Joseph Mallozzi's Blog, page 474

January 20, 2013: Football and Whispers!

An almost perfect football day.  Sadly, the Atlanta Falcons just came up short in their match-up against the 49ers.  The second game of the double-header was doubly pleasing in that it not only offered up a Baltimore Ravens win, but a New England Patriots loss as well!

Thanks to Robert Cooper for hosting this afternoon’s festivities…

The spread included gravlax (Akemi made – salmon cured with salt, brown sugar, sasho, dill, vodka, and metaxa), bagels, cream cheese, olives, Rob’s seafood gumbo, and various desserts.  It’s always good eatin’!

This was the knife Rob handed me to slice the salmon – last scene being wielded by Ronon to sever an enemy’s carotid artery.

The tasty gumbo included chorizo, shrimp, and crab.

Despite the fact that she was battling a terrible cold, Akemi took the time to make peanut butter sandwich cookies.

A good time was had by all.  With the possible exception of any Atlanta Falcon or New England Patriot fans.

As we continue our trip down Stargate: Atlantis memory lane…

WHISPERS (507)

One of the many great things about working on Stargate was that you were essentially making a varied mini-movie each episode.  One week, it would be a space opera, the next a scifi comedy, another week it cross over into fantasy and, yet another, it you could be doing a mystery.  Or, in the case of Whispers, you’d be delving into the world of SF-Horror.

This particular episode presented a host of obstacles but the ever-awesome Will Waring was more than up for the challenge.  First there was the issue of filming in the fog.  The initial tests that saw us fogging up the entire Stage 5 (where stood the Atlantis gate room and control room) proved incredibly tricky.  We needed to ensure the fog was thick enough for filming purposes but it would disperse too quickly in the cavernous room.  Any thicker and it would make everyone sick. Ultimately, Production Designer James Robbins came up with the brilliant idea of erecting tents, limited/controlled areas that could be fogged up for the requisite scenes.  This way, it was always a quick in and out for actors.

Another issue were those flares the team members needed to use to find their way in the dark and fog.  We were informed that actual flares gave off a toxic residue.  They were also a fire hazard.  So it was James Robbins to the rescue again, pitching the idea of the chemical flare.

One of the more inspired solutions to a production issue came in the scene where Beckett leans up against a wall to catch his breath only to have one of the creature crawl along the wall toward him.  This was achieved by building a duplicate portion of the wall and having actor Paul McGillion lie down atop it – but giving the impression he is leaning up against it.  The creature then scuttle along beside him, seemingly defying gravity…

This was an incredibly demanding episode that saw every department step up.  Props outdid themselves of course -

As did hair and make-up along with the prosthetics team -

The eye covering permitted only limited visibility – and the fact that the stunt performers were working in fog made their scenes all the more demanding.

A great guest cast for this one.  In addition to Paul McGillion, the off-world team in this episode included Christina Cox, Nicole de Boer, Janina Gavankar, and Leela Savasta –  all wonderfully talented and equally wonderful to work with.

Finally, while writing the script for this episode,  I held a contest on this blog promising the winner I would name a character after them. The eventual winner, long time blog reader Kelly Hurt, requested I use the name “Anne Teldy” (her blog handle and a nod to her young niece) and, thus, Major Anne Teldy was born.  Sadly, Kelly passed away last year following a brave battle with various health issues.  I like to think that Major Teldy is still out there, exploring other worlds in memory of her.

Director Will Waring at work (Photo @MGM Television)

Stunt Coordinator James Bamford oversees the monster action (Photo @MGM Television)

(Photo @MGM Television)

(Photo @MGM Television)

I was on set for this entire episode so plenty of pics and vids in previous blog entries.  If you’re interested…

Costume fittings, fog tents, and gun school: April 23, 2008: Whispers, Day 1

Stunts, Song of Fire and Iced, Creepy Well sequence: April 24, 2008: Whispers Day 2

Paul McGillion and co.: April 25, 2008: Whispers Day 3

Hopscotching, Christina Cox, and hair issues: April 26th, 2008: Whispers Day 4 and The Return of Author Jeffrey Ford

Catacombs and chocolate: April 28, 2008: Whispers Day 5

Fog, catacombs, Paul McGillion: April 29, 2008: On the set of Whispers

Story inspiration and production challenges: September 5, 2008: Whispers

Pics, vids, and a scene by scene breakdown: September 6, 2008: Whispers Breakdown, Part 1

More pics, vids and continuing that scene by scene breakdown: September 7, 2008: I Suffer a Field Injury, The Whispers Breakdown Part II, and Oodles of Pics and Vids

Tagged: Atlantis, science fiction, Science Fiction Television, scifi, scifi television, SF, SF television, SGA, Stargate, Stargate: Atlantis, Whispers

January 2013: Football and Whispers!

An almost perfect football day.  Sadly, the Atlanta Falcons just came up short in their match-up against the 49ers.  The second game of the double-header was doubly pleasing in that it not only offered up a Baltimore Ravens win, but a New England Patriots loss as well!

Thanks to Robert Cooper for hosting this afternoon’s festivities…

The spread included gravlax (Akemi made – salmon cured with salt, brown sugar, sasho, dill, vodka, and metaxa), bagels, cream cheese, olives, Rob’s seafood gumbo, and various desserts.  It’s always good eatin’!

This was the knife Rob handed me to slice the salmon – last scene being wielded by Ronon to sever an enemy’s carotid artery.

The tasty gumbo included chorizo, shrimp, and crab.

Despite the fact that she was battling a terrible cold, Akemi took the time to make peanut butter sandwich cookies.

A good time was had by all.  With the possible exception of any Atlanta Falcon or New England Patriot fans.

As we continue our trip down Stargate: Atlantis memory lane…

WHISPERS (507)

One of the many great things about working on Stargate was that you were essentially making a varied mini-movie each episode.  One week, it would be a space opera, the next a scifi comedy, another week it cross over into fantasy and, yet another, it you could be doing a mystery.  Or, in the case of Whispers, you’d be delving into the world of SF-Horror.

This particular episode presented a host of obstacles but the ever-awesome Will Waring was more than up for the challenge.  First there was the issue of filming in the fog.  The initial tests that saw us fogging up the entire Stage 5 (where stood the Atlantis gate room and control room) proved incredibly tricky.  We needed to ensure the fog was thick enough for filming purposes but it would disperse too quickly in the cavernous room.  Any thicker and it would make everyone sick. Ultimately, Production Designer James Robbins came up with the brilliant idea of erecting tents, limited/controlled areas that could be fogged up for the requisite scenes.  This way, it was always a quick in and out for actors.

Another issue were those flares the team members needed to use to find their way in the dark and fog.  We were informed that actual flares gave off a toxic residue.  They were also a fire hazard.  So it was James Robbins to the rescue again, pitching the idea of the chemical flare.

One of the more inspired solutions to a production issue came in the scene where Beckett leans up against a wall to catch his breath only to have one of the creature crawl along the wall toward him.  This was achieved by building a duplicate portion of the wall and having actor Paul McGillion lie down atop it – but giving the impression he is leaning up against it.  The creature then scuttle along beside him, seemingly defying gravity…

This was an incredibly demanding episode that saw every department step up.  Props outdid themselves of course -

As did hair and make-up along with the prosthetics team -

The eye covering permitted only limited visibility – and the fact that the stunt performers were working in fog made their scenes all the more demanding.

A great guest cast for this one.  In addition to Paul McGillion, the off-world team in this episode included Christina Cox, Nicole de Boer, Janina Gavankar, and Leela Savasta –  all wonderfully talented and equally wonderful to work with.

Finally, while writing the script for this episode,  I held a contest on this blog promising the winner I would name a character after them. The eventual winner, long time blog reader Kelly Hurt, requested I use the name “Anne Teldy” (her blog handle and a nod to her young niece) and, thus, Major Anne Teldy was born.  Sadly, Kelly passed away last year following a brave battle with various health issues.  I like to think that Major Teldy is still out there, exploring other worlds in memory of her.

Director Will Waring at work (Photo @MGM Television)

Stunt Coordinator James Bamford oversees the monster action (Photo @MGM Television)

(Photo @MGM Television)

(Photo @MGM Television)

I was on set for this entire episode so plenty of pics and vids in previous blog entries.  If you’re interested…

Costume fittings, fog tents, and gun school: April 23, 2008: Whispers, Day 1

Stunts, Song of Fire and Iced, Creepy Well sequence: April 24, 2008: Whispers Day 2

Paul McGillion and co.: April 25, 2008: Whispers Day 3

Hopscotching, Christina Cox, and hair issues: April 26th, 2008: Whispers Day 4 and The Return of Author Jeffrey Ford

Catacombs and chocolate: April 28, 2008: Whispers Day 5

Fog, catacombs, Paul McGillion: April 29, 2008: On the set of Whispers

Story inspiration and production challenges: September 5, 2008: Whispers

Pics, vids, and a scene by scene breakdown: September 6, 2008: Whispers Breakdown, Part 1

More pics, vids and continuing that scene by scene breakdown: September 7, 2008: I Suffer a Field Injury, The Whispers Breakdown Part II, and Oodles of Pics and Vids

Tagged: Atlantis, science fiction, Science Fiction Television, scifi, scifi television, SF, SF television, SGA, Stargate, Stargate: Atlantis, Whispers

January 19, 2012: Ah, this takes me back!

One of the great things about obsessively photographing everything you do – besides annoying the occasional co-worker – is that it gives you a visual catalogue of your life.  Sure, you can rely on your memory but, if you’re like me and have trouble remembering what you had for dinner last night, nothing triggers some good old fashioned reminiscing like a bunch of photos you can’t recall taking.  Like the following I came across last night while going through some old hard drives…

First up on the block, this remote data-gathering device.

Sure, it’s fashionable – but I’m not quite sure how this Jaffa managed any sort of stealth operation wearing these things.

Although, to be fair, they are quite stylish.

They also the command respect of your peers.  You automatically look authoritative in one.

Okay, I take it back.  They ARE quite comfy for exercising or just hanging around doing chores.

I was the envy of my co-workers.  Look at Director of Photography Jim Menard, positively green with envy.

All too often during those final two years of Atlantis, there were times when people would mistake me for the homeless man who used to sneak onto set and sleep in the puddle jumper.  And so, I decided to remind people I was the Show Runner by dressing the part.

Here I am, on the go, in my Atlantis Show Runner uniform.

The uniform was not only stylish but also gave me a rich sense of empowerment.  Here I belittle former Script Coordinator Alex Levine for HIS fashion choice.  It’s either short sleeves or long sleeves.  You can’t have both!

Later, I mete out my own brand of justice for his failure to collate by goldenrod pages.

Yep.  Good times!

[Photos compliments of Lawren Bancroft-Wilson]

January 18, 2013: Continuing our trip down Stargate Atlantis Memory lane! The Shrine!

Continuing our trip down SGA memory lane with…

THE SHRINE (506)

Three hanky alert!  Executive Producer Brad Wright delivers one of the most talked-about episodes of the show’s fifth and final season. Described as a “reverse Flowers for Algernon”, it charts the emotional and intellectual erosion of the brilliant Rodney McKay after he is infected with a seemingly incurable disease.  It’s an episode highlighted by terrific performances, touching scenes, and a surprisingly gruesome surgery scene.

During the episode’s prep, one of the fan sites reported that its title had undergone a couple of changes.  It had initially been called “amort” before being changed to “The Shrine of Talus” before, ultimately, settling on “The Shrine”.  Amort?  The fan site based this assumption on the fact that, under the heading of episode title in one of the art department hand-outs, was the word “amort”.  Oh!  Amort!  Usually, when sets are built for a given episode, their cost comes out of that episode’s budget. However, in cases where large sets are built that are used more than once (say, the village set or the Daedalus set or even a cave set that is used multiple times a season), their cost is amortized over the course of several episodes.  Amort!  Short for amortized!

Still, there was a slight alteration after the original episode title, The Shrine of Talus, didn’t clear.  Why didn’t clear?  No idea.  Presumably, the name was already taken.  Somewhere out there a Mr. Shrine Talus continues to live in relative obscurity.

The submerged gate sequence made use of a piece of the gate, the green screen, and a water tank to convey that “we’re flooded!” feel (Photo @MGM Television)

EP and episode writer Brad Wright on set (Photo @MGM Television)

More green screen to convey the size and scope of the surrounding city of Atlantis (Photo @MGM Television)

It’s the little things that made the show special – like the work that went into designing these rock formations for the grotto surgery.

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Ancient carved tablet – detail. “The ancient lettering should be chipped, worn and faded to the point that it is not readable.”

The grotto. A mix of construction, set dec, greens, SFX mist and VFX green screen.

Gruesome stuff.  Rodney undergoes cranial surgery.  (Photo @MGM Television)

The surgery and parasite escape – prosthetics and visual effects.

Tagged: Atlantis, science fiction, scifi television, SF, SF television, SGA, Stargate, Stargate Atalntis, Stargate: Atlantis, The Shrine

January 17, 2013: Stargate Q&A! Blog Hop! Introducing Fernando!

Hurrah!  I’m pleased to announce a new Stargate-related Q&A!  Mark Nicholson joined the franchise in SG-1′s tenth season (Atlantis’s third) and worked BEHIND the scenes, helping to build a lot of the amazing things you saw IN the scenes.  He was with us until the very end, Universe’s last episode, and, along the way, his contributions included everything from high-tech gadgetry to awesome weaponry.

So, what was his most complicated build?  His strangest?  His favorite? They say that every picture tells a story, so I’m sure every prop has at least two or three!

Let’s find out.  I’m gathering questions for Mark (who is, as it turns out, a long-time reader of this blog).  Post ‘em if you got ‘em.  I’ll gather them up through the weekend and then send them Mark’s way early next week!

A little while ago, I was invited to take part in something called a Blog Hop by another blog reader, Amanda Ball.  The Hop is essentially a promotional tool that introduces readers to new authors.  A writer is chosen to answer a series of ten questions on their blog about an upcoming or new release and, a week later, they hand off to another writer who does the same on their blog.

Amanda’s Blog Hop entry is up here - http://livingforcreativity.wordpress.com/2013/01/16/the-next-big-thing-blog-hop/ - in which she discusses her latest book: _Famous…or Not_

In my case, my works-in-progress are super-secret hush-hush (please forget I mentioned this and promptly destroy your laptop after reading this entry) so I’ve decided to profile Dark Matter, my comic book series (the first three episodes four issues have been collected as a trade paperback).  Why?  Well, because the TPB was released a few months ago and…well…let’s just leave it at that for now (Seriously.  I need you to destroy this laptop after reading this entry).  I’ll be fielding the same ten questions next week after which I’ll be handing things off to award-winning New Zealand author Mandy Hager (Mandy Hager – Writer) who will be talking about her latest release, The Crossing (http://www.pyrsf.com/TheCrossing.html) over on her blog the week following.

Fernando, meet the blog gang.  Blog gang, Fernando.  This beautiful young husky was recently adopted by my sister following the passing of her beloved Aspen.

Rather than get a puppy, she decided to help out a dog in need – and Fernando was an ideal candidate, one of 45 other dogs (and 4 cats) rescued from an abusive environment last September.

Despite his rough early years, Fernando has proven a very sweet and gentle addition to sis’ household – although, apparently, he’s a little mischievous.  According to Andria’s facebook update:

“Yesterday Fernando crawled under one gate and jumped another to get out of the kitchen when no one was home. He also started un-decorating the Christmas tree. Today, we gave him free access to the middle floor with Roxy. He dismantled the pet fountain and continued to un-decorate the tree. Hint taken… time to take down the tree.”

Who? Me?

He’s special for a lot of reasons, but one in particular.  Can you guess? Notice anything about him?

You sure?  Nothing?  Take a closer look.

Still no?

He’s blind.  Sis thinks he may be able to distinguish light in one eye, but that would be the extent of his visibility.  Still, you wouldn’t know it.  Mom didn’t – even after spending an hour getting to know him. He’s very smart, has already figured out how to use the pet fountain and, apparently, looks up and cocks his head when someone talks to him.

A wonderful addition to our extended family.

January 16, 2013: Kitchen Adventures!

As many of you know, I’m a fairly adventurous eater.  For the most part, my foolhardy foodie forays have been limited to menu items at whatever eatery I happen to be visiting.  Lately, however, I’ve been doing some experimenting in the kitchen.  What follows are a few of my most recent culinary conquests.

Akemi bought me a sous-vide machine for Christmas.  For those of you who don’t know, sous-vide is a cooking method in which food is placed into an vacuum-sealed pouch and then immersed in a temperature-controlled water bath and cooked for an extended period. It’s supposed to seal in the flavors and ensure precise cooking because, once a certain temperature is set, whatever is being cooked remains at said temperature until it is served.

First up, I tried my hand at steak -

I seasoned the steak with salt, pepper, thyme, paprika, and crushed garlic before sealing.

Apparently, one of the bonuses of cooking sous-vide is that it ensures that even the cheaper cuts turn out tender and juicy.  All the same, I elected to go with my favorite: the rib-eye.  I cooked at it at 130 degrees fahrenheit (about 54.5 celsius) for about an hour to yield a nice medium-rare.  One of the great things about preparing food sous-vide is that you don’t have to be overly concerned about the timing.  A few minutes in a pan or in the oven could mean the difference between rare and well-done but, in the sous-vide machine, the internal temperature remains constant.

The only drawback to this mode of cooking is that you miss that crusty sear only a pan can deliver – which is why, once my steak was done, I popped it onto a hot cast-iron skillet for 30 seconds on each side.

And voila!

The verdict?  Delicious.  A perfect steak.  The following weekend, I experimented with a variety of different cuts (t-bone, tenderloin, sirloin and, again, rib-eye).  The steaks were good but not as good as the first time around owing to the fact that I failed to give them a proper sear. And, for what it’s worth, while all the cuts delivered tenderness and taste, the rib-eye still came out on top.

The next day, I decided to try the same method with fish.  I picked up an opah filet at my local fishmonger.  It’s a fish similar to tuna in taste and texture.

Seasoned with salt, pepper, tarragon, and crushed garlic.

I seasoned, sealed the fish, then immersed it and cooked it at a temperature of 135 fahrenheit (about 57 celsius) for about 45 minutes. The results?

Served with a wasabi-lime sauce.

Good but slightly overcooked, a far cry from the stunning version I enjoyed a month earlier.  In that case, broiling yielded a perfect opah: mouth-meltingly mi-cuit on the inside and possessed of nice exterior crispiness.  I think that, next time, I’m going to go with a lower temperature and use the same searing method I used on the rib-eye.

Oh, and just so it’s not all protein, accompanying the fish was a salad:

Tomatoes, avocado, burrata cheese, olive oil, and espresso balsamic.

One of the things Akemi was particularly looking to preparing sous-vide was a simple egg.  She cooked it at 145.5 fahrenheit (about 63 celsius) for 70 minutes.  It yielded a yolk just a touch above soft-boiled.

Served atop rice, ahi tuna, and avocado.

If you like your eggs just a touch runny (which I do), they were perfect. I’ll never boil an egg on the stove again.  Provided I don’t mind waiting over an hour to eat.

I was on a sous-vide tear!  I decided to try my hand at lamb chops!  I followed the same routine, seasoning and sealing -

Salt, pepper, rosemary, thyme, smoked serrano, and crushed garlic.

I immersed them at a temperature of 133 degrees fahrenheit (56 celsius) for about 30 minutes, then removed them from the water bath and gave them a quick sear -

Gorgeous

The results?  Only the best lamb chops I’ve ever had!

In addition to giving the new sous-vide machine a work-out, Akemi and I also worked with the classic tried and true cooking methods as well…

Akemi’s soup uses a chicken and sesame base and includes nappa cabbage, hot peppers, radishes, mushrooms, and chive dumplings.

This version of Gordon Ramsay’s Curried Corn Soup uses Japanese sweet potatoes for body instead of simple potato.  Tasty.  And scorching!

Akemi was in the mood for skate wing but they rarely have it in stock so, on our way over, I told Akemi to think positive.  Well, there was positively no skate wing – but there was (even better!) fresh sea urchin.  Here, served simply – raw on rice and a sous-vide egg topped with fresh chives.

I had the guys over for football last weekend and I was going to spring the following little surprise on them, a tasty variation of pork rinds inspired by a Top Chef episode.  But I forgot.  So I ended up making it the next day for Akemi and I:

Crispy chicken skin!

I picked up a bag of chicken skin at my local butcher (you’d be amazed what they have hiding in the back), then rinsed and patted them dry before spreading them out on a parchment-lined baking tray and sprinkling them with a mix of salt, pepper, garlic powder, thyme, and smoked serrano powder.  I then lay down another layer of parchment and set a weighted second tray on top before putting them in the oven and baking them at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.  After that, I removed the top covering pan and parchment and let them broil under the high heat for another 5 minutes.

The results?  I hate to say it, but they were unbelievably good.  And highly addictive.  Forget the canapes.  Serve these at your next party!

Tagged: cooking, crispy chicken skin, crispy chicken skin recipe, egg sous-vide, lamb sous-vide, opah, opah sous-vide, sous-vide, sous-vide cooking, sous-vide egg, sous-vide lamb, sous-vide steak, steak sous-vide

January 15, 2013: Days of Stargate Atlantis Past continues with Ghost in the Machine!

I spent yesterday afternoon going through the various Art Department handouts I amassed over my time on Stargate.  Sadly, not over my entire run on the franchise but mainly over those last four years – Atlantis’s fourth and fifth seasons, and Universe’s first and second. There’s a lot of interesting stuff – and some highly detailed schematics that might only prove of interest to the most diehard fans.  Some episodes are well-represented with reams of supporting sketches and blueprints while others have only a single sheet or two to accompany the happy memories.  All told, several hundred documents at least.

The plan, as outlined in a previous entry, is to package them by episode as fan giveaways.  I estimated 40 at first but, including SGU, it’s closer to 80!   Ultimately, as many of you have already pointed out, it would be nice to make this veritable treasure trove of Stargate information available to fandom at large.  And so, before I get around to doing that giveaway, I’m going to have everything scanned and digitized so that someone (hint! hint!) can upload to a dedicated site where fans can peruse them at their own leisure  - while the more ambitious of you can start work on building your own versions of the various sets.  How’s that for an idea?  ”Hey, studio, we’d like to shoot the movie.  No, we can shoot it for half the cost because we’ve already got the sets.  They’re on loan from some fans…”

Continuing our trip down SGA memory lane with…

GHOST IN THE MACHINE (505)

Another one of Carl Binder’s infernal “ghost” episodes!  Have to hand it to him though.  He was damn good at them.

This one was bittersweet for a host of reasons, the chiefest, of course, being the fact that it marked the final appearance of Elizabeth Weir (in new replicator form, mind you).  The original ending was a little more open-ended but, once were unable to secure Torri for a return appearance, it was decided to rewrite the script and offer closure to that particular storyline.  I often like to think that, if things had turned out differently – IF the show had been picked up for a sixth season and IF Torri had been amenable to a return appearance – we could have found a way to re-introduce the real Weir to the Stargate universe.  In my mind, Oberoth’s claim to have killed the real Elizabeth was an obvious lie.  Why dispose of such a valuable asset, someone with such intimate knowledge of Atlantis and the Stargate program?  It’s more probable that Oberoth kept Elizabeth in stasis at a secret location – only to perish with that knowledge.

Somewhere out there in the Pegasus Galaxy, Elizabeth Weir is waiting to be rescued!

The lovely Michelle Morgan as Fran.

Lots of firepower in this episode.

Heads up! (Photo @MGM Television)

(Photo @MGM Television)

Tagged: Atlantis, film & television, Ghost in the Shell, science fiction, scifi, scifi television, SF, SF television, SGA, Stargate, Stargate: Atlantis, t.v., television

January 2013: Days of Stargate Atlantis Past continues with Ghost in the Machine!

I spent yesterday afternoon going through the various Art Department handouts I amassed over my time on Stargate.  Sadly, not over my entire run on the franchise but mainly over those last four years – Atlantis’s fourth and fifth seasons, and Universe’s first and second. There’s a lot of interesting stuff – and some highly detailed schematics that might only prove of interest to the most diehard fans.  Some episodes are well-represented with reams of supporting sketches and blueprints while others have only a single sheet or two to accompany the happy memories.  All told, several hundred documents at least.

The plan, as outlined in a previous entry, is to package them by episode as fan giveaways.  I estimated 40 at first but, including SGU, it’s closer to 80!   Ultimately, as many of you have already pointed out, it would be nice to make this veritable treasure trove of Stargate information available to fandom at large.  And so, before I get around to doing that giveaway, I’m going to have everything scanned and digitized so that someone (hint! hint!) can upload to a dedicated site where fans can peruse them at their own leisure  - while the more ambitious of you can start work on building your own versions of the various sets.  How’s that for an idea?  ”Hey, studio, we’d like to shoot the movie.  No, we can shoot it for half the cost because we’ve already got the sets.  They’re on loan from some fans…”

Continuing our trip down SGA memory lane with…

GHOST IN THE MACHINE (505)

Another one of Carl Binder’s infernal “ghost” episodes!  Have to hand it to him though.  He was damn good at them.

This one was bittersweet for a host of reasons, the chiefest, of course, being the fact that it marked the final appearance of Elizabeth Weir (in new replicator form, mind you).  The original ending was a little more open-ended but, once were unable to secure Torri for a return appearance, it was decided to rewrite the script and offer closure to that particular storyline.  I often like to think that, if things had turned out differently – IF the show had been picked up for a sixth season and IF Torri had been amenable to a return appearance – we could have found a way to re-introduce the real Weir to the Stargate universe.  In my mind, Oberoth’s claim to have killed the real Elizabeth was an obvious lie.  Why dispose of such a valuable asset, someone with such intimate knowledge of Atlantis and the Stargate program?  It’s more probable that Oberoth kept Elizabeth in stasis at a secret location – only to perish with that knowledge.

Somewhere out there in the Pegasus Galaxy, Elizabeth Weir is waiting to be rescued!

The lovely Michelle Morgan as Fran.

Lots of firepower in this episode.

Heads up! (Photo @MGM Television)

(Photo @MGM Television)

Tagged: Atlantis, film & television, Ghost in the Shell, science fiction, scifi, scifi television, SF, SF television, SGA, Stargate, Stargate: Atlantis, t.v., television

January 14, 2013: The Supermovie of the Week Club reconvenes! Cookie Monster reviews Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer!

Benign and inoffensive.  Dat pretty much sum up dis movie.  On de one hand, it not sink to craptastic lows of first FF movie; on de other hand, it never quite reach de lofty heights of mediocrity either.

Reed Richards and Sue Storm be in love and want to get married. Meanwhile, silver alien on surfboard fly around world creating weather disturbances.  Dis pretty much sum up first 60 minutes of movie’s 90 minute running time.

Most boring super celebrity couple ever!

Instead of quietly tying de knot in publik, Reed and Sue opt for big publik wedding – and den complain when dey keep getting harassed by paparazzi.  Boo hoo hoo.  Dey also end up getting upstaged by silver alien on surfboard who happen to fly by during ceremony.  Johnny flame on and give chase, but get choked out for his troubles.

Choke out time!

When he return to team, we diskover he suddenly possess strange ability.  Every time he touch someone, he end up swapping powers wit dem!

“Cool!”say Michael Chiklets.  ”It me!”

Monster realize dis a superhero movie and rules of general logik may not apply, but me still feel movie should adhere to internal logik.  What possible reason dere be for Johnny to acquire dis strange power?  Silver Surfer never display dis ability.  So why dis complikation introduced? Two reasons.  1. So dat movie can include scene where Johnny swap powers wit Sue who end up burning off her clothes and end up – ho ho ho – naked.  Again!  2. So dat we have ready-made, dramatikally unsatisfying solution to problem at end of film.

London = de world’s sandbox!

Silver Surfer a real annoyance.  He keep flying around de world causing trouble.  FF try to stop him but keep getting in each other’s way.

Finally, Reed realize dat surfboard is source of Silver Surfer’s power. How he figure dis out?  Come on!  De guy’s name be Silver Surfer!  So Reed create plan to use tacky-on pulse to separate Silver from surfboard.  He be helped, sort of, by Doctor Doom who, conveniently, be cured of scarring and get free pass from “army”.

Silver ride de missile waves.

Reed succeed!  Silver captured.  His board locked safely away.  Until Dr. Doom ask army if he can take a look at it.  Pretty pleaze.  Army say okay and – in movie’s most unshocking twist – it turn out Dr. Doom be a bad guy after all.  Come on!  De guy’s name be Doctor Doom!

He hop on board and surf away.  FF give chase in flying car-thing Reed just happen to finish building off-screen.

Shotgun!

Monster just one to take a moment to say idea of alien riding around on a cosmic surfboard must have been really great back in de 60′s when everybody doing LSD.  Nowadays, not so cool, dude.

Reed get bright idea to give Johnny all deir powers so he can fight Surfer Doom.  How he know dis even possible monster not sure but movie near its merciful end so me not complaining.  Much.  Sue sacrifice her life to save Silver.  Johnny, wit all four powers, fight Doom. It back and forth until -

Ben Grimm (aka Thing) climb up onto crane, swing it around and knock Doom into de drink.  Really.  DAT was de plan?!

Fantastic Four in One.

Wind pick up.  Uh oh!  It turn out Silver Surfer be a herald for Galactus de Planet Eater and Earth be doomed.  But Silver Surfer have change of heart and, after curing Sue of death (Oh, he can do dat?  Okay.), he fly up into funnel in de sky and stop Galactus from eating Earth.  How exaktly?  Why he do dis when he already said he serving Galactus to save his own family?  Why do Johnny’s weird body swapping powers suddenly disappear?  Shut de fudge up!  You ask too many qwestions. Just sit back and enjoy give  makers of dis movie a free pass so dey can cash deir unearned paychecks.

Everybody hug.  Reed and Sue get married in Japan.  Johnny’s girlfriend almost catch bouquet but he end up incinerating it becuz he a playah!  And she, by extension, a tramp.  Tee hee.

Verdikt:  Dis movie less satisfying den seksual relations wit Grover’s sister.

Rating: 3.5 chocolate chippee cookies.

Tagged: comic book movies, Comic Books, Comics, Cookie Monster, Cookie Monster movie reviews, Cookie Monster reviews Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Cookie Monster superhero movies reviews, Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, FF, film reviews, movie reviews, superhero movies, superheroes, The Fantastic Four

January 13, 2013: Patriots 41 Tomato Cans 28!

With my gal back in town, it was time to resume our weekend traditions of Farmer’s Market and Football!

The Winter Farmer’s Market is a far cry from the Summer Farmer’s Market and, to be honest, the draw is less the fresh produce as it is the food trucks – namely two of our favorites.

Sacre Bleu (cheese with with prosciutto and brie)!  Just one of their many tasty sweet and savory selections.

For Akemi, it’s La Boheme Creperie, a family-run food truck that serves a host of terrific buckwheat crepes.  She always gets the same thing: The Quebecois (ham, cheese, and apple compote minus the ham and with the addition of greens).

Superbe!

As much as I like the crepes, my go-to truck is Le Tigre Cuisine which offers up a kick-ass Asian fusion menu that includes pork belly shao bing, crispy chicken karaage and -

My fave: the beet fries!

Football and I have brokered a temporary truce through the rest of the playoffs.  To be honest, my interest lies less in the games themselves than the opportunity to root against the teams I hate.  #1 on that list was the Green Bay Packers.  My hatred for this team was a recent development, the result of Aaron Rodgers belligerent refusal to throw any passes James Jones’ way in week 12, costing my Snow Monkeys a shot at a Fantasy Football post-season berth.  The Pack, of course, ended up having their Superbowl dreams quashed by the San Francisco 49ers.  Very satisfying.

Perhaps even more satisfying was seeing the favored Denver Broncos go down as well.  Being a longtime Raiders fan, it’s always nice to see a division rival lose out.

And, while they’re no longer a division rival, the Seattle Seahawks were once.  They ended up on the short end of 30-28 score.

Sadly, it wasn’t a perfect football weekend as the New England Patriots qualified for the AFC conference championship by slapping around the hapless Houston Texans.  Going into the game, the Texans were upset by a Boston Globe article that likened them to tomato cans.  Not that I really did anything to discourage the comparison but in my mind, given their somewhat respectable first half performance, I’d liken them more to paint cans than tomato cans.

I’m holding out hope for an Atlanta Falcons vs. Baltimore Ravens Superbowl.  That would be sweet indeed!  But I think the Falcons are going to have their hands full at home against a very strong 49ers team on both sides of the ball while the tough Ravens D will really have to step up to slow down pretty boy Brady and his milquetoast teammates.  Looking forward to next weekend.

Oh, and getting back on the football horse also allowed me to reconnect with friends -

Hey!  It’s special guest Brad Wright!  Also, Ivon Bartok and his girlfriend Lulu.

My writing partner Paul (camera loves him!) and Lawren Bancroft-Wilson.

Not pictured: Robert Cooper who just returned from a whirlwind tour of Australia that, apparently, boasts the greatest salt and pepper lobster in existence.  Hey, you Aussies!  Hook me up!