February 18, 2019
They might not be raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens, but that doesn’t mean that we love them any less. Welcome back to My Favorite Things, the weekly column where we grab someone in speculative circles to gab about the greatest in geek. This week, we sit down with Howard Kleinman, whose Speculative Chic contributions focus largely on gaming.…
Read More » November 15, 2017
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I’ve compiled a list of the speculative fiction actresses for whom I’m most grateful, which means I’m pulling from some of my favorite speculative fiction movies, tv shows, and video games for the most talented actresses. So I guess you could say this is also a list of my favorite things, making it double the fun. Really,…
Read More » February 21, 2017
Because I can’t leave well enough alone and an obsession begun is an obsession finished. Once upon a time, in the beginning, the people who wanted to turn Resident Evil — the game — into a movie asked George Romero (yes, that Romero) to write them a spec script. Once I heard that, I had to track it down to…
Read More » February 1, 2017
Before I begin, let me digress into a topic worthy of its own post: women’s roles in movies. There were three movies previewed before Resident Evil: The Final Chapter began, and all of them could be summed up as “women are evil, or crazy, or problems that the men have to deal with.” Not uncommon, at all. So… to…
Read More » January 4, 2017
So if you’re following along in the rewatch, I really hope you skipped this one. This is going to be a scrambled review because Retribution broke my brain and left me sputtering feebly. I have come up with a rule of thumb for measuring the quality of these movies: how good they are depends on how soon Alice confronts the…
Read More » December 7, 2016
As usual, spoilers abound. When I thought about this movie in the Resident Evil rewatch, my brain whimpered. The end of Resident Evil: Extinction saw Alice mustering an army of psychic-powered, super-strong clones to attack the Chairman of Umbrella, thereby defeating him and his evil forever. The motivation was always a little lacking, but I guess it was equal portions:…
Read More » November 2, 2016
So Resident Evil: Apocalypse had one thing going for it. It lowered the bar for the third to limbo levels. But I honestly enjoy Resident Evil: Extinction. It couples the over-the-top qualities of Apocalypse with a coherent storyline. It’s a much better looking and a lot more stylish than the second one. In some ways, Extinction works as a counterbalance…
Read More » October 5, 2016
I love the first Resident Evil movie for a gazillion reasons, all mentioned here. Getting through the second one, Resident Evil: Apocalypse, is a chore, which is sad because there’s a lot I want to like. Watching this installment is a lot like critiquing a teenager’s first draft of a story. “Why did you have that happen?” “Duh, because it’s…
Read More » September 7, 2016
So, a few things you should know about me before we embark on the rewatch of one of my favorite movie series. 1) I don’t like zombie movies. 2) I don’t play video games. Not out of dislike, but out of shame. I am that gamer — the one that can not use a controller without flailing all over and…
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