The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Posted by Dave Switzer under Reviews of movies

{3.5/5} “Home is now behind you. The world is ahead.” Gandalf the wizard invites Bilbo the hobbit on an adventure. At first Bilbo doesn’t want to go — he’s happy where he is, safe in the Shire with his books. But a group of dwarves are planning to retake their home, Erebor — the catch […]

Wreck-It Ralph

Posted by Dave Switzer under Reviews of movies

{4.5/5} “I’m bad, and that’s good. I will never be good, and that’s not bad. There’s no one I’d rather be then me.” Ralph is the bad guy in a video game called “Fix-It Felix, Jr.” Lately he’s been wondering if he really has to be bad all the time and why no one wants […]

God, the Devil and Bob (season 1)

Posted by Dave Switzer under Reviews of TV shows

{4.5/5} “Some mornings you don’t feel very evil but you get out of bed every day whether you like it or not and you destroy souls because… that’s your job.” In “Date from Hell” the Devil dates Bob’s daughter — of course, Bob is the only one who knows it’s the Devil. In “The Devil’s […]

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Posted by Dave Switzer under Reviews of movies

{5/5} “I have a macaroni on my head!” Flint is an inventor, but his inventions don’t work out the way he originally intended. One day he invents a machine that can turn water into food. The machine is accidentally sent into the clouds, and it starts raining food. The town embraces their new weather phenomenon, […]

Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted

Posted by Dave Switzer under Reviews of movies

{3/5} “I’m like a candy cane in a black and white movie.” Our favourite group of displaced zoo animals is still trying to get back home to New York. They find their way to Monte Carlo, where the penguins are winning big. An extremely efficient and dedicated animal control officer almost catches them, which leads them […]

Hitchers

Posted by Dave Switzer under Reviews of books

{4.5/5} “My success came by standing on the shoulders of someone I hadn’t even liked, who had expressly forbidden me from doing what I did. On his death bed.” Finn’s wife Lorena was struck by lightning and died two years ago. Now he’s trying to date again, but it’s tough. Finn is a cartoonist — […]

All-time best SF & fantasy novels & stories, v2

Posted by Dave Switzer under My thoughts

The other day I posted my first thoughts on how I would vote in the Locus poll, which is open until the end of the month. I’ve changed a small number of things and added some runner ups. One thing that I neglected the first time was that the order of the votes matters — I tried this […]

Night at the Museum: Battle of Smithsonian

Posted by Dave Switzer under Reviews of movies

{3/5} “‘What, did they run out of U’s on your name plate?’ ”I dunno, did they run out of jokes at the Interesting Joke Store that you shop at?” A few years ago Larry was a night guard at a museum in New York when a strange thing happened — all the exhibits came to […]

All-time best SF & fantasy novels & stories

Posted by Dave Switzer under My thoughts

Locus is going to do a poll to find out what science fiction and fantasy novels and stories are the all-time best (they’ve done this a few times before but not in years). The categories are science fiction novel, fantasy novel, novella, novelette, and short story. They’re also diving the poll into 20th century (10 […]

The Eyes of the Overworld

Posted by Dave Switzer under Reviews of books

{4/5} “I dimly recall that I inhabit a sty and devour the coarsest of food — but the subjective reality is that I inhabit a glorious palace and dine on splendid viands among the princes and princesses who are my peers. It is explained thus: the demon Underherd looked from the sub-world to this one; […]