Prequel and Proud

X-Men First Class
This should have been the first X-Men film ever made.  More than just a prequel, it bridged the comics and films by taking place in the same time period as the comics and providing an engaging backstory for some of the staple characters.  James McAvoy (Charles Xavier) and Michael Fassbender (Erik Lensharr) had some big shoes to fill and both played their roles well beyond expectations.  The film prioritizes its comic origins, which buoys it against the other X-men films, but creates a few flaws along the way.  The more vibrant colors and less serious tone actually made the film more believable than the more serious predecessors.  However, this loyalty to the roots do work against the film in some areas.

Star Trek Family Tree

Star Trek, the Founding Father: Began the family business by starting out with nothing.  He struggled at first, but eventually prospered.  As he got older he was able to expand the business and keep it going strong. 

The Animated Series, the Ex-wife: She seemed like just what was needed at the time, but it just didn't work out and she left.  Some members of the family talk to her, but most don't, and now she's just a footnote from the father's youth.   

The Next Generation, the First-born: He got a lot of attention and favoritism for being the firstborn.  He had his awkward age growing up, but eventually grew up to live up to his father's legacy as a strong leader in the family company.  But, as it often goes, when it came time for the father to step aside and turn over the reigns (when TNG went silver screen), he faltered and just couldn't match his father's brilliance, beginning a decline in the family name. 

Deep Space Nine, the 2nd Born: This one didn't have the favoritism from its parents as he grew up, so he had to make its own way on hard work.  He thought differently than his parents and started doing his own thing, which he succeeded at.  He got a lot of support from his older brother until he (TNG) became head of the company, which started sibling rivalry began that often worked against DS9.  They managed to make it work, but not as well as they could have. 

Voyager, the Runt: The last of the three children and the worst off.  He just couldn't keep up with his older brothers, despite getting some help.   He was mostly a disappointment growing up, with a few pleasant surprises here and there.  Eventually it found one thing it was good at (sexy Borgs) and stuck with it.  It was the kind of thing that made parents shrug and say, "Whatever makes him happy." 

Enterprise, the Wicked Step-mom: In three words; young, dumb, and sexy.  She married into the family because she made the father happy after the difficulty with his sons.  Most of the family really doesn't like her, but there's not much they can do about it.  She was given a position of authority in the company, and then she ran the whole thing into the ground with her dumb decisions and refusal to listen to anyone.  By the time she grew up a little and came to her senses, it was too little, too late. 

Star Trek '09, the younger Half-Sibling: The child of the father and the step-mom.  He has the sexy trendiness of his mother and the inspiration of his father. He is a new generation of the family line, as the other children have grown up and had their day.  He gets away with a lot more than the other children did because his very old father spoils him so much.  He carries the future hope of the family on his shoulders and its still uncertain how he will handle it.

The Decline of the Opening Title Sequence

Some of you who regularly watch television, or even shows on Netflix and Hulu, may have noticed that fewer shows nowadays are using a full Opening Title Sequence.  Most just throw up the title in a few seconds, then make the Act I credits longer.  Title sequences have varied through television history and some have had a hand in shaping a show's identity.

Bloody Pirates!!

5 Reasons Why On Stranger Tides Felt Like a Cheap Sequel

I finally saw the new Pirates movie and while I feared the worst going in, it was okay, and just okay.  While the stronger points of the previous films are still there, the film has several flaws that bring it down.  

1. The Cast: While good ole Jack Sparrow, Barbosa, and Gibbs come back to shine, the absence of the remaining characters is sorely missed.  I'm not even talking about Will and Elizabeth because their story was effectively concluded in At World's End.  No, I mean Ragetti (wooden eye guy), Peintel (wooden eye's friend), Marty (the midget), Cotton, and Cotton's parrot.  The audience has gotten to know this quirky crew over three films and it's really disappointing that not a one of them appeared in this one.  Instead, they are replaced with a bunch of pirate red shirts with little to contribute on screen and that the audience doesn't really care about.  It just felt like we were in a different universe without all these familiar faces to ground us.  
2. The Little Mermaid: This is part of the first reason, but it was such a glaring drag, it warranted its own category.  A sub plot of the film involved the pirates capturing a mermaid and one of the crew (who looks suspiciously like Prince Eric) falling in love with her.  These two are  incredibly weak stand-ins for Will and Elizabeth.  Like I said, we already don't care about the new crew and giving one of them some extra story that's separate from the main characters (especially Jack) is really detracting.  Sam Claflin, who played the new pretty boy, deserves his own Razzie for "More Wooden Than Orlando Bloom."  
3. TLI: A problem with At World's End was too much information was thrown at the audience that it was a little difficult to keep up during a single viewing.  On Stranger Tides did the opposite, there was too little information.  Like the previous films, it introduced new villains, mysticism, and myths that are explored, but a lot is left unexplained.  Where does Blackbeard get his voodoo power?  We don't know.  Why did Blackbeard attack the Black Pearl in the first place?  We don't know.  Where did the Fountain of Youth come from, Calypso?  We don't know.  Why do the Spanish care so much about the Fountain?  The list goes on, making the audience feel less confused, but more unfulfilled.   
4. Soundtrack: The music of the new film was shamelessly recycled.  It sounded like the editors took the soundtracks from the previous films and just worked them in where they could.  The same score played almost endlessly and there was no attempt to create some new compositions or variations for the new circumstances.  I remember hearing only one new song on a spanish guitar, and it was a marginal change.  
5. A few shillings short of an Epic: This is more a problem with how the franchise was handled as a whole.  The producers really outdid themselves with the massive scale of At World's End that any followup films would pale in comparison, which this one did.  Now, I'm glad they didn't try to overreach themselves by trying to go bigger, but the film did feel a little less thrilling than its predecessors with lower stakes and smaller action.  A better way would have been to make each film a stand alone adventure and each one would slowly build on the other.  Coulda, woulda, shoulda.  

While I won't say I regretted seeing On Stranger Tides, I can't say I walked out of the theater feeling invigorated either.  When I saw The Curse of the Black Pearl, I was so taken with it that I grabbed as many friends and family that I could find and took them with me on 2nd, 3rd, and 4th viewings.  After this last one, I just started to forget about it a bit.  I felt like I had seen an enjoyable TV movie; just something I didn't mind doing when I had nothing else to really do.  I can only hope these flaws are corrected in any future installments.  

Long Past Sci Fi Prime

Since I mentioned SyFy Channel in my last series on Stargate Universe, I thought I'd do a little blurb on them.

Despite anyone's idealized version of history, Sci Fi Channel was not created so science fiction television would have a permanent home.  It was a business venture of USA Networks (then owned by Paramount Pictures and Universal Studios) to create an outlet for the large volume of classic sci-fi shows and films that the studios had in their archives but had no place to air.  These included Dracula, Frankenstein, Night Gallery, Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek, etc.  Now this provided a moderate income, but with its success, some original programming was added to draw even more viewers.  This eventually led to the Sci Fi Prime lineup on Friday nights (hosted by that wonderfully creepy lady).  The network aired their flagship original programming during this time block, as part of the "counter-programming" approach I mentioned.  Most networks don't air shows on Fridays because they figure most people will go out to the movies, parties, dates, etc.  Sci Fi Channel could get away with it since it could be argued their viewer demographic was a bunch of nerds/geeks who don't have a life.  This is a gross generalization to be sure, but not without merit.