Gully FoyleDon’t these crows know better than to mess with Bo? Check out “Destiny’s Child” on Syfy Monday at 10/9c!
Captain America and Black Widow Team up in extended Winter Soldier Clip @ io9
Here now for your viewing pleasure are three solid minutes of footage from Captain America: The Winter Soldier, featuring Cap, Black Widow, and the rest of their S.H.I.E.L.D. cohorts infiltrating an ocean liner that's been overrun by Batroc and his crew of pirates.
A homeless man finds a portal to a parallel world... and gets greedy @ io9
A homeless man with sticky fingers encounters a mysterious mirror in Daisuke Kaneko's ECIRAVA, a clever little animated short about... well... the title kind of says it all.
This mesmerizing kinetic sculpture turns wood into water @ io9
Drawing inspiration from the captivating kinetic sculptures of Reuben Margolin, this beautiful handmade automata by designer Dean O'Callaghan mimics the ripple effect of a droplet making impact with water.
How to solve the problem of NSA surveillance @ io9
Leave it to the folks at Abstruse Goose to deliver one of the most tragicomically honest observations on the current state of NSA surveillance .
Read E.B. White's poignant explanation for writing Charlotte's Web @ io9
One of the greatest children's books ever written, E.B. White's Charlotte's Web is notable not just for its lovely prose but for its masterful handling of themes on death and dying . In a letter written to his editor a few weeks before the book's publication, White explains why a peculiar truth about farms makes them such appropriate spaces for exploring the concept of death, and how this moved him to write the book in the first place.
Go Behind the Scenes of THE WALKING DEAD With Featurettes and More @ SciFi Mafia
Last week’s The Walking Dead Daryl-and-Beth episode was a terrific one for all fans of Daryl – which is everyone, as far as I can tell. It was great getting more background on him as well as on Beth, and watch their development individually and as a team.
To get a little more insight, check out this week’s “Inside the Episode” featurette below. Then see the behind-the-scenes “Making Of” featurette to learn about the country club and the walker slaughter. Sorry it doesn’t include the shot above, but it’s nice to know they can have fun when they’re not whacking zombies. The “Talked About” scene is from the end of the episode.
Looking ahead to the new episode, the preview clip answers the question of what might be the scariest weather condition when you’re in a zombie apocalypse.
Featurette: The Walking Dead – Inside Episode 412
Featurette: The Walking Dead – Making of Episode 412
Clip: The Walking Dead – Episode 412 Talked About Scene
Clip: The Walking Dead – Episode 413 Sneak Peek
The Walking Dead, starring Andrew Lincoln, Norman Reedus, Danai Gurira, Chandler Riggs, Steven Yeun, Lauren Cohan, Melissa McBride, Emily Kinney, Chad Coleman, Sonequa Martin-Green, Michael Cudlitz, Christian Serratos, and Josh McDermitt, airs Sundays at 9/8c on AMC.
Novel Review: The Ocean at the End of the Lane @ Bureau 42
I liked myths. They weren’t adult stories and they weren’t children’s stories. They were better than that. They just were (53).
Neil Gaiman’s 2013 novel(la) concerns a boy whose world turns fantastic and terrible after the suicide of a lodger.
Title: The Ocean at the End of the Lane
Author: Neil Gaiman
First published in June 2013
ISBN: 0062255657
978-0062255655
Available from Amazon.uk, Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, and as a kindle.
Premise:
A man returns to his childhood haunts and recalls a tale, blocked from memory, of the time dark forces invaded his life, and of the mysterious neighbours who interceded.
High Points:
1. Of all the dangers faced by the narrator, the most disturbing and vivid involves his father, turned against him by a sinister creature—the same creature he dug from his foot when it wore the form of a worm. The scene of plausible (if, in context, supernaturally guided) abuse proves far more powerful than the worm.
“You come back sometimes,” she said. “You were here once when you were twenty-four, I remember. You had two children and you were so scared. You came here before you left this part of the world: you were, what, in your thirties, then? I fed you a good meal in the kitchen, and you told me about your dreams and the art you were making”(173).
“You don’t pass or fail at being a person, dear.” (175)
2. The ending provides a fascinating reminiscence on the paths life takes, and the power of memory, dreams, people, and places, recalled and understood only with the passage of time.
Low Point:
The central character does too little to confront the dangers he faces or advance the plot. I grant, he’s a young boy, and Gaiman captures the sense of helplessness one often feels in childhood, surrounded by far more powerful people and forces. The protagonist of a fantasy, however, should do more than wait around for his powerful friends to save him. This approach probably would have worked in a short story, but here it marred my ability to fully engage the text.
The Scores:
Originality: 2/6 The story features some original elements but, really, it reads like Gaiman has been raiding Gaiman. The basic plot has strong parallels with the superior Graveyard Book, and the story and characters would not have been out of place in The Sandman.
Imagery: 6/6 Gaiman remains a superior writer capable of evoking real and fantastic imagery with equal skill. A man commits suicide; someone nearly chokes on coins; a worm takes up residence in a boy’s foot.
Story: 4/6 This makes for an intriguing, quick read, but I’m baffled by the degree of praise it has received, and often from significant and weighty names with whom I’m loathe to disagree. Gaiman has written some excellent, groundbreaking work, and this book doesn’t compare favorably with them.
Characterization: 5/6 Gaiman has a remarkable capacity to capture the perspectives of childhood. I also enjoyed his characterization of the Triple Goddess. The villain seems rather generic, and no one stands out as memorably as the characters in, say, Coraline.
Emotional Response: 4/6 Gaiman has penned an uneven book that probably would have worked better as the short story he originally conceived it to be.
Editing: 6/6 The author’s prose style, always strong, has only improved.
Overall score: 5/6 I have a difficult time categorizing this book. He has been marketed as a sort of faerie tale for adults, but, barring one or two sequences of adult content, it reads like a disturbing children’s novel that might be enjoyed by all ages, in the manner of Coraline.
In total, The Ocean at the End of the Lane receives 32/42
The episode that proved that Wu is indeed the true hero of Grimm @ io9
Here's all you need to know about the last episode of Grimm: The show made the bold choice of venturing into preggo tentacle porn. Also, Wu is awesome and Nick and Hank are assholes.
Say Hello To Everything Wrong With ‘Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull’ @ UPROXX » GammaSquad
Watch a surprisingly stirring short film about mountains @ io9
We don't usually think of mountains as having life spans, but these colossal geologic entities live and die in cycles like countless other forms of matter (albeit on much larger time scales). The Weight of Mountains is a short film by Temujin Doran that explores this process through stunning geophysical imagery.
This image is why everyone's so excited about a NASA mission to Europa @ io9
NASA wants to visit Jupiter's moon Europa. Why's that exciting? In a word: Water. As this visualization shows, the icy moon may look tiny next to our own planet, but it's got 2- to 3-times as much H2O as we have here on Earth . That "little" moon is packing quite the store of water — and with it, scientists think, a significant chance of harboring life.
1940s Computer-Power @ io9
For International Women's Day, flashback to the early days of NASA. Fundamental research in aerodynamics using wind tunnels and the very earliest push into supersonic flight are piling up stacks of data. All that data went through computers, the women who performed data transcription and reduction.
Hawkeye and Hulk fight for their lives in the Mojoverse @ io9
Saturday Morning Cartoons is back this week, bringing you a Mojo-rrific episode of Avengers Assemble, a baby shower from an episode of Archer that aired earlier in the week, and the season finale of Defenders of Berk.
Book Review: The Alchemy of Paint: Art, Science and Secrets From the Middle Ages by Spike Bucklow @ Sci-Fi Fan Letter
Movie Discussion: Mr. Peabody and Sherman and 300: Rise of an Empire @ Bureau 42
Tell me this wouldn’t be the most amazing crossover.
Or, just discuss either of the films. What does the Bureau think?
Amazing Spider-Man 2 Harry Osborn and Rhino new footage @ SciFiNow - The World's Best Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Magazine
Nemo: The Roses Of Berlin graphic novel review @ SciFiNow - The World's Best Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Magazine
Captain American 2 Black Widow new footage revealed @ SciFiNow - The World's Best Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Magazine
Starry Eyes cult horror gets a classy new poster @ SciFiNow - The World's Best Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Magazine
Alphas Season 2 DVD review @ SciFiNow - The World's Best Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Magazine
It's what all the cyborgs are wearing this season @ io9
All the cyberkiddies are wearing 3D-printed 18th century military styles this season. They sew LEDs into strips of soft spikes, turn them into epaulets, and power them with their nuke batteries.
On the 25th anniversary of the magnificent, enduring novel "Geek Love" @ Boing Boing
Caitlin Roper's 25th anniversary appreciation of Katherine Dunn's magnificent novel Geek Love manages the improbable trick of doing the book justice. Geek Love is a one-of-a-kind wonder of a novel, unique in voice, subject matter and emotional affect. Nothing I've ever read or done has made me feel the way Geek Love makes me feel every time I re-read it (it's a book I've loved since my teens). The feeling isn't entirely pleasant, but it's an important feeling, and one I need to get in touch with every couple of years.
Roper's piece features a rundown of all the amazing things that Geek Love has inspired in its quarter century, from the Jim Rose Sideshow Circus to mountains of weird and amazing fan-art. It also gives a glimpse of Dunn herself and the events that led her to write her wonderful masterpiece. I bought my wife a copy of Geek Love when we started courting. I couldn't imagine spending my life with someone who hadn't read it.
Literary agent Richard Pine had heard of Dunn from other writers he represented in the Pacific Northwest. When he finally got the manuscript, he was dazzled: “I thought it was one of the most brilliant things I’d ever read, and also one of the hardest books to sell that I’d ever take on.” But after a few months of rejection, Pine had a handful of publishers vying for the rights.
Everyone who worked on Geek Love became a titan of the book industry. Its publisher, Sonny Mehta, had recently moved from London to head Knopf in New York. Pine sent him the manuscript. “I was watched with great curiosity in the house, I suspect, because everybody was kind of curious about my taste,” says Mehta, who eventually became not just chairman and editor-in-chief at Knopf Doubleday but also one of the most powerful editors of the last quarter century (he published the seminal works of Kazuo Ishiguro, Douglas Adams, Toni Morrison, Bret Easton-Ellis to name a few). On a Friday, he asked a young editor, Terry Adams, to read the manuscript over the weekend. “I read it very happily, I came in Monday morning and went straight to Sonny’s office,” says Adams, now the publisher of paperback and digital at Little, Brown. “I was just overwhelmed by the manuscript, I said, ‘you have to buy this, you have to buy this.’” Geek Love was Mehta’s first acquisition for Knopf. “I thought it was a hugely ambitious, very daring book,” Mehta says. “I found it chilling, I found it moving, sometimes very funny, but I was taken by the sheer in-your-faceness of the whole thing, I thought it was brilliant.”
Geek Love [Amazon]
Geek Love at 25: How a Freak Family Inspired Your Pop Culture Heroes [Caitlin Roper/Wired]
(Image: Laura Park)
National Geographic recently sat down with McKenzie Funk – author of the new book Windfall: The Boom @ io9
National Geographic recently sat down with McKenzie Funk – author of the new book Windfall: The Booming Business of Global Warming – to learn about how businesses hope to make money from climate change. "Basically," says Funk, "the more north you are, the more likely some of the effects are going to be positive." Read the full interview here.
What kind of kaiju would attack Paris? How about a giant pigeon? @ io9
A quiet Paris day is interrupted by the sudden appearance of a massive feather that floats down into the streets. But that's just the herald of a greater threat: an enormous pigeon strong enough to topple the city's most famous landmarks.
It takes 13 minutes to explain everything wrong with Indiana Jones 4 @ io9
Hell, I'm surprised that CinemaSins managed to get their assessment of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in under 20. I figured they'd need to spend at least six minutes on Shia LeBoeuf turning into the King of the Monkeys alone.
Being Human preview: “Too Far, Fast Forward” plus “Inside Being Human” @ Sci-Fi Storm
So, has Being Human twisted enough for you? Does the knowledge that this is building to a series finale up the stakes? Check out this preview, with some familiar past faces…then check out the latest “Inside Being Human”, where Kristin Hager and Meaghan Rath share their thoughts on Sally changing her past and the ripple effects it causes. Tune in Monday at 9/8c for “Too Far, Fast Forward” on Syfy!
Rewind, Rewind – Inside Being Human
Texans get set to kill thousands of rattlesnakes in annual festival @ io9
Thousands of snakes will be killed in the 56th Rattlesnake RoundUp this coming weekend in Sweetwater, Texas. It's a barbaric and environmentally reckless festival that's also startlingly reminiscent of a classic Simpson's episode.
The Last 2 Vampire Diaries Characters You Expected to Break Your Heart @ io9
The Vampire Diaries is still good for a ton of wacky plot twists, betrayals and reversals, but the actual story has gotten more and more muddled this season. And yet, sometimes, the show still serves up moments like this one — an unexpected jolt of total insane heartbreak, from the two most unexpected characters.
"The Empire's Corps Series" by Christopher Nuttall (an overview by Liviu Suciu) @ Fantasy Book Critic
Why King Tut's DNA is fueling race wars @ io9
We've all heard stories of the miraculous tomb of King Tutankhamun, son of the rebel king Akhenaten who believed in monotheism. Trying to learn more, Egyptian scientists recently sequenced his DNA. Here's how their discoveries became racially and politically charged events.
The elevated city could only be reached by airship @ io9
Dahlia grew up in the Low Levels, the electric lights dangling from the underside of Arratha forming her night sky. She trained for years to be an airship pilot so that she could rise above the city skyline and marvel at its shining buildings. She was never allowed past the landing dock, but that view was worth every lesson.
This cyberpunk thriller about deadly robots looks slick as hell @ io9
Check out the first trailer for the British thriller The Machine, about two researchers who develop an intelligent gynoid — only to have the British government try to turn her into a weapon. And you know how well that usually turns out.
Terrible Halloween costumers rejoice: Once made the Jabberwocky SEXY! @ io9
This was a very good episode of Once Upon a Time in Wonderland — except that it was marred by a very bad Jabberwocky.
Louisiana's giant sinkhole showed up in radar data before imploding @ io9
Since 2012, a monstrous sinkhole in Bayou Corne Louisiana has been swallowing up land in giant, tree-sized gulps , growing to a whopping 25-acres. Now, analyses of NASA radar data indicate the land showed signs of collapsing before the sinkhole opened. This raises a pressing question: Could sinkholes like Bayou Corne's be predicted before they happen?
Will the shift to digital destroy movies as we know them? @ io9
Digital movies are becoming more and more popular, but some people are saying the move could destroy movies as we know them. But it's not issues of film quality that have them worried — it's film preservation.
Some of the weirdest and most beautiful church decorations of all time @ io9
Not every church repainting job turns out as badly as the "Ecce Homo" fresco in Spain . In fact, these churches all became far more fascinating after people added sometimes bizarre, sometimes beautiful paintings to them.
Preview, TV Spot and More for the ONCE UPON A TIME Midseason Premiere @ SciFi Mafia
This Sunday, Once Upon a Time airs its midseason premiere. I got a chance to preview it and … it is truly terrific. Even for people who would never consider themselves “Oncers.” This episode takes a quality leap forward in almost every way.
It’s the best episode since Season 1′s “Hat Trick,” my favorite, and in fact for entirely different reasons it is equally as good. It moves along at quite a clip, with more twists and turns than I’ve ever seen on the show. It’s entertaining, well-written, engaging, jam-packed, and fun. Almost everyone brought their “A” game (I’m looking at you, Snow’s wig maker and costume designer).
This is the one to check out for anyone who’s considered watching Once but never got around to it, and in fact I recommend it to those of you who’ve watched an episode here and there but never really got it. Try this one. Really.
Fans, you are going to flip. DO NOT miss one second. Don’t even cough. Just hold on to your couch and get ready for a great ride.
To get you ready, here’s a nifty TV spot:
TV Spot: Once Upon a Time – 312
This three-panel poster was released on the Once Facebook page – click on each to see it full size:
And here’s a great writeup from ABC about just where we are, so even if you’re new or you’ve been away, you can join right in with Sunday’s return:
Master storytellers Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz (“Lost,” “Tron: Legacy”) invite everyone to join Emma Swan as she struggles to understand whether she belongs in New York City, where she has begun a new life with Henry, or back in Storybrooke, where things have never been simple. As she works to provide a stable environment for her and Henry, she learns that there’s no place like home. But the question remains: where is that for Emma?
Welcome to Storybrooke, Maine, a small town that probably won’t show up on your GPS, but it’s a magical place to visit. Reality and myth merged after Emma broke Regina’s curse, which had deprived the fairytale characters of their memories and trapped them in our modern world. When they finally regained their identities, our heroes were dismayed to discover that they weren’t transported back to Fairy Tale Land. To make matters worse, Rumplestiltskin – aka Mr. Gold – decided to escalate his power struggle with Regina by introducing magic into the town. But this is our world, and magic always has a tendency to yield unfathomable consequences.
The first order of business this season was to save Henry, who had been kidnapped and transported through a portal to Neverland. But Neverland was a much darker place than one remembers, and our heroes had to face a foe more powerful than the Dark One himself – Peter Pan. After being tricked and led astray for days – and learning that he was also Rumplestiltskin’s father – Pan was defeated and trapped inside Pandora’s Box. Our heroes returned to Storybrooke, only to discover that Pan had switched bodies with Henry and was about to enact a curse that would have killed every living soul in town. But after discovering the switch and restoring Henry back into his body, Rumplestiltskin paid the ultimate price by sacrificing his life and killing Pan. In turn, Regina obliterated her original curse, which erased Storybrooke from existence and whisked its residents back to Fairy Tale Land, leaving Emma and Henry together back in our world with pleasant memories – but with no memories of Storybrooke or its residents, and with Storybrooke itself seemingly gone for good.
And they all lived happily ever after… Hardly!
All is not well back in the Enchanted Forest when Hook comes calling on Emma in New York City in an attempt to jog her memory so that she can once again help her fairy tale family and friends out of a desperate situation. Everyone she holds dear is in danger as a new foe emerges – the Wicked Witch of the West (Rebecca Mader, “Lost”). Hook now must enlist Emma in an epic struggle that spans worlds: with the highest stakes possible – the fate of her family. No one remembers how they were transported back or the past year they had spent back in Fairy Tale Land. But someone in town is responsible for this curse, and all clues point to the Wicked Witch of the West, whose agenda in our world is a mystery. In an attempt to break the curse, new fairytale characters will be revealed and old acquaintances will be revisited. But not everyone can be trusted.
“Once Upon a Time” stars Ginnifer Goodwin as Snow White/Mary Margaret, Jennifer Morrison as Emma Swan, Lana Parrilla as the Evil Queen/Regina, Josh Dallas as Prince Charming/David, Emilie de Ravin as Belle, Colin O’Donoghue as Hook, Michael Raymond-James as Baelfire/Neal Cassidy, Jared S. Gilmore as Henry Mills and Robert Carlyle as Rumplestiltskin/Mr. Gold.
“Once Upon a Time” is broadcast in 720 Progressive (720P), ABC’s selected HDTV format, with 5.1 channel surround sound. Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz are creators and executive producers. Steve Pearlman and David H. Goodman are also executive producers. The show is from ABC Studios.
Okay, you should be good and prepared now. Bring on Sunday night!
Once Upon a Time, stars Ginnifer Goodwin, Jennifer Morrison, Lana Parrilla, Josh Dallas, Emilie de Ravin, Colin O’Donoghue, Michael Raymond-James, Jared S. Gilmore, and Robert Carlyle, returns for its midseason premiere on Sunday, March 9 at 8/7c on ABC.
Watch the exact moment a deaf toddler hears for the very first time @ io9
A 17-month old deaf toddler named Alex Frederick recently had an experimental device implanted directly into his brainstem — a device that has yet to be approved for children in the United States. This is the exact moment it started to work.
Stan Lee walks us through 3 revealing new clips from Amazing Spider-Man 2 @ Blastr
Three new clips from Amazing Spider-Man 2 have dropped, and Marvel legend Stan Lee is here to walk us through all the big reveals.
Potential, major spoiler ahead for Amazing Spider-Man 2!
Approximately three minutes of new footage has been released in three new clips, as part of “Kellogg’s Amazing Spider-Man 2 Web-Slinging Game” promo campaign. Yeah, an admittedly weird source, but there's some good stuff in here. Trust us.
The clips show off some new action scenes, and also drop an (apparently) major spoiler about the fate of one major Spider-Man player. Seriously, that first clip has a big ol’ reveal. So keep going at your own risk.
Check out the clips below, narrated by Stan Lee, for geek-tastic context:
Still here? Good! So ... apparently, Norman Osborn (Chris Cooper) dies at some point, or fakes his death, perhaps, which leads to Harry Osborn’s (Dane DeHaan) takeover of Oscorp. We’d already gleaned that the elder Osborn was in bad health, so this isn’t too much of a shock. But we’d have to think there might be more to the story if they’d just casually drop this reveal in a promo clip.
The sequel stars Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Dane DeHaan, Campbell Scott, Paul Giamatti, Sally Field and B.J. Novak. It opens May 2.
(Via Coming Soon)
Walking Dead's Maggie explains why it's a good thing she's separated from Glenn @ Blastr
After winding down the prison storyline, AMC’s zombie hit The Walking Dead has taken a nice, character-focused detour the past few weeks. According to star Lauren Cohan, the current arc is even worth saying goodbye to her TV husband.
As the gang was scattered following the fall of the prison, Glenn (Steven Yeun) and Maggie (Cohan) — the closest thing to a happy couple in the zombie apocalypse — were forced in separate directions and are now searching for each other across the rural wasteland. According to Cohan, that separation is making for some of the best stories in the show’s four-season history, and she told MTV she thinks fans will continue to enjoy that character-focused journey:
"I'm loving the storyline, because I feel the presence of Glenn so strongly when you're on [Maggie], and I feel the presence of Maggie so strongly when you're on Glenn. This little bridge that people are trying to cross to get back to each other, it creates so much tension. I think without this mission to find each other, we're not going to find out more about these characters. Yes, she's inextricably tied to her husband, but who does she become when she's in search of the thing she really needs?”
We never see each other. It’s been great, seeing the finished product; we get to go off on these little capsules and get to know characters that we really haven't gotten to know very intimately yet. Like last week with Daryl and Beth, this whole expose of who they are and where they're coming from. That's all super-fun. But at points in the season, we really missed the camaraderie of mucking it together. It's been a page-turner of an experience with these scripts, with the focus on new characters and going into more philosophical areas. It's been super stimulating," she said. "It's been nice to stop and ask these questions of, ‘Do you get to come back from what you've done? Who are we now?’”
Cohan makes a strong point, and though some fans may not be digging the more standalone pace the past few weeks, it has served up more character development than we’ve had in years. It’s been great to see Maggie and Glenn’s strength when separated, while realizing that strength is derived from their desire to find one another.
We’ll apparently get to see a lot more of Maggie in this Sunday’s episode, “Alone,” which Cohan described as “a very gnarly episode” about her journey to find Glenn. What do you think of the back half of season four?
(Via MTV)
Eric Bana battles bad ghosts in freaky new trailer for Deliver Us From Evil @ Blastr
When, in the whole history of horror cinema, has it ever been wise to peek under the bed in a dark room? Exactly. But it's still an effective scare no matter how you slice it.
Supposedly inspired by real-life events, Deliver Us From Evil was adapted from the 2001 cult novel Beware the Night, by Ralph Sarchie. Sarchie, a veteran of the NYPD's 46th Precinct in South Bronx, chronicled evil doings based on his actual otherworldly police cases and occult investigations.
Billed as "The Terrifying True Story of Demonic Possession and Exorcism in a City Under Diabolical Siege," the book has gone on in geek realms to gain notoriety as a pretty scary read. This adaptation, directed by Sinister's Scott Derrickson and starring Eric Bana, Edgar Ramirez, Olivia Munn and Joel McHale, looks devilishly cool!
Here's the synopsis:
In DELIVER US FROM EVIL, New York police officer Ralph Sarchie (Eric Bana), struggling with his own personal issues, begins investigating a series of disturbing and inexplicable crimes. He joins forces with an unconventional priest (Edgar Ramírez), schooled in the rituals of exorcism, to combat the frightening and demonic possessions that are terrorizing their city. Inspired by the book, which details Sarchie’s bone-chilling real-life cases.
Deliver Us From Evil strikes theaters on July 2, 2014.
Be good, grab some holy water and go watch this wicked-cool trailer.
(Via Geek Tyrant)
Oh my god why isn't this Michonne from The Walking Dead Barbie real @ io9
If there were a divine creator who loved us and watched over us, this Michonne Barbie doll would be a real product I could buy right this instant. But instead it's a beautiful figure custom-made by Park Seoung and it taunts me with its perfection, forever out of my reach.
Women to watch: 11 trailblazing ladies who dominate sci-fi and fantasy @ Blastr
Over the past decade, women have become a larger presence in geek culture. No matter the medium (film, TV, comics, etc.), they've proven that it's no longer just a boys' club. This Saturday (March 8) is International Women's Day -- a celebration of the economic, political and social contributions made by women worldwide. In honor of that, we're saluting 11 ladies who have made a mark in the sci-fi and fantasy genres.
These women have created their own paths and set a precedent for what's to come. Some started from the bottom and are now executives and bosses in their own right. Others took a more direct approach, creating opportunities where there were none. Regardless of the method, their work ethic and achievements deserve to be praised, and their power recognized.
Did we miss anyone? Who are the women in the sci-fi, fantasy and horror fields you'd like to salute? Let us know in the comments!
Which Hollywood blockbuster has the heart of a cult movie? @ io9
We celebrate cult movies for their subversiveness and willingness to defy your expectations by throwing gonzo shit at the screen. But the line between cult films and mainstream Hollywood blockbusters is never solid, especially with so many directors going back and forth. Which huge Hollywood tentpole film is really a cult movie at heart?
Why are there square craters forming on the Moon? @ io9
The moon is full of craters both large and small, but typically they come in only one shape: round. So why are scientists spotting square craters on the moon?
New Law Could End Killer Whale Shows in California @ io9
New legislation being proposed in California would begin to phase out the keeping of killer whales (Orcinus orca) in captive environments in the state. Democratic Assemblymember Richard Bloom of the state's fiftieth district announced the bill this morning at a press conference on the Santa Monica Pier. The bill, AB 2140, is informally called the "California Captive Orca Welfare and Safety Act."
If passed, the bill would end performance-based entertainment for all killer whales in California, end captive breeding programs for the species within the state, prevent the import and export of genetic materials for breeding programs elsewhere, prevent the import and export of the whales themselves, and more.
With the Pacific Ocean as his backdrop, Bloom began the announcement by describing the ways in which our relationship with one of the ocean's top predators has changed in the last forty years. "Not that long ago, the military used orcas for target practice because they were considered dangerous to humans or pests to fisherman, and were therefore deemed expendable. Well, things have obviously changed. Beginning in the 1970s, studies of these majestic creatures in the wild began to emerge, and over the next few decades we learned that orcas are neither mindless killers nor pests. In their natural habitat, orcas are docile, if not inquisitive." He went on to describe their social structure and cognitive sophistication: "Orcas are family-oriented, highly adaptable, [and] socially complex, with cultural traditions that trail only humans as the most intelligent creatures on the planet."
While Bloom has a track record of concern for the environment – he is a former California Coastal Commissioner and former Chair of the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission – he explained that it was his constituents and his staff who encouraged him to consider developing legislation on orca welfare. The film Blackfish was what initially sparked the interest, but Bloom also consulted with marine mammal researchers, including the Animal Welfare Institute's Naomi Rose, rather than relying entirely on the film to form his opinions. "[Blackfish] is helping to form peoples' opinions, but…that wasn't enough for me. I went out and spoke to the scientific community," Bloom said. "It wasn't until after I had gathered all of that information that I became convinced that this was an appropriate bill to carry."
While the legislation is designed to end the keeping of killer whales for entertainment purposes, the Assemblymember was clear that this was not targeted at SeaWorld per se. "This bill is not about SeaWorld and it is not intended to try and somehow harm SeaWorld and its business model." He said. "I am confident that SeaWorld can carry on without this one element of the many things that it does. SeaWorld does good work in the community. It provides funding for scientific studies, and it does marine rescue work that is highly thought of by the community."
Importantly, the proposed legislation also acknowledges the practical and scientific limitations involved in the release of captive-born animals. "Another misunderstanding about this bill is that it would somehow lead to the release of all the orcas that are currently in captivity, into the wild," he said. Because killer whale society is so complex, it would be a poor welfare decision to dump these animals back into the sea. "To simply release them into the wild would probably be releasing them to their deaths," Bloom correctly explained. Those whales for which wild release would be impossible are instead to be transferred to sea pens. Until sea pens, which are large enclosures anchored to the seafloor and attached to the shore, become available, the orcas are allowed to be kept in their existing enclosures, but not for performance or entertainment purposes.
That means that the orcas currently in marine parks and aquariums, some of whom will live out their lives in their enclosures, will still be properly cared for. The training that is necessary for veterinary care, psychological and physical enrichment, and management will still be permitted.
The full text of the proposed legislation can be found here. It's easy to understand and (in this writer's opinion) very well written. Here are the key points:
Revised Cosmological Constant Predicts a Collapsing Universe @ io9
The going theory among cosmologists is that the universe will eventually rip itself to shreds owing to its ever-accelerating rate of expansion. Not so, say a pair of physicists who have just taken it upon themselves to reformulate an integral facet of general relativity: the cosmological constant.
Community goes FULL Brave New World and it is wonderful @ io9
Last night Community unleashed all of the hard science fiction parodies. We have been waiting for this moment — we knew once Dan Harmon was done poking fun at Star Wars, action movies, zombie movies, horror movies and gangster films, eventually he would move on to weird dystopian films. And Community did not disappoint.
The Avengers: Age of Ultron adds some international female flair to its cast @ Blastr
The Avengers: Age Of Ultron has recently been ramping up its roster, and now here's news it's amped up the cast with beautiful-but-unknown Korean actress Kim Soo-hyun, who took to Twitter to announce her fortune. No word on exactly which character she'll play, but rumors are that it's a sizable co-starring slot. Soo-hyun teams up with a killer cast that includes stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner and Samuel L. Jackson, but also Marvel newbies Elizabeth Olsen (Scarlet Witch), Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Quicksilver), Thomas Kretschmann (Baron Wolfgang von Struker) and James Spader (Ultron).
Here's her Tweet translation:
“After a long wait, I’m happy to be back with great news. I have a lot to do ahead of me, but for now, the words ‘Welcome to the Marvel Universe’ are amazing and kind of overwhelming. I was a fan of Marvel Comics, and if you really like something, looks like fate can make it happen.”
Here she's studying up on the Marvel Universe for her role, only described as "A doctor partner of Iron Man Tony Stark." A Marvel rep commented on the rampant speculation with further secrecy:
“Marvel always prohibits telling too much about the story. Her character is already decided and the scene is already written so we cast Kim Soo-Hyun, but we can’t let you know about her character. We only can say that her character is a substantial supporting role."
Dang their cloak-and-dagger routine! Any clue on who Soo-hyun might play? Maybe Moondragon?
The Avengers: Age of Ultron is set to luanch May 1, 2015.
(Via Cinema Blend)
Clone Wars' final season turns Order 66 into a Hitchcockian thriller @ io9
Today, the full run of Clone Wars was released on Netflix, including the entirety of Season Six, which never aired on television. It's a beautifully executed set of episodes that, despite a few bumps, fills in a lot of details not covered by the prequel films—starting with Order 66.
Watch Jurassic Park's iconic raptor scene ... recut with giant, killer kittens @ Blastr
It’s one of the most memorable scenes in Jurassic Park, and now it’s been given a whole new lease on life thanks to these adorably huge, bloodthirsty kittens.
You know the scene: when the kids take shelter in a lab, hiding out from the raptors prowling the room, stalking their every move. Well, now imagine that instead of raptors, they’re hiding from gigantic, kid-eating kittens. Hey, they can both be terrifying, assuming you have allergies.
YouTubers We Are Camera Studio decided to make this dream a reality, and the result is the hilariously weird mashup clip below, which splices in movie footage with re-created live action shots of kittens prowling through the room.
Yes, it’s as awesome as it sounds:
(Via Movies.com)
The 300 sequel is Zack Snyder's greatest intellectual masterpiece @ io9
300: Rise of a Empire isn't even a sequel to 300 — it's set in a parallel timeline. That's just how intellectually challenging this film is. The scathing, multi-layered political commentary begins with the movie's very first scenes: As Queen Gorgo describes the fall of Athens in voiceover, a soldier grabs a woman and jiggles her bare breasts in front of the camera. Producer/writer Zack Snyder has recreated the depth of King Lear, only elevated to the sophisticated level of a YouTube comment thread.
This ‘inFamous: Second Son’ Spot Is The Closest We’ll Get To An inFamous Movie @ UPROXX » GammaSquad
Eric Bana fights the boogeyman in first Deliver Us From Evil trailer @ io9
Deliver Us From Evil looks like your standard haunted horror movie. However, it has Eric Bana in it, so by law we are required to watch it. Because he is delightful. Behold Eric Bana versus... some ghosts?
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Books You Can't Afford to Miss in March @ io9
Your reading list isn't long enough! You can always use another stack of science fiction and fantasy books — and luckily, March is full of exciting reads. Including new Terry Pratchett and Brandon Sanderson, but also loads of magic, time travel, apocalypses and fun. Here are the March books you can't afford to miss.
Check out vintage 20,000 Leagues art from a 1980s remake that never happened @ Blastr
Though some have tried, pretty much no effort has been able to match the acclaim of Disney's 1954 adaptation of Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea — but someone almost gave it a pretty good shot in the mid-1980s.
Around 1984, producer Dino De Laurentiis (Dune, Hannibal) was on the verge of mounting an adaptation of Verne’s classic sci-fi novel and commissioned artist Ron Miller to put together some concept art. George MacDonald Fraser (The Three Musketeers, Red Sonja) was attached at the time to pen the script.
Though the film never made it much further past that development cycle, the sketches have finally leaked out thanks to an op-ed at io9. According to Miller, De Laurentiis had some pretty ambitious ideas for the film, which shine through in some of the drawings. Here’s an excerpt from MIller’s description:
“Fraser followed Verne's description of the squid attack on the Nautilus almost verbatim, with not just the lone animal as depicted in the Disney film but with more than twenty of the monsters. One of Fraser's ideas that I thought most brilliant was that of combining Nemo's visit to the sunken treasure ship with the visit to Atlantis. Fraser's imagery of the ancient sunken city littered with the shipwrecks of centuries was a compelling one. And just to up the ante, Nemo's mortal enemy has tracked him to this point and begins depth-charging the ruins!”
We’ve pulled together a few samples of the long-lost concept art below, and you can check out the full gallery at io9.
(Via io9)
Cosmos Reboot @ Omni Reboot
Carl Sagan’s classic TV series gets a 21st-century remake
As a culture, we turn to television for a lot of things. And in recent years, at least, most of them are not so good for us. Still, we might go to get our weekly fix of that increasingly narrow stratum of artful scripted television, or sporting events, or breaking news. But when is the last time you turned to your TV for a sense of wonder and awe?
Starting this Friday, you can program your DVR for just that when the 13-part miniseries Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey debuts on Fox, National Geographic Channel and a constellation of affiliated stations. A reboot of Carl Sagan’s groundbreaking PBS series, the new Cosmos is intelligent, engaging and provokes complex feelings rarely elicited by the TV screen.
The original Cosmos, broadcast in 1980, was a global phenomenon and a crown jewel in the long career of author and astronomer Carl Sagan. It’s generally acknowledged that Sagan did more to popularize science among mainstream audiences than anyone since Einstein. With his many books and frequent public appearances, Sagan was a great science communicator and pioneered the field of endeavor sometimes called “pop science.”
The new Cosmos, hosted by marquee scientist Neil deGrasse Tyson, aims to pick up where Sagan left off. Tyson was himself inspired to pursue science after meeting the illustrious Sagan when Tyson was just a science-crazy kid from the Bronx. “Science is a cooperative enterprise spanning generations,” Tyson declares at one point. There’s a sense of happy inevitability to it all. Why didn’t someone think of this sooner?
On with the show: The pilot episode is structured to establish a sense of location for us Earthlings and, on a deeper level, for the series itself. We get a tour of the solar system with Tyson as our guide, piloting a kind of far-future CGI spaceship that looks like some liquid mercury prototype from the 723rd century.
It’s a standard pop science approach for the most part, as we swing past Saturn’s rings and out into the Oort cloud. But the proceedings have an artfulness typically lacking in pop scholarship on television. The special effects are terrific—clearly a lot of time, money and thoughtful design went into the imagery provided. Even more impressive is the sophisticated narrative structure of our initial cosmic flyover with Dr. Tyson.
Earth is situated is this introduction by what Tyson calls our long address. We pull back in a cosmic reverse zoom from Earth to solar system to Milky Way galaxy to Virgo supercluster to the observable universe itself. We hear all the time about how there are billions of stars in billions of galaxies — in fact, “billions and billions” was Sagan’s famous catchphrase. But by walking us through, step by step, through sequential magnifications of scale, the show delivers an effect that’s very nearly dizzying. It’s the show’s first big jolt of awe. “Science gives us the power to see what our senses cannot,” Tyson says. Skillfully deployed special effects can do that, too.
The pilot episode then doubles back, in its middle passages, to tell the story of Giordano Bruno, the 16th Dominican philosopher whose radical cosmology theories got him burned at the stake by the Church. Bruno is regarded as a martyr for science, especially by astronomers, and his story is told with appealing stylized animation. A smart choice—live action reenactments of this kind of thing never really work.
But the show loses some momentum here, I think, by shifting focus to a religion-versus-rationalism debate, and taking some easy shots at the villainous Church. Cosmos is clearly staking out its territory with this business, and it will be interesting to see how the rest of the series unfolds. I just hope the creative team keeps in mind that righteous rationalism can be every bit as exhausting as righteous religion.
Happily, Cosmos toggles back again in the end to explore another compelling storytelling approach. The history of the cosmos is scaled down to a single calendar year, and we’re given some interesting numbers. In this cosmic year, our Sun formed around the end of August—4.5 billion years ago. The first land animal crawled up from the soup on December 17. We humans showed up on the last hour of December 31, and all of recorded history takes up the last 14 seconds of the year. Science itself is exactly one second old.
This breakdown provides another moment of wonder and awe, nicely delivered by Dr. Tyson in a calm, thoughtful, understated style. The good doctor is admirably game, too—thanks to CGI effects, he’s regularly teleported into strange environments for his narration spots: an asteroid field, primordial Earth…
It’s all pleasantly earnest, bracingly smart and kind of doubly surprising. The first surprise is that there was, in the halls of network television, the money and the political will to get this thing done at all. The second surprise is that it’s been done so well.
Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey premieres Sunday, March 9 at 9 pm/8 pm Central on FOX, and Monday, March 10, 10 pm/9 pm Central on National Geographic.
The post Cosmos Reboot appeared first on OMNI Reboot.
Arrow producer talks Flash pilot, bigger DC crossovers + Suicide Squad @ Blastr
The current season of The CW’s Arrow is arguably one of the best genres shows on television right now, and it sounds like things are only getting crazier.
Producer Marc Guggenheim had a wide-ranging chat with Collider about the series, and touched on what it’ll take to cross over Arrow with the upcoming Flash spinoff. Basically, they’re all fans at heart and will try to make only the coolest crossovers possible that fans will geek completely out about. It’s refreshing to hear how Guggenheim comes at the material, and his outright love for the comics shines through in a non-slavish way:
“Well, we’re fanboys and we always fantasize about, ‘Oh, we could do this cross-over. We could do that episode.’ Everything is always on the table. I think it’s one of the things that’s made Arrow special. But we also all collectively feel like The Flash needs to stand on its own two feet, now that it’s gotten its launch from Arrow. I would say, as with all things, we trust our instincts to know when is the right time. Our compass has always just been our gut instinct.
When the time is right, it will happen. Greg [Berlanti], Andrew [Kreisberg] and Geoff [Johns] have got to finish The Flash pilot first. There are a bunch of things that have to happen before we can start cross-pollinating shows … The Flash script is really, really terrific. It’s an outstanding pilot, and I know it will make a phenomenal series. Of course, it would be fun to work on any phenomenal series.”
He also touched on the introduction of DC fan faves the Suicide Squad, and how that developed organically out of the stories they were telling. It’s amazing to take a bird’s-eye view and see just how much of the DC universe they’ve managed to introduce through the Arrow lens in just two seasons, and the fact that the Suicide Squad storyline fits right into the narrative is a testament to the no-holds-barred approach they’ve taken:
“We started the year off with a list of characters who we wanted to see, and Bronze Tiger was one of them. Once we came up with an idea for how to do Bronze Tiger on the show, we very quickly did the math and were like, ‘You know, there’s Bronze Tiger, but Deadshot has also been on the show, and that’s already two members of the Suicide Squad,’ and we realized that it was something that was possible. It wasn’t something that we backed into. We gave ourselves the freedom to go through Season 2 going, ‘You know what? If we organically build this group, then maybe in Season 2 or Season 3, we’ll get to see them.’ But, we didn’t want to force it.
One of the nice things about the Suicide Squad in Episode 16 is that it does feel very organic. It feels like it’s something that just came out very naturally from the characters and the storytelling that we’ve been doing, in the previous 15 episodes of this year. And even, quite frankly, playing with some pieces that we established last year, like the introduction of Lyla Michaels. It just has a nice feeling of completion to it, while at the same time, setting up potential further stories for the Suicide Squad. They’re a lot of fun together. It’s wonderful to see David Ramsey and his character of John Diggle interact with them.”
Arrow airs Wednesday nights on The CW, and The Flash spinoff is set to debut this fall. Do you like the direction of the series?
(Via Collider)
Greatest Science Fiction TV Tournament – Week 18, Round 1 @ Bureau 42
The latest round of voting takes place here. Sorry this is so late; I’m under the weather and swamped with unexpected tasks. The “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” review will also be late. The titles that will definitely make it into round 2 include The 4400, Banner of the Stars, Batman Beyond, Galaxy Express 999, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Sarah Jane Adventures, Six Million Dollar Man, Sliders and Stargate: Atlantis. The newest elimination is Hayate the Combat Butler.
Stephen Chow goes on a predictably insane Journey to the West @ io9
Although Journey to the West is possibly the best-known, most important story in Chinese literature, it's been open to some seriously broad interpretations over the years. Stephen Chow's version, subtitled Conquering the Demons, is probably the loosest one yet, but thanks to Chow's epic, cartoony action set-pieces and his deadpan sense of humor, it's still a good time.
EXCLUSIVE: Lena Headey on the 300 sequel, wielding a sword and becoming a genre queen @ Blastr
Lena Headey is back as Queen Gorgo in 300: Rise of an Empire, and she has a story to tell you -- literally.
Director Noam Murro's sequel to Zack Snyder's heavily stylized 2006 ancient historical fantasy, which fictionally recounted the Battle of Thermopylae in which 300 Spartans stood against the Persian army of Xerxes, takes place both before and alongside the events of the first film (Snyder produced and co-wrote the new one).
Narrating events and appearing in key scenes is Headey's Queen Gorgo, who must lead Sparta after the death of King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) in 300. "I was intrigued when I heard about it because I thought, 'Well, everyone is dead,'" said Headey when we sat down during the film's recent press day in Los Angeles. "But I understand that the audience loved the first one so much. And I like the concept of trying to run this parallel view of what would happen in the first one. It’s a new way to go."
While happy to return as Gorgo, Headey says she is also content to see the Spartan queen play a supporting role. "It’s really Artemisia and Themistocles’ tale. So I’m very much a kind of sideline, which is fine by me," she explains. "I loved reading Artemisia’s role. I thought it was great fun, and I love Eva. I think she’s incredible. She just brings something kind of kooky and interesting to this. For me, it was just fun to sort of dip back in. I also got to hold a sword, and I’m such a boy, so that was quite nice. I was like, 'All right. I get a little fight. I’ll come back.'"
Gorgo does indeed see some action in this film during a major battle scene, which delighted Headey's 3-year-old son no end when he came to the set with her. "He now thinks he has a ninja for a mother, which is awesome," she enthuses. "But he did get worried by the time we did a third take on the fight and went, 'Ninjas be gentle.' I think in 40 years, when I’m 80, he’ll be able to see it."
Like the rest of the film's principal cast, Headey went through rigorous training to get her fighting technique down and said that she relished the chance. "I love it. I’ve always been a physical being. Like everyone else, I have moments of pure lazy hedonism where I’m like, 'I ain’t doing nothing apart from eating chocolate and lying in my bed,' but I love it. I really respond to it mentally. It puts you in a great place of strength and clarity. Being able to train with someone like Mark Twight [the film's fitness trainer] is a real gift, because he’s pretty special. He’s intense and he demands commitment ... he’s a lunatic in the best sense."
While some things have remained the same in the eight years since the first 300 in production terms, one thing that seems to be evolving is the role of women in a franchise like this. Whereas Headey was pretty much the sole woman of any note in the first movie, now she is one of two major female characters -- and Eva Green's Artemisia arguably dominates the film. Headey says she's pleased to see the barriers in traditionally male films breaking down.
"I think it’s changing massively, much to my pleasure," she agrees. "I think there’s a sort of renaissance for women right now, and you’re not shelved anymore because you’re of a certain age. It’s like women are now being allowed to be written as interesting characters. Eva’s character -- the power she’s given physically, just physically, is impressive. And she’s toe-to-toe with the men in terms of their emotional strength. We’re always given these heroic men who maybe shed a tear for the loss of a loved one, but they kind of continue on. I like that Artemisia is just done. She’s just done. She goes out there and does it.
"So, yeah, I think things are changing. I think the TV world is kind of leading it as well, you know. All these great shows with incredibly fascinating female characters who were in positions of strength and leading storylines and holding stories. I feel like people are 'Oh, women are interesting and can be f--king nuts and can be crazy and ugly and mean and all the things that men have been celebrated as being.' It’s now becoming allowed for us, which is a f--king relief, because who wants to be the pretty lady sitting on a sofa, you know what I mean? It’s awesome."
Headey herself has been right at the epicenter of that, from her Queen Gorgo in both 300 films to Sarah Connor in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles to the deadly Ma-Ma in the severely underseen Dredd to, of course, Cersei on Game of Thrones. But despite having done sci-fi, horror and fantasy -- the genre trifecta -- Headey admits that she did not start out as a geek growing up.
"I didn’t have a great plan or anything like that," she explains. "It’s just that the characters have interested me more. And I don’t necessarily think of them sitting in a genre, because I think then that would dictate how you play them. I just think they’re human beings, and they’re contemporary beings, no matter if it’s 700 years ago. We still have the same emotions, so it’s just part of what you do. I’m kind of led by what I’m interested by and what I think would be exciting to take part in."
300: Rise of an Empire is out in theaters Friday, March 7.
The Epic Fantasy Bundle, Ocean's Trilogy, Hunger Games [Deals] @ io9
![The Epic Fantasy Bundle, Ocean's Trilogy, Hunger Games [Deals]](http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/t_ku-xlarge/qu7lpj9pqbywqmxztdsx.jpg)
The latest Story Bundle is the best one yet, packaging 9 great stories together for a paltry $12, including works from Neil Gaiman and Tracy Hickman. These are DRM-free and a portion of your purchase benefits charity. [Story Bundle]
A classic Harlan Ellison Star Trek script is coming to comics @ Blastr
Nearly 50 years after it was written, the most famous unproduced Star Trek script of all time is finally being adapted.
In June 1966, legendary genre writer Harlan Ellison submitted a teleplay for what would become a landmark Star Trek episode: "The City on the Edge of Forever." Ellison's tale of the Enterprise crew traveling through a time vortex and fighting to prevent a very different future for the entire universe has since become the stuff of legend among Trek fans, and the teleplay went on to win both the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation and the Writers Guild of America Award for best hour-long script. One thing the teleplay didn't earn, though, was a spot on television. Because of both the subject matter and the cost of shooting Ellison's teleplay, it was rewritten by other members of the Star Trek production team, including Gene Roddenberry.
Though Ellison wasn't happy with the rewrites (he considered changing his name in the credits to a pseudonym), the filmed version of "The City on the Edge of Forever" became a classic and is today revered as one of the greatest Star Trek episodes ever made. Ellison's original teleplay didn't just vanish, though. It took on a life of its own, and was exposed to a new generation of fans when Ellison released it in book form in 1995. Now, at last, we'll see Ellison's version of the story play out before our very eyes, not on the screen but in the pages of a new miniseries from IDW Comics by writers Scott and David Tipton and artist J.K. Woodward, the same creative team who recently brought us the awesome Star Trek: TNG/Doctor Who crossover series. Covers for the miniseries will be done by artist Juan Ortiz, who you may know for his quest to create brilliant prints for every original series episode.
For more details on this dream Star Trek project, we reached out to Scott Tipton, who noted that the creative team's first priority in adaptating Ellison's original June 1966 draft of the episode was remaining as faithful to that teleplay as possible.
"Our goal here is to present Harlan’s story as he originally envisioned it, and as if viewers could have seen it back in 1966," Tipton said. "So that directive trumps all other considerations in our minds.
"It’s all about the work. And besides, though many fans know that Harlan’s original differed drastically from the filmed episode, I’d wager that not quite as many of them have ever actually had the opportunity to read it. And even for those who have, it’s one thing to read Harlan’s descriptions in the teleplay, and quite another to see how J.K. Woodward brings those descriptions to the canvas with paint and color. I’m confident it will feel fresh and exciting even to those who know Harlan’s teleplay by heart."
The project's also involved not only working closely with Ellison's teleplay, but working with Ellison himself.
"Harlan is overseeing everything we’re doing, and at the same time he’s been remarkably open about us interpreting his work, trusting us to make the right decisions where necessary in transitioning the material from television to the comics page," Tipton said.
For his part, Ellison's both happy to be working on a Star Trek project again and happy that his original vision is finally coming to light as something more than a teleplay.
“It was a superlative joy of my long life to have worked with Leonard Nimoy, who became my friend, and many others at Star Trek; and an equally heart-happy joy to be working with J.K. and the Tipton Bros. and (IDW Editor-In-Chief) Chris Ryall on this long-awaited visual of my (humbly, I say it) brilliant original ‘City…’," Ellison said in a press release from IDW.
So, at long last, the original "The City on the Edge of Forever" story is getting new life. It may be in your comic shop instead of on your television, but the fact that the project is happening at all is a testament to the power of the story, as Tipton noted when asked why the original teleplay has survived so long.
"I think it’s a couple of things: the fact that the final produced episode is so beloved, which makes people want more of it, which they can get by reading Harlan’s original draft," he said. "And also, not to put too fine a point on it, it’s the words on the page. Harlan’s voice is like no other in fiction, and we’re working hard to retain all of that flavor in the comics adaptation."
The first issue of Harlan Ellison's The City on the Edge of Forever: The Original Teleplay hits comics shops in June, and if you're a die-hard Trek fan, you won't want to miss it.
Stan Lee just dropped a major Amazing Spider-Man 2 spoiler @ io9
Three new clips from Amazing Spider-Man 2 have just dropped, complete with narration by Stan Lee. They're also complete with a pretty major spoiler for the movie if you're interested (it's in the last video below).
Why does coffee make you poop? @ io9
You know it when you feel it. You've just sat down at your breakfast table, or settled in at your favorite café. You're a few sips into your brew when, out of nowhere, the urge to download a brownload is becoming urgent. Just a few swigs of coffee and it can feel like you've mainlined a laxative — but why?
No, painkillers are not creating addicts @ io9
We often hear media reports that suggest addicts are created when doctors prescribe painkillers for people who are actually in pain. But the evidence suggests that this isn't true. And the stigma against prescribing painkillers is hurting patients who need relief.
This Bacteria Can Make People See "Christ's Blood" in Communion Wafers @ io9
Serratia marcescens is a bacteria that has earned a bad reputation for infecting people in hospitals. It may deserve an even worse reputation. It might have made people believe, for hundreds of years, that the blood of Christ was miraculously appearing in communion wafers.
Deliver Us From Evil first trailer for Eric Bana horror @ SciFiNow - The World's Best Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Magazine
HBO Releases GAME OF THRONES April Episode Synopses, Hip Hop Playlist and More @ SciFi Mafia
Less than a month now separates us from Season 4 of Game of Thrones. If you don’t have time to rewatch Season 3 to prepare, HBO has very kindly provided us with a where-we-left-off synopsis below, followed by a lengthy list of returning cast members and a reminder of their roles, a list of several newbies and a quick word about who they play.
After all that come the somewhat spoilery synopses of April episodes. They’re pretty vague, but it may at least indicate who survives from episode to episode. I’m happy to report that there will be at least one Hodor sighting, but I’m not telling when; you’ll have to look for yourself.
Following that press release, check out the TV spot and press release for the free downloadable hip hop and reggaeton 10-song mixtape inspired by Game of Thrones, entitled Catch the Throne. Because why not?
EMMY®- AND GOLDEN GLOBE-WINNING HBO SERIES
GAME OF THRONES RETURNS FOR FOURTH SEASON APRIL 6Encouraged by the Red Wedding slaughter in the Riverlands that wiped out many of their Stark nemeses, the Lannisters’ hold on the Iron Throne remains intact…but can they survive their own egos, as well as new and ongoing threats from the south, north and east? While an unbowed Stannis Baratheon continues to rebuild his army in Dragonstone, a more immediate danger comes from the south, as Oberyn Martell, the Lannister-loathing “Red Viper of Dorne,” arrives at King’s Landing to attend Joffrey’s wedding to Margaery Tyrell, and perhaps act on an ulterior agenda. In the north, a depleted Night’s Watch seems overmatched against the inexorable Wall advances of Mance Rayder’s army of wildlings, which in turn is being trailed by an even more formidable foe: the undead White Walkers. As if that weren’t enough, Daenerys Targaryen, accompanied by her menacing trio of dragons and army of Unsullied, is poised to liberate Meereen, the largest city in Slaver’s Bay, which could ultimately provide her with enough ships to sail to Westeros and reclaim the Iron Throne.
The Emmy®- and Golden Globe-winning GAME OF THRONES returns for its ten-episode fourth season SUNDAY, APRIL 6 (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO, followed by other episodes on subsequent Sundays at the same time. Based on the bestselling fantasy book series by George R.R. Martin, the hit series is an epic story of treachery and nobility set on the continent of Westeros, where summers and winters can last years, and only the lust for power is eternal.
Returning series regulars on GAME OF THRONES this season include: Emmy® and Golden Globe winner Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister), Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister), Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister), Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen), Charles Dance (Tywin Lannister), Aidan Gillen (Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish), Jack Gleeson (Joffrey Baratheon), Kit Harington (Jon Snow), Diana Rigg (Lady Olenna Tyrell), Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark), Maisie Williams (Arya Stark) and Isaac Hempstead Wright (Bran Stark).
Additional returning series regulars this season include: Alfie Allen (Theon Greyjoy), Jerome Flynn (Bronn), Conleth Hill (Varys), John Bradley (Samwell Tarly), Gwendoline Christie (Brienne of Tarth), Liam Cunningham (Davos Seaworth), Stephen Dillane (Stannis Baratheon), Natalie Dormer (Margaery Tyrell), Iain Glen (Jorah Mormont), Kristofer Hivju (Tormund Giantsbane), Sibel Kekilli (Shae), Rose Leslie (Ygritte), Rory McCann (Sandor “The Hound” Clegane), Michael McElhatton (Roose Bolton), Iwan Rheon (Ramsay Snow) and Carice van Houten (Melisandre).Returning cast members include: Jacob Anderson (Grey Worm), Thomas Brodie-Sangster (Jojen Reed), Nathalie Emmanuel (Missandei), Ciaran Hinds (Mance Rayder), Finn Jones (Loras Tyrell), Ellie Kendrick (Meera Reed), Kristian Nairn (Hodor) and Gemma Whelan (Yara Greyjoy).
New cast members for the fourth season include: Pedro Pascal (Oberyn Martell), Indira Varma (Ellaria Sand, Oberyn’s paramour), Roger Ashton-Griffiths (Lord Mace Tyrell), Michiel Huisman (Daario Naharis, a mercenary ally to Daenerys), Yuri Kolokolnikov (Styr, a wildlings chief) and Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson (Ser Gregor Clegane, a.k.a. “The Mountain”).
April’s episodes:
Episode #31: “Two Swords”
Debut: SUNDAY, APRIL 6 (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET/PT)
Other HBO playdates: April 6 (11:00 p.m., 1:00 a.m.), 7 (11:00 p.m.), 8 (9:00 p.m., 11:00 p.m.), 9 (12:30 a.m.), 10 (10:00 p.m.), 11 (9:00 p.m.), 12 (10:15 p.m.) and 18 (8:00 p.m.)
HBO2 playdates: April 7 (9:00 p.m.), 11 (4:00 a.m.) and 13 (4:15 p.m., 8:00 p.m.)
Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) welcomes a guest to King’s Landing. At Castle Black, Jon Snow (Kit Harington) finds himself unwelcome. Dany (Emilia Clarke) is pointed to Meereen, the mother of all slave cities. Arya (Maisie Williams) runs into an old friend.
Written by David Benioff & D. B. Weiss; directed by D. B. Weiss.Episode #32: “The Lion and the Rose”
Debut: SUNDAY, APRIL 13 (9:00-10:00 p.m.)
Other HBO playdates: April 13 (11:00 p.m., 1:00 a.m.), 14 (11:30 p.m.), 15 (9:00 p.m., 11:00 p.m.), 16 (12:15 a.m.), 17 (10:00 p.m.), 18 (9:00 p.m.), 19 (12:45 a.m.) and 25 (8:00 p.m.)
HBO2 playdates: April 14 (9:00 p.m.), 18 (3:30 a.m.) and 20 (4:45 p.m., 8:00 p.m.)
Tyrion lends Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) a hand. Joffrey (Jack Gleeson) and Margaery (Natalie Dormer) host a breakfast. At Dragonstone, Stannis (Stephen Dillane) loses patience with Davos (Liam Cunningham). Ramsay (Iwan Rheon) finds a purpose for his pet. North of the Wall, Bran (Isaac Hempstead Wright) sees where they must go.
Written by George R.R. Martin; directed by Alex Graves.Episode #33: “Breaker of Chains”
Debut: SUNDAY, APRIL 20 (9:00-10:00 p.m.)
Other HBO playdates: April 20 (11:00 p.m., 1:00 a.m.), 21 (midnight), 22 (8:00 p.m., 11:00 p.m.), 23 (midnight), 24 (10:00 p.m.), 25 (9:00 p.m.) and 26 (12:45 a.m.)
HBO2 playdates: April 21 (9:00 p.m.), 25 (3:30 a.m.) and 27 (3:30 p.m., 8:00 p.m.)
Tyrion ponders his options. Tywin (Charles Dance) extends an olive branch. Sam (John Bradley) realizes Castle Black isn’t safe, and Jon proposes a bold plan. The Hound (Rory McCann) teaches Arya the way things are. Dany chooses her champion.
Written by David Benioff & D. B. Weiss; directed by Alex Graves.Episode #34: “Oathkeeper”
Debut: SUNDAY, APRIL 27 (9:00-10:00 p.m.)
Other HBO playdates: April 27 (11:30 p.m., 2:00 a.m.), 28 (10:30 p.m.), 29 (9:00 p.m., 11:00 p.m.) and 30 (12:30 a.m.)
HBO2 playdate: April 28 (9:00 p.m.)
Dany balances justice and mercy. Jaime tasks Brienne (Gwendoline Christie) with his honor. Jon secures volunteers while Bran, Jojen (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), Meera (Ellie Kendrick) and Hodor (Kristian Nairn) stumble on shelter.
Written by Bryan Cogman; directed by Michelle MacLaren.Among the critical praise for the third season, the Hollywood Reporter called GAME OF THRONES “addictive and outstanding,” while Newsday termed the series “superb,” awarding the show an A+. The Chicago Tribune hailed the show as “spellbinding” and the Washington Post described it as “masterful.”
In Sept. 2013, GAME OF THRONES received two Emmys®, including Outstanding Makeup for a Single-Camera Series (Non-Prosthetic) and Outstanding Special Visual Effects.
In Sept. 2012, the show received six Emmys®, tied for the most of any program, including Outstanding Art Direction for a Single-Camera Series (tied with HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire”), Outstanding Costumes for a Series, Outstanding Makeup for a Single-Camera Series (Non-Prosthetic), Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series, Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (One Hour) and Outstanding Special Visual Effects.
In Sept. 2011, the show received two Emmys®, for Outstanding Main Title Design and Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for Peter Dinklage, who also received a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television.
The executive producers of GAME OF THRONES are David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, Carolyn Strauss, Frank Doelger and Bernadette Caulfield; co-executive producers, Guymon Casady, Vince Gerardis and George R.R. Martin; producers, Chris Newman and Greg Spence.
Here’s the mixtape info; the link that’s included in the press release is now live:
TV Spot: Game of Thrones – Season 4 Mixtape Preview
HBO LAUNCHES “GAME OF THRONES” MIXTAPE
Catch the Throne: The Mixtape Features Tracks from Wale, Big Boi, Common and Daddy Yankee
New York, NY (March 5, 2014) — HBO has teamed up with some of the music industry’s top artists to produce the first “Game of Thrones” mixtape, entitled Catch The Throne: The Mixtape. Today, the premium cable network announced plans to release the mixtape in preparation for the April 6th season 4 debut of the Emmy®-and Golden Globe-winning series “Game of Thrones.” Catch The Throne: The Mixtape includes exclusive tracks from Wale, Big Boi, Common and Daddy Yankee, in addition to songs from up-and-coming artists Snow Tha Product, Bodega Bamz, Magazeen and more.
The hip-hop and reggaeton, 10-song mixtape is inspired by “Game of Thrones” themes and storylines from seasons 1-3. Each song on the mixtape samples music from the original “Game of Thrones” soundtrack. As superfans of the acclaimed series, the artists created songs that encourage and inspire listeners who may not have been immersed in the storylines to catch up on previous seasons of “Game of Thrones” using HBOGO.
“We are excited to create an additional fan touch point with Catch The Throne: The Mixtape,” says Lucinda Martinez, SVP of Multicultural Marketing at HBO. “This is a unique opportunity to give fans great original music and an innovative way to highlight the electrifying ‘Game of Thrones’ series.”
The release of Catch The Throne: The Mixtape will kick off during an event celebrating “Game of Thrones: The Exhibition” at the upcoming SXSW festival on Friday, March 7, 2014. The “Game of Thrones” exhibition will run from March 7-11 in Austin, TX and will include listening stations featuring Catch The Throne: The Mixtape.
Produced by Launch Point Records, the mixtape features series-inspired hot tracks, including the theme song by Wale; Season 1 by Big Boi, Bodega Bamz and Magazeen; Season 2 by Daddy Yankee, Kilo Kish and Dominik Omega; and Season 3 by Common, Snow Tha Product and Dee Goodz. The free Catch The Throne: The Mixtape will be available for download at www.soundcloud.com/catchthethrone beginning on March 7, 2014. Listeners are encouraged to share using the hashtag #CatchTheThrone.
Based on the bestselling fantasy book series by George R.R. Martin, “Game of Thrones” is an epic story of treachery and nobility set on the continent of Westeros, where summers and winters can last years, and only the lust for power is eternal.
Viewers should check their local listing to access the HBOGO channel. For more on the series, visit: facebook.com/GameOfThrones and twitter.com @GameOfThrones #GameOfThrones.
About HBO:
Home Box Office, Inc. is the premium television programming subsidiary of Time Warner Inc. and the world’s most successful pay TV service, providing the two television services – HBO® and Cinemax® – to approximately 127 million subscribers worldwide. The services offer the most popular subscription video-on-demand products, HBO On Demand® and Cinemax On Demand® as well as HBO GO® and MAX GO®, HD feeds and multiplex channels. Internationally, HBO branded television networks, along with the subscription video-on-demand products HBO On Demand and HBO GO, bring HBO services to over 70 countries. HBO and Cinemax programming is sold into over 150 countries worldwide.
Game of Thrones Season 4, starring Peter Dinklage, Emilia Clarke, Lena Headey, Kit Harington, Jack Gleeson, Natalie Dormer, Gwendoline Christie,Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Charles Dance, Richard McCann, Sophie Turner, and Maisie Williams, premieres Sunday, April 6 at 9/8c on HBO.
Star Wars: Clone Wars director teases the series finale, odds of a revival @ Blastr
Though the series wasn’t cut quite as short as we thought it would be, Star Wars: Clone Wars is still coming to an end this week with the release of the “Lost Missions” on Netflix. So, what should we expect?
Supervising director Dave Filoni, one of the key minds behind the Emmy-winning animated series, sat down with Entertainment Weekly to talk about the series as fans prepare to say goodbye. First up, Filoni confirmed that Clone Wars doesn’t have a proper series finale in the traditional sense — though he feels the 13-episode “Lost Missions” run is a comfortable place to end the show, thematically:
“One of the reasons I was okay with us ending when we did and production shifting from Clone Wars to Rebels is I liked the idea of having this Yoda arc available to us because I felt like this was a great place to have an ending if it’s going to end. There’s been so many threads throughout the five seasons, if you were to try and wrap them all up each one would be its own big episode. Here we have two story acts within this the 13 that have a strong connection to the franchise, they’re very important to understanding the overall saga. They’re [creator George Lucas'] last statement about Yoda and The Force and how things fit together. If you’re a die-hard fan, they’re absolutely must-watch story content. As I think fans realized, this wasn’t just fun storytelling in the Star Wars universe. These were very much George Lucas’ stories and he felt they were as important as his other work.”
So, if they didn’t get a chance to end the story they’d set out to tell, could that mean we’ll get more Clone Wars in the future? Maybe, at least according to Filoni, though that could take a lot of potential forms (see: the upcoming four-part Clone Wars comic run). Despite all the attention shifting over to the new series Rebels, Filoni sounds like he is still passionate about Clone Wars, and we hope he’ll get a chance to keep telling those stories:
“I always think of Yoda in these moments — the future is always in motion. Projects you think are no-brainers stall, and other things see the light of day. You never count anything out. I know the stories that are untold. I think they’re great. I’d love to see them told in some medium, some how. I’ve become a protector of those stories. [Lucasfilm president] Kathleen Kennedy understands the value of the stories we were going to tell. I’m sure we’ll find a way to find root for them in some manner in the future. I hope to be around for a long time.”
The full run of Clone Wars, including the “Lost Missions,” arrive on Netflix today. Will you be watching?
(Via Entertainment Weekly)
Here's the entire Game of Thrones rap album for your listening pleasure @ io9
Yep, Catch the Throne is pretty good. But it turns out I'm a sucker for songs with "Fuck the Lannisters" in the lyrics.
The Strain first look at Guillermo Del Toro’s cast @ SciFiNow - The World's Best Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Magazine
Zero Hour And Other Stories graphic novel review @ SciFiNow - The World's Best Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Magazine
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