9 July 2014

 Birthdays
Georgie Henley b. 1995 (The Chronicles of Narnia)
Toby Kebbell b. 1982 (The Fantastic Four [2015], Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Wrath of the Titans, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time)
Jamie King b. 1981 (Lost City Raiders, Vampire Diary)
Linda Park b. 1978 (Infestation, Star Trek: Enterprise, Jurassic Park III, Spectres)
Fred Savage b. 1976 (The Wizard, Little Monsters, The Princess Bride, The Twilight Zone [1986], The Boy Who Could Fly)
Scott Grimes b. 1971 (DreamKeeper, Frogs!, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Critters 1 & 2, Frog, Twilight Zone [1985])
David O’Hara b. 1965 (Cowboys & Aliens, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, Wanted, Doomsday)
K. Todd Freeman b. 1965 (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles [2014], The Dark Knight, Buffy)
Tim Kring b. 1957 (writer/producer, Touch, Heroes)
Tom Hanks b. 1956 (Cloud Atlas, The Polar Express, The Green Mile, From the Earth to the Moon, Apollo 13, Big, Splash, Mazes and Monsters)
Jimmy Smits b. 1955 (Revenge of the Sith, Attack of the Clones, The Tommyknockers)
Kim Hector b. 1953 (The Outer Limits, Twilight Zone)
Chris Cooper b. 1951 (The Amazing Spider-Man 2)
Ray Baker b. 1948 (Heroes, Path of Destruction, Alien Siege, Holes, Area 52, 3rd Rock from the Sun, The Tomorrow Man, Freaked, Total Recall [1990], C.H.U.D.)
Dean R. Koontz b. 1945 (author, Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein, Odd Thomas)
Edy Williams b. 1942 (Bad Girls from Mars, Dr. Alien, Lost in Space, Batman, The Brass Bottle, Twilight Zone)
Brian Dennehy b. 1938 (The 4400, Category 6: Day of Destruction, NetForce, Cocoon, Ants)
James Hampton b. 1936 (Superboy, Teen Wolf 1 and 2, Otherworld, The Greatest American Hero, World War III, The Cat from Outer Space)
Susan Cabot b. 1927 died 10 December 1986 (The Wasp Woman, The War of the Satellites, Viking Women and the Sea Serpent)

Now there's a birthday list. A-List movie stars, fabulous babes, Oh That Guys, important writers, you name it. A lot of the big names on the list are better known for work outside genre, though Jimmy Smits in his Star Wars role counts as iconic as does Tom Hanks from Apollo 13. (Longtime readers will know that I count any movie with space travel as genre, even those based on true stories.)

As for Oh That Guys, Brian Dennehy is at the "Hey, it's Abe Vigoda!" level as far as I'm concerned. I was a little surprised James Hampton did genre. I know him best from The Longest Yard and F Troop. (I now have the F Troop theme song stuck in my head. Grr.)

But for all this star power, I go full-on Whedonverse nerd and put K. Todd Freeman as Mr. Trick from Buffy in the Picture Slot. Next year, it's anyone's guess.

Many happy returns to all the living on the list and to the dead, thanks for all the memories.

Movies released
Predators released, 2010
Despicable Me released, 2010

 Predictor: Herman Kahn in the 1972 book Things to Come, published by the Hudson Institute

Prediction: The promise of the laser for military and peaceful purposes will be fully realized by 1985.

Reality: It may be the dark side of popular sci-fi, but death rays have to be listed with flying cars, food in pill form and jetpacks as examples where technology has completely failed to live up to advance billing. Sure, like almost everybody I'd prefer a flying car to a death ray, but that doesn't mean the latter wouldn't come in handy every now and then.

Never to be Forgotten:
Don Matheson 1929-2014 

Don Matheson, best known for his role asMark Wilson on Land of the Giants, died late last month at the age of 84. He was also on the Irwin Allen shows  Lost in Space and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and played a horseman in the 1985 TV version of Alice in Wonderland. Outside of genre, he had a lot of roles on soap operas, a very typical career path for a guy as good looking as Matheson.

Those readers that know my, ahem, special interests might guess I was a fan of Land of the Giants, but for me it was a show filled with missed opportunities, shrinking special effects budgets and generally flat writing. Everybody was always so irritable on the show and not just irritated with obvious irritant Fitzhugh. It should be noted that Matheson wooed and married co-star Deanna Lund and if there had been a third season, there would have been a romance between their characters as well.

Best wishes to the family and friends of Don Matheson, from a fan. He is never to be forgotten.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

It's another glimpse into the year 2000 from Dr. Lee de Forest.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!