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!
    

 

27 August 2014

 Birthdays
Cainan Wiebe b. 1995 (Once Upon a Time, Falling Skies, Sucker Punch, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, Supernatural, Tin Man, Sanctuary, The 4400, Dead Like Me)
Alexa Vega b. 1988 (The Tomorrow People, The Devil’s Carnival, Spy Kids, Repo! The Genetic Opera, NetForce)
Patrick J. Adams b. 1981 (Orphan Black, Rosemary’s Baby [2014], FlashForward, Lost)
Aaron Paul b. 1979 (Birds of Prey, The X Files, K-PAX, 3rd Rock from the Sun)
Diana Scarwid b. 1955 (Heroes, Lost, Wonderfalls, From the Earth to the Moon, The X Files, Strange Invaders)
Reece Shearsmith b. 1969 (An Adventure in Space and Time, The First Men in the Moon [2010 TV], Shaun of the Dead)
Clare Stansfield b. 1964 (Xena, Steel, The X Files, The Flash)
Dean Devlin b. 1962 (producer, The Librarian, Eight Legged Freaks, Godzilla [1998], Independence Day, Stargate)
Peter Stormare b. 1953 (Arrow, The Zero Theorem, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, The Brothers Grimm, The Tuxedo, Armageddon, Minority Report, The Lost World: Jurassic Park)
Paul Rubens b. 1952 (Area 57, Mystery Men, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Batman Returns, Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure, Faerie Tale Theatre)
Gary Imhoff b. 1952 (Carnivale, The Green Mile, Buffy, The Powers of Matthew Star)
Charles Fleischer b. 1950 (Black Scorpion, Lois & Clark, Back to the Future Part II, Hard Time on Planet Earth, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Knight Rider, A Nightmare on Elm Street)
Captain Kidd Brewer Jr. b. 1948 died 22 May 1990 (The Abyss, Piranha Part Two: The Spawning)
Barbara Bach b. 1947 (Caveman, The Great Alligator, The Humanoid, Screamers)
G. W. Bailey b. 1944 (Mannequin, Short Circuit, Runaway)
Ira Levin b. 1929 died 12 November 2007 (writer, Rosemary’s Baby, The Stepford Wives, The Boys from Brazil)
Hoke Howell b. 1929 died 9 May 1997 (Alien Species, Wizards of the Demon Sword, Alienator, The Greatest American Hero, Humanoids from the Deep, Project U.F.O., Kingdom of the Spiders, Bewitched, Lost in Space, The Munsters, My Living Doll)

Some good actors on the list, but few who are best known for genre. I think the most iconic from genre would be Roger Rabbit or Pee-Wee Herman if we stretch a little bit, but I was in a fabulous babe mood and went with Barbara Bach from Caveman. Complaints can be logged in the comments section.

Logged, noted and ignored.

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

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


Prediction: In 1985, the political system will still be a system of nations with little political unity.

Reality: In the era Kahn is predicting, NATO and the Soviet bloc certainly show political unity. More than that, OPEC made its power felt in the 1970s in a big way, but it is never mentioned in his book. In his defense, Kahn might argue that the first two show military unity and the last economic unity, but he can't because he's dead, so the grade stands. Not mentioning OPEC is a big goose egg.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

The weekly schedule is interrupted for a prediction from a movie

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

20 August 2014

 Birthdays
Andrew Garfield b. 1983 (Amazing Spider-Man, Never Let Me Go, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Doctor Who)
Ben Barnes b. 1981 (The Chronicles of Narnia, Dorian Gray, Stardust)
Ali Liebert b. 1981 (Lost Girl, Apollo 18, Fringe, Kyle XY, Fallen [TV mini-series], The 4400, Dead Like Me)
Amy Adams b. 1974 (Man of Steel, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, Enchanted, Smallville, Buffy, Charmed, Psycho Beach Party)
Chaney Kley b. 1972 died 24 July 2007 (Darkness Falls, Buffy)
Jonathan Ke Quan b. 1971 (Encino Man, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom)
David Walliams b. 1971 (Doctor Who, Stardust)
Colin Cunningham b. 1966 (Falling Skies, Impact, Stargate, The 4400, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Elektra, Andromeda, Smallville, Dark Angel, Strange Frequency, The 6th Day, The X-Files)
James Marsters b. 1962 (Metal Hurlant Chronicles, Warehouse 13, Three Inches, Supernatural, Smallville, Caprica, Moonshot, Torchwood, Angel, Buffy, Strange Frequency)
Sophie Aldred b. 1962 (Doctor Who)
Geoffrey Blake b. 1962 (Beauty and the Beast [2014], The Event, Charmed, Mighty Joe Young, Contact, Apollo 13, Deep Space Nine, Critters 3, Alien Nation [TV], ALF, The Last Starfighter)
Joan Allen b. 1956 (Pleasantville, Twilight Zone [1986])
Jay Acavone b. 1955 (InAlienable, The Hills Have Eyes II, Stargate SG-1, Terminated 3, Charmed, The X Files, The Invisible Man, Sliders, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show, Dark Skies, Independence Day, Beauty and the Beast [1990], Werewolf [TV])
Peter Horton b. 1953 (Thoughtcrimes, Brimstone, From the Earth to the Moon, T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous, Children of the Corn)
Greg Bear b. 1951 (won 1995 Nebula for Moving Mars and 2001 Nebula for Darwin’s Radio)
Patrick Kilpatrick b. 1949 (The Zombinator, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Minority Report, Roswell, Dark Angel, The X Files, Angel, Star Trek: Voyager, Charmed, Deep Space Nine, Timecop [TV mini-series], Beastmaster III, Babylon 5, The Stand, Lois & Clark, Time Trax, Class of 1999, The Toxic Avenger)
John Noble b. 1948 (Sleepy Hollow, Fringe, Stargate SG-1, Lord of the Rings, The Lost World, Time Trax)
Ray Wise b. 1947 (Big Ass Spider!, Nuclear Family, X-Men: First Class, Dollhouse, Pandemic, Reaper, Cyxork 7, Jeepers Creepers II, Charmed, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: The Next Generation, RoboCop, Cat People, Swamp Thing)
Sylvester McCoy b. 1943 (The Hobbit, Doctor Who. Leapin’ Leprechauns!, Starstrider, Dracula [1979], Roberts Robots)
Anthony Ainley b. 1932 died 3 May 2004 (Doctor Who, The Land Time Forgot, The Blood on Satan’s Claw, The Champions)
Bernard Archard b. 1916 died 1 May 2008 (Krull, Doctor Who, The Horror of Frankenstein, Village of the Damned)
H.P. Lovecraft b. 1890 died 15 March 1937 (author, The Call of Cthulhu, The Dunwich Horror)

This year, I decided to give special status to actors who starred in Doctor Who, which saves me from a very tough Picture Slot choice based solely on the merits. Last year it was H. P. Lovecraft and next year I have no idea who I'll choose, because there are a lot of actors with iconic roles on the list. Will it be Short Round or Spike or Dr. Bishop? Heck, I might choose a role from Ray Wise, just because he's one of my favorite Oh That Guy actors.

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

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

Prediction: The chronic confrontations will continue at least through 1985.
1. US vs. USSR
2. USSR vs. China
3. China vs. US
4. The Germanies
5. China-Taiwan
6. Korea
7. Vietnam
8, Arab-Israeli
9. India-Pakistan
10. Japan-China


Reality: Kahn gets at least 8.5 of 10 on this one. He gets a complete whiff on Vietnam, missing that the United States would give up on that one, not such a hard prediction in 1972. In my opinion, Japan-China wasn't at the level of belligerence as the other nine in the early 1970s and the United Kingdom vs. IRA would have been a more apt replacement. East vs. West Germany vanished as well, but since that happened after Kahn's 1985 cut-off date, he gets full credit for listing them.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Thursday means Lee de Forest, the "father of radio" and a hit or miss predictor looks at the year 2000.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

13 August 2014

 Birthdays
Sebastian Stan b. 1982 (Captain America, Once Upon a Time, Hot Tub Time Machine, The Covenant)
Alex Gonzalez b. 1980 (X-Men: First Class)
Damien O’Hare b. 1977 (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, The Broken, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl)
Grégory Fitoussi b. 1976 (World War Z, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra)
Jody Thompson b. 1976 (Fringe, 2012, Smallville, Alien Trespass, Stargate: Atlantis, Reaper, Flash Gordon [TV], Painkiller Jane, The 4400, Stargate: SG-1, Blade: The Series, Supernatural, Andromeda, Mission to Mars, NightMan)
James Carpinello b. 1975 (The Punisher)
Michael Sinterniklaas b. 1972 (The Venture Bros. and a whole lot of other voice work I don’t count)
Crystal Allen b. 1972 (Anacondas: Trail of Blood, Anaconda III, Star Trek: Enterprise)
David Monahan b. 1971 (The Dark Knight Rises, Supernatural, Angel, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch)
Heike Makatsch b. 1971 (Resident Evil, Anatomy 2)
Sean Hood b. 1966 (writer, The Legend of Hercules, Conan the Barbarian [2011], The Crow: Wicked Prayer, Cube²: Hypercube, Halloween: Resurrection)
Debi Mazar b. 1964 (Red Riding Hood [2006], The Tuxedo, Space Truckers, Batman Forever)
John Slattery b. 1962 (The Adjustment Bureau, Iron Man 2, From the Earth to the Moon)
Tom Perrotta b. 1961 (writer/producer, The Leftovers)
Dawnn Lewis b. 1961 (The Burning Zone, Sliders)
Tony Alcantar b. 1960 (Arrow, Continuum, Supernatural, Once Upon a Time, Alice, Revolution [2009 TV Movie], Stargate SG-1, Fantastic Four, Dead Like Me, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Andromeda, Dark Angel, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show, Strange World)
Kathleen Gati b. 1957 (Alphas, Arrow, The Future, Carnivale)
Tom Davis b. 1952 (writer, Coneheads)
Gene Day b. 1951 died 23 September 1982 (comic artist)
Jane Carr b. 1950 (Star Trek: Enterprise, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Babylon 5)
Lillian Hurst b. 1949 (True Blood, Lost, The X-Files)
Maria Rohm b. 1945 (Count Dracula [1970])
Kevin Tighe b. 1944 (Salem, Lost, The 4400, Strange World, Star Trek: Voyager, Escape to Witch Mountain, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Immortal [TV])
Raymond Serra b. 1936 died 20 June 2003 (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles I & II [1990 & 1991], Wolfen)
Pat Harrington Jr. b. 1929 (The Invisible Man, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, 2000 Years Later, The Munsters)
Buck Kartalian b. 1922 (My Favorite Martian [1999], Monster Squad, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes [1972], Octaman, Planet of the Apes [1968], Batman, The Munsters, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea)
Neville Brand b. 1920 died 16 April 1992 (Man from Atlantis, Killdozer, Twilight Zone)
Kurt Kasnar b. 1913 died 6 August 1979 (Wonder Woman, Land of the Giants)
Tristam Coffin b. 1909 died 26 March 1990 (The Time Tunnel, Batman, The Crawling Hand, The Night the World Exploded, Creature with the Atom Brain, King of the Rocket Men)
John Beal b. 1909 died 26 April 1997 (Amityville 3-D, Ark II, Dark Shadows, The Vampire)
Alfred Hitchcock b. 1899 died 29 April 1980 (director, The Birds)
Bert Lahr b. 1895 died 4 December 1967 (The Wizard of Oz)

Secrets of the blog revealed!

1. If you look at the credits for Michael Sinterniklaas, that will explain a lot of my feelings about voice work. The Venture Bros is such a special case as far as I'm concerned it gets a label. There are far better known shows that don't get a label, like Heroes. That's just how I roll.

2. I saw Alfred Hitchcock's name on imdb.com and debated whether anything he did is truly genre. My decision was that The Birds should count as a monster movie and a fantasy, since all bird species have not decided to attack all humans en masse.

Yet.

3. I was tempted to put Neville Brand on the list just so I could type Killdozer. (See? Now I've done it twice!) But Brand was also on the original Twilight Zone. I always list folks from that show.

4. I always feel my age when I put the oldest person on the list in The Picture Slot, but Bert Lahr as The Cowardly Lion is clearly iconic and when I saw the quote by John Waters, well, that was the cherry on top of the sundae, wasn't it?

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

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

Prediction: In 1985 an Italian, Tanzanian, Bolivian or Turk will listen to a to an Icelandic pop singer on a Thai-made transistor radio, wearing clothes designed in a Seoul boutique while riding a Nigerian bicycle to see a Swedish movie.

Reality: All right, let's get to what he got right first, Icelandic pop singers. Bjork and the Sugarcubes first hit in 1986, but I'm giving Kahn full marks for that. The transistor radio should be replaced with a Walkman to be more mid 1980s, and while clothes had some international successes from small companies in many countries, Nigerian bicycles and Swedish blockbuster movies is stretching the point a little too much for full marks.

 

Never to be Forgotten: Arlene Martel 1936-2014

Arlene Martel, best known as Spock's intended bride T'Pring on Star Trek, died this week, joining a list that is way too long. Besides Star Trek, her other roles in genre include Battlestar Galactica [1978], Dracula’s Dog, The Six Million Dollar Man, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, My Favorite Martian, The Outer Limits and Twilight Zone.

Best wishes to the family and friends of Arlene Martel, from a fan. She is never to be forgotten.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

The fabulous babe content in the birthday list for the next few days is remarkably high. Just sayin'.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

6 August 2014

 Birthdays
Romola Garai b. 1982 (The Last Days on Mars)
Karl Davies b. 1982 (Game of Thrones)
Marisa Miller b. 1978 (R.I.P.D.)
Melissa George b. 1976 (30 Days of Night, The Amityville Horror, Charmed, Dark City)
Soleil Moon Frye b. 1976 (Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Piranhas)
Vera Farmiga b. 1973 (Source Code, Neverwas, Snow White: The Fairest of Them All)
Paolo Bacigalupi b. 1972 (won 2010 Hugo and Nebula for The Windup Girl)
Jason O’Mara b. 1972 (Terra Nova, Resident Evil: Extinction, Eastwick, Space Truckers)
Merrin Dungey b. 1971 (Beyond, Good vs Evil, Deep Impact, Babylon 5)
M Night Shyamalan b. 1970 (director, After Earth, The Last Airbender, The Happening, The Lady in the Water, The Village, Signs, Unbreakable, The Sixth Sense)
Michelle Yeoh b. 1962 (Babylon A.D., The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor)
Ian R. MacLeod b. 1956 (author, The Great Wheel, The Summer Isles)
Kevin Jarre b. 1954 died 3 April 2001 (writer, The Mummy)
Catherine Hicks b. 1951 (Child’s Play, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Tucker’s Witch)
Dorian Harewood b. 1950 (The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Kyle XY, Stargate SG-1, Earth: Final Conflict, Time Trax, Solar Crisis, Amerika, Desire, the Vampire, Looker)
Michael Anderson Jr. b. 1943 (Highlander [TV], The Martian Chronicles, Logan’s Run, Land of the Giants)
Louise Sorel b. 1940 (Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, The Incredible Hulk, The Curse of Dracula, Star Trek)
Paul Bartel b. 1938 died 13 May 2000 (Good vs Evil, Escape from L.A., Gremlins 2: The New Batch, Amazing Stories, Munchies, Heartbeeps, Death Race 2000)
Barbara Windsor b. 1937 (Alice in Wonderland [2010], Doctor Who, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang)
Piers Anthony b. 1934 (author, Xanth)
Norman Barthold b. 1928 died 28 May 1994 (Capricorn One, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Westworld, My Favorite Martian)
Frank Finlay b. 1926 (Merlin [2008], The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns, Lifeforce, The Thief of Baghdad [1978 TV], Target Luna)
Charles Crichton b. 1910 died 14 September 1999 (director, Alien Attack, Space: 1999, The Day After Tomorrow [1976 TV movie])

The Picture Slot today uses the tried and true sci-fi gimmick of "Put a pretty girl in aluminum foil, that way we'll know it's the future!" In this case, the pretty girl is Louise Sorel and the show is the original Star Trek, which used this ploy more than once. Today's list is not loaded down with star power, but it does raise the question "Exactly how many artistically and financially disappointing movies does a writer-director get to make before no one will hire him anymore?" In the case of M. Night Shyamalan, the answer is "some number greater than six".

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

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

Prediction: By 1985, Japan, West Germany and Italy will have nuclear weapons of their own. Other possibilities are India, Australia, Sweden and Switzerland.

Reality: This is a very odd list indeed. He gets one hit with India, but the rest are strikeouts, most notably the famously neutral Sweden and Switzerland and the completely isolated and unthreatened Australia. I have literally no idea how a group of people in a room decided those three countries should be on this list.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Lee De Forest is back. Will he get back to his early streak of correct prediction or will he strike out again?

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

30 July 2014

Birthdays
Joey King b. 1999 (Oz the Great and Powerful, The Dark Knight Rises, Battle Los Angeles, Jericho)
Yvonne Strahovski b. 1982 (I, Frankenstein)
Hilary Swank b. 1974 (The Core, Buffy)
Christopher Nolan b. 1970 (director, Interstellar, The Dark Knight Rises, Inception, The Dark Knight, The Prestige, Batman Begins)
Simon Baker b. 1969 (Land of the Dead, The Ring Two, Red Planet)
Terry Crews b. 1968 (Gamer, Terminator Salvation, Idiocracy, Click, The 6th Day)
Jason Watkins b. 1966 (Atlantis, Doctor Who, Psychoville, Being Human, The Golden Compass)
Vivica A. Fox b. 1964 (Sharknado 2: The Second One, Ella Enchanted, Tremors [TV], Batman & Robin, Independence Day)
Laurence Fishburne b. 1961 (Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Man of Steel, The Signal, The Colony, Predators, The Matrix, Cherry 2000, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors)
Richard Linklater b. 1960 (director, A Scanner Darkly)
Richard Burgi b. 1958 (The Green Inferno, Reaper, Firefly, Mann & Machine, The Flash)
Philip Davis b. 1953 (Being Human, Merlin [2011 TV], Doctor Who, Alien³, Howling V: The Rebirth)
Jean Reno b. 1948 (Rollerball [2002], Godzilla [1998], Le Dernier Combat)
Carel Struycken b. 1948 (Charmed, The Addams Family, Men in Black, Star Trek: Voyager, Babylon 5, Journey to the Center of the Earth [TV], Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Witches of Eastwick, Ewoks: The Battle of Endor, The Prey, Bigfoot and Wildboy)
Arnold Schwarzenegger b. 1947 (Terminator, The 6th Day, End of Days, Batman & Robin, Last Action Hero, Total Recall, The Running Man, Red Sonja, Conan, Hercules in New York)
William Atherton b. 1947 (Defiance, Lost, Stargate SG-1, Headspace, Race to Space, The Crow: Salvation, Twilight Zone [1985], Ghostbusters)
Frances de la Tour b. 1944 (Into the Woods, Hugo, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, Alice in Wonderland [2010], The Book of Eli, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire)
John P. Ryan b. 1936 died 20 March 2007 (Class of 1999, Faerie Tale Theatre, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, It Lives Again, Futureworld, It’s Alive)
Richard Johnson b. 1927 (Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Zombie, Space: 1999, The Haunting)
Victor Wong b. 1927 died 12 September 2001 (Poltergeist: The Legacy, Tremors, Beauty and the Beast, The Golden Child, Big Trouble in Little China)


Last year's Picture Slot was Ahhhnold, and this year I went with an actor I actually like. There are some fabulous babes and Oh That Guys who might get the nod next year, notably Carel Struycken, Lurch in the re-boot of The Addams Family and Victor Wong, either from Tremors or Big Trouble in Little China, two of my favorite non-blockbuster genre films of all time.

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

 

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

Prediction: It will increasingly difficult for the West to maintain East Germany is merely a puppet of the Soviet Union.

Reality: Umm... no, not that difficult at all. East Germany was a puppet state until it collapsed.

Kahn was a conservative and a hard line Cold Warrior and he didn't see what was going to happen in our relations with Soviets and very nearly ignored the People's Republic of China. Other than predicting big growth in Japan, he is usually wrong or very vague, not unlike our Friday regular Edgar Cayce.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

We get another prediction from Lee de Forest, predicting the year 2000 from 1960. Except for seeing the communications world pretty well, de Forest isn't that much better than Kahn or Cayce, but at least he isn't wishy-washy.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

23 July 2014

Birthdays
Daniel Radcliffe b. 1989 (Frankenstein [2015], Horns, Harry Potter)
Reece Ritchie b. 1986 (Hercules [2014], Atlantis: End of the World, Birth of a Legend, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, 10,000 BC)
Kathryn Hahn b. 1974 (Tomorrowland)
Charisma Carpenter b. 1970 (Supernatural, Legend of the Seeker, Charmed, Angel, Buffy, Strange Frequency)
Bill Chott b. 1969 (Wizards of Waverly Place, Invader ZIM, Dude, Where’s My Car?, Galaxy Quest, 3rd Rock from the Sun)
Philip Seymour Hoffman b. 1967 died 2 February 2014 (The Hunger Games, The Invention of Lying)
Woody Harrelson b. 1961 (The Hunger Games, 2012, Zombieland, A Scanner Darkly)
Edie McClurg b. 1951 (Flubber [1997], Sabrina, The Teenage Witch, Homeboys in Outer Space, A.J.’s Time Travelers, Elvira: Mistress of the Dark, Small Wonder, Faerie Tale Theatre, The Incredible Hulk, Carrie)
Belinda Montgomery b. 1950 (TRON: Legacy, Man from Atlantis, The Sixth Sense [1972])
Marianne Gordon b. 1946 (The Being, Rosemary’s Baby, Mr. Terrific)
Ronny Cox b. 1938 (Age of Dinosaurs, Stargate SG-1, Deep Blue Sea, From the Earth to the Moon, Time Trax, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Captain America [1990], Total Recall, Martians Go Home, RoboCop)
C.M. Kornbluth b. 1923 died 21 March 1958 (author, The Space Merchants [with Frederik Pohl])
Virgil Finlay b. 1914 died 18 January 1971 (artist)
Coral Browne b. 1913 died 29 May 1991 (Dreamchild, Time Express, Theatre of Blood)
Michael Wilding b. 1912 died 8 July 1979 (Frankenstein: The True Story)

Last year, the Picture Slot belonged to Daniel Radcliffe, and for iconic roles in genre, he's hard to beat. I might go all Whedonverse nerd and put up a picture of Charisma Carpenter, or maybe Woody Harrelson from The Hunger Games or Ronny Cox from one of the classic movies he was in. But when I saw Virgil Finlay's name on isfdb.org, I knew I wanted to have one of his terrific scratchboard illustrations gracing the blog today. (Scratchboard starts out all black and you scratch away to get the white. It's an extremely unforgiving method and Finlay was as good as it gets at the medium.)

Why this particular illustration? Hmmm... reasons.

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

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

Prediction: The Japanese economy will double or perhaps triple in the 1970s

Reality: Kahn isn't being precise, but he is clearly bullish on Japan's economy. The thing is, he wasn't bullish enough. According to the World Bank, the Japanese GDP was $209 billion (U.S.) and $1,040 billion in 1980, which means it almost exactly quintupled! It couldn't keep up that growth rate, but it did triple in the 1980s, then peaked in the mid 1990s and has been fluctuating up and down ever since.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

The weekly schedule is interrupted for a prediction from a movie.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

16 July 2014

 Birthdays
Michelle Morgan b. 1981 (Stargate: Atlantis, Diary of the Dead, Fire Serpent)
Jayma Mays b. 1979 (Heroes)
Corey Feldman b. 1971 (Zombex, The Zombie King, Puppet Master vs Demonic Toys, Dark Realm, The Toxic Avenger IV, Sliders, The Lost Boys, Friday the 13th, Gremlins, Time After Time)
Will Ferrell b. 1967 (Land of the Lost [2009], Bewitched [2005])
Daryl Mitchell b. 1965 (Wizards of Waverly Place, Galaxy Quest)
Phoebe Cates b. 1963 (Drop Dead Fred, Gremlins 1 and 2)
Faye Grant b. 1957 (The Omen IV: The Awakening, V, Voyager from the Unknown, Voyagers!, The Incredible Hulk, The Greatest American Hero)
Jerry Doyle b. 1956 (Storm Watch, Sliders, Babylon 5)
Ann Turkel b. 1946 (The Hunger [TV], RoboCop [TV], Highlander [TV], Deep Space, Worlds Beyond, Knight Rider, Death Ray 2000, Humanoids from the Deep)
Richard LeParmentier b. 1946 died 15 April 2013 (Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Superman II, Space: 1999, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, Rollerball [1975], The People That Time Forgot)
Barnard Hughes b. 1916 died 11 July 2006 (The Lost Boys, TRON, Mr. Merlin, The UFO Incident, The Borrowers, Dark Shadows [TV], ‘Way Out)
Sonny Tufts b. 1911 died 4 June 1970 (Cat-Women of the Moon)
Mary Philbin b. 1902 died 7 May 1993 (The Phantom of the Opera [1925])

An abbreviated birthday list today and three of the performers have only one genre credit each. Last year I had Jerry Doyle in the Picture Slot, mainly because I'm still a fan of Babylon 5, but I decided to switch things up this year and go with Phoebe Cates. Of course the Fabulous Babe factor is part of the reason, but this is also my first opportunity to have a garish Japanese magazine cover featured on the blog.

Tell me how I can resist that one-two combination?

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

Movies released
Inception released, 2010
I, Robot released 16 July 2004

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

Prediction: Population growth is not accelerating, but slowing down and may even be topping out, although probably not before 1985.

Reality: Kahn was right about the growth rate slowing by 1972, but we still haven't come down to zero population growth, which would be necessary for the population itself to "top out". It's still a little hard for me to wrap my head around it, but the world population has doubled since I was in grade school back in the 1960s, from 3.5 billion to 7 billion.

According to the Wikipedia page which gives the world population in five year increments from 1950 to 2010, The biggest percentage jump was from 1960 to 1965, when the world population went up 11.84%. The good news is the five year growth rates have been falling fairly consistently. The bad news is the rate from 2005 to 2010 jumped up to 8.03%, a lot more than the 6.33% growth from 2000 to 2005. 

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

An exact date for a nuclear attack interrupts the regular schedule.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

9 July 2014

 Birthdays
Georgie Henley b. 1995 (The Chronicles of Narnia)
Toby Kebbell b. 1982 (The Fantastic Four [2015], Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Wrath of the Titans, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time)
Jamie King b. 1981 (Lost City Raiders, Vampire Diary)
Linda Park b. 1978 (Infestation, Star Trek: Enterprise, Jurassic Park III, Spectres)
Fred Savage b. 1976 (The Wizard, Little Monsters, The Princess Bride, The Twilight Zone [1986], The Boy Who Could Fly)
Scott Grimes b. 1971 (DreamKeeper, Frogs!, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Critters 1 & 2, Frog, Twilight Zone [1985])
David O’Hara b. 1965 (Cowboys & Aliens, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, Wanted, Doomsday)
K. Todd Freeman b. 1965 (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles [2014], The Dark Knight, Buffy)
Tim Kring b. 1957 (writer/producer, Touch, Heroes)
Tom Hanks b. 1956 (Cloud Atlas, The Polar Express, The Green Mile, From the Earth to the Moon, Apollo 13, Big, Splash, Mazes and Monsters)
Jimmy Smits b. 1955 (Revenge of the Sith, Attack of the Clones, The Tommyknockers)
Kim Hector b. 1953 (The Outer Limits, Twilight Zone)
Chris Cooper b. 1951 (The Amazing Spider-Man 2)
Ray Baker b. 1948 (Heroes, Path of Destruction, Alien Siege, Holes, Area 52, 3rd Rock from the Sun, The Tomorrow Man, Freaked, Total Recall [1990], C.H.U.D.)
Dean R. Koontz b. 1945 (author, Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein, Odd Thomas)
Edy Williams b. 1942 (Bad Girls from Mars, Dr. Alien, Lost in Space, Batman, The Brass Bottle, Twilight Zone)
Brian Dennehy b. 1938 (The 4400, Category 6: Day of Destruction, NetForce, Cocoon, Ants)
James Hampton b. 1936 (Superboy, Teen Wolf 1 and 2, Otherworld, The Greatest American Hero, World War III, The Cat from Outer Space)
Susan Cabot b. 1927 died 10 December 1986 (The Wasp Woman, The War of the Satellites, Viking Women and the Sea Serpent)

Now there's a birthday list. A-List movie stars, fabulous babes, Oh That Guys, important writers, you name it. A lot of the big names on the list are better known for work outside genre, though Jimmy Smits in his Star Wars role counts as iconic as does Tom Hanks from Apollo 13. (Longtime readers will know that I count any movie with space travel as genre, even those based on true stories.)

As for Oh That Guys, Brian Dennehy is at the "Hey, it's Abe Vigoda!" level as far as I'm concerned. I was a little surprised James Hampton did genre. I know him best from The Longest Yard and F Troop. (I now have the F Troop theme song stuck in my head. Grr.)

But for all this star power, I go full-on Whedonverse nerd and put K. Todd Freeman as Mr. Trick from Buffy in the Picture Slot. Next year, it's anyone's guess.

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

Movies released
Predators released, 2010
Despicable Me released, 2010

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

Prediction: The promise of the laser for military and peaceful purposes will be fully realized by 1985.

Reality: It may be the dark side of popular sci-fi, but death rays have to be listed with flying cars, food in pill form and jetpacks as examples where technology has completely failed to live up to advance billing. Sure, like almost everybody I'd prefer a flying car to a death ray, but that doesn't mean the latter wouldn't come in handy every now and then.

Never to be Forgotten:
Don Matheson 1929-2014 

Don Matheson, best known for his role asMark Wilson on Land of the Giants, died late last month at the age of 84. He was also on the Irwin Allen shows  Lost in Space and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and played a horseman in the 1985 TV version of Alice in Wonderland. Outside of genre, he had a lot of roles on soap operas, a very typical career path for a guy as good looking as Matheson.

Those readers that know my, ahem, special interests might guess I was a fan of Land of the Giants, but for me it was a show filled with missed opportunities, shrinking special effects budgets and generally flat writing. Everybody was always so irritable on the show and not just irritated with obvious irritant Fitzhugh. It should be noted that Matheson wooed and married co-star Deanna Lund and if there had been a third season, there would have been a romance between their characters as well.

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

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

It's another glimpse into the year 2000 from Dr. Lee de Forest.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

18 June 2014

 Birthdays
Max Records b. 1997 (Where the Wild Things Are)
Willa Holland b. 1991 (Arrow, Legion)
Jacob Anderson b. 1990 (Game of Thrones)
Meaghan Rath b. 1986 (Being Human, 10.5: Apocalypse)
Kristina Klebe b. 1979 (Chillerama, Zone of the Dead, Halloween [2007])
Alana De La Garza b. 1976 (Forever, Charmed, Smallville, Mortal Kombat: Conquest)
Kim Dickens b. 1965 (FlashForward, Lost, Hollow Man)
Ralph Brown b. 1957 (Jack the Giant Slayer, Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist, Star Wars: Epidsode I – The One We Don’t Discuss, Alien³)
Isabella Rossellini b. 1952 (The Phantom, Infected, Earthsea, Merlin [1998], Death Becomes Her)
Carol Kane b. 1952 (Addams Family Values, Scrooged, The Princess Bride, Transylvania 6-5000)
Miriam Flynn b. 1952 (Evolution, Deep Space Nine, Buffy)
Steve Miner b. 1951 (director, Eureka, Day of the Dead, Smallville, Lake Placid, Halloween H20: 20 years Later, Friday the 13th II and III)
Mac McDonald b. 1949 (Red Dwarf, The Fifth Element, Gulliver’s Travels [1996 TV], The Tomorrow People, Nightbreed, Batman, Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, The Empire Strikes Back, Rollerball)
Roger Ebert b. 1942 died 4/4/2013 (writer, critic)
Michael Sheard b. 1938 died 21 August 2005 (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Doctor Who, Space, The Invisible Man, The Empire Strikes Back, Blakes 7, The Tomorrow People, Space: 1999)
George Hearn b. 1934 (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
Richard Boone b. 1917 died 19 January 1981 (The Last Dinosaur)
E.G. Marshall b. 1914 died 24 August 1998 (The Tommyknockers, Superman II, Vampire)
Nedra Volz b. 1908 died 20 January 2003 (ALF, Earth Girls Are Easy)
Keye Luke b. 1904 died 12 January 1991 (Gremlins, Superboy, Beauty and the Beast [1988 TV], Star Trek, Project X, The Green Hornet [1966 and 1940])

Last week, the Picture Slot would have belonged to Jacob Anderson, leader of Danerys' Unsullied. But Game of Thrones is officially off the air now, so it's a open race. Carol Kane from The Princess Bride is certainly iconic, Isabella Rossellini is obviously a fabulous babe, Michael Sheard is famous as the admiral who Darth Vader chokes with his brain. (Sheard also played Hitler five times, though I don't see the resemblance.) But as you can see, the Picture Slot went Keye Luke in his role from Gremlins. You might notice that he was in two different versions of The Green Hornet, which is only barely a genre show. He was Kato in 1940.

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

Movies released
Toy Story 3 released, 2010

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

Prediction:By 1985, cable TV will be a virtually unlimited smorgasbord of home entertainment for every taste.

Reality: Welcome to our new regular Wednesday predictor, Herman Kahn, who is called "a prominent futurist". Our regular commenter has some choice words for anyone called a futurist, but let's note that this was a very good call. In 1972, cable is pretty much a forced option for people who live away from the big broadcast antennas and though cable 30 years ago is a paltry thing compared to today, it was quite a step up from the three networks, PBS and UHF we had in the early 1970s.

Kahn was a conservative intellectual and gained notoriety in the 1960 when working for the RAND Corporation and stated that nuclear war was survivable and winnable. Characters stating his ideas showed up in several movies, notably Walter Matthau in Fail-Safe and Peter Sellers as Dr. Strangelove in the movie of the same name. Not unlike Lee de Forest, Kahn is hit and miss, unlike Ray Kurzweil and Paul Ehrlich, who were pretty much miss and miss.

And miss and miss and miss again.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!
  
I mentioned Lee de Forest and of course, tomorrow is his regular date, guessing about the year 2000 from his vantage point in 1960.

Join us then ... IN THE FUTURE!