Trying Something New...Continued

Prologue

Day 27

We have landed on Gamma Prime - Thomas' named it that because it was the biggest planet in the sector.  Official records will refer to the planet as Gamma 4.  

The sky here is purple.  We suspect this has something to do with the molecules in the air but we have been unable to confirm that.  Though the ship's sensors verified the atmosphere was non-toxic and breathable prior to our exiting, it was unable to identify seventy-two of the seventy-eight components that made up the atmosphere - Earth's atmosphere has only four main components.  

Artimus, our navicomputer, has advised us that our orders have allocated ten days to explore and sample this world.  Thomas and I are eager to begin.  

Maybe we've found our next Eden!

N. Velvet


Day 32

This planet is nothing like I've ever seen.  We've been here five days now and as yet we have only explored roughly 1/100th of the continent where the ship landed.  

Thus far we have discovered and cataloged over 400 species of flora and fauna of all variety.  The largest animals we've observed are herbivores that would be best described as a ferret mixed with a beaver but scaly like a snake.  Thomas believes the evolution of this planet is still millions of years too early for any large mammals or sentient creatures, but I'm not so sure.

I saw something last night.  Something that appeared to be walking upright in the woods.  Thomas said it was the plants moving in the breeze, but I know what I saw.

Thomas says that when we leave we will need to take a multi-orbit trajectory out of the system in order to survey what we can on the surface of the planet.  

I don't want to leave.  

To hell with the mission.  The scientific discoveries awaiting us here are immeasurable.  

N. Velvet


Day 34

I have switched on my DigiMem voice and optical recording devices for today's log entry.

We are sleeping inside the ship tonight.  Last night something, an animal or several of them, trampled through our camp destroying numerous samples and pieces of equipment.

I don't think it was an animal.  I think it was whatever I saw walking through the trees.

BANG

Thomas, was that you?

BANG BANG BANG

Oh my god, I think there's something trying to get inside the ship.  I'm going to turn on the exterior lights and check the monitors.  

What...what the hell is that!  Thomas, get up here.

Thomas, do you see this?  That thing...that thing has hair, it's walking upright.  Wait...did it just look at the camera?  Holy shit, it did.  That fucking thing is sentient. 

We have to go out there, we have to try and communicate with it.

Star Wars The Force Awakens First Official Trailer

Back in November of last year Lucasfilm/Disney released the first teaser trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens (SWVII) to rave reviews and mass speculation.  Who was this prominently featured storm trooper?  Why was that girl riding a Popsicle?  Wait, did that lightsaber have hilt blades?

Now the first official full-length trailer has been released and my first reaction is "JJ Abrams has restored all the faith that Lucas had, sadly, pissed away.  This film will be outstanding."

There isn't going to be any JarJar's in The Force Awakens.  It looks like the dark, gritty space-drama Ep II should have been.  

I don't want to go frame by frame and talk about the trailer.  Mostly because I think that's boring but also because if you want to do that there are plenty of other options out there.  Instead I want to hit on the high points, questions raised and speculate on what this all could mean.

From the beginning: we are once again on Tatooine (presumably - though there are other sand-planets in the Star Wars Universe, it seems most likely that they would return to their roots).  The opening scene shows a speeder in the background racing across the landscape with a downed X-Wing in the foreground and a crashed Imperial Class Star Destroyer half buried in the sand.  

Now, we all know that the story is meant to take place several decades after the end of Jedi - in keeping with actual time-space continuum logic to explain the main characters ages - and it seems evident that even though the Emperor and Vader fell at the battle of Endor the Empire still holds sway in the Universe.  It also makes sense that, if this is Tatooine we are seeing, that battles would have raged here.  Tatooine is a planet in the outer-rim section of space.  If the Empire, spread to the winds after Endor, would regroup in areas further from the Capital and harder to maintain control for the fledgling republic.  (hard to confirm Coruscant became the Republic's capital since all canon was vacated from reality last year - but for the sake of argument we will assume).

We then experience a voice over from Mark Hammel (as Luke) giving the same speech he said to Leia on Endor about the force being strong in his family.  Curiously it refers to his father in the present tense and not the past...foreshadowing???  Probably not, seems really REALLY stupid to "resurrect" Vader; can't see that happening.  Most likely just a choice in language with no specific purpose or value.  Part of this sequence shows what appears to be Luke handing a lightsaber to Leia.  In the books Leia was never able to achieve significant Jedi powers and handling a lightsaber, though not impossible even for a Jedi with limited powers, seems like an interesting choice for the direction of the film.

It's after the voice-over sequence that the trailer really takes off.  Lots of fast-cut scenes showing X-wings in formation flying low over a body of water, A dark Jedi wielding a lightsaber in battle.  Ranks of Storm Troopers on an ice planet standing before a raised stage with a leader that can't quite be made out clearly.  The tie-fighters present on the ice planet have white wings (instead of the traditional dark gray metal color) presumably to blend in better with the surroundings.  Space flight scenes.  A badass Storm Trooper in chrome armor.  And of course a scene of the Millennium Falcon flying through a crashed spaceship on Tatooine, presumably the same ship we see earlier in the clip, being chased by a TIE Fighter.  

The trailer ends on a scene showing Han Solo and Chewbacca on the deck of the Millennium Falcon in such a way as to lead the viewer to believe that this scene is reflective of the first time they've been on the ship in some time.  They are both brandishing weapons which leads one to wonder what they were expecting to find OR what they had to do to get on board in the first place.

The trailer is everything you'd expect it to be.  I imagine this feeling is similar to what people felt when seeing the first trailer for The Empire Strikes Back in theaters back in 1982.  The pure joy of anticipation is never stronger than at this moment.  

If you haven't seen it, or just want to watch it a few dozen more times, check it out below!

Tb

Bin Fodder Move Review: Furious Seven

Courtesy of Universal

It would be my guess that the writers/producers/directors of the Fast and Furious series sat around in pre-production meetings saying something to the affect of: "People just want to watch fast cars, hot women and shit blowing up" and they're not wrong about that.  The F&F series has been wildly successful warranting a now seventh installment (putting it up there with the likes of the X-Men series).  

Unfortunately, this kind of thinking tends to lead to situations where the story and plot line of a movie is so convoluted that you're left wondering why they even felt the need to pretend to build it in.  But the fast cars, hot girls and shit blowing up distract most people from this fact.

This is not to say that the movies have not been enjoyable, even for someone like me who doesn't get a chub over cars.  I think they're neat and they definitely look cooler in these movies than I would ever expect them to be in real life.  But, in reality, it's the core cast and the ideals that this movie presents: family and loyalty, that grounds this movie in reality against all odds.

There is an added level of sentimentality with this installment as it was Paul Walker's last - he'd been with the franchise since its inception as a mainstay character.  If you didn't know, he died last year in a car accident.  Not giving anything away, but there's a really nice montage with a voice over from Vin Diesel to wrap up the movie; pulls on the heart strings.

Realizing that when watching a movie of this type you have to through you concepts of what could actually happen in reality versus fantasy right out the window; but there was one moment involving The Rock Dwayne Johnson where I said. "This is a bridge too far!".  The guy runs an ambulance off a bridge to destroy a flying vehicle which is trying to destroy one of the cars...like...seriously?

Courtesy of Universal

That being said the movie is very entertaining.  It has the requisite T&A show along the way and even some surprise guest stars.  The cars look cool, run fast and are very furious.  If you've like the other movies in this series I would definitely recommend viewing.  If you've never seen an F&F movie before this is not the place to start - there's a lot of story which hinges on your knowledge of things that have happened previously (including who characters are, why Letty can't remember anything, who Shaw was, who Mia is, who Han was, etc.).  

However, if you'd like to join the fun and watch the previous installments - this is the commonly held belief of the appropriate order at this point: The Fast and the Furious, Fast &Furious, Fast Five, Fast and Furious 6, The Fast & the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Furious 7.  The second movie: 2 Fast 2 Furious doesn't involve the main crew and can be ignored.

Happy Rides!

Tb