Scifi Media

What Did I Miss?

2009-10-28T20:46:00.001-07:00

About a year ago a friend of mine that loved Buffy, let me borrow season 1 after finding out that I had never watched the show. Yeah, I, the geek, had never seen Buffy. It was obviously love at first sight. I watched the entire series in less than 6 months. This made me wonder what other shows that I missed that I should reconsider in the age of Hulu.

Babylon 5 was the next show I have started on. Seasons 1 and 2 are on Hulu and my friends had all raved about how good the show was. It was harder to get into because the entire show seems to be one huge story arc. I haven’t finished the show yet. I am only midway through the third season. The show is truly good and I am glad that I am watching it now as I think I am at a better place to understand and appreciate this show.

If you missed B5 the first time around, check out the first two seasons on Hulu. Power through the bad CG and the first couple of episodes. They are developing characters and creating an intricate plot. I don’t say this lightly, but what I have seen, blows Buffy away. Seriously, check it out.

Hackers-1995

2009-08-24T20:51:00.001-07:00

This classic stars Jonnie Lee Miller and a very young and very hot Angelina Jolie. It is great fun and was one of the first movies about hacking or even computers besides War Games a decade earlier. The movie is completely dated now and was completely unrealistic a decade ago, but like I said. Great fun. I loved this movie when it came out and it hasn’t aged well. The acting in this movie is subpar. The plot is fun and pits a bunch of kids up against a huge corporation. I would call it The Goonies of the computer age. The movie launched the careers of several people.

I wanted to be a hacker after seeing this movie, but the reality is nothing like this movie. Angelina Jolie was completely hot in this movie in a way she hasn’t replicated since. I thought Jonnie Lee Miller was going to be a big star and I expected good things from Matthew Lillard.

It is an interesting movie, and a lot of fun if you can suspend disbelief. It is fairly tame, so it is pretty family friendly. It is interesting looking at things from the movie that carry on today. and is worth the two hours it takes to watch it.

Technorati Tags: hackers,johnny lee miller,angelina jolie,matthew lillard,movies,movie reviews

Soldier (1998)

2009-08-16T20:18:00.001-07:00

This movie came on ion tonight and I gave it a watch for the first time since seeing it in theaters. This movie stars Kurt Russell as SGT Todd. Todd is the soldier of the title and was trained since birth, with several others, to be a super soldiers. The movie opens with a montage of different training that the soldiers went through and also different battles that they had fought in.

Flash forward and the soldiers are all well decorated and Todd stands out as the best of the best. The soldiers are aging and their numbers diminishing from combat. Just in time, a new crop of soldiers show up. This new group are genetically modified perfect soldiers. To test the new soldiers Todd is pitted up against Cain 607 (Jason Scott Leigh). Cain beats Todd in every test and eventually dispatches him in hand to hand combat with two other older soldiers, just to make it fair.

Todd is left for dead on a trash planet and is adopted by the locals. For whatever reason the ship comes back a couple of weeks later and they decide to wipe out the population of the planet as training for the new soldiers. Todd has gained affection for these people in the two weeks, and decides to protect them while wiping out the new batch of soldiers, killing the leaders of the program, and liberating the old obsolete soldiers.

The movie isn’t half bad. I like the concept of soldiers raised from birth and the message that a non brain washed soldier will be a superior soldier to one that is basically a robot. If you know what you are fighting for, you are more likely to win. The really awesome thing about this movie is all the nods it makes to other science fiction movies. Check out the trivia on imdb for a rundown.

Technorati Tags: movies,movie reviews,soldier,kurt russell,jason leigh,science fiction

Anathem

2009-08-10T21:12:00.000-07:00

Technorati Tags: stephenson,neal stephenson,anathem,science fiction,book reviews,book,scifi

This book can not be explained in a short review. Stephenson creates a
world that is very complicated, has its own history, and creates a
language to go along with it. While some elements of the novel will be
very similar to what the reader is used to, some of the book can be very
confusing.

The story follows Erasamas, a young avout, as he is pulled out of his
math (a scientific monastery of sorts) with several of his companions to
solve a problem of the secular world. The beginning of the book is set
up to explain to you what a math is like before you get to the actual
plot. The pacing can be slow at times but lightening quick at others.
This is a very aggressive work by Stephenson and may be called his
masterpiece. Not that it is perfect, but Stephenson set out to write a
literary science fiction novel and he succeeded.

Readers of Stephenson know that he has a tendency to not end a book so
much as he stops writing it. In this book Stephenson did a good job of
wrapping things up on some degree and leaving a lot up to the
imaginations of his readers. A goal that he has been tweaking from day
one.

This book is hard to suggest to just anyone. People with very
scientific minds that love talking about and exploring theories and
science should really get into this book. The literary elite have
seemed to enjoy this book as well. This book is very deep and thought
provoking though. This isn't popular sci-fi. Personally, I loved it.

Dragon Ball Evolution

2009-08-06T09:38:00.002-07:00

This movie barely makes it into the martial arts category for me. The martial arts is way over the top and not really focused on. This is strange because the movie is all about a “martial arts” battle at the end. In fact, the final fight scene was anticlimactic and disappointing.

The good news for this movie is that my kids loved it. Both of them are girls and take martial arts themselves and they thought the movie was a lot of fun. In the DVD extra features there is a training segment where they teach you how to do stuff from the movie and my girls got up and participated. The whole feature was corny and over the top, but my girls ate it up.

Overall it wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t good either. It is kind of fun and Jamie Chung is fun to look at. Kids from the 5-12 range will probably get a kick out of it. The martial arts content was sub part, but the movie is based off of an anime that is based off of a manga. I give it 3 exploding fists.

Technorati Tags: Dragonball,dragonball z,jamie chung,movies,movie

Well, I saw it- Spiderman 3 review, and then some

2007-05-05T19:07:00.000-07:00

yes, yes yes

I've not traversed through these parts in a Peruvian minute

but isn't the fact that I'm here now all that really matters?

well, the year of the Geek has been smoothly rolling on, until

UNTIL

the unthinkable

BUT, before I get to the point that dragged me away from my

chronic, non-contributory, lurking laziness

let's briefly, but fondly recall the good stuff

300

'nuf said. film ROCKed! the 3 useless flesh=soft pr0n scenes were

as unwelcomed as a hot poker in my eye but overall the movie is a

keeper.

TMNT

Cowabunga dudes! my childhood heroes live on! in honor, I think

I'll heat up a Digiorno

BSG

k, I can't talk about this one. every time I remember that I have to

wait until JAN for an explanation of the watchtower I start having

seizure like tremors. It gets ugly.

only thing I'll say is: if you aren't watching the new Battlestar

then you need to seek professional help. b/c obviously you don't

like yourself very much and are this [] closest to driving off a

bridge- but that's because you can't see the gleaming guard rails

in front of you.

Heroes

heheheeeheheeeeehhhhhhgiggddinessssgggiiiddinnessssYatta!

k

Smallville

has actually continued an upward trend of good shows, especially

the LONG needed Lex-Clark friendship/nemesis conversation

4400

oh when, oh when will my show come back
show come back
show come back
oh when, oh when will my show come back
I need a replacement for battlestar

season 3 of Dr Who

not that I, an American, have actually seen it yet

hehehheeee

EXCELLENT! or should I say Brill ant!

sigh

humph

sigh

deep breathe

k

first the bull horn

SPOILER

SPOILER

SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I planned out, weeks ago, an appropriately colored outfit to wear to

a place where no one important would actually see me in honor of

the movie theme

I mercilessly tormented my co-workers Friday with my fangirl

fanaticism regarding the opening weekend

I braved a torrential rainstorm that threatened to blow my car off

the road, IF I was even ON the road since I couldn't see anything

except the water, just to go to the theatre today

and I held my bladder for 2.5 hours trying not to miss the next

scene which surely would be better than the one I just saw....

k

Spiderman 3 did not suck

BUT

there was an odor

it smelled like too much Urkel
mixed with a chunk of Gilmore Girls
and blended with a LOST like disregard for character longevity

I was disappointed

a buddy of mine, by the name of Bud (can you believe I'm actually
quoting you? the world is really coming to an end)
said several months past that he was scared for Spiderman 3

since this same bloke naysays just about EVERYTHING, except zombie
movies (get the picture) I totally ignored his doubt

I said- Sam Ramie is a geek; Sam Ramie is careful; Sam Ramie

realizes with the ridiculous amount of money plopped down for this

movie people are going to have to want to see it over and over

again

Well

k- did you notice the spoiler banner above? good

I LOVE the 5 second Singing in the Rain bit in S2
perfect timing, unexpected, delightful

Why, oh WHY did they try to re-mine that bit for 30 minutes!
(maybe not that long but it sure did seem like it)

Spidey and MJ fighting, yeah it's predictable for a vain starlett

to feel like second fiddle to her top billed boyfriend
and yes, Peter should have gotten champagne in his face for sharing

the crucial kiss with another woman
and it was GREAT watching Harry twist Pete's heart with the MJ

knife
BUT
[sigh] they should have minimized the mushy stuff

yup

why, do you ask?

b/c I came to see a SPIDERMAN film- not these are the Days of a

Spider

k

I love BSG's "space opera" moments, when they ARE moments
Plus, they fit with the nature and purpose of the show

but in S3 they were long winded, over-acted, and just plain

obtrusive

Twist and Shout? Come ON!

and the final sting

why must they kill off every hard core spidey villian at the end?
I realllllllllllllllyyyyyyyyy would have loved to see a round two
with Doc Ock

hey, comic books go on for DECADES without the permanent eraser
being applied

I know there's web talk about Venom rising up from the gloppy ashes

I hope so 'cause Topher totally pwned that role

but in the meantime. in the speculation free reality- I'm ticked

plus, why did they have to off Harry? just when he started to

become actually useful? was it too much Two-Face like that they

feared a court battle?

hangs flinging up in the air

final summation

I didn't hate the film overall

and if I hadn't been drive to a demented state since LAST YEAR in

anticipation, I may even have had some words of praise (hey,

despite their flaws, I really like X3 and Fantastic Four)

but
BUT

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTTTTTTTTTTTTTt

I am disappointed

my bubble was burst

my giggles were glued to the floor

and my head shook in disbelief at various time during the movie

Ramie- you did me wrong

I suggest you and Brian Singer go sit in you rooms and THINK about

what you have done

Tisk

Wuo-What?

The rumbling, grumbling noise that you hear

2007-03-22T21:22:00.000-07:00

is the approaching deluge of RANDOM GEEK rants!

Arrrugggalllla

300

first point- I've already thrown my three cents into the 300 debate. see comment section below
No sense continuing to beat a dead horse, unless your Spartan and you're using it as a punching beg

BSG

The End is Near! The End is Near!
a horrible frost slowly encapulates my heart as the reality of a 8-10 month hiatus pierces my pysche
sniffle, sniffle

oh but WOW! does RDM know how to whip us geeks into a passionate frenzy or what?
the military would be wise to seek his talents out during their next mass recuitment campaign

the Summar of Love

yes, my friends, the Year of the Geek is now in full swing
I've already oulined most of the Must See theatrical releases below (in my YAWN post)

now for the DVDs
Best Buy will be elated as I plan to plop down a hefty chunk this year

some of the In Comings that I've ascertained so far
the Children of Men
the Curse of the Golden Dragon
(non genere) Pursuit of Happiness

and I still haven't grabbed a copy of the Prestige yet, but I will

My collecting cravings MUST be feed

hey, how's this for a 10 point nerd shot?
Star Trek convention with Shatner & Nimoy
this may be the year I finally get my ears

don't think I'm only kidding

If you partake in such "strange rituales" as fan cons
and happen upon a giddy fangirl wearing my homemade KEANU is the Greatest Actor ALIVE T
give a wave to the WuoWho

datsfadonya (it's phonetic, leave me alone- smirk)

300 review w/SPOILERS (not by me)

2007-03-12T12:55:00.000-07:00

I haven't seen the flick yet, but I had to drop this review I found. It is a negative review and probably quite contrary to the other participants here. I'll drop my actual thoughts after I have seen it.

I know at least one person who will thoroughly disagree with this review. heh heh heh.

----

A Movie Only a Spartan Could Love
The battle epic 300.
By Dana Stevens

If 300, the new battle epic based on the graphic novel by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley, had been made in Germany in the mid-1930s, it would be studied today alongside The Eternal Jew as a textbook example of how race-baiting fantasy and nationalist myth can serve as an incitement to total war. Since it's a product of the post-ideological, post-Xbox 21st century, 300 will instead be talked about as a technical achievement, the next blip on the increasingly blurry line between movies and video games.

Directed by Zack Snyder, whose first feature film was the 2004 makeover of the horror classic Dawn of the Dead, 300 digitally re-creates the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C., where, according to classical history and legend, the Spartan king Leonidas led a force of only 300 men against a Persian enemy numbering in the hundreds of thousands. The comic fanboys who make up 300's primary audience demographic aren't likely to get hung up on the movie's historical content, much less any parallels with present-day politics. But what's maddening about 300 (besides the paralyzing monotony of watching chiseled white guys make shish kebabs from swarthy Persians for 116 indistinguishable minutes) is that no one involved—not Miller, not Snyder, not one of the army of screenwriters, art directors, and tech wizards who mounted this empty, gorgeous spectacle—seems to have noticed that we're in the middle of an actual war. With actual Persians (or at least denizens of that vast swath of land once occupied by the Persian empire).

In interviews, Snyder insists that he "really just wanted to make a movie that is a ride"—a perfectly fine ambition for any filmmaker, especially one inspired by the comics. And visually, 300 is thrilling, color-processed to a burnished, monochromatic copper, and packed with painterly, if static, tableaux vivants. But to cast 300 as a purely apolitical romp of an action film smacks of either disingenuousness or complete obliviousness. One of the few war movies I've seen in the past two decades that doesn't include at least some nod in the direction of antiwar sentiment, 300 is a mythic ode to righteous bellicosity. In at least one way, the film is true to the ethos of ancient Greece: It conflates moral excellence and physical beauty (which, in this movie, means being young, white, male, and fresh from the gyms of Brentwood).

Here are just a few of the categories that are not-so-vaguely conflated with the "bad" (i.e., Persian) side in the movie: black people. Brown people. Disfigured people. Gay men (not gay in the buff, homoerotic Spartan fashion, but in the effeminate Persian style). Lesbians. Disfigured lesbians. Ten-foot-tall giants with filed teeth and lobster claws. Elephants and rhinos (filthy creatures both). The Persian commander, the god-king Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) is a towering, bald club fag with facial piercings, kohl-rimmed eyes, and a disturbing predilection for making people kneel before him.

Meanwhile, the Spartans, clad in naught but leather man-briefs, fight under the stern command of Leonidas (Gerard Butler), whose warrior ethic was forged during a childhood spent fighting wolves in the snow. Leonidas likes to rally the troops with bellowed speeches about "freedom," "honor," and "glory," promising that they will be remembered for having created "a world free from mysticism and tyranny." (The men's usual response, a fist-pumping "A-whoo! A-whoo!" sounds strangely fratty.) But Leonidas is not above playing the tyrant himself. When a messenger from Xerxes arrives bearing news Leonidas doesn't like, he hurls the man, against all protocol, down a convenient bottomless well in the center of town. "This is blasphemy! This is madness!" says the messenger, pleading for his life. "This is Sparta," Leonidas replies. So, if Spartan law is defined by "whatever Leonidas wants," what are the 300 fighting for, anyway? And why does that sound depressingly familiar?

Another of the Spartans' less-than-glorious customs is the practice of eugenics, hurling any less-than-perfect infant off a cliff onto a huge pile of baby skeletons. Unfortunately for the 300 at Thermopylae, this system of racial cleansing isn't foolproof: One deformed hunchback, Ephialtes (Andrew Tiernan), manages to make it to adulthood and begs Leonidas for a chance to serve Sparta in the 300. Sure enough, when he's turned down, the hunchback confirms his moral weakness by accepting Xerxes' offer to join ranks with the Persians.

Meanwhile, back home in Sparta, Leonida's wife, Gorgo (Lena Headey), engages in some plot-padding political intrigue with the evil Theron (The Wire's Dominic West, looking particularly risible in classical drapery). Theron wants to persuade the Spartan council not to send reinforcements to the desperately outnumbered 300 (what is he, a Democrat?). The noble and sexy Gorgo finally gives herself to Theron in exchange for a chance to persuade the council. "This will not be over quickly," the villain warns as he pins her against a temple pillar. "You will not enjoy this." It might have been Zack Snyder himself whispering in my ear, and he would have been right.

In a classic example of the epic understatement known as litotes, Variety's reviewer observes that the picture's vision of the West as a heroic contingent of sculpted badasses and the East as a cauldron perversion and iniquity "might be greeted with muted enthusiasm in the Middle East." Replace the words "muted enthusiasm" with "a roadside bomb," and you've got yourself a tagline for the Baghdad premiere.

Dana Stevens is Slate's movie critic. You can write her at movies@thehighsign.net.

Ultimate TV land Fight Challenge

2007-02-03T17:07:00.000-08:00

Random thoughts from a scifi geek net junkie:

WHO WOULD WIN?

Jack Bauer (24) versus Chuck Norris

Gaius Baltar versus Lionel Luther

President Reynolds (Prision Break) versus #3/ Deanna

Nikki/Jessica (Heroes) versus Isabelle (4400)

Peter Petrilli- when suped up with multiple powers (Heroes) versus Clark Kent

Brainiac (Smallville) versus the Doctor (any incarnation)

Shawn Spenser (Psych) versus Chloe (Smallville)

Sylar (Heroes) versus Magneto (X-men movie version)

Haley (Firefly) versus the Chief (BSG)- in a ship repair contest

Zarek (BSG) versus Collier (4400)- in a test of collecting Kool Aid converts

And of course

Battlester Galatica versus Enterprise (Capt. Archer's version)

Let the games begin!

YAWN - hibernation is OVER!

2007-02-03T02:35:00.000-08:00

Oh yeah, the TV winter hiatus has finally past (abet, ironically, the snow has just now decided to start falling)

Time to renew my fan-atical obsessions again

First of all, Kudos to the guys at 'Two Geeks, a Mic, and a Podcast' for assigning 2007 most appropriate designation The YEAR of the GEEK

Indeed it is. Not since my faint memories of 1986-92 have there been SO MANY excellent scifigeek droolworthy. But to have them occur all in one TV year! Truly the meteors are about to fall because the end draweth nigh.

It's been about two weeks since the restart of the TV year and I've already had to start shopping for a new butt cushion (don't want any couch potato bed sores, you know - GROSS!)

anywho, here are some genre related recap; AKA my POV on all that's worthy of DVR space

** so many SPOILERS below- but it's totally ridiculous to think one can converse intelligently about any show without revealing any current plot events. The banner warning's here for appearances only. If you haven't watched the episodes that the below blog spoils- then you are so NOT a fan **

BSG- BATTLESTAR of course placed at the top of the list

1. WHY are the rating so bad?? I know the American viewing population has gone the way of Idiocracy but there just isn't any comprehensible reason why this show isn't at the top of the quality lists. I nearly screamed at my lap top when I saw that the final vote over at tv.com put BSG at the bottom of the top sci-fi shows of 2006. WHAT!?!!!

my only hope is that iTune and DVD sales are hitting record numbers. RDM and company have done such a tremendous job with this AWESOME work of fiction that it actually provokes a heated emotional response from me when I consider the low rep its getting. The only area that matters to it's funding network is the numbers that translate into profitable commercial sales or direct re-coop of production cost from fan merchandise sales.

Idea: if BSG fans made dedicated effort to strategically support the corporate firms that pay our writers/actors/production staffs pay checks then we could single handedly erase all cancellation fears along with solidifying the importance of fan input into the minds of the POV. This of course would be a great thing, especially in ensuring we undercut the spreading virus that is the reign of trailer park TV, ie reality (p.s. no offense to any mobile home dwellers and self-admitted rednecks, which includes several dear friends of mine)

2. Anywho, back to MY theories (and if any of these come to past, I'm okay with it but I call bragging rights. I say this in advance b/c I think my ideas are SO BRILLIANT that they must be shared by BSG's creative staff. Opps, my head just fell over again)

a. Gaeta and Dualla are obviously cylons. There's just WAY too much evidence to support Gaeta being of the mechanical persuasion and since they've already got two white and one Asian female cylons-
3rd in the line of succession is of course the dear President Roslin. Just b/c jaws would drop and she'd had to throw herself out of an air lock (poor Adama)
b. starbuck is going to bite it by the end of the season. Not permanently; I think, I hope the writers follow up on the 'all of this has been done before' by pulling her out of the RTF ala the 1970s version and sending her on a cylon sponsored earth quest. My only hope is that when she finally resurfaces there aren't any 'star children' in tow (remember V?)

3. Bboard haters should all burst into flames. I've gotten really tired of all the trash talking naysayers on the forums that rip to shred every little aspect of the show. Yes, I hope the love quadrangle gasps for breath no more; yes, the depiction of permissible insubordination is WAY over the top; yes, as a self admitted rayguns and robot girl I want to see more outstanding special effect scenes like Exodus but COME ON PEOPLE! The reason why BSG is not your childhood scifi show is that it's full of human stupidity, frailty, irrationality, irresponsibility, and soap-operish drama. If you want the old world bland science fiction go stare at a SG-Atlantis marathon (yeesh!) If RDM or company ever comes across this blog in passing I want them to know they've got at least one fan who actually GETs It, and appreciated It. (party on writer dudes!)

shout outs to some EXCELLENT fan pods:

http://www.bsgcast.com/

http://www.galacticawatercooler.com/

K. Since this blog will complete obliterate my well constructed rep as a non writing slacker I must move on to the next point before I lose all my stamina

Heroes
Oh yeah, Masi rulz! And of course my little Emo Milo brings me great delight. Quite please with the infusion of Christopher Ecclesion. I do hope the writers capture the perfect blend of persevering mystery and cannon in their exposition on the evolutionary mythology. Only big beef I have is that I hope the dinosaur does NOT re-appear. The picture was fulfilled at the museum. An additional story line would send the show straight into velveeta land. This show's premise just isn't design to credibility portray such an over the top storyline. Or at least I don't think it can. I have been proven wrong before.

shout outs:

http://heroescast.libsyn.com/

http://www.herosite.net/

P.S. NBC's website now is offering simultaneous episode re-broadcasts with video commentary for the cast & producers. I must say- so far it ROCKS!

Smallville

oh yes, its been great. I'm greatly digging the evilLana/Lex metamorph. I just REALLY hope they don't mess it up by trying to pretend that Lana the Leech belongs on the light side. WHATEVER. I will really miss Oliver. The series has really benefited from the GA / JLA storyline infusions. I hope the MM entry will be just as entertaining. So far it has been.
1. The Labyrinth episode- BRILLIANT! Especially the sound checks.
2. The next best stroke of genius that could be grafted in is if the Lana babymonster has some of Brainic's genetic material swirling in its DNA cocktail. I'll take any kind of far fetched story device to bring back James Marson

Shout outs:

the one and only - http://www.kryptonsite.com/

Supernatural

Okay, before you make the scooby noise; despite my over all general ADVERSITY to all demon hunting / borderline dark magic based shows, I have (cough) developed an appreciation for this serial. And no, it wasn't just the hot Jason Ackleson that lured me to the darkside (although I do appreciate the eye candy). Nope, the 4400 like storyline of the psychics drew me in. Then the snappy, snarky dialogue attached the hook. But last week's episode ending of the shaper shifter bank robber episode: ode to Styx's Renegage locked me in as a regular view. If they can re-create the utter SWEETness of that last 5 minutes into any additional episodes then I'll be happy. Plus, I've read that they've got a werewolf episode in the works and for some bizarre reason I'm pretty partial to the doggie dudes. ARRWOOOOOOOOOOOFFFFFFF!

Daybreak

An under appreciated gemstone. Really good acting and writing. The episodic run is currently available for free viewing at ABC.com
WARNING: it ends on a minor cliff anger b/c of the show's abrupt cancellation but the major story plot is resolved quite nicely. So no worries- GO check it out.

Psych

okay, it's technically not genre. But you've got to admit Gus' geekiness should make any nerdbar bouncer move out the way and allow them free entry.
The show's stinking hilarious!

Ahem- notice how LOST isn't listed?
THEY KILLED MR ECHO!!!!!!!!!! First Boone, now Echo. And I heard they're rumors Sawyer's neck is in a noose. I WILL NOT WATCH ...... I WILL NOT WATCH... I WILL NOT .... (sigh)

FINALLY:
the must see Movie calendar for the first half of 2007

JAN
Pan's Labyrinth (admission- its too scary for me to watch but the web site is AWESOME: http://www.panslabyrinth.com/

FEB
Ghost Rider (maybe a DVD wait)
BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA
The Number 23

MAR
300 (OH YEAH!!!)
Zodiac (non genre but looks intriguing)
THE HOST (finally a USA release. Depending on your terror tolerance, that's a good or bad thing)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

APR
NOPE, still nothing

MAY
SPIDERMAN 3!!!!!!!!!! (the YEAR of the GEEK)
again with the Pirates (awaiting the November multi box set release)
Paprika (anime ala Phillip K Dick- hmmmmm?? I've not seen a trailer yet, but it sound interesting.)

JUN
Fantastic Four the Silver Surfer RIDES!
Day Watch- Finally the sequel to Russia's Night watch is HERE

JUL
Transformers ( I hope it's good)
Room 1408 (again not for those with pacemakers)
dare I say it? the SIMPSON's movie DUOH!

AUG
The Bourne Ultimatum

SEP
Sunshine

Whew! Hopes this makes up for the month long hiatus

good night, and good luck
(pulled from RDM's pods, you know)

Winter Hiatus

2006-12-17T20:40:00.000-08:00

Ratz!

The time has come when the evil network PsTB slap us diehard fans in the face with nail-bitting cliffhangers and heidous season pauses.

I would like to meet the person who first came up with the "to be continued" idea- and (edited by Blogger net-smirk)

Anyway, must say I was quite please with BSG's mid season fianle . Although the overall episode was pretty predictable, it was actually a breath of fresh air. Instead of having my guts ripped out by some unexpected plot twist and my face subsequently slapped with the cruel time lapse, we were treated to another trilling entry in the RTF's saga. And we got a HUGE hint about the nature of the Cylons versus the Lords of Kobal. Because the plot advancement actually answered questions while laying the framework for future compelling drama, I can patiently wait for the return of the greatest show on TV without silently wishing locusts swarm upon RDM.

heheheeee

once again, this proves that the creative staff of BSG so far out shines any other tv/film production group that the rest of the players should run crying back to their classroom.

In the interim, I was able to check out the LOST substitute show DAYBREAK on www.abc.com
Man, that show was GREAT! Compelling, well acted, and appealing to my inner scifigeekiness.
I'm using the past tense b/c once again the IDIOTS in charge decided to cancel a 'thinking' show. I do feel a bit of guilt because I personally didn't throw any support to the show when it first aired. I was still fuming over the murder of Mr. Echo and the network was top on my hit list. Now I'm sorry for the misplaced fury.
Very sad that DayBreak won't get to see the light of tommorrow.

REC: even in it's partial state the show is still worthy of review. And since many of the epsiodes are available for free on ABC.com you should open up another browser window & go check them out.
Hey, maybe if they track a significant spike in viewers during these hiatus days they might bring it back !?!

Sub-par Smallville: please, somebody throw some dirt on this episode!

2006-12-08T08:27:00.000-08:00

as a DIEHARD smallvillite, with still fresh fond memories of the season 2 premire TV party attended many, many moons ago, it usually takes alot for me to even THINK badly about this show. Not even season 4's Mulana stinkers swayed me away from unbridled fandom.

but last nights ep Subterranean

WHAT WERE THEY T-H-I-N-K-I-N-G???/??!!!/?///??????

I was QUITE disappointed in last night's episode. I haven't felt this ill towards an ep since last year's horror feast thirst / ultralana.

Ridiculous- illegal Hispanic immigrants who CAN'T even speak SPANISH. "necessitas adyuda"- my BAD spanlish pronunciation of that phrase is far more realistic.

Even the final scene showing an evil Lex grated- if he's got high powered meterfreaks under lock & guard- why are they in regular cells? Wouldn't at least one of them have significant powers that could reach out and nab Lex as he walked on past them?

If this is the quality of filler episodes needed to stretch the season out for another year then- GASP- I'm hoping for early cancellation.

The amber of krypton got a little dimmer last night

Galatica SMACKDOWN!!!!

2006-12-02T14:11:00.000-08:00

and the returning champion Buckie the Spastic She-devil once again powered through not one, not two but THREE strapping studs!

total domination!

and in the far right corner- the two timing Billy killing terror got OWNED! reaping what you sow. sad but true.

episode was EXCELLANT as usual

funny realities:

Manaxoreia exists, and so does an ice cream eating dude crying over a dump job

the red shirt doesn't always die in the episode, but he sure will leave with a black eye

never underestimate the right hook of senior citizen

always listen to your teacher

and pirates STILL make the best officiates

heheheheeeeeee

great site/blog/podcast:

http://galacticawatercooler.com

ECW can only DREAM of a better match up

P.S. pulled from Audra's blog from the above URL

"Starbuck just depletes the men around her, uses them and takes off on her next adventure. We don’t get a lot of women characters quite like this in modern film and t.v., and I think the shift from an original male character helped make it happen. I wonder if we (I) look for reasoning behind Starbuck’s actions more because she is a woman, rather than just blowing her off as a selfish player, as we might if she were a guy"

I for one am glad for the opportunity to see this kind of role reversal in play. Not since the Angel One episode from ST:TNG have we been presented with a believable shift in gender roles that wasn't swishy and that lets us consider the potential underlying motivations at work in the stereotypical Cro-mag. The freeing of the atmosphere from traditional gender positions allows us to honestly consider that chauvinism, like racism, isn't just a one sided character flaw but an ugly blotch in the human condition. However, since both ultimately are just outward expressions of inner inadequacies there's hope for change.
And if not, well then somebody needs to tap the bell.
Ding, Ding

BSG SPOILER ** BSG SPOILER - yeah right

2006-11-29T16:01:00.000-08:00

found this little tibit and thought i'd share it with ya:

I've been looking at all the reviews from all the Scifigeek sites and magazines saying the 2nd half of season 3 "will contain lots of mind-bending bizarre stuff"... and I just realized what's going to happen.

Tom Zarek is going to wake up and realize he's been hallucinating inside a whited-out Viper being sucked into a giant crystal space lounge, and he's really Apollo.

Don Johnson is a cylon, and he's going to show up as an MP and report to Adama, who will suddenly put on a really skinny tie and stop talking, preferring to just look grim.

Meanwhile, recon parties on the new planet will find the crashed Starship Enterprise, and return to Galactica with Scott Bakula, who will be temporarily inhabiting the body of ~~who else~~ Shatner.

Why Shatner? Because he's directing, that's why.

Bakula will see Stockwell on Galactica, and realize the entire nightmare is just an episode of Quantum Leap, at which point the holodeck doors will open, and the Cylon skinjobs will walk in, revealing that the entire Galactica experience has been a simulation being run back on Caprica, where

Patrick Stewart is the Number One Cylon.

He will offer a choice of two pills to Colonel Tigh, who will opt for the truth. At which point the show will spontaneously combust, since even science fiction cannot credibly handle the notion that Tigh is The One.

Baltar will go on to judge American Idol,
Starbuck will feature prominently in Dukes of Hazzard 4,
Roslyn will convince Shatner to do a remake of Out of Africa, for no good reason whatsoever.

It's a gift I have, these epiphanies. Sorry I forgot to do a spoiler alert.

Science Fiction VS Fantasy

2006-11-28T17:29:00.000-08:00

Why are these two genres lumped together as if they are one? I like science fiction and I like some fantasy. When I go to a book store or an online store I usually have in mind what I am in the mood for. What I hate is looking through all of the fantasy books to find the few science fiction novels. It seems that with the popularity of the Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and Chronicles of Narnia movies, fantasy is all that you see in these sections. A lot of it seems to be assembly line books that are produced on a schedule. Why can I find every volume of every fantasy series in existence and the book store not carry Neal Stephenson or William Gibson.

The Library is the same way. Dewey must be rolling over in his grave about lumping two different subjects together in one section. I realize that there are a lot of crossover fans, but that could be said about many different genres. Women who read romance novels tend to also read true crime books. Why not lump those two together. Sci fi and fantasy fans tend to like computers so lets just move the computer section over. Yes, it is silly. Just as it is silly to put science fiction and fantasy in the same section.

When I want a sci fi novel I want to go over to the science fiction section and browse through nothing but sci fi. I hate picking up a book with a nondescript cover and realizing it is fantasy when I want hard sci fi. The problem isn't so pronounced with fantasy because nine out of ten books in the section will be fantasy.

Whose afraid of Ron D. Moore?

2006-11-10T23:56:00.000-08:00

Man, Battlestar Galactica just keeps hittin' home with the tough topics. And exposing blind simpltons in it's wake.

This week's episode "a measure of salvation" has sparked some heated keypad fighting over the decision made by one of the top 10 players. For the sake of maintaining a spoiler free zone i shall shy away from details.
What amazes me is the virulent attacks by posters towards the show writers simply because they don't aggree with the espisode's message.

BSG has far exceed what I thought was impossible- the vivid presentation of deep thought / soul searing analysis of interpersonal and societal dilemnas outside the prestine Trek comfort zone. It forces us to take a hard look at our values, our morales, our choices. Are we right? Is there any validity in the beliefs of the "other"?

As i posted previously, being given the opportunity to examine the full prism can only grant you absolute clarity towards your own positions- if, of course, you have something that you're willing to stand for and/or if you are martyr level assured of your position.

It's sad to me that some modern day scifigeeks still can't get that; despite the 10 plus years we've had of the entertainment media shaking the boat of what we think and believe, if someone presents an alterate view there are those who will attempt to shoot it down with lame calls of FOUL or bad writing.

There is NOTHING lame with BSG's argumements.

i do smirk that while many posters float around whining on the bboard b/c they didn't want "their" show to push them against the wall of their personal comfort zone, many do get it. and write about it. and discuss it. ponder it. savor it. . . .

i just wish the ratings would improve.

BSG totally rocks!

do i agree with some of the tree-hugging stances protrayed by the drama? Of course not. but i do appreciate being reminded that neohippies have logical motivations too.

long live BSG! maybe it will help me reclaim a few brain cells lost watching Youtube clips of trailerpark TV action (i.e. reality TV)

oh yeah, plagerism moment:
lifting this clip from the current bboard chat on this week's episode

< The question comes to this: Are you willing to forever give up your humanity for your survival? To become subhuman? >

Profound

Leg Go my Eggo

2006-10-28T14:26:00.000-07:00

What a lovely little Saturday this has been. I've enjoyed yet another nonstop lurkfest on the bboards of my favs: BSG, Smallville, Heroes, Doctor Who and Lost. excellant discussions to be found there.

must say, surprising, hollywood's not let me down so far this fall season

well, maybe its because the video media has finally open their eyes to the genius of fanboys. all of the above series have strong, if not premienent, connections with the formerly known as quiet geek sect

isn't it great that Revenge of the Nerds was partially prophetical? PARTIALLY- I HOPE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

anywho, the real reason i wanted to post was not to engage in written discourse (die hard lurkers, raise your right hands)

but to share this funny off the YouTube

ENJOY

Ender's Shadow

2006-10-09T12:00:00.000-07:00

You would think retelling the same story from a different perspective would be a recipe for a terrible novel and low sales. Think again.

Card tells a story on the same timeline as Ender's Game and the events of the world mirror each other. Ender's Shadow is able to break free of the shadow of Ender's Game by mesmerizing the reader with the tale of little Bean.

Card weaves a retelling of his best selling award winner in with the new stories that Bean brings with it. It is almost a behind the scenes look into what was going on inside the school. If the reader has read Ender's Game he sometimes finds himself routing against Bean.

Card nails the story as original as a retelling can be told. He also makes it self sufficient so that readers may pick up Ender's Shadow and then decide that they would like to read Ender's Game as well. To say that the book was a success is selling it short. This proved to Card that he could write and sell other viable stories within the Ender universe.

Highly recommended!

BSG is BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2006-10-07T00:22:00.000-07:00

Man, was tonight's episode completely AWESOME or what?

man, man, .... i feel foolish just tring to compose an intelligent blog about the experience i've just had with this show.

because i must say RDM and his writing team's skill with creating real world of thought provoking, intense drama is so off the chart that, that -- they can't be humans. THEY'RE CYLONS!!!!!!!!!!!!

if i had a thimble of their talent maybe i'd get over my slacker numbness - - -
nah

anyway, the show didn't end with the second hour. Mosey on over to the BSG bboard at scifi.com and follow along with the word play.

sadly there are a number of posters who missed the point. BSG season 1 seemed to be taking the right wing position of firm, uncompromising response to misguided religious terrorism. season 2 pulled the liberal card with its pro infanticde and embracing the POV of the "bad guy". now season 3 has put alot of pro iraq war supporters into an unpleasant wedgie.

personally i support the war. i understand the benefits to the USA of a de-stabilized islamic region with pro-american factions controlling a desperate resource. but BSG is NOT about taking sides or making your political choices based on the rhetoric of hollywood writers.

a poster made an excellant point that the ability to appreciate all POVs is a mark of a thinking individual. does the seeming presentation of the occupied colonists as a stand in for palestinian insurgents make me soften and appreciate their goals and change my position on Isreal?

absolutely NOT. remember net surfers ficition is just that. you take kernels of reality, modify them enough so you can't be sued for libel and re-package them as driven drama.

do i appreciate being given an opportunity to consider multiple POVs?

absolutely. only a weak willed spineless person who has either no true convictions or substance-less drones can't stand the light of the opposition.

besides, the wonderful thing about BSG being spear headed by a "true believer" scifigeek is that the show isn't taking sides or proselyting. it's presenting engaging, intense commentary on trueism recurrent in the human experience. it's bloodless gladiatory sport.

and i must say- they've SPOT ON got it right.

YEAH SCI FI
YEAH BSG
YEAH FRIDAY!!!!

p.s. did anyone else out there nearly faint when the previews popped up? every twist that we've wanted to see is coming.
my only fear is that they go too far and have Zarek sacrifice his life to save to president. now that would be a tragedy worth threating show abondment. (in theory at least)

Whu-WhOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

the BEST Smallville EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!

2006-10-05T18:58:00.000-07:00

no recent posts b/c i've been content to suck in the fullness of netware from the lurker's POV

but tonight's Smallville has drawn me back to the channel

to SCREAM

tonight's episode (10/5) was TOTALLY TUBULAR MAN
smirk

having been an SV fangirl for the past 5 seasons (including season 4 although i still get nausea and night sweats thinking about the dreadful mulana story line) i must say i haven't been impressed EVER (well maybe the season 3 opera finale with the magnificent baddie and his de-frocking) as i was tonight.

they got EVERYTHING right!

from the lois byline to chloe's pivotal role to the brief but poignant visitation from our resident lion king to Ollie's arrow to weatherman Clark to to to totottototootototoototooooooo

hyperventialing

only beef is that once again my Lexie was on the bottom again
saddness- but if he convinced the leech to stay under his terms then he will have truely begun his ascent / decent to control of his dark empire.

yup- i'm in video feedback nirvana

let's recap my joyous week as an unashamed scifigeek

heroes- episodes one and two- yes they went overboard with the convient dramatic implants but they've inspired my devotion to the younger of the trapazoid brothers

docotor who- cheesy in all his arthur dent glory but who can forget the line "DOES SHE LOOK TIRED TO YOU?"

X-men the last stand available on DVD with a nice bonus buy from best buy

LOST- absoultely lost and lovin' it

and of course the piece-de resistance (feel free to correct my french) the wait is finally over!!!!!
BSG tomorrowwie

yes, i'm imitating baby talk- i'm just that loopie right now

exhalation

I'm an Addict!

2006-09-27T09:35:00.000-07:00

I can't stop thinking about it. Every extra penny I can scrounge goes to buying more. When I am not doing it, I can only think about doing it. It is disrupting my life. I can quit at any time though. I don't have a problem.

I am talking about VS system. The nifty comic book based trading card game. I blogged about it about a month ago, but that was before I really got into it. This game is its own little world with websites dedicated to it and the way that you can play the cards. It has it's own lexicon using words like drops, press, and exhaust. All of which sound like some form of exercise.

The game gives you so many possible strategies to choose from when you play golden age (any card from any set) and/or limits you to work from within an established set of strategies when you do a draft or sealed pack tournament (you work from one set and build your deck from a certain number of packs). The game is incredibly complex, but only if you let it get that way. To win you have to know your cards and how to use them, or you can just be lucky.

This game is a lot of fun. The variables make it different every time you play it.

V for Vendetta

2006-09-25T06:45:00.000-07:00

V for Vendetta has been criticized for being pro terrorism. It is also said that it attacks the Bush administration. I would disagree that the movie is pro terrorism, and that if it is attacking the Bush administration, the Bush administration deserves to be attacked.

In an Orwellian future, Brittan is run by a hypocritical police state. The bureaucracy can do whatever they want while preaching religion, while the people are ruled by fear of the "fingers." Dissenters are sent away, never to be seen or heard from again.

In the midst of this, one man with knowledge that the government is behind the evils that agitated the peoples fears and allowed the existence of a police state makes a stand. He does so behind the guise of a Guy Falkes mask. He makes his stand with explosions, fireworks, and music.

The use of explosions to blow up public buildings is what is considered being a terrorist act. I will give two reason why it is not. First: The building were blown up at night, so no innocent bystanders would be harmed, let alone V warned of the second building a year early. Second: V was overthrowing a tyrannical government. We was a one man militia.

To prove my second point let me quote the Declaration of Independence.
"We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.

That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."

Yes, you read that right. It is the right of the people to abolish such a government. Sure the movie is set in England, and I am sure the British hate this document. The criticism, however, is coming from the USA, where this document is the source of our freedom. It is not terrorism to want to be free and to take that freedom by force.

The movie was good. The message was true and honorable. Good prevailed over evil. Natalie Portman is hot! I have never read the comic so I can't compare on that front.

Crisis on Infinite Earths

2006-09-19T09:35:00.000-07:00

In 1985 Detective Comics(DC) set forth to make their titles more reader friendly. To do this, they wanted to get all of their characters into one universe and have a set origin story. To do this, DC had to destroy the other universes and either move or destroy the characters from those universes.

Superman, for example, existed in multiple universes. His history and origin were different in each. This lead itself to confusion amongst a new reader who would pick up a few Superman titles and see the inconsistencies. Crisis, as it is now commonly referred to, solved all of that. DC recreated their universe of superheroes in such a way that the definitive origins had to be told still. Crisis was a giant reset button.

I was eight years old when this came out. By the time I was reading comics the after shocks of crisis had settled down. All the magazines would refer to it as when DC got straightened out. I had never read it. That is until I picked it up at the library a couple of weeks ago collected in trade paper back(TPB) format.

I am pretty unfamiliar with DC continuum. I grew up on marvel stuff and only picked through some DC titles. This TPB was great though. It was reader friendly for people just stepping in. You could see the epicness of the project. It was a compelling story. It was also the beginning of cross title crossovers. Best of all, it was for the fans. Sure it made money, but it was ultimately for the fans.

BSG on the pulse

2006-09-05T20:25:00.000-07:00

THE WEBISODES ARE HERE

THE WEBISODES ARE HERE

hyperventilating a little

okay, well the first ep was so-so, but it's b/c it was so brief and the setup was coming out of no where. the resistant few are trying wage a lose lose battle against the enemy toasters. Ha! XO Tigh 's leading the charge??

well it was a good thought. Remember the Alamo!!!!

rocking back and forth in my seat waiting for October.

P.S. in the meantime, enjoy these links of diversion

http://www.galacticaactual.com/Home/Podcast/Podcast.html

http://mediageekspace.com/

Fantasy Cliches And Why I Want To Kill Them

2006-09-01T11:12:00.000-07:00

So the title is a little harsh, but hey, harsh can be fun.

I played D&D as a kid, read Tolkien and a few others so I have some familiarity with the genre. I watched a lot of the fantasy movies, blah blah blah, so I have some kind of leg to stand on when I criticize the cliches. I do so because I would like to see more original ideas in the genre. The genre suffers from several problems, some innate to the genre and some due to the general hackery of fantasy writers. Now I am talking strictly about books written in a pseudohistoricaal medieval setting, not Harry Potter or any of the modern fantasy or vampire books. I'm talking typical Fantasy here. The kind with Frazetta covers, ya dig?

Now I warn you that I will sound like I am tearing apart the very basis of Fantasy and that I am not a fan. This isn't true. I am merely tired of the same old crap. I used to like the cliches, but how many near exact copies of Lord of the Rings and Conan can I take, come on.

Also, I expect most to say, "lighten up dude, it's just fantasy," in response to my dislike of the implications of the fantasy setting worldview. I am not trying to multiculturalize or legislate rules re: fantasy. I want a larger range of fantasy worlds. Y'all can keep writing the same old baloney, I just won't read it.

The following are several of the problems.

RACIAL DETERMINISM

Fantasy has this tendency to create races as living stereotypes. Now these stereotypes don't necessarily connect to real world stereotypes. I can't really match up dwarves or what-have-you to real ethnic groups. That is not my point really. My point is that its endorsement of stereotypical thinking.

This is all reinforced by the tendency to develop human-like structures to their societies. The demihumans (to steal from D&D) have a typical human sexual reproduction and family format. There has been a tendency to try and create an ecological niche as if there were at one time Cro-magnon elves, dwarves, goblins, orcs, etc all competing for the same resources in the stone age. They have their own cultures, societies, rules, etc. Once you make these magical races biological it creates a setting that seems to endorse a biological deterministic framework. Goblins are innately inferior because of their evil Goblin heritage/genes. Elves are innately superior (and coincidentaly quite Aryan in appearance) because of their Elven genes/lifespan/abilities. And I think that is where they go awry in multiple ways.

If you start to go biological you then need to really think out the world beyond all levels of frustration. To create a semi-realistic setting you have to walk through all of evolution on the planet and explain why Elves don't rule the world. Once you do that you have to think up reasons why different groups are innately evil and how they could have survived at all without some kind of kindness/cooperation within their group. From everything I have seen a society that is as cutthroat as the Goblin races are usually depicted would be out-competed by early man who was at least somewhat cooperative at the tribal level. The point is that you would have to recreate a pseudo-biological history of the entire planet. It's just too annoying.

My favorite method is to return to myth and to return to the general idea that these are magical creatures not biological. They don't have families or societies as we would understand them. They are creatures of magic and spirit and so embody ideas not real species. Like the Fae of Ireland they may reproduce by stealing kids and feeding them magical food under the hills. Stuff like that helps you avoid all the biological and ethical complications of a decent fantasy setting. This was very much inspired by the Hellboy comic book by Mike Mignola. He's bloody brilliant (as some denizen of Harry Potter might say).

And so in designing the setting you create a roughly Earth-like evolved planet with magic creeping in at the edges.

THE CHOSEN ONE SYNDROME & THE EPIC

The next major problem is the idea of the prophesied chosen one who will save the world from darkness. I am so utterly tired of the chosen one vs dark lord BS. Are we that short of ideas that the only plot to be redone in infinite variety is some kind of Tolkien + Jesus mish-mash? It is just so painfully, sickeningly done to death. What about the little stories about interesting characters in interesting fantasy settings? Fahfrd & The Gray Mouser by Fritz Leiber is a notable exception. They should be more interesting than me or the butcher down the corner, but does it always have to be about saving the whole of middle earth? Why this need for the epic in every single novel/series? Just laziness to me.

Back to this chosen one nonsense. In the real world there are no chosen one's who change the course of history. The exceptions are Jesus, Buddha, and other such major religious figures. By and large history is made by the mass movements of people with leaders that seem to know how to ride the crest of a movement. The leaders ARE NOT THE MOVEMENT. I do not want to read about another Jesus figure sans pacifism and compassion. It doesn't appeal to me and while it has its place within Fantasy it is not the only plot one could do. To me the chosen one syndrome encourages simplistic thinking about life. Simple is comforting, but wrong and unhelpful.

The chosen one is often a farmboy, who is secretly the long lost son of the king. Besides being a tired cliche I disagree with its implications. It implies that no one could possibly become a great man without some kind of genetic link to other great men, feeding the eugenics BS throughout Fantasy novels. Why can't the farmboy, merely be a farmboy who rises to greatness? (The exceptions is Conan, the Fantasy genre's self-made man.) Why does it have to turn out that he belonged to the ruling class all along? This leads to my next pet peeve...

AUTHORITY WORSHIP

Fantasy novels make certain entirely false assumptions about authority figures.

Firstly they depict rulers as either entirely enlightened, just, nearly holy rulers, or evil usurpers of the throne. They are very much wrapped up in the nobility and the justifications of the nobility.

Let's set some things straight. Kings and the like started out as bandit/warrior/Mafioso who basically ran a protection racket and made themselves rich off of that. That is the entire basis of "nobility." All this rightful king bloodline nonsense was cover for Machiavellian Mafioso politics. There is not one shred of decency or admirability in the Lords and Ladies. They generally starved the people to live in luxury and for that should never be praised in my book. They gave nominal protection, but the primary protection the people needed was from their own King or a competing King.

The wise gentle authority figure is pure fiction. Kings of the past are generally quite similar to dictators of the modern era, e.g., Saddam Hussein, Kim Jong Il, Stalin, Hitler, the Kings of the Middle East, "President" Musharraf, etc.

Do any of these strike you as similar to King Arthur? No? That's my point.

And so I merely wish Kings to be depicted as well rounded humans who were driven primarily by greed and power lust, but had a human familial side as well. They can vary character, but at their hearts they are all amorally ruthless when it comes to keeping themselves in power.

I can quite easily picture an adventurer type getting stuck between Machiavellian Kings, why is that so rare?

BOREDOM WITH EUROCENTRISM

I know the genre was born out of reinvention of the ancient European epic, but does it all have to be? I enjoy it and all, but I'd like to see more novels set in fantasy setting based on extrapolations upon Asian, Native American, and African cultures. Fantasy is a big what-if anyway. Why can't you imagine how A pseudo America would develop after a few more centuries of settled culture and technological advancement? Or a pseudoAfrica? All of these can create interesting imagery. Or you can try (and this is hard) to make up your own fantasy cultures from scratch. Start with maps, then how folks look, make up language and culture, clothes, food, animals, social structure, the way magic works, the whole kit & kaboodle. That sounds challenging!

Perhaps the problem is the fantasy audience. Perhaps they just want the Lord of the Rings re-told in slightly different ways over and over and over again.

I dunno.

Peace.

NF.