Stonewiser: The Call of the Stone

Written by John Howell
30 Jan 2012
If you own an iPhone 4S you may have impressed your friends (or perhaps not) with the built in, voice-driven personal assistant called Siri. You can ask it to book appointments, call people, search nearby restaurants, make calculations, and a great deal more. Most of the time it gets it right too. Now Siri has an Android rival called Evi, and if first impressions are anything to go by, it's an impressive... Read more

Written by Gerard Wood
08 Jul 2010
Almost any time we write anything about Neil Gaiman, you can be sure that someone will feel the need to post a comment “outing” the man as a Scientologist. While we have a fairly relaxed attitude to comments and will publish almost anything that contributes to an article, you won’t find many comments about Neil Gaiman’s alleged ties to the Church of Scientology published on this site. We simply... Read more

Written by Gerard Wood
02 Aug 2011
Dan Simmons’ latest novel, Flashback (July 2011), is “[a] provocative novel set in a future that seems scarily possible,” proving “why Dan Simmons is one of our most exciting and versatile writers." So says the publicist anyway. Dan Simmons is one of our most exciting and versatile writers, but sadly Flashback doesn’t prove that. And yes, Flashback is a provocative novel, but it doesn’t... Read more

Written by Gerard Wood
07 Jun 2010
Finally having had the opportunity to watch Nicholas Winding Refn’s Valhalla Rising, I now appreciate why it was received so well at film festivals and yet failed to get a wide theatrical release. It’s hard going. On one hand it’s almost unbearably brutal and on the other it is layered with the sort of mind-bending symbolic meaning that leads the viewer to the brink of utter confusion and leaves... Read more

Written by Gerard Wood
25 Mar 2012
No movie release in 2011 was more misunderstood and unfairly maligned as a result of misunderstanding than Zack Snyder’s Sucker Punch. Odds are you’ll disagree with that statement. An indication of the movie’s reception by “audiences” (non-professional reviewers) and the critics can be found on Rotten Tomatoes, where audience approval is calculated to be 47%, and of the 196 critical reviews... Read more

Written by John Howell
05 Oct 2009
Science fiction authors have long been outcasts from the literary world, in some cases critics using the worst examples of the genre as ammunition against it. Unfortunately though, at times even science fiction authors themselves can turn on their own kind: "Science fiction is rockets, chemicals and talking squids in outer space,” mocked Margaret Atwood (The Guardian, 28 January 2009), one of her... Read more

Written by John Howell
19 Oct 2011
After watching the pilot to Fox’s ambitious TV time travelling dinosaur fest called Terra Nova, I am praying that when I watch the next episode the entire cast gets eaten by dinosaurs (in fact, that hope is the only reason I’ll be able to sit through another one). The entire cast’s gruesome deaths at the hands of a frenzied T-Rex or a velociraptor having a bad day can’t come soon enough.... Read more

Written by John Howell
09 Dec 2007
After 25 years since its original release, a definitive version of Ridley Scott's science fiction masterwork Blade Runner, Blade Runner: The Final Cut, has arrived. So what exactly has changed? And is it worth all the fuss? After attending a recent screening I can report that there are significant differences, mainly improvements, between this new version and Ridley's first Director's Cut released... Read more

Written by Gerard Wood
16 Oct 2007
Daren Aronofsky’s The Fountain is a movie that divides opinion. During its press screening at the 63rd Venice International Film Festival in September 2006 it was booed; at the public screening the following evening it received a 10 minute standing ovation. To get an idea of just how divided opinion is, take a look at Rotten Tomatoes, a website that rates movies based on published reviews. Of 181... Read more

Written by John Howell
10 Mar 2012
I have a confession to make. I'm not proud of it, but there's no use trying to hide it any longer, the damage has already been done. I was an Apple fanatic. Hard core. Completely obsessed. I'm not proud of my behaviour. I have no real excuses. All I can say in my defense is that I have always been a gadget fan, so naturally I was ripe for the plucking. My psyche was compromised, wide open to the fruit... Read more