Tag: Science Fiction

TV Review: Star Trek: The Next Generation (1993-1994)

~ Liam ~ 1 Comment

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: The Next Generation
Release Date: September 20, 1993 – May 23, 1994
Production Company: Paramount Domestic Television
Episodes:  26
Summary/Review:

After a month away with the crews of Deep Space Nine and Discovery, it’s nice to rejoin the Enterprise in their final season.  Nevertheless, I had some trepidation heading into season 7.  For one thing, I remember it not being all that good, at least before the finale “All Good Things…” The bigger thing is the nostalgia for 30 years ago when the end of Star Trek: The Next Generation was a bittersweet moment for me.  It will be sad to have no more TNG episodes left for me to watch for the first time.

Watching the season, it was indeed wildly uneven, with some of the biggest stinkers since the early years of the series.  But there were also some excellent episodes with a lasting legacy of what we think of The Next Generation crew 30 years later.

Top 5 Episodes:

 

And the biggest stinker:

Related Posts:

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

Continue reading “TV Review: Star Trek: The Next Generation (1993-1994)” →

Movie Reviews: Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

~ Liam ~ 1 Comment

Title: Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Release Date: November 15, 1977
Director: Steven Spielberg
Production Company: Julia Phillips and Michael Phillips Productions | Columbia Pictures |  EMI Films
Summary/Review:

Strange incidents around the world, including the appearance of airplanes and ships that went missing long ago, and French scientist Claude Lacombe (French New Wave director François Truffaut in bizarre but inspired casting) and his American interpreter David Laughlin (Bob Balaban) investigate.  Meanwhile in Indiana, after widespread power outages, electrical lineman  Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss) is sent out to make repairs and he has an encounter with an alien spacecraft.  Roy’s life is transformed by the experience and he tries to recreate a vision of a mysterious mountain.  His mania leads to his wife Ronnie (Teri Garr) leaving with their children.  But he finds a common interest with Jillian Guiler (Melinda Dillon), a single mother whose young child Barry Guiler (Cary Guffey) was abducted by the aliens.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind stands out from the blockbuster films of the 70s & 80s for it’s slower pace, big scientific ideas, and willingness to embrace ambiguity.  It feels a lot more like 2001: A Space Odyssey than Star Wars.  But it also has many Spielberg-ian touches, especially in the depiction of the Roy’s suburban family.  The scene when the family falls apart with Roy, Ronnie, and the children all shouting their own fears and anger simultaneously is particularly effective.  The special effects look a little bit dated, even compared to Spielberg’s later works, but are still impressive.  I found the sound design particularly effective as one could hear murmurs of conversation, atmospheric sounds, and the ever present TV and radio advertisements behind many scenes.  And of course there’s John Williams’ score with the unforgettable 5-note musical phrase.

The movie strikes an interesting balance between fear and wonder.  There are some terrifying scenes in this movie, and first contact with aliens causes even some of the scientists to run while others stare in awe.  And while science is at the heart of the movie, art is equally important, from Roy’s sculpture to the music used to communicate with the aliens.  Communication is a key theme of the movie with the breakdown of communication within Roy’s family contrasted with the hopefully more successful attempt to “talk” with the aliens.  I watched this movie when I was young – probably in an “edited for TV” version – but it was great to revisit it with the perspectives of an adult.

Here are some parts of the movie that stand out to me [SPOILERS]:

  • Roy’s close encounter in his truck is an amazing scene from the effects to Dreyfuss’ performance.  And when the lights in the rear window rise UP, I always laugh.
  • The scene with Barry’s abduction is also fantastically done and quite terrifying in a movie that never quite settles on being horror or optimistic until the very end.
  • When the crowd of people in India all point UP at once, what a shot!
  • A scientist very seriously and urgently declares “”We’ll need a geodetic survey map of Wyoming.”
  • The arrival of the massive mother ship from behind Devil’s Tower is the piece-de-resistance!

Rating: ****

 

 

TV Review: Star Trek: Discovery (2021-2022)

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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. And new series (close to) when they come out.

Title: Star Trek: Discovery
Release Date: November 18, 2021 – March 17, 2022
Production Company: Secret Hideout | Roddenberry Entertainment | Living Dead Guy Productions | CBS Studios
Episodes:  13
Summary/Review:

The fifth and final season of Discovery is debuted this month and I realized that I never watched season four, so this should address that! Somehow, it’s been almost three years since I last watched Discovery so it was a bit of a catch-up for me to remember character and story arcs on this the most serialized of Star Trek shows.  This also would be the first time I’d be reviewing the Discovery series since I adopted the practice of writing capsule reviews for each episode as I go along which feels a bit weird when each episode is part of a longer story.

Each season of Discovery has a galaxy-level threat as the season story arc in this season is no exception. In previous years, the crew of the Discovery dealt with the rogue AI Control and The Burn.  This season the threat is a Dark Matter Anomaly (DMA) destroying parts of the galaxy.  Without getting too deep into spoilers, the threat is made by aliens from outside our galaxy, and the Discovery crew go where no one has gone before in their efforts to make first contact with these strange beings!

When Discovery started, the feel of the show was very “grimdark,”  a style of storytelling I don’t like in general, and especially felt unsuited to the optimism of Star Trek.  This season though there are a lot of moments where the characters are getting in touch with their feelings, modeling conflict resolution, and offering one another positive support.  It’s such a shift from how the series began, and I admit that I like that they’ve made a place for this positivity in the show, although it can get heavy-handed. Overall, I think this is the most enjoyable season of the show thus far.

 

Related Posts:

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

Continue reading “TV Review: Star Trek: Discovery (2021-2022)” →

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

~ Liam ~ 1 Comment

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:  January 3, 1993 -June 20, 1993
Production Company: Paramount Domestic Television
Episodes:  20
Summary/Review:

I’m excited to enter the part of this project where I will “boldly go” where I’ve never been before.  I watched some episodes in the early run of Deep Space Nine, but never really got into the show.  It felt to much like a “soap opera” to me which in retrospect just means that it was a show pivotal in the transition from episodic to serial television as the standard.  A bigger reason that I didn’t watch much of Deep Space Nine (nor Voyager and Enterprise) is that starting in 1995, I lived for 22 years without a TV in my residence, and before streaming became widespread it was near impossible to keep up on current shows.  I’ve heard a lot of good things about Deep Space Nine over the years and I’m excited about catching up on what I missed.

After watching the season, I have to say I loved it.  It’s a show that remains true to it’s Star Trek setting while exploring the possibility of conflict when people of different backgrounds come together in the same space for a common goal.  I was even surprised to learn that episodes considered to be notoriously bad (ex. “Move Along Home”) felt like perfectly enjoyable stories to me.  The cast is strong and from what I’ve heard from fans, the show only gets better so I have a lot to look forward to.

Top 5 Episodes:

  1. Duet
  2. Progress
  3. In the Hands of the Prophets
  4. The Emissary
  5. The Forsaken

And the biggest stinker: The Passenger

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)” →

TV Review: Star Trek: The Next Generation (1992-1993)

~ Liam ~ 1 Comment

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: The Next Generation
Release Date: September 21, 1992 – June 21, 1993
Production Company: Paramount Domestic Television
Episodes:  26
Summary/Review:

Watching the sixth season of The Next Generation, I began to realize that the plots are getting very weird (see “Rascals” and “A Fistful of Datas” for starters)! That’s not a knock, weird is often the sign that the creators are taking risks and trying something new, and more often than not these risks pay off.  As I got farther in the season, I found that this was also the season of the character study, as each of the seven leads get at least one story focused deeply on the character in new situations (except Geordi LaForge, who feels criminally underused this season).  Of course, there are a fair number of episodes that are both weird and character studies, such as “Frame of Mind,” “Rightful Heir,” and “Second Chances.”  This is also the season when Star Trek became a TV/Film universe with the debut of Deep Space Nine, and we get a crossover episode in “Birthright.”  I thought about watching the Star Trek shows in the order that each episode was broadcast, but decided it would be easier to stick with The Next Generation through the end of Season 6,  which means next month I’ll be watching the first season of Deep Space Nine!

Top 5 Episodes:

  1. Chain of Command, part I and II
  2. Tapestry
  3. Frame of Mind
  4. Relics
  5. Rascals

And the biggest stinker: Man of the People

Related Posts:

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

Continue reading “TV Review: Star Trek: The Next Generation (1992-1993)” →

90 Movies in 90 Days: The Final Exit of the Disciples of Ascensia (2019)

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Every day until March 31, 2024 I will be watching and reviewing a movie that is 90 minutes or less.

Title: The Final Exit of the Disciples of Ascensia
Release Date: June 1, 2019
Director: Jonni Peppers
Production Company: CalArts
Summary/Review:

A woman with no direction in her life is invited to join a cult built on the belief that they are descendants of aliens who will “ascend” when they return.  Given the new name Celisse (Haein Michelle Heo) by the cult’s leader Ascensia (Charlotte Pryce), she finds connection and community for the first time.  But her new friend Mira (Jenna Caravello) has doubts that come to the surface when the time of ascension arrives.  The animated film is made in a variety of cut-out styles by various artists and is surreal and hard to follow at times, but also very intimate and thoughtful.

Rating: ***1/2

90 Movies in 90 Days: The Man in the White Suit (1951)

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Every day until March 31, 2024 I will be watching and reviewing a movie that is 90 minutes or less.

Title: The Man in the White Suit
Release Date: August 7, 1951
Director: Alexander Mackendrick
Production Company: The Rank Organisation | Ealing Studios
Summary/Review:

Sidney Stratton (Alec Guinness) is a Cambridge-educated research scientist who works at various textile mills in the north of England to gain access to their laboratories. While working at a mill owned by Alan Birnley (Cecil Parker), he invents a fiber that can’t be soiled or torn.  From this he makes the titular suit that is entirely white because it also repels dyes.  Both the mill owners and the laborers try to prevent Stratton from making his invention public because an indestructible fiber would put the textile industry out of business. So the chase is on!

The excellent cast includes Joan Greenwood as Daphne Birnley who befriends and supports Stratton, Michael Gough as Daphne’s fiance and operator of competing mill Michael Corland, and Vida Hope as Bertha, a fiery labor leader who is a friend of Stratton’s from his rooming house.  This movie contains all the elements of a classic Ealing Comedy and is a great satire. I also appreciated the direction of the film that does a great job of framing the characters and capturing the various scuffles Stratton ends up in.  What’s particularly brilliant is the luminescence of the white suit set against the grimy mill towns.

Rating: ****

Movie Review: Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)

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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 VI: The Undiscovered Country
Release Date: December 6, 1991
Director: Nicholas Meyer
Production Company: Paramount Pictures
Summary/Review:

In 1989, things were looking bad for Star Trek after the fifth film, The Final Frontier, was near-universally panned.  Meanwhile, the spin-off series The Next Generation struggled through its first two seasons.  By 1991, though, The Next Generation had become one of the most successful shows on television and anticipation was high for the 25th anniversary of Star Trek and a film that would properly send off the original cast. Nicholas Meyer, who had directed and performed uncredited rewrites on the script for Star Trek II, and also co-wrote Star Trek IV, was brought in to work his magic again as director and co-writer of Star Trek VI.

Since the Klingons had long represented the Soviet Union to the Federation’s United States, the plot of the film parallels events leading up to the fall of the USSR.  A disaster threatens the future of the Klingon homeworld leading the chancellor Gorkon (David Warner) to pursue peace with the Federation.  Many on both sides are uncertain about peace, including Captain Kirk (William Shatner), but Captain Spock (Leonard Nimoy) commits the Enterprise to escorting Gorkon to the negotiations. Conspirators make it appear that the Enterprise fires upon the Klingon ship and Starfleet personnel board the ship to assassinate Gorkon. Kirk and Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley) are arrested for the crime, convicted, and sent to a Klingon gulag.

What follows is a tense political thriller as the Enterprise crew must uncover the conspiracy before the peace conference can be sabotaged.  All the members of the original cast get to play an important part including Hikaru Sulu (George Takei) finally getting to be captain of his own ship.  The guest cast is large and includes great performances by Kim Cattrall as Spock’s Vulcan protege Valeris, Christopher Plummer as the Shakespeare-quoting Klingon general Chang, Iman as the shapeshifting alien Martia, and Michael Dorn playing the grandfather of his character Worf from The Next Generation.

The design of the film is interesting as the starships seem to be deliberately more primitive as to heighten the difference with the futuristic Next Generation sets (ironically, most of the sets were redressed from the TV show for budgetary reasons).  The makeup crew also get a workout with more “alien” beings than we’d ever seen before in a Star Trek production.  It all comes together as a worth celebration of Star Trek history and a reflection on real world events.

Rating: ****

 

Related Posts:

TV Review: Star Trek: The Next Generation (1991-1992)

~ Liam ~ 1 Comment

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: The Next Generation
Release Date: September 23, 1991 – June 15, 1992
Production Company: Paramount Domestic Television
Episodes:  26
Summary/Review:

Season 5 is an odd duck.  Star Trek: The Next Generation has definitely hit its stride and they have the confidence to tell all kinds of stories with their versatile cast and crew.  Indeed, the season includes some of the greatest Star Trek episodes of all time and some noble failures.  But there are also times, especially mid-season where they just seemed to be retreading ground that this series and the original series have already trod. This is also a season with a large number of guest child actors.  I’ve learned that a lot of Star Trek fans do not like kid actors, but as a sentimental dad I actually like the kinds of stories that involve children.  Overall this is another really good season with a few road blocks here and there! Any season with Darmok, The Inner Light, and the return of Spock will go down as legendary!

Top 5 Episodes:

  1. Darmok
  2. Cause and Effect
  3. The Inner Light
  4. Disaster
  5. Unification, part 1 & 2

And the biggest stinker: Violations

Related Posts:

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

Continue reading “TV Review: Star Trek: The Next Generation (1991-1992)” →

Book Review: Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams

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Author: Douglas Adams
Title: Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency
Narrator: Douglas Adams
Publication Info: Simon & Schuster Audio, 1987
Summary/Review:
Douglas Adams spins a tale of a detective’s case that involves aliens, ghosts, electronic monks, time travel, and Samuel Taylor Coleridge.  It’s also very funny. The story originated with a plot Adams wrote for Doctor Who as well as his own experiences at Cambridge but evolved into something that defies expectation.  I enjoyed this book very much but I think I’m going to have to read it again to pick up on all the details.

Recommended books:

Rating: ***1/2