Trailer: NBC’s Day One
July 12, 2009 at 7:00 am | In Previews | Leave a CommentTags: Day One
A preview trailer for NBC’s post-apocalyptic Science Fiction series Day One has leaked onto the Internet. The two minute plus clip shows that this series is definitely not the Jericho knock-off that many thought it would be. Watch the trailer now at our 2009-10 Season Preview Page.
Movie Review – Moon
July 11, 2009 at 8:24 am | In John J. Joex, Movie Reviews | 3 CommentsTags: Science Fiction Movies
By John J. Joex
Rating: 4 ½ out of 5 Stars
Moon is a rarity in the cinema, especially for the post-Star Wars era. It is a Science Fiction movie, yet it has little action, no explosions, no space battles, no guns, no nail-biting down-to-the-wire endings, and a cast that you can count on one hand. What it does have, though, is a strong story bolstered by magnificent performances from its sparse set of performers. In that respect, it harkens back to classic examples of hard science fiction in the cinema like 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Andromeda Strain, and Silent Running. And that is exactly what director and co-writer Duncan Jones wanted.
The entire movie takes place on the Moon as we follow Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) who is the sole human running a mining operation that extracts helium-3 from the lunar surface and sends it back to Earth where it provides the primary fuel source for the planet. His only companion is the robotic GERTY 3000 (Kevin Spacey) which has a voice similar to HAL 9000 and displays emoticons on its monitor to reflect its expressions. Sam is coming to the end of his three year contract on the Moon and eagerly awaits his return home. However, he starts to hallucinate and see people and transmissions that he knows cannot be real which eventually causes him to have a live-threatening accident on the surface of the Moon.
Early on, you may start to question several aspects of the movie’s basic set-up. Why would the company send only one person at a time to spend a rather daunting three years in isolation? Why would they not fix the malfunctioning satellite that providea Sam’s only chance to have real time transmissions from home? After the accident, how did Sam get back to the base? But everything falls into place as the tight, well-written script unfolds across the movie’s one hour and thirty seven minutes.
I’ll give no more information about the movie than that, because “that would be telling”, and it’s best to go into this one without too many pre-conceived notions. What I will do is complement the cast and crew on pulling off what could have turned into a very dreary, plodding film in the wrong hands. Mind you, Moon does have a very slow pace, quite the opposite of your typical Summer blockbuster. But it never drags or meanders because of the excellent script, spot-on performances by Rockwell and Spacey, and steady direction from Jones (who, by the way, is the son of David Bowie).
So how does it compare to some of the classics of Science Fiction cinema that it invokes? Quite well in my opinion. While it lacks the grander statements of movies like 2001: A Space Odyssey and Silent Running, it does give us a more modest, personal statement about what it means to be human and to be in control of your own destiny. Also, it lacks some of the inconsistencies and leaps of logic of the two previously mentioned movies (i.e, you have to read the book to understand exactly why HAL goes berserk, and just why exactly did they put the forest domes in orbit around Saturn instead of the Sun?). I would not put Moon on a Top 10 list of Science Fiction movies just yet, but I do believe that it will continue to resonate with fans of the genre and will quickly grow into a position of respect.
I do not expect Moon to do big business at the Box Office this summer, seeing as it diverges quite significantly from the product Hollywood usually assaults us with at this time of year. But then I don’t believe the producers expected this to be a mega-hit either. The pulled it together for the unheard-of budget of only five million dollars, despite its superb special effects (done with models which provide a nice break from the CGI overload we have experienced lately). And based on that parsimonious budget, this movie should definitely turn a profit once they have counted up the Box Office tally and DVD sales. And hopefully this will pave the way for more economical, well made Science Fiction movies to coax their way into the theaters.
Moon had a limited opening back on June 12th then received a July 17th date for its major release. However, it snuck into theaters early on July 10th (I must have missed a memo or something). If it has not made it to one of you local multiplexes yet, keep an eye peeled during the coming weeks because this one is a must see for Science Fiction fans.
Only $11.99 at Amazon.com
Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars
Moon is a rarity in the cinema, especially for the post-Star Wars era. It is a Science Fiction movie, yet it has little action, no explosions, no space battles, no guns, no nail-biting down-to-the-wire endings, and a cast that you can count on one hand. What it does have, though, is a strong story bolstered by magnificent performances from its sparse set of performers. In that respect, it harkens back to classic examples of hard science fiction in the cinema like 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Andromeda Strain, and Silent Running. And that is exactly what director and co-writer Duncan Jones wanted.
The entire movie takes place on the Moon as we follow Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) who is the sole human running a mining operation that extracts helium-3 from the lunar surface and sends it back to Earth where it provides the primary fuel source for the planet. His only companion is the robotic GERTY 3000 (Kevin Spacey) which has a voice similar to HAL 9000 and displays emoticons on its monitor to reflect its expressions. Sam is coming to the end of his three year contract on the Moon and eagerly awaits his return home. However, he starts to hallucinate and see people and transmissions that he knows cannot be real which eventually causes him to have a live-threatening accident on the surface of the Moon.
Early on, you may start to question several aspects of the movie’s basic set-up. Why would the company send only one person at a time to spend a rather daunting three years in isolation? Why would they not fix the malfunctioning satellite that providea Sam’s only chance to have real time transmissions from home? After the accident, how did Sam get back to the base? But everything falls into place as the tight, well-written script unfolds before us.
I’ll give no more information about the movie than that, because “that would be telling”, and it’s best to go into this one without any pre-conceived notions. What I will do is complement the cast and crew on pulling off what could have turned into a very dreary, plodding film in the wrong hands. Mind you, Moon does have a very slow pace, quite the opposite of your typical Summer blockbuster. But it never drags or meanders because of the excellent script, spot-on performances by Rockwell and Spacey, and steady direction from Jones (who, by the way, is the son of David Bowie).
So how does it compare to some of the classics of Science Fiction cinema that it invokes? Quite well in my opinion. While it lacks the grander statements of movies like 2001: A Space Odyssey and Silent Running, it does give us a more modest, personal statement about what it means to be human and to be in control of your own destiny. Also, it lacks some of the inconsistencies and leaps of logic of the two previously mentioned movies (i.e, you have to read the book to understand exactly why HAL goes berserk, and just why exactly did they put the forest domes in orbit around Saturn instead of the Sun?). I would not put Moon on a Top 10 list of Science Fiction movies just yet, but I do believe that it will continue to resonate with fans of the genre and will quickly grow into a position of respect.
I do not expect Moon to do big business at the Box Office this summer, seeing as it diverges quite significantly from the product Hollywood usually assaults us with at this time of year. But then I don’t believe the producers expected this to be a mega-hit either. The pulled it together for the unheard-of budget of only five million dollars, despite its superb special effects (done with models which provide a nice break from the CGI overload we have experienced lately). And based on that parsimonious budget, this movie should definitely turn a profit once they have counted up the Box Office tally and DVD sales. And hopefully this will pave the way for more economical, well made Science Fiction movies to coax their way into the theaters.
Moon had a limited opening back on June 12th then received a July 17th date for its major release. However, it snuck into theaters early on July 10th (I must have missed a memo or something). If it has not made it to one of you local multiplexes yet, keep an eye peeled during the coming weeks because
Only $ 8.99 at Amazon.com
Only $8.99 at Amazon.com
More from the Golden Age of Radio
July 11, 2009 at 8:00 am | In Articles, Sam Christopher | Leave a CommentTags: Audio, Science Fiction Radio
By Sam Christopher
Dimension X
Available at Amazon.com“Adventures in time and space, transcribed in future tense… (voice and echo effect) Dimension X”
This precursor to X Minus One (see previous column) only lasted about a year and a half, but it dramatized some great stories during that time from the leading writers of sf in that day. Setting the manner and style for X Minus One, Dimension X gave us great stories like:
“With Folded Hands” by Jack Williamson: In a future where robots, called “mechanicals” here, do virtually all the menial labor for Man, nothing could be better than a new type of mechanical that can do everything for Man, take care of man completely. Or could it? A story that shows the dangers of allowing “Those Who Know Better” to “ensure our safety” by taking all responsibility away couldn’t be more appropriate for this time, and this one really hits the mark squarely.
“Universe” by Robert Heinlein: A “race” of men come to believe the generational space ship they’re on is the entire Universe, and they worship the chief engineer of the project which built the ship generations ago, a man named Jordan, as God. Great drama about the way Man thinks and acts when confronted with truth that conflicts with preconceived notions and belief systems. Besides the obvious statement on religion and blind devotion to traditional thoughts, this story also held a rather pointed statement about race relations, as the mutants—humans changed by living in the upper decks of the ship where the radiation shielding wasn’t so strong—are treated with disdain and hatred by the “normal” humans.
“Report on the Barnhouse Effect” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.: A college professor discovers a mental discipline that allows him to do anything he chooses through telekinesis, which makes him the most sought after weapon in the Cold War. Kind of a precursor to the original Outer Limits tv episode, “The Man with the Power” starring Donald Pleasance as a college professor with enhanced mental abilities, although that show went in an entirely different direction than was followed here.
“The Embassy” by Martin Pearson (Donald A. Wollheim): A strange, rather eccentric man hires a hardboiled private dick to find the “Martian Embassy” in New York. That’s right, the Martian Embassy; Mr. Graffious (that’s his name) says it’s real and that the Martians are using it as a listening post to gather intelligence for their planned invasion. The detective laughs at the premise but finds the cash offered for the job a much more serious matter. And, of course, he does find the Martian Embassy.
“Nightfall” by Isaac Asimov: This was the final dramatization in the show’s run. If you’re a true sf fan you’ve probably heard the name Isaac Asimov once or twice. This story is generally considered to be one of his three best shorts (the other two being “The Ugly Little Boy” and “The Last Question”) and is probably my second favorite of his (a close second to “The Last Question”). Imagine a world with six suns, a world where it’s never dark, a world where night is just a legend. Except for one time approximately every 2,000 years. Now imagine a people living on that world, and what they might think about the fall of night. Asimov did, and it was fantastic. This is a great dramatization of that story.
I’ve never understood the shortness of this series; it, along with “little sister” X Minus One, is easily the best I’ve heard from anthology science fiction on the radio.
Exploring Tomorrow
This short series only lasted about six months. Hosted by the legendary editor of Astounding Science Fiction Magazine John W. Campbell (who also wrote the great short story, “Who Goes There?”, which was the basis for Howard Hawks’ film Thing From Another World and the even more celebrated John Carpenter remake The Thing), this show provided a moral with its stories. I’ve only heard a few, but a couple favorites:
“Liar” by Isaac Asimov: A short from this master’s celebrated “Robot” series, this was a tale which dramatized the idea of how a robot which could read minds would interpret and implement the author’s famous “Three Laws of Robotics”. The ending here, in which Dr. Susan Calvin uses ruthless logic to bring the story to conclusion, is especially good, though a little heavy-handed.
“The Happiness Effect” by Raymond E. Banks: What if a surgery could be performed on every person that would make them into whatever the rulers of a society deemed was most needed? And the surgery could also be performed in such a way that the citizenry would be happy to have been tampered with? This stars Mason Adams and is probably my favorite from this series of the ones I’ve heard.
Campbell’s delivery of the morals in this series was rather dry, and it seems to me on listening now that it was made for a more adult audience than Dimension X or X Minus One. Still, I have enjoyed the three or four that I’ve heard and will try and listen to more in the future.
Escape
“Tired of the everyday grind? Ever dream of a life of romantic adventure? Want to get away from it all? We offer you… Escape! Escape—designed to free you from the four walls of today for a half-hour of high adventure!”
This anthology series specialized in tales of excitement and adventure (for those who couldn’t tell by the tagline). There were men trapped in the Arctic, men trapped on sinking ships, men searching for gold in the lost jungles or hidden islands of the world. There were also great sf stories dramatized, like:
“Earth Abides” by George R. Stewart: An apocalyptic epic in which the vast majority of the population dies as the result of a disease, this novel was made into a special two-part episode of Escape. In this adaptation, Isherwood Williams is on a hunting trip in the mountains when bitten by a rattlesnake. He recovers and returns to civilization to find there is no more civilization, just a collection of vagabonds and people driven a little mad by the loss of their loved ones and friends. He finds a woman, Emma, and the two marry and have children, founding a colony that, by the end of the story, is a good beginning for a resurgence of humanity. One interesting difference from the novel is that the radio play makes no mention of Emma’s race; in the novel, from what I understand, she’s black. I suppose an interracial relationship was deemed too adventurous by Escape story editors. Still, a very good production.
“Dream of Armageddon” by H.G. Wells: A man dreams of a future which is so real he begins to see it as the reality and his waking life as nothing. Unfortunately, the dream—which he goes into every time he goes to sleep—is set in a time in which tensions are escalating into war, and he and his wife in that time are trapped behind enemy lines. A very sad and frightening story which never lets the listener up for air, with a chilling ending that leaves its audience thinking hard about the nature of reality and our place in it.
“Zero Hour” by Ray Bradbury: My favorite story of Bradbury’s ever adapted to radio, this tells the tale of a child’s game called “Invasion” which is sweeping the country and, perhaps, the world. The story centers on a woman whose little girl is playing the game with her friends outside, a woman who grows more and more uneasy as the day goes on. More and more uneasy as what the kids call “Zero Hour” nears—5 pm that afternoon. We follow the woman through the day and hear her mounting terror as she fears what’s coming more and more and the mystery builds to a satisfying conclusion that is a real attention-getter.
To hear these and other of these great shows, either subscribe to XM/Sirius or go to the Radio Spirits website, where you can order or download to your heart’s delight. Also, many episodes from shows like Dimension X and Exploring Tomorrow are available for free download at OTR.Network Library.
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Looking Back: Old Time Radio Shows
DVD Reviews – Star Trek Fan Collective Series
July 10, 2009 at 7:05 am | In DVD Reviews, John J. Joex, Summer of Star Trek | Leave a CommentTags: Star Trek
(Continuing our Summer of Star Trek series)
By John J. Joex
I’m not a big fan of DVD sets that collect together episodes already available in other sets. However, with the Star Trek franchise, I can see the logic in this move as it spans six different television incarnations and over 700 total episodes. So you may get someone like myself who is a huge fan of the original series, but who is not as enamored of its sequels and may only want to own a sampling of episodes from those series on DVD. In this respect, the Star Trek Fan Collective sets serve their purpose (though it completely ignores the animated series). Of course anybody can pick out a handful of episodes from each series, but can they pick really good episodes that make it worth buying the sets even though you may have several of the episodes in your DVD library? That’s what I have taken upon myself to determine as I have looked through the selections from the six sets currently available in this series. I will address each collection separately and, instead of my usual number rating system, I will give a final judgment on whether I think it is worth shelling out the money for considering the possibility that you may already have some of the episodes in your collection.
(View the complete list of episodes available on each set)
Available at Amazon.com
Alternate Realities:
Mirror/Parallel Universe episodes are always good, no matter which incarnation of the series you are watching. And this collection has them all. “Mirror, Mirror”, from TOS is the best with the Enterprise two-parter “In a Mirror Darkly” following close behind. The DS9 forays into that alternate dimension are worth checking out as well. Unfortunately, TNG never did a Mirror Universe episode, but to make up for that we have the fantastic alternate timeline episode “Yesterday’s Enterprise” instead. In addition, TNG episodes “Parallels” and “Frame of Mind” are good representations from that series. In fact, most of the rest of the episodes give us good examples of how the various Trek incarnations twisted reality, but someone please tell me what TOS episode “Turnabout Intruder” is doing here. That’s not an alternate reality episode (a vindictive former lover switches bodies with Kirk), and it has to rank as one of the worst episodes in the Star Trek canon. In addition, TOS episode “The Alternative Factor” is pretty much just taking up space and “The Enemy Within”, while definitely a good episode, seems out of place. Still, overall this one gives us a decent collection of Trek highlights and has the most episodes of the six sets. (Note that this is not officially considered one the Fan Collective sets, but I’m including it here anyway.)
Value: Worth the money
Available at Amazon.com
Klingon:
It’s hard to go wrong with Klingon-centric episodes, unless of course you are talking about the horrid “Father Worf Knows Best” ones which fortunately this collection chooses to ignore. Part of the reason Klingon episodes tend to shine among the Star Trek canon is that they almost always center around conflict, something that from TNG on they often shied away from (for more of what I think about that, see my ranking of the Star Trek series). For the most part, this collection picks the better Klingon episodes, though they could have selected better examples from TOS. Sure, “Errand of Mercy” is required because that episode introduced the Klingons, but “Trouble with Tribbles”, despite being an all-time best Trek episode, seems out of place here. Sure, it had Klingons, but “A Private Little War” would have fit better. Even “Day of the Dove” would have provided a better Klingon-centric episode. Yeah, it was a pretty ridiculous story, but it was great fun watching the swordplay between the Enterprise crew and the Klingons. And while I realize that “Trials and Tribble-ations”, another great ep, is here to bookend “Trouble with Tribbles”, it already made it to the Time Travel set and seems superfluous here. Still, overall a decent set.
Value: Worth the money
Available at Amazon.com
Borg:
Borg episodes are almost always worth a look as well, as they are truly a comparable in villain status to the Klingon. The Borg collective only visited TNG and Voyager, though, so of course this set sticks to those two series. “Regeneration” seems kind of pointless because it only suggests the presence of the Borg, and it was really quite a lame episode. But apparently they are shooting for a complete collection of Borg-related episodes, thus the reason for its inclusion. The rest of the episodes all shine, though, with TNG’s “The Best of Both Worlds” delivering a high point for the Trek Franchise (and conflict among Starfleet officers!) and “Scorpion” introducing one of the more interesting Trek regulars, Seven of Nine. So if you want to stroll down memory lane with the collective, give this one a look.
Value: Worth the money (if you like the Borg)
Available at Amazon.com
Q:
John de Lancie as Q gave us one of the best foils of all time for our favorite Starfleet officers. He fit the role perfectly and you could just tell that he absolutely loved playing the character. He chewed up the scenery in every episode he appeared in and brought life to the screen next to the overly stiff Starfleet personnel he interacted with. That said, Q episodes could be really good or really bad. For example, the TNG premiere “Encounter at Farpoint” gave us one of the all-time best Trek episodes, but later in the first season “Hide & Q” really misfired (except for de Lancie’s performance). And the less said about “Q-Pid”, the better (with the exception of an all-time great Worf line: ” Sir, I protest – I am NOT a merry man!”). Is the set worth getting? Well it does have some of the best Trek episodes (only from TNG, DS9, and Voyager, though, as Q never visited TOS or Enterprise). And I would say that the good heavily overshadows the bad, so it’s worth considering.
Value: Pick it up if you have some extra money
Available at Amazon.com
Time Travel:
As a device in Science Fiction, time travel usually leads to really good stories or really bad ones. In fact, if you have been reading my Sci Fi TV Briefs column this past season or my recent piece on the new Trek movie’s temporal foibles, you will know already know about my aversion to the time travel story telling device. Still, this collection gives us more of the good examples of time travel stories than the bad. TOS episode “The City on the Edge of Forever” regularly ranks as one of the franchise’s best, and the other TOS selection “Tomorrow is Yesterday” is a solid entry as well. TNG’s “Yesterday’s Enterprise” (available in the Alternate Realities set) and “Cause and Effect” are also excellent episodes, though I considered “Time’s Arrow” a significant drop-off in quality for that series. DS9’s “Little Green Men” just annoyed me, though “Trials and Tibble-ations” gave us yet another Trek classic episode (though you can find that one on the Klingon set). As far as the Voyager episodes, I can pretty much take them or leave them (the way I feel about that series in general). So a lot like the Q collection, this set gives us some episodes that really shine along with a few clunkers, but it lacks the charisma of de Lancie’s presence and duplicates entries from other sets, which knocks it down a rung in value.
Value: Buy this one on sale
Available at Amazon.com
Captain’s Log:
This collection moves me the least. You would expect some good selections since the actor’s playing the captain in each series each pick their favorite episodes and fans get to chime in with their favorites as well. The TOS episodes are decent picks, though I’m surprised that “The Enterprise Incident” made it over any of a number of stronger possibilities. From there on, though, few of the other selections really jump out for me as among the “best” for each series with maybe the exception of TNG’s “Chain of Command”. Now I will admit that it has been awhile since I have seen most of the non-TOS episodes listed here, thus I am a bit rusty on them, but still with each series I can come up with at least half a dozen other episodes that I felt were better. So while this might give you a good sampling of each series, with selections from the actors involved and the fans, I would not personally call this a good Star Trek “Greatest Hits” compilation (it’s more like one of those bargain-bin ones you find at the used record store).
Value: Pass and search out the better episodes on Netflix
Buy the Collected Collective at Amazon.com:
Collectible Star Trek: Guardians Of The Federation Starship Enterprise Figurine Collection
The Kirby Files – Remembering the King
July 10, 2009 at 7:00 am | In Kirby Files | 1 CommentTags: Comics, Jack Kirby
By John J. Joex
Jack Kirby's biography by Mark Evanier
As a life long fan of Science Fiction and Fantasy, the influences on my interest in the genre are vast. From television, obviously Star Trek was the biggest influence along with the original Twilight Zone and Outer Limits (and, I must admit, Land of the Giants). From movies, I have to point to such examples as the first five Planet of the Apes movies, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Silent Running, Them, the Japanese monster movies, and the Wizard of Oz (I was already a lifetime member by the time Star Wars hit the theaters). From books, I was a fan of the pioneers of the genre such as H.G. Wells, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and Jules Verne, and only got into authors such as Arthur C. Clark, Isaac Asimov, and (my favorite) Ray Bradbury a little bit later. Then, another heavy influence came from my early love of comics, and more specifically those drawn and written by Jack Kirby.
Mr. Kirby, accurately dubbed the “King of Comics”, was the first comic book artist whose style I really paid attention to. Not that I didn’t notice the artwork in the comics, I just never paid much attention to the differentiation in styles between artists. However, I do remember noticing Kirby’s square-jawed, stone-faced characters along with the intricate technology and sprawling settings that filled the pages he drew. And while I didn’t pay too much attention to continuity at the time (this was the early seventies), I know that the comics I that I enjoyed the most included the Fantastic Four and Thor (my mom would buy us the bagged sets they sold in stores that often included reprints from the sixties classics). The cosmic, grandiose themes that permeated these titles out-shined the other comics I read and really appealed to my imagination.
Then I remember one year getting issue #16 of a title called Kamandi which set me on the path to becoming a comic fan and collector for the next twenty plus years. In retrospect, that issue was not particularly ground-breaking as far as comics go, but it really grabbed me. I remember reading it over and over again as it drew me into this post-apocalyptic world where animals had replaced humans as the rulers of the world. Next I found issues #18 at the newsstand and snatched it up, and before I knew it I was digging through musty boxes at the flea markets looking for the back issues (not too many comic shops around at that time). That set me on the road to following Kamandi and collecting the back issues that I missed. Which in turn lead me to start seeking out other Kirby creations from that period such as OMAC and The Demon, then the ultimately the Fourth World series which had preceded those titles.
The thing about Jack Kirby’s work was that imagination and creativity just exploded from the pages that he produced (at a pretty fast rate too of around fifteen per week). His mind seemed to know no bounds and he would come up with some of the wildest ideas, yet still manage to pull them off with some degree of credibility. Whether it was the war-time adventures of the Boy Commandos, the cosmic exploits of the Fantastic Four, the post-apocalyptic travels of Kamandi, or the near absurd exploits of Devil Dinosaur, Kirby delivered an experience to his readers. Of course his concepts missed the mark at times, i.e., the previously mentioned Devil Dinosaur, but even when he slipped off into the deep end, he still managed to draw his readers into the worlds he created, no matter how absurd.
His influence is immense as well. Whether working with long-time partners Joe Simon or Stan Lee or on his own, the books he drew have lived on. Characters that he created or helped create as far back as the 1940’s like Captain American and the Guardian still live on today. And he touched creatively almost all of the Marvel stock of characters from the 1960’s that have since gone on to become industry icons like the Fantastic Four and the Avengers. And for years after his initial work on those characters, Marvel showed his work to up and coming artists and told them to follow his lead. Then, during his time at DC in the 1970’s, he created the Fourth World series which, while cut short during his time working on it, has since become an integral part in that company’s pantheon. While Jack Kirby did not create the comic book industry, his work helped move it in new directions and define the look of the medium for many years.
This ongoing column will look at Jack Kirby’s legacy as well as many of his creations. For those familiar with the “King”, sit back and enjoy the trip through memory lane (and hopefully I will pass along some new tidbits you did not know about from time to time). For those not as familiar with Kirby’s work, fasten your seatbelts and prepare yourself for a journey through pure imagination!
Next: The Essential Jack Kirby, a must-read list of compilations of his work.
Television Review – Merlin
July 9, 2009 at 8:10 am | In John J. Joex, Television Reviews | Leave a CommentTags: Merlin
By John J. Joex
Airs on NBC, Sundays at 8 PM EST
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Stars (After 5 Episodes)
BBC Import series Merlin, currently running as a Summer entry for NBC, gives us a new take on the Arthurian legends. In this incarnation, Merlin is not the wizened old sorcerer sporting a long grey beard on gnarled staff that we often associate with the tales of King Arthur. Instead, he is but a youth, perhaps in his late teens, who has come to Camelot as a greenhorn who must learn how to control the magic he has a knack for and how to deal with humility in his lowly position as a servant. And Arthur is not the brave king leading a company of knights into gallant battles against Medieval perils. His is but a brash young prince who must earn his way to the throne while constantly running afoul of his unyielding, authoritarian father, King Uther Pendragon.
When I first heard about this series, I immediately assumed it would follow a King Arthur meets Smallville track. However, right out of the gate this series established itself as something very different from that CW mainstay as well as most other shows that focus on youthful characters. It avoids the expected teen angst angle that Smallville followed early on and that last year’s Twilight flirted with. Instead, it uses the youthful perspective of Merlin and Arthur to offer us a different take on how these characters will mature and eventually assume their mantle as the ruling core of Camelot.
Merlin we discover to be a young man with immense yet raw magical talent that he has yet learned to fully control. This presents a serious problem to him as Uther Pendragon has outlawed the use of magic, which he fears, in his realm. Court physician Gaius, who also dabbles a bit in sorcery, takes Merlin under his wing and tries to guide the young acolyte in his use of magic. Arthur we see as an arrogant prince who often bullies those he considers beneath him. However, we also discover that this attitude comes in part from his royal heritage, and that a good person lives deep down inside of him. Merlin unwillingly finds himself thrown into the position of Arthur’s servant, and though the two clash initially, they have develop a mutual respect as the series has progressed.
Merlin also learns early on that he has a destiny to assure that Arthur one day ascends to the throne. This sets the stage for the series and relationship between its two leads. And each episode carries on the story of Merlin’s and Arthur’s growth into maturity and their journey into infamy. The series avoids the more intricate story arcs of domestic shows like Lost and Heroes, preferring to deliver mostly stand alone episodes. However, you can see how each episode advances the overall story of the duo’s rise to power. Note that the series completely dispenses with the more traditional canon of Arthurian legend, preferring to develop its own mythology. But we know in general the direction it is headed.
The cast of Merlin is superb, just as I would expect from a British production. Colin Morgan is sufficiently wide-eyed and hot-headed as the young, eager Merlin and Bradley James plays the young Arthur as a petulant, arrogant young man yet with just the right amount of earthiness to demonstrate his sincerity. And Anthony Head (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) shines as the dictatorial king of Camelot who Arthur will one day replace. We also see several more of the characters from the Arthurian legends sprinkled about through the series in unexpected places. Morgana (Katie McGrath) is Uther’s ward and Guinevere (Angel Coulby) is her servant. Lancelot (Santiago Cabrera) made an appearance in the fifth episode as a commoner who manages to win the respect of Arthur and the king.
While the series takes plenty of liberties with Arthurian legend and has more than its share of anachronisms, it succeeds as an excellent example of the Fantasy / Sword and Sorcery genre on television. And it fully embraces that genre as it gives us wizards and dragons and other creatures and concepts common to the genus. However, unlike Legend of the Seeker, the series does not become overly mired in cliché. Thus it gives us a fresh spin on Sword and Sorcery tales while also presenting fairly strong stories.
Ratingswise, Merlin has brought no magic to Sunday nights for NBC. The series debuted with a paltry 1.5 rating in the 18-49 demographic and only about 5.3 million viewers, pretty low numbers even for a Summer show. It has since slid from there, ending up with a 1.1 rating and about 4.3 million viewers this past Sunday. The good news, though, is that since this is a product of BBC, it does not live or die by the Nielsens. In fact, the show already aired in Britain last Fall to great acclaim and received a renewal for a second season. Whether we see those episodes on NBC, BBC America, or some other venue, remains to be seen. But at least we know that we have more episodes coming which is a good thing.
Go to TV.com for more info on Merlin including Episode guides and Cast bios
Watch Episodes of Merlin on Hulu.com for Free
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Revisiting the Movies – Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
July 8, 2009 at 7:40 am | In Movie Reviews, Sam Christopher, Summer of Star Trek | 4 CommentsTags: Star Trek
(Continuing our Summer of Star Trek series)
By Sam Christopher
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Stars
After the commercial and critical success of ST III: The Search for Spock, both Leonard Nimoy and Harve Bennett were quickly signed to direct and produce, respectively, the next installment in the series. But with William Shatner’s reluctance to return as Captain James T. Kirk the question quickly became just what that installment would be about. They’d already had the “dramatic death of a beloved character”, and had just finished the “dramatic resurrection of a dead beloved character”; they had created a planet, destroyed a planet and destroyed the Enterprise, all in the past two films. What was left to do? And without Shatner it became an even harder question. At first, Nimoy toyed with the idea of a Starfleet Academy “prequel” to the original series and recasting the entire original crew with younger actors (something along the lines of what JJ Abrams just did with Star Trek (2009)). And then it was bandied about that the next film should star Eddie Murphy (evidently a long-time Trekkie) as a college professor who loves aliens and whales, but, while Murphy loved the idea of starring in a ST film and Nimoy and Bennett loved the idea of drawing in non-Trekkies by starring the comedian, Murphy wasn’t thrilled with the script and decided to make a different movie (The Golden Child).
Then, Shatner changed his mind (an extra two million bucks’ll do that). He tells the story that Nimoy walked into his office and in the course of a friendly discussion about various things reminded him that the two men had a common cause. Nimoy and Shatner both had clauses in their contracts that said that whatever one got the other got as well. If Shatner got a raise, Nimoy got that same raise; if Nimoy got to direct—as he had with ST III, and now the upcoming ST IV—Shatner was given the opportunity to do so as well. I was always under the impression that this discussion took place after the making of ST IV but maybe it happened earlier, and maybe it helped entice Shatner to join the production. Whatever the reasons, having the original Captain Kirk on board effectively scuttled any plan for having a prequel, although pieces of the Murphy script would live on, with Murphy’s character combined with another in the script and rewritten into a female marine biologist from the past to be wooed by the storied Kirk charm.
The story: It is a few months after the events of ST III and Spock has regained most of his memory. The crew of the Enterprise, along with Spock, decides it is time to return to Earth and face whatever consequences there are for their actions, only to find the Earth under attack by a probe which is trying to speak with an extinct species on the planet, the humpback whale. Kirk and co. then go into Earth’s past in order to bring back a couple of humpbacks so they can tell the aliens “what to go do with themselves”, as Dr. McCoy puts it. They land in 1986 San Francisco—luckily, they’re still in the Klingon ship they stole at the end of ST III, that cloaking device comes in handy here—and hijinks ensue. Kirk and Spock go in search of the whales, McCoy and Scotty go invent transparent aluminum in order to make an aquarium for the whales, Sulu finds a helicopter to transport the aluminum to the ship, and Chekov and Uhura sneak onto the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Enterprise—where Chekov’s Russian accent comes in really handy during the Cold War era—to tap into the uranium in order to reconstitute some of the Klingon ship’s dilithium which was depleted on the trip to the past. I think you can guess most of the rest of it, and you should watch it rather than read it here at any rate.
This was the second most commercially successful film in the ST franchise, after ST: The Motion Picture. It is easily the most accessible to non-Trekkies with its environmentalist base and non-Trek-centric storyline—unlike most films of the franchise, who the crew is wasn’t very important to the story, although there was enough eccentricity of characterization to keep the Trekkies interested as well. The only thing that mars this gem for me is that the comedy is a little too broad on occasion, falling flat here and there although hitting its mark far more often than not. It has always seemed strange to me after the success of his two turns at the helm that Nimoy never directed another film in the series, especially after the TNG cast took over the film franchise with Star Trek: Generations. I don’t know if that was a personal choice of his, or if it just never came up again, but it would have been nice to see.
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home is also the end of the three-part storyline began in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, and the first appearance of the USS Enterprise 1701-A, a new ship with the old crew that presumably had many adventures between films IV and V, and then between V and VI, that we never got to see. Ah, well, maybe when the new Abrams crew is older—20 years or so from now…
Buy Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home on DVD from Amazon.com
Previous – Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
Next – Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
Star Trek U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701 Figurine Collection: Star Trek Fan Gift
Weekend Box Office Results – Transformers Wins Two in a Row
July 7, 2009 at 6:00 am | In Box Office Results, John J. Joex | Leave a CommentTags: Science Fiction Movies
By John J. Joex
Even though it dropped 61.2% from the prior weekend, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen took top honors at the Box Office over the 4th of July weekend pulling in $42 million. That brings its one and a half week total to an amazing $293 million as it heads on to mega-hit status. And with numbers like this, expect plenty more entries from this franchise along with the requisite relentless action and mindless scripts that come with it. But at least the movies provide some decent popcorn entertainment.
In its first week of release, Ice Age: The Dawn of the Dead Dinosaurs only managed to climb up to the number two spot, but it still had a respectable draw of $41.7 million with a total of $66.7 starting from its Wednesday debut. Those numbers are really not too bad for the third entry in a rather tired franchise and they suggest that even more of these could be coming as well.
Summer flop Imagine That fell all the way to the Number 20 slot and will soon seek refuge in the dollar theaters along with Land of the Lost which slid to Number 17.
Following are the results for all of the Science Fiction and Fantasy oriented movies in the Top 20 for the weekend of July 3 – 5:
Title / Box Office Rank (Rank Prior Week) / Weekend (Total) Draw
1) Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen – Prior Wk: 1, Draw (Total): $42.32 MM ($293.36 MM)
2) Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs – Prior Wk: New, Draw (Total): $41.69 MM ($66.73 MM)
6) Up – Prior Wk: 4, Draw (Total): $6.52 MM ($264.82 MM)
10) Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian – Prior Wk: 9, Draw (Total): $2.04 MM ($167.71 MM)
11) Star Trek – Prior Wk: 8, Draw (Total): $1.77 MM ($249.84 MM)
15) Angels & Demons – Prior Wk: 12, Draw (Total): $.49 MM ($131.32 MM)
17) Land of the Lost – Prior Wk: 11, Draw (Total): $.31 MM ($47.62 MM)
18) Terminator Salvation – Prior Wk: 13, Draw (Total): $.3 MM ($122.68 MM)
19) X-Men Origins: Wolverine – Prior Wk: 20, Draw (Total): $.3 MM ($178.34 MM)
20) Imagine That – Prior Wk: 14, Draw (Total): $.28 MM ($14.78 MM)
Source: Box Office Mojo
Previous Results: Transformers Breaks the Box Office
Also, Check Out Our Summer 2009 Movie Science Fiction and Fantasy Movie Preview
Quick Hits – Irredeemable, The Mighty, Justice League, The Destroyer, and More
July 6, 2009 at 11:48 am | In Comic Book Reviews, Quick Hits, Sam Christopher | 1 CommentTags: Batman, Star Trek, Superman
By Sam Christopher
While taking a break from the Michael Jackson “news”—mostly because he’s dead and he’s not coming back to life, and I already knew I wasn’t in his will—I read something very interesting today while looking over Axiom’s Edge. I usually read everything on it but sometimes I get busy and… In the Orbiting the Blogosphere section posted on July 1st there are several articles of interest but the only one that made me laugh was Paul Waldman’s treatise on zombie films as shining examples of why the Far Left is correct. He says that only through collective action and cooperation can anyone survive the zombie apocalypse and that is “Liberalism” to a tee. Which is a fine premise so long as we ignore the fact that modern “liberals”—and that’s both Dems and Repubs—never ask us to join whatever collective action they deem necessary; the message from “both” sides is always the same: Do what we say or we’ll take away the semblance of freedom we’ve left you so far (they’re already confiscating your property). I know, I know… but in my defense HE STARTED IT!
On to comics…
Bring on the Bad Guys:
WOW! Irredeemable #4 hit the stands this Wednesday and continues its run of getting better and better every month. In this issue we see the UN doing what the UN does best: appeasing. And when Singapore’s ambassador wins the groveling contest, a “placated” Plutonian pays the country the tribute he feels they’ve earned by showering Singapore with diamonds. Literally. But don’t worry, the people there don’t suffer for long. And then he takes them swimming. Another vicious, vicious installment by Mark Waid (The Flash, The Unknown) and Peter Krause (Star Trek, Sable).
And if you’re reading Irredeemable (and you need to) there’s no way you should have missed out on The Mighty #6. Whereas The Plutonian in Waid’s study of the Superman who has lost his mind is only one superbeing, albeit by far the most powerful, in a world full of them, Peter J. Tomasi (Green Lantern Corps, Nightwing) and Keith Champagne (JSA, Superboy) have dropped their Alpha One into a world all his own. Alpha is totally isolated, the only one of his kind, and appears to have spent so much time alone and above that he is detached completely from the “regular folk”, although not in a Dr. Manhattan “who cares?” sort of way. Alpha’s main problem seems to be that he cares too much, that he has put so much pressure on himself to save everyone that it has warped him over time. And now Gabriel Cole and his wife Janet are figuring it out, with the help of the crazy man murdered in the last ish. Chris Samnee’s (Checkmate, Pulp Tales) art adds a touch of the Golden Age to this very modern story—so much so that I sometimes wonder if we’ll get an emergence of other heroes. Whether that happens or not, this is a comic I can’t wait for every month.
And Now for the Good Guys:
In Justice League: Cry for Justice #1, James Robinson (Starman, Superman) begins our intro to his version of the JLA (he is taking over as writer of the regular title shortly), which will be filled out over the course of this seven issue mini. Hal Jordan has had enough. He has watched as J’Onn J’Onzz (The Martian Manhunter) and Bruce Wayne (Batman) have died and Hal has seen no justice dispensed to their murderers. He questions what the “Justice” League stands for and wonders aloud why they’re not more vigorously rooting out evil-doers in what is becoming an ever-darker world (continuing the theme which has been a staple for the Original Universe since Superman-2 crashed out of “paradise” in Infinite Crisis). He and Green Arrow leave JLA hq and the rest of this ish is vignettes showing how some of the rest of what will become this new team have arrived at these same conclusions. Ray Palmer (Atom), Mikaal Tomas (Starman), and Congo Bill (Congorilla) are all shown as being angry with the audacity of villains and deciding that true justice may require a harsher stance than ever before. Other characters to come in this series are Freddie Freeman (nee Captain Marvel Jr., currently Captain Marvel, I think), Supergirl, and Batwoman. Just a damn good first ish, my only problem being that Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl didn’t join with Hal. But maybe they’re staying with the “goody two-shoes” group as a mediating voice between the two groups. I cannot wait to read more of this story. And Mauro Cascioli’s (Grimm Fairy Tales, The Trials of Shazam) artwork is spectacular here, capturing perfectly the realistic, gritty tone of the story and characterizations.
And on the Marvel Side:
The Destroyer strikes twice this month as Destroyer #5 brings Robert Kirkman’s (The Walking Dead, Invincible) tale of the aging fighter to its penultimate chapter. Turret and Destroyer take on the hordes of H.O.R.D.E. in a battle that starts off looking like S.H.I.E.L.D. taking on A.I.M. but turns into a Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode when Krakoom rears his ugly head. He’s kind of a giant snail with legs—and the gooey insides we’ve come to expect from giant snails with legs that lead secret organizations of evil. And for a tale of The Destroyer in his original venue there’s the USA Comics 70th Anniversary Special #1. The new story has a German journalist taken to see the prison The Destroyer broke out of and was all right. The reprint was from All Winners Comics #3 in 1942, and was written by Stan The Man, so it has that going for it, which is nice.
And Amazing Spiderman Family #8 was… well, the first story, “Dark Reflection”, sucked. I’m sure someone somewhere thought it was a neat idea but I liked it better when it was Lex Luthor trying to break the confidence of the waitress at the small town café—and I even thought that sucked. And the issue only got worse as The Spectacular Spidergirl evidently really is dead and April kills Tombstone, while Kaine and Darkdevil.. that’s it, I’m out. This story—and this is, what, only the fourth installment since they cancelled Mayday’s regular title and placed it here among this other tripe—has gone steadily downhill, finally falling all the way past “suck”. The other two stories… well, let’s just stop at “suck”. If this is the level of effort they can come up with they need to just cancel the title entirely. It looks as though Spidergirl is leaving already anyway.
Other comics:
Angel #23- Gunn and Illyria battle for their own individual humanity in this prequel to the upcoming Angel: Still Human miniseries.
Batman and Robin #2- Dick and Alfred have a heart-to-heart as Dick comes to grips with the fact that he’s not Bruce Wayne. Gordon and crew meet the new Batman and Robin for the first time and notice immediately something about the Dynamic Duo has changed, and Damian unravels, first trying to beat info out of a suspect with a baseball bat and then rebelling completely against Dick’s authority, leaving the latter to brood. The ending does not look good for our new Robin.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer #26- In “Retreat Part One” the Slayers are being hidden by Willow and the other magic-users but the bad guys figure it out. Giles and faith show up just in time for the battle after being outted from their underground bunker in Berlin. And Buff and Giles worry over Willow becoming one with the dark again—especially after Buffy’s recent visit to Fray.
Fantastic Four #568- Well, the penultimate chapter in the “Master of Doom” storyline was both better and worse than I expected. I guess we’ll see after next ish, but the explanation of the Marquis of Death from this one was really… dumb. And how is he Doom’s… never mind. Maybe it’ll be better next ish.
Final Crisis Aftermath: Run #3- Human Flame vs. Clayface! Clayface vs. a shard of the JLA! Human Flame vs. Immortus’ Gang! The last one doesn’t end well for our “hero”, but it is funny.
Greek Street #1- the flip side to The Unwritten in that it sucked but I don’t feel as bad for buying it as it was only a buck.
Green Lantern Corps #38- Prelude to Blackest Night ends as the Oan Power battery is shattered and the Guardians sanction public execution of Sciencell escapees. Oh, and Mongul figures out that having a base on Daxam might not have been the smartest move he ever made.
Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan #3- Final issue of this film adaptation. Same old thing: Okay adaptation of a very good story with awful art.
Previous Column:
June 27th – Checking in on Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman
Axiom’s Edge Blog- Trailer: NBC’s Day One July 12, 2009
- Movie Review – Moon July 11, 2009
- More from the Golden Age of Radio July 11, 2009
- DVD Reviews – Star Trek Fan Collective Series July 10, 2009
- The Kirby Files – Remembering the King July 10, 2009
- Television Review – Merlin July 9, 2009
- Revisiting the Movies – Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home July 8, 2009
- Weekend Box Office Results – Transformers Wins Two in a Row July 7, 2009
- Quick Hits – Irredeemable, The Mighty, Justice League, The Destroyer, and More July 6, 2009
- Weekly Update – SyFy to Reboot Alien Nation; Smallville May Continue Beyond 9th Season; Star Wars TV Series Ramping Up July 6, 2009
- Latest News from TV.com
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