BlackBerry (2023) Movie Review

     I remember growing up in the early 2000s and before the iPhone hit mass popularity, with the likes of the iPhone 4, RIM's Blackberry line of keyboard-clad smartphones took the world by storm. The movie BlackBerry does a good job telling the story of how a small Canadian tech startup, Research in Motion, developed a groundbreaking idea: a device that combined phone calling with mobile email, secure messaging, and a compact QWERTY keyboard designed for fast thumb typing.

Project Hail Mary (2026) Movie Review

*This review contains minor spoilers*

     Throughout the years, we have seen our fair share of space movies. Some of the most popular sci-fi films include Star Wars, Alien, and Interstellar, all of which explored the idea of distant planets and alien life forms. Then, in 2015, we got a sci-fi movie based on Andy Weir’s 2011 novel, The Martian. This film stood out from the crowd because it didn't feature fictional planets or alien lifeforms; instead, it focused on an astronaut stranded on Mars after a mission went wrong and his team was forced to leave him behind. Weir was able to effectively craft a story that was grounded in science while still exploring ideas that hadn't been done in real life. This created a compelling story without feeling overly science fictional. Essentially, a book/movie that a broad audience could enjoy. Ten years later, in 2021, Andy Weir released another sci-fi novel called Project Hail Mary. Again, Weir was able to craft a story that was grounded in science but was still able to tell a compelling sci-fi story. Now that Project Hail Mary has been adapted into a film, I am going to talk about my thoughts on this movie. 

James Gunn's Superman (2025) Movie Review

*This review contains minor spoilers*

    Since 2008, we’ve seen the slow but deliberate rise of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), which brought a new level of interconnectivity to superheroes on the big screen. Characters from different films were able to cross paths and team up in major crossover events. For example, in The Avengers (2012), Tony Stark (Iron Man) flies into an open portal in a desperate attempt to stop the rest of Loki’s army. This moment is later revisited in Iron Man 3 (2013), when Tony experiences PTSD from the Battle of New York. This not only shows that, outside of the armor, Tony is still a vulnerable human being, but also highlights Marvel's commitment to weaving emotional continuity and lasting consequences into its shared universe. It’s these small but meaningful connections that made both comic book fans and general audiences fall in love with Marvel’s interconnected world. After the success of the MCU, Warner Bros. and DC Comics attempted to build a similar interconnected universe, although with far more mixed results.

PlayStation 2: "Live In Your World, Play In Ours"

     The fifth generation of gaming introduced the Nintendo 64 and the Sega Saturn, marking a pivotal era in the console wars. For years, Nintendo and Sega had battled fiercely, trading blows in a heated rivalry. However, as Sega began to decline, the market was primed for a new competitor. Enter Sony, a company that, due to a falling out with Nintendo, was perfectly positioned to challenge the reigning king of gaming with the launch of the PlayStation. Sony’s PlayStation went on to sell an impressive 102.49 million units worldwide, cementing its place in gaming history. Following the massive success of the original PlayStation, Sony was ready to develop a worthy successor, aptly named the PlayStation 2. This is the story of how the PlayStation 2 became the best-selling video game console of all time. 

Super Mario 64: Nintendo's Foray into 3D Gaming

    By 1991, Nintendo had ended its brief partnership with Sony in a less-than-professional betrayal, announced on the second day of CES. Following this fallout, Sony began work on their standalone venture, which would ultimately culminate in the creation of the original PlayStation. Meanwhile, it wasn't until roughly 1993 that Nintendo began developing its next-generation video game console, the Nintendo 64 or N64 for short. The N64 was championed as one of the first 64-bit video game consoles, boasting revolutionary 3D graphics that pushed the industry forward. The game that helped usher in this new era of 3D gaming was Super Mario 64. This is the story of how Super Mario 64 not only redefined the platforming genre but reshaped the video game landscape as a whole.

The Nintendo Satellaview: Chasing CD Quality

    We all know that after Nintendo and Sony ended their partnership at CES 1991, Sony took the hardware that they had been working on with Nintendo and created their own console called the Sony PlayStation. Sony was able to do this because of their contract with Nintendo that stated that Sony would have most of the rights to the Super Famicom/SNES Play Station. This contract was the reason why Nintendo decided to part ways with Sony. What is less known is what came after Nintendo ended its partnership with Sony. Nintendo had a very short-lived partnership with Philips that ended in some crappy CD-i Nintendo games. Once that partnership ended, Nintendo went on to create a new add-on for the Super Famicom called the Satellaview. The Satellaview was a satellite modem add-on that was only released in Japan. This is the story of one of Nintendo's most unique and often forgotten add-ons: the Satellaview.

The Life and Legacy of Akira Toriyama

    Akira Toriyama was a manga (Japanese comic books) writer and illustrator (mangaka). His career took off with Dr. Slump, but it was Dragon Ball that cemented his legacy outside of Japan. While anime gained mainstream popularity in the West during the 90s with series like Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball Z, Toriyama’s work played a key role in introducing Japanese animation to a global audience. Toriyama sadly passed away on March 1, 2024, at the age of 68 years old. Akira Toriyama had a passion for creating manga and created a series (Dragon Ball) that helped introduce many people to anime. Toriyama will always be remembered as a manga legend and in this post, I want to talk about his life and legacy.