In this second novel of the trilogy, we delve more into concepts alien to parallel Earth’s intelligent Neanderthals and visit their world. The characters felt more two-dimensional this time. The story was well-thought out, but some of the dialogue felt clunky. Still, this was a satisfying page-turner.

Grade: B-.

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This conclusion to the prequel trilogy of the original Star Wars franchise bests the first two in its series by a very small margin. The visual effects are jaw-dropping and the scale is vast, but the story was inept, unbelievable, and filmed like an extended episode of Super Friends.

Grade: C-.

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Sawyer’s exploration of the accidental transfer of a modern Neanderthal physicist to our version of Earth is an interesting look at our culture and civilization from the perspective of an outsider from a contemporary intelligence that never developed agriculture. The book is well-written and very imaginative anthropological speculative fiction.

Grade: B+.

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The story of loss, sorrow, estrangement, and reconciliation features a gaggle of interesting characters in varying degrees of pain. With a beautiful script, a powerfully talented cast, and a sweet, lilting soundtrack, this movie delivers a full range of emotion — anger, frustration, and disappointment, as well as tenderness and love.

Grade: B+.

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Set in the ghettos near Johannesburg, South Africa, and centering around a street-hardened thug and a baby he gets in a carjacking, this picture is the story of a young man’s redemption. The transformation of the protagonist brings us to a satisfying and emotional conclusion. What a beautiful story.

Grade: A.

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This experimental live set gets miscategorized in the electronic bin, featuring over an hour of improvisational free jazz. The musical talent here is enormous, but it is certainly difficult to stay with at times. It mellows out toward the end. This is strictly for fans of extremely unconventional improvised soundscapes.

Grade: C+.

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Matthew Herbert certainly knows his stuff compositionally. A number of the tracks on his CD are very challenging. Unfortunately, most of the songs here are more unconventional, conceptual, and experimental than they are musical. Lacking a cohesive flow, this collection sounds like an envelope-pushing graduate student music composition recital.

Grade: C+.

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This ho-hum collection of techno tracks contains a few head-nodding moments, but gets stuck trying to pull off something “interesting.” While some of the song titles are cleverly named, much of the actual music feels like it was constructed with GarageBand, which built the tracks in an afternoon.

Grade: C.

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A battalion of Army Rangers and Filipino guerrillas planned and executed one of the most successful POW rescue missions in American history. It was a stunning achievement — certainly worth far more than this trudging, miscast, squandered scrap of film. The acting was deplorable and the script blew dramatic opportunities galore.

Grade: C-.

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This Canadian made-for-television movie is a dramatization of the first solo swim across Lake Ontario. The acting and photography are typical of such a production — clunky, unpolished, and amateur — while the story is thrilling and inspiring. Caroline Dhavernas is a little too cutesy as the spunky Marilyn Bell.

Grade: C.

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