Archive for December, 2009

Avatar FTW

I saw Avatar yesterday like millions of other people out there, in one word: Awesome. I left the theater in awe. The story, as everyone else has said, Dances with Wolves 2.0. Sure, not particularly unique, but a good story. Where the movie shined was in its visuals. Absolutely amazing, the detail that went into the creation of the planet: the forest, the creatures, the plants, was unbelievable. And when I left it didn’t feel like a made up world, I feel like I could go there, period. It was so rich and colorful, I left the theater to drive through cold, grey, gloomy downtown Cincinnati, and was seriously depressed, I wanted to go walk through a forest, or ride a horse (I wish I could go ride dragons, but that isn’t a feasible option, although if it were, I would be all over that shit). With nearly every scene I just wished I could freeze frame it and look around, explore the detail that an amazing group of artists created.

I left the theater wishing the movie would go on for another 3 hours. It felt like no time at all. I want to know more about the Na’vi culture, and the people that are a part of it. I wish I could have seen more when Jake was trying to assimilate himself to the Na’vi, He had it way too easy in my opinion, I’m pretty sure that would have gone down differently. All in all, I know they couldn’t have made it a longer movie and expected normal people to go see it, but I would have sat through something twice as long. Fingers crossed for a ridiculous directors cut.

There is so much more I could say, but others have already said it better than I could. Annalee Newitz at I09 didn’t so much write a review, but I entirely agree with her take on the story. There are so few new concepts out there; we just keep re-imaging the same old stories, had Avatar brought a unique and insightful story to the table it could have been even better.

I’ll leave you with the two parts of the movie that just irk me:

1. Unobtainium? really? You write an entire language and you decided to call the ore that they are mining Unobtainium? I am sure there was a reason, but honestly, that’s just a little stupid.

2. You used Papyrus, or a font close enough to it to piss me off, for the subtitles, that knocks you down a few notches.

December 19th, 2009
, // movies // 1 Comment

Caprica Pilot – Extended Cut

So I finally got around to watching Battlestar Galactica a few months ago, and I cannot believe I was so far behind on that band wagon. After watching the entire series in about a month it quickly jumped to number 3 on my list of favorite TV shows of all time. I finished BSG about the time The Plan was released, and still have every intention of watching that. I am just hoping they would release a legit copy online so I don’t have to watch a low quality stream, I’ll probably just go rent it, or see if the library has it… One sec, I’ll be right back. Yeah, no luck on the library, but that doesn’t surprise me, Netflix maybe… Hmm, could have it sent to my parents house, but that really doesn’t do me all that much good. Well to the point, I will watch the plan soon, but I found out today that SyFy had released the extended cut of the upcoming series Caprica online

I’m not gonna lie, I was seriously worried about how this would go. I absolutely love BSG, it has some faults, but honestly, nothing I cant completely and totally overlook. I was cautious watching Caprica as spin-offs can rarely stand up to their original counterparts. It is to be seen of course as the show progresses if it will be another BSG, but the pilot was a giant step in the right direction.

Strong characters have already been introduced, and issues of race and religion surfaced early. Issues of race have always been a feature of Sci-Fi, but Battlestar Galactica handled them directly, with the issues arising between races of humans and cylons rather than aliens. The element of religion also struck me with BSG. Religion is one of those things that TV just doesn’t touch, and it was a strong theme in BSG. Daniel Graystone’s Character is very interesting, and his development will form a definite arc as Caprica progresses. He is a solid character who we know is the “Bad Guy;” the man who initiates the cylon race. However, we also see that his motivations were immensely human. I can’t seem to cast him in the roll of antagonist, because I understand that the pain of losing his daughter negated any ethical reasons that would normally lead him to drop his pursuits.

The most intense scene for me was when Joseph Adama went into the virtual world to meet with his daughter’s avatar. She was so honestly terrified; the scene brought up ideas that I never even considered. These virtual beings don’t make the connection that they are virtual. They are not computers programed with human emotions, they are humans stuck inside a programmed body. This idea says so much about the cylon race that we were introduced to in BSG. The image of Joseph’s daughter, exclaiming that she couldn’t feel her heart beat, and how much that scared her, that image will stick with me.

Losing the setting of Battlestar, space, ships etc. makes the show a bit less compelling, but if Caprica sticks to the strong storytelling and characterization roots that BSG planted it has the opportunity to be another great show. Tune into the premier January 22nd on SyFy, or with me on January 23rd where ever I can find it on the internet (every once in a while I wish I had cable, but that’s what the internets are for).

December 14th, 2009
, , , // Television // No Comments

February 2nd can’t come soon enough

My sister may want to think that I am excited for February 2nd because it is her birthday, but she would be wrong. February 2nd is the premier date for Lost season 6. The final season. I said from the beginning that Lost would need to set an end date, and finish it. As sad as I will be for Lost to be off the air, it is much better this way.

Alias was the first show I was religiously attached to, and, without question, it went on too long. The story got muddled, the writing got worse, and by the end of the series, the only reason I was still watching was because, maybe, just maybe, J.J. would throw an awesome ending on it that would make season 5 worth it. It wasn’t. So yes, I was very glad a few years ago, when I heard that they had set an end date for Lost. The writers know exactly what questions they have, and what they have to answer and accomplish in the final season.

I have started re-watching the entire series. I watched season 1 last week, finished up yesterday afternoon, and now I’m on s.2 e.7 (what happened to the tail section of the plane for the first 48 days). I never really realized how little actually happened in season 1. It is amazing how the writers created such a brilliant show composed almost entirely of character development; very little of the over arching plot. We didn’t even know the Dharma Initiative existed. The first 3 episodes of season 2 are chalk full of questions, that is where the story of Lost really started. It is awesome to ride the crazy ass roller coaster that is Lost again. It has been years since I have watched these episodes, but I wanted to be entirely prepared come February. Also, I took a Lost trivia quiz, and failed miserably, I was very disappointed in myself.

I’m not going to re-hash all the challenges that face the writers with season 6, only say that I cannot wait to experience it.

December 13th, 2009
, , , // Television // No Comments

DAAP has infiltrated my dreams

Most people dream about far off places, or trippy LSD like worlds where their brother is actually a monkey.  But not me.  Last night I dreamt about CSS.  Even my subconscious is boring, I blame DAAP.  I made the University of Cincinnati Equestrian Team website last year and built a CMS so that I wouldn’t have to do upkeep on the site.  Well, according to my dream last night they put a repeating image of Christmas trees in the background, and had center aligned all the text on the site.

This is what my nightmares come to, repeated backgrounds and center aligned text.  My life is sad.  Given, they really did center align text on the home page, which really pissed me off, but I go over it (obviously).  But really, subconscious, could you send me some more interesting and exciting dreams please?

December 10th, 2009
, , // Random Thoughts // No Comments

Dollhouse is sent to the attic entirely too soon

Dollhouse could have been one of the deepest shows on television, and I wish it had had the chance to explore it’s mythology. When you watch the great episodes, you see that this story has a real backbone; a story that would bring up questions Fox doesn’t have the balls to ask. Fox wanted a thriller of the week, those episodes were the worst. They weren’t terrible, but they didn’t carry the soul of the series. And those episodes were where the show failed.

I like a story with questions, I like questioning the motives of characters, loving them one episode and hating them the next, but understanding whey they, as people, would solve that problem the way they did. Watching Topher break down after helping Sierra murder the man that had put her in the Dollhouse was one of the best TV moments I have experienced. He has this intricate moral code that most would say doesn’t exist, but it does. It is just vastly different that how the majority of people think.

I wish Dollhouse had the chance to unravel these characters: their lives and motivations, the way the writers intended to. There is no way that they can do that in seven more episodes. There is so much viewers will never know about the fate of these characters, so much we cannot know about what happens between now and the devastation that exists in “Epitaph 1.” I am incredibly frustrated as I sit writing this, questions spinning through my mind that will never be answered, not the least of which: Why don’t more people care?

I know I get more attached to characters than some, but why does a show like Lost get to tell it’s entire story and Dollhouse doesn’t? Lost is even more obscure, even less accessible to those who have never seen an episode, but it doesn’t approach the subjects of sex, free will, or human motivation the way that Dollhouse does. That is the only explanation I have. Viewers aren’t upset when a character releases a here to unexplainable smoke monster to kill countless people on an island that doesn’t exist. But, when one woman, put through hell by a man who stole her identity and effectively raped her for months, murders him, viewers are uncomfortable. Well, you know what viewers, we are supposed to be uncomfortable. Whedon said in an interview with the chicago tribune:

The idea was always, how much of the fantasy will [viewers] accept and how much will they go, “You know what, this just is too much like real-world situations that are truly appalling and so I can’t let the fantasy happen.”

Because as I said before, when you’re dealing with fantasies, particularly sexual ones, you’re going off the reservation. You’re not going to be doing things that are perfectly correct. It’s supposed to be about the sides of us that we don’t want people to see.

Storytelling is about the challenges and changes that characters face. It is about attempting to explain how human emotion works, why do we hate the people we do? Why do we love the ones that we love? What makes a situation right or wrong? Storytelling is a way to approach these question and explore their answers in an entirely fictitious environment. The element of fiction makes it fascinating. If I turned on the news this afternoon and there was an underground building in LA that took away a person’s freewill and sold them to the highest bidder to fulfill their fantasies, I know that I would consider that wrong. But a story allows us to explore why that place exists, and why people are there. It is not black and white. The story that Dollhouse presents is not about people living four stories underground and being rented out as playthings. It is about the desperation that we feel that leads us to a world where this is the solution.

Why are people so uncomfortable with facing the realities of human existence? I can’t answer the question, just throw it to the abyss. I get why Fox dropped the show: money. If people don’t want to watch the show Fox doesn’t make money, and Fox wants to make money. If people want to watch C list celebrities make fools of themselves attempting to dance, fox will gladly give them 3 different reality dancing shows a season. Why are television viewers so shallow? Why has the desire for true storytelling been lost? Dollhouse isn’t implying that viewers support prostitution, or murder, or espionage, it is simply telling a story, and a brilliant one at that. We need to ask the hard questions. As technology makes more and more possible we need to put down our remote controls and ponder a question deeper than the color of sequins for a moment of our lives.

December 5th, 2009
, , , // Television // No Comments

Gah, another show to watch

Legend of the Seeker

So I’ve felt pretty shitty the last couple days, my dad and brother definitely made me sick over Thanksgiving and it is just getting worse. Once I ran out of my weekly television to catch up on I needed something new. I headed over to Netflix and this was one of their recommendations. Now, part of me worries that the internet knows me too well, how can Netflix so accurately guess what I want to watch? But then the other part of me says: Netflix also suggested the 12th season of Arthur, so they haven’t taken over my mind quite yet.

I watched the entire first season of “The Legend of the Seeker” over the past 3 days and just watched what hulu has of season two this evening. I was caught at the beginning. Now, it’s on one of those not cable, but not network stations, Star64 or something like that, so the budget isn’t great. But as we have seen with certain unnamed shows on Fox *cough* anything by Joss Whedon *cough* sci-fi and fantasy don’t go over well with mainstream audiences. So, if a lack of budget means this show gets to see another season, I’ll take it.

The characters are what got me attached, this may have something to do with the fact that the story is based on a series of 11 novels by Terry Goodkind, so the characters have already been well developed. But the story has been adapted for TV well. The actor that plays Richard Cypher, The Seeker, isn’t the best I’ve seen, but I can forgive slightly heavy handed acting when I love the character. The story means everything to me, be it in a television series, a game, a book, or a movie. If I don’t care about the characters, and have a vested interest in what happens to them, I wont stick with the story. This series has made me care. The first episode throws a 20 something farm boy headfirst into a ancient prophecy where he is joined by one of only three surviving Wizards of the First Order, and a Confessor, a woman who can see truth and lies, and can bind people to do her will. These three companions set off to free the world of the hold of an evil tyrant. Through their journeys they battle fear, hate, and a love that can never come to fruition.

I feel like that last paragraph sounds like a book jacket, maybe I should look at that as a career; Molly Johnson: Book Jacket Writer, hmm.

Sorry, where was I, well, the first season wrapped up nicely, and we are only on episode 3 of the second season, but I am a little worried. The writers have made me start to question the main character, I realize that was probably their goal, but I am really hoping they don’t ruin it for me, or drag the show on past a reasonable ending. The first season attached me to the characters, and now the second is showing that they have to make hard judgments in an era where there are no black and white answers. This show has the opportunity to really say something about human nature; how a person keeps his footing when things are not in his favor. The writers are beginning to do that, I just hope that they can do it well.

This is no Battlestar Galactica, I will always love Lee more than Richard, But I love to see a decent fantasy story getting a chance to play through. I have every intention of picking up a couple of the novel’s in Terry Goodkind’s The Sword of Truth collection. I have no doubt that if I am this attached to the characters in a TV show, I will be all the more inclined to love those of a novel. Check out The Legend of the Seeker on Hulu for the most recent 8 episodes (as of today) or netflix for the entire first season.

December 3rd, 2009
, , // Television // No Comments

Font Nazi

DAAP has turned me somewhat into a font nazi, I haven’t gone nearly as far as some designers out there (that’s what she said), but I cringe whenever I see Papyrus, and if commercial has more than 3 typefaces, you sure as hell will be hearing about it from me. Felicia Day tweeted the embedded video this morning and it made an otherwise painful Wednesday morning not quite so bad. This one just makes me smile, College Humor, why do you have have embedding turned off on youtube? Not cool.

December 2nd, 2009
, , // Around the Internets // No Comments

Crazy Christmas Card

2009 Johnson Christmas Card

My family tends to create crazy christmas cards. This year’s idea credit goes to my brother Zach, and I really like it. It was a little embarrassing taking this photograph out in our street while out neighbors and at least 12 of their extended family members came out to chat before their evening walk, but other than that, the process was entirely painless. Thanks for the background image goes to husz from Deviant art. It was the perfect angle to add my siblings and myself to and doing a google search for an alley picture was a lot easier than going through all of my old photographs or driving out to take one myself.

I know the copy isn’t great, we had a lot of trouble coming up with something, but it works I guess. Anyone else have fun or creative christmas cards?

December 1st, 2009
, // Random Thoughts // 1 Comment