New evidence loosely supports popular SF tropes, lab-grown meat may be available soon, Russia (possibly) loses a satellite, Japan looks to cleaning up the mess we’ve made in space, and a teen’s death ray catches the Net’s attention.
Author Archives: JD DeLuzio
We have our Man of Steel
Hollywood has cast its new Superman. Anyone betting on whether we’ll have a script worthy of the character?
How would you, o Bureaucrats, write this one?
Weekend Review: Black Swan
“Take it from the vision.”
–Nina, to the pianist.
Black Swan? Really?
Black Swan has become one of the most discussed films of the last two months, and garnered Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actress (Natalie Portman).
It’s also a thriller (arguably a psychological horror movie) and features some well-placed special effects.
Judge rules D&D a threat to prison security.
Shades of James Dallas Egbert III! A judge has upheld the confiscation of rule-books and multi-sided dice on the grounds that D&D encourages gang activity and represents a threat to prison security.
As a friend of mine said, anyone have a +1 Hammer of Common Sense?
Movie Discussion: The Green Hornet
The venerable pulp/radio/serial/tv/comic-book character, who precedes the great comic-book heroes1, receives the Seth Rogen treatment. Annalee Newitz finds the film “surprisingly awesome.” Roger Ebert (the man who loved The Phantom Menace) calls it “unendurable,” and, overall, reviews have been negative.
Anyone here have opinions to offer?
The Cape: “Pilot” and “Tarot”
The Cape flies onto the small screen this week, hoping to revive the faltering superhero genre on television. We start with a two-hour premiere—but it’s really just the first two episodes, run back to back.
One view follows. We’d like to hear others.
Happy New Year!
We hope everyone welcomes 2011 in safety and with happiness. Meanwhile, enjoy some links (including Plinkett’s long-awaited Sith review):
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The third big-budget adaptation of a Narnia novel features excellent special effects, and very little else that rises above the mediocre.
Book Review: Sarah Court
Craig Davidson’s work has attracted the attention of people like Peter Straub, Chuck Palahniuk (to whose style Davidson’s sometimes draws comparison), Irvine Welsh, and Clive Barker. Most recently, Toronto’s ChiZine Publications brings us Sarah Court, a bizarre, biting novel that defies easy classification. Welcome to Sarah Court, home to the disturbed and the damaged: fathers who destroy their children, a nerd who imagines he’s a vampire, a foster mother who sports a vicious streak, and a thing that lives in a box.
Newspace
Private spaceflight, a Martian record, extra-terrestrial green and gold, and more.
On Wednesday, SpaceX had a successful launch and splashdown (check
here and here), and they hope for a visit to the space station in the near future