Stargate Archives

Thursday 30 December 2010

The Dresden Files Disk1

Birds of a Feather
Harry is approached by a young boy who believes he is being watched by monsters and fears
for his life and his mothers. Harry is persuaded by Bob to give the boy the benefit of the
doubt and learns that there have been forces at play since his birth.
This was the first episode of the series proper and we have Bob as an actual visible entity
rather than a skull with flashing eyes as he was in the pilot and novel. This makes some sense
for a television show, easier for the viewer to accept the character and Terrance Mann does
a great job as the cynical yet ultimately helpful spirit.
Harry with a stay over night girlfriend is very different from the novels, perhaps an attempt
to make him the "traditional" male hero and they gave Murphey a daughter which quite frankly
hamstrings most of the characters back story.
Overall not a bad episode to kick off a new show, a decent story with some nice effects and it
certainly did enough to keep me watching when first aired. On this rewatch however being very
familiar with the original source material I find quite a bit of the back ground information offered
up and characterisations to be too jarring.


The Boone Identity
Harry is called in to aid a antique dealer who believes his mudered daughter is haunting the shop. Harry experiences her presence and events of the night she died which point leads him into a closed police investigation.
A number of coincidences point Harry to a devote of Egyptian mythology and the revelation of the power of the stolen artefact.
This episode like the first has no direct link to the novels but gives us a nice story with a human
element and a healthy does of mysticism, mythology and the supernatural as well as a good
old fashioned bunch of bad guys. It does however show us the promise that Murphy demanded of
Harry in so far as he was always to be honest with her, a failing which leads to no end of
trouble in the early novels. It is perhaps the best part of this episode for a fan of the books
even allowing for obvious issues of how Harry kept everything from the police with his only ally
benched.

Hair of the Dog
It's werewolf time along come the FBI which has echos of the second novel "Fool Moon", alas
not even in the same league but as cliched werewolf stories go I had no real problems with it.
There are a few twists and turns and a victim we can root for as well the usual bad guy types who we can despise at our lesiure and cheer their comeuppance. In terms of the investigation we do see why having a real "Bob" helps in telling a TV story although obviously takes something away from Harry's own skill set.
There is a nice nod to Kirby the Werewolf from the novels in the name of bar where the story begins and the overall resolution which is very similar to the fate of Susan in the novels.

Rules of Engagement
A beautiful woman walks in the door and hires Harry, ok sounds like the start of "Summer Knight"
but again it wasn't to be but maybe these echoes of the novels are not a bad thing because
it's better than no references to the books at all.
To underline this a crispy body with nothing but a piece of untouched skin on the victims palm turns up,
yep you know what I am getting at:)
An uber Hellion (Demon) with an understanding between himself and the high "white" council is
chasing  down a rogue lesser hellion (human turned into a demon) whose role it is to corrupt other
humans with a woman smack bang in the middle. As we come to know, Harry can't resist a woman
in distress, it's a running theme throughout the novels and it's demonstrated admirably in this story
when despite being fired he can not walk away and even risks his life to help her.
This was probably my favourite episode off the first DVD, over the top bad guy, Harry at his"soft touch"
best and some nice effects although Morgan being more friendly to Harry just doesn't sit right.

Wednesday 29 December 2010

Dresden Files TV series rewatch


The Dresden Files started out and still exists as an ongoing series of novels by Jim Butcher. They tell the story of one member of a global magical community who operates in the open, even advertisers himself as a wizard in the Chicago phone book. In this feature length pilot (unaired as such and later edited into an episode) the creators have adapted the first novel "Storm Front" in which Harry Dresden investigates the death of a young woman and a mobster at the behest of Murphy a Chicago cop. Complications arise as Harry finds himself dealing with demons and vampires as well as dodging the cops who he doesn't always tell the whole truth too.

Taken as a comparison to the novel there are some fundamental changes and alas not for the better but perhaps understandable when adapting any book to the small screen. The loss of the character of Marcone and Macs as a focal point for the magical world are quite jarring as is the characterisation of Ancient Mai and Susan Rodriguez. They go into more depth with Harry's uncle Justin then you immediately get in the novel but while he is still shown as a bad guy they never really paint him as black as he was and confuse the issue with his involvement with Harry's mother. Justin's demise is shown in a more simple fashion but it's Harry's intent that is not quite as clear and he is shown as being much older again a decision perhaps made to show Harry not as the scared victim anymore which he really was in the novels.

This pilot which thanks to behind the scenes issues was not aired as the premiere to the series was then edited into the eighth episode and some of it's content spliced into other episodes during the series. When taken as a whole it's weakness in holding true to the novel is evident but that's probably a side effect of the lower budgets the likes of Syfy (Scifi as they were) operate within plus the tighter restrictions on standard and practices. I would really have liked to have seen these novels taken by HBO or Showtime who could invest and treat them in the adult manner they deserve. Alas that wasn't to be and while I think Paul Blackthorne did a magnificent job bringing Harry to life overall the pilot and subsequent series proper always struggled to live up to the wonderful and complex world Jim created.

I grabbed a copy of the pilot off the net as it's not included in the DVD boxset which can still be purchased from the usual DVD sources, it's pretty cheap and if a little supernatural fun and games is your thing I don't think you will be disappointed especially if you are new to the Dresden universe. If you've read the books first (I went from the TV to the books) then maybe steer clear as there is so much licence taken.

Saturday 18 December 2010

PAUL

Never laughed so much at a trailer which could be good or bad since we know how they manipulate trailers.



Friday 17 December 2010

Syfy Cancels 'Stargate Universe'

Syfy Cancels 'Stargate Universe'


Alas ome sad but not unexpected news for fans of the more adult and harder edged science fiction drama. In the end the move to Tuesday and corresponding drop in “live” viewing figures regardless of good DVR and streamed viewing makes you wonder if Syfy were looking to dump perhaps their most expensive scripted show. Given the demise of Caprica they have certainly freed up a huge amount of cash and no offence to the creators of Haven or Eureka but they are far cheaper shows to produce.

RIP Destiny

Sunday 12 December 2010

The Guild Comic

The trade issue of The Guild comic arrived from Amazon today, yeah on a Sunday go figure. It was a reasonable £6 although when a solid paperback is less you wonder how they can justify the price but I guess lower volume runs means higher prices.
Anyhow looks a quality product and I may have to set aside my annual read of Memory, Sorrow & Thorn to read about the early days of The Guild.

Saturday 11 December 2010

The 4400

I'm currently half way through a rewatch of The 4400 the scifi series will tells the story of 4400 people who went missing over a 50+ year stretch only to return en-masse within a ball of light.



The DVD boxset was good value when I bought earlier this year and the video and audio quality is very good which is thankfully since there will not be a Blu-ray. I'm currently marvelling at the beauty that is Isabelle (Megalyn Echikunwoke) a delicate flower with a heart of pure ice who you really do not want to upset:)

THOR Trailer



I knew very little about the mythology of the Marvel character Thor so the trailer is certainly an eye opener.

Monday 6 December 2010

Farscape Definitive DVD boxset

Probably a short term price but for now Amazon UK are doing the new Farscape DVD boxset for a fantastic £49.97 which is great for existing fans and any new to the series.

Saturday 4 December 2010

Space Battleship Yamato

It's one of those works I've heard a lot about over the years but never ever seen not being an anime fan.

Wednesday 1 December 2010

Shrek:The Whole Story

I've ordered the US Blu-ray boxet simply because I prefer the original audio not the half arsed celebs they have doing the guest spots in the first movie, yeah it's costing me a few quid more than the UK release but it's worth it and it's region free which helps.

Monday 29 November 2010

The mortal coil

Sad news today as Leslie Nielsen (84) and Irvin Kershner (87) both passed away. Both men made their mark in the film industry one mainly infront of the camera the other behind but both created works that will last for generations to come.
RIP guys.

Game of Thrones - New Trailer

Saturday 13 November 2010

The Shield Boxset

It wasn't on my shopping list but at the low low price I couldn't resist so now I have this gem sitting on the shelf and for once I really do like the non-standard packaging.


Saturday 23 October 2010

BSG prequel to star a young Adama

Battlestar prequel to star a young Adama during first Cylon war | Blastr



This project actually sounds like something I want to watch unlike Caprica which put me off as soon as
the premise was made public. BSG always managed to marry action and drama even melodrama and
this is probably more of the same.

Friday 15 October 2010

Due South

From this Monday the 18th on BBC2 at 1pm Due South returns to British television.
I loved this show back when it premiered on SKY1 in the UK but it lost a bit of magic when there was a cast change and the DVD releases have never been anything special, may just add it to the DVR anyway because there are some absolute gems in the show.

Wednesday 13 October 2010

PC part 2

Well I tried the USB floppy and after numerous attempts to format one of the many disks I had I finally got the file written off the motherboard installation CD. Of course it tookmultiple attempts to configure the PC to first recognise the USB device then see it as an emulated floppy but I was smiling and then it reported unrecognised file format.
I couldn't seem to get around this and being that XP didn't like the disk itself made me question the USB floppy, gonna return it and try another brand. I will be so angry if after all this one day in the not to distant future the floppy drive I'm sure I still own turns up:)

Eric Stoltz as Marty McFly

Tuesday 12 October 2010

Windows can be a bitch!

I know lets buy a couple of large hard drives and set them up as Raid 1 to not only reduce power consumption and noise but also protect content and come on it surely ain't difficult?
Well when I got down to it I found that the RAID driver is not part of a XP Pro install and you can only add in during the install process using a floppy disk. Some goggling pointed me towards creating a custom install CD using my legit XP disk but multiple attempts met with failure every time.
I dug out an old hard drive and tried a clean install and again the process continued to fail pointing to a fundamental flaw with the custom install disks I created. I did however do a clean install on the hard drive minus the RAID drivers just as a backup option should I screw up even more:)


I've now ordered a USB Floppy (yeah all these years of not throwing away any computer kit and I can't find floppy drive) and we'll see how that copes with an XP install. Of course if I buy Windows 7 then the RAID function/drivers are inclusive but I have no interest in changing to an OS which won't run a number of programmes I use regularly.

Tuesday 5 October 2010

The Guild - Guild Hall

Can you believe it, the season finale already:(


<a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-us&amp;fg=Xbox_Channel_GUILD_S4_FINAL&amp;vid=9c194351-975c-4b54-9462-e85b3e87af8e" target="_new" title="Season 4 -&nbsp; Episode 1 - Epic Guilt">Video: Season 4 -&nbsp; Episode 1 - Epic Guilt</a>

Tuesday 28 September 2010

The Guild - Hostile Takeovers

<a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-us&amp;from=sp&amp;fg=shareEmbed&amp;vid=bc83c4e0-f9e4-49ca-a66e-6c3ce4c5753f" target="_new" title="Season 4 - Episode 11 - Hostile Takeovers">Video: Season 4 - Episode 11 - Hostile Takeovers</a>

Tuesday 21 September 2010

Two and a Half Men Credit

I love reading the comments Chuck Lorre puts in at the end of his show, always funny.

Firefly: The Big Damn Musical Episode

The Guild - Festival of the Sea

It must be Tuesday so it must be The Guild...

<a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-us&amp;from=sp&amp;fg=shareEmbed&amp;vid=84a5514c-2825-4ea9-865d-5212466f48ae" target="_new" title="Season 4 - Episode 10 - Festival of the Sea">Video: Season 4 - Episode 10 - Festival of the Sea</a>

Tuesday 14 September 2010

The Guild - Pirate Paddy

<a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-us&amp;from=sp&amp;fg=shareObject&amp;vid=8cd490ba-c57d-4e57-a552-f8f6624f58b2" target="_new" title="Season 4 - Episode 9 - Pirate Paddy">Video: Season 4 - Episode 9 - Pirate Paddy</a>

Sunday 12 September 2010

Gatecast Season 3 Favourite Episode





Gatecast

Saturday 11 September 2010

TRON poster

If nothing else the visuals both onscreen and marketing are pretty impressive:)

Thursday 9 September 2010

I Shall Wear Midnight Launch




Looks like a fun event and kudos to Terry for the outfit:)
I've finished the novel now and while I don't think it's the best of the Tiffany Aching series (something that may change after a reread) it's style is growing as she does, she ain't a kid anymore so the themes of the book are more adult in a similar way the City Guard stories grew more complex and darker.

Tuesday 7 September 2010

The Guild - Busted

<a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-us&amp;from=sp&amp;fg=shareObject&amp;vid=f92ff3f2-d335-44a2-8505-db9de5e529e4" target="_new" title="Season 4 - Episode 8 - Busted">Video: Season 4 - Episode 8 - Busted</a>

Sunday 5 September 2010

SONY BDP-S570

Well the DVD player died and since I've just bought a new LCD for the lounge I thought why bother getting it fixed so picked up a SONY BDP-S570 Blu-ray player this morning. It is 3D ready (I don't care) but does have USB and wireless support two functions I wanted, I can DVD region hack it when I get my hands on a particular remote so despite being a little more expensive buying on the high street rather than online I'm happy.

The player is quite small but very well built, quite and the GUI is slick.
It was pretty easy to setup even the wireless which some people have reported issues with and streaming content to the tv is quite a nice shall I say gimmick.

Saturday 4 September 2010

The Gatecast "Rules Of Engagement"

The new episode of The Gatecast has just been released where Alan and myself comment on the episode "Rules Of Engagement" an episode which sees SG1 get involved in a battle and discover things were not as they seem.
It's not a bad episode but one of the weaker ones in season 3 but it does have it's merits in casting in particular.

The Gatecast

Wednesday 1 September 2010

The Guild - Awkward Birthday

<a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-us&amp;from=sp&amp;fg=shareEmbed&amp;vid=e48c3602-79f4-4de5-a95d-daff4afe1d6f" target="_new" title="Season 4 - Episode 7 - Awkward Birthday!">Video: Season 4 - Episode 7 - Awkward Birthday!</a>

Fantastic episode, Will just eats this scene up and that kiss, wow:)

Monday 30 August 2010

Paradox





The movie stars Kevin Sorbo but also has a good part for Christopher Judge. There is certainly a cheese element and at the end of the day it's a scifi/fantasy movie made to a budget with extensive green screen work but you know it all works very well.

 American World Pictures

SG1 Fan Art


A Stargate Mutilation by ~torrendraiko on deviantART


Very cool,

Saturday 28 August 2010

Star Trek USB stick with movie

I love the idea at the right price thus making a legitimate purchase practical rather than ripping your own movie or a download to USB but it really needs to be 8gig or even 16gig to make it practical for my use.

My Memory

The Vampire Diaries

The second season looks promising:)

Wednesday 25 August 2010

The Guild - Weird Respawn

&lt;br/&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/season-4-episode-6-weird-respawn/y0at2alk?from=sharepermalink&amp;amp;fg=sharenoembed" target="_new"title="Season 4 - Episode 6 - Weird Respawn"&gt;Video: Season 4 - Episode 6 - Weird Respawn&lt;/a&gt;

Tuesday 17 August 2010

It's Official: SyFy Picks Up 'Eureka' For Season 5

It's Official: SyFy Picks Up 'Eureka' For Season 5

I'm enjoying the fourth season, not sure how it's going to pan out but having a fifth green lit is fantastic news.

The Guild "Loot Envy"

<a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-us&amp;from=sp&amp;fg=shareObject&amp;vid=4fa00bc9-dee9-4994-9db5-b42f0d46a8d7" target="_new" title="Season 4 - Episode 5 - Loot Envy">Video: Season 4 - Episode 5 - Loot Envy</a>

Thursday 12 August 2010

Tuesday 27 July 2010

Secret of Monkey Island SE




Well what do you know, a game from my relative youth updated for the modern era on the PC and PS3 platforms, nice:)

Sunday 18 July 2010

Quantum Apocalypse

I've just watched Quantum Apocalypse and as you may know I love the "B" type action/scifi/disaster movie but this gem had a few extra incentives to watch.
These were the acting talents of Peter Jurasik who played Londo in Babylon5 one of the all time great alien creations, Stephanie Jacobsen who has appeared in BSG and TSCC and last and certainly not least the gorgeous Gigi Edgley formerly of Farscape.

To be honest the writing and over all production didn't give these three performers much to work with but I enjoyed their screen time enormously.


Saturday 3 July 2010

Gatecast Special

No shame in pimping the latest Gatecast episode which features a special recording from the Galactic Watercooler band of merry men (and woman) who chat about SG1 and the first two seasons in particular. It's a great listen and won't spoil your enjoyment of the series or our podcast if you are watching along with us.

Galactic Watercooler

Gatecast

Thursday 1 July 2010

The Tobolowsky Files

The Tobolowsky Files is a podcast by the actor Stephen Tobolowsky who quite simply tells stories of his life both in and out of the tv and movie world. You may not know the name but I am sure you will recognise the face and believe me he can spin a yarn and a true one at that as well as anyone I've known or heard.
 He also has a DVD released a few years ago which follows him before, during and after his birthday as he recounts some of his adventures to friends and family, Stephen Tobolowsky's Birthday Party which I bought quite cheaply from Amazon is great television up to and including the cat that tries to steal the barbacue sausages when his back is turned:)

Tuesday 22 June 2010

Star Trek: Beam me up, Hottie!




This is hilarious and damn that's a might fine crew even though as the alien pointed out the women are dressed like go-go dancers:)

Robert C. Cooper Leaves Stargate Franchise | Airlock Alpha

Robert C. Cooper Leaves Stargate Franchise | Airlock Alpha



Now that's a surprise, sometimes some one has been with a show/series for so long it's hard to imagine either
without the other. Looking forward to whatever he turns his hand to next.

Friday 18 June 2010

Stargate Atlantis Boxset

Amazon UK have once again reduced the price of the full series boxset to a very appealing £61.97, the lead time is a few days now as I suspect stock has been depleted but at least unlike some they are going to source new stock at this price.

If I didn't all ready own all 5 seasons I would have snapped this up:)

Sunday 13 June 2010

Ghost Story (Dresden Files)

Ok Ghost Story is not due out till next March (I know it hurts) but the cover art created by Chris McGrath for the US first edition has been released. Side Jobs the short story anthology is still lined up for release on October 26th,

Saturday 12 June 2010

The Discworld Cup

Running side by side with the football World Cup we have the Discworld World Cup in which Terrys novels are put into groups and fans can vote for the group winners who then go into the next round and ultimately one book wins the cup.
The first round is now underway with voting upto the 17th of June.

Discworld WorldCup


Saturday 5 June 2010

Going Postal Blu-ray

You could knock me down with a feather, we are actually getting a Blu-ray release of a Discworld adaptation, oh happy days:)
Amazon have the Blu at a reasonable £17.99 scheduled for a 27th August release, if I wait a couple of month be able to pick it up at half the price such is the Blu marketing machine. The DVD set is out the same day at £11.99 a very good price.

Gatecast 41 "Show and Tell"

The latest episode of The Gatecast which I co-host has been released, comments most welcome.
Next weeks episode recording (as opposed to actual release) is the season 2 round up so along with the Poll we have had running any favourite or hated eps from the second season by our listeners would be gold:)

Monday 31 May 2010

Money for nothing (but the chicks aren't free)

I'm off work today as it's a bank holiday in the UK and delighted to receive an email from Quidco with news of £61 being put into my bank account thanks to my online purchasing with cashback options over the last few months, it's only a few percent here and there but it's money for nothing:)
Thanks to Quidco a years broadband is only costing my £35, every online consumer should look into this sort of service.

Sunday 30 May 2010

Going Postal

Going Postal airs today (30th)at 6pm on SKY1 with the second part airing tomorrow. The trailers certainly give the "movie" a different look and style compared to the previous two adaptations perhaps thanks in part to a new director.
This novel is one of my favourite Discworld stories despite not being a Guards or Witch based story but it has an excellent main character and the plot is very much grounded in real world events.

It's in HD as well, excellent:)

The Indianapolis 500 is on at the same time on SKY Sports, praise be the DVR.

Thursday 27 May 2010

LOST, So now we know:)

~@$£~*%&£~

Pretty sure I got caught on a mobile speed camera this afternoon while driving home from work, the irony is that most of the journey had been pretty busy so couldn't have drove faster if I had wanted too.
Oh well, we'll see in a few weeks and on the bright side I'm helping to fund the police force (they keep the fines in our area).

Friday 21 May 2010

LOST series finale

In a surprising move SKY1 will be screening the series finale of LOST at the same time as it airs on the west coast of the UK which equates to around 5am on Monday the 24th, it'll be a double length episode which means I won't have time to watch it before I go to work.
What are the odds that god damned radio1 will spoil the thing before the day is out!

Saturday 15 May 2010

Blu-ray bonanza

My postie has been busy this morning delivering my latests Blu-rays.
  • Minority Report
  • Pandorum
  • Planet51
I also picked up The Postman and Crank earlier this week from the US.

I really don't give a monkies about this afternoons FA Cup final participants so I've got time to watch a couple of my new movies:)

Friday 14 May 2010

Heroes Cancelled

While not that surprising giving it's budget and lack lustre audiences in the US I would have thought other revenues sources would have kept the ever declining show on for another season. I'm not going to miss the show, after the first incredible season (one of the best in genre telly) it has gone downhill season after season with yet another lame finale this year.

Thursday 13 May 2010

SGU Blu-ray (UK)

The UK release date of the first season Blu-ray boxset is July 5th but they are seriously taking the piss with the pricing, Amazon have it at £50.99 and others even more. I know MGM have money issues but how many people will not buy at a premium price compared to other 20 odd episode Blu-rays and like me pick it up a few months after release for a fraction of the price.
Now if the Blu-ray had been priced more reasonably I might have picked it up straight away, my self imposed Blu pricing limits are more flexible with boxsets.

Monday 3 May 2010

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter



I've just finished the novel and I really enjoyed it, it's written as part journal part novel and well it's riveting stuff as a young Lincoln is exposed to vampires and over the years learns of their involvement in shaping the young nation as a home safe for them to exploit a slave based culture where life is worthless.
Highly recommended:)

Saturday 24 April 2010

Avatar

I got my Blu-ray copy of Avatar in the post today, off to watch it in a few minutes but just giving a quick skim the use of 16:9 doesn't feel right when you know the movie should be in scope. I'm pretty sure I'll be double dipping in a year when the uber release has been out for a few months and the price drops but for now this will do just fine:)

Wednesday 21 April 2010

BSG Blackbird


The guys at QMX have a new replica on the way, this time we are being treated to a very limited edition of the Blackbird stealth ship from BSG. It's beautiful and if I had a good chunk of expendable income or won the lottery I'd be there but I don't:)

Friday 16 April 2010

Brimstone

The criminally short lived TV series "Brimstone" initially aired in the UK by SKY1 many moons ago is being rerun on The Horror Channel starting on the 21st of April at 8pm.
If you haven't seen the show it tells the story of a cop who is killed days after murdering his wifes rapist, for that sin he goes to hell but when there is a mass break out the Devil recruits him to catch the condemned souls in return for a chance of redemption.

Thursday 8 April 2010

Changes


My hardback copy of the latest Dresden Files "Changes" by Jim Butcher arrived from Amazon about err two hours ago, god bless independent couriers:)
Start a reading after work tomorrow, expecting great things.

Wednesday 7 April 2010

Castle

Castle starring Nathan Fillion gets it's UK premiere tonight at 9pm on the sat/cable channel Alibi.
A great little series with good characters and funny writing:)

Monday 5 April 2010

Humpty Dumpty

Ok I didn't fall off a wall but my long serving Buffy cappuccino mug finally succumbed to gravity and broke into three pieces, I probably could glue it together but what are the odds of scolding me bits when it cracked again:)
I've done a search and can only find one of the mugs on ebay as they have long since stopped manufacture and surprisingly the large mug memorabilia market seems to have died a death.

There is a funky True Blood mug I would have to import and a snazzy black Supernatural mug, not sure which I fancy but I've certainly don't like normal mugs after using me Buffy mug for so long:)

Friday 2 April 2010

Going Postal - Official Trailer

I can't get the embedded video to play on this site so the link to the SKY1 site will have to do.
I have to say the production values look good but not quite sure the man in a suite golem looks good enough, perhaps the CGI option was too expensive.

Going Postal

Wednesday 31 March 2010

Terrahawks

I just ordered the full series of Terrahawks from Lovefilm for an amazing £9.93
It's not exactly a show from my childhood but I was raised on Gerry Anderson so his later work was still appealing and hey they have a great bad guy and it's a cool premise.

Thursday 25 March 2010

Facebook | The Gatecast

Facebook | The Gatecast



Yes folks the podcast I co-host with Alan is now on Facebook.
If you are reading this and are on Facebook then pay us a visit and lets be friends:)

Wednesday 24 March 2010

QMX Death Glider


This Death Glider from QMX looks so beautiful but as always money is too tight not only to buy the piece but to cover shipping and UK import taxes, such is life.

Tuesday 23 March 2010

SKY

Well what can I say, they offered me 12 months at half price and I have missed some of the sport and would certainly miss out on this summers 20/20 cricket so I am once again a subscriber, for a year at least.
There is talk of both the IP VOD and 3D services rolling out in the next month or so but I don't really care about them, just more HD movies and sports plus stuff from Disco, NG and History and I'll be happy.

Thursday 18 March 2010

Dr Horrible Blu-ray

Rather surprisingly Josh Whedons Dr Horrible is getting a Blu-ray release in June, perhaps it indicates a more attractive price for authoring and pressing Blu-ray disks but already owning the DVD I wonder if this new release will be priced cheap enough if offered in the UK or sold region free to warrant a marginal increase in PQ

Wednesday 17 March 2010

Flash Gordon

At last the incredible and over the top movie Flash Gordon starring Sam Jones is getting a Blu-ray release in June. I'm a huge fan of the movie even though it's a really tongue in cheek cheese fest but it has a rocking sound track, killer babes and an uber bad guy:)

Saturday 13 March 2010

Disney Blu-ray BOGOF

No idea how long this offer will last but DVD.CO.UK are having a buy one get one free on Disney Blu-rays which include pre-orders. I've ordered Toy Story 1 & 2 for a bargain £17.95 which is a great price by any ones standards:)
Not a must have but I've also ordered Bolt and Enchanted on Blu-ray under the same deal, not as exciting I know but they will find a place on my shelf.

Friday 5 March 2010

SGU Trailer





It's about time the show returned, the break imposed by Syfy can do nothing but harm.

Thursday 4 March 2010

Mini Movie Reviews

The Time Travellers Wife

An epic romance across decades is the background to the relationship between Henry and Clare a couple who are are destined to marry after their first meeting when she was a young girl and he a mid 30's guy. It's not the most intense movie but if you settle into the pace it's a good love story as both handle the knowledge they each gain and impart thanks to Henry jumping through time.

Black Dynamite

A throwback to the 1970's black exploitation movies which peaked with the brilliant Shaft.
Black Dynamite is a former CIA operative who can fight better than anyone, satisfy a woman or women better than anyone but remembers where he came from and the promise to his mother.
The film is funny and in your face but an acquired taste.

The Proposal

A Sandra Bullock romantic comedy, nothing special there and while I enjoyed the movie and damn she
still looks fantastic (loved the near nude scene) it was not "while you were sleeping" but a welcome return
to form for the actress. Ryan Reynolds was good as her characters assistant/fianance and always good to
see Mary Steenbergen.

Wednesday 3 March 2010

SKY

It's been around 2 months since I cancelled SKY and I've had one mail shot offering packages at half price for 6 months and I just got a phone call offering half price for 12 months, turned both offers down.
It's not that I dislike SKY's product (I was a subscriber for 18 years after all) but it was always something I wanted but not needed and I still haven't gotten over the shabby attempt to gouge an extra £5 a month out of me.
It's a small thing but there are times the only way an individual can express their displeasure is to withhold money from a corporation, they may not even notice but hey it makes me feel better and so far I have seen pretty much everything I want to via other means.

Thursday 18 February 2010

Atlantis (Season 5)

I've finally given up on owning Stargate Atlantis on Blu-ray and can't be arsed with the "fans choice" release so ordered the fifth season from Amazon for a grand total of £15.65 which comes under the import tax threshold.
It'll take a week or two to get here but now I've finished my Chuck marathon I can go onto LOST or Smallville, loving me Blu-ray:)

Sunday 14 February 2010

Stagecoach (Criterion Blu-ray)

Fantastic news that the classic John Wayne/John Ford western masterpiece Stagecoach is hitting DVD and Blu-ray in an all new remastered Criterion edition later this year (May 25th).
Features include...
  • New, restored high-definition digital transfer.
  • Audio commentary by noted western authority Jim Kitses
  • New video interview with filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich
  • New video essay by writer Tag Gallagher

The only downside is that Criterion region lock their Blu-ray releases so I've no idea when a Region B edition will be offered our market. While my PC can handle multiregion discs I rarely do prefer using a standalone player and no player yet has impressed me enough let alone be hackable to replace the PS3 .

Thursday 11 February 2010

RIP Phil Harris

Phil Harris the skipper of the Cornelia Maria featured in the Discovery Channels "Deadliest Catch" died today after suffering a stroke while off loading his boat during the filming of the latest season of the show.

One of the great characters brought to our television screens thanks to this show and condolences to his two sons who sailed with him and the family he left behind.

Vancouver Sun LA Times

Sunday 7 February 2010

New Krypton

I'm not a regular comic reader but a good review over on ScifiDig prompted me to place an order for the first volume of New Krypton, it helps that Smallville is still going strong so I am receptive to Superman stuff:)

I have Smallville season8 on Blu-ray to watch or at least to start watching in the next week or so, mind you my Lost season5 Blu-ray came through the letter box the other day, so little time.

Wednesday 27 January 2010

LOST Season 5 Blu-ray

Bargain time once again, Amazon UK has the fifth season Blu-ray listed for £20.97 which proves once again a little patience is always rewarded:)
It's a good thing I haven't got SKY, wouldn't have the time to watch all these boxsets I've been buying recently.

Tuesday 26 January 2010

Sarah Conner Chronicles

Well the second season of the show had to many flaws for me to rush and buy the Blu-ray to go with the first season I already owned and the UK price of over £40 is taking the piss.
However Amazon in the US are selling the second season Blu for $24.99 and with p&p to the UK it comes to a very appealing £20.30 which is a bargain in anyones book:)
I have ordered it and the price (p&p not included) will come under the customs limit and negate the rip off Post Office handling charges.

Friday 22 January 2010

Tromeo and Juliet


The classic version of the movie from Troma studios is getting a Blu-ray release at the end of March.
I love this retelling of the ultimate doomed love story with it's extreme violence, sex and nudity and all round Troma goodness:)

Monday 18 January 2010

Never resist a bargain.

I've been holding back on a lot of Blu-ray purchases simply due to the price but I've splashed the cash on a few DVD boxsets this last week.
The Sweeney and Sapphire&Steel full series boxsets and the Third Rock from the Sun series boxset are now sitting on the shelf and all three together cost less than a lot of single season Blu-ray TV boxsets!

I finally got around to watching Star Trek:The Motion Picture (part of the Blu-ray boxset that was reduced in price before xmas) and I have to admit that for the most part it was a genuinely better picture than the DVD, it may not have a had a full restoration but at times the image was very nice. I loved the commentary track, it was one of the best I've heard in recent times being done by the Michael & Denise Okuda and Judith & Garfield Reese-Stevens.

Friday 15 January 2010

Assessment

I had my annual work assessment the other day.
It went pretty good, no problems with my attendance nor performance in the warehouse and further training with fork lifts and administration are an option this year.

I finished watching both Supernatural (s4) and the first season of True Blood on Blu-ray, enjoyed them both immensely and now going to jump feet first into the Star Trek movies boxsets this weekend.

On a Gatecast note we finally managed to record the first show of the year after a week of trying, edit it this weekend and get back onto the thursday posting schedule, pay the cast a visit and let us know what you think:)

Monday 4 January 2010

Work and other ups and downs.

So the first day back at work and it was cold this morning, lots of ice on the car but the roads were ok so got there in one piece. We did however have a gas leak from the boilers so no one could work in in or around the warehouse for a few hours, boy did it drag.
Well I'm back home now and for the first time in over 19 years I do not have subscription television, bugger all on the normal "free" channels but I've got a ton of movies and shows on disk to watch and thankfully the US schedules are going to pick up and my O2 broadband is so far so good.

Friday 1 January 2010

Happy New Year

Well the start of a new year which hopefully won't have the ups and downs of 2009, pretty sure global politics and war wise nothing much will change but day to day the economies should pick up yet huge state debts will mean little joy for the majority of the population.

Gawd that's depressing:)


Congrats to Patrick Stewart for his Knighthood, that title suits him down to the ground.