Category: science fiction

Movie Review – Blade Runner 2049

Blade Runner 2049
Written by Hampton Fancher and Michael Green
Directed by Denis Villeneuve

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In the wake of the first film’s events, the Tyrell line of replicants have been discarded, and a new company run by Niander Wallace has rolled out a “better” model of replicant, one that is more compliant to their human superiors. A Blade Runner named K is one of these and regularly dispatches the older models who have managed to hide on the fringes of society. That is until one case reveals one of the most significant discoveries in humanity’s history, an event that could change the very fabric of society if it got out. K is told to make sure this secret never gets out and goes on a journey to search out the story behind the mystery. This leads him beyond Los Angeles and across the scarred futuristic landscape, ultimately to a truth about himself.

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Movie Review – War for the Planet of the Apes

War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)
Written by Mark Bomback & Matt Reeves
Directed by Matt Reeves

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Following the events of the previous film, a military unit is now hunting Caesar’s community as they attempt to live their lives in peace in the redwood forests outside of San Francisco. The film opens with a horrific ambush on the jungle outpost, and Caesar attempts to be merciful in dealing with the captured soldiers. This backfires, and more tragedy strikes the apes. Finally, Caesar can take no more. He heads out with some trusted allies to find the Colonel behind these attacks and end the conflict once and for all. There are surprises along the way as he learns more about the Simian Flu and its effects on humans as well as gaining new allies. All this comes to a head when Caesar finds the outpost of the Colonel and learns his plans for apes and his fellow humans.

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The Revisit – Donnie Darko

Donnie Darko (2001)
Written & Directed by Richard Kelly

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Donnie Darko is a troubled teenage boy living in Middlesex, Virginia. He has bouts of chronic sleepwalking and sees a psychiatrist for his many emotional problems. His parents constantly worry about him while trying to raise his two sisters, his mother especially has Donnie on her mind at all times. Then a strange twist of fate occurs. An airplane jet engine crashes down on the house, right on top of Donnie’s room. However, he has been pulled from sleep, wandering to the local golf course where he encounters Frank, a man wearing a ghoulish bunny rabbit suit. Donnie is told the world will end by the close of October and from there he is encouraged to commit acts of vandalism that are seemingly random. However, there is a pattern to all the things Frank has Donnie doing and only, in the end, will the truth be revealed.

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Movie Review – Okja

Okja (2017)
Written by Jon Ronson & Bong Joon Ho
Directed by Bong Joon-Ho

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In 2007, Lucy Mirando, heir to the problematic Mirando Corporation announced the discovery of a new animal, superpigs. These miracle animals appear to be the world’s answer to the problem of hunger, and the 26 best are sent around the world to be raised by varying farming cultures in a bid to figure out how best to raise them. One of these superpigs, Okja ends up in South Korea raised by an old man and his granddaughter Mija. Jump to ten years later, and Mirando is calling in all the pigs for a contest that will kick off superpig meat coming to a store near you. These means Okja will be taken away, sent off to New York for “processing.” Mija is having none of this and sets off to reclaim Okja, unaware she is about to uncover the dark secret behind the Mirando corporation.

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Movie Review – Tank 432

Tank 432 (2016)
Written & Directed by Nick Gillespie

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A group of soldiers fights an enemy unseen. They tow a couple hooded prisoners in orange jumpsuits along behind them. The war is happening in what appears to be the English countryside. They stumble across scenes of massacres, other soldiers killed in brutal and obscene manners. On the run from a strange figure that appears seemingly out of nowhere, the group holes up in an abandoned British bulldog tank in a field. As their minds begin to splinter and they are plagued with disturbing dreams, the dreaded reality of the situation starts to become clear.

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Movie Review – Kong: Skull Island

Kong: Skull Island (2017)
Written by Dan Gilroy, Max Borenstein, Derek Connolly, and John Gatins
Directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts

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It’s 1973, and the United States is withdrawing from the war in Vietnam. Lt. Colonel Preston Packard (Samuel L. Jackson) isn’t happy about what he sees as an admission of defeat and a mark of shame for his helicopter squadron. His crew is assigned as escorts for a science expedition to an uncharted island in the Pacific, led by a government contractor, Bill Randa (John Goodman). British tracker James Conrad (Tom Hiddleston) and photojournalist Mason Weaver (Brie Larson) round out the crew. They arrive on the island and immediately being dropping explosive to map out the density and structure beneath, but they awaken something ancient and furious, Kong.

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Origins 2017: Impulse Drive

Impulse Drive
Written by Adrian Thoen

impulse driveThe game space Powered by the Apocalypse occupies has become fairly bloated in the last five years. With any mechanic that becomes popular, there is a high chance of the output becoming diluted with less than stellar content. One genre that designers have made multiple attempts at using the PbtA framework with has been space opera/science fiction action. It’s this type of game that designer Adrian Thoen has sought to leave his mark on with the ever evolving Impulse Drive. Thoen credits Firefly, Mass Effect, and Farscape among his influences and they can be felt in every aspect of the game.

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Movie Review – Power Rangers

Power Rangers (2017)
Written by John Gatins
Directed by Dean Israelite

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In the Pacific Northwest town of Angel Grove, five disparate teenagers are brought together when multicolored stones are unearthed. These coins imbue them with superhuman powers and lead the quintet to a subterranean alien craft buried millions of years prior. The inhabitants of this vessel, Alpha 5 and Zordon, inform the youths of an impending attack on their planet. The only way to stop this growing force of evil is to somehow unlock the power within their coins and become the Power Rangers, defenders of life.

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Movie Review – Rupture

Rupture (2017)
Written by Brian Nelson & Steven Shainberg
Directed by Steven Shainberg

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Renee (Noomi Rapace) is a single mother in Kansas going about her life when a flat tire leads to her abduction by a mysterious cabal of scientists. She’s put through a series of torturous experiments, gets loose and goes climbing through the vents, only to discover she’s a part of the dumbest conspiracy ever, which you can likely guess in the first 20 minutes of the film. My mind is still boggling at how these actors, who are pretty good, could be in a movie like this.

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Movie Review – Independence Day: Resurgence

Independence Day: Resurgence (2016)
Written by Nicolas Wright & James A. Woods, Dean Devlin & Roland Emmerich, and James Vanderbilt
Directed by Roland Emmerich

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It has been 20 years since the aliens invaded Earth and decimated many a landmark building. Humanity has recovered quite well, using the leftover technology to make multi-centuries’ leap in a couple decades. A base has been established on the moon to continue harvesting the remaining technology and Earth is surrounded by a network of defense satellites in case bad guys happened to come again. Humanity has ended all war, and everyone loves each other now. Well, you know what that means? An even bigger alien ship is coming to destroy even more things, this time so big it has it’s own gravitational field. Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Judd Hirsch, and some new faces come to the rescue in a film that delivers something the audience was clamoring for: Brent Spiner’s bare ass.

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