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This is turning into one geeky summer for television, with five science fiction shows on the air at once -- Futurama, Falling Skies, Warehouse 13, Eureka and Alphas -- and most of them are actually good!. Join me as I run down the shows and take a look at trailers for their respective seasons.
I don't know that I've ever seen a really good live action steampunk movie (or even a bad one for that matter). For all the love of the subgenre within geek circles, it's never made the jump to mainstream consciousness. Lightning in the Bottle looks to change that (if not winning mass appeal, then at least giving geeks the steampunk flick they crave). The teaser trailer doesn't give us much, but you can get more glimpses into the movie by checking out its production blog.
Iron Skies is a low budget, Finnish comedy about the Nazi invasion of Earth (said space Nazis having fled the planet at the end of World War II, created a base on the moonn, and spent the last few decades plotting their revenge). The trailer looks cool, and it just calls out for a Savage Worlds setting to complement it.
One of the defining moments of my own personal geekdom was discovering Robotech the summer before my freshman year of high school. The series had everything: grand, multi-generational space opera storylines, immense space battles, great characters and, of course, starfighters that turned into battle-mechs.
For years I've had a Jetfire transformer sitting in guardian mode on my desk (Jetfire being a clear knockoff of the veritech) but I've often wanted to upgrade to a full VF model. Now I can -- Robotech.com's offering three new Veritech fighter models on pre-order:
Each retails for $29.99. Based on the previews I'm guessing they can switch between humanoid battlemech mode and guardian mode, but not jet mode (which I'm fine with, since the mech modes are the ones I like best).
Queue Damon telling me all the other places I can get VF Macross models in 3...2...1...
The Discovery Channel has Shark Week. That's all well and good -- sharks are equal parts terrifying and fascinating -- but why limit yourself to one species? This summer Nuketown is launching Monster Week -- one full week dedicated to the best in cinematic horror. We're going to have movie reviews, soundtrack reviews, blog and game posts inspired by said movies, and -- if I can swing it -- feature length audio commentary for a film.
The big question is ... what movies? I plan on featuring seven monster flicks, focusing on post-Jaws era. They don't need to be straight up horror movies -- in fact, I'm just as happy to review later day creature features. I'm also looking to come up with at least one monster per major environment (e.g. space, desert, arctic) so as to avoid overlap. The key is that they need to be realistic monsters; I'm not looking for supernatural horrors like Freddie and Jason.
The good folks at Miss(ed) Manners have done it again: they've recreated one of J.R.R. Tolkien's most epic scenes ... in candy. This time around, it's the conclusion to The Hobbit, featuring the Battle of the Five Armies and the assault on Lake Town by the dragon Smaug.
As with their previous creations -- The Battle of Helm’s Deep, The Battle of Pelennor Fields, The Mines of Moria, the diorama is truly a sight to behold. A red licorice Smaug rises from a frosted Lonely Mountain to ravage a gingerbread Lake Town. Gummi bear armies of goblins, orcs, humans, dwarves and elves battle for the treasure under the mountain, while overhead eagles and giant bats fight for ariel supremacy.
We all knew it was just a matter of time until the zombies rose up from their graves, the sickly-sweet smell of confectioners sugar still clinging to their rotting forms, and attacked the neighborhood gingerbread church. Or at least, we should have.
This gingerbread diorama features a gingerbread church surrounded by the newly risen undead, and a handful of survivors. It cheats a bit -- the zombies and survivors aren't made from candy (unlike, say, the spectacle of Helm's Deep) but I'll forgive them that indiscretion given that they included a classic Jeep CJ-5. It looks like they used confectioners sugar and icing for the snowscape, and I have no idea what the trees are made of. All in all, it looks great ... and makes me think I really need to ramp up my own gingerbread efforts next year...
Clearly I've only just begun to explore the frontiers of gingerbread construction, especially geeky gingerbread construction.
This gingerbread TARDIS (pictured at left) is just too darn cool; I love the attention to detail, especially the window panes AND K-9 the robodog. I'm also impressed that it stayed together long enough to take the picture (especially after last years less-than-successful icing glue experiment). Hats off to Anna Marie for a most excellent project.
I offered a plan to save Heroes. It looks like SciFi Wire's ready to grab their shovels. This review of the series to date, and the first episode of the "Redemption" arc, echos my own sentiments (and those who've commented here). The general sense I get from the comment thread is either "I'm done with it" or "I've come this far ... I must watch it until the end." No one seems particularly pleased with the series opener, which isn't surprising; it's less of shot to the series' heart, than it is a gentle kick to a recently deceased corpse.
Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles is now available on Hulu. The follow-up to the popular 1980s anime series can be viewed in its entirety. What can't be watched, unfortunately, is the original series. One can only hope that this is the first crack in the wall; I'd love to be able to re-watch the Macross Saga on my lunch break.