The Sword and Laser discussion

Just finished the back half of Strange New Worlds. Rocky start to the season with some typical Trek stuff, but they really tied it all together by the end.

I’m a big fan of musicals, so I thought the musical episode was terrific. It wasn’t as stellar as the brilliant ones from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or the genuinely transcendent one from Scrubs (some hardcore Broadway aficionados wrote that one), but all in all it was solid. And the ten seconds of Klingons singing… 😂🤣 chef’s kiss.

The episode where Boimler and Mariner time-travel back to pre-TOS was hands down one of the funniest episodes of TV ever. I laughed out loud at least a dozen times. “No sharing knowledge of the future. Worf’s honor. Dangit!”

I also loved how they changed the intro a couple times. The musical version has a choir performing the theme, while the Boimler one had a cartoon version (complete with a gag from Lower Decks).

And they also went dark. Like grimdark. The one with M’Benga and Chapel in the Klingon war was probably the darkest Star Trek has ever gone, including the Dominion War stuff from DS9. Like “holy shit, did they just…?” dark.

Leaving us with a cliffhanger, though… oof. No guarantee the show will be renewed, either. Other than that, great season overall.

*scans*
*swoops out*

Forgot that was on last night. We watched two Pertwee Dr. Whos. Ep 1 and 2 of The Mind of Evil, featuring the writer's wife (Malaysian born) forced to do a thick Chinese accent. Also Pertwee's Who claimed to know "Tse-Tung" as the Chinese Ambassador stiffly stood up and said "that is the name of our leader, Mao Tse-Tung" so apparently Pertwee was being overly familiar, but Mao had explicitly given permission so it was A-OK. And on that, the Doctor must have tea with the Ambassador. Ah, stereotypes, unforced errors of a past age.

Will watch ST:SNW season finale tonight. Two nights ago, finally got around to seeing Ep 1 of Sandman. It's beautiful and all, but what worked as a comic, well, I didn't see the need to turn it into TV. I loved the hell out of the comics when they came out and have done two full rereads of the graphic novel, one with the companion volume in hand to be sure I got all the references. I'm glad Neil Gaiman got paid. I'll eventually see the rest, but no rush.

Trike wrote: "Leaving us with a cliffhanger, though… oof. No guarantee the show will be renewed, either. Other than that, great season overall."

It was renewed back in March for a season 3. That doesn't necessarily mean it's coming back but hopefully it will.

SNW is the best Trek since TNG and arguably better than TNG if we compare the first 2 seasons of each series. If Paramount fails to renew it as long as it keeps this level of quality they're idiot... oh. right.

I watched the first two episodes of Secret Invasion while my daughter was in town from college. WOW that was boring. I will finish the series...someday...when I have four hours of time on my hands and absolutely nothing else to do.

^ On the, er, plus side: Rotten Tomatoes had each episode at 50% give or take. Until the final episode, which scored single digits from the audience.

After I saw the final episode I checked the Rotten Tomatoes rating and saw it was an 11%. I quipped at the time, "why so high?" Well, it is now at 7%. Okay, it's not quite THAT bad, but expect really poor storytelling for the finale.

The good news is that the MCU has a ready solution for this: multiverse. It happened elsewhere.

To wit:

Scene:

Nick Fury arrives via a portal. A bit disoriented, he looks around.

Hill: Nick? What are you doing here?
Fury (pulls a gun): Who are you?
Hill: It’s me, Maria.
Fury: Hill’s dead. It’s a mistake to imitate her. Also in bad taste.
Hill: I’m not dead. I mean technically during the blip I was dead, I guess, but…
Fury: Blip?
(Talos enters.)
Talos: Hill, I have those coordinates that Danvers needed… (He trails off, seeing Fury.)
Fury: Somebody better come clean, right the fuck now!
Hill: Is he one of yours?
(Talos leans in, takes a sniff.)
Talos: No. not a Skrull. Smells like… him, actually.
Hill: Time travel?
Fury: Time travel ain’t possible.
Hill: The Avengers would disagree.
Talos: Oh, you know what this is? He’s from a different universe. He’s Nick Fury, just not our Nick Fury.
Hill: Ohh.
Talos: You’re familiar with the multiverse?
Fury (warily): In theory.
Talos: Well, turns out that it exists. (Pulls out his phone.) Hang on, I’ve just the chap you need to talk to.

(Cut to Wong handing out tea.)

Wong: It is nearly impossible to travel from one universe to another, but we’ve had some rather, er, cosmic events happen here in this universe over the past decade, so it’s weakened the barriers between universes. (Show scenes from MCU movies.) Dark Elves, Infinity Stones, a modicum of sorcery, a unique girl in all the multiverse who can travel between universes, an entire Savage Land transported… well, you get the picture.
Hill: Ever since the Chitauri attacked and Phil Coulson was killed-
Fury: Coulson’s alive. My Coulson is, anyway. He’s the director of SHIELD.
Hill (genuine smile): That’s great to hear. Phil was the best of us. I miss him.
Wong: So Thanos never acquired the Infinity Stones?
Fury: Never heard of the guy. After Annihilus attacked the Shi’ar, we organized a counter-offensive with the Avengers, the Champions and Reed Richards’ bunch taking point.
Hill: We don’t have The Champions here.
Fury: Black Widow, Hercules, Shang-Chi?
(Wong and Hill exchange a glance.)
Hill: Natasha died fighting Thanos.
Fury: I’m sorry to hear that.
Wong: Anyway, we have to see about sending you back.

(Cut to elaborate ritual. Spinning lights, etc.)

Wong: There you go.
Fury: Thanks. Maria, Talos, I’m happy to see you. Very happy.
Talos: I’m sorry for your loss, my friend.
Hill: Tell Phil I said hi.
Fury: Will do.
(Fury turns to go. He pauses.)
Fury: What did you do about the giant sticking out of the Earth?
Hill: We don’t have one of those here.
Fury: Lucky you.
(Poof. He’s gone.)
Hill: Who are the Shi’ar?
Talos: Beats me. We have weird lives.
Wong: This is just a day that ends in Y for me.

(Cut to a place beyond space, beyond time. A mysterious figure watches this last scene in a bubble.)
The Beyonder: Interesting.

That would be cool. And yet the What If series got at most half of the next-lowest show's viewership. Le sigh, I love What If.

Love that Trike. And while I still think it's jumping the gun to bail after 1 ep, you were dead on with this one. Aside from a bunch of logic errors, the way they changed Fury was a) garbage and b) never explained past what he told Hill about having 'a crisis of faith' and that crisis was never expanded on.

Rick wrote: "Love that Trike. And while I still think it's jumping the gun to bail after 1 ep, you were dead on with this one. Aside from a bunch of logic errors, the way they changed Fury was a) garbage and b)..."

I can spot guilty people just like *that*!

https://youtu.be/gwQmu0xfQeQ?si=FbYgd...

Prey is getting a disc release! I’m off to preorder now.

https://www.inverse.com/entertainment...

Edit: apparently pre-orders aren’t yet available. Will update.

Trike wrote: "I can spot guilty people just like *that*!

https://youtu.be/gwQmu0xfQeQ?si=FbYgd..."

God, I miss Carlin.

It has taken the world by the storm because it makes to us the groove.

Planet of the Bass
https://youtu.be/S-OgkNgxm3k?si=8qT5C...

Tour of a MASSIVE 7ft Long Disney Nautilus With a FULL INTERIOR!

https://youtu.be/dM7dNyq1MKo?si=v2yNC...

For some reason the internet is serving me up sci-fi submarines this week, and this amazing model was part of that. Talk about a geeky labor of love.

Trike wrote: "It has taken the world by the storm because it makes to us the groove.

Planet of the Bass
https://youtu.be/S-OgkNgxm3k?si=8qT5C..."

When the rhythm is glad there is nothing to be sad

RJ - Slayer of Trolls wrote: "Trike wrote: "It has taken the world by the storm because it makes to us the groove.

Planet of the Bass
https://youtu.be/S-OgkNgxm3k?si=8qT5C..."

When the rhythm is glad there is nothing ..."

You guys watch The Eurovision Song contest right? - that is full of this kind of stuff

John wrote: "You guys watch The Eurovision Song contest right? - that is full of this kind of stuff"

That's a thing?

Going to watch Ahsoka tomorrow and I srsly can't wait. D+ has their own playlist titled ''Ahsoka Essential'' episodes from Clone Wars, Rebels, Mando and Boba Fett in case anyone wants to catch up. It is a very short list though.

Speaking of Eurovision, Catherynne M. Valente has a book, “Space Opera”, that is Eurovision-in-space. The gist of the story is that to prove you are worthy of joining the ranks of a star-spanning galactic civilization you have to place in an intergalactic Eurovision-like contest. If you fail then your planet is is considered uncivilized and open to exploitation or annihilation by true member races.

RJ - Slayer of Trolls wrote: "John wrote: "You guys watch The Eurovision Song contest right? - that is full of this kind of stuff"

That's a thing?"

It's the European Cup for weird Euro Trash pop songs.

That weirdly includes Israel, Australia and some ex-Russian Asian countries 😕

Oaken wrote: "Speaking of Eurovision, Catherynne M. Valente has a book, “Space Opera”, that is Eurovision-in-space. The gist of the story is that to prove you are worthy of joining the ranks of a star-spanning g..."

Big Get Schwifty vibes https://rickandmorty.fandom.com/wiki/...

I just finished the first two episodes of Star Wars: Ahsoka. A good start, I think. It has a leisurely pace. I hope it picks up in future episodes. It looked fantastic and I think the casting is great.

I do wonder what someone who hasn't watched Clone Wars and Rebels will think of it because it's a continuation of Rebels.

Chris K. wrote: "I just finished the first two episodes of Star Wars: Ahsoka. A good start, I think. It has a leisurely pace. I hope it picks up in future episodes. It looked fantastic and I think the casting is great.

I do wonder what someone who hasn't watched Clone Wars and Rebels will think of it because it's a continuation of Rebels."

Excellent summation. There’s a lot of Easter egg, Easter egg, Easter egg, callback, callback, callback, but I think the basic story is super simple, therefor easy to follow.

I didn’t remember that Ray Stevenson was in it. His death was a shock to me, not least because he was the same age I am.

I wasn't even aware Ahsoka came out. (Really, how does no one call out Lucas for these silly faux-Asian names "Ah, so -ka" really? Qui Gon? Yep, after Darth Maul he is.) Anyhoo, was never a fan of Clone Wars or the whole Anakin / Ahsoka dynamic. Will be interesting to see what people here think. There's a chance I'll watch, probably behind old Dr. Who on the list but there will only be a few eps.

John (Taloni) wrote: "I wasn't even aware Ahsoka came out. (Really, how does no one call out Lucas for these silly faux-Asian names "Ah, so -ka" really? Qui Gon? Yep, after Darth Maul he is.) Anyhoo, was never a fan of ..."

Star Wars has always been racist. That’s why racists love it so. Jar-Jar made me cringe so hard I thought I’d implode.

Although to be fair, I don’t think Ahsoka is a George Lucas creation. I think she’s from Filoni. Not that it matters.

Please tell me you've seen the Hooper X bit from Chasing Amy.

EDIT: For those who have not and would like to...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqKv_...

John (Taloni) wrote: "Please tell me you've seen the Hooper X bit from Chasing Amy."

I saw the movie but have almost zero recollection of it.

Just watched it. So weird. I did see this book at Barnes & Noble today: The Black Guy Dies First: Black Horror Cinema from Fodder to Oscar.

Trike wrote: "Star Wars has always been racist. That’s why racists love it so. Jar-Jar made me cringe so hard I thought I’d implode.
..."

Ummm.... how is the mere use of Asian sounding names racist? I mean, I'm with you on JarJar - that was one reason I never watched the last 2 prequels - but I don't see the use of the names as racist.

In fact, I don't know that I'd consider Ahsoka particularly Asian. I mean, would you expect her to be called Sally? She is, after, not human so expecting an identifiably human name seems odd.

Also... maybe we can discuss the actual show, rather than pearl clutching about names from someone who hasn't even watched it?

Rick wrote: "Trike wrote: "Star Wars has always been racist. That’s why racists love it so. Jar-Jar made me cringe so hard I thought I’d implode.
..."

Ummm.... how is the mere use of Asian sounding names racis..."

It’s not. It’s all the other stuff taken as a whole. The all-white cast in Star Wars, the bad guy voiced by a black man, the Sand People, Nien Nunb, Jar-Jar, Watto, Trade Federation, etc. It may have been unintentional because of Lucas’ age causing him to have a blind spot about this stuff, but the result was the same.

I very much enjoyed the first two episodes as well. I actually really liked the slower pace, that is just my kind of thing. As usual I thought the score was excellent. And I thought the cast did a great job. I’m enjoying the performance of the actress playing Sabine, and I’m getting more used to her, but that is the one spot where I have a harder spot making the jump from the portrayal in Rebels to this. And I’ve known that since the first trailer. It doesn’t bother me, as much as it is something that I think on. I’m guessing as the show goes on, that will go away.

Speaking of Jar Jar Binks, there was a really interesting podcast I listened to recently called The Redemption of Jar Jar Binks, featuring interviews with Ahmed Best talking about how he got hired, created the character, (and the character was mostly his creation, not George Lucas’), was really excited about being in Star Wars, and then got so badly burned by the backlash that he came very close to throwing himself off Brooklyn Bridge. Then comes the redemption part, culminating in a guest appearance on The Mandalorian. It was a very interesting listen, you can read a good summary here: https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-ra...

As a fan of the Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels animated series, I am excited for the Ahsoka series. Dave Filoni has a track record of solid entertainment.

Trike wrote: "It’s not. It’s all the other stuff taken as a whole. The all-white cast in Star Wars, the bad guy voiced by a black man, the Sand People, Nien Nunb, Jar-Jar, Watto, Trade Federation, etc. It may have been unintentional because of Lucas’ age causing him to have a blind spot about this stuff, but the result was the same.
..."

Ok... but what does that have to do with the Ahsoka series?

On topic - I liked the first two episodes but they're definitely setup, get the band back together eps. Ahsoka is written a little oddly in that for much of the run time she's silent, walking around looking intense. I hope that loosens up as we go forward. We've seen her in other things (The Mandalorian, etc) and she's much more expressive so I assume it will.

Sabine's behavior pissed me off which, well, is Sabine in part. In other words, well done Filoni.

I do wonder how this all comes across to someone who never watched Rebels, etc because there are a lot of references to those events. If anyone is watching this and didn't watch Rebels, how does this come across to you?

Finally, I don't remember Disney ever cross promoting one of their series as much as they have Ahsoka. There are references so her appearances in other D+ series, there's been several minitrailers aside from the main one and a couple of behind the scenes videos. It feels like they want other things to follow the series that tie into it.

Rick wrote: "Ok... but what does that have to do with the Ahsoka series? "

It started the conversation. Scroll up.

Trike wrote: " It started the conversation. Scroll up."

Yes, Taloni was whining about the names. But... who cares? Far too often this place gets derailed by stuff like this vs actually discussing the work. Let's discuss the work.

On the subject of Lower Decks: Having finally watched Ep 1, on account of the wife liking the SNW crossover and wanting to see it, I'm curious what people think of a plot point. Specifically the vomit zombies. Expanse reference? It's just too close for me to think anything else.

Stephen wrote: "As a fan of the Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels animated series, I am excited for the Ahsoka series. Dave Filoni has a track record of solid entertainment."

Right. And I think what you are seeing is the beginning of the end for Kathleen Kennedy.

It's no secret that Disney has been having some financial woes (translation: the CEO had to sell one of his mansions) and they've bungled some media releases in the last couple years. Star Wars theatrical releases had to be curtailed after the first batch of films which were, let's just say, "uneven." Kennedy also oversaw the Willow debacle and the underperforming Indiana Jones film, so it's safe to say she's not on firm ground at this moment. In fact, every single future Star Wars film she championed has been put on hold.

Enter Filoni, who has been building a cache of goodwill with fans and studio alike with Clone Wars, Rebels, Bad Batch and of course Mandalorian. What Ahsoka really is, is a warmup for the Thrawn trilogy, and if that does well in theaters look for Kathleen to be sent off to the glue factory.

Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall are selling their Malibu house for $18.5 million. They paid $9.7 million for it in 2015. Their side hustle is real estate turnovers so I doubt they’ve ever spent time there, but it is gorgeous. Nine million in profit for 7 years? Must be nice.

https://robbreport.com/shelter/celebr...

It’s not SF&F but do yourself a favour and check out Deadloch on Amazon. See what Tessie Dave’s neighbours are like

Iain wrote: "It’s not SF&F but do yourself a favour and check out Deadloch on Amazon. See what Tessie Dave’s neighbours are like"

Based on the title alone I assumed this took place in Scotland. So Tasmania is now getting in on the “murder in a quaint village” dealio?

I guess Brokenwood wasn't obscure enough.

Iain wrote: "It’s not SF&F but do yourself a favour and check out Deadloch on Amazon. See what Tassie Dave’s neighbours are like"

Mostly filmed south of Hobart. In Cygnet & Kingston. Not really like my part of the world.

For my part of the world see "Bay of Fires" which was filmed in my hometown (Queenstown) and surrounding towns (Strahan & Zeehan) and weirdly no where near the real 'Bay of Fires' which is on the north-east coast. 😕

Trike wrote: "Iain wrote: "It’s not SF&F but do yourself a favour and check out Deadloch on Amazon. See what Tessie Dave’s neighbours are like"

Based on the title alone I assumed this took place in Scotland. So..."

Depends on your definition of quaint...

One of the main characters has a truly impressive ability to swear... I was surprised and it takes a bit...

The writers prepared a (view spoiler)[C*&^ manifesto (hide spoiler)] to explain the language... The spoiler is because it is really ruse.

Tassie Dave wrote: "Mostly filmed south of Hobart. In Cygnet & Kingston."

I clicked in during a bleary-eyed moment and read that as "Filmed in Cygnet & Klingon."

Which TBH would be a badass show. You haven't seen Deadloch until you've seen it... in the original Klingon! Tho I'd definitely need subtitles. For the makers of this series, Qapla'!

Lower Decks fans: How good was your Star-Trek-Fu? (view spoiler)[I didn't recall the "Tuvix" episode altho the Lower Decks ep gave enough info to follow along. I have a vague memory of the Voyager ep so probably saw it, some-odd 25 years ago. Definitely didn't know what was going to happen as the flower petal flowed merrily along the air currents. (hide spoiler)]

Watched Secret of NIMH last night, a nostalgia favorite. For those who may not recall, it's the tale of Mrs. Brisby trying to move her home while her ill son must remain inside. It's Don Bluth at the height of his powers, a non-Disney animated movie that beats all the Disney movies of the day.

While Disney is full of the teen-angst "what will I do with my life" stuff, Mrs. Brisby is a mother watching out for her children. And what a mother! She confronts her fears at multiple stages to wrangle great powers to help her.

And it's stories within stories. Her husband has recently died while on a mission she knew nothing about. Why? He was one of two mouse escapees from NIMH which had stimulated him and a dozen rats to intelligence. Basically a demigod by mouse standards, he concealed his true nature from the natural-born mouse he came to love.

And it's the story of saving an entire new race. Mrs. Brisby is invited to read at one point and says her husband taught her to read a little...but the kids are much better. So the genes live on.

These side stories are great, kind of subtle and reward multiple viewings. But the stunner each time is Mrs. Brisby using the power of the Stone to move her home after it apparently sinks beneath the mud. As Nicodemus says, "Courage of the heart is very rare...the Stone has a power, when it's there."

...okay, that saying is the ONE thing Disney would have done better. Animation is Bluth's strength. Not poetry.

Mrs. Brisby's frightened faces throughout show the extent of terror a mouse would have on facing an owl, or gigantic (to her) rats. There's even a not-so-villainous villain who stops the greater villain. It's not a "hero must solve problem" issue throughout. The only time the MC has to solve the problem is at the end, and it's in an unexpected, visually stunning way.

I first saw this at a convention umpteen years ago. We expected some silly movie and before it started we were talking about bailing after a few minutes. No one left.

That film is great, and I've almost always been a fan of Don Bluth, even when I sometimes didn't know he was involved. It wasn't until looking him up again that I was reminded Titan AE was one his productions. While I know it is not considered great by many, I've always really liked it.

Also years ago I purchased a used video game cabinet that had most recently housed a vertical shooter called "Raiden II", but originally had been a Dragon's Lair. I had always intended to turn it into a MAME machine, so as I did I also got some original parts, and some reproduction ones to make it look much like it did originally. Bluth had done the animation both for that as well as it's sister game Space Ace.

And I also remember being fascinated with Secret of NIMH as a kid. I loved the complex story telling being done in animation, something I didn't get out of most Disney properties, or even other animation at the time. I watched a few years back, and would agree it holds up very well.

I concur, Secret of NIMH is the cat’s pyjamas.

As I was listening to the owls hoot-hooting the other night, while carefully watching my snack-sized Chihuahua do her bidness, I was thinking of the scene where Mrs. Brisby goes to the owl for advice, thinking just how nightmarishly effed-up that scene was. It’s way beyond the “going into the dragon’s cave” metaphor for me, because these are based on real creatures, one of which is fifty times the size of the other and *eats* several of her kind every night.
https://youtu.be/SqYo8130hhA?si=HrRlx...

Ah, but Trike, as the Crow says, the Owl only eats mice at night.

...and night was falling just as Mrs. Brisby left...