‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’ balances epic scope with character drama
Movie review: Just enjoy the ride and don’t think too hard about this timeline-jumping film.
‘Star Wars’ flashback: ‘The Black Fleet Crisis Book 2: Shield of Lies’ (1996) (Book review)
The first thing you’ll notice about “Shield of Lies” (1996), the second book in Michael P. Kube-McDowell’s “Black Fleet Crisis” trilogy, is that it’s split into three parts: Lando, Luke and Leia. This is a little intimidating, […]
‘Star Wars’ flashback: ‘The Black Fleet Crisis Book 1: Before the Storm’ (1996) (Book review)
Michael P. Kube-McDowell’s “Black Fleet Crisis” paperback trilogy, which starts with 1996’s “Before the Storm,” has so many common “Star Wars” elements that it blends in with other stories. There’s a missing fleet, which calls to mind […]
‘Neighbors’ starts summer comedy season with modest collection of chuckles (Movie review)
“Neighbors” modestly kicks off the summer comedy season with a lot of smiles and chuckles but not many belly laughs. Perhaps a reflection of the mainstreaming of the gross-out comedy genre in the last 15 years, […]
‘Veronica Mars’ makes smooth transition to book form in ‘The Thousand Dollar Tan Line’ (Review)
Veronica Mars returns to her roots in more ways than one in her first novel, “The Thousand Dollar Tan Line,” continuing from the events of the movie, which hit DVD earlier this month. As we saw in […]
‘Wish I Was Here’ and 9 other movies John wouldn’t mind seeing this summer (Commentary)
Here are 10 movies I wouldn’t mind seeing this summer (especially if they’re playing in the cheap theater), in order of release date:
‘Serenity’ soars, but are ‘Buffy’ and ‘Angel & Faith’ running out of ideas? (Comic book reviews)
This question has been creeping into the back of my mind throughout the “Buffy” franchise’s three seasons of official continuations from Dark Horse Comics, but it’s especially evident now, early in Season 10 of “Buffy” and […]
Preston and Child intriguingly tap into Sherlock Holmes lore in ‘White Fire’ (Book review)
In their 13th Pendergast novel, “White Fire” (November 2013, hardcover), Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child indulge their love of Sherlock Holmes lore while also delivering what fans have come to expect – a tense and dense mystery […]
John’s 10 favorite TV characters at the moment (Commentary)
The recent return of “24” further solidifies that this is an age of shock-value TV, where the body count of main characters is more valued than good character building. But TV’s reputation as a character […]
‘Veronica Mars’ is back, and it’s like she never left
Movie review: “Veronica Mars’ ” jump from the small to big screen is among the triumphs of the Kickstarter age.