Ridley Scott’s Prometheus, a sort-of prequel to Alien, is beautiful, haunting, with stunning visuals, gorgeous long shots, an inspiring score, occasionally brilliant exposition and a handful of excellent performances. Continue reading Review: Prometheus
This past week, for reasons even I’m not sure about, I re-watched the entire Babylon 5 saga. It was quite a reflective experience, not only for re-experiencing one of the most unique televised expressions of American SF, but also for the introspective effect that B5 unwaveringly has on its watchers. The show ran for five seasons, with four full-length TV movies, one spin-off series that was cancelled mid-season (Crusade), one abysmal spin-off pilot (Legend of the Rangers) and one rather good attempt at a made-for-tv movie-length miniseries spin-off (The Lost Tales). The movies were touch-and-go, ranging from vomit-inducingly bad to timelessly inspiring. But it’s the main series, the five year tale of the “last of the Babylon stations” that I’d like to take some time to think about today. Continue reading Remembering Babylon 5
My condo is squeaky clean tonight, which is a sure sign that I have a mountain of work to get done and am procrastinating like mad. Part of my master procrastination plan is re-watching old skiffy TV shows. The past couple of days have seen me re-watch the entire 5 season stretch of Stargate: Atlantis. And let me tell you, it was an enjoyable experience. Continue reading Return to the Stargate
I am willing to grant Lost Girl a Mulligan. A good ol’ fashioned reset has happened before now. An actor changed. A premise shifted. Hell, entire seasons have been explained away as a dream. Lost Girl still has a chance to redeem itself and several options to choose from. Continue reading Review: Lost Girl
Warning: the following contains spoilers for the series finale of Lost.
I’ve written many times that the finest television series finale I’ve ever had the pleasure of watching was that of Babylon 5. “Sleeping In Light” was emotional brilliance, effortless profundity that shone past its limitations of crappy special effects and pedestrian acting. It worked because its writer, JMS, understood the nature of what he had created: a character study defined by archetypes. Those needing didacticism were disappointed by the episode’s lack of exposition regarding a couple of dangling plot threads. Those of us attracted to the esoteric were more than pleased. Continue reading Review: Lost Finale- “The End”
First, let’s get this out of the way. Yes, Avatar was an unbelievable visual spectacle. That’s what everyone will be talking about, I’m sure. In fact, the quality of the 3-D effects, the richness of the visual world that James Cameron has created, and the thickness and believability of the visual characters are, without question, marvels to behold. Is that enough to warrant the price of admission? Actually, yes, I think it is. In fact, 3-D might be Hollywood’s salvation against online piracy: you just can’t duplicate Avatar‘s big screen, three dimensional effect on your computer screen. Continue reading Review: Avatar
I’ve said some not-so-nice things about British writer Russel T Davies. The man who brought Dr Who to a 21st century audience, and who then created its “more mature”s spin-off, Torchwood, has a tendency to write over-the-top scenarios that that tend to resolve with head-slapping deus-ex-machina endings. Continue reading Torchwood: Children of Earth
Well y’all knew this was coming. Star Trekwas a huge influence on my life. I know whenever someone says something like that, the common response is one of pitious disdain. But people need to remember that science fiction was a rarity in the early 70s, and smart entertainment accessible by children rarer still. Even more obscure were role models in such a milieu that were appreciable by ethnicities other than the White North American mainstream. Continue reading Review: Star Trek XI
