When Leonard Nimoy died last week, my immediate reaction was to tweet, “RIP Spock. You lived long and seemed to prosper.” In the intervening time, I’ve come to realize I got it wrong. It’s Nimoy who is dead. Spock lives on. I’m not just talking about the character as played…
Conventional wisdom says March comes in like a lion and leaves like a lamb. But when it comes to geek events in Denver, March is full lion on both ends, with plenty to roar about in the middle as well. From a chance to say goodbye to one of geekdom’s…
Why do some people love bad movies? Considering how much of my life I’ve given over to watching unquestionably bad films, this question is anything but academic for me. Whether “enjoying” them in humor-enhanced Mystery Science Theater 3000 style, or straight up, as god and the filmmakers intended, I’ve put…
Connoisseurs of bad film know that The Room deserves a special place within the canon of so-bad-it’s-good cinema. By now the infamous film’s journey from director/writer/star Tommy Wiseau’s fever dream to the big screen has been well-documented, but nothing captures the story quite like producer and co-star Greg Sestero’s The…
Late yesterday, science-fiction fans got a great bit of news: District 9 director Neill Blomkamp will be directing a new Alien film. This is good on many levels, since the Alien franchise needs some serious love (sorry, Prometheus made things worse, not better) and given the genius of District 9, Blomkamp…
After tackling the life of a young Abraham Lincoln for his first graphic novel, Denver cartoonist Noah Van Sciver turned to a more accessible, but no less dramatic, subject for his follow-up: the modern American working class. In Saint Cole, Van Sciver explores the plight of the average man raising…
Valentine’s Day is upon us and despite our reputations as loveless losers, plenty of us geeks have to navigate the tempestuous waters of providing adequate romance to keep our sweetie satisfied. That’s never easy, but for Denver-area geeks this year, there’s a tailor made option just waiting. The Alamo Drafthouse…
Nicolas Cage is no mere actor — he is a transcendental film force. He’s fully capable of delivering a subtle, deep reading of a character, but he is at his best — at his most Cage — when he is truly cutting loose, chewing scenery and taking no prisoners. His…
I’m not the world’s biggest anime fan, but I know and love a few films and series. Nothing too obscure or weird, really — just the obvious stuff like Akira and Robotech (or Macross, if you prefer — I saw it on American TV ages ago, so it’ll always be…
February is upon us, and geeks have a lot more than Valentine’s Day to look forward to. In this month’s 28 short days, we’ve got local sci-fi authors and comics creators releasing new books, a gaming convention and even some delightfully geeky musical options lined up. No matter how you…
Ghostbusters reboot was revealed earlier this week. Predictably, the Internet lost its collective mind at the news. Plenty of people were excited, but a much louder, much more obnoxious contingent took to every troll-friendly platform available to declare this new take on the busting of ghosts to be a travesty…
Just because the Broncos fell well short of the big game and it’s come down to two of the most hated teams in the nation is no reason to skip the Super Bowl. After all, there’s still the commercials and the halftime show — and, hell, one of those awful…
The best part in any sword-and-sorcery epic is always the big battle — the fierce cries of the combatants, the ring of steel on steel, and the sweet sight of the bad guys falling to the ground after they’ve been decapitated by the hero. Now you can get all of…
Musique concrète pioneered the notion of composing directly with sound, often ignoring the common rules of melody, rhythm and the like. “It’s the idea that there’s these sounds you hear around that are familiar and have their own emotive content, and that you can kind of reduce it to those…
Some films are simply better on the big screen. You can certainly admire the craft of 2001: A Space Odyssey on a 22″ computer monitor and the pair of tinny speakers that came with your circa-1995 soundcard, but you’re not going to feel the impact of the movie that way…
It is safe to say that few, if any, directors in the history of geek film can boast a pair of back-to-back classics to rival Ridley Scott’s Alien and Blade Runner. Released just three years apart, both are near-perfect visions of science-fiction greatness the likes of which the world had…
Weird Al became a pop-culture icon thanks to his musical parodies. His career spans more than three decades, meaning he’s outlasted the careers of almost everyone he’s parodied. His riffs on pop music aren’t always brilliant, but even at their worst, they’re always worth a smirk. And at their best,…
Last week, I devoted my column to looking back at the excellent year of geek fun we’ve just finished. So this week, it’s time to look ahead (that’s just science, after all). Last year, I made a bunch of geek resolutions, but it would be silly to do that again…
The new year is upon us, and it’s time to start making — and breaking — resolutions. If you’ve resolved to get out and do more fun geeky activities in 2015, then you’re in luck — January will help you start the year off right. From gaming tournaments to classic…
In just over a week, 2014 will come to a close. That means it’s time for that most joyous of traditions — the year-end list! Everywhere you turn, lists of the best, the worst, the most and the least are springing up, informing you about all the cool shit that…
Have you ever received an obscene phone call? Deep breathing, moans or lewd suggestions intruding on your otherwise unremarkable day? I have, and it is fucking creepy, even for a guy. My obscene caller was a woman, and she propositioned me for some pretty weird shit, in graphic detail. Despite…
Like it or not, Christmas is creeping up, and in the consumer paradise we call the USA, that means you better be buying stuff for the people you love if you want them to keep loving you back. Toys for the little ones are the easy part of it –…
