Television Review: The Book of Boba Fett (Season 1) Good, not great, but good. Treats the main character as a character, against the obvious direction such a show might take.
Film Review | Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings Producers: Marvel Studios Runtime: 132 minutes MPAA Rating: PG-13 EE Critic Score: 7/10 Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is the 25th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It tells the story of the son of a powerful and secretive Chinese warlord, who must return home from
Film & Television Film Review | Black Widow Black Widow succeeds in showcasing the title character while telling its own compelling story. It's not the best MCU film, but it's exciting and never collapses under the weight of detailing a known character's backstory.
Games How to play Bismarck Whist I'm posting this in the interest of cultural preservation. Bismarck is a type of whist played by three independent players, rather than two paired teams as regular whist is. I found it described in the 1987 edition of The Penguin Book of Card Games, but I haven't found the game
Games A Proposal for the International Olympic Committee Imagine, for a start, that the two goals in a football are placed not at either end of an open field, but instead at either end of a region more like a golf course.
Books & Writing Book Review | Thrawn Ascendancy: Greater Good This book works well as the middle chapter. It follows from the previous volume smoothly, it points toward an interesting third book, and the story of Thrawn, et al, racing to prevent a civil war between the Chiss is more than enough to justify Greater Good in it’s own right.
Star Wars Thirty Years of Thrawn Heir to the Empire, the first appearance of Thrawn, was published thirty years ago today. Since then, he's been in books, comics, and animation. Thrawn isn't heroic, he isn't even terribly ethical, but he is a weirdly selfless evil that makes him respectable, where the Emperor was contemptible.
Books & Writing Book Review | Star Wars: Victory's Price This book, and this trilogy, is the best thing to come out of Star Wars in some time. You should read it. It's well worth your time, even if you aren't much of a Star Wars fan.
Books & Writing Book Review | Star Wars: Into the Dark A well-told story about the Jedi at their peak, which is what the High Republic era promises. I'd recommend it even if you haven't read the earlier books.
Books & Writing Book Review | Star Wars: Light of the Jedi While I read this without ever feeling like I should quit mid-way through, I have no real desire to read it ever again. Its strength, and its purpose, really, is in its world-building. By itself, that's not enough to make a good book.
Film & Television Television Review | The Mandalorian (Season 2) This season The Mandalorian really took the mantle of being the current flagship Star Wars property. Season 2 was a solid improvement over Season 1, and both were great television.
Film & Television Television Review | The Mandalorian (Season 1) Poster | Photo Credit: StarWars.comProducers: Lucasfilm, The Walt Disney Company Aired: released weekly to Disney+ Episodes: eight MPAA Rating: TV-14 EE Critic Score: 10/10 The Mandalorian is the first of several planned television series set in the Star Wars universe and released on Disney+. It is the first live-action
Books & Writing Book Review | Thrawn Ascendancy: Chaos Rising If you’re a fan of Thrawn, you’ll probably appreciate this book. If you aren’t a Thrawn fan, I’d probably recommend you read some other books ahead of this one.
Books & Writing Book Review | Shadow Fall If you read Alphabet Squadron and liked it, go ahead and read this one too. It builds from the same themes as that last book, and goes in some interesting directions, setting up the next book to be, hopefully, something pretty good as well.
Books & Writing Book Review | Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (Expanded Edition) Author: Rae Carson Publisher: Del Rey Length: 247 pages EE Critic Score: 6/10
Books & Writing Book Review | The Last Jedi: Expanded Edition Author: Jason Fry Publisher: Del Rey Length: 304 pages EE Critic Score: 9/10
Books & Writing Book Review | The Force Awakens novelization A passable product to fill bookstore shelves and give the studio an opportunity at another market space. Unless you’re really interested in Starkiller Base, just watch the film.
Film & Television Film Review | Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker This whole film seems incredibly trimmed down, I’d say to bare bones in many points, but that’s not enough. This film is partial skeletal remains, whose presence points to the one-time existence of some magnificent creature, much of the full nature of which can only be guessed at.
Books & Writing Book Review | Alphabet Squadron Author: Alexander Freed Publisher: Del Rey Length: 320 pages EE Critic Score: 10/10
Film & Television What is the First Order? An overview of the history and motivations of the reigning Star Wars villains
Books & Writing Book Review | Thrawn: Alliances & Thrawn: Treason Author: Timothy Zahn Publisher: Del Rey Length: 342, 334 pages EE Critic Score: 8/10 The two sequels to Thrawn continue to tell the story of everyone’s favorite Imperial Grand Admiral.
Film & Television Film Review | Avengers: Endgame Producers: Marvel Studios, Walt Disney Pictures Runtime: 181 minutes MPAA Rating: PG-13 EE Critic Score: 8/10 Avengers: Endgame is the twenty-second film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the fourth film in the Avengers franchise, and the finale of what I’ve seen lately called “The Infinity Saga”, which comprises
Film & Television Film Review | Captain Marvel Producers: Marvel Studios, Walt Disney Pictures Runtime: 130 minutes MPAA Rating: PG-13 EE Critic Score: 8/10 Captain Marvel is the twentieth installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Set in the 1990s, it is a prequel to all other installments besides Captain America: The First Avenger. It focuses on an