http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2011/11/vulture-answers-your-questions-about-communitys-future.html

“Six seasons and a movie!”

(Editor’s note: Brittaed the link before. It’s the right one now)

At an intimate Q&A session, Kasdan told us the story with how he got the job writing Empire, which I wanted to share.

So, Kasdan had just written the first draft of Raiders of the Lost Ark (his first writing job, by the way) and he hands it to George Lucas in his office. Lucas plops it on his desk, turns to Kasdan and goes, “Let’s go get some lunch.”

At lunch, Lucas mentions that the first writer of the Star Wars sequel (still called Star Wars 2 at this point) recently died from cancer after completing a draft of the script. Lucas, though, wasn’t happy with her work.

“So, how would you like to write the sequel to Star Wars?” Lucas asked.

Kasdan just looked at him. The man across from him just asked him to write the sequel to the most successful film of all time.

“But you haven’t even read Raiders yet. What if it sucks?”

Lucas shrugged, “Oh, well, I’m reading it tonight. And if it does I’ll take the offer back in the morning.”

The next day, Kasdan walked into Lucas’ office. “Larry, you nailed it,” says Lucas, “I’d like you to go ahead with what we discussed. Before you do, I need to tell you something.”

Kasdan shrugged, “Alright.”

“Darth Vader is Luke’s father.”

Kasdan just stood there, looking at Lucas, “… no shit?”

As it turns out, Tomorrow Never Dies and Quantum of Solace have two theme songs, both of them replaced. You can tell they were meant for the original songs, as their tunes match up with the theme music by David Arnold all over their respective films. The first is “Surrender” by K.D. Lang, was replaced as the producers simply didn’t like it and asked Sheryl Crow for a replacement. The story of the second song, “No Good About Goodbye,” is slightly more complicated.  David Arnold developed the song with Amy Winehouse, but she dropped out due to health complications. When Jack White and Alicia Keys were brought on, their went their own way with the song and we got the wildly uneven “Another Way To Die.” Personally, I think it’s a shame, as Arnold’s original song for Quantum of Solace would have fit the movie far better. Arnold eventually recorded the song with Shirley Bassey, who sung the theme music for Goldfinger, Diamonds are Forever, and Moonraker.

For your listening pleasure, here they are:

Tomorrow Never Dies, “Surrender”

Quantum of Solace, “No Good About Goodbye”

The interplay between all the members of the group looks great, and I’m sure RDJ loved all of Whedon’s one-liners for Stark. Not the biggest fan of the screaming rock music, but I’ll be damned if the actual footage isn’t pretty cool. Check it out.

With the prequel to John Carpenter’s 1982 masterpiece The Thing coming out at the end of the week, I thought it might be a decent idea to spent a little time honoring the franchise this week. The first little tid bit I have is a rather new blog created by the film’s co-producer. It has a lot of great inside information, including the process of marketing the movie, deleted scenes, and the relationship members of the production had with the studio. He also gives his (and at times the screenwriter’s) opinions on several of the film’s mystery’s. It’s really worth a gander if you’re even a little bit interested in the movie.

http://theoriginalfan.blogspot.com/

And, just as a shameless plug, here’s the trailer to the new movie, starring the always wonderful Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Joel Edgerton. Ron Moore, the head writer of the new Battlestar Galactica, is also co-writer on the script:

Originally posted here.

The season premiere of  Dexter teaches us that religion is, of course, for the ignorant and criminally insane.

Dexter stalks a member of his former High School class he suspects murdered his own wife while he attempts to enroll Harrison into a pre-school.

Upon seeing promos for the new season of Dexter, I found myself apprehensive of season 6’s religion angle. By the end of the episode, the writers proved that they (hopefully) wouldn’t become too heavy handed with issues of faith. Instead, the episode delves more into Dexter’s curiosity with human behavior. Harrison is growing up, after all… and Dexter doesn’t have much left in his life other than him and Deb. Obviously, the show has restarted itself into something closer to season 1. Dexter as a show is incredibly frustrating, as it has the potential to be amazing but is afraid to shake up the status quo. Season 4 promised us an interesting new direction, but season 5 simply took proceedings back to business as usual, which became very frustrating. Worse yet, Deb had the chance to uncover Dexter’s secret using her budding detective skills, but let it slip by. I only bring up the series’ past failings to highlight the basis in which season 6 must be judged: will it finally take risks, or be the same old? For now, let’s just judge the episode on its own merits.

Dexter’s shenanigans at his 20 year (seriously? People go to those?) High School reunion was both interesting and surprisingly amusing. Dexter’s former classmates fawning over him proved to be a great source of amusement. It does make you wonder why everyone swarmed around Dexter because of his wife, but people didn’t do the same for his prey. It seemed people liked him for the jock persona, not the traumatic history. Still, it proved to be entertaining watching Dexter learning to mingle as more than a fly on the wall, right down to an inevitable but humorously useful blow job from a former prom queen. Dexter’s trickery with his class ring, despite it backfiring, was also quite clever. Lastly, while I hate Harry as a story device (he was played out by the end of season 3), his scenes at the dance and on the football field were actually rather fun.

As a side note… what exactly is hammer time? Obviously it’s a dance, but I’ve never heard of it before. It sounds extremely lame.

Edward James Olmos and Colin Hanks had a somewhat cryptic, if important roll in tonight’s episode. It’s hard to judge them, as they were given little to do. It would be more pertinent to simply say that they were intriguing and it will be interesting to see how they tie into Dexter’s journey over the course of the season.

Looking at the changes in the last year… I admit I’m surprised that Angel and LaGuerta seemingly broke up between seasons. It seems like a waste of two seasons worth of drama just to have them revert to a single status. Now Angel is taking care of his sister? Once again, the writers show just how little ideas they have for the two characters, so they just reboot them back to square one. Wouldn’t it be best just to kill one of them off?

As for Deb and Quinn, they didn’t have too much time to shine, but the touches with Quinn’s nervousness in proposing to Deb were well done. It’ll be curious to see how she ultimately reacts, given what happened to her with the Ice Truck Killer. Will she freak out or embrace it? My money is on the former. Still, Deb will have plenty else on her plate during the season, as her gunfight at the restaurant will no doubt put her in the running to head up the department instead of Angel… much to LaGuerta’s disdain.

Overall, the episode itself was solid. Dexter’s adventure was great and the duo of Hanks and Olmos has the potential to be amazing. Despite the writers tripping up her development, Deb vs. LaGuerta could be a very fun plotline. It’s too bad Angel and Masuka are settled with half baked plotlines, as the actors deserve better. It’s just hard to take Dexter seriously as a show anymore, as it suffers from the same problem Smallville had: on an episode to episode basis it’s pretty good, but as a whole it just feels like it could be so much more. Here’s hoping the season will amount to more than a missed opportunity.

8/10

Originally posted here.

On the latest episode of FOX’s Fringe, we learn that people are kinda like herpes: just when you think they’re gone forever they find a way of staying with you.

When the other side asks for Olivia’s help solving a string of murders, she brings our side’s version of the killer to aid in the investigation. Meanwhile, Walter attempts to ignore his flashes of Peter.

Major spoilers ahead:

The latest Fringe is a curious episode, as it follows a formula decidedly less true to itself, yet still successful. By taking procedural elements seen in something more like Law and Order, Fringe created a stand alone adventure that proved to be a surprising potent outing thanks to some excellent acting. Yet at the same time… are well done procedural episodes the reason why we watch Fringe?

Right off the bat, I need to congratulate Anna Torv, who no doubt spent a great deal of time in make up and wardrobe between takes. Her interaction between the two Olivias works very well, helped by some excellent camera and effects work. Both characters reactions to each other really kept the episode afloat, but the biggest problem is that many of the scenes don’t play out quite as well as could have because of the new reality. We don’t know the exact details of their history the way we did before, so the nuances between them don’t have the same impact knowing they no longer have relationships with Peter. Still, alternate Olivia injected some much needed personality in the show now that Peter’s wit is missing.

The other element that made the episode work better than expected is guest star John Pyper-Ferguson, who played both versions of McClennan. What could have been a very easy to overact role, Pyper-Ferguson finds the right amount of subtly and pathos. Really, the premise makes a great deal of sense and went through a logical progression, so when you get the confrontation between the two versions of McClennan, you’re invested in the guy enough to be curious how the situation resolves. I was honestly a little shocked when the other side’s McClennan assaulted his counterpart, but the resolution was honest and fitting… if just a tad heavy handed. The episode really hinged on the character, but succeeded because they got the right actor for the job.

As for the mythos, we got lots of little tidbits regarding the new continuity. First and foremost, alternate Broyles is back. Last season, Walternate killed him due to him helping our Olivia escape back to her side, which immediately raises the question on how our Olivia escaped in the new timeline. The fact that the writers are being so vague is frustrating and hurts the context for the current stories, but at the same time… we can presume that everything will be reset once Peter comes back… so why bother? Another rather shocking revelation is that Olivia now actually killed her father. Again, we aren’t given any details, but my theory is she accidently killed him with telekinesis. It would help contribute to her cold Peterless world.

As for Walter’s plotline, there really isn’t much to say. Without Peter around, Walter is surprisingly boring, even with the flashes of his son and his attempts to suppress them. Hopefully, Peter’s involvement will intensify and Walter will get more of a story with his attempts to bring back his son.

Overall, “One Night In October” is a solid episode of television, which means that it deserves a good score. The emotions were well conveyed and the acting was great, but at the same time the feel of the show felt pedestrian compared to what the show is capable of. Fringe can be so much more than catching a serial killer every week. It’s worth noting that a stand alone story involving both universes working together had to happen, if only to cement their trust and bring in new viewers. As a result, it’s hard to be too hard on the episode, especially when it did its job so well. Let’s just hope we can get the same emotion out of stories in the future without losing the fantastical elements in the process.

8/10

2011 has been an interesting year for games. Not only to we have almost every major franchise throwing their latest, greatest entry into the meat grinder, but we have the mother of all first person shooter grudge matches brewing: Battlefield 3 vs. Modern Warfare 3.

While the Bad Company games were certainly good, they were overshadowed by the growing phenomenon of the Call of Duty franchise. For the last two years, in fact, the winter release schedules have been rather barren in order to avoid the CoD juggernaut, but not so in 2011. EA and Dice are here to play and they go a long way in proving it with their Battlefield 3 beta. While not perfect, it’s enough to give a gamer hope.

As anyone frustrated with recent CoD games will tell you, deaths in multiplayer seldom come as a result of actually being shot. Rather, most trips to the great beyond come from frequent, massive explosions as the result of grenades, noob tubes, or kill streaks. The first thing that leaps out at you in Battlefield 3 is that bullets are your primary concern, which is refreshing to say the least. Sure, you still have access to the toy box of grenades and rocket launchers (though, after about 18 levels I still haven’t seen claymores), but they’re more the icing on the blood soaked cake.

Operation Metro, the only map in the open beta, is smaller than expected after the massive trailers Dice has fed the public, but it’s well designed. Segmented into four territories, each showcases several different scenarios such as open terrain, corridor shooting, and sniper traps. The textures are good, but not quite as spectacular as I expected given I ran the game on a very powerful rig. The military hardware looks great, but sometimes flowers and grass can look a little blurry when you get up close. The lighting is the really the star of the show, with some wonderful moments of glare created by the sun shining through trees.

The map is prone too a few hang ups, however. As a sniper one bug always manifests when trying to take cover next to an object on a slight incline such as the base of a tree. The camera would shake up and down constantly, disorientating you while you’re trying to line up a shot. Also, a skilled player can make it to the opposing team’s end of the map fairly quickly, allowing them to pick off the other team at their spawn points. There are barriers to prevent you from getting too close to another team’s spawn area, but if you have a scope you can negate that restriction fairly easily. In several instances, I found myself easily spawn camping the other team. While the fault sometimes lies in the use of mobile spawn points and teams not properly defending their territory, it’s a concern. Operation Metro is a rather small map by Battlefield 3’s standards, so I doubt it’ll be as easy to reach the other team’s spawn on other, larger battlegrounds.

A complaint I had with the Bad Company games is that the weapons didn’t quit feel as real to fire as the CoD guns. Battlefield 3 not only alleviates its previous shortcoming, but throws even more heaps of simulated realism onto the table with mechanics such as suppression (if someone’s firing at you and hits close to the mark, your vision gets blurry and aim grows more inaccurate. A great way to make cover fire actually matter) and reflections of light on sniper scopes. As for explosives, far less grenades are thrown around than you’ll see in CoD. Grenades lethality and range have also been reduced. Throwing them into a crowded, confined space will produce some kills, but using them outside in the open won’t yield decent results… which is *gasp* realistic. A little less realistic is the use of rocket launchers, which have their place in combat. The environments have some elements (it’s a little arbitrary which ones) that are destructible, so a well placed explosion goes a long way. Trees, barriers, and even parts of buildings can be blown out, but many more structures such as bridges and most walls are immune to such destruction. I also can’t tell you how many times defensive positions have been decimated by a few well placed rockets. Luckily, it isn’t as frustrating as one would think.

The best quality of the game is by far the sound. Battlefield 3 doesn’t sound cinematic in the least… it sounds real. The way the guns pop off is extremely natural, rather than sounding like a firefight from an 80’s film. The different between rounds being fired in the distance and those being sent in your direction is alarmingly good. The “snaps” and the “hisses” discussed in Black Hawk Down are in full effect here, and it really makes the whole experience come together. On the issue of sound, however, one unforgivable omission is the lack of voice chat during games. I think it’s a safe assumption that you’ll be able to talk to your team mates in the full game, but as the matches all hinge on the quality of team work it would severely hinder the experience if you couldn’t properly coordinate with your friends. Too many matches have fallen apart due to lack of communication during the beta.

Alas, anyone playing the open beta knows that there are no vehicles on the given map, which is a pity. I can’t wait to see how the full scale of the game plays. As Operation Metro is a small map, a full blown conflict on a larger scale would be very fun. I do have concerns regarding EA’s download service, Origin, as opening the multiplayer from a browser has proven to be a little lackluster. Trying to get friends on the same game is far more difficult than it should be which could make or break a game such as Battlefield 3. On a final note, I did experience more than a few crashes on my PC. Obviously, we’ll be treated to patches on the final version which should minimize the problems, but I’ve been booted from enough games to make it worthy of a mention. Overall, the game is on the right track and feels far more like modern warfare than the competition. For the moment, I’m optimistic, albeit cautiously. The game is going to be the best multiplayer first person shooter on the market this holiday season, but with a few tweaks it’ll be truly fantastic.

Originally posted here.

In the season premiere of FOX’s Fringe, we learn that once in a while an episode’s title perfectly describes it.

In a newly augmented timeline devoid of Peter Bishop, an uneasy truce is established by both universes. Meanwhile, Team Fringe investigates a translucent skinned killer with the help of our side’s agent Lincoln Lee.

Major Spoilers Follow:

Back in May, I mentioned how season finales are a funny thing. Premieres are also funny in the fact that how they are constructed is reflective of how the show is doing ratings wise. A ratings juggernaut such as Lost can open a season and pick right up where they left off… but a show always on the renewal bubble like Fringe often needs a stand alone story to draw in new viewers. As a result, we have the season opening in a place friendly to new viewers. Agent Lee serves as the audience’s perspective as a newcomer to the Fringe universe. While Lee’s a welcome addition to the cast, everything else just came off as business as usual.

The big disappearing and reappearing elephant in the room is the absence of Peter Bishop, and it really took an episode without him to make us realize just how much the show needs his colorful perspective. Without Peter’s irony, sarcastic quips, and devilishly heroic personality everything came across as far more dull than usual. Olivia’s reactions were mostly cold and ultimately empty, as she has nothing in her life except her job. Walter is just a crazy person with nothing to humanize him. Lastly, Astrid is pretty much the same. Poor Astrid, you really need to get a character arc or a plotline. By the end of the episode, all the changes make for an excellent look at how Peter changed lives for the better, but it also led to everyone becoming far less interesting than they were before.

Peter’s absence also had a strange (and selective) effect on the timeline. Really, the reason any of the animosity between universes began is due to Walter kidnapping Peter. Without that, why did the attacks still occur? Why would they even interact? I suppose it’s possible that Walter did kidnap Peter but failed to save him, but the Observes keep mentioning how Peter never existed in the first place. The audience is left in a somewhat awkward place, as we’re given little explanation how the timeline now works. After all, the episode opened with both Olivia’s having a heated conversation which would leave new viewers confused. It’s also hard to imagine how all the talk of change to the timeline changing would resonate with a new audience. In essence, the episode tried to have its cake and eat it too.

The stand alone plotline of the translucent skinned killers felt very “been there, done that.” A rogue cell of malfunctioning shape shifters is an interesting idea, especially as they seem to possess upgrades such as possessing real blood. But really, the shape shifters were played out last season. Having another plotline with them seems like the writing staff couldn’t come up with a more original idea. It’s certainly possible that the rogue shapeshifters will lead to a more visceral threat, but at the moment we’ve seen far better concepts come from Fringe.

Overall, “Neither Here Nor There” has a standalone plotline that would leave long time fans bored and possess too many elements of the overall plot to truly welcome new viewers (but not enough to satisfy fans). No one part of the episode was bad, but none of them were particularly noteworthy. Agent Lee’s addition to the cast will be fun to see, but he’s no substitute for Peter. In addition, if the two universes are working together now, what will the overall plotline be? If they’re just solving cases for the entire season as an uneasy team, the show won’t have any momentum. Meanwhile, Peter can’t be lost for more than a few more episodes without drawing out the story and frustrating viewers. That leaves the Observers. Will we see both dimensions unravel the mystery of their hairless watchers? If so, how do they present an interesting threat? Only time will tell. For the moment, all that can be done is judge the episode on its own merits.

6.5/10 (5/10 being average)

Escape From City 17 Part 2

Portal: No Escape