Prometheus: A Review Duet

Ridley Scott’s Prometheus is arguably the greatest sci-fi film release of the year.

Obviously we’ve got a lot to say about it. Beware of spoilers, and find out what we thought, after the break.

Junior Varsity:

It was very tightly connected with the story. A little less focused on aliens eating people and more focused on the philosophy behind finding our creator(s)?/ looking for intelligent life. It tackled the big questions, within the exposition of a larger drama.

Of course, the filmography was very pretty. The concept art behind this must’ve been amazing. The effects were well done, and I still can’t get all the slimy appendages out of my head. Blugh. There were lots of them. And they were horrifying, in true Alien style.

It added a lot to the mythos of the Alien series. It told us about the space jockeys, and who they were, about the beginning of the xenomorphs, and where the ship came from. It even told us what the emergency signal was that the Nostromo picks up in the future. (In the original Alien, they decode the signal, and they say that it sounds like a warning…kind of like Noomi Rapace’s final lines in Prometheus, and it has to be decoded, because she took off in the alien ship).

Doc Watson:

Words cannot describe how excited I am that Ridley Scott is back into hard science fiction. If you liked the first two Alien movies, you really should watch this soon. If not, it’s still a solid body horror film that’s well-worth the price of a ticket.

I agree with Junior Varsity on the scope of the film; while Alien was a tight focus on how detailed characters reacted to the alien presence and each other, Prometheus was about the bigger picture surrounding a more dynamic central protagonist, expounding on the hazards of scientific discovery where the other movies left off. Alien already put forward that we may not want to find alien life because of its potential power, but Prometheus takes it a step further in showing just how fragile we are in the grip of an uncaring universe.

Overall, solid movie. It’s definitely watchable if you haven’t seen Alien(s),  but seeing both before seeing Prometheus really enhances the experience; there were parts that gave me the chills as I recognized different objects and locations from the original Alien movies, a point I’ll be expanding on in a later article.


As with any classic horror movie, get ready for a point-blank round of 00-buck symbolism from Scott’s soft-science shotgun; if that sort of thing turns you off in a movie (for whatever contrived reason), then you might want to sit this one out. Don’t ask me — apparently some people just don’t like that kind of thing. Go figure.

Survey of Magical Worlds Day 3: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

It’s time for me to finally get back to this series of posts, and it’s almost at the end. This is the last world I’m going to look at before I do a final post comparing magic uses in the past and present. My first article mentioned Harry Potter, so, for my final magical world, I thought I’d cover one of the most well known current magical universes: The Harry Potter Universe.

In case you missed any of my other links, here are the first few parts of this series.
Intro
Part 1
Part 2

Harry Potter is probably one of the better known magical worlds. The majority of my childhood was dominated by Harry Potter: first the books, then the movies. Because the series is so well known, I feel a little silly going this in depth. But, it makes  a fairly good comparison across the other series.

As most of you reading this probably know, the Harry Potter books follow the main character, Harry Potter, as he grows up, learns magic, and uses it to accomplish various important tasks. Harry is a pretty spectacular person, even if he isn’t technically the most skilled at magic.

As far of the specifics that I’m going to go into, Harry Potter could probably be considered a blend of the two series I have previously discussed, Buffy and the Dresden Files.

1. The role/function of magic
Like the Buffy universe, magic is more academic, and kind of scientific in nature. Wizards and witches use magic every day, pretty much to make their lives easier in various ways. JK Rowling doesn’t go into a lot of depth about the philosophical side of magic in this universe–readers are kind of expected to take it as it is. Magic exists. Those who use it, use it. It makes things easier. Doing something without magic is sometimes referred to as doing it ‘the Muggle way,’ and on multiple occasions throughout the series different characters comment that they don’t understand how Muggles get by without magic. To wizards, magic is just a typical part of every day life.

2. Who can use magic?
Like the Harry Dresden universe, people are born with or without the ability to use magic. Usually, it’s genetic, and magical families produce offspring capable of doing magic. Magic is the dominant gene as well–it only takes a single parent with magical ability to have a child who can use magic. Muggle-born witches and wizards, that is to say, children with muggle parents who can still use magic, do happen. There’s a big deal in the series about blood and genetics and magical ability.

3. Mechanics of magic
Younger witches and wizards have little control over their magical abilities. In fact, they usually have to learn to control their magic and to do the more complex spells. Hence the need for Hogwarts, and other schools like it in other parts of the country. For the most part, magic works pretty simply: say a quick spell (either verbally or nonverbally), make a motion with the wand, and magic happens. Literally. Spells are typically short, sweet, and to the point–they’re quick little one to two word phrases. I feel like there should be more to say about this….but it’s pretty straightforward, honestly.

4. Relationship between magic users and non-magic users
For the most part, wizards and Muggles co-exist pretty well. Wizards try to keep Muggles unaware of their presence. But some wizards think that Muggles are inherently inferior because they can’t use magic. That’s the minority opinion, but it becomes an issue in the later books. I personally find the more interesting relationships between the wizards and the magic-using non-humans. Wizards have this nasty opinion that they’re the superior magic users, because they’re, well, human. They put all kinds of restrictions on the magical capabilities of non-humans. And some of the other species don’t take it all that well. There’s a lot of interesting debate in the magical community regarding blood status. That is to say, lots of wizards think being from a pure-blooded wizarding family is much better than being from a family that has married into Muggles somehow or some way. It’s all rather silly if you ask me, but, it’s a very heated conflict that fuels the main antagonist of the series.

5. Types of magic
There are quite a few different types of magic. The easiest way to look at them are by the divisions of the subjects taught in the classes at Hogwarts. I’ll just go over some of the major ones.
Transfiguration: In this type of magic, objects are changed from one thing, to something else. One of the most difficult examples would be becoming an Animagus. That is to say, you can turn yourself into an animal.
Charms: This involves enchantments that change the nature of a person or object, from tickling someone to making something fly.
Divination: An interesting branch of magic that involves telling the future.
Potions: an often neglected branch of magic. People tend to not really classify it as magic, in different fandoms. But potion-making involves some magic, at least a little.

Well, that’s it for my brief comparison of a few different magical series. I apologize for perhaps elaborating on this series as much as the others. There’s kind of not a lot to look at; everything is really straightforward. Tune in next time for my conclusion, comparing magic as it was used in human history to magic as it’s portrayed in popular fiction.

Until then,
Angel out!

Follow up: From the Bookshelf

In the middle of all my theatre activities, I still take time to read every night. I like it. It’s fun.

Recently, I’ve been reading my way through this book, The Desert Spear. Find out why you should read it too, after the break.

First of all, The Desert Spear is a sequel to The Warded Man, a book I read back in December (Warded Man Review). I’ll give you a quick refresher. In this world, demons called corelings rise from the earth every night. Their goal? The total destruction of humanity. The only protection humans have is behind symbols of power called wards.

In the first book, Brett really only focused on three characters, Arlen, a Warder who becomes the Warded Man when he tattoos himself with the symbols of power. Leesha, an apprentice Herb Gatherer who becomes an expert (their version of a doctor), and Rojer, a jester who can mysteriously charm the corelings with his music.

However, this is where the Desert Spear differs significantly. It covers about eight or nine characters.

Brett’s writing is great. What I liked a lot about the Desert Spear was that he introduced more about the Krasian culture ( a desert people dedicated to fighting the corelings). It was very precise and detailed, and it was easy to envision all of it, because Brett’s vision is obviously very clear.

Also the characters we do know get some more development. Brett isn’t shy about pushing his characters forward. Several characters we met briefly in the Warded Man returned in the Desert Spear to have their own stories like Renna, Jardir, and Abban. And Arlen, Leesha, and Rojer still make huge strides on top of that.

Also, a new kind of demon emerged, and in the process of fighting those, the readers learn a lot more about where they come from, their hierarchy, and cool stuff like that.

Meanwhile, Jardir, Arlen, and Leesha all make HUGE progress in the art of warding, and learning about their kind of magic is really cool (it’s all based on geometry and placement – neat!)

I normally don’t say this, but I think the sequel was even better than the first one. Brett is doing a fantastic job, and if he continues in this fashion, I can’t wait to read the rest of the series (known as the Demon Cycle).

So, if you’re looking for an interesting new series, the Demon Cycle is ready and waiting.

– JV out.

Olympic Fantasy Sports

With the upcoming 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England, I thought I’d take a few minutes to discuss some “sports” that I thought would be pretty cool to see actually happen, but that would probably not make it into the Olympics for various reasons.

(And in case you’re wondering, that is the official Countdown Clock, in Trafalgar Square. I took that picture myself on my recent UK vacation.)

Everyone loves the Olympics (or, at least, I know I do, so I assume everyone else does as well). It’s pretty awesome to see the different countries competing at all the different sports. But, unfortunately, there are some sports that we will probably never see in the Olympics, mostly because they live in the realms of Science Fiction and Fantasy stories.

1. Quidditch

This sport comes to us from the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, created by J.K. Rowling. For those who don’t know, it features teams of 7, playing on broomsticks. Three Chasers try to score points with the Quaffle; the Keeper protects the goal posts; 2 Beaters hit these other balls called the Bludgers around, trying to knock other players off their brooms; and the Seeker tries to catch the Golden Snitch, a little ball that moves incredibly quickly. Catching the Snitch ends the game, and scores 150 points for the team who’s Seeker caught it.

While this has been made into a real sport, and is incredibly popular on college campuses (I’m sure some of the other writers in this blog could tell you a bit about how it works), it’s still probably not one likely to ever be seen in the Olympic Games. For one, there’s no consistent way to handle the Golden Snitch. I know I have seen at least two different ways of playing that ball (either by having the Seekers chase a cross country runner, or by hiding a tennis ball and having the Seekers look for it). Even if it did make it into the Olympics, until we discover the ability to actually fly on broomsticks, Olympic Quidditch would never look as cool as the way it was portrayed in the Harry Potter movies. I mean really, it’s pretty awesome.

2. Pro-Bending

Anyone who’s been watching The Legend of Korra on Nick this summer is familiar with pro-bending. For those of you who aren’t, here’s a short clip showing it. Basically, a team of 3: a water bender, a fire bender, and an earth bender (benders being people who can manipulate that specific element) battles against the other team of three, trying to knock them out of the ring. There’s three rounds, and the best of three rounds wins. Essentially. It’s pretty awesome to watch, and would make an awesome addition to any Olympic games. Unfortunately, it’s never going to happen. Unless we suddenly develop the ability to manipulate the elements, which really, isn’t likely. Unlike Quidditch, there really isn’t a way to make Pro-Bending happen in real life.

3. Dragon racing

While this isn’t (to my knowledge) a specific sport from any series, it would still be pretty awesome to see Olympic Dragon Racing. Dragons are pretty dang cool, and rather impressive to see fly. (For more about my thoughts regarding dragons, click here.)Well, they would be if they existed. I know this is a slightly weak discussion of this particular sport, but, I can’t think of much else to say on it.

So, dear readers, I’m going to poll you. What are some sports you’d like to see in the Olympics that most likely never will be for some reason or other? Go ahead and leave comments, letting me know.

Until next time, then,

Angel out!

Gaming and Verbal Abuse

I recently came across this article in BBC News “Sexual Harassment in the World of Video Gaming”.  I have been peripherally aware of the abuse directed towards female gamers for some time, but this article, and the site mentioned in it called “Fat, Ugly, or Slutty” has really been a wake up call for me.  This is a serious issue, and we as gamers need to be aware of and do what we can to correct it.
(WARNING: the messages posted on Fat, Ugly, or Slutty are graphic and disturbing.  Follow this link at your own risk)
Messages like “Get your ass back in the kitchen,” “Stupid Bitch,” “Fat Whore,” and more that I cannot in good conscience repeat here are all too commonly directed at female online gamers.  Many of the insults are sexual in nature, and often feature threats of sexual abuse, particular rape.  Guys, this needs to stop.  

Now, I know some of you are going to say that it’s part of the culture.  As one male gamer quoted in the BBC article said, “As a female you can’t get upset if something is said that is obscene if you’re hanging out in a room full of guys.”  And you’d be right.  Trash talk is an integral and inherent part of any competitive culture.  Aggression is part of being human, particularly part of being male.  I’m not saying trash talking should stop, I’m not even saying it’s wrong.  What I’m talking about is something beyond trash talk.

Things like “I know where you live” or “Send me a picture of you naked” and threats of rape are far past normal trash talk.  Sexual harassment, and threats of assault, both sexual and physical, are not acceptable.  First off, they tread the lines of legality.  Most of the messages you can find on the site above would get you arrested or at least sued if you said them aloud in public.  Things are fuzzier with online interactions, but here’s a rule of thumb: if you wouldn’t say it in a bar, then don’t say it online.

Now some people will say that this is a free country, and that they have a right to say whatever they want to.  I’m not here to argue first amendment issues.  I’m not going to address whether or not what is said in some of these games is or is not legal.  What I am going to address is whether or not the things said are right.  I know women who are great gamers, and I also know women who died 10 times in the tutorial level of an RPG.  I know men who’ve done the same.  If you’re gonna trash talk someone it shouldn’t matter if they’re a man or a woman. I know girls who could hit the broad side of a barn with a fucking shotgun.  I’ve told them a much, and I did it without sexual slurs, harassment or threats.

There’s a certain type of abuse thrown at female gamers that I am particularly against.  Yes, telling a girl to get back in the kitchen is tactless, and it won’t win you many friends, but it is relatively harmless.  What I am talking about in particular is threats of rape.  Guys, rape is not funny.  Rape is not a joke.  Of all of the horrors I have encountered in this world, from drug abuse to alcoholism to cancer, I never seen anything that destroys an individual the way rape does.  Nothing warrants threats of rape, and nothing excuses such threats.

So, the question now becomes, why am I writing this?  Most of the people reading this aren’t among the loud minority that inspired this post.  The reason is two-fold.  Firstly, I want to raise awareness that this is a problem, that it is unacceptable, and that it does need to stop.  You can’t legislate morality. Neither Sony, nor Microsoft, nor the US government is going to be able to stop this sort of hate.  It has to be stopped by people.  The gaming community has to stop accepting it.  Don’t turn a blind eye to the one loudmouth on your server.  Move to another server if you can, or mute him.  Support the women he’s harassing.  Just do SOMETHING.  Let it be known that you oppose his behavior.  Don’t just stand by and say nothing. This is my challenge to you. Do not be a bystander in this.  You have a voice.  Use it.

Repeaters

And That’s Shakespeare is going to take a mini-hiatus while I’m going crazy over As You Like It. So here’s a movie review for you to ponder.

Repeaters is about three recovering drug addicts who find themselves replaying the same day over and over again. What would you do if you could wipe the day clean again tomorrow, like it never happened? Find out, with some minor spoilers, after the break.

This is a great little piece of sci-fi. I call it that loosely, because the film isn’t really about the weird time loop effect. It’s about the psychology of the characters as they try to figure out what’s going on.

The main trio, Kyle, Sonia, and Michael are in rehab when they are zapped by a weird lightning storm thingy. Then they find out that they can do anything, and it will be erased when they wake up again that same morning.

It’s a fascinating character arc to watch for each of them, because two of them want to get out of the time loop and get back to normal life. The third, Michael, decides he wants to enjoy it. And that’s where things go bad.

The actors are all brilliant. Male lead Kyle (Dustin Milligan) is especially compelling in his search for redemption with his family (he wants to ask for forgiveness, but even if they give it to him, it’ll be gone again the next morning).

Sonia (Amanda Crew) is also impressive, especially in the scenes where she has to cope with her abusive dying father.

Perhaps most stunning is Michael (Richard De Klerk) as we watch his gradual devolution into madness. His goal on the first day was to get his father to love him again, but once he saw that that wasn’t going to happen, he slid downhill quickly.

I must commend the writers, because they brought in wonderful concepts for the audience to think about. When you can’t die, and nothing you do has a consequence, does morality still exist? Do actions still have good and bad attached to them? Brilliant.

The film is shot well, paced well, and resolves at just the right tempo – and then there’s a twist ending which is really killer.

So, if you get a chance, I highly recommend this movie. It is currently available on Netflix streaming.

Here’s a trailer:

Happy Saturday,

JV

A PokeRant

I never thought the day would come… but after seeing previews for Pokemon Black and White 2, I quit Pokemon.  No, I’m not a militant Genwunner (a derogatory term for someone who loudly proclaims the virtues of the first generation of Pokemon while ignoring all awesome changes they’ve made over the years).  But I can’t justify a $40 purchase for a game I stopped enjoying a long time ago.

I haven’t been with Pokemon from the beginning, so my anger doesn’t come from my childhood being destroyed, like many others.  In fact, I only started playing in the second generation.  Confession: I didn’t even like the first generation that much.  The second generation, on the other hand, was awesome.  It was like two games in one!  If you’ve played it, you know what I’m talking about.  Sure, the graphics weren’t stellar, especially since I was still playing on my black and gray Game Boy Pocket.  But they built on this concept, keeping with the same themes of the first game (towns with color names, Team Rocket, d-bag rival, etc.) while adding new elements (new Pokemon, new moves, the aforementioned post-Elite Four journey).  The third generation?  Also awesome! Kick-ass graphics, more new pokemon, and tons of added features that made it a very different experience while still having the basic structure of the game I knew and loved.

The fourth generation was when it started to get a bit dicey.  I’ve never been a fan of the whole 3-D thing, so the incorporation of 3-D elements into Pearl and Diamond didn’t win them any points in my book.  I wasn’t looking forward to new Pokemon anymore; so sue me, I thought 300 was enough for a while.  It was getting harder and harder to complete the objective on the cover: catching ’em all.  I didn’t have a link cable when I was younger so I couldn’t trade Pokemon with anyone, and therefore I would never be able to catch them all, but at least it seemed like a more accessible achievement.  Now with over 600, I don’t even bother.  An important part of the first few games–getting all the Pokemon you could–was now rendered totally insignificant, nobody wanting to waste their precious cash on Pokeballs they didn’t need.

Given the 3-D trend, I had a sinking feeling I might not enjoy Pokemon Black as I had the previous games.  I’d like to say that I was pleasantly surprised, but that would be a lie.  Long gone are the easily-navigated towns of previous generations, replaced by winding cities that require many screen changes and changes in perspective with each new screen.  Gyms are impossible to locate, because they have no distinguishing factors from the other boring houses full of boring people.  Yes, I know where the Start button is, thank you, random stranger.  Can you give me directions to the gym?  No, of course not.  Thanks for the berry, though.  The PokeCenters were upgraded, so now I don’t have to walk those extra five seconds to go to a PokeMart.  I don’t know about other people, but I always thought 2-on-2 battles were a pain, especially if I was trying to give one Pokemon all the experience.  Well, in Pokemon B&W they upgraded the annoying to a 3-on-3 battle! I’m sure they did it to “add a whole new level of strategy” to the game or something like that, but the multiple battling was my least favorite part of my favorite generation (Gen III) and this is far from my favorite game.

Wait, now you have friends that you sometimes battle, also a rival-type who is maybe a crazy person but also a good guy?  I may hate the hordes of new Pokemon, the graphics, and the battling style, but I’ll give them props for a much deeper plot than a Pokemon game has ever seen before.  I’ll admit, I haven’t finished the game–hell, I haven’t even gotten very far, I’ve been so irritated–but what I’ve seen of the story so far and what I’ve read have impressed me.  I’m not sure if that’s enough of a reason to keep playing, though, and I definitely don’t plan on buying the sequel… because for some reason, Pokemon games have sequels now?

In the end, I’m just plain disappointed with what Pokemon has become.  It’s not fun, it’s just a chore.  You know it’s bad if you’re playing a Pokemon game for the story.

This is CakeVsDeath, being angry so you don’t have to.

Ninja Warriors Invade the US

Do you enjoy watching amazing feats of strength, agility, and willpower?
Do you enjoy watching people fail in incredibly hilarious ways?
Do you enjoy listening to Japanese commentators?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, then I have the perfect show for you: Ninja Warrior. And I’m not talking about the NBC version American Ninja Warrior that’s hit prime time recently (though that is a pretty good adaptation, if I must say so.) I’m talking about the original Ninja Warrior challenge straight from Japan.

Ninja Warrior is broadcast in several countries across the world, including the US. It films the twice annual Sasuke tournament in Japan, which is widely regarding as one of the most difficult obstacle courses in the world, if not the most difficult. It’s also one of the most amazing things I have ever watched on television.

Every challenge (and there have been 27 now, I believe) consists of four intense stages. 100 challengers start at stage one. So, that’s 2700 challengers total. Of those 2700; only three have ever beaten all four stages. Generally, 85% or more of the challengers fail at the first stage. Some in truly spectacular ways.

For a pretty decent overview of the first stage (as of tournament 20) and some legos click here

Here’s a sample of just how difficult it is to win this tournament.

I personally have been watching Ninja Warrior for about 7 years, as periodically as I can. It is a difficult show to find. So far in the US I’ve only seen it broadcast on G4 and the internet. As it’s grown in popularity in the US, G4 started doing the American Ninja Warrior challenge. Initially, they held trials and sent the winners to the tournament in Japan. Now it’s an NBC prime time show, and the winner gets $500,000.

If you can only watch the NBC show, you definitely should. It’s pretty amazing. But if you get a chance, look up the Japanese version too. You won’t regret that you did.

Until next time,
Angel out!

ATS: Episode 11 – Julius Caesar

Enjoy.

– JV

First Sidewinder Trailer

It may not be as big as Prometheus, Men in Black III, Snow White and the Huntsman, or Chernobyl Diaries…
BUT I’M SO EXCITED FOR SIDEWINDER 2: ECSTASY OF GOLD!

The first trailer for the film was released today. Get the first exclusive glimpse, after the break.

The trailer is filled with awesome content, fights that look totally awesome, and of course, funny moments. The first time I saw Captain Sidewinder in the elevator I got chills just like “oooooooooh”. I must say that the costumes look absolutely fantastic, and the fights as well. In case you’re curious, the background music comes from Fringe and Sherlock Holmes. The Holmes music was a charming part of the first movie, but adding the Fringe gives me the idea that this movie will be even darker.

Looking forward to seeing the film!

If you have no idea what this is about, click Sidewinder for a review of the first film. You should check it out, it’s totally awesome.

That’s all for now! JV out.