Monthly Archive:: January 2021
Jan 31 2021
This Week in Geek (2/1/21–2/7/21)
Welcome to This Week in Geek, your guide to events of interest to the Minnesota geek community for the week of Monday, February 1, to Sunday, February 7.
Please note: Due to risks from the global COVID-19 pandemic, and in following current health guidelines recommending both social distancing and limited…
Jan 29 2021
Star Wars: Squadrons Lets Space Battle Shine
Among the lightsaber duels, snappy one-liners, and ill-suited romances, one thing that always stands out in Star Wars is the space battles. It’s practically in the name. From the trench run and the ambush at the second Death Star hearkening back to the aerial aces found in old World War II movies to the…
Jan 27 2021
A Vow So Bold and Deadly Is a Satisfying Conclusion to the Cursebreakers Series
After reading Brigid Kemmerer’s A Curse So Dark and Lonely more than two years ago, I became enamored with the kingdom of Emberfall and entangled in the fierce ongoing battle of Team Rhen vs. Team Grey. The Cursebreakers series has taken on a life of its own, and after the cliffhanger ending we received…
Jan 27 2021
Sci-Fi Geekery and Word Nerdery Unite in the Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction
If you’re into sci-fi terminology, there’s a new website that should be right up your alley. Yesterday, lexicographer Jesse Sheidlower launched the Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction, which documents not just the meanings but the origins, contexts, and evolution of some 1,800…
Jan 26 2021
Game Night with a Ranger Brings Nature to Zoom
Ask any child of the 21st century: a bitter rivalry exists between going outdoors and playing games on your phone. But the last year has forced us all to re-examine many relationships, whether that’s the relationship between sweat pants and work meetings; between ice cream, buffalo wings, and…
Jan 25 2021
Clues to the Universe Is Down to Earth in Characters and Theme
Stories that sneak up and take me by surprise are the ones I remember most fondly. There’s something unique about a narrative that is unassuming on the surface and then ends up pulling me in, making my reading experience that much more special simply because I wasn’t expecting it. The unexpected…
Jan 24 2021
This Week in Geek (1/25/21–1/31/21)
Welcome to This Week in Geek, your guide to events of interest to the Minnesota geek community for the week of Monday, January 25, to Sunday, January 31.
Please note: Due to risks from the global COVID-19 pandemic, and in following current health guidelines recommending both social distancing and limited…
Jan 23 2021
Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon Is Both a Blast from the Past and a Fresh Remix
Viz Media released the first trailer for the anime series Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon, a sequel to the series Inuyasha, way back in August 2020, and happily, it’s now available in the US! The series premiered in Japan in early October and began streaming in the US shortly thereafter; while…
Jan 22 2021
One Night in Miami Is an Absorbing Imagining of a Friendship among History Makers
Regina King has won many awards and accolades for her acting, including an Academy Award, and has directed a number of television episodes and music videos, but One Night in Miami is her feature directorial debut. What she accomplishes with it feels both spectacularly ambitious and poignantly intimate.…
Jan 17 2021
Promising Young Woman Is a Thrilling and Thoughtful Dissection of Rape Culture
Promising Young Woman is being marketed as a revenge thriller, a category replete with dark themes, ominous music, and wronged women. But Emerald Fennell’s feature directorial debut does much more than soak the genre standards in a candy-coated aesthetic—it gnaws at the core of the genre itself.…