Random Sci-Fi Thoughts

I began working on my wife before we were even married, with subtle hints about the many virtues of Star Trek and Star Wars. My first major victory was getting her to watch the last four or five seasons of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" in the early years of our marriage; it was all down hill from there. Now she regularly geeks out on all kinds of nerdy fare, from "Battlestar Galactica" to "Firefly" to the more mainstream "Chuck." This, among other things, makes her the perfect woman.

In the end, I'm really interested in quality story-telling. When you remove the limits and constraints from the story teller, you often call the result sci-fi or fantasy.

• I saw District 9 this week. It's a bit gruesome, but it's truly sci-fi in the classic sense: like a 90-minute, special effects-laden episode of Twilight Zone. District 9 addresses serious issues with extraordinary story telling. Please, make a sequel!
• You can see some of the genius of Neill Blomkamp in his original short film, Alive in Joburg. And here is his interpretation of what a Halo film would look like.
  
• James Cameron's Avatar is finally coming to the big screen. This is not the Airbender series, this something bigger, bluer, and better…
• I'm training my boys on a diet of "Star Wars: The Clone Wars." Naturally, I have to preview each episode to make sure it's acceptable viewing for the kids. Season 2 begins October 2.
• "V," the remake of the 80's aliens-in-sheep's-clothing mini-series will begin November 3.
• Joss Whedon, perhaps my favorite television writer of all time (sorry, Ronald D. Moore), gets a second season of his sci-fi show "Dollhouse." It starts on September 25.