Big Dumb Object

Torchwood, Children Of Earth, Day Four

2009-07-09T21:14:24Z

The tense thriller story continues with some emotional content and Science Fictional dilemmas.

Spoilers ahead…

Torchwood series 3 continues to surprise me, this episode containing some real emotions, some real dilemmas and some interesting peril. I think the extended length of the story (5 hours instead of 1) has allowed the plot to breath and allowed some great content, more than just explosions and running around.

Jack is dealing with his demons. He’s lived a long time and done some bad things. Ianto’s not really sure what to make of it. Nicely handled. I like the fact that a story is actually using Jack’s long life for some purpose, using the Science Fiction trope for something interesting, like RTD used The Doctor’s long life. And although the endless Captain Scarlet dying and waking up is getting old, the longevity and superhero capabilities of Captain Jack are now more interesting with some added depth.

The politicians were portrayed a little coarsely perhaps, or maybe I’m just being kind to politicians. It’s certainly a story line that plays to recent headlines, with them taking care of themselves first. However seeing the voice of the Daleks distracted me a little, kept waiting for him to shout EXTERMINATE!

I also enjoyed the direction in this episode, some great images: in the chamber with the aliens, the end scene of the dead and even the shaky close ups of the politicians. Everything seems better with some time to breath and linger, the shots, the emotion, the characters. If this was a single hour long episode there would be more explosions and running around. I hope this is a lesson they learn for the new series of Doctor Who.

The episode ends with the perfect last act setup. Things are very bad. How can the world possibly escape?

Good stuff.

A Clip Of Unaired Dollhouse Episode, Epitaph One

2009-07-09T07:00:57Z

The almost legendary unaired Dollhouse episode Epitaph One will be on the DVD and BluRay editions of the series, and here's a clip.

I’m not sure whether cut episodes and scenes deserve the attention they get, because usually if they were good they would get shown. Surely? Is it just fanboys/girls obsessing about inaccessible stuff?

Torchwood, Children Of Earth, Day Three

2009-07-08T21:17:25Z

Day three of the new Torchwood series, Children Of Earth and the story is enjoyably tense. I’m managing to ignore the implausibility and enjoy the SF thriller build up (and actually there is less implausibility than usual).

Spoilers ahead…

This episode focussed on Torchwood regrouping and the aliens arriving. We still don’t really know why the aliens are arriving, but we do know that Torchwood and the British government have been involved in a murky past with them before. And it’s all the civil servants fault, as usual.

I liked how the aliens remain shrouded in gas, mere silhouettes. Even their name is mysterious, 456. Like it. I also like the style of the ambassadorial chamber, creepy and gothy. The special effects were kept to a minimum and the episode was the better for it.

Also enjoyable was the Torchwood team on a short con Hustle spree to nick all the stuff they need. I like it when the heroes have to work and don’t just get all the answers via some groovy know-it-all technology.

Not sure how Torchwood are going to save the world from the aliens, but quite looking forward to the answer (as long as it’s good).

Torchwood, Children Of Earth, Day Two

2009-07-07T21:14:47Z

So, part two of the new Torchwood series. It’s actually quite nice to not have to wait a week and be able to watch it the next day.

I enjoyed this episode. Still plenty of silliness, but it was a tense thriller episode.

Spoilers ahead….

So, it appears that the children being used as a broadcast device for returning aliens is indeed just a dramatic hook. I’d rather have had a group, or a single child, being used, someone we could care about, as it’s a bit difficult to care about every single child in the entire world at the same time.

I liked the on-the-run episode, with Ianto and Gwen having to run and run, whilst figuring out what was going on. As we, the viewers are, there’s been a few hints dropped but all we know is that the aliens are coming back (or monsters from the deep?). Good to see the Torchwood crew escaping Cardiff, about time.

The silliness of indestructible Captain ~~Scarlet~~ Jack reached new heights, as he exhibited T1000 scales of coming back from the dead. Re-growing from just a head, to a body. I laughed a lot when they encased him in concrete, and again when the concrete block was dropped off a cliff. Although I could have done without seeing Barrowman naked. To be honest, it wasn’t as bad a get out of jail as I expected, at least he grew back in absolute agony.

And the episode ended on a lovely image of the crazy civil servant resting his hands wide on the alien atmosphere tank, complete with red an black checked marble tiles in front. Very gothy.

Entertaining and better than expected. Looking forward to tomorrow’s episode.

Awesome Science T-Shirts

2009-07-07T06:38:00Z

I love these WearScience.com T-Shirts. Here’s my two favourites:

…but they’re all pretty awesome.

Torchwood, Children Of Earth, Day One

2009-07-06T21:15:02Z

A new Torchwood series! And this time just five episodes, spread across one week. That’s a bit like the length of an old Doctor Who story.

Well, Torchwood had it’s work cut out to win me back. I’ve enjoyed the Nu Who despite its failings but Torchwood always had too many faults: the premise is ridiculous, the acting was dodgy, the stories didn’t make much sense, there was too much gratuitous sex and it was just no fun. It felt like an opportunity missed.

So can the new series succeed? Maybe.

Spoilers ahead…

It was definitely a lot better, mainly due to its density. Not only did we have the main typical alien threat plot, but we had personal stories for the three main characters, an internal threat and a red herring plot.

There was of course the usual nonsense. No matter how much the show itself makes fun of the Torchwood hub it’s plainly nonsense that it’s a secret base in the centre of Cardiff. As is the premise that everyone knows about them but they’re secret. And they’ve still got that ridiculous Range Rover, it’s not cool, even a little bit.

And it’s the lack of realism that hits Torchwood again and again. I’m sure someone thought it would be cool to have all the children in the entire world pause and speak an alien message, but it’s not very believable. And even if it did happen the response would be dramatically different to what is shown in Torchwood.

There was some running, despite John Barrowman being unable to run properly, there was some shooting, and there was an explosion. But the best scenes were the personal ones, with Ianto and Captain Jack going to see family. More of that please.

Has potential, I’ll be watching tomorrow.

Torchwood, Children Of Earth Starts Tonight

2009-07-06T06:56:00Z

The new five part Torchwood series, Children Of Earth, starts tonight on BBC1 at 9pm and continues every day this week.

I’m hoping it will be great, but so far Torchwood has not lived up to my hopes. I want it to be realistic, not melodramatic, have an original plot and not tie the whole thing up with crazy Deus Ex Machina. Good Science Fiction, please.

PS Publishing Adding Free Online Fiction Samples

2009-07-02T20:04:25Z

PS Publishing are gradually adding free fiction samples to the catalogue - a single story from collections and anthologies, and a chapter or extract from longer works.

So for example if you want to read a story by Paul Di Filippo (Harsh Oases) or an extract from Starfall by Stephen Baxter, then you can.

Which all in all is an excellent idea. I’m much more likely to buy a book if I read a sample and like it.

Farscape The Box Set

2009-07-02T19:58:45Z

To mark Farscape's 10th anniversary, this November, the entire series will be released in a single box set. Here’s the blurb:

Never before available in one package, the DVD set will bring together all four seasons with countless hours of absorbing bonus programming featuring multiple commentaries, interviews with cast and crew, behind-the-scenes featurettes and much more! Single season collector’s sets will also be released, offering genre fans of all walks the opportunity to sample this superlative sci-fi classic.

Wow, they really go for it in their marketing copy!

There will also be the obligatory Comic-Con panel featuring executive producer Brian Henson, creator Rockne O’Bannon, and stars Ben Browder and Claudia Black. (Yes, it’s Comic-Con soon get ready for the PR overload.)

I really liked Farscape, but would have liked it even better without the muppets.

Are Anthologies The New Magazines?

2009-07-02T06:46:00Z

With the news that Talebones is closing as a magazine and opening as an anthology, it got me wondering:

Are anthologies the new magazines?

There seems to me to be a resurgence in anthologies and single author story collections. Is it now more economical to publish a book than a magazine, even if the book is limited edition? Would readers rather read books than magazines when it comes to short fiction?

Nexterlizer - Simple Recommendations

2009-07-01T07:06:00Z

Deciding what to read or play or watch or listen to next, can be a tricky thing. Too much choice, too many decisions.

To help you there are a myriad of web sites: catalogue everything you’ve ever read, make friends and let them make suggestions, answer forty two questions. And so on.

All of which are nice, but let’s face it, too much hassle. I’ve been in and out of more book recommendation sites than I can remember and none of them have satisfied what I want. So I decided to build one.

It’s called Nexterlizer and it’s the simplest recommendation application I could imagine: tell it what you last read, watched, listened to or played and it will try and give you a recommendation. Not a list, not a choice, just one. Sometimes it won’t find a recommendation, most of the times it will.

It’s a Getting Real (37Signals) approach to recommendations.

There’s also a Twitter bot @nexterlizer which you can tweet with your last item and it will reply with its suggestion.

eg. @nexterlizer Oryx And Crake

or if you want to specify whether it was something you read, played, listened to or watched you can add a prefix:

r for read
l for listened to
p for played
w for watched

eg.

@nexterlizer p Guitar Hero
@nexterlizer w Terminator Salvation

etc.

Try it out, let me know what you think and I hope you have fun with it.

Torchwood Children Of Earth Website

2009-06-30T17:37:00Z

The official Torchwood Children Of Earth website is taking shape, with some locked galleries, some promo pics and a still empty episode guide.

I’m more hopeful of this being decent than I was a month ago because (1) The trailers look good (2) James Moran wrote three of the episodes and I liked his Primeval episode.

It starts next Monday and is on consecutive days until Friday.

A Comedy About Clive Sinclair

2009-06-30T17:07:00Z

It was Science Fiction before the eighties, but for many of us growing up then a home computer was science fact, thanks to Clive Sinclair and his revolutionary ZX home computers. Although I quickly graduated to a BBC Microcomputer, enter Chris Curry.

The BBC are currently filming a comedy about that period, called Syntax Era and featuring Alexander Armstrong as Clive Sinclair, and Martin Freeman as Chris Curry. Freeman was of course in the excellent Office and Hot Fuzz and the reputedly (still not seen it) not so excellent film version of The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy. Armstrong is best known from the very funny Armstrong and Miller comedy show.

Written by Tony Saint, this 90-minute drama uses archive footage to help illustrate the buzz around Sinclair and Curry's inventions. Classic clips from programmes including John Craven's Newsround showcase the likes of Sinclair's ZX Spectrum, the infamous Sinclair C5 and Curry's triumphant BBC Micro computer demonstrating the influence these men had on Eighties' life.

Sounds geeky and perfect.

[Photo by Bowdie Some rights reserved]

Virtuality, The Critics Like It

2009-06-30T06:40:00Z

It appears that Virtuality, the new TV movie from Battlestar Galactica writers Ronald D. Moore and Michael Taylor is a hit with the critics.

The story follows a 12-member spaceship crew on a decade-long journey across the galaxy to find a new home for the human race before the Earth grows uninhabitable. Trouble ensues when the ship’s virtual-reality system begins to malfunction.

There’s a chance it could be turned into a series if there’s a big enough response.

It sounds, well, not exactly original, but it would be unfair to judge without seeing it, perhaps it’s wonderfully executed? I haven’t found any mention of it coming to the UK.

Locus Award Winners

2009-06-29T06:32:00Z

The winners of the 2009 Locus Awards have been announced. The full list is here. Anathem by Neal Stephenson won the best Science Fiction novel. For the short fiction "Pretty Monsters" by Kelly Link won best novella, "Pump Six" by Paolo Bacigalupi won best novella and "Exhalation" by Ted Chiang won best short story.

So that’s Pretty Monsters and Pump Six on the wish list….