ABC's V (Image from ABC's Mobile Website)
In the fall of 2009, there seemed to be an endless number of continued and new television shows Shooter Jr and I were looking forward to watching. Eighteen months later, it is a very different landscape on our DVR and TV Guide. Granted, there are still some great shows left but there a quite a few empty holes that will be difficult to replace. In the wake of the SyFy cancellations of Caprica and Stargate Universe in late 2010, I find myself wondering if ABC’s V will be able to survive for another season in the 2011-2012 timeframe.
As I write this blog entry, 2010 is coming to a close and New Year’s is right around the corner. After enjoying Tron: Legacy last week with family and friends, I started to wonder what will be the holiday movie blockbuster next year. From there it was a short trip to wonder what the entire year’s worth of movies would be that interest me. So the list that follows is exactly that: dates and names of movies that I’m looking forward to in 2011 and beyond. Of course the dates get a little more fuzzy the farther out it is, so take them with a grain of salt. If I’ve missed any, please be sure to let us know in comments. If you’re interested in some in particular, let us know that, too! Here’s hoping that 2011 will be a great movie year!
This week we take on the the Terminator Salvation premiere. Highlights: We wonder if there isn’t any way to save humanity beyond simply protecting John Connor, question the inevitabiliy of Skynet’s evil, ask whether sentience by definition might include “feelings,” enjoy large-scale robot destruction, wonder why non-skinned terminators have teeth, and suggest in injection of techno music might perk the movie up. Up next week: The start of our Transformers primer arc — perfect for getting you ready to enjoy Fallen!
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Besides getting back in the Terminator mood (just in time for next week’s new movie release!) we take a few Trek calls to wrap up the arc. (Look for our Trek bonus call show soon.) Highlights: we tackle the Terminator Salvation trailer’s take on what it means to be human, discuss various modes of time travel and how they affect characters in sci-fi stories, wonder if previous Terminators lack personality (and if dogs can sense this as well as the smell of metal), bash on Bazooka Joe gum, re-visit bras-in-space, address the Enterprise built in Iowa canyon and why Nero is bent on revenge issues, hear Chuck’s objection (as an Eve miner) to Trek’s portrayal of space miners, and discuss the new Mass Effect 2 E3 preview trailer.
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My homie David0207 sent me a link to a trailer. I viewed it. A bloodlust roar started in my gut and worked its way to my throat. My arms were pumping in the air before I knew what was happening. My head tilted up and the fury of sound escaped. Viewed from outside my body you might surmise a Klingon is passing into the next world.
Terminator Salvation is coming.
View the new trailer. Then look me in the eye and tell me this wasn’t worth the wait. Tell me this isn’t what the world needed to be whole.
I leave it to you.
Terminator Salvation [Yahoo Movies]
This week we enjoy the Sarah Connor Chronicles pilot episode. Highlights: we love the new Summer Glau model, get a kick out of the show’s excellent casting, agree that naked Cameron kickin’ ass is so hot that it’s not even cancelled out by standing naked by one’s naked mom, wonder if canon/continuity even exist in time travel shows, hear Chuck’s pleas for help in obtaining a DeLorean, comment on the Iron Man release and our watch party, laugh at taking so long to get into Chuck (the show, not The Chuck), and discover that Flea is indeed the Universal Bad Guy(tm). Up next: the Back to the Future arc!
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If you haven’t checked out T3 yet, go for it. We did and had a great time! Highlights: we notice the new “Terminatrix’s” fortuitous arrival in a clothing store, comment on the Terminators’ excellent vehicle choices, enjoy seeing The T-101′s great, great, great, great, great grandtank (Johnny T1), note the machines’ excellent artificial imitation of our own destructive nature, are blown away by Sarah Connor’s incredible preparedness, marvel at the elder Brewster’s world-destroying bastardness, share some Worf-loving Trek talk, and wait patiently for a last-season musical episode of Galactica (or a sorry-ass clip show).
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It’s T2 time! Highlights: We wonder what the hell Dyson’s wife must be thinking when geared-up Linda Hamilton invades her home, note the flick’s updated budget (and hence visual effects), review the differences between the “special edition” and standard versions of Terminator 2 (read: 16 minutes of licking), suggest that the LAPD could just wait for criminals in aqueducts, wow over the reality-warping power of the pithy one-liner, imagine the chagrin of ER personnel when a hundred cops show up in one night shot in the knees, go round and round on circular time travel logic, and imagine Chuck as a “big-boned” Terminator.
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The Terminator arc is happening, and it’s going quite well. Having not seen T1 in a long time, I was still prepared to enjoy the hell out of it — even if its ancient effects would distract. (20 is like 200 in VFX years.) But it turns out that the only part that I even noticed as slightly dated was the stop-motion movement of the pure-machine Terminator at the very end of the flick. And even that wasn’t bad. So here you have it: a 20+ year old sci-fi movie that still watches like one made a few years ago.
I mentioned in the last podcast my concern that there might be some, um, simpler solutions to the can’t-bring-future-guns back problem involving storing said weapons in uncomfortable places. (Yes, like in the back seat of a Volkswagen.) It turns out I’m not the only one with this idea. Forum newcomer BrokenCosmos passed on some even uglier solutions developed by the machines.
And speaking of Kevin Smith, are any of you planning to catch Zack and Miri Make A Porno this Halloween? I was going to give it a pass or catch it later on DVD — cheapass that I am — but I saw Smith’s blog post today about his experiences at the Toronto Film Festival and followed a few links to a trailer. Damn this movie looks funny. I’ll be there opening day. Why did I doubt? Kevin Smith + Seth Rogen = well, you get the idea.
Sean, Audra, and I had a killer discussion about ’80s flicks just before we turned the mics on for GWC #117 — about 20 minutes late, by the way, because the discussion was just that good. It started with Sean and I disputing which Porsche Gary drives in Weird Science. (It’s a 928, just like the one in Risky Business.) This led to me bemoaning the fact that everyone says “like the one in Risky Business!” when they see my beater daily-driver 944S2. And this led us to recall that a 944 appeared in Sixteen Candles, giving me the perfect comeback: “No, like the one from Sixteen Candles.” That’ll stump ‘em.
Anyway, you can imagine what happened next. (No, he didn’t fix the plumbing.) We spent a good half-hour bumbling down every person our age’s alternate memory lane: John Hughes movies. Sixteen Candles, Breakfast Club, Weird Science, Pretty In Pink, and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off come immediately to mind, but don’t forget National Lampoon’s Vacation and Christmas Vacation, Uncle Buck, and even Mr. Mom. Cusack’s early work falls in there, too, specifically Better Off Dead and One Crazy Summer.
It’s at times like these that I sometimes wish GWC wasn’t solely sci-fi/fantasy/comic-based. Wouldn’t an ’80s flick arc be awesome? How ’bout a Kevin Smith arc? But there’s a problem: while the hardcore GWCers here and on the forum would most definitely stick around, would the thousands of others that listen but don’t participate otherwise? Or would such an expansion of focus draw even more listeners?
That’s a question that we have yet to answer. My initial thoughts: we podcast best when we podcast what we love. Maybe that should be our guide.
We dive into the Terminator universe this week, starting with T1. Highlights: we discuss the rise of Skynet, note the differences between Skynet’s AI and that of the Cylons and The Matrix, notice the Governass and (heinously visible in the DVD on the big screen) Schlonginator, love how this 20+ year old sci-fi flick totally withstands the test of time, diss the Tech-Noir, hear Audra’s Terminator hair report, contemplate the nature of Reese’s Mobius strip of time, and wonder how Reese managed to become a 30-year-old virgin carrying a picture of his boss’s mom. Don’t forget to call in your T2 thoughts: 214-296-9229.
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It looks like Star Trek XI’s move to spring 2009 isn’t as free of competition as it was a month ago. Variety is reporting that the new McG-directed Terminator flick is opening just two weeks after the Trek franchise’s new hope. Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins will (as of now) release May 22, 2009, and will star Christian Bale. With the Wolverine X-Men spin-off opening days before Trek, could this be another Nemesis situation?
For what it’s worth, I’ve always been a Nemesis fan. Sure, it’s not my single favorite Trek film, but I suspect that its poor box-office numbers — and subsequent fan thrashing — was due more to release date than to the quality of the film itself. Then again, I must not be the primary demographic — because I’m going to see all three. It’s gonna be a great spring!
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