Archive for category Tv And Movies

So after being completely oblivious to this show and wanting a Shadowrun show for years, the joy and excitement I felt when I saw Batman Beyond today for the first time cannot be explained properly in words. I was expecting a completely different atmosphere when I downloaded it, but to my surprise it was extremely close to everything I imagined a Shadowrun cartoon would have. There’s hover cars, charismatic memorable villains, dystopian-yet-polished like cityscapes, megacorporations and a dark vibe.

There’s a very cool red/orange hue a lot of places, which adds a warmth not normally associated with Batman. The stylized lines and coloring reminds me extremely of Shadowrun as seen below.

I’ve seen this movie many times, and there’s something about the way it’s characters act and how they follow principle no matter how stupid or counter-intuitive it seems. Of course, this kind of thing can be seen in many American movies, but I will focus on ID because it’s the one I know the best.

There are a few concepts that run through in these types of movies. First is love, and then there’s courage, honor and integrity and lastly foresight/insight that nobody else has. First up we have the MIT educated smart environmentalist who never quite made it, played by Jeff Goldblum, who is still in love with his ex-wife after 3 years, and wears their wedding ring. Typically, these types of characters are faced with negativity, this time from his father, who tells Jeff he should move on already. But in due American style, he doesn’t drop his hope that maybe one day he will have her back, and of course he never had another relationship because this proves his love is for her only. We later find out his ex-wife is using his last name in the phone book, and of course they end up together in the end.

There are also several characters that show unusual courage in the movie. The president himself stays behind in the White House, even though there’s a big alien spaceship hovering over them and they could end up with a non-working government. A fighter pilot who has been a disappointment to his kids for a long time ends up saving the world, and of course several people put their own lives at risk to save someone else fearlessly because it’s the “right thing to do.”
Courage and integrity is a big thing in America, and while there’s nothing wrong with that, it is also a bit naive because we are always expecting the hero to sacrifice himself for us. His integrity is more important than his life.

Also, there’s the smart guy who ends up solving what nobody else could solve, and we root for him because we trust him and respect him.
Usually these characters never make mistakes, ever. They usually end up in an argument over how outrageous it is or how it’s not going to work, but then it does work and the silent hero can smile.

These characters are too perfect. Too inhuman. They always put their own lives secondary to everything else. They fearlessly go into deep enemy territory because it’s “the right thing to do” and us, the audience, are left with a distant hope that we ourselves can one day live up to this ideal.
I dunno about you but I want to see a movie with some more flawed characters. I think Children Of Men did it quite good. The main character didn’t have hero qualities of epic proportions because it’s unrealistic. But I still admire this attitude.

Oh the joys of 90s television.. Before CGI became ultra-realistic and took precedence over story and content (see: Avatar), there were made several TV series with low budget, that still remained fantastic. One of those shows was called ‘The Outer Limits’, with 90s charm and clever twists.

The show focused on 1 hour science-fiction gems, where every episode ended in an unexpected twist. There are different characters and leads in every episode, similar to The Twilight Zone. In retrospect I appreciate this show even more because nothing like it has been or is being made. The visual effects, while basic and primitive in many ways, also provided a completely unique atmosphere to the show. Who can forget the last frame of one episode where aliens had taken over the world and an alien had sat itself on the president’s head in the Oval Office while the shot faded out with a view of Washington DC in ruins?

The show just plain worked. And even though it was a sci-fi show, it was also completely rooted in human social relations and societal critique. Many ideas and concepts could be applied to real life occurrences, and while the show could be called ‘crazy’, it never strayed away from its inner human core. This is a show I highly recommend to any sci-fi fan, and luckily for us, all 7 seasons of it is on hulu.com for free!

Cube
The Butterfly Effect
Alien
Children Of Men
Donnie Darko
ExistenZ
The Matrix
Rules Of Attraction
Star Trek (2009)
The Crow
Scream
Hackers 2: Takedown
In The Mouth Of Madness
The Game
Jacob’s Ladder
Mulholland Drive
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
Solaris (2002)
Starship Troopers
Traffic (2000)
The Bourne Identity
Blade Runner
Hitman
The Shawshank Redemption
American History X
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Die Hard 2
Independence Day
Minority Report
Groundhog Day
Pitch Black
Frailty
Office Space
The Next Three Days
The Company Men
The Breakfast Club
Basic Instinct
Taxi Driver
Kids
The Machinist
Heat

Wow! FlashForward had a kickass start!
It looks to be a dense mystery series where nothing is predetermined.
They even tied it in a bit with Lost. Look at the screenshot:

Yes, that’s an Oceanic Air poster, right out of Lost.
Right now nobody has any idea what’s going on, and next year in February Lost’s secrets will be revealed. I’m glad we now have a new show to take over where Lost ends

La Femme Nikita is one of those shows (along with The Outer Limits) that show how story telling and acting is more important than special effects and big budget production. With its unusual twists on the espionage world, along with intriguing core concepts, it’s undoubtedly one of my favorite shows of all time. The show is basically about an undercover government operation called Section One. The agency uses many immoral and brutal techniques to take down terrorists and other major league criminals. Torture, deception, exploitation of innocent people for a grand goal and extortion are all techniques used to reach the goal. The show features an excellent cast with brilliant deep personalities, and they are all acted well throughout.

The show was created by Joel Surnow and Bob Cochran, of which both later created “24.” 24 is also another show that is extremely well written and executed, but it is quite different from Nikita even still. You can tell these guys are into politics, terrorism, espionage and such though, but just presented in two different ways. Nikita is in many ways more in fantasy land than 24, while 24 tries to be more realistic in how torture and such is handled. Section One is completely free of any responsibility for its actions. It can torture and exploit at will and nobody will come after them for it. My favorite character is Operations, which is the leader of Section One. He’s very charismatic, cold but can also show his empathy (which he did for Walter in a Season 3 episode.) This creates a very multi faceted personality where you’re not really sure what he’s thinking. Madeline is Operations’ second in command, and she is more cold than Operations. If she ever shows compassion it’s probably only a game played for personal or higher gain. The first 3 seasons are the best. The last two are a bit more lacking.

Defying Gravity is a show set in 2059, with 8 astronauts that embark on a journey through the solar system. The show touches upon many different things, destiny vs free will, science and some slight mindbend tendencies for good measure. There’s a sense of mystery all through, and this makes the show very open ended as far as story is concerned. It’s not your typical space adventure show like Apollo 13 with Tom Hanks. There’s also great humane characters in the show. Every character is ‘studied’ and I presume they will all be in the spotlight with flashbacks and focus in individual episodes. 13 episodes have been ordered apparently, but maybe if it takes off we will see more seasons. I do not know how this season will end, but I presume they can’t stuff 6 years into 13 eps. Highly recommended show.

Warning: This will contain spoilers.

John Carpenter has done some amazing movies. Some of them not as good as others, but when it comes to old school horror and pure atmosphere, Carpenter is the best. “In The Mouth Of Madness” is no exception, and in fact he has really taken it a step further this time.

Sam Neill plays John Trent, an insurance fraud specialist who takes pride in the fact that no con goes above his head because of his keen eye and solid roots in reality. What he doesn’t know then is that all his beliefs about reality will be shaken and turned upside down. The story starts with John Trent and Linda Styles traveling to New Hampshire to find Sutter Cane, a horror novelist who has disappeared with the latest manuscript for his novel. The owner of the publisher sends Cane’s editor (Styles) and Trent off to find a town named Hobb’s End, which is a place in one of Cane’s novels. They drive by car there and when night falls, strange things begin to happen. At one point, they find themselves driving through a small tunnel at night, and end up on the other side in daylight. This is most likely a portal to another realm of reality, maybe an entrance to Cane’s novel, but this is never confirmed.

They end up checking in to a small hotel with a weird old lady behind the desk. After some time they begin to realize that strange things are happening and that they might be in a Sutter Cane novel. One of my favorite things about this movie is how there is always a disbelief for the majority of the movie. You never really know if he’s in a Sutter Cane story or not, and the audience follows the same rationale and doubt that John Trent does. But then the end hits you, and everything you thought you knew is thrown out the window.

Carpenter is great at the visuals, he has a surreal way of directing, and although some think he shows too much of the monsters, I found it suiting. There are many classic horror and science fiction concepts in here, all executed at a masterful degree, and when I came to the end of the movie, I felt there was a lot of mystery, but still a satisfaction given from the ending (not a feat easily achieved.)

A highly recommended movie for any mindfuck movie fan.
10/10<

Great show.

Now this I’m really excited about; a new version of the 80s cult series “V”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahjPQjQGdbU

The original 80s series showed a race of reptilian aliens masquerading as humans entering earth in a friendly manner. They insert themselves into the communities and politics of humanity slowly, and there forms a resistance over time. Later it is revealed what dark secrets they are holding.

The original series had many interesting concepts, and was very well executed for its time (the hovering ships are awesome.) I hope they can bring some of that into the new series and not make it too mainstream. I also hope it has a reasonably high budget so we can see the aliens and ships in full glory.

I’m not sure on the air date, but I presume it is this fall sometime since wikipedia says 2009-2010 tv season. Not much info or imagery has been released bar the youtube trailer.

Check Wikipedia for the details.