Everyone has fond memories of the Terminator franchise, whether it be their introduction to one of the greatest action movie stars of our generation, or for the horrible nightmares we were given as The Governor tore up a police station. With those memories fresh in my mind there was probably more than a bit of trepidation in wait of McG’s attempt to leave his mark on the series.
The Chicago Nerd Social Club was invited to a press/promotional screening of the film on Monday so I got a sneak peak at the film. All in all I’d say it was a fun film with peaks and valleys throughout. The arrangements of those peaks and valleys were probably my biggest problem, as the pacing of the film seemed to be off.
The film opens with Sam Worthington’s character Marcus Wright, who is on death row. He gets visited by a Doctor Serena Kogan, played by Helena Bonham Carter. The dialogue between them drags on entirely too long considering that it’s set in the past and as a viewer you instantly know what story elements are trying to be established here. It honestly felt like the scene was designed simply for the opening credits sequence. This isn’t the type of opener you come to expect from a Terminator film, or any action film at that, and quickly begins to bore you. But once the action sequences start you quickly realize why McG was chosen for this project.
Let’s be honest. Terminator movies are about the action sequences and McG does an excellent job. The sequences are fun, terrifying and all posses that feeling of “how the hell are they getting out of this!” The art direction and character design is especially well done as we get a look at some different Terminator models as well as transport ships and a data hub of Skynet.
The plot is familiar to us, protecting our future by ensuring the past occurs unfettered by SkyNet intervention. But in an odd twist from the first film, we have an adult John Connor attempting to protect and save a young Kyle Reese. Don’t spend anymore than 5 seconds trying to understand the temporal aspects of this, just enjoy the movie. The timeline places us right around the initial construction of the T-800 series, so the Terminators we see are the T-600 models which only have the skeletal structures and those menacing red eyes.
Fast forward from the original scene set in 2003, to the year 2018, presumably a few years after Judgement Day. Marcus Wright awakens in a complex housing humans who were captured by SkyNet. In a very V for Vendetta like scene, Marcus is awoken with no idea of what has happened in the past 15 years. He later runs into a young Kyle Reese and after a brief encounter with a T-600 we have some more awkward dialogue as Marcus tries to figure out where he is and what’s going on in the world. Kyle listens to a broadcast from John Connor and feels compelled to find him. Let the action commence.
Some of the character motivations are a bit questionable as years of fighting an enemy seemingly get erased because we meet a “nice Terminator”. War hardens people and it makes them more skeptical than the naturally would be. When characters behave this way they look less like people in a fictional world and more like a plot device.
Pacing and characterization issues aside, the film was a fun and welcome addition to the franchise. There are some nice moments for die hard Terminator fans and new fans will also feel at home, although they won’t take away the same experience. (They never really go into WHY John Connor and Kyle Reese are so important, they assume you know.
On a side note, it’s interesting how the paradoxes of time travel seem to not bother nerds who watch The Terminator series. Even though the story is entirely dependent on the mechanics of time travel, we as nerds don’t berate it for its temporal mechanical faults. We accept it as it is and enjoy the show.
3. Human emotions vs. emotionless machines - check
4. Terrible, terrible cameos - check
5. Christian Bale being showed up by Sam Worthington in the acting department - check
6. Unintentional humor - check
Last night, a group of us were able to see a promo of McG’s (McLoving’s long forgotten cousin) Terminator: Salvation, a reboot-continuation of the James Cameron classic. As we waited in anticipation, the lights came on and a middle aged man announced that cellphones need to be on vibrate yet if any of these cameras are seen pointing at the screen, you will be asked to leave and most likely be facing a felony charge. Yikes. Good thing I just brought my regular spy cam. Just kidding. No really, I am.
After watching the shitastic trailer of The Hangover (a comedy trailer before a sci-fi flick? Cmon!), the Halycon Company splash appeared and the fun began. And I will place a serious emphasis on FUN. Yes, this is a good Terminator movie. This isn’t a groundbreaking entry to the canon yet it does continue the struggle between man and machine with great fanfare and lots of explosions. And surprisingly enough, a little romance without all the ‘Let’s have sex like there’s no tomorrow because you know, there may not be’. That was offscreen as evidenced by Kate Connor’s expanding belly. Thanks for sparing us that.
Sam Worthington opens the film as Marcus Wright, a convict on death row, who is being convinced to donate his body to science by Helena Bonham Carter who is looking a little scary as a cancer-stricken scientist. She tells him that it is a way to save the human race and Marcus sells her his body for a kiss from her. “That’s what death tastes like.” Is that a not-so-subtle way of saying, “Damn your breath is funky?” Queue unintentional humor list, now. Fast forward to 2018 where John Connor and his team infiltrate a SkyNet facility in a land that looks like Mad Max’s backyard. John Connor is the only survivor of this expedition and here we are introduced to Terry Crews’ dead body. Yep, one shot of our man Terry laying dead. He didn’t even have a chance to do the robot. Unintentional humor again. And it doesn’t end there.
After the destruction of the facility, we see Marcus Wright again this time screaming the primal scream of a man reborn. And looking exactly the same as when he was executed. Hmmm. Not like the trailers hid the twist involving Marcus but I am not spoiling that here. What I will say is that this movie is a huge funny yet enjoyable mess. It is entertaining, loud, and never drags but one has to wonder; when will this war end? Why aren’t they dealing in collapsed timelines rather than band-aiding a single continuum that can seemingly collapse on itself and wipe out the entire human universe? I digress because what can you expect from someone that made Charlies Angels?
But I have to say that the single worse part of the entire film was Ahnuld’s ‘cameo’ appearance; a piss poor CGI-rendering of his face on Roland Kickapoo’s chiseled body (I’m sorry but Ahnuld was not THAT damned big). A T-800 Halloween mask on Quinton Jackson would have worked better. Honestly, how can one spend $150 million plus on a popcorn flick and not have decent CGI-rendering? Anthony Hopkins looked better in Red Dragon! Oh and there was one other scene where John Connor sneaks into SkyNet just as a Terminator sentry approaches. The Terminator seemingly looks around as though it heard something then it looks as if it shrugs its shoulders and continues on its way. I couldn’t refrain from laughing at that as several critics turned around and sneered at me. Sorry, I found it funny.
All in all, T4 is not a terrible movie (for that, see S. Darko, Dragonball Z: Evolutions, or Push) even with the unintentional laughs (after you see the film, you’ll understand why I have the Tin Man photo above), comparisons to Mad Max’s apocalyptic geography, Ahnuld’s terrible CGI-face, and Terry Crews’ wicked brief appearance, it was a good time. Don’t expect it to break any new ground or explain how Kate went from a veterinarian to a physician (probably archives of Wiki) but do expect to enjoy the introduction of some new Terminators and some throwback scenes that seemed to have been ripped from the previous three films. Have fun. I’m seeing Star Trek tomorrow. IMAX stylee. YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!
I should probably preface this by saying “In My Humble Opinion” but the reality is this blog is nothing more than a collection of opinions. But I guess I’ve already done the preface thing so I’m just going to hop into it.
I remember when I first started in the MMO space with Everquest, I had high hopes for the game to be a computer version of Dungeons & Dragons the table top game. In a lot of ways I was pleasantly pleased, but in the one area that was more important to me than any other I was disappointed. The role playing aspect.
The thing I like about video games, role playing games, films and books is the feeling of total immersion. Out of all of these mediums of entertainment, table top role playing games seem to have the highest potential for immersion. You can literally do anything, say anything. (Provided a decent game master) You are only limited by your imagination. I loved spending hours being the sneaky rogue trying to con the mayor of the town into my nefarious plan. Or being the paladin pleading with the church to evacuate the town before the dragon shows up. Beyond the skill checks and the combat sequences, role playing is where the game truly began to unfold and become memorable.
With Everquest (and even World of Warcraft) I was a bit naive in my thinking that more people would be like minded. I signed up for the role playing server thinking that gamers would remain in character and it would literally be like another world. Instead my hopes were shattered as people approached me and said “Hey dude, let’s group. More XP and loot”. Now I know there are different levels of role playing, but come on lets give it a chance? And I guess it bothers me even more because these people have CHOSEN the role playing server to play on and then refuse to do it. To me this is the biggest thing holding back MMO’s from being the absolute king dog in the entertainment business. (In reality it’s probably already close but stick with me for the sake of argument)
There is no realistic way to enforce role playing on servers. I’ve tried to think and think of different solutions and so far the only thing I can think of is a complaint system. If enough people were role playing on a server and complaints were followed up on then most gamers who are not interested in role playing will simply move to different servers. It would honestly be too cumbersome for them to communicate with players. Let’s look at a possible exchange.
“help?”
“Sure lad..Do I know you?”
“need help with Sven quest”
“Ah yes, I know Sven. Good lad but he gets in quite a bit of trouble don’t you think?”
“Can u help? too low lvl”
“Aye lad…but I’m waiting for a group of my friends.”
“Group”
“I don’t know that I understand you.”
“invite pls. thx”
This exchange goes on more than most of you care to admit. Now if this type of interaction was common for the person who DOESN’T want to role play then I imagine it won’t be long before they move servers just for the sake of brevity. I should also be more specific. I’m not looking to rate the quality of role players, but I’m looking for people to at least try it and keep the game’s “meta” information out of casual pubic chat channels. Don’t tell me you’re too low level, tell me you’ve never been there or you don’t think you’re skills are adequate. For just about every in game situation there are a million and one ways to communicate the information without using the detailed terms of the game itself.
My friend Nic says it’s kind of elitist and I can see his point. But I’m not looking for it to be this way on all servers, just on the servers flagged as role playing or even come up with a new classification. All I’m saying is that it isn’t unreasonable to allow people who want to experience the game a certain way an easy opportunity to do so.
Um, BIG WTF!?!? I am not a knee jerk liberal or conservative or anything politically inclined but when I read that Jamie Foxx is being considered to portray Frank Sinatra to be directed by Martin Scorsese I almost had to look at my calender to make sure it wasn’t April 1st. I mean really, Jamie Foxx? According to the IMDB blurb, it states, “…Leonardo DiCaprio and Harry Connick Jr. were among the names rumoured to be in contention for the role after it was announced earlier this month that filmmaker Martin Scorsese will direct a biopic. But now African-American actor Foxx, who won an Oscar for his portrayal of Ray Charles in 2004’s Ray, has emerged as the favourite to play Ol’ Blue Eyes.”
Really? Jamie is a bonafide star who chooses some dicey roles and records music that I don’t necessary dig but does he have what it takes to tackle a role that recalls Orson Wells or Sir Laurence Olivier as Othello in blackface?
Digging back into the archaic movie reference which is my mind, Canada Lee, an African-American musician, boxer, jockey, actor and pre-Civil Rights pioneer who actually worked with Orson Welles several times, played an European man in white face for a play with John Huston back in the 40s. He faced many polarizing reviews from critics who felt he approached the character in an over-exaggerated fashion while others felt he tackled the role as beautifully as his past roles. What he conveyed was not a caricature of a person but the character of a misunderstood man. Whether the character was white or black is inconsequential.
As I write this a part of me is screaming, “But isn’t this what many people struggled for? To be accepted as an artist first and foremost without consideration for race or culture?” You can imagine the dilemma I face; a black man is considered to play an Italian crooner and I am raising a fuss? I am raising a fuss because this is different yet the same; Christopher Lee as Fu Manchu, Al Jolson in blackface, Li Gong as a Geisha. The list goes on and I don’t have the time (my boss is yelling my name as I write this).
All I am getting at is get the right actor for the job. Don’t take an icon to many people the world over and polarize them because of a choice that could possibly spell the end for Scorsese and even Foxx. Or it could be the most daring, profound piece of film ever made. Only time will tell. And an Oscar may be in waiting in the rafters. I just don’t know how Jamie is going to look in blue contacts. Maybe they’ll get Adrien Brody to play Sammy Davis, Jr.
As the World Wide Web begins to expand our uses for it continue to expand, particularly in the realm of social networking. Our idea of a “friend” is also slowly being altered thanks to tools and applications that allow us to maintain “friendships” with minimal effort. I put friendships in quotes because of the rapid ease in which we begin to assign a once coveted title. The rules for friendships are beginning to change. But with that change in rules we start to tier our friendships. This isn’t anything particularly new, just expanded. (Everyone had a BEST friend) But with the onslaught of information we’re sharing it’s becoming increasingly difficult to keep it all together.
For me, Twitter served as a means to keep in touch with a lot of people I didn’t know and even to make some new friends. Facebook was intended to keep in touch with my real world friends, mainly because it was the tool I figured most of them would be using. But now that these worlds are starting to mix it’s becoming increasingly more difficult to keep up with the folks that are part of my real world life. Not to say that my digital friends are lesser (here comes that hierarchy again), but the expectations of a friend are substantially different in the digital versus analog world. It’s easy to tell when those digital relationships take on higher meaning, because you begin to convert them (or add them) to your analog world.
So I’ve been trying to figure out a way to stay in touch with as many of my analog friends as possible, using tools that are helpful to me. As much as I like Twitter, the signal-to-noise ratio is becoming less and less acceptable. I’m not sure how others do it, but I know that I don’t have time to stay engaged with Twitter in a way that’s both beneficial to me and my followers AND doesn’t feel like work. So far it seems like Friend Feed and Facebook are the two best options for me.
Friend Feed looks particularly attractive because it’s an aggregator of many sites and it has the added bonus of not requiring a user to actual be a part of Friend Feed in order for you to aggregate their data. (Check out the Imaginary Friends section of FF) It also has a pretty easy way for me to approve of other users content via the like or dislike option. A lot of Twitter clients also support Friend Feed, so there are more options out there than I would have originally guessed. The problem I have with Friend Feed in its current role in my line up is that I have no real reason to go to it. I don’t post any information there, it’s just an aggregator for me. But if I’m not there to post data, I’m not there to browse data. It’s a vicious circle. If I can commit to making my updates on Friend Feed and choose which data services cross post then that could be one problem solved. Friend Feed also has pretty good support for Lists. Lists allow me to categorize different types of friends so that it’s easier to keep track of them. It’s very much like group services in Twitter that you see in clients like TweetDeck, Nambu or the new Twitteriffic 2.0 software. The major difference is that the list functionality is built into the application, making it widely available on all the different client types. If I’m in a rush and only have a few minutes on my mobile device, I may only check in on my analog friends to see what’s going on.
Then there’s Facebook. The mac daddy of them all. Facebook met most of my needs except two main things. The first is the lack of a variety of clients. You’re pretty much using the website or the iPhone application. It be nice to have a tool that would allow me to do small quick things like looking at News Feeds and posting status updates. I know the Facebook iPhone app does that now, but the more clients, the more innovation and the more options. Facebook doesn’t look like it has any real grouping options, but it does let me hide news feed updates, which is helpful. Nothing is worse than missing a piece of valuable information in your news feed because some dumb ass from high school thought it would be cool to post all her photos from her drinking weekend. The other option is to simply not follow people I don’t have a serious vested interest in. Sure you’re excited to catch up when your first crush ever friends you on Facebook. But once you find out where they’re at in life now, the novelty kind of wears off, but you’re still stuck with their updates.
How do you manage all your social networks and still maintain valuable relationships?
p.s. And after writing this I spoke with a friend who told me about “Lists” in Facebook too. So now Facebook might very well be a more useful tool to me.
Before I begin this quick review of Star Trek I feel like I need to establish a few guidelines and rules about this post. I don’t want anyone to misunderstand the things that I’m complaining about the film. So here are some quick opinions of mine of the film before I get into the nitty gritty stuff:
It was the greatest Trek film of all time
It was the most clever reboot of a series ever
The casting was solid and the characterization fun
I enjoyed the pacing of the film quite a bit
The love interest between Uhuru and Spock didn’t bother me at all. I’m glad they spent no time building it and just gave it to us. Made it much more palatable
I LOVE the fact that the engine room LOOKS like an engine room. No need to hide the nuts and bolts in an area that’s constantly worked on. (And destroyed)
Now with those rules laid out, I’ll begin with what I lovingly characterize as “nitpicking”.
I thought I would have a hard time dealing with the idea of my beloved series being redone. It wasn’t until much later that I found out that this was a reboot of the franchise, complete with a slightly different origin story. What impressed me about J.J. Abrams’s film is that he had free reign to simply start over, but he still payed homage to the original series AND tried to setup a plausible explanation of the reasons behind the reboot within the context of the story.
The one big thing that I miss in this reboot are the laws surrounding the Star Trek Universe. Abrams has not simply reboot the franchise, he has simply altered the timeline a tad. But should that change the laws of physics? Star Trek prides itself on creating a universe with rules and boundaries. The stories, while fantastical, still operate within the rules established by the fictional technology. For example, you can’t beam through shields. At least not without coming up with a technobabble explanation as to why we can break the rule this one time.
The breaking of these rules doesn’t ruin the story at all, but for some hard core Star Trek geeks, minor changes irritated my nerdometer. Transporting at warp speed for instance. Remember how tricky it was for the Next Gen crew to do a NEAR warp transport. Deanna Troi made the comment “For a second there, I thought I was in that wall.” Worf has the witty reply “For a second, you were.” The scene where the Enterprise was flying through the debris field of the battle. While it was awesome to see the old girl dodging ship parts, the first thing that popped into my nerdy brain was “Did the navigation deflectors stop working? Isn’t this the type of thing they were designed for?” I mean lets face it. A ship the size of the Enterprise isn’t the most nimble vessel in the cosmos.
The film also seemed to further my points in my post about Science Fiction Dying. This film was pure action, special effects and explosions. This has almost started to dip into the realm of fantasy more so than it’s traditional science fiction roots.
All in all these are trivial details. Only the truly nerdy Trek fans may even notice some of the other technical errors. Even the insanely rapid promotions, albeit it cheesy, didn’t bother me that much. The film is still a very welcome addition to the franchise. I want more, I need more and I can’t wait to go see it again. You need to see this movie in the theaters.
The wing man is a position that a good friend will always aspire to be. The great thing about a wingman is there is no requirement of being single. The job of the wing man is to deflect and push off any attention away from himself and place it squarely on that of you. His job is to give you the glory. I can’t think of a better person suited for the job than a Klingon.
If Worf were your wingman you’d be all set. The singles scene would open wide for you. Look at any episode where Worf and Picard are together. The way he looks at Picard just screams “Dude..you are SO awesome!” It’s the ultimate sign of respect dabbled with just a *pinch* of fear. Not enough to be a turn off, but just enough to be sexy to the ladies.
Another great benefit of having Worf as your wingman are the stories. Imagine the scene, Worf is left with the ladies while you’re in the restroom.
“So Worf, where did you two meet?”
“In Combat!”
If that’s not an awesome opener you really had no chance of getting a date with this girl anyways. Something about hearing Worf’s deep bellowing voice professing his admiration of your “guile” in the Khitomer Massacre is sure to win you some brownie points. That far away look he gets as he begins to mentally recant the gritty details of a battle that, more than likely, he wasn’t even a part of. But that’s OK because it makes for great cannon fodder over drinks.
The benefits don’t stop there though. Worf has a very imposing presence to him. He’s mean and tough looking, potentially scaring any competition away. This is a good thing because it allows you to focus on your interaction with the ladies. If someone does approach your table, you don’t even have to break a sweat, because you know Worf won’t let any transgression go by unchallenged. The best part though; anyone who’s watched a Next Generation episode knows that Worf’s real worth is in taking double axe handle punches to the face. So while the bad guys are tiring themselves out beating his ass, you can come in, mop up and look like the savior. Thanks to Worf’s size, nobody would suspect he fights like a 12 year old girl with an iron jaw. The bonus points continue.
Worf has a thing about worthiness. Once he’s accepted you into his circle, it’s difficult for him to be convinced that anyone else is worthy of that person’s companionship. While not a great long term turn on, for the short term, it does instill a great sense of curiosity on the opposite sex. “What is it about this man that makes his Klingon friend so die hard and loyal.” The reality is simple. Worf is dumb is as a brick, but as long as he’s seen you punch a man for a sufficient cause by Klingon standards, you’ve pretty much got his attention for life.
“Your friend seems kind of weird Worf”
(Worf getting that deep sneer) “You DARE dishonor my friend. He has bested many in BATTLE. He’s earned more glory than you could possibly fathom. You should be HONORED that he lets you drink in his presence!”
Again, in the long term, not so hot. But in some fancy club lighting and a martini or two later, that sounds like a man willing to die for his friend. And once you get Worf rolling on how you’ve “sacrificed” for him, you’re a lock. The uniform is a nice touch too.
Now you’re probably thinking that you have a friend that could play the same role, but the keyword is “play”. Worf believes this whole hearteadly, making the exchange become that more powerful, endearing and ultimately effective.
Worf, if I were single, you could be my wingman anytime.
(In a perfect world Worf would be here to say “Bullshit. You can be mine” Alas, life is full of imperfections and this Top Gun reference will go unfulfilled)
Space Drama, Future Set Action/Thriller, Space Horror. Any of these names would more accurately describe a litany of movies that have come out recently and have been categorized as Science-Fiction, up to and including J.J. Abrahms re-launch of the Star Trek franchise.
However somewhere along the line, we as an audience have lost sight of what real science-fiction is all about. Today’s definition really just means the film has a lot of special effects and is probably set in space or sometime in the future. Other than that it’s really just an action adventure film, with no real questions raised, no social commentary given. But this is the realm where science fiction reigned. The beauty of the genre was that it could challenge social norms and values, but wrap it in an off-world approach.
Racism was rampant in the 60’s when Star Trek first took to the airways. It made sense, in a neanderthal kind of way that people had differences and prejudices based on history, and a lot of it simply on ignorance of one another. Take the episode “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield“, the Enterprise comes across a political refugee named Lokai, who is seeking asylum on the Enterprise. The alien is black on one side of his body and white on the other half. (Black, not African American) Later, Kirk and crew come across another member of the species, but his colors are reversed, black on the opposite half from Lokai. This difference is the center point of years of hatred and bigotry. Placed into the context of an hour long television show, this stand-point seems ludicrous, even to those deep routed bigots out there.
That’s the power of science fiction! It allows us to look at an issue from a different vantage point. It attempts to answer the question “what would happen if…”. What would happen if we could look into the future to fight crime? What would happen if we could achieve genetic perfection? What happens when we develop artificial intelligence? Is everlasting life a goal really worth pursuing? These are all questions that science fiction attempts to answer through a narrative. I feel like the best science fiction films has a question at the heart of it. I think that question though is slowly being replaced by bright lights and special effects.
While I’m one for a good popcorn film (I mean I DID go see Wolverine), I think these films almost merit a separate category. I’m just not sure what to call them. I feel as if science fiction has largely gone from being a genre, to just becoming a setting. If the film is in space, it’s science fiction. If it’s in the future, it’s science fiction. But in reality these are mostly action films in a typical science fiction setting. Again I’m not knocking these films, as they’re wildly entertaining. But they are different.
I was having an IM conversation when I compared old science fiction and new science fiction, to gospel music and Kirk Franklin music. They share similar characteristics, but they’re not the same. Maybe it’s an evolution of the genre, but I there are more than a few die-hards out there that enjoy the challenge of answering one of the many questions out there about the world, the universe, and our place in it as a people and a society.
What would we call such genres? How can we separate so that we know when we’re referring to old school vs. new school? It’ll be interesting to see how the trend continues.
I love Batman. I love Neil Gaiman. So you can imagine my delight when I originally heard about this project, although with the “death” of Batman I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. The first issue captivated me and even left me with a huge sense of puzzlement as I looked at Batman’s friends and enemies recount their tales of first acquaintances and ultimately the Dark Knight’s death. Each tale was told from a different perspective, never holding up to the memories of previous speakers.
What moved me most was the second issue though. Bruce meets his mother in his mind as he straddles the line between life and death. The dialogue between him and his mother, coupled with his resolute stance on what it means to be a hero was a good way to wrap the 2-issue arc. I know a lot of people weren’t happy with it and wondered what Gaiman was trying to say, but I think his message was clear. (Save the ambiguous last 3 panels) The message is that the Batman is more than just a man. He can never give up, he can never give in. He’ll continue fighting, even from the brink of death. The sense of heroism that it gave me immediately made me think of Supergirl’s death in Crisis on Infinite Earths, albeit on a much smaller scale.
I don’t know that Batman would want a large funeral, if a funeral at all. He’d probably prefer you set him on fire and push him out into a lake in Gotham. (Viking style) I thought this was a faithful way to temporarily say goodbye to my favorite hero. Despite all this book does, Gaiman isn’t really saying anything new. However I do love how he’s saying it. Go read it.
I loved the re imagined Battlestar Galactica series and almost cried when the Last Frakkin’ Episode aired March 20th. I was in recovery from surgery but the following day, I watched my DVRed episode with red eyes and a heavy heart. And luckily, Caprica has come to fill that void in my TV show repertoire albeit almost a year sooner than the premiere of the series. FRAK! But is it large enough to fill the cracks BSG left behind.
Yes and No. Why the bipartisan answer? Because it is different yet alike, black yet white. At first glance, you’re waiting for the Cylons, the heavy artillery, the Space: Above and Beyond-inspired shots of ships with that little zoom added for dramatic effect but you won’t be seeing that anytime soon. This is a sci-fi show heavy on the family dynamic like a hyper-serious Jetsons without Rosie or the flying ships. But do expect lots and lots of tech-heaviness such as pieces of durable paper capable of sending emails or hologlasses that can transport you into an online underground that’s a mash-up of Zion, Club Hel, The Limelight, and Dante’s Inferno all in the virtual space of an opera house (hmmmm, methinks I am beginning to see the symbolism behind the Opera House so prominent throughout the BSG reboot). And that’s not the end of it.
Enter Zoe Greystone, daughter of brilliant computer genius Daniel Greystone (hmmm, Daniel?). She has created an avatar of herself that is an almost perfect copy of Zoe. The only problem is she exists only in the virtual world unlike Zoe who can travel between the two with the ease of a Neo. Zoe has bigger plans under the guise of the One True God (hmmmm) but there lies, as usual, other motives desired by others unknown to Zoe. And this is just in the first 15 minutes.
Without spoiling it for those who haven’t had the chance to purchase the DVD of the pilot, this prequel series is a worthwhile addition to your library. The feel and look of this pilot are a compliment to BSG’s bleak, dark outlook for humanity amongst the war between man and machine. This isn’t standard fare with regards to sci-fi territory as the focus again is on the relationships between the Adamas and the Greystones (an interesting juxtaposition of morals, ethics, and desire) as well as within each clan. This is a refreshing series pilot and if this is any indication, Caprica may surpass it’s predecessor in more ways than One.
The wing man is a position that a good friend will always aspire to be. The great thing about a wingman is there is no requirement of being single. The job of the wing man is to deflect and push off any attention away from himself and place it squarely on that of you. His job is to give you the glory. I can’t think of a better person suited for the job than a Klingon.
I love Batman. I love Neil Gaiman. So you can imagine my delight when I originally heard about this project, although with the “death” of Batman I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. The first issue captivated me and even left me with a huge sense of puzzlement as I looked at Batman’s friends and enemies recount their tales of first acquaintances and ultimately the Dark Knight’s death. Each tale was told from a different perspective, never holding up to the memories of previous speakers.
