Charlie Jane Anders

Archy And Mehitabel Deserve To Be Listed Among Fantasy’s Best Characters

When people list the most important fantasy characters of all time, they often leave out a few classics that just happen to be off the beaten track. Like Asterix. But also, Archy and Mehitabel, the cockroach and alley cat who captured the imaginations of a whole generation. Newspaper columnist Don Marquis came up with Archy…

9 Reasons The Hulk Shouldn’t Have His Own Movie (And 1 Why He Should)

Avengers: Age of Ultron contains approximately 1,000 characters that we’re excited to see. But the biggest draw is probably still the Incredible Hulk. Ol’ Jade Jaws has gotten a lease on life from the Avengers films. But we still have nine reasons why Hulk shouldn’t get another solo film. (And one why he should.) Before…

12 Monkeys‘ Heroes Both Do The Unforgivable, But We Still Root For Them

Last night’s episode of 12 Monkeys went to an incredibly dark place, showing both Cole and Cassandra Railly doing things that are basically unforgivable. It’s actually hard to say whose transgression was worse. And yet, we still manage to sympathize with both of them, which is kind of impressive. Spoilers ahead… In “The Cassandra Complex,”…

This Is The Funniest Tweet We’ve Read This Week

This tweet from Priscilla puts a whole new spin on the original 1980s V series. A lot of things about Diana’s plans are suddenly starting to make a lot more sense.

The Vampire Diaries Can Still Go Straight For The Heartstrings Sometimes

The Vampire Diaries is basically doing its own version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s “The Body.” But thanks to some genuinely razor-sharp writing and some strong acting from Candice Accola in particular, it’s still incredibly moving and effective. Just check out this crazy-intense clip from last night’s episode. Spoilers… So yeah, Caroline’s mom is dying…

Get to the chopper! Geologists from the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory rush to board a helicopter as fountains of lava erupt in the background, in the 1984 eruption of the Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii. This picture was recently featured in the U.S. Geological Survey‘s #ThrowbackThursday series. (Photo: R.B. Moore.)

This Alien Comedy Is India’s Biggest Movie Of All Time

In PK, an alien (played by Aamir Khan) shows up naked, except that he’s carrying a kind of futuristic boombox. Then he meets a cute girl and… well, you can probably guess the rest. This goofy comedy from the director of 3 Idiots has just become the most successful Indian film of all time. Judging…

This Weird Video Installation Shows How Cosmic Dung Beetles Really Are

What do you get when you combine a planetarium projector and footage of dung beetles? If you’re video artist Diana Thater, you get a science lesson as well as a meditation on how humans disrupt other forms of life on this planet without even meaning to. Top image via David Zwirner Gallery Thater’s new video…

Project Almanac Proves It’s Possible For A Movie To Be TOO Self-Aware

Project Almanac, the “found footage” time travel movie in theaters today, is kinda cute. And some people have praised the self-aware way it references other, better time-travel films like Bill and Ted and Looper. But on reflection, that self-awareness isn’t a strength, it’s the reason Project Almanac falters. Spoilers ahead… Project Almanac is one of…

Outcast Seriously Looks Like The Ultimate Nic Cage Movie

Nic Cage has pushed the limits of acting in the past — but with Outcast, his new movie coming out next week, he’s redefining acting completely. Just watch the Shatnerian delivery of “I AM the White Ghost!” and the bizarre line-reading of “Their blood will be ON OUR BLADES!” It’s just… sublime. Watch the trailer…

A Near-Collision Stretched This Galaxy Like A “Taffy Pull”

Why does this galaxy have such a long curvy tail coming off it? That river of sunlike stars, going into deep space, was pulled away from NGC 7714 due to the gravitational pull of a galaxy passing by. This galaxy was spotted by the Hubble Space Telescope in four separate exposures. NASA writes: Though the…

The Science Fiction Books That Every Computer Scientist Should Check Out

With so many prominent scientists warning about the dangers of rogue artificial intelligence, and so many ethical concerns coming down the pike in A.I. research and computer science generally, how can computer experts educate themselves? By reading science fiction books. That’s the conclusion of a new paper (PDF) called “Teaching AI Ethics Using Science Fiction,”…

J.K. Rowling’s Hand-Written Outline For Harry Potter Book 5 Is Amazing

Just how carefully did J.K. Rowling plot out her Harry Potter novels? Incredibly carefully, it turns out. Behold a chapter-by-chapter spreadsheet of Order of the Phoenix, covering the prophecy, Ginny and Cho, Snape, and a bunch of other stuff. This image has been floating around on the internet for a few years, but I hadn’t…

The Truth About Books, Money, Awards (And Not Quitting Your Day Job)

Authors seldom discuss how much money they actually make writing science fiction or fantasy. But on her blog, Kameron Hurley breaks it down, listing all her advances and how much she actually ended up with. And she explains how winning an award can change the game, and why she won’t quit her day job. Top…

How Did Edgar Allan Poe Manage To Describe The Big Bang In 1848?

They mocked when Edgar Allan Poe published his prose poem “Eureka” in his last year of life, describing how the universe had begun with a single “primordial particle” that exploded outwards in “one instantaneous flash.” But 80 years later, cosmologists started realizing that Poe had been on to something. There’s a new article about Poe…

The Difference Between A Great Twist And A Mediocre Twist

Everybody loves a surprise. Our movies, TV shows, books and other media are constantly pulling rabbits out of hats and revealing that the truth is something other than what we believed. But some twists are better than others — and here’s the crucial difference. These days, we hear a lot about the importance of preserving…

Why “Spotify For Books” May Not Be The Future Of Publishing. (Yet.)

It makes a certain amount of sense, from a consumer standpoint: companies like Amazon, Scribd and Oyster are offering services where you pay $10 a month and get unlimited books. The author or publisher gets a fee, only if the reader gets past a certain point in the book. But the Economist says “Spotify for…

On Agent Carter, Howard Stark Makes Tony Look Like A Stand-Up Guy

A lot of secrets were revealed in last night’s episode of Agent Carter — and a lot of them revolved around Howard Stark, one way or the other. Peggy Carter’s been sticking her neck out for a man who hasn’t been honest with her, at all. Spoilers ahead… Last night’s “Blitzkrieg Button” was the least…

Danger 5‘s Parody Of 1980s High School Movies Is Both Absurd And Spot-On

At long last, a new season of the insane spies-vs-Hitler show Danger 5 has started airing in Australia. We brought you a sneak peek a month ago, but now the first four episodes are on YouTube in their entirety. Here’s our favorite: a totally perfect (and yet nonsensical) spoof of 80s high-school movies. Warning: This…

A Clip That Shows Why The Originals Is Amazing PhD Dissertation Fodder

Seriously, some media studies grad student somewhere has to be writing a thesis about race, gender and politics in vampire media — and she or he must be just drooling over The Originals right now. Just watch this clip, in which Marcel turns a segregated World War I unit into vampires, and see for yourself.…