Quick Movie Review – Mama

February 13, 2013 — Leave a comment

Guillermo del Toro (Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, Pan’s Labyrinth) has done it again! He took a simple horror story and visually interpreted in such an imaginative and creepy way that every aspect of it gets under the audience’s skin. Mama is about a present man’s worst day colliding with a dead stranger’s worst nightmare. After a 1-year old and 3-year old disappear, their loving uncle pays a couple of locals to keep searching for them. Five years later, the sisters are found abandoned in the woods, but in relatively fair condition. Studied by a psychologist and under the care of their father’s brother (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and live-in girlfriend (Jessica Chastain), it’s not long before the truth is revealed: the girls are not alone. Del Toro doesn’t need gore, loud noises or invisible figures lurking in shadows to scare the poop out of you. The audience gets to see all of the characters involved right away. The horror in this story comes from how their incredible circumstances terrorize the already-victimized family and everybody unfortunate enough to know them.

6 out of 9

Guest blogger from Seattle

Quick Movie Trailer Review – Pacific Rim

January 30, 2013 — 1 Comment

As a big fan of Guillermo del Toro, I can’t wait to see Pacific Rim. The action sequences look creative and I love the thought of human powered robots fighting Aliens. But the only important fact is that Idris Elba is the star. I’m there.

Release date: July 12, 2013

Quick Movie Trailer Review – After Earth

January 8, 2013 — Leave a comment

The cinematography looks gorgeous but the plot isn’t enticing. There have been too many earth doomsday films and from the trailer, this film doesn’t add anything new to the genre. I am totally biased because I have never been a big Will Smith fan but I found the voice over work to be ridiculous.

Pass.

Movie Alert – Oblivion

December 22, 2012 — Leave a comment

I generally live under a rock and am rarely the first to hear about anything. A co-worker alerted me to the upcoming movie Oblivion and I can’t wait to see it.

Challenge Update –

December 12, 2012 — Leave a comment

Left Hand of Darkness

It’s been a little over a year since I began my science fiction reading challenge. I used to be an avid reader devouring three to four books a month. As my responsibilities and priorities changed, reading for pleasure was sacrificed. I looked on this challenge as a way to get back into the groove of reading while expanding my knowledge of the sci fi verse.

It’s been a slow summer and fall for my reading challenge. I have read quite a few books over the past year but only a few from the challenge. As an aside I highly recommend Lizz Free or Die by Lizz Winstead. A fascinating book of essays from an American original.

After finishing the wonderful Foundation Trilogy, I dove into American Gods by Neil Gaiman. I couldn’t wrap my mind around it and quickly set it aside. It’s one of those books that it’s so layered that I must be in the right frame of mind to read. I’ll try and finish it but right now it’s at the bottom of the pile.

Next up was Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin. Left Hand tells the tale of an Ambassador Genly Ai sent to Winter to see if it’s citizens are interested in joining the planetary collective called Ekumen. The plot weaves its way through several cycles on the planet. Alone Genly Ai must deal with strange customs and xenophobia during his travels among the different nation states of Winter. Ms. Le Guin creates an unique world unlike any I have read about before. The people of Winter are what stood for me. They are gender neutral society who only choose a sexual identity when during the state of procreation. The concept of these ambiguous people really blew my mind. To live in a society were gender roles does not influence ones’ social interactions sounds liberating. Can’t wait fornthe next book in the series.

However, up next for the challenge is I, Robot. An nice Asimov novel to cleanse the palette.

Quick Movie Review – Man With Iron Fists

November 24, 2012 — Leave a comment

Martial arts films and campy movies have a special place in my heart. When I heard that RZA created a martial arts film, I thought it would be a perfect combination of the two. Alas, it was not. Set in feudal China where clans such as the Lions, Hyenas and Jackals are at war with each other over god knows what. One clan lead by Gold Lion vows to the emperor to protect his gold as it travels across the country. Gold Lion faces betrayal from within his clan and his oath to the emperor is in danger. A mysterious blacksmith (RZA) who makes weapons for the various clans rounds out the cast.

The fights were poorly staged and were more gory that graceful. Instead of campy over the top acting, the actors were stiff and boring. The lone stand out was Russell Crowe (Jack Knife), he seemed to be enjoying himself as a randy British Officer.

If you are in the mood for a martial art film featuring a mysterious stranger and treachery, watch the exciting “House of the Flying Daggers.”

Quick Movie Review – Dredd

October 16, 2012 — Leave a comment

Some movies purely exist to showcase 3D technology and Dredd was clearly one of them. Set in the future, a population explosion and the unrest that comes with it pushes the justice system to its limits. Since law enforcement can only respond to 6% of all reported incidences, the result is a Justice League which ordains its officers to represent a jury and a judge at the scene of each crime. In cases in which guilt is determined, the officers can sentence and execute as well on the spot. In Peach Trees, a housing complex that accommodates 75,000 people, a drug lord named MaMa is running the show from the 200th floor. When Judge Dredd and his rookie enter the complex and threaten MaMa’s tiny empire, she seals the doors of the complex and orders her foot soldiers to kill the judges. Instead of putting effort into the storyline and characters, Dredd focused on the explosions, violence and objects moving through the air. All of those effects were wasted since I saw the movie without 3D and expect a little meat with my potatoes.

4 out 9

Guest blogger from Seattle

Note: I really wanted to see Dredd in the theaters and was surprised to discover that it was pulled so soon. With all of the hype, I thought it would do really well – Scifimaven

Quick Movie Review – Looper

October 8, 2012 — Leave a comment

Wow, I didn’t see that coming and what a treat. As a semi jade movie-goer, I can usually guess what direction a plot is headed. In Looper, I never knew what to expect next. The year is 2044 and Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) works as an assassin for the mob. When gangsters want to eliminate someone, the victim is transported back 30 years and a killer is waiting there to take care of business. Time travel has been outlawed and for reasons that I never really understood, it was easier to send targets back in time to meet his or her demise. Old Joe (Bruce Willis) is sent back in time to be killed by his younger self for reasons that I won’t explain. When Old Joe arrives on the scene the movie picks up and a thrilling ride begins. Emily Blunt shows up about half way through the film as Sara as the movie takes an interesting yet exciting turn. The wonderful Paul Dano and Tracie Thoms have small roles in the movie and I wish that both could have been utilized in a larger fashion. The youngest actor stole the movie any, the adorable Pierce Gagnon will capture your heart as Cid.

I have to admit that in the beginning, I found the prosthetic chin used on JGL to be quite distracting. Even though the acting was top notch, I felt pulled out of the movie if I focused too much on JGL. I think the movie would have been better off served if the creators had trusted the audience to just accept that Gordon-Levitt and Willis were the same characters at different stages in their lives without the elaborate makeup.

With its tiny flaws, this is still a must see movie.

The Return of Fringe

September 29, 2012 — Leave a comment

(Spoiler alert)

Last night saw the return of Fringe for its fifth and final season. On first impressions it’s going out with a whimper instead of a bang. When we last saw our intrepid Fringe team they were battling David Robert Jones and trying to prevent the destruction of two universes ours and the alternate one. The big reveal was that William Bell was the mastermind behind the drive to create a new world populated with new species.

Instead of picking up the thread of this plot,Transilience Thought Unifier Model-11 throws us once again thrown into the future, 2036 to be exact. This dystopia world is controlled by the Observers and a small band of rebels are fighting for their freedom. Olivia, Peter, Walter and Astrid have been encased in amber for decades and are now freed and helping the resistance movement in its fight. For unknown reasons, the Observers are destroying our world (paving over the earth and polluting the sky) and keeping the population under tight control.

This isn’t the show that I know and love it. One of the central elements of the first four seasons relates to science and morality. The tale of Walter, played by the always effective John Noble, has been a major the key piece of this lesson. His love for his son Peter coupled with his intelligence and scientific curiosity brought two universes to the brink of war. The experiments of both Walter and Walternate and the repercussions on their lives, their loved ones and even strangers have been fascinating to watch. We see both sides finally come to an understanding and work together to save themselves only to see the story jettison for a war out of no where.

Science Fiction fans are known for fanaticism and their adherence to cannon and the Sci Fi Maven is no exception. Since its inception, the Observers have always been portrayed as a group that watches important events in history and limit their interaction with any given timeline. We seen a few instances where September and August have broken protocol for their own motives whether it is to clean up a mistake they have made or to change a course of history out of love. The other Observers have frown upon them stepping outside of traditional behavior. Now, not only do we have a group of Observers who seek power and control but are willing to torture to get the ends that they seek. Maybe there is an interesting resolution to this story but it isn’t why I tune in every week.

I hope that TPTB do not waste the last few precious episodes on this storyline.

Sci Fi Maven

We Are Floating in Space

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