Man of Steel Mini-Review by David Sooby

Title: Man of Steel
Director:Zack Snyder
Produced by: Warner Bros.
Reviewed by: David Sooby

Man of Steel.  Wow. How to remove the heart and soul from the Superman origin story, even with a blockbuster budget, and top-notch acting from several in the supporting cast, including Russell Crowe and Kevin Costner. No wonder it got "mixed reviews." I think the writer and/or director made the same mistake that Kenneth Branaugh made in Mary Shelly's Frankenstein (1994): He neglected to give us any reason to care about the characters. Lois Lane was pretty much a non-entity, too.

IMAGE CREDIT: Many thanks to IMDB for the Man of Steel poster image.

Cindy N. Reviews the Transformers Movies--Part Three

Taking the 50-Word Review Challenge!

The Movie: Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)
The reviewer: Cindy N. 
Available from: Amazon

Went into this one with an attitude of “If I see BumbleBee at least once I will be happy.” Slow at first, not sure where it was going to go, nice real footage from actual news footage.  Overall better story than Revenge, which was basically a two hour fight scene between movies and I could have missed it without losing anything storyline-wise.  None of my questions from Revenge were answered.  No explanation for the absence of Mikaela; introduce a blonde and move on.  I see I have to wait a year for Transformers 4. 

 
Readers, Please Comment: Did you enjoy this review? Dislike it? Agree? Disagree? Please share what you think!

More reviews are coming soon! Please note: this concludes our Spring 2013 50-Word Review Challenge.  The winners of our "Most Reviews Submitted" and "Most Popular Review" categories will be announced at ConQuesT 44, and also at the June KaCSFFS Meeting on June 15, 2013.

The KaCSFFS Board and membership are considering whether to issue another Challenge for the summer.  If you would like to comment on this decision, please use the comment section below.  We would love to know if our readers have enjoyed reading all the reviews.

We actually received more reviews than we could publish during the announced contest period, so we will continue publishing them until we run out. Please don't let us run out of reviews!
 
COVER IMAGE: Courtesy of IMDB.

Cindy N. Reviews the Transformers Movies--Part Two

Taking the 50-Word Review Challenge!

The Movie: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) 
The reviewer: Cindy N. 
Available from: Amazon 

WT? The questions I was left with are endless. While the story made me think, so that is why there are pyramids.  How did the Decepticons create a flesh covered bot?  Where were the scenes of my favorite car BumbleBee?  Really send him off to protect the parents during the fight scene?  Having since seen Transformers 3, I totally believe Revenge of the Fallen was made to use up scenes left on the cutting room floor from the original movie. I end this review as I started it with WT? 

Readers, Please Comment: Did you enjoy this review? Dislike it? Agree? Disagree? Please share what you think!

More reviews coming soon!
COVER IMAGE: Courtesy of IMDB.

Cindy N. Reviews The Transformers Movies--Part One

Taking the 50-Word Review Challenge!

The Movie: Transformers (2007)
The reviewer: Cindy N. Available from: Amazon

-->

A story was told which was complete but left open-ended for future stories.  There is a very personal side to this movie.  I promised a dear friend of 28 years that I would watch this movie 37 days before he passed away.  I fell in love with older version of BumbleBee in the used car lot and then cried through my first viewing.  My new nickname is queen of the silent tear.   Friends made me watch it again. I laughed and cried. I have watched it three times now; still cry, but another favorite movie to watch again. 

Readers, Please Comment: Did you enjoy this review? Dislike it? Agree? Disagree? Please share what you think!

More reviews coming soon!
COVER IMAGE: Courtesy of IMDB.

SF&F Literati Announce April-July Book Selections

Zombies, Time Travel, Finishing School, and What Happens After the Apocalypse (not necessarily in that order)
The SF&F Literati always serve up highly varied fare, and the latest selections are no exception.  After the March 25 meeting, the group has released a list of Next Reads.  In case you need to begin placing orders or holds at the Library, here's what's coming.

As ever, meetings are scheduled for the fourth Monday of each month (NOTE: except May!) at 7:00 p.m. at the Barnes & Noble Booksellers at Oak Park Mall in Overland Park, KS.

First, the Zombies:

WW Z the book

WW Z movie poster

April 22, 2013 selection
Max Brooks' 2006 novel World War Z may have been out for a while, but it is gaining new buzz because the motion picture based on it is set to be released this June.  Here's your chance to read the book, before the movie comes out!

The novel was written as a series of "survivor narratives" from various places around the world (inspired by Studs Terkel's book of World War II narratives, The Good War and the zombie movies of George Romero).

Order from Barnes & Noble or other fine book sellers.

Next comes Time Travel:
May 20 (THIRD Monday!), 2013 selection
Into the Storm by Taylor Anderson: Speaking of inspirations from World War II, here's a variation on the Bermuda Triangle legend set at the beginning of that war.

The USS Walker is a holdover from the first world war, that goes from being an aging rust-bucket to state-of-the-art, when a storm lands it in an alternate world of catlike and lizardlike intelligent species who are at war with each other.

This is the first book in the 4-book "Destroyermen" series.  Order from Barnes & Noble or other fine book sellers.

What Happens After the Apocalypse:

June 24, 2013 selection
In Wool, by Hugh Howey, the story begins after the apocalypse has already happened.  The characters live in an underground silo, while outside the world has been reduced to toxic destruction.

No one goes outside.  It just isn't done.  It's the number-one rule, and the whole world lives by the rules designed to keep them alive.  But then one day things begin to change.  The Sheriff asks to go outside, and his replacement makes a dismaying discovery.

Hugh Howey made an appearance in Kansas City on March 13, 2013, as part of an ongoing series of author events sponsored by local bookseller Rainy Day Books. He also was featured on the front page of the Kansas City Star's "FYI" section in March.

Order Wool from Barnes & Noble or other fine book sellers, or "steal" it as a free Kindle download. (If you didn't get that reference about "stealing" the book, see the KC Star article).

And we can't forget Finishing School:

July 22, 2013 Selection
Etiquette and Espionage, by Gail Carriger is a fast-moving, humorous YA series-opening novel based on an unusual juxtaposition of ideas: finishing school as a Victorian young ladies' equivalent of the CIA's "The Farm" at Camp Peary.

As the Barnes & Noble overview puts it: "

-->It's one thing to learn to curtsy properly. It's quite another to learn to curtsy and throw a knife at the same time. Welcome to Finishing School.  New York Times bestselling author Gail Carriger makes her young adult debut with Ettiquette & Espionage, the first book in the Finishing School series.

Order Etiquette and Espionage from Barnes & Noble or other fine book sellers. And if you have ideas for the next round of selections, be sure to attend the July meeting!

IMAGE CREDITS: Many thanks to Max Brooks's website for the World War Z book cover, and to IMDB for the movie poster.  Many thanks to Taylor Anderson's website for the Into the Storm cover.  And as ever, many thanks to Barnes & Noble Booksellers for the cover art for Wool and Etiquette and Espionage.

Cindy N. Reviews "Star Trek" (2009 movie)

Taking the 50-Word Challenge!

The movie: Star Trek 
The director: J.J. Abrams
The stars: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Leonard Nimoy, Eric Bana
The reviewer: Cindy N.
Available from Barnes & Noble Booksellers

Star Trek Movie (2009): I saw it in Feb 2012. I feel the movie is a complete story and explained how the Romulan ship was different. It was from the future!  How that single action changed the history I grew up with. I loved and still watch reruns of the show.  Bones and Scotty were my favorite and still are. The actors brought enough of the original characters into their roles, yet made the character their own. I feel there is a new universe to boldly explore where no writer has gone before, and can’t wait for the ride to start.

Readers, Please Comment: Did you enjoy this review? Dislike it? Agree? Disagree? Please share what you think! 

More reviews are coming soon!  But only if you submit them!
 If you would like to contribute a review, please send it as an inline email to Jan S. Gephardt.  If you wish to read the original post about the 50-Word Review Challenge, including the rules, please click here.

 POSTER IMAGE: Courtesy of Internet Movie Data Base (IMDB).  What would we do without it?!

Jon Moss Reviews "Robot & Frank"

Taking the 50-Word Review Challenge!

The movie: Robot & Frank
Starring: Frank Langella, Peter Sarsgaard, James Marsden, Liv Tyler, Susan Sarandon
The reviewer: Jon Moss
Available from: Barnes & Noble

The story intrigued me by having an aging jewel thief, suffering from dementia, pass on the tricks of his trade to the domestic robot his son purchased as a home-health aide.  High-tech parental neglect? Hard to say, since Frank refused to be shuffled off to the near-future nursing home (called a Brain Center).  As expected, Frank also despised the robot foisted upon him by his son, going so far as to pit his daughter, the epitome of the idealist activist, against his son in a human v. robot philosophical battle.  Meanwhile, Robot (Frank never deigns to name it) slowly grows on Frank.

You won’t find any evidence of Asimov’s Three Laws in Robot’s programming.  His primary directive is to take care of Frank, helping him stay on a regular schedule, eat a healthy diet, get regular exercise and take up a hobby, like gardening, to stimulate his brain and fight off the ravages of the dementia.  Frank scoffs at grubbing in the dirt, but eventually shows Robot how to pick a lock, using his old cat burglar lock pick set.  Frank even questions Robot about his ethics, showing that Robot can lie and has no qualms about stealing.  That was all the excuse Frank needed to plan their first job and return to his favorite past-time.

Readers, Please Comment: Did you enjoy this review? Dislike it? Agree? Disagree? Please share what you think!
More reviews coming soon!
POSTER IMAGE: Courtesy of Wikipedia.

Dos por del Toro

Laser Rangers + Guillermo del Toro = ONE NIGHT OF FANTASY BASED HORROR! -- DOS POR del TORO!!!!

ALERT!!::: THIS MEETING WILL TAKE PLACE ON THE *THIRD* SATURDAY OF JULY!!!!!:::  ALERT!!!

Date: July 21, 2012

Time: Around 4:15 p.m., “fan time”

Place: David Sooby’s home theater with 51-inch Samsung HDTV, a 5.1 Surround Sound Dolby Digital sound system, a full set of audiophile-grade speakers, and brand new seating for about 15 people without crowding.

Food Theme:

Captain Laser: Marylin

The Program: "Dos por del Toro" (Two for del Toro)

Check the Laser Rangers website for more information.

The Pre-Dinner Show

We're kicking off this evening with Cronos
(1993, 94 minutes)

IMDB Synopsis: "A mysterious device designed to provide its owner with eternal life resurfaces after four hundred years, leaving a trail of destruction in its path. "

Watch a trailer for Cronos, from IMDB:

Cast:
Federico Luppi
Ron Perlman 
Claudio Brook 


Crew: 
Director: Guillermo del Toro 
Screenwriter: Guillermo del Toro
Producers: Arthur Gorson, Bertha Navarro 

Dinner Break:

The Laser Rangers take a dinner break between the two features of the evening, to share a potluck dinner and discuss the movie they have just seen, or get caught up on other events.

Shorts: 

TBA

Second Feature: 

Pan's Labyrinth (El Labertino del Fauno)

(2006, 119 minutes, on Blu-ray in 1080P)
IMDB Synopsis: "In the fascist Spain of 1944, the bookish young stepdaughter of a sadistic army officer escapes into an eerie but captivating fantasy world."

Watch a trailer for Pan's Labyrinth, from IMDB:

Cast:
Ivana Baquero 
Sergi López 
Maribel Verdú

Crew: 
Director: Guillermo del Toro 
Written by: Guillermo del  
Producers: Belén Atienza, Elmundo Gil

The home of the Laser Rangers is located about two miles north of the Kansas Speedway, NW of the intersection of I-70 and I-435 on the Kansas side of the Greater Kansas City area. For the exact address and directions, e-mail David Sooby at the email address given here.




IMAGE CREDITS: The information and movie poster images for all of these shows come from the invaluable IMDB or the movie's  respected distrubutors. The movie screen frame image used for the Laser Rangers contact information is courtesy of Psychology Today Online. Many thanks to these websites!

"Khan!!!!!"

Laser Rangers Boldly Go Mano a Mano with a Star Trek Villain

After dinner, watch The
Wrath of Khan

Date: May 12, 2012

Time: Around 4:15 p.m., “fan time”

Place: David Sooby’s home theater with 51-inch Samsung HDTV, a 5.1 Surround Sound Dolby Digital sound system, a full set of audiophile-grade speakers, and brand new seating for about 15 people without crowding.

Food Theme: Mexican

Captain Laser: Bill Ostrander

The Program: "Khan!!!!!!!"

Check the Laser Rangers website for more information.

The Pre-Dinner Show

"Balance of Terror" and "Space Seed" date from the
first season of Star Trek, originally aired in 1966
and 1967.

Kick off the evening with two episodes from the dawn of Star Trek: 

The Original Series Season 1 Episode 14, "Balance of Terror"

IMDB Synopsis: "The Enterprise must decide on its response when a Romulan ship makes a destructively hostile armed probe of Federation territory."

The Original Series Season 1 Episode 22, "Space Seed"

IMDB Synopsis: "Capt. Kirk and his crew find and inadvertently revive a genetically augmented world conqueror and his compatriots from Earth's past."

Dinner Break

The Laser Rangers take a dinner break between the two features of the evening, to share a potluck dinner and discuss the movie they have just seen, or get caught up on other events.

Second Feature: 

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan 1982

IMDB Synopsis: "With the aid of his Enterprise crew, Captain Kirk must stop an old nemesis, Khan, from using his son's life-generating device, Genesis, as the ultimate weapon."

Watch a trailer for The Wrath of Khan, from IMDB:

The home of the Laser Rangers is located about two miles north of the Kansas Speedway, NW of the intersection of I-70 and I-435 on the Kansas side of the Greater Kansas City area. For the exact address and directions, e-mail David Sooby at the email address given here.


IMAGE CREDITS: The information and movie poster images for all of these shows come from the invaluable IMDB website. The movie screen frame image used for the Laser Rangers contact information is courtesy of Psychology Today Online. Many thanks to these websites!
Update: Ty changed "Food theme" from "TBA" to "Mexican."

Laser Rangers! The February Program

Date: February 11:

Time: Around 4:15 p.m., “fan time”

Place: David Sooby’s home theater with 51-inch Samsung HDTV, a 5.1 Surround Sound Dolby Digital sound system, a full set of audiophile-grade speakers, and brand new seating for about 15 people without crowding.

Food Theme:   (fresh, theater-style popcorn available throughout the evening) Items appropriate for the mood of the evening (be sure at least some of it is edible!)

Captain Laser: Tracy Majkol 

The Program: “Singing in the Brains”: Cannibal! The Musical and Repo! The Genetic Opera

Cannibal! The Musical 

Before dinner, view the first movie. This 1993 film is the brainchild of Trey Parker, who wrote, directed, and stars (as Alferd Packer) in the film. It derives at least some of its inspiration from the ill-fated Donner Party of pioneers, who got lost in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in 1846, and resorted to cannibalism to survive.

In this movie “the sole survivor of an ill-fated mining expedition tells how his taste for gold was replaced by that of human flesh,” according to the IMDB website.

Watch the trailer . . . if you dare!

Repo! The Genetic Opera

After supper, step from the past into a frightening future. 

Created in 2008 and first shown in a flurry of international film festivals, this movie features more than one person you’ve heard of, and voices worth respecting. Stars include Alexa Vega, Paul Sorvino, Anthony Head, Sarah Brightman, and Paris Hilton at what must have been the apex of her acting career.

The IMDB synopsis: “A worldwide epidemic encourages a biotech company to launch an organ-financing program similar in nature to a standard car loan. The repossession clause is a killer, however.”

There's an available trailer for this one, too.

More information can be found at the Laser Rangers website. If you need directions to the program location, use the information inside the proscenium arch:

PHOTO Credits:

The poster images for the two movies are from the IMDB website: Look here for  Cannibal! Look here for Repo! The movie screen frame image used for the Laser Rangers contact information is courtesy of Psychology Today Online.

Return of the Laser Rangers!

Brand new HDTV 51-inch plasma debuts Sunday!

Chosen for action sequences: Tron:Legacy

Date: Sunday, September 3, 2011
Time: Around 4:15 p.m., "fan time"
Place: David Sooby's home theater
Food Theme: TBA (fresh, theater-style popcorn available throughout the evening)
Captain Laser: Not announced.
On the Program: Two recent action science fiction films in Blu-Ray, chosen to show off the brand new 51-inch Samsung HDTV Plasma, with full 1080P, in the standard 5.1 home theater Surround format.

Tron: Legacy
The first feature is Tron: Legacy, from 2010.
View Trailer.
Joseph Kosinski directed, from a screenplay by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz.
Jeff Bridges (Kevin Flynn/Clu), Garrett Hedlund (Sam Flynn), Olivia Wilde (Quorra) and Bruce Boxleitner (Alan Bradley/Tron) star.

Battle Los Angeles is the 2nd feature.

Battle Los Angeles

After the dinner break, the Laser Rangers will return to the theater for Battle Los Angeles (2011)
View Trailer
Johnathan Liebesman directed, from a screenplay by Chris Bertolini.
Stars include Aaron Eckhardt (Sgt. Michael Nantz), Ramon Rodriguez (2nd Lt. William Martinez), Cory Hardrict (Cpl. Jason Lockett), Michelle Rodriguez (TSgt. Elena Santos), Lucas Till (Cpl. Scott Grayston), and Bridget Moynahan (Michele).

Ken Keller notes: "This is *not* our regularly scheduled session for September, but a special inaugural preview of our new state-of-the-art capability. What better way to do so than with two recent science fiction action/popcorn movies?

"If you're not otherwise engaged on Sunday afternoon (remember, Monday is the Labor Day holiday), please join us for this special kick-off session. Help us celebrate a New Era for the Laser Rangers, as the group begins its 12th year!"

Regular Schedule Resumes September 24!

After some suspense when the Soobys' former screen came to an unfortunate end, the main September program will proceed as scheduled.

Theme: Be Careful What You Wish For
Date: Saturday, September 24, 2011
Time: Around 4:15 p.m., "fan time"
Place: David Sooby's home theater
Food Theme: TBA (fresh, theater-style popcorn available throughout the evening)
Captain Laser: Ken Keller.
On the Program: Quite a different pair of features from the previous Sunday!

13 Going On 30

View Trailer
2004 movie; Directed by Gary Winick; screenplay by Josh Goldsmith and Cathy Yuspa.
Stars: Jennifer Garner (Jenna Rink), Mark Ruffalo (Matt Flamhaff), and Judy Greer (Lucy Wyman).

Big

View Trailer
This 1988 movie directed by Penny Marshall and written by Gary Ross and Ann Speilberg, stars a very young Tom Hanks (Josh Balkin), along with Elizabeth Perkins (Susan) and Robert Loggia (MacMillan).

The home of the Laser Rangers is located about two miles north of the Kansas Speedway, northwest of the I-70/I-435 intersection, on the Kansas side of the KC metro. For the exact address an directions, email David Sooby (see at left).

Our home theater has comfortable seating for about 15. The dinner between features is potluck, usually based on a pre-announced theme.

PHOTO AND OTHER CREDITS:
Many, many thanks to IMDB, without which this post would have been much shorter and way less informative! The poster, trailer, and cast information for each of the following may be found by clicking their respective links: Tron: Legacy; Battle Los Angeles; 13 Going On 30; Big.
And as ever, thanks to Psychology Today Online, for the movie screen frame image used for the Laser Rangers contact information.