Tag: science fiction

Jun12012 by Chris HolmesNo Comments
Trailer Trash: Wild, Wild Planet

Trailer Trash: Wild, Wild Planet

Movies
I stumbled across this crazy-ass science fiction film while I was researching wire photos for my Facebook page. It's called Wild, Wild Planet and it looks absolutely terrible in the best way possible. The movie was released in Italy 1965 (where it was called I Criminali della Galassia) but has a definite '50s vibe about it. The trailer bills it as the first space horror movie, which is something to hang your hat on I guess. I have no idea what the hell is going on here, and I suspect that watching the full movie would be even more confusing. There's some people with four arms, and then there's some really strong women who can kick ass. There's also an attempt to merge a man and a woman into something called a "bi sapien," which is a dumb name because that translates roughly t
Read More
Sep62011 by Chris Holmes1 Comment
GFS home movies: The Thing (1982)

GFS home movies: The Thing (1982)

Movies
I spent a lot of time as a kid watching horror movies, but somehow never got around to watching John Carpenter's 1982 classic The Thing. Spurred on by the impending release of the so-called prequel (directed by Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.), I decided to rectify that. Sure enough, it was great. The Thing works as a straight horror movie in that there are plenty of gruesome deaths and disturbing visual effects, but where it really succeeds is as a psychological thriller. Throughout most of the movie I kept recalling the classic Twilight Zone episode, "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street." The premise of the two is the same -- a mysterious alien entity has made its presence known and a formerly tight-knit group succumbs to paranoia and the violence it inevitably breeds. The main differenc...
Read More
Jun72011 by Chris Holmes1 Comment
Graphicity: The Star Wars Prequels — What Went Wrong?

Graphicity: The Star Wars Prequels — What Went Wrong?

Funny Stuff, Movies
With much respect and admiration for the fine work of Mr. Plinkett over at Red Letter Media. If you haven't seen his brilliant and scathingly funny takedowns of George Lucas's cinematic abominations, watch them now. Start with Episode I: The Phantom Menace. Trust me on this. Related articles YouTube Sensation Mr. Plinkett Branches Out With Weekly Review Show (mtv.com) 'George Lucas Strikes Back' in Hilarious Star Wars Spoof (moviefone.com) All three Star Wars prequels explained by LEGO awesomeness (epicblackcar.wordpress.com)
Read More
May162011 by Chris HolmesNo Comments
Album cover of the week: Mob Rules

Album cover of the week: Mob Rules

Album Cover of the Week, Music
It's hard to believe, but we lost Ronnie James Dio one year ago today. It seems only right to pay small tribute to his musical legacy, and so here we have 1981's Mob Rules. It was the second and last studio album Black Sabbath released with Dio as frontman until the one-off reunion disc Dehumanizer in 1992. It's every bit as sinister and metal as the cover indicates. The cover painting is by fantasy/science fiction artist Greg Hildebrandt. It's essentially a recreation of his 1971 work, Dream 1: Crucifiers. Here's the original: I'm guessing the addition of the band and album names didn't escape your notice, but did you catch the fact that the hook on the left side of the original was changed to a crucifix for the album cover? Also, the blood stain in the fabric (skin?) was ma...
Read More
Apr212011 by Chris Holmes1 Comment
Trailer Trash — 13 Assassins, Thor, and Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Trailer Trash — 13 Assassins, Thor, and Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Movies
I don’t have time to go to the movies much any more. So instead I’m going to just review some new and upcoming films based solely on their trailers. Because let’s face it, most movies only have about two or three minutes’ worth of good material anyway. 13 Assassins (Jûsan-nin no shikaku) I don't care if I have to bring my reading glasses, this looks cool. I can't help but think that this is a just a Samurai version of 300 (this...is... Kyoto!!!) but that's cool. Lots of yelling, swordplay, and explosions. What's not to love? Thor OK, is there a movie that Natalie Portman isn't in this year? Thor was probably my favorite comic book character growing up -- I followed him with slavish devotion both in his solo series and as part of the Avengers -- so there's already some bu
Read More
Apr202011 by Chris HolmesNo Comments
GFS home movies: Gojira (Godzilla)

GFS home movies: Gojira (Godzilla)

Movies
Here's what I remember about Godzilla -- a guy wearing a rubber suit fought another guy wearing a rubber suit, or maybe a fake monster suspended on some wires. There was a lot of really earnest-looking Japanese actors moving their mouths, but instead I heard really melodramatic English voices. In some of the movies, Godzilla was even a good guy of sorts, to the point that little kids were sad to see him go at the end of the film. I knew all about the subtext for Godzilla, which is that he was some kind of symbol for the anxieties of the Japanese over atomic bombs and radiation. But to me, very little separated Godzilla movies from American-written, period movie monster fare like Them! or The Day of the Triffids. I mean, who hasn't had a little fun yelling "Gozirraaaa!" while mimicking b...
Read More
Apr52011 by Chris HolmesNo Comments
Just Shut Up! — 7 Television Characters I’d Like to Smack

Just Shut Up! — 7 Television Characters I’d Like to Smack

Featured Posts, TV & Radio
Harriet Brindle (Small Wonder) — On a show already full of loathsome characters, Harriet was especially rage-inducing. Watching this show as a pre-teen was one of my first times experiencing true hate. All I remember thinking every time she opened her yap was that I wanted to go to college, become a theoretical physicist, invent a machine that would allow me to travel inside a television, and then smack the freckles off her smug little face. Although I suppose it's to Emily Schulman's credit that she was able to make Vicki the frigging robot seem appealing by comparison. (skip to about the 2:30 mark and feel the hate flowing through you) Ted Mosby (How I Met Your Mother) — I've been watching HIMYM from the first season, but have always felt that there was just a certain littl
Read More
Mar282011 by Chris HolmesNo Comments
Album cover of the week: The Outer Limits

Album cover of the week: The Outer Limits

Album Cover of the Week, Music
This week we step into the world of progressive metal with an entry from Canada's own Voivod -- one of the truly excellent metal bands to emerge in the 1980s, and one that never achieved the crossover success they deserved to in the United States. From 1993, it's The Outer Limits. OK, maybe not so impressive is it? But the really cool thing about this cover is that when the album was initially released it came packaged with 3D glasses, in order to properly look at the front cover and booklet images. There is another issue of the album that ditches the 3D effect, and it's pretty neat too. The credits for The Outer Limits artwork are: Art direction: Vartan Design: Ron Larson Illustrations: Michael Langevin
Read More