July 4 means different things to different people: fireworks, barbecue, a day off from work. But the founders weren't thinking about any of that in 1776. They were readying for war -- an eight-year struggle of which we mark only a turning point. What turning points might some of our fantasy heroes celebrate, some 233 years after their revolutions?

Willow (1988)
With plans to kill every the baby in her country, Queen Bavmorda has given her people more than enough reason for an uprising. Yet folks make no apparent effort to save their children. The turning point? When Willow, a foreigner, shows up with an army of allies. In the end, the queen's daughter marries the leader of the army.
Holiday: Eloramas. To celebrate the birth of the prophesied child, families release small boats and make a wish.

Continue reading "Mary Robinette Kowal - Fantasy Revolutions That Make for Fantastic Holidays" »

• Robert Rodriguez finally spills the official beans on who will be directing Predators: Nimród Antal, director of the forthcoming Armored.

• My favorite scifi series of all time, Farscape, is getting a mega boxed set, filled with all the seasons, the mini-series, and dozens of hours of extras, to celebrate the tenth anniversary.

• Some more information on this year's Star Wars live-action series: it has apparently started pre-production, in Australia.

• Terry Gilliam's next project, Zero Theorem, which seems like Brazil updated for the corporate-cubicle-zombie age, has been scrapped.

Continue reading "Daily Scan for 07.03.09 - Predators Gets Director; Farscape Gets Boxed Set" »

This Saturday, it's July 4, when America celebrates its independence from Britain by blowing things up real good. Nothing says "We, as a nation, aspire to be a beacon of democracy and equal rights" like a truly boom-tastic explosion. Since such outsize displays are on the minds of Americans everywhere, I thought I would give over this week's column to a critical review of explosions in science-fiction movies. Because, you know, why not?

Star Wars (1977)
To be sure, there were explosions before Star Wars, from the cheap exploding space craft in Flash Gordon to the more expensive exploding craft in Silent Running. But it was in Star Wars that the Big Damn Explosion really burst onto the scene as a science-fiction staple. What's more, Star Wars features not one but two really big explosions: the planet Alderaan getting zapped by the Death Star, and then the Death Star itself going blooey after a proton-torpedo enema. Of the two, I always thought the Alderaan explosion was more impressive. But then, the coolest explosion in the whole movie belongs to the last TIE fighter that dies chasing the Millennium Falcon after it escapes the Death Star. Seriously, go look for yourself.
Explosion Rating: A

Superman (1978)
Not content to just blow up a planet, this movie blows up a star and a planet! Not to mention, if you'll recall, unleashing a thermonuclear device on California -- an event that is, curiously, underplayed.
Explosion Rating: B

Continue reading "John Scalzi Rates SciFi Movies by Their EXPLOSIONS!" »

• There are few geeks who haven't had at least one oneiric fantasy about Princess Leia as a slave. Good news: hundreds of Leias will descend this year upon the San Diego Comic Con.

• Speaking of slave Leias, Hollywood's best contemporary Leia -- Fanboys' Kristen Bell -- has lent her voice to the CGI Astro Boy movie.

• Samuel L. Jackson says his role as Nick Fury in Iron Man 2 will be just as inaction-packed as his first appearance.

• The magazine Fantasy & Science Fiction is concerned about the lack of new talent appearing in its pages, so it will be sponsoring a writing workshop and running three stories that come out of it every year.

Continue reading "Daily Scan for 07.02.09 - Leias to Descend on Comic Con; Jackson Downplays Iron 2's Fury" »

In movies like The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Jack, genetic aging disorders are treated with whimsy. They're chances for us, as an audience, to reflect on what adult life looks like through the eyes of a child. But for Brooke Greenberg, being a teenager trapped in the body of an infant isn't about life lessons or magic.

For the past sixteen years, Greenberg has maintained the appearance and development of an infant, baffling researchers who have been unable to identify her genetic disorder. Brooke's condition is so unique, in fact, that scientists now believe her body may hold the key to eternal youth. Somebody tell Hugh Jackman, stat, because he thinks it's in a space tree. (The Fountain, anyone?)

Continue reading "The 16-Year-Old Baby - A Real-life Benjamin Button or a Fountain of Youth?" »

• George Lucas's much-rumored Star Wars live-action series may well be coming in 2009.

• Frank Darabont doesn't just want to adapt Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 -- he wants to claim The Illustrated Man, as well.

• Robert Downey Jr. apparently performed a real-life act of heroism on the set of Iron Man 2, saving an extra who'd broken his hip grappling with a rampaging robot.

• Alan Cumming has always seemed fairly sleazy to me, so I think his casting as the Green Goblin in the upcoming Spider-Man musical is genius.

Continue reading "Daily Scan for 07.01.09 - Cumming Cast As Green Goblin; Star Wars Goes Live-Action" »

In a media-saturated world of random violence and juvenile delinquency, video games are one of the least respected art forms around. "They're too violent," many say. "They're shallow." Given the medium's propensity for power fantasies and D-cups, perhaps games have rightfully earned some of this scorn -- but we should also place some blame on the movies adapted from them. Flicks like Hitman and Alone in the Dark are the most exposure some people get to video games. So it's easy to see how the populace-at-large looks at the medium as mindless, derivative violence. Today, I'd like to counter a few assumptions your average moviegoer might glean about games from Hollywood's horrific adaptations.

Not all video games are dumbed-down versions of existing movies
It would be dishonest to suggest that modern action games don't take a page or two from Hollywood's library, but most decent titles manage to switch up the clichéd formulas to which moviegoers have become so accustomed. Take Max Payne, which may consist primarily of John Woo-esque gunplay, but also provides haunting, impressionistic scenes where Max is tasked with running across solid trails of blood that hover above a black abyss while he searches for his dead infant daughter. You ain't gonna see that in a Michael Bay movie.

Continue reading "Video Games' Worst Enemy? Video-Game Movies" »

• The trailer to the adaptation of Richard Matheson's classic story The Box is now on YouTube. I still have no idea how they're going to do a whole movie on this.

• Heroes' Season 4 is likely to be just as terrible as the last two seasons, given Bryan Fuller's departure. But at least there will be a new nemesis: Claire's college roommate.

• Every year, Doctor Who does a "Children in Need Christmas Special," and Internet scuttlebutt indicates the next one may feature all eleven Doctors.

• It looks like the '80s classic Teen Wolf might be remade as a television series...which actually makes great sense, in a Buffy the Vampire Slayer sort of fashion.

Continue reading "Daily Scan for 06.30.09 - Heroes Gets New Nemesis; Doctors Descend on Who Christmas" »

The writers for Fringe, Star Trek, and Transformers discuss their latest movie's American Pie connection, arguing logic with Michael Bay, and writing Trek's reverse premise in Cowboys and Aliens.

Continue reading "Screenwriters Alex Kurtzman and Bob Orci Compare Trekkies to Transformers Fans" »

• Transforrmers 2 looks set to make more than The Dark Knight on its opening weekend. That really shoots in the foot the theory that viewers want sophisticated and intelligent comic-book movies, doesn't it?

• The viewership for Fox's prospective Ronald D. Moore vehicle, Virtuality, tanks. Of course, it may have been a self-fulfilling death, owing to the show's time slotting.

• A very thorough write-up of DC's current plans for the Batman lineup after the Caped Crusader's recent death.

• SciFi Scanner alumnus Kevin Maher gives his pick for a scifi ending he'd like to change: the original ending to Conquest of the Planet of the Apes.

Continue reading "Daily Scan for 06.29.09 - Transformers Outperforms Dark Knight; Virtuality Tanks" »