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.

Doctor Who: Patrick Troughton

Hiya kids we are back with Day 2 of Doctor Who Week and in spite of some requests for me to skip on ahead to Tom Baker I am sticking with the chronological order.  To recap, the Doctor had a lengthy battle with the Cybermen and seemed run down.  His stalwart companions Ben and Polly are worried and follow him into the TARDIS where the Doctor appears to be rapidly aging only to transform into a shorter and younger man.  Have they flipped?  Were they on a planet that makes you drop acid?  Have the writers pulled the wool over your eyes?  Let’s find out kids.  This is Doctor Who: The Power of The Daleks.

TV Viewers? Bah!  Go read a book.

Spoilers advance and attack! Attack and destroy!

The Doctor has gotten up from the floor of the TARDIS where it would appear he had simply dropped dead but instead of that matriarch scholar stands a man shorter and younger than he. The Doctor (Patrick Troughton of Hamlet, Macbeth, Treasure Island, The Phantom of the Opera, Jason and the Argonauts and The Omen) seems a bit perplexed, baffled as starts referring to himself, his past self in the third person.  Suffice to say things can go a bit wonky (that’s a technical term) with the regenerations.  Ben (Michael Craze of The Exorcism of Hugh, Terror, Evil Heritage and The Healer) and Polly (Anneke Wills of Some People, The Avengers, The Pleasure Girls and Strange Report) are bit of amiss to what is happened to the Doctor but  clearly it is still him as they head out of the TARDIS from its landing.  Ben and Polly protest as that they are not even certain they have landed, wither or not there is radiation or oxygen rich atmosphere.  The Doctor cracks up the 500 year old diary and without even looking up from it announces the temperature, oxygen content, negative on radiation and a curiously high concentration of mercury then proceed to stroll on out.

Why yes the pants are a breathable cotton/wool blend.

The misbegotten three find themselves on Earth colony Vulcan where the local scientist has made a 200 year old discovery and in spite of the Doctor warning this government and scientists and being slightly odd they unearth a vessel containing three Daleks.   The Daleks immediately recognize the Doctor based on his intelligence and Timelord DNA. Ben and Polly are somewhat at ease then.   Now it is up to the Doctor to thwart his old enemies, save the day and keep his young companions from harm.

I have just a few comments about this particular episode.  All six episodes were wiped by the BBC and there is no visual record of it, however through still and production shows and a wire recording the production company managed to piece together an almost radio drama of those original episodes and this is literally the only way to view it.  

Mammy!!

This story points out political and social upheaval between the working class, activists and a police state.  The Daleks take advantage of this chaos by behaving almost benevolently then the double cross ensues, followed by the triple cross for pudding.  A powerful and well thought out piece of science fiction but alas we do not have it in the medium we are accustomed to.

70's TV Week: Battlestar Galactica

What’s happenin’ sports fans?   Back this week to bring you a view of television years past.  Some of which is thoroughly enjoyable, some slightly sexist and some very creative.  So strap in your cockpit, stand by my command and get ready to launch.  This is Battlestar Galactica.

Port nacelle needs polishing.

Spoilers may very well be the salvation of humanity…

Our series hails from the mind of TV producer and writer Glen Larson (Quincy, M.E.  , B. J. and the Bear, The Fall Guy, Magnum, P. I. and Knight Rider) bringing together a ragtag group of rebel fighters comprised of an ancient race of humanity.  Through this storyline it claims humanity was born far, far away in a completely other civilization before Earth had even formed bacteria.  The Twelve Colonies of Man or Kobol (The planet of humanity’s origin) separated to different portions of the galaxy to colonize various planets in the hopes of creating not so much an empire but a commonwealth.  The odd part is all these planets are roughly in the same binary star system (a celestial body of more than two stars in the same orbital rotation of one other) More than a thousand years has drug on in a war of Humans Vs the Cylons (A series of robots created to be warriors for a long dead reptilian race, it is speculated by many of the survivors of Galactica that the Cylons turned on their masters and wiped them out).

Starbuck is not a WOMAN!

One human man Count Baltar (John Colicos of Forbidden Journey, Anne of the Thousand Day, Raid on Rommel, Star Trek TOS, and The Starlost), traitor to the 12 Colonies apprised the Cylons on how best to wage a sneak attack thus annihilating the colonies in a vicious and swift battle.     220 ships left after this seething assault one lone capital warship Galactica protects the surviving homes as they search of a new home and a place for peace.  They embark on a quest (and who doesn’t love those?) to find the legendary 13^th colony their history spoke of.  A planet designated as Earth.  Commander Adama (Lorne Greene of Bonanza, Sailor of Fortune, Earthquake, Roots, The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald and Galactica 1980) leads Galactica to the best of his abilities alongside his Executive officer Colonel Tigh (Terry Carter of The Phil Silvers Show, Foxy Brown, McCloud and Benji) they guide their overworked and understaffed fighter pilots and bridge crew to dangers untold.  Adama’s own son Apollo (Richard Hatch of Santa Barbara, All My Children, The Streets of San Francisco and Battlestar Galactica 2004 remake) is a fighter pilot alongside his buddies and fellow pilots Starbuck (Dirk Benedict of Chopper One, Charlie’s Angels, The A-Team, Murder She Wrote and Alaska) and Boomer (Herbert Jefferson Jr. of Detroit 9000, The Streets of San Francisco, World War III, The Devlin Connection and Apollo 13)

Here are little fun facts about the show for you all now.   All the colonies are both species of human and planet are named after the Zodiac constellations.  The bridge set cost of build was just shy of 2 hundred thousand dollars. This was the first weekly television series that budgeted over a million dollars per episode due to special effect processing the re-use of previous footage throughout the series when they could.  Don Johnson was up for the part of Starbuck but the Southern accent killed that gig for him.  Hmm Don Johnson as Starbuck…Interesting.  

Space...through fish eye lens.

Now this particular latter 70’s show lasted 22 episodes and was revived in 1980 as Galactica 1980 and unfortunately between the farfetched writing and lack of real coherent story telling it this series followed its predecessor.   Lasting all of 10 episodes it took 24 years to resurrect for a whole new generation, but that they say is another story.   Growing up with this show I enjoyed every facet with the exception of this unnecessary robo-dog Dagget.   Of course I found out later it was 3 different chimpanzees that got rotated in costume.   Bobo, put on the suit!  Bad Bobo!  No fling poop in suit!  Well this show had the feel of a Star Wars adventure, I didn't have to wait 3 to 5 years for it to be told.  Excitement, dogfights, gambling, wooing the pretty ladies.   Folks they are a bunch of space pirates and frankly I was alright with that.

Sydney Pollack Week: Three Days of the Condor

Hey all and welcome to the beginning of Sydney Pollack Week and I thought I would start us off with a thriller of point and counterpoint or if you prefer spy vs. spy.  With misinformation, a staggering body count and not knowing who to trust this struggle could prove to be very entertaining.  So synchronize your watches, prep a rally point and grab that phone in a shoe.   This is Three Days of the Condor.

Operator, I really want to direct...

Spoilers may surprise you…

With the Cold War in swing the Central Intelligence Agency is devising ways to control the flow of information, on us, on them and hey how about those guys over there.   Based on the novel Six Days of the Condor by author James Grady this political thriller film focuses on cryptography.  Hiding messages within prewritten text or a cipher that allows spies of different nations to not go strictly by courier or private broadcast.   Meet Joe Turner, (Robert Redford of Barefoot in the Park, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Downhill Racer, All The President’s Men, The Electric Horseman, Indecent Proposal, Sneakers and Spy Game) CIA analyst for a living decodes books from every portion of the world and with vast ability of micro processing…yeah well they still had to deal in 3 whole megabytes at a time. 

After a detailed report of a zero quality thriller novel his office was forced to read Turner expect the higher ups to let him know what they thought of his findings. This low interest novel is only translated in a few languages and not all of the regions are US friendly, coincidence?   As Turner does a lunch run for the office he finds all 6 members of his team assassinated where they sat or fell.  Panicked but still with his wits about him, Turner calls the CIA New York office and is told to arrange a meeting with fellow agents.  The meeting feels hinky and Turner hears the words of Admiral Ackbar in that, it is indeed a trap.

Y at-il une femme?

Barely escaping Turner picks Kathy Hale (Faye Dunaway of Bonnie and Clyde, Chinatown, The Thomas Crown Affair, Network, Supergirl, Midnight Crossing and Double Edge) a woman at random for a place to hold up.  Frustrated, nervous and holding a person hostage in her own apartment, Turner realizes he may have to rely on Ms. Hale, a total stranger because he has no one really to turn to.  After yet another attempt on his life by a false postman Turner kidnaps the deputy director of the CIA New York office Higgins (Cliff Robertson of Gidget, Midway, PT 109, Sunday in New York, The Best Man, Escape from L.A. and Spiderman 1 and 2) who enlightens Turner that the assassin was a Frenchman by the name of Joubert

Most of this movie is based in Washington and New York from tight pan zooms to exterior crane shots, this film clearly had a flexible budget allowing Pollack and crew to give it their all.   Lot of close up of eyes, to capture the vast level of emotion and the music is subtle and not overpowering the story as it unravels.  With a nice Panavision anamorphic lens we get the feeling of being in the movie and while the Eastman 100T is a monster to lug for any cinematographer, its Technicolor response to the scope of this movie is captured so well.  Looooved the Aerial shots of the Brooklyn Bridge. 

Hold it, Mugsy!

From both book and movie you can all feel the influence they gave for films like Mission: Impossible and Enemy of the State.  Granted I do not hear a film in mono recording too often but bravo.     Next to The Manchurian Candidate (1962 original) I do not think I have seen a grittier spy film that is more stories based and dialogue driven rather than action.  You want action based spy flicks hey we got James Bond, Jason Bourne and Xander Cage.     You however might enjoy a combination of action, compelling dialogue of the cynical timeline and a pretty decent score for soundtrack then look no further and have a blast.

Before They Were Stars: The Mighty Quinn

Howdy boys and girls!  Yes we are back again with Before They Were Stars and to be honest this film was deeply impressive from the story to the cast and crew.  Grab your snacks, get over that round of musical chairs and let’s kick this pig.   This is The Mighty Quinn.

Spoilers be the devil.

The 1989 film is most definitely a thriller with a pretty top notch crew, lead by TV and movie director Carl Shenkel (Graf Dracula beiBt jetzt in Oberbayern, Abwarts, Bay Coven, The Edge, Silhouette and Knight Moves) writer Hampton Fancher (Blade Runner, The Minus Man) take the thriller novel Finding Maubee based on A. H.Z. Carr’s 1982 novel .  

Police Chief Xavier Quinn (Denzel Washington of St. Elsewhere, Glory, Ricochet, Malcolm X, Much Ado About Nothing, Crimson Tide, Training Day and The Book of Eli) is called to investigate a resort hotel mogul Donald Pater (Bobby Ghisays of Club Paradise, Passion and Paradise and Popcorn) and all circumstantial evidence points to Quinn’s childhood friend Maubee (Robert Townsend of Odd Jobs, The Five Heartbeats, The Meteor Man, Bliss, Taxman and Undercover Brother) this unnamed island in the Caribbean has the typical local bureaucracy with the island governor (Norman Beaton of Black Joy, The Fosters, Empire Road and Desmond’s) and his power player Thomas Elgin (James Fox of The Servant, King Rat, The Chase, Farwell to the King, Patriot Games, Mickey Blue Eyes) seem to want this to be an open and shut case. An American representing Pater’s company Fred Miller (M. Emmet Walsh of Blade Runner, Blood Simple, The Flash, Silverfox, White Sands and Equinox) agrees with the governor.   Quinn is not satisfied with the answers he has been given for his questions.   You get the feeling that most the witnesses have been threatened or bought off.

Maubee is evading the police so well that he even drops by to visit Quinn face to face.   From chatting up the local witch to questioning Thomas Elgin’s wife Hadley (Mimi Rogers of Gung Ho, Street Smart, Someone to Watch Over Me, The Doors, Wedlock and The Rapture).  Hadley makes dreamy eyes at Xavier.  The investigation goes on, feathers are getting ruffled and Xavier is devoting so much time to defend Maubee that his wife and son feel the strain of going beyond the call of duty.  One witness claims to see Maubee take off with a 10,000 dollar bill.  Quinn knows there is no such bill so the mystery is getting stranger already.

The cause of death is pretty spot on to as Pater was found floating in a Jacuzzi tub decapitated.  *adjusts shades* Guess he just lost his head *cues Baba O Reilly*.    The islands doctor Dr. Raj (Keye Luke of The Green Hornet, Charlie Chan at the Circus, King of Burlesque, Kung Fu and The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan) indicates that Pater had a venomous snake bite prior to decapitation.  A man keeps tailing Quinn and making his own inquiries.   The plot thickens further and the entangled web reveals plots and counterplots.   As a first major movie role let alone lead role Washington knocks this one out of the ball park.  The tension ratchets up well and this film will keep you constantly guessing what is happening next.   I found this to be riveting, clever and quite devious.  This is completely worth the watch people.

Ridley Scott Week: Black Rain

So begins the Ridley Scott week.  Who is Ridley Scott you may ask?   From TV directing, movie director and production he has been in TV and Movie since 1967 from the ground up and into main feature length films.  So kick your shoes off and sit a spell.  This is Black Rain.

Spoilers are everywhere!!!

Diving into a thriller starring Michael Douglas (The Chyna Syndrome, Running, Romancing the Stone, Falling Down, Basic Instinct, The Game and Wonder Boys) as Nick Conklin, a hardnosed, rough and tumble cop that breaks the rules to get the job done.  He and his partner Charlie Vincent (Andy Garcia of The Untouchables, The Godfather: Part III, When a Man Loves a Woman, Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead, Desperate Measures and Ocean’s Eleven) are under investigation by Internal Affairs based on theft charges occurring in their department when they witness a high ranking Yakuza get blown away by Sato (Yusaku Matsuda of The Detective Story, Home Sweet Home, And Then and The Rage of Love) and Conklin busts him. 

This little feather under his cap allows Nick and Charlie to travel to Japan to extradite to their authorities only to be jumped by Sato’s men and freeing their leader.  Given the less than stellar standing on handling of prisoner transfer, the Japanese police department allows Conklin and Vincent to stay in Japan and assist finding Sato but they are not allowed to carry their sidearms and they get a chaperone with Masahiro (Ken Takakura of The Yellow Handkerchief, Never Give Up, Station, Antarctica and Yasha) a by the book, dots every I and crosses every T cop and the animosity ensues.  Charlie has to be a buffer between Conklin and Masahiro to calm the waters. 

Delving into the underground our heroes find out that Sato should end up taking over the main Yakuza families due to flooding the market with counterfeit his own money.  The main appeal to this film is the clash between cultures from anything of on the fallout of WWII to how Masahiro and Conklin view each others’ level perceived decadence.  Honor of course has a great precedence in the movie representing Japanese culture and the title itself is described survivors in the aftermath of Hiroshima and Nagasaki .   The film is clearly Scott due to lots of smoke filled rooms, men roaming around in trenchcoats, scenes feeling very claustrophobic streetscapes, lots of steam rising from the streets for reason and of course neon lights.  

The karaoke scene with Mas and Charlie is actually amusing and apt and didn’t feel inappropriate.  This film got a lax standing on from the audience, there was not a lot of love for this movie and I felt it got past over.  Far too many sub-characters and incoherent subplots like the nightclub owner Joyce (Kate Capshaw of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, SpaceCamp and Just Cause) as the love interest of Douglas’s Conklin.  I personally do not view this as Scott’s best work but I truly believe this is worthy to but put up with the likes of 48 Hours, Lethal Weapon, The Hidden with a dash of The Lost Boy Scout.   This is a worthwhile film, folks.  Give it the once over.

Burn Notice Season 3...Boom.

With events of Season 2 almost wrapped up and his handlers meeting an untimely demise, is Michael finally clear from all the point and counterpoint of his mysterious higher ups???   Well...grab a seat, maybe some popcorn and a tasty beverage and try to not wince.   This is Burn Notice Season 3

Spoilers can be very disconcerning

Michael just finished a five mile swim to shore after leaping about 300 feet from a moving helicopter.  Seriously this man is in too good of shape.  Damn near exhausted he looks about the beach trying to get his bearings when he notices that local law enforcement is a might too keen on his person and proceed to apprehend him.   A daring foot chase comes to an end when at the end of the day; it would be easier to dodge questions rather than bullets.  

Sam visits him in the clink to offer a standing on his current situation.  Laymen’s terms he is now on the radar for anyone or any organization to find.  Management true to his word leaves him truly out in the cold.  Michael, Fiona and Sam rack their collective heads together to see how to clear Michael of impeding police issues, assist in rebuilding a rapport with his mom Madelyn as well as get Michael in good with the CIA.      As always should he or any of his team members get shot up in the crossfire of espionage, well the Alphabet companies won’t care about a burnt spy, a boozehound former Navy SEAL or a former IRA terrorist.

Fiona and Michael are attempting to formulate something of a normal life but Michael is hell bent to solve the mystery of his former CIA contact’s murder.  A nasty piece of work by the name of Gilroy (Chris Vance of Prison Break, Mental, Dexter, Rizzoli & Isles and Transporter), a blood thirsty hooligan with a penchant for explosives, high velocity sniper rifles and being a prig decides Michael may not be the boy scout his reputation made him and wants to go into business together for a gig.   Naturally Gilroy is cautious and paranoid, so he keeps the details close to the vest.   Michael realizes as bad news as Gilroy is, that he will pull this job off with someone else if Michael refuses.   Michael goes into business with Gilroy if only to sabotage his efforts, inform the authorities and take him down.  Sam and Fi’s constant pleading for Michael to walk away from Gilroy and dump it in the laps of the people paid to stop psychos like this is being ignored.  Without any true hard evidence Michael knows officials won’t listen to him and it is all up to him to see that Gilroy’s contract of devastation is null and void.   Sheesh, bit corny there for a second folks.  Sorry about that. 

 Local police force and FBI are convinced Michael may have gone rogue and is actually the threat his burn notice claims him to be.   Can Michael and crew win the day, save the country and still get the trip to Maui?  Tune in and find out!