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uberreinigerI forgot to mention in my last entry that my mom decided to treat us all (her, my dad, my wife, and I,) to cell phone upgrades since we're all on the same plan and Verizon was having a sale. The sale was only on the LG Chocolate model so that's what I got. The slide-open style and touch-sensitive "buttons" take a lot of getting used to. (I've previously only used flip-open phones with push buttons.) But anything is better than the Razr I've had for the last two years. Razrs are nothing but trouble and even the guy at the Verizon store said they've had nothing but problems with them. Anyway, yeah, LG Chocolate is very high tech and all the moving parts make me afraid it's going to transform into a Decepticon head on spider legs. My Razr was on its last robot spider leg and this new one was free for me so I am actually very thankful.
Watched thhe premier of Terminator:The Sarah Connor Chronicles last night and plan to watch the second half tonight. It's easy to underestimate how much the Terminator mythos has engrained itself in popular culture. And while I haven't really found Terminators "cool" since I was 14, I was very interested to see how this sci-fi monolith would survive the transition to television. Plus, Lena Heday and Summer Glau. Hell, I'd watch them play a televised chess match.
Plot-wise they're not venturing into any unfamiliar territory yet (Skynet sends a Terminator back in time to prevent Connor family from destroying it; future John Connor sends a second Terminator back in time to protect them, chases and explosions ensue.) And as far as characters go, the writers have stayed very true to the characters' movie incarnations. Glau as the reprogrammed Terminator is River Tam minus the crazy; this is one woman who apparently doesn't fear typcasting.
The writing was decent, the pacing was rapid. Heday and Thomas Dekker (John Connor) don't seem entirely comfortable in their roles; like they're aware that they're trying to fill roles made famous by other actors. I imagine this will improve as the series progresses. And after an hour of standard-issue Terminator action the story takes a surprising step into territory the franchise hasn't explored before, creating the promise that this won't just be more of the same.
I've got to say, it feels very weird to be in the Terminator universe without Ahnald. Sort of like Star Wars without Darth Vader (or Anakin, as the case may be.) But the mythos survives his absence. The Terminators are still menacing villains and excellent outsider heroes no matter who is playing them. Cromartie, the enemy Terminator, hearkens back to Arnold's portrayal in the first film and is a refreshing return to the series' roots. The thing I've always liked about the Terminators is that they just don't give a damn. They don't pontificate to you about causality or inevitability like some empires of humanity-enslaving machines. They're just an unstoppable onslaught with no regard for collateral damage or long-term consequences. Interesting, since with all the time travel causality and inevitability are of greater consequence for the Skynet machines.
Maybe I've been watching too much Lost, but I think it's interesting that Terminator is raising questions of how much the future can actually be changed; whether preventing something from happening will just cause the same outcome to occur by different means. There was a discussion along these lines regarding the nature of free will in![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
convert_me a few days ago. And while I find that community largely inhabited by bloviated, pedantic windbags in love with their own perceived intelligence, I think it's interesting that the theme keeps coming up around me lately.
Speaking of bloviated, I've gone on much longer than I intended. It's a decent series. It may take the story new places, or it may not, in which case it will quickly become boring. I'm willing to give it a chance.
Watched thhe premier of Terminator:The Sarah Connor Chronicles last night and plan to watch the second half tonight. It's easy to underestimate how much the Terminator mythos has engrained itself in popular culture. And while I haven't really found Terminators "cool" since I was 14, I was very interested to see how this sci-fi monolith would survive the transition to television. Plus, Lena Heday and Summer Glau. Hell, I'd watch them play a televised chess match.
Plot-wise they're not venturing into any unfamiliar territory yet (Skynet sends a Terminator back in time to prevent Connor family from destroying it; future John Connor sends a second Terminator back in time to protect them, chases and explosions ensue.) And as far as characters go, the writers have stayed very true to the characters' movie incarnations. Glau as the reprogrammed Terminator is River Tam minus the crazy; this is one woman who apparently doesn't fear typcasting.
The writing was decent, the pacing was rapid. Heday and Thomas Dekker (John Connor) don't seem entirely comfortable in their roles; like they're aware that they're trying to fill roles made famous by other actors. I imagine this will improve as the series progresses. And after an hour of standard-issue Terminator action the story takes a surprising step into territory the franchise hasn't explored before, creating the promise that this won't just be more of the same.
I've got to say, it feels very weird to be in the Terminator universe without Ahnald. Sort of like Star Wars without Darth Vader (or Anakin, as the case may be.) But the mythos survives his absence. The Terminators are still menacing villains and excellent outsider heroes no matter who is playing them. Cromartie, the enemy Terminator, hearkens back to Arnold's portrayal in the first film and is a refreshing return to the series' roots. The thing I've always liked about the Terminators is that they just don't give a damn. They don't pontificate to you about causality or inevitability like some empires of humanity-enslaving machines. They're just an unstoppable onslaught with no regard for collateral damage or long-term consequences. Interesting, since with all the time travel causality and inevitability are of greater consequence for the Skynet machines.
Maybe I've been watching too much Lost, but I think it's interesting that Terminator is raising questions of how much the future can actually be changed; whether preventing something from happening will just cause the same outcome to occur by different means. There was a discussion along these lines regarding the nature of free will in
convert_me a few days ago. And while I find that community largely inhabited by bloviated, pedantic windbags in love with their own perceived intelligence, I think it's interesting that the theme keeps coming up around me lately.Speaking of bloviated, I've gone on much longer than I intended. It's a decent series. It may take the story new places, or it may not, in which case it will quickly become boring. I'm willing to give it a chance.
