Buckaroo Banzai : The Prequel #1 August 30, 2008
Posted by showmescifi in scifi.Tags: Buckaroo Banzai, buckaroobanzai, comic books, comics, Moostone, Sci Fi, science fiction, sciencefiction, scifi
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It’s been years since last I heard the name Buckaroo Banzai (remember the 80’s flic with Peter Weller?) and now he’s back…well at least as a comic book hero.
Moonstone which is a publisher i’ve never heard of before has picked up Buckaroo Banzai for this 2 issue micro series prequel. The art is very weak in this book and the first issue ends abruptly without even an ..To Be Continued.. when we’re at the final frame.
The basics of the story are alright giving us insight into the man that Buckaroo is (prior to the movie) and his time challenge to figure out how to enter the eighth dimension while still being a rock star.
If this publisher picked up some real art talent this comic would likely be far more appealing. As it is, I’ll likely buy the second issue just because but it is extremely unlikely that we will ever review another Moonstone title, the artwork is just that bad.
Then again the original movie was really campy cheesy stuff too..check out the trailer below for a reminder…aaaaaaaaaaaah the 80’s…
Asimovs Sep 2008: Horse Racing by Mary Rosenblum REVIEW August 28, 2008
Posted by showmescifi in scifi.Tags: asimovs, asimovs science fiction magazine, Horse Racing, Mary Rosenblum, Sci Fi, science fiction, sciencefiction, scifi
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Some months there are few (if any) really innovative stories in an issue of Asimovs, the September 2008 issue isn’t such a case.
In particular short story called Horse Racing by author Mary Rosenblum is worth the price of the issue. The basic premise is that human lives are controlled by corporations who big on children and then help to shape their lives with silent/unseen guiding hands.
It’s an innovative concept and one that is sparse on hard details – leaving lots to the imagination. As is typical with Asimovs the story focusses on character and not the speculative science. If this story were expanded to novel length I suspect that would change.
The idea that an unseen guiding hand guides destiny isn’t new but the concept of trading ‘Futures’ isn’t something that i’ve seen done in as elegant a fashion as Rosenblum has done with Horse Racing.
Star Wars Clone Wars – Better the second time around August 26, 2008
Posted by showmescifi in scifi.Tags: animated clone wars, clone wars, clonewars, Sci Fi, science fiction, scifi, Star Wars, star wars clone wars, starwars
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Star Wars The Clone Wars is a better movie the second time around…
The first time we watched Clone Wars to be honest we were underwhelmed (for alot of reasons). Clone Wars is not the best Star Wars movie but that doesn’t mean it’s that bad either.
The battle scenes are all awesome. The basic story – is simple enough but it works.
The animation is of course what set this apart from all other Star Wars movies. The second time around it was only the ‘human’ character’s hair (which doesn’t move) that kinda/sorta bothered me. The animating actors total lack of real emotion is also somewhat of a problem..
Except for Ahsoka Tano…who is the light and life of this movie. Asoka is awesome and wouldn’t have worked as well as a real actress. Little things like Sky-boy and R2-oey..she’s just so cutesy..but not in a Jar Jar Binks (must die) sorta way.
No, I’m not likely to pay to see Clone Wars in the theatre for a third time (which will be the first Star Wars movie ever that I haven’t paid to see at least 5 times). But I’m glad i saw it at least twice.
As a TV show, this concept/series will work and I’m looking forward to seeing on my small screen soon.
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic #32 Vindication #1 August 25, 2008
Posted by showmescifi in scifi.Tags: comics, Dark Horse, knights of the old republic, KOTOR, Sci Fi, science fiction, sciencefiction, scifi, Star Wars, starwars, vector, Zayne Carrick
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Who is Hazen?
Or should we say Darth Hazen?
All this time he’s been the Evil Dark Jedi pulling all the strings..or so it would seem and I don’t recall seeing him ever in the past 31 issues (or maybe I’m missing something??)
But Jedi on Jedi battles?
AWEsome
fULL out Jedi Mutiny/Rebellion – awesome
This series is now researching its climax — once this arc is over i wonder how it will ever be able to continue.
Stargate Atlantis 5×06 Rodney Doesn’t Die August 24, 2008
Posted by showmescifi in scifi.Tags: atlantis, Elizabeth Weir, Richard Wooley, Robert Picardo, Sci Fi, science fiction, sciencefiction, scifi, stargate
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Alright only 14 episodes left of Stargate Atlantis..and I guess it was time for another...We’ve been infected with a parasite and need to find some super ancient tech to save us episode..’
Yeaah we’ve had at least 40 of these episode (SG1 and Atlantis over the years) and this wasn’t necessarily better or worse..it was just kinda/sorta there.
Great to see Jeannie again – they really should find more reason to have Mrs. Miller on more often as she’s as bright as Rodney himself. And great to see Ronon Dax love McKay so much so touching…as was the drinking on the pier…i seem to remember McKay also out on the same pier with Dr. Beckett (after he died) too.
Terminator Sarah Connor Chronicles Publicity Photo Shoot August 22, 2008
Posted by showmescifi in scifi.Tags: Sarah Connor, sarah connor chronicles, SCC, Sci Fi, science fiction, sciencefiction, scifi, Summer Glau, terminator, terminator sarah connor chronicles
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More Terminator Sarah Connor Chronicles goodness…Season Two looks hot!
Stargate Universe Gets Green Light August 22, 2008
Posted by showmescifi in scifi.Tags: MGM, Sci Fi, science fiction, sciencefiction, scifi, stargate, stargate universe
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They take away with one hand and then give us something new in the other.
Barely a day after Sci Fi officially canceled Stargate Atlantis, they have now officially announced that Stargate Universe will kick off in January of 2009.
We’ll get a two hour movie early in the year with a weekly series set to start by the summer.
According to a press release put out by MGM:
After unlocking the mystery of the Stargate’s ninth chevron, a team of explorers travels to an unmanned starship called the Destiny, launched by The Ancients at the height of their civilization as a grand experiment set in motion, but never completed.
What starts as a simple reconnaissance turns into a never ending mission, as the Stargate Universe crew discovers the ship is unable to return to Earth, and they must now fend for themselves aboard the Destiny.
The crew will travel to the far reaches of the universe, connecting with each of the previously launched Stargates, thus fulfilling the Destiny’s original mission. Challenges will arise though as the ship comes into range of Stargates placed centuries ahead of the Destiny and the crew is unable to control the ship’s navigational schedule. If someone is left behind, there is no way to go back for them, adding to the drama of encountering new races, enemies and adventures.
Terminator Sarah Connor Chronicles Season 2 promos August 22, 2008
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A few more Terminator Sarah Connor Chronicles are now making the rounds. We blogged about the first set back in July.
Fox sure seems to be doing things right with the second season. New characters, more action and more drama and best of all they’re hyping the show – which is a good omen for ratings.
Joseph Mallozzi -Why did you kill Stargate Atlantis? August 21, 2008
Posted by showmescifi in scifi.Tags: atlantis, Elizabeth Weir, Joseph Mallozzi, Richard Wooley, Robert Picardo, Sci Fi, science fiction, sciencefiction, scifi, stargate, stargate atlantis
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Joe Mallozzi Exec Producer of Stargate Atlantis (who also blogs on WordPress) has opened up about the cancellation of Stargate Atlantis. I don’t understand why he didn’t fight more.
I don’t understand why this awesome writer would give up on the fans that support the show week in and week out.
It’s been a bittersweet couple of days. On the one hand, I’m sorry to see the series end but, on the other hand, I’m extremely proud of what we’ve accomplished. 100 episodes is pretty damn impressive feat and, as evidenced by the quality of recent stories and the uptick in the ratings, we’ll be going out on a high. Even though I see a lot of anger directed at both MGM and Sci Fi, the fact is we couldn’t have done it without their support.
Mallozzi titled his post “All Good Things…” but this is not an All Good Things…ending. With Star Trek TNG the show was not canceled mid-season. No matter what Mallozzi writes, we the fans should be angry and upset at the way that Sc Fi channel treats Sci Fi fans. It’s just not right.
That said – Mallozzi deserves our respect and admiration for the openness that he shows on his blog and for the quality show that Stargate Atlantis truly is. While the journey has been shorter than it should have been, it’s been quite a ride.
While we know there will be a Stargate Atlantis movie..we still don’t know when Stargate Universe (the third Stargate TV series) will air – or even on which network it will show up on. Let’s hope that we’ll find out soon and the idiots that run Sci Fi channel won’t be involved in it either.
*Oh and don’t forget to sign the Save Atlantis petition (for whatever good it will do..)**
Save Atlantis Petition August 21, 2008
Posted by showmescifi in scifi.Tags: atlantis, Elizabeth Weir, Richard Wooley, Robert Picardo, Sci Fi, science fiction, sciencefiction, scifi, stargate, stargate atlantis
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Yes it’s true Atlantis has been CANCELLED.
SCI FI Channel isn’t likely to listen to reason but hey no harm in trying. We were going to start up our own Save Atlantis petition but there is already one out there.
http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/SaveSGA
Some how, some way the jerkoffs that run Sci Fi need to understand that they need to treat fans with more respect.
Stargate Atlantis is being CANCELLED!! August 21, 2008
Posted by showmescifi in scifi.Tags: atlantis, Elizabeth Weir, Richard Wooley, Robert Picardo, Sci Fi, science fiction, sciencefiction, scifi, stargate, stargate atlantis
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Neither the Wraith nor the Replicators, the G’ould or the Orii could beat Atlantis..but NBC Universal is canceling the show.
The current Stargate Season 5 WILL BE THE LAST season of Stargate. The last episode will air in January 2009.
WHAT IS GOING ON?!!
Is Sci Fi Channel stoned? Who pays these clowns?
Stargate SG-1 had a 10 year run, Atlantis is doing well in the ratings and is arguably the best show currently running on Sci Fi channel. This current season with the command change was starting to look very promising and there is still so very much of the Pegasus Galaxy to explore.
It’s just wrong.
Stargate Atlantis – like SG-1 isn’t dead mind you. Instead the greedy self-serving braniacs at SciFi will keep Atlantis limited just to straight to DVD movies. Yes Stargate Continuum was a great movie – but personally I’d rather see a full season of episodes than 1 or 2 movies in a year.
“We’re excited to tell Atlantis stories on a bigger canvas,” said Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper, co-creators of SG-1 and Atlantis, in a statement. “The successes of the two original Stargate [direct-to-video] movies The Ark of Truth and Continuum have shown us the opportunities that the movie format offers. We have plans for both SG-1 and Atlantis to remain vital as we expand the franchise.” Atlantis will air a milestone 100th episode in January 2009.
Voltron Remake in the works August 18, 2008
Posted by showmescifi in scifi.Tags: Sci Fi, science fiction, sciencefiction, scifi, transformers, voltron
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Not another remake..
Voltron one of our fav 80’s cartoons is gearing up for a live action remake according to a report in Variety this week. Apparently the success of Transformers is making people take a look at Voltron.
Voltron was in some ways cooler than Transformers because it took a bunch of dudes to come together to make the one BIG robot. Maybe we could get a Voltron vs. Transformers movie (like an Alien vs Predator thing) that might be neat.
Stargate 5×05 Dr. Weir Returns (again) August 16, 2008
Posted by showmescifi in scifi.Tags: atlantis, Elizabeth Weir, Richard Wooley, Robert Picardo, Sci Fi, science fiction, sciencefiction, scifi, stargate, stargate atlantis
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Does any character ever really die in Stargate Atlantis?
Beckett dies then comes back
Now its Dr. Weir.
But because the actress that originally played her is too stuck up to come back to Atlantis – we now have a replicator body for Weir.
What? She’s floating frozen in space?
NAAAh that’s not enough to stop a replicator. There will come a time when she gets picked up and defrosted and we will see Weir (in her hot little replicator Fran body) again.
Star Wars Clone Wars McDonald’s Happy Meal August 14, 2008
Posted by showmescifi in scifi.Tags: clone wars, Happy Meal, happymeal, McDonalds, Sci Fi, science fiction, sciencefiction, scifi, Star Wars, star wars clone wars, starwars
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Starting Friday, McDonalds will have a special Star Wars Clone Wars Happy Meal (for kids).
The toys aren’t just Clone Wars but are the entire 7 movie story arc worth of characters as bobble heads attached to their ships.
Starship Trooper 3: Marauder REVIEW August 13, 2008
Posted by showmescifi in scifi.Tags: Casper Van Dien, johnny rico, Jolene Blalock, JoleneBlalock, Sci Fi, science fiction, sciencefiction, scifi, Starship Troopers, starshiptroopers
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When we first heard about this movie we didn’t have high hopes for it. As it turns out Starship Trooper 3:Marauder is good fun.
Part of that fun comes from seeing Jolene Blalock (yes that Jolene the Vulcan from Star Trek Enterprise) playing a bad ass Fleet Commander.
The dialogue/acting – as to be expected – isn’t Oscar quality, but the movie is enjoyable. We don’t quite know till the end what the deal is with the SM and their are a few subplots that give this movie a little bit of complexity and depth.
The Marauder idea (the fighting outfits the grunts get) is actually closer to the original Starship Troopers concept that was in the original Robert Heinlein story. I’m not sure this movie is better than than the first Starship Trooper (definately better than the second one) – but it is – let’s say – just as good.
Stephen Colbert Tek Jansen #2 : What a shame… August 13, 2008
Posted by showmescifi in scifi.Tags: colbert report, comic, oni press, Robot Chicken, Sci Fi, science fiction, sciencefiction, scifi, stephen colbert, Tek Jansen, tekjansen, The Force
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It’s been a year since last we saw Tek Jansen in our local comic book shop. So it was with great surprise that we found issue #2 this past week. Apparently the braniacs at Oni Press (publishers of the series) blamed the writers strike for the delay. I can think of an interesting Colbert ‘WORD’ session to describe what I think of that…Colbert was on almost every night during the strike as scheduled.
Personally I think that Colbert should pull his endorsement from Oni Press as this shameful extreme delay hurts his brand.
Delay aside, issue #2 is good fun. It’s actually two stories back to front and front to back, both of which we enjoyed tremendously. The spy vs spy kind of story is hilarious and we didn’t figure it out till the end (so if you haven’t read it yet don’t worry no spoilers here).
The bigger story – where Jansen gets booted back to the Academy is also very intelligent and draws on the characteristics that the Colbert Nation expects from Jansen.
We have no idea when issue #3 will actually be available. Apparently Diamond had it available for order but we’re not aware of any seller that actually have it.
So if you’re lucky enough to get a hold of issue #2 – get it and keep your finger crossed for issue #3 (or that a new more predicatable publisher comes on board to take over).
Star Wars Rebellion #15 Vector #7 August 12, 2008
Posted by showmescifi in scifi.Tags: celeste morne, comics, Dark Horse, knights of the old republic, KOTOR, Luke Skywalker, Sci Fi, science fiction, sciencefiction, scifi, Star Wars, star wars rebellion, starwars, vector, Zayne Carrick
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So Vector now hits Rebellion and Luke Skywalker..and it looks like fun…
Vader left Celeste Morne (and Vector) 20 years ago (in the timeline) in Dark Times # 12 apparently Celeste is still alive and Vader hasn’t forgotten about her either.
Will Luke – see the good in Celeste and turn her back from the Dark Side?
i guess we’ll find out…we can assume that Luke survives as does Celeste..but how Celeste gets frozen to survive till her next jump – the Star Wars Legacy era…we’ll have to wait till Rebellion #16 to find out.
So far – 7 issues into Vector we’ve had numerous confrontations and the timelines between eras has been stitched together reasonably well..with five issues or so left to go.
Hugo Award Winners 2008 August 11, 2008
Posted by showmescifi in scifi.Tags: Books, Hugo awards, Michael Chabon, Sci Fi, science fiction, sciencefiction, scifi, Worldon
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The Awards are now out for the 2008 Hugo’s.
It is the job of the Hugo awards to identify the brightest stars in the universe.
The Hugo Award was named in honor of Hugo Gernsback, “The Father of Magazine Science Fiction,”. The award is is given annually by the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS) at the World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon)
We’ve reviewed the Best Novel of the year The Yiddish Policemen’s Union over a year ago.Though it’s a decent book it’s not Chabon best (The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay is better).
As far as the best Novella – that’s a tough call since Asmov’s publishes so many very good shorts in any year…
Here’s the list:
- Best Novel: The Yiddish Policemen’s Union by Michael Chabon (HarperCollins; Fourth Estate)
- Best Novella: “All Seated on the Ground” by Connie Willis (Asimov’s Dec. 2007; Subterranean Press)
- Best Novelette: “The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate” by Ted Chiang (Subterranean Press; F&SF Sept. 2007)
- Best Short Story: “Tideline” by Elizabeth Bear (Asimov’s June 2007)
- Best Related Book: Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction by Jeff Prucher (Oxford University Press)
- Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form: Stardust Written by Jane Goldman and Matthew Vaughn, Based on the novel by Neil Gaiman Illustrated by Charles Vess Directed by Matthew Vaughn (Paramount Pictures)
- Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form: Doctor Who “Blink” Written by Steven Moffat Directed by Hettie Macdonald (BBC)
- Best Editor, Long Form: David G. Hartwell
- Best Editor, Short Form: Gordon Van Gelder
- Best Professional Artist: Stephan Martiniere
- Best Semiprozine: Locus
- Best Fanzine: File 770
- Best Fan Writer: John Scalzi
- Best Fan Artist: Brad Foster
Star Wars: Coruscant Nights I : Jedi Twilight (review) August 11, 2008
Posted by showmescifi in scifi.Tags: Books, Coruscant Nights, Jedi Twilight, Michael Reaves, Sci Fi, science fiction, scienceficiton, scifi, Star Wars
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Quick Review: Star Wars: Coruscant Night volume I Jedi Twilight is one fun read.
Michael Reaves is a great Star Wars Expanded Universe writer and he delivers with this book. Jax Pavan is a solid new entry into the Star Wars canon of Jedi and his challenge of trying to stay hidden in the force and then re-discovering his connection with the force.
The multiple plot lines interweave very nicely too with the robot, Jedi and Black Sun plots all coming together and crossing paths as they should.
Yes — as the first book in a new series there are a lot of loose threads left at the end of this book. But that’s how it should be cause that will make the next book (Street of the Shadows) and the one after that (Patterns of Force) interesting as those loose ends get tied up.
Like why is Vader interested in Jax? Will Kaird make it home? What’s the deal with Prince Xizor?
No this isn’t a heavy duty series like Legacy of the Force, which is actually a really good thing. Legacy of the Force left us emotionally drained and it’s great to just get into a series like this.
Serenity: The Other Half August 11, 2008
Posted by showmescifi in scifi.Tags: browncoats, comics, Dark Horse, firefly, joss whedon, Sci Fi, science fiction, scifi, serenity, Serenity better days, serenity the other half, the other half
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Good news Firefly/Serenity Fans! You don’t have to pay Dark Horse for the newest iteration of the Serenity comic..you can get if for free — online.
Serenity The Other Half is available for free on Dark Horse’s MySpace preview page it’s a short little story..but still entertaining.
Gorram Reaver are chasin Cap’n Mal and his pal who are tyring to deliver some human cargo..but River’s got a bad feeling about the dude…
In typical Serenity fashion, no one is really quite happy in the end.
No this isn’t quite as good as say Serenity Better Days but it is Firefly and it’s a good (short) read. There should be another Serenity full series out soon from Dark Horse though and we can hardly wait..
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