You know things aren't quite right when the first few sentences of a
commentary track have the director stating that he came into the Scifi
Channel with another idea and they handed him this one instead. Alien
Seige, which aired in 2005 on Scifi, suffers from a lot of
things, mostly a lack of budget really.
Set in a world where an alien race is forcing earth to give up millions
of humans (and their blood) to cure a disease, the made for TV movie
does not track any new ground. We've seen this kind of thing before, but
the affects are ok and it does keep you fairly interested with a few
battles and some interesting plot turns.
Unfortunately, a big turnoff is the lack of alien character design, and when we say a lack
what we mean to say is there isn't any. The aliens look and act like humans except
for a round dot on the side of their heads which is a glorified walkie-talkie. Apparently
they have seen Star Trek but the device didn't feel comfortable on their chests or
something. They say acting is done 99% with the face. If so, this choice
is 99% wrong.
The movie revolves around a father trying to rescue his daughter from the
aliens, but doesn't carry any emotional weight. The human race is being harvested
and the acting implies a sense of urgency on level with running out of milk at
the supermarket. The actors aren't emotionally vested in this production so
it is really hard for the viewer to not follow that trend. DVD is available
now at all major outlets and Amazon.com. Paraseek gives
Alien Seige a 1 out of 5 (official site).
BANNED SAW TAPE SURFACES
When we watched Saw 3, we were confused emotionally. Was this
something we should be watching? At times we felt as though we should
hide in a corner and call the police. The twisting rack was just too
much and, whoa, well we are still freaked out.
Now Saw 4's trailer is banned from Comic Com and in the words of
several reviewers, we want to know WTF is on that tape, besides of
course JigSaw's brains coming out in full view. We won't ruin it
for you more, but the full trailer is up finally at
saw4.com.
We do hope the premise is better than version 3 which was more
about the traps and less about the acting. We'll have to see.
Regardless, we are freaked out already. And we can't look away...WTF.
GALACTICA NOT ENDING TILL 2009? FRAK THAT!
News has leaked out via some of the cast that the SCIFI CHANNEL is mulling over plans to show
just 10 episodes of the last season of Battlestar in 2008 and then make fans
wait another year to see the concluding 10. This would be over a two year wait
for one season of television, basically screwing fans who thought SCIFI had
negotiated a 20 episode season. If this holds true it means SCIFI really
just negotiated 2 ten episode seasons and didn't even tell the cast or the
producers till after.
We have it on good authority that a number of the cast are ripped about
this as it is not fair to fans nor the series. Meanwhile Flash Gordon gets
a 22 episode pickup based on nothing. Does SCIFI (or NBC) even know who their
fanbase is anymore...do not put up with this.
FARSCAPE TO GET REVIVAL, SORT OF
The Henson company was kicked in the balls with the cancellation of one
of the top 5 science ficton shows of all time, Farscape. Now it appears
they may be returning to take their balls back. The SCIFI channel has
ordered 10 3-5 minute webisodes made by the original producers. No
news on whether any of the original cast is signed up, but it is good
timing seeing that half of the cast was on SG1 and that is cancelled.
Our advice for SCIFI, stop messing around. Make this revival real and
order a real movie or a mini-series. Cause you didn't spend your money
on Flash Gordon, that's for sure.
MXC Is Like Rock Candy, Right You Are Ken
We recently got our hands on the 13 episode season-two set of MXC (Spike's Most Extreme Elimination
Challenge). Sure we had seen all the episodes before, but this show is just
so damn good, it feels like new. Harkening back to a time when I was held up in a
temporary apartment, waiting for my family's new house to be built, it holds a
special, messed up place in this reviewer's heart as the only thing that kept me alive. Like
Mystery Science Theater, it just has that certain something.
Not one minute of this set is to be missed, or for that fact not watched 12 times.
But the best parts are the extras. A complete original episode of "Takeshi's
Castle" (the overseas reality show MXC was based on) shows that the original was
just as funny as the dubbed version. Kenny and Vic, we barely knew ya! A much
too short feature is also added on the making of the show (which by the way is
made entirely in a room the size of our office kitchen). Longer is better, but
it was great to see the voice actors. We know 10 years from now you will say "Hey,
remember that show, I wish I could watch it one more time." Don't pass on these
DVD's. We dare you to not pee your pants during the horse racing segments.
A storming LET'S GO review of four out of five. (more info and ordering)
Paraseek's Call to Scrap Mummy 3
Without a doubt the Mummy franchise (if you can call it that) has been
laced with perfection. Yes they went to the well for a sequel, but
did it perfectly. It has been the casts' view that there should never
be another unless the script was perfect.
The recent news that Rachel Weisz has jumped ship due to script issues
raises a red flag. And that flag is pushed higher with the news the
script may revolve around yet another shape shifting mummy. Why? Why
do we need to have a mummy in this sequal at all? Can't the series
evolve? Apparently not. We would love it if this turned out to be
great, but the cards are falling and fast. It may be time to pull
the plug. We've waited this long, stop and revamp before it is too
late.
Caprica Shelved
Let's give SCIFI credit, a 22 episode renewal of Battlestar, even
though we have to wait till 2008 (uggghh) is a step in the right
direction. But why embarass Ronald Moore and crew with a 13 episode
pickup only a few days before.
Furthermore, the need to spend money on a two-hour Pegasus movie (even
though we would love to see this) is money that should have been
allocated to a pilot for Caprica. We may never get to see the first
cyclon war, the rise of the Adamas or Ron's true vision.
Looking Glass Wars Redefines Wonderland
What does it take to get on the bad side of the Lewis Carroll Society? Well...quite
a bit but when they get mad watch out. Read on for some interesting
tid-bits as we sit down with Looking Glass Wars author Frank Beddor
and discus sporks and mirrors. Very very cool (...continued).
Welcome to THE NEW WIRE! (logo design contest)
In our quest to cover all media out there related to scifi, paranormal,
horror or genre, we've launched this brand new extension of ParaSEEK exclusively
devoted to media coverage and to making certain that our carpo-tunnel progresses. Over
the next few months you will see continued divergance, as ParaSEEK takes
a tighter focus on paranormal studies and ParaWIRE handles the rest. Be
patient, our medication is on back order!
But we need your help. See that logo up there? We want the WIRE to have
something new. So if your an artist who wants exposure contact us.
Yeah, we'll give ya some goodies too.
Our Theory On Lost Holds as 2nd Cast Member Dies
Usually you don't stand up and cheer (and do a dance in your PJ's) when a major
character gets whacked from one of your favorite shows, but when you're
trying to crack the lost code and you think you're winning, time for
a little partying. See why we think we've got Lost at least partially
figured out.
Pretend You're Us, Only Tiny Lawsuits, Promise!
For the first time we've got our official press cap for sale. It's the
same cap we wear to the conventions and to media events to prove that we do indeed have too
much time on our hands. You can too...check out the logo store for this
and other stuff. Look totally hot like us :)
Our Staff Proud of TAPS New Season
A few weeks ago we wrote a piece hoping and praying that the powers that
be on the Scifi Channel would not opt to change the format of Ghost Hunters.
The fear was that because of ratings the editors of the show would do
everything to make sure as much happened in the show as possible, aka ghosts
popping out of every wall.
We are utterly pleased that TAPS has stayed true to form with many episodes
coming up with Zero evidence. There is no tricky editing. And we are
seeing quality up to par with season one. This show is truely about how
to investigate ghosts NOT about showing them on camera at all costs. TAPS
goes out of its way to debunk all case first, a philosophy shared with this
website. It is clear that when this show was conceived TAPS went to the
producers and said its our way or the highway. And their way works. If
your not watching you should be. Now if we just can get the 25-or-so Tripping
the Rift commercials per episode off we would be golden. Check out our archive for previous pieces.
Star Wars DVDs..You Buy Em, We Won't
With episode 3 coming out soon, looking great btw, thought we would
tackle a touchy subject in our opinion, the Star Wars DVD releases.
As you may or may not know the DVDs are riddled with errors and frankly
because of this the Paraseek staff won't view them or buy them. Not
because they have errors, what version of SW doesn't? But because of
the fact Lucasfilm maintains that the errors were done on purpose as
if they are trying to use a Jedi mind trick on us. After buying two
versions of the movies already, sorry we're immune. If the powers that be
at Lucas are so perfect, then why does the French release of the DVDs
not contain the same errors? Its simple really, little attempt was made
to get things right this time around.
The main point of issue is the washed out Force battle music
as the tie fighters sweep down in Ep 4. It sounds like a computer
choked through a conversion process and no one noticed. See this website
where you can hear the error and see all the changes to ep 4. Pretty
cool site.
Our theory (and we have been wrong and RIGHT before): Lucasfilm had
no intension of releasing a stable version here. During the last
few years people were screaming for these DVDs and all we heard from
Lucasfilm was that they did not have time to focus on these DVDs. To
do them right, they would tackle them AFTER the prequel. Then
suddenly from out of no where the DVDs are released.
It is pretty good bet that someone in accounting spoke up, "hey, let's
just put out a prelim DVD edition. Then when
all the movies are finished we can go back and release all 6 in a
final edition." After all you have bought these moves 3 times
already, and you will again. They are right. The creation of these
DVDs and the result is yet another ILM experiment. I guarentee in
3-4 years we'll have another version out, this time more expensive
with all six films in tow, complete with new sound mixes, edits and
likely CGI fixes for Jar Jar as well.
To each is own. As for us, we'll suffer through the video tapes
for a while.
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