Poll Results: How do you read this blog?
I didn’t get quite as many votes as I would have liked, but I think the spread is probably fairly representative of how you folks read this blog. Here are the results: 66% of you read this blog via and RSS Reader 33% of you read this blog by coming to the main page Nobody voted for any of the other options, though I know a good 20 or so of the readers for this blog do use email, which accounts for that missing 1%. I’ll have another poll in the near future. Stay tuned!
Video Found: Turbo (Short Film)
Remember that movie Gamer with Gerard Butler? Remember how the idea was really cool, but it was executed poorly? I do. But the good news is that someone else had the same idea and came up with a twenty-four minute short film called Turbo: TURBO is a high adrenaline short film in the tradition of The Karate Kid and Tron. It tells the story of Hugo Park (Justin Chon, Twilight) a troubled youth whose only outlet for angst is a 4D fighting videogame called “Super Turbo Arena”. When Pharaoh King (Jocko Sims, Crash the Series), the Michael Jordan of cyber-sports, announces a tournament to determine who will join his pro-team, Hugo sets his eyes on the prize. But, Hugo isn’t the only gamer who wants fame and glory. If Hugo wants to win he’s going to have to beat Shamus (David Lehre, Epic Movie), the all time Turbo champ at the local Pandemonium arcade, and Ruse Kapri, a feisty prep girl that knows how to win. Realizing he can’t win on his skill alone, Hugo turns to his brother Tobias a former kick-boxer whose last match left him wheel-chair ridden. Together the two will mend old wounds and see if a washed up street fighter can teach a troubled teen how to become a virtual gladiator! And it’s freaking awesome. It has flaws, sure, but I think it’s definitely a great piece of science fiction. If you’ve got the time, check it out below (after the fold):TURBO from Jarrett Lee Conaway on Vimeo.
Top 8 Most Ridiculous Moments in Science Fiction and Fantasy Film in the 21st Century
Science fiction and fantasy have had a great first decade in the 21st century. Some of the best films and television shows in the history of the genre have appeared during this time, making sure that fans can fondly remember this decade as one of the best. But the 21st century has also brought us some downright awful stuff. From The Matrix Reloaded to the Star Wars prequels, the 21st century is responsible for some of the worst SF/F moments ever. Here are eight of the most ridiculous of those moments (after the fold): 8. Durza’s Gurgling Spell Yell — EragonThink back to when you saw this movie. Remember the scene where Durza (Robert Carlyle) gurgles a long string of ridiculous words? These words: Anori Draumr abr Sundablaka it ator Virliger. Possibly the worst part of that entire movie, and that’s saying a lot, because Eragon is terrible. Carlyle tries so hard to make it work, but you can see that at some point he gave up trying to take the movie seriously and immediately went for camp. 7. In the Name of the King — In the Name of the KingYes, I mean the entire movie. Why? Flying ninja sword lunges. Burt Reynolds as King. Matthew Lillard doing a really horrible British accent. The main character’s name is Farmer, who…farms. Most importantly, however, this film single-handedly destroyed any respect I had for John Rhys Davies and every other serious actor in the cast. I’d love the movie more if the cast were made of pathetic has-beens from the 80s, all desperate to re-ignite their old careers, but In the Name of the King pretty much works in the opposite direction. This movie isn’t even bad to the point of being funny. It’s just bad. Vulcan bad. (I’d love to show you all a video of just how bad this movie is, but unfortunately all I could find were the trailers, which hardly demonstrate how ridiculous In the Name of the King is.) 6. Underground Nude Acid Rave — The Matrix ReloadedI’m not the only one to take issue with this scene from The Matrix Reloaded (I can’t embed the video, unfortunately). That said, I have an entirely different take on why this scene is absolutely absurd. If humanity has been living underground in an attempt to hide from the machines, then wouldn’t it make sense to make as little noise as possible so as not to be found? Why are any of the characters shocked that the machines found out where they live? You’re running around banging huge drums and dancing around in a giant cavern. Sound resonates, and you’d have to assume the machines are smart enough to listen to vibrations in the ground. Maybe there’s a reason why we ended up being enslaved by the machines: we’re stupid as hell. (Note: A number of people have questioned this one, and so I want to answer to it. While this particular scene is explained in the movie as an attempt to show that they’re not afraid, one has to assume that they’ve always had those drums, because they don’t explain where they came from. If you take that assumption to heart, then it’s only logical that they use the drums, otherwise there’s no reason to make them. So, the moment might be explained, but not the apparatus itself.) 5. Hayden Christensen in Any SF/F Production — Star Wars, Jumper, etc.Watch Attack of the Clones again. Now watch Jumper. See the same problems? So do I. Either someone in the editing room phoned it in, or somebody let Christensen have a seizure on camera for kicks. Any time this guy has shown up in an SF/F film, it’s been an acting disaster. The thing is, all of these films have moments where you can see his actual ability shining through, but such moments are quickly glossed over by Haydenseizures. 4. Creepy Romance (and basically everything else in The Attack of the Clones except the end with the lightsabers and Yoda) — Star Wars, Episode Two: The Attack of the ClonesI don’t need to explain. These videos can do that for me. 3. Starbuck is an Angel — Battlestar Galactica (New)I didn’t hate the finale as much as everyone else, but the one thing I didn’t like was the mysterious disappearance of Starbuck. So much of what made Starbuck appealing as a character was lost in that moment. Starbuck is an angel sent to the colonies to destroy most of mankind (edit: not directly, as in the Cylons, but indirectly through the divine necessity of her entire purpose for existing) and then lead them to Earth, where she’ll go “poof” and leave Apollo wondering what the hell happened? The audience saw that and started screaming “wtf.” Too many questions unanswered, and a whole lot of questions reduced to weird religious mumbo jumbo that makes about as much sense as the Midichlorians in Star Wars. Maybe they’ll get it right when they pull out that ridiculous movie reboot of Battlestar Galactica. 2. Future Spock — J. J. Abrams’ Star TrekI don’t even need to say anything. You just need to read this, this, and this. 1. The Name Change (like a sex change, but less acceptable) — SyFyLet’s be frank: SyFy hasn’t exactly been the bastion of science fiction television in the last ten years. They’ve consistently cut the science fiction out of their programming in exchange for crappy reality shows about BS…I mean ghosts, and they’ve produced more crappy TV movies than any other network in existence, without being smart enough to just stick Bruce Campbell in them all to save face. To give you an idea of how the programming has changed, I filched this comparison from Something Awful: SciFi Channel Sunday schedule circa 19989:00 AM – 10:00 AM Dark Shadows – Count Darcy cries about a dead pigeon.10:00 AM – 11:00 AM The Incredible Hulk – Bruce Banner fights a racist sheriff.11:00 AM – NOON Automan –
Video Found: Khoda (animation made from paintings)
Khoda is absolutely amazing. It’s an animated film made entirely from paintings (over 6,000 over them). Imagine having to paint that many things? The story is told without words and is visually gorgeous. The folks who made this were incredibly dedicated. See for yourself (after the fold):Khoda from Reza Dolatabadi on Vimeo.
The Skiffy and Fanty Show #2 is Live!
For those of you who are interested, the second episode of the science fiction and fantasy podcast I am doing with Weirdside is up. We cover the recent controversy created by NextRead’s rants about SF Signal’s Mind Melds, the inclusivity of genre fiction as a community, some Nebula Awards hangups (Spar!), and some interesting news. You can find it here (stream or download). As always, we’d love to hear from you if you have a question, a disagreement, hatemail, criticism, or glowing praise. Anywho!
Interview w/ Jack Skillingstead
Jack Skillingstead was kind enough to answer a few questions for me. You can read my review of his novel, Harbinger, here. Thanks again to Mr. Skillingstead for his time and patience. Here goes: First things first, can you tell us a little about yourself (a sort of mini bio)? I was born in a working class suburb of Seattle and grew up there, which I suppose formed my character in all the usual ways of environmental influences. My dad was a model builder for the Boeing company. He worked on the moon buggy for the later Apollo missions and built wind tunnel models for the piggy-back 747 / space shuttle. I remember him being quite excited about that project. My mother was a housewife and the big reader in the house. I remember being impressed, as a small child, that she was reading a science fiction story — the Post’s serialization of Asimov’s “Fantastic Voyage.” I learned to read by following along with my mother’s repeated out loud readings to me of favorite comic books. And I remember the exact moment the black marks in the word balloon became a recognizable word. The word was “said.” Bradbury claims to remember being born. I don’t remember that, but I remember my birth as a word-recognizer. That remains the most important educational step in my autodidactic life. As for formal education, mine proceeded along unremarkable lines. I have three brothers and one sister, all older. My own kids are grown. One is a student at Chapman University in California, the other is following a more erratic path in life — as have I. Currently I live in the city with fellow writer Nancy Kress, which makes life very pleasant. Who are some of your favorite authors and what are some of your favorite books? What are you currently reading? I especially love the stories and novels of Daryl Gregory. He’s a kindred spirit. Paolo Bacigulupi is doing incredible work, of course. The short stories of Ted Kosmatka are all knockouts, and Del Rey is doing his first novel, The Helix Game, next year. I’m very much looking forward to that one. Those are some of my contemporaries, in terms of publishing time lines, though I’m a little older than all of them. I’m also enamored with Kessel, Kress, Willis, Haldeman and numerous others. Going back, it’s Bradbury, Matheson, Beaumont, Ellison, Sturgeon and Zelazny. These are all writers I return to again and again. I’m talking about genre now, that’s leaving out mainstream and classic writers. Currently I’m reading Dying Inside by Robert Silverberg and Parallel Lives by Phyllis Rose, which is a study of Victorian-era marriages of literary types. What drew you into writing, and, specifically, what drew you to science fiction? From my earliest memory I’ve been attracted to science fiction, fantasy and horror. When I was younger — teenage through 20s — the emphasis was more on horror. Lovecraft, Ramsey Campbell, Dennis Etchison, Weird Tales era Bradbury, Richard Matheson’s short stories plus Hell House and of course I Am Legend. Stephen King. Peter Staub’s early novels, pre Ghost Story. This was also a time when I read a lot real-world horror — the fast and dirty novels of James Ellroy, for instance. Holy shit! Blood On The Moon. Suicide Hill. That stuff was disturbing. But to get back to your question, I can’t tell you what drew me and continues to draw me to science fiction. People simply have different filters. My filters catch anything that occurs off the straight and narrow path of the mainstream. As for writing my own stories, I always wanted to do that, though my approach was in more of an optimistic vein when I was a kid and thought I’d write Star Trek type stories. When I actually started producing fiction the quality was pretty wretched, and whatever hotspots occurred usually came out of the dark side of my psyche. So it has been ever since. John Clute said something very perceptive is his mini-review of my collection. He said, paraphrasing, sometimes the stories seemed like a form of therapy. I would only add that these therapy sessions, like real therapy, tended to yield the most interesting results the darker and less certain the outcome.Your novel, Harbinger, is placed in a rather interesting place within the spectrum of narratives about immortals. While fantasy has largely focused on vampires and other inhuman immortals, your novel takes a more science-fictional approach to the concept. What inspired you to write Harbinger? There is a science fiction cliché: The ordinary man in extraordinary circumstances. I wanted to see what happened to an ordinarily warped man in extraordinary circumstances — the man so warped and the circumstances so extraordinary that the reader, at times, wouldn’t even know if the circumstances were real. This is a little bit of a Phillip K. Dick approach, but I also wanted the book to be fun and adventurous. And of course it had to be tied in to me personally — you know, a “therapy” book. My first inspiration to write it at all was simply that I wanted to do a novel that I could sell. I’d already written several that hadn’t been successful. This felt like a do-or-die effort. It was time. Of course, the book got rejected all over the place, and I didn’t die as a result. And it did eventually find a publisher. You’re right about the current tendency to focus on vampires, but I don’t think Ellis Herrick is too far out of the spectrum of immortals in science fiction history. Zelazny wrote about science fiction based immortals all the time, as did other accomplished writers in decades past. Personally, I can’t get behind romanticizing the vampire, though I did like the first two Ann Rice books. Additionally, what do you think it is that draws us to immortals? Why are we fascinated by characters who can live forever and why do we keep coming