A friend of mine recommended that I watch Monsters. It was available on Netflix streaming, so I added it to my queue. The premise is that a survey mission to investigate extraterrestrial life burned up on reentry to Earth over Latin America. The “Monsters” appear later on, for what seems to be a seasonal basis. They terrorize the locals, and the main character is visiting to try and capture some photographs of the destruction. There is an invasion coming and Andrew, the photographer, is anxious to get some pictures so he can cash in. His plans get interrupted by a demand from the publisher to escort his daughter out of the country. She’s engaged to be married, but the fiancé has already made hit home. Why? Probably some type of fight. The movie came across as being a suspense, romance, and science fiction flick all at the same time. I usually like it when I see genres mixed, but Monsters was spread too thin. Nothing made me think, “this is a good movie.” The action scenes were rather intense, but I didn’t really get scared or startled. The awkward romance that blossomed between the photographer and the girl was predictable. The mystery behind the nature of the Monster invasions was interesting, but not enough to carry the rest of the movie. It wasn’t a bad movie, but not one that I’d recommend someone spend money on to see.
Monsters (2010) Directed by Gareth Edwards
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Watchmen (2009) directed by Zack SnyderWatchmen (2009) directed by Zack Snyder
I really didn’t know much about Watchmen before I rented it. I saw one preview earlier this year and read a couple reviews by disappointed fans of the original comic book series that was later released in graphic novel form. The funny thing was that my wife seemed more excited to see it than I was. I decided to wait for DVD and we ended up watching it last night. My first impression was that it was a dark look at superheroes reminiscent of the original Blade Runner. There were a lot of night scenes that were dark and rainy. The movie opens with narrator, Rorschach (named for his ever-changing ink blot mask), investigating the murder of Edward Blake. (more…)
Isaac Asimov would have been 90 todayIsaac Asimov would have been 90 today
Nobody is sure when exactly Isaac Asimov was born due to poor record keeping. January 2nd, 1920 was the day Isaac Asimov decided to celebrate his birthday. Along with creating the Three Laws of Robotics, Asimov also unintentionally coined the term robotics. It was first used in print when his short story “Liar!” was published in 1941. He was constantly writing in just about every area of literature. I have primarily read his Science Fiction, but he has done textbooks, humor, mystery, non-fiction, and more.
My first exposure to Asimov’s writing was when my father gave me an old worn out copy of I, Robot. I tucked the book away for a few years and eventually got around to reading it. I was so enthralled with the robots that I eventually read every robot book by him and other authors. This naturally led me to read the Foundation series which I also enjoyed, but I’ve always preferred the robot series. The Robot and Foundation books make up the biggest reading project I have ever completed. Aside from those, I’ve read a bit of his autobiography and plan on sampling some of his other writing in the near future.
By the time I discovered Asimov, he had already died. I wonder how much more he could have written had he not contracted HIV from a blood transfusion he received during heart surgery. He died of myocardial and renal complications on April 6, 1992, but the true cause of his death wasn’t publicized due to the stigma of HIV/AIDS at the time. His work has greatly influenced my love of Science Fiction, and for that I am thankful.
For more information on the life of Isaac Asimov, please visit the official Wikipedia post
Femtrooper and moreFemtrooper and more

I just recently stumbled upon an interesting site of a girl that loves to make costumes and dress up in them. Quite a few of them are from Sci-Fi, such as The Matrix and my favorite, Star Wars. The Femtrooper costume is probably the geekiest of them all. The stereotypical male costume of the Stormtrooper is ingeniously modified to fit a woman. Of course I don’t know how exposing your stomach would hold up in a firefight against rebels, but it looks good! I wonder what Star Wars would have been like had there been Femtroopers? We might never know except in fan films. There are lots of other pictures on the SithVixen site, check them out.

