jea1226 Reviews

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993–1999)

Simply the Darkest and Simply the Best

[10/10 · 28 June 2012]

OK. I think that my title will be sure to p**s off a fair amount of people and I really couldn't care less. So before you message me and try to verbally lambast me for saying this was the best Star Trek of all of them, let me save you some trouble: I'm not sorry! I had begun to lose faith in Star Trek. I really had. The cast of TNG was incredible, to be sure, with a lot of talent and a show that was not badly written. However, after a while, I got tired of the idealism. It got to a be so vanilla in its portrayal of the Federation as being all loving, knowing and good hearted that I stopped watching.

When I started with DS9, I was ready to give up on the franchise. But a funny thing happened on my way to the T.V. remote. We got moral ambiguity, which is what the franchise needed. DS9 dared to ask the question, "How far will you go to get what you want?" The best example is in the best Star Trek episode of all time, "In the Pale Moonlight." In this episode, Sisko attempts to bring the Romulans into the war against the Dominion. He breaks rules, deals drugs, and lies in an effort to get what he wants, because he thinks his overall intentions are good. But he learns that the Devil is indeed in the details.

Earlier on, we got a look at the Maquis. Simple Federation citizens trying to live out their lives amongst the Cardassians. They end up resorting to what we now call terrorism, and you honestly begin to wonder what you would do if the tables were turned. Would you resort to violence to keep your home? DS9 was called the darkest Star Trek of them all, and it earned that title. It deserves it. It also deserves your attention. Enjoy.

Criminal Passion (1994)

Joan Severance topless.

[2/10 · 5 June 2012]

Which is the only reason it gets two stars and not one. Forget the story, the plot, the characters, etc...

Joan stars as a beautiful cop (could she star as anything that isn't beautiful), because we all know that really hot men and women become civil servants pulling down 50K a year, right? But hey! Don't sweat it! We got Joan gearing down, and that's all we need.

How she wasn't nominated for an Oscar is beyond me. Let's face it, she does some of her best work when she puts on a shirt to answer the door! I won't even bother telling you what it's about, other than to say this is right up there with such classics as "Hard Ticket to Hawaii", "Busty Coeds v. Lusty Cheerleaders", and "Busty cops." I saw this one night when I couldn't sleep on Cinemax at 3 in the morning. My insomnia was cured,because as bad as this was, it was like a train wreck: you shouldn't stare but you can't help it.

Avoid this at all costs.

Sons of Anarchy (2008–2014)

Better than fact

[9/10 · 5 June 2012]

OK. I admit that I avoided this like it was poison when I first heard about it. I thought it was another pathetic attempt to exploit the outlaw lifestyle along the lines of a bad reality show (which we ended up with four years later, but that's another story).

Anyway, I was bored one night and there was nothing on the 3685 channels I get from Communistcast, so I decided to stream the first episode on Netflix. Boy, was I wrong! The basic premise is based on Shakespeare's Hamlet. Charlie Hunnam is Jax Teller, Vice President of the Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club, Redwood Originals (SAMCRO for short), and is analogous to Prince Hamlet. Ron Pearlman is the Club President and analogous to Claudius and Katey Segal is Gemma, Clay's wife, and is analogous to Gertrude. We find out that Clay succeeded Jax's father as President after he was killed in a motorcycle crash, and subsequently marries the widow Gemma, which is the whole Hamlet angle.

When we pick up the story, Jax is in his early 30s and contemplating the direction of the club, especially after reading an unpublished book his father had written about the club. It turns out that his father, John Teller, was horrified by the 1980s as the direction of the club had taken a bad turn. It devolved from just a group of guys who wanted to ride free to a full blown 1% outlaw biker gang that specializes in trafficking illegal firearms.

As we follow the story, Jax begins to doubt SAMCRO's directions and activities, and begins to want to change the club, much to the chagrin of Clay and Gemma.

Kurt Sutter has created a really tight story with great characters and all the actors are first rate.

The gun running angle is a little far fetched: when is the last time you heard about AK-47s being used in a drug deal? Moreover, SAMCRO traffics enough firearms to outfit a small country. But Sutter wanted to avoid portraying the main bread and butter of outlaw clubs, which is drugs.

Anyway, if you can get past that, you'll like the show and the writing, as well as Charlie Hunnam, Katie Sagal, and especially Magie Siff's portrayal as Jax's love, who is torn between her feelings for Jax and the life she built as a surgeon.

Enjoy!

Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)

What's in a tag line?

[1/10 · 5 June 2012]

The tag line of this movie was "A Generation's Final Journey Begins." It should have been "We beat the Dead Horse one last time because we already know you'll pay anything to see Star Trek on the Big Screen." Recycling Star Trek was fine (I guess), once. After Picard and Co. parked the Enterprise at the end of Season 7, they should have walked away, knowing they did this franchise proud. But Paramount and Rick Berman knew a good thing when they saw it so we were treated to 2 pretty good movies and 2 that should have never been released.

The story line seemed way to overdone (how many times do we need to see the DNA thing, and didn't we already meet Data's evil twin) and the crew seemed too old. Picard trying to be funny at the wedding was about as comforting as a root canal. Without Novocaine. Of course, in the end, everyone is alive and well and there are no major character deaths, like when Ron Morre killed Kirk in Generations. Alas, Moore knew that things were pretty much done after DS9 and after sticking around for 2 episodes of Voyager, he moved onto other projects.

So, the Next Generation survived in tact, unlike Berman's relationship to the show. But don't cry for him. I'm sure that he is quite comfortable of the residuals and the cast is doing well, I'm sure.

The Undiscovered Country let the Original Series cast exit with class and aplomb. This mess leaves you with a bad taste in your mouth akin to sour milk. The last movie with this cast that you should watch is First Contact. Anything else is a waste of energy.

Battlestar Galactica (2004–2009)

I was skeptical....

[10/10 · 20 September 2010]

...But not because I was a fan of the original. I was skeptical because I never held the original in very high regard. I thought it was cheesy , and really was over the top. I couldn't get into it, so 26 years later, I was reluctant to try this. Until...

The summer after my second year of law school. I was in the video store (before it went out of business) on a rainy afternoon, and went over to the T.V section. Having already been hooked on 24 the previous summer, I figured I'd try something new.

I spotted the pilot for BSG and I was hesitant, because of the association with what I considered the less than good original. But Edward J. Olmos was in it and I liked him in Miami Vice, and I had seen Mary McDonnell in more than a few things, so I shrugged and gambled 4 bucks.

The initial Cylon attack, which was more fully explained in the recently released prequel "The Plan," essentially decimates 40 billion people living on the 12 Colonies of Man, which were settled eons ago by humans from Kobol. There are some 50,000 survivors aboard some 70 odd ships in space, who set out on a journey to find Earth, the mythical 13th tribe.

As Executive Producer David Eick says, "It was 9/11 except inverted, in that everyone except the people in the towers died." And the 9/11 similarities don't stop there. In fact, the third season starts out with the Cylons showing up on a planet where humanity had settled. The humans start an insurgency in an effort to force the Cylons out. Sound at all familiar? But it went beyond good stories. There were great characters, solid plots, and an truly remarkable soundtrack composed by a 30 something year old genius named Bear McCreary.

Do what I did. Watch the pilot. If you have half a wit, you will be back for more. My personal favorite episode came in season 2. It's called "Flight of the Pheonix." I won't share details because you have to see it. If you aren't nearly in tears at the end of it, you have no soul.

24 (2001–2010)

It really was Life Changing

[10/10 · 20 September 2010]

Before I get too deep into the review, I have to point out that I was something of a late-comer to the 24 party. When I heard the radio promo driving home from campus one afternoon a week after 9/11, in typical college student fashion, I cynically concluded the networks (Fox!?!?) were trying to capitalize on the attacks of that fateful day. Of course, I had no idea what I was thinking...

Cut to me 4 years later fresh off my first year of law school. I borrowed Season 1 on DVD from my brother. By the time I went back to class that fall, I had seen every DVD season available. I was hooked! From the very first time I heard Jack Bauer tell us that "Events occur in Real Time," I knew this was no ordinary show. The real time format was a complete evolution in dramatic story telling.

But the really cool thing was the way in which the Counter Terrorist Unit was depicted. They were every bit as efficient and yet bureaucratic as real federal investigatory agency (trust me on this). But watching them toil each week made me realize that I wanted to work for the government and serve my country. I had done 15 years in the Post Office and was headed for the bar exam and the lucrative private sector.

But after watching Jack and Co. stop an assassination in season 1, a nuclear threat (although over 20 CTU employees died in this effort)in season 2, a weaponized virus in season 3, another nuclear threat in season 4, nerve gas (although over 40 CTU employees died in this effort) in season 5, another nuclear threat in season 6, another weaponized virus in season 7, and a dirty bomb in season 8, I knew that the Post Office was not going to be the end of my federal career.

Thanks to watching the folks at the albeit fictional CTU defend the constitution and look out for the public, I am still in the government, but now I carry a gold badge and I protect the public interest.

I caught up with some friends from law school last month. When they asked what I was doing, I pulled my badge out. One of the women immediately looked at me and said "The following takes place between...." And then, just like that it was over. In March of 2010, the news hit that 24 was going the way of all good things following the finale on May 24. I watched with bittersweet emotion as Jack, like all good soldiers, faded away. I thought it ended a bit darkly, with no wrap up on Kim, or the tragic Tony Almeida. But I understand that a show like this can't really end with all the characters hanging around and hugging it out at the end.

I'm grateful, because it made me less selfish, and made me care more about America. As someone who was a Marine once upon a time, it made me remember why I wore that uniform and what was really important to me.

Truly Life Changing....