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Doing the Time Warp: 8 Great Time Travel Episodes

In honor of leap day, those extra 24 hours we get every four years, a time travel list seemed in order. One of the most consistent and popular tropes of genre fiction, time travel opens up worlds of possibility and, when used in well, can allow writers avenues to explore character and story in creative …

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10 TV Universes You Would and Wouldn’t Want to Live In

TV is full of shows set in their own universes, worlds different from our own (sometimes slightly, sometimes drastically) that open up new avenues for storytellers to explore. It can be a lot of fun to ponder what it would be like to live in a particular universe, to explore that different world, but would …

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10 Surprising TV Takes on Genre Tropes

One of the great things about the genres of science fiction, fantasy, and horror are that they allow writers to break the rules. If a topic is taboo or controversial, put it on a distant planet and it’ll usually get past the censors. If a character needs to confront their issues over a friend’s death, …

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Score At The Half – Hollywood: Zero, Audience: Even Less

Hollywood needs a hit Actually, Hollywood needs a bunch of hits. Actually, Hollywood needs a bunch of big, fat, through-the-roof hits. And with the summer – and the year – half over, the time to come up with them is running out. The movie business finished 2010 with the second highest domestic box office on record:  $10.2 …

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Are audiences growing up – and can Hollywood grow up with them?

Trying to get Hollywood to change direction is not unlike trying to steer an elephant by poking it in its thick-hided ass with a matchstick; it doesn’t exactly respond like a Maserati. And that’s a problem because there are some box office signs suggesting the American movie industry needs – may, in fact, desperately need, …

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Busting an Old Wives’ Tale: Are odd-numbered Star Trek movies really that bad?

Until the release of the all-new, re-branded, back-to-the-beginning Star Trek in 2009 (dir. J. J. Abrams) commentators all over the world, from hardened Trekkies to critics landed with the job of reviewing the next Trek movie, were unanimously agreed on one thing: even-numbered Trek movies were better than the odd-numbered ones. This could vary from …

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The Ten Best and Five Worst Films of 2009 (So Far)

2009’s Ten Best and Five Worst Films (So Far) We’re technically over halfway through 2009, but a disproportionately large number of great films tend to spring up in the latter months of the year, so let’s call it halfway for the sake of our collective sanity. It hasn’t been a terrific year for filmgoing so …

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The Star Trek Mystic Awareness School

Cult Cinema: Volume 9 It’s common geek  knowledge that Star Trek is a smarter version of Star Wars. However, this should not be the badge of honour that so many Trekkies wear with pride, since Star Wars is essentially what idiot kids dream about when they’ve eaten cotton candy instead of their Ritalin. Here’s the thing: musing …

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Star Trek

Star Trek Directed by J.J. Abrams The greatest challenge of taking on any known cultural property in the world of film is that of fulfilling the “fan-service” requirements held by the stalwart fans of said property. Take too many liberties in pursuit of making a more interesting film, and you’ll attract ire (Ang Lee’s Hulk); …

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