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Save your work: Star Trek’s transporter
The transporter in Star Trek has always bugged me. So many plot holes, so much nonsense. An example: the transporter has some sort of memory buffer, which saves the signal of the person teleporting off the ship. On occasion, the crew has used that stored pattern to reconstitute a person (e.g. season one, in which Data […]
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Phoning it in
I’ve loved late-night television since I was twelve. That year, David Letterman’s *Late Show” premiered on CBS, and Conan O’Brien took over Dave’s old Late Night slot on NBC. We lived out in the sticks, so our TV just barely tuned in the broadcast stations. I had to squint to make out Dave’s toothy grin […]
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Rooting for snowstorms
For as long as I can remember, I’ve rooted for snowstorms. As a kid, I wasn’t alone. What student doesn’t celebrate when school gets cancelled? Lying half-awake in the pre-dawn dark, I’d switch on the radio. The newscasters rattled off local cancellations, and I desperately hoped to get lucky. But that doesn’t explain why I […]
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Betting on the binge: Netflix, House of Cards, and the future of appointment viewing
We rejoined Netflix, and I can’t stop watching. I’ve already devoured two seasons of The Walking Dead, AMC’s zombie gore-fest. We’re plowing through Arrested Development, a show that somehow slipped under our radar back in its day. West Wing looms on the horizon, along with a half-dozen other series we never caught the first time […]
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First things first (part 2): why Peter Jackson should have made Lord of the Rings after The Hobbit
Last time, I explained why, in an ideal world, Peter Jackson would have tackled The Hobbit first (before The Lord of the Rings). But what would this have meant for The Hobbit’s bigger, more serious older brother? Of course, much depends on how well The Hobbit performed at the box office. But let’s assume that […]
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First things first: why Peter Jackson should have made The Hobbit before The Lord of the Rings
Back in the mid-nineties, Peter Jackson had a problem. He (and his creative partners) had unveiled plans to film J.R.R. Tolkien’s most celebrated novels, using their native New Zealand as a stand-in for Middle-Earth. They hoped to make The Hobbit—chronologically, the series’ initial book—first. But Jackson’s producers failed to secure rights for The Hobbit. Undeterred, […]
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“It is your destiny.”
Geekdom is abuzz; Star Wars will be reborn. Out of nowhere, Disney snatched up the rights from Lucasfilm, simultaneously announcing sequels to Return of the Jedi. After the disastrous prequel trilogy, a new director and proven screenwriter will attempt to jump-start the stalled franchise. Fans are already speculating wildly about the new trilogy’s likely story. […]
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Salvaging Star Wars, Episode IV: Leaner green screen
The last few posts have addressed a single question: how might the Star Wars prequels have been salvaged? How might George Lucas have kept that trainwreck on the rails? In the first post, I questioned the whole “prequel” concept. Then, I discussed how real-world analogues polluted the Star Wars universe. Finally, I suggested some ways […]
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Salvaging Star Wars, Episode III: show some character
Recently, I’ve been outlining ways that the Star Wars prequels might have been improved. First, I suggested that the whole ‘prequel’ concept is irredeemably flawed. Then I complained about how real-world analogues cheapen the Star Wars universe. Today’s complaint? The Star Wars prequels spoil some of cinema’s best-known, most beloved characters. Take Obi-Wan Kenobi, that […]
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Salvaging Star Wars, Episode II: Cheap Analogues
Earlier, I bashed the much-hated Star Wars prequel trilogy. How did a franchise so beloved produce something so unwatchable? In the posts to come, I’ll explain how the prequels might have been salvaged. Here’s one way: let the Star Wars universe stand apart. Throughout Episodes I, II, and III, George Lucas tosses out cheap analogues […]
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Matt Hauger 