Sci-Fi Bri's Television Picks

Sci-Fi Bri's Television Picks:

Note: With the onset of the fall television season, my DVR machine is working overtime so that I can watch as many shows as possible with a machine that can only record two shows at once. Some fortunate viewers have DVR machines that can record up to 5 shows at once. I am considering getting Netflix and HuluPlus, if I can find the time to make the extra expense worthwhile.

 Two excellent shows premiering together on different networks:

"Blacklist"(NBC) [Mondays 10 p.m. Eastern Time] Raymond Reddington (James Spader), one of the FBI's top 5 public enemies, turns himself in to the FEderal headquarters of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He is immediately arrested, but he has important information about a planned kidnapping of an army general's daughter and a potential terrorist attack by the would-be kidnapper. Reddington definitely has an agenda, and for some reason he states that he will only speak to a rookie FBI profiler named Elizabeth Keane, who just recently graduated from the FBI academy in Quanico, Virginia. Reddington somehow knows a lot about Liz Keane's past as a child with a criminal for a father. The relationship between FEd and criminal is reminiscent of that of Hannibal Lector and Clarice STarling from  "The Silence of the Lambs". A lot of the action of this show is very cinematic. Parents should be aware though that there are some very violent scenes which may be disturbing to young or sensitive viewers. I plan to watch or record this show every week.


"Hostages" (CBS)  [Mondays 10 p.m. Eastern Time] Starring Toni Colette, Dylan McDErmott, etc.

         FBI hostage negotiator Duncan Carlisle (Dylan "American Horror Story" McDErmott) singlehandedly ends a potentially violent hostage situation by shooting what appears to be a hostage who turns out to be a hostage-taker in disguise. THe police who preceded him are none too happy with his actions. Carlisle has a wife in a coma, and he is involved with a bunch of people who plan to have the President killed in a very unusual manner. Carlisle and crew surveilled the family of a female surgeon named  Ellen Sanders (Toni  "United States of Tara" Colette) who is about to operate on the President. THe crew of coconspirators storm the Sanders household, sedate the family dog with drugs, and take the family hostage while wearing skimasks. THe hostagetakers threaten to kill the husband and children if surgeon Ellen fails to secretly administer an untraceable substance to the President that will kill him. THis, like "Blacklist" is a cinematic series involving lots of suspense. THere is also a backstory about the Sanders, with a secretly pregnant teenage daughter, a philandering husband, and a son who deals marijuana and who owes a reputedly violent drug dealer thousands of dollars. I enjoy both "Blacklist" and "Hostages". If I had to choose between one show or the other I would have a difficult time. I don't envy people who don't have a DVR machine.

Poetry: "Lessons"

Poetry:  "Lessons"

      All the Lessons that I missed
      Razed my Dreams like a closed fist
      All the times that I felt  'Dissed'
      Goodbye success, without a kiss
      My agonies, I have a List
      Lack of skills have formed a Mist
      So I can;t help but feeling pissed
      But perhaps my story has a twist
      Most days I sup on Breads of grist
      But I never play a game like whist.


  "Autumn"
 
  The Beauty of Autumn
  It's not falling leaves
  Not pumpkins, Thanksgiving nor e'en Hallowe'en
 Hot as the summer
 Cool as the Fall
 Autumn's so gorgeous
 In Love I could fall... (tbc?)
 

Sci-Fi Bri's Movies: "Here Comes the Boom", etc.

Sci-Fi Bri's Movies:

"Here Comes the Boom"  (2012?)  ON cable and DVD

Characters/Actors:  Scott Voss (Kevin James), Henry Winkler, Salma Hayek, etc.

        A slacker and high school biology teacher named Scott Voss (Kevin James) inspires his students when he gets involved in the potentially dangerous world of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighting to raise enough money to save the music program at his school and the job of his mentor (Henry Winkler) following deep budget cuts at the school. At first Voss loses all of his fights, but after a while he becomes a contendor.  I enjoyed this film even though it wasn't very funny. (It is supposed to be a comedy and James is a comedian. )

"The World's End" (2013)  Characters/Actors:  Simon "Shawn of the Dead"  Pegg, Rosamund Pike, Pierce Brosnan, etc.

       Gary (Simon Pegg) is a middle-aged drunk who never really grew up. He persuades three reluctant former teenage friends to accompany him on a massive pub crawl to all the pubs in Newton Hill, England where two decades ago they failed to finish up their quest to make it all the way to the  World's End pub.  One member of their party gave up drinking.  Along the way, they inadvertently discover that most of the townfolk have been replaced with malevolent automatons who may intend to take over or destroy the world.  An homage to drunken road trips and dystopian sc-fi films.  If not for the sci-fi element, this movie would have sucked.


"Riddick"  Vin Diesel (Riddick), Katie "Battlestar Galactica"  Sakhoff, etc. A murderer trapped on a hostile planet with hundreds of lethal, dangerous animals is under more peril when bounty hunters arrive. Some of the bounty hunters want to behead of kill him.  The animals on this planet were really cool to watch. VEry similar to  "Alien".

Poetry: "The Creepy Clown" A work in progress

Poetry:  "The Creepy Clown"  A work in progress


    The Creepy Clown
    Comes to your town
    To see your son or daughter
    If he's alone you know he'll do
    Things he not ought to... (tbc?)

    "Origami"

     My Origami came to Life
     So I cut and ate it with a knife
    This upset my Origami wife
     So she attacked me with a scythe.

Poetry: "Myley"

Poetry:  "Myley"

Myley twerkin' at the beach
Has an itch she cannot reach
To those against her that do preach
Perhaps she has something to teach...

Commentary: Has 3-D Trend Gone Too Far?

Commentary:  "Has 3-D Trend Gone Too Far?"

         This weekend the adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's high school English classic novel "The Great Gatzby" in 3-D is set to be released.  A lot of movies have been coming out in 3-D for the last five years or so. This trend no doubt has much to do with the premium ticket price required to view a movie in three dimensions. Admittedly, I pay to see a lot of these movies, and to be honest, most movies which come out in 3-D are just as good in the traditional two dimensions. It could be argued that when a movie with little or no reason to be in 3-D, such as  the impending  "The Great Gatzby" is just a cynical ploy by Hollywood to make as much money as they can off of the moviegoing public.  In my opinion, only movies with a lot of action, chases or explosions are worth paying the premium cost for the alleged privilege of three dimensions. More often than not, it isn't worth the extra cost. I haven't decided yet whether I will see "Gatzby" in a movie theater, but if I do I certainly won't pay to see it in 3-D.

Poetry: "Coughin' Leads to Coffin"

Poetry:  "Coughin' Leads to Coffin"

       When you puff on a smoke
       Emphasema or Lung Cancer could happen to you, bloke
       You'll sicken others with second-hand smoke
       Where others are near
       And if you smoke long enough
       Perhaps you'll even die
       Ere some friends and loved ones
       Have a chance to say goodbye. ((tbc?)