On July 7th, 1947, a crash near Roswell, New Mexico may have been the greatest find in human history, an incredible hoax, or a really simple misunderstanding. Whether it was an alien flying saucer that crashed with grey aliens inside, or a simple weather balloon, the story has not gone away. As a matter of fact, the…
Author: Jim Ciscell
Harrison Ford is over 70 years old, a fact that isn’t going to change anytime soon. When Sean Connery played Ford’s father in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Connery was younger than Ford is now. Let’s put it another way: when George Hall played “Old Indy” in the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, he was…
We are headed into a world in which there is actively a fourth Transformers film being made as well as a third G.I. Joe film. Films are now being made based on amusement park rides as well as video games. Given all the attendant nostalgia which now grown up geeks have for their youth, there…
The opening scene in Star Wars: Episode VII will be one of the most important scenes in cinema history. Done right, it could reinvigorate the series and finally cement it as the greatest sci-fi story ever told. Done wrong, it would be the final nail in the coffin built by Jar-Jar Binks’ bare hands. Here are ten ways to do it right.
The tantalizing announcement that the Man of Steel sequel would also introduce Batman to a Superman movie allowed comic book fans to rejoice these last few weeks. However, there have been surprisingly few stories in which the team-up actually worked. This is astounding considering the comic World’s Finest was practically dedicated to the notion. The…
Usually, President Obama gets compared to luminaries such as JFK and Lincoln. But given the current instability of the US government, perhaps the best comparison one can make is to Herbert Hoover, who was President when the Great Depression began. Hopefully, Obama’s time in office ends more positively.
Tom Clancy’s passing came as a blow to the writing community. The author of such novels as The Hunt For Red October, Clear and Present Danger, The Sum of all Fears, and Patriot Games redefined the way that technological thrillers were written. The novels not only had to have a compelling narrative, they also had…
The classic television show The Twilight Zone had many different takes on what happens to you after you die. The series also had nearly a half dozen different incarnations of Satan as played by various actors. Interestingly enough, there were angels but no specific personification of God. To get the many different takes of Twilight…
Sports fans love to guess what will happen in the world of competitive ball handling, but most of these guesses turn out to be dead wrong. It’s actually much easier to predict stuff that WON’T happen, as we’ve so helpfully done just now. Here are ten sporty things that a simply not happening in the coming year.
According to The Matrix, we are hooked up to computers that upload a fantasy world into our heads. If that were true, wouldn’t it too apply to movie universes? In short, the fictional world we created for them is actually a fictional world created by the Matrix, a world which the unconscious fictional characters believe is real.
The adventures of Indiana Jones does not begin and end with the movies. On the contrary, there are a ton of books and games out there that place Indy in harm’s way, all in the name of collecting, well, just about every ancient artifact known to man. Here are ten of his most epic adventures you didn’t know about.
As strange as it may sound, there is ample evidence to support the idea that ET, the beloved alien who phoned home and made us all disappointed that our bikes couldn’t fly, was a closet Jedi Knight. He might not wield a lightsaber, but The Force is definitely strong with this one.
Some movies tease us with awesome songs from kick-ass musicals that, for some ungodly reason, don’t exist in our world. This needs to change. Someone with Broadway connections should make these fictional plays real, so we can spend gobs of money on tickets for the best seats.
Sadly, racism is still a thing in our world. For the most part however, people tend to keep their racist thoughts to themselves (or anonymously spew them all over the Internet; that works too.) Some people however, prefer to expose their bigotry very publicly, and very loudly. Spoiler alert: it never turns out well.
In this day and age, people are likely to study classic television and cinema in the same way that bygone generations would study classic literature as well as the respected letters of famous people. In you give it another generation, the same thing may very well be said about classic video games. In some circles,…
Though it might seem like pure sci-fi escapism, there are actually many parallels between the Star Wars saga and our real life Earth saga. They say to write what you know; well, George Lucas may not know decent dialogue, but he sure knows history
According to South Park, The Simpsons have gotten to virtually every comedic concept long before today’s shows even had a chance to exist. the same can be said of The Twilight Zone and trippy science fiction ideas. Over three series and 265 episodes, not to mention a comic book series, a feature film, a radio show, and a…
The 20th century is still recent enough (and documented enough) that you can look at each decade and see clear patterns as to where the real movers and shakers were, culture-wise. As it turns out, one specific area dominates popular culture for about ten years, until another area takes over and changes everything. So which…
When Henry Cavill steps into the iconic role of Superman in Man of Steel, he is going to have some pretty big shoes (and tights) to fill. Many men have stepped forward to offer up their interpretation of ol’ Kal-El, and there are sure to be many more in the future. So, before Cavill makes…
Abortion in the United States is legal. In that context, it would seem ridiculous to argue that the ‘pro choice’ movement has been anything but successful. However, as you will see, over the years the more successful side in the ‘Abortion War’ has been the pro-life movement. Restrictions are rarely taken down once in place.…
Traditionally, the debate between evolution and creationism as secondary education topics has been a hot button issue. As a matter of fact, the famous Scopes trial once focused on the very question of whether evolution should be taught in schools at all. However, even if you have no intention of believing in the tenants of…
As much fun as the Star Wars live action films are, there are two things which are more fun. First, obviously, is making die hard Star Wars fans scream at you for your discussion of their precious universe. I try to do this whenever possible. The second is any attempt to transpose the series for…
Aside from a few minor successes here and there, cloning still evokes thoughts of pure science fiction, from Arnold Schwarzenegger to Star Wars. However, with each passing day, cloning is starting to become closer and closer to a legitimate scientific accomplishment. That fact got us to wondering what the most legitimate targets for cloning would be. What previously…
You always hear about supposedly “cursed” movies, like Poltergeist or The Crow or Twilight Zone: The Movie, as having a high rate of actual death. So, I decided to put it all to the test. I went through over a hundred listings on the Internet Movie Database, to see which films truly had the most death among…