The official website of Seattle sci-fi/fantasy author and geek Michael G. Munz
Okay, as both a Twin Peaks fan and a Simpsons fan (obligatory “not as good as it used to be, yadda yadda yadda” comment here), this is just pretty freaking cool. As reported by WelcomeToTwinPeaks.com, Belgian illustrator and art director Adrien Noterdaem has “Simpsonized” 15 Twin Peaks characters. Click on Leland Palmer below for all of the images and the full ensemble picture…
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| Time to go back to Missoula, Montana!! |
Last night I had the opportunity to see a sneak preview of the Robocop remake (to be released February 12th, 2014) here in Seattle. My reaction?
Okay, so I suppose I should elaborate. I’m a fan of the original. While not the best movie in the entire world ever, one cannot deny that the original most definitely has character, owing primarily to Verhoeven’s direction and many actor performances (including 3 Twin Peaks alumni). It made its mark on sci-fi culture, reflecting and informing the cyberpunk sub-genre and engraving upon geek consciousness phrases like “Dead or alive, you’re coming with me!”, “Can you fly, Bobby?”, and of course, “I’d buy that for a dollar!”
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| You should see him at the 99 Cent Store. |
I’m not normally a fan of remakes. At the moment, I can’t think of any remake that wasn’t less enjoyable than the original; most seem pale imitations with no reason for being beyond cashing in on nostalgia. The new Robocop is the exception. It pays appropriate homage to the original, but it does not attempt to ape it. The new version is its own movie, its own interpretation, with its own reason for being. While the original is a product of the late 1980s in its satirical themes of corporate corruption and the “me-generation,” the remake reflects today’s culture in both the presentation of Omnicorp (Michael Keaton’s character feels to me very much like an evil Steve Jobs) and the theme of unmanned drones. It doesn’t have the satirical bite that the original did, but what would be the point of making the same movie in Verhoeven’s style without Verhoeven? (That’s what Robocop 2 and 3 attempted, and you know how THAT turned out. Good God, Robocop 3. *shudders*)
In many ways it’s actually more thoughtful, more cerebral, than the original. It’s not afraid to take time for emotional beats or to do what sci-fi can really do well: take a look at the human condition from another angle. This isn’t a movie you “turn off your brain” for. I suspect, had I seen it before writing A Memory in the Black, it would have influenced some of the ideas I explored in that book.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s got plenty of action, too. This is Robocop, after all. Action scenes are engaging and exciting without falling victim to the hated (at least by me) “shaky-cam” convention. The filmmakers can do things with (multiple) ED-209s that just couldn’t be done in the original. It’s PG-13, yes, but unless you absolutely need nudity and blood-festooned carnage on screen in all your movies, it doesn’t suffer for it. It’s not without graphic images, but they’re graphic in a different sort of way. And heck, the opening scene had me surprised that it WASN’T rated R. Also, Samuel L. Jackson does manage to get a “motherfucking” in there.
So how different is it, plot-wise? Like I said, it doesn’t try to ape the original. It takes the original’s premise, respects it, and finds its own way to tell the story. After seeing the trailers, I had certain expectations with how some things were going to go, but the trailers are, in some ways, deceiving. I was pleasantly surprised by many things, though I won’t go into detail here, so as to avoid spoilers. There’s a great scene about, oh, a third of the way in that made me gasp. That was the point when I completely put my faith in the film to execute itself in a worthy fashion. (If you’re curious, it’s the scene when the doctor brings the mirror up.)
If you’re at all curious about this movie, go see it. It doesn’t try to replace the original. They’re sci-fi movies of a different flavor: both good, just different. Plus, it’s got Samuel L. Jackson, Jackie Earle Haley, Gary Oldman, Michael Keaton, and a woman I recognized from the police station siege during I think it was season 3 of Supernatural. (Sadly, no Twin Peaks actors.)
Not worried about semi-minor spoilers? Here’s a quick rundown of some of the homages/differences that I can remember:
Some things still the same:
The lead is still named Alex Murphy, his partner’s name is still Lewis (but Lewis is a guy), there are ED-209s, and a media figure still helps to frame the story. Robocop still has a good solid weight to him. The sound effects for his movement were not disappointing. There’s a definite homage to the drug factory from the original. Oh! And they used the original Robocop theme! (I was pleased.)
Some things slightly changed:
Robocop’s creator (Gary Oldman) is Dennett Norton rather than Bob Morton. OCP is now Omnicorp, but OCP is Omnicorp’s parent company. The ED-209 is already functional and out in the world (but legally bound from being deployed in the U.S.) at the start. Robocop himself is a little slimmer and SOMETIMES painted black. It’s a car bomb that gets Murphy rather than massive repeated gunshot wounds. Directive 4’s concept is still there, but it takes a slightly different form in a way that worked well for me. Oh, and I think we do briefly see the old Robocop design at one point on a screen, but I’d need to see it again to be sure.
Major changes (I still don’t want to list major spoilers so I’ll only list a few):
The plot itself is different in ways I won’t go into. No direct Dick Jones equivalent, The criminal bad guy isn’t named Boddicker. (Side note: I think he stole Brad Dourif’s eyes.) Robocop’s creator is a different sort of guy from the original. No toxic waste, Cobra Assault Cannons, or gunshot wounds to the crotch. Still plenty of excellent scenes of Robocop, er, robocopping, though.
Oh, and as for certain catch phrases:
“Dead or alive, you’re coming with me!” – It’s in the movie, but with a different context. Mostly works.
“Can you fly, Bobby?” – Nope.
“Stay out of trouble.” – I’m not actually sure on this one, but I don’t remember it.
“I’d buy that for a dollar!” – At one point a character says, “I wouldn’t buy that for a dollar!” And you know what? It works perfectly. Though there’s no Bixby Snyder.
So, yeah, good movie.
As I mentioned a few entries back, I’m trying to decide which Fall show to follow regularly in my blog. Heroes is the second contender. Tonight I’m going to experiment a bit and try some stream of consciousness comments. So here we go, the Heroes 2-hour third season premiere…
Nathan’s dead. But I’m sure he’ll be fine. Yup. He’s fine–and quicker than I expected.
MISHTOH MUGGWLES! Mishtoh Muggwles is the herald of doom! (Okay, I’m sorry, I won’t do that again.)
Sylar’s sacrificing opportunities to grab Claire in order to be creepy for the audience’s benefit. Boo!
There better be a good reason for keeping Hiro’s half of the formula in existence at all if it’s so dangerous. (And for the record, I’d be almost as bad at Hiro’s first quest as he was.)
“Save ourselves. Save the world.” Sounds like their next catch phrase. (Frankly those have bugged me ever since the beginning.)
There’s the damn 10% brain usage myth again. Writers Guild membership should come with a card that states something like “This is just plain wrong. Stating this in anything you write is like stating that Hawaii is adjacent to Kansas. DON’T DO IT.”
Mohinder’s being an idiot. No, wait, he’s being Mohinder-Fly! Someone get Jeff Goldblum, they can double-date and compare scripts.
Well, the world’s blowing up. Again. Come on, folks. Is this all you can come up with? (“Look out, Radioactive Man! The sun is exploding again!”)
Mrs. Petrelli is the Kwisatz Haderach!
A talking space coyote tells Matt to find his soul mate! (Well, not really, but that’s what I was thinking when he started talking to the turtle.)
Linderman’s turned Harvey.
Sylar’s still alive…WHY? (Same question for all of the people held in Level 5, really. The Company has had no problem with putting OTHER heroes down.)
I don’t think I’m going to blog on Heroes too much—at least not weekly. There’s so much stuff going on that I’d just lose track in all the nitpicking. I don’t envy the chaos the writers have created for themselves, though. Two people warping around in time? It’s hard enough to keep things logical and coherent with just one, and Hiro at least knew what he was doing. I think Ain’t It Cool News puts it quite well: “I think we just have to assume at this point that Peter is the stupidest guy ever to graduate nursing school.” With characters that can do so much, they need to be REALLY careful that their plots don’t require constant use of the idiot-ball, and I’m not so sure they’re off to a great start.
I guess we’ll see.
Someone get Mister Muggles a syringe of that formula.
Michael G. Munz
www.michaelgmunz.com
Okay, I am NOT going to do a full blog on this one, but in the interest of keeping people informed, the new Knight Rider series has released its first post-pilot movie episode on Hulu, a week before it actually premieres. If you’re entertained by things that are so bad they’re good, you should check it out.
This show is gleefully terrible. That’s the best way I can think of to describe it. As someone commented on Hulu, “It looks like KITT can now turn into a train and a wreck.”
Michael G. Munz
www.michaelgmunz.com
(Technorati tags: Knight Rider)
I’m looking to do an episode-by-episode blog of one of the shows premiering this fall, but I’ve not yet decided which, so I’ll try doing so with each of the premieres and see which feels the best. I’ve never tried to do this sort of thing before. I’ll be learning as I go, so bear with me, if anyone’s actually reading this. For the first, the second season premiere of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. There WILL be unmarked spoilers.
My mental state:
I’ve been borderline on this show since it began, torn between my desire to see the expanded back story (or future-story) that it promises to reveal and my inability to find the actual storytelling or characters compelling a majority of the time.
Thoughts while watching:
The very beginning is reminiscent of the end of the first season finale what with the semi-slo-mo and music. It feels like it’s trying too hard to recreate that, but maybe it’s just me. Then again, I didn’t like it the first time, either. On the other hand, this SHOWS what’s going on instead of having it happen all off-screen for an extended period of time. (I suspect they just couldn’t come up with a reason for Cromartie to kill everyone and throw them into the pool, so they just did it off-screen and got “artistic.”) THIS, however, just goes on too long while showing us everything. “Yes, episode, you’re very smart. Shut up.”
Cameron looks pretty unscorched for just having been in an exploding car. And an exploding house. Perhaps Skynet adds a little asbestos to the human flesh terminator coverings now.
For some reason Cameron needs Sarah to call to John. It’s odd how they keep doing this (happened in T2, too) after showing us that terminators can imitate voices easily enough.
I’m noticing that Cameron continues flip between being be less able and more able to pass for human than the T-800, as she has during the entire series. In her defense, she is a little scrambled right now, I suppose. But then she’s back to being all convincingly emotional when she’s smashed between the trucks. So hmm. I guess it’s dependent on the needs of the script.
John’s cut off his hair, going back to the Samson and Delilah theme. If Cameron’s secret plan is not to kill John but instead to make him emotionally attached to her and weaken him thusly, I shall be very put out.
Post-viewing thoughts:
It was average, with much of it just being an extended chase scene. I have to admit the surprise at the end with the G-1000 (that’s the lead singer of Garbage crossed with the T-1000, though a friend of mine just wanted to call her Dick Jones after this scene) was pretty darned high on the cool factor. Not sure if they’ll ever explain why there’s a second prototype, but I guess the timeline’s been mucked around with so much that it’s not a detail to worry about.
John’s an idiot for putting the chip back in, of course. He’s clearly still having issues from dropping Daddy Terminator in the molten iron in T2. Call me crazy, but giving a gun to a terminator only moments (from her perspective) after she tried to throw a wrench through his head just isn’t the best idea. If being blown up can flip her from good to evil, and being hit by a truck can flip her back, do you REALLY want her walking around with you, John? What if you accidentally bump into her in the hall or sneeze in the wrong direction? All back to evil! I can understand John doing this. It makes sense for his character, but I can’t understand Sarah not trying to stop him.
So…meh. The characters still continue to bug me, being as foolish or intelligent as the writers need at the time. I’ve never cut the writers much slack in this show, and that cynical attitude may be why I can’t seem to get into it very much. It’s possible I’m still stuck on something that’s bugged me for the entire run of the show: the dual question of just what sort of terminator Cameron is (we know she’s “special,” but have been given few details) and, more importantly, why she refuses to say. Her refusal magnifies the mystery, and yet it’s now the beginning of the second season and we’ve gotten no progression on this. You can only string the audience along on a mystery so far before you have to pay it off, at least partially, and they’ve strung us along so far on this one that I’m now thinking that a bit of intrigue that got me to watch before was just some gimmick of audience manipulation that they had no idea what to do with.
“Hmm, how can we make it more mysterious? People love mysterious, look how well Lost is doing!”
“Uhh, how about we have her refuse to give details about herself?”
“Ooh, that’s GREAT! I love it! Why doesn’t she give details?”
“What, are you writing a book? Who cares? It’s cool!”
So I guess we’ll see. Bit of a jumbled mess, this blog, but hey, I’m still getting my recap-legs. I don’t know that I like Sarah Connor Chronicles enough to do this every week, though…
Michael G. Munz
www.michaelgmunz.com
(Technorati tags: Terminator, Sarah Connor Chronicles)
Here’s a bit of two-for-one geek-news: The Sci-Fi Channel continues its tradition of cancelling shows that people like. This time on the chopping block, Stargate: Atlantis. At the same time, it’s green lit a third Stargate series, Stargate: Universe, to air in early 2009.
Okay, so I was miffed when they cancelled SG-1, severely irritated when they cancelled Farscape way back when, and continually bothered to find out that the new Battlestar Galactica was still on the air. (It’s going to be gone after this season, fortunately, and I’ll have to rely on possible reruns or episodes on Hulu.com to remind me just why I disliked it so much. At this point I can’t remember specifics, and I suppose I’m not likely to bother re-watching to let myself be reminded. Darn.)
I seem to have lost my train of thought here. Oh! (Yes, revel, revel in the concise blogging style!) My point is that I find I honestly couldn’t care less about Atlantis getting the axe. Sure, I watched some episodes–some were quite good, some not so great–but I never really got deeply into the story or anything. I couldn’t tell you much about the Wraith (aside from my finding them rather dull) or the various characters, few of whom really got me to care. (Okay, so McKay’s always fun, and it was nice to see Jewel Staite working after Firefly, but that’s about it.) My impression, admittedly fragmented, was that the show seemed to be in search of a purpose but often failed to do anything unique or better than what SG-1 had done before it.
And, really, enough with the Replicators, huh?
As for Universe, Sci-Fi describes it as follows:
After unlocking the mystery of the Stargate’s ninth chevron, a team of explorers travels to an unmanned starship called the Destiny, launched by The Ancients at the height of their civilization as a grand experiment set in motion, but never completed.
What starts as a simple reconnaissance turns into a never ending mission, as the Stargate Universe crew discovers the ship is unable to return to Earth, and they must now fend for themselves aboard the Destiny.
The crew will travel to the far reaches of the universe, connecting with each of the previously launched Stargates, thus fulfilling the Destiny’s original mission.
Challenges will arise though as the ship comes into range of Stargates placed centuries ahead of the Destiny, but only for a brief period of time before carrying on with its pre-programmed navigational schedule. If someone is left behind, there is no way to go back for them, adding to the drama of encountering new races, enemies and adventures.
“A grand experiment set in motion but never completed.” Hey, good trick. They’ve created a plot device that doesn’t need to ever be explained because it was never finished! 😀 There’s a mystery of the ninth chevron? That’s a new one on me, but maybe I’m just not up on my lore.
As for the rest of it…I guess we’ll see. I’ll give it a shot, but the description isn’t wowing me. Maybe it’s just that I miss the SGC and O’Neill. It sounds somewhat like Star Trek meets Sliders, which is…workable. If they can come up with some engaging characterization, it could be decent, though I’m leery of the statement that Universe will have “a cast that gives it a younger vibe.” Something about that just smells a little too much of executive tampering. Perhaps they took an O’Neill template, made him an experienced twenty-two, gave him some “attitude,” and then Rasta-fied him “by about…ten-percent or so.” [End Simpsons reference.]
So I’m not holding my breath. What with professional wrestling, Ghost Hunters, and constant monster-of-the-week movies penned by monkeys at best (at worst, by the folks who bring us Epic Movie, Disaster Movie, Lousy Movie, and Meet the Spartans), Sci-Fi seems, like Atlantis, organizationally confused and in search of a purpose. Or maybe some Replicators.
But that’s another blog.
Speaking of other blogs, click here for the full story in The Hollywood Reporter by James Hibberd.
Michael G. Munz
www.michaelgmunz.com
(Technorati tags: Stargate, Atlantis, Universe, Sci-Fi Channel)
So Stargate Continuum, the last (for now, anyway) made-for-DVD Stargate SG-1 movie came out a couple of days ago. I originally started watching the show about midway through its ten-season run and caught up on the episodes I’d missed in reruns on Sci-Fi. Though it wasn’t the same show by the time the final season rolled around, I was still sorry to see it go, so I gladly picked up the DVD. Without further ado, here’s a brief review. (Rhyme not intended.) This ought to be as spoiler-free as any of the ads are, so feel free to read on mostly safely…
An initial summation for those of you with no patience: I’d have to say it’s above average. It’s not great, but good, and enjoyable enough for the time it asks of us. With the Goa’uld once again as the main antagonists it’s actually quite reminiscent of the earlier seasons, especially when a number of familiar faces start showing up. I won’t say just who here–and there are a number of them–except to mention that it’s good to see (spoiler-text follows) the late Don S. Davis again.
But what’s that you say? Didn’t the Replicators utterly wipe out, put in a box, and stick a fork in the Goa’uld? (Yes, I can hear you; it’s the magic of the Interwebs!) Well, let’s just say that Baal’s a jerk, and he’s got a time machine.
Yes, it’s a time travel movie, which will likely turn some of you off, but even so it’s decently done. One thing I liked was how they came at it in part from an angle that’s not seen quite so much–that of the point of view of those people who’ve lived their lives in an alternate (and screwed up, from SG-1’s point of view) timeline. To them, it’s SG-1’s timeline that’s the alternate; they like their own just fine, thank you very much, and why the hell should they bother to help and mess up THEIR billions of lives? (As an alternate-Landry put it, “The arrogance of what you’re asking us to help you do is mind-boggling!”) Who’s to say which is more correct? This question leads to a middle of the film that’s really rather poignant and interesting in terms of the characters themselves.
I’m not sure if SG-1 virgins or casual viewers would find that section quite as interesting, however, as they’re not nearly so familiar with these characters. As a fan of the show it’s hard for me to judge. I will say that the writers did do a decent job of catching up the new viewers to the Stargate setting without getting bogged down with it.
The plot as a whole is pretty well done, at least until you get to the end, but I’ll talk about that in a moment. There was one genuinely unexpected twist that I was quite happy to see. I only wish they’d had more time to develop the ramifications of it. That’s perhaps why the ending is where I had the most problem. It’s just…missing something. (Jack O’Neill maybe? He’s in much of the first half before fading away.) It all wraps up too quickly, and I found myself wondering what they could’ve done if this were a four-episode arc of the show. One thing I will say: Character death shouldn’t be milked for tragedy points when you’re operating around time machines–or at the very least, not when you’re standing IN time machines. Going to slow-mo just gives the viewer more time to realize that, oh, hey, they can fix that fairly easily right now.
One more thing I did find interesting: Baal’s a jerk, yes, but oddly he’s NOT quite up to his old tricks. He seems to have learned from his mistakes…or at least most of them, which leads into part of that twist I mentioned.
As for the DVD extras, along with the usual DVD previews there’s a commentary by the writer and director as well as three featurettes. I haven’t yet had time to listen to the commentary, but I did take a look at the featurettes.
First, The Layman’s Guide to Time Travel. Being a speculative fiction writer, I have a weakness for scientific theories like time travel, alternate dimensions and such explained in layman’s terms so those of us who don’t have the benefit of a PhD in mathematics can see the wonder in them. My only complaint here is that at nine minutes, it’s too short. It would’ve been great to see them explore the two theories of how time travel might work a little bit more, for instance. Still, what we do get is interesting and fun, at least for us geek-types.
The twenty-minute Making of Stargate Continuum featurette is fun to watch, too. (Anyone who’s seen any of the SG-1 making-of specials that have aired on the Sci-Fi Channel knows what they’re in for here, style-wise if not content-wise, so I won’t go into detail.)
The best of the three would have to be the Stargate Goes to the Arctic featurette, which documents the experience of actually traveling to the Arctic Circle to film on a sheet of ice in negative twenty-degree temperatures. With all of the to-do about the cast and crew filming on-location (seen online and on the preview for Continuum on the Ark of Truth DVD) I was expecting more of the movie to take place there than we see on-screen. Don’t get me wrong, the Arctic is certainly in the movie, but I suspect that going there was a much bigger deal for the actors and crew than it is for us viewers who sit down to watch in our warm living rooms. Indeed, the twenty-two minutes of the featurette certainly show a more interesting (real) adventure. In fact it may be my favorite part of the entire DVD, and I say that with no slight to the movie itself.
So, bottom line, if you’re a fan, it’s worth picking up. (And that means YOU, Denise.) If you’ve never seen the show, well, at least give it a rental so you can help support the show, ’cause I want another DVD, dangit! 🙂
…And I really did mean for this to be a BRIEF review when I started. Ah, well.
Michael G. Munz
www.michaelgmunz.com
(Technorati tags: Stargate, Continuum, DVD review)