The Beyond (2017)

Finding the right kind of craptacular sci-fi movies to watch and blog about isn’t an easy task. What I’m looking for is something that’s either entertainingly bad, or has a core concept that’s either interesting or stupid enough to warrant further examination. I was hoping The Beyond might just meet these criteria, buy sadly, it’s largely just plain dull.

The Beyond (not to be confused with the 1980s Italian horror of the same name) is meant to be a sci-fi horror shot in the style of a documentary. Let’s start by recounting the Netflix description of the movie: “A team of robotically-advanced astronauts travel through a new wormhole, but the mission returns early, sparking questions about what was discovered”.

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The Great BoJack Horseman Rewatch: Later

Just as Diane predicted, One Trick Pony has been a great success, even winning BoJack a Golden Globe – despite the fact that it’s a book and not a movie. Feeling directionless after the publication of the book, BoJack decides the time is right to launch the Secretariat movie project. Meanwhile, Diane faces decisions about what to do next, and Todd and Mr Peanutbutter come up with new projects for PB Livin’.

Well, here we are, at the BoJack season one finale. One usually has high expectations for a season finale, and I have to admit that, given the high standard set by the other episodes, this one is a tiny bit disappointing. The reason for this is simple – rather than having its own story to tell, the episode is mostly setting up plot threads for season two.

The Great BoJack Horseman Rewatch: Downer Ending

Disappointed with the fact that Diane’s book depicts him as a flawed person, BoJack resolves to completely rewrite his memoir – by the end of the week. With the help of Todd, Sarah Lynn and a huge pile of drugs, BoJack sets about his task, but ends up trapped in hallucinations.

Every season of BoJack has an ‘experimental’ episode, and Downer Ending is the very first of them. With BoJack under the influence of a cocktail of drugs, the animation style is free to explore new realms – for example, BoJack sees the image of a real horse in the mirror, loses his outlines, reverts to being a stick figure, and even enters a Peanuts-esque world in which Diane gives him advice from a booth.

The Great BoJack Horseman Rewatch: One Trick Pony

The movie version of the Hollywoo ‘D’ heist is being filmed, and BoJack has secured the role of Mr Peanutbutter, playing opposite Naomi Watts as Diane. However, when Todd’s ideas catch the attention of director Quentin Tarantulino, the movie becomes progressively more ridiculous. Meanwhile, Diane has finished her book – but will BoJack like what she has to say about him?

The dialogue of BoJack Horseman is always sharp and witty, but somehow this episode manages to elevate it to the next level. Whilst listening out for a good quote for the episode summary, I picked up on so many great lines. This truly is a well put together piece of television.

The Orville: season one

After expressing my disappointment about Star Trek Discovery, I heard from a couple of sources that I should be watching The Orville – the “true successor” to Star Trek. With that in mind, I set about watching season one. To put it mildly, results were mixed.

The Orville is basically Seth MacFarlane’s Star Trek fanfiction, given a solid budget and a TV slot. MacFarlane himself stars as Ed Mercer, captain of the USS Orville, a Planetary Union starship. Serving under him are a varied crew of humans and aliens, but more on them later. The episodic plots are all very Star Trek inspired, and the look and feel of the show can be considered, depending on how generous you feel, as either an homage to or a rip-off of TNG.

Karura’s Soapbox: Modern websites

The internet is a rich trove of information, misinformation, facts, opinions and funny cat photos. Most of it is served up to us via websites, and for years this has worked pretty well. Lately, however, navigating a website to read a single article of interest can turn out to be quite a stressful experience.

The Great BoJack Horseman Rewatch: Horse Majeure

After BoJack tries to kiss Diane on the way home from Malibu, things become awkward between them. Nonetheless, BoJack decides to press on with a plan to sabotage Diane’s wedding to Mr Peanutbutter, and enlists Todd to help him.

For me, BoJack has been a good show right from the beginning, but it’s in this episode that it really settles into its stride. The formula for most of season one has been to have a serious A-story, a “Todd’s antics” B-story, and of course lots of visual gags. Now the show settles into what feels like a more familiar BoJack template, of having lots of interwoven character threads going on simultaneously.