Marathon over...almost

I have just about completed my marathon rewatch of Babylon 5. The pilot, all five seasons and most of the movies. I only have Call to Arms and the series Crusade left. What is apparent is just how well the show still stands up today. Beautifully plotted and structured. It is as good as anything on TV today.

I have seen some films I missed at the cinema and have been pleasantly surprised by some and disappointed by others. Transformers 2 was not good. Jive talking robots, no plot and too long. Underworld: Rise of the Lycans was much better than expected for a third film in a series. It joins the first two on my list of guilty pleasures. Great production design as well. Thirst was good in parts, bonkers in others and just didn't really hold that well together. A shame, because I loved Old Boy from the same director. Terminator: Salvation was better than I had anticipated. Not as good as the first two (what is?), but a creditable effort that was entertaining and had some nice nods to the other films. Pandorum was predictable and had borrowed from half a dozen other SF films, but had a charm and an effective ending. I just wish film editors in action sequences weren't trying to cater for ADHD sufferers. Up, as you would expect from a Pixar flick was excellent. Although it was rather sad in the way it depicted loss and death. Australia. Mmm. Campy acting. Trying to be epic and failing. Was this a romance, an epic, an action movie or an adventure film? It couldn't seem to make it's mind up. And it just felt flat. I like Nicole Kidman as an actress, but what sort of performance was this? Comedy? I just didn't find the character believable.

I have just finished Kate Wilhelm's Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang. What a lovely, thoughtful and poignant SF novel. Well worth a look. I have read The Day of the Triffids for the first time and realised why it is so influential. You can see where films like 28 Days Later and so on got their plots from. A well written and effective novel. Need to read some more Wyndham now.