20 years on – The disappointment of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Twenty years ago, fans lined up to see the spectacular origins story behind the Star Wars saga. What they got was The Phantom Menace.
Captain Marvel: The toxic fans might have achieved something positive
The bigoted backlash against Brie Larson and female-led superhero films may very well have back-fired.
Why genre fans can’t afford to abandon physical media just yet
For quite a few years, being a lover of genre films and television meant being a hoarder. If you were anything like me, you accumulated teetering stacks of VHS tapes – both the pre-recorded kind […]
SF and sexism: We’re all the poorer for it
How one woman was both disappointed and inspired by science fiction.
Superman The Movie: 40 years on, it’s the Marvel fans who should love it
Despite its DC character, the 1978 Superman is in many ways the progenitor of the MCU
How we used to watch genre movies: Recreating TV broadcasts of yesteryear
A bit of reminisce, recreating the late nite genre double bills.
Gary Kurtz: the man who introduced SF fandom to Star Wars
Gary Kurtz, Star Wars original producer, is remembered for his engagement with fans.
Review: Ant Man and the Wasp – Any sign of Avenger fatigue?
As Ant-Man and the Wasp proved once again, I find it a lot easier to object to the Marvel superhero movies in principle than I do in practice. In fact, looking back at […]
Toxic fandom: the abuse directed at The Last Jedi’s Kelly Marie Tran
Toxic Fandom is really Toxic Fan Dumb.
Between art house movies and superheroes, SF fans are missing out
Are genre franchises short-changing SF fans?
Panic now: The new Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy doesn’t belong in this universe
The new Hitchhiker’s radio show sticks out a sore thumb.
40 years on, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is still without equal
Hitchhiker’s combined Pythonesque comic fantasy with an intellectual rigour that many ‘serious’ SF writers could learn from.
The Last Jedi backlash: Some of the fan reaction is truly disturbing
Does everything have to be political? Apparently, yes. Even Star Wars reviews.
Have fans of Star Wars and Doctor Who become impossible to please?
Franchises that last for generations have some issues to address.
Remember those books about genre movies?
I suspect we may come to miss the books whose authors took us through a genre, giving shape to its history and signposting us to recommended movies.
Horror on the radio: the BBC broadcasts The Omen and Hammer’s The Unquenchable Thirst of Dracula
Seventy-nine years after Orson Welles terrified America with The War of the Worlds, BBC Radio productions of The Omen and The Unquenchable Thirst of Dracula prove that the medium retains its power to chill.
Horror’s Moby Dick: a short review of Stephen King’s IT
For all its faults, IT is horror’s Moby Dick – a gargantuan tale so full of powerfully rendered characters, ideas and episodes that it bears returning to and analysing, one memorable passage at a time.
What will happen to SF films when streaming conquers the universe?
The movement away from physical artifacts (DVDs and Blu-Ray discs) to streaming services may leave future science fiction film fans in the dark about classics of the genre if selection does not improve.
Doctor Who: How the debate about the first female Time Lord has insulted fans
The debate on the casting of a female Doctor on the show Doctor Who has been highly unfair to fans.
Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion. It should really have caught on
Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion is an effective film about an all too real possible Armageddon.
40 years on, did Star Wars change SF for the better or worse?
Imagine George Lucas at the Pearly Gates: would he get into heaven because of his contribution to science fiction, or would he be cast down?
Is Doctor Who in trouble? Only if you ignore the way the world has changed
Changes in the way people view television programmes do not appear to be taken into account when considering the audience for Dr. Who.
Filming Stephen King: the task that’s defeated dozens of movie-makers
Why have so many Stephen King novels remained so stubbornly resistant to Hollywood adaptation?
I, Robot on the BBC: this is how good radio SF could be
Radio seems to be the best medium for dramatizing science fiction. It’s a shame that there isn’t more of it, although…
Star Wars is getting complex. Should we be impressed or worried?
Disney seems to be respectfully expanding the Star Wars universe, but will it succumb to the corporate dark side?
How Rogue One offers new hope for SF in mainstream films
Surprise! Rogue One actually takes the Star Wars universe in a new and interesting direction. WARNING: contains spoilers.
‘From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker’: the Star Wars novelization 40 years on
How does the novelization of Star Wars hold up 40 years after its release?
What’s wrong with Doctor Strange
After the first half hour, Doctor Strange somehow turned into a spectacular but oddly empty experience.
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