Because geeks like tests

Just when I was feeling uncertain about my geek cred, this aural quiz put my concerns to rest.

	I received 78 credits on The Sci Fi Sounds Quiz How much of a Sci-Fi geek are you?
Take the Sci-Fi Movie Quiz

The quiz has 14 questions with accompanying sounds. I'm bummed it didn't tell me which ones I missed, but actually, there weren't that many I was guessing at. Otoh, it told me I am a major scifi geek, but 78 out of 100 doesn't seem all that impressive.

Go on, go test your geekitude!

A few site changes

I've changed a thing or two in my list of GEEKY PLACES TO GO, over there on the right. First, no offense to Heroes, but I got rid of the link to the official NBC site. I just didn't feel like having it there anymore. Very cool, though, is the addition of a couple totally cool geek sites.

Bad Astronomy is a blog by (you guessed it) an astronomer who debunks bad astronomy wherever he finds it. He also rips up other bad science, and talks about a slew of other sciency things.

Insultingly Stupid Movie Physics covers, well, movie physics, the good, the bad and the totally ridiculous. Of course, not being a physicist myself and far too lazy to do the necessary work to be a physicist (i.e. getting at least one degree in physics), I can't say how accurate their physics is. I'm gullible, though, so I'll buy it. Also, the site is funny, which scores major points with me.

Finally, I added xkcd awhile ago, but failed to mention it, so now I'm telling you. Go look at xkcd and laugh.

Physics in the movies

If you're interested in a brief look at science in the movies, check out this article, "Hollywood Physics," archived at physicsworld.com.

While the article is not the most in-depth look at science in films, it does give a basic overview, starting with the introduction of science in movies with 1902's Le voyage dans la lune (Voyage to the Moon). What's also great about the article is the short list of links at the end, pointing to a few sites that talk serious scifi science. Very cool stuff there.

"Im in ur manger killing ur savior"

A nativity scene outside a public library, gone painfully, horribly nerd. You don't have to be a gamer to enjoy this, but it sure does help.

Merry frakkin' Xmas, ya geeks!


Thanks for pointing me to this, Bob!

I want an Alethiometer for Yule!

I finally got my ass out of the house and saw The Golden Compass. Good flick! Overall, I give it a "heck yeah!" It was certainly very pretty, and many of the sets had just enough of a foreign atmosphere to make me feel like I was indeed in an alternate universe. For the most part, the special effects were all right, though I'm the sort who doesn't like any effects that I actually notice, and on occasion the movement of some of the animated characters was a little rough.

For the most part, the casting was pretty great. The young Dakota Blue Richards was really terrific as Lyra. That's a meaty role for a kid and she pulled it off well. I also really liked Simon McBurney as Fra Pavel, the Magesterium lackey; he was just as slimy and unpleasant as he should have been. Nicole Kidman did well as Mrs. Coulter, but I'm not sure the part was written as well as it could have been. She just didn't seem to have the subtle deviousness and calculating nature I thought defined Mrs. Coulter in the book.

So many of the characters were really great. The witch Serafina Pekkala was one of my favourites from the book and I definitely liked her in the movie, though I would have liked to see more of her (of course, it doesn't hurt that Eva Green is so very pretty). I was really happy with how Pan, Lyra's daemon, came out, as I liked him so much in the book. I was a little disappointed that Mrs. Coulter's golden monkey lacked a good bit of the nasty personality of his book counterpart, though I think that came out of Philip Pullman's descriptive writing rather than lots of actions that could translate well to the screen.

As far as the story goes, there is definitely room for disappointment if comparing it to the book, but I'm trying to view it on its own merits. It's not especially deep (something that could well be improved upon as the story develops in The Subtle Knife), which is a shame, since many of the concepts that were introduced could be expanded on tremendously. There also wasn't a great deal of character development, with the exception of Lyra. We didn't get to know much about the motivations of anyone else. However, something Pullman said (according to something I read somewhere on the interweb) was that some changes from the book were not a very big deal, as long as the movie stuck to telling Lyra's story. I'm inclined to agree with that sentiment, and say that it did that quite well.

As a cinematic experience, it felt as though a lot of things were left out, though not in the sense of skipping anything. Rather, it just wasn't edited very well and seemed rushed. On the other hand, I definitely thought the movie was emotionally engaging. At least, I got choked up several times when things got tense. It was especially difficult to watch Mrs. Coulter's nasty monkey daemon when he grabbed the Gyptian boy's daemon, as well as when he attacked Pan.

I'd say my biggest complaint was with the really awful Kate Bush song at the end. If I wasn't a sit-through-the-credits kind of gal, that song would have had me fleeing the theater. Thankfully, it ended and better music played over the remainder of the credits.

All in all, it wasn't overwhelmingly spectacular, but it was entertaining and enjoyable, and definitely pretty to look at.

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic

This is number three of Clarke's Three Laws* and something I quote often, from the most excellent scifi author Arthur C. Clarke. Today is his 90th birthday and I hope he's celebrating by doing something really wonderful and indulgent. A tiny sampling of his works, spanning nearly six decades, includes the novels Childhood's End, Rendezvous with Rama, and probably his most widely known book outside the geek world, 2001: A Space Odyssey; the most awesome short story "The Nine Billion Names of God"; and his terrifically enjoyable non-fiction work, The View from Serendip, recounting some of his experiences in Sri Lanka.

For my own celebration, I will endeavour to try out this nifty music/movie mashup, and listen to Pink Floyd's "Echoes" (from the album Meddle) while watching Dave's weird & wonderful sequence at the end of 2001. Some guy at Wired.com claims it's pretty fuckin' cool. Heh.


*One & two are: When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong; and, The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible. Man, that guy is a genius!

Because I need another way to waste time

The Replicator activity on Stargate Atlantis got me thinking again about picking up Myst V: End of Ages, the last in the Myst series of computer games. Really, it makes sense - David Ogden Stiers (who will forever be Charles Emerson Winchester III to me) plays the Replicator mouthpiece, Oberoth. Well, he also voiced a character in this last Myst game. While I've checked out End of Ages and started poking around a bit, I haven't sat down & gotten very into playing it, so it's about time I do that.

I finished Myst, Riven and Exile, but never got all the way through Revelation. Revelation's puzzles lacked the organic feel I thought was present in the three previous games. For me, the integrated nature of the puzzles, their appropriateness to the game atmosphere and context, were a huge part of what made those games fun for me. As much as I liked some aspects of Revelation, my disappointment in many of the puzzles was enough to keep me from sticking with it. Maybe I'll go back to it sometime and give it another shot.

Riven is my favourite of the series and it's no wonder. It was the first one I played and I discovered it under very positive circumstances. I think it was around my birthday, sometime in the late-'90s, and I was at the tail-end of a solo trip that had gone pretty damn well. I joined my boyfriend at his computer, where he was playing Riven. Not surprisingly, I thought it was sooooo beautiful. Heh. As it happened he was stuck, so while pondering what to do next he gave me a tour of the game. It & I were a natural match, as I fell in love with everything he showed me, and then I promptly got him unstuck. I was totally hooked. Between the beautiful scenery, the complete lack of hack & slash, the excellent puzzles, and that nearly immediate sense of gratification upon my introduction to it, Riven was pretty much the perfect game for me.

I know that seeing the game for the first time and quickly solving a puzzle that'd been vexing someone else for awhile had more to do with being a fresh set of eyes and my heightened state of mind, than with me being any kind of puzzle genius. Many of the puzzles in Riven, as well as Myst and Exile, definitely challenged me. They also evoked appreciation and enjoyment on a purely aesthetic level, because of how smoothly they seemed to fit the games' atmospheres. Pretty much everything about the games was satisfying.

So, I'll give End of Ages a shot and see what I think. It's definitely beautiful, though I thought the intro could have been cut down. I'm more into game-playing than game-watching, so long narratives with animated characters don't really do it for me. But, if that ends up being my biggest complaint, I think it'll be a good experience. We'll see!

"Bold reimagining" indeed!

That's how the SciFi Channel plugged their Wizard of Oz revamp, "Tin Man," and I'm inclined to agree with that assessment. It aired at the beginning of last week, but I'm just getting around to talking about it now because I'm slow, and not just in the short-bus sense. Besides, if you missed it, or want to catch it again, it'll be on at least one more time (next being Monday, December 24, starting at 5p EST).

So, what did I think? I'm pretty sure I'm sweet on Zooey Deschanel, as I thought she was simply awesome. She's nothing like the Dorothy we met in the 1939 technicolor classic, a version of which makes a brief appearance in "Tin Man." Deschanel's DG handled herself and her bizarre circumstances in a charming and endearing fashion. She's a nice balance between capable self-sufficiency and childlike vulnerability, as she and her acquired friends make their way through the strange environs of the Outer Zone.

The new Tin Man, played by Neal McDonough, was a very cool and complex character, who used the struggles of others' to work through his own issues. His story was a little heavy on the schmaltz for my taste, but engaging nonetheless. Very heroic.

Just once I'd like to see Alan Cumming do a crappy job in something, just so I stop feeling like such a slavering fangirl. In "Tin Man" he played the brainless Glitch, a scarecrow of a different stripe, and was nothing short of delightful. While I was not so hot on the inconsistencies of the character's brain issues, they were easy to overlook as I just enjoyed Glitch so much.

Richard Dreyfuss as the Mystic Man updated the Wizard in the most wonderful way. Who ever thought the Wonderful man himself would be a drug addict?!

The new version of Toto left me with mixed feelings, probably because I grew up with a cairn terrier and have always had a soft spot for the original Toto. However, even though the Toto in "Tin Man" didn't get enough screen time, I appreciated that he was made a significant character who had some impact on the course of events.

The story itself is not especially near & dear to my heart, so I had no complaints regarding the changes that were made. I really liked that the entire adventure wasn't a dream, that DG had a mother and a father who were actually instrumental to the story, that the wicked witch possessed the heroine's sister, that the O.Z. was radically different from Oz, and that there weren't any munchkins of the sort from the '39 movie. I didn't even miss Glinda. Something I really appreciated was that so many of the supporting characters had actual fleshed-out stories and were so much more interesting than the two-dimensional companions with whom the original Dorothy traveled. Of course, it was nice to see Callum Keith Rennie as Azkadellia's right-hand baddie, Zero.

All in all, an enjoyable, well-presented story, with lots of pretties, a good serving of darkness and some really wonderful set & costume designs.

Oh! and the mobats were definitely pretty fuckin' cool!

I [heart] Stargate Atlantis

Lots of things to enjoy about the last ep of the fall season. Who knew Rodney would get along so well with his doppelganger? But of course, if he's truly going to appreciate anyone's company, it's going to be someone who's not his intellectual inferior (which pretty much leaves himself). I would, however, have expected him to have trouble with his nanite-created version being physically superior. Ronon, bless his caveman heart, is quite the charmer, and it was no surprise at all that both versions were a little nonplussed by the whole situation. Hearing Sheppard refer to "my McKay" tweaked that slashy part of me, but I'm pretty easy that way. In fact, I know it's just my perv-tinted lenses, but this whole episode was a bit on the slashy side. Not surprisingly, I loved Rodney's "Oh crap" an instant before the end credits.

Other random bits I enjoyed: Sheppard & Ronon sparring (I bet I could watch that for hours!); sneaky & secretive Replicator-Keller, -Lorne & -Zelenka; the destruction of Replicator-Atlantis; Ronon holding Rodney while Sheppard cut him; Rodney & Zelenka's painful conversation about Rodney avoiding dealing with Elizabeth's death.

I was a little disappointed to learn that Elizabeth is dead, though not because I was especially fond of the character. Rather, I sometimes get tired of how little "dead" can actually mean on some shows. So, Elizabeth is dead, but that doesn't mean we can't still have her around, indistinguishable from her former self but created by Replicators. Oy.

I can't help being a little amused by how damned convenient it is for our heroes that interraction with them leads their enemies to infighting. If it weren't for the Wraith's civil war and now the Replicators' internal strife, the humans would have been fucked a long time ago.

Now it is a mere four week wait for the exciting conclusion...or at least the continuation. The mid-season break is a blessedly short one, with new episodes resuming January 4. Yay!

Updating a classic

Producer Thomas Schuehly (Alexander, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen) and Executive Producer Mario Kassar (Terminator 2, Jacob's Ladder, Total Recall) are planning a remake of Fritz Lang's 1927 scifi uber-classic Metropolis. The gist of this movie features the perennial struggle between the intellectual elite and the downtrodden working class, with some gorgeous art deco set design and standard silent film emoting.

Part of me really wants to see this come to fruition, and part of me rails against the mere suggestion of laying a finger on this masterpiece. Metropolis isn't just a classic scifi movie; it was a groundbreaking cinematic endeavour and qualifies as required viewing for film students and scifi fans everywhere. Of course, it's not for everyone - my significantly awesome other just pointed out that he's never seen the whole thing, because it puts him to sleep every time he tries to watch it. Once I got over my apoplectic fit, I just had to shake my head.

Anyway, the project is in the very early stages and still doesn't have a director, let alone cast or a firm production schedule. I'll keep my ears open for developments and hope for the best.

Close Chapter Two

I'm not sure what to think of the season ender of Heroes. A virus destroyed, a few dead heroes, a few resolved storylines, and a whole lot of questions left hanging.

The showdown at Primatech with Adam, Peter, Hiro, Nathan & Parkman was pretty exciting. Poor Peter, it hurt him to find out he'd been played by Adam, but at least his brother was there to hold his hand and tell him what to do. I'm glad Adam's just in a box, rather than dead. Not that he's very effective where he is at the moment, but I'm betting he'll find a way out. Maybe Sylar can help with that....

Ahh, Sylar. It's nice that Maya finally saw his true colours - black, black and black. His entire performance at Mohinder's apartment then the lab (formerly Isaak's studio) was terrific, from his creepy smiles for Mohinder to letting Maya know who he really is to his quick little shootout with Elle. I loved that he shot Maya, without even hesitating. It's too bad she didn't stay dead. Ah well, maybe she & Sylar will meet again in the next chapter.

I'm a little boggled by what Bennet's up to. Why would his agreement to work with The Company again guarantee the safety of his family? Just because Bob tells him so? Why on Earth would anyone - ANYONE! - still believe anything Bob says, most especially Bennet? Even poor dumb Elle, so desperate to please daddy, must realize he can't be trusted. Bennet, though, remains so utterly awesome to me that I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt.

Who shot Nathan and why wasn't Parkman immediately brain-scanning the crowd for the shooter? Bennet's the likeliest choice and I rather like the idea of him using public assassination to achieve his ends. Of course, there's no reason to think Nathan's actually, really, truly dead, so I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Who was Angela Petrelli talking to at the end? It seems a little redundent to say Pandora's Box has been opened - after all, throughout this season she's been belabouring the point that she & her first gen pals did that 30 years ago.

As an afterthought, does anyone care that Niki probably blew up saving Monica? Naw, didn't think so. Maybe that bit was thrown in just for the sake of offing another hero and/or finally being done with her tired drama.

The little preview of Chapter Three was nice. With Sylar's powers returned to him, he's pretty much unstoppable. Of course, enough heroes working together could take him out, especially if Hiro & Peter get in on it, but I'm guessing it won't be an easy task.

Finally, I'm left wondering about what would have been different if not for the WGA strike. It forced the season to a premature end and some quick & dirty storytelling. Given everything that was left hanging, I can't help but have big hopes for a third season, but I wonder how much of that story will have to involve cleaning up the short second season.

Razor, take two

Last night I watched the DVD edition of Razor with some friends. All in all, I think I was more satisfied with the version that aired. It wasn't bad by any means, but it seems "uncut" and "unedited" translates to "three times the gore" and "things that were not in the broadcast version for a reason." Not all of the additional scenes were superfluous, but mostly they didn't add anything to the story.

There's an added scene in the beginning featuring Kendra Shaw discussing her posting on the Pegasus that I enjoyed seeing. It gave further context to this character being thrust into wildly unexpected circumstances. It also had the benefit of being short and to the point, which other added scenes did not. For instance, the show could have done without the lengthened sequence featuring young William Adama, before he discovers the cylon lab with its hallucinogenic vats of goo. Watching his fancy flying and outrageously improbable mid-fall gunfight was more silly than exciting or revealing.

Unfortunately, the scene with the young Helena Cain was actually disappointing and definitely should not have been included. Rather than providing greater insight into this complex person, I thought that bit of exposition was trying to offer some emotional excuse for the horrific choices she made as an adult. Not only did that weaken the character somewhat, but it was entirely unnecessary given Adm. Adama's position at the end of show. Cain made some distasteful decisions in extraordinary circumstances and there's no knowing how those decisions might have been different if she'd been responsible for and supported by different people. Unlike the added scene, Adama wasn't trying to excuse Cain's behaviour or absolve her of her sins; he was acknowleging a cold harsh reality and appreciating the circumstances he was in as he made his own decisions.

Good news & not so cool news

Good: The Stargate SG-1 straight-to-DVD feature The Ark of Truth will be available March 11. Yay!

Not so cool: It's going to have a pricetag of $27. Wtf? I paid less than that for some of my full season DVD sets of SG-1, and this will have a run time of only 97 minutes. Grr.

Pencils and dirty towels

If you've been looking for a way to combine your support for the WGA strike with your soiled linen fetish (and who hasn't?), here's your opportunity - win Jamie Bamber's used towels.

It's a small (geeky) world after all

So a friend of mine, a Brit who's been sharing US shores with us for some years now, was back in England recently. We were hanging out after his return to NY and he told me he'd learned an interesting bit of info that he thought I'd particularly enjoy.

Through three seasons of watching Battlestar Galactica, he'd experienced the niggling sensation of recognizing one of the main actors, but not making any connection. Then when he was in England a friend pointed out that an old schoolmate of theirs was doing well on an American scifi series. "You remember Jamie Griffith..." - and my friend explained that you & I know him as Jamie Bamber, or Apollo on BSG.

Dude, my friend knows one of my scifi heroes! Not only were they schoolmates, but they hung out for some years as teenagers. Apparently Jamie has matured considerably (and nicely) in the intervening years, hence my friend's inability to place him sooner. I just get a little kick out of finding out all the ways in which people are connected in this great big geeky world.

So, that's my name-dropping for the day, along with the little lament that I don't know anyone famous. Hmph.

It's all too much

I finally caught Monday's Heroes. While I enjoyed it and thought it was pretty exciting, it was also rather cumbersome and unsatisfying. If next week's episode - the season finale - wraps up even a little bit of everything that's been going down, it'll have to be three hours long. Of course, it might not settle anything at all and instead just leave us hanging.

Anyway, this ep served up a little bit of everything, but not enough of anything. A couple minutes of Bennet strapped to a gurney, miraculously alive and swearing at Mohinder-the-dull, was nothing but a tease. At least he was naked under that sheet.

Sylar might not have his abilities, but it's comforting to know he's still creepy as fuck and undeniably bad. I hope Alejandro stays dead, and I hope Maya doesn't find out about it for a good long time. Also, I wonder if Molly will recognize Sylar if she wakes up to find him at her bedside.

Micah and his cousin certainly got themselves in a jam, though I suspect one of his mom's whacked alter egos is going to take care of the problem with some craziness and some gang banger ass-kicking. What I don't get is why any time is being spent on that story at all, since the really interesting stuff is all about the Shanti virus and the fate of 93% of the human population.

Which brings us around to Odessa, Texas, where it all started, and an apparent showdown between Peter and Hiro. If that's not a wild ride, I'm going to feel pretty damn cheated.

Well, Monday should bring the answers to at least some questions, but given all that's been happening this season, I'm keeping my expectations low.

Wraith in the Milky Way!

Man, what a good Stargate Atlantis! Not only was this a Rodney episode, not only did we get our usual heroes working with the SGC as well as the NID, not only was this the occasion of the first Wraith ever in the Milky Way galaxy (!), but on top of all that, we got Kate Hewlett guest starring! *sigh* She's dreamy. In addition to playing Rodney's sister on the show, she's David Hewlett's sister in the real world, which adds a level of cuteness to their characters' interactions that I really like.

Mostly a really satisfying episode, with just a few minor complaints. Even with Rodney emotionally distraught enough to rush into an unknown situation, I think Barrett the NID guy would have insisted they wait for backup before charging in to rescue Jeannie. That would have made Rodney's ridiculously easy capture at least a little bit more of a challenge. And, while I guess I appreciate Sheppard's apparent guilt about serving up Rodney & Jeannie's kidnapper as a Wraith meal, the situation kind of made that choice a no-brainer. Other than those really pretty minor issues, what a great ep.

Next week brings us the last episode before the mid-season break and looks to be a serious cliffhanger (go figure). Wonderfully, earlier this month Gateworld reported that all of season four has been shot and is in post-production, so it will be largely unaffected by the WGA strike. However, it might not escape entirely unscathed, as the strike could mean a longer than usual mid-season break. If that's the worst of it, that's not so bad.

Harbinger of death, you say?!

Finally, I can talk about Battlestar Galactica: Razor, which utterly rocked!

So, Starbuck is the herald of the apocalypse, hunh? Sweet! It sounds as though the oft-referenced special destiny that Kara Thrace (Katee Sackhoff) has to look forward to is to bring about the destruction of mankind. That is, if you trust the words of an old guy in a vat who claims to be God and knows he's about to get nuked. And that was a nice touch, I might add - it's not every day a repentent sinner gets to ask forgiveness from the same sack of deific bones she's about to kamikaze out of existence.

As cool as that was, I'm left confused about why "God" told Shaw (Stephanie Jacobsen) all that he did, then didn't allow her to send a warning back to the Pegasus. Sure, it's a tasty morsel for the audience to chew on, but I have to wonder about how it serves the story. Of course, the whole "God" issue raises numerous other questions as well. Is this guy-in-a-vat the God that Number Six keeps talking about? Do the first seven cylons know he was killed? Uh, was he killed? I mean, if he's really God, it doesn't seem that a piddly little nuke is going to have much impact on his day.

The revelation that Adm. Cain (the absolutely rockin' Michelle Forbes) and Gina (Tricia Helfer) were involved was a nice touch. Aside from that fact being thrown in as smoothly as a het relationship might have been, with no particular emphasis on them being two women, I thought it added some gravity to what we already knew happened (Gina being imprisoned, raped & tortured, then finally killing Cain). Finding out they were knocking boots, then seeing Cain actually issue the order to have Gina raped as part of her interrogation, did more to illustrate Cain's emotional state than any call for revenge could have. Ahh, young love.

I liked Kendra Shaw and I didn't have a problem with the introduction of a completely new character. Of course, it helped that she's terrifically hot and has that tasty Aussie accent. Her attitude and disposition could have made her a repeat of the Starbuck character, but I liked that her personality was distinct enough to keep that from being the case. Though she shared Starbuck's disdain for weak leaders, Shaw had a clear respect for those she felt were deserving, a trait I'm not sure Starbuck exhibits very often.

I really liked finding out that Shaw was not only complicit in the execution of civilians, but actually fired the first shot. She quickly learned from Cain that there was no room to fuck around and that being at war meant making some awful choices.

I definitely got a kick out of the old school centurions and I liked the fact that they were worked into the show as more than just museum pieces. The few episodes in which we gleaned any information about the hybrids gave us no indication that they were created by crossing captured humans with cylon circuitry (as I recall), so that was pretty exciting.

I was pleased to see Steve Bacic's name in the credits, then a little bummed when we found out he was Cain's original XO. However, knowing his fate didn't lessen the impact of seeing his death played out. In fact, I found that scene to be even more intense in light of their established relationship. When they were discussing shore leave, he invited her to visit his family, and even addressed Cain more than once by her first name, a liberty I doubt she encouraged in any but those she most trusted and respected. Well, it was a shame to see him offed so brutally, but Col. Fisk's reaction and his subsequent adherence to Cain's orders were priceless. Fisk was a character I actually kind of liked, dirty & weak though he was.

On a side note, I have a crush on Sgt. Mathias, so it was nice to see her in Razor, kicking ass as usual. If you're not sure who Mathias was, she was the one trying to get the nuke's detonator working on the cylon ship at the end.

Finally, the commercial toward the end of tonight's broadcast, for the March debut of season 4, is promising. Though the WGA strike shut down shooting earlier this month, it appears that they've got at least enough material to start the season. My guess is that the rumours of SciFi splitting the season between '08 and '09 will be confirmed, out of necessity. Well, Razor certainly set the stage for exciting things to come and March can't arrive too soon!

Classic scifi cheese

A friend pointed me to this great piece on Wired, "Star Trek's 10 Cheesiest Classic Creatures."
The list includes descriptions of the creatures, along with their strengths and weaknesses, and are at least as entertaining as the episodes themselves. I'm not sure tribbles really belong on the list, but then, I'm just dumb enough that I'd want one, so there ya are.

A very satisfying Heroes

An awesome new Heroes, in which West redeems himself, Elle learns the truth about her daddy's experiments on her, Claire remembers too late that her father has only ever tried to protect her, and Mohinder proves that he's no more interesting as Bob's lapdog than he was before turning to the dark side.

I'd say Mohinder is as dumb as a box of rocks, but that's insulting to boxes of rocks everywhere. At this point, his loyalty to Bob and the Company just doesn't make sense, and his decision to kill Bennet is entirely whack. It's as though he's forgotten everything he's experienced since starting on this crazy rollercoaster ride. At least Bennet's death wasn't a permanent condition.

Bennet, incidentally, rocks my world. He shone through this entire episode, reminding me over & over again how awesome he is. Now I wonder how he's going to handle being on the receiving end of Company practices in which he is so well versed.

Touchy-feely though it was, I enjoyed Hiro's attempted rescue of his father and his decision to accede to Kaito's wishes. Given last week's ep, it wasn't a great surprise that Kaito Nakamura's killer was Adam; what remains to be seen is how Hiro chooses to use that knowledge. Of all the characters on the show, Hiro is the only one I think really embraces and understands being a hero.

After last week's waste-of-time episode, this week's ep made me think Heroes is well on track. It also made me think that the necessity to truncate the season is not a bad thing at all. If it results in episodes as content-laden as this one, maybe short seasons are the way to go.

Poppies!Poppies!Poppies!

December 2 brings part one of SciFi Channel's three-part miniseries "Tin Man." Think of it as a Wizard of Oz redux, a concept that totally won me over the first time I read Gregory Maguire's Wicked. Not that "Tin Man" and Wicked have anything in common other than the source material (as far as I can tell), but I rather like the idea of a reworking of the story with which most of us are so familiar.

Anyway, "Tin Man" stars Zooey Deschanel as storm-tossed protagonist DG, trading in gingham for leather. Deschanel has made me happy in the things I've seen her in, most notably as Trillian in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and Andy's charmingly wacky girlfriend on Weeds. Her costars include Richard Dreyfuss as The Mystic Man, Alan Cumming as scarecrow figure Glitch, Neal McDonough as a wonderfully and radically altered Tin Man, and Kathleen Robertson (looking hotter than she ever did on Beverly Hills, 90210...and I so should not know that!) as the supremely wicked Azkadellia.

A short "making-of" special that I caught on SciFi certainly made it look pretty amazing, visually spectacular & all that. The way the cast and crew talked about it was encouraging, as well. The root of L. Frank Baum's story seems to be there, but "Tin Man" will be unmistakeably something completely different.

As much as I'm looking forward to it, I am remembering that expectations only lead to disappointment, so I'm trying not to be too excited or to hope for too much. Well, even if it sucks, it's sure to be pretty and that's something. Oh, and the flying monkeys have turned into monkey-bats, which has got to be cool!

My take on Big Apple Con

I don't think I'm going out on a limb here by saying this was my first and last corporate convention. It took place this weekend in a small part of the Pennsylvania Hotel in midtown Manhattan, running for seven hours on Friday and nine hours each yesterday & today. That in itself was kind of a novelty to me; I've been spoiled by cons that take over entire hotels and feature a plethora of con- and fan-run activities pretty much around the clock.

Unfortunately, less than ten seconds after walking in the door, I got a pretty negative impression. The staff with whom I interacted was an even mix of bored & rude, and merely bored. Thankfully, the exhibitors, dealers and artists I spoke with were pleasant, but then I think most of them do this kind of thing for more than just a paycheck.

One of my favourite parts of a con, the costumes, was limited almost entirely to a handful of vendors and some folks with a New York Star Wars fan group. I hope that if I'd stuck around for the costume contest I would have seen more, but I just wasn't motivated enough. I don't feel justified in bitching about that much, though, as I didn't dress for the occasion either. Nonetheless, I was sad not to see fans running around done up in wonderful, interesting creations. I'd guess that attendees who would otherwise costume for such an event (like myself) were dissuaded from doing so for a con with such short hours.

The "big name" stars in attendance (Hayden Panettiere and Kristen Bell, Claire and Elle on Heroes) were the biggest disappointment. Not the actors themselves, who are probably dandy people, but the con policy that disallowed even being in the room where they were holding court (segregated from the rest of the celebrity guests) unless you were shelling out dollars for a photo op and/or autograph. Just walking through and saying hello was verboten. Weak! Oh, and distastefully corporate.

However, it was not a total wash. I got to speak to Gigi Edgley (Chiana on Farscape) and she was very nice. She commented on one of my tattoos, which tickled me. I also saw (though didn't talk to) Suzie Plakson, who played Worf's hottie girlfriend K'Ehleyr on ST:TNG, and Melody Anderson, who was Dale Arden in Flash Gordon (1980). Unfortunately, Walter Koenig (Bester on Babylon 5 & Chekov on ST:TOS) was not about when I passed through, but that was okay, since I spoke to him when I was at DragonCon in '03 and I wouldn't have anything to say anyway.

The dealers' room was pretty much what one would expect at a con. There were about a bajillion comics for sale, as well as autographed photos and posters of stars from just about every movie & tv show ever made. This con emphasized art, so there were oodles of artists present hawking some pretty cool stuff. The art was focused more on comics than on general scifi/fantasy, so there were blessedly few unicorns and fairies, though still an abundance of dragons. Also, I got a couple of really cool t-shirts.

Though I'm glad I went just to see what it was like, from now on, I'm sticking to fan cons.

Did I mention, what the fuck?

I found out why my blog is read with any regularity by only about three people, one of whom is my significantly awesome other, who is practically obligated to indulge my ridiculous hobbies:

The bastards!

The Blog Readability Test (click on the above image to get your blog's rating) will tell you what level of education is required to understand your blog, as determined by, aw hell, I don't know who, or how, or why for that matter.

I am both perplexed and amused by my blog's rating. Perplexed because, shit, as a high school and a college dropout, how do I manage to spew out posts that some random blog-rater thinks you'd need a postgrad reading level to understand? And really, I write most often about television shows. In what universe does anyone need any education at all to understand most of what's on tv? Amused because the US education system makes me laugh (if only so I don't cry). Oh, and I think I'm a little insulted for the same reason.

Clearly, if I want my blog to appeal to the unwashed masses, I need to swear more often and get a little more active in seeking out juvenile scifi things to post about*. I'll start with the former, because it's easier:
FUCK FUCK FUCKITY FUCK!!

In all seriousness - and geekiness - I like this readability test better, if only because I am able to read about how the results were achieved. There's nothing like actually providing information!

Now back to our irregularly scheduled geekery.

*Note the bad grammar, which has to count for something

Some tasty television

Mmmm, that was some good Stargate Atlantis! It served up a fine level of tension combined with the usual amount of cracking wise and plotting clever from our intrepid heroes. The return of Sheppard's Wraith buddy from last season's "Common Ground" was a pleasant surprise. Also, given said intrepid heroes' history of being suckered, it was a relief that they were so very cautious about making any deals with him and that they anticipated a double cross. Of course, it was also pretty damn convenient that another hive ship showed up to unwittingly remove their concern, but I won't take issue with that kind of a fix.

Unfortunately, it's time for me to accept that I'm just not thrilled with Carter commanding Atlantis. I can't put my finger on what about her bothers me, but it's especially puzzling considering I enjoyed her quite a bit through ten seasons of SG-1. But, since the beginning of the season I've been nagged by a change in her character that I find doesn't work for me. Through the last two seasons of SG-1, I was a little ticked that Mitchell had command of the team instead of Carter, but now I'm thinking that she might well be a better follower than leader after all. Part of it could be that, next to Sheppard, she just doesn't seem to be entirely confident in her command, a feeling I never got from Weir.

I couldn't help thinking Teyla's words at the end were meant more to comfort herself than the seer's daughter. Her pregnancy definitely introduces a big unknown into her path and she would be justified in being pretty fuckin' trepidatious about the situation.

Well, the next ep (in two weeks) also looks promising, as it features the return of a character I thoroughly enjoyed and not just because I think the actor is a hottie.

Finally, the mid-season break is right around the corner and I have no knowledge yet of whether or not the WGA strike will impact the second half of the season. Until I seek out that info, I will cling to the hope that the remainder of this season is finished shooting and will not be affected by the strike.

All about the Benjamins

This WGA strike has me pretty conflicted. At the same time that I support the writers' desire to get paid when studios make money off their work, I really don't want my shows to go away. Unfortunately, Battlestar Galactica and Bionic Woman have both stopped production because of the strike. If this means BW goes away, well, that's just not enough of a loss to have me very upset. BSG is another matter, though. At least some of BSG's fourth & final season has been shot, but production was due to continue until March, so it seems there's still much to be done. SciFi has not yet released any information about how this will affect things when (if...?) BSG starts back up, but at this point things don't look good.

Also, it appears that Heroes is indeed ending its second season early, three episodes from now.

As much as I don't want the real world interfering with my entertainment, I gotta side with the writers on this one.

Make it BIG!

Tonight was the ST:TOS episode "The Menagerie" on the big screen and I'm plenty happy with it. Nothing about the ep was changed (that I noticed, or we were told about), though it was remastered and looked very pretty. Before the show, we got a short feature about what went into remastering it, and Gene Roddenberry's kid talked briefly about the making of the original ep.

Something odd that I noticed was that Majel Barrett, who played Capt. Pike's second-in-command, was not listed in the credits. Barrett, also known as Gene Roddenberry's wife, was Nurse Chapel on TOS and in some of the movies, as well as Lwaxana Troi on TNG, and the voice of the computer on TOS, TNG, DS9, Voyager, a couple eps of Enterprise & in some of the movies.

Not much else to say, except that I'm happy I went.

Bionically braindead

I'm not sure how much more of Bionic Woman I can take.

To paraphrase a Heather, did Jaime have a brain tumor for breakfast? She chats with her boyfriend while on the job, losing (albeit briefly) the package she was trailing in the process, then makes a huge spectacle of her bionic self by racing down the street and stopping her suspect by leaping on his car and causing an accident. Then later, her boss tells her that intel she has sounds fishy (Antonio knowing the guy they're guarding changed his plans before the boss knew)...and she hangs up on him. She might have had SAT scores that got her into Harvard, but I'm guessing it had more to do with her test-taking abilities than smarts, because she sure is acting stupid. Also, the Berkut Group is as dumb as she is for not giving her adequate training before putting her in the field. Her neurons finally started firing at the end of the episode, when she said she's not cut out for that kind of work.

Aside from the main character proving over & over again that she should go back to bartending, I'm also disappointed with her relationship with Tom the CIA douche. For just a moment there, it looked like we might find out he's a mole. At least then he'd have a reason for existing.

Ruth and her plant, though, made me very happy.

Wasted episode?

Not sure how I feel about this past Heroes. We found out all sorts of things, few of which did anything more than fill in unnecessary details that added little to the arc. While it was nice to find out how DL died, too much time was spent setting up that bit of info. And introducing a new, superfluous personality for Niki didn't seem to add anything to her story.

The Maya/Alejandro bits were a complete waste of time. We already knew she has this dangerous & confusing ability, we already knew he somehow helps her control it, we already knew they were on the run after her ability got out of hand at least once; the backstory we got gave us nothing new or even interesting. That time would have been better spent on something that actually progresses the story. For instance, what the hell happened to Sylar four months ago, where did his powers go, and how'd he end up in a shack in a Central American jungle with Candace?

I did enjoy the time spent on Peter & Adam, and more could have been better. However, I found it really implausible that the Company doesn't have cameras in the cells. It's pretty damn convenient that Peter was able to pull off the old spitting-out-his-pills trick long enough to get his powers back. I'm more curious about Adam's deal and what he's actually up to. If he's not on the Company's side, he might be a genuine ally, but that remains a big unknown. I still like him, even if he turns out not to be a bad guy.

All we got about Elle is that she's a spoiled brat, which wasn't hard to guess at from previous appearances. She's a twisted piece of work and her little sob story just made her more unlikeable. I do wonder, though, if Bob is scared of her and that's why he's so permissive with her.

Well, the Haitian was a bright spot at least. I like him so much, and as soon as Elle sent him after Peter instead of going after him herself (which seemed a bit out of character), I knew he'd be helping Peter rather than bringing him back to the Company.

I wonder how this ep works into the rewrites and possibly shortened season due to the writers' strike.

BSG:Razor event

Holy shit.

Tonight was BSG:Razor in the theater and I am so glad I was able to catch it. I really want to talk about all the things I thought were awesome about it, but I am going to save anything spoilerish 'til after it airs November 24. However, I have to gush just a bit right now.

Admiral Cain is my new hero. When I found out this special would be about the Pegasus, one of my concerns was that Cain's story and the unpleasant things she did, would be made "nice." Not to worry. We do find out the details of incidents that were only talked about previously, and those details are not clean. She is as badass as we thought she was.

There's some jumping around in time, so even though much happens with a crew we don't know much about from the series, there are old faces aplenty. Also, the introduction of a totally new character works surprisingly well.

As for the viewing itself, of course it was awesome to see it on the big screen, all huge and loud and pretty. The quality was decent, but not great. Surprisingly, the house was not full, though I'm still glad I got there about two hours early. My friend pointed out I was the first female in line, and chicks made up only a small portion of the audience, which is a bit of a shame. I'd just like to see more chicks in geekdom.

Well, I've much more to say, but I'll sit on it for a couple weeks. For now, I'll just reiterate: holy shit.

Rule #23: try catching a clue instead of a man

I'm starting to lose patience with Bionic Woman. After this past episode, I know I'm only one of many complaining about what a spectacularly tired cliche Jaime was. For a woman with some hardcore 21st century upgrades, someone oughta smack her "Rules" spewing ass outta the 19th. Man, talk about a shitty rolemodel for her young sibling. Aside from that, I don't think this ep was all bad, but it definitely wasn't all good.

And yet, I will stick with Bionic Woman a little while longer, because it does have a handful of redeeming qualities. For instance, there's Ruth, who is a seriously badass dame who Jaime could do well to take a cue from. I also like the severely-limited-lifespan aspect of the story and I think that could generate some good tv, as Jaime, Sarah Corvus and the rest of Burket try to work out that big kink. Then there's my favourite part of any show, the hotties. Wednesday's ep featured guest star Callum Keith Rennie, who BSG fans will recognize as Starbuck-obsessed cylon Leoben. We didn't get enough of him in this ep, but what we got sure was nice to watch. I also believe the show has the potential to be really good and to explore themes that challenge the characters, if only the writers would step up*.

I want to like Bionic Woman, I want to like Jaime Sommers, and I really hope upcoming episodes don't turn me off completely.

*Of course, that's assuming this or any other show sees new eps anytime in the near future, given the WGA strike.

Birthday resistance is futile

Man, what a geektacular birthday! It started with a tasty Thai lunch with some friends in Manhattan. Not geeky, but really great. Then came an experience that could have been riddled with anxiety and discomfort, but was actually suprisingly fun. So, a good friend of mine has a bizarre, really sucky seizure disorder and I accompanied her to the neurology department of a local hospital to watch her get a score of electrodes attached to her head. While I thought it was totally awesome to get to watch her turn into a borg, she's more likely to say she's grateful I could be there for her. We both totally won :) Just to be clear, in no way will I downplay how much it sucks that she has to go through this and I definitely wouldn't be so gleeful about it if she had a less positive attitude about it herself. As it was, she was happy to get some good geeky entertainment out of the experience for both of us.

Then that same friend indulged me while we watched the SciFi channel's Friday night line-up. She liked watching the beautiful people on Flash Gordon, and we had a good time mocking Ming. She saw her first episode of Atlantis and agreed that it is a show rich with hotties. As a Firefly fan, she was happy to see Jewel Staite, though we did have some disgruntled discussion about how not badass her character is. We were pleased and gratified when Keller proved to be both braver & tougher than we all thought she was. My friend also really liked how awesome a warrior Teyla is. And did I mention the hotties? Yeah, she definitely liked that about the show.

I don't tend to be very big on celebrating my birthday. It's not that I don't enjoy it, I just don't generally make much of a deal out of it. To get to share it with good friends, being entertained by an unusual real world experience as well as some fun scifi tv, really made it a nice day. And, my birthday fortnight continues on Monday with BSG: Razor in a theater, then "The Menagerie" later in the week.

Hey, happy my birthday!

A week of douchebaggery on Heroes

I think I'm okay with how the Kensei storyline went down. Hiro was Kensei, essentially, but did not actually assume the role and that's just fine. The hopeless romantic in me thinks it's too bad he didn't really get the girl, though. Of course, it's not a stretch to expect Hiro & "Kensei" to meet again a few centuries after their last encounter, and won't that be an explosive reunion.

So, all other developments and questions pale in comparison to what the hell is up with Kensei/Adam. Whatever the case, it sure is nice to have David Anders around for awhile longer. As much as I like Sylar, I'm not sure he's my favourite badguy anymore.

I was a little disappointed with how easily Parkman dealt with his old man. In the midst of so many convoluted stories and twisted connections, Parkman's sudden skill with his newly discovered abilities was pretty anticlimactic.

Mohinder's douchebaggery has got to catch up with him soon. He was wrong to bring Molly to the Company, he's wrong to tell Bob who he's working with, he's so very wrong to trust anything Bob tells him. I hope the painting is wrong and that it isn't he who shoots anyone, but rather he's the one who gets shot. Please, Heroes, put him out of my misery.

Speaking of douchebaggery, Claire's friend West doesn't seem to be the sharpest stick in the ol' pile of sticks. If his relationship with Claire was an elaborate ruse to get him back in the clutches of HRG, it was so amazingly well planned that HRG didn't even have to go after him, but actually got West to tenaciously pursue his daughter. Now that's clever. Oy.

On a production note, rumours of Tim Kring's departure from NBC over WGA issues are greatly exaggerated. According to him, he hasn't quit, NBC hasn't fired him, and he's picketing outside the studio as a show of solidarity to his fellow writers. Rumours about a shortened season, however, do seem to be true, and the last season two ep could be coming up real soon here.

Why Peter Jackson is on my shitlist

For all the ones
Who bum me out
(Shitlist)
For all the ones
Who fill my head with doubt
(Shitlist)
For all the squares who get me pissed
(Shitlist)
You've made my shitlist
--"Shitlist" by L7

Awhile ago I made a crack about an upcoming post entitled "Why Peter Jackson is on my shitlist." I was joking at the time, figuring I wouldn't actually write any such post, but here I am realizing that I do indeed have that very post in me, just itchin' to get out. To clarify, being on my shitlist doesn't mean much. I created it for the only two people who are on it - George Lucas & Peter Jackson - and it's unlikely to ever expand.

So, on with my rant. We're a month away from the opening of The Golden Compass and while watching the trailers, I realized my expectations were skyrocketing as each scene looked more exactly as I thought it should. I suddenly had a depressing flashback to another time, a time when I easily got what I wanted out of most movie experiences, and if I didn't, at least my only injuries were the loss of a couple hours and a few bucks. Then, several years ago, I learned of the crushing disappointment that accompanies uncritical expectations. *sigh* In hindsight, it seems so obvious.

When The Fellowship of the Ring was released in 2001, I had just finished my first reading of Lord of the Rings and I thrilled at knowing it would be a series of movies. I was beyond excited, desperately eager to see these characters and this amazing story brought to life. And, based on the expansive trailers, I believed Peter Jackson's interpretation of the book was not too dissimilar from my own. I knew there would be differences that might throw me, but I didn't expect anything really significant. I did, however, expect to love it, because I gullibly believed the really important things would be "right."

Seeing the movie, being faced with the reality of how very wrong I was, was a distinctly sour experience. Oh, it looked beautiful, a truly stunning recreation of Middle Earth. The roles were, on the whole, very well cast, the few moments of blatant CG were only minimally irritating, and the Balrog absolutely blew me away with how awesome it was. And yet, such points only served to underscore the aspects I saw as sorrowfully lacking.

I'll start with the least virulent of my gripes, and address some of the CG. At one point, Jackson said he was excited that the tech finally existed to do Tolkien's work justice, but I can't agree that he really succeeded on that count. As genuinely cool as Gollum looked, he still looked undeniably not right. Though it's not my thing, I have a vague understanding of the work and skill that goes into creating really good CG, so I definitely don't want to dis the labour or talent of any of the artists. However, all that labour & talent resulted in a creature that was just short of looking "real." Unfortunately, I had the same feeling about Shelob when she finally showed up in Return of the King.

My second issue with the CG has more to do with the choice to use it at all than with how it was executed. Two scenes in Fellowship stand out as particularly bad: Gandalf looming in Bilbo's house, and Galadriel's refusal at the mirror when Frodo offers her the ring. The latter scene was dubbed "Radioactive Galadriel" on messageboards. In both instances, the effects careened the scenes out of context for me. I'll compare these scenes to the one on Caradhras when the ring flies off Frodo's neck and Boromir picks it up. Without any cheesy f/x, in an atmosphere of strained quiet, it's clear that Boromir is deeply affected by the ring and is not sure at that moment that he can resist it. The impact of that scene rests on the acting, as it should. I'm pretty sure Ian McKellan & Cate Blanchett could have pulled off the gravity of their scenes through their talents, without the sledgehammer effect the CG delivered. I gripe on this in particular because in so many ways, the movies were overblown enough. By throwing in ridiculous and out-of-place effects, I think Jackson made Gandalf and Galadriel look silly and diminished their presence.

Speaking of diminishing characters, Arwen's rescue of Frodo at the ford disappointed me intensely. I think that scene in the book - Frodo's mad dash to safety, as he's terrified, falling more ill by the minute and pointedly alone - helps introduce readers to what exactly makes this diminutive creature capable of undertaking a task that has broken the strongest of men. Surprising even to himself, Frodo is a Hobbit of extraordinary strength, endurance and commitment. Arwen's rescue in the movie undermines his strength and in the process raises a question that I don't think was ever adequately answered through three movies: why is Frodo, of all people, tasked with this journey? I also had some issues with how the role of Arwen was expanded. I understand Jackson's choice to make the female roles more prominent, what with Tolkien's story being a total sausagefest. However, I wish he'd used what Tolkien wrote about Arwen & Aragorn's romance (see Appendix A in the book), instead of using hacked apart and hokified snippets of dialogue from the book.

What I see as Jackson's greatest sin, however, has to do with his utter butchering of a sub-plot within Lord of the Rings that I think went to the very heart of the story. While all the good races of Middle Earth are coming together to fight Sauron, the friendship forged between Legolas & Gimli parallels that growing alliance. Instead of watching them gradually let go of their racial animosity and develop a relationship founded on mutual respect and love, as in the book, the movie gave us the quick & dirty cliche of a "buddyship" with all the depth of a pint of ale. Also, I'm so disappointed that Gimli was turned into comic relief. The movie version was a mocking caricature of the proud, noble Dwarf of the book.

Finally, I'll leave off with a little bit of backpedalling. I actually liked these movies. After getting over my initial shock at how wrong I thought Fellowship was, I went back & saw it a few more times, because it was a really fun, definitely beautiful movie to watch. The Two Towers and Return of the King were both more palatable when they came out because I had adjusted my expectations accordingly, and like the first movie, they were also exciting and gorgeous. And there were even things that were different than how I'd envisioned them, but were great nonetheless. I already mentioned how awesome the Balrog was. Geekdom has long raged with the debate over the Balrog: winged, or sans wings? For myself, the text gave me the image of a beast with wings not of flesh & bone, but of dense, acrid smoke. Then when I saw Jackson's Balrog, I easily accepted the corporeal wings, they fit so perfectly. And as much as I liked Tom Bombadil, I didn't think it was a horrible sin to keep him out of the movie. In fact, given the overall atmosphere of the film, such a bright & colourful character could easily have been jarringly incongruous.

I am all in favour of people creating what they want to create. These are Peter Jackson's works and I wholly appreciate that they are all about his interpretation of Tolkien's writings. However, I am sincerely disappointed that these will be the definitive Lord of the Rings movies for the next few generations, at least. *sigh*

So, that's it, that's why Peter Jackson is on my shitlist. Maybe someday I'll muster what it takes to explain George Lucas' presence on that list, but perhaps if you've seen Episodes I, II or III, or know in your heart that Han shot first, no explanation is necessary.

Big Apple Con

If you're in the New York area (or plan on being here the weekend of November 16), take a gander at Big Apple Con. Since I don't actually know anything more about it than what's on their website, I can't exactly recommend it, but heck, it's a local convention so it caught my attention. Expected guests include Hayden Panettiere (Claire on Heroes), scifi legend Walter Koenig (Bester on B5 & Chekov from the Star Trek franchise), Gigi Edgley (Farscape's Chiana), Katey Sagal (Futurama's Leela), as well as a bunch of other folks.

I don't know yet whether or not I'll make it there myself, but if I do, I'm sure I'll have lots to say about it.

Rumours, lies & fairytales

I don't know how accurate this is, as Universal has not released an official statement as far as I've been able to find, but the rumour is that the BSG season 3 DVD set will finally be released next April (some of us have been impatiently waiting months for any word, let alone the actual product). This will apparently coincide with the start of BSG's fourth & final season. That same rumour mill says SciFi has still not decided whether to air the entire season in 2008, or hold over the final ten episodes 'til '09.

I'd start the rumour that the execs at SciFi/Universal suck, but I think that's already been confirmed as true.

Is it that time already?

As a little bit of an early birthday present to myself, I registered for next year's DragonCon. Pre-reg is $50 until November 15, then increases to an as yet undisclosed amount. Given the massive number of attendees this year, I suspect the pre-reg scale is not yet available because it'll be a bit higher than previous years. So, get on it now, while you can still register on the "cheap"!

DragonCon registration

They were just teasing us

If you were looking forward to the Heroes short-term spinoff Heroes: Origins, go ahead & stop holding your breath. NBC has shelved the project indefinitely, given current uncertainty caused by the anticipated writers strike.

Origins was intended to be a six-ep show that introduced a new hero each ep, with the idea of bringing one of those heroes onto the regular show when all was said & done. It might be picked up again in the future, but as of now it will not be happening.

Still more theater events

A remastered version of the two-part Star Trek episode "The Menagerie" will hit theaters in a couple weeks for a handful of showings on November 13 & 15. Tickets are $12.50 and will include a screening of the episode, as well as a vid from the son of series creator Gene Roddenberry, and a look at how the show was remastered from the original negatives.

Check here for theater info & to order tickets.

BSG Razor on the big screen

I wish I'd known about this sooner, but some geek-friendly sponsors are bringing Battlestar Galactica Razor to theaters in eight US cities, twelve days before it airs on the SciFi Channel. Tickets are free, first come first served. Unfortunately, the registration site went live earlier today, so your preferred theater might not be available. Go here to find out.

Oh, and I'll be at the AMC on 42nd street in Manhattan for the 10p showing. Woo fuckin' hoo!

Sneezelantis

I've been battling some autumn crud for the past few days, making lying in front of the tv especially appealing. Tonight's episode of Stargate Atlantis was entertaining enough, though the commander who kidnapped Sheppard could have sucked less. It seems as though every time they meet a civilization with any reasonable degree of technological advancement, it's run by people who don't get the value of combining resources to face an indiscriminate enemy like the Wraith. Oh, and they're into kidnapping.

So, this is the...third? Ancient battleship they've run across now. I wonder if they'll ever find one they get to keep.

Last week's ep, with the nasty nightmare-inducing alien, was a fun one to watch. I sure do like it when good characters go bad, and EvilSheppard works really well for me. I like the addition of Jewel Staite, who's playing Dr. Beckett's replacement, though I'm not sure yet what I think of her character. Oh, and I'm definitely bummed that they offed Heightmeyer, the hottie psychologist. How unfair is that shit?

Btw, Atlantis has been renewed for a 20-episode fifth season, production to begin early next year. Yay!

Bionic uncertainty

Too long without posting! Maybe I should watch less tv, and write more....

So, I'm still trying to decide if Bionic Woman is actually good, or if my appreciation for Katee Sackhoff is blinding me to its faults. It's not like I think it's a perfect show; in fact, the music frequently makes me cringe. However, I do think it's all right and could be pretty awesome once it finds its legs. At only a handful of episodes in, it's hard to tell.

The writing seems to vary a little wildly, sometimes sharp and clever, then abruptly cheesy and stilted (stiltoned?). I definitely like several of the characters, though. The supporting cast mostly overshadows the bionic woman herself, though I don't have a particular problem with that. Of course, Sackhoff's Sarah Corvus wows me, but I also really like Jonas' severe colleague, Ruth, and it's nice to see Mark Sheppard (Badger on Firefly, Romo on BSG) as the elder mad scientist in the family, Anthony Anthros.

An interesting production note: the ep a couple weeks ago, "Paradise Lost," was directed by Tim Matheson, who some might remember from 1978's Animal House ("Eric Stratton, rush chairman, damn glad to meet you!"), as well as a bunch of other movies & tv shows. In addition to acting, he's got a fairly impressive list of directorial jobs, including an episode of Eureka. Hunh, who'da thunk it?

Cue Atlantis season four

I'm all caught up with Stargate Atlantis, which means I've seen "Sunday," the episode in which Beckett dies. It didn't come as any surprise, as I'd read spoilers for it already before it aired last season. That probably made me even more sappy about it when it finally happened. I spent the episode feeling anxious, until the painful explosion scene, then I cracked and cried until the end. Through the aforementioned anxiety, I was very happy for all the light moments that preceded Carson's death. It was a really enjoyable episode and it had a pretty strong effect on me.

So, now that I'm up to speed, I have another thought or three about the series. This show is definitely a good bit heavier than SG-1, serving up more intense situations & circumstances. The Pegasus galaxy is a rough playground, populated by some serious nasties and made more dangerous by the irresponsible actions of some very un-lofty Ancients. It's been nice, actually, to learn more about how not-perfect the Ancients were, as I always thought they were a lot too ideal as far as they were understood on SG-1.

The Wraith have become more interesting to me as we've gotten insight into individuals. Sheppard's experience with the Wraith prisoner in s3's "Common Ground" was surprisingly enlightening, not only regarding Wraiths' abilities, but also their capacity for negotiation and cooperation when the situation is desperate enough. Which reminds me, just how gullible are our intrepid heroes? I refer to the s2 finale, "Allies," wherein a Wraith queen comes to Atlantis with a super sweet deal, offering up incredible amounts of intel & assistance on a silver fucking platter. The situation reeked and too many of those dumbass humans were actually surprised when they realized the Wraith played them.

Pleasantly, I can't say I have a favourite character. I like Sheppard a lot, and not just because I think he's hot. Rodney, of course, is a big geek and won me over very early on. It's not hard to imagine some Shep/McKay slash in my future. *ahem* Ronon gets some of the best lines and I really like his "why should I set it to stun?" attitude. When Ronon doesn't like the plan, I usually agree with him. Unfortunately, I'm not overly keen on any of the female characters, though the occasionally recurring Dr. Heightmeyer is really nice to look at. Teyla's okay and sometimes I think she has some pretty great moments; Weir I'm just not that crazy about.

Some of the recurring characters have been a pleasure. Michael is fantastic and I was happy to see him again at the end of s3, all angry and brilliant. It's nice to know they're not rid of him yet. Lucius the "Irresistible" & "Irresponsible" was ridiculous and funny. I'm kind of surprised I liked those eps as much as I did. If he shows up again, the episode ought to be called "Irrepressible." "Irresponsible" leads me to Genii nutcase Kolya. I'm really not sure if I liked him or not. He was definitely a slimy badguy, right up my alley, but I think he might have been just that little bit too slimy. Either way, I liked the eps he appeared in, and I was definitely glad when Sheppard finally killed him.

I could go on for awhile, but I'll save further observations for another time. Now that s4 is underway, it's kind of nice to watch the twists & turns unfold slowly.

Still giving Flash a chance

I actually liked Flash Gordon last week. I say "actually" because I know it's not a very good show and really isn't hitting a home run within fandom. It's not the worst thing on tv, but it's nowhere near on par with shows like Battlestar Galactica or Heroes. I'm probably a little cynical & jaded, but I'm guessing Flash Gordon has lower production costs than many shows, making it more likely to stay on the air awhile, regardless of its quality.

Anyway, the past couple eps have been enjoyable. As nice as it is to see the actor playing Barin [Steve Bacic], I'm annoyed by Barin & Aura's foreplay. Their extreme dislike for each other is none-too-subtly contrived, and her acting is just difficult to watch. Maybe things'll get better when they fall for each other.

This week's episode will feature the big fight between Flash & Barin, which I'm looking forward to.

The Flash Gordon of the 1980 movie, Sam Jones, made a guest appearance in this most recent ep as the prisoner from whom Zarkov & Flash learn about Flash's dad. Maybe he'll show up again in a future ep, to help Flash find the missing scientist...or, maybe we'll never see him again.

Like satisfying a jones

Aspects of this week's Heroes tweaked me just right. Claire's revelation about her father made me really unhappy, but I like what it does for the story. She knew he used to have a pretty dirty job, but I think having its proof so up close & personal made it more starkly real for her. He used to be responsible for doing pretty much what he's now trying to protect her from. Oh yeah, and if the painting Mohinder found is any indication, he will not be successful. Ouch.

I like what's happening with Hiro & Kensei, though Hiro's choice to stay behind doesn't entirely sit well. It seems out of character for someone who's so very aware of his potential to change history. Of course, if it means more David Anders, I'm for it. I guess we'll see how that pans out. It's nice that Hiro found a way to get a message to Ando and I hope Ando is able to take a more active role in Hiro's escapades again soon.

Though she was only onscreen for a matter of seconds, it sure was nice to see Nichelle Nichols. Wouldn't it be a hoot if we found out she's "different" too. And that leads us to Niki. I'm bettin' Jessica's not going to be so cooperative when it comes to being "cured." That oughta be interesting.

If you've been following along at home, you can guess at my reaction to Sylar's reappearance. Heheh, boy, do I like 'em bad! While he does confused and pained well enough, he really nails evil. Unfortunately, things aren't looking so good for him of late and I'm very curious to know what happened to all his abilities.

Ch-ch-ch-changes

Some days ya just wake up and ya gotta make some changes. I got tired of the picture at the top of the blog, so I ditched it. I also added a bit to my profile. Each day sees me sinking deeper and deeper....

Eureka's decent, if not entirely satisfying, second season

Eureka's second season came to an end last week, not exactly with a bang, but at least not a whimper. Though the tension was notched up a bit overall, it didn't have a very different feel than last season. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I sure wish it had been darker. However, light & fluffy doesn't mean unenjoyable, and Eureka isn't so bad as a mostly happy place.

As much as I like this show, I thought the pacing of the season left a lot to be desired. It seemed as though there was a many-episode-long vacuum wherein virtually nothing to do with the grittier aspects of the show were explored. Every episode or two we'd get a brief teaser scene, just to remind us that there were things going on beneath the surface, but not nearly enough real substance to the arc. I think that's part of why the mystery of the artifact failed to really hook me. Of course, my preference is for a story rather than a one-off type of episodic series, and I should probably just accept that Eureka is not the show to satisfy that desire.

Thankfully, it satisfied on other levels. Because I'm that kind of a sucker, I took a definite interest in the romantic entanglements of this little town's remarkable population. As much as I like Jack & Allison together, Stark managed to turn me around over the course of the season and I found myself happy with how that triangle played out. Of course, there's no saying how things might change; it is a chaotic universe, after all. Then there's the enticingly dangerous Deputy Jo. Since the end of the first season I was pulling for Jo & Taggart, and it was very disappointing to watch her develop a relationship with pretty boy genius Zane. Oh, Zane's not awful; in fact, he's even charming, if a bit cocky. But, "Tag" is really so much cooler. Finally, maybe my disappointment with Jo & Zane heightens my appreciation for Zoe & her geek boyfriend. Zoe is a great character and I like that she's settled in Eureka and seems to be handling the trials of being a teenager fairly well.

So, the season finale didn't actually give us any revelations regarding the artifact, and it definitely left us hanging as far as Beverly's locale. Maybe I missed something, but it's not clear to me why the mystery of where Beverly took off to wasn't pursued. If she didn't screw up her escape, we know she had to be within a kilometer of Global Dynamics, so why didn't Allison order a search for her? Perhaps, as Henry suggested, she's just superfluous now and it's easier for all concerned to let her disappear. Also, it's totally cool that GD actually developed transporter technology, dangerous & uncertain though it might be.

I definitely did not like watching Henry get taken away in handcuffs. Partly I just like him a lot and don't want to see the character in such a shitty situation, but also I think so much more could have been done with him during the season. To have him accept such an unhappy resolution, after spending the entire season struggling to learn the details of Kim's death, was sad and empty.

Well, there's a good chance we haven't been left hanging entirely, as far as remaining mysteries are concerned - the SciFi Channel announced Eureka's renewal for a third season, scheduled to begin sometime next summer. Yay!

I hope to have a black hole named for me someday

This is just a bit of random cool: scifi icon George Takei [Star Trek's Hikaru Sulu, and Hiro's father on Heroes] has had an asteroid named for him. Asteroid 1994 GT9, located between Mars & Jupiter, was renamed 7303 Takei, in honour of the actor's activities with the Japanese American Citizens League and the Human Rights Campaign, and his work in scifi. That's just neat.

Ever more surprises on Heroes

It's been a busy week for tv, not to mention the real world, so I've got a few posts in the works. First up is Monday night's Heroes. All around a pretty good episode, with some nice story development. I like what's going on with Bennet & Mohinder, but I wonder how long it'll be before the Company is on to them, or before we find out the Company's been on to them all along. I definitely gasped & cheered when the Haitian showed up again, and I was thrilled when he gave the Company the slip, then showed up at Bennet's copy shop.

So, Kensei is more than just a folk hero. Now that was a nice twist. I could have been okay with Hiro being the "real" hero, but I really like that Kensei is considerably more than he appears. How much more we've yet to see, but signs so far are promising.

Peter's situation, dangerous though it might be, is boring thus far, not to mention a little pedestrian given the rest of the show. I mean, he just happens to show up in the middle of an Irish mob war? Oy. Maybe I just think the situation is a little silly, and the teaser with The Box is a lot silly.

I'm not sure whether I'm more intrigued by Claire's new friend, who's determined to blow her cover, or by Claire herself, who's struggling so much just to be who she is. I know Claire irritates some people [what teenage girl doesn't?], but for some reason I really like her and barring a few complaints, I'm happy with the way she's written.

Maya & Alejandro have me wondering even more. They are quite the pair and I really hope we get a little more enlightenment soon. They & their crazy eyes make me think of Molly's frightening visions, and I wonder if they're connected, or if Molly is seeing someone entirely different [like a new incarnation of Sylar...?].

And speaking of my favourite uber-badguy, we should be seeing him again soon and getting a little bit of insight into where he's been for the past four months. I hope he's been doing something cool, and evil.

Nothing like a drug trip

Flash Gordon isn't exactly winning me over the way I'd like it to, but the promise of Battlestar Galactica "Razor" flashbacks is enough to convince me to make sure I catch the next several episodes, starting tomorrow. The flashbacks are two-minute clips designed to set up the story for next month's two-hour special episode. Of course, if watching Flash Gordon seems like torture to you, the "Razor" flashbacks will be available on the SciFi website after they've aired.

Current Reading: Alien

Alien [1979] easily ranks as my favourite horror movie, and one of my favourite scifi flicks. No matter how many times I've seen it, it continues to scare the shit out of me. So I thought, "Hey, if I liked the movie, I should love the book!" While the novelization, by Alan Dean Foster, lacks the impact of many of the movie images, it does convey some of the more subtle emotional moments of a tense and frightening story.

To sum up, if you haven't seen Alien in awhile, the crew of a commercial starship, the Nostromo, are woken from deep sleep to investigate an apparent distress signal. Unbeknownst to the rest of the crew, Science Officer Ash [who, it turns out, is an android] and the ship's computer, Mother, are bound by a directive from the Company, to encounter and if possible retrieve, an alien life form. That plan goes to shit pretty quickly, after one of the crew discovers a form of the alien that attaches itself to his face and turns his body into an incubator. After a small, nasty creature hatches out of his torso in a thoroughly bloody fashion, it hides in the ship growing, while five of the remaining six crewmembers try to figure out how to get rid of it, and Ash & Mother try to protect it. Slowly but inexorably, the alien disposes of all but Ash [who's taken out by ship's engineer Parker] and Warrant Officer Ripley, who ultimately blows the alien into space.

The novelization is pretty much the movie in text form, though there are occasional minor changes. I'm enjoying Foster's writing well enough, though given the impact of the movie, I'm finding it not entirely satisfying. He paints a decent enough picture of the environs of the Nostromo, though he doesn't spend a lot of time on detail. His handling of the crews' internal states and their interractions is concise, illustrating the characters' distinct personalities with minimal verbiage. I love the succession of hints that are dropped early on about Ash's identity and his deception. The confrontations about Ash's loyalty, between Ash & Nostromo captain Dallas, then Ash & Ripley, contain an emotional depth that is not really explored in the movie. This is definitely a case where knowing what's coming does not diminish my reaction.

Among the most powerful images in the movie are the designs of the derelict alien ship and the alien creature itself, in its multiple creepy-as-fuck incarnations. I think Swiss artist H.R. Giger's designs would challenge the most adept writer and, unfortunately, I don't think Foster was quite up to it. As he describes the derelict & creature, they are truly alien, but lack the nightmarish grotesquery of Giger's images.

Though it's enjoyable enough for some tense, quick reading, I'm leaning towards "don't bother" with this one. At least as engaging is the movie novel, released the same year as the movie, and is made up of a shitload of images along with just enough text to fill in necessary story.

More evil Katee = happy geeks

Fans of Katee Sackhoff will be pleased to know she's likely to stick around on Bionic Woman, as long as the show doesn't get canned. Sackhoff plays the pissed off first bionic woman, Sarah Corvus. A helpful reader [thanks, Jason!] pointed me to this, which pulled the news from an interview with Sackhoff earlier this week. Sackhoff will appear in seven eps this season, and could become a series regular if the show is picked up for a second season.

The interview is about 20 minutes long, with lots of silliness and some interesting info. She talks some about both Bionic Woman & BSG, but doesn't give away any spoilers. She was asked about, and Aaron Douglas mentioned at DragonCon, the rumour that the SciFi Channel plans to stretch the fourth & final season of BSG over two years, with the first ten eps starting in January '08 and holding off the remaining ten 'til 2009. If that's true, it's very lame.

Did I say Craplantis?

As I mentioned a little while ago, I decided to give Stargate Atlantis another try, this time from the beginning. I'm at the end of season one and I've definitely replaced some of my previous impressions with more positive notions. All right, fine, I like it. I'm a big fan of Maj. John Sheppard and I don't find Joe Flanigan's acting nearly as unpalatable as I did when I gave this a shot some time ago. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for Torri Higginson, who plays Atlantis commander Elizabeth Weir.

The Wraith aren't the best bad guys ever, but they're cool to look at and I like the design of their ships [which struck me as quite Giger-esque, but that could be because I'm reading Alien right now].

Atlantis does have a darker atmosphere than SG-1 had, though it also features some of the humour that often highlighted its predecessor. Much of that humour comes in the form of one-liners, usually served up by Sheppard or astrophysicist Rodney McKay, played by David Hewlett, who's great with a delivery. I still think the sarcastic, socially inept geek is a little too much of a stereotype sometimes, but it's not intolerable.

Well, I won't be caught up by tonight when s4 starts, but I do feel like I've got a better handle on the characters and the conditions. And, I don't feel as though it's been a waste of time [at least, no more so than any other tv watching I do...].

She'll never buy batteries again

After catching the premiere of Bionic Woman, I'm interested enough to want to watch it next week. While the hotties alone would make it worthwhile, I also like the style of the show and I'm feeling open-minded about where they'll be taking this schtick.

The new Jamie Sommers is a bartender instead of a teacher, and her boyfriend is a surgeon of the mad scientist variety, who replaces both her legs, one arm, an ear and an eye with super improved parts, following a devastating car accident. At the end of the pilot, she's left deciding whether or not to work for the organization that funded her overhaul, though we're not given the impression she'll have much choice.

Katee Sackhoff is definitely hot as Starbuck on BSG, but as the evil bionic woman, she's totally fuckin' smokin'. Holy shit. Unfortunately, she's not destined to stick around.

So, it looks like there's some potential here. It takes place in a dark, dirty & complex world where people do things that aren't always beneficial or wise. Sounds like a fine place to start some good tv. Perhaps it's just wishful thinking, but I'm hoping this show is more scifi and less primetime drama than the original incarnation. As always, we'll see.

Greedy genius vultures

After several episodes with a lot of light & fluffy, Eureka made up for it this week as it took a surefooted step toward something much grittier. Stark just keeps winning me over, and the execution of Beverly's return only reinforces that feeling. He & Allison are keeping some dirty secrets, but the situation has just gotten a lot messier. Holy crap, what a way to end the episode.

So, Kevin is mutating? Hunh. Wonder where they'll go with that. I'm guessing that Beverly will be instrumental in finding a way to reverse Kevin's changes. I have a little problem with the artifact and the "collective knowledge of the universe" business, but I'm willing to play along.

Of course, it was nice to see Michael Shanks. Too small a part, but mmm, good arm porn.

Oh no, I broke history!

It's no wonder Hiro is my favourite hero. The season two opener of Heroes pleased me. While we got some big surprises, this was a good establishing episode. Considering the number of stories to follow and the huge cast, this ep could have been overwhelming, but I don't think it tried to cram in too much. Of course, it could easily turn into a tangled behemoth as the season progresses, though I'm hopeful that won't be much of an issue.

I got very happy when Kensei removed his mask. I sure do like David Anders [Sark, on Alias], and I had forgotten that he was joining the show. As for the great Kensei being a slimy English coward, well, if anyone can turn him into a hero, it's Hiro. I sure hope Hiro doesn't become Kensei; that would just be kind of unsatisfying.

I have a blind spot when it comes to Mr. Bennet, so even though the bits with his paper store manager were irritatingly overdone, he was nice to watch. I wonder how long it'll be before he notices something strange about the guy floating outside his daughter's bedroom window....

The Petrelli family has certainly embraced upheaval. Peter's alive, cuffed inside a storage crate on the other side of the Atlantic, flaunting his latest power: super amnesia. It seems that Nathan might be growing a set as far as his mother is concerned. Conveniently, it appears she won't be much of an issue anymore. So, who's taking out the 'rents, and why now?

So far, I like the new characters, Maya & Alejandro. I'm curious about what exactly her ability is, but it's pretty clear it's plenty messy. There's a long list of other things I'm curious about, but I'm guessing much will be answered in time. I think I'm most interested in what Sylar's up to these days. It makes me very happy that he's not dead.

A week of worship at the glowing altar

Next week oughta be some kind of holy week in fandom. Monday, the new season of Heroes begins and I'm itchin' for it to get started. Though the last episode of season one left me unimpressed and even a little disappointed, I'm plenty ready to get sucked into another adventure.

Two days later, on Wednesday, Bionic Woman premieres. I don't know much about it and I wasn't the biggest fan of the original series. However, it sure looks slick, and I'm eager to see more from Executive Producer David Eick [BSG].

Finally, Friday is the start of Stargate Atlantis season four. I'm not caught up and I only know bits & pieces of what's going on in the story, but I'm okay with that. Over time, I'll watch the previous three seasons & hopefully come to the conclusion that it was indeed worth my time.

As a little bonus on top of all that, Michael Shanks [Daniel Jackson on SG-1] is guest starring on Tuesday's Eureka.

Flash Gordon improving, a bit

So far, I'm glad I've given Flash Gordon a chance. I want it to be really good and I want to like it. These first several eps have had me invoking other first seasons, reflecting on how much better some shows managed to get over time. Friday's ep, "Ascension," went a long way towards helping me believe this too will improve. It wasn't great, but it definitely didn't suck as hard as previous eps. I'm getting a little more interested in the characters and finding the stories a little more engaging, as we get a fuller picture of things.

The Hawkmen made me laugh. In fact, even the most rank eps have made me laugh at least a few times, which scores pretty high in my book. Of course, I'd prefer a darker show, but I always do. A little bit of the grim, however, comes in the form of Rankol [Ming's human/Segway pal], who's quickly becoming my favourite character.

Also, Flash's mom is totally hot.