Honestly, I’m a little shocked at how little there is by way of movies from this past week. Not sure how that happened. I know I’ve had some stuff going on that’s made my life a bit crazy, but still…
Satellite in the Sky: A pretty good early space exploration film, it harkens back to when we still have the guts as a people to do big science. Nice sets and some fair effects help sell the somewhat realistic (for its time) film. Worth checking out if you’re a fan of these sorts of films.
Space Angel Volume One: A collection of episodes from a classic cartoon series, this is fun, if sabotaged by the weird gimmick of live action mouths. The vibe of the show is great. That kind of science fiction where anything can happen, like Flash Gordon or the original Star Trek. And though primitive, the animation is pretty cool. It’s just that mouth thing that freaks me out.
World Without End: With a beginning that would be recalled in Planet of the Apes, this cool little bit of science fiction adventure. A group of astronauts discover a broken world, with beastly mutants on the surface and lackadaisical folks under the surface. The awesome Rod Taylor checks out some of the local ladies. And eventually, they work their way up to trying to fix a bad situation.
Doctor Who: The Creature from the Pit: The Doctor and Romana run into a bunch of cultists on a world without much metal. With rolling plant balls as guard dogs and a giant blob with a probing phallus living in a deep hole, this episode has plenty to recommend it. This is the crazy kind of stuff I love about classic Who. Just nuts.
First Men in the Moon: A cool Victorian space adventure with typically cool Ray Harryhausen creature effects. Wells’ tale of the first people to land on the Moon, and the things they find there, makes for a great companion to movies like Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959) or 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954). Lionel Jeffries is rip-roaring mad, too. Good stuff.
Yeah, that was pretty much it. I might have watched a couple episodes of something or other. But, I don’t really remember what. Ah, well.
I did finish up the week with a trip to SPX, the sort of hipster, do it yourself comic convention. My co-Dork Brad, his wife, and my friend Liz all took the shorter than I remember trip to North Bethesda, and entered a sea of flannel shirts, unusual facial hair, and skinny jeans. It has a totally different vibe from what you’d imagine a comic convention to be like, and it’s kind of nice. Not really my cup of tea, as a rule, but there’s always fun stuff and cool discoveries. If I had a complaint, it’s that I think the event may be outgrowing its venue. When the doors opened, it was A-OK. But by noon, the place was becoming oppressively packed. By around 2ish, I’d had more than enough. People were nice. I wasn’t running into a lot of jerks or anything. But it simply became a chore just to get…well, anywhere. If someone stopped to chat or look closer at someone’s stuff, the whole lane was blocked. Too much. Good for the SPX folks for getting the hipster nerds out, but here’s hoping for a bit more space next year.
That was about it. I grabbed a few cds, but only got to listen to Cee-Lo Green…Is the Soul Machine, which was a lot of profane fun. Not playing that at work.
Well, I’ll try to be a bigger dork in the coming week.
My knees are healing up pretty well, though. That's something.
-Matt
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