calian Reviews

Firefly (2002–2003)

Fun. What would you want on a Friday night?

[25 October 2002]

It's a western in space done by the guy who created Buffy the Vampire Slayer. That's the core of it, and should tell you a lot.

The crew of the spaceship Serenity (the ship's model designation is "Firefly") has a trail boss, some gunslingers, a preacher, a doctor, and a whore with a heart of gold. They're carrying psychic weight from the recent civil war, they all have history that's coming out bit by bit, they're people you'd actually want to know - and almost all of them are adults.

Part of the crew is wanted by the authorities, one of the passengers is a semi-psychic genius, and there are other plot complications a-comin'. But they're not that important. The writing is sharp, and the show is simply fun.

Ladyhawke (1985)

Delightful, simple story-telling

[17 March 2002]

While the leads are all "big names", the film has a wonderful small-film feel.

The story is an ancient one, and it seems that every nation's folklore has a version of it, so there is little mystery in the transformations; we all know it's coming. They are even handled simply, with no computer graphics, complex fades or transitions - just some pretty camera work, and there they are, the man a wolf, the woman a bird.

The plot carries the story, each incident necessary, well-handled and well-told. The Italian scenery is stark and empty, the impoverished villages are rough-hewn, and the camera work adequate, straight-forward, and true to its story. But the interest in the viewing comes from the characters.

Michelle Pfeiffer and Rutger Hauer are each beautiful and tragic. Matthew Broderick, though his accent slides around a lot, is as endearing a thief and trickster as he should be, both courageous and puny. John Wood is both cruel and cowardly, but believably, not a cartoon-like movie villain. And Leo McKern cannot help but be wonderful as a weathered old monk, simultaneously loving life, yet eaten up with guilt. Great folks bringing class and interest into material that lesser talents would make sound like a high school play. All and all, well worth watching, and quite engaging for kids and adults.

The only real problem is the sound track. It's dreadful. The Alan Parsons score absolutely screams "pop, pop music". It doesn't match the period, the mood, the characters, or the imagery. The stuff they play during some action scenes is especially horrid, more reminiscent of the Power Rangers than ancient curses and intelligent wolves. Try to overlook it.

Spaced Invaders (1990)

Silly, cute, a lot of fun, especially when you watch it with the kids.

[14 June 1999]

Or if you *are* kids. An earlier reviewer at this site called it one of the worst films he'd ever sat through, and I must admit that it's not great film-making. It's not SUPPOSED to be great film-making. Don't go into it expecting any great revelations, any high-tech effects. In fact, don't *expect* anything. Just take it on it's own terms and you'll probably like it. Light-hearted fun.

Family Guy (1999– )

With all they *could* put on, they chose *this*?!?

[16 May 1999]

Cheers to Fox for their experiments in new types of programming, and especially for their commitment to personality-laden animation. But "Family Guy" is a waste of time. The characters lack the engaging qualities of the Simpsons, the background setup makes no sense (what's the story on the talking dog? the talking infant?), nor do the attempts at "joke bombs" - ("Nice hooters," says a character about a female character; the female character is shown to be holding 2 owls on her arms for no other reason that to allow the "hooters" remark. Huh??) The animation is lackluster and uninteresting, there's nothing new or fresh or original about it, and most of all - It just ain't funny.