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Good morning, gentle readers, and welcome to On This Day In Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror History ... March 13, 2024!
How's everyone's Hump Day going?
Well, mine's going pretty good. I puttered a bit behind-the-scenes this morning with a good deal of genre research, some of which will eventually be showing up in the Daily Citation Pages on the site. Sometimes, I'll just set aside a few hours to research film titles and the like -- I've pretty much seen that those announcements are a good deal of what gets me 'clicks,' and 'clicks' are a necessary evil to surviving online these days -- so keep your eyes peeled. Nothing big or revelatory ... just a bit of this and that ...
Otherwise, I did manage to watch a few flicks yesterday afternoon, both of which I'll be covering on the Main Page with reviews. One came from a distributor, and one was an old film noir I picked up entirely on my own. Don't worry: you'll see the coverage when I'm good and ready, folks.
But ... with a mind-blowing 93 trivia citations ... let's get down to the brass tacks and see what's worthy of some extra observations by yours truly.
How's everyone's Hump Day going?
Well, mine's going pretty good. I puttered a bit behind-the-scenes this morning with a good deal of genre research, some of which will eventually be showing up in the Daily Citation Pages on the site. Sometimes, I'll just set aside a few hours to research film titles and the like -- I've pretty much seen that those announcements are a good deal of what gets me 'clicks,' and 'clicks' are a necessary evil to surviving online these days -- so keep your eyes peeled. Nothing big or revelatory ... just a bit of this and that ...
Otherwise, I did manage to watch a few flicks yesterday afternoon, both of which I'll be covering on the Main Page with reviews. One came from a distributor, and one was an old film noir I picked up entirely on my own. Don't worry: you'll see the coverage when I'm good and ready, folks.
But ... with a mind-blowing 93 trivia citations ... let's get down to the brass tacks and see what's worthy of some extra observations by yours truly.
No, no, and no: I am absolutely not getting into any of the controversial bits regarding the greater life of author and thinker L. Ron Hubbard.
Of course, I understand perfectly that even mentioning the man is not without a bit of controversy, but that's not why I do it. I highlight him because his novel Battlefield Earth is considered to be a bit of a Science Fiction and Fantasy classic by many in the business and certainly those who've read it. I do think it's pretty sad that the story hasn't quite had a proper theatrical or small screen telling, and I suspect a lot of this is probably owed to rights issues. Given his legacy and the greater greed of the dollar, I wonder if a proper telling might be a sum producers ultimately wouldn't want to pay ... and, yet, wouldn't it be great to get some long-form TV or streaming serial? I think it would ... but what do I know?
In any event, L. Ron Hubbard was born on this day back in 1911.
Of course, I understand perfectly that even mentioning the man is not without a bit of controversy, but that's not why I do it. I highlight him because his novel Battlefield Earth is considered to be a bit of a Science Fiction and Fantasy classic by many in the business and certainly those who've read it. I do think it's pretty sad that the story hasn't quite had a proper theatrical or small screen telling, and I suspect a lot of this is probably owed to rights issues. Given his legacy and the greater greed of the dollar, I wonder if a proper telling might be a sum producers ultimately wouldn't want to pay ... and, yet, wouldn't it be great to get some long-form TV or streaming serial? I think it would ... but what do I know?
In any event, L. Ron Hubbard was born on this day back in 1911.
I think it was just the other day that I was blogging about the reality of my particular 'critical' circumstance, that being that I tend to be 'of my own mind' on a lot of genre projects and that doesn't always align with what society thinks.
Today's case in point: 2010's Monsters from writer/director Gareth Edwards is a motion picture that many in fandom just kinda/sorta rag on -- meaning 'hate' on it -- but I actually enjoy it quite a bit. Oh, I realize that there isn't a great deal of authentic monster-on-monster action in the feature; and that's mostly because I think Edwards really wanted to challenge viewers with what he, ultimately, thought the definition of a 'monster' is in the world he created. Also, there's just a wonderful grittiness to it -- all the comforts of the modern world are largely stripped away, leaving a story about two lost souls finding themselves as their environment is closing in around them -- and, yes, that means it kinda/sorta ends on a pretty down note. But I love flicks with 'down notes,' and I consider Monsters a truly noble effort.
It first played theatrically on this day back in 2010.
Today's case in point: 2010's Monsters from writer/director Gareth Edwards is a motion picture that many in fandom just kinda/sorta rag on -- meaning 'hate' on it -- but I actually enjoy it quite a bit. Oh, I realize that there isn't a great deal of authentic monster-on-monster action in the feature; and that's mostly because I think Edwards really wanted to challenge viewers with what he, ultimately, thought the definition of a 'monster' is in the world he created. Also, there's just a wonderful grittiness to it -- all the comforts of the modern world are largely stripped away, leaving a story about two lost souls finding themselves as their environment is closing in around them -- and, yes, that means it kinda/sorta ends on a pretty down note. But I love flicks with 'down notes,' and I consider Monsters a truly noble effort.
It first played theatrically on this day back in 2010.
Why ... of course there's more! There's a great, great, great deal more, my good friend; and I give you my guarantee (or your money back) that there's something for everyone somewhere within those 93 different citations. It's truly mind-blowing, so I hope you'll check it out.
As always, thanks for reading ... thanks for sharing ... thanks for being a fan ... and live long and prosper!
-- EZ
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