Comic Strip Review: O Human Star Volume Three

Comic Strip Review: O Human Star Volume Three by Blue Delliquanti Quick recap: Robotics genius Alistair Sterling dies and wakes up more than a decade later in a robotic copy of his body. He’s reunited with his then lover Brendan Pinsky, who definitely didn’t arrange this and is understandably freaked out. Alistair is also puzzled… Continue reading Comic Strip Review: O Human Star Volume Three

Comic Strip Review: Hägar the Horrible: “Caught in the Act!”

Comic Strip Review: Hägar the Horrible: “Caught in the Act!” by Dik Browne It is the age of Vikings, what some will call the Dark Ages. In a coastal village somewhere on the coast of Norway lives a minor raider chieftain named Hägar the Horrible. This doughty warrior travels around the known world, and sometimes… Continue reading Comic Strip Review: Hägar the Horrible: “Caught in the Act!”

Book Review: A Prayer for the Crown-Shy

Book Review: A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers In A Psalm for the Wild-Built, tea monk Sibling Dex went into the wilderness on a journey of discovery, and was introduced to the robot Mosscap. (See my previous review.) This sequel volume picks up not too long after the conclusion of that one, as… Continue reading Book Review: A Prayer for the Crown-Shy

Book Review: Sal & Gabi Break the Universe

Book Review: Sal & Gabi Break the Universe by Carlos Hernandez Culeco Academy of the Arts is a magnet school for gifted middle schoolers in a Cuban-American neighborhood of Miami, Florida. It’s usually a fun place for a school, full of creativity and teachers who want to bring out the best in their students. But… Continue reading Book Review: Sal & Gabi Break the Universe

Movie Review: Never Take Candy from a Stranger

Movie Review: Never Take Candy from a Stranger (1960) directed by Cyril Frankel (aka “Never Take Sweets from a Stranger”) The Carter family, Peter (Patrick Allen), Sally (Gwen Watford), nine-year-old daughter Jean (Janina Faye) and Sally’s mother Martha (Alison Leggatt) have moved from Britain to Jamestown in Canada so that Peter can take up a job… Continue reading Movie Review: Never Take Candy from a Stranger

Movie Review: Fiddler on the Roof

Tevye will never see his home again.

Movie Review: Fiddler on the Roof (1971) directed by Norman Jewison Anatevka at the turn of the Twentieth Century is a small village in the Russian Empire, what is now Ukraine. It is home to a community of Jews, as well as Orthodox Christians. Our protagonist is Tevye (Chaim Topol), an impoverished milkman who has been… Continue reading Movie Review: Fiddler on the Roof

Magazine Review: Analog Science Fiction & Fact January/February 2024

Cover art by Julie Dillon

Magazine Review: Analog Science Fiction & Fact January/February 2024 edited by Trevor Quachri Let’s look at a recent issue of this long-running science fiction (and fact) magazine. The opening editorial by Howard V. Hendrix, “Machines Passing for People Passing for Machines”, which among other things discusses the Turing Test, where a simulated person tries to… Continue reading Magazine Review: Analog Science Fiction & Fact January/February 2024

Manga Review: One Hundred Tales

Manga Review: One Hundred Tales by Osamu Tezuka It is the Warring States period of Ancient Japan. Ichirui Hanri, though of the samurai social class, has been an accountant his entire life, never training in combat or lifting a sword. This has not prevented him from getting caught up in a rebellion against the lord,… Continue reading Manga Review: One Hundred Tales

Movie Review: Act of Love (1980)

Leon and Joseph discuss Joseph's potential lifespan.

Movie Review: Act of Love (1980) directed by Jud Taylor It’s the first Father’s Day since the death of the Cybulkoski family patriarch. After church, the family has an outdoor lunch. Older son Leon (Ron Howard) announces that he and his brother Joseph (Mickey Rourke) will be painting their mother’s house, “barn red” and finally clearing… Continue reading Movie Review: Act of Love (1980)

Movie Review: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

E.T. shows off one of his nifty powers.

Movie Review: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) directed by Steven Spielberg Elliott (Henry Thomas) is a middle child. He’s old enough to want to participate in his teen brother Michael’s (Robert MacNaughton) Dungeons and Dragons game, but not old enough to be welcome there. He thinks of his little sister Gertie (Drew Barrymore) as babyish, and hasn’t… Continue reading Movie Review: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial