Sci-Fi Storm

Alfonso Cuaron’s next planned film, the SF film Gravity, about a woman trapped alone aboard a space station after an accident kills the rest of the crew, has been getting a lot of buzz but suddenly was left gasping for oxygen when planned lead Angelina Jolie pulled out. But out of the ashes there is a report that Natalie Portman has been offered the lead role.

Warner Bros. has a pretty busy release day this Tuesday, September 7th. As well as the previous several reviews, the classic 1956 science fiction masterpiece [sfs=1052]Forbidden Planet[/sfs] sees Blu-ray for the first time. Does high definition do a 55 year old movie justice?
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The Matrix Trilogy has been available on Blu-ray for a while, but only as part of the [sfs=1051]Ultimate Matrix Collection[/sfs] Blu-ray release, the DVD version of which I reviewed way back in 2004. Now Warner Bros. is releasing the individual movies, first with [sfs=1049]The Matrix[/sfs] and now with [sfs=1050]The Matrix Reloaded[/sfs] this Tuesday, September 7th.
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The list of winners from the 2010 Hugo Awards (given at Aussicon this weekend) have been announced:

* Best Novel: TIE: [asin=034549752X]The City & The City[/asin], China Miéville (Del Rey; Macmillan UK); [asin=1597801585]The Windup Girl[/asin], Paolo Bacigalupi (Night Shade)
* Best Novella: “Palimpsest”, Charles Stross (Wireless; Ace, Orbit)
* Best Novelette: “The Island”, Peter Watts (The New Space Opera 2; Eos)
* Best Short Story: “Bridesicle”, Will McIntosh (Asimov’s 1/09)
* Best Related Book: [asin=1596062452]This is Me, Jack Vance! (Or, More Properly, This is “I”)[/asin], Jack Vance (Subterranean)
* Best Graphic Story:[asin=1890856525]Girl Genius, Volume 9: Agatha Heterodyne and the Heirs of the Storm[/asin] Written by Kaja and Phil Foglio; Art by Phil Foglio; Colours by Cheyenne Wright (Airship Entertainment)
* Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form: [asin=B002T9H2ME]Moon[/asin] Screenplay by Nathan Parker; Story by Duncan Jones; Directed by Duncan Jones (Liberty Films)
* Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form: [sfs=987]Doctor Who: “The Waters of Mars”[/sfs] Written by Russell T Davies & Phil Ford; Directed by Graeme Harper (BBC Wales)
* Best Editor Long Form: Patrick Nielsen Hayden
* Best Editor Short Form: Ellen Datlow
* Best Professional Artist: Shaun Tan
* Best Semiprozine: Clarkesworld edited by Neil Clarke, Sean Wallace, & Cheryl Morgan
* Best Fan Writer: Frederik Pohl
* Best Fanzine: StarShipSofa edited by Tony C. Smith
* Best Fan Artist: Brad W. Foster

The John W. Campbell Award, given to the best new writer, went to Seanan McGuire.

A full breakdown of the voting is available here.

Another Blu-ray release from Warner Bros. this September 7th is [sfs=1047]Lost In Space[/sfs] – no, not the TV show, but the 1998 theatrical reboot of the franchise, starring William Hurt, Mimi Rogers, Matt LeBlanc and Gary Oldman. An unsuccessful attempt to modernize the franchise into a series of movies, it was a visually spectacular feature, but tried to do too many things at once.
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It’s bizarre, it’s corny, it’s by Tim Burton – and it’s not [asin=B001HN6940]Alice In Wonderland[/asin]. In 1996 Tim Burton created Marks Attacks, a combination live-action/CGI movie based on a series of trading cards that Burton used to collect. It was done in a campy 50s sci-fi B-movie flick, but with a heavy-hitting cast list which included Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close, Piece Brosnan, Annette Benning, Michael J. Fox, Sarah Jessica Parker, and on and on. 14 years later, it gets [sfs=1047]its first Blu-ray treatment[/sfs] on September 7th, 2010.
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Who says its too late to revive an old franchise? To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the 80s hit trilogy Back To The Future and the [asin=B00198X0UO]upcoming release of the anniversary edition trilogy on Blu-ray[/asin] and [asin=B003U6SJUY]DVD[/asin], Telltale Games will give it new life in the form of a series of new video games this winter, reuniting Marty McFly and Doc Brown all over again. The likenesses of Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd will be used, and Lloyd will provide the voice of Doc Brown through all the installments. The games will be episodic, released in a series of 5 monthly installments.
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We mentioned this back in June, but we’ve got some updated info on it (full release below), plus a couple new things: a trailer for the exhibition (also below), as well as a contest to win a trip for 2 including airfare to the exhibition! Contest closes September 10th.
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Espenson is not a name you normally see associated with Torchwood – Davies, Barrowman, Myles…but you are probably familiar with that name already. Jane Espenson is no stranger to SF TV, having written for and produced a whole solar system of shows – Battlestar Galactica, Caprica, Warehouse 13, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, etc. Now she’s taking on a bit of a different beast – Torchwood – and she spoke with Blastr about the production. The fourth series will include 10 episodes, and she will write three of them. And the production style is very different for her – with the long lead time and short series, everything will be written before filming.

Neil Gaiman’s Sandman comic series, which has long been in Development Hell for a movie, might finally get off the ground – as a TV series for Warner Bros., and Supernatural‘s Eric Kripke is tagged to produce.