All posts in Television

SGU Continues to Disappoint

By | 11 October 2009 | General, Rant, Television | 9 Comments

Last Friday was the final part of the SGU premiere, Air. And, sadly the show continues to disappoint. This is all a matter of perspective, of course. There are several things that have taken the show in a new direction different from previous Stargate series.

The tone is much darker, and the character dynamic is much more like a soap opera than a group of professionals working together. Seriously, if you were selecting an elite group of people to work together on a world in the far reaches of the galaxy wouldn’t you pick some people that wouldn’t be at each others throats constantly?

The presentation is also quite different. The sets are much darker, and worn looking. Apparently the SGU people are stuck on what is possibly the most advanced piece of technology to ever be on the show, and it looks to be the least advanced. Sadly, it looks like something straight out of Battlestar Galactica.

Camera work is just dreadful. One of the things I have always liked about Stargate is the wide open camera shots. I always felt like I knew where everyone was, and what was going on. Sadly, so far in SGU they have opted for very tight shots. This only adds to the soap opera feel of the show, and makes me feel like I am missing out what is going on off camera.

These changes, among other less obvious ones are why people are beginning to polarize around the show. Right now, people seem to be falling into three camps: hate it, love it, don’t know what to make of it.

The people who have been following the show for years, and loved it the way it was are leaning towards the hate it camp. Too many things have changed in such a way that the show does not even feel like Stargate. It is something else that has elements from Stargate in it.

The love it crowd seem to be the people that were BSG fans. I loath that wretched re-imagining, so it is fairly obvious why my opinion would clash with theirs. I also think some of these people are those that came onto the show towards its end, and didn’t really care for it. Most of the changes have made it filmed in a more contemporary way at the show’s detriment.

A vast majority of the people are still in the don’t know what to make of it group. I think these are people that have been watching the show for a while, but are only casual fans. They recognize that there are differences in the new show, but they are waiting to see how it all settles together before they make a decision on it.

I intend to keep waiting the show, and will watch the whole first season to see if it improves. Hopefully I will warm up to it, because there are not a lot of options for science fiction right now.

Stargate Universe

By | 3 October 2009 | General, Rant, Television | 1 Comment

Why so serious?

Tonight was the series premiere of the new Stargate series, Stargate Universe (SGU). I watched the premiere twice, back to back. And, I have to say that I have mixed feelings on it.

Similar to the way that Stargate Atlantis (SGA) started, it is a little darker in tone than Stargate usually is. And, the whole lost in space motif is not particularly appealing to me. SGA had a similar start, and I never really liked the show until they re-established contact with Earth. I think this is particularly important in the Stargate series, as the basis for the story has always been grounded in modern day Earth. Other series have made the same mistake.

Star Trek Voyager is easily the worst of the Star Trek series. I really hope the same fate is not the case of SGU.

Heroes: Season 4

By | 28 September 2009 | Rant, Television | 7 Comments

The new season of Heroes started last week. I have been debating whether or not to watch it. I recently caught up by watching season three, and the premiere of season four. My question is: is anyone still watching this show?

The first season of heroes was terrific, but the show has gone down hill since. The second season was utterly nonsensical. The show was clearly a one trick pony, and the powers they gave the main characters didn’t make sense in an on going world. In the second season the writers solution was to give Peter amnesia, and banish Hiro into the past. To make matters worse, the story wasn’t very compelling.

The third season was a mess. The first half, aka volume three was very rushed, and sloppily handled taking down over powered characters. Both Peter and Hiro lost their powers, and Peter got a pathetic power in replacement. In the fourth volume (the second half of season three) featured another rushed story that was a tired story that has been done to death in all media (government persecution of a minority group). In this volume Hiro kind of gets his powers back, but not really, or rather they don’t work correctly. Lovely.

The fourth seasons, aka volume five hasn’t covered enough territory to determine whether or not the storyline will be good, since the villains remain largely cloaked in mystery, and their motives are yet unknown.

What do you think? Are you still watching the show?

Gamer (2009)

By | 6 September 2009 | General, Television | 2 Comments

Yesterday, I saw the movie, Gamer. I have to say this film was surprising. I was expecting it to be some tired action movie, along the lines of Death Race. Had I known the film was by the same people that made Crank I would have had a better idea what to expect, but I would have still be wrong.

This film has been getting trashed by critics, but I think that criticism is a little harsh. Anyone who has been a long time gamer should enjoy the film. It makes many gaming references (not to specific characters, but the types of things that happen in games), and had a pretty good commentary on the state of gaming, as asks the question how far is too far?

While this isn’t a great film, it’s a decent one, so I recommend that people see it with a notice that most probably won’t like it. I’m giving it s a 2 on my undecim punctum scale.

24: S7x22, or How to Ruin a Series

By | 15 May 2009 | Rant, Television | 6 Comments

I just finished watching this week’s episode on hulu a few minutes ago. The fact that I just now got around to it, and didn’t watch it live is quite a testament to how far the show has fallen, but I digress. This 22nd episode of the seventh season is all by the nail in the coffin for the show. Let me summarize it like this:

“Major subplot is prematurely ended prior to the finale (thus, the finale will have pretty much nothing to do with the 22 hours we’ve already experienced). Jack beats the piss out of subdued Tony. Jack fails to kill Tony. Kim is waiting at the airport. Kim gets captured by a cougar and her husband. Jack is forced into the cliche hero’s dilemma.”

The episode actually ends with Jack facing the decision to either save his daughter by freeing Tony and slaying his pet project, Renee. Or, make sure Tony gets what he desires and let terrorists slaughter his daughter. Sadly, I think the only safe character is Renee which is just too bad. Tony will probably die, but it is unlikely to be done by Jack’s hand, again unfortunately. Kim is immortal as has been repeatedly demonstrated throughout the series so I don’t think that she will end up getting waxed.

I know that vanlandw is hoping to see Kim KO’d, but I highly doubt that will happen. Does anyone else have any thoughts on the matter prior to the finale?

Regardless of what happens, I half expect for 24 to become dead to me after the finale.

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