28 August 2014

 Birthdays
Quvenzhane Wallis b. 2003 (Beasts of the Southern Wild)
Katie Findlay b. 1990 (After the Dark, Continuum, Crash Site, SGU Stargate Universe, Fringe)
Armie Hammer b. 1986 (Stan Lee’s Mighty 7, Mirror Mirror, 2081, Reaper)
Sarah Roemer b. 1984 (The Event, The Grudge 2)
Carly Pope b. 1980 (The Tomorrow People, Elysium, Yeti: Curse of the Snow Demon, The 4400, 10.5: Apocalypse, Jake 2.0, NightMan)
Kelly Overton b. 1978 (True Blood, Beauty and the Beast [2012], Tekken, The Ring Two)
Nick Tarabay b. 1975 (Believe, Star Trek Into Darkness)
Eugene Byrd b. 1975 (True Blood, American Horror Story, Eureka, Night Stalker [2006])
Kristin Booth b. 1974 (Orphan Black, Supernatural, ReGenesis, Total Recall 2070)
J. August Richards b. 1973 (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Arrow, Warehouse 13, The 4400, Angel, Sliders, Space: Above and Beyond)
Stephanie Belding b. 1971 (Lost Girl, Eureka, Watchmen, Reaper, Earth: Final Conflict, eXistenZ)
Jack Black b. 1969 (Ghost Ghirls, Gulliver’s Travels, King Kong, The X-Files, Waterworld, The Neverending Story III, Demolition Man)
Jason Priestley b. 1969 (Day of the Triffids [2009], Termination Point, Jeremiah, Quantum Leap)
Billy Boyd b. 1968 (The Witches of Oz, Glenn, the Flying Robot, Lord of the Rings, Seed of Chucky)
Amanda Tapping b. 1965 (Supernatural, Stargate, Space Milkshake, Sanctuary, Earthsea, The X Files, Flash Forward, Forever Knight)
Melissa Rosenberg b. 1962 (writer, Twilight)
David Fincher b. 1962 (director, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Alien³)
Jennifer Coolidge b. 1961 (Click, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, Not of this Earth)
Brian Thompson b. 1959 (Flight of the Living Dead, Star Trek: Enterprise, Epoch: Evolution, Charmed, Birds of Prey, The X Files, Jason and the Argonauts [TV], Buffy, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, DragonHeart, Deep Space Nine, Weird Science, Kindred: The Embraced, Hercules, Star Trek: Generations, Doctor Mordred, Superboy, Alien Nation [TV], Star Trek: The Next Generation, Alien Nation, Fright Night Part 2, Werewolf, Knight Rider, Otherworld, The Terminator)
Daniel Stern b. 1957 (SeaQuest 2032, Little Monsters, Leviathan, C.H.U.D.)
Luis Guzman b. 1956 (Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, Rise of the Damned, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Adventures of Pluto Nash, SeaQuest 2032, Innocent Blood. *batteries not included)
Vonda N. McIntyre b. 1948 (won 1979 Hugo and Nebula for Dreamsnake, won 1998 Nebula for The Moon and the Sun)
Alice Playten b. 1947 died 25 June 2011 (Pioneer 12, Legend, Disco Beaver from Outer Space, The Lost Saucer)
David Soul b. 1943 (Doctor Who: Death Comes to Time, Deadly Nightmares, World War III, Salem’s Lot, Star Trek, I Dream of Jeannie)
Ken Jenkins b. 1940 (The X Files, Sliders, Babylon 5, Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Abyss, Hard Time on Planet Earth)
Donald O’Connor b. 1925 died 27 September 2003 (Alice in Wonderland [1985 and 1983], The Bionic Woman, The Wonders of Aladdin)
Nancy Kulp b. 1921 (Quantum Leap, Twilight Zone, Moon Pilot)
Jack Kirby b. 1917 died 6 February 1994 (artist, Marvel and DC comics)
Jack Vance b. 1916 died 23 May 2013 (author, The Dying Earth, Big Planet)
Simon Oakland b. 1915 died 29 August 1983 (Tucker’s Witch, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, The Starlost, Captain Nice, The Satan Bug, The Outer Limits, My Favorite Martian, Twilight Zone)
Morris Ankrum b. 1897 died 2 September 1964 (X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes, From the Earth to the Moon, Giant from the Unknown, Beginning of the End, The Giant Claw, Kronos, Zombies of Mora Tau, Earth vs. the Flying Saucers, Invaders from Mars, Red Planet Mars, Rocketship X-M)

Now, THAT's a list. Last year, I had Jack Kirby in the Picture Slot, an excellent choice if I say so myself. This year, I was in a Whedonverse nerd mood, so it's J. August Richards as Gunn from Angel. Next year, it's wide open, but if I get in an Oh That Guy mood, my goodness, it's a smorgasbord of wonderfulness. The enormous Brian Thompson, the hilarious Luis Guzman, Ken Jenkins (best known from  Scrubs), Nancy Kulp (all original Twilight Zone actors get deep respect), Simon Oakland and Morris Ankrum with 271(!) credits on imdb.com. Ankrum was a judge on Perry Mason 22 times and showed up in 11 1950s sci-fi films. Can't go wrong there.

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

Predictor: 2005 Badlands, released 29 August 1988

Prediction: In 1995 a severe drought forces Americans to leave the West for the cities Water becomes more precious than gold.

Reality: Umm... this movie may just have been 20 years too early. We are in the middle of a scary damn drought right now, with before and after pictures of reservoirs as scary as before and after pictures of glaciers, with the difference being the reservoir pictures are three years apart and the glacier pictures are fifty years apart.

The odds are you did not see this movie. This is one of those movies Sharon Stone made before Total Recall, one in a long string of low budget productions she was in before she hit it big.

Never to be Forgotten: 
Stephen Lee 1955-2014

News of deaths can move very slowly, and that's the case with character actor Stephen Lee, who died two weeks ago. In some ways, it's a blessing the news wasn't released then, because that was in the middle of the Robin Williams/ Lauren Bacall/ Ed Nelson days of unpleasantness. Mr. Lee is definitely an Oh That Guy with 106 credits on imdb.com, including genre roles in Threshold, Invasion, Dark Angel, Black Scorpion I and II, Carnosaur 3: Primal Species, Babylon 5, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Prehysteria!, Quantum Leap, The Pit and the Pendulum, RoboCop 2, Hard Time on Planet Earth, Dolls, Amazing Stories and WarGames.

I don't want to make this All About Me, but Mr. Lee is about a month and a half older than I am. It's certainly makes one stop and think. I have to say that Stopping and Thinking are not my long suits.

Best wishes to the family and friends of Stephen Lee, from a fan his age. He is never to be forgotten.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Yet another interruption in the weekly schedule, this one from a movie you probably did see.

Join us then... INTO THE FUTURE!