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Entertainment

Recent Recommendations

  • Wednesday - The family was split on this one, with the teenagers not enjoying it... maybe a brooding teen hit too close to home. The grown-ups in the house are huge Adams Family fans, and I was delighted to have them on screen again. They did not disappoint me.
  • 1899 - This slow-burner had a real creepiness and had me guessing with every episode. The soundtrack and ambient noise complimented the visuals perfectly, and I made a point to flip on the subwoofer to get the full impact. I hadn't seen a single preview prior to watching, so I won't dare give anything away. Just watch it.

Science Fiction

I love good science fiction, especially when the writers bother to respect the laws of physics and basic high school science, and these get props for not dumbing things down:

  • The Expanse - I'm a huge fan of this series and have read all the book. Fingers crossed that they finish the story with a movie or something
  • The Martian - Great book, fantastic adaptation. Pass the ketchup
  • Interstellar - As a dad of daughters, this one hit me hard
  • Gravity - In space, everything is dangerous
  • Arrival - Smart and beautifully shot

My other favorites (in no particular order) include:

  • The Matrix (sadly, they never made a sequel)
  • Moon - Searching for long-range comms
  • District 9 - I just love the way this was shot, and the story is so good
  • Ex Machina - Such a good story
  • Blade Runner - Saw the original in the theater and it's still a great watch
  • Blade Runner 2049 - I was nervous about this sequel, but it hit it out of the park
  • Starship Troopers - A guilty pleasure
  • Close Encounters - I saw this in a drive-in as a kid
  • Aliens - Mostly the perfect action/sci-fi movie, mostly
  • Love Death & Robots - These animation shorts are like a sampler of fine chocolates
  • Dark Mirror - Another collection of great stories
  • Doctor Who - Thought post-Moffat seasons have fallen short. Fingers crossed that they pull it back

Toward the comedy side of sci-fi there's:

  • Galaxy Quest - a hilarious twist on the Star Trek universe
  • Men in Black - Edgar really stole the show
  • Men in Black 3 - my favorite of the franchise, unless this is the reality where...
  • Wall-E - Everything should come in a cup

Action and Fantasy

Anything with swords and armor usually gets my attention. I never got into GoT though. My kids were young at the time, and I didn't have HBO, so I missed the on-ramp.

  • Lord of the Rings - LOTR rules this category with all three being just perfection
  • Conan the Barbarian - one of my fav 80's movies
  • The Princess Bride - Inconceivable!
  • Raiders of the Lost Ark - Saw this in the theater as a kid, and it was magic. The two sequels (yes, there are only two) are a good watch as well.
  • Predator - Also saw in the theater, and had no prior knowledge of the plot. We arrived a little late and missed the opening credits and "space" scene, so the sci-fi aspect was a complete, and utterly delightful surprise.
  • Stranger Things - Another decadent treat for any child of the 80's. Is it horror? Is it sci-fi? Is it drama, action and fantasy? Yes.

Comedies

Here's the funny movies that I didn't include on one of the prior sections.

Drama

Horror

I love the lighter side of horror with these bloody comedies:

But the darker side is so tantalizingly disturbing:

Podcast Format Audio

My two favorites are the http://escapepod.org Escape Pod science fiction podcast and http://pseudopod.org Pseudopod horror podcast. I'm rapidly burning through their whole back-catalog of narrated short fiction, and can't recommend them enough. Often, I'll start an episode as I'm leaving the driveway, and it will end just as I'm parking at work, making the commute fly by.

Please spread the word and https://www.patreon.com/EAPodcasts/overview contribute to support them. Both podcasts are ad-free, pay the authors the going industry rate and are funded entirely by donations.

Escape Pod

Pseudopod

The Expanse poster
The Thing movie poster