- Published on
Well, I can't say that I found it all surprising that Syfy decided to pull the plug on Incorporated in its freshman season (I just read the announcement via Deadline.com right here). I only sat through the first two hours of the SciFi/Drama that sprang somehow from the collective might of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, and it really felt entirely uninspired. Largely, the show veered toward anti-capitalism messaging in the near-future, and that's ground not exactly fertile any longer in the realm of Science Fiction: in fact, it's been pretty much 'done to death' so much so that it's become cliché.
Don't get me wrong: I'm all for finding new angles to tackle some of even the oldest politically-charged storytelling, but Incorporated really felt like late 80's and early 90's SciFi (think Robocop's cynicism but without all of the hardware) instead of something fresh and different. Syfy's viewers apparently weren't all that interested, and they tuned out. As they say, it is what it is.
In any event, thanks for reading ... and live long and prosper!
Don't get me wrong: I'm all for finding new angles to tackle some of even the oldest politically-charged storytelling, but Incorporated really felt like late 80's and early 90's SciFi (think Robocop's cynicism but without all of the hardware) instead of something fresh and different. Syfy's viewers apparently weren't all that interested, and they tuned out. As they say, it is what it is.
In any event, thanks for reading ... and live long and prosper!
- Published on
Yesterday, I read the announcement from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment over on Bluray.com (link right here), and I thought I'd share the news that one of the most impressive Box Office failures of 2016 is heading to home release on March 14th.
Passengers was a film that, honestly, I'm not entirely certain had the backing of anyone other than the stars and the studios involved: I thought the coming attractions were a bit predictable, perhaps revealing too much information for the casual viewer but just right for Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt fans. Arguably it was heavily hyped for the holiday release, but it failed to catch fire with the general public as well as critics.
Whatever the case, now you know you can catch out what you missed at a vastly more affordable investment than theatrically these day.
As always, thanks for reading ... and live long and prosper!
Passengers was a film that, honestly, I'm not entirely certain had the backing of anyone other than the stars and the studios involved: I thought the coming attractions were a bit predictable, perhaps revealing too much information for the casual viewer but just right for Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt fans. Arguably it was heavily hyped for the holiday release, but it failed to catch fire with the general public as well as critics.
Whatever the case, now you know you can catch out what you missed at a vastly more affordable investment than theatrically these day.
As always, thanks for reading ... and live long and prosper!
- Published on
Well, well, well ... what a difference a season makes for The CW?
The network's longtime collaborator Greg Berlanti -- he's the TV wunderkind behind The Arrow and The Flash -- tried to branch out with his programming to CBS last season with the debut of Supergirl. While the program performed admirably for (A) a superhero show in (B) it's freshman season, the CBS suits passed on it -- largely a decision due to marketing constraints, I've read -- and this allowed The CW to soar in and pick it up. It's doing well in its Monday night time slot (though I did opine just a bit about its obvious narrative shift in my column right here) ... so the network brass did the same recently in picking up Berlanti's Black Lightning which Fox TV declined.
For a few of the particulars, you can check out the announcement via reportage on The Hollywood Reporter right here. The piece also cites that actor Cress Williams has been signed to play the hero who was, incidentally, one of the first major African-American superstars to appear in the greater DC Comics universe.
While I'm thinking this is pretty fabulous news for the network, things are certainly looking very superhero-heavy in the programming schedule. Presently, The CW boasts Arrow, Flash, Supergirl, and the cast-heavy Legends of Tomorrow; so this gives the channel a powerhouse line-up indeed. Also, as sexuality always figures prominently into Berlanti's TV works (one of my chief complaints against his storytelling), it'll be interesting to see what options are left for his staff to explore.
As always, thanks for reading ... and live long and prosper!
The network's longtime collaborator Greg Berlanti -- he's the TV wunderkind behind The Arrow and The Flash -- tried to branch out with his programming to CBS last season with the debut of Supergirl. While the program performed admirably for (A) a superhero show in (B) it's freshman season, the CBS suits passed on it -- largely a decision due to marketing constraints, I've read -- and this allowed The CW to soar in and pick it up. It's doing well in its Monday night time slot (though I did opine just a bit about its obvious narrative shift in my column right here) ... so the network brass did the same recently in picking up Berlanti's Black Lightning which Fox TV declined.
For a few of the particulars, you can check out the announcement via reportage on The Hollywood Reporter right here. The piece also cites that actor Cress Williams has been signed to play the hero who was, incidentally, one of the first major African-American superstars to appear in the greater DC Comics universe.
While I'm thinking this is pretty fabulous news for the network, things are certainly looking very superhero-heavy in the programming schedule. Presently, The CW boasts Arrow, Flash, Supergirl, and the cast-heavy Legends of Tomorrow; so this gives the channel a powerhouse line-up indeed. Also, as sexuality always figures prominently into Berlanti's TV works (one of my chief complaints against his storytelling), it'll be interesting to see what options are left for his staff to explore.
As always, thanks for reading ... and live long and prosper!
- Published on
As I've often remarked to my wife, "some days I have the coolest job ever."
I know that I've found it amazing what's out there on the Information Superhighway when I go looking, and here's proof positive that even the actors and actresses themselves may be gobsmacked by what's been archived. The lovely Dayna Devon is only the latest to interact with SciFiHistory.Net via my Twitter traffic, but I thought I'd share with you faithful readers so that even you can be assured none of us exist in a vacuum.
As always, thanks for reading ... and live long and prosper!
I know that I've found it amazing what's out there on the Information Superhighway when I go looking, and here's proof positive that even the actors and actresses themselves may be gobsmacked by what's been archived. The lovely Dayna Devon is only the latest to interact with SciFiHistory.Net via my Twitter traffic, but I thought I'd share with you faithful readers so that even you can be assured none of us exist in a vacuum.
As always, thanks for reading ... and live long and prosper!
- Published on
If I'm perfectly honest with SciFiHistory.Net's readers, then I have to admit that I've never been all that much a fan of All Things Ben Affleck. In my mind, he's one of those Hollywood actors who takes himself and his work much too seriously; perhaps if he actually let his hair down with a good role he might be a bit more palatable.
However, I'm also on record as saying that I enjoyed Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice, a film many long-time Bat-fans took issue with for a variety of reasons, some involving Affleck and many not. Though I'll agree that there were elements of the feature that played out a bit too nebulous as well as a bit too 'dark' (for how the material was presented), Ben did a pretty solid job ponying up one of the better comic-bookish features for the DC Universe in some time. (Sorry, Christopher Nolan, but I wasn't a fan of your brooding Christian Bale trilogy, though it did have moments.)
In any event, Warner Bros. has made it official today that the fan-favorite director Matt Reeves (of Cloverfield and Rise of the Planet of the Apes' fame) is taking over the center seat on the long-gestating The Batman. This comes hot on the heels of a rumor (just yesterday, I think) that talks had broken down, and we'll probably never know what that means or if it was legitimate. I've read an article involving this over on Cinelinx right here, and I'd encourage those interested to check it out for themselves.
Reeves is a gifted director, and I think this bodes well for the franchise.
As always, thanks for reading ... and live long and prosper!
However, I'm also on record as saying that I enjoyed Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice, a film many long-time Bat-fans took issue with for a variety of reasons, some involving Affleck and many not. Though I'll agree that there were elements of the feature that played out a bit too nebulous as well as a bit too 'dark' (for how the material was presented), Ben did a pretty solid job ponying up one of the better comic-bookish features for the DC Universe in some time. (Sorry, Christopher Nolan, but I wasn't a fan of your brooding Christian Bale trilogy, though it did have moments.)
In any event, Warner Bros. has made it official today that the fan-favorite director Matt Reeves (of Cloverfield and Rise of the Planet of the Apes' fame) is taking over the center seat on the long-gestating The Batman. This comes hot on the heels of a rumor (just yesterday, I think) that talks had broken down, and we'll probably never know what that means or if it was legitimate. I've read an article involving this over on Cinelinx right here, and I'd encourage those interested to check it out for themselves.
Reeves is a gifted director, and I think this bodes well for the franchise.
As always, thanks for reading ... and live long and prosper!
- Published on
Now, don't fret, faithful readers: just because there may not be a lot of "action" on the MainPage of SciFiHistory.Net doesn't mean I've forgotten about this space. To the contrary, it usually means that either my regular life duties have kept me away from daily posts or (more likely) I'm dabbling heavily behind the scenes trying to get the day-by-day stuff up and running. In case you've missed it, I've spent a wealth of time the last week or so updating daily citations, and this ends up taking much more time than I ever thought it would as an entertainment blogger.
Today's evidence: A For Andromeda is now part of the daily listings.
Honestly, I've never even heard of this one before -- a BBC SciFi program about alien contact with Earth -- from the early 1960's, and as soon as I did I started digging modestly into it. The first season was only seven episodes, and then there's a second season I haven't even looked into yet. Also it looks like in 2006 there was a motion picture or telefilm 'updating' that involved Tom Hardy (of all folks!), so that's even more I have to familiarize myself with regarding this new franchise. And that's what I mean: every time I turn around I'm finding more and more I'd like to feature on our little offramp of the Information Superhighway!
In any event, Google and check it out, if you're interested.
As always, thanks for reading ... and live long and prosper!
Today's evidence: A For Andromeda is now part of the daily listings.
Honestly, I've never even heard of this one before -- a BBC SciFi program about alien contact with Earth -- from the early 1960's, and as soon as I did I started digging modestly into it. The first season was only seven episodes, and then there's a second season I haven't even looked into yet. Also it looks like in 2006 there was a motion picture or telefilm 'updating' that involved Tom Hardy (of all folks!), so that's even more I have to familiarize myself with regarding this new franchise. And that's what I mean: every time I turn around I'm finding more and more I'd like to feature on our little offramp of the Information Superhighway!
In any event, Google and check it out, if you're interested.
As always, thanks for reading ... and live long and prosper!
- Published on
Following up on a post made earlier today, I wanted to let all of SciFiHistory.Net's faithful readers know that I've just completed the daily citations for The Andromeda Breakthrough, which was the title of the second season of A For Andromeda during its run on the BBC. This second season concluded the Andromeda storyline -- well, so far as I know -- and you'll have to watch it yourself to find out whether or not it was completely fulfilling. I've scanned a few of the user reviews that I've been able to find, and apparently some folks felt very strongly about this character-driven entry into the rich realm of TV Science Fiction. If you can find it out there on the web somewhere, then it might be worth a try.
As always, thanks for reading ... and live long and prosper!
As always, thanks for reading ... and live long and prosper!
- Published on
So it’s May 12, 2015.
Having not ordered an advance copy of Battlestar Galactica: The Definitive Collection from Amazon.com, I took a trip to the nearest Best Buy hoping I’d snag a copy were fortunate enough to score one from the shelves. Honesty, I figured the store wouldn’t have ordered all that many copies: the original BSG was popular only with SciFi purists of a certain generation – of which I included myself – but the Syfy-produced reboot was all the rage thanks largely to academia, politicos, and critics who pushed it whenever they had the chance, largely for political merits rather than artistic.
In any event, I didn’t see the set in the usual places, so I headed over to where some sales clerks were gathered. There were three of the Blue Shirts standing with a customer, and – lo and behold – I saw that this older fellow had a copy of the said release in his hands. As the small group was engaged in a feverish debate, I stood politely waiting … but I couldn’t help overhearing the lead clerk explaining his surprise over the popularity of the BSG release.
“Our store had six copies,” I heard him say, “and you’re the fifth customer asking for it. Was the show REALLY that good?”
I did the math, so as courteously as I could, I leaned in and asked, “Could you show me to where the sixth copy is?”
This brought on a round of laughs. One of the other employees gestured toward me, offering to lead me over to the special display of today’s television releases. He pointed toward the set, and I snatched it up.
“Now, you know that’s not the new show?” he asked.
“Yes,” I answered.
“And you still want it?”
“Yes.”
“Wow,” he said. “That’s amazing.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Well, you probably heard us talking,” he went on. “When we unpacked today’s stock, we didn’t figure any of those would sell. You’re the sixth person, and now we’re out. We sold out within five minutes of the store opening. That just doesn’t happen with older shows.”
Having enjoyed the original BSG when it aired live on ABC TV during the 1970’s, I was naturally hooked on it, as apparently were many others. After all, Star Wars had played to great theatrical acclaim, and it lit big fires in the imaginations of the young-at-heart around the world, a phenomenon that exists even today. For those of us of that certain generation, BSG came in as a close second, perhaps largely due to being so near and dear to Luke Skywalker’s first foray on the silver screen.
Secretly, I think TV audiences knew that we weren’t going to be getting that level of storytelling on the ‘Boob Tube’ each week. It took George Lucas years to bring ‘A New Hope’ to the masses, so there was no way a TV production schedule was going to deliver the same intensity every seven days. Still, BSG looked good, and it was definitely a worthwhile distraction while we were waiting for more of Han, Leia, and the droids.
Like so many fans of TV’s other space saga, I took the passing of Richard Hatch with some personal pain.
Hatch’s incarnation of Captain Apollo is vastly different from what Jamie Bamber turned in for Syfy, but as I kinda/sorta hinted at above nuBSG really only touched on the ideas and themes central to the 70’s version: this isn’t to say one was superior or inferior but rather to underscore how they’re clearly products of their respective eras. Hatch imbued the star pilot with a greater level of gravitas and maybe a bit more “swashbuckle,” I think, a portrayal that helped fuel much of fandom’s interest in seeing more of the original interpretation. To his credit, the actor-turned-author delivered by way of novels, convention appearances, and even an oft-hyped potential reboot that would be a sort of ‘Second Coming’ to what legendary TV producer Glen Larson started so many decades earlier.
He’s gone now, but Galactica will live on.
Fans might argue which is the better version, especially with his passing and how such good-natured debates are often spurred by reflection. Hopefully he’s somewhere up there amongst the stars – if there is such a place – where mere mortals are no longer bound by the trappings of our physical presence in this realm. If he is, then let’s hope he’s properly flanked by a squadron of like-minded Colonial Warriors all waiting to continue the good works of a lost tribe from that shining planet known as Earth.
Having not ordered an advance copy of Battlestar Galactica: The Definitive Collection from Amazon.com, I took a trip to the nearest Best Buy hoping I’d snag a copy were fortunate enough to score one from the shelves. Honesty, I figured the store wouldn’t have ordered all that many copies: the original BSG was popular only with SciFi purists of a certain generation – of which I included myself – but the Syfy-produced reboot was all the rage thanks largely to academia, politicos, and critics who pushed it whenever they had the chance, largely for political merits rather than artistic.
In any event, I didn’t see the set in the usual places, so I headed over to where some sales clerks were gathered. There were three of the Blue Shirts standing with a customer, and – lo and behold – I saw that this older fellow had a copy of the said release in his hands. As the small group was engaged in a feverish debate, I stood politely waiting … but I couldn’t help overhearing the lead clerk explaining his surprise over the popularity of the BSG release.
“Our store had six copies,” I heard him say, “and you’re the fifth customer asking for it. Was the show REALLY that good?”
I did the math, so as courteously as I could, I leaned in and asked, “Could you show me to where the sixth copy is?”
This brought on a round of laughs. One of the other employees gestured toward me, offering to lead me over to the special display of today’s television releases. He pointed toward the set, and I snatched it up.
“Now, you know that’s not the new show?” he asked.
“Yes,” I answered.
“And you still want it?”
“Yes.”
“Wow,” he said. “That’s amazing.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Well, you probably heard us talking,” he went on. “When we unpacked today’s stock, we didn’t figure any of those would sell. You’re the sixth person, and now we’re out. We sold out within five minutes of the store opening. That just doesn’t happen with older shows.”
Having enjoyed the original BSG when it aired live on ABC TV during the 1970’s, I was naturally hooked on it, as apparently were many others. After all, Star Wars had played to great theatrical acclaim, and it lit big fires in the imaginations of the young-at-heart around the world, a phenomenon that exists even today. For those of us of that certain generation, BSG came in as a close second, perhaps largely due to being so near and dear to Luke Skywalker’s first foray on the silver screen.
Secretly, I think TV audiences knew that we weren’t going to be getting that level of storytelling on the ‘Boob Tube’ each week. It took George Lucas years to bring ‘A New Hope’ to the masses, so there was no way a TV production schedule was going to deliver the same intensity every seven days. Still, BSG looked good, and it was definitely a worthwhile distraction while we were waiting for more of Han, Leia, and the droids.
Like so many fans of TV’s other space saga, I took the passing of Richard Hatch with some personal pain.
Hatch’s incarnation of Captain Apollo is vastly different from what Jamie Bamber turned in for Syfy, but as I kinda/sorta hinted at above nuBSG really only touched on the ideas and themes central to the 70’s version: this isn’t to say one was superior or inferior but rather to underscore how they’re clearly products of their respective eras. Hatch imbued the star pilot with a greater level of gravitas and maybe a bit more “swashbuckle,” I think, a portrayal that helped fuel much of fandom’s interest in seeing more of the original interpretation. To his credit, the actor-turned-author delivered by way of novels, convention appearances, and even an oft-hyped potential reboot that would be a sort of ‘Second Coming’ to what legendary TV producer Glen Larson started so many decades earlier.
He’s gone now, but Galactica will live on.
Fans might argue which is the better version, especially with his passing and how such good-natured debates are often spurred by reflection. Hopefully he’s somewhere up there amongst the stars – if there is such a place – where mere mortals are no longer bound by the trappings of our physical presence in this realm. If he is, then let’s hope he’s properly flanked by a squadron of like-minded Colonial Warriors all waiting to continue the good works of a lost tribe from that shining planet known as Earth.
- Published on
I've always believed that it's important to celebrate achievements: after all, that's really the entire premise behind my hatching SciFiHistory.Net in its current format.
As I mentioned in a relatively recent post, my long-term goal has always been to feature 100 individual citations (at least) for each calendar day. Now, that'll take some time as I've really only been at this for a few short years, but I'd be a fool if I didn't give the site a ShoutOut when it deserves one ... and we've hit another benchmark worth celebrating.
Namely: February 3rd is our second day to reach the 50-Plus citation mark, so I've just updated the appropriate headers for both the February page as well as the individual Feb. 3rd page.
Take a gander at it right here, if you're so inclined ... and thanks for reading!
As I mentioned in a relatively recent post, my long-term goal has always been to feature 100 individual citations (at least) for each calendar day. Now, that'll take some time as I've really only been at this for a few short years, but I'd be a fool if I didn't give the site a ShoutOut when it deserves one ... and we've hit another benchmark worth celebrating.
Namely: February 3rd is our second day to reach the 50-Plus citation mark, so I've just updated the appropriate headers for both the February page as well as the individual Feb. 3rd page.
Take a gander at it right here, if you're so inclined ... and thanks for reading!
- Published on
Ach. I really do maintain a bizarre love/hate relationship with anime. I've seen enough of it to know that it interests me stylistically, but I haven't seen enough of it to declare myself a serious connoisseur of it. My main issue with it has been that almost everything I've watched has been "strongly recommended" to me by folks professing to live and die for Japanese animation; but an awful lot of what's come my way just honestly hasn't impressed me all that much. Still, I persevere ...
In any event, the Superbowl trailer for the upcoming Ghost In The Shell (2017) adaptation has ended up on the Information Superhighway today, so I took a gander more out of curiosity than anything else. This is only a 30-second sneak (I suspect there's more as this doesn't really offer much in the way of excitement to the uninterested viewers), and it's the usual 'flash in the pan' editing one can expect from today's 7-second-attention-span consumers.
Interestingly enough, the original Ghost is one of those super-super-popular anime properties I just never 'got.' Interesting idea. Interesting execution. But at the end of it all I was just left 'meh.' Also, I know that there was some controversy involving Scarlett Johansson's casting (in case you missed it, this is 'Japan' and she's not exactly Japanese nor could she pull it off in a police line-up), but I tend not to invest too much time in fanboy politics as I rarely if ever find myself in agreement with the Comic Con crowd.
Check out the visuals below, my friends.
In any event, the Superbowl trailer for the upcoming Ghost In The Shell (2017) adaptation has ended up on the Information Superhighway today, so I took a gander more out of curiosity than anything else. This is only a 30-second sneak (I suspect there's more as this doesn't really offer much in the way of excitement to the uninterested viewers), and it's the usual 'flash in the pan' editing one can expect from today's 7-second-attention-span consumers.
Interestingly enough, the original Ghost is one of those super-super-popular anime properties I just never 'got.' Interesting idea. Interesting execution. But at the end of it all I was just left 'meh.' Also, I know that there was some controversy involving Scarlett Johansson's casting (in case you missed it, this is 'Japan' and she's not exactly Japanese nor could she pull it off in a police line-up), but I tend not to invest too much time in fanboy politics as I rarely if ever find myself in agreement with the Comic Con crowd.
Check out the visuals below, my friends.
As always, thanks for reading ... and live long and prosper!