A look back at the best albums of 2012 (Music commentary)
Making a list of my favorite albums of a year is fairly simple: I think of which discs I spun most often in my Jeep in 2012, then subtract the ones that weren’t released in […]
Author: John Hansen
First episode impressions: ‘Continuum’ (TV review)
With “Fringe” winding down, “Continuum” (7 p.m. Central Mondays on Syfy) is a possible successor among sci-fi shows about the fight against futuristic totalitarian governments. Or is it? The premiere episode starts out that way, but by […]
First episode impressions: ‘The Carrie Diaries’ (TV review)
My approach to reviewing “The Carrie Diaries” (7 p.m. Central Mondays on The CW) will be different from most since I’ve never seen a single episode of “Sex and the City.” Granted, these voiceover-laden early adventures of […]
‘Star Wars’ flashback: ‘Han Solo’s Revenge’ (1979) (Book review)
Timothy Zahn’s Han Solo-centered “Scoundrels” was recently published, and like every book about the smuggler, his Wookiee sidekick and his faster-than-she-looks ship, it will have a high bar to clear. I’m probably not alone among “Star Wars” […]
All 22 episodes of ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ Season 6 (2001-02), ranked
TV review: “Buffy” mostly abandons metaphors and goes for the straight-ahead drama in its penultimate TV season.
‘Star Wars’ flashback: ‘Young Jedi Knights’ books (1995-98) (Book reviews)
On the heels of the excellent “Clone Wars” four-parter featuring younglings Byph, Gungi, Ganodi, Zatt, Petro and Katooni, I decided to finally dive into Kevin J. Anderson and Rebecca Moesta’s 14-book “Young Jedi Knights” series that ran […]
Tarantino fans will likely love everything about ‘Django Unchained’ (Movie review)
I’m not naturally inclined to see a Quentin Tarantino film, but a couple of friends’ excitement about “Django Unchained,” combined with the generally positive reviews, got me to say “What the heck — I’ll give it a […]
John’s top 10 movies of 2012
Here are my picks for the top 10 movies of 2012: 1. “This Is 40” — Writer-director Judd Apatow’s first great film in five years, rather than being one long joke about getting older, instead chronicles a […]
Writer-director Judd Apatow bounces back nicely with ‘This Is 40’ (Movie review)
I have to admit that I’m kind of stunned to look at Judd Apatow’s resume and see he has only been a writer-director on four movies: The excellent “40 Year Old Virgin” (2005) and “Knocked […]
John’s top 10 TV shows of 2012
Here are my top 10 TV shows of 2012: 1. “Parenthood” (Season 3-4, NBC) — I hate to have the same No. 1 two years in a row, but “Parenthood” — the only current series where having a […]