Category — *Sci-Fi/Fant.

I just saw the new Iron Man movie last night, and while it is overall one of the best superhero movies ever made, there is one element that stands out as unusual: Pepper Potts. (Spoilers follow.)

Virginia “Pepper” Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) is Tony Stark’s personal assistant, whose responsbilities range from handling Stark’s everyday needs to shipping off the women Tony has one-night stands with so that he doesn’t have to deal with them. She is clearly very fond of Tony despite … READ MORE

I saw The Spiderwick Chronicles this week, and I was really impressed. I haven’t read the source material and can’t say how the film stacks up against the books, but on its own The Spiderwick Chronicles has a great deal of awesome.

First of all, it’s a fun fantasy story with coherent internal logic, sympathetic characters and some excellent special effects. But more importantly (for me, anyway), the teenage girl in the movie is not a helpless … READ MORE

I recently re-watched the whole of Justice League (re-titled Justice League Unlimited for its last three seasons), and have come to an important conclusion: it is not just the best superhero show ever made, it is one of the best television series ever made. While it does feature jaw-dropping action, intricate plots, excellent character development, an incredible voice cast,* and a mature approach to superheroes as a genre, the reason I’m writing about it here is its treatment of … READ MORE

When I watched the season two episode of Battlestar: Galactica, Pegusus, my first reaction was that they’d finally jumped the shark. A year and a half of excellent storylines for women, and they blew it with Admiral Kane, who perfectly fit the stereotype of the female leader who is completely heartless. She abandoned her civilian fleet to human-hating androids because they slowed her military down, but before she did that, she took whatever civilians - doctors, engineers, etc - she … READ MORE

I do this thing, when I find a show I like, where I obsessively watch all of the episodes I can get my hands on back-to-back. And while I’m doing that (and usually finishing up some rad knitting project – multitasking for the win!), I do this other thing where I keep a tally in my head, sorting details of the show into columns I label “awesome” and “not awesome.”

The latest show to receive this treatment from me is Kyle … READ MORE

I went and saw Beowulf today (in 3D, zomg! More movies should jump out of the screen at you and try to poke you in the face, for serious). Now, here’s the thing – I am a big fan of the poem. I am of Scandinavian descent myself (though the poem itself is not, the story is, and I’ve always been interested in it), I love me some alliteration and kennings, and Beowulf is on the same manuscript as the … READ MORE

Awhile ago, a friend of mine asked if I wanted to join their Harry Potter RPG. I was a bit wary of the RPG aspect — don’t those involve math? And nerd-boys? I hate math. And nerd-boys. But — I love Harry Potter. It really sounded like an elaborate game of pretend — combined with booze. I love pretend! And booze.

So, I joined. And it’s been an exciting few weeks in the Hogwarts of the 1970s – my group and … READ MORE

As promised yesterday, the good news from Season 2 of Heroes: Monica Dawson.

Monica is a black teenager (Micah’s cousin) living with her family in New Orleans. I don’t recall that the show specifies the exact ways that Hurricane Katrina affected this family, but among them is that Monica has become the primary breadwinner. She’s put her college dreams on hold and is working full time at a burger joint. Even prior to realizing her heroic ability, she’s a great character–strong, … READ MORE

Last season, I wrote about how Heroes, an awesome show in so many respects, could stand to work on its portrayal of women in big ways. I had heard they were paying some attention to the common criticism of gender imbalance and they’ve responded this season by adding some female characters. They’ve made one major improvement that I’ll talk about in a post tomorrow, but there is a long list of their continued shortcomings (I’m also a few episodes behind, … READ MORE

As a fan of both procedural dramas and a sci-fi geek, Torchwood is practically the perfect show for me. And it comes with the super duper bonus of a lead character who is female and manages to be both strong and feminine without falling into any stereotype that I recognize. Yay!

In the beginning, Gwen Cooper is police officer who stumbles onto the secret of Torchwood (a secret organization that investigates alien technology and contact with Earth) by accident. Except it … READ MORE