favorite films from our childhood with nostalgia and forgiveness; dismissing their flaws, leaps of logic and production shortcomings in favor of the warm, fuzzy memories they evoke. Oh, and then there’s “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians” (1964)… I…
Breaking into “Blake’s 7” series 1 on Blu-Ray (finally!)…
******46-YEAR OLD SPOILERS!****** In the late 1970s and early 1980s, I remember reading about a British TV show called “Blake’s 7” in the pages of the late, great “Starlog” magazine (my geek bible in those days). Written by Terry Nation (1930-1997), the novelist/screenwriter who created the Daleks for “Doctor Who,” the space opera “Blake’s 7”…