The thing I've always maintained about why Science Fiction -- as a genre -- tends to attract the most fans is the generally flexibility of telling stories within its various structures.  I mean: show me another framework that allows for a good old-fashioned action/adventure story explored by the scientifically-inclined?  Show me another genre where galaxy-spanning civilizations can come together in the pursuit of war and peace?  Show me where else the limits of fragile minds can be expounded upon by characters caught up in allegories?  And where else can the fate of Earth itself almost always hang in the balance?

Such is the case for July 27th, my friends, as we get to see SciFi's storytelling diversity at work with entries from such fan favorite franchises as Stargate, Babylon 5, Farscape, and Falling Skies.  Make sure to check out the day's entries, and be sure to encourage others to find our little shared corner of cyberspace.

As always, happy reading!

Greetings, SciFi smilers!  I saw this 'Jedi Go-Pro' thingee on another website earlier today, and I thought I'd share it with you here.

Enjoy!  And may the Force be with you ... always!

Finally had a chance to hit the theatres the other day and take in the latest entry into the Terminator franchise, TERMINATOR: GENISYS, and I thought it worth a few words here.

In the past, the most vocal critics of the Terminator franchise have said that I’m not exactly a great source of “assessment” of these films.  That’s their position because when it comes to the adventures of the local and extended Connor family I tend to subscribe to that old axiom, “Even bad sex is good sex.”  What this means for the cyborg flicks is that I’ve found even a bad Termie film basically has something to offer … and, yes, that even applies to the kinda/sorta bloated TERMINATOR SALVATION.  While I didn’t much care for critical darling Christian Bale in the John Connor role, I thought director McG’s film fleshed out a terrific supporting cast, including the reliable Sam Worthington, Bryce Dallas Howard, and (especially) Moon Bloodgood.  In fact, I’d argue that the strength of these lesser characters kinda quashed the need to explore another take on John Connor, and perhaps that singular player would’ve been better served with less narrative focus.

(Yeah, yeah, I know others who’ve said Connor never had enough screen time, so – opinions being what they are – let’s just say “it is what it is.”)

But back to GENISYS …

Like many, I could easily malign the whole idea of “Genisys” (think the Apple Watch on steroids for a civilization that lives its life only for social-media awareness) as being a bit too passé and predictable for the larger themes that have made up the broader Terminator franchise.  In the ConnorVerse, things like choice, destiny, life, death, fate, responsibility, and (oddly enough) family have always been near and dear to the main story – whether that be any of its films or even that occasionally maligned TV incarnation, TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES.  Instead, GENISYS largely placed those ideas on the backburner, favoring the up-close-and-personal angle of star-crossed-love (Kyle Reese and the lady Connor) while basically bashing anyone with a SmartPhone and web access.  (Isn’t there an APP for that?)  This lightweight premise has already provided so much fodder for plenty of other franchises that I’m kinda/sorta surprised this particular story earned what I’ve been told was the ‘thumbs up’ from Terminator’s creator, Mr. James Cameron.  Methinks it was probably the whole “resetting of the timeline” that he favored and not so much this thematic angle … though now that I think about it, Cameron’s AVATAR did look at awful lot like 1992’s FERNGULLY so I could be wrong.

However, GENISYS did (thankfully) bring Arnold back into the fold – that’s “Arnold Schwarzenegger” for those born on an island – and I do believe in being thankful for small miracles.  It was nice to have the ultimate big guy back, and it was even a pleasure to see how the film allowed him to age somewhat gracefully in this role.

As accomplished as Alan Taylor has proven himself as a director on HBO’s stellar GAME OF THRONES, I’m not convinced he was the right choice here.  So many of GENISYS’s action sequences – even the smaller ones which focused mainly on fisticuffs – just felt so overwhelmingly rote and ordinary that I kept wishing someone had sat Taylor down and shown him maybe some Hong Kong actioners for inspiration.  Heck, most of the fights here felt like watered down versions of the same confrontations already seen in TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY and even TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES that I found it hard to notice any uptick in my own adrenaline.  That’s not a good thing.

Also, I’d argue that the reliance on CGI heavily killed GENISYS’s pacing.  When so many of the stunts are performed using post-production trickery, it’s hard to visually capture any real sense of jeopardy for the real live actors audiences are supposed to care about.  Granted, this isn’t the case with every picture (thank you, Peter Jackson, for at least upping that ante properly with your Tolkien interpretations); but when a major stunt sequence done digitally in GENISYS ends up resembling a major stunt sequence done with practical photography from JURASSIC PARK – a film 22 years old already – someone made an error, folks … and it wasn’t me for noticing it.

Lastly: those who’ve criticized the casting of Emilia Clarke as the key player in our melodrama, Sarah Connor?  They’re spot on.  Clarke was all wrong as Connor, never effectively conveying any sense of dread over her life’s circumstances.  Sadly, she’s even less believable as an action star: too small, too plain, and too blah.  Granted, not every franchise role looking for the tough young female can land in Jennifer Lawrence’s capable hands, but what about The Walking Dead’s Lauren Cohan?  Or maybe even The 100’s Eliza Taylor?  Or maybe even The American’s Keri Russell?  I just find it so gobsmackingly impossible to believe that Emilia Clarke (who does a terrific job on GAME OF THRONES) read the part best for producers.  It smacks of ‘vanity casting,’ but what do I know: I’m just an internet schlub.

As is always the case, the bottom line remains: “Is the film worth seeing?”

Sure it is.  TERMINATOR: GENISYS offers up a few nuggets of warmth even though much of the rest on the plate looks and smells like leftovers.  Jason Clarke (again) proves he’s big star material; Arnold gets comfortable with one-liners again; and the future’s so bright you gotta wear shades.  It ain’t perfect … but – as promised – even bad sex is good sex.

Believe it or not, I grew up in a wee small town in Nowhere, Illinois that's only legitimate claim to fame tied in loosely with astronomer Clyde Tombaugh, the kind gentleman who was responsible for introducing Pluto into the lexicon; so I tend to have a soft spot for the Planet Formerly Known As Pluto.  Curse you, Neil Tyson Degrasse, cause you'll never be forgiven by scores of aging fanboys who grew up wondering if you'd destroyed what we thought would be our star system's Hoth.

In any event, I saw this on my Twitter feed this morning, and I'm still chuckling about it right now.  Thought I'd share with the lot of you.

Ahem.

The most recent edition of the UK's stellar Starburst Magazine (for those of you who don't know, it's the longest-running magazine to cover SciFi, Fantasy, Horror, and general genre-based entertainment across the world ... and it's quite spiffy) did a terrific retrospective on the entire Terminator franchise.  And I do mean "terrific retrospective" because the writers did a super impressive job, taking a largely better-than-casual look at the films, the books, the comics, and even the lone television entry into the property: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

Now, I bring this up because it's Brian Austin Green's birthday.  (Happy BDay to you, BAG, if you're listening.)  He was one of the show's regulars, and -- to his credit -- he actually turned in a solid performance in what I thought was an otherwise middling entry into the franchise.  Don't get me wrong: I wanted Chronicles to succeed probably as much as the next SciFi TV junkie, but we have to be able to 'call a spade a spade' as they say when we have the opportunity.

By contrast, Starburst's writing team christened Chronicles practically a God-send entry.  In fact, they put it in the exalted position of -- dare I even mention this? -- HBO's The Sopranos in terms of quality and execution.

Ahem.

Maybe they had a different cut of it available to them on their side of the pond, but Chronicles was not by any stretch of the imagination on par with The Sopranos ... and I say that being not the biggest fan of HBO's stylish mod drama.  At best, perhaps one out of every three or four episodes were even good.  Yes, I think it had "good" writing and, yes, I'd argue it probably had one of the strongest ensembles in recent memory ... but it was unquestionably not anything all that impressive or Earth-shaking or mesmerizing.

Definitely, the program ended when it was getting far more interesting than much of its run (I found it all too consumed with the Connor family angst instead of really showing the angst, why it persisted, and what toll it really extracts from a family caught in the crosshairs of history) ... but The Sopranos?  Really, Starburst?

In any event, Happy BDay again to Mr. Green, and make sure you check out the rest of today's wonderful entries.

Happy Monday, all of you SciFi smilers, and welcome to a new week to celebrate SciFi.

I've had a look at today's birthdays, and let me tell you: leadership rules!  Not only do we celebrate the birth of the ultimate action hero (SciFi and beyond) today with Harrison Ford turning another year young, but also we've got Star Trek: The Next Generation's Patrick Stewart growing wiser beyond his years and The Black Hole's Capt. Dan Holland, the venerable Robert Forster.  All three have captained ships.  All three have turned in great performances at the box office.

Be sure to check out today's highlights when you get the chance:

     July 13th

Today's citation updates:

Added Laurel Goodwin (August 11th)
Added Embeth Davidtz (August 11th)
Added Chris Hemsworth (August 11th)
Added Sam J. Jones (August 12th)
Added Dominique Swain (August 12th)
Added Debi Mazur (August 13th)
Added Sebastian Stan (August 13th)

As always, thanks for reading ... and live long and prosper!