Later this week, “Independence Day: Resurgence” will likely deliver the biggest alien invasion spectacle in what is turning out to be the year of the alien. In addition to the return of “The X-Files,” we also got “The 5th Wave,” which is perhaps a simpler and smaller tale than we’ll get from “IDR,” although it also has […]
“10 Cloverfield Lane” — now available at Redbox — is one of those Mystery Mine Ride movies that are all too rare: a film that gives you a small taste of what to expect, but could go in just about any direction. The first movie in the franchise, 2008’s “Cloverfield,” also fit the bill. There was […]
Troy Denning wraps up his bridge trilogy between “The New Jedi Order” and “Legacy of the Force” in mostly satisfying fashion with “Dark Nest III: The Swarm War” (2006). But the reader doesn’t get a sense of completeness; threads such as Jacen’s interest in power and the fates of Alema Rar and Jag Fel are deferred to […]
TV review: Eight years after the last film, “The X-Files” returns to TV for six episodes that are much more than a nostalgia trip.
While the first volume set the groundwork and featured philosophizing about the Jedi Order’s relationship to the Galactic Alliance, “Dark Nest II: The Unseen Queen” (2005) puts its ideas into action in an uncharacteristically tight 333-page novel from Troy Denning. While it seemed the Dark Nest was defeated and peace prevailed in “Dark Nest I: The Joiner […]
Call him the Stephen King of “Star Wars” authors. No other scribe has a bigger gap between his lows and highs than Troy Denning. I recently criticized his debut effort, “Star by Star” (2001), in my “New Jedi Order” re-read, but “Tatooine Ghost” (2003) was better and “Dark Nest I: The Joiner King” (2005) – the first […]
“The Witch” — now available from Redbox – is a masterful, artistic blend of history and horror. While it seems like most genre films are of the haunted house/ancient curse variety, as with “The Conjuring 2,” a couple of outside-the-box horror pictures find their way into the mainstream every year. Last year, it was “It Follows” […]
Movie review: The “X-Men” universe takes a drastic tonal turn with “Deadpool.”
The “New Jedi Order” closes out its 19-book run with James Luceno’s epic “The Unifying Force”(2003), which feels every bit of its 527 pages and must be read over several sittings. In the end, it’s a respectable conclusion to the saga, sometimes trying too hard to be “big” – like when Jacen fights the enemy by […]
“Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” Season 2 (2008-09) is a decompressed stretch of low-key epic storytelling that continues to chronicle central “Terminator” ideas. John and Sarah ferret out organizations that might be the proto-Skynet, and resistance fighters and Terminators pop up in time bubbles on specific missions relating to Skynet or the Connors.