Timeshredder writes, I find the art of futures past, that post-war vision of the late twentieth/ early twenty-first century that never happened, both amusing and heartbreaking, and a friend just send me a link to an exhibit of just such material. Check it out. This submission didn’t really fit an existing category, so let’s tack on a question and call it “Ask The Bureau.” Which single technological advancement do you want the most?

TheAngryMob’s 2002 in Review

Well, here we are at year’s end. Another 365 days gone and what have we to
show for it? Well some good, some bad. And here’s my take:

Best New Genre Television Show

While Firefly is indeed a close second, John Doe gets
my praise. Fresh and alternately freaky and funny, this show reminds of my high
school days when I was a read Sherlock Holmes with a voracious appetite. We
tune in every week for just the tiniest clue as to John’s past. Let’s hope it
lasts!

Worst New Genre Television Show

Without a doubt, pause or hesitation: Birds of Prey. Horribly
written, terribly acted, this show demonstrates the worst in comic book transitions.

Best and Worst Returning Television Show

Say it with me now kids: Enterprise. Few shows are as inconsistent
as the latest entry into Trek lore. Horribly managed, this show, while promising,
has squandered much of its potential. Is there hope? Well, I’m willing to stay
along for the ride, even if it’s out of morbid curiosity.

Best Genre Film

While I’m sure The Two Towers probably deserves this award, it’s A)
Really just a continuation of a larger film, and B) I haven’t seen it yet, so
I’m giving top praise to Spider-Man. Few comic-to-film transitions
have captured the complete feel of the original material. And certainly none
have done it better than Sam Raimi’s masterpiece. The writing is smart, the
acting is spot-on (anyone else think a special Oscar for Willem Dafoe’s performance
is in order?), and the special effects were awesome.

Worst Genre Film

I secretly think that if George Lucas could replace humans on film altogether,
he would. Because Attack of the Clones shows nothing but contempt
for actors. The entire middle third of the film is so utterly boring and the
dialogue so painfully banal, is it any wonder why we’re not all aquiver with
anticipation for Episode III?

Smartest Industry Move

Goes to the WB for mercy killing Birds of Prey. Why they greenlit
this thing in the first place is beyond me.

Dumbest Industry Move

Fox‘s shortsighted move to, first, not air the original pilot of Firefly,
and second, for canceling it altogether. Hey morons, wonder why people had a
hard time warming up to the show? It couldn’t have been your fault. Heavens
no. Maybe UPN could get next years’ Smartest award by snagging the show. Or
WB could get two in a row by using Firefly to fill in that newfound gap
in their Wednesday lineup.

Best Marketing

While the movie lacked punch, the marketers for the DVD of Attack of
the Clones knew what did work in that film. Who da man? Yo da man!

Worst Marketing

Nothing’s more embarrassing to the industry than a Sci-Fi film that pretends
it isn’t. But such was the case for the early trailers of Solaris.
Unless you knew about the film from other sources, you could’ve walked into
the theaters and gotten a big surprise, expecting some strange love story. But
by god you knew who starred in it and produced it.

Here’s a hint to the uneducated: When a trailer says little about the film,
and a lot about the stars, director, producer, etc., avoid it like the plague.
Big hint: If the phrase “from the {$person-name} who brought you {$someother-film-name},”
is used; run like the wind.

What I’m Looking Forward to in 2003

• Better episodes of Enterprise. I’ve got to hang on to hope.
• Ang Lee’s The Hulk. Just love the green guy.
• Nightcrawler in X-Men 2.
• The Return of the King. ‘Nuff said.
• Someone picking up Firefly. Yeah, more hope.

Well, that’s it for me. I hope everyone has an awesome new year! See you on
the other side!

TheAngryMob

OrangeCarrot writes, I don’t know if you guys covered John Doe before, but I consider it scifi/fantasy and the premiere episode was really well done. I’d come here to post chatty comments about it if you posted reviews and such.

Thanks,
OrangeCarrot We don’t currently have plans to review that show, but I enjoyed the first episode. It runs on Fox after Firefly. We might as well use this for a starting point in discussion. What did you all think of last week’s episode? Why don’t you come back later and tell us what you think of tonight’s episode?

Well, it’s been 364 days. We’ve all had time to take a moment and examine things, priorities, and life in general. How have the events in the last year made you rethink Science Fiction? Trivial silliness or hope for a grand tomorrow? And what changes (if any) have you seen in SciFi over the last year?

Now that the two biggest genre films of the summer
(Spider-Man and Attack Of The
Clones) have been out for a while, the other
summer genre films can get some well-deserved
attention. Which is the next genre film you’re most
excited about? (For a list, check out this
article.)

Now that the warm weather is fully upon us, our thoughts drift to vacations. Sure, everyone goes to the beach, mountains, lake, whatever, but what are the best "Geek Vacations?"

Let me put some qualifiers on the discussion. No fantasy vacations (rocket to Alpha Centauri) and none that are financially impossible (we can’t all be Dennis Tito). So with that in mind, where would you go?

Thanks to the success of X-Men, and the
unprecedented success of Spider-Man, all of
those comic-to-movie projects that have been
languishing for years have been kicked into high gear.
There are movies (some of which are sequels) in the
works for Spider-Man, Superman, Batman, The Hulk,
Wonder Woman, Ghost Rider, Blade, X-Men, Fantastic
Four, Iron Fist, Power Man, Daredevil, Namor the
Sub-Mariner, Mort the Dead Teenager, The Punisher, and
Iron Man. (Did I miss anyone?) The question I ask
you is this: who should be added to this list? Which
hero, villain or team would you choose to adapt next?
Who would you cast in the movie?

With The X-Files off the air next season, I
won’t be doing the weekly reviews of that show. I do,
however, see six shows on the schedule that I will be
watching each week, but I’ll only have time to review
one on a regular basis. theangrymob’s already
reviewing Enterprise, so that takes one off
the list. The other five are described in more detail
below. So, read up, and post a comment telling me
which of these shows you want to see reviewed!
Continue reading →

As those of you who read Slashdot probably already know, CmdrTaco is getting married to the fine woman this website is run by. Congratualtions to the happy couple! You can read the details here. (Category left as Ask The Bureau because nothing else is even remotely appropriate.)

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?