Tuesday, November 12, 2013

12 November 2013

 Birthdays
Anne Hathaway b. 1982 (Ella Enchanted, The Dark Knight Rises, Alice in Wonderland)
Craig Parker b. 1970 (Lord of the Rings, Legend of the Seeker, Xena: Warrior Princess)
Harvey Stephens b. 1970 (The Omen)
Max Grodénchik b. 1952 (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)
Michael Bishop b. 1945 (won 1983 Nebula for No Enemy But Time)
Wallace Shawn b. 1943 (Toy Story, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)
Dave Cockrum b. 1943 died 26 November 2006 (creator of Colossus, Storm, Nightcrawler)
Michael Ende b.1929 died 29 August 1995 (writer, The NeverEnding Story)
Kim Hunter b. 1922 died 11 September 2002 (Planet of the Apes)

The Picture Slot was a tricky choice today. Anne Hathaway is an A-List movie star and Kim Hunter in Planet of the Apes is an understandable choice. Given the age of nerd that I am, I was all set to go with Giant Size X-Men #1, which finally succeeded in bringing back the X-Men for good, a series that was canceled several times by Marvel before becoming one of their biggest hits. But in the end, I decided to go with young Harvey Stephens from The Omen in the most memorable role from his brief career.  


Prediction: 2019: Ben Richards, a police helicopter pilot on the run for refusing to suppress a food riot in Bakersfield, is caught by the authorities. Instead of a trial and jail, he is put on the popular television show The Running Man, where convicts are hunted down and killed.

Predictor: The Running Man, released 13 November 1987

Reality: The Running Man was written by Stephen King under his pseudonym Richard Bachmann. The book takes place in 2025 near Detroit and the hero is not a cop and is described as “pre-tubercular”. Kings says the character he wrote is very nearly the diametric opposite of Arnold Schwarzenegger, which is also the case in the book of Total Recall by Philip K. Dick.

But seriously, anyone who has seen this knows it’s really a Richard Dawson vehicle featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger.

(Note: the movie celebrates its anniversary tomorrow, but so does another film with a prediction.)

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Can the end of the world be seen as a positive prediction? Tomorrow, you might understand the bright side.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

2 comments:

  1. I had no idea King wrote the Running Man. You're absolutely right, Dawson carried that movie; of course Maria Conchita Alonso didn't hurt it either.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Out of those early Bachmann stories, I am much more appreciative of The Long Walk and Thinner.

    ReplyDelete

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