TV Review: Seven Swordsmen aka “Seven Swords Descend from Mount Heaven” In 17th Century China, the Qing Dynasty now rules where once the Ming Dynasty did. Many Han resent their new Manchu overlords and pockets of rebellion are everywhere. To help quell the resistance, the Qing have banned the practice of martial arts by ordinary… Continue reading TV Review: Seven Swordsmen
Tag: children
Movie Review: The Curse of the Cat People
Movie Review: The Curse of the Cat People (1944) directed by Gunther V. Fritsch Amy Reed (Ann Carter) lives in Tarrytown, New York, near Sleepy Hollow, with her ship designer father Oliver (Kent Smith) and draft creator mother Alice (Jane Randolph). Amy is a sensitive, imaginative little girl who doesn’t get along well with the other… Continue reading Movie Review: The Curse of the Cat People
Book Review: Whatever Became of…? Vol. III
Book Review: Whatever Became of…? Vol. III by Richard Lamparski The vast majority of my readers will have at some point encountered one of those clickbait articles titled something like “8 CW stars of the 1990s, what they’re doing now, #3 will shock you.” Nostalgia is a powerful force, and most humans have at least… Continue reading Book Review: Whatever Became of…? Vol. III
Book Review: The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror Volume 16
Book Review: The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror Volume 16 edited by Stephen Jones Let’s go back to 2004 for what at least one editor considered excellent short horror fiction. As with the later volume I have reviewed, there’s a lot of ancillary material. It opens with an extended look at horror and horror-adjacent… Continue reading Book Review: The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror Volume 16
Book Review: Paperbacks from Hell
Book Review: Paperbacks from Hell by Grady Hendrix Back in the 1970s and 1980s, there was a big boom in paperback horror books, which was helped along by some truly lurid cover art that told the potential reader right up front that this was a book about, say, flesh-eating rabbits. Horror writer and vintage paperback… Continue reading Book Review: Paperbacks from Hell
Magazine Review: Asimov’s Science Fiction May/June 2021
Magazine Review: Asimov’s Science Fiction May/June 2021 edited by Sheila Williams Back in 1977, Isaac Asimov was one of the top three or so science fiction writers in the world, and had a very strong personal brand. So when Davis Publications wanted to create a “name brand magazine” for science fiction like Ellery Queen Mystery… Continue reading Magazine Review: Asimov’s Science Fiction May/June 2021
Book Review: The Man on the Balcony
Book Review: The Man on the Balcony by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo It is June 2, 1967 in Stockholm, Sweden. A man stands on his balcony, smoking and watching the street as the sun rises. It’s going to be a scorcher today. A peaceful enough scene, but the calm of the city is going… Continue reading Book Review: The Man on the Balcony
Webtoon Review: Kid Cosmic
Webtoon Review: Kid Cosmic “Kid” lives in a wide spot on I-70 in the American Southwest desert. There’s Mo’s Diner, a truck stop where most of the regulars have their own favorite stools, Flores Florists, the junkyard where Kid lives with his grandfather Papa G (a found objects artist), and that’s about it. Orphaned some… Continue reading Webtoon Review: Kid Cosmic
Book Review: A Treasury of Science Fiction
Book Review: A Treasury of Science Fiction edited by Groff Conklin “A Treasury of Science Fiction” was first published as a hardback in 1948; the edition I read was the paperback reprint from 1957 which only contains eight of the original thirty stories. This was one of the first major science fiction collections, and set… Continue reading Book Review: A Treasury of Science Fiction
Anime Review: Kodocha Volume 6: Sana’s Bombshell
Anime Review: Kodocha Volume 6: Sana’s Bombshell Sana Kurata is not your average sixth-grader. She lives in a mansion with her prize-winning author adoptive mother, and is an accomplished child actress, regularly appearing on the show “Zenjiro’s Kodomo no Omocha.” Pretty glamorous stuff. But sixth grade is not going well because the boys are acting… Continue reading Anime Review: Kodocha Volume 6: Sana’s Bombshell