Gift recommendations for your favorite sci-fi fans

Posted on by earthtoshawna

If you’re like me, you have a few science fiction/fantasy fans on your shopping list, and I’m here to help. Let’s get started.

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My go-to gift is always books. OK, I’m talking about gifts for myself, but maybe you have a book lover on your list too. I loved the novel “Ready Player One,” by Ernest Cline, and I’m not even a gamer. It’s a fun, futuristic adventure, and I hear they are making it into a movie. I also highly recommend “Saga” – my new favorite graphic novel. You can read my review of “Saga” here:

Don’t miss Image Comics’ ‘Saga’ and ‘Rat Queens’

If your geeky gift recipient is not much of a reader, you can always stick with the tried and true gift of TV binge-watching. Wrap up Season One of a cool TV show, and throw in some popcorn or Junior Mints. Here are some TV shows I love:

Check out these binge-worthy sci-fi, fantasy TV series

Another option is sci-fi soundtracks. Of course there’s always John Williams’ famous Star Wars score, and his new soundtrack from “The Force Awakens” will be released Dec. 18, just in time for Christmas. Some of my favorite albums are Bear McCreary’s soundtracks for “Battlestar Galactica.” He is also the composer for the series “Outlander,” “Black Sails,” and some other series as well.

Red Bubble is a fun place to shop online because they sell products by artists and designers from all over the world. They have a mind-bogglingly large selection of T-shirts – from aliens to zombies and everything in between. I have ordered a few shirts from them, and they are unique, good-quality tees. They also have mugs, pillows, posters, stickers, and other fun stuff.

http://www.redbubble.com/

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Red Bubble has t-shirts, pillows, stickers, and more. Orphan Black design by Gelphratchoo; Christmas trees by alice9; and Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock by DinaCarm-Store.

Looking for some wall decor for a friend’s man cave? (Or woman cave?) BUDK.com sells weapons like swords and knives, including officially licensed replicas from “The Lord of the Rings,” “Game of Thrones,” and “The Walking Dead.” Of course, the site offers more than just fantasy replica weapons. They sell all sorts of stuff – pocket knives, pepper spray, camping gear, clothes, jewelry, and thousands of other odd and interesting items.

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United Cutlery’s Tauriel Elven Bow and Arrow is available at BUDK.com, as is Jon Snow’s Longclaw Sword.

 

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Think Geek is the ultimate one-stop shop for every science-fiction fanatic on your holiday shopping list. Where else can you get TARDIS Christmas lights, a Bat’leth letter opener, Borg leggings, astronaut ice cream, a Boba Fett bathrobe, and a replica of Gandalf’s pipe?

https://www.thinkgeek.com/

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Think Geek’s Exclusive Star Wars R2-D2 Measuring Cup Set and Star Wars Cookie Cutters, Star Wars Tauntaun Sleeping Bag, and Doctor Who, Star Wars, and Game of Thrones stockings, are all available at thinkgeek.com.

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If you are looking for a one-of-a-kind type present, I suggest you check out etsy.com. Here you can find a hand-knitted Yoda beanie for your friend’s baby, a flask engraved with your hubby’s favorite Game of Thrones sigil, and homemade soap or perfume inspired by your favorite sci-fi characters. There are so many different things on etsy. Just make sure you pay attention to the order-by dates for custom orders if you want something delivered by Christmas, and check ratings and feedback to avoid flakes.

https://www.etsy.com/

Whether the purists like it or not, fantasy has invaded Renaissance faires, and what “Lord of the Rings” or “Game of Thrones” fan wouldn’t love tickets to a fun festival with like-minded people? I have seen elves, fairies, wizards, and mermaids. I love it – it makes the faire even more magical. Some faires even have themed weekends (pirate weekend, time traveler/steampunk weekend, etc.). Some faires are already offering discounted tickets for the holidays. Renaissance Magazine offers a directory of Renaissance faires all over the world:

http://www.renaissancemagazine.com/fairelist.html

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(Top photo: Star Wars Millennium Falcon Windshield Sunshade, thinkgeek.com. Renaissance faire photos taken at the Original Renaissance Pleasure Faire, by EarthToShawna)

 

Atwood’s dystopian satire is far-fetched but entertaining

Posted on by earthtoshawna

Atwood’s new novel starts out believably enough – the economy has taken a dive. Stan and his wife Charmaine have lost their home and are forced to live in their car. When vandals harass them, they have to scram and find another place to park. It’s not a good time.

They apply for the Positron Project, an economic experiment in which residents are given jobs and a nice house to live in six months out of the year. The other six months they live in the community’s prison.

The desperate couple is approved, and they move in. A shower! Clean towels! A bed to sleep in! A dishwasher! They don’t seem to mind sharing the house with their alternates, and they don’t even seem to mind spending half the year in prison. They are kept busy with their prison jobs, which mostly involve knitting and tending chickens.

Already, I’m confused. Why do they have to live in the prison half the time? They aren’t criminals. If it doesn’t make sense to me, why is this not questioned by the residents? But for the sake of the story, I accept it and move on with the story.

And it’s a compelling story. We can see that there is something sinister going on behind the scenes of the glossy Stepford-ish community because we are told as much: The somewhat spineless Stan is warned that there’s no going back, that no one ever gets out alive, but he signs the contract anyway, since his naïve wife has her heart set on it.

The residents of the twin towns of Consilience/Positron have no contact with the outside world. They are allowed to watch TV, but mostly 1950’s TV shows and movies. The music they are offered is Doris Day and Bing Crosby.

Charmaine herself is somewhat of a Doris Day type, always trying to look on the bright side. So it comes as a bit of a surprise when she is late getting out of the house on switchover day, and runs into the man who lives in the house when she and Stan are in the prison. They begin a torrid affair, right then and there, and before long, Stan and Charmaine are wrapped up in a plot from which they can’t escape.

The book poses a lot of interesting questions: How much control over our own lives are we willing to give up? Would we be willing to sacrifice our morality and our dignity? And how much autonomy do we even want?

It is a throwback to “1984” and “Stepford Wives,” but the fact that I stayed up too late reading this crazy page-turner is a testament to its originality. It was unpredictable, and I wanted to know what would happen next, despite each plot twist being more far-fetched than the last.

Perhaps the real question Atwood is asking is “Is this really so unbelievable?” If the science were possible, would someone do the things they do in this book? We all know power corrupts, and if there’s a market for something, however immoral, there is always going to be an evil someone who will try to profit from it, and herds of idiots who will follow him.

I realize this is sci-fi, but even within that genre, I want to believe. I want to be convinced. But I could have forgiven the silliness of some of the plot devices, if the characters didn’t behave so out of character.

One character, in particular, is such a wild card that I wonder why Atwood didn’t write her as two separate characters. It would have made more sense. Maybe it was supposed to reinforce the suspense and the feeling that you don’t know who you can trust. But it was distracting.

Stan’s brother’s name is Conor – Con for short – and he’s a con man. It’s little things like this that foreshadow the eventual obviousness that the novel is meant to be a farce, but if it’s a comedy, it’s a disturbing one.

It’s an interesting read, as long as you’re willing to suspend disbelief for 320 pages. It’s a quick 320 pages because there’s never a dull moment. (There’s also crazy sex stuff; you’ve been warned.) I would feel better about recommending it, if the place where dystopian tale meets satire had been written a bit more seamlessly.

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“The Heart Goes Last”
 By Margaret Atwood
Nan A. Talese; September 2015

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dark Horse’s time-bending ride ‘Ei8ht’ ends too soon

Posted on by earthtoshawna

I love dystopian science fiction, and time-travel stories too, so Dark Horse’s new graphic novel “Ei8ht,” which began as a webcomic by Rafael Albuquerque, is right up my alley.

“The past is green,” the intro reads, “the present is purple, the future is blue – the Meld is something else entirely.” From the start, we see this is not your average time-travel tale, if there is such a thing.

The colors match up to the scenes in the story. If a panel is illustrated in purple, we know we are seeing the future; the past is in green, etc. I’m not sure the color guide is necessary, but I guess it helps if you’re easily confused.

The first chapter is a bit vague, as our hero’s trip to the Meld leaves his memory fuzzy. I get a “12 Monkeys” vibe, though, as Joshua seems to have been sent there in an attempt to find a cure to a plague that is wiping out people in the present time. Or in the future. (Maybe I do need that color code after all.)

“Ei8ht” takes a Mad Max-ian turn when we see what kind of place Joshua ended up in. The first person Joshua meets in the Meld is a Tank Girl type, armed with a bow. She and her buddies seem like the same kind of characters you might run into in “Fury Road.”

It’s an inhospitable desert dimension that is not a nice place to be. Think of it as a sort of Bermuda Triangle, which factors into the plot, in Chapter 2.

The story is compelling and the art is haunting. I definitely got sucked into the story.  Of course there is the page-turning element of mystery – who is Joshua and why is he stuck here? But it’s also exciting to discover new worlds in science fiction, and the Meld certainly qualifies.

Albuquerque has described the Meld as a “temporal trash can,” a place in time where everything that’s ever been or will be on Earth can coexist – including dinosaurs and Nazis.

I initially liked the fast pace of the comic – don’t you hate it when a story arc drags on and on? But then in Chapter 5 I wondered if it wasn’t moving too quickly. Is this a miniseries?

If it’s over, then it’s a bit of a letdown. It’s too short to be a complete story, and there is so much wasted potential if this is the end. But the graphic novel (which collects comics 1 through 5) is called “Volume 1,” which leads me to believe there is more in store for these characters. I hope so.

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“Ei8ht, Volume 1: Outcast”
By Rafael Albuquerque and Mike Johnson
Dark Horse Books; October 2015

 

 

Postapocalyptica! What to watch while waiting for ‘Hunger Games’ finale

Posted on by earthtoshawna

I loved “Hunger Games” – the books and the movies – and even though I feel cheated that they split the last book into two movies, I’m excited for the final chapter, “Mockingjay, Part 2,” coming out Nov. 20.

Maybe it’s morbid, but I love post-apocalyptic movies, and movies with dystopian societies. Here are some of my faves (in no particular order):

  1. Twelve Monkeys. Terry Gilliam’s trippy movie, about a prisoner sent back in time to collect information on the virus that all but destroyed humanity, also made my list of top 10 time travel movies. While the underground world where the survivors live is dark and creepy, the real horror is the mindfuckery James Cole (Bruce Willis) endures. Also, cool plot twists.
  2. Strange Days. It’s hard to believe “Strange Days” just had its 20th anniversary. The dystopian thriller set in 1999 was released in October 1995, when virtual reality was all the rage in sci fi. Written by James Cameron and directed by Kathryn Bigelow, the film is somewhat of a murder mystery, with the evidence in the form of discs recorded on “SQUIDS,” which plug into users’ heads and allow them to record memories and feelings. Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett, Juliette Lewis, and Tom Sizemore star.
  3. Hunger Games. A friend of mine recommended the books to me before the first movie came out so I read them all, one after another. (One benefit of being late to the party is you don’t have to wait for the next book to come out.) I like that the films stay true to the books, but I have an issue with paying full price for half a movie, which is what “Mockingjay, Part 1” was. I hope the finale is more satisfying.
  4. Never Let Me Go. The book and the movie make me cry like a baby. Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield, and Keira Knightley star in the film adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s heartbreaking novel in which clones are raised to have their organs harvested.
  5. The Matrix. Did I mention virtual reality was big in the ’90s? I loved the first Matrix movie – Neo (Keanu Reeves) and Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) in their cool trench coats and sunglasses, battling the powers that enslave humanity. So cool. But I found the sequels annoying and confusing.
  6. Blade Runner. Ridley Scott’s futuristic film noir starring Harrison Ford is arguably the coolest film adaptation of a Philip K. Dick story (there have been about a dozen movies made from his novels and short stories, including “Total Recall,” “Minority Report,” and “The Adjustment Bureau”). Ford is retired police officer Rick Deckard, whose job was to track down replicants (bio-engineered androids) and destroy them. The film also stars Sean Young, Rutger Hauer, Daryl Hannah, and Edward James Olmos.
  7. Children of Men. Based on P.D. James’ novel of the same name, “Children of Men” is set in the year 2027, and the U.K. is the only country with a functioning government. Twenty years of global infertility threatens the human race with extinction. Clive Owen plays Theo, a civil servant tasked with safeguarding the life of a pregnant young immigrant named Kee. The movie was written and directed by Alfonso Cuarón, and also stars Julianne Moore, Michael Caine, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Charlie Hunnam.
  8. Elysium. Matt Damon stars in Neill Blomkamp’s futuristic morality play, in which Damon’s character attempts to reach a Med-Bay on the luxury space habitat Elysium after being poisoned by radiation on a post-apocalyptic Earth. Even if Blomkamp is a bit heavy-handed with his symbolism, I love his movies. “District 9” kept me on the edge of my seat, “Chappie” was so much better than the critics gave it credit for, and this one is an entertaining ride as well.
  9. I Am Legend. I’m not a huge fan of zombie flicks, but I like that this one focuses on character, rather than just frenzied zombie carnage. Will Smith’s performance was moving. Plus it has a cute German shepherd in it. And “Three Little Birds.”
  10. Gattaca. Sometimes subtle is better with science fiction. Gattaca is one of those, like “Never Let Me Go,” that lacks the guns-blazing craziness of movies like “Mad Max,” but still manages to shake you up. Vincent (Ethan Hawke) dreams of traveling to outer space, but in the future, only genetically superior people are allowed to do such things. Jude Law and Uma Thurman also star.

(photo: Elysium; TriStar Pictures)

‘Skywalker Strikes’ sparks theory about ‘Force Awakens’

Posted on by earthtoshawna

I am a big fan of “Star Wars,” and I also love comic books. But “Skywalker Strikes,” the graphic novel which collects issues 1 through 6, is the first Star Wars comic I’ve read. The last Star Wars “Expanded Universe” books I read were Timothy Zahn’s books, the Thrawn Trilogy, back in the early ’90s. The trilogy is set five years after the events in “Return of the Jedi.”

I am sure that the upcoming Star Wars sequel “The Force Awakens” will have little in common with Zahn’s books, as Disney now owns the Star Wars franchise and has more or less declared the Star Wars Expanded Universe not part of official canon, pissing off Star Wars fans everywhere.

I get why they did it, but it seems a little insulting to throw out all the books and comics that came before Disney, and also a bit tricky. Coruscant, for example, a planet prominently featured in the movie prequels, first appears in Zahn’s “Heir to the Empire.” Are they only keeping EU if it was picked up in the films?

Also angering some fans was Disney’s refusal to renew Dark Horse’s Star Wars publishing license in January. They instead gave the license back to Marvel, which they also now own.

Star Wars comics were published by Marvel from 1977 to 1986, when they canceled it. So Dark Horse had been publishing Star Wars comics since 1989. In short, this is the first Star Wars comic released by Marvel since the ’80s.

Because Disney has said the new comics are canon, it is possible that the characters introduced in them will be part of the new movies, so if you don’t like spoilers and theories, stop reading now.

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If you’re still with me, you’ve read my spoiler alert and have been warned.

The biggest surprise in the new comic is the appearance of a woman named Sana Solo, who claims to be Han’s wife. She confronts him on a planet where he and Leia are hiding from Imperial forces, and even asks Leia, “Now who in the hell might you be, lady?”

Earlier in the comic, she is shown (in a mask) trying to track Han down, and it seems she’s a bounty hunter when she says Han belongs to her, but in light of her claim, her words take on a new meaning.

The fact that Sana is black has fans speculating about a “Force Awakens” theory – that she and Han could be Finn’s parents or grandparents, especially considering director J.J. Abrams’ decision not to reveal some of the characters’ last names (as it would give something away).

Of course, this is all just a theory, and Sana might just be a lying stalker. But why put her in there if she’s not important?

One thing I like about this series is that it’s not boring. From the very first page, we are in the thick of the action, with the Rebels infiltrating an Imperial weapons factory, but their plan to destroy it is thwarted by the appearance of Vader. Luke, who still doesn’t know Vader is his father, wants to fight him, but the voice of Obi Wan tells him to run. At least old Ben knows Luke is no match for his old apprentice.

I like the art in this collection; Han and Leia look like Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher. Luke is another story. Sometimes he looks like Mark Hamill and in other panels he’s almost unrecognizable. Maybe it’s just me.

Some of the action is recycled. A quick escape is hindered by a problem with the Millennium Falcon. Luke continues his existential Jedi angst. Han and Leia argue-flirt. Han flies through an electrical storm in an attempt to lose their tail – just like the scene in “The Empire Strikes Back” when he flew into an asteroid field. He even says, they “stopped following us, didn’t they?” In “The Empire Strikes Back,” he says, “They’d be crazy to follow us, wouldn’t they?”

The introduction of Sana reminds me of the introduction of another character – Gwendolyn from the comic book “Saga.” Marko’s crazy ex trailed him across the galaxy before confronting him and his new woman.

That’s not to say the lack of originality has turned me off the new comic completely. I am looking forward to reading more, if only because I want to see what’s going on with Sana, and a few other new plot points that have been introduced. (OK, one.)

If I am not blown away, it’s only because I expected more from Marvel. In their defense, I think their biggest obstacle was that the element of suspense is missing, because we already know what’s going to happen. But then why choose this time period? It’s filler. Or an excuse to set up the lineage of the movie’s new characters, if the theory proves to be correct.

That being said, it’s nice to see everyone again, and while the plot may not be earth-shattering, it’s familiar and fun to read while waiting for the movie.

“Star Wars Vol. 1: Skywalker Strikes,” by Jason Aaron
Illustrated by John Cassaday and Laura Martin
Marvel; October 2015

‘Limitless,’ ‘Last Man on Earth’ pose intriguing questions

Posted on by earthtoshawna

There have been lots of movies about people who suddenly become smarter, or who use the part of their brain that normally goes “unused”: John Travolta’s character in “Phenomenon,” Scarlett Johansson as “Lucy,” and Bradley Cooper in “Limitless.”

These movies operate from the premise that humans use only 10% of our brains, and what would happen if we used all of it? This is actually a myth. But the idea that we could take a pill that would give us a photographic memory, and the ability to learn and analyze at a superhuman rate is intriguing, and inspiring.

I love these movies, and the idea that we are all capable of so much more – that we all have untapped potential.

We may not be wasting our brain power, but many of us do waste time. Maybe I could learn how to play the cello or speak Chinese, if I spent less time watching movies and TV. But that’s not going to happen. So let’s talk about the show:

“Limitless,” the TV spinoff of the film, passes the higher intellect torch to Brian Finch (Jake McDorman), who gets a job working for the FBI after taking the brain-enhancing drug NZT.

It’s a great hook, but I’m not sure it will be enough to hold onto viewers. It’s slipping rather quickly into the formulaic crime show category, which is what happened to the “Minority Report” spinoff. We want sci fi, not another “CSI.” Talk about untapped potential.

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“I swim in it, I drink out of it. There’s really no wrong way to use a margarita pool.”

The Last Man on Earth

“The Last Man on Earth” poses a different what-if scenario: What would you do if the world’s population succumbed to a massive epidemic and you were the last person left?

If you were Phil Miller (played by Will Forte) you would steal art and artifacts from museums and use them to decorate your new mansion. You would have an inflatable pool filled with tequila and margarita mix.

And you would become so lonely for company you would make friends with volleyballs à la “Cast Away” and get so desperate for love that you end up hitting on a mannequin.

This very funny post-apocalyptic comedy hits just the right notes of loneliness and hilarity to keep me coming back for more, even if the title no longer rings true (it turns out he’s not really the last man).

Now in its second season, I was a bit skeptical of its ability to maintain its momentum. It seems like the premise could run out of steam at any moment, but “Last Man” always has another trick up its sleeve.

In one moment it’s a comedy with heart, and in the next it’s completely heartless. It’s stupid and brilliant at the same time. It turns out it’s not about the end of the world at all, but about the human condition and our vulnerability.

(Photos: Limitless, CBS; and The Last Man on Earth, FOX)

Celebrate Back to the Future Day with time-travel favorites

Posted on by earthtoshawna

Happy “Back to the Future” Day! Today is Oct. 21, 2015, the day Marty and Doc traveled to the future to stop Marty’s kid from getting arrested. The Internet is abuzz with questions of “What did the movie get right?” If you’re not sick of hearing how close you are to having your own hoverboard, you will be soon.

I love the BTTF trilogy as much as anyone, but they’re not the only cool time-travel flicks in the universe. Time travel is a fun subject, even though it’s not possible – and thank goodness, because we really do not want to “unravel the fabric of the space-time continuum!”

Some characters get to go back in time, some go forward, and some just go back a day and are forced to keep repeating the same day over and over until they get it right. Here are some of my favorite time travel movies.

  1. Back to the Future trilogy. But of course. Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd are stellar as teenager Marty McFly and his kooky inventor friend Doc Brown. The DeLorean is arguably the coolest time machine of all time. These movies are so cool, we’ll forgive them for predicting we’d have flying cars by now.
  2. Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure. Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter play a couple of rock ‘n’ roll-loving teenagers whose time-traveling mentor is an older guy (George Carlin). It seems that Bill and Ted copied BTTF – I’ve heard their time machine was originally a van, but they thought that would be too similar to the DeLorean, so they changed it to a phone booth. Apparently they never saw Dr. Who. It’s still a fun movie.
  3. The Terminator and Terminator 2. The time travelers in the Terminator movies are androids sent from the future to kill Sarah Connor and her son John, who becomes a leader of the resistance in the future. Arnold Scharzenegger’s catchphrase “I’ll be back” comes from The Terminator. Fun and action-packed. What more could you want from your time-travel movie?
  4. 12 Monkeys. Bruce Willis stars as a prisoner who is sent back in order to collect information on a deadly virus that has forced the survivors to live underground. I love this crazy movie, directed by Terry Gilliam, and also starring Brad Pitt and Madeleine Stowe. I think this was the first time we saw that Pitt was a versatile actor, and not just a pretty face. He won a Golden Globe and earned an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor for his role as a mental patient.
  5. Groundhog Day. Bill Murray stars as a grouchy meteorologist who is forced to live the same day over and over. What would you do in this position? Commit crimes with no fear of consequences? Learn to play the piano? Phil Connors uses it as an opportunity to woo the beautiful news producer, played by Andie MacDowell. The first time I saw this movie, I hated it. I felt like I was trapped in Feb. 2, along with Phil. But after forced repeat viewings – it’s one of my husband’s favorites – it became one of my favorites too.
  6. Army of Darkness. OK, I know this one also made my Halloween Top Ten, but … it’s good. Bruce Campbell, as a discount store employee who has the worst luck, gets sucked into a time portal and ends up in the Middle Ages and has to fight an army of undead before he can go back to his own time.
  7. Star Trek: First Contact. The crew of the Enterprise travel from the 24th to the 21st century after the Borg destroy Earth by altering the timeline. Patrick Stewart, et al, as Captain Jean-Luc Picard and his crew, are wonderful, but I especially love James Cromwell as Zefram Cochrane, who is famous for having created the first warp-capable vessel. The crew is delighted to meet Cochrane, because he’s a legend, but Cochrane doesn’t understand why they’re so impressed. “I wish I had a picture of this,” Geordi tells Cochrane. “You’re standing almost on the exact spot where your statue is going to be!” “Statue?” “Yeah, it’s marble, about 20 meters tall. You’re looking up at the sky, and your hand is sort of … reaching toward the future.” Cochrane replies, “I’ve got to take a leak.” Too funny.
  8. Men in Black 3. My favorite MIB movie sends Agent J (Will Smith) back in time to save Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) from a Boglodite (Jemaine Clement) who has gone back in time to murder him. In 1969, K is a young man, played by Josh Brolin. This is such a fun movie, also starring Emma Thompson, Will Arnett, and Bill Hader, with cameos from Lady Gaga and Tim Burton.
  9. Edge of Tomorrow. Tom Cruise in yet another futuristic action movie? But wait – this one is good. Think “Groundhog Day” meets “Starship Troopers.” Earth has been invaded by an alien race, and Cruise’s character gets caught in a time loop that sends him back to the day before, every time he dies. He teams up with a badass Special Forces sergeant (Emily Blunt) to hone his fighting skills.
  10. X-Men: Days of Future Past. This is my favorite X-Men movie. Logan (Hugh Jackman) goes back to 1973 to – what else? Save the world, blah blah blah. This could get old, but it doesn’t. James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender as young Professor X and Magneto are soooo great, and the cast also includes Jennifer Lawrence and Peter Dinklage. But arguably the best part of this movie is the prison break scene in which Quicksilver (Evan Peters) dashes around to the tune of Jim Croce’s “Time in a Bottle,” moving bullets out of the way and giving cops wedgies.

Vampires, ghosts, witches, werewolves, and zombies: Fun flicks for Halloween

Posted on by earthtoshawna

I’m much more a sci-fi fan than a horror fan. The “scary” movies I like are not very scary. At the theater, I close my eyes at the first few bars of that eerie piano music that tells you you’re about to watch a paranormal movie trailer.
A lot of my favorite Halloween movies are comedies. With that in mind, here are 10 of my favorite ghost, vampire, witch, werewolf, and zombie films to get you ready for All Hallows’ Eve – and to make you laugh.

  1. Beetlejuice. Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis star as a recently deceased couple who hire an obnoxious ghost (Michael Keaton) to help them scare away their home’s new tenants (Catherine O’Hara, Jeffrey Jones, and Winona Ryder).
  2. Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II. Who doesn’t love these goofy movies with Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, and Ernie Hudson as scientists fighting supernatural entities like giant marshmallow men, balls of slime and demon gargoyles? I can’t wait for next summer’s reboot.
  3. What We Do in the Shadows. I’ve always been a sucker for vampires – I love “Interview with the Vampire,” “The Lost Boys,” and yes, even dorky “Twilight.” This mockumentary-style horror comedy, written and directed by (and starring) Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi, is the story of four vampires who live in New Zealand, and it’s hysterical.
  4. Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Kristy Swanson was the first cheerleader/slayer and although the TV series that was based on this movie was more popular, I prefer the campy original. And it has Pee Wee Herman, er, Paul Reubens. Luke Perry, David Arquette, Hilary Swank, Rutger Hauer, and Donald Sutherland also star.
  5. Practical Magic. This witchy romantic comedy isn’t super popular, but I like it. It’s an adaptation of Alice Hoffman’s novel of the same name, and stars Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock as the nieces of witches played by Dianne Wiest and Stockard Channing.
  6. An American Werewolf in London. Another classic, “American Werewolf” tells the tale of two American backpackers who are attacked by a werewolf in England.
  7. Teen Wolf. Would this silly werewolf movie have been so fun to watch if it was anyone but Michael J. Fox? I don’t think so. The new series is more serious, à la Buffy.
  8. Army of Darkness. This is the third in the “Evil Dead” trilogy, and you don’t need to watch the first two to enjoy this one. Bruce Campbell is awesome as Ash, an S-Mart employee who has been sucked into a time portal, winds up in 1300 AD, and has to fight an army of undead. “This is my boomstick!” he tells the villagers, holding up his shotgun. Good stuff.
  9. Shaun of the Dead. This Simon Pegg zombie satire has become a cult classic.
  10. Zombieland. Another great zom com, in which Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Abigail Breslin, and Emma Stone play survivors of a zombie apocalypse. An entertaining, campy adventure.

Check out graphic novels ‘Nimona,’ ‘Descender’

Posted on by earthtoshawna

I’ve been on a bit of a comic book kick lately. I especially like graphic novels, as they’re easier to get my hands on and take longer to read than individual issues.

“Nimona,” Noelle Stevenson’s graphic novel debut, began as a web comic. A fun read, the comic is set in the time of knights and dragons, but with convenient anachronisms like computers, TVs, and plasma cannons.

Nimona is a shapeshifter who shows up at villain Ballister Blackheart’s lair, looking to be his new sidekick. She can’t wait to do revenge! And science! She is an impatient teenager and she wants to overthrow the government – NOW!

Blackheart is methodical, though, and has plans, and he doesn’t want Nimona going berserk. Of course she does anyway, and chaos ensues, etc.

I love that “Nimona” subverts the traditional role of heroes and villains. It’s unpredictable and it has heart.

Stevenson also co-writes the comic “Lumberjanes,” about a Girl Scout-like troop who get much more than they bargained for when they explore the wilderness.

Plans for both “Nimona” and “Lumberjanes” to be adapted for the big screen are in the works.

Descender

Entertainment Weekly says, “Your new sci-fi obsession is here,” in the blurb on the cover of the graphic novel “Descender, Volume 1,” by Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen. A bold statement which would seem a bit presumptuous if it wasn’t such a great comic.

A collection of issues 1-6, “Descender, Volume 1” definitely left me wanting more, and I can’t wait to see what happens next to Tim-21, an android child who survived the robot culls that followed the destruction of billions of humans by huge robots called Harvesters.

Tim was created by a scientist named Dr. Jin Quon, and then shipped to a mining colony, where his function was to provide companionship to a child of one of the miners.

I don’t want to give the whole story away. It’s dark, intense, and heartbreaking, and is also being made into a movie. Check it out.

Nimona, by Noelle Stevenson; HarperTeen

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Descender, by Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen, Image Comics, Rated Mature

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