Site Columns
By MichelleMay 28, 2003 - 7:52 PM
Hello World!
Last week I watched Equilibrium on DVD three times — the movie twice, the director's commentary once. I was amused to hear writer-director Kurt Wimmer make the fairly unapologetic statement that he'd been accused of borrowing from everything from Farenheit 451 to Brave New World to 1984 to The Matrix to a whole host of other classic genre pieces. Because, you know, it's obvious that he did. And at the same time that's part of what made the movie so enjoyable for me.
It's true that there's not much that's original in Equilibrium. The protagonist looks and fights like Keanu Reeves and struggles against a state dominated by the image of Big Brother...oops, I mean Father. Strong emotion has been eradicated, and everything that could trigger it, from artwork to video games, has been banned. Everyone in the society has been drugged into complacency.
That said...it's visually striking, using color and lighting very dramatically. The acting is quite good, given the minimal emotion that the characters can express while under the influence of drugs that numb feeling. It's derivative but it's not dumbed-down; it takes popular dystopian cinema and distills what makes such films creepy and entertaining. In some ways that's more interesting than a straightforward sequel that just tries to do what a previous film did, only on a bigger scale.
Trek BBS Today
Below are some of the topics currently being discussed at the Trek BBS:
-Why does continuity matter anyway?
-Flipping sci-fi on its head, what would you like to watch?
-And for fun, write new Enterprise limericks!
More topics can be found at the Trek BBS!
Trek Two Years Ago
These were some of the major news items in mid-May 2001:
- Dawson To Direct 'Enterprise' Episode
Roxann Dawson announced at a convention that she would be directing the seventh episode of Enterprise after making her television directing debut on Star Trek: Voyager. She had been sworn to secrecy on the details of the script, later revealed to be "The Andorian Incident", which brought the antennaed aliens back to Star Trek after a long absence. - Trek Nation Reviews 'Endgame'
As Voyager departed the airwaves, AntonyF weighed in with his opinion on the final episode:I suppose it's slightly fitting that Janeway saves her crew, even if it's an elder Janeway. But, did the crew get home through hardship, dedication and with a real sense of danger? A danger that was prevalent, say, in 'Basics.' Or did they have someone with some magic toys allow them to get through the Borg with no danger whatsoever and ride home. Did they have to do much at all?
- UPN Is Lowest-Rated Network Again
With Voyager aging and WWF Smackdown! on the decline, UPN finished the season as the lowest-rated of the six broadcast television networks for the 2000-2001 television season. Industry analysts tagged the network as the most likely to improve the next year (though in 2003 the network once again finished in last place).
More news can be found in the archives.
Poll Results
Below are the results of the most recent TrekToday poll:
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36.2% - (433
Votes)Please vote in our new poll, which asks about your favorite ship destruction.
Today's Television Listings
Tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, UPN will show a rerun of the Enterprise episode "Minefield". Here's the official synopsis of the episode:
After unwittingly wandering into a minefield in Romulan territory, Enterprise becomes trapped when struck by an undetonated mine. When Reed takes a space walk to try to defuse the mine, he inadvertently gets pinned to the outer hull and Archer must chose between saving Reed or abiding by the Romulans orders to depart the airspace immediately.
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