On 8/20/2023 10:18 AM, Dimensional Traveler wrote:
> Stargate: SG-1 S9E19 'Crusade' - DVD
> "Using the Ancients' communication technology, Vala, who is in the Ori
> galaxy, contacts the SGC. She tells them that after being sucked into
> the wormhole she awoke in a bed in a village much like the one she and
> Daniel had visited when they used the communication stones. The locals
> think she fell from the sky - a gift from the gods - and befriends the
> gentle Tomin, a devout follower of the Ori who has a bad leg. Vala has
> two pieces of information for the SGC: first, she is pregnant though
> insists that she didn't have sex with anyone; and second, the Ori have
> been building a fleet of ships and building up its army. Meanwhile,
> Colonel Chekov advises General Landry that the Russians will not be
> renewing their working agreement with the United States and will be
> taking their Stargate."
>
> Vala Mal Doran: It's funny, isn't it? Daniel always wanted to get into
> my pants, and now I'm in his.
>
> Vala Mal Doran: I did my best to blend in. At first, according to Tomin
> and, therefore, as far as the villagers were concerned, I was the woman
> who fell from the sky, which made me feel kind of special. I later
> learned that they always suspected I'd escaped from another village as a
> result of some scandal and then I started to feel much more like I'm
> used to.
>
> Plot Hole: Colonel Chekov's leverage over the SGC is that Russia will
> remove the stargate from the SGC, because the stargate is technically on
> loan from Russia. However, Stargate Command has, many times, removed
> stargates from other worlds for use elsewhere in the galaxy (or in the
> Pegasus galaxy). They would have no problem obtaining another stargate
> for their own daily use, if indeed, they don't already have several on
> hand.  (My addendum, just a couple of episodes ago they had a dozen or
> more they "rescued" from a Ba'al.)
>

But wouldn't the Russian gate be primary, so every time SGC sends a team
out they'd wind up returning to Russia?

> Trivia: Joseph Mallozzi was not happy with the design of the Ori
> spaceships and thought they looked like flying toilet seats.
> Vala, just before Tomin yelled to her that his limp was cured, is
> beating dough. The beat is that of Tusk (Fleetwood Mac, 1979)
> The directorial debut of Robert C. Cooper, executive producer and head
> writer for the series. Cooper is also co-creator of the spin-off series
> Stargate: Atlantis (2004) and Stargate Universe (2009).
> Claudia Black who plays Vala, was pregnant in real life during filming,
> so they wrote it into the story line.
>
> Michael Ironside does his usual excellent job of chewing scenery.  :D
>

I don't remember Irsonside on Stargate. :-(

> Commentary: Writer/Director Robert Cooper and DP Peter Woeste.  This was
> a "second unit" episode, with the bulk of the episode being shot by the
> second unit using secondary characters.  Claudia was seven months along
> during production of this episode.

She was really pregnant?!?
And that star kid of hers really shook up the direction of the season.
Although I guess she still could have been written in through other means.

There are advantages to the
> Executive Producer also being the director, like overtime is very easy
> to get approved.  A lot of discussion of how the episode was shot, what
> kinds of shots, etc.  Cooper talks a lot about how the "core story" of
> SG-1 is about how religion can be misused.  Talk of how important "happy
> accidents" are to a good production, the ability to take advantage of
> the unexpected.  The scene of Vala's nightmare about living fire was one
> such example.  Cooper talks about how the way that TV shows are shot
> because of time and budget constraints really force the actual filming
> to be the part that gets the least time and attention to making it good.
>  Cooper spreads praise to a lot of people, emphasizing that the entire
> show is a large team effort.
>
> ----------------------
>
> Stargate: SG-1 S9E20 'Camelot' - DVD
> "Based on the information Vala gave them, SG-1 travels to the planet
> where Merlin may have hidden his secret weapon to defeat ascended
> beings. There they find an appropriately medieval village and learn that
> Merlin kept a library there. The locals have never been inside owing to
> a curse on anyone who dares enter, but SG-1 finds a way in. Once inside,
> they find a secret chamber that may reveal the location of the weapon.
> The SGC, meanwhile, has located the Ori's Supergate. Sam's attempt to
> get control of it is too late, and four Ori ships make their way
> through. In the ensuing battle, much of Earth's fleet is destroyed, and
> the future of several SGC members is left in doubt."  (Sounds like a
> typical season finale cliff-hanger to me.)
>
>     Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell: So all you had to do was shoot the
> control crystals?
>     Dr. Daniel Jackson: Pretty much.
>     Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell: Sounds like one of my plans.
>
>     Dr. Daniel Jackson: This is interesting. This is a-a reference to
> Merlin's prophetic abilities. There's a-a similar myth on Earth, that
> Merlin could see the future because he actually aged backwards in time.
> It's not meant to be taken literally, but we have seen that a lot of
> legends and folklore have a-a strong basis in fact. Avalon, Atlantis...
>     Teal'c: The Easter Bunny.
>     Dr. Daniel Jackson: I guess there's a few exceptions.
>
>     Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell: Hey, has anyone stopped to think how
> this thing might possibly work? I mean, how do you kill something that's
> pure energy?
>     Dr. Daniel Jackson: Well, technically, Merlin's research didn't
> refer to killing. A better translation would be 'neutralizing' or
> 'canceling out'.
>     Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell: Well it still begs a lot of
> questions. How do you aim at something you can't see?
>     Dr. Daniel Jackson: Clearly it can't be a weapon in the
> conventional sense. See, Ascended Beings transcend ordinary space-time
> as we know it. This device would have to do the same thing.
>     Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell: In other words, you have no idea what
> it might be.
>     Dr. Daniel Jackson: Yeah, pretty much, that's it.
> (I think Daniel is counting of the script writer to save them.)
>
> Dr. Daniel Jackson: [a reply to the Ori ships] "Then to Tyolus, say to
> the people of the low plains, seek not the wickedness amongst your
> neighbors lest it find purchase in your own house."
>
> Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell: Well I hate to break it to you folks but
> the only technology I'm seeing is a bunch of dusty old books.
> [tugs on one of said dusty old books, causing the bookcase to slide to
> one side revealing a secret passage.]
> Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell: And a secret passage.
>
> Trivia: Inside Merlin's Library the set dressers placed two desiccated
> bodies. None of the characters address the presence of the bodies and
> the actors themselves missed seeing them.
> The Russian BC-304 Korolev is named after Sergei P. Korolev, the lead
> Soviet rocket and spacecraft designer during the 1950s and 1960s
> The library is protected by a shield but spiders as well as a food
> source must able to enter.
>
> Its Denethor from The Lord of the Rings!  Wait, Merlin was in The Lord
> of the Rings?  Something's not right here....
>
> Commentary: Director Martin Wood and Amanda Tapping.  Recorded three
> days before the start of production of season 10.  Amanda complains that
> she has to cut her hair.  Browder wanted to "Kirk" (or "Ricker,
> whatever) a woman in the show, so as its the final episode of the season
> his only option was the 15-year old sword girl (played by a 20-something
> year old actress).  So that didn't happen.  Amanda had a cold during
> shooting and was very sick by the end of shooting.  The Whack-a-Mole
> machine makes an appearance.  Amanda jokes that Martin's directing made
> her so sick she threw up.  He responds that he'll have to remember
> exactly what he did so he can do it again.  One of the crew who helps
> Carter into her space suit was played by a supervisor from Rainmaker,
> the company that does all their Stargate Puddles.
>
>
> Again, end of disc and end of season so watched the extras.  Bio of Brad
> Wright, BTS of 'Crusade' and the photo galleries.
>
>
> What Did You Watch?
>

Sorry if this is a duplicate. Thunderbird won't send and I have to keep
resending this.

I watched:

Jason's Lyric (TMC) 1994 drama starring Allen Payne as a young man
trying to juggle family life with his ex-con, good for nothing, brother
(Bokeem Woodbine), and love life with his new girlfriend (Jada Pinkett).
I never saw this movie before now. I guess it was OK. I was reading
in the trivia that the movie was originally rated NC-17 due to the sex
scenes, but was edited down to an R. I was actually very surprised
seeing Jada in the sex scene. It wasn't the type of thing I'd expect
her to do, but this was a long time ago and she was much younger then.

Deep Cover (blu-ray) 1992 crime movie directed by Bill Duke and starring
Laurence Fishburne as a cop who goes *deep* undercover as a drug dealer.
He goes so deep under that his boss (Charles Martin Smith) forces him
to sale drugs and turns a blind eye when Fishburne kills a rival drug
dealer to maintain his cover. Eventually the line between cop and
criminal starts to blur. The movie also costars Jeff Goldblum as a
crooked lawyer and would-be drug kingpin. The movie holds up very well
and I've always enjoyed Goldblum chewing the scenery as the villain. And
the new print for the blu-ray looks great.

Landscape with Invisible Hand (theatrical) New sci-fi movie set in the
near future after Earth has been invaded and occupied by aliens. The
aliens pass themselves off as benign and friendly beings just trying to
help civilize a barbaric planet, but they are much closer to the aliens
from "They Live" in terms of how they operate. On paper, humans still
run the planet, and it's never really explained how the aliens took
control, but they briefly mention the military tried to resist but
business people looking to make a buck eagerly sold out to the aliens
for money. Now humanity has been divided into the few wealthy elite
that live in the sky with the aliens and the rest of humanity which is
mostly in poverty. But the actual plot of the movie involves two human
teens (Asante Blackk and Kylie Rogers) who decide to broadcast their
budding romance to the aliens like sort of a reality show that the
aliens will pay to watch. But when the two teens fall out of love but
keep broadcasting their romance the aliens sue them for fraud. There
are other things that happen in the movie too.

Overall, the movie is very interesting in terms of "They Live" style
social commentary where human civilization is being run by a foreign
power and the various details and touches in the movie as a result. For
example if you want to get a good job you have to work for the aliens
and to do that, you have to learn their language. Or how the Earth
educational system keeps shifting to focus on the alien's history and
culture and how benevolent they are. While the human teachers are
completely disgusted by what's going on but powerless to stop it.