Archive for the ‘My thoughts’ Category
Directors, part 8: ones who have retired
This list continues from part 7. I’m making an assumption that these directors have retired, since they haven’t made a movie in years. Roberto Benigni Benigni wrote and acted in all of these movies. It seems he retired after the public didn’t care for his last one or two movies. Masterpiece Life is Beautiful Great […]
Movies that are believable & ones that aren’t
Some movies have a central aspect that must be believable for the movie to work. Here are some examples. The list started with negative examples but I thought I’d include some positive ones as well for contrast. Alien: Resurrection Do you believe Ripley has been cloned? Yes. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Do Batman […]
FASS’s “Who’s Afraid of the FASS?”
I went to FASS’s annual performance, this one titled “Who’s Afraid of the FASS?” FASS stands for Faculty, Alumni, Staff and Students. It’s an organization at the University of Waterloo that reconstitutes itself each year to put on a musical. This year’s theme was that we were watching a TV show investigating various claims of […]
Best fantasy & science fiction movies by year
Here’s my updated list. 2014 and 2015 were amazing years for fantasy and science fiction movies — both years had multiple movies battling for positions in the “Winner” column. The Boxtrolls, Edge of Tomorrow, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Ex Machina, The Martian, and The One I Love could all easily be in that column. […]
Best soundtracks by year
Here’s my list, updated for soundtracks I became aware of in 2015. The big winner from the past year’s soundtracks is Tommorowland. Year Winner Runner Ups Honourable Mentions 2015 Tomorrowland Inside Out Ant-Man Jurassic World Avengers: Age of Ultron Mad Max: Fury Road Pitch Perfect 2 The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel 2014 How to […]
Author discovery of the year
I didn’t happen to read many new authors in 2015. I spent a fair amount of the year reading 4 series by authors I’d read before — Dune, The Quintaglio Ascension, Spin, and Old Man’s War. The big winner is Charles Stross for Accelerando and the runner ups are Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson […]
Authors you can’t go wrong with, part 7
This list continues from part 6. Peter S. Beagle Beagle also wrote the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Sarek.” Masterpiece The Last Unicorn Good book A Fine and Private Place Christopher L. Bennett Bennett’s Star Trek books are always worth reading. Great books TOS: Ex Machina TNG: Greater than the Sum TITAN: Orion’s Hounds […]
Directors worth keeping an eye on, part 7
This list continues from part 6. Marc Forster Forster’s movies are all very different, but they’re worth watching whether they’re funny or tragic. Masterpieces Finding Neverland The Kite Runner Great movies Stranger Than Fiction World War Z Ron Fricke Fricke directs movies that have no plot or dialogue — they show you the world in […]
SF & fantasy collections & anthologies
Collections Best of the best I, Robot – Isaac Asimov Nightfall – Isaac Asimov Virtual Unrealities – Alfred Bester The Golden Apples of the Sun – Ray Bradbury Keeper of Dreams – Orson Scott Card Maps in a Mirror – Orson Scott Card Stories of Your Life and Others – Ted Chiang Expedition to Earth […]
Tie-in books
The tie-in books that I will continue to read come from the worlds of Star Trek, Babylon 5, and Battlestar Galactica. Ones I’ve tried in the past include Star Wars, The X-Files, and Indiana Jones. Novels Best of the best B5: The Passing of the Techno-Mages #1 — Casting Shadows — Jeanne Cavelos B5: The […]