Before the boy wizard began his reign in the fantasies of the world’s children, another book series dominated their nightmares. “Reader beware” read the tagline, “you’re in for a scare!” This year marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the debut of Goosebumps, the horror anthology that thrilled a generation of kids, taught them that reading was … Continued
A definitive list of the true movie stars in Hollywood is open to debate, but what is inarguable is that one of the names on the list would be Harrison Ford. Having recently celebrated his seventy-fifth birthday, Ford attended Comic Con to promote his upcoming film, Blade Runner 2049, in which he reprises his role … Continued
An original summer blockbuster told on a personal scale that explicitly challenges a nihilistic worldview while delivering genuine thrills and conveying a singular directorial vision is nearly nonexistent in today’s cinema. The rise of the global box office and the astronomical escalation of production and marketing costs have impelled studios toward excessive risk aversion. Personal, … Continued
In 1961 astrophysicist Frank Drake introduced an equation to calculate the number of intelligent alien civilizations in the Milky Way galaxy. His original calculations put the number between 1,000 and 100,000,000. The “Drake Equation,” as it became known, generated much excitement and spurred interest in SETI, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. Yet more than half … Continued
Christopher Lloyd wants to reprise his role as Doc Brown in a fourth Back to the Future movie, so long as Robert Zemeckis directs it, Michael J. Fox plays Marty McFly, and the story is compelling. That last point raises an interesting question: Why are we attracted to time travel stories? What is so appealing … Continued
Nickelodeon was a staple in the childhood of millennials, and this year marks its fortieth anniversary. Marketed as the first television network for kids, it launched in 1977 under the name “Pinwheel,” and spent the next decade struggling to find its footing. It wasn’t until 1991, with the debut of its original Nicktoons programming, that … Continued
Sitting in the basement typing room of UCLA in 1950, Ray Bradbury wrote Fahrenheit 451 in nine days. The school charged ten cents every half hour to use one of its typewriters, and Bradbury spent a total of $9.80 to complete the book. Its publication launched the struggling writer to prominence and secured his place … Continued