I’m late joining the party for The Expanse. Almost too late, since SyFy canceled the series. Thankfully, Amazon picked it up for a Season Four, so there’s still hope for even more. First, a little back story. The series is based on science fiction novels (and related short stories and novellas) by James S. A. […]
Read more "The Expanse: Season One — a review"I haven’t been following the entertainment news very closely. I found out that Colony had been cancelled by the USA Network the same morning I was watching the Season 3 finale. The description of the episode on the streaming device I use described the episode as “series finale.” Maybe, I thought, they meant “series” in […]
Read more "Colony: Season 3 — a review (Series Ending?)"00:15:01 – 00:30:00 It’s not often that those of us who work here at 15-Minute Force studios (chained to our desks and fed a steady diet of protein bars and Red Bull) get to make Flannery O’Connor references. If the title of this chapter was too opaque, it is an homage to Everything That Rises […]
Read more "Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (a 15-Minute Force production): Chapter Two: Everything That Crashes Must Converge (Or: Apologies to Flannery O’Connor)"Welcome to my rewatching of the original 79 episodes of the series that launched the franchise. Below are the bulletpointed notes I jotted down while watching “The Conscience of the King.” On this day in history, the US and the USSR signed a treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons in outer space. They were probably […]
Read more "|||[Boldly Going]||| Star Trek: The Original Series—Season One: Ep. 1.13 “The Conscience of the King” – (Original air date: Thursday, December 8, 1966)"Concerning Stephen King . . . Up until about 1992, I read everything he wrote. Then, he continued to write, seemingly faster than I could read. I estimate that I’ve missed fifteen of his novels, unless he’s published another one in the past few minutes, which is always a possibility. Oh, I’ve read some of […]
Read more "Revival, by Stephen King — a book review"Mother. No, I’m not about to launch into a Danzig or Pink Floyd song. I also didn’t write the word because it’s part of some offensive slang burned into my wallet. (That was a Pulp Fiction reference, in case I’m being too oblique.) It’s just that it’s the specific word that occurred to me while […]
Read more "Gilmore Girls: Season 6 — a review"00:00:00 – 00:15:00 I am thrilled to be moving on, finally, to the current Star Wars era of movies. I guess I did that already, sort of, with Rogue One: a Star Wars story, but that was a standalone, without an opening crawl or traditional Star Wars screen wipes. I liked the movie, but now, […]
Read more "Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (a 15-Minute Force production): Chapter One: Introducing Luke Skywalker as This Movie’s Maguffin (Or: Let’s Meet Some New Players in an Old Galaxy)"There was a time, and not that long ago, mind you, that I wouldn’t have made the argument that I prefer shorter television seasons. I mean, if you love something, you want more of it. Right? Which reminds me of a story my father once told me. He came from a large family, and he […]
Read more "In Praise of Shorter Television Seasons"Welcome to my rewatching of the original 79 episodes of the series that launched the franchise. Below are the bulletpointed notes I jotted down while watching “The Menagerie, Part 2.” This date in history. On this same day in 1966, the Abbey Road sessions that would result in Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band began […]
Read more "|||[Boldly Going]||| Star Trek: The Original Series—Season One: Ep. 1.12 “The Menagerie, Part 2” – (Original air date: Thursday, November 24, 1966)"I’m not going to check the stats sheets to see if this is true. But, it feels like every time TNG disappoints me with a weak episode—such as Episode 5.17 “The Outcast”—they follow it up with one that I absolutely love. How’s that for a lead? Nothing buried there. I love Episode 5.18 “Cause and […]
Read more "|||[Boldly Going]||| Star Trek: The Next Generation: Ep. 5.18 “Cause and Effect”"