Thursday, March 28, 2024

The Odd Couple


 


This is my entry in the Mismatched Couples Blogathon hosted by Realweegiemidget Reviews and Cinematic Catharsis

 

 


 

The "odd couple" trope never really got as weird in straightforward drama and comedy as it did when used in science fiction.  You could expand that concept to more outrĂ© ideas when you didn't have to stick with what was currently acceptable possibilities (human on human; whether male on male, female on female or male on female, or even younger on older of any of those. Or for that matter, even human and animal, at least animals that didn't speak...)

Once in the realm of science fiction you could get such odd couples as robots (i.e. R2D2 and C3PO from Star Wars or even the lovelorn pair from Heartbeeps ) or an alien paired with a human (i.e. Jareeba and Will from Enemy Mine) or in the case of today's feature, an apocalyptic movie featuring a boy and a faithful companion, a dog that is telepathic.

A Boy and His Dog  was the second of only three directorial efforts by a man who was better known as a character actor, L. Q. Jones. 

 

 

 

 

You will undoubtedly recognize Jones.  He was a frequent guest star on TV shows as well as a subsidiary character in several movies (many of them westerns).  An interesting tidbit for you:  Jones' real name was Justus McQueen, but in his first role on film he played a character named "L. Q. Jones" (Battle Cry).  He liked the name so he used it as his stage name ever afterwards.   

The movie features, also, one of the first appearances by a young Don Johnson, and I KNOW you know who HE is...  (even if you may not quite recognize him in a photo from the movie here...)



Also included was Tim McIntyre as the voice of the dog, Blood.  (And McIntyre, BTW,  just missed his shot at iconic stardom a few years earlier.  In the late 60's, Norman Lear's first attempt at creating what eventually became All in the Family, a pilot called Justice for All, featured McIntyre in the role of the son-in-law of Carroll O'Connor's character.)

Oh, and by the way, does Blood himself look familiar?  The dog that did all the physical action and reactions required of him in this film was a consummate actor in his own right.  It was "Tiger", the dog that was the 10th star (after the 2 parents, 6 kids and Alice, of course...) of the classic TV show The Brady Bunch! So he came by his ability to convey frustration and disgust quite naturally.




The story comes from a short story written by Harlan Ellison.  Ellison had some Hollywood efforts that made it to film, but the one you the reader might be most familiar with is the Star Trek episode The City on the Edge of ForeverSome liberties were taken with the story as it transitioned from print to film and Ellison himself tried to adapt it first, but after a while the script duties were taken over.

 


 


 

A Boy and His Dog 91975):

Note the movie poster above.... "The year is 2024... a future you'll probably live to see."

Well, congratulations.  If you are reading this now, you DID live to see 2024. (Unless you are reading this 100 years hence, of course... a distinct possibility,  given the eternal life of the cyberspace.)

Although, to be fair, the future depicted in A Boy and His Dog is not the future we actually lived to see... As noted in the opening sequence (after some stock footage of some nuclear explosions) the screen crawl told us:

World War IV lasted five days.

 

Politicians had finally solved the problem of urban blight.

(To say the least...)

So wait a minute... "World War IV"?

Well, as we discover in the process of the first reel, World War III was actually the Cold War and some of the conflicts that occurred over the span of time from 1950-1983.  (The optimistic end of the Cold War, of course.  The actual Cold War didn't end until a few years later...) 

Anyway, the peace only lasted a few years, then, as stated the ultimate conflict happened and everyone started firing off their rockets and made the apocalyptic future as now ongoing...  In this world roving bands of renegades vie for their own little bit of "paradise".  In this future comes Vic (Don Johnson) and his companion, a telepathic dog named "Blood" (voiced by Tim McIntyre).



Blood helps Vic out by TRYING to keep him alive, as well as directing him to the one thing he wants more than anything else.  And what, you may ask, is that?  Hint: Vic is an 18 year old boy.  What do YOU think is primary on his brain?  (And if you said a college degree, boy are YOU naive...)

One thing to warn those of you with more conservative sensibilities; Vic is not necessarily a good guy.  His quest is NOT for love or even a compatible companionship.  He just wants sex and usually in a form that does not include the willingness of the recipient. (Yes, that means he is raping the victim.)

Blood also does his best to educate young Vic.  History lessons and the like.  Including the Presidents.  (Apparently after Ford, the Kennedy clan was able to lay claim to a succession of presidencies... which Kennedys I don't know.  But Teddy tried his hand at the job several times back in the late 70's and early 80's so...)

But Blood has very little patience as a teacher.  Plus, like Vic, Blood has a one track mind too.  He wants food.  Which means that Blood occasionally resorts to coercion to get Vic to find food.  You want women? I want food.  You bring me food and then we'll talk.; "Albert".  (For some reason, which is never really made clear, Blood sometimes calls Vic "Albert", apparently just to annoy him...)

Blood keeps urging Vic to seek out "Over the Hill" an idyllic legend that Blood heard about from a police dog (which Vic doesn't actually believe), a place where food grows right out of the ground (instead of the way they have to find it now, scavenging demolished buildings for storehouses of canned goods.)

Vic and Blood end up trading in some of their goods to attend a movie theater, one which apparently deals in cheap cheesy stag (read: pornographic) films,



Vic is being observed by three mysterious characters who come from "Down Under".  They come to the conclusion that he is the best candidate for what, at this point, remains a secret mission.  But they decide to send in the "cheese".  What is the cheese.  As it turns out it is a girl, Quilla June (Suzanne Benton), who is put into place to entice Vic into "Down Under".



After (multiple!) sexual liaisons with Quilla she deserts Vic, and Vic, being someone with only one mind, decides to try and follow her.  (Which was the whole plan.)

"Down Under", it turns out, is an underground society, a leftover from the days before the war.  The Down Under society coincidentally calls itself "Topeka", so maybe the location that Vic wanders with Blood above ground is Kansas.  The Topeka (as I will refer to it here out) society lives on, having separated itself from those "savages" who live on above ground.  And they need Vic because, while the Topeka society still functions, they somehow don't have the ability to generate the necessary qualities to procreate that someone above ground does, and Vic becomes their goal to help resolve that deficiency.

The society in Topeka is bizarre, to say the least.  It appears to be run by religious fanatics, with some really outrĂ© Christian basis.  (And a penchant for wearing white face, which is never really explained...)



A Committee runs the show and any citizens who do not fit and follow the strict rules of the society are judged to be uncooperative and sent to The Farm (which turns out to be a death sentence, more or less, and which is completed by an android named Michael, who is dressed, coincidentally,  as a farmer.) 



The process by which Vic is induced to help Topeka get repopulated is not to his preferences however.  What it involves is his being strapped down and manipulated by machine to generate vials of his procreative seed (I am TRYING to keep this entry as "family friendly as possible, but it's not easy).  He has to come up with 35 vials of said seed, but then he is scheduled to be relegated to "The Farm".

If Vic had been required to use his prowess to physically become active with his potential "mates", I doubt he would have wanted to leave Topeka, even if all of them did have that off-putting white face fetish.  



But he is not happy with the situation he has to endure.  Not that he has much choice since he is strapped down and has duct tape over his mouth to prevent any objections.

 Eventually Quilla June comes along to help Vic escape, but her goal is not due to a change of heart.  What she really wants is for Vic to help her make a change in the leadership in Topeka. Failing getting a position on the Committee by peaceful means, she tries to manipulate Vic into helping her in a revolution, by killing off the leaders so she can take over as the leader of Topeka. But Vic just wants to get the hell out of Dodge  (I mean Topeka).

With an effort Vic and Quilla escape Topeka, destroying the android Michael in the process and make their way back to above ground.  But is Blood still there?  And will Quilla convince Vic to make a new life with her?  Or will Vic and Blood chase the elusive dream of Over the Hill, a realm where you don't have to scavenge every single day just to survive?  He eventually chooses Blood, and gets him the food he needs to survive.  The "food" that Vic gets for Blood is not stated in overt terms, but as Blood tells Vic in his final line, about Quilla: "I would say she had marvelous judgement, Albert, if not particularly good taste". So maybe you can draw your own conclusions...

Friends stick together, through thick and then, even in the strange post-apocalyptic worlds of the future (or present, if you want to be technical).  And you couldn't find a better friend to get you through hard times than a super-intelligent dog.  So odd couples, even in sci-fi, are friends to the end (or the end of the movie anyway).

Well folks, time to fire up this old Plymouth and head back to the hovel I call home.  Drive safely.

Quiggy






Sunday, March 24, 2024

MCU Sunday #12: Ant-Man

 

 



 Preface: As promised last year, I plan to review every single currently available movie in what is known as the  Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) over the year 2024. These will appear in order of their release over that time period. This is the twelfth installment. (Oh, and by the way, after I've exhausted all of the currently available MCU movies I will be rounding out the year with some of the other available movies made from the Marvel comics pantheon.)

Notes: In each of the MCU installments you will be seeing references to two recurring events that occur in nearly every MCU movie.

Where is Stan Lee?: Stan Lee was the driving genius behind Marvel Comics.  He usually shows up in a cameo.  Sometimes these are so quick you gotta be sure you don't blink. Occasionally he gets a line  of dialogue.

And the Credits Roll: You should always stay in the theater for the credits when watching a MCU movie, because during the credits and at the end there is a teaser (or two) that is worth the wait.  Often they were a teaser for the next installment of the films.

 

 


 

Ant-Man could have hit the theaters many many years before the Marvel Studios started the MCU cycles, believe it or not. Way back in the 80's, Stan Lee tried to get some interest going in another Marvel character coming to the big screen. But since Walt disney was in the process of making Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, the idea was put into hibernation because no one was really interested in trying to compete with the House of Mouse in any idea that might bomb at the box office against a Disney picture.

Obviously the Marvel Studios didn't have many worries about competing with Disney by the time it came time to produce the next installment of the Marvel superheroes.  After all, after 11 previous dynamic movies, the name of marvel had enough prestige that even if Disney had did a remake and had, say, Johnny Depp or Mark Walburg as the scientist futzing around in the lab, Marvel would STILL have a hit on their hands.

Since Ant-Man, as a character, had been one of the founding members of the comic book version of The Avengers it's somewhat surprising that it took so long to add him to the roster of the film version of the superhero clan. And by the time he was added, it was actually the second iteration of the character that got to appear.  As made a part of the film, the original Ant-Man, Dr. Pym, had long since retired from his adventures, so the second Ant-Man, Scott Lang became the focus of the film and his background as a thief before becoming Ant-Man is the origin which would go forward.

 

 


 

Ant-Man  (2015):

Finally an opening that is fairly straightforward...

In 1989, Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) is one pissed off scientist.  He has been working on a technology that would reduce a man to the size of an ant, that has been commandeered by his bosses at SHIELD.  He thinks it ought to be his alone to decide, but as bosses usually go, SHIELD says that since he is an employee, his work is automatically owned by SHIELD. They want to use it for its military capabilities, which, as we all know, scientists, at least in the Marvel universe, are all pacifists. So Pym quits. (Or retires, you decide.)

(And by the way, kudos to the movie's production company on this scene.  Michael Douglas looks almost exactly like he did in Wall Street, which WAS actually a late 80's film. Of course, Pym and Gordon Gekko are not the same character, but he looks like him in this scene.)

Left: Hank Pym. Right: Gordon Gekko

 

Flash forward to the present.  Small time burglar Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is released from San Quentin prison after serving his term. (I always thought that of San Quentin as a maximum security prison for hard case criminals, so I didn't quite get that a small time criminal like Scott would be there, but then, hey,  I don't know everything...) 


 

Side note:  I love the lead-in music after the Marvel logo opening, but I have to say I don't quite understand the choice.  They play a piece by a Latin jazz orchestra (led by Camillo Azuquita), but Scott Lang is not Latino.  Sure his best friend is...  maybe that's why.

So Scott connects up with his friend, Luis (Michael Pena), who tries to convince him to get back into his old life.  He has what he claims is a sure deal.  Ripping off a rich guy, which is Scott's forte.  But Scott wants nothing to do with it.  He plans to go straight. For good.


 

In the meantime, Pym returns to the company he founded.  His daughter, Hope (Evangeline Lilly) has been working closely with Pym's successor in the company, Darren Cross (Corey Stoll), to reinvigorate what Pym originally tried to keep secret; in essence, the Yellowjacket technology.  And the promotional video leaves nothing unquestioned as for what the technology is going to be used.  (Military, hell yes! Spy on enemies, why not! Etc.)


 

Meanwhile, Scott, who has had some bad luck with finding a job, being a former criminal, ends up going along with Luis and robbing the rich guy. Along with help from two of Luis' friends, Dave (Tip Harris) and Kurt (David Dastmalchian). He ends up having to do some serious MacGuyver stuff to get the job done, but he successfully raids the old guy's safe.  But the only thing in the safe is a "motorcycle suit".  Which of course, Scott steals.  Under the watchful eye of Pym who has apparently been behind the whole thing.


 

He tries on the suit and discovers the tech that the suit does, shrinking him to the size of an ant.... Tada Ant-Man.  And through the miracle of modern science he is now going to find out what he can do, with the help of Pym himself, communicating to him through the helmet.  

Yeah, it turns out that Pym engineered the whole thing in the first place, right down to influencing the stealing of the suit in the first place. Scott gets arrested while trying to return the suit, and while in jail has a meeting with his "lawyer" who turns out to be Pym himself who reveals the whole setup.

Pym's goal is to use Scott (and the Ant-man tech) to break into his old company and steal and destroy the Yellowjacket tech that Cross created.  Why? Because Pym, unlike many of his fellow compatriots at his old company, thinks that advanced weaponry and advanced capabilities at spying on enemies is a "bad idea". And even though his daughter, Hope (Evangeline Lilly) thinks she should be the hero in this endeavor, Pym is set on Scott.


 

 

Which means he has to train Scott, who is smart on some levels, but ignorant on the ideas behind the suit tech, how to operate it in superhero fashion.  And also on what not to do  You know, like modify the suit...  (Note: There are some intriguing foreshadowing parts in these scenes so pay attention if you plan on following this blog to it's conclusion...)

Also he has to learn how to work with his allies, members of the ant world.  He has to learn how to communicate with various subspecies, each with their own special abilities that can help him.

And eventually Pym breaks down and tells his daughter what REALLY killed her mother.  Her mother, it turns out, worked side by side with Pym, he being the original Ant-man and her being another superhero known as the wasp (using the same shrinking tech.) They both tried to stop an ICBM launched by renegade Russians, and she, using the suit for the dangerous portion of its abilities that Pym warned Scott about screwing with, went subatomic in order to stop the bomb. And never came back.

So the plans that Pym has are a bit complicated and requires a bit of help.  Against Pym's objections, Scott incorporates his three buddies, Luis, Dave and  Kurt. Dave being the getawat car drive, Kurt being a bird in the air, so to speak, scoping it out from the sky.  And Luis? He's a fake security guard, the mole on the inside.  (You know, Luis is a great character, but sometimes I wonder how he is EVER successful as a criminal... the guy is just a bit too off kilter.  But then so is every other comic relief character in film, so...)

So Scott and his ant allies invade.  But he doesn't count on some serious issues that await him.  Namely, Cross, whose intentions are NOT to help the government (big surprise) but to sell his tech to Hydra (Geez! Don't they ever get dismantled?  OH, wait, that old chop off one head and two grow in its place" thing...)

With Pym and Hope, and eventually, Scott captured things look a little bleak.  But now we get to the real battle (which is what we have been waiting for).  Cross, using his Yellowjacket tech, becomes Yellowjacket and has a battle with Ant-man and his ant army.


 

And a tank.  (Don't ask, just watch...)

The CGI for this movie surpasses anything we have seen so far, in my opinion.  The rapid transition between the full size characters and their miniature versions works without looking too cheesy.   And the final battle is well worth the wait.

Admittedly, most of the build-up becomes a bit slow.  And Rudd is not the most believable in his transition from two-bit burglar into a hero. (Kinda of like the somewhat difficult believability of Tony Stark transitioning from self-obsessed ego trip to... well, maybe that's not a good comparison...)


Where is Stan Lee? Right before the credits roll, Luis gets with Scott to try to tell him about another potential caper.  Yet another friend met some girl, a reporter, in a bar.  The reporter mentions to the friend that a guy working for The Avengers is looking for Ant-man. Stan is the bartender who agrees with the friend that the reporter is very attractive. 



And the Credits Roll: In mid credits, Pym shows Hope the prototype for an advanced version of the Wasp suit and tells her, that he and his wife had been working on it and he now realizes that the had been working on it for Hope. He tells her maybe it's time to complete the work on it. And post credits we find Captain America and the Falcon conferring on what to do about Bucky (The Winter Soldier).  They decide they really can't talk with Tony (Iron Man) but Falcon tells Cap that maybe there's another guy that can help...

The highlights of the movie are in the co-stars.  Michael Douglas is a star as Pym, and Pena's comic relief as Luis is well worth it, but overall, I have to say without that dynamic battle at the end, I probably could have skipped the origin story here.

But we are getting some more details here for the story line, like the introduction of a future character, the return of the Wasp, who, like the previous incarnation, will be paired with Ant-man.  Watch for that pairing in a future MCU Sunday installment.

Can't shrink.  Can't fly. But I can drive, so the old Plymouth will still get me home. Drive safely, folks.

 

Quiggy



Friday, March 22, 2024

Tribble-ing Dilemmas

 


This is my entry in the 10th Annual Favorite TV Episodes Blogathon hosted by A Shroud of Thoughts.






Star Trek is one of the most prevalent franchises to ever grace the small (and big) screen.  Beginning with the original, commonly referred to as Star Trek: The Original Series (or Star Trek: TOS for short) in 1966, the franchise spawned (as of today) 10 TV shows, an animated cartoon series, 13 movies and God knows how many novels and movie tie-in books. The fan base continues to grow, even to this day.  There are grandchildren (and great-grandchildren) of the people who watched the first series who are jumping on board, who weren't even passing thoughts in the minds of their predecessors when it first aired.

As for me, I was still a little too young to actually watch the first iteration, even though I was alive at the time. I didn't actually get into the show until watching reruns in the mid 70's. I do remember going with my sister to watch the first movie when it came out.  (I want to say it was Christmas Eve, but it may have been before then.) By then we had both been exposed to the original series so we didn't go in blind, but it was still fairly fresh, at least to me. I had only been catching syndication episodes here and there.

One of the classic episodes I remembered was the one called "The Trouble with Tribbles" which was more like a comic relief episode than an actual drama like most of the others.  Being the comedy fanatic that I was at the time, I enjoyed it. And it ranks favorably with the more fanatic Trekkies (as fans are traditionally known), too. One site I saw puts it at #12 in a ranking of the first series episodes, not a bad place even though there were only 79 episodes in that first series.

By the time I was in college and Star Trek: The Next Generation (Star Trek; TNG) came along I was still a fan of the original, however, it took a while for me to warm up to the new show.  My main problem with the new one was the character of Troi.  While I thought the actress, Marina Sirtis, that played her was attractive, I found the idea of an empath race to be very un-scientific, and as a result shied away from it for years.  I only got into it after it went into syndication and my parents were watching it.

Star Trek Deep Space Nine (Star Trek: DS9) appealed to me more.  It seemed to have a bit more of the kind of characters i could relate to.  And it had several episodes that really piqued my interest, since by then I was heavily into time travel stories.  Two in particular that dealt directly with the concept of time travel  were "Little Green Men", which took on the Roswell incident by implying that the aliens who crashed were three of the Ferengi characters on the show who had somehow been transported back in time to Roswell, circa 1947.

The other was "Trials and Tribble-ations". Side note: Don't ask me why I was more willing to accept a race of creatures that could multiply itself in such a radical fashion as the tribbles were capable when I was unable to accept an empath.  Maybe it's just the comic part that made it less offensive, even to my rational mind. Because tribbles make no sense from a evolutionary standpoint.  How could a creature evolve that only exists to consume and procreate? (And some of you more cynical readers are countering that argument, I know...)

The best part of this DS9 episode was how they managed to meld interaction between the two series. They used clips from the original series and yet managed to smoothly intersect the characters on the new series with those of the old show, even though some 30 years had passed between the two shows (although in terms of the two shows timeline it was actually more in the neighborhood of  100 years between the two).

Watching both in succession is an interesting way to see how the characters interact with these curious creatures. 


The Trouble with Tribbles: (Star Trek: TOS episode: Air date Dec. 29. 1967)



(Note: If you are lucky enough to locate a copy of episode author David Gerrold's  reminiscence of the background to this episode, The Complete Story of One of Star Trek's Most Popular Episodes "The Trouble With Tribbles", it's worth checking out.  He details his early background in attempts to get a story filmed on the classic show, including some of his story ideas that were not accepted.)



The story begins with a preparation to visit a space station near the border of Klingon territory. In the history of Star Trek, the Federation spent some time in a "Cold War" with the Klingons (who were a sci-fi equivalent of the Russians with whom the U.S. had it's own Cold War during the time). Kirk is in a meeting with Spock and Chekhov discussing the implications of a competition between the Klingons and the Federation concerning the sector.  Essentially there is a treaty between the two that whoever can lay claim to the best improvements in the sector will lay claim to the sector itself.

In the middle of this comes a Priority 1 alert, But when the Enterprise shows up, there is no sign of danger.  Kirk, of course, is incensed, because a Priority 1 distress signal means there is serious trouble brewing (you know, like maybe the Klingons are blasting away with photon torpedoes on the station or something...). It turns out that the local bigwig in the area, Nils Baris (William Schallert) had issued it so that the Enterprise could guard a shipment of special wheat.  Wheat?  A Priority 1 Alert to guard wheat???

 


Well, the wheat is extremely valuable to the Federation's interests. However, at least to Kirk, not worth a fuss.  But given a command by higher ups, he concedes to put two, and only two, guards on detail.  And issues a shore leave for all other personnel not involved in the detail.

Uhura goes shopping and in a bar meets up with Cyrano Jones, a trader who is trying to get the bartender to buy something, anything, that he has to sell.  But the bartender rejects all items.  That is until Cyrano brings out a tribble.  (Essentially just a ball of fur.) But the tribbles are extremely friendly and Uhura likes it, so Cyrano gives her one.  And convinces the bartender to buy more.

The tribble has only two qualities that are essential to it's survival.  One: it will eat almost anything. And two: (and this is the source of the plot for this episode) it reproduces quite rapidly.  By a few hours later, Uhura now has a half a dozen of the little creatures.

In the meantime, a Klingon ship has shown up at the space station.  And the captain of the ship, Koloth, demands shore leave for his own crew.  (Note: The Klingon ship must be cloaked most of the time, because when long shots are shown of the space station the only ship you see is The Enterprise, although for the life of me I can't imagine why it would want to stay cloaked all the time if it's current mission was only peaceful...)


 

Kirk reluctantly agrees, but insists that the contingent be a one on one basis; for every Klingon there will be a Federation person on the space station, basically to keep an eye on the Klingons.

One thing that becomes readily apparent is that the tribbles like everyone... except Klingons.  (Pay attention to that, it becomes relevant later.)  Meanwhile, the tribbles themselves are multiplying at a phenomenal rate, and threatening to overrun the space station, as well as the Enterprise. As Dr. McCoy observes, they are apparently "born pregnant".  Fairly soon there are more tribbles than you can shake a stick at.  


 

And eating everything in sight.  

Ultimately the tribbles get into the valuable grain storage.  And of course consume the entire batch.  But the downside is that the tribbles are dying after eating the grain.  And it turns out that the grain shipment has been poisoned.  And the blame falls on Baris' secretary, Darvin (Charlie Brill). 

 


 

And Darvin, it turns out, is not a human... he is actually, you guessed it... a Klingon.  Which is revealed when a tribble is brought near him and the tribble reacts the same way as it has near every other Klingon.

So the tribbles have become heroes, even if they had to sacrifice their lives to do so.  And the only thing left is to get rid of the remaining tribbles on the base.  Kirk tasks Cyrano with that duty, which will take years... hell of a fitting punishment if you ask me.  And Scotty comes up with an ingenious plan for those tribbles that are still on the Enterprise.

 

Trials and Tribble-ations: (Star Trek : DS9 episode: Air date: Nov 4, 1996)



The crew at Deep Space Nine have a problem on their hands.  They are being visited by the Time Patrol (not the actual name of the organization, just one I made up to keep from having to type in the full name every time).  It seems that the crew accidentally went back in time, not on purpose, as far as they are concerned.  Just that certain circumstances caused it to happen:

What happened?  They took on board a man who had been trapped in Cardassian space and had been released to the crew.  The man introduced himself as "Barry Waddle".  



 

At the same time, the crew had been tasked with returning a sacred relic, the Orb of Time, to the Bajorans, which had been held in Cardassian possession for some time.

 While en route they run into a massive surge of "chroniton radiation" and end up 100 years in the past, near the space station K7 (see the previous Tribble episode.) They are able to stay cloaked, but because they are where they are they are also near the events of that previously mentioned episode.  And there on the screen is the first Enterprise.

It turns out Waddle is not who he claims to be.  It is actually Darvin, the Klingon spy from the original series episode.  

 


 

 

No one is sure why, but Darvin managed to use the orb and the ship to go back in time. They speculate that either he intends to warn his younger self of his impending unmasking or, even more ominous, that he intends to kill Captain Kirk (which would certainly put a damper on the timeline as we know it.)

As it turns out, the latter is exactly what Darvin plans.  He has secreted a bomb in one of the tribbles. Which creates a suspenseful problem. Because although the spaceship can be scanned in toto with basically one fell swoop, onboard the K7, each tribble has to be individually scanned. With some 1,000,000 tribbles on just the space station alone, that's going to require days.  And "days" are not what the crew has.  They only have minutes.

 


Fortunately for the crew  (and the time line), they do manage to get to the tribble in question and have it beamed out into space before it explodes.  And the crew returns to it's right time line. Although not entirely with the same contingent that originally went back in time...

Both of these episodes prove that you can mix a little comedy in with sci-fi (not entirely unprecedented, mind you. The entire genre of sci-fi has had it's own share of comedic interludes). But thanks to Gerrold and his fellow writers for the DS9 episode we do have an interesting  side trip from the serious for a bit.

Well, folks, that wraps up this trip back through time.  Have fun.  And don't pick up any strange little furballs on your way home.

Quiggy










Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Meet Me at the Crossroads

 


 

Some background to my experience:

I discovered the blues in the early 80's.  My first experience was buying Muddy Waters' album "I'm a King Bee".  I didn't have any idea what I was buying at the time.  It was just on the shelf at Musicland, a music outlet at my local mall. (Remember malls? They were the go-to place for shopping back in the day and a decent place to hang out even if you weren't shopping).

Anyway, I bought the record without having any idea what I was getting, just because it was on sale.  I got home and put it on the turn table and was transported to a world I had never known existed previously.  

You have to understand: from the time I was born (1961) until about 1978, my total experience was country music.  Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, they were my total experience, barring the occasional snippets of music I heard when hanging out with school friends.  And those friends were into either heavy metal music (my first experience hearing AC/DC was while a freshman riding around with a few seniors at lunch) or pop music.

But in 1978 I transitioned to the local pop music radio.  But pop music was disco and R &B and the like.  Bee Gees, Village People, Donna Summer and Electric Light Orchestra.  My universe was expanding in the late 70's and I gradually started to realize there were different musical worlds out there.  So by 1981 I was willing to listen to anything.  It was during this time that I also discovered jazz.

But for a time I was entranced by the music of the blues.  Granted, I didn't identify with it lyrically, but then no form of music ever touched me lyrically as a genre. The traditional "life is hard and I got a long road to hoe to get to happiness" theme was not my experience. I just liked the melodies and the sound of the instrumentation.  Blues really hit me in that respect.

So when Crossroads hit the theaters I was already attracted by the musical portion.  At the time I was also attracted to Ralph Macchio as an actor, so having his name on the marquee also gave me an incentive to see the movie.  I later learned it was directed by one of my favorite directors, Walter Hill, but I have to admit, at that time I hardly ever paid attention to the director's credits in film (with the exception of John Carpenter, of course, who has always been a draw for me, dating back to my first experience with him with Halloween).

This Crossroads should NOT be confused with that turkey featuring the "no talent" (as an actress) Britney Spears.  It's an entirely different movie, with it's basis on the legend of Robert Johnson, the ultimate king of the blues, who supposedly made a deal with the devil for his bluesmanship. Which is part of the driving force behind this film, as you will see.

(There are also several other movies out there with "Crossroads" in the title.  It's apparently a very attractive title.  I counted 14 others.  But stick with the 1986 film if you want a very good drama.  No telling what you'll get if you go down those other "crossroads"... Some of them, to be fair, may be actually good, but if you want to go with this theme, there is only one that I know of that fits it).



Crossroads(1986):

Eugene Martone (Raph Macchio) is a talented guitarist studying at Julliard (the mecca for talent in the music world.  You get in that door and you really have something to write home about.).  But according to his professor, he is wasting his talent messing around with this "primitive music" called the blues. Dr. Santis  informs him that "excellence in primitive music is cultural... you have to be born with it". And coming from rich money (and Long Island to boot), Eugene is unlikely to have been born with it.



 

But Eugene is nothing if not dedicated to his sideline interest.  In an effort to become known in the blues world he seeks out one of the last remaining original blues me, Willie Brown (Joe Seneca).  Eugene is is convinced that this Willie Brown is also the man who played with Robert Johnson under the name Blind Dog Fulton.


 

But Willie is incarcerated in a minimum security old folks home, basically a prison but for people who are old and not considered too much of a risk.  What Eugene wants is to get Willie to teach him the legendary missing 30th song from Robert Johnson's recording sessions.  Willie tells him he will teach it to him, but only if Eugene helps him escape the prison and get back to Mississippi.

Willie tells Eugene that he has a money stash to help chip in for the trip, but he won't show the wad of dough in New York City.  He insists that Eugene pay the bus fare to Memphis and he will pay the rest of the way.  But, of course, when they get to Memphis it comes to light that Willie's "stash" only amounts to $40.  That won't get them anywhere near Mississippi...

So they have to start hitchhiking, or, as Willie refers to it, "hoboing".  Along the way they meet up with a runaway, Frances (Jamie Gertz). And end up rescuing her from a sleazeball bar owner whose intentions are not entirely pure. 


 

Although Frances and Eugene start out at odds, they eventually hook up.  


 

And Eugene, being a young man with the requisite hormones of said such, but also with the sense of said such, falls in love with Frances.  But Frances is a bit more jaded for a girl of her age.  So she takes off, leaving Eugene to his hormones and sense.

The ultimate goal of Willie comes to light, as the reason why he wanted to get to Mississippi was to get back to the crossroads where he made a deal with the devil umpteen odd years ago.  The original go between, the Devil's assistant  (Joe Morton), shows up, but Willie insists on talking to the big guy himself, the man who calls himself Scratch (Robert Judd).


 

Scratch tells Willie he won't negate the contract for his soul.  But if Willie is willing to pit a contest with Scratch's #1 guitarist, Jack Butler (Steve Vai), and Willie wins, he'll tear up the contract.  But Willie is not a guitarist.  But Eugene is.  And Eugene, not believing in all this mumbo-jumbo about selling a soul to the Devil, agrees to sit in as Willie's substitute in the battle.

Of course, the battle is real, as the scene shifts to a juke joint in Hell.  And Jack Butler, the guitarist representing Scratch in the contest turns out to be the epitome of a heavy metal wizard who had previously sold his own soul for the wizardry.  And the guitar battle that ensues is one of the main reasons I have always liked this movie.  On a list of musical sequences in film, this ranks in the top 5 for me.  Jack and Eugene alternate, much like a heavy metal/blues version of "Dueling Banjos", with Jack playing a heavy metal piece and Eugene countering with a blues rendition of the piece.

 


 

Ultimately Eugene reverts to his classical training, and it is entirely a mystery to Jack. (Apparently Jack was not the most open musical guy, like I was and am.  He had not had much experience with that genre and ends up losing the contest, which leads to Scratch tearing up the contract.

Crossroads is a decent film in terms of acting, but for me, the draw is really the music.  It's not a musical in the sense of the traditional term. You want a real musical with blues as it's basis The Blues Brothers is a better choice.  But for drama and character, this one would be a better selection.  Macchio and Seneca fit well together on screen.  I can't say the same about Jamie Gertz.  Gertz and Macchio just don't have the chemistry.  It's hard to believe that pairing would happen, for me.  Probably because I see myself in Eugene and I personally would never have made it past the physical attraction into the emotional attraction part with Frances. 

Most of the time when Eugene is playing, we get a close up of hands playing the guitar without the long shot of Macchio.  There is a purpose to this,of course.  Macchio is not actually playing the guitar for the soundtrack. (Whether Macchio can actually play guitar or not I admit i don't know..) For his guitar playing it is actually guitar wizard Ry Cooder.  Steve Vai, on the other hand, is really a guitar player.  (Along with Joe Satriani and Eric Johnson, Vai has been on tour playing in what has been called the "G3 Tour"). I'm pretty sure Vai could have pulled off the classical music guitar if it had been Vai himself and not the character he played, Jack Butler.

Fortunately, unlike Eugene and Willie, I have this old Plymouth to get on down the road. So drive safely, folks.

Quiggy

 



Sunday, March 17, 2024

MCU Sunday #11: The Avengers: Age of Ultron

 



 Preface: As promised last year, I plan to review every single currently available movie in what is known as the  Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) over the year 2024. These will appear in order of their release over that time period. This is the eleventh installment. (Oh, and by the way, after I've exhausted all of the currently available MCU movies I will be rounding out the year with some of the other available movies made from the Marvel comics pantheon.)

Notes: In each of the MCU installments you will be seeing references to two recurring events that occur in nearly every MCU movie.

Where is Stan Lee?: Stan Lee was the driving genius behind Marvel Comics.  He usually shows up in a cameo.  Sometimes these are so quick you gotta be sure you don't blink. Occasionally he gets a line  of dialogue.

And the Credits Roll: You should always stay in the theater for the credits when watching a MCU movie, because during the credits and at the end there is a teaser (or two) that is worth the wait.  Often they were a teaser for the next installment of the films.

 

 


 

The newest Marvel Cinematic Universe film delves into some issues that I find very uncomfortable.  For one thing I have a very "worst case scenario" mind; I look at what is coming and immediately extrapolate how this could become a bad thing.  One of the biggest bugaboos in my mind is that AI is not necessarily always a good thing.  Call it my The Terminator mentality.  What if AI became so self aware that it could use it's own technology to take over.  (This is a rather pessimistic viewpoint, but then I've always been a freewill type.  The classic quote, attributed to, I think, Benjamin Franklin, has always been one of mantras: "Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety").


 


 

 

 

The Avengers are raiding a fortress held by Hydra under the command of Baron Strucker (Thomas Kretschmann).  Strucker has possession of Loki's scepter which he has been using to implement his experiments.  The experiment he has been working on at the time is human enhancement, which has helped him create "The Twins",  two young people who have their own newfound abilities.



Pietro (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) has become a boy who has superhuman speed (think The Flash from the D.C. comics universe). His sister, Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) is able to manipulate minds as well as use telekinesis. These two present some trouble for the Avengers but they still manage to defeat the Hydra forces and take the scepter.

Back at headquarters, Tony Stark uses his AI to investigate the scepter before letting Thor take it back to Asgard.  In the process, he uses it to enhance his Ultron program, which is a program designed to help make the world safe.  But ultimately Ultron becomes self-aware (see I told you...)



Where is Stan Lee? At a party held by Stark, Stan is a guest talking with Thor. Thor has a drink that he claims is not for normal mortal men, but Stan scoffs.  So Thor gives him a shot.  Which puts him in an inebriated state with just that one shot.  Oops.



At the party a fun sequence (and the last fun time the Avengers are going to have for a while) occurs in which everyone tries to prove their worth by trying to pick up Thor's hammer, Mjolnir, off the table.  (But of course we all know only Thor can do it. It's why he's THOR...)

Ultron (James Spader) makes his first presence known, although, as he states he is still hampered by strings.  The Avengers, with a little trouble, do manage to defeat this first incarnation of Ultron, but Ultron says, after defeat of his first body that now he is "free from the strings".  (You didn't think it was going to be THAT easy, did you...?)

Ulton expresses a desire to make the Avengers "extinct".  It's the first step in his goal to secure the security of humanity.  And to do that he need Loki's scepter, which he takes with him.  Ultimately, the Avengers learn that what motivated Tony to create Ultron was the desire to protect humanity from outside forces (such as those seen in the first The Avengers film.)

Ultron kills off Strucker and eliminates all the computerized data that Strucker had.  Fortunately for the Avengers they still have some data 9the old-fashioned printout kind, stored in cardboard boxes. (Ye gods, primitives...) They find a known arms dealer operating out of Wakanda, the source of the strongest metal on Earth (yes Cap's shield). Note: Wakanda also has another resource, but that's for a future installment.

Ultron and the twins go to seek out this weapons dealer, Ulysses (Andy Serkis, whom, after seeing him only as a voice and motion capture creation; Gollum from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings and as Caesar in the current spate of Planet of the Apes films I finally got to see what he actually looks like in the flesh) But the Avengers also show up and another battle ensues, at least until Wanda manages to use her special power to warp the minds of the heroes, making them see visions of being else where.

This in effect makes just Iron Man and Hulk available.  And we all know how undependable Hulk can be. But Banner (Hulk) has been warped by the mind efforts of Wanda, too. So that makes him entirely undependable, not just a little bit. The damage that Hulk (and Iron Man) inflicts cause a backlash and the Avengers are forced to hide out.



The Avengers have to figure what the dreams they were given by Wanda mean.  Thor heads out to confer with Dr Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard) about his own vision of Armageddon.  meanwhile Tony's old boss, Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) puts in an appearance to try to get the rest of the Avengers back on track.  And reveals that Ultron's ultimate goal is total destruction of the Earth.  As Ultron tells the twins, the earth will have to evolve. Like the dinosaurs, so to speak. Not exactly saving the Earth for a better future, if you ask me,

But once the Twins learn that Ultron's ultimate goal is destruction of the Earth, they have a change of heart in their loyalties so the Avengers get a couple of new allis.  But since Ultron himself is evolving into a more powerful entity, even their help may not be quite enough...

So what is the ultimate plan?  Why, a meteor somewhat akin to the one that supposedly destroyed the dinosaurs would do the same for civilization.  Except, who knows when a meteor might be coming by at the right moment? But Ultron has a plan.  Turn a portion of a city into a meteor.  Get that portion up high enough and drop it and the effect would be close to the same,

Now the Avengers have their mission: prevent this catastrophe.  But Ultron is not exactly alone.  He has an entire army of androids that he has created to keep the Avengers busy while he performs his geological trick.



After saving the Earth and defeating Ultron, it turns out that Vision is now in possession of the Mind Stone (one of the Infinity Stones) and the Avengers believe it is probably in the best hands.

And the Credits Roll: After the initial credits we see Thanos getting a gauntlet and saying "Fine. I'll do it myself." (What "it" is is coming to a theater near you soon...)


Age of Ultron really starts the ball rolling in the drive towards what is the best Phase of the MCU (Phase 3), although there still remains to be one more hero to introduce before we can get there (see next week's entry).

Despite the general consensus that Age is one of the lesser entries in the MCU cycle, I personally liked it, even though, as I said in the beginning of this post, it makes me feel a little uncomfortable in terms of the potential of AI.  (And maybe that's why most people dislike it. Maybe they are nervous about the pessimistic feelings it brings on.)

Well, folks, next week's adventure is cued up so it's time to warm up the old Plymouth for the trip.  Drive safely.

Quiggy