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2019 Oscar nominations genre round-up
by Doc on Jan.22, 2019, under Awards, Movies
So the nominations for the 91st Oscars are out, and as usual we take a look at where the science fiction/fantasy genre landed – and it’s mostly Disney vs. Disney between Black Panther and Mary Poppins Returns – but neither received any acting nominations, which is disappointing.
Black Panther scored a Best Picture nomination, along with Production Design, Costume Design, Original Score, Original Song for “All The Stars”, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing,
Mary Poppins Returns is nominated for Production Design, Costume Design, Original Score, Original Song for “The Place Where Lost Things Go”,
Avengers: Infinity War, Christopher Robin, Ready Player One, Solo: A Star Wars Story all received one nomination for Visual Effects.
A Quiet Place received one nomination for Sound Editing.
Incredibles 2, Ralph Breaks The Internet and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse all share the Animated Film nomination with Isle of Dogs and Mirai.
The Magicians renewed for fifth season
by Doc on Jan.22, 2019, under Television
Just before tomorrow’s Season 4 premiere, Syfy has insured there is enough magic in the world for a fifth season of The Magicians!
“The Magicians raised the bar at Syfy and has gained momentum season after season, attracting a new audience to the channel. We are proud of this series as it continues to break the boundaries of storytelling,” according to
Bill McGoldrick, President of Scripted Content for NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment.
The series, based on the novels by Lev Grossman, follow the students of Brakebills University as they learn to harness magic – and defend magic against those who would destroy it.
Executive producer Henry Alonso Myers (Ugly Betty) joins as a co-showrunner alongside John McNamara and Sera Gamble who have shepherded the series since the first season.
New Ghostbusters to be directed by Jason Reitman
by Doc on Jan.19, 2019, under Movies
Now who you gonna call? It appears another Ghostbusters film will be a reality, but this time it will be a true sequel to the original team as opposed to be a sequel to the 2016 remake. And Jason Reitman, the son of original director Ivan Reitman, will be directing. It has not been announced if the original Ghostbusters team will be involved. Production is expected to start this summer.
Reitman even released a teaser for the movie:
Syfy TidBits: Happy! Season 2; No more Channel Zero
by Doc on Jan.19, 2019, under Television
A couple of recent Syfy items – first, Season 2 of Happy! will debut Wednesday, March 27th. A trailer has been release which you can see below. Based on the graphic novel of the same name, it follows former cop and now hit-man Nick Sax (Christopher Meloni) and and an imaginary blue unicorn only he can see (Patton Oswalt) as they hunt down child kidnappers.
In less, well, happy news, the anthology series Channel Zero was not renewed for a fifth season. The series devoted each short season to a different “creepypasta” – short horror stories told online. The final series, “The Dream Door”, aired this past October.
Fantastic Beasts 3 delays production until the Fall
by Doc on Jan.19, 2019, under Movies
Deadline reports that primary production on the third Fantastic Beasts film will not start until the Fall, pushed back from a planned July start, likely in order to have more prep time which would have had to start by now to make the original scheduled start.
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald left fans with a LOT of questions, and few answers. Author and script writer J.K. Rowling promised that answers will be found in this upcoming film, and the new production start date might mean they aren’t going to rush things.
HotShot Trailer: Spider-Man: Far From Home teaser
by Doc on Jan.15, 2019, under Comics, Movies
The next chapter in Peter Parker’s journey as the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, trying to take a vacation…
Thwips into theaters July 5th, 2019
Dune finds Harkonnen in Stellan Skarsgard
by Doc on Jan.09, 2019, under Movies
Hot on the heals of finding out that Dave Bautista was joining Denis Villeneuve’s Dune adaptation, another MCU actor will join him – and they’ll be related.
Stellan Skarsgard, who played Dr. Erik Selvig in the first two Thor movies as well as the first two Avengers movies, will play Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, the scheming leader of House Harkonnen who collaborates with the Emperor on a plan to rid themselves of House Atreides and maintain control of the planet Arrakis, the only source of the spice melange, the most valuable substance in the universe. Glossu “The Beast” Rabban (Bautista) is the Baron’s sadistic nephew, charged with the subjugation of Arrakis.
Skarsgard most recently appeared in Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again.
Dave Bautista joins Dune
by Doc on Jan.07, 2019, under Movies
Guardians Of The Galaxy‘s Dave Bautista will reunite with his Blade Runner 2049 director Denis Villeneuve for the latter’s upcoming version of Frank Herbert’s Dune, one of the biggest SF book series that has previously been a [asin=604]feature film[/asin] from David Lynch and a [asin=158]Syfy (then Sci-Fi Channel) mini-series[/asin]. Bautista’s role is not currently known. [Update: We now know he will play “The Beast” Rabban – as if there was any question…]
He will join Timothée Chalamet (Lady Bird), who will play hero Paul Atreides, and Rebecca Ferguson (Mission: Impossible – Fallout), who will play Lady Jessica.
The David Lynch film was a visual spectacle but a box office failure, with Lynch himself distancing himself claiming there was too much interference from the producers and financiers, and in some cuts the director was credited as “Alan Smithee”, a code name for a disavowed credit. The mini-series proved more successful, spawning a sequel series for Children of Dune, both of which were some of the highest rated programming on the network at the time.
Actor W. Morgan Sheppard, 1932-2019
by Doc on Jan.07, 2019, under Obituaries, Television
We are very saddened to learn of the passing of actor W. Morgan Sheppard, father of fellow actor Mark Sheppard, yesterday per an instagram post by his son.
Sheppard appeared in many genre shows…I first saw him that I recall in Shogun, but what I most remembered him from originally was in the role of Blank Reg, the mohawked pirate radio operator in Max Headroom. He also played the memorable and eponymous “Soul Hunter” on Babylon 5, and even played the older version of his son’s character of Cantor Everett Delaware III in the Doctor Who episode “The Impossible Astronaut”. More recently he appeared in an episode of The Librarians. His jovial face and white beard also earned him the the title role in Farewell Mr. Kringle, and he voiced “The Big Guy” in the Prep & Landing specials.
The CW orders up pilot for Batwoman
by Doc on Jan.03, 2019, under Comics, Television
Color me unsurprised, but The CW has ordered up a pilot for a Batwoman series starring Ruby Rose (Orange Is the New Black) after the character appeared in the most recent Arrowverse crossover event. David Nutter, who directed the pilot episode of sibling show The Flash, will direct with a script from Caroline Dries (Smallville, The Vampire Diaries).
This would make the first openly gay lead series character in a live-action superhero series. Batwoman/Kate Kane (Rose) appeared in the three part “Elseworlds” crossover event spread across Arrow, The Flash, and Supergirl, helping Gotham as a highly-trained street fighter but must face her own demons before she’s willing to take on the mantle of hero.
Dries, Nutter, Berlanti Productions’ Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter and former DC Entertainment president Geoff Johns will executive produce.