Movie Review: Total Recall (1990) directed by Paul Verhoeven Doug Quaid (Arnold Schwarzenegger) has a recurring dream set on Mars. In it, he is exploring the landscape with a woman who is not his wife Lori (Sharon Stone) when he has an accident and his helmet breaks, causing Quaid to suffocate. When he awakens, Quaid wants… Continue reading Movie Review: Total Recall (1990)
Tag: science fiction
Magazine Review: Strange Fantasy Spring 1970
Magazine Review: Strange Fantasy Spring 1970 “Strange Fantasy” was a short-lived reprint digest-sized magazine from Ultimate Publishing. This issue’s stories were originally published between 1959 and 1964, which somewhat belies the cover text. “The Shrine of Temptation” by Judith Merril starts us off with an anthropologist’s tale of a mysterious shrine on an isolated island.… Continue reading Magazine Review: Strange Fantasy Spring 1970
Movie Review: The Brain that Wouldn’t Die
Movie Review: The Brain that Wouldn’t Die (1962) directed by Joseph Green The father/son surgical team of Dr. Cortner (Bruce Brightner) and Dr. Bill Cortner (Jason Evers) has just saved a patient with a radical technique involving direct brain stimulation, but this does not sit well with the older Cortner. He disapproves of human experimentation, wanting… Continue reading Movie Review: The Brain that Wouldn’t Die
Book Review: Beyond Human Ken
Book Review: Beyond Human Ken edited by Judith Merril This 1954 paperback anthology is a partial reprint of the 1952 hardback of the same title, choosing twelve stories of the original twenty-one and skipping the prefaces that were in that edition. The theme is non-human beings of various kinds, pulled primarily from the science fiction… Continue reading Book Review: Beyond Human Ken
Book Review: If This Goes On
Book Review: If This Goes On edited by Charles Nuetzel The “if this goes on” story is a staple of short science fiction. Pick a current trend like “women not wearing hats anymore” or “cat videos” and extend it out to an exaggerated conclusion. For example, the Robert Heinlein story of that name, which posits… Continue reading Book Review: If This Goes On
Comic Book Review: Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Heroes 1
Comic Book Review: Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Heroes 1 edited by Cory Sedlmeier As has been mentioned on this blog before, by the late 1940s, superheroes had become passe in comic books. A handful continued to be published over at National Publications (DC) on a regular basis, and there was the odd minor publisher title,… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Heroes 1
Manga Review: Psycho Busters 2
Manga Review: Psycho Busters 2 art by Akinari Nao, story by Yuya Aoki Kakeru Hase was enjoying being left alone on summer break (father overseas on business, mother and sisters on a contest trip to Hawaii), but a little bored after a couple of days lazing about the house. Just as he’d convinced himself that… Continue reading Manga Review: Psycho Busters 2
Magazine Review: Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine August 1949
Magazine Review: Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine August 1949 edited by Ellery Queen It’s time for another issue of this venerable mystery magazine. The cover this time is uncredited, and does not directly match any of the stories in the issue. “Double Exposure” by Ben Hecht opens the issue with a tale of a psychiatrist who… Continue reading Magazine Review: Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine August 1949
Movie Review: Summer Wars
Movie Review: Summer Wars (2009) directed by Mamoru Hosoda High schooler Kenji Koiso is a math whiz who almost qualified for Team Japan in the Math Olympics. But almost won’t get you a good summer job, so he’s a low level maintenance admin for the OZ online service. OZ is the most popular online virtual world,… Continue reading Movie Review: Summer Wars
Movie Review: Metropolis (2001)
Movie Review: Metropolis (2001) directed by Rintaro, aka Osamu Tezuka’s Metropolis Private investigator Shunsaku Ban has come to Metropolis with his nephew Ken’ichi on the trail of Dr. Laughton, a mad scientist wanted for using human organs in illegal experiments. The police are shorthanded trying to do crowd control for the week-long celebration of Metropolis’ newest… Continue reading Movie Review: Metropolis (2001)