Grizzly Man

Plot: Werner Herzog presents a documentary detailing the life of Timothy Treadwell, a man that spent 13 years living amongst Grizzly Bears.

I suppose there's two things to cover here. Treadwell himself and Herzog's documentary.

It's clear that Treadwell had a troubled past. Drugs and alcohol supposedly leaving him to suffer a near fatal overdose. It's not a stretch to assume that this may have caused some form of mental break down, requiring him to leave the evils of society that had hurt him in such a way. He finds solace in the wild, companionship and friendship from the bears. A unique connection that no one else on the planet could experience, which is something I feel drove him to continue returning to the Bear Sanctuary year after year.

It's remarkable that he lasted through 13 summers in the way that he did, though I feel that this was more through luck than any great judgement. Treadwell seemingly meant to leave the bears earlier in this final summer, like he did in the years before. An altercation at the airport led him to return to spend extra time at the end of the season. Seemingly this was the most dangerous time as desperate and hungry bears were more abundant as food became scarce. His death is made to seem inevitable by many people in the documentary, but it seems to me that had he followed his usual pattern, he may still be visiting the bears today.

Although it is important to consider that he carried a dark side with him. The curse-laden rant is a clear example of the fact that he could become very negative at times. Negative against the world that had hurt him, certainly, but it's not to say that negativity towards the natural but imperfect actions of the animals around him wouldn't eventually lead him to do something stupid.

I didn't know much of Timothy Treadwell before this documentary, but he was certainly shown to be a unique and fascinating individual. Whether he was right or wrong to do what he did, he did it with a conviction and died doing what he loved.

Herzog's documentary is put together well to really let the audience connect with the person. It's a unique documentary because it's rare that a person would leave so much of themselves on film, creating a character of themselves that could later be cut and edited as a character to suit a biographical narrative. Herzog clearly treats this with respect, showing a deep range of the character's emotions and his soul, as well as the extraordinary beauty that the character managed to capture.

Interspersed between the camera footage are interviews with Treadwell's friends and family. Here, Herzog allows the audience to get a sense of the effect that Treadwell had on the people's world around him. How people talk of him with God-like reverence, grand speculation and sad disdain.

Herzog subtly gives his conclusions, but not in a way that interfered with the audience's own and that's a real gift in documentary film-making.

Death Proof / Planet Terror

I'll get this out of the way now, since I find the Grindhouse 'play them together/separate' debate ____ing tedious. Grindhouse was split in two for the UK release, with both films enjoying separate and extended releases a couple of months apart. So I saw Death Proof on DVD a couple of months ago, and watched Planet Terror last night.

I've slated Quentin Tarantino in the past for being an unoriginal hack. In this case, I think he really hit the nail on the head and produced the smarter, funnier and more entertaining of the two films. Snappy dialogue was employed to great effect, letting the plot build on two occasions to a climactic scene. A little unorthodox to utilise two completely different casts, but it's been done before to a similarly good standard, such as in Chungking Express. Indeed, it's typical of Tarantino to reference other work in this way.


Planet Terror on the other hand suffers from having too many characters to develop within the first 45 minutes before the action really starts. Four concurrent plots is a bit much and makes the film loose, rather than tense and claustrophobic, like it should've been. When the action does start, it's very satisfying. Freddy Rodriguez as Wray is a true, badass Grindhouse star, secret past and all. He, with Sheriff Hague, works to really end some zombies, as blood, flesh and bones fly. There's plenty of gut munching goodness and then there's Cherry.

I guess the thing that you know going in to Planet Terror is that a chick ends up with a machine gun for a leg. I thought it sounded pretty cringeworthy, but it works impressively well to add to a frantic, and explosive climax to the film.

Stylistically, both films work well, with scratched, dusty, broken and even missing film stock creating that effect of an overused and poorly kept film in a run down theatre. Again, I'd say that Death Proof used the effect more subtly and with greater results.

I get the feeling that this kind of thing might be tried again. I just hope that directors and producers remember that re-creating quick and dirty shock cinema doesn't have to be at the expense of good film making techniques. Keep it simple and keep it fun.

Death Proof: 7 out of 10 / Planet Terror: 6 out of 10

Demons

Stargate SG-1 Season 3 Episode 8 - Plot: SG-1 encounters a Christian civilisation that is being terrorised by an Unas under the command of Sokar.

Playing Devil

As SG-1 speculates that a Goa'uld is playing God, they discover that the village Canon is sacrificing villagers to the Unas, posing as a satanic demon. The Unas is doing the bidding of Sokar, who is in this case posing as the devil. SG-1 offer to assist the villagers, but the Canon believes that Teal'c is possessed by a demon and submits him to a witchcraft test.

The Tests

Teal'c is first submitted to the 'Mark of the Devil' test, in which a part of his body believed to have been marked by the devil is tested. The belief is that if it has been marked by the devil then it should feel no pain. Teal'c fails this as the Canon burns his brand with a red hot poker, but feels no pain. Next he is submitted to a drowning test, in which he is tied to a rock and thrown in to a river. If he floats then he will be considered a demon, if he sinks then he will drown in an honourable Christian death.

Teal'c drowns and is cleared of being a demon. As SG-1 mourns his death, he rises during the burial ceremony. He reveals that he entered a meditative state and allowed his symbiote to breathe for him to survive.

Sacrificed

SG-1 are sacrificed to the Unas following this, but they are able to get the upper hand on him with the help of a villager, Simon. Simon mortally wounds the Unas, but its parasite escapes in to the Canon. Sam is able to detect his presence and SG-1 quickly dispatch him, leaving Simon to bury the Gate upon their departure.


The Review

It's curious that this is the kind of episode that I crave as a fan of SG-1, but so often they don't deliver. This is certainly the team at their best, out exploring the galaxy, discovering new cultures and helping them to better themselves. There's no need to worry about military politics, IOA interference or any of that stuff, just honest to goodness exploration.

So it's a shame when it doesn't quite come off, such as in the case of this. Teal'c's witchcraft trial felt rather tagged on and it was patently obvious that he was going to rise from the dead at some point. The fact that there were only two trials made the concept feel yet more shallow. The Unas' appearances were bookended and negated any possibility of some decent action, except for when Simon shoots him three times with a staff weapon.

Simon was played by David McNally, he starred previously in SG-1 in the episode 'Cor-Ai', in which Teal'c is put on trial for his crimes as a Jaffa. He also starred in one of my favourite episodes of Atlantis, 'Epiphany'. That's the one where Sheppard falls in to a time dilation field on a planet.

Jack kept the humour going throughout the episode to good effect, the Christianity puns and references were appreciated in particular. Still, it wasn't enough to save a poorly executed and somewhat dull episode.

6 out of 10

Deadman Switch

Stargate SG-1 Season 3 Episode 7 - Plot: SG-1 are taken captive by a Bounty Hunter. They are offered their freedom in exchange for their assistance in capturing a Goa'uld.

Aris Boch

The Bounty Hunter is a man named Aris Boch (Sam J. Jones). He claims he is from a race that was immune to being taken as a host by the Goa'uld. Sam is excited by the possibilities of such an immunity, but Aris tells them that the Goa'uld simply wiped out his race instead. We find out later that the Goa'uld enslaved Aris' people by lacing their water supply with an addictive substance.

A Goa'uld?

While Aris keeps Sam hostage, Jack, Teal'c and Daniel go to attempt to capture the Goa'uld. Problem is, he turns out to be a Tok'ra, that has recently gone on the run having been found as a spy by Sokar. The Tok'ra is Korra and he, along with SG-1 are unwilling to let him fall in to the hands of a System Lord, who may compel him to reveal sensitive information. Aris cannot return to Sokar empty-handed, so Teal'c offers to take Korra's place.

A Change of Heart

As Aris takes Teal'c away, he asks more questions about the Tok'ra and Earth's fight against the System Lord. He has a change of heart and makes his ship self destruct as he and Teal'c escape away in escape pods. Clearly, news of the Tok'ra and their fight with StarGate Command against the System Lords has given him hope of a future without them.

SG-1's Value

During their capture, Aris explains SG-1's value to a System Lord. Teal'c is obviously the most value, as they'd like to make an example of him to other would-be traitors. Sam is next as she contains the memories of Jolinar. After that is Jack for being a pain in the 'nikta' (which doesn't stand for neck). Finally, Aris says that Daniel is probably worth about a day's rations. Daniel is understandably perturbed by this.

However, Aris later reveals that Daniel is actually worth a lot more because he's the one that figured out how to use the StarGate in the first place. That news doesn't make him feel much better.

The Review

Well this was very enjoyable. Sam J. Jones was excellent as Aris, a funny, larger than life character. Probably the best thing is that he is, of course, Flash Gordon from the 1980 film. It took me ages to place him, he's certainly pretty well built now. They could've cast him as Marv in Sin City, they probably wouldn't have needed all the make-up they needed for Mickey Rourke to fulfill the role!

I thought the episode was being set up for a two-parter, with Aris taking Teal'c away to Sokar at the end of this episode, SG-1 would find a way to free him in the next. Still, it was quite a satisfying end, thanks mostly to a really classy shot where we see Aris ship flying off in to the distance behind Sam and Jack (see above). It then explodes and we see the two escape pods flying back down to the ground. Great effect and well produced.

So yeah, good fun!

8 out of 10

Point of View

Stargate SG-1 Season 3 Episode 6 - Plot: Alternate reality versions of Samantha Carter and Charles Kawalsky use the Quantum Mirror to travel to this reality in order to find refuge from a Goa'uld attack.

Alternates

The alternates arrive through the Quantum Mirror in to Area 51. There are some key differences. Firstly, Carter never joined the Air Force and is part of the StarGate programme as a Doctor. It seems that she fulfilled Daniel's role in figuring out how to use the Gate. This probably explains how Kawalsky is still alive. If Daniel didn't go on the Abydos mission then he didn't stay for a year and didn't set the events the led to SG-1 travelling to Chulak and meeting Teal'c. Thus, Kawalsky never got infested by a Goa'uld symbiote.

In the alternate reality, Sam and Jack were married. It's once again shown that they could easily be an item, if only they didn't have things like rank in the way. Alternate Jack died fighting the Goa'uld attack, led by Apophis.

Having two Carters in the same reality begins to cause problems, as alternate Carter suffers from entropic cascade. Following this, SG-1 works to plan an assault on the alternate reality's SG-C in order to oust Apophis, his First Prime Teal'c and the rest of the Jaffa by contacting the Asgard.

The Assault

The assault goes well, as Teal'c removes his alternate and takes his place as First Prime. He's able to stop the torture of General Hammond by Apophis and creates sufficient distraction for alternate Sam to go through the Gate to the Asgard homeworld.

Meanwhile, Daniel is captured by the Jaffa midway through using the Quantum Mirror's remote to find the correct reality. Jack and Teal'c surrender to save his life, but they are all in danger of being killed by Apophis, until the Asgard show up at the last minute.

Teal'c and Daniel travel back, as Jack and alternate Sam share a goodbye kiss.

The Review

Ah, the wonder of possibilities. I love these episodes, where we see what could've been and what could be. Much like the Atlantis season 4 finale, which I've just reviewed.

It's always good to see Kawalsky, this is the last time we'll see him until Moebius though. Alternate Sam was interesting. Much the same, but also subtly different. She gives our Sam a very frosty reception due to the fact that she joined the military. Her struggles with Jack's death in her reality are compounded by coming face to face with our Jack. He does well in a very difficult position and I'm sure he managed to help her through the problem.

I thought the set up of the episode worked well. The first half being taken up with the implications of the alternates arriving from their reality, whilst the second half showed the assault on the Goa'uld. Neither part really dragged on longer than it needed to and the development of an action sequence helped to keep it fresh and fun.

8 out of 10

The Last Man

Stargate Atlantis Season 4 Episode 20 (Finale) - Plot: Sheppard attempts to gate back to Atlantis, but his wormhole is intercepted by a solar flare, causing him to be sent 48,000 years in to the future. There, he is greeted by a hologram of Rodney McKay, who tells of the disastrous events that followed his disappearance.

The Future

Sheppard arrives on Atlantis, but finds that the base had been abandoned and the ocean has been evaporated by the planet's star, which has become a red giant. The Rodney hologram shows him as being somewhat aged and begins to recall the fates of the Atlantis team as they travel to the stasis chamber. Rodney's plan is to put Sheppard in to stasis until another solar event occurs that will be able to send him back to within two months of his disappearance.

Teyla and Michael

Teyla has her baby and Michael is able to use it to complete his research in to the Human/Wraith hybrid. The Atlantis team eventually find Teyla dead, but McKay intends to send Sheppard back with her location in order to help the team find her faster. With his research complete, Michael is able to effectively cut off the Wraith's food supply, leading to intense fighting between them. The Wraith eventually fall and Michael sets about converting more humans to hybrids, bringing the strong in to his fold and exterminating the weak.

Sam Carter

Sam manages to encourage the Air Force to build a new battle cruiser for her to fight Michael's forces. The Phoenix is instrumental in allowing her to fight a guerrilla war against Michael. She is eventually killed in an ambush, the ship destroyed.

Ronon

Ronon leaves Atlantis to form a militia group to battle Michael. After a number of victories, he is killed in action with Todd during the destruction of one of Michael's laboratories.

McKay and Keller

Rodney and Jennifer eventually leave Atlantis after Richard Woolsey (Robert Picardo) is put in charge of the expedition. He stops all of the expedition members' humanitarian efforts across the Pegasus galaxy in order to focus on the defence of Atlantis.

The pair begin a relationship during their trip back to Earth on the Daedalus. Dr. Keller eventually passes away following complications caused by her exposure to the Hoffan virus. It's this that causes Rodney to begin his research in to changing the time line by sending Sheppard back from 48,000 years in the future.


The Present

Sheppard arrives back on Atlantis after 12 days missing. He immediately sets to work in organising a mission to find Teyla. Once at the facility, the team finds that it has been booby trapped. The episode ends as the building collapses on the team. Their fate, unknown.

The Review

A very satisfying season finale. Not quite what I'd have expected ten episodes ago, but it keeps up the pace that's built over the past two or three episodes. The plot mechanic developed in the SG-1 episode, 1969, of sending people to the past and the future has proven itself in providing several quite interesting episodes. This was no different.

Atlantis has gone through a lot of changes this season, with Carson and Dr. Weir gone, but I think it's fair to say that it's come out of the end in a very strong position. The season has ebbed and flowed between the epic, the fun and the fantastic. The strength of guest characters has been developed well. Todd and Jennifer Keller have been particularly excellent additions.

Probably the highlight of this episode for me was seeing Rodney and Jennifer develop that relationship that was hinted at a few episodes ago. It'll be interested to see if that'll develop again, now that the time line has changed.

The cliffhanger leaves the fate of a big chunk of the team unknown. I'd anticipate that something will happen to see the team come out of it safe and sound, though I wouldn't be surprised if someone like Major Lorne isn't as lucky as the rest.

That's it for a few months then!

9 out of 10

The Kindred (Part 2)

Stargate Atlantis Season 4 Episode 19 - Plot: The story behind Carson's incarceration is unveiled, as the Atlantis team works to find and rescue Teyla.

Carson

Understandably, everyone's a little sceptical about Carson's return. They fear he may, intentionally or not, do something to hinder their attempts to find Michael and Teyla. We learn this much, the real Carson did die a year ago in an explosion. This Carson is a clone, who believed he was the real Carson and that he had been in captivity for two years, having been taken following the events of Misbegotten.

There's a problem though. Carson had been receiving regular injections from Michael. His original belief was that these were designed to keep him sedated. In fact, they were designed to keep him alive, as a side effect of the cloning process causes cell decay. Carson begins to suffer organ failure, but is determined to help in the search for Teyla.

Teyla

Teyla is taken to a facility on an abandoned post-cull world. There, she is re-united with the Athosians, before being taken to Michael where he explains his plans for her child. As the child will be the product of two parents with The Gift, Michael believes that it could be vital in his research in to developing Human/Wraith hybrids.

The Atlantis team gets a lead on their location and invades the facility. Following a confrontation with Beckett, Michael escapes with Teyla.

Stasis

Dr. Keller's efforts to save Carson have not been successful and there's no choice but to put him into Stasis while she works to find a way to regenerate his cells.

In an emotional 'see you later', the team gathers to watch him go in to the Stasis Pod, knowing that he may never be revived again.

The review

I'd say this was something of a disappointment following last week's episode. It certainly felt like it was building up to more than this. Maybe the fact that it wasn't our Carson made me a little disenchanted with the episode from the start.

It did pick up towards the end, with some exciting action scenes during the Atlantis team's assault on Michael's facility. It was interesting to see that the Teyla in captivity plot will roll over to another episode. I'd imagine it might even roll over to next season. She certainly appears to be heavily pregnant up to this point. She's already had her baby, but it'd stand to reason that she'd need to take a break away from the show for that reason.

Mixed feelings about putting Carson in to Stasis. On the one hand, it means we're likely to see him again. On the other, it's a rather big dangling plot thread that might never be resolved.

Well this episode floundered for twenty minutes or so, it picked up a head of steam eventually to produce a half satisfying/half frustrating climax.

The season 4 finale is up next!

8 out of 10