Word is that Children of Earth did so well, both in the UK and US markets, that a fourth season is a go. Even though a lot of the cast has been killed off (starting with the first episode), I’m looking forward to another season. Over at SF Signal, a round of Shatner performing Palin that boarders on the surreal.
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According to this report from the BBC, fans have started a campaign to save Ianto Jones. Part of the Torchwood team, they killed him off last night in episode 4 of Children of Earth, or a few weeks ago if you live in the UK. Here in the US, The Prisoner won’t air until November, but AMC had a little taste for folks at Comic-Con today; check it out:
It looks like Warner and DC are gearing up to do a Flash live action movie. So far, only the writers and producers have been identified; see the Hollywood Reporter story for details on this and other comics-film news. The special effects modeling in Moon looked excellent, with reason: it was done by the effects guru who did Alien, as well as some Doctor Who and Red Dwarf.
This is a heartbreaker in IYA2009.
We lost Walter Cronkite tonight… or maybe last night, depending on which time zone you live in…
The trusted voice for America in the 60s and 70s, the voice of reason who looked liked everyone’s father, and later everyone’s Grandfather…
The man who narrated a Moon Landing for a nation and a generation, telling it so it all made sense to the man in the street… when the man in the street concentrated hard on the science of how to get his car working…
As a media person myself in those days, he was one of my Heroes, and I didn’t have many. Cronkite and Murrow were about it, with Huntley and Brinkley (the brightly feathered Peacock Team) as an amusement-valued backup when the big guys wern’t available. Perhaps even then I may have needed a life, but not as much as the world needed, and still needs, Cronkite or one of his disciples, or trainees, or ANYONE who knows how to do the same job in the modern-day info-storm!
The Universe agrees! Murrow and Cronkite are amongst a very rare breed; Obviously they both understand what is going on in the world… but more important, they can communicate those concepts to the rest of us, in real time, while the recorders/cameras are rolling.
I need to rewatch the Lunar landings now, and his reaction to them. He captured our hearts, our minds, and maybe just the edge of our souls…
And He will be missed!!!
Otakon kicked off today, and included the east coast premiere of EVANGELION 1.0: YOU ARE (NOT) ALONE, and a fun little project called Pirates vs. Ninjas. Musical guests include VAMPS for those wondering what Hyde has been up to since he left L’Arc-en-Ciel, and MELL. It is being covered by all the usual suspects, including Anime News Network, Ani Gamers, Funimation, and more. The con has an official Twitter link and a dealers room webcam, but that’s not as much fun as being there yourself. It runs through Sunday if you still want to grab a daypass.
IO9 scores again, with two excellent articles today. The first talks about the new shows on SyFy, and how they are for the most part recycled old shows. They are right on the money about Warehouse 13, and the combination of two old favorites is quite entertaining (the web page is nicely done as well). They also touch on Eureka (I disagree with their conclusions on that one), and the forthcoming Alien Nation and (possibly?) Quantum Leap. The other article I enjoyed today was on science fiction lawyers, which is a larger list than I would have expected. And that’s surprising, because I knew everyone mentioned; but they forgot Eli Stone and a few others. The first teaser trailer is out for Burden, a movie that has already been nominated for multiple awards before being released. Independent films often make the festival circuits pre-release, and this one is no exception; you can see it at the DragonCon Film Festival in September, Action On Film IFF on the 25th, and the International Film Festival Ireland at the beginning of September.