Category: Reviews

Why You Don’t Like Rebel Moon

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Dan Brown published his The Da Vinci Code in 2003. Many people found it a thrilling page-turner. Fast-paced plot? Yep. Code-breaking puzzles? You bet. Art, religion, and conspiracy? In there too. It became a best-seller, spawning a Hollywood adaptation starring Tom Hanks. In 1965, Frank Herbert published Dune. It was arguably both groundbreaking and intricate, with McMassive world-building, political intrigue, and (well before we woke up to the need) eco-warrior themes. It’s regarded as a classic, also cranking out a (fucken superb) Hollywood adaptation (in three parts, two of which we’re still waiting for, Denis!). Blade Runner, one of my all-time favourite cyberpunk movies, and arguably what started me on the path to write Chromed: Upgrade, hit the streets in 1982. It’s a Ridley Scott masterpiece, with deeply thought-provoking and often disturbing themes, dystopian atmosphere, and (lest we forget) Harrison Read More …

Agency and The Creator’s Better AI Vision

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A friend of mine said, “Richard, tech companies just want to be a low-level tax on humanity.” Let’s hold that in mind. We watched The Creator recently. This is Gareth Edwards’ latest sci-fi megahit, where our hero Joshua (in a stand-out performance by John David Washington) shepherds little girl Alphie on a quest to save the world. What’s important is that Joshua is on the side of the good guys, fighting against AI, and Alphie is a Simulant, an AI chassis with the face of a human girl, and on the side of the bad guys. In Edwards’ near-future world, AI are the villains that nuked Los Angeles, and all right-minded people should be upset about them. AI aren’t people, they’re just programming, and we should bury the machines. Except. The Creator does some spectacular things with storytelling, and Edwards Read More …

Bookshine Reviews Blade of Glass

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And Steph liked it! “Richard Parry’s worldbuilding and plot are superb here, but what really stood out for me above everything else was his knack with characters. The dialogue exchanges are natural and witty, and you get a real sense for each individual character, their growth and the depth of the connections they forge as the story progresses. Even the horses have their own personalities and moments to shine – although not so much that they steal the show or disrupt the main plot. In addition to the classic fantasy tropes of good vs. evil and racing to find ‘the thing’, Parry has mixed in some interesting moral dynamics about corruption and perfection, dark and light, and who decides who are the good guys and who are the bad guys. I love the races of ‘others’ introduced here – the Read More …

The Gentlemen: the sweariest five-star movie you’ll see this year

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We saw Ritchie’s The Gentlemen on opening day (January 1st). We went into this: Being Guy Ritchie fans, and Wanting something clever, funny, and with just right right amount of action. We weren’t disappointed. Our first hint of being in for something special was the ticket attendant who asked in very sombre tones if we knew this was an R-rated movie. We thought she was being witty but after seeing the movie I think she was doing more sensitive audience-goers a solid. It’s clear Ritchie needed a palate cleanser after Disney’s Aladdin – a fun enough movie but without enough room for him to really swing a sword. I prefer Ritchie doing what he does best – clever, fast movies that push at least one boundary each time (my favourites are King Arthur and The Man from U.N.C.L.E., now joined Read More …

Nevernight

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You might remember me gushing about Red Sister. It’s time for me to show you the path to another great grimdark tale: Nevernight, by Jay Kristoff. While Nevernight’s hero is a young woman, that’s where basic framing between the two tales ends. Nevernight’s Mia Corvere hunts murderers: her mission is to avenge the death of her parents. While this seems at first blush a fairly typical narrative arc, what makes Mia’s journey a little different is her dedication. She’s not content to slip a knife in someone’s ribs: Mia joins the Red Church, to follow our Lady of Blessed Murder. It’d be easy for this tale to degrade into a charnel house of body parts at this point, but Kristoff never takes his eyes off the prize. Mia’s not a Terminator-style killer; she didn’t chose this life, but was rather Read More …

The Aftermath Trilogy

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There’s a special place in my heart for Star Wars. I remember watching the first movie (A New Hope, not that hot garbage that had pod racing…) as a zygote and being amazed that such a thing could go on a screen. I think I dragged my poor mother to that like seven times at the cinemas, just to get more. I’m a big fan of the original trilogy (no again, not that shit starting with pod racing), and am one of the people who thinks Rogue One is one of the best movies made. Believe me when I tell you that, until recently, I felt all hope was lost with Star Wars books. The plots felt shallow, hurried, and pure fan exploitation without a wise monarch to guide the overall narrative of the universe canon. I was pretty pleased Read More …

A Must-See: Long Shot

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Rae and I ventured into the frozen wilds of Brooklyn last night to see Long Shot. We battled with a suburb-wide power outage, feral hipsters, and restaurants without electricity (…I swear I saw a woman eating her own baby) to see it. But the Penthouse Cinema got electricity back on, and … man, was it worth the hardship. As a sometime Rogen and long-time Theron fan, they almost had me at hello. The movie opens with enough swearing to make an admiral blush, and we meet half our unlikely duo: Rogen’s Fled Flarsky. Flarsky’s a journalist, recently quit-slash-fired by Big Media, and re-introduced to his childhood crush at his get-over-it post-drinks session with long time best friend Lance (played by O’Shea Jackson Jr.). The crush? None other than the other half of this movie’s power couple, Theron’s Charlotte Field. Tired Read More …

Anon: Not Quite There

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We watched Anon last night. The trailer makes this look like a reasonable cyberpunk action flick – does it deliver? No. Despite reasonable star power with Clive Owen and Amanda Seyfried, and a good start, what follows is a sagging, poorly-paced tale marginally redeemed by an on-point ending. Anon features Owen’s character Sal, a kind of future police officer with the easiest job in the world, since everyone’s got cybereyes that record their every waking moment. After uncovering a soft underbelly of criminals who can edit these memories from the public record, we’re treated to about 45 minutes of old white men sitting in sterile-looking rooms, all while they watch snips of the world through other people’s eyes. There’s quite a lot of naked women on display, sadly not balanced by men – which we should probably be thankful for, Read More …

Bookshine and Readbows Reviews The Empire’s Rogues

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If you want to check out what they thought, hit the magic linky: [The Empire’s Rogues @ Bookshine and Readbows] “Parry effortlessly blends futuristic tech with more traditional pirates and thieves in a way that is both new and familiar, and (in Nate’s stories) can bring a smile. Grace’s path is a more emotional one, as she struggles to maintain a professional detachment against her clear longing for personal contact and companionship; balancing her assassin skills against her empath gift.” You can check out The Empire’s Rogues Volume 1, or start on the first story, Ganymede Steel.