Some of the more bizarre and intriguing horror/sci-fi movie trailers I’ve seen recently. Whether all the films are real or not, or will ever see daylight, is anyone’s guess, but they all have a certain appeal to me.
Gaiking
Thale
Beyond the Black Rainbow
Heartless
Doctor Who fans might recognize a familiar face in that one.
I’m starting to feel like we are fast approaching a sort of Geek Singularity right now. The Peak of Geekness lies before our very eyes, ready to blossom in it’s sci-fi/superhero/fantasy fullness. There are many signs that this is the case but allow me to list a few from my own Inner Geek’s Perspective.
These past few weeks are a great example for me. We have seen:
Trailers for Dark Knight Rises, John Carter (a.k.a. Warlord of Mars), and, today, The Avengers, have appeared online as, seemingly, all of the adored heroes of my childhood are coming to life. The Avengers was my favorite comic as a kid. Of Burroughs’ creations, John Carter was the one I adored the most, thanks not only to the magnificent adventures but those gorgeous Frazetta covers. Batman, as realized by Christopher Nolan, is another dream come true.
It’s amazing what we have seen in recent years, really. A faithful adaptation of Watchmen. Sin City. The Marvel films, most of which are wonderful fun, have the right spirit in them. Folks are finally respecting creators’ visions when they adapt material. Hell, there was even an attempt at another comics favorite of mine, Green Lantern, however middling it ended up. Another Superman is on the horizon, as well as Sin City 2 and a host of other fascinating projects.
I’ve always said that, if I could go back to 1977 and bring forward in time that little boy and show him what’s happening now he fucking die on the spot of some sort of astonished overload of shocked pleasure. Laid out on the floor with an ear to ear smile in front a 46″ HD TV showing the Iron Man Blu-ray, an iPad full of sci-books and comics in one hand and a PS3 controller in the other.
It goes on, to the fantastical realms. Game of Thrones has shown us just how adult and edgy great Fantasy can be. If you like it a bit sappier, the Lord of the Rings Extended Editions are now on Blu-ray and you won’t believe how fucking good they look, my friends. I have in hand the latest tome from George R.R. Martin, I should mention, as well. A Dance With Dragons clocks in at about 1000 pages and I can’t wait to devour it. Joe Abercrombie looks interesting and Richard Morgan owes us the sequel to Steel Remains.
In television, Doctor Who is going as strong as ever. In sci-filiterature, Iain Banks, Alastair Reynolds and Neal Asher continue producing the hard space opera of my dreams. In comics, Mark Millar, Grant Morrison and Warren Ellis are regularly taking superheroes where they have never gone before.
It’s a veritable bounty of Geek Goodness. I’m wallowing in Geek Gluttony.
It’s almost too much. Almost.
I can’t tell you how much I am going to enjoy it all. The truth is, I’ve never quite grown up. Those of you who know me know that I have no need for an “inner child” as the child remains very much on the surface with me. I Like to have a good time and my imagination, thankfully, has never died and festered like some folks my age. It burns still, open to new and different magic, like that wide eyed kid who stood in line for Star Wars in 1977 and had his world forever changed as his eyes were opened wide to strange new ones. Just like that kid devouring all those Marvel Comics in their four-color, newsprint splendour back then. Just like that kid reading Dune for the first time.
Here I sit, all these years later, still hungry for more.
Bring it on, I say.
Grant Morrison at SDCC talking comics and his book, Supergods.
Also chats about Matt Smith’s Doctor Who at the end.
The Time has come. The Time is now.
Episode Seven of This Whovian Life, enticingly titled “Pickled In Time”, is now available here for your listening pleasure. That is, if being aurally prompted into a violent, psychotic episode is your idea of pleasure. I know it’s mine.
Besides the smooth vocal stylings of Gonz and Ken, and a sublime guest appearance by Matt from the Raggedy Podcast, the episode features the most recent Doctor Who news and discussion thereof and a commentary on the psychedelically entrancing 1993 Children in Need Special, Dimensions In Time.
Also to be heard on this episode: Frank Zappa, Ride, Matt Smith, Arab Strap, Bill Hicks, Kate O’Mara, Boyracer, John Cleese, Jimi Hendrix, Tom Baker, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, Dave Attel, Kevin Kline and some lovely musical counting for the kids.
I have recently had the honor of an invitation to participate in a Doctor Who related Podcast with good friend and brother-in-arms Brian from the most excellent Who blog Agnostic Whovian. The premier episode is up and running in which you can hear us lament the passing of Liz Sladen, talk about our earliest memories of the show and our expectations for this Saturday’s debut of Matt Smith’s second season as the good Doctor. You’ll also hear a Don Knotts impression and accusations of cannibalism concerning Kirstie Alley.
All in all, it was a delightful experience and one we hope to enjoy every week now that the new season is under way. One never knows what sort of tangent we might fly off on but there’s always the guarantee of excellent Doctor Who talk from two guys who know how to appreciate videotaped interiors.
Learn more here or click the above picture for a direct link to the podcast. Share and enjoy.
Or “How To Recognize A Good Friend From 1000 Miles Away”.
No. 1
The Larch.
So a giant box of goodies arrived on my doorstep this morning. Priority Mail. I knew it had to be something important. It was.
This Is What We, In The Business, Call The Motherload
The box contents were as follows:
The following note was included.
Gertie,
Here are those enemas you ordered last week. Pluse, here are a few knick knacks for those German Krautbrats.
Sincerely,
Louis Double-Entendre
Admit it. You’re jealous. There’s no one in your life of the sort of quality, spontaneous loony like the gentleman who sent me this. Think about it. Here’s a man who took the time to track down seven pounds of hard to find sugary goodness to pack up and send one third of the way across the country to someone he knows will, very likely, appreciate it more than any other human on the planet. Here’s a man who has given up some quality, meaningful items that he surely valued in his own collection in order to put a smile on another person’s face. Here’s a man who knows the value of a rubber crustacean.
I’m going to eat so much Franken Berry later on tonight you can start taking bets right now on what color tomorrow’s poop is going to be. Right now I’m thinking Fuscia would be the odds on favorite. I may peruse the Voyager Graphic Novel while I eat. I may have my new friend Crusty by my side. Though, he’s not getting any Boo Berry. That shit is fuckin’ gold.
Delight was not the word when I opened up this package today. Nor was “proboscis”. But that’s irrelevant. What is relevant is that this wondrous wacko brightened the day of a pal who woke up this morning thinking it was just another dreary Saturday of toiling away in the soul grinder and who, surprisingly, discovered otherwise.
Thanks to a real friend. A brother, if you will. A comrade-in-arms in this relentless battle we find ourselves in every day of our lives called existence. It’s this sort of thing that reminds me I’m not in it alone.
So Thanks, Friend.
And you just wait and see what’s coming back in return.
Twenty-six year old Matt Smith, that’s who.
Announced today by the BBC, the young gentleman will follow the very popular David Tennant as Doctor Who after his impending departure from the role. Conversation, as you might imagine, is buzzing everywhere about the news.
My great friend and co-conspirator Gonz O’Lager, the man who’s opinion on all things Who I value and respect more than any other, weighs in on the subject with seeming trepidation and general distaste for the kissy nature of the Doctor in recent years, and how that may have influenced the choice of this youngster for the part. His observations, as always, are spot on and very similar to my own.
Meanwhile, at the KSWNO, Gorman Moloko is using his position as Managing Editor to voice his own opinions on the matter, including, as you’d expect, some rather maudlin dribblings about his boy Tennant riding off into the Vortex.
As for myself, I will admit to a certain amount of interest in the long running series over the years. It all started during the fondly remembered Tom Baker era when I would catch episodes airing on WGBH in Boston. I can recall the feeling when that amazing theme song started up and the tunnel visuals started drawing you into what seemed like such a delighfully strange and alien universe. Later, I would manage catch up on other era’s from the show’s illustrious history, viewed through varying degrees of snow on a tiny television set with rabbit ear antennas that could just barely pick up the signal from NHPTV in New Hampshire. That was my introduction to Jon Pertwee and Peter Davison and all the others.
Baker remains the favorite to this day. I guess I like my Doctors a bit older, and though it was unrealistic, when I heard that the exceptional Tennant was departing, entertained fantasies of a wizened Time Lord with a truly alien sense about him. Perhaps a bit stern and threatening, as someone with his history might become, given to bouts of haunted grimness and a wildly unpredictable sense of humour.
Not to be, of course. But, then, I’m an old fart now and no longer a part of the target audience for the show, which is a keenly felt shame, I think. We’re losing something if The Doctor is slipping into the realm of the Teen Idols and Pop Stars. Television science fiction will be that much poorer as a result, I do believe.
Why bother resisting the trend, though?
You could say that doing so is absolutley useless.
