23 years of this site still chugging along...
SF community mourns Leonard Nimoy, 1931-2015
by Doc on Feb.27, 2015, under Movies, Obituaries, Television
The science fiction community has lost one of its icons today…Leonard Nimoy, who (and I know I don’t need to say this) gained fame as the “pointy-eared, green-blooded, inhuman” Vulcan first officer Spock on the original Star Trek, passed away early this morning at home from end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to his wife Susan. Nimoy had announced he suffered from the disease last year, likely caused by smoking, even though he gave up the habit 30 years ago.
Nimoy also had some success as a writer and director, doing both on several of the movie installments of Star Trek, and he also directed the successful Three Men and a Baby.
Most recently he starred in the rebooted Star Trek film as well as a cameo in the sequel, plus had a recurring role in Fringe.
All we can say right now is, Live Long and Prosper.
Helix preview: “Cross-Pollination”
by Doc on Feb.25, 2015, under Television
I’ll leave the description off on this one since it is a spoiler if you haven’t watched last week’s episode yet, but check out the preview for Friday’s new Helix, “Cross-Pollination”, airing at 10/9c on Syfy!
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Blomkamp wants his movie to be a direct sequel to Aliens
by Doc on Feb.25, 2015, under Movies
Following up on last week’s story, during an interview with Sky Movies about the upcoming Chappie, both director Neil Blomkamp and actress Sigourney Weaver of course had to talk about Blomkamp’s planned Alien sequel – and it appears that he wants it to be a direct sequel of Aliens – basically inserting it as third in chronological order. See an excerpt of the entire interview below:
Of course, there is a slight problem…there was already a direct sequel in Alien 3, which might have to be explained away, and the followup Alien Resurrection, set a couple hundred years later. Perhaps we will learn that you can, in fact, dream in hypersleep, and Alien 3 was just a nightmware…and anything that can erase Alien Resurrection from reality is fine with me as well. 🙂
12 Monkeys preview: “The Keys”
by Doc on Feb.25, 2015, under Television
On the next 12 Monkeys, Cole, Cassandra and Aaron go to Chechnya to stop the virus from being released as a bio-weapon, and it leads Cole to another member of the 12 Monkeys. Tune in for “The Keys”, Friday night at 9/8c on Syfy! And check out the recap for “The Red Forest” as well!
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Neill Blomkamp will direct next Aliens movie
by Doc on Feb.21, 2015, under Movies
Chappie director Neill Blomkamp tweeted out the other day a picture of a classic Giger Alien with the text: “Um… So I think it’s officially my next film. #alien”
[We tried embedding the pic, but it failed – see it here]
It has since been confirmed that he will indeed direct a fifth film in the Aliens series, which will be follow up the prequel-sequel Prometheus 2. Blomkamp had been teasing an Aliens film for a while but it appeared to have died out. Star Sigourney Weaver was also expected to return as Ripley but it is not known if she is still attached. Blomkamp is no stranger to directing strange CGI aliens…he directed and received an Oscar nomination for the screenplay of the surprise hit District 9, his feature directorial debut.
Where it will fit in the franchise is unknown but it will definitely take place years after the time of Prometheus 2.
Could MacGyver come back as a woman? Not quite…
by Doc on Feb.20, 2015, under Television
There has been a lot of buzz about MacGyver creator Lee Zlotoff and the “next MacGyver” that seem to be intimating that the show is coming back with a woman in the title role…that isn’t actually the plan – but it does bring to light an exciting idea.
What is actually happening is that Zlotoff is partnering with The National Academy of Engineering, The USC Viterbi School of Engineering, and The MacGyver Foundation for The Next MacGyver, a crowdsourced project/competition to help develop a new series in which a female engineer in the spirit of MacGyver would be the lead character.
The competition is for non-professionals (you could not have sold a screenplay for more than $50,000) to come up with an entertaining concept which features with one or more protagonists who are engineers or engineering must be central to the show, in any genre you choose. It is also aimed at middle/high school students to help foster an interest in engineering.
12 finalists will be chosen to attend the “pitch competition”, and from them 5 finalists will receive $5,000 and be paired with an experienced Hollywood producer and a distinguished engineer to mentor the finalist as they develop their story into a full draft.
Do you have what it takes? Follow the link above and enter!
Helix preview: “M. Domestica”
by Doc on Feb.18, 2015, under Television
On the next Helix, another outbreak puts the entire Abbey in danger. Watch “M. Domestica” this Friday at 10/9c on Syfy!
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12 Monkeys preview: “The Red Forest”
by Doc on Feb.18, 2015, under Television
The time machine brings Cole back to 2043, but the world is VERY different from what he knows. Don’t miss a new episode of 12 Monkeys on Friday at 9/8c.
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Amazon Studios plans to catch Sigmund and the Sea Monsters
by Doc on Feb.16, 2015, under Television
This could be good, or a another serious blow to my childhood memories, given past Land of the Lost attempts – but Amazon Studios has entered into an agreement with Sid and Marty Krofft to develop a pilot to bring back the 70s kids show Sigmund and the Sea Monsters.
The [asin=B0055CP9R2]original[/asin] was pure Krofft camp – an unusually nice sea monster is kicked out of his mean family and is kept hidden from his family and other humans by two kids. The costumes were obvious but still fascinating, and the plots probably limited to 8 year old levels, but it is still remembered fondly by children of the 70s, when it ran originally from 1973-1975 and then kept alive in syndication for another decade.
“Sid and Marty are geniuses, and we are honored to be working with them to bring to the world a return of what we believe is TV’s most fabulous and funniest sea creature ever,” according to Amazon Studios Vice President Roy Price.
Marvel and Sony join forces, will allow a Spider-Man/Marvel Cinematic Universe crossover
by Doc on Feb.11, 2015, under Movies
That earthquake you felt wasn’t real…it was just a rumored-but-still-surprising deal being made in Hollywood.
Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios, owned by Sony’s rival Disney, struck a deal on Monday for Spider-Man which will allow the character to appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe – basically all the Marvel movies not done by Sony or Fox thus far, which all exist within the same “universe”, allowing for the crossover of the characters. Kevin Feige, who has led the MCU juggernaut, will come on board as a producer for a new Spider-Man film alongside Amy Pascal, who helped shepherd the Spider-Man franchise for Sony.
Sony will likely want to re-launch the franchise for a third time with a new face. With the second round starring Andrew Garfield, the release of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 made a decent amount of money but was considered a disappointment given its very large budget.
In the meantime Marvel has wanted to include Spider-Man alongside the Avengers – Spidey is a member of the group in the comics after all. Word is that they’d like to include him at least in a cameo for Captain America: Civil War, and I can forsee a bigger role for the webslinger in the third Avengers team film.
In the meantime, Sony had already penciled in a July 28th, 2017 release date – which had already been planned by Marvel/Disney for Thor: Ragnarok. So Marvel/Disney has agreed to shift all of the Marvel films back, with Thor moving to November, taking Black Panther‘s slot, who moves back to Captain Marvel‘s slot, etc. All the relevant dates have been updated in our calendar.