So stoked for Blade Runner 2049

The original Blade Runner film (1982) is my number one sci fi film of all time. But after hearing the news for a sequel last year, I wasn't really hyped about it for I remain skeptic with Ridley Scott only doing the producer's job.

Not until I saw the first teaser trailer.

Mr Robot Season 1

The Season 1 Finale doesn't feel like a finale at all but still, a great series comparable to the 90's movie Hackers meeting Trainspotting and Fight Club on a highway collision course.
I'm looking forward to Season 2.

Format: TV series (Netflix)
Rating: 4 moot credit cards out of 5

MPH by Millar & Fegredo

No pun intended but it was really a blast. Fast and yet, remarkably good enough to earn four stars. Ladies and gentlemen, if you're going to read one graphic novel this year, you should read this one by Mark Millar and Duncan Fegredo.

It's a modern day hybrid of Robin Hood, the 2012 film Chronicle, and DC Comics' Flash as we encounter a gang of four in Detroit come to grips with the temporary ability to run faster than the speed of sound. Mark Millar is the mastermind behind Wanted, Kick Ass 1-3, The Secret Service, Jupiter's Legacy, Nemesis, Superior, Super Crooks, American Jesus, Starlight and Chrononauts. We have seen Wanted, Kick Ass 1 & 2, and Kingsman: The Secret Service adapted into feature films. His other works are under development at major film studios. Millar also penned Superman: Red Son at DC Comics while doing Wolverine: Old Man Logan, the Civil War series, and creating The Ultimates at Marvel Comics. Duncan Fegredo on the other hand, pencilled various books for Vertigo-DC like Kid Eternity, Enigma, and Lucifer and also worked for a Hellboy miniseries at Dark Horse Comics.

This is my first read and my first review at Net Galley and I just liked what I just read. Originally published in 5 issues last year, this complete collection will not bore you with its ending. I have one or two questions that need to be answered but with the tight narrative and essential build up to conflicts and altercations being served abruptly like a bullet shot that was never wasted, they overpowered my need to think further of the plausibility and the science behind it. It was never disturbing nor head-scratching as watching the ending of Chris Nolan's Interstellar.  Speaking of films, I'm expecting a film adaptation of this book two to three years from now.

It's that good.

Rating: 4 banks robbed out of 5
Genre: Sci Fi

The Ocean at The End of The Lane

Excluding graphic novels, my previous Neil Gaiman reads summed up to seven (7). The first was Good Omens, then Neverwhere, Anansi Boys, American Gods, Coraline, The Graveyard Book, and recently Odd & the Frost Giants in December last year (2014). From those previous reads I can compare this novel to Coraline  but here the protagonist is a seven year old boy and the story is less creepy. His characters and his storytelling technique may be using the classic tropes of the modern speculative fiction genre but Gaiman really has this skill of situating his characters in a very unique problem that the only way to get out of it is to be unpredictable. I actually like the Hempstocks here as entities that represent the fabric of time (just my interpretation based also on the nature of the antagonist) as opposed to being witches. One of them actually said it that there are no witches around so I believed her.

The degree of sentimentality with the protagonist's past is comparably less than that of Nobody Owens in the Graveyard Book but still I just love how they mix the real past from the fabricated past just to protect normal people from the truth. The opening scene reminds me also of the opening but funny scene at Anansi Boys. I wanted to see Lettie after what she did but maybe it was intentional and better to put her in future spin off novels or stories.

I wanted to give this book a 4 star rating but I am removing 0.5 of it to remove the Neil Gaiman bias (I am such a fan) and be fair to other authors too. Still, I recommend this book even to non-Gaiman readers out there, if they actually exist.

Memorable passage:
I finally made friends with my father when I entered my twenties. We had so little in common when I was a boy, and I am certain I had been a disappointment to him. He did not ask for a child with a book, off in its own world. He wanted a son who did what he had done: swam and boxed and played rugby, and drove cars at speed with abandon and joy, but that was not what he had wound up with.


Genre: Speculative Fiction, Fantasy
Rating: 3.5 yards of silk out of 5

Guillermo Del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities

"You have to believe the magic to see it."  --Guillermo Del Toro

There was an actor who referred to Steven Spielberg as the Thomas Edison of the movie industry. Whether you agree or not all I can say is that if Spielberg is the Edison, then perhaps Guillermo Del Toro is the Nikola Tesla.

His creations inside the Bleak House may wear the mask of horror and intricacy of a machine, but uniquely beautiful and humane at heart. In one complete package his creations are awesome in their imperfections and visually stunning in their details, as evident in his notebooks, sculptures, and varied artistic pieces highly comparable to the works of Da Vinci.

His "cabinet" of curiosities provides hindsight on his creative thought processes as the western world have already seen in his fantasy and science fiction oeuvre such as The Devil's Backbone, Mimic, Cronos, Blade II, Pan's Labyrinth, Hellboy I and II, and Pacific Rim. From these films his central characters usually triumph if they hold true to themselves when put to the test. In his stories there is always a child-like warrior finishing a silent victory.

From the introductory piece written by James Cameron, I am also looking forward for the birth of Mephisto's Bridge, The List of Seven, and At the Mountain of Madness on the silver screen. The sequence of my experience in reading this collection is opposite to the sequence of his idea above; I saw the magic first before believing it.

The magic remains the same.

Notebook 3, Page 4B

Images © 2013 Guillermo del Toro

Genre: Collections, Reference
Rating: 4.5 inches of bloody scalpel out of five

DIASPORA AD ASTRA

Is it really strange to mix Philippines and Science Fiction? Maybe, to the uninitiated. But if you've been aware of those classic movies (Tuko sa Madre Kakaw, Anak ng Bulkan)  being shown in black-n-white tv or the sci fi adventure and horror stories in Liwayway and Hiwaga Komiks in the 50's then you can easily see that Filipinos can do sci fi. They mostly started as derivatives of the Western science fiction but today these lineup of local writers are trying to make a progressive and distinct style of Filipino Science Fiction.

In this anthology of 15 stories, I am going to put my brief description or comment per story as I understood it.

The Malaya
Dean Francis Alfar
The theme is very similar to Hollywood's found footage genre and Ridley Scott's Alien series.

Oplan Sanction
Alexander Marcos Osias
An action-packed story with an ending worthy of a starcraft-like cinematic campaign ending.

Ina Dolor's Last Stand
Raymond P. Reyes
This is what nostalgia feels like in the distant future when people have to turn to the stars as their final refuge.

The Cost of Living
Vince Torres
This is one of my favorite stories in the whole anthology. I like the balance between comedy and horror and the idea of the Overtaker in contrast to the Undertaker.

A List of Things We Know
Isabel Yap
Multiple Filipino scenes in the future that clings more on nostalgia than apathy.

The Keeper
Audrey Rose Villacorta
A woman and her family tries to cope with the government's three-child policy directive.

The Day the Sexbomb Dancers Invaded Our Brains
Carljoe Javier
A very entertaining story in this anthology and the longest to read, but you wont be disappointed.

Ashes/////Embers
Dannah Ruth S. Ballesteros
This is another action-packed episode when the government experiment on super soldiers took the wrong route. Almost wrong.

Rizal
Eliza Victoria
Another one of my favorite stories in this anthology, the author digs deeper by not just working around with the idea of "What if?" but also by working with a plausible Filipino future. The story is highly believable and entertaining capped by unfolding of a secret or rather, the necessary lie that usually gives birth to conspiracy theories.

Gene Rx
Katya Oliva-Llego
Now, I have to think twice when somebody comments about that chick and her Alien-white skin.

Robots and a Slice of Pizza
Raydon L. Reyes
If your idea of science fiction is just to "situate" people in the future while keeping their human nature intact, then this is probably sci fi. Probably.

Lucky
Raven Guerrero
Having somebody by your side at the moment of Armageddon is indeed lucky.

Space Enough and Time
Anne Lagamayo
This story is a bridge between the mortal and immortal humans in the future when they have to find a place in the overpopulated galaxy. Really cool idea.

Taking Gaia
Celestine Trinidad
This one caught me off-guard. The agents of "little brown brother" has finally took over! This is my most favorite story from the entire anthology. Simply entertaining and funny.

War Zone Angel
Emil M. Flores
I thought I was watching a beer commercial here but the chick leaves the bar. Then she meets the space soldier and begins to like him. The space soldier smiles and politely says good bye. Then he explodes into pieces. The chick is alive but now sad. Aww.

The first half of the book really needs another round of editing for some noticeable typographical errors. I am sure Emil Flores (who happened to be my Comm 2 teacher during my college days) will deal with it for the future editions of this anthology. But the book as a whole, is substantial enough to be counted as part of Philippine Science Fiction in the 21st Century.

Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: 3.5 vials of glutathione injections

All You Zombies by Robert Heinlein

image source

I saw the movie Predestination and most viewers compare it as Inception or Looper of 2014. Learning that it was inspired by a Robert Heinlein short story titled "All You Zombies" published in 1960, I looked for a copy online and I got lucky.

It's amazing how Robert Heinlein was able to create a very tight narrative in a world composed of one character, special thanks to H.G. Wells's invention of the time machine as a fictional device. There are actually two fictional devices here, but I leave the other for you to find out just to keep this short review spoiler-free.

The temporal agent disguised as a barkeeper wearing the Ouroboros ring is a pretty cool idea as an allusion of predestination stuff where there is no such thing as a parallel universe and one reality is created and recreated.  I think at the time this story was written, Heinlein never thought of a parallel universe as a result when you play with your past.


Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: 4 shots of Old Underwear drink

Revisiting the Future According to Films

This infographic by Tremulant Design has been around since 2011. As I got bored fixing my professional timeline in my resume, I ponder on the future as told by films.

Predictably Awesome

Voltron's sword saves the day.
Well, not exactly Voltron's, but a sword that looks similar to it.
That could be a major spoiler, but who cares? After all the destruction, the belt-like sword saved the day and indeed cancelled the apocalypse. Never cared if the story is predictable, stereotypical, and derivative. If your definition of fun is watching Hellboy/Ron Perlman being eaten by a baby Kaiju, then we're on the same boat.

If you enjoyed Pan's Labyrinth by the same director, you will enjoy this one too.




Genre: Sci Fi, Action
Rating: 7 Kaiju brains out of 10

ENDER'S GAME by Orson Scott Card

This is one of those rare books that scored both the Hugo and Nebula Award for best novel in a single year and judging the readers' ongoing response from an online poll, it remains the most popular Sci Fi novel in the last century.

The Introduction part by OSC really sets the tone for me to look for that greatness that this novel promises to deliver and I would have completely agreed with it and should have given a five star rating if I was reading this novel as a young adult. But reading it as an adult, I would have chosen a different novel.

Make no mistake about it, it's a good book by Orson Scott Card, much better than his Seventh Son (Book 1 of the Alvin Maker historical fantasy series) which I enjoyed loosely in the past. Maybe my expectations are high and I'm tired of reading another alien race-or alien 'bugs' that are too becoming common and cliched as Robert Heinlein's bugs in Starship Troopers. Even the major plot twist here is not hard to imagine and anticipate but I prefer to focus both on the things I like and the things I dislike to make this review more useful.

First, I like the idea of using a weapon that is NOT nuclear. Nuclear weapon is a cliche. Second, even if Andrew "Ender" Wiggin sometimes whined like Holden Caulfield, when authority dictates to do an immediate action, he's there. Ender did kick some a$$. The Battle School as a military institution for children is just the way as it should be. Interferences and manipulations in world politics by Demosthenes and Locke is quite interesting. The science of space travel here is at least, reasonable and the training school without gravity is just apt for maneouvering in 3D space.

Now, final addition to the earlier stated downsides, I expected a love interest for Ender. If there's a source of aggression (Peter), there must also be a source of affection. Of course, Valentine loves Ender and vice versa, but they are siblings. Harry Potter had Cho Chang before Ginny Weasley. Han Solo had Princess Leia. Maybe there was a clue somewhere and I saw it, but I just don't want to believe it for the lack of 'light' or rather, details.

Despite the mixed reaction, the book as a whole passes the threshold and I do look forward to the sequel Speaker for the Dead given the author's story in writing it. I even look forward to the film adaptation before the year 2013 ends because my idol who played Han Solo, Blade Runner, and the President of the United States will be playing the role of Graff. And even if  issues surround OSC on his beliefs and ideals, I still respect him as a person and as a human being. This culture of hate will never end if you just hate the hater.

Memorable line:
"Don't start apologizing for them, Ender. Just because they didn't know they were killing human beings doesn't mean they weren't killing human beings." -Mazer Rackham



Genre: Sci Fi
Rating: 3.5 rays of Dr. Device

Star Trek: Into Darkness

JJ Abrams' latest sci fi project before delving into the Star Wars expansion for years to come is a good sequel to the first Star Trek reboot. Trekkies were treated with a good origin story for Kahn but I think this is just for me being a late fan of the Star Trek universe.  

The tagline "Earth Will Fall" is a bit off I think, given the point that only a part of Earth faced an imminent danger from a supposedly terrorist attack. Even if most of the sequences are easily predictable, I saw no significant weak plots and subplots in the whole duration. This action-oriented sequel is a good treat for any sci fi fan and I think this is one of the better Sci Fi films this year--something you cant take for granted as a viewer.

Genre: Sci Fi
Rating: 8 photon torpedoes out of 10

Ender's Game Official Trailer 1

The Pillar by Ely Buendia

Image©Arnold Arre

"Dark" is a classic and recurrent theme in every dystopic story but I think the better description here is "blur" because of the bleak and empty fate of Ely's protagonist. It may also be an apt description of his place, his setting in the future named Solimar Cluster where the Sun is sacred. It's tempting to believe at first that this Science Fiction attempt by Ely Buendia is maybe looking to Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun Saga as an inspiration but the latter's sun cooling down, and the former's sun that has become sacred are two different things. The same difference between a literal dark planet, and the symbolic hopeless world.

Make no mistake about it, Eheads fans enjoyed Fruitcake (the Xmas storybook) since 1997. But this short story attempt by the Eheads frontman may be a straddle between the boundary of pass and failure. Readers will either remember or forget about the story of a botched cult ritual and Nuclear attack. In a future age of high technology than our own, how can someone deploy a nuclear bomb without an automatic, built-in, portable, or wireless detonation device is a big question, a big plot hole huge as the crater of now-dormant Mt Pinatubo. Luckily, illustrations by Arnold Arre provided additional points to save the sci fi story from being absorbed by a black hole.

Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: 3 steel bolts out of 5


Read the story here:

http://rogue.ph/features/the-pillar-by-ely-buendia-part-one
http://rogue.ph/features/the-pillar-by-ely-buendia-part-two

Oblivion

This is a retrospective science fiction story since it does not look far away in a place somewhere in the galaxy but instead points into ourselves and  the home planet called Earth. It's actually based from a graphic novel of the same title but the main perspective switches in this movie for a good reason.

At the sight of ships extracting Earthly resources, the plot twist is not hard to decipher as the paranoia of seeing cloned humans sleeping in each pod reminded me of clones in The Matrix serving as batteries.

Amusingly, it also plays with the idea of memory and its connection with love. If cloning can transfer memory, can it also transfer intimacy? For me, the most likable part in this movie is not the technology and futuristic gadgets but the basic return-to-nature message, with hints of natural farming and retro music played straight from vinyl. Morgan Freeman playing a minor role may be a surprise, but the scene with the main character faces off with the mother alien is like seeing again the space final confrontation scene in Independence Day (ID4).

This one passes the test and you can check it out too, if you want to watch a feel good movie.

Genre: Sci Fi, Book Adaptation
Rating: 8 drones out of 10

Judgment Time

Even if its too late to watch this sci fi + action blood fest of 2012, it's still truly worth the buck. I expect a cult following for direct-to-DVD collectors, or even for Netflick viewers out there. There's a real plot good enough to immerse yourself in, and the magnitude of enjoyment for this film mirrors the same fun I had to the Living Dead sequel-- the Army of Darkness when it became a cult classic in the 90's.

If you like to watch films with ball-busting and hard-to-crack women, you have it. I remember Samantha Morton's role in Minority Report as physically weak but powerful precog whenever I see Olivia Thirlby's mutant psychic character, anticipating well the enemy's next move and fucked-up thoughts. Don't make a mistake about it, the Rookie knows her stuff before you take the first wrong step.

Also, Lena Headey's role as Madeline Madrigal aka MaMa--gang leader of the SlowMo drug ring may be a very different role from her Cersei Lannister role in Game of Thrones series, or even from her Queen Gorgo--wife of King Leonidas role in 300 but still, she can make a pretty believable character.

I give much regard to the director for employing a camera technique reminiscent of the bullet-time method used in the first Matrix film but I think the difference that gave this film my nod of approval is the author who wrote the script. British author Alex Garland was already a recognized name when he wrote the books The Tesseract (where the plot is situated in the urban Manila), and The Beach (that was adapted into film in 2000 starring Leonardo di Caprio, and directed by Danny Boyle). Comic book readers and young viewers today can forget about how mediocre the Stallone-featured 1995 film adaptation. This DREDD 3D is a better version. And a sequel is not a bad idea either.

Who's your MaMa?

Genre: Comic book to film adaptation, Sci Fi, Action
Rating: 8 out of 10 armor-piercing bullets

img sources:
http://www.blankmaninc.com/dredd-3d
http://www.filmofilia.com/exclusive-clip-from-dredd-3d-hits-112762/

Pacific Rim

"Ang galing naman nyan, Sir Narj... Ano yan FPS?"
"Movie lang ito pre."

This is just one of the upcoming post-apocalyptic Sci Fi flicks next year.
Something to look forward to. Or maybe not.

Ain't No Pooper: Top Sci Fi Pick of the Year

image © DMG and Endgame

To end a dark future, look to the past. To end it all NOW, look to yourself.

This is my top pick as the best Sci Fi movie of 2012. We've been treated with a lot of cliches this year by overdosing on alien and robot invasion themes but I believe nobody and nothing can beat the crap out of this "retro" sci fi that looks more into the past than into the future. It played smoothly with its central theme on "time paradox" and the unfolding of who really is the real enemy is a very enjoyable ride to take. Piper Perabo can still provide the heat (if you know what I mean) and Emily Blunt is still as likable as a hotcake since her breakthrough role in The Adjustment Bureau.

If you want to know more proof of how "retro" this film is, just listen to the soundtrack and look at the rural scenery, an area allocated for green farming just outside the city. And of course, you can even see how people display their raw "telekinetic" skills and how the time machine was used low profile to provide viewers much focus on the story itself, and not on useless distractions.

This one is a must-see for sci fi buffs who want a fresh perspective and looking for a smart story but not being too cerebral. Just look out for the Rainmaker---one of the main characters in the story intentionally hidden in the teaser plot. He's f*ckin cool.

timeline by Noah Iliinski

Genre: Sci Fi, Action
Rating: 8/10 deafening shots of blunderbuss

Past VS Future

Sci Fi and film buffs remain skeptic this year after seeing average-to-below-average performances of highly anticipated Sci Fi features like Prometheus and Total Recall. For comic book junkies on the other hand, we have the best reason to celebrate after the success of Avengers  and The Dark Knight Rises.

Could this be the One? We hope so given the narrative and the concept that "look" legit enough. Time travel you say? Hmmmmm...

Written and directed by Rian Johnson, the film stars Bruce Willis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Emily Blunt, Paul Dano, Noah Segan, Piper Perabo and Jeff Daniels.

Synopsis from the Superhero Hype site:
"In the September 28 release, time travel will be invented – but it will be illegal and only available on the black market. When the mob wants to get rid of someone, they will send their target 30 years into the past, where a “looper” – a hired gun, like Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) – is waiting to mop up. Joe is getting rich and life is good… until the day the mob decides to “close the loop,” sending back Joe's future self (Bruce Willis) for assassination."

Teaser Poster

Mondo Poster

Fresh Off The [Digital] Press

The long wait is over, Sci Fi readers! Philippine Speculative Fiction Vol.7 is officially available for download via Flipside. Raving about this anthology is the least I can do since I could not make it for the official launch yesterday. This cover art by Les Banzuelo and Adam David looks like the anthology is created as a graphic novel, but it isn't.

cover image © Flipside Publishing

fate obeys what your mind desires

A hardcore Sci Fi reader's library will never be complete without a copy of DHALGREN by Samuel Delany. I've been looking for a copy since January and it was only days ago when I chanced to see a list from iO9 written by Charlie Anders ranting about the 10 Sci Fi Novels You Pretend to Have Read (And Why You Should Actually Read Them). From the list, I only read two (1984 and Dune) while three others are on my TBR pile (Cryptonomicon, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, and the Foundation series). The rest, remains on my "most hunted" list. But it wont take long to finally catch one.

Sci Fi experts from across the cyberspace regard this book as the "Ulysses" of Sci Fi, (with its overall narrative structure similar to "Finnegan's Wake") probably as much as Hyperion is considered as the "Canterbury Tales" of Sci Fi. Some would just see this as a secret masterpiece. I haven't been at Book Sale for ages but after my visit today, I got this one for a meager price of 37 Pesos. The cover is completely torn but I don't mind fixing it with a tape.

Sometimes when chance gives you a window of opportunity, you better not waste it as soon as you recognize it within the first five seconds of discovery.