[[image:who01.jpg:Who’s being displayed onscreen here?:center:0]]… 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 […]
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Straight From The Bear’s Mouth
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 […]
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“I Make Lots of Graphs”
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. Unfortunately, the human will also learn about the negative things in life such as pollution, greed, racism, war, and of course the inevitability of death. It would make it seem like life is a matter of jumping of a cliff in thick fog, hitting some tough branches on the […]
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Did It or Did It Not Exist?
The stormy clouds of the gas giant were where the rag tag fugitive fleet was undergoing refuelling 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… […]
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For Lack of A Better Game
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!”
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Tablets Seem Fun To Work With
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?
Continue readingTorchwood Is An Anagram, See?
Some TV stuff: [[image:captjack.jpg:Captain Jack is looking for a sex-addicted gas alien:center:0]]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 […]
Continue readingHe Had A Sword
[[image:hirosword.jpg:Meanwhile back in Las Vegas:center:0]] 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.
Continue readingFrack! Is Today Friday?
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. [[image:bsg_bay01.jpg:LSO better be doin’ his job:center:0]] The odds are certainly against it sucking. So say we all. Update Oct 09 2006: Occupation and Precipice – A Non-Spoilerific Review Those were the two most intense episodes side by side ever. Characters: One of the best ensemble cast ever, where everyone (even minor characters like Jammer and Duck) has something to do that adds dramatic tension to the storyline. There must be almost two dozen regular and […]
Continue readingMore Fodder For My Viewing List
When I have time to spare, I don’t really sit down and watch TV like I used to in days of old. So I haven’t seen every new series that’s come out on TV this season, but two’s caught my eye so far: Heroes and Dexter. Rising Stars on TV? [[image:heroes01.jpg:I believe I can fl- … be a smudge in the alley:left:0]]”Rising Star” refers to the comic series written by J. Michael Straczynski. A number of people in the world, mostly unrelated to each other seem to be developing different superhuman abilities, such as flight, accelerated healing, precognition, telepathy and teleportation. And there seem to be a conspiracy behind the entire affair which has yet to be revealed. Each has his or her own story – a small part of a puzzle – which is slowly coming together with one another, forming a grand storyline which might or might not […]
Continue readingA Trekkie I Was Til A Threshold I Crossed
I used to religiously catch every episode of Star Trek whenever it was on the air to watch episodes a couple of times. The Original Series. The Next Generation. Deep Space Nine. They were all my regular TV consumption. Even when I was working in the East Coast and out of the station’s broadcast area, Atok Irfan – long before he was designated Atok Irfan – taped the shows for me for my viewing when I was on my 5 days off period from work. It was during the middle of the second season of Star Trek: Voyager that I finally realised something. There were some good stories, but I discovered that I could live without watching any of the episodes. The writing on Star Trek seemed to be becoming bland, repetitive and uninsipired. Once the science fiction concepts were concise and served the stories well however hokey it might […]
Continue readingBeast Wars – A Series Review
[[image:bwars01.jpg:Rattrap,Optimus Primal, Rhinox and Cheetor… no-prize for guessing who’s who:left:0]]It was just past the mid-90s. X-Files was at its prime on TV and there was news of a brand new CGI Transformers series that will be airing on TV. Being an 80s child, the original Transformers series was one of the shows I followed fanatically. The thought of giant alien robots being able to hide among us in the form of Porsches, Lamborghinis, Lancia Stratos and VW Beetles was very exciting to me and my friends. But after reading the synopsis of Beast Wars Transformers my interest waned. What’s so hot about robots being able to transform into Earth animals on an supposedly uninhabited alien planet? Why is there even a need to hide? I passed on the pilot. But sometime during the middle of the first season, I happened to catch an episode, thanks to the proddings of my […]
Continue readingAbrams Bloodbath Week
Apart from the release of Mission Impossible III this week, J.J. Abrams seems to have both his TV series Alias and Lost slated for bloodbaths where major characters die violently in surprising turn of events, and those who die do so in similar ways within each show even if they don’t die at the same time and place. And there are four more hours to each series until their respective season finales… and for Alias the series finale. [[image:badrobottitles.jpg:Cue Michael Giacchino music for both opening titles:center:0]]A fine week for television. No, I ain’t posting spoilers.
Continue readingWe’ll Be Back October
Not “we” as in Hishgraphics. [[image:doll.jpg:Have a dolly to play with til October:left:0]]According to the press release, we have seven months to sit around, twiddle our thumbs and tap our toes to catch the third season of Battlestar Galactica. The 90-minute second season finale will be aired on Friday. I guess I can wait, watch the news or the cool, flashy ads they air on TV until then. Scott Collura of Now Playing Magazine wrote of the impending third season: “The network press release promises “even more of the drama, intrigue, and action that viewers have come to expect from the series,” which sounds like typical PR talk – until you remember that Battlestar Galactica has so far provided us with more drama, intrigue, and action than we could ever have hoped for.” Amen to that. To BB, Jo-Jo, Reilly, Beano, Dipper, Flat Top, Chuckles, Jolly, Crashdown, Sheppard, Dash, Flyboy, […]
Continue readingThe Legion on JLU
No, not the French Foreign Legion. The DC Universe’s 30th century team the Legion of Super-Heroes finally get to shine in an episode of Justice League Unlimited titled “Far From Home”. Sure, Saturn Girl, Cosmic Boy and Chameleon Boy travelled back in time in Superman the Animated Series before, but this episode features a busload of Legionnaires, all in the 30th century. Additionally, their arch-villain teams, the Fatal Five, also appear (with the Emerald Empress voice by Joanne Whalley). Both Legion HQs were also shown! Unfortunately, only Brainiac 5, Bouncing Boy and Phantom Girl have speaking roles. There is a good reason, however, why the others don’t speak for most of the episode. Click on the thumbnails below for a who’s who picture. [[popup:lsh01.jpg:(thumbnail):The Animated Legion:center:1]]Apart from John Stewart and Kara in the foreground, we also see between them from top to bottom: Shadow Lass, Colossal Boy and Ultra Boy. […]
Continue reading“I Didn’t Want To Make It Back Alive”
Spoiler Alert. This is an essay concerning the actions of Lee “Apollo” Adama of Battlestar Galactica in the episode Resurrection Ship, Part 2. If you’re adverse to spoilers it’s strongly suggested that you read no further. And if you’re local and want to catch it on TV, they’re starting to show the first season on 8TV at 10pm Sundays, the same time as Smallville on TV3. It’s been 7 hours since I saw the episode, and the decision of Apollo to resign himself to his fate has been playing again and again in my mind. It’s not something that I was expecting, like Adama’s and Cain’s respective orders to assassinate each other, or the fates of Helo and the Chief in the Pegasus’ brig, or even the outcome of Baltar’s interrogation of Pegasus’ resident Cylon prisoner Gina, who is a copy of Baltar’s yet unnamed vision, known to TV audiences […]
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