Jun 12 2011

What the Hell Is That? (How JJ Abrams, Steven Spielberg, and SUPER 8 Saved the Summer Blockbuster)

♣♣♣♣♣   out of   ♣♣♣♣♣

Sometimes movies are just plain magic. It’s been said that all magic is merely technology we don’t understand yet, and that may be, but when it comes to movie magic Super 8 is about as close as it gets to the real deal these days.

I’m 34 years old, and grew up in the early 80s as a creek-exploring, tree-fort building, outside-all day kid of kid… for the most part… I do remember getting in tons of trouble for dozens of  incidents involving going places I wasn’t supposed to go, being out later than I was supposed to be out, and be way filthier than I was supposed to be when I came home… and I do remember always living next to large wooded areas (in Oregon, go figure) that we spent countless hours playing away in (and receiving poison oak from).

So what does this have to do with the latest summer blockbuster from director JJ Abrams? Well, that’s what the movie is all about… childhood, loss of innocence, fear of the outside world, and most importantly: imagination. Super 8 is about a young man (old boy?) who’s mother has just died in an accident at the local steel mill because she volunteered to take someone else’s shift.  Joe (Joel Courtney) is left with his father, a sheriff’s deputy, his dog, Lucy, and his good friend Charlie (Riley Griffiths), whom Joe is helping make a zombie movie with a Super 8 camera setup… the year is 1979.

From the opening scene, a wake for Joe’s mom, it’s clear that this is no ordinary movie. The dialogue is fresh, the kids’ acting is phenomenal, and at some points  during their adolescent tirades, it feels like Tarantino is writing. In plain speak, it’s exciting from the very beginning because every single one of the characters is engaging, funny, and easy to like… it’s even got that horrible guy from ER in it as Joe’s love interest’s drunken father, and he does a great job. I’m talking all across the board, this movie is flying on green for most of the way.

Flash forward 4 months and summer has come to the little town of Lilian, Ohio. Charlie’s zombie movie is moving ahead full steam, and Joe seems to be hanging in there with a locket of his mothers that he carries everywhere he goes. Then Charlie decides to make some changes to the movie, and thus changes all their lives forever.

On the last day of school, Charlie informs Joe he’s written in a wife for the main character, Detective So-and-So, and has asked the enchanted Alice (Elle Fanning) to play the part… oh and she’s stealing her dad’s car to pick them all up at midnight for a trip just out of town at the old train station… to film a scene… “for production value.” All of this is handled with the light and whimsical banter of adolescents of yesteryear… in fact, when the sheriff sees a clerk wearing a brand-new Walkman he remarks, “That’s all we need, kids walking around with their own stereos… it’s a slippery slope!”

No by know we’ve all seen the preview for Super 8, so when the speeding train blows its whistle in the middle of the night, we as the audience know that some bad ju-ju is about to go down. Charlie hits the roof, “Grab the camera! PRODUCTION VALUE!” He screams, directing everyone to their places, “Just be louder when the train’s going by…” get us chuckling when the thundering train downs out all of the dialogue in their scene… and we can barely hear the screeching of tires far down the line at the next road… but Joe does. He turns in time to see the speeding truck pull up onto the tracks and head straight for the train before it’s hit by the locomotive, and bursts into flames. Then Joe sees the locomotive jump the track, and soon the entire train is flying through the air, 10 feet from them, at 90 miles an hour. This is about one of the most exciting action sequences in recent years, as even in the few short minutes the movie has been on, we’ve already grown very attached to the group of troublemakers. The effects are seamless, the sense of that metal hurtling through the air just inches from the kids as they run had me chowing liquorice like there was no tomorrow… whew!

As the flying train cars come crashing down around them, and explosions are knocking these poor kids around like rag dolls, Joe gets seperated from the rest of the group… and soon the cacophony dies, and most of the train grinds to a halt… except for the car directly in front of him, which starts pounding. We know there’s something nasty in that train car, something big enough to rip the door off like it was cardboard, and thankfully Abrams makes the decision to not show it to us for another hour or so… Well into the Air Force investigation, military cover-ups, and adolescent first loves that make up most of this brilliant film. This is how great movies are made. You take an original story in a timeless setting, superior acting, and a skilled director, and the magic just happens (with a little help from the fx guys).

Now I have to admit, I’ve been following this movie for awhile and was just in one of those “absolutely excited to see it” moods, and I’m happy to report, that it lived up to almost all of my expectations. If you’ve only heard sketchy things about Super 8, do yourself, your family, everyone you know a favor and go see it immediately. This is one that will go down in the books, and that might even just be ok with JJ Abrams, who drew heavily from producer Steven Spielberg’s early films (you know, those little films like E.T. The Extraterrestrial, Raiders of the Lost Ark, or Jaws that practically invented the summer blockbuster?).

Super 8 is so much more than a movie though. It is a glimpse back into what some will feel like was a simpler, easier time… when everything wasn’t at our fingertips, and there was still a big, scary world out there for kids to want to explore…

Jun 10 2011

Toomb’s New Releases for 6/10 (Old School Blockbuster Edition)

Filmmakers do wonderful things, fantastic things, and those very few who have the gift and the eye, filmmakers perform magic that can change our lives, move us emotionally, and even now… time-travel. While I know time-travel as a plot device has been done and done again, that’s not the kind of time-travel I’m talking about. Time-travel (sorry, I had to say it one more time).

What I’m talking about are those precious images that many of us have, those nostalgic and faded memories from a childhood that was simpler than the fast-paced world we live in today. Of tying cards to our spokes and pedaling down the street with our original Converse All-Stars (the ones made in America) and our faded Levis jeans… For me, as a child of the 80s, it was all about Steven Spielberg movies… (although I’m not sure it’s because of my childhood that I remember these classics the way I do, or whether it’s because of these classics that I remember my childhood the way I do… how meta, I know…)

When I remember my younger years, I remember the world that movies like Jaws and E.T. portrayed, the sentimental summer evenings when kids actually left the house to find adventure, my friends and I were the Goonies, we were the Explorers (yeah, not Spielberg, but still, a classic). Today when I watch Spielberg movies I see my childhood, harkening back to a different time, when we sought adventure in the fantastic, and movies like E.T., Goonies, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind were the foundation of our imagination machinations.

So when I saw the original trailer for Super 8, a movie-within-a-movie about a group of kids in 1979 who are helping their buddy finish his “zombie-movie masterpiece” while a possible real (alien?) threat descends on their small town… I was floored. Taken immediately back to my childhood, with the bell-bottom jeans and the hot-rod cars, people who actually talked to each other in person… Super 8, named after the camera the kids are using to film their movie, hearkens back to an age of filmmaking that brings all of those memories flooding back… the trailer alone looks like a peek back in time… like uncovering a missing Spielberg masterpiece from 1984. Super 8 is the attempt, by young filmmaker JJ Abrams, to recapture that lost, true Summer Blockbuster… and from all the reviews I’ve seen, Abrams has seamlessly blended nostalgic camerawork and cinematography with ulta-modern special effects to give us what possibly might be the last of the true Blockbusters (well, unless he’s creating a new genre this weekend… “The Spielberg Throwback” perhaps?).

Often billed as the creator of Lost, Abrams has been making a significant splash in tinseltown the past few years. Starting with the oft-overlooked Mission Impossible III, which came out at the height of Tom Cruise’s madness a few years ago (when everyone realized he was insane, but forgot he was still a great actor). MI:III, in my opinion, was the pinnacle of a frankly lack-luster franchise previously helmed by auteur Brian De Palma and Hong Kong shark-jumper John Woo. From the first few frames of MI:III, it had me absolutely hooked, and I knew I was seeing the work of a skilled director. With 2009’s sci-fi pop masterpiece reboot, Star Trek, Abrams’ cemented his status as a rock-solid action director who seemed to have learned the most important aspect of blockbuster filmmaking, knowing what the audience wants to see, even when we don’t know. Star Trek is such a triumph in every way, as a homage, a reboot, and most importantly- it was accessible to the general non-Trekkie public.

So if you’re looking for a great time at the movies this weekend, Super 8 will be worth the lines at the theater. If not, perhaps the significantly horrible-looking Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer.

Also this weekend we’ve got the new Woody Allen movie, Midnight in Paris,which is getting rave reviews as well. Owen Wilson plays an aspiring writer who gets lost while walking the streets in Paris and runs into many famous writers, much to the chagrin of his wife who wants to know who he has been spending his nights with. How do you tell your wife you’re having late-night conversations with Ernest Hemingway? Midnight in Paris is rated PG-13 for some sexual references and smoking.

From Japan we’ve also got Takeshi Mike’s latest brutal look at the waning days of the Samurai (no Tom Cruise in this movie),  13 Assassins. I watched this movie last weekend, and while some of the early scenes of brutality (used purposely to show just how insane and evil the bad-guy is) may turn some viewers off, this is truly one of the best Samurai movies I’ve ever seen. An aging Samurai must hatch a plan to assassinate the Shogun’s mercilessly evil brother in late 1800s Japan in this sword-and-honor historical piece from one of Tokyo’s most shocking directors. A must see in my book, despite the decidedly dark first act, 13 Assassins proves to be an instant classic… the real “Last Samurai,” and it’s rated R for sequences of bloody violence, some disturbing images and brief nudity

Our local theaters in Eugene are featuring the following:

(thanks Google)

Bijou Art Cinemas

492 East 13th Avenue, Eugene, OR – (541) 686-2458

‎1hr 28min‎‎ – Rated PG-13‎‎ – Comedy/Romance‎ – Trailer – IMDb – : Rated 4.0 out of 5.0

5:25  7:45pm

‎2hr 6min‎‎ – Rated R‎‎ – Action/Adventure/Drama‎ – IMDb – : Rated 3.9 out of 5.0

9:15pm

‎1hr 43min‎‎ – Rated R‎‎ – Comedy‎ – Trailer – IMDb – : Rated 3.9 out of 5.0

4:50  7:00pm

‎1hr 46min‎‎ – Action/Adventure/Drama‎ – Trailer – IMDb – : Rated 2.8 out of 5.0

10:00pm

The David Minor Theater and Pub

180 E. 5th Avenue, Eugene, OR – (541) 762-1700

‎1hr 50min‎‎ – Rated PG-13‎‎ – Drama/Western‎ – Trailer – IMDb – : Rated 4.0 out of 5.0

5:10  9:30pm

‎1hr 53min‎‎ – Rated R‎‎ – Drama‎ – Trailer – IMDb – : Rated 3.5 out of 5.0

7:25pm

‎1hr 57min‎‎ – Rated R‎‎ – Comedy‎ – IMDb – : Rated 4.6 out of 5.0

7:25pm

‎2hr 9min‎‎ – Rated PG-13‎‎ – Drama‎ – Trailer – IMDb – : Rated 4.1 out of 5.0

5:10pm

‎1hr 47min‎‎ – Rated R‎‎ – Comedy/Romance‎ – IMDb – : Rated 4.1 out of 5.0

9:30pm
Jun 8 2011

How Did Teamwork Become Trashtalk? – A Girl’s Look into A Boy’s World

By Lindsey Asay

I remember my first gaming console….vividly. We weren’t big TV watchers in my house growing up. When we did, finding something to watch was easy, there were only 5 channels to choose from. That didn’t bother me too much though, being a tom boy (hard not to with 4 older brothers) I preferred riding my bike or shooting hoops anyways. That all changed the day I first saw the NES…in all its black and grey glory. My days of shooting impossible three pointers in the driveway considerably dwindled. Quickly replaced by days of trying to beat what seemed like the impossible. Mario Brothers and Duck Hunt challenging my dexterity and my ability to do focus on pretty much anything else.

Now in my 30’s with an “adult job” and more responsibilities and bills than I can wrap my head around sometimes …..I still find time to play when I can. This time around though, it’s not just the console that’s different. The playing field, as it were, has changed considerably as well. No longer just you and a friend in your living room pushing two buttons in rapid succession….the ability to connect thousands of living rooms together through online multiplayer games has made an individual experience into a shared experience. Sometimes sharing more than just your first person shooting skills with your fellow gamers. I’ll admit, I’m a fan of Little Big Planet and workout games like Zumba, but I also like to unwind with some serious Call of Duty time. After getting over the..how do I walk AND look around AND shoot part of it all, I found my groove and started to be less frustrated and more able to enjoy the game.

That is, until I started to listen more and more to the other players. A mix of ages, nationalities, locations, abilities….I was amazed how a game could bridge all those gaps. Nothing prepared me though, for the amount of trash-talking that came from an endless sea of assholes with nothing better to do than shout “FAG FAG FAG” or “ F-ing LOSER” for 15 minutes straight. I started to wonder about who really plays these games and what it is that makes them so easily degrade someone they don’t know. That someone who at any given time can be a 12yr old kid who just wants to get in some gaming time before he has to finish his homework. Or me…..a mom and cube jockey looking to get in a quick round or two before starting dinner. The overwhelming consensus seems to be that unless you are an expert player, the world wide community of online gamers would like you to stay the F**K AWAY. Am I wrong on this? Am I wrong to question why a group of overly aggressive, usually single and always dickish players get to verbally push everyone else around? I don’t think I am.

My NES didn’t mock me. It didn’t degrade me for only getting 6 kills in a round or tell me to mute my mike because my kid was annoying him. I didn’t start a game with the intent to bully or call anyone names. I just wanted to beat the level so I could see what came next. I couldn’t wait to talk to my friends about it, to learn the secrets from those that conquered levels before me. Gaming was a shared experience….one that offered up a neutral playing field. Where older siblings played with younger. The jock with the bookworm, all wanting and trying to get better. I still don’t know what it is about our new shared gaming experience that turns the doting dad into a hate-spewing weekend gamer…and I’m not sure I want to find out. This is what I do know. I paid the money just like you….so, I get to play – just like you. Even if I do make stupid mistakes, like sprinting around corners or severely miscalculating a grenade throw… I’m still a gamer… playing in my living room, just like you. No matter how many times you tell me I suck, I’ll keep playing… and I’m coming for you.

Jun 3 2011

Toomb’s New Releases for Friday 6/3 – (Mutant Edition)

It’s that time of year people, the budgets are high and the releases are few, it must be Hollywood Summer Blockbuster Season. While Hollywood scales back their number of releases, they simultaneously jack up the budgets in hopes of catching that all-important tidal wave of summer enthusiasm (as long as you’re not wanting anything rated R).

This weekend we’ve got one new release, the prequel (and hopefully decent reboot to) the X-Men franchise… X-Men: First Class. I’ve been reading the X-Men comics since I was 11 years old, and they’ve always been my hands-down favorite super heroes. Forget Superman (too milquetoast), forget Spiderman (too much of a geek), forget Batman (but do not forget Chistopher Nolan’s immaculate films based on him)… The X-Men are the best of the best.

In the world of the X-Men, human evolution has taken another turn in the 20th century, and due to evolutionary, environmental, and other “factors,” people are being born with an extra gene… the “X Gene.” When these people hit puberty, and their bodies start to change, the X Gene kicks in and they begin to show powers. Labeled mutants and cast out from society, whether their families or communities or society in general, due to fear of the abnormal… they have very few places to turn for help in their struggles. They are “ordinary” people with extra-ordinary powers, who are put in incredible situations. Mutants (as they are referred to affectionately and with hatred) are the outcast, the unwanted, the feared… and yet they hold the key to defending and saving the very world that rejects them. 

Whether a holocaust survivor with a penchant for bending metal with a look, or a young man who finds the ability to peer inside others’ minds,the “mutant problem” is escalating in this world’s version of the 1960s. Two friends, Charles Xavier (James McAvoy), and Erik Lensherr (Michael Fassbender), are two young men discovering their powers. They join up with other mutants to stop the looming threat of nuclear war. Meanwhile a rift grows between the two forces, and they split into two factions, with Professor X’s X-Men and Magneto’s Brotherhood of Mutants… a war that will rage for decades.

X-Men: First Class tells the origin story of the X-Men, set against the back-drop of the Cuban Missile Crisis, and is certain to be a fun ride. It is rated PG-13.

Also playing this weekend are: (thanks Google)

The David Minor Theater and Pub

180 E. 5th Avenue, Eugene, OR – (541) 762-1700

‎1hr 57min‎‎ – Rated R‎‎ – Comedy‎ – IMDb – : Rated 4.6 out of 5.0

5:10  9:30pm

‎1hr 54min‎‎ – Rated R‎‎ – Drama‎ – Trailer – IMDb – : Rated 3.9 out of 5.0

7:25pm

‎1hr 47min‎‎ – Rated R‎‎ – Comedy/Romance‎ – IMDb – : Rated 4.1 out of 5.0

7:25pm

‎1hr 50min‎‎ – Rated R‎‎ – Comedy/Romance‎ – Trailer – IMDb – : Rated 3.2 out of 5.0

5:10pm

‎1hr 40min‎‎ – Rated R‎‎ – Action/Adventure/Drama‎ – IMDb – : Rated 3.0 out of 5.0

9:30pm

AND

Bijou Art Cinemas

492 East 13th Avenue, Eugene, OR – (541) 686-2458

‎1hr 44min‎‎ – Rated PG‎‎ – Western‎ – IMDb – : Rated 3.9 out of 5.0

8:00pm

‎1hr 16min‎‎ – Documentary‎ – IMDb

6:10pm

‎1hr 43min‎‎ – Rated R‎‎ – Drama/War‎ – Trailer – IMDb – : Rated 3.0 out of 5.0

5:00  7:15pm

‎1hr 46min‎‎ – Action/Adventure/Drama‎ – Trailer – IMDb – : Rated 2.8 out of 5.0

9:30pm

‎1hr 41min‎‎ – Documentary‎ – Trailer – IMDb – : Rated 4.1 out of 5.0

May 28 2011

The X: Legend Continues With X: Rebirth

I’m talking revolution… One of the greatest space simulation games I’ve ever stumbled across, is about to be reborn. For those of you who know, the X: Universe is a fully formed universe whose mantra is TRADE, FIGHT, BUILD, THINK. Complete with interstellar trade, governments, militarism, and a complex economy, X:3 is a milestone in gaming. For years, German gamemaker Egosoft has been transporting players to a galaxy full of humans, aliens, pirates, peace, glory, war, and most of all: cash in it’s X: series. A fully explorable universe that players will either conquer, or get chewed up, and spit out by. Flying stealthy advanced fighters, to giant turret-filled destroyers, the X: games have brought the universe to your home desktop. Now it’s time for a rebirth.

Long after the events of the previous games, a  supernova renders all previous modes of interstellar travel useless, and the universe much, much “smaller.”

Even the Future has Light Rail!

“In the distant future, the X: Universe faces a period of profound and irrevocable change. While the universe stumbles towards an uncertain future, countless adventures await as new enemies rise in search of power.”

Space-Traffic!

Staying true to the “sandbox,” go anywhere, explore anything format, X: Rebirth brings us a revolution in one of the most popular and critically acclaimed space simulation games ever made. You enter the shoes of a new, brave young hero, who, along his unlikely female ally, will travel the universe in an ancient, battle-worn ship with a glorious past. Two adventurers, alone against the galaxy, the fate of the universe (indeed their very existence) rests in your hands!

Blade Runner Anyone?

From the looks of it, X: Rebirth, is changing (and adding) some serious changes to it’s fundamental formula. With the traditional “jumpgates” obsolete now, more emphasis has been put on interaction. Whereas before, the entire game was played from the cockpit of a spaceship… every indication now points to an out-of-ship experience for players. If you look carefully at some of the screen captures I took from the official teaser, you can see everything from “traffic lanes” in space to highly-populated stations. Even Egosoft has announced that a new interface is going to revolutionize the game. This has really got my interest peaked more than the other big 3 sequel releases this fall: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Battlefield 3, and the ever-anticipated Uncharted 3 (seriously, if you’ve never played an Unchartedgame, go buy a PS3 and do yourself, and your life, a favor).

An interview with Egosoft’s Bernd Lehahn detailed

Q: “Why another X game? What happened to the “end of the X trilogy” statement?”

Open-Mouthed Galactica? 🙂

A: “Well that is still true. At least partially 😉 We worked on the old X games from 1996 until 2007. That was 11 years of development and 11 years mostly filled with adding features.
Adding features is pretty cool, as you have this solid foundation. You never have to start from scratch. We replaced the graphics engine twice, and we made many other big changes to the technology, but we were never at a point where nothing would work. That’s a very luxurious position for a game developer to be in.

Escaping Orbit

BUT (and it’s a big but), adding features to an existing game design has limits. Especially when we talk about the actual gameplay design. Adding so many features that were not originally planned for was a bit like building a higher and higher tower. You run into problems. Problems like a user interface that gets more and more complex and that’s rarely a good thing.

So in 2007 we decided we need to cut off that legacy and do a fresh start.”

The Rebirth begins this winter this Christmas… stay glued to TOOMBLOG for more details!

May 25 2011

The BattleStar Galactica Files (Ep 7) – Lost in Space

Welcome to the BattleStar Galactica Files! Sci-Fi (Syfy) Channel’s classic series that captured the fear and the paranoia of the post-9/11 culture. Hailed by critics and fans alike, BSG’s arcing epic storyline, detailed character development, dynamite special effects, and top-notch acting makes it one of the best science fiction tales of our time. Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell, and Jamie Bamber led a top-notch cast through 4 short seasons of one of the best television shows ever made. If you’ve seen BSG then you know, if you haven’t, then do yourself a favor- every episode is on Netflix, and it was just picked up for syndication on BBC America!

[Warning: Spoilers! This is my attempt to sum up, review, and quantify BSG in layman’s terms]

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LOST IN SPACE (aka ’33’)

“Yes, we’re tired. Yes, there is no relief. Yes, the Cylons keep coming after us time after time after time. And yes, we are still expected to do our jobs!” – Executive Officer Saul Tigh

The Fleet

In the deep, cold, blackness of space, across the light-years in a galaxy not-so-far-far-away, the lost family of man is exactly that. A mere 60 ships escaped the Cylon destruction of the 12 Colonies, some 48,000 men, women, and children. A holocaust of barbaric proportions, across a dozen planets, and costing some 50 million lives.  Guarded solely by the Battlestar Galactica and its crew, the last remnants of humanity are trying desperately to out-run their attackers. Using Faster Than Light jump-technology (FTL) the escaping humans are left to fend for themselves against a relentless enemy, jumping over 238 times across the universe in search of the mythical planet Earth, only to be tracked by the Cylons every time.

Stims

Commander William Adama, captain of the Galactica (the sole remaining military presence of the 12 Colonies) has stretched his crew to the limit. After 130+ hours without sleep, “stims” are being handed out freely, and everyone is on edge. Every time, 33 minutes after they complete the jump, the cylons find them. Every time they jump, they set the clock to 33 minutes, and wait… Until after the 237th jump, the Olympic Carrier is lost. When the fleet makes the jump to the next coordinates, the Olympic Carrier fails to arrive behind them, and so do the Cylons.

33 Minutes Between Jumps

Nerves are on edge as the seconds tick by, and every last person alive stares at the clock wondering the same thing… are the clear? However, on board the Galactica and newly-named Colonial One (like Air Force 1), President Laura Roslin and Commander Adama are wondering something else… Was the Olympic Carrier under Cylon control? Was it the reason they were so easily tracked across the galaxies? The decision-makers and main players in the struggle to survive wait with bated breath for a sign of their pursuit… then it comes.

Olympic Carrier

When the Olympic Carrier suddenly appears, its captain claims to have urgent information on how the Cylons infiltrated Colonial Defense Networks prior to the attack on the Colonies (Much to the chagrin of one Dr. Gaius Baltar, who is desperately afraid of being found out). Adama is not convinced, and sets the clock for 33 minutes, scrambling Vipers to intercept the ship before it can rejoin the fleet. To make matters worse, the liner it emitting a nuclear signature and not responding to hails from Apollo, who is flying the intercept mission. Believing the Olympic has somehow been corrupted by Cylon agents, Adama orders the jamming of all communication with the liner other than signal light from the Vipers… however the liner does not change course, heading straight for the Galactica with a nuclear weapon on board.

Viper

No one is sure if the 1,345 people aboard the Carrier are still alive, and the loss of any more human life is not justifiable by President Roslin. As the liner gets closer, and the clock hits 33 minutes, the Cylons appear… confirming their worst fears that they were somehow tracking the ship as a way to follow the fleet. President Roslin, despite the fact that it lowers the survivor count to below 50,000, gives the hard order to shoot down the ship. Starbuck and Apollo reluctantly open fire, destroying the Olympic Carrier and possibly the 1,345 civilians on it. After the two Vipers make a quick “combat landing,” the fleet jumps away… and the clock is set again for 33 minutes. This time, however, the Cylons do not follow them.

“We make mistakes, people die. There aren’t many of us left.” – Commander William Adama

Boomer Wakes Up

Later, Lieutenant Sharon “Boomer ” Valerii awakens alone, soaked from head-to-toe, and shaking in an equipment locker on the Galactica. She doesn’t know how she got there, or how she ended up dripping wet. Scrambling, she finds her duffel underneath her chair, inside is a towel, dry clothes, and lots of explosives… Boomer panics, not knowing what is going on. She is convinced she is being framed for sabotage, and enlists the help of her secret lover, Chief Tyrol after finding even more explosives missing from a small-arms locker.

Water

Meanwhile, due to Galactica’s nearly-perfect water reclamation systems, the fleet relies heavily on them for a fresh supply of water. Daily water transfers are performed by individual fleet ships, including the Virgon Express, a small liner. However during docking with the Virgon Express, a large explosion rocks the ships and begins to jettison the Galactica’s water reserves into space. After 60% of the fleet’s H2O supplies are lost, an investigation is launched, and Commander Adama (who was previously one of the only people in the galaxy who knew the Cylons had managed to take human form) confesses to President Roslin that he believes it is the work of a Cylon humanoid agent. They enlist Dr. Baltar to construct a “Cylon Detector” capable of examining DNA and weeding out Cylon agents.

Explosives

Meanwhile, Boomer and multiple other Raptors are out searching various solar systems for water as the investigation on Galactica turns up only fear and mistrust in the crew. Chief Tyrol concludes that anyone could have taken the explosives due to lax security on board during the escape from the Cylons (believing whole-heartedly that his lover is being framed for sabotage).  However Boomer is not so sure.

Raptors

During their Raptor flight, they jump near a large planet and scan it for H2O. Even though Boomer’s screens tell her there is water, her voice is trapped in her throat. She struggles to spit out the words, unsure of what is happening, and suddenly finds the remaining explosive strapped to her seat in the Raptor. On top of that, she finds herself physically unable to tell her co-pilot that her scan of the planet reveals water… desperate, Boomer fights her own personality, while her hand drops to the detonator switch, her finger on the trigger. Suddenly it dawns on her in a moment of horrible, sickening clarity… she can’t speak because of the same reason she has to physically restrain herself in order to not detonate the explosives, destroy the Raptor, and leave the fleet to die of dehydration… She realizes she is a Cylon…

"Boomer" and Chief

(Boomer’s struggle with her own secret Cylon “sleeper” personality is one of the defining moments in the series. In fact, the entire “sleeper Cylons” idea is truly what fuels the greatness of the first season. Made in 2005, at a time when our country was gripped with much of the same fear, BSG captured one of the defining moments in modern history… the realization that anyone around us could be an enemy agent in hiding (in our case, a terrorist; in theirs, a Cylon)… the realization that we weren’t safe in our own country, our own cities, our own homes.)

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Most of the information gleaned for these posts is taken from the good folks at Wiki and BSG Wiki.

Coming Up on the BSG Files:

The Planet of the Gods


May 23 2011

The BattleStar Galactica Files (Ep 6) – Presidential Edition

Welcome to the BattleStar Galactica Files! Sci-Fi (Syfy) Channel’s classic series that captured the fear and the paranoia of the post-9/11 culture. Hailed by critics and fans alike, BSG’s arcing epic storyline, detailed character development, dynamite special effects, and top-notch acting makes it one of the best science fiction tales of our time. Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell, and Jamie Bamber led a top-notch cast through 4 short seasons of one of the best television shows ever made. If you’ve seen BSG then you know, if you haven’t, then do yourself a favor- every episode is on Netflix, and it was just picked up for syndication on BBC America!

(WARNING- The following will contain SPOILERS, as it is my attempt to sum up the series in layman terms.)

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“President Adar o­nce said that the interesting thing about being a president is that you don’t have to explain yourself to anyone” – President Laura Roslin


President Laura Roslin

The universe of Battlestar Galactica has many similarities to ours, the fact that it is a such a close mirror to our own, is what makes it such a brilliant show. The technology and the setting aside, it is easy to see ourselves in the characters of Galactica- even the nasty ones. From the foot-ball like game of Pyramid to the kinds of entertainment and music, even hard-drinking, fighting, and sexing-it-up, the humans of Battlestar Galactica are most definitely human… even when they’re not.

At the time of the attack, Secretary of Education Laura Roslin had just been told her breast cancer was inoperable, and that she only had a few months to live. Stunned, Roslin and her staff leave Caprica and travel to Galactica for its decommissioning ceremonies. It is on the way back that they learn of the Cylon attack, and Secretary Roslin (through the line of succession), the 43rd person in line for the office of President, is the only surviving member of the Colonial Government. Despite her hidden cancer and the news that she is going to die, Laura Roslin becomes the de-facto President of the 12 Colonies in the moments after the Cylon attack.

Swearing In

President Laura Roslin, originally a school teacher, holds a tenuous position in the office of the President, and continuously confronts opposition head-on and with nerves of steel. All the while trying to hide her secret diagnosis and seeking alternative medicines for her terminal cancer. Soon after the departure of the remaining survivors in what’s known as “the fleet,” and after Adama’s “Earth Speech,” President Roslin begins to have hallucinations she believes might be predictions.

A Kiss 4 Seasons in the Making

Prophecies written 4000 years before tell of a dying leader who will guide the survivors of humanity, a “caravan of the stars,” to the promised land. President Roslin’s disclosure of her cancer and her visions, makes her not only the symbol of leadership and hope for humanity, but a spiritual leader as well. As the Cylons and the quest for Earth drive them further and further into the unknown universe, President Roslin, Commander Adama, and their respective crews have to make decisions, enforce law, and judge actions according to the old laws of the Colonies, and the newer, more practical laws being written in the stars.

Roslin Teaching

Haunted by her past and unsure of the future, President Laura Roslin is one of the most compelling characters in contemporary fiction. Forced to deal with decisions that could very well mean the end of humanity, she has more conviction, heart, and where-with-all than most of the people that serve under her. Even in the most dire times, she has been a beacon of hope for the survival of the human species. Her series-long “romance’ with Bill Adama proves to be one of the best-written and carefully acted partnerships since Mulder and Scully. In all seriousness, Mary McDonnell’s portrayal of humanity’s last best hope for survival is reason enough to watch this show. It is also one of the few characters that I won’t trace until the end of the show, simply because I don’t want to spoil it. If you’re dying to know the rest right away, check this out. Until then, good hunting.

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Most of the information gleaned for these posts is taken from the good folks at Wiki and BSG Wiki.

Coming Up on the BSG Files:

Lost in Space, and ADAMA

May 23 2011

LA Noire: First Impressions

Rockstar Games has consistently provided some of the most original, ground-breaking, and just all-around-good-times video gaming in the last decade. Did you know the Grand Theft Auto series alone has sold over 124 million copies? Since Grand Theft Auto III dropped on the Playstation 2, 10 years ago this October, the concept of the “sand-box” game has reached a pinnacle of graphics, gameplay, and story with LA Noire. Gone are the free-floating weapons, the killing-sprees are reserved for off-screen, and this time, Rockstar takes us into the mind of a straight-laced gumshoe circa 1947.

Los Angeles in 1947 was a beautiful place, a land of hopes and dreams, Hollywood promised fame for every boy and girl that stepped off the bus from where ever… however more often than not those promises we only weighed with blood, sweat, and tears. From the first scene we are placed in the perfectly shined shoes Officer Cole Phelps, a war “hero” who was a Lieutenant in the Pacific theater, and now believes he must atone for his sins in the war.

Now, believe me when I say, that Team Bondi (the Rockstar division responsible for this iteration) has faithfully recreated the Los Angeles of 1947. I’m talking, exact model here. Robert Spence is a photographer who in his 50 year career, took over 110,000 aerial photographs of Los Angeles. Team Bondi used Spence’s photographs to  recreate traffic patterns, public transport routes, and the locations and conditions of every building in the greater LA city boundaries. These are the mean streets, truly. Whether you choose to play the game in black and white mode, or regular color, it is simply amazing to drive around this town (even though our camera angles for driving are now firmly constricted to behind-the-car irritability… some of us need to drive from inside the car, like normal!).

One of the longest complaints about video games’ “sense of reality” is the lack of distinction when it comes to the face. Recent games have managed to make some of the greatest characters, levels, and beautifully drawn landscapes in history, so why haven’t they been able to nail the face?

Well that’s all history now, LA Noire brings the face. Not only can you tell when a shifty gaze means a suspect is hiding something, but most importantly the mouths match the dialogue. You could really turn off the sound and read lips (if you knew how) in this game, it’s almost on par with anything going on in Hollywood. While it would take an Avatar budget to get Avatar-like animation, this game really gets it right when it comes to motion-capture… Grand Theft Auto IV and the penultimate Red Dead Redemption have brought something new to the video game arena: reality.

In fact, it’s hard for a player with a large amount of imagination not to simply fall into the game. Especially in GTAIV, with it’s immaculate recreation of New York City in Liberty City (on the whole, and in my belief) is the greatest character ever created in a game. From the skyscrapers down to the pollution-filled rivers, the burroughs to Times’ Square, Liberty City is flawless. I have started GTAIV many times with the intention of completing a few missions, only to get lost in the scenery… watching drivers crash, get out, and have screaming matches, homeless street-preachers spouting an endless tirade of biblical paranoia… It’s enormous.

Officer Cole Phelps is easy enough to navigate through this alternate reality of 1947, you can feel his weight when you push the controller’s stick, he doesn’t “spring,” he leans. If you push the stick, he’ll begin to walk, then trot, then run (if you hold R2)… as the characters in GTAIV do… the realism is there.

As you guide Phelps through his career, he’ll encounter many people, places, and things that he can interact with. Whether it’s interrogating a suspect, questioning a neighbor, or interviewing another policeman… running after an assailant and finally being able to pull your gun (no draw-and-shoot capabilities here, you’ve got to wait for the computer to draw your gun for you) everything a cop can and will need to do in the line of duty is mapped out in LA Noire. Through the cunning use of a notebook Phelps keeps clues, locations, suspects, and information organized for each case.

The interview process is heavily mapped out, and despite initial feelings that I was going to botch an investigation due to ineptitude, it’s thankfully idiot-proof. If you mess up a line of questioning too bad or accuse someone without proof, you’ll hear about it, but it won’t change the final outcome of the case… it’s going to get solved.

In fact that might be one of the biggest downfalls of the game: that even if you blow every question in an interrogation, ultimately the case will be solved. I think it would’ve been better to simply fail the case and have to start over than be poked and prodded along through police work. There’s no way to change this either.

All-in-al my first impression of LA Noire is amazing. It’s not as much fun as GTAIV or Red Dead Redemption, simply because it’s too much fun to kill the innocent and destroy the environment around you. So as a square policeman, life can be dull in Los Angeles. The ability to answer any police call while driving, is fun… stopping off to chase down perps or shoot it out with bank-robbers keeps things fresh… but I simply haven’t played enough to see what the world is like post-homicide cases (I’m still mid-way through solving some of the most gruesome murders LA has ever seen).

Rockstar and Team Bondi have brought us another winner though, I can tell you that. LA Noire is addicting, clever, well-written, and well-acted. Pick it up and check it out for sure.

May 15 2011

BREAKING NEWS: The Playstation Network is Back Up and Running as of 12 am PST

After three weeks of issue-skirting press releases and Call of Duty: Black Ops withdrawals, fanboys can now rejoice as the Playstation Network is now back online after three longs weeks of waiting. If you remember: a few months ago iPhone hacker GEOHot finally jailbroke the Playstation 3, after almost 5 years of release. When GEOHot went live with his information, Sony responded with a request in court for streaming giant Youtube to turn over any IP addresses of people who had viewed GEOHot’s “how-to-jailbreak-your-PS3” video. As Sony put the pressure on GEOHot, hacker group Anonymous issued a warning to Sony not to push the envelope too much, or there would be disastrous results.

A few weeks later, Sony’s Playstation Network was the victim of a massive hack, in which hackers stole millions of IDs from Sony’s Qriocity Music service. Sony promptly took the PSN offline, leaving many gamers in the lurch as a bulk of Sony’s games are multi-player.  As the days dragged on, Sony issued another press release stating that hackers had indeed infiltrated the accounts of millions of Playstation Network users, including areas where credit card numbers and identification are kept.

Sony was then called before congress to explain themselves and to find out why they took so long to issue a statement to users (In fact it took over a week for Sony to say a word about the incident). In the meantime, hacker group Anonymous has adamantly denied the hack, while Sony has definitely set it’s sights on them.

But what did Sony expect when they’re running 5 year old systems that support the PSN, and had barely any anti-intrusion software present at the time. Since the attack, however, Sony has employed protection giant Norton (by Symantec) to not only help them secure the Playstation Network for the future, but to investigate why and how this happened in the first place.

When I was finished downloading an update to a brilliant little piece of freeware call PS3 Media Server tonight, I found that my PS3 was prompting me to update… my heart skipped a beat when I realized what that meant. That I could scoop almost everyone with this story! To quote the mighty Wayne’s World “GAME ON!”

May 13 2011

Battlestar Galactica Open Beta Goes Online- Join The Fight!

Those of us Battlestar Galactica nuts who can’t get enough of BSG since it left the air are getting a chance to join the fight against the Cylons in an epic Space Battle MMOG. Taking place right after the Battle of the Resurrection Ship in season 2, the Galactica and Pegasus are under attack from a massive Cylon fleet looking for retaliation. During the battle a strange energy signature is discovered from a nearby ancient (and destroyed) space station and before the Cylons can move in for the kill, Adama orders a red-line jump to safety. The strange energy is triggered by the FTL drives of the fleet, and causes a massive FTL overload that sends the fleet (and the pursuing Cylons) across the Universe to a strange and uncharted galaxy.

The galaxy, in fact the game, resembles X3: Universe games, with a few dozen “systems” that ships can jump to and from in order to finish the ultimate goal of the game: find enough resources to repair the fleet’s FTL drives and jump away from the Cylons, which are on the other side of the galaxy. The story is identical for those who wish to play as Cylons, however characters, ships, etc are all different. In this new galaxy, remnants of an ancient race are found with a few different kinds of ships (which are able for purchase throughout the game). Starting out in a Viper, you must complete missions, mine minerals, defeat Cylon patrols, engage in PVP combat, etc. in order to rank up. A “cubit system” is available for those who wish to purchase in-game money to use for things (apparently frowned on by the gaming community for some reason).

The craziest thing about this game, is you play it in your web-browser via UNITY Game Engine, the gameplay flows nicely, space combat is fluid and fun, and the graphics are beautifully rendered. If you’re a fan of the X3 games or any other space combat games, Battlestar Online is the game for you. Whether you feel like going head-to-head with NPC Cylon Raiders, or PVP fleet battles, or even planting a mining ship on a huge planetoid and guarding it with your life from Cylon attackers, this game (while in it’s infancy) is the most fun I’ve had outside of a PS3. It seamlessly combines the facets of a Massive Multiplayer Online Game, with the ability to head out on your own and complete individual missions for the good of the fleet.

While I’ve only made it to a “Level 11” (I’ve seen guys flying around that are level 60+ !), so far I haven’t had a chance to get bored with the game. I’ve managed to hook up with a large Flight Wing and every time I play I hook up with a squad to all share whatever resources are reaped from mining, NPC capping, or Cylon OP Popping (when a fleet jumps into a Cylon system to attack their base and destroy it). I can always tell how good a game is by how much flak I get for playing it too much, for BSG Online I’m getting level 7 (out of 10) flak from my honey… possibly level 8. 🙂

If you’re in the mood for some BSG action, space combat, or just want to see what the future of browser-based gaming looks like, Battlestar Galactica Online is the game for you! Good hunting nugget!