I hope that those of you in the U.S. had a good Independence Day weekend. Among other things, Janice and I attended the holiday and 300th anniversarycelebrations in Needham, Massachusetts, including the fireworks display, parade, and fair. Fortunately, we managed to avoid the thundershowers that had been forecast.
Just over a week ago, Janice and I caught up on some recorded videos, including Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Macbeth, and some animation (which I’ll review later). Each was good in its own way.
Jay Baruchel is appropriately nerdy as a physicist who stumbles into a long duel between Cage and Molina’s spellcasters. They are former students of Merlin alienated over the affections of a third student, played by the attractive Monica Bellucci. Star Trek: First Contact‘s Borg queen, Alice Krige, is Morgana le Fay, and Teresa Palmer, who was almost Talia al-Ghul in George Miller’s aborted Justice League: Mortal, plays Beruchel’s love interest.
The plot and script are predictable, but some of the visual effects are clever, and Cage gets to be his droll self as seen in other genre flicks such as Ghost Rider. I’d give Sorcerer’s Apprentice, which is rated PG for violence, a B-, two out of five stars, or a 7 out of 10. It’s fine as a rental or to catch on cable television as we did.
A bit more highbrow was the three-hour production of Macbeth, or “the Scottish play,” starring Star Trek: the Next Generation and X-Men‘s Patrick Stewart as the ambitious murderer and king. This adaptation, whose modern setting resembles Russia in the 1920s and 1930s, first ran on stage before being filmed for the PBS.
Kate Fleetwood plays an equally ruthless (and guilt-ridden) Lady Macbeth, who is younger than the onetime military officer but a good match for him to the bloody end. The soliloquies are muted but no less effective, and the script closely follows Shakespeare’s. I thought the weird sisters were nicely disturbing, in an alternative music plus Doctor Who sort of way, although their enunciation was a bit muddled.
I’d give this version of Macbeth an A-, 8.5 out of 10, or four out of five stars. There was a brief interview with Stewart after the broadcast of the play, giving some insights into the directorial and acting choices for this interpretation. I can easily imagine it being required viewing in high schools.
Janice and I have also been enjoying PBS’s Masterpiece Mystery, including the latest adaptations of Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot stories. The Belgian detective is still faithfully depicted by David Suchet, and the latest batch of episodes has refrained from making too many changes to the original mysteries. We’re also looking forward to more Miss Marple, Inspector Lewis, and newcomer Aurelio Zen.
Elsewhere on the dial, I’m glad for the summer returns of the buddy crime solvers on USA’sWhite Collar, TNT’s bluesy Memphis Beat, and the capers of TNT’sLeverage. I just learned that Hu$tle, a British show about do-gooder grifters, had four more seasons/series than what I had seen on U.S. TV.
>>”1 to 3 October 2194 A.D./C.E. or 0 Terran Galactic Era:” After stealing a Ru’ulok (heavy-gravity reptilian alien) Transit drive from the Star Shark, the crew of the Appomattox went to the edge of the Sol system, where it found a derelict warship. The Dawn’s Retreat was apparently of Terran design, but it contained strange controls and a telepathic entity in its reactor.
Gabriel translates for his companions before the being, who thinks she’s human, establishes psionic contact directly with the away team. She identifies herself as “Dawn,” a soldier and the ship’s “prime motivator.” Dawn again asks the interlopers if they can help her get home to Earth, which they confirm is relatively close.
Hector and ARTHERR eventually find power couplings and open them, restoring power. Although it takes her a while to understand that she’s disembodied, Dawn is then able to accompany individual crew members as they explore her vessel.
The derelict’s gauges, levers, and hatches resemble those of a Terran submarine from the 19th or early 20th century, but it has artificial gravity and life support at least the equal of the Appomattox, which has alien components.
Jasmine goes to the crew quarters, which are empty, except for unused space suits. The Dawn’s Retreat also still has all of its escape pods, so the boarders and Dawn are unsure of where the crew went. She recalls a scouting mission into space held by “the Alliance,” supposedly the enemy of her empire.
Dr. Garrett finds ornate uniforms and a large bed with wrought-iron posts in the captain’s cabin. He tries on a wool greatcoat and admires himself in the mirror until Hector comes to find the ship’s log, a nautical-style paper book.
Gabriel returns to the Appomattox to maneuver and look out for other salvage crews. ARTHERR goes to engineering and drills a hole in the floor for a core sample. Beneath a steel veneer is a spongy semi-organic material containing carbon nanofibers. Later testing reveals that it can act as an insulator or conduct energy, alter its gravitic profile, and regenerate!
In addition, Dawn expresses surprise and pain while chatting with Jasmine. She is unable to communicate with the robot, even though the Synth wrestler explains that she, too, is an artificial sentience.
Richmond claims a blunderbuss and an exotic-looking sword from the “prime stargazer’s” cabin, and the snake-oil salesman orders Nero Bartholomew and Averki “Deep Dish” Dyashenko to help bring the four-poster bed to the Appomattox. Dawn objects but is ignored.
Hector makes recordings with his handheld device, relaying images to ARTHERR and Capt. Adams for translation from Esperanto. Apparently, each handwritten entry of the ship’s log begins routinely before reverting to placeholder text. The “chirurgeon’s” bay has a similar medical log.
On the bridge, Hector asks Dawn about the dates of her travel. She says that she left Earth on “5724” and that the current year is reckoned as “5955,” leading ARTHERR to conclude that the living ship somehow traveled through time or from a parallel dimension!
ARTHERR studies an orrery on the bridge and finds that Sol is not at its center. After correcting his calculations, the probe droid learns that Dawn’s destination was LP 656-38 (also known as LHS 1723 or Gliese J3323), a variable red dwarf star about 17 light-years from Earth, beyond Epsilon Eridani.
Dawn explains that her ship picked up some scouts to return to the “world city,” established by Sulla many centuries ago (in her time). In the galley, Jasmine and company find tins of potted meat, but she declines tasting them. ARTHERR tests the food and ambient dust and finds that they are made of similar semi-organic secretions. He theorizes that the ship generates a crew that it then disposes of.
Former spy Hector checks the scouts’ bunks and armory and finds more antique-style clothing, firearms, and journals. By waiting for a log entry, the group sees ink appear on a page, probably generated by the crewless ship. Gabriel notes that while the Dawn’s Retreat has been near the Sol system for months (of Terran time), it hasn’t been disturbed until now.
ARTHERR’s radiocarbon dating from the core samples and reactor indicates that the derelict is subjectively 300 years old, but even with time dilation, for it to have returned from LP 636-38, it would have had to have left Earth long before humans had developed space flight.
Jasmine examines the cannons of the Dawn’s Retreat, which are simple chemically propelled projectiles. ARTHERR is surprised when Dawn recognizes the name of the “Harbinger of the Order of Submission,” a dangerous alien probe encountered in an old battlefield north of Karachi. She says that in addition to avoiding hostile “Martians,” her orders were to not engage the Harbinger in combat.
Dr. Garrett looks for more items of potential value, and Hector and ARTHERR learn that the Dawn’s Retreat was aided in interstellar travel by “jump gates,” which propelled it like a blown bubble. This is also different from conventional faster-than-light Transit that Terrans have only recently acquired.
Pilot Gabriel takes the Appomattox to the location where the ship would have returned to normal space but finds no gravitational anomalies. Jasmine assures Dawn that no harm will come to her and that she should help the United Earth Authority (U.E.A.).
The crew reconvenes aboard the Appomattox to debate what to do next. Gabriel and Hector don’t trust “Ramon Sanchez” [Josh H./Greg/Non-Player Character], a Lisbon-based fixer who arranged for Richmond to smuggle Vatican relics to Epsilon Eridani, about 11 light-yearsfrom Earth.
ARTHERR and Jasmine first want to bring Dawn and her displaced derelict to the proper authorities. If the ship is of alien origin, its creators are unknown. Richmond would prefer to auction them off to the highest bidder, but he is outvoted.
Gabriel extends the Appomattox‘s grapple to the Dawn’s Retreat, and ARTHERR asks that the ship’s effective mass be negated once they’ve disembarked. Hector monitors communications, and Jasmine tries to explain to Dawn that even though she’s not returning to her own world, she’ll be home. The two ships return to near-Earth space.
Dr. Garret covertly contacts Gorvek Beezo, a Ru’ulok trader, who gives the grifter the name of guild member Talak Avex in return for the coordinates of the Dawn’s Retreat. Meanwhile, Hector recounts his adventures to onetime handler Max, while ARTHERR calls Adm. Wei Sihong, to whom he had given several dangerous samples in the past.
The Vimeco robot tells the space navy officer about Dawn and says that she could help the U.E.A. counter the Harbinger, which it is still trying to study. Adm. Wei agrees, and he dispatches the U.E.V. Ajax to rendezvous with the Appomattox.
Tiger-woman Jasmine sends messages to her lover, Darsil, and the Synth United Front on Mars. Dawn bids farewell to her new acquaintances. The Dawn’s Retreat follows the Ajax toward Earth. Hector later learns that Ru’ulok pirates aboard the Star Shark attacked but were defeated by the U.E.A. cruiser. Capt. Droata escaped, swearing vengeance for her second humiliation at the hands of humans.
ARTHERR and Hector keep their samples for later analysis. While its crew still debates, the Appomattox sets a course for Epsilon Eridani….
Paul and Rich, we missed you at the last regular FATE 3e “Vortex” session before our summer hiatus! The Pathfinder/Skype: “the Vanished Lands” telecom fantasy group is also taking a break. In the meantime, stay in touch on the Yahoo message board, and I hope to see some of you at movies or other gatherings before our next game! -Gene
Just over a week ago, Janice and I drove to the Compleat Strategist in Boston and Pandemonium Books & Games in Cambridge, Mass., for Free RPG Day. The proprietors of the shops were happy to see us, although they were probably disappointed that we didn’t stay for any of their game demonstrations.
The Strat has a good selection of tabletop role-playing games and board games, while Pandemonium has used books and wargames. I wish that they and comic book shops would carry and run more of my kind of games rather than host so many collectible card tournaments, but that’s what brings younger folks in.
An implied setting is helpful, especially if a game is based on a book or movie series, but it’s not as important because I tend to run homebrew campaigns such as “Vortex.” (I have been hunting for good 2-D, hex-based maps of all the real stars within 50 to 100 parsecs of Earth that are likely to have inhabitable planets, however.)
I thought that Reynolds and Blake Lively (as Jordan’s boss/love interest Carol Ferris) delivered better-than-expected performances, if not quite on the level of Thor‘s Oscar-winning cast or script. Jordan and Ferris are not only both attractive but also bring a human dimension to the star-spanning tale.
Other notable actors in Green Lantern include Geoffrey Rush voicing bird/fish-like Tomar Re, Michael Clarke Duncan as drill sergeant Kilowog (who pleases fans by using the epithet “poozer”), and Mark Strong is spot on as Jordan’s superior and potential rival Sinestro. If you liked all the aliens in Star Trek and Star Wars, there are some cool crowd scenes on Oa, headquarters planet of the Green Lantern corps.
On the Earthling side, Peter Sarsgaard plays mad scientist Hector Hammond; Tim Robbins is his smarmy father, Sen. Hammond; and Angela Basset portrays government agent Amanda Waller. As with Thor, the hero and villain both struggle with daddy issues. The younger Hammond is infected or corrupted by Parallax, a soul-sucking entity mistakenly created by the blue-headed Guardians. The tentacled horror isn’t the best villain in movies, but then, it’s not the most compelling one in the comics, either.
As in Superman Returns, Thor, and the Incredible Hulk, the action scenes were well choreographed and took place in daylight. Only now are the visual effects of the ring-slinger’s will-powered constructs even possible. Green Lantern may not be considered to be as good as Batman: the Dark Knight or Iron Man, but it was entertaining nonetheless, and Disney/Marvel and Warner Bros./DC are to be commended for trying to tackle cosmic and second-string heroes again after many were disappointed by Fantastic Four 2: Rise of the Silver Surfer.
I’d give Green Lantern, which is rated PG-13 for violence and language, a solid B, three out of five stars, or a 7.5 out of 10, only slightly less than Thor. While I haven’t yet seen X-Men: First Class, I’m looking forward to more movies based on comic books this summer, including Captain America: the First Avenger and Cowboys & Aliens. I also recently picked up Green Lantern: First Flight on DVD.
Coming soon: Animation reviews and space opera games!
>>FATE 3e “Vortex” Team 1 (5a), crew of the “Blackbird:”
-“Syzygy” [Brian W.]-Trinoid (trilateral amphibious alien) xenologist with an organic laboratory and a pet cat named “Mr. Sniffles”
-“Tela” [Sara F.]-female Tharian (winged reptilian humanoid alien) escapee from the Encegulans, engineer
-“Chris McKee/Agent Prometheus” [Josh C.]-male Terran cyborg human sniper working for eugenicists at Black Box Security Co.
-“Aughest-vor…” [Jason E.R.]-male human from the Lemuria orbital city, onetime dilettante, solar-sail racer, pilot
-“Lt. Kevin Reese” [Bruce K.]-male Terran human, burned-out officer and explorer in the Interplanetary Patrol
-“Gombo Shisel” [Rich L./absent]-male Mongolian/Martian human, former horse rancher and wilderness survival expert
-“Dr. Bucket” [Non-Player Character]-United Earth Authority astromech robot assigned to the Blackbird
>>”1 to 3 October2194 A.D./C.E. or 0 Terran Galactic Era:” The intrepid crew of the Blackbirdexplored the system around Van Maanen’s Star, finding ancient technology on one moon and civilization under the ice of another. After meeting with Gen. Qualish in Albahaven, the diplomats head to the Corvell Unity on “Dorian Gray,” a satellite of gas giant Methuselah.
Syzygy is surprised that the Salvorain, as the descendants of Aquarian colonists call themselves, have reacted so negatively to his appearance. Apparently, their folktales view three-armed Trinoids as demons, perhaps based on encounters (Terran) millennia ago. Tela is busy maintaining the Blackbird against the pressure of being submerged.
Aughest-vor… pilots the experimental scout vessel just beneath the glacial sheets and then down toward the Corvell Unity. In comparison with the city-state of Albahaven, the crystalline structures here are more angular and less ornamented. While Gen. Qualish had sent squid-like submarines, a “school” of armored escorts now swims closely around the ship.
Aided by Syzygy and Dr. Bucket’s translations, Lt. Kevin Reese hails the sentries. They have difficulty believing that the visitors come from beyond the ice, but they bring the Blackbird into their city. Chris McKee recalls the general’s recommendations for a show of strength, but he is overruled on taking target practice on civilians.
At a plaza, the Terrans, Trinoid, and Tharian come to a full stop, and several Salvorain draw a strange bubble over the starship. Syzygy’s scans indicate that it’s made of a unique polymer, and Tela is the first to step outside. She is suspended in a low-gravity field and is happy to stretch her glider wings.
Civilian Aughest is less graceful, and Lt. Reese finds that the air in the biological bubble surrounding the ship is cold but breathable. They take off their helmets to prove that they’re not Albahavenite spies. The gathering Salvorain gasp when Syzygy appears at the airlock, muttering that his arrival was not prophesied.
The amphibious guards are joined by members of the religious caste. Kevin observes that the Corvell Unity appears to be closer to nature than the residents of Albahaven. Priest Valkon replies that it is Albahaven that has polluted the ocean, devoured scarce resources, and perpetuated war. He also asserts that there is no room for compromise with the “nonbelievers,” just as Gen. Qualish had complained about the “superstitious” Covell Unity.
Aughest-vor, “friend to all,” suggests that as their world cools, the technocrats of Albahaven and the faithful of the Corvell Unity will need to find a balance to survive. Syzygy offers to help reconnect the colonists with their long-lost Aquarian brethren, but royal adviser Selora is skeptical.
Wary Agent Prometheus and Dr. Bucket stay inside the Blackbird for communications and security. Kevin and Aughest sense a telepathic scan or probe but manage to resist it. Tela receives an alert of an energy anomaly near the sensors. The engineer finds a crab-like automaton attached to the hull. With help from Syzygy, she temporarily deactivates the ship’s sensors and removes the clockwork surveillance device.
Queen Shulis descends into the plaza in a nimbus of light and elaborate robes. She greets the aliens and acknowledges the heresy of beings not being under her rule. Lt. Reese and Aughest-vor describe themselves as explorers and invite the queen to negotiations aboard the Blackbird. Valkon and Selora reluctantly join her.
Syzygy entertains the three Salvorain in his humid quarters by showing them images of Hydronicus 2 and their more advanced Aquarian kin, former clients of the Polarians. Some of the Kharvamid Alliance files, however, are sealed. Tela puts the crab droid in a container with one of the Blackbird‘s spider drones. The bug from Albahaven is quickly destroyed by the superior spider.
Aughest stays behind to reassure the citizens of the Corvell Unity of his team’s goodwill toward their queen. He regales them with tales of his many relationships, his family’s business pursuits, and his travels. The Salvorain are especially interested in the onetime dilettante’s emotional connections.
Kevin pilots the Blackbird back to Albahaven, where he invites Gen. Qualish and Col. Bijar of the Ministry of Observation aboard. Syzygy prepares to stay behind with his laboratory, but the Albahavenites are more interested in satisfying their curiosity than some code of honor. They are put into Gombo Shisel’s flooded cabin for takeoff.
Chris blasts a hole in the ice with the particle cannon, and Kevin flies the scout ship into orbit. Tela confronts Col. Bijar with the remains of his surveillance automaton, impressing Gen. Qualish with her assertiveness. They and Queen Shulis’ retinue are amazed (separately at first) to see “Dorian Gray,” Methuselah, and Van Maanen’s Star for the first time.
Lt. Reese and Syzygy arrange for Gen. Qualish and Queen Shulis to meet in the Blackbird‘s lounge. The rival leaders exchange pleasantries, and the determined Interplanetary Patrol officer tries to keep them focused on their common interests rather than their differences.
Syzygy requests samples of the bubble material as he studies the local biosphere. Tela catches Col. Bijar trying to access the ship’s systems, but Kevin has better luck talking reasonably with Selora in the cockpit about loyalties and their people’s interests.
After a few hours, Syzygy and Tela allow Col. Bijar, Valkon, and Selora to join the discussion. Kevin takes turns monitoring the summit with his crewmates to get some sleep, and Chris looks out for any other vessels in the area but finds none.
In the Corvell Unity, Aughest-vor finds that the Salvorain are losing interest, so he introduces them to the concept of peaceful competition through sports such as solar-sail racing. He is relieved when the Blackbird returns safely to retrieve him from the undersea city and drop off its guests.
Queen Shulis and Gen. Qualish announce to their peoples that they will try to work together for all Salvorain. Syzygy and Tela offer technical advice on reducing pollution, and Lt. Reese and Aughest pledge friendship on behalf of humanity and note that the Sol system will be interested in trade.
Chris obtains one of the crystal-tipped tridents from Col. Bijar in Albahaven, and Aughest presents Selora with a sports trophy that Tela made from the destroyed crab robot!
Syzygy later unlocks the Olvar Star League records on the Aquarians and finds that they are threatened by something called the Zarkonian Armada. The scientist wisely refrains from sharing that information with the miners’ descendants on “Dorian Gray.”
Aughest-vor takes the Blackbird back into space, and Syzygy sends a report on the humans’ diplomatic efforts to his Trinoid superiors. He also asks for word to be sent to the Aquarians, even though they likely have more pressing concerns.
Tela drains Gombo’s quarters and tinkers with the drone spiders. Chris settles back into his turret as Lt. Reese helps set a courseout of the Van Maanen system….
Please note that the next Blackbird session won’t be until August. Jason will be running his Darkpages one-shot on Monday, July 25. In the meantime, the Pathfinder/Skype: “the Vanished Lands” telecom fantasy team meets this coming Sunday, and the last “Vortex” Team 2 (Appomattox) session before our summer hiatus is on June 27! -Gene
Gene's Worlds 