Leaden...That's the word!
________________________________ From: Martin Baxter <truthseeker...@lycos.com> To: scifino...@yahoogroups..com Sent: Monday, August 3, 2009 8:24:50 AM Subject: [RE][scifinoir2] "Defying Gravity" on ABC now Keith, I almost missed it, stumbling across it two minutes before it bbegan. I I enjoyed it overall, though the pacing was a bit leaden at times. (Maybe on purpose?) The mysterious nature of the real mission has me hooked, without saying. Can't wait until the MC ventures into Pod 4 to find out what's really up. As for the incidental music, I really don't take notice of it as I watch a TV show or movie, unless it's a song near and dear to my heart. ---------[ Received Mail Content ]---------- >Subject : [scifinoir2] "Defying Gravity" on ABC now >Date : Mon, 3 Aug 2009 02:13:45 +0000 (UTC) >From : Keith Johnson <KeithBJohnson@ comcast.net> >To : scifino...@yahoogro ups.com > >Anyone watching ABC's entry into the "Big Brother in Outer Space by way of >BSG-style drama"? It deals with a seven-year mission in the year 2052 that >sends eight astronauts to visit six planets in the Solar System. Very quickly >into the show, we're made aware there's some kind of secret involved. The two >most experienced astronauts in the program (one of whom is played by Malik >Yoba) are initially left off the mission aboard the spaceship "Antares". >Later, when some kind of heart problem keeps cropping up among the >crew--evidently tied to the "secret"--the two astronauts are blasted into >space to join the mission. One comment I overheard makes me think some kind of >sentient race has been encountered by humanity--perhaps on a previous tragic >mission to Mars in which one of the current astronauts had to leave three of >his fellows behind. Perhaps this sentient race is controlling the mission >somehow? Not sure. > >Also not sure yet if I'll like the show. It has some decent actors and decent >lines. But just when I'm starting to get into the mission and the scifi aspect >of it, I'm distracted by overpowering music that attempts to heighten a scene, >the lead astronaut's self-reflective monologue, too much of the newly-hot >camera work (a la BSG and Star Trek) with a shaky cam to convey reality. Or >I'm watching two astronauts make nekkid love in zero g and feeling vaguely >manipulated at an attempt to make me feel awestruck or something. There's a >lot of flashbacks and flashforwards that make following the story a bit >confusing at times. "Lost" this ain't. There's also a odd flow: a mix of >serious drama, melodrama, camp soap opera type moments, silly humour supported >by "Desperate Housewives" type music, and a lot of titillation. It makes it >hard for one to get a feeling of the overall nature of the show. Is it a >drama, a reality-type show like "Virtuality" , a mystery? Don't know, but I ! found myself losing interest a lot, then picking it back up, then losing it again as the standard nighttime soap feel comes back in the mix. > >Lots of TV veterans, including the blonde lady from "The 4400" (the one who >feel inlove with a black man), and Cristina Cox "Blood Ties", who's been a >guest in more series than Michael Michelle. They're all okay, but again, the >uneven pacing, writing, and flashbacks undermine their acting. The constant >shift from a high-tech spaceshp to mundane scenes on Earth are abrupt and >off-putting. > >Like "Virtuality" , this show seems to be another clone that tries to copy the >delicate balance of reality-type drama mixed with scifi that BSG (mostly) did >right. and like "Virtuality" , it bores me as much as it intrigues--somethin g >that BSG didn't do in the main. > >Not sure if the show's even being picked up, but if it is, not sure I'll keep >watching. > >Anyone else's thought's? > http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=JQdwk8Yntds