Website: http://MikeBrendan.wordpress.com
MikeBrendan has written 49 articles so far, you can find them below.
By Mike Brendan – No doubt visitors to this site are familiar with TvTropes.org. Many writers use this to look at what tropes and cliches are in circulation and see if their own work risks tripping on too many of them. After seeing this episode of The Cape, I’m left to wonder if series creator Tom Wheeler compiled a list of superhero tropes to hand to his writing staff — but forgot to label it as “things to avoid” because it sure as hell feels like they’re using it as a checklist.
Full Story »
I’m of the opinion that because the “real people with super powers” concept tanked mightily after the first season of Heroes, the folks at NBC decided to go with “comic book characters without the powers” when making The Cape. That’s all fine and good, but the show needs to make up its mind as to whether it’s serious or campy.
Full Story »
With the second part of the two hour premiere, we find Vince making the classic mistake of taking it to the arch-villain Flemming in his own apartment right away. Of course, while Vince manages to hack Flemming’s unprotected computer he fails to disarm the alarm on the door. I thought he had Oracle — uh, I mean Orwell for that sort of detail?
Full Story »
By Mike Brendan
Of the many superheroes in comic book mythology, Batman always stood out as one of my favorites. He was a hero that always had to rely on his own skills. Sure, Bruce Wayne had millions at his disposal, but that doesn’t mean squat if you have to go up against the likes of Ra’s al Guhl, Killer Croc, Mister Freeze, or even Darkseid. In the end it comes down to skill, intelligence and tactics. That’s what I had in mind when I first saw teasers for The Cape.
Full Story »
By Mike Brendan – I have to admit some bias as I review this novel. I’ve always loved late 18th century American history and the American Revolution in particular, so I looked forward to reading The Patriot Witch once it rose to the top of my To Read pile. My only regret is that I didn’t move it to the top sooner. The curse of literacy strikes yet again.
Full Story »
By Mike Brendan
Let’s get one thing clear: just because you have the technology to do something in the entertainment industry, you are not obligated to use it. This started with CGI effects in films (The Star Wars prequels and the latest iteration of I Am Legend being examples) and has moved into the realm of 3D (like Clash of the Titans, Saw 3D, and anyone making games using the same sort of visuals).
Infinity Blade, by Epic Games and ChAIR Entertainment, can be added to this list.
Full Story »
By Mike Brendan – In a day where sequels to films seem to be coming out every other year, I’m glad that it’s taken this long to explore a continuation to TRON. It’s not some grand design of Disney, sure, but the times and the technology have changed. With Generation Y growing up with Twitter and Facebook, one wonders how they would see the Grid, given that they access a form of it with their own User Power on a daily basis.
Full Story »
By Mike Brendan – Let me start off with this: “mid-season” and “finale” are not supposed to go together. It’s just a marketing ploy to make more money in DVD sales. It’s as stupid as it is annoying, and it’s stuff like mid-season breaks that give me less incentive to tune in later.
Full Story »
By Mike Brendan – The legend of King Arthur has played itself out on the page many times over. From T.H. White’s The Once and Future King, to Marion Zimmer Bradley’s The Mists of Avalon, Camelot has been visited time and time again by various writers. Maurice Broaddus (Orgy of Souls, Devil’s Marionette) is the latest to take up this literary Excalibur, but a more urbane twist to it. Set in the streets of Indianapolis, King James White gathers his knights to take back the streets from those who prey on the innocent. Okay, maybe not in those words.
Full Story »
By Mike Brendan – This week’s episode is a tie-in/sequel to the Season One episode “Faith,” where the Destiny finds an uncharted system and an Eden-like planet that is found to be artificial. Some of the civilian crew stay behind, thinking that this is their best way of getting back to Earth.
Full Story »
By Mike Brendan – Think of your favorite cookie. Not just type or flavor but also a specific brand/baker. Now imagine going two months without said cookie — no cravings mind you, just no cookie. Then someone hands you that very cookie, freshly baked. When you take that first bite, you realize what you’ve been missing. That was how I felt watching this week’s episode of SGU. What had been missing from the previous two episodes was tension. “Malice” made up for it.
Full Story »
By Mike Brendan – If I could sum up this week’s episode in a few choice words, they’d be “predictable” and “coincidence.”
Full Story »
By Mike Brendan – It was all just a dream. I’ve never been a big fan of that trope — always comes across as some sort of cop out, and in SF it can become a “it was all just temporal mishap/psychic warning” plot device that allows the writers to keep actual plotting for that episode to a minimum.
Full Story »
Action Flick Chick