David Hasslehoff and the talking car with the weird blinkenlights are reportedly gonna get their own movie. I haven’t decided if this is a good thing or not, but I’m leaning towards “not”. Anybody remember “Knight Rider 2000”? Yeah, thought so.
Author Archives: David E. Smith
Get Your Ass Kicked – Professionally
Every now and then, the strangest stuff shows up in my spam file…
Someone involved with Jeremiah, a post-apocalyptic show written by JMS (the Great Maker from Babylon 5), is sponsoring an Ass-Kicking Contest. Sadly, it’s just a random drawing instead of involving anyone’s genuine abilities in that area, but the winner will be flown out to the set and have his or her ass professionally kicked (on-camera, at least).
This isn’t news, really, but it was just too darn weird to pass up.
Mulder’s Back
PerlStalker writes, David Duchovny will reprise his role as FBI Agent Fox Mulder when he stars in the two-hour series finale of The X-Files (Sunday, May 19, 8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT). And it’s about bloody time.
‘Xena’ actor Kevin Smith dies
Anonymous Coward writes, Zap2it is reporting the death of Kevin
Smith, the actor who portrayed Ares, God of War,
on Hercules and Xena, from head
injuries suffered when falling. (NOT the
Kevin Smith who wrote and directed the
Askewniverse films!). Confirmed by Reuters.
Beowulf, Now With 20% Fewer Sleeping Pills
This is just cool. The fantasy epic, Beowulf, lives on in a new, actually-readable, translation by Dr. David Breeden. I remember reading one of the older translations in high school, and thinking, “man, this would be a good story if it made any sense.” This version is eminently readable, and breathes new life into the oldest of the old school.
Captain Picard, Please Report To The Luge
I don’t know if this is a weird prank or what… it’s just weird enough to be legit. Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, and Michael Dorn are allegedly going to enter the Olympics. The luge. Representing the United Federation of Planets. (This has “publicity stunt for Star Trek: Nemesis” written all over it.)
BAFTA Nominations: LotR, Harry Potter Rack ’em up
The British Academy Film Awards (I presume they have some longer name that yields the acronym “BAFTA”) announced their awards nominations, and thanks mostly to fantasy heavyweights “Lord of the Rings” and “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone,” SF-type movies are making a respectable showing. Other nominations include “Shrek” and Nicole Kidman for her role in “The Others”. Here’s the requisite news blurb – I can’t find an official BAFTA site, sorry.
World Wizarding Federation SmackDown!
More thought candy: Which wizard wins? The New York Times ponders that question, giving the nod to the comparatively obscure wizard Ged from Ursula K. LeGuin’s Earthsea stories. (Well, Ged’s obscure at least as compared to, say, Dumbledore or Gandalf.) Fortunately, Bureau 42 is hosting a rematch… who wins this round?
Almost as Dramatic as “Armageddon”
Next time someone talks about proposing some sort of global defense system, don’t just brush ’em off. A healthy-sized asteroid just missed us a few days ago, and we had precious little warning.
Random Harry Potter Stuff
Seems kinda anti-climactic after the sheer horror that is that Star Wars story… anyway, the DVD of “Philosopher’s Stone” (or, if you insist, “Sorcerer’s Stone”) is due out on May 7th. (Speculation persists that the fifth book is due out at about the same time, but there’s nothing official out there about that one.)
And J.K. Rowling got married to an anesthesiologist she’s been seeing for about a year. Congrats!