Thursday 2 April 2009

The Parliament of Dreams

I liked a number of aspects of this episode. The different religions help the B5 Universe to feel fully fleshed out which is important (although the line up of people from different Earth religions at the end wasn't my cup of tea). I also found myself warming to G'Kar. I think it is the way that he is singing as he makes his dinner at the start.

I was interested to see the use of torture in the episode. While it has been used in quite a lot of sci-fi since (the really quite unpleasant scene from Firefly springs to mind), I'm not sure that space was the kind of place where bad astuff like that was meant to happen anymore.

Liked the introduction of a love interest for Sinclair, much more believable that the red-head from the pilot (and much better acting).

Finally nice to see that all of the ambassador (except Kosh) now have a sidekick. For some reason I always enjoy the use of an unknowledgeable sidekick as a tool to give the viewer necessary background...

Born to the Purple

Another enjoyable episode. Liked the development of Londo's character and the way that we were relatively gently given additional background to the Centauri people. I slightly get the sense that the series is finding its feet as while there are hints of bigger things going on, these feel like stand alone episodes.

It feels like this episode sets out Babylon 5's stall for being a different kind of show. I can't imagine too many series where the story is driven by an ambassador's relationship with a stripper, still less a sci-fi series doing so (although I think that there are a few films where that wouldn't be out of place).

I thought that the best scenes were in the sub plot with Ivanova and her father, even though it was pushing her family's tragic background strongly I thought that they pulled it off.

The one irritating part for me was Sinclair not being recognised by the manager of the strip club. While some of the transients may not know who he is, I can't imagine that Babylon 5 is so big that all of the permanent residents don't know the captain of the Babylon 5, at least by sight.

Wednesday 11 March 2009

Infection

I felt that this episode was something of step back, mostly to do with the quality of the production rather than the story which was fine if a little bland. I thought it was a nice touch to pick on Sinclair always putting himself on the line. It have been niggling at me and it was very well explained.

As always a pleasure to see Iliya Kuryakin.

I also thought that it was slightly strange that Babylon 5 was only two years old (although given that it was 10 years since the end of the Minbari war and there were four Babylons before it that makes sense). It does not feel like two years is long enough for a place to develop the seedy corners and the underworld that Babylon 5 has. It feels like an underbelly develops, it doesn't just appear fully developed. Could just be me I guess.

Monday 9 March 2009

C'mon, its a romp

For those that are interested this is a version of a review that I put up at Amazon UK recently.

I have recently acquired the Fantastic Four double box set. I'm not proud of it. It's a bit like my fried chicken habit, and to be honest it cost less that a maxed out meal at my local takeaway (with many fewer calories). Also, much like fried chicken, even when I was eating/watching it I knew that it's no good for me but I kept going.

The individual films both have a large number of reviews all over the internet already so I'm not going to add too much. They pretty much jump on the bandwagon of the rebirth of superhero films over the last decade or so and there is nothing in them that you won't have seen elsewhere. To be clear, there is also nothing in these films that I found terrible (although some would disagree, and even I found the fall of Ioan 'Hornblower' Gruffudd to be tragic). Unfortunately there's not a lot to love either. Looking back there's no scene that particularly stands out for me from either film and that, for what is billed as an CGI heavy action film, says a lot. However, I did watch it through to the end so it couldn't have been all bad.

As for the boxed set itself, in my set I got, what I imagine are, the two single disk standalone DVDs in separate plastic cases but packaged together in an additional cardboard box. As far as I can tell there are only English subtitles on both. As for extras:

F4: Cast commentary, the Fantastic Tour (i.e. video diaries by and with cast and crew) , two music videos (and an album trailer) and bizarrely a plug for X Men 3
F4RotSS: A bunch of trailers, a couple of commentaries (one from the director and one from the producer + film editors) some extended and deleted scenes, some pre-vis scenes (i.e. very basic animated story boards), a feature on the the 'Fantasticar' and a documentary on some guy's relationship with the Fantastic Four comics.

I can't say that this is going to change your life, but these two films are mildly diverting for a few hours and they are better for your waistline than eating fried chicken...

Soul Hunter

Starting to move into the main series now and finally got to an episode that I have, pretty much, unambiguously enjoyed. Yes arguably it was over acted in parts but it was forgivable, there certainly wasn't any acting that I wanted to switch off for.

Most importantly for me the plot was coherent. The Soul Hunter appeared in his broken ship because he was being chased down by another Soul Hunter which is why the crew found out what was going on and could try to stop him. The Soul Hunter had become warped because he had been thwarted by the Minbari, which then also explained why he wanted Delenn.

Also loving Delenn's propensity to try to solve things with random acts of violence, which, for a Minbari ruler seems rather an unfortunate personality trait.

All in all very enjoyable. Looking forward to more

Wednesday 4 March 2009

Big day

Today I finished The Sea by John Banville, and watched the first episode of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and 30 Rock.

I loved one and liked the other two. Got a splitting headache so will expand anon.

Tuesday 3 March 2009

Coffee, Joe, Java...

I like coffee. I like it a lot. If my doctor hadn't told me to stop drinking so much of it I would probably never drink anything else. Today I managed to indulge myself by spending a few hours in a couple of coffee shop chains while trying to get some writing/reading done. A rare respite. It's been a while since I've been in a coffee shop during the working day and it's a revelation. The clientele is entirely different from weekends and there is an ebb and flow during the day.

In the morning you get your office workers wandering in for their morning fix (although I imagine that they are fewer than they were 18 months ago). Most take away, leaving bleary eyed clutching their paper cup. A few, before 9 sit and read the paper, or a chapter of a book before they too leave.

During the morning you get a few workers in an out, but this is more the time of the student and the tourist. Both groups tend to drink in, the students louder, the tourists faster. You also get the occasional mobile worker taking down shots of coffee and tapping on their laptop.

The workers build again around lunchtime with the students and tourist reclaiming ground in the afternoon. They are joined by the mother (rarely father) and baby crowd, the ladies (and it was women not men) of indeterminate age who look like they are in town for the day (running a few errands, having lunch with a friend and possibly catching a show...I am shamelessly stereotyping I know).

I'm sure that the pattern changes again around commuter time and in the evening but I had to leave myself. Fascinating stuff for procrastinators and people watchers though.

You know what, I find coffee so interesting I may even start another blog just about it...Hmm.

Monday 2 March 2009

Midnight on the Firing Line

Episode 1, Series 1, Midnight on the Firing Line. Now the pilot is over, this is where the excuses stop and you have to start putting up or shutting up. As before detailed synopses etc available elsewhere.

I thought that this was much better than the pilot, there was enough plot going on to keep me interested for the whole episode and the acting was more uniform and generally better (the replacement characters were a great improvement). I also liked the way that the problems on Ragesh 3 were mirrored in microcosm by the relationship between Londo and G'Kar. However for me this episode really came to life during the final scene between Winters and Ivanova where we find out why Ivanova has been rude. That was genuine, character driven tension and beautifully acted. Also quite enjoying the slightly anarchic nature of Babylon 5 where everyone pretty much ignores protocol and chains of command, even the ex-soldiers who you think would know better!

The main plots were mostly good although the episode was somewhat ruined for me by the Deus Ex Machina moment linking two independent story lines when, coincidentally Sinclair found a Narn on the Raiders' command and control ship, which then allowed him to blackmail G'Kar into withdrawing the Narn Forces on Ragesh 3. Put it this way, if the Raiders had started a couple of months earlier or later then this tool wouldn't have been available and the Ragesh 3 situation would not have been sorted out.

I'm also not sure that the Narn would have backed down so easily...in fact I had quite a lot of sympathy for their position. If Ragesh 3 was originally a Narn planet then why shouldn't they have it back? 100 years is no time at all (just look at various former colonies around the world today). Re-invasion/war may not be the right route to take but it doesn't mean that the principle isn't correct.

Libraries ain't what they used to be

I went to a public library for the first time in a while today and it was a revelation. My memories of libraries are mostly of revising for exams amidst stacks of slightly mouldy books. This library had books, but it also had lots of computers, WiFi, a coffee area, sofas, and children's areas that were usefully age specific i.e toys for younger ones and Xbox 360s and PS3's (I know) in the areas for older ones. In addition to books they had a CD and DVD lending areas with a mix of classics and up-to-date releases.

I can imagine that traditionalists would have a problem with the idea that library's aren't just about books, but for me anything that gets people closer to books and reading can only be a good thing. If people find libraries to be useful for more that just books then they might go there more often, and maybe pick up a book or two sometimes.

Sunday 1 March 2009

Did she really say that?

I've been repeatedly amused by the ongoing story of the c. £650,000 per year pension of the former head of RBS, Fred Goodwin. The merits, or otherwise of the pension are not really the point, what is amusing is the hubris of the ministers. However I literally laughed out loud when I saw this story from the BBC quoting Harriet Harman on the issue. Everything that you need to know about the story (and possibly about Harriet Harman) can be summed up by this quote form her:

"...it might be enforceable in a court of law, this contract, but it is not enforceable in the court of public opinion and that is where the government steps in."

It is such a perfectly stupid statment that no further comment is needed

Saturday 28 February 2009

Babylon 5: The Gathering

So following the advice from my new chums, I've finally started my Babylon 5 odyssey with the pilot episode, The Gathering. I'm not going to give a summary of the plot as there are multiple great options on the web already. However I will share my thoughts. First up, when you start watching you do have to get over the fact that some of the effects and make up look dated (as do some of the haircuts which smell of the early 90s) but that is only to be expected and you get over it quite quickly. And even given the dated look the moment when the Vorlon fleet appears is great. But I am running ahead of myself, let me pick out some specific thoughts, but be warned there will be some spoilers.

The Good

The set up going forward is great, you have four races meeting at Babylon 5. Two were at war ten years earlier, one was a slave race to the other and there is one that we know almost nothing about. Plenty of room for tension.

Some of the characters are great, in particular I thought that the Londo the Centauri ambassador was really well drawn, with huge flaws but immensely likable at the same time. In fact all of the "alien"ambassadors were good...it's the humans you had to worry about.

There are lots of plot hooks for the future that you genuinely want to find out more about (the Grey council, why the Minbari surrendered, the "hole in your mind" etc)

There are also character hooks for the future (Garibaldi and Laurel's loyalty to Sinclair over official protocol, Londo's gambling problem, Delenn's short temper)

The not-so-good

Some of the acting was SHOCKINGly bad! I think Lieutenant Laurel and Del Varner deserve a special mention for being wooden and cheesy respectively. As does the moment when Commander Sinclair finds the Vorlon ambassador, Kosh collapsed and reacts with a slightly bored "Dammit" (although I grant that this may just be the quality of the audio on my DVD).

There seems to be quite a lot of padding in there. For example the fight scene at the end that goes on much longer than it needs to. And the pointless scene where Garibaldi tells Sinclair that he reckons that Del Varner has something to do with the attack on the Vorlon ambassador could easily have been cut and absorbed elsewhere. There are other moments as well and I reckon this could have been cut by 10-15 minutes without losing too much and actually ending up with a much better show.

Summary

If I'm honest if I'd come across this on a wet Sunday afternoon in 2009 then I probably would have found it mildly diverting but I wouldn't have thought it was great, or worried about spending too much effort trying to find out more. However, this is the light of having been exposed to some game changing TV over the intervening decade and a half (such as the West Wing, The Wire, Battlestar Gallactica et al) since it first came out along with the increasingly sophisticated use of CGI (think of the evolution across the three Lord of the Rings films)

But you have to put it in context of it being first broadcast in 1993, I think then the CGI would have been cutting edge and a huge surprise. More pertinently it was released into a world that had only just escaped from Dallas, Dynasty (although I believe that Knots Landing was still running). When the behemoths of the schedules looked like that...

Overall taking the context into consideration, the interest in wanting to find out more outweighs any negative thoughts, so further up and further in. Bring on Episode 1...

(BTW, in the interests of full disclosure, as I go I am going cross-post versions of these "reviews" at B5TV so don't feel cheated if you come across it there as well)

Friday 27 February 2009

Cooking...not my bag but still impressive

I meant to blog about the Masterchef final yesterday while I was watching it but didn't quite get round to it so I'm passing on my thoughts tonight. Now cooking isn't really my thing. I can put together a few basic dishes but I'm very aware of my limitations. That doesn't mean however that I don't like food. I do, I love it. The combination of my limitations and my love of food means that I was really impressed as what the three finalists did over the course of the last week.

To be honest the least of what they did was the last meal that they delivered for shouty Greg and John. All three meals looked fabulous but it is sort of what you expect from a really good amateur chef. I also thought that random army meals were not too much to be bothered about (yes it is tricky to make a meal on a makeshift stove with basic rations, but I'm not sure being able to do it or not is the sign of a great chef). The catering bits were a step up, it's a conveyor belt but it has to be multiple great, identical plates of food.

But, that all paled into insignificance compared to the various meals that they cooked for, and with, Michelin starred chefs. Unlike many TV chefs to have got their Michelin stars these guys have proven that they know what they are doing. So for these amateurs to have made them food that they enjoyed is hugely impressive.

These guys did it and more. In the end the Kiwi Mat won, but all of these chaps can leave with their heads held high. Unlike more reality shows all three contestants had to show real skill in front of people who know what they are talking about and came through with flying colours. Well done all three.

Snort, Gargle, Fnah...

Being an office worker does have it's compensations sometimes. One of the mail guys had just dropped off the mail as he walked off he passed one of my female colleagues. The brief conversation went something like this.

"I've just slipped a parcel into your tray"

"Really? I hadn't noticed"

"Well it's very small"

I know I need to get out more (...and clean up my mind...and get some friends) but it made me chuckle on a Friday morning.

TTFN

Thursday 26 February 2009

It's arrived (part 2)...and now I'm broke

Following yesterday's excitement my second big delivery has arrived. It's a Acer Aspire One Netbook and it's the neatest piece of electronic kit that I've ever come across (and I include most of Apple's oeuvre in that). It has been reviewed all over the internet so I won't try to do that again here, but I'm surprised at the emotional (possibly too strong a word) response I had to it out of the box.

I got it so that I would be able to take it with me, pretty much where ever I went. However that combined with the styling makes me think that I'm going to see it as an essential accessory along the same lines as my mobile. It's the Linux version so I'm going to wait until I have some time on the weekend before actually turning it on as I think I'm going to have to spend some quality time with it to try to work out how it works.

However all of this means that I am now entirely out of spare cash so I think the next month is going to be spent at home. Ah well, all the more time to watch TV and surf the net. Hurrah and Huzza!.

Wednesday 25 February 2009

It's arrived...

So I walked through the door and there it was. A brown Amazon labeled box. It was like Christmas but with less Turkey and less booze...and no crackers...or the Queen's speech. Nevermind, scrap that analogy. It was like having a yummy, gorgeous, scrumptious pile of sci-fi tastiness. 'cos that what it was. Yes my Babylon 5 Complete Collection has arrived.

The thing that surprised me the most was how small it was, about three-quarters of the size of a small shoe box for five complete series of the main Babylon 5 saga (each with 22 odd episodes) plus the complete 12 episode Crusade (whatever that is), six movies and The Lost Tales (which is billed as a movie although I don't think it is.

It is the biggest box set that I own by far, although if all of my West Wings were in one box I'm sure that would challenge it. What that means is that it rather dominates my DVD shelf. Not to worry. If there is something that I've learnt as a Geek, its that there is no point trying to pretend that you aren't.

Its a bit late to crack into it tonight but it's going to happen soon.

Lenten fasts

It's Ash Wednesday which means that its the beginning of Lent. 40 days and 40 nights in the desert isn't what we are expected to do but despite the reduction in church going people still give up things Lent. In years gone by I have gone pretty extreme peaking a couple of years ago by giving up alcohol, caffeine chocolate and junk food (extreme for me that is, I realise that this is a very relative statement and most people in the world don't have a chance to take these things up, never mind give them up on a "whim"). After the first couple of days of effectively detoxing I felt absolutely fantastic. although I don't think that was the point. But that was then, this is now and I'm not quite sure yet what I am going to do this year.

There has been move in recent years not to give stuff up but to take something up. I like that idea so I think that is what I'm going to do. Not finalised yet but I think that it will involve something around either exercise or writing. Better get on with making my mind up though it'll be Easter soon

Tuesday 24 February 2009

Babylon 5 - The Plan

Amazon assures me that my complete Babylon 5 box set is on its way. I'm far too excited about it although I'm not quite sure why. I don't know anyone else who has seen it who has bigged it up for me. I don't even know that much about it. I think that I've read enough about it (which is quite a feat when you're trying to avoid spoilers) that I want to see if it lives up to the hype.

I'm a little apprehensive as I've had mixed success from listening to the blogosphere's' views on good TV to date. Biggest successes so far have been Band of Brothers and The Wire. Biggest miss so far been Firefly. Heresy I know, but I just found it a bit ordinary. Will try to remember to do separate blogs looking at all of those in the future.

So, back to Babylon 5, here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to watch it, I'm going to blog it and I'm going to see if I can find some new interweb friends who want to go through it with me. Don't worry (as if you were) I'm going to be blogging other stuff as well. But, as I work my way through the series, I will plan to blog my thoughts.

Just got to wait for it to arrive now...

Monday 23 February 2009

In The Beginning...

...was a lack of originality. But all cliches need somewhere to start and this is where mine begins.

Much like everyone else my blog is going to be about the stuff that I'm interested in. At the moment that's TV, music, films (when I have time), computers (at the most basic level) and books. I may well veer of into politics, or "amusing" stories of things that have happened in my life or something completely different.

It is entirely possible that this blog will eventually focus on something more specific...or more likely no-one will come and I will get bored and stop. In any event lets hope that my writing improves. Who knows? Lets see how it goes.