Salon examines the fan movement to save Farscape and speculates on how the tactics being created for this endeavor might work to change the TV-viewer relationship in the future. What with only two episodes to go, it may all be wishful thinking at this point…but it’s a shout-out nonetheless. (Sent via High Industrial.)
Author: KcM
Crimson Canals.
It’s not exactly Venice (or Europa, for that matter), but it’s a start. Scientists find possible evidence of running water on Mars. And where there’s water…
Mein Leiben!
A whole slew of new X2 pics arrive online, including this shot at right of Alan Cumming as Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler (who looks an order of magnitude better than he did here and here six months ago.) A few spoilers scattered throughout.
Six Degrees of Footloose.
Test your who-starred-in-what-movie knowledge with Cinema Sequence…I gotta say, this is the most time-consuming link to come down the pike in awhile. Finally, an outlet for all the useless film trivia I’ve accumulated over the years…I just wish they’d turn this into a game show. (Thanks much to Listen Missy.)
Paging VGR.
After nearly four years of number-crunching (including 11,000 hours on my own personal PCs), Seti@Home has chosen 150 signals worth a second look, and will be using the Arecibo radio telescope thus next week. (Via Windowseat and Kestrel’s Nest.) Apparently, Seti@home will also be posting the names of the users whose computers picked out the 150 best signals, possibly on Friday.
It’s Not Easy Being Green.
Fresh from the Game Developer’s Conference, IGN Filmforce hosts a fascinating keynote by WETA Digital on their work for LOTR: TTT, with several Quicktime shorts on the evolution of Gollum, the Ents, and MASSIVE (and a few Toy Story-esque blooper reels). Definitely worth checking out, if you can spare the bandwidth.
Toy on the Run.
Lego’s Run, via Goatee Style. I’ll betcha Gregory Harrison comes by to check the progress every day.
Pre-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
March Madness? With even Bush Sr. now calling out his son’s unilateralism (Bully for him, via Looka), Pat Buchanan (and, to be fair, Dem Congressman Jim Moran) decrying his fellow conservatives as being dupes for an Israeli conspiracy, and the Republicans renaming the french fries as “freedom fries” in the House cafeteria, it appears the Grand Old Party has been reduced to mass hysteria by the looming war in Iraq. Add these bizarre episodes to the assault on civil liberties mentioned below and the nation’s growing economic woes (which the Bushies are now responding to by hiding information), and I’m now starting to think the 2004 election might just be the Dems to lose.
It’s Oh So Quiet.
Still catching up with my Oscar slate, and last night’s foray was Phillip Noyce’s remake of The Quiet American. All in all, very well done, and a battered, despairing Michael Caine deserves an Oscar for this much more than he ever did for his turn in the schlocky Cider House Rules. (As I said last week, though, the Best Actor field this year is very, very strong, and I still think Day-Lewis has the edge – having not yet seen any of the movies featuring Best Actress nominees, I can’t really comment on the women.) Brendan Fraser is also quite good, and the political dimension of the story (i.e. America’s involvement in sponsoring Vietnamese terrorism) is very well-integrated with the dramatic tale being told. If anything, the film slipped in the ratings to the right only because (a) The Pianist was better, or at least more powerful, (b) I found this film a bit slow in the first hour, partly because the tale begins at the end with the death of the “quiet” American (not much of a spoiler – it’s almost the first shot in the film), and thus much of the dramatic tension in the story has already been siphoned off, and (c) the “Vietnam is a woman” allegory is a bit heavy-handed – the audience can pick up on what’s going on without it being stated over and over again. But it’s worth seeing, and Michael Caine is magnificent.
Last Chances and Big Dances.
Sports Update: The NBA playoff train is leaving the station, and – starting tonight – the Knicks have their last chance to get on board. They’re currently four games out of the eight seed, but they’re coming up on three very winnable games against Memphis, Atlanta, and Milwaukee (a must-win, although the Bucks, currently holding the eight spot, still have to face the Spurs twice more.) On the college side, I’ll be going to catch the first round of the Big East Tournament tomorrow at the Garden, which will be my last chance to bone up on my bracketology before the Big Dance starts next week. Update: In an early pick, Hunter takes Kentucky. Update 2: Well, that didn’t take long. Ah well. Hopefully the Knickerbockers will get a good bounce in the lottery.