Like most, I'm totally diggin' the newfangled Planet of the Apes films, so I'll great any blurb about it continuing with great delight ... but today's casting release scores points mostly for being a curious amount of non-news, only a general casting announcement along with some modest reporting of the "who's it, what's it" variety.  It comes via The Hollywood Reporter: returning director Matt Reeves has cast Gabriel Chavarria (pictured above in perhaps the weirdest "I've fallen and I can't get up pose" I could find) in some undisclosed human role.

This one's still a long way off -- it's tentatively titled War of the Planet of the Apes -- so I'll keep my eyes peeled for more.

Read here often enough, smilers, and you'll know that I honestly believe anyone -- and I do mean 
A-N-Y-O-N-E -- can rise to prominence in any given Science Fiction property: all that such success really requires is that the property be good, be interesting, and be willing to keep the interest of whatever audience it earns.  That's why something so benign as taking a classic Western such as High Noon, set it in deep space, and still manage to give the tale a freshness compatible with the original.  Talk about isolation against the odds?

And -- speaking of isolation -- how about taking the fundamental 'slasher' flick formula and set it on a mining vessel, also out among the stars, where it's just you, the 'slasher' in Alien form, and an endless frontier?

Or how about having no other choice but to plunder the victims of tragedies from time itself in order to provide even the smallest hope for the future?

Such is the case with Outland, Alien, and Millennium, three SciFi films which possess links to August 25th.  Make sure to take a gander, and enjoy what you read.

          August 25th

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

Hello, SciFi smilers!  I'm back at it for a day (after a brief sabbatical), but I'll be out of pocket for a few days on a family vacation, so all of you will have to make do by entertaining yourselves in the interim.  And there's nothing like a long weekend away to help one get refreshed ... so while I'm at that, you be at this ... ya hear?!

          August 18th

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

As a thinker, I 've often argued that Science Fiction has long been preoccupied with the end of life as we know it.

For example, Logan's Run explored a future wherein life ends at age 30 largely because that generation inherited a world that could no longer sustain its population unless vastly curtailed. The Book of Eli took another look at our future, and it served up a dark and grim fairy tale that secretly celebrated our enduring fascination with culture, literature, and the like.  Heck, I've even argued that Star Wars: A New Hope succeeds largely as a film because it served to strip away all of the gloss from SciFi and instead left audiences with a burned out desert planet, a souped up spaceship, and rebels fighting the system -- a dystopian film if ever there were.

But perhaps one of the more popular forays in that theme of late is the re-emergence of the Mad Max franchise.  This summer's Fury Road was a blistering cocktail of the Apocalypse on steroids ... and two of its lovely ladies celebrate their birthday today.

One of the other enduring themes that tends to entrance audiences is the idea of the Great Conspiracy.  1990's TV shows and movies really explored these mysteries to the Nth degree possible, and perhaps no greater benchmark was achieved than The X-Files.  Even the more popular elements of the WB's Smallville dabbled in dark secrets ... and there are a few more birthdays harkening to those motifs today.

Enjoy August 7th, my friends.  It is what it is, and -- for certain -- this day will never come again.

          August 7th

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

It takes one big man to stand in the awe-inspired presence of some even bigger women, but I suspect genre veteran Jason O'Mara figures he's big enough to fill those shoes.  August 6th's citations aren't so much about any inevitable battle of the sexes; rather, methinks we'd all just love to live together in peace ... or a reasonable facsimile thereof.

In any event, in today's page you're going to find references to practically all of the TV incarnations of Star Trek; a notable nod to a small role in the great 70's SciFi gem Logan's Run; and -- as par for the usual course -- much, much more.  Again, apologies if you're not finding anything to tweak your curiosity, but as I'm quick to remind I've only just begun building this database.

For those needing the link, here you go:

          August 6th

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

As I've occasionally opined from my perch on this side of this thing called the "interweb," some of these days ain't easy.  Even though Science Fiction has clearly been around for centuries, there are still some singular days that retain a mysterious quality, in so much that I can't find all that many people, places, and events to link back to them chronologically ... and, thus far, August 5th is shaping up that way.

Naturally, I'll be on the lookout to beef up this corner as time permits.  In the meantime, you be sure to check out what I have found for today by following the link below.

          August 5th

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

Arguably, Science Fiction stories work best when they're given compelling men and women to lead the charge through whatever plot has been supplied by only the best of writers; and that's precisely what we're celebrating today.  Whether it be on the big or small screens, it's these bold men and women who are constantly willing to take whatever stand is necessary that urges viewers to pay close attention because something special is about to happen.

Make sure to check out August 4th's highlight.  I'd imagine that -- if you're looking closely -- you'll find something to like.

          August 4th

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

As I've said many times before, what I genuinely love about celebrating Science Fiction day-by-day is the incredible amount of variety that slips into these otherwise relatively routine celebrations.

You get men and women -- humans and robots --- heroes and superheroes -- good and evil in practically every possible combination.  Granted, some days may end up feeling inevitably a little light on the cold, hard truth of global domination and thermonuclear war; but I like to think that there's still balance in there somewhere.

Be sure to check out today's celebration, and always (always!) make sure to share and share alike in the far, far corners of the information superhighway.

          August 3rd

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