"Would it have changed some of the ways we looked at one another? "

As my previous post should have made clear, I am on a bit of an X-Files kick at the moment. While I was surfing the 'net earlier and listening to the 4 CD Mark SNow soundtrack collection, I ran across the track, "Dim Memories", and it reminded me of one of my favourite teasers from the whole nine seasons of the show. It's from an episode titled, "The Field Where I Died" and was directed, I think, by Rob Bowman, my a-number one X-Files director.

I liked revisiting it on YouTube so much, that I thought I would make a post out of it, so without further ado...



Later!

mike

Walk With the Dead...Again

I realized that the season two premiere of The Walking Dead was airing last Sunday and, although I missed the 'live' broadcast of the show, I did manage to catch an encore presentation that same night. The timing worked out really well, actually, with Jen and the kids all going to bed about ten minutes before it started, which was nice. There's sort of a spoken rule that I can't watch anything too gross or terrifying while there are people who may object to it in the house or conscious.

Anyway, I watched the first season, in its entirety, on Blu-ray so it was kind of a treat to see it 'as it happens', and have that anticipation for watching it again the next week. The episodes (they aired the first two as an hour-and-a-half event) were quite good, both having their share of tension and a few surprises. It felt very much like the comic book where you really don't know who is going to survive and who will not. [POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT] There's a scene early on where the group encounters a herd of walkers and have to hide from them and, honestly, I didn't know how it was going to play out. It's a long scene, too, and the whole time you just sit there, breathless, waiting for something to happen, but also hoping that nothing happens. It was really well executed.

I'm also a little surprised that I'm so into the show again because there was a time, there, where I very much considered giving up on it. I was a little shaky at the end of season one, and then when they re-released the season set on home video as a 3-disc set with new features and commentaries on every episode, I was pissed. I bought season one at a time when I didn't really have the means to do so, but I made an exception to have it, watch it, and support it, and remember lamenting at the time how few good features were on it. I figured they'd make up for it on season two, but lo and behold, they toss another one out there on the market just in time for Halloween and season two.

Yeah, I'm still a little bitter.

Needless to say, I didn't give up on the show, despite everything. I'm very glad that I stuck with it, though, and I'm looking forward to this Sunday's episode. I've even started reading the comic book again, polishing off four volumes yesterday in an effort to catch up. I think when I do manage to get up to speed, I may start buying the book monthly, too. We'll see. What I won't be doing, however, is buying the home video release until well after it hits store shelves in the event that they decide to pull another one of these ridiculous double-dips.

And, with that, I leave you with the season two premiere which is now streaming on the AMC website, which is all kinds of awesome.




Later!

mike

Belated Anniversary Wishes

As I am wont to do, I forgot to commemorate the anniversary (18th, to be exact) of one of my absolute favourite television shows of all-time. On September 10th, 1993, a little show about aliens, ghosts and mutants came into our homes courtesy of the Fox network. Nobody expected it to last more than a season, if they were lucky. Some didn't think it would even go past the pilot stage (we're looking at you, Duchovny). But it ended up being the show that could, gaining many fans, lasting for nine years, and changing just about everything on television. More than that, it was the show that came into its own just as another cultural phenomenon was gaining ground with the masses. Fans would discuss the show online in chat rooms and message boards, and the creators would get instant feedback on what they produced, for good or ill. Fan-sites also started popping up, tracking episode titles, the show's mythology, and just connecting with other fans 'out there'.

I joined the show in its second season. I remember hearing some of my father's workmates, who were visiting one day, talking about how they had to get home to see if Scully would return after being abducted. We asked what they were talking about and they replied, "You mean you've never seen The X-Files?" I brushed it off (not trusting them to have overly discerning tastes in their television viewing) and didn't start watching the show until I stumbled across the pilot being broadcast out of its timeslot as a special presentation and it blew me away. I was totally bowled over by it. After that it was a short trip to becoming a full-on X-Phile, collecting the VHS tapes, recording the show on my own, reading the books, getting the soundtracks, and watching out for black helicopters.

It was also the first show to be released on DVD as complete season sets, which I think is pretty cool, particularly since I remember hitting my local Future Shop to grab the first one. I think I paid $105-$110 for each of the nine seasons. Yeah, do the math on that one.

Anyway, I'm posting a clip of one of my favourite moments from the series. It's the tail end of a Duchovny written and directed episode called "The Unnatural". I was going to post a clip from season 3 episode 17 entitled "Pusher" where Scully asks Mulder to explain the scientific principle of the whammy, but I couldn't find it online and didn't feel like pulling out the DVDs and doing the video stuff myself. So, without further ado:



I may take another trip through the X-Files time machine if I can find the materials for it. I did a special issue of Meanwhile... back in the summer of 1998, I believe, to tie-in with the release of The X-Files: Fight the Future. I had a couple of interviews which might be cool to unearth. Stay tuned, I guess, if that's your thing.

Keep watching the skies and, most importantly, trust no one!

mike

Check It Out

Watch the pilot episode of The Walking Dead courtesy of AMC. If you like drama, zombies or good storytelling, give it a shot. The books it's based on are great and I'm hoping Frank Darabont gets this right!



Later!

mike

Thinking of DS9 Again

Just started watching Star Trek: Deep Space Nine again and decided to look back at some of my earlier DS9 posts from, like, 2005.

Originally I made the decision to watch the series in its entirety, since I never had before, and since I was probably looking for content at the time figured I would do reviews of the episodes as I watched them. Looking at them now I'm actually happy with what I was doing at the time but I also noticed that I stopped reviewing episodes after Season 1. I'm sure that it had something to do with nobody commenting on them at the time and me deciding that it wasn't worth the time and effort, but I'm considering going back and doing Season 2 and catching up to where I currently am on Season 3. Right now I am, literally, in the middle of watching episode 17, "Prophet Motive", so there would be a bit of catching up to do, but I am finding that every time I come back to this show after a lengthy hiatus it never gets stale, I'm never not in the mood, and the stories and characters keep getting better and better.

I was just talking to my wife about guilty pleasures or junk food TV (she watches Grey's Anatomy and Friday Night Lights for her silly fix, for example, while I have been known to occasionally watch Smallville) and I also mentioned how I used to consider DS9 just that. But the quality of the show (despite dragging along 30 years of franchise history and the baggage and clichés of two previous series) and my enjoyment of it elevates it beyond that, I think.

So, I'll give it some thought, maybe revisit the idea as I continue to run through the series. If anyone has any opinions on the matter, feel free to voice them.

Until then...

mike

"I am not a number!"

I know it's yet another video post but I've started watching AMC's Prisoner remake and it's got me in a McGoohan state of mind. AMC is also streaming the original series and I thought I would link to it here.



Cheers!

mike

Send In the Clones

So, a little while ago I bought the first season of the Clone Wars animated series on Blu-Ray and apart from being just amazed with the overall quality of the presentation, I have kind of been rediscovering these early episodes and seeing them in a slightly new light.

Stories that seemed a little 'meh' on first viewing stand a little taller when watching them in a clump on this set. I've started to really appreciate the writing more, especially in light of where things have gone with the next season. I also think I've started appreciating their time and dollar budgets a little more and have been cutting them some slack for any early missteps. Again, when you see how far they've taken things in season two, you start to see these things from a certain point of view.

One of my favourite things that has really stood out have been the textures on the show. Everything from the characters skin to the sides of buildings and the clone armour have been textured in such a way that they have a very painterly feel to them. And when I made the connection between the crews love of early Star Wars production artwork and the look of Ralph Mcquarrie's artwork, it was like a lightning bolt to the head. Everything on the show is, essentially, a three dimensional, walking and talking Mcquarrie painting. It's great.

And there are so many other tiny details and minutia that make this show a truly underrated effort. I know it is popular, but it doesn't get talked about much outside of Star Wars fandom and the playground. I would actually love to see someone who has lost their Star Wars mojo post-prequels try this show out and see what they think of it, to be honest. I think they might be surprised.

Anyway, that's my Lucas-related post for the month.

As always, more later.

mike

"If you have a problem, if no one else can help..."

I'm honestly not sure what to think.



mike

Return to the 'Verse

A friend sent me this and I thought it was cute.



Later!

mike

How Cool Is This?

Need I say more?

mike

Clone Wars Season 2 - Not Disappointing

I've been posting a lot of negative thoughts on the ol' blog of late, which may be bad juju since I'm trying to do the whole 'Hey, I'm back and blogging regularly' thing, so I'm going to change gears briefly and throw out some positive thoughts regarding the second season of The Clone Wars.

If you saw season one, you probably were very aware of the various limitations of the show. Not a lot of characters, not a lot of settings/environments, characters whose models were a little stiff and whose faces did not move quite right, and the usual first season stumbling around and finding your rhythm kind of thing. With season two a lot of that has changed. Subtle bits of acting are not uncommon, better mouth movements to match the voice actors, humongous improvements to details, textures, editing and story. Most of all the stories.

Before there were a lot of two or three part arcs that were generally interesting, but there was a rhythm to the storytelling that felt off. Whether that was due to budget and time restrictions, I'm not sure. But lately I've just been feeling that I am, indeed, watching Star Wars, or a logical extension of it. Plus, watching the relationships develop is nice because it gives some context that was missing from Revenge of the Sith and, at the end of the day, may just make the prequel series a little bit better than it was a couple of years ago.


I'll leave you with the trailer for season two. There's some nice teaser stuff in there if you've yet to see any episodes, and other than that, it's just fun to watch.



May the force be with you.

Mike

Clone Wars Decommissioned?

So, I'm on a bit of a Star Wars kick as a result of the tenth anniversary of the release of Episode I and I've been trying to get a look at the new Clone Wars: Decoded episodes and I've discovered that the show has disappeared from the airwaves. I'm not sure how long ago this happened, but neither CTV (who are supposed to have the broadcast rights) or our local Sci-Fi channel, Space: The Imagination Station, are showing it. I've searched the guide and there are plenty of Stargates, Star Treks and Starship Troopers, but, sadly, I must go without the Wars. In a desperate act, I even checked the more unconventional methods of acquiring shows that we do not get here, and it's not available in that format either.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to wait for the DVD release on this one.

Later.

mike

Human Target

I apologize again for not being very frequent with the posting, but you know how it is. I did want to pop on and mention that there are some promo videos for the new Human Target series that will be debuting next January on Fox. I remember watching the original Rick Springfield version of the show from 15+ years back, although I had forgotten that it was developed by Bilson and DeMeo, known for their much admired Flash series on CBS. That series lasted all of seven episodes, I think, and disappeared. You can't even find Torrents of those online, although I did manage to find a video on YouTube which I'll post below.



And the old one...



I'm honestly surprised that it took so long to get this concept back on the small screen. Saddened as I am that Terminator will not be returning next year, I'll be looking forward to seeing some Human Target action.

Later!

mike

Two Things

Over the last few days, I've only experienced or been a part of two things that are worth mentioning: Free Comic Book Day and the second season finale to Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

I've been taking my kids along with me to Free Comic Book Day since they were just wee ones, but starting a couple of years ago, they became more involved in the process. Going was no longer just for me to get my stash and they get a free comic book or two, they want their own stashes now and are willing to put out to get it.

We have two stores in town that we frequent. One of them, Eighth Street Books and Comics, gives out one comic book to each person who shows up. The other, Amazing Stories, gives you every free comic book if you spend $5 at their store. As a result, our routine has been to hit Amazing Stories first and get one of everything, then hit 8th Street for anything we might have missed.

I was really impressed to see Kate and Simon spending $5 and grabbing a whole stackload of comics this year (Emma didn't have $5, but grabbed a copy of Love and Capes). They had some trouble finding anything to spend $5 on, but once that hurdle was overcome, they did just fine. It was also nice to see them devour the ones they expected to enjoy, then read some that they knew nothing about and really enjoy those, as well. Simon basically wanted the Wolverine and Sonic books but came away wanting to read more Sardine. I consider that a plus. Kate and Emma are also converts to Love and Capes, now, and I think Emma spent an hour or more reading the free L&C content on the web just to fill her craving. We'll probably hunt down back issues or collections in the near future.

As for Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, I finally watched the last three episodes of season 2 and they were some of the best of the series. Actually, I'd go so far as to say the last 5 episodes of that season were what I would show to any Doubting Thomas' who have been poo-pooing the show for the last two seasons. It's a crying shame that they won't be able to continue from where they left off, but if they had to end it where they did, I'm satisfied with that. All the characters storylines were addressed, secrets were revealed, homages to the films were made, we got to see some of Cameron's endo-skeleton and someone FINALLY says the word "Terminator"! 31 episodes of the series so far and I don't think Terminator is said once until the last 10 minutes of ep. 31.

An early complaint of mine for the show was that it lacked some signature Terminator things to really feel like the audience (meaning me) was watching James Cameron's world (or a reasonable hand-drawn facsimile). Not seeing enough of the Terminator itself was one, but I understood the budget constraints of a television program. Not hearing the aforementioned word, Terminator, bugged the shit out of me, and that was probably some kind of licensing thing with the owners of the property since it has been licensed to different people over the years (I'll bet the movie guys get to say it all the time). The music irked me because I knew Bear McCreary was a brilliant composer, but without any Brad Fiedel call-outs, it just isn't Terminator. I heard that was a rights issue and it looked like they ironed some of that out because the music rocked in season 2.

And by the end of it, I loved it. From top to bottom it was/is one of my favourite shows on television and I'm sad to hear that it likely will not be coming back. I will mourn it, I will buy the DVDs when it comes out, I may even go to see the Christian Bale movie but I've invested enough time and energy into these actors and characters that it won't be the same.

So raise a glass to Terminator: TSCC. We knew you for so short a time, but all good things must come to an end, I guess.

Cheers!

mike

Great Finales

In honour of the end of Battlestar Galactica, BlogCritics has a list of great TV series finales and I must say I was happy to see that Angel made their number two. The ending of that series was always bittersweet since a season six was possible, but for an ending to five years of stories, you couldn't have done much better than "Never Fade Away". I'm even happier yet that it beat out Buffy's finale as I've always believed Angel was the superior show. So many people give the parent show all the props, it's nice to see some recognition going in the other direction for a change.

Oh, and as for what I thought of the Galactica finale? Just about perfect television.

More on that later.

mike

Hitting the Threshold

I've just finished watching a marathon run of CBS' cancelled drama, Threshold. It was part of a wave of sci-fi/alien invasion shows that were popping up like wildfire at the time and one that I initially wrote off. I guess when I looked at Invasion, Threshold and Surface, I did the ol', "meh, just some more X-Files wannabes". The irony is that I have since gone back and I actually find redeeming qualities to all of these shows, now.

Threshold told the story of a a team of scientists who are trying to stall an alien invasion. Through their advanced technology, this unknown race is terraforming and bioforming us to be more like them. It was created by ex-Trek writer/producer, Brannon Braga, and is executive produced by Blade writer, David S. Goyer. Normally I would stay away from any show that had Braga attached to it post-Trek, but Goyer's influence is definitely felt, and I have to believe that Rick Berman had a lot to do with how badly things went for Roddenberry's franchise.

Anyway, it plays on the whole body snatcher style of thrills and you hear the "one of us" phrase a few times but, overall, I found the characters in the show to be worth investing some time in. Carla Gugino is believable as an analyst who deals in worst case scenarios, and Charles S. Dutton as her boss is just great to watch. I've loved Charles since I first saw him in Alien3 and he raises the bar to anything he is attached to. Of note is the character of Dr. Fenway who is played by Brent Spiner. I always wondered if he would be able to shake Data and do something dramatic without the android being upfront in everyone's mind. I gotta say, he pulls it off. I really enjoy watching him do his thing. Certain behaviours are familiar but he's doing a whole new character here and it works.

The show ran 13 episodes before being cancelled and with the exception of the pilot (which tried a little too hard to make an impression quickly by playing off every cliché known to the genre) I enjoyed every last one of them. It didn't end with a cliffhanger like some retired shows, but there were a few major plot points that were revealed right at the end that we'll never know the answer to. Some niggling things that I would like some resolution to. Alas, it will never happen.

Maybe I should try interviewing one of the show runners some day and ask where it was all going.

So, there you have it. Try the show if you haven't and you have a chance. Forgive the pilot its transgressions and, at the very least, wait around for the episode where Gugino is running around the Threshold headquarters in a turtleneck sweater before pulling the plug on this one.

Cheers!

mike

Decoding "Gethsemane" et al

I'm not sure what the catalyst was, but a little while ago I decided to start re-watching my X-Files sets from season one up with the intention of experiencing the entire mythology, now armed with 20/20 hindsight. As big a fan of the show as I was during its run, by the time things started changing in some of the later seasons (somewhere around 7-9, I'd guess) I could no longer keep track of the most basic threads of the mythology. Not only that, but I didn't quite feel the "Holy Christ!" impact I was supposed to during some of the series' major turning points, and I felt a little bit cheated by that.

I blamed myself, of course. Since I followed the behind the scenes stuff as closely as I followed the on-air show, I always heard or read interviews where the writers all seemed to see how all the little bits of connective tissue were working together. Being in the writer's room would give you that advantage, I suppose. Still, I had to ask myself, could I have paid closer attention? Have I forgotten some precious detail that would act as the Rosetta Stone to all of this hybrid/cloning/invasion/super-soldier gobbledeygook? It's possible, but I know I'm not the only fan who started getting lost when one lie would overlap another lie which would eventually lead to a truth that seemed innocuous but was really a major revelation that you didn't realize was one until much later in the show. The relationship between Mulder and Scully was always tracking fine for me but when we got something like the info dump that was Fight the Future or when the secret cabal was eventually destroyed by the other aliens with the melty faces, so much had led up to those moments by that point that my reaction was very much a surface one and the connective tissue that you knew the writers had in their heads appeared to be missing from a fan's perspective.

So far, 20/20 hindsight viewing has proven to me that knowing the ending, or just the broad strokes, really does help with the earlier bits that eventually lead you there. Watching the mythology track has been really fun and I've finally been able to just sit back and enjoy the episodes rather than trying to put the puzzle pieces together week after week. Knowing what's coming has also left me with a lot of questions about plot points that I'm waiting to see play out, but that's the whole point of the exercise, isn't it?

I have hit one speed bump so far in the form of the episodes "Gethsemane", "Redux" and "Redux II". The season 4 ender and the season 5 opener serves as a restatement of the mythology and attempts to send it off in a direction that will drive it headlong into the first feature film, Fight the Future, but I'm just totally derailed right now. It could be because I've watched it in interrupted bits and pieces, but this real alien/fake alien-Scully Cancer-Kritschgau snitching-Mulder dead-lying to the sub-committee plot is driving me a little bananas. It doesn't feel like it runs together too smoothly and that is actually surprising me a bit because, especially coming off the amazing season 4, I remember these episodes as being huge landmark events for the show and loving them the first time around. There are some beautiful character moments, and thematically there is some interesting things happening, but at this stage, I'm thinking the writers may have dropped the ball as early as this rather than much later on as I'd guessed.

I'll try them again when I have some time on my hands but do it in all one sitting this time. Maybe I'll have a better opinion of it then.

Cheers!

mike

Freak-a-Me, Freak-a-You

Although it didn't last long on network TV, one of my favourite cartoons as a young lad was Freakazoid!, a zany super-hero anthology show from the same gang of yahoos what brung you Animaniacs and Tiny Toons. Along with the regular adventures of the titular hero, there were parody ads, other characters like The Huntsman, and one of my personal faves, a Jonny Quest spoof called Toby Danger.

"Aiiieeee!"

If you've seen the show, you get the gag.

Lately I've been introducing my kids to the show through YouTube and the DVDs for season 1, and I'm pleasantly surprised by their reaction. Normally when I recommend a show they might watch an episode or two, never ask for it again because it's not their thing, and then I discover years later that they watch it all the time on TeleToon when they're at their grandparents' house. I can't tell you how many times this has happened. They should just listen to their old man, right? I know a quality animated show when I see it.

Anyway, Freakazoid! is such a strange show I figured it would be a total hit or miss situation and this time it was right out of the park. I mean, it's only been a few days and a couple of episodes but they're already at the begging for more stage anytime we have some free viewing time. Jen is getting a kick out of seeing them repeating and acting out lines and bits from the show. The two clips below are really good examples:





And this last clip is possibly the funniest of them all (but not embeddable, sorry) and went a long way, I think, to selling my oldest daughter on the show. I rarely use the word random anymore because of its popular use, but this gag is the very definition of the word.

Freak Out!

mike

Watching The Wire

I just finished season 2 of The Wire and I was, once again, utterly blown away by how good this show is. I was slow coming to it, having just started watching a couple of years ago, but since the discovery I do bang the drum hard and loud whenever and wherever I can. So far, I've had little luck hooking anyone on it, and have only gotten so far as getting Jen to watch an episode or two with me but, as the saying goes, if at first you don't succeed...

Back in the day, I loved David Simon's Homicide (which was developed by Paul Attanasio, Tom Fontana and Barry Levinson for NBC, then joined by Simon in the fourth season) and I was hesitant, initially, to jump on a show that was about wire-tapping and surveillance. I didn't know any of the actors and the fact that I didn't have access to HBO probably didn't help matters much, either. I think what finally put me over the edge, though, was an interview with Howard Chaykin over at The Word Balloon and he was talking about his first experience of the show. I think he said that when he was given the DVD set he locked himself in a room and watched all 12 hours in one sitting. It was a beautiful, sunny, California summer day outside, but he stayed in because he just couldn't stop watching. If you've ever seen the show then you already know its magnetic pull. How, on the surface, each episode seems very slow and nothing much seems to happen. And yet, every chapter of this story drives you into the next and the next after that until you get to the end. It is one of the densest, richest, well put together programs on TV; period.

I'm going to take a bit of a breather before embarking on season 3 where Simon, Ed Burns and Co. take on the Baltimore city bureaucracy, but I've got the anticipation building already.

Oh and, by the way, my birthday is in September and there is a complete DVD set of the series so, if you were fishing for ideas...

Cheers!

mike

Kim Manners (1950-2009)

This feels so weird, especially since I had an X-Files post just yesterday, but apparently Kim Manners, known for his time as a director on The X-Files and his current gig on Supernatural, passed away on Sunday from lung cancer. I was double checking Frank Spotnitz' Big Light blog today and saw the post there, then checked a few other sites online to get the whole story.

Man, I used to love watching he and Rob Bowman try to one-up each other week after week on The X-Files. I'll never forget episodes like "Home", "Humbug", "War of the Coprophages", "Closure" and many others whose scenes are permanently etched in my mind. I was thrilled a few years ago when I saw that he had become a regular on Supernatural along with X-Files alum, John Shiban. It was always fun following the old gang to their new digs and seeing what they were cooking up post Scully and Mulder.

For more tributes, Aint-It-Cool has a bit on Kim here and BuddyTV has a piece here. That's just a couple of the many that are floating around out there.

Manners was well-regarded in the industry and was a great director. My heartfelt condolences to his friends and loved ones. He will be missed.