Well, well, well ... that didn't take long.

I've mentioned in chatrooms and talkback boards everywhere that I'm struggling to get into Star Wars: Rebels.  It isn't as if I don't appreciate another journey into the Star Wars universe because I entirely do.  I think what it is mostly is that Rebels thus far hasn't really had the depth of storytelling that even The Clone Wars had in its first season.  Granted, even TCW had some duds early on, but the program always tried to minimally dish out some great eye candy for those of us who are captivated by quality visuals.

By comparison, Rebels has been fairly flat in that department.  The premiere movie had some solid work, but since then the show appears to have fallen a bit into a groove that suggests nostalgia for the Original Trilogy is enough to sustain it.  I suspect the same nostalgia is why Rebels relies to heavily on adopting musical cues from the first trilogy's score in order to align itself with such greatness.

And now -- after going back to the well by having an appearance by Darth Vader, everyone's favorite robotic duo of C-3PO and R2-D2, and (most recently) bringing back Frank Oz to voice an angelic appearance of Jedi Master Yoda -- it's been reported by Cosmic Booknews that Billy Dee Williams will be back to voice Lando Calrissian for the January 19th episode, "Idiot's Array."

I can appreciate going back to the well in order to help give Rebels a healthy dose of continuity magic: I think it's grand that the Mouse House is working hard at showing this animated property is truly meant to be part and parcel of the Original Trilogy's greater story.  But -- at some point -- I truly hope the showrunners amp up their storytelling for this generation of heroes so that they get the opportunity to stand on their own instead of playing in the shadow of something greater.

Anyone else feeling the same?

     Billy Dee Williams Returning For Star Wars Rebels / Cosmic BookNews

As I've mentioned before, I'm really just getting started with this whole blogging thing (thanks for discovering this space, though, to all of you who have and especially to all of you who've given me tweets, retweets, and your winning praise).  As such, I'm only just beginning to build my database of SciFi things to be thankful for.  Some days, there aren't all that many items to highlight, but even the smallest of entries can have some greatness in them.

Such as this: the dawn of Batman Beyond.

I know some folks dismiss the property as Batman-lite (though I know others who've said the same of Nightwing, Catwoman, and a handful of other comic book properties), and that's a shame.  The animated 'What if?' extension of Batman: the Animated Series universe remains a personal favorite of mine largely because it truly took some risks with the entire BatUniverse that remains worthy of your time and attention.

If you haven't discovered it, then shame on you.  If you have, pop in a DVD today and relive what it was like to see what happened when Bruce Wayne was too old to carry the mantle.  See what he did to make certain that the threat of the Bat lived on in Gotham City the way it could.  You might be surprised.

     January 10th

I make no bones about it: I absolutely love Science Fiction.  Always have.  Always will.

Anyone who knows me may very well have heard my first inking of it, that being of my experience as a very young boy sitting far too close to the television set, enraptured as I was with the ears of a certain logic-spouting Vulcan Sciences Officer serving aboard a certain Federation starship.  And I even vividly recall being stuck home from school on my very first snow day ever, sitting before the ‘Boob Tube’ from the spell being woven by a Japanese import called ‘Prince Planet.’  (Google it, kids, and you’ll see it’s very real but sadly not available on home video in any legal format.)

Because I have a second life blogging about the daily history of Science Fiction, I picked up Guy Haley’s SCI-FI CHRONICLES from the local book retailer with great enthusiasm.

Confession time: no, I haven’t finished reading it.

For those who feel that my taking time at this point (I’ve probably made my way through about 20% of it, jumping through its various cleverly and functionally designed sections conducting my own research) to pen a review is fraudulent, then I encourage you to click around for someone else’s entry.  Honestly, I wanted to get something up right away because I’ve found this encyclopedic tome to be about as good as it gets for those like myself.

Principally, Haley wanted to create a visual guide to Science Fiction, and – as you’ll learn – he’s enlisted a wealth of SciFi experts from around the globe to help construct this guide the way he has.  It’s broken down in several useful ways – first by timeline; second by sub-genre (SciFi encompasses a variety of specific subsets); and lastly by index – making it easy for anyone with eight fingers and two thumbs to surf pages instead of websites in pursuit of whatever nugget of information is desired.  Haley and his compatriots have even crafted a variety of visible ‘timelines’ both from a macro-perspective as well as a micro-outlook; this gives all of the writers the opportunity to reflect not only on a specific property (say ‘Star Trek’) but also on how that franchise fits into the greater evolution of SciFi as a medium unto itself.  And the brilliant experience is only further enhanced by the fact that CHRONICLES is chocked full of both color and black’n’white photographs everywhere.

For genre fans, this is like Thanksgiving for the eyes.

That said, I will admit that some of the entries I’ve read are a bit ‘lacking,’ but I’m willing to give Haley and co. a pass on that front.  After all, a franchise like Doctor Who has had entire books written on the property, and these various journals have examined the work from the points-of-view of history to psychology to real-world application; there’s no way a compendium can truly compete with those works.  CHRONICLES is meant to be a catch-all: a vast, expansive databank that hits the bullet points … so if you’re looking for greater detail then you may need to go elsewhere.

But for ‘the straight skinny’?  Haley’s collection is a veritable work of art.

HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION POSSIBLE.

This is a relatively ginormous book, and I can say with great assurance that I’ll be spending many happy hours of my years ahead trapped within the pages of Guy Haley’s SCI-FI CHRONICLES.  At over 500 pages of fun-filled, photographed facts documenting practically every conceivable facet of Science Fiction, there’s plenty to absorb.  Granted, a few of the entries I’ve perused already may lack the kind of depth of commentary I generally enjoy when discussing the genre nearest and dearest to my heart, but that’s a small error to forgive: it’s not like any single compendium can cover every spaceship, ray gun, or robot to everyone’s liking.  This?  This might be as close as it ever gets.


     Buy Sci-Fi Chronicles from Amazon

Writer/director Neill Blomkamp roared onto the SciFi scene back in 2009 with his smart and prescient District 9, but then he joined at the hip with cinema stinker Matt Damon for the utterly predictable Elysium (2013).  His new one -- Chappie -- is available for your consideration in trailer form today, and dare I say that this one looks an awful lot like it's been done before?  I'm thinking this might be the Fisher Price version of Robocop.

Still, if my time on the Big Blue Marble has taught me anything it's that one should never judge a film by its trailer, so I'll leave this here with no additional fanfare.  If you're so inclined, feel free to leave your thoughts below.

Well, well, well ... would you lookie there!  All of fankind has been so very much in love with the Pop Vinyl line of kinda/sorta action figures since they've appeared on the scene.  With each passing week it seems the company keeps adding figures and product lines to the store shelves (in Target the other day I saw the Sons of Anarchy ones).  While I suspect some of them might be a bit too obscure for the average consumer, I certainly applaud the toymakers' decision to reach out and explore so many franchises because it gives fans of all stripes the honest chance to own something that's helped make their lives complete.

The final frontier of the 24th century will soon be ripe for exploration as Pop Vinyl has announced pre-orders for the Star Trek: The Next Generation line ... so let me be the first to say "Make it so!"  There may be some confusion as to the date when these things are actually hitting the stores (TFAW.com shows May 27th as being the delivery date but PopVinyls.com shows March 2015), but I predict these things will be flying out of stores at warp speed!

You can check out the listings at either of the links below:

     TFAW.com pre-order solicitations

     PopVinyls.com announcement

If your tastes are anything like mine, then you love a good vampire flick that brings something new to the genre ... and Ethan Hawke in Daybreakers did just that.  At its core, it's really a great Apocalypse movie (the vampires have basically dwindled their food supply down to practically zero, forcing society to massively transform itself into something different), but it gets good and bloody for the big finish.  It opened theatrically on this day in the past (click on the below link to find out more), so that's what I'm boasting about today.

Check out January 8th's other items, won't you?

     January 8

Ever since my days as an urchin, I've always loved Flash Gordon.  In fact, one of my earliest experiences watching television would be to catch those old black'n'white Flash Gordon serials that were edited into movies on the boob tube.  Whenever I found Flash on, I'd be glued to that set for the duration of the adventure; and -- even today -- I think the marketplace would be ripe for another take on the classic character.

Yes, I'm not ashamed to admit that I even swooned over that 80's campy theatrical flick.  You know the one, right?  The one starring Sam J. Jones as the swashbuckling spaceman, and the deliciously evil Max von Sydow chewing up screen time as a loathsome Ming the Merciless.  Melody Anderson was delightful as Dale; Topol made for a relatively typically brainy Zarkov; and Timothy Dalton and Brian Blessed sparring as Princes Barin and Vultan (respectively) only helped round out one helluva spectacle for those of us willing to suspend our disbelief and take a trip into the most kaleidoscopic version of the saga yet.

Sure, the effects were kinda cheap.  Yes, it all played out like some drug-fueled children's fairy tale.  But I loved it nonetheless, and I know it still brings joy to the hearts of many, many people around the globe.

Anyway, today's On This Day In Science Fiction history is up, and the birth of Flash Gordon gets the lion's share of the interest.  Be sure to follow the link and check it out!

     January 7

Here’s something totally, totally cool, SciFi fans!

The Writers Guild of America – better known for its acronym, the WGA – has only today announced their nominations in the build up to their annual awards ceremony … and would you believe that a heavily related genre project made the cut?  Major kudos go out to James Gunn and Nicole Perlman as their adaptation of the Guardians of the Galaxy story originally penned by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning scored a ‘Best Adapted Screenplay’ nod.  Granted, interested parties won’t know until February 14th which script earns the coveted prize, but – as I’ve always said – it’s nice when the artistic community at large looks out and finds Science Fiction work worthy of the recognition.

For the record, I wasn’t all that enamored with the theatrical Guardians film as were so many others.  I did think it was one of the better popcorn movies that came out this year, although I do remember having a few narrative questions that were not quite cleared up to my satisfaction.  Still, you had a great lead with Chris Pratt (personally, I think he’s one of the funniest characters on NBC’s Parks and Recreation), and who doesn’t appreciate a vicious raccoon?

Thanks to the website Collider.com for originally bringing this news to fankind’s attention.

No, no, no, no, and no: I do not get any kickback from advertising any merchandise on SciFiHistory.Net, so let's dispel that sentiment right away.  And rarely -- if ever -- do I ever truly endorse any particular store and/or online shop for the purchase of said merchandise.  All I try to do is -- as one SciFi fan to another -- share information I receive on what's out there for the benefit of all fankind.

That said, I received an email in my inbox today advertising the fact that the official online Star Trek Shop has some new swag available for 2015.  I surfed over and checked it out.  Not too shabby, if I do say so myself.  I like that -- more and more -- the Starfleet logos appear like practically anything available in reality these days; that way, discerning fans don't have to endure countless hours of torture as most folks don't look at stuff close enough to know if it's a legitimate school or not.

In any event, here's the link for those of you who may be interested:

     Star Trek Shop

Well …

Depending how you slice it, the Razzies – that annual event memorializing the worst achievements in cinema history – can be Science Fiction’s best or worst friends.  I say this because the Razzies never fail to acknowledge yearly in their nominations process at least one (if not many) SciFi-ish properties.  Naturally, these nominations pique the curiosity of a particular audience, persuading those folks to seek out and explore new films and new filmic situations … and that inevitably leads more people who aren’t normally interested in said genre to hate it even more.

That said, this year’s nominations are out.  If you’re interested, then I’d encourage you to pop on over to Razzies.com for the full listing.

On the plus side, there are only two films I’d honestly classify as Science Fiction that received nominations for Worst Picture (thank you very much Transcendence and Transformers: Age of Extinction for being singled out) but there are a handful of others that tend to get ‘associated’ as SciFi due to the broadest definition possible (kudos to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and I, Frankenstein for lowering the bar).  As they say, it is what it is, so there’s no use in crying over spilled blue milk.  (Star Wars fans will get the reference.)

So may the lamentations begin!