The Adventures of Baron Munchausen movie review

Posted on by

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen is a typical Terry Gilliam film: confusing beginning, too many endings and an insanity and visual mayhem that is second to none. But when the film starts going it’s is a wonderful exciting adventure that does credit to the king of all liars. The cast is first rate as well, with a young Sarah Polley as the Baron’s traveling companion and Robin Williams in an uncredited role as the King of the Moon (and also a young Uma Thurman as Venus appearing in an homage to Botticelli). But what is the movie about?

Continue reading →

For The Win by Cory Doctorow

Posted on by

For The Win by Cory Doctorow is another polemic novel, this time about economics and unions. Doctorow isn’t my favorite writer, but his stories are well paced and well written. There is rarely any confusion about who the characters are and what they are doing. But Doctorow has a habit of dropping in a chapter which reads like it came out of a textbook when he wants to introduce a topic. Unlike other books which work the school lesson into the plot, Doctorow just puts in a chapter which covers the topic and drops you out of the novel. So how was the economic text novel.

Continue reading →

Ender’s Shadow by Orson Scott Card

Posted on by

Ender’s Shadow by Orson Scott Card was the first in a new series of novels in the Ender’s Game universe. The original short story turned book had made a hero out of a small boy who was a better tactical leader then anyone before him. The story then followed Ender as he spread out through the universe and did good deeds and wrote books and I lost interest somewhere in the 3rd book. Card then decided to write more about Ender’s time in Battle School, so he picked a character that was familiar to Ender fans, but hadn’t been developed much, Bean. So Ender’s Shadow follows Bean from his early days until the events at the end of the original Ender’s Game. Card sets Bean up as smarter and better than Ender, but without Ender’s leadership charisma. So how does the book fit into the Ender Universe? NOTE: Spoilers within

Continue reading →

True Names by Vernor Vinge

Posted on by

True Names by Vernor Vinge is on of the first great Internet books. Before Neuromancer was published, Vinge, more than anyone else, created the metaphors and views that were used in the early days of the Internet. Vinge is more of a futurist than a science fiction writer. His greatest strength is seeing the future and how people will interact with it. And in True Names, Vinge started writing about the future event that he would later name The Singularity. So what exactly is True Names about?

Continue reading →

Longshot Comics by Shane Simmons

Posted on by

Longshot Comics by Shane Simmons is at one extreme end of the comic book artistic spectrum. In Scott McCloud’s book Understanding Comics, McCloud talked about the different types of art in comic books. From realistic to shapes to words are the corners of the art triangle. Longshot Comics deals deep inbetween words and shapes, by presenting all the characters as dots. That’s right every character is represented by a small dot. And to make sure the dot doesn’t get lost in the panel, the book is composed of 24 pages of 160 panels. Each page has 16 rows of 10 columns of panels each of which has 1 or more small dots representing people. Now if you figure that a regular comic book has about 6 panels per page. this 24 page book is the equivalent of 32 regular 20 page comic books. Now is it worth reading?

Continue reading →

The Maltese Falcon by Dashiel Hammett

Posted on by

The Maltese Falcon by Dashiel Hammett is the quintessential detective novel with Sam Spade as the prototype detective. Hammett created a detective archetype (or at least popularized it) that survives (and even thrives) to this day. I would guess that more people have seen the movie (the Humphrey Bogart version) than have read the book. So, is the book worth reading or should people just see the movie?

Continue reading →

Groundhog Day movie review

Posted on by

 A case can be made that Groundhog Day is the best movie of the last 20 years. I know at first blush that doesn’t seem like a reasonable thing to say. But the more you think about the movie, the more you realize is in it and the more it affects you. I saw it in the theater when it came out and enjoyed it as a well-done fluff comedy. But the more you see it the deeper it affects you. In fact it was the center of a minor squabble in a Museum of Modern Art film series on God in films. The squabble wasn’t over this fluff comedy being included in the films alongside Ingmar Bergman, among others, but the squabble was over who would write the movie up in the film series catalog. You see almost every religion wanted to be able to write it up. But what is it in this little movie about a man who keeps reliving the same day over and over that has fascinated so many religious leaders?

Continue reading →

Comic Book Confidential movie review

Posted on by

Comic Book Confidential was released at the end of the 1980s and is a good capstone to one of the best decades for the comic book industry. Back in the late 80s and early 90s, the internet wasn’t nearly as prevalent as it is now, so it was very possible that a lot of the non superhero comics would not be known to a lot of people. That was what made Comic Book Confidential essential viewing for the comic book fan. It not only introduced people to a lot of comic books they might not have seen before, but it also showed panels and pages (narrated by the author) from those books. But is it worth viewing now?

Continue reading →

The Sagan Diary by John Scalzi

Posted on by

The Sagan Diary by John Scalzi is a novella set in the Old Man’s War universe. It has an interesting history, which Scalzi documents in the introduction. Orderwise, this book sits between The Ghost Brigadesand The Last Colony. It is significantly different than any of Scalzi’s other book in style and tone. Is it worth tracking down?
Continue reading →

Rubicon review

Posted on by

Rubicon is the new spy thriller on AMC. Everyone has been comparing it to spy movies from the 70s such as Three Days of the Condor and The Conversation. The action is slow paced (even though we do get a gun shot suicide and a train crash in the pilot) and deliberate with a few different story lines being setup for use throughout the season. But is it worth watching?

Continue reading →