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Mars Attack, a review by Dragonfire

AWAKE, EARTHLINGS!  It's later than you think. Don't miss this hilarious frenzy as Tim Burton (Batman, Beetlejuice) directs - and Mars Attacks!

SEE! Stars that shine across the galaxy.  Jack Nicholson (In a dual role), Glenn Close, Annette Bening, Pierce Brosnan, Danny DeVito and a dozen more!  SHRIEK! At mean, green invaders from the angry red planet!  Armed with insta-fry ray guns, endowed with slimy, humongous brains - and enlivened with out-of-this-world but state-of-the-art special effects.  GASP! As the U.S. legislature is overwhelmed.  (Don't fear, we still have 2 out of 3 branches of the government working for us, and that ain't bad!) THRILL! As Earth flights back with an unexpected weapon.  Take that, Martians!

My Thoughts

Yes this is a very silly movie, but I find it to be very entertaining.  It is a bit odd, which seems to be typical of a Tim Burton movie, and very funny.  I haven't seen many of the older movies dealing with martians, but some elements of this movie did seem to be the same - like the look of the flying saucers.  The aliens themselves had a unique, creepy look and a very odd language.  It was sort of like Independence Day in showing how many different characters reacted to and dealt with the invasion.  There was a lot of over acting going on, but it fit in with the general absurdity of the movie.  This is a movie to watch just for fun.  It's goofy, kooky, and a bit twisted, which is probably why I like it. 

 

(From My November Alphabet Marathon on November 4th, 2008)

Vanishing of the Bees, a review by Antares

Vanishing of the Bees (2009) 4/5 - A first rate documentary dealing with an issue that could have cataclysmic ramifications for our species. Back in the mid-nineties in France, hundreds of commercial apiarists started to notice that whole colonies of bees suddenly disappeared overnight. Fast forward ten years and now the epidemic has become apparent around the world. So what does it mean, well, in a nutshell, if something is killing off vast quantities of honeybees, then vast amounts of vegetables and fruits aren't going to be pollenized, and in the long run will create massive food shortages around the globe. At first, scientists are completely baffled as to what is causing what has become known globally as Colony Collapse Disorder. In the beginning it was felt that mites or disease was causing the epidemic, but this turned out to be false. All the while, beekeepers were losing over 30% of their bee populations each year. After a global summit was held in Paris a few years ago, it was deemed that the use of systemic pesticides was the culprit behind the epidemic. Systemic pesticides are not sprayed upon the plant, they are coated on the seed and grow into the plant's botanical structure. Therefore, it doesn't rinse off and becomes part of the plant's genetic makeup. Honeybees who gather the pollen from these plants, become disoriented and if they find their way back to the colony, inadvertently infest the rest of the colony when doing their "waggle dance", the method bees use to tell other bees in the colony as to the whereabouts of a potential food source.

The Europeans are making headway against this problem by banning the use of these systemic pesticides, but here in our country, commercial apiarists are butting heads against the agricultural industry and their deep lobbying pockets. If systemic pesticides are banned, it makes their monoculture super farms less profitable. If you care for your children or grand children's future, you may want to check this documentary out. At the rate that this epidemic is reducing the pollinating bee business, in less than a decade we could be paying over $10 for an apple or $25 for a small can of smokehouse almonds. We can't live without bees. That my friends is a FACT.

(From Antares' Short Summations on March 16th, 2012)

"Battlestar Galactica" Marathon (1978-2009), a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: Troy and Dillon are called back to the Galactica for an important mission. But it's a trick of Xaviar's and now they are sitting in a disabled Viper somewhere between Earth and the fleet. Meanwhile Jamie has to care for the scouts and to protect them both from the US military as well as Xaviar who wants to use them as bargaining chip. Jamie hides them in a baseball camp.

My Opinion: Don't win! Win! Don't win! Win! Jamie's constant change of minds were a bit annoying, especially since the point of this episode was totally lost on me. There was nothing in it but to show some special effects of super-kids playing baseball.

Synopsis: A Galactica patrol has encountered a new and improved Cylon Raider and engaged it. Both ships were damaged but the Raider is drifting towards Earth and will crash north of New York City. Troy and Dillon travel by plane there but they assume their patrol ship will crash there. Only two Cylons survive the crash but one of them is an advanced model who looks like a Human. And it's Halloween...

My Opinion: Together with the first part of this series, Galactica Discovers Earth, this and the following episode were re-cut to form the movie Galactica III: Conquest of the Earth. And I have to say that I like them. I thought it was an ingenious idea to hide two Cylons in plain sight, but since it's Halloween no one questions their appearance. And although these human Cylons are fully mechanical they are obviously the template for the human Cylons in the next series.
And it seems to have become a running gag that no matter where Troy and Dillon go, they get in some kind of trouble with the local law enforcement and that they steal a police car.

Synopsis: The Cylons were invited to a Halloween party and the famous radio moderator Wolfman Jack will be there. They want to capture him in order to get to the "communication center". From there they will send a distress signal and reveal Earth's position. Dillon and Troy have to prevent that at any cost. But they are not only the chaser, they are also the chased.

My Opinion: It was only years later that I learned that Wolfman Jack was a real person but I liked the character from the start. What I didn't like about this episode (and what wasn't in the movie) were Troy's and Dillon's "super jumps". But I really liked how the (seriously damaged) Centurion tried to protect the Cylon Andromus and jumped from that skyscraper and landed in the dumpster.

Synopsis: The Cylons have destroyed the agricultural ships and the fleet needs new crops. The Cylons hope that it will finally lead them to Earth. Dillon and Troy buy a piece of land from a farmer and try to grow plants there. But the farmer (and now they) are harassed by their neighbour who owns pretty much all land there and he controls the water reservoirs. But people who can fly through space can also make it rain.

My Opinion: I can't remember ever seeing this episode before. And to be honest: When they were harassed by their neighbour (played by MacGyver's Dana Elcar) I expected to see a certain black van with a red bar on it: "If you have a problem. If no one else can help. Maybe you can hire - The A-Team."
Since the scout kids were back, they used "super jumps" to spread the seeds and used the "flying saucer" to make it rain. ship I didn't like this episode very much.

Synopsis: Doctor Zee tells Commander Adama about a dream he had. It includes a great battle and a great warrior called Starbuck who had to be left behind on a lonely planet. There he repairs on of the Cylons who crashed there with him in order to have some company. But soon they are not only 2, but 3.5: Cy has found a pregnant woman and Starbuck has to get her off the planet because soon other Cylons will come looking for their patrol.

My Opinion: That was a great episode. It was well told and had great characters in it. I loved to see the developing friendship between Starbuck and Cy. It was a bit like Enemy Mine and I was really sad when Cy "died" because he protected Starbuck from these other Cylons. And it's pretty ironic that this episode worked very well and didn't need many FX shots (except for the re-used battle scenes in the beginning where Boomer has to say goodbye to his friend).

The Series - My Opinion: Let's face it: The series isn't that good. The special effects were basically reduced to "super jumps", to cloak each and everything and to make their motorcycles fly. And while it maybe OK to destroy the same Raider in the upper right corner over and over again, it looks odd when your motorcycles always fly over the same skyline no matter in which countryside you had been before - especially when you do it in nearly every episode.
It was a good idea to bring the fleet to Earth - they had told many space stories in the original series - but they didn't make anything out of it. Instead four out of ten episodes revolved around a bunch of kids and the main characters were reduced to kindergarten teachers.

(From "Battlestar Galactica" Marathon (1978-2009) on April 19th, 2009)