Showing posts with label SciFi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SciFi. Show all posts

Monday, August 04, 2008

Star Wars : The Clone Wars

Some people are excited about this, and some are not. I fall into the category of "excited".. I being a Star Wars fan of course.. am a little biased... This is an old post of mine on my old Star Wars Blog.. but it still holds true for my feelings regarding Star Wars.

This piece, taken from io9.com, will maybe help you others who are "on the fence" also fall into the "excited" category:
Of course you're nervous about the new Star Wars: Clone Wars movie, and the 100-episode Clone Wars TV series that will begin airing on Cartoon Network this fall. Maybe you feel a little burned by episodes I-III, or the idea of an animated series gives you burning visions of Jar Jar. But have no fear, young Padawans. We've carefully weighed all the evidence, watched all the clips, and studied the Clone Wars back story carefully by combing through the comic books and "expanded universe" novels. And we bring good news. Clone Wars is going to be awesome — here are ten reasons why.

1. Dooku vs. Palpatine
In the movies, the Sithy Separatist leader Count Dooku is in league with Palpatine (Darth Sidious), and there are very few hints that he's much more than a very competent henchman. But in fact, he has his own agenda and has a whole future planned for the Separatists, a group that includes most of the galaxy's free traders and techie types. Clone Wars will focus on how Dooku's Separatists push for their agenda against Palpatine's power-grabbing imperialists. I like the idea of free traders vs. fascists. It's an interesting clash, with our Jedi heroes right in the middle.

2. Female ninjas
No offense to Leia and Padme, but on the scale of princess to ninja they were pretty far to the princess end of things. In Clone Wars, we're going to get some seriously kickass female ninjas mixing it up with the Jedi Knights. Anakin's padawan Ahsoka is fearless and strong, and Obi Wan Kenobi will meet his nemesis, the powerful assassin Asajj Ventress.

3. Clone rights
At the heart of this series will be a biology vs. technology theme, with the Jedi-led clone army fighting the Separatist-led droid armies. Will biotech soldiers prove better than techtech ones? More important, though, is that we'll watch as the clones begin to overcome their programming and become individuals. Will there be clone rights? Clone romance? These are the kinds of weird questions that make me excited about this series.

4. Clone Wars is new-school YA fiction
Perhaps influenced by a new generation of YA fiction with more adult themes, Clone Wars will be aimed at young people but will shed the kiddie comic relief of the Star Wars movies. Instead of identifying with Jar Jar or C3P0, kids watching Clone Wars can put themselves in the boots of the brave, wisecracking Ahsoka.

5. The Jedi come in shades of grey
We've seen a few Jedi in the movies, and we know they can be either good Knights or evil Sith. But we haven't seen the full range of Jedi powers (many Jedi have unique powers that go beyond telekinesis), nor have we seen them when they stop being polite and start going badass on the battlefield. I'm excited to find out about Luminara's powers, and what Kit Fisto can do with all those tentacles. The point is, it's not just Sith vs. Jedi — it's the many shades of Jedi.

6. War dramas are instant win
While every episode of the Star Wars movies has dealt with a decisive battle or coup, none of the movies could be classified as a "war film" proper. They are epics, character studies, political melodramas, and space operas — but none has focused on the lives of soldiers and officers waging a several-year campaign. It's about time we learned about the lives of grunts in the army of the Republic, and got some good soldier banter going.

7. More droids
The Separatist forces are packed with trade associations and tech guilds, so they have the latest droids with all the most up-to-date service packs installed. Expect serious coolness in the droid department: Those rolling shielded guys from Attack of the Clones are just the beginning. The fact that the series is animated will only add to the awesomeness of these droids, who look best in a stylized, CGI environment anyway.

8. Dooku backstory
He was once a Jedi, and he semi-trained his assassin Ventress in the ways of the Dark Side even though she was never Jedi material. What other weirdness lurks in Dooku's past? Why did he turn to the Dark Side? Why did he start the Separatist rebellion in the first place? We've got 100 episodes to find out.

9. Anakin as ironic hero
Knowing what we do about how Anakin turns out, it's a strange and intriguing irony that he's going to be our hero in this series. Even as we see him being a good mentor to a sympathetic young woman (Ahsoka), we know he has a dark side — and we know that he's lying to the Jedi every day since his secret marriage to Padme. Anakin has acquired a lot of creepy depth during the Star Wars series, and the Clone Wars were probably the time in his life when he could have turned it all around and told the Dark Side to stick it. And yet we know he won't: That each act of kindness and bravery is going to go sour one day soon. That makes for a pretty dark war tale, and I'm down with it.

10. Second-generation Star Wars sensibility
Filoni and Winder have both been associated with contemporary game-changing animated series: Filoni with Avatar and Winder with Powerpuff Girls. If they can successfully infuse the sweep of the Star Wars universe with a contemporary burst of anime sensibility and good humor, Star Wars will reach a new generation. And reawaken the first generation's love for a franchise that once felt like the most amazing new thing any of us had ever seen.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Fox News is Garbage. It is as simple as that.

How can they even pretend to be unbiased? How can they even pretend to be honest and truthful news source? This report is full on downright LIES... Gets my blood boiling...

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

MASS EFFECT-IVENESS


So.. I have been waiting for this game for a long time... and I can honestly say it was worth the wait. Bioware makes a great RPG, the best RPGs out there is videogame land, and this one is sure to be crowned their magnum opus. The story is vast and rich (there is a novel to read as a prequel) and the sheer amount of detail they put into the world was staggering...

I am about 9 hours into the game... and already... I deem it "Karl's Game of the Year" (with Bioshock and Halo 3 coming in at second and third respectively. Honorable mention for Puzzle Quest) The first 8 hours were spent exploring the Citadel, the vast space station that serves as the political center of the galaxy. Exploring the many levels, talking to the cool aliens (they had a great conceptual artist and art director for this game, the aliens are all really cool), running quests for folks, and engaging in complex conversations... even this far in I know I am going to play through this game a second time... there are just so many ways to accomplish your tasks. (next time I will play a chick, and I won't be as nice as I am to people now, hehe)

The combat is very interesting... it is a great mix of First-Person Shooter and RPG Menu combats... with a smattering of Tactical Team play for good measure. You really have to think about what you're doing before you fight.. plan your power usage, choose weapons wisely, find cover, control your team... or you die. Trust me.. I know. Often at the hands of these guys...the Geth. (the bad guys)

And the graphics are wonderful... one of the prettiest games I have seen yet on the 360. The worlds and environments are vast and detailed... and the characters are amazing... they really feel like people.. instead of generic sci-fi characters... and the voice acting is superb. If anime had voice acting like this, everyone would watch anime...



Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Random Life Update!

Well.. life continues onward.. not stopping to ever let someone catch up and make some blog posts.. but here I am valiantly trying to keep up and catalog the happening of my life in digital text form.. probably unlikely to succeed, but I will have fun trying... I think...

So.. to get you all caught up.. over the summer I went home for about a month... I was living here in eastern PA with my sister, who then suddenly decided to move back home.. leaving me
kinda stuck. So I went home, got my learner's permit, learned to drive, bought a car, got my License, and (the same day I passed my drivers test) drove across the state of PA (well, kinda from the midway point) (did all that in about 4 weeks) - and now returned here to Eastern PA.. where I like it very much. I share a house with two other gents.. one and Accountant, the other a Park Ranger. They are nice guys, and one is very into video games like me (the accountant).. and we have a Two-360 household for it.

Work goes along fine.. we have been very busy... which is good for us... and we have the big store remodeling project in the next two weeks.. and it will be sooo nice to have the added room and work-flow problems fixed. And the additional computer for getting design work done... I am nearing my 2 year anniversary... which is crazy... seems like it wasn't that long ago I ws in Ohio playing DnD and working at a shitty Kinkos job... things have had their rocky spots out here (still trying to get my finances straightened out) but overall... it was the right move to make.

Have been playing alot more 360 and alot less WoW of late... I still enjoy WoW, but as of late the 360 has had the superior experiences.. Bioshock was amazing... and Halo 3 is a blast. (not to mention "the game" which comes out next month, hoorah!) Also looking forward to some awesome fighting action in Virtua Fighter 5, later this month...

We have a gaming weekend coming up, so I will have to buckle down and finish up my adventure for our IK group.. we play so little, and the gaps between our sessions makes it hard to keep a good focus on the characters.. but we still have a blast when we play. (which is whats really important...)

I am anxiously awaiting the TV return of BSG.. and November is the month (partly) There is a two-hour "movie" airing then called Razor (which will be frakkin awesome).. and then after that the looong wait until 2008 begins again for the final season (Season 4).. best damn show on TV...
I don't watch much else.. other than some Enterprise re-runs on sci-fi, Pain Killer Jane wasn't bad either... and Ninja Warrior on G4 is hilarious! I also watch Attack of the Show from time to time.. but only because I think Olivia Mun is great eye candy...(especially when wearing a Star Wars costume)

I do want to start blogging in my Star Wars blog again.. but thinking up a good post..is difficult... but I do miss that community.... some really smart and very cool people dwell there... and unlike here, people will actually read the blog, lol.

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

BSG Update! Holy Frak! I am Obsessed!

Now... as I mentioned in an earlier post, I have been watching Battlestar Galactica on SciFi Channel... and this show has overtaken my life like few things have... this show is amazing. I now have all of Season 1, Season 2, and the mini-series on my computer (thanks to iTunes!) and I have purchased the "Season Pass" for Season 3,which is currently airing on TV, but with the Pass, each episode that comes out is automatically downloaded to your computer - very cool feature of iTunes) - Actually, I guess you could say I haven't been watching it on SciFi Channel.. since I've been watching it all on iTunes.. but you get the picture. The Battlestar website (see link above) and iTunes have a FREE "The Story So Far" piece you can download which sums up everything before Season 3 (mini-series, season one and season two) in 43 minutes (and it is very well done). It has some spoilers... but I watched it before I watched any episodes and it didn't spoil anything for me.. . I was still captivated all the way through.

The intricacies of this show are astounding... the story and characters are deep and thoughtful, the action is awesome, there are cool robots, hot chicks, giant space battleships, political drama, mystical/spiritual drama, phycological drama (all manner of "human" drama actually, even though some of the characters aren't human), great acting and writing all around... and the show just keeps getting better and better. The first few episodes of Season 3 were absolutley rivetting.. I have never seen a TV show that was this good. If you are not watching this show... What the blazes is wrong with you?!?!?!? Thanks to the miracle of YouTube here is a clip from the escape from New Caprica scene from the second part of "Exodus".. the tiny YouTube screen doesn't do it justice.. but it is still awesome!



The show has some really cool devices at its disposal that other shows don't... mainly the ability to have more than one "copy" of the same character in existence at the same time... makes for soem really cool stories and plot twists. One of my favorite characters Lt. Sharon "Boomer" Valerii is one such character...
Two other things it has going for it:

#1- Really Awesome Cylon Centurions



#2- NO ROBOT DOGS :D




This should sum it up for you!

Saturday, October 14, 2006

BSG


I just now discovered the glorious adventure that is Battlestar Galactica! I had never seen the original show, so I never had the drive to check out the new one. But the other week I happened to catch a few episodes of it when SciFi was running a marathon.. and now I am obsessed with this show. Holt frak is it amazing!
There are so many levels where this show excels in every way.. Superbly acted, superbly written, and superbly produced. I have seen the mini-series and all of Season 1 so far, and next weekend I will purchase Season 2. I can't wait.
The physiological dramatics between the characters and within the characters is so intense... I am absolutely riveted to the screen... Sharon "Boomer" is my favorite character by far.. her whole struggle with finding out who she really is, brings such an intense and personal outlook on the Cylon penetration of the humans. Kudos to the writers for coming up with such an amazing "tool" for telling their story. I anxiously look forward to seeing many more episodes of this show.

If the upcoming live-action Star Wars show is half as good as this show... I will be happy happy man.