Conqueror
{4.5.5} Conqueror by Stephen Baxter, published in 2007 Another tour of the history of England with stops in 607, 793, 872, and 1066. This one shows how invaders become locals within a few generations and then are threatened by other invaders. There’s a different prophecy than in the first book and various people are trying […]
Dragons: Defenders of Berk (season 2)
{4/5} Dragons: Defenders of Berk season 2, aired in 2013-14 Hiccup and his friends defend Berk against Alvin the Treacherous, Dagur the Deranged, and Whispering Death dragons. There’s a bit more of an ongoing story this season. The TV show isn’t quite as good as the movies, but it’s enjoyable. A third season is forthcoming […]
Lucy
{3/5} “Life was given to us a billion years ago. What have we done with it?” Lucy, released in 2014 Lucy is inadvertently dosed with a new drug and she becomes the smartest person in the world. Scarlett Johansson and Morgan Freeman give it their best shot but the script lets them down. In terms […]
Snowpiercer
{4.5/5} “My friend, you suffer from the misplaced optimism of the doomed.” Snowpiercer, released in 2013 In the future the only people who are left are stuck on a train travelling around and around. The wealthy people at the front of the train live in luxury and the poor people at the back live in […]
Transsiberian
{4.5/5} “Kill off all my demons, Roy, and my angels might die too.” Roy and Jessie have been in China helping kids through their church. As part of their trip back to the US, they decide to take the Transsiberian railway from China to Moscow. Roy likes trains a lot and he thinks Jessie will […]
Upside Down
{3.5/5} “What if love was stronger than gravity?” Adam lives on Down Below and Eve lives on the world just next door, Up Top. They found an ingenious way to be together, at least temporarily. But then they’re separated, and Adam believes that Eve is dead. Ten years later he discovers that she’s alive. So […]
America’s Got Talent (season 9)
{4.5/5} “Somebody is out there — maybe they’ve been trying to get discovered but they’re starting to doubt themselves. And then they hit our stage and suddenly life changes. Isn’t that a great thing to see happen? This is the amazing part of the show that I never get tired of.” — Howard Stern America’s […]
Fringe (season 2)
{5/5} “When you open your mind to the impossible, sometimes you find the truth.” Olivia is back from the alternate universe but she was in a car accident and doesn’t remember what William Bell told her. Eventually she remembers that he had a warning for her: hybrids have been created to open the door between […]
Star Trek: The Wounded Sky
{4/5} “Ever since we came out, I keep expecting to walk through things like a ghost — because I was somewhere so much more real and solid than physical reality that I could see through my hands, couldn’t touch or move anything… The — country — I don’t know where it was. It burned my […]
The Tall Man
{3.5/5} “He was like an ancient legend, something from a book of fairy tales or an old song. Everyone talked about the Tall Man all the time, because everyone was afraid of him. People were always afraid he’d strike again. And when he did, they’d thank their lucky stars he took somebody else’s kid.” Cold […]