space | the m0vie blog

Alfred Hitchcock at the Space!

Posted on February 8, 2013 by Darren

Hitchcock is released in the UK and Ireland this week. I actually quite enjoyed it, but – then again – I am a big fan of the director and his work. I was notified this week that The Space, Britain’s on-line cultural hub run by the BBC and by the Arts Council, is celebrating the director’s legacy and has collected a host of Hitchcock-related materials from its archives, all of which are available via their website. It’s a great service, and I’m remarkably fond of it. It’s also nice to see a celebration of Hitchcock, and the sharing of material from the archives, free to the public at large. You can find the website here or click the picture below.

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: alfred hitchcock, anthony hopkins, arts, Arts Council, bbc, hitchcock, Psycho, space | Leave a comment »

Doctor Who: Spearhead From Space (Review)

Posted on January 9, 2013 by Darren

To celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the longest-running science-fiction show in the world, I’ll be taking weekly looks at some of my own personal favourite stories and arcs, from the old and new series, with a view to encapsulating the sublime, the clever and the fiendishly odd of the BBC’s Doctor Who.

Spearhead from Space originally aired in 1970.

Oh well, at least he won’t get very far.

You mean, before your men shoot him again?

I don’t find that funny.

– The Brigadier and Liz discuss the Doctor’s (second) escape

Looking back now, it’s hard to believe that Spearhead from Space had so much riding on it, if only because of the deft combination of Robert Holmes’ sharp script and Derek Martinus’ confident direction. Indeed, the serial served as something of a second pilot for the show, demonstrating that the survival of the series during the transition between William Hatnell and Patrick Troughton had not been a fluke, broadcasting in colour for the first time, and setting up an entirely new status quo set primarily on present-day Earth. It’s a miracle that it all works so well, let alone that fact that it remains one of the most accessible adventures featuring the character.

We need a Doctor in the TARDIS!

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: art, Auton, bbc, Daily Chronicle, Derrick Sherwin, doctor, doctor who: spearhead from space, DoctorWho, fiction, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Jon Pertwee, literature, Liz Shaw, Online Writing, patrick troughton, review, Robert Holmes, russell t. davies, science fiction, space, Spearhead from Space, tardis | Leave a comment »

Star Trek: The Next Generation – The Naked Now (Review)

Posted on December 2, 2012 by Darren

To celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and also next year’s release of Star Trek: Into Darkness, I’m taking a look at the recent blu ray release of the first season, episode-by-episode. Check back daily for the latest review.

I stand by my original observation that it was a smart idea to set Star Trek: The Next Generation a century after Star Trek. After all, Gene Roddenberry’s original Star Trek was over two decades old by the time that Encounter at Farpoint aired. Twenty years is a long time in entertainment – it can feel like a century. The world had changed since Star Trek appeared, and setting the story in a brand new world with strong (yet not strangling) ties to the beloved original series allowed the best of both worlds.

However, the problem with the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation is that it doesn’t quite realise this yet. It’s busy trying to do “Star Trek”, even though times have changed. The Naked Now, the second episode of the series, is the perfect embodiment of this problem. Star Trek: The Next Generation should have been establishing its own identity, rather than trying to simply emulate its predecessor.

Flying off into the sunset…

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Filed under: The Next Generation | Tagged: Beverly Crusher, Brent Spiner, burton, Data, Deanna Troi, gene roddenberry, Geordi, Geordi La Forge, levar burton, Naked Time, picard, Reading Rainbow, space, star trek, Star Trek Next Generation, star trek: the next generation, star trek: the original series, Starfleet ranks and insignia, Tasha Yar, Technology, Wesley | 3 Comments »

Film Adaptation of the Play “Kursk” Streaming at the Space From Tomorrow…

Posted on July 31, 2012 by Darren

Every once in a while, somebody passes on a bit of information to the site that I think is worth sharing, just because it’s kinda a little bit cool and a little bit fascinating. In May, the British Arts Council and the BBC launched The Space, an on-line hub for the arts – available to stream on-line for free. It’s an absolutely fantastic way of sharing the arts with people who honestly wouldn’t get a chance to see them otherwise. (Especially at the moment, when the economy is the way that it is.) Starting tomorrow, The Space will be streaming a film adaptation of a play Kursk, based around the infamous Russian submarine disaster.

Image: Kursk Photographer: Keither Pattison

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Filed under: Theatre | Tagged: Anthony, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, Cleopatra, Evening Standard Award, Krymsk, Kursk, London, may, Russia, Russian language, space, Sydney Opera House, United States, Vladimir Putin, William Shakespeare, Young Vic | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Aliens (Theatrical Cut)

Posted on May 29, 2012 by Darren

To celebrate the release of Prometheus this week, we’ll be taking a look at the other movies in the Alien franchise.

I think Aliens might be my favourite James Cameron movie. Of course, the guy has any number of iconic movies vying for that position – The Terminator and Terminator 2 both come to mind, for example – but I can’t help but admire how efficiently the director constructed his first big budget motion picture. Regardless of its place within an iconic science-fiction franchise, Aliens is practically a guidebook on how to effectively construct a movie, from writing the script to directing the action and absolutely everything in between. It’s hard to look at Aliens as anything less than a complete triumph, no matter which angle you examine the film from.

Queen bee…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: alien, aliens, avatar, Banquette, bishop, Blu-ray Disc, Burke, Cameron, Christopher Nolan, David Giler, Ellen Ripley, film, hicks, james cameron, List of Alien characters, Marine, Michael Biehn, Movie, non-review review, review, ridley scott, Ripley, Ripley's Believe It or Not!, sigourney weaver, space, terminator, Terraforming, United States, United States Marines | 3 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Solaris

Posted on February 21, 2012 by Darren

Can you tell me what’s happening here?

I could tell you what’s happening, but I don’t know if it would really tell you what’s happening.

– Chris Kelvin and Snow

Soderbergh’s Solaris is bold, challenging, brilliant, chaotic, unstructured, clever, obtuse, dense, frustrating, unsatisfying and fascinating. Frequently at the same time. The director’s adaptation of Andrei Tarkovsky’s incredibly dense science-fiction feature might not necessarily be for everybody, but there’s enough substance here for eager audience members to chew on. A film subscribing to the idea that less is more, it seems to take more joy in posing questions than in answering them. This will obviously frustrate those viewers who dislike that sort of ambiguity.

Well suited to this drama...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Andrei Tarkovsky, art, arts, Chris, Chris Kelvin, film, god, IBM, literature, Mark Hurd, Movie, NASA, non-review review, Operating system, Oracle Corporation, review, science fiction, Soderbergh, solaris, space, Steven Soderbergh, Sun Microsystem, Technology | 6 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Armageddon

Posted on March 8, 2011 by Darren

At least Michael Bay’s Armageddon is honest with you from the opening moments. A deep and thoughtful voice provides an explanation of how a single hunk of space rock managed to wipe out the dinosaurs, complete with an illustration of that important moment. Now, as a viewer, you are confronted with two options. Your choice will define whether you enjoy the movie, or whether it ends up causing you serious physical pain. Your options are: (a.) sit back and enjoy the fact that Bay opened his movie with a pseudo-science lecture which had the decency to include an explosion with the force of “ten thousand nuclear bombs”; (b.) wonder why, if this scene is set millions of years ago, the continents are all in exactly the same places they are today.

We'll always have Paris... Oh, wait...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: armageddon, armageddon (film), billy bob thornton, bruce willis, films, Harry Stamper, Iwo Jima, Jason Isaacs, michael bay, Movies, NASA, space, Udo Kier, United States | 4 Comments »

Annihilation – Vol. 1-3 (Hardcover) (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on October 13, 2010 by Darren

This is the fifth in a series of comic book reviews that will look at the direction of Marvel’s mainstream shared universe over the past five or so years – primarily with a focus on The Avengers as they’ve been attempting to position the property at the heart of their fictional universe. With The Avengers planned for a cinematic release in 2012, I thought I’d bring myself up to speed by taking a look at Marvel’s tangled web of continuity. This is more of a tangential entry, though, as we’re going into space with marvel’s “cosmic” titles. But still, sometimes you need to go away to come back.

When people think of the Marvel crossover events of the past decade, they’ll name ones like Civil War or Secret Invasion or House of M. Very few will mention Annihilation, Marvel’s first big cosmic crossover event of the past ten years, but those few will generally speak quite highly of it.