Watching the Future: Through a Glass Blackly
This column focuses primarily, perhaps exclusively, on science fiction cinema, and as such seldom bothers with the visual medium’s more pervasive little brother. Chalk this [Read more]
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Articles by Derek Austin Johnson
Watching the Future: An Interview with “Other Worlds Austin” Organizer Bears Fonte
One of the pleasures of being a media journalist can be the sheer variety of movies you get to see. This is especially true of film festivals, which allows critics to glimpse [Read more]
FILM REVIEW: Interstellar
REVIEW SYNOPSIS: While gorgeously shot, Christopher Nolan’s bid for entry into the canon of artistic science fiction movies drips with cliché and plods through its [Read more]
Watching the Future: From Other Shores
Movies treated science fiction well this summer, in terms of quality and popularity. The period between the middle of April and the Labor Day weekend saw the release of four [Read more]
MOVIE REVIEW: Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
REVIEW SYNOPSIS: The newest entry of in the Marvel umbrella is a breezy and deliberately cheesy space opera that uses its cast and soundtrack music to exceptional effect [Read more]
MOVIE REVIEW: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)
REVIEW SUMMARY: A worthy sequel to 2011’s reboot of the classic franchise that often surprises with strong characters and a certain amount of insight even as its climax [Read more]
Watching the Future: The Pleasure of Finding Things Out
Fourteen years ago, Robert Zemeckis defended his decision to divulge major spoilers in the trailer of What Lies Beneath, arguing that audiences prefer attending a movie when [Read more]
MOVIE REVIEW: X-Men – Days of Future Past (2014)
REVIEW SYNOPSIS: With well-drawn characters, fine performances, and several exceptional set pieces (to say nothing of the return of director Bryan Singer), the newest [Read more]
MOVIE REVIEW: Godzilla(2014)
REVIEW SYNOPSIS: Occasionally impressive special effects, standout and often suspenseful sequences, and outstanding imaginings of the classic kaiju don’t manage to save [Read more]
Watching the Future: The Top 10 Greatest Science Fiction Movies Ever Made
Recently the esteemed editor of this weblog asked if I wanted to contribute on behalf of SF Signal to Time Out London’s list of the 100 greatest science fiction movies ever [Read more]
MOVIE REVIEW: Under the Skin (2013)
REVIEW SYNOPSIS: Haunting, disturbing, and often incredibly challenging, director Jonathan Glazer adapts Michael Faber’s cult horror novel to the screen, with Scarlett [Read more]
MOVIE REVIEW: Transcendence (2014)
REVIEW SUMMARY: Director Wally Pfister’s first feature film tries to tackle themes of transhumanism and the singularity, but gets knocked aside by the inelegant thriller [Read more]
Watching the Future: Worlds of Whimsy and Despair
Thanks to Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy (and its follow-up trilogy The Hobbit), the Harry Potter series, and HBO’s own A Game of Thrones, audiences think they [Read more]
MOVIE REVIEW: Captain America: The Winter Soldier
REVIEW SYNOPSIS: Enjoyable if uninspired, Captain America’s second solo adventure proves a solid entry in the Marvel filmic universe despite an overlong running time and [Read more]
Watching the Future: Remakes, Redux, Redoux, Reflux
A few days ago, like most Internet denizens, I brought up YouTube to watch the brand-new trailer for Gareth Edwards’s film version of Godzilla, coming this summer. [Read more]
Watching the Future: An Interview with Screenwriter Matt Lohr
More than two decades ago, when I was banging my head against a keyboard in desperation trying to write fiction, I somehow became convinced that I should abandon prose and [Read more]
MOVIE REVIEW: Her (2013), One of the Best Genre Movies of the Past Decade
REVIEW SUMMARY: Spike Jonze turns his eye toward science fiction with a touching, ultimately human love story between a man and an operating system that easily stands as one [Read more]
MOVIE REVIEW: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)
REVIEW SYNOPSIS: Despite a relentless pace and impressive effects, most notably bringing to life the impressive dragon at the heart of the tale, part two of Peter Jackson’s [Read more]
MOVIE REVIEW: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)
REVIEW SYNOPSIS: Sluggishly paced, taking few chances and not nearly as engaging as it should be, the second installment of the popular trilogy still maintains enough [Read more]
MOVIE REVIEW: Ender’s Game (2013)
REVIEW SYNOPSIS: Stiff, surprisingly bloodless adaptation of a classic science fiction novel, maintaining a certain fidelity to details but neutering much of the source [Read more]
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