So, I've been participating in National Novel Writing Month in hopes of writing an entire 50,000 word novel before the end of the month. Today is day 10 and instead of writing this blog post I should be adding words to today's word count. But, I wanted to take a minute to update this blog with an update.

A few months ago this blog transitioned from a sci-fi analysis and fan blog into my personal writing website. A place to send people who are interested in learning about me as a writer. Also, I have hopes of using this blog as a way to keep track of my writing pursuits. I'd still, of course, love to keep it updated with sci-fi stuff, so I think that will continue to be a big portion of what is posted.

I was SUPER excited that this was on the list of futuristic depictions of 2019. Since we discussed Blade Runner last time, this post naturally must follow. This is because Danger Days: The True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys was lightly inspired by Blade Runner (for more on that, check out this good Billboard article). So, what does Danger Days say about 2019 and does it align with the 2019 depicted in Blade Runner? Let's take a look at a few of the songs.

Anyone who knows me or who has read this blog is familiar with my etherial struggle to appreciate Blade Runner. While I am not going to delve too deeply into that, I am going to push past any of those preconceived notions of inferiority in an attempt to appreciate and understand this highly-beloved film for what it is rather than what it is not. Rather than review this film, I am going to deep-dive into one of the things that really interested me during my rewatch last weekend: the neo-noir aesthetic and how that depiction of 2019 is significant to the progression of the plot.

Note: I have not seen Blade Runner 2049. If any of my thoughts/opinions either contradict or are answered in the 2017 sequel, I guess I'll find out later.

What better way to ring in the new year than by looking back at what past writers thought this upcoming year would be like. Here is a list of science fiction stories that imagine 2019 in many different and creative ways. I don't know that I'll be consuming these all right away, but they're all definitely on my list for 2019. It's interesting to think about how dystopic everyone thought the world would be in 2019 (and they're kind of right???!). Although I've watched/read/listened to about half of everything on this list, I am still excited to be consuming all of these stories in a new context. Also, I'm going to be focusing on female representation, because there definitely isn't enough focus on women in these stories. Here's the list!

I am notorious for buying books faster than I can read them. I can't resist the allure of an interesting book. Sometimes, all it takes is a good cover to convince me that I absolutely need a book. Here is a look back at all the books I bought in July. Some are not sci-fi, but that is okay.

I was excited when the previews for the newest Lost in Space rendition were released. The series looked fun and exciting. However, once the series was released on Netflix this past April, I found myself struggling through the first few episodes before I finally just gave up. Here's a list of reasons why I still haven't finished Lost in Space.

The premise behind the Red Rising series is very well thought out and immersive. There are a lot of things I dislike about this book but I honestly did enjoy it. Pierce Brown does a great job at creating this futuristic universe ruled by class separation.

I don't own very many movies, but the ones I do own are pretty special to me. I recently made a YouTube video of my movie haul, but I thought I'd post about them here too. So here is a list of my movies with my very short review of each one.

Armada starts out strong, creating an immersive alternate reality to our current present time, and then quickly loses its speed in an ocean of overwhelming battle scenes and gamer elitism. I was actually pretty excited to read Armada, especially because I enjoyed reading Ready Player One a few years ago. Armada stems from the same novel quality as Ready Player One in that they are centered around a video game driven world. However, there were more things about Armada that I disliked than things I liked.

Solo has been in theaters for less than 24 hours and I've already seen so much hate for it on Twitter and Facebook. It seems to be all the "casual" Star Wars fans who didn't enjoy it. From dedicated fans, though, I've been reading nothing but praise for the movie and hopes for a sequel. I really enjoyed the movie and thought it was a great addition to the Star Wars universe, and that it was a perfect second stand-alone movie next to Rogue One, which I loved.

It has been so long since my previous post! The end of the semester and finals were really tough this year, but exams are over and school is out. So, here's a hastily written jumble of thoughts about the latest Avengers film. I jotted some thoughts down on paper after seeing the movie when it first came out so here is that list. Spoilers ahead, obviously.

This past Thursday I went to an advance screening of the new Rampage movie coming out this week and here are a few thoughts.

 Apparently this movie is based on a late 80s arcade game. I've never played this game but this is what wikipedia has to say about it: "Players take control of gigantic monsters trying to survive against onslaughts of military forces. Each round is completed when a particular city is completely reduced to rubble. [x]" If destruction of cities is what you're looking for in a movie, Rampage is the movie for you. Based on this description of the game, I definitely think this film is pretty accurate to it's legacy and also probably does a good job of filling in any plot holes/ details that give the story more depth.

I went into the movie very nervous because anything involving animals always makes me cautious. The movie is really good about animal treatment and representation in that the characters are trying to protect the main "monster" from being destroyed by the government (who are just trying to save the city). I really appreciated how the plot emphasized that the "rampage" is not the animals' fault but the scientists who altered them. There are a lot of dimensions to the plot but long story short is that I left the theater feeling fine about the animals and their plot.

Dwayne Johnson is great, as he always is. There was a lot of comedy and he did a great job playing both the tough guy and the sensitive primatologist. I know he's known for playing essentially the same role in every movie but I really did enjoy this scientist character.

Where the plot really shines is with Naomie Harris's character Kate Caldwell. Her backstory is really interesting and well developed. I love a good tragic history as motivation for a character. It just helps the movie be a little bit more than just The Rock against mutated monster animals.

From what I can remember there weren't even any obnoxiously unneeded romantic scenes written in just for the sake of it. I really appreciate that. There was one comment toward the end that was annoying but that was about it. So the movie definitely gets some points from me for avoiding unnecessary romance subplots.

I enjoyed this movie in the way that I enjoy big-budget destruction movies. There's a lot of action and a lot of big fight scenes. It was fun to just sit back and watch all of Chicago be torn apart by three giant animals.

Was it my favorite movie? No, definitely not. It was fun and entertaining but it isn't in my list of top sci-fi movies by a long shot.

Would I recommend this movie? Yes. I saw it in a normal theater in 2D but it would be pretty cool in IMAX if you get the chance.

Thanks for reading and don't forget to leave a comment. Let me know what you thought about Rampage.

–– Samantha

I might do a review of the Ready Player One novel sometime in the future, but this is a quick review for the movie directed by Steven Spielberg which came out today.

I've already read several articles and blog posts that claim the movie was disappointing and overly saturated with pop culture references (which is the point) and I feel like I want to be the optimist for this movie.

I was pleasantly surprised at how much I actually enjoyed Ready Player One. It was fast paced and exciting from beginning to end with no annoying lull in the plotline which can be common in action movies.

The story was altered from it's novelization but this wasn't necessarily a bad thing. The book is long and a lot of intricate details occur which lengthens out the competition within the story. A movie version of the book that changed nothing would be an impossibly long one. Zak Penn and Ernest Cline (the book's writer) did a great job at preparing the script to incorporate the important elements and the spirit of the book into the film. I trust this new movie-storyline not just because it was good but also because the book's author co-wrote the script. He obviously approves of this book-to-movie adaptation since he helped adapt it!

Many of the elements were adapted so well it is amazing. The Stacks where Wade lives and the massiveness of the OASIS were so well done (God bless good CGI).  CGI-heavy movies can be hard to swallow if done poorly, but I didn't have any issues with this movie. The distinction between reality and OASIS made the CGI of the OASIS feel fluid and natural. We aren't supposed to believe that these crazy things like car racing in NYC or monsters in The Shining are real – they're in a video game. So even if the CGI wasn't the best quality it would have still felt natural because we KNOW we are watching a "fake" world. I feel like I'm going in circles defending the special effects at this point so I'll just say that I liked the balance of real-world scenes to OASIS scenes and they did a good job.

For those who felt bombarded with pop-culture references, I don't think they've read the book or have any sense of this world in which Wade lives. It's a world in which one man's love for pop culture and nerd culture has seeped into his creation of one of the most important computer programs/worlds that this futuristic society relies on. The references certainly have much more significance in the book but incorporating them into the movie not only helped make the movie fun but also set the tone of the world in which the movie takes place.

Overall, I really enjoyed Ready Player One. It did not bother me that the story was different from the book or that the pop culture references seemed 'cheesy' or out of place. The heart of the book was translated beautifully into movie form and it kept the same foundational goal: Wade and his group of OASIS friends banding together to save the world from corporate dictatorship.

– Samantha

Another semester has come and gone. I actually struggled a lot this past fall which made the semester really difficult. I felt so overwhelmed with the workload and at one point fell super behind in both math and physics. Nevertheless, I did do pretty well in those classes and in my other classes as well. For the spring semester I have signed up for only three classes as a way to give myself a small break and hopefully regain some confidence.

Here's a video of me discussing my fall semester.

It is now mid-semester and I've been struggling with my 8 AM class so much. The struggle is so real. In an effort to be more punctual, I have been brainstorming some ideas to help myself feel motivated and happy (well as much as I can be that early) enough to focus and enjoy my early classes. Here are some tips that have helped me so far:

Since fall semester starts tomorrow and my summer ends today, I thought it would be fun to make a posts about the cool shows that I watched and enjoyed this summer. I watched a lot of things but binge-watched a handful of shows I absolutely LOVED. Here's a list of shows I binge-watched and loved during my summer break.

oops. The spring semester proved to be hard work and it it certainly evident in the lack of posts on this blog! I started out strong and then around spring break my determination withered away into nothing and I stopped doing homework and started watching a lot of Netflix. As a result, the last few weeks were a tornado of unworked homework assignments and final papers. Now that it is summer, I feel renewed in the sense that school seems like a fun thing again. I can't wait until fall! Anyway, I did pretty well in my classes but not as well in some than what I had hoped for. I made a vlog about my semester which I'm going to post here instead of writing out everything I've already talked about on camera.