So, what are you watching during the lockdown?

[Ubik]

I am most of the way through Westworld Season 1. Wow, very good TV. I hear it goes off the rails a bit in S2, but this has been such a strong opener. Reminds me of Dollhouse a bit, if Dollhouse had actually been good. Plays with the AI / artificial life thing in a very smart way.

[Ubik]

Read the first three 'mini' parts available on Webtoons. Still really don't like the art, it is way too static and photo referenced for me, and know, I know, it's a comic, but there are ways to create movement in sequential art.

Weird reading this during a real life pandemic. The irony...

[Ubik]

I am also reading; on with Adrian Tchaikovsky's 'Children of Time', and it's bloody superb. On paper the premise sounds sort of ridiculous; an evolutionary uplift experiment goes wrong, and spiders end up being the uplifted species instead of homosapiens, but it's SO well researched in terms of how...

[Ubik]

I know what you mean about Clone Wars Looney. It's variable. I thought Rebels was superior in almost every respect, it felt like they'd taken all the lessons learned on Clone Wars and and made a much improved version, not beholden to the prequel trilogy. It DOES improve as it goes, but you have to occasionally...

[Ubik]

Maybe it will acquire some kind of cult status like The Room, for being so bad it's good? I dunno....

[Ubik]

Never thought I'd say this, but yes... I agree. The Prequel Trilogy at least has a logical trajectory. Sure, it's pretty devoid of drama because we already know what the big reveal is, but at least they make some kind of sense. Sure, it's Lucas in full schoolboy mode, with no one to reign in his worst...

[Ubik]

Not bad. I'm generally not a fan of photo-referenced art, but it looks fairly nice. It's a solid start, but some of it comes off as a tad corny in terms of how dramatic it is. I can't quite find the right words to describe the tone, but something doesn't quite work for me. Perhaps more show, and less...

[Ubik]

Those two are gonna get covered in bugs! Worst scene is probably the 'funny' pre-ship launch speech from Captain Slick Hair. Cringe, cringe, cringe, cringe... awful writing. Even the cast look embarrassed to be in the scene....

[Ubik]

I honestly don't care if the FX are awful, that doesn't matter to me, but for the pacing and plotting to be this bad? Nah, I'm out.

A a budget production is fine by me, but it has to have good characters and story. But this episode just kinda zips aimlessly all over the place with no real...

[Ubik]

Ah, the general public, arrogance and stupidity all in the same package!


Yeah, with Clone Wars I just skip any episodes with:

a) Jar Jar
b) Younglings
c) Exclusively droids

Season 5 really rested my boundaries with the 4 part younglings...

[Ubik]

Man, that is an AWESOME selection of chillis. I love some heat in my cooking!...

[Ubik]

I thought this was a missed opportunity to bring Lore back! Ha....

[Ubik]

Here's some of my recently watched films, some at home, some at the Cinema:

Parasite (the Korean film that got all the accolades) - Fully deserves all the praise heaped on it. Funny, thought provoking, clever, and lays a lot of societal issues bare in a really artful way. Would stand up...

[Ubik]

Well, here in the UK, pretty much everything is closed and we are being strongly encouraged to stay at home. So, what are people watching to pass the time? I have the following on the go:

Better Call Saul (weekly) - Man, this third season is just superb, it's starting to connect more and...

[Ubik]

Thanks Jan! Appreciated. Hope you are all keeping well in these strange times!...

[Ubik]

Blake, agree with pretty much all your points. I honestly though the Riker / Troi episode was the most callous of them all, as it added nothing. They sat around and did nothing of great importance for the entire episode and I hated the 'dead kid' plot as well. It felt cheap and totally unnecessary....

[Ubik]

May have done a big eye roll at that moment. Also, the whole spiel with Agnes Jurati saying the crew was 'family' or 'a gang' was just so dumb, as they've barely bonded at all.

Only thing I liked was that we got some Rios backstory, but kinda hated the way it linked into the arc in an...

[Ubik]

Bracing myself for Episode 8. Time to see if this can get any worse. Maybe Geordi can reprise his role, but as a badass bounty hunter who has issues! Through a freak accident with his visor, he now has laser vision like Superman. Yes, he can take down the borg queen when she inevitably shows up.

[Ubik]

Managed to find a copy of this to watch last night, and must say I really enjoyed it. Having just watched Ep. 7 of ST: Picard before watching the docu, it really hit home how bad ST:Picard is and how good DS9 was as a show that really pushed Trek forward and did challenging things. Loved the writers...