4 May 2015

Birthdays
Alexander Gould b. 1994 (Supernatural, Dark Shadows [2005 TV movie], The Day the World Ended)
Ashley Rickards b. 1992 (A Haunted House 2, American Horror Story, Gamer)
Grace Phipps b. 1992 (Supernatural, The Vampire Diaries, Fright Night)
Freddie Fox b. 1989 (Victor Frankenstein)
Christian Howard b. 1984 (Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist, U.F.O. [2012])
Jesse Moss b. 1983 (iZombie, Strange Empire, WolfCop, Extraterrestrial, Continuum, Seeds of Destruction, Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, Merlin and the Book of Beasts, The Uninvited, The Andromeda Strain, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, The Collector, Jeremiah, Mysterious Ways, Level 9, Stargate SG-1, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids [TV show], Highlander [TV])
Emily Perkins b. 1977 (Extraterrestrial, Supernatural, Repeaters, Dead Like Me, Ginger Snaps 1, 2 & 3, The X-Files, The Odyssey [1993], It)
Oscar Jaenada b. 1975 (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides)
John Rawls b. 1972 (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Legend of the Seeker, 30 Days of Night)
Will Arnett b. 1970 (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Men in Black 3, Jonah Hex)
Ana Gasteyer b. 1967 (3rd Rock from the Sun, Geppetto)
Stevie Ray Dallimore b. 1967 (Ender’s Game)
Juliette Cummins b. 1964 (Max Headroom, Friday the 13th: A New Beginning)
Steve Barron b. 1956 (director, Arabian Nights, Merlin, The Adventures of Pinocchio, Coneheads, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)
Jeff Lester b. 1955 (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home)
Pia Zadora b. 1954 (Mother Goose Rock ‘n’ Rhyme, Voyage of the Rock Aliens, Santa Claus Conquers the Martians)
Anthony Hamilton b. 1952 died 29 March 1995 (Howling IV: The Original Nightmare, The Charmings, The Twilight Zone [1986], Deadly Nightmares)
Harry Winer b. 1947 (director, Invasion, Jake 2.0, Jeremiah, SpaceCamp, Tucker’s Witch, Mr. Merlin)
Richard Jenkins b. 1947 (The Cabin in the Woods, Let Me In, What Planet Are You From?, Wolf, The Witches of Eastwick)
Robin Cook b. 1940 (writer, Coma, Invasion, Virus)
Paul Gleason b. 1939 died 27 May 2006 (Abominable, Dark Skies, Lois & Clark, Wishman, Beauty and the Beast, Ewoks: The Battle for Endor, Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze, The Invaders, Panic in Year Zero!)
Eric Sykes b. 1923 died 4 July 2012 (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, The Others, Theatre of Blood)
Curt Conway b. 1915 died 19 April 1974 (Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Outer Limits, Twilight Zone)
James Ellison b. 1910 died 23 December 1993 (I Walked with a Zombie, The Undying Monster)
Howard Da Silva b. 1909 died 16 February 1986 (The Outer Limits)
Luther Adler b. 1903 died 8 December 1984 (Twilight Zone)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Regular readers will know I often discuss how many iconic choices there are on the list, but today I admit there aren't that many here. In 2013, I went with a picture of The Avengers, released a year earlier and in 2014, I put a picture of Richard Jenkins from Cabin in the Woods, likely my favorite actor on the list and showing off my Whedonverse geekery, but I don't think the role is truly iconic. Today, I went with Curt Conway as Hitler from The Twilight Zone, something of a spoiler from that episode. If I hadn't used his picture, it was down to Pia Zadora in Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, and nobody wants that.

2. Spot the Canadians! Will Arnett is Canadian, but he mainly works in Hollywood, so his credit list doesn't give away his nationality. On the other hand, the other two Canadians are easily spottable, so I will leave it as an exercise for the reader. One hint: both are younger than Arnett.

3. MST3K. The previously mentioned Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.

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


Movie released
Marvel’s The Avengers released, 2012  

Weak ass pun of the day. May the fourth be with you.

Puns have an expiration date. This one has reached it.

 

Predictor: ESPN's pro basketball experts

Predictions:
Hawks in 5 (actually Hawks in 6, 9 points of 10)
Cavaliers in 5 (actually Cavs in 4, 9 points of 10)
Bulls in 5 (actually Bulls in 6, 9 points of 10)
Raptors in 5 (actually Wizards in 4, 0 points of 10)
Warriors in 5 (actually Warriors in 4, 9 points of 10)
Rockets in 7 (actually Rockets in 5, 8 points of 10)
Spurs in 7 (actually Clippers in 7, 5 points of 10)
Grizzlies in 6 (actually Grizzlies in 5, 9 points of 10)

Reality: The overall grade is 58 of 80 or 72.5%, which is a passing grade. If instead we look at what percentage of the experts picked the correct winners over all the series, the grade is 71.8%, which is also not terrible.

Further prediction: The experts have put up their picks the second round.

Consensus second round picks
Hawks in 7 over Grizzlies (Hawks favored in series by 60.3% of the experts)
Cavaliers in 7 over Bulls (Cavs favored in series by 59.9% of the experts)
Warriors in 5 over Grizzlies (Warriors favored in series by 81.5% of the experts)
Clippers in 6 over Rockets (Cavs favored in series by 50.6% of the experts)

The experts are hedging their bets quite a bit in these series. Even if they get all the series' winners right this round, the percentage of correct picks will have to go down under 70%. Personally, I think at least 18.5% of the experts are deeply confused, because the Grizzlies are hurt, the Warriors are not (knock wood) and even with both healthy, Golden State really does look like the best team in basketball by a wide margin. You might well take me for a hometown fan, but I'm old enough to remember the last championship 40 years and I know that in all that time, I never saw a Warrior team that looked like they were the best team in the Western Conference, let alone the best team in the NBA.

Here's my non-expert prediction: Barring major injury, sometime probably in June, young people will be able to say for the first time "the world champion Golden State Warriors".

Has a nice ring to it.

Never to be Forgotten: Grace Lee Whitney 1930-2015 While I admit the number of iconic actors on today's birthday list is not a lot, we sadly have two iconic actors in today's obituaries. Grace Lee Whitney, best known as Yeoman Janice Rand on the original Star Trek series, has died at the age of 85. Her other roles in genre TV of the 1960s include Batman, Bewitched and The Outer Limits.

Best wishes to the family and friends of Grace Lee Whitney, from a fan. She is never to be forgotten.

Never to be Forgotten: Nigel Terry 1945-2015 Nigel Terry, the British actor whose role as Arthur in Excalibur is at the top of all his obituaries so far, has died at the age of 69. It's remarkable how well he played Arthur as a spotty and clueless youth at the beginning of the film, given that he was in his late thirties at the time. His first big break was in the 1968 film The Lion in Winter, where he plays Prince John as a spotty and clueless youth. As for other genre roles, he was on the TV shows Doctor Who and Highlander.

Excalibur had a great cast, including Terry, Nicol Williamson, Helen Mirren, Cherie Lunghi and Nicholas Clay at the top of the bill, and such now well known actors as Sir Patrick Stewart, Gabriel Byrne, Ciaran Hinds and Liam Neeson in smaller roles. Of that group, only Clay and Williamson are dead, and now Terry. It's getting sadly familiar when people who you remember from roles in the 1960s are dying, but to see the obit of someone whose fame was greatest in the 1980s is still a little jarring.

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

Looking one day ahead...  INTO THE FUTURE!

Back to our regular schedule of predictors and Tuesday means a visit from John Langdon-Davies.

Join us then...  IN THE FUTURE!