Sunday, April 10, 2011

My Time Machine

I'm watching some old stuff this weekend. Not really old stuff, but nastaligic. I watched the pilot for DS9. I always thought the pilot for that show as exceptionally good, as most of the Treks took a while to find their footing, DS9 was no exception, but at least it had a great start.

But I noticed that it reminded me at least a bit of 2001. I never got that vibe before, maybe it was that I watched it this weekend too. 2001 is a movie that has to be watched in context of its time to be appreciated, by today's standards it's a bit... well... boring. If that film was made today it would only be 20 minutes long. But my opinion that most great works of literature, and movies, are not all that good when held up to today's standards is another post altogether.

So, when Ben Sisko meets the wormhole aliens and had a prolonged conversation I get the feeling that is the same sort of vibe Kubrick was going for in 2001. The bizarre, creepy way the wormhole aliens burrowed into Sisko's thoughts in order to have a frame of reference to converse with him was cool. That they were so alien was very cool, and a bit unusual for Star Trek. Good for them. Kubrick was a bit too abstract when he tried to convey the interaction with humanity and the monolith.

I also watched the pilot for SG1. Now, I never saw an episode of that show, but my brother in-law gave me the box set and told me to give it a try. Um, that pilot was a bit of a mess. I don't know what they were going for. All I know is that when the three little kids from the neighborhood were sitting on my couch and the full frontal nudity started... things got a bit awkward around here.

Anyway. Another weekend in the books, I learned a lot about how to tell a story by watching some less than engaging television.

6 comments:

PT Dilloway said...

I liked DS9 because the space station setting made it different from the other Treks. Too bad they never made any movies for that.

Stuck In A Window said...

Have you ever seen battlestar gallactica? It's amazing. Go watch it if you haven't already.

Rusty Carl said...

Rogue - I like DS9 a lot myself. I always thought the space station model was the best thing going. I watched the first two seasons during its original broadcast just so I could enjoy looking at the station.

Stuck - I dig Battlestar, probably my third fav post Star Trek show. After Firely and Farscape.

KM Nalle said...

My husband and I used to enjoy DS9. Beloved Husband is also a fan of 2010 (and 2001 by default). Personally, I fall asleep when watching them everytime. Beloved Husband loves them, I guess they aren't my thing.

Rusty Carl said...

Hey Karie. I think 2010 works much better as a movie than 2001 does. I think I had to watch 2001 at least three times before I could make it through without falling asleep. 2010 however, really captured my imagination from the first time I saw it.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

DS9 was my favorite of the Star Trek series. And keep watching SG1 - once the series is established, it really rolls. Was the funniest thing on TV during its run. And yeah, I own all of the seasons.