By Orrin Grey

Onmyoji (2001). Director: Yojiro Takita. Cast: Mansai Nomura, Hiroyuki Sanada, Hideaki Ito, Eriko Imai. Country: Japan.

First, a quick history lesson: Onmyoji takes place during the Heian period in Japan, a time when onmyoji referred to a class of civil servants who practiced magic and divination, made calendars, and kept the peace between people and spirits. The story of the movie concerns Abe no Seimei, a real person and accomplished onmyoji. A shrine in Kyoto bears the name of the real Abe no Seimei and is…

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By Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Johnson, Kenneth. V: The Second Generation. Tor Books; 1st edition (February 5, 2008) ISBN-13: 978-0765319074.

We interrupt your regularly scheduled review of War of the Worlds to bring you a review of V: The Second Generation. Why? Because I finished reading it, that’s why.  Also, its plot bears resemblance to the second season of War of the Worlds (more on that later).

Back in the 80s, Kenneth Johnson, the creator of V, left the second miniseries, due to production conflicts (he didn’t like the direction the show…

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By Orrin Grey

The Crimson Rivers (2000). Director: Mathieu Kassovitz. Cast: Jean Reno, Vincent Cassel. Country: France.

Summarizing the plot of The Crimson Rivers is complicated and prone to the danger of spoilers. Based on a best-selling French novel of the same name, it’s essentially a police procedural/serial killer film in the vein of movies like Silence of the Lambs (though it actually has more in common with Red Dragon, from that series).

The story follows two detectives (Jean Reno and Vincent Cassel) investigating two separate crimes. While Reno follows the…

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By Joshua Reynolds

Gardner, Cate. Strange Men in Pinstripe Suits & Other Curious Things. Strange Publications, 2010. $11.99. ISBN: 9-780982-026649.

Cate Gardner has a way with titles.

The 24 stories which make up Ms. Gardner’s first collection, the aptly named Strange Men in Pinstripe Suits and Other Curious Things, each have a title which is at once both evocative and intriguing. Luckily for the reader, the stories attached to those titles do not disappoint. They are a frothy mixture of reprints and previously unpublished works, but the…

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by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Now this is one episode that, despite its flaws (outrageous use of a tomahawk), succeeds due to some nice set pieces and the setup (a whole town taken over by aliens). So, my beef this time is not so much with the episode itself, but with the War of the Worlds DVD: it’s crap. The DVDs contain the episodes with no extras, no commentaries, no extended scenes, or anything at all. One would have hoped a bit more care might be put into transferring…

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By Maria Mitchell

Family Plot (soundtrack). Music composed and conducted by John Williams (1976).

There’s something magical about a harpsichord which allows its sound to elicit images of baroque intrigue from the imagination. As “Family Plot” is a film anchored in convoluted plans of deception and mystery, it’s only fitting that this wonderful instrument should be one of the most recognizable voices of the score’s orchestration. The film follows the wheels and deals of a phony medium named Blanche Tyler and her boyfriend, John McBride. They are set…

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