The original 1986 film Top Gun enjoyed wide success with its pedestrian coming-of-age story significantly enhanced by the testosterone-fueled setting of the US Navy's Top Gun aviation school. The film revolved around hotshot pilot Pete "Maverick" Mitchell (Tom...
Film Review: Eye-Popping “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness”
It's becoming increasingly difficult to watch Marvel films. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is ostensibly the sequel to the 2016 hit Doctor Strange but since Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) shows up in subsequent Marvel shows, prep for this new movie...
The 2022 RAM 1500 Rebel G/T: Great, but Glitchy
I drove the 2022 RAM 1500 with the "Big Horn" trim package a few months ago and enjoyed it quite a bit. These big luxury trucks are great to drive with wide, luxurious seats, powerful engines, and a great sound system. When RAM offered me the chance to also drive the...
Film Review: Poignant Grand Theft Charity in “The Duke”
Many groups are poorly represented in the allocation of government programs throughout the world. One of the historically worst served communities are pensioners and other retired people. Typically on fixed incomes, it's no surprise that they can have simmering anger...
Retro Sci-Fi Solo Gaming with “Pulp Invasion”
Captain D! This is the Intergalactic Council. We need to talk to you! It's a matter of galactic peace! Roger, roger, Council, Captain D here, in the far reaches of space, as usual. What's going on? Captain D! What a relief to hear from you! We have a secret mission...
Film Review: Identity-Bending Korean Actioner “Spiritwalker”
Agent Kang I-an (Yoon Kye-sang) has a big problem; he's regained consciousness at the scene of a car accident in someone else's body. The face he sees in the reflection of the car window isn't his own. How can this be? And why is a special police team chasing him,...
Manage Your Rainforest in the Set-Building Game “Canopy”
The rainforest is one of the most diverse areas of our planet, hosting thousands of species of plants, insects, and animals, all in a complex dance to attain ecological equilibrium. This all happens under the protective canopy of enormous trees that can grow hundreds...
Crossing the Serengeti in a 2021 Land Rover Defender 110 SE
Okay, so I didn't really cross the Serengeti, though it's Africa where the fabled Land Rover gained its reputation as being unstoppable, even through the toughest terrain on Earth. Heck, I didn't even go over a curb or hit a mud puddle in my suburban and mountain road...
Film Review: “Dual” Offers Up A Real Clone War
Just got diagnosed with a terminal illness? No problem, your doctor will also share details about Replacement, a popular cloning technology that allows you to replace yourself with a healthy clone so that no one will have to mourn your passing. Ideally, you and your...
Game Review: Fun, Intriguing “GigaWatt” Board Game
The era of coal and gas-burning power plants has passed and it's time to help migrate the power grid to using green and clean power sources. The challenge is that you can't just shut everything down because there's an ever-increasing demand on the grid: People need...
A Driving Week with the 2022 BMW M240i xDrive Coupe
True story, the 2022 BMW M240i xDrive Coupe is the first vehicle I've driven from Bayerische Motoren Werke that I feel really embodies their "driving experience" motto. It's a really fun drive, fast, nimble, responsive, and luxuriously comfortable. Even its curb...
Film Review: Entertaining, Unnecessary “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore”
I'm a Harry Potter fan. From the books and audiobooks (I've listened to both the Jim Dale and Stephen Fry recordings) to the eight movie franchise to the enormous Potterverse of ancillary products, it's hard not to have had The Boy Who Lived influence the last few...
Game Review: Kid Friendly Dungeon Crawler “The Quest Kids”
If parents wanted to get their kids excited about board games, it used to be that the entry point was Candyland, Chutes & Ladders, Trouble, or similarly banal and simplistic games. In recent years things have improved with terrific family-friendly titles like...
Film Review: Weird, Hilarious “Everything, Everywhere, All At Once”
One of the more peculiar concepts to catch the zeitgeist of modern culture is the multiverse. The concept that there are an infinite number of alternative realities, some almost indistinguishable from our own, and others quite different, serves as the conceptual...
Game Review: Fun, Whimsical Co-op “Roll Camera”
INT. DAY: tight on Roll Camera game set up on a large, well-lit table. Slow zoom out to reveal game room with shelves full of games and a man [TAYLOR] sitting at the table, staring intently at the game. SF/X: retro sci-fi 'whoosh' sound as from old 40's serials of...
Planet Dave is run by Dave Taylor, who has been writing about film, cars, games, and his lifestyle for many years. He's based in Boulder, Colorado and assures readers he's only occasionally falling into a gravity well or temporal distortion field.