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fter hearing Bryan Singer is interested in directing the next Star Trek film ("Singer Considers Trek Movie"), I have to say—why not? It's too bad that Bryan will have to start from scratch without the talent that produced the special effects and set designs. I hope that he lives up to his promise to produce a story that is "something big."
I would like to see a radical departure from the formula that has been the norm in many Trek movies. What I don't like is that the characters don't actually experience change. Data didn't have to die only to be revived as B4. I didn't think it was necessary to kill off one of the main characters for dramatic effect. I have liked the Trek films of the Next Generation era, but they have to grow up and be more in tune with today's audience.
Robert Lloyd
[address withheld by request]
f it wasn't for Lost having been such a big hit, then there wouldn't be any of the sci-fi shows (Ghost Whisperer, Invasion, etc.) on right now. Lost was the show that started it all, and it doesn't get any of the credit that it deserves. I think that sci-fi wasn't made for CBS or any of those big networks, because if they don't get "good" ratings then they'll just axe them without any other explanation than that the show did "poorly" when in fact it had a decent following each week. All they care about is how they did in the ratings field and not about the quality of the show. I feel that sci-fi is kind of like wine; it's an acquired taste, and not everyone enjoys it. I think that Threshold should at least finish the current season, and if ratings haven't improved then get rid of it, but not before. As for Firefly—I'm sure others would be thrilled if a station decided to pick it up again, but that might not happen because [creator] Joss [Whedon] has moved on to making other films and the actors might have gotten other jobs. However, the movie was a great big raspberry to the people at Fox for letting it go in the first place. While sci-fi isn't for everyone, those who do enjoy it hate it when the station heads decide to remove a show for no good reason, only that they didn't get huge ratings.
Megan Lantz
Bartlett(at)gateworld.net
et's see ... [Starship: Mutiny by Mike Resnick contains a] non-violent commander who ignores orders but gets results, strictly by-the-book first officer, broken-down starship banished from the front lines ... of course, it's the classic anime space opera
Irresponsible Captain Tyler! Oh, well ...
Edward J. Wood
edwoodjr(at)webtv.net
small revolution has recently come to my attention. Something with the three-letter extensions .cbr or .cbz. For the uninitiated, these are versions of the familiar ZIP and RAR files, used to contain high-quality scans of comic-book pages. One look tells me that this is to comics what MP3 is to music. It's also the answer to a prayer for those of us who collected comics as a kid, and would love to read the old issues again ... minus the often large expense and investment and time required to assemble a collection via comic-book conventions or specialist dealers.
Whole collections are out there, vast arrays of comics by title or series, in digital form. I suspect that, like VHS or DVD recording from TV, the legality of this is in a gray area. But, so far, no comic-book company is making angry noises. If they're smart, they'll keep it that way, as the enthusiasm of those making trading and buying such collections is providing invaluable free publicity. If the comics publishers are really smart, they'll jump on the bandwagon, offering superior products.
For example, it would be very tempting for both new collectors and older fans who can't afford the time or money to go after the paper products to be able to buy a nicely packaged collection. The entire run of, let's say the X-Men, could be produced on DVD for under $10, including a nice jacket and some liner notes. Worked right, this is a tremendous revenue stream and a clever way to allow kids, especially, to see comics they would likely never be able to afford for real.
Nathan Brazil
nathanbrazil(at)inkdigital.org
am a science-fiction fan. I have been a sci-fi fan since I first had my grandfather read John Carter of Mars to me. I sat on my father's lap and watched Star Trek in '66. He used to get me up in the middle of the night to watch reruns of Journey to the Center of the Earth. Pure science fiction at its very best for this little 8-year-old.
As I grew, I continued to read as much as I could. I went to every science-fiction film as it came out. Then one day I decided to check out a few fantasy books. I did this because they were always mixed in with the sci-fi books. After several tries, I just could not get into them. Magic has no place in sci-fi. Except for Lord of the Rings, which hit big-time when I was in junior high school, I just could not get into fantasy. I have, through the years, had several people tell me "You have to read this book, it is the book for people who hate fantasy," and when I read it, I found out they were half right, it was a book to hate.
Science fiction is a (sorta) fact-based story, or at least based on what could be in our future. Fantasy is based on ... well non-facts. Dragons are fun, wizards are great, but they never have anything to do with any kind of fact, any kind of science. I am not saying fantasy is bad, it has a very large audience out there and sells very well. I am just tired of having to see all the new releases in the science-fiction section filled with fantasy, much the same way that blues and jazz are mixed together. They are very two different forms of music! Fantasy and sci-fi are two very different forms of literature!
It's a rant, I know, but both deserve sections of their own in a bookstore.
Dave Clack
drclack(at)yahoo.com
'm outraged at the cancellation of my favorite new sci-fi show that's not on the SCI FI Channel, Threshold. I had been telling everyone I knew about this great new show they were missing, and that if they hadn't seen it from the beginning to watch through the end of the season-one episodes, and then catch up on the beginning during reruns, while waiting for the next new episodes to air, but it looks like that won't happen! This show had the makings of a great show! I couldn't wait each week for more info on the "glass forest" and the hallucinations (if they were hallucinations), and the reason for what had happened.
Brent Spiner and the rest of the cast were a perfect mix of actors for this show, and with Catherine Bell coming on, I was sure that, given a chance, Threshold was going to be the breakout hit of the season, but CBS was the wrong place for such a good show. Threshold was meant for cable, where they can afford to build an audience, a following, and repeat the show enough times per week to get more people involved! The SCI FI Channel, USA Network or SpikeTV would all have been great places to air either first-run episodes or to do like they do with Surface and air it on broadcast TV and repeat showings the same week on cable. I believe this strategy has done well for shows like Surface on SCI FI, or 24 on F/X, etc.
I would personally buy the show sight unseen on DVD, just to continue following the story, and I would welcome the show to be seen on cable in any timeslot; again, just to see what was going to happen next! If there is a campaign to save the show, I'd like to know about it so I could join in the campaign. CBS is too worried about instant ratings to air a show that takes time to develop a following and a loyal weekly audience willing to follow the story! Cable always does better with these shows, and the best is when cable and broadcast team up together to push a show.
A very disappointed, and disillusioned, Threshold fan,
Bill Rosen
mplsbill(at)earthlink.net
he Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan were pinnacles for their times of fantasy classics that led us, along with their pivotal character(s), from the ordinary world into the realm of the extraordinary. Walt Disney Pictures originally displayed their talents for combining live action and CGI in this genre with Kevin Flynn's odyssey into the Troniverse. Now Andrew Adamson's The Chronicles of Narnia is revitalizing another popular genre icon for a whole new generation. The acclaimed novel by C.S. Lewis with Walt Disney's legacy at the helm is a perfect pairing that could not be paralleled anywhere else.
Tilda Swinton as the White Witch is a formidable casting choice in the role of the legendary villainess, and Oscar gold surely awaits this gracefully talented actress. Liam Neeson's distinguished voice as Aslan adds yet another credit to the actor's meteoric rise in such great films that include Star Wars I and Batman Begins. Everyone else in the cast, including especially William Moseley, Skandar Keynes, Anna Popplewell and Georgie Henley as the Pevensie children, deserves congratulations. And Jim Broadbent as Professor Kirke with the film's last part of dialogue, "Try me," gives the audience a most fitting ending. Ten out of ten.
Michael Anthony Basil
mike.basil(at)sympatico.ca
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