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.

 

Top 10 Women of Sci Fi – part 6

October 1, 2012 — Leave a comment

With the presidential elections weeks away, it’s time to write about my favorite President: Laura Roslin.

When we first met Laura Roslin in the rebooted Battlestar Galactica, she is the Secretary of Education on board for the decommissioning of the Galactica. After the Cylon attack, she is left as the senior member of the administration and takes command as president. Over the course of four seasons we really see a growth in Roslin and her style of leadership. In the beginning, she believes by following the rule of law and maintaining order humanity will be able to survive. Overtime, she keeps her ideals but becomes more ruthless from air locking enemies o kidnapping babies. All for the greater good.

Roslin embodies the characteristics that I admire in leaders: strength, confidence, compassion and resilience. Qualities that you will see again and again in the women that I have highlighted in my top 10 list.

Women Talk Sci Fi has a thought provoking conversation on BattleStar Galactica. One comment that stood out for me is that why did the colonies need a president since there were so few of them left. The conversation was short but it is a fascinating concept nonetheless. Check it out here: Podcast 10

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.

Quick Movie Review – House at the End of the Street

September 24, 2012 — Leave a comment
The acting abilities of Elisabeth Shue (Leaving Las Vegas), Jennifer Lawrence (Hunger Games, Winter’s Bone) and Max Thieriot (Jumper) made an otherwise B movie something worth sitting through. This thriller is about a broken family moving into a wooded neighborhood across from a house in which a family was murdered. For a film that’s supposed to make me jump out of my skin, I couldn’t help but feel that too much time was wasted on character development. Somehow the drawn out dialogue, flashbacks and explanations stole from the suspense and shock. 
6 out of 9
Guest blogger from Seattle

Quick Movie Review – Arbitrage

September 24, 2012 — Leave a comment

Normally, summer means attending tons of movies, action, dramas, raunchy comedies.  This summer, I haven’t been able to  go as often as I like.  For me, one of the pleasures of going to the movies is reading reviews afterwards. My friend is a big movie goer and writes reviews for each one. I’ll be searching a select few until I start going to movies on a regular basis again.

 

Arbitrage is a sobering look at greed and the price of integrity. Richard Gere (Brooklyn’s Finest, Unfaithful) plays a silver-haired CEO on the brink of selling his company. Susan Sarandon plays his age-appropriate wife running their charitable foundation and holding down the family. A series of events quickly reveal that Robert Miller’s confidence and success are a mask. As Michael Bryer, Tim Roth plays the detective more than happy to tear it off. With a top-notch cast the tension in Arbitrage was believable and the audience hesitated to leave. Even though I didn’t find any real protagonists in this film, I was left wondering what comes next for them all.

7 out of 9

Guest Blogger at the movies

Quick Review: Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

September 16, 2012 — Leave a comment

 

 

 

 

Astra Dance is currently performing the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari based on the classic silent film. The company has ambitious plans to combine elements of dance, film and acrobatics to retell the story of Caligari “a suspenseful tale of love, murder at the turn of the century, filled with science and madness.”

While there were interesting elements of the show, the music and dialogue cards, overall the piece was a disappointment.  When going to see a dance company, I expect to see a lot of dancing and during the first act, there wasn’t much.  The piece begins with Francis telling an unnamed man, the story of his tragic past. A Mountebank enters the town of Holstenwall and proceeds to set up a traveling side show.  At the fair Caligari controls a somnambulist who tells the town people their futures.  During the set up and through out the first act, the Astra relied on text cards and pantomime instead of choreography to tell the story.  A major part of the problem was that the leading man, Francis, wasn’t strong enough to carry this production. During the first act Francis did very little dancing, which is odd considering he is one of the leads.  The other feature players, Dr. Olson and Dr. Caligari in particular also did little dancing throughout the entire piece.  The police officers are the only characters that consistently brought strong dancing.

The second major problem that Astra faced is that there was too much activity on the stage at once.  During the first stop at the circus, it seemed that all of the acts were performing at the same time.  The strong men, the contortionist, man on stilts and dancers crowded the stage together.  Taking into account the text cards being flashed on the sides of the stage, your eyes weren’t sure where to rest.  Because of this busyness, I didn’t get a sense of whimsy that a circus or side show should have.

After an intermission that lasted way to long (25 minutes), the company returned with a stronger second half.  The focus and storytelling were stronger.  The dances sets were longer and moved the plot forward without heavily relying on pantomime and text cards.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is an interesting premise that needs to be rework before it can be consider a success.

 

It’s Not To Late…

September 11, 2012 — Leave a comment

… to catch Billy, if you are in the LA area

William Shatner’s ‘World’ coming to stage of Segerstrom Center

William Shatner in actionWilliam Shatner in action. (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times / September 11, 2012)

Boldly going where many have gone before, William Shatner is bringing his one-man Broadway show “Shatner’s World” to Orange County in early 2013.

The 80-year-old actor, song stylist and travel-site pitchman will bring a  mix of storytelling and songs in a performance that acts as a comic autobiography. The show, which enjoyed a monthlong run at the Music Box Theatre in New York in February, played for one night at the Pantages in March as part of a national tour.

A bit of an acquired taste in self-aware turns since his days as James T. Kirk on “Star Trek,” Shatner earned mixed reviews on stage. The Hollywood Reporter called him an “engagingly hammy and funny raconteur,” while Entertainment Weekly was somewhat dismissive as writer Darrin Franich declared, “He’s his own best audience. It’s Shatner’s show: We’re just living through it.”

Continued here: LA Times