November 2020

Star Wars Adventures: Shadow of Vader’s Castle

Star Wars Adventures: Shadow of Vader’s Castle television reviewThe oversized one-shot returns to one of IDW’s favorite locales for the Star Wars Adventures title – Fortress Vader. The main story that loosely ties together a collection of tales involves two young Mustafarians who get the idea to blow-up Darth Vader‘s fortress following the Empire’s defeat at the Battle of Endor in which the character will apparently play a major role.

The collection of tales center around stories the boys either know or are told about the castle, it’s legend, and curse. Vader’s assistant Vaneé, briefly seen in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story makes an appearance in more than one of the stories which sets the stage for IDW’s next comic Ghosts of Vader’s Castle.

Star Wars Adventures: Shadow of Vader’s Castle Read More »

The Social Dilemma

  • Title: The Social Dilemma
  • IMDb: link

The Social Dilemma movie reviewThe Social Dilemma takes a hard look at social media and how it is changing the way we live. With testimony from experts who worked at various social media cornerstones, the film examines how social media takes advantage of its users and distorts the world around them as it delves into social media affecting behavior and how someone can take advantage of the complex algorithms to affect change on a global scale.

Director Jeff Orlowski‘s documentary is a warning about how social media is changing us in both expected and unexpected ways as greed and capitalism continue to push development forward into even more questionable territories. How social media apps play on emotion to keep you online and play into reinforcing your own beliefs in creating separate clusters of people with their own facts, how social media has raised a generation who tie their own self worth to the likes of strangers online whose suicide rate is astronomically higher than the generation before it, and the idea of how easily these apps can be used to take advantage of the misinformed for nefarious purposes such as changing the outcome of an election are all truly frightening.

The Social Dilemma Read More »

Artemis Fowl

  • Title: Artemis Fowl
  • IMDb: link

Artemis Fowl movie reviewIn an age where every comic book and young adult novel is scooped up by a studio hoping to build the next big movie franchise, you can see why something like Artemis Fowl would be appealing. Originally planned for the turn of the millennium, the project spent nearly two decades in development hell at various studios before Disney was eventually able to heavily adapt the events from the popular novels to film. Maybe they should have taken a little longer.

Artemis Fowl is a mess. We’re introduced to the brilliant teenager Artemis Fowl, Jr. (Ferdia Shaw), we know he’s smart as the script continually reminds us, who discovers his father’s (Colin Farrell) stories about magic and fairies are all true after Sr. is abducted by a mysterious figure who hopes to trade him for a mystical artifact she hopes Jr. can find (despite the boy having no practical knowledge of his father’s secret life). Thrown into the mix are Lara McDonnell as a sort of elvish soldier and a giant dwarf played by Josh Gad who narrates the film by explaining events to authorities (often breaking the fourth wall and talking directly to the audience) in a vain attempt to keep the runaway train on its tracks.

Artemis Fowl Read More »

Star Trek: Discovery – Far From Home

  • Title: Star Trek: Discovery – That Hope is You, Part 1
  • wiki: link

Star Trek: Discovery - Far From Home television review

“Far From Home” catches up with the rest of the crew of the USS Discovery who emerge from the wormhole to crash land on an unknown world. The damage to the ship allows for some convenient storytelling by making it impossible for the crew to determine their arrival in either space or time or attempt to contact their missing crewmember. While most of the crew works on repairs, unaware of the time sensitive nature of the parasitic ice the ship has crashed into, Saru (Doug Jones) and Tilly (Mary Wiseman) attempt to barter with the locales whose limited resources is balanced by the amazing advances in technology since Discovery’s time. The arrival of the murderous Zareh (Jake Weber) complicates matters. While Weber has fun with the role, Zareh is a rather bland villain of convivence who hints at the kinds of threats Discovery will face in their new time.

Star Trek: Discovery – Far From Home Read More »

Super Dinosaur – The Labyrinth of the Leviathans

  • Title: Super Dinosaur – The Labyrinth of the Leviathans
  • IMDb: link

Super Dinosaur - The Labyrinth of the Leviathans television review

Distressed by an artifact shown to him by Derek (Valin Shinyei) and Super Dinosaur (Mac Heywood), Squidious (Brian Drummond) breaks out of Earthcore and returns to the oceans. Concerned with what he may be up to, SD and Derek head after him to discover Squidious is working to prevent a catastrophic event caused by the greed of Minimus (Sean Thomas) whose actions may have awakened a giant sea creature. Despite confusion over Squidious’ actions, SD and Derek find the truth inside the large undersea labyrinth that the Hammerhead Sharkmen wish to awaken. “The Labyrinth of the Leviathans” not only solidifies the alliance between Squidious and Earthcore but it also introduces the idea of dangers Minimus may be releasing on the world without ever knowing it. The pre-credit sequence does show Derek and SD getting in trouble by rushing into action yet again (a trait apparently not fixed by Derek learning his lesson in the previous episode).

Super Dinosaur – The Labyrinth of the Leviathans Read More »