The book itself was kinda... blah. Possibly the only book I've read where almost all of its merits were utterly destroyed by one of the most shockingly lazy endings I've ever read.

I also have no idea how anyone could turn that into a TV series. There was almost no plot to speak of, just platefuls of (frequently brilliant) philosophical and political musings.

Sorry? I really don't see how it had a shockingly lazy ending at all. Are we still talking about The Man in the High Castle?

Also, it would be very easy to turn into a TV series. It would just have to be that kind of character-driven "slice of life" TV series in an unusual setting, like Treme, rather than something that's primarily plot-driven.

"Inner Truth"

EXEUNT

And then it's completely over. No denouement. No reexamination of the characters lives with this new totally not-cryptic piece of information. Seriously, it's like Dick just dropped everything and cut the lights. The ending was more abrupt than The Most Dangerous Game.

I so badly wanted to love the book but the ending was just...

It kinda doesn't blow balls. It's pretty high-quality stuff in every department, nothing mindblowing, but good. I was positively surprised and the second episode that they made available (or did it leak? can't remember) not too long ago only continued that trend.

I really wanted to love the book (MitHC), but I didn't. It was alright. Pretty disappointing intro to PKD's lit. Still looking forward to the show as something with potential, though.

Alright, I'm diving into Star Trek: TAS. Only saw two episodes so far but it's pretty fucking great. The episodes fit into a 30 minute time slot instead of an hour, but it seems to me like the plots are just as detailed as in the hour-long TOS episodes, so everything feels like it's just moving at a faster, more intense pace. Both paces have their merits, I think. While the animation isn't the greatest, I do really appreciate how they took full advantage of the medium by having really awesome looking space scenes and aliens that could never have been portrayed by a guy in a suit. Good stuff!

After I tear my way through this, I think I'll watch all of the movies with the original cast, followed maybe by the two newest movies since they have more to do with the TOS-cast stuff than TNG or later. Then after that I'll jump into TNG.

Good plan. If you're going to consider TAS canon, the two TOS adventure games for PC should be on your list too. They have all the actors for the voices and excellent episode-length plots.

I watched Season 2 of True Detective recently, shortly upon the heels of rewatching the satisfyingly awesome Season 1, and I stand opposed. flat C

It's almost as if Season 2 was a rip off of the first. I can barely believe it was written by the same person. Who rips off themself!? Colin Farrell, may the horned one honor him, insisted on giving a shallow character all the depth he could muster and he worked his ass off. I ended up liking him the most over almost every other element, period. Apart from a few scant moments, I found it was an uninspiring and occasionally laughable heap. Reminiscence of its overpowering predecessor is not enough. That said, I did not expect it to rival Season 1. I went in with reduced expectations. It started off at a disadvantage because it was in the shadow by default. Because I knew that, I wasn't about to hack it down for simply not being what it couldn't ever be. But even though Pizzolatto took all the social justice notes from the viewership, put in more people of color, gave women positions of authority in the intrigue, gave it a strong leading lady, made a man a deliberate and virtually marginalized sex object (which I can't remember seeing since the deplorable "Sonny", and almost worth watching again just to look at that character arc more closely), Season 2 barely showed up. That's really disappointing because I was ready to make excuses for it.

The acting was a major step down, but I can deal with lame performances. TV has such chronically shitty actors that I almost don't see them anymore. What I missed the most was the unerring cohesion and the signature gestalt which carried through Season 1 right to, but not necessarily including the last episode (a worthwhile review of its own). Cary Joji Fukunaga and Adam Arkapaw worked outstandingly together. The singular quality of their teamwork reminded me of Wong Kar Wai and Christopher Doyle.

I understand that it's a rare thing to find people who work this well together. I get that art isn't going to be consistent and that a drop in quality is more complex than the art department changing entirely. But the fact that it is such a complex endeavor means that a lot of variables have to suffer in order for the whole to slip. This is exactly what happened. Too much of the substantial elements changed, leaving only some superficial similarities and nostalgia. To have something magical get inexplicably diluted into contrivance is a sad thing to see.

"What you used to was" .. go home.



The originals have been languishing in my queue for months now. Some fuckin sci fi fan I am.

Peep Show season 9 episode 1

Back with a bang! Had actually forgotten that one of my favourite shows had a new season coming out, so was a great surprise. The first episode exceeded expectations, so let's assume that the rest of the season is going to be awesome as well.

It's back!?!?!?!?!??

I started watching it recently and am currently making my way through the 6th season. Brilliant show, exactly my kind of clever Brit cringe comedy of horrible people doing and saying horrible things. That new season started just in time, I'd say.

yea. I expected it to suck, though, so at least I wasn't surprised.



someone in Hollywood who is offered a lot of money for very little work? hell, I'd do the same thing, beats getting a real job, or struggling to come up with something new that you have to once again try to pitch and get accepted.

Just watched this. I thought it was good but not great. To be honest I'm more excited for the final season of Bain and Armstrong's OTHER show, Fresh Meat which is probably my favorite contemporary TV series.

EDIT: Okay, the second episode was back to brilliance. Feel bad I ever doubted it. Sad there's only four left.

Alright, so I've been ripping through Trek with a purpose.

TAS ruled. I mean, yeah, the animation was mostly pretty shite, but the actual stories were really good. A few dull episodes but they were nowhere near as bad as the worst stuff in TOS. Lots of really good episodes in there with a fast pace to the plots which fit the medium well.

I've also been watching the movies. The Motion Picture was better than I expected, considering it's basically a rehash of a TOS episode. A bit lame that they basically reused a plot without making any reference to the original, but it was a cool concept and wasn't handled super well in the TOS episode in the first place so it was neat to see the idea get a bigger treatment. I guess in my mind the ten years between the end of TOS and the first movie weren't that long but my had the cast aged a lot. The movie was fully aware of this, though, so there was a decided "getting the band back together" thing going on with it which was definitely a better path to take than acting like the movie was part of the original show or something. The effects were also super fantastic and those long, drawn-out shots of space and the Enterprise's exterior were well deserved in a series with such iconic exterior imagery but which hadn't yet had the budget to do it justice. Purdy stuff.

The second movie was good, too, but maybe not quite as amazing as I'd hyped myself up for.
However, I really like that this was a direct sequel to one of TOS's best episodes and that they got the same (excellent) actor to play Khan.

The nice thing about having such high expectations for the second film, which let me down just a little bit, is that relatively speaking I was prepared to be disappointed with subsequent movies, but the third one was a lot of fun. There was more adventure and space opera a la Star Wars but it still felt very much Trek due to the character interaction and Nimoy's direction. A couple of wonky bits here and there kept it from being totally brilliant but I think the third movie may actually be my favorite in the series so far, but then again I'm right about to turn on IV and I've heard good things, so we'll see!

Edit: Ok, watched 4 and 5 -

4 was a mixed bag. Probably the warmest acting so far and well-directed, but the plot was basically one of those "the crew goes back to the Earth of the 19XX's!" episodes from TOS except with a whiny 90's save the Earth environmentalist bent. Don't get me wrong, saving the environment is great and all, but it's almost always annoying when used as a plot device in fiction. So yeah, would've loved this movie to have been made with just about any other story, but it had its saving graces I guess.

5 fuckin' sucked. The opening shots were cool, but basically right when Sybok started doing his evil villain laugh about 90 seconds into the movie it turned to dogshit. Felt very Sci Fi Original Movie with heaps of cheese layered on there. The main trio seem really fuckin' old and worn out but instead of using that to their advantage they just seem shitty and old. I kind of like Bones turning into even more of a curmudgeon with his constant "goddamnit, Jim" stuff, but fuck this movie was terrible. Pretty dumb/boring plot with the series' worst acting, really shit visual effects, incredibly dumb climax/conclusion, pointless Klingons.

I heard 6 was decent. I'll watch that tonight.

Edit 2: Ok I watched 6! Hah, I am scum.

Anyway, 6 was fantastic. Easily my favorite of the movies. Yeah the cast is old as fuck in this one but other than the awkwardly super old Chekov (seriously he didn't age at all between TOS and Star Trek V but then suddenly he was old as shit in this one) but somehow they seemed more youthful and vigorous and less old mannish than in V. Also a much more interesting plot, a lot more Star Trek-ish, much better acted, written and directed with far better production values than V. Really fitting way to end out the adventures of the TOS cast and left me really pleased after the shitty V.

Tomorrow I'll re-watch the nu-Trek to see how they hold up after having watched all of TOS, TAS and the TOS-cast movies now.

Star Trek VI is not only my favorite ST movie, it's probably one of my favorite films of all time, especially if you take into account the era it was written and released in (right at the end of the Cold War). It was basically a Richard Condon thriller re-imagined in a sci-fi setting with just enough Star Trek silliness (Shakesperean Christopher Plummer, Gagh, Chekhov's increasingly worsening Russian accent) to keep it from seeming too preachy and on the nose.

William Shatner considers Star Trek V to be his favorite Star Trek movie which is evidence enough that it's the absolute worst.

I also agree that Wrath is hugely overrated; while Khan looked insanely badass, Ricardo Montalban's stage acting didn't crossover to the silver screen well at all. I still thought it was decent though.

Sadly, it's all downhill from ST6... :-/

First ep of Man in the High Castle has piqued my interest.

Alright, I watched both nu-Trek movies following VI. I'd seen them before but was eager to watch them again now that I've seen all the TOS-crew stuff.

As I sort of thought my reaction would be, results were mixed. The first thing to talk about is the cast; some actors went for faithful impressions of the original characters (Bones), others put a fresh modern spin on them (Kirk, Uhura, Spock) and others were just dull compared to their TOS counterparts (Sulu). I know Trek nerds like to shit on these movies for being flashy modern action movies, which they are, sure, but I still can't say that that's any lamer than cringey 80's buddy environmentalist stuff (IV) or dogshit Sci Fi Original Movie stuff like V. Actually I'd put the 2009 movie about on par with IV, since the characterization missteps and the need for constant flashy action hurt it, but the time-traveling Romulan plot and changes to the early Trekiverse events in this alternate timeline were interesting additions that were certainly a hell of a lot more interesting than rescuing whales from Sea World or whatever the fuck.

I also really liked Into Darkness. Yeah, it's got the same problems as the 2009 movie (i.e. cast and constant action without enough screen time for dialog-driven drama/problem solving) but Khan felt so much more dangerous this time around. Also Peter Weller was great. Love seeing him on camera.

I also feel like, had the directors of the older movies had the effects and budget available, they would've put shitloads of action and lens flare in the older stuff, too. I mean shit, Kirk gets in a brawl with someone or other practically every episode of TOS, so converting hammy swashbuckling to contemporary high-octane laser gunfights and gritty fisticuffs makes sense to me. So all in all, I'd say the nu-Trek movies are mostly fine, not as good as the best TOS-crew stuff but certainly a shitload better than the worst parts of it. Quit griping, ya babies!

Haha what?? Into Darkness was horrible, and it has nothing to do with whether or not I "prefer Roddenberry's "adventures of a utopian society's explorers" vs. the modern "there will be mutiny among the Federation and Starfleet seniority" of nu-Trek; I think both have their merits so it's well worth exploring the other option in this alternate timeline." I like both - when they're done well. You realize the entire plot of Star Trek 6 is about mutiny among the Federation and Starfleet seniority, right? DS9 also spends a ton of time deconstructing the utopian facade of the Federation. The problem with Into Darkness is it's fucking STUPID, with tons of horrible plot holes. I'm not talking minor nitpicks, I mean giant holes in nearly every major part of the plot. Other than Peter Weller and the cool main theme, I literally cannot think of one single thing I liked about the movie.

2009 Nu-Trek is just about as stupid, too, but at least it's more fun. The plot again makes nearly zero sense - why does the Romulan captain spend all that time hunting around for one specific ship to get revenge on when he could literally just go over to Romulus and stop that shit from ever happening in the first place? I know it's an "alternate timeline" or whatever, but how does he know that? If he loves his home so much, why not go give them all his badass future technology and warn them about their sun exploding centuries in advance? I get that he's supposed to be obsessed with getting revenge or some shit, but it's a super weak, convenient motivation for the main villain to have. In Star Trek II for example, Khan is obsessed with revenge for perfectly understandable reasons. Kirk's carelessness really did kill his wife and lots of his adopted family. This guy's revenge super conveniently conforms to the exact dramatic scenes and beats they want, without any real explanation at all. Why is he so obsessed with Spock? Why does he think Spock wasn't really trying to save Romulus? Because he's CRAZY! He's not a character, he's a plot device puppet.

That two-parter in S4 (I think?) where Sisko starts to suspect his own father might be a Changeling because he refuses to submit to the blood screening test was amazing. Those two episodes alone were better than any TNG or Nu-Trek movie (although laughable dialog aside, I did like First Contact quite a bit... but it's probably just nostalgia).

failsafeman accidentally deleted my post because in his logic-devoid blind fury he had no choice in his mind other than bloodthirsty rhetorical revenge! Here's the original text of it:



Yeah, I haven't seen DS9 yet so I'm looking forward to that stuff. No spoilerth pleath!

Yeah, it's more X-TREME than Star Trek VI, I'll give you that. If you haven't seen DS9 we can leave that aside for now.


I'm not saying there COULDN'T be a reason for him doing it, I'm just saying that we're meant to accept that he's doing this and not a million other, smarter things with no real explanation.

You guys need a Star Trek thread...

Episode 3 of Peep Show this season is definitely on my shortlist of best episodes for the entire show... Holyshit so good. "I have to say this is the first time I betrayed the ethics of my life-coaching organization."

Hmm, I wasn't expecting to see the third episode before Friday. Thanks for bringing it to my attention!

EDIT: Best one yet (this season). And nice to see the lovely April return.

Enjoying Man in the High Castle. It's not amazing, but I can overlook the schlock-y factors like swastikas everywhere and everybody sieg heiling their neighbors in Greater Reich suburbia or whatever. Rufus Sewell is awesome, I love the Japanese trade commissioner guy Tagomi, the Japanese inspector is also great--dude's sharp as a tack--and the three younger protagonists are at least somewhat interesting (Frank least I'd say).

Jessica Jones really took me by surprise. I mean, Daredevil was great, Agent Carter I haven't watched but heard good things about and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. allegedly gets a lot better later on, so I'm pretty optimistic for these little MCU series whenever they come out. But damn, I daresay that JJ is better than Daredevil and I consider the latter to be awesome and one of the best series of 2015.

Really well constructed, developed, nuanced, fun, morally grey, compelling, smart stuff where next to no plot points or lesser characters are unduly forgotten along the way and with one of the best/most interesting villains I've ever seen. David Tennant rocks.


Right? Right?? I don't think I've seen him in too many works before watching the series, though he seemed vaguely familiar, but he immediately made an impression there. Very charismatic/present or whatever.

Yeah! I really liked JJ as well and I'd say it's better than Daredevil as well. Daredevil was great for the fight sequences and D'Onofrio's performance was superb but overall I think JJ is more interesting. Ritter was super good as the conflicted Jones and Tennant was indeed fucking awesome. The side characters were cool too, I can't wait for the Luke Cage series, he was so cool and eyecandyish!

I got The Man in the High Castle as well, I've seen the first episode some months ago and it was interesting, I'll watch the whole thing during the holidays.

I'm almost done with season 4 of Louie and it's good, I really want to do a bang bang!

Ohhh I wanted to watch JJ. Glad you guys reminded me of that. Is it on Netflix?

At first I read that as gang bang...

And yes, Jessica Jones is a Netflix original. I'll probably check it out this weekend. Hannibal S3 is also up, I might check out an episode or two but for now there are better things I can watch.

Sadly you live in Alberta or else it would also be on the schedule.

The current season of Adventure Time (6th) is tremendous so far. The 8 parts Stakes miniseries was one of the best storyline of the whole series. It's about Marcelline not wanting to be a vampire anymore and it's worth watching. It will be released (or it was?) as a standalone thingy so and I'd say that even the non-fans or the people who haven't seen one episode of the series could enjoy it. Best cartoon on TV with Rick and Morty (of course).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stakes_%28miniseries%29

I'm about to binge watch Jessica Jones, Agent Carter and Daredevil. Haven't really jumped on the Marvel series bandwagon quite yet, even though everything I've seen looks fantastic. Gotham is as far as I've gone, but you all know how fantastic I think the show is.

I tried Gotham and thought it was mediocre as fuck, in the same league as Arrow, shit TV. But the way you wrote your post, you implied it was Marvel lol. Don't forget Agents of SHIELD, it became really damn good. I'm taking a break from season 3 as I want to marathon the fuck out of it once it's done haha.

Jessica Jones is quite cool. I've been sick this holiday weekend so I've been binge watching it. It's way better than Daredevil in pretty much every way.

Yessssss...

"The food is Moroccan... like my eye shadow."
"Uh, it tastes like baked beans with spaghetti and lettuce."
"I'd hate to call you a racist at my dinner party but I think it's a little more sophisticated than that."

5 episodes in, Daredevil is pretty damn good so far.

It was a really nice surprise, especially this late in the game. It's been a while since I watched the previous seasons, but would be nice to work out a list of the best episodes from the show. The latest season of South Park has been good as well, however I need something to tear through this week. I think I'll try out Luther.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1474684/

Yeah, I binged-watched Jessica Jones this weekend as well; solid show. The first half of the season seemed way better than the latter half though, for me.

Really dug the mid-season finale of The Walking Dead. Stoked to see the first episode of the second half of the season because it should be an intense one.

It was enjoyable, but they stopped way too soon. It needed a stronger climax. I did a blog post about it if anyone's interested.

Yeah, shouldve been 90 minutes with that prologue at the end of the credits.