26 July 2014

 Birthdays
Taylor Momsen b. 1993 (Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams, Hansel & Gretel)
Miriam McDonald b. 1987 (Orphan Black, Lost Girl, The Sea Beast)
Mageina Tovah b. 1979 (American Horror Story, Spider-Man 2 and 3, Buffy)
Eve Myles b. 1978 (Torchwood, Doctor Who, Merlin)
Ben Cotton b. 1975 (Defiance, The 100, Continuum, Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, Battlestar Galactica, The Tomorrow People, Arrow, Fringe, Seeds of Destruction, The Boy Who Cried Werewolf, Stan Helsing, Kyle XY, Stargate: Atlantis, The Day the Earth Stood Still [2008], Bionic Woman, Flash Gordon [2007], Supernatural, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, The 4400, The Chronicles of Riddick, Taken, Jeremiah, Dark Angel, Smallville, Strange Frequency, The Immortal)
Kate Beckinsale b. 1973 (Total Recall [2012], Underworld, Click, Alice Through the Looking Glass [TV])
Spencer Wilding b. 1972 (Frankenstein [2015], Jupiter Ascending, Guardians of the Galaxy, The Legend of Hercules, Atlantis, Doctor Who, Wrath of the Titans, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, Game of Thrones, The Golden Compass, Stardust, Eragon, Batman Begins, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy)
Olivia Williams b. 1968 (The Last Days on Mars, Dollhouse, X-Men: The Last Stand, The Sixth Sense, Jason and the Argonauts [TV], The Postman)
Jason Statham b. 1967 (Death Race, In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale, Ghosts of Mars)
Jeremy Piven b. 1965 (Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, Edge of Tomorrow, Spy Kids: All the Time in the World in 4D, Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde)
Sandra Bullock b. 1964 (Gravity, Premonition, The Lake House, Practical Magic, Demolition Man, Love Potion #9, Bionic Showdown: The Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman)
Danny Woodburn b. 1964 (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Mirror Mirror, Watchmen, Passions, Charmed, Angel, Conan [TV], Lois & Clark)
Kevin Spacey b. 1959 (Moon, Superman Returns, K-PAX)
Nana Visitor b. 1957 (Grimm, Torchwood, Battlestar Galactica, They Are Among Us, Dark Angel, Deep Space Nine, The Spirit, The Twilight Zone [1985])
Danny Bilson b. 1956 (writer, The Rocketeer, The Flash, Zone Troopers, Trancers)
Susan George b. 1950 (Computercide, Tales of the Unexpected, Tintorera: Killer Shark, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde)
Helen Mirren b. 1945 (Inkheart, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Faerie Tale Theatre, Twilight Zone [1985], 2010, Excalibur)
Celeste Yarnall b. 1944 (The Velvet Vampire, Land of the Giants, Star Trek, Bewitched, Captain Nice)
Peter Hyams b. 1943 (director, Threshold, End of Days, Timecop, Amazing Stories, 2010, Outland, Capricorn One)
Mick Jagger b. 1943 (Freejack, Faerie Tale Theatre)
Robert Colbert b. 1931 (Disaster in Time, Knight Rider, Land of the Giants, The Time Tunnel, My Favorite Martian, Have Rocket – Will Travel)
Stanley Kubrick b. 1928 died 7 March 1999 (writer/director, The Shining, A Clockwork Orange, 2001: A Space Odyssey)
James Best b. 1926 (The Green Hornet, The Twilight Zone, The Killer Shrews, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms)
Jason Robards b. 1922 died 26 December 2000 (The Day After, Something Wicked This Way Comes, A Boy and His Dog)
Aldous Huxley b. 1894 died 22 November 1963 (author, Brave New World)

Every day's a different story. Yesterday's birthday list was lacking in star power, but today's is overloaded with options, not unlike the Thursday list. Last year I went with Nana Visitor from Deep Space Nine, since her best known role is in genre and she's a fabulous babe. With today's Picture Slot choice, Kate Beckinsale as Selene from Underworld has the same qualifications of iconic and fabulous. I have no idea who will be in the Picture Slot next year, but there are just too many good options to repeat myself.

I'm keen on coincidental birthdays, exact same day and exact same year if both people are famous enough, but today we have one part of one of the most famous coincidental death dates, since Aldous Huxley died on the day John F. Kennedy was shot.

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

Movies released
The Wolverine released, 2013

Predictor: Richard Mansfield, actor, predicting what the 20th Century would look like in honor of the 1893 Columbian Exhibition

Prediction: I presume that, in New York City, we shall have a great theater, perhaps modeled after that of the great theater of France. It will be supported not by the patronage of the state, but by that of individuals of wealth. With such support, the theater in the United States can become the great refining and moral influence, which in its highest form it has become in France.

Reality: First things first. No extravagant 19th Century facial hair for Mr. Mansfield, but he does wear an uncomfortable collar and the silly affectation of glasses with a hanging wire.

Like in his time, most theater in this country has to earn its own keep, but I would say his description of a "great theater" fits New York's Lincoln Center fairly well and it was a project supported by wealthy civic leaders including John D. Rockefeller III. It should be noted that Carnegie Hall already existed when Mansfield made his prediction, since it was built in 1891, but he is taking about the theater and Carnegie Hall is for the most part a venue for musicians.

I would give Mr. Mansfield full marks for this, but for the fact that he mentions the French and fails to mock them mercilessly. It should be noted that Mansfield was British by birth and not a native of the United States, but that is no excuse for questionable taste.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

It's been a few weeks since we had a nuclear holocaust and it feels like time for another one.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

8 July 2014

Birthdays
Jaden Smith b. 1998 (After Earth, The Day the Earth Stood Still)
Jamie Blackley b. 1991 (Snow White and the Huntsman, Myths)
Jake McDorman b. 1986 (Aquamarine)
Alexis Dziena b. 1984 (Invasion, Witchblade)
Milo Ventimiglia b. 1977 (Heroes, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch)Iyari Limon b. 1976 (Buffy)
Kathleen Robertson b. 1973 (Tin Man, Psycho Beach Party, The Hidden Room, Maniac Mansion)
Amanda Peterson b. 1971 (Explorers)
Amy O’Neill b. 1971 (Honey I Blew Up the Kid, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, The Twilight Zone [1985])
Michael Weatherly b. 1968 (Dark Angel, The Crow: Stairway to Heaven, Charmed, Asteroid)
Billy Crudup b. 1968 (The Watch, Watchmen)
Marcus Chong b. 1967 (The Crow: Wicked Prayer, The Matrix, Hard Time on Planet Earth)
Michael B. Silver b. 1967 (Heroes, Supernatural, The X-Files, Virtuosity, Deep Space Nine)
Lee Tergesen b. 1965 (The 4400, Weird Science [TV], Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show)
Rocky Carroll b. 1963 (Invasion)
Robert Knepper b. 1959 (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Arrow, R.I.P.D., Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, SGU Stargate Universe, Heroes, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Carnivale, Species III, Seven Days, Brimstone, E.A.R.T.H. Force, Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Twilight Zone [1987])
Kevin Bacon b. 1958 (R.I.P.D., X-Men: First Class, Hollow Man, Apollo 13, Flatliners, Tremors, Friday the 13th)
Angelica Huston b. 1951 (The Addams Family, The Mists of Avalon, The Witches, Faerie Tale Theatre, The Ice Pirates)
Kim Darby b. 1947 (The X-Files, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, Teen Wolf Too, Star Trek)
Jeffrey Tambor b. 1944 (Paul, Hellboy, Muppets From Space, Meet Joe Black, Dr. Doolittle, Max Headroom, The Twilight Zone [1985/6])
William Cort b. 1936 died 23 September 1993 (Quantum Leap, Ghost, Small Wonder, Galactica 1980)
Marty Feldman b. 1933 died 2 December 1982 (Slapstick (Of Another Kind), Young Frankenstein)
Craig Stevens b. 1918 died 10 May 2000 (The Incredible Hulk, Project U.F.O., The Invisible Man, The Deadly Mantis, Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde)
Glenn Langan b. 1917 died 26 January 1991 (The Andromeda Strain, Women of the Prehistoric Planet, Mutiny in Outer Space, The Amazing Colossal Man)

I'll admit it. I'm showing my age by thinking of The Amazing Colossal Man as iconic. When I go to imdb.com for research,  a lot of the early names on the list will be young actors I couldn't pick out of a police line-up. For example, today Kathleen Robertson was the top of the list in front of Kevin Bacon, Angelica Huston and Billy Crudup, who to my mind are actual movie stars. When we get past the 50th best known person, a name has to jump out at me, and when it does, it's usually a guy like Glenn Langan, who is forgotten by younger audiences.

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

Movies released
Fantastic Four released 8 July 2005
 

Predictor: Geoffrey Hoyle in his 1972 book, 2010: Living in the Future

Prediction: All public transportation within the town is free. You have to pay only when you travel from one town to another.

The bus stops in front of a large group of buildings, surrounded by beautiful country. The Center and grounds are so big it would take weeks to walk around them. Every afternoon professional games are played somewhere in the grounds. You can watch football, tennis, swimming, basketball, or play games yourself with your friends.

There are also places in the grounds where you can get away from the crowds and go fishing, horseback riding, climbing, or just walking.

Reality: Nice to see the commie Hoyle let free enterprise work on some level. Paying for transportation to other towns! Professional sports! At least freedom isn't completely dead.

Of course, I'm kidding. Hoyle's 2010 sounds like a paradise. Sorry I missed it.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Herman Kahn is our new Wednesday regular. No idyllic commie collectivism from old Blow 'Em Up Hermie.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

10 February 2014

 Birthdays
Chloe Grace Moretz b. 1997 (Carrie [2013], Dark Shadows, Hugo, Let Me in, Jack and the Beanstalk, Kick-Ass)
Emma Roberts b. 1991 (American Horror Story, Scream 4, Aquamarine)
Elizabeth Banks b. 1974 (The Hunger Games, Spider-Man)
Laura Dern b. 1967 (Jurassic Park, The Master, October Sky, Fat Man and Little Boy)
Vince Gilligan b. 1967 (writer, Hancock, The X-Files, The Lone Gunmen, Wilder Napalm)
Robert Addie b. 1960 died 30 November 2003 (Red Dwarf, Excalibur)
Michael Apted b. 1941 (director, Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader)
Jerry Goldsmith b. 1929 died 7/21/2004 (composer, Star Trek, Congo, Omen IV, Twilight Zone)
Hazel Court b. 1926 died 15 April 2008 (Omen III, Masque of the Red Death, Twilight Zone, The Raven, Premature Burial, The Curse of Frankenstein [1957], Devil Girl From Mars)
Douglas Spencer b. 1910 died 6 October 1960 (Twilight Zone, This Island Earth, The Thing from Another World)
Lon Chaney Jr. b. 1906 died 12 July 1973 (Dracula vs. Frankenstein, House of the Black Death, The Alligator People, The Cyclops, Indestructible Man, Bride of the Gorilla, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, House of Dracula, The Mummy’s Curse, House of Frankenstein, The Mummy’s Ghost, Son of Dracula, The Mummy’s Tomb, The Ghost of Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, Man Made Monster, One Million B.C.)

The Picture Slot goes to Lon Chaney Jr. today, wearing the iconic make-up from the first Wolf Man movie. Chaney got into the movies because his dad was a star. He started out with a lot of bit parts and called himself Creighton Chaney early on to downplay the connection to the silent actor known as The Man of a Thousand Faces. While he got a great role in Of Mice and Men in 1939, it was Universal who gave him steady work churning out the horror movies of the 1940s. He showed a willingness to be in a lot of make-up, and when Karloff decided he didn't want to do that anymore, Chaney played The Mummy and Frankenstein's monster, even Count Dracula once. While he still got lots of roles in Westerns, including big budget movies like High Noon, he would still take roles in monster movies all the way through his career, some of them very small budget affairs.

Compare that to young Chloe Grace Moretz, who turns 17 today. The genre films she's made are her best ticket to stardom. The only way she could have caught a luckier break is if she was the lead in one of the huge hit genre movie series like Twilight, Harry Potter or The Hunger Games.

The entertainment industry was turned entirely upside down by Star Wars and Star Trek.

As for some of our other birthday folk, the late Robert Addie played Robin Hood on British TV and Mordred in Excalibur, Hazel Court was a great scream queen in the Vincent Price movies, and Douglas Spencer was a bald, bespectacled "Oh That Guy" back in the 1950s and 1960s. He's the reporter Scotty in The Thing From Another World and gets the last line "Watch the skies! Watch the skies!"

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

Movies released
Journey 2: The Mysterious Island released, 2012  

Predictor: OMNI Future Almanac, published 1982

Predictions (reality in parentheses): Future movie trends

1. Cartoons, westerns and love stories will still constitute the predominant hits of the 21st Century. (This is a very weird statement in 1982. Westerns had faded badly as a genre and animated features were at a low point. By this time, the first two Star Wars movies had been out and E.T. and The Wrath of Khan were the big hits of 1982, though it's not clear if the book was released before or after these movies hit the screens in June. In any case, we know the truth. Genre movies are the big hits, cartoons are hits because they are genre and love stories sometimes get lucky, but not that often. Westerns are rare.)

2. Future audiences, unfamiliar with classic films like Citizen Kane, Gone with the Wind, Casablanca and The Godfather, will see these enduring tales remade with the stars of the future. (Hmmm... not quite. True enough, Hollywood is full of remakes, but look at Chloe Grace Moretz's movies to see what gets remade. Carrie, a 1970s monster movie. Dark Shadows, a gawd-awful 1960s TV show. Let Me In, the Americanization of the Scandanavian vampire movie Let the Right One In. As I wrote eariler, the industry is upside down and these guys in 1982 could have spotted the trend, but didn't.)

3. Instant classics will be created by increased Hollywood hype and intensive advertising. (It doesn't always work, but this prediction is better than the first two. I'd replace "instant classics" with "huge hits". It's remarkable how many of the top grossing films of the century are now despised even by the fanbase.)

4. Black and white films will be colored by computer techniques. (Hah! They get one right, but they don't realize how short-lived a fad it will be.)

5. Trends at the concession stand will come and go, but popcorn will remain America's favorite movie-going snack. (With as many swings and misses as they had on this list, at least they go out with a home run. Popcorn = movie snack is still true thirty two years later.)

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Ray Kurzweil is back, predicting the future of computers and getting stuff almost right.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

27 December 2013

 Birthdays
Laurence Belcher b. 1995 (X-Men: First Class, Doctor Who)
Emilie de Ravin b. 1981 (Once Upon a Time, Lost, The Hills Have Eyes, Roswell, BeastMaster [TV])
Aaron Stanford b. 1975 (The Hills Have Eyes, X2, X-Men:The Last Stand)
Heather O’Rourke b. 1975 died 1 February 1988 (Poltergeist I, II and III)
Thomas Wilson Brown b. 1972 (Honey, I Shrunk the Kids)
 A lot of the younger names on today's birthday list are best known for their work as child actors, including Heather O'Rourke, the little girl in the Picture Slot who tragically died at the age of 12 from a heart attack. Emilie de Ravin is probably the best known face on the list from her work on TV.

Best birthday wishes to all the living on the list and best wishes to the family and friends of Heather O'Rourke, who died much too soon.

Favorite predictions published in 2013

Prediction: In 2012, young people will get all their music from computers the size of industrial washing machines.

Predictor: Archie comics, 1972

Reality: I love the Jetsons feel to the clothing styles in this one, and Archie using a hip 1970s term like "grooving". This one was sent to me by regular reader Leo Lincourt, and it happens to be his birthday today. Happy birthday, Leo!

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

One last prediction on my list of favorites this year.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

20 June 2013

Birthdays
Josh Lucas b. 1971 (Hulk - Ang Lee version)
Robert Rodriguez b. 1968 (Spy Kids, Sharkboy and Lavagirl)

No pretty girl today, so the picture slot belongs to Mr. Rodriguez because he has done more work in the genre. Mr. Lucas has been in a lot of movies and TV shows, but the only sci-fi work was as Major Talbot in the least successful of the Hulk films. By an odd coincidence, that movie was released on his 32nd birthday.

Many happy returns to both men.

Movies released
Hulk (Ang Lee version) released 2003

Prediction: Gambling was ruthlessly eradicated under the Air Dictatorship (2010-2030) and has never returned.

Predictor: H.G. Wells in The Shape of Things to Come, published 1933

 Reality: This falls under the category of predictions that are more like scolds, something considered sinful not being part of a more glorious future to come. Wells takes the very long view in this book, his future history stretching into the 22nd Century, which is why the prediction is given in the past tense.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Yet another French postcard from the early 1900s predicting life in the year 2000!
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!  

8 May 2013

 Birthdays
Michael Gondry b. 1963
Stephen Furst b. 1955
Theodore Sturgeon b. 1918 died 5/8/1985

Gondry is the writer and director of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Furst played Vir on Babylon 5, but the Picture Slot goes to Ted Sturgeon, who makes nearly everyone's short list of important SF writers in the 20th Century.

Many happy returns to Gondry and Furst.


Movies released
Star Trek (reboot) released, 2009

In the year 2000!

Prediction: Grand Opera will be telephoned to private homes, and will sound as harmonious as though enjoyed from a theatre box. Automatic instruments reproducing original airs exactly will bring the best music to the families of the untalented. Great musicians gathered in one enclosure in New York will, by manipulating electric keys, produce at the same time music from instruments arranged in theatres or halls in San Francisco or New Orleans, for instance. Thus will great bands and orchestras give long-distance concerts. In great cities there will be public opera-houses whose singers and musicians are paid from funds endowed by philanthropists and by the government. The piano will be capable of changing its tone from cheerful to sad. Many devices will add to the emotional effect of music.

Predictor: John Elfreth Watkins in The Ladies' Home Journal, published 1900

Reality: I love the phrase "families of the untalented". In 1900, people were expected to make their own entertainment. The idea of music broadcast over telephones is a popular idea from the futurists of this era. Recall that the first radio broadcasts happen in the 1920s, so even though it had been invented, no one in this era saw how big Marconi's gadget was going to be, not unlike the SF writers from the 1950s and 1960s failing to guess what will happen when computers get smaller and cheaper starting in the 1970s. Public opera houses and their endowments are certainly true.

Watkins gets no points for the prediction of a device that changes the tone of a piano from cheerful to sad, since that device already existed in his day. It's called "a good pianist".

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Alternate Thursdays means Arthur C. Clarke. Knowing his work, I'm guessing it's about exploration of the solar system and I'm guessing it will turn out wrong.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

26 April 2013

Birthday
Andy Secombe b. 1953

Many happy returns of the day to Mr. Secombe, best known to genre fans as the voice of Watto in the Star Wars films.
 

In the Year 2000!

Prediction: People will be able to watch entertainers in the privacy of their own homes, seeing their image projected on a wall and listening to the audio over the telephone.

Predictor: Postcards produced by Hildebrands German Chocolate Company in 1900.

Reality: While this is the first time I've presented a prediction of this kind on the blog, it is not the first time this was predicted. We will see this idea recur several times as we get more of the Victorian futurists checking in. I haven't presented any of the work of Edward Bellamy yet - just waiting for exact dates he predicted to roll around - but he has a very similar prediction in his book Looking Backward:2000-1887. The only addition is the projection of the image.

It should be noted that radio did exist in 1900, several people having patents for working wireless transmission, the best known names among many today being Marconi and Tesla. On the other hand,  the telephone was then being used by the public, while radio broadcasts were still a few years off.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

A very different look at the Year 2000, this time in a prediction from the 1970s. Are you on Team Frankenstein or Team Machine Gun Joe?

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

 

19 February 2013

What life will be like... in the year 2001!

Predictor: Sid Caesar, host of the TV variety hit Your Show of Shows
The Pocket TV will be so common people will take it for granted...
Einstein's theory of relativity will be understood by every schoolchild because he will see it on his pocket TV in the helicopter on his way to school.

Predictor: John Cameron Swayze, anchorman and spokesman*
No major war between 1956 and 2001...
Light-weight low priced private air transport...
Cities disperse, the slums will disappear...
 
Reality: The modern high end cell phone is kinda sorta like a pocket TV, though streaming a TV program is an expensive way to use one. Transistor radios hit the market in 1955, so the idea of miniaturization is definitely in the public mind. Also in the public mind in the mid 1950s was that "Einstein's theory of relativity" was the most difficult concept ever devised by man. It is not yet a concept understood by schoolchildren.

Swayze was right about no major war. The middle part of the century was big on the idea that cities were intolerable and had to be abolished. We kinda got over that.

 And then we have the helicopter school bus and "light-weight low priced private air transport", which are both roundabout ways to say... Flying Cars HELLZ YEAH!

It is the express policy of this blog never to discuss reality and flying cars at the same time. So it is written and so it shall be. Amen.

* Some younger readers might need more explanation of who John Cameron Swayze was. He was one of the original anchormen for evening news broadcasts, but by the time I was growing up, he was the spokesman for Timex watches, the commercials that brought us the deathless tagline "It takes a licking and keeps on ticking". Wikipedia says that John Cameron Swayze was a sixth cousin to the now more famous Patrick Swayze, both deceased. I'm not as close to my cousins as some other people are, but "sixth cousin" seems a polite way of saying "not really related at all".

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE! Sure, we start the week with predictions about TV, war, city life and flying cars, but tomorrow we get to what really matters: fashion and baseball.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

15 February 2013

In the Year 2000!

Prediction: Live performances will be accompanied by instruments played by robots.

Predictor: French postcards from 1900

Reality: The idea is not that far off, though the technology used and the location isn't on the money. At a nice theater like the one shown, there will probably still be a live orchestra, but lots of live vocal performances are sung to pre-recorded tracks, and not just at karaoke bars, isn't that right, Ms. Knowles-Carter?

Looking ahead one day... INTO THE FUTURE! Three words: Khan Noonien Singh.


Or I could make that one word. KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!

Join me then... IN THE FUTURE!

26 January 2013

 Birthday

Philip José Farmer b. 1918 died 2/25/2009
(won 1972 Hugo for To Your Scattered Bodies Go)

Prediction: In 2012, young people would be listening to "new sounds from the computers" and no one would play instruments anymore.

Predictor: Archie Comics, 1972

Reality: The computer as jukebox is a real thing. Of course, a comic book artist in 1972 is a year before from the microprocessor revolution, so he can be forgiven for drawing the computer the size of washer-dryer combo. And of course, with the reality of tiny musical computer systems actually available in 2012, everyone should be wearing headphones, completely oblivious to the rest of the room. Maybe they are installed inside their helmets.

Fashion note: I love that IN THE FUTURE guys are wearing onesies and the goofy hat has made such a fantastic comeback as a fashion accessory for both men and women.

Thanks: Regular reader Leo Lincourt found this gem and sent it to me.  Thanks, Leo!

Looking one day... INTO THE FUTURE! Who starts World War Three? Why, Albania, of course. And when will it start? In that dreaded year IN THE FUTURE... 1963!

Join me then... IN THE FUTURE!