Movies &; TV Babylon 5 Rewatch Babylon 5 Rewatch: “Midnight on the Firing Line” The Centauri agricultural colony on Ragesh III is the victim of a surprise attack! By Keith R.A. DeCandido | Published on April 1‚ 2024 icon-comment 3 Share New Share Twitter Facebook Pinterest RSS Feed “Midnight on the Firing Line”Written by J. Michael StraczynskiDirected by Richard ComptonSeason 1‚ Episode 1Production episode 103Original air date: January 26‚ 1994 It was the dawn of the third age… The Centauri agricultural colony on Ragesh III is the victim of a surprise attack‚ with the identity of the attackers left a mystery to the viewers. On B5‚ new first officer Lt. Commander Susan Ivanova is informed of one of Sinclair’s eccentricities by Garibaldi‚ in this case that he spends some time every day in the observation dome with his link turned off. Ivanova goes to observation to inform him of the attack on Ragesh. In the casino‚ Mollari tries to inveigle Garibaldi for a favor‚ but is interrupted by his new aide—also his entire staff—Vir Cotto‚ who informs him of the Ragesh attack. Mollari calls for an immediate emergency session of the council; he also receives apologetic condolences from Delenn and G’Kar‚ though Mollari is suspicious of the latter‚ despite his insistence on being ignorant of what has happened. Ships in the area have been attacked by raiders. Garibaldi and one of his people take a couple of Starfuries out to investigate the latest attack. New telepath Talia Winters reports in to Ivanova‚ who brushes her off. Security footage comes in from Ragesh‚ revealing that the attacking ships are Narn‚ and they’re now occupying Ragesh. Mollari confronts G’Kar‚ and they almost come to blows. However‚ Mollari bumped into Winters en route to confronting G’Kar‚ and she was able to sense his murderous rage‚ so she warned security‚ who separate the ambassadors before they can kill each other. Later‚ in the ambassador’s quarters‚ Mollari apologizes to Sinclair‚ while the latter says that he’s agreed to call the emergency council session he wanted. However‚ Mollari has more skin in the game‚ as it were: his nephew Carn‚ is on Ragesh. Mollari pulled some strings to put him in charge of the agricultural colony in lieu of military service. He swears that if Carn dies‚ he will stop at nothing to go to war with the Narn. Sinclair invites Kosh to attend the meeting‚ and he agrees to do so‚ but makes no commitment as to how he will behave. Vir informs Mollari that the Centauri government has decided that there will be no response. Ragesh is too distant and too unimportant a part of the Republic to be worth dedicating the resources necessary to retake it. Mollari is livid and instructs Vir not to tell anyone what the government decided. He will try to talk the council into taking action against the Narn‚ and hope that the council’s action will embarrass his government into taking some as well. Winters asks Garibaldi why Ivanova is being so standoffish. Garibaldi suggests meeting up with Ivanova at the bar when she’s off duty‚ and she might be more approachable. He also invites her to his quarters to share his “second favorite thing‚” which sounds incredibly creepy. G’Kar meets with Sinclair and making it clear that the Narn are out for Centauri blood‚ hoping to avenge their years of being subjugated by them. G’Kar also reminds Sinclair that the Narn sold weapons to Earth during their war with the Minbari‚ but Sinclair counters that the Narns will sell to anyone who’ll buy. The commander also is less than impressed with the Narns’ sneak attack on a civilian target. Sinclair is instructed by a senator to abstain from the vote. There’s a presidential election about to happen‚ and Earth can’t afford to act as the galaxy’s police—at least not until after the election. Garibaldi has turned up a connection among all the ships that were raided: they all bought their transport routes from the same company—which‚ it seems‚ has a leak. Sinclair decides to lead the Starfury contingent to protect what they believe to be the next target‚ leaving Ivanova to run the council meeting. Sinclair also tells her that he couldn’t find her to tell her the instructions from Earth‚ ahem ahem‚ so she’ll just have to vote yes to sanctions against the Narn… In the council meeting‚ G’Kar reveals two things that kneecap Mollari’s plan. One is that he knows full well that the Centauri government’s official response is to do nothing. How can he ask the council to take an action his own government won’t take? The second is the revelation that Ragesh was a Narn colony which was then taken from them by the Centauri when they conquered the Narn. The attack was simply taking back their world‚ and as “evidence” he provides a recording made by Mollari’s nephew Carn saying that they welcome their new Narn overlords and everything’s hunky dory and pay no attention to that gun to my head. G’Kar moves that the motion to sanction Narn be dismissed‚ and it passes. Sinclair and the Starfuries (totally the name of my next band) drive off the raiders‚ but doesn’t chase them‚ instead checking an asteroid field in the opposite direction‚ where he finds the command-and-control for the raiders. There’s a Narn on that C&;C base—as Sinclair said‚ the Narn will sell weapons to anyone. But they also leave someone behind to make sure they know how to use the weapons properly. That Narn also has data crystals that prove that—Carn’s testimony to the contrary—the attack on Ragesh was wholly unprovoked. Sinclair gives G’Kar an ultimatum: pull out of Ragesh‚ or he will show this evidence to the council. G’Kar chooses door #1. Winters meets Ivanova in the bar‚ and the latter explains that her mother was a low-level telepath who refused to join Psi Corps. So she took the option of suppressing her telepathy with drugs. Those drugs changed her forever‚ and eventually drove her to suicide. So Ivanova is never likely to look kindly upon any member of the Corps. Garibaldi has convinced Delenn to join him for his second favorite thing: a viewing of Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century‚ complete with popcorn. It’s not clear what Delenn is more baffled by‚ the cartoon or the popcorn… The episode ends with the announcement that President Luis Santiago has been reelected. Nothing’s the same anymore. Sinclair is a legacy‚ as his family have served in the military going back to the Battle of Britain. His grandfather‚ also in EarthForce‚ advised his grandson to trust what you see over propaganda. Because of that‚ early on before it’s revealed who’s behind the attack on Ragesh‚ Sinclair believes firmly that the Minbari weren’t responsible‚ because what he saw during the Earth-Minbari War showed him that the Minbari would never engage in a surprise attack on a helpless target. Ivanova is God. Ivanova says she’s voting for Marie Crane for Earth President over the incumbent Santiago because the latter has a weak chin and she doesn’t trust someone with a weak chin. The household god of frustration. Garibaldi is‚ it turns out‚ a Daffy Duck fan. Despite this‚ he never once tells Mollari that he’s despicable… In the glorious days of the Centauri Republic… Earth’s first alien contact was with the Centauri Republic. The Centauri made a lot of wild claims to what they perceived as gullible humans‚ including that humanity was an offshoot of the Centauri. (When Garibaldi reminds Mollari of this‚ Mollari dismisses it as a clerical error.) Though it take a thousand years‚ we will be free. The Narn obviously targeted Ragesh to see how the Centauri would react. It’s a gambit designed to see if war is feasible. That the Centauri declined to respond likely meant it was a successful one‚ even though they had to give up Ragesh. The Corps is mother‚ the Corps is father. Any humans who are discovered to be telepaths are given three choices: join the Psi Corps‚ go to prison‚ or have your telepathy tamped down by drugs. The Shadowy Vorlons. Sinclair visits Kosh when he’s out of his encounter suit‚ but he’s hiding behind a screen‚ though something is glowing back there. Kosh also seems to teleport into his encounter suit… Looking ahead. Mollari tells Sinclair that Centauri sometimes dream of the moment of their death. In Mollari’s case‚ it’ll be being strangled by G’Kar while he strangles G’Kar. He had the dream when he was young‚ and was gobsmacked when he first met G’Kar and recognized him from his prophetic dream. This event Mollari dreamt will be seen down the line‚ more than once… Welcome aboard. Paul Hampton is back from “The Gathering” for his second and final appearance as the senator. Peter Trencher plays Carn. Trivial matters. With Tamlyn Tomita‚ Johnny Sekka‚ and Patricia Tallman declining to return after “The Gathering‚” we meet two of their replacements: Claudia Christian as the new first officer and Andrea Thompson as the new Psi Corps telepath. In addition‚ this episode marks the first appearance of Stephen Furst as Vir. Richard Biggs‚ Bill Mumy‚ and Caitlin Brown are all listed in the opening credits as playing‚ respectively‚ Dr. Stephen Franklin‚ Lennier‚ and Na’Toth‚ but they do not appear and the episode gives no indication who they are. Both Delenn and G’Kar have new makeup/facial prosthetics. In Delenn’s case‚ there’s less of it‚ as they’re no longer trying to make her look more masculine (or at least more androgynous)‚ and just in general‚ she looks more “traditionally” feminine. G’Kar’s has simply been refined a bit‚ one hopes in a way that made it easier for Andreas Katsulas in the makeup chair… This episode has the first reference to spoo‚ a meat dish popular among the Centauri and Narn (and also “oops” spelled backwards). J. Michael Straczynski also had a food called spoo in an episode of She-Ra: Princess of Power that he wrote. The echoes of all of our conversations. “They are alone. They are a dying people. We should let them pass.”“Who? The Narn or the Centauri?”“Yes.”—Kosh making a pronouncement‚ Sinclair asking for clarity‚ and Kosh saying‚ “Bazinga!” The name of the place is Babylon 5. “I’m in the middle of fifteen things‚ all of them annoying.” There are some ways in which this feels like a do-over of “The Gathering.” You’ve got character introductions (in this case to Ivanova‚ Vir‚ and Winters)‚ you’ve got Garibaldi investigating things‚ you’ve got the senator telling Sinclair to do something he doesn’t want to do‚ you’ve got G’Kar and the Narn being the bad guys and plotting evil things of evil‚ you’ve got Sinclair bopping off on his own and leaving his first officer in charge of a council meeting‚ you’ve got a council meeting where‚ once again‚ G’Kar doesn’t apparently have a seat‚ instead leaving poor Andreas Katsulas to wander around during it. And you’ve got epic rants from Mollari‚ though the Centauri gets much more focus here than he did in the pilot‚ which is all to the good given that Peter Jurasik was the best thing about the prior episode. The Centauri/Narn conflict is one of the bedrocks of B5‚ and it is very much on display here. While G’Kar is still being written as a one-note mustache-twirling villain‚ Katsulas imbues him with a palpable sense of outrage and fury. He’s matched by Jurasik‚ whose anger both at the Narn for their surprise attack on a civilian target that includes his nephew and at his government for their spineless response drives the episode. Stephen Furst’s Vir is another character like G’Kar who will improve as the series goes on‚ but his introduction‚ alas‚ creates very little impression beyond “oh look‚ it’s Flounder from Animal House with worse hair and sharper teeth!” (The Centauri had massive incisors initially‚ though that makeup choice was dropped after the first season or so‚ probably as a favor to the actors.) By contrast‚ Claudia Christian creates an instant‚ excellent impression as Ivanova with her cynicism‚ her sarcasm‚ her fatalism‚ and her bluntness. Though she also has a tendency to speak without contractions in this first appearance which comes across as mannered‚ and which will also be dropped before long. As for Winters‚ there’s nothing to really distinguish Andrea Thompson from Patricia Tallman’s Alexander beyond hair color‚ at least so far. This is a stronger opening to the series than “The Gathering” was by far‚ setting up one of the show’s core conflicts as well as establishing some of the character dynamics. And Garibaldi is‚ at least‚ portrayed as competent in this one‚ actually solving the case and not faffing about the way he was last time‚ plus we get his Daffy Duck fandom‚ which is delightful. Next week: “Soul Hunter.”[end-mark] The post Babylon 5 Rewatch: “Midnight on the Firing Line” appeared first on Reactor.

News freaky friday Freaky Friday 2 Has a Director‚ Is Really Happening Who’s the crypt keeper now? By Molly Templeton | Published on April 1‚ 2024 icon-comment 0 Share New Share Twitter Facebook Pinterest RSS Feed It has been 21 years since Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan starred in the hugely popular Freaky Friday. The film was Disney’s third adaptation of Mary Rodgers’s 1972 children’s book—and they’re definitely not done with it yet. Curtis and Lohan are “in negotiations” to reunite for Freaky Friday 2‚ which now has a director and is expected to begin filming this summer. The Hollywood Reporter says “in negotiations‚” but Curtis’s Instagram seems pretty certain; she posted a positively adorable picture of herself and Lohan with the caption “DUH! FFDEUX!” Director Nisha Ganatra seems like an excellent choice; she directed a very different (but generally quite charming) pair of women‚ Emma Thompson and Mindy Kaling‚ in the comedy Late Night‚ and has directed TV episodes ranging from Mr. Robot to Dear White People to Dollface. It’s not entirely clear who’s writing the film: THR says both that there’s “an early draft from Elyse Hollander” and that there’s a “new script‚ by Jordan Weiss.” According to Entertainment Weekly‚ there may be a new teen in the mix—or two. Lohan’s character reportedly has a 14-year-old daughter‚ Harper‚ who doesn’t care for her mom’s new love interest. Said love interest also has a teenage daughter‚ Lily. The girls don’t get along‚ and when they swap bodies with Curtis and Lohan‚ things get doubly complicated. No release date has been announced‚ but you can expect to get Freaky again in a year or two. [end-mark] The post <;i>;Freaky Friday 2<;/i>; Has a Director‚ Is Really Happening appeared first on Reactor.

News Interview with the Vampire Interview with the Vampire Trailer Sees Louis (and Molloy?) Remembering Monstrous Things Memory can fool you‚ as Louis and Molloy are about to learn By Vanessa Armstrong | Published on April 1‚ 2024 icon-comment 0 Share New Share Twitter Facebook Pinterest RSS Feed Memory is the monster. That’s the message‚ at least‚ from the latest trailer for the upcoming second season of Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire. The biggest thing Louis (Jacob Anderson) doesn’t seem to recall from season one‚ is what the heck happened to Claudia (played in season two by Delainey Hayles) as he recounts his life to the reporter Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian) while his paramour of seventy years‚ Armand (Assad Zaman) sits supportively(?) by his side. What the latest trailer also suggests‚ however‚ is that Armand is possibly manipulating Louis and the younger vampire’s attempts to recall the past. It also shows that Lestat (Sam Reid) had a continued influence on Louis beyond New Orleans‚ and that Molloy has some recall problems of his own when it comes to his earlier interview with Louis back when he was a young man. Your memory can fool you! And uncovering the truth‚ if the background music in the latest trailer is anything to go on‚ can be a dangerous thing. The trailer also treats us to more glimpses of Claudia and Louis’ time in Paris with the coven of vampire actors there. Want more context as to what we’ll see in the upcoming episodes? Here’s the official synopsis for season two of Interview with the Vampire: In the year 2022‚ the vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac (Anderson) recounts his life story to journalist Daniel Molloy (Bogosian). Picking up from the bloody events in New Orleans in 1940 when Louis and teen fledgling Claudia (Hayles) conspired to kill the Vampire Lestat de Lioncourt (Reid)‚ Louis tells of his adventures in Europe‚ a quest to discover Old World Vampires and the Theatre Des Vampires in Paris‚ with Claudia. It is in Paris that Louis first meets the Vampire Armand (Zaman). Their courtship and love affair will prove to have devastating consequences both in the past and in the future‚ and Molloy will probe to get to the truths buried within the memories. AMC’s Interview with the Vampire is created and showrun by Rolin Jones‚ who also executive produces along with Mark Johnson‚ Mark Taylor‚ Christopher Rice‚ and the late Anne Rice. Season two premieres on AMC and AMC+ on May 12‚ 2024. Check out the trailer below. [end-mark] The post <;i>;Interview with the Vampire<;/i>; Trailer Sees Louis (and Molloy?) Remembering Monstrous Things appeared first on Reactor.

Book Recommendations book review An Intellectual Take on Slashers Goes for the Throat: On Stephen Graham Jones’s The Angel of Indian Lake A review of the final book in Stephen Graham Jones’s Indian Lake trilogy By Tobias Carroll | Published on April 1‚ 2024 icon-comment 0 Share New Share Twitter Facebook Pinterest RSS Feed There’s something inherently daunting about writing a trilogy that’s set outright in the horror genre. I’d argue that this has to do with something more pronounced in horror than in most other genres: the element of surprise. More specifically‚ it’s the sense that no one is safe. (Cue Jamie Kennedy shouting‚ “Everyone’s a suspect!” in Scream.) Trilogies—and series more broadly—promise some sense of continuity. (Though that can sometimes be upended. Just ask Ned Stark.) With horror‚ the protagonist might not survive until the last sentence—or they might end up becoming the very monster they’ve opposed. The Angel of Indian Lake is the final volume in Stephen Graham Jones’s Indian Lake trilogy‚ following My Heart is a Chainsaw and Don’t Fear the Reaper. It’s a work of horror‚ both human-scale and supernatural‚ and it also takes more than a few cues from the tropes of slasher films. It’s a bold narrative juggling act‚ a book that’s in dialogue both with its two predecessors and with an entire subgenre of films. Jones has veered into this territory before: one of his earlier novels is titled The Last Final Girl‚ and his novella Night of the Mannequin contained plenty of horror-film imagery.  The Indian Lake novels are different. On paper‚ they might sound at least somewhat similar to Peter Straub’s Blue Rose trilogy; both have plenty of real-life horrors and both incorporate more than a little genre knowledge and metafictional flair. (The third volume in Straub’s trilogy was‚ in fact‚ where I first encountered the concept of metafiction.) But what might look similar on paper is radically different in execution: Graham’s trilogy is in some ways more traditional than Straub’s‚ in that it follows one consistent set of characters over a relatively confined period of times—but it’s also stranger in others.   The antagonists in these books are both human and supernatural‚ for one thing. For another‚ the characters—especially series protagonist Jade Daniels—are aware that they’re in a situation that operates under the rules of the horror genre. What this often means for Jade is attempting to understand which of the people around her fits into the narrative in the role of “final girl”—and how that might lead to some respite from the restless ghosts‚ bloodthirsty killers‚ or abusive relatives around them.  Buy the Book The Angel of Indian Lake Stephen Graham Jones Buy Book icon-close The Angel of Indian Lake Stephen Graham Jones Buy this book from: AmazonBarnes and NobleiBooksIndieBoundTarget The Angel of Indian Lake is set four years after the events of Don’t Fear the Reaper. Jade‚ who was a high school student when the trilogy began‚ is now teaching at her hometown’s high school—and dealing with the aftermath of her time spent incarcerated following the events of the previous books. Jade’s position as an authority figure brings back memories of Mr. Holmes‚ the teacher who inspired her during her own time as a student—and whose memory is summoned up during some of Jade’s first-person narration. Letha‚ Jade’s friend and a fellow horror aficionado‚ remains off the page for much of the novel‚ which speaks in part to the different paths in life that both women have had. Neither is quite the archetypal “final girl” of countless horror tropes—Jade is Indigenous; Letha is Black—and their paths in life include more than a few other contrasts. Jade is on her own; Letha is married with a child. Letha comes from an affluent family; Jade’s roots are more humble. Slasher films don’t often riff on questions of race‚ gender‚ and class‚ but Jones certainly does in his trilogy. Via the setting of Proofrock‚ Idaho‚ these novels reckon with everything from the bloodier side of the nation’s westward expansion to the ways in which Mountain West states have become destinations for the absurdly wealthy. As in past installments in the trilogy‚ Jones juxtaposes supernatural threats to the town with more mundane examples of the evil that people are capable of. Rexall‚ a friend of Jade’s father with a penchant for voyeurism‚ had been a slow-burning presence in the books until this volume; this time out‚ Jones reveals more about just what makes Rexall tick and what he might do if he became an outright threat‚ as opposed to a leering presence. The results are appropriately unsettling. He’s far from the only threat here‚ though. Jade’s first warning that all might not be well in Proofrock is the return of an object that’s been long unaccounted for. That turns out to be a herald for something much more menacing: the return of several members of the town’s dead‚ now seeking revenge on those who wronged them. It wouldn’t be the conclusion of a trilogy without a few old faces returning for sinister purposes‚ and Jones makes good on that implicit promise as well. Jones has given himself a difficult narrative juggling act here—one where these books need to work as‚ effectively‚ slasher films in literary form while also acting as a kind of meta-narrative meditation on slasher tropes and archetypes. What’s miraculous here is that he pulls it off. It doesn’t hurt that The Angel of Indian Lake features a structure that alternates Jade’s first-person narration with a series of found documents by an author who turns out to be connected to one of the trilogy’s most interesting character arcs.  The Angel of Indian Lake is a dense and at times dizzying read‚ and one that juxtaposes several varieties of horror together to make one especially potent narrative. It’s the literary equivalent of a garage rock recording that also turns out to be gloriously baroque‚ and accomplishes the trick of holding a mirror up to the horror genre’s history while also reading like little else you’ll encounter. [end-mark] The Angel of Indian Lake is published by Saga Press. The post An Intellectual Take on Slashers Goes for the Throat: On Stephen Graham Jones’s <;i>;The Angel of Indian Lake<;/i>; appeared first on Reactor.

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