SciFi Surplus Podcast #051
June 27, 2008
Topics: Saturn Awards, Tricia Helfer, Marvel Studios, Joss Whedon, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-along Blog
Casey: Thank you for taking your valuable time to listen to us. This is show number 51 on the feed June 26, 2008. Our big topic in the Council of Great Relevance today is Computers is Science Fiction. In the news is the Saturn Awards, Tricia Helfer, Marvel Studios, and Joss Whedon’s Sing-along Blog.
Casey: You can make contact with SciFi Surplus using the Temporal Temps Hotline by calling 801-938-5525. Our Skype username is “scifisurplus.” For all of this information again or send and email go to scifisurplus.com and click “talk to us.”
Casey: I’m Casey and joining me on the show today is Darren, and Jeromy …Now that the introductions are out of the way, Let’s get our geek on!
Anti-witness News
Jeromy: “Lost” took home 4 Saturn awards for best network television series, the best actor in Matthew Fox, and the best supporting actor in Michael Emerson, and the best supporting actress in Elizabeth Mitchell. The 34th Annual Saturn Awards are presented by The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films.
- Best Science Fiction Film: Cloverfield
- Best Fantasy Film: Enchanted
- Best Horror Film: Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
- Best Action/Adventure/Thriller Film: 300
- Best Actor: Will Smith (I Am Legend)
- Best Actress: Amy Adams (Enchanted)
- Best Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men)
- Best Supporting Actress: Marcia Gay Harden (The Mist)
- Best Performance by a Younger Actor: Freddie Highmore (August Rush)
- Best Direction: Zack Snyder (300)
- Best Writing: Brad Bird (Ratatouille)
- Best Costume: Collen Atwood (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street)
- Best Makeup: Ve Neill, Martin Samuel (Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End)
- Best Special Effects: Scott Ferrar, Scott Benza, Russell Earl, John Frazier (Transformers)
- Best Animated Film: Ratatouille
- Best International Film: Eastern Promises
- Best Network Television Series: Lost
- Best Syndicated/Cable Television Series: Dexter
- Best Presentation on Television: Family Guy: Blue Harvest
- Best Actor on Television: Matthew Fox (Lost)
- Best Actress on Television: Jennifer Love Hewitt (Ghost Whisperer)
- Best Supporting Actor on Television: Michael Emerson (Lost)
- Best Supporting Actress on Television: Summer Glau (Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles), Elizabeth Mitchell (Lost)
- Best DVD Release: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
- Best DVD Special Edition Release: Blade Runner five-disc ultimate edition
- Best DVD Classic Film Release: The Monster Squad
- Best DVD Collection: Mario Bava Box Sets 1 & 2
- Best Television Series Release on DVD: Heroes
- Best Retro Television Series Release on DVD: Twin Peaks
Darren: Battlestar Galactica’s number Six, Tricia Helfer, is set to co-star in Fox’s pilot “Inseparable.” The show is about a split-personality forensic psychiatrist who’s dark half is a smooth talking criminal. Helfer will play a different psychiatrist who works for the police.
Jeromy: Jon Favreau says Marvel Studios has decided which supers will be part of the 2011 film, The Avengers. The Iron Man director told USA Today the team will be made up of Captain America, Iron Man, the Hulk, and Ant-Man.
Jeromy: TV Guide is reporting Katie Cassidy will not return to the CW’s Supernatural for season 4 in the fall. Cassidy plays the recurring character, Ruby, and has been axed for bugetary reasons. The show’s creator, Eric Kripke says there will be new female characters and there is a plan that is as exciting as any they’v ever had.
Jeromy: There is now a teaser trailer online for Joss Whedon’s new web movie project. Dr. Horrible’s Sing-along Blog stars Neil Patrick Harris as a misunderstood supervillain who is always being beaten up by his superhero nemisis, played by Nathan Fillion. You can find it at doctorhorrible dot net or check our show notes for the link.
The Council of Great Relevance: Computers in Science Fiction
Steph: Someone was talking about the movie “War Games” earlier this week….and then in our interview with Ernie Cline, he brought up the Last Starfighter (and its ilk)….
Page with Wargames still frame: link
…think about it, we could talk about “Hal”, and the computer in Star Trek, and the ways that computers were depicted in the past, vs. how they are now…
In the Windows NT line there is a “Hardware Abstraction Layer” acronyzed HAL.
Many people have named there computers HAL
2001 capitalized on the fear of technology i.e. how a computer can turn against us.
…plus, I could wax nostalgic for my old commodore 64.
Jeromy: I was a master of the Commodore 64’s arch rival: the Atari 800.
Jeromy: Another film where a computer system played an important role was Brazil. It was literally a bug (a dead one) that triggers the whole series of events. I liked the alternate view of the future with tiny monitors that were expanded with Fresnel lenses. The movie in a way predicted some things about the internet and how it interacts with our lives.
Got to brnig up (again) BSG and how the computers on Galactica are not networked to avoid viruses and other security holes.
Hey, we need to bring up Hackers again.
Jenica: Jurassic Park - “It’s a unix system. I know this.”
Steph: magic laptop from Independence Day
Jeromy: Not trying to be a spoiler but I had a hard time grasping how he could write a virus that was compatible with the alien computers.
Steph: seeing the code in the Matrix
John: the TOS Star Trek computer: mention the way it chattered away really loudly, like an old typewriter, whenever it was working. Also funny: none of their computers had keyboards or monitors! Just random buttons and lights.
My favorite computer is the one from Harlan Ellison’s 70’s sf show “The Starlost”:
This studio runs on Linux
We’re watching Metropolis, the 1927 silent film in the SFS DVD club and we’re all giving our input. Use the Temporal Temps hot-line to tell us your thoughts before Monday, June 30th.
DVD upconvert
Topic: Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs
Topic: Jeromy has a story about a bra-powered iPod. Please tell us what’s going on with that.
Casey: Thanks go out to Darren, and Jeromy. Nice job! If you like SciFi Surplus and you’d like to help out, please take the time to make a donation at SciFi Surplus dot com. Even a dollar or two helps. Just find “Support SciFi Surplus” on our website. For everyone here, I’m Casey and we’ll talk to you next time!
