[Movies] Alien (1979)

I'm a huge science fiction fan, as if all of you geeky readers didn't already know that. At the same time, I'm not very good with horror movies since I scare easily and I'm all nervous and tense as it is.

Of course there's a large subset of science fiction movies that have horror / suspense elements, so that's sort of bad news for me. The geek in me will want to go see the movie for the science fiction side of things but at the same time the scaredy cat in me doesn't look forward to getting surprised and scared out of my mind.

And yet the geek in me always wins out and I do end up watching whatever scary movie is out there. I do my best to overcome my fear in order to fulfill my geeky needs. This is one of the greatest science fiction movies out there, in my opinion, and yet also one of the freakiest.

[TV] Tin Man (2007)

The realm of children's fairy tales are an amazingly rich source for works of high fantasy, horror and even science fiction. Think about it - we're taken to so many amazingly surreal worlds in such stories and it's a small wonder that we don't come out somehow damaged given the kind of books we read while we're young. Even "nonsense" books like Dr. Seuss certainly push the mind into new directions where we're made to accept fantastical creatures and strange animals and locations.

Thus it's no surprise when modern day writers and movie makers decide to explore such timeless tales in order to see how they can use the existing material to present new and exciting stories of a different variety. Some of these ventures have been quite interesting and refreshing while others have been total snorefests that make us curse Hollywood for trying to destroy our happy memories of childhood.

I'll always feel that it takes a lot of guts to try and reimagine such classic stories and it's a small wonder that any movies of this nature still manage to survive underneath our collective scrutiny. But well all know it's going to keep happening and we geeks are still going to give them a shot.

[Gadgets] Printer Options

In recent months, I've been making a few significant gadget purchases here and there and have been documenting such plans here on the Geeky Guide. Things started with my plans of getting a netbook as opposed another desktop or a full laptop. After much deliberation, I ended up getting an Asus EEE 1005HA, which I'm pretty happy with.

Then I started considering what new mobile phone to buy and after much deliberation, I ended up with my first smart phone: a Nokia E63. My transition to a smart phone and a QWERTY keypad has been pretty decent as well and once again I'm happy with my purchase. The only other gadget consideration I had in mind was trying to figure out what digital camera I wanted and for now I sort of settled on keeping a look out for a Panasonic Lumix ZS3, although this is the only purchase that I have yet to fulfill.

And now I'm considering what printer to get, so once again I'm going to document my considerations.

[Movies] Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths (2010)

As much as there are many comic book storylines that I love enough to want to see as movie or animated feature, I also acknowledge that translations across the media formats don't always go well. I'm not trying to sound all Alan Moore here, mind you, but he does have a point despite all the eccentricity. Comic books are a special medium in themselves and it's not always automatic that what works on paper will work on the silver (or small) screen.

Then of course you have the meddling of Hollywood to contend with given they always try to "improve" upon the original story in order to give it a wider appeal or to ensure it's success, as measured in dollars spent on the feature and not so much based on the fan reactions. This has resulted in both good and bad movies, animated TV shows and live action specials. Okay, so maybe more bad ones than good ones, but we comic book geeks still give them a shot and try to watch them.

As much as I like the comic book that this movie was partly based on, the end result wasn't quite something I'd go out of my way to see again.

[Movies] Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief (2010)

The post Harry Potter media world continues to do its best to find the next great book series that will cross generations in terms of appeal just like what J.K. Rowling achieved with her landmark book franchise. While there have been some notable successes, nothing ha been quite as big as the big HP series.

It's funny how some books seem like total Harry Potter clones and yet because of the change of setting or circumstances, a little tweak here or there, you end up with a book that is independent enough to stand on its own and survive on its own merits. If you manage to get that far, well, then you know that Hollywood is going to be knocking on your door pretty soon.

I hate it when a book feels like it was written for its Hollywood movie potential. I pay good money to read books, not screenplays in beta testing! And so we get this movie, of which I never read the original book so this is strictly an opinion based on what appeared on the screen. Oh well.

[Movies] Across the Universe (2007)

Some movies seem a lot better when you see them featured in awards shows. Maybe it's just a matter of personal taste or something, but I feel that way about certain movies. As much as I respect the award-giving bodies out there, sometimes the results just totally don't make sense to me. Then again, I'm no member of the Academy or something.

Then again, that is the purpose of such awarding ceremonies - to highlight the best and brightest moments of the nominated films to get people curious enough to go out and see them or catch them on home video if they're no longer in cinemas. I've managed to see a number of good movies for precisely this reason and others still that were decent yet things that I just didn't get.

Perhaps my opinion of this movie was even more impacted by my expectations for it. Can you blame me?

[TV] Lost: Season 5

I've always had a bit of a soft spot for time travel and parallel worlds in terms of science fiction stories. I can't quite put my finger on it - it's probably something that started when I first read William F. Wu's series, Isaac Asimov's Robots in Time. It was a nice combination of what remains my one of my favorite concepts, robots, merged with time travel.

Time travel is never easy and there seems to be thousands of interpretations and speculations of how time travel might work and the potential implications of such ventures into our past or our future. Some same time is fluid and easy to shift into new directions while others still postulate that time is constant and no matter what you change in the past, the universe does what it can to restore a sense of "order" by making sure key events persist and still occur. Regardless of whatever school of time travel theory you subscribe to, you have to admit that it's always a fascinating subject.

It isn't often that time travel is presented in interesting and new ways, most especially on network television.

[Books] Chapterhouse: Dune

All good things must come to an end and this always rings most true to me whenever a great author passes. For years they invest so much of their time into creating the most amazing stories, books that bring us to the farthest reaches of the imagination. It hurts even more when the author is the type who writes novels in trilogies or expanded series. Even if they claim their stories are over, their deaths always make it seem like the story has now been cut short and there's no further opportunity to return to those worlds. Sometimes other authors try to revisit these worlds and reinterpret the old stories but the results are never quite as good as the original.

The 6 books that make up the Dune Chronicles are pretty much the most important books in my life. A lot of my beliefs and principles were shaped while reading these books. This is the last Dune book that Frank Herbert ever wrote and it ends on an odd note. While it's still an ending that is relatively decent, but at the same time you can definitely feel the chasm that stands between you as a reader and the rest of the Dune tale that Herbert intended to write about had he lived longer.

While it's not necessarily the greatest book in the series, it's definitely one of the more shocking and startling.

[Movies] Valentine's Day (2010)

When reviewing movies, I always feel that it's important that you try to evaluate it based on its peers and not the entire body of work that is the history of films for the past 50 or so years. Comedies should be compared to comedies. Dramas must be judged as dramas and not action films. It seems very common sense, but it's a tad harder than that when you get down to it.

Garry Marshall is known for a particular genre of of feel good movies and romantic comedies. They're not necessarily award-winning movie concepts but they're the kind of movies that we all go to see when we want to have a good laugh, when we want to be reminded about the virtues of love or we just want to have a good time with friends or a loved one.

And this movie seemed tailor-fitted for this kind of thing, especially tying into the holiday the movie was named for.

[TV] Lost: Season 4

So with some degree of irony, it appears that I've become a "Lostie" - a fan of the show Lost. For most of you casual readers of the Geeky Guide, I suppose you might think that such a "revelation" isn't much of a surprise. After all, Lost is a rather geeky show. I am a geek. Therefore, I must like Lost. However for the past few years I allowed myself to be horribly scarred by the first half of the second season of Lost, hence the reason I never returned to the show. Ironically enough, I was initially a self-professed Heroes fan until things really started to go downhill in its own second season.

So in the past few weeks I've been devoting a lot of my idle time to trying to catch up with four season's worth of Lost in order to be able to watch the final season of the show that started airing this month. Believe it or not, I managed to accomplish this feat despite how busy my work life has been and now I stand ready to join my partner in closing out the show.

As we wait for the new episodes to come out, feel free to enjoy my weekly reviews of each season as I had perceived things.

[Gadgets] My Final Choice: The Nokia E63

Last week, I posted my considerations for getting a new mobile phone. I had listed the qualities I desired in aforementioned phone and then I started gathering suggestions and ideas, researching options and visiting mobile phone shops.

So after a week's worth of careful study and contemplation, I've narrowed down my list to pretty much two mobile phones with one edging out over the other. Here are the phones that I'm considering, in case you geeks are interested - the options may surprise you.

[Books] Idlewild

It's very hard for me to get into a new book series on my own. I don't quite understand why this is the case, but it just is. I think the only time that I've found a completely new series of books to get into was when I picked up Peter J. Hamilton's The Reality Dysfunction and found myself enjoying the whole series. Books like are pretty rare.

I tend to rely on the opinions and recommendations of friends for the most part. I guess it helps me minimize risk in terms of exploring a new series of books given these recommendations come from people that I trust. More or less.

Then there are those books that aren't truly recommendations but are just books that a friend picks out since they seem to fit your tastes. This was one of those books and I was certainly surprised at how much I enjoyed it.

[Movies] Where The Wild Things Are (2009)

When movie studios first announce that they're turning a children's book into a feature-length movie, my initial reaction is a raised eyebrow and a lot of skepticism. Most children's books really don't translate into movies well given the source material is so limited versus how much content is needed to pull off a full movie.

We've seen some pretty scary translations over the years such as How the Grinch Stole Christmas and The Cat in the Hat and a few others that managed decently enough such as, um, the Harry Potter movies? Okay, I need a more specific example that fits the analogy - give me a moment.

Oh wait I got it - think of most of the Roald Dahl movies. There's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda and James and the Giant Peach to name a few of the better ones. They still weren't ideal, but it still managed to capture the original sense of the books they were based on well enough.

[TV] Lost: Season 3

It's not very often that a show keeps me guessing for long these days. I'm not trying to brag or anything - you have to admit that it's not very often that TV shows are written well enough to give viewers like myself a good run in terms of plot twists and story complexity.

The way that I was raised in terms of watching TV shows and movies was to constantly stay on the alert and try to predict the next step in the plot - or even the ultimate end of the episode or movie. It's something that my mom really was keen on and given the number of cop shows and mystery stories we watched together, I'd like to think that I got pretty good at it. I mean seriously, I'm pretty spot on when I really put my mind towards speculating my way to the end of a House episode.

It's not perfect mind you but it does happen more often than not. However there are those shows that do genuinely surprise me from time to time, and that deserves some degree of commendation.

[Gadgets] The Geek Needs A New Phone

Image by kalleboo via Flickr

Recently, my trusty old Sony Ericsson W660i has been acting weird on me. Sure, the problems with its proprietary plug for headphones was annoying enough given it no longer stays in place, now I seem to be unable to consistently send out text messages (SMS) via Globe. While I know that Globe Telecom has been experiencing major network issues ever since Typhoon Ondoy and probably ever since more and more people have picked up iPhones, I've noticed that I seem to be having more trouble than most.

So this geek is finally considering getting a new mobile phone after almost three years of working his Sony Ericsson to the bone. I've never been one to really push mobile phone limits in terms of my acquisitions in favor of something sturdy, reliable and efficient and so I rarely change my phone unless it's absolutely necessary.

I mean come on, I was perfectly happy with my Nokia 5110 for most of my college days. As much as I'm a major geek, I've never really been one to be picky about my phone.

[Books] Heretics of Dune

It's ironic when longtime readers of a particular series of books start to get bored when things are repetitive and thus they demand that the author change things and bring the series into a new direction. The irony lies in when the series does finally take that fateful twist, those same fans end up complaining that too much has changed and the series is no longer quite what it used to be.

For many Dune fans, the shift in the on-going Dune Chronicles that Frank Herbert brought about in this fifth book of the series was very hard to stomach. It was the kind of change that you either loved or hated and not much else in-between. Personally, I really liked where the story went in the next two books especially when it came down to the characters introduced here.

Yeah, Frank Herbert was always amazingly good with creating very strong and inspiring characters.

[Movies] Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (2009)

Children's books will always have a very high potential for getting turned into animated feature films since (1) book sales will help determine existing interest in the story, (2) family-friendly content means more potential viewers and (3) it saves you a lot of time and effort in terms of writing the actual story.

Such movies tend to be rather hit or miss really, but at the very least they tend to sell well with the kiddies. The greater challenge is to present the movie in such a way that even the parents watching with their kids have something to enjoy. We've seen some movies succeed in this kind of cross-generation targeting such as with the Shrek franchise, but beyond that the results are a bit too unpredictable for movie studios to clearly gamble on.

So I'm glad when some really entertaining animated movies come along, even without them coming from the ever-popular Pixar or something like that.