What is On Jeffs' Mind

Just thought I would do a top list for the year in Movies and Television for me. Inspired by Rico’s recent Treks in Sci-Fi podcast in which he listed his top movies and and TV shows for the year.

Movies – 2009

I was looking over the list of movies for the year, and I think this year may have been the year I had seen the least amount of movies in recent memory. Looking over the list, there just was not a lot of big blockbuster movies that are usually my favorites. I suspect a big reason for that might be the fallout from the writers strike a year or two ago, and also the bad economy. Looking through the list, saw about 14 movies for the year (two on DVD), so not much to choose from for my top 5 list, but still a bit tough to choose. There were some great movies this year, but overall disappointed with 2009 for movies. So here is my List of my favorites for 2009

1. Star Trek

I only saw this movie once, and will admit I left the movie theatre feeling a little uncertain about my feelings, but with more reflection and reading what others had said, this was a great movie, and most likely my favorite for the year. I was so excited for this movie to come out, and for the most part it delivered for me. The casting was very well done, with only a role or two that for me did not work. The story was fast paced, and the way they fit this into the Star Trek time line was very novel, though left a bit of a tear in my eye. This movie I was anticipating a lot for it’s release to DVD and actually was a catalyst for me to get Blu-Ray. For as big of a Star Trek fan I am, I am surprised I have only watched this the one time, but that will be remedied very soon.

2. Terminator Salvation

For the longest time, my idea of the Terminator was really just limited to Arnold Schwarzenegger, but after watching the TV series, I was really opened up to the potential of this series. I was really anticipating this movie, and a lot, almost as much as Star Trek. This movie really delivered for me, I went into this movie really pumped and I left the theatre very excited as well. I really liked the idea of going to a time when Judgment Day had happened, and when the Terminators ruled the world. Christian Bale was fantastic as John Connor, he brought so much intensity to the role. I was also very impressed with Anton Yelchin as Kyle Reese as well. His role of Chekov in the Star Trek movie was limited, but he really had a large part in this one, and he delivered. I know some have panned this movie, but I really cannot find any weaknesses in it to me, just a real solid movie to me.

3. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

I felt that this was a very solid followup to the first Transformers movie. Plenty of action, great story, and brought back all the characters from the first movie. I found the action sequences between the Autobots and Decepticons much easier to follow in this movie from the previous. The humour elements were still there as well, and not over board, and the story moved along pretty well.

4. Trailer Park Boys countdown to Liquor Day

The Trailer Park Boys is a real guilty pleasure for me. I really enjoyed this movies, and carried on the Story really well. I had missed the last TV movie they had, but I was able to catch up pretty fast with this movie. The way the filmed this one felt different from how the series had been filmed, and even the first movie, but it gave the movie a feeling of a more  theatrical release. I always enjoy comedies such as this, and always like to laugh a bit at this form of humour. Certainly this is not everyone’s cup of tea, but I had plenty of laughs the whole way through, and ranked as a memorable movie for me this year.

5. Avatar

I just saw this movie, so it was fresh in my mind. This was the most expensive movie ever made, and it certainly shows it. I saw the Digital 3D release of it, and it was stunning. It was the first 3D movie I had ever seen, and must say I was impressed with the technology. I must admit, I was not blown away by this movie as some were, and took a bit of back and forth for it to get on my top 5 list. After some debating in my head, I had to include it, as for the most part I enjoyed this movie, and probably my only real complaint on it was that I felt it was a bit long. The story was simple, but the message was powerful, in how we treat earth. I had seen some previews, and was worried that the Na’Vi might look to animated, but they really fit in the movie. I suspect that this movie will be around for a long time, and will be a bench mark for other movies, and probably a staple in a lot of peoples video collections.

Honorable Mention: X-Men Origins: Wolverine

A lot of people really disliked this movie, but for me, I actually enjoyed it quite a bit. I really only know about Wolverine and the X-Men from the movies, so I don’t know all the back story in the comics, so a lot of the hangups others had, I did not. I might get in trouble for saying this, but I felt it was better then some of the X-Men movies. It met my expectations and had a good time watching it.

Regrets

My regret for 2009 in terms of movies, was that I missed the latest Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I am not really a Potter fan, but had seen all the movies up to this last one. I was in the middle of moving at the time, so my schedule just never allowed for me to get to the theatre for this one. Hopefully I can see this one before the next one comes out.

Television 2009

For my complaints on the lack of big 2009 Movies, I found the 2009 TV season to be really great, and much more difficult to come up with my top 5 for the year.

1. LOST

All I can say is wow. Season 5 was incredible. They took the series in a direction that I really enjoyed, and every episode was solid. I can’t recall how many times I was left with my mouth hanging open after an episode. The writers and producers of this program are very creative, and did things I could never imagine. Season 6 will be the final season, and it will be so bittersweet. When this series comes to an end, I will miss it a lot, as everything about it is top notch. What they did with season 5 and how they handled the Losties who are on the island and the ones who were not was fantastic. This show is great, one of my all time favorites.

2. Terminator:  The Sarah Connor Chronicles

The second season of this series in one word was awesome. So how are we rewarded, it is canceled. I must admit I was really disappointed when it came to an end, as another great show, ended well before it’s time. It took me a bit to really warm up to the characters in the first season, but I really came to accept them in their roles. The Addition of Bryan Austin Green to the series in season 1 was great, and I found he had a strong character in season 2, which led to the most shocking scene of season 2. The second season was non stop, and left me waiting with much anticipation for the next episode. The Arc about the mysterious Terminator working for the corporation left me fascinated, as really never knew what to think of her. Sarah s search into Skynet was awesome as well, with her uncovering clues here and their. The really chilling John Henry Terminator was fantastic as well, and the clash for Johns attention between Cameron and Riley was great as well. This was a great series, sorry to see it go, but at least I have both seasons on DVD.

3. Fringe

This show started up last year in the fall, and I really enjoyed it. It has some great elements to it, with a heavy nod to the X-Files. Just like LOST, it is a JJ Abrams show, so there is plenty to watch in each episode, and plenty to think about after. The ongoing story arc is that the FBI agent Olivia Dunham is investigating weird Fringe Science cases that are linked by something called the pattern. She is getting help from Peter and Walter Bishop, a father and son team so to say. Walter is sort of a mad scientist, who had come up with a lot of the science they see in some of the cases they are investigating. All the major Characters have interesting pasts, which makes the show all the more deep. Walter was in a psyche ward for a number of years, and not all there, Peter has a checkered past with some real mystery to him, and Olivia seems to have a very close link to the pattern from her childhood. Great series, hoping it will be around for a long time.

4. Flash Forward

Started in the fall, this quickly became a real favorite of mine. Sort of similar to LOST in that we are introduced to a large cast of characters, and a big series wide mystery that drives the show. Basically at the start of the show, everyone has blacked out for 2 minutes and 17 seconds, and had a flash forward to May of 2010 where they saw a glimpse of what their life would be like at that time. An FBI task force was setup to investigate this and was dubbed Mosaic, and so far have been investigation leads and people in hopes to solving the mystery. The cast is fantastic, they story line is great and keeps me wanting to come back for more. Hoping the ratings stay strong for this one, as need a replacement for LOST when it signs off later in the season.

5. The Office

I really like The Office, and this past year has been great. Last season they went through a whole storyline of Michael Scott leaving Dunder Mifflin to start up his own paper company the Michael Scott Paper Company, the episodes were so great. This season we pickup with Dunder Mifflin going through some tough times due to the economy, and the series really does mimic what happens in the corporate world. The cast is always great, with Michael Scott and Dwight Schrute being my favorites, but I am really liking Andy Bernard as well. They have the show well cast, as you can see these characters in the places we work, they really do have a good read on the business and working world.

Honorable Mentions: The Mentalist/Castle

Two crime dramas with cool twists on them. With the Mentalist, the lead character Patrick Jane is a lot of fun to watch. He has a great skill of observation, and how he goes about helping the team solves the cases each week is great. The Mentalist also has a really awesome supporting cast that plays off well against Patrick Jane, great series. Castle is another new favorite of mine, and another crime Drama. Richard Castle is a Crime Novelist and his unique perspective he brings makes each episode a lot of fun to watch. Both shows are similar but different

Regrets

Cancellations, I really hate them, especially shows that I enjoyed. Two NBC shows jump out at me as being very disappointed at being canceled. The first one was a show called Life, another quirky police drama, that had a two season run. Fortunately they were able to bring the show to a conclusion and answer the questions. The other show was called Crusoe and was about Robinson Crusoe. It was a really fun action adventure show, with great sets and lite stories that most anyone could enjoy. Those with Sarah Connor Chronicles and the a lesser extent Knight Rider made me feel a little down about the 2009 TV season when it came to canceling shows I watched.

My other regret was the ending of Battlestar Galactica. Not so much that it ended, but that I felt it sort of limped out and don’t really miss it. I know some of the final episodes were very dramatic, but I found the answers to the over all arc and theme of the show to be a bit of a let down.  The second part of the series seemed to get wrapped up in its myth, and sort of tossed all the action oriented and stand alone episodes to the side.  I missed those elements as the series seemed aimed more at the non sci-fi viewers in this last season. The final season episodes at times came across very dramatic to the point of elitist, in the sense that they were determined not to tell a story with some action elements or even in a sci-fi manner. I will probably not be popular for saying this, but the final episode had some great moments, but other parts the story wrapped up very predictably and pedestrian. Caprica is to come, but what I have seen of it so far from the DVD sneak peek, it is heavy on the elements I did not enjoy much in BSG.

Tags: Avatar, BSG, Castle, Crusoe, Flash Forward, Fringe, Harry Potter, Knight Rider, Life, LOST, Star Trek, Terminator 4, Terminator Sarah Connor Chronicles, The Mentalist, The Office, The Trailer Park Boys, Transformers, Treks in Sci-Fi, X-Men: Wolverine

The past week has been interesting for me, and a bit of a break from my regular routine

This week I went on training for work. I was enrolled in a Sun LDAP course, and was on training Tuesday to Friday. It was something that was quite different from what I usually do, so it was interesting to learn. First off we learned on Unix systems, and that is something I don’t know a lot about. I did some work on Unix about 6 or 7 years ago when I did Oracle support. I was never very good at it as it involved a lot of typing, and strange commands that I did not understand. This time, over the coarse I got more comfortable with the Unix, but probably more so as we used a lot of the Sun Directory Services GUI, which helped out. I am a bad typer, and it took me time on command line stuff, so hoping I don’t have to do a lot of it in the future. Not sure where I go with this training, but I guess over time I will find out.

The weekend turned out to be fuller then I originally expected. On Saturday, I had to cleanup the house as we had a showing late in the afternoon. Tao tao and I went out for a few hours. We went to the mall, and had dinner, then looked around for a bit. We came home and relaxed for the rest of the day.

Sunday turned out to be a busy day, and still wondering how I fit it all in. I started off the morning by working on my Collecting Podcast. I have the second podcast edited, and will now work on enhancing it. The I watched the Monaco F1 Grand Prix. Not a lot of passing in the race, but it was exciting to see the cars race as they looked so fast, and I really like street circuits.

After that Tao tao and I went to see the new Terminator Salvation movie. I must say that I really enjoyed this movie. It was a lot of action and explosions, and not really a dull moment the entire movie. I had been looking forward to this movie, as I had been watching the TV series closely. The story did not really tie in with the TV series, but that was cool. I thought Christian Bale did a great job as John Connor, and brought a different element to the character that we haven’t seen before. He was so intense, I could see where he had the outburst well filming, if he was channeling that intensity to his performance. The guy who played Kyle Reese did a great job, he reminded me a lot of the original Kyle Reese, he was also in the new Trek movie. I am hoping after his role in the Terminator movie, they give him more to do in the next Trek movie.

When I got home, I did an Interview with my friend Rick for the Take him with You podcast. We talked about some of my experiences growing up, and the different schools I had attended and how they relate to God. It was a lot of fun to talk to Rick, and he did a great job with the Interview. Rick also told me some other cool things, and played some cool music for me that he had. I am happy to have met Rick and made a new friend, as He and I share a lot of things in common.

After the Interview was over, I watched the Indy 500 I had taped earlier. The race was alright, though there was some scary accidents, which I did not like to see. For an Oval race, I thought it was alright, and there was some nice racing and intrigue to it. After watching this race, I have come to the conclusion that it is more the length of the race then the track itself that makes it unique. For the most part, it is all about setup, and a max throttle track, but once they get past half distance, then the uniqueness comes in. Most of the Indycar races are a few hours or a couple hundred miles, so after they get past a certain distance, bad luck and problems come to play, and it is interesting to see who has them, and how they deal with it. The track is pretty basic, and not as challenging as some other tracks, it is the length that makes this race different to me.

I finished off the night with this Blog. I would say that was a full day

Tags: Formula 1, IndyCar, LDAP, Rick Moyer, Take Him With You, Terminator 4, UNIX, What's in Jeffs Basement

This week a couple of show that I liked have finished up for the season, and maybe for good. It feels like at time, that shows I enjoy are always the ones  to get cancelled.

First up is a show on NBC called Life. It is Cop show, but with an interesting premise in that the lead character was imprisoned for 12 years for a crime he did not commit. He was released after he was found not guilt and awarded millions of dollars in a settlement. He doesn’t need to work, but he goes back to work as a homicide detective. Throughout the series, there was also a story arc of Charlie Crews (The lead character) investigating the circumstances of how he was sent to prison. There was a lot of conspiracy in the police force, and many members who were not happy to see him back. Charlie Crews was a quirky character, that learned about Zen well in prison, and that influenced how he dealt with things on the job, also he really liked eating fruit since he never got it in prison. I normally do not watch Police shows, but I watched this one mainly because Damien Lewis who played Charlie Crews was in it. Damien Lewis was also in one of my all time favorite shows called Band of Brothers, so when I saw he would be in this show, that got me interested.

Each week they would have an interesting case to solve. I always liked the cases as they were very interesting with interesting twists, and I liked how they tied in the series wide story arc into the episodes each week. The final episode of this season pretty much wrapped up the arc, with Charlie find out who was behind him being setup and sent to prison. If I had to guess, I would say that this show will not be renewed, since things were pretty neatly tied up. It is to bad, I really liked this show, but given how much commitment networks give to show these days. At least they were able to answer the outstanding questions before the show ended.

 

I have also really been enjoying Terminator – The Sarah Connor Chronicles. The past few episodes have been really good, and the finale for the season was on Friday. It really blew the doors off of things, just like the episode the week before, and it has gotten me really excited for the Terminator movie coming out this summer. Depending on how a person looks at it, they either left the story with one huge cliff hanger or answered the questions and ended it. I suspect we will not know the fate of the series until after the Movie is released.

SPOILERS BELOW

 

Cool T4 Poster

 

Spoilers beyond this point

The story certainly gave me a lot to think about.  It ended off with John Connor and the Shape-shifting T-1000 Catherine Weaver travelling into the future. John had wanted to take Cameron, into the future show they could find her chip that John Henry(another Terminator) taken. In the future John then meets Derek and Kyle Reese, so at a time before both of them had travelled back to the time we lived in. Neither of them recognized or even heard of John Connor, so this was before John Connor had made his name. That brings up a few questions for me.

1. Was this how John was to arrive in the future, by time travelling to it?
2. With John travelling to the future, did he wipe out the timeline John Connor was to follow, and that is why no one knew who he was?
3. Is this an alternate timeline possible to the one that John had been in.

I am hoping the movie will shed some light on the question. Better yet, I am hoping for another season to answer some of these questions. Also John See’s what looks to be the human Cameron in the future, so it will be interesting to see the relationship they have, and if it might explain why the Terminator Cameron was sent back to protect John. I also wonder about Sarah Connor, and what role she will play be being in the past. Also, the other Terminator John Henry, and his importance to all of this, and why it was stated that John Connor needs John Henry, is he a link between Humans and Terminators?

I really hope we get another season of Terminator – The Sarah Connor Chronicles. I guess if they end it where they left it, one could assume that John has travelled to the future, and will begin to live out his destiny as leader of the human resistance against Terminators, but that would sort of rule out the T3 movie. Lots of questions, sure hope we will be given another season for some answers.

Tags: Life, Television, Terminator 4, Terminator Sarah Connor Chronicles