George Orwell’s 1984 seems almost naive in retrospect, believing that a faceless government would strip all privacy, create a surveillance state,...
Brave New World: A 1931 novel, a 2020 television show…a 2022 reality?
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Movies & TV
I’ve always tried to write in a cinematic way—you should be able to picture my stories on a screen. This stems from my respect and love for great movies and television. Not “great” as in “classic”, per se, or in “Oscar-worthy”, but high entertainment value. Did a movie hold me to my seat for several hours, or was the ongoing journey of a show worth the ride? Here, I discuss those large and small screen adventures I’ve particularly enjoyed.
Good Omens: A Buddy Comedy For The Apocalypse
Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett are two of the better known fantasy authors of the late 20th Century. Their works are snarky, irreverent, and often...
The Best Half-Movie in Ages
If you are of a certain age and sci-fi prediliction, you’ve likely seen the 1984 oeuvre by David Lynch simply entitled: Dune. It was based on a...
The Magicians
Post-Post-Secondary Wizard Education For those who missed it, The Magicians is a fully complete television series with a satisfying ending (unlike...
Sick of Superheroes?
By now, most people have probably forgotten about it, but for a brief period in 2017, DC had a superhero comedy starring Vanessa Hudgens and Alan...
One Pill, Two Pill, Red Pill, Blue Pill
Well, with the new Matrix movie out (no spoilers at all, perfectly safe to continue), it’s time to revisit the red pill, blue pill debate.I’m going...
Jumanji movies
Hear the Drums, Fear the Game If you know Jumanji, you probably get chills just reading that drum beat. For those who don’t, Jumanji is a 1995...
Cowboy Bebop != Cowboy Bebop
Spoiler alert: Cowboy Bebop (Netflix and original animated versions)OK, so I’ve watched all of Cowboy Bebop, both the original and Netflix versions....
Futurama, but in the past
While movie theaters have been shut down and people staying home, Netflix has become the heartbeat of the entertainment world (and maybe it has been...
Bill & Ted’s Excellent Sequel
When I first heard that there was going to be a third movie in the Bill & Ted “franchise,” I cringed. Hollywood has been awash for years in the...
History Like It Never Happened
Alternate History.It's not the sole province of dictators and totalitarian regimes. Alternate History is also a niche subgenre of science fiction...
This show is a giant Easter egg hunt
One show that I never expected to like was Once Upon a Time. The basic premise is that Snow White and Prince Charming's daughter ended up an orphan...
Futurama
Good News, Everyone! It's the best Sci-Fi show ever While I hold onto hope that someday this title might get passed along to a Black Ocean...
Labyrinth: Two Kinds of Magic
Rumors have circulated (as rumors are wont to do) about a potential remake of the fantasy classic The Labyrinth. This is, of course, blasphemy. Not...
Deep Space Mine
When Matt Larkin and I were first brainstorming ideas for Black Ocean: Astral Prime, one of our first sticking points was what to call the series. I...
Fighting for Freedom
With Independence Day behind us in the USA, it's a good time to talk about rebellions and revolutions in fiction. Sci-fi and fantasy are rife with...
Fantastic Fathers
Back around Mother's Day, I made a list of the best mothers in sci-fi and fantasy. Fair's fair, so now we're having a look at the top fictional...
In Honor of Mother’s Day
In honor of Mother's Day, let's talk about the greatest mothers in sci-fi and fantasy. Sadly, thanks to cloning vats and a bias toward orphan...
Game of Predicting Thrones
As a longtime fan of Game of Thrones (in book form, no less!), I'm excited at the prospect of the final season of the TV version wrapping up, even...
Are any shows “appointment television” for you?
"Appointment television" hasn't died, but Netflix sure is trying to strangle it. And while I'm certainly one to binge whole seasons or series in a...
Sci-Fi Time Capsule: The Terminator
This week in Sci-Fi Time Capsule, another take on time travel. Lost in the Hollywood blockbuster horror is the fact that The Terminator is, at its...
Sci-Fi Time Capsule: The Twilight Zone “Escape Clause”
This week in Sci-Fi Time Capsule, we go way back. The Twilight Zone started in 1959, and "Escape Clause" is an all-time classic from the first...
Sci-Fi Time Capsule: Back to the Future Edition
This week in a special edition of Sci-Fi Time Capsule, a look back at the Back to the Future trilogy. This is not a seminal time-travel movie. Jules...
Sci-Fi Time Capsule: Fringe “Safe”
This week in Sci-Fi Time Capsule, the spiritual successor of the X-Files, Fringe. Season 1, Episode 10 is "Safe," which is about a bank robbery...