Fahrenheit 451 comes to HBO

One of legendary author Ray Bradbury's seminal novels is finally coming to television. Or rather, not TV but HBO.

Fahrenheit 451, about a near-future society where censorship is everything and book burnings are conducted by the fire department under orders by the fascist government, is being adapted as a film by HBO; they selected Ramin Bahrani to write and direct. As he will also produce the movie, this must be a passion project for Mr. Bahrani. Starring are Michael B. Jordan (Creed, Chronicle, the upcoming Black Panter) as fireman Montag and Michael Shannon (The Shape of Water, Man of Steel) as his nemesis Capt. Beatty.

Click this link to CINEMA BLEND to see the first teaser trailer.

Robots Got Talent - Dancing Robots Prove It

I like robots.

You like robots.

Who doesn't like robots?

Well, how about 1,007 tiny robots. All dancing in unison. (originally found on Gizmodo)

Silent Running - Making The Movie

Silent Running was originally released in March 1972. It was a modestly budgeted (made for about $1 million) science fiction film, but one with a very big environmental message which is still relevant today: We have to protect our forests. 

A documentary crew followed director Douglas Trumbull and his cast and crew as they made the film, primarily shooting on the decommissioned US Navy aircraft carrier Valley Forge in California. This is one of the better documentaries showing the behind the scenes goings on of a great film.

Earth Star Voyager - Cheesy 1980s TV Sci-Fi

Hey, Internet. Here's Earth Star Voyager, the failed TV movie pilot from The Wonderful World of Disney that aired in 1986.  (I dare you to say Earth Star Voyager six times fast.)

The movie opens in outer space on a field of stars, so naturally the on-screen card reads "Outer Space 2082."  Disney wanted to make certain you knew where this was taking place. Disney also seriously stretched this thing out by running the credits first with the names of the characters and their positions, then listing the actors afterward instead of combining all that information, causing composer Lalo Schifrin to pad out his snazzy synthesizer theme music.

This is one of those shows assembled from the Sci Fi Buffet: one part dismal Blade Runner-esque future where our heroes walk polluted rainy streets (shot in what looks like an indoor mall with a lot of mist and open umbrellas); one part Soylent Green's dwindling resources, crowded streets and rationed food supplies; but mostly several heaping helpings of Star Trek. Or rather, "Teen Star Trek", with young cadet types who range in age from 16 to 24 holding down the usual Enterprise bridge crew positions of captain, science officer, navigator, communications officer, and engineer.  They are the crew of the titular spaceship Earth Star Voyager on one of those standard "Earth is falling apart, so we're looking for another planet to colonize" stories.

Writer Ed Spielman's script is very by the numbers with no surprises along the way. Instead of focusing on interesting character development it seems like Spielman spent more time coming up with the window dressing such as funny names for future food (veggie bio burger, nutra-shakes, thremo chips with amino sauce).

Despite being directed by veteran James Goldstone, who directed for the original Star Trek, and featuring the always engaging Duncan Regehr as a rogue space captain, this thing is a slog to get through: poorly acted by the pre-Disney Channel child stars, dull stock characters (some with goofy names like "Beanie" and "Huxley Welles"), and sub-par visual effects (that two foot long model spaceship shot in the dark at the beginning looks like a two foot long model spaceship shot in the dark). The main bridge set and several corridors look decent enough, so we know where they spent most of the budget.

Earth Star Voyager aired about four months after the syndicated premiere of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and while the latter series certainly had its ups and downs in its first three years of production, the difference between the two shows is night and day. The Next Generation had better acting (none of these kids holds a space-candle to TNG's Wil Wheaton), more thoughtful stories, and a larger budget. Earth Star Voyager looks like a rebooted version of 1977's Saturday morning kid's show Space Academy compared to it.

Oh, and this cult gem has about the LONGEST plot write up I have ever seen on Wikipedia.

Star Trek 3 Gets A New, Yet Familiar, Writer

Star Trek 3 is getting a rocky liftoff from the launch pad.

First, novice director Roberto Orci, co-writer of the first two Trek films helmed by J.J. Abrams, was removed from the center seat due to "creative differences," only to be replaced by veteran Fast and Furious franchise director Justin Lin.  Orci was also working on ST3's script with new writers Patrick McKay and J.D. Payne.

Now, word came down that neu-Scotty himself, Simon Pegg, will be co-writing Trek Tres with Doug Jung (writer of Confidence).  We don't yet know if they are re-writing the Orci & company script or starting from scratch.

Pegg is a big fan of sci fi in general, and Star Trek in particular, so this hopefully is a step in the right direction.  He did some fine work co-writing Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz with Edgar Wright (I wasn't too crazy about their capper to their Cornetto Trilogy, World's End).  Pegg also co-created with Jennifer Stevenson the British cult series Spaced.

This just might be the bumpiest ride that a Star Trek film has taken to the big screen since all the sturm und drang of Star Trek: The Motion Picture.  That film was rushed into production with an unfinished and constantly changing script.  It made a ton of money at the box office and launched the film franchise, but it is not looked at fondly by the general public, or even most Trek fans.  It's the only Trek film I own on DVD, so I'm in the minority that loves this movie, warts and all.

We'll find out how this all plays out in summer of 2016.  This is the 50th Anniversary of the franchise - for Gorn's sake I hope they don't screw it up.

Sci Fi Movie Cinemagraphs Are Stunning

Cinemagraphs.  If you haven't heard of them, you aren't the only one.  Cinemagraphs are a cross between an animated GIF and a video; a still image where only a small element is given motion.

BuzzFeed showcases 24 science fiction movie cinemagraphs from films as varied as Alien and Metropolis to The Empire Strikes Back and 2001: A Space Odyssey.

The image from The Fifth Element of the tear rolling down Leeloo's cheek is particularly affecting because the tear is the only moving item - the actress's face is rocky steady as in a still photograph.

May The Names and Faces Be With You

After percolating and circulating on the interwebs for a couple weeks that nifty teaser trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens has received a postscript.

JJ Abrams and company, via Entertainment Weekly, finally have put names to faces.  Find out who Finn, Rey, BB and Kylo are here.

Still no word on what the story is, but we'll take what we can.  And doing this "announcement" in the style of the old Topps Star Wars cards is a very fun and cool way to do it.  Props to whomever came up with this idea.

James Bond Will Return...

...in SPECTRE, which was announced today.  (See article on Deadline.com)

Yes, it seems that the Daniel Craig-helmed super-spy series is getting back to its roots in a major way by bringing back the fictional terrorist organization SPECTRE (SPecial Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion).

And where SPECTRE goes can Ernst Stavo Blofeld, he of the bald pate and super-fluffy white Persian cat, be far behind?  Even though his character is listed as Oberhauser, acclaimed actor Christoph Waltz is believed to be the new Blofeld in the film.  (If that is the case, I hope it comes across better than the silliness of Benedict Cumberbatch as "John Harrison" who every one KNEW was Khan in Star Trek Into Darkness, despite all the denials of the filmmakers.)

The new film appears to be more in the mold of a traditional Bond film: for the first time in a Craig-Bond movie, we will have Q (Ben Whishaw), Miss Moneypenny (Naomie Harris), M (Ralph Fiennes), a new Aston Martin (yea!), Dave Bautista as a classic Bond uber-assassin named Mr. Hinx and James Bond facing off against SPECTRE.  Could a giant hollowed-out volcano base with jump-suited henchmen be far behind?

Glen A. Larson, Veteran TV Producer/Writer Passes

If you grew up in the 1970s and 80s and watched TV, you owe a big debt to writer/producer Glen A. Larson.

He created series such as Alias Smith and Jones, Quincy, M.E., Magnum, P.I (co-created with Donald Bellisario), The Fall Guy, Knight Rider, Automan, Manimal, Buck Rogers and the original Battlestar Galactica.  He also produced series such as The Six Million Dollar Man and The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries. 

Mr. Larson seemingly defined American television in those periods.

He passed away Friday, November 14 at the age of 77 according to Variety.com.

Thank you, Mr. Larson, for the endless hours of fun and adventure.

It's A Genre World, We Just Live In It

Lotta things happening in the genre worlds right now:

Christopher Nolan' s Instellar is set to move and thrill us in early November.

The super-cult TV favorite Twin Peaks is coming back, with original creators David Lynch and Mark Frost returning to run things.

Robert Downey Jr's Iron Man is rumored to be the "villain" in the upcoming Captain America 3.

And Warner Brothers is banking A LOT on their stable of DC Comics characters translating into movie blockbuster franchises.

To the Falcon Cave, Robin!?

Did the Batmobile/Tumbler make the Kessel Run in less than 3 bat-parsecs?

Check out the video link to Variety.com at the end to find out the latest tit for tat shenanigans between Star Wars: Episode VII director JJ Abrams and Batman v Superman helmer Zack Snyder.  LINK.

Move over Baby Groot, Baby Chewbacca In Da Hizzy

The Award for Cutest Photo EVAR (this week) goes to this ridiculously cute pup in the Chewbacca getup (first seen at SlashFilm.com)

Kirby Glass Beats Google Glass

Google Glass?  I'd prefer Kirby Glass.  Just look at that image.  WOW!  Please, someone out there, one of you amazing prop/model makers, make this thing a reality -- maybe not with the all Cosmic Implications that usually come with a creation of Jack Kirby's, but a nice prop replica would be awesome.

I am so surprised that more movies or TV shows are not using Jack Kirby's incredible, even far-out designs, such as the one above from Captain Victory, as inspirations.  With CGI anything is possible now, so what say you, filmmakers, production designers and concept artists? 

(Image copyright its respective rights holder. No infringement is intended.)

Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol. 1

Marvel Studios' Guardians of the Galaxy is simply the most fun movie to hit theaters in years.  Its soundtrack of classic rock staples only adds to the film's many charms.  Give the tunes a listen, and you'll be groovin' like Dancing Baby Groot in no time.

Fan-made Dancing Baby Groot

Guardians of the Galaxy is perhaps the most fun movie to grace multiplexes in many a year.  Jaded cynics can surely find fault with it, but many people, including me, just sat back with a large ice cold beverage and enjoyed the frak outta this movie.

I don't know what kind of merchandising Marvel/Disney has out for the movie, but I know they are kicking themselves they didn't think of this little gem like Patrick Delahanty did: an actual Dancing Baby Groot!

Star Trek Action Figures

As a huge Star Trek fan you'd think I'd have a ton of Trek-related toys, figures, statues, games, books, movies, merchandise, swag, what-have-you.  I do have some of that stuff, but not nearly as much as I might want.  Plus, I simply have no space to properly display things like that if I even had it.

One of the things I have unfortunately had to stay away from is Star Trek action figures.  I am so picky about likenesses, details and such, that I have none of that stuff in my "collection" save for an awesome Mego Gorn figure sent to me by a good friend.

Star Trek fan James Sawyer knows a thing or two about collecting ST action figures.  In fact, here's a neat post from his blog A Piece of the Action, about collecting the figures for the seven main stars of Star Trek.

(photo copyright James Sawyer)

Mad Max: Fury Road - The Road Warrior Returns

The Road Warrior (1982) is one of my all-time favorite movies.  The bleak, desolate world created and brought to life by director/co-writer George Miller, actor Mel Gibson and their amazing team of filmmakers, artists, craftspeople and, lest we not forget, stunt drivers feels so real, you want to shake the dust out of your clothes after watching the movie.

Road Warrior, or Mad Max 2 as it was known in its native Australia and other parts of the world, was so influential that to this day, over 30 years after it was first released, cheap knockoffs are still made that ape aspects of the movie - mainly its football shoulder pad, leather-clad fashions.

I'm always drawn to characters like Max.  A wounded man who just wanted to be left alone after the tragedy he suffered, but who did the right thing when no one else did, or could do.  That fits the mold of many a classic Western film character too (and more than a few characters from Samurai films).

Now, finally, MAD MAX IS BACK.

Mad Max: Fury Road, scheduled for released May 2015, puts George Miller back in command, with Tom Hardy donning the weathered and tattered Main Force Police uniform of Max Rockatansky.  Academy Award-winner Charlize Theron, sporting a very cool mechanical arm, co-stars.

Start revving your engines.  The chase is about to begin...again.

Divert Away From Divergent

Here's some free advice: AVOID THE MOVIE DIVERGENT AT ALL COSTS.

This Harry Potter/Hunger Games/any high school-set story was a terrible crush of a bore.  It's set in a dystopic, post-apocalyptic Chicago just so we can see all the familiar city landmarks overgrown with weeds.

Shailene Woodley, who I enjoyed in the movie The Descendants, is our focus here as Triss, a young girl on the cusp of womanhood who has a decision to make, and it's not what frappaccino to order at Starbucks.  In Future Chicago, everyone is divided amongst five factions: Abnegation (selfless); Dauntless (brawny law enforcement); Erudite (brainiacs/nerds); Amity (peaceniks); and Candor (honesty).

When you come of age you have to take a sort of future SAT test to determine which faction you will belong to -- think the sorting hat scenes from Harry Potter.  The silly thing is, even if the test determines which faction you should be assigned to, you can still just chose whichever faction you want to be in.  So why have the friggin' test in the first place?

This movie is so serious that it is unintentionally funny.  Early on, we are introduced to the various factions.  We see the Erudites teaching school, the Abnegationists running the government, etc.  When the Dauntless people arrive by running up the street grinning and laughing, I fully expected them to break out into song, as if Divergent were channeling Newsies or West Side Story.  Not only do the Dauntless-ites run onto the scene, they immediately started climbing the framework of the L Train, which they seem to ride a lot when they aren't running everywhere.  It was a supremely stupid, silly scene, although 12 years old doubtless thought it was rad.

Triss goes against the SATs/sorting hat and picks Dauntless, and the rest of the movie is her getting schooled at their rock quarry HQ.  When we first see the digs, all the Dauntless kids are hanging out and chatting away; it looked and felt just like high school.  And this movie had that extremely juvenile feel of high school, with the jocks (among an entire faction of jocks) bullying Triss and her other non-steroidal friends.  Plus it included a couple of High School Cafeteria Scenes (TM).

The cast was uniformly pretty and bland (see the usual casting on any show on The CW).  Woodley has large expressive eyes, but she tears up a few times in the movie and, I swear, it was like somebody held up a Fresnel lens in front of her because her eyes become ENORMOUS when she cries.

At some point the movie remembered it should have some kind of plot since the whole waste of movie was Triss training at/for Dauntless High, so they shoehorn in something about a mind-control drug and one faction wanting to take control of the gubmint.  South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone hit it on the head in their movie Team America that every movie should have a montage.  Divergent could have seriously benefited from that axiom with all the training nonsense. 

I can't believe there are supposed to be two more movies after this one.  I think they're called Astringent and Detergent.

Ed Wood - Interesting facts about this Tim Burton gem

Well, kids, Halloween is right around the corner.  One of my favorite movies to get me into that Halloween spirit is Ed Wood, directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp as the "worst director of all time."

It's an amazing film, featuring lush black and white photography and a great cast, with Martin Landau winning an Oscar for his moving portrayal of the legendary horror film icon Bela Lugosi.

Film School Rejects has posted an article that pulls 40 interesting items from the DVD commentary track.

Coherence movie - Big Ideas in a Small Package

I have it on good authority that the 2013 indie movie Coherence is a smart, engaging work of sci fi.  The story concerns the strange events that unfold among a group of friends gathered for a dinner party after a comet is sighted.

It's got a big idea in a small package, with a feel reminiscent of the best of the original Twilight Zone TV series.  The film was shot largely at director/co-writer James Ward Byrkit's home; the main cast of eight worked with a loose script and improvised their dialogue.  If you recall, this was how The Blair Witch Project was done, and also the way the great Christopher Guest shoots his improv comedies like Best In Show and A Mighty Wind.

Here's the trailer of Coherence from You Tube: