Emile

Those close to me know of my deep love for Ian McKellen. During his films, I am wont to talk directly to his character. I saw all 3 X-Men movies just because of him. Ian McKellen is an awesome dude. So awesome he totally starred in this awful, dreary movie. Probably out of pity. I'm pretty sure this film was made purely during his spare time while filming X-Men 2. The credits actually thank the film. Seriously. It's all "Special thanks to Mom, God, My dog Murphy, and X-Men 2." And like X-Men 2 this movie is set primarily in Canada. Of course, most movies are and simply lie about it. In Johnny Mnemonic Canada pretended to be Hong Kong and New Jersey, in X-Files, Canada played the part of the District of Colombia, and in The Final Sacrifice Canada was Atlantis. Or Atlantis was Canada. Whatever.

Emile is the story of a dude named Franklin HAHA FOOLED YOU HIS NAME IS EMILE. Emile grew up in a shack in Saskatchewan, apparantly the most depressing place on Earth, where the skies are eternally grey, the fields vast and forever dried brown, and the people introverted and abusive. Every shot of his youth is taken through Fujifilm's patented "Bleakerizer" filter, which makes the shot up to 40% more depressing. Please note that the Saskatchewan scenes are not actually filmed there. That is because the director was lazy and wanted to film the whole movie next to his favorite pie shop (citation needed).

Emile's big brother the mean jackass, and his younger brother the sensitive writer spend their lives playing out a 2-man version of the Dead Poet's Society until the younger brother kills himself, so Emile trucks off to England and becomes Ian McKellen. He returns to Canada for an honorary degree, and stays with the daughter of his older brother. But Emile has a dark secret- when his older brother died in a  truck accident, he DIDN'T ADOPT THE NIECE BECAUSE HIS UNIVERSITY DIDN'T ALLOW KIDS!

What, that's not dark enough for you? Too bad. That's it. Emile's neice grew up in the foster system and turned into a huge jerk. Can Emile build a bridge to his last living relatives, or will he be pulled into a quagmire of guilt over not visiting his awful siblings while they were alive? The resolution may shock you, because there isn't one. Everyone sort of just gets over themselves and stops moping.

Aside from making every inch of Canada's natural majesty look perpetually dark and somber and completely lacking a point, this movie isn't too special. The soundtrack is repetitive and generic, the cinematography awkward (in true cinema crapite style about half the shots are off the corner of a porch) and the script, when it breaks the film's many awkward silences, is heavy-handed and flat. Emile is a ponderous, dreary film with little to teach and not much of a plot to entertain with.

Kind of Like X-Men 2, actually.

1/10

Stargate

I have never been a sci-fi type of girl, but I have to admit, Stargate is by far one of the best shows ever made. 10 seasons just wasn't long enough. (WARNING: SPOILERS)

After watching Farscape on and off with my husband, I was a little concerned Stargate would not be good, boy was I mistaken! The plot of the show was great, there was comedy, tragedy, adventure, and the characters are the type you never forget. O'Neil was by far the most awesome captain anyone could ask for on a mission, and Sam and Daniel were priceless. Add Tilk to the bunch and you have the best team ever!

I was very disappointed when O'Neil had to leave the show. I was so worried it just wouldn't be good any more, and although no one could fill his shoes, Cameron Mitchell did a great job! Ben Browder was excellent on this show! Even Claudia Black grew on me after a while.

Two things I wish would have happened during the show...O'Neil and Sam would have talked about their feelings for each other earlier and Daniel and Vahla would have really ended up together (not just in the time ship they were stuck in)

My least favorite episode was the 200th episode. I know it was supposed to be goofy, that is probably why I didn't care for it. My favorite episode, well all the others!

Over all, wonderful show! I would recommend anyone watch this show from beginning to end. Oh, and I am secretly in love with Daniel. There was just something about his nerdiness that got to me, what can I say, I have a thing for guys that wear glasses and get excited about other wise boring things!

Star Trek

There are 2 short reviews possible for Star Trek: "Star Trek is a great movie if," and "Star Trek is a great movie but."

Star Trek is a great movie if you like the franchise but aren't unduly attached to it. All your favorite characters are there, and they are all played quite aptly- every member of this film's cast truly conveys the feel of a younger version of their character on the classic series. They do hip, youthful, rebellious stuff, but at the core, these are the same people. The ships, setting, and trappings are all familiar too- but taken in some decidedly new directions. This film tries and succeeds to breathe new life (and new civilizations) into a fiction world left untouched for over a decade- the original series Star Trek universe, where it's okay to go phasering around space and you don't need to spend 20 minutes talking about stuff. This movie gets to the action and plenty of it, but does not lose sight of the characters and emotions that separate Star Trek films and shows from generic space opera.

Star Trek is a great movie, but it has some failings. The camera can't sit still for two seconds, continuity is noticibly shabby, and the plot has some holes if you look really hard. It is not perfect cinema, and some hardcore fans will lament the veneer of new and hip wrapped aggressively around their film. It is a rewarding movie, with conflicts and resolutions and character building, and it is both technically and artistically leagues beyond J.J. Abrams' Cloverfield. It is a movie that is awesome enough to get noticed, but with room for improvement in the sequels. It is an exciting film, due in part to how it establishes early on that its canon is not a perfect mirror of classic Star Trek: you genuinely won't know where the movie will go.

Star Trek is a great movie. It has some level of appeal on almost every front. It suffers because almost everyone has some preconception of how Star Trek should look and sound, who it is for, what it means. This is a hard movie to review objectively, and could be tricky to follow without a knowledge of the franchise. Even without an existing love for Star Trek, however, you might find something in this film lacking from modern Hollywood: a robust and well-developed science fiction world with giant ships, governments, planets, and a sense of adventuresome fun. The Star Trek universe feels more real and well thought out than most, and the payoff is a film that invites the viewer to imagine "What's next?"

And yes, there's an Orion Animal Woman in it. And a Tribble.

8/10 (take a point off if Uhura having a thing for Spock instead of Scotty bothers you, you sad nerds)

Battlestar Galatica Ending Season Grand Finale

I started watching this Sci-Fi at work and I must say it\'s a very interesting and entertaining program. I haven\'t had the chance to watch the whole series just yet. But I\'m going too!

I will not ruin the ending of the series for anyone, but let me tell you it was something I never thought would happen. I\'ll just let you sit there and ponder upon excitement!!! It was GREAT!

Quantum Leap - Season 3 Episode 16 - Southern Comfort

Ah, Quantum Leap...they just don't make shows this good anymore.  Anyway, this has become my "workout show" for the time being, and I am now on the 16th episode of season 3 titled "Southern Comfort." Sam (our body leaping/time traveling hero played by Scott Bakula) finds himself leaping into both the year 1961 and the body of a local New Orleans Bordello proprietor.  Sam must struggle to protect one of his girls from her abusive husband who has managed to track her down and is hell bent on bringing her home by any means necessary.  Naturally, our damsel in undress...errr distress does not want to go with him as she jumped into marriage BEFORE finding out he was an abusive jackass.

Al (played by the always wonderful Dean Stockwell) is fantastic in this episode.  His horndog nature is in full force as he cavorts around the whorehouse wishing he could get away from Sam and spend some time looking at the ladies. This is actually a very well done episode.  It's well paced, has some colorful characters, and is a showcase character wise for Sam and Al. It has a very nice combo of comic relief, urgency, drama, and good acting that makes the 44 minutes just fly by.  This is especially good when you're running on an elliptical machine.

In the end, Sam saves the day by blackmailing the abusive hubby.  He stops chasing tail and instead turns tail and heads out the door to never bother his wife again.  Sam has once again set things right and he leaps out before Al can scurry upstairs to watch one of the "ladies of the night" take a bath.

This was a good and entertaining episode of a fanastic series.  Season 3 has been mostly awesome so far, with only a few stinkers here and there.  I'll get to those later, as I plan on going back and reviewing every episode of this series.  Until then, I am leaping out of here!