Sundance: Film fest welcomes futuristic flicks

The Sundance Film Festival is boldly going where independent directors rarely travel: into the realm of science fiction.

1

1

A team of restoration and digital effects artists took the final episode of that trilogy ("Enlightenment" -- a well-written, high-concept adventure featuring a simulated sailing race in deep space) and laid in 21st Century CG visuals.

7

7

In a stunning international debut, the apocalypse thriller hauled in over $220 million in one weekend.

8

10

"Star Trek" fans know there were two pilots for the original series. The first, "The Cage," was rejected by NBC for being "too cerebral" (ah, some things never change).

23

34

To be clear, Fox isn't getting off cheaply; when all is said and done it's going to be on the hook for at least a couple hundred million dollars in production and marketing costs. If the flick fails, it will hurt.

2

4

Americans generally like to hear good news. They like to believe that a new President will right old wrongs, that clean energy will replace dirty oil, and that fresh thinking will set the economy straight. American pundits tend to restrain their pessimism and to hope for the best.

1

1

When we beamed our lists of favorite science fiction movies onto the pages of Wired.com, we knew some of our readers would think we were goofier than Jar Jar Binks.

1

1

Such is the case with the premiere of ABC's V, which debuted to excellent numbers last night – much better than most were predicting. 13.9 million Viewers tuned into the premiere episode,

2

2

Imagine this. At a time of political turmoil, a charismatic, telegenic new leader arrives virtually out of nowhere. He offers a message of hope and reconciliation based on compromise and promises to marshal technology for a better future that will include universal health care.

17

40

Citizenship and Voting should not be given to all for Free

.Starship Troopers is a science fiction novel written by Robert Heinlein. There was also a movie. I was discussing this recently and was struck by the political system of the fictional world federation.

5

57

From the Files of Escape Velocity - 'Scream Quietly' by Sheila Crosby - Part 1 of 2

Oaklands, Cathedral Rise, Lincolnshire, England. 7th July, 1849

4

1

Most major religions, going back thousands of years, tell stories about the End of the World. And post-apocalyptic fiction is perennially popular. So why, in the last twenty years, has the apocalypse ceased to matter?

4

1

Atomic scale computing. Science fiction now on the cusp of reality. This could take computing into light wave speeds. Very interesting developments.

1

0

Science fiction writer Karl Schroeder, author of The Sunless Countries (reviewed here), is earning his masters degree in "strategic foresight," or futurism, at the Ontario College of Art and Design. He told us about how futurism is influencing his work.

1

0

Is science fiction "feminized"? Do women exist to destroy all that is cool and inspiring about space opera? That's what one blogger argues in a post that's stirred up controversy this week. But is his opinion really the problem?

3

8

Wow, thirty years! The Alien trilogy stills packs a punch even after I've watched it many times. The sign of a good movie is when repeated viewings leave you still wanting more. A Classic!

1

0

From the file marked "Evidently, many scientists have never seen even one scary sci-fi movie": The Defense Department is funding research into battlefield robots that power themselves by eating human corpses. What could possibly go wrong?

2

3

Getting Ready for Halloween Poll: What's the scariest movie ever?

"All Hallow’s Eve" is just around the corner! This means time to come up with a clever costume, stock up on treats to give out, and above all, get frightened by your favorite scary movie.

37

201

I'm a little worried about ABC's thinking behind this latest move. As announced, the remake of the classic '80s mini-series V will launch on November 4th. But now, after four consecutive episodes, it's going on an extended hiatus.

1

1

My 13-year-old nephew is a voracious reader, but he tends to limit his reading to science fiction. He recently read "Brave New World," because he thought it was sci-fi. Any suggestions on how to expand his horizons to include other genres? —B.M., St. Paul, Minn.

7

13

Two articles: HG Wells on Google: which of his predictions came true?

9

9

If you were a S.F. nut in your youth like me, you will hear strains of "Harry Seldon" in this book review of Surowiecki's book "The Wisdom of Crowds".

1

0

Margaret Atwood's 2003 novel, Oryx and Crake, may have been unprecedented in the history of dystopian literature for conjuring a terrible near future and then dialing it up to an apocalyptic one.

7

7

Robots that can make their own decisions have so far been confined to science fiction movies, but "iCub," a child-sized figure with big eyes and a white face, is trying hard to turn fiction into reality.

0

0

Government involvement in alien-themed movies continues to the present day.

9

3

Alien lovers who were disappointed with Hollywood’s latest extra-terrestrial offerings - tame Caribbean blue spandex aliens, recently previewed in James Cameron’s highly anticipated film ‘Avatar’ - can look forward to District 9.

12

55