Perhaps to follow up on Daniel Craig and the Queen’s big Olympic performance, Columbia Pictures has decided to release yet another trailer for the upcoming Bond movie Skyfall. But unlike the one that premiered after Craig and Queen Elizabeth II’s show, this one is way bigger and badder! Guess they thought the last one was underwhelming considering all it was competing with in London. I sure as hell thought so! And here it is, check it out!
Category: Video
3D Model of the Yuva Ship
Hey all. Thanks go to William Joel, contributing author to the anthology project, for coming up with this artistic gem. Yes, in addition to being an accomplished writer, he also teaches computer animation and knows a thing or two about rendering things in 3D. This animated short is of the Terraforming ship, Mark I, doing a fly by in deep space. Hope you enjoy as much as I did!
Shatner’s “Get A Life” Explores Star Trek Fandom
In 1986, William Shatner hosted Saturday Night Live and performed the sketch where he told a convention of Trekkers to “Get a life!” A hilarious moment in television history, or an instance of carefully scripted sincerity? Who knows? Either way, anyone who has not checked seen the sketch should do so immediately. I’ll wait, don’t worry…
Wasn’t that hilarious?
Anyway, it just so happens that Shatner is back at it, trying to find out what it is that defines Trekkies and contributes to the phenomena known as Star Trek fandom. Appropriately, he has named this movie “Get A Life” in honor of the satirical remarks he made on SNL. Again, this may or may not be sincere advice. The point is, even after decades of being the big name is Star Trek, he still wonders why the hell grown men and some grown women have spent their entire lives dedicated to this franchise.
Following in the same vein as Trekkies, this documentary goes beyond taking a look at Star Trek conventions and fandom over the years and delves into the deeper questions of what makes Star Trek so enduringly popular. Much like Star Wars, it’s a science fiction franchise that has become inextricably embedded in our collective consciousness, to the point that even Captain Kirk himself is astounded and left wondering what the hell is going on…
Snippets from the documentary suggest that it was Roddenberry’s optimism that won fans over. His positive view of a future where all our current ills are solved and the worst didn’t happen is certainly one of the a selling points of the franchise. With so many dystopian and misanthropic visions permeating the pop culture sphere, people enjoy hearing a more positive appraisal of humanity and its prospects.
More echoes of Star Wars there, another franchise which captured fans imagination with its upbeat message and tempo. One has to wonder if the timing of these two franchises wasn’t just the slightest coincidental…
Anyhoo, here is the documentary’s official trailer. Enjoy!
New “Man of Steel” Trailer!
Behold! In the wake of this years’ Comic Con, it seems that trailer fever has struck. I, being a geek and hence unimmune to such strains of fever, am making it a point to post the updates. Here’s the most recent trailer from the upcoming Superman relaunch “Man of Steel”, which was first announced at Comic Con during preview night.
In this updated preview, we get a glimpse of the new Clark Kent (Henry Cavill), his father (played by Kevin Costner), and a scene of him with his Superman cape breaking the sound barrier. And of course its all done to a sort of “set the scene” narrative which establishes the coming of age nature of the movie, much like the “with great power comes great responsibility” speech Peter Parker’s uncle gave him in Spiderman.
Aside from that, this preview is pretty damn spares. Clearly, the studio is taking the eye drop approach, releasing tiny little clips to tease and taunt the audience into demanding more. By comparison, Robocop – another relaunch which first previewed at Comic Con – appears to be taking the Prometheus approach: doing mock ads and context pieces in order to establish background. Personally, I like the latter approach better. It promises that there will be debt to the franchise and more than just a bildungsroman about a central hero.
Starship Troopers: Invasion!
Fans of Starship Troopers must be sharing a collective “yahoo!” somewhere. It seems that Casper Van Diem – the actor who starred as Johnny Rico in the original movie and its horrid third installment – has decided to produce the fourth installment in the series. Like the second and third movies – both of which sucked hard ass! – this one will be straight to DVD.
But unlike the other two, this one will be an animated CGI feature, calling to mind the short-lived but decidedly unsucky animated series Roughnecks: The Starship Trooper Chronicles. The movie is schedules for release on August 28th, 2012, and in anticipation of this occasion, the studio has released a full-length, bad-ass trailer!
And judging from this little preview, this installment looks pretty good, combining the best elements from the original movie with a hardcore Halo feel! According to the studio, this movie takes place many years after the original, with all the characters from that movie (except for Dizzy Flores who died) reprising their roles. Carmen Ibanez is now Captain of her own battleships, Carl Jenkins is now Minister of Paranormal Warfare, and Johnny Rico is a general who comes out of retirement to command the Roughnecks for one last mission!
In fact, this sort of thing could be just what’s needed to help reboot the series. In spite of an adaptation that was big on flashy and low on substance, two sequels that were so atrocious they aren’t worth getting to, and an animated series that was terribly short on gore, this franchise actually has some potential. Bring on the bugs and automatic weapons fire!
Via Blastr.com
New Movie: Elysium!
Yet another cool aspect of the recent Comic Con was the trailers for new movies previews that fans were treated to. One such movie was Neil Blomkamp’s (director of District 9) new film, entitled Elysium. According to IO9 magazine, the movie stars Matt Damon in the lead role and is scheduled for release in 2013.
Based on the video reel Blomkamp offered, the movie is still very much in development. Rough place holders had to stand in for many of the visual effects, which are as of yet incomplete. However, the fans were given a precis of the storyline, which is decidedly dystopian and cyberpunk in nature.
Set in 2159, the plot revolves around the eponymously named space station of Elysium, an apparently utopian retreat where the ultra-rich and beautiful live and have access to the most advanced medical technology. The rest of humanity lives planet-side, where overcrowding, disease and radiation have resulted from overpopulation and pollution. Enter into this Max (Matt Damon), a criminal who’s suffering from radiation sickness and must make it to Elysium’s medical facilities at all costs.
In time, Max’s mission becomes complicated as he comes into information which could shut down Elysium and usher in an age of equality for the human race, or at least a less polarized division of wealth. Additional concept art was also released, like an interior shot of the station featured below. Given the layout, Elysium appears to be based on an Island Three design, a circular space station and rotates to provide gravity. Echoes of 2001: A Space Odyssey there. Good for Blomkamp, referencing a classic!
Additional cast members will include Jodie Foster, District 9‘s Sharlto Copley, and Alice Braga (of City of God, Predators, Repo Men and I Am Legend fame). Think I might catch this one!
The Walking Dead, Season 3 Preview
Another lovely preview to make the rounds at this year’s Comic Con was the hit show The Walking Dead. Take a look at the latest preview for Season Three, the most lengthy and detailed look at the inside what’s coming yet! This includes “the prison”, the town of Woodbury, and Michonne, the sword-wielding badass heroine!
Thanks to Khaalidah for sending it to me, I was ignorant of it til now. Take a gander and, like me, get very impatient for October!
Robocop Relaunch!
Oh no, not another 80’s relaunch. And just when it seemed that this summer couldn’t possibly OD any more on 90’s relaunches! But, all things considered, I think this is one that might actually be worthwhile, and which I myself could be persuaded to see.
In any case, though the details are a bit sketchy, the movie is scheduled for launch in 2013 and will star Joel Kinnaman as Alex Murphy/Robocop. Additional cast include Gary Oldman, Samuel L. Jackson, Abbie Cornish (from Suckerpunch) and Hugh Laurie (of House fame).
In addition, the trailer seems to be taking the same approach as Scott did with his build-up to Prometheus. Rather than show any scenes from the film itself, the preview takes the form of an advertisement by Omni Consumer Corp (OCP), the evil mega-corporation that is responsible for building Robocop and controlling Old Detroit.
It’s quite interesting, and I am reasonably intrigued as to see how the remake chooses to deal with the original’s various themes, such as cybernetics, corporate domination, urban decay and a society numbed by violence and distracted by mindless entertainment.
Man of Steel, Debut Trailer
A number of interesting things were unveiled this year at the 2012 Comic Con, not the least of which was the long-awaited preview for the new Superman movie. Fans of the franchise may recall the 2006 reboot, entitled Superman Returns. That movie was what is generally referred to as an interquel, a movie which occurred chronologically between Superman II and III, with the purpose of rehabilitating the series after it fell on hard times.
Since then, fans have been anticipating when the next movie would come out, and whether or not it would expand on the 2006 relaunch or be another relaunch entirely. Well, after many years, shooting has finally wrapped up on “Man of Steel”, another relaunch of the series which goes back to the very beginning of the series and is slated for release in 2013.
In addition, the movie stars Henry Cavill in the starring role as The Man of Steel himself. Zack Snyder directed the film, Christopher Nolan helped produce it, and Han Zimmer composed the score. Additional cast include Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Michael Shannon as General Zod, Russel Crowe as Jor-El, and Kevin Costner as Clarke’s father. Not bad… and that includes Costner. I mean, it’s not his fault he kept landing crap roles!
Anyway, check out the teaser trailer below:
Higgs Boson, by Sheldon Cooper!
In honor of the recent news about the discovery of the Higgs Boson, I thought I’d post this funny clip from the Big Bang Theory. In it, Dr. Sheldon Cooper (who I swear is a friend of mine in disguise) tries to use it as the keyword in a game of charades. Not only is this one of my favorite shows around (it speaks to me!), they also manage to sneak in a fair bit of real science from time to time. Heck, if it weren’t for them, I never would have been sent scrambling to my laptop to look up the concept of “Loop Quantum Gravity”.
It almost makes we want to write about real science, unrelated to fiction and literature and such. Articles dedicated to the graviton, neutrinos, Relativity, and the mysteries of space and time. But then again, who has that kind of time, who would want to read it, and most importantly, would I really get any enjoyment out of writing about all that stuff? After all, I’m a geek, not a nerd 🙂
Enjoy!
Stories by Williams 