Saturday, June 23, 2012

Slogging Through Stargate: SG-1

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I've just about finished the first season of SG-1, and so far, I haven't been blown away. The episodes have been pretty good, some of them really interesting, but they have been basically Stargate-planet-of-the-week stories.

I'm still waiting for that feeling that I can't wait for the next episode. I felt pretty much the same way while watching the "Fringe" DVDs. The first season was like that until they started the continuing story of the alternative universe and the almost identical characters over there.

So I'm hoping that there will be some kind of cliffhanger at the end of Season 1 that will make me want to immediately plug in the first disk of Season 2.

I'll keep you posted.
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Sunday, June 17, 2012

"Snow White and the Huntsman"

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Went to see the movie yesterday. Thought I was paying for the 3D version, paid extra $2.50. But instead it was just "digitally enhanced for better viewing." That was crap. All it was, was louder.

The movie wasn't bad. Not quite as good as I expected, but I wasn't sure what I was expecting. Not as good as "Thor" or "The Avengers" - all three had Chris Hemsworth in them. (Yes, I have a 'man crush' on Chris.)

Kristen Stewart was pretty good as Snow White, once you got past the Walt Disney idealized version of the clean and helpless Snow White. This is the first time I've seen her in anything, although I do know who she is.

Charlize Theron was very good as Ravenna, the evil queen/Snow's stepmother.

The "dwarfs" had names like Muir, Gort, Nion, and Quert. One got killed so there were only six for the assault on the queen's castle.

And there was the triangle of Snow, William (her childhood friend) and the Huntsman -- who would she choose in the end?

I think I would have rather saved the $7.50 and waited for the DVD to come out.

This isn't to say you shouldn't go see it. The effects were good, and the story wasn't bad. Maybe if I were in my teens or twenties I would have liked it better.
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Saturday, June 16, 2012

Stargate SG-1

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I recently bought the 10-season set of Stargate SG-1. I never watched the series until the last season when Claudia Black (the fabulous Aeryn Suun of Farscape) joined the cast. But since it was on for so many years, I figured it had to be a great show. (Plus, the set was offered from Amazon.com for about fifty bucks.)

The pilot episode referenced back to the original movie (which I have on DVD). Some of the things mentioned I had to think about to remember. And it was pretty good as pilots go. All the characters were introduced and the premise of the series was shown.

The first episode took up where the minor cliffhanger of the pilot ended. And you pretty much knew what had to happen. Unfortunately, the second episode was kind of disappointing. It reminded me too much of some of the Stargate Atlantis eps (which I watched in reruns) -- the team went to a new planet where the culture was different, and there were problems with Samantha Carter (Amanda Tapping) being captured and having to be rescued.

And I really hope the rest of the shows are better than that one.

A few extra comments: In the pilot episode the bad guys were capturing women to breed. One of the women (Daniel Jackson's wife) was captured, then had her clothes ripped off and she was standing there naked from head to toe - full frontal nudity. But since the show first aired on Showtime I guess they could do that.

A lot of people on the sci-fi newsgroup (now Sy-Fy) mentioned their deep admiration for Amanda Tapping, but I couldn't see it. She has a show called 'Sanctuary' which I never watched until the DVDs were loaned to me. And this Amanda (older, long dark hair) is pretty interesting. But compared to the younger, blond Amanda, not much going on. Maybe she will grow on me.
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Sunday, June 3, 2012

Thor Versus Everybody Else (almost)

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My last entry was about 'The Avengers' movie and how Thor was weakened so he couldn't be too super compared to the others. But one Marvel Comics hero was left out - Spiderman (or Spider-Man or Spider Man).

Not much Spidey could do against Thor. About his only offensive move would be to zap spidey silk to cover Thor's eyes, which he could easily pull off. Maybe Spidey is agile enough to avoid Thor's hammer, and maybe even a lightning bolt or two, but eventually he would go down.

But there are more superheroes around - the ones in the DC comics world (in alphabetical order) - Aquaman, Batman, Flash, Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Superman and Wonder Woman.

There are probably more, lesser heroes, but these are the ones I grew up with.

Batman and Green Arrow we can eliminate right off. Neither have super powers and would be virtually helpless against Thor.

Aquaman doesn't have enough stuff to throw against Thor. One good lighting strike from his hammer and there would be the world's largest fish fry.

Wonder Woman's biggest advantage, her Magic Lasso, wouldn't be nearly magic enough to stand against Thor.

With his super speed, Flash could probably last pretty long, but being that's his only weapon, eventually he would go down.

Green Lantern would be an interesting foe. His major offense/defense would be his mind's ability to withstand an assault from Thor, whether against Thor's strength, or his hammer's two attack modes - the obvious lightning strike (being that sometimes lightning appears yellow - would it be able to penetrate any shield GL could conjure up?), and its tremendous mass/weight/enertia. (According to Odin in the original "Thor" movie, Mjolnir was forged in the heart of a dying sun.) So, I think eventually GL would be defeated.

And that leaves us with Superman versus Thor. And I have to say I believe Superman would come out on top. He certainly could withstand any lightning bolt Thor could throw at him. I know he would have no problem catching the hammer if it was thrown at him, since his strength is so much more than the god of thunder's.

And even using Mjolnir to fly, Thor could never fly as fast as Superman.

So, Superman against Thor --
Superman wins.
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