Frankenstein (TV 2007)

I watched a movie for television called Frankenstein(2007) clearly based on the novel by Mary Shelley who wrote her story in the early 1800s. I was hesitant to watch yet another movie about Frankenstein, but this was surprisingly interesting and I enjoyed the acting of Helen McCrory who played a scientist interested in stem cell research and grieving over the death of her son. The movie more or less follows the theme of the novel that there can be unintended consequences that come with experimentation and new procedures. I liked the movie, it was fun, but I think I liked the movie because I enjoyed the novel and was comparing and remembering the written story. Sometimes no matter what you do, there is no substitute for the imagery of a well written novel.

Musings about T´Pol of Star Trek:Enterprise

When I think of the television show Star Trek: Enterprise, I think of my favorite character T´Pol who was the Vulcan science officer. I did enjoy this series of Star Trek even though it was a prequel set 100 years before the Original Series of Star Trek. I usually do not like prequels and this series had problems, in my personal opinion, in the third season but the fourth season explained some differences between TOS and TNG such as the Eugenics Wars as well as the different appearance of the Klingons between these very same series. In Enterprise, my favorite character was T´Pol because she was a strong, smart, yet feminine character, who felt torn between two worlds. She remained loyal to her Vulcan heritage and the suppression of emotion, duty to logic, duty to science, and tradition, and on the other hand, she was very curious about humans and their lack of logic at times, impulsiveness, and willingness to take chances.
I was pleased to read an interview will Jolene Blalock who played T´Pol and her interesting comments:

A science fiction fan from her childhood days, Jolene Blalock loves playing roles in the sci-fi/fantasy genre.Part of the attraction of sci-fi and fantasy, for Blalock, is that it makes people think beyond the ordinary.“Well, sci-fi/fantasy is always going to attract me, because it’s something that’s special to my heart,” said Blalock. “Growing up, I grew up on the original Star Trek. Also, when I was in sixth grade, I would come home from school and watch the Star Wars trilogy back to back every day for the entire year. It’s something that brings humanity outside of itself. It makes us think outside of ourselves, it presents the question what if, what if we could jump the timeline, what if we could meet another intelligent species, what if we could colonize on another planet. It deals with very big ideas, so sci-fi/fantasy, you can do [anything].:As T’Pol, Blalock enjoyed her character’s effect on the men on the Enterprise. “I enjoyed her ability to suck the air out of a room,” said Blalock. “I enjoyed her, what I mean is, the boys could be having their boys moments and she would walk in and all the air would just be sucked out of the room. I enjoyed that. And she didn’t have to say anything. I loved her inability to take a joke. Or to get a joke.”T’Pol had something in common with Blalock’s Sister Nicci character from Legend of the Seeker, both were strong characters without sacrificing femininity. “”I enjoy every role that I take, for different reasons,” said Blalock. “Effeminate, I feel that T’Pol was quite feminine in her own right, and I feel that all of my characters have been quite feminine. They’ve been strong females.”

Link.

I love what she has to say on the subject of scifi/fantasy in that we can think outside of the ordinary such as what we would do if we met a sentient alien being, or how would we react if we could travel in space for long periods of time, how would we treat each other and alien races? These are the types of questions I muse on because even though it might be a science fiction novel or movie, it relates to everyday life, and we can learn that our attitudes and behavior do have real world consequences.
On another note, I enjoyed seeing Blalock in Stargate Sg1 and Starship Troopers 3!

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Sci Fi Remakes, Why?

I found a video that talks about Hollywood remakes of classic science fiction movies, specifically for the year 2009. I think the studios do remakes because of budget constraints and the idea that if it worked once it will be good again with new technology applied into it. I hope that since most movies are being made with lower budgets due to the economic times, being made outside Hollywood, and in other countries, just maybe there will be original scripts written or movies made from current science fiction literature. I hope so because sometimes the original is the best and no matter how fancy the new version, the original cannot be beat, besides, I would like some fresh stories that make me think, I guess I want too much!