Frozen II

Dec. 10th, 2019 06:27 pm
emma_in_dream: (CaptainAmerica)
The cinematography of Frozen Two was great – amazing colours. I am not sure of the conclusion. Can a history of colonisation be remedied without any real sacrifice on behalf of the colonisers?

Due South

Dec. 7th, 2019 08:53 pm
emma_in_dream: (Default)
Just rewatched the Due South Christmas episode. It has my favourite dialogue about Christmas being a special time for people of many different faiths, and none. Fraser says: 'I recall my own Christmases with great fondness and a certain sense of horror.'

It also has my favourite incidental dialogue, when they are arresting some guys that Kowalski calls goons.

Goon one: 'I ain't no damn goon. Actually we are licensed security agents.'

Good two: 'I have a diploma in Hospitality Services. We do not appreciate being called goons. You could be looking at a law suit.'
emma_in_dream: (Corellia)
I am so pleased that the season three finale of *A Handmaid’s Tale* did not involve the death of any children. Spoilers.



































My fear was that the plane would be shot down.



I noticed that all the kids on the plane were incredibly obedient, quiet and willing to follow their Marthas. I can only assume that the children in Gilead with ADHD or who are oppositional or curious have by now either been killed or have been beaten into submission. The message to comply would, after all, be reinforced every time they walked past a corpse dangling from a lamp post.



Were most of the children on the plane girls? I could only spot a few boys and I wondered if this was because:



1, there is some sex-related aspect to the ongoing fertility crisis, with fewer boys born.

2, the boys are off at mini-Commander training lessons and so were not available to be rescued.

3, the boys have been trained in misogyny and would not have followed their Marthas.

marvel

Aug. 27th, 2019 07:30 pm
emma_in_dream: (Default)
Between one thing and another, my life is quite busy and stressful atm.



Do you know what I want to read? Fanfic about the blip in the Marvel Universe. Please send me recommendations.



I want to know what happened when they put people back. I want to know about people discovering that their partners had remarried and they now have step-kids. I want to know about the housing market collapsing because 50% of the population is gone. I want to know about the terrible psychological scars that the survivors carry.



Please send me recs.
emma_in_dream: (Default)
Season 2.8 Home Fires

First aired 19 November 2001

Andromeda discovers a planet of Commonwealth survivors and descendants gathered together by Dylan's former fiancé after the Commonwealth fell, including the genetic reincarnation of Dylan's first officer Rhade, but when the election to rejoin the Commonwealth goes against Andromeda's crew, an apparent Magog attack raises several questions.


I like that this episode wraps up the last of Dylan’s links to his old life, his relationship with his fiancé. But once again the writers went hard on the Rhade/Dylan ship, going to the extent of reincarnating his former first officer.

Immediately after this Dylan abandons the idea of restoring the Commonwealth and just focuses on a defence pact, so it actually holds together quite well psychologically.

NB: The 18 month break in reviews was due to selling my house, moving house and various health issues for my kids and for me.
emma_in_dream: (Default)
I saw *Solo* on the weekend and enjoyed it way more than I thought I would.


















There is always a lack of suspense in prequels because you know that the major characters must survive, but it was really well put together. I liked all the acting, and the background on Coruscant was suitably grim. (Perhaps Obi Wan chose Tatooine as the nicest planet in the galaxy at that time).

Bright

Jan. 12th, 2018 06:45 pm
emma_in_dream: (Default)
I watched the Netlix movie *Bright* last week and I feel it was underserved by its reviews. It is by no means perfect – the plot is just an endless repetition of the same string of violence – but it is an interesting attempt to bring the genre of urban fantasy to film.


The reviewers all seemed to fundamentally misunderstand what genre they were watching. I found reviews that were essentially: ‘Why is this not *The Lord of the Rings*? If there are elves, where are the mountains? Where are the stately palaces and forests? Why is there rap music? Why am I seeing graffiti?’ And there was another school of reviews that also wanted it to be something else: ‘Why is this fiction? Why are we using the thin veil of orcs being black Americans? I want a Black Lives Matter documentary!’

Star Wars

Jan. 3rd, 2018 05:07 pm
emma_in_dream: (Lotr)
A random list of other things I liked about *Star Wars*:






Read more... )

Star Wars

Jan. 2nd, 2018 05:30 pm
emma_in_dream: (Default)
I have clearly been reading too much fanfic because I misread the direction of the narrative in *Star Wars*.

Read more... )

dunkirk

Aug. 21st, 2017 05:53 pm
emma_in_dream: (Default)
Due to the enormous kindness of a friend who took my girls for basically all of Saturday, I got to see a movie after the home open.


I saw *Dunkirk* which was good, but not as good as the imaginary version that *I* would direct.


Nolan interwove three stories to try to show the complexity of the event, bringing them together at the end. This made it a bit choppy – it was night time in one timeline and Tom Hardy was still endlessly flying across the Channel in the afternoon in another timeline.


I say, why stop a three stories. There was tons more that I wanted to see. You could run it chronologically over the days of the operation but show a heap more stories. The poor sods who were selected for the rear guard, for instance, must have known that they were there to hold the line as long as possible with no chance of escape. It was death or imprisonment for them.


I want to know about the people waiting at home. At first the Government tried to hush it up for morale reasons, but then realised that they were about to lose the entire BEF and grovelled for small vessels to rescue people. Pretty much everyone must have been aware that if the army was lost, Britain could expect to be invaded very shortly.


I wanted more of the arguments between French and British troops over who was to be evacuated. And more of the high level arguments between Generals and Prime Ministers in which the British pointed out that all the rescuing ships were British and the French pointed out that the mole to reach them was French.


I wanted a lot more of the action that was going on. Nolan showed an essentially clean beach with one or two corpses and some orderly lines. I believe the BEF dumped in the harbour hundreds of trucks, tanks, and crates of weapons to destroy them before they fell into enemy hands. And I wanted to see more of the clever engineers who jury rigged proto-bridges to allow people to board further out. And the guys who managed to fix the mole after it caught fire. Also, the confusion, as orders shifted constantly about where to queue for best survival and the way stragglers who had lost their mates were shoved out of the queues by troops still in their groups. Also, mostly it was orderly queuing but there were some boats mobbed and overturned; some officers threatened to shoot troops who would not turn back from overloaded vessels.


I definitely wanted to know more about the people who lived in Dunkirk. In Nolan’s version the town was deserted. Was that really the case? I thought this was a very swiftly moving evacuation – did the whole population really evacuate through German lines? It seems impossible.


And I really wanted tons more about the small vessels. Look at the ridiculous names that the little ships had – all Lazy Days yacht names or Ferry no 2 for working ships. Not, you know, fighting names.


In short, I wanted something much closer to a documentary, showing me what was happening all over rather than following a few characters.
emma_in_dream: (Default)
1.7 Una salus victus

First aired 11 November 2001

With a deadly plague on the loose, Andromeda, captained by the inexperienced Harper escorts medical ships through Drago-Kazov space while Beka seeks stragglers from the convoy. When both Beka's ship and her enemy ships are damage by each other, both women talk as they work to get their ships repaired in order to destroy the other ones ship. Harper finds being a captain is not as easy as it seems. In the end, Beka proves she is the better repair man, and destroys the enemy's ship, but not before both women get the chance to understand each other's families and cultures. Dylan and Tyr try to stop the missile batteries trained on them; even if it means killing themselves along with their enemies, making the enemy surrender, but at a cost of wanting not just Tyr dead, but Andromeda's crew as well. Dylan gets an explanation about Tyr's "special cargo," which causes him to mistrust Tyr's intentions. After their mission is complete, Dylan denies Tyr access to his cargo, which in turn causes Tyr to mistrust Dylan, and that his "little stunt," has proven that he is vulnerable.

I liked this episode too - a bit of a roll. The Tyr plot was progressed a bit, and I loved the Harper plot. He is not a natural leader and it was good seeing him challenged.

I like the concept of the repair-off between Beka and the Nietzchian but it was undermined by the fact that she looked so much like the actress playing Beka that I kept wondering if it was some kind of dream sequence. Once again, life for Nietzchian women seems pretty grim, what with the endless emphasis on reproduction.
emma_in_dream: (trance)
2.6 All Too Human

First aired 5 November 2001

While Rommie tries to save a defector from a planet that hates AI's, the Eureka Maru plunges deep into the ocean after being crippled, leaving Harper, Tyr and Rev struggling for survival as Dylan, Beka and Trance attempt to stop a planet-destroying ship armed with Magog weapons. Sadly they fail, so they rush back to save their crew. Back on their crippled ship it soon becomes up to Tyr and Rev to save the ship, for Harper overdoses on his medication to keep the Magog eggs from hatching and falls into a coma. Rommie defector is killed by its people. She finds out that the planet has allied themselves with the Magog and have a Magog ship; she steals the ship and rescues Rev, Tyr, Harper, and the Eureka Maru.

OK, I really love this episode. I like the plot line with Rommie proving her humanity again. Of course I like the Byers actor in the background, becoming convinced of her worth. But what I find most fascinating is that yet again it is strongly hinted that the roots of android hatred lie within the Commonwealth and did not come out of nowhere once it fell.

And the underwater plot rocks for me. I was always a Harper/Tyr shipper (though on rewatching I see how cool Harper/Rommie is, also the strong Harper/Beka friendship). I can see no motivation for Tyr rescuing Harper other than affection and trust.
emma_in_dream: (trance)
1.5 "Last Call at the Broken Hammer"

First aired 29 October 2001


Dylan and crew attempt to find a long-lost Commonwealth leader and bring her back into the fold, but the question of her identity proves more complicated than it initially appears. And while trying to protect her from the people who want her dead, Trance loses her tail. After faking her death to her pursers, she joins the fight to rebuild the Commonwealth with Andromeda's crew.

I assume there was some kind of budget problem with the show, because there are a run of bottle episodes where they just lock the characters in a room and go from there. I like these opportunities to explore character, so I do not mind at all (even if they couldn't afford to have all the actors there).

I liked the links between Dylan and the woman they were seeking - Commonwealth leader who has given up, Commonwealth leader trying.

Plus the Trance's tail plot was fabulous. A touch of humour in an otherwise grim episode.
emma_in_dream: (trance)
2.4 "Pitiless as the Sun"

First Aired 22 October 2001

While Andromeda investigates mysterious attacks on an isolated, somewhat xenophobic Inari, Trance is interrogated by that same species as they try to determine her origins, blaming one of her kind for inciting a recent war.

The 'Made of Awesome' icon seemed appropriate for such a Trance-intensive episode. This was a really interesting episode - with the gradual revelation that another of her kind had been there, toying with the planet.

Trance's usual evasions came across as much scarier than usual.
emma_in_dream: (bucky)
I’ve just rewatched *Jurassic World* and I feel that the marketing pitch of the fictional park owners is wrong. They say that no one would come to the park if they didn’t make bigger and better dinosaurs, but this ignores the reality that people do go to zoos to watch the same animals. I visit the elephant at the zoo every time I go, even though it is the same elephant that I saw as a child (and, indeed, that my mother saw as a child).


I think there would be a market for small, herbivorous dinosaurs. I think people would be very happy to visit zoos to see little, non-lethal dinosaurs. And of course you could run zoos for small plant eaters without the inevitable disasters that these movies call for. That would also resolve the massive insurance and public liability issues inherent in running a dinosaur theme park.


In addition, of course, I am infuriated by the weird chain of command in the control room at Jurassic World, where everything depends on the leader being present and if she is not there, then apparently total strangers can walk in and make decisions. They need a far better disaster management plan.


I must also record my sneaking approval for the mad scientist ™ who managed to survive all four movies by knowing when to bug out. Bravo to him, last seen scurrying off carrying his research prototypes with him.

Old TV

Jun. 26th, 2017 06:23 pm
emma_in_dream: (Corellia)
I’ve just watched the whole of *The Sentinel* on DVD. I had previously only seen edited highlights, on third generation videos sent over from the USA.


Having now seen the whole, I see that we were indeed lucky to reach PEAK ROMANCE in 1999. I can think of no image on TV that more literally depicts the whole soulmate idea that that of Jim’s panther jumping into Blair’s wolf so that the two become one (with accompanying low budget 1990s special effects). Not to mention the accompanying images of Jim cradling Blair’s face. PURE ROMANCE people. He brings him back from the dead!
emma_in_dream: (Default)
1.22 Its Hour Comes Round At Last

First aired - 14 May 2001

Harper accidentally activates a hidden personality stored away in Andromeda's system, causing her to forget the events of the past few years and re-enact a top secret mission. Since the mission pre-dates Dylan's assignment to Andromeda 300 years ago, he and the crew are powerless to stop the ship. While executing this mission, Andromeda becomes overrun by Magog.

What a great season end!!! That final shot of the crew lying on the ground as the ship calls out for help.

Spoilers







An aside - It's like the end of Blakes Seven! The actual end!

I like Harper's relationship with Rommie, when he is shown inside her. I like his partial explanation about how the disaster might have taken over.

Finding the Magog world ship - good reveal. And Harper and Tyr have finally got to the point where they are working together. 'Shall we dance?'
emma_in_dream: (Buffy)
1.20 Star Crossed

First Aired: 30 April 2001

Rommie falls in love with an android who was rescued from a destroyed ship, but she is betrayed when it is revealed that he is the avatar "Gabriel" of the warship the Balance of Judgement, whose AI has gone insane over the years. The AI is the leader and founder of the Restor faction, and Gabriel, under its control, infects Rommie with a virus so she will broadcast the crew's plans to the Judgement. However, Dylan and the crew use Rommie to draw the heavy cruiser into a trap, distracting it by leaving Gabriel and Rommie alone aboard Andromeda and then deploying missiles along its trajectory from the Eureka Maru using only basic inertia. As his ship breaks apart, Gabriel is briefly freed from its control, but Rommie is forced to destroy him after discovering that the Judgement AI managed to transfer a backup copy of itself into him.


I enjoyed this - though it was problematic in the treatment of Rommie. Despite what they say, the Commonwealth seem to treat AIs as second class citizens.

I like Harper's jealousy of Rommie's relationship, though I would have preferred there to be fewer twists at the end. He's good! Bad! Good again! No bad again! When obviously he was bad because otherwise he'd be a continuing character.
emma_in_dream: (bucky)
1.19 The Honey Offering

First Aired 23 April 2001

Dylan tries to bring peace to two warring Nietzschean prides by escorting a princess of one to an arranged marriage with the other, but when Dylan and the princess are forced to escape in the Eureka Maru while Andromeda lures away a fleet, he realizes that things aren't as they seem.

I love all the characters in this. Dylan is competent. Beka gets to be sassy. Tyr is super Nietzchean, trying to barter essentially nothing for something better and then running off away from the superior enemy.
emma_in_dream: (Henry Moore)
The Devil Take the Hindmost


First aired 16 April 2001


Ack, I find Wayism a really frustrating philosophy. I appreciate the attempt to portray a different religion. There must have been something in the air at the time because DS9 and Babylon 5 both do the same.


But it seems like such a *stupid* religion that I just want to smack the guru around the head.


Upside, more of Rev who I like. Downside, what is Dylan even doing? How is this helping him to restore the Commonwealth?

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