Jekyll (TV - 2007)

Jekyll (First Season)

I just watched the first season (six episodes) of Jekyll and I just wanted to say, it's awesome. Find it. Watch it. Beautifully directed and written, fantastic acting, amazing use of theme and elements of dichotomy... I was hooked. Horror, humor, philosophical questions and scientific speculation, the series is full of it all. Wow... I mean... wow. I can't wait until next season (although the very very very end was a little predictable, but what are you going to do when you have to come back next season?), although I'm worried it wouldn't be able to live up to the first season's greatness.

Keep in mind: "The series is described by its creators as a sequel to the novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, rather than an adaptation of it, and the Robert Louis Stevenson tale is used within the series as a backstory." - Wikipedia entry for Jekyll

Masters of Science Fiction: Jerry Was A Man (TV - 2007)

Masters of Science Fiction: Jerry Was A Man (Episode Three)

The Good:
It was light-hearted and I chuckled a few times.
The ideas in the story are always good ones to think about, and were presented differently than I have seen the ideas presented before.

The Bad:
Everything that was good about this idea, has been done before, and better.
No one was exceptional in this episode.

Overall: Well, it's no Bladerunner and it's no Star Trek The Next Generation: The Measure of a Man, but it was alright. Not the best of the series so far. I am looking forward to next week's episode, The Discarded (written by Harlan Ellison and directed by Jonathan Frakes).

The Contract (2006)

The Contract

The Good:
The main storyline was decent.
Morgan Freeman is a pleasure to watch in nearly any film.
Beautiful scenery (though honestly underutilized).

The Bad:
Morgan Freeman's character's motivations were difficult to discern (this was a minor qualm really).
John Cusack was disappointing.
Some of the things that happened were just too predictable.
The subplots were shallow.
Most of the characters were 2D.
The "father-son bonding" crap was just not believable.

Overall: To see an interesting outdoors adventure, I recommend you rent The Edge instead.

TMNT (2007)

TMNT

I have found memories of a lot of cartoons from my childhood, GI Joe, Transformers, Thundercats, and I expect a lot from any feature film that takes my younger years and tries to make a film from the animation of my past. So far, no Thundercats movie. There was G.I. Joe: The Movie, which was awesome, but was really just a straight continuation of the franchise from the time (in other words I was still a kids when it came out), so no real G.I. Joe movie yet. Transformers was a failure in my opinion the box office disagrees with me, I endorse the original The Transformers: The Movie a hundred times over the crap they just released. Underdog the new feature looks terrible. Blah blah blah. My point is I am usually quite harsh on films that try to capitalize on the X and Y generations' nostalgia for the cartoons of yesteryear.

This brings me the TMNT, the first fully animated Teenage Ninja Turtles movie. I loved it. The film had amazing animation. Between the rain and the shallow focus to create a sense of depth, I was just in awe. The action also was very well choreographed. The fights scenes were sweet. The story was good, not great, but quite good. Splinter was freakin hilarious. I would have soooooo loved to have this come out when I was a kid! But as an adult... I still really liked it. Sometimes you just gotta wallow in the fun films, Cowabunga dude! - yeah I said it, bite me!

On a side note, my first "date" was to the orginal live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles :-)

The Reaping (2007)

The Reaping

The Good:
The acting was alright in this feature, Hilary Swank is a decent actress.
The effects on the plagues were well done.
The plot had some interesting twists to it.
It was, for the mos part, a fascinating science versus superstition theme, or perhaps apostasy versus religion.
The progression on the story moved along with good pacing.

The Bad:
They actually went extra-biblical on a few parts.
The story reminded me of a few other films in this genre, I won't mention which ones, as that might give away parts of the plot.
There were some parts that were predictable.

Overall: Not nearly as bad as I was expecting. I seem to remember this fim getting panned, it's not that bad. I have a feeling that if it were made 20 years ago it would be a cult classic. I say give it a shot, it's above average for this type of film.

Masters of Science Fiction: The Awakening (TV - 2007)

Master of Science Fiction: The Awakening (Episode Two)

The Good:
I liked the actors, Terry O'Quinn, William B. Davis, and the second nod to Law & Order so far in this series, Elisabeth Rohm.
There was some interesting geo-political questions proposed in this episode.
The story arc was well-crafted.
Fascinating overtones to the plot, I wanted them explored a little to more to tell the truth, but it's only an hour show.

The Bad:
There were a few parts where I questioned the director's (or perhaps editor's) choice of editing.
The very beginning hooked me so well, I was a little disappointed it did not continue a bit longer.
Some unanswered questions.

Overall: Another decent showing for this series. I just hope it stays at least this good for the remainder of the season and will distinguish itself a little more from The Outer Limits style it is copying right now. I love The Outer Limits, but this show needs to stand on its own two feet eventually and I think it can given time.

Masters of Science Fiction: A Clean Escape (TV - 2007)

Masters of Science Fiction: A Clean Escape (Episode One)

The Good:
The opening and closing voice-over is Stephen Hawking, the original cyborg himself (just kidding, I love that guy!).
Sam Waterston is great in this, though I did keep wanting someone to say, "Mr.McCoy, my client is ready to talk."
The story is pretty good, nice concept, nice execution.
There a few really neat twists in it.
Posed some good philosophical/ethical questions.

The Bad:
Dr. Evans' flashbacks were a little confusing because I thought that the guy in them was supposed to be a younger Havelman, Sam Waterston, it's not.
The pauses for commercial breaks are very "off" if you are fortunate enough to see it without commercials. The ways it came back in were a bit jarring.

Overall: I thought this was a great start to this new series. It is definitely science fiction but it was focused more on the human element than the "sci-fi-ness" of the story. The biggest drawback is the fact that it was on network TV (unlike the Masters of Horror series which is on Showtime), so you know it won't be too risky, but that fact aside, it was a good beginning for this new show, not amazing, but a solid start.

Battlespace (2006)

Battlespace

The Good:
The story itself was neat. It is a tale of faith versus technology or perhaps the paths of humanity's future.
The concepts for the tech, though some were not wholly original, were interesting.
Nice variety in the look of the ships and buildings.

The Bad:
Most of the story was told in a voice-over.
The acting was not-so-good.
The actual script was very sparse.
It is very long to be what it is.
Much of the film takes place in a desert.
If low budget special effects get on your nerves, don't watch this.

Overall: Keep in mind this was a low budget film. The movie as a whole is not terrible, but it is very much like a long fan film or something. If you can endure this feature, being what it is, you will be a true fan of scifi for the sake of it being scifi. In other words, it's ok for a low budget film, in the overall scheme of things, it's below average.

Big Nothing (2006)

Big Nothing

The Good:
The actors were perfect for their roles, perfect.
It was funny (you must like situation-style comedy rather than expect "jokes" or "gags" to really enjoy it).
The plot was complicated... hard to explain, but this was a great boon to the film.
I laughed aloud multiple times.
Cool soundtrack.
I liked the ending.

The Bad:
A few parts were predictable, but not enough to make the whole movie so.
A few times you will probably say, "Really? Don't you think it would be smarter to..."

Overall: I was pleasantly surprised to enjoy this as much as I did. It isn't awesome, but it is an enjoyable film through and through if you are willing to just "go with it".

Let's Go To Prison (2006)

Let's Go To Prison

The Good:
You can get a few decent laughs from this film, of course you have to be willing to laugh at lowbrow antics mostly, and I am definitely not above such things.
I enjoyed the beginning quite a bit.
The very end was funny.
The actors are good in their roles.
Technotronic.

The Bad:
Predictable.
Much of the movie was trying to be funny but wasn't hitting the mark.
Some of the characters were silly, not in the good way.
Odd conclusion that doesn't really make sense if you think about it.
Technotronic.

Overall: A stock comedy, nothing special plus and/or minus Technotronic.

The Butterfly Effect 2 (2006)

The Butterfly Effect 2

The Good:
The special effects were alright.
It was only 80 minutes long.

The Bad:
I hated the main character. I disliked him from the get-go. He was arrogant and a complete jerk. I have seen villains with more likability than this guy. Boo. The fact that the main character could move in time only slightly bothered him or intrigued him, he just used it.
The plot was a bit unbelievable (even without the 'power").
Ending was stupid.

Overall: The first one wasn't that good and the second one wasn't even as good as the first.

Flash Gordon (TV - 2007)

Flash Gordon (TV Series Premiere)

The Good:
Eric Johnson looks the part of Flash Gordon and his acting was ok too - I think after a few episodes he'll be a lot better.
I liked the way Mongo looked and the tech seemed a nice compromise between cheese and modern futurism.
Truthfully, there was a touch of cheese, but not too much.
Special effects were cool.
The story itself was pretty neat, it kept my interest, and it follows up Doctor Who quite well (which is what airs right before it on the Sci-Fi Channel).

The Bad:
Where's the rocket ship? I am growing weary of this dimensional gate crap that's all the rage in sci-fi.
I guess the people from Mongo speak English.
They were looking for an IMAX? Heheheheeeee! They wanted to see a big movie I guess.
Alright, so the "Old Ming" was a bit non-pc. He was from Mongo, sounds a lot like Mongol (kept the same in the new series), and his name was Ming, a common Chinese name and indeed the name of an entire dynasty (kept the same). You know what though, the "Old Ming" had style, Mandarin style. The "New Ming" has a look that is little different than the officers in Battlestar Galactica or a Peacekeeper from Farscape. I like the look and style of the "Old Ming" better.

Overall: Was it what I was expecting? No. Was it perfect? No. Did I find it worth watching? Yes. Will I watch a few more episodes to see if it is a good series? Yes. I say, it has potential.

Old Ming

(or)

New Ming

The Last Man on Earth (1964)

The Last Man on Earth

So I was bored and flipping throuogh the channels earlier and I stumbled upon Vincent Price in a movie on TCM. It has been a good while since I have seen any "classic" films, so I decided to give this one a shot.

The Good:
Vincent Price is awesome. I felt the pain and loneliness of Dr.Robert Morgan in the movie.
It's a great story arc, I thought the plot was very well put together and thought-through.
There were some neat twists in it that I didn't see coming and I loved the ending.
A lot of subtle science versus superstition themes.
Hope, grief, tragedy and panic all work together in this film.

The Bad:
The ADR was terrible.
Some of the other actors weren't as amazing as Vincent Price.
I noticed a few editing/continuity errors.

Overall: Cool flick! It reminded me a lot of Omega Man and it is the forefather of such film as 28 Days Later and Blade. Lots of fun, watch it.

Warriors of Terra (2006)

Warriors of Terra

For all my Sci-Fi Channel movie fans, here's another one for you. You know the kind I am talking about... Take a movie, say Resident Evil. Switch the characters in that film with the characters in a different film, a cast of kids like those in Hackers (but not as cool). Take away anything resembling a real plot, and find one actor who people have heard of to give the movie some cred. This movie is one you could watch on a Sunday afternoon and sleep through most of it and not miss a thing.

What's that you say? It's not actually a Sci-Fi movie. Well, give it a few months and we'll see.

Spirit Trap (2005)

Spirit trap

It's like a British version of House on Haunted Hill, or is it more a really bad facsimile of The Shining? Either way, just look at the DVD cover, it resembles all the crap from the American Teen Horror run of the late 90's/early 00's (don't rent anything with a row of people at the bottom of the poster or DVD cover - go to the video store, you'll see what I mean). It is not worth watching, even the gorgeous Billie Piper couldn't save this one.