SNAPSHOT Set in a Chicago neighborhood nearly a decade after an occupation by an extra-terrestrial force, Captive State explores the lives on both sides of the conflict – the collaborators and dissidents. The sci-fi feature is directed by Rupert Wyatt (Rise of the Planet of the Apes, The Gambler), Continue Reading
Fear the Walking Dead: “I Lose People … ” (S4, E15 review)
SPOILERS AHEAD … AND HEROIC ACTS AND SWARMS O’ ZOMBIES … There are a couple of things, among many, that you’re unlikely to hear in the midst of the zombie apocalypse. One is “Everything is Awesome!”, the theme for 2014’s The Lego Movie by Tegan and Sara (feat, Lonely Continue Reading
Stupid finds a way: Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom gets an Honest Trailer
In the interests of full disclosure, and I am nothing less than ridiculously honest for the most part, I actually rather enjoyed Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. Yes, it had more plotholes than a semi-trailer carrying an inert T-Rex, and the characters were village idiot level-stupid, and yes narrative was Continue Reading
Book review: The Way Things Should Be by Bridie Jabour
Going home, as in back to our home town the place where it all began, or in my case, began all over again after perfectly fine starts in two other places, is a fraught experience. In theory it shouldn’t be, especially if you have a family, like mine, with Continue Reading
It’s about time! New Doctor Who trailer ushers in an exciting new era
“Doctor Who and I are finished!” Or so I thought in the last two seasons of Steven Moffat’s blighted reign as ill-disciplined writer and executive producer of Doctor Who, a show that came alive in 2005 after being shelved in 1989, after a 26-year run that began in 1963. Continue Reading
Movie review: And Breathe Normally #QSFF18
The world has always been a cruel and unforgiving place in many respects. But lately, as the unceasing tide of refugees, climate change panic and economic malaise, among many other issues real or imagined, has led to some sort of collective panic, people have begun, in a way unique Continue Reading
Weekend pop art: My 10 favourite sci-fi film posters
I know they say, and honestly aren’t “they” busy issuing edicts left, right and centre, that you should never judge a book by it cover, or a sci-fi film by its poster. (OK, the second thing is totally something I made up – am I “they” then? Who can Continue Reading
Comics review: RuinWorld (issues 1-3)
Going on an adventure is generally a good thing. But not it appears in RuinWorld by Derek Laufman, where cities are few and declining, brigands abound, artifacts are scarce and worth their magical weight in gold, and not if you’re Rex, a half cat/half fox Ruin Hunter who is Continue Reading
Can you tell a compelling character story without an arc? Turns out you can
SNAPSHOT A common piece of writing advice is that your main character must have a character arc. Today, I take a look at a number of well-regarded films where the main characters never change, and why these stories are still compelling. (synopsis via Laughing Squid (c) Sage Hyden) As Continue Reading
Book review: Less by Andrew Sean Greer
We are captives of our calendars. How else to explain the way looming dates, particularly those for major life events, send us into a flurry of activity and anxiety, a maelstrom of hoping and wishing, planning and organising that in the end, Shakespeare be paraphrased, amount to nothing? Or Continue Reading