Category: Science Fiction

Who Is The Dream Hacker When Reality Gets Screwed?

“Dream Hacker” is an action thriller that explores a shared subconscious mind and dream technology, raising intriguing questions about sentience and the collision of waking and sleeping worlds, though some plot points and character explanations remain perplexing.

One Tree EntertainmentOne Tree Entertainment
Spoiler Alert

When the world the subconscious mind exists in is a shared environment, the concepts the movie Dream Hacker offers are right up my alley! I’ve been looking at works which explore this concept and readers can expect a few more reviews. When neuroscientist Jennifer Connelly (Molly Hanson) enters this realm and realizes the technology can also be used to enter the minds of others, her colleagues want to know more!

When this film is made up of two plots, this film isn’t just another action thriller. A significant plot point occurs when the protagonist accidentally enters the mind of Candy (Hannaj Bang Bendz), leading to problematic ramifications despite Jen’s good intentions to help her escape real-life problems. Also, when part of Jen’s technology includes a program named Adam (Luke J I Smith) to help her navigate this realm, I like to know how he upgraded itself.

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Updates on What the Astronots Are Up To

Until a feature length film finally gets off the ground (pardoning the pun), the short film AstroNots is ready to launch on streaming platforms.

AstroNots keyart theatrical posterAstroNots is finally landing after playing at twenty more film festivals worldwide! Anyone who has not seen this hilarious short film at their local event or Fantasia Film Festival 2024 can now stream it through Film Shortage, beginning June 23, 2025. When I interviewed the creative team last year, producer Andrew Seaton said they want to make a feature film length version of this film. Although not much has progressed since, he confirmed writers Adam Dunn and Aaron Glenane are working hard on putting a script together.

He said, “We are excited about the prospect of taking these characters and their unique dynamic even further. What we love is that we have an odd couple road-trip movie, set in space. Something truly hilarious and unique.”

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Star Wars Day in 2025 And Why It Remains Special To Me

On Star Wars Day, each fan will enjoy May The Fourth in their own way. It doesn’t have to be a commercialised affair.

Star Wars Day LOGOThis year, what I offer is a retrospective on what I enjoyed about Star Wars rather than look at the commercialization of the date. I have no interest in picking up new merchandise because I have everything I want. With four lightsabers in my man cave, I think that should be enough.

Every time this annual event comes up, I’ll look and to be honest, the discounts are not very good. Also, the products produced are more focussed on recent releases rather than old. I want more recognition for Episodes IV to VI.

The best spinoffs and expanded content from the Star Wars universe will always be with the original releases. Whether that’s with the early Marvel Comics series or Dark Horse, the comic book medium embraced giving fans what they enjoyed faster than any other platform. No one wants to admit a certain holiday special remains partially canon. While Life Day is more prominent in the Disney-ification of the Lucasfilm content, none of the original considered this holiday as essential material.

For me, my enjoyment started with:

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How To Buy A Lightsaber (Prop) in 2025

Some folks may well want to pull out their lightsaber or buy one during #starwarsday. When a lot of vendors and smiths are at conventions selling you their wares, what I offer is what I learned after talking to various sellers.

Lightsaber DisplayWhen pop culture conventions host a variety of vendors selling lightsabers from Star Wars, the caveat is on choosing who to buy from. Some pop up type operations are looking to cash in on the craze, and others are true enthusiasts who deserve the moniker. When I fell deep into this rabbit hole, I made sure I looked around for years rather than impulse buy. There are a lot of things people need to be aware of before buying their first saber.

At its most basic level, what you’re buying at toy stores is a flashlight. Those are the cheapest. The next step up includes a sound board and a motion sensor to activate the various audio effects (known as fonts). Everything else is a modification, with more bells and whistles. The best chipset to use requires some computer programming knowledge.

The same rules apply to the shape of the hilt. Between a basic aluminum stick with some grooves and curves to movie-authentic, the cost will rise. The offerings found at conventions range from starter units to movie replicas. Those enterprises are mostly resellers and do little work to create something new for customers. One search on Alibaba or Temu will reveal who the true manufacturers are. TXQ and LGT/Nexus dominate the market. When a portion of lightsaber businesses make orders from them and do further customizations or come up with different names to make what they sell look like they got exclusive rights, they realistically do not.

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If You Love Star Wars Vision Then The Art of Star Wars: A New Hope—The Manga Will Rekindle That Passion

Star Wars Visions isn’t the only place to get alternate world takes of what goes on in a galaxy far, far away. With the Art of Star Wars: A New Hope, a lot of comparisons can be made to see how styles have changed.

The Art of Star Wars – A New Hope MangaFrom the Press Release:

As part of the Star Wars Celebration, Dark Horse Comics is announcing that they will publish The Art of Star Wars: A New Hope—The Manga. Two stunning volumes will each be available wherever books are sold, and will spotlight Hisao Tamaki’s original art from his acclaimed 1997 manga adaptation of Star Wars: A New Hope and include a new English translation. Ahead of retail launch in Summer 2026, Dark Horse Comics will also be offering special editions through the publisher’s first ever Kickstarter campaign.

This beautifully drawn manga will be available through Kickstarter in two distinct editions, each offering a unique way to experience this extraordinary adaptation. The Collector’s Edition features the same two-volume hardcovers that will be available at retail but with Kickstarter-exclusive covers. The Masterpiece Edition will faithfully reproduce Tamaki’s art at its original size in two volumes and include an auxiliary volume. The Masterpiece Edition format will be only available through Kickstarter. Fans can now follow the prelaunch page for the Kickstarter campaign here.

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Lucasfilm’s Maul – Shadow Lord, My Reaction and What to Watch In Prep (Which Surprisingly Isn’t Much)

The good news is that there’s more animated content from the Star Wars universe with Maul – Shadowlord, but the bad news is…

Maul – Shadow Lord Title CardComing to Disney+ in 2026

During Star Wars Celebration, which is taking place in Tokyo, Japan, Lucasfilm treated fans to a teaser of their next animated project, titled Maul – Shadow Lord. His story is most likely going to continue to explore the seedy underside of this other universe. CCO Dave Filoni, VP of Animation Athena Portillo and voice actor Sam Witwer were present as the news and teaser dropped.

As far as I can recall, after a rough alliance with Ashoka in the former series, this villain could live out his life much like how Garmadon left after the fight with the Oni in LEGO Ninjago. Not much is known about what has happened since, and I have chosen not to read the comic books and novels which followed.

The production remains secret aside from the news. From ComicBookMovie.com, what’s revealed is that the animation style will not match the previous series and that has me hesitant to endorse. Despite making this visual change, I will watch it. At least, the story is going in the right direction. This website wrote:

“After the Clone Wars, Maul plots to rebuild his criminal syndicate on a planet untouched by the Empire,” reads a brief synopsis. “In a new series set after the events of the final season of The Clone Wars, Maul rises again to lead the underworld factions.

According to Variety’s report, Portillo said fans can expect to learn “a lot,” about Maul in the series. “Unfortunately, I can’t tell you too much, but what I can say is Sam Witwer’s involvement in the show has been pristine,” she said. “I’m very excited about him being able to review the scripts and provide input in all of that as well. Dave Filoni and Sam created the character for animation, and so it’s very important to hear his thoughts as well for the character depth.”

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