Saturday, January 26, 2013

ZOMBZANY MEETS BLOOD E. BONES - PART TWO -- BARON BONES USURPS A THRONE!




In the second part of Zombzany Meets Blood E. Bones -- Part Two -- which I've titled "Baron Bones Usurps a Throne" -- Zombzany has apparently recovered from the sleeping drug that “Doc” Freak had one of Zombzany’s zombie slaves “prescribe” him, and is telling his fans that this year he will not be hosting the Fifth Annual Scare-a-thon. Suddenly, in a blinding flash of white-hot light, a large skeletal figure appears menacingly before Zombzany. “Doc” Freak, who is subbing for the absent zombie Myron behind the camera, tells Zombzany that he has revived Bill E. Bones. When Zombzany inquires why Bones is of a much greater stature, Freak informs the Dominator of the Dead that his special rejuvenation formula contained a calcium-additive that aided in Bones’ return to his former size. Zombzany attempts to threaten Bones with his scepter of power, when Bones - who is now calling himself Baron Blood E. Bones – reveals that he has stolen Zombzany’s magical amulet and is now immune to Zombzany’s necromancy. Bones tells Zombzany that he now possess the power of the amulet’s former owner, Count Dracula and puts Zombzany into a magically enhanced hypnotic trance!



Once again behind the camera, “Doc” Freak convinces Baron Blood E. Bones that he should host the Fifth Annual Scare-a-thon – particularly because it is an all vampire movie marathon. Completely in the Baron’s thrall, Bones orders Zombzany to give the fans a brief description of the horror host Count Gore de Vol, whom will be part of the evening’s Scare-a-thon. Baron Blood E. Bones then less-than-enthusiastically introduces the first vampire flick of the marathon: 1931’s Dracula.



Enjoy Zombzany Meets Blood E. Bones - Part Two -- Baron Bones Usurps a Throne!



Technical Note: There are two segments of this video where the original video tape had a wrinkle in it, causing a crackling hiss in the audio playback. No amount of my adjusting the tape on playback or tweaking the audio digitally reduced this annoying aural distortion. I apologies for this in advance and hope that it doesn't detract too much from any enjoyment that you might derive from this portion of Zombzany Meets Blood E. Bones.


Tuesday, January 15, 2013

TRAILER TUESDAY: FRINGE SERIES FINALE!




Fringe is science fiction television series that was co-created by J. J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. It premiered on Fox on September 9, 2008 and the show's first season ran a total 22 episodes.
                                  
Fringe’s first season focused on a team which investigating bizarre scientific occurrences or a string of fringe science–related incidents worldwide related to "The Pattern". The team consisted of FBI special agent Olivia Dunham, scientist Walter Bishop, his son Peter Bishop and others at the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security. It followed a procedural story structure for most of this first season, only occasionally hinting at the cause of these “fringe” events.

The show was renewed for a second and third season of 22 episodes each, which aired from September 17, 2009 to May 20, 2010, and September 23, 2010 to May 6, 2011, respectively. As each season progressed, we found out what was causing the fringe events and who was behind the cause. The ties between Walter, Peter and Olivia become even more evident and critical as these two seasons progressed.

Fringe was officially renewed for a fourth season during the 2011–2012 television season which consisted of 22 episodes. All the plotlines from seasons one through three really come to a head in season four and the procedural format is almost completely disposed of.

On April 26, 2012, Fox renewed Fringe for a fifth and final season, consisting of 13 episodes. It premiered on September 28, 2012. The fifth and final season of Fringe takes place in a future that is not favorable to humans. Once again, it is up to Walter, Peter and Olivia to try and set things right and save the world one more time.


I've been watching Fringe since the first episode and it’s hard to believe that after four-and-a-half years and 98 episodes, this amazing mind-bending science fiction series is coming to an end! One thing that Fringe has never done is let me down in terms of fulfilling character arcs and satisfying story conclusions, so I am looking forward to the two episode conclusion this Friday night from 8pm – 10pm EST on Fox.

Here is the trailer for the last two episodes of season five of Fringe entitled "Liberty" and "An Enemy of Fate":


Thursday, January 10, 2013

ZOMBZANY MEETS BLOOD E. BONES - PART ONE – THE REVENGE OF ‘DOC’ FREAK.




The last series of Zombzany videos that I’ve posted here at Guardians of the Genre - ZOMBZANY AND THE UNDEAD DOC FREAK – took place chronologically just a year prior to the events of this latest series in which  Zombzany encounters an adversary nearly his necromantic equal, Baron Blood E. Bones. This and the several years before and after it are the most well-documented era in Zombzany’s horror host period; mostly because being the somewhat vain not-so-mad-not-so-much-scientist that I am, I stole and saved these video tapes to preserve the encounters that I've had with the Dominator of the Dead. This is another instance in a more-than ten year period in which Zombzany was coerced into hosting a horror movie marathon for a local science fiction fan club and evidently not very well rewarded financially for it.













In the first part of Zombzany Meets Blood E. Bones – Part One -- which I've titled "The Revenge of ‘Doc’ Freak" -- Zombzany is lying prone on a bench outside of his caretaker’s shack on the outskirts of his cemetery. He is sound asleep and snoring loudly. What is unusual about this is that it is clearly day time and normally Zombzany sleeps at this time safely within the dark confines of his underground tomb. Shortly, ‘Doc’ Freak sneaks up on Zombzany and gently pokes him to see if he is truly asleep. Satisfied that Zombzany is not playing possum, ‘Doc’ Freak thanks Myron, Zombzany’s most intelligent zombie slave, for putting the sleep serum that Freak concocted into Zombzany’s coffee the previous evening. Freak tells Myron and Sebastian that they might as well take a brief “holiday”, because Zombzany will be incapacitated long enough for him to put his “master plan in motion”. Waving as the zombies slowly shuffle off to who-knows-where, Freak then leans over Zombzany and carefully removes the magic amulet around Zombzany’s neck. Freak is somewhat intimidated by the amulet, as he knows that it contains some type of dark mystical energy that was transferred to it by its previous owner, Count Dracula. ‘Doc’ Freak jumps for joy as he heads off to look for the location of the grave of Zombzany’s most disloyal slave: Bill E. Bones.















Night has arrived and ‘Doc’ Freak, flashlight in hand, is still looking for Bill E. Bones’ unmarked grave. Finally stumbling on it – almost literally – Freak takes a carton of special ingredients from his lab coat pocket. ‘Doc’ Freak then spreads the “ass-kickin’ rejuvenation formula” on the grave of Bill E. Bones and commands the skeletal zombie to arise from his grave. Mystical smoke clouds the cemetery and suddenly Bones’ hand thrusts itself self out of the ground. ‘Doc’ Freak helps his zombie friend from the soil and places a cape around his shoulders. Freak then takes Zombzany’s magical amulet from his pocket and places it around the neck of Bones. Perhaps blind with the excitement of ousting Zombzany from his own tomb with the scientifically (and perhaps unintentionally magically) reanimated Bones, Freak doesn't notice the considerable difference in weight and stature in his formerly diminutive skeletal friend. Together, Freak and Bones head to the tomb of Zombzany and prepare to become the dominator of their former Master!


Wednesday, January 9, 2013

A TOTALLY CAPTIVATING COMMENT ON TOTAL RECALL!




As an addendum to my first post of 2013 - A REVIEW OF THEGENRE MOVIES OF 2012 – I lamented the lack of comments that I have been getting recently on my reviews of films here at GUARDIANS OF THE GENRE! I wrote “The most pleasure I get from writing film reviews is the comments that I receive on them and lately there have been fewer than I would like. I hope that it is not the quality of the reviews themselves that have caused this sparsity of comments; but rather the ridiculous CAPTCHAs that Blogger uses to prevent spammers from posting comments.” I have been rewarded recently with a comment from fellow blogger Troy.

On August 5, 2012 I posted my review of Total Recall (2012): TOTAL RECALL – 2012 – TOTALLY CAPTIVATING. I have now received three comments on this review – one more or less agreeing with me – thanks Dan O – and one fervently disagreeing with me – thank you, as well, Mark! I just received a comment on this post that I thought was so filled with interesting ideas and conflicting opinions of the film, that, knowing that most will not read his comments buried at the end of an old post, I decided to share it here in a separate post.

January 9, 2013 7:21 AM
Troy:

People riff on about how wonderful the original was. Was it? Seriously? Arnie is better of portraying a cyborg than attempting to pull off a human being. Some plot device about an alien reactor conveniently left unused? The whole core of Mars is ice? Insta-terraforming to Earth normal pressure(with a pure O2 atmosphere) and leaving the core of Mars rather depleted? This was Paul Verhoeven directing, the same man who butchered Starship Troopers. "What if dis is all a dream?" "Well then kiss me quick before you wake up."

Whilst everyone is piling on the hate, this is closer to the original "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale" by Philip K. Dick. Quaid's character is a lot closer to the original Quail. As for the mind-bending said of it will, if you look at Total Recall 2012 and then re-read the story then it becomes pretty ambiguous as to whether the second half of the movie was real or not. As for the whole invasion thing - yes, that was how the story ended, sort of. Not a microwave meal terraforming. As for "Hauser," Quaid's motivation was, that he was actually a really nice guy deep down, if a little messed up. As for Kristen / Melina, it's probably intentional that they look similar (partly because Melina never existed). Melina is just like Kristen's "undercover" persona. The end fight between Kristen and Quaid makes this apparent - also that the final scenes of the movie might not be real, as the Philip K. Dick story implies.

The trouble is, you just don't see all of this because you're too busy looking for bits from the original Total Recall. It's not a Total Recall remake. It's another film adaptation of We Can Remember It For You, which borrows a few characters (partly because there only half a dozen in the 22 page short story). I only realized this when I reread the story.

As for the Fall, the actual elevator describes a hyperbolic path through the Earth's outer core and mantle, all of which are liquid. Since the core also rotates, it's impossible to drill through anything but the core axis. The elevator constantly accelerates *downward* (so the seats are actually oriented upside down immediately after the drop commences) and doesn't just drop.

Here is my reply to Troy’s comments:

January 9, 2013 2:37 PM
Fritz “Doc” Freakenstein:

Hello, Troy! Thank you for all the fascinating comments on Total Recall.

I think much of the love for 1990’s Total Recall is based on nostalgia. I grew up in the 1960s watching the classic (and not so classic) horror and science fiction films of the 40s and 50s, so I tend to be nostalgic - and hence less critical - about those films. Many people who write blogs today grew up in the 80s and tend to be more nostalgic about the films they watched from the 80s on video tape or at the theater in the 90s. While I was – and still am – a fan of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s films, I do agree that he was not an actor, but more of a star. One of the reasons that his films, including Total Recall 1990, are filled with so many one-liners is because humor tends to off-set Arnold’s lack of credulity as a three-dimensional character. All science fiction films made by Hollywood contain some – and usually many – scientific errors. As long as they aren't too blatant to this non-scientist’s eyes, I’m willing to give them a pass in the name of entertainment or artistic license. The whole “Insta-terraforming to Earth normal pressure (with a pure O2 atmosphere)” sequence at the end of Total Recall 1990 was one mistake that really stood out to me. Because it was so essential to end of the film’s plot, it really kept me from liking it as much as I might have. Yes, as a reader of Heinlein’s novel, Paul Verhoeven indeed “butchered Starship Troopers”.

Not having read Dick’s story, I’ll have to take your word for it that “this [Total Recall 2012] is closer to the original ‘We Can Remember It for You Wholesale’ by Philip K. Dick”. Despite the many classic SF novels that I have read, P. K. Dick was never one of my favorite authors, so I've only read his novel “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sleep” after having seen Blade Runner, the movie which is based on it. As for which film accurately portrays the idea of what is real and what isn't real; I honestly think both films did not do an adequate job of this. These types of internalized ideas are very difficult to portray in a visual medium like film, so the fact that Total Recall 2012 lacked in this regard didn't bother me too much. I do think you make some good points defending the film’s attempts to do just that and perhaps I’ll catch more of them on a re-watch.

Obviously, I agree with you about Total Recall 2012. “It's not a Total Recall remake. It's another film adaptation of “We Can Remember It for You”, which borrows a few characters”, is a perfect way to describe the film, which is why I began my review of it saying pretty much the same thing. I've done some writing here at GOTG! on the subject of remakes, re-imaginings and prequel/sequels to classic film and how 99% of the time, people who love the original are going to dislike the remake.

I did quite a bit of research before I expressed my quibbles about the scientific accuracy of the gravity elevator used in Total Recall 2012 and I still stand by my reasoning that this simply would not be possible as portrayed in the film. If, as you say, ”the actual elevator describes a hyperbolic path through the Earth's outer core and mantle”, then it might be possible for this mechanism to work. I just thought I remembered the film describing the elevator as going in a straight line through the core of the Earth and not a hyperbolic path through the mantle.

It looks like I need to re-watch Total Recall 2012 with these ideas in mind. Thanks again for your deep and interesting comments on Total Recall and my review of it. Please do stop by again soon, Troy!

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

TRAILER TUESDAY: DOUBLE FEATURE! CONTINUUM AND LOST GIRL!


























The SYFY Channel will be debuting Continuum in the United States on Monday, January 14, 2013 at 8 pm, EST. Continuum is a Canadian science fiction series produced by Reunion Pictures Inc. and centers on the conflict between a police officer and a group of rebels from the year 2077 who time-travel to Vancouver, BC in the year 2012. It premiered on Showcase in Canada on May 27, 2012 and ran for ten episodes. It has already been renewed by Showcase for a second season.




The SYFY Channel describes Continuum:
When a group of fanatical terrorists escape their planned execution in 2077 by traveling back in time to 2012, they inadvertently take City Protective Services officer Kiera Cameron with them. Trapped in a more “primitive” past, Kiera infiltrates the local police department to try to track down the terrorists before they change the course of history.

Continuum stars Rachel Nichols (Alias, Criminal Minds, G.I. Joe) as Kiera, Victor Webster (Castle, Melrose Place) as detective Carlos Fonnegra - who Kiera allies with - and Erik Knudsen (Jericho, Scream 4) as Alec Sadler, the teenaged tech genius who could be Kiera’s key to saving the future.

Continuum comes from executive producers Simon Barry (The Art of War), Jeff King (Stargate SG-1, White Collar), Tom Rowe (Tin Man), and Pat Williams (Smallville).



Watch the Continuum trailer for the Showcase debut below:





The SYFY Channel will be airing the first episode of season three of Lost Girl on January 14, 2013 at 10 pm, EST. On December 9, 2011, Kirk Hooper announced on the Showcase blog that Lost Girl had been renewed for a third season. It was later confirmed by Showcase the air dates for Season Three: Showcase will premiere it on January 6, 2013, making the SYFY broadcast of the first episode only a week later.



A press release describes Lost Girl, season three:
For Bo, Season Three is all about discovery. The victory in the final battle of Season Two has created new alliances but also reinvigorated old enemies - enemies like The Morrigan, whom Bo crossed in an attempt to bring peace to the Faedom. This year our favorite Succubus, who until now has famously refused to pick a side, will be forced to make a deadly decision - or risk a fate worse than death. Season Three also sees Bo make a romantic choice, as she commits to a real-life, grown-up relationship - but finds the road to commitment riddled with obstacles. Though she chooses the one she loves, can a Succubus ever be monogamous? Throughout the season, unexpected jeopardy stalks Bo and those she cares about. Though Bo battles many foes, her greatest enemy will prove to be the one that resides within herself. Bo will have to comes to terms with her own identity, and take on an ancient, almost unwinnable challenge if she hopes to finally lean the terrifying truth about who (or what) she might be destined to become.



Watch the Lost Girl season 3, 60-second teaser trailer for the Showcase debut below:

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

ELYSIUM AND OBLIVION - SIMILARITIES PURELY COINCIDENTAL?






OR










A comment left by my fellow blogger the Sci-Fi Fanatic left me wondering:
Are the similarities of Elysium and Oblivion purely coincidental?

Elysium is an original idea written and directed by Neill Blomkamp, the co-writer and director of District 9 (2009). The film stars Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, Sharlto Copley, Wagner Moura, Carly Pope and Alice Braga. It is scheduled to be released on August 9, 2013. Elysium takes place on a ravaged Earth and a space habitat named Elysium.

Oblivion is a science fiction film based on the Radical Comics graphic novel Oblivion created by Joseph Kosinski, but written by Arvid Nelson and illustrated by Andree Wallin. Oblivion will be directed by Kosinski, who co-wrote the screenplay with Karl Gajdusek and Michael Arndt. Interestingly enough, the graphic novel has not yet been released despite a release date of July 19 2011. As far as I know, Radical Comics has not published anything in over a year! It stars Tom Cruise, Olga Kurylenko, Andrea Riseborough, Morgan Freeman, Melissa Leo, Zoë Bell, and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. The film was initially scheduled to release on July 10, 2013. Since the 3D re-release of Jurassic Park was set for a July 19, 2013 release date, the project was moved forward to April 19, 2013.

Elysium’s plot description:
In the year 2159, two classes of people exist. The first are the very wealthy who live on Elysium, a pristine man-made space station similar in appearance to a Stanford torus built by the Armadyne Corporation. The rest live on an overpopulated, ruined Earth. Secretary Rhodes (Jodie Foster), a hard-nosed government official, will stop at nothing to enforce anti-immigration laws and preserve the luxurious lifestyle of the citizens of Elysium. That does not stop the people of Earth from trying to get in, by any means they can. When unlucky ex-con Max (Matt Damon) is backed into a corner, he agrees to take on a daunting mission that if successful will not only save his life, but could bring equality to these polarized worlds.

Oblivion’s plot description:
Jack Harper (Tom Cruise) is one of the last few drone repairmen stationed on Earth. Part of a massive operation to extract vital resources after decades of war with a terrifying threat known as the Scavs, Jack’s mission is nearly complete. Living in and patrolling the skies from thousands of feet above, his soaring existence is brought crashing down when he rescues an attractive female stranger from a downed spacecraft. Her arrival triggers a chain of events that forces him to question everything.

While the environments of both films look similar, the plots of the films seem dissimilar. Interesting as well is the film After Earth (originally known as 1000 A.E.) an upcoming American science-fiction thriller film directed by M. Night Shyamalan, starring real-life father and son Will and Jaden Smith as Cypher and Kitai Raige, also dealing with a devistade future Earth. I didn’t add this to my list of films that I’m looking forward to because I think M. Night Shyamalan is a terrible filmmaker.


My opinion is that the best film will be Elysium (August 9), based on Neill Blomkamp’s previous film District 9. However, both Oblivion (April 19) and After Earth (June 7) are being released before Elysium and I am concerned it may hurt its chances. What do you think?

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

A REVIEW OF THE GENRE MOVIES OF 2012


The genre movies of 2012 were plentiful, but the quality was less so. I attended more theatrical films this year than I have for many years. Partly, so that I could write more timely reviews for this blog, but also because I had been anticipating most of them long enough that I knew I didn't want to wait the extra four months before being able to rent them on disc. As I have written in this blog in the past, I am also a firm believer that if, as a genre fan, you wish more Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror films to be made, the best way to tell the film industry to do this is by seeing these films at the theater, where most of the profit for films is still made.

Here is a list of all the genre films I saw in 2012 and most of them I reviewed here in GOTG! I have listed them from best to worst, using my numerical grading system to place them in order.


THE CABIN IN THE WOODS - 96
JOHN CARTER - 96
PROMETHEUS - 95
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN - 95
THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY – 92 *
LOOPER - 91
TOTAL RECALL - 91
THE DARK KNIGHT RISES – 90
MEN IN BLACK 3 - 90
IRON SKY – 90
RED LIGHTS – 89
RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION - 88
UNDERWORLD: AWAKENING - 87
THE HUNGER GAMES - 86
DETENTION - 85
CHRONICLE - 82
BATTLESHIP - 82
LOCKOUT - 81
DREDD – 80
ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER – 79*
WEREWOLF: THE BEAST AMONG US – 78 *
BAIT – 75 *
STARSHIP TROOPERS: INVASION – 72 *
NAZIS AT THE CENTER OF THE EARTH – 70 *
THE TALL MAN – 65 *
THE DIVIDE – 63

* These films were not reviewed on GOTG! either from lack of time or lack of interest. I still have a difficult time mustering up the effort to write reviews of bad or boring films.

I’m looking forward to 2013 and the many genre films that will be released. At the top of my most anticipated genre movie releases for 2013 are: Pacific Rim, Star Trek: Into Darkness, Iron Man 3, Ender's Game, Elysium, Riddick, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Thor: The Dark World, The Man of Steel, World War Z, Oblivion, I, Frankenstein, and though technically not a SF, Fantasy or Horror film - Sin City: A Dame to Kill For.

I’d like to apologize ahead of time because this year I will not be reviewing every genre movie that I see in this blog. I almost made my goal of doing so in 2012 and even then I omitted a few – although only one of them was a theatrical viewing. I find the process of writing film reviews to be more work than fun and my primary goal in starting this blog was to have fun. The most pleasure I get from writing film reviews is the comments that I receive on them and lately there have been fewer than I would like. I hope that it is not the quality of the reviews themselves that have caused this sparsity of comments; but rather the ridiculous CAPTCHAs that Blogger uses to prevent spammers from posting comments. I find these extremely irritating and they have definitely reduced the number of comments that I post on other people’s blogs.

I will still be posting my opinions, my interests and the Zombzany videos on GOTG! I will also still be writing film reviews if time and interest permits.

Thank you to all the followers of this blog for reading and contributing comments to it and to anyone else who has taken the time to read or leave comments here.

Happy 2013 everyone!