Ancestor

As a child I use to listen to kids books on record and tape. I remember a Tarzan story I had on cassette I must have listen to a thousand times reliving the adventures of Tarzan and his chimp side kick Cheetah over and over again. The next audio drama I recall was a 45 record of the original crew of Star Trek. I even had story records for the He-Man toys and the movie Gremlins, so I guess it isn’t must of a surprise I still enjoy invoking my minds stage by listening to stories either as audio books or radio dramas.

In the late 90′s my first experience with the internet was WebTV. Over all it wasn’t the best web tool, but in the days of 56k modems it made browsing pretty easy. One of the things I found that made an impact on me was Seeing Ear Theater (SET) on the SciFi channels web site. SET streamed some the best science fiction audio dramas I’d ever heard. I enjoyed them so much I ran the volume of my WebTV through my cassette stereo and recorded the shows off to tape so I could listen to them on the go.

A few years later, around 2003-2004 my wife gave me my first iPod. At first I filled it up music and carried it ever where, but even with 30 gigabytes of my music it wasn’t as rewarding to me as exploring fantastic worlds in my mind. I began to search the web looking for audio to inspire my dreams and my search lead me back to SET. With my iPod the cassettes I had made before where useless so I found a program that allowed me to record audio that was streaming through my sound card. Again I captured as much of the audio as I could and finally I had a small library of audio dramas to enjoy on the go.

The first year or so of owning an iPod there wasn’t a lot of spoken word entertainment to be found. Audible.com was around but their science fiction and horror, my genre of choice, was pretty thin and the monthly cost wasn’t something that interested me at the time. Early 2005 I began to hear about podcasts. At that point to listen to them you needed special pod-catching software, go to a web site that hosted them or find them on torrent sites.

The first podcast I can remember listening to was This Week In Tech (TWiT). I had enjoyed a television show called Screen Savers for the past few years but as the network that aired the show progressed and changed, going from ZDTV to TechTV and finally ending at G4, the Screen Savers had lost its appeal and finally was canceled. The former host of the Screen Savers created TWiT and the show had the “feel” of the previous show I enjoyed so it was an easy choice to include it on my weekly listening providing I was able to find it and download it using my torrent software.

In June of 2005 Apple introduced iTunes 4.9 which incorporated podcast. Now it was easier than ever to download podcast and get them on my iPod. TwiT was the first podcast I subscribed to and my search began to find interesting things to listen to.

Most of the early podcasts I listened to where fan shows, things like Harry Potter fan shows Mugglecast and Pottercast and Firefly’s the Signal. Then I found my first podcast novel, Earthcore by Scott Sigler, and I was hooked. Well I shouldn’t say “my” first postcast novel because as Sigler would point out, Earthcore was the world’s first podcast only novel.

There were 5 or 6 episodes of Earthcore already available to download by the time I found it and after listening to them was hooked as a good junkie should be. Why a junkie you might ask, well  “Junkies” is the loving name given to fans or listener of Sigler’s books. Once you listen to the first episode you are hooked and can not wait for the next.

Over the next few years Sigler continued putting out great books for free as podcasts and I continued devouring them like crazy. Geeky as I am, I even signed up on his site to let my junkie flag fly. Of course I’m Tavaron over there if you go look.

In 2008 Sigler published Infected with a major printing label Crown Publishing and followed it up with Contagious later the same year.

Earlier this week Sigler’s latest book under the Crown Label, Ancestor, was released. I pre-ordered my copy a few months back and I’m eagerly awaiting it, but for those of you who enjoy good action/science /horror stories you should check it out.

To find out more about Scott Sigler, his books and his still free podcasts novels check out his website www.scottsigler.com

Karate Kid 2010

Spoilers ahead, you’ve been warned…

Growing up in the 80′s and looking into the next millennium I expected flying cars, robot maids and all those kind of futuristic things. What I did not expect is the growing list of television shows, cartoons and films from the 80′s being updated for the modern audience. In one week two very well known 80′s franchises where relaunched with new actors and new stories but similar feeling as their 80′s counterpart.

One of these 80′s remakes is the Karate Kid starting Jaden Smith as the lead kid. The new film follows the original story with it’s own take on the tale. Young Dre Parker (Smith) and his mother (Taraji P. Henson) travel to China for a new job and a new life. Once there Dre realizes he doesn’t fit in when some of the local bullies decide to make his life tough. The leader of the bullies, Cheng (Zhenwei Wang) and his gang are trained in Kung Fu and torment Dre every time they run into him. After Dre plays a prank on the group they chase him down and begin to beat him. Mr. Han (Jackie Chan), the handy man at Dre’s apartment steps in to protect Dre. After defeating the group of boys, Dre asks Mr. Han to teach him Kung Fu to help protect himself from the other kids. Mr. Han takes Dre to speak with Cheng’s teacher Master Li (Rongguang Yu) to try and rectify the problem. Master Li has trained his students to never show mercy and informs Mr. Han that he is not going to be able to leave if either he or Dre does not fight. Mr. Han tells Master Li that Dre with fight Cheng but needs time to train so they are to meet in the upcoming Kung Fu tournament. Master Li agrees and Mr. Han begins to train Dre in an unorthodox method. Dre learns more than Kung Fu as his friendship with Mr. Han grows, so does his respect for his mother.

The 2010 version of Karate Kid differs from the original yet maintains the heart of the original. Jackie Chan is the perfect replacement for the instructor originally played by the late Pat Morita.

The younger cast in this version felt strange to me. The violence between such young kids in the film felt wrong to me compared to the much older actors in the original. Although it is easy to see Jaden Smith has had martial arts training compared to Ralph Macchio in the original. Bottom line if you saw the original the new one offers little new to the story, but the action is bumped up to the next notch. If you haven’t seen the original then it is a fun family film, providing your family is okay with the fighting. Keep in mind the over all moral to the story is Kung Fu is for defense and not to fight. Jaden is still pretty young and seems a little challenged with his performance at times but Jackie Chan was incredible. I’m not sure I’ve seen a better performance from him.

It is worth sitting through the first part of the end credits to see some behind the scenes photos. Shots of Jaden with dad Will Smith are touching and a shot of Jaden with his hair upbraided caused quite the chuckle in the theater.

I enjoyed the film but can’t say I’m in a hurry for the Blu-ray release. It is worth a viewing so check it out, but go to a cheap show save you cash for the other big 80′s remake.

Splice

Spoilers ahead, you’ve been warned…

Probably one of the scariest concepts in the modern age is the idea of how far will man push the boundaries of science before science pushes back. The reason it is scary is it is real. We found out how scary real science can get in 1945 with the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Since then we’ve moved into the world of colliding atoms and DNA splicing. The idea of creating a black hole that causes the planet to implode and get sucked into the black hole afterward or creating a creature with DNA manipulation that you are not quite sure if it is harmless or not are the nightmares science can be created today. That fear of science has made its way to the movie theater in the recent release of Splice.

Spice revolves around two scientists,  Clive Nicoli (Adrien Brody) and Elsa Kast (Sarah Polley). They are in charge of developing new species to harvest tissue from for the benefit of medical research. To do so, they use genes from different animals to created new life forms. After successfully creating a new male and female life form, the two scientist secretly continue their research by adding human DNA. After a quicker than expected gestation period a new life form was born. Clive wanted to destroy it before the experiment went to far, but Elsa decided to keep it and study the new creature they named Dren.

Dren (Delphine Chanéac) grew quickly and developed into an intelligent female with a tail with a stinger at its tip.

When the company funding the research begins to pressure the science team for results Clive and Elsa move Dren from the laboratory  they had her hidden in to a storage room then finally moving her to a farm Elsa owned.

Keeping Dren a secret and raising the new creature begins to take its toll on the two scientists relationship, especially once Dren begins to get feelings for her creator father Clive.

The film has a few good scares but really felt less like the horror film I was expecting and more like dark drama or thriller. There where plenty of times where the film made me feel uncomfortable but few where I actually felt scared.

Over all the acting was good. the performances Abigail Chu as young Dren and Delphine Chanéac as the older Dren was done very well. For a creature that doesn’t speak both actors where able to make you feel compassion for the creature and fear at the same time.

Overall I think I liked the movie, although for some reason I felt almost dirty walking out of the theater. It was like I shouldn’t have watched what I just saw and I can’t explain why I had that feeling. I did not find the movie overly scary nor do I feel a want to watch it again anytime soon. That being said I felt it was well made, and interesting premise with excellent acting. I just can’t put my finger on why I’m not excited to put this movie on my Blu-Ray wish list.

If you like this type of movie, you should see it. Maybe go see it at a local cheap theater or during a manatee to save some cash, with ticket prices these days save where you can, but I think it is worth a viewing. At very least rent the Blu-ray or DVD when it makes it way home but don’t watch it with children.

Robin Hood

Spoilers ahead, you’ve been warned…

I’ve been a long time fan of Ridley Scott‘s films. Since I was a kid and first saw films like Alien, Blade Runner and Legend I was hooked. Some people might say he stumbled for a few years with pictures like Thelma & Louise and G.I. Jane, I for one enjoyed both, but most would agree he hit home runs with Gladiator and Black Hawk Down. There have been mixed reviews of some of his newer films like Matchstick Men, Kingdom of Heaven and American Gangster, again I liked them although preferred the directors cut of Kingdom of Heaven more than the theater cut. His latest film is a retelling of the legendary archer and bandit Robin Hood.

To tell you the story of Robin Hood would be a little difficult because every time a version is made details of the story change. Over all it is the tale of a man who becomes a bandit and with his followers, often referred to as his merry men, take up arms against the corrupt Sheriff of Nottingham and protect the people by stealing from the corrupt rich and giving to the poor.

But this film isn’t that story. This is the tale of military archer Robin Longstride (Russell Crowe) who has fought with King Richard the Lionheart (Danny Huston) during the crusades and is returning from the war. As the army marches north it stops along the way to pillage cities in France as to not return to England broke and empty handed. While attacking the last city before meeting with the barge to take them home the King is killed and the army retreats.

The one of the Kings nobles, Robert Loxley, takes the crown to return it to the Kings son, soon to be new King, Prince John. Loxley and his group of Knights were attack and killed by Godfrey (Mark Strong), a friend to Prince John (Oscar Isaac) who was working for the King of France. Robin and his group seeing a group of English being attacked fought back forcing the French to run. Loxley with his dying breath asks Robin to return his sword to his father Walter Loxley (Max von Sydow) which he agrees to do.

Robin realizes he and his men won’t be allowed on the barge home as commoners so he takes the identity of Robert Loxley while his men take the gear of the Knights. The pretend nobles take the crown and use the barge to return to England. After handing over the crown to pampered Prince John, Robin and his men head to Nottingham where they are meant to split and go their own ways.

When Robin goes to the home of Sir Walter Loxley  to return the sword and ask about an inscription found on the hilt, he runs into the now widowed Marion Loxley (Cate Blanchett). After reporting the news of Robert Loxley’s death to Marion, she takes him to Walter Loxley to return the sword. To his surprise Robin is asked by Walter to continue playing the part of his son Robert because Walter is old, blind, and weak and with Marion being a woman the family lands would be claimed by the crown. Robin agrees to the deception.

Meanwhile, King John sends out Godfrey to collect taxes and Godfrey uses his power to anger the people in an attempt to force an uprising causing the Kings forces to be split between the uprising citizens and the incoming forces from France.

Robin gathers his men to help fight against the invading army.

Originally I was pretty disappointed with the movie. I didn’t feel it was a Robin Hood film, but more like a sequel to Kingdom of Heaven. Then I got into an argument with a buddy of mine over Guy Richie’s Sherlock Holmes flick. He was saying Holmes needed the traditional hat and pipe and shouldn’t be an action hero. My thought was we’ve seen that version and there are plenty of classic examples that do it fine. My guess was Mr. Richie wanted to do something different, and I thought making the fight and action scenes  unfold using intellect was an interesting approach. Once I had debated that a new twist to an old subject was refreshing, I couldn’t go the other way with Robin Hood.

If you are a purest Robin Hood fan who looks forward to Robin doing trick shots at the Sheriffs competition, then this isn’t the Robin Hood you’re looking for. If you want something in the vain of Kingdom of Heaven meets Gladiator then this will be your favorite movie ever.

Russell Crowe played Robin like he plays every character, quite and bruiting. There where times I forgot I was watching a Robin Hood film and thought it was Maximus from Gladiator. Mark Strong as Godfrey was a convincing enough antagonist, but he has had a lot of practice this last year playing the bad guy that the performance didn’t stand out. Even Cate Blanchett who is normally a screen darling didn’t seem to shine as brightly as normal. The people who really seemed to stand out to me where two fairly small parts. One of which, Friar Tuck (Mark Addy) and the other Sir Walter Loxley (Max von Sydow). Addy was a perfect fit for Tuck and brought some humor to a fairly dry movie.  Sydow playing the strange pretend father to Crowe’s Robin was probably the best character in the film even though he has less that ten minutes screen time. Between his instant likable personality and the glee his character seems to exude, Sydow is a blessing to the film.

The actor that made the biggest impression on me was Oscar Isaac as Prince John. I hadn’t seen Isaac before his performance in Robin Hood, but he felt very convening as spoiled John and as the story developed I really thought he was learning and growing only to have the carpet pull from under me when he reverts to his head strong ways.

Overall the look and feel of the film was that of a well made movie. I understand we are getting a different telling of the Robin Hood mythology and I’m fine with that. I even feel this telling makes sense in a pseudo-historic way. I think in the end it just wasn’t the adventure I was hoping for. I think I’ll watch it again once it comes to Blu Ray, I’m sure there will be the three hour directors cut, and try it out in a different mind set but for now if you want a recommendation for Robin Hood check out Mel Brooks: Men in Tights or my favorite version was done in England during the 1980′s call Robin of Sherwood and stars a young Ray Winstone as Wil Scarlet.