25 August 2008
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Hisham |
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Misc Sci-Fi, TV
For a single glorious moment in time, the song Diamond Crevasse, as sung by May Nakabayashi the singing voice of Sheryl Nome in Macross Frontier, became the most heartbreaking song in the whole universe. Thrice I've seen the ending of episode 20 and thrice I teared up... though it might just be the damn conjunctivitis.
There's so many bait-and-switches in this story, you just can't predict who lives and who dies. You kind of know someone will buy it, and you sort of figure out which ones would, but you think, "No, maybe it's another bait-and-switch."
Then wham! When it happens, it happens right in the middle of that song which had stood for something else when you heard it in previous episodes, and was sung in this episode for a totally different reason. But the melody and the timing of it just interposes with each other perfectly, and despair and sadness hits you squarely in the guts.
One of the best shows on TV right now, I'm thinking.
10 July 2008
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Hisham |
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Misc Sci-Fi, TV
I
wrote earlier about the continuation of the
Robotech saga with the
Shadow Chronicles.
Robotech is actually three different anime series juryrigged and tweaked so they become a (more or less) coherent whole to be syndicated on the American market. However, the first of the three,
The Super Dimension Fortress Macross is a saga still being told in its native Japanese, disregarding the entire
Robotech thing.
Throughout the years, there's been among others
Macross Plus,
Macross 7,
Macross Zero... and now the latest series to continue saga of the original Macross is
Macross Frontier.
16 June 2008
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Hisham |
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Misc Sci-Fi, TV
This is it.
This is the home stretch.
For the humans on the brink of extinction and traveling across the stars looking for a new home in Battlestar Galactica, the end is near. As viewers, we have arrived at the fourth and final season’s mid-season break. 10 more episodes before it’s all over.
Will it be a happy end? Will they finally find the 13th tribe on the lost colony of Earth? Will the Cylons annihilate the last forty thousand human beings of the Twelve Colonies before they arrive at their destination?
Trying to formulate a good theory on what will be revealed in the series finale next year is probably a futile effort, but I’m going to attempt it anyway. I have a theory that’s been percolating in my mind since the 3rd season of the show.
This discussion will have SPOILERS. So stay away if you’ve not seen up to “Revelations”. However the conclusion at the end of this entry is conjecture and speculation and not any sort of a spoiler.
If I get it right, yay me.
Else, oh well.
29 May 2008
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Hisham |
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Misc Sci-Fi, TV
Warning: Spoilers for Battlestar Galactica episode "Sine Qua Non". Click on the thumbnail at your own risk.
06 May 2008
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Hisham |
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Humour, Misc Sci-Fi, Trawling The Net, TV
So anyway, to cut things short io9 pitched in jest the idea for Star Trek: Captain Wesley Crusher, Starfleet Investigative Services starring Wil Wheaton. Here's an excerpt: Yes, the much maligned ensign should be brought back as the captain of a Starfleet science vessel that warps around the Alpha Quadrant solving mysteries for the Federation. Think of it as CSI . . . in space!
Wil says, "Thanks, but I think I'll pass."
Which is the title of his blog post.
But then, I got to thinking.
CSI... in space!
Well, thinking led to another thing and, voila...
It wasn't easy coming up with the script. It took me almost 6 hours to come up with something I was moderately satisfied with.
30 March 2008
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Hisham |
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Misc Sci-Fi, TV
Robotech Defense / Expeditionary Force is back in force in the form of the direct-to-DVD movie Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles.
And this time, they're continuing directly from the Robotech The New Generation (the third chapter of the series that was derived from the Japanese standalone series Genesis Climber MOSPEADA) episode "Symphony of Light". In fact the first 20 minutes or so is a retread of the Battle of Reflex Point from the point of view of the returning fleet. However, this also means that the aborted Robotech II: The Sentinels movie and novels (especially The End of the Circle) has been decanonized and considered never happened.
Returning characters include Scott Bernard, the Invid simulagent Ariel, Louie Nichols formerly of the 15th ATAC. Previously non-canon characters Vince and Jean Grant, General Reinhardt and Janice Em are also featured. New characters that pop up include Marcus Rush (brother of Marlene) and Maia Sterling (apparently the other daughter of Max and Miriya).
There are a couple of cameo appearances of Admiral Rick Hunter, leader of the Expeditionary Force aboard the SDF-3... which goes missing, but as I mentioned not as depicted in the novel by the gestalt entity Jack McKinney.
Thankfully, there are no Lynn Minmei shenanigans.
There is a brief "We Will Win" reference in the end though.
SPOILERS follow!
07 February 2008
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Hisham |
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TV
We last saw the saga of Skynet's time travelling cyborg creation in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. Well, you can forget about all that cause showrunner Josh Friedman's tossed most of the third movie out the window (or is now alternate universe version of the Terminator millieux). I remember hearing about the announcement of the upcoming TV series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and feeling underwhelmed. But after viewing the first few episodes, this show has now made my regular viewing list.
The TV series starts 2 years after the events of the movie Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Sarah Connor and her son John, the future leader of the leader of the Resistance against the machines, are living out their lives under the name of Sarah Reese. When they decide to move to another town, trouble begins. John is attacked by a substitute teacher Mr Cromartie, who happens to a T-888 model Terminator sent to the past to kill John. But John is saved by his classmate Cameron Philips who is a female form Terminator sent back by future John to safeguard current John from more assassination attempts. Cameron brings Sarah and John to 2008 using a time displacement device built and hidden by a Resistance member who was sent even further back in time.
Now, Sarah and John, protected by Cameron, has to evade Cromartie, stay ahead of the F.B.I. and do whatever it takes to stop Skynet from coming to life, which has now been stalled to 2011 thanks to their work in Terminator 2.
01 December 2007
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Hisham |
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TV
All glory to the Hypnotoad!
04 November 2007
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Hisham |
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TV
Sila has introduced me to the best new sitcom this year.
It's called Carpoolers.
Every episode knocks me out cold laughing.
Marmaduke is the best character ever. "Dasher? That's a stupid name. My name's Marmaduke"
And I can never ever listen to Air Supply's All Out Of Love again without breaking into a laugh.
Ever.
26 April 2007
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Hisham |
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Family Pics, TV
... is not really known from this photo of him, because we really have no idea which party Nathan Petrelli belongs to. But hey if you want a good quality in a congressman, why not settle one with the ability of flight, no?
Not to mention a brother who can absorb and retain powers of other supers.
16 April 2007
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Hisham |
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Misc Sci-Fi, Recent News, TV
... but it's not that kind of doctor. Now, when he's got shampoo in his hair, he fancies himself as the Gallifreyan Time Lord, known as the Doctor from BBC's
Doctor Who series. Specifically he wants to be the
Tenth Doctor, played by
David Tennant.
He keeps going on and on about travelling about in a TARDIS, having his own K9 and enjoys the fact that every week the Doctor (along with anyone in his vicinity) has to run from something chasing them - be it disease-ravaged human constructs, werewolves, Judoon policemen, or Cybermen, or Daleks. If the Doctor has to flee for his life, Irfan digs it a lot.
Not too bad, really, cause I haven't seen Doctor Who since the Tom Baker's Fourth Doctor and I still thought BBC's production of the series is constrained by a lack of budget. When I first saw the new Ninth Doctor, played by Christopher Eccleston, series back in 2005 I thought that it had a great production design and fantastic special effects, even if the fleeing from the Auton attack was quite stereotypical... but the story is still quite off the mark, thanks to the attack of killer shop window mannequins.
26 March 2007
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Hisham |
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Misc Sci-Fi, TV
Bear McCreary has become my favourite composer for soundtracks. I love what he did throughout Battlestar Galactica. The music isn't a traditional symphonic orchestral score, although it is in some places. I can't quite categorize listening to the score as a whole. It has string quartet, Japanese tako drums, Armenian duduk, bagpipes, gamelan, erhu.... a hodge-podge of traditional instruments being used to make the music of the Battlestar Galactica universe. Lyrics are sung in languages like Latin, Sinhalese, Sanskrit and Italian. Modern earth music even make their way into the episodes as source music, such as Philip Glass' "Metamorphosis Five" (played by Starbuck at her Caprica apartment) and the super spoiler full-blown music which rocks the closing scenes of the recent third season finale, which broke my mind in half.
Anyway, Bear McCreary's website has a blog and the blog has entries pertaining to his work on Galactica, which also includes very simple notes of the themes he composed for various characters and situations in the series. Here's the "Wander My Friends" theme (the Adamas' theme):
22 March 2007
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Hisham |
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Rants, TV
Lisa Simpson once claimed pessimistically in the episode HOMR, "As intelligence increases, happiness decreases", and made a graph about it.
Without going into the intelligence territory for super geniuses like Albert Einstein, Richard Feynmann and Querl Dox, it's apparent that every human possesses a certain amount of intelligence. As a human grows and develops, he or she learns more about the surrounding world, including things that is picked up in school and at work and media such as books and television. A human would learn, among other things, of science, history, geography, arts and literature, and of family, friendship and love.
09 March 2007
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Hisham |
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Misc Sci-Fi, TV
The stormy clouds of the gas giant were where the rag tag fugitive fleet was undergoing refueling operations last week in Battlestar Galactica.
But Captain Kara "Starbuck" Thrace patrolling the skies of the planet in her Viper caught a glimpse of a Cylon Heavy Raider and chased after it. Without invoking spoilers, the question would be whether she was hallucinating or not. If she wasn't then a whole set of new variables can be introduced to the outcome of the episode, entitled "Maelstrom".
As the viewer, we saw Starbuck's point of view of the bloodied child in the cockpit.
We also saw the silhouette of the man in the room outside her cockpit as she was flying deeper into the storm.
Let's not get into the dream sequence. (I hope the paint was non-toxic.)
The shots of the Heavy Raider were for the most part in her point of view... until we see this shot where the point of view was behind Apollo's Viper. This is definitely not Starbuck's point of view - heck, it's too far out to be her POV. In fact it's more of Apollo's:
In the current age of visual FX previsualisation where everything is preplanned in a single shot, the questions will now be (1) what was it doing there, (2) is even a Cylon ship, and (3) why didn't we hear Apollo say he saw it?
14 January 2007
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Hisham |
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Misc Sci-Fi, TV
Ensign
Wesley Crusher wasn't really my favourite character on Star Trek The Next Generation all those years ago. Not to say I didn't like him like a lot of the Wesley-haters that existed I later learnt, but I thought Data was much more an interesting character.
His actor
Wil Wheaton on the other hand has been one of my favourite online personalities (and a wonderful writer) ever since I came across his website three years ago. In addition to his site, he also writes for
Suicide Girls and TV Squad. (Also, he's my age and a comics & RPG geek too.)
I remember waiting for the premiere of TNG back in '88 on TV3. It arrived in full regalia complete with newspaper colour spreads and weekly "tune in to find out the answer" contest. I didn't care much about the extra trimmings. Being a Trekkie, all I cared about was the show itself. The premiere episode was "Encounter at Farpoint" two parter which introduced us to the new Enterprise and its crew - strangely enough led by a Frenchman who spoke in a perfect English accent, I thought. (But it was frakking Gurney Halleck, so I let it slide.)
Wil Wheaton recently reviewed "Encounter at Farpoint" at TV Squad and it's the funniest thing I've ever read. Not only he write with sarcasm and humour, he also writes as a Trekkie who just happened to work on one of the biggest TV events in my teeneaged years and with complete respect for the people with whom he worked to bring TNG to life on television.
Part 1 goes here and
Part 2 goes there.
08 December 2006
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Hisham |
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Recent News, TV
So out of watching four episodes of Heroes in a single night , a game between Ain and Emma was born.
The first to yell out "TIM KRING!" whenever his name came out onscreen wins. That's eight times in three hours. Once during the short intro and the other when the Executive Producer name appears during the story after the intro... each episode.
Not as easy as you might think. You get caught up in the teaser, someone's bound to forget to yell immediately when the name appears.
"TIM KRING!"
29 November 2006
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Hisham |
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Misc Sci-Fi, TV
Tablet PCs, used by the personnel of Stargate Command's Atlantis Expedition (particularly Dr. Rodney McKay) seem to be cool little gadgets to work with. I wish I can buy one around here. Are there any being sold here in Kuala Lumpur at all?
Perhaps the PC Fair at the KL Convention Centre coming up next weekend?
08 November 2006
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Hisham |
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TV
Some TV stuff:
I've seen the pilot of BBC's new
Doctor Who spinoff
Torchwood and I like it so far. The production design is leaps and bounds better and a far cry from the time Tom Baker was the good doctor. It follows the adventures of the Torchwood Institute branch dubbed Torchwood 3 which is based in Cardiff.
Apparently Torchwood One in London was destroyed in a recent Doctor Who episode (which I haven't seen), Torchwood Two is in Glasgow (with a "very strange man"), Torchwood Three are the protagonists led by Captain Jack Harkness a former Doctor Who companion and Torchwood Four is... missing.
We get to see the weirdness of the investigations (which involves aliens and other strange things slipping through a rift in and around Cardiff) through the eyes of newbie Gwen Cooper.
In other news, Heroes' Hiro has posted D&D stats of himself on his blog:
Hiro (Future)
STR: 14 (I'm going to have to work out more to get this)
DEX: 18 (with +4 modifier) (ditto as above)
CON: 12
INT: 18 (I can use magic)
WIS: 17 (I survive till the future so I have to be wise (^o^))
CHA: 15
Race: Human (Japanese)
Alignment: Lawful Good
AC: -1 (I would think that I would be wearing lighter gear, but get AC
dexterity bonus)
Class: Kensei
No Base Attack Bonus?
01 November 2006
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Hisham |
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TV
Actor Masi Oka, who plays Hiro Nakamura (the character of the new NBC series Heroes) is one lucky guy. Not only does he play the only character on the show reacting positively to his superpowers (with the abilities to freeze time and time travel), but you should read what his day job is when he's not acting.
I am at awe.
06 October 2006
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Hisham |
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Misc Sci-Fi, TV
Cause if it is, it's time to get back home to the starboard landing bay. It's time to find out what happens to people left with the rag tag fugitive fleet and on the Cylon-occupied New Caprica. The last ten minutes of the previous season's finale was quality mindfrack.
Because of the total tangency to the status quo last episode, I can see this being the best season premiere or the worst season premiere ever.
The odds are certainly against it sucking.
So say we all.
