When it comes to the “science and technology” part of Science Fiction, there tend to be three axis of thought, that end up forming into a sort of spectrum-ish thing – like those charts used in some video games where your character’s stats are portrayed in context of a geometric shape, with portions sticking out in different directions based on how you’ve chosen to weight things. There’s a technical term for this, but I don’t know what its. Continue reading

Video Game Vlog Review: Hatsune Miku – Project Mirai DX
This week I’m doing my second review of a Hatsune Miku game with Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai DX for the 3DS. Continue reading
Let’s Play Mass Effect 3: Part 5 – Sector General
We arrive on Citadel Station and check up on a downed party member.
Let’s Play Mass Effect 3: Part 4 – Cigarette Smoking Man
Our attempt to get the artifact is stifled by an old nemesis.

Film Review: Outrage (2010)
If I was to summarize this film in one meme, it would be “That Escalated Quickly”, and I mean that very much in the original context where it’s used in Anchorman. Continue reading

Nintendo Power Retrospectives: Part 57
This time we’re covering issue #41 of Nintendo Power for October of 1992. Continue reading
Video Film Review: Damnation Alley
This time I’m reviewing the film adaptation of Roger Zelazny’s science fiction novel, “Damnation Alley” Continue reading
Let’s Play Mass Effect 3: Part 3 – Red Mars
We continue to make our way to the Prothean archive.
Tor.Com has started running a series of articles on African SFF (Science Fiction/Fantasy) writers. This is really awesome. SF/F Fandom tends to focus on writers and artists from the “Anglophone Zone” – The US, Canada, the UK, Australia, and the EU (yes, not all EU countries have English as their primary language, but English is a fairly major language in the EU). East Asian countries – primarily Japan, China, and to a lesser degree Korea have also been getting some attention as well, but Africa and Latin America have not gotten near the same degree of attention that other countries have had.
So, this article is great, and I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

Video Game Vlog Review: Hatsune Miku Project Diva F
This week I have a Vlog style review of Hatsune Miku Project Diva F for the PS3. Continue reading
Let’s Play Mass Effect 3: Part 2 – Get Your Ass To Mars
Earth has fallen – we now head to Mars for a chance to fight back.
This time I’m reviewing the fantasy anime series “Record of Lodoss War” from 1990.
Footage:
- Actual Play – Star Wars: Edge of the Empire – by WhyCalibur
- Titansgrave: Ashes of Valkana – by Wil Wheaton
Both used with Permission - Record of Lodoss War – by Kadokawa Shoten
Used under fair use.
Music:
“Little Lily Swing” – Tri-Tachyon
Used under a Creative Commons License.
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Notes: Matt Walton suggested that I cover some of the material I’ve previously covered in my fanzine on the show – this is meant to be a part of that – I did an article on Western Fantasy in Anime that covered Lodoss and several other shows that I’ll get to in future episodes.

Film Review – Fury (2014)
“$NAME_OF_FILM” on/in a “$LOCATION_OR_VEHICLE” is a pretty good reductive way to describe some films. Under Siege is Die Hard on a Battleship. The Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Starship Mine” was pitched as Die Hard on the Enterprise. The Magnificent Seven is The Seven Samurai in the old west. While it’s reductive, it’s not necessarily bad, nor is it necessarily a derogatory way to describe a film. Thus, don’t take it as a minus when I say that Fury is Das Boot (which I’ve previously reviewed) in a Sherman Tank. Continue reading
Let’s Play Mass Effect 3: Part 1 – “No One Would Have Believed…”
Part 1 of my new Let’s Play of Mass Effect 3 went live on Tuesday. I’ve also been trying to live-stream my recording sessions, so I’ll be on-camera for most of these episodes.

Film Review: Interstellar
Sometimes, science and scientific concepts make for great story hooks. Time Dilation – the idea that as you approach the speed of light, time slows down for you while moving normally for everyone else – is one of those concepts. One of the few high points of Flight of the Navigator was how it used time dilation to create pathos with the main character’s family having out-aged him. Makoto Shinkai’s Voices of a Distant Star did it with a couple being separated by not only distance, but time (a theme that would carry over to much of Shinkai’s other work). Interstellar does this with a parent and child. Continue reading
Let’s Play Lost Planet 3: Part 33 – Innerspace
We come to the conclusion of Lost Planet 3, as we go inside Nushi.

Movie Review: Gravity
Gravity is, quite possibly, the tensest film I’ve ever seen, and is one of the most profound combinations of imagery and music (chronologically) since the Star Wars films and Koyaanisqatsi, and only eclipsed by Mad Max: Fury Road. Continue reading

Movie Review: X-Men – Days of Future Past (Rogue Cut)
When it comes to comic book films, and adaptations of comic books to the screen, there are questions about how you adapt certain comic book concepts to the screen, and as cinematic universes get more involved, there is no question that has lingered in the background more than “How do you clean up a cluttered universe?” How do you not only pull a retcon, but a big universe altering one?
Days of Future Past not only attempts to pull such a retcon, but succeeds, by creating a situation where the X-Men films can change course to a new path different from the first 3 films, while still giving credit to where the earlier films worked. Continue reading
Let’s Play Lost Planet 3: Part 32 – Jailbreak!
Where the uprising doesn’t go quite as planned, and we need to improvise somewhat.

Nintendo Power Retrospectives: Part 56
This time we’re covering issue #40 of Nintendo Power for September of 1992. Continue reading

Movie Review: Big Hero 6
Big Hero 6 is an incredibly impressive film from Disney. It’s a film that, I’d argue, tells a better superhero story than The Incredibles, with a very interestingly beautiful world, with gorgeous animation and interesting characters. Continue reading
This time I’m discussing two cookbooks, “Mexican Everyday” by Rick Bayless, and “Molto Italiano” by Mario Batali. Continue reading
This time we get our first giant robot vs. giant robot fight… and it’s not very fun.

Movie Review: Inglorious Basterds
Inglorious Basterds is a film that is not, in spite of its marketing, its posters, and its trailers, an action film. It’s a thriller. It’s a film that moves from incredibly tense dialog scene to tense dialog scene the way that John Woo goes from gunfight to gunfight. Continue reading