Can’t say too much about Abigail (spoilers), but the 14-year-old girl in the titular role is extremely good. The movie has a twist that’s revealed fairly early, but I can’t reveal it in the excerpt. I enjoyed it, and the effects are pretty “effective.”
Today’s the launch of not only Robert J. Sawyer’s brand-new terrific science fiction book The Downloaded, but also his 16-stop cross-Canada promotional tour. Check the column to see if he’s coming to a city near you!
A new book, by Canadian writer Scott Overton, is a near-future thriller about first contact (maybe), telepathy, deep-sea habitats, and all sorts of really cool stuff. I think Steve likes it! Read this!
It’s been a bit over 40 years since L. Ron Hubbard began the institution Writers of the Future to “pay forward” his success in writing science fiction. In that time, well over 800 writers (and illustrators!) have won awards, most going on to major careers in the field. This week, Steve reviews the 40th volume in the series. And finds it excellent!
Today Steve checks out Sebastien de Castell’s “Crucible of Chaos” and finds it a good read. He says it flows quite well and features an unlikely protagonist. He also dips into a couple of A. Merritt’s juicy books from the ‘20s and ‘30s.
Steve reviews the fourth volume in Edward Willett’s anthology of stories from writers he’s interviewed. It’s a very good volume, and one well worth reading.
Steve retro-reviews possible cult classic John Dies at the End, because it showed up on his satellite system several times this week, and he missed it when it first came out. Did he like it? (Will you?) Read the column for a possible answer.
There was initially a lot of discussion around this movie when it came out, but that has died down. From a fan’s perspective, is it worth watching? Depends. Read it and find out.
For his last column of 2023, Steve revisits (and revises) one he posted nine years ago. Is it still relevant? You decide.
It is supposed that Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, the fifth Indiana Jones movie, will be the last one Harrison Ford will star in. But it’s possible that it will not be. It’s almost certain that there will be more Indy movies, but who will star in them? Only Lucasfilm knows!
The name Hayao Miyazaki is almost synonymous in many people’s minds with Japanese anime because of the many high-quality films that he and his Studio Ghibli have put out over the last few decades. (There is lots more anime than they have produced, but it’s not all as exemplary as theirs.) Revisiting some of his best films is always a rewarding experience, especially Spirited Away, for me.
Up to this season, Steve’s personal opinion has been that it’s okay as a tribute (to Stephen King and the eponymous movie), but rather meh as a show. Steve thinks Greg Nicotero’s show is finally hitting its stride.
A prequel that stands alone. If you enjoyed the original Pet Sematary, you’ll probably like this. A good October/Halloween movie, in my opinion. See what you think!
The Bram Stoker novel about a bloodsucker has a short passage about how he got to England. This movie takes that portion of the well-known book and expands it. Steve thinks you’ll like it (a lot).
The latest animated Resident Evil movie is, I think, worth watching if you’re a fan of the game or the movies. If not, you might wonder what’s going on, but it is at least somewhat self-explanatory. I kinda liked it.
Steve does short, personal takes—not necessarily reviews—on four recent genre movies (well, almost all genre). He enjoyed watching them and hopes you will too.
I saw two nearly identical movies filmed a year apart (1950 and 1951), but they were different enough to be interesting in an “old sci-fi” way. B-movies, but very much S-F and very much of their time.
As a follow-up to last week’s column, Steve reviews Star Science Fiction Stories #3. It’s got some good ‘fifties SF in it, although it’s not overall as strong as the previous one.
Steve takes you back to 1954, when newspapers cost a nickel and a bus trip through town was a dime. Back then SF writers were real men and women, not like today’s namby-pamby… er, he finds a lot of old SF fun and involving to read. He hopes you will too.
The new movie, Hypnotic, with Ben Affleck, William Fichtner and Alice Braga looks like a cop movie, but beware. It’s definitely genre and has one or two twists that may surprise you. (Or not, if you’ve seen several notable genre movies.) But overall it’s worth a bag or bucket of popcorn.
As a fan of Evil Dead 2 (Dead By Dawn), Steve feels mildly disappointed in the newest addition to the series. It’s not really good or terribly bad, it’s just… there.
John Wick Chapter 4 is not, contrary to popular belief, the last movie in the series. If you’re not afraid of spoilers, Steve has a few things to say about this movie.
The Malevolent Seven is a dark humourous fantasy that moves very quickly. It’s not terribly deep, but for me it was a quick, fun read. (Bear in mind that my idea of fun is a bit twisted.)
A new collection of short stories by Sally McBride is being published by Brain Lag Publications. It’s chock-full of terrific SF stories about aliens, people, bats, ghosts (okay, maybe that one’s kind of fantasy) and so on. Steve really liked it.
This week Steve delves into the interesting genre of Fantasy Westerns. This particular book involves creatures of darkness and a gunslinger named Melinda who never misses. Did he like it? Read it and see.
To make up for missing last week, this week Steve reviews three recent movies, two certain genre and one genre by courtesy. He liked two out of the three. Can you guess which one bored him?
This week Steve talks about two new, FREE, online genre magazines—one featuring sf/f poetry by Canadian poets; the other featuring sf/f poetry and fiction by Canadian writers and poets.
The people who brought you Westworld have now brought William Gibson’s The Peripheral to TV, and it’s taken on a life of its own, like another popular series I could name with dragons. Is it worth your time? Steve gives it an unqualified “Yes!”
In a break from his usual book and movie reviews, Steve takes a look at a new TV show, Poker Face, that quite possibly could qualify as genre… but, frankly, whether it is or not, Steve feels you might want to take a look.
Just about everybody but me (and my wife) says M3GAN is a good sf/horror/comic film. I didn’t find it good SF, terribly horrifying, or in the least funny. YMMV. I just didn’t get it.
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