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Review: Audible Turns “Alien: Sea of Sorrows” Into a Charmingly Grotesque Audio Drama
On the face of it, the 1979 science fiction classic Alien doesn’t seem like a strong prospect for sequels — at least, not interesting ones. Much of the movie’s interest comes from the gradual revelation of the various horrific qualities of the initially mysterious creatures, but once you know their general modus operandi, they don’t make…
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Audiobook Review: Daniel José Older’s “Last Shot” is an 11-Hour Trivia Challenge for Star Wars Superfans
Since clearing the Expanded Universe decks in 2014 and declaring that only movies were canon, the Disney-era Lucasfilm has been busily re-filling the gaps with books and TV shows exploring the new chronology — with the New Republic, the Solos’ marriage, and Luke Skywalker’s Jedi training endeavor all fumbling in the years between Return of the…
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“Excellences & Perfections”: Iconic Instagram Performance Is Bound and Sold
Excellences & Perfections is a book you can hold in your hands. It chronicles an 2014 performance by Amalia Ulman, who’s been called “the first great Instagram artist.” How do you turn an online performance, which depends on context (or the lack thereof) for its impact, into a book? Excellences & Perfections shows one way, and…
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At 50, “2001: A Space Odyssey” Is Still 33 Years Ahead of Its Time
The Making of Kubrick’s 2001 is a 1970 book edited by Jerome Agel. A rare artifact in and of itself, the book finds the Marshall McLuhan collaborator and paperback pioneer spending 368 packed pages chronicling contemporary attempts not just to make, but to understand the transcendent science fiction film. The final page features a lone quote…
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Steven Spielberg’s “Ready Player One” Needs a Hard Reset
It’s easy to understand what attracted Steven Spielberg to Ready Player One: it’s a story about a media mogul who captivates billions with a souped-up reinvention of the pop culture of his youth. The part of Ernest Cline’s 2011 novel Spielberg seems to have paid less attention to is the part where that same mogul fails…
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Audiobook Review: “The Last Jedi” Brings a Little Whiz-Bang to a Heavy Story
I’m just old enough to be an original Star Wars kid: a trio of bounty hunters from Empire were among my first toys, and I went to see Return of the Jedi for my eighth birthday party. Listening to the Last Jedi audiobook took me back to the ’80s in a couple of ways. First, it reminded me of the particular fascination of…