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Neal
Asher Interview
Psychologically disturbed android killing machines. A Beast that harvests people
to research its genetic dabbling across time by sending them back to the primordial
ages. A mysterious Japanese man still living millennia after Hiroshima. A physicist
that uses nanotechnology to merge with a spacecraft. Welcome to the weird and
wonderful world of Neal Asher.
(INTERVIEWS)
Big
Ben
Ben Jeapes interviewed. The author speaks about penning cracking reads like
'His Majesty's Starship' , the differences between writing SF for the young
adult market and the 'grown-up' sector, and the sadness of shutting the doors
at his own publishing house, Big Engine.
(INTERVIEWS)
Just
a Tad More
If Tad Williams' Memory, Sorrow & Thorn series is "the fantasy equivalent of
War and Peace" (Locus magazine), then Tad must be Fantasy's Leo Tolstoy. The
prolific Mr Williams is cornered for some vodka and a chat.
(INTERVIEWS)
Bruce
on Bruce
The father of cyberpunk - or at the very least the Uncle - Bruce Sterling, chats
about his new technothriller, The Zenith Angle, with real-life security expert
Bruce Schneier.
(INTERVIEWS)
Forty
Whacks
Scots SF author Ken Macleod visits sunny Spain for the second installment of
'Stitch and Split: Selves and Territories in Science Fiction', in Seville, sponsored
by the Universidad Internacional de Andalucia. Take a walk with Ken down the
Latin road to SFF.
(COMMENT)
Eight
Days in Zagreb
Our jetsetting Scots SF author Ken Macleod flies out to Croatia as a guest at
the Sferakon convention. He finds the old world of Yugoslav science fiction
intriguing, from the pulp cover translations of Western SF novels to state-sponsored
SFF societies.
(COMMENT)
The
Weird Tale of 'Pulgasari'
Mark takes a look at the fantasy film Pulgasari; featuring a beast which was
a North Korean giant monster who ate iron and grew to hundreds of feet high.
It's director was kidnapped from South Korea, taken to North Korea, imprisoned
for four years with no explanation, and then forced to make the only Marxist
monster movie.
(ARTICLES)
Godsend
In Godsend, Frank finds a run-of-the-mill child-cloning thriller turned into
a flaccid frightfest that is all clumsy thumbs, and no controllable finger to
decisively point this devilish dud of a movie in the right creative direction.
(FILM REVIEWS)
Shrek
2: Frank's Take
In Shrek 2, we are gleefully reunited with the amiable pot-bellied giant and
his colorful crew of supporters that include his new wife Princess Fiona (Cameron
Diaz) and his old sidekick Donkey (Eddie Murphy).
(FILM REVIEWS)
Shrek
2: Mark's Take
There is distinctly less magic and fun in Shrek 2 as the title ogre has problems
becoming accepted by his in-laws. All the same cast is back with the same voices,
but the tone of the film is darker and we don't learn a lot more about the characters
that we liked in the first film.
(FILM REVIEWS)
Van
Helsing: Mark's Take
Not as bad as it might have been, but still no bargain. This is a fast-paced
and overblown CGI-fest that leverages off of the old Universal monsters but
does not actually want to use them. Writer-director Steven Sommers of the 'Mummy'
films handles action scenes well, but is poor with directing acting or even
giving us a very good story. This is a film of dubious thrills and no chills
whatsoever.
(FILM REVIEWS)
Van
Helsing: Frank's Take
In this film, our Frank finds an exceedingly glossy but empty-headed thrill-seeking
monsters mash mishap that boasts competent big-budgeted special effects but
little else.
(FILM REVIEWS)
Eternal
Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Mark uncovers quite probably the best new science fiction film he has seen since
Minority Report and well before. A device allows for the removal of painful
memories by erasing them. The hitch is that the memories must be opened and
partially relived as they are being erased. Charlie Kaufman's third script is
demanding, but it is delightfully engaging, intelligent, and even profound.
(FILM REVIEWS)
Troy
Despite the showcasing of buff bodies clashing with conviction in this historic
sword and sandals fable, Troy is an elaborate action-adventure yearning to sweep
the moviegoer off their feet but the uneven rhythms sullies its energized scope.
(FILM REVIEWS)
Offworld
Report June 2004: Science Fiction and Fantasy
Interviews with Peter Crowther, Steven Brust, John Jarrold, Neil Gaiman and
the stars of Van Helsing; JG Ballard considers disaster movies, Stephen Baxter
dishes the dirt on the writing secrets of SF, and Octavia Butler ponders the
nature of power.
(NEWS)
Offworld
Report June 2004: Weird Science
The Pentagon's science fiction weapons program (railgun warships, anyone?),
space tugs, a robot built out of DNA, NASA's wilder dreams, the fantasy folk
seen in Scotland, and why we should be begging China for a decent space race.
(NEWS)
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This
month's worthy content roundup of all the stuff found 'offworld
the 'Nest from the world of online space science, cutting edge research
and ... well, just plain weird stuff. Jessica Martin is your web
scout for June.
