It’s been a full-on five years of running Pop Verse. For a project that started as a way to impose deadlines on my writing, it became something so much more. I’ve seen contributors come and go, the rise and fall of film franchises, and the resurgence of genre fiction in ...
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I’ve long been a fan of Jen Williams’ fantasy writing. She creates interesting worlds with characters who positively ooze character. That said, her second and current series, The Winnowing Flame, hasn’t captured my imagination as much as The Copper Cat, but that’s not to say Williams isn’t continuing to deliver new and ...
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I’m a figure skater. I love figure skating. When the skating comes on tv, you will find me hugging myself tight, yelling at the screen, with tears streaming down my face. This is a love that consumes. Being so deeply embedded in the world of figure skating could have been ...
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Of all the major awards contenders I have seen so far, this is easily one of the most assured and memorable. Lady Bird is being hailed as Greta Gerwig’s debut as director (she wrote the film too), but that feels belittling given her extensive work behind the camera to date. ...
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At the end of last week, I reviewed Marvel’s latest movie Black Panther. The film has, quite rightly, received a lot of attention for its focus on black African characters. Speaking as a white guy, it is all too easy for me to dismiss the importance of traditionally sidelined people ...
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I’ve long been a fan of Jen Williams’ fantasy writing. She creates interesting worlds with characters who positively ooze character. That said, her second and current series, The Winnowing Flame, hasn’t captured my imagination as much as The Copper Cat, but that’s not to say Williams isn’t continuing to deliver new and ...
Read More »
I’m a figure skater. I love figure skating. When the skating comes on tv, you will find me hugging myself tight, yelling at the screen, with tears streaming down my face. This is a love that consumes. Being so deeply embedded in the world of figure skating could have been ...
Read More »
Just occasionally, a director is able to grow their reputation enough to pitch a weird film for a major release. Master of pulpy macabre Guillermo del Toro has done this superbly with The Shape of Water, a delightful romance between a mute woman and a fish-man trapped in a lab. ...
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Black Panther is the newest big release from Marvel. Since debuting in Captain America: Civil War, Marvel have been steadily positioning Black Panther as an integral part of the superhero landscape in the run up to their extravagant spectacle Avengers: Infinity War. This is a significant move because it gives ...
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At the end of last week, I reviewed Marvel’s latest movie Black Panther. The film has, quite rightly, received a lot of attention for its focus on black African characters. Speaking as a white guy, it is all too easy for me to dismiss the importance of traditionally sidelined people ...
Read More »
The issue of piracy regularly rears its ugly head across all creative mediums. The latest furor has arisen out of the SFF publishing world after bestselling author Maggie Stiefvater wrote a blog post about how book piracy had affected her. While not entirely scientific, she and her brother tested a theory: ...
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Prejudice always obscures the truth. The original teleplay for 12 Angry Men by Reginald Rose (from which the stage production and the 1957 film, which is the subject of this piece, was made) was written over 60 years ago. And in that time, it hasn’t lost any of its punch. While the film ...
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Fullmetal Alchemist is now on Netflix. About time. The 2003 anime is one of my favourite series. The lack of availability has been a source of frustration as it is unreasonably hard to find a legal copy of the DVD-boxset is at a fair price. Within hours of the anime ...
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Sometimes I’m rather impressed with my abilities to live under a rock. Somehow, for fifteen years I had managed to completely avoid ever finding anything out about the insanely successful Resident Evil franchise. Then again, now that I’ve seen it, I can’t say I was missing out on all that much. Yes, ...
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With a new latter-day sequel trudging across cinema screens, we are provided with a great opportunity to review the iconic cyberpunk noir masterpiece Blade Runner. Established now with a pristine reputation, the film was initially released to critical derision and a ghastly performance at the box office. Director Ridley Scott, ...
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