houghtful, articulate reviews, up-to-the-minute coverage of the movie industry, and lively discussion forums are the core of the Sci-Fi Movie Page, a delightfully single-minded webzine whose focus is—just as its title suggests—SF films of the past, present and future.
Like many sites that look exclusively at the SF field, the Sci-Fi Movie Page has an archive of film reviews that begins with The Abyss and runs to Zontar—The Thing from Venus. One feature that makes this particular set of articles stand out, though is its
broad definition of an SF film, which includes fantasy classics like Labyrinth, comedies in the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids vein, anime features, and even children's movies. New reviews are handily flagged, as are pictures that have made a "Top 100" list and those dogs that were rated at a pathetic zero out of five stars.
A quick scan through the Sci-Fi Movie Page's news feed reveals, among other things, future DVD release listings, talk of a pending Terminator 2-related lawsuit, and an article on controversy in England concerning the film adaptation of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code. Meanwhile, info about upcoming SF films is offered in concise sketches that contain minor (but easily avoided) spoilers along with behind-the-scenes trivia about film shoots and personalities.
The site rounds out its content with scripts, links to movie trailers, and SF TV reviews, making it a good stopping place for any websurfer looking to find some quality entertainment amid the often-overwhelming flood of new films, newly released DVD titles and other content available to fans in stores and theaters.
—A.M. Dellamonica
Site of the Week—August 15, 2005
edia news in heaping portions is the order of the day at The Sci-Fi Blog, a lean, informative site that offers news on SF movies, TV programs, video games and comics—not to mention all their affiliated tie-ins and spinoffs. Barely a month old and still groping for a place in the busy world of online SF fandom, this site shows some promise to become a first-rate clearinghouse for rumors, opinion and Hollywood gossip.
From casting spoilers for the next Spider-Man flick to news on a proposed Mortal Kombat theme park, entries at this blog follow a standard pattern: a quick summary of a longer article elsewhere, a link to the source article and a few lines of pithy fannish commentary on the entry's subject. Visitors can scan headlines, chase links to further details or simply move on to the next item; for more finicky readers, an indexing system allows a choice of subtopics like "Movie News," "TV reviews" and the grab bag "Out of Box" category.
Weblogs rise and fall on their writing style and spirit as much as on content, and fans seeking a brash and zany news source will have to see if The Sci-Fi Blog can ripen into that source. The site is visually pleasing in a low-key, easy-on-the-eyes mode, and comes across as matter-of-fact in its presentation of news articles despite the editorializing. Though it claims to offer SF news "with attitude," that attitude, at present, verges on "Just the facts, ma'am." Even so, this blog is one of a growing number of sites inviting viewer participation—soliciting both comments and even more news submissions. It could therefore be that The Sci-Fi Blog is one regular contributor away from really cutting loose.
—A.M. Dellamonica
Site of the Week—August 8, 2005
he guiding principles of Nuketown are emblazoned across its banner. "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Geekdom" are the heart of this speculative fiction 'zine, which made its first appearance on the Web in 1996.
Nuketown's articles offer readers thoughtful analysis on role-playing games, movies and technology. There are reviews of SF novels (most recently Cory Doctorow's Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town), coverage of SF-themed musical releases, a hoax watch that tracks whatever urban myths are currently making the Internet rounds, articles on Web development, DVD releases and entertaining features like the 2004 Geek Gift Guide.
This site makes it easy for fans who can't get enough of its particular brand of SF coverage—Nuketown aficionados can sign up for a newsletter, subscribe to a syndicated news feed, or join the Nuketown discussion listserv on Yahoogroups. Others may prefer to listen to its weekly podcast, Radio Active. Guests are encouraged to check out Nuketown's writer guidelines, too, with an eye toward submitting articles and reviews of their own.
Older articles on this web page are stored in archives that go back to 2001, while the site's Links section contains almost four hundred sites—all indexed into helpful categories such as blogs, Webzines, philosophy, comics and SF. Nuketown is a site that is determined to leave every visitor with something—a thought-provoking read, an interesting web link or new sources of gaming fun.
—A.M. Dellamonica
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