Snapshot Chronicles

Susan Getgood's personal blog

SciFi Sunday: Iron Man

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Warning: This post may contain spoilers.

I am Iron Man.

Today we saw Iron Man. And I am going to go out on a limb and say this is the best sci fi film I have seen since Blade Runner. Not that others — ET, Close Encounters, Serenity, iRobot among others — haven’t been good.

But this film rocked. And not just because of the Black Sabbath tune. In fact, it may get a place on my top ten films of all time.

What’s so great? The story. And Robert Downey Jr’s performance. When he’s on the screen, he owns it. I know action films don’t tend to get nominated for Academy Awards, but this performance deserves it.

The supporting cast. Terrence Howard and Jeff Bridges are excellent. Gwyneth Paltrow, who can be annoying and whiny, is excellent.

The special effects. Awesome but they don’t eclipse the performances, and that’s what makes a great film. Versus a video game masquerading as one.

Bottom line. Run don’t walk to your nearest theater for this one. And stay ’til the bitter end, all the way through the extensive credits. You’ll be glad you did.

Sequel? Please.

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I have an SG-1 action figure of the Prior hanging around from my last contest. So, here’s your chance to win a present to give your geek nephew or niece for his or her birthday or some other holiday. Tell me your top ten movies of all time in the comments on this post. Giveaway period: now through May 31st. Winner announced June 1st.

Here are mine, in no particular order.

  • Blade Runner
  • Serenity
  • Princess Bride
  • Usual Suspects
  • ET
  • Iron Man
  • Wag the Dog
  • Rocky Horror Picture Show
  • Raiders of the Lost Ark
  • Notorious

I’d also like to recognize 1930s and 40s comedies in general. Among the best: The Thin Man, It Happened One Night, Bringing Up Baby, Arsenic and Old Lace and The Philadelphia Story.

Same general terms as previous giveaways: Adults, US including Alaska & Hawaii, Void where prohibited. One prize winner, picked using a random number generator, gets the SG-1 Prior action figure. Entry period ends May 31st at midnight Eastern Daylight Time. Winner announced June 1st.

[tags] Iron Man, science fiction [/tags]

Cam and Vala off to new homes

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There were 10 comments (excluding my own) on the Ark of Truth review, so we have winners for the Mitchell and Vala figures. The poor Prior is still in the storage closet with the second set of figures, so I guess I’ll have to come up with another way to get him out of the closet.

Winner of the Cameron Mitchell figure is Nightsister, who said this about Daniel Jackson:

“I also think you need to really watch how Daniel (and the rest of the team too) develops from “Children of the Gods” to the present — it’s not just the hair that changes, honest! — but I would recommend “Lifeboat” for an amazing Michael Shanks performance.”

Winner of the Vala Mal Doran figure is ColeJ, who had this to say:

“If you want to see the best of Daniel Jackson, then “Meridian” from the 5th season is a “must watch” episode because 1) Daniel sacrifices himself to save a planet of people who are too stupidly selfish to save themselves; 2) you will get to see how profoundly Daniel/Michael Shanks affected each of his teammates in the first five seasons. The cast’s reactions are genuine and mirror that of the characters. For a later episode that shows, again, how far Daniel will go to make life better/safer for the masses, watch season 10’s “The Shroud”, which ties in directly to the Ori storyline and “The Ark of Truth”. The geeky nerd from the original movie, though he becomes macho and militaristic in later years, manages to retain his deeply unselfish tact throughout the ten years of the show and continues to believe in and dedicate himself to a “greater good”. He never becomes cynical, which is refreshing in the often-dark environment of the Stargate reality.”

Winners were selected using a random number generator.

Thanks to everyone who shared their thoughts on Daniel Jackson with me. Please keep reading SciFi Sunday, especially when Continuum is released, when I will do my second SG-1 action figure giveaway.

[tags] Stargate SG-1, Ark of Truth, science fiction [/tags]

SciFi Sunday: Short Subject

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Still getting over the jetlag from the trip back from California, so SciFi Sunday tonight is going to be a short comment that I was disappointed with last Friday’s Battlestar Galactica. Let’s call it the Cylon adjustment episode — the focus was mainly on the three of the frakked four who are still with the Fleet. I don’t dislike Tory or Chief, but I just wasn’t that interested in their turmoil, or not, at Cally’s death. Tigh, on the other hand, was more interesting but I thought they drew the device of Ellen/Six out way too long. Not enough Lee, Kara, Roslin or Adama.

Back to our regularly scheduled sci fi conversation next week. In the meantime, enjoy this picture of Douglas feeding Pewani, a 9-10 year old giraffe, at San Diego Wild Animal Park.

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More photos from our vacation on Flickr.

[tags] San Diego Wild Animal Park, Battlestar Galactica [/tags]