Other than catching some movies, and reading a few comics, I didn’t get up to much in the way of dork this week. Well, maybe that’s all it takes.
The Queen of Sheba: Boring and overwrought, this Bible movie is cheesy as heck. There really isn’t much to it. Pretty good sets and OK costumes. But otherwise, blah. Melodramatic pap.
The Omega Factor: Another strange and somewhat haunting British science fiction show from that magic time of the late 70s and early 80s. Unfortunately, it’s not as good as it could and maybe should be. But it’s watchable and has some cool ideas. I like the cast and some of the stories. I just wish it had gone further or deeper.
Rollerball: Such a strange film. Rollerball is an occasionally brutal dystopian flick from the 70s that would work as a companion to Soylent Green or Logan’s Run. James Caan is the individual standing Ayn Rand style against the wishes of the masses. As the sport changes around him, and the system tries to grind him down, the star Rollerball player searches for answers to what has gone wrong with the world.
Hyperdrive Season 2: Like the first season, season 2 of this show is occasionally funny, but generally disappointing. It’s really too bad. The cast is quite good and there’s a lot of potential. But it never lives up.
Amazon Women on the Moon: Though not as uproariously funny as The Kentucky Fried Movie, this sketch comedy movie has plenty of great bits. Tons of awesome cameos and very quotable gags. And it has 3 of the very rare minutes of Arsenio Hall’s career where you might mistake him for a funny person.
 |
| Was Jack the Ripper actually Nessie? |
Doctor Who: The Gunfighters: Excepting the annoying song that keeps playing over various bits of the story, this is a pretty good take on the Tombstone shootout. In fact, the actual shootout is quite brutal for bloodless, children’s TV. Worth checking out, for sure. Though not amazing.
The Debt: There are some great moments, and the story and cast are solid, but overall this movie is kind of ho-hum. Unfortunately, there’s not a lot to say beyond that. I thought a lot of the flashbacks captured that Cold War era vibe pretty well. But, at the end of the day, meh.
Ironclad: This would be a pretty darned fun, if sometimes a bit goofy bloody medieval action film if not for one thing. CG blood. So much CG blood. Why!? It looks awful. I’d rather they just tone down the gore than ramp it up with bad effects. Well, also the Kate Mara character seems to have stepped right out of a cheesy romance novel, with all her obnoxious pluck and out of place aggressive sexuality. In the end, while I enjoyed it, I kept thinking it could easily have been much better.
Mystery Science Theater 3000: Laserblast: A movie Leonard Malton gave 2 and a half stars, this monster turd gets a good lambasting from Mike and the Bots. Creepy, scrawny stoners get mixed up in some alien goings on, and nobody is safe. Even Eddie Deezen shows up to Deezen up the place. A pretty good episode. Sadly the exit for Dr. Forester, who is replaced in the following season by the exceptionally annoying and NEVER funny Pearl.
Mystery Science Theater 3000: Future War: “An actor prepares….to suck!” Low rent Jean Claude Van Damme, Daniel Bernhardt is a future cyborg kick-boxer. Only he can fight the dinosaur puppets (also from the future) and the giant jaw of Robert Z’Dar (“Oh, Z’No!”). So many empty boxes, it makes They Live look almost box-free. And so many plaid shirts. What a craptacular.
 |
| Oh, Z'No!!! |
Doctor Who: The Keeper of the Traken: A pretty good story from very near the end of Tom Baker’s run. Nothing amazing for who, but typically solid. I don’t think I’ll ever be a fan of Adric, but he’s not especially annoying here.
I also watched several episodes of Fringe. I finally decided to give the show a second try. Not that I didn’t enjoy it my first time, just that I got distracted and didn’t get back to it. I gather it becomes less episodic as it goes on, so that’s cool. Watching the first season is reminding me how much I’ve come to rely on more arc driven TV seasons, especially when it comes to genre shows.
In comics, I read some more of DC’s New 52, and the good news is I found more good stuff. So far, I’ve read Swamp Thing (meh), Demon Knights (bleh), Red Lanterns and Green Lantern (maybe), Frankenstein Agent of S.H.A.D.E. (maybe), Justice League (meh), Action Comics and Detective Comics (BORING!), Batgirl (I thought this Gail Simone person was supposed to be a good writer, but this read like Chris Claremont on X-Men), Green Arrow (SUCK!), and then this week, Batman and Robin (imagine my shock at finding this one kind of interesting), Superboy (now crank that shock to 11, because this is probably my favorite so far), and Batwoman (We get it. She’s a lesbian. Don’t care. Please write an interesting story next time!).
And I started reading the beast that is Habibi. As of writing this, I’m 250 pages in. It’s a beautiful book, and as a work, it’s truly impressive. Do I like it? Not sure. But I’m intrigued. And I’m very curious where it’s all leading. I was kind of hoping this was going to be a little more Arabian Nights, and a little less I Am Najood, Aged 10 and Divorced.
-Matt
No comments:
Post a Comment