In an earlier column from six years ago, I sang the praises of physical media ownership (“Still crazy after all these years; why I continue to collect physical media”). And I still do. I’ve been watching a few recent YouTube videos which make the case for collecting VHS tapes, DVDs, Blu-Rays and 4K discs, even in…
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!
“The Creator” (2023) paints a sympathetic portrait of artificial intelligence…
******SYNTHETIC SPOILERS!****** Directed and cowritten by Gareth Edwards (“Rogue One,” “Godzilla”) with occasional collaborator Chris Weitz, “The Creator” was a movie I was curious to see late last year during its theatrical run. Unfortunately, events conspired to prevent that from happening, and it was gone from theaters before I had the chance. The trailer looked…
S#!t happens in Netflix’s “Leave the World Behind”…
******SUSPICIOUS SPOILERS!****** I have to admit, I took the bait on this one. Last month, I saw an interesting online trailer for Netflix’s “Leave the World Behind” (2023), based on a book by Rumaan Alam, who cowrote the screenplay with director Sam Esmail. Starring Oscar winners Julia Roberts (“Erin Brockovich”) and Mahershala Ali (“Moonlight”), along…
A few thoughts on “Oppenheimer” (2023)…
After nearly six months, I finally got around to seeing 2023’s “Oppenheimer” this past week. It’s not that I was avoiding it, it’s just that I haven’t fully regained my moviegoing mojo following the COVID pandemic (I have only seen a handful of movies theatrically this past year, including “Barbie”). Getting my old, arthritic butt…
“The Mandalorian and Grogu” make the jump from hyperspace onto the big screen…
From AP News: A new ‘Star Wars’ movie is coming to theaters: ‘The Mandalorian & Grogu.’ There hasn’t been a Star Wars film in theaters since 2019’s “Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker,” which received mixed reviews at best (personally, I thought it wasn’t too bad, despite some issues), which means this announcement…
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’s “Past Tense” Parts 1 & 2 foretells a future-present…
******STARSHIP-SIZED SPOILERS!****** The Star Trek: Deep Space Nine two-parter “Past Tense” debuted 29 years ago this month (January 5th and January 12th, 1995), and it was set in the then-near future of 2024, which is now. The episode itself forecast a dark, vaguely fascistic era where homeless people are rounded up en masse and placed…
Retro-Musings: Peter Fonda takes on killer androids in 1976’s “Futureworld”…
*****CYBERNETIC SPOILERS!***** Written and directed by the late Michael Crichton (“Jurassic Park”), 1973’s “Westworld” told the story of a high-end amusement park staffed with android playthings who provide wealthy guests with an immersive experience in several recreated worlds of the past; “Medieval world,” “Roman world,” and the titular “Westworld.” It’s in Westworld where a recently…
Doctor Who Special #4: “The Church on Ruby Road” is a refreshing restart…
******TARDIS-SIZED SPOILERS!****** Last we saw the new Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa), he’d just ‘bi-generated’ from the 14th Doctor (David Tennant) atop UNIT Headquarters as they battled the Toymaker (Neil Patrick Harris) together in Special #3: “The Giggle.” With Doctor 14 surviving the split and living in a state of semi-retirement with the Noble family, this 15th Doctor…
Retro-Musings for the Holidays: TV’s Happy Days; “Guess Who’s Coming to Christmas?” (1974)…
*****CATHODE-RAY TUBE SPOILERS!!***** As I did with legendary TV producer Norman Lear’s recent passing, I’m taking a brief break from this site’s usual sci-fi/fantasy/horror fare for a look at a classic episode of the old sitcom, “Happy Days.” Happy Days began as a 1972 segment of the then-popular TV comedy anthology series, “Love, American Style”…
“Superman: The Movie” (1978) made my generation believe a man could fly…
****SUPER-SPOILERS AHEAD!***** Having written a retrospective on “Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut” a couple years ago, I recently realized I’d never tackled my personal favorite of the Superman (and superhero) movie canon. In December of 1978, I’d just turned a precocious 12 years old when a new movie was released that everyone at school…
Doctor Who Special #3: “The Giggle” wins the game…
After last week’s bizarre, creepy voyage to the end of spacetime (“Into the Wild Blue Yonder”) the third of three Doctor Who 60th anniversary celebration specials brings it home with the return of a classic Doctor Who villain (one not seen since the Hartnell era), a uniquely Doctor Who-style apocalypse, and of course, the introduction…
Television’s trailblazing legend, Norman Lear: 1922-2023…
Reshaping Television To my regular readers, I hope you’ll bear with me as I do another rare digression from my usual sci-fi/fantasy/horror-related content for this column, but a television legend has passed away, and I couldn’t bring myself to focus on another subject without first paying tribute to the late, great writer/producer Norman Lear, who…