Strangers and Aliens: Science Fiction & Fantasy from a Christian Perspective
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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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Steve’s reply to Dr. J’s Star Wars Rankings
This list is my reply to Jayce’s list, and represents a totally non-objective view of the movies. This is not based on the merit of their acting, production, directing, etc. but solely on how I perceived them at the time and their impact on me. I present them chronologically so the narrative will make a…
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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…
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Star Wars Burgers
I’ve seen articles about this around the internet and I find it very, very interesting. And very, very disgusting. In anticipation of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace being re-released in theaters next month in 3D, a burger joint in France is making the experience even MORE interactive . . . but letting…
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POLL: What’s your favorite sci-fi/fantasy franchise?
We want to know . . . what’s YOUR favorite? Star Wars or Star Trek? Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings? Vote! And then, please, leave a comment below and talk about your answers . . . then come back and see what other people are saying! (First time commenters have to be approved…
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EPISODE 4 – “There and Back Again – Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit”
Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSSWell, it’s here. The Hobbit trailer gave us a peek into what Peter Jackson has in store for us, so we decided that was something worthy of an episode. You can see the trailer here. In this episode, Ben and Steve look back at the Lord of the…
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EPISODE 3 – “The Best (and Worst) Christmas Stories”
Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSSWhat are the best Christmas movies? The worst? Christmas movies are a big part of this season. Join Dr. Jayce and Ben as they talk about Christmas traditions and classic Christmas movies and maybe some not so classic Christmas movies. Before listening, or after, if that’s your style, check…
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TRAILER: The Dark Knight Rises
And here we have the trailer for The Dark Knight Rises. As I already posted, the teaser poster got me excited to see the movie. More excited than I already was, I should say. You can watch it here . . . Some of this feels disturbing . . . some of it feels strange…
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Joe Simon: The Passing of a Legend
Joe Simon passed away this week. He was 98 years old and had been active as late as this year (Shieldmaster) creating comics. What can be said about him that hasn’t been said already? He was quite simply a legend. The regular news sources are already inundating the internet with obituaries, so here are some…
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AUDIO: Rare Star Trek II Radio Documentary
Over at trekmovie.com, a Star Trek news blog, they have posted an article about the unearthing of a rare recording made to promote Star Trek II. In includes interviews with Shatner, Nimoy, and Khan himself, Ricardo Montalban, and some recordings of Roddenberry speaking at a university (possibly because he was not involved in the making…
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VIDEO: Vader Did You Know
So someone Tweeted about this video yesterday and I found it HILARIOUS! I shared it with Dr. Jayce and Steve and then I saw that it was spreading on Facebook and Twitter and I just had to share it with our fellow Strangers and Aliens out there. It’s a parody of the song Mary Did…
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RANKINGS: Top 10 Time Travel Movies of All Time (#6)
#6 Back to the Future 2 (1989) Marty McFly must travel back and forth in time in his pursuit to save his kids and a less than stellar future. However, lots of things go wrong which alters his home time in 1985. When: 2015, 1985, and 1955 Best part: Till this day I STILL dream…
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Time Travel in Early Heroic Mass Media
Time travel takes on a lot of forms, and comicbook/superhero writers have certainly done their fair share in broadening the tradition. This article covers some of the earliest instances of time travel concerning comics and superheroes. The Shadow (radio series) Chronologically, this old-time radio episode of The Shadow is the first instance of time travel…
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NEWS: Men in Black 3 trailer
Could this become a contender for Dr. Jayce’s top ten time travel movies? With Josh Brolin channeling Tommy Lee Jones . . . and Will Smith channeling, well, young Will Smith . . . this could be fun. I liked the first Men in Black and didn’t care one way or the other for the…
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NEWS: New Dark Knight Rises Movie Poster!
Well, after that Amazing Spider-Man poster (which I wrote about here), DC Comics has released their own new poster, for The Dark Knight Rises. Coming off two of the best superhero movies ever made, this one is playing up the opposite angle that the Spider-Man poster emphasized. Spider-Man is an origin story, promising the “untold’…
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