7 posts tagged “science fiction”

Normally I don’t get excited about sci-fi but this intrigues me:

    I am a Willis fan and seeing Rosamund Pike in this helps, too. She’s a real doll.

Spoilers ahead on US Life on Mars.

If US Sam Tyler was in pod 2B in the finalé of the American Life on Mars remake, why was Ray Carling 2A when his apartment number was 4A, or is this one of those sci-fi nerd questions?
   As to the ‘gene hunt’ Ray Carling refers to, I came far closer to that than I thought in this November blog post!

Gretchen Mol living in the future while some virtual reality anomaly happens and people started going back in time to not to 1973, but 1937. Sounds familiar. One of my favourite movies, but I sure didn’t expect its influence to go further …

Spoilers ahead. [PS.: in fact, if you scroll down and don’t want to know, be warned: there are humungous pictures from the last episode. So shut your eyes as you scroll.]
   Well, I was totally wrong about why American Sam Tyler got to 1973.
   But when they showed the scene of Sam waking up, I instantly figured it out what had happened and was right. I guess this particular outcome must have been at the back of my mind if I could see it all in a second. A few weeks ago, my father did say, ‘He better not have been dreaming for the whole series.’ Sorry, Dad.
   No, I didn’t think it was a good ending. At least not when compared with the original. I expected something much cleverer, more mythological.
   There were some cheeky aspects to it, with the ‘Special Guest Star: Lisa Bonet’ credit inserted just to keep us guessing—and because one of the producers let slip that Ms Bonet wouldn’t be in the finalé.
   But to have Sam Tyler—Spaceman—wake up in 2035 on a Mars mission, having lived in some virtual-reality world as part of the deep sleep needed for the long trip to the red planet, seemed a farce to me and a let-down. In fact, all I could do was laugh as the final few minutes unfolded. It was, let’s admit it, stupid.
   I imagine that if the series had gone on for another season and there were more “trip to Mars” clues, then it could have been more fulfilling. After 16 episodes, this wasn’t cool, and akin to Pam waking up in Dallas.

   It does explain why Gene Hunt is older and I kept calling him a father-figure, but for him to be ‘Major Tom’ Tyler was a surprise. Vic, it turns out, was the dark side of Sam.
   It’s still hard to process because most of those clues littered throughout the series meant very little—especially those that were quasi-religious.
   It seemed like it would explain more, with Sam arriving in Hyde—something a few of us speculated with the original series in 2007. It added to the mystery to learn that Sam was conceived there. Another good part was Rose Tyler (I still can’t get over this name) recognizing that ‘Det Skywalker’ is what she expected her son to grow up to be like. But so what? It all gets undone in the final scene.
   Highlight of the episode was Sam visiting an elderly Annie in 2010, a scene that some of us expected to see in the original as we speculated what had happened to the original Sam Tyler. That would have been brilliant as an outcome had Sam woken up in 2009. We also saw Sam and Annie finally kiss—a scene many of us waited for. But it’s all for nought: Sam doesn’t find 1973 more fulfilling and he and Annie wake up as colleagues on the mission, she having had no experience of falling in love with him.
   You get the feeling that it was a case of “all that work for nothing” and now that Col Annie Norris (‘I just pretend it’s far, far into the future, and they work for me’), Major Tom, Sam, Chris and Ray have got there, thanks to Frank Morgan at Mission Control and Windy the computer, the question remains: so what?
   The only consolation is the white shoe of Philip Glenister—well, Harvey Keitel, but in tribute to the original Gene Genie—reaching the red planet.

Way too tired today. Got up early to take Dad to hospital for a check-up, and it’s amazing what missing half an hour of sleep can do to you. And the check-up was surprisingly quick: here I was, armed with laptop and about six hours’ worth of work packed—only to return by 10 a.m. and needing sleep—and refusing to take it.
   So, tonight, instead of more intelligent blogging (did that already on the other blog), I decided to carry on from my discussion with Nick in the comments to the last entry and hunt for a few more cheesy old movie trailers. As threatened, Hanoi Jane in Barbarella is next: note that the scenes are all from the opening striptease and not the Excessive Machine. That French husband of hers was a bit of a perve. OK, he was a total perve. Then, his first name was Roger.

   I should note that I am not really a Barbarella fan, though I do love the cheesiness today. I guess it was the whole Vietnam thing and selling out US troops that spoiled Hanoi Jane for me. I know the lady has apologized, but if I was that upset as a civilian, what do the vets think?
   Next, a film I am a fan of, big time. Probably another of my top five:

Now, this is well edited and as a trailer it does stand up well, apart from the narrator’s VO. I’d imagine these days he’d have an American accent. There’s so much to say about this film that maybe I shouldn’t in this post.
   Here’s one which young people might know as I Am Legend. But when it wasn’t named after the original book, it was The Omega Man, with our old friend, Charlton Heston.    All we need is for Hollywood to ruin this next one and some aspects are dangerously worrying for life in 2008. The “future”, 2022, is not that far off. Remember this film talks about environmental disaster as well as the widening gap between rich and poor. Back to a serious narrator here and Herb Lubalin’s Avant Garde typeface:  The scene where Chuck watches Edward G. Robinson dies is poignant. Apparently, Heston was one of the few that knew Robinson was terminally ill and legend has it those are real tears. What we need is a remake with Will Smith in it. Or maybe not.
   I always thought a good name for a cross-country race transporting Soylent Green to various cities could be called The Cannibal Run.
   Finally, something to liven up proceedings after a couple of downers. Welcome back, cheesy narrator, and the word sexcapade (oooh):

She makes movies, she sings, she’s easy on the eyes—and she ain’t J. Lo. Not that much new under the sun.

Les publicités des années 50 et 60 pour les films hollywoodiens classiques.

Before I blog about Ashes to Ashes, a link to a Podcast featuring an interview with Kevin Falls, creator and executive producer of Journeyman, the NBC series that the network under-promoted in 2007. He’s still under contract with the network, so he has to moderate his words, but he is very grateful to fans for supporting his series.
   The interview is about half-way through the Podcast, so zoom ahead if you are not interested in other sci-fi stuff.

http://www.sliceofscifi.com/podpress_trac/web/7562/0/Slice_145_012608.mp3

If you want something bawdy and suggestive, hop over to Rockstep’s Vox blog and the post on Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. I never quite thought of that particular scene as a bondage video, though it was filled with sexual connotations: have a listen to the audio track with your eyes closed.