SF Fantasy

Last Halloween, Tarot, her husband, and her sister encountered the Spirit of Halloween in a park in Salem. Ever since that time, they have been cursed to appear as the stereotypes of their characters -- i.e. green-skinned witches, and a living skeleton man.

Now, in TAROT, WITCH OF THE BLACK ROSE #112, the season is upon them once more, and the three, along with their mother, plan to seek out the spirit and entreat him to return them to their original forms. But it's not going to be that easy. The spirit agrees to do so -- if he can be defeated in a game of monsters, taking place on another plane. And if he cannot -- then the entire population of Salem is to be his forever.

Tarot and company agree...and don't do so well. But this is the season of tricks and treats, and a wily opponent knows how to use both of those to her advantage.

When we reunited with Calie Liddle and her daughter, Violet, in REVENGE OF WONDERLAND #1, Raven Gregory had only gotten around to teasing about the new threat coming from the realm of madness. With this second issue, the throttle goes full bore, as The Duchess makes her appearance and adds yet another human to her growing group of faceless slaves, The Clubs.

Calie has been self-medicating to keep the madness at bay, denying that it could ever return, leaving Violet to be on guard for any incursions from the ruins of Wonderland, keeping watch for news stories of mysterious disappearances or weird sightings. When she comes across the story about the daycare incident from the first issue, she goes to investigate and sees things only visible to her eyes, clear indications that Wonderland has made its move and claimed more victims.

There's a wall in Berlin that separates it from Berlin. It's not the wall you're thinking of, but it's still symbolic of the cold war that sets the stage for the fascinating science fiction series, COUNTERPART.

Several years ago, an experiment went wrong, and suddenly where there was once one dimension there were now two, each of them identical up to that point in time, and now able to diverge in minute ways, each change cascading into more, like the flap of butterfly wings contributing to the hurricane. The bridge between these two Earths is below the building that is now a United Nations outpost, run by an organization that exists to keep the other dimension a secret, while controlling immigration between the sides, carrying out diplomatic gestures, and engaging in espionage.

Pirates, airships, and floating castles … Oh My!  Bert is dropped off at a boarding school at the young age of three by a cloaked man of mystery.  He is said to be an orphan from the streets.  Bert’s world has a strong government presence, with the royal family fighting to regain more power.  Prince Voss is the head of the royal family and is determined to take over at any cost.

When Bert is thirteen, his school goes on a museum field trip.  Here, things start to happen…magical things!   Bert meets his first pirate, the Professor.  Bert is also drawn through a mirror and begins seeing and hearing things no one else around him can.  He also experiences his powers for the first time.

Remember that feeling you had when you walked out of the theater after BACK TO THE FUTURE? I don't mean watching it at home on DVD (or VHS), I mean in the theater, because it means you were there, in that moment, in that era, when the 80s were in full swing and pop culture was expanding into new, uncharted waters. It was the time of the arcade games, parachute pants, and a rich variety of music that launched a renaissance.

When I sat down to watch READY PLAYER ONE, I had not seen the theatrical version. I had not read the book. And when I saw the opening scene, with its cinematically ominous Blade Hunter date and the post-apocalyptic landscape, I groaned. I didn't want another one of these.

That lasted for all of about three seconds, after which I was in sheer fanboy ecstasy for over two hours.

It's difficult to translate a videogame into a film. It's tempting, sure, and the good games provide a lot of inspiration. But ultimately, what happens in the game is brief, and hard to extrapolate into a 2-hour film without throwing in a lot of supposition and side plots.

So that's what directors do. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

And sometimes even if it doesn't "work" it's still a whole lot of fun!

RAMPAGE is the latest collaboration between Director BRAD PEYTON and actor DWAYNE JOHNSON. The two have worked together on JOURNEY 2: THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND and, more recently, SAN ANDREAS. Johnson portrays Davis Okoye, a primatologist at the San Diego Zoo with a military background. His pet project is George, an albino gorilla whom he saved from poachers and taught to sign.

Madeleine L'Engle's novel A WRINKLE IN TIME is a benchmark in science fiction and fantasy. Ava DuVernay's version...not so much.

While the film boasts an all-star cast, including three young leads who are already accomplished, the film suffers from immersing itself too deeply in its presentation, with the angelic characters of Mrs. Which (OPRAH WINFREY), Mrs. Who (MINDY KALING) and Mrs. Whatsit (REESE WITHERSPOON) done up so intensely gaudy in both costuming and makeup that it comes across the screen as simply bad cosplay.

Ugh. It's just another boring sequel.

Those were my initial thoughts. I mean, when is the last time a sequel to a good action movie actually succeeded in living up to the expectations or originality of the first movie? I was glad I was proven wrong with PACIFIC RIM: UPRISING! I actually enjoyed this feature. It revived great memories of my childhood favorite cartoons, like Voltron, Transformers, and even GI-Joe. This kid was brought back to imagining being the  hero with--not superpowers--but the extraordinary opportunity to pilot a giant robotic weapon created as a last defense to save the world! Who doesn't want to learn to pilot a giant fighting robot against evil alien creatures? Kabaam! Pow! Rockets! Super Punch! Another victory for the hero!

Exciting!