Charlie Jane Anders

What’s your favorite moment where a victim turns the tables?

There’s just something so satisfying about a story where someone’s been hunted or terrorized for ages and ages — and then, they stop running and fight back, decisively. What’s your favorite moment from science fiction or fantasy where a victim suddenly turns the tables? Please include a picture or clip of this moment, so we…

Amazing Casting. Bob Odenkirk, Patton Oswalt and Ian Roberts join the cast of The Kitchen Sink, a genre-spanning high-school comedy, set in a town where vampires are at the top of the pecking order, with humans in the middle and zombies at the bottom.

10 Influential Movies (Where Everybody Copied the Wrong Thing)

Every once in a while, a movie comes along that changes everything. A film that rewrites the rules and influences a generation of film-makers. But all too often, the people who imitate these ground-breaking movies miss the point. Here are 10 science fiction and fantasy movies from which everybody copied the wrong thing. https://gizmodo.com/19-science-fiction-movies-that-could-change-your-life-5963166 1)…

Read the zine that young Ray Bradbury started in 1939

In 1939, shortly after Ray Bradbury graduated from high school, he started a zine called Futuria Fantasia. It featured a lot of his early fiction and some essays, and you can read all first four issues online at Project Gutenberg. Bradbury started Futuria Fantasia by borrowing $90 from Forrest E. Ackerman, and used it as…

The Trading Cards that Defined Star Trek for a Generation

Before we had DVDs and Blu-rays of every Star Trek episode — before VHS tapes, even — there were trading cards that commemorated every adventure. A brand new book commemorates the lurid Topps trading-card adventures of the U.S.S. Enterprise, and we’ve got an exclusive peek. The images below come from the book Star Trek: The…

Which character surprised you by dying and not coming back?

Nowadays, it’s not really a surprise any more when someone dies and then comes back to life. Death is a revolving door, in both science fiction and fantasy. But which dead character did you most expect to see come back — only to watch them surprisingly stay dead forever? Please include a picture or clip…

Why shouldn’t Arrow cross over with the big-screen Justice League?

Warner Bros. is building on the success of Man of Steel by making a Batman/Superman movie. But how will Warners build the rest of its cinematic Justice League? One possible approach is to incorporate the successful universe that DC has already been building on the small(er) screen, with Arrow. https://gizmodo.com/theyre-doing-a-superman-batman-movie-but-thats-not-851711013 Whatever DC does after the…

The Queen from Aliens poses for her Mondo portrait

You’ve seen the queen from Aliens many times before. But check out our exclusive first look at Mondo’s new poster art, which aims to show you the ultimate version of the queen. Artist Jason Edmiston tells us his goal is to make it look as though the queen came and posed for him. Edmiston’s solo…

This Week’s TV: An A.I. Revolution, From the Writers of Stargate!

Television loves you. How do we know? Because this week’s offerings include the Ghost Shark TV movie. Plus a guide for alien invaders. And a special about the man with the 132-pound scrotum. And most of all, Seth Green is stopping the A.I. apocalypse. Check out clips and details for this week’s TV! Top image:…

Everybody’s gone crazy on Continuum, and futureshock is to blame!

In last night’s episode of Continuum, the whole town of Vancouver goes bonkers. It’s basically a total political/social meltdown, precipitated by the internetz. But really, all this madness is just various forms of future-shock, because the future is arriving ahead of schedule. Spoilers ahead… The original logline for Continuum — which is still basically mentioned…

Laurence Fishburne vs an army of post-apocalyptic cannibals. Who wins?

Check out an exclusive clip from The Colony, a post-apocalyptic action movie coming to VOD on August 20 and hitting theaters on Sept. 20. In which Laurence Fishburne’s team of investigators faces rather a lot of nasty cannibals. Seriously, why do people always resort to cannibalism just because there’s been a massive artificial ice age…

Just taking a null-gravity stroll in the city. Like you do.

Sometimes you just need to step out and get some fresh air. On the side of a building. A few hundred feet above the ground. Because the view is awesome, and your cat needs to pee on some rooftops. You know how it is. The above concept art is from Japanese artist Takeshi Oga, and…

Star Trek communicator puts your dog poop where no dog has gone before

When you’re out and about with your pet dog, you probably wish you could disintegrate your dog’s poop with your phaser. Or tell Scotty to beam the offending dog-turds into space. At least now you can use a Star Trek communicator to make it disappear. The above Star Trek communicator is actually a dog-bag dispenser,…

Hunger Games-themed makeup line really sells the dystopian decadence

Want to feel like you’re part of a decadent crumbling society that oppresses the working classes and forces children to kill each other for your amusement? CoverGirl has you covered, with their decadent new Hunger Games makeup line. According to Fashionista, the new CoverGirl Catching Fire makeup collection is being rolled out in October, and…

Our favorite art of the day: tiny Deadpool flying on an eagle

Why yes, that is tiny Deadpool flying on an eagle and shooting a massive machine gun. Why do you ask? (Warning: potentially NSFW Deadpool art below.) This concept art comes from artist José Emroca Flores, whose work Kotaku has featured before. It was created for the new Deadpool video game, and it’s basically our new…

George R.R. Martin explains why Forbidden Planet is his favorite movie

George R.R. Martin first saw Forbidden Planet as a child in 1956, and he’s seen it 100 times sinc then. Yes, you read that right. A hundred. Here’s why. Talking to the Santa Fe New Mexican, Martin reminisces about seeing Forbidden Planet at the DeWitt Theater in Bayonne, NJ as an eight-year-old: It was amazing……

The Ultimate Guide to this Fall’s Science Fiction and Fantasy TV!

Is this the most insane television season for science fiction and fantasy fans ever? There are tons of new genre shows. But also, a surprisingly high percentage feel like they could be superb. Including killer comic-book shows, futuristic cop action, and supernatural sexiness. Here’s our complete guide to fall TV. Shows marked with a *…

Those classic Star Wars comics really did fill the gaps between movies

People sometimes look down on Marvel Comics’ line of Star Wars comics from the late 1970s and early 1980s, because of the random green rabbit character and other stuff. But LucasFilm’s Jennifer Heddle has a great article on the official Star Wars blog, explaining why they were essential. In fact, not only were they the…

One Science Fiction Author Who Does Everything You Want from the Genre

James Tiptree Jr., aka Alice Sheldon, is justly revered as a science fiction pioneer. And writing for NPR, Harvard professor and poet Stephen Burt makes a strong case that she represents the perfect fusion of some of science fiction’s most essential strands. Burt’s must-read essay on Tiptree begins: We can go to science fiction for…

Robert Downey Jr. stars in quite possibly the year’s most surreal ad

In this ad for Android company HTC, Robert Downey Jr. comes up with some bizarre suggestions for what HTC could stand for — and they become real. Including Hipster Troll Carwash. The final moments are like a bizarre dream sequence.