I’ll take my fix of new “X-Files” material where I can get it, but it’s irritating that in IDW’s third volume of “X-Files” short stories, “Secret Agendas,” Jonathan Maberry and his team (if there is one) still make too many errors. The line-editing gaffes, such as “peak” instead of “peek,” aren’t as numerous as in the first […]
In 2009, I predicted – not particularly daringly – that we’d get another “Harry Potter” novel someday. Seven years later, while that prediction isn’t precisely on point, it’s in the ballpark: This year saw the book release of the stage play “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” – based on ideas by J.K. Rowling – and now […]
TV review: The streaming era leads to the return of “Gilmore Girls,” with the Palladinos back at the helm.
“Order 66: A Republic Commando Novel” (2008), the meaty fourth book in Karen Traviss’ five-book “Commando” saga, is an example of a story that was wiped out because of a later addition to the saga by George Lucas. The clones here receive Palpatine’s Order 66 as a military order, then carry it out (or not) because […]
TV shows lost to history (Review): Herskovitz and Zwick’s “My So-Called Life” achieved legendary status, but “Relativity” wasn’t so lucky.
“The Edge of Seventeen” is the latest entry in the “teenage girls who are so obsessed with their dream of a perfect life that they make reality out to be worse than it really is” genre. Writer-director Kelly Fremon Craig previously tapped into this vein as the writer of 2009’s “Post Grad,” which starred “Gilmore Girls’ […]
“Mars” (9 p.m. Mondays, National Geographic Channel), the year’s most hyped science show, fails to capture the wonder of 2014’s “Cosmos,” which brought science to mainstream audiences with remarkable entertainment value. This is partly because “Cosmos” allowed host Neil deGrasse Tyson and his team to choose fascinating topics from throughout history, whereas “Mars” focuses on one […]
TV review: We look back at the first season of this breakthrough Netflix series.
Karen Traviss entered the ranks of “Star Wars” authors despite lacking a deep knowledge of the saga, but by her third book, “Republic Commando: True Colors” (2007), her newcomer status begins to serve her well. Like an obsessive kid asking questions about an exciting discovery, she digs into details about the nature of the Clone Wars that […]
Whether Trump or Clinton wins the election tonight, the NSA’s spying program will continue, so it seems like a good time to watch “Snowden,” the most hyped-up liberty-themed film of the year. Oliver Stone’s chronicle of the CIA agent who revealed that our government is spying on us is unquestionably an important document, but it doesn’t offer […]