Category: Blog
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Waking from “Oblivion” — A Review
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Oblivion is the result of too much story and not enough canvas. Think of a house with a tiny frame, or a painting wadded up into a crumpled ball. The story — trust me, it’s in there somewhere — is a compelling work of creative fiction that both reveals and…
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Uncanny Visions
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How do writers anticipate future technology? There is no clear cut rule, and like many visionaries we are wrong more often than we are right (hover boards by 2015). However, there are two guiding questions that tend to form the boundaries of creative space in which to develop fictional societies and…
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The Man Behind the Spectacle: A Review of Oz: The Great and Powerful
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In the beginning, there was spectacle. The novelty of moving pictures was enough to satisfy audiences who hurried into theaters to catch a glimpse of the newest blockbuster — usually something as mundane as a horse eating hay or small girls having a pillow fight. Little by little the abilities of film…
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The Game is On(line): BBC’s “Sherlock” in the Age of Social Media
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Because they’re able to get away with it, British television seasons are usually much shorter than American ones, often resembling a typical cable air schedule. Seasons may contain anywhere from 6 to 12 episodes, with start dates unpredictable. Sherlock tortures its fans with three 90-minute episodes and an undetermined hiatus…
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Repeating History: Why “Argo” Won Best Picture
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When I was little, I used to watch the same movies over and over again. At one point during my eleventh consecutive viewing of The Lion King, I asked myself why. What was the point of watching a story when I already knew the ending? At first I thought that…
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Like a House of Cards: Online Content and the Changing Face (or Screen) of Television Part I
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Part I Link to Part II In a fit of roommate bonding and late-night boredom, my new roommate and I decided to check out the Netflix series House of Cards. I hadn’t seen advertisements and knew little about the content. The only information I had going in was that it…
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Like a House of Cards: Online Content and the Changing Face (or Screen) of Television Part II
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Link to Part I Part II I provided that lengthy bit of history in my previous post as a way to give context for why House of Cards is so revolutionary. The transition from the broadcast model to an internet-based streaming model will undoubtedly change the perception of television as…
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Identity Crisis
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So yes, like most everyone else last week I did see the amazing premiere of The Dark Knight Rises and no, this will not be a post on that movie just yet. Expect one eventually, but not now. I prefer to hold off posting on new films until I can…
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Intelligent Design: Biopunk and the Utopian Body
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Whenever I’m asked about my chosen genre, I tend to say drama and “occasionally” science fiction. But I realize, I find myself only grudgingly admitting to writing sci-fi only because my true genre is speculative fiction. Speculative fiction (another SF, as a friend an I have often discussed) tends toward…
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Planned Obsolescence
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It’s been reported that some kind of remake and/or prequel is in the works for Ridley Scott’s 1982 cyberpunk film Blade Runner. As a fan of both the film and the original novel I find this somewhat troubling but also rather amusing. It seems that no other story has had…