Michael Chabon's Screenplay for Spider-Man 2

In honor of Maps and Legends, Michael Chabon's first book of nonfiction, which features a pretty amazing three-tiered die-cut jacket by Jordan Crane and is available now here, we present the following Maps and Legends bonus material: Chabon's screenplay for Spider-Man 2. Chabon was the third of four screenwriters assigned to the project; he ultimately received shared "screen story" credit. As far as we know, this script hasn't been seen anywhere else, and it won't be seen here for long.

The Last 4 Minutes of the Lost Series!

Not really, but funny.

Check it out here!

SciFi Rides

Kevin Maher's SciFi Department video last week about the cars of tomorrow got me thinking: if I could have any vehicle from any Science Fiction realm, what would it be?

The Trekkie in me instantly turns to the Enterprise-D of The Next Generation, but then I think of issues of practicality: I mean, where on earth would I park it? The flying and time-traveling DeLorean is tempting, though judging from the trilogy the thing pretty much breaks down every time you use it. I think I would have to pick the Millennium Falcon, which is an awesome looking ship, it's armed to the teeth and it somehow has the ability to turn space into time -- I assume making the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs has something to do with the warping effect of hyperspace? Then again, maybe George Lucas just didn't do his homework. Either way, I think it's the all around best choice in terms of aesthetics, versatility, speed, and of course armaments.

What SciFi ride would you guys most like to cruise in?

What's the Last Sci-Fi Movie You Watched?

When it comes to genre movie fans, Sci-Fi watchers are like junkies -- we'll watch pretty much anything as long as we get our fix. And Hollywood has certainly figured that much out about us, which is why J.J. Abrams is now working on the eleventh Star Trek film, and why for every epic like Star Wars, we get bombarded with drivel like Battlefield Earth (or for that matter, The Phantom Menace).

What's the last Sci-Fi you subjected yourself to, and what did you think?

Who is Your Favorite Captain?

Where would science fiction be without a bold commander leading the charge? Lost in Space, that's where. Captains are the stalwarts of courage, morality, bravery and yes, sometimes even theatricality (I'm looking at you, Jean-Luc Picard). But as they say, the worst crew is a boatful of captains. So in a galaxy of capable commanders, who takes charge?

Who is your favorite Sci-Fi Captain? Are you a Kirk devotee, or is Picard more your warp speed? Is Han Solo a better smuggler than Mal Reynolds? Is David Bowman's Space Odyssey better than Admiral Adama's? Tell us what you think.

I have to go with the Shakespearian Picard, who manages to make any speech, no matter how filled with Treknobabble, a lesson in poetry.

SciFi Quotes

Here's a memorable quote from a Science Fiction film. The first commenter to guess the correct film posts the next quote.

"As a matter of cosmic history, it has always been easier to destroy, than to create."

Who said it, and in what film? Let the games begin!

Superhero Match-ups

Comic book artist Warren Ellis recently started a limited series for Marvel called Ultimate Human, which to make a long psychedelic (it is, after all, Warren Ellis) is essentially an Incredible Hulk vs. Iron Man story. I couldn't help but be struck with the coincidence that while we read Ellis' story we're all eagerly anticipating a Hulk and an Iron Man movie this year. There have even been hints that the two films will nod to each other in anticipation of an eventual Avengers movie.

My question is this: if you could make a movie that pits any two superheroes against each other regardless of price, publishing house, or comic canon, who would it be?

Aside from pitting Marvel heroes against their DC counterparts (Aquaman vs. The Sub-Mariner for control of Atlantis, anyone?), I have to say that I think the most interesting match-up would be Batman vs. Wolverine. Think about it, here are two guys that are literally barely hanging on to their humanity and composure (at least in the Frank Miller version of Batman). The Dark Knight might be at a slight disadvantage here, but if he could come up with some nifty toys to even the balance, I think we would have a no-holds-barred showdown between two extremely grizzled superheroes. What do you guys think?

Ten Best Science Fiction Films

My friends and I were trying to come up with a list of the top ten Sci-Fi films, and we couldn't seem to agree. Granted, the majority of the films on my list are relegated to the era in which I was alive to see them in the theaters. So I thought I would share my thoughts with my fellow Sci-Fi lovers and see what you all think.

10. The Day the Earth Stood Still -- An all-time classic, and a parable about mankind's potential savagery that maintains to this day
9. Star Trek: First Contact -- By far the best of the ten, First Contact could be enjoyed by Trekkies and non-fans alike
8. Twelve Monkeys -- Time traveling mind trip with Brad Pitt playing a nutcake? What's not to love?
7. Terminator 2 -- One of two instances of the sequel being better than the original, Terminator 2 was actually the first R-rated movie I ever saw. So it will always hold a special place in my heart.
6. Blade Runner -- The best Philip K. Dick adaptation (and there have been plenty). I am still disappointed the big reveal in the book is different from the movie -- typically for me it's the other way around.
5. Aliens -- The second instance of a sequel being better than the original. Bill Paxton deserves an Oscar for his role.
4. Back to the Future -- Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads!
3. Star Wars -- I think it's required by law to include Star Wars in every Science Fiction list
2. The Matrix -- I don't care if it totally rips of Neuromancer, The Matrix made cyberpunk palatable to the masses, and also redefined the level of artistry and storytelling that we should expect from modern cinema.
1. Children of Men -- One of the most beautifully shot and poignant movies I've ever seen. The best Science Fiction doesn't need to remind you it's taking place in the future -- it hits so hard, it doesn't matter.

What do you guys think? What's on your list?

Jumper Wasn't That Bad

I've read a lot of flack about Jumper recently, and having finally seen it this weekend, I wanted to weigh in. People it's not that bad of a movie. In fact, I was pretty entertained.

Maybe it was the fact that I had read so many awful reviews, on this site and others, that my expectations were at all-time low levels, but here are my impressions.

1) The story. Many of the reviews said that there is essentially no plot. And to this I can say, I see where you're coming from. There seems to be very little motivation for the movie except that Paladins want to kill Jumpers and Hayden Christensen wants to bang Rachel Bilson. Yeah, that's not going to win any awards, but it's really all you need to keep the movie entertaining and moving along at a healthy clip. In addition, the story actually does raise an interesting topic that I see this forum has addressed in the past, and is something I've always wondered: Why do superhero movies always paint the heroes to be boy scouts? I like that our "hero's" only motivation here is to steal money and get the girl. Despite the fact that I'm watching Sci Fi, it seems more real to me.

2. Hayden Christensen. Is he going to win Best Actor any time soon? Probably not. But so what? Does he reek up the screen? No. As per point number one, you're not really going to the movie to see great story and character development.

3) The special effects are really incredible, and to me well worth the 10 bucks. Aside from the special effects, there are some really fun visuals from all over the world--I'm not sure they actually went to those locations, but given that we're talking about Bourne director Doug Liman here, I wouldn't be surprised.

I'm not coming out guns blazing in defense of this movie. I just don't think it's given a fair shake. It's entirely possible that our expectations were simply too high--had Michael Bay directed this film, we'd probably all be calling it a popcorn thrill ride. But Doug Liman did it, and so we raised the bar too high. Maybe he just wanted to make a popcorn thrill ride. Or maybe he faltered trying to make a more cerebral experience. Either way, he ended up with a half-decent thriller, which is about 50% better than most of the movies out there anyways.

That's just my opinion.

Where Has Sci-Fi Gone?

I read an interesting piece today on Our Future: Thoughts about why Science Fiction writers are no longer making outlandish predictions about the future in their fiction. Citing a paper by futurist Ray Kurzweil, the blog writes, "Fiction writers are no longer able to think beyond the predicted 'technological singularity' that many believe will occur in or around 2030. That is to say that the human mind can no longer comprehend how life could be beyond the next thirty years when taking into account the advancements we have made in the past few decades." Basically, the author argues that we have made such exponential advances in mere decades that to ponder beyond is simply out of our range of comprehension.

I have to say that I disagree. I don't believe the reason we no longer try to predict the future is because we can't fathom it. I think we no longer do it because we fear embarrassing ourselves when the future turns out to be mundane. Predicitons of the future just 60 or 70 years ago had us in flying cars and living on the moon by the year 2000 (Take a look at David Szondy's Tales of Future Past and you'll see what I'm talking about).

Obviously, that didn't come to pass. So I feel like we've curbed our expectations about what science can do for us in the future simply because we don't want to look foolish. Essentially, why predict that by the year 2030 we'll have flying cars if you'll be around to see yourself proven wrong?

What do you think? Have Science Fiction writers given up on prediction in favor of fantasy? What could be the reason for that?