You know what? I like Swedish mystery thrillers. It seemed like everyone was reading breakout Swede hit, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson, so I gave it a look. (By which I mean, “a listen,” thanks to audible.com.) I’ve also recently read several books by the Jonathan Kellerman of Sweden detective writers, …
Apps & Web
The Return of Alan Moore: New League of Extraordinary Gentlemen!
Not that Moore ever went away. But it makes for a better headline.
It’s funny, with all the fuss over Watchmen, you’d almost get the impression that Moore wasn’t still around and writing. Because he’s not participating, everybody sort of talks about him like he’s dead. And I did wonder after the surreal, semi-apocalyptic ending of …
The Transformers 2 Trailer: Full of Win
I’m a little embarrassed that I’ve rewatched the Transformers 2 trailer a few times:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmgbbGJW6ZE&hl=en&fs=1]
I liked the part where the humans died.
There are reasonable odds that the trailer, by virtue of its awesomeness and brevity, will be better than the actual movie — as if Michael …
My Own Private Watchmen
There is a press blackout on reviewing the Watchmen movie until March 6. However, I’ve seen the movie, and I’m not press. Don’t worry, I’m not going to write a review of Watchmen. What I am going to write about is the emotional experience of seeing a piece of literature with which I have an intense personal connection LITERALLY COME
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A Q&A with Joss Whedon, Who Never Had a Dollhouse
OK, today my excuse is not that I’m hung over. It’s that it’s President’s Day. And I am honoring the, uh, presidents (is it the current president? presidency in general?) by not doing a proper blog post. Instead I will simply post a link to something I already did. How about this interview with Joss Whedon, apropos of Dollhouse, which …
Star Trek; Star Wars; Plus, My Death Was Somewhat Exaggerated
It is the the purpose of a virus to possess its host, then force that host to in turn create copies of the virus. This the viral videos below have done to me.
1. Robot Chicken‘s opera version of The Wrath of Khan:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xW2-MrHNJSE&hl=en&fs=1]
It’s funny because the special effects in operas …
I’m Going to Comic Con. Are You?
New York Comic Con starts today. I’m not there, because I have a job. But I’ll be there tomorrow to sign galleys (that’s publishing-speak for early, cheapo, paperback versions) of my book and generally to enjoy the free access that my autographing gig gets me.
Though I’ll be missing the Futurama premiere, which is today, and the Joss …
The Pleasures of Coraline
I am an unabashed Neil Gaiman partisan, and so I bring with me a deep affection to any adaptation of his books. (Instead of rose-colored glasses, perhaps I see Neil’s work through sewn-on button eyes.) I have every expectation that Neal Jordan’s Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book will be a classic. I do so want someone to make
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The Donnie Darko Sequel
I somehow missed it when they posted a teaser-trailer for a sequel to Donnie Darko called S. Darko:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dczcw0aNMEo&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1]
It’s not clear to me from this what connection if any Richard Kelly, who created Donnie Darko, has with this. …
A Hideous Brood of New SF Trailers Chews Its Way Out Through the Corpse of Another Super Bowl
Another year, another Super Bowl not watched. I know lots of nerds are actually into watching the Super Bowl. I could never get behind watching a game I don’t play, played by people with whom I don’t have very much in common. I suppose there are passionate regional loyalties in play, plus genuinely interesting strategic calculations. …
Two Beloved Nerd Franchises Are Not Dead Yet
1. Red Dwarf. It’s coming back, in the form of a two-part special with the original cast that will take them back to Earth. I never got into Red Dwarf — I was in college when it was on and never really watched it. But everybody says it’s good. So it must be good. Now all that’s left is to bring back Quark. Or sorry, I meant Quark. Yeah, …
Now In Paper-Vision: The Future of Books. And TV.
I wrote two articles for Time this week. Two. Because that’s how I roll. I roll prolific.
Article #1: A piece about the great switchover to digital TV — the “analog sunset,” if you will — which is supposed to happen on February 17. Except now, maybe not. My advanced polling techniques suggest to me that this event will not affect …