Stargate Universe - A New Chapter

I have always been a fan of the Stargate series. I liked the movie and I've seen an episode of SG-1 here and there. When Stargate Atlantis came along, I watched every single episode, from the beginning to the end. The cancellation announcement was sudden and sad. However, a glimmer of hope that the Stargate saga would continue remained. Stargate Universe was announced as SG-1 and Atlantis were winding down.

It was clear from the very beginning that SG:U would be different than before. Centering around a mysterious ship which would leave its passengers stranded, it seemed destined to break new ground.

Finally, a month ago SG:U premiered and five episodes later (the premiere was two, I hear), I'm glad to report that SG:U is a great show.

Let's talk a little bit about background. SG:U begins with an accident on a distant planet where a Stargate with 9 chevrons exists. It's the only one around and the brilliant minds working on in theorize that a 9 chevron gate address found on Atlantis can be dialed through this gate. However, their attempts dial fails.

After recruiting a bit of outside help from a gamer whiz, they find the solution and together with an unexpected alien attack on the planet, they end up being able to dial the address. Since a that point, their only options are to either go through the gate or die when the planet they are on explodes, the whole base population that is alive runs through the gate.

The gate leads to a ship called Destiny. Sent out by the ancients a long time ago, it's on autopilot, flying through space towards a destination that is unknown.

As they arrive with limited supplies and a bunch of people, they are immediately faced with a dilemma: the life support system on the ship is busted. How do you fix something you don't have the parts for?

The following episodes continue along the same theme. Problems arise, in some cases due to their lack of understanding in regards to how the ship works, other times because they think they know how something works only to be shown that they don't. As you may imagine, this causes a lot of interesting problems.

As expected, the crew is completely new and with new characters, there are new interpersonal dramas. I've also noticed that SG:U goes into the romantic aspects much more directly than say S:A did. In some cases, this distracts a bit and feels a bit rushed, almost as if it's added on just for the sake of having a steamy sex scene in the episode. There is some romantic tension between characters that may develop later so there's plenty to see still.

I'm not going to go into detail in about the episodes at this point but for me, being a Stargate fan, I like it. As the show goes on, I may post reviews of individual episodes. For now, I'm looking forward to the next episode this coming Friday on SyFy.

Alaska State Troopers - A Review

The last couple of years, Alaska has become a household name. Starting with TV shows like Deadliest Catch to the failed Vice Presidential bid of Governor Sarah Palin, everyone is curious about Alaska. It is no surprise then that more and more shows are popping up on the good old TV, displaying the last frontier and all its dangers. So, when I heard that the Alaska State Troopers were making their contribution to the Alaska mania, I was pretty excited.

Surprisingly, Alaska State Troopers on NGC is a cop show unlike any other cop show and whether that's good or bad is up to the viewer. Someone from Alaska will most likely come away with a different impression of Alaska than their grandma down in Florida.

At first, I was a bit embarrassed. The first part of the show takes us along with the Troopers as they have to deal with drunks, fights, people spitting blood and such. Being understaffed obviously doesn't help. I was thinking that "gosh, Alaskans look like a bunch of drunks."

Later on, a woman turns up on a porch completely wasted and is taken to the hospital, all while calling the Trooper who responded to the call "her friend." Another lady is pulled over for an equipment violation, who turns out to be on probation for something involving drugs. The canine unit, which happened to pull her over, takes a peek, indicating on a pack of cigarettes. Fortunately for the driver, no drugs are found.

Later on, we witness a dead moose in a lake, illegal trapping and a few other things. Mixed in with all of this are the monologues by the officers, as seen on many other cop shows. There's also a bit of showing off with the snowmobile if you ask me, although I wouldn't be surprised if that's more of a production stunt. The law riding wild on the side of a mountain looks better on TV.

The one thing that comes up several times during the show is staffing. One of the challenges for the AST is staffing. Very often they're spread out over large areas with very little support that at times can put them in sticky situations, situations that at times can make it very dangerous for them. It's not like Cops where you call for backup and you have five other cars there within minutes. Alaska Troopers must often act independently and alone and it makes it a very dangerous job. They definitely need more staff.

AST isn't like Cops or Police Women of Broward County. It isn't all action every second of the show. On most shows, something exciting happens all the time. That's what keeps you glued to the TV. In fact, there's a lot of build-up at times that results in nothing exciting. Take the dead moose on the lake, for example. We see the pilot go check it out but then nothing much more happens. The lady on probation us pulled over but no drugs are found. The most exciting part of the show must have been the snowmobile accident that required a helicopter to pick up the injured person. Taking close to three hours, you can see the agony of the guy on the stretcher and you sympathize...and wonder why in the world would you do such a thing.

Being an Alaskan, I'll watch all the coming episodes as well. Although AST is a bit slower compared to other shows, it does present a unique picture of the challenges of law enforcement in Alaska. It may not be all guts and glory, it may at times be a matter of staying alive because you're the only Trooper around. Let's just hope for the sake of all other viewers that the pace picks up a bit in the next few episodes.

District 9 Review

In the theatres of the world, science fiction has been well represented the last couple of years. With movies such as Star Trek and Transformers, we've had our share of intense action and mind-blowing technology on display. When District 9 rolled in, I was therefore completely unprepared.

District 9 is science fiction but science fiction on a very different level. With movies like Transformers, Star Trek and others, you see something cool but not necessarily believable. District 9 comes across as something that could be happening in the world right now.

he background goes as follows. At some point in time, a giant space ship parks itself over Johannesburg, South Africa. Nothing else happens until the brave human race decides to open it up and see what's inside.

>Inside they find a starving a leaderless alien population that is transferred to camps on the ground for humanitarian reasons. It doesn't take long, however, before the camps turn into slums and the aliens turn into beings that were saved from death to a race that the humans would rather see dead.

he movie follows the events that take place as the MNU organization carries out a relocation of the whole alien population to what can best be described as concentration camps and the events that occur during this relocation. It deals with issues we can all recognize, such as racism, profiting on the poor and so on.

I don't want to ruin the plot so I won't go any further into it at this point. However I do want to point out a few other things about the movie.

I learned from an article in another magazine that there are no Hollywood actors in the movie. I'd have to say that's about right because I don't recognize a single character in the movie. Supposedly, this was done on purpose. A lot of the dialogue was also created on the fly to create a sense that both the characters and what they were saying appeared genuine. In addition, the filming has all the marks of a documentary. Much of the movie appears to be an interenal MNU video documentary, supplemented by security camera footage as well as the occasional TV news footage. Again, all of this was done to make the movie seem more realistic.

The obvious question is: did it work?

Without a doubt, I think it did. Of all the sci-fi movies (and other regular fiction as well) I've seen in the last couple of years, this movie by far appear to be the most realistic. When you watch it, you actually feel like it really could be happening right now, or last month, in South Africa. It's a story that's sad but also eye-opening.

Being a sci-fi movie, there is naturally a ton of cool technology involved, all of it alien. However, for the most part, the technology itself isn't the focus of the story, it's merely the tool with which the story is told. The story could just as well have taken place in the New World after Columbus came or in Germany during World War II. As such, the human drama is the main focus of the story and as such, it should appeal to those that may not like sci-fi in itself. Although quite violent and gory at times, it feels very realistic.

Overall, District 9 is a must see movie if you don't mind a bit of blood and gore here and there. In my book, it's one of the best movies of the year.