FilmRoar

Following up on themes established in The Measure of a Man in the episode The Offspring Data decides to procreate and uses his own positronic brain to create a new android he names Lal (played with great effect by Hallie Todd). With the stage set the show makes no delay to delve into the first of many ethical debates prompted by the new arrival. Star Fleet is made nervous by Data’s experiment to ‘create life’ and experiment he had not advised Starfleet or Picard of because to Data he is dong what any other member of the crew has the right to do without having to ask for the captain’s permission: he is having a child.

The ethics of Data’s decision comes into question again later in the episode as Admiral Hatfel comes aboard the Enterprise to evaluate Data’s capacity as a parent and take the new android away to a research facility if he should decide that is the better course of action. I am sure that the writers of the episode meant to mirror some of the controversy towards Child Protective Services which are both praised for their mission to safe guard children from harmful environments and reviled for breaking up families, sometimes with no clear cause. The writers are likewise able to touch on other sensitive topics such as how exposed children should be to subjects of human sexuality. The situation lends itself to a hilarious encounter where ReKirk.. err. I mean Riker comes across the comely Lal and not realizing her android nature turns the charm on. Lal who is working in ten forward in an effort to learn more about human behavior takes the opportunity to pick Riker up by his uniform and plan a great big kiss on his lips. Data who observes the exchange approaches the surprised Riker and directly asks him ‘Commander, what are your inentions towards my daughter?’ Riker’s look of astounded fright and sudden decision to make a run for it alone make the episode worth watching. Incidentally for anyone who wonders why the Riker character only had one scene in the whole episode, take a close look at the opening credits and you will realize that this is the first TNG episode that was handed to Jonathan Frakes to direct. Frakes will not direct again until season 4 for the episode Reunion, but by that point he will have proven his ability as a director well enough that he will get to sit in the directors chair again for 6 more TNG episodes, 3 episodes of Deep Space Nine and Voyager each and two Star Trek movies.

One detail that particularly appealed to me about The Offspring was the liberties the story took with taking the common subject of a new child to uncommon frontiers. The ability of Lal to choose her own species and gender for example was particularly interesting. In a day when parents are tempted to meddle with the development of their unborn children it is refreshing to see a case where the child is not only allowed to develop but given the choice to decide just what kind of a person they want to become.

It was with great trepidation that I decided to watch the recent superhero flick Daredevil (2003). Since the movie’s release and subsequent bombing I had been curious to see how the Marvel hero was treated on the big screen but reluctant to dish any money out for it, so I waited for my local library to pick a copy up on DVD. I liked reading the Daredevil comics and figured how bad could this flick really be? The answer: Pretty damned.
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I just found a movie trailer for Innocence: Ghost in the Shell 2 the new sequel to the classic anime Ghost in the Shell (1995). The sequel is slated for a premiere at Cannes this year and has a reported run time of 100 minutes. Guess most of us will have to wait for a DVD release.

Some pretty big news for Film Roar: Donnie Darko (2001) fans. According to Hollywoodreporter.com the movie is getting a director’s cut theatrical re-release with 20 minutes of additional footage. Here is the full blurb:

“Donnie Darko” is getting a new theatrical release. Newmarket Films, which originally released the film, is unveiling a director’s cut at the Seattle Film Festival on May 29. “Darko” premiered at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival and was released in theaters that fall. The new version will have 20 minutes of never-before-seen footage, new visual effects, and new music. After the festival, Newmarket plans to release the film theatrically in Seattle before moving into other markets later in the summer. “We felt like it was a project unfinished, and there is such a hungry audience for this movie,” said Newmarket partner Bob Berney. “Darko” grossed just $515,545 at the domestic boxoffice but has since gained a following on DVD where it has grossed more than $10 million domestically. “Even though I am proud of the theatrical version of the film, I’ve always felt that the story was somewhat compromised in order to come in under two hours,” said “Darko” writer-director Richard Kelly. “With this version I feel like I’ve finally been able to complete the film.

An article at E! Online spells the future of Angel in no uncertain terms:

Angel is not coming back. At least not as the weekly TV series we now know and love. It sucks, and it’s wretched and wrong. But the sooner we all accept that, the sooner we can move on … the WB suits aren’t changing their minds on Angel… Frog net insiders tell me the higher-ups feel strongly that Angel had “limited moneymaking potential,” due to limited advertising revenue and what they consider to be a substantial budget. The fan base is clearly devoted, but these bigwigs see little hope of that audience expanding… UPN and Fox have both passed on Angel. UPN has a strict new edict not to pick up “other networks’ scraps”… [the Save Angel Campaign] “may not have saved the show,” David Boreanaz explained, “but what it does for the entire cast and crew is give us a little pop as we go out. Everyone takes notice that we connected well enough with the audience to give them that passion… to see everyone really going out of their way to try and save it, it just feels really, really good. So, big warm vampire fuzzies over here. It really took the sting out of getting canceled.”… Still, the best news is this: According to sources, the finale is supremely open-ended (Amy says it “opens new doors” and “doesn’t tie up any strings”), and I hear the Powers That Be at the WB have approached Joss Whedon about doing at least a movie-of-the-week or two (possibly as many as six) next season–thanks in large part to the folks at Save Angel. “I think a Buffy movie, or an Angel movie-of-the-week is more likely to happen now,” James said, “and they may be given better budgets, seeing this kind of interest, because there’s a feeling that there’s a guaranteed audience. So, the effort that I’ve seen, it is not in vain.”… [Sara Michelle Gellar] truly wanted to guest but couldn’t make it back in time for episode 21, because she was shooting a movie in Japan and had commitments to Scooby-Doo.

Follow the link above for the full article.

Previous GeekRoar.com articles on the topic:

March 16, 2004: Film Roar: Some encouraging news for Angels Fans

February 16, 2004: Film Roar: Season 5 of Angel to be the Last

For a history of the Save Angel campaign visit: SAVING ANGEL - A Fandom Campaign to Save Angel: The Series with the beautiful slogan “We will follow Angel to Hell… or another network.

One of the most enjoyable episodes in the third season, Yesterday’s Enterprise is a treat for Star Trek fans. The episode is full of action, intrigue, tension, old friends, new enemies and best of all ramifications for the Star Trek Universe.

One of the joys of following an episodic series like Star Trek The Next Generation is that viewers build knowledge of the history and mythos of the universe they develop. The more you watch the more of the history of the universe you get to know and the better you get involved story arcs and inside jokes. Those familiar with the universe will know that the Next Generation Starship Enterprise’s full name is U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-D and is a successor to the Enterprise from the original Star Trek series and in turn from the NX-01 featured in the latest series Star Trek: Enterprise. Through bits dropped in the various episodes and movies we have learned about the fate for the NCC-1701, the A, the B and the D models but history had not told what happened to the Enterprise-C… until now. At the beginning of the episode the Enterprise-C time travels into our present from a battle against Romulan Warbirds while helping to protect the Klingon outpost Narendra III. Not only is the fate of the C model revealed but this bit of history is filled with a rather epic story of great battles and epic sacrifice. We also get to see the NCC-1070-C (great job the set designers did with the older-generation bridge!), meet her captain and crew and even get to see her in battle!
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After much anticipation it looks like Shaolin Soccer is finally getting a US release. The movie looks very stupid and very fun. I for one am quite looking forward to it.