Bluefly

This was one of those movies that I *wanted* to like, but I really did not. Harold was pretty well done, but I thought the character of Maude was kind of cliché - the spunky, non-law-abiding old lady with free-love tendencies. I was sort of irritated by how perfect/idealistic she was.

On the positive side - I did see some important themes in this film that go beyond its hippie appearance. The final sequence was great, and a very effective bookend to the rest of the movie.

It was Maude that detracted from the movie's potential power. She was such an absurd character, I couldn't get far enough past that to really appreciate this movie. It has a really good soundtrack, though.

Okay, I'm a trekker. This is the classic, and I felt it was my duty to watch the original episodes. I was really impressed by what I saw. I know a lot of people think the original series of Star Trek is silly, and I will agree that in some ways, it seems pretty out of date today. But there are still so many things about this show that really won't ever seem silly to me, no matter how plywood-and-styrofoam the SFX may be.

First of all, the characters really are great. We all know them. Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and the rest of the crew are wonderful - there's more than one side to each of them, and the relationships we see between some of them were unique to the rest of the television world at the time. Not only this, but the episodes are creative and well-written. What does it matter if you can tell that's just a guy in a gorilla suit? You have to give them credit for doing their best, and starting a science fiction revolution.

The original series of Star Trek, TOS, really did go where no other show wanted or dared to go. In its time, there were things that couldn't be said or done on television. TOS addressed these issues in every way it could. War, racism, sexism, prejudice, and everything 60s society wasn't supposed to see in perspective on TV. Vulcans and Klingons were each a side of our own selves, and in its entirety, Star Trek was of course the human adventure. Hidden behind the premise of a futuristic voyage through the stars, TOS showed people the issues and aspects of our own lives here in the present. I'm a Gen-X child of the nineties, and I still appreciate this show greatly for what it did.

Not only did TOS do all these things in its subtly revolutionary way, but it also paved the road, of course, for all the rest of the Star Trek universe that unfolded in the following years. As you may already know, Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek moral is IDIC - Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations. This is the driving force behind Star Trek. Anything is possible. Exploring life is as infinite as exploring the universe. Oh, I know it's corny, but it's true, and this is the series that started it all. All the props to Gene Roddenberry, Great Bird of the Sky.

-Bluefly (And, don't forget to think of DeForest Kelley, may he rest in peace.)

The Avengers is really a fun show for just about anyone. It's set in sixties England, but especially if that's not your time or place, it's very entertaining. I can only speak for the Diana Rigg episodes, not having seen enough of the others, but almost all these episodes have top quality writing and acting. For the most part, they're light-hearted and comedic, but they do also incorporate some serious matters on a slightly deeper level. Even if you're not interested in that, they're fun for the spy-movie parody alone.

Being an X-Files fan, I can't help noticing that Steed and Mrs. Peel seem almost like sixties, British versions of Mulder and Scully. Don't know if anyone else agrees, but that certainly made it a little more fun for me! (I think a few of the best episodes are "Dead Man's Treasure", "Too Many Christmas Trees", "Castle De'ath", and "The Living Dead", among others.)

-Bluefly