The Loneliness of the Solitary Astronaut: Moon (2009)

This post is part of the Outer Space on Film Blogathon, hosted by ME. Check out the other spacetacular posts HERE! Here’s my problem reviewing director Duncan Jones’ neat little 2009 indie space flick Moon: It has two big plot twists, one occurring relatively early in the film. Now, there are times when I put …

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The “No, YOU’RE Crying!” Blogathon: Contact (1997)

This post is part of the “No, YOU’RE Crying!” Blogathon, hosted by ME at Moon in Gemini. Read the rest of the tear-stained posts HERE! I’ll admit it. I’m a crier. I even cry at movies that nobody else cries at. It’s so bad that my (at the time) 5-year-old niece turned to me during …

Book Review: Star Wars: Bloodline by Claudia Gray

MINOR SPOILERS ONLY FOR THE BOOK STAR WARS: BLOODLINE, BUT THERE ARE SOME MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE MOVIE STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS: In a recent blog post about The Terminator, I cited Ripley from Alien as the first modern film action heroine—and she is the first who was the protagonist. But it’s Star Wars' Princess …

Book Review: Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson

I am a huge fan of Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy, his epic tale of the first 100 colonists on Mars. (Still waiting anxiously as of this writing for the TV adaptation. Hello, hello--any news on casting yet?) I've read some of his other books, but none of them have captivated me in quite the …

Fury Road and the Optimism of Post-Apocalyptic/Dystopian Stories

Brad Bird, director of the film Tomorrowland (as well as The Incredibles and Ratatouille) did some complaining in interviews recently about the popularity of post-apocalyptic and dystopian stories. Here is part of what he said in an interview with Wired Magazine: "At one time the future was consistently presented as this bright thing where all …

Georges Méliès’ A Trip to the Moon is a Total Trip

This post is part of the Shorts Blogathon, hosted by Fritzi at Movies Silently. Check out the other great posts HERE! When I chose La Jetée as my topic for the Shorts Blogathon, I thought, why not also cover another influential French short sci-fi film? Georges Méliès' A Trip to the Moon (Le Voyage dans la …

La Jetée: a 28 Minute Sci-Fi Masterpiece

This post is part of the Shorts Blogathon, hosted by Fritzi at Movies Silently. Check out the other great posts HERE! Today Chris Marker's 1962 short film La Jetée (The Jetty) is best known as the inspiration for Terry Gilliam's 1995 movie, 12 Monkeys (and the current TV show of the same name). It has …

My Review of the Movie Divergent, Where I Don’t Compare it to That OTHER Franchise

MILD SPOILERS FOLLOW FOR THE MOVIE DIVERGENT: There was once an episode of All in the Family where Edith was recounting the story of how she hit a car with a can of cling peaches (in heavy syrup). Archie got so sick of hearing her say cling peaches, Edith began replacing the words with "Mmm-Mmm." …

Movie Review: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

To regular readers of this blog it’s no secret that I’m a big fan of The Hunger Games Trilogy, the hugely successful young adult dystopian series by Suzanne Collins. So of course I had to see the movie adaption of the second book, Catching Fire, the very first weekend of its release. I’m going to …

Gravity: Story Trumps Accuracy in Fiction

Gravity is a fantastic movie. If you haven’t seen it yet, I highly recommend it. Blow the extra bucks on the 3D version—totally worth it. Let me just say also, I love astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. I need to make that clear right up front. He is not only a brilliant man, he’s a COOL …

Why Orphan Black Is A Seminal TV Show

If you missed out on watching Season 1 of Orphan Black on BBC America, I highly recommend you watch it on BBC America On Demand, get a season pass on one of several digital platforms, or get a hold of the DVDs when they are released this week. Melding sci-fi with paranoid conspiracies, there wasn’t …

Top 8 Things People Still Get Wrong About The Lost Finale

It’s that time again. No, I’m not referring to the return of the cicadas that are starting to boil up from the ground after being asleep for seventeen years. It’s the time of year to talk about TV season and series finales. And, of course, this brings about yet another opportunity for people to complain …

Ray Harryhausen Brought The Creatures Of Our Imaginations To Life

How you react to the news of animator Ray Harryhausen’s death today may depend on your age. If you’re under the age of 40 there’s a good chance you’ve never heard of him. If you’re over the age of 40, especially if you’re a fan of fantasy and sci-fi movies, you probably grew up loving …

5 Things That Bug Me About Post-Apocalyptic/Dystopian Fiction

First, let's define post-apocalyptic and dystopian: Post-apocalyptic refers to a work of fiction that deals with a global disaster so profound there are few survivors. It may include a period of time leading up to the disaster, or it can take place years afterwards, but mostly it's about the immediate after-effects of a disaster--war, environmental …

Why I Love/Why I Hate Disney Buying Lucasfilm

Why I Love: More Star Wars films. Why I Hate: More Star Wars films that may exist solely to squeeze every possible dime out of an existing franchise. Why I Love: There's a whole generation of filmmakers who grew up on Star Wars who could revive the franchise creatively. Why I Hate: There's a whole …