Charlie Jane Anders

This short time travel movie packs insane visuals, and a clever twist

Keep watching this four-minute time-travel movie until the end — it’s not just cool visuals of spaceships zooming around and flying into a time bubble. There’s a pretty neat twist in the final moments. Initium was created by students at the French studio school ArtFX, and here’s the synopsis: “An accident threatens Earth. John Carson,…

At long last, we’ll finally get to read some of Girl With the Dragon Tattoo author Stieg Larsson’s early science fiction. One story he wrote at age 17 will be in an anthology of Swedish crime stories called A Darker Shade of Sweden.

Designing Elysium: All The Secrets of Neill Blomkamp’s Stark Future

Neill Blomkamp blew our minds with District 9, and now he’s back with Elysium. We talked to concept artists and the movie’s VFX producer to find out how they imagined a future space station, with the help of legendary designer Syd Mead. Here’s our exclusive look inside the design of Neill Blomkamp’s Elysium! Top images:…

Omni Magazine is coming back to life!

Omni Magazine influenced a generation of science fiction-fans and scientists, and it had a huge role in inspiring io9. So it’s amazing news that investor Jeremy Frommer is bringing the magazine back to life online, with science writer Claire Evans as the new editor. According to the Verge, Evans stumbled into editing the new Omni…

The 11 Most Important Political Science Fiction Movies

Science fiction looks to the future — but it also reflects the time when it was created. And the best science fiction often holds up a distorting lens to society that reveals deeper truths. In honor of tomorrow’s release of Elysium, here are 11 science fiction films that had a huge impact on pop culture,…

This Flying Teacup saga looks like Troy and Abed’s new favorite movie

We’ve seen lots of invasions of flying saucers — but what about flying teacups? That’s what menaces the Earth in Quest for the Power Sphere, an indie space-opera comedy by Argentine director Tetsuo Lumière. I can totally imagine Troy and Abed watching this movie obsessively. Why are those guys running around with a fully inflated…

If DC and Marvel traded places, what movies would DC be making now?

Imagine that DC had started building a cinematic universe in 2008, culminating with a mega-successful Justice League in 2012. In this alternate universe, where Marvel and DC changed places, what movies would DC be planning for 2014 and 2015? Reading the interview with Kevin Feige earlier today, along with Wired’s Adam Rogers’ speculations about DC’s…

Meryl Streep could be joining Jeff Bridges in The Giver

We’ve been hoping for a while that Jeff Bridges will really get his movie of Lois Lowry’s classic novel The Giver off the ground. And that it’ll be as good as it deserves to be. Now, there’s a strong piece of evidence in favor of both notions: Meryl Streep could be joining the cast. According…

I pretty much guarantee you’ve never read a superhero story like this

My story “Victimless Crimes” is up at Apex Magazine (and also a featured story over at The Mary Sue.) And I’m pretty sure it’s a superhero story you’ve never seen before. Here’s how it begins: Teri Lewis was obsessing about her sister’s bad marriage and the president’s latest compromise, so she barely listened to Flo’s…

Does Marvel really have its movies planned out through 2021?

That’s certainly what Marvel’s mastermind Kevin Feige seems to be saying in this new interview with Wired’s Adam Rogers. To be fair, he couches this statement in hypothetical terms — and plans may have to change if the risky Guardians of the Galaxy movie fails. The whole, candid interview between Rogers and Feige is well…

20 Science Fiction Moments That Will Make Absolutely Anyone Cry

Yes, we don’t care who you are. If you’re not completely dead inside, like some freeze-dried husk, then there are certain moments from science fiction and fantasy that will make you break down. Here are 20 of the most tear-jerking moments from science fiction and fantasy stories. (Update: Added 5 more!) This list could have…

The Mothership: Tales from Afrofuturism & Beyond anthology project has an amazing roster of writers, and is just $635 short of its $15,000 fundraising goal, with 12 hours left. Can you help?

Percy Jackson 2 could make you stop believing in the Hero’s Journey

The first Percy Jackson movie was pretty much a straight-up copy of Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey, in which a hero finds out he’s chosen and goes on a series of tests. And now the new outing basically does the same thing all over again, except slower and with less alacrity. Call it the monomyth with…

Check out the Doctor Who Fan Art Created by Teenage Peter Capaldi!

Peter Capaldi just got cast as the new star of Doctor Who, and described it as a lifelong dream — but you may not have realized quite how much Capaldi dreamed about Doctor Who when he was younger. Here’s some fan art of Tom Baker in the TARDIS, created by a teenage Capaldi. Update: The…

Actor didn’t love Percy Jackson 2‘s “Some Like it Cyclops” scenes

The new Percy Jackson movie, Sea of Monsters, is in theaters tomorrow. And returning in the role of Grover the Satyr is Brandon T. Jackson, who once again supplies a lot of the comedy moments. But there was one comedy sequence in the film that he wasn’t crazy about doing. Spoilers ahead… We spoke to…

What’s the most pointless rivalry or schism in all of fandom?

The great thing about science fiction and fantasy is that there’s a nearly limitless amount of books, movies, TV shows and comics to celebrate. But sometimes, people decide that you can only be a fan of one thing or another. You have to choose. What’s the most pointless rivalry in all of fandom? Please include…

The first Muppets 2 teaser trailer is all about sequel-itis

The Muppets was one of the nicest surprises in recent years — a big, good-natured film that commented on how those felt puppets had lost relevance and fame. Now, the sequel seems to be commenting on the fact that it’s an obligatory sequel, judging from the first trailer. This actually looks pretty fun, though —…

The Most Fourth Wall-Breaking Moments in Television History

Television has always been a medium that broke the walls of reality. From its earliest days, television shows “came into your living room.” So it’s not surprising that television has always dabbled in metafiction, fourth-wall-breaking and transrealism. Here are the six types of “meta” storytelling on television. First, let’s define our terms. We’re defining “metafiction”…

The Brave Bear and the Mysterious Frozen Globes

They just turned up in the Arctic wastes, and nobody knew what to make of them. Cracked and weathered, pulsating with a green light. Until one brave polar bear made the perilous journey across the tundra to learn the secret. Image: “Strange Ball” by YONG, via CGHub

RoboCop and Catwoman are trashing the city in the Krrish 3 trailer

Here it is, the trailer for one of the year’s most anticipated superhero films: Krrish 3. The famous Bollywood franchise has boosted the visual effects, allowing for wholesale destruction, mid-air fights, and huge energy pulses. And skin-tight jumpsuits aplenty. Will this give Man of Steel a run for its money?