Favorite SG-1 Episodes: Disclosure

And we are back. Sorry for the delay but that audio review that is now up on Youtube and Vidme took me almost two days to cut to my liking and I am still not 100% liking it. So on with the episode. Now this particular tale is not as exciting from an explosive action jam-packed power hour that you are used to. No new civilizations to beheld buuuut... it holds the future of the Stargate program in United States Air Force in the hands of many. This is SG-1 Season 6 Episode 17: Disclosure.

Sorry, sometimes the Borsch acts up.

A summit is held and foreign political representatives of the planet have been called in. For more than 6 years Cheyenne Mountain has been sending SGC teams to other worlds, finding new technology and making weapons to defend the planet against the Goa'uld but could easily being turned on their own enemies of the planet. Now many folks watching this episode have mixed feelings. You telling our rivals about all this sweet tech the military has been building? Why did it take so long to tell this story to the rest of the world? When will the SGC teams be revealed to the public?

General Hammond is trying to give vital intelligence on the Goa'uld's war capabilities, troops, ships that travel on interstellar levels and the weapons they possess when Senator Kinsey comes in with his hypocrisy for firebrand and God fearing, stating the SGC teams are incompetent, reckless and will one day have the Goa'ulds at our throats. He is counting on the representatives of the world to rally behind a civilian over-site committee to oversee all Stargate use, what trips to be taken and what material goods can come of this travel.  Again he sees overhead and gains rather than the allies and the people. Y'know, bad politician.

Gate bomb away!!!

With the ambassadors reluctance to accept that oblivion is on the rise, the collective heads of foreign relations are outraged as Senator Kinsey lays out some of SGC's dirty laundry. The fact of the foothold situation with an alien species incorporating a shape-shifting device allowing them to take over command for a short while, connecting the Stargate to a black hole nearly swallowing the whole planet up and diverting a planet killer asteroid barely in the nick of time.

His follow-up compromise is to have the NID (National Intelligence Department), a civilian committee to head up Stargate operations. These are also the same people that stole from the Asgard, threatened Hammond's granddaughters, almost killed a world removing its weather control device and frankly are a bunch of ex-military, ex-CIA dinks. Their objective is vast new technology at any cost including pissing off SGC's already established allies.

No France, we cannot immediately surrender. This guy.

Hammond endures about the whole episode of this when he decides he won't play fair either. Time for a winning hand and calls an ally in. You folks love the little guy and you know it. Of the Asgard fleet, Supreme Commander Thor appears and explains why the SGC teams need to continue, the alliance they have forged and how they would take any change as less than wise solution.

Now I know more than a handful of people that do not like this episode because it relies on a lot of stock footage of the previous episodes to explain the severity of the threat. Personally I thought this episode is vastly important to the series as the cat is out of the bag and all that is the SGC is in jeopardy if this summit goes south. Now anyone aware of nuclear deterrent summits, you know another will follow directly after this one has been reached to the goals intended or outright failed. Peace talks will continue and agreements will be done on table and everything under the table will still be in effect. They spy on us, we spy on them and so on.

Political struggle and the possession of the gate should have happened sooner but that is really at the end of the day in the hands of the creators and writers. I still felt there should have been more outrage and disgruntlement.

Extreme Wormholin'!!!

SG-1 Revisited

Welcome back to the week, folks. It has been a bit crazy with the whole Indiegogo campaign NOT really taking off and I am almost certain unless within the next 13 hours it will change that the funds we have earned will be refunded. Yippee... But enough grumbling about that and we focus on the week in question which consists of those planetary explorers, defenders and instigators from Stargate Command. That's right, SG-1. None have known more physical and mental pain than these folks. The Doctor hasn't seen that much torment...well okay probably he has but he'd rather not talk about it so just go peek in his diary.

A woman and a black guy???  What the Sam scratch is goin' on?

For the next few days we will find some fan favorite episodes, go through the Chappa'ai and experience more deafening explosions outside of some popular Trekkie shows. Over the years of interacting with SG-1 and Atlantis fans shows me there is no one answer to what episode is more popular then the other. For some, it is the guest star. For others it is the writing and every so often it is a body swap episode or alternative Earth Mirror Mirror effect.

With the need to scavenge the universe for advanced technology to appease the committees that fund the Stargate Command, along with gaining allies in the struggles against superior firepower, interstellar ships and older races that conquer and enslave lesser developed planets, the SG teams constantly have to weigh the pros and cons of helping others, get involved with their day-to-day events and even understand the cultures, social and political concerns. 

The safety word is "Apples"

I know, soooo wordy. Let's get to the real reason we are here. What do you deem is one of the best SG-1 episodes and why. I have compiled a handful of suggestions but feel free to write me back and let me know what episode moved you to laughter, tears or even both.

This is SG-1 Revisited Week.

Anime Picks Week : Captain Harlock

Hello again readers and welcome back for Day 2 of Anime Picks Week. This next write-up was at the suggestion of my dad and I have to concur this particular piece of anime covers so much in it. A dystopian timeline with humanity being nothing more than couch potatoes, minds fully at ease that their governments are tending to their every woe that all they do is recreation. No opinions are voiced, no movements are made and no one speaks up. Utopia in some minds, but for others it is viewed as a lethargic, easy target from above. Not everyone on the planet or around it are going to stand for alien invasion. This is Captain Harlock.

Snake Plisken... I hear you were dead.

Based on the manga known as Space Pirate Captain Harlock by artist Leiji Matsumoto (Submarine Super 99, The Galaxy Railways, Gun Frontier, Cosmo Warrior Zero, Queen Emeraldas and Arcadia of My Youth) comes a future of the year 2977, with vast star travel and ferrying but the planet as a whole seems to be falling into a slow but steady sense of despair. The general mood is apathy and none can be bothered to reach beyond their four walls let alone the depths of space. One man and his crew of brigands fight the governments and the alien oppressors known as the Mazone, a species of plant female humanoids that claim to have a link to Earth itself and demand it back. With the only way to be a hero to his planet is to be an outlaw, Harlock hoists the skull and crossbones as they cripple vessels, end blockades and thwart the world's new alien masters.

Harlock is not alone in his battles. The crew of the Arcadia has Daiba Tadashi, a 14 year old lad that joined the Arcadia after the death of his father by the Mazone. Chief Navigator Kayla Kerry, a young woman that scheduled for hard labor for striking the military officer that made light of her father's passing. La Mime , an alien woman who is the last of her kind, saved by Harlock she has psychic abilities and holds one of the closest bonds with the captain. Caliban, first mate to the Arcadia who is kind of the comic relief when he is not building model ship kits and blowing everyone away with his mathematical genius. Maji. The ships chief engineer managing to keep that ship in the sky. Doctor Zero, chief medical officer that is constantly bandaging the crew and snapping at the ship's cook that he points out does not offer enough vegetables and lastly Miss Masu, the curmudgeon cook who holds Doctor Zero and his cat Mi-kun in content due to their unorthodox visits to the kitchen.

Sweetie, bangs are out this season.

Earth Defense Navy and Infantry are constantly attacking the Arcadia or any of their scout ships, convinced that Harlock is the greatest threat the planet has ever known. Continuously exposing the schemes and plots of the Mazone, Earth Defense is of the belief that Harlock is merely throwing them off the scent and he is more than responsible for piracy, treasonous behavior, moral conduct and murder. Will the Mazone ever be defeated? Will Earth ever truly be free? Will Miss Masu and Doctor Zero just bump uglies on the prep table?

Quick few bits of info on this series now. The 1978 series gave you about 13 episodes that the Mazone made their way to Earth in a large sphere and appeared as ancient Mayan gods to those that saw them. While the Arcadia of My Youth shows Harlock's choices and beginnings on being a pirate and acquiring the Arcadia. This series has produced multiple manga and anime based on Harlock or his ancestors to show his family has always rocked the boat of society. Gun Frontier is an amusing series of Franklin Harlock, a gun fighter that searches for a lost clan or tribe of Japanese foreigners and even a spin-off female counterpart called Queen Emeraldas whose manga has a huge following that she also got a series and a few films as well. A computer animated film in 2013, Space Pirate Captain Harlock was released and apparently dropped 30 million into the project. Hell I am stoked to go watch it now!

Damn space floozies attacking me in my sleep.

Sci-fi Gems Week

Well hello there readers that somehow haven't found anything better to gaze upon yet I am glad to have kept your interest! Well we have managed our way through Italian horror fairly well and I thought... Hey, perhaps these devoted folks might want to see some decent sci-fi that doesn't hail from a channel rhyming with squiffy. So this week I am digging into my own archives of yesteryear, maybe a few years back and those that simply got missed.

My nose itches.. I don't mind tellin' ya.

Yes as often I have covered this particular genre, I am now going to be rummaging through the various sub-genres and excavating a fairly competent lot of science fiction that will be fascinating for some, boring and long-winded for others and lacking enough explosions for the 12 year old boys inside most menchildren. This of course can range from time travel to straight up hostile environment to the Last Man on Earth scenario that is far too coveted by Americans. Seriously, check with your friends of foreign lands and see how predominant or ruling that is stateside.

Keep in mind that I will be hitting the way back machine without Mr. Peabody's expertise and/or permission but his boy Sherman assures me everything will be nominal. So from the 1960s to Now I am hoping for find more than a few gems to share with you lot in the hopes to prove there is good Sci-fi out there you just have to look... sometimes for a very long time. Might help if a Hollywood Video or Blockbuster still existed in my immediate area but thank God there's a Redbox handy... for all my dated Sci-fi needs. I f&*king hate Redbox. Without further adieu, This is Sci-fi Gems Week!

My hair remains fabulous.

Hodgepodge Sci-fi

Howdy readers and welcome to the week. Initially, I thought I would tackle some current horror flicks, remakes and the like and then I realized I like myself a bit too much to be subjected to that. So instead I gauged 5 sci-fi flicks from 2010. Yes, four whole years ago. Now some of these titles will immediately pop in your head while others with give you the Whiskey Tango Foxtrot moment that I predict will amuse us all.

Um, can I get a shirt?

This wide open viewing of course is going to cover a myriad of sci-fi sub-genre such as: Post-Apocalypse, Alien Encounter, Different Realms and even some Creature Feature. I ask you bear with me on these as I am unfamiliar with more than a few titles so this may involve some digging but I am not unaccustomed to that at all. So cross your fingers and hope for the best as we look at Hodgepodge Sci-fi.

You have been warned. DUN DUN DUNNNNN!!!!

Fifty buttons on this rig and I still don't know how to run the coffee pot.

The Doctor's Greatest Adventures Week: Attack of the Cybermen

Welcome one and all back to Day 3 of The Doctor's Greatest Adventures Week and we really haven't focused on Colin Baker (Sixth Doctor) aside from his regeneration cycle and there are more than a few fun adventures but a bit of the dark follows him as well.  Travelling with him is his companion the ample and ever perky Peri, a girl that manages to keep the Doctor in his place and not let him snark at the entire universe.  This is Attack of the Cybermen.

Colin in the sky... with diamonds??

Russell: Who are you?
The Doctor: I've already told you. I am known as the Doctor. I'm also a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey in the constellation of Kasterborous.
Russell: You're spoiled.
The Doctor: That's debatable.


 Deep underground the streets of London, two workers go about their jobs only to be attacked by some unknown force.  The Doctor (Colin Baker of Swallows and Amazons Forever!: Coot Club, Swallows and Amazons Forever!: The Big Six, Doctor Who, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, The Airzone Solution and Breach of the Peace) is tearing through the TARDIS's systems in order to repair it, including the chameleon circuit which alters the ship's appearance to blend in to its surroundings and it might be a damn sight better than appearing as a 1960's public police box when the ship behaves rather erratically in-flight.  Wrestling the controls the Doctor manages to pilot the TARDIS once more heading to the year 1985 to show Peri (Nicola Bryant of Doctor Who, Blackadder's Christmas Carol, The Stranger: In Memory Alone, The Biz, Parting Shots and Doctors) Haley's Comet at a close enough proximity that Peri is terrified of them crashing into it.

Peri, what are these round things anyway?

Meanwhile on Earth former mercenary Lytton (Maurice Colbourne of The Duelists, Gangsters, The Littlest Horse Thieves and Howards' Way)  is now a top level gangster plotting a 10 million pound heist by taking the sewers directly under the Bank of London while the Doctor lands the TARDIS in 76 Totter's Lane which is now for some reason a wood stove, following a transmission.  Lytton holds a transmitter that seems to have an effect on the human brain as he steers two coppers under his thumb.  The plan goes askew when entering the heist is a Cyberman,  One of Lytton's cronies takes a pot shot at the Cyberman when they are completely surrounded by at least 5 Cybermen.

The Doctor and Peri encounter one of Lytton's men who turns out to be undercover getting the goods on a bank heist when the Cybermen came into play.  Naturally curious to what the Cybermen would be doing here and let alone in this timeline the Doctor immediately strolls out into danger and dives into the legwork at hand.

Will the Doctor be able to stop the Cybermen before it is too late?  Will Peri let out a blood curdling scream that will cause your brain to ooze out of the side of your ear?  Will Russell demand a reassignment if he lives??

Now a few fun facts about this 2 part story.  This is the first time Doctor Who episodes were 45 minutes long versus the 22 minute  4 to 6 parters.  7.2 million folks saw this particular episode in 1985.  Actress/model/photographer Koo Stark was cast as Varne but she apparently did not care for the costume she had to wear and decided a pass.  76 Totter's Lane is the same junkyard William Hartnell had parked his TARDIS in An Unearthly Child in 1963 so it was nice to have a little hat tip to.

Cybermen's vacation in Atlantic City go awry.

Sci-fi of the 1950's Week: Robot Monster

Hello everyone and yes I know this week has been an odd one but my sinuses are playing merry merry hell with me and it has been a bit difficult to focus.  That in mind I reviewed a brilliant film that captured the mind and soul…two days ago.  This movie however is no cinematic opus but rather it was rated, reviewed and reviled as one of the subject matter for the 1978 book The Fifty Worst Films of All Time (And How They Got That Way).  Granted most of their reasons of such were due to poor film quality, lack of restoration, poor audio and well yes it is also a stinkburger.   Those in mind, take on some emergency rations, prep the charcoal filters for the water and don’t pick a fight with a gorilla like being.  This is Robot Monster.

Dear God, I can barely breathe in this helmet!

Great One: Earth Ro-man, you violate the laws of plans.  To think for yourself is to be like the hu-man.

Ro-man: Yes! To be like the spoiler! To laugh! Feel! Want! Why are these things not in the plan?

Our vivid visual opens with the alien known as Ro-man Extension XJ-2 looking down Bronson Canyon via Griffith Park as he observes he has wiped out all humanity with his Calcinator Death Ray to his Supreme commander known as Great One.  Yeah typical B-movie with no budget response is to give greater description to your nonsensical.   It would appear his calculations were off as 8 humans are alive and well. 

An overtly complicated exposition about developing an immunity to the ray, a scientist, his wife, two daughters, his 8 year old son and 2 pilots are kept safe by this energy curtain developed by  The Professor…I kid you not that is the character’s name in credits but is played by none other than character actor John Mylong (The Devil Pays Off, For Whom the Bell Tolls, His Kind of Woman, Magnificent Obsession and Never Say Goodbye) and this is also Roy (George Nader’s first exposure to film to  later TV and Film gems like: Nowhere to Go, The Man and the Challenge, The Loretta Young Show, Shannon, A Walk by the Sea, The Human Duplicators and Espionage in Lisbon) shows some decent chops versus Ro-Man, slayer of the world.  

Post Apocalyptic Family Robinson.

Okay a quick few comments on this momentous movie.  Once again, projects large and small, Bronson Canyon is made to suffer.  As a spot for caverns and quarries for TV and Film for decades from anything of Bert I. Gordon’s The Magic Sword, Wes Craven’s The Hills Have Eyes and Star Trek episodes to the crazy bunch of the Tremors creators of Stampede Entertainment, this entire movie was filmed in this rather large expanse of geography. 

Now while they were saving money on locations, maybe a continuity director would have been nice.  The wee lad Johnny clearly seen wearing jeans and he enters the cave gets knocked out and over only to awake wearing a pair of shorts.   The Professor is proud to perform a marriage ceremony for Roy and his daughter Alice holding onto a book in his hand one shot and then the next, poof it is gone.

The amusing thing about this terribly done film is that it is beloved by many a bad movie lover and has actually made over a million dollars for the span of its existence.  Given it had only $1000 on the books for production that even a flop can get some love.

Another Craigslist hookup begins with shame.

Doctor's Regeneration Week: Spearhead in Space

Welcome to the later day of the Doctor’s Regeneration Week and this time around I thought we would take a look at that Jon Pertwee fellow for the time being. The Timelords are merciful as much as they can be cruel and now and then they must administer justice.  So grab your sonic screwdriver, prep flight and dimension coordinates for the journey.  This is Dr. Who: Spearhead in Space.

 

Yes it is an improvement.

Lethbridge-Stewart: In the last decade, we’ve been sending probes deeper and deeper into spoiler.  We’ve drawn attention to ourselves, Miss Shaw.

Towards the end of his trial with the Timelords, War Lord protested his guilt of his war games and noted that the Doctor interfered in the progression of their life, with a further accusation of the Doctor assisting me directly.   The Doctor (Patrick Troughton of Doctor Who, The Two of Us, Yesterday’s Dreams and Knights of God) denies everything and claims to never break the sacred oath of non-interference to other planets and different races.  Directly after the War Lord’s trial, the Doctor finds himself on the hot plate of justice and boy howdy it burns.  The Timelords choose to strip him of the knowledge of traveling through time and space and regenerate him into a form that is blissfully unaware of the full use of the TARDIS.  

Kryten??

The Doctor (Jon Pertwee of Will Any Gentleman…?, Jackanory, Doctor Who, The House That Dripped Blood and The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Attack of the Hawkmen) falls in and out of consciousness in a local hospital in Oxley Woods at the same time UNIT is investigating a shower of bizarre meteorites.   They would not of even bother until a few people went missing in the area of Oxley Woods when the hospital reports a strange tall man that has no ID, has two hearts and does not seems to be human.

Brigadier Sewart (Nicholas Courtney of All Creatures Great and Small, To Catch a King, Doctor Who, Then Churchill Said to Me and The Sarah Jane Adventures) recruits Dr. Liz Shaw (Caroline John of Doctor Who, The Woman in Black, P.R.O.B.E.: The Devil of Winterborne, Love Actually and Doctors) to observe the meteorites and the Doctor is abducted by three plastic men with a shoot out with UNIT soldiers.  After that, the Doctor manages to acquire some clothes, some of his memories and gets hold of a buggy car to visit UNIT HQ to facilitate in the investigation knowing full well that UNIT is ill-prepared to the situation.

The Doctor explains to Dr. Shaw and the Brigadier that the meteorites are actually a living plastic known as the Nestine consciousness and how they plan to take out the planet for its toxics and chemicals.  The Brigadier is cautious to trust this man and realizes that he is indeed the Doctor regardless how much he has changed.  Organizing UNIT to do intelligence gathering on the local plastic companies to find out where the Nestine is held up at and stopping this impending invasion.

Blimey, England again??! *kicks TARDIS*

Babylon 5 Movie Week: Babylon 5: Thirdspace

Back again my little space rangers and welcome to a belated Day 2 of Babylon 5 Movie Week.  Due to a slight injury yesterday I was a bit too sore to sit in this seat but I am well enough now to bring you lot some amusement and disturbing story arcs.   So fasten your space belts, prep the safety harness and breach that jumpgate.  This is Babylon 5: Thirdspace.

Thirdspace is crazy ya'll!

Susan Ivanova: Well, the spoilers are starting to circle.

For starters this film takes place in the year of 2261 (after Season 4, Episode 8: The Shadow War) so our heroes have conquered an ancient evil and allow themselves a moment to breathe.  Babylon 5 Star Fury patrols discover an immense artifact in hyperspace (point between normal space and travel faster than light) and the Interplanetary Expeditions Xenoarchaeologist Dr. Elizabeth Trent (Shari Belafonte of Hotel, The Midnight Hour, Beyond Reality, Hey Arnold! And Teacher of Year) to better decipher what it is, what it can do and how best to exploit it.  

Hungry Eeeyessss!!!

Current commander of Babylon 5 Captain John Sheridan (Bruce Boxleitner of Tron, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Gunsmoke: One Man’s Justice, Free Fall and Tron: Legacy) prepares for the worse and feels this artifact is a great and significant find but we should tread cautiously.  There is wisdom in these words but they atypically fall on deaf ears as human greed and arrogance rears its ugly head in these matters.  I was shocked as well.

   

Using a low level current to get better readings on the artifact the entire station seems to have their dreams influenced and are almost reduced to a vegetated state without proper explanation…or is there?

Dr. Trent comes to the conclusion the artifact is pre-existing Jumpgate before even the ancient Vorlons developed it and it starts drawing power from the station causing energy spikes all over the boards.  Hope tech and sub-repair get time and a half. 

Given all that is known by the Vorlons at this time we are given to revere them as wise, brave and with great compassion for the younger races.  The united races find it almost unprecedented that the Vorlons could ever falter.   The device activates on its own opening a passage to Thirdspace and this invasion force proceeds to lay waste to several cruisers and extracts massive destruction on the station itself.  EarthForce preps a counter attack and give our mysterious aliens on hell of a wingding.  These invaders single seat fighters even have shields so the Star Furies are in for one hell of a tumble.   The artifact itself seems to be disrupting the station but driving every sentient being on it to the brink of crackers.

The Galaxy's cutest couple.

I had just a few points to make on the film at this time.  The elevator seen between Zach Allen and Lyta that felt clunky and unnecessary was actually inserted (oOoOo kinky) to fill up time for the film.  Sci-fi and Sci-Fi Fantasy artist/author Wayne Barlowe designed the appearance of the artifact Thirdspace jumpgate  Not one of the better films due to the story flow feeling a bit interfered via time constraint but effects and performances remained spot on so yes you can have this one in your collection.

Babylon 5 Movie Week: Babylon 5: The Gathering

Hello there readers and welcome to the Babylon 5 Movie Week.  Starting us off with we begin logically at the beginning.   The year is 2257.  Earth has taken to the stars and engaged in battles with other species.  Yes humans just can’t help but be messing with peoples.  To create this complex series of creatures, other worlds and cultures we turn to Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski (Captain Power: The Beginning, Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future, The Real Ghost Busters, Jake and the Fatman,Jeremiah, Changeling, Thor, and World War Z) to open our minds to this realm.  So age that spoo, consult the elders and for God’s sake speak nothing of the Grey Council.   This is Babylon 5: The Gathering.

Look out for the credits, Phil!!!

Delenn:  I look forward to meeting a Vorlon.  I’ve heard much about them that is spoiler.

From humans to humanoid to just downright unexplainable lifeforms, the search of intergalactic peace is sought by many.  The place to allow commerce and peace talks are Babylon 5.  A hub in the galaxy allowing issues to be resolved amongst the 5 major space travelers of the known galaxies; humans, Narn, Centauri, Minbari and Vorlons.    It has been a 10 year commission to construct a place that prevents war; this 5 mile long space station is home to 250,000 residents, roughly 100,000 humans and 2,000 EarthForce personnel and including areas for business, living quarters and recreation.

Great, Londo is hammered...again.

Commander Sinclair (Michael O’ Hare of Fly Away Home, C.H.U.D., Into Thin Air, A Case of Deadly Force and Tales from the Darkside) runs this little bailiwick and boy howdy he has his work cut out for him.  Awaiting the final delegate of the Vorlons; Ambassador Kosh arrives 2 days ahead of schedule when he is falls ill in less than a minute of being on the station.   Station chief medical officer Dr. Kyle (Johnny Sekka of Woman of Straw, Khartoum, The Message and Passion Paradise) puts Kosh in quarantine and attempts to prevent his death while Security Chief Michael Garibaldi (Jerry Doyle of The Outsider, Babylon 5, Babylon 5: The River of Souls, Devious Beings and Storm Watch) launches his own investigation into possible poisoning of the ambassador.   The Babylon Council consisting of the 5 major races hold the Commander in contempt and decree his guilt of attempted murder.  Not the best way your first day on the job can go.

A few comments about this movie now if you don’t mind.   With the introduction of CGI just in the wings, accomplished scale models and forced perspective; the visual effects can hold their own but this was a truly ambitious start to an impressive feat of writing as well as storytelling.   Complex characters and various story arcs were getting life breathed into them and frankly it offered a wide range of twists and turns for every adventure.   No two Babylon 5 episodes were the same and that is very difficult to do in a medium like science fiction.  This was only just the beginning of greater things to come.

Flying casually sir.

Babylon 5 Movie Week

Welcome eager young space cadets!!!  This week we will view the phenomenon that was Babylon 5.  Five seasons, seven films, series of novels and comic books this has been deemed one of America's finer science fiction.  I felt almost anyone can critique the seasons so I thought we would tackle the TV movies instead.

So grab your junior spaceman rocket belts and flitter on over to this Babylon 5 Movie Week.

Bit phallic ain't it?

SG-1 Picks of the Week!

Howdy all!  I am doing something a little different this time.  I decided this week I would unearth some of my favorite Stargate: SG-1 episodes.  No this does not mean the well has run dry for ideas; it merely means I wanted to share a bit with my readers for a change.

Jeez Bob. Must you always stand out?!

I will be covering several episodes from the 10 year series so I promise to capture every facet of the episode and all the while I do not bore you with too many details.   I would also like to state that while this is a bit unorthodox I will strive to make it fun also.  So stay tuned and don't fiddle with alien tech you know not of its origin.

Carpenter Week: They Live

Hey boys and girls do you know what time it is???  That’s right, more Carpenter Week and boy do I have an odd duck for the roast.  It makes Daffy almost look sane.  So grab some penny candy and gather around the sittin' room as we tell the tale.   This is They Live.

I have come to chew bubblegum and kick spoilers...and I am all out of bubblegum.

Hard working, sh*t kicking man’s man Nada (Roddy Piper of Westlemania, Hell Comes to Frogtown, Tough and Deadly, Marked Man, Terminal Rush and Green Lantern: Emerald Knights) fresh from Denver finding no work available makes his hitchhiking way to Los Angeles and frankly who is going to try rob this guy?  Our drifter finding no work here he latches on a work site doing construction with Frank (Keith David of The Thing, Platoon, Clockers, Dead Presidents, Gargoyles, The Puppet Masters and Spawn) who takes him to a impromptu campsite with several folks out of work pulling together.  The local church and campsite get rousted by the cops trashing almost everything in site along with pummeling people like it is the riots.  Nada figures there is some sort of contraband floating around that the church is smuggling.  He finds boxes and boxes of cheap sunglasses not worth more than 5 bucks tops but figures eh what the hell I’ll nick a pair.   Soon he sees subliminal messages on the TV, in magazines and advertisement telling him to obey and procreate.   Not even certain what this means he figures something is amiss when a couple of cops try to kill him on the street.  Our anti-hero escapes with the aid of Holly (Meg Foster of Ticket to Heaven, The Emerald Forest and Masters of the Universe) who drives our now gun wielding loopy back to her place for him to lay low.  She has one of those insane houses on stilts of which she shoves Nada into a falling roll down the guard rail and very likely broke a few ribs on the tumble down.  So far the quest to end the invaders has run into a few snags.

Nada’s brilliant plan is to recruit Frank to assist in fighting these people off which leads into the longest 5 minute and change beat down street fight I have seen.  Just horrendous violence of which I am sure some of the fellas will enjoy up until the knee smashing balls scene.  Yeah you will be crossing your legs boys.  Frank is clued in and the boys battered, bruised but able join up with the resistance against the invaders.  Thankfully no Porkins here so we may have some more rebels left alive.    

Frank and Nada are brought up to speed on how the invasion happened and how they plan to strike back by Gilbert (character actor Peter Jason of The Incredible Hulk, 48 Hrs, The Karate Kid, Prince of Darkness, Red Heat and In the Mouth of Madness) who clearly wants to storm the gates, destroy the signal that is wired for the brainwaves of the “HUMAN” and in general blow up the Death Star.   Yeah Gilbert is a bit quirky.  So folks enjoy this flick for the ham and cheese it is.  One liners that may make you groan, dialogue that is a trifle hokey and atypical poke at corporate and government.