I finished up my rewatch of seasons 1-3 of The Expanse this past weekend and it was just as good the second time. If you don’t know this hard sci-fi series, the original trailer isn’t a bad way to gauge whether you’re interested or not: There is a running theory that SyFy will cancel any series you love, like Lucy pulling away the football from Charlie Brown. SyFy did not disappoint, even as The Expanse…
I’ve linked to Mark Evanier’s series on rejection before. It’s very useful for writers — and many entries perfectly connect to film and TV actors and voiceover artists. This latest installment may resonate particularly with voiceover artists. In the realm of voiceovers (and frankly, in plenty of realms), people like to work with who they know. And it’s not only who you know, it’s safe bets. How does this relate to Gary Owens (aka the…
Earlier this week, an under two-minute short film hit YouTube that takes the humble snowball fight and amps it up to 11. It should not surprise anyone that this is directed by an action film veteran, David Leitch, whose name may be familiar to those who’ve seen John Wick (he was the uncredited co-director). He’s gone on to direct additional action movies and he brings substantial experience as a stunt performer and coordinator to those…
This past weekend, I was talking about the National Theater Institute of which I am quite a happy alumnus. They practice a maxim of “Risk. Fail. Risk again” which is kind of like the positive spin of the War Boys’ outlook in Mad Max: Fury Road. Same flamethrower guitars (metaphorically), less desolation. But that’s all artsy stuff, what about science? This is where David Noonan writing in Scientific American comes in. Apparently, some folks did…
If you’ve checked out any of the anthology series “Short Treks,” you’ll know the arguable standout thus far is the first season’s “Calypso” co-written by Michael Chabon. Chabon, probably better known to many as an award-winning novelist, also wrote this season’s “Q&A” and is the showrunner for the forthcoming Star Trek: Picard. When I saw a behind-the-scenes photo of Chabon and the Vasquez Rocks (a popular Hollywood “exotic” filming location and one very storied for…
For whatever reason, Big Data decided to show me a Vox video piece from 2016 about the Concorde the other day. It’s part of an article by Phil Edwards. For you young whippersnappers, the Concorde was a quite cool-looking supersonic passenger plane that heralded the future of air travel… until that future disappeared. Later in 2016 (and also in Vox), Brad Plumer noted that several startups and NASA were revisiting supersonic transport. He noted one…
On the blogs I always make time for is Mark Evanier’s “News from ME.” Today, he wrote something that felt in line with Wednesday’s post about Scorsese and the film industry and, well, it fits me more than it doesn’t. People are always writing to ask me my opinion of the latest blockbuster movie release. I’ll save you the trouble: I probably haven’t seen it and might not for some time. Sometimes, that’s because nothing…
Last month, I wrote about how accomplished filmmaker Martin Scorsese termed the many, many Marvel films as “not cinema.” His colleague Francis Ford Coppola joined in, going further in calling the films “despicable.” Superhero fandom has not been kind. (Thankfully, some superhero actors keep on being superheroic, so there’s that). On Monday, Martin Scorsese wrote an opinion piece in the New York Times about the interview that kicked this all off — and where he…
Back in 2016, the state of Maine became the first state to use ranked choice voting in all their elections, including the Federal ones. There was something of a silly kerfuffle, as the paradigm shift hit established political power right in the comfort zone. But wait, what is ranked choice voting anyway? Well, here’s a fun video by CGP Grey to illustrate it with animals. As you might have gleaned above, I’m in favor of…
There’s something I’ll always find fascinating about abandoned and empty cities — and no, it’s not just horror-related, despite the season. So when I learned about California City and the plans for a great metropolis that never was, I had to check out the pictures… and maybe one day, visit it in person.