Movie Review: Knowing (2009)

John Koestler sees his first disaster.

Movie Review: Knowing (2009) directed by Alex Proyas The time is 2009. MIT astrophysics professor John Koestler (Nicolas Cage) is trying to raise his son Caleb (Chandler Canterbury), who has an auditory processing disorder that his hearing aid helps with, after the tragic death of his wife the previous year. As a result of his grief,… Continue reading Movie Review: Knowing (2009)

Movie Review: The Jade Mask

Movie Review: The Jade Mask (1945) directed by Phil Rosen Inspector Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) is flying back to Washington, D.C. soon, and has already checked out of his hotel. So when he’s called away to investigate a possible murder, his psuedo-intellectual Number Four Son Edward “Eddie” Chan (Edwin Luke) and highly nervous chauffeur Birmingham Brown… Continue reading Movie Review: The Jade Mask

Comic Book Review: Black Magic Vol. 1

Comic Book Review: Black Magic Vol. 1 Created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby The creative team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby tried many different ideas for comic books over the years. Some were successful, others flops. In 1950, they cashed in on the then hot horror genre with Black Magic, created for Prize… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Black Magic Vol. 1

Book Review: The Empire of the Ants

Book Review: The Empire of the Ants by H.G. Wells In addition to his famous longer works like The War of the Worlds, Herbert George Wells also wrote a number of speculative fiction short stories. What I’m reviewing today is a collection published by Scholastic Book Services (and mostly sold at school book fairs) which… Continue reading Book Review: The Empire of the Ants

Magazine Review: Oriental Stories Winter 1932

Magazine Review: Oriental Stories Winter 1932 edited by Farnsworth Wright Oriental Stories was a mostly-quarterly pulp magazine published from 1930-1933, with a name change to The Treasure Chest Magazine for an additional year. Its remit, as you might have guessed from the title, was tales of the exotic, mysterious East, from Islamic North Africa through… Continue reading Magazine Review: Oriental Stories Winter 1932

Comic Book Review: Essential Marvel Two-In-One Vol. 1

Comic Book Review: Essential Marvel Two-In-One Vol. 1 by Various Creators Much like DC, Marvel Comics also had dedicated superhero team-up series. Marvel Two-in-One featured perennial favorite character Benjamin Grimm, the Thing of the Fantastic Four–and I’ve never done a review of anything with him before, so first, a bit of character history! Fantastic Four… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Essential Marvel Two-In-One Vol. 1

Movie Review: Abraxas, Guardian of the Universe

It was brave of the filmmakers to use Jesse Ventura's actual hair.

Abraxas, Guardian of the Universe (1990) dir. Damian Lee Sonia Murray (Marjorie Bransfield) has lived all her life in the small town of Thornbury in Canada. About six years ago, she was assaulted and impregnated by a foreign criminal who’d entered the country illegally. The criminal was almost immediately captured and hauled away by the foreign… Continue reading Movie Review: Abraxas, Guardian of the Universe

Manga Review: The Crater

Manga Review: The Crater by Osamu Tezuka In the late 1960s, Osamu Tezuka’s career was facing a crisis. He was still popular, with publishers quite willing to buy more of the kid-friendly material he’d become famous for. But he wasn’t a trend-setter anymore. The new generation of manga creators was into gekiga, more serious and… Continue reading Manga Review: The Crater

Anime Review: Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean

Foo Fighters' drinking habit concerns Jolyne and Ermes.

Anime Review: Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean When Jolyne Cujoh was growing up in Florida, her father, marine biologist Jotaro Kujo, wasn’t around much. Feeling neglected, Jolyne acted out, stealing a car. That barely got her noticed, so it seemed, as Jotaro just made sure she was physically okay. Then she started going out with… Continue reading Anime Review: Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean

Book Review: Dick Tracy: The Secret Files

Book Review: Dick Tracy: The Secret Files edited by Max Allan Collins and Martin H. Greenberg In 1990, the venerable Dick Tracy comic strip got a movie adaptation, Dick Tracy, starring Warren Beatty and Madonna. To cash in on the publicity, the then-writer of the strip, Max Allan Collins, was asked to do both a… Continue reading Book Review: Dick Tracy: The Secret Files