Plan 9 Remake Is Cast

The remake of Ed Wood’s cult classic Plan 9 From Outer Space, directed by John Johnon, is finally coming to fruition. The starting line up for the remake is Conrad Brooks (Lieutenant Harper), Caitlin Hill (Lucy Grimm), Eric Lobo (Criswell), Monique Dupree (unknown) and John R. Price II (Inspector Clay) and the director himself will…

Inside Jerry Bruckheimer’s Brain at the Eleventh Hour

Jerry Bruckheimer’s remake of the British flop Eleventh Hour has already had its share of confusion ahead of its October 9th premiere. The network had decided to punt the actual pilot (a remake of the British pilot) for another episode titled “Agro.” Now they say they’re going back to using the original $4 million dollar…

Stop Blade Runner 2 Before It Starts!

When I first saw the words “Blade Runner 2,” I imagined it was somebody’s zany comedy pitch, along the lines of Hamlet 2. I pictured Steve Coogan running around, exploding in a creative frenzy as he figures out the space-time warp that could bring back Roy Batty — maybe there could be a whole half-hour…

Green Lantern Movie Finally Takes Flight

Remember that Green Lantern big-screen project? You know, the one that will no longer be a comedy starring Jack Black, as scripted by Robert Smigel (Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, TV Funhouse)? The one that was stuffed out then resurrected again, once the Justice League movie fell apart? The one that won’t star David Boreanaz,…

Men In Black 3: Are There Any More Wacky Aliens Left?

Rumors are flying that Men In Black 3 is out there somewhere waiting for the right funding. But seriously, do we need another one of these? Because you know Tommy Lee Jones would do it if offered a paycheck, so the chances of this flick hitting big screens are about 50/50. My only concern is,…

Earth: A Very Special Place In the Void

You know that “I’m an insignificant dot in the middle of this enormous universe” feeling you get when you stare up into the night sky a little too long? Well, some Oxford scientists think you might be a little more special than that – or at least, the planet you live on is. Their radical…

Put On Your Thinking Stetson And Write About Women Of The Space West

Got any thoughts on the portrayal of women in space Westerns? Post a blog post and then submit it to the 22nd Carnival Of Feminist Science Fiction, the latest in a series of collections of blog posts and essays on feminist SF topics. The latest version will be posted at the SpaceWesterns.com Sideshow, and editor…

True Blood Delivers Super Fem Vikings And Penile Eggplant

This week’s episode of the vampire-drama, True Blood, definitely made up for last weeks “johnson” moments. “Escape From The Dragon House” finally introduced the ancient vampire viking that I’ve been waiting weeks for, and apparently he’s a goldielocks-esque skinny owner and operator of an indoor goth-kids bar — sorry, vampire bar — Fangtasia. The vampire…

Branagh To Direct Thor? Plus, What Is Marvel’s Next Big Movie?

Maybe it’s the promise of faux Shakespearean dialogue, or perhaps just the lure of a truckload of money being backed up to his house, but arthouse Kenneth Branagh is in talks to take on the director’s chair for Marvel’s 2010 summer blockbuster Thor, in which the thunder-wielding Norseman is actually an alien. And that’s just…

UFO Festival Lands in New Jersey

In two weeks, UFO enthusiasts will flock to Jersey City for the 2008 Culture of Contact Festival, a three-day conference on alien encounters and extraterrestrial life. But don’t expect any conspiracy-filled Powerpoint presentations or Roswell-style alien cosplay. Instead, the festival will focus on extraterrestrial-inspired arts, what an Obama presidency would mean for UFO disclosure policy,…

Jason Stoddard was one of the originators of this whole “science fiction should be more happy” meme, and now he’s posted a manifesto about it. Twenty Epics co-editor David Moles summarizes it as “The problem with contemporary science fiction is that it doesn’t love capitalism enough.” (To quote Stoddard, “Why can’t we include characters who…

Competing Forever War Threatens Joe Haldeman’s Eternal-Conflict Monopoly

It’s nice to bring out a shiny new edition of a SF classic, as St. Martin’s Press will of Joe Haldeman’s 1974 smash The Forever War next March. Before the re-debut and related fanfare can happen, though, NYTimes reporter and title-ruiner Dexter Filkins had the temerity to release his own spirited take on the global…

Space Herpes Is The Final Cylon On Battlestar Galactica

Oh those crazy Battlestar Galactica survivorsand their wild sex parties. It seems like nothing gets them hotter than the near-total annihilation of the human race. The BSG “yearbook” that the cast and crew received at the show’s wrap party includes a “frak tree” showing who’s had sex with whom. You can’t see it, because it…

Is Quantum Of Solace Science Fiction?

As we’ve noted before, the James Bond movies have veered in and out of the science fiction genre, like an Aston Martin on a high-speed mountain chase. On the one end, you have Moonraker’s crazy space battles and the laser satellites of Diamonds Are Forever and Goldeneye. But other Bond films, including Casino Royale, stick…

Admiral Cain To Join Vampire Orgy In True Blood

Good news, supporters of the fanged masses — Michelle Forbes, Mehcad Brooks, Todd Lowe and Deborah Ann Woll are all joining True Blood as season regulars. You may remember Forbes as the pointy-blade-toting Admiral from Battlestar Galactica’s “Razor.” She’s amazing and could add a dash of “reality” to this show. Forbes will play Maryann. Lowe…

Watch Chaotic Clips From This Week’s Clone Wars, Heroes And Smallville

This week in television, everything is going crazy — people are switching sides, robots are getting emotions and last but not least, the animated Clone Wars series is debuting. See angry baldy Asajj Ventress go scream-crazy on her droid troops and meet Noah Bennett’s new partner for catching all those villains in this week’s Heroes.…

Clone Wars TV Show Exactly What We Want, Apparently

We admit it. More than anything else — like being enjoyable in and of itself — the Clone Wars movie made us want to see the Clone Wars TV show, which premieres this Friday. Call it a longing for weekly bursts of the Force, the feeling that the movie’s plot would fit more comfortably into…

Sci Fi Channel Turns to the Dark Side with More Reality Programming

Last week, we told you that the Sci Fi Channel may be considering a name change to reflect its increasingly non-scifi programming. As if to further confirm its abandonment of the genre that (currently) bears its name, Sci Fi is adding three reality shows to its original programming slate. So, instead of new science fiction,…

America’s Economic Crash Leads To Americatowns Around The Globe

Will the economic crises force us all to flee the country and set up our own little villages filled with U.S. immigrants? HBO seems to think so, and just greenlit a drama series titled Americatown. But since most “towns” across the country are crammed with both truly authentic and incredibly commercialized representations of their countries…

California Academy of Sciences Reopens in an Orgy of Ecotechture

Over the weekend, the newly-revamped ecotechtural marvel known as the California Academy of Sciences opened its doors to the general public in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. Packed with new, high-tech exhibits and massive tanks showing off slices of the coastal ecosystem, the museum is a monument to eco-consciousness on every level. From its living…