io9: Reviews

In Immortals, you'll upskirt the gods — and you'll like it

Annalee Newitz — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 10:04:53 PST

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Filmmaker Tarsem Singh can make slaughtering animals look pretty, so imagine what he can do with genuinely pretty things. You'll have your answer when you see Immortals this weekend. This flick truly embodies the gorgeous excess of the Greek myths it retells, filling the screen with beautiful people in sumptuous robes, swirling arcs of magic blood, and smeary light cast by golden armor. More »

A collection of the worst reviews of the best movies of all time

Meredith Woerner — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 07:30:00 PST

"Dumb As A Blog" collects scathing reviews of the world's most beloved films. The New York Times calls Empire Strikes Back "a lot of hot air" and disses Bill Murray's Ghostbusters performance, while the New Yorker destroys Indiana Jones. More »

Two movies that will remind you why you're afraid of the dark

Esther Inglis-Arkell — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 13:34:23 PST

We got our first look at scared-of-the-dark horror flick Vanishing on 7th Street today. Need a dose of shadowy chills right now? Here are two movies you can watch today for that Vanishing feeling. More »

Early Green Hornet reviews rate the superhero as frazzled, but fun

Meredith Woerner — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 11:34:01 PST

The closer we get to Green Hornet's release date, the better the buzz gets. True, it's still being labeled it a hodgepodge mess, but most early viewers at least thought it was fun. Check out our round-up of early reviews. More »

Your Empathy Will Be Tested: A New Stage Adaptation Of "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?"

Chris Braak — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 12:52:09 PST

Adapting Dick's seminal novel is guaranteed to be a difficult process, and would have been even if Ridley Scott's Blade Runner weren't already a 30-year-old SF classic. Untitled Theater Company #61 took on the ambitious challenge. And mostly, it worked. More »

Activate Wave-Motion Gun! New documentary takes you inside the live-action Star Blazers

Charlie Jane Anders — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 17:30:00 PST

The most anticipated science fiction movie of December, for some of us, might actually be Space Battleship Yamato, aka Star Blazers. The classic anime's long-awaited live-action adaptation opens tomorrow. Watch an hour-long making-of feature, and read snippets from early reviews. More »

New Kato-heavy Green Hornet trailer gives us hope

Meredith Woerner — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 16:30:00 PST

Dare we dream that Michel Gondry's Green Hornet could beat the bad buzz? Today's new trailer and a handful of positive of reviews from a recent test screening might just raise your hopes for this comedic action movie. More »

Stargate Universe "Lion Kings" a character

Meredith Woerner — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 17:18:14 PST

This week Stargate Universe tried to heal our wounded hearts from last weeks crazy episode — by trampling a key character. More »

Terry Pratchett's young witch comes of age at last

Laurie Penny — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 16:20:00 PDT

Tiffany Aching, the teenage witch who stars in Terry Pratchett's latest novel I Shall Wear Midnight, is in many ways the anti-Harry Potter. More »

TiMER and the trope of destructive prescience

Esther Inglis-Arkell — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 12:26:07 PDT

Streaming on Netflix is a scifi romance with very deep philosophical roots. TiMER is about what would happen if a piece of technology could tell you when you would meet your soulmate. More »

George R.R. Martin brings you sex, drugs and folk rock after the apocalypse

Charlie Jane Anders — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 12:30:38 PDT

George R.R. Martin's amazing A Song of Ice and Fire throws in random elements that seem to come out of nowhere... then make perfect sense. So when he introduces a strange drug to his post-apocalyptic story, it's startling but thought-provoking. More »

A very special True Blood vampire Nazi dinner party

Meredith Woerner — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 17:08:34 PDT

The second episode of True Blood's third season was pretty heavy. Lots and lots of plot lines and new characters almost drowned the special Nazi vampire reveal. Almost, but not quite. Spoilers ahead. More »

Hot Tub Time Machine: Our Movie Review FAQ Answers All Your Messy Questions

Charlie Jane Anders — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 09:00:00 PDT

We know: This Hot Tub Time Machine thing is confusing. Is it a Hangover-style raunch-comedy? A time-travel epic? A 2001: A Space Odyssey-style journey into the vortex of our deepest souls? We answer your hot, wet questions below. Spoilers ahead... More »

At the End of the World, We'll All Be on Reality TV

Lauren Davis — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 10:37:18 PDT

Will The Hills lead us to the apocalypse? In Lee Konstantinou's Pop Apocalypse, we can watch anyone, anytime, and celebrity worship has infiltrated every aspect of our culture. It may just be the end of the world. More »

L.A. Is A Magical Cesspit, And Sandman Slim Is Its New Champion

Charlie Jane Anders — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 09:00:00 PDT

Richard Kadrey was at the vanguard of the noir-tinged cyberpunk back in the day, so it's only fitting he's helping to shape noir's next frontier, urban fantasy. His novel Sandman Slim brings Hellspawn and trash magic to L.A. Spoilers below... More »

Half-Blood Prince Is The Best Harry Potter Movie, Say Early Reviews

Meredith Woerner — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 07:00:00 PDT

A batch of Harry Potter reviews have been released. And while everyone's unanimous that the new film isn't for those unfamiliar with the Hogwarts curriculum, it's still the best movie to come out of J.K. Rowling's books. Spoilers ahead. More »

How Much Damage Can A Maniac And His Army Of Sock Puppets Do On Amazon.Com?

Charlie Jane Anders — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 08:30:00 PDT

Science fiction and fantasy authors, including Pat Rothfuss and David Louis Edelman, have started noticing a rash of one-star reviews of their books on Amazon.com, all at once, The reviews seem to come from newly created profiles, and often say the same thing in slightly different words over and over. And now, observers think they've fingered the culprit: frustrated fantasy author Robert Stanek. In the past, Stanek has had the habit of posting tons of "anonymous" one-star reviews of people's books which all said, "This guy is rubbish, if you want to read real fantasy, go read Robert Jordan, George R.R. Martin and Robert Stanek!" The new batch of reviews don't mention Stanek by name, but do suggest that the authors should try serving in the armed forces to build character (a Stanek bugaboo.) And if you look at their profiles, the anonymous accounts have all tagged Stanek as a favorite author. All of this raises the question: How much damage can one anonymous maniac with an army of sock puppets really do to an established author on Amazon? [SFF World] More »

LA Times' Teen Posse Pans Transformers 2

Meredith Woerner — Fri, 08 May 2009 08:00:00 PDT

The LA Times has a Teen Movie Squad, a group of representative teens they use to test out summer trailers. Sadly, the one film marketed almost specifically for them did not thrill the teen palate. More »

Doctorow's Little Brother Shows The Genesis Of Dystopia

Charlie Jane Anders — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 15:31:15 PDT

Young-adult authors have conquered science fiction with a mixture of angst, romance, and the discovery that adults are wrong. But Cory Doctorow's Hugo/Nebula-nominated Little Brother puts a geeky, subversive spin on that formula. Spoilers! More »

“Crank 2” Is An Epic of Sleazy Darwinism

Annalee Newitz — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 17:28:04 PDT

You know what to expect from Crank 2 in its very first seconds, when the words "Fuck You Chev Chelios" flash on screen in 8-bit videogame script. Because Chev is your hero. Spoilers ahead. More »

Star Trek Sneak Explodes In Giant Trekgasm

Meredith Woerner — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 12:09:16 PDT

Paramount surprised Austin, Texas fans last night: Instead of showing 10 minutes of the highly anticipated Star Trek, they screened the entire film. Critics are already congratulating Abrams on a dazzling display of logic. More »

Bloggers Love Watchmen, But They're On Their Own

Charlie Jane Anders — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 14:30:00 PST

The reviews of Zack Snyder's Watchmen are pouring in, and a pattern has developed. The movie blogs are proclaiming the film a new masterpiece, but the mainstream media is clutching its head and groaning. More »

Good News — Ray Bradbury Is Back On His Game

Charlie Jane Anders — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 12:20:49 PST

Small Beer Press impressario Gavin Grant reviews Ray Bradbury's latest short story collection We'll Always Have Paris in the L.A. Times, and delivers good news:

Given his recent record, reader expectations for "We'll Always Have Paris" might understandably be on the low side — especially given the cover, which features a grinning Bradbury holding a glowing book, Photoshopped in front of the Eiffel Tower.
And therein lies a happy surprise: Throw those expectations out the window and get ready to enjoy a fresh draft of stories the way only Bradbury can write them.

Science Fiction Conquers Sundance

Meredith Woerner — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 11:24:23 PST

The most exciting films at this year's indie movie-fest Sundance include tales of clones, soul-stealing machines, lonely astronauts and an undead Third Reich. So what did the critics think of these indie-SF beauties? More »

Two major newspapers turned their eye to...

Charlie Jane Anders — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 13:00:00 PDT

Two major newspapers turned their eye to science fiction books over the weekend: The Washington Post featured lit-blogger Edward Champion's roundup of recent books, including Gene Wolfe's An Evil Guest, Nancy Kress' Dogs and Benjamin Rosenbaum's The Ant King And Other Stories. And the London Times reviewed some books, including Neal Stephenson's Anathem and Greg Bear's City At The Edge Of Time. More »

Speed Racer is Rewardingly Weird, State-of-the-Art CGI Slapstick

Annalee Newitz — Thu, 08 May 2008 18:09:46 PDT

The hype about Speed Racer has been fairly negative, and I can only guess that's because people still have a bad taste in their mouths from The Matrix Revolutions, the most recent film directed by Speed Racer helmers the Wachowskis. In addition, I think there's been a lot of skepticism about whether the director pair could really do a kid-friendly movie after their lesbian noir flick Bound and sexy/fetishy scifi fare like the Matrix trilogy. I was dubious too, but after a few minutes of immersion in the clever, color-drenched world of Speed Racer, I was surprised to find myself becoming a believer. No shock that the visuals were brilliant, but honestly I wasn't expecting . . . fun. (Spoilers ahead, my racers.) More »

Torchwood Shocks Our Nipples With Sudden Greatness

Charlie Jane Anders — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 16:30:23 PDT

Wow. The latest Torchwood episode was amazing, and not just for this chloroforming, nipple zapping scene. If only "Fragments" had aired during season one, preferably as the second or third episode. It would have made the BBC's Doctor Who spinoff seem like a much cooler show, and might actually have improved the other episodes. Spoilers ahead! More »

Critics Hate Stephen Chow's Hit Scifi Movie

Charlie Jane Anders — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 06:30:34 PST

The good news: Stephen (Shaolin Soccer) Chow's venture into science fiction, CJ7, has been a huge box-office smash in China, in spite of record-breaking snow storms. The movie has made an impressive US$18 million in its first two weeks, meaning that other Chinese film-makers may be tempted to ditch martial arts for space adventure. The bad news: Everybody pretty much dislikes it. More »

10 Worst Futures Of 2007

charliejane — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 09:00:07 PST

Which visions of the future made us crave Lasik surgery the most in 2007? Hint: they involved wimpy cyborgs, blah parasites, boring plagues and "time-famine." Click through to read our picks for the most underwhelming futures of the past year, in both scifi and futurist predictions. More »

Time Traveler Erases His Own 20-Year Marriage

charliejane — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 11:37:23 PST

Dan meets a fellow time-traveler who erased his own marriage in last night's final (?) episode of Journeyman. This clip showcases everything that was great about the doomed show: its emotional depth, its cleverness and its willingness to reinvent classic scifi plots with its bare hands. Despite cancellation, Journeyman upped the ante this week with new characters, and more intriguing plot twists. More »

Battlestar TV Movie Shows Torture Orders Came From The Top

charliejane — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 11:29:49 PDT

We get to see Admiral Cain actually ordering the use of torture in the new Battlestar Galactica: Razor TV movie, which airs Nov. 24. We'll also get to see the scene, alluded to back in season two, where Admiral Cain shoots her XO in the head for disagreeing with her orders. The scene where she orders her Cylon prisoner tortured is one of two new clips from Razor which have turned up on YouTube. There's also a new review, featuring spoilers: More »