Monday, September 24, 2007

Next...

Uncle has posted the second to last installment of Alias Revelations. Head on over to Uncle Gun now!

Next Monday Uncle will post a double installment as the finale of his screenplay. I will post links to all installments soon after that and then we can discuss the piece as a whole.

Thanks again Uncle!

26 comments:

Girlscout said...

Very exciting installment Uncle. With Vaughn and Syd and then Vaughn and Marshall in danger, its enough to keep me on the edge of my seat.

Just one or two things- Rachel asks Sydney if she wants to take some time off after her wedding. I think Rachel has come to know Sydney well enough (as her maid of honor) to know that Sydney would not take a break after her wedding. She hardly took a break after giving birth.

There was a grammar typo- Marshall says "None of you is clones." It should be "Non of you ARE clones." Just a little thing.

Other than that, I loved the action of both BIG sequences. And I love that Dixon is a double. I was a little disheartened that a nobody walked Sydney down the aisle. If anything, I would think Dixon would have- but he is a clone at the time. Shotgun weddings aren't my favorite, especially for a love story like Sydney and Vaughn's, but I guess you gotta do what you gotta do.

uncle111 said...

Actually, Capt. Ferguson walked her down the isle, which I thought was poetic, given that it took me to final get them to the alter:)

Girlscout said...

But Ferguson?? Sydney seems like the sentimental type. Even Marshall walking her would have been better!! Maybe I am just a stickler for tradition- but I think Sydney is too. It's like her having Thanksgiving dinner- there are only a few "normal" things she gets to do.

uncle111 said...

I think she would see Marshall more as her brother, whereas Ferguson is more like a father- guiding her training, tasked with protecting her, and he is Jack's friend.

uncle111 said...

GS-
I forgot- thanks for catching the typo. I probably meant to say "none of you is a clone."
Also- if you think this one had action, wait for the finale. You'd better wear a seat belt, or the action and twists will give you Alias whiplash.

uncle111 said...

GS,
Have you thought about putting a file together of all the posts from when the show was still on air, and immediately following the series finale? It would be fun to go back and read those and have them available in a single emailable or downloadable file.

SKlaft said...

Notes as I read...

1. So... first Marshal doesn't see it at all, but then he knows exactly what type of bomb it is as it decends? That's odd. I don't know what a thermoberic bomb is, but it seems a little convenient for a narrow escape.

2. The floor is wet and Vaughn slips, hitting his head? Now, I know we like realism here, but I think we might expect a little more athleticism than the three stooges out of Vaughn. Just a suggestion, but I would veer from the Laurel and Hardy scene and maybe just have him too far away, or snagged in another mechanical trap of some sort.

3. They survived an explosion that split a blast door in two? Were there no exposed parts unprotected by the "dragon skin"? I'm sorry, this is beyond believability. People do not love this show for al lthe things Inspector Gadget made for them, and part of what creates suspense is vulnerability. Super-duper armor plating is a little more suited to a comic book adaptation. I don't mean to harsh on you, but it is my honest reaction.

(Too few people will tell you the complete truth. Most people will be all supportive and sweet in order to feel better about themselves rather than actually give you constructive thoughts. I know... I see it all the time too.)

4. I'm with GS on the walking down the isle thing. Someone no one really knows walking her down the isle... its just weird. Dixon is doubled, but it would be glaringly uncharacteristic of him to not be there for their wedding.

5. I don't think any of them would consider Marshal to be an expereinced feild agent, and II do not think they would ever willing send Marsh into danger by himself. It may have happened by chance in the past, but they never sent him directly into trouble without backup of some sort.

6. Liked the exchange with Vaughn and Marshal. A little protracted, but very characteristic and amusing.

Thats all this time. I'm a little rushed today. I'll analyze more next time.

-R.

SRM said...

ahhh I haven't read the last one yet, can you please repost the link to the 4th installment?

uncle111 said...

Robetron,
Trust me, I appreciate honesty.

With everything in movies, if it's not toatally ridiculous it sells or not depending on how the actors portray it and how they film it and edit it.

1- He's familiar with the electronics and the chemicals the sensors are picking up. Easy to sell in a movie or TV.
2- Yeah- uneasy with the slip myself. I'll find something else.
3- Yes, completely covered by the blanket. In a movie it could be sold by the filming, where in the room they are, etc.
4- The fact is Dixon can't be there. He's Elena's captive, and they suspect he's been doubled. He's also not suppossed to know where they are. The other guys at the wedding are like brothers. Ferguson is Jack's friend, the closest they've got, and she's gotten to know him.
5- A low risk mission. Remember Rachel had her first solo mission with one that was higher risk.

SRG-
http://www.samaritanarts.com/Alias/Revelation-d.JPG

SRM said...

merci!

Girlscout said...

Maybe Uncle you can add a scene where Syd and Ferguson have a heart to heart or he does something fatherly- like help her do something, or maybe he says something Jack used to say. Something to trigger that bond.

And I see why you are so adamant about Ferguson walking down the isle! Ferguson is YOU!! I see, I see, you wanna walk Syd down the isle!

uncle111 said...

Finally, somebody sees!!:)

Page48 said...

Can I get a DVD of the wedding? With 10 layers of encryption, of course.

I think this was the first big operative wedding since Maxwell Smart tied the knot with Agent 99. Mulder and Scully never made it legal, but that 2nd movie is on the way, so anything is possible.

Plenty of good Marshall panic in this instalment. Marshall is highly resourceful, but he's not the least bit smooth. I would be scared to death to send Marshall on a solo mission if his success was at all important to me. His adlib is painful and I can just see the beads of sweat on his forehead and the nervous "is this the part where you're going to kill me?" smile. As a viewer/reader, this means instant tension beginning the second he's out the door.

History has shown, however, that Marshall has an excellent, if unorthodox track record and is highly motivated by Syd's praise, which I notice you used here to convince him that he was up to the task. Sydney, however, must have been shitting bricks until Marshall was safely back in Vaughn's custody.

Jack could have used one of those "skins" in the series finale. Hell's bells, he could have used a VEST for crying out loud.

uncle111 said...

The fact that Jack wasn't wearing a vest on that mission stood out to me as uncharacteristic of his strategic planning abilities. But, as they demostrated over and over again, the occassional unrealistic and the uncharacteristic worked to keep us tense, surprised and tuned in.

Page48 said...

OT:

I watched "Chuck" last night. I don't plan to be a regular "Chuck" viewer, but occasionally I like to fill my eyes with Sarah Lancaster.

I couldn't help but look for Sydney Bristow lurking in the shadows on this show. In many ways, this was "Alias" played for laughs. Some scenes were strikingly similar.

For instance: "Alias" - Sydney in a life or death situation in the parking garage in "Truth be Told", gets a phone call from best buddy Francie who tries to engage her in mundane conversation. Francie's call gives Syd an idea on how to extricate herself from a dicey situation.

"Chuck" - Chuck in a life or death situation in the hotel conference room gets a phone call from best buddy Morgan, who tries to engage him in mundane conversation. Morgan's call gives Chuck an idea on how to extricate himself from a dicey situation.

Heck, the Sydney-figure even manages to say to Chuck "you have to listen to me".

The knife-throwing prowess of Renee Rienne is duplicated by the Syd-figure in the Pilot.

Because "Chuck" is a dramedy and an episodic dramedy at that, I'm officially not on board, but it was a pleasant diversion and I may check out the odd episode.

Also OT: Shades of Rambaldi on "24" this season as Tony Almeda comes back to life after 2 seasons of suffering from deadness. Also sounds like Kiefer got into the Rambaldi juice last night and racked up a timely DUI.

One other OT note: I thought "Heroes" 2.1 was a little slow out of the gate. David Anders made his debut as (what else?), an English cad, albeit a 17th Century English cad. Grunberg, who took 4 slugs in the chest in last season's finale, recovered in Vaughn-like fashion over the summer and appears no worse for wear.

uncle111 said...

Page48,
That is another one of the things in Alias that we always had to overlook- how quickly they healed and without lasting effects. Anyone knocked out as many times as Vaughn would have alzheimers by his age.

Heros still looks interesting. New characters, Hiro in the past teaching the ultimate hero of Japan how to be the ultimate hero, still mysteries to unfold.

Page48 said...

Uncle,

Vaughn's recovery was beyond ridiculous. It makes you wonder how many rounds they had to pump into Danny to keep him from crawling out of that bathtub. All part of the beauty of "Alias", though.

"Heroes" obviously has to reset the table after last year's climactic finale, but the last minute conversation between HRG and Suresh (sp.) indicates that the game is officially afoot, so I have no doubt that much chaos is in store.

SKlaft said...

I look forward to the new Heroes season, but I truly wish they would take the opportunity to pick up the pace. It's slower moving than LOST. (Except with LOST, we don't really know its moving until the its way past where we thought it was going.)

SRM said...

Great action Uncle! Typo in case no one else has caught it: toward the end when the president says "What in the Sam Hill is going on?" I think you meant "Sam Hell" ? I agree adding some kind of heart-to-heart scene between Syd and Ferg would be appropriate before he walks her down the aisle. I really enjoyed the suspense with the guy following Marshall, but how did he mistake the innocent guy for Vaughn? Did Vaughn outsmart him somehow and I missed it?

Bonkers for Bristow said...

Thank you, thank you, thank you, "Heroes" producres for giving David Anders an English accent. It would have broken my heart to hear his real voice.
I almost cheered when he spoke and Hiro said, "You're British?"
Long Live Sark!

Page48 said...

I was kinda relieved to hear Anders with a British accent as well. Now, if Hiro can find a way to bump him up to the 21st Century, that will also make me happy. I'm not a fan of period pieces, and I wouldn't mind if Grunberg and Anders appeared in the same scene.

If Hiro is to rejoin the rest of the cast without Anders leaving the show then I assume Hiro will need to bring him ahead in time.

I noted that Sensei (Anders) didn't demonstrate any special powers. Special powers were not a big part of eppie 2.1

uncle111 said...

SRG,
I don't know about elsewhere, but in Texas we say Sam Hill.(anyone know of a way to type a shrugging shoulders?)
Yeah, a heart to heart scene would serve that well.
This is one where you'd just have to see it on film. They victim is about Vaughn's size, etc., clothing, and he is so enraged he just assumes it's Vaughn.

I just got comments on the screenplay from an aquaintance who has written for several well known TV series. She told me what I already knew about it. This screenplay is for the informed Alias fan, not for newcomers. As I've said myself, it's more of an outline for a whole season, or at least a mini-series.

SKlaft said...

SRG, Uncle is right.

Back in the 1800's the expression "What in the Sam Hill..." started becoming a popular euphemism. See, back then, most people were somewhat religious, and the word "hell" being used in such a flippant way was considered disrespectful.

Sam Hill was a Colonel in Guilford, Connecticut, in the early 1700's. It is said that he would frequently run for public office, but was unsuccessful for a long time. Hense: to "run like Sam Hill" or to "go like Sam Hill." Then the expression morphed, as living languages often do, into the euphemism.

SRM said...

interesting, thanks for the history lesson. :) it's funny how people use sayings all the time and have no idea where they come from. My coworker and I were just discussing that yesterday, she was wondering the origins of "the cat's pajamas" hehe.

Girlscout said...

What about 3 sheets to the wind- where did that come from?

Page48 said...

Re: "Bionic Woman" Debut

I fired off this gibberish on the Televisionary blog earlier today. Rather that dig deep for something original tonight, I will just repeat it here:

I saw the pre-air pilot and watched the premiere last night to see the polished version. The updates were not dramatic. The new sister was inserted in scenes that were similar to those filmed with the first sister. Interesting to see the whole show with a mostly different soundtrack than the pre-air.

Some subtle tweaks were made to the dialogue, a few words dropped, a few words changed, but still the dialogue overall was annoyingly third-rate for a show that a major network is hanging their hopes on. How the hell did that chatter between Sarah and the European bad-ass about the Disney rides make it to the final cut? And, do I want to see an impression of an extremophile???? NO. Can you picture that kind of nonsense on "Alias"?

Jaime's boyfriend should have been re-cast while they were out looking for a new sister. I was kinda hoping Sarah would fire one of those bullets right through his heart instead of his shoulder.

I found many of the people who posted their views on the NBC Board were completely shocked by the fact that this was a serioused-up version of BW. It's as if they have been living in a media-blackout for the last 6 months. Many thought there was too much sex, when in fact there was no more than 60 seconds of onscreen kissing.

Bottom line, I thought the finished product looked more like a real TV show than the pre-air pilot, and for all the nit-picking problems I could go on about, I still have faith that the powers that be recognize the shortcomings of the pilot and intend to rectify them before long. I continue to hope that, now that the table has been set, albeit awkwardly, we can look forward to an intelligent, intriguing kick-ass girlie-heroine show. That being said, "Alias" will always be the benchmark to live up to and BW will have to play some serious catch-up before Sydney Bristow has to start looking over her shoulder.

All we can do is wait and see...and HOPE.