The fangirl is out.

I have been struggling with this decision for a few months now but I have finally decided it is time for this blog to go on a hiatus.

Mostly this is due to life in general. I've got a lot on my plate at the moment--at four and a half weeks out from my due date, I foresee I will be doing a lot of scrambling around to get ready for the arrival of my baby and after that will be quite busy taking care of her and enjoying the miracle that is life, and all that.

Also, even though I don't find myself really watching any less television (or movies) at the moment, I do find I am having a much harder time coming up with anything intelligent to say about what I've seen. Maybe it's pregnant brain, maybe I'm losing interest, maybe I just am not cut out to be a critic. Could even be all three.

Anyhoo, so for now I am calling it a game. I am not sure if this blog will make a return, but I truly do hope it will. I thank everyone who has been reading 'til now. You all are wonderful people and you make my day. Check back in a few months to see if I've been able to dive back in, and we'll all have our fingers crossed that that is the case.

Until then, take care y'all.

And in the world of entertainment this week...

Only ten more days until Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince hits theaters! Huzzah!

Can you tell I am excited?

I may go try to catch Ice Age 3 this week if I can work it into my schedule. I definitely think that I will catch the 2D version though. That doesn't look like a movie where the 3D is anything but a gimmick. Not worth the extra couple of bucks to me.

Also, in super awesome fun news, this Saturday is the Dallas screening of Can't Stop the Serenity! Huzzah! Doesn't look like they've got a guest speaker this year but they will also be showing Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog on the big screen, which should be pretty darn cool. I've got a friend who is a new convert to Firefly and is coming with us this year, so I am also looking forward to seeing her in her first Browncoat experience. It should be good times to be had by all. Most likely look for more about that next week.

I did get season five of Atlantis on DVD last Tuesday, of course. I am currently two discs in and plan to get it finished up early this week so I can also watch the first half of Eureka's season 3 in preparation for the second half of the season *finally* returning to television this Friday. SciFi Channel also officially changes over to SyFy this week, and I will probably try to catch the premiere of new series Warehouse 13 on Tuesday. It's Jane Espensen's baby, so definitely worth a look.

I probably would be done with the Atlantis DVDs by now except I actually didn't watch that much television (for me) this week. It was a combination of a few things--my husband coming home from his three week sojourn in Europe, the holiday, and I also did a lot of reading and playing Zoo Tycoon. I made a nice freeform zoo and now am working my way back through the scenario games.

I read the newest (in paperback, anyway) Dresden Files book, Small Favor. My husband and I actually had previously heard this one last fall right after it was released in hardback. We rented the audio book (read by James Marsters) on a road trip. But it's been a while and getting to read it is so much better in my mind. Man, I love the world Jim Butcher has created in this series. It is just so rich and so full of characters on all sides of the fence that are memorable and entertaining, and believable, magic aside. Even though it's been well over a year since I had read any of the other books in this series, I found myself able to slip right back in without any confusion. That's a mark of a great world builder right there.

After I finished Small Favor, I devoured the quick read Backup. It's a short story by Butcher set in Dresden's world from the perspective of Thomas the vampire. If you like these books, this one is definitely worth picking up--though you definitely don't want to read it until after Small Favor, as that seems to be where it is chronologically set.

So after finishing my trip to Butcher's Chicago (man, I so am going to the Field Museum the next time I visit my mom), yesterday I picked up the next book in my pile. Hard Contact is the first book in the Republic Commando series by Karen Traviss. Yes, it's a Star Wars book. It is set shortly after the events of Episode II and is about a group of commando clones on a misson where everything goes FUBAR pretty quickly. I got about 2/3 of the way through it yesterday and I have to say, I am pretty engrossed. I will definitely want to pick up the next books in this series when I get the chance. Traviss does a really good job of showing not only that the clones are each different from one another, but how that can be so. It makes me even sadder knowing of their inevitable betrayal of the Jedi that is to come, but maybe that is what makes it so enjoyable in the first place. I do have to say also, this book introduces (to me anyway) a new alien species of shapeshifters that I totally dig. I look forward to seeing how this story plays out, that's for sure.

Anyway, so that's what's going on over here. I hope you all had a splendiferous fourth of July and wish all a wonderful week!

Peace,

C

Send in the B Team!

Howdy folks! In honor of Stargate Atlantis' fifth and final season coming out on DVD this week, I thought I'd dedicate yet another post to my favorite show. I just finished watching season four last night, so I am ready to go for the next round of adventures. Watching the first four seasons again, however, got me thinking about all of the great characters on this series. So today I bring you my top five favorite recurring characters on Stargate Atlantis. Huzzah!

Number 5: Leuitenant Laura Cadman

(Played by Jaime Ray Newman)

Sadly, we only actually got Cadman in two episodes, both in season two. She first appeared in what has probably gone down as one of the best McKay episodes ever, Duet. While on an off-world recon mission poor Cadman was set to babysit Doctors Beckett and McKay and when Wraith darts appeared on the planet she managed to get Carson out of the way but was scooped up, along with Rodney, in the process. Luckily the rest of the recon team was able to disable the dart without destroying the beaming device. When they attempted to reintegrate Cadman and McKay however, something went horribly wrong and McKay ended up being reintegrated with Cadman's consciousness also in his mind. As you can reasonably assume, this led to all kinds of hijinks and hilarity before the situation took a turn for the worse and then the day was saved. Cadman returned later on in the season two episode Hot Zone, where we learned that not only is she an explosives expert, she can also tap dance too. Cadman made a wonderful no-nonsense foil to McKay's eccentric (and arrogant) scientist. She also managed to briefly win the heart of Carson Beckett, though we learn in a season three episode that the two weren't able to make it work. While Cadman only appeared in two episodes she makes this list because she had a huge impact on the fans and, I for one, will always remember her as an important member of the Atlantis expedition.

Number 4: Chuck the Technician

(Played by Chuck Campbell)

Unlike his SG-1 counterpart, poor Chuck never got a last name. I am not entirely sure his rank was ever even actually stated on screen, though I do believe he was a Sergeant. But nonetheless, Chuck popped up towards the end of the first season as one of the primary control room technicians and he managed to stick around for the entire run of the series. He had a friendly way about him, and as much as I hate to say it, because I love Walter, was nowhere near as much of a nerd. Everyone seemed to like Chuck--although Zelenka definitely wished he (and the rest of the gate technicians) would stop consuming food and drinks near the 10,000 year old computer equipment. Besides just being a constant presence in the background (he's listed as having appeared in 44 of the show's 100 episodes), Chuck often got to be part of the moment, whether it be a moment of humor, drama, or just a glimpse into the every day life of the expedition members. One of my favorite moments comes from the season four episode Midway, when during the smack down between Teal'c and Ronon, Chuck can be seen in the gym managing all of the bets on the fight's outcome. The guy was just always right in the middle of everything that was going on, and fans loved him for it.

Number 3: Jeannie Miller

(Played by Kate Hewlett)

The little sister of Rodney McKay (played by actor David Hewlett's real life little sister), Jeannie showed promise in becoming every bit as brilliant a physicist as her brother--until she got pregnant in college and decided to marry her English major boyfriend and put all of her efforts into her family instead. The anti-social achievement driven McKay couldn't comprehend this decision and so cut his sister out of his life, not speaking to her for four years (though as we see in season one, he never stopped thinking about her and does come to regret this decision as he grows to see the Atlantis team as his own family). Then, one day, Jeannie is struck by inspiration while playing with her daughter and writes a math proof that turns out to be a potential solution to one of McKay's current projects. The siblings are reunited and Jeannie is drafted into a position as a civilian consultant for the SGC. The road to reconciliation for the two is anything but easy, and the pair never lose their competitiveness towards each other, but their relationship is one that not only gives huge amounts of depth to the character of Rodney McKay, it also allows him the chance to grow. He starts to embrace his humanity just a little bit more every time we see him interact with Jeannie and her family. Not that Jeannie herself exists only to make McKay a better character. She is a wonderful character in her own right, a delight to watch on screen--no doubt in large part due to the casting of Kate Hewlett to play her. I had always hoped that, had the series continued, they could have found ways to make her a larger part of the series. Plus, it is from Jeannie that we learn that Rodney's first name is actually Meredith. How can you not love that?

Number 2: Doctor Radek Zelenka

(Played by David Nykl)

Where Rodney McKay was the head of the Atlantis science operations, I have always felt that Zelenka was their heart. Second in rank to McKay among the scientists (but still head of his own department), Zelenka had a much more quiet way about him. He was perfectly willing to stay at home on the base and take care of business while other scientists were out on the missions doing the actual exploring. Yet, whenever it was truly called of him, he never turned down an off-world sojourn to help save the day. He truly has done as much as McKay to keep Atlantis safe and functional, even if most of it was done in the background. Plus, even though his comments were likely to go unheard by his colleague (or untranslated, as he was quite known for going off on tangents in his native Czech tongue), Radek was never afraid to call Rodney out when he felt the other man was overreaching or just plain wrong. Also, he's quite handy to have around when the city is in lock down and you need someone to crawl around in the ventilation system in order to correct the problem.

Number 1: Major Evan Lorne

(Played by Kavan Smith)

It should come as a surprise to no one reading this blog that Lorne is my favorite recurring character on the series. I just love him oodles. But really, there are reasons for this. Much like Zelenka exists to temper McKay, I feel like Lorne was sent to Atlantis to counterbalance Sheppard. The higher ups never wanted him in charge of the expedition's military forces, so they sent in the much more steady and reliable Lorne to be his XO. Despite that, Lorne has shown that he's no Air Force or IOA pet. He continually shows loyalty to Sheppard, and his team is the first one called in when Sheppard's team needs backup or a rescue. He doesn't mind being second in command because he trusts his commanding officer. We know he's got potential for great leadership--in season four's The Last Man we see a glimpse into the future where Lorne is charge of the SGC, and in SG-1's season ten episode The Road Not Taken we see an alternate reality where he replaced Colonel O'Neill on SG-1 itself, rather than Mitchell. This guy is very good at what he does. He is also very likable--congratulating Teyla on her pregnancy and offering her reassurances when she voices her fears about pending motherhood, keeping Rodney in check when Sheppard's not around without resorting to force as many others try to do, and more. We even learn he's got a bit of an artistic side in season three's Sunday. His mom used to be an art teacher and he picked up painting from her. Aww, how sweet. Finally, despite the fact that it was totally played down once he was moved to Atlantis, he's also got an intellectual side. His first introduction in SG-1's season eight episode Enemy Mine showed us one of the reasons he was probably drafted into the SGC was his prowess in geology. So, hey, a well rounded guy.

Well, there you have it, my top five favorite recurring characters from Stargate Atlantis. Now I'm all ready for season five to get here! I just have to make it until Tuesday.

That's it from me this week, hope you all have a great one! Happy Independence Day! Stay safe out there. Go see some cheesy summer blockbuster to celebrate--I can recommend Transformers 2 or Star Trek, or even Up if you want something a little more "feel good."

Until next time,

C

Weirdest movie ever? Maybe...maybe.

So I took myself to see Land of the Lost this week. I am not entirely sure I have words to describe it, but I will give it a go. Bizarre is definitely the first one that comes to mind.

So, I was expecting something campy and silly, and just a bit dumb--along the lines of Without a Paddle, or most of what Will Ferrell does. That is not what this movie is. Okay, the original series was a Saturday morning show aimed quite directly at children. I guess the producers were trying to draw in those same, now grown, children by giving it a more "adult" vibe this time around. So what we ended up with was a (rather lame) attempt at a raunchy sex comedy. With dinosaurs. And tachyons. Um. Yeah. Big fail on the part of the movie makers here. Not only did they completely kill anything that would have appealed to a broader child or family audience, they totally did not accomplish their goal to make the transition into adult comedy. The end result is something that can only really be appreciated by boys in the 11-15 age range.

I am a little too young to have watched the original series when it first came out, but I do remember that as a kid I did watch it (in reruns I am guessing) at some point, and I liked it. I don't actually remember anything about the show itself except that I liked it and there were dinosaurs. After watching the movie, I am actually fairly thankful for the lapse of memory. I have a feeling if I had remembered enough to get most of the references and in-jokes I would have walked out of that theater quite irked indeed.

Look, I am not saying I hated it. There were a few entertaining-ish moments. I am just saying that really, if they edited it down so that it was just the story about Marshall versus the T-Rex, everyone would be much happier with the end results.

The trip to the theater wasn't a complete waste though. There was a new (to me anyway) trailer for 9. Man I am so psyched for that it isn't even funny. As soon as my mother-in-law comes back into town I am going to see if I can reserve her to babysit on September 9. I am pretty sure I can't miss this one on the big screen. Seriously, this looks like such a cool movie. Here is the description of the movie from IMDB: A post-apocalyptic nightmare in which all of humanity is threatened.

That doesn't even start to capture the awesomeness, so you should check out the trailer here. It's like some weird reverse kind of Frankenstein. You know, post apocalypse. With puppets. How does that not kick ass? I am trying to decide if I want to track down the original short this is based on before I see the movie, but I am still torn as to whether or not that will be too spoilery.

Finally, I'll close with something else that occurred to me this week. Over the last year or two I've been hearing bits and dribbles about how Pixar is making an adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Mars series. This is the guy that wrote Tarzan in all of its original glory. He is a pioneer of science fiction and has been one of my favorite authors since I was in junior high at least. People may roll their eyes at Tarzan because it's been made so campy over the years, but those people just haven't read the books--because Tarzan is actually pretty dang awesome. As is John Carter, the central character of the Mars books.

So now the John Carter movie is finally in full production and I've been getting all kinds of news about it on the web, and I have been getting very excited about the upcoming movie. I noticed something this week that gave me pause though--this film is actually set to be Pixar's first live action film. I had somehow missed that until now. I started to get concerned, because really, with all of the different aliens and landscapes and such, this seems like a perfect film to be all CG. But I gave it some more thought and realized that "live action" is really just going to refer to the more human characters and the rest are probably still going to be largely CG. If anyone can blend the two seamlessly (and with all of the advances in CG over the last few years that's really not a question) without making it a distraction, Pixar should be up to the task. They have never produced anything that has disappointed me, so I am putting my faith in the trend continuing.

But once I started thinking about things that could go wrong with this adaptation, a whole new set of worries came to mind. The first book in the series, A Princess of Mars, was published in 1912. Burroughs shaped the landscape and cultures of Barsoom (the natives' term for the planet) based on the time's current beliefs about Mars. Most of those beliefs have long since been proven wrong. Mostly I am thinking of the "canals" or waterways scientists used to think covered the planet's surface. So now I am starting to wonder how Pixar is going to deal with those discrepancies. We know that the surface of Mars is nothing like it is described in this series. Are they going to update it? I almost hope they don't, and honestly am not sure how they could--the geography of the planet is indeed quite central the the stories. But will a modern audience accept such a fantastically wrong representation of the red planet? It seems like it's going to be much easier for them to handle all of the people and critters running around than the state of the planet itself. So yeah--see people, this is why adaptations aren't always good things. Sigh. I guess I'll just have to hope that Pixar places its trust in the audience's willingness to suspend disbelief and that, in turn, that hope is a justified one.

Anyhoo, that's all I've got for this week. I think I am going to catch the new Transformers flick this week, so hopefully next weekend I'll have my thoughts on that for you.

Till then, peace!

In a galaxy far far away...

The Pegasus Galaxy, that is.

That's right, I caved and I decided it was time to rewatch Stargate Atlantis. Even though I've got a few other sets of DVDs coming (starting with Burn Notice season two this week), I decided to gear up for the release of SGA season five at the end of this month with a nice Atlantis marathon.

Good stuff.

I am hip-deep in season two at the moment. Sadly, I started it yesterday and will probably finish it today. What can I say, my husband is out of the country for three weeks, and while I have been keeping plenty busy during the week, I decided I needed to just take this weekend off, and so what did I end up doing? Watching a whole lotta' Stargate. :o)

But back to season two. The last time I "rewatched" the series was when Skiffy ran marathons leading up to the last half of season five returning from hiatus. This was just after I stopped working. But, in between them skipping around a bit and me needing things like, you know, sleep, I didn't see every episode. I missed most of season two. I had forgotten just how truly awesome this season is. For one thing, the show really started to find its stride. For another, a very lot of important things happen in this season that set the tone for stuff throughout the remainder of the series. We learn more about the Wraith, we learn more about why the Ancients really lost the war...Sheppard pulls a Zack Morris and kisses, like, every female lead on the show. I mean seriously, all kinds of stuff going down. We also really start to feel at home with these characters. This is where the beauty of McKay starts to shine through--up 'til now he was brilliant, sure, he was amusing, yeah, but he wasn't so truly human. He didn't really start to grow and learn from his mistakes (or even make real true mistakes) until this point. I mean, Trinity. 'Nuff said.

On a more personal note, season two is when I actually dove headfirst into the Stargate universe (not to be confused with the upcoming new series). I enjoyed season one immensely, but actually missed a lot of the second half due to my wedding that spring. Then for Christmas later that year, my husband got me season one on DVD (really, I blame my Stargate obsession all on him). After watching the first season again and catching up with what I'd missed, I met season two with brimming enthusiasm. I finally caved in during season two of SGA and decided to watch SG1 as well. This triggered my getting all eight available seasons of the mother show on DVD. This is also when I found Stargate fanfiction. I've been clean of that particular habit for almost two years now (and don't think that now that I don't work I am not completely tempted to surf back on over to Wraithbait and see what I've been missing in my absence--I fight it only because I know that it would suck all of my time up and I would never get anything else done again ever), but my love for the Stargate universe is still going quite strong.

Also, one of the major benefits of season two: The arrival of Major Lorne. Huzzah! Ah, I am enjoying all of my Lorne-y goodness.

So, for the next few weeks I expect to be fully submerged in Stargate awesomeness again, and I will enjoy it while I can. I have two SGA novels in my reading pile, and I think those may have just gotten bumped up to the top of the queue now that I am in that mindset again. I do truly miss this show, but at least there's the promise of more television movies to come. Now, if only they could figure out a way to get McKay on Stargate Universe, that would be nerd heaven.

Well, I bid you adieu. Until next time.

C

Go see Up.

Seriously, just go. It is incredible. It is funny and sad and scary and dark and happy and just plain entertaining.

There's a talking dog, an adorable spastic kid, a grumpy old man that could put Walter Matthau to shame, and a crazy fun exotic bird.

Not to mention an old man fight that is just brilliant.

So yeah, go see it. It's worth your time, I promise.

Also, on the 3D or not decision--I saw it in 3D and while some effects were kind of nifty that way, there didn't really seem to be anything going on that would feel less if you just see it in a regular theater. So, that's totally a judgement call on your part.

Anyhoo, I've said my piece. Seriously, what are you waiting for? Go see it! :o)

Ciao,

C

One thing I'll definitely give the Brits...

(Warning! This post contains mucho spoilers about the latest episode of Primeval to air on BBC America!)

There's a very common saying among science fiction television fans: "In scifi, no one is ever really dead. Finding ways to come back from beyond the grave is certainly a cliche of the genre. Sometimes it can be really well done, and often it is just really cheesy or annoying. More often that not it can have the effect of completely negating some very powerful character moments and development within a series.

It also has a tendency to lessen the tension of pretty much any life-or-death situation your main character may find themselves in. The average viewer is sitting there thinking to herself, "Well, I know this looks bad, but there's no way they're getting rid of that actor any time soon, so clearly they're going to find some way to pull it out of the fire..." You know nothing too bad or final can really happen to your favorite character because they are the lead and as such aren't going anywhere.

Yeah this is just as common in mainstream shows as it is in sci-fi and fantasy, but the difference in the genre shows is that the characters just as often do die...and then they come back somehow. Heck, I think every main character on Stargate SG-1 has died at least once, and there were a few returns from the beyond on Stargate Atlantis as well. [Sidebar: Stargate Universe is claiming that death will be a much more permanent state of existence when it happens on the new series--it should be interesting to see if they live up to that promise and how well they make use of it.]

While British genre shows certainly aren't immune to this phenomenon--think Owen in season two of Torchwood, or the Doctor's regeneration capabilities, to name a couple--I have found that almost as often as they kill someone and then bring them back, they are just as willing to kill off someone and leave them that way for good. And I'm not talking random red-shirts here, I am talking series leads.

A prime example would be the short-lived but incredible Hex. Yes, my favorite character, Thelma, could fall under the umbrella of the amazing not-dead dead people--she is killed in the first episode and then hangs around for the rest of the series as a ghost. (Though I am inclined to feel this is not such a copout because really we never get to know her as a live person--her character was intended to be a ghost from the start.) But the main character from the start, the character all of the events of the show (including Thelma's death) are built around, is Cassie. Then, in the episode before the season finale, she gets killed dead. Cassie's gone. Bye bye, so long. And wonder of wonders, the show doesn't fall apart. The characters deal with what has happened and move on, and the show's focus shifts to another character and her life and adventures in the aftermath of what has gone before.

So I have to say that even though I am sad to see some very talented actors leave the cast of Primeval, I am also very impressed at the way they've managed to express how truly dangerous the characters' situation really is through the use of some very well planned deaths. At the end of season two we lose the character Steven. His death opens the door for all kinds of changes around the ARC and among the characters. His death has really meant something within the universe of the show--it is hardly meaningless. More recently, in last week's episode the actual main character, Cutter, is shot dead by his wife. We're only what, three episodes into the new season? And this is also another very meaningful death within the show, you can already tell one episode later. There were relationships in place or developing between Cutter and other characters, and you can see how each of them is dealing with the loss. This also sets in motion a lot of things that I feel will have repercussions throughout the season.

Yeah, I miss Cutter already, he was a loveable character. He wasn't the main character without reason. But still, the fact that now we, as an audience, know that no one is safe from the dangers of anomaly chasing is one that makes me even more eager to watch the show and see how the story plays out.

I think what may be the coolest thing about these deaths is the fact that they aren't all played up. This isn't some big publicity stunt. "Tune in this week to see who won't make it out alive!" No, this is just part of the story, and usually a part the audience doesn't see coming. As opposed to the American shows I am used to where really killing a character off is rarely done without some advance notice or big hyping in the weekly promotions. That in itself can cheapen a character's death, even when it is permanent. Of course, for all I know, when the Bristish shows air across the pond they do the same darn thing but BBC America just doesn't bother with the hype, but for some reason I doubt it.

While I can't complain when a character I really like manages to cheat death or come back from her cute little goth clutches, every once in a while it is really nice to see that there are real consequences for the actions taken by the characters in a story--that the perceived danger really and truly is just that--dangerous. I do, occasionally, like there to be a little bit of a point to my fluff. Go figure.

Some random thoughts on this week's Primeval episode:

I adore how cat-like the G-Rex was in its movements and attitude. Seeing him chase after all of the vehicles on the runway was extra amusing for it.

While the G-Rex was running up on the plane, I kept waiting for the pilots in the cockpit to turn around and go, "Oh my God! What is that!" until I realized that, oh yeah, airplanes don't have rearview mirrors. Huh. Sucks to be them, doesn't it?

I am really enjoying how the show is steering clear of all of the most common dinosaurs and prehistoric eras for the most part. With the exception of the velociraptors (which are freaking awesomely done), we are getting to know a nice wide variety of prehistoric critters. It's nice to know that the creative team isn't just throwing darts at a Jurassic Park poster to figure out the next beastie.

Is it completely wrong that when the news crew was all hanging out in front of the anomaly that we knew a G-Rex was about to come out of, I was sitting there hoping to myself that it ate them all? I mean seriously, freaking vultures. Once upon a time I wanted to be a journalist when I grew up--that used to be a respectful profession. Now, in this age of overinformation, not so much.

As much as I hate to see Cutter go, I am almost glad his anomaly predicting system went with him. While I do hope the series revisits that sometime down the road, having that and Connor's anomaly-sealing device would just take all of the fun out of it I think. For the moment, it's a race of time to see if the team can get to the anomaly and seal it up before anything bad comes out. And of course, a matter of if the device works every time or not.

Well folks, I think that just about does it for me. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and I will catch you on the flip side!

Peace out,

C

Can the conjecture just stop now, please?

Wow, the internet has its evil days, that is for sure.

Awesome: Dollhouse got renewed for a second season.

Not Awesome: Dollhouse's renewal has somehow made someone think this means we're going to get more Firefly.

Look, I would love to see more Firefly, but at the same time, it's really not going to happen. The whole cast has moved on. Joss has moved on. Fox has definitely moved on. The only people who haven't moved on are the fans, and the rumor-mongers.

Apparently someone somewhere at Fox made a comment to someone in the media that Dollhouse's renewal was in part due to the success of Firefly on DVD. That media someone then ran with the idea that this meant Fox would totally be willing to make some more Firefly--at least some television movies that could then be released on DVD and make Fox more money.

Okay, yes, in theory this is a really cool idea, but it is just that, an idea. Someone floated up a test balloon and then it just started popping up everywhere online. I just wish that they would stop saying it like it is a probability and stick with presenting it as "Wouldn't it be cool if...." Trust me, the minute any sort of official deal does go down that will give us more Firefly on any kind of screen, the internet is going to catch on fire anyway. As it is, what's going on now is just cruel and annoying. People are getting their hopes up and the backlash is going to be bad.

Sigh. Maybe I am just not looking at this correctly. Maybe the die-hard insistence of the fans that we can and will get more Firefly one day is in the true Browncoat spirit. The war is definitely over but they're still out there fighting. Sigh. I guess Mal would be proud at least. Or not. He seems like a no-nonsense kind of guy. He'd probably be the first to call these people on their bullshit and point out that, as awesome as it is, it really is just a television show. There's no life or death on the line here, and there's not really a greater principle at the root of things.

Can we not just embrace the current and new projects coming from Joss and allow him to move forward, thus taking us with him? This insistent urge to pigeon-hole him to past projects and not let him close the book on them is starting to worry me.

I know in these hard times that old and familiar franchises and stories are a comfort to the masses, and they're usually easier/cheaper to make for the entertainers. But I'm really starting to get tired of "old old old" and I want some "new new new." Isn't hardship and challenge supposed to spur creativity, not destroy it?

Okay, end rant.

Laters y'all,

C

Man, just, bad ideas all around.

So the internet pretty much exploded today with the news that not only is there definitely a big screen Buffy movie in the works, and not only is it a total reboot with completely different characters (aside from, I would assume, Buffy) and mythology, it also is proceeding completely without the input or benefit of Joss Whedon.

WTF???

There's so much going on here, I don't even know how to get it all into words.  I think I'll just address each of the three points above and maybe go from there.

So--Buffy on the big screen.  WE DON'T NEED THIS.  And I say this as a total Buffy fan, one who will just randomly get the urge to watch the ENTIRE series all the way through periodically (and follow through on that urge).  I know that there's a huge camp in the fandom who just want more more more.  And part of me understands that.  It was a wonderful show and it had a lot of influence on all sorts of areas (vampire lore, science fiction, girl power, etc.), but we don't need another Buffy movie.  

I'll admit, when the series first came out on television, I wouldn't watch it, because I actually liked the movie.  Okay yes, I was and will always be the first one to admit that the movie was completely horrible, but the whole concept jived with me and I am often known to love bad movies when the things that make them bad are things that make me laugh at the movie.  I didn't really get into the series until the end of season six because I had a new roommate who was obsessed and there was really no way to avoid the show and live in my house.  

Here's the thing, what made the movie fail (primarily, anyway--it really was a bad bad movie for many reasons) and what made the television series succeed was the simple fact that this story is too big for the big screen.  To understand Buffy the character, and to really appreciate why she, as a slayer, is so unique and why we, as an audience, should root for her, you need to know what she deals with at home, at school, and at work.  You need to see her friends, with and without her, and how they react to her situation and find their places in her world.  You need to see all of the different monsters she has to deal with, and why the villains are villains and why they're in Sunnydale and what their end game is.  

You could make a movie about a "vampire slayer" who just goes around killing vampires and that's her job and she deals with it and oh, look at all of the dead/destroyed monsters and cool special effects, yay!  That would be fine.  I mean, that's basically just Van Helsing in a skirt.  But if you are going to make a movie about Buffy the vampire slayer, you need the whole story.  And that story needs room to stretch out in order to be properly told.  Some stories just need that.

Besides, if the big screen movie were going to be a continuation of current Buffy canon, which is what anyone actually clamoring for a Buffy movie actually wants to see, well, in my opinion, there's not really anything left to tell that can be summed up in one chapter such as a movie would give us that would satisfy anyone.  For one thing, the series ended too well, and made it very clear everyone was spreading out.  Even if you haven't read the comic books (which show everyone all over the world dealing with all of the new slayers), from the ending of the television series I just don't see where they would get a good story for a movie.  Basically, if you want more official Buffy, go read the comic books.  If you just want more stories in that universe and don't care if they're official, then there is plenty of fanfic out there for you.  A lot of it isn't porn, and some of it isn't too badly written.  

This leads into my second issue with a new Buffy movie.  They don't want anything to do with the original Buffy movie or the television series, other than, as far as I have been able to glean, the name of the main character and the basic concept.  I can think of two extremely clear motivations for a studio thinking this is a great time to reboot Buffy--there's a built-in fanbase that they are assuming will guarantee them butts in the theater, and vampires are hot right now.  Thanks to Twilight and True Blood vampires are just all the rage, and this is just someone's idea of jumping on that bandwagon without having to go to the trouble of finding new source material.  "Vampires are money baby, what do we have with vampires?  Well, there's Buffy...  Buffy!  Great, let's reboot that!"  

Geez Louise.  I am sorry, but I don't understand what is going on in Hollywood.  For the last several years almost every movie that has come out has been a continuation or reboot of an existing franchise or an adaptation of a television series or book or a remake of a pre-existing movie.  Clearly something is broken.  Where has all of the original content gone?  I mean, don't get me wrong, it can be really cool to see a story adapted from one medium to another, and sometimes the idea of just going to see "Things Blowing Up 3" is nice, because it means if I've seen TBU 1 and 2, I don't have to think too much about the story, I can just sit back and enjoy it.  But remakes of existing movies just drive me nuts.  That right there, that's the sign of someone who just wants to make money and is making movies for no other reason at all.  I don't like giving my money to those people.  It just makes me feel dirty.  I mean seriously, if the original was good enough that you think people still might like it today, why can't people today just enjoy the original?  Huh?  Huh?  I will admit, occassionally an exception to that rule comes along, but at the very least there should be a 30 to 40 year MINIMUM window between the original film and the remake.  And as much as I enjoyed the Star Trek movie, reboots are only slightly lower on the icky scale.  But that's probably enough to be a topic for a whole other post so I am going to stop this train of thought for the moment.

This leads to the last issue with a new Buffy movie, and that is no Joss.  Okay, first off, here's what most people are overlooking--the people who have obtained the rights to write a new Buffy movie and are shopping it around the Kuzuis--and they worked with Joss on the original movie as well as on all of the television series and on Angel.  They know what the concept of Buffy is just as well as Joss.  BUT.  But...  But they aren't Joss.  That's what it boils down to.  Buffy is his creative baby.  If I am understanding the story of the movie properly, Joss came up with the concept and wrote the script and the studio said, okay, but make these changes, and let's have someone else to the rewrite.  And those changes and that rewrite made it the disaster it is.  Then several years down the road Joss got a meeting with someone and pitched Buffy as a television series and said, look, the movie was horrible, but here's why, and here's what I can do to fix it.  And it worked.  So yeah, I am nervous that someone who isn't Joss is coming in and saying "I want to make a new Buffy, one that's darker and more relevant to today and doesn't have anything to do with what came before."  

Let's not overlook the fact that the overwhelming majority of fans of Buffy are fans of Whedon himself.  We love Buffy because it is a creation of Whedon, as much as for its own merits.  And while I would not categorize myself as a zealot, well, there are more than enough people out there who are.  And they are scarily organized.  You can expect a lot of vitriol directed at the new movie just because there is no Joss involved, even if he does come out and give it his stamp of approval at some point.  You can bet that this is going to also backfire big time in the faces of the people expecting an existing fanbase to inflate the movie's success.  These are the people who boycott stuff.  This is not a fanbase that likes executives messing around in their universe.  At the very least, it's going to make the internet a very scary place for anyone who isn't a zealot and happens to puruse any Whedon-related site for quite some time to come, I can tell you that.

Intellectually I know that a new Buffy movie won't erase the original or the television series.  Those will always be on my DVD shelf waiting for me to watch them whenever I choose.  I can always go back and enjoy what I love.  But still, I worry that the new movie is going to make people who might have stumbled across the series instead avoid it like the plague for the rest of eternity.  That just makes me incredibly sad.  So, yeah, I feel like a new Buffy movie is a BAD IDEA.  It doesn't matter what the movie itself actually ends up being, it's just that the bottom line is, the world doesn't need it.

Sigh.

Sadly, that's not the only bad idea out there as of today.  Just the biggest one. 

io9 is also reporting that Disney, in going through its vault of old movies that need to be remade, has chosen Flight of the Navigator for their newest project.  Sigh.  Flight of the Navigator is a beautiful and wonderful movie and it is the embodiment of my childhood in the 80's.  We don't need a new one.  

Seriously, where have all of the original ideas gone?

So yeah, until next time,

C

Summertime...

Ahh, summer time...that magical time of year that was once rife with television reruns--a chance to catch up on missed episodes or enjoy favorites over again.  Now it's full of God-awful reality programming on the big networks and actually a pretty decent selection of original programming on cable networks.  

Already this summer we've got In Plain Sight on USA and Primeval on BBC America.  I have been enjoying the new season of both of these shows so far.  Good stuff.  But wait, there's more!  June and July are bringing back some great shows that I am really looking forward to.  Here's what's on the horizon for my viewing schedule this summer:

TNT:

The Closer

Leverage

Raising the Bar

Also, I am hoping to see the rest of the season of Trust Me--I assume they'll be burning those off as soon as basketball (bleah) finishes up.

USA:

Psych

Burn Notice

Monk (last season!)

SyFy:

Eureka (huzzah!!)

There may be some other shows on SyFy premiering this summer but I'm not too sure at the moment about that.

BBC America:

Torchwood

Also, ABC is going to air the last few episodes of Eli Stone on Saturday nights in June (the final episodes of Pushing Daisies started last night I think, for fans of that show).

Is it just me or does it seem almost easier to get excited about the summer's cable shows than the networks' fall schedules?  The schedule itself may not be as full, but the quality, to me at least, seems to be a lot higher of late.  Sigh.  

Speaking of fall schedules, upfronts ran this week, so we finally got to find out what's going on come September.  Dollhouse and Chuck did get renewed, huzzah!  Even if they both only got shortened seasons, that's not necessarily a bad thing, it gives the writers a chance to make much tighter story arcs which can lead to better viewing for us.  It is going to suck having to wait until January or February for Chuck to start airing though, since it is sharing a timeslot with the shortened season of Heroes.  I have to say, I am a little bewildered by how packed Thursday nights are going to be.  We've got Bones, Grey's Anatomy, and The Office all running at 8 p.m. (central).  Sigh.  Of course, I blame Fox.  They just have to mess with their schedule, don't they?  They just have to shuffle Bones around onto some random new night again.  Honestly, so amazed that show has survived, the way they treat it (but hey, it got renewed for two seasons, not just one, so that's awesome).  I keep telling myself it will only last a few months though and then Fox will need to rearrange and it will be the first to get moved.  We'll see, I guess.  I am really hoping that ABC has full episodes of Grey's available online.  I think that's the one that is going to have to get bumped from the actual television viewing, because I always try to watch Bones live and The Office is a show my husband and I make time to watch together, which is harder to do at the computer than on the couch.

And finally, in some rather exciting (for me at least) news--Neilsen is sending out surveys to select new households to include in their ratings research and I got one.  So, there's no guarantee I'll be selected, but it is a possibility.  I feel giddy with the promise of power.  

And that's me.  Until next time, happy viewing!

Primeval is back!

Last night the first episode of the third season of Primeval aired on BBC America.  This show is back just in time, as all of my regular shows have just wrapped up (except for a straggler or two finishing this week).  

We pick up with our anomaly-hunting friends sometime after the events of the season two finale (i.e., the death of team member Stephen).  Cutter is bummed because his wife got his best friend killed by prehistoric (and a few futuristic) critters.  It isn't bad enough that she, you know, slept with the guy, but then she turned him against Cutter, and then got him killed trying to make up for it.  Helen is a bitch.  I'm just saying--that's something anyone who is going to watch this show needs to realize.  There are no redeeming qualities about this woman--none.  But anyway, so Cutter is bummed.  He knows it's not his fault his friend is dead but he still feels like he should have been able to stop it from happening.  In comes Jenny Lewis to remind him that he can't change the past--and he has a wonderful response to that, coming from her--and ask if he wants to grab some food.  Cue the anomaly alarm.

This week's anomaly has appeared in an exhibit at the British Museum.  Yay, Egyptology!  We get a big crocodile monster from 55 million years ago that kills the curator and threatens a scholar before running off into London to generally terrorize the poplulation around the Thames.  With the help of the Egyptologist, who swears that the creature is an ancient Egyptian goddess, and with a new military commander (replacing the guy who got killed in the anomaly in the penultimate episode last season), our team of scientists manages to get the critter back home just in time for the anomaly to close (of course).  

Some cool things were set up for the rest of the season in this episode.  First off, when I say the anomaly was in the exhibit, I mean it was actually trapped inside the exhibit.  Made of a highly magnetic metal, the artifact was apparently created to trap the anomaly--move the artifact and the anomaly moves with it.  In addition, Connor accidentally electrocuted the anomaly, causing it to harden in a way--still active but nothing could get in or out for a brief period.  This gives the team all sorts of interesting new avenues of research to follow when they're not out chasing critters.  Now we know anomalies can be contained and maybe even rendered harmless while they're open.  Ooh...interesting.

Also, we get two new team members--the new military guy, Beckett, I think, as well as the Egyptologist, Sarah Page.  Her insistence that the croc-monster was what the ancient Egyptians believed to be one of their gods leads Cutter to think that perhaps all of the fantastical creatures throughout history (the chimera, pegasus, the krakken, etc.) might be critters that slipped through anomalies.  He thinks if they can track down the origins of these myths, they might be able to better detect a pattern on anomaly appearances, so that's what Dr. Page's job will be.  

Then there's a new government higher up trying to take over the ARC and get on Lester's nerves.  We learn right off the bat that she's got some hidden agenda tracking down some artifact that her whole special ops team got wasted by the future bat-monsters trying to recover.  

And not to be left out, Helen is back, and hey, she managed to get the artifact after the special ops team got wasted.  She and her army of look-alike goons are setting up in a warehouse with some as yet unrevealed nefarious purpose.

So, all in all, it was a pretty eventful episode.  I really enjoyed it, with the exception of all of the completely unnecessary destruction of ancient artifacts while the creature was loose in the museum.  That made the archaeologist in me want to cry.  There was of course plenty of wonderful Connor-based humor.  I had two favorite bits.

First was when Connor almost got dragged through the anomaly by one of the croc-monsters (only one got loose but a few tried to get through while the team was guarding the anomaly).  Sarah reached for something to whack the monster with and realized she had picked up an ancient Egyptian kitty artifact, so she hesitated, not wanting to hurt it, and instead ended up grabbing a two-by-four (probably a better choice anyway, really).  

Second was the whole "curse" that Sarah made up.  Connor picked up a piece of the anomaly containment artifact that broke off when a wrench got sucked in by the magnetism, and Sarah told him that the artifact was cursed and anyone who touched it would be plagued for the rest of his life.  She later reveals to Abby that she made that up but they both agree there's no reason to tell Connor that fact.  I love it.  This has potential to be a wonderful running joke this season, and I hope that the writers don't pass up the opportunity they left themselves here.  Also, totally makes me approve of the new addition to the team.

Good stuff all in all.  I am really excited for this season.  Apparently there's an American movie version of this series in progress, and I am not to sure what to think about that.  Also, there are new rumors that there's also an American television series in the works too.  Gah.  I am a bit nervous about that--though I did see the phrases "spinoff" and "expanded operation out of the UK"  in connection with the American series, so I have some hope.  If it's actually another team set in America, tracking anomalies on this side of the pond (which makes sense that they'd be all over the world), then I could get behind that.  Especially if the events of the mother series were acknowledged and the potential for crossovers was in place.  Can you imagine Cutter having to deal with an American scientist?  That might be beautiful.  

For anyone who has missed out on the first two seasons of this wonderful series, SciFi Channel is airing them on Friday nights at the moment, so you can probably get all caught up pretty quickly if you're interested.

Hope everyone has a great week!  I think I'm off to watch Titan A.E.--I discovered yesterday that Joss Whedon is one of the writers (I loved this movie before I fell in love with Whedon), so that's got me kind of wanting to watch it again.  

Ciao bellas!

Some thoughts on the finales this week...

So most of the finales I want to talk about aired tonight (Um, MASSIVE SPOILER ALERT), but I would be remiss if I didn't also mention Tuesday's closing episode of Fringe--which closed nothing but opened up all kinds of new possibilities.  Yay Fringe!  I just absolutely adore this show.  It is silly and completely unrealistic and yet still fun and smartly written and well acted and creative and engaging.  Even if what the show makes me think about is how unlikely the phenomenon of the week may be, it never fails to make me think at least for a little bit.  Plus, Joshua Jackson, yum.  And there's a cow.  Who doesn't want a cow in their workplace?  My husband works in the Fort Worth Stockyards, and one of the best parts about visiting him for lunch is getting to see all the cows hanging out back of his building (I kid you not).  That, plus the kitties.  There are lots of kitties there too.  

Where was I?  Oh yes, Fringe finale.  Anyway--I for one loved this.  Okay, yes I am not someone to avoid spoilers unless they are on a show that I just don't care about/will never watch, or if it's somehow a show that will really be ruined for me if I don't have an inkling...so, I saw the spoiler that the gravestone Walter visits in the episode was very important--as soon as he went to visit it in the episode, knowing also that we would find out what the "big weird" about Peter was in this episode, I put two and two together and realized that the Peter we know and love is not the Peter from this dimension, because the Peter from this dimension died as a kid.  So, yeah.  Not really a surprise.  It did not, however, diminish my enjoyment of the reveal.  I will admit I was hoping for a bit more Nemoy, but the fact that they finally told us we've never seen him up until now is because he actually lives in another world/dimension was pretty sweet.  Plus, he's signed on for at least a few more episodes next season and has been quoted as saying he's up for continuing to do the show as long as he's having fun with it.  

Also, there's already some controversy surrounding the final shot--revealing that in the alternate world where Bell hangs out, he does so in the still intact Twin Towers.  There are people screaming that this is inappropriate and insensitive.  To which I reply, wow, really?  You get one shot to show just how "alternate" this other world really is--I think showing that the Twin Towers still exist is a really good way to do so.  We are talking two different worlds here.  Certainly there are inappropriate and insensitive ways to stick the Towers into something but I don't think that happened here.  That's all I'm saying on that.

Okay, on to tonight's gala of season enders.  

Bones.  Wow.  Well, I feel much better that they didn't completely ignore the fact that last week Booth had a freaking tumor removed from his brain.  While I felt that the idea of the episode was a little too high concept, and while it was fairly obvious (to me at least) from the beginning that this was either someone reading Booth a murder mystery while he was in the hospital or a dream he was having in recovery or something--I still really enjoyed the episode.  It was fun to see them take the events and mythology of the entire series (at least from season two on--we were missing the original boss man) and rearrange them into a different setting.  (Have I mentioned that when I was deep in my fanfic phase, alternate realities were my absolute favorite?)  As enjoyable as the episode was though, I was starting to feel a little bit disappointed towards the end--just because it seemed to be such a one-off episode, with no payoff to get us to next season and no real wrapping up of this season.  Granted this season didn't really have much of an over-arcing story or anything, other than the revolving interns (and we learned last week that Cam is down to three of them and just has to choose one).  Still, after last season's rushed finale, I was hoping for something a little more cohesive--right up until the last minute when we realize that Booth may have woken up from his coma (which thankfully we didn't actually have to endure), but it appears it may have come with a case of amnesia.  It's something of a cliche season finale cliffhanger I guess, but at the same time it ties together something that has been going on all season and gives us a starting point for next season.  Also, we had Zack back.  Yay, Zack!  So...yeah.  I liked it.  I wish they would actually have Booth and Bones hook up and not hit a reset button, but they are doing a decent job of not letting the tension between the two of them overwhelm everything else in the series or distract from the stories, so I am prepared to be patient for that to happen.  

Next up, Grey's Anatomy.  Good golly.  Okay, I will admit that in my last post I may have sounded like last week's was the season finale--which is because I am a doof and completely forgot there was still an episode left.  I don't even know where to start on this one, there was so much packed into the two hours...but okay, let's see--my favorite moment was when Arizona confronted the Chief--crying in anger all the while.  That was adorable.  I love her.  I am super glad to hear that they are in talks to make her a full cast member next season.  There was a lot of relationship going on in this episode (of course).  As much as I feel for Bailey, I am glad that they are finally resolving the issues with her marriage, even if it sucks and means she's getting a divorce.  I am also glad that she told the Chief that after his ultimatum she was leaving him because if the marriage had gotten to that point it was clearly over.  Good woman--he told her to choose him or her career and she chose herself, I approve.  Arizona and Cally had a nice little moment as well--we get to learn more about Arizona right along with Cally and we get to see that they are willing to accept their differences of opinions.  I loved Sloan getting shot down by Lexie as well--I definitely want them to stay together but it is too soon for them to move in together and it is good for Sloan to realize that just because for the first time in his life he's in a serious relationship that doesn't mean he has to jump into the fast lane straight away.  Poor Alex--he got put in a bad situation.  It is always good to get to see his more sensitive side, whenever he has to care for a woman in his life that comes out.  I just hope he doesn't get completely broken by tonight's events--he's got potential.  This character has seen some real and actually believable growth over the course of this series and I think he's still got room to go a long way.  Very good to see Owen and Christina trying to move forward together.  I think these two can be really good for each other.  And last on my list--Meredith and Derrick.  Okay, what the heezy?  They didn't get married.  Writing your "vows" on a post-it note does not equal marriage.  I know that they're weird and crazy busy, but dude, take the three hours to go to City Hall and get it over with.  I am annoyed because I will not put it past Shonda to just leave it at that for like the next four seasons.  Bleah.  

But aside from all of that relationship hoopla, we had the two big character arcs--Izzie's brain tumor and George enlisting.  I honestly thought that at least one of them would survive and go on to just leave Seattle Grace.  While I admit that we obviously don't know for sure that either one of them is dead, it seems pretty clear that they both died at the end, at the very same moment (creepy).  While it was definitely a little evil to see Izzie finally get her memory back only to then fall over dead (I was starting to think maybe she would be the off-screen character that was still around, like Tino or Heather Sinclaire--she would be off-screen having all of Alex's babies and not practicing medicine any more), I am still glad that she's gone cuz if the actress wanted out that badly they needed to let her go.  And we got some really good material for Alex to build on down the road.  But George, man, George.  His farewell just sucked.  And by that I mean it was completely appropriate for that character's story arc.  He decides to enlist, tells like three people, and then the Chief sends him home--only to get hit by a bus saving a stranger and end up back in the hospital and unrecognizable to his friends and colleagues.  Said people who then find out (while he's in the room no less) that he signed up, get all indignant and bitch about it (around the poor unidentified and semi-conscious patient), and think of ways to keep him from going, not realizing that all the while he's dying under their very eyes.  Poor George.  At least they let him go out a hero.  I wish that actor all of the best.  

So after all of that drama, I needed me some silly and keyed up My Name is Earl in my DVR.  I have to say, this show has been so uneven of late, though as I said to my husband the other day, at least Earl isn't in a coma anymore.  But with this episode they were finally back on track.  Of course it was the last of the season, so no more till fall, sorry.  But seriously, we got Earl addressing his list, which has been missing of late.  We also got some really interesting info to set up for next season, if there is one, I honestly don't know if this is coming back or not, I keep forgetting to check.  On any other show, the end of episode reveal that Earl actually is Dodge's real father while Darnell is not, in fact, Earl Jr.'s father would just be too much, but it is perfect for this series.  So all in all I have to say I liked this season ender.  Of course now I am once more conflicted about whether or not to get the new season on DVD when it comes out.  Sigh.  

But yeah, so crazy night.  And now I think that only two shows I watch have any episodes left this season--so bring on the summer series!  I am so ready for Psych and Burn Notice and The Closer to come back.  

Anyhoo, now it is past my bed time, so I am going to skedaddle.  I'm planning to take myself to see Angels and Demons tomorrow, so I will probably have my thoughts on that for you this weekend.  And if not, I've got this lovely little Star Trek v. Wolverine debate going on on my head I may figure out how to write down one of these days.

Take care y'all.  Have a super weekend!

Star Trek...it's awesome!

Just wanted to pop in really quickly to say that the hubby and I did go see Star Trek last night and it was stupendous!  

(Even with the baby doing the Conga in my belly for the last 45 minutes or so...)

I prepared myself yesterday by watching Galaxy Quest and Spaceballs.  My theory was this:  If I ingested enough cheesy space opera beforehand, I would be prepared to love this movie no matter what direction it took.  And it worked!

Though I will say, the movie is not at all cheesy, I swear.  It was a lot of fun though.  I was laughing my tookus off on several occasions, and I know I probably missed at least half the inside jokes.

Just for those who want a little perspective on this:

I have very little exposure to Star Trek in general other than the pop culture working knowledge of it--so this is a good movie for "non-fans" to dive into the franchise with.  And I'll say this, it made me want to go and watch the original series and the other series and movies just to see what all of the fun is about.  I think that's pretty good.

My husband, on the other hand, moderately strong Trek fan.  He also very much enjoyed it.  Every so often he'd lean over and tell me something they had just done or said was a total tribute to the original.  I've heard this movie described as a "love letter" to the fans, and he agreed that it was.

Here's the thing that I really respect about this "reboot" (which I honestly have a hard time calling this).  Abrams, Kurtzman, and Orci didn't just jump in and say "look, all of that stuff that you know happened, that canon that you acknowledge and love--well, it never happened--what we're showing you is what really happened."  That's not how they went.  They made changes, but they made them in a way that completely acknowledged that everything we know to have come before did indeed come to pass, it's just that so did this version because somebody got it in his head to go back in time and change the timeline up big time.  So some of the characters evolve a bit differently, and the circumstances of how they all end up together aren't exactly how they were.  And while an alternate timeline story has huge potential to feel forced and contrived, this one very much isn't.  It is extremely well done, and that makes all of the difference.

So if you are at all a fan of scifi and are looking for a truly good film to go see, I would very much recommend this one to all of you out there.

Also, as a side note to my fellow Stargate fans, the wonderful Paul McGillion (who we all know and love as Carson Beckett) makes a brief appearance in the film.  You may remember he auditioned for Scotty, but lost the part to Simon Pegg (who I can't begrudge the role because he is freaking amazing).  But, the casting group liked Paul so much they found him a different part.  It's a nice little Easter Egg.  

So, that's all I've got for you guys.  

Live long and prosper, y'all.

My week in nerdiness.

So there was a bit going on this week in the realm of things I could blog about.  I thought I'd just give you a little bit of a day by day.

Monday

The week started off with what was actually a pretty slow day.  DVD-wise I watched a disc of Friends (I am working my way through the whole series and remembering all over again why I love this show).  TV-wise there was no new Chuck or Heroes (and NBC, despite announcing most of their fall schedule that day still refused to tell us if we're going to get more Chuck or not next season).  Did watch The Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother, of course, as well as Castle.  I am so in love with Nathan Fillion.  He is just so good at playing the guy that you know you really shouldn't like but you can't help it.  Think about it:  Mal was a serious hardass but inspired loyalty from his crew and the audience alike; his character on Drive (no idea what the name was) had some serious issues and a very shady past, but you wanted him to beat the system he got pulled into; Captain Hammer was just a jerk, but still, we kind of wanted to hug him (even if we were rooting for Billy to kick his butt and win the girl); and Castle, well, Castle is an egomaniac and he keeps getting in the way of Detective Beckett, but not an episode goes by that we don't get shown that he truly is a decent human being despite all of that--mostly through the relationship with his daughter and mother.

Anyhoo, other than that, on Monday I made a big dent in my video game (Lego Indiana Jones), and that was about it.  I may have read a bit (Winter's Heart, book nine in the Wheel of Time series).

Tuesday

Went to see Wolverine.  I've got to say, I actually rather enjoyed it.  I'm with the Flick Filosopher on this one--it is just a movie that is pure popcorn.  There's no real substance to it, and it doesn't in any way enrich your life, but while you're experiencing it you can't help but enjoy.  Yeah, I thought that they did cram as many other mutants as they could in there, making it less of an origin movie for Wolverine alone.  But lacking the knowledge of pretty much anyone's actual backstory, I felt like for the most part it made sense to the evil bad guy's plot to have so many mutants running around.  I get the impression more people are mad because of the specific mutants that got "shoehorned" in, and the deviances from who should have actually been there and such, so I guess in this case ignorance is bliss.  I know that a lot of people have panned this for just being an inexcusably bad movie--but I think those are people who were expecting it to be on a level with the first two X-Men movies, and clearly this wasn't going to be that.  I just expected it to be fun and silly with pretty explosions, and you know what, that's exactly what I got.  That's all I was asking for, too.

Before I went in to the movie I had lunch and wandered around the mall with the friend I went to see it with, and in Hot Topic found this awesome Star Wars jacket on clearance.  It is a black zip up athletics type jacket that says "Star Wars" in white print on the front and has a stormtrooper helmet over crossbones on the back.  Pure awesome.  I tried to walk away but after the movie I still hadn't forgotten about it so I went back to buy it.  I am weak.  But dude, coolest jacket ever.

Got home, started playing my game a little bit before Fringe came on and meant to stop in time to watch but got caught up and played until bed time.  There's nothing like finding all of the artifact pieces to make a girl feel good about herself.  Also, once I figured out the trick to getting all of the artifact pieces in the mine cart level, it was nowhere near as annoying as I thought it would be.  I generally tend to dislike the levels that are basically "race" levels in these games, but LIJ actually was much better than Lego Star Wars on this front, overall.

Wednesday

After spending an ungodly amount of time at the car dealership getting my baby all tuned up and respectable again, I came home decided to watch Fringe while I ate lunch (this is actually never a good idea--don't eat while this show is on, you never know when there's going to be an eyeball in an omelet or something, and yet, I can never remember this when I make such decisions).  Of course, American Idol ran long so the last two minutes of the episode got cut off of my DVR recording.  Thank God for Hulu though.  Wow, I am pumped for the season finale!  The whole dimension-shifting thing that Olivia has got going on was a really nice little addition to things.  Also, bye bye Harris, at last!  Then, we get a little suspicion thrown on Peter for disassembling random lab equipment--we all know there's something shady about Peter and are still trying to figure out what--only to find out he was making a nice little toy for his dad to help him concentrate in the lab.  Aww.  I may be completely crazy (well, on this front at least--we know I am in general), but I kind of wonder if maybe that video Walter has of kid Olivia in the corner of a burned room is the result of the Firestarter twins and not actually her doing...since it doesn't seem like explosions are her thing at the moment.  Just a thought.  Also, I was super glad that Walter left the complete ZFT manuscript in plain sight when he hared off with the Observer.  Here's hoping Olivia finds it in the next episode and can start to forgive him a little bit.

After Fringe I watched another disc of Friends ("We were on a break!") and then the Scrubs season finale.  I adored the Scrubs season finale.  I blame it on my pregnancy hormones, but I was totally crying during the montage at the end where J.D. was imagining his future (I also must download the Peter Gabriel song they played over the whole thing).  I know it isn't, but I really wish this was the series finale.  Yeah, they can continue the show without J.D. but who is going to be the voice of the show now?  Will we connect with them on the same level?  Will it just be a rehash of old plots with the new characters?  Is Elliot going to be around, as she was sneak moving in with J.D. during this whole episode?  I get the feeling that the new season, unless there is some last minute decision to call the whole thing off, is going to give us a completely different show, if only because of the shift in perspective.  And honestly, I think that they finished it well.  Of course, if there's still money to be made off of it, what does that matter?  Good story over profit?  Never!  Bleah.

Played my game some more, got all of the free play levels of last movie completed, yay!  Stayed up a little bit longer to finish my book.  Dude, the cleansing of saidin!  Such awesomeness.  That's probably my favorite thing that happens in the whole series so far.  Watched Ben Harper on Letterman (the drummer is a good friend of my husband's), then bed.

Wednesday was kind of a big day.

Thursday

Did I mention it's College Tournament week on Jeopardy! yet?  Well it is.  Missed Wednesday's episode due to car maintenance, but have been enjoying it the rest of the week, nonetheless.

I tried to start my next book (Crossroads of Twilight) in the series while running errands--getting my car washed and such--but didn't get very far.  Matter of fact, I still have about ten or twelve pages of prologue left on that thing.  Gah.  Robert Jordan, may he rest in peace, completely abused prologues.  The man can spin a yarn, but when the standard chapter in your books is 25-35 pages, a 94 page prologue is TOO LONG.  Okay, end rant, sorry.  

So.  Came home from errands, watched another disc of Friends (starting season four, woohoo!) and painted my nails.  Yes, I am a girl.  Sometimes I do girly things, nerd or not.  

After my nails were relatively dry I turned on my game to finish off the three bonus levels and reach 100% completion.  As awesome as it feels to have absolutely finished the game, playing the bonus levels last was definitely a letdown.  What I like about this game is that there are objectives, and payoff for these objectives.  You make it through the level in story mode, you unlock new characters.  You find all of the artifacts in a level, you unlock extras you can use to get more money and find more artifacts (or do silly things like make your characters all wear fake mustaches).  But the bonus levels didn't really have any of that.  There was nothing to find in the one level that was actually structured like the others, you just have to go from point A to point B, and in the other two you just have to get a certain number of studs to complete.  Though at least the Ancient City level had puzzles to solve to get all of the studs.  In the Warehouse level you are distracted by all these things to set up a race course (with no payoff for doing so)--and have I mentioned how I feel about race levels?--when all you have to do is get a bazooka and blow up everything that can be blown up and then just aim it at a target for long enough to get all of the required money.  Bleah.  Sigh.  Oh well.  It was a lesson, I guess.  And, I did accomplish something, game wise.  I am not usually someone who does all of the little side quests and buys all of the extras and such.  Usually just doing the quests that interest me and finishing the playthrough, beating the big bad, those are enough.  But the Lego games are nice because there aren't a zillion little side quests.  There's like three or four different goals to aim at aside from just playing through.  First you play through in story mode, then you go back and play through in free play (where you can switch between characters and access things unavailable in story mode) to finish everything off.  Plus you get that little meter that tells you your completion percentage.  It's a challenge not to try to hit 100%.  

Anyway, so I finished my game and then it was time for dinner and Thursday night television.  Bones was awesome.  I have been worried since it was announced on Ausiello that there would be a guest appearance by Stewie Griffin (yes, that's right, the cartoon baby from The Family Guy), but I actually feel like they handled the whole thing really well.  Plus, it led us to find out something was wrong with Booth that they had actually been building up to all season.  Though from the previews from next week it doesn't seem that there are any consequences from his brain surgery.  Of course, it's just a preview.  Those rarely give you all the info you need for a show as rich in character and story as Bones.  Hopefully they don't just brush his brain tumor aside.  It seems silly otherwise to have spent a season leading up to it and then just say, oh, yeah, brain tumor.  Well let's operate in this episode and then by next week everything is back to status quo.  Plus, Bones with baby fever, and just assuming Booth would hand over his swimmers was pretty priceless.  And have they picked an intern?  It's clear they're down to three, and I enjoy all three choices, so I look forward to seeing who wins the season long competition.  Of course, next week Zack is back, so who knows?

Then there was the Grey's Anatomy season finale.  I absolutely love how that show can take such a horrible accident like a semi crashing into an SUV full of college kids on their graduation day and, even though it's just the thing going on in the background of all of these crazy doctors' drama, they don't diminish that it is a horrible event and it needs to be dealt with.  Also, I totally was not surprised that it was Alex and Izzie who ended up at the altar rather than Mer-Der.  I mean come on, who really didn't see that coming?  But it was well done.  Now they can kill her off and make Alex a much deeper character.  I mean...um...yeah.  Though I thought the George going off to join the army was supposed to happen this season, I guess they are wrangling him into at least a few more episodes.  Sigh.  I hate that he has to go, but I totally understand the actor's motivation--they completely under utilize him.  

After Grey's I watched My Name is Earl (I will hold off on The Office until I can watch it with my hubby this weekend, as per usual).  I have enjoyed this show, but I think it may be time for it to take its final bow.  This whole two-parter mystery about the disappearance of a character we have never met until now was really just not all that entertaining.  It certainly wasn't enough to warrant a two-episode story arc.  And while when they do the "COPS" episodes they can be a nice little showcase of how things used to be in Camden pre-list, this "Inside Probe" thing was just lame.  Bleah.  No more.  They seem less and less to be focusing on Earl's list, and to me that means that maybe it is time for the show to be done.

After Earl I needed to do something fun and silly, so I started up a new video game.  The first Lego Star Wars game (episodes 1-3).  I finished this one in story mode way back in the day but never went back in free play, so now that I have completed Indiana Jones, I wanted to give this one another go.  So I played through the first two levels in story mode, trying to get used to the controller (went from Wii to Playstation 2), and learning just the basic differences in game play between the first Lego game and the most recent (there are quite a few, it turns out--each game seems to have its own little unique pieces, not counting that they take place in different universes).  

Friday

I kept forgetting yesterday was Friday for some reason.  After doing my usual Friday errands though I sat down with some lunch and another disc of Friends.  Then I popped in my video game and finished playing through Episode 1 in story mode.  I was quite rudely reminded of how much I frickin' hate pod racing.  Remember when I said I don't like the race levels?  Yeah, this level I played yesterday is the underlying reason for that.  There's one other level in the game (I want to say in Episode 2) that is just as bad.  But at least I found all of the mini-kits in that level the first time through.  I may wait to do that one in story mode until I can buy a stud multiplyer so I can hit the full stud amount for that level right away and not have to stress over it.  Just saying.  

After that I was feeling kind of aimless.  I had about two hours until Dollhouse but didn't really have anything I felt like doing until then.  So I ended up popping in yet another disc of Friends (and now we've met Emily and set the state for the Chandler/Monica hook up, huzzah!) and then since that overlapped Dollhouse, I waited to watch that until after it was done.

So, Dollhouse season finale.  Wow.  Holy awesome show, batman!  I seriously hope that we get a second season of this.  I want to know what happens next!  Does Ballard become Echo's new handler?  Or maybe replace Victor?  What are they going to do with Victor now that he's a "broken" doll like Whiskey was?  I hope they keep that actor around, he's kind of awesome.  Also, plus, dude, Dr. Saunders was a doll?!?  That's pretty sweet in the evil and awesome kind of way.  And why did Topher program her to hate him?  What's up there?  She may not want to know who she is, but now I really do.  Alpha can still be the big bad, only this time he doesn't want Echo to rule by his side, he's going to want revenge on her.  I like that her composite event made her go a completely different direction than his did.  I think maybe it confirms Ballard's belief that you really can't completely overwrite someone's soul.  But yeah, so, totally dug it.  Please Fox, please, just this once, don't be evil, kay?  Give us a season two.  We promise we'll watch!

After that, I read for a bit and then went to bed.  Still in the prologue that never ends, sigh.

And that was my week.  Right about now my husband is reading this and thinking maybe I need to go back to work after all...

It's not like I don't do other stuff, like clean the house, in between all of this.  But really, no one here wants to hear me bitch about cleaning the floors.  So...yeah.

My hubby and I are tentatively planning to go see Star Trek tonight--I am kind of excited for that.  May is seriously the month of a zillion movies.  

 Anyhoo, I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and a super week.  Happy Mother's Day to all of you moms out there!  Take care.