Archives For Sci-Fi

Inception: A Movie Review

July 16, 2010 — 1 Comment
Inception | A Film Review from Mikepedia

Inception --> What a film!

One of the things I love to do in the summer is to go to a midnight movie release with some friends.  I can still remember the crowd cheering a the end of The Dark Knight at 3am back in 2008, sitting next to a horrible smelling yet beloved comic nerd a local premiere of Watchmen, and being disappointed  by Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.  If you haven’t seen a movie at midnight I highly suggest you try it sometime; there is no crowd like a midnight crowd.

Anyways, as you’ve gathered from the title of this blog post, I’m now writing about my experience seeing Christopher Nolan’s Inception last night.  I don’t usually write movie reviews but I should probably start by saying that I absolutely loved it.  This year, most movies have been in the lame to mediocre range, but Inception was a breath a fresh air (of course I would describe this feeling by using the aforementioned cliche).  It’s a completely original story (not based on any books or other films), created by the guy who directed Memento, The Prestige, and The Dark Knight among others.

Inception stars some of today’s greatest actors (grab the details here) and they all do an excellent job.  The film’s premise is based on the idea of being able to enter other people’s dreams, either to steal ideas or to plant ideas.  It’s set in a sort of corporate espionage framework but don’t think its just another espionage film.  I’d rather not summarize the plot because this is movie that I think would be best enjoyed by sitting down and getting lost in it, but I can try to describe the experience a viewer would be subjected to.

When you start watching the movie Continue Reading…

In Film , , , , , , ,
permalink

The Jupiter Mission by Robertson B.

March 31, 2010 — 8 Comments
This is a short story that my little brother (10 years old) wrote.  The Jupiter Mission.  When I read it I couldn’t believe how good it was!  It bears more than a few similarities to my favorite Sci-Fi author, Philip K. Dick.  I will pass on any comments to Robertson.  Enjoy!

—

Far into the Arizona desert, the super secret military base, also known as Area 51 is currently testing an experimental rocket prepared for travel to Jupiter.  Not far, maybe one mile away, is a small wooden worn down shack, and the contents of the shack would be four orphans.  Tim, Alex, Robert, and Billy are all around the age of 10.  As they sat helpless, Robert sprung to his feet and said, “We can’t just sit here! We need to find food!” The other agreed with a nod.

Soon they all were outside and were scavenging the ground for as much as a beetle.  Tim stumbled upon a small rock.  But it was too shiny to be a common rock.  It looked even new, and nothing is new in the Arizona desert.  Tim tipped it over.  He now knew the rock was on hinges and a huge opening with a ladder went down into a pit.  The rest of the group exclaimed, “What did you do now?”  Tim raised his shoulders in a gesture-like way.  As they looked into the pit, it was not made of rock, but made of metal.  In curiosity, all of the children went in to the dark tunnel.

As they went down the ladder, they came to a floor.  The room they were standing in consists of several lights, a large table with a few buttons and a huge world map engulfing it, a wall of monitors, and a few doors.  Around the table were a tall strong man in uniform, and a skinny old sir in a lab coat with glasses and a white beard.  As the men were talking amongst themselves, Alex said “Excuse me, but where are we?”  As the men turned to their amazement, there were four children in the lab.

The strong man came to the kids and said, “What are you doing here?”

In confusion, Billy said” Who are you?”

The man said, “I am General Gladwin, and this is Professor Pongo.  You must leave.  We have business to attend to.”

“Like what?” Alex exclaimed.

“We are trying to find recruits for… General, I think our search is over.” said the professor.

“Why?” General Gladwin said.

Continue Reading…

In Uncategorized , , , ,
permalink

Initial Thoughts on “Avatar”

December 20, 2009 — Leave a comment
Steven Spielberg's Reaction to Avatar, Courtesy of /Film

Steven Spielberg's Reaction to Avatar, Courtesy of /Film

As you may or may not know, Avatar has spent over a decade gestating; creating hype and a sense of mysticism around itself.  It was like how there have been rumors of Indiana Jones 4 since Last Crusade premiered.  It was supposedly this uber-project that James Cameron wrote the script for in 1994.   He wanted to wait to create the movie until we had the technology to bring his dream to life on the silver screen.  Ever since then Avatar has been the movie that people claim will revolutionize cinema.  (Look! It even caused Steven Spielberg to show his “Jazz Hands”  —> )

Along with countless other people I have seen this “game-changing” film; and well, to be honest I wasn’t exhilarated.  Yes, Cameron has created a fully realized world, down to the tiniest of details, and yes the computer generate imagery is photo-realistic, and it has this sense of “epic-ness” to it.  But here I am writing down my initial thoughts, trying to explain why this film didn’t sweep me off my feet.

Cameron has gone on record saying that Avatar is his Star Wars.  He was trying to create a world just as Lucas created a galaxy that enthralled millions and created one of the most devoted and culturally recognized fan bases known.  I don’t think one can say that a movie is going to be amazing because of it’s special effects.  At the time, Star Wars’ special effects were groundbreaking, but what keeps bringing people back to it today?  It’s the memorable characters, famous quotable lines, and perfect score.  In my opinion, Avatar skimps on all of these.

Avatar was a really “cool” experience and I look forward to seeing it again and taking in all of the eye candy that James Cameron has slaved away to create for over a decade, but so far it hasn’t hit me as this “unbelievably amazing” thing.  Maybe it was all the crazy hype that made it impossible to live up to in my mind, but Avatar isn’t even the best movie of the year. (In my humble opinion of course)

I can’t give my final judgment of Avatar until several more viewings and some time for it to “age” in my brain, but for  now it’s a cool experience that I would recommend to people who like Sci-Fi or people interested in film in general.

In Film , , ,
permalink