Fangirl Rants

The Broken Promise of Torchwood

2009-08-11T01:26:59Z

When Torchwood was announced, Russell T. Davies promised us stories on more of an adult level. And in the openings of Torchwood, we heard the promise ever single episode:

Series 1 opening narration: Torchwood: outside the government, beyond the police. Tracking down alien life on Earth, arming the human race against the future. The twenty-first century is when everything changes. And you've got to be ready.

Series 2 opening narration: Torchwood: outside the government, beyond the police. Fighting for the future on behalf of the human race. The 21st century is when everything changes. And Torchwood is ready.
So at the end of Children of Earth, who's ready? Who's fighting for us? Where's Torchwood, our would-be preparers and defenders? Gone. I had such high hopes for Torchwood. The first series had a lot of potential. The second series built on it, and then went all to hell by the end. The third series just snuffed it out like a heel on a cigarette butt. Character development doesn't have to be just about torturing the characters. You can build characters and drama with good experiences too. When Torchwood was announced to be a more adult series, I thought they meant sophisticated story telling, not men snogging and soft core porn.

"The 21st century is where everything changes". What's changed? The DW/TW universe is no different now than before the word TORCHWOOD showed up in series 1 of Doctor Who. Except a lot more people are death and no one's ready.

Fanboys: Techies mock you too

2009-08-07T23:00:33Z

While listening to my podcasts, I got to Crank Geeks, and a tech roundtable show hosted by John C. Dvorak. On show #177, the topic of video games at comic-con came up, and immediately John started dissing the the con and fans. The segment starts at 20:55. So, when are we going to see the signs at comic-con "Video games ruined comic-con"?

Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers #1

2009-06-13T22:21:21Z

Originally posted on Manga Xanadu

I just read the first issue of Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers, and I have to say, I really liked it. I wasn't sure what I was in store for when I first ordered it, but I can safely say, it was $3 well spent.

Throg (Frog Thor) is really the character that really made this issue. He is the first "teammate" that Lockjaw goes to after he finds one of the Infinity Gems. Apparently Lockjaw has decided that animals are better for finding the gems than the humans. Throg's whole backstory is just what you'd expect from a Marvel Universe origin. Bad things happen to a good man who is then rewarded with superpowers; after being turned into a frog. Throg himself is just great. He speaks for Lockjaw, jabbering on with the other animals as he convinces each of them to join the cause and journey to find the gems. Just like Thor, he speaks with lots of "thee"s and "thou"s, and "wouldst"s and "dost"s.

Yes, all the animals in this series talk. This would have bothered me before. But after reading 17 novels of the Mrs. Murphy mysteries in a row, where half the characters are animals that can talk to each other but humans can't understand, it was easy to accept. For all we know, our animals could be talking about us now, and we'd never know it. Well, everyone but Lockjaw talks. As I mentioned above, Throg does the talking, as Lockjaw speaks to him telepathically. Each animal that is picked up does have a connection to a hero in the Marvel Universe, but knowing who they are doesn't really seem to matter. Enough backstory is given for each animal that you get a general idea, and it's really more about the animals personalities than their hero counterparts.

Each animal's personality really reflects their species. Redwing, a hawk, at first refuses Lockjaw and Throg's request, as he is a bird, and obviously superior to lower animals that can't fly. Why would he lower himself to work with them. Some good old fashion flattery gets him to change his mind. My favorite, and if you knew me it would be obvious, is Hairball. He's the cat. And he acts just like a cat. When asked to join, he asks if he can eat Redwing. He thinks all dogs are stupid (excluding Lockjaw of course), and has a basic, all around attitude. And for a cat with an attitude, he needs a foil, and Ms. Lion, the little shaggy dog with an even smaller brain and no superpower affiliation, fits the bill perfectly. He's obviously in the series for comedy relief, it seems to be mostly at Hairball's expense.

Even though Throg is cool, and Lockheed the dragon has always been a favorite character of mine, it's Hairball that sells this title for me. His total catitude is just so awesome! I really like that this title is not about animals being superhero clones of their masters. It's about animals acting just as you'd expect them to act if they could talk, and transport to anyplace, wield a large hammer or use kinetic energy superpowers. You don't need to know anything about their masters either. Everything you need to enjoy the issue is given.
I highly recommend picking up this first issue. Kids will love the interaction between the animals, and so will animal lovers. The simple quest plot will be easy for kids to follow. And it's a lot of fun. What other reasons do you need?

Why are they all jerks?

2008-11-16T09:48:09Z

What is the deal with TV nowadays? Does "edgy" mean jerks to TV executives? What I'm specifically talking about is the show Supernatural. For three seasons Sam and Dean Winchester have been fighting demons and all forms of evil, essentially all by themselves. We've seen and heard all about demons and Hell, with not a single indication of any forces of good. It's been the humans all by their lonesome, making stupid deals with their enemies in an endlessly annoying circle.

This season the forces of "good" finally show up. An angel swoops down and saves Dean from Hell. Why? Because the demon Lilith is breaking the seals that will release Lucifer on the Earth, and the angels are losing. For some reason, they think Dean, the guy who sold his soul to bring his brother back to life, will be the key to stopping her. Yeah, cause he's made such spectacularly great decisions so far.

So, do the forces of good do anything actually do anything to help the brothers? No. The angel that saves Dean, Castiel, and his buddy Uriel, are complete and total jerks. They talk about the coming apocalypse, and act more like the demons, not caring one speck for human life. In "It's the Great Pumpkin Sam Winchester", the angels answer to stopping the witch from raising Samhain is to blow up the town. Yeah, that's a real responsible course of action. Kill 'em all and let god sort 'em out? In the latest episode, there is a girl that can hear the angels talking, so what do Castiel and Uriel want to do? Kill her. I thought that was the human/demon way to do things.

Actually, "jerk" is too tame of a word. They are pricks. They don't care about her people they are supposed to protect. Uriel can't want to cause so destruction, or rip Sam's heart out it seems. You sit there and watch these guys and wonder what the hell they are doing here. They aren't helping. They are no different than the demons that Sam and Dean have been fighting for the last 3 years.

I was really hoping that the too long in coming appearance of good would help save the series from it's "evil always wins", but now I don't want good to win either.

The Good Ol' Days of Halloween

2008-11-12T16:30:13Z

Halloween has always held special memories for me. The city I grew up in made Halloween their big holiday. Preparations started at the beginning of October. Kids from elementary to High School were invited to paint the windows of shops in Downtown with Halloween scenes. I remember painting pumpkins with my mother and older brother. It didn't have to be professional looking. It was more about having fun. The store owners enjoyed watching, and families would come and see all the work their kids and friends did.

In the local park near Downtown there would be a carnival, a Halloween carnival, not an "Fall Festival" or whatever other euphemism they're using nowadays. There would be food, rides and game booths, all with a spooky theme. All of this was leading up to the big event: a parade. Just like Pasadena's New Years, or Hollywood's Christmas, we had a Halloween parade. It was usually on the Saturday before Halloween and had floats, marching bands and local groups, just like you expect from parades. What I remember about the parades, is sitting in the back of a pickup truck that was parked along the route, off the street. We could sit in the bed of the truck and see the parade without fighting the crowd. Vendors would walk along the parade, pushing carts filled with cotton candy and long red or blue trumpets. I always wanted on of those trumpets.

But Halloween was for everyone. So, the Big Parade, as the Saturday night parade was called, was for the adults and families to participate in and watch. But the afternoon was for the kiddie parade. All the elementary students got out of school early, and got dressed in their Halloween costumes and had a mini parade to show them off. There was no concern about the kids missing a day of instruction, or what it would do to their ability to concentrate and learn.

This is a big contrast to my kids going to school today. Granted, this isn't my hometown, and Halloween doesn't get the same attention as it used to. But it's still the kid's favorite holiday (after Christmas). Dressing up and going trick or treating is on their mind for most of the month. So it's pretty ludicrous for the school to call us parents and tell us that our kids are not to dress up at school, because it would be "a distraction" and "detrimental to the learning environment".

That's right. In this world of "No Child Left Behind", our schools are making sure that childhood IS left behind. Here in California at least. Too much emphasis is being put on sheer instruction, and the childhood that so many of us adults cherish now is be deprived from our kids. I'm not saying education isn't important, but it shouldn't and isn't the be-all, end-all of a child's life. And letting kids have one day to dress up and goof around a little isn't going to undo the rest of the year's instruction. Especially when Halloween lands on a Friday, when kids heads are on school, but the weekend anyway.

Fringe Lite? I Don't Think So

2008-10-26T09:29:31Z

There are a few new shows this TV season that take the scientific view of strange situations, as opposed to the supernatural that has dominated TV networks the last few years. While I don't mind a little supernatural in my TV, it's supposed to be for entertainment after all, I don't care for shows that pretend to be based on fact, when they are really fantasy. There are two shows this season that exemplify this, and people are taking the side of the wrong show.

The shows of which I speak are Fringe, on FOX, and Eleventh Hour on CBS. Fringe is co-created by J.J. Abrams. It is about FBI agent Olivia Dunham who becomes involved with a special unit that investigates seemingly impossible crimes. She is helped by a committed research scientist Walter Bishop and his son (and handler) Peter. The crimes they have investigated include human cloning, bio-electricity, and bio-chemistry. And tying all these crimes together is a worldwide conspiracy called The Pattern, that the investigative team can only get tantilizing glimpses of and that seemly have a connection to Walter Bishop's research in the 70s and the CEO of a ficitional mulit-national company called Massive Dynamics. All of this makes for a good drama, but not good science, as I've heard some people say. The science featured in this show is spectulative at best. The methods they use to solve the crimes always seem to rely on past information from Walter. That's not exactly what I would call the scientific method. There is little to none actual skepticism, as the speculative science is believed to quickly, and like the new Scooby Doo, the monsters are real. And what makes this show worse for science and skepticism is that science is always made out to be the villain. In one or two episodes we have seen a rogue scientist captured, but the overall work of The Pattern, the science itself is never stopped. Walter's work does usually save the day, but he is one lone "crackpot" doing all the work on things most rational, skeptical minds would never accept. It's not exactly the image of science that we need the general public to see.

Eleventh Hour, on the other hand, is based on a mini-series from the BBC. Jerry Bruckheimer's production company is co-producing the US series. The original starred Patrick Stewart of Start Trek: The Next Generation/X-Men fame. Eleventh Hour is about Dr. Jacob Hood, a special scientific advisor to the FBI, and his handler Special Agent Rachel Young. Hood is a brilliant biophysicist who is called on by the FBI to investigate crimes that are seemingly impossible, but through Hood's deductions, which we see throughout the show, the crime is solved, and the solution is a logical explanation. This show has a lot more going for it skeptically than Fringe. The crimes are based on actual science being practiced today, and not on highly speculative notions. Throughout the episode, we see all the same clues and are walked through the solution. There are no massive suspension of disbelief moments to make the solution work. But what really makes this show really work for me are the social issues that come up in the course of the investigations. In the second episode, Cardiac, not only is the crime solved, but through the criminal's confession, there is some social commentary about the American educational system and the No Child Left Behind Act. Just looking at the way science is treated, Eleventh Hour is the better of the two shows. By far.

I watched the original series of Eleventh Hour, and I like this new rendition of the show better than the original. This is unusual for me. I usually like the original version of a show over any remakes, especially with BBC shows. But honestly, Patrick Stewart was the wrong person to put in the role of Hood. He was too wooden, and didn't come off as a genius at all. I think some of the hate this new show is getting is because Patrick Stewart isn't in it. Sorry guys, but he's NOT the god of acting. Eleventh Hour is better without Stewart. Rufus Sewell is doing a great job as Hood. He's actually believable in the role. I also think CBS made a big mistake with leading off Resurrection. This story was a story from the original series, and it wasn't the best at that. Agro, which was just shown this week was a much better story and made a better introduction, as it was made as a second pilot.

On TV.com, Eleventh Hour has been described as Fringe-Lite, but it's far from that. It's superior to Fringe, and needs no comparison. If you actually care about skepticism and how it's portrayed on TV, you'll watch Eleventh Hour and give it it's due.

Scorpion King 2: Sinking of a Franchise

2008-08-26T21:19:22Z

I actually went out and bought the dvd Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior. What a mistake that was. I should have known, being a direct to DVD film that it wasn't going to be all that great. And since they made it a prequel, they didn't have to worry about getting anyone from the Mummy 2 or Scorpion King. The producers of Scorpion King don't count.

But this is just a bad movie all around. It looks like it got the budget of a Sci-Fi Saturday night movie. So they couldn't get any good writers, and all the actors were unknowns, including some guy from the cage fighting world. Randy Couture plays Sargon, the big baddy of the film, and he plays him badly. Absolutely wooden, and sounds like he's reading the lines off a cue card or telepromtor. It was painful to watch this guy sometimes. Of course, he wasn't cast for his acting, but because he's big and muscular.

The writers and director seems they couldn't make up their mind if they wanted this movie to be camp or serious. It certainly came off as camp. The attempts at humor were bad and the drama wasn't really dramatic. But the actors knew there were in a B-movie. You can always tell this when in the behind the scenes extras, the first thing they say is how proud they are of the production. They seem to have to keep themselves in a state of denial to get through it, because they will say it several times, as Michael Copon did. He reminds me of a young Dean Cain, though he does his best Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson impression at the end of the film.

Save yourself some cash and don't go buy this movie. If you're really curious or like unintentionally campy movies, rent it, or wait for it to show on Sci-Fi. You just know it will.

A Fan's Dream come True

2008-08-26T19:04:00Z

It's been 25 years since the original Macross aired in Japan. In that span of time, several other series' have been based in that universe, each one building on the previous. Everyone one of them has keep the basics of the original; a love triangle with one guy who flies a valkyrie, and two girls who fall in love with him, with one of the girls usually being a singer, an alien race to threaten them, and a civilian population to guard. The latest addition to this property, Macross Frontier, not only continues this tradition, but also throws in references from all the previous series' to make it a real treat for Macross fans.

This series, much like Macross 7, calls up memories of Lynn Minmay, with Ranka Lee being compared to her, both for her rise from almost being unknown to famous, and that her song has an effect on the Vajra, the aliens that threaten to destroy the human fleet. I find Ranka just a little too much on the moe side though. She annoys me a lot. But then so does Sheryl, the current idol that is also Ranka's rival for the attentions of Alto, the fighter pilot that saves them both a lot. It's Sheryl's sheer arrogance that grates me.

Ranka Lee's brother, Ozma, is a well known fighter pilot and leader of the skull squadron, like Roy Fokker. He likes a pineapple cake made by a former lover, Cathy Glass, the series' Misa Hayase. And nearly mirroring the original series, he gets injured but doesn't tell anyone, to go to Ranka's first concert. The scenes are played almost identical to the original, only Ozma doesn't die. Reference is made to that immediately afterwards. It was very funny.

Ranka and Sheryl are put into a movie that is filmed on the Macross Frontier. The movie is actually Macross Zero.

Macross 7's Firebomber gets a fair amount of play in some of the episodes.

An original Macross designed ship is found on an alien planet. And there are still eight more episodes to go!

This series has been such a treat for fans. It truly is an anniverary-marking series.

One for the Ladies

2008-08-21T19:23:37Z

I watched Gotham Knight, the series of anime shorts that is supposed to be the bridge between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. Now, I've never been much of a Batman fan. I never read the comic, though I watched the TV series as a kid, and the movies from the 90's. But I never got excited about them. But,it was nice to see in the anime version of the Dark Knight, that someone was looking out for us ladies.

That's right, I'm talking about the story Field Test. Never have you seen a Bruce Wayne like this! He is absolutely beautiful. A bishonen by all accounts. The moment I saw him, I cried, "He's a bishi! It's Bishi Bruce!" Needless to say, my husband, a more traditional Batman fan was not amused. I thought it was freakin' hysterical! Especially when he spoke with that deep, darker voice. Kevin Conroy's voice, even with his lightened "Bruce" tone totally did not work with that character. He looks like he stepped out of a YAOI manga/anime! For the rest of the episodes, I just couldn't stop thinking about Bishi Bruce.

I wonder what kind of fanfic this is going to inspire...

She Will Be Missed...

2008-08-21T18:19:06Z

The final episode of season 4 of Doctor Who has finally aired. I'm feeling kind of ambivalent about it. I have truly grown weary of the Daleks return, but Dalek Caan was fun to watch in his madness. And Russell T. Davies' speculation that Davros may have escaped doesn't make her feel good. I'm sick to death of Rose, and hope and PRAY that is will be last time we see her. EVER! It was a bit of a cop out to give her her own Doctor to play with. At least they still kept the Real Doctor from saying those accursed three words.

Donna was brilliant. Even before she got zapped with the Doctor's brain. I really liked her as the Doctor's companion. She never held back. She never fawned over him. They truly stood as equals. And then she became the Doctor's intellectual equal. That's when she truly shined. She and both Doctors spouting out the technobabble was fantastic!

The lowest point of this episode was when Davros tried to make the Doctor out as a creator of death machines, just like him. That when the Doctor took a companion in, they would become the destroyer of worlds, just like Davros. But that is so not true. Not even in the context of the episode. That whole scene felt forced and so very wrong.

The highest point was with the slight ridiculous, but great scene of all the companions from the last 4 series' working together to pilot the TARDIS to tow the Earth back. It was just really heartwarming to see them all together, smiling, truly enjoying themselves. It was just great. We really need a muliti-companion TARDIS crew again. Please Steven Moffat! For series 5!!

Now, why can't we have a companion that doesn't fall in love with the Doctor that will go for more than one season? The death that Dalek Caan kept going on about wasn't a physical death, but a psychological one. Another cop out if you ask me. She has to lose all her memories of the Doctor so she can live, but what kind of life can she have if she can't know how brilliant she was?

It was a sad ending to an overall great series. I can only hope we'll get another companion like Donna, that won't go all sappy on us. I had an idea for a fanfic for the scene with the Doctor at the console after leaving Donna. Maybe someday I'll write it. She'll be missed, despite all the nay-sayers.

Over all, this series has been the best so far. Check it out on Sci-Fi Channel, BBC America, DVD or your bittorent client. :)

The End Is Near

2008-06-28T01:08:46Z

Another series of Doctor Who is rushing to an end. There are only two episodes left, and unfortunately, they are not looking to be anything groundbreaking. We have gone 10 episodes without seeing or hearing a Dalek. This shouldn't be of too big a surprise, since after the end of Evolution of the Daleks in series 3, there was only one left. The last member of the Cult of Skaro, Dalek Caan, escaped by doing an emergency temporal shift. That should have been the last we saw of the Daleks, but Russell T. Davies just can't leave them out. I'm grateful to the man for bring back Doctor Who, but I'm also glad he turning over his post as executive producer to Stephen Moffat.

The end of Turn Left is the first clue to what is coming in the last two episodes. "Bad Wolf" are the words Rose scattered across the universe as a warning of eminent danger in the first series. That danger was from the Daleks. So to see the words everywhere at the end of episode 10 of course immediately brings them to mind. So, the big bads for the series four finally will be Daleks....again. But it's not going to be just the Daleks, no. Dalek Caan couldn't have rebuilt the Dalek army all by himself. He had to have help. And who in this universe would not only want to help the Daleks, but make them thrive and the rulers of the universe? No one but Davros, the creator of the Daleks. He's the one the Daleks always go running back to when they have problems, so it makes sense that Dalek Caan would, especially being part of the Cult of Skaro.

So for some reason, the resurrection of Davros has started the breakdown between the alternate universes, or perhaps Davros, like the Cybermen, IS from an alternate that Dalek Caan brought over some how, and that is causing the breakdown. And with Davros either creating or bringing a new army of Daleks, the stars are being put out. Only the Doctor and Donna can stop it.

Sadly, it seems like this will be mark the end for Donna. Whether she dies or stops traveling with the Doctor, I don't know, but with a title for the finale being Journey's End, it doesn't sound like she'll be back. This is a shame, since Donna has been the best companion for the Doctor so far. At least the most proper. She's not some teenager swooning over the Doctor. She disagrees and bickers with him, but also has a sensible head on her shoulders, and doesn't do a lot of screaming for help. River Song's inquiries about if she was The Donna Noble, back from the Silence in the Library episode, also had an ominous ring to it.

I really wish they would stop with the musical companions, and keep on for more than one season. And while we're on this, how about more than one that *isn't* female? Mutiple TARDIS crews used to be the norm, and really most of the few episodes we've had with more than one companion have been the better ones. Come on guys, get a clue!

I'm done ranting on that for now. We'll see tomorrow night if any of my predictions are correct. I'll keep you posted.

Gender Bending Macross Style

2008-06-22T01:07:16Z

I've been watching the new Macross series, Macross Frontier. I've been a fan of Macross since Robotech first came out (I like the Macross Saga best). I even got to see the very bad, original dub of Macross, Harmony Gold released before it became Robotech. My older brother bought the video tape. I kinda stopped following it when fans panned Macross II, so I skipped Macross Plus, but when I heard about Macross 7 and what it was like, I had to see it. (I like bad, cheesy shows.) So when it was announced that a new Macross was coming out for the 25th anniversary, and that it would harken back to the original series, I was excited!

The animation is nice for the new series. It takes place after Macross 7 in the timeline, but is otherwise unrelated. We've got the usual love triangle, with a starlet, a fighter pilot and this time another girl who wants to be a star too. Things start out pretty standard enough, the boy that wants to be a fighter pilot saves the starlet, and makes friends with the wannabe, and he is then gets pulled by both, without know what feelings he has, if any, toward the girls, even though it s becoming obvious they both have feelings for him.

Here's the twist; the pilot, Alto, comes from a family of Kabuki performers that specialize in female parts. Alto is referred to by his classmates as "Hime", or princess. He can easily pass off as a girl, and even in the credits after seeing Sharon and Renka, we see Alto in his female Kabuki garb, even though we've ever seen it in the show.

So, I guess my question is, is Macross Frontier yuri?

Watch for Falling Plot Points

2008-06-21T10:53:51Z

I really liked the first National Treasure movie. It was fun and full of excitement. Jumping around the east coast, finding clues in national monuments that led to another, and another. I didn't think I was going to like it when I first saw it, but I was in love with it by the end. Then, they made a sequel.

What's wrong with that you ask? Simple. The script. This thing plays like it was plotted by committee and written by Hollywood Hacks. Let's go through the checklist:

Hero and Heroine split up after happy ending in last movie? Check.
Contrived plot device to get hero on journey? Check.
Pointless car chase? Check.
Contrived plot point to get police/FBI after hero? Check.
Hero and Heroine work out their differences? Check.
Stupid reason for villain's motivation? Check. CHECK. CHECK!
Hanging chad at the end for next sequel? And....check.

This movie took everything that was great about the first one, and threw it out the window! First, I hate this stupid plot device that Hollywood writers think they have to use at the start of a sequel. Break up the happy couple, so we can have the same "feel good feelings" from the first film. No. We don't want to see the hero and heroine fall in love all over again. We want to see their relationship just as happy at the beginning as it was at the end of the first film. Otherwise, why get them together in the first place?! The journey of the film can still make their bond stronger, they just don't need to start over!! But, this is a Disney film, where happy, functional families are illegal.

The film starts with is big set up with Lincoln's assassination, Ben Gates' great-great-grandfather, and the Knights of the Golden Circle. After the story is told, do we ever hear of the KGC again? No. What was the point? To disgrace the great-great-grandfather's name so that Ben was forced to go on the treasure hunt? There was no other way to get him interested? It had to be publicized widely? Wilkinson couldn't have just gone to Gates and asked for his help? Wouldn't the possibility that the link between Thomas Gates and the conspirators be enough to motivate him? That's just lazy writing.

Do I really need to explain the car chase?

The plot device with the President I like and don't like. I liked having Gates take the President on a mini treasure hunt for the escape tunnel in Mount Vernon, and I do understand that it would probably necessitate having the FBI and Secret Service on his back, but couldn't the President have cleared that all up? The discussion of the Book of Secrets didn't have to come up in anyone's explanation of what happened. And it was the FBI that jumped to conclusions in the first place. It didn't have to be the government that spurred the race to find the treasure. Wouldn't the KGC have been better? They would have made better villains in the long run I think.

Which brings me to Wilkinson's motivation for wanting to get Gates on this hunt, while at the same time seeming to want to stop him. He wants to be remembered in history as somebody. That's it. Doesn't want the gold. No affiliation with the KGC, no grand schemes to expose/protect the treasure. He causes all kinds of damage in London chasing Gates, assaults Gate's father, and kidnaps him mother, just so his name will be put into a history book somewhere. That's really shallow if you ask me.

National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets wasn't a bad movie per se, but it just wasn't as good as the first. More time taken on the writing and plot, and it could have been something really good. If they do make another sequel so that we can learn what was on page 47, I hope they actually put some effort into it, so that this movie is the exception and not the rule to the National Treasure franchise.

Going to the Dark Side

2008-06-20T05:45:53Z

The latest Doctor Who episode, Midnight, is an expose on the darker side of humanity. Fear and paranoia rule this episode. It's a wonderful psychological drama played out in 45 minutes, but also leaves you a little depressed about the lows people can sink to.

Things start out well enough. The Doctor decides to take an excursion to see a waterfall of sapphires while Donna chooses to stay behind. Being his usual, charming self, the Doctor gets the 6 other passengers to engage in conversation (a lost art is seems) on the 4 hour journey to the waterfalls. Everyone is getting along just fine, until the shuttle breaks down for some reason. Fear quickly starts to take hold as there is knocking on the sides of the shuttle on a world where nothing should be able to exist on the surface. When one of the passengers is seemingly possessed, the fear grows and the paranoia sets in, leaving the Doctor at odds with the human passengers, and all his usual charm and cleverness gets him nowhere.

Watching his episode made me very tense and uneasy. I was difficult to see the Doctor, who's usually so in control of the situation, not only lose it, but to be afraid himself. It's very rare that the Doctor is ever that afraid for himself. The last time was in the first series with Christopher Eccleston in the episode Dalek. But even in that one, he had Rose. In this episode, it was just the Doctor against a bunch of scared humans who just as easily turn on each other and the Doctor as look at you. Even though I did enjoy the episode, it was not comfortable to watch. Even after it's over, there's no real sigh of relief, because there was no real victory.

There was only one person who figured out what was going on, who could save the Doctor, who made the ultimate sacrifice to safe everyone, and we never knew her name.

Everybody's Saved!

2008-06-19T05:51:32Z

Concluding the story started in Silence in the Library, Forest of the Dead once again gives us a satisfying ending without giving a single thing away. Prof. River Song turns out to be someone of great importance to the Doctor later in this regeneration. But we never learn who or why, which is just the way it should be.

One of the great things about the Doctor, is that you know almost nothing about him personally. Yes, we know about Gallifrey and his people, the Time Lords, but, for heaven's sake, we don't even know his name! He is just The Doctor. And to be honest, I would be disappointed if any writer or producer tried to give him a proper name. John Smith is just fine if you truly need one, but really, The Doctor suits him just fine. And what about his family? You know he had to have one. He starts his travels with his Grand Daughter, Susan. So, he had to have had a wife and child/ren. In the new series, he's even admitted to being a father, but nothing more. It's the mystery around the Doctor that makes him so attractive and interesting.

The story ends in much of the same way that Moffat's first Doctor Who two-parter did, though, not exactly in the same way. It's still a happy ending. One I wouldn't mind if I were given the choice between it or death. To live in a world forever with the total sum of human knowledge isn't a bad way to pass the time. As long as I can read all the manga. :)

Count the Shadows

2008-06-03T21:13:43Z

If you've seen a Doctor Who episode in the last 3 1/2 series that's you've really enjoyed, and really gave you the creeps, it was probably written by Stephen Moffat. The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances, The Girl in the Fireplace, and Blink were all written by him. I loved Blink personally. The idea that statues can come to like, but only when we're not looking is just so creepy! The weeping angels they used in that episode were perfect. The flashes they used to make the angels appear to move, and their terrifying appearance all gave that unnerving feeling forever afterward that *any* statue might be moving toward you, when you're not looking. The ending of that episode was just classic!

Stephen Moffat does it again in the current season with Silence in the Library (To appear on Sci Fi in two weeks). This time, the creepiness comes from the most common place thing in the universe; Shadows. Something lurks in the shadows, and when they swarm, it's deadly! And Moffat weaves his tale masterfully, taking things from the every day, and incorporating them into his terror. The dust you see swirling around in a sunbeam? Maybe not as benign as you might have originally thought.

It's another episode too where the Doctor's future meets up with is current(past) self. The hints that are dropped in this episode are fascinating. I love the way the bits of information about the Doctor are being spoonfed to us. There isn't just one episode where we see everything about the Doctor's and Gallifrey's past. Over the course of these 3 1/2 seasons we are carefully given little tidbits, that we have to string together to get the story. And this is what makes the new Doctor Who series so much fun. There's so much for the fans to get together and talk about than just what happened in the episode. Fans love to speculate. It's what we do with our loves. And it's great to have writer and producer who understands that and gives us what we want.

jadexanadu @ 2008-05-23T14:43:00

2008-05-23T21:43:25Z

dae6b381b4c564e43269c9f0bbb1baa7

Talk about some freaky weather...

2008-05-23T06:06:02Z

Okay, last week, we were having a heat wave, reaching up into the 100's, and So. Cal was on fire again (though not as bad as last October). There was even a fire near my house, though it was probably just a small house fire and was out in the amount of time it took us to go grocery shopping. But all weekend, we were hearing sirens as the police and fire went down the street. We live off a main thoroughfare.

Today, temperatures were down in the 60's, there were sudden thunderstorms that lasted maybe 10-20 of pouring rain and then stopped. Coming home from work, the local news radio station suspended all of it's regular news for the weather. Palm Desert had snow. Summit pass was closed also due to snow. Hail was raining down in some areas with sizes ranging from a quarter to a golf ball! Freeways were shutting down, the hail was falling so hard. People were pulling over. And this is at the height of rush hour, on a Thursday before a holiday weekend! That's a very busy time for the freeways. Flash flood warning were popping in up every where, and to top it all off, we had a tornado warning for Southwest Riverside (just over the foothills from me). Three funnels appeared, one after the other over March Air Force base in Perris. They blew over some railroad cars, a semi-truck and caused an accident on the I-215, that had someone trapped.

Tornadoes do NOT happen in California. We get earthquakes and fires, but not tornadoes. It was just plain freaky....

Poking a Sacred Cow

2008-05-21T21:15:58Z

I know some things shouldn't be taken seriously, movies especially. That's why I've been a fan of MST3K for over a decade now, and of the new ventures by crew from the now defunct show, The Film Crew, and Rifftracks. Rifftracks are especially fun, since it's big Hollywood movies getting the MST3K treatment, often deservedly. But, I have to admit, the latest edition to our library was a little hard to swallow. Which movie am I talking about? That classic of action/adventure cinema, Raiders of the Lost Ark, the movie that increased archeology and anthropology class attendance in the 80's.

Not only is this movie filled with iconic scenes and lines, but it's a precious memory from my childhood. As we were watching it, I could hear the audience gasping and "ewwww"ing at the beginning, when Indy's guide turns around in the cave, and his back is covered in tarantulas. And every time Indy fired his gun, I could hear the echo of every shot just like it was in the old Fox movie theater that I saw it in back in the early eighties. These are impressions that have survived and stayed with me for over twenty years. So, listening to three wisecracking guys dissect and make fun of this movie (they even diss the theme! Sacrelige!), I could feel the indigation welling up in me. Several times I had to mentally tell myself that is was just a movie and it was all in good fun. Mike, Kevin and Bill didn't really hate the movie, or the music, or Harrison Ford. How could they? This was a classic (in the true sense of the word)! They did have some good riffs that make me laugh out loud, but I still felt dirty at the end. This was still a treasured memory, and it will always remain so.

ID4,on the other hand, (which we watched the next night), that deserved most (not all) of the riffing it got. It's a bonehead movie (to quote the great Harlan Ellison), but it's a fun bonehead movie, with just as many memorable lines and scenes as Indy, but will never become a classic on the same level. It's a cow that can easily handle the pokes.

Feeding the inner child

2008-05-20T19:13:33Z

Over the weekend I completed the first two waves of the new Indiana Jones toys that are out. With the new movie coming, there are of course lots of toys coming out, but I was really only interested in the First wave, which were all figures from the first movie Raiders of the Lost Ark. But after searching like 5 stores to get all the basic figures (Marion was the hardest of course) and then all the deluxe, I broke down an decided to get the Crystal Skull figures. Guess which was the hardest of that wave...yup. The chick. I really have to thank my husband, who, frustrated from not finding something he was looking for, stopped at Walmart, and stumbled upon Irda, to make my collection complete.

How the hell would she know?!

2008-05-12T22:06:20Z

(Spoilers for Doctor Who series 4 episode 6, The Doctor's Daughter)

I've been a fan of Doctor Who for a long time. I started watching it on PBS when it first came to our shores with Tom Baker as the fourth doctor, was reading the new monthly mag at freshman year band camp, and was in the short lived Doctor Who Fan Club of America. I watched all the way through the 7th Doctor, watched the TV movie on Fox, and even own some of the Big Finish audios. I've been watching the new series from Britain through "alternative means", and just watched "The Doctor's Daughter" last night. Now that I've established by Doctor Who cred...

Where the hell does Martha get off saying that Jenny wasn't going to regenerate?! What does she know of Time Lords or regenerations? She was with the Doctor for only one series, and has never seen a time lord regeneration. The only Time Lord she could have had an opportunity to see was the Master's, and that happened in the TARDIS, so there's no way that she did. One could argue that read about it in the UNIT files, but UNIT has only had on visual of a regeneration (3rd-4th), and that's hardly enough to make one expert enough to make a diagnosis!

I totally called Jenny's sacrifice. It was so obvious from the way the show was going. But after all the work they put into pointing out how much Jenny was like the Doctor, two hearts and all, she just had to be able to regenerate. You just knew she had to as well. Even though she didn't technically regenerate (her appearance didn't change, just her heart was repaired), she exhaled the golden light that has become synonymous with regenerations in this new series. But since she's not a naturally born Time Lord, it just took longer for the regeneration to take place.

I never warmed up to Martha. I really couldn't stand her falling in love with the Doctor. But then, I couldn't stand Rose in series 2 either. She worked well with Christopher Eccleston's 9th Doctor portrayal. But all the "lovey" looks between Tennant's 10th and Rose really got on my nerves. While Donna doesn't light any fires for me either, she's at least a proper companion. Not infatuated with the Doctor, and while not intelligent, she's got smarts and knows how to use 'em.

Like a Phoenix

2008-05-12T20:21:04Z

I know I've been gone for a while. Well, actually I started a wordpress blog, and that's where all my manga related stuff has been going. Go check it out. Manga Xanadu. But I'm very compartmentalized about things, and I don't want to post my non-manga stuff there, so I've decided to resurrect this blog (so to speak). I need a place to rant about all the things that need to be said. This will become my outlet for all the TV, movie and anime I see that needs to be ranted about, good or bad.

Like the new look? I thought this theme was really cool. I changed my moods too. It's hard to decide between cats and dragons, but I really like these kitties. :)

Watch out for some rants. I've been saving up some, as well as new ones popping up all the time!

Things My Children Won't Know

2007-12-21T17:49:34Z

As Christmas fast approaches, and I sit at my desk listening to my Christmas CDs, I'm reminded of how I got to like Christmas Carols. I'm not a religious person. I grew up in a house, where we went to church only as long as my Great Aunt still lived in the same city. When she moved down to San Clemente, our church-going stopped. But that never stopped my love of many of the symbols of Christmas.

Growing up in the seventies, at school we were still traditional schedule. Year-round school was unheard of. Our school had a Christmas assembly, and we would sing Christmas carols. I learned the only Hanukkah song I know at school. We would have a Christmas party on the last Friday before Christmas Vacation, with cookies shaped like Christmas Trees, Santas, stockings and reindeer, and Christmas carols playing in the background. Even if I didn't believe in the religious parts of Christmas, it was a time to enjoy and be with friends. Even into High School, in the band, we played for Christmas assembly, and even had a woodwind quartet to go caroling with.

Today, my kids will never know any of these things. Schools don't do Christmas assemblies. It's not even Christmas break anymore. It's winter break. My kids aren't even AT school during December, since their school is year-round, and they just happen to be on the track that's off in December. They don't get to do any of the Christmas activities I remember doing and having fun. So, I don't know if there are Christmas parties at the end, but I doubt it. Schools used to help shape a cultural consciousness, and give children experiences that they wouldn't normally get. Listening to carols at home just isn't the same as practicing with friends and singing for your parents.

I know things change and time moves on, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.

Rainy day thoughts

2007-11-30T22:09:25Z

I just had to change my journal theme. That fire place and hot cocoa is exactly how I like to spend rainy days. That's why I'm sitting at my desk at work with a portable heater at my feet and watching the rain pour down. And I do mean pour. It was really coming down hard for a while there. It's stopped for the moment, but the skies are still dark and gray. It'll probably start up again about the time I have to leave, in my car with no heater. I bought boots just for this kind of situation. And I even remembered to where them!

While I'm at work, I like to be listening to something, so I have several podcasts that I regularily listen to. But every once in a while, I'll bring music cds from home. I'm putting all our cds in a database, so I brignt them to work and listen to them before getting them in. It's a good excuse to listen to some discs I haven't heard in ages. But then, my husband had to go and find all these discs of music from the sixties and seventies Ultraman and Super Sentai series. He really likes those old live action series, and decided to share with me. He filled by cd case and I brought them to work. I thought the seventies Sentai sound with all the brass was scary enough. I was wrong. The sixties Ultraman totally has it over the Super Sentai seventies. From children's choirs with the booming bass voice, to the songs sung to/about the monsters (with the monsters joining in), to the upbeat marches and low key hymns, it's really something you have to experience.

I am so glad I was an 80's child.

Turkey Day Light Reading

2007-11-22T21:26:31Z

Need something to do while the turkey's cooking? Don't know what to shop for tomorrow on Black Friday? Then check out these reviews I've written for Manga Life! There is a wide range of manga available, and there's sure to be something for everyone.

La Corda d'oro vol 1
B't X vol 13
Samurai Commando: Mission 1549 vol 1
Hellsing vol 8
Inuyasha vol 30
Pick of the Litter vol 1
Dr. Slump vol 12
Chibi Vampire vol 5
St. Lunatic High School vol 1
Full Metal Alchemist vol 14
O-Parts Hunter vol 5
tactics vol 2
King of Cards vol 1
Tsukoyomi Moon Phase vol 8
Sprial: The Bonds of Reasoning vol 1
Pichi Pichi Pitch Mermaid Melody vol 6
Grenadier vol 4
Kamen Tantei vol 4
Shaman King vol 13

Right now at Manga Life there is no way for feedback or comments to be left on the site, so if you agree or disagree with my reviews, or just have some feedback for my reviews in general, please leave them here, or send me an email. I would really love to hear what you think!

Happy Thanksgiving!