A Brief History On September 14, 2008, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins was published by Scholastic Press. Digging Deeper This initial novel about a dystopian American/North American future is only one of many such works of fictional dystopian futures, but while this particular genre of novel has long captivated Americans and other readers, the Hunger Games franchise spawned four other novels in the same literary universe, sequels Catching Fire and Mockingjay, and two prequels, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, and the 2025 release, Sunrise at the Reaping.. Excellent novels all, not surprisingly each of the first four novels in…
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A Brief History On August 1, 2026, American science fiction erotic thriller film Soulm8te was released on digital platforms by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment in the United States of America. Digging Deeper Not surprisingly, this film is in the same movie universe as another recent film warning about the dangers of AI, M3GAN, along with other cinematic cautionary tales such as West World, The Stepford Wives, and the like. Our hapless, lovelorn hero, David, played by David Rysdahl (he of television and recent movie experience) works for a company experimenting with creating commercial companion androids, as usual as movies go,…
A Brief History On July 8, 2025, Hour of the Pumpkin Queen: Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas by Megan Shepherd was published by Random House/Disney, a sequel to the popular novel, Long Live the Pumpkin Queen: Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas. Digging Deeper After recently seeing the uprated version of the iconic film, Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, we were anxious to read the novels that continue the tale from the perspective of Sally, who becomes the Pumpkin Queen. Having thoroughly enjoyed the first Sally book, Long Live the Pumpkin Queen:, we were eagerly awaiting the second Sally…
A Brief History On July 1, 2025, Long Live the Pumpkin Queen: Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas – The Graphic Novel by Liz Marsham was published by Disney Press, an adaptation of the popular novel, Long Live the Pumpkin Queen: Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas. Digging Deeper Obviously, the story we enjoyed in the novel is the same in the graphic novel version, and since we found the story in the novel to be highly entertaining the same analysis remains true for the graphic novel. In fact, the graphic novel version flows smoothly much like a regular novel, with appropriate…
A Brief History On June 26, 2026, American superhero film Supergirl was theatrically released by Warner Bros. Pictures in the United States of America. Digging Deeper The first observation we can make about this film is, James Gunn did it again! After a somewhat different take on Superman in 2025’s aptly named film, Superman, we find the female version of the Kryptonian superhero (superheroine?) to likewise be something less than an irresistible force for good with no lack of confidence or purpose. Another flawed superhero, we find our Supergirl (played by Aussie Milly Alcock) a to be an almost morally…