The Matrix Comics: 20th Anniversary Edition (2019)

The Matrix Comics: 20th Anniversary Edition (2019)

Authors: Various | Illustrators: Various | Page Count: 400

"The answer. It's right there. I can touch it. It's beautiful. Simple. And it scares the hell out of me."

Beyond the infinite possibilities offered by a virtual world, part of what keeps The Matrix universe so appealing is that it hasn't been milked to death by a greedy studio. Exploitation and oversaturation would've killed it as easily as it does any other commodity.

I assume the Wachowski's had some hand in regulating that, so kudos to them and everyone else who stuck to their guns. Yes, one of the siblings made a fourth film, but not until eighteen years later. (Having said that, I'd really love another anime collection like The Animatrix.)

The 20th Anniversary Edition of The Matrix Comics combines both of the original TPB publications into one larger than normal US comic format HB book.

That in itself is a generous amount, but it also includes four stories that weren't in either of the two previous volumes, which came out in 2003 and 2005, respectively. After doing the maths, the 'anniversary' label must refer instead to the first Matrix film, which was released in cinemas in March 1999.

Torchwood: TV Series (2006-11)

Torchwood (2006-11)

Dirs: various | 4 Seasons | 41 episodes, approx 44-57 mins each.

A Doctor Who offshoot that was targeted at a more mature audience than its parent series. In theory that's an interesting prospect, but in reality the definition of 'mature' seems to have been derived from a yobbish, vulgar, and sex-obsessed teenager's personal diary.

Season 01 is particularly bad in that regard, as if the show's writers believed that profanity and multiple references to casual sex were compensation for a well-written script. [1]

Consequently, most of its episodes are a dismal and joyless slog through predominantly bland storytelling, populated with unlikable characters whose traits are more often than not reprehensible and shameful.

I suspect it's more due to blind luck than any kind of skilful plan that it managed not to turn the group's leader, Doctor Who's Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman), into the same. [2]

Serial Experiments Lain (1998)

Serial Experiments Lain (1998)

Dir. Ryūtarō Nakamura | 13 episodes, approx 24 minutes each.

Lain Iwakura is small for her age. She's reserved, quiet, and emotionally inexperienced. She has a small group of friends but their connection is tenuous, based more on shared location than on similar interests. That's the nature of the world in which Lain exists.

But there's more than one reality; the real world exists alongside the Wired. Among other things, the Wired is a network that allows communication between distant parties. It connects the individual to other individuals and enables information to be passed along. The synergy between the two existences has a profound maturing effect on the young Lain.

I've watched the series more than once and I'm positive there are things in it that I still haven't found. It's densely packed with subtleties and philosophical concepts. Where do we go when we die? How do we know we're alive? Did God create us? If so, then who created God?

Delta Force: Movie Trilogy (1986-91)

Delta Force: Movie Trilogy (1986-91)

Dirs. Various

01. Much of the first movie takes place onboard an aeroplane in flight, with an ensemble cast that's underused. Chief hijacker Abdul (Robert Forster) is moustachioed and menacing. but he didn't reckon on the Deltas doing their thing.

The opening shot sets movie's tone perfectly, for good or ill. The scene that follows, wherein special ops member Scott McCoy (Chuck Norris) does what other men won't, reinforces it tenfold: it's 80s action from Canon Films with rugged men and many guns (Dir. Menahem Golan).

The team wear covert black duds with a bright US flag patch on the arm lest the audience forget who they're cheering for, or the enemy forget who to shoot. Gotta keep those bullets flying.

If they get tired walking they have motorcycles that shoot mini-missiles. Abdul and his cronies are boned - even if Chuck is perpetually late to the party and Silvestri's music sucks.