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“Electric Lady Studios: A Jimi Hendrix Vision” Boxed Set Review

 

In the 56 years since it was built, New York’s Electric Lady Studios has hosted such iconic musicians as Led Zeppelin (who recorded parts of Houses Of The Holy there), David Bowie (Young Americans), Taylor Swift (the Taylor’s Version editions of Fearless, Folklore, and Red); Patti Smith (Horses), Stevie Wonder (Talking Book), Kiss (Destroyer and Asylum), Frank Ocean (Blond), Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga (Love For Sale), and on and on and on.

Even Prince, who had his own studio at the time, Paisley Park Studios, used it when recording his album Graffiti Bridge.

But now and forever it shall be known as the place that Jimi built.

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Movies PC PlayStation 4 PlayStation 5 Reviews Switch Video Games Xbox One Xbox Series S Xbox Series X

“The Princess Bride Pinball” for “Pinball FX” Review

 

There are a lot of things that don’t seem like they would work well, but end up defying expectations. Like Cate Blanchette playing a comic book villain in Thor Ragnarok. Or the rock band Phish getting their own ice cream flavor. Or a video game in which you’re a complete jerk…and a goat.

And now you can add to that inexplicable list The Princess Bride Pinball, the latest movie-inspired virtual pinball table for the video game Pinball FX (PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X / S, Xbox One, Switch, PC).

By paying homage to that classic fantasy comedy in a way that makes it feel like it’s as old as the movie itself, this video game pinball machine works so well that it ranks as one of the best movie-inspired tables for Zen Studio’s pinball system.

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Movies PC PlayStation 4 PlayStation 5 Reviews Switch Video Games Xbox One Xbox Series S Xbox Series X

“Texas Chainsaw Massacre Pinball” for “Pinball M” Review

 

Though he’s best known for his quiet demeanor, meat carving skills, and appreciation for landscape architecture power tools, Leatherface from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was also a big fan of pinball.

Okay, not really. Though had there been an old pinball machine in the corner of his house, especially in the first movie, no one would’ve batted an eyelash. It was the ’70s after all, and he’s clearly a hoarder.

Still, given how many of his fellow horror movie icons have gotten their own pinball tables (Freddy Kreuger, Chucky, Elvira), it’s fitting that Leatherface would now be similarly honored by the good people at Zen Studios, who’ve just released Texas Chainsaw Massacre Pinball for their virtual pinball platform Pinball M (PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X / S, Xbox One, Switch, PC).

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Movies Reviews

“Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire” Review

 

Critics often say that bad movies seem like they were made by committee.

Well, Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire is so bad that it not only seems like it was made by committee, but that the people on that committee have the worst taste in monster movies.

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Books Movies

Exclusive Interview: “Béla Lugosi: The Man Behind The Cape” Writer Robert Cremer

 

One has only to go out on Halloween, and look at the happy faces of every kid wearing fangs and a cape, to see the influence of actor Béla Lugosi, the iconic star of 1931’s classic horror movie Dracula.

But while that may be his most memorable role, Lugosi didn’t just play dashing and dangerous, and he didn’t just act. All of which is presented in Robert Cremer’s upcoming biography, Béla Lugosi: The Man Behind The Cape, which has just launched a Kickstarter that includes some special (and exclusive) editions of the book.

In the following email interview, Cremer discusses what’s in Cape, as well as what approach he took to this biography.

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Exclusive Interview: “Alien: Enemy Of My Enemy” Author Mary SanGiovanni

 

With Alien: Enemy Of My Enemy (paperback, Kindle, audiobook), writer Mary SanGiovanni isn’t just putting her spin on this sci-fi series, she’s also concluding a loose trilogy that started with David Barnett’s Alien: Colony War and continued in Philippa Ballantine’s Alien: Inferno’s Fall. In the following email interview, SanGiovanni discusses what inspired and influenced her sci-fi horror thriller, as well as how it connects, and disconnects, from the other two books.

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Books Movies

Exclusive Interview: “Aliens: Vasquez” Author V. Castro

 

In a movie full of colorful characters, Aliens‘ bad ass space marine Jenette Vasquez still managed to stand out. It is just too bad we don’t get to know her better. Or rather, it was… Now, fans of this bad ass soldier can get to know her better, and her family, too, in V. Castro’s new novel Aliens: Vasquez (hardcover, Kindle, audiobook). In the following email interview about it, Castro discusses the scope of this military sci-fi space opera horror story, as well as how her own heritage informed it.

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Exclusive Interview: “The Star Trek Cookbook” Writer Chelsea Monroe-Cassel

 

While a lot of food in Star Trek comes from the replicators, there’s plenty of fresh food where no one has eaten before. And no, I don’t just mean gagh.

But you don’t have to visit the promenade on Deep Space 9 or the galley on the U.S.S. Voyager to enjoy them; you can make them at home thanks to Chelsea Monroe-Cassel’s new cookbook, The Star Trek Cookbook (hardcover, Kindle), the origin of which she discusses in the following email interview.

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Books Movies

Exclusive Interview: “Alien: Inferno’s Fall” Author Philippa Ballantine & Co-Author Clara Čarija

 

In a movie — like, say, Alien — the person writing the screenplay and the person who came up with the story are not always the same person. Or people. Like, say, Alien, which has a screenplay by Dan O’Bannon, but a story by O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett. But you don’t usually see this with novels, even novels connected to such movies, as, say, Alien. Or at least you didn’t until now, and the release of Alien: Inferno’s Fall (paperback, Kindle, audiobook), which (as it says inside) is, “A novel by Philippa Ballantine” and has a “Story by Philippa Ballantine and Clara Čarija.” To find out what this means for Philippa, Clara, and, of course, you, dear reader, check out the following email interview.