Sci-Fi Storm

Wow…things are not looking good for the BBC series The Deep right now. Blastr has a roundup of the various reviews from the new show – and they aren’t good. They aren’t even bad-good. From the sounds of it I’m not sure I’d be able to get through it without rewinding a dozen times, saying, “They said what?!?” But I almost have to try…

I don’t know if I’m thrilled, worried, or what…show runner Steven Moffat told people at the Media Guardian Edinburgh International Television Festival that the next series will be split into two – with a “game-changing cliffhanger” mid-season finale around Easter, with the remainder of the series picking up in the Fall. He then describes them as two separate series: “I kept referring to a mid-season finale. So we are going to make it two series – seven episodes at Easter building to an earth-shattering climax, a cliffhanger we could never normally do because it would be too long before it came back. An enormous game-changing cliffhanger that will change everything.

“The wrong expression would be to say we are splitting it in two. We are making it two separate series.

“What I love about this idea is that when kids see Doctor Who go off the air, they will be noticeably taller when it comes back. It’s an age for children. With an Easter series, an autumn series and a Christmas special, you are never going to be more than few months from the new series of Doctor Who.

“Tart that I am, we will now have two first nights and two finales, twice as many event episodes as we had before.”

Blastr (nee Sci-Fi Wire) has an interesting graphical representation of what has transpired in the history of attempting to get a live-action version of The Hobbit on the big screen – think Family Circus. Points off though for “The Similarion”.

Are aliens hiding in the halls of MIT? Did a spaceship crash in Boston? Is the Time War taking place in Kendall Square? I don’t know, but someone appears to have arrived to check it out.

Well, not actually…today was the latest MIT Hack, with the TARDIS appearing on top of one of the buildings.

If you took the surviving heads of Matt Groening and a bunch of other Comic-Con all stars, and put them on a panel in the 31st century, how would it pan out? Futurama lets us know – and gives us a peek into the future.

People from the past come back to haunt the lives of Carter and the gang.

Update: Sorry, apparently the clip has been pulled…must discuss with SyFy…

TIME Magazine but together their list of the top 10 Star Wars fan films ever…including the possibly first ever such film, Hardware Wars.

NEWS RELEASE
Contact: O’Bayley Communications – 760/778-3525 Tim O’Bayley • tim@obayley.net
or Nicky Vallee • nicky@obayley.net

SMALL BUDGET PRODUCTION BUCKS BIG STUDIOS
WITH INDIE SPIRIT & OSCAR-WINNING ACTOR

PALM SPRINGS – August 24, 2010: Enemy Mind, a science fiction-style film written, produced and directed by an upstart cast and crew, is now available on DVD. The film was shot on location in the Salton Sea area of Southern California’s Imperial Valley in early 2010, and completed on a shoestring budget.

“I still can’t believe we did this with only $9,000,” marvels Xu Razer, who plays a futuristic terrorist in the film and is also credited as co-producer. “More than two-thirds of that money was spent to hire Academy Award Winning Actor Ernest Borgnine, who provides the voice for a key character in the film. I don’t know of anyone who has ever pulled off something like this on such a small budget, and we are extremely proud of the accomplishment.” Borgnine will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 17th annual SAG Awards Jan 30 2011 to be broadcast on TNT and TBS.

The action takes place in the year 3074 A.D. when a prison transport ship carrying some of the galaxy’s most dangerous criminals has crash-landed on a remote planet. Only two people survive the wreck: a terrorist accused of a bombing a spacecraft and a soldier ordered to ensure the accused prisoner stands trial for his crime. Each becomes determined to control the other in the name of conviction and faith.

“We wanted so badly to make a movie that would test the boundaries of perception and the concept of reality as it pertains to certain ideologies,” explains Razer, who also moonlights as a doorman at a Palm Springs bar. “The themes are powerful. I believe this is something that will resonate with a wide range of audiences, and we’ve already gotten tremendous feedback.”

Written and directed by Brennan Reed, Enemy Mind is now available for VOD at www.bigstar.tv and indieflix.com and on DVD at Amazon.com and at select Video Depot locations in Southern California. For more information or to schedule an interview, e-mail bnh760@aol.com or go to www.enemy-mind.com.
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Wendy writes in: We are happy to announce that part one of the Star Wars fan film, A Light in the Darkness, has been released. This is a high quality film made with a very small budget. Please check it out at http://www.alightinthedarknessfilm.com/the-film/ and let us know what you think.

Jack Horkheimer, well known astronomer who achieved national recognition on PBS for his short “Star Gazer/Star Hustler” segments for 25 years, passed away on Friday at the age of 72. He worked at the Miami Planetarium for over 45 years, most of them as Executive Director. His official bio also bore his pre-written epitaph based on his closing tag line and bearing his humor: “”Keep Looking Up was my life’s admonition, I can do little else in my present position.”