Sci-Fi Cinema Obscura: Steel Dawn

This edition of SFCO is dedicated to the memory of Patrick Swayze. Those of you following the regular Cinema Obscura posts (all 3 of you) will have no doubt noticed that I skipped last week. There was really no reason for it as I was not busy doing anything else, so I suppose you could say I ’slacked...

September 15th, 2009 | Read More

Sci-Fi Down South: X Con World

Greetings Sci-Fi enthusiasts and any other type of nerd out there. Those of you in and around the Carolinas (That is North and South Carolina for the geographically challenged) will be pleased to know that Myrtle Beach will host to this years XCon World, a multi-genre spanning convention with a healthy...

September 7th, 2009 | Read More

Sci-Fi Cinema Obscura: The Quiet Earth

Shhh, don’t make a sound because this week we’ll be tiptoeing our way around The Quiet Earth (1985). The Basics A scientist finds himself all alone in a big city after everyone in has been wiped out. He spends his time looking for other survivors all the while suspecting government shenanigans...

September 3rd, 2009 | Read More

Nerd Read: Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction

Hello nerds, geeks and poindexters of the world. Hold on to your pocket protector and thick rimmed glasses held together with tape because there is cause to rejoice. In case you didn’t know already, Oxford University Press release the first ever science fiction dictionary entitled Brave New Words...

August 30th, 2009 | Read More

Sci-Fi Cinema Obscura: O-Bi, O-Ba (The End of Civilization)

For those of you who don’t like subtitles, bugger off. For the rest of you that enjoy enriching your entertainment choices with dashes of culture, read on. This week we take a look at one of Poland’s best sci-fi exports from director Piotr Szulkin entitled O-Bi, O-Ba, The End of Civilization...

August 26th, 2009 | Read More

Sci-Fi Cinema Obscura: Wizards

You may have heard of Ralph Bakshi and by extension this movie, but most people haven’t. At least most people don’t remember it, but I do. I remember everything…and so let’s remember Wizards (1977) together shall we? The Basics Picture a post apocalyptic scenario involving mutants,...

August 19th, 2009 | Read More

Sci-Fi Cinema Obscura: Brainstorm

Welcome to the second edition of Cinema Obscura. Today we will be taking a look at an oldie but goodie called Brainstorm (1983), starring Christopher Walken. The Basics A group of scientists develop a device they dub ‘The Hat’ which is a headset that transmits the brain’s activity...

August 12th, 2009 | Read More

Stargate Universe’s Robert Carlyle Spills Beans

Science Fiction's Breakfast Club Spoiler Alert: Robert Carlyle reveals possible key plot points in the following passages so if you really don’t want to know then don’t read past this sentence. Heading the cast of the upcoming latest Stargate spinoff, Robert Carlyle was all to keen to...

August 5th, 2009 | Read More

Sci-Fi Cinema Obscura: 2009 Lost Memories

Sci-Fi Cinema Obscura will be your weekly guide to science fiction goodness that you likely have not heard of. This week we take a look at a film from Korea called 2009 Lost Memories (2002). The Basics Far into the future in the year 2009, Korea has become part of the Japanese empire due to an event...

August 4th, 2009 | Read More

Ivan Reitman Talks Ghostbusters 3

The director of the original Ghostbusters during a special anniversary screening of the film said that the time is right to bring back the franchise for a third installment. The screening was held to support the release of Ghostbuster on Blu Ray. “We’re going to get a screenplay in a short...

June 4th, 2009 | Read More

New Chinese Sci-Fi Flick ‘Entire City on Red Alert’ Announced

Niice! I’ve been looking forward to seeing some more sci-fi projects to come out of China. To be honest I’ve been getting tired of the epic period pieces, so this news comes as a nice breath of fresh air. I like fresh air. I also like sci-fi, so it’s all good. To be directed by Benny...

May 29th, 2009 | Read More

New Torchwood Season Trailer

The trailer for the new season of the Dr. Who spinoff series, titled Torchwood:Children of Earth shows tidbits of what I think to be a promising set of episodes. It’s got creepy kids, paranormal investigators (including the lovely Eve Myles), British accents and, well, creepy kids. Truth be told...

May 29th, 2009 | Read More

Dr. Who Movie in Works

According to the BBC a feature length spin-off of the long lived British sci-fi series Dr. Who is in development. Barely a blurb in the linked article, this news comes as a pleasant surprise to those who might be fans of the series (and who isn’t?) and I for one look forward to it. No word yet...

May 27th, 2009 | Read More

New 77 Trailer

According to Ain’t It Cool News this movie has been in post production for about 2 years now, following initial fan screenings which showed the film for all its flaws. The movie is an autobiographical account of director Patrick Read Johnson’s early years as a budding filmmaker on the...

May 26th, 2009 | Read More

More Spielberg Aliens

It looks like Steven Spielberg is going to be giving us more aliens. On TV this time around though. Apparently TNT has put an order in for an as of yet unnamed alien invasion show from DreamWorks TV which will be centered around the aftermath of a global invasion by what I’m guessing to be some...

May 21st, 2009 | Read More

Eleventh Hour Gets the Axe

The chopping block has been somewhat unkind to science fiction lately. Eleventh Hour is the latest show to get cancelled as reported by Entertainment Weekly columnist Michael Ausiello. I personally am saddened by this devastating news and…no I’m not really, but I’m sure there are the...

May 19th, 2009 | Read More

Sci-Fi’s Top 5 Toughest Gals

There is no denying the contribution these characters have made to a genre otherwise dominated by men, and this list represents five of my favorite star hoppin’, cyborg bustin’ and alien blastin’ women in all the universe. They are bold, resourceful, intelligent, sexy and tough as nails....

May 19th, 2009 | Read More

Warp Drive Propulsion on the Horizon?

Marc Millis, former head of NASA’s Breakthrough Propulsion Physics Project, explains in this video how it might be possible to achieve superluminal travel using our current understanding of the universe. All I know is, sign me up for that please! This guy seems to know what he’s talking about...

May 16th, 2009 | Read More

Astronauts get to watch Star Trek in Space

How appropriate is it that the latest Star Trek film is being beamed aboard the International Space Station? Very much so, really. Paramount sent a copy of the movie to NASA and then it was directly uplinked to the space station for the viewing pleasure of astronaut Michael Barrat and two of his crew...

May 15th, 2009 | Read More

Meet the Guy Behind the ‘Death Star Destroys Enterprise’ video

Mike Horn, currently the editor for Current TV is the crazy genius behind that video that all too lovingly depicts the Enterprise being vaporized by the Death Star. A clever mashup of two of sci-fi-doms most enduring franchises, that video is just one of two he created. It also appears that his videos...

May 14th, 2009 | Read More