Transmission

JDW's short film, Transmission, is finally online. Here it is for you to enjoy.
This will most likely serve as our final post.
Bye!

Transmission Tapes

After some vague clues and emoticons* Chris Roberts' score for Jared D. Weiss' film Transmission is finally available on limited edition cassette tape (only 50 copies!) Buy it here!

Each purchase comes with a tape, immediate download of the album, and exclusive access to the film before its festival premiere dates!

You can even receive a free postcard personalized by me with your order while supplies last.

And here's a fun fact: this is the first Otherworldy Mystics tape that was completely designed by me, as I not only made all of the packaging design (made to look like a prop within the world of the film) but I also designed the company logo.

* (88[| + ^..^> + [O..] = [•-•]

Transmission

Via my personal blog:

This is a gif from my thesis film, Transmission.

It's about the four-eyed creature you see above, Quad-Clops, and his dog, 2D, after they find a radio in the barren post-apocalyptic wasteland that is their home, and their journey to find new life.

The short film was completely hand-animated by me in Flash over the course of six months, though I've been developing the story for a couple years. Music for the film was recorded by Chris Roberts, and we're working on putting it out on an extremely limited edition set of tapes through Otherworldly Mystics if anyone's interested.

The film will be premiering at SVA's Dusty Film Festival on May 7th at the SVA Theater on 333 W23rd St in New York City, and after that I'm going to look into submitting it to festivals before putting it publicly online. But I may find a way to make it available to those that really want to see it.

Stay tuned!

This is basically what made me leave VFH behind a year or so ago, so I figured now's about time you knew why.

The Legend of Zelda Timeline and Analysis

Hello everyone,

It's been awhile since anybody has posted on this site, what with life responsibilities and everything. Sorry to any readers who were crushed by this news.

Anyway, I have just completed my Zelda Timeline paper that I have been working on for about a month, after having completed all of the Zelda titles in the series, playing each during one long month marathon. I figured this would be the perfect place to publish my paper, in PDF format. I might work on an eBook format, but we'll see.

Please feel free to download a copy for yourself, of this 56 page, 20 chapter masterpiece detailing the entire Zelda Timeline. You can download it simply by clicking THIS LINK.

If you have any comments or suggestions, you can leave a comment here or email me at masterzpotts[at]gmail.com

Thanks and enjoy.

-Zach

DOWNLOAD HERE, in case you missed it.


--Thanks to GoNintendo for the shout-out!
--Also huge thanks to Kotaku for theirs as well!

Breaking the Silence

Just wanted to leave a note here, for passers by. After almost 8 years, different hosts, and several pleas to try and get this site the attention and variety it once craved, I've come to terms with what it's become.

It's not much, but it was a nice 8 year chapter of my life, and the site will live on as proof of that. Sure, our old hosts have long gone, and thus some of this chapter is missing. But I'm ok with that. I'm proud of the work both my team and myself have done over the years, and I'm kind of shocked that we all managed to run this on our own free time for that long. I've made some great friends over the years thanks to VFH, both near and far, and if that's all I have to remind myself of my time here then it was worth it.

This isn't the first semi-depressing letter I've written here, but it's most likely the last. I've just become too busy with other work to actually maintain this by myself for no compensation.

I won't close the site or our social media accounts, I could never bring myself to do so after all the time we've put in, but updates on our Facebook and Twitter will probably be kept to a minimum barring a few note-worthy links here and there. It's not much, but it's the best I can do given the time I have.

However, I myself am not going away. Feel free to follow my art blog, Twitter, or even my Tumblr; each of which are generally regularly updated with my thoughts and latest works. When I'm not self-promoting I'm generally talking about movies, music, TV, comics (and all the other crap I like and would generally speak about here in full length when given the time). Who knows, maybe some day I'll have a reason to come back to this place and start writing again, wouldn't that be swell?

Thank you to everyone, I'll see you later.

E3 2011: Nintendo Conference

Here's everything...

The Legend of Zelda: 25th Anniversary
- Link's Awakening arriving today on Nintendo eShop
- Ocarina of Time 3D arrives next weekend (we know this)
- Legend of Zelda: Four Swords for DSiWare in September
- Skyward Sword releasing for Wii this Holiday
- Gold Wii Remote launching with the game
- Zelda Symphony Concerts worldwide this Fall
- Ocarina of Time 3D soundtrack free to early register of the game on Club Nintendo

Mario Kart 3D
- Trailer shown
- Fly with karts, dive with carts
- Customize karts with with wheels and accessories
- Arrives this holiday

StarFox 64 3D
- Arrives in US this September
- Play with normal or motion controls
- 4 player multiplayer records players faces

Super Mario 3D
- First original 3D Mario game on a portable
- Return of Tanooki suit, music blocks
- Has 2D platforming levels
- Releasing before year's end

Kid Icarus: Uprising
- Full voice over… I'm scared
- 6-Player Multiplayer battle mode
- Will have AR Cards of its own
- Coming "later this year"

Luigi's Mansion 2
- Trailer shown, looks fun!
- Will have "several" new mansions

Nintendo eShop
- 10 3D videos to be available soon (?)
- Demos for games coming later this year
- Free Excitebike 3D (available now)
- Pokedex 3D available free now as well

Nintendo Wii U
- Controller has a 6.2" screen
- Continue game from TV to controller
- Seems super gimmicky
- Controller has 2 circles pads, D-pad, A, B, X, Y, L, R, ZL, and ZR buttons
- Has a camera, gyroscope, microphone, speakers
- Works with all Wii titles and accessories
- Video chat online using the controller
- HD Zelda demoed, looks awesome… but, I'm turned off.
- Arriving next year

(click to enlarge)

Super Smash Bros.
- Nothing to show, but will with with both 3DS and Wii U

Graphical Demo
- Doesn't seem like actual gameplay graphics, just pre-rendered footage

New Super Mario Bros Mii
- Tech demo, Use Mii to play on TV or controller screen

Sheild Pose
- Tech demo, use controller as shield/continuation of screen

Chase Mii
- Tech demo, 4 players on Wiimotes, 1 using the controller
- Miis in Nintendo franchise universes

LEGO City Stories
- Co-published by Nintendo and Tt Games for Wii U and 3DS
- Really?

Darksiders II, Tekken, Batman Arkham City, Assassin's Creed, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Online, Dirt, Aliens: Colonial Marines, Metro Last Light, Ninja Gaiden 3 all in development.

E3 2011: Sony Conference

Compilation trailer opens the show… features NGP, no PSP in sight. Nevermind, PSP shows up late to the show…

Jack Tretton gives out an apology regarding the PSN. Much appreciated.

Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
- Live demo shown, somehow looks better than Uncharted 2
- Multiplayer begins June 28
- Will support 3DTV, another trailer shown
- Releases 11-1-11

Resistance 3
- Live demo shown, also supports 3D
- Bundled with Sharpshooter controller, PS Move, PS Eye, Analog controller for $150

God of War: Origins Collection
- Remakes of PSP God of War games: Chains of Olympus and Ghost of Sparta
- Both game remastered in HD and 3D
- Releases September

ICO and Shadow of the Colossus Collection
- Both game remastered in HD and 3D
- Releases September

PlayStation 3D Monitor
- $499 gets you a 24" 3D monitor, with glasses and HDMI cable, and Resistance 3
- 2 Players can see 2 different images instead of split-screen somehow.
- Releases in Fall

NBA 2K12
- Uses PS Move
- Kobe claims it's realistic, he's also a rapist…
- Releases October 4th, 2011

Medieval Moves
- PS Move title played from sort of first person/third person hack n slash adventure
- Will probably have the same fate as Sorcery the PS Move game we saw last year
- Claims to be releasing in Fall 2011

InFamous 2
- New trailer despite it releasing tomorrow
- User created features coming in Fall

LittleBigPlanet 2
- Update coming to heavily feature PS Move

Starhawk
- Sort of sequel to Warhawk

Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time
- Pre-rendered trailer shown
- Coming 2012

DUST 514
- Connects with EVE Online
- Supports PS Move and NGP
- Beta in Fall, releases Spring 2012

BioShock Infinite
- New gameplay trailer shown
- Will support PS Move
- Comes with BioShock 1 on PS3 (weird)

BioShock for NGP
- Only mentioned, no footage or screens

Saints Row 3
- Launches November with PS Move support

Star Trek
- Trailer shown, co-op based gameplay
- Based on next Star Trek film
- Will support PS Move and 3D, with a Phaser controller coming out
- Coming 2012

SSX, Need for Speed: the Run, and Battlefield 3 all support extra context exclusive to PS3

PlayStation Suite
- Service for non-PlayStation devices like Android phones and tablets

PlayStation Vita
- Final name for the NGP
- Two analog stick, 2 cameras, SIXAXIS, 2 touch panels
- Will have 3G and WiFi models
- AT&T exclusive 3G carrier for PSVita in North America
- PartyRoom allows cross game voice chat
- Near, allows you to play games and see trophies of nearby Vita users
- More than 80 titles in development
- Releasing Holiday 2011
- WiFi model costs $249
- 3G model costs $299

Uncharted: Golden Abyss
- Live demo shown
- Can use traditional controls, or touch/motion based controls

Ruin
- Top-down fantasy combat game
- PS3 version will be compatible with Vita version, cloud saves.

ModNation Racers
- Entirely new version developed exclusively for PSVita
- Use both touch screen and rear touch panel to raise/drop elevations
- PSVita version will be able to access content from the PS3 version's community

WipeOut 2048
- Compete via PSVita or PS3 at launch

LittleBigPlanet
- Touch controls
- Carries over LBP2's design tools
- Horizontal or vertical levels
- Share costumes/content with PS3 version

Street Fighter X Tekken
- PSVita version, live demo shown
- Will feature Cole from InFamous

No PSP new for obvious reasons, and seriously, where was The Last Guardian??

E3 2011: Ubisoft Conference

What a... weird presentation, no James Cameron boring people to death, but... yeah.

Rayman Origins
- Live demo shown, has co-op
- Looks fun!

Driver: San Francisco
- Hyperactive man says dick jokes on stage
- New trailer shown

FarCry 3
- They didn't even say what this was for the first 5 minutes of this trailer/gameplay
- Doesn't seem that exciting…
- "THE surprise of the show" I beg to differ

Brothers in Arms: Furious 4
- Looks a bit cartoony
- Oddly doesn't show swastikas despite calling the bad guys Nazis
- Probably has Left 4 Dead inspired gameplay

The Adventures of Tintin: The Game
- Spielberg and Jackson talk about the game based on their film (in a trailer of course)
- Trailer shown, 2D/3D gameplay

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier
- Live demo shown, with a controller this time

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Online
- Free to play web version of the franchise

ManiaPlanet
- Trackmania 2 for PC releases in September
- Shootmania and Questmania also coming

Rabbids: Alive & Kicking
- I can't believe this franchise is successful…
- Exclusive for Kinect
- Share photos from the game on Facebook
- Comes out November 8, 2011

Just Dance 3
- Another franchise I don't get why its popular
- Not only on Wii, now on Kinect and PS Move

Rocksmith
- Another use-a-real-guitar music game
- Coming Fall 2011

Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012
- I'm just bored now

Assassin's Creed Revelations
- New trailer shown
- Features Ezio and Altaïr
- Live demo shown
- Releases November, like every other big game...

E3 2011: EA Conference

No major reveals, but I did this anyways...

Mass Effect 3
- Releases March 6th, 2012 on 360, PS3, and PC
- Live demo shown, looks amazing

Origin
- EAs new Steam-like service, "Go check it out!"…
- No really, its after EVERY TRAILER

Need for Speed: the Run
- Super stat-tracking
- Out of car gameplay, a.k.a. running from the cops

Star Wars: The Old Republic
- New trailer shown, all pre-rendered footage we've seen…
- No date

SSX
- No more serious look or subtitle
- Comes next January

FIFA 12
- Yup, they still make it.
- EA Sports Football Club connects you through all versions of FIFA regardless of platform.

Madden 12
- Holy Crap!! I cannot believe they're bringing this franchise back!
- Really, they used Inception music for this??
- Enough of the meat-heads please.

The Sims: Social
- Facebook is not a gaming platform, get out of my face.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
- First game from 38 Studios
- Open world fantasy game

OverStrike
- First multi-platform title from Insomniac Games
- Weird off-portioned realistic characters, I'm scared.

Battlefield 3
- New graphics engine is … astonishing
- Beta in September
- Free stat tracking, coughActivisioncough
- Releases October 25, 2011

E3 2011: Microsoft Conference

A summary of Microsoft's E3 Press Conference. Media will possibly be added later.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
- Live demo shown, with controller hiccups too!
- Graphics/animations look better
- Releases November 8th, 2011

Tomb Raider
- Origin story (if you didn't already know)
- Live demo, looks totally different, more cinematic
- Releasing Fall 2012

EA
- Tiger Woods PGA, Madden, FIFA, and another game will support Kinect
- Sims 3: Pets and other EA titles also using Kinect

Mass Effect 3
- Uses Kinect for voice commands
- Speak Shepard's speech choices as opposed to just pressing a button…
- Tell party members what to do in battle

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier
- New trailer, clearly not in-game footage
- Uses Kinect for… everything. Seems, odd.
- All future Tom Clany games will use Kinect

A new Xbox user interface, streamlined for Kinect
- Very much like Sony's Xross Media Bar
- Will support YouTube (which Wii and PS3 have done with browsers for years)
- Bing to search Netflix, Hulu, XBL Marketplace
- Live TV support with voice controller
- Launching in Fall

UFC
- Brofest 360
- watch live events, check stats, play trivia, for an added fee of course

Gears of War 3
- Ice T live demos with Cliff B.
- Ice T's band Body Count will have a new song in the game...

Ryse
- Formerly Codename: Kingdoms
- Trailer shown
- Kinect based Roman first person combat

Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary
- Rerelease and remake of Halo 1
- Releases November 15, 2011

Forza Motorsport 4
- New trailer
- Releases October 14th, 2011

Fable: The Journey
- Trailer shown, pre-rendered footage
- In-game demo, uses Kinect
- Releases 2012

Minecraft
- Exclusive console debut in winter for 360 and Kinect

Kinect Disneyland Adventures
- No longer give your kids a vacation, tell them to stare at the TV
- Actually a mini-game collection
- Awful child actors not included

Kinect Star Wars
- Actually looks like a real product now
- Yet another mini-game collection basically

Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster
- From DoubleFine
- Uses Kinect
- Comes out this Fall

Kinect Fun Labs
- Being added to the dashboard
- Scan your body and make an Avatar
- Drawing in 3D space
- Scan in your real life items
- Goes live TODAY

Kinect Sports: Season Two
- More Wii Sports in HD
- Skiing, Tennis, Golf, Football, Baseball, something with a stage?

Dance Central 2
- Because no one wants plastic instruments, but shaking like a fool is fun.
- Import songs from the first game, like Rock Band did.

Halo 4
- Teaser trailer shown, still no personality
- "Start of a new trilogy"
- Not by Bungie
- Fall 2012

No More This Week in Futurama

It's exactly one month before Futurama returns to Comedy Central again with new episodes. But I've decided, with an upcoming busy work schedule, and an unfavorable feeling when I wrote the previous episode reviews that I won't continue the episode reviews for the remainder of the show's existence.

I'm fine reviewing Fringe and Doctor Who, because at least those shows generally have an overall narrative that I can discuss my thoughts and theories about (and sometimes bounce ideas of another reviewer like I do with Fringe). But when it comes to Futurama (and not the movies, cause I can at least treat those like movie reviews), I'm just judging the humor, and that honestly just gets annoying after awhile when I can't say anything about the story. Sure, the episode plot may have something to say, but overall, it doesn't matter. But really its a mix of that, and the fact that I have a lot of work to be doing on my own film this summer, so I figured I would cut the feature I liked the least.

Sorry if you were looking forward to those, however, I'll still be tweeting my thoughts on the new episodes over on @ViewFromHeaven with #Futurama.

A Thought on Box Art

This awesome and official minimalist box art by Olly Moss for Resistance 3 almost makes me want to buy the game just for that reason... but then I remembered it's Resistance 3.*

Either way, if it sells well, I hope more publishers go with 'Criterion' box art like this instead of the usual guy/girl front and center with big guns and/or muscles/boobs.

Class it up, game industry, class it up.

*I'm aware that Resistance has its fans, and that the games are well made. But from what I've experience from demos of the game, it's just not for me. And let's be honest, the boxart for Resistance 2 was pretty crap/generic when compared to the need-no-explanation photo cover used for the first game.

This Week in Doctor Who - 5/14/11

Lets be honest, last week's episode sucked. Nothing happened, the characters weren't interesting, and overall it was just a waste and had nothing to say. And in all fairness, the season opening two-parter, while interesting and grand, wasn't nearly as good as "The Time of Angels" and "Flesh and Stone". So, with Neil Gaiman's first foray into the world of Doctor Who, does he bring some life into this so far unimpressive season?

Episode 4 - "The Doctor's Wife"

There are a lot of things to say about this one. First things first, one of the "fan theories" I've heard regarding River was that she was the TARDIS, and I angrily dismissed this theory because while the TARDIS is referred to as living, it's never once been shown as a humanoid lifeform and just the idea of the theory was so stupid and canon breaking that it upset me. And then this episode showed up (with no River thankfully)...

The Doctor, Amy and Rory travel into what can only be described as a bubble outside of the universe, but not really, after the Doctor receives a piece of Galifraen mail, filling him with the hope that the Time Lords are indeed still alive. But instead, he's led to what is basically a TARDIS scrapyard, with a few strange inhabitants. Oh, and the soul of the TARDIS is ripped out and put into the body of a strange Victorian woman. Just the Doctor's type.

The episode follows the Doctor as for just one day, he lives his ultimate fantasy of traveling with his TARDIS as a woman... while Amy and Rory are trapped inside of the actual TARDIS, which is now controlled by an evil entity (voiced by Michael Sheen).

Overall this episode, unlike the last few, was just really interesting to watch; there was an actual sense of risk (something this season lacks from the last) and the creep factor was actually creepy and not just looking like it it's trying to force it. The moments with the Doctor and his living TARDIS are quite tender, and it was pretty sweet to see that Eccleston's and Tennant's TARDIS 'desktop theme' is still intact somewhere as well as seeing some familiar classic TARDIS pieces on the junkyard world. Gaiman's first attempt at Who was a great one, and I hope he comes back to it at some point.

Overall Score: 9.5/10

Sadly, next week's is the first of a two-parter from the writer of "Fear Her" probably the most hated episode from Tennant's run. Whoever's idea it was giving that guy another chance hopefully made a wise choice, or I'll be quite upset.

This Week in Doctor Who - 5/7/11

Doctor Who is back again, in the first one-off episode of Series 6. How did it turn out?

Episode 3 - "The Curse of the Black Spot"

Not well, that's how. Maybe it's just my bias against pirate/swashbuckling things (honest, I've yet to see any of the Pirates of the Caribbean films) or maybe because this episode was written by the guy who wrote the least popular episode of Steven Moffat's new Sherlock series (as I've been told, I've yet to watch the series myself). But, point being, I didn't like this episode, and go as far as saying it's the worst episode of Moffat's run since "Victory of the Daleks," also the the third episode from last season.

My problem starts with the opening, there's nothing carried over from the last episode. I get how series like this work, I've been a fan of Star Trek and Doctor Who for many years and know that not every episode has linked continuity. But when you have a cliffhanger like in last week's episode, you expect some follow up; and there is none, which make this episode feel all the more like a throw away.

Basically, there's a pirate ship in an undisclosed time and location, where a man accidentally gets cut and black spot appears on his hand, which brings in a whimsically haunting siren that makes the 'cursed' men disappear. And then the Doctor and the Ponds just show up. There's an attempt to make the story touching, with the captain and his stow away son, but in the end of it all I just didn't care. And, it turns out she's not some evil siren, she's a trans-dimensional.. nurse? Yeah, I thought it was stupid too.

And in the end the pirates have a space ship. I thought this was ridiculous, and that's coming from a guy who watched Zardoz for the 5th time earlier today as well as the Fringe finale. I've also done alot of rewatching of old Doctor Who lately, and for bit, I just wished I spent the 45 minutes of this episode watch those instead. Alas, next week is Neil Gaiman's episode, hopefully that proves to be better, cause right now I'm not feeling it.

Overall Score: 6/10

This Week in Fringe - 5/6/11

After many hiatuses and thoughts of cancellation, we've finally made it to the season (yes, not series!) finale.

Episode 22 - "The Day We Died"

Zach says: It picks up right where the last episode left things, with Peter in the future, 2026. However, he doesn't really remember he's from the past, so things progress in this future time period as they normally would, and while some things are nice, like Peter and Olivia being happily married, other things aren't looking too bright.

As it turns out, when Peter got in that machine all those years ago, or last episode, he ended up destroying the other universe; oopsies. Walter was blamed and sent to prison, and basically everything else stayed the same; Broyles became a senator and Olivia became the head of Fringe and everyone is happy, except for the Walters. Apparently, Walternate escaped from the other universe and has plans to do to this universe what Peter did to his; namely destroy it.

Needless to say, bad things happen, but, we learn one new, crucial, crazy, piece of information, in that Walter was the one to create the machine. Through some research, Walter learns that he was the one to send the pieces of the machine back through time, and he tells Peter that this has already been done and cannot be undone, but Peter can change his past decisions and the outcome of the future and the universes.

It's a bit of a crazy idea, but sure, why not. Then come the end of the episode, Peter is sent back to the past, to when he entered the machine, now with the knowledge of the future and what needs to be done. He uses the machine to combine the two universes, or at least a part of it, bringing together both labs were the machines are held, along with the Walters and Olivias. Peter explains the future and tells them they need to cooperate to change the future and fix the world.

Waltnerate is still pretty pissed, so I don't know how things are going to turn out, but this seems like it will be the premise of the next season. Will they be able to work together? Will they be able to fix the universes? I guess we'll have to wait and see. Oh, and Peter might be gone forever. Kind of hard to say, but yeah. He "served his purpose," bringing the two groups together, and that may be all there is to it for him.
Zach's Score: 8/10

JDW says: I'm a fan of time travel. I enjoy the Terminator films, Doctor Who, Quantum Leap, and many of my favorite Star Trek episodes and films deal with time travel. So to say I was excited where Fringe was going after last week's cliffhanger would be an understatement. The seemingly post-apocalyptic setting, the possibility that Peter could return to the past knowing what he see's in the future, the possibilities made me tingle. But then the episode started...

At first it was confusing, because it was as if Peter had no recollection of the past at all, he was just back to what his 2026 self would call normal. And much like seeing the alternate universe for the first time, I liked analyzing everything in the frame, picking out little details about what made this world different. I enjoyed seeing the parallels of future Walter and Walter from when we first saw him in the series opener. Or how Walternate goes from bitter, to bitterer murderer. Or how Olivia was never killed by that guy she said she knew was going to kill her (seriously, now that just makes that semi-waful LSD episode a complete waste), you know, till Walternate shot her in the head...

Nice to see the Observers again though; and I can swear I saw one that wasn't white, so that's cool. But who knows what this all means. If this actually turned out to be the series finale (i.e. the show was not renewed for a fourth season) it would've probably been more interesting to watch, as we'd be left to speculate what it all meant. Of course we can still speculate, but at least we can hope that the next season makes it all clear. I can wait till then I suppose...
JDW's Score: 9/10

Overall Score: 8.5/10

Missed the episode? Watch it on Hulu

This Week in Doctor Who: 4/30/11

Following up from last week's episode, comes another This Week in Doctor Who. Spoilers!

Episode 2 - "Day of the Moon"

Last week's episode ended with an abrupt cliffhanger, of Amy shooting at the mysterious astronaut girl, the Doctor still unaware of who sent the envelopes, and the Silence coming after everyone. So it was really weird when this episode opens up to Canton Everett Delaware the Third going about chasing Amy, River, and Rory who are all covered up with (and by the end of the episode, still unexplained) tally marks written all over their bodies. All of this which leads to a bearded Doctor who has been in captivity at Area 51. The sequences are cool and all, but there is seriously zero explanation for all of it, which really bugged me.

They try to make a point of explaining the severity of how the Silence make you forget you ever saw them, but it just gets more and more convoluted and the way they finally have everyone on Earth take notice of them by the end of the episode is even more questionable, as opposed to "The Eleventh Hour," when the Doctor sends out a photo of Prisoner Zero to everyone in the universe, this episode takes place in 1969... how the hell did get a cellphone video to transmit data to everyones TV?! I get that there's alot of timey-wimey fiction involved, but like... that cellphone lasted THREE MONTHS without needing to recharge. How does that work?

As fun as the episode was though, and there are not only fun, but really touching and also really scary parts, it didn't feel like the end of a two part episode. If anything, this story deserved a third part. Why? One, because for such a huge threat, they totally eradicated the Silence in a jiff. And two, the episode hasa HUGE cliffhanger of the little girl regenerating like a Time Lord. Is she River Song as a child? Is she the daughter of Amy and Rory? If so, how is she a Time Lord? Well, looks like we might not find out cause next week we're fighting PIRATES!!! Yeah, what the hell?

Overall Score: 8/10

This Week in Fringe - 4/29/11

Last episode before the season finale, and while it starts a bit slow, the ending makes for quite a finale to come. MEGASPOILERS

Episode 21 - "The Last Sam Weiss"

Zach says: More crazy events occur due to the machine, and Walter unwillingly pulls himself away from Peter to investigate and find a way to stop the events. Naturally, his cleverness does allow him to figure out a pattern to the events and find a solution.

Peter does wake up as well, although his mind is a bit fuzzy....I'm not surprised something was off about him after what had happened with the machine, so we'll see if that has any major impact in the future.

Sam and Olivia go to figure out how to turn off the machine and get Peter inside. They learn that not only is Peter attached to the machine, but so is Olivia; go figure. Apparently, she can use her telekinesis to turn the machine off. Naturally. We also learn that Sam's family have long been researching "The First People" and learning about the manuscripts of the machine, etc.

By the end of the episode, Peter gets in the machine, and then!!!!! He wakes up in the streets of New York and there are fires and the city is rioting or something and it doesn't look good. Peter also looks hurt, and some police officer recognizes him, because I guess he is an important person? And he might be in the future? I don't know, but the finale should be exciting.
Zach's Score: 8/10

JDW says: So I actually really liked this episode. I didn't like it at first, but when it finally got running and the use of the machine was reveal, I was giddy. For real. I mean, some of it bothers me; why is it called "The Last Sam Weiss"? It's not like he dies in the episode, and unlike my theory, that the machine opened a third universe where we then learn that Sam Weiss is some crazy universe hopper and is the last of his kind or some crap. But yeah, aside from that, the fact that in this crazy mystic box from a race of people we never even knew existed, theres a drawing of Olivia. I know this is a fictional show, but give me a break.

However, when Olivia gave Peter the go to enter the machine at the end, and it turned on, the sequence was kind of magical. And when he awoke in some post apocalyptic version of New York City (soon revealed to be sometime after September 11, 2021; where a new building has been erected at Ground Zero), I was really excited. In a way, it reminded me a lot of the cliffhanger ending from the Season 2 (and series) finale of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, where John Connor transport to the future, and no one knows who he is. Yeah, thanks for cancelling the show after that one, Fox!

So, for that reason alone I was excited, because if the show was canceled this season like we expected (it was thankfully renewed for a third season), I would have hated to have a repeated sequence like that. Thankfully, there's just one more episode, so unlike Terminator, we're at least getting some follow up of Peter's travels in the future before waiting a year for the next season.
JDW's Score: 9/10

Overall Score: 8.5/10

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This Week in Doctor Who - 4/23/11

The Doctor is back! And for the first time a new season is starting the same day in the US and UK (granted there's still a 6-9 hour difference depending on your time zone, but still). I almost got to see the first 2 episodes of Series 6 a couple weeks ago, but apparently arriving 10 hours in advance doesn't cut it like it did last year.

Episode 1 - "The Impossible Astronaut"

The episode seems to open some time after the previous specials "A Christmas Carol" and "Time and Space," as we see Amy and Rory have settled into a home of their own and it looks like the Doctor has been trying to get in contact with them throughout varies moments in time. But alas, none of this works until they receive a TARDIS-blue envelope with a specific date and time. Turns out River Song and two other mystery invitees also received these letters as well.

But what this all lead to? An astronaut emerging from a lake in Utah which shoots the Doctor, causing him to regenerate, only to shoot him again mid-regeneration, killing him. Yeah, that just happened; or did it? It turns out to be a Doctor from 200 years in the future, but as the Doctor says, time can be rewritten. Which somehow brings us to Washington DC with a run in with Nixon, and yadda yadda yadda. Oh and there's new monsters that look like gray aliens with skinny ties, the Silence, and in a oddly similar fashion to Weeping Angels, you have to keep looking at them because as soon as you turn around you forget you ever saw them. Point being, there's something big developing, and I really don't want to summarize, especially with there being a cliffhanger that I'll ultimately have to cover next week.

But overall, this was a fantastic season opener. I'm still a bit particular to "The Eleventh Hour," last years opening and Matt Smith's first episode, but I think that's because it was a completed story. Where as this episode is a two-parter, but split over 2 weeks, and I hate when a cliffhanger is actually one that wants to make me see the next one right away; another reason to get upset about not getting into the premiere two weeks ago.... Can't wait for next week I guess!

Overall Score: 8.5/10

This Week in Fringe - 4/22/11

Things seem to be winding down for this season of Fringe, which means universes will be destroyed or saved. Let's see which happens first.

Episode 20 - "6:02 AM EST"

Zach says: Olivia is back in her body and everything seems to be progressing nicely for everyone, that is, until the universe starts collapsing. As we saw previously, Walternate got a blood sample from Peter's baby, and it appears he has used that to turn on the machine, which not only caused the standard universe's machine to power up, but also started creating vortexes that are destroying our Earth, similar to what had been happening in the alternate universe since Walter stole Peter.

Now, it is up to Fringe Division and Massive Dynamic to predict and contain these events. Peter however, thinks he can stop it altogether by interacting with the machine to turn it off. Well, that doesn't go over so well, oops.

We see a little bit of the parallel universe this episode, mostly in characters' motives and beliefs. We see that Walternate knows that destroying the other universe is quite tragic and he knows the weight of his decision, however, he is very firm in his choice. We also see that Fauxlivia doesn't agree at all with Walternate's decision, as she tries to cross universes to get Peter and stop the machine.

And the last of the events is with Sam Weiss, the bowling alley owner guy, who knows an invaluable amount about the machine, etc. He looks very concerned about what is happening, and approaches Olivia to get to the machine before it's too late.

So, it's not looking too good for the home team right now, but it seems as though there are forces on both sides working for them, so I'm sure they'll be able to turn it around quickly. Hopefully, next week's episode acts as a continuation from this week, as I would be very let down if the story diverged into some other part of the plot. But, like I said, the season is winding down with only a few episodes left, so I'll keep my fingers crossed that we get some kind of satisfying conclusion before the finale.
Zach' Score: 7.5/10

JDW says: To be specific, there's just TWO episodes left... and it seems like there's a alot to cover besides just "which world survives". My biggest gripe was that for an episode where I'm seeing that the end of our universe is imminent, I was really "feeling" it.

And why suddenly bring Sam Weiss into this with 3 episodes left? Where the hell has he been all season? And if he's that important than why haven't we seen him. I don't like be told a guy is important if I never actually see him doing anything. I know it's a nit-picky thing to complain about, but if a character is going to be central to the plot, at least have him on screen. I don't need another Walt. Hopefully the final 2 episodes have something better to offer.
JDW's Score: 7/10

Overall Score: 7.3/10

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This Week in Fringe - 4/15/11

Fringe is back from its hiatus, and the concern is that William Bell needs to find a new host to embody, as Olivia's mind can't take much more before she is lost forever. So, the premise is that the gang will take some drugs, and enter her mind to find her. I'm ok with the premise, but what happens when they're there is pretty f'ing weird. I'm sure Jared will have much more to say on this topic.

Episode 19 - "Lysergic Acid Diethylamide"

Zach says: Anyways, Olivia's subconscious has fled inside her mind to hide, and it is up to Peter, Walter, and Bell to find her. Luckily, Peter actually cares for her so he has a plan on where she would go to hide. But, the episode gets weird. For SOME crazy reason, the world turns cartoony, and the live action goes away. Now, I would suspect this is due to the fact that Leonard Nimoy, who plays William Bell, has like, retired, so they can't use him, but needed him, and this was the best they could come up with. Ummm, ok. Fine. But then, there are zombies, and when Peter finds Olivia and they don't need Bell, it switches back to live action, but then they go outside where Bell is and it's cartoon again. Shit be crazy. I think the WRITERS were the ones on LSD. Oh, and they totally ripped off Inception.

But, they find Olivia and she escapes, and mostly all is well. Olivia even got to confront her personal demons, and seems to be a stronger person because of it, being completely confident now. She isn't even bothered by the fact that she thinks she knows who will kill her. Not sure how she would know the future, but hey, could be interesting in future episodes to see if this guy makes an appearance.
Zach's Score: 7/10

JDW says: I'm crossed. I want to love this episode, but I really hate this episode. While the Inception like premise was a little... unoriginal? The idea behind it was cool. But.. well the best way I can talk about this would be Pros and Cons.

The Pros: Holy shit, Leonard Nimoy is back! If you're like me, you probably thought Olivia's awful Nimoy impression was a bit overdone and stupid for a show like Fringe, and I'm glad they finally dropped it in order to bring Nimoy out of his retirement just to add his voice. And despite totally ripping off Inception and kind of being out of place, the premise was cool. And lastly, Broyles on LSD was just fantastic! It was great seeing Lance Reddick step out of his usually stern and cold acting style.

The Cons: ... Where do I even start? As Zach said, presumably the reason why they went animated for Nimoy's on-screen appearance was because he retired, and while he may have been willing to phone in his voice, he probably was not willing to come in and do full on acting. But there in lies the problem: do it well or don't do it at all. I get that TV shows can't get a theatrical budget, but there's no excuse that a show from Fox and Warner Bros., companies that spend over $3 Million per episode of their fully animated programming, should look this awful. Seriously, I've seen better TV animation from Xavier: Renegade Angel, and at least that show's fun to watch. But the animation here was just awful, the designs were awful, the actual character animation was awful, and logistically/stylistically it was completely out of place from the rest of the series.

When Nimoy signed off in last season's finale, it was a wonderful episode and a really great representation of an actor's finale on-screen appearance before retirement. But all this episode did was undo all of that wonderful experience and leave was presumably is actually Nimoy's last appearance on Fringe as something utterly gross. I think I'd off at least accepted the animation premise if the entire inner-mind world was like that and was in an appealing style, but as the way it was last night was just embarrassing for everyone involved and watching. I wanted to love this episode, because of Nimoy's return and Broyle's LSD moments, but I just can't with the awful animated sequences.
JDW's Score: 6/10

Overall Score: 6.5/10

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