21 October 2014

Birthdays
Mark Rendall b. 1988 (30 Days of Night, Time Warp Trio, ReGenesis, Tales from the Neverending Story)
Alex Kew b. 1986 (My Parents are Aliens)
Charlotte Sullivan b. 1983 (The Colony, Alice [2009], Smallville)
Matt Dallas b. 1982 (Life Tracker, Eastwick, Kyle XY, Way if the Vampire)
Will Estes b. 1978 (The Dark Knight Rises, Meego, Harry and the Hendersons [TV])
Nakia Burrise b. 1974 (Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Power Rangers)
Sasha Roiz b. 1973 (The Day After Tomorrow, Grimm, Warehouse 13, Caprica, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Land of the Dead, Mutant X)
Melora Walters b. 1960 (The Butterfly Effect, Twice Upon a Time)
Ken Watanabe b. 1959 (Godzilla, Inception, Batman Begins, Space Travelers)
Carrie Fisher b. 1956 (Big Bang Theory, Smallville, Hook, Drop Dead Fred, The Time Guardian, Amazing Stories, Frankenstein [1984 TV], Thumbelina, Star Wars)
Catherine Hardwicke b. 1955 (director, Twilight)
Tom Everett b. 1948 (FlashForward, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Journeyman, Space: Above and Beyond, Eerie, Indiana, Quantum Leap, Max Headroom, Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, Automan)
Everett McGill b. 1945 (Jekyll Island, Werewolf, Silver Bullet, Quest for Fire, Dune)
Paula Kelly b. 1943 (Peter Pan [1976 TV], Soylent Green, The Andromeda Strain)
Julie Parrish b. 1940 died 1 October 2003 (Captain Nice, Star Trek)
Jack Taylor b. 1936 (Conan the Barbarian, The Vampire’s Night Orgy, Horror of the Zombies, Female Vampire, Doctor Jekyll y el Hombre Loco, Count Dracula [1970], Succubus)
Ursula K. LeGuin b. 1929 (won 1970 Nebula and Hugo for The Left Hand of Darkness, won 1975 Nebula and Hugo for The Dispossessed, won 1991 Nebula for Tehanu: The Last Book of Earthsea, won 2009 Nebula for Powers)
Leonard Rossiter b. 1926 died 5 October 1984 (Alice in Wonderland [1985 TV], 2001: A Space Odyssey)

A relatively short list today and for iconic people to put in the Picture Slot, I count three: Last year's winner Carrie Fisher, this year's winner Ursula K. LeGuin and the front runner for next year, Ken Watanabe. (If I was younger, I might include Matt Dallas, star of Kyle XY.) There are three Canadians to spot and Matt Dallas isn't one of them.

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

 

Predictor: Harold Camping

Prediction: On 21 October 2011, the world is destroyed five months after the righteous have been taken bodily into heaven.

Reality: This is the last time I will take the corpse of Dr. Harold Camping out of the ground and give it some well-deserved abuse. There have been several people who have predicted the end of the world, missed the date and tried again. Camping is the only one I know of who made a bigger media splash after he struck out a few times.

I am mystified by the folks who swallow this stuff. While it does not rise to the level of a mathematical proof, the inductive evidence is overwhelmingly convincing that we are all going to die. There are some folks who would prefer to believe "OMG! WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!" for reasons unclear to me.

While the cliche is that "sex sells", we see that in politics, "fear sells". A tweet from Gallup this week stated that 16% of Americans believe that either they or a family member will die of Ebola. To me, that seems every bit as dumb as believing in The Rapture, but I don't live in their world and I'm not constantly flooded with the fearmongering. I have breakfast a few times a month at a diner near my house that has CNN on a big TV. While not as scaremongering as Fox News, CNN still wants to keep its viewers alarmed and worried about the world. 30 minutes of CNN every month is more than enough for me, thanks very much.

 

Splash illustration for the rest of October: This is the date, except no substitutes. One year from today, Doc Brown, accompanied by Marty McFly and his girlfriend, travel from 1985 to Oct. 21, 2015. The idea in the first two films is that we get three snapshots at intervals of 30 years, 1955, 1985 and 2015. For the rest of the week, we will get predictions from Back to the Future Part 2 and one from Back to the Future.

Oops, I spoiled my INTO THE FUTURE and IN THE FUTURE gag. Obviously, I have to plan ahead.

I promise to do so... IN THE FUTURE!

10 September 2014

Birthdays
Elyse Levesque b. 1985 (The Originals, SGU Stargate Universe, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Smallville, Flash Gordon, 2030 CE, MythQuest)
Harry Treadaway b. 1984 (Penny Dreadful [2014], Cockneys vs Zombies)
Luke Treadaway b. 1984 (Clash of the Titans)
Lindsay Maxwell b. 1981 (Supernatural, Hair of the Sasquatch, The Butterfly Effect 2, Deep Evil, Stargate SG-1, Seven Days)
Sebastian Gutierrez b. 1974 (writer, The Eye, Rise: Blood Hunter, Gothika, Mermaid Chronicles Part 1: She Creature)
Ryan Phillippe b. 1974 (Invader, Deadly Invasion: The Killer Bee Nightmare)
James Duval b. 1972 (Lazarus: Day of the Living Dead, Hercules Reborn, Evilution, Frog-g-g, Donnie Darko, Independence Day)
Johnathon Schaech b. 1969 (Star-Crossed, The Legend of Hercules, Quarantine)
Jay Laga’aia b. 1963 (Daybreakers, Legend of the Seeker, Star Wars: Episodes II and II, Xena, Mysterious Island)
Colin Firth b. 1960 (Dorian Gray, A Christmas Carol [2009], Nanny McPhee)
Stacey Nelkin b. 1959 (Fringe, Twilight Zone [1986], Halloween III: Season of the Witch)
Chris Columbus b. 1958 (director, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Bicentennial Man, Gremlins)
Jim Jackman b. 1957 (Zombthology, My Stepmother Is an Alien, Spaceballs)
Kate Burton b. 1957 (Revolution, Grimm, Big Trouble in Little China, Alice in Wonderland [1983])
Fred Olen Ray b. 1954 (director, 135 films, some under the pseudonym Nicholas Medina, many direct to video, either bad sci-fi or soft-core porn, none worth watching)
Clark Johnson b. 1954 (666 Park Avenue, Re-Generation, Forever Knight, Murder in Space, Mazes and Monsters)
Don ‘The Dragon’ Wilson b. 1954 (Sci-Fighter, Virtual Combat, Batman Forever, Cyber Tracker, Future Kick)
Stuart Milligan b. 1953 (Doctor Who, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Whoops Apocalypse, Outland)
Amy Irving b. 1953 (Twilight Zone: Rod Serling’s Lost Classics [1994], Rumplestiltskin, The Fury, Carrie)
Harry Groener b. 1951 (Once Upon a Time, Supernatural, Star Trek: Enterprise, Buffy, Roswell, The Day the World Ended, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Charmed, Sleepwalkers, Star Trek: Voyager, Quantum Leap, Star Trek: The Next Generation)
Judy Geeson b. 1948 (Charmed, Alien Fury: Countdown to Invasion, Star Trek: Voyager, Horror Planet, Star Maidens, Space: 1999)
Bo Goldman b. 1932 (screenwriter, Meet Joe Black)
Philip Baker Hall b. 1931 (The Amityville Horror [2005], 3rd Rock from the Sun, Roswell, M.A.N.T.I.S., Ghostbusters II, The Goddess of Love, Man from Atlantis)
Gwen Watford b. 1927 died 6 February 1994 (Doomwatch, Taste the Blood of Dracula)
Edmond O’Brien b. 1915 died 9 May 1985 (Fantastic Voyage, Moon Pilot, 1984 [1956])
Robert Wise b. 1914 died 14 September 2005 (Star Trek: The Motion Picture, The Andromeda Strain, The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Curse of the Cat People)
Bessie Love b. 1898 died 26 April 1986 (The Hunger, Vampyres, My Partner the Ghost, Battle Beneath the Earth, The Andromeda Breakthrough, The Lost World [1925])

I do attempt to be thorough when listing credits, but I truly and deeply hate the career of Fred Olen Ray and listing the movies he's made here would only encourage him to make more, not that a guy who has directed over 100 projects needs much encouragement. I don't know how the people who bankroll him make any money on the stuff he churns out. It seems more like a money laundering scheme to me.

As for the Picture Slot, I went Whedonverse nerd and chose Harry Groener as Mayor Wilkins, the Big Bad from season 3 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, giving his last speech in the season finale. I also consider his role on Star Trek: The Next Generation to be iconic. As for next year, the field is completely wide open.

Movies released
Resident Evil: Afterlife released, 2010  

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

Prediction: The year 1985 will see a technological crisis and predictions beyond this become difficult.

Reality: I'm bidding our pal Herman a less than fond farewell this week with his one apocalyptic prediction. A lot of his stuff is of the form "things in the future are going to be like things now, only more so", but for some reason he pulled the year 1985 out of a hat and said there would be some ominous event. He actually list about 70 possible causes of the "technological crisis", so he was seriously hedging his bets. In reality, nothing particularly epoch ending happened in 1985 and my best guess is that Kahn and his pals at the Hudson Institute just got tired.

Kind of like I did when I looked at the list of crap directed by Fred Olen Ray and said "No way I'm typing up all this junk."

Look forward to a new regular prediction feature next Wednesday.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

An interruption of the regular schedule for a prediction from a film.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
    

 

21 December 2013

Birthdays
Jackson Rathbone b. 1984 (Twilight Saga, The Last Airbender)
Kiefer Sutherland b. 1966 (Touch, Monsters vs Aliens, Dark City, The Lost Boys)
Fabiana Udenio b. 1964 (Babylon 5, RoboCop 2, Bride of Re-Animator)
Samuel L. Jackson b. 1948 (The Avengers, Star Wars, Jumper, The Incredibles, Unbreakable)
Jack Nance b. 1943 died 30 December 1996 (Eraserhead, Dune, The Blob[1988], Ghoulies)

A very short birthday list today and arguments could be made to any of the five in the Picture Slot. Since I am not a fan of Twilight, the argument for Jackson Rathbone loses, but for the rest:

Argument for Kiefer Sutherland: Dark City is my favorite work out of all the movies and TV shows listed here.
Argument for Fabiana Udenio: Pretty Girl = Picture Slot. A character actress from Argentina, she is very pretty indeed.
Argument for Samuel L. Jackson. He is the one true A List actor on this list and both Mace Windu and Nick Fury are iconic roles in extremely successful franchies.
Argument for Jack Nance: You are looking at the argument for the late Jack Nance. He played the title role in Eraserhead. There are only a few movies whose posters are better known than the films themselves and I would argue that the top three given that criterion are all genre films: the silent movie Metropolis, Eraserhead and (ahem) the 1958 version The Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman.

Many happy returns of the day to all the living on our list and to the late Jack Nance, is there any way you could shut that kid up?

Prediction: December 21 2012: The world ends according to the Mayan calendar and deranged millionaire John Hodgman.

Predictor: John Hodgman in his show Ragnarok, which can been seen in streaming format on Netflix.

Reality: What, I was going to forget the world ended exactly one year ago? If you like Hodgman's appearances on The Daily Show, you might want to give the show a shot, though I think he is funnier in shorter spurts.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

It's back to Mars and Ray Bradbury, our regular Sunday predictor at least another month or so.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
  

6 September 2013

Birthdays
Idris Elba b. 1972 (Prometheus, Thor)
China Miéville b. 1972 (won 2010 Hugo for The City & the City)
Patti Yasutake b. 1953 (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
Max Schreck b. 1879 died 20 February 1936 (Nosferatu)

Elba is likely better known as Stringer Bell on The Wire and Ms. Yasutake was Nurse Ogawa, but I gave the Picture Slot to Max Schreck in his iconic role in the silent vampire movie that pre-dated Dracula.

Many happy returns to the living.

 

Prediction and predictor: In 1992, Harold Camping publishes a book 1994? that predicts a strong likelihood Christ will return in September 1994.

Reality: Camping made a huge spectacle of himself in 2011, but he had already made a smaller similar mistake in the early 1990s. There's even a question mark in the title, but I remember seeing a few bumper stickers on cars in the Bay Area. (Camping's Family Radio network is headquarted in Oakland.) It's easy to mock Camping and he obviously has earned it, but I think it would be wrong to call him a charlatan. He spent almost all his fortune in 2011 getting the word out.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

An exact date for the end of the world, this time with nukes in 1974.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

21 May 2013

Birthdays
Richard Hatch b. 1945

Mr. Hatch is the major link between the original Battlestar Galactica and the re-boot, though he does not play the same role or even an older version. Many happy returns of the day to him.

Movies released
Shrek Forever After released, 2010
Terminator Salvation released, 2009
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back released, 1980

It's nerd blasphemy to say this, but I am not the biggest Star Wars fan ever. Ewoks sucked the fun out of it for me long before anyone heard of Jar Jar Binks.  That said, The Empire Strikes Back is still one of the greatest sequels ever made, right up there with the second Godfather. If it hadn't been as good as it was, the series could easily have faded away.

Prediction: On May 21, 2011, the righteous will ascend bodily into heaven before the five months of tribulation that proceed the destruction of the planet.

Predictor: Dr. Harold Camping

Reality: I first heard of Camping in the early 1990s. In 1992, he published a book entitled 1994? which postulated that Christ would return in a few years. He gave himself some wiggle room with the question mark and when nothing happened in September 1994, he adjusted his date to March 1995. He did the same in May of 2011, adjusting the date of the Rapture forward five months. The big difference between the prediction last century and the one from two years ago was Camping's advertising budget. It is estimated that over $100 million was spent getting the message out, the vast majority of all the assets the company had. There was also a lot more media attention in 2011 than there was in the 1990s, so his failure was even more humiliating.

Blogger's note: I realize Dr. Camping in no way counts as science fiction, but the same could be said for John Elfreth Watkins. I love a good prediction and if it comes with a date attached, it's gold as far as I'm concerned. Of course, the people who predict the biblical apocalypse suck at it, but regular readers of this blog will realize that science fiction doesn't do all that great a job of predicting exact dates either.  There are some brilliant gems, but in general, science fiction predictions adhere to Sturgeon's Law, Ted Sturgeon's famous answer to a critic who claimed that ninety percent of science fiction was crap.

Sturgeon's reply: Ninety percent of everything is crap.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!


My man crush John Elfreth Watkins gets a week off because we have yet another exact date that came and went, this one from one of my least favorite films of this century, if not of all time.

 
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

12 February 2013

Prediction: Mankind will not destroy itself, nor will "Civilization" be destroyed.

Predictor: Robert A. Heinlein, 1950, predicting the Year 2000

Reality: Last week, we had a quote from a Heinlein essay in 1947 predicting the end of the United States in 1986. He was definitely influenced then by "Hap" Arnold's view of what the next war would look like. Three years later, he had definitely calmed down. The set of predictions this one was taken from does not give the change of heart any context, whether he realized the nuclear war scenario was completely profitless for both sides or he thought the U.S. had shown sufficient preparedness to avoid being in second place.

In either case, Grumpy Old Bob gets one right. We haven't destroyed ourselves with nukes.

Looking ahead one day... INTO THE FUTURE! Wednesday is John Elfreth Watkins Day. In 1900, he looks at the future of airships... in the year 2000!

Join me then... IN THE FUTURE!