John Hansen

‘Young Adult’ deliciously sad, but it’s not for everyone (Movie review)

“Young Adult” (2011) might be the most depressing movie ever made, but despite that high praise, I have to caution that it’s not for everybody. About a decade ago, I recommended “The Good Girl” (2002) to everyone who would listen, and no one liked it. (It’s about a depressed wife who meets an even-more-depressed younger guy. […]

Best approach in zombie apocalypse: Democracy or Ricktatorship? (TV commentary)

“The Walking Dead” wrapped up its mostly great second season on Sunday with the epic farmstead battle we expected, plus a couple new elements — a hooded figure hauling two tamed zombies on chains (!) and a prison that looks like it would be nicely fortified against walkers. The most impressive part of this show is […]

On ‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars,’ how in the world is Darth Maul still alive? (TV commentary)

The “Star Wars” saga has a weird tendency to tell stories out of order. Most notably, the film saga started with Episode IV. The books and comics are rife with stories that fill in the gaps of continuity, such as “Shadows of the Empire” chronicling the search for Han Solo and “Darth Plagueis” telling the […]

Did Shane want to die on ‘The Walking Dead?’ (TV commentary)

Maybe it’s because I’m in the midst of some serious “Angel” geekery with my “Rewatching the classics” project, but the Shane-Rick showdown in last night’s “The Walking Dead” (8 p.m. Central Sundays on AMC) reminded me of Faith begging Angel to kill her in Season 1’s “Five by Five.”

‘Star Wars’ flashback: ‘The Courtship of Princess Leia’ (1994) (Book review)

With the planet Dathomir and its notorious natives, the Nightsisters, figuring prominently in recent episodes of “The Clone Wars,” it’s a good time to re-read “The Courtship of Princess Leia” (1994), Dave Wolverton’s novel that introduced those elements.

(Hopefully not) a fond farewell to ‘Parenthood’ (TV review)

I don’t spend too much time anymore worrying about whether a show will be canceled; I take the “enjoy it while it lasts” approach to everything. So Season 3’s penultimate episode of “Parenthood” took me off guard, first with the sad-tears moment of Julia not getting to adopt the baby, then with the happy-tears moment of […]

Should the group trust Randall on ‘The Walking Dead?’

TV commentary: “The Walking Dead” gang deals with trust issues when confronted by an outsider named Randall in the latest episode.

Angel Season 3

All 22 episodes of ‘Angel’ Season 3 (2001-02), ranked

TV review: “Angel” Season 3 features the most ill-conceived main plot of any Joss Whedon show. But the season does boast a few standout episodes.

Daniel Radcliffe propels beautiful, scary ‘Woman in Black’ (Movie review)

Daniel Radcliffe no doubt took the lead role in the horror film “The Woman in Black” in part to distance himself from Harry Potter. Ironically, it’s because we already like him from “Potter” that we’re willing to stalk the candlelit halls of a spider web-covered haunted house with him.

‘Star Wars’ flashback: ‘Cloak of Deception’ and ‘Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter’ (2001) (Book review)

Welcome to a new feature where I revisit old “Star Wars” novels when inspired by new works. The inspiration for this first entry is James Luceno’s “Darth Plagueis,” which reads like a fascinating history book and has two entire other novels take place within it while also overlapping with most of “Episode I: The Phantom […]