Releasing from Paramount Pictures to blu-ray and DVD today is Annihilation a slow burn of a science fiction film from director Alex Garland. Based, subjectively, on the trilogy of novels by Jeff VanderMeer, it’s a gorgeous looking film A strange, possibly extra-terrestrial incursion in a swamp in Florida has claimed an untold number of teams…
Tag: first contact
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993) – The Passenger, and Move Along Home
Station log: stardate unknown Morgan Grendel, Robert Hewitt Wolfe and Micheal Piller pen this episode from a story by Grendel that first aired on 21 February 1993. This episode, while not stellar, balances the A and B story of the episode nicely, and builds the characters a little more. Kira (Nana Visitor) and Bashir (Alexander…
Star Trek: The Next Generation (1991) – First Contact, and Galaxy’s Child
Captain’s log: stardate unknown Marc Scott Zircee came up with the episode’s story that was adapted to teleplay by Dennis Bailey, David Bischoff, Joe Menosky, Ronald D. Moore and Michael Piller. Airing on 18 February, 1991, this Riker (Jonathan Frakes)-centric story puts the strange new worlds shoe on the other foot. Riker is undercover on…
Acceptance (2014) – Jeff VanderMeer
The final book in Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach Trilogy is on the book shelf this week, and like its predecessors is immensely enjoyable with its ominous overtones even as it hints at something stunning, amazing and beyond human comprehension. We are taken back into Area X, and the government institution investigating the geographical anomaly, the…
Authority (2014) – Jeff VanderMeer
The second book in the Southern Reach Trilogy finds its way to the Book Shelf this week as I dive further into the strange realm of Area X first introduced in the book Annihilation, which also serves as the title of the upcoming film adaptation. This sequel, released within months of the first book takes…
Star Trek: Shadow Lord (1985) – Laurence Yep
I dove into another non-canon Star Trek adventure from Pocket Books, and this one, I have to say, is a swing and a miss. It’s almost like it wants to be a bit of a fantasy tale in the vein of Dumas’ Musketeers, but it is actually just a big misstep, which doesn’t really fit…
Star Trek: The Original Series (1967) – I, Mudd and Metamorphosis
Captain’s log: stardate 4513.3 Harry Mudd (Roger C. Carmel) is back in the fun and playful episode I, Mudd. Written by Stephen Kandel this episode had its premiere on 3 November, 1967. This episode has a lot of delightful banter, and lots of intentional, and well-crafted humour. The U.S.S. Enterprise is seized by an android,…
Arrival (2016) – Denis Villeneuve
First contact. The interpretation of words. How we communicate both person to person, and mass media. The very perception of our existence. These are all at work in Canadian director Villeneuve’s latest film. A hard science fiction tale that eschews lasers and space battles for deeper concepts like the way we interact and understand one…
The Star Trek Book (2016) – Paul Ruditis, Sandford Galden-Stone and Simon Hugo
DK Canada has another winner on its hands. This book is going to get a lot of use by me as I start, with my very next post, a journey through all of Star Trek’s incarnations. When I was a kid I was introduced to space opera first, and it changed my life. That was…
Star Trek: First Contact (1996) – Jonathan Frakes
The strongest of the Next Generation films is the next stop for the Sci-Fi Chronicles book as I continue the exploration of the Star Trek cinematic universe. This one combines the best elements of the Next Generation universe, with drama, action and comedy as it combines a time travel tale with a war story and…
The Mind Reels 