Movie Review: The Grandmaster (2013)

Movie Review: The Grandmaster (2013) This Chinese-French co-production is a Wong Kar Wai film loosely based on the real life of Ip Man, Bruce Lee’s instructor in the art of Wing Chun style kung fu.  As the title indicates, however, the true central character is the Northern Grandmaster, Gong Yutian.  As the film begins, Master… Continue reading Movie Review: The Grandmaster (2013)

Book Review: The Spider #7

Book Review: The Spider #7 by Grant Stockbridge When the Shadow kickstarted the pulp hero magazines in the 1930s, it was no surprise that a similar character, the Spider, was featured at a rival publishing house.  Written under house name Grant Stockbridge (usually Norvell Page), the Spider was wealthy socialite and amateur criminologist Richard Wentworth.… Continue reading Book Review: The Spider #7

Book Review: The Weird Ones

Book Review: The Weird Ones by Frederik Pohl, Poul Anderson, Milton Lesser, Eando Binder, Mack Reynolds, Sam Sackett & L. Sprague de Camp This is an anthology of 1950s science fiction published in 1962.  In the Fifties, SF became more “thinky” than in the pulp era, with an emphasis on the soft sciences like psychology… Continue reading Book Review: The Weird Ones

Book Review: Koko

Book Review: Koko by Peter Straub Four Vietnam veterans, among the very few remaining from their old unit, meet at the Vietnam War Memorial’s dedication.  One of them has noticed a series of murders that indicate another member of their unit is alive and a serial killer.  He convinces the others to go searching for… Continue reading Book Review: Koko

Book Review: Warrior of Scorpio

Book Review: Warrior of Scorpio by Alan Burt Akers This is the third in the Prescot of Antares planetary romance series.  For newer readers who might not have seen the term before, a “planetary romance” is a subgenre of science fiction in which an Earthling (or someone of Terran extraction) is transported to and stranded… Continue reading Book Review: Warrior of Scorpio