Each month, our arts critics — music, book, theater, dance, television, film, and visual arts — fire off a few brief reviews.
science-fiction
Television Review: “Kindred” — More than a Mystery
In this adaptation for Hulu, Octavia E. Butler’s hybrid sci-fi novel has been reduced to a misguided time travel mystery.
Film Review: “Save Yourselves!” — A Very Likable Sci-Fi Screwball Comedy
I am a champion of “C” movie effects, the cheaper and clunkier the better. So huzzahs for Save Yourselves! and its tacky monsters from another planet.
Film Review: “High Life” — Messy, Earthy Existentialism, In Outer Space
In space, no one can hear you go extinct.
Book Commentary: “Fahrenheit 451” and Cultural Betrayal
It never occurs to him that, by championing just the great works of Western Civilization and consigning pop culture (notably science-fiction) to the flames, he’s exercising his own pernicious brand of censorship.
Film Review: “Phoenix Forgotten” — Retro Science Fiction
If you have a hankering for a new “found-footage” film, then Phoenix Forgotten will feed your retro-appetite.
Theater Review: “The Shepherds’ Singularity”—Time Travel Meets Christmas
The Shepherds’ Singularity‘s playful combination of science fiction and invention will surely incite thoughtful questioning and genuine wonder.
Book Review: Three Early Works from Sci-Fi Master Samuel R. Delany
Taken together, these entertaining early novels present a noteworthy collection—particularly for Samuel R. Delany fans.
Movie Review: Inscrutable “Interstellar” — All You Need Is Love?
I don’t want to give anything away. Not that I could because I really had no idea what anyone was talking about, except that what it is really all about is love.
Film Review: Artfully Defying “Gravity”
Mexico’s Alfonso Cuarón is among the world’s finest, most versatile filmmakers, and someone who—knock on wood!– hasn’t yet directed a dud. GRAVITY is quite OK too, but in the second tier of his work.