Yet another “Snakes on a Plane” blog entry…

I think I’m already over this film and I haven’t even seen it yet (maybe one doesn’t have to see it, perhaps just knowing enough the correct catch-phrases is all that is required for proper water cooler conversation on the topic). But here’s some of the latest hype from the Daily Show, because you don’t want to be left behind:

Sweeney Todd flm to star Johnny Depp

Good news if you like Tim Burton films or musicals based on the penny dreadful exploits of a Victorian barber who kills his customers (sounds like a winning combo to me):

DreamWorks Greenlights Tim Burton Sweeney Todd Film Starring Johnny Depp

“DreamWorks Studios confirmed plans for the upcoming Tim Burton film version of Stephen Sondheim’s musical Sweeney Todd starring his constant collaborator Johnny Depp in the title role. John Logan (“The Aviator,” “Gladiator”) penned the screenplay adaptation planned to begin work early in 2007 for a “late 2007 release,” according to the announcement.”

…I can’t wait to see whatthey do with Depp’s hair for the role, even if the film is bad you know it’s going to be fun!

Below: Artwork from the 70s Broadway musical.

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Will Smith to Begin Production for I Am Legend

If you like seeing good science fiction that features vampires you’re in luck, Richard Matheson’s 1954 novel “I Am Legend” is set to start filming:

Will Smith to Begin a Six-Month Production Shoot for I Am Legend

“An over half-year production schedule has been set for the Will Smith sci-fi film I Am Legend, according to Production Weekly. The film is the adaptation of the Richard Matheson‘s 1954 novel to be directed by Constantine director Francis Lawrence. Set in Los Angeles after a biological war, the film centers on the sole healthy survivor, a man who finds himself in a battle against nocturnal mutants. Robert Neville is the last living man on Earth… but he is not alone. Every other man, woman, and child has become a vampire, and they are all hungry for Neville’s blood.”

Below: Cover designs from various printings of the book:

Atari 2600 Commercial

According to Wikipedia: “The Atari 2600, released in 1977, is the first successful video game console to use plug-in cartridges instead of having one or more games built in. Originally known as the Atari VCS—for Video Computer System—the machine’s name was changed to “Atari 2600” (from the unit’s Atari part number, CX2600) in 1982, after the release of the more advanced Atari 5200. It was wildly successful, and during the 1980s, “Atari” was a synonym for this model in mainstream media.”

Here’s a cool commercial from the golden age of video games:

Shatner to save Star Trek

It looks like William Shatner will be doing a voice over for an upcoming Star Trek video game:

William Shatner to save Star Trek

“WILLIAM SHATNER is hoping that his voice over work for the next Star Trek game could spark a renewed interest in the franchise. Shatner, who played Captain James T. Kirk in the original series, has agreed to reprise his role in the new Star Trek: Legacy game which is due out in October. Interest in Star Trek is waning after Star Trek: Enterprise was mercifully canned last year and no feature films planned until 2008.

Shatner told Reuters in a telephone interview that interest was waning because Trek has been around a long time. He thinks it needs something new and different. Shatner, who doesn’t play video games, hopes the gaming medium can keep the “Star Trek” flame burning. He added if Legacy was a good game, keeping true to the characters and having an interesting story that branches, it could bring freshness to a franchise like ‘Star Trek.”

Star Trek Inspirational Posters

A fan website has come up with some inspirational posters featuring Kirk and cohorts. Each poster is available for download as a low-res JPG or a higher-res PNG:

Create Your Own Xbox 360 Game

It’s very cool that Microsoft is doing this – creating video games has always been very closed, hats off to Gates and Co, on this one:

Microsoft Invites the World to Create Its Own Xbox 360 Console Games for the First Time

“In the 30 years of video game development, the art of making console games has been reserved for those with big projects, big budgets and the backing of big game labels. Now Microsoft Corp. is bringing this art to the masses with a revolutionary new set of tools, called XNA Game Studio Express, based on the XNA platform. XNA Game Studio Express will democratize game development by delivering the necessary tools to hobbyists, students, indie developers and studios alike to help them bring their creative game ideas to life while nurturing game development talent, collaboration and sharing that will benefit the entire industry.

By providing an integrated, seamless development environment based on Visual Studio Express and .NET that simplifies the integration and use of game content, XNA Game Studio Express makes game development easier to accomplish for smaller projects, strongly increasing the chance for great game ideas to make it out of the concept stage and into the hands of gamers everywhere.

The XNA Game Studio Express beta will be available Aug. 30, 2006, as a free download on Windows XP, for development on the Windows XP platform. XNA Game Studio Express will give anyone with a Windows XP-based PC access to a unified development tool that liberates the creation of great Xbox 360 and Windows XP-compatible games, providing a new alternative to the existing multithousand-dollar development kits that many console games require. The final version of XNA Game Studio Express will be available this holiday season.”

Aarti Chabria to do the Indian version of Kill Bill

Good news for fans of Aarti Chabria (she was Miss India Worldwide 2000):

Aarti Chabria to do the Indian version of Kill Bill

“Aarti Chabria may not be much visible on the Bollywood circuit but down south she is quite a rage. Having already wowed the Telugu audiences with her previous 2 films, she has now added another substantial role to her kitty with Janardhan Maharishi’s untitled venture. In her next Telugu film, she plays the role of a terrorist having a split personality. Inspired by the western action saga Kill Bill, Aarti is also handling all the action scenes on her own! Her team members have started calling her ‘ Matrix’, after seeing her perform action sequences. Apart from doing special training for the action sequences, Aarti has also colored her hair jet black to suit the roles. Says a seemingly excited Aarti, “After a long time I have got a chance to show my talent in portraying some different roles and I’m sure my fans will appreciate my new avatars”.”

J.J. Abrams on the new Star Trek film and Lost

There’s a great TV Guide interview with J.J. Abrams who has been tapped to co-produce the next Star Trek film. There’s something quite neat to see that someone who loves the show will be involved:

Lost Boss Tackles Star Trek Enterprise

“TV Guide: Why do you think Star Trek continues to fascinate?
Abrams: It was incredibly smart television. The original series and Next Generation were about something — human nature and the idea of coming up against the unexpected and the often terrifying. It was a good story that happened to be science fiction. When I watch episodes with my 7-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter and see them so vitally respond to a show that was made the year I was born — it’s not because it takes place on a spaceship. What endures isn’t a genre, it’s character and emotional connection.”

…I like the fact that his focus is on the original series from the 60s and when he talks about “smart television”, you start to suspect that he respects his audience.

FDA votes against Bionic Eyes

Fan of the Six Million Dollar Man will remember Steve’s bionic eyes, well it looks like that technology will remain science fiction for a while yet (but it’s neat to know they are working on this stuff):

FDA Says No to Bionic Eye
livescience.com/humanbiology/ap_060715_bionic_eye.html

A U.S. company had hoped that next year that might be your grandmother. Not so fast, a federal advisory panel said Friday. A tiny telescope designed to be implanted in the eyes of some elderly patients should not receive Food and Drug Administration approval, the panel recommended on a 10-3 vote. The FDA’s ophthalmic devices panel recommended against the pea-sized bionic device for safety reasons, spokeswoman Heidi Valetkevitch said.

The first-of-its-kind device is called the Implantable Miniature Telescope. The telephoto lens could enable some patients to do away with the special glasses and handheld telescopes they now use to compensate for the loss in central vision caused by age-related macular degeneration, according to VisionCare Ophthalmic Technologies Inc., its manufacturer.

Related links:

VisionCare Ophthalmic Technologies Inc.

Kirk vs. Picard on Google

So using Google trends I asked that age old fanboy Star Trek question:

Who is more popular Captain Kirk or Captain Jean-Luc Picard?

According to Google Trends the clear answer is Captain Kirk!

…although it should be noted that Shatner seemed to hit a high point in 2004, and Patrick Stewart seems in danger of catching up! And for some odd reason Kirk seems most popular in Calgary, Canada.

Christopher Nolan set to direct Prisoner movie

It seems like a Prisoner movie is getting close to reality. Christopher Nolan is slated to direct – I hope he does a better job than the Batman series – but then again I wonder if anyone could do a good job of making such a classic series into a movie:

Movie in the making?

“Following hot on the heels of rumours of a proposed TV re-make of “The Prisoner”, news has reached TUW that a possible movie adaptation is rumoured to be in the works. According to “Variety”, Christopher Nolan (“Memento”, “Batman Begins”, “Insomnia”, pictured left) is ‘near a deal’ with Universal to direct a Prisoner movie, written by David and Janet Webb Peoples. What this means for the mooted Sky TV re-make is not clear. Universal have held movie rights to the series for some years, would they exert pressure on Granada/SKY not to move forward?. As always, we will be first to bring you more details if and when they appear.”

…and of course don’t forget to visit this cool Prisoner website:

http://www.theunmutual.co.uk/

Japanese to Live on the Moon

This concept seems so far fetched to me – not the idea of a moonbase itself, but planning one over twenty years in advance:

Japanese to Live on the Moon

“It takes something fairly outlandish to raise eyebrows in today’s scientific and technological communities, but the Japan Aeorspace Exploration Agency (JAXA) did just that at an international conference held in Tokyo last week. The agency announced its goal to build an inhabitable base on the moon by 2030. Preceding the construction of the lunar base, JAXA has some work to do. Junichiro Kawaguchi, the Japanese agency’s director, said the current plan is to send astronauts to the moon in 2020 to begin construction. In the immediate future, the Japanese space program plans to send a new satellite into orbit and unmanned, robot-run missions to the moon to collect rock samples from the moon’s surface as early as next year.”

An artist’s rendering of JAXA’s future manned flight to the moon:

Shakespeare troupe performs Star Wars

Playing a short time from now in a theater far far away:

Shakespeare troupe take light sabre to Star Wars

“George Lucas has given the Reduced Shakespeare Company the green light to condense the Star Wars saga into a 20-minute show. The films total more than 13 hours but this should not pose a problem for the company that did the Complete Works of Shakespeare in 97 minutes. “In the space of 20 minutes I’m going to be Jabba the Hutt, Jar Jar Binks, Darth Vader and Anakin Skywalker,” said Adam Long, who will write, direct and star in Star Wars – Shortened with two other actors.”

Muppet Creators go Adult

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How to make your own Leela from Futurama

A very silly Russian website has a step-by-step guide to building your own Leela:

Commercial Space Travel in 5 Years

This sounds quite cool, but I think if I was paying $200k I’d like to spend a bit more than 5 minutes in outerspace:

Space travel will take off in five years, travel boss says

“Commercial flights to space could be taking off from Britain within five years, the head of the space travel firm Virgin Galactic said Wednesday. Will Whitehorn said the Lossiemouth Royal Air Force base in Moray, in Scotland, is on track to be used as a base for the company’s spacecraft from 2011. Virgin Galactic, owned by billionaire British entrepreneur Richard Branson, will charge 110,000 pounds (209,600 dollars, 162,900 euros) a ticket to give passengers to experience weightlessness for five minutes. It plans to operate around seven spacecraft that will fly 87 miles (156 kilometres) above the earth’s surface.”

Beany and Cecil: Little Ace From Outer Space

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The Videogame Magazine Museum

This site is great for old school videogame fans, it features tons of scans of articles, ads and magazine covers from Joystik to Blip:

Phaze’s Classic Videogame Magazine Museum
http://cvmm.vg-network.com

Speed Racer goes Live Action?!

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Monkey Heaven

This is a fun website devoted to the cult classic live action Japanese TV series Monkey (sometimes known as Monkey Magic), made by NTV in the late 1970s:

http://www.monkeyheaven.com

Monkey Heaven is based on one of the great quest stories, a 16th century Chinese epic called Hsi Yu Chi (= Journey to the West). The title Monkey is probably from Arthur Waley’s English translation. The tales, set in 630 AD, describe the demons and monsters who try to stop the Tang Priest Hs’an Tsang (Tripitaka) from reaching a Buddhist monastery in India to retrieve Buddhist scriptures.

The whole series recounts the exploits of the resourceful, brave, and humorous Monkey, the real hero of the fantasy, as he escorts Tripitaka, the pig monster Pigsy, and the water monster Sandy, on their perilous mission.

Nintendo’s First Commercial

It’s 1985 and Nintendo intruduces their Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in New York. Retailers are so skeptical about video games that Nintendo has to agree to buy back all unpurchased inventory. Armed with a large number of Nintendo-developed original titles and arcade games, the NES becomes a hit:

Aqua Team Hunger Force: The Move

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Afro Samurai: Samuel Jackson goes Anime

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