I've had the chance to drive a number of different Infiniti cars and SUVs in the last few months, which has been great. The company consistently gets so many aspects of modern car design right, from an excellent fit and finish to lots of smart and luxurious touches to...
Film Review: Gorgeous Wuxia “Code of the Assassins”
Like too many modern movies, there are so many characters in the fantastic and highly entertaining Chiese action film Code of the Assassins (also known as Song of the Assassins, or, if you prefer Chinese, Qing mian Xiuluo) that it's best if you just assume you'll lose...
Game Review: Increase Your Paranoia with “Conspiracy”
It's hard to disprove a conspiracy. Present factual evidence that there are no lizard men, no UFOs, the Earth isn't flat, or that jet contrails are not, in fact, dropping psychotropic drugs on an unsuspecting populace, and the believer responds "of course they want...
The Tech Heavy 2022 Toyota RAV4 Prime XSE PHEV
This has been a great era to track vehicle evolution as we have rather rapidly moved from inefficient internal combustion engines ("ICE", in industry nomenclature) powered by gasoline to hybrids, fully electric vehicles ("EV"s), plug-in hybrids ("PHEV"), even...
The Amazing Transformation of 1960s TV Series “The Avengers”
Few British spy thrillers have a more stellar reputation than the campy and often existential TV series The Avengers, starring Patrick Macnee as superspy John Steed and a number of different female leads as his variously amateur or equally skilled professional...
Big, Brawny 2023 Toyota Tundra i-Force MAX TRD Pro Truck
Most people around the world marvel at the American obsession with big vehicles. The most popular vehicle sold in Europe, for example, is the Dacia Sandero, a cute little sedan, while in the USA it's a big Ford F-Series pickup truck. Dacia, in fact, doesn't even...
Game Review: Sprawling Resource Collection “Traders & Raiders”
We're back in the Middle Ages and you're lucky to be one of the merchant class in a tough, resource constrained era. Being an entrepreneur, you also enjoy constructing various types of buildings and, of course, what merchant doesn't have an entourage of fellow...
Premium Luxury with the 2023 Lexus ES 350 F-Sport Handling Sedan
I've always been a big fan of Toyota, so it's logical for me to like Lexus too, as it's the premium vehicle brand from Toyota. In fact, while I've never owned a Lexus, I have owned a number of Toyota vehicles, including a Tercel, a Sienna, a Prius, and a Highlander....
Film Review: Star Wars/MCU Crossover “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania”
Disney owns both Marvel and Star Wars, two ginormous franchises that collectively have significantly influenced our culture in countless ways. But the company has never really experimented with a cross-over, and with good reason; they're different universes. Right?...
The Tough, Affordable 2023 Ford Maverick Lariat Tremor AWD Truck
The price of all vehicles seems to be on an endless upward trajectory and there are few segments more affected than pickup trucks. I can recall when pickups were for work or for kids who couldn't afford a car: They started out as the least expensive of any vehicle you...
Game Review: Biblical Area Controller “Purim”
Let's start by going back to the Bible. In the Book of Esther, we learn that Persian King Ahashverosh married Esther without knowing that she was Jewish. Her cousin Mordechai was also an advisor to the King, and things went well in the kingdom. Except there was...
I Fell In Love with The 2023 BMW M340i Sedan
As a brand, I have to admit that BMW has grown on me over the last few years. Where the company really shines is in its luxury sedans and when you take the very latest design and add M-Series upgrades, it's a formidable combination that reveals why they are considered...
Game Review: It’s All About Stealth in “SAS: Rogue Regiment”
The British Special Air Services were a rogue military unit formed in North Africa during World War II. Ben Macintyre has an excellent book on the history of the SAS that's also been made into a fantastic and gritty BBC series, the former called "Rogue Heroes" and the...
Film Review: Audacious, Silly “The Wandering Earth II”
Four years ago the Chinese film industry released one of its first big budget sci-fi thrillers, The Wandering Earth, to great acclaim and strong global box office results. When I reviewed it back in 2019, I found it interesting and exciting, partially because of its...
The 2023 GMC Sierra 1500 AT4X: Powerful, Luxurious Pickup
In the early days, pickup trucks were sold bare bones, intended to be work vehicles more than family transportation. They were also inexpensive too, offering people who couldn't afford a fancy sedan or station wagon an alternative. I remember in high school that one...
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.