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Hailing Frequencies #359
4.12.07
HELLO
And here's the three hundred and fifty-ninth edition of "Hailing Frequencies."
If you want to be notified when this newsletter is updated, email me to be put on my "notification" list.
Last week, I said something about how defragging one's computer actually helped. Well, that was a big fat lie! So sorry for the lack of updates this week, but now I have a new computer, and all should be well.
NEW AT THE SITE THIS WEEK
I have new recommendations at the Reading Cave.
ANGELS AND DEMONS
Here's some news that I think comes as a surprise to absolutely no one. Tom Hanks and Ron Howard are gearing up to do Angels & Demons, the sequel/prequel to The Da Vinci Code. Rumors have it Hanks will get a record-breaking salary for the gig. Akiva Goldsman is working on the adapted screenplay, which centers on Langdon and murders involving the Illuminati and the Vatican.
EUREKA
Season two premieres this July. For my take on this show, go here.
HARRY POTTER
Scholastic Inc. is laying down the law for US libraries about just who can touch the last of the Harry Potter books before July 21. Libraries must provide names and contact information for each branch manager, or face being excluded from future embargoed titles.
LeakyCauldron has some Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix video game images up.
Harry
Potter and the Deathly Hallows, all 784 pages, flies to shelves July
21.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix opens July 13. The soundtrack
to the film will be available July 1.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has a tentative opening
date of November 21, 2008.
Knitters! Check it out!
HEROES
NBC has posted some new, spoiler-y clips for Heroes episodes on MySpace.com and NBC.com.
Heroes returns for the rest of the season starting April 23.
INDY 4
George Lucas had an interview with USA Today this week about 64-year-old Harrison Ford doing Indiana one more time: "He's not running in any of the movies...He's either on a horse or driving a car or a motorcycle. And he'll play his age in this movie with what's appropriate. The chases are more suspenseful than speedy. Like the rolling ball in the first film: It's not that he's running that fast, it's that there's a giant ball coming at him. And he will get beat up, which is a tradition for us."
Lucas also said he's trying to get Sean Connery to come back as Jones Sr., and that Cate Blanchett's casting as the love interest was Steven Spielberg's choice.
MISC...
- SCI FI's Tin Man miniseries has cast Callum Keith Rennie to play Zero, the lead henchman for wicked sorceress Azkadellia (Kathleen Robertson).
- Marvel Studios' Iron Man has got quite the roster going, with Robert Downey Jr., Terrence Howard, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Leslie Bibb.
- Everybody seems all surprised that Grindhouse is doing that well in the box office. Hmmm. The exploding tongue blisters, perhaps?
- Don Coscarelli says they won't be doing a remake of Phantasm, but they might be doing a sequel.
- HBO Films and the BBC are producing A Number, based on Caryl Churchill's two-man play about cloning, starring Tom Wilkinson and Rhys Ifans.
- That Barabarella remake is looking more likely. sigh Other remakes in the works include Scanners and The Day the Earth Stood Still.
- AHAHAHAHAHA
- H.R. Giger's Alien suit captured $126,500, and Christopher Reeve's costume from Superman: The Movie snagged $115,000 in an auction of movie memorabilia in Calabasas Hills, Calif., on April 5.
- NBC has ordered six additional scripts for Medium.
- Eric Johnson has been cast in the lead for a new version of Flash Gordon on the SCI FI Channel. Production will begin next month, and it will premiere this August in the US.
- EW.com offers a quiz for knowing if you're a sci-fi geek.
- It's unlikely Joe Johnston, who directed Jurassic Park III, will repeat the effort for Jurassic Park IV for Steven Spielberg. In other news, there's going to be a Jurassic Park IV.
- IGN has a review of the Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film For Theaters soundtrack.
MUMMY 3
And the results are in! Brendan Fraser will be in The Mummy 3, but Rachel Weisz will not. The leading rumor for the actor to play Fraser's son is Alex Pettyfer.
Rob Cohen (The Fast and the Furious) is directing from a script by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar (Smallville).
PIRATES
Check out the trailer.
RANDOM DIALOG QUIZ
Can you name the movie? "Hey, I know where my dad keeps his gun."
Highlight to read the answer: The Sixth Sense
REAL SCIENCE
Today's the anniversary of Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin's first manned flight to orbit the Earth on April 12, 1961.
SAD NEWS UNSTUCK IN TIME
Kurt Vonnegut died in New York on April 10 at the age of 84 from complications due to brain injuries from a fall. He is survived by his wife, photographer Jill Krementz; their daughter; and his six other children.
SPIDER-MAN
Spider-Man 3 will be released in IMAX and regular theatres worldwide May 4.
STARGATES
Gateworld has some extremely good news about a character on SGA, but it's spoiler-filled, so only highlight the following if you already know about a certain "Sunday" afternoon later this season:
Dr. Carson Beckett...will be back next year, executive producer Joseph Mallozzi revealed to SaveCarsonBeckett.com this week...The death of the Scottish doctor launched a passionate response from fans, who even protested in the rain outside of the show's set (story). McGillion has signed to appear in a two-part story in the second half of Season Four. The writers are also working on a possible third episode for the doctor.
But wait ... is this a writer's trick? Will fans get to see a hologram, or alternate universe Beckett, or an alien impersonation? "When he returns for the two-parter, it will be Carson Beckett in the flesh," Mallozzi assured fans. "Late in Season Three, we discussed the manner in which the character had been written out and the possible ways in which he could be brought back. I threw out an idea that not only brought Carson back, but answered a very big question I had concerning a late-season arc.
"In order to lay the groundwork for his possible return, we threaded a subtle hint into one of the late Season Three episodes. So, if fans want to know how we plan on bringing the good doctor back from the dead, they should seek out the hidden clue when the back half of Season Three returns to SCI FI this Friday, April 13th."
The return appearance will also leave open the door for Beckett's potential return in a fifth season of Atlantis, he said.
Stargate SG-1 Season Ten DVD will be available for Region 1 - North America on July 24, with five discs, twenty episodes, and, for the first time ever on a Stargate DVD, deleted scenes! Bonus features will include audio commentaries for every episode, five installments of the "SG-1 Directors Series" (Peter Woeste for "Insiders," Peter DeLuise for "Memento Mori," William Waring for "Company of Thieves," Andy Mikita for "The Shroud," and Robert C. Cooper for "Unending"), and multiple photo and production galleries. Also look for: "The Ori: A New Enemy" "Stargate SG-1: Behind the 200th" SRP $49.98 Now I know what I want for my birthday.
Hey, you can win a visit to the SGA set.
TOP MOVIES TODAY FROM THE NUMBERS
1 Blades of Glory...................$74,363,755
2 Meet the Robinsons............$58,227,331
3 Are We Done Yet?.............$22,790,187
4 Grindhouse.......................$14,678,000
5 The Reaping.....................$14,466,335
6 300................................$195,799,408
7 Wild Hogs.........................$147,057,977
8 Shooter...........................$38,460,073
9 Firehouse Dog....................$6,719,012
10 TMNT............................$48,157,395
TOP BOOKS SCI-FI/FANTASY @ Amazon, 4.5.07
1. Harry
Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling
2. Slaughterhouse-Five
3. The
Children of Hurin: Deluxe Edition
4. Cat's Cradle
5. Breakfast of Champions
6. White
Night: A Novel of The Dresden Files
7. Storm
Front (The Dresden Files, Book 1)
8. Fool
Moon (The Dresden Files, Book 2), by Jim Butcher
9. The
Time Traveler's Wife
10. Summer
Knight (The Dresden Files, Book 4), by Jim Butcher
TOP DVDs SCI-FI/FANTASY @ Amazon, 4.5.07
1. Children
of Men (Widescreen Edition)
2. Peter
Pan (Two-Disc Platinum Edition)
3. Firefly
- The Complete Series
4. Pan's
Labyrinth (Two-Disc Special Edition)
5. Deja Vu
6. Lost
- The Complete Second Season
7. Stargate
Atlantis - The Complete Second Season (read
my review)
8. The
Little Mermaid (Two-Disc Special Edition)
9. Eragon
(Two-Disc Special Edition)
10. Twin
Peaks - The Second Season
TOP SCI FI NETWORK SHOWS - Nielsen Galaxy Report, 3.5 - 3.11.07
Heroes
8.5
Lost 7.6
Medium 5.8
Jericho 5.3
Ghost Whisperer 4.5
Smallville 1.6
Supernatural 1.3
TOP SCI FI SYNDICATED SHOWS - Nielsen Galaxy Report, 3.12 - 3.18.07
Alias 1.9
Smallville 1.6
Stargate SG-1 1.4
Stargate Atlantis 1.3
Star Trek 1.3
Farscape 0.5
The Outer Limits 0.4
INSANE TREK TRIVIA
This Week's Question: In what non-Trek production was William Shatner's character dismayed to discover that the ship had no bridge?
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: According to many biographies of Star Trek's cast and crew, what sci-fi show blatantly ripped-off Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek pitch to the TV studios?
Answer: Lost in Space.
First winner
Pianokeyboardorg
Second winner
Owen
Third winner
Michael
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:
"Though a lot more exciting than watching a line of people moving only from the waist down, many theater patron were startled and horrified by this new version of "Riverdance." (You'd think the offering of rain ponchos for those in the first 3 rows might have tipped them off.)" - Chris
Honorable mentions...
"I promise you I WILL win Dancing With The Stars this time!" - Renee
"Haircut? Sure. A little a little off the top?" - Debbie
"Joss Whedon's ultimate fantasy girl: Part River Tam, part Buffy Summers, and TOTALLY bitchin' boots." - evay
"If I hear any wisecracks about the cow jumping over the moon, your life is forfeit." - grezuki
"Ahh...at last. I have found the cure for P.M.S." - Joanie
"e-wee must I!" - grezuki
"Welcome to Benihana. I will be your chef tonight" - Ozzygreybeard
"Don't you wish your girlfriend was hot like me? Don't you wish your girlfriend was psycho like me?" - BTCHONWHLS
"LETTERS TO THE EDITOR"Last week's topic: So which is the better movie, folks, Star Wars or Serenity?
***
Do you know those moments when you get that smug grin on your face when you think you've been proved right? I think that was me the other day when I found out about the poll result and Serenity coming top. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy Star Wars but I don't like it enough to put it top of every movie poll that comes along. Serenity was quite literally a breath of fresh air for me and I gather all the other 'browncoats' out there who wish it would return in some form.
Damn you Fox!!
Later
***
It's hard to compare these 2 movies because their sensibilities are so totally different. It's rather like comparing "Short Circuit" to "Frankenstein." Though both are about artificial life, the tone and approach in each are so different that they are at opposite ends of the spectrum of the genre. The same applies to the two Space Operas in question.
"Star Wars" (first film made, not the series) is a conscious throwback to "Flash Gordon" and the Gee-Whiz movie serials of George Lucas' childhood. It is naive and the emphasis is on the action, with just enough hints at backstories, aided by good acting, to give the characters more resonance than their otherwise 2 dimensional presentations should merit. I was rather unimpressed when I first saw "Star Wars." I recognized the genesis of the ideas and the stereotypes instantly. Only the revelations of the subsequent films made me appreciate the series. (Would that Lucas had let others write and direct the most recent films as he did "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi!" Anakin's story really demanded the abilities of people who are less fascinated by shiny surfaces and are able to show the emotional depths that Lucas wished to touch but couldn't.)
"Serenity" is all about the backstory of River Tam and the Firefly universe. It is a startling example of how one can make a film that offers action, humor, fully realized characters, big ideas and emotional involvement! Most SF is lucky to manage 2 of those elements. That said, I don't think we would have "Serenity" if it weren't for "Star Wars." The phenomenal success of Lucas' original trilogy took SF (and Fantasy) out of the movie ghetto and deemed them worthy of mainstream movie treatment in the eyes of moviemakers. (I can only surmise that Joss' treatment of "Wonder Woman" was deeper, darker and more complex than the popcorn movie the studio wanted. Didn't any of them see "Batman Begins?" I think today's theatre-goers can take a little more than nervous Nellie producers think they can. The real questions are, as always, is the central idea a good one? Is it well executed? Does it communicate to the audience? [Thanks to Dorothy L. Sayers for her Trinitarian theory of art.])
Chris
***
Next week's topic: Indiana Jones IV and Jurassic Park IV...How do you know when a series is tapped out?
***
Send me something if you've got something to say. It can be about anything that's on your mind!
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Julia Houston
