Science Fiction - Snapshot Chronicles

SciFi Sunday: Pre-empted for holiday weekend

05.25.2008 by Susan Getgood //

SciFi Sunday is pretty much pre-empted for the holiday weekend. We are up at our house in Vermont this weekend and have been doing a little site seeing. Douglas and I went to Billings Farm’s Sheepshearing Days yesterday and today all three of us went to Fort Ticonderoga.

I also attempted to get some pictures of the space station as it moved over us just past 9pm Eastern. The squiggles? That’s me moving the camera before the shutter closed. Yeah, I know, they suck. Oh well.

Next week, new episodes of Sarah Jane and Battlestar, plus we are planning to see Indy 4 on Tuesday night so there will be lots to talk about.

Request for help: I am putting together a panel on Social Media and the Writers Strike for a conference this fall. If you know anyone in either the WGA or the fan community who was actively engaged in creating videos for online distribution during the strike, please give me a shout. I’ve got some good panelists lined up, but I’d like one or two more.

[tags] Billings Farm, Fort Ticonderoga, space station [/tags]

SciFi Sunday: Step into the Dollhouse, Sarah Jane and What the Frak?

05.18.2008 by Susan Getgood //

Late last week, the first trailers for the new Joss Whedon show, The Dollhouse, hit the ‘net (hat tip Twitter pal ProgGrrl). The premise is a sci fi fan’s dream — agents able to take on any persona, do the job and then revert back to a memory-less state. Except maybe not. Maybe they don’t forget everything. How does that change the equation?

I am really looking forward to this show. Of course, there’s the Joss factor. He’s never done a show that I haven’t loved. And given the cast here, I don’t expect The Dollhouse to be any different. For starters we’ve got Eliza Dushku, Tahmoh Penikett and Amy Acker, and you have to know that even the actors we don’t (yet) know will be super.

More on The Dollhouse at Entertainment Weekly. To stay updated, follow The Dollhouse on Twitter

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While we haven’t been able to get into David Tennant as Doctor Who, my whole family is enjoying The Sarah Jane Adventures. In fact, we were pissed last Friday when SciFi seemed to truncate the end of Sarah Jane in order to start Doctor Who. Some reviews: Metacritic Wired.

I know some folks thinks it is a bit “kiddy” but it is nice to have a smart scifi show that appeals to kids. Anime cartoons and Power Rangers just don’t count. Fridays at 8pm on SciFi Channel. Not on next week due to Memorial Day weekend, but back on the 3oth.

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Battlestar Galactica. I’m enjoying the show, although I still wish for more Edward James Olmos and Jamie Bamber this season. I haven’t had the urge to re-watch an episode since the second one, but the show is still gripping me. Especially last week.

What was good?

The interactions between Roslin and Lee. Mark my words, they are setting it up that Lee is the only person everyone trusts.
The Cylon Rebel Leader Six. Natalie is the name I’ve seen on the boards. Tricia Helfer is doing a superb job this season. [SPOILER ALERT] From the previews, it looks like she is NOT dead, which fits. To become human requires suffering…
Not a big Gaeta fan, but the song was haunting.

What would I like to see?

Some Lee and Kara interaction beyond a glance on Colonial One. I’m fine with setting up the story, but I want a payoff. As do many of the Lee/Kara fans who’ve stuck with the show through the Quadrangle Of Doom. Doesn’t have to be happily ever after, although that would be nice. A scene. That’s all we ask.
The payoff on the set-up with Lee as a Quorum member. I’m convinced he’s the next president after Roslin. How are they going to get him there, and do they have to kill her off – I hope not.

Now for the what the frak. Alert viewers — not me, I just read the websites — have noticed some changes between the original version of the Last Supper Photo as published in Entertainment Weekly, and the one that currently appears on the SciFi Channel website.

Here’s the original:

And here’s the one currently on SciFi Channel:

The changes? The little pot that Laura Roslin appears to have lit in the first image is not in the second, although the lit match is. And Baltar is no longer holding the hand of the central Six figure. What does it all mean? I have no clue, but it seems clear that we will need to keep checking this picture for changes as the season progresses.

Also, it has always appeared that Natalie (rebel leader Six) was pointing at Helo and Athena. Makes sense now.

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SciFi this week. No Battlestar this Friday but we do have Bones tomorrow night. And Indiana Jones returns to movie theaters on Thursday, an event much looked forward to in our household. Hard to believe that this character first hit the screen when I was in college. Douglas and I were discussing that this afternoon. His comment: “So the movies are pretty old.”

Yes indeed my dear. They are. But it looks like Indy still has a bit of life left in him and so do I.

And with that my friends, I bid you good night.

[tags] The Dollhouse, Battlestar Galactica, Sarah Jane Adventures, science fiction [/tags]

SciFi Sunday: Speed Racer hits a speed bump, Friday’s Battlestar & Dr. “Who Cares”

05.11.2008 by Susan Getgood //

Tricia Helfer as Six on Battlestar Galactica

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Speed Racer. AS previously mentioned, I took my son and three of his friends to see Speed Racer at Jordan Furniture’s IMAX Theater on Saturday. The film wasn’t as bad as I expected from the reviews, but still, I wanted to like it more than I did. The story itself isn’t bad, as long as you understand going in that you are essentially watching a comic strip, just with living actors instead of pixels. The biggest problem — the film is just too damn long. Clocking in at well over two hours, they could have easily cut 30 minutes and had a better film with more appeal.

Initial reports have it falling far below initial box office estimates, with Iron Man in its second week beating it at the box office by far.

Which doesn’t surprise me in the least. I took Douglas to Iron Man, which is about as long, last weekend and he was captivated throughout. As were my brother, mother and I. At Speed Racer though, about 30-40 minutes before the film ended, he started pestering me with “how many more minutes?” When an eight-year old kid can’t wait for a film aimed at eight-year old kids to end, you know there’s a problem.

Bottom line: See Iron Man in the theater, save Speed Racer for DVD. It’ll be there soon enough.

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Friday’s episode of Battlestar Galactica, Faith. One of the better episodes this year to-date. Still not enough Adama and zero Lee, but the two main stories, one featuring Roslin dealing with her cancer and the other Kara and her crew dealing with the Cylons, were far more gripping than the previous two eps, which felt more like story exposition than action.

As the title suggests, the episode dealt with Faith. In one arc, Roslin comes face to face with a terminally ill patient whose faith has been restored by Baltar’s preachings. How will Roslin reconcile this with her feelings about Baltar? The other arc was devoted to the prickly rapprochement of Kara’s crew and the rebel Cylons.

It was refreshing to see Starbuck, Helo and Athena acting as a team again, for whatever reason, but the best part of the episode, and one of the highlights of the season to date, is Tricia Helfer. She absolutely rocks, the way she can imbue each and every Six with a different personality. Certainly, the hairstyle and wardrobe changes help, a device not offered as extensively to the other Cylons, but it goes beyond that. She has developed into a superb actress who can hold her own with some of the best on this show, and I look forward to watching her every week. Especially when she portrays the Six leading the Cylon rebels.

Bottom line: A-. Full episode streaming on SciFi.com.

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I’m sorry, friends, but as far as I am concerned, it isn’t Doctor Who. It’s Doctor Who Cares? I watched Friday while waiting for Battlestar, and the best part of the episode was the intimation that this version of the Doctor wasn’t long for this, or any other, world. Beccause literally that’s all I can remember about the episode two days later, and I have a pretty good memory. I am sure David Tennant is a wonderful actor, but he’s not my idea of Doctor Who. I adored Tom Baker in the 80s, and thought Christopher Eccleston was brilliant as Doctor Number 9. I still get goosebumps thinking of the episode The Doctor Dances. While I don’t want to rush him through his remaining incarnations, I long for a Doctor I can love. Especially since the future of Torchwood seems a bit unclear.

[tags] Speed Racer, Iron Man, Battlestar Galactica, Tricia Helfer, Doctor Who, science fiction [/tags]