Twilight Zone art show at Gallery 1988

Gallery 1988 are having an exhibition of Twilight Zone inspired art and it looks like it could be epic.

More info on the Gallery 1988 website.

I love the one by Tom Whalen below from the episode “Nightmare at 20000 Feet.” The Shat is always good to watch.

Source: io9

Jack Ryan – Chris Pine’s go at Jack gets a title and plot

Way back in October last year news was out that young Captain Kirk, Chris Pine, would be taking over the Tom Clancy Jack Ryan franchise.

Alec Baldwin originated the character in 1990’s “The Hunt for Red October,” Harrison Ford played him in 1992’s “Patriot Games” and 1994’s “Clear and Present Danger,” and Ben Affleck played Ryan in 2002’s “The Sum of All Fears.”

Producer Mace Neufield revealed that it was not an origins story, it would not be based on a Tom Clancy novel, and that, in reference to the movie’s starting point, “We pick him up while he’s on Wall Street.”

Now Pajiba have some more news on the plot of the film that is currently bein called Moscow (I reckon that will change):

The movie will pick up with the Jack Ryan not long after his stint in the Marines, before he’s joined the CIA, while he’s a Wall Street stock broker, an occupation that will play heavily into the script. In the Clancy novels, Jack Ryan was a successful financial analyst in Baltimore for Merrill Lynch. In the new movie, he will have transplanted to Moscow to continue his financial advising, not for Merill Lynch (which has been absorbed by Bank of America), but for a billionaire employer. It is that billionaire employer who eventually sets Jack Ryan up to take the fall for terrorist plot designed to collapse the U.S. economy.

After that, Ryan must race against time to clear his name, reveal the terrorist plot, and save his wife, who has been taken hostage by the billionaire employer.

Sounds like a nice little plot and Pine should be good as Ryan. I think a lot depends on who they get to play the bad guy and his wife. Any suggestions?

Swiss Army Knife of Awesomeness

I can see Lion-O’s sword,Mjoilnor (sp?), sonic screwdriver, Star Trek OS phaser, lightsaber, Blade Runner gun, Noisy Cricket, Harry Potter’s wand and I’m not too sure on the grapple gun and swords – Conan’s and Aragorn’s maybe?

Call me Ish and hopefully Fearless Leader Phil will be back on the posting game tomorrow as I’m burning out after just a few days.

Source: Obvious Winner

A – Z of Awesomeness in this amazing Poster

Just fantastic. This poster is by Neil Cameron and his site has a close up of each letter.

You can also buy a copy. The posters are 286mm x 439mm, on glossy full-colour poster paper.

Each poster is signed. The price is £8.00 (GBP), with a postage and packing charge of £2.50, wherever you are. Please allow 28 days for delivery.

All profits from the sale of this second printing will be donated to SSNAP (Support for the Sick Newborn And their Parents), a charity which supports the Intensive Special Care Nurseries (Neonatal Unit) at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford.

Jameson / Empire Film Awards – The 2010 Nominations Announced

Another award ceremony has announced their nominees and some good ones to be had at the Jameson / Empire Film Awards. Here is the press release followed by the list of nominations.

Two of the biggest and most revered action/thriller directors lead the way in this year’s Awards with James Cameron’s Avatar and Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds each garnering five nominations. Academy Award-nominated dramas proved equally popular with the multi-BAFTA Award-winning The Hurt Locker and District 9 receiving four nominations each whilst Up In The Air and An Education each receive three nominations.

In the running for the coveted position of Best Film (presented by Sony) are Avatar, Star Trek, District 9, Inglourious Basterds and The Hurt Locker.

Harry Brown, Sherlock Holmes and Inglourious Basterds all feature in the Best Actor category (presented by Citroën) with nominations for Sir Michael Caine and Robert Downey Jr. They are joined by Christoph Waltz with his Academy Award-nominated performance in Inglourious Basterds, Sam Worthington in Avatar and Robert Pattinson in New Moon.

The past year has also given movie fans a dazzling array of performances by a new generation of leading ladies. Zoe Saldana for her motion capture work in Avatar as Best Actress, alongside Carey Mulligan’s superb performance in An Education. They are joined by Emily Blunt in the title role of The Young Victoria, Melanie Laurent as vengeful refugee Shosanna Dreyfus in Inglourious Basterds and Anne-Marie Duff for her acclaimed performance as John Lennon’s mother in Nowhere Boy.

Avatar and Inglourious Basterds see directors James Cameron and Quentin Tarantino go head to head for the coveted title of Best Director alongside Neil Blomkamp for District 9, JJ Abrams for Star Trek and Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker.

This has been another fantastic year for British filmmaking as reflected by nominees in many of the categories. The nominees for the Best British Film Award include Daniel Barber’s Michael Caine thriller Harry Brown, Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Lone Scherfig’s An Education, Sam Taylor-Wood’s directorial debut Nowhere Boy and Armando Iannucci’s political satire In The Loop (also nominated for Best Comedy).

The awards continue to acknowledge and celebrate the emergence of new talent. This year’s nominees for Best Newcomer are: Carey Mulligan for her BAFTA Award-winning role in An Education, Aaron Johnson for his performance as a young John Lennon in Nowhere Boy, Sharlto Copley in District 9, Anna Kendrick for her roles in Up In The Air and New Moon, and Katie Jarvis in the critically acclaimed Fish Tank.

Cinemagoers were kept in stitches by films such as the hit buddy movie The Hangover, the Coen Brothers’ A Serious Man, In The Loop and George Clooney’s dual roles in The Men Who Stare At Goats and Up In The Air – all of which are nominated for the Best Comedy Award.

Meanwhile, the Best Horror nominees that saw filmgoers cringing in their seats comprise of Tomas Alfredson’s Let The Right One In, Oren Peli’s terrifying Paranormal Activity, Ruben Fleischer’s comedy horror Zombieland, Chan-wook Park’s Cannes Film Festival Jury Prize winning Thirst and Sam Raimi’s return to form, Drag Me To Hell.

The Best Thriller category sees Harry Brown and Michael Mann’s Public Enemies up against Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds, Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker and Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey Jr.

Finally, Duncan Jones’ Moon, JJ Abrams’ Star Trek and James Cameron’s Avatar will go up against Neil Blomkamp’s District 9 and Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus for Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy film.

This year’s Jameson Empire Awards also welcomes the return of the hugely popular amateur filmmaking competition Done In 60 Seconds. All entries have now been submitted and the public are now starting to vote for their favourite Done in 60 Seconds film. Voting will close on March 12 and then the UK’s top five finalists will join 15 international finalists to be judged by a super-panel comprising Empire Editor Mark Dinning, actor Jason Issacs and director Edgar Wright. The resulting top five will then be invited to the Awards itself, but only one can win the coveted prize. The public can vote for their favourite UK Done in 60 Seconds video by visiting the website: www.empireonline.com/awards2010.

The Jameson Empire Awards 2010 will be held at the Grosvenor House Hotel on Sunday March 28 at 4.30pm.

List of Nominees:

Best Film
Avatar
Star Trek
District 9
Inglourious Basterds
The Hurt Locker

Best Actor
Sir Michael Caine (Harry Brown)
Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds)
Robert Pattinson (New Moon)
Sam Worthington (Avatar)
Robert Downey Jr. (Sherlock Holmes)

Best Actress
Anne-Marie Duff (Nowhere Boy)
Carey Mulligan (An Education)
Zoe Saldana (Avatar)
Emily Blunt (The Young Victoria)
Melanie Laurent (Inglourious Basterds)

Best Director
James Cameron (Avatar)
Neil Blomkamp (District 9)
JJ Abrams (Star Trek)
Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds)
Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker)

Best British Film
Harry Brown
The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus
An Education
Nowhere Boy
In The Loop

Best Comedy
In The Loop
A Serious Man
The Hangover
Up In The Air
The Men Who Stare At Goats

Best Horror
Let The Right One In
Paranormal Activity
Zombieland
Thirst
Drag Me To Hell

Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Moon
Star Trek
Avatar
District 9
The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus

Best Thriller
Harry Brown
Public Enemies
Inglourious Basterds
The Hurt Locker
Sherlock Holmes

Best Newcomer
Carey Mulligan (An Education)
Aaron Johnson (Nowhere Boy)
Sharlto Copley (District 9)
Anna Kendrick (Up In The Air/New Moon)
Katie Jarvis (Fish Tank)

What do you think will win?

Star Wars – Whatever happened to all that yellow writing at the start of the film?

Hitler vs Khan

Spock can be a smutty Vulcan

Arise Sir Jean Luc Picard – Make it so.

Stage and film actor Patrick Stewart (Star Trek, Moby Dick, X-Men) has received a knighthood in the New Year Honours list for his services to drama.

Sir Patrick, born in Mirfield, West Yorkshire and known for a string of theatre and screen roles, said he was “very proud” to be made a knight, adding the theatre has always been his “great joy”.

“In particular the past six years have given me acting opportunities that at one time I could not have imagined possible.

“This is an honour that embraces those actors, directors and creative teams who have in these recent years helped fill my life with inspiration, companionship and sheer fun,” said Sir Patrick.

What are your favourite Patrick Stewart moments?


Cheers to Andy M for sending me the link.

2009: The Year of Smart Sci-Fi

By Richard Bodsworth

As 2009 comes to a close the inevitable “reviews of the year “come out to play like The Warriors. I always like to look back, build a list and maybe sadly watch my Top 10 in order. While I was compiling, I noticed that the vast majority of them were Science Fiction films and it dawned on me it has been one Hell of a year for Sci-Fi. Something we were sorely starved of last year with the likes of the wooden wonder boy Keanu Reeves in The Day The Earth Stood Still. So I thought it may be appropriate to have a look at the Sci-Fi films of the year, in what I guess you could call, “2009: The Year of Smart Sci-Fi”

It seems to be universally accepted within the film industry that you can’t make a low budget Science Fiction movie, it’s all got to be about effects, explosions and all that nonsense. Shit, if science was at all like it is in films I might have received a higher grade on my exam at school. However, with his debut feature film, MOON, director Duncan Jones managed to turn that notion on it’s head. Shot on a budget of £2.5m, Moon is a dark, thought provoking modern classic. Making use of retro effect techniques like miniatures, the lunar landscape and the vehicles look as entirely, if not more, authentic than in most films using excessive CGI. But with Moon, the visuals only serve as the backdrop for the psychological core as Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) battles with the idea he may not be alone on the Lunar base. Jones’ direction coupled with the haunting score of Clint Mansell help create a claustrophobic environment not unlike that of Alien. Sam Rockwell’s tour de force performance is one of the best I have seen all year (bearing in mind I have yet to see Clooney’s Up in the Air) and hopefully there is a chance he will be acknowledged by The Academy come February‘s nominations.

Despite having a slightly bigger budget than Moon another debut feature director, Neil Blomkamp, showed you don’t need the net worth of a small country to make great Sci-Fi with the fantastic DISTRICT 9. After an alien spacecraft stops above Johannesburg, South Africa, the malnourished species onboard are given asylum on Earth. After a while some of the extraterrestrials become engaged in criminal activities with some becoming violent. As a result the human public want more control over the new arrivals. The government therefore sets up a secure camp called District 9, and the aliens – derogatorily referred to as “prawns” are sent there. However, crime again begins to spiral out of control and the camp becomes a shanty town. We follow one of the men in charge, Wikus (Sharlto Copley) of relocating the “prawns” to the new District 10. Filmed partially documentary style, the initial set up of showing how the aliens come to land on Earth is simply brilliant. Sharlto Copley’s improvised dialogue, especially during the relocation process, adds to the realism and builds a great character. Not unlike Moon, the film does feature some impressive visual effects but they are put on the back burner (for the first part of the film at least) as Blomkamp weaves the completely believable scenario with the underlying themes of xenophobia and the use of a privatised military. The final act does fall into action packed blockbuster territory but not without the thought provoking build up, all the more poignant by the country in which it is set. Under the watchful eye of Peter Jackson, you really wonder what the producer/director duo’s Halo could have been.

Sadly it seems lately, the best thing to do when times are tough is for big studios not to bother investing large sums of cash into original films and so we are spoon-fed the endless list of, sequels, prequels and reboots. While some are pointless, unoriginal and frankly crap (as I shall mention later), J.J. Abrams take on STAR TREK showed how it should be done. The film benefits immensely from the talented screenwriting combo of Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. By using the time travel and alternate universe plot, the film is able not to disrupt the continuity set by the previous films and television series. I believe J.J. Abrams best attribute is his ability to pace a film perfectly, he showed this with MI:3 which is personally my favourite of the trilogy. This pacing makes sure we aren’t stuck in the almost boring plot points of an origins story, something Wolverine could have benefited from. Casting of the younger crew was also spot on, no actor overdoing their part and turning it into a parody. Critics may argue that the new film failed to portray the usual themes of the earlier incarnations, but I’m convinced the filmmakers did an excellent job with the amount of stuff they had to fit in as it was a prequel. It is intriguing to see what is next for the Enterprise.

While these were some of the highlights, there were also some spectacular failures this year including the laser blasting bukkake that was Michael Bay’s TRANSFORMERS 2: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN. After praising Orci and Kurtzman for Star Trek, their talents were nowhere to be seen in this loud, overlong, plot less monstrosity. It’s easy to Bay bash so I will stop, even though there is no chance he will because yet again suckers (myself included) queued up, paid the entrance fee, and there will continue to more films like it for years to come.

The daggers were already out before the film was released when McG was announced as director for the 4th Terminator outing in TERMINATOR SALVATION. Minds were momentarily put at ease after some footage was shown and I myself was genuinely excited… then I watched it. Just another plot less action film with too much shooting and not enough character, a high profile and talented cast ultimately wasted. I know some people enjoyed the film, even reading some 4 star reviews but isn’t this always the case? When a film with big expectations is released people think it is instantly great then after consideration and a few years down the line, opinion changes. See the Star Wars prequels, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull etc. It would be nice to see these big budget films concentrate a bit more on story instead of thinking about what can be blown up next.

So what can we expect in 2010’s Sci-Fi bundle? No doubt there will be a few surprises along with a few disappointments, but three films that should be marked on your film calendar include, Nimrod Antal’s PREDATORS. The film written and produced by Robert Rodriguez is apparently a direct sequel to the original 1987 Arnie classic, but that is yet to be confirmed, it is also rumoured the big man himself may even cameo as his original character, Dutch. Starring Adrien Brody, Topher Grace and Danny Trejo there is every chance it could be an ultimate flop, but here’s hoping Rodriguez knows what he’s doing. Cant be any worse than Alien vs. Predator: Requiem anyway.

Probably my most anticipated is Christopher Nolan’s, INCEPTION. The trailer is short, and all we really know about the plot is it‘s “contemporary science fiction action thriller set within the architecture of the mind”. But with a cast including Leonardo DiCaprio, Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Tom Berenger and the legendary Michael Caine how can you not be excited?

Finally at the end of the year TRON LEGACY. The footage already released has been simply breathtaking and word is it has come along way from that.

As you may have noticed, the biggest Sci-Fi film of the year and most probably the decade is not mentioned here. Sadly it has not yet been released. Look out for a separate Avatar review in the next few days.

A great article by Richard. Looking forward to the Avatar piece. Be sure to check out the LFF Review of the Year.

What have been your science fiction highlights and lowlights of the year?