Category: Movies
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Indiana Jones
I’ve always mentally grouped Raiders of the Lost Ark with another early-80’s film: Buckaroo Banzai. Both films represented a new approach to action and SF films, and they were both influential. They all had precursors, of course, but they still stand out in my memory. Raiders was less ironic and self-aware than the othe, of…
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Iron Man
I’ve always liked Iron Man. Tony Stark has a simple comic book story: a smart guy, who doesn’t think very much about what he’s doing, is nearly killed. The experience changes him–but not all that much. He’s a superhero because he’s addicted to action, because he feels the need to justify his survival, and because…
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Jumper Again
I did go to the movie version of Jumper. It had nothing to do with the book. I think there were about three or four scenes from the book in the movie, all at the very beginning. The characters were all completely different, although they had the same names. In general the movie was pretty…
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Kid Theater
My six-year old daughter doesn’t like to go to movies in theaters. She does like watching them at home when we let her. Since I like going to movies, this seems strange to me. What seems even stranger is her reason: she says that at home she can pause the movie whenever she wants to…
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Jumper
Jumper, by Steven Gould, is among my favorite SF books. It’s a simple story based on a simple premise: a teenager discovers that he has the power to teleport. The book is both a bildungsroman and a revenge story, as he uses his power to strike back at his enemies (thanks to the one outrageous…