Tagged: Sci-Fi

bobgreenberger100-3642068

Reboots abound!

bobgreenberger100-5877925With J.J. Abrams now confirmed as not only producing and scripting but also directing 2008’s Star Trek XI, the buzz has begun on the latest reboot of a beloved franchise. As one might imagine, fans of the series have been divided over whether or not this has been necessary, a debate we’ve all heard before.

The entire notion of a reboot is an interesting one because, looking back, reboots were largely throwing ideas against the wall to see what might stick. While there were fans of The Flash, there was certainly no groundswell of support demanding DC Comics bring Jay Garrick back. Instead, management created Showcase as a title to try new things and after three issues of straight-forward adventure, they thought it was time for something different. As legend has it, someone thought the time might be right for a new super-hero and all heads turned to the last editor with any success as characters without S-shields and bats: Julius Schwartz.

Instinctively, Schwartz knew Jay Garrick and his mercury-helmet felt too dated. Things in the 1950s were fresh and new, sleek and shiny. He kept the name and the powers and recreated from the ground up, perhaps pop culture’s first reboot. (more…)

shinning-9130348

Chiller debuts

chiller-1041529Chiller, a new cable TV channel from NBC Universal, launched today. It offers horror and thriller programming like Twin Peaks, Tales From the Crypt, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Night Gallery, American Gothic, Friday the 13th: The Series and other shows that never really fit on the Sci-Fi Channel. It also, as you would expect, be running movies in the same, uh, vein — Psycho, The Haunting, Showgirls, the usual.

But here’s the fun part. Earlier today, here’s what their website said tonight’s schedule was:

shinning-9130348

The Shinning? Och! The wee lad who’s been coding the website’s seen the Treehouse of Horror one taa many times! (Sadly, it’s been fixed now. Very hard to be chilling when people are laughing, I guess.)

Chiller is airing on Direct TV, channel 257; otherwise, complain to Dish TV or your local cable provider.

Writers take on JLA movie

jla1turner-8308610Via Sci-Fi Wire, Variety reports that Warner Brothers has hired husband and wife team Kieran and Michele Mulroney to write the script for its hoped-for Justice League of America movie. It’s the first major action the studio has taken on the project, the trade paper reported. The studio isn’t saying which heroes may be included in the film.

Development of the film is complicated by the fact that Warner has already revived its Batman and Superman film franchises, with Christian Bale’s Batman Begins and the upcoming The Dark Knight and Brandon Routh’s Superman Returns and its upcoming sequel. The studio is also developing a Wonder Woman film.

shaw_crewman-7865638Kieran and Michele Mulroney wrote the screenplay for the horror film Mirrors, which is in pre-production with Kiefer Sutherland attached. Kieran is also an actor, with credits in Enterprise, Seinfeld, and Star Trek: The Next Generation, among others.