tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99890802024-03-14T19:04:08.327-04:00Brian Kuhl's Blog"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be."<br>-- Douglas Adams
Brian Kuhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07662988964534262569noreply@blogger.comBlogger1361125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9989080.post-4873259376555713362022-07-22T15:12:00.000-04:002022-07-22T15:12:00.450-04:00Voyeur (2017)<p><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/>
<w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
<w:Word11KerningPairs/>
<w:CachedColBalance/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">I had been putting off watching this
documentary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seemed interesting, in
the sense that it was about Gerald Foos, a motel owner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Foos is just an ordinary guy, which I suppose
is the point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You could walk past him a
thousand times and never suspect that he was looking in on his guests.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And by looking in, I mean that he had
installed special vents in the rooms that allowed him to watch them having sex
and whatnot.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The story came to light because Foos
sent a letter to Gay Talese, a writer for the New Yorker.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Foos explained his story and told Talese that
he could write it, assuming that Foos could remain anonymous.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It wasn’t until much later that Foos changed
his mind and allowed the story to be written anyway.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">You might think that there’s not much to
the story, like I did, and you might have been right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The thing is that Foos isn’t so good with the
facts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He gets dates wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He recalls a robbery that might not have
happened.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Talese is writing articles,
taking Foos at his word.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When it comes
out that Talese didn’t even check the most basic of information, it looks bad.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">This is where the story shifts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Part of it is about the immorality of the
whole situation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But then the story
becomes the story, itself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It all goes
off the rails, a lot of which is Talese’s fault.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Part of why newspapers have fact checkers is
to make sure this doesn’t happen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You
check facts first.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then, you publish.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Of course, it’s easy to take Foos at his
word.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s disarming at first
glance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Plus, the events happened decades
earlier.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One can understand if he
doesn’t recall things accurately.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
actual motel doesn’t even exist anymore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>However, it was so simple to do a search of the records.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Much of the drama could have been avoided had
this been done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This isn’t to say Foos’s
story wouldn’t have been published.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If
it had, the narrative would have been different.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is as much the sin of Talese as it is of
Foos.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">This isn’t the Great American
Documentary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is an interesting study
on why diligence is important.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Admittedly, Foos had his problems.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He recalls times when he could easily have been caught.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had initially decided never to reveal what
he witnessed for obvious reasons. He knew what he was doing, assuming his story
is accurate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The fact that he wasn’t
caught was more luck than anything else.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Talese did have more of a
responsibility.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He got caught up in the
story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe he didn’t have access to
all the facts, but he had access to enough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The last thing a journalist wants to do is pass fiction as fact.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again, it wouldn’t have necessarily killed
the story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You just point out what has
been verified and what hasn’t, assuming you put it in at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He could also have asked Foos to clarify.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">This isn’t going ot change anyone’s
perception, but it is an interesting story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If you’ve gone through all your preferred movies during the pandemic,
you might want to give this one a try.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7588790/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_1" target="_blank"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">IMDb page</span></a></p>
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MjCS0J7EToo" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>
Brian Kuhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00878886821973769285noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9989080.post-82510780347399322102022-04-01T20:10:00.001-04:002022-04-01T20:10:13.229-04:00Star Trek -- Season 2 Episode 24 (The Ultimate Computer)<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">People are prone to mistakes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Computers, we’re told, aren’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People might push the wrong button, but
computers will execute instructions perfectly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That’s where M-5 comes in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s
the latest creation of Dr. Richard Daystrom, a genius in artificial intelligence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The M-5 computer can operate an entire
starship with minimal crew, allowing those that would be needed to do
less-dangerous work.</span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Captain Kirk doesn’t like it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dr. McCoy doesn’t like it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Spock at least defends the computer, but is
mostly interested in seeing how it performs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>At first, it performs well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
initial test maneuver seems to go well enough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It becomes increasingly clear, though, that the machine is a
threat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It even kills an ensign who was
ordered to shut it off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That doesn’t
look good for the M-5.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">To make matters worse, the Enterprise is
set to go up against four other ships in what’s supposed to be a war game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those on the other ships think there will be
simulated fire, but the M-5 destroys an automated ship that it wasn’t supposed
to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s no way to warn those on the
other ships, making it look like Kirk is acting out because he might be out of
a job.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In the end, M-5 stands down and the day
is saved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thousands of Starfleet
officers won’t be out of a job just yet. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, one does wonder to what end
automation is good for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sure, you can
send probes and whatnot to chart planets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>However, at some point, you’d think someone would have to beam down to a
planet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">There are some things you can’t
automate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First contact is made by
people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It also doesn’t do a lot of good
to discover new planets just to know about them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Find an interesting planet and someone’s
going to want to see it.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Also, as Daystrom found out the hard
way, a computer is only as good as its programming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There still needs to be someone calling the
shots.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Machines don’t have the
compassion or wisdom of a person.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It does seem odd that they’d use the
flagship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I probably would have used a
smaller ship to test and maybe have the Enterprise come to the rescue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One thing about Star Trek is that machines
always fail spectacularly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Yes, it
makes for good drama, but it does wear thin at times.)</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">There are those that will resist
progress.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Progress doesn’t always mean
better, though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Spock points out,
computers are merely more efficient.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This doesn’t mean that they’re desirable or better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s worth noting that neither Daystrom nor
M-5 are villains.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They weren’t acting
out of malice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, it was right to
question them in this context.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Automation
isn’t always the way to go.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0708481/?ref_=tt_ep_nx" target="_blank">IMDb page</a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></p>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vzuIijxHBh0" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>Brian Kuhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00878886821973769285noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9989080.post-86471418443175706512022-03-31T20:20:00.001-04:002022-03-31T20:20:58.095-04:00Star Trek -- Season 2 Episode 23 (The Omega Glory)<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Looking back on the original Star Trek, it’s amazing
how many episodes featured races that were portrayed as being rather
simple.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On occasion, as with The Omega
Glory, the races were called savages outright.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>However, it was odd to find a civilization at least on par with 20<sup>th</sup>-century
humans.</span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In the case of The Omega Glory, The
Enterprise is looking for another Federation ship, the Exeter, commanded by
Captain Ron Tracey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They find the ship
in orbit of Omega IV only to discover the crew turned to dust. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When Kirk, Spock, McCoy and the obligatory Red
Shirt beam down to the planet, they find Captain Tracey, in uniform,
interacting with the local population.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">There are two
warring groups on the planet:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Yangs
and the Kohms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(The Yangs look European
while the Kohms appear more Asian.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kirk
finds that Tracey has been helping the Kohms, in direct violation of the Prime
Directive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They can live for more than a thousand
years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tracey has found the Fountain of
Youth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As long as the landing party stays
on the planet, they’re safe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If they
leave, they’ll turn to dust like the Exeter’s crew.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="tab-stops: 24.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Kirk agrees to
stay, if only to find a cure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It soon
becomes clear that something is up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
Kohms and the Yangs are actually not all that different from the humans of
Earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, they have a
constitution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or, should I say, The
United States Constitution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(As much as
I hate to give away the big reveal, I do want to mention this later.)</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="tab-stops: 24.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Omega IV saw a
nasty war which caused the aforementioned disease.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This apparently has little to do with
anything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their longevity and immunity
to the disease are little more than how their race developed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tracey is denied his magic youth serum and
the Omegans are given a new understanding of how freedom works.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="tab-stops: 24.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">This brings me
to The Constitution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I find it
incredibly odd that a planet would develop, word for word, a document that we
also developed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Star Trek was good at
using allegory, even if it was thinly veiled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>However, this comes off as heavy-handed lecturing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We even get a speech at the end about how
freedom is meaningless unless everyone has it.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="tab-stops: 24.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It’s a shame
because it’s a message that is still relevant today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Had it been done better, maybe with a
reworded document, it could have been a decent episode.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I remember first watching the episode and
wondering if Omega IV didn’t have founding fathers, exactly like ours, working
out the document.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would imply that
both their world and ours had very similar histories.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="tab-stops: 24.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I think with a
little more thought and nuance, this could have even been a great episode.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are too many negatives for me to get
over, such as the delineation between races.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The episode is a little too blunt to be effective.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m used to a more subtle approach with my
stories.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0708474/?ref_=tt_ep_nx" target="_blank">IMDb page</a><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/spAvaZsXQZE" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Brian Kuhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00878886821973769285noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9989080.post-76366165644104435622022-03-30T20:58:00.001-04:002022-03-30T20:58:13.258-04:00Star Trek -- Season 2 Episode 22 (By Any Other Name)<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I’ve been watching a lot of the original
Star Trek episodes so that I might review them for this blog.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s amazing how little I seem to have
forgotten about the episodes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then
again, there are a lot of factors that contribute to that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve seen most of them numerous times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had also reviewed a lot of the episodes
when I was writing on Epinions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One
might say that the episodes were well-written, but I suspect that it has more
to do with how straightforward the writing was.</span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Take “By Any Other Name”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Enterprise responds to a distress call
from an uncharted planet, only to discover several humanoid aliens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The landing party is quickly captured and
told that the aliens, who call themselves the Kelvans, require the ship to
return to The Andromeda Galaxy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Their
ship was destroyed by an energy barrier surrounding The Milky Way.)</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It will take approximately 300 years to
get back to the Kelvans’ home, which will require a generational ship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s discovered that the Kelvans are actually
and advanced species with hundreds of tentacles and the ability to control each
independently.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They took human form for
convenience and have accepted that the return trip will be generational.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their mission is to find planets suitable for
colonization, as the Kelvins need to conquer.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Because of the Kelvan’s technology, the
crew of the Enterprise is easily subdued, but Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Scotty are
able to turn the tables and incapacitate the Kelvans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By taking on human form, the Kelvans have
also taken on human weaknesses, which the four officers can exploit.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It’s a bit of an odd episode.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t want to say that it’s simplistic, but
it had me asking a lot of questions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>First, the 300-year trip means that the Enterprise would get back at
least 600 years after the Kelvans first left.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It would take another 300 years for a colonization ship to return to the
Milky Way.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Add to this the fact that the Kelvans
didn’t really look around much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Granted,
they have Starfleet’s flagship, which would likely contain more than enough
information to get the Kelvan government started, but you’d think they’d want
to look around first.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At least check to
see how accurate the information is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
took them three centuries to get here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They could at least spend a few days to check things out and fill in a
few gaps.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Also, as humans, there would likely be
ten or so generations of humans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even if
the Kelvans reproduce as humans, their descendants will have no loyalty to the
Kelvan government.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What’s to stop the
second or third generation down the line from turning the ship around?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The entire plan doesn’t seem to be that
robust.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">There are some memorable scenes and the
acting is good, but it wasn’t one of the better episodes, in my opinion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It could have done with some more
detail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I get some of the constraints,
like making the Kelvans human.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would
have been difficult to present them as hundred-tentacled creatures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But you’d think they’d be able to build a
faster ship.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The biggest shame is that we never find
out what happened to The Kelvans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those
that took human form are left on that original planet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They present as perfect humans, but it’s
still a limited population.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, a
probe is launched back to Andromeda.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
will take 300 years, presumably, so we’ll never know what becomes of those
waiting for the would-be invasion party.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Perhaps with all the new Star Trek series on Paramount+, we’ll get some
answers.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0708422/?ref_=tt_ep_pr" target="_blank"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">IMDb page</span></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> <br /></span></p>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/O8IIEByK5Fo" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Brian Kuhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00878886821973769285noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9989080.post-58083933668357474692022-03-29T20:38:00.001-04:002022-03-29T20:38:55.051-04:00Star Trek -- Season 2 Episode 21 (Patterns of Force)<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The episode begins with The Enterprise
visiting the planet Ekos to check in on a former history professor of Kirks,
John Gill, only to be greeted by a nuclear weapon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Neither Ekos nor its neighboring planet,
Zeon, should have that level of technology.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The only possible theory is that Gill somehow contaminated the planet’s
progression, which is unlikely, given the Prime Directive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even as an observer, Gill would have been
bound not to interfere with either planet’s development.</span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">When Kirk and Spock beam down, they find
Ekosians in full Nazi gear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You wouldn’t
think that fascism would be a good form of government.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even if you removed any malice or ill intent,
that kind of rigidity doesn’t usually end well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But, there it is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, there
are a lot of uncanny parallels, like Ekos subjugating Zeon as a lesser
culture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They even salute each other and
have an eerily familiar flag.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Kirk and Spock eventually find out that
Gill is the Führer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When they do find
Gill, they find him in a heavily sedated state; Deputy Führer Melakon is really
giving the orders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kirk, Spock and McCoy
are able to bring down the government and save the day, leaving the planets to
rebuild their society.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">There is an apparent simplification to
the episode.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s odd that so much would
be similar, even if Gill only borrowed the basic government.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His thinking was that the German Nazi state was
the most efficient one Earth ever knew.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And it actually worked until Melakon gained control.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You’d think that Gill wouldn’t have mentioned
the flag or the salute, but the Ekosians developed them anyway.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I’d imagine that this was done to leave
nothing to the imagination, which is unusual for several reasons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First, science fiction can usually create
effective metaphors for things like this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It doesn’t have to be Russia versus America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It could be the Klingons versus The
Federation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To be so direct isn’t
necessary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, it could be
problematic, as displaying swastikas in Germany is illegal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I doubt this episode would have gone over
well in the European market.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would
have thought that at least the flag, if not the salute, would have been changed.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I’m not sure what the process was on
developing this episode.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Given that the
episode aired in 1968, a lot of Americans would probably still remember World
War II.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would think it would be a
sensitive subject for people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even
though it’s direct, I did find it to be an interesting episode on a lot of
levels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, my only real complaint
about the episode was that it was too obvious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It was also a little too long, with Kirk and Spock having to escape from
prison several times.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The shame of it is that the episode
doesn’t really go into too much detail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s not clear exactly what Gill was thinking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, it was an efficient state and all forms
of government can be corrupted, but why even interfere in the first place?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What did Gill gain from it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not really explored why fascism would
necessarily go downhill so quickly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>True, it only takes the one bad apple, but was Melakon a bad apple to
begin with or was he corrupted by power and opportunity?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I feel like a bit of the nuance was lost in
this episode, but it’s still a watchable episode.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0708442/?ref_=ttep_ep21" target="_blank"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">IMDb page</span></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> <br /></span></p>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/P--HLj237EA" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Brian Kuhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00878886821973769285noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9989080.post-4015655486532557512022-03-27T21:12:00.003-04:002022-03-27T21:12:53.406-04:00The Twiligh Zone -- Season 2 Episode 17 (Twenty Two)<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">There were some episodes of The Twilight
Zone that seemed to pack a lot in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
seemed like feature-length movies condensed to fit into a half-hour time
slot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Others seemed to drag on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It stands to reason that not every episode
would be a winner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were 156 of
them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still, it seemed like Twenty Two
could have done a little better.</span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The episode is about a woman named Liz
Powell, who is recuperating in a hospital.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She keeps having these weird dreams where she finds herself in the
morgue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The woman there says, “Room for
one more, honey.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She’s not hurt in any
of the dreams, nor does she seem to be in any danger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It still freaks her out.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Her doctor tries to reassure her by
introducing Liz to the morgue’s night nurse, who isn’t the same woman as in
Liz’s dream.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Liz is still uneasy, but is
eventually released.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not until Liz
tries to board Flight 22.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When she sees
a flight attendant who matches the woman from her dream, Liz runs back to the
terminal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a good thing, too, as the
plane explodes.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It’s a rather simple episode by Twilight
Zone standards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, we get the twist
ending and all, but there didn’t seem to be as much buildup.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Part of the problem for me is that I’ve seen
many of the episodes more than a few times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Even if I don’t remember the episodes in their entirety, I usually have
some sense of what’s going to happen.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Therein lies the problem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is one of the episodes that has little
replay value.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not particularly
entertaining.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It also doesn’t have much
of an ironic twist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s more like an
urban legend that was acted out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s
safe enough in terms of violence and language that it would be safe for most
middle-school students.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is
basically going to be one of those free-period things a teacher might have on
standby.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe show it to your kid to
waste a half an hour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, there’s a
reason that I don’t normally think of this episode first when it comes to The
Twilight Zone.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0734685/?ref_=ttexrv_exrv_tt" target="_blank">IMDb page</a></p><p class="MsoNormal"> <br /></p>
Brian Kuhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00878886821973769285noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9989080.post-79079109452414569082022-02-08T22:17:00.002-05:002022-02-08T22:17:34.487-05:00Lost In Space (2018) (Season 3) <p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Everything comes to an end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even if a show is done well, there’s a time
for that show to conclude, preferably on its own terms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I started watching Lost in Space, I
honestly wondered how many seasons it would have.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You could only keep up the pretense for so
long.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can’t really stay lost in one
place forever and hopping around would get tedious.</span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">So, in the third season, the adults at
least make it to Alpha Centauri.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>However, the children are left to fend for themselves on a strange
planet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh, and they’ve still got that
robot threat going on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They want their
FTL drive back and they’re not going to stop until they get it.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I’m a little conflicted about this
season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the one hand, it was nice to
have a resolution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of the characters
had a happy life ahead of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If a
main character didn’t end up in a better place, at least you felt confident
that they got what they dissevered.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">On the other hand, I’ve never really
liked a season-long story arc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lost in
Space usually felt like it was setting up a cliffhanger each episode and the
third season was no different.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact,
some of the children have to climb up a sheer rock face.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the adults are facing an unstoppable
force while having to worry that their kids are ok.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Another problem with the third season is
that we don’t get all the answers that we might have hoped for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The children are on a planet that once had
the aliens who built the robots, but not a lot of answers are forthcoming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, we get very little.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That aspect of the story is focused more on
the children needing to get off the planet immediately, or else they’ll be
stranded there forever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, there’s no
real time to study anything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact,
it’s not clear why our Robot can’t master English.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(He can talk to other robots in their native
language, although I don’t know if it’s their own language or that of their
builders.)</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">A big part of the problem for me was the
gap between seasons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I lost a few of the
details, which I had to remember as the third season went along.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It might have helped to watch all 28 episodes
at once.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I probably still would have had a lot of
questions.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">There is also a sense of
disappointment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We get to see the
aliens, but not really.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We get a sense
of what the robots were for, but not really.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There’s a sense of suspense, but not really.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It gets to where it’s like a piece of gum
that’s stretched too long.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You have some
substance<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>on either end, but it’s a
little thin in the middle.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I can see certain things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would likely have been too expensive or
involved to come up with an alien race, especially if was CGI.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And we don’t really need it for this story
arc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I could see that as a prequel series,
though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe we find out exactly how
the robots overthrew their masters. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe we also find out why the robots are so
single-minded in getting their tech back.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I really don’t see there being a fourth
season of Lost in Space, though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
would have to be some other project at this point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s not to say that there aren’t other
stories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s just that I think this
chapter is done.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5232792/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">IMDb page</a></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"> <br /></p>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4kHHN0cQS10" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Brian Kuhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00878886821973769285noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9989080.post-61089353829587486412022-02-06T19:54:00.004-05:002022-02-06T20:04:24.660-05:00Don't Look Up (2021)<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/>
<w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
<w:Word11KerningPairs/>
<w:CachedColBalance/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">There are a lot of conspiracy-minded
people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To be fair, it’s hard to see
COVID.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Global warming can come off as an
esoteric threat, since we can’t actually touch it, so it’s easier to brush it
off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What would you do, though, if a
comet were headed to Earth and was almost certain to wipe out all life on the
planet?</span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">That’s the problem that Kate Dibiasky
and Dr. Randall Mindy have.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She
discovers said comet and he does the math, only to realize that it’s going to
hit our planet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They set off to warn
everyone, only to discover that a good chunk of the population doesn’t seem to
believe it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To be fair, not everyone has
a giant telescope in their back yards to confirm the observations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The math is also a little complicated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s also very little the average person
could do on their own, anyway.</span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Enter the politicians and the business
giants and the media.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not even a matter
of belief at that point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those in charge
don’t seem to understand or care.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those
in business only see dollar signs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As
for the media, it’s all about fluff and who has the latest hit song.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I’d like to call this satire, but I
can’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not sure exactly what the
movie was going for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s like a bad
copy of a mediocre movie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead of
nuance, it seemed more like the movie was trying to be obvious about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is why you don’t use the direct
path.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You go for allegory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You go for subtlety.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I feel like I got a lecture.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">And yes, it bothers me that this is
probably how it would play out, at least in terms of the broad strokes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many of the characters are caricatures, but I
feel like if a comet could come up and shake our hands before destroying our
civilization and we wouldn’t know what was going on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s beside the point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seems like the movie was going for
something big, but manage to miss the mark.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It felt like I was being talked down to.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The only character I had any feeling for
was Dibiasky.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She at least seemed normal
and I was saddened to think how much effort she had put into her
education.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She would have gotten her
doctorate if not for the whole comet thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>All of that work was now meaningless.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Many of the other characters were
unlikeable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, I realize it’s
difficult to parody Trump.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s almost
his own parody at this point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the
president here is so indifferent that it detracts from the movie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The movie also portrays scientists as unable
to speak directly to the public.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those
that do speak to the public are too concerned with the next news cycle to
really process and get the message out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Everything is reduced to its simplest form.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s the opposite of depth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the end, I found myself rooting for the
comet.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11286314/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">IMDb page</a></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RbIxYm3mKzI" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Brian Kuhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00878886821973769285noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9989080.post-9611801190943473152022-01-19T20:56:00.006-05:002022-01-20T12:59:09.181-05:00Godzilla vs. Kong (2021)<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/>
<w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
<w:Word11KerningPairs/>
<w:CachedColBalance/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="267">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
line-height:115%;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">I don’t imagine it’s easy to maintain a
franchise that knocks it out of the park every time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Star Trek and Star Wars each had entries that
fans didn’t like.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, both of those
span countless entries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Godzilla vs.
Kong is only the fourth entry in Legendary’s MonsterVerse and it already seems
like it’s just going through the motions.</span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The movie picks up five years after the
previous entry where Kong is being monitored by Monarch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He has this massive habitat that looks like
his home island, but he knows it’s not real.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Meanwhile, Godzilla attacks an Apex facility for reasons not entirely
clear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And Apex’s CEO gets a former
Monarch scientist to lead an expedition into the Hollow Earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Add to this podcaster Bernie, who suspects
some sort of nefarious plot, which wouldn’t be out of line.</span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">As the title of the movie implies,
everything builds up to an epic battle where Godzilla and Kong throw each other
around in an attempt to level Hong Kong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(Seriously, though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I feel bad
for the people who have to come home only to realize that their building was
leveled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of the inhabitants of the
city seem apathetic to the battle.) <br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">A lot of the movie, you can see
coming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apex’s representative on the
Hollow Earth expedition is after a power source and basically goes the
evil-corporate-selfish route at the first opportunity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kong and Godzilla seem to do battle in the
middle of the movie, mostly as a way to show how clever Kong’s handlers are by
having him play dead.</span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">There were a few things I didn’t
understand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First, why did they need
Kong to lead them into Hollow Earth?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
seemed more like a way to put everyone in danger by having them transport Kong
in the first place.</span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The movie also has Bernie break into
Apex with Madison and Josh.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You may
remember Madison from Godzilla: King of the Monsters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Josh is the annoying friend who seem to exist
for the sole purpose of making me want to slap Josh.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They could have left him out and it would
have been a much better movie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even
having Bernie as the conspiracy-spewing inside man was a bit much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He seemed to be in all the right places to keep
the story moving along. <br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The movie seems like it’s a bridge
between the previous movies and another movie, but I’m not sure what another
movie would look like.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Would they be
introducing new monsters?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Would it be
another battle between Godzilla and Kong?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>IMDb doesn’t list any future titles, but it could be a possibility.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will say that the CGI was good, but I don’t
hold out much hope for the next installment’s plot.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5034838/?ref_=vp_vi_tt" target="_blank"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">IMDb page</span></a></p><br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/odM92ap8_c0" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>
Brian Kuhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00878886821973769285noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9989080.post-36019193279708197442021-08-03T17:00:00.004-04:002021-08-03T17:00:38.813-04:00Star Trek -- Season 2 Episode 20 (Return to Tomorrow)<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">There were a few Star Trek episodes
where I wondered about the implications.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s easy enough to write a scenario into a script, but it’s another
thing to have actually gone through it or to have to carry it out. As they say,
it looks good on paper.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One has to
wonder what it actually means to have been implemented.</span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The Enterprise comes across a planet
that’s lifeless and barren.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Except that
the crew is greeted by the voice of Sargon, who invites them to a subterranean
chamber where he and two others are stored in several orbs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(The other two are his wife, Thalassa, and
his former rival, Henoch.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The three of
them want to use the bodies of Kirk, Spock and a third crewmember to build
permanent android bodies for them to live in.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Yes, it’s a risk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, there’s no good reason why the
ship’s top two officers have to volunteer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There are plenty of security officers onboard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, Kirk eventually agrees to let the
survivors build their androids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
androids could last for thousands of years, but will be limited in
sensation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This leads to Henoch wanting
to keep Spock’s body.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the end, the
survivors realize that their time has passed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They agree to depart their respective bodies in peace.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It’s hard to imagine that their
consciousnesses were stored in orbs for however many centuries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It must have been a boring existence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can hardly take being trapped indoors for
18 months with COVID.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t imagine
what it would be like to be contained in such a small space.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">You’d think that they would have just
gone ahead and built the android bodies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>True, that would have required resources.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The android bodies would require power and
they could have been trapped underground anyway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, you’d think they’d maybe build a few
anyway just to have them ready when a ship came along.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">For that matter, it’s stated that their
race seeded several other planets elsewhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This would mean that they had their own ships, or at least the
capability of building them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why not
build a ship and leave the planet themselves?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Even if they didn’t have warning that their planet would die, they could
build enough android bodies to build a ship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(There were originally more survivors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Only three orbs made it to the episode’s present day.)</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Ultimately, it’s a shame for the race to
die out like that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To spend all those
countless years underground in orbs only to give up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The tantalizing thing is that this is the
first real mention of a race that seeded the galaxy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were other episodes that alluded to
this, although there’s no mention if this is the same race that was seen in <a href="http://www.briankuhl.com/2017/08/star-trek-next-generation-episode-146.html" target="_blank">The Chase</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just to have the three survivors
pass on some information would have been nice.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I don’t really dwell on this episode,
but I often wonder why more wasn’t done to preserve the last of that race.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also wonder how the three survivors
survived for so long and what actually happened to the others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would have been nice to know.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0708445/?ref_=tt_ep_pr" target="_blank">IMDb page</a></p><p class="MsoNormal"> <br /></p>
<br><br>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fH_dCzKNtg0" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Brian Kuhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00878886821973769285noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9989080.post-79277615672922755222021-08-02T13:55:00.001-04:002021-08-02T13:55:13.668-04:00Star Trek -- Season 2 Episode 19 (A Private Little War)<p><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/>
<w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
<w:Word11KerningPairs/>
<w:CachedColBalance/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="267">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
line-height:115%;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
</style>
<![endif]--></p><p>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Many of the stories in Star Trek were
allegories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The problem with this is
that sometimes, the meaning is lost.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Take, for instance, A Private Little War.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Enterprise visits a planet Captain Kirk
had visited years before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
inhabitants are relatively primitive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They shouldn’t have weapons at all, which makes it surprising when one
of the tribes has guns.</span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Kirk is good friends with a member of
another tribe, The Hill People, who doesn’t have weapons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kirk’s friend is a member of The Hill People,
which allows Kirk to get some information.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The other villagers started using weapons a while back and it was
assumed that they were making them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
turns out that the Klingons are supplying the weapons, which created an
imbalance in power.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Now, the Klingons aren’t bound by The
Prime Directive, but Kirk is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He can’t
use phasers in front of The Hill People.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He really shouldn’t be giving weapons to them, either, but he feels the
best thing for The Hill People is to be put on equal footing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The episode was supposed to be a
commentary on the Vietnam War.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A lot of
that is lost on me, as I’m not very familiar with the context, but some things
do come through.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The most notable is
that there really isn’t any good option for Kirk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He can’t stop the Klingons from supplying one
tribe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even if they seemed to agree,
they could turn around and go right back to supplying weapons.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Supplying The Hill People with weapons
does seem like it would at least be fair, but more weapons would necessarily
balance power.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It could just lead to
more violence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s nothing
preventing one tribe from stealing the other’s weapons or just killing
everyone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the Klingons could just as
easily supply better weapons.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Escalation solves nothing, but doing
nothing isn’t the right answer, either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I suppose Kirk could call it in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Federation and Starfleet must have someone who would be better
equipped to handle it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still, there is
no real good answer to the problem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
options are to let one group kill the other or make it so both sides could kill
each other and hope that neither does.</span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">This is one of those episodes where I
would have liked to see some follow up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There were a few cases where it was a shame we never get to see the
consequences of what happened.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is
one of them.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></p>
<p> <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0708413/?ref_=tt_ep_pr" target="_blank">IMDb page</a></p><p><br /></p>Brian Kuhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00878886821973769285noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9989080.post-16076732779369632492021-07-27T21:38:00.001-04:002021-07-27T21:38:15.213-04:00Star Trek -- Season 2 Episode 18 (The Immunity Syndrome)<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Thinking of movies and television of
today, I’m sure there are certain things future generations will look back on
and will think were strange.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People fly
back when being hit by a bullet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Explosions in space are still somehow fireballs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But looking back at some of the original Star
Trek episodes, I’m forced to wonder who, exactly, was approving the scripts.</span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Suppose I told you that one episode was
about the Enterprise encountering a miles-long amoeba in space.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh, and it’s in this area of void space that
they can’t see past or get out of right away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Plus, something about the amoeba and/or the space is draining the ship’s
systems <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">and</i> causing the ship to work
in reverse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Forward thrust makes the
ship go backwards, for instance.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To
make matters more confusing, the episode is called The Immunity Syndrome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not sure where it comes from or what it
means, either, but that describes the entire episode for me.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">There does seem to be more of a fantasy
angle in many of the episodes of The Original Series.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not sure if that was intended or if
that’s just what audiences expected.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
entire plot seems to be one where it puts the ship in a dangerous
situation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What makes it suspenseful is
that much of it is new and unknown.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Everything is backwards and not as it should be, requiring the crew to
think outside the box.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It’s difficult to imagine the crew being
in any real danger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Spock, who goes out
in a shuttlecraft, might have to make a sacrifice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s conceivable that one crewmember would be
lost.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, the crew is being
affected, as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The show can’t
maintain the situation forever.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">What gets me, mostly, is that The Giant
Space Amoeba is dividing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This means
that there are probably more of them out there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s not clear if any more are ever encountered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If they’re not, it would mean that they might
one day fill up the galaxy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(It’s not
clear how long the reproductive cycle is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They could divide once every few millennia, for all I know.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still, I would think that someone, somewhere,
would have seen one and gotten away.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">To an extent, I could almost see space
being the exact opposite of what I’d expect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There’s no reason to think that space would be within the realm of what
I (or anyone else) could imagine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m
sure there are all sorts of wild and crazy things out there that no one would
be able to explain.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The amoeba is simple and
threatening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s fairly clear what has
to be done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a biological invasion
on a galactic scale.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The amoeba is big,
so you’d think it would be difficult to miss.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s possible that the amoebas have eaten every ship it came in contact
with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To that end, you’d think there
would be some mention in one of the subsequent series.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Many of the episodes in the original
series were one off, meaning you could watch them out of order or skip them
entirely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m kind of in the middle on
this one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is one of the odder
episodes from the franchise. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It might be
interesting for newcomers to watch just to see how odd it is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then again, I wouldn’t recommend making this
the first episode you watch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It might
prove too much for a first-time viewer.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0708467/?ref_=tt_ep_nx" target="_blank"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">IMDb page</span></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> <br /></span></p>
Brian Kuhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00878886821973769285noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9989080.post-28692135868938396252021-07-26T16:15:00.000-04:002021-07-26T16:15:16.644-04:00Star Trek -- Season 2 Episode 17 (A Piece of the Action)<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The Prime Directive was always a
standard in the Star Trek universe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If a
society hadn’t yet reached a certain point in their development, Starfleet
vessels weren’t to interfere in their development.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The results could be disastrous.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The society’s development could be stunted
or, worse yet, the population might annihilate itself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A Piece of the Action shows us what that
might have looked like.</span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The Enterprise is responding to the
destruction of the Horizon 100 years earlier.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The last planet they visited was Sigma Iotia II, which was said to have
a very imitative population.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the
Enterprise gets there, they find the people imitating gangsters of 1920s
Chicago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because one of the crewmembers left a book on
1920s Chicago gangster culture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
Iotians took this book as their new bible.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Kirk doesn’t have to worry so much about
the Prime Directive, as the damage has already been done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The question now is what to do about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In dealing with one of the bosses, Bela
Okmyx, he realizes that it’s not going to be easy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Spock points out, the society is based on
what he calls a moral inversion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s
no precedent for it in the ship’s computers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s going to take a bit of creativity.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">As usual, Kirk and Crew manage to pull
it off flawlessly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, the episode is
campy, as usual, but it works here, more than usual.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s an underlying feeling that the
portrayal of gangs isn’t meant to be accurate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You know that gangs probably were never like this, but you don’t know
anything about who wrote the book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also,
the Iotians are bound to take a few liberties.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You’re very much in on the joke.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Kirk is, too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He realizes that it’s impossible to undo the
damage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His best option is to simply
roll with it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He uses their own inertia
against them and, ultimately, for their own benefit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Iotians will have to be put back on track
gradually.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, there’s the issue of
having to explain it all to Starfleet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Kirk admits he has no idea what his report will look like.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It’s not the kind of episode that would
call for an all-out sequel, but I would have like a throwaway line or two.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Next Generation and Voyager dealt with
The Prime Directive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even Deep Space
Nine walked a tightrope with the Bajorans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Iotians could have been mentioned as a reason why The Prime
Directive is so important.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The kicker is that McCoy left his
communicator on the planet, which could mean that the Iotians might one day
develop space flight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I doubt they could
build a warp drive from it, but there were apparently some important components
in the device.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It might have been
interesting to find out what happened to them.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0708412/?ref_=ttep_ep17" target="_blank">IMDb page</a></p><p class="MsoNormal"> <br /></p>
Brian Kuhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00878886821973769285noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9989080.post-67207198750519913672021-07-25T12:42:00.001-04:002021-07-25T12:42:28.595-04:00Grand Theft Auto V<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I swore I’d never go back to <a href="http://www.briankuhl.com/2020/07/grand-theft-auto-san-andreas-2004.html" target="_blank">that airfield</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hated those flying lessons
that took me way too long to beat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
spent months, on and off, trying to get the controls just right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then, GTA V comes along and eventually brings
me right back to that same airfield.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
good news is that I didn’t have to do flying lessons again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The bad news is that the controls were so
complex that I nearly regretted buying the game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At least it didn’t take me several months to
master the keypad.</span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Game play for GTA V is, by and large,
the same as <a href="http://www.briankuhl.com/2021/07/grand-theft-auto-iv.html" target="_blank">GTA IV</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The controls are
similar, as are the missions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The main
difference is that you’re now playing as one or three different characters.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">You start out with Michael Townley,
Trevor Philips, and Brad Snider performing a heist in Ludendorff, North Yankton.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It goes south and all three appear to
die.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cut to several years later in San
Andreas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Franklin Clinton is trying to
survive at a legitimate job, except that he has a corrupt boss who isn’t above
repossessing a car that was actually paid for.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Unfortunately, that car is used by the
son of one Michael De Santa.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>De Santa
happens to be Townley, who was relocated and set up with a new life in Los
Santos by the Federal Investigation Bureau.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Franklin and Michael eventually become friends and start working
together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Eventually, Trevor finds
Michael and horns in on the action.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Since Michael has returned to a life of
crime, the FIB enlist the trio to attack the International Affairs Agency.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of the missions feed into this, like
stealing cars for a heist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Others
don’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are also many side
missions, like parachuting missions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not
all of them are necessary to complete the game.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The one package-like mission I tried was
collecting the note scraps.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are
fifty scraps that, when put together, create a confession.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This leads to an additional mission that was
kind of a letdown.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was way too simple
for the amount of effort I had to put in to collecting the scraps.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">There are some upgrades in the game play.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can now save your progress on your cell
phone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(To be fair, this might have been
available in GTA IV.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not sure if I
just didn’t notice.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It does make things
a lot easier.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each character has, at
most, two safe houses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As with GTA IV,
this makes going back to your safe house a problem if its way across town.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">You also can skip segments of a mission
after three attempts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll admit that
this does remove some of the challenge, but after having to remember those
flight-school missions, I’m not complaining.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I would occasionally make a fourth or fifth attempt only to realize that
it would be way easier and more enjoyable to just skip a difficult section.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The friendship/respect aspect is toned
down from GTA IV.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I never really liked
that about the previous installment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This isn’t to say it doesn’t exist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s just not as important.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For
instance, Franklin is given a dog to train.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You have to take the dog out for walks and whatnot, although there
doesn’t seem to be any negative effect to the dog or anything else if you
ignore the dog.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">As for switching characters, this is
necessary in certain regards. Some missions can only be accessed by one
character.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each character has a
different color indicating their missions, so you won’t have to go to a
location only to realize you have to switch and start all over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It also saved me from driving a few times,
which is helpful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the most part,
it’s voluntary, but there will be cases where you have to flip back and forth
during a mission.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">There are also insane jumps, which act
as a collectable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They’re somewhat
difficult to find.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some are rather
easy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A plank of wood leaning against a
wall at just the right incline is likely a stunt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was able to complete a few, but I failed a
few, as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apparently, they require
you to land in a certain zone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since
it’s not obvious where this zone is, it might take several attempts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Note that you have to land upright.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This took me a few tries to figure out.)</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">There is a casino on the map, but I was
never able to access it during normal game play.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From what I’ve read, this only for the
multiplayer mode.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To be honest, I didn’t
really miss it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would have been nice,
but it wasn’t really a big deal.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">One thing that got me was that the map
introduced a fog of war, so to speak, in that you couldn’t see places you
hadn’t accessed yet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d hate to fund
out there was a way to get rid of this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Important icons showed up and it didn’t affect GPS directions, but it
was a little annoying.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were even a
few points in the game where it reset.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Again, it wasn’t really a deal breaker, but I could have done without
it.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">One nice upgrade with the map is the
ability to save up to ten points of interest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This was useful to me mostly when I found an insane stunt that I
couldn’t complete.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d mark it to come
back to later.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I downloaded the game through
Steam.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I should point out that it was a
huge file.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It took a while to
download.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(I think the file was something
like 70 GB.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not sure how it works
if you get the game on DVD.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They might
use compressed files.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It might require a
huge download anyway.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Overall, the game was a little shorter
than I expected.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Granted, previous games
took a while because I couldn’t skip missions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Having to come back to a difficult mission often created an unavoidable
bottleneck.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, it’s six of one, half a
dozen of another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I had stuck out all
of the missions, the game would have taken me much longer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But do I need to remind you of that airstrip?</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2103188/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0" target="_blank"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">IMDb page</span></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> <br /></span></p>
Brian Kuhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00878886821973769285noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9989080.post-26433637941535253502021-07-06T14:58:00.000-04:002021-07-06T14:59:44.208-04:00Grand Theft Auto IV<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It seems that every main character in
the Grand Theft Auto franchise has a sordid history.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Usually, they’re a criminal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nico Bellic is a little different, though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s been through war.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s not to say he hasn’t done some
horrible things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, he’s come to
Liberty City to start a new life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He has
his cousin, Roman, to help him out as well as a cast of other characters he
meets along the way.</span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">At first, the missions are about getting
settled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Niko needs a place to stay,
which he can do at Roman’s place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>However, Niko wants revenge on someone who betrayed his unit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Niko needs to make connections.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He takes jobs, which usually consist of
killing people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes, it’s just
kidnapping.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe it has to do with
drugs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are a few occasions where
he has to rescue Roman or someone else, but it’s mostly focused on doing jobs
no one else wants to do themselves.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The biggest adjustment for me was
learning new controls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I played Grand
Theft Auto IV right after finishing Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Driving took some getting used to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You also have an assortment of side missions
similar to San Andreas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead of
packages to find, you have pigeons to kill.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Instead of vigilante missions, you now
have Liberty City’s most wanted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rather
than go after random people on the street, you have to find a police car and
access the computer to look up individuals and go after them.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">There are also individuals you can steal
cars for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not exactly like previous
games, but how can you have a game called Grand Theft Auto without a mission or
two where you steal cars?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you want to
do taxi missions, you can usually do that, too, but I never found that too
exciting.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">One thing that kind of got on my nerves
is many of the NPCs having both a like and respect rating for Niko.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This goes up based on mission completion and
if you hang out with them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not hanging
out causes your ratings to go down for that character.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It normally doesn’t matter, but there are a
few cases where you have to keep it up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Some of the characters help you, assuming they like and respect you
enough.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Usually, a character will call you and
ask if you want to do an activity like darts or bowling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They may also want to go drinking or to a
strip club.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seemed to me that the characters
would call right when I’m about to reach someplace that I wanted to go, but it
is random.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, the character will have
you pick them up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You have one minute,
but they are usually on the other side of the map.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Being late causes your rating to go
down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It gets annoying because it’s an
element that’s not really necessary, but is sort of forced on you.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The number of save points is drastically
reduced.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With the 3D games, like San
Andreas, you could buy properties to save the game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You had to go to one of those locations, but
there were a lot of locations to be had, assuming you had enough in-game
money.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With this version of Liberty
City, you have maybe three or four at a time and the map is large enough that
this becomes a chore by itself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Imagine
completing a difficult mission only to have to spend a few more minutes driving
to the nearest house.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">You also don’t have garages.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You have street-side parking for two
vehicles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This isn’t that annoying
because it’s not that difficult to find cars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s only really necessary if there’s a particular model you like or
just want to have a car ready for you.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Speaking of which, it seems that the
missions all involve a lot of driving.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There’s no way to skip it the first time, but you are allowed to restart
at a checkpoint if you fail or get shot or arrested.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This, at least, makes things a little
easier.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was even possible to buy more
weapons and body armor before restarting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(If you don’t take the option to continue before saving, you’ll have to
start over.)</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The driving is usually to give time for
some dialogue, but it’s kind of annoying since Niko always gets stuck with the
responsibility.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would be nice to have
someone else take care of it or, maybe, take the subway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do we really have to go all the way across
the map several times for each mission?</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I will say the addition of GPS really
helps.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was usually hard for me to
find my way in previous games.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To have a
voice assisting me was a big help.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
keeps me from having to check the map every minute or two.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Overall, it’s a good game with a great
storyline.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are a few choices in
the game which will affect your path in the game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(If you want more details on this, there are
guides you can look at.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t want to
give away too much.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, it’s as
violent as previous entries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s
nothing new there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It does seem a little
toned down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a little harder to
find weapons and there weren’t any rampages, which I miss, but it is still a
great way to take out some frustrations.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Even as someone who has only visited New
York City, I was still able to recognize things like Middle Park.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The subway was also a nice addition, although
it was usually easier to just drive if you had to get somewhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I often had to double back because I had taken
the wrong train.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would have been
interesting to see what someone from New York would think of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To that end, I’m hoping that if a Grand Theft
Auto VI happens, it will be in Vice City.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’d like to see how Miami gets the HD treatment.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0802999/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2" target="_blank"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">IMDb page</span></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> <br /></span></p>
Brian Kuhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00878886821973769285noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9989080.post-47450752079380683952021-06-16T16:21:00.003-04:002021-06-17T23:01:09.457-04:00Trailer for Season 2 of Star Trek: Picard<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">I
just saw the second trailer for <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8806524/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">Star Trek: Picard</a> and I have one question:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What’s with the communicator that Cristobal Rios
is wearing?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">It
looks like many of the major characters are back from the first season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Picard is shown wearing an admiral’s
uniform.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>7 of 9 is shown without her
implants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We even see Agnes Jurati, although
it’s not clear what her fate is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
then, there’s the addition of Q.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of
course, we knew that from the first trailer.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The
one scene that I’m talking about is Rios standing on his ship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He has a Starfleet communicator, but one
thing sticks out for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It has what
appears to be the hilt of a sword or dagger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We know that there’s supposed to be some aspect of time travel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Q even says something about “the very end of
the road not taken.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Now,
this might be a callback to <a href="http://www.briankuhl.com/2017/08/star-trek-next-generation-episode-141.html" target="_blank">Tapestry</a>, in which Picard saw what his life was
like without his artificial heart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of
course, Picard was only a lieutenant in that episode and here, he would seem to
be in charge of Starfleet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(I count four
pips inside the rectangle.)</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">However,
the dagger would imply that the second season might be visiting The Mirror
Universe, even if briefly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s also
the voiceover saying that time is broken.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Maybe elements of several timelines have converged, but I haven’t seen
anyone else comment on the dagger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
just wanted to put that out there for anyone who might have picked up on it.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zHMti7u9TBE" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>
Brian Kuhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00878886821973769285noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9989080.post-1820522958117635282021-06-12T21:38:00.001-04:002021-06-12T21:38:26.971-04:00Tenet (2020)<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/>
<w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
<w:Word11KerningPairs/>
<w:CachedColBalance/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="267">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">There are certain movies that are
difficult to wrap your head around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
knew Tenet would be like that going into it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s 2½ hours, which is intimidating enough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But to know that there are people and objects
that are temporally inverted adds a whole new level of things to keep track of.</span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The lead character, known simply as The
Protagonist, starts by trying to extract someone from an opera house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He gets caught up in something much more
complicated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first hint of this is
bullets that can be fired backwards so that they go in to a gun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are other items that ostensibly come
from the future, which would imply that people can go backwards, as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, what happened to cause this?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Was there some sort of war?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How was all of this set up?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What’s the end game?</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I’m not going to go into the details of
the plot, mostly because I can’t remember most of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was that complicated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will say that I found a lot of it
confusing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, people can go backwards
in time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s tricky and they have to
bring inverted oxygen with them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To give
you an example of what I mean, one character drives a normal car while
inverted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The car seems to go on once
the character jumps out, but it’s not clear why.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not sure if the car was inverted or if
someone was driving the car before (or is it after?) the other character.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">This is not a movie for people who don’t
like complicated plots.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I like
complicated plots and I think I was able to follow most of it, but I’m not
sure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The movie is heavy on the
technical side without really making a lot of sense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think part of it is that you have to keep
track of what’s going backwards and what’s not going backwards.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">We get to see at least one big fight in
both directions, which is something to watch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The question is, though, what can be changed?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Could someone from the future do something different
on the way back?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What would that even mean?</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Stuff like the fight scene was cool,
only because I grasped what was going on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There were a few scenes that I didn’t understand and I felt like I was
supposed to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you’re reading this and
you’re confused by the movie, you’re not alone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And this isn’t even something that could be explained in a few
sentences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d probably need to watch
the movie again with notes to understand a lot of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is one of the few times where I might
have watched the movie again with a commentary track where someone was
explaining it all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(I’m good with
details, but I’m sure there’s a lot that I missed.)</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I wouldn’t recommend watching this with
someone else who hasn’t seen it yet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
was watching it with my parents and they had about as many questions as I
did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had no answers for them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, it’s a confusing movie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now that the movie has been out for a while,
I might look around for some explanations.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6723592/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">IMDb page</span></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></p>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/L3pk_TBkihU" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Brian Kuhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00878886821973769285noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9989080.post-26371951181925003642021-03-29T21:02:00.001-04:002021-03-29T21:02:41.371-04:00Star Trek: Discovery -- Season 3 Episode 13 (That Hope Is You, Part 2)<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/>
<w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
<w:Word11KerningPairs/>
<w:CachedColBalance/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">There’s usually been a clear distinction
between good and evil in Star Trek.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
Federation, such as it is, is good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
Emerald Chain is bad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of the people
in the 32<sup>nd</sup> Century are doing their best, but that’s not always good
enough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Starfleet admits that it’s had
to be reserved in the wake of The Burn, but it’s still a remnant of what it
once was.</span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">That Hope is You, Part II wraps things
up for the third season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Starfleet and
The Emerald Chain are negotiating, but that’s not meant to be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Saru is finally able to get Su'Kal off the
ship and to a safe location.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We even get
an epic battle between Osyraa’s crew and the Discovery crew.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I kind of feel like the season was a stretched-out
episode.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had a lot of stuff at the
start of the season and a lot of stuff at the end of the season, but the
episodes in the middle seemed to move the action along pretty slowly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I feel like this would have been, at most,
three episodes in another Star Trek series.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s something that might have played out while other stuff
happened.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, we get a nice neat bow
and a nice lead-in for the fourth season, if COVID ever lets that happen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It just seemed so prolonged.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Part of it is that the Emerald Chain
seems like the bad guy that was invented just for the series, much like the
Ferengi were for The Next Generation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As
I mentioned in the last review, another part is that we never get to see much
of what’s going on with the other races.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The entire season is focused on The Burn, and the cause is a bit of a
letdown.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After going through a dozen
episodes, I expected something grandiose.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Making Burnham the captain at the end
makes sense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After all, this was
supposed to be The Michael Burnham show.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This doesn’t mean that Saru won’t be made captain once he returns.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(It’s reported that Saru will come back, but
it’s not clear in what capacity.)</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I do hope for a fourth season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This could serve as a series finale or a
gateway into something grander.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What
wasn’t pure action was maybe setting this up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Osyraa might not get her day in court, but the Emerald Chain will have
to ask itself some tough questions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Former member worlds are rejoining The Federation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since Gray wasn’t a figment of Adira’s imagination,
there’s a promise that they might return for next season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not sure how that will play out.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">From the looks if it, COVID will delay
the fourth season, rather than prevent it, which is good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would hope that the next season would
return more to individual stories and maybe give us a better look at the 32<sup>nd</sup>
Century.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12047918/?ref_=hm_rvi_tt_i_5" target="_blank"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">IMDb page</span></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> <br /></span></p>
Brian Kuhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00878886821973769285noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9989080.post-4312374579942851592021-01-06T21:55:00.000-05:002021-01-06T21:55:49.998-05:00Star Trek: Discovery -- Season 3 Episode 12 (There Is a Tide…)<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I’m still not sure what to make of Star
Trek: Discovery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I miss the good old
days when most episodes had a distinct storyline.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some contributed more to the overall story,
but most could stand on their own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then,
came CBS All Access.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Discovery and
Picard seemed to go the route of a serialized narrative.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We progressed a little more each week, but
there was usually little new stuff.</span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I think this episode typifies that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Emerald Chain has taken over Discovery
and infiltrated Starfleet/Federation headquarters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The assumption would be that they’re
attacking, but Osyraa wants to negotiate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She has an idea to fold The Emerald Chain back into The Federation.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">They left Captain Saru, Doctor Culber
and Adira back in the radiation-laden nebula to take care of Su’Kal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’ll have to wait to see what becomes of
them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The point is that she honestly
wants peace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She knows the game is
up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Emerald Chain has scientific
prowess and The Federation has the spore drive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Put those together and they could go places.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only real holdup is that Osyraa would
have to answer for her crimes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She’s not
really keen on this, so it’s unclear of any such merger will actually happen.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Part of me feels like this was an
unnecessary episode.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You could have cut
it out and it would have had little effect on the overall storyline.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It occurs to me that it’s really the opposite
problem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Discovery has a 13-episode arc
this season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s half of what I was
used to with The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">There were so many wasted
opportunities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We never really got a
good look at what had become of Earth, Vulcan or Trill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We know so little about The Emerald Chain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, I know that it’s made up of Andoria
and Orion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think there are other
planets, but I’m not sure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think
Osyraa is the leader, but I’m not clear on that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think she mentioned something about others
in positions of authority.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A little
background information could have gone a long way.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">For that matter, we know so little of
what happened to The Federation at large.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>At least three<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>founding members
are no longer members.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How many more
fragments are there?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How vast is the
known galaxy?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are so many
questions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would have been nice for
the series to take a break and explore the 32<sup>nd</sup> Century a little
more.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Maybe we’ll get that chance next
season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’ll have to see what happens
tomorrow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We could see the Federation
return to normal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll grant you that nine centuries is a lot
of ground to cover.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What we’re given is
a feeble attempt, though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I really think
Discovery can do so much better.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">That’s part of the problem with doing a
serialize season like this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s too
long of an episode and too short of a season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It reminds me of a joke, wherein a guy goes to a restaurant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After eating the meal, the waiter asks how
the food was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The man says, “I have two
complaints:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First, the food was
horrible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Second, there wasn’t enough of
it.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I want more and I want better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is that too much to ask?</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12047914/?ref_=hm_rvi_tt" target="_blank">IMDb page</a></p><p class="MsoNormal"> <br /></p>
Brian Kuhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00878886821973769285noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9989080.post-4444362127735411312021-01-03T18:13:00.001-05:002021-01-03T18:13:03.973-05:00Star Trek: Discovery -- Season 3 Episode 11 (Su'Kal)<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It occurred to me that Starfleet and The
Federation had something like 125 years to figure out what caused The
Burn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For those that are just joining
us, The Burn basically ended the use of warp drive as a major mode of
transportation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And yet, no one made any
real headway on what caused it for over a century.</span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Then, along comes the U.S.S.
Discovery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Within a matter of months,
they pinpoint where The Burn originated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’ll grant you that this location was remote, but you’d think someone
would have thought to look at the black boxes on starships.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m just saying.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Anyway, Discovery goes off to the Verubin
Nebula, where the find exactly one life sign, and tat one life sign happens to
be a member of the same race as Captain Saru.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Sure, Saru is eager to get there and meet his Kelpian.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He even beams over to a radioactive ship to
meet the guy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To coin a phrase, you
won’t believe what happens next.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">We come to find out that the Kelpian,
Su’Kal, has been alone for something like 125 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s had the ship’s computers and holodeck to
basically raise him and keep him company for all that time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Saru beams over with Michael Burnham and Dr.
Culber.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They find that the Kelpian
hasn’t developed much beyond the mentality of a child.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Getting him off the ship proves difficult.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Meanwhile, Ensign Tilly, as first
officer, is left in command of Discovery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This wouldn’t be a problem except that Dioscovery pissed off Osyraa and
she promised revenge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Normally, this
wouldn’t be an issue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a big
universe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What are the odds that Osyraa
would pick that moment to exact her revenge?</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Well, Osyraa shows up and manages to
capture the ship and jump to Federation/Starfleet headquarters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fortunately, Discovery has Booker to send
over to pick up Burnham.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately,
Adira the human Trill stays behind in the nebula.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">There are a few interesting things to
consider here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first thing I noticed
is that Saru is made to look human.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Su’Kal’s ship would seem to be one big holodeck, which allows the
computer to change the appearance of the landing party.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It changes the one person who looks like
Su’Kal to look human and the two humans to look slightly non-human.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Granted, the ship has suffered massive damage
from radiation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still, it seems odd.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Grudge the Cat also pays a visit to
sickbay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would appear that Grudge may
actually be a cat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No mention is made of
her being anything else.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not
unheard of, even within the Star Trek universe, for a cat to be something more
than a cat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This cigar may be just a
cigar, after all.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It seems that the writers for Star Trek
like to take their time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As mentioned,
it took a long time for anyone to even realize that the ship existed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(You’d think whoever sent the ship would have
said something.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once on the ship, the
landing party takes its sweet time trying to get Su’Kal off the ship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Given that there’s dangerous radiation, you’d
think someone would slap a homing beacon on him and be done with it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They’re very aware that there’s a time limit,
so why waste any?</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">This episode would seem to set up the
last two episodes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m a little late in
reviewing this episode, so I’ve already seen one of those two episodes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I am left wondering how this season will
end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is talk of a fourth
season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What will that look like?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not sure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s still not clear if The Burn can be fixed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We now know the cause of it and there is a
large stash of dilithium would could mitigate the problem, but it’s not clear
to what extent.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">A fourth season could see the Federation
and Starfleet rebuilding with Discovery’s help.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It could also see Discovery jumping back in time or further ahead,
although I doubt it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m thinking that
the narrative will jump ahead to a point where progress has been made, but
there’s still work to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I guess we
don’t have long to wait to see how this season ends.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12047908/?ref_=hm_rvi_tt" target="_blank"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">IMDb page</span></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> <br /></span></p>
Brian Kuhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00878886821973769285noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9989080.post-48055818764084345622020-12-23T22:16:00.002-05:002020-12-23T22:16:31.170-05:00Star Trek: Discovery -- Season 3 Episode 10 (Terra Firma, Part 2)<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/>
<w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
<w:Word11KerningPairs/>
<w:CachedColBalance/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="267">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">WARNING:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Spoilers ahead.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"></p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"></p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"></p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">There are so many Star Trek series in
production right now, it’s hard to keep track.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Add to that several more series floating around in the ether.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of those new ideas was a show about the
mysterious Section 31, which was supposed to be headlined by Michelle Yeoh.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the character in question is stuck in the
32<sup>nd</sup> century.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Does that mean
that Section 31 has lasted that long?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or
would Georgiou somehow be sent back in time?</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Well, it looks like we get part of an
answer, sort of.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In Part 1 of Terra Firma, we meet
Carl.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Carl is an enigmatic type.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He offers Georgiou help.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, he offers her a door, which could help
with her condition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Upon walking through
the detached doorway, she finds herself in what appears to be The Mirror
Universe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You see, Carl is weighing her,
seeing what she’s made of.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Based on her
decisions, Carl will either offer or deny her that help.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">When she finally passes, we find out who
Carl really is and what he’s up to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You
see, Carl is the personification of The Guardian of Forever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Georgiou’s problem is that she’s both out of
time and away from her home universe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Like the saying goes, she doesn’t have to go home, but she can’t stay
here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Carl doesn’t send her back to The
Mirror Universe, but can send her back to a time when her absence won’t be an
issue.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It’s not clear what this means,
exactly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Section 31 existed from the
dawn of The Federation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She could end up
meeting Jonathan Archer or Kathryn Janeway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(Or, she could end up back in her own time, which is most probable.)</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">There also appears to be a bit of retcon
with The Guardian.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When we first saw The
Guardian, it was stated that the history of a planet could only be displayed in
the fashion shown.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Someone couldn’t pick
an exact time or place.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Granted, neither of Georgiou’s journeys
necessarily violates that edict.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s
not clear if what we saw her go through really happened.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It could have been a pocket universe or
alternate timeline.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the end of the
episode, Carl is able to send Georgiou to a specific time place of his own
choosing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It could be The Guardian can
do whatever it wants, but has no way to take a specific request.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Given the vastness of all of time and space,
it might be some limitation on taking requests.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">There’s also the issue of the Temporal
Cold War.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Carl says that he had to go
into hiding after what the various factions put him through.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Something<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>might have happened to The Guardian that altered its nature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(That could be an interesting little
miniseries right there.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I guess we’ll
just have to wait to see exactly what Carl did.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">There’s a part of this episode (and the
previous one) that feels like a detour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Without Georgiou’s problem, the side trip would have been totally
unnecessary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We never would have met
Carl/The Guardian.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I suppose it’s
necessary to set up the Section 31 show and all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I mean, I’m not complaining.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>City on the Edge of Forever was a great
episode and all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m just wondering how
else this will fit into the big picture.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The last stretch of the episode sees the
crew getting back on track.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s this
mysterious distress call.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The crew knows
where it’s coming from, but decides to decode it before actually going there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I suppose that’s a sensible precaution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Had it not been for The Burn, it would have
been fairly easy to send a bunch of ships there.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">As it is, Discovery is the only ship
that could make the journey in a reasonable amount of time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If Starfleet is going to send a bunch of
ships there, one would want to know what’s necessary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Do they need science vessels or warships,
for instance?)</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">There are three more episodes left this
season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It looks like the next one will
have Discovery going to the source of The Burn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’m hoping for a happy resolution, but nothing ever seems to be easy on
this show.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At least it’s interesting.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12047908/?ref_=tt_ep_nx" target="_blank"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">IMDb page</span></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> <br /></span></p>
Brian Kuhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00878886821973769285noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9989080.post-16374873321483231872020-12-22T18:04:00.001-05:002020-12-22T18:04:27.051-05:00Bill & Ted Face the Music (2020)<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">I was excited to hear about one more
Bill & Ted movie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In both cases,
it’s said that the title duo save the world by releasing a song.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Exactly what that meant and how that played
out were left to the viewers’ imaginations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It was a lot of pressure, to say the least.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Someone<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>comes from the future and says that the fate of the known universe<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>rests on your musical skills.</span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">As the title of this movie implies, it’s
time to see what it is that actually brings the planets into alignment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With the death of George Carlin during the
intervening years, Rufus only makes a cameo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s up to his daughter, Kelly, to move things along, historically
speaking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You see, it’s only a few days
until William and Theodore have to actually perform.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They have no song.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The band has fallen apart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their respective marriages aren’t far
behind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At least their daughters<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>have some talent.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">To their advantage, they have access to
a time machine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They realize that they
can go ahead and get the song from their future selves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Working against them is a killer robot sent
by the very future that they’re supposed to save.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh, and they only have a few hours to write
the song, get the band back together and actually perform this unwritten
melody, all while the cosmos, in its entirety, is falling apart.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">It’s a bold premise, to say the
least.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I guess after the first two
movies, you need something a little different.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If you haven’t seen the first two movies, it’s possible to watch this
one as a stand-alone movie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are a
few callbacks to the first two movies that you’ll miss, like Ted’s father
denying that the events of the second movie could have happened.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you have seen the first two movies and are
on the fence about this one, there are worse ways to spend a few hours.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">I have to admit that there was a
different feeling to this movie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many of
the major characters were back, although it seems that the franchise doesn’t
have a problem with recasting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Outside
of Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter, I think only one actor has been in all three
movies.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seems like the movie was
made to maybe recapture some of the nostalgia from the late 198s and early
1990s.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">True to form, though, there’s a lot of
fun to the movie, especially if you don’t think too hard about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(I mean, how do you make a franchise out of a
time-traveling phone booth?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who does
that?)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The thing that caught my
attention was that none of the future versions of Bill or Ted had the song,
even though they should have.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It wasn’t
until the distant future that they got anything.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">True, this may be because the universe
is falling apart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think it’s meant more to be a fun movie
with characters that we’re familiar with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I could see this being something to finally tie up the franchise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is a certain finality to it, especially
considering the post-credits scene.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There’s also a possibility of some sort of spinoff with the daughters,
although I don’t really see that happening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(I will say one thing:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I find it
odd that Bill, Ted and Rufus all had daughters.)</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">I’m not sure where I stand now that I’ve
watched the movie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not entirely
excellent, but it’s not entirely bogus, either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s difficult to come up with three movies that work together, so I
will cut the writers a little slack.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Also, the juvenile aspect isn’t that juvenile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do get the sense that the music is being
faced, at least on some level.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bill and
Ted are adults, but not quite grown up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As they say, growing older is mandatory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Growing up isn’t.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1086064/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0" target="_blank"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">IMDb page</span></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0hAL7emClFM" width="560"></iframe>
Brian Kuhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00878886821973769285noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9989080.post-36655839395196064092020-12-16T21:29:00.000-05:002020-12-16T21:29:04.594-05:00Star Trek: Discovery -- Season 3 Episode 9 (Terra Firma, Part 1)<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Georgiou is in a bad spot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her molecules are disintegrating and she has
issues trusting people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not that it
matters, though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No one knows what’s
happening to her, so there would be no way to help her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Discovery gets a visit from Kovich, who
basically states as much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He didn’t
cause the problem, as some might have suspected, but he does have some idea
what’s going on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s the one-two punch
of crossing universes and jumping ahead in time.</span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">That’s when Discovery’s computer chimes
in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You see, it was given vast
quantities of information from a giant sphere and is now maybe sort of
semisentient or something.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyway, it
offers up a suggestion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Go to a
particular planet where Georgiou has a 5% chance of being cured.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not clear what that means and Kovich
isn’t quite enamored with that level of AI, but there Georgiou beams down with
Commander Burnham.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">They walk to a spot offered up by the
ship’s computer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not clear why they
couldn’t just beam down to that spot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(Yes, it gives Burnham and Georgiou time to talk, but still…)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyway, they meet Carl.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Carl has a door.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I say door, I mean just a door.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It sort of brings back memories of The Lost
Room.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Carl has a proposition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Georgiou can go through the doorway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She’ll be free of the affliction that ails
her at the moment, but that doesn’t mean she can’t die.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Carl is a little vague and enigmatic about
it, but she takes him up on his unusual offer.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">This is where it gets weird.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you’ve read other reviews of this episode,
you may have seen comparisons to <a href="http://www.briankuhl.com/2019/02/star-trek-season-1-episode-28-city-on.html" target="_blank">City on the Edge of Forever</a> and The Q.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These are not unwarranted comparisons, as
Georgiou finds herself in what is ostensibly The Mirror Universe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It reminds me of The Next Generation episode
<a href="http://www.briankuhl.com/2017/08/star-trek-next-generation-episode-141.html" target="_blank">Tapestry</a> in that Georgiou is likely being given a chance to resolve some issue
from her past.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’ve seen fragments of
this in flashbacks.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Carl is also holding a newspaper.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s tomorrow’s paper, a la Early
Edition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In tomorrow’s paper, Georgiou
is dead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That can be changed, although
Carl won’t give out any specifics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Georgiou has to figure that out on her own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Being that this is a two-part episode, we’re
going to have to wait.)</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Much of the episode takes place in The
Mirror Universe, but there are a lot of things going on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Admiral Vance offers Captain Saru some
advice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We also find out that the ship
emitting the distress call is Kelpian.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It was lost about 100 years ago, so there’s no expectation of finding
anyone alive, but there is an incomplete message from a member of the
crew.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I get a sense of a twist coming
up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again, we’re going to have to wait
to find out more.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Oh, and the Kelvin timeline is now
cannon in the Prime timeline, so there’s that.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I’m hoping we’ll get to see Carl
again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not clear who or what he
is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s no shortage of omnipotent
beings in the Star Trek universe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
might be Q.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He might be associated with
The Guardian of Forever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most likely,
he’s something new.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m curious about
how Discovery knew to go there in the first place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(It’s entirely plausible that it was Carl
speaking through Discovery.)</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I’m mostly curious what Carl, the door
and The Mirror Universe have to do with Georgiou’s problem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is why I’m inclined to believe that
she’s not actually in The Mirror Universe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’m thinking this is an exercise in enlightenment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I half expect Burnham to say that Georgiou
walked right through the door.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’ll
just have to wait and see.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12013212/?ref_=hm_rvi_tt" target="_blank"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">IMDb page</span></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> <br /></span></p>
Brian Kuhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00878886821973769285noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9989080.post-5372600529803782582020-12-12T20:10:00.001-05:002020-12-12T20:10:17.655-05:00La tortue rouge/The Red Turtle (2016)<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">There is a certain efficiency in
simplicity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With no dialogue, you focus
on the visuals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, you have to
have a movie worthy or such visuals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They have to carry the story without the aid of explanation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When a man washes up on the shore of an
island, we may very well be resigned to never finding out who he is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a past, or
a future for that matter.</span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">His future is determined to be on that
island.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He has plenty of bamboo to build
rafts, but a giant red turtle has other plans for him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every time he builds a bigger raft, she
destroys it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He eventually flips over
the turtle in frustration, ostensibly killing the creature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He falls asleep only to awaken to a beautiful
woman in the now-broken red shell, who he grows to love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They spend a life together on the island,
eventually having a son who leaves to make his own life.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">On the one hand, the movie is
relatable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can all imagine the
frustration of being denied the ability to leave the island.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the other hand, there is a bit of mystery
which some might find odd.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have to
admit that I had to look up an explanation after watching the movie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While the only fantastical act is the turtle
turning into a woman, there is a lot of metaphor in the movie.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">For starters, the man tries to use
nature to escape the island, but is constantly rebuked by the turtle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s turned back to the island, where he has
to live.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This, of course, denies him any
connection to his own kind, which the turtle eventually provides.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">There is that otherworldly feel to the
movie, which those familiar with Ghibli movies will recognize.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not going to be for everyone,
though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s safe enough to play for
children of any age, but I could see a lot of school-aged children just
enjoying it for the visuals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Any sort of
context is going to be completely lost on them.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Even as an adult, I get the impression
that the movie is saying that there’s something inescapable about our
relationship with nature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t really
say more than that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe that man and
nature might not be one, but our fates are intertwined, much as a married
couple’s might be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One takes care of the
other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not until we accept that
that we can move on and be productive.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3666024/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">IMDb page</span></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> <br /></span></p>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9Wf57f5F09c" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Brian Kuhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00878886821973769285noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9989080.post-76749583456631943852020-12-09T19:58:00.000-05:002020-12-09T19:58:12.033-05:00Star Trek: Discovery -- Season 3 Episode 8 (The Sanctuary)<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Things aren’t good in the 32<sup>nd</sup>
Century.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Federation is a shell of
its former self.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The bad guy is The
Emerald Chain, who seems to be made up of former Federation members.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dilithium is scares and everyone is hurting,
causing everyone to hurt others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In The
Sanctuary, that hurt comes to Booker’s home world, Kwejian.</span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Ryn, an Andorian who has gone against
The Emerald Chain, is onboard The Discovery, as is Booker.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Osyraa wants Ryn back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She correctly assumes that if she puts
pressure on Kwejian, Booker will be the first person they call for help and
that he (and, by extension, Discovery and Ryn) will eventually show up.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Saru is given explicit orders not to
engage in battle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Starfleet is stretched
pretty thin as it is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another engagement
wouldn’t make anything better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead,
offer up some diplomatic solution to the problem at hand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you know anything about the season so far,
you know that’s not going to happen.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Osyraa really wants Ryn and she has
Kwejian under her boot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(They have a
locust problem and she has a repellant.) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Saru is new as a captain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, he’s looking for some sort of
catchphrase.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It comes across as goofy
and unnecessary, but is probably more of a metaphor for the fact that he’s
still finding himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Either way, he
comes to realize that battle may be the best option.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s simply a question of how to go about it.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Everyone in this future is caught
between two bad options.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kwejian can’t
tolerate insects that eat their food, but the solution is to put themselves at
the mercy of a sort of protection racket.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Starfleet doesn’t want a battle, but that means implicitly allowing all
manner of bad situations to continue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Granted, Kwejian isn’t really their problem, but Starfleet used to mean
something.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Starfleet used to do the
right thing.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The Burn has really set thing back a
long way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Warp drive isn’t really a
thing anymore and no one knows what caused it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Fortunately, we now at least know where it may have begun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the previous episode, a location was
pinpointed and a distress call was found coming from there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No additional progress is made in this
episode, which is frustrating.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">However, we do know that there is
something seriously wrong with Georgiou.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We even get one scene where her face acts like programmable matter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s still not clear exactly what
happened.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Georgiou doesn’t offer up any
clues and the doctors are at a total loss, as well.</span>
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I’m curious to see how all of this comes
together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If someone did that to
Georgiou, there would presumably be a reason.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’m also curious to see what this distress call is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, we find out a little bit about where a
Booker got a human name.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why is his cat
called Grudge, though?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And is Grudge
even really a cat?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyone that’s seen
<a href="http://www.briankuhl.com/2019/04/captain-marvel-2019.html" target="_blank">Captain Marvel</a> knows that cat-shaped creatures aren’t always what they seem to
be.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11427530/?ref_=tt_eps_cu_n" target="_blank"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">IMDb page</span></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></p>
Brian Kuhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00878886821973769285noreply@blogger.com0