I went to see the new Harry Potter movie yesterday with Jessica and the kids. It was a pretty long movie, but Gabe and Ally did pretty good with it. They talked a little and started to move around a bit, but they weren't too bad. The movie was pretty good. I have been a little frustrated with the last few films because they seem to be a little lacking to me. The first few books were shorter, so it was pretty easy to get all of the relevant information into the movies. However, as Rowling's writing improoved and the stories became more elaborate, the movies have had difficulty getting all of the good action and story telling into a feature film. The movies have all of the main action and story, but they seem rushed to cram everything into 2 1/2 hours.
What they were able to cram into The Half Blood Prince was pretty good. There were some good action scenes and character development. The love triangles were done pretty well and there was a good mix of comedy in there as well. Jessica already wants to go see it again. I could stand to wait until it is on DVD, but if she really wants to take me to a movie, I won't complain. My one beef with the film is that it seemed very anti-climactic to me. Yes, what was supposed to happen happened, but it just seemed rushed. The final chapters in the book were action packed and then very somber and sad. The movie made the last two chapters happen in about five minutes. Oh well. All in all, it was a pretty good movie. They just are never as good as the books.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Thursday, July 09, 2009
Which is better? Trek or Gate?
As you know, I am a huge Sci Fi fan. I am not a stay in my basement dressing up like Spock kind of fan, but I must admit that Sci Fi is my favorite genre of movie and TV show. BSG is my favorite sci fi show, but I also watched all of the Star Trek series and am currently watching Star Gate shows. I started backwards, with Star Gate Atlantis, but lately have been watching SG1. The other night, I started to wonder which series I liked more: Trek or Gate. I think I am actually leaning towards Gate. I guess they are different 'verses, with different qualities, but Star Gate Atlantis and SG1 are both well written and exciting shows.
Of all of the Star Trek shows, I guess Voyager was my favorite. Lots of space battles and a good story line. It is really rather similar to SG Atlantis in that, both shows take place in distant galaxies. Both deal with exploring the galaxies and dealing with aggressive aliens in those galaxies. Probably these similarities are why I like Atlantis so much.
One thing I thought interesting was how the different series used sexuality. Star Trek did little to hide the flaunting of women. The original series had half nude green girls and skirts cut REALLLY high. TNG had Troi in tight outfits all the time, but decreased number of the sexy aliens. DS9 had little in the line of sexy women beyond Dax and of course, when Voyager started to loose ratings, they added 7 of 9 to the cast. Hot Borg in skin tight outfits. Even Enterprise followed the sexy girl formula with T'pal, a Vulcan in skin tight outfits. I guess Star Trek people thought that a scantily clad woman was essential to a good show.
Star Gate is a bit different. The women are treated in the show more as equals since the story is based in our society present day. The 'sexy' women are dressed in military garb and the actresses are 'typical' women. None of them are oozing sexuality, but when put in certain situations and outfits, they pull off the hot girl role very well. Of course, the very first SG1 episode has a full frontal nude scene, but it went with the story line and wasn't in there just to seel a sex image. It sounds strange, but I actually like Star Gate's approach to women better that Star Trek's in-your-face flaunting of women. Don't get me wrong, when 7 of 9 walked around in her unitard, it was nice. However, there is something to be said for subtle sexuality. Like, when a lady puts on a nice dress instead of her daily work clothes.
Wow. Did I ramble on about nothing forever? Sorry.
Of all of the Star Trek shows, I guess Voyager was my favorite. Lots of space battles and a good story line. It is really rather similar to SG Atlantis in that, both shows take place in distant galaxies. Both deal with exploring the galaxies and dealing with aggressive aliens in those galaxies. Probably these similarities are why I like Atlantis so much.
One thing I thought interesting was how the different series used sexuality. Star Trek did little to hide the flaunting of women. The original series had half nude green girls and skirts cut REALLLY high. TNG had Troi in tight outfits all the time, but decreased number of the sexy aliens. DS9 had little in the line of sexy women beyond Dax and of course, when Voyager started to loose ratings, they added 7 of 9 to the cast. Hot Borg in skin tight outfits. Even Enterprise followed the sexy girl formula with T'pal, a Vulcan in skin tight outfits. I guess Star Trek people thought that a scantily clad woman was essential to a good show.
Star Gate is a bit different. The women are treated in the show more as equals since the story is based in our society present day. The 'sexy' women are dressed in military garb and the actresses are 'typical' women. None of them are oozing sexuality, but when put in certain situations and outfits, they pull off the hot girl role very well. Of course, the very first SG1 episode has a full frontal nude scene, but it went with the story line and wasn't in there just to seel a sex image. It sounds strange, but I actually like Star Gate's approach to women better that Star Trek's in-your-face flaunting of women. Don't get me wrong, when 7 of 9 walked around in her unitard, it was nice. However, there is something to be said for subtle sexuality. Like, when a lady puts on a nice dress instead of her daily work clothes.
Wow. Did I ramble on about nothing forever? Sorry.
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