Beam Me Up # 477 is now online

Episode 477 centers around a nice story, Stars in Her Eyes, by Vaughn Stanger which I run in the last half of the program. 

Articles this program included a heart felt good-by to John Glenn, books that may have changed the science fiction landscape and speaking of landscapes, in Cassini's final year, the probe will make many new close approaches to Saturn's major moon Titan which it will record as well as many of the inner rings which has been slated for the probe to dive through. This goes on until September of 2017, at which time it has been programmed to Saturn's cloud tops. 

Click   HERE  for podcast audio

Beam Me Up Episode 474 now onlone

Episode 474 came together this week without much of a problem.

I start with a cut to give me a few moments to get organized.  Next I travel over to the Beam Me Up blog wrfrbeameup.blogspot.com.

First on the agenda is the loss of the ESA's Schiaparelli lander.   Next SyFy has picked up Van Helsing with an order for 13 new episodes. 

Hubble continues to do phenomenal science.   SyFy has pushed back Star Trek Discovery.

Rosetta considered successful.  

Musk still thinks Mars colonization viable. 

Osirus Rex mission still go. 

Dave Scholes The Real Dream World is our story of the afternoon. 

Podcast 474 HERE

Enjoy

Syfy renews Van Helsing

Syfy has renewed it’s post-apocalyptic vampire survival drama, series Van Helsing.

SyFy has oked a 13 episode second season, set to begin production next January.

The plot of Van Helsing focuses on Vanessa Van Helsing, a descendant of vampire slayer
Abraham Van Helsing, who awakens from a coma several years later in a now post-
apocalyptic devastated world, where the vampires have control of most of the world. She
awakens among a group of humans holed up in a building trying to survive, where she
discovers her blood has the ability to turn the vampires human again, which makes her a
target for the vampire Ancients.

Van Helsing views Fridays at 10pm

For more information and links, click HERE

Beam Me Up #470 Now Online

Beam Me Up podcast, # 470,  is now online and ready to be downloaded or listened to directly.

This week I read from the blog concerning Mars rovers. Plus a rather unusual mission patch that NASA has designed  for certain future missions.

The bulk of the hour however is Galleon by Matthew Harrison a tale of a far future colony whos  roots are planted firmly in our past.

Click HERE for the podcast. 

Beam Me Up #470 Now Online

Beam Me Up podcast, # 470,  is now online and ready to be downloaded or listened to directly.

This week I read from the blog concerning Mars rovers. Plus a rather unusual mission patch that NASA has designed  for certain future missions.

The bulk of the hour however is Galleon by Matthew Harrison a tale of a far future colony whos  roots are planted firmly in our past.

Click HERE for the podcast. 

Beam Me Up #470 Now Online

Beam Me Up podcast, # 470,  is now online and ready to be downloaded or listened to directly.

This week I read from the blog concerning Mars rovers. Plus a rather unusual mission patch that NASA has designed  for certain future missions.

The bulk of the hour however is Galleon by Matthew Harrison a tale of a far future colony whos  roots are planted firmly in our past.

Click HERE for the podcast. 

 

Star Trek Fan Film Rules Guidelines

Barry sent me an article recently released by CBS and Paramount which contains very strict guidelines

1. The film can't exceed 30 minutes

2. The title can't contain the words "Star Trek," but must contain a subtitle using the phrase "A Star Trek Fan Production"

3. The film must use all original footage

4. The film can't use bootleg merchandise. It all has to be official. 

5. No one can be compensated for the work.

6. No one can make money off the film. 

7. The film must be family friendly. That means no profanity, nudity, alcohol, drugs, etc.

8. The film must have a disclaimer in the opening credits

9. The creators of the fan film cannot try to copyright or trademark their work

10. The film cannot be affiliated with CBS or Paramount 

These restrictions mean you can no longer boldly go where no man has gone before when creating fan films devoted to  Star Trek

 For the complete article you can go HERE  or enter the URL directly  http://www.startrek.com/fan-films 

Star Trek Actor Dead

I received a rather upsetting news. 

Actor Anton Yelchin died Sunday morning in what his representative confirmed as a “fatal traffic collision,”. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office said that his body “was found pinned between a car and a gate at a home in Studio City, California” and that an exact cause of death will not be announced until the autopsy is complete. He was 27.

Fans of the Star Trek movie franchise should recognize Anton Yelchin who begin his acting career appearing in shows like ER, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. In 2006, he received critical acclaim for his performance in crime drama Alpha Dog and starred as the title character in the next year’s Charlie Bartlett.

More info can be had by selecting HERE

Wikipedia info HERE 


scbuzz has left a new comment on your post "Star Trek Actor Dead":

Basically, his (recalled) Jeep Grand Cherokee came out of park and rolled back pinning him between the vehicle and gate. Said death was due to asphyxia (i.e. crushed) :( 

I don't usually quote my blog replies, but as you can see it lent new info to the article - Thanks scbuzz

Review: Chappie

starring         Sigourney Weaver  

    Hugh Jackman
    Sharlto Copley
    Dev Patel
    Ninja
    Yolandi Visser
    Jose Pablo Cantillo

Budget  $49 million
Box office  $102.1 million

This movie has the feel of Section Nine, but instead of aliens we
have robots.  Also consider Terminator.  But instead of an all seeing malevolent AI, we are treated to a child-like Chappie who wants nothing more than to simply fit in.

Check out wikipedia's impression of Chappie here  Wikipedia-chappie

Chappie was a devilishly difficult film to get into, but once you have a handle on the motivation you start building affinity for the main characters, though Weaver and Jackman seem to be on remote control, little more than caricatures.  You are left contemplating the movie's namesake and it's small cadre of people whom he calls family.  By this time the film has picked back up, but you are emotionally vested.

I would give this film an 8 or maybe 7.5 because it takes so long to get into the movie.



  

Mark has been talking about CBS dropping Super Girl, which has become a fast favorite.  There was hope that CW, which it did, would pick the program up (The CW is co-owned by CBS and Warner Brothers)

The announcement went out Thursday the 19th of May and the Super girl series will begin with the start of the 2016 continuing into the 2017 prime

time season.

Super Girl will play Monday 8:00-9:00 PM 

Read more by selecting MORE INFO

015 Nebula awards have been released.

From IO9    The 2015 Nebula awards have been released.  There  were a healthy mix of  print and digital.  What's more the awards were dominated by women this year. 

from the article

The science fiction world has had its share of drama with the Hugo Awards as various slates have worked aggressively to push against the growing numbers of women and people of color appearing on award ballots. The Nebula Awards have demonstrated, for two years in a row, that science fiction and fantasy literature remains a strong, inclusive body of literature.

For a complete article select the LINK


Novel

    Uprooted, Naomi Novik  
    Raising Caine, Charles E. Gannon 
    The Fifth Season, N.K. Jemisin   
    Ancillary Mercy, Ann Leckie
    The Grace of Kings, Ken Liu
    Barsk: The Elephants’ Graveyard, Lawrence M. Schoen   
    Updraft, Fran Wilde 

Novella

    Binti, Nnedi Okorafor
    Wings of Sorrow and Bone, Beth Cato   
    The Bone Swans of Amandale, C.S.E. Cooney  
    The New Mother, Eugene Fischer
    The Pauper Prince and the Eucalyptus Jinn, Usman T. Malik
    Waters of Versailles’’, Kelly Robson



Novelette
  
    Our Lady of the Open Road, Sarah Pinsker
    Rattlesnakes and Men, Michael Bishop
    And You Shall Know Her by the Trail of Dead, Brooke Bolander
    Grandmother-nai-Leylit’s Cloth of Winds, Rose Lemberg
    The Ladies’ Aquatic Gardening Society, Henry Lien
    The Deepwater Bride, Tamsyn Muir


Short Story

    Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers, Alyssa Wong
    Madeleine, Amal El-Mohtar
    Cat Pictures Please, Naomi Kritzer
    Damage, David D. Levine
    When Your Child Strays From God, Sam J. Miller
    Today I Am Paul, Martin L. Shoemaker

Beam Me Up episode bmu_466 ia Online!

Episode 466 of Beam Me Up

I play Sail away by STYX  and I talk about recent 'of interest' here on the blog.

This week I open with STYX Come Sail Away.  You wouldn't think it had a science fiction connection, but it does!  Listen close. 

Next I head to the blog with articles like (all tongue in cheek mind you) strange ways to die in space.

There is some breaking news concerning CBS'Supergirl.

And the story for this week: Automatic Sky by Stephen S. Powers


Link to podcast

SyFy Renews "The Magicians" For A Second Seasons

Syfy has announced that the popular series The Magicians has been renewed for a 13 episode second season that should air some time in 2017.

Check out the full article by clicking HERE 

Space 1999 Behind the Scenes

Hey, were you a fan (like someone that will remain nameless) of the 1970s British TV science
fiction series Space 1999?  if you were then you will flip over this behind the scenes short that
shows the model building in action.

Behind the scenes film

Behind the scenes web page

"Space1999 Year1 Title". Via Wikipedia.

Beam Me Up # 451 Now Online

I start the program with a list I love (The Darwin Award) and Joe helped light the fire.
Here we are looking at a 20 year study of the award and results.

How about a cut by Patti Smith singing an ode to the passing of the Aqua Aqua Team Hunger Force called Aqua Team Dream?

The first story for the afternoon "A Bright Future" by Jamie Lackey. A good robot story with one of the best realizations of city so sleazy and filthy that you will want to bathe afterwards!

 From the blog:
bad news from SyFy
The Universe

The ending story, "The Oricle is Never Wrong" by J.C. Bedford

You can log to this podcast episode HERE

Syfy Officially cancels Haven

Yep you heard correctly, it is now official, after 5 seasons, Syfy has canceled "Haven" - although 13 episodes still remain.    

These remaining episodes  will will of course air, starting October 8th

BMU #448 is now online

This week I do a live gig! Mainly for the extra time to get the story "A Matter of Character" by Ed McKeown, ready.   It still had glitches, but not so bad. 

Next, from the blog  Kallimus says goodby for now.  

David Scholes tells us that his newest book is on  Amazon.  

NASA is showing great interest in Shackleton's crater.  

The Star Trek merch store has a new item that I am sure all Trekies would love to add to their collections.  

I review Jupiter acceding. 

Lastly:  I found an article that speculated on China's capabilities of landing a man on the moon. 

You can go to the podcast episode directly  HERE   or log to the podcast HERE

Review: Jupiter Ascending

 Cast

Mila Kuni as Jupiter Jones

Channing Tatum as Caine 

Sean Bean as Stinger 

Apini Douglas Booth as Titus Abrasax 

Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Famulus 

Terry Gilliam as the Seal and Signet Minister 

Charlotte Beaumont as Kiza 

Tim Pigott-Smith as Malidictes 

Edward Hogg as Chicanery 

Night Nikki 

Amuka-Bird as Diomika Tsing 

Vanessa Kirby as Katharine Dunlevy 

Maria Doyle Kennedy as Aleksa 

Christina Cole as Gemma Chatterjee 

The main plot revolves around Mila Kuni in the guise of Jupiter Jones, a cleaning woman who is disenchanted with her lot in life.  At least that is what I could glean from the first third of the film.  The plot seems to jump forwards and back in time, while characters come and go and change. 

It seems there is a worm hole in Jupiter's atmosphere  that is used by the "owner of Earth" to come and go as he pleases.  

I would love to tell you how much I loved this movie.  The CGI is great, costumes make sense and the special effects are mind bending.  But it is all attached to  an extraordinarily confusing screenplay. I really can not, in good conscience,  recommend Jupiter Ascending, its confusing, hard to follow and the end results are an unwatchable film. 

In best out of 10, I can only give it a five for visuals.  Maybe rent it if you are still curious, otherwise, just walk away.....


Additional comments by Kallimus

Have to agree. 99 cent movie rental at best. Don't waste even 2.99 on this one. Wait for it to show up for free, or a very cheap rental. Right on every count there. It should have been a great movie, and maybe would have been, if they had done it in two parts or so. A fair comparison I think would be trying to shove all three lord of the rings into one movie, and try to understand it then. Agree 110% on this one. 

Review: Edge of Tomorrow

Here is a list of the major starring cast members:

Tom Cruise as Major William Cage 

Emily Blunt as Sergeant Rita Rose Vrataski 

Bill Paxton as Master Sergeant Farell 

Brendan_Gleeson as General Brigham 

Kick Gurry as Griff

Got a chance to see the newest Tom Cruise vehicle "Edge of Tomorrow". Acted in fairly predictable fashion by master Cruise himself. The really fun part was no quite phoned in by Bill Paxton who played Master Sergeant Farell.

The best way to review and describe this film.....imagine Groundhog Day, but with an extremely bad attitude and gunfire.  Yeah, that about covers.  Until Major William Cage "mans up" and "grows a pair" does things start to go his way, but it is made amply clear that the day has "restarted" many many times, just by the shear repetition it takes to get a moment in time just right, meaning when he isn't being munched on by a mimic. 

Edge of Tomorrow is often "gripping  well-acted, funny, and clever in healthy doses of both.  The invasion and aliens are horrific and menacing, but the interaction between cast members is  both funny and clever.  

I could go on with a more healthy description but by now you know that I hate to be a spoiler even if it is the disk version. 

As a recommendation I would suggest that if you saw Groundhog Day and found the premise engaging, you might want to give the high octane science fiction version a try. 

I have friends give the film a high 5 or 6, and frankly I honestly have to rate it higher for all the reasons listed above, so its a strong 7.  Bit derivative but high energy enough to set if apart. 

Certainly not a waste of time.  Check it out. 

Review: Interstellar

 Interstellar  



Directed by Christopher Nolan

Running time 169 minutes

Budget $165 million  Box Office $672.7



Cast (partial listing)

Matthew McConaughey as Joseph
Anne Hathaway as Dr. Amelia Brand,
Michael Caine as Dr. John Brand
Casey Affleck as Tom
Ellen Burstyn as elderly Murphy
John Lithgow as Donald, Cooper's father-in-law
William Devane as Williams, a NASA board member
Matt Damon as Dr. Hugh Mann
Bill Irwin as robots TARS (voice and puppetry) and CASE (puppetry)
Josh Stewart as robot CASE (voice)

The first thing to look at in Interstellar is the out of this world cast!  Michael Caine  -  Ellen Burstyn, Pay attention, It wasn't just a small walk on part for her, but an important almost narrator.  The film is rife with instances where something is not what it appears.  John Lithgow in a part that reminds us just how good of an actor he can be.  And William Devane who has been one of my favorites for some time now,   Lets not forget about the "new" kids on the block, but are every bit as fantastic actors.   Matthew McConaughey spins this film in his hand. He was a perfect choice for the lead. Matt Damon really took a part that stretched his ability and he rose to the challenge.  The robots were a bit weird but what a freshness, non_ humanoid and still interesting and engaging, plus not stooping to robot cliches like jerky movements and that emotionless voice.

The movie premise is that the Earth is dieing.  Whole crops and even crop species are becoming extinct.   This galvanizes a super secret agency to begin with a plan to find an alternative place for humans to live.  

A select crew is chosen which will cold sleep it out to Saturn where a small wormhole has been discovered and a previous exploratory mission has already entered.  The plan being to follow the first mission in along the same trajectory to follow up on the first information block that made it back through.

And then let the weirdness begin.  Loose ends tied up, help comes from the most unusual corners.

I am reluctant to be a spoiler.  The movie as a whole is a strong 9 to 9.5, but the stuff they got wrong was done in spectacular fashion.  Watch the baseball game towards the end of the movie.

I really can't go further without really becoming a spoiler so I will end with a solid 9 maybe 9.5 well worth checking out.  

link to Wikipedia Interstellar movie