Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan is ridiculously awesome

Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan is ridiculously awesome

Posted inFilms, Geek Stuff
If Star Trek: The Motion Picture is universally considered a misguided misstep for the beloved franchise, The Wrath of Khan is the opposite, a universally beloved movie that almost every Trek fan considers the best. That feeling extends outside of Trek fandom, too. Even non-Trek fans concede that The Wrath of Khan is not just good Trek, it’s just plain good, a movie that transcends its franchise and is simply one of the best of the sci-fi genre. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a ranked list of these movies that didn’t place it on top. Sure, there…
Star Trek: The Motion Picture is not as bad as you think

Star Trek: The Motion Picture is not as bad as you think

Posted inFilms, Geek Stuff
Time has not been kind to the reputation of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, the first big screen journey taken by Captain Kirk and the Enterprise. Though it got fairly positive reviews in its day, some audiences found it slow and plodding. Once The Wrath of Khan came out and became an instant classic, The Motion Picture was treated like that boring cousin you only think about when you see him at weddings, ignored all year long until you're forced to think about him. That's too bad, because the cousin is far more interesting than he's given credit for. The…
Should I do a Star Trek movie marathon? Yes. Yes, I should …

Should I do a Star Trek movie marathon? Yes. Yes, I should …

Posted inFilms, Geek Stuff
And it starts in five minutes. Something came over me the other day. It might have been Netflix suddenly throwing Trek in my face. Maybe it's the result of a space slug crawling into my ear. Don't know. Whatever it was, it resulted in a feeling I've pretty much never had in my life: "I should watch some Star Tek - and a LOT of it!" If that sounds like a knock on Star Trek, it's not. Rather, it's just to say that I've never been anything more than a vaguely casual Star Trek fan. I watched most of the…

Gardening + Homebrewing = I am a beer writer again!

Posted inCraft Beer, Writing
For just under three years, I wrote a craft beer column at the Philly Weekly. I enjoyed it. Each week I'd recommend five excellent craft beers. People read it. Breweries liked it. Fantastic breweries like Firestone Walker, Stone, Founders and Victory took notice. That's amazing. I got to know some amazing people doing it, and also got to try some fantastic beers. But as is inevitable in the news biz, things change. The column was nixed in late 2015, and I was a beer writer no more. No hard feelings! I love the people at PW and still do. Look forward…