Monday, August 12, 2024

Road Rage

 Road Rage

A Short Novel by John J. Joex

This is an excerpt from my upcoming novel, please let me know what you think in the comments.

The collapse came quickly.  As the nation started to decay and the infrastructure that held the country together was ravaged and stretched too far by those driven by their own greed, the old order fell apart.  And then everybody flocked to the cities.  The smaller towns and communities were mostly abandoned as the people sought the safety of numbers.  And then the walls came up to protect those inside.  I was too young to remember, but I have heard the tales.  The people crowding into the cities.  The people turned away because there was not enough food and shelter.  The people that were cast out and called Outsiders. 

But people found that the cities could not stand on their own as they became overcrowded and in need of help and resources from other cities around the country.  And in those days, one of the last messages that we heard from President Ramirez was to protect the highways.  She told us, pleaded with us, that it was vital to secure the roads so that the cities would not be cut off from one another.  But then she was gone, and the world had to figure out how to carry on without her and the old form of government she represented.

The Wrecking Crew and Hunters were established to keep the highways clear and as safe as possible.  The one group was tasked with maintaining the roads so that they would remain usable.   The other was sent to eliminate threats from those who wanted the highways for themselves.  Some among the Wrecking Crew and Hunters worked for the government, some were mercenaries, but all were vicious. And they dealt swiftly and harshly with the people who lived beyond the cities.  

These “outsiders” were also called “savages”, “ferals”, “vermin” and even worse names, and they did what they could to survive in a stark and unforgiving world.  The Hunters made it their goal to eradicate these people so that they would not be a threat to those who traveled between the cities.  But the Outsiders proved resilient, and their numbers continued to grow.

Now people only travel between cities in large groups.  It is too dangerous to travel alone or in small groups, even with the protection of the Wrecking Crew and the Hunters.  And even large convoys do not guarantee safe travel.  

We were among those traveling from one city to the next.  We sought the safety of numbers, my brother and I.  But we would learn the danger of the highway and the road to desolation it promised . . .

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Monday, August 5, 2024

The Anti-Blockbusters: Ex Machina

Rating: 4 ½ out 5 Stars

Bottom Line: In the tradition of the best science fiction movies, this near-flawless film uses its sci fi elements to address moral dilemmas we face in our current social setting.

This movie begins as programmer Caleb Smith, who works for the very Google-like company Blue Book, learns that he has won a one-week trip to the home of the company's reclusive CEO Nathan Bateman. Once Caleb arrives there, he finds that Nathan has built a very human-like robot who he has named Ava. This robot has already passed a Turing test--which determines a machine's ability to exhibit intelligent behavior--and Nathan wants Caleb to continue to test it to prove that it truly possesses artificial intelligence. Through the process, though, Caleb starts to develop feelings for Ava. And when he learns that Nathan plans on upgrading her, which will wipe out her current personality, he decides to try an save her current version from being destroyed.

This movie was written by Alex Garland (28 Days Later, Annihilation) and it was his directorial debut. He does an excellent job with both the script and helming the film and delivers what I believe should be counted as a new classic among science fiction movies. The pacing is slow but never plodding as the story unfolds carefully but does not proceed quite how you may expect. I'm trying to be as spoiler free in this review as possible because the film has plenty of twists and turns which are what truly make it into a great movie.

It's no accident that Nathan's company is analogous to Google because the film addresses issues that impact us due to the rise of tech-giants like that company and others. Artificial intelligence definitely is one of the moral quandaries tackled, but also the constant monitoring and surveillance as well as the extensive data collected on all of us that use their products. In the tradition of the best science fiction tales, this movie looks at how technology impacts us with all of the dilemmas that entails. And that sinks in pretty hard when Caleb comes to an important realization later in the film (again, no spoilers).

The cast is minimal with four actors taking up the vast majority of the screen time. Oscar Isaac, who plays Nathan, went on to play Poe Dameron in the Star Wars films, but the other three actors are not well known in the States. Still, they are more than up to the challenge of carrying this film and work quite well as an ensemble. Isaac probably has the most dominating presence, especially early on, but Alicia Vikander as Ava ends up stealing plenty of scenes, particularly toward the end.

The special effects are none short of excellent, though judiciously used. The majority of the visual effects are used on Ava's machine body and these are flawless. But unlike the typical Hollywood blockbuster, this film does not give us an excess of CGI, nor does it live and die on its visuals alone. Ex Machina has a carefully crafted script that employs good sfx to take it to that next level, but the story and the actors are what truly set it apart. It is not a mega-budget film delivering non-stop action and CGI-overload. It is a much more somber piece that uses its science fiction premise to raise questions very important to our present social situation as well as the direction we are heading. That's what good sci fi movies do.

Available from Amazon.com:

Monday, July 29, 2024

Audiobook Review: Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

Book Rating: 4 ½ out of 5 Stars

Audiobook Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars (Highest Rating)

Bottom Line: This book delivers a quintessential piece of 19th Century horror / sci fi that presents some challenging moral quandaries.

In this classic 19th Century tale,  a lawyer--Gabriel John Utterson--finds himself entangled in the affairs of his friend, the upstanding Dr. Henry Jekyll, along with a rather surly dwarf of a man known as Mr. Hyde. The latter, a person of loathsome appearance and demeanor, has been seen around town and was guilty of assaulting a girl, for which Dr. Jekyll later paid retribution. Hyde has an unspecified connection with the doctor and Utterson is particularly dismayed when Jekyll revises his will to include Hyde as a beneficiary. This all comes to a head when a man is violently murdered and Mr. Hyde is linked to the crime, becoming a fugitive from justice.

This infamous novella written by Robert Louis Stevenson was first published in 1886 and has since become an iconic piece of genre fiction and has been retold countless times in film, on television, in comics, on the stage and more. The reason the story has lived on is that Stevenson managed to deliver a powerful tale that resonates with his readers and definitely touches a primal nerve. The first nine chapters of the book, written from the point of view of Utterson, give us a mystery tale as the lawyer tries to find out the truth about Mr. Hyde and his connection to Dr. Jekyll. But it is the final chapter that propels this book into the realm of literary masterpiece. This chapter unveils the final journal of Dr. Jekyll as he details his experiment and descent into the depths of his own dark side. But instead of simply looking at this from the simplistic point of view of good vs. evil, Stevenson adds another dimension to his tale by acknowledging the fact that both sides co-exist within us all and that we must learn to cope with our own dark sides in order to not be controlled by it. Jekyll tried to control his own licentiousness by devising a means to eradicate his dark side, but instead that created the Mr. Hyde alter ego. And this evil side of him gradually overtook the good side and ultimately destroyed both. Stevenson gets into some pretty heady (and cutting edge for the time) psychological territory in this chapter, and the moral issues he raises still provide subject for debate today.

I have to admit, though, that I found the ending a bit unsatisfying. After the revelations of the final chapter, all written in the words of Jekyll, I wanted to see the reaction of Utterson as well as some additional resolution of earlier plot threads left hanging. But that did not come as the novella ends on Jekyll’s final, ominous words. On the plus side, this tale is not overly wordy like other important genre works from the 19th century such as Dracula and Frankenstein. The relatively brief length of this book makes it a quick read, unlike the two mentioned above (or the thousand-plus page bloatfests we currently see hitting the shelves these days), but a short chapter wrapping up the loose ends would have been nice.  But then that’s just a quibble and who am I to try and perfect a literary masterpiece?

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is often looked at as a horror story, but the fact is that it is also a proto-science fiction tale as well. Jekyll’s experiments that lead to the creation of Mr. Hyde come about through scientific endeavors and have no supernatural links. In this sense, the book is similar to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein which based the creation of that book’s monster on scientific knowledge of the time. Stevenson also works in some of the early discoveries of psychology, a field that had established itself as a new scientific discipline at about that same time (separating itself from philosophy where it had previously been relegated). But whether you consider it horror, science fiction or both, it is a must-read for all genre fans.

Since Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is in the public domain, there are many audio adaptations and dramatizations available for this work, but I decided to check out the Librivox version and was pleasantly surprised. For those not familiar with Librivox, that site is the Project Gutenberg of audiobooks, offering free audio adaptations of works in the public domain available for download. This is one of several audiobooks from Librivox I have listened to and the others were of varying quality as far as narration goes. But the adaptation that Stevenson’s book gets the first-rate treatment, with narrator David Barnes giving us a professional quality reading. Whereas some of the readers for Librivox (all volunteers) provide barely passable narrations, Barnes delivers an excellent vocal performance and makes the story a pleasure to listen to. Why pay good money for a professional adaptation when you can get one just a good for free from Librivox? You can download it as MP3 files at this link and I highly recommend this version whether you are a regular audiobook listener (used to a professional level of quality) or just trying them out for the first time.


AudiobooksNow - Digital Audiobooks for Less

Monday, July 22, 2024

Must-Watch Sci Fi Movies: Plant of the Apes (1968)

Directed By: Franklin J. Schaffner
Produced By: Arthur P. Jacobs
Written By: Michael Wilson, Rod Serling
Starring: Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, Maurice Evans, Kim Hunter, Linda Harrison
Original Release: 1968

Rating: 4 ½ out of 5 Stars

Synopsis: A deep space mission from Earth traveling at near light speed crashes on a distant planet and three of the four crew members manage to escape before the ship sinks into the sea. The survivors, led by George Taylor (Charlton Heston), begin to explore what looks like a barren, desolate planet, but they eventually discover plentiful forests and a lower order of humans who do not have the ability to speak. But then the astronauts find that these are not the dominate species on the planet as they come face to face with intelligent, talking apes. Taylor is captured and at first studied by the chimpanzee Zira (Kim Hunter), but the orangutan Dr. Zaius (Maurice Evans) considers this talking human to be an abomination and wants to have him destroyed. Taylor, on the other hand, has plans to show them who the dominant species should be, but first he must face the truth of an unexpected secret this planet of apes holds.

Why It’s a Must-Watch Movie: This film provided another step in the maturation of science fiction cinema as it offered an engaging tale of evolution apparently gone awry that had high production values and that also offered some biting social commentary.

Review/Commentary: 1968’s Planet of the Apes is an important milestone for science fiction movies for several reasons. For one, the producers (much like Kubrick did with 2001: A Space Odyssey) approached the movie with the intent of making a serious film with broad appeal unlike the exploitive B-Movie cheapies typical of the genre at that time. It also had high production values (for its day) and succeeded in creating believable human-like apes that never looked like just actors in gorilla suits. Because of this, the movie proved a huge success at the Box Office, giving sci fi one of its highest grossing films up to that point. In addition, it laid the groundwork for the blockbuster franchise as it would have four sequels, spin-off two TV series, and go through two reboots in the 21st century.

Jaded movie-goers of today--over-gorged on the CGI-bloated outpouring from the big studios--may find Planet of the Apes a bit quaint, but the fact is that movie was very much the science fiction blockbuster of its time. It may not have relied heavily on sfx scenes, but it’s production values were first rate for the 60’s and it manages to seamlessly bring to life its world run by the apes. That’s partly attributed to the magnificent sets of “ape city” (really more of a village), but mostly to the first class make-up work on the apes. True, the CGI of the recent/y rebooted Planet of the Apes films delivers simians that look more ape-like, but personally I much prefer the ones from the original movie series. They represented more of a cross between humans and apes and a logical next evolutionary step. And the makeup was perfectly executed and has since become iconic among movie creatures. Give me the real thing over CGI any day.

The movie itself has worked its way into our popular culture, and that’s because it managed to hit a nerve at the time it came out, and its message still resonates today. The movie didn’t just give us a simplistic “apes vs. humans” scenario, it used its premise to explore some driving social issues of its day (that still remain relevant today). Not only do we get the fall of humans as another species leap-frogs us on the evolutionary scale, the script uses the conflicts within the ape society to address issues that we ourselves struggle with. It looks at the conflicts between religion and science and the attempts of society’s leaders to manipulate the truth to maintain the status quo. Planet of the Apes does what the best examples of science fiction do by using its fantastic elements to offer a mirror to our own world and struggles. Not surprisingly (especially considered that gut-wrenching twist ending), the original script was penned by Rod Serling. The final version made many changes to what he originally wrote, but mostly to keep costs down (he had the apes living in a technological society similar to Pierre Boulle’s original novel). But most importantly, the ending from Serling’s script (which hearkened back to the Twilight Zone style twist-endings) still survived into the final version that was filmed.

Planet of the Apes also benefitted from outstanding performances from its rather talented cast of actors. Performing through that makeup would be difficult for any actor, but the main ape characters all came alive with first-rate acting from the likes of Roddy McDowell, Kim Hunter, and Maurice Evans. It’s almost as if the makeup liberated them and energized their performances. And then there’s Charlton Heston with the lead delivering his usual bravado. His Taylor displays a palpable arrogance and almost dismissive attitude toward the apes whom he considers an example of evolution gone wrong. But this makes the ending of the film all the more poignant as he is faced with a grim reality that delivers an Earth-shattering wakeup call (literally).

I should note, though, that this movie has one glaring flaw to it that some may not be able to overlook and that could impact how highly they rank it compared to other sci fi films: How is it that Taylor never questions the fact that these apes speak English, even though--from his perspective--they are living on a planet allegedly light years from Earth? The fact that they could speak alone was definitely shock enough, but shouldn’t he have made some connection when they were speaking the same language as him with practically no variation in dialect? Perhaps we can extend some artistic license here and just appreciate that Hollywood produced an otherwise well-made science fiction film at that time. But it would have been nice if they had addressed that better (in the novel, the human character learns the language of the apes), and I’m guessing there are some fans out there that dock this movie one or two stars on that fact alone.

Despite this flaw, Planet of the Apes is an important science fiction movie and one of the absolute best examples of the genre on film. Its production values were top-notch at the time it came out and still stand up pretty well today. And its story is timeless and will continue to resonate with coming generations for its many messages and its shocking ending.




So many science fiction and fantasy movies and so little time. Metropolis, King Kong, War of the Worlds, Fantastic Voyage, Star Wars, The Terminator, The Matrix, Lord of the Rings, Inception . . . Plan 9 From Outer Space . . . and so many, many more. Where to start and which ones to watch? Well that's what this book is here to help you with. It may not cover all science fiction movies, and not even all of those mentioned above, but it gives you a heck of a good start starting point. This book begins with 1927’s Metropolis and then treks through 24 more genre films ending with 2009's Moon to give you an extensive look at some of the best of the best of science fiction and fantasy cinema. Each entry includes a synopsis, review/commentary, cast and crew information, as well as a few nuggets of tidbits and trivia relating to the films. Whether you are new to the genre and trying to figure out where to get started or a grizzled veteran who has logged many hours in the cinema watching sci fi, 25 Must Watch Science Fiction and Fantasy Movies is sure to entertain. And even if you have already seen the movies covered in the book, there's a good chance you could walk away knowing a little bit (or maybe even a lot) more about these films than you did previously.

A great primer for science fiction and fantasy cinema and a fun read as well!

Available now on Kindle from Amazon.com. 

Monday, July 15, 2024

A Brief History of Steve Ditko’s Contribution to Comics

Legendary comic book artist Steve Ditko passed away at the end of June at the age of 90, after a prolific and influential career. He is best known for co-creating Spider-Man and Doctor Strange with Stan Lee, but Ditko’s contributions to the comic book field go way beyond that as he started out in the early 50’s and remained active into the 90’s and beyond. Ditko had a very simplistic artistic style that was almost cartoonish at times, especially his work from the 70’s and later. But he was a well-respected artist and story-teller, and the characters he created have left lasting impressions on those who would follow in his footsteps.

Steve Ditko got his start in comics in the early fifties drawing mostly sci fi and horror stories for a variety of publishers, though he found stable work at Charlton Comics, a company that he would work for off and on until it closed its doors in the 80’s. His first work for that company, a vampire story titled “Cinderella” appeared in the February 1954 issue of The Thing. He would continue to contribute to that and other Charlton titles throughout the 50’s. He also did work for Atlas comics where he teamed up with the likes of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, again doing mostly sci fi and horror shorts.

In the 1960’s, Ditko made a name for himself when he worked on two important superheroes for Marvel Comics, the company that emerged from Atlas (known as Timely in the the 40’s), and that had made a big splash with The Fantastic Four in 1961. Stan Lee had been busy expanding the company’s line of superheroes (mostly with Jack Kirby up to that point) and he teamed up with Ditko on what would become one of the company’s flagship characters: Spider-Man. Ditko drew the first appearance of the web-crawler in the fifteenth issue of Amazing Adult Fantasy, and he would stay with the character through the first 38 issues of The Amazing Spider-Man, establishing much of the lore and many of the characters that other creators would draw from in the years that would follow. Ditko also worked with Stan Lee to create Doctor Strange and would establish much of that character’s universe during his time working on the series.

While Ditko was working at Marvel, he became enamored with the Objectivist philosophy which was developed by author Ayn Rand and explored in her books such as The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. The very individualistic and rigid beliefs promoted by this system impacted his professional career and likely prompted his sudden departure from Marvel. Ditko was apparently not happy that Stan Lee received most of the credit for the Marvel superheroes and the artist also felt he was not paid adequately for his work (Jack Kirby had similar feelings and eventually left Marvel at the beginning of the next decade). Ditko decided that the situation at Marvel was not a good one for him, and he left in the late 60’s after having created some legendary work for that company.

He returned to Charlton Comics where the pay was lower but where he had more creative freedom. He drew several notable characters at the time that Charlton was trying to bolster its line of superhero titles to compete with Marvel and DC. Those included Captain Atom (a character he had co-created back in 1960), a revived Blue Beetle (the third incarnation of that character), and his own new creation The Question. None of those titles lasted long, but the characters would be acquired by DC when Charlton folded in the 80’s and would all have notable runs at that company with different creators. In fact, the Charlton heroes were the ones the Alan Moore originally wanted to use for his Watchmen series, but DC decided to keep those as part of its main line-up. Moore then created his own versions with Night Owl standing in for Blue Beetle, Dr. Manhattan for Captain Atom, and Rorschach for The Question.

After Charlton cancelled its superhero titles, Ditko continued to draw sci fi and horror shorts for the company and he also spent some time creating new characters for DC Comics. He did The Creeper and Hawk and Dove, though neither series caught on at the time they were first published. These two titles would continue to include some of the Objectivist ideas he previously introduced in the Blue Beetle and most overtly in The Question. Ditko would later create Mr. A, essentially a reboot of The Question, and dive headlong into Objectivism. These comics focused heavily on the individual vs. society and shared similarities to themes covered by 1960's The Prisoner TV series (though that was definitely not a pro-Objectivist platform). But Ditko’s philosophy comics tended to be preachy and self-righteous and failed to find much of an audience at that time.

Sadly, after the 1960’s Ditko’s career went in the direction of a perpetual decline, in part because his Objectivist beliefs often acted as more a hurdle than anything else. He felt like the comics industry did not show the proper appreciation to the creators working in the field, which was very true at that time. But his unwillingness to comprise even a little bit (a very Objectivist stance) in part kept him from ever experiencing much success again in his career.

Throughout the early 70’s he mostly continued to do shorts for Charlton as well as a few other companies such as Warren Publishing. He did return to DC and Marvel later in the decade, but his contributions were minimal because his artwork and story-telling was out of step with what the companies were producing at that time (Jack Kirby ran into the same hurdles at those companies during the mid-to-late 70’s). Ditko did work on such titles as Rom Spacenight, Machine Man, and The Micronauts and even briefly returned to The Creeper for DC. His most notable creation during that time was Shade The Changing Man (a personal favorite of mine in its original form), but it never caught on and was cancelled after eight issues.

Ditko continued to do work in the 80’s but never really took advantage of the wave a creator-owned comics (something which he strongly supported), and most of his work was relegated to backup stories in the sci fi / horror vein as well as tales that continued his attempts to spread Objectivist philosophy. By the 90’s Ditko was so out of step with the industry that he was reduced to providing art for Big Boy comics and various coloring books. He did have a short stint back at Marvel where he co-created the superhero parody character Squirrel Girl who would eventually become quite a success with a 21st century revival by different creators. Ditko also continued to write his objectivist comics up until the time of his death, some of which were self-published or crowd-funded with the help of his long-time friend Robin Snyder.

When Spider-Man hit the big screen in 2002, Ditko was given a co-creator credit for the character, but he was not involved with the film even though had been invited to participate and he received no royalties from it. He had always been a very private person, someone who refused interviews, and had no desire to return to the character or to work with Stan Lee again. He lived in a small apartment in New York City surviving off his military pension and whatever money he made from his sparse comic book work up to the time of his death on June 29th.

Steve Ditko accomplished a lot during the years he worked as a comic book artist, and his contributions will long be remembered and admired. Much like Jack Kirby, his work was highly influential and the characters he helped create have lived on for many, many years. But sadly, he appears to have been broken by the very industry he had give so much to, and after the 1960’s his contributions diminished rapidly. But characters such as Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, The Question, The Creeper, Shade the Changing Man, Squirrel Girl and more have all become essential to the companies that own them and they continue to emphasize the importance of Ditko’s contributions to the field.  You can read much more about the artist and his work in the retrospective of his career Strange and Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko.

Available from Amazon.com:

Monday, July 8, 2024

Sci Fi Genre Gems: Carnivale (2003)

Created By: Daniel Knauf
Cast: Nick Stahl, Michael J. Anderson, Clancy Brown, Adrienne Barbeau, Tim DeKay
Aired: 2003-05 (2 Seasons Totaling 24 Episodes)

Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars (Highest Rating)

What Is It?  This unique supernatural series delivered an epic story that centered around a traveling carnival making its way through Dust Bowl America in the days of the Great Depression.  The focal character is chain gang refugee Ben Hawkins (Nick Stahl) who has healing powers that he doesn’t understand and who joins up with the carnival when it happens by shortly after his mother dies (he is allowed to join because the mysterious, unseen “management” permits it, and we find out later that his parents had a history with the carnival).  Also important to the overall arc is the story of Brother Justin Crowe (played by Clancy Brown with his trademark sincere malevolence) who has the power to control others and manipulate their fears.  Both Ben and Brother Justin share prophetic dreams that they find troubling and that they do not understand.  And neither of them realize that events have been set in motion that will result in their paths crossing at some point in the future.

Why It Stands Out:   Carnivale delivered a rare entry among genre shows that mixed intricately plotted stories, a fully realized setting, and complex, morally ambiguous characters into an ongoing arc that presented the viewer with challenging and engaging television.

At a time when HBO was looking to expand on its original programming and distinguish itself from the episodic fare on the broadcast and cable networks, they took a flyer on this series and delivered one of the most original dramas the genre has known.  It’s really hard to sum up this series, and my synopsis above barely scrapes the surface.  That highlights the primary story arc, but neglects the many, intertwined sub-stories and the colorful cast of characters that help the show stand out as well as the production design that gave it such a gritty, realistic feel.

Carnivale had an epic scope to its tale, as it presented us with a riveting saga of free will vs. destiny, but then it also had many intimate, human aspects to its story as well.  Hawkins and Brother Justin may have been the main focus, but the ancillary characters don’t just fade into the background or provide filler action to pad out the hour.  Each of them come alive and offer their own stories and the actors do more than just play the roles, that actually become the characters.  All involved with this series bring their A-game and help propel it into a rare, nearly flawless production.

True, the show could be somewhat slow at times and the stories were definitely dense.  But this rarely bogs it down, it just encourages the discerning viewer to dive more deeply into the episodes.  And there are many layers to be unraveled here as creator Daniel Knauf works in religious themes along with bits of mysticism to flesh out the mysteries laced into the overall story.  This is a challenging show, awash with moral ambiguities and some not particularly likeable characters, but that never works against the story, only makes it that much more inticing.  And then there’s that driving, alluring soundtrack by Jeff Beal that beat Battlestar Galactica to the punch in incorporating Eastern-tinged musical themes to add to the dark ambiance of the show.

Knauf originally envisioned this as a trilogy of “books” with each book comprising two seasons.  And the series initially bowed to very strong ratings, but would see its numbers drop across its two season run and would find itself truncated after completing only one of the three books.  HBO actually wanted to continue the series, but it had grown too expensive and they insisted that the producers would have to cut the budget for it to come back for a third season.  A deal could not be worked out, and the show ended after completing only twenty four episodes.  Knauf has since indicated that the full story of Carnivale will probably never be told, though I hope he will change his mind on that.  I would love it if he would at least continue this in novel format so that he could complete the story and provide it with the full embellishment  and resolution it deserves.

For genre fans who missed out on this one, it is available on DVD and you can also stream it for free with Amazon Prime membership.  I highly recommend you seek it out, and don’t be too concerned about the story leaving you hanging as the final episode of Season 2 provides a resolution of sorts, even if it does leave you wanting more.  It’s definitely worth your time to watch the full series as it provides a rare example of a first-rate genre production that avoids the compromises we see all too often from Prime Time fare.

Interesting Facts:  Not only is Carnivale a rare example of a first-rate, uncompromising genre series, it’s also a rare case where a newcomer breaks into television with his own series.  Daniel Knauf originally drafted a script for his story with the intention that it would play on the big screen.  But it was too long to run as a movie and he also felt that could not cover the full breadth of his intended story in that format.  He later adapted part of the script as a pilot for a TV series and posted it out on his website.  It was discovered by producer Howard Klein who sold HBO on the idea of the series.  (And I’m sure that after reading this, many aspiring writers are now going to start posting their scripts up on the web in hopes of also getting discovered!)

Those wondering where they previously saw diminutive actor Michael J. Anderson who plays carnival manager Samson, need only go back and watch the first episode of Twin Peaks.  Anderson played the dancing dwarf (aka "The Man from Another Place") in that series.

Buy Carnivale on DVD (and the Soundtrack) from Amazon.com:


Stream Carnivale on Amazon, included with Amazon Prime Membership:

Monday, July 1, 2024

Review: The X-Files Cold Cases and Stolen Lives (Audio Dramas)

The X-Files: Cold Cases and The X-Files: Stolen Lives are two audio dramas produced exclusively for Audible that brought back the original cast to voice their roles from the show.  They are adapted from the comic book series The X-Files: Season 10 that was published by IDW and written by Joe Harris (Locke & Key) with an assist from Chris Carter.  The series begins by revisiting the lives of Fox Mulder and Dana Scully who have been in hiding and under FBI protection since the events at the end of the ninth and final season of the television series.  Deputy Director Skinner seeks Mulder's help and Scully in kidnapped which leads to a re-opening of the X-Files and kicks off a series of adventures for our favorite FBI paranormal investigators.

These two audio dramas are great fun, providing the perfect return to the X-Files universe and a much more satisfying continuation of the series than the recent revival which has aired sixteen very uneven episodes thus far.  Joe Harris understands the nostalgia value that the original series holds and he makes great use of that, but he also knows how to tell a decent story, and these dramas draw as much on that as fond memories from the original show.  He gives a plausible explanation for where Mulder and Scully have been since the events of the TV series wrapped up in 2002 and why they are now coming back out in to the light of day.  He also brings back many of the favorite characters (and characters we loved to hate) from the show, with reasonable justifications for the presence of those who died off in the series.

Much like the original series, this is comprised of several stand-alone stories as well episodes that are part of a bigger story arc that draws everything together. And it does a good job of recapping much of the mythology from the showing, giving a refresher for returning fans and a catch-up for new listeners.  The television revival should have drawn heavily from the Season 10 comics (which spanned 25 issues), at least for the basic setup, because it is much more faithful to the original series.

As for the audio adaptation, it comes off quite well as expected considering the high-power cast it has on hand. David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson are back in the leads along with Mitch Pileggi as Skinner and many of the original actors from the series (I won't list them all because quite a number count as spoilers). Even Robert Patrick and Annabeth Gish show up as Doggett and Reyes, though their participation is minor. I only have one nitpick and that is that the audio dramas could have used a narrator. There are several times where the actor's dialogue tells the audience what they are doing ("I am walking into the house. I am opening the door to the room. I am walking into the dark room.") and it sounds rather stilted and unrealistic. Other times, you just have to guess what is going on based on the sound effects, which is often times difficult. But apart from that, this is a first rate production.

These two audio dramas are must-haves for long-time fans of the show and are well worth the time you will spend listening to them (both clock in at around four hours). They are only available through Audible that this time, but if you sign up with their two free books promotion (see link below), then you get them both for nothing. And Audible does have the largest selection of audio books out there if you do want to continue your audio adventures (unfortunately they do everything in their proprietary format, though). If you still have a bad taste in your mouth from the revival series, these audio dramas just might be the perfect thing to wash that away. They offer good stories that are faithful to the original series and that are well-performed. X-Files fans will definitely not be disappointed by these.