Oy.
A really half-baked episode. First of all, why would a hologram want/need to go to a the holodeck? Second, can Captain Janeway (or any Captain, for that matter) just accept that if other ships try and go through an uncharted section of space and just end up disabled for some reason, there’s a good chance it will happen again.
The B story and the A story don’t work well together here, and while I dig The Doctor as a character – and accept that he has a programmed personality either a) because Dr. Zimmerman was a trickster or b) because it was determined this would help Terrans identify with him – I do not accept that, like Data, he is “alive.” No. I don’t accept that.
If you want to see a concise and evenhanded-at-all-costs primer documentary on the mishigoss in Israel, this is a good place to go.
Arthur Penn’s Mickey One is one of those films that is, perhaps, better to read about than to actually see.
Intended as among the first American Nouvelle Vague, a heavy scene, man, about an imprisoned (in his mind?) standup comic who can’t escape the clutches of the mob. Originally intended to star Lenny Bruce, they wound up with a way undercooked Warren Beatty who is definitely out of sorts here. Visually, this film is a feast. Storywise – flat, but, I don’t know if that is a workable complaint here. A ninety minute high-modern treat with a Stan Getz score and a Jean Tinguely interlude.
Here. I’m gonna do something I never do. I’m gonna’ badmouth the cult of Trek.
We have so lionized the principal layers of early Trek that we eat up any morsel they throw our way. Following up on the legitimately neeto concept behind the Year Four book, IDW Publishing tapped Trek architect D.C. Fontana to write the next chapter. It begins as a sequel, of sorts, to her episode The Enterprise Incident. But what it really is is a flat out bore.
It has no pacing whatsoever, is dragged down by endless exposition and explanation, and brings up some truly deep cut Trek plot points that even I had trouble instantly placing.
The story, such as it is, meanders about and has no drive. Romulans want their cloaking device back, the Organians don’t care about the balance of power anymore, Klingons are jerks……I dunno.
The art looks cool, however.
I recently interviewed D.C. Fontana at UGO (before I read this book.) That entertaining interview is here.
I might truly be out of my mind – but I still really like this movie. I think it is hilarious. Downey stays in character in the DVD commentary – the first time I’ve bothered to listen to a commentary track in years.
Have you read this yet? Hoffman’s take on twenty minutes of Star Trek footage. It isn’t surprising that some reverse-fanboys are having their way with me.
Awful. Terrible. A fat guy playing a tuba is a fun image. But that’s all this movie is. 2 hours of a fat guy playing the tuba. In your face.
Originally, this script was intended to be a straight-up tale about the dawn of pro football. Instead it’s a fat guy playing the tuba.
Harry Kim and Tom Paris have to survive in an awful prison. Not much else, really. Nothing compared to DS9’s Hard Time
Do I like the episode Flashback? Of course I do. It is pure fan-wank. We get to revisit the destruction of Praxis, we see more of Sulu commanding the Excelsior, hell, we even hang out with Janice Rand (oh, what terrible acting!) And the concept of a virus that manifests itself as false memories is kinda cool, too. But the shoehorning of Sulu scenes for ratings-sake is SO evident here. These scenes, almost like porn, do not serve the overall plot. Technically I should recognize this as a failed episode, but, frankly, it’s probably one of the few episodes of early Voyager I see myself repeat-viewing.
Forgetting all of Voyager’s problems, Brad Dourif is awesome. And since his character has come back maybe….oh, shit, he dies. Damn.
Well, I love the recurring Maquis turned Cardassian turned Kazon-Nistrim turned Chakotay love mama Seska and now that she’s back on board….oh, shit, she dies, too.
Well, I love Janeway running away from dinosaurs like on Land of the Lost. Kinda.
Oh – this episode? They get the ship back.
1/2
Odo….you’re so gooey!
Odo returns to the Founders only to get ostracized. He can no longer shapeshift, but while in The Great Link he learns that (gasp!) Gowron is a shapeshifter.
While orbiting the new Founders homeworld it is Worf who must stop Garak from destroying the planet. Garak seems hellbent to save the Alpha Quadrant, even if it means sacrificing himself. Is this Garak being noble? And Worf turning down a fight? Oh, what times are THESE?!?
A rematch in the war between Quark and Jeffrey Combs’ Brunt of the FCA. This time, false info leads Quark into thinking he’s dying and, hence, putting his remains up on the market. Brunt means to collect on his contract, and if the hale and hearty Quark won’t allow himself to be killed, he breaks the contract, a rule of acquisition and hence becomes an outcast of Ferengi society.
This is a comic episode, of course, but since Armin Shimerman is the greatest actor on earth, somehow there’s real heart to it. Much is learned about Ferengi culture and about the depth to Quark’s character.
Please don’t hear this and think me strange, but this episode is so good because lots of innocent people die. And our hero does a lot of failing.
Julian Bashir can not save victims of a Dominion-induced disease (The Blight) even with all his fancy Starfleet contraptions and high hopes. In the process, he learns a lot about himself.
There’s a third act switcheroo and some actually tense scenes. There’s also Michael Sarazin proving that, even in the mid-90s, when you want an actor as bad as Peter Fonda but can’t get him, there’s always Michael Sarazin.
Y’all know how some niggas be bloggin all up in that shit? Yo, I tell them to be taking they bloggin down the way. Any nigga I catch bloggin that shit is gonna have to step off. You hear me true? Well, aiight then. Damn. Y’all niggas be givin me a hard time in this shit.
And scene.
Now that I’ve got that off my chest – know this. Everyone who says to you “You really ought to watch ‘The Wire’” isn’t blowing smoke. It really is terrific. Depressing as all hell – and maybe a little byzantine for the sake of being byzantine – but terrific.
Not absolutely every moment of every scene is gold, but there is a lot of stuff that works here and the performances are fantastic.
I will follow Lt. Daniels into the gates of hell if he orders me there.
This probably deserves a “B+” but I’ll allow the upgrade just because I find the subject matter so interesting. The performances are top notch and many of the scenes are wonderful. But some of the pacing is problematic and there’s a YOU BETTER NOTICE THIS moment that’s typical of the hack output of Mr. Ron Howard. It’s not The Queen but it is pretty darned good. As most movies with a / in the title usually are.
I didn’t like it. Read my full and very entertaining review at UGO.com.
This collection of comics is from a particularly odd time in Trek canon. It takes place between The Wrath of Khan and The Search For Spock.
In official canon, there isn’t much of a gap, but these tales feature a lot of adventuring…with Lt. Saavik kinda-sorta filling in for Mr. Spock.
Hats off, I suppose, for at least making a lot of deep cut references to TOS episodes. Lots of talk about the Organian treaty, Captain Koloth makes an appearance and so do The Excalibans from “The Savage Curtain.” So that’s kinda awesome. The misunderstanding of what a wormhole is and “entering wormhole-phased space” is not as awesome.
Brad Dourif is back. Awesome! Janeway just, uh, gives up the ship to the Kazon-Nistrim? WTF?
A season end cliffhanger that doesn’t have the might of all the craziness that is happening on DS9, even if it does include the Seska Arc, arguably the best thing going on Voyager. It just seems….inappropriate for Janeway to put the entire ship and mission in jeopardy to let Chakotay chase after and infant that may or may not be his, knowing full well it is probably a trap.
The whole thing seems forced. Let’s hope things shape up in Season 3.
