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Category Archives: science fiction
On My Bookshelf: The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August
The author’s premise is not new. Bill Murray explored it with a groundhog in Pennsylvania. That flick was inspired by Ken Grimwood’s Replay, a novel I would recommend for the personal examination of living a life over and over. Catherine … Continue reading
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Another Robot Movie
Resting at home from a medical procedure today. Once assured I was feeling fine, if fatigued, and after a mid-afternoon nap, my wife departed. Time for a science fiction movie (that she would probably dislike.) Archive looked like the most interesting … Continue reading
Posted in film, science fiction
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On The Tube: Counterpart
The premise of Counterpart attracted me. Two parallel worlds, each kept mostly secret from the ordinary people of the other. There’s that science fiction premise, but everything that follows is espionage. I generally find modern espionage fiction, book or tv, … Continue reading
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A Future Footing
Four episodes into season three, Star Trek Discovery finds a footing. Not its footing. Just a footing. I last wrote about this show last December. Certain weaknesses dragged things down the first two seasons: mishandled characters (killing off Philippa Georgiou … Continue reading
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The Vast of Night
A “science fiction mystery” is how this film is described on wikipedia. Fair enough. It’s a good piece of filmmaking all around: acting, character development, music, pace, direction. It takes place in rural New Mexico about sixty years ago and … Continue reading
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Tales From The Loop
This weekend I completed my watch of the Amazon Prime series Tales From The Loop. It explores people living in a midwestern community. Underground is a mysterious physics research facility. I found it compelling. More human than about 95% of … Continue reading
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On My Tube: Amazon SF
Generally I don’t offer book or tv reviews unless there’s some element of faith involved. Or astronomy. In these days of pandemic, our streaming options have expanded somewhat. While I originally got sucked in to Amazon for High Castle, I’ve … Continue reading
Posted in science fiction, spirituality, television
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Dystopia In Current Science Fiction
One unfortunate trend in speculative fiction (in my opinion) is the ongoing indulgence for dystopia. To be clear, I think dystopia is fine if that’s your story. The problem is that publishers seem to be gravitating to it in great … Continue reading
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On My Bookshelf: A Memory Called Empire
One of the best things about good science fiction is when an author takes us places we’ve never been in ways we’ve never gone. The first of those is easy to do. No human has yet set foot on Mars … Continue reading
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SF Streaming 2019
After some initial good feelings, my sense of this year’s science fiction streaming is mixed. I’ve blogged here before on Amazon’s adaptation of Philip Dick’s Man in the High Castle. I think this season was the worst, by far. On the … Continue reading
Posted in science fiction, television
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Movie Challenge Day 2
Continuing on the challenge of significant film-watching experiences, I offer a “simulcast” with my fb page. There, without commentary, but here, a brief text. Space has its allure. But so did exploring the interior of the Earth. I was … Continue reading
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Movie Challenge Day 1
A friend didn’t tag me, so I thought I’d respond. I’m doing this on fb without commentary, but the blogging medium beckons a few words. Like many boys, I liked adventure and science fiction. Preferably both in the same … Continue reading
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Talky Science Fiction
Sometime in the last century, producers of pop culture discovered that science fiction and fantasy mixed with visual special effects and action makes for both popular movies with the general public and money for the corporations behind them. Between the … Continue reading
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On Shelf And Screen: Ursula LeGuin
As a science fiction reader, I’ve overlooked Ursula LeGuin. But after two recent experiences, I’ve become a fan. First, I reacquainted myself with The Lathe of Heaven. The novel was made into a tv movie in 1980. It’s interesting that as … Continue reading
Posted in film, On My Bookshelf, science fiction
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Hard Sun, Hard Violence
As I’ve encountered streaming series on hulu and amazon, I notice there’s a lot of boundaries pushed beyond what’s been aired on cable networks. Some of those boundaries are plusses–telling a story over a period of twelve hours, give or … Continue reading
