Tag: science fiction

More March Mars Madness

I can’t wait until this weekend to see John Carter at the theater.  I would have bought my tickets over lunch except my favorite theater has not yet listed showtimes for this weekend.  I convinced my uncle to venture forth as well this weekend.  But the real icing on the cake came with the short note he sent me this morning proclaiming his success in finding A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs at Project Gutenberg  and getting it downloaded to his Nook Color.

My local favorite library posted a cool YouTube video via their Facebook and Twitter feeds that I’d like to share here, prefaced by their blurb:

Do you know who created Tarzan and John Carter of Mars 100 years ago this spring? Check out this video preview of an upcoming event featuring author, critic & broadcaster John Tibbetts celebrating the legacy of an American cult icon…

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCmfD5vDYaY]

If you live in the Kansas City metropolitan area, you can click this link to register for the event on March 18, 2012 at 2:00 pm (Plaza Branch of the Kansas City Public Library).  I have already RSVP’d and received my confirmation.

And thanks to an update from Sky & Telescope‘s Facebook feed, I learned that “Mars is at its closest to Earth for this apparition: 100.8 million km (62.6 million miles). Mars appears 13.9 arcseconds wide, compared to the 24″ or 25″ it reaches during its closet swing-bys. The last time that happened was in 2003; the next will be in 2018.”  I saw Mars shining brightly this morning in the west before the sun arose, when I let the dogs out after they ate their breakfast.

Movie Review: The Adjustment Bureau (2011)

The Adjustment Bureau (2011)

4/4.5 out of 5 stars

Nebula Nominee

If I had a vote or a voice for this year’s Nebula Award (specifically the Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation), this movie would get mine.  I’ve watched it twice now and I loved every minute of it.

The film is based on a short story called “The Adjustment Team” written by Philip K. Dick published in the Sep/Oct 1954 issue of Orbit Science Fiction.  I cannot compare the film adaptation to the original short story, as I have not yet read it, but I can see the hand of PKD in the themes exhibited.

What appealed to me most about this story is the questions it raises, about fate and free will, and how we live our lives.  Science fiction doing what it does best.

FBR reblog: Meanwhile at the Discussion Group: March 2012

Another group I love over at GoodReads is Beyond Reality. And as if I wasn’t crazy enough already, I volunteered to take over as discussion leader in our series read of Weber’s Honor Harrington space opera.

Nebula Nominations for Dramatic Presentations

Today, the president, John Scalzi, of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA for short) announced via his Whatever blog this year’s (or last year’s depending on your point-of-view) Nebula Award nominations.  Sadly, I have yet to read any of the novels, novellas or novelettes nominated, but I will review my GoodReads friends’ reviews and ratings to see if any of them might appeal to me.

I was pleasantly surprised when I realized I had seen all but two of the nominations for dramatic presentations, one of which (Hugo) I had already added to my ‘to watch’ list and saved in my Netflix queue.

Here are the nominees for the Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation:

  • Attack the Block, Joe Cornish (writer/director) (Optimum Releasing; Screen Gems)
  • Captain America: The First Avenger, Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely (writers), Joe Johnston (director) (Paramount)
  • Doctor Who: “The Doctor’s Wife,” Neil Gaiman (writer), Richard Clark (director) (BBC Wales) … I actually preferred a different episode last season, but here are my original thoughts on ‘The Doctor’s Wife’ when it aired last May.
  • Hugo, John Logan (writer), Martin Scorsese (director) (Paramount)
  • Midnight in Paris, Woody Allen (writer/director) (Sony) … I just watched this recently and you can read my thoughts on it here.
  • Source Code, Ben Ripley (writer), Duncan Jones (director) (Summit)
  • The Adjustment Bureau, George Nolfi (writer/director) (Universal)

I am completely unfamiliar with the first listing, so I plan to do some research on it and, if possible, add it to my queue.  Then, I can do my own internal voting and compare it to the results arrived at by members of the SFWA.

Movie Trailers: Anticipating Some SciFi Soon

I’ve seen three trailers in theaters in the past few weeks that have caught my eye.  I’m starved for a good science fiction film, especially since most of the reading I do is epic fantasy (which gets less screen time than scifi by a long shot) and I don’t care to read many science fiction novels (although I do indulge the occasional space opera).

Today, while waiting to see This Means War, we saw a trailer for Prometheus, a Ridley Scot film that looks amazing and is a prequel to his 1979 classic (and also amazing) Alien (it and it’s sequel Aliens are two of my favorite scifi movies and I will re-watch them, any part of them, any chance I get).  The trailer didn’t reveal much, beyond the stunning space and spaceship scenery.  “The plot follows the crew of the spaceship Prometheus in the late 21st century, as they explore an advanced alien civilization in search of the origins of humanity. … According to Scott, though the film shares “strands of Alien’s DNA, so to speak”, Prometheus will explore its own mythology and universe.”  Wikipedia Prometheus article.  Even if this film doesn’t add much, if anything, to the Alien mythos, I’m definitely looking forward to it’s release because I can rely on Ridley Scot to deliver a well told tale that will most likely knock my socks off.

Last weekend, while Terry and I waited to watch Red Tails, we saw the trailer for Battleship, a military science fiction film slated to be released later this year.  The Wikipedia article’s synopsis:  “In the Hawaiian Islands, an international naval fleet at Pearl Harbor engage in a dynamic and intense battle against an alien species known as “The Regents”. The aliens come to planet Earth on a mission to build a power source in the ocean. Upon their visit, they come in contact with the naval fleet. The film is also purported to show both sides of the story, from the aliens’ perspective, as well as the humans’ so the audience knows exactly where the opponent’s ships are.”

But the one film I’m really excited about this year is John Carter, billed as a epic science fantasy, and I’d agree with that assessment.   Terry and I saw the trailer back in late January while waiting for We Bought A Zoo.  Not only did they get the aliens and the alien animals correct, they used Led Zeppelin‘s iconic Kashmir as the audio backdrop, which gave me goose bumps.  I read Burrough’s A Princess of Mars five years ago and loved it.  The film is largely based on that same book, the first one to feature John Carter.  “In the novel John Carter is a former American Civil War Confederate Army captain who is mysteriously transported to Mars, known to its inhabitants as Barsoom. In the course of his adventures he learns that the planet is dying from the loss of its atmosphere and water, and that only a peaceful alliance of its intelligent inhabitants can save all the species of Barsoom from extinction.” — Wikipedia John Carter article. 

I’ve seen three movies thus far, in 2012, and each time I’ve seen a trailer for yet another movie I can’t wait to see.  Keep them coming!  Last year left me high and dry, so much so that I think the only movie Terry and I saw in the theater was the last Harry Potter film.

Movie Review: The Final Countdown (1980)

The Final Countdown (1980)

3.5 out of 5 stars

My daughter had not previously seen this movie, which my husband and I have watched several times.  Terry thinks he may have seen it in the theatre when it was released in 1980.  I don’t think I did, though; I think I have only seen it rebroadcast or on VHS.  Thanks to our Netflix streaming, we were able to revisit this interesting take on time travel and Pearl Harbor Day (somewhat fitting since we just celebrated the 70th anniversary of the original attack on Pearl Harbor earlier this month).

While the officers and crew of the USS Nimitz (a nuclear powered supercarrier) and our token civilian observer (a very young Martin Sheen) pondered taking on the entire Japanese fleet, taking full advantage of forty years of technological advancement in aircraft, weapons, radar and communications, I sat and wondered how dated everything looked from another thirty years in the future.  Crew members had a library of hardcover books to read, were putting together puzzles or playing board games or card games, listened to the radio (instead of plugging in to their iPad or iPod or iPhone), had no Internet, no cell phones (not that they would be of any use in the middle of the Pacific Ocean), no video games, no flat screen television screens or monitors, no personal computers or laptops of any kind.

I realized this time around that the story seemed a bit thin and most of the film seemed to be an advertisement for the capabilities of our Navy, demonstrating take offs, landings, emergency landings, emergency helicopter water rescues, reconnaissance, dog fighting (although not much of a dog fight between a Japanese Zero and a F-14 Tomcat).  Since this film was made ten years before the fall of the Berlin Wall, I assume the Cold War influenced some of this.

Despite these observations, I still enjoyed watching this movie.  Perhaps it’s time this one got a makeover similar to what happened with 3:10 to Yuma.  Maybe before the 75th anniversary rolls around.

Movie Review: Daleks’ Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D. (1966)

Daleks’ Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D. (1966)

1 out of 5 stars

If only I could get those ninety minutes back I spent watching this movie last night.  Even the respectable talents of Peter Cushing as Doctor Who could not save this film (although his character did manage to save the world from the Daleks).  If the rest of the 60s era Doctor Who movies and television series overflowed with such bad acting, inept stunts, God-awful music and exceptionally fictional science, it’s a miracle Doctor Who survived to the 21st century. 

Some of the ‘shocks’ for me in this movie included a girl who called the Doctor who grandfather and a woman companion who professed to be his niece.  Having watched the Moffat version of Doctor Who for the last few years, I assumed the Doctor had no relatives (except for one episode involving a regenerated hand during the Tenant season).  And I realized this morning that the police officer who rushed into the TARDIS thinking it was an actual police call box is the very same actor who portrayed Donna Noble‘s grandfather, Wilfred Mott (also during the David Tenant Doctor Who seasons). 

I can thank my husband for finding this gem on TCM.  Even though this movie was the sequel to the previous year’s Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965), I won’t be rushing over to Netflix to place it in my queue.  And, thankfully, the BBC does NOT consider anything but the television series to be ‘canon’ with respect to the Doctor Who universe.

Movie Review: Cowboys & Aliens (BluRay)

Cowboys & Aliens (BluRay)

4 out of 5 stars

My father lent me his BluRay of Cowboys & Aliens when he came for dinner Tuesday evening.  We would not have been able to view it via Netflix for another week or two otherwise.  After a dinner of leftovers (more ham and home-made bread), we sat down to watch the BluRay.  As usual, the combination of dinner and a movie put Terry into a food coma within thirty minutes, but Rachelle and I made it through to the credits without dozing off.

Daniel Craig did well, if stoically, as an archetypical Western character. Olivia Wilde’s performance didn’t wow me, but that’s usual for her.   I still think her best performance to be Quorra in Tron: Legacy.  I enjoyed Harrison Ford in a different type of role than what I’ve seen him do before. I also enjoyed Rockwell and Beach’s performances.

But by far my favorite, albeit not a long lived character, was rendered by Clancy Brown, who normally suffers under the stigma of villainous typecasting, this time around he stretched his wings as a gun toting man of the cloth who delivered some of the most memorable dialogue.

Overall, the movie was much better than I thought it would be and I’m sorry I skipped seeing it at the movie theater this past summer, especially after seeing the incredible cinematography (courtesy of the great state of New Mexico).  While four out of five stars might be stretching it a bit (considering the believability of the story and circumstances), I can’t say I didn’t completely enjoy my evening mash-up of two of my favorite movie genres:  westerns and scifi flicks.  The Old West has never been wilder!

Book Review: Ready Player One by Cline

Ready Player OneReady Player One by Ernest Cline

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I must say Ready Player One easily and quickly became one of my funnest and most memorable reads of 2011. Wade Watts lives in the not too distant dystopian future (mostly in America, but implied world wide aftermath of the post-fossil fuel era). He (and the majority of what’s left of humanity) escapes the ravages of poverty and orphanhood through the virtual OASIS reality. When the founder and creator of OASIS dies, he leaves his vast fortune (multi-billions) to whoever can find the egg he hid somewhere in the infinitely vast OASIS universe. Since Halliday obsessed on 80s culture, music, movies and early video games, he expected everyone else to join him. He succeeded posthumously by enshrining the clues to the egg in obscure 80s lore.

Ah, the early geeky memories that flashed before my eyes.

I played Zork and Adventure both. Neither of the two computers I grew up with were listed in the book: a home built Digital Group computer running a very early version of DOS and a Xerox 820 running C/PM. My favorite game (also not mentioned in the book), even more so than Adventure, was one called Nemesis by Supersoft. It’s Rogue-like (which I prefer to an all-text based interactive story-type game like Adventure). I yearned to play it again, especially while reading the Second Gate section of Ready Player One, so I found a copy via a Google search. Now to find a C/PM emulator that will run on Windows (or Linus) so I can really revisit the ‘good ole days.’

Wargames and Ladyhawke are both two of my favorite movies from the 80s era and the play a significant role in the egg hunt. On the music font, Rush (one of my favorite bands, after Styx and Kansas) provided key elements to the final third of the quest. I almost dug around in my basement for my old dusty Rush albums, but left them to rest in peace. Besides, my husband’s band covers older Rush songs so I get a Rush-fix at least once a week.

I am very glad Cline didn’t spend much time on the fashions of the day and I ignored most of the other music references (as I was a metal head and refused to listen to pop music). I played nearly all the arcade games mentioned EXCEPT for Tempest.

I wanted more real world information, to learn about the fall of civilization and the consequences of ignoring the ever worsening and appalling conditions rising to destroy what’s left of humanity. Some readers have likened Wade Watts to a ‘Mary Sue’ type character, which is hard to refute since the tale is told in first-person from his point of view. Characterization, aside from Wade, could have been fleshed out more. If a sequel is in the works, I look forward to a deeper look into this world and these characters.

I highly recommend this novel to anyone with a smidgen of geekiness who also happens to be born in the mid-60s or very early 70s (i.e. were you a teenager during the 80s?).

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Novella Review: The Machine Stops by Forster

The Machine Stops The Machine Stops by E.M. Forster

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.5 stars

I found this gem yesterday via Feedbooks public domain short stories listings. I raised my eyebrows when I saw E.M. Forster wrote a science fiction novella (in 1909). I love reading dystopian fiction, provided I space it between less depressing offerings. Forster surprised me with not one dystopian future, but two. His ideas mixed to form a somewhat steampunkish voluntary Matrix benevolent Terminator mashup.

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