So if we’ve learned anything at all from shows like Star Trek (in all its incarnations), Stargate SG1 and 1001 other sci-fi shows that feature humanity dashing from one corner of the galaxy to another, it’s that exploring another planet is exciting, scary, important, enthralling, educational or a heady Continue Reading
By Your Side (film): Standing with the traumatised children of Fukushima three years on
This week marked the third anniversary of the destructive Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami that struck the Fukishima region of Japan on 11 March 2011, resulting in the deaths of some 16,000 people (2600+ remain officially listed as missing, presumed dead) and the displacement of many tens of thousands more by Continue Reading
Movie review: The Monuments Men
It is, so goes the old saying, impossible to be all things to all men. It is a well regarded truism that the producers of The Monuments Men, including one George Clooney, failed to heed when putting together this two headed hydra of a film which, all things considered, Continue Reading
The nightmare begins again: Falling Skies season 4 (new trailer + air date)
Iy would entirely make sense if the beleaguered members of the 2nd Mass., led once again by the indefatigable Tom Mason (Noah Wyle), would feel like the nightmare is well and truly underway, thank you very much. After all, Earth has been invaded by not one but two alien Continue Reading
The Walking Dead: “Alone” (S4, E13 review)
*SPOILERS AHEAD … AND UNDERTAKERS … AND NE’ER DO WELLS* There’s a good chance that no one in this episode would share Audrey Hepburn’s sentiment “I don’t want to be alone, I want to be left alone.” Oh, there are probably moments, of which there are several, when being Continue Reading
Movie review: Le Week-end
Life is not a kind master on many levels. But perhaps it takes its greatest toll on the close relationships which define us and give us a sense of time and place and belonging, no matter how hard we fight to keep them fresh and vital. Nick and Meg Continue Reading
Bye bye newspapers, hello web: Bill Watterson debuts first cartoon in 19 years for Stripped
Calvin and Hobbes, Peanuts and Mutts aside, is pretty much my favourite comic strip of all time. Drawn by the enigmatic almost J D Salinger-esque Bill Watterson, who has been the subject of a recent movie and book, both of which were aimed at finding out more about the Continue Reading
The glamour of 0s and 1s: HBO’s Silicon Valley (poster + teaser trailer/trailers)
SNAPSHOT Richard (Middleditch) is an introverted computer programmer living in the Hacker Hostel start-up incubator along with his best friend, Big Head (Brener), pompous Gilfoyle (Starr) and dry-witted Dinesh (Nanjiani). These social misfits live under the watch of Erlich (Miller), a self-satisfied dotcom millionaire who lets them stay in Continue Reading
Marvellous massing of movie trailers: Paddington, Hide Your Smiling Faces, Guardians of the Galaxy + 3 more
So the Oscars-worthy rush of movies is over for the most part, and you could be forgiven for wondering if there are be any movies even remotely that good still in the offing. Well, thankfully there are with a rich bounty of both mainstream and indie movies coming our Continue Reading
Book review: The Girl With All the Gifts by M. R. Carey
Melanie, according to the invitingly brief dust jacket blurb of The Girl With All the Gifts (based on the Edgar Award-nominated short story Iphigenia in Aulis), “is a very special girl”. And the novel of which she is the moral and emotional core, is extraordinary too, a highly original take on Continue Reading