Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace is coming out in 3D on Feb. 10, so is it worth seeing again in theaters?
The movie is acknowledged (even by creator George Lucas) as the worst one in the film series, but I may be a sucker to watch it again since I didn't mind watching it on VHS back in the day. Although I usually skip out on watching the modified versions of the Star Wars films (even the one with CG Yoda in this film, which is welcomed), I'm interested in seeing how Lucasfilm handled the 3D effects (woe is me).
To be honest, I was more interested in seeing Lucas' Red Tails movie, but after reading the reviews (in which the movie was rated lower than the Phantom Menace), I may just wait until it comes to DVD (yeah, I don't have Blu-ray player) or just watch The Tuskegee Airmen (1995). I can't do the same for Phantom Menace in 3D, though, unless I buy a 3D TV (not likely for years!).
So, anyway, do you think The Phantom Menace is worth watching in theaters in 3D?
Below is a 2D trailer of the film. It shows the good parts and mostly leaves Jar Jar Binks out of it (he makes an appearance very briefly, but can you find him?).
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Well I Never Blogfest
The blog Rambles & Randomness recently posted a "Well I Never Blogfest" so I'm going to give it a try with experiences related to science fiction (better late than never!).
Well ...
Well ...
- I never bought a copy of the Battlefield Earth movie after watching it in theaters, but I did buy the book and read it.
- I never knew that a 32X game I own called Spider-Man: Web of Fire is worth more than $100 until today.
- I never read Isaac Asimov's Foundation books although own some of the books and want to read them someday (I have too many books to read as it is).
- I never could get into Dune. I'm sorry.
- I never dressed up as a character at science fiction conventions, although I did enjoy seeing Darth Vader.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Reid Kemper's Blog Swap
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| This CC BY-NC 2.0 licensed image was modified from a picture by Evan Hamilton. |
How it works:
1. Enter your website URL in the list below to create a link.
2. Grab a post from my list of blog posts and use it for your blog.
3. Mention in the comments below which post you want to share in return.
Alternatively, if you want to swap with other bloggers, you may:
1. Enter your website URL in the list below to create a link.
2. Post your own blog swap on your blog.
3. List on your blog which posts you want to swap with those who participate.
You can swap on any day. Think of it as reciprocal guest blogging.
Enter here:
If you swap posts with me, I'll pick out one of your posts you listed and publish it on my blog. You may even write a new post meant for swapping. I'll credit you for writing the post I share and will link to your blog, so be sure to do the same.
I will not publish any posts that have obscenity, controversial topics or anything else I don't feel comfortable sharing. Please provide a variety of posts that are not time sensitive to choose from. For instance, if you have a post promoting a book you published, this would be a great way to promote your work. It's also great to spread helpful tips or resources for others. You can choose which day to participate.
You may use any post of mine before Dec. 1, 2011, for swapping, but below is a list of posts I recommend that are not time sensitive or are, to my knowledge, still relevant. Feel free to change any timely information (such as "today") and make edits.
Resources:
- Three Websites You Should Know that List Short Story Magazines
- Long List of Science Fiction Magazines
- 15 Websites Where You Can Post Stories for Feedback
- Eight Social Networking Websites for Book Lovers
- Want to Be Published? Here Is a Video with Some Tips.
- Reid Picks: The Best Website for Free Quality Science Fiction E-books
- Reid Picks: 5 best places to submit a science fiction short story
- Reid Picks: 5 writing tips you should know
- Reid Picks: 'Anthem' by Ayn Rand
- Reid Picks: Best Science Fiction Music Videos - Daft Punk
- Reid Picks: Top 10 science fiction movies
- Reid Review: "Charles Yu's top 10 time travel books"
- Free Music by John Anealio: The Angry Robot Remix Album
- Xenoblade Chronicles Should Be Released in U.S.
- Reasons Capcom should resume Mega Man Legends 3 project
- Have you heard of 'Exosquad'?
- Great science fiction song: 'We Don't Need Another Trilogy'
- Reid Spotlight: James Gunn and the Center for the Study of Science Fiction
- Reid Review: CassaStar by Alex J. Cavanaugh
- Early Impressions: How CassaFire Seems to Improve from Last Book
- Reid Review: "The Armageddon Machine" by Simon Kewin
- Reid Review: 'Star God' Novel By Allen L. Wold
- Portal 2 Review and Gameplay Videos
Interests:
- Prophecy to science fiction to reality? The history of electronic chip implants
- Will Image Projection Glasses Be The New Future Crave?
- What?! A 3D Anime-styled, Hologram-like Pop Star‽
- Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode 'Space Mutiny'
- 'Whose Line Is It Anyway?' Science Fiction Songs
- Make Use of Your Time: Listen to Audio Books on the Road
- Funny Animation: "How The Empire Strikes Back Should Have Ended"
- ESA's 'Science fiction - science fact' video
- Religion in science fiction
- A favorite quote from author Kevin J. Anderson
Notice about my website:
My website is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License, which means you are free to share any of my posts without having to ask me, regardless if you participate in this blog swap. But you must attribute the work to me and link to this site. You also can not use it for commercial purposes or alter the work (unless I say otherwise). Posts on this website before Aug. 4, 2011, are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means the same thing except you are free to adapt these posts.
(This blog post was last updated on Jan. 30, 2012)
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Reid Picks: The Best Website for Free Quality Science Fiction E-books
You can find free science fiction e-books on many websites, but if you want some top-quality e-books, I recommend the Baen Free Library located at www.baen.com/library. Baen Books is a leading science fiction book publisher known for it's military science fiction novels. It also provides dozens of e-book versions of its published novels.
So why does the publisher offer free e-books? One of the reasons is that if you read the first book of a series and like it, you may want to buy the other books. It's also compared to reading books for free at a library. If you like what you read, you may tell your friends and buy the books.
There are many Baen authors who participate, so I've narrowed the list to ten authors who are among the best. They are in alphabetical order, and I've included quotes about the authors from the site (click on their names in large print to go to their page with free books).
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| Image from Wikipedia. |
There are many Baen authors who participate, so I've narrowed the list to ten authors who are among the best. They are in alphabetical order, and I've included quotes about the authors from the site (click on their names in large print to go to their page with free books).
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Early Impressions: How CassaFire Seems to Improve from Last Book
Author Alex J. Cavanaugh's book CassaFire has a new trailer, which piqued my curiosity as to what I should expect from the book.
For those who don't know, CassaFire is the sequel to CassaStar, which was published by Dancing Lemur Press, LLC, in 2010. The sequel is set to be released Feb. 28, 2012, by the same publisher. Visit Cavanaugh's blog at alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com for more information.
I reviewed CassaStar on March 19, which can be viewed here. I enjoyed reading the book and pointed out areas I thought needed improvement if he wrote a sequel (which I'm glad he did). Now that there is a book blurb and trailer for the sequel, I already can tell some of those issues have been addressed. Below are some of my concerns from the first book followed by how I think the sequel seems to remedy those problems.
1. One of my concerns for the first book was the lack of a strong female presence, and I hoped that a female plays a lead role in a possible sequel. I'm elated to read that there is a lead female character named Athee in CassaFire. According to the book's blurb, Athee is a pilot "whose skills rival Byron’s unique abilities." I also like how Byron no longer has the best mental abilities. Not every hero has to be the best at everything, so hopefully, Byron's personality will shine more.
2. I also didn't think the universe in CassaStar was fleshed out as much as I hoped. I wrote, "You only get the closed-in view of the military, which may have been done so the reader feels isolated like Byron." In the sequel, Byron is an explorer, like he said he was going to be at the end of CassaStar. I'm glad Byron kept his promise to his mentor. Having Byron leave piloting to explore the universe does two things, in my opinion:
a. It keeps the sequel fresh without sounding like just-the-same-story-with-a-new-enemy plot.
b. It gives Cavanaugh a chance to do some world-building and give the reader insight into the universe.
As for the trailer for CassaFire, although some people may say the graphics are 15 years old (I, myself, am reminded of the intro to Tekken 2 for the PlayStation in 1996), please be aware that Dancing Lemur Press, LLC, is a small book publisher, so they probably had only one person working on the trailer. It's also hard to do facial expressions in CGI (computer-generated imagery). Overall, I loved the voice of Byron, the music that comes in at the right time and the pacing of the trailer. Well, here's the trailer for CassaFire:
I look forward to reading the sequel and congratulate Cavanaugh for having his second book set for print.
For those who don't know, CassaFire is the sequel to CassaStar, which was published by Dancing Lemur Press, LLC, in 2010. The sequel is set to be released Feb. 28, 2012, by the same publisher. Visit Cavanaugh's blog at alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com for more information.
I reviewed CassaStar on March 19, which can be viewed here. I enjoyed reading the book and pointed out areas I thought needed improvement if he wrote a sequel (which I'm glad he did). Now that there is a book blurb and trailer for the sequel, I already can tell some of those issues have been addressed. Below are some of my concerns from the first book followed by how I think the sequel seems to remedy those problems.1. One of my concerns for the first book was the lack of a strong female presence, and I hoped that a female plays a lead role in a possible sequel. I'm elated to read that there is a lead female character named Athee in CassaFire. According to the book's blurb, Athee is a pilot "whose skills rival Byron’s unique abilities." I also like how Byron no longer has the best mental abilities. Not every hero has to be the best at everything, so hopefully, Byron's personality will shine more.
2. I also didn't think the universe in CassaStar was fleshed out as much as I hoped. I wrote, "You only get the closed-in view of the military, which may have been done so the reader feels isolated like Byron." In the sequel, Byron is an explorer, like he said he was going to be at the end of CassaStar. I'm glad Byron kept his promise to his mentor. Having Byron leave piloting to explore the universe does two things, in my opinion:
a. It keeps the sequel fresh without sounding like just-the-same-story-with-a-new-enemy plot.
b. It gives Cavanaugh a chance to do some world-building and give the reader insight into the universe.
As for the trailer for CassaFire, although some people may say the graphics are 15 years old (I, myself, am reminded of the intro to Tekken 2 for the PlayStation in 1996), please be aware that Dancing Lemur Press, LLC, is a small book publisher, so they probably had only one person working on the trailer. It's also hard to do facial expressions in CGI (computer-generated imagery). Overall, I loved the voice of Byron, the music that comes in at the right time and the pacing of the trailer. Well, here's the trailer for CassaFire:
I look forward to reading the sequel and congratulate Cavanaugh for having his second book set for print.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Xenoblade Chronicles Should Be Released in U.S.
(Dec. 10, 2011, update: I'm glad to report that Xenoblade Chronicles will be released in North America on April 2, 2012, exclusively in store at GameStop. Visit oprainfall.blogspot.com for further details.)
Xenoblade Chronicles (called Xenoblade in Japan and originally titled Monado: Beginning of the World) is a Japanese role-playing video game (JRPG) for the Nintendo Wii video game system that deserves to be released in the United States. According to reports I've read, there are currently no plans to release the game in North America. Hopefully, that is just a ploy to gain interest in the game here so it can maximize its game sells when it does release in North America (fingers crossed). However, Monolith Soft's game Soma Bringer that was released in Japan in 2008 for the Nintendo DS never came to America.
Although I hardly have time to play video games nowadays, I still try to keep up with new titles and buy them (yes, I even have some unopened games I bought last year and haven't played yet but will eventually get to). I only focus on few games when I do have time, and from what I've seen of Xenoblade, it will be on the top of my list if it comes to the U.S. The game is both beautiful and exciting (with top ratings to boot) and looks like a mixture of fantasy and science fiction. It was created by Monolith Soft, known for creating the science fiction Xenosaga trilogy, which is spiritual prequel to Xenogears created by Squaresoft (now Square Enix). There are rumors that Xenoblade is somehow connected to Xenogears and Xenosaga, but I have yet to see any concrete evidence.
If you think Xenoblade deserves to be released in North America, visit Operation Rainfall's blog at oprainfall.blogspot.com. For an IGN article on Operation Rainfall's effort (which, in addition to Xenoblade, wants The Last Story and Pandora's Tower released in North America, click here.
Anyway, below are some videos of Xenoblade. The first one is the introduction footage to the game in English (United Kingdom version), the second one is a UK-version trailer, and the last one shows the breath-taking scenery in the game (it has some Japanese words but there is no speech in the video).
Xenoblade Chronicles (called Xenoblade in Japan and originally titled Monado: Beginning of the World) is a Japanese role-playing video game (JRPG) for the Nintendo Wii video game system that deserves to be released in the United States. According to reports I've read, there are currently no plans to release the game in North America. Hopefully, that is just a ploy to gain interest in the game here so it can maximize its game sells when it does release in North America (fingers crossed). However, Monolith Soft's game Soma Bringer that was released in Japan in 2008 for the Nintendo DS never came to America.
Although I hardly have time to play video games nowadays, I still try to keep up with new titles and buy them (yes, I even have some unopened games I bought last year and haven't played yet but will eventually get to). I only focus on few games when I do have time, and from what I've seen of Xenoblade, it will be on the top of my list if it comes to the U.S. The game is both beautiful and exciting (with top ratings to boot) and looks like a mixture of fantasy and science fiction. It was created by Monolith Soft, known for creating the science fiction Xenosaga trilogy, which is spiritual prequel to Xenogears created by Squaresoft (now Square Enix). There are rumors that Xenoblade is somehow connected to Xenogears and Xenosaga, but I have yet to see any concrete evidence.
If you think Xenoblade deserves to be released in North America, visit Operation Rainfall's blog at oprainfall.blogspot.com. For an IGN article on Operation Rainfall's effort (which, in addition to Xenoblade, wants The Last Story and Pandora's Tower released in North America, click here.
Anyway, below are some videos of Xenoblade. The first one is the introduction footage to the game in English (United Kingdom version), the second one is a UK-version trailer, and the last one shows the breath-taking scenery in the game (it has some Japanese words but there is no speech in the video).
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Three Websites You Should Know that List Short Story Magazines
If you have trouble finding the right magazines to submit your science fiction short stories, if you're new to the submission process, or if you just want to a find a magazine for your reading pleasure, there are only three websites you should know, which are valuable resources:
The links above will either go to a page that lists magazines or to one where you can search for magazines.
If you just want to know the professional magazines or anthologies that publish science fiction short stories -- which meet Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America qualifications -- here are 21 markets from sfwa.org: (they are not all currently open to submissions, however):
The links above will either go to a page that lists magazines or to one where you can search for magazines.
If you just want to know the professional magazines or anthologies that publish science fiction short stories -- which meet Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America qualifications -- here are 21 markets from sfwa.org: (they are not all currently open to submissions, however):
- Analog Science Fiction and Fact (guidelines)
- Apex (guidelines)
- Asimov’s Science Fiction (guidelines)
- Bull Spec (guidelines)
- Cicada (guidelines)
- Clarkesworld Magazine (guidelines)
- Cosmos (guidelines)
- Cricket (guidelines)
- Dark Wisdom (guidelines)
- Flash Fiction Online (guidelines)
- Grantville Gazette (guidelines)
- Lightspeed Magazine (guidelines)
- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (guidelines)
- Nature (guidelines)
- Odyssey (guidelines)
- Orson Scott Card’s InterGalactic Medicine Show (guidelines)
- The Pedestal Magazine (guidelines)
- Redstone Science Fiction (guidelines)
- Strange Horizons (guidelines)
- Tor.com (guidelines)
- Writers of the Future Anthology (rules)
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