Stargate: The Ark of Truth - a very nice episode

I can’t wait for the next SG1 DVD to be released, because hopefully they’ll be able to leave the old storylines behind and boldly go where no… umm hang on… no.

I finally watched The Ark of Truth and I was entertained, I wasn’t blown away but I was very happy by the end of it and as I mentioned am very excited about the next instalment which hopefully will have more of a movie feel to it.

I’m not disappointed by it as this is what I expected, I’ve read interviews with the actors that all pointed to this being a sew up all the loose ends episode which paves the way for some exciting standalone movies.

I think the replicator storyline was probably not my bag of door knobs probably thanks to Atlantis, these guys strike me as Lego gone nuts and that new government guy is Dick from Men in Trees so I can’t be mad at him.

Teal’c is fast growing on me though there was one scene where he is laying in the mud and his grey streak was so badly done that it made me… actually nothing really, it’s a very small point that I’m happy to forget, he did how ever have some very memorable sequences.

Overall if you are an SG1 fan you should love this, if you are a science fiction fan and can make some fill in the gaps leaps with the whole Ori bit then you should enjoy it for the most part. If you’ve never seen SG1, now is not the time to jump on board, buy a couple of seasons of the show first and then ease on in.

One very cool thing I should point out is that I really dig the design of the Ori ships!!

Popularity: 40% [?]

Top five Kurt Russell films

Kurt Russell is a cool guy, he’s been in some pretty cool films and seems to have cool outlook on life. I remember reading an article on him where he spoke very intelligently on hunting and why how he partakes in it. Now I’m not a fan of hunting, I’ve gone hunting myself so don’t tell me I don’t know what I’m missing out on, but I did enjoy reading his take on the whole thing, he only shoots what he eats sums it up quickly.

So random fact out of the way, time for my top five Kurt Russell films. Obviously this is done very scientifically and is thoroughly tested.

1. Big Trouble in Little China (1986) - This is the ultimate Kurt Russell film, the ultimate John Carpenter film and generally an ultimate film all round. Wire fighting before it was all cool in Hollywood and one of the most delightfully delivered “shut up Mr Burton” ever to be shot on film (as I understand it there are very few films that this line appears in that even comes close - remember this is very scientific). Russell’s Jack Burton is so cool that even when he gets the girl at the end he doesn’t even have to kiss her goodbye!
2. Stargate (1994) - Say hello to King Tut asshole. This makes it onto this list if only for that line. Of course it doesn’t hurt that this is Kurt at his military best, all hurt from his son’s death, stuck on an alien planet with order to blow it all up! I still like this more than the series, which is pretty high praise I guess.
3. Escape from New York (1981) - This was hard to choose as I felt I should only include either this one or the sequel but not both. I like them for different reasons but I had to go with the classic (probably because I was banging on about it the other day). Snake is such an icon, such a brilliant film - why don’t Carpenter and Russell team up more often!!
4. Tombstone (1993) - Possibly known also as the watchable Wyatt Earp film. You see if you haven’t seen this film then you probably haven’t been told: “you tell ‘em I’m coming … and Hell’s coming with me!” I love this film and wikipedia have an interesting entry about the interpretation behind the film’s themes.
5. Soldier (1998) - Probably not going to be on everyone’s list but it is firmly on mine, again it’s Russell in military mayhem and is best described as Universal Soldier if that film was actually enjoyable or done well (burn baby). Suggested by the writer as a spiritual successor to Blade Runner, it has tonnes of insider references to Blade Runner and Russell’s other films.

There are other films that were very close to this list and some that didn’t make it simply because I haven’t seen them, I knew he does an awesome Elvis for example and I’m sure Deathproof is excellent. Vanilla Sky missed out by a narrow margin as I love his character in that film. His hockey film is quite good too I’m told by sources I trust.

What would have been on your list? Or you can just tell me how awesome my list is.

Popularity: 62% [?]

Stargate Atlantis season four finale a scorcher

I just knew there was a reason that I’ve continued to watch SGA despite the over abundance of ‘filler’ episodes and stunted character growth that the show has suffered from.  The reason was that I was waiting for an episode of SGA to step out from under the shadow of SG1 and give me a damn good hour of television.  We also are reminded that Sheppard is an important character, in fact he’s possibly the most important of them all.

Now I love a good ‘what if’ time travel story, I like one that doesn’t just reset itself at the end which this episode only half does (it’s all good, we got to save something for season five).  But this episode was everything I could hope for.  I’m going to write spoilers - you need to know that right now.  If you don’t want to know anything about the episode then you need to turn away.

Now.

I mean it.

You’ve been warned.

Like I said, time travel episode, Sheppard is transported to the future, 47000 years in the future Atlantis is abandoned and the planet is a wasteland.  A McKay hologram shows up and gives him a very clever plan to get him back to his own time and save the universe as we know it.  You see everything went a little pear shaped after Sheppard disappeared and Rodney wants him to fix it.

We are then treated to several death scenes of the major characters, some absolutely wonderful scenes that you must imagine an actor loves to perform.  Carter and Ronan have glorious deaths befitting their characters and Keller and McKay’s story is genuinely heartbreaking.

So SGA has turned it round in their last episode of the season, I just hope and beg that they continue into the next season!

Popularity: 61% [?]

New on Stargate Atlantis - three people in a hole

Yeah there are spoilers ahead, I suppose, I mean it’s Stargate Atlantis so not too much will happen, maybe they’ll talk about missing socks in this episode?

Well we haven’t quite gotten to that stage in this wonderful looking but ultimately stale science fiction show.  Not yet but I can’t imagine it being far off.

In the latest episode (and I honestly can’t generate enough energy to look back at the title) we have two underused characters and one possibly overused one fall into a hole in a drop that would kill anyone.  I mean anyone falling that far is going to break something at the very least - that’s if you are stretching things.

Carter, Kaylee (or whatever her name is in this - she’s the replacement doctor) and McKay push crates around in a very Tomb Raider style sequence that involved stacking them to climb out of said hole until Carter falls off them and once again doesn’t actually hurt herself.

Third time is a charm with her falling once again but this time during a tremor and then she clean breaks her leg.  Oh man, I know this is science fiction but am I to believe that the first two times she fell from an impossible height that she just rolled properly?

There is a sequence though at the start that made me love Carter a little more than before, she reacted really well to a crisis and snapped a couple of orders at the doctor that were essentially the exact way to react in the given situation.  Very commanding and believable.

Of course this good work is undermined when she is so totally socially inept that she suggests two physicists in a game of who would you fool around with.  Apparently she is also a Clooney gal.  I always assumed she was a lesbian, she just gives off that vibe in my mind, I mean there’s nothing wrong with that she just doesn’t seem straight to me.  But I’m sure I’m wrong - no one else thinks it so it’s just me.

The other highlight is McKay trying to explain why he said Carter had a perfect body in what is once again a complete and utter balls up of his character.  The dude has been shot at, hell I think he has been shot, he knows how to deal with other people by now.

The actors are all great, don’t get me wrong!  They all work with what they got.

Thank god the writer’s strike may be coming to an end and maybe some other science fiction will come along and show SGA how to do it.

Sigh, Farscape how I miss you every single day.

Popularity: 35% [?]