Saturday, August 17, 2013

17 August 2013


Birthdays
Helen McCrory b. 1968 (Narcissa Malfoy in Harry Potter)
Harve Bennett b. 1930 (producer and writer for Star Trek)
Glen Corbett b. 1933 died 16 January 1993 (Zephram Cochran on the original series of Star Trek)

What kind of parents would name a boy Draco? Well, a mom named Narcissa and a dad is named Lucius, so that gives you a clue.

Harve Bennett has writing and producing credits on Star Trek  movies two through five, which means two good ones and two bad ones. I think he still deserves a lot of credit for The Wrath of Khan, the movie that saved the Star Trek series. As good as the original Star Wars movies were, science fiction films needed at least two money making franchises back in the late 1970s and early 1980s or the entire genre could have sputtered to a halt.

As a fan of the Original Series, it was strange to see what the writers made out of Zephram Cochran in Star Trek: First Contact. James Cromwell doesn't look like Glen Corbett in the least and his version didn't have a perpetual stick up his posterior.

Many happy returns to the living.

Movies released

ParaNorman released, 2012
The Time Machine released, 1960
 

Prediction: On August 17, 1966, atomic bombs hit London, triggering a volcanic eruption

Predictor: the movie The Time Machine, (1960)

Reality: The idea that we were going to be nuked was common in popular entertainment from 1950s until at least the 1980s. The idea that there were dormant volcanoes in London, not so much.

How were we supposed to know we were in London of the future in a scene that lasts just a few minutes? There was an overground monorail and Alan Young as a fallout shelter official wore a metallic suit.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Another prediction from yet another movie that puts the apocalypse six years into the future.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

3 comments:

  1. I don't get broken up about the lack of pneumatic tubes, but I really wish we had metallic jumpsuits.

    At least the New Wave bands gave it a try. alan there would have fit right into A Flock Of Seagulls.

    ReplyDelete
  2. also, FYI Prof:

    http://io9.com/nuclear-powered-vehicle-concepts-from-the-mid-20th-cent-1154385972

    the future used to look SO COOL.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, ZR. I'll use some of those pics over the next few weeks in the Friday slot.

      Delete

Traveler! Have you news... FROM THE FUTURE?