Obi-Wan Kenobi and the Era of Cultural Stagflation
On streaming and the big screen, we're paying more for less, even as new ideas seem few and far between.
Science Fiction
David Cronenberg's Crimes of the Future Is a Gross-Out Sci-Fi Film About Bodily Autonomy
Disturbing, eerie, and strangely relevant, it's a return to form for the Canadian horror master.
Review: The Second Shooter
Despite caricaturing (some) gun owners, Nick Mamatas' conspiracy-fueled science fiction novel avoids moralizing in favor of dark humor.
Romance and Sci-Fi Tangle in The Time Traveler's Wife
The latest attempt to adapt the novel comes as an HBO miniseries.
Happy Star Wars Day!
In honor of this major holiday, I post a round-up of my writings, interviews, and talks about one of the world's most popular science fiction franchises.
Dangerous Visions and New Worlds
An anthology looks back at science fiction's New Wave.
Foundation
The TV adaptation of Isaac Asimov's classic trilogy is still fundamentally about the ways in which politics and objective truth inevitably clash.
The Matrix Resurrections Is Less a Sequel and More a Bizarre Thinkpiece About The Matrix's Legacy
It's the strangest, most meta sequel of the year.
Neal Stephenson's Termination Shock Is a Glorious Sci-Fi Vision of How To Respond to Global Warming, One Geoengineering Problem at a Time
In Stephenson's near-future novel, innovation, not legislation, is the best response to a changing climate.
Diversity Can't Save Eternals. It's a Cosmic Disaster.
Marvel's latest superhero epic is a boring movie about boring people.
Review of the New Dune Movie
It's by far the best cinematic version of Frank Herbert's classic science fiction novel.
The Spinning Wheel of Confusing Television Reboots Lands on 4400
Just like the characters, this short-lived sci-fi show makes a mysterious return years later.
Dune Is an Epic Love Letter to Classic Science Fiction
This is Denis Villeneuve's movie, but it's fully Frank Herbert's Dune.
We Are Satellites
Sci-fi novelist Sarah Pinsker's new book deals with the ways technology shapes how we conceive of the inner self.
La Brea Is a Sucking Sinkhole of a Sci-Fi Mystery Show
Both literally and in terms of quality
Project Hail Mary
In the new sci-fi novel, humanity manages to save itself not with social revolution but through reason, technology, and innovation.
In Army of the Dead, a Zombie Outbreak Becomes an Excuse for a Public Health Power Grab
In Zack Snyder's latest, zombies are a public health issue, much like COVID-19.
WandaVision
The show perfectly encapsulates the feelings of grief, confusion, and isolation born of the pandemic.
AMC, Amazon Offer Up Television Adaptations of Two Hot Books
Too Close and The Underground Railroad provide wildly different experiences.
Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction
For sci fi fans who enjoy getting lost in internet rabbit holes
The Expanse
People are people and politics is politics, no matter how far you get from planet Earth.
Debris Represents the Crumbling Leftovers of X-Files Rip-offs
Oh look, two mismatched government agents investigating alien technology.
Neutron Gun Reloaded
Gerry Reith's raw, paranoid, apocalyptic fables were shot through with distrust for just about every institution around.
Space, the Final Smuggling Frontier
In a glimpse of a gloriously rule-breaking future, contraband has boldly gone where more is sure to follow.
Hollywood Still Can't Figure Out How to Adapt The Stand
If you’re looking for a coherent, compelling version of Stephen King’s pandemic opus, keep on walking.
Trump Imitates King Joffrey From "Game of Thrones"
His angry insistence that "I'm the President of the United States!" is reminiscent of Joffrey's famous similar statement: "I am the King!"
Reviews: Love and Monsters and J.R. 'Bob' Dobbs and the Church of the SubGenius
A good teens-and-creatures movie, and a deep dive into a glorious fake cult
George R.R. Martin Becomes a Victim of NIMBY Zoning Restrictions
Sadly, he's far from the only one. If we want to "break the wheel" of poverty and housing shortages, we need to roll back zoning.
A Song for a New Day
The Nebula Award winner is set in a near-future where public gatherings have been radically limited by a global pandemic and threats of violence.
Upload
Consumer culture continues into the afterlife in Amazon's sci-fi/mystery/romance/workplace comedy mashup.
The Invisible Dystopia
Friday A/V Club: When the post-apocalyptic world looks a lot like the pre-apocalyptic world
The Vast of Night Is the First Must-Watch Movie of the Coronavirus Era
Amazon Prime Video's latest feature is a smartly made indie sci-fi film from an incredibly promising first-time director.
Upload Builds an Amusing, Ethically Fraught World Around Virtual Heaven
Transcending consciousness is presented as a consumer good in a sharp new Amazon Prime series.
Vin Diesel's Bloodshot Is the Perfect Movie For the New Direct-to-Streaming Era
This occasionally competent sci-fi action film is best enjoyed from the comfort of a couch.
The Plot Against America Is Not About Trump, Even If Comparisons Are Inevitable
HBO's adaptation of Philip Roth's novel is much more interesting when viewed on its own merits.
Sticking It to the Man
A new anthology explores how the counterculture of the '60s and '70s mixed with the mainstream.
Future Tense Fiction
"A good science fiction story can help re-sensitize us" to the peril and promise of the new.
Transgender Writer Forced to Retract Trans-Themed Science Fiction Story
Isabel Fall is canceled. It's the science fiction world's loss.
Borderlands 3
In Borderlands 3, you take on a murderous cult worshiping a cruel, vain deity who demands that her minions attack others, sacrifice themselves, and constantly sing her praises.
