Well, well, well ... good afternoon, gentle readers, and welcome to March 6, 2024!
How's your Hump Day shaping up for you?!
As fate would have it, I'm experiencing a fairly slow news desk this morning at SciFiHistory.Net. I did have a few items I had to take care of this morning which kept me away from an early blog post to celebrate All Things Genre, but I'm here now and trying to make up for it. Apologies for their not being a daily celebration yesterday; I put my all into my thoughts on Dune: Part 2, and I really didn't have it in me to wax on wax off about the small stuff afterwards. What can I say? Sometimes, slinging words takes a lot out of me.
For the record, a few of you did give me a little pushback regarding my thoughts on the Dune sequel, so -- if you're still reading -- let me clarify: I enjoyed the film quite a bit. Visually, there's nothing quite like what Villenueve has accomplished in building that universe on the screen (yes, yes, and yes: I've seen some folks suggesting the ripoffs from the David Lynch version, but that's really chump change). The story is pretty grand, too: I just had some issues with how this translation introduced new elements, feeling that they were a bit too rushed into the fabric and given so little real exploration or explanation. Of course, it could always be that I wasn't watching closely enough and perhaps didn't see all of the things you folks saw, but -- as I always say -- it comes down "to each his own." As a spectacle, Dune deserves endless praise; I'm just saying -- as I always have -- it isn't nearly as relatable to mainstream audiences as are other space and star sagas. It's just too dense, and that'll likely always be the case.
Still, yes, I had a great time with it myself.
How's your Hump Day shaping up for you?!
As fate would have it, I'm experiencing a fairly slow news desk this morning at SciFiHistory.Net. I did have a few items I had to take care of this morning which kept me away from an early blog post to celebrate All Things Genre, but I'm here now and trying to make up for it. Apologies for their not being a daily celebration yesterday; I put my all into my thoughts on Dune: Part 2, and I really didn't have it in me to wax on wax off about the small stuff afterwards. What can I say? Sometimes, slinging words takes a lot out of me.
For the record, a few of you did give me a little pushback regarding my thoughts on the Dune sequel, so -- if you're still reading -- let me clarify: I enjoyed the film quite a bit. Visually, there's nothing quite like what Villenueve has accomplished in building that universe on the screen (yes, yes, and yes: I've seen some folks suggesting the ripoffs from the David Lynch version, but that's really chump change). The story is pretty grand, too: I just had some issues with how this translation introduced new elements, feeling that they were a bit too rushed into the fabric and given so little real exploration or explanation. Of course, it could always be that I wasn't watching closely enough and perhaps didn't see all of the things you folks saw, but -- as I always say -- it comes down "to each his own." As a spectacle, Dune deserves endless praise; I'm just saying -- as I always have -- it isn't nearly as relatable to mainstream audiences as are other space and star sagas. It's just too dense, and that'll likely always be the case.
Still, yes, I had a great time with it myself.
Just in case you haven't noticed the trend, there's a great deal of smaller Science Fiction and Fantasy flicks that audiences love while ... me? Not so much.
Well ... on this day back in 1992 (in the United States), the good people of Fresno, California were treated to an exclusive silver screen event that was the premiere of The Lawnmower Man. Springing from the mind of uber-Liberal author Stephen King, the story dealt with a relative simpleton being transformed into the ultimate brainiac through the use of modern technology, and the theatrical adaptation was helmed by Brett Leonard (1995's Virtuosity and 1998's T-Rex: Back To The Cretaceous). Joining the mind-bending Fantasy in big roles were such names of Pierce Brosnan, Jeff Fahey, Jenny Wright, Geoffrey Lewis, and Dean Norris. If I have the dates correct, the picture wouldn't enjoy full U.S. theatrical play until March 6, and Google.com reports that it was a fairly solid commerical success, winding down the year as one of the better performing independent features of the year.
So, yes, I've seen it. In fact, I do remember seeing this one on the screen. I don't recall being all that interested in it; and -- as memories fade over time -- I couldn't say why exactly. It could be that the project tinkered with the possibilities of virtual reality -- a good number of productions were just starting to explore that technology -- and I thought it a bit half-baked. I've not seen it since, so perhaps another viewing is due. If nothing else, I could commit a review for posterity's sake to SciFiHistory.Net.
In any event, Happy Anniversary to you, Lawnmower Man ... and here's to many more to come!
Well ... on this day back in 1992 (in the United States), the good people of Fresno, California were treated to an exclusive silver screen event that was the premiere of The Lawnmower Man. Springing from the mind of uber-Liberal author Stephen King, the story dealt with a relative simpleton being transformed into the ultimate brainiac through the use of modern technology, and the theatrical adaptation was helmed by Brett Leonard (1995's Virtuosity and 1998's T-Rex: Back To The Cretaceous). Joining the mind-bending Fantasy in big roles were such names of Pierce Brosnan, Jeff Fahey, Jenny Wright, Geoffrey Lewis, and Dean Norris. If I have the dates correct, the picture wouldn't enjoy full U.S. theatrical play until March 6, and Google.com reports that it was a fairly solid commerical success, winding down the year as one of the better performing independent features of the year.
So, yes, I've seen it. In fact, I do remember seeing this one on the screen. I don't recall being all that interested in it; and -- as memories fade over time -- I couldn't say why exactly. It could be that the project tinkered with the possibilities of virtual reality -- a good number of productions were just starting to explore that technology -- and I thought it a bit half-baked. I've not seen it since, so perhaps another viewing is due. If nothing else, I could commit a review for posterity's sake to SciFiHistory.Net.
In any event, Happy Anniversary to you, Lawnmower Man ... and here's to many more to come!
I shouldn't have to tell any of my contemporaries that the late, great comedian Lou Costello is no genre legend.
Known as the funny half of the comic team of Abbott and Costello, this talented fellow made me laugh in so, so, so many features that played on TVs of my youth (no, kids, I'm not old enough to have seen those films in theaters); and I can't tell you the number of times I likely sat through each of them that turned up in syndication. Granted, there were a few stinkers in there, too, but -- all-in-all -- Lou Costello had a way to 'play dumb' that made for some of the funniest work captured on celluloid.
In fact, I've read that his career was waning just a bit -- comedy over the years evolves with times, you know -- and he and his parter Bud Abbott hit some hard times. It was at this point that somehow someone got the idea to re-introduce the Univeral Monsters library into our collective consciousness, giving this dynamic duo to share the screen with such illuminaries as Count Dracula, Frankenstein, the Wolf Man, the Invisible Man, and the Mummy ... and the result was pure box office gold for both the men and the monsters. I suspect no one could ever have predicted just how warmly audiences would embrace these match-ups, and -- even to this day -- the occasional flick will play at my nearby budget theater. Thankfully, I'm not the only one who refuses to forget.
Yes, it's quite fulfilling to feature one of the bigger names of the years gone by ... so Happy Birthday to one of Hollywood's funniest, born on this day all the way back in 1906.
Known as the funny half of the comic team of Abbott and Costello, this talented fellow made me laugh in so, so, so many features that played on TVs of my youth (no, kids, I'm not old enough to have seen those films in theaters); and I can't tell you the number of times I likely sat through each of them that turned up in syndication. Granted, there were a few stinkers in there, too, but -- all-in-all -- Lou Costello had a way to 'play dumb' that made for some of the funniest work captured on celluloid.
In fact, I've read that his career was waning just a bit -- comedy over the years evolves with times, you know -- and he and his parter Bud Abbott hit some hard times. It was at this point that somehow someone got the idea to re-introduce the Univeral Monsters library into our collective consciousness, giving this dynamic duo to share the screen with such illuminaries as Count Dracula, Frankenstein, the Wolf Man, the Invisible Man, and the Mummy ... and the result was pure box office gold for both the men and the monsters. I suspect no one could ever have predicted just how warmly audiences would embrace these match-ups, and -- even to this day -- the occasional flick will play at my nearby budget theater. Thankfully, I'm not the only one who refuses to forget.
Yes, it's quite fulfilling to feature one of the bigger names of the years gone by ... so Happy Birthday to one of Hollywood's funniest, born on this day all the way back in 1906.
As is always my habit: there's a great deal more waiting for each of you to discover on the daily citation page for March 6th, and this is where I encourage you to head on over to surprise yourself. And don't stop there! Share it with your friends! Challenge them to a quick trivia contest. You know you want to, and I definitely hope you come out on top.
As always, thank you for reading ... thank you for sharing ... thank you for being a fan ... and live long and prosper!
-- EZ
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