review

Reviews of the top geek movies, tv, and books in the industry.

The City & The City Episode 1
In some ways, China Mieville’s book The City and The City seems like it has a weird-fiction premise designed specifically to be adaptation friendly. The book is basically a police procedural that uses a pretty simple sci-fi concept. I don’t want to sound like one of those guys who say things like ‘this is proper sci-fi, not silly aliens and spaceships’, but of Mieville’s books it does seem to be the one that requires the least in terms of having to visualise things that don’t exist.
By jetpacktoeverywhere8 years ago in Geeks
My Little Over-Analysis of 'Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters' Part 1: Introduction to the Review Series
How does a kid's show centered around a trading card game build a long-lasting following as well as become the source material for one of the most successful internet parodies of all time (Yu-Gi-Oh: The Abridged Series)? Well, in the case of Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters it's pretty much impossible to give it a straightforward answer. However, that's also what makes exploring it so much fun. And, well, this is exactly what this little review series is about.
By Art-Peeter Roosve8 years ago in Geeks
What the Fest 2018: 'Revenge' Review
----Contains Spoilers----- Written and directed by Coralie Fargeat, Revenge should be called Survive, as the film is more about the main characters survival then getting revenge. Seriously, she's just trying to live. That's what being a woman is all about, right? Surviving in a world dominated by men who think we're nothing more than the sum of our parts. At least, I think that's what's being explored here—or maybe I'm reaching. While it's nowhere near as satisfying as other movies in the genre like I Spit On Your Grave or Death Wish, it has enough charisma to be your next guilty pleasure B-movie.
By Valerie Complex8 years ago in Geeks
My Little Over-Analysis of 'Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters' Part 2: Episode 1 'The Heart of the Cards'
As far as pilot episodes go, this one pretty much nails it in terms of balance. On the one hand, it does a good job at establishing many of the show's staplers as well as introduce us to the world and the characters. In fact, a lot of this set up already gets taken care of even before the rather excellent opening credits roll, as we learn of the show's ancient Egyptian themed lore and how it all connects to our lead Yugi.
By Art-Peeter Roosve8 years ago in Geeks
'Gotcha!': Who Knew Paintball Creates Spies?
Hello, and welcome back to Second Chances, where I shine the spotlight on things worthy of another look, and it's time to look at one of the movies that convinced me to start this column in the first place.
By Adam Wallace8 years ago in Geeks
'Krypton' Episode 3: The Rankless Initiative
Oh wow…we are opening with a “Last time on Krypton…” recap. I hate recaps. I really do. Do we really have such short attention spans that we HAVE to have the major events from the last episode retold to us? Most of what we’re seeing now isn’t even from last episode, it’s from the pilot. They are recapping a recap. And the recap is almost two minutes long. Man if they keep up this ratio by episode ten, it's going to be a quarter of the run time.
By Michael Bauch8 years ago in Geeks
'The Cloverfield Paradox' (2018)
If you go… you and I will survive.I’m afraid if you don’t …No one will. Cloverfield was a unique film. Lots of fans were looking forward to a sequel to this amusing found footage monster film. The sequel 10 Cloverfield Lanecame eight years later. It didn’t feel like this film had anything to do with the initial film until the end of the movie. It’s clear this one was situated after the events from Cloverfield. And then suddenly this Netflix release pops up from nowhere. The Cloverfield Paradox tries to explain why all that shit started to happen in Manhattan. Yep, again it’s about prequel and sequel stuff. And there’s nothing I hate more than prequel and sequel nonsense. It’s obvious this movie tries to connect with the original Cloverfield films, as you can clearly see on the movie poster.
By Peter P8 years ago in Geeks
'Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle' (2017)
“I think we got, like, sucked into the game.And we’ve become the avatars that we chose.” I was sure about one thing. A remake of Jumanji is the same as repainting the Mona Lisa and exhibiting this copy; ridiculous, inglorious, and unnecessary. I was afraid this movie would be ridiculed and laughed with. And on top of that, they’ve asked Dwayne Johnson to join. Not exactly an actor you’ll see in what they call the “better” films. I thought it would be something like Journey 2: The Mysterious Island and that I would curse the makers afterwards because they dared to copy a milestone with the late Robin Williams starring in it. For once, however, I have to admit that I was wrong. It’s been a long time since I’ve amused myself so much while watching a movie.
By Peter P8 years ago in Geeks
Krypton Episode 2: "The House of El" Review
Picking up where we left on in the pilot, Episode 2: "The House of El" sees us back in Val-El’s Fortress of Solitude with Adam Strange trying to convince Seg-El that the fate of the universe rests in his hands because Brainiac is on his way.
By Michael Bauch8 years ago in Geeks
'The Shape of Water' (2017)
“The natives in the Amazon worshipped it.Like a god.We need to take it apart, learn how it works.” I watched this movie the night before the Oscar ceremony, because I could feel it in my bones this film would possibly win that coveted statuette. Initially, I didn’t want to post my opinion about this winner. But as I had partially written down my opinion, I thought I would smooth off the rough edges and post it anyway. To be honest, I’m not part of the great crowd of admirers of The Shape of Water. Even though I was looking forward to it with great expectations and knew it was a creation made by Guillermo del Toro (I appreciated his previous films) I was only moderately enthusiastic about it. In the end I stayed behind with a “that’s it?” feeling. Why the jurors of the academy massively fell in love with this film still is a mystery to me. I didn’t think it was so earth-shattering, breathtaking, or groundbreaking.
By Peter P8 years ago in Geeks
'Ready Player One' Review: The Consumption of Media
Ready Player One is based off of Ernest Cline’s highly praised novel of the same name and is tackled by legendary Hollywood director, Steven Spielberg. In Cline’s novel, he takes off into a relatively distant future where technology and reality clash like we see today. The book is chalked full of pages that list off characters, IPs, and pieces of media from the past that not only defined our childhood, but entertainment itself. In Spielberg’s Ready Player One, there was a quiet disturbance amongst members of the film community that was concerned the film would be a two hour long slugfest of nostalgia that felt like taking a brick to the face. To be fair, audiences had every right to worry due to a mediocre marketing campaign that plugged in these characters into infamous pop culture content. The trailers dazzled in promising lots of, “look, point at this cool reference with your friends” footage while listening to your dad’s favorite track that he had on his “hip” Walkman back in the Spring of '82. None of this looked or sounded appealing, except maybe to the average film-goer, but what may come to everyone’s surprise is how Spielberg’s Ready Player One is more than the nostalgia pandering we all thought it would be.
By Roman Arbisi8 years ago in Geeks
Review: 'School Babysitters'
Anime: School Babysitters Genre: Slice of Life, Harem (?) Age Rating: Good for All Studio: Brain's Base Music: Ruka Kawada Author: Hari Tokeino Dub/Sub: Subs Ecchi Level: Non-Existent (There's one boob gag, but nothing even close to shows.)
By Riot Dragon8 years ago in Geeks