The Orville: A better Star Trek than Star Trek

What a ridiculous name for a StarShip.

The Orville.

Instead of going where no man has gone before...Instead of evoking visions of the first flight with the brothers Wright (as in Orville and Wilbur) 

I think of Redenbacher...

You know, the popcorn guy...

...and maybe that's the point.

But somewhere along the way Seth McFarlane managed to do something no Star Trek Series has done in 4 decades.  

In a time when the "official" Star Trek canon has been bastardized into some weird amalgamation of action movie meets Sci-Fi chic peppered with  liberal doses of gratuitous sex and violence for no other reason than they could.

Here comes a parody, a spoof, the comic relief of the genre that somehow managed to get it right.

The Orville while not as straight-laced as Star Trek: The Next Generation or as moody and lifeless as Discovery has more in common with the original series than either of them.

What made the original Star Trek series good was the writing and the chemistry of the actors.  You didn't have to club the viewer over the head with the message.  The drama made sense.  Tension had a reason and didn't have to be manufactured.  You cared about the characters, maybe even shed a tear at their pain.

Tonight while watching The Orville it happened for me.  Yes, it was campy in spots but there were moments every bit as poignant as the the best Star Trek episodes regardless of who sat in the captain's chair.  It touched me like any good Star Trek episode would.  It made me think.  It made me feel.

The Orville works for the same reason Star Trek worked in the 60's.  We can identify with the characters.  We can see ourselves in their trials and tribulations without being forced to.  I think of The Orville as kind of a Next Generation if Picard had a better sense of humor.

It's a funny show but not Family Guy kind of funny.  The laughs aren't forced, they're natural and fit the narrative.  The kind of thing you might say to a friend in a similar situation.

OK the obvious question....

"It's a show about being on a spaceship with alien people 400 years in the future.  How would I EVER be in a similar situation?"

That's the gist of it, it's relatable, recognizable.  Not in the way that Deep Space 9 was in defiling the rose colored glasses of Roddenberry's Star Trek universe by exposing its dark underbelly.  Its rai·son d'ê·tre  to make the future just as ugly as our present.

No, the problem with many of the Star Trek series that came after Kirk and Spock was that they took themselves too seriously.  Somewhere along the line, they forgot that just shoehorning a current event into a Science Fiction context wasn't enough to be relatable to those of us that were watching.

For any work of fiction to succeed it has to meet us half way.  It has to connect us to their world by reaching a hand out to ours. 

I've seen that happen repeatedly on The Orville.

In "Nothing Left on Earth Excepting the Fishes" a title which references "The King and I" we saw multiple story lines intersecting and filling out the narrative.  The most primary of which spoke to finding common ground.  Something very much in the public conscience and something only addressable through a narrative in the current political climate.

It's no surprise, however, with Star Trek heavy hitters like Andre Bormanis and Brannon Braga showing up in the show's credits.  In the previous episode "Home" we even saw a couple of veteran Star Trek actors in Robert Picardo ( the EMH from Voyager ) opposite John Billingsley (Dr. Phlox from Enterprise)

You don't have all of these celebrated Star Trek alumni  jumping onboard The Orville just because they need a paycheck.  They see it too.

Where Discovery is a militant, lifeless shell devoid of passion or reason for being other than just...being, The Orville has managed to bring us back to what good Sci-Fi should be.

It's not an action movie, it's not sexy or gratuitous just for the sake of being so.  It's not trying to make Star Trek into Mission Impossible: Space Camp.

It's good writing, a good story and a dose of humor just where it's needed.  Even if that means poking fun at it's progenitor.  

And the fans love it.

I've had a very positive view of  The Orville since it launched ( pardon the pun ) but this season seems to be raising the bar.

At the end of "....Fishes" there was a poignant scene where Ed ( Seth McFarlane ) sets free a Trill ( the primary antagonist species ) that  betrayed him by appearing as a human and starting a relationship just to lure him into a Trill trap.  As the scene closed and she boarded her shuttle, Billy Joel's "She's always a woman" played the episode out.

I literally felt that moment.  Maybe it was the song....no...not maybe....the song fit the story perfectly.

That's good writing, that's making something completely alien relatable. 

That's why The Orville is a better Star Trek than Star Trek...

Star Wars: The Force Awakens review

As I write this it's late in the day on January 10th.  As such I have no fear of spoiling anything for those who haven't yet experienced the latest installment of the goings on in the Star Wars universe.

The movie premiered on December 17th for some and the 18th for everyone else.  The buzz around it has been deafening. Everywhere you went online you were reminded of the return of Star Wars to the forefront of popular culture.

Trident light sabers, BB8 toy robots and an avalanche of related kitsch has been showing up everywhere from geek toys to cereal boxes. 

Which should have been your first warning.  Just like video games, the ratio of hype to content in a movie is directly proportional to the level of disappointment.

In a word the movie was...meh.

Which flies in the face of current pop culture, I know...

How could anyone not embrace and revel in a new Star Wars movie! One who's greatest hope is that it's not another awful prequel.

If the Star Wars Prequels were forgettable embarrassments to the franchise, The Force Awakens is a taciturn acknowledgement of their failure.  A half-hearted apology consisting of copious visual effects, a  rehashed story line from a A New Hope peppered with uninspiring performances from forgettable stand ins. 

Rey is the new Luke, Finn and Poe an amalgamation of Han Solo, Kylo Ren the new Vader and Snoke an analog to the Emperor. 

The appearance of original trilogy characters Han, Leia and eventually Luke were little more than a bone thrown to diehard fans and filler for an otherwise deep plot hole.   Is it not obvious that Luke will function as the Obi Wan Kenobi to Rey's Luke Skywalker?  Can anyone doubt that the newly widowed  Leia will likely become an analog of the often forgotten Mon Mothma,  Leader of the Rebel Alliance in the original trilogy. 

Yes, I've let the big secret slip.  Han Solo is dead.  His freewheeling ways brought to an end at the hands of his own son Benjamin Solo AKA Kylo Ren.

And what of Kylo Ren?  The spoiled brat given to childish outbursts of rage when he isn't worshiping his fallen hero, Darth Vader.

What of Rey?  Whose kid is she anyway?  She connects with Luke Skywalker's light saber but can finish Han Solo's sentences and can fly the Millennium Falcon like a seasoned veteran even though she supposedly had no clue how to fly a space ship and no knowledge of the Force.

The bones for the faithful were everywhere from a mothballed Millennium Falcon springing to life to Luke's training orb rolling around in front of the holographic game table.  Even the backdrops recalled the parched landscape of Tattooine and the barren icy wastes of Hoth but with different names.  Even the nemesis weapon of the First Order, the Starkiller is nothing but the Death Star on steroids.

Honestly, who cares?  The whole thing felt like fan fiction on a big budget.

If this movie is anything it's at best a bridge between what we knew and what we'll be forced to accept.  That being an overly processed and weakly developed storyline borrowing heavily from its predecessors but repackaged for an audience that craves CGI effects and politically correct storylines that inspire little reflection. 

The questions left after the closing credits are inconsequential.  The experience during the previous 2 or so hours left me frequently checking my watch as I awaited my release.

It's not a bad movie but it's not a great movie either. 

I like a good story.  I didn't get one with The Force Awakens.  I honestly enjoyed Episode 3 of the prequels better.  If the best praise I can offer is: "At least it's not another prequel." It's not exactly a ringing endorsement.  It had its moments but in the end I really couldn't get invested in the well being of any of the characters including what amounted to little more than extended cameos of the original cast.

Go, see the movie, enjoy yourself but don't expect too much.  Keep in mind that even though it's now reached the status of the highest grossing movie of all time, the previous holders of that title included Avatar and Episode 1. 

This movie is popular only because it's got Star Wars in the title.  I don't expect the next two to do as well unless they plan on waiting another 10 years between releases.

This is not the Star Wars Movie you're looking for...

It's all about Her

I'm going to step outside of the normal weirdness I put in this blog for a minute because something's bothering me.

There's a lot of buzz about the latest permutation of the modern love story.  One that promises to make you question your reality like "The Matrix" but without all the bullets.

Spike Jonze's latest foray into the sublime if not ridiculous otherwise known as, "HER." has managed to gather critical acclaim since its release a few weeks ago.  Even Rotten Tomatoes is giving 4 1/2 stars.  

Before I go any further you need to know that this isn't a movie review, in fact I expressly plan to NOT see this movie.  Why?

Because this is nothing more than a silicon valley ubergeek's wet dream.  The reviewers swoon at all those touching moments in the film with drivel like...

"a romantic scene .....that genuinely seems to be taking place between two flawed, headstrong lovers.

Really? 

I guess it's natural for a gadget crazed populace to make the leap into a Kurzweil (Singularity) fantasy where love need no more than Siri with Scarlett Johansson's voice seductively suggesting a good sushi bar.  By the way, don't expect any sultry holograms, all you get is her voice.

No matter how clever and tastefully done, the whole premise is in a word, pathetic. Not because it's outlandish but because of how much it isn't.  After all, if we can't make a relationship work why not try to create one with a bunch of circuits and a voice synthesizer right?

Is this some reflection of an emotionally detached society more enamored with technology than the people around them?  I think so and instead of a sweet, touching love story, a movie like this should serve as a warning.  

Maybe that's the point but it's sad commentary on society that we have to ask the question.

It's bad enough that all these soft-core romance flicks reflect a lifestyle few could ever achieve.  I mean don't these people ever have to work?  Seems like they have days to while away on beaches, taking spontaneous road trips across the country or lounging in sidewalk cafe's.

I suppose HER fits the bill for its genre then.  Especially for those silicon valley types who grew up with the likes of "Weird Science"  haunting their adolescent dreams.

Hey!

That's it right there!  We finally have a "dignified" sequel to a movie about making your own perfect woman.

In that light it's not quite such a sweet, heart touching tale is it.