Science Fiction

Doctor Who – The Complete Fifth Series

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Doctor Who – The Complete Fifth Series
  • tv.com: link

With the departure of David Tennant in “The End of Time Part 2” a new Doctor (Matt Smith) takes control of the series.

The season starts strong with “Eleventh Hour” which introduces us to the Doctor’s new companion Amy Pond (Karen Gillan), and ends with a great two-parter (“The Pandorica Opens” and “The Big Bang“) involving the end of the universe, but it does have some ups (“Amy’s Choice,” “Vincent and the Doctor“) and downs (“Victory of the Daleks“) over the course of the season. I also thought the other two-parters from this season (apart from the finale) with the Silurians and the return of the Weeping Angels weren’t as strong as the episodes which introduced the characters.

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Inception

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Inception
  • IMDB: link

The latest from writer/director Christopher Nolan is complicated, reality bending, multi-layered look inside the world of unconscious imagination. In the near future the ability to enter into an individual’s dreams and extract information has become a profitable, but highly illegal, enterprise. Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Dom Cobb the leader of a group of experts who are the best at this type of information extraction.

As Cobb’s past catches up with him, both in the real world and that of his dreams, he’s offered a single chance to reclaim the life which was taken from him if he can perform the impossible: Inception. The idea is not to steal information from the latest subject, the heir to a business empire (Cillian Murphy), but instead implant an idea in his mind which will grow naturally and change one choice in the real world which could mean billions for Cobb’s client.

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Planet 51

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Planet 51
  • IMDB: link

Planet 51 isn’t going to wow you, but as a first animated feature from Ilion Animated Studios it’s better than I expected.

The story is pretty simple: a peaceful world is invaded by an alien explorer, and with the help of a goodhearted youngster and his friends he eludes the government and attempts to get back home.

Okay, not that original I grant you. Even though the story does a nice job of tilting the perspective by having a Earthman be the invader on an alien world, the weakest piece of Planet 51 is its plot.

By allowing the film to take place on an alien world, however, the film also is finds its strength in designing a world, though goofy, is certainly interesting to explore. This world seems to be centered around a circular design you see in everything from windows to the design of automobiles. Merged with this aesthetic is a 1950’s Americana style in terms of look, film, and sound.

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Star Trek

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Star Trek
  • IMDb: link

Let’s get one thing straight, this ain’t your daddy’s Star Trek. J.J. Abrams and his team have successfully relaunched a franchise with 2009’s Star Trek. What we’re given us a fun summer popcorn flick with characters that resemble those from the classic TV-show. However, the film isn’t perfect and makes a few too many changes to Trek continuity for my tastes (not all of which can be argued away by the plot’s time travel plot). Is it a good Star Trek film? Yes, it’s by far the best one the franchise has put out since Star Trek: First Contact. Is it a great Star Trek film? Well…

Let’s begin with the contraption by which the entire film hinges. Years in the future Ambassador Spock (Leonard Nimoy) is involved with an attempt to save Romulus from disaster. The result sends both Spock and the Romulan ship back in time to create havoc and alter the time stream. This basic premise will be used to explain how the film deviates from basic Trek chronology and how Kirk will rise to become Captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise.

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