The Science Fiction Book Club picks the 50 most significant science fiction/fantasy books of the last 50 years, although after the top ten they’re listed alphabetically (Via Lots of Co.) I’d say I’ve read about half of these, and the choices seem pretty legit. No surprise who‘s at the top of the list, but otherwise it seems like the fantasy side got short shrift. I guess the Narnia books (and for that matter Animal Farm and 1984) are over 50-years-old. Speaking of which, I can’t say I’m a very big C.S. Lewis fan (particularly as compared to Tolkien), but nonetheless – the Narnia film site is now live.
Category: Fanboy
Smaug Awakens 12.19.06
The site’s getting killed at the moment, but at some point this fan-made teaser for Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit is definitely worth checking out. Brought a smile to my face. In loosely related news, the second Animatrix trailer is also up – not half as intriguing as the first installment, but worth a look if you’re at all into anime (which, frankly, I’m not).
We’re So Frelling Screwed.
With only three episodes left before its untimely cancellation, Harvey returned to Farscape Friday night in “We’re So Screwed: Part I: Fetal Attraction.” Sigh…a la Twin Peaks, the “best science-fiction show on TV” (TV Guide) is now clearly building up to a huge cliffhanger which will never get resolved. So, just because I haven’t said it here recently, I still really hope Sci-Fi suffers heavy karmic retribution for their decision to renege on their 2-year deal with Farscape, beginning with lousy ratings for Children of Dune (which I probably would have watched had it not been for Farscape‘s cancellation – and yes, if you tuned in to Taken, you’re part of the problem) and ending with the demise of the network. A show that replaces ‘Scape with schlock like John Edward, the Dream Team, and Tremors: The Series has no business being patronized by the fanboy/fangirl nation.
Bad news and Good news.
Harry finds out directly from PJ what’s been holding up the rumored Return of the King trailer. Says M. Jackson, We’re not doing a ROTK trailer for the end of Two Towers like we did last year. The reason is that the TT extended DVD has been so complex this year, it would have taken too many resources away from trying to get that finished. The FOTR extended cut had 35 extra CG shots – the TT extended cut has over 150.” Ah well. The waiting is the hardest part, but at least it sounds like more Ents and more Gollum are in our future.
Bespectacled Freak!
The casting powers-that-be over at Sony officially announce Alfred Molina as Dr. Octopus in The Amazing Spiderman. This isn’t bad casting at all, although I still think Stellan Skarsgaard or Phillip Seymour Hoffman (if he could be induced not to go too far over the top) would have been great fun. Also, the new, Michael Chabon-penned script is rumored to only feature Doc Ock here as the main villain – they have wisely decided to forego the Batman route and instead will use one Spidey arch-nemesis at a time. Update: In a similar long-rumored casting call, WB announces that Michael Gambon will play Dumbledore in the next Harry Potter film. With Gary Oldman, Timothy Spall, and most importantly Alfonso Cuaron, this one could be a definite improvement over the first two.
To me, my X-Men.
Probably the biggest thrill of the Daredevil experience, the X2 trailer is now online. I’m not sure how they’re going to introduce all these characters enough for a layperson’s liking, but it looks like great fun for fans of the comic. Update: Faster than a Wolverine-Colossus fastball special and brighter than a Dazzler stage show, it’s now officially online in Quicktime.
If I ruled the world.
Former Authority scribe Mark Millar offers his vision for revamping Detective Comics. (Via Neilalien.) What with Marvel finally feeling the movie mojo (Daredevil notwithstanding), it’s kinda sad to see DC languish these days. I remember the days when DC/Vertigo were pretty much firing on every cylinder while the X-Men were dinking around the Australian outback and Marvel was trying to garner new readers by having the Secret Wars Beyonder traipsing around dressed like Phillip Michael Thomas. How the mighty have fallen.
Is this a test, sir?
Ok, that’s enough love…now it’s time for hate. Celebrities ponder, Who could you take in a fight? (Seen all over the place, but I caught it first at Webgoddess, Lots of Co., and All About George, none of whom I feel like tussling with.) Whether it be due to Gaelic disposition, number of siblings, or a decade on the school bus, I’ll generally take all comers, be they right-wingers, warbloggers, or whomever made the terrible decision that [Daredevil SPOILERS] a wounded Ben Affleck could beat up Michael Clarke Duncan in three minutes of screen time. (He’s the Kingpin, for Pete’s sake. Fisk should’ve thrown him out the window immediately. Yet another problem in a disappointing film.) At any rate, if you want to throw down, leave a message here and we can meet behind the Piggly-Wiggly after school.
Happy Valentine’s Day.

Happy Valentine’s Day to you and yours. I passed out all my LOTR Valentines this morning (although I kinda wish I’d gone Cthulhu) and am now off to see Daredevil. In the meantime, enjoy these unfortunate Valentines cards and have a great day!
Scuttling the Past.
Speaking of never-ending remakes, the worst fears of Star Wars fans have come to pass. As if the prequels weren’t snub enough, Lucas says he’ll NEVER release the original versions of the original trilogy on DVD. Which means, from now to time immemorial, Greedo shot first. Ugh…doesn’t Lucas even read the news?