Manga Review: Rooster Fighter 01

Manga Review: Rooster Fighter 01 by Shu Sakuratani Keiji was once a normal carefree chicken, enjoying his day to day life on the farm. But that all changed when a demon appeared who burned down the coop and killed Keiji’s little sister. Since that day, he has wandered Japan looking for that demon to extract… Continue reading Manga Review: Rooster Fighter 01

Movie Review: Bangkok Haunted

Paga is a skilled dancer.

Movie Review: Bangkok Haunted (2001) directed by Pisuth Praesang-Iam & Oxide Chun Pang We open on a moving truck in the Thai countryside, heading for Bangkok. The man sitting in the back taking care of the packages gets scratched by…something. The moment he realizes he’s in a horror story, he jumps out the back of the… Continue reading Movie Review: Bangkok Haunted

Manga Review: Apollo’s Song

Manga Review: Apollo’s Song by Osamu Tezuka Shogo Chikaishi is an unhappy young man. He has no idea who his birth father was, and his mother supported them by inviting a string of horny men to her bed. She had little love to spare for her child, who often got in the way of getting… Continue reading Manga Review: Apollo’s Song

Book Review: Dangerous Visions and New Worlds

Book Review: Dangerous Visions and New Worlds edited by Andrew Nette and Iain McIntyre Subtitled “Radical Science Fiction, 1950-1985” this book is a collection of essays about how science fiction (or perhaps “speculative fiction” is a better phrase) changed and adapted to reflect the changing issues and social concerns of the Cold War period, and… Continue reading Book Review: Dangerous Visions and New Worlds

Movie Review: Beyond Obsession (1982)

Nina and Matthew share a smoke.

Movie Review: Beyond Obsession (1982) directed by Liliana Cavani aka “Beyond the Door” Matthew Jackson (Tom Berenger), an American oil worker in Morocco, takes a trip to Marrakesh. At a boring sex show, he meets an Italian woman, Nina (Eleanora Giorgi). She takes him to a slightly more exciting brothel, gets Matthew high, and hooks him… Continue reading Movie Review: Beyond Obsession (1982)

Magazine Review: Fantastic August 1969

Magazine Review: Fantastic August 1969 edited by Sol Cohen The opening editorial is by Ted White, the new managing editor. He talks about the decline in “fiction magazines” (the Saturday Evening Post had recently ceased publication for the first time) and is sad, but points out that times are always changing. He also mentions his… Continue reading Magazine Review: Fantastic August 1969

Magazine Review: The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction April 1978

Cover by David Hardy, riffing on the classic War of the Worlds scene where the Thunder Child battles the tripods.

Magazine Review: The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction April 1978 edited by Edward L. Ferman This issue of the long-running speculative fiction magazine is “All-British”, which the editorial material notes was one of the easiest theme issues to do, since they already had a number of stories by British authors on hand. They dug… Continue reading Magazine Review: The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction April 1978

Anime Review: Baki (2018)

From left to right: Retsu Kaioh, Kaoru Hanayama, Mitsunari Tokugawa, Baki Hanma, Doppo Orochi and Gouki Shibukawa. Or as Kaoru likes to call them, "Idiots from Planet Strong."

Anime Review: Baki (2018) Baki Hanma is not your average high school student. He may look normal if a teensy bulky and with a dull expression on his face with his school uniform on, but once he doffs his outer clothing, it’s clear that he’s possessed of superior musculature and covered in scars. For in… Continue reading Anime Review: Baki (2018)

Book Review: The Bamboo Bloodbath

Book Review: The Bamboo Bloodbath by Piers Anthony and Roberto Fuentes I’ve mentioned before that one of my guilty pleasures is the “men’s adventure” paperback series of the 1970s. Violence, sex, drugs and the particular cultural trends of the Seventies mixed with a macho writing style and pulpish sensibility. In the case of the Jason… Continue reading Book Review: The Bamboo Bloodbath

Book Review: Zeus Grants Stupid Wishes: A No-Bullshit Guide to World Mythology

Book Review: Zeus Grants Stupid Wishes: A No-Bullshit Guide to World Mythology by Cory O’Brien Our modern world is built, among other things, on the mythology of the past. The stories of how the world came to be, where people came from, and the foibles of the gods are deep in our cultural DNA. But… Continue reading Book Review: Zeus Grants Stupid Wishes: A No-Bullshit Guide to World Mythology