Getting “Lost” in Netflix

lost-supper-Season6

Brooke and I got into Lost awhile back after hearing things about it from a variety of people. Obviously, it’s a show that would appeal to me due to its many sci-fi elements, but Brooke had heard other people she knew that enjoyed it as well. I downloaded the first few seasons and we watched them in a few short months, in time to watch the 5th season last year as it was shown on ABC.

Well, the 6th and final season is set to begin February 2nd, so we thought we should watch it all again before the next season begins, especially while there’s mostly nothing on TV (due to the Olympics, primarily). We were able to watch some of those previous seasons on ABC.com, as the entire series is (kinda) available for free. I say “kinda” because we tried to watch them and, while the site says they’re available, they apparently aren’t working. Rather than download the episodes illegally, we decided to give Netflix a try.

We had been talking about trying Netflix for a few months now, mostly because many of our friends have it, but also because once we move, we we have toyed with the idea of not getting cable TV again. Netflix costs $9/mo and has a lot of material available. The real benefit of the system is that they added “Netflix Streaming” awhile back, making quite a few television shows (like Lost) available on-demand so we don’t have to wait for a disc to arrive before we can watch them. It works on Windows or Mac OS platforms, but in our case, I’m using it on my PS3, streaming the shows (or movies) in near-HD quality to the PS3 so we can watch them on the TV. I imagine we will use mostly Netflix Streaming, but it’s nice having the added catalog of DVDs (Bluray rentals cost $2 extra per month).

So yeah, Netflix appears to be a very worthwhile service, and it’s feeding our addiction to Lost. Win-win, eh?

Review: District 9

I realized yesterday that I hadn’t written this up yet, which is rather uncharacteristic of me… I saw “District 9” on Sunday right before going to Whitney’s going-off-to-college party, and seeing Brett up at Westport…and then I had a committee meeting to work on

This is one of those movies that kinda snuck up on people, and was released at the perfect time: the end of summer when there’s, mostly, nothing else out…and won’t be for awhile yet… It reportedly cost $30 million to make and grossed $37 million on its opening weekend, so it was a gambled that apparently paid off admirably.

The movie is actually based on a short film, “Alive in Joburg,” that was released in 2005 and made by the same director, Niell Blomkamp. “Alive” made quite an impression on Peter Jackson, as he saw it, loved it, and decided to produce a feature length movie based on the same material.

The plot centers around what happens after an alien spacecraft “runs out of gas” and gets stuck, hovering above Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1982. The beginning of the movie is set up as a documentary, where they do interviews with sociologists and politicians talking about how the “integration” of these aliens went into Johannesburg in the first few years. Set 20 years later, we find that the aliens are now relegated to District 9, slums that are maintained in the Johannesburg area, where the aliens are forced to stay and live. A conglomerate, Multi-National United (MNU), oversees much of their well-fare, providing them with food and security (but really just keeping them in these slums, in terrible living conditions). We later find out that MNU is also the world’s second-largest weapons manufacturer, and researching alien weapons is proving lucrative for them. The movie begins with MNU starting to relocate the aliens to a site further from the city, a place dubbed “District 10” (sequel, anyone?), which really just consists of white tents that remind you of what FEMA did after Katrina hit.

So yeah, while the movie is definitely “sci-fi” in scope, there are so many other issues being dealt with throughout, not the least of which is racism and genocide, set ironically in the backdrop of a place once ruled under Apartheid.

Suffice to say, it’s an excellent movie and one I’m probably going to want to pick up. Definitely the second-best movie I’ve seen this summer (behind…well…you know…). The effects, while containing noticeably-CGI-created aliens, were very good considering the budget…and leagues above that seen in “G.I. Joe.” The acting was quite good, especially considering that the cast consisted entirely of no-name actors.

But most importantly, the movie provoked a reaction. Whether it made you sick to your stomach to see an alien being beaten down by military officers for no reason, or you saw them being experimented on, or you saw their living conditions, you begin to imagine how, sadly, this kind of thing is happening right now…to human beings. It really does make you think, which isn’t necessarily something you expect out of the summer blockbuster scene.

Really, it just makes me fear what humans would do if aliens actually did get stuck here. I bet it would look a lot like “District 9.”

Transforminators

If you haven’t seen any Terminator movies, or Transformers, this probably won’t amuse you. But if you have, it’s pretty hilarious… 🙂

Review: Terminator Salvation

The first “Terminator” movie came out in 1984 and helped to make James Cameron a household name. It would be seven years before “Terminator 2: Judgement Day” would grace the screens, again helmed by James Cameron, but those seven years were well-spent, as “T2” is largely considered the best movie in the franchise (and one of the best sci-fi movies of all time). “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines” didn’t come until 2003, almost seen as a re-boot of the franchise, but this time without James Cameron directing. This one was decent, but probably the worst of the three.

Which brings us to 2009, and another re-boot of the franchise. “Terminator Salvation” takes place in 2018, after the machines under the control of Skynet had nuked the planet and started eradicating the human race (which the first three movies were trying to prevent). Basically, the first three movies centered around machines from the future sending back Terminators to the past to kill off John Connor, who would grow up to lead the resistance against Skynet. Well, all the details surrounding this fictional history are kinda complicated, but long-story-short, this most recent movie has jumped to the future where the actual resistance is occurring, giving us an idea of who this John Connor really is.

This movie, “Terminator Salvation,” probably falls somewhere between “The Terminator” and “Terminator 3” on my list of best movies in the franchise. It does many things well, including special effects and acting (especially in the case of Sam Worthington, a relative unknown that actually does a better job than Christian Bale, in my opinion). The story itself is mediocre, however. John Connor isn’t quite in control of the resistance, yet, but has many followers and commands much respect for his knowledge of the machines and Skynet. He learns that he and Kyle Reese (his father…as explained in the first movie…) are being targeted by Skynet, so he needs to find Kyle and save him. Marcus (played by Sam Worthington) is a new character that knows little of his past but, as we later find out (and as is implied in the previews), is actually a cyborg of sorts created by Skynet. John doesn’t trust Marcus, but from his previous experience with Terminators, knows that there are more to the machines than others think. John and Marcus, thus, work together to rescue Kyle from Skynet.

That whole “rescue” part is, by far, the best part of the movie. The whole first half sets things up, but pretty slowly. Once Marcus and John go after Kyle, we start seeing more Terminators, we get more action, and, in a particularly badass way, we get to see Arnold Schwarzenegger. How was this done? Well, advances in digital effects now allow a VERY convincing digital form of circa 1984 Arnold pasted on top of another actor. You have to see it to believe it. It’s uncanny.

Other than that, though, the movie is just “okay.” The effects are good, the acting is good, the dialog could be better, the story could be better.

In short, better than “Wolverine,” not as good as “Star Trek.” See it if you’re a fan of the franchise, but as you may have noticed from the description(s) above (if you even made it that far…), if you haven’t seen the previous three movies, “Salvation” won’t make much sense to you.

New Star Trek Trailer (?)

SciFi Wire had this little highlight on a YouTube mashup featuring what the new Star Trek movie won’t be. Personally, I can only barely tolerate most of Will Ferrell‘s recent movies (I think I made it 20 min. into “Anchorman” and couldn’t continue…soooooo unfunny… “Old School,” on the other hand, was glorious), but there are all kinds of people “featured” in this clip (including Colbert and Stewart, making this automatically hilarious).

Keira Knightly set to star…

I saw this blurb on SciFi Wire tonight…

The publishing company (Quirk) describes it in this way:

“[It] features the original text of Jane Austen’s beloved novel with all-new scenes of bone-crunching zombie action. As our story opens, a mysterious plague has fallen upon the quiet English village of Meryton—and the dead are returning to life! Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she’s soon distracted by the arrival of the haughty and arrogant Mr. Darcy. What ensues is a delightful comedy of manners with plenty of civilized sparring between the two young lovers—and even more violent sparring on the blood-soaked battlefield as Elizabeth wages war against hordes of flesh-eating undead. Complete with 20 illustrations in the style of C.E. Brock (the original illustrator of Pride and Prejudice), this insanely funny expanded edition will introduce Jane Austen’s classic novel to new legions of fans.”

So yeah, definitely never read the book…nor will I ever…but if I can read this version, I may consider it… 🙂

A weekend of movies…

It’s nice not having much to do for a change! So, I caught up on all kinds of movies this weekend…

  • Superman Returns – Been a few years since I’d seen this one, but it was on FX, so I recorded it in HD. Personally, I still think this is a great movie, if only as a continuation from the earlier Christopher Reeve flicks. The story isn’t anything to write home about, but it’s a very nice re-introduction to the popular movies from the 80s. I already wrote my general thoughts about this movie down when I saw it in theaters, but here they are again if anyone cares…
  • Iron Man – Josh gave me the Bluray version of this. And it’s still a glorious movie. Robert Downey, Jr. is sooooooooooo perfect for the role of Tony Stark, it’s crazy. Again, I already wrote plenty about this movie when I saw it this summer, but here they are if you want to read them again.
  • The Devil Wears Prada – This was on FX last week, too, and I’d never seen it. Not a bad movie, but probably not one I need to see every again. Mostly a chick-flick, and pretty predictable, but not a bad movie, overall. And Meryl Streep deserved an Oscar for that role, yo…
  • Hellboy 2: The Golden Army – I really wasn’t a fan of the first movie, and probably should watch it again, but when we were at Redbox grabbing Hancock, we grabbed this one, too, so I could watch it. I guess, in short, I’d find it to be a “serviceable” movie in that I was entertained, but it wasn’t particularly good and I’m glad I didn’t see it in theaters. Selma Blair can’t act to save her life, and the effects were _good_, but certainly not mind-blowing. I guess I’m glad I saw it, but I don’t think I’ll need to see it again…ever…
  • Hancock – Didn’t get a chance to see this one over summer when it was out in theaters, and as reviews weren’t very impressive, we waited for the DVD. Honestly, it was a lot better than I thought it was going to be. I’m still impressed with Will Smith in general, but Jason Bateman and Charlize Theron do an excellent job, as well. The visual effects were kinda mediocre, to be honest, and the music wasn’t quite…I dunno…”superhero enough”… But, the story was surprisingly engaging and there were a few twists and turns that surprised even me! So yeah, worth the rental, I think. Mom, you probably won’t like it. 😛
  • I guess I need to get some more movies lined up for next weekend… Recommendations?