Last week, I came across this awesome video in which Toria (The Toria Show) tells us all the shit geek girls say. It's hilariously true.
She explains that this is all stuff she says, but she assumes other geeky girls may say similar things. She's right. I don't partake in all the realms of geekdom that she references (e.g. comic books, Doctor Who), but enough of these resonated for me that I was laughing very hard.
Yes, female armor is so much skimpier than male armor! I couldn't believe it in SWTOR when my Jedi had heavy armor that left her with a bare midriff. Ridiculous! Then there's the slave girl outfit (luckily only counts as light armor). Obligatory, I suppose. But I've yet to find the slave male outfit.
Picard, hands down!
RPG > FPS.
I'm usually pretty decisive about hair color, but the eye spacing... That's a tricky one. You don't want to spend the whole game thinking "I should have gone one tick closer" every time you see your character's face!
In Baldur's Gate, I definitely did give my fighter/thief more charisma than she needed. I wanted people to like me! What's wrong with that?
I showed this video to my boyfriend, to get a sense of what I really do say vs. just think silently to myself. He laughed particularly hard at the "My character is awesome!" line, and when she sings the Lord of the Rings Shire theme, plus the bit from "Still Alive". I sing those a LOT.
The funniest bit for me, though, came right at the beginning. "Did I ever tell you I speak Elvish?" The day I saw this video, earlier that morning I had just told a friend of mine that I speak (a little) Elvish. GET OUT OF MY HEAD, TORIA!
Showing posts with label Star Trek. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Star Trek. Show all posts
Monday, January 30, 2012
Friday, October 1, 2010
New hope for my sci-fi fantasies
As a sci-fi fan, I am elated at some recent astronomy news.
Aliens are an important part of science fiction. Obviously not all science fiction has to do with outer space (Blade Runner, The Matrix, etc.), and not all science fiction that takes place in outer space is focused on alien life (Firefly, Battlestar Galactica). Still, aliens are an important part of many sci-fi universes (Star Wars, Star Trek, to name a couple biggies). For centuries, humans have asked the question Are we alone? and then imagined What would happen if we aren't? Aliens are our gateway to new and amazing technology; their discovery will bind humanity together and bring peace; they will give diversity and tolerance a new meaning... Or they'll try to kill or conquer us all. That's always a possibility (a likely possibility according to Stephen Hawking, of course).
But in order for any of these sci-fi dreams (and nightmares) to come true, there has to be life outside of our tiny blue planet. For a long time, people have said that the conditions on Earth which make it habitable are so incredibly unlikely that the chance of there being another planet similarly suitable for life is infinitesimally small. Others, myself included, have believed that with so many planets in the galaxy (in the universe!) even something with a small chance could happen many times. Not that we'd necessarily ever find another one of these habitable planets--it's just likely that one's out there somewhere. Right?
Well, my sci-fi dreams just got one huge step closer to maybe being true. Astronomers have found a planet that may be suitable for life! (See the abstract submitted to the for the Astrophysical Journal here, and various reports from CNN and Associated Press.) Enter the beautiful Gliese 581g. Not exactly the sexiest name; its sun is called Gliese 581, and as the sixth planet discovered in the solar system, it gets the "g" designation (because the sun itself is "a"). We can't get too excited yet, since we don't know if the planet actually has water (necessary for life...as we know it, at least), but it does have temperatures that would allow liquid water, it's the right size and distance from Gliese 581 to have an atmosphere without being an ice giant, and it's rocky. A lot of astronomers are very excited about this; they say there have been false alarms before regarding the discovery of habitable planets, but this one looks like it may be the real deal.
So what do we know about Gliese 581g? It's a little larger than the Earth in diameter and about three or four times the Earth's mass. It is closer to its sun than we are to ours; it takes only 36.6 Earth days to complete its orbit. Gliese 581 is a red dwarf star about one third the strength of our sun, which I guess is why Little G (Can I call it that? Uh, maybe not.) can be closer to it than Earth is to our sun while still being habitable. The planet rotates slowly and is actually tidally locked to Gliese 581, meaning that one side always faces the sun and one side faces away (like how the same side of the moon always faces the Earth). Temperatures on the planet range from -25 to 160 degrees (the article I got this from didn't mention which scale, but I'm going to go with Fahrenheit), presumably on the "night" hemisphere and the "day" hemisphere, respectively, but the terminator--the "twilight zone" of eternal sunrise/sunset--is quite comfy, described as "shirt-sleeve weather" by article co-author Steven Vogt of UC Santa Cruz.
Reading the descriptions of Gliese 581g definitely reminded me of Mass Effect. Both Mass Effect 1 and 2 had dozens upon dozens of planets, and even if you couldn't land on most of them, you could always get a short description of them, often including surprising, funny, or informative details. Heck, it's how I knew to use the term "tidally locked" to describe Gliese 581g. Take the planet Chasca from ME1:
Chasca is tidally-
locked to Matano. The same side always faces the sun, resulting in a scorching day side and a frozen night side. In the temperate areas around the terminator, temperatures average around 30 Celsius. Combined with a nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere, this slender band of habitable terrain allows limited colonization by humans.
In fact, I counted 10
planets from ME1 alone that were described as tidally locked. See, video games can be fun and educational. Gliese 581g could totally be one of the planets described in Mass Effect. And that makes my geeky little self very happy.
Gliese 581 is dim enough that you can't see it from Earth without a telescope, but if you have one, it can apparently be found in the area of the constellation Libra. The star is about 120 trillion miles away, which sounds like a lot for us Earth-bound folks, but on the scale of our galaxy, it's right in our neighborhood. 20 light years away! We can observe from the Earth what the planet looked like just 20 years ago. My mind is totally blown. A possibly habitable planet. Just 20 light years away. The astronomers connected with the article seem to think it is highly likely that the planet could have life (though, granted, they are understandably even more psyched about it all than I am), and they've done some calculations to estimate that as many as 10-20% of stars may have Earth-sized planets in the habitable zone. I'll take that with a grain of salt, though, since I don't want to get my hopes up too high.
So it's rocky and likely has an atmosphere and a band of nice temperatures for habitation. But what are the chances it actually has life? Vogt has high hopes for the presence of water due to there being right temperatures for liquid water, and since we've found life wherever we've found water on Earth, he thinks there's a good chance something is living there. The fact that Gliese 581 is a dwarf star, which will last longer than our own sun, gives the planet more time to develop life, as well. And, as Vogt says, "It's pretty hard to stop life once you give it the right conditions." And we're not expecting little green men or sexy blue ladies. Extraterrestrial mold, algae, or bacteria would even be beyond remarkable. Though sexy, intelligent, and benevolent aliens would certainly be appreciated. Either way, it's all pretty frakking amazing.
Let the new sci-fi stories begin.
Update 7/20/12: See follow-up post here. Also, this planet is apparently nicknamed "Zarmina".
Aliens are an important part of science fiction. Obviously not all science fiction has to do with outer space (Blade Runner, The Matrix, etc.), and not all science fiction that takes place in outer space is focused on alien life (Firefly, Battlestar Galactica). Still, aliens are an important part of many sci-fi universes (Star Wars, Star Trek, to name a couple biggies). For centuries, humans have asked the question Are we alone? and then imagined What would happen if we aren't? Aliens are our gateway to new and amazing technology; their discovery will bind humanity together and bring peace; they will give diversity and tolerance a new meaning... Or they'll try to kill or conquer us all. That's always a possibility (a likely possibility according to Stephen Hawking, of course).
But in order for any of these sci-fi dreams (and nightmares) to come true, there has to be life outside of our tiny blue planet. For a long time, people have said that the conditions on Earth which make it habitable are so incredibly unlikely that the chance of there being another planet similarly suitable for life is infinitesimally small. Others, myself included, have believed that with so many planets in the galaxy (in the universe!) even something with a small chance could happen many times. Not that we'd necessarily ever find another one of these habitable planets--it's just likely that one's out there somewhere. Right?
Well, my sci-fi dreams just got one huge step closer to maybe being true. Astronomers have found a planet that may be suitable for life! (See the abstract submitted to the for the Astrophysical Journal here, and various reports from CNN and Associated Press.) Enter the beautiful Gliese 581g. Not exactly the sexiest name; its sun is called Gliese 581, and as the sixth planet discovered in the solar system, it gets the "g" designation (because the sun itself is "a"). We can't get too excited yet, since we don't know if the planet actually has water (necessary for life...as we know it, at least), but it does have temperatures that would allow liquid water, it's the right size and distance from Gliese 581 to have an atmosphere without being an ice giant, and it's rocky. A lot of astronomers are very excited about this; they say there have been false alarms before regarding the discovery of habitable planets, but this one looks like it may be the real deal.
So what do we know about Gliese 581g? It's a little larger than the Earth in diameter and about three or four times the Earth's mass. It is closer to its sun than we are to ours; it takes only 36.6 Earth days to complete its orbit. Gliese 581 is a red dwarf star about one third the strength of our sun, which I guess is why Little G (Can I call it that? Uh, maybe not.) can be closer to it than Earth is to our sun while still being habitable. The planet rotates slowly and is actually tidally locked to Gliese 581, meaning that one side always faces the sun and one side faces away (like how the same side of the moon always faces the Earth). Temperatures on the planet range from -25 to 160 degrees (the article I got this from didn't mention which scale, but I'm going to go with Fahrenheit), presumably on the "night" hemisphere and the "day" hemisphere, respectively, but the terminator--the "twilight zone" of eternal sunrise/sunset--is quite comfy, described as "shirt-sleeve weather" by article co-author Steven Vogt of UC Santa Cruz.
Reading the descriptions of Gliese 581g definitely reminded me of Mass Effect. Both Mass Effect 1 and 2 had dozens upon dozens of planets, and even if you couldn't land on most of them, you could always get a short description of them, often including surprising, funny, or informative details. Heck, it's how I knew to use the term "tidally locked" to describe Gliese 581g. Take the planet Chasca from ME1:
Chasca is tidally-
locked to Matano. The same side always faces the sun, resulting in a scorching day side and a frozen night side. In the temperate areas around the terminator, temperatures average around 30 Celsius. Combined with a nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere, this slender band of habitable terrain allows limited colonization by humans.In fact, I counted 10
planets from ME1 alone that were described as tidally locked. See, video games can be fun and educational. Gliese 581g could totally be one of the planets described in Mass Effect. And that makes my geeky little self very happy.Gliese 581 is dim enough that you can't see it from Earth without a telescope, but if you have one, it can apparently be found in the area of the constellation Libra. The star is about 120 trillion miles away, which sounds like a lot for us Earth-bound folks, but on the scale of our galaxy, it's right in our neighborhood. 20 light years away! We can observe from the Earth what the planet looked like just 20 years ago. My mind is totally blown. A possibly habitable planet. Just 20 light years away. The astronomers connected with the article seem to think it is highly likely that the planet could have life (though, granted, they are understandably even more psyched about it all than I am), and they've done some calculations to estimate that as many as 10-20% of stars may have Earth-sized planets in the habitable zone. I'll take that with a grain of salt, though, since I don't want to get my hopes up too high.
So it's rocky and likely has an atmosphere and a band of nice temperatures for habitation. But what are the chances it actually has life? Vogt has high hopes for the presence of water due to there being right temperatures for liquid water, and since we've found life wherever we've found water on Earth, he thinks there's a good chance something is living there. The fact that Gliese 581 is a dwarf star, which will last longer than our own sun, gives the planet more time to develop life, as well. And, as Vogt says, "It's pretty hard to stop life once you give it the right conditions." And we're not expecting little green men or sexy blue ladies. Extraterrestrial mold, algae, or bacteria would even be beyond remarkable. Though sexy, intelligent, and benevolent aliens would certainly be appreciated. Either way, it's all pretty frakking amazing.
Let the new sci-fi stories begin.
Update 7/20/12: See follow-up post here. Also, this planet is apparently nicknamed "Zarmina".
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Hobbit troubles, Sir Patrick, and a funny video
A couple recent news items...
There is turmoil in Middle Earth as Guillermo del Toro over the weekend stepped down as director of the two planned Hobbit movies, prequels to the hugely successful Lord of the Rings trilogy. He will remain one of the writers, along with Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens of the LotR trilogy. MGM's troubles are largely to blame for this; the studio, which shares financing rights to The Hobbit, has been trying to find a buyer since November, and its inability to do so thus far has put The Hobbit as well as other projects including the next James Bond film on hold. Because MGM is still in limbo, it hasn't been able to give an official green light to The Hobbit, and thus a start date for filming and a budget have yet to be set. Del Toro explained his decision in a statement: "In light of ongoing delays in the setting of a start date for filming The Hobbit, I am faced with the hardest decision of my life. After nearly two years of living, breathing and designing a world as rich as Tolkien's Middle Earth, I must, with great regret, take leave from helming these wonderful pictures." (Variety)
I am very saddened by this news. I thought del Toro would have been a great director for The Hobbit. And I can imagine how hard it must be for him. He was willing to commit three years to living in New Zealand working solely on this project. He had already worked on it for two years (he signed on in April 2008), designing sets and costumes and planning battle sequences, etc. And now, considering that it may instead take six years, he feels he has to walk away. That's rough.
There is, however, a small possibility that Peter Jackson will end up directing. He obviously cares a lot about the project and might be willing to direct if necessary. "If that's what I have to do to protect Warner Bros.' investment, then obviously that's one angle which I'll explore." He does have other projects, though, that might prevent him from directing. (Variety) Hopefully it will all work out. I'm looking forward to seeing Gandalf and Gollum on screen again.
On a lighter note, Patrick Stewart was knighted today by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace. Sir Patrick Stewart. Though I know and love him as Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation as well as Charles Xavier in the X-Men movies (playing opposite another knight, Sir Ian McKellen), I know that he has long been a key member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. I'd love to see him on stage. Ever gracious and admirable, he said of his knighting, "It was an unlooked-for honor but as I grew up as a child, falling in love with the theatre and Shakespeare, my heroes were Sir Laurence Olivier, Sir John Gielgud, Sir Alec Guinness. The knights of the theater represented to me not only the pinnacle of the profession but the esteem in which the profession was held. And now to find myself, to my astonishment, in that company is the grandest thing that has professionally happened to me." (E! Online) A toast to Sir Patrick.
And now an amusing video:
Retro games destroy NYC
There is turmoil in Middle Earth as Guillermo del Toro over the weekend stepped down as director of the two planned Hobbit movies, prequels to the hugely successful Lord of the Rings trilogy. He will remain one of the writers, along with Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens of the LotR trilogy. MGM's troubles are largely to blame for this; the studio, which shares financing rights to The Hobbit, has been trying to find a buyer since November, and its inability to do so thus far has put The Hobbit as well as other projects including the next James Bond film on hold. Because MGM is still in limbo, it hasn't been able to give an official green light to The Hobbit, and thus a start date for filming and a budget have yet to be set. Del Toro explained his decision in a statement: "In light of ongoing delays in the setting of a start date for filming The Hobbit, I am faced with the hardest decision of my life. After nearly two years of living, breathing and designing a world as rich as Tolkien's Middle Earth, I must, with great regret, take leave from helming these wonderful pictures." (Variety)
I am very saddened by this news. I thought del Toro would have been a great director for The Hobbit. And I can imagine how hard it must be for him. He was willing to commit three years to living in New Zealand working solely on this project. He had already worked on it for two years (he signed on in April 2008), designing sets and costumes and planning battle sequences, etc. And now, considering that it may instead take six years, he feels he has to walk away. That's rough.
There is, however, a small possibility that Peter Jackson will end up directing. He obviously cares a lot about the project and might be willing to direct if necessary. "If that's what I have to do to protect Warner Bros.' investment, then obviously that's one angle which I'll explore." He does have other projects, though, that might prevent him from directing. (Variety) Hopefully it will all work out. I'm looking forward to seeing Gandalf and Gollum on screen again.
On a lighter note, Patrick Stewart was knighted today by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace. Sir Patrick Stewart. Though I know and love him as Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation as well as Charles Xavier in the X-Men movies (playing opposite another knight, Sir Ian McKellen), I know that he has long been a key member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. I'd love to see him on stage. Ever gracious and admirable, he said of his knighting, "It was an unlooked-for honor but as I grew up as a child, falling in love with the theatre and Shakespeare, my heroes were Sir Laurence Olivier, Sir John Gielgud, Sir Alec Guinness. The knights of the theater represented to me not only the pinnacle of the profession but the esteem in which the profession was held. And now to find myself, to my astonishment, in that company is the grandest thing that has professionally happened to me." (E! Online) A toast to Sir Patrick.
And now an amusing video:
Retro games destroy NYC
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Sci-fi nominees, Avatar's success, and Spidey 4 scrapped
Now for bits of recent entertainment news that have caught my eye...
It was a good year for sci-fi movies. The Producer's Guild of America nominations have been announced, and they include three sci-fi films: Avatar, District 9, and Star Trek. The PGA's decision to follow the Oscars in increasing the number of best picture nominees from 5 to 10 allowed such "non-awards bait" movies as these to pick up nominations. Up also received a PGA nomination. In the recent past, an average of 4 of 5 PGA nominees have also been nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award. If that holds true this year, it will be a very abnormal Oscar (space?) race. See all PGA nominees here.
After only three weeks in the theater, James Cameron's Avatar has surpassed Return of the King to become the second highest worldwide grosser of all time (Variety). RotK closed at $1.1 billion, and as of Thursday, January 7, Avatar had grossed $1.14 billion. It now stands second only to Cameron's own Titanic, which took in $1.8 billion at the global box office. Whether or not Avatar can pass Titanic will depend on repeat business, but we can safely say that Cameron knows how to make a lot of money.
Blake Lively has been cast as leading lady Carol Ferris opposite Ryan Reynolds's Hal Jordan in the Green Lantern movie (Variety). At 22, she is 11 years Reynold's junior, and best known for her role in CW series Gossip Girl. An interesting choice.
Paramount is planning ahead, scheduling the release of the untitled Star Trek sequel for June 29, 2012 (Variety). 899 days and counting. Yeah, I'm just a little excited.
And the big news of the day (well, yesterday): The fourth Sam Raimi - Tobey Maguire Spider-Man installment has been called off. It seems director Raimi walked after being unable to agree with the studio over the direction of the story, and Maguire followed (Variety). Columbia Pictures will instead be rebooting the franchise with a James Vanderbilt script featuring a teenage Peter Parker. The first two Maguire Spider-Man movies were great, but after the disappointing third film, I'm not too sad to see the fourth called off.
Edit - Additional bad news for Spidey came out today (1/12): Spider-Man, Turn off the Dark producers are giving customers who bought tickets refunds, since due to production delays the show will not be able to start previews on February 25 as planned (Variety). They haven't called it off entirely, saying that the show will open some time in 2010, but it's not looking good.
It was a good year for sci-fi movies. The Producer's Guild of America nominations have been announced, and they include three sci-fi films: Avatar, District 9, and Star Trek. The PGA's decision to follow the Oscars in increasing the number of best picture nominees from 5 to 10 allowed such "non-awards bait" movies as these to pick up nominations. Up also received a PGA nomination. In the recent past, an average of 4 of 5 PGA nominees have also been nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award. If that holds true this year, it will be a very abnormal Oscar (space?) race. See all PGA nominees here.
After only three weeks in the theater, James Cameron's Avatar has surpassed Return of the King to become the second highest worldwide grosser of all time (Variety). RotK closed at $1.1 billion, and as of Thursday, January 7, Avatar had grossed $1.14 billion. It now stands second only to Cameron's own Titanic, which took in $1.8 billion at the global box office. Whether or not Avatar can pass Titanic will depend on repeat business, but we can safely say that Cameron knows how to make a lot of money.
Blake Lively has been cast as leading lady Carol Ferris opposite Ryan Reynolds's Hal Jordan in the Green Lantern movie (Variety). At 22, she is 11 years Reynold's junior, and best known for her role in CW series Gossip Girl. An interesting choice.
Paramount is planning ahead, scheduling the release of the untitled Star Trek sequel for June 29, 2012 (Variety). 899 days and counting. Yeah, I'm just a little excited.
And the big news of the day (well, yesterday): The fourth Sam Raimi - Tobey Maguire Spider-Man installment has been called off. It seems director Raimi walked after being unable to agree with the studio over the direction of the story, and Maguire followed (Variety). Columbia Pictures will instead be rebooting the franchise with a James Vanderbilt script featuring a teenage Peter Parker. The first two Maguire Spider-Man movies were great, but after the disappointing third film, I'm not too sad to see the fourth called off.
Edit - Additional bad news for Spidey came out today (1/12): Spider-Man, Turn off the Dark producers are giving customers who bought tickets refunds, since due to production delays the show will not be able to start previews on February 25 as planned (Variety). They haven't called it off entirely, saying that the show will open some time in 2010, but it's not looking good.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Chuck saved, upcoming fall shows, and Thor
I don't have much interesting new entertainment news to report since my last post on the subject, but there are a couple exciting things that I couldn't wait to share.
Firstly, NBC renewed Chuck! It will come back with a tighter production budget, but at least it secured a 13-episode order for a third season (Variety). This was the last show that I follow whose fate I was waiting to learn. Turns out the only show I watch that got canceled this spring was Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Chuck, Castle, Dollhouse, as well as all the other shows that were never in serious danger got renewed. This means that I will be rather busy next fall.
Fox has made some interesting choices in their fall schedule (Variety). First, their summer hit "So You Think You Can Dance" will be getting a fall skein. I have loved watching this show for the past few summers--I love dance and greatly admire the quality of the choreographers and dancers in the show--so I'm excited to see it moving up in the world. But it is a big time commitment, with two hours on Tuesday and one on Wednesday, which is fine when I don't watch anything else in the summer but will make things a bit crowded in the fall. Following the SYTYCD results show on Wednesdays will be new musical drama/comedy "Glee". The show focuses on a group of high school geeks who find their place in the school glee club. Fox clearly has high hopes for Glee, granting its pilot a golden sneak preview spot this Tuesday after the final performance episode of American Idol (that is, at 9pm). Early word is that it's clever, funny, and overall pretty great. Fringe has been moved from its first season Tuesday spot to the 9pm Thursday slot in the fall. This essentially is a big promotion, that time slot being the high attention spot that currently is home to heavy hitters CSI (CBS) and Grey's Anatomy (ABC). The question is whether Fringe will be able to hold its own in the time slot. Dollhouse will remain at 9pm on Fridays. New show "Human Target," about a decoy-for-hire who saves lives by assuming the identities of people in extreme danger, will debut in the winter starring Mark Valley and featuring Jackie Earle Haley; a new season of 24 is also scheduled to start in the winter.
ABC has given a series order to new sci-fi show "Flash Forward" (Variety). They had been promoting it with teasers during Lost commercial breaks, showing little clips followed by the words "What did you see?" without naming the show, and during the season finale last week gave it a proper full promo. The premise is that on one day, for 2 minutes and 27 seconds, everyone on Earth falls unconscious and sees a flash forward of their lives six months in the future. The show seems meant to tide Lost viewers over through the fall as they await the final season of Lost to arrive in the winter. Joseph Fiennes, Sonya Walger (known to Lost fans as Penny), Courtney B. Vance, Jack Davenport, and John Cho are among the cast.
My last bit of cool news is that it looks like Thor has finally been cast. Chris Hemsworth, recently seen as Captain Kirk's father (himself a Captain Kirk for 12 minutes) in the new Star Trek, is in final negotiations to take the lead role in the Kenneth Branaugh-helmed movie adaptation of the Marvel franchise (Variety, IMDb).
Hemsworth
The deal would also land him a part in Marvel's planned Avengers film. Oh, Chris Hemsworth. Yesterday morning, I didn't know who you were. Then just minutes into the Star Trek film you won me over and broke my heart with your heroic resolve and sparkling blue eyes at once both joyous and pained beyond imagining... *Sigh...* Ahem. Yes, well, now he's poised to become a blockbuster superhero. God of thunder and all. I hope the Thor movie will be good.
Firstly, NBC renewed Chuck! It will come back with a tighter production budget, but at least it secured a 13-episode order for a third season (Variety). This was the last show that I follow whose fate I was waiting to learn. Turns out the only show I watch that got canceled this spring was Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Chuck, Castle, Dollhouse, as well as all the other shows that were never in serious danger got renewed. This means that I will be rather busy next fall.
Fox has made some interesting choices in their fall schedule (Variety). First, their summer hit "So You Think You Can Dance" will be getting a fall skein. I have loved watching this show for the past few summers--I love dance and greatly admire the quality of the choreographers and dancers in the show--so I'm excited to see it moving up in the world. But it is a big time commitment, with two hours on Tuesday and one on Wednesday, which is fine when I don't watch anything else in the summer but will make things a bit crowded in the fall. Following the SYTYCD results show on Wednesdays will be new musical drama/comedy "Glee". The show focuses on a group of high school geeks who find their place in the school glee club. Fox clearly has high hopes for Glee, granting its pilot a golden sneak preview spot this Tuesday after the final performance episode of American Idol (that is, at 9pm). Early word is that it's clever, funny, and overall pretty great. Fringe has been moved from its first season Tuesday spot to the 9pm Thursday slot in the fall. This essentially is a big promotion, that time slot being the high attention spot that currently is home to heavy hitters CSI (CBS) and Grey's Anatomy (ABC). The question is whether Fringe will be able to hold its own in the time slot. Dollhouse will remain at 9pm on Fridays. New show "Human Target," about a decoy-for-hire who saves lives by assuming the identities of people in extreme danger, will debut in the winter starring Mark Valley and featuring Jackie Earle Haley; a new season of 24 is also scheduled to start in the winter.
ABC has given a series order to new sci-fi show "Flash Forward" (Variety). They had been promoting it with teasers during Lost commercial breaks, showing little clips followed by the words "What did you see?" without naming the show, and during the season finale last week gave it a proper full promo. The premise is that on one day, for 2 minutes and 27 seconds, everyone on Earth falls unconscious and sees a flash forward of their lives six months in the future. The show seems meant to tide Lost viewers over through the fall as they await the final season of Lost to arrive in the winter. Joseph Fiennes, Sonya Walger (known to Lost fans as Penny), Courtney B. Vance, Jack Davenport, and John Cho are among the cast.
My last bit of cool news is that it looks like Thor has finally been cast. Chris Hemsworth, recently seen as Captain Kirk's father (himself a Captain Kirk for 12 minutes) in the new Star Trek, is in final negotiations to take the lead role in the Kenneth Branaugh-helmed movie adaptation of the Marvel franchise (Variety, IMDb).
HemsworthThe deal would also land him a part in Marvel's planned Avengers film. Oh, Chris Hemsworth. Yesterday morning, I didn't know who you were. Then just minutes into the Star Trek film you won me over and broke my heart with your heroic resolve and sparkling blue eyes at once both joyous and pained beyond imagining... *Sigh...* Ahem. Yes, well, now he's poised to become a blockbuster superhero. God of thunder and all. I hope the Thor movie will be good.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
I love love love the new Star Trek movie!
I really wanted to see Star Trek on opening weekend. I recently talked about how the Nielsen Ratings are unfair in that their polls don't allow most viewers to have a "vote" in their TV programming. When it comes to movies, the way we can "vote" for the kind of movies we want to see is by bringing in big numbers at the box office. The first measure the studios have of a movie's success is its opening weekend take. It doesn't matter as much in the end as the movie's total box office gross, but it's still a mark of honor. The fact that I didn't do my part to add to Star Trek's opening weekend receipts bothered me more than it should have, but I had a friend who couldn't go last weekend and I said I'd wait to see it with her. Turns out she still couldn't see it with us this weekend anyway, so I went to see it today with another friend. I'll have to content myself to helping Star Trek's second week drop-off, which looks to be a respectable 46% down from last weekend's opening $79.2 million (including Thursday night previews).
Well, I loved the movie. Loved it, loved it, loved it. It was totally awesome. Everything I wanted. J.J. did not let me down. Nor did the cast. Or the crew. I'm sure once the post-movie euphoria wears off I'll start to see flaws and question plot points, like why did the red matter need to be at the core of the planet to suck it into a black hole (my guess is either because of complex physics that we are centuries away from understanding or because a giant energy drill is a great bad guy weapon and watching a planet fold in on itself is so cool). But right now, all I've got is love.
I think most people will agree that the movie had some great eye candy. And I don't just mean Chris Pine (or Zoe Saldana, for the other half of you). Space was gorgeous. The Enterprise looked amazing. The Romulan ship was frighteningly cool. The special effects were very smooth. The action was exciting and engaging. They paid their respects to the original Star Trek designs and then made it all awesome. Of course, in 40 years people will probably think it all looks really stupid and fake, but right now, I just think it's pretty sweet.
I really thought the cast did a great job. It's a hard job for an actor to take over a well-established character from another actor; the actor must stay true to the original character while making it his or her own. I must admit that I am not familiar enough with the original Star Trek series to say how well each of the new actors evoked their original incarnations, but I was totally convinced that the characters were their own. One of my fears going into the movie was that I wouldn't be able to shake images of Sylar out of my head when I saw the new Spock on screen. But on the drive back from the movie theater, I realized that I hadn't thought of Sylar even once while watching the movie. Well done, Zachary Quinto.
Not knowing too much about the original Star Trek, I'm sure I missed lots of clever nods to the classic series (people I've talked to recently seem to assume that I'm a big Trekkie, but the fact is, as much as I might like to be, I'm really not). I know that Uhura's green-skinned roommate whom Kirk wooed in the movie was a nod to the episode "Whom Gods Destroy" from the original series in which Kirk sleeps with a green Orion slave woman (thanks, Entertainment Weekly). I also knew that poor Chief Engineer What's-His-Face parachuting down to the drill with Sulu and Kirk was doomed to certain death by the color of his outfit. Bones exclaiming "Dammit, man! I'm a doctor, not a physicist!" had a familiar ring to it, but the rest I'm sure was lost on me. I need to find a real Trekker to explain it all to me--well, not too serious of a Trekker, since I don't need to know how much stuff they "messed up" in this movie.
One thing that helped make the movie so enjoyable was that it was very funny. There were a lot of good laughs in there. Some of it was pretty silly, like the whole sequence in which Kirk is trying to tell Captain Pike that the Vulcans are being attacked by Romulans all while his hands are inflating, his tongue is going numb, and McCoy keeps chasing him with new injections. But I like silly. And it was never so silly that it didn't work. I wished that Scotty didn't take so long to show up, since Simon Pegg is hilarious, but he did provide plenty of laughs as soon as he arrived.
In short, I think this new Star Trek movie did a very good job of rebooting the franchise. It had just the right balance of character, action, humor, story, and sense to be thoroughly entertaining and satisfying. It also cleverly tweaked the time-space continuum to allow the new movies to take the liberties with the storyline that they need to shape the new series. I am definitely looking forward to the sequel.
Well, I loved the movie. Loved it, loved it, loved it. It was totally awesome. Everything I wanted. J.J. did not let me down. Nor did the cast. Or the crew. I'm sure once the post-movie euphoria wears off I'll start to see flaws and question plot points, like why did the red matter need to be at the core of the planet to suck it into a black hole (my guess is either because of complex physics that we are centuries away from understanding or because a giant energy drill is a great bad guy weapon and watching a planet fold in on itself is so cool). But right now, all I've got is love.
I think most people will agree that the movie had some great eye candy. And I don't just mean Chris Pine (or Zoe Saldana, for the other half of you). Space was gorgeous. The Enterprise looked amazing. The Romulan ship was frighteningly cool. The special effects were very smooth. The action was exciting and engaging. They paid their respects to the original Star Trek designs and then made it all awesome. Of course, in 40 years people will probably think it all looks really stupid and fake, but right now, I just think it's pretty sweet.
I really thought the cast did a great job. It's a hard job for an actor to take over a well-established character from another actor; the actor must stay true to the original character while making it his or her own. I must admit that I am not familiar enough with the original Star Trek series to say how well each of the new actors evoked their original incarnations, but I was totally convinced that the characters were their own. One of my fears going into the movie was that I wouldn't be able to shake images of Sylar out of my head when I saw the new Spock on screen. But on the drive back from the movie theater, I realized that I hadn't thought of Sylar even once while watching the movie. Well done, Zachary Quinto.
Not knowing too much about the original Star Trek, I'm sure I missed lots of clever nods to the classic series (people I've talked to recently seem to assume that I'm a big Trekkie, but the fact is, as much as I might like to be, I'm really not). I know that Uhura's green-skinned roommate whom Kirk wooed in the movie was a nod to the episode "Whom Gods Destroy" from the original series in which Kirk sleeps with a green Orion slave woman (thanks, Entertainment Weekly). I also knew that poor Chief Engineer What's-His-Face parachuting down to the drill with Sulu and Kirk was doomed to certain death by the color of his outfit. Bones exclaiming "Dammit, man! I'm a doctor, not a physicist!" had a familiar ring to it, but the rest I'm sure was lost on me. I need to find a real Trekker to explain it all to me--well, not too serious of a Trekker, since I don't need to know how much stuff they "messed up" in this movie.
One thing that helped make the movie so enjoyable was that it was very funny. There were a lot of good laughs in there. Some of it was pretty silly, like the whole sequence in which Kirk is trying to tell Captain Pike that the Vulcans are being attacked by Romulans all while his hands are inflating, his tongue is going numb, and McCoy keeps chasing him with new injections. But I like silly. And it was never so silly that it didn't work. I wished that Scotty didn't take so long to show up, since Simon Pegg is hilarious, but he did provide plenty of laughs as soon as he arrived.
In short, I think this new Star Trek movie did a very good job of rebooting the franchise. It had just the right balance of character, action, humor, story, and sense to be thoroughly entertaining and satisfying. It also cleverly tweaked the time-space continuum to allow the new movies to take the liberties with the storyline that they need to shape the new series. I am definitely looking forward to the sequel.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Turtles, Wolverine, Real-world Hobbits and more!
It's been a long time since my last post on entertainment news that I found fun and interesting. Let's see what has happened since then...
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles celebrated their 25th birthday at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City on April 23 (Variety, IMDb). Fans celebrated the Ninja Turtles with special events including a screening of the original Ninja Turtle movie, and the Empire State Building was even lit up "turtle green" for the day. The event coincided with the news that the franchise would be brought back for a new live action movie probably around 2011. Ah, the childhood memories. My brothers and I were fans growing up, collecting various action figures including one that talked if you pulled a red strip of plastic through its shell (wow, that seems so primitive now). One of my parents' favorite baby stories is how my little brother used to call "pizza" "bunga nummins", which was baby brother speak for "Ninja Turtle food" (work with me here--"bunga" as in "Cowabunga!", and "nummins" as in the noun form of "num, num, num" which is obviously what you say when you're eating). I can't say I've really kept up with them--I didn't see the 2007 TMNT movie--but the '80s/'90s child in me is happy to hear they're still around.
Tracking the future of "my shows"... ABC has picked up Lost for another season, though this was already assumed since they made a deal before Season 4 to end the show at the end of Season 6 (next season). Castle, starring Nathan Fillion, is still on the bubble (Variety). Fox gave an early pickup for another season of Fringe (Variety). I already reported that Sarah Connor hadn't been renewed, and I have yet to hear a decision about Dollhouse. The Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother, my two CBS sitcoms, will both be returning in the fall. NBC renewed Heroes, though it has fallen far from its lofty first season status. Chuck remains on the bubble. More decisions may be made in the next week or so. I love my shows, and I don't want any of them cancelled, but as you might have seen when I listed everything that I watch, my schedule is pretty full. It might be healthy for me if a few more were cancelled.
I've mentioned Gore Verbinski's planned live-action movie adaptation of BioShock a couple times (actually it made an appearance in what was basically my blog's first real post). The project has been put on hold, a victim of the bad economy (Variety, IMDb). Apparently, once the budget passed $160 million, executives at Universal Pictures halted production and let some production team members go. Verbinski is looking for ways to cut the budget, including a possible location move to London. The IMDb short mentions that Wentworth Miller, one of the two stars of Prison Break, is rumored to be starring in the movie. I like him. (I bought Mariah Carey's music video of "We Belong Together" on iTunes because he plays the boy with whom she belongs. Yes.) If this movie will bring him to the big screen, then I wholly support it. Save the BioShock movie!
Word on the boulevard is that Guy Ritchie, known for directing gangster/crime films such as Snatch and the upcoming Downey/Law Sherlock Holmes, is planning on directing a musical (IMDb). But you know what makes this even better? He's in talks to do this musical with B-action king Jason Statham (who did Snatch with Ritchie back in the day and has since done The Transporter, Crank, Death Race, The Bank Job, The Italian Job, etc.). Oh boy. We'll see if anything comes of this.
This was tagged on IMDb last week: The Biology of B-Movie Monsters. Mostly it analyzes the problems that unnaturally large or small creatures/people would face that are not recognized by the movies that feature them. It is so awesome. My Bridge of Khazad-dûm paper just can't measure up. No pun intended. Luckily, I think my Balrog is exempt from most of the criticisms presented in the article, seeing as it's a magical monster made out of molten rock.
I mentioned that ABC had greenlit a pilot for a new sci-fi TV series called "V", based on the original 1980s miniseries. But now I have heard that Alan Tudyk (aka Wash of Firefly) is starring in it! In a recent interview with Alan Tudyk, Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello mentioned in one question "I'm assuming your role in ABC's V reboot--assuming that it gets picked up--could pose a complication...." (EW.com, but WARNING: Dollhouse SPOILERS from the 5/1/09 episode immediately once you get there). I love Alan Tudyk (Fun Fact: I saw him on Broadway in Spamalot). He's awesome. My interest in the show "V" is definitely greater knowing he's in it.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine is barely out in theaters, and they're already planning for another Wolverine sequel (Variety, IMDb). I have not seen the new Wolverine yet because I heard it is disappointing (if one of my friends wanted to see it, I'd go, but I won't try to convince anyone to see it with me if it's going to be bad). I probably will see it at some point, since I like X-Men and I like Hugh Jackman (Fun Fact: I saw him on Broadway in The Boy from Oz). But if this one wasn't very good, I don't have high hopes for the quality of its sequel. The news doesn't stop with Wolverine. Twentieth Century Fox is planning another spinoff movie focusing on Deadpool, aka Wade Wilson, played by Ryan Reynolds in X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Variety, IMDb). I gotta say, he is easy on the eyes, and the bit from the trailer in which he slices a bullet coming towards him in half and the two halves hit the attackers behind him was pretty sweet. But I really have my doubts about how good that one will turn out. A spinoff of a bad spinoff? Doesn't exactly inspire confidence.
How about a bit of real-world news? Has anyone heard about what are being called the Indonesian "Hobbit" people? Scientists discovered skeletons of 3 foot tall, 65 pound humans on the Indonesian island of Flores back in 2004, but they have recently concluded that this is a new species of human, rather than some variation of previous species (BBC News). I love that they're being called "Hobbits," though apparently their feet are not as big as the Hobbits of Middle Earth. A shame.
Lastly, critical consensus seems to indicate that the new Star Trek movie will be totally awesome! See compilations of reviews here, here, and here. It opens on Friday, May 8 (tomorrow), though some theaters will not only have midnight screenings but various screenings earlier this evening. It probably won't do as well as Wolverine did last week because the franchise hasn't had the recent blockbuster success that X-Men had (basically, Star Trek isn't tracking as well among younger people, since it's staler in people's minds). But it's undoubtedly a better movie, and it should do better at the box office. So go out and see it. Get your friends to see it. Support Star Trek!
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles celebrated their 25th birthday at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City on April 23 (Variety, IMDb). Fans celebrated the Ninja Turtles with special events including a screening of the original Ninja Turtle movie, and the Empire State Building was even lit up "turtle green" for the day. The event coincided with the news that the franchise would be brought back for a new live action movie probably around 2011. Ah, the childhood memories. My brothers and I were fans growing up, collecting various action figures including one that talked if you pulled a red strip of plastic through its shell (wow, that seems so primitive now). One of my parents' favorite baby stories is how my little brother used to call "pizza" "bunga nummins", which was baby brother speak for "Ninja Turtle food" (work with me here--"bunga" as in "Cowabunga!", and "nummins" as in the noun form of "num, num, num" which is obviously what you say when you're eating). I can't say I've really kept up with them--I didn't see the 2007 TMNT movie--but the '80s/'90s child in me is happy to hear they're still around.
Tracking the future of "my shows"... ABC has picked up Lost for another season, though this was already assumed since they made a deal before Season 4 to end the show at the end of Season 6 (next season). Castle, starring Nathan Fillion, is still on the bubble (Variety). Fox gave an early pickup for another season of Fringe (Variety). I already reported that Sarah Connor hadn't been renewed, and I have yet to hear a decision about Dollhouse. The Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother, my two CBS sitcoms, will both be returning in the fall. NBC renewed Heroes, though it has fallen far from its lofty first season status. Chuck remains on the bubble. More decisions may be made in the next week or so. I love my shows, and I don't want any of them cancelled, but as you might have seen when I listed everything that I watch, my schedule is pretty full. It might be healthy for me if a few more were cancelled.
I've mentioned Gore Verbinski's planned live-action movie adaptation of BioShock a couple times (actually it made an appearance in what was basically my blog's first real post). The project has been put on hold, a victim of the bad economy (Variety, IMDb). Apparently, once the budget passed $160 million, executives at Universal Pictures halted production and let some production team members go. Verbinski is looking for ways to cut the budget, including a possible location move to London. The IMDb short mentions that Wentworth Miller, one of the two stars of Prison Break, is rumored to be starring in the movie. I like him. (I bought Mariah Carey's music video of "We Belong Together" on iTunes because he plays the boy with whom she belongs. Yes.) If this movie will bring him to the big screen, then I wholly support it. Save the BioShock movie!
Word on the boulevard is that Guy Ritchie, known for directing gangster/crime films such as Snatch and the upcoming Downey/Law Sherlock Holmes, is planning on directing a musical (IMDb). But you know what makes this even better? He's in talks to do this musical with B-action king Jason Statham (who did Snatch with Ritchie back in the day and has since done The Transporter, Crank, Death Race, The Bank Job, The Italian Job, etc.). Oh boy. We'll see if anything comes of this.
This was tagged on IMDb last week: The Biology of B-Movie Monsters. Mostly it analyzes the problems that unnaturally large or small creatures/people would face that are not recognized by the movies that feature them. It is so awesome. My Bridge of Khazad-dûm paper just can't measure up. No pun intended. Luckily, I think my Balrog is exempt from most of the criticisms presented in the article, seeing as it's a magical monster made out of molten rock.
I mentioned that ABC had greenlit a pilot for a new sci-fi TV series called "V", based on the original 1980s miniseries. But now I have heard that Alan Tudyk (aka Wash of Firefly) is starring in it! In a recent interview with Alan Tudyk, Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello mentioned in one question "I'm assuming your role in ABC's V reboot--assuming that it gets picked up--could pose a complication...." (EW.com, but WARNING: Dollhouse SPOILERS from the 5/1/09 episode immediately once you get there). I love Alan Tudyk (Fun Fact: I saw him on Broadway in Spamalot). He's awesome. My interest in the show "V" is definitely greater knowing he's in it.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine is barely out in theaters, and they're already planning for another Wolverine sequel (Variety, IMDb). I have not seen the new Wolverine yet because I heard it is disappointing (if one of my friends wanted to see it, I'd go, but I won't try to convince anyone to see it with me if it's going to be bad). I probably will see it at some point, since I like X-Men and I like Hugh Jackman (Fun Fact: I saw him on Broadway in The Boy from Oz). But if this one wasn't very good, I don't have high hopes for the quality of its sequel. The news doesn't stop with Wolverine. Twentieth Century Fox is planning another spinoff movie focusing on Deadpool, aka Wade Wilson, played by Ryan Reynolds in X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Variety, IMDb). I gotta say, he is easy on the eyes, and the bit from the trailer in which he slices a bullet coming towards him in half and the two halves hit the attackers behind him was pretty sweet. But I really have my doubts about how good that one will turn out. A spinoff of a bad spinoff? Doesn't exactly inspire confidence.
How about a bit of real-world news? Has anyone heard about what are being called the Indonesian "Hobbit" people? Scientists discovered skeletons of 3 foot tall, 65 pound humans on the Indonesian island of Flores back in 2004, but they have recently concluded that this is a new species of human, rather than some variation of previous species (BBC News). I love that they're being called "Hobbits," though apparently their feet are not as big as the Hobbits of Middle Earth. A shame.
Lastly, critical consensus seems to indicate that the new Star Trek movie will be totally awesome! See compilations of reviews here, here, and here. It opens on Friday, May 8 (tomorrow), though some theaters will not only have midnight screenings but various screenings earlier this evening. It probably won't do as well as Wolverine did last week because the franchise hasn't had the recent blockbuster success that X-Men had (basically, Star Trek isn't tracking as well among younger people, since it's staler in people's minds). But it's undoubtedly a better movie, and it should do better at the box office. So go out and see it. Get your friends to see it. Support Star Trek!
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Metaphysics geek dream week
Warning: Major geeking out ahead (metaphysics and sci-fi!!!). Also, MAJOR HEROES SPOILERS from the 4/27/09 episode.
Last night's Heroes totally one-upped last Friday's episode of Dollhouse!
In the April 24 episode of Dollhouse, a murdered Dollhouse client named Margaret Bashford was temporarily resurrected when her mind (which had been copied a few weeks prior to her death) was downloaded into Echo's body. The resurrection was only temporary because at the end of the episode Echo/Margaret's mind was wiped. Then in the April 27 episode of Heroes, Nathan Petrelli, who had just had his throat slit by Sylar, was resurrected when psychic Matt Parkman made Sylar believe that he (Sylar) was Nathan; Sylar's power to know the complete history of any object (or person, I guess) that he touches allowed him to fill in his memory. Heroes went even further than Dollhouse, though, because Sylar's power to shapeshift allowed him to look exactly like Nathan.
We definitely have a theme going on here. Making copies of people's brains to grant them life after death. This is a fascinating plot device because it raises fundamental questions of identity. Is Margaret Bashford still alive? She knows everything that Margaret knew (up until three weeks before her death), thinks like Margaret thinks, and believes she is Margaret, but she is in Echo's body. And who is the man left standing at the end of the Heroes episode? He thinks he is Nathan, and he looks like Nathan, but is he Sylar? The tiny teaser at the end of the episode showed Nathan obsessing over a clock (something very Sylar, if I can turn him into an adjective), hinting that a bit of Sylar remains underneath. But if the transformation had been complete (without any remaining vestiges of Sylar), would he then actually be Nathan Petrelli?
I love thinking about these kinds of dilemmas. Even though I was an engineering major, I managed to fit two philosophy courses in metaphysics into my schedule. And identity was always one of my favorite topics, due in part perhaps to its frequently sci-fi nature. Some people can't stand discussing the issue: "What does it matter? We can't really scan in brains and download them into other people! This is pointless!" But these theoritical scenarios raise questions of how we define ourselves. Am I a certain cluster of molecules? Am I this body, which is allowed small, gradual changes? Or am I this specific set of memories and thoughts and feelings and natural disposition? What makes me me? To the uninitiated, I will attempt an introduction to these sorts of dilemmas (to those who have studied this before, I don't think I present anything new).
One simple explanation of one's identity is one's body. This independent form that looks like me and has all these parts exactly like my parts is me. But this is not a satisfactory explanation by any means. After all, I do not look very much like how I looked when I was three years old. My body may not even have any of the same molecules that it had when I was three. Cells die and I eat food and make new cells. If the completely same body is required for a person to be me, then we are constantly changing identities as we shed cells and make new ones. One could say, "Well, I'm not the same person that I was when I was three," but on the level of identity that I am talking about, that is absurd. If we are constantly changing identities, then I haven't met any of the people in my family, and they haven't met me either. The friends I grew up with are gone. I am a new person, I did not graduate from college, and thus my grad school application was a lie, but I can't be punished for it because I wasn't the one who submitted it. Okay, so the completely same body must not be a requirement for identity. We must allow a gradual change in body in the maintenance of identity. My body is not completely different moment to moment, so as long as it proceeds to change bit by bit, I will still be me.
Another definition of identity is my brain. Not my physical brain, since that is a part of my body, but my memories, tendencies, way of thinking, etc., which I will refer to collectively as my "psychology". This also changes constantly but, like with the body, it is a gradual change; the same defense of this definition of identity may be used.
So which am I, the body or the psychology? Are both required, or just one? Which one is more important? Consider death. P1 is alive at t1, but dies at t2. The psychology is gone, but the body remains (at first... though unless cremated it will continue to change gradually). The neighbor hears the gunshot and comes in to find a body, P2, dead on the floor. Is P2 the same entity as P1 (does P1=P2)? To those who say no, consider a case of sudden brain death. The body P2 is still alive, but the psychology is totally gone. In this case, does P2=P1? If P2 is not P1, then who is he?
Now, what if P1 knew that he was going to go brain dead at t2, so at t2 he arranged to have his entire psychology scanned into another body, P3. The plan works, so now we're left with P2, a brain-dead empty shell, and P3, who in spite of a new body feels quite like his old P1 self. Which of these is P1? The body P2, which is molecularly the same as P1, or P3, whose psychology is the same? They can't both be P1; if P2=P1, and P3=P1, then P3=P2, which is definitely not true (the brain-dead person has neither body nor psychology in common with P3; they are not the same person). So which is it? Consider the reactions of the family members. Assuming they get over the shock of having their loved one talking out of the body of P3, they would probably embrace P3, who knows them and loves them, and leave the brain-dead P2. This is similar to the Margaret Bashford case, except that in her case P2 is actually dead, not just brain dead, and P3's psychology is a continuation not of P1, but of a P0 who had her brain scanned three weeks before her death at t2. Does this make a difference in the question of identity? Does the body of P3 matter? If P3's body once belonged to a different person, does that make us less likely to accept that P3=P1 than if the body were a synthetic Cylon skin job type of construct (which looks like a human). If the body of P3 looked exactly the same as the body of P1, would that help confirm that P1=P3? This is similar to the Sylar/Nathan case.
Are you still with me, or have you ready to haul me to the loony bin? I'm going to switch gears slightly to one of my favorite examples: the Star Trek transporter. Now, I am not entirely certain of how transporters are supposed to work in Star Trek; I am totally psyched about the upcoming movie, but I am not a Trekker. However, this is a thought experiment, so whether or not this explanation is true to the Star Trek world doesn't matter.
Captain Kirk steps onto the transporter and says, "Beam me down, Scotty." Scotty presses the button, and the transporter scans in all the information that is Captain Kirk, vaporizes his body on the ship, then reassembles Kirk on the planet using the molecules on the planet into exactly the same configuration that Kirk was in on the ship. Kirk down on the planet brushes himself off and commences to explore the planet. Is the Kirk on the planet the same person as Kirk on the spaceship? The people in the Star Trek universe certainly believe so. The other option is that Kirk died in the vaporization, and this man on the planet is an imposter who has no right to the title of "captain". In the world of Star Trek, transportation is not murder, but a convenient way to get from here to there. They believe that K2, Kirk on the planet = K1, Kirk on the ship.
Now, let's say that the transporter is not working properly. K1 steps onto the transporter and says "Beam me down, Scotty," and the transporter scans him in and reassembles K2 down on the planet as in the previous case. The only problem is, the vaporization didn't work, so now we have K3 still standing in the transporter saying, "Scotty, what went wrong? Why am I not on the planet?" while K2 is happily exploring the planet without knowing that anything went wrong. It is clear that K2 does not equal K3, since one is on the planet and the other on the ship, but then which one is the same person as K1? In the previous example, we, and the denizens of the Star Trek universe, had decided that K2 was the same person as K1, but now it is hard to imagine that K3 is not K1. K3, after all, has the advantage of being continuous in both psychology and body to K1. But K2 has the advantage of intention: K2 is the one who is supposed to exist; K3 is a mistake. Imagine the epic showdown between Kirk2 and Kirk3: It's a fight to the death, winner takes all!!!
It is probably clear by now that I could go on and on about this topic. I hope you don't think I'm entirely insane. Hopefully you appreciate the relevance of this issue (no, it's not as immediately important as what you're going to eat for lunch today, but it still is a sort of fundamental question about our lives). And maybe you find it interesting and will now spend some time thinking through these questions and coming up with scenarios of your own. If that is the case, then welcome to my world.
There's a new episode of Fringe tonight. As a show about the fringe sciences, this scenario is right up their alley. I've got my fingers crossed...
Last night's Heroes totally one-upped last Friday's episode of Dollhouse!
In the April 24 episode of Dollhouse, a murdered Dollhouse client named Margaret Bashford was temporarily resurrected when her mind (which had been copied a few weeks prior to her death) was downloaded into Echo's body. The resurrection was only temporary because at the end of the episode Echo/Margaret's mind was wiped. Then in the April 27 episode of Heroes, Nathan Petrelli, who had just had his throat slit by Sylar, was resurrected when psychic Matt Parkman made Sylar believe that he (Sylar) was Nathan; Sylar's power to know the complete history of any object (or person, I guess) that he touches allowed him to fill in his memory. Heroes went even further than Dollhouse, though, because Sylar's power to shapeshift allowed him to look exactly like Nathan.
We definitely have a theme going on here. Making copies of people's brains to grant them life after death. This is a fascinating plot device because it raises fundamental questions of identity. Is Margaret Bashford still alive? She knows everything that Margaret knew (up until three weeks before her death), thinks like Margaret thinks, and believes she is Margaret, but she is in Echo's body. And who is the man left standing at the end of the Heroes episode? He thinks he is Nathan, and he looks like Nathan, but is he Sylar? The tiny teaser at the end of the episode showed Nathan obsessing over a clock (something very Sylar, if I can turn him into an adjective), hinting that a bit of Sylar remains underneath. But if the transformation had been complete (without any remaining vestiges of Sylar), would he then actually be Nathan Petrelli?
I love thinking about these kinds of dilemmas. Even though I was an engineering major, I managed to fit two philosophy courses in metaphysics into my schedule. And identity was always one of my favorite topics, due in part perhaps to its frequently sci-fi nature. Some people can't stand discussing the issue: "What does it matter? We can't really scan in brains and download them into other people! This is pointless!" But these theoritical scenarios raise questions of how we define ourselves. Am I a certain cluster of molecules? Am I this body, which is allowed small, gradual changes? Or am I this specific set of memories and thoughts and feelings and natural disposition? What makes me me? To the uninitiated, I will attempt an introduction to these sorts of dilemmas (to those who have studied this before, I don't think I present anything new).
One simple explanation of one's identity is one's body. This independent form that looks like me and has all these parts exactly like my parts is me. But this is not a satisfactory explanation by any means. After all, I do not look very much like how I looked when I was three years old. My body may not even have any of the same molecules that it had when I was three. Cells die and I eat food and make new cells. If the completely same body is required for a person to be me, then we are constantly changing identities as we shed cells and make new ones. One could say, "Well, I'm not the same person that I was when I was three," but on the level of identity that I am talking about, that is absurd. If we are constantly changing identities, then I haven't met any of the people in my family, and they haven't met me either. The friends I grew up with are gone. I am a new person, I did not graduate from college, and thus my grad school application was a lie, but I can't be punished for it because I wasn't the one who submitted it. Okay, so the completely same body must not be a requirement for identity. We must allow a gradual change in body in the maintenance of identity. My body is not completely different moment to moment, so as long as it proceeds to change bit by bit, I will still be me.
Another definition of identity is my brain. Not my physical brain, since that is a part of my body, but my memories, tendencies, way of thinking, etc., which I will refer to collectively as my "psychology". This also changes constantly but, like with the body, it is a gradual change; the same defense of this definition of identity may be used.
So which am I, the body or the psychology? Are both required, or just one? Which one is more important? Consider death. P1 is alive at t1, but dies at t2. The psychology is gone, but the body remains (at first... though unless cremated it will continue to change gradually). The neighbor hears the gunshot and comes in to find a body, P2, dead on the floor. Is P2 the same entity as P1 (does P1=P2)? To those who say no, consider a case of sudden brain death. The body P2 is still alive, but the psychology is totally gone. In this case, does P2=P1? If P2 is not P1, then who is he?
Now, what if P1 knew that he was going to go brain dead at t2, so at t2 he arranged to have his entire psychology scanned into another body, P3. The plan works, so now we're left with P2, a brain-dead empty shell, and P3, who in spite of a new body feels quite like his old P1 self. Which of these is P1? The body P2, which is molecularly the same as P1, or P3, whose psychology is the same? They can't both be P1; if P2=P1, and P3=P1, then P3=P2, which is definitely not true (the brain-dead person has neither body nor psychology in common with P3; they are not the same person). So which is it? Consider the reactions of the family members. Assuming they get over the shock of having their loved one talking out of the body of P3, they would probably embrace P3, who knows them and loves them, and leave the brain-dead P2. This is similar to the Margaret Bashford case, except that in her case P2 is actually dead, not just brain dead, and P3's psychology is a continuation not of P1, but of a P0 who had her brain scanned three weeks before her death at t2. Does this make a difference in the question of identity? Does the body of P3 matter? If P3's body once belonged to a different person, does that make us less likely to accept that P3=P1 than if the body were a synthetic Cylon skin job type of construct (which looks like a human). If the body of P3 looked exactly the same as the body of P1, would that help confirm that P1=P3? This is similar to the Sylar/Nathan case.
Are you still with me, or have you ready to haul me to the loony bin? I'm going to switch gears slightly to one of my favorite examples: the Star Trek transporter. Now, I am not entirely certain of how transporters are supposed to work in Star Trek; I am totally psyched about the upcoming movie, but I am not a Trekker. However, this is a thought experiment, so whether or not this explanation is true to the Star Trek world doesn't matter.
Captain Kirk steps onto the transporter and says, "Beam me down, Scotty." Scotty presses the button, and the transporter scans in all the information that is Captain Kirk, vaporizes his body on the ship, then reassembles Kirk on the planet using the molecules on the planet into exactly the same configuration that Kirk was in on the ship. Kirk down on the planet brushes himself off and commences to explore the planet. Is the Kirk on the planet the same person as Kirk on the spaceship? The people in the Star Trek universe certainly believe so. The other option is that Kirk died in the vaporization, and this man on the planet is an imposter who has no right to the title of "captain". In the world of Star Trek, transportation is not murder, but a convenient way to get from here to there. They believe that K2, Kirk on the planet = K1, Kirk on the ship.
Now, let's say that the transporter is not working properly. K1 steps onto the transporter and says "Beam me down, Scotty," and the transporter scans him in and reassembles K2 down on the planet as in the previous case. The only problem is, the vaporization didn't work, so now we have K3 still standing in the transporter saying, "Scotty, what went wrong? Why am I not on the planet?" while K2 is happily exploring the planet without knowing that anything went wrong. It is clear that K2 does not equal K3, since one is on the planet and the other on the ship, but then which one is the same person as K1? In the previous example, we, and the denizens of the Star Trek universe, had decided that K2 was the same person as K1, but now it is hard to imagine that K3 is not K1. K3, after all, has the advantage of being continuous in both psychology and body to K1. But K2 has the advantage of intention: K2 is the one who is supposed to exist; K3 is a mistake. Imagine the epic showdown between Kirk2 and Kirk3: It's a fight to the death, winner takes all!!!
It is probably clear by now that I could go on and on about this topic. I hope you don't think I'm entirely insane. Hopefully you appreciate the relevance of this issue (no, it's not as immediately important as what you're going to eat for lunch today, but it still is a sort of fundamental question about our lives). And maybe you find it interesting and will now spend some time thinking through these questions and coming up with scenarios of your own. If that is the case, then welcome to my world.
There's a new episode of Fringe tonight. As a show about the fringe sciences, this scenario is right up their alley. I've got my fingers crossed...
Friday, April 17, 2009
Daisies airs, Fringe goes viral, Star Trek coolness, and more
Well, the stories have been collecting since my last entertainment news post...
Robert Downey Jr. has confirmed that Mickey Rourke, Scarlett Johansson, Garry Shandling, Don Cheadle, Samuel L. Jackson, Sam Rockwell, and Gwyneth Paltrow will all be in the Iron Man 2 cast (IMDb). Rourke has been cast as Whiplash, Johansson will play Black Widow, and Sam Rockwell will play Justin Hammer. Cheadle takes over the role of Rhodey from Terrence Howard. Paltrow will reprise her role as Pepper Potts, and Jackson will return as Nick Fury. I'm not sure at this point who Garry Shandling will play. I loved the first Iron Man movie, so I'm looking forward to this one.
Universal Pictures, which made a three-year production pact with Dark Horse Comics, is planning to make an "Umbrella Academy" movie (Variety). The story is about a dissolved band of superheroes who reunite following their adoptive father's death to carry out his plan to save the world. Mark Bomback, who wrote Disney's recent Race to Witch Mountain, has been chosen to write the adaptation. The Witch Mountain credit doesn't make me immediately confident, but we'll see how it goes.
Gore Verbinski has told Disney that he is done with the Pirates of the Caribbean movies (Variety). He will not be directing the planned Pirates 4 film, instead choosing to move on to other projects, including a movie adaptation of the video game BioShock (which came up briefly in a post I wrote last July). Verbinski's Blind Wink Prods. is also working on a movie adaptation of Hasbro game Clue and a drama based on the Wall Street Journal article about how online fantasy roleplaying (particularly focusing on Second Life) can negatively affect people's real world lives.
Michael Sheen has been cast as a vampire in Twilight sequel New Moon (IMDb, Variety). He will play Aro, the head of Italian vampire clan the Volturi. New Moon director Chris Weitz says of the character, "Aro is, on the surface, a very gracious and friendly vampire, but beneath that he is a tremendous threat." I have never read any of the books, so I don't know the characters, but judging by Weitz's description, Sheen is probably a good fit for the role. He can transition easily from gracious and friendly to threatening and dangerous, and he is overall a very talented actor. However, the first role I ever saw Michael Sheen play was the werewolf Lucian in Underworld. I think having Sheen play a vampire violates some sort of... mythical creature law, and we all may be in very grave danger.
ABC has announced they will air the leftover episodes of some of their cancelled series on Saturday nights at 10:00 starting May 30 (Variety). This means that the final three episodes of my dear show Pushing Daisies will finally be aired from May 30-June 13. Eli Stone, which I also followed, will have its final unaired episodes shown from June 20-July 11. Though I'm still sad these shows were cancelled, I am glad that I'll get to see whatever the shows' creative teams managed to pull together to end the series. Before I go and buy the complete DVD set of Pushing Daisies.
Speaking of cancelled series, while FOX is still not ready to make an official announcement, Entertainment Weekly has confirmed that Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles will not be returning for a third season (EW.com). Season 2 ended last week with some pretty exciting revelations and cliffhangers, but I think it was a satisfying end for the show. The question now is What will Summer Glau do next?
FOX is conducting some sort of viral campaign for Fringe (Variety). Michael Cerveris has appeared in character as the mysterious Observer at a number of live events broadcast on FOX, including American Idol, an NFL divisional playoff game, and a NASCAR race. FOX has not commented on the campaign, possibly to make the promotion a little more mysterious, but due to the character's hairless nature, insiders have apparently nicknamed the campaign the "Where's Baldo?" initiative. I am much amused. Unfortunately, I don't watch any of these live shows on FOX, but viewers have posted clips on YouTube, and FOX has not been complaining about it. See them here: Idol, NFL, NASCAR (I'm pretty sure the Lance Reddick voiceover in the latter two clips was added and not actually aired live).
Finally, I must admit I'm getting pretty psyched about the new Star Trek movie coming out on May 8. I am totally jealous of the people who got to see it at the surprise screening of the movie in Austin on April 6 (NYTimes blog). I'm really not any sort of Star Trek fanatic; I consider myself a casual fan of The Next Generation, but the only original Star Trek that I've seen is the whale movie. I am, however, a fan of J.J. Abrams, and I'm excited about what he's done with the franchise (i.e., reboot it with a cool movie that is accessible to people like me). I am also totally digging the cast. The only movie I've actually seen with Chris Pine (Kirk) is The Princess Diaries 2: The Royal Engagement (yes, I've seen it), but he's cute and, from what I can tell from the trailers, good for the part. Zachary Quinto (Spock), of course, is Sylar from Heroes. I'm still not sure about his voice (Leonard Nimoy has such a nice deep voice, which is not Quinto's natural tone), but I'm still rooting for him. Simon Pegg (Scotty) is hilarious and brilliant (I loved him in Hot Fuzz... still haven't seen Shaun of the Dead). Karl Urban (Bones) was Eomer. Zoe Saldana (Uhura) I noticed in the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie because I already knew her from that ballet movie Center Stage (her big screen debut). John Cho (Sulu) is Harold of Harold & Kumar, which is awesome. And Anton Yelchin gets two super summer blockbusters within two weeks of each other, playing not only Chekov in Star Trek but Kyle Reese in Terminator: Salvation, which opens in theaters on May 21. Busy kid. I really hope the movie lives up to all the buzz. I can't wait.
Robert Downey Jr. has confirmed that Mickey Rourke, Scarlett Johansson, Garry Shandling, Don Cheadle, Samuel L. Jackson, Sam Rockwell, and Gwyneth Paltrow will all be in the Iron Man 2 cast (IMDb). Rourke has been cast as Whiplash, Johansson will play Black Widow, and Sam Rockwell will play Justin Hammer. Cheadle takes over the role of Rhodey from Terrence Howard. Paltrow will reprise her role as Pepper Potts, and Jackson will return as Nick Fury. I'm not sure at this point who Garry Shandling will play. I loved the first Iron Man movie, so I'm looking forward to this one.
Universal Pictures, which made a three-year production pact with Dark Horse Comics, is planning to make an "Umbrella Academy" movie (Variety). The story is about a dissolved band of superheroes who reunite following their adoptive father's death to carry out his plan to save the world. Mark Bomback, who wrote Disney's recent Race to Witch Mountain, has been chosen to write the adaptation. The Witch Mountain credit doesn't make me immediately confident, but we'll see how it goes.
Gore Verbinski has told Disney that he is done with the Pirates of the Caribbean movies (Variety). He will not be directing the planned Pirates 4 film, instead choosing to move on to other projects, including a movie adaptation of the video game BioShock (which came up briefly in a post I wrote last July). Verbinski's Blind Wink Prods. is also working on a movie adaptation of Hasbro game Clue and a drama based on the Wall Street Journal article about how online fantasy roleplaying (particularly focusing on Second Life) can negatively affect people's real world lives.
Michael Sheen has been cast as a vampire in Twilight sequel New Moon (IMDb, Variety). He will play Aro, the head of Italian vampire clan the Volturi. New Moon director Chris Weitz says of the character, "Aro is, on the surface, a very gracious and friendly vampire, but beneath that he is a tremendous threat." I have never read any of the books, so I don't know the characters, but judging by Weitz's description, Sheen is probably a good fit for the role. He can transition easily from gracious and friendly to threatening and dangerous, and he is overall a very talented actor. However, the first role I ever saw Michael Sheen play was the werewolf Lucian in Underworld. I think having Sheen play a vampire violates some sort of... mythical creature law, and we all may be in very grave danger.
ABC has announced they will air the leftover episodes of some of their cancelled series on Saturday nights at 10:00 starting May 30 (Variety). This means that the final three episodes of my dear show Pushing Daisies will finally be aired from May 30-June 13. Eli Stone, which I also followed, will have its final unaired episodes shown from June 20-July 11. Though I'm still sad these shows were cancelled, I am glad that I'll get to see whatever the shows' creative teams managed to pull together to end the series. Before I go and buy the complete DVD set of Pushing Daisies.
Speaking of cancelled series, while FOX is still not ready to make an official announcement, Entertainment Weekly has confirmed that Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles will not be returning for a third season (EW.com). Season 2 ended last week with some pretty exciting revelations and cliffhangers, but I think it was a satisfying end for the show. The question now is What will Summer Glau do next?
FOX is conducting some sort of viral campaign for Fringe (Variety). Michael Cerveris has appeared in character as the mysterious Observer at a number of live events broadcast on FOX, including American Idol, an NFL divisional playoff game, and a NASCAR race. FOX has not commented on the campaign, possibly to make the promotion a little more mysterious, but due to the character's hairless nature, insiders have apparently nicknamed the campaign the "Where's Baldo?" initiative. I am much amused. Unfortunately, I don't watch any of these live shows on FOX, but viewers have posted clips on YouTube, and FOX has not been complaining about it. See them here: Idol, NFL, NASCAR (I'm pretty sure the Lance Reddick voiceover in the latter two clips was added and not actually aired live).
Finally, I must admit I'm getting pretty psyched about the new Star Trek movie coming out on May 8. I am totally jealous of the people who got to see it at the surprise screening of the movie in Austin on April 6 (NYTimes blog). I'm really not any sort of Star Trek fanatic; I consider myself a casual fan of The Next Generation, but the only original Star Trek that I've seen is the whale movie. I am, however, a fan of J.J. Abrams, and I'm excited about what he's done with the franchise (i.e., reboot it with a cool movie that is accessible to people like me). I am also totally digging the cast. The only movie I've actually seen with Chris Pine (Kirk) is The Princess Diaries 2: The Royal Engagement (yes, I've seen it), but he's cute and, from what I can tell from the trailers, good for the part. Zachary Quinto (Spock), of course, is Sylar from Heroes. I'm still not sure about his voice (Leonard Nimoy has such a nice deep voice, which is not Quinto's natural tone), but I'm still rooting for him. Simon Pegg (Scotty) is hilarious and brilliant (I loved him in Hot Fuzz... still haven't seen Shaun of the Dead). Karl Urban (Bones) was Eomer. Zoe Saldana (Uhura) I noticed in the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie because I already knew her from that ballet movie Center Stage (her big screen debut). John Cho (Sulu) is Harold of Harold & Kumar, which is awesome. And Anton Yelchin gets two super summer blockbusters within two weeks of each other, playing not only Chekov in Star Trek but Kyle Reese in Terminator: Salvation, which opens in theaters on May 21. Busy kid. I really hope the movie lives up to all the buzz. I can't wait.
Friday, April 3, 2009
New Star Trek, Peabody for Lost, and more
Let's see what we've got in entertainment news this week...
Writers, assemble! Marvel, which has been excitedly greenlighting movie adaptations of its franchises (including Thor, Captain America, and The Avengers) after last year's encouraging Iron Man success, is hiring a bunch of writers to develop its properties into films (Variety). Each year, it will ask up to five writers to work on various plots, characters, or future films, providing the writers with specific pitches. These projects may involve some of Marvel's lesser known properties, such as Black Panther, Cable, Doctor Strange, Iron Fist, Nighthawk and Vision.
Even though the new Star Trek reboot movie is still more than a month away from bowing in theaters, Paramount has smelled its upcoming success and gone ahead and hired writers for a sequel movie (Variety, IMDb). The script will be written by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, who wrote the script for the new Star Trek film, along with Damon Lindelof, who co-developed TV show Lost with J.J. Abrams, the director and producer of the new Star Trek film. J.J. Abrams will be a producer on the sequel, though there's no word yet on whether he will be directing again. Paramount bosses are reportedly hoping to get William Shatner, who does not appear in the new film, to make a cameo in the sequel (IMDb). They've really hyped this upcoming reboot, and J.J. has done well in the past. I hope the movie delivers. Just wait for May 8.
Inception, Christopher Nolan's planned contemporary sci-fi actioner, has added to its cast. Leonardo DiCaprio is already set to star, but Ellen Page, Marion Cotillard, and Cillian Murphy are in talks to join the project (Variety). Page and Cotillard were both 2008 Academy Award stars, nominated for Juno and La Vie en Rose, respectively; Cotillard won the award. Murphy has worked with Nolan before as Scarecrow in Batman begins (with a small role in Dark Knight).
I've sort of been following the development of Spider-Man: The Musical (officially named Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark). Apparently, director Julie Taymor has dismissed the rumors that Evan Rachel Wood, who starred in Taymor's movie Across the Universe, is set to play Mary Jane in the musical (IMDb). Taymor is holding auditions across the country to find her leads, apparently looking to cast unknowns in the starring roles.
Now for some exciting news for Lost fans: Lost has won a Peabody Award! (IMDb). The Peabody Award website says of Lost:
"Breezily mixing metaphysics, quantum physics, romance and cliffhanger action, the genre-bending series about a group of air-crash survivors on a mysterious island has rewritten the rules of television fiction."
Well, at least they've rewritten rules of nature. Battlestar Galactica won a 2005 Peabody Award, and I am excited to see yet another one of my TV shows win this prestigious award. After a couple rocky seasons, last year Lost got back on track, and now it has been rightfully awarded for its excellence. Congrats!
Speaking of Battlestar Galactica, I would like to end this post with a bit of fake news from The Onion that amused me greatly:
Barack Obama depressed, distant since "Battlestar Galactica" series finale
It speaks for itself.
Writers, assemble! Marvel, which has been excitedly greenlighting movie adaptations of its franchises (including Thor, Captain America, and The Avengers) after last year's encouraging Iron Man success, is hiring a bunch of writers to develop its properties into films (Variety). Each year, it will ask up to five writers to work on various plots, characters, or future films, providing the writers with specific pitches. These projects may involve some of Marvel's lesser known properties, such as Black Panther, Cable, Doctor Strange, Iron Fist, Nighthawk and Vision.
Even though the new Star Trek reboot movie is still more than a month away from bowing in theaters, Paramount has smelled its upcoming success and gone ahead and hired writers for a sequel movie (Variety, IMDb). The script will be written by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, who wrote the script for the new Star Trek film, along with Damon Lindelof, who co-developed TV show Lost with J.J. Abrams, the director and producer of the new Star Trek film. J.J. Abrams will be a producer on the sequel, though there's no word yet on whether he will be directing again. Paramount bosses are reportedly hoping to get William Shatner, who does not appear in the new film, to make a cameo in the sequel (IMDb). They've really hyped this upcoming reboot, and J.J. has done well in the past. I hope the movie delivers. Just wait for May 8.
Inception, Christopher Nolan's planned contemporary sci-fi actioner, has added to its cast. Leonardo DiCaprio is already set to star, but Ellen Page, Marion Cotillard, and Cillian Murphy are in talks to join the project (Variety). Page and Cotillard were both 2008 Academy Award stars, nominated for Juno and La Vie en Rose, respectively; Cotillard won the award. Murphy has worked with Nolan before as Scarecrow in Batman begins (with a small role in Dark Knight).
I've sort of been following the development of Spider-Man: The Musical (officially named Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark). Apparently, director Julie Taymor has dismissed the rumors that Evan Rachel Wood, who starred in Taymor's movie Across the Universe, is set to play Mary Jane in the musical (IMDb). Taymor is holding auditions across the country to find her leads, apparently looking to cast unknowns in the starring roles.
Now for some exciting news for Lost fans: Lost has won a Peabody Award! (IMDb). The Peabody Award website says of Lost:
"Breezily mixing metaphysics, quantum physics, romance and cliffhanger action, the genre-bending series about a group of air-crash survivors on a mysterious island has rewritten the rules of television fiction."
Well, at least they've rewritten rules of nature. Battlestar Galactica won a 2005 Peabody Award, and I am excited to see yet another one of my TV shows win this prestigious award. After a couple rocky seasons, last year Lost got back on track, and now it has been rightfully awarded for its excellence. Congrats!
Speaking of Battlestar Galactica, I would like to end this post with a bit of fake news from The Onion that amused me greatly:
Barack Obama depressed, distant since "Battlestar Galactica" series finale
It speaks for itself.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
IDOLS-13, new Star Wars and Star Trek TV shows, etc.
Getting back into the regular swing of things after my series of posts about my Hawaii visit, it's time to catch up with some recent entertainment news that has caught my eye...
Matt Damon is lined up to star in The Investment Bureau, which has been described as a contemporary romance with sci-fi overtones (Variety). The script was written by Bourne Ultimatum co-writer George Nolfi, who will also direct. Damon will play a congressman who meets a beautiful ballet dancer but finds "strange circumstances" keeping the two apart. I am intrigued. I'm a Matt Damon fan--he tends to choose interesting projects, and he delivers consistently good performances--and Nolfi's The Bourne Ultimatum was great, so this movie could be pretty cool.
Considering that in past years the call-in numbers to vote for American Idol contestants have been 1-866-IDOLS-01 through 1-866-IDOLS-12, it seemed logical that for this year, in which there were thirteen finalists, they would simply add the number 1-866-IDOLS-13 for the 13th contestant. The number for the thirteenth contestant, however, was 1-866-IDOLS-36. Why? Apparently, 1-866-IDOLS-13 is a phone-sex hotline (IMDb). I didn't watch the show, but I hope Ryan Seacrest made the tricky thirteenth phone number very clear, or else a lot of teens would find their call answered by a woman's voice saying "Hey there, sexy guy. Welcome to an exciting new way to go live, one-on-one, with hot horny girls waiting right now to talk to you." Picture the scarred children. So wrong. But hilarious.
Scarlett Johansson is confirmed to have signed on to play villain Black Widow in Iron Man 2 (IMDb). Emily Blunt had been forced to step down from the role last month due to scheduling conflicts. Let's hope Johansson can do the role justice; her previous comic book movie experience was in The Spirit. Also, Mickey Rourke has officially agreed to play Whiplash in the sequel. He has already begun his research, touring Butryka prison in Moscow to start to get into the head of his Russian supervillain (IMDb).
George Lucas is looking for actors to star in his upcoming live action Star Wars TV series (IMDb). If he's casting... it sounds like he's really going to make this show happen. There have been so many Star Wars disappointments in recent years. Please, oh please, George Lucas, don't mess it up any more.
The Sci Fi Channel is changing its name to SyFy (IMDb). Apparently, this will make it seem hipper to the 18 to 34-year-old demographic. I can't say it's working for me. I'm just confused. So... what does SyFy stand for?
Pushing Daisies creator Bryan Fuller is hoping to use the (expected) success of the upcoming J.J. Abrams Star Trek prequel to start up a new Star Trek TV series (IMDb). The more recent Star Trek TV series were getting a bit tired, but Fuller envisions the new series more in the fun spirit of the original. He says it would take place in the same era as the J.J. Abrams movie but on a different ship with its own adventures. I've never been a true Star Trek fan, having watched TNG only sporadically when I was a kid, but I'm excited about the new movie and if Bryan Fuller is planning a new TV series (I absolutely adored Pushing Daisies--I'm still sore over its cancellation), my interest is definitely piqued.
Warner Bros. and a number of video game makers are backing a video-game-on-demand service called OnLive Game Service (Variety). OnLive, which is being shown off at this week's San Francisco Game Developers Conference and is expected to go live this winter, allows users with a broadband internet connection to play games instantly without downloading, giving the PC the convenience of a console system. This has the potential to seriously affect the gaming competition between consoles and PCs, and it should help the video game developers by reducing their reliance on the consoles. As a PC gamer, I'm excited at the prospect of PC gaming gaining influence, but I'll have to see what kind of games show up on the service before I get excited. I guess I'm a traditionalist; I like to do the full install once and take the game around with me, even if I'm not connected to the internet.
That's all for now!
Matt Damon is lined up to star in The Investment Bureau, which has been described as a contemporary romance with sci-fi overtones (Variety). The script was written by Bourne Ultimatum co-writer George Nolfi, who will also direct. Damon will play a congressman who meets a beautiful ballet dancer but finds "strange circumstances" keeping the two apart. I am intrigued. I'm a Matt Damon fan--he tends to choose interesting projects, and he delivers consistently good performances--and Nolfi's The Bourne Ultimatum was great, so this movie could be pretty cool.
Considering that in past years the call-in numbers to vote for American Idol contestants have been 1-866-IDOLS-01 through 1-866-IDOLS-12, it seemed logical that for this year, in which there were thirteen finalists, they would simply add the number 1-866-IDOLS-13 for the 13th contestant. The number for the thirteenth contestant, however, was 1-866-IDOLS-36. Why? Apparently, 1-866-IDOLS-13 is a phone-sex hotline (IMDb). I didn't watch the show, but I hope Ryan Seacrest made the tricky thirteenth phone number very clear, or else a lot of teens would find their call answered by a woman's voice saying "Hey there, sexy guy. Welcome to an exciting new way to go live, one-on-one, with hot horny girls waiting right now to talk to you." Picture the scarred children. So wrong. But hilarious.
Scarlett Johansson is confirmed to have signed on to play villain Black Widow in Iron Man 2 (IMDb). Emily Blunt had been forced to step down from the role last month due to scheduling conflicts. Let's hope Johansson can do the role justice; her previous comic book movie experience was in The Spirit. Also, Mickey Rourke has officially agreed to play Whiplash in the sequel. He has already begun his research, touring Butryka prison in Moscow to start to get into the head of his Russian supervillain (IMDb).
George Lucas is looking for actors to star in his upcoming live action Star Wars TV series (IMDb). If he's casting... it sounds like he's really going to make this show happen. There have been so many Star Wars disappointments in recent years. Please, oh please, George Lucas, don't mess it up any more.
The Sci Fi Channel is changing its name to SyFy (IMDb). Apparently, this will make it seem hipper to the 18 to 34-year-old demographic. I can't say it's working for me. I'm just confused. So... what does SyFy stand for?
Pushing Daisies creator Bryan Fuller is hoping to use the (expected) success of the upcoming J.J. Abrams Star Trek prequel to start up a new Star Trek TV series (IMDb). The more recent Star Trek TV series were getting a bit tired, but Fuller envisions the new series more in the fun spirit of the original. He says it would take place in the same era as the J.J. Abrams movie but on a different ship with its own adventures. I've never been a true Star Trek fan, having watched TNG only sporadically when I was a kid, but I'm excited about the new movie and if Bryan Fuller is planning a new TV series (I absolutely adored Pushing Daisies--I'm still sore over its cancellation), my interest is definitely piqued.
Warner Bros. and a number of video game makers are backing a video-game-on-demand service called OnLive Game Service (Variety). OnLive, which is being shown off at this week's San Francisco Game Developers Conference and is expected to go live this winter, allows users with a broadband internet connection to play games instantly without downloading, giving the PC the convenience of a console system. This has the potential to seriously affect the gaming competition between consoles and PCs, and it should help the video game developers by reducing their reliance on the consoles. As a PC gamer, I'm excited at the prospect of PC gaming gaining influence, but I'll have to see what kind of games show up on the service before I get excited. I guess I'm a traditionalist; I like to do the full install once and take the game around with me, even if I'm not connected to the internet.
That's all for now!
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