Sci-Fi Storm

The LA Times has a piece about how the next Star Trek film may deal with contemporary issues, much like the original series did, disguising it under the veil of science fiction and aliens. Update: Speaking of, there was a Slate article in May about torture and its effectiveness, in relation to the ST:TNG two-part episode, “Chain Of Command”.

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain…but I’m REALLY close to finally beating something into a web site resembling what I envisage. It’s not 100% complete, but its close – old comments are not there yet, but all the articles as of yesterday are, and the “/news” will go away. Check it out (link redacted) and let me know likes, dislikes, etc. It’s amazing how fast you run out of room though…I liked the “pixel” wordpress theme because it was aurora-like…

SCI FI Wire has an interesting list: 5 new things you don’t know about Tron Legacy. In it they discuss Jeff Bridges’ dual roles; making him young again; and upping the ante on the light vehicles.

It looks like ABC is yanking Defying Gravity off the air after only 8 episodes. It is not listed next week at all, and Brothers & Sisters gets the time slot on the 27th anyways. Apparently it was also announced during the September 13th episode that it was the “season finale”…Update 5/16: No official word yet, but there are rumblings that ABC has not actually canceled it, but hasn’t decided what to do at least with the remaining episodes – and that isn’t a good sign no matter what. SCI FI Wire has some possibilities of a future.

The Thunder Child writes “New at The Thunder Child, science fiction and fantasy webzine, a review of the new hard-boiled fantasy mystery novel, Burn Me Deadly, by Alex Bledsoe, following on from his triumph The Sword-Edged Blonde.
http://thethunderchild.com/Reviews/Amy/BurnMeDeadly.html

In addition, we’ve got a new installment of Steve Vertlieb’s Views, his tribute to the 50th anniversary of The Twilight Zone. Published concurrently with Film Music Review:
http://thethunderchild.com/Television/1960s/ElementofTime.html

Check them out, and please enjoy”

Confirmed today at the D23 Expo – the Star Tours attractions will finally receive an update! Having been pretty much the same since opening in 1989, the long rumored (and even announced by George Lucas himself in 2005) update will finally take place, with the attractions closing in 2010 (October, unconfirmed) and re-opening in 2011. New 3D technology will be used as well. It appears the starspeeders will encounter new problems – even joining a Pod Race on Tatooine for a short time. Read More for a HD video of the Pod Racer segment of the attraction.

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Some tidbits of the announcements Disney made during today’s sessions at the D23 Expo: The fourth Pirates Of the Caribbean installment has the subtitle On Stranger Tides (and announced with a fully decked out and in character Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow), fueling rumors it may be based on the novel of the same name by Tim Powers; the classic psychedelic Yellow Submarine will be remade in 3D with motion capture; the Muppets are returning in The Cheapest Muppet Movie Ever Made; no plans to screen Captain EO in the parks as rumored, although they did consider it; and while talking about The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (opening July 16, 2010), Nicholas Cage was asked and agreed to star in National Treasure 3). Nothing Star Wars related – yet. That is expected tomorrow.

Upcoming freshman series V and Flash Forward look like they will start with a decent audience – they scored 4th and 5th respectively on the intent to view list, ahead of heavily advertised shows Mercy, Trauma and The Jay Leno Show.

It isn’t clear if these images are being presented to the producers of the upcoming Glen Larson/Bryan Singer-led Battlestar Galactica production, but Eric Chu, the designer behind the more recent SyFy series, has some images as how the new production might look. I don’t know about the giant daggit, though…

The lawsuit between the Tolkien Estate and New Line Cinema over profits from the three movies has been settled. The estate had sued for $150 million, claiming that New Line failed to pay them 7.5% of the gross receipts, and also sought to revoke rights to any other Tolkien works, including The Hobbit, but with the settlement in place New Line and MGM can move forward with the adaptation as planned.