SF8: Manxin

 

I really liked this episode. And Lee Donghwi starring it it has absolutely nothing to do with it. I am a professional.

[First Impression] Killjoys 3

Season two left us mourning with Johnny after Pawter died, and with the plot to control the Westerly unfolding even more. The green plasma - the matrix for Super 6, and basically any ability, was explained to be found by Aneela. And from the foreshadowing in the last episodes, we know she and Dutch will meet eventually. And I hope for no confused identity - I did not like that twist in BSG, I won't like it here.

Season 2 got us also few moments that made me question if there's really nothing between Johnny and Dutch, except for years-long, danger-tested, deep friendship. Even if they both do things in secret, in spite of one another, they always end up comforting each other.
And then Johnny went AWOL to respond to an SOS signal...

Let's see how this plays out.

[Movie Review] The Beauty Inside

 

This was probably one of the most bizarre and yet endearing movies I have seen lately. The premise is so improbable I had my doubts before starting it, but if I can watch a movie about giant lizards, I can watch a movie about the power of love, right? Any love, or maybe other way round - a love transcending gender, age, race. Love is love, as shown in this nice, heartwarming parable of a movie.

[First Impression] Circle

I see a ship in the harbour. I can and shall obey
But if it wasn't for your misfortune, I'd be a heavenly person today
And I thought I was mistaken, and I thought I heard you speak
Tell me, how do I feel? Tell me now, how should I feel?

(New Order, Blue Monday)*

A good science fiction is a really difficult genre, both in literature and in moving pictures. It's not enough to mix few weird ideas, add blinking lights and Deus-ex-machina solutions. A good sci-fi has its own mythology, its own air, its own laws within which it operates. And after a recent slump in TV science-fiction, past few years are marked by the genre's revival (most notably 12 Monkeys, The Expanse and Stranger Things) with fresh approach and new ideas. And Korean TV wasn't that kind of a medium for sci-fi, so this is even more satisfying.

Sci-fi feeds on both fear and hope, those are two main motors of countless stories. And fear and hope are two rails of the same tracks carrying the train of characters' fates.

[Review] The Event

The series that ended only after the first season. Ended with a cliffhanger, but that's nothing surprising, lot of them ended like this. I'll be honest, I wasn't even sure to continue watching after a very confusing first episode, mixing timelines of the events. It was a hard watch, as for me, but I'm glad I persevered through - in overall I tremendously enjoyed this little sci-fi series about clash of species. Clash of politics.

[Review] The Expanse Review S 1

SyFy series are either hits or misses. They can make an absolute genius-infused ones or a complete rubbish. There's nothing in between. The Expanse belongs to the former category. I have to admit, their series are the first ones I ever check out; maybe because of my penchant for science-fiction or maybe I just am a masochist.

[Review] Childhood's End

The three part mini series is not exactly an adaptation. They treated the source material fairly freely, but that is not necessary a bad thing. Clarke wrote his novel in the middle of Cold War (1958), so there was a divided world - there was Communist World and Democratic World. I remember reading it around the time I read Orwell's 1984, when I was in my mid-teens. Both books are horrific depictions, painting a bleak image of humanity. But somehow, after stripping Childhood's End of any "signs of time" and leaving the bare story, it appears clear how abysmally depressing it really is.

[Review] Killjoys Season 1

I am probably irrevocably damaged by my own background, so I see patterns everywhere, in every show I watch. Wanted to watch something light and fluffy, so I tried Killjoys, then I realized I was watching an Orwellian world. Or worlds.

[Review] Ascension

I swear, Syfy channel is the most schizophrenic and bipolar one of them all. They either give us masterpieces (BSG, 12 Monkeys) or utter crap (The Magicians). And yet, it's the only channel I check religiously for new series and sample them all (sometimes use brain bleach after some of them). 

Ascension, a three-part little series went almost unnoticed last year. I missed it, fortunately my lovely friend Jubi recommended that, so here I am, writing a short info about this series.