John Hansen

5 big, obnoxious movies I want to see this summer (Commentary)

You’re going to hear lots of hype in the months ahead, but it’s sometimes hard to know which summer movies you should ignore and which you should embrace. Give your brains a rest, because I have the answers: See these five movies. “Terminator Salvation” (May 21) — In the first post-Judgment Day movie, I see no sign […]

Is ‘Lost’ the most overrated sci-fi show ever? (TV commentary)

The latest issue of Wizard asks “Is ‘Lost’ the greatest sci-fi show of all time?” I can answer that in two words: Um … no. I don’t know where the magazine ranked “Lost” in its top 25 — it was wrapped in plastic and I refuse to purchase an issue that asks such a stupid question on […]

Need more ‘Fringe’ after Tuesday’s season finale? Try the comic books (Commentary)

The first season finale of J.J. Abrams’ “Fringe” (8 p.m. Central Tuesday on Fox, and the next day at Hulu) promises to delve deeper into the relationship between Good Mad Scientist Walter Bishop and Bad Mad Scientist William Bell. They were lab partners at MIT; Bell went on to found mysterious corporation Massive Dynamic and Bishop went […]

The new ‘Star Trek’ is actually kind of cool (Movie review)

Director J.J. Abrams makes “Star Trek” respectable again with this origin tale that sets up everything we’ve seen in six TV series — I’m including the underappreciated cartoon — and 10 movies. (Well, “Enterprise” takes place before this, but who’s counting?) He also makes “Star Trek” cool for the first time. I smiled a lot during this movie, and […]

Happy (day after) Mother’s Day from ‘Gossip Girl’: Brittany Snow returns to TV (Commentary)

It’s appropriate that Brittany Snow spells her name the normal way, rather than “Britney,” “Brittani” or “Britni.” The actress strikes me as an old-fashioned girl, because I first saw her as Meg Pryor in the 1960s-set “American Dreams,” that 2002-05 NBC series where Donovan’s “Season of the Witch” played in the background during every episode.

John’s top 10 TV/Internet shows of 2008 (finally) … and random thoughts

Here’s evidence that “writer” is more of a lifestyle than a profession. When I lost my job to a layoff on Dec. 2, one of my first regrets was that I wouldn’t get to publish my end-of-year top 10 lists.

Dollhouse Season 1

The truth about ‘Dollhouse’: It’s Ballard’s show, not Echo’s (TV commentary)

From the beginning, “Dollhouse” was a rickety premise for a series, but it strikes me as being purposely rickety — as if creator Joss Whedon wants to challenge himself — with each episode attempting to prop up the foundation.

John’s Infinite Movie List: The top 10 movies of 2008 (finally)

As any movie fan knows, you need about half of the next year before you can see all of the movies from the previous year. So here’s my better-late-than-never top 10 movies of 2008.

‘Wolverine’ goes solo in the best ‘X-Men’ movie so far

Movie review: The focus on a single character is welcome as the “X-Men” saga shifts gears.