Michael G. Munz

The official website of Seattle sci-fi/fantasy author and geek Michael G. Munz

Shadows on the Sound Podcast: Evil AIs and Me

By Leave a Comment

Shadows on the Sound Podcast, Episode 20: Evil A.I.! (click to listen)

Artificial Intelligence is slowly becoming a reality. Perhaps the Singularity is even next week. Sci-fi is filled with artificial intelligences that were born evil, turned evil, or had evil thrust upon them. A Memory in the Black, the second book in my sci-fi/cyberpunk series, introduces the A.I. known as Suuthrien. Whether or not Suuthrien is truly evil is just something you’ll have to wait and see about in A Dragon at the Gate, but the wonderful geeks Camela and Z.D. over at the Shadows of the Sound podcast invited me, along with another entity known only as Archangel, to discuss the concept of evil A.I., and things like what sort of loopholes can you find when determining what causes “harm” to us human-type meatbags.

So head on over to Shadows on the Sound and have a listen, before the metal ones come for you…

"I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid this blog entry can no longer serve a useful purpose..."

“I’m sorry, Dave. I’m afraid this blog entry can no longer serve a useful purpose…”

Guest Geeks: Cain S. Latrani and the Zombie Hordes

By 5 Comments

Guest GeeksI kind of missed an opportunity here in that it’s only been a couple of weeks since the last Guest Geek post. Given today’s topic, if I’d waited a few months, I could have said that this feature is rising from the dead, which would fit in perfectly with guest Cain S. Latrani’s topic.
But that would’ve meant making you all wait far too long to read this awesome post. So why make you wait any longer? Read on, but hold onto your brains…

Fantastic Zombies And Where To Find Them

[Read more…]

Guest Geeks: Brittni Williams & the Top 5 Video Game Movies

By Leave a Comment

Guest GeeksGuess what time it is! Then again, who cares what time it is, because here’s another Guest Geek post! (People are way too obsessed with this whole space-time continuum thingy we live in anyway.) Today actually combines two features here on Geek Notes: The Guest Geek post—but we already covered that—and the less-frequent geek-related Top 5 List. Today’s guest is Brittni Williams, who’s selected what I think is a rather difficult topic: the Top 5 Best Video Game Movies. That’s a heck of a minefield right there, and let’s be honest, the pickings are pretty slim. Turning video games into movies (and, frankly, vice-versa) has rarely turned out well, and a list like this is sort of like listing the top 5 healthiest foods at McDonald’s. Still, I think Brittni manages to make some good picks out of what’s available, though I differ a little on the details. Yet enough of my blatherskite! Here’s Brittni…

[Read more…]

Guest Geeks: How Geekery Saved K. Williams

By Leave a Comment

Guest GeeksToday I return to the Land of the Guest Geeks, this time with fellow geek, author, and collector K. Williams. (Seriously, look at all those geek collectables! The best I can do is a tribble, a LEGO X-Wing and a Dalek Christmas tree ornament. …Well, and some few other things.) We all gravitate to our own particular flavors of geekdom, each of us drawing particular rewards, enjoyment, and encouragement. Today, she shares some of her own journey. Her story especially resonates with me as a writer—I can relate far too much to the gauntlet-O-rejection that is the publishing world. But even if you’re not a writer, I think you’ll love this one… [Read more…]

Movie Review: Ant-Man

By 2 Comments

Ant-Man official poster

“What’s this? A movie review for ANTS?”

I wasn’t expecting much out of Ant-Man. I really wasn’t. Understand that this is coming from a guy who’s seen and enjoyed (to varying degrees) all of the Marvel cinematic universe, but who’s never really read comic books. After I saw Iron Man for the first time, a friend had to explain to me who the Avengers were, and he made mention of Thor. “The actual god Thor?” I asked. “Like, running around with a guy in an iron suit? How are they even on the same level?” I’d thought that a Thor movie couldn’t really work, to say nothing of the eventual team-up with everyone in the Avengers. [Read more…]

Movie Review: Terminator: Genisys

By 4 Comments

Terminator: Genisys

Warning: Movie may contain Time Lords.

Come with me if you want to see a better movie than Terminators 3 and 4!

Before I tell you exactly what I think of Terminator: Genisys, here’s my nutshell review of each movie in the series so far, so you know where I’m coming from:

Terminator
An excellent sci-fi action movie teasing just on the edge of horror, and a true sci-fi classic. My favorite of the series.

Terminator 2: Judgement Day
An even wilder action ride, with a little more emotional depth, and ground-breaking F/X, though as time passes, I find I prefer the artistry of the first movie just a little bit more. (It’s a shame the trailer spoiled the biggest twist for most people.) Also the first R-rated movie I saw without permission. Sorry, Mom & Dad.

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
Not without its charm, and I did like the twist at the end, but ultimately forgettable.

Terminator Salvation
A disappointing, pandering waste of a film that I saw once and can no longer even really remember beyond the fact that, no sir, I did not like it. [Read more…]

Farscape Rewatch: “Losing Time”

By 3 Comments

Farscape

“This plan is so bad, it HAS to be ours.”

Season 3, Episode 9:
“Losing Time”
***1/2 out of *****

 “I am bleeding and I have no wounds, so I’m either St. John of the Uncharted Territories, or there’s something very, very wrong with me!”

Having spent an entire episode with black-T-shirt Crichton aboard Talyn in the last episode, it’s time to swing back to Moya to spend entire ep with green-T-shirt Crichton! (Well, almost an entire episode, but we’ll get to that later.) I’d say this is a weird one, but this is Farscape, and they’re ALL weird ones, right? That’s why we love it! [Read more…]