opinions – Page 5 – Co-Geeking

Our Star Wars Rewatch Project: Episode I

November 12, 2015November 10, 2015Eppu

Our Star Wars rewatch project begins a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away with Episode I: The Phantom Menace.

1. Best fight

Eppu: Darth Maul vs. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan on Naboo, hands down. This is how the Jedi fight, not the staid fop-fop-tap of Episode IV!

Erik: Agreed. Whatever else you may say about Phantom Menace, we finally got to see Jedi in their prime fighting a worthy adversary.

2. Best line

Erik: “Her Highness commands you to take her handmaiden with you.” Captain Panaka to Qui-Gon setting out on Tatooine. Less for the line itself than for how Hugh Quarshie delivers it. You can tell that he thinks this is a really, really bad idea, but he’s doing his job of helping the queen do what she wants to do.

Eppu: “What, you think you’re some sort of Jedi, waving your hand around like that?” Watto to Qui-Gon. Delivered in Watto’s bone-dry style, too, it’s hilarious.

3. Best minor character

Eppu: Kitster, one of Anakin’s friends on Tatooine. Very sympathetic young man.

Erik: TC-14, the protocol droid on the trade federation ship. Like C-3P0, more personality than you would expect a droid to have.

4. Best reveal

Erik: When the hangar doors on Naboo open on Darth Maul.

Eppu: The droid army unpacked from the bowels of the transportation drones, unfolding into their full size. I still remember seeing it for the first time.

5. Best save

Eppu: During Queen Amidala’s attack on the palace, Captain Panaka shoots out a window, the group steps out to the ledge, and uses their fancy handguns-cum-harpoon-and-line-shooters to skip to the next floor.

Erik: When Watto tries to back out of a bet, Qui-Gon casually suggests taking the matter up with the Hutts. That’s enough to convince Watto to pay up.

6. Best visual

Erik: Theed, the capital city on Naboo. Gorgeous landscape and architectural detail.

Eppu: The approach to the underwater Gungan city. One of my favorite scenic scenes in the Star Wars universe.

Extra question: Best misdirect

Eppu: Palpatine’s plotting, all of it. Plotwise it’s a step up from the original trilogy, just like the Jedi fights are.

Erik: The opening crawl about conflict over the taxation of outlying trade routes. One of the themes of the prequel trilogy is how momentous events can have tiny beginnings. The taxation of trade routes sounds like the most boring subject for a movie ever, but it leads to the fall of the galactic republic.

Your turn – what’s your Best list for Episode I?

Images: Lightsaber fight via Giphy; Kitster: via fialleril on Pomegranate Seeds; Theed: wookiepedia; Gungan city: StarWars.com.

In the Seen on Screen occasional feature, we discuss movies and television shows of interest.

Garrisons: Solving the Wrong Problem

November 5, 2015November 5, 2015Erik

Sometimes you put a lot of time and effort into solving a problem, only to realize that you were coming at the problem from the wrong angle and your solution doesn’t actually fix anything, or even just makes things worse. (Or at least I do. I do this all the time.) It’s what I think of as “solving the wrong problem.” Blizzard Entertainment, creators of World of Warcraft, has been solving the wrong problem in the latest expansion, and garrisons are the manifestation of that mistake.

151105agarrison — The Aliance garrison, where I’ve spent entirely too much of my gaming time.

It’s not that there aren’t problems to be solved. WoW‘s player base is getting older and a lot of us have less time to play, can’t sit down and play in long sessions like we used to, and aren’t as interested in investing lots of time and effort into chasing big goals, but we still want to play and enjoy the game. Garrisons were, in my opinion, a good-faith effort at solving this problem, but they came at it from the wrong direction.

This weekend is Blizzcon, Blizzard’s big event when they talk about what’s coming for their games and we’re going to hear all about the next expansion for WoW. I hope we hear something that addresses what garrisons got wrong.

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Quotes: Wheresoever Is Learning, There Is Controversy

September 30, 2015January 27, 2016Eppu

“The truth is, said she, wheresoever is learning, there is most commonly also controversy and quarreling; for there be always some that will know more, and be wiser than others; some think their arguments come nearer to truth, and are more rational than others; some are so wedded to their own opinions, that they never yield to reason; and others, though they find their opinions not firmly grounded upon reason, yet for fear of receiving some disgrace by altering them, will nevertheless maintain them against all sense and reason, which must needs breed factions in their schools, which at last break out into open wars, and draw sometimes an utter ruin upon a state or government.”

– Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle, The Blazing World and Other Writings

There is nothing new under the sun, not even disagreements.

Cavendish, Margaret, Duchess of Newcastle. The Blazing World and Other Writings. Edited by Kate Lilley. London: Penguin, 2004 [originally published 1666; reprint with a new chronology and further reading], p. 202.

(This quote comes from my 21 new-to-me SFF authors reading project.)

This post has been edited for clarity.

Serving exactly what it sounds like, the Quotes feature excerpts other people’s thoughts.

Doctor Who Season 9 Kickoff Event in Theaters

September 10, 2015May 20, 2018Eppu

…aaand there’s more Doctor Who season 9 news I seem to have missed! Fathom Events has put together a 3d-showing of the two-part season 8 ender just in time before Doctor Who season 9 airs on BBC America (starting September 19th).

Doctor Who: Dark Water/Death in Heaven Trailer by Fathom Events

According to the Mashable article on the season kickoff event,

“BBC Worldwide and Fathom Events will broadcast a 3D version of Season 8’s two-part finale, ‘Dark Water’/’Death in Heaven,’ in approximately 700 movie theaters across the U.S. on Sept. 15 and 16. The screenings will also feature a special prequel scene for Doctor Who‘s Season 9 premiere (ambiguously titled ‘The Doctor’s Meditation’) and an exclusive interview with the Doctor and his companion themselves, Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman.”

File 770 reports that the exclusive interview is hosted by Wil Wheaton.

We went to see “The Day of the Doctor” event two years ago and it was great fun. As opposed to “The Day of the Doctor” event, though, this one doesn’t show a completely new story, but packages two already-aired episodes (that have been out on disc for a long time too) with two extra clips. Even the added gimmick of 3d is a repeat from “The Day” showing. While I (literally!) applaud celebrating the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who with a special new story and movie event, this one smacks of a badly-disguised money grab. I’ll pass.

In the Seen on Screen occasional feature, we discuss movies and television shows of interest.

Gatesmashing

August 13, 2015August 11, 2015Erik2 Comments

We’re all familiar with gatekeeping: when members of a fandom (or geekishness in general) try to exclude others for not being true fans or real geeks because they haven’t seen/read/played every obscure iteration of the franchise or don’t know every minute detail of the lore. “Oh, you haven’t seen the Holiday Special?” they sniff. “Well, you’re not really a Star Wars fan, then.” “You don’t know how many buttons were on the second Doctor’s costume? Begone, fake Whovian!”

If you’re fortunate enough to have never witnessed or experienced gatekeeping, here’s a few discussions (picked more or less at random) to give you an idea of what it is and why it sucks:

No One Can Deny You Entry to Geekdom, But Some Can Make It Really Hard to Get Through the Door First by Michi Trota on Geek Melange

The Psychology of the Fake Geek Girl: Why We’re Threatened by Falsified Fandom by Dr. Andrea Letamendi on The Mary Sue

A Creator’s Note to “Gatekeepers” by John Scalzi on Whatever

You see what I mean? Gatekeeping is wrong, hurtful, and no fun. And while it’s true that it can be done by anybody to anybody (I’m a straight man and I’ve had my fandom cred challenged by queer women half my age), it is a weapon frequently deployed by the privileged against the un-privileged, in whatever terms those categories may be defined.

Gatekeeping needs to stop. It’s time we all acknowledge that none of us has seen everything and none of us knows everything, even about the things we love the most. No one is any less of a geek or a fan because of the things they don’t know. All it means is there are still things for us to watch and read and play and find out about, and that’s awesome. Seriously, I feel so sorry for anyone who has nothing new left to learn or experience.

And so, I propose a new pastime: gatesmashing! Instead of obsessing over the things we have seen and read and played, let’s proclaim the things we haven’t. Tell us what you’ve never experienced, and tell us proudly. Not a comprehensive list, of course, but the first few things that come to mind.

I’ll go first.

I have never seen:

Rocky Horror Picture Show
Starship Troopers
The Dark Crystal
Any Doctor Who starring the first or fifth-through-eighth Doctors

I have never read anything by:

Neil Gaiman
Terry Pratchett
Ursula K. Le Guin

I have never played:

Skyrim
Minecraft
Dragon Age

And the fact that I haven’t doesn’t make me any less of a geek than anyone who has.

Here there be opinions!

Q&A: Which Starship Would You Command

July 23, 2015November 12, 2015Eppu

Quiz time! We took the Which Starship Would You Command quiz. Here are the results:

1) What do you think is the most important quality or feature for a starship?

Erik: Ability to withstand powerful forces [‘Cause, you know, I bet there’s a lot of those in space.]

Eppu: A good collection of scientific instruments, weapons, and engineering tools. [Be prepared! Things are going to break, and in space you want to be very, very prepared when something breaks.]

2) What kind of crew would you want to have on your starship?

Eppu: I’d like a well-balanced crew on my ship; diplomats, security experts, scientists, doctors, etc. [Again, be prepared!]

Erik: A family of versatile and multi-talented members with a strong purpose. [I figure being versatile with a strong sense of purpose is important if you’re in danger of being stranded millions of light years out in space.]

3) Pick a vehicle.

Erik: Green compact car. [It’s cute!]

Eppu: Same [A good-enough compromise between looks and utility; also, I don’t need that question answered.]

4) You’re out exploring space, when you come across a ship belonging to a new alien species you’ve never encountered before. What would you do?

Eppu: Stealthily observe them from afar to determine if they’re hostile before opening communications. [I guess one of these days I’ll find myself in a “bath” that’s getting hotter in minute increments… 😉 ]

Erik: Same [I don’t like talking to people to begin with. Even more so if they’re hostile.]

5) You’re out patrolling the stars when you get a distress call from a civilian freighter that has been damaged somehow and drifted into the territory of a hostile, angry alien race. They’re asking for help. What do you do?

Erik: Approach the border cautiously, broadcasting to the hostile alien empire that we come on a mission of mercy. [But if I have to deal with hostile folks I’m going to let them know that I’m not here to cause trouble.]

Eppu: See if there’s any way I can quietly and sneakily cross the border to try and reach the freighter. [Quick, before the hyena come!]

6) Pick which uniform you’d like your crew to wear.

Eppu: Han Solo’s outfit [‘Cause pockets! This is a pet peeve of mine. We’ll need pockets in the future, too. So many sci-fi outfits are ridiculously lacking in practical details.]

Erik: Battlestar Galactica uniform. [Eh. What can I say? I’m a sucker for a nice sash.]

7) What kind of captain would you like to be?

Erik: Wait, lead? I’m in charge? Whose idea was that? [I’m like the guy who sits three chairs down from the navigator in the staff meeting and has one line explaining why the people on this planet are offended by the color orange. Don’t put me in charge of nothin’.]

Eppu: Same [Uhh…]

8) Pick a color scheme for your ship’s hull.

Eppu: Grey, subtly pixelated [In space, no-one can hear you complain about hull color.]

Erik: Grey with bright stripe [Ooh, it’s so shiny and spacey!]

9) Pick a bridge.

Erik: Traditional Chinese bridge. [It’s elegant and tranquil. I go for that.]

Eppu: Graceful curves and loop at one end [Loop-de-doo!]

10) You receive a communication from an off-world colony, which says they’ve encountered a new life form and would like you to assist. What would you do?

Eppu: I’d bring a science team to investigate the new life form. [No word on danger, so study it is!]

Erik: Same. [Because that’s what I do: I investigate the heck out of things.]

So, apparently we both would command…

USS Enterprise D. “Let’s see what’s out there.”

Q&A is an occasional feature in which we share our responses to quizzes, questions, and quirky ideas for your entertainment.