The top 10 episodes of ‘Millennium’ Season 3 (1998-99)
TV review: Chris Carter takes the showrunning reins back from Morgan and Wong in the controversial final season.
‘Heir to the Empire,’ the book that jump-started the ‘Star Wars’ Expanded Universe, celebrates 20 years (Book commentary)
Sometime in the late 1990s, I was at Paradox Comics in Fargo, N.D., talking with the proprietor about “Star Wars.” I mentioned Timothy Zahn’s novels, and he said, “To me, those have nothing to do with ‘Star Wars.’ “
In ‘Our Idiot Brother,’ the idiot is the smart one, and so is this refreshing comedy (Movie review)
In a scene from “Our Idiot Brother,” title character Ned (Paul Rudd) is counting his cash on the subway and he hands it to a stranger to hold onto while he cleans up a coffee spill. If I saw this happen in reality, I’d assume there was a hidden camera for a reality show that secretly tests […]
Timothy Zahn proves he’s still got it with ‘Star Wars: Choices of One’ (Book review)
Through the years, I’ve been tempted to label authors other than Timothy Zahn as my favorite “Star Wars” scribe — Michael Stackpole for his plotting, Aaron Allston for his humor, Karen Traviss for her characters — but maybe there was no reason to veer away from Zahn in the first place.
10 movies John wouldn’t mind seeing this fall (Commentary)
I’ve done the hard work of perusing Entertainment Weekly’s fall movie preview and watching the trailers, and I now present the top 10 movies to see this fall:
Perfect casting, frenetic pace help ‘30 Minutes or Less’ deliver (Movie review)
Is it possible for Danny McBride to not be funny? Playing a criminal who is tailing the unfortunate pizza-delivery guy whom he forces to rob a bank by strapping a bomb to him in “30 Minutes or Less,” McBride comes upon the aftermath of a car chase and says to another onlooker, slowly and awkwardly: “I hope […]
Malgus joins the parade of Darths in ‘Star Wars: The Old Republic – Deceived’ (Book review)
For a reader, one of the fun parts of the explosion of “Star Wars” spinoff literature in recent years is finding meanings in the names of all the new Darths. Darth Vader, famously, stood for father. Darth Sidious calls to mind “insidious.” Darth Maul makes me think of an animal, a sentient weapon to be […]
How did the apes get that way in the first place? ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ has the answers (Movie review)
A cool thing about science fiction novels is that not only do they explore future possibilities, they also inspire other writers’ imaginations; sometimes one writer’s little idea leads to a whole line of fictional exploration he didn’t originally intend.
‘The Change-Up’ delivers lots of crude laughs, but it’s mostly a throwaway (Movie review)
“The Change-Up” has many of the things I look for in a blockbuster comedy: Jokes involving poop, pee, genitals, breasts and sex, plus copious dropping of f-bombs at important corporate meetings and in front of babies. Also, I’m always up for a good body-swapping comedy, and Jason Bateman and Ryan Reynolds seem like good casting choices […]
First episode impressions: ‘Friends with Benefits’ (TV review)
As far as I can tell after two episodes, “Friends with Benefits” is a good show for people who think the main purpose of romantic relationships is to provide an endless well of comedy. But if you’re looking for something a little deeper, something that reflects real, plausible situations, this isn’t your show.