Month: June 2024

Movie Review: Godzilla Minus One (2023)

~ Liam ~ 1 Comment

Title: Godzilla Minus One
Release Date: November 3, 2023
Director: Takashi Yamazaki
Production Company: Toho Studios | Robot Communications
Summary/Review:

The original Godzilla is a classic because it is a human drama metaphorically representing the trauma of war in age of atomic weapons.  Plus it has a terrifying monster rampaging through Tokyo.  Godzilla Minus One follows a similar premise, set at the end of World War II and in the immediate years afterwards as the survivors of the war deal with shame, loss, and stresses of everyday survival.  It also shows the resilience of a people who work together when they will receive no support from their own government or that of their victorious opponent.

Kōichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki) is a kamikaze pilot who fakes a mechanical problem with his plane to avoid carrying out his mission.  He lands his fighter on Odo Island for repairs and overnight the base is devastated by Godzilla.  Only Kōichi and the mechanic Sōsaku Tachibana (Munetaka Aoki) survive.  Plagued by guilt and remorse, Kōichi returns to a devastated Tokyo where his family has not survived.  He takes in a young woman, Noriko Ōishi (Minami Hamabe) and an orphan baby she is caring for, Akiko.  The form a found family, although Kōichi and Noriko are not romantically involved initially.

Kōichi finds work on a minesweeper ship and begins to rebuild his life.  But then Godzilla returns and attacks the mainland.  Turns out that a member of the minesweeper crew, Kenji Noda (Hidetaka Yoshioka), has a plan to destroy Godzilla which is both entirely practical and kind of hilarious.  Kenji forms a civilian organization to carry out his plan, while Kōichi plots his own revenge with a fighter restored by Sōsaku.

The movie has a lot of action and heroism worth of a popcorn flick.  But it also deals deeply with a lot of the emotions that the characters are dealing with going through multiple traumas.  The movie is both cynical about the society that let them get to such a low point while also optimistic about the power of the people working together.  In short, it’s just an absolutely brilliant film on multiple levels.  My only wish is that Noriko didn’t get sidetracked for a better part of the movie’s duration, because it’s a rather man-heavy film, and she’s an interesting character.

Rating: ****

TV Review: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-1994)

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In what should be a long-term project, I plan to watch and review every Star Trek television show and movie in the order that they were released.

Title: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Release Date: September 25, 1993 – June 11, 1994
Production Company: Paramount Domestic Television
Episodes:  26
Summary/Review:

The second season of Deep Space Nine is hit or miss, but overall is a solid season of television.  It is definitely better than season 7 of The Next Generation which aired simultaneously.  I once again regret not watching this in its original run, although I have to remind myself that my younger self had different taste.

The show is strongly character-based, and it wisely is a true ensemble show with each characters getting multiple chances to shine throughout the season.  Deep Space Nine is also starting to be closer to the serialized television that is common today, with strong continuity through the season especially the first three episodes.  The Star Trek universe’s next big antagonist are also introduced this season: The Dominion.  The idea of this entity in the Gamma Quadrant is seeded throughout the season with great restraint before our crew finally has a disastrous encounter with The Dominion in the final episode.

Top 5 Episodes:

  • Necessary Evil
  • The Armageddon Game
  • The Jem’Hadar
  • The Homecoming/ The Circle/The Siege (cheating here, but it was essentially a three-parter)
  • Paradise

And the biggest stinker: Second Sight

Related Posts:

NOTE: The capsule reviews below the cut presume familiarity with the episodes and contain SPOILERS!

Continue reading “TV Review: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-1994)” →

Movie Review: Butterfly in the Sky (2024)

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Title: Butterfly in the Sky
Release Date: March 17, 2024
Director: Bradford Thomason & Brett Whitcomb
Production Company: XTR | Sidestilt Films | Window Pictures | Foothill Productions
Summary/Review:

I was too old for Reading Rainbow when it debuted in 1983, but even in high school I remember it’s catch theme song and how soothing the show was to have on in the background.  The show’s host LeVar Burton is someone I’ve long admired and consider him alongside other PBS luminaries Fred Rogers and Bob Ross as role models for truly gentle men.  I’ve also been a big fan of his podcast LeVar Burton Reads which recently ended its seven year run.

This film is straightforward as documentaries go, but it’s a fascinating subject.  The creators and producers behind the show had little experience in television, but bold ideas and a willingness to try new things.  Thus they created a show that demonstrably encouraged children to enjoy reading.  Interviews with the adults who appeared on the show recommending books as children are particularly entertaining.

Burton and others testified before Congress when the Republican “Contract On America” targeted PBS funding in the 1990s.  That successfully saved PBS for a time, but Reading Rainbow would meet it’s end with No Child Left Behind.   Educational organizations didn’t want to fund a show that couldn’t be analyzed through standardized testing.  A thoroughly disgusting way to end something that was truly making progress for all children.  But as this documentary shows, Reading Rainbow continues to bear a positive influence to this day.

Rating: ***1/2

 

 

Song of the Week: “Lowlands” by The Superwomen

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The Superwomen – “Lowlands”

Today’s Song of the Week was recorded in 1966 at La Serna High School in California!  Despite the age and presumably lo-fi equipment of a high school, it sounds surprisingly crisp and contemporary.  The song captures the beautiful harmonies of high school seniors Celeste Fremon, Janice Consoli and Mary Martin as they address the racial inequities of the Civil Rights Era.  The song is available to us now on the Someone Like Me compilation, collected and restored by Australian disc digger Mikey Young.

Songs of the Week for 2024

January

February

March

April

  • “Voiles” by Flore Laurentienne
  • “Rose-Tinted” by Shay De Castro
  • “Colloquially” by Caity Gyorgy
  • “Pandora” by Wisp
  • “Bandolera” (feat. Tayson Kryss · KEVIN ROLDAN · Martina Camargo · Albert Breaker · Junior Black) by BADDIES ONLY

May

June

 

TV Review: Star Trek: Discovery (2024)

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In what should be a long-term project, I plan to watch and review every Star Trek television show and movie in the order that they were released, plus new shows as they are released.

Title: Star Trek: Discovery
Release Date: April 4, 2024 – May 30, 2024
Production Company:  Secret Hideout | Roddenberry Entertainment | Living Dead Guy Productions | CBS Studios
Episodes:  10
Summary/Review:

And so we reach the final season of Star Trek: Discovery.  It wasn’t planned to be the final season, but I think it’s a good decision to end the story here as after one more high-stakes adventure, I don’t think they would be able to up the ante any more.  This season’s adventure is finding the secrets of creating sentient, humanoid life from the Progenitors, as introduced in The Next Generation episode “The Chase.”

Personally I think that quest would be exciting enough for a season arc, but Discovery once again introduces unnecessary antagonists in a pair of couriers, Moll and L’ak.  The show really grinds to a halt any time these two characters get much screentime.  On a brighter note, the crew is joined by Rayner (Callum Keith Rennie) a reckless and antisocial officer seeking redemption.  We also get to spend time with some of my favorite characters like Saru, Tilly, Stamets, Culber, Adira, Booker, and Jett Reno. Some other characters aren’t given much time (Detmer and Owosekun are sent off for most of the season, and Gray breaks up with Adira early on).

Discovery will never be my favorite Star Trek series, but it did come into its own in the final three season after the jump to the far future.  Despite a penchant for dramatic plot twists, action for action’s sake, and unnecessary antagonists that I feel cheapen the storytelling, it has always been a well-acted, character-driven show, soso I’m glad that several of their story arcs are completed in a satisfying way.

NOTE: The capsule reviews below the cut presume familiarity with the episodes and contain SPOILERS!

Continue reading “TV Review: Star Trek: Discovery (2024)” →

Star Trek: The Next Generation Essential Viewing Guide

~ Liam ~ 2 Comments

When I finished watching the original Star Trek series, I posted a ranked list of all the episodes.  However, I don’t think ranked lists are the most effective way to show the best of a TV series.  So for Star Trek: The Next Generation, I’m making an essential viewing guide.  This list includes all of the episodes that I gave a grade of A- or higher, but also significant episodes to ongoing story and character arcs throughout the series.  Mind you, these aren’t the only episodes you should watch if you’re interested in Star Trek: The Next Generation, but they are the episodes I think you shouldn’t miss.  72 of the series 178 episodes are listed here, but if you think I overlooked any vital episodes, let me know in the comments.

Season 1

  • 1-2. Encounter at Farpoint – the premiere is stiff and uneven, but it introduces all our main characters as well as Q.
  • 6. Where No One Has Gone Before – the first truly good adventure for the Enterprise-D, which introduces the Traveler and a story arc for Wesley Crusher.
  • 12. The Big Goodbye – the first of many stories in which the holodeck goes wrong, and one of the best.
  • 13. Datalore – gets us acquainted with Data’s origin story and introduces his evil twin.
  • 20. Heart of Glory – an introduction on how The Next Generation is going to explore Klingon culture in ways never seen before and Worf’s ongoing efforts to learn about his people.
  • 23. Skin of Evil – typically, killing off a major character in the first season is a bold move, but for TNG it was a sign of the series’ production troubles.  Nevertheless, Tasha Yar’s memorial service may be the character’s best moment.

Season 2

  • 3. Elementary, Dear Data – Data & Geordi’s fascination with Sherlock Holmes stories accidentally leads to the creation of an AI lifeform.
  • 8. A Matter of Honor – Riker joins a Klingon ship on an officer exchange program.  More Klingon fun and a great episode for Riker.
  • 9. The Measure of a Man – speaking of lifeforms, Data has to prove to Starfleet he’s a sentient being with rights with Riker forced to prosecute the case against him.
  • 16. Q Who – The crew of the Enterprise-D face their most notorious adversary for the first time, the Borg!
  • 20. The Emissary – In order to negotiate with a Klingon sleeper ship, the Federation sends half-Klingon/half-human K’Ehleyr to join the Enterprise, who turns out to be a romantic interest for Worf.  An important story in Worf’s ongoing character arc.
  • 21. Peak Performance – to prepare for the Borg, the Enterprise crew are split into two ships to compete in military exercises.  A good episode for the characters showing their talents outside of their typical roles.

Season 3

  • 5. The Bonding – Worf bonds with a boy orphaned after his mother dies on away mission.  Ronald D. Moore’s first script for the show.
  • 6. Booby Trap – Geordi figures out how to fix the warp drive with a holodeck recreation of its designer, Dr. Leah Brahams and Picard shows off his piloting skills.
  • 7. The Enemy – Geordi is stranded on a planet with a Romulan crash survivor and they have to work together to escape.
  • 10. The Defector – An elite Romulan defects to the Federation in an effort to prevent war.  But does his story ring true?
  • 13. Deja Q – Q is stripped of his powers and forced to live as a human in this humorous episode.
  • 15. Yesterday’s Enterprise – a time rift creates an alternate timeline where the Federation is at war with the Klingon Empire and Tasha Yar is still alive.  An all-time classic!
  • 17. Sins of the Father – Worf meets a long-lost family member and they challenge the Klingon High Council’s judgement of Worf’s father.
  • 22. The Most Toys – Data is captured by a collector and put in a private museum, but stoically refuses to be treated as an object.  A great performance by Brent Spiner.
  • 23. Sarek – TNG avoided references to the original series up to this point, but in this episode Spock’s father Sarek, aged and ailing, forms a bond with Picard.
  • 26. The Best of Both Worlds, Part 1 – the Borg are preparing to attack Earth and they assimilate Picard to be their mouthpiece.  This was the first season-ending cliffhanger for Star Trek and one of the best.

Season 4

  • 1. The Best of Both Worlds, Part II – The Enterprise crew must rescue Captain Picard and defeat the Picard, which they do in the most unexpected way.
  • 2. Family – a rarity in the era of episodic television, characters deal with the ramifications of the previous story, particularly Picard suffering PTSD on a visit to his brother’s vineyard.
  • 3. Brothers – Data meets his father and has to face off against Lore again.
  • 5. Remember Me – Dr. Crusher contends with everyone disappearing from existence and having to solve the mystery, with an another appearance by The Traveler.
  • 6. Legacy – The Enterprise visits Tasha Yar’s home planet and meets her sister who is part of one of the planet’s warring factions.
  • 7. Reunion – K’Ehleyr returns with a child, Alexander, fathered by Worf!  Another story in the ongoing Klingon political conflict that will be paid off in the season finale.
  • 8. Future Imperfect – Riker wakes up 16 years in the future not remembering what happened in the intervening years.
  • 11. Data’s Day – A concept episode that shows one day from the point of view of Data. It’s also a story that’s key for Keiko and Miles O’Brien, and introduces Data’s cat Spot!
  • 12. The Wounded – another important Miles O’Brien story in which his former captain has gone rogue against the Cardassians.
  • 14. Clues – the crew wake up after passing through a wormhole and realize that certain things are … off … about the ship.
  • 15. First Contact – a story told from the point of view of a world meeting the aliens from space (the Enterprise crew) for the first time.
  • 20. Qpid – some silly fun when Q puts the crew into a Robin Hood adventure.
  • 22. Half A Life – Lwaxana Troi has a touching romance with an alien from a world where the tradition is practice ritual suicide at the age of 60.  With a great guest performance by David Ogden Stiers.
  • 26. Redemption, Part 1 – Worf leaves Starfleet to join his brother in the Klingon Civil War supporting Gowron against the Duras Sisters.

Season 5

  • 1. Redemption, Part II – the conclusion ties up the ongoing Klingon political conflict with Picard outwitting the Romulan Sela.
  • 2. Darmok – a masterpiece of Star Trek storytelling in which Picard is caught in an adventure with a Tamarian captain in order for him to learn their language that is told through metaphors.
  • 3. Ensign Ro – a new crew member with a trouble past joins the Enterprise.  The Bajorans and their liberation from the Cardassians become key to the spinoff series Deep Space Nine.
  • 5. Disaster – in a pastiche to disaster films, each member of the crews finds themselves in a position outside of their experience with Troi in command on the bridge, Worf helping to deliver Keiko’s baby, and Picard trapped in a turbolift with children.
  • 6. The Game – the crew become addicted to a virtual reality game and only a visiting Wesley Crusher and guest star Ashley Judd can save the day.
  • 7-8. Unification – Spock is back!  The Enterprise crew seek out Ambassador Spock as he carries out a renegade plan to work with a Romulan resistance movement.
  • 14. Conundrum – the entire crew lose their memory and have to figure out who is in charge and what is their mission.
  • 17. The Outcast – in a story that acts as a metaphor for the LGBTQ experience, Riker and a person from an androgynous society fall in love.
  • 18. Cause and Effect – a great time loop story that features the Enterprise exploding several times and then meeting Kelsey Grammer.
  • 19. The First Duty – Wesley Crusher is caught up in a scandal at Starfleet Academy.
  • 23. I, Borg – a Borg separated from the hive mind begins to develop an individual personality and takes on the name Hugh.
  • 24. The Next Phase – Ro and LaForge are caught out of phase in a transporter incident and have to figure out how they can be recovered while observing the crew planning their memorial service.
  • 25. The Inner Light – Picard is caught in the beam of a space beacon and experiences that entire life of a man who lived on a world that is now gone.  Another masterpiece.

Season 6

  • 4. Relics – Scotty is back after being trapped in a transporter for decades.  After some fan service, the show depicts Scotty finding a way to feel useful working with Geordi.
  • 7. Rascals – a silly but clever story where Picard, Ro, Guinan, and Keiko are turned into 12-year-old children with their adult memories and experience after a transporter incident.
  • 8. A Fistful of Datas – Data’s mind gets caught in the ship’s computer causing strange and dangerous things to happen in Alexander’s Old West holodeck program.
  • 10-11. Chain of Command – Picard is captured when an undercover mission on a Cardassian planet goes wrong and is tortured by Gul Madred (David Warner). One of Star Trek’s greatest dramas and a gut-wrenching performance by Patrick Stewart.
  • 14. Face of the Enemy – a surgically-altered Troi goes undercover on a Romulan warbird.
  • 15. Tapestry – during a near-death experience, Q allows Picard to relive his younger days and address his greatest regret.
  • 16-17. Birthright – Worf (and Data) learn more about their fathers.
  • 20. The Chase – I didn’t like this episode much but it is the background to season 5 of Star Trek: Discovery.
  • 21. Frame of Mind – Riker is made to believe that he’s in a mental institution and everything he knows about his life is a delusion.  Great performance by Jonathan Frakes.
  • 24. Second Chances – a transporter incident 8 years earlier left a duplicate of Riker trapped on a planet.  When discovered, it turns out the two variants of the same man have faced different experiences that give them widely varying goals in life.
  • 25. Timescape – Picard, Troi, LaForge, and Data return from a conference to find the Enterprise frozen in time while trapped in a battle with a Romulan warbird.  A fun mystery ensues.

Season 7

  • 11. Parallels – Worf gets caught in a multiverse with the Enterprise changing subtly and then dramatically with each shift.
  • 12. The Pegasus – Riker must face a poor decision he made early in his career when reunited with his first commander.
  • 13. Homeward – the ethics of the Prime Directive are examined when Worf’s adoptive brother uses the Enterprise to help a pre-technological alien people escape disaster on their homeworld.
  • 15. Lower Decks – an episode the shows the point of view of four junior officers as they are brought into a secret mission on the Enterprise.
  • 20. Journey’s End – an awkward story in which the removal of a settlement of Native Americans on a planet now in Cardassian territory.  The episode is important because it ends Wesley Crusher’s story arc with The Traveler, and introduces the background to the Maquis, who will play a greater role in Deep Space Nine and Voyager.
  • 24. Preemptive Strike – speaking of the Maquis, Ro Laren is assigned to infiltrated a cell and finds herself sympathetic to their cause.
  • 25-26. All Good Things… – the journey comes full circle as Picard finds himself jumping in time to 7 years earlier and into the far future.  Naturally, Q is involved.

Book Review: God Help the Child by Toni Morrison

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Author: Toni Morrison
Title: God Help the Child
Narrator: Toni Morrison
Publication Info: Random House Audio, 2015
Other Books I’ve Read by the Same Author:

Summary/Review:

When Bride is born with significantly darker skin than her parents, she is raised without love. Her mother even insists on being called “Sweetness” rather than any maternal name. When Bride is still young, she falsely testifies against a teacher in “Satanic Panic” type of child abuse case, just so she can get a moment of affection from Sweetness.

As an adult, Bride has become successful in the beauty industry and plans to bring skin care products to the former teacher when she’s released from prison as a means of atonement.  This causes Bride’s current partner Booker Starbern to leave her.  The bulk of the book details Bride’s meeting with the teacher and her later search for Booker, both of which lead to a great amount of pain and suffering for Bride.  In flashbacks to their past, we learn that Bride and Booker’s experiences with child abuse have arrested their development as adults (in Bride’s case this becomes quite literal in a magical realist way).  It’s a powerful story of learning to deal with the trauma of abuse and racism and finding redemption in relationships with others.

Rating: ***1/2

Book Reviews: The Man Who Folded Himself by David Gerrold

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Author: David Gerrold 
Title: The Man Who Folded Himself 
Publication Info: BenBella Books (2003) [Originally published in 1973]
Summary/Review:

Daniel Eakins, a detached college student, inherits a time belt from his Uncle Jim.  The device allows him to travel through time and he quickly masters it’s use to make himself a fortune through gambling and investment.  But beyond traveling through time, he continues to be visited by variants of himself from different time periods.  The situation soon becomes confused as different variants of himself live together (and even have sexual relationships) and continually overwrite Danny’s past.  The book takes a philosophical approach to time travel paradox that is both clever and bizarre.   Gerrold, most famous for screenwriting “The Trouble With Tribbles,” was in the vanguard of science fiction/speculative fiction with this work, although it seems a little dated now.

Favorite Passages:

Look, you can change the future, right? The future is exactly the same as the past, only it hasn’t happened yet. You haven’t perceived it. The real difference between the two—the only difference—is your point of view. If the future can be altered, so can the past. Every change you make is cumulative; it goes on top of every other change you’ve already made, and every change you add later will go on top of that. You can go back in time and talk yourself out of winning a million and a half dollars, but the resultant world is not one where you didn’t win a million and a half dollars; it’s a world where you talked yourself out of it. See the difference? – p. 46

The past is the future. The future is the past. There’s no difference between the two and either can be changed. I’m flashing across a series of alternate worlds, creating and destroying a new one every time I bounce. The universe is infinite. And so are the possibilities of my life. – p. 49

Presumably there are worlds that are better than this one, but if I create them, it must be carefully, because I have to live in them too. I will be a part of whatever world I create, so I cannot be haphazard with them. – p. 73

Recommended books:

Rating: ***1/2

Book Review: Godkiller by Hanah Kaner

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Author: Hanah Kaner
Title: Godkiller
Narrator: Kit Griffiths
Publication Info: HarperAudio, 2023
Summary/Review:

In the kingdom of Middren, gods are forbidden by the king, although the common people still worship on the sly.  Kissen, a woman whose life is scarred by the violence of the gods, takes on killing gods as a freelancer. But when she encounters a girl from a noble family, Inara, who has been tethered to the small god of white lies, Skedi, she makes a vow to protect them.  They travel to Blenraden, forbidden city of wild gods, in hopes of finding a way to separate Inara and Skedi.  They are joined on their quest by Elogast, a knight turned baker, on his own secret mission for the king.

Kaner creates a fascinating, lived-in world of high fantasy.  The gods are like mad creatures who gain strength from prayers, offerings, and shrines.  The main characters are all interesting and complex and I like how they become a found family.  This small group of travelers also serve as an entry into a bigger world of a kingdom on the verge of being torn apart by civil war.

 
Recommended books:

Rating:  ***

Song of the Week: “Von Dutch” by Charli XCX

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Charli XCX – “Von Dutch”

Charli XCX is weird in the way she dances around the edge of pop and dance music that I should appreciate.  So do I like her music?  Kind of.  Should I listen to her more?  Maybe.  Anyhow, “Von Dutch” is the standout song for me from her new album release Brat.

Songs of the Week for 2024

January

February

March

April

  • “Voiles” by Flore Laurentienne
  • “Rose-Tinted” by Shay De Castro
  • “Colloquially” by Caity Gyorgy
  • “Pandora” by Wisp
  • “Bandolera” (feat. Tayson Kryss · KEVIN ROLDAN · Martina Camargo · Albert Breaker · Junior Black) by BADDIES ONLY

May

June