Horror, Inspirations, Movies, Thriller, Writing

TSJ Remembers Wes Craven

 • 0 Comments

 

When I learned of Wes Craven‘s passing in the Summer of 2015, it hurt.

He was one of the originals. He was a horror director who helped create the “slasher” genre, but he did so with more backstory and style than some of his peers. A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET brought us Freddy Krueger, one of the greatest villains of all time.

So many films of the slasher genre involved teenagers being teens, and having to deal with the repercussions of bad or questionable choices. When this movie appeared I was fourteen years old and among the age demographic that Craven had targeted. (I was perhaps a tad on the young side of the demographic, but the movie had a greater effect on me because of it.) Nightmares are by nature scary and intangible things and have the potential to impact in emotional and scarring ways. Wes Craven tapped into this in a very effective way, and Freddy’s history ensured that he was an invincible villain. Freddy became iconic and instantly recognizable around the world.

Read more →

Book Review, Movies, Science Fiction, Steven Spielberg, Video Games

TSJ Reviews the Novel READY PLAYER ONE by Ernie Cline

 • 0 Comments

 

Here’s a #short #book #review for you this morning:

Almost two years ago now I first picked up READY PLAYER ONE by @erniecline. I couldn’t put it down. Took me three days to finish. Reality intervened, work and life interrupted a few times, but when I wasn’t reading I was doing everything I could to get back to that book.  It’s rare that a novel does this to me, but it’s happened before.  The previous one that I recall having the same effect was probably THE FOREVER WAR by Joe Haldeman.

Read more →

Alien, Horror, Science Fiction, Thriller, Video Games, X-Box

TSJ Reviews ALIEN: ISOLATION

 • 0 Comments

 

ALIEN ISOLATION is an incredible game. It’s dark and moody and genuinely terrifying.

These days I don’t have much time for video games, but when I do play, I choose ones that fall into the genres that I love: Science Fiction, Horror, Mystery and Thriller. I play on the X-Box, mostly because when the Nintendo-64 was retired, the original X-Box was the console with the most familiar controller and the game most similar to GOLDENEYE and PERFECT DARK — that game was HALO. (I just never got into the Sony Playstation — though I loved playing TWISTED METAL 2, 3 and 4, as well as METAL GEAR SOLID.) Some of the titles I’ve played in the past few years include BIOSHOCK, FALLOUT 3, and the DEADSPACE series.

Read more →

Action, Inspirations, JJ Abrams, Movie Review, Movies, Science Fiction, Star Trek, Thriller

SF Author Timothy S. Johnston Looks Back at STAR TREK (2009)

 • 0 Comments

STAR TREK (2009): A PERFECT REBOOT AND A SOARING THRILL-RIDE

(Originally published by TrekWeb on 14 February 2012)

J.J. Abrams and writers Bob Orci and Alex Kurtzman did in 2009 what I thought impossible: they rebooted a franchise with over forty years of history, including seventy-nine episodes, six motion pictures, four spinoffs, an animated series, countless books, comics, video games, and references in popular culture. It seemed a task that only a fool would tackle. To face the criticism of rabid fans — a group in which I include myself — and the most critical eyes focused on every bit of the film, including story, f/x, sound, acting and music, a failure could have potentially resulted in complete disaster for the franchise and also the death of careers. But J.J. & Co. faced it head on, with fresh eyes, a new perspective, and with intense creativity.

Read more →

Movie Review, Movies, OSCARs

Decoding THE IMITATION GAME: Fact and Fiction in the Film and Alan Turing’s Place in the SF Genre

 • 0 Comments

“Sometimes it is the people no one imagines anything of who do the things that no one can imagine.”

The above phrase is spoken no less than three times in the film, and once in the trailer. It’s an important part of the movie THE IMITATION GAME, directed by Morten Tyldum and starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightly. Put more simply, it could be said that sometimes people ignored early in life can end up surprising you.

Read more →

Action, Character Development, Horror, Inspirations, James Cameron, JJ Abrams, Movies, Science Fiction, The 1980's, The Terminator, Thriller

Where Has the Character-Driven Action Film Gone?

 • 0 Comments

#Thriller #Action #Movies

First, I have to define the concept. A “Character-Driven Action Film” would be a sub-category of the action genre, set in any time or place that focuses on the character and history of the leads as much as it does on the action elements of the story. Simple enough, right? Right.

So where have these movies gone?

Read more →

Action, Blockbuster, Character Development, Horror, Inspirations, James Cameron, Movies, Science Fiction, Suspense, TechnoThriller, The 1980's, The Terminator, Thriller, Writing

TSJ on THE TERMINATOR

 • 1 Comment

I watched THE TERMINATOR on the weekend.

I had to.

It was calling me.

I use the phrases “watershed film” or “watershed book” quite a lot. That’s the point of this entire blog. What are the movies/books/tv shows that influenced me in the years leading to my first attempts at writing fiction? Hell, even the name of this blog — “Life After Gateway” — is a nod to my favorite Science Fiction novel. This blog is dedicated to the books and movies that inspired me in my creative/formative years. A few TV series, some fantastic authors, and a small selection of short stories helped along the way. Certain teachers were invaluable too.

Read more →