Tag: Reviews

STRONG MEDICINE: July 2006

The latest installment of my book review column, STRONG MEDICINE: Books That Cures What Ails You, has just been published at Intergalactic Medicine Show.

In this column, I review Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series: His Majesty’s Dragon, Throne of Jade, and Black Powder War; for comparison and contrasting purposes, I review Mike Resnick’s Dragon America; and on a wholly separate note, I review Jim Kelly’s & John Kessel’s new slipstream anthology, Feeling Very Strange.

[Excerpt:] Talking dragons, or talking animals or beasts of any kind really, is no easy trick to pull off, but Novik manages it nicely. Given that there is no magic in Novik’s world–the only fantasy element present is dragons, and their existence is treated scientifically–there are some issues with the talking that require some suspension of disbelief (as do some other issues with the dragons). Even if you set aside their miraculous language skills (Temeraire learned to speak fluent English through the shell in about a week’s time, for instance), there is the issue of speech: just how exactly do those giant beasts make human sounds with those huge dragon jaws? There are other examples of nitpickery one could dwell on, but ultimately all of those things are irrelevant; if you can’t get past them, you probably won’t enjoy the books, but if you simply accept the fact that there are certain allowances that need to be made in order to have the world Novik created function, you’ll likely get completely sucked into the story as I did.

Go read the review and then come back and tell me how awesome it is.

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Camera Obscura: TNT “know[s] drama,” but do they know horror?

Intergalactic Medicine Show just published the latest installment of my column, Camera Obscura, in which I review the first two episodes of the new TNT miniseries, Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King, which premieres tonight on TNT (if you missed it already, never fear, there are encore airings, and each episode stands alone).

[Excerpt:] Stephen King has said “I am the literary equivalent of a Big Mac and fries,” which is to say that he’s kind of an everyman writer: nothing too fancy, just something good and satisfying. Although he may think that, I don’t think it’s true, and if you examine the failed films that have been adapted from his stories, I think you can see why. The reason is that King’s ideas often aren’t revolutionary in of themselves; instead, he uses his craft to spin those ideas into something truly special. And so when you strip away his prose, and adapt the work into film, you are left with nothing but the idea–an idea that’s been filtered through the creative process of an entire cast and crew. This filtering sometimes results in a product that seems watered down and devoid of spirit, and that’s the case with “Crouch End.”

Read the review!

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Camera Obscura: Eureka! I think they’ve got it!


Intergalactic Medicine Show just published the latest installment of my column, Camera Obscura, in which I review the pilot episode of Eureka, which premieres on The SCI FI Channel on July 18.

[Excerpt:] Eureka’s two-hour pilot never drags or feels too long; it works extraordinarily well as a piece of entertainment on its own, even as it sets up the rest of the series, so it succeeds on both levels. The pilot also has a nice surprise that I didn’t see coming, one that changes the town dynamic a bit and bodes well for some intrigue in the future. And there are enough other glimpses of malevolence hiding beneath the surface that generating tension (and future plotlines) should not be a problem.

Go read the review! 

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Camera Obscura: Does it slay, or does it suck?

Intergalactic Medicine Show just published the latest installment of my column, Camera Obscura, in which I review the pilot episode of Blade: The Series, which debuts on Spike TV on June 28.

[Excerpt:] Blade: The Series debuts with an entertaining, action-packed episode, one that will likely please fans of the movies and of ass-kicking vampires in general. All in all, it was fun if middling entertainment, but despite its flaws it did succeed in making me want to watch the next few episodes, which is the ultimate goal of any pilot. And it’s far-and-away better than Blade II, though, of course, that’s not saying much.

Go read the review!

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STRONG MEDICINE: June 2006

The latest installment of my book review column, STRONG MEDICINE: Books That Cures What Ails You, has just been published at Intergalactic Medicine Show.

In this column, I review Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies, Pretties, and Specials, and Altered Carbon, Broken Angels, Woken Furies, and Market Forces by Richard K. Morgan (on audio).

[Excerpt:] Before listening to Altered Carbon on audio, I’d never been much impressed with Tantor’s audio efforts. I’d listened to a few of their other titles and was consistently disappointed. When I initially heard that Tantor had acquired the audio rights to Morgan’s books, I inwardly groaned, but I looked forward to re-reading them, so I anticipated to the audio release nonetheless, albeit with a sizeable dollop of trepidation. So when I first listened to Altered Carbon, I was surprised and delighted, and thought that I could now expect a higher level of quality out of Tantor’s future titles. But if the first three Richard K. Morgan audiobooks were five steps forward for Tantor, Woken Furies seems like six steps back.

Go read the review and then come back and tell me how awesome it is.

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Camera Obscura: Do Koreans Dream of Electric Sheep?

Intergalactic Medicine Show just published the latest installment of my TV/DVD review column, Camera Obscura. This time around, I review the DVD of Natural City, a Korean SF film in the vein of Blade Runner.

[Excerpt:] Director Byung-chun Min says that Natural City was his attempt to make the first great Korean SF film. He didn’t quite succeed in that lofty ambition, but he did come damn close; the film does have great directing, acting, cinematography, and special effects. Alas, the only thing it’s lacking is a great, or even totally coherent, plot.

 

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Film Review: Missing Pages

Science Fiction Weekly just published my review of the short film Missing Pages, which is now playing at regional film festivals.  

[Excerpt:] Missing Pages is quite likely quite unlike any film you’ve ever seen. It was shot entirely with a digital still camera, and the photos were then manipulated with a technique called “fotomation,” which results in the illusion of motion on film, similar to the way a flipbook simulates animation. 

Go read the review!

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Camera Obscura: High expectations Burned again

Intergalactic Medicine Show just published the latest installment of Camera Obscura. This time around, I review the DVD of Cigarette Burns (directed by John Carpenter), which is one of the first episodes of the Showtime Masters of Horror series to come out on DVD.

[Excerpt:] I initially loved the premise, but quickly realized that it’s quite derivative The Ring. It also reminded me a lot of Laird Barron’s excellent recent novella “The Imago Sequence” (which was far superior to any work mentioned in this review), though I don’t think the filmmakers could have read it pre-production, so the similarities are almost certainly a coincidence. Though these two factors diminished by admiration for the film somewhat, I still found it to be an enjoyable and laudable viewing experience…even if I did want to do a rewrite on the script so that I could see the film I wished this was.

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Camera Obscura: Just another adaptation horror story


Intergalactic Medicine Show just published the latest installment of Camera Obscura. This time around, I review the DVD of Dreams in the Witch-House, which is one of the first episodes of the Showtime Masters of Horror series to come out on DVD.

[Excerpt:] Dreams in the Witch-House was a good choice to adapt, and Stuart Gordon, on paper at least, was a good choice of director–after all, he’d directed two previous adaptations of Lovecraft’s work: Re-Animator and Dagon. However, Gordon is more of a “master of schlock” than a true master of horror. There’s very little that’s scary or terrifying here; Gordon’s ham-handed filmmaking style robs Lovecraft’s story of most of its visceral power.

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