BlackGeekdom Science-Fiction from a Different Perspective

This week Halo Legends was released on DVD and Blu-Ray.  I must admit that I don’t really play first person shooters.  And everyone tells me that Halo is the best of the best.  I have dabbled in the Medal of Honor and Call of Duty franchises and I even downloaded N.O.V.A. for the iPod Touch.  They are fantastic games, but I can’t play them more than 20 minutes at a time.  However, I do watch the cut scenes for many FPS on YouTube.  So, when I heard about this, I thought that it was just going to be a collection of new Halo cut scenes, until I heard it was going to be similar to how Animatrix was to The Matrix.  That got me interested.

The release is comprised of 7 animated short stories.  Each story delves into part of the Halo canon.  Fleshing out some things, and shedding light onto others.  Each episode was done in a different animation style.  Fans will appreciate that the material in the stories are canon.  Fans will like the episodes The Package and The Babysitter since they add to the mythos of the Spartans.  My favorite episode was The Duel.  I liked the animation and the story was a classic.  The Duel also gave you insight into the workings of the Covenant.  But I believe that most fans already know that the Covenant is not as monolithic as one would think.

Overall, I enjoyed watching it and I think anyone whose a fan of animation will appreciate this collection of stories.  I know most of the fans of the game will already have this, I would still recommend it for everyone else.

Posted under Animation, Reviews, Video Games News

Okay, so I’m late on this review.  Overall, I liked the movie, but I wouldn’t recommend you pay theater prices to go see it.  Wait till it comes out on video or cable.  I really was excited when this movie was announced and that Denzel was attached to the project.  Even the first theatrical trailer had me hyped about it. Book of Eli is about a lone man traveling across a post-apocalyptic world with a sacred book.  When asked where is he taking it, he answers, “where it needs to be.”  Cryptic.

I thought Denzel performed all his stunts exceptionally.  I also think that the Hughes Brothers did an excellent job adapting it for the screen.  The pyrotechnics were great.  I like to see things blow up.   My main problem with the movie is length.  The Hughes Brothers spent a tremendous amount of time showing us how bad ass Eli was.  They also spent time showing people doing a lot of traveling: walking, driving, etc.  I could have easily cut out about 20-30 minutes of the movie.  I have been a fan of the Hughes Brother’s work, From Hell, Menace to Society, Dead Presidents, but all of those movies were tight.  Book of Eli seemed like they tried to make an Epic with less than epic material.

Posted under Reviews

This will be quick.  The Mayans predicted that the Earth has an expiration date. (Unfortunately, some people went and talked to some Mayans and they looked at them like they were crazy, so apparently the Mayans have no idea what we are talking about).  The best thing about this movie were the effects.  The amount of detail that was put into the destruction of some of our treasured landmarks was some of the finest special effects I have seen in a long while.  If you are a fan of catastrophe or disaster movies, then this movie will be right up your alley.  There are many explosions, crashes, and even a dog (a must in good disaster flicks.).

Posted under Movies, Reviews

Let me start this review by saying that I liked the movie.  It was a fun ride.  Plenty of action, explosions, and effects.  Now, that being said, I had some issues.  But let’s start with the good things.

The effects were good.  I thought the action was well paced, and the story line was easy to follow.  I have to eat crow on something.  I had said previously that I the Waynans brother was going to make the movie unwatchable.  He didn’t do too bad of a job.  He wasn’t over the top as he is prone to be, and his comic relief didn’t take away from the story or anyone else’s screen time. The movie benefits from a plethora of sold performances led by Christopher Eccleston as James “Destro” McCullen,  Ray Park and Byung-hun Lee brought some excitement with all their scenes, together and separate, as Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow.  All the cool tech, especially the holographic communicators.  The S.H.A.R.C.s were cool, even though there was no Deep Six.

Problems:  The Cobra Commander’s mask at the end: Lame. The obvious nods to fans (Look at that. Real American Heroes…It comes with Kung-fu grip) Lame.  For fear of spoiling too much, there is a character who switches sides and loses everything that ever made that character appealing.  I could have used more characters mentions or cameos, like Deep Six, Shipwreck, Flint, etc.  The accelerator suits. Lame and unnecessary. Oh and as Lobo pointed out to me, the obvious Star Wars references especially towards the end of the movie.  Lame.

Overall, I enjoyed watching the movie.  And I would recommend it for anyone who was a fan of the cartoon series or the toys.  But don’t expect too much when you go see it.

Posted under Movies, Reviews

It’s taken me a few days to get my thoughts together.  Actually, I enjoyed the movie so much that I didn’t think it would be fair to write a review so soon after seeing the movie.  So, I waited until now since I have had time to digest everything and for the initial shock to wear off.  Let me start by saying it was difficult to not get hopes up for this movie. Star Trek wasn’t completely original (time travel, Khan-like revenge), but it did it in such a refreshing way.  Let me get to it.

Casting was perfect.  Chris Pine didn’t try to imitate Shatner’s Kirk, in fact, he made the role his own.  Zachary Quinto shed his Sylar skin, and became Spock.  The best casting, however, was Karl Urban as McCoy, and Simon Pegg as Scotty.  Karl Urban had the mannerisms and the vocal inflection down.  It went beyond an imitation. Simon Pegg brought his quirkiness and comedic timing to a character that always seemed to bring humor the crew.  Any movie with Bruce Greenwood (Capt. Christopher Pike) is automatically 10 times better.  He brought a gravitas and authority to his role as the no nonsense Captain/Academic .Without going on about everyone, everyone performed their roles well.  Oh, Eric Bana’s measured performance as the snarky villainous Nero was scary. 

The effects were great.  ILM who provided the effects didn’t any models in the space scenes.  If I didn’t know that, I wouldn’t have been able to tell.  The only problem that I had was J.J. Abrams overuse of flare.  I know he was going for a style, but after so many, it wasn’t special. 

Star Trek, to me, is the best Sci-Fi movie since the Matrix, and the best action movie since Transformers.  I expect there will be more.  And I can’t wait.

Posted under Movies, Reviews

This was one of the most anticipated movies of the Spring/Summer movie season.  I’ll make this review short.  Fanboys are going to hate it.  Fans of the Wolverine comics aren’t going to like it.  Fans of the X-Men series of movies are going to like it.  As far as the story goes, its fits into the story line of the X-Men trilogy of movies.  It gives the origin of our favorite mutant, Wolverine.  Questions about his past that were raised in the first movie are answered.  As with most origin stories, the action sequences were spread out by exposition.  But, when there was action, it was impressive.  Its easy to tell that they spent much time on getting the effects just right.  Hugh Jackman was his typical brooding Logan.  Liev Schrieber was excellent as Sabretooth.  Most of the other acting was okay.  However, Will.i.Am’s performance left little to be desired.  I was looking forward to him as Wraith, but he just didn’t do it for me.   One performance that stood out to me was Taylor Kitsch as Remy Lebeau/Gambit.  When I first saw him as Riggins on Friday Night Lights, I thought to myself, “He’d make a great Gambit.”  He did.

Problems:  No matter how good CGI gets, you can’t take years off an old man’s face and make him young again without it looking wierd.  No matter how far the stories of the X-Men are off base, at least they try to stay true to characters and their powers; however, Deadpool was so far off base as to make me almost completely dismiss Ryan Reynolds performace in the first part of the movie.  How do you have that much destruction at a Nuclear Power plant and not upset one of the reactors?  If I use an adamantium bullet and put a whole in your head, how do the wholes get filled in with adamantium?  I could go on, but I said I’d be short.

Fans of the series of movies and who have less than a passing knowledge of X-Men and Wolverine will enjoy the movie.  Everyone else, its going to be hit and miss.

Posted under Reviews

I have dogged this movie since it was announced.  I saw the movie, and was told by The Powers That Be that there wasn’t going to be a quick review.  I don’t write reviews but here’s one that sums up my general feelings. There are spoilers and some bad language, so be advised.  This guy is hilarious.  Even if you aren’t interested in the movie, this is entertaining.  Also, we should get him to do reviews here.

Posted under Reviews

I thought the movie was good.  I thought the acting was solid, the effects were done well, and I thought it stayed true to the comic.  The ending in the movie was much more believable than the ending in the comic.  My expectations weren’t that high.

Zach Snyder shows that he knows how to turn a graphic novel into a movie.  He takes the panels, as he did in 300, and makes them his story boards.  I did have a problem with a couple of scenes of Dr. Manhattan (no, not the blue dongle, that was more or less a slightly humorous distraction).  There were a couple of scenes where he looked like glowing blue modeling clay.  But it was okay since it had to be difficult to make him believable on film.  The makeup making the young actors of the Minutemen look older, didn’t bother me either.

My suggestion is don’t go see this movie if you want to see a superhero movie.  To me, that’s not what it is.  Its just like the comic.  More or less a discussion on the failings of human nature and how it affects anyone calling themselves a hero.  Watchmen is always hailed as a “deconstruction” of comic book superheroes, but I don’t think anyone who says that even knows what literary deconstruction is, but that’s a discussion for another time.

BTW:  Two black people.  One died and the other was a psychiatrist.  I consider that a wash.

Posted under Comics, Movies, Reviews

Acacia is about the assasination of King Akaran by the Mein as part of their attempt to overthrow the Empire and to claim what they believe is rightfully theirs.  However, King Akaran has long put into place contingencies for his children for such an event.  Contingencies that would lead them down the path to maybe relcaim the throne.  My one complaint is that somewhere in the last third of the book, it turned into Dune.  The story is about redemption and family.  There is magic and there are monsters, though far a few between.  Magic and monsters are lost in legend, and for the characters in this story, this introduction to this series is more for them than it is for the reader.

Acacia:  Book One: The War With the Mein by David Anthony Durham is my third venture into fantasy written by a minority.  It took me a while to read this book.  Normally, I can finish just about any good sized novel in a week, or maybe two.  But this book took me the better part of a month to read.  Why?  The depth and complexity of the writing is something that I honestly haven’t come across since Lord of the Rings.  Don’t think I am saying this is like Lord of the Rings.  The only thing they have in common is that they could be considered fantasy.  However, Acacia is like the anti-fantasy.

I have read a lot of fantasy, and have at times complained about how they are all the same, or are similar to Lord of the Rings that they aren’t enjoyable.  I would say that Durham has gone out of his way to make this book as unlike conventional fantasy as he could.  It actually read like a fictionalized version of the fall of some historical empire.  Durham seems to be more fascinated with the corruption that underlies a slightly unstable political structure.  There are no dwarves, elves, or orcs.  The world that Durham builds is filled with differing cultures of people.  Its more like a fall of the Roman Empire than anything else.  He takes great pains in describing the History of Acacia and the people who live their.  He makes you feel like its more important to understand the political environment than the story itself.

I recommed it for those who are avid readers of fantasy.

Posted under Reviews

Eleventh Hour is based on the BBC show by the same name (BBC America was nice enough to show it).  One problem I have is that it is completely exactly like the BBC show.  I mean the dialogue is the same minus the British accent.  So, CBS loses points for lack of originality.  Now that that’s out of the way, I liked everything about the show.  This show plays more like the X-Files then any other show that has ever tried to copy Fox and Scully.  The show doesn’t leave you asking more questions than when it began.  Its like what Fringe would be if it were streamlined and you combined Joshua Jackson and John Noble’s characters.

I don’t normally mention this but I do read message boards.  There seems to be a lot of people out there on the net who don’t like this show.  They fall into two categories, those who like Fringe (and are J.J. Abrams die-hard fans) and calls this a rip-off, and those who are former X-Philes who are still searching for that perfect replacement.  As a fan of genre shows, I think this is the best new genre show on T.V.  It gave me a self-contained story with an ending, plus planted a seed for a long arc story.  Rufus Sewell’s Dr. Jacob Hood is obviously a brilliant scientist, but he isn’t all knowing.  I say watch this show, and see how it plays out. 

Posted under Reviews, Television