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SCiFi Junkie

Film-lore from a hopeless SCiFi Junkies POV

Star Trek bounty from the village fair

Just returning from our local village annual fair (The Hanborough Show) my wife produced two Star Trek DVDs she had picked up for me for 50 pence each.

"You do like these ones don't you?"

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Wrath of Khan and First Contact - J'huh! (An expression of almost disbelieving joy.) My two favourite Star Trek movies! 

Got them out of the box and they look nearly untouched. Sweet!

I love my wife!

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Filed under  //   dvd   SCiFi   star trek  
Posted September 19, 2009 by Robin 
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Stormtroopers Remember Death Star Anniversary - Laughing Squid Links

via lslinks.laughingsquid.com

I love Star Wars humour. Especially, from the poor imperial Stormtroopers' POV.

Where did that Imperial recruitment video go...

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Posted September 15, 2009 by Robin 
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Re-Reading: The Confusion by Neal Stephenson


I'm re-reading The Confusion by Neal Stephenson at the moment. Specifically, Bonanza -The Confusion being made up of two novels: Bonanza and Juncto. I had a hankering for a seafaring yarn about pirates and... er, the sea. 

The Confusion is the second of 3 volumes called The Baroque Cycle that follow a dizzying number of characters and events during the period between 1660 and 1714. Mostly these tales revolve around the actions and happenings of Daniel Waterhouse, Jack Shaftoe and Eliza. These first 2 names will be familiar to those who have read Stephenson's previous and only slightly less weighty tome, Cryptonomicon.

I rushed my reading of The Confusion the first time around more than 3 years ago because I knew that Stephenson had already completed the 3rd volume of the series and was desperate to get to it. Also, I was little intimidated by the size of the books. 

Not something that bothers me much any more since completing The Baroque Cycle. Indeed, I was overjoyed when I saw the size of Anathem, the latest in the Stephenson canon.

This time around I have the pleasure of being able to take my time and look out the window a little to enjoy the scenery along the way. The detail of the books is amazing and, like Tolkien, they hold up well to rereading - even being something that should be encouraged. 

I love films and novels that are able to be watched or read over and over again. My love affair with Pixar began with having only one kids video tape in the house that I could stand - Toy Story 2 - and just watching it over and over with the litties. Instead of growing tired of the film I found more and more to enjoy about it. 

With Lord of The Rings it's like revisiting a well known location. Even down to the descriptions of the landscape and paths. 

The thing with revisiting a known book is that you don't have to experience it in the same way again. Like standing on your head to enjoy a view from a vastly different angle. Once you have finished the story you can play with ways to enjoy it again - usually after letting it rest for a while. I am considering reading System of the World backwards chapter by chapter. I'll let you know how that works out. 

Of course, I have a massive pile of books that I haven't read yet to go through. But it is very relaxing to go back over something you know you enjoy. 

This isn't my first rereading of Stephenson as I have gone over Cryptonmicon mroe than once. I'm looking forward to retracing my steps through Le Carré, Lewis and maybe even others that I didn't find so engaging the first read through. 

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Filed under  //   books   historical   nealstephenson  
Posted September 11, 2009 by Robin 
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The Future is Not Bright: The Dystopian Question

When Christian Bale finally takes over the world and issues an edict banning 'fun', none of us SCiFi Junkies will be surprised. This is because SCiFi has been touting this vision of the future (watch that phrase, it will reoccur often) since the dawn of the Fiction of the Science. 

Huxley, most likely one of the first to write a SCiFi novel, put this vision into words back in 1931 in his novel Brave New World. Since then there have been many imitations, or if I'm being kind 'homages'. 

There are plenty of other articles that deal with Huxley's legacy, but what I would like to discuss is why SCiFi continues down this dystopian path?

The future is not bright we all know that. Well... that is, we all know that the next SCiFi film to come out will most likely say that it isn't. So why are we caused to exist, at least in the near future, with stories of future woe?

The history of SCiFi is interesting. To look at a film or television program made in the past that depicts the writer and directors vision of the future. It's fascinating to me to pick up a movie made prior to the last ten years and see what exactly the filmaker's view of tomorrow would be. Even more fascinating are those stories regarding the times we are now living in. 

Inevitably, what we write about tomorrow is effected by two things: Our past and our present. Most heavily by the times and place that we live in. So the future we spin is just a reflection of what is going on in and around us at the time of writing. SCiFi releases us to freely write about what we need to say in a setting that we feel most able to do so. 

In that sense I guess SCiFi is just the same as any other genre. Good creators use the right setting for the story. Whether present day, historical or future. 

Just trying to think of the last optimistic SCiFi I saw... maybe SF just doesn't lend itself to such a story. But, then what genre does?

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Filed under  //   SCiFi   thoughts  
Posted September 11, 2009 by Robin 
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