Cylons, Detectives, Web-slingers and Lego, oh my!
SighFie aired a new "Galactica" movie over the weekend. I think "The Plan" came a little too late. It'd been too long since I'd watched the latest "Battlestar Galactica" series, so I was a little fuzzy on every plot detail. Perhaps had it aired a few weeks after the series, it would have had a bit more gravitas. That said, it still had some good moments that gave more insights into what the Cylons were up to and some of the challenges various models faced, especially Cavil. But really, it's like seeing a movie called "The Empire" where you see "A New Hope" from Darth Vader's point of view, where scenes you're familiar with segue into ones where Darth has a deep conversation with the Emperor or Grand Moff Tarkin about his plans and reasons for doing what he does. Sure, it's a neat exercise, but was it really needed?
That said, I'm still interested in "Caprica." I saw the movie/pilot a while back, and it's being re-promo'ed. Even if you don't care for the new BSG, it's got some fairly interesting potential if you're a fan of William Gibson's characters who manage to download themselves into computer networks.
I finally saw "Sherlock Holmes" with the wife, and our verdict was that it was worth the price of admission if you can sneak your own candy in, and we'll probably go to the sequel. That said, it's very different from the novelized Holmes. They did, indeed, make an action movie out of this, though in trying to make Sherlock Holmes into Indiana Jones, they almost turned him into Doctor Who: his manias and comical inquiries into forensics almost made me try to spot a big blue box somewhere in the background. Contrasting this film with the book "A Study in Scarlet," we do have similarities in Holmes' manias, his boxing skills, etc. Who really stands out to me as different is Watson. In this film, he's supposed to be a seasoned Watson, one familiar with Holmes, but he seems to carry little of the sobriety and reserve the good doctor had in the texts. Perhaps that was to highlight his military service (though by his own account, it was more traumatic than glorious) and make him a bigger "heavy" so Holmes' fisticuffs didn't stand out so much. I'm not sure how I feel about the encroaching steampunk in evidence in this film, however. The cattle-prod gag went on a bit overlong, and the construct Holmes has to defeat later on seems incredibly delicate and not in need of some clever method of disarming it beyond breaking a part of it that's made of glass or putting a stick under a contact. But anyway, it's a fun movie, and it's made me want to re-read Doyle's original stories. I also appreciated some of the humor in the closing credits (my favorite being a shot of Holmes in a state of undress, handcuffed to a bed along with the credit for "Costume Designer").
Oh, and having just re-read (via audiobook) "A Study in Scarlet," I have to say I didn't know there were Mormon Ninjas. :)
In other movie news, "Spider-Man IV" is kaput. At least, a direct sequel to "Spider-Man 3" is. There will be more films, but it looks like Spidey is getting a reboot, making him (surprise!) younger and in high school. This is a bit of a pity, since I was looking forward to a rumored role of the villain, "The Vulture" being played by John Malkovitch. And this isn't a slam on Raimi by any stretch, but perhaps we'll eventually get a movie with Venom in it from a director who doesn't dislike the character as much. Since they're starting over, I'm not sure who I'd like to see Spider-Man take on, though I'm pretty sure the safe money would be on a classic: Electro, Lizard, Mysterio, the Shocker, etc. If they re-do the Green Goblin (which I think would be a pretty chancy idea), I think they'd almost have to do the death of Gwen Stacy to top the Goblin's previous movie incarnation, but they'd have a crack at a less "Power Rangers" looking costume.
And I think there's finally an MMORPG coming out that'll appeal to more people than "World of Warcraft." Here's the trailer for Lego Universe. I can't wait to see what the classes are called. And I can't see getting action figures of your characters being too much of a problem...
Find your credit card and make room for monthly charges supporting plastic brick-men while gandering at this schtuff:
- And you just thought all those Stormtroopers at comic conventions were wearing simple molded plastic. If the Empire had used this kind of helmet, the Rebels wouldn't have stood a chance.
- Futlity Closet is a blog of trivia, puzzles, anecdotes, and other things that'll probably cause a "Wikipedia Hypnosis Effect" and not let you surf away for at least an hour.
- UK comedian Bill Bailey presents unique take on the Doctor Who theme, with orchestral accompaniment.
- Continuing this video-heavy post, there's a new documentary out called "The Dungeon Masters", and the trailer looks pretty interesting.
- Here's 10 places you're not allowed to go to. #8 is rather intriguing, I think, even more so than the Vatican archives.
- Paradox Embrace is a well-animated platforming game where you can alter which "reality" your playfield uses at the press of a crystal ball, removing obstacles and monsters so you can pass.
- I sure hope the scripts for NBC's weird-cool looking post-apocalyptic "Day One" were bad, because otherwise it stinks that it was downgraded from a series to a one-season series, to a mini series, and, finally, a two hour pilot movie. If only they'd done that with Jay Leno's show...
- It does what it says on the tin: Death Metal Rooster.
- Using the cast of "Team Fortress 2," some clever internetizen has animated a video to Heywood Banks' "Yeah, Toast!"
- And we close with a shoot-em-up that reminds me of hours lost to the classic "Raid on Bungeling Bay": Helicops.