Tag Archive: science fiction

I did the music for this award-winning indie animated series

The first episode of Paradise Lost, a new indie animated series by Chicken Dynasty (aka Michael), won Best Animated Film at the GenCon 2022 Film Festival. So that’s awesome. Also awesome is that I created the score and music for the show, including the opening and closing themes. It’s been a fun project and I’m grateful that my odd ambient experiments caught Michael’s ear. I’ve seen the first four episodes so far and am happy to report that he’s building some good drama here. Take a look at the first episode:

14 Seconds: Short Fiction

14 seconds of oxygen left. She pulled at the airlock handle again. It wouldn’t budge. She could feel the heat of the flames behind her and the ringing of the damned klaxon was boring into her skull and the handle wouldn’t budge, because of course it wouldn’t, and the klaxon wouldn’t shup up. 13 seconds of oxygen left. When she was 12, she wanted to ride horses. She knew it was a cliché even then, but it didn’t deter her. She wasn’t the princess type, she didn’t dream of elegant gowns and fancy ballrooms and Prince Charmings, but horses? Absolutely. The more horses the better. Not riding side saddle with a stiff back and “proper” air, though. That wasn’t her. She wanted to ride horses…
Read more

Annihilation is a sleeper science fiction gem with GOD-AWFUL marketing and heady themes

You may have seen the name “Annihilation” in passing. Natalie Portman, a shimmering force field, monsters? That’s the one. It’s in theaters in the U.S., Canada, and China right now, where it’s getting stomped by Black Panther and others, and is on Netflix everywhere else. Watch the trailers and it looks like a movie we’ve seen before. A concerned lover (Portman) takes on a dangerous task to rescue their loved one (husband) from a strange place (inside a huge force field, or “shimmer”), but there are monsters there, so it becomes a fight for survival. This is the picture every trailer and commercial paints of the movie. That couldn’t be further from the truth. The trailers are absolute garbage and do a TERRIBLE job of…
Read more

Writer who laments the lack of smart sci-fi like Blade Runner 2049 doesn’t understand smart sci-fi

I’m not keen on attacking other writers, and indeed, this should not be construed as an attach. Still, I can’t help but vent a little frustration at this piece from the Guardian, Has Blade Runner 2049’s failure killed off the smart sci-fi blockbuster? The writer (who I’m sure is a terrific guy) has great praise for Denis Villeneuve’s unexpectedly astonishing sequel to Ridley Scott’s 1982 science fiction cult classic, Blade Runner. I agree with him wholeheartedly about that. This was a visually stunning, thematically rich modern masterpiece of the genre, one that had me talking about it and chewing it on for days after, exactly as great speculative fiction/science fiction should. I expected nothing from it, in fact openly said they shouldn’t even make it when it…
Read more

Classic Movies: How Did Arnold Prepare For His Terminator Role?

Contributed Post Arnold Schwarzenegger is most famous for his role in the original two Terminator movies. While the Hollywood star had a couple of films to his name at the time, it was his role as in that franchise that made him millions of dollars. The man was in the best shape of his life by the time he reached the second film, and many people wonder how he managed to achieve that level of physical perfection. This article will take a look at how the Austrian Mr. Universe worked on his body to ensure it stunned audiences around the world. Maybe you could try the same technique if you want to achieve a six-pack that could crush skulls. Image The bodybuilder diet Arnold spent…
Read more