I vaguely remember telling folks (online) that I struggled with The Expanse when it was originally part of Syfy's line-up.  Don't get me wrong: I enjoyed what I was seeing (up through Season Two, anyway), but I didn't think the first season was assembled in such a fashion that it lent itself to bingeable viewing easily.  It took awhile for the story to iron out its 'through-points,' and I can't help but wonder if that's part and parcel of why it kinda/sorta failed to garner the kind of ratings the cable channel expected and thus cancelled it.  Kudos to Amazon for picking it up and carrying on the story, as I've been told by those still following along that it remains a quality property.

Eventually -- when time permits -- I'll catch up with Season Three and onward.  I just have to find the time to put in for some meatier storytelling that what one gets with other programming.  Again, that's not an insult: The Expanse is smart television, and just like I'm a slow reader I tend to rewatch scenes if I don't catch the development is real-time viewing.  That's just who I am, peeps.

Season Five is coming soon, and I thought I'd share the trailer for those  interested.

As always, thanks for reading ... and live long and prosper!

-- EZ

Honestly, I've never been much of a fan of George Clooney.  Some of it could be his politics -- in interviews, he always seems a bit too eager to discuss the state of the world from his perspective, and I personally loath when actors use their platforms for that kind of thing -- and some of it could be that I've just never seen a break-out performance of his that was worth watching more than once.  If he appears in stories that I don't find compelling enough to explore further, then I tune him out -- generally speaking -- and I move on to folks who do tweak my interest.

Still, he maintains a solid measure of box office clout so long as studios are concerned, and maybe (just maybe) he can use some of that charisma to tap into the genre market with The Midnight Sky, a cinematic adaptation of the novel Good Morning, Midnight by Lily Brooks-Dalton.  Based on the book's Amazon profile, it would certainly appear to have a solid following (three hundred plus reviews and a strong near-five-point rating), so let's hope the actor can transcend his work in mainstream fare long enough to wipe the stink off of what he did to Batman And Robin in the 1990's.

For those interested, here's the trailer for the Netflix release which is slated for select theatres as well as the streaming service.
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As always, thanks for reading ... and live long and prosper!

​-- EZ

Take it from this old dog: never get too excited about reboot news too early.

As far as genre properties go, there have been countless stops and starts throughout history.  As many times as fans have been promised a revisitation to a popular commodity, it's faded into the ether.  Generally speaking, I stopped getting excited about new programming probably back in the 1990's when I realized Hollywood has a way of tempting audiences for the sake of gauging their interest in a new program; when the excitement doesn't materialize the way a studio thought it should, the announced project instead falls back into limbo, and it'll probably get another brushing off five or ten years down the line.

For example, how many times has a director or producer attached himself to a new film or television program around The Shadow?  I don't have enough fingers to count.

In any event, word has been up and down the Information Superhighway for a few years now that NBC Universal has wanted to bring Battlestar Galactica back to life yet again.  For those unaware, the original Galactica was launched on television in the late 1970's and was intended to be a small screen alternative to the silver screen's Star Wars.  Methinks everyone knew a show's potential to deliver such star saga thrills on the Boob Tube couldn't last and would hardly be affordable, and the show was only granted a single season.  A year or two later, the property was mildly reconceived in the short-lived Galactica 1980, an incarnation that saw Adama limp over the finish line to finding Earth, serving up little more than a half-season of sadly low-brow entertainmet for a franchise that deserved better.  (Yeah, I said it.)  And, of course, Syfy and NBC Universal went back to the well again in the early 2000's for a much more militant-themed version of the 'Saga Of A Star World,' one that was treated to tremendous critical praise but kinda/sorta lost its wings as it flew along so far as fans were concerned.

These days, I guess you can't get the Galactica grounded as word comes via Film Daily that NBC is toying with not one but two new prospects for the former Colonials: Simon Kinberg and Dylan Clark are spearheading the effort (apparently) for both a silver and small screen adventure.  While potentially ambitious in scope, the details are under wrap at this point; and I suppose that's likely owed to the fact that NBC's streaming platform is not quite yet in-shape to embrace a bold new program.

I want to say that I'd read elsewhere in the recent past that Kinberg intended for this show to kinda/sorta follow-up on Syfy's presentation; but Googling this morning I'm not finding anything of particular merit on that point.  That wouldn't make sense to me -- Syfy's show ended with the crew finding Earth and coming to peace with where and when they were in that particular timeline -- as opportunities to continue that narrative as it was wouldn't be all that interesting.  Let's hope I'm just confusing the elements with something else I've read.

But as mentioned above, take this all with a grain of salt: projects come and projects go, and Galactica has been a favorite for a certain generation of storytellers to revisit.  Once cast announcements are underway, then it might be safe to say we're well on our way back to the Twelve Colonies for their story to begin anew.

As always, thanks for reading ... and live long and prosper!

-- EZ 

One of the things about Science Fiction films and television programs that never ceases to amaze me is the incredible number of possibilities for what a new species might look like when we come across it.

Star Trek has pretty much built its bones on all species essentially having the basic 'man' shape.  According to the Gene Roddenberry franchise, the vast majority of races have the basic one head, two arms, two legs, etc. approach; all that seems to get bandied about are skin, scales, and ridges.  Other franchises have mixed it up a bit, but -- in the end -- the economics of presenting life out there (once it comes here) pretty much follows the same approach -- they're gonna take our basic shape and tinker with the appendages.

That's been a big buggaboo for Science Fiction purists down the ages: while our understanding of Science certainly suggests life could (and maybe should) evolve similarly on different worlds, with the elements and evolution of a new environment pushing the form in differing ways.  Why haven't we seen more energy creatures or collections of mist and fog?  Well, that would require a bigger budget, and Hollywood still prefers putting something on the silver screen within a respectable dollar amount.

In any event, I stumbled upon a small think piece about this question and more on the 90.7 WFME Radio Station site this morning, and I thought it worth sharing.  Take a gander when you're on your coffee break; it's a quick read.

As always, thanks for reading ... and live long and prosper!

-- EZ

Ugh.

Look, peeps.  I do try to keep politics as much out of SciFiHistory.Net's pages as is humanly possible, but therein lies the problem: I'm a human, and -- like a human -- some things just bug the heck out of me to the point where I have to sound off on them, if even for only a few words.

This whole mask issue?  I'm long past the point wherein I think it's all overblown.

No, I'm not being 'anti-science, and I can say this because I've read enough of the reported data and information about mask-wearing to know that the mask poses very little threat to a legitimate airborne virus.  This isn't to say that they serve no purpose as they clearly do: folks who are at risk (or performing surgery) definitely can benefit to even a small degree by putting something over the nose and mouth for good measure, especially when out-and-about, exposed to a high number of folks, in populated environments, etc.  But the benefit to a healthy person?  Well, the science is still out on that point.

At some point, a virus has to be a virus.  It'll run its course.  It'll infect those who at the greatest risk, and it'll do what it does.  Nothing can stop it.  Sorry.  That's the truth.  Whatever's gonna get you is going to get you.  'Flattening the curve' isn't eliminating all threats; it's actually spacing the threat out for a longer period.  Viruses come and go.  Some are stronger and some are weaker, but it's still a virus.  There is no cure.

But eight months later?  We're still fighting the same virus?  Clearly that says to me that all of the mask wearing we've been doing for the last eight months has produced questionable results, no?

Alright.  I've said enough.

If you want to read the piece regarding the DC Comics characters giving mankind their public service announcement, it's available at Bleeding Cool.

As always, thanks for reading ... and live long and prosper!

-- EZ

With a mythology as vast and as deep as the fifty-plus years of Doctor Who, there's an incredible number of villains to draw from ... but do you wanna see something really scary?

The Radio Times is reporting that -- from a list of twenty possibilities -- the Weeping Angels won the top title as the scariest monster to appear in all of Whodom, and I, for one, would have to agree with them: this is probably the only creature-of-a-sort in the franchise's plethora of possibilites that kinda/sorta creeps out yours truly.  Why, do you ask?  Do I have some deep-rooted fear of statues?  Well, I think that's not out of the realm of reason ... do you?

Statues are an embodiment of people, and maybe -- just maybe -- the maker gets too close to the mark, you see.  By recreating someone in stone, is it absolutely unheard of that we open ourselves up to the possibility that somehow a spirit trapped within could re-animate the figure whilst we're not looking?  The Weeping Angels tapped into that grand 'what if' scenario, and viewers embraced such creepiness like no other in Who's backlot.

If you're unaware with them, then I strongly encourage you to find Doctor Who's stellar episode "Blink" on whatever streaming platform you can.  It's a great episode -- honestly one that can be viewed by even someone not all that familiar with the greater world of Who as the good Doctor appears in only a few minutes of it (the focus is on another character -- one entirely unrelated to the franchise -- for the bulk of the show).  It's an incredible tale, and, yes, it's reasonably scary as well.

Don't say that I didn't warn you.

As always, thanks for reading ... and live long and prosper!

-- EZ

True story: yours truly has a form of degenerative scloliosis.

Honestly, it sounds worse than it is.  Basically what that means is I have a curvature of the spine which just so happens to be very, very near the base of it (one of the worst places it can be).  What this means is that I have a bad back (not all that uncommon) which like so many my age (don't ask) can get twisted out of whack from the simple task of bending over slightly just to pick up a bag of groceries.  Seriously, one never knows what's gonna cause me some aches and pains; I just have to exercise a bit more care, keep my weight under control, and do the stretches regularly that my physical therapist has recommended to keep me limber and loose.

How did I come by this, you might ask?  Well, I suspect it's partly inherited (others in my family have back issues), and I suspect it's the long-term end result of being left-handed in a right-handed world.  So many of us who are lefties spent the bulk of our childhood being forced to sit in desks designed for right-handed people, meaning we'd have to scrunch sideways in order to write comfortably throughout the K-12 education system.  Some day, I say all of us lefties get together and process a massive class action lawsuit against the world.

In any event, that's not the reason I bring this up.  Where I'm going with this is that I've found over time that it helps to have good shoes: the better support I get while walking and/or standing, the less strain I endure on my lower back.  So I'm used to paying a bit more for my footwear ... but Adidas would have me pay as much not so much for posture as it is to show off my love of the Star Wars franchise!

Just in time for the holidays, Adidas has unveiled their newest assortment of Star Wars themed tennis shoes.  While some of these do look as though they have reasonable support, I'm not all that interested in them myself for the above-stated reason.  I do think some of SciFiHistory.Net's longtime readers might find something for that special someone, if you've got the extra scratch and are looking for gift ideas.  The link to the Adidas website is right here, and I encouraged interested parties to check 'em out.

As always, thanks for reading ... and live long and prosper!

I know, I know, I know.  Many folks take issue with my listing what they perceive as Horror releases in this space ... but -- as I've often said -- it's my party and I'll cry if I want to!

Besides, Horror tends to gravitate very very closely to the realm of Science Fiction and Fantasy when it's done right, and that's largely why I've used my control at SciFiHistory.Net to showcase a few of them, especially when they do look to deal more with the Science of Horror, as Sleepless Beauty definitely looks to explore.  It's coming relatively soon to home video, and I thought I'd give it the appropriate shout for those who might be interested in such a diversion.

You'll find the coming attraction below, and you can read the promotional materials right after that.  Be warned: this one looks to be a shock to the senses.  I'm going to see if I can get my hands on a screener copy; if so, I'll definitely be reviewing it in this space.
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SLEEPLESS BEAUTY tells a twisted story about a young woman, Mila, who is kidnapped by a mysterious organization known as Recreation. Her unknown abductors talk to her through a loudspeaker and set strict rules: she cannot sleep and has to fulfill bizarre and violent tasks if she hopes to stay alive. At first, it looks like someone’s sick idea of entertainment but as the demands become more intense, Mila begins to realize that she is losing control of her own mind and instead, may be a pawn in a twisted and deadly psychological experiment.

SLEEPLESS BEAUTY made its world premiere at the 2020 Imagine Film Festival and was an official selection for the 2020 Sitges Film Festival, 2020 Dead Of Night Film Festival, and 2020 Obscura Berlin Film Festival. SLEEPLESS BEAUTY will be available on VOD + Digital platforms beginning Tuesday, November 10, 2020 and will be available on Blu-ray beginning Tuesday, November 17, 2020. 
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RT: 84min | Not Yet Rated 
Genre: Horror
Epic Pictures
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/epicpicturesgroup
Twitter: https://twitter.com/epic_pictures 
Dread
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dreadpresents  
Twitter: https://twitter.com/dreadpresents 
SLEEPLESS BEAUTY is directed by Pavel Khvaleev. Written by Aleksandra Khvaleeva. Produced by Frank Ellrich, Georgiy Smirnov and Elena Talyanksaya. Cinematography and edited by Khvaleev. A Monomania Films Production. 

​About Epic Pictures
Since the foundation of the company in 2007, CEO Patrick Ewald has grown Epic Pictures into an independent content studio with the mission of delivering the best-in-class genre entertainment “for fans, by fans.” Epic Pictures produces, finances, and distributes approximately twenty-thirty independent genre films a year. In 2013, the company established Epic Pictures Releasing which is its US focused distribution division. In 2017, Epic Pictures acquired the world’s most popular horror website, Dread Central, and launched its unique horror label, Dread, followed by its AVOD channel, DreadTV. In 2019, Epic Pictures started the horror gaming site, DreadXP, with a focus on editorial, reviews, podcasts, and original streaming content. In 2020, DreadXP began a video game publishing division with the launch of The Dread X Collection, an anthology of horror games in collaboration with some of the most innovative developers in the independent gaming space. https://epic-pictures.com/

Like so many men of my generation, I grew up on a steady diet of monster movies.

The monsters didn't have to be big to get my attention.  Sure, Godzilla, King Kong, and the occasional giant lizard grown to stupendous size thanks to exposure to toxic waste were grand, but even the haphazard Bigfoot knock off captured my imagination.  Dracula, the Wolfman, and the Creature from the Black Lagoon deserved my attention as much of those lurking behemoths; and I was only all too happy to provide it when the adventure looked grand in the adverts.

So it is with great pleasure I'm happy to promote Monstrum.  Coming soon to home video via Shudder and RLJE Films, Monstrum looks pretty damn spiffy ... if I do say so myself.  The preview is below, and you'll find the upcoming release information just beyond that.

Enjoy!
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LOS ANGELES (Oct.. 15, 2020) – RLJE Films, a business unit of AMC Networks, along with Shudder, AMC Networks’ premium service for horror, thriller and the supernatural, will release the horror film MONSTRUM on November 17, 2020 on VOD, Digital HD, DVD and Blu-ray.  
 
MONSTRUM stars Hyeri Lee (“Hyde, Jekyll, Me”), In-kwon Kim (C’est Si Bon), Myung-Min Kim (Closer to Heaven) and Woo-sik Choi (Parasite). The film was directed by Jong-ho Huh (Countdown, The Advocate: A Missing Body), who co-wrote the film with Heo-dam. RLJE Films will release MONSTRUM on DVD for an SRP of $27.97 and Blu-ray for an SRP of $28.96.
 
In MONSTRUM, a plague has taken over and fear runs rampant in the streets. When rumors of a vicious monster roaming Mount Inwangsan begin to spread, fear turns into panic. In order to quell the rising hysteria, the King brings his most trusted general out of retirement. Joined by his daughter, his right-hand man, and a royal court officer, the general sets out to find and defeat the mysterious creature.

ABOUT RLJE FILMS
RLJE Films’ recent features include Color Out of Space, based on the classic H.P. Lovecraft story, starring Nicolas Cage and Joely Richardson and written and directed by Richard Stanley; David Ayer’s The Tax Collector starring Bobby Soto and Shia LaBeouf; and The Owners from director Julian Berg and starring Maisie Williams from “Game of Thrones”. Upcoming releases include the critically acclaimed horror film The Dark And The Wicked from Director Bryan Bertino; and Adam Egypt Mortimer’s Archenemy starring Joe Manganiello. us.rljentertainment.com.

ABOUT SHUDDER
AMC Networks’ Shudder is a premium streaming video service, super-serving members with the best selection in genre entertainment, covering horror, thrillers and the supernatural. Shudder’s expanding library of film, TV series, and originals is available on most streaming devices in the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Germany, Australia and New Zealand. To experience Shudder commitment-free for 7 days, visit www.shudder.com.
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ABOUT AMC NETWORKS
Known for its groundbreaking and celebrated original content, AMC Networks (NASDAQ:AMCX) is the company behind the award-winning brands AMC, BBC AMERICA, IFC, SundanceTV, WE tv, and IFC Films. Its diverse line-up of popular and critically-acclaimed series and independent films include Killing Eve, Better Call Saul and The Walking Dead, which has been the #1 show on basic cable television for ten consecutive years, as well as Documentary Now!, Brockmire, Love After Lockup, and the films Boyhood, Death of Stalin, and many more. Its original series Mad Men and Breaking Bad are widely recognized as being among the most influential and acclaimed shows in the history of TV. The Company also operates AMC Studios, its production business; AMC Networks International, its international programming business; the subscription streaming services Acorn TV, Shudder, Sundance Now; and UMC (Urban Movie Channel); RLJE Films; and Levity Entertainment Group, the Company’s production services and comedy venues business. For more information, visit http://www.amcnetworks.com.

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