****SPOILERS AHEAD!!**** To those, like myself, who’ve ever met Nichelle Nichols at a sci-fi convention before, you get a feeling like being in the presence of royalty; she is both charming and regal, yet disarming with her earthly candor (and her laugh). Director Todd Thompson has assembled a documentary that tells many of the tales…
Seeing double with Stanislaw Lem’s “Solaris” (1972/2002)…
*****AN OCEAN OF SPOILERS!!***** The Essentials of Stanislaw Lem’s Story (1961). Spawning a lengthy, 1972 Soviet-era sci-fi epic (2 hours, 49 minutes) and a trimmer American reimagining 30 years later, it’s surprised me to learn that Polish sci-fi author Stanislaw Lem’s original 1961 novel “Solaris” is a brisk read (204 pages), despite its deep subject…
The Planetary Society celebrates a trio of space missions with “Planetfest ’21: To Mars and Back Again”…
The Planetary Society. Founded in 1980, The Planetary Society was the dream of Dr. Bruce Murray, Dr. Carl Sagan, and Dr. Louis Friedman. The three men were seeking to create a privately funded, non-profit organization devoted to the exploration of our solar system, as well as popularizing education in space science. I joined as an…
A Tale of Two Cities: Star Trek’s “City on the Edge of Forever” (1967)…
****GUARDIAN OF FOREVER-SIZED SPOILERS AHEAD!**** “City on the Edge of Forever” is a highly praised episode of the original Star Trek series (TOS). It’s the episode that usually makes many fan favorites’ list. Is it one of my personal favorites? Yes, absolutely. But could it have been better? That’s debatable. For much of my Star…
Season 5 of “The Expanse” returns to our solar system with a bang…
*****ASTEROID-SIZED SPOILERS AHEAD!!***** I was a Johnny-come-lately to “The Expanse,” and I freely admit that I’ve not yet read the books (written by “James S. A. Corey”; pen name for writers Daniel Abraham & Ty Franck). In fact, I almost gave up on the show a few episodes into season one because it was so…
“The Man From Earth: Holocene” (2017) isn’t aging gracefully….
*****14,000 YEARS OF SPOILERS!!***** In The Beginning… After reviewing “The Man From Earth” (2007) only a week or so ago, and doing a retrospective on “One Million Years B.C.” (1966) shortly afterward, you might think I was on a caveman binge lately, but no, it wasn’t intentional. However, after reviewing “The Man From Earth”, I…
Retro-Musings: “One Million Years B.C.” (1966) 55 years later…
***** ONE MILLION YEAR OLD SPOILERS!! ***** A Dabba Doo Time. When I was a little kid, I was a card-carrying dinosaur nut. As early as I can remember, the names of the dinosaurs would rattle off my tongue; diplodocus, brontosaurus, triceratops, brachiosaurus, tyrannosaurus rex, allosaurus, etc. I had many dinosaur books and toys as…
“The Man From Earth” (2007) is a centuries-spanning epic told over a single evening…
****14,000 YEARS OF SPOILERS!!**** About ten years ago, I stumbled across a movie I’d heard about, but had (for some reason) resisted watching, until one day curiosity got the better of me and I bought the DVD of “The Man From Earth” (2007). This film was the last screenplay by sci-fi legend Jerome Bixby (“Twilight…
Retro-Musings: “The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao” (1964) is circus enough for everyone…
*****CIRCUS OF SPOILERS!!***** Based on “The Circus of Dr. Lao” (1935) by Charles G. Finney, “The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao” (1964) is a children’s fantasy directed by the prolific fantasy producer/director George Pal (“The War of the Worlds“, “The Time Machine” ). The film’s screenplay was adapted by Charles Beaumont, who wrote many episodes…
Trouble in paradise: “Star Trek: Insurrection” (1998)…
*****STARSHIP-SIZED SPOILERS!!****** “It was the best of times…” December of 1998 was not only a great time to be a Star Trek fan (two Star Trek series on the air, several movies, tons of popular toys/collectibles, etc), it was also a great time for me personally, as well. I was engaged to “she who is…
Marvel/DisneyPlus’ “WandaVision” is a bizarre homage to classic sitcoms…
*****REALITY-WARPING SPOILERS AHEAD!!***** Nick At Nite meets David Lynch. When we last saw them at the end of 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame” the living artificial intelligence mandroid “Vision” (Paul Bettany) and Sokovian ‘Scarlet Witch’ Wanda Maximoff were very much in love, but Vision had to sacrifice the “Infinity Stone” embedded in his head to help save…
“The Rocketeer”: Disney’s underrated retro-rocketing adventure, 30 years later…
*****SOARING SPOILERS AHEAD!!***** In the summer of 1991, I went to the famed El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood; a gloriously gilded movie palace hailing from a different era (originally built in 1926), beautifully restored and refurbished. This old glamour of the venue was a perfect way to see “The Rocketeer”; a retro-styled, period piece-adventure set…
