Wes

Happy Independence Day everyone! Hope everyone is having a great time, and staying safe. For those of you in Boston or DC, I envy the fireworks celebrations you will be witness to. As for me, I'll be in Orlando, enjoying coasters and the Florida heat. I leave you with the words of one of our greatest Presidents:

"Good morning. Good morning. In less than an hour, aircraft from here will join others from around the world, and you will be launching the largest aerial battle in the history of mankind. Mankind, that word should have new meaning for all of us today. We can't be consumed by our petty differences any more. We will be united in our common interest. Perhaps it's fate that today is the 4th of July, and you will once again be fighting for our freedom. Not from tyranny, oppression, or persecution, but from annihilation. We're fighting for our right to live, to exist! And should we win the day, the 4th of July will no longer be known as an American holiday, but as the day when the world declared in one voice, 'We will not go quietly into the night! We will not vanish without a fight! We're going to live on, we're going to survive.' Today we celebrate our independence day!"

President Thomas Whitmore
July 4th, 1996

Wes

I'm not really planning on baiting fanboys today, but that's what came to mind when I ran across this old video. It's a classic mash-up video, but damn I bet it pissed the Xbox and Nintendo fanboys off when it hit. Take a look and decide for yourselves:

Wes

Even heading off into the wild green yonder couldn't stop this crew. What do you get when you cross a frozen guy, a cyclops, an old man, a lobster, a really rich Asian girl, a Jamacian acountant, and a thieving, boozing, morally defunct robot? Futurama, that's what. And after four seasons on the air and four straight-to-DVD movies, it's back! That's right, Fry, Bender, Leela and the rest of the Planet Express crew are back for 26 brand-new episodes. The new episodes will be airing on Comedy Central sometime in 2010. I'm absurdly excited.

Futurama was a series that I couldn't catch until it was too late to save it. In my generation, it seems like there were two great animated television shows that FOX cancelled too soon: Family Guy and Futurama. These shows, along with Firefly, were massivily popular DVD sellers, and many believed that the shows' crazy popularity was indicative that FOX was run by morons and that the shows never should have been cancelled in the first place.

It always seemed though, that between the two shows, everyone had a favorite. Despite my love of Family Guy's quirky humor and pop-culture references, Futurama is the clear winner for me. I love the sci-fi references, the legitimately smart humor, and the nods to real science that the show used so well in conveying its story. The cast of characters was great as well:

For the uninitiated: See that robot? Don't let him near your wallet

Every character had a place, from the lovable sad-sap Zoidberg (the lobster) to the stupid (but special) Fry (red jacket), who acidentally froze himself a thousand years ago, only to wake up in the year 3000.  Fry ends up teaming with a cyclops Leela (purple hair) and a robot (really? You can't tell from the photo?) to work for Fry's great-great-great-great-great-...-great-nephew, the Professor (in the slippers). They work, for all things, as a package delivery service, Planet Express. As expected, hijinks ensue.

I really enjoy the way the writers approached this show. The were masters at drawing paralles to classic literature, 20th century life, and real science in making the show's humor work. It's not uncommon for a character to object to a photo-finish horse race by citing the Hawthorne effect. Nor would it be uncommon for the characters to find themselves in a parody of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It was a mix of references much more subtly done than Family Guy, slapstick humor, and nerdy science jokes that made this show resonate. When you take that mix, add the creative direction of Matt Groening and David X. Cohen, and then add a truly lovable cast of characters you get a show that is incredibly fun to watch. If you're still not sold, watch a few of these clips:

Collection of moments - mainly Fry screaming

Anti-Piracy Warning

Fry's Life

Ahh, Zoidberg

Wes

Seriously. I should just make this a running feature, pointing out the bad-assery that I observe daily...Naw. Splinter Cell: Conviction however, looks more and more like the revitalization of the Splinter Cell franchise that I've been waiting for. Sam Fisher is back, angry and violent over the death of his daughter. He's still not back with Third Echelon, but it hardly seems to matter: Same looks like he's planning on destroying those connected to his daughter's death in the most bruatlly effective ways possible.

At the same time, it seems like Ubisoft is keeping the elements that made the Splinter Cell franschise into such a juggernaut. Stealth elements are still there, but slightly less emphasized. In my mind, that just means I have to work harder to stay stealthy. Sweet! The acrobatic movements and takedowns look even better than ever. And finally, despite the rumors, Michael Ironside is back, lending gravelly tones to Sam.

Take a look at the trailer below, and then hit the jump for seven and a half minutes of gameplay footage.

(Insert Coin to Continue)

Wes

There's a heirarchy to this you know. There are certain science-fiction fans at the top, some at the bottom. It's a geek social pecking order, and like anything else that involves geeks, it's dengerous to disturb. Here's an illustration of how the hierarchy works:

But then a funny thing happens: A guy like JJ Abrams comes along and decides that this hierarchy thing doesn't matter one whit. And so JJ Abrams goes and reboots the Star Trek franchise into something young, hip, and absolutely amazing to watch.

I'm not a Trekkie. Never was. I grew up on Star Wars, then Firefly. I never saw a single Star Trek episode, be it from the original series, TNG, Deep Spece 9, Voyager, or Enterprise. I never saw any of the eleven (11!) movies the franchise has put out. I just wasn't into the series.

But then I saw the trailers. They were amazing looking. The movie had me hooked. There wasn't a thing I could see looking at it that would dissuade me from going. And so I did:

Let me just say: this was a fantastic film. The cast they chose replicates and pays homage to so many of the characteristics that made the original series so endearing to its fans. Chris Pine is fantastic as a young Kirk, and brings just the right amount of swagger and confidence in leadership to the role. It's very reminiscent of Shatner in the early episodes: complete confidence in the path he's undertaking, swagger and an aura of leadership, and (of course) constantly getting into fights that he can't win, but somehow does.

The rest of the cast is filled out spectactularly as well. My favorite character was Kirk, but as far as the supportign cast goes, I gotta give it to Scotty. Simon Pegg was hilarious, and brought a lot to Scotty's character. Karl Urban continues to impress as Bones, and Zoe Saldana and Zachary Quinto were great in their roles.

The plot was fun and enjoyable, and had the right balance between setting up the characters and their backstories and telling a story of its own. Too often movies, epecially reboots, don't strike this balance right, and fans and moviegoers alike suffer. The story also deftly strikes it's own place in the Star Trek canon without disturbing the movies and episodes that came before it (to tell more would be spoiling - just go see it!).

There's plently of nods and winks to Star Trek fans who grew up with the series, and the characters replace their counterparts well, but this movie has a decidely modern flair with all the bells and whistles Hollywood is capable of today. The CGI is top-quality (Industrial Light & Magic), and the fight choreography is superb. Some elements of the original series are gone; you won't see hokey fights and special effects here. But even for all the bells and whistles, the movie still retains the charm and allure that made it so popular.

Rating: 9/10