Buys
A few purchases in the DVD column this week, including the sequel to last week's Kung Fu selection, The Bride with White Hair 2, and as I traditionally start to buy Oscar nominees at this time of year, The Social Network. Plus, two new Doctor Who DVDs, The Ark and old favorite The Seeds of Doom.
"Accomplishments"
DVDs: Alias Season 4 is probably my favorite of the lot. The show returns to its roots in many ways, and has a distinct Mission: Impossible feel, from the missions to the music (even to specific plots, like the fake American suburb in Russia), that are all far better than Abrams' own Mission: Impossible movie. The action beats are very strong, and the soapier subplots are more successful. Rambaldi, that Leonardo/Nostradamus scamp, only shows up at crucial moments, creating a series of very entertaining one-off episodes, and building to a huge finale. The inclusion of Nadia in the main cast is also appreciated. As for the extras, they're entertaining and generally well-produced, as usual. A mix of interviews, blooper reels, bubbly commentary tracks and behind the scenes elements hosted by members of the cast or crew.
Alias Season 5, shorter than others by five episodes, starts on a huge bummer, and shuffles the cast more than ever before. Does it work? Mostly. We don't have a lot of time to invest in the new characters, and in some cases, we just don't (I felt like they were following the "24" formula). Generally, we're following in the footsteps of the previous season, though various factors (fewer episodes, Garner's pregnancy) might have created problems for the show's creators. Some plot points are a bit muddled, and the series finale, while it has some excellent beats, feels rushed and all over the map. Fewer extras this time around, but no less entertaining. In addition to the usual 4 commented episodes, there are short, but fun featurettes on the 100th episode, the music and Rambaldi, as well as the annual blooper reel.
Lau Kar-Leung's 8 Diagram Pole Fighter, this week's Kung Fu Fridays selection, is a rarer (and bloodier) revenge tragedy for the director who is best known for bloodless action comedies, but his choreography is no less impressive. There's always something new in a Lau Kar-Leung movie. His go-to guy (and brother) Gordon Liu stars, as does his sometime wife, My Young Auntie's Kara Hui, as the surviving children of a massacred family who aim to get their revenge, if only the Shaolin monks Liu has joined will let them. Great stuff, my only complaint being the terrible Hollywood library music (and some might take exception at the truly insane final fight, but I don't). Dragon Dynasty hasn't put any extras on the disc, not even a commentary track, which is really too bad. Fu Sheng died during the making of this, and his character was suddenly sidelined in favor of Kara's. The impact it had on the film seems like a story that deserves to be told.
I may have been the last geek to see Galaxy Quest, but it finally happened, so now I can stop saying the only good Tim Allen movie is Redbelt. There's this too. How to describe Galaxy Quest is not an obvious thing. Yes, it's a Star Trek spoof, but it's also the greatest Trek movie never made. It feels like it's going to be a parody, but it delivers on the kind of space opera adventure it's meant to poke fun at. It's about the has-been actors of a cult sf show, but it's made as well as any SF film out there. I guess it works because it doesn't slavishly stick to Star Trek or its cast, but creates its own world based on the same kind of thing. It holds up, and has a lot of heart in addition to laughs and exciting set pieces. A fun, minor classic that I could stand to re-watch now and again. The extras on the 10th anniversary edition are funny in their own right. There's about an hour's worth of stuff, including lots of interviews made 10 years on, a rap made by Sigourney Weaver for her agent, and deleted scenes that could have been included in the finished film without any trouble. The Thermian dub track is a funny idea, but I dare anyone to listen to those dolphin sounds for 1h40 without the benefit of alcohol.
Audios: At 50 minutes apiece, I can easily flip a new 8th Doctor audio just walking to and from work. After the mitigated review I gave the first episode of the 2008 season last week, I was very happy with Jonathan Morris' Max Warp. Perhaps because of Sheridan Smith's background in sitcoms, the Doc8 and Lucie Miller pairing seems to work best when the comedy is ramped up high. This murder mystery at a future television show that looks at spaceships each week is a hoot. Lucie threatens to rise to the very top of my companions' list (at least, the extracanonical ones), and the rest of the cast is pretty funny as well. Paul McGann makes an excellent straight man for Lucie, but can also be funny in his own right. Dead London is now forgiven.
Strange New Town by Jonathan Clements, though a more serious story, continues the comic double act of the 8th Doctor and Lucie. They are very entertaining here again. The story starts out as a strange mystery about a veritable ghost town stuck in the 80s, and builds on each revelation until an old enemy shows up. I won't spoil it, but I'll say that when listened to in 2011, after some key Doctor Who episodes have aired, gives the story more poignancy and relevance. Were the show's creators inspired by this audio, if only just a little bit?
Marc Platt's The Skull of Sobek... and things were going so well. Not for the first time, I'm disappointed in a Platt script, which is too bad because he's written some of my favorite audios. The 8th Doctor and Lucie land at a sort of alien monastery crocodile men are about to attack to get their sacred artifact back. Platt's word play is noticeable, and his crocs are memorable monsters (if a little ghoulish), but the problem with cramming the history and culture of future civilizations in a 50-minute play is that it's not enough to make you care very much about the stakes.
Grand Theft Cosmos by Eddie Robson marks the return of a couple of characters from the previous season's arc, starts with a great train robbery, and ends in a fun heist. Artwork that warps reality, universes suspended in diamonds, returning foes, and the regular cast in top comic form. This series works best when it goes for smiles, if not outright laughs, and keeps it fun and bouncy. As long as the series keeps to this tone, it seems I'll be happy. Robson comes up with great ideas, and all the actors are equipped to handle them.
The Zygon Who Fell to Earth by Paul Magrs marks the return not only of the Zygons, but also of Lucie's Auntie Pat from the previous season's Horror of Glam Rock. As with that release, there's a song and Magrs takes the mick. There's a Zygon double act in there that's really quite hilarious, but the story also has heart and is frankly touching. With the Zygons appearing in the audios, novels and toy line in 2007-2008, I'm wondering why Terror of the Zygons hasn't come out on DVD yet. I guess Zygons have fans everywhere but BBCWorld.
Hyperion to a Satyr posts this week:
II.ii. The Fishmonger Scene - French Rock Opera
A few purchases in the DVD column this week, including the sequel to last week's Kung Fu selection, The Bride with White Hair 2, and as I traditionally start to buy Oscar nominees at this time of year, The Social Network. Plus, two new Doctor Who DVDs, The Ark and old favorite The Seeds of Doom.
"Accomplishments"
DVDs: Alias Season 4 is probably my favorite of the lot. The show returns to its roots in many ways, and has a distinct Mission: Impossible feel, from the missions to the music (even to specific plots, like the fake American suburb in Russia), that are all far better than Abrams' own Mission: Impossible movie. The action beats are very strong, and the soapier subplots are more successful. Rambaldi, that Leonardo/Nostradamus scamp, only shows up at crucial moments, creating a series of very entertaining one-off episodes, and building to a huge finale. The inclusion of Nadia in the main cast is also appreciated. As for the extras, they're entertaining and generally well-produced, as usual. A mix of interviews, blooper reels, bubbly commentary tracks and behind the scenes elements hosted by members of the cast or crew.
Alias Season 5, shorter than others by five episodes, starts on a huge bummer, and shuffles the cast more than ever before. Does it work? Mostly. We don't have a lot of time to invest in the new characters, and in some cases, we just don't (I felt like they were following the "24" formula). Generally, we're following in the footsteps of the previous season, though various factors (fewer episodes, Garner's pregnancy) might have created problems for the show's creators. Some plot points are a bit muddled, and the series finale, while it has some excellent beats, feels rushed and all over the map. Fewer extras this time around, but no less entertaining. In addition to the usual 4 commented episodes, there are short, but fun featurettes on the 100th episode, the music and Rambaldi, as well as the annual blooper reel.
Lau Kar-Leung's 8 Diagram Pole Fighter, this week's Kung Fu Fridays selection, is a rarer (and bloodier) revenge tragedy for the director who is best known for bloodless action comedies, but his choreography is no less impressive. There's always something new in a Lau Kar-Leung movie. His go-to guy (and brother) Gordon Liu stars, as does his sometime wife, My Young Auntie's Kara Hui, as the surviving children of a massacred family who aim to get their revenge, if only the Shaolin monks Liu has joined will let them. Great stuff, my only complaint being the terrible Hollywood library music (and some might take exception at the truly insane final fight, but I don't). Dragon Dynasty hasn't put any extras on the disc, not even a commentary track, which is really too bad. Fu Sheng died during the making of this, and his character was suddenly sidelined in favor of Kara's. The impact it had on the film seems like a story that deserves to be told.
I may have been the last geek to see Galaxy Quest, but it finally happened, so now I can stop saying the only good Tim Allen movie is Redbelt. There's this too. How to describe Galaxy Quest is not an obvious thing. Yes, it's a Star Trek spoof, but it's also the greatest Trek movie never made. It feels like it's going to be a parody, but it delivers on the kind of space opera adventure it's meant to poke fun at. It's about the has-been actors of a cult sf show, but it's made as well as any SF film out there. I guess it works because it doesn't slavishly stick to Star Trek or its cast, but creates its own world based on the same kind of thing. It holds up, and has a lot of heart in addition to laughs and exciting set pieces. A fun, minor classic that I could stand to re-watch now and again. The extras on the 10th anniversary edition are funny in their own right. There's about an hour's worth of stuff, including lots of interviews made 10 years on, a rap made by Sigourney Weaver for her agent, and deleted scenes that could have been included in the finished film without any trouble. The Thermian dub track is a funny idea, but I dare anyone to listen to those dolphin sounds for 1h40 without the benefit of alcohol.
Audios: At 50 minutes apiece, I can easily flip a new 8th Doctor audio just walking to and from work. After the mitigated review I gave the first episode of the 2008 season last week, I was very happy with Jonathan Morris' Max Warp. Perhaps because of Sheridan Smith's background in sitcoms, the Doc8 and Lucie Miller pairing seems to work best when the comedy is ramped up high. This murder mystery at a future television show that looks at spaceships each week is a hoot. Lucie threatens to rise to the very top of my companions' list (at least, the extracanonical ones), and the rest of the cast is pretty funny as well. Paul McGann makes an excellent straight man for Lucie, but can also be funny in his own right. Dead London is now forgiven.
Strange New Town by Jonathan Clements, though a more serious story, continues the comic double act of the 8th Doctor and Lucie. They are very entertaining here again. The story starts out as a strange mystery about a veritable ghost town stuck in the 80s, and builds on each revelation until an old enemy shows up. I won't spoil it, but I'll say that when listened to in 2011, after some key Doctor Who episodes have aired, gives the story more poignancy and relevance. Were the show's creators inspired by this audio, if only just a little bit?
Marc Platt's The Skull of Sobek... and things were going so well. Not for the first time, I'm disappointed in a Platt script, which is too bad because he's written some of my favorite audios. The 8th Doctor and Lucie land at a sort of alien monastery crocodile men are about to attack to get their sacred artifact back. Platt's word play is noticeable, and his crocs are memorable monsters (if a little ghoulish), but the problem with cramming the history and culture of future civilizations in a 50-minute play is that it's not enough to make you care very much about the stakes.
Grand Theft Cosmos by Eddie Robson marks the return of a couple of characters from the previous season's arc, starts with a great train robbery, and ends in a fun heist. Artwork that warps reality, universes suspended in diamonds, returning foes, and the regular cast in top comic form. This series works best when it goes for smiles, if not outright laughs, and keeps it fun and bouncy. As long as the series keeps to this tone, it seems I'll be happy. Robson comes up with great ideas, and all the actors are equipped to handle them.
The Zygon Who Fell to Earth by Paul Magrs marks the return not only of the Zygons, but also of Lucie's Auntie Pat from the previous season's Horror of Glam Rock. As with that release, there's a song and Magrs takes the mick. There's a Zygon double act in there that's really quite hilarious, but the story also has heart and is frankly touching. With the Zygons appearing in the audios, novels and toy line in 2007-2008, I'm wondering why Terror of the Zygons hasn't come out on DVD yet. I guess Zygons have fans everywhere but BBCWorld.Hyperion to a Satyr posts this week:
II.ii. The Fishmonger Scene - French Rock Opera
Comments
Also, as far as Tim Allen movies go, you're not a fan of Toy Story?
I just never think to include voice work.
It's not that I'm not enjoying it, it's that I'm not nearly as excited about it as the first four seasons. For all the reasons you stated.