Thoughts on new V pilot
It could be the power of nostalgia, but I didn’t find the new pilot for “V” to be as intense or as creepy as the original. ”V” is a new ABC series detailing aliens who come to earth, professing peace, but with a dark secret. Spoilers ahead as in this review of last night’s episode.
While I like Elizabeth Mitchell, her character seemed pretty clueless about her own son (Logan Huffman), who immediately supports the visitors (largely because he’s attracted to the character played by Laura Vandervoort.)
Morena Baccarin plays Anna, the leader of the Visitors, who addresses the world first via their spaceships, and then later via a very controlled interview with a TV anchor played by Scott Wolf. Joel Grestch portrays priest Father Jack Landry, who finds his small congregation growing in size once the visitors arrive, though he still doubts their intentions.
As it turns out, the aliens aren’t here for the first time – some of them have been here in disguise for years. (Though at this time, only a small group are aware of this.) The infestation of the aliens prior to their arrival was a little too similar to Marvel’s “Secret Invasion” for my taste, though that’s obviously just coincidental.
Slate points out one interpretation reads as pretty hostile towards President Obama. (The original V was an allegory about the Nazi occupation of Europe.) In the new “V,” aliens promising hope and universal health care are scaly aliens with secret plans. Meanwhile, the only people who know the truth are gun-toting conspiracy theorists.
Troy Patterson writes at Slate:
Indeed, if the show is to have the symbolic import that we expect from a science-fiction story, this is the only possible way to read V as a coherent text. The only problem with this analysis lies in its generous presupposition that the text is, in fact, coherent.
And that’s a fair point: the old “V” showcased a thoughtful allegory in the guise of a high-action sci-fi miniseries. The new show showcases better special effects and higher production values, but I’m not convinced there’s even intended to be an allegory behind it.
ABC is airing the first four episodes this fall, then holding the remainder for spring. (Perhaps somehow like the original “V” aired as a miniseries and was followed up with a season.) I’m intrigued enough to watch a few, but so far this “V” doesn’t seem to improve appreciably on the original.
- Matt Price
New ABC series V to premiere tonight
Elizabeth Mitchell (”Lost”) headlines “V,” a remake of the 1980s series about an alien occupation. Mitchell plays FBI Counter Terrorist Agent Erica Evans. The rest of the cast, as reported by NewsOK’s TV blog, includes Logan Huffman as Tyler; Scott Wolf as Chad Decker; Morena Baccarin as Anna; Joel Gretsch as Father Jack; Morris Chestnut as Ryan Nichols; Lourdes Benedicto as Valerie; Laura Vandervoort (”Smallville”) as Lisa. The show airs at 7 p.m. Tuesdays on ABC.
With Mitchell and Vandervoort, the show has some Nerdage-friendly actresses on board. Last year, I talked to the show’s original creator, Kenneth Johnson, about his book continuing the series. The new ABC series is a reboot rather than a continuation, however. You can check out a trailer here in advance of watching tonight’s show.
- Matt Price
Planet 51 film is orbiting the Earth
To celebrate the Solar System Premiere of Columbia Pictures’ new animated comedy Planet 51, which will be released in theaters on Earth November 20, 2009, the film (on disc) is currently orbiting the planet on the International Space Station.
What better way to celebrate a space movie than … sending a movie into space?
A copy of Columbia Pictures’ animated comedy “Planet 51,” which comes to theaters Nov. 20, is currently orbiting the Earth on the International Space Station, according to a release. The film was launched on the Space Shuttle Discovery on August 28, 2009. A few days later, astronauts transferred the film to the space station.
The film is now cruising high above Earth at 17,500 miles per hour and orbiting the planet every 90 minutes. As the release notes, 90 minutes is the running time of the film, so the space-bound copy of the movie will make a full Earth orbit as the movie premieres on the ground.
Adam Lambert’s Time for Miracles video to debut online
The music video for Adam Lambert’s “Time for Miracles” will debut on MySpace Music on Wednesday, it was announced today. “Time for Miracles” is from the Roland Emmerich film 2012, which comes to theaters on Nov. 13.
The song is available for purchase on iTunes and will be included on Lambert’s upcoming album.
The video will include images from the film and will be viewable at www.myspace.com/music starting midnight Wednesday.
Adam Lambert was the runner up to Kris Allen in the eighth season of “American Idol.” In the “Idol” finale, Lambert won raves for his performance of “We Are the Champions” with Queen.
- Matt Price
Lambert is currently recording his first album on 19 Recordings/RCA Records for a November 2009 release.
Amanda Tapping: Syfy series ‘Sanctuary’ rose from ashes of Web show
Monsters, aliens and creatures now have a sanctuary. In the Syfy series “Sanctuary,” airing at 9 p.m. Fridays, Dr. Helen Magnus (Amanda Tapping, “Stargate SG-1”) leads a team of scientists seeking out often-grotesque creatures. If possible, the team, which includes daughter Ashley (Emilie Ullerup) and psychiatrist Will Zimmerman (Robin Dunn) will help these strange creatures, in the vast Sanctuary, a repository for the supernatural and otherworldly.
The show is shot primarily on green screen, using virtual sets.
“Building sets the size and the scope of the Sanctuary is nearly impossible,” said Tapping, who is also an executive producer of the show. “It gave us so much more freedom in terms of where we shot and how we shot, and places that we could go.”
DVD review: Primeval Vol. 2
New characters arrive in the second volume of “Primeval,” which contains the third season of the U.K. production. (The first two seasons are available in “Primeval Vol. 1.”)
Joining the Anomaly Research Centre this season are Egyptologist Sarah Page (Laila Rouass) and security leader Becker (Ben Mansfield). “Primeval” features Nick Cutter (Douglas Henshall) and his team of scientists who investigate time anomalies that allow gates to the past and future to open, and often-dangerous people and creatures to come through. The dinosaurs that often appear are dynamically portrayed; credit that to series’ co-creator is Tim Haines (“Walking With the Dinosaurs”). (more…)
Dangers of past roar into present in Primeval
Juliet Aubrey in Primeval.
Dinosaurs, knights errant and other entities from the past pass into the modern world through time anomalies in “Primeval,” a British action series now available on DVD.
Volume 2 of “Primeval,” which features the third series, came to DVD last month, and a marathon of episodes is airing from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. today on BBC America (Cox 176, Dish 135 and DirecTV 264).
Juliet Aubrey stars as Helen Cutter, the wife of Nick Cutter (Douglas Henshall). Nick is the scientist responsible for investigating these time anomalies. Nick begins his investigation into the anomalies while searching for Helen, who disappeared eight years ago, but discovers his wife has her own agenda.
Aubrey describes Helen as a driven and ambitious woman who becomes a “time-traveling eco-warrior.”
“Helen … becomes slightly bored with her life and finds out about these rips in time and decides to go and explore,” Aubrey said in a recent phone interview.
“She prefers living with dinosaurs, really, to her husband, so she stays there. … To her, time is a river, and you should be able to dive into it at any point in the past or present or future.”
The series was created by “Walking With the Dinosaurs” creator Tim Haines and Adrian Hodges. As such, the dinosaurs that escape into the world of “Primeval” are particularly well-designed. Aubrey said the appeal of ancient eras added to her enjoyment of the research for “Primeval.”
“I studied archaeology myself, so I’m really interested in those kinds of things, in the past and all of that,” Aubrey said.
Aubrey said the future becomes Helen’s obsession, and trying to prevent an apocalyptic future puts her in conflict with Nick’s team, tasked with stopping the creatures that come through the anomalies. Connor Temple (Andrew-Lee Potts) and Abby Maitland (Hannah Spearritt) are other members of the team. While Helen’s respect for the environment may be admirable, her methods become extreme.
“(She) believes that humanity has completely destroyed the planet and we don’t really deserve to live here,” Aubrey said. “She’s … definitely dangerous to know.”
- Matt Price
From Monday’s The Oklahoman
Bryan Singer may be in line for Battlestar Galactica
According to HitFix, Superman Returns director Bryan Singer may produce and could even direct a feature film version of Battlestar Galactica. The deal Universal signed in February this year with Glen Larson was for a new version of the property.
Singer had been in line to bring a sequel to the original Battlestar Galactica to TV in 2001. This series was derailed in the aftermath of 9/11.
At Comic-Con 2008, “X-Men” producer Tom DeSanto talked about Singer’s plans for the property before it was shut down:
DeSanto correlated the “Battlestar Galactica” story to the Biblical Exodus of the Jews. The sequel would have followed that story.
“What if the Jews had stopped at Mt. Sinai and built Las Vegas?” he said.
The story was set 20 years after the events of the original series, when the remaining humans voted to build a new society and stop the search for Earth. They became unprepared for the Cylons, who eventually found them.
“9-11 paralleled our story very much,” he said. “Cylons came back with a fury.”
See the entire article from Comic-Con 2008 here.
If Singer is again attached, would he follow a similar storyline? It’ll be interesting to see what develops with “Battlestar Galactica.”
- Matt Price
District 9 making a move?
According to MovieTickets.com, District 9 has moved into this week’s top 5 ticket sellers.
The film, which cost just $30 million to make, broke into the list at No. 5 as of 10:30 a.m. Pacific time.
According to a recent MovieTickets.com poll of almost 2,000 ticket buyers, 60 percent of males and 36 percent of females aware of the film intend to see “District 9″ on opening weekend. The movie is scheduled to open Friday.
The film is directed by Neill Blomkamp and stars Sharlto Copley. Peter Jackson is a producer. The film features a group of aliens stranded on Earth and the government agency that deals with the alien problem.
- Matt Price
SoonerCon 2009 kicks off today
THE NEXT LEVEL
Meet writers and artists of popular science fiction and fantasy at the 2009 SoonerCon expo this weekend at the Biltmore Hotel, 401 S Meridian.
Writer Dave Wolverton, aka David Farland, is the guest of honor. Wolverton is the author of the “Star Wars” novel “The Courtship of Princess Leia.” As Farland, he has written the “The Runelords” series, including the New York Times best-seller “Wizardborn.” Wolverton is a Guinness World Record holder for the largest single-author book signing, signing 1,845 copies of the science-fiction novel “A Very Strange Trip.”
Wolverton designed and scripted video games at Saffire studios. According to his Web site at www.davidfarland.net, he helped design the storyline, monsters, and weapons for “StarCraft’s Broodwar,” and wrote the story and script for “Xena: the Talisman of Fate.”
The artist guest of honor is Brad Foster, whose art has been published in more than 3,000 publications, including Amazing Stories and Highlights for Children.
Film fans can view selections from the International BareBones Film Festival, held each April in Muskogee. The Best of BareBones will screen films at SoonerCon today and Saturday, hosted by ShIronbutterfly Ray. Several filmmakers will be available for questions about their films.
This year’s theme is “Slideways in Time” and focuses on time travel and alternate histories. Tickets are $20 per day or $40 for the entire weekend. SoonerCon runs today through Sunday.
“It’s going to be high-energy,” said Leonard Bishop, executive director of SoonerCon 2009. “We’ve got 60-plus professional writers and artists; there will be multiple tracks of panel discussions and demos going on.”
Among the demos will be stage combat, belly dance, and performance art. There will also be charity auctions and evening activities.
For more information about SoonerCon, call (405) 694-1555 or visit www.soonercon.com.
- Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman
