Synopsis – ScienceFiction.com

Movie Review: ‘Civil War’

Tony Schaab - Senior Editor — Fri, 12 Apr 2024 16:40:28 +0000

What if. It’s a question that has intrigued storytellers and audiences alike for generations. The desire to take something known and twist it ever so slightly, to the point where elements and pieces are not immediately recognizable – or worse, things are chillingly recognizable and seemingly appropriate in their darker state. The thought of “yes, I could see something like this happening” is perhaps one of the scariest story premises out there – especially when what we’re being presented with is dark and dangerous. Such is the case with ‘Civil War,’ the new film from director Alex Garland and production studio A24. Taking place in the indeterminately-near future, the political and socio-economical divide in the United States of America has grown to the point where the country has fractured, with several states deciding to try their own hand at self-governance. A few maps shown early in the film indicate that close to 20 states may be trying to secede in various ways. Factions such as the “Florida Alliance” and the “New People’s Army” have arisen, but the two largest proponents have joined forces to create the “Western Forces,” and in a large-yet-subtle twist, it’s California and Texas, of all the […]

The post Movie Review: ‘Civil War’ appeared first on ScienceFiction.com.

Marvel’s ‘What If…?’ Season 2 Is Coming To Disney+ In December

Tony Schaab - Senior Editor — Wed, 15 Nov 2023 20:17:36 +0000

We’ve known for a while now that the first season of the animated Disney+ show, Marvel’s “What If…?,” was getting a follow-up season. Today, Disney and Marvel have confirmed the new season’s release date, along with some additional fun information about the release schedule of the individual episodes. Read on for more info! Starting its life in comic-book form back in 1977, Marvel’s series told alternate-reality tales about heroes and characters that readers knew well. The first issue was titled “What if… Spider-Man Joined the Fantastic Four?” and it set the precedent that readers would be seeing, essentially, the early stages of what would eventually become known as The Multiverse. Now that the stories have shifted onto the television screen with the first season of “What If…?,” the tales being told are directly connected to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and its version of classic Marvel characters. The nine episodes in the inaugural season revolved around tales of alternate versions of The Avengers, Black Panther, Ultron, Doctor Strange, zombies, and more! While the complete list of episodes for Season 2 hasn’t been officially released yet, several leaks claim to outline the entire season. Items that have been confirmed by Disney include […]

The post Marvel’s ‘What If…?’ Season 2 Is Coming To Disney+ In December appeared first on ScienceFiction.com.

Movie Review: ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’

Tony Schaab - Senior Editor — Thu, 16 Feb 2023 21:30:18 +0000

New beginnings bring new excitement, but also new challenges. Such is the takeaway vibe I got from our advance screening of ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,’ the kickoff for Phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Let’s be clear from the get-go: Marvel has been giving us entertaining, high-quality films for a long time now. Almost 25 years, across dozens of television series, along with short films and literature tie-ins… this juggernaut is no slouch. Unfortunately, every entry into the series can’t be a home run – and that’s where we need to have some “real talk” about ‘Quantumania.’ The story itself is right in line with what viewers have been given across the over-arching MCU narrative to date: things on Earth appear to be “settling in” a bit post-Blip (although, frustratingly, ‘Quantumania’ still does not reference anything to do with the giant stone Eternal that is now sticking out of the Earth, half-stuck, as shown in the climax of ‘The Eternals,’ with this new film believed to be the 11th property to take place in the MCU timeline set after those events with absolutely zero remarks or tie-ins to it). The story does reference The Blip, of course, as […]

The post Movie Review: ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ appeared first on ScienceFiction.com.

Go Big Or Go Home With The New ‘Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania’ Trailer

Tony Schaab - Senior Editor — Mon, 24 Oct 2022 18:36:08 +0000

Marvel has made plenty of waves this year with both their newly-released MCU content (Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder, Moon Knight, Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk) and key announcements for the forthcoming Phases of film & TV. One of the most anticipated upcoming films easily has to be ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.’ After the first Ant-Man film was a pleasant surprise to both fans and critics alike, and its follow-up ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’ continued to build on that success – not to mention casually dropping one of the most impactful pre-‘Endgame’ mid-credit scenes of all MCU time – fans now know that Marvel isn’t afraid to load this part of the MCU franchise with big reveals and important info. With that, today brings us the first trailer for the film that’s dropping in theaters in just a few short months. It gives us a better look at the newest big-bad of the Marvel on-screen universe, Kang the Conqueror, along with some very tantalizing tidbits about what secrets the Quantum Realm is holding – and how long Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) has truly known about these secrets. Take a good look for yourself: […]

The post Go Big Or Go Home With The New ‘Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania’ Trailer appeared first on ScienceFiction.com.

Fiction Review: ‘Signal Moon’ (2022)

Tony Schaab - Senior Editor — Sat, 30 Jul 2022 16:39:22 +0000

Amazon has been kind enough lately to grace readers with advance copies of select forthcoming titles, and I was lucky to grab a copy of Signal Moon by Kate Quinn, which is releasing wide in August from the streaming giant. This novella-sized tale will be available in eBook only, but it packs a pretty decent punch into a relatively bite-sized story. In 1943, at the height of World War II, Lily Baines works for her country as a “Wren,” the Y-Station listeners of the British Royal Naval Service tasked with intercepting, relaying, and sometimes deciphering the enemy transmissions they hear over the airwaves. Armed with receivers, headphones, and their skill to transcribe as quickly as possible, Lily is but one of a team of women stationed at Withernsea on the English shoreline, working daily to do their part for the cause. Imagine her surprise, then, when she intercepts a truly curious transmission: one coming from a United States Naval officer originating 80 years later, in 2023. This is the main premise the drives this short story from the New York Times and USA Today best-selling author Quinn. The author is intimately familiar with the 1940s Y-Station setting, having previously penned […]

The post Fiction Review: ‘Signal Moon’ (2022) appeared first on ScienceFiction.com.

Thor Puts The Hammer Down (Literally) In Teaser Trailer For ‘Thor: Love And Thunder’

Tony Schaab - Senior Editor — Mon, 18 Apr 2022 18:22:57 +0000

Marvel’s Phase 4 is officially off and running here in 2022. One of the biggest questions on fans’ minds – besides what the heck we’re in for in the upcoming ‘Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness’ film set to hit theaters next month – is “what changes are in for one of the last-standing original Avengers, Thor?” Answers to that question and others are undoubtedly forthcoming with the impending release of “Thor: Love and Thunder,” the fourth feature film in the Norse Gods’ franchise and the first on-screen sighting of Thor since his characters’ wild evolutionary ride in the MCU Infinity War/Endgame saga. Today, Marvel has given us a teaser trailer of the upcoming movie – one that, thankfully, doesn’t give away too much of the film plot-wise but absolutely sets the tone for what we’ll be getting on screen this Summer. Here’s the “official” description directly from Marvel: Here it is. ❤️ + ⚡ Marvel Studios’ Thor: Love and Thunder arrives only in theaters July 8. The film finds Thor (Chris Hemsworth) on a journey unlike anything he’s ever faced – a quest for inner peace. But his retirement is interrupted by a galactic killer known as Gorr […]

The post Thor Puts The Hammer Down (Literally) In Teaser Trailer For ‘Thor: Love And Thunder’ appeared first on ScienceFiction.com.

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Returns To Netflix This Year With ‘Stone Ocean’

Tony Schaab - Senior Editor — Mon, 09 Aug 2021 14:28:02 +0000

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is one of the most well-known Japanese manga series of all time. Since its inception in 1987 as as serialized story in Japan’s Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine, the series has grown to an impressive array of adaptations that include video games, spin-off mangas, light novels, several animated TV series, and even a live-action film. Netflix has revealed that the newest iteration of the series, ‘Stone Ocean,’ will be premiering globally on the streaming service this coming December. Check out the official series description and first teaser trailer: Florida, U.S.A, 2011 — After an accident while on a drive with her sweetheart, Jolyne Cujoh falls into a trap and is sentenced to fifteen years at the state-run maximum-security correctional facility Green Dolphin Street Prison—AKA “the Aquarium.” On the verge of despair, she receives a pendant from her father that causes a mysterious power to awaken inside of her. “There are things in this world that are more terrifying than death, and what’s happening in this prison is definitely one of them.” A message from a mysterious boy who appears before Jolyne, inexplicable events that occur one after another, the horrifying truth told to her by her father when […]

The post JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Returns To Netflix This Year With ‘Stone Ocean’ appeared first on ScienceFiction.com.

Sony Has Given Us A Second Trailer For ‘Venom: Let There Be Carnage’

Tony Schaab - Senior Editor — Mon, 02 Aug 2021 15:15:20 +0000

The sequel to 2018’s Tom Hardy-ed ‘Venom,’ titled ‘Venom: Let There Be Carnage,’ is heading to theaters sometime later this year – Sony’s official press releases say “this Fall,’ but a precise date remains surprisingly unannounced. Nevertheless, the fine folks at the studio have graced us with a second trailer to view, following up on the first trailer released earlier this year. The first film grossed $856 million at the worldwide box office, making it’s profit estimated around $247 million and being one of the better financial successes of the 2018 theatrical releases. Of course, here in 2021 we find ourselves in a slightly different world in terms of theater-going and in-person entertainment, so it remains to be seen how this sequel will fare on the big screens – and this uncertainly could possibly be part of what is holding Sony back from announcing an official release date for the film. Regardless, the movie itself seems ready to rock, and if the new trailer is any indication, Woody Harrelson is ready to wreak some havoc in the sub-titular role of Carnage, aka Cletus Kasady Gone seems to be the curly-red wig Cletus donned in the credits scene of ‘Venom,’ […]

The post Sony Has Given Us A Second Trailer For ‘Venom: Let There Be Carnage’ appeared first on ScienceFiction.com.

Check Out The New Trailer And Poster For Marvel’s ‘The Eternals’

Tony Schaab - Senior Editor — Mon, 24 May 2021 14:50:15 +0000

After the strangeness of 2020 and its impact on movies and the entertainment world in general, the release slate for the second half of this year is, to put it mildly, jam-packed. Several films that were meant to make their cinematic debut last year were bumped back – in some cases several times – and in 2021, movie-goers will finally get to see many of these delayed offerings. It makes for a very busy time, and for franchises, it means that many releases are coming to audiences much closer together on the calendar than they normally would. The perfect example of this is with the ever-expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe; between the scheduled US openings of ‘Black Widow’ on July 9 of this year and ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ on July 8, 2022, there are a whopping 7 MCU films coming to the big screens, averaging out to a new Marvel movie less than every other month. (And that doesn’t even count the 4 MCU TV series coming to Disney+ during that time as well!) Smack-dab in the middle of all this is the scheduled release of Marvel’s ‘The Eternals,’ coming to US theaters on November 5th. Today, the powers-that-be at […]

The post Check Out The New Trailer And Poster For Marvel’s ‘The Eternals’ appeared first on ScienceFiction.com.

10 New Images From Netflix’s Upcoming ‘Masters Of The Universe’ Miniseries

Tony Schaab - Senior Editor — Thu, 13 May 2021 16:36:45 +0000

Later this year, Netflix will bring another old-school cartoon property back to live with their 5-part miniseries ‘Masters of the Universe: Revelation,’ spearheaded by long-time pop-culture creator Kevin Smith. Serving as the showrunner and executive producer, Smith is joined by behind-the-scenes talent from the original ‘He-Man and the Masters of the Universe’ series, including Frederick Soulie as an executive producer and Susan Cordin as a producer. Longtime Smith co-collaborator Marc Bernardin serves as one of the writers, and the series’ music is composed by Bear McCreary. Speaking about what the original 1980s cartoon series meant to him, Smith had this to say: I watched all of the TV series growing up, it was everywhere in the ‘80s. These characters started off as toys and ended up becoming part of the global pop culture fabric. So much of this show has been possible because of the love and affection for this world at every level of production and the fandom surrounding this franchise. A big reason we got such top tier voice talent is because people genuinely want to be a part of this world. So many of us were touched by these stories and these characters early in our lives […]

The post 10 New Images From Netflix’s Upcoming ‘Masters Of The Universe’ Miniseries appeared first on ScienceFiction.com.

Throwback Thursday: ‘Planet of the Vampires’ (1965)

Tony Schaab - Senior Editor — Thu, 11 Mar 2021 17:30:56 +0000

At first glance, ‘Planet of the Vampires’ could easily be mistaken for just another kitschy ‘60s sci-fi B-movie. But those “in the know” revere this movie as one of the very first crossover horror/sci-fi films, a front-runner for great movies like ‘Alien’ and ‘Event Horizon’ and that’s why it’s this week’s Thowback Thursday, ScienceFiction.com’s ongoing column to great science fiction of the past. Filmed at Cinecittà Studios in Rome, the movie features an international cast and was shot by director Mario Bava on a shoestring budget – but Bava did such a great job of making the film look like a big production that you definitely wouldn’t think otherwise while watching it. In the film, two large interplanetary exploration ships, the Argos and the Galliott, respond to a distress signal originating from the unexplored planet Aura. Upon their attempts to land, both crews become possessed by an unknown force and violently try to kill each other; only through the willpower and efforts of Captain Mark Markary (Barry Sullivan) commander of the Argos, is the Argos’ crew prevented from seriously injuring each other. Upon traversing the treacherous molten terrain of the planet to reach the now-unresponsive Galliott, Argos’ crew discovers that their comrades […]

The post Throwback Thursday: ‘Planet of the Vampires’ (1965) appeared first on ScienceFiction.com.

Throwback Thursday: ‘The Black Cauldron’ (1985)

Tony Schaab - Senior Editor — Thu, 11 Feb 2021 16:46:45 +0000

Every so often, a company makes a bold, daring, unorthodox, out-of-the-normal-comfort-zone type of move, and it usually either pays off big for them or sends things crashing down in flames. In the 1960s, Disney was flying high, enjoying a run of success with their animated films that stretched, at that time, three decades long; hits like ‘The Jungle Book,’ ‘101 Dalmatians,’ and ‘Sleeping Beauty’ had the company feeling they could do no wrong. Then the 1970s came around, and the House of Mouse started to falter with their cartooned family-friendly films: ‘The Aristocats,’ ‘Robin Hood,’ and ‘The Rescuers’ were all successive films that were enjoyable enough, but mostly didn’t land anywhere near the financial and critical successes that their predecessors had. Execs started to panic a bit, and the decision to try something new and different was officially made: Disney’s first-ever not-totally-family-friendly animated film, their first cartoon movie to ever earn a PG rating (and might have even been PG-13 if not for last-minute edits), ‘The Black Cauldron,’ got the green-light. Loosely based on the first two books in the ‘Chronicles of Prydain’ series by author Lloyd Alexander, ‘The Black Cauldron’ tells the tale of Taran, a young pig-keeper from […]

The post Throwback Thursday: ‘The Black Cauldron’ (1985) appeared first on ScienceFiction.com.

Throwback Thursday: ‘The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra’ (2001)

Tony Schaab - Senior Editor — Thu, 28 Jan 2021 18:13:46 +0000

It’s no secret that I, like many sci-fi and horror fans, have a special place in my heart for the old, ultra-cheesy, often uber-chintzy “B-Movies” of the 1950s and 1960s. With so many fans of this genre out there, odds are good that at least a few are movie directors, right? And possibly among those few directors, it’s even possible that a couple of them actually make movies that don’t suck, yeah? And of those select individuals, is it feasible that one of them may actually have excellent writing and acting skills as well so that he could fully utilize these skills in tandem with his love of B-Movies to create a brilliant and loving homage to the genre? While The Rolling Stones often remind us that “you can’t always get what you want,” fortunately sometimes you can: writer-director-actor Larry Blamire struck gold with his 2001 release of ‘The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra,’ an amazingly-detailed and lovingly-satiric take on the old B-Movie. I proudly own a copy and have seen the movie many times over; I’m excited to now bring the film to ScienceFiction.com for our Throwback Thursday action! ‘Lost Skeleton’ blends so many “fantastical” elements soften utilized in the […]

The post Throwback Thursday: ‘The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra’ (2001) appeared first on ScienceFiction.com.

Throwback Thursday: ‘Reanimator’ (1985)

Tony Schaab - Senior Editor — Thu, 14 Jan 2021 19:42:26 +0000

Straight out of the 1980s came ‘Re-Animator,’ an amazing film that somehow took zombies, gore, comedy, and an unknown cast, threw it all together, and created a one-of-a-kind experience for zombie and horror lovers everywhere. H.P. Lovecraft wrote the serialized story ‘Herbert West: Re-Animator’ back in the early 1920s, proving to be stunningly ahead of his time in his descriptions and depictions of re-animating the dead. Even though the 1985 movie we’re talking about here shares the same name and a few characters and locations, make no mistake: this movie is its own entity, brought to life by the writing team and the performances of its cast, most notably the over-the-top personification of the titular Dr. West played to perfection by Jeffrey Combs. ‘Re-Animator’ is, quite simply, a unique movie-watching experience, not likely to be reproduced any time soon, if ever. ‘Re-Animator’ is old-school fun. From the opening scene with it’s one random zombie through the “it’s over…or is it?” ending, the movie keeps the viewer engaged and wanting more. Sure, the look of the film has gotten a little dated, but that’s part of what makes it grand. ‘Re-Animator’ is a great example of a “splatter film” made in […]

The post Throwback Thursday: ‘Reanimator’ (1985) appeared first on ScienceFiction.com.

Throwback Thursday: ‘Cherry 2000’ (1987)

Tony Schaab - Senior Editor — Thu, 31 Dec 2020 16:04:25 +0000

It’s strange, trying to play the “numbers game.” Here we are, on the final day of the year 2020, talking about a movie that was released in 1987, that featured a plot that was set in 2017, but referenced the number 2000 in it’s title… it’s enough to make even a mathematician’s head swim! The pursuit for the perfect woman has scattered many men to the ends of the Earth trying to find her. The 1980s were no different, of course – and the sci-fi adventures of the era had a great time trying to envision what the future might be like – even trying to predict the faraway time of 2017… In 1988’s ‘Cherry 2000,’ Sam Treadwell found his “perfect girl” and made her his wife. She tells him everything that he wants to hear, is supportive no matter what he does, is ready for sex in a hot minute, and absolutely adores everything about him. Every man’s dream girl, right? One minor catch about all her perfection: she is literally programmed that way. Unfortunately, when his decades-old sexy love-robot blows a fuse that is darn near impossible to replace in the modern circles of 2017, Sam must hire […]

The post Throwback Thursday: ‘Cherry 2000’ (1987) appeared first on ScienceFiction.com.