A sequel of sorts to both Cryptonomicon and Reamde, Stephenson’s most recent novel, released at the start of summer, 2019, begins like his best.
That proves a challenging thing to maintain when writing a book of Stephensonian lengths.
JD DeLuzio
Posts by JD DeLuzio:
August 23, 2019
Disney announces a full slate of Marvel TV Shows:
In addition to the previously-mentioned Vision/Scarlet Witch series, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Hawkeye, and Loki shows for 2020 and 2021 (depending), Disney also plans shows for Moon Knight, Ms. Marvel, and the She-Hulk! In addition to these shows, which will connect with the MCU, expect new animated series, like What If…
Further information may be found here, or by Googling, “Marvel fanboys and fangirls lose their…”
Who should play the still-uncast roles? And what other Marvel character should get a series?
August 23, 2019
Disney details its new MCU Park
Disney will be opening a new MCU themed land at its California park in 2020, and others will follow in other countries. While the fact of the park has been known for some time, specific details were announced at the D23 Expo that runs this weekend. The Avengers will have to miss Walter Disney World in Florida, however, since Marvel sold the rights to using most of its characters in theme parks to Universal back in the 1990s.
However, regardless of what decision gets made regarding movie rights, Spider-man will be able to swing around the California park– Disney/Marvel has full park/character rights on the side of the continent.
I hope its less confusing negotiating one’s way around the actual park.
What do you think of their plans? And what would go in your Marvel Park?
August 20, 2019
Spider-man swinging out of the MCU?
Just when it looked like Disney and Marvel Studios had all of their Marvel Toys back, Sony has rejected a new deal that would have seen the profits between the two studios split more equitably– that is, Disney would have received a bigger percentage. At present, it appears that Sony will be continuing on their own with Spider-man, leaving him out of the official MCU films.
Of course, with the kind of money that might be made, and Sony’s shaky track record with the Web-slinger, expect twists and updates to this story.
August 20, 2019
The Terror: Infamy—”All the Demons Are Still in Hell” Review
The second series of The Terror continues in its uneven manner, with government-ordered oppression in the foreground and a supernatural mystery lurking in the background.
August 20, 2019
2019 Hugo Awards
JD DeLuzio Awards, Conventions
The 2019 Hugos were awarded on the weekend at 77th World SF Con in Dublin, Ireland.
Video courtesy of orbzine
The two winners everyone wants to know: Best novel went to Mary Robinette Kowal’s The Calculating Stars which we reviewed here (I was, to be honest, lukewarm on it, though it has a great premise) and Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse, which we reviewed positively here won for Best Dramatic Presentation, Longform.
You may find the others at the link in the first sentence, or below.
August 19, 2019
The Handmaid’s Tale: “Under His Eye,” “Unfit,” “Heroic,” “Witness,” “Liars,” “Sacrifice,” “Mayday.”
June completes her journey to Handmaid with a Handgun, as she organizes a risky, major strike against Gilead. Meanwhile….
August 13, 2019
The Terror: Infamy– “A Sparrow in a Swallow’s Nest”
No reasonable sequel could exist to AMC’s The Terror, a brilliant series crafted from Dan Simmons’s supernatural take on historical events. However, its success means The Terror is now an ongoing anthology series. This season, “Infamy,” switches location to Los Angeles, 1941, and makes its supernatural shadings clear from the opening.
August 10, 2019
Summer Review: When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth (1970)
It wouldn’t be summer without some Weekend Reviews of older films, classic, curious, or forgotten, of interest to the Bureau. This 1970 creature feature follows up Hammer’s better-known One Million Years BC. It’s not as celebrated as that film, but it’s better than Hammer’s other quaintly ridiculous “Cave Man Pictures”—and it exists in both family-friendly and slightly more adult variants.
And these old features come, after all, the closest SF usually gets to a beach movie.
September 6, 2019
Movie Review: It Chapter Two (2019)
JD DeLuzio Movies 0 Comments
Twenty-seven years have passed since the Losers’ Club stopped Pennywise’s killing streak. They’ve grown up and moved on, spreading out across the
Greater Toronto AreaUnited States. When the slaughter begins again, they return toPort Hope, OntarioDerry, Maine, hoping to permanently end the life of a certain murderous clown from beyond.It Chapter Two has much to recommend it, but the fact that I spent a measurable amount of its two hours and 49 minutes trying to identify locations tells you something.
More…