Today is the premiere of the much anticipated "I Am Legend" movie starring Will Smith. Paul Brownfield (L.A. Times) wrote an extensive article, "Francis Lawrence finds hope in the dystopia of 'I Am Legend'" in which he interviews the film's director, Francis Lawrence, and the film's screenwriter, Akiva Goldsman. It's worth reading.
Will Smith will portray Robert Neville for the third film adaptation of the 1954 Richard Matheson novel. Charleton Heston starred in the second film adaption called "The Omega Man" in 1971. The first film adaption was called "The Last Man on Earth" starring Vincent Price as Robert Morgan in 1964. Below is the full 90-minute movie in two parts.
Watching Vincent Price as Robert Morgan in this film is amazing. His performance isn't an over-the-top horror genre presentation, but it is subtle and filmed in almost a documentarian style. I think "The Last Man on Earth" is basically presented in three acts.
In act one, we watch as Morgan goes through his mundane yet bizarre daily routine. Vincent Price literally does not speak on screen for almost 30 minutes, but instead we hear him narrate. For me, this really seemed to hammer home the desolation and loneliness he's feeling as if we're simply hearing him think to himself. With no one around, who is he going to speak to after three years alone?
In act two, we flashback three years to the time before the plague is widespread. It's a happy life with Morgan, his wife and daughter, friends and co-workers. Sadly, we watch as Morgan endures the death of his daughter and wife. He buries his wife, and his worst fears are confirmed when she returns from the grave as a zombie-like vampire, or vampire-like zombie.
In the final act, we're back in the present as Morgan continues his work of clearing the city of pesky vampire zombies, block-by-block, while they hide from the sun. He has killed hundreds of them, and it is wearing on Morgan. Then, he spots a young woman during the day, the first person in three years.
I won't continue describing the end as a spoiler, but it's a twist ending as Vincent Price utters the namesake of the novel and new 2007 film, "I Am Legend."
Now, if you've just watched "Last Man On Earth," it may remind you of another vastly popular horror movie. Fours years later, in 1968, George Romero made his cult classic horror film "Night of the Living Dead" which has a similar unhappy ending.
"Into the Valley of Death" is the title of Sebastian Junger's latest investigative article in Vanity Fair magazine in which he follows the redeployment of Battle Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry (Airborne), 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, Task Force Rock, to Afghanistan's Korengal Valley.
Junger, an experienced war correspondent and author, reported on Battle company's previous deployment in Afghanistan and thought it would be a very good idea to simply document this recent deployment as a follow-up. Junger certainly has the experience to comment on the bigger picture of the power struggles and strategic decisions concerning Afghanistan. He weaves that big picture into the narrative of the compelling personal stories of the men of Battle company.
A strategic passage wanted by the Taliban and al-Qaeda, Afghanistan's Korengal Valley is among the deadliest pieces of terrain in the world for U.S. forces. One platoon is considered the tip of the American spear. Its men spend their days in a surreal combination of backbreaking labor—building outposts on rocky ridges—and deadly firefights, while they try to avoid the mistakes the Russians made. Sebastian Junger and photographer Tim Hetherington join the platoon's painfully slow advance, as its soldiers laugh, swear, and run for cover, never knowing which of them won't make it home.
One of things that compels me to comment on Junger's Vanity Fair article, "Into the Valley of Death," is that I share some of the opinions that Junger seems to bring up in his article. It's not just a domestic political partisan argument to say that the Bush administration redirected its focus to Iraq, at the expense of Afghanistan. That's a well documented fact. It's going to be a strategic foreign policy nightmare if Afghanistan becomes a failed state once again from inattention.
Not even going into the foolishness of Charlie Wilson's War and the blowback that became 9-11, we (the U.S.A.) then outsourced the overthrow of the Taliban to tribal leaders of the so-called Northern Alliance in contact with our CIA. And now we're outsourcing the reconstruction to our N.A.T.O. allies because Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld had their own ambitions for the future of Iraq since their first day at work in 2001. This outsourcing relieves Bush of direct responsibility for the outcome of his own decisions.
The other very obvious common sense point Junger makes in his article is that al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders are safe and sound and living in nearby Quetta, in Pakistan. Politicians and U.S. media tend to make things sound too complicated. It's over there in Central Asia, it's confusing. We spend a trillion dollars to accomplish nothing as long as no one takes any responsibliity.
We scattered al-Qaeda and Taliban, we didn't defeat them militarily or politically. They don't live in caves. They live in nice apartments in Quetta, Pakistan. Wahabbi extremists fly into Pakistan, train, and then deploy to Afghanistan and Iraq. They are funded by the same oil money that funded 9-11. It's a disconnect between elite political allies and the people of these countries. Bush and Musharraf may be dictator buddies, but that doesn't mean that people on the ground in each of their countries don't work constantly toward regime change.
Personal Stories
The other reason I recommend "Into the Valley of Death" to you is to check out the photography of Tim Hetherington. As I was reading Junger's article, I had Hetherington's portrait photographs of the men of Battle company in another window to put a face on the stories and I clicked back and forth ...
Other than my strategic ranting, I don't want to characterize or summarize the article. It's very well written. It's compelling, and I prefer you just click through and read it for yourself.
Yes, I actually watched the original Star Wars when it was released in theaters when I was a kid. And while I thought the movie was cool, I really never went through a Star Wars geekdom phase. Apparently, some people did and never let it go.
I remember seeing The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi in the 1980's, but I was too busy to be anything except temporarily amused by those films. Then, in 1999, one geeky friend took a gaggle of other geeky friends to the premiere night of The Phantom Menace.
Since I was there, I guess I was considered to be a geek too. To make matters worse, though, I was a dumb geek. I had to have the other geeks explain to me what I was about to see that night was the first in the series of the Star Wars films and the first three films that I could barely remember from the previous 20 years were actually episodes 4-6.
Well, even though I know most of the main characters, I'm still a little confused. I do know there aren't any Klingons in the universe of the Stars Wars epic. That's only because because I became a Star Trek: Next Generation geek. Engage!
Over the course of the unfortunate parking page incident recently, I used my JLC Internet TV to search for some mind candy since waiting for DNS servers to update at my ISP was the only option. I explored dozens of new channels and found a channel named "Science Fiction TV." So far as I can determine, this channel simply continously streams two Star Wars Fan Films at the moment.
Star Wars - Revelations
"Seers once shaped the path of the Jedi Order. But their visions grew unreliable and the Jedi came to distrust those with the ability. Seers hid their visions or left the Order forever. In the wake of the Temple's destruction a power struggle has emerged between Darth Vader, the Dark Lord of the Sith, and Zhanna, the Emperor's Hand. Each seek to eliminate the last of the Jedi and gain the Emperor's favor. Caught between them is one woman who cannot deny the truth of her visions as all race to possess an ancient Jedi secret."
I.M.P.S. (Imperial Military Personnel Stories) aims to show "the best damn job in the galaxy", that of serving on the Revenge class Star Destroyer Relentless as it goes on patrols and missions. The series is divided into chapters, with only one released to date.
Chapter 1: Davenport Gateway: The Relentless is introduced, and viewers join a patrol squad on their final assignment for the day. These are the soldiers tasked with cleaning up the dark streets and dangerous corridors of Davenport Gateway.
I have to say, I was really impressed with both of these short films. While one may be tempted to scoff at the costumes as nothing more than a YouTube video of any Comic Con weekend, the special effects were extremely impressive in both short films. The Relentless offers a little pop culture humor. I thought the Emperor's Hand was an interesting character development in Revelations, even though I thought she was played by Sandra Bernhard at first. Ready my ship! Whatev, bitch.
Space Shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to launch Thursday, December 6th, at 4:31 p.m. EST. The STS-122 mission will deliver the and install the European Space Agency (ESA) Columbus laboratory module (shown above) to the International Space Station (ISS).
I chose this image to show some perspective. What you are looking at is the ESA Columbus laboratory module loaded into the open payload bay of Space Shuttle Atlantis on the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center as three NASA technicians inspect the payload before the doors were closed yesterday.
The Columbus laboratory module is 23 feet long and 15 feet in diameter and can hold ten large racks of equipment for operations and science experiments. In addition to the Columbus laboratory module, the STS-122 mission will also deliver two unpressurized external scientific research platforms from the ESA, known as EuTEF and SOLAR.
Watch the Atlantis launch on Thursday via NASA TV. Pre-launch commentary will begin around 11:30 a.m. as the final preparations are being performed. If you haven't been to the NASA website in a while, you should check it out. It has just been redesigned and renovated this week.
Update: Saturday, December 8th
After resolving the glitches with the fuel sensors in the main liquid hydrogen tank, Atlantis has now been cleared for a launch attempt on Sunday, December 9th at 3:21 p.m. local time.
During tanking operations this morning, an engine cut off sensor inside the main tanked failed to work properly and this afternoon's launch was scrubbed. The next opportunity for STS-122 launch will be no earlier than January 2nd, 2008. During a post-mission press briefing held today at 10:00 a.m., NASA officials expressed obvious disappointment mixed with the optimism that the longer delay will give NASA troubleshooting teams the time it will take to understand and resolve the problem.
A team will report a plan of troubleshooting activities this Tuesday. It is not expected at this time that any troubleshooting plan of action will cause Atlantis to have to be rolled back to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB).
The next shuttle mission is scheduled for launch in February, so a January launch for STS-122 will not negatively affect the overall schedule of construction activities on the International Space Station (ISS). The crew of Atlantis will come out of quarantine and go back to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas until Atlantis is ready for launch.
I just found joyoftech! I'm such a n00b. It is a webcomic that you may need a high level geekiness to find humorous. This means you.
I like how they have a poll attached to each comic, too. The poll for this comic asked, "What you would do with your own Google Android?" I know what I would do.
I can't wait for December to be history. Yeah, I don't do the holidaze ... but really I just want January to be here so I can watch the Sarah Conner Chronicles. I'm warning all of you, now. This show better not suck.
Speaking of things Terminator, I think we're closer to that dystopian future than most people realize. I'd say we're about halfway there technologically, but because knowledge and innovation seem to progress exponentially, the relatively short time it will take will surprise us.
To me, halfway there means that humans are still involved at the present time. Robots are used in hazardous environments under the direction of humans. The Mars Rovers are one example. Deep-sea mini-subs, pilotless military aircraft, and little bomb disposal robots are other examples.
