I, Robot

The Best Horror, Sci-Fi, and Fantasy Streaming in February 2024

The best genre movies and TV coming to Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video, Disney+, and beyond, including The Marvels, The Abyss, and more.

The Best Horror, Sci-Fi, and Fantasy Streaming in February 2023

In this month's Nerd's Watch, io9 picks the best genre movies and TV shows coming to Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video, Disney+, and more.

How Would a Self-Driving Car Handle the Trolley Problem?

In an excerpt from "Robot Ethics," professor Mark Coeckelbergh examines how self-driving cars would decide which humans to save

Grieving Yu-Gi-Oh, My Favorite Childhood Game

The death of Yu-Gi-Oh' s creator resurrected a strange and surprising pang of loss. The game I had loved years ago had grown unrecognizable to me.

The Roomba i3+ Brilliantly Tamed My Pet Hair-Covered Home

For the entirety of the two years I’ve coexisted with my dog, Cila, my house—previously a stronghold of order and peace—morphed into a wasteland of blonde fur tumbleweeds that materialized as if by magic, even when I’d spent the entire afternoon prior cleaning the space from top to bottom. I’d assumed that short of vacuuming…

The Roomba i3+ Is a Self-Emptying Robovac That’s Practically Affordable

Finally! The good robovac stuff in a robot some people can afford. iRobot, maker of roving house helpers Roomba and Braava, today announced the launch of its Roomba i3+, a mid-range vacuum that’ll get features standard of models with a far steeper price tag. At present, the most affordable models currently offered in the Roomba…

Will Smith’s Genre Movies, Ranked

He started out in music, got his big break acting on a sitcom, and has earned Oscar nominations for his dramatic work, but Will Smith’s screen career has a hefty concentration of big-budget sci-fi and fantasy films. He’s almost always fun to watch, but his movies are sometimes…not. With that Aladdin trailer fresh on our…

Justin Timberlake Is Bringing Awful CGI Robots Back

Justin, sweetie, what are you doing? I thought you were going country, bro. Then I could be content to ignore you. Instead, you come out with this cheap I, Robot knockoff that’s just scifi enough to pique my interest. Only it’s bad. Justin Timberlake has released the first single off his upcoming album, Man of…

A Look At How Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot Changed The World

The lovely folks at StarshipSofa have started a new video podcast on YouTube called StarshipSofa HQ, looking at great books and authors in science fiction. One of their first episodes is a look at Isaac Asimov’s classic story collection I, Robot. Other episodes look at Alfred Bester, One Hit Wonders, and a bunch of other…

Is The “Fix-Up” The Best Kind Of Science Fiction Novel There Is?

Everybody knows that short stories are where science fiction writers really get to experiment, and the most perfect pieces of narrative often happen at shorter lengths. But we also love to explore a world at the length of a whole book. So that makes the “fix-up” the best of both worlds, right? Top image: Voyage…

10 Huge Tentpole Movies That Should Have Been Low-Budget Gonzo Films

It’s the middle of summer movie season. These days, that means tons of movies, designed to bring in the broadest audience to justify their $100 million-plus budget. And sometimes, you can tell these films, deep down, want to be “B” movies. Here are 10 huge-budget movies that would have been more fun with less money.…

The Failed Publisher That Gave Us I, Robot And Arthur C. Clarke

We owe a huge debt to Gnome Press, a small start-up science fiction publisher that launched in the wake of World War II and failed because it couldn’t pay its authors. As Andrew Liptak explains over in Kirkus Reviews, Gnome made Asimov’s I, Robot possible, and gave us the first themed anthology. The whole story…

10 Hit Movies That The Fans Hated

Every year, huge movie productions go to Comic-Con and other events to court the fans, because they know fan love will help make a movie successful. But sometimes, a movie can still make a billion dollars even in the face of blistering fan hatred. Here are 10 insanely successful movies that the fans couldn’t stand.…

The petition to get Isaac Asimov a commemorative plaque at his 1940s homehas already reached 2000 signatures, but it could use yours. Show that the Good Doctor still has a posse.

Upcoming Movie Sequels that Are More Pointless than Ghost Rider 2

This month is like exhibit A for Hollywood’s propensity to churn out sequels that nobody asked for. You’ve got Journey 2, opening today. And then next week, there’s Ghost Rider 2, in which Nic Cage tries to “improve” upon the first flaming-skull motorcycle movie. But it gets worse. There are plenty of sequels in the…

Alan Tudyk says if Firefly was on television today, the Internet would keep it alive

Alan Tudyk is obviously deeply attached to the character of Firefly’s late, great Hoban “Wash” Washburne. He spent a lot of time coming up with his own Wash story ideas — including the big reveal that Wash has tons of tattoos from the Alliance’s toughest prisons. In a terrific new interview with SFX, Tudyk talks…

10 Greatest Rappers Who Starred in Science Fiction and Fantasy Films

In space, nobody can hear you freestyle. But that hasn’t stopped some of hip-hop’s greatest legends from appearing in some classic science fiction and fantasy movies. From battling killer sharks to fighting off ghosts on Mars, some of our favorite rappers have also become some of our favorite SF heroes. Check out our definitive list…

Harlan Ellison is selling his rare books (and he wants you to buy them)

The venerable Harlan Ellison is cleaning out his archives and holding his third “Great Book Purge.” Over the next three days, Ellison will be selling tons of rare books and screenplays, including his first edition script for I, Robot. From July 6-8, Harlan’s wife Susan will be taking orders over the phone. Lines will be…

When A Bad Movie Has One Incredibly Great Scene

Why do so many bad movies have one good scene each? All of a sudden, the awfulness goes away, and the movie starts living up to its potential. The performances click, the action is exciting. Here are 20-odd examples. When a terrible — or just mediocre — movie suddenly has one shining moment of greatness,…

Your Future Automotive Awesomeness: Fiction vs. Reality

The car’s come a long way since Ford started mass production 100 years ago, but science fiction takes transportation even further. Here are six scenarios for the future of driving, and the real-life developments that could make them happen. The Fiction: The Motorway In Martha’s second trip on the TARDIS in the new Doctor Who,…