TheRetroCritic

From executive producers J.J. Abrams and Jon Favreau, Revolution was a post-apocalyptic sci-fi series from 2012 set after the power inexplicably goes out in the world leaving it in a permanent blackout as America's leadership is completely reshuffled and a resistance grows. Revolution presents a big concept with a lot of potential and the previews for this show looked like a lot of fun. With the involvement of Abrams and the usually reliable Billy Burke, this certainly ticked all right boxes. The Pilot episode, directed by Favreau himself, introduces us to the main characters and this new post-power world rather well as America finds itself divided with the North-Eastern coast being run by intimidating dictator Monroe (David Lyons). When scientist Ben Matheson (Tim Guinee), who was involved in the mess that led to the power being turned off, is killed by the Monroe Republic militia and his son Danny (Graham Rogers) is kidnapped, his headstrong daughter Charlie (Tracy Spiridak

We talk at length about Star Wars: The Force Awakens on the first episode of podcast Force Majeure . Chewie, we're home.

I toy around with clay, card and wire to bring you the cheapest version of the Fringe opening titles sequence out there.

My Vlog review of 2015's mightiest of all blockbusters Star Wars: The Force Awakens .

Review available on the new website .

Force Majeure is a new, unofficial Star Wars podcast in which each film in the franchise is given its own sort-of-in-depth review. In this first episode, guest co-host Jamie and I discuss Episode VII: The Force Awakens . http://forcemajeurepod.blogspot.com @TheRetroCritic #ForceMajeure

So I watched Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens and, let me tell ya... This is not the Wars you're looking for. For one thing, the title makes no sense when you're actually watching the movie. The "Force" Awakens? The Force is not mentioned once during the entire film! I distinctly remember the Force being mentioned at least four times in the original sexylogy.  Maybe five. And as for the "Awakens", the only way that makes any sense at all is by linking the main actor, whatever his name is, who looks a heck of a lot like Robin Williams, to a film starring the iconic comedian himself called Awakenings . Then again, this movie has nothing to do with that other movie so, again, we find ourselves in a pickle.  The droids are all wrong. They're too blocky and they look too much like plastic robots. Now I understand that J.J. Abrams ( Felicity ) was very keen to go "old school" and use "practical" effects

UPDATE (12/09/13): The book?! Really?!! Ok then. So J.J. Abrams recently released a trailer for an unknown project and everyone since has been geeking out and coming up with their own guesses as to what tat project might be. Some of them making more sense than others. Here are my favourite guesses that I've heard so far: 10 being the more probable/boring guess and 1 being the more outlandish/exciting guess. Here we go: 10 BELIEVE Nothing can stop J.J. from dipping his toe in the TV world, it seems. The man is always looking to find the next Alias , the next Lost or the next Fringe . And you gotta love him for that. Almost Human is, of course, the next big thing he's making that's coming out (yes, that robot Karl Urban thing) but he's also been working with Alfonso Cuaron on a grittier sci-fi show with some clear potential. Believe would follow a little girl with psychic abilities and a dude who's trying to protect her from some shady organisa

Ever wondered what would have happened if Star Trek had gone " Into The Darkness " ? Sure you have. Check out G.J. Adams' pre-imagining of Star Trek Into Darkness : fan-fiction at its finest.

(SPOILER-FREE REVIEW) "I. Am. Better." "At what?" "Everything." That's the conversation Benedict Cumberbatch's villain has with Chris Pine's Kirk in the trailers for this new J.J. Abrams Trek outing Star Trek: Into Darkness . And, you know what? This movie could have easily had the exact same conversation with the first Star Trek reboot. Yes, it is, indeed, better. At everything. As the title suggests, Into Darkness is darker (duh!) but it's also bigger and more fun. Which is not to say it's perfect, no Star Trek movie is, but it sets out to be a superior sequel and achieves just that. This time around, more emphasis is placed on the film's villain and, considering how forgettable Eric Bana's bitter future Romulan was in the first movie, this is certainly a good move. Especially since Benedict Cumberbatch's John Harrisson is such a good villain, the Sherlock actor stealing the show in almost every scene he&#

Rebooting/continuing the Star Trek franchise was never going to be easy. What were they supposed to do? Make a movie based on the flop series Enterprise ? Invent a brand new Star Trek crew, give them their own movie and hope for the best? Give one of the old crews their weight in gold to stick around and continue making Star Trek movies? With J.J. Abrams onboard, in the end the goal became to restart the franchise with the Original Series crew, except with a brand new, younger cast, tons of action, state of the art special effects and try to somehow create a parallel timeline within the film itself in order to keep things fresh and avoid remaking the old show and the old movies shot-for-shot. Probably the only logical approach, but still pretty risky. The result was an epic, expensive blockbuster with enough action to keep even the most reluctant viewers entertained. An origins story, we got to see Kirk and co.'s pre-Enterprise days and their earliest of missions which a

You all know the plot of 2004's TV phenomenon Lost by now: plane crash lands a group of flawed characters on a seemingly deserted island, weird things start happening, silly backstories aplenty, lots of talking, unlikely twists... A J.J. Abrams co-creation and the producer's first hit show since Alias , Lost was a re-invention of the whole Robinson Crusoe, stranded-on-a-desert-island scenario into a Twilight Zone -esque mystery but with a large ensemble. People either loved it or hated it and, to this day, you'll still find uneven opinions in regards to it. This first season boasts a whopping 25 episodes which makes binge-watching a chore more than a treat but, by the time the fourth episode kicks in with its nifty twist, you should find yourself, at the very least intrigued by Lost. The main characters include Jack Shephard (Matthew Fox), the goody-two-shoes hero doctor, James "Sawyer" (Josh Holloway), the Southern con-man hunk, Kate Austen (Evangeline Lill