Author: Ben
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REVIEW: Green Lantern Is ABOUT Hollywood
Green Lantern. For those who don’t know, it’s a superhero sci-fi fantasy action movie about Hal Jordan, who is given a ring (and a lantern, which charges the ring) that can create anything Hal can imagine using the power of green (also known as willpower) . . . which comes with a price: he is…
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TERRA NOVA Is Dead! Long Live TERRA NOVA!
Terra Nova has been cancelled by Fox. No surprise there. It’s an ambitious, high concept sci-fi show about time travel and dinosaurs. It was a big budget version of Land of the Lost, or a family friendly hybrid of Jurassic Park and Lost in Space. And Fox is legendary among geeks for greenlighting interesting sci-fi…
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Episode 11 — “Zombies!!!”
Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSSWe’re back for a new episode! This time: zombies. The sci-fi guys examine The Walking Dead and the zombie phenomenon. Do zombie stories have something to say about modern life? Or are they just gory thrills? Or both? The conversation goes from the beginnings of the zombie genre…
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REVIEW: Awake pilot episode
Tonight, NBC premiere’s a new police procedural with a sci-fi/fantasy twist. And it’s awesome. The premise: a man is in a car accident with his wife and son and finds himself straddling two worlds. In one, his son lived. In the other, his wife lived. Whenever he falls asleep in one world, he wakes up…
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Episode 10 — “Strangers and Alienation: Interview with Jon S. Lewis”
Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSSThis episode is a very special episode, as author Jon S. Lewis joins Ben and Steve for a discussion about his C.H.A.O.S. series of novels (especially the most recent book Alienation), his comic book work, and what he geeks out about. Find out what geeky toy he and…
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NEW POLL: Star Trek Captains
It’s an age-old question. Well, maybe not “age-old”. But it’s been a question since at least 1987, when Star Trek spawned a sequel TV series. Who is the best Star Trek captain? Usually, the question centers around the first two: who is better, Kirk or Picard? Dr. Jayce and Ben haven’t come to blows about…
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THOUGHT CLOUDS: Dark Matter (Comic Review)
DARK MATTER Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie, writers; Garry Brown, artist As you may probably know if you are familiar with the podcast, I write comic books. I also read them. If you’ve listened to the podcast, you also know I am a fan of the Stargate franchise. All of the series. So, by proxy, that…
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SCI-FI/FANTASY FOR KIDS: The Secret World of Arrietty
My kids and I are huge fans of Studio Ghibli. I love almost everything that I have seen from them, and my kids adore My Neighbor Totoro and Ponyo. Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation studio. I would compare the studio to PIXAR, perhaps, and the primary force behind their output over the past decades…
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Episode 9 — “Sci-Fi TV: Cancelled Too Soon”
Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS “Take my love, take my land Take me where I cannot stand I don’t care, I’m still free You can’t take the sky from me . . .” But you CAN take away my favorite TV show! It happens to every fan of fantasy or sci-fi. The…
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NEWS: Terry Brooks’ Landover Coming to the Big Screen!
According to Variety, Terry Brooks’ non-Shanarra fantasy series is in development for the big screen. I liked the Shanarra series, but after reading Lord of the Rings Shanarra was a world I never wanted to go back to, even with the implications that while Middle-Earth is from pre-history, Shannarra might be . . . not.…
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Episode 8 — “Big Mike vs. the Podcast”
Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS For this episode of the podcast, Strangers and Aliens is proud to present an interview with a special guest: Mark Christopher Lawrence. Known for playing Big Mike on Chuck, Mr. Lawrence took some time to talk with Ben and Dr. Jayce, giving us a revelation about Chuck’s…
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VIDEO: Superbowl Sci-Fi commercials!
The Superbowl is IN Indiana. But I honestly couldn’t care less than I actually do. I have no dog in this pony show. But. It’s a big event for commercials. All types of commercials. Especially for big budget movies. When you spend hundreds of millions of dollars to make a movie, you need eyeballs to…
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Episode 7 — “Sci-Fi Vs. Fantasy”
Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSSThe sci-fi guys are back. In this, the seventh episode of the podcast, they dive into the differences and similarities of the science fiction and fantasy as genres. Is it as simple as “swords” instead of “lasers”? What kinds of stories work better in one genre, rather than…
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VIDEO: Tron: Uprising! (I added the exclamation point)
Tron is something I’d like us to tackle here at Strangers and Aliens sometime soon, even though the first movie is really old (by real time standards) and the second movie is really old (by American consciousness standards). Still, both Tron and Tron: Legacy were movie that I enjoyed, for different reasons at different times.…
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VIDEOS: 2 Star Wars Videos
Two incredible Star Wars related videos surfaced last week. One is polished and high budget. The other is absolutely the opposite. And yet, both of them are worth watching. The first one will take you a minute. The second one, I suggest bookmarking and watching what you can, then writing down the time you stopped…
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Grateful Dead/Star Wars mash-up
My friend, collaborator, and editor Bud Rogers sent this to me. Have to say, I love, love, love this image. I’m not a follower of the Dead, but he’s a fan. Here’s the note he sent me about the image: Hi Ben, Just saw the cover to the newest release from the Grateful Dead (thanks to…
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REVIEW: Alcatraz
(Mild spoilers ahead . . . very, very mild.) Last night, the Fox network tried to fill the hole left in so many people’s lives after Lost disappeared from the airwaves with Alcatraz. Say what you will about Lost’s finale, the the show defined “appointment television” in a television environment that had become increasingly difficult…
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EPISODE 6 – “Star Wars Part 2: The Original Trilogy”
Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSSWell, the sci-fi guys are back with the conclusion of their conversation about Star Wars, this time turning their attention on the movies that started it all . . . and ended it all! if you haven’t listened to the first part of this conversation, you can download…
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If THIS Doesn’t Get You Excited about The Hobbit …
NOTHING will! Check out this image (from the LA Times): Obviously, all of us strangers and aliens are excited about this movie. Certain little things like this are just amping up the excitement. I’m wondering if we need to get some bad press about how awful this movie is to bring down our expectations! But…
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EPISODE 5 – “Star Wars Part 1: The Prequels”
Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS All three of the sci-fi guys are back for the first full episode of 2012 and the first part of a two part look back at Star Wars. In this episode, a look at episodes I, II, and III — the “prequel trilogy”. For many fans of…