The word Classic gets thrown around a lot in the world of pop culture, but Half-Life 2 deserves the label. This first-person shooter from 2004 shows up near the top of most ‘best video games ever’ lists. (Like this one.) Because of its reputation, I always felt I needed to give it a closer look and I finally got around to it.… Read the rest
Guardians of the Galaxy has just raised the stakes. Not so much for the next Avengers movie or for the other Marvel comic book movies it loosely ties into, but for the upcoming Star Wars sequels. This is how intergalactic high-adventure should be done.… Read the rest
Snowpiercer posits an intriguing near-future scenario. It’s the year 2031. To fight global warming, a chemical component was released into the air and things went horribly wrong. The world froze over and mankind is all but wiped out. Around 1000 survivors circle the globe on a giant railway track, in a self-sustaining microcosm aboard a train.… Read the rest
I try to separate people’s private lives from the creative work they put out. Only in rare cases is someone so dislikeable that I actively avoid anything associated with them. For instance, Orson Scott Card is a massive homophobe, and because of this, I will not spend any time reading his books.… Read the rest
You can’t accuse Pacific Rim of not delivering on its core concept. You will indeed be seeing giant mechanoids battle giant monsters and lay waste to buildings as they do so. Most of the fights take place partly obscured by darkness.… Read the rest
