Gary Varner

Gary Varner is a Science Fiction and Fantasy enthusiast with a bachelor’s degree in Theater Arts, and he spends his time working and raising his daughter who he suspects will one day be president of the United States. For more reviews as well as serial novels, go to www.garypaulvarner.com to read more.

Archives

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Review Part 7

_{Rey offers Finn her hand, and he takes it}_{Gary Varner
August 7, 2026}

The TIE fighters would make sense if the pilots knew someone was going to fly off the planet, but they have no way of knowing that.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Review Part 6

_{Star Wars isn’t science fiction, it's science fantasy}_{Gary Varner
August 1, 2026}

The point behind the “boy on a farm” trope is that the character must grow into the role of hero.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Review Part 5

_{Science fiction often has various characters describing different social or philosophical positions}_{Gary Varner
July 25, 2026}

There are plenty of flawless or powerful characters in storytelling. Sherlock Holmes has flaws, but he is powerful in the respect that his intellect is unparalleled, and his character has defined a genre of storytelling.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Review Part 4

_{Finn finds himself alone, so he begins stripping off his armor as he wanders the desert}_{Gary Varner
July 18, 2026}

I can’t recall a single time where an entire movie, let alone a trilogy, is completely driven by such choices and coincidences.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Review Part 3: Meeting Poe

_{Once someone watches this film multiple times, questions stack up remarkably fast}_{Gary Varner
July 11, 2026}

Several ships are descending to this planet, and inside them are stormtroopers waiting to attack.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Review Part 2

_{During the title crawl, the writers’ entire goal was to reset the board so they could essentially tell the same story all over again}_{Gary Varner
July 4, 2026}

The whole reason the sixth movie was called Return of the Jedi was because it was assumed that Luke would train more Jedi, and this is an audience expectation, and the title crawl is surgically destroying such expectations.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Review Part 1

_{Gary Varner
June 27, 2026}

The main problem with The Force Awakens is that it’s the most strategic—and by that, I mean cynical—films I’ve ever seen.

Disclosure Day Destined to Disappoint

_{The idea that Spielberg was attempting to destroy Christians’ faith using aliens was overstated}_{Gary Varner
June 20, 2026}

God would be the God of them too, but of course, this statement begs the question of what could be considered human-like, and that is a conversation unto itself.

YouTubers V The Mandalorian

_{I can’t remember the last time there have only been two or three seats remaining in a theater}_{Gary Varner
June 13, 2026}

YouTubers are quickly replacing the A-list celebrities, and while I’m surprised to see the studios going along with this trend, I’m not at all disappointed, and, for the first time in a long time, I’m hopeful for the future of entertainment.

AI: Artificial Intelligence Review Part 13: What is Value?

_{Ducks do not debate the existence of God, nor do they build skyscrapers}_{Gary Varner
June 6, 2026}

Let’s say robots were to become sentient, humans would still be the cause of that consciousness, even when they began to self-replicate, their understanding of the world would still come from humanity.

AI: Artificial Intelligence Review Part 12

_{The story is not talking about how to determine reality as a whole, it’s really attacking human exceptionalism}_{Gary Varner
May 30, 2026}

Ideas like love, beauty, and so on are part of the human experience because humans sense them; they don’t always agree on the particulars, but they intuitively know that these ideas exist.

AI: Artificial Intelligence Review Part 11: Along Came the Glitter Bots

_{It’s boring and pretentious to the point of being obnoxious}_{Gary Varner
May 23, 2026}

Spielberg fails to understand that obsession is not love, and if David were really human, he would know that.

AI Artificial Intelligence Part 10: Mocking Descartes

_{The philosopher was trying to establish how a man can know whether or not he exists}_{Gary Varner
May 16, 2026}

Whenever David talks about Monica loving him, he’s always bringing up the things she’ll do for him, not what he can do for her.

AI: Artificial intelligence Review Part 9

_{David’s hijacking of the aircraft provides him with a distraction, and he escapes.}_{Gary Varner
May 9, 2026}

David mentions that the first thing he remembered seeing was a bird with outstretched feathers, but it turns out that this initial visual was not a bird at all but a man with feather-like symbols beneath his feet.

AI: Artificial Intelligence Review Part 8

_{There is no definition for real here because there is no God to define what is “real”.}_{Gary Varner
May 2, 2026}

Spielberg, and presumably Kubrick, are going to use this botched retelling of a fairy tale to give you an ironclad case for atheism.

Thoughts on Theology in Science by Kenneth Francis: Berkeley Vs Solipsism

_{A fascinating book that covers a variety of topics from quantum theory to the dream life of spiders.}_{Gary Varner
April 30, 2026}

Even if reality were an illusion only perceived by spirits, then there is still a source of order for that illusion, a core source of reality.

AI: Artificial Intelligence Review Part 7

_{The powers that be have created a robot that can trick people.}_{Gary Varner
April 25, 2026}

These writers sometimes present the opposing points of view through unlikable avatars in an attempt to peer pressure their audience.

AI Artificial intelligence Review Part 6: Kubrick Doesn’t Know Pinocchio?

_{Classic fairy tales, in general, are supposed to be at the forefront of the audience’s mind.}_{Gary Varner
April 18, 2026}

The robot shouldn’t have the ability to lie unless programmed to do so under certain circumstances, but even if the robot were capable of lying in the event of a murder, the robot keeps records of its whereabouts.

AI: Artificial Intelligence Review Part 5

_{“Nobody knows what ‘real’ really means.”}_{Gary Varner
April 11, 2026}

Spielberg needs to depict David in this obsessive way because, otherwise, he might find himself having to justify why the father doesn’t try to save David or why Martin doesn’t grow attached to him over time.

AI: Artificial Intelligence Review Part 4

_{The real message of the movie is “nobody knows what ‘real’ really means.”}_{Gary Varner
April 4, 2026}

The forest scene itself is just shy of three minutes, and the actors both do a wonderful job selling the scene, but in the end, I couldn’t buy it.