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News Archive
Current: August 2003
28
Days Later: Frank's Take
Unconventional filmmaker Danny Boyle has the inherent knack for
stomach-turning entertainment that's outright disturbing yet oddly
poetic and polished in its gruesome suspended state of mind.
(FILM REVIEWS)
Charlie's
Angels: Full Throttle
The concept of throwaway entertainment comes in all forms, shapes
and sizes. And as everybody and their grandmother already knows,
an exceedingly high dosage of boisterous brain-dead eye candy is
what usually satisfies the majority of giddy moviegoers during the
summertime blues.
(FILM REVIEWS)
Conjose
Mails Membership Reimbursements
ConJose, the 2002 World Science Fiction Convention, issued reimbursements
to qualified volunteers, staff, committee, and program participants
beginning in late May 2003.
(CONVENTIONS)
Hewitt
(Nj) Author's New Novel To Appear As Online Serial
With about 60 titles already published on both sides of the Atlantic,
award-winning NJ author John Grant thought he'd seen every way there
was of his books being published ... but he was wrong!
(NEWS)
Jon
Courtenay Grimwood Interview
Jon Courtenay Grimwood belongs to the special group of SFF novelists
who write compelling Science Fiction that keeps the reader's interest
without employing the short cuts of cliché, formulae or fantasy.
Jane Palmer chats with one of the rapidly rising stars of Brit-Lit
SF.
(INTERVIEWS)
Touched
by a Tentacle
Scottish SF author Ken MacLeod comes across an intriguing article
on the influence of right-wing think tanks, and via that, the even
more revelatory Cursor's Media Transparency, which tells you who's
paying which pipers (and why they all play the same tune).
(COMMENT)
The
Subtracted Dimensions of Lisa Snellings
The hugely admired kinetic 3D creations of fantasy sculptor Lisa
Snellings are a constant source of fascination to those lucky enough
to own them, or to visit the people who do. A new development -
Snellings-as-fantasy-illustrator - has come about through the creation
of an anthology of original stories.
(INTERVIEWS)
July
2003 Offworld Report
SFF imprint Earthlight is axed, John Jarrold angrily speaks out
on this, Richard E Grant becomes the new Dr Who, why Clarion matters,
Eric Van Lustbader is interviewed, and a fab review of POD-based
SFF fiction (hint, it's really, really bad).
(NEWS)
Terminator
3: Rise of the Machines: Frank's Take
This juiced-up futuristic fable is delightfully on maximum overdrive
and Arnold S. does what he does best ... deliver his brand of robotic
ribaldry with the precision of an extremely well-oiled machine.
(FILM REVIEWS)
Bounty
(Star Trek Enterprise)
While Archer is taken prisoner by a bounty hunter, T'Pol is infected
by a pathogen which unleashes her mating urges. Tim finds an episode
which is one of the season's worst: appallingly bad in fact.
(TV REVIEWS)
Cogenitor
(Star Trek Enterprise)
A first contact situation leads Trip to get overly involved with
the life and rights of a new species. There's a few plot conveniences,
but this proves fairly meaty stuff.
(TV REVIEWS)
First
Flight (Star Trek Enterprise)
Archer gets word than an old colleague has died, prompting him to
tell T'Pol about the early days of warp test flights. Goofy in spots,
but fairly charming overall says our Tim.
(TV REVIEWS)
Regeneration
(Star Trek Enterprise)
The discovery of a crashed ship in the Arctic leads to humanity's
first ever encounter with the Borg. Mostly a collection of horror-movie
cliches. Good moments, but that's all.
(TV REVIEWS)
The
Breach (Star Trek Enterprise)
While Trip, Reed, and Mayweather must travel through treacherous
caves in order to find some lost Denobulans, Phlox finds himself
facing a patient with a long-standing grudge against Phlox's own
race. The character material is good, the jeopardy sub-plot is not
so great though
(TV REVIEWS)
The
Expanse (Star Trek Enterprise)
In the season finale, an attack on Earth by a new alien race brings
a change of mission for the Enterprise. Tim discovers lots of setup,
but not a lot of payoff.
(TV REVIEWS)
Martian
Opposition
Rod ponders the Red Planet's fascination for writers of science
fiction and fantasy and muses over the host of space probes which
will shortly be descending there from America, Europe and Japan.
(ARTICLES)
Kevin
J. Anderson: An Impolite Interview
Kevin J. Anderson on why he can't get enough of sprawling, multiple
storyline books, on making characters grow, live and die, and why
science fiction is the only genre with the entire universe as its
canvas.
(INTERVIEWS)
The
Hulk: Frank's Take
In revered filmmaker Ang Lee’s darkly jolting action-adventure The
Hulk, the perversely spry comic-book film adaptation continues on
as a booming genre flick.
(FILM REVIEWS)
28
Days Later: Mark's Take
A modestly budgeted science fiction film has society being destroyed
by a virus that turns people into violent killers. While some of
the ideas and some of the story seem borrowed from The Day Of The
Triffids, the film itself seems freshly nightmarish.
(FILM REVIEWS)
The
Hulk: Mark's Take
Ambitious but ultimately dissatisfying film version of the Marvel
comic. A man periodically turns into a not-so-jolly green giant.
Ang Lee does the adaptation with ill-calculated sensibility and
not much sense.
(FILM REVIEWS)
Pirates
Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl (Mark's Take)
This is almost certainly the most exciting pirate film ever made.
This fast-paced confection of an adventure has wit, a good story
and imaginative visuals. Johnny Depp gives what is probably his
best performance as a grubby yet stylish pirate captain.
(FILM REVIEWS)
Terminator
3: Rise Of The Machine (Mark's Take)
The new Terminator film has fewer ideas to slow the action. The
film is in more ways than one just a machine demolition derby. The
future sends back what is supposed to be the most advanced Terminator
robot of the series but budget constraints and poor writing make
it less intelligent and less capable than its predecessor was.
(FILM REVIEWS)
The
League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Mark's Take
An interesting premise from a graphic novel makes about half an
hour of interesting story, mostly for the introduction of the characters.
But the film needed a good plot to make it more than just a comic
book origin story. This one seems to have a plot that was patched
together as it went along. The film has a nice look, but the viewer
is never intrigued by the villain or his machinations.
(FILM REVIEWS)
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