Gals take lead in mediocre ‘Batman’ spinoff ‘Birds of Prey’ (2002-03)
One-season wonders (TV review): This WB series takes a crack at a “Batman”-without-Batman saga.
Science Fiction
‘Star Wars’ flashback: ‘Republic Commando: Hard Contact’ (2004) (Book review)
Watching the clone troopers arrive with Yoda on Geonosis in “Attack of the Clones” in 2002, it was easy to think of them as organic robots. “Star Wars” fans now see clones as human beings […]
First episode impressions: ‘Star Wars Rebels’ Season 3 (TV review)
Now in its third season, “Star Wars Rebels” (8:30 p.m. Saturdays on Disney XD) has almost entirely caught up to “The Clone Wars” in production value. Even though Disney is spending less money than Lucasfilm did, the […]
The 5 best and 5 worst Special Edition/DVD/Blu-ray changes to the ‘Star Wars’ films (Movie commentary)
As longtime fans are well aware, the “Star Wars” films as we know them from the 2011 Blu-ray release are different in several small but noticeable ways from the 1977-83 releases – sometimes for better, […]
It’s logical that Anakin appears as ghost of younger self
Movie commentary: Here’s the in-universe explanation for why Anakin appears as a ghost of his younger self in “Return of the Jedi.”
What John thought about ‘Star Wars: A New Hope’ on its 30th anniversary in 2007 (Movie commentary)
To round out the “Star Wars” movie reviews on my blog, here’s a look back at my 30th anniversary essay for “Episode IV: A New Hope,” published in the Brainerd (Minn.) Dispatch on May 24, 2007, one […]
What John thought about ‘Revenge of the Sith’ in 2005 (Movie review)
To round out the “Star Wars” film reviews on my blog, I thought it would be fun to look back at my review of “Episode III: Revenge of the Sith” from May 20, 2005, in the Brainerd […]
What John thought about ‘Attack of the Clones’ in 2002 (Movie review)
Just for fun — and to round out the “Star Wars” film reviews on my blog – I decided to look back at what I thought of “Episode II: Attack of the Clones” upon its release in […]
Rewatching and reviewing the classics: ‘Dollhouse’ Season 2 (2009-10) (TV review)
It started as an anthology show that allowed Eliza Dushku to play a different character every week, but in its second season (2009-10, Fox), “Dollhouse” embraces its identity as a serial story exploring what makes a person […]
‘Star Wars’ flashback: ‘Revenge of the Sith’ novelization (2005) (Book review)
Among the films, the original trilogy is clearly better than the prequel trilogy, but among the novelizations, the opposite is true. It’s not because of anything Alan Dean Foster, Donald Glut and James Kahn did […]