PCP on DVD - The Darkest Hour

Survivor horror and alien invasion films are very common.  It is hard to bring something new to the field of alien invasion movies, but The Darkest Hour at least comes up with some nifty new aliens for their invasion, so I figured I'd give this film a shot.  Turns out I wasted my time.

The Darkest Hour - 2011, rated PG-13.  My rating:  4 out of 10.

Pretty much the only original thing about this movie is the design of the aliens.  Everything else has been done better before.  Aliens show up, start killing almost everyone in their path, and humanity has to find a way to fight back before we are all wiped out.  It is a standard alien invasion plot, but it usually works better if we actually care about the characters.  Here they are just so one dimensional, not to mention utterly stupid in their behaviors, that there is rarely a moment we care when one of them gets ripped apart by the aliens.

As I said, the design of the aliens is the film's redeeming feature.  Rather than your typical green or gray skinned monster, this time the aliens are nearly invisible balls of energy.  When they come in to contact with a living being, they quickly disintegrate them nearly instantly, ripping them apart at what appears to be a molecular level.  The effects shots of that happening are about the only cool thing in this film.  Otherwise, the film is very predictable and linear, the characters asinine, and the scenery dull and drab.  Don't waste your time on this one, I wish I hadn't.

FML - My plans for my son's sci-fi development

So yesterday I mused on whether or not I am a nerd. Whether I'm a nerd or not, I love sci-fi and I want to make sure to pass that on to my son. So, this is my action plan for my son's sci-fi development. If you have any additional suggestions that I am missing, let me know in the comments!

• Start him out on sci-fi with cartoons. Star Wars: Clone Wars, X-Men, & Spider-Man cartoons to start. With those latter two, I'll go with the DVDs of the awesome 90s cartoons I grew up with myself.
• Dress him in sci-fi stuff as often as possible. As I mentioned yesterday, I have an adorable Star Wars hoodie for him, but he also has stuff for Spider-Man, Star Trek, the Avengers, Superman, Batman, & many more that I dress him in whenever possible. (And when he's not wearing these he's usually clad in Maize & Blue to build up his Michigan love).
• When he gets older, start him on the Star Wars films. The proper viewing order is Episodes 4, 5, 2, 3, 6. Episode 1 is dead to me and I want to avoid Jar-Jar in his life for as long as possible. When he's older he can go back and view that one later. For more on why this is the proper viewing order - go here and read this outstanding article I came across.  As to the new ones they are planning on making, obviously those would be added to the viewing order for where they fall in to the universe's timeline.
• Start him on sci-fi television when he's young with the more kid friendly Star Trek: TNG when he is about 10, maybe a little younger.  After TNG I'll have him watch Star Trek DS9 and the JJ Abrams Trek films.  I'll introduce the more serialized Lost and Babylon 5 when he is a little older.  
• He'll start on comic book movies once he is old enough (10 maybe?), especially the Marvel films of the past couple of years, and the Chris Nolan Batman movies. 
• I'll have him read the works of JRR Tolkein as soon as he is old enough to understand them, as well as watch the Peter Jackson films once he is old enough to not be disturbed by the violence in the films.
• Game of Thrones can wait until he is deeper into his teenage years, due to the sex and nudity on the show and in the books.
• He'll be exposed to board games at family game nights, and once he is old enough to understand some of the more complex games we can move into strategy and fantasy games. I have never played D&D but I would be okay with him doing this in his early teens (and if he took to this I'd love to play it with him). I'd love to play Magic the Gathering with him as well, I started that game myself when I was about 12.

Ok so that's my plan.  Fellow sci-fi loving parents, if you have any other suggestions, please let me know!

PCP - So am I a nerd or no?

So I am midway through my second week of all sci-fi content here on the blog. It got me to thinking, am I a nerd or no? By some classifications, I am totally a nerd, but by others I am not. For example, I would never be able to be on a show like King of the Nerds, as I am not nerdy enough to qualify for that type of nerd. On the other hand, I love sci-fi and fantasy pop culture. So, let's take a look at the evidence for and against whether or not I am a nerd, and I'll leave it to you to decide just how nerdy I am. If I am to be considered a nerd, I think that I am more of a jack of all trades kind of nerd, as I have nerdy interests but I don't go full nerd for anything in particular.

Points in favor of my nerdship:

• I have watched the following sci-fi/fantasy shows in their entirety: Star Trek TNG & DS9; Battlestar Galactica (the 2000s version not the original); Fringe; Babylon 5; Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Highlander, Game of Thrones, Stargate Universe, & Lost. I have watched at least half of the episodes of: The X-Files, Stargate Universe, The Walking Dead & Star Trek Voyager.
• In my old bedroom I had movie posters on the wall for Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, the Matrix, Hellboy, & Army of Darkness.
• I have attended a Star Trek convention, and I want to go to Comic-con.
• I read comics in the Marvel universe, as well as The Walking Dead.
• I watch a lot of sci-fi movies, as evidenced by my reviews the past two weeks. I rarely miss a sci-fi film that comes out. Ditto with comic book movies, I have seen every single one, and own almost all of them, even the bad ones like Daredevil.
• I used to play Magic the Gathering and still own several decks of cards.
• I love tabletop board and card games, and I own some games that are only sold at comic book stores such as Zombies, Guillotine, & Munchkin.
• I own four working video game consoles, including an old NES that I still play from time to time. I used to have six, but one broke (my Genesis) and one I gave away to my sister-in-law (my N64).
• My favorite outfits for my son include his Star Trek onesie, Star Wars hoodie, and several superhero outfits.
• I read a lot. Typically, I read at least one book a week.
• I am really really good at trivia.

Points against my nerdship:

• There are plenty of sci-fi shows that I haven't watched, most notably the original Star Trek, the series Enterprise, and also Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis. Also, as much as I loved Serenity, I still haven't seen every episode of Firefly.
• In addition to the movie posters (I did work in a theater so they were free and awesome), I also had my walls decorated with tons of sports memorabilia, especially Michael Jordan stuff.
• I have only gone to one Star Trek convention, and that was over 15 years ago. Also, I did not do any cos-play for it, and I do not have any cos-play stuff for any geeky subject matter.
• While I read comics, I only read some of them, and I only read them when I am killing time at my local Barnes & Noble. Also, I am not a big fan of DC comics so my knowledge of DC characters is far lower than my knowledge for Marvel. I haven't bought a comic in a decade.
• I don't just watch a lot of sci-fi or comic book movies, I watch a ton of movies period, as evidenced by my blog here and the 150+ movies I've reviewed here in two years.
• I sold the majority of my Magic the Gathering collection a couple years ago, only holding on to my most valuable and best cards, to either sell them in the future or pass them down to my son Jackson.  
• I have never played Dungeons & Dragons. Instead, I played varsity football and lacrosse in high school.
• Despite owning several video game consoles, I rarely actually have time to play them. Of the 8 games I own for my Xbox 360, I have only beaten 3 of them thus far, and only played 5 of them.
• You can't blame me for getting my kid cute geeky outfits. They're just so adorable. Just look at the hoodie pictured here, and imagine a baby inside it. Once Jackson grows into this, he's going to be so adorable. Even though he won't fit in to this until this fall, even huge on him this was so frakkin' cute it is unbelievable.

• Yes I do read a lot, but the majority of what I read is mystery, action, and spy novels. I actually read sci-fi/fantasy as less than 5% of the books I read.
• Yes, I am really good at trivia, but that's because I have a really really good memory.

OK so those are the points and counterpoints of my nerddom. So tell me, am I a nerd or no? I won't be offended either way. Hit me up in the comments!