Some long time fans of Star Trek might investigate the latest, Strange New Worlds (SNW). It’s almost a return to form. Not everyone will take to it, and I’ve spoken to a few of my friends who are steadfast in their opinion in our nerd chats. To be specific, since it’s part of the rebooted Kelvin timeline, there’s no true link with Gene Roddenberry’s creation.
Co-showrunner Henry Alonso Myers wanted to produce Star Trek in the way it was originally done, and this series honours that aspect. The stories have given Captain Pike (Anson Mount), Spock (Ethen Peck) and crew more backstory to character development to appreciate. At least the direction is off to a good start.
Available to watch on Apple’s YouTube channel is Behind the Mac: Skywalker Sound. This mini-documentary released today in honour of Star Wars Day goes behind the scenes in what goes on in at this studio. We see more than how some of those magical sounds are made. We get insights into an aspect of the movie-making process that makes the filimed footage come alive.
Additionally, we see the technology used to fine tune the raw vibrations to what audiences hear in that film! Some of it may seem surprisingly low tech, but for the high, it’s no surprise Apples are used. Logic Pro is the software of choice at this studio. And from what I can notice, the servers look like they’re Apple G5s!
This video is a terrific watch to see how sound and image all gets put together. It may even perhaps inspire those who want to work in the movie-making industry to take up a position as a foley artist. Although some may argue Skywalker Sound desire to be fully digital will kill this position (please read my review of Actors of Sound here), I think this profession will be always be around in one form or another. Behind the Mac: Skywalker Sound nicely tells us why we need people who take ‘psycho acoustics’ seriously. They are the folks who’ll be out there in the natural and synthetic environment to record the next big thing. Who knows, maybe that sonic boom will be put in the next movie we’re about to see on the big screen.
Knowledge Kids‘ Luna the Owl, Chip the Beaver and Inkie the Octopus are the members of Adventure Rangers Go! They are this network’s mascots and it’s terrific they have their own animated series. Ever since their debut in 2008, they haven’t appeared in other forms of media. Other than a handful of shorts and a half-hour special for the Festival of Wishes in 2019, there wasn’t much. Producers knew there was interest. In this new series, they learn and extol about what’s important in life–having friendships, finding creative ways to solve problems and being kind to one another.
Michele Paris, Senior Manager of Children’s Programming at Knowledge Network, and Pat Ellingson, retired head of TVO Kids leads the development of this show. Together, with Executive Story Editors Shelly Hoffman and Rob Pincombe (Ollie and Moon, Camp Lakebottom), Child Development Consultant Cheryl Gotthelf and Leo Award winning Musician Daniel Ingram (My Little Pony: The Movie), they have a great product for people of all ages to watch together. The latter’s contribution is important since each episode are nicely summed up with a song.
Oscar Issac is not only the supervillain Apocalypse but also the masked superhero Moon Knight in two (finally united) Marvel Comics Cinematic Universe properties. Both have very loose Ancient Egyptian connections, and this actor is terrific at making us believe he has multiple personalities. Technically, his character has a dissociative identity disorder, and just how many he has would be telling.
In the first episode. Steven Grant isn’t sure about what’s going on with his life. He’s prone to black outs and has to live in seclusion because he fears something is out to get him–or rather, dreads what happens when he’s asleep. He works at the British Museum as a gift shop clerk. His mates at work don’t pay him any heed, and more often than not, step all over him.
Kamen Rider is a beloved Japanese comic book superhero franchise that’s gone on just as long as a few sci-fi media empires, namely Doctor Who and Star Trek. Shotaro Ishinomori created this epic tokusatsu style series in 1971, and to distinguish between the many televised products, manga and films, it’s been categorised according to who was the emperor of the country, much like the Gojira films.
The latest Kamen Rider Zero-One (仮面ライダーゼロワン) made its debut in Sept 2019, with Saber the following year and Revice in 2021. They mark the Reiwa era, and four years isn’t that bad of a wait for a home video release in foreign markets. Not everyone has access to TV Asahi or wants to search YouTube for the fan posts of the latest episodes. Each season is self-contained narrative-wise, and when I take interest, that’s because of the theme. I can’t wait for Saber because it involves fairies and Revice for its Devilman influnced narrative. Fans of Hideaki Anno are especially excited because he’s helming a Shin revival.
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Available to watch on 
Shout! Factory