*****MARTIAN POLAR CAP-SIZED SPOILERS!***** As a kid in the 1970s, I remember staying up very late one night (well after my family had gone to sleep) to watch a movie on TV called “Robinson Crusoe on Mars” (1964). While the title sounded a bit goofy, the movie was amazing. I sat in rapt attention (even…
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!
What it was like to be a young “Star Wars” fan in the late 1970s…
“A long time ago…” As the name of this column alludes, these are the recollections and inspirations of a middle-aged geek (now in his 50s), who was a ten-year old kid in the summer of 1977 when a certain sci-fi space-fantasy blasted onto movie screens across the country and changed everything that came afterward. Literally….
“Gotta get back in time!” Enjoying a “Back to the Future” trilogy marathon…
*****DELOREAN-SIZED SPOILERS!***** This past Saturday, my friend Kathy (whom I’d known 35 years) and her 12-year old son Joshua came over for a marathon of the “Back to the Future” trilogy—all three films in one day. Joshua is a huge fan of 1980s movies, and after becoming enamored with “Ghostbusters” as a little boy, he…
Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune Part 2” finishes the first book, inviting comparisons and a sequel…
******SANDWORM-SIZED SPOILERS!****** After seeing Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune Part 2” last weekend, I went into this column realizing that everyone and their mutated baby sisters would also be publishing reviews of the film. So I decided to offer something beyond just praise for this latest epic from Frank Herbert’s 60-year old sci-fi universe, by comparing how…
Adam Sandler embarks on a space oddity in Netflix’s “Spaceman” (2024)…
******COSMODROME-SIZED SPOILERS!****** A Brief Synopsis Just saw a new Netflix movie called “Spaceman” (2024), starring Adam Sandler as a lone Czech cosmonaut named Jakub Prochazka who’s been sent to investigate a vast, mysteriously primordial “Chopra cloud” that’s wandered into our solar system and has been visible in the skies above an alternate Earth for the…
How 1973’s “American Graffiti” created a ripple effect still felt over 50 years later…
*****TWIN BARREL-CARB SPOILERS!***** After the arguably unjust box office failure of his arthouse-dystopian sci-fi film “THX-1138” (1971), George Lucas was challenged by his mentor and American Zoetrope producing partner Francis Ford Coppola (“The Godfather” trilogy, “Apocalypse Now”) to do something challenging to his own avant-garde sensibilities, which, for young George Lucas, meant creating a warm,…
Quantum Leap ends its second season with a two-part finale, “As the World Burns” and “Against Time”…
*****ZIGGY-SIZED SPOILERS!***** NBC/Peacock’s revived “Quantum Leap” just ended its second season, leaving the door wide open for a third, but given its uncertain future, this might be a series finale as well. The original Quantum Leap (1989-1993) was a time-traveling anthology series following the quest of Dr. Sam Beckett (Scott Bakula) to right past wrongs…
“Welcome (back) to Jurassic Park!” Seeing a modern classic through fresh eyes…
******BRACHIOSAUR-SIZED SPOILERS!****** My wife and I recently invited our longtime friend Kathy over for another of our ‘garage theater’ movie nights with her 12-year old son, Joshua, who is like a nephew to us (he cosplayed as “Luke” to our “Uncle Owen” and “Aunt Beru” for 2022’s Star Wars Celebration). Joshua was born well into…
“Virtual Trek Con 5” begins February 15th, through the 19th…
Are you one of those folks who can’t afford to attend a Star Trek convention, or for whom traveling to one is physically challenging or prohibitively expensive? Well, actors/hosts Ryan T. Husk and Cirroc Lofton from “The 7th Rule” podcast (link: The 7th Rule on YouTube) have got you covered with Virtual Trek Con 5,…
AppleTV’s “For All Mankind” season 4; what goes up, must come down…
******ASTEROID-SIZED SPOILERS!****** I’d like to reiterate my tremendous love for Ron Moore’s “For All Mankind”; it’s a brilliant alternate-reality series, which repeatedly demonstrates a healthy respect for authentic space science as well. The characters (past and present) are deeply compelling, with issues of sexism and racism left largely in humanity’s rear-view mirror as it begins…
“CreepIECon” returns to haunt the Inland Empire once again for 2024…
CreepIECon Returns! Debuting in February of 2022 and returning in February and September of 2023, the Inland Empire’s largest, steadiest and now bi-annual horror convention just gets bigger and bigger with each outing. I’ve covered the previous three CreepIECons for this site, and I bought my weekend pass for CreepIECon Returns, which has now expanded into a three-day event;…
Carl Weathers (1948-2024); heavyweight champion of a galaxy far, far away…
Today began like any other day. It was Groundhog’s Day, and I was preparing to attend another convention this weekend. Then I heard the news that actor Carl Weathers had passed away peacefully in his his sleep last night at age 76, and I was stunned. As of this writing, his cause of death remains unknown. Carl…