Techwright

I'd watch him in a romantic lead, or in any Shakespearean role, for that matter. I'm certain the man has range. Now that the Bond franchise is being rebooted, I think Isaacs would make a fine M, or...if it is a young Bond, Isaacs might be interesting as that exceptionally rare entity: a 00 that made it to retirement, and could serve, for at least one movie, as something of a mentor to the younger Bond.

Hear, hear! Perhaps Isaacs was unavailable, but I was mightily miffed at the recasting, and the retooling of the character. and redesigning the cranium of the character to look squat and more like an American Football helmet than the elongated skull of every character ever shown of that species was just a lazy dialed-it-in job from the prosthetics department. And I'm insanely jealous that you've run into Mr. Isaacs.

Hmm...I've not done this for a while, but I put my answers in orange and placed them in the hidden box.

Tony Stark built that in a cave! With a box of scraps!

*Waves fingers* This is not the confidence I am looking for. I'm very much of the opinion that OWK was a mixed bag. It broke canon at times, it broke logic at others, had a very annoying, 1-dimensional secondary villain, and it destroyed a very cool character that Rebels had forged well. But it redeemed Hayden in fandom's eyes, gave Joel Edgerton and Bonnie Piesse a chance to shine, and introduced us to Vivien Blair, a little girl with great acting potential. I would give it a 50%, but I'm fine with the 61% that Rotten Tomatoes records from the fans.

That's 7 minutes of dialog that should have been pared down to 1.5 minutes. I'm thrilled to hear there's another Stargate coming. I'm thrilled to learn that it will NOT be a reboot, but its own story, its own continuation of the overall story. There's so many things it could move forward or tie up from the other three series, such as: how does Atlantis play into the Stargate of today? Has it been moved back to its galaxy, or is it still being studied and kept in reserve here on Earth for defense? And have the SG scientists finally cracked how to recharge the batteries? I've said it before, but I'll say it again. When people complained that the Ori stories were a step down from Goa'uld stories, and the gift of the Asgardian technology basically eliminated all remaining threat to Earth from the galaxy, I suggested that a new show be focused on a rogue faction of Goa'uld be returning to the Milky Way in power. Everything about them should be a ramp-up on the Ra gang, as the rogues reason for leaving was to find and steal technologies in distant areas that would allow them to overthrow Ra, challenge the Asgardians, and make the rogues the ultimate power in the Milky Way. Instead, with the tech they needed in hand, they find Ra's gang wiped out, their slaves freed, the Asgardians gone, and their technology in the hands of Earth, Tok'Ra, and their allies. This levels the playing field, if not tipping the balance towards the Goa'uld again, and gives us the classic fight that so many loved. I'd be interested to see just what threat or threats they create for this new series that can measure up to Earth's resilience and inventiveness with both Ancient and Asgardian technologies to empower Earth. My big concern is that this is an Amazon Prime project. Amazon does not have a good track record with appropriately and accurately handling the canon of established works in their own interpretations.

The challenge here is which parts of the world building do you keep and which do you toss, and what's that going to mean to, arguably, one of the two most vocally nitpicky fandoms in existence. For example: do you keep the spore drive as canon (itself an upheaval of well-established canon), or do you cut it loose in favor of the canon from the original 5 TV shows and their movies? What do you do about the Time authority of the future that seems to pick and choose their interference in the present? By the end of Voyager, there were any number of crazy inventions that could play havoc with keeping a tight grip on writing going forward. The Barclay communication technique, bouncing subspace communications off of stars to extend range across multiple galactic quadrants is but one example. You also have a mounting number of creations (beings) that are sooner or later going to need to be addressed or its going to look weird. Are you telling me there is only one giant space amoeba in the entire galaxy? Surely there must be other swarms of flying parasites to control whole planets with spinal cord-infecting tendrils, more scorpion-like parasites to enter victims mouths, more warp-speed vampire clouds to suck iron-blooded victims dry, etc. Sooner or later, your product becomes even less believable the more cases of antagonists' populations or off-the-charts technologies that you ignore. I can see a couple of ways to successfully address this concern: 1. Reboot - clear all canon and begin again. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Strange New Worlds had a soft reboot, specific to the technology. The SNW Enterprise's command deck looks vastly more advanced than 1960s Star Trek's original, and that's somewhat okay with me, as a lot of technology we have today surpasses the 1960s version. The Kelvin timeline movies got around the dated tech look by stating that the Kelvin Enterprise was designed from retro-engineered technology created after studying the scans of the time-jumping Romulan ship. But even in a reboot I'd stay clear of the established characters. The original Kirk era had a dozen Constitution-class starships, of which the Enterprise was only one. Why not focus on the crew of another? 2. Go where no one has gone before - riffing off what I suggested in a previous post, focus on a deep exploration ship or possibly squadron (as a Trek parallel to long-range exploration in the 1400s. Columbus took 3 ships after all, and Magellan had several). Set them previous to Barclay's galaxy-spanning communication discovery. The advantage here is that deep space explorers would not necessarily have access to all the updates and changes going on in the Federation, since there's no Barclay. Any advancement would have to be their own discovery, either through experimentation or alien contact. This admittedly has certain strong parallels to Voyager, the difference being Voyager's events began with an interference, while these would begin with a choice. For icing on the cake, do the unexpected and set the adventure outside of the galaxy. Most don't know this but we actually have dwarf galaxies near, and possibly even in collision with the Milky Way. (near being over the MW's polar region, meaning the dwarf is closer to the MW core than MW's own arms are) One supposedly in collision is full of red stars suggesting great age. In Trek views, this implies ancient civilizations to explore. 3. Carefully moving forward: starting with events after Picard, move forward, but craft answers to those hanging threads that might eventually snag and bog down Trek. For example, simple dialog can fix several of these: "The latest dispatches say a starship fleet was finally deployed to trace back the path of the giant space amoeba and destroy any others it finds to remove potential threats." No special effects, no budget, a nice cameo comment and the problem is tied up neatly.

And in my interpretation, "right people" means those who will adhere to the canon established in the first 5 live-action TV series and their related movies. (Okay, maybe not Star Trek V: Final Frontier. 🙄 I didn't include Star Trek: The Animated Series as it is generally considered soft canon.) These "right people" would also be the ones to separate from the characters that have gone before, embracing new characters and tales, even if they settle their stories within one of the time periods already portrayed. Lastly, they'd return Klingons and Romulans to the established look Roddenberry signed off on for Star Trek: The Next Generation and going forward. Roddenberry went on record as saying that the Klingon look that appeared first in Star Trek: The Motion Picture is the look he'd have settled upon had he a big budget for prosthetics and makeup effects during The Original Series. Of course, returning to the canon he established for the Klingons would also be important.

You may have heard that the original, 1990s live F4 cast all cameoed in Fantastic Four: First Steps. Here's the story as they tell it:

I've been "rewatching" F4 via reactors' videos, and have additional thoughts: 1.) The film creators went creatively out of their way to show how long a time jump in the story is without using text to say it. In fact, the only time text is used to explain the passage of time is at the beginning of one of the two credit scenes. Instead, they utilize things we see in the real world and have a natural understanding of how long those things take. These include: 2.) There's a moment when Mr. Fantastic picks up a very large steel beam of some kind and begins an attack...

Second movie had a host of problems, some of them huge, franchise breaking mistakes (the precision teleporting across the quadrant being a glaring one), but they could have put a lot of problems about Khan to rest by just inserting one line when Khan tells the Enterprise crew a bit about how he was treated by the rogue admiral : " I was surgically altered to prevent people from recognizing me." Seriously. Trek has a well-established history of radical plastic surgery for undercover operations, and when you consider that Khan in their universe should be almost as recognized as a member of the Nazi leadership of WWII, the idea of altering him so that he can carry out the admiral's orders makes a lot of sense, and explains why he's a pale Brit. I wasn't upset that Kirk was killed, and I wouldn't have been upset at dying by crushing injuries, but what lessened the death, in my opinion, is that the species he saved was only talked about. The audience was never given an emotional connection to them. They were just facts spouted. Had they inserted even a minute of alien society and families living beautifully, it would have resonated with the audience that even that specific means of death was worth the sacrifice to save hundreds of thousands. And this is the point where I pull in the end of Star Trek: Nemesis. Data's passing had so little passion to it. Despite the urgency, it should have, at least in a small way, communicated his growth: his Pinoccio-like path over the years to become "human". "Goodbye" is all we got. At least, "Au revoir mon capitaine", using the French to communicate warmth to Picard. "Au revoir mon ami" would have been even better, dropping the rank and embracing the created family element in that last moment. I'm not really engaged in the idea of bringing Kirk back. It would have to be very well written, and they'd need the right actor if Kirk was rejuvenated. And bringing in Shatner is a gamble. The man's a "hoss", but he's 94. Death or something like stroke could claim him before a production was fully done. I'm a bit on the fence about including Voyager in that list. So much potential, so many times they chose the weak writing path. I do admit there were some spectacular episodes, well worth seeing. There's an old story of mine where I accurately predicted DS9 and Voyager before they were even know to the general public. (I also predicted Enterprise, but only in the general sense that they'd turn to the past for the next series. I had no idea they'd throw the Trek trio into the mix, changing only the role for the emotive Southerner to an engineer, and the Vulcan getting in touch with the emotional elements of their nature into a female.) I point out this story in hopes I can get lighting to strike again (probably not). I'd like to see a reverse of Voyager: a series that mirrors the settling of the Old West, starting in the civilized worlds and moving deep into the Alpha or Beta quadrants, especially those areas Voyager would have had to cross had it not found a shortcut. It is my understanding that though they share the same quadrants with the Federation, Romulans, and Klingons, there's still large, unexplored areas. For this show, have not one ship, but a squad of ships supporting each other. For example: a pair of combat ships, a science/medical ship, and a ship specializing in exploration. They carve the trail, and like the explorers of old, they return to explain what they found, then provide escort for settler and trading ships moving out into the deeper quadrant. Once a colony or two are started, the Federation plants a Deep Space station, basically the equivalent of the fort or stockade of the American west: allowing refueling, defense, and shorter return trips for the squad of explorers. If I got a very full wish, I'd like to see them take a page from Star Trek Online, and make the exploration and settlement a joint effort between the Federation and Romulan survivors of their home system's destruction. The dynamic of learning to get along and even appreciate each other would echo the Maquis of Voyager, or the Romulans at the Picard vinyards. And there's always the possibility that one of the Romulans is a Tal Shiar plant and one of the Feds is a Section 31 plant. Such a show could also solidify the use of the Barclay long-range communication technique shown in Voyager. It should still be imperfect, as it's quite a reach in technology, but a bit more clear or stable than when we last saw it. And it might still be used to send holo-personnel between squad and station. That way, if you lost a key member when far from home, you have a chance of a holo-crewmember filling in until the squad could return for restaffing, that is, assuming the technology doesn't fail in transit. It is still a developing tech after all. Oh, and trading ships can bring the Ferengi into the storyline.

Just got to see the F4, and I, too, loved it. I can't get enough of the retro-future look. I could wish for an F4 video game where a player could explore retro-future New York similar to how one could explore Manhattan in the currently popular Spider-Man video games. I thought I'd be annoyed with Johnny Storm, instead, I was pleasantly surprised. His putting on the thinking cap to figure out a key plot point was great. Sue was good, not mishandled but confident, Ben Grimm is easily my favorite (not sure I like the beard, but it made things interesting). Loved that the showed him as an extremely competent pilot. Reed was the only character I didn't completely like, and that is because they had him so nervous and doubting. I can't think of any other work that I've seen with him in it where he doesn't show complete confidence. But I didn't hate the character, I just wish they'd put a bit more stiff spine into the flexible character. Galactus was very well done. The visual scale alone was worth seeing it. I wish I could have viewed that on Imax. Silver Surfer was done well, and I really liked the aggression at times, while the sorrowful compassion at others. The robot was both cute and practical, something that don't always go hand-in-hand (*glances at a little red can of a robot in Andor*) Above all, I loved the tight-knit team/family dynamic. It should prove a great contrast to the barely-assembled Avengers in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday.

I actually enjoyed the third movie, though the middle one was abysmal. A true waste of everyone's talents and creating huge plot holes from which they could not recover (teleportation across sectors with pinpoint accuracy?) Much of the first one I liked, but again, it suffered from some pretty juvenile writing when dealing with space physics. I was actually hoping for a 4th one to improve on the best elements of the 3rd one, and if done today, the timing would have been right for their version of Phase II, which was to have been a TV show in the late 1970s showing the maturing of the characters. Instead, Paramount turned it into The Motion Picture (but redeemed itself by giving us the trilogy that followed). I do feel the stuff that's come out in the last few years to be inferior, though certain episodes that I've seen break free from the rot. It's ironic: the same thing that Paramount used in The Motion Picture (glossy effects and higher tech appearance over writing quality) has often, to my perception, been the problem of the new stuff. Also, I'd really, really...and by that I mean really...like it if they'd break free of the Kirk-Spock-McCoy dynamic, especially the Spock family saga. I did accept that Spock had to be a part of the Captain Pike stories, as it was canon from the original series. But otherwise, look upwards, writers. It is literally a massive galaxy. There's so much more to write about than one family endlessly reinvented. I'd really like new series and movies that cover new ground, or at least flesh out material that's only been sketched out before.

Finally...finally!...had the chance to see season 2. The quality didn't miss a beat from season 1, thought the vibe felt very different at times. I was impressed how they constantly undermined my beliefs that every focus character that was not in Rogue One would be dead before the series ended. Some characters' story arc endings were quite surprising with at least three ending far before I thought they would. The ISB team was smartly written, even if the characters themselves were significantly knowledgeable while being unwise in their dealings. I'm not sure a spoiler box is necessary this far along, but I'll put one up anyway.

Finally got to see the last 3 episodes, and I generally liked what I saw. I was just a teeny bit put out by the ending, but I suspect that was due to the producers hoping they'd be greenlighted for a season 2, which is, unfortunately, not looking that bright at the moment. I kept hoping Jod would be a John Silver type, a mean pirate who discovers a heart, but alas. That said, I certainly don't think Wim is a Jim Hawkins type. I'd hoped for some significant growth from the character, but instead, he has minor growth. I was really hoping for a season 2, especially since:

As one who has actively avoided certain MCU movies and D+ series in whatever Phase they're currently going through, I finally (finally!) got to see Thunderbolts* and I have to say I largely enjoyed it. Certainly there's more humor than I anticipated, even having seen several such moments in the trailers. There are some shortcomings: 1. That death: 2. That team: 3. That shield: 4. No mention of... I wasn't sure I'd like Bob, but I found I actually did. Kind of an overpowered Martin Li/Mr. Negative, another character I like. I'm interested to see how he'll be referenced in any future New Avengers story.

New expedition with a dark nature to it just dropped. NMS calls it their "Halloween" event. Focused on expanding those elements created in the Corvette release: custom-designed multi-player ships (corvettes), space walking, sky diving, etc. From the Steam notes: In Breach, players will traverse a desolate and abandoned universe and on their travels encounter the abandoned remains of ill-fated corvette ships, all ripe for scavenging ship modules to add to your corvette-building arsenal. The jewel in the crown of these wreckages is the Fireship Arcadia, the fate of which you will learn as you venture through Breach. But you will have to face your fears and make a leap of faith into the black as you space-walk through these eerie systems to glean its unique remnants. The spooky Breach Expedition embraces the darker side of the universe and will also lure the bravest Travellers towards the ominous and exotic purple-star solar systems which players first glimpsed in Worlds Part II back in January. The planets in these systems are particularly foreboding with their deep, abyssal oceans, unearthly entities and the notoriously imposing and volatile gas giants.

I was very vocal in my distaste for Iron Man 3 when it premiered, due entirely to the Trevor Slattery reveal. That changed, though, when they released the Marvel One-Shot All Hail the King, which revealed that there really was a Mandarin in the MCU universe. That the real one didn't ultimately match up to my full expectations didn't matter. I just wanted there to be an actual one and not a pair of fake ones (Slattery and Killian). I still get an eye twitch whenever I rewatch IM3 and see Sir Ben so commandingly performing sheer menace (so much wasted fantastic potential), but I've made my peace with it thanks to the One-Shot's revelation, and I'm actually enjoying IM3 these days, and found Trevor to be quite fun in Shang Chi.

Keep in mind that Trevor stayed behind to train with Shang-Chi's aunt and company. Not sure what, if anything he learned, but he may surprise us.

I thought I'd point out a demo game on Steam that I'm quite enjoying at the moment. The early access begins November 6. The Last Caretaker is a 1st person survival story told from the perspective of a caretaker android, a shepherd to the last vestiges of humanity due to some great cataclysm not clarified in the earliest parts of the game, at least as the demo stands. I do know that the reason you're the last is that there are a variety of antagonists that absolutely wrecked the other caretakers. You'll find signs of the battle all over the opening structure in the demo. The three kinds of opponents I've seen so far I'd classify as "techno-vores". One mechanical, two organic in nature. Light plays a significant role in dealing with them. The demo tasks you with finding your way through the structure in which you wake to a docked boat, which you then must repair and stock to make an escape. Cabling, energy storage, and related connections are vital to your survival, and part of the puzzle is learning how to use these effectively, which not becoming techno-chow for opponents. As with most survival games these days, the deconstruction of items to gain raw materials is also vital. You learn on the fly. The game gives you few clues to start with, though there is a missions list that can help enlighten you, and eventually there is an A.I. voice that offers a few other clues. Other than that, exploration and experimentation are the name of the game. I've not encountered any humans yet, and from what I gather, it may be a while until I see them. I am finding "comfy" items like teddy bears, love letters, and terrariums that I suspect give bonuses if enough are collected. Your caretaker is in learning mode, and is award skill points to be used for customized choices in abilities. Those that have followed me in the forums probably picked up on the fact this is a 1st person game, and that I'm one of the poor souls whose body cannot handle such. 9 times out of 10 I get very nauseous. I'm happy to report this is the 10th time, and so far, I've had no nausea with the game.

Here's the teaser:

I did the Expedition, and enjoyed it. It was one of the easier expeditions that I've undertaken, and surprisingly did not involve diving into some remote deep part of the sea to battle horrors, nor repeatedly visiting planets of biological horrors (though, if I recall, there was a single planet, but what I had to work with was well away from any true dangers). The corvette is a welcome addition to the game, though building a sleek one is taking a bit of a challenge to figure out all the connections. Or rather, I should say, figure out what to do when an seemingly obvious spot for a connection doesn't actually have one. I do have one big beef with the game now that corvettes are involved: portaling with a corvette. NMS has done nothing to provide parking pylons/landing pads for the corvettes, and has created a problem by having the corvette emerge from the portal with your character, while hovering too low and too close to the portal. This has created an nearly game-breaking effect of the ship trapping your character in the ship framework when exiting the portal, necessitating returning to the last manual save (auto-save triggers when entering the portal, so using it becomes useless, repeating the problem). One also cannot put a portal just anywhere in a base for this reason. The ship drops a teleporter pad which appears a few feet in front of the portal. If it encounters any structure, it is inclined to trigger the trapping effect. I've had to redesign multiple bases for this reason, to something less than ideal, to make the portal usable again. I've almost given up on corvettes as a result, which would be a shame as they can bring a lot of interest to the game, functioning as a half-step between one-man ship and freighter.

I have not been as exposed to the nature of Simon Williams as I have other Avengers. What I have encountered gave me something of a Johnny Cage-like vibe: cocky action star. Is there some facet(s) of the character that specifically trigger your hate?

I have not. There's (unfortunately) a lot of things I've not seen this year due to some family needs that had to be addressed first.