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Hailing Frequencies #352
2.22.07
HELLO
And here's the three hundred and fifty-second edition of "Hailing Frequencies."
If you want to be notified when this newsletter is updated, email me to be put on my "notification" list.
Went to a lot of parades this Mardi Gras (well, actually, a lot of them just come right by my house), and my favorite this year was Orpheus.
Argh! I just caught my TiVo taping The View! Bad TiVo! Bad TiVo!
NEW AT THE SITE THIS WEEK
The guys over at Rinkworks.com have done the fantasy world a favor by offering us their Fantasy Novel Exam, and they've done me a favor by granting me permission to write up my own Sci-Fi Novel Exam.
Fantasy
Book Recommendation: Storm Front (The Dresden Files, Book 1)
AQUA TEEN HUNGER FORCE
Check out these clips for the upcoming Aqua Teen Hunger Force movie.
BATMAN
If the deal works out, Aaron Eckhart will play Harvey Dent/Two-Face in the sequel to Batman Begins, The Dark Knight. The cast also includes Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne, Heath Ledger as the Joker, Michael Caine as Alfred, Gary Oldman as Lt. James Gordon, and Morgan Freeman as Lucuis Fox.
There's also an unconfirmed report that Maggie Gyllenhaal will be the new love interest.
CHILDREN OF MEN
Emmanuel Lubezki took top feature film honors for Children of Men at the 21st annual American Society of Cinematographers' Outstanding Achievement Awards on February 18. Way to go!
THE DAY THE EARTH STOOL STILL
I'm afraid it's true. Fox is going ahead with plans to remake yet another classic that shouldn't be remade, this time The Day the Earth Stood Still. Look for it May 9, 2008, with Michael Rennie as Klatu, the alien who comes to Earth with a message for mankind and a really scary robot name Gort. Robert Wise is directing.
HARRY POTTER
This week's Entertainment Weekly has an article on the end of the Harry Potter publishing era. A scan and transcript of the article are at LeakyCauldron.
New York Post reports the rumor that Equus may be going to Broadway with cast members Dan Radcliffe and Richard Griffiths.
When asked about directing the last of the Harry Potter movies, Alfonso Cuaron said he hadn't been approached by the studio regarding it, but would like to do it if asked. And speaking of Potter, you should really treat yourself the Harry Potter chess set, because nothing makes an intense round of chess better than annoying sound effects and glowing lights.
ComingSoon reports that Stuart Craig (designer of all the previous HP films) is cranking up for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince:
Harry
Potter and the Deathly Hallows flies to shelves July 21.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix opens July 13.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has a tentative opening
date of November 21, 2008.
Knitters! Check it out!
HEROES
NBC's Heroes rated an 8.2/12 Monday, Feb 19. Be sure to tune in for next week's episode, which will feature some backstory for Mr. Bennet.
INDY 4
Rottentomatoes.com passes on the totally unsupported rumor that Shia LaBeouf may play Indiana Jones' son (I'm sure the mother will be dead or otherwise unimportant) in Indy 4.
LORD OF THE RINGS
New Line Cinema plans to have The Hobbit in theatres for 2009, but there's no word about whether Peter Jackson will direct it (in fact, it seems unlikely, given the bad blood between Jackson and Bob Shaye), nor who will star.
LOST
Lost continues to sink in the ratings with its weakest showing yet Feb 14 with 12.8 million viewers. Now, this is still pretty good, and certainly better than other shows ABC's tried in that timeslot, but it's far from the series' high of 20 million. (It also makes me wonder if the Lost Guide over at About is going to be getting my old job. We'll have to see!)
MUMMY
IGN FilmForce reports that the script for The Mummy 3: Curse of the Dragon centers around the O'Connells fighting a big bad known as "the Emperor." Casting is underway for Alex O'Connell, son of Rick & Evelyn, who is in his twenties now. Jonathan, Evy's brother, will be returning, and rumor has it that Jet Li will be playing the Mummy
NARNIA
The second
video game movie in the series, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince
Caspian has begun principal photography in Auckland. Andrew Adamson
is directing, and Shane Rangi's people have confirmed that the actor will
return as Asterius in The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.
The four lead kids are returning, as are Liam Neeson as the voice of Aslan,
Ben Barnes as Caspian, Warwick Davis as Nikabrik the Dwarf, and Peter
Dinklage as Trumpkin the Dwarf. Read more here.
PIRATES
A number of unconfirmed spoilers are out there for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. Highlight to read a short summary: Beckett and his heart want Davy Jones' ship and crew to wipe out the last of the pirates of the Caribbean. Will, Barbossa, and Ms. Swann try to rescue Jack from the netherworld. The adventure continues in the Far East with Pirate Lord Sao Feng.
With the incredible success of the Pirates movies, Disney is moving ahead with long-considered plans to make a live-action movie out of its popular ride, Jungle Cruise. Al Gough and Miles Millar are rumored to be working on a spec script. Ah, I can see Matt Damon now, standing on the prow of the boat in his little pith helmet, telling his passengers that the hippos are only dangerous if they're blowing bubbles and wiggling their ears.
REAPER
Kevin Smith is going to direct the pilot episode of Reaper for CW, the adventure of Satan's bounty-hunter who returns escapees to hell. Subsequent episodes will be directed by James Frawley, Josh and Jonah Pate, Rod Lurie, and Mark Piznarski. You know, I'm thinking the show might be just a little dark.
evay points out that FOX already did "Reaper," but it was called "Brimstone."
SATURN AWARDS
Seriously, guys. This is why no one ever really cares about the Saturn Awards. The "best" categories need to be reserved for truly outstanding films, even if it means you don't get that many. This year, the only stand-out sci-fi movie on the list for Best Sci-Fi Film is Children of Men. This others -- Déjà vu, The Fountain, The Prestige, V For Vendetta, and X-Men: The Last Stand -- were either just okay or actually quite bad. And as for best fantasy films? We get an enjoyable sequel, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, entertaining kiddie movies Charlotte's Web and Night at the Museum, the horrid Eragon (are you kidding me?), the dull flop Stranger Than Fiction, and the laughably bad Superman Returns. Sorry, people, but no.
STAR WARS
AHAHAHAHA! (thanks, evay)
Lucas Arts says its latest video game, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, will hit shelves in November. Players take on the role of Darth Vader's "secret apprentice," and I'm guessing they don't spend a lot of time chopping wood and/or hauling water. The timeline is between Episodes III & IV
STARGATE ATLANTIS
Okay, I'm
going to admit it -- this is currently my favorite show. So I'm pretty
much having kittens that Stargate
Atlantis - The Complete Second Season
And I think we're all wondering who will come over from Stargate SG-1 to Atlantis, and the first one is...Amanda Tapping. She'll appear in 14 of Atlantis's 20 episodes for season four, which starts shooting in March. I wonder if McKay's going to be all over her, or if they'll finally make some sort of peace with each other. The season will also introduce "a powerful new race" and other new cast members. Jewel Staite will continue as Dr. Keller -- which is too much of a spoiler to explain if you haven't seen the final episodes of season three yet. Those final episodes of Stargate SG-1 and Atlantis' current seasons will start up April 13.
And don't be too worried about Beau Bridges now that Stargate SG-1's been canceled. The versatile actor is the latest recruit for Fox's Two Families from HIP and 20th Century Fox TV. I wish I liked the premise better, though. He's a bigamist with two, well, families. Ha ha, I'm sure.
Keeping to the Stargate theme, Gateworld brings word that Claudia Black will guest star as Liz Fontaine in The Dresden Files episode, ""The Other Dick," which has completed filming and will air on Sunday, March 25 at 9 PM. Oh, and while you're at Gateworld, check out their new Season Four Episode Guide for Atlantis.
TRANSFORMERS
The movie's on schedule for a July 4 premiere, and Producer Don Murphy told SCI FI Wire that the film deals with several storylines from the comic, TV and toy franchises.
"The real balance was that ... if you just wanted robots smashing robots, then that's [computer animation] or that's 2-D [animation]. And what we were always trying to do was a live-action movie"....Transformers will offer background about the origin of the war between the Autobots and Decepticons. The plot will be set in motion when 18-year-old Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) discovers his grandfather's pair of century-old glasses, improbably laser-etched with a map and information about the location of a key artifact, the "Energon" cube, which he then tries to sell on eBay. The movie will follow five separate storylines, which will all converge with a final battle between the Autobots and Decepticons, starting at Hoover Dam and ending in an American city that looks a lot like Los Angeles.
The film deals exclusively with generation-one Transformers.
MISC...Here's a fun new site, Fantasy Realm Creations, with Fantasy art specializing in dragons, unicorns, centaurs, fairies, and other magical creatures...Andy Vajna (The Terminator) will produce a CGI movie based on Richard Bach's Jonathan Livingston Seagull, according to Variety...IGN has an extremely positive review of 300 up. The film premieres in the US March 6th...CBS's Ghost Whisperer scored an impressive 7.6/13 on Friday, Feb 16...IGN has a positive review of Bridge to Terabithia, which also scored an 86% over at RottenTomatoes...David Boreanaz' (Angel) current series on Fox, Bones, has been renewed based on a ratings average of 8.8 million with 3.1/8 in the key demo. Nice job...Zooey Deschanel has the lead in SCI FI's take on The Wizard of Oz, Tin Man. Production is scheduled to begin in March in Vancouver for an airdate in December...Warner Bros.' Pushing Daisies, about a guy (Lee Pace) who can revive dead people, has cast Chi McBride as his detective partner...Scott Gramling is the new editor-in-chief of Wizard Entertainment...Already Dead, Charlie Huston's first in a series of vampire novels, has been optioned by Phoenix Pictures and Mike De Luca Productions and is being adapted for the screen by Scott Rosenberg (Con Air)...Dan Aykroyd is pitching Ghostbusters III to Warner Bros...
SOUNDS LIKE SCI-FI BUT ISN'T NEWS
NASA is investigating the use of a protein found in human ear-hair as a means of powering space suits. I'm not kidding. Anyone else reminded of the Fremen?
TOP MOVIES FROM THE NUMBERS
1 Ghost
Rider, Sony Pictures $54,658,066
2 Bridge to Terabithia, Buena Vista , $30,048,884
3 Norbit, Paramount Pictures $63,092,521
4 Music and Lyrics, Warner Bros. $22,387,439
5 Breach, Universal $12,991,960
6 Daddy's Little Girls, Lionsgate $19,373,986
7 Hannibal Rising, Weinstein Co. $23,360,338
8 Because I Said So, Universal Comedy $34,740,640
9 Night at the Museum, 20th Century Fox $238,837,286
10 The Messengers, Sony Pictures $31,317,044
TOP BOOKS SCI-FI/FANTASY @ Amazon, 2/22/07
1. 300
2. Eldest
(Inheritance, Book 2)
3. Deep
Storm: A Novel
4. The
Time Traveler's Wife
5. Blood
Bound (Mercy Thompson Series, Book 2)
6. Next
7. The
Dream-Hunter, by Sherrilyn Kenyon
8. Storm
Front (The Dresden Files, Book 1)
9. Allegiance
(Star Wars)
10. Fool
Moon (The Dresden Files, Book 2)
TOP DVDs SCI-FI/FANTASY @ Amazon, 2/15/07
1. Peter
Pan (Two-Disc Platinum Edition)
2. Firefly
- The Complete Series
3. Stargate
Atlantis - The Complete Second Season
4. Night
of the Comet
5. Charmed
- The Complete Seventh Season
6. Lost
- The Complete Second Season
7. The
Little Mermaid (Two-Disc Special Edition)
8. Pirates
of the Caribbean - Dead Man's Chest (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)
9. Voyage
to the Bottom of Sea - Season 2, Volume 2
10. Cinderella
(Two-Disc Special Edition)
TOP SCI-FI/FANTASY SYNDICATED SHOWS - Nielsen Galaxy Report, 1/29/07 - 2/4/07
Alias 2.1
Smallville 1.8
Star Trek 1.4
Stargate Atlantis 1.3
Stargate SG-1 1.3
Farscape 0.6
The Outer Limits 0.5
INSANE TREK TRIVIA
This Week's Question: What Star Trek character really should beware friendly dogs who turn into mini-twisters?
Send your answer to julia.houston@gmail.com. All correctly answering trivia maniacs will have their names mentioned in the next letter. 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: What Borg-oriented mistake did Hugh make in his first appearance on TNG?
Answer: He calls himself "I."
First winner
Lou
Lou wants to know if anyone out there has the Star Trek TOS third season bloopers tape, preferably on DVD for sale.
Second winner
Neil
Third winner
Patty
CAPTION CONTEST
Send in your best caption for the picture below. The best (as in, my favorite) entry will appear in next week's issue.
[Insert caption here.]
THIS WEEK'S WINNER:
"Hm. Time for some Head on Shoulders shampoo." - BTCHONWHLS
"LETTERS TO THE EDITOR"
Last week's topic: Which is better, Heroes or Lost?
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no replies
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[on another topic]
I'm still giggling over the SciFi novel exam which caused me to look for some of your other archived stuff and I gotta ask- just what happened to cause those silly people to take your photo off your old about.com material?
Of course, just 'cause I gotta ask doesn't mean you gotta answer- but then, I'd just speculate and come up with some unlikely scenario suitable for a SciFi novel the plot of which would involve many ideas on the list.(Thanks for the helpful suggestions!)
Maybe some alien named Apply Here X (sort of like Ford Prefect but grayer , less talkative as he had no working mouth and way less helpful) emerged from a hidden hatch in the surface at the Moon Colony Nofacia humming the ancient Earth song about the year 2525, (because indeed it is that year) with his pet slarg (which really looks like my missing cat, Pumpkin, so now we know that aliens abducted her and brought her back to life for nefarious purposes* ; I think the extra toes she had appealed to them- made her look like she might evolve into something with opposable thumbs).
Apply was thirsty and badly needed something blue to drink. Or at least something green - really, anything in a asymmetrically shaped container or square test tube would do. Alas, all he could find was a slow food stand which carried cylindrical meat-like objects made from pig snouts wrapped in tasteless white oblong sponges called Notdogs.
In ancient times before cataclysmic global warming, these items were called Hot dogs, but any term reminding the Hierarchy of warmth had long been banned on Earth and all its colonies, even the ones with temperatures below 500 Kelvin. The tipping point in The Great Word Ban (which allowed any word no matter how vulgar,blasphemous, denigrating, or insulting unless it pertained to temperature) came after excessive heat had caused plants to mutate and evolve into carnivores which had wiped out a whole contingent of Delegates from the World Senate while they were on a junket to examine what remained of Louisiana (not much). There were unsubstantiated rumors that Alligator -like men were cultivating these carnivorous plants to use as weapons in case there came another Ice War.
Apply was really thirsty. "Just one more side effect of time travel," he muttered to himself. "I should have stayed in 2007, but there weren't any songs about that year." The slarg rolled her eyes. She sometimes wished the universal translator had never been invented because understanding humanoid languages was really annoyingly time consuming. All the eye rolling tired her, especially since Apply had not noticed (of course, he had no eyes, so that was to be expected) so she went to sleep in slarg-like fashion with one eye half -open, curled up at the feet of Apply as he leaned against the Notdog hut. Little did they know what was about to emerge from another hidden hatch not far behind them...
[*Spoiler- despite their superior intelligence, technology and fire power, the aliens are ultimately defeated by the hairballs produced by the slarg who learns from Pumpkin's sublimated consciousness that humans are friends, not food and overcomes the alien programing to save humanity]
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Next week's topic: One of the reasons I'm not at my old site anymore is that I really couldn't get a handle on doing sci-fi and fantasy for "general audiences." What do you guys think? Are the genres insular by nature?
Send me something if you've got something to say. It can be about anything that's on your mind!
HAILING FREQUENCIES CLOSED
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