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Posts Tagged ‘science fiction’

John Carpenter – the early years

By Cindy on November 7, 2011

So to make my quota of movies for the year, the boyfriend picks movies for us to watch. He’s introduced me to a lot of new movies I might never have tried on my own. Some of them quite good. Some are just plain weird.

We had a John Carpenter weekend this past weekend. Now, I like John Carpenter. I’ve seen a number of his movies and liked most. The first Carpenter flick up was They Live. Not a bad little movie. The acting could have been better. But overall I thought it was entertaining. I called the contacts in it before they happened. I found some of the actions of the characters to be ridiculous. If you could see something no one else could because you were wearing special glasses would you announce it in a crowded store that was filled with thing things you weren’t supposed to able to see?

Next movie up was Dark Star. At the beginning of the movie there was an apparently new intro that explained that the movie was a comedy. It also said one of the actors was on LSD while filming. Um, yeah, makes perfect sense to me. It was one very weird movie. I’m surprised they weren’t all on some sort of drug at the time. The best was the alien on board that was basically a beach ball. And the crew’s ability to talk to a dead crew member who is in cryogenic freeze.

I’m glad his movies improved over the years. Both ones that he wrote and ones he directed.

At the very least it’s two more movies for the year. Now, I’m off to work. Hoping to leave a little early to get more words in for NaNoWriMo.

Until next time…

Cindy

Terra Nova is nothing new

By Cindy on October 10, 2011

I had been eagerly awaiting the premier of Terra Nova since I first heard about it in 2010. I was a little disappointed that instead of airing it in January 2011 as first indicated they waited for the 2011 – 2012 season. The complaint I have with Terra Nova is the same complaint I have with most shows theses days. There’s nothing new. As a writer and an avid TV watcher I beg the writers to please come up with new twists, better dialogue, dump the cliches.

Terra Nova was a bit too predictable for me in the first few episodes. I know you need archetypal characters but I found the characters to be stereotypical. And don’t get me started on the cliches. Speaking of predictable, the boyfriend could recite most of the lines before they were actually spoken. How’s that for predictable?

I hope I’m wrong but to me it’s obvious that the inside man the Sixers have is the guy who likes the teenage daughter. If it’s not him, then bravo to the writers for that mislead. If it is him then shame on the writers for making it so obvious. I guess only time will tell. I also think it might be the wife’s doctor friend.

I will keep watching to see if it gets less predictable. So far though it’s Earth 2 but on earth instead of a different planet. I was extremely happy that the drawings weren’t done by aliens at least.

I’d like to see some twists and turns. Some good dialogue. The possibilities are almost endless, especially because this is a different time stream. Writers, go ahead, surprise us.

Until next time…

Cindy

D is for…Dystopia

By Cindy on April 5, 2011

According to dictionary.com a dystopia is a society characterized by human misery, as squalor, oppression, disease, and overcrowding. Hmmm. Sounds familiar. Or, from Orwell’s articles it’s a fictional society, usually portrayed as existing in a future time (to him 2011 would be a future time), when the conditions of life are extremely bad due to deprivation, oppression, or terror. The Orwell article goes on to list common traits of dystopian fiction. Most of which we don’t possess, yet.

Some people don’t like dystopian movies and books. Too bleak. I love a good dystopian story. Though I lean towards the movies. I recently bought The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Can’t wait to dive into that after I finish a few other books on my to be read pile. Three of which are contest entries that have to be read very soon. One of the books I’m writing is a dystopian novel. I love the story and can’t wait to finish it. It will have to wait until May.

Dystopian societies in fiction are often seen as warnings to us. With an underlying message – If you continue on the path you’re on this could happen to you. But I don’t think any of the powers that be got any of the messages. With all of the wars, fighting, terrorism, prejudice, religious persecution our world seems more and more like a dystopia to me even though we’re missing some of those dystopian fiction traits. Can we get it back to being a nice place to live? Maybe. Do I trust the world’s leaders, any of them, do get us there? Sadly, no.

All isn’t lost. We as a society have potential. There are rays of hope. Signs of humanity out there. Not just when disaster strikes but in every day life. When one stranger helps another stranger just because that’s the right thing to do. That’s what gives me hope.

A list of 50 Dystopian movies

A list of Dystopian books

A list of Dystopian YA books

Okay off to work. Tonight I plan on doing some blog hopping. I know there are some great blogs out there on the A – Z Challenge. I haven’t had time to visit many yet. I’m hoping to fix that tonight.

Until next time…

Cindy

Another Planet

By Cindy on October 1, 2010

I’ve been fascinated by space and the planets since I was a little girl. I used to stretch out on the picnic table at night and stare up into the sky. I used to imagine a girl who lived on one of those bright spots in the sky staring into the cosmos thinking the same things I did. As a little girl the thought of alien life fascinated me. As I got older of course I realised it was that if there was intelligent life out there it highly unlikely that they would come to earth in my lifetime.

I never stopped believing that it was possible there was alien life out there. With the size of the universe, the odds are Earth is not the only planet capable of supporting life. That’s why I was so excited when the boyfriend posted this link about the 1st habitable distant planet found.

Astronomers found a planet orbiting a red dwarf that they think is habitable. I read the article and found the whole thing fascinating. I hope they find many, many more. It makes me want to delve into writing a science fiction novel. I’ve never written one before. But the article started ideas going through my head.

I’m off to read more science articles. Until next time…

Cindy

Cheesy movies

By Cindy on August 9, 2010

There are a lot of them out there. I love a good cheesy movie once in a while. The chessier the better. Now usually I watch cheesy horror movies. Those are my favourites. But this weekend the boyfriend and I watched some cheesy science fiction. And man were they cheesy.

First up was Zardoz. I watched the whole movie and I’m still not sure what it was about. I’d like to know what kind of acid the writers were on when they wrote that movie. The first thing I thought of when I saw the giant flying head and booming voice was The Wizard of Oz. At least I “got” that part of the movie. I have to say it wasn’t Sean Connery at his best. He looked horrible with long hair too. It made him look much older. Okay, so I got that Connery’s character, Zed was a savage trained to kill. I get that the immortals were bored and just wanted death now. It could have been done in a much better way that didn’t make me feel like I was on an acid trip.

Next up was Barbarella. Okay, very cheesy but at least I could follow the story. An evil scientist has disappeared and Barbarella is tasked with finding him and bringing him back. Of course along the way she has sex with just about anyone. Barbarella is a highly sexual astronaut. During her mission she encounters a number of colourful, odd people. Her good heart and innocent nature save her in the end. I have to say, Jane Fonda was seriously HOT back then. I know it’s listed among The 100 Most Amusingly Bad Movies Ever Made in a book by Golden Raspberry Award founder John Wilson. But this is a must see movie.

I’ve watched a number of movies from the late 60′s lately and they all have a huge focus on sex. Looks like things don’t change a whole lot over time.

Well, off to work. Lots of catching up to do because of last week’s teeth problems.

Until next time…

Cindy

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Posts Tagged ‘science fiction’

John Carpenter – the early years

Terra Nova is nothing new

D is for…Dystopia

Another Planet

Cheesy movies

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