SciFi Surplus #075 Philippa Ballentine Interview
September 26, 2008
We’ve got a great show on the way! SciFi Surplus is all about giving you an alternative to regular talk radio. We give you timely news that you care about and discuss geeky topics from SciFi, fantasy and genre fiction. We also try to work in as much fun as we can. Our big interview is Phillipa Ballantine, podcaster and author of Chasing the Bard and Digital Magic. In the news: possible Will Smith follow-up projects, information about the Dark Knight DVD, progress on the Spider-man Broadway production, and SciFi Surplus listener feedback.
SciFi Surplus is presented by GoToMeeting. For a free trial, visit “GoToMeeting.com/techpodcasts.”
I’m Casey and joining me on the show today is… (BriAnna is watching the 2-hour premier of Grey’s Anatomy and I have sequestered myself in this “undisclosed secure location.”)
- Science Officer Jeromy
- Chief Writer Bob
- Audio Manager Darren
Let’s get our geek on!
Anti-witness News
- Will Smith Sequels And Prequels
- The Dark Knight DVD Is Packed
- Spidey Will Be On Broadway A Year Early
- Heroes Ratings Are Down
- The Chinese Are Working On An “Imposibility Space Drive”
The Interview of Superlative Importance: Philippa Ballentine
Get more information about Pip and her projects at these addresses:
Third Part
Feedback
- See the Google G1 Phone at http://www.stuff.co.nz/4703915a28.html
- More information about National Novel Writing Month is here: http://www.nanowrimo.org/
Rod Roddenberry Documentary for Dad
September 27th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
About the comment of Will Smith’s “less then stellar” movies. You can hate on them all you guys want, but “less then stellar” is not accurate. Here’s how his last geek based movies have done:
Hancock (2008) - $227,946,274
I Am Legend (2007) - $256,339,571
The Pursuit of Happyness - $162,586,036
Hitch - $177,575,142
Shark Tale - $160,762,022
I Robot - $144,738,046
Bad Boys II - $138,396,624
Men In Black II - $190,418,803
Not one flop in the bunch. I happened to like most of them as did the movie going audience. I have no clue what this geek hatred for Will Smith is about but you guys need to get real. Will Smith does not tend to put out “less then stellar” movies, as the numbers indicate. And the “Comic Book Guy” argument of “just becuase it makes money doesn’t make it good” is childish. They make LOTS of money, that’s the point here, they draw in audience and the audiences respond to them by shelling out the bucks to make them big grossing flicks. So good or bad - in the bias geek opinion - “less the stellar is inaccurate. Period.
Peace
Dafixer
(aka Umar)
September 29th, 2008 at 1:10 am
Yeah, there’s never much fact-checking associated with SFS, but it’s entirely the host & staff’s opinions so that’s okay … and I’d love to listen to the show if only it were iTunes playable (again). Every other ep downloads to iTunes, but for some reason the player won’t recognize it as ‘loadable’ onto a player. I’m on the go, so sitting at my PC and listening isn’t really an option.
Oh, well …
October 2nd, 2008 at 8:56 pm
OMG!!! You guys need to check your facts before making a carte blanche statement about Will Smith’s movies. In addition to the list provided above please add Independence Day, which as of December 15, 1996 gross $306,124,059 (USA) according to Internet Movie Data Base.
BTW, this is the greatest podcast and it is the second to my iPod playlist. Keep up the great work.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116629/business
October 2nd, 2008 at 9:16 pm
Erm … well, for what it’s worth, I, ROBOT cost $120M (IMDB.com), so $144M is actually not that great a figure utilizing Hollywood math (which says that, in order for a film to be considered successful it must gross at least twice its budget b/c of all hidden costs) …
BAD BOYS II cost $130M with a gross of $138M, so you can see where this may go … of course, there are others that show much stronger profitability (HITCH?!?!), too. You can point and click all you like to see where the business end of the Fresh Prince gets ya.
Again, it’s only an opinion. Don’t read too much into it. One person’s measure is another person’s bane, and, like Forrest Gump said, “Stupid is as stupid does.”
Personally, I think Will Smith makes “good” films, not great films. He’s a solid, reliable talent, and, unlike most actors, he’s got a pretty solid track record that any studio would welcome.
October 5th, 2008 at 6:28 am
Hey,
I have to agree with Edward and others about Will Smith movies which are always entertaining and you get your moneys’ worth with explosions and swagger.
I also wanted to mention how much I enjoyed the interview with Phillipa. I’ll be checking out her projects now. As a Canadian who travels the world and has spent quite a bit of time with Kiwis and Auzzies, I can agree with the fact that America has different sounding literature than other English speaking countries. I suspect it stems from our educational priorities which stress more classical literature from the Mother Country while American schools might have more focus on American classic writers.