A fun little article idea for you–I’ll let you in on some of the great works of art (films, books, short story collections, music albums, etc.) I’ve been enjoying as of late.

Books I’ve read recently

Under the Dome, Just After Sunset, The Gunslinger, The Mist, The Shining, Night Shift, The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King – All fantastic reads; any reader would enjoy them as I did. Under the Dome and the two short story collections were especially good.

The Man In the High Castle by Philip K. Dick - A very interesting and haunting piece of science fiction of the alternative history variety. I’ve also been dipping in and out of the Philip K. Dick Reader, a marvelous collection of his best short stories. The Hanging Stranger is a new favorite alongside The Minority Report and A Scanner Darkly. Hope to soon pick up a copy of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Darth Bane: Dynasty of Evil by Drew Karpyshyn - A great conclusion to my all-time favorite Star Wars expanded universe trilogy, which examines the life of the Sith Lord who instituted the familiar philosophy of master and apprentice seen in the films.

I just purchased the L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume XXV anthology, as well as Isaac Asimov’s Foundation, so I’ll try to mention them in future posts. So far Foundation is brilliant–some of the most vivid descriptions of alien planets I’ve ever encountered in the genre, and written in the 1950s!

Films I’ve seen recently

Pulp Fiction – I honestly can’t believe I waited so long to see this; I always heard it was one of the greatest films ever, but I was a little skeptical, naturally. Damn is it entertaining–and some really rich performances by Samuel L. Jackson and Uma Thurman. Travolta and Willis are fairly neutral characters early on, and your opinions of them change drastically as the movie progresses.

District 9 – I don’t think this science fiction film got quite the amount of attention it deserved. It is truly rich in its examination of social issues and human nature. The “Prawns”–the aliens imprisoned in District 9–are very well designed and cleverly written into what is essentially a story about humanity. Good special effects, but they aren’t central to the plot as with many films of the genre. Right up there with Blade Runner. Seriously.

Adventureland - Possibly one of the all-time great American male coming-of-age films. Time will tell, but I rate it up there alongside The Graduate and Risky Business.

Avatar – As a science fiction lover and writer I feel it essential that I comment on this movie. First of all, James Cameron is a man who has embraced science fiction his whole career–The Abyss, Aliens, and The Terminator are some of my favorite films. This movie has been getting a lot of negative criticism in regards to both its negative depiction of the military and the “stereotypical” nature of its indigenous alien race. I must argue in Cameron’s favor–he’s done his research (reading Sci-Fi adventure novels as a young man, making great films), he’s created a vivid, unique, and believable world and also crafted a fairly brilliant visual style for the film. As for the plot, sure, it’s been done; but never in quite this way. The Avatar concept of a stand-in being having been genetically engineered to be used for infiltrating an alien society is pretty ingenious–if it has been done before, I’m certainly unaware of it. And as for the characters, they are pretty rich thanks to some top-notch acting by Sigourney Weaver, Sam Worthington (the guy who saved Terminator: Salvation), and Zoe Saldana (the gorgeous new Lt. Yuhura from the 2009 Star Trek reboot).

Music I’ve been jamming out to

Alice In Chains – Black Gives Way to Blue

Joe Bonomassa – The Ballad of John Henry

John Mayer – Battle Studies

Pearl Jam – Backspacer

U2 – No Line On the Horizon

Muse – The Resistance