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23 Weeks of Star Trek Reminded Me of the Simple Pleasure in a Job Well Done

For the past 23 weeks, every Thursday a new episode of Star Trek has appeared on CBS All Access, delivering us Lower Decks’ surprising debut season and the third, strongest chapter of Discovery. A lot happened in nearly half a year of boldly going, but looking back, all I can think about was how refreshing … Continued

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The Expanse‘s Latest Episode Sets Season 5’s Endgame in Motion

The Expanse’s fifth season is inching closer to its finale, and this week the show narrowed its focus, spending most of its time on one especially heartbreaking storyline. Episode seven’s title, “Oyedeng,” is the Belter word for “good-bye”—and the series has rarely taken us through such a painful, powerful farewell. We don’t get many flashbacks … Continued

io9Movies

Anthony Mackie Fights a Robot in an Exclusive Clip from Netflix’s Outside the Wire

This weekend brings the release of several new streaming movies but the one that interests us most has Marvel star Anthony Mackie playing a cyborg. The Netflix film is Outside the Wire and stars Mackie as a secret military cyborg in charge of an important mission. He recruits a hotshot soldier (Damson Idris) to help … Continued

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Ben Affleck May Direct the Fantasy Keeper of the Lost Cities for Disney

Ben Affleck is probably never going to direct that Batman movie he’d been prepping but he may get to play with some wonderful toys at a rival studio. Deadline reports Affleck is attached to direct an adaptation of Keeper of the Lost Cities, the first in an ongoing book series by Shannon Messenger. The story follows … Continued

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Star Trek: Discovery‘s Co-Showrunner Talks Defying Expectations With Season 3’s Big Michael Moment

The season three finale of Star Trek: Discovery was a big one for Michael Burnham. She had to retake the Discovery from the villain of the season, try to stop some of her closest friends from dying of radiation, and prevent kickstarting a galaxy-wide cataclysm—just to name a few of her recent exploits. But its … Continued

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This Video Goes Behind-the-Scenes on Star Trek: Discovery‘s Climactic Season 3 Finale

That was a big one, wasn’t it? Now that the third season of Star Trek: Discovery is over, there are some big transformations to think about. In a new behind-the-scenes video, executive producers Michelle Paradise and Olatunde Osunsanmi along with some of the show’s stars reflect on what’s happened, how it means, and how it … Continued

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Damn Right We Deserve a Friday Gif Party

We’d be hard-pressed to find another Thank God It’s Friday (TGIF) that has more meaning than this one. This has been a week like we’ve never experienced, and one we’ll (hopefully) never experience again. So we’re going to dance, and gif, like nobody’s watching. Be sure to leave your favorite party, dancing, or celebratory gifs … Continued

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The 10th and 5th Doctors Are Teaming Up to Fight Cybermen

The Doctor’s next Parisian adventure isn’t quite what they expected, nor as romantic as a chance encounter in the city of love might suggest. After all, most Cybermen don’t take too kindly to the idea of feelings, anyway! Today, audio drama producer Big Finish announced the second entry in its Doctor Who: Out of Time … Continued

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Star Trek: Discovery Earned Its Sound and Fury This Time

Star Trek: Discovery is three seasons in now, and we have a sense of the sort of big stakes and dramatic action it likes to hang its endgame scenarios on. So far, they’ve been an uneven affair, leaning heavily on big, explosive action, gambling on big shocks at the expense of really satisfying the ideas … Continued

io9Trailers

The Wanting Mare Looks Like a Lyrical Sci-Fi Dreamscape

Sometimesyou watch a movie trailer and think “I have no idea what the hell I just watched, but I’m totally here for it.” That’s probably about to happen to you with the trailer for The Wanting Mare. Written and directed by Nicholas Ashe Bateman, the film is set in a world called Anmaere. A place … Continued

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The Best Sci-Fi Trips to Help You Escape…at Least for a Little While

What I wouldn’t give to travel again. To see someplace new. Visit someplace exotic. In The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy may say “There’s no place like home,” but she didn’t have to stay home for almost a full year during a pandemic. That desire to travel gets even stronger around the holidays. This is the … Continued

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Anthony Mackie’s Existence Is Classified in the New Trailer for Outside the Wire

We’ve already seen Anthony Mackie as a soldier who becomes super with a little help from technology. Next, we’ll see technology make him a different kind of super-soldier—an android, to be precise. That’s the set up for Outside the Wire, a Netflix original out next week. Set in the near future, Mackie plays an Army … Continued

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A Dramatic New Expanse Examines the Difference Between Feeling Right and Being Right

The Expanse season five has somehow already reached episode six with “Tribes,” a somewhat calmer installment that’s still packed with action and incredible character work, especially for Cara Gee’s Drummer and Wes Chatham’s Amos. Tensions are sky-high as the season enters its second half. If you haven’t watched “Tribes” yet, stop right there and go … Continued

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Thomas Kinkade’s Studio Is Painting The Mandalorian Now, Seriously

I really hope Grogu likes rustic cottages. Thomas Kinkade Studios now has a series of paintings paying tribute to The Mandalorian, with what might be one of the creepiest versions of Baby Yoda we’ve seen yet. A collection of Thomas Kinkade Studios paintings from artist Monte Moore recently made the rounds on social media because … Continued

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The Mandalorian Season 2 Finale Is Now Dedicated to the Original Boba Fett

The passing of Boba Fett actor Jeremy Bulloch was obviously sad, but in a way it was also auspiciously timed. It came exactly one day before The Mandalorian—a show inspired by the character he originated, and which had just revived that character—announced a new TV show about the character. So while fans never like to … Continued

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On Doctor Who Change Is What You Make of It, Unless You’re a Dalek

Or maybe especially if you’re a Dalek. “Revolution of the Daleks” does, well, exactly what it says on the TARDIS-shaped tin. It’s a story of revolution, giving us a brand new kind of Dalek—Earth-grown thanks to a disconcerting combination of the fallout of keeping last year’s New Year special hush-hush and the return of Chris … Continued

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The Doctor and Captain Jack Are Together Again in New Big Finish Audio Adventure

2021 is the 15th anniversary of the Doctor Who spinoff series Torchwood, starring the beloved disaster hero Captain Jack Harkness. To celebrate, Big Finish is putting out a new Torchwood audio adventure with a big reunion. That’s right, Captain Jack is meeting back up with the Doctor. Not just any Doctor, either: David Tennant’s Tenth … Continued

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Welcome John Bishop to the Cast of the Upcoming Season of Doctor Who

Recently, two of the Doctor’s three companions were announced to be leaving the show, leaving a potential gap in the show’s ensemble cast. Now, we might know about who’s going to be filling it. In a cheeky short video on the Doctor Who Twitter, the BBC announced yesterday that John Bishop is joining the cast … Continued

io9Books & Comics

January’s New Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books Will Help You Start 2021 on the Right Page

Happy New Year! Time to add some new books to your 2021 reading list, and we’ve got you covered with space adventures (including a little something from the world of Star Wars), fantasy battles, ghosts, unicorns, dragons, magical con artists, narcoleptic detectives, and so much more. The House of a Hundred Whispers by Graham Masterton … Continued

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In This Breathtaking Short Film, a Man’s Quest for the Perfect Home Takes a Dark Turn

Isaac Asimov’s first law of robotics is: “A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.” That’s an admirable goal, but what if it’s taken too far? Dust has shared a gorgeous but terrifying animated short film from writer and director Gökalp Gönen, called Avarya. … Continued