Sci-Fi Storm

How does the SCI FI Channel turn out so many original movies for a cable network? This article provides a clue – and shows why they don’t set their sights too high, aiming for the demographics with B-list actors and stories. Some of the quotes are great – showing how they don’t really understand Science Fiction that well. Active Entertainment’s Ken Badish says the most important thing “is a topical film that has relevance to our audience,” and second, “there’s a good story. Like we’re shooting a ‘Jaws’-kind of movie featuring a giant squid.” That’s a good story?!? But they get the ratings they need, and they carry on. I want to start “The Real Science Fiction Channel”, and take that $21M and make _one_ decent movie, instead of 28 schlock-in-a-cans. And nothing would be named “Mansquito”…

It’s been almost two years since its been updated, and a year since the last story was published, but I finally added all the information from Ringworld’s Children to the Encyclopedia of Known Space, so it is currently up to date. Of course, Man-Kzin Wars XI is due out in October.

The Island, directed by Michael Bay (Armageddon) and starring Ewan McGregor (Star Wars) and Scarlett Johansson (Lost in Translation), opens in theaters July 22nd, but there is a public sneak preview this Saturday (7/9). Check your local theater listings. The premise: “Lincoln Six-Echo (McGregor) and Jordan Two-Delta (Johansson) are among the hundreds of residents of a contained facility in the mid-21st century. Like all of the inhabitants of this carefully controlled environment, everything about their day-to-day lives is monitored, seemingly for their own good. The only way out?and the hope they all share?is to be chosen to go to the The Island, reportedly the last uncontaminated spot in the world following an ecological disaster that took the lives of everyone on the planet?except them. Recently plagued by unexplained nightmares, Lincoln is restless and increasingly questioning of the restrictions placed on his life. But he is unprepared for the truth when his growing curiosity leads to the terrible discovery that everything about his existence is a lie, that The Island is a cruel hoax?and that he, Jordan and everyone they know are actually more valuable dead than alive.” Vaguely Logan’s Run-ish, but sounds promising. I need a babysitter…and for a bit of viral marketing, check out the web sites for Merrick Biotech, the Clone Watch group, and an online petition demanding an explanation…

What does a brain dead girl, a Harvard professor, a baby who’s the sole survivor of a ferry disaster, a satanist, and a nun from a splinter Catholic group have in common? They all point to signs that the End of Days is upon us. Read More for a review of Revelations.

(continue reading…)

I’ve made some recent additions to the Sci-Fi TV Store. This includes several July 19th releases – Sliders (which gets its own listing) has both a First & Second Seasons pack plus the Third Season, plus short-lived series Earth 2 and Cleopatra 2525 complete series see the light of laser, and the recent NBC miniseries Revalations (which was actually out last week, and I hope to have a review for soon).

The websites for both Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis have been updated to reflect the changes – especially in the cast changes. The animations are pretty cool on the character pages too.

Showing that their tag line doesn’t apply to productions, Highlander 5 is set to start pre-production later this year, with Adrian Paul (Duncan MacLeod) as both star and executive producer. David Abramowitz, who wrote for the series, is finishing up the script, and Brett Leonard (The Lawnmower Man) will direct.