Haven’t most people seen this film already? I won’t write out the entire synopsis — I’ll copy & paste from the Wikipedia entry.

Inception is a 2010 American science fiction action film written, produced, and directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Marion Cotillard, Ken Watanabe and Cillian Murphy. The film is inspired by the experience of lucid dreaming and dream incubation. The film, a variant on the heist genre, centers on Dom Cobb, an “extractor”, who enters the dreams of others to obtain information that is otherwise inaccessible. His abilities and questions about the death of his wife have cost him his family and his nationality, but he is promised a chance to regain his old life in exchange for planting an idea in a corporate target’s mind. This process of planting an idea, known as “inception”, is less familiar and far more difficult than Cobb’s usual job of “extraction.”

Good synopsis, eh? The film runs 148 minutes, but it was pretty good. I had read so many good reviews that you get the impression that it’s the greatest film ever. I wouldn’t say that. It won’t change your life like the Star Wars original trilogy or The Matrix (yeah, I said it), but it’s an intelligent movie that is entertaining. I couldn’t believe that my wife sat through and enjoyed a sci-fi action film. That’s a testament that this was a good film.

I was happy to see this film. I was happy to see a smart Hollywood film. After experiencing the mindless debacle that was A-Team, it was refreshing to see something that someone with a brain had written.

Inception (2010)

Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus (2009)

If you had a TV network called the Sci-Fi Channel, you would expect programming in the science-fiction genre. Science-fiction is a rich genre, and there’s a lot you can program for. Imagine my surprise to find horror and other questionable tv fare on the Sci-Fi channel years ago when first introduced. Those corny movies are a story in of themself. Have you seen the commercial for Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus? Absolutely atrocious. It’s even sadder that it stars Deborah Gibson and Lorenzo Lamas.

Last year, the big network TV honchos elected to rename the network SyFy, in order to broaden the umbrella of what the network meant. SyFy? Is that supposed to be a better name? The programming has still left much to be desired. You’ve got Sanctuary, Caprica, and Stargate Universe, but what else? Oh, the occasional Star Trek rerun.

And now, SyFy has struck a deal to add Friday Night Smackdown to their nightly programming. Furthermore, they are relegating all their popular sci-fi shows to Tuesday nights. What else will the network TV geniuses going to think of next?

Blasphemy, I say. Blasphemy.

1st Generation Apple iPad

It’s been long overdue, but I’m going on the record here and now to say how I think about the matter. I think the Apple iPad is a great idea. Do I own one of the first 300,000 iPads? No, I do not. Do I plan to get one? Probably not. So why do I say that a product I do not own, nor do I plan to purchase, is a great idea?

Two words: Star Trek.

One of the reasons I love sci-fi is that the genre (be it the written word or in film/tv) is an opportunity for the thinker to wonder, “What if?” with a technological angle. What would life be like if….. and you finish the thought. You throw in technology there, and it’s a chance to dream about what the future could be.

Remember the 2002 film MinorityReport? Everyone loves that holographic touch interface that Tom Cruise used. Pretty neat, eh? Well, scientists and engineers at Oblong have been working on a gesture-based interface right now. Check out the sample videos in the previous link and you’ll see Oblong’s interface in action. And don’t get me started on the personalized advertising, the changeable newspapers, and other technology in that film, because companies have been yammering about that for a while.

Remember cars in the pretty-forgettable 1993 movie Demolition Man? Sandra Bullock was riding that electric car that actually drove itself? With the built-in radar and self-parking features in cars today, the electric car industry in nascent stages, and heck, I read people are testing cars that have computers that will drive them all safely in close proximity, isn’t that eerily similar? Is it decades from now? Probably? But you can imagine that we might be heading towards that path.

The Star Trek PADD

There are countless others to mention in the annals of sci-fi literature and film, but you get the idea. Now, the iPad. Uh, yeah, call this a dumb reference, but Star Trek afficionados have seen a computing tablet (original Star Trek series) or PADD (TNG, DS9, VOY) in various Star Trek movie or series. It’s a great concept, and you could easily see yourself using something just like it in real life.

So back to the Apple iPad and the year 2010. Granted, it’s basically a table PC, but sleeker and easier to use, which makes it leaps and bounds better than the Windows Tablet PCs that have not been popular with consumers. Is the iPad perfect? No. I think it should have multitasking, but lo and behold, Apple announced today that multitasking (via a software update) will be available later this year.) It would be nice to have a webcam, but that might be featured in Generation 2. The price is high, but those may come down in successive generations, much like the iPhone did.

So why didn’t I get one so far? It’s too expensive, and I can live without it. However, that doesn’t mean I would never get it. I love the surfing-from-the-couch ability. The idea that I could read my favorite magazines on the train or bus or airport all in one slim tablet. That I could watch movies and shows easily and in a larger screen. It’s all about the versatility and how this device and form-factor can fit into your life and improve it.

From what I’ve read and seen videos of, it’s not geeks or adults who are enjoying the iPad the most. It’s people’s kids who are using it, and are fascinated with some piano app and the vibrant colors of the drawing apps. When you as an adult see some kid enjoying it, you start to be awed, and begin thinking about getting one for your kids too. The entire viral marketing campaign and word-of-mouth interest has been less geek-driven, and more family-oriented. That makes me think, “Wow, cool.” Not only have I read about it, I have a perfect example. My old coworker and friend Jenny Cu got one for her young son, and the kid loves it.

Finally, below is a CNET video of Dan Ackerman showing off the new Netflix app for the iPad. I think it’s pretty fantastic, and after seeing this yourself, you tell me how you wouldn’t enjoy Netflix in your lap in your free time.

The plot of Avatar plays out much like Dances with Wolves or The Last Samurai. From Wikipedia:

The film is set in the year 2154 on Pandora, a fictional Earth-like world in the Alpha Centauri planetary system. Humans are engaged in mining Pandora’s reserves of a precious mineral, while the Na’vi—a race of indigenous humanoids—resist the colonists’ expansion, which threatens the continued existence of the Na’vi and the Pandoran ecosystem. The film’s title refers to the genetically engineered bodies used by the film’s characters to interact with the Na’vi.

So, without giving any big secret away, while the humans may see the Na’vi as savages, they are actually a sentient alien race with ties to nature, which we don’t.  Throughout the movie, there are some definite Native American themes, as well as the injustices done to them.  Nature is good. Humans are thoughtless and crude. We should be one with the world.

Overall, although the movie is long (clocking in at 162 minutes), I felt it went pretty fast. While the themes are nothing new, the movie itself is gorgeous. I read online that the movie is 40% live-action, and 60% CGI. I did hear previously that James Cameron had the movie studio executives nervous with the high price tag ($280 milllon?), but since he’s approaching (or reached) the $1 billion mark in sales, I guess he’s laughing all the way to the bank on this one.

I would recommend watching this movie in IMAX 3D. It’s a beautiful-to-watch movie, and entertaining. Watch it. Dive deep into it. Don’t spill your popcorn.

Avatar (2009)

We’ve also watched Star Wars Episode IV (A New Hope) and Episode V (The Empire Strikes Back) which are slightly over his head, but he asked a lot of questions.  He obviously didn’t get it all, and I did some minor fast-fowarding, but I kept him engaged in the main storyline.  I also made sure he thought Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, and Chewbacca are all pretty cool.  I think he just likes R2-D2 a lot. He’s already asking when are we going to find out what happens next in Episode VI (Return of the Jedi.) I was happy that at a birthday party a week ago where they had a Prince & Princess theme, he was amenable to the idea his sword was a lightsaber. 

This year, I’ve been embracing my inner geek. All these years, I’ve been too self-conscious to admit to it, but it obviously often showed.  Now, I feel secure enough to let myself…. um, be myself, I guess. I’m a geek.  Nothing wrong with that.  Why be a half-ass geek?  Go whole-ass, I say. Be the techno geek.  The sci-fi geek.  Why not, after all?  There are others out there like me.  As a matter of fact, Wired.com has a Geek Dad column, written by someone just like me. Enjoy it. Love it. Live it!

If I can make my kids enjoy sci-fi too, hey that’s great.  Their journey towards the Dark side will be complete.  I just hope they can get still dates in 10-15 years.

Over the weekend, my wife and I went to see District 9. I’m not sure why my wife agreed to see it, but I suppose she realized we’ve seen a number of rom-com movies. She doesn’t like sci-fi or action, so she really took one for the team here.

This movie had a lot of what love about good sci-fi.  Using a backdrop of science-fiction, you can explore important themes with a “what if?”  For just $30 million, you touch upon themes related to what it means to be human and how we treat others and discrimination.  It also had great (and believable special effects), and some very good action. The exploding bodies was a nice touch. I love when a sci-fi story does a great job with social satire.

$30 million. A complete cast of unknowns. Good special effects.  Great themes. Good action. What more do you want?

This was a good sci-fi movie. Director Neill Blomkamp and Peter Jackson did good.

District 9 (2009)

Warehouse 13

On Tuesday, Syfi (here lie the old Sci-Fi Channel) premiered a new sci-fi series named Warehouse 13.  From what  I saw, it was a mash-up of Men in Black meets the big warehouse at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark. You could call it a “dramedy”, but FYI, the executive suits at Syfi are calling the show a “thrilleromedy”, whatever that means.

The pilot went like this: two Secret Service agents do such a bang-up job saving the life of POTUS, they receive a mysterious job offer to work in “Warehouse 13.”  What is Warehouse 13?  It is this massive, top-secret storage facility in South Dakota (very reminiscent of the aforementioned big warehouse at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark.  Turns out this mysterious warehouse maintained the the U.S. gov’t houses strange artifacts, mysterious relic, etc. in order to protect the world. The two agents are the newest recruits to a small, select group of government employees responsible for chasing down any reports of supernatural/paranormal activity, which may be as a result of some mysterious object.

It was somewhat entertaining as what I might call farcical science-fiction, so I intend to check out the next few episodes.  It could easily cross the line into sophomoric funny and become too fantastical to believe.  If so, forget it.  For now, I’ll give it a try.

I want to go to sleep, and there’s an interesting documentary on the Korean War.  Maybe a super-interesting CourtTV-type of mystery/crime re-creation.  Here in Canada, do you know what they have?  Space, a 24-hour sci-fi channel.  Last night, I watched two hours of Star Trek, and Aliens!  It’s a better sci-fi channel than Sci-Fi in the States (soon to be SyFy in July 2009.)