2 August 2013

Birthdays
Sam Worthington b. 1976 (Clash of the Titans, Terminator Salvation, Avatar)
Edward Furlong b. 1977 (Terminator 2)
Kevin Smith b. 1970 (Dogma)
Wes Craven b.1939 (Nightmare on Elm Street, Twilight Zone (reboot TV series))

The actors belong on the list more than the directors do, but Smith is obviously a big fan of the genre - especially comic books - and Craven's slasher movies almost always have some fantasy element and he directed several segments on the 1980s version of Twilight Zone.

Movies released
Signs released, 2002

Let me start by saying I liked The Sixth Sense. Has any other director's reputation fallen as quickly or as far as M. Night Shyamalan's? What was his last good movie? Consensus agrees it can't be The Last Airbender or After Earth.

 

In the Year 2000!

Prediction: Entire city blocks will be loaded on platforms and moved by train.

Predictor: postcards distributed by Hildebrand's German Chocolate in 1900

Reality: This is pretty darned impractical. It looks like smoke is coming out if the chimneys on the last two buildings, so people are likely inside. That has to be a violation of code.

The other reality is that there are only twelve German Chocolate postcards, so this is the last. There are still plenty of French postcards, so we will still see several of them in the weeks ahead.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Songs from the future gets a visit from the most disappointing band from San Francisco's Summer of Love.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

12 July 2013

Birthdays
Michelle Rodriguez b. 1978 (Lost, Avatar, Battle Los Angeles)
Topher Grace b. 1978 (Spider-Man 3, Predators)
Byung-hun Lee b. 1970 (G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra)

I always like an exact same birthday pair. Many happy returns to all three.

Movies released
The Cabin in the Woods released, 2012  

In the Year 2000!

Prediction: Police will apprehend villains with the help of x-ray technology

Predictor: postcards released by Hildebrands German Chocolate in 1900

Reality: Surveillance cameras make sense, Surveillance x-ray machines not so much. I do love that the clothing of 2000 will be exactly like the clothing of 1900 in this series, which sad to say like John Elfreth Watkins will be coming to an end soon.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Saturday is going to get a  new regular feature, at least for a month or two. Predictions from songs, the first from Jacques Brel, with help from Eric Blau and Mort Shuman.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

28 June 2013

Birthdays
Felicia Day b. 1979 (Buffy, The Guild, Dr. Horrible's SingAlong Blog, Supernatural)
John Cusack b. 1966 (2012)
Bruce Davison b. 1946 (X-Men, Star Trek)
Mel Brooks b. 1926 (Spaceballs)

While this blog does usually follow the Cute Girl = Picture Slot rule, I would like to add in a non-chauvinistic note that when it comes to careers, Ms. Day's best-known work is almost entirely in genre TV and web shows, while the other actors on the list have only a few sci-fi/fantasy credits and are better known for other work in their career.

Many happy returns to them all.

Movies released
Superman Returns released 2006  

It's only been seven years since the last attempt to make a Superman film, but this is not a speed record for re-boots. The time between the Ang Lee Hulk and the one starring Edward Norton was five years, and it was also five years between the last Tobey Maguire Spider-Man and the first starring Andrew Garfield.

In the Year 2000!

Prediction: Fashionable people with hot air balloon attached to their shoulders and pontoons on their feet will stroll on the water.

Predictor: Hildebrand's German Chocolate postcards, printed in 1900.

Reality: It's an interesting concept, but it would still be very hard to keep one's balance with this get-up. I certainly wouldn't wear my best Sunday clothes while trying to walk on water, even if I was trying to impress ladies in stylish hats.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!


Yet another prediction of what would happen in the 1970s, predicted by an Irwin Allen TV show from the 1960s.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

14 June 2013

 Birthdays
Daryl Sabara b. 1992 (Spy Kids, John Carter)
Iain Glen b. 1961 (Resident Evil, Game of Thrones, Lara Croft)

Glen is one of those good/lucky British actors who has just kept working and working. I first noticed him in a couple of underrated non-genre movies from 1990, Mountains of the Moon and Rosencrantz & Guilderstern Are Dead.

Many happy returns to both of these fine fellows.

Movies released
X-Men released, 2001

In the year 2000!

Prediction: Fashionable people will travel in wood and glass submarines to view the wonderful variety of marine creatures.

Predictor: Postcards produced by Hildebrands' German Chocolate in the early 1900s

Reality: Submarines tend to be metal for a reason. Being completely water tight is not optional.

Still, the German chocolate postcards are among the favorite things I found doing the research for this blog, a close second behind my man crush John Elfreth Watkins. I love how many of their predictions are about the wonderful things people will be able to do in their leisure time in the future.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

The first prediction from the fiction of James Blish.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

17 May 2013

Birthday
Nikki Reed b. 1988

Ms. Reed's best known role in genre is as Rosalie Hale in the Twilight Saga films. Many happy returns to her.
 

In the year 2000!

Prediction: Cities will have enormous transparent roofs to keep out the rain.


Predictor: A series of postcards from Hildebrands German Chocolate, published in 1900

Reality: The authors of the German chocolate postcards missed a whole lot of stuff. As you can see, people are still riding horses as regular transportation in this picture and we don't see any skyscrapers, so this roof might only be about 100 feet up. Even with today's technology, a transparent roof strong enough to hold tons of water would be a challenge and of course, eventually the water would have to drain somewhere. Keeping the roof clean so the light coming in wouldn't become hazy and depressing is no small task either. While I love the artwork on these cards, the ability to predict the future is not at the level of John Elfreth Watkins, whose work is contemporary with this.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Another prediction from Jack London's The Iron Heel, a novel in which people with jobs do not think the corporations running the economy have the workers' best interests at heart. What a strange idea!

 
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!

 

12 April 2013

Birthdays

Nicholas Brendon b. 1971
Kelly Donovan b. 1971

The actor who played Xander Harris on Buffy has a twin who did stunt work for him. There's an episode where he splits in half and Kelly has several scenes but only a few lines. Many happy returns to both.

In the year 2000!

Prediction: Enormous portable fans will be able to push weather systems around.

Predictor: Postcards printed by Hildebrands German Chocolate Company, circa 1900

Reality: This giant fan isn't anywhere near big enough to push clouds around. There are plenty of smokestacks on factories in the real world this big or bigger, and they can't break up weather systems.

 Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!
 
What will London be like in 1950? A popular novel of the 1930s hazards several guesses, possibly the most incongruous piece of speculative fiction ever. 
 

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

 

15 March 2013

Birthdays
Kellan Lutz b.1985

Mr. Lutz has been in the Twilight films, which kind of counts as genre. Looking for pictures of him online, it seems that getting cast in Twilight made it more difficult for him to advance in what would have been a promising career in gay porn.

 

In the year 2000!

Prediction: Fashionable people will have their own hot air balloons, perfect for those weekend outings.

Predictor: Hildebrands German Chocolate postcards.

Reality: This is very close to a flying car, and this blog has a policy about avoiding discussions of reality when flying cars are concerned.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE! The future of warfare is explained to stuffy scientist Alan Quatermass.

Join me then... IN THE FUTURE!

1 March 2013

Birthdays
Zach Snyder b. 1966

His best known movie is 300, which does not count as a genre film, but Watchmen, Sucker Punch and the soon to be released Man of Steel certainly do.
 

In the Year 2000!

Prediction: Fleets of blimp trolleys will take vacationers on summer vacations to the North Pole

Predictor: postcards printed in 1900 by Hildebrands German Chocolates

Reality: The reality is I love the German chocolate postcards. I'll be sorry when they are all used up. I have plenty of material for the predictions, but these illustrations are really keen. I'm especially fond of the two by two nature of the critters looking up at the blimps, the polar bears, walruses, seals, even two of the three dogs near the Eskimos in the foreground. North Pole = Eden, not a visual metaphor you see every day.

Oh, wait... "reality" is supposed to be where I say if the prediction is any good, not give a little art critique.  Oops, my bad. 

The prediction is weak. There is some tourism to polar regions, cruise ships and the like, but blimps flying in close formation is just asking for Hindenburg size disasters. The winds can be vicious near the poles in any season.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE! Here's two words I don't get to type often enough. Sonny Chiba! And, oh yeah, we all die in a plague in 1982.

 Join us then... IN THE FUTURE! 

8 February 2013

 Birthdays
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Seth Green b. 1974

Ethan Phillips b. 1955

Nick Nolte b. 1941

John Williams b. 1932

That's a lot of cool people for a single day, but this time around I'm going to go with Seth Green as Oz on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

In the Year 2000!

Prediction: Ships will be equipped with railroad wheels for ease of travel on both land and sea.

Predictor: The postcards from Hildebrands German Chocolate published in 1900.

Reality: Ships tend to be wide, rails tend to be narrow. The basic need was real, but this isn't the technology for it.

And since I've been saying the French postcards show people being dicks in the future, it should be noted that this German postcard is depicting a naval battle, so the Germans display some dickishness as well.

Fair is fair.

Looking ahead one day... INTO THE FUTURE! Oregon is a post-apocalyptic hellhole in the year 2013, and it can only be saved... by a postman.

Join me then... IN THE FUTURE!

25 January 2013

In the Year 2000!

Prediction: The public will be transported in comfort on moving sidewalks.

Predictor: Hildebrands German Chocolate, circa 1900

Reality: Futurists loved the moving sidewalk/road almost as much as they loved the flying car. Remember that The Jetsons had moving walkways everywhere. (Sadly, the year given for The Jetsons was 2062, 100 years after the show's airdate, so it's too far in the future to be useful by the rules of this blog, either dates already past or in the near future.)

In any case, while the technology is very easy, you rarely see moving sidewalks outdoors and exposed to the elements, and the main use is in large airports, not on city streets.

Observation: As always, I love the style and wonderful use of colors by this illustrator, whose name I have not been able to track down yet.


Looking one day... INTO THE FUTURE! Archie Andrews gets to see what it will be like to be a teen... in 2012!


Yes, that Archie Andrews. Sorry, neither Betty or Veronica join him on this fantastic voyage.

Join me then... IN THE FUTURE!

11 January 2013

In the Year 2000!

Prediction: The personal flying machine will be a must-have accessory for the fashionable people.

Predictor: Hildebrand's German Chocolates in 1900. These antique postcards will be alternating with the French postcards for the first few months of the year. Not to give away too many secrets, but the German cards are drawn in a more realistic style and the French make a lot of assumptions that people in the future are going to be... well... incredible dicks, as you will see next week.

Accuracy: Okay, this is several years before the Wright Brothers, so the illustrator is forgiven for massively underestimating how much wing and how much energy it would take to get people aloft. But given how close this concept is to flying cars, it would be against the blog policy to make any further comment on how close this is to reality.

Looking one day... INTO THE FUTURE! An exact date for a famous invention!



"Professor?" pipes up a Hypothetical Question Asker. "Could you give us slightly more information that will be understood by all your readers?"

I'm afraid I can't do that... Dave.

To learn all the fascinating details, join me then... IN THE FUTURE!