Hailing Frequencies Issue #323

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I won't be doing a newsletter next week, because, like, it's Christmas and stuff. But I plan to be back next year! (Yes, I said this last week, but I meant this week.) You'll also notice the news is a little scarce this week because of the holidays.

JANUARY 6
Stargate SG-1 - "The Fourth Horseman, Part 2"
Stargate Atlantis - "The Hive"
Battlestar Galactica - "Resurrection Ship, Part 1"

JANUARY 13
Stargate SG-1 - "Collateral Damage"
Stargate Atlantis - "Epiphany"
Battlestar Galactica - "Resurrection Ship, Part 2"

JANUARY 20
Stargate SG-1 - "Ripple Effect"
Stargate Atlantis - "Critical Mass"
Battlestar Galactica - "Epiphanies"

JANUARY 27
Stargate SG-1 - "Stronghold"
Stargate Atlantis - "Grace Under Pressure"
Battlestar Galactica - "Black Market"

GameSpot says Midway and Epic are developing Unreal Tournament 2007, the sequel to PC first-person shooter Unreal Tournament 2004, for Sony's PlayStation 3 console system, which my nieces will want the second it comes out, sometime in Spring 2006.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is in preproduction and should go before cameras February 2006.

The BBC reports Goblet of Fire is the number one film at the UK box office for 2005.

After giving studio execs a minor heart infarction with a "slow" start, the big ape scored $50.1 million domestic over the weekend, Variety reported, making the domestic total $66.1 million, and the worldwide gross $146 million. That's a lot of bananas.

Meanwhile, the 11th annual Critics' Choice Awards of the Broadcast Film Critics Association on January 9 will award Kong himself with the Distinguished Achievement in Performing Arts Award to recognize "the singular achievement in creating this character, representing a revolutionary leap forward in synthesizing visual effects with an actor's performance." Gollum is said to be really, really pissed.

The San Diego Film Critics' pick for Best Picture goes to...Peter Jackson's King Kong.

Ubisoft's Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie videogame spoiler (highlight to read): has an alternate ending in which which players can save Kong and "find" him back on Skull Island, if they earn a total of 250,000 points.

E! Online's Watch With Kristin brings us the rumor that Jolene Blalock (T'Pol) will show up on Lost as part of Sawyer's flashbacking. We also hear that the "monster" will be roaring and shaking the trees again soon, too.

Ron Moore has a new two-year development deal with NBC, heavy on the sci-fi. This is in addition to current projects Pen and the Sword (modern guys through medieval portal), Warehouse 13 (X-Files-like), Battlestar Galactica (sci-fi), and answering emails from Trekkers about whether his movie would have Q in it.

Title: Conan III
Origin: The Robert E. Howard books and the two first Conan movies with Arnold.
Studio: Warner Brothers
Premise: Warrior with big muscles who isn't played by Arnold this time.
Production: 2006

Title: White Noise 2: The Light
Origin: Sequel with Michael Keaton
Director: Patrick Lussier
Scriptwriter: Matt Venne
Producer Brightlight Pictures and Gold Circle Films
Studio: Rogue Pictures (Universal)
Premise: Voices from beyond talk once more.
Production date: early 2006

Title: The Alchemist
Origin: Paulo Coelho's novel
Writer/Director/Star: Laurence Fishburne
Studio: Cinema Gypsy Productions
Premise: Would-be priest/shepherd finds treasure in Egypt
Production Date: Unknown

SCI FI Wire has a preview of an extended scene from the upcoming Serenity DVD, which also has commentary from Joss Whedon, and outtakes, featurettes, and more goodies. It's out on the 20th and on my Christmas list!

Frank Miller, who co-directed Sin City with Robert Rodriguez, told Empire Online that Sin City 2 going to be the second in a series of five films

It's official. Star Trek: The Animated Series will come out on DVD in late 2006. All 28 episodes will be included in the box set.

Brannon Braga told iFMagazine some of his plans for the now-canceled Threshold, particularly regarding the morally gray things" that the protagonists would have to do to save the world. The result would have been "a staggering emotional journey." Braga added that "There are romantic tensions between Molly [Caffrey] and Cavennaugh for sure. There is an inherent attraction there. There is also something going on with Ramsey...Ramsey is obviously into Molly."

One of the following news items is false. Can you spot it? (For the answer, highlight below.)

Reveal the fake (highlight): Dreamworks and Pixar are joining up to make Rudolph in New York, a live-action/CGI feature about a young boy whose nose lights up in the dark. (thank goodness)

This Week's Question: Who once scolded Picard for drinking Earl Grey late at night?

Send your answer to scifi@about.com. All correctly answering trivia maniacs will have their names mentioned in the next newsletter. The first winner gets to make a request, anything they like -- within reason -- for the next "Hailing Frequencies" Issue. Please let me know if you don't want me to post your email address if you win.

Last Week's Question: On which series and in which episode do we first see Harry Kim playing kalto?

Send in your best caption for the picture below. The best (as in, my favorite) entry will appear in next week's issue.

Honorable Mentions..

"I will NOT be out-buffed by Adrien Brody! Roaraghhh!" - perryder

"Another Saturday night and I ain't got nobody." - Elaine Howard

"Leggo, my Eggo!" - Bob

"When Kong said he’d give her a night on the town, he meant it." - Raymond

"I'm not going to pay a lot for this muffler!" - Susan

“Boy,” the giant ape retorted. “My girlfriend is a real handful, let me tell you…” - Raymond

“…The Bronx is up and the Battery’s down….” - Raymond

Caption: "Don't worry, Sarge. We covered her in croutons before Kong picked her up."
"Why is that going to help, Detective?"
"Kong's on Atkins. He'll never eat her now with all those carbs she's wearing." - evay

"When Dad doesn't like his Christmas present..." - BTCHONWHLS

"Kong, once again, cursed the toy manufacturers. The action figurine did not fit in the 1/1000th scale cityscape he’d ordered." - Raymond

“Get your paws off me, you damn dirty ape!” - Raymond

"Apparently, Manhattan Island property is now worth less than Skull Island property…hmmm” - Raymond

“I give it six months, tops.” – Quote from the bride’s mother - Raymond

"LETTERS TO THE EDITOR"

I was wary of seeing the film as even though the trailer looked OK, there wasn't anything in it which made me in any rush to see it. Gut instinct proved right for me. Its a fairly good film in a lot of ways. Some of the special effects, particularly the lifelike animals are excellent. But for all the good effects, they suffered from the old problem of making them blend in to the real background. While full of detail, they were still very obviously superficial and that starts to bug you after a while. The killer for me though was that I had a feeling that I'd seen most of this film before. That's because its only 17 years since the BBC did it as a mini-series and while that obviously contained sfx that can't match the best of today, it was a very credible production and had recreated the feel of the book very well. So it comes down to did it really need remade at all?? I'm thinking that it probably didn't. The film makers also have a problem with turning the remaining books into films as I read they plan to. Basically, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe is not the first book in the series. While the other books follow on fairly well from it, The Magician's Nephew is a prequel and won't stand well on its own when made in retrospect.

mad mac

Send me something if you've got something to say. It can be about anything that's on your mind! (Please let me know if you don't want your email address to accompany your name in either contest or for the LTE.)

1 The Chronicles of Narnia.........$127,654,000
2 King Kong..............................$81,935,050
3 Fun With Dick And Jane.............$3,761,129
4 Cheaper by the Dozen 2.............$2,549,891
5 The Family Stone....................$17,506,626
6 Harry Potter & Goblet of Fire....$255,492,998
7 Syriana..................................$24,768,484
8 Walk the Line..........................$84,135,752
9 Pride and Prejudice...................$30,248,000
10 Yours, Mine and Ours..............$46,662,575

1. Lost 12.3
2. Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer 8.6 (whee!)
3. Medium 8.3
4. Invasion 6.4
5. Surface 6.1
6. Ghost Whisperer 6.0
7. Santa Claus is Coming to Town 4.7
8. Medium 2.8
9. Happy Elf 3.5

1. Alias 2.4
2. Smallville 1.8
3. Stargate SG-1 1.8
4. Stargate Atlantis 1.8
5. Star Trek: Enterprise 1.4
6. The Twilight Zone 1.1
7. Farscape 1.1
8. The Outer Limits .9
9. Sabrina .7

1. Narnia box set
2. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
3. The Complete Calvin and Hobbes
4. The Chronicles of Narnia
5. Harry Potter paper box set
6. Wicked
7. The Da Vinci Code
8. The Penultimate Peril (Lemony Snicket 12)
9. Eldest (Inheritance 2)
10. The Historian

1. Star Wars: Episode III
2. Serenity
2. Madagascar
4. Lost season one
5. Firefly complete series
6. Mr. and Mrs. Smith
7. Fantastic Four
8. Cinderella platinum edition
9. Sin City
10. Star Wars: Clone Wars, volume two