SF Movie News Video (beta)

Galaxis SF Movie News Dec. 2011
by: jzipperer


Readers of this blog know that I created a free digital science & science-fiction magazine called Galaxis, which can be read or downloaded from the issuu website.

Today, I present a new experiment, to be followed by more (and much better, I assure you) such videos as I learn the XtraNormal text-to-movie system. Above, my Galaxis news staffer reads the quarterly science-fiction movie news.

Like I say, it's a beta test; the timing is off, and there is much more that can be done with additional speakers, facial expressions, movements, and pauses. But I still think it's a fun experiment. And, again, it will get better...

The Starlog Project: Starlog #167, June 1991: Hulk Hogan Conquers Starlog

Professional wrestler Hulk Hogan gets a cover spot this issue. He was one of the first big wrestlers to make the transition to other forms of entertainment (he’s the one who didn’t become governor of Minnesota).

Though this does bring to mind the early 1980’s jokey flirtation with professional wrestling in the pages of sister magazine Fangoria, it’s really nothing more than Starlog looking to sell some more copies at the newsstand with a big name. Still, editor David McDonnell notes in his editorial, “I never expected to put Hulk Hogan on the cover of Starlog. ... Here’s the truth of the matter: We had six cover possibilities. Then, two of the movies were rescheduled for later release. Two other interviews were delayed so they would happen after we absolutely had to go to press. And the TV movie perversely offered sparse pickings when it came to color photos. Which left the space comedy spoof. And it had these terrific pix of the alien monster created by Steve Johnson. So ...”

I’ll just note that Starlog’s publishing company at this time was also publishing a handful of professional wrestling magazines (Ringside Wrestling, Wrestling All-Stars, etc.), which reportedly at one time controlled more than 50 percent of the wrestling magazine market.

Starlog #167
80 pages (including covers)
Cover price: $4.50

On the inside front cover is an advertisement for The Rocketeer, which I mention only because I’m sure none of you even knew this movie existed. I saw it. Twice, I think. But I think my two tickets were the sole box office revenue earned by that film. But it’s a charming little adventure film that never got a Starlog cover story (yeah, that's right, Suburban Commando’s on the cover and Rocketeer got nada – it still hurts). But the Starlog team did do the movie justice with its sister magazine, Comics Scene, where it got a cover story (for the August 1991 issue, #20).

The rundown: Hulk Hogan’s Suburban Commando is on the cover (does that monster look to you like a Predator gone horribly wrong?); a Gremlins photo (sans any Gremlins) is featured on the contents page. The Communications section includes a letter from writer Jerome Bixby, who corrects an impression left by his interview in #164 and notes that Paramount turned down his sequel to his “Mirror, Mirror” episode of original Star Trek, plus readers comment on everything from First Men in the Moon to Beauty & the Beast to plans for the Sci Fi Channel, plus Mike Fish features the Body Snatchers in his Creature Profile comic; in his Medialog column, David McDonnell reports that Star Trek VI will indeed finally be made, but the declining box office of the films plus the aging cast “make it all but certain ... that this will be the last Star Trek film with the classic cast”; in his Videolog column, David Hutchison notes such recent genre releases as Predator 2, The Jungle Book, and Hooray for Horrorwood; and the Fan Network pages include Lia Pelosi’s directory of fan clubs and publications, plus the convention calendar.

It’s a sad day in science-fictionland, as Starlog devotes four pages to a Tribute section of obituaries: Lee Goldberg on James Bond screenwriter Richard Maibaum, Pat Jankiewicz on Beetlejuice and Top Gun screenwriter Warren Skaaren, Michael Mallory on stuntman and actor Tom Steele, Dan Scapperotti on actor Henry Brandon (Drums of Fu Manchu, The Searchers, Buck Rogers, and other classics), and Bill Warren on actor Keye Luke (most recently the mysterious merchant in the Gremlins movies, but perhaps most famously the “Number One Son” Lee Chan from the old Charlie Chan series); and in his From the Bridge column, Kerry O’Quinn gives an amusing account of his decision to take motorcycle lessons.

Adam Pirani interviews actress Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, who portrays Maid Marian in Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves (and who also discusses her less-than-enjoyable time acting in James Cameron’s The Abyss); Craig W. Chrissinger talks with fantasy writer Jennifer Robertson (Sword Breaker, The Song of Homana, etc.); Mark Burman profiles actor Patrick Bergin, who plays the lead in the TV movie The Adventures of Robin Hood (with a sidebar on the movie’s director, John Irvin); Bill Warren pens the cover story, a preview of the Hulk Hogan space comedy Suburban Commando; Karen Funk Blocher and Teresa Murray check in with former Doctor Who star Jon Pertwee, who tells a tale of the travails of working on that ultra-low-budget series, and in the process lifts the covers on British class warfare: “Due to budgetary considerations, high production values weren’t always in evidence – even with as fundamental a prop as the TARDIS console. According to Pertwee, the console once had to be altered for a scene in which he was to remove and replace a component. A man was sent to the set, armed with hammer and chisel. ‘Where do you want the hole, guv?’ the workman said. Pertwee indicated the appropriate place in the console, and advised the man to be careful. ‘Right,’ the man said, and struck the chisel. The blow sent a huge crack across the console panel, splitting it. ‘So, I hit him,’ Perwee says. But there was retribution. ‘All the unions immediately went out on strike. Fortunately, the producer backed me up.’”

Tom Weaver has a hat trick this issue, with three articles on the Creature from the Black Lagoon and its sequels – he interviews actress Julie Adams, who played the femme fatale in the original movie (and who notes that, despite enjoying her movie, “I didn’t really want to be in the sequels, to tell you the truth. So, I was happy that they didn’t come to me anyway”; he also talks with Ricou Browning, “the extraordinary swimmer who donned the scaly foam rubber suit of the Creature from the Black Lagoon” and who actually enjoyed working in the sequel; and he also talks with actress Lori Nelson, who was the femme fatale of Revenge of the Creature (plus a short sidebar on the late Leigh Snowden, the female lead of The Creature Walks Among Us); and David McDonnell’s Liner Notes column includes his smack my forehead why did I put Hulk Hogan on the cover comments, plus he notes some minor design changes to the magazine (such as spiffing up the department logos and moving around the glossy and non-glossy pages, as noted last issue).

“[The Abyss producers] also have this kind of autocratic way of filming – and I would like to say to all producers, ‘You hired me, you didn’t buy me. I have a right to know what my schedule is,’ and I do have that right because I haven’t actually signed over – because you do feel that after a while, you’ve actually signed over your free will, your time is not your own. They gave us one day a week off, but we stood for hour after hour after hour, and for days on end, and couldn’t leave this small town, because, ‘Well, we don’t know when we’ll need you.' ... I just think there are friendlier environments, and there’s a kind of a maturity in dealing with other people.”

–Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, actress, interviewed by Adam Pirani: “Princess of Thieves”

To see more, click on Starlog Internet Archive Project below or visit The Starlog Project’s permanent home.

The Starlog Project: Starlog #163, February 1991: Harry & the Hendersons

Does anyone remember the short-lived TV series Harry & the Hendersons? Did you know that Scott Baio was one of the directors of this show’s episodes? Yes? No?

Doesn’t matter. The syndicated series, which was based on a 1987 movie of the same name starring John Lithgow, lasted 72 episodes before being shown the door. Whether you liked or disliked this show, it must still cause you alarm that ALF lasted a entire season longer than Harry & the Hendersons. Just pointing that out.

This issue Starlog publishes its annual postal statement of ownership and circulation. The total paid circulation for the issue closest to the statement's filing deadline is listed as 171,137 (up from the previous year's 160,739, continuing a slow multi-year increase), including the number of paid subscriptions of 9,567 (also up, from 8,978 last year).

Starlog #163
76 pages (including covers)
Cover price: $4.50

Correct me if I'm wrong: Technically, Kevin Peter Hall has a first-and-only record-setting achievement this month. As the actor-in-the-monster-suit for both Harry & the Hendersons and the Predator movie, he appears twice on this cover, as different characters. (Note the Predator's pretty face in the upper right-hand corner of the cover. No, not the left; Gates McFadden was in fact played by Gates McFadden.)

The rundown: Kevin Peter Hall, who for a while was the go-to guy for tall-creature acting, is featured on the cover in his harry Harry (sans Hendersons) guise; and a blast from the past – E.T. – is on the contents page; the Communications section is kicked off with a long letter urging science-fiction fans to take environmentalism seriously, while other readers show how seriously they take Star Trek: The Next Generation, Lost in Space, and even android definitions, while Mike Fisher’s Creature Profile features King Kong; and David McDonnell’s Medialog column recounts the many failed efforts to resurrect Alien Nation.

Kyle Counts interviews Lost in Space star Bill Mumy, who discusses that series as well as his efforts to create a reunion show; David Hutchison’s Videolog column notes the releases of Total Recall, Back to the Future Part III, and other genre titles; Duane S. Arnott contributes his first article to Starlog, an interview with actor Robert Brown, who portrayed Lazarus in the original Star Trek episode “The Alternative Factor”; Desire Gonzales talks with actor Ritch Brinkley, whose role as Beauty & the Beast’s William the Cook was a bit of a misnomer, because “you never saw me cook so much as a piece of bread” (he also discusses his role as Carl the cameraman on Murphy Brown); T.W. Knowles II contributes a Q&A with novelist Elizabeth Ann Scarborough, who uses themes in her books from her time as a nurse in the Vietnam War; and Ian Spelling checks in with actress Gates McFadden, who discusses returning to Star Trek: The Next Generation (and who appears to be as clueless to her exit-and-return as is the audience).

The Fan Network pages include Patrick Daniel O’Neill’s report on the BBC’s attempt to recover lost video of Doctor Who episodes, plus Lia Pelosi’s directory of Doctor Who fan clubs; Marc Shapiro interviews “The Man in the Monster Suits,” Kevin Peter Hall, who talks about Harry & the Hendersons and Predator 2; Jean Airey talks with director and producer Vere Lorrimer about his efforts to continue and then kill Blake’s 7; Industrial Light & Magic effects supervisor Dennis Muren talks to John Stanley about creating special effects for Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, The Abyss, and others; in part two of Steve Swires’ interview with director Val Guest, the 79-year-old Guest talks about working with Woody Allen, among others; Dan Yakir speaks with director Adrian Lyne about Jacob’s Ladder; Kerry O’Quinn’s From the Bridge column sort-of reviews Michael Crichton’s book Travels; and in his Liner Notes column, editor David McDonnell lists the winners of a number of recent give-away contests.

“William Shatner is a sweetheart. He loves to laugh. Not the stiff, forced Nimoy guffaw, but a man who sees the odd part of life. Humor is his friend. He seems to be poking fun at himself more than others. A very likable fellow. As the intellectual type, Leonard Nimoy was somewhat removed, much like his acting, although a decent man of conscience.”

–Robert Brown, actor, interviewed by Duane S. Arnott: “Lazarus Rises Again”

To see more issues, click on Starlog Internet Archive Project below or visit The Starlog Project’s permanent home.

The Starlog Project: Starlog #161, December 1990: To Catch a Predator 2

The first Predator movie kind of came out of nowhere to become a cult hit. But the media was prepared for the sequel, and it got more attention than its predecessor. Thus, a Predator cover on Starlog.

Also note that this issue Starlog’s cover price jumps 55 cents, from $3.95 to $4.50. I know, inflation blah blah blah. But still, the magazine has been at a standard 76 pages (excluding special extra-page issues) since #94 back in May 1985 – 68 issues ago. The paper quality is much better than it was five years earlier, but it’s the same total number of pages, the same amount of color pages in the overall package, and it costs $4.50 instead of the $2.95 that #94 cost.

But don’t complain too much. Within half-a-year or so, the magazine will finally upgrade its page count and color situation, resuming its march to ever-more of both.

Starlog #161
76 pages (including covers)
Cover price: $4.50

Photo caption of the month: “Pete Martell stands out as the most normal Twin Peaks resident – just don’t let him near a percolator.”

The rundown: A powerful-looking Predator star is on the cover, while Valkenvania’s Demi Moore is featured on the contents page. Reader letters in Communications include praise for the Michael Ironside interview in #155, give decidedly mixed reactions to Total Recall, and attempt to be as weird as the Philip K. Dick interview it's referencing; and David McDonnell’s Medialog announces a sequel to be called Bill & Ted Go to Hell, plus other genre news.

Marc Shapiro previews the Dan Akroyd-John Candy-Demi Moore fantasy film Valkenvania (about which Akroyd says, “I don’t know why Starlog would want to cover this movie. It’s definitely not science fiction.” Fine. I said it was fantasy.); new video releases (Jetsons: The Movie, Total Recall, Back to the Future Part III, etc.) are announced in David Hutchison’s Videolog column; Robert Pegg profiles actor Jack Nance, veteran of David Lynch productions such as Eraserhead and Twin Peaks; Robert Greenberger interviews actress Suzie Plakson, who portrayed the Klingon K’Ehleyr in Star Trek: The Next Generation; in the second part of his talk with writer George R.R. Martin, Edward Gross explores how the series dealt with star Linda Hamilton’s decision to dial down her involvement with Beauty & the Beast; Michael Vance and Bradley H. Sinor talk with veteran science-fiction author Hal Clement; and Dan Yakir checks in with writer Bruce Joel Rubin to talk about his new movie Jacob’s Ladder (and he also discusses Ghost and Brainstorm).

The Fan Network pages include Lia Pelosi’s fan club directory, convention calendar, and some very short news bits on SF music parodies and a non-fiction book by Edward Gross exploring aspects of Beauty & the Beast; in the cover story, Marc Shapiro unveils this season’s Predator (and includes this comment by writer Jim Thomas: “I think Predator vs. Alien is a good idea that will probably never happen. ... My personal favorite would be to have the Predator beat the crap out of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”), with a sidebar chat with director Stephen Hopkins; Shapiro also explores TSR’s first move into the comics publishing business, with a new Buck Rogers title; actor Liam Neeson tells Kyle Counts about his role as the star of Darkman; Tom Weaver interviews actress Jane Wyatt, the veteran who portrayed Spock’s mother (and whom I always mix up with Jane Wyman, Ronald Reagan’s first wife); a two-page Tribute section includes Kim Howard Johnson’s remembrance of actor Jack Gilford and Python Graham Chapman, and Tim Ferrante provides actor Jock Mahoney’s obituary; Jean Airey and Laurie Haldeman, who chronicled everything Blake’s 7-ish a while back, return with a complete episode guide to the Robin of Sherwood TV series; Kerry O’Quinn gets all misty about Niagara Falls in his From the Bridge column; and David McDonnell’s Liner Notes column announces Mike Fisher’s new computer-drawn “Creature Profile” comic panel that will appear in the magazine for a number of years.

“There’s a moment when the cameras are rolling and before the director has called ‘action’ that you’re waiting. You’re not yet committed to the scene and you’re waiting for the cue and you’re in a very vulnerable kind of moment. It’s an intense pressure and concentration. And David [Lynch] will use that moment and start talking to you and give you verbal cues to the scene like ‘wrapped in plastic’ and you’ll be reacting to what he’s saying and do it on the spot. He has caught you, caught you unawares. It’s really neat and it’s really personal, a kind of intimate thing.”

–Jack Nance, actor, interviewed by Robert Pegg: “Deceptive Appearances”

To see more issues, click on Starlog Internet Archive Project below or visit The Starlog Project’s permanent home.

Famous Monsters' Revival Issue Cover Revealed

The reborn Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine has released a photo of the cover of its first issue (#251, July 2010).

I'll be there to buy it when it goes on sale, but I must say, it looks like they're playing it depressingly safe, using that corny old font for the the cover blurbs. I'd be much more interested in seeing them do a better mix of the classic logo with a fresher outlook. After the previous rebirth of the magazine was nothing more than an embarrassing attempt to reanimate a dead corpse, I am hoping the people putting out this version will try to produce a good monster magazine and worry less about aping the exact cover text of the Warren copies.

After all, the J.J. Abrams Star Trek movie was a hit when it threw out the rule book and was willing to mess with the formula.

True, a cover is only one page of a many-leafed magazine. But it is the one that sets the stage for the rest that follow. I hope the inside demonstrates fresh thinking and design.

The Host Comes to DVD

The superior Korean monster movie The Host is out on DVD now.

Here's the review I wrote on my film-review page [http://www.weimar.ws/wmrkino.html] after seeing this movie in the theater:

The Host (03.11.07): This fantastic balancing act of a monster movie from South Korea – wait, that gives away in the first sentence what I think about it. Let me be more circumspect. The Host is a Korean film about a family's struggle for survival against a man-made monster that is terrorizing the city and wildly entertaining the audiences. Hmmm, that also gives away too much. Let's try this: Balancing humor and horror is an act that Americans almost never pull off, but this Korean film does well, showing us endearing characters whose funny actions and reactions never sink to camp – even when they're rolling around on the floor fighting with each other at a little girl's wake.

There, that didn't give away the fact that I found this film incredibly endearing and immensely entertaining, did it? It's a difficult thing for a writer to do, at least this writer regarding this film. The Host is a B-movie, make no mistake. Though it makes some side-swipes at political allusions, it's really a film about a family trying to rescue a little girl from a monster. The actors do great jobs giving us characters who are imperfect yet for whom we root nonetheless (or even moreso, considering that they can be sort of stupid at times). And it's a pleasure to watch each of them on screen.

This fantastic balancing act of a monster movie from South Korea is awesome fun and shouldn't be missed. If a theater near you doesn't show it, then thank God for DVD.