I realize that there is nothing in this world so great that somebody doesn't hate it (and, vice versa, nothing in this world so awful that somebody doesn't love it). But I cite Aliens all the time, at SF conventions, as being on that very, very, very short list of sequels that are better than the original movie. Alien…

More weed, nitrous, and a bit of acid. The decade or so after Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land pulled a LOT of hippies into science fiction fandom. (I recall one midwestern con I volunteered at where the guest of honor missed almost every appearance, spent the whole weekend tripping on acid.)

I missed the '70s, but as late as the early '80s, when I first started going to conventions, back before the Costumer's Guild all-but took over the judging, the panel consisted of a few big name fans and the guest of honor, and it was pretty routine that "Best in Show" went to the nakedest good-looking woman. People…

John W. Todd (aka "John Todd Collins") and Jack Chick were saying the same thing about Jimmy Carter back in 1980. And Pat Robertson and Tim LaHaye were saying the same thing about Bill Clinton back in 1996. The only thing that's changed is that now the "the Democratic President is the Anti-Christ" hucksters have…

I can't beat danny7185's, but the first two that occurred to me were Gold's Gym and the President's Council on Fitness.

All I will say in defense of that cover is ... it was the 1970s. And the book was expected to be sold on the science fiction rack.

Is it going to be another dimly lit series full of people in grey clothes running around in grey environments and treating each other abysmally, and at the end we find out "a wizard did it"?

I don't. I apologize to them for the fact that, for so long, we mistook them for prey.

Not all that interested. I already saw this back when it was called Jacob's Ladder. And read it, before that, when it was called "Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge."

You beat me to it by seconds. This looks surprisingly good, but will somebody explain to me where this habit comes from of getting US presidential election dates off by 2 years, over and over again?

Couldn't this list have been shortened to "all of them"? I'm serious. Has there EVER been a science fiction movie remake that wasn't a total disaster? Well, okay, maybe one or two of the Frankenstein remakes. But other than that?

Dystopika just brought up New Jack: Guarding Sing Sing which was a good book about what actually goes on in (most of) our prisons, namely the fact that with inmate-to-staff ratios as insane as they are, it really is the prisoners who are doing most of the work of guarding each other, and they do just fine at it.

#11 wasn't far off, for the 1970s. I think I went to school with her.

I want to draw a comparison to US employment law, which means before I make my main point, I need to make two disclaimers. First, IANAL, I'm just a guy who's sat through quite a bit of anti-discrimination and anti-harassment training. (Court ordered for everyone at my employer before last. Don't ask.) Secondly, I'm…

Patricia McKillip, Riddle-Master of Hed. "Give other people what they require for their lives."

No love for Edy & the Fae?

tldr; version: Edgar Rice Burroughs matters once again because video games and Hollywood blockbusters are as stupid and bombastic as the pulps, so they're going back to the original master of stupidity and bombast.

I'm getting a very generic, very lazy cyberpunk vibe off of the story-telling. Presumably the pitch meeting goes like this: "Robocop with Sandanistas:" generic evil corporation wants generic virtuous peasants' land, kidnaps peasants, implants their brains into killer cyborgs, brainwashes the cyborgs to go kill their…

Oh, man. I really wanted to like this show. I loved the pilot. But it sounds like season two is going to be even more of why I quit watching it halfway through season one: it is too grim, and too emotionally intense, for me to find it entertaining. I just couldn't take it lightly enough, and the main characters'…

I saw a couple of these (#s 1, 4, and 9) and they were all uneven, but that's pretty common in a science fiction series, especially one with an ensemble cast. Star Cops and Space: Above and Beyond were the ones I hated the cancellation of the most; if nothing else, I really felt like Above and Beyond was a lot closer…