‘Wayward Pines’ riffs on other puzzle-box shows
First episode impressions (TV review): Out of the gates, this series from Chad Hodge and M. Night Shyamalan is notably similar to other shows.
‘Terminator’ flashback: ‘T2: Rising Storm’ (2002) (Book review)
After “Infiltrator” (2001) rather leisurely explored the John-Sarah relationship, added Dieter to the brotherhood of the brave and chronicled yet another attack on Cyberdyne, “Rising Storm” (2002) raises the stakes. The second book in S.M. Stirling’s “T2” trilogy chronicles the build-up of Skynet to its point of sentience — but, somewhat surprisingly, the novel does not conclude […]
Garland smartly explores artificial intelligence in sparsely beautiful ‘Ex Machina’ (Movie review)
“Ex Machina” could be a stage play, as it features four actors in various austere rooms of an isolated scientific compound. Writer Alex Garland, who also penned the excellent zombie film “28 Days Later” (2002) and the love-it-or-hate-it sci-fi think piece “Sunshine” (2007), contrasts those films by keeping “Ex Machina” minimalist in his directorial debut.
John’s 10 favorite TV characters at the moment (Commentary)
Here are my 10 favorite characters of the moment on shows that recently concluded their season, are ongoing or will soon return for the summer season:
All 8 long-running ‘Star Wars’ Legends comics series, ranked (Comic book commentary)
With the new ongoing Marvel comic series, not to mention the trailers for “Episode VII” and “Rebels” Season 2, drawing interest from new and casual “Star Wars” fans, I thought it’d be a good time to look back at the ongoing “Star Wars” comic titles from the now-defunct Expanded Universe (a.k.a. Legends) era of 1977-2014. […]
10 movies John wouldn’t mind seeing this summer (Commentary)
Here are my picks for 10 movies to check out this summer: “Maggie” (May 8) – This could be what “Cop Land” was to Sylvester Stallone years ago: The movie where critics respect Arnold Schwarzenegger’s acting performance. Or maybe not, but I already give the filmmakers credit for trying. In this mood piece, Arnold plays the […]
‘Lazarus Effect’ a tidy little 90-minute horror riff (Movie review)
“The Lazarus Effect,” a horror flick that recently hit the cheap theaters, is arguably not even as good as one of the weaker Season 1 “X-Files” episodes. In that episode, titled “Lazarus,” two people switch bodies at the point of near-death, leading to a mystery that Mulder and Scully must solve in 44 minutes.
Ranking ‘Gotham’s’ iconic rogues after Season 1
TV commentary: We reflect on how the Fox “Batman” prequel has handled its villains in Season 1.
‘Terminator’ flashback: ‘T2: Infiltrator’ (2001) (Book review)
Not counting the novelizations, it took a remarkable 17 years after the first movie for the first “Terminator” book to be released: S.M. Stirling’s “T2: Infiltrator” (2001), the first of a trilogy. Fans at the time no doubt loved the opportunity to kick back with a highly decompressed novel about Sarah and John and the latest threat […]
For current popular shows, what’s the end game? (TV commentary)
By their very nature, some shows have end games and some don’t. A show about families and relationships, like “Parenthood,” simply looks for a grace note (and it found a good one in its series finale in January); it’s not as if it can end with everyone’s life in a state of perpetual perfection. At […]