Most films that aim to be as topical as Eye in the Sky tend to be boring slogs, more concerned with hitting each hot-button issue or pulling the right strings than with telling a compelling story. Eye in the Sky, however, manages to do both. It’s a white-knuckle suspenseful tale of a mission to apprehend potential terrorists in Kenya while also managing to bring depth and subtlety to the debate about drone-based warfare. In many ways the film is a cinematic version of the Trolley Problem, the famous thought experiment that is a favorite in Intro to Psychology classes and occasionally makes appearances onscreen, and where another film about the drone war might come down definitively on one or the other side of the debate, director Gavin Hood has instead crafted a story complex enough to not offer any simple answers yet simple enough to foster a healthy debate. And while Eye in the Sky does an excellent job of showing just how muddy the waters are when it comes to drone strikes, in the end the audience is likely to see in the film a reflection of their own beliefs, whatever they may be, but regardless of your feelings you should come out of the film with something more to think about.
Scotty: It’s a shame for a good Scotsman to admit it, but I’m not up on Milton.
Kirk: The statement Lucifer made when he fell into the pit. “It is better to rule in hell than serve in heaven.”
Spock: It would be interesting, Captain, to return to that world in a hundred years and to learn what crop has sprung from the seed you planted today.
Kirk: Yes, Mister Spock, it would indeed.
Star Trek – Season 1: Episode 24 – “Space Seed”
Buffy: My mom… said some things to me about being the Slayer. That it’s fruitless. No fruit for Buffy.
Angel: She’s wrong.
Buffy: Is she? Is Sunnydale any better than when I first came here? Okay, so I battle evil. But I don’t really win. The bad keeps coming back and getting stronger. Like that kid in the story, the boy that stuck his finger in the duck.
Angel: Dike. It’s another word for dam.
Buffy: Oh. Okay, that story makes a lot more sense now.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer — Season 3: Episode 11 — “Gingerbread”
‘Ah, Mr Babbington, there you are: sit down. I dare say you know why I have sent for you?’
‘No, sir,’ said Babbington instantly. It was worth denying everything as long as he could.
HMS Surprise – Patrick O’Brian
Mal: So, she’s added cussing and hurling about of things to her repertoire. She really is a prodigy.
Simon: It’s just a bad day.
Mal: No, a bad day is when someone’s yellin’ spooks the cattle. Understand? You ever see cattle stampede when they got no place to run? It’s kind of like a… a meat grinder. And it’ll lose us half the herd.
Simon: She hasn’t gone anywhere near the cattle.
Mal: No, but in case you hadn’t noticed, her voice kinda carries. We’re two miles above ground and they can probably hear her down there. Soon as we unload, she can holler until our ears bleed. Although I would take it as a kindness if she didn’t.
River: The human body can be drained of blood in 8.6 seconds given adequate vacuuming systems.
Mal: See, morbid and creepifying, I got no problem with, long as she does it quiet-like.
Firefly — Episode 5 — “Safe”
I’ve long had mixed feelings about subscription boxes. I had a Loot Crate subscription for a while, and it’s definitely fun getting a regular package in the mail full of surprise items in which you have an interest, but I didn’t keep my subscription for very long. I always felt that while technically getting my “money’s worth” from the box in the sense that the value of the items inside met or exceeded the cost of the box my money could be better spent elsewhere. I’m a pretty big geek/nerd, and those type of boxes are theoretically right up my alley, but the reality was that there was only ever one or two items I really liked or had any interest in in each box and the other stuff felt like filler. And even the items that were a big hit weren’t necessarily things I would have bought on my own, so I ended up just filling my house with stuff I didn’t necessarily want even if it was stuff I liked. In the end, the bulk of the enjoyment came from the anticipation and mystery of what would be in the next box and the thrill of discovery, rather than from the box itself.
But Loot Crate recently teamed up with Quantum Mechanix (qmxonline.com), purveyors of a wide variety of exclusive items from a variety of licenses, to offer a new box just for fans of Firefly/Serenity: the Firefly Cargo Crate. Firefly is one of my all-time favorite shows and Serenity one of my favorite movies, so this seemed tailored just for me. Add in the fact that each bi-monthly Cargo Crate will contain a Little Damn Hero “Mini Master” figure (redoing a line of figures by QMX from a few years ago which were extremely popular but which only released figures of 7 of the 9 main characters from the show), and I was sold. Loot Crate claims that each box contains at least $65 worth of items and the boxes cost $39.99 each (including S&H), though you can save a little money by purchasing a longer plan. The first Firefly Cargo Crate arrived this weekend, so I thought I’d do a bit of an unboxing/review and give you a peek at what’s inside. And if you’re interested you can click here to save $5 off this or any Loot Crate!
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McCoy: Well, either choke me or cut my throat. Make up your mind.
Star Trek – Season 1: Episode 24 – “Space Seed”
The Love Pirate 