Movies
Before I even get started with the review for the Oblivion, did you guys see the latest Man of Steel trailer? Holy $H#t, any doubts about the what to expect from this film are completely gone from my mind, this may be the Superman movie we've all been waiting for. If you haven't seen it yet, do it now! If you have seen it already, you owe it to yourself to see it yet again.
Oblivion
Hey all you wanna B's out there, how you doing? I had a chance this weekend to catch the science fiction film Oblivion starring Tom Cruise. Love or hate the antics of the guy, I personally feel he usually doesn't disappoint me when it comes to the sci/fi action genre, and this film was no different. I went into the movie not knowing more than what was shown in a trailer I had seen a couple weeks back, and without reading any reviews from critics or viewers, I think this is probably the way I will do things from now on, as I can name a handful of movies I skipped over due to reading other peoples opinions, only to watch it later on tv and find out I really enjoyed it.
So what is Oblivion about? Well it takes place about 60 years in the future from now, and in our time the Earth was attacked by an alien race known as Scavs. During this attack the moon was destroyed causing mass destruction on Earth. We are told that the human race fought back with nuclear weapons and won the war, but in the process made the Earth inhabitable. So humans move on to a moon called Titan and establish a new colony. Cruise's character is Jack Harper and is stationed on Earth to monitor the extraction of water to bring back to the new colony.
Without ruining the story I'll just tell you that things aren't what they seem and I would almost compare this movie to the first Matrix film, as you don't fully know what's going on until a certain point, and then there is this eye opening moment where it all makes sense. Actually The Matrix still doesn't make much sense to me, but you get the idea. Anyway I really enjoyed the film, it had a small cast but still had this epic feel to it, and the cinematography was amazing, I love films that show a post apocalyptic earth, and this movie did a beautiful job of showing such a world. I've only seen a few movies this year so far and I know the really good stuff is about to kick off next month with Iron Man 3, but as of the time of writing this is the best movie I've seen this year and recommend it to any fans of the science fiction genre.
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TV Shows
Defiance
Okay so last podcast I talked about the new game Defiance I had picked up for Xbox 360, and how they were putting out a show with the scyfy network that ties into that same world. Well last week I had a chance to catch the series premier which was a two hour event, and if first impressions are any indication, it's actually not bad.
Defiance takes place in an Earth of the future where Aliens have migrated from another planet and after a war a peace breaks out and the alien races and humans try to co-exist in an earth that has mutated creatures and landscapes due to a terraformed accident. The show focuses on Joshua Nolan a former marine who was at the battle of Defiance and now roams the world with his adopted alien daughter Irisa. Both the main characters are pretty bad ass, and when they aren't having family disputes they make a pretty good team. In the beginning of the show it seems they are primarily motivated by greed, but by the end of the premier they end up taking permanent residence in the the down of Defiance after making a sacrifice of fortune to save the people of the city. Joshua ends up taking the role of Lawman and that's where the first episode ends.
Despite being a show created for tv, the special effects in a number of scenes looked movie quality at times, and there is even a pretty decent battle seen during the last part of the show that must have cost a bit to produce. The two main characters are likable enough and the support cast including Julie Benz as the mayor hold their own as well. I'm going to give this show a try, at least for a while longer, I do have a vested interest as I am playing the game, and the game lacks much of a story so I'm hoping the show will help fill that void.
