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Mary Robinette Kowal - The Eight Worst Anachronisms in Fantasy

2009-11-06T05:00:29Z

There are two types of anachronisms in fantasy: intentional and accidental. The former -- when a modern item is introduced for comic effect, as when the audience sings "We Will Rock You" at a joust in A Knight's Tale -- often amuse me. The latter type amuse me in a much different way, because many of them could have been solved by having an intern check dates. There's fantasy, then there's just plain forgetfulness. Today we'll look at the eight biggest offenders.

8. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
When Indiana Jones is flying around the world, the lines on the screen show the world as it appears in 1981 when the movie was released -- not the 1930s when it was set. Really? It would have killed someone to take a period atlas and check? I mean, it's not like we don't know that borders got moved around back then. This minor snafu with the movie's travel plot device earns it the eight spot.

7. The Green Mile (1991)
Set in Louisiana in 1935, The Green Mile shows a series of executions in an Electric Chair. It's dramatic and horrifying, and also five years too early. In 1935, convicts were executed by hanging. On the other hand, prisoner Eduard Delacroix (Michael Jeter) has the November 1937 issue of Weird Tales, so maybe 1935 isn't a firm date.

The Fourth Kind Review - But What If the Third Time's the Charm?

2009-11-06T05:00:28Z

The Fourth Kind's title refers to UFO researcher J. Allen Hynek's "close encounter" scale, leading from observation to physical evidence to contact and finally to abduction. Of course, the title is also an obvious shout-out to Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Here you can already see the sort of galling one-upmanship that is The Fourth Kind's m.o.: You thought Spielberg's alien visitation classic was really something? Wait 'til you see this.

That bit of chutzpah and foolishness is impressive enough, but The Fourth Kind's central gimmick is the real doozy: Apparently enamored of the success of various recent found-footage horror movies -- The Blair Witch Project, Cloverfield, Quarantine -- director Olatunde Osunsanmi decided to do them one better. He would tell his creepy little story of supernatural goings-on in the tiny town of Nome, Alaska not in a simple faux-documentary style, but as a combination of fake documentary and fake reenactment. You know how sometimes, on cable, desperate news magazine shows will use staged scenes with actors to fill gaps in actual footage? Osunsanmi decided to recreate that.

Daily Scan for 11.06.09 - Emmerich Talks 2012 TV Series, Wheaton Cameos Star Trek

2009-11-06T05:00:16Z

• Roland Emmerich is already talking a televised sequel to his apocalyptic film, 2012, pretty much giving away the ending for everyone in the process.

• A new Japanese trailer for James Cameron's Avatar shows even more alien fauna.

• Geek celebrity Wil Wheaton -- that's right, Star Trek's Wesley Crusher himself -- has a voice cameo in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek.

• The next Doctor Who special, Waters of Mars, will be airing in the U.S. later this year. If you're curious what to expect, check out the three minute sneak peek. I'm going to miss David Tennant.

• Doctor Horrible co-writer Zack Whedon spills on the eponymous mad scientist's secret origin in his new Dark Horse comic series.

John Scalzi - Ten Directors Who Really Need to Make a SciFi Movie

2009-11-05T05:00:29Z

Last week I was noting the uphill climb scifi will have in winning the "Best Picture" Academy Award, but it's worth also noting that while it's hard for scifi to nab that prize, Oscar-winning directors don't have any problems directing science fiction. Last year's Best Director, Danny Boyle, made 28 Days Later, a science fictional look at zombies, while Ang Lee (who won the 2005 statue) tried his hand at Hulk. Peter Jackson has Bad Taste in his background, and Steven Soderbergh attempted a remake of Solaris. Other Oscar winners who directed scifi include James Cameron, Robert Zemeckis and of course, Steven Spielberg.

That said, there are a number of interesting and influential directors who have yet to direct in the genre. Which naturally made me think of a column. Below you'll find my list of the ten directors I really think should make a scifi movie. In no particular order:

Martin Scorsese
He's the ultimate gritty urban portraitist, which makes him an unconventional choice, but also remember that Scorsese has some surprising works in his canon: The Last Temptation of Christ, The Age of Innocence and Kundun all suggest he's not afraid to stretch out and surprise viewers and critics. I literally cannot imagine what a Scorsese scifi would be like, which is the best possible reason for him to try one.

Clint Eastwood
Eastwood came tantalizingly close to scifi with 2000's Space Cowboys (I disqualify it because the science of the movie is contemporary, not futuristic), so it's not a huge leap to having him in the genre. Eastwood would likely prize character struggle over technology and make a scifi flick grownups could love.

Daily Scan for 11.05.09 - Goyer Talks Ghost Rider 2, Robot Uprising Gets Movie

2009-11-05T05:00:16Z

• If you have the time or patience to rearrange the whole 330,000 word novel by 5,000 word chunks, all of Stephen King's Under the Dome can now be read online.

• Daniel Wilson's How To Survive A Robot Uprising is coming to the big screen. That ought to be a fun apocalyptic picture.

• SciFi Wire posts the ten greatest scifi Obama "Hope" poster mash-ups. They're probably a year late, but who cares? It's still a lot of fun.

• David S. Goyer says that Ghost Rider 2 will not be a reboot, but instead a sequel set eight years after the original.

• SF Signal hosts another Mind Meld: Scifi books that ought to be taught in school. Ender's Game ought to make that list a dozen times over.

Humans Harness the Power of They Live With Their Own Mind Control

2009-11-04T05:00:29Z

If you watched V and They Live in the '80s, you know that aliens are masters of mind control. Which is why you also know that even if the new V's Anna isn't Diana, it's just a matter of time before she gives some Earthling an "attitude adjustment" -- perhaps in the form of a subliminal television message. What you might not know is that lately, humans have developed some mind control methods of their own.

Gero Miesenböck and his colleagues at the University of Oxford were able to manipulate fruit flies by exploiting their fear of pain, even if the pain was only in their minds. By stimulating specific brain cells with a flash of laser light, the researchers gave the flies fake memories of a painful experience and, says Miesenböck, "These memories cause a lasting modification of the flies' behavior." Perhaps the laser light showed the flies images of a formaldehyde face -- that was enough to give Nada the creeps.

See If You Can Ace (Bandage) the Milla Jovovich Ultimate Fan Quiz

2009-11-04T05:00:28Z

She's been called "the perfect woman" in more movies than any other actress in scifi. And before you go see Milla Jovovich show off that perfection to extra-terrestrials this Friday, see if you can get a perfect ten on her Ultimate Fan Quiz. Now move out of the way: There are some zombie dogs that need a good kickin'. Take Quiz Â»

Daily Scan for 11.04.09 - Whedon Wants Terminator, Anderson Wants Space

2009-11-04T05:00:16Z

• The Life Aquatic director Wes Anderson wants to do a scifi film physically shot in outer space. Good luck with that.

• The latest Star Trek deleted scene has been released, in which Kirk shows a callous disregard for both alien identity and sexuality.

• Nathan Patrelli from Heroes will be killed off this season. Presumably, the languishing show will be next.

• Now that the rights to the Terminator franchise is up for grabs, Joss Whedon wants a crack at it. His idea? Terminator... of the Rings!

• Speaking of our fanboy favorite Joss, Nathan Fillon says that Dr. Horrible 2 already has a title, with several songs already written.

Don't Play Me Like That! The Worst Depictions of Gamers in SciFi

2009-11-03T05:00:29Z

In this column we've learned a lot about the tremendous impact video games have had on Hollywood, but what about the gamers themselves? You see, we gamers know what we're actually like, but filmmakers are still a little unclear about how to portray our ilk. When they sit down at their typewriters, we usually come off as either more charming and interesting than we are in reality, or we're condescendingly insulted. Need proof? Here are the most egregious offenders in science fiction.

The Movie: Stay Alive (2006)
The Gamers: Incredibly hot and stupid
With a cast made up of startlingly good-looking actors like Sophia Bush, Milo Ventimiglia, and Samaire Armstrong, much of this sub-par movie feels like a feature-length Nintendo Wii commercial -- admittedly, one that's full of decapitations and slit throats. The characters in Stay Alive are indicative of everything gamers simultaneously loathe and envy; we Cheetos-eating, over-or-underweight lot wish to be the type of people who could swap spittle with Sophia Bush, but we also never want to be the kind of brainless morons who get killed because we weren't smart enough to stop playing a video game that decapitates its players. Decisions, decisions.

Daily Scan for 11.03.09 - Hopkins Sires Thor, Theron Seduces Mad Max

2009-11-03T05:00:16Z

• Hot off her stint as a post-apocalyptic babe in The Road, Charlize Theron will play a post-apocalyptic babe in Mad Max 4: Fury Road.

• By Odin's beard! Anthony Hopkins will play the king of Asgard in Kenneth Branaugh's Thor. Is there any famous English actor not yet signed for this movie?

• Roland Emmerich discusses his reasons for destroying every monument in the world for the forthcoming disaster flick, 2012, with one exception: The Kaaba in the holy city of Mecca.

• According to original V show-runner Kenneth Johnson, the series originally wasn't going to be about aliens at all: It was to be about neo-fascism in a scifi setting.

The Box Director Richard Kelly on His Obsession With Ominous Strangers

2009-11-02T05:00:29Z

The director of Donnie Darko returns with The Box, about a couple that's offered a chance to push a button that will kill a stranger for $1,000,000. He describes the movie's thematic relation to Darko and tells whether or not he would push the button.

Q: What made you want to adapt Richard Matheson's short story?

A: I was a kid when I first discovered this story. It was published in 1970, I think in Playboy.

Q: Which of course you were only reading for the articles.

A: [Laughs] Of course! No, I don't know if I saw it in Playboy or not. But it always kind of stuck with me, and I always thought it had this tantalizing premise that was inherently filled with so much suspense that I just had all these questions I wanted to have answered: I wanted to know who was Mr. Steward [Frank Langella]? More importantly, who does he work for? Who built the button unit? What is their motive, what are they trying to accomplish by approaching these married couples?

Q: The allure of the original story and Twilight Zone episode is that these questions weren't answered. How do you maintain it after answering them?

Daily Scan for 11.02.09 - Roger Rabbit 2 Is Coming, Men in Black 3 Finds a Writer

2009-11-02T05:00:16Z

• Robert Zemeckis says that the sequel to the cartoon fantasy Who Framed Roger Rabbit is on its way.

• Science fiction is experiencing a resurgence in 3D unseen since the 1950's, but this time, the fashionistas can take part with designer 3D glasses.

• Count Dooku, Saruman, Flay and Dracula have been knighted in the person of Sir Christopher Lee. No one could deserve it better.

• Men in Black 3 has a screenwriter in Tropic Thunder's Ethan Cohen, but no one knows if Will Smith will come back. My guess is yes: If he'll do Bad Boys 2, he'll do MiB 3 any day.

• At next year's Berlinale film festival, the original cut of Fritz Lang's Metropolis will be shown, after having been feared lost for decades.

Mary Robinette Kowal - Is Carrie Horror or Dark Fantasy? Depends How Easily You Scare

2009-10-30T05:00:29Z

Let me start with a confession: Despite the fact that I write horror and sell it, I can't read or watch it. Let's just say I'm a screamer. Popcorn flies. But the distance I place between myself and horror puts me in an ideal position to talk about the fine line between supernatural horror and dark fantasy. The genres cross more often than you would think, and sometimes, the distinction comes down to a simple question: How badly does it scare you? But in addition to that subjectivity, there are a few factors that can help you decide which genre a fantasy/horror hybrid best clings to. Let's look at some candidates.

Edward Scissorhands (1990)
One could make a strong argument for Tim Burton's movie as a horror, partly because it's a take on the Frankenstein story and partly because Tim Burton is always dark. But Edward's scissor-hands introduce tragedy to the tale -- he can't touch anyone he cares about without hurting them. As such there's an element of sadness and longing that runs through the whole movie, so it tends to lean it more towards fantasy.

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
On the other hand, so to speak... this movie features a character like Edward, in that Freddy Krueger has blades for fingers, but he stands firmly in the realm of horror. What's the difference between Freddy and Eddie? Body count: Freddy Krueger maims and kills throughout the franchise, making it painfully obvious that no one is safe. With Edward, there's the risk he might hurt someone; with Freddy, it's a promise.

Daily Scan for 10.30.09 - Ridley Talks Alien Prequel, Lindelof Talks Lost Secrets

2009-10-30T05:00:16Z

• Ridley Scott says that his upcoming Alien prequel will take place about thirty years before the first movie, and not be about the elephantine aliens after all. That's a shame: I really want to know The Pilot's story.

• James Cameron's Avatar gets a second trailer, though you've probably seen most of this footage before.

• ABC was intending on doing a publicity campaign for V by writing the eponymous letter in blood red smoke across the sky, but they ditched their plans, remembering that sort of thing doesn't go over too well since September 11th.

• Lost's Damon Lindelof says that Season 6 won't wait until the last episode to answer big questions. Plus, Libby Bulloff might be back, and we'll finally find out what was so special about Walt.

John Scalzi - Five Ways a SciFi Movie Could Win Best Picture

2009-10-29T05:00:29Z

Hey! It's Halloween on Saturday! So naturally this is going to be a science fiction-related Halloween column, right? Wrong! Yes, Halloween, love it, mmmm, candy, etc. But, you know, I just don't feel like writing one of those. You want a scary science fiction movie? Fine: Alien. We're done. Go and have a spooklicious Saturday.

What I really want to talk about this week are the Oscars, which I talked about briefly a couple of weeks ago when I said I think the chances are low for a scifi movie to make it on an Oscar ballot. It's difficult to get one nominated in the best of years, and even with the Best Picture slate doubling, this hasn't been the best of years for science fiction. But thinking about getting scifi on the ballot made me think of the next step: winning the Best Picture award. What would it actually take for a science fiction flick to win it all?