Stalker Talker

No!  I Am Not Talking About Following You Home -
I don't need to, I already know where you live.  Er - the postman told me, before you ask.  
     No, what I refer to - obviously! - is that arty, dark, brooding, mysterious Sinister-era film "Stalker", which was one of the 10 films that Whatculture put up on Youtube with the irresistible title "10 Sci-Fi Films That NOBODY Understands".  My memory not being what it was, Your Humble Scribe cannot remember if he's already discussed this film or not, so let's just assume not, otherwise this Intro's intro is wasted.  Art?

Wow,  PG?  Really?

     Excuse me, can I have a word?  I understood it.  Of course, I have the advantage of having read the novel is is loosely based upon - in fact, I only rediscovered it yesteryon, since it was hiding under my chair - to wit, "Roadside Picnic".
     In both novel and film, there is an inherently dangerous area known as "The Zone", where aliens landed and stayed for a night.  They left behind all sorts of artefacts; in the novel Stalkers venture into the Zone to retrieve them and illegally sell them on; in the film you don't get a sense of this.  Art?

This is where they sneak in

     In the novel, Stalkers are driven by both greed and curiosity; in the film they seek a room that allegedly grants one the  most fervent wish held deep in your heart.  It's very metaphysical and intellectual and diverges widely from the novel.
     Conrad has mentioned this before - they remade "Solaris" Western-style, and there is room for "Roadside Picnic" to be done as a faithful adaptation, with the added bonus that The Zone is set in Canada.

It's better, of course, in the original Klingon.

     What were the other two films on their list that I'd seen?  "Total Recall" is one, and we all know by now that it's all a fantasy going on in Mister Quaid's head, don't we?  The director has confirmed this, too, so I shan't take up any more time with that one.  The other one is "Extro", which was a cheap and nasty sci-fi horror film from This Sceptred Isle, about a chap who is abducted by aliens, turned into a hybrid version of them, and seeks to take over the London borough of Hackney.  That, or the world.  It's been a while.
 Art?

Some aliens could do with a good dental hygienist.

     Perfectly comprehensible, just not very good.
     I say, motley, what newspaper edition do aliens read?  The "Extro, extro, extro"!
     Ooops, that made it faint.  Nurse!  A bucket of after-shave, quickly!

I Get The Point, At Last

That is cheating a little, as to be honest it ought to read "Points", because there were a lot of them.
     No!  I am not talking about needles, though you are in the same general area, so clearly the blog's critical thinking skills are rubbing off on you.  No need to thank me, all part of the service we offer.
     Art?

     Yes, Conrad finally laid his hands on more bamboo skewers, and the foot-long version, too!  Which as any fule no is the only correct one.  Not before shelling out on some metal ones last week, mind.  Since I made some delicious chicken kebabs with the foot-long bamboo skewers, however, I am mellow enough to outlook the outlay*.
     Conrad would say it's a frabjous day.  Which I will attribute to Francis Dodgson, as he might sue otherwise.

     Vulnavia, quick, run and check the anti-locomotive ditch hasn't been filled in.  I worry so.

Back To That List Of Top 50 Sci-Fi Shows
Presumably everyone knows what these are about?  Or they wouldn't be popular.
     Your Humble Scribe got ahead of the game here; the Rolling Stone website I'm getting these programs from is very slow to load, so I noted this one down in advance: "Jessica Jones", which is Number 34 on the list.  Art?

Pretty much sums her up.

     JJ was of a rather darker cast than you might expect from a superhero program; JJ is a down-at-heel private investigator, who likes her whisky, and she has an attitude to go with her super-strength.  Created by the mighty Brian Michael Bendis in comic form, the series has an awesome theme tune, which starts off with a languid, jazzy vibe, and then boffs off into a mad rocking organ tune.  In fact - 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SL_DlSxmRkA

     That's the link to Youtube's take on the theme.
     It only ran for three seasons before Netflix cancelled it, because Doctor Doom is in charge of their programs**.

Why settle for just a tinfoil hat?

And, Speaking Of Latveria ...
The Eastern European nation that Doom rules as absolute dictator, of course - do keep up!  Conrad wonders if the Latvian government is aware of the Doctor, and if so, what they intend to do about it?
     Which smacks of politics, so we shall change the subject.  I brought Latveria up because it's a fictional Eastern European state, and I had been musing earlier this week on whether "The Prisoner Of Zenda" had been inspired by Etruria.  Art?

Behold the book

     It is set in "Ruritania", so you can see the roots of Etruria in there.  It was a huge and lasting success, so much so that it inspired the "Ruritanian romance" genre of novels, and - possibly irking those states or regions that end in "-nia", such as Sub-Carpathian Ruthenia - making up Central or Eastern European countries, since you can also invent their histories and not be stuck with boring reality.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you - The Prisoner Of Jenga!

Finally -
I've got my fingers crossed at the moment, as this weekend sees the International Criminal Court in the Hague decide whether to extend or repeal the injunction that the World Council Of Motleys imposed on me.  "For Extreme And Persistent Cruelty", they said!  As if motleys deserve to be treated like sentient beings***!
     Bah!

Possibly a motley.  Possibly not.

*  Three whole English pounds, if you wish to know.
**  Perhaps.
***  I realise this clashes with the assumed sentience and intellect that created and sustained a world council of them, but - LOOK! A FLYING SAUCER!