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>From cn577@cleveland.freenet.edu Tue Aug 17 13:46:19 1993
Subject: CYBERSPACE VANGUARD 1:5
Copyright 1993, Cyberspace Vanguard Magazine
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| C Y B E R S P A C E |
| V A N G U A R D |
| News and Views of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Universe |
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| cn577@cleveland.freenet.edu Cyberspace Vanguard@1:157/564 |
| PO Box 25704, Garfield Hts., OH 44125 USA |
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| TJ Goldstein, Editor Sarah Alexander, Administrator |
| tlg4@po.cwru.edu aa746@po.cwru.edu |
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Volume 1 August 15, 1993 Issue 5
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
--!1!-- Ramblings of a Deranged Editor
--!2!-- Mysteries from Beyond the Scifi Channel: Why
DR. FRANKLIN RUEHL Can't Be Abducted By Space Aliens
--!3!-- The Illusion of Falling: KENNY BATES Makes His Mark On Filmmaking
--!4!-- PETER CUSHING And The Mystery Of The Missing Films: Trying
To Write A Book About The Master Of Horror
--!5!-- Guesting for the Old Comics Curmudgeon -- Asserting Your
Independents
--!6!-- Reviews by EVELYN C. LEEPER
--!7!-- SF Calendar: What's Coming Up in the Near Future
--!8!-- All The News That's Fit To Transmit
--!8!-- SPOILERS AHOY/Including Episode Guide For HIGHLANDER Season One
--!9!-- Publications and Conventions
--!10!-- Administrivia
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--!1!-- Ramblings of a Deranged Editor
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We're baaaaaack ...
Last issue I rambled on quite a bit, so this time I'm going to make it
short and (hopefully) sweet.
First, thanks to all the people who wrote in offering help. I believe
that we finally got back to everyone, so if you haven't heard, we might not
have gotten your letter. Feel free to write us again. We've gotten a few
people to do specific subgenres, such as television, books, etc., so what
would be nice now is for people to write in with article ideas, (A query
about an article idea will definitely get a quicker response. An article
will most likely be tagged for reading in my "copious spare time" -- and if
you're a regular reader, by now you know what an oxymoron that is. If
you've queried me first I'll know to look out for it.
Second ... this issue is going to be short on articles and long on
news. Because we didn't run much last issue, we found ourselves
backlogged, and a surprising amount of it was still current. Of the
interviews we are carrying this month, we've got Dr. Franklin Rhuel, the
host, creator, and brains behind the Scifi Channel's MYSTERIES FROM BEYOND
THE OTHER DOMINION. It's a bit weird, but if you like that sort of thing,
it's worth a look. Then we've got Kenny Bates, the man who is responsible
for William Shatner falling off a mountain. And last but not least,
Deborah Del Vecchio and Tom Johnson, authors of PETER CUSHING: THE
GENTLEMAN OF HORROR AND HIS 91 FILMS. They give us an interesting
perspective not only on the man himself, but what it's like to try and
track things down in the murky world of films.
Also, we are thrilled to announce that Hugo nominee Evelyn C. Leeper
has joined our ranks as a reviewer. If you are on the main networks (or if
you get Lan's Lantern) you've probably seen her stuff already, and know how
lucky we are to have her. (Rick will probably join her next issue.)
Also on tap, we've been getting a lot of requests for episode guides,
so this month we're bringing you one of the most frequently requested:
HIGHLANDER. If there are others that you'd like to see, let us know and
we'll see if we can get them.
Finally, there's the news. There was so much of it we had to break it
up into loose categories. I say loose because the boundaries can get
fuzzy. If they make a movie out of a William Gibson story, what section do
you put it in? So we make no guarantees as to the classifications. Also
included in the news is a ballot for Clarinet's Electronic Science Fiction
Award. It mirrors the Hugo's, but you don't have to belong to anything in
particular to vote. You just have to have access to e.mail. They've
extended the deadline, but you've got to get them out soon.
So there it is. Enjoy!
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CYBERSPACE VANGUARD: News and Views of the Science Fiction and Fantasy
Universe is registered with the United States Copyright Office. It may be
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as information about the magazine and how to get it is also posted. Print
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HOW TO CONTACT US:
Internet: cn577@cleveland.freenet.edu Snail Mail: PO Box 25704
FidoNet: Cyberspace Vanguard@1:157/564 Garfield Hts., OH
Delphi: CVANGUARD 44125 USA
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--!2!-- Mysteries from Beyond the Scifi Channel: Why
DR. FRANKLIN RUEHL Can't Be Abducted By Space Aliens
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by TJ Goldstein
[MYSTERIES FROM BEYOND THE OTHER DOMINION airs on the Science Fiction
Channel twice on Sundays, 4:30pm and 7:30pm Eastern Time.]
I'll admit it: I don't have the Scifi Channel. But it's not my
fault. I'm one of those millions who lives in an area where the cable
company, for one reason or another, doesn't carry it. Of course, I'm not
alone here. Like millions of other cable viewers, Dr. Franklin Ruehl
doesn't get SFC either.
There is one difference between us, of course. I'm just a viewer;
Dr. Ruehl is the creator and host of MYSTERIES FROM BEYOND THE OTHER
DOMINION, SFC's highest rated show. "I tried. I called them up and said
'Right here in your city, in Glendale, you have the star of the top new
show on the Scifi Channel. Why don't you run it?' A lot of people want
the Scifi Channel, but it's really having trouble making it." While this
may sound like a sales pitch, he has very little to do with promoting the
actual channel. "I'd be glad to help them, but they haven't really
enlisted my aid. I've just done what I could and tried to get on local TV
shows and get coverage for myself and hopefully that will translate into
more people clamoring for it and more systems listening to their
subscribers and finally putting it on." Right now only 10 percent of cable
networks in the United States are carrying SFC.
When the tape of the show arrived, I have to say that my first thought
was that it looked like a top of the line public access cable show -- lots
of special effects and computer graphics, but mostly a guy behind a very
small desk. It seems I was right. Long before SFC was a gleam in anyone's
eye, Dr. Ruehl was expounding his theories on public access cable.
"I was originally trying to get on Scifi because I thought that this
would be the ideal venue for my show. Then I was on DONAHUE in a segment
on public access producers and I met a local representative for the Scifi
Channel. I thought 'finally!' Then I spoke to the president out in Boca
Raton Florida, and he wasn't really too enthusiastic. But they were having
trouble actually getting it off the ground until they sold it to USA
Networks, which actually owns Scifi. Finally someone that I know at
Universal was working on my show and had an in there, and since Universal
owns USA which owns Scifi, I was able to finally get the show on. So it
took a long time even to get on this."
Since 1984, Ruehl has done more than 130 shows, always trying to get
the show nationally syndicated. Now that he has succeeded, the show has
undergone some changes. "It's basically the same agenda or content, with
the addition of some pretty spectacular special effects." (Um ... while I
will say it's better than what you usually find on public access, we are
NOT talking about JURASSIC PARK here, folks. Not by a long shot. Not
unless it's the Terry Gilliam version.) "We also have actors doing re-
enactments of some of the stories, and we have some fantastic visuals,
which I certainly did not have the money for when it was public access."
The picture quality is also much better.
But missing also are the interviews with science fiction celebrities.
"The set really wasn't built for it. Besides, there are just too many
delays. With public access, I could say be here at 2:30 and we'll start
taping at 2:45. Here it's so unpredictable they could be waiting around 2
or 3 hours and storm out because they weren't put on."
The show does regularly hit on a few different topics, such as strange
medical cases (like a man who had a face on the back of his head -- and was
eventually driven to suicide by its moaning, which kept him up at night,)
historical oddities (like the fact that the first man killed in the
American Civil War died when a cannon misfired during the surrender
ceremony). Some have great names like "Strange Droppings from the Sky"
that make you think that he's not quite serious, but he is.
By far the most coverage, however, goes to UFO's and
extraterrestrials. How much do they check out the sometimes outlandish
claims? "As much as we can. We don't really have a staff to be
able to send out investigators, so we've been covering mostly the classic
UFO cases, which have been studied and investigated and then I put my own
spin on it, giving what I feel are the weak and strong points of each case.
We did have a few instances of phony UFO reports and cases which we showed
at the beginning of the series because we're trying to encourage people to
send in UFO videos. One was a photograph of a hubcap with a dent in it
that was thrown up in the air. What I was trying to do was discourage
people from sending in phony cases. Well, I got virtually nothing as a
result. People think, well, these guys are going to investigate this
pretty thoroughly, what's the sense of trying to kid them. I do have some
UFO video that is excellent that we are going to use next season. It looks
to be an unusual facial formation on a mountain down in San Diego. It
certainly looks open to interpretation. We look for things like that. ...
We're also getting a lot of calls, which I hope to use next season, of
people with ghosts in their basements, UFO's that have landed in their
backyards ... but again, with our staff it is hard to check these things
out of they aren't located locally, so I'm not sure how we're going to
handle that."
So does he really believe all this? "You know, a lot of things I'm
very skeptical of myself. Anybody, just for publicity, and claim that
they've spotted by a UFO, or even been abducted. And now, the scenarios
have been reported so well that everyone's saying about the same thing.
They were taken aboard a UFO, blood samples were taken, then they went home
and forgot about it, and then they suddenly started to have dreams about
aliens, went under hypnotic regression and remembered that they had been
abducted two weeks ago. So it's hard to separate the real from the phony.
I am a scientist. I look at the evidence. And I have interviewed a number
of people who claim to have been abducted, and I have been present at a
hypnotic regression, and everyone seems to be legitimate. I know some
psychiatrists who claim that the people really don't want to talk about it.
They are like mugging victims. They feel that they will be ridiculed, and
aren't coming out with books, and for them they retain a quotient of
credibility. They people I've talked to all sounded sane, and they didn't
sound like publicity hunters. So I think that there are some good cases
out there, and I think that something might be going on. Or it might just
be a subconscious memory of a science fiction movie they saw years ago."
All of this leaves him in an awkward position. "I've never seen a
UFO. But if I did see one now, in my position as host of the Scifi
channels greatest show, that I would not be believe and I would have to
decide whether I would even want to report it because it might actually
torpedo my credibility. So that'd be the dilemma I'd be in. I couldn't
even report a good sighting if I had one. I think every UFOlogist, would
like to see and encounter aliens, although I have to say that I would
probably be quite frightened, depending on how non-human they appeared to
be."
At this point I asked him if he really thought that alien abductions
were on they rise, and if so, why. I was rewarded with about 20 minutes of
statistics to numerous to go into here, but it boiled down to this: "I
believe that there is strong evidence for the existence of extraterrestrial
life. If you look at the statistical evidence, if you look at the
biological evidence, look at the diversification evidence, we are certainly
not alone in this universe. Given the temperament of the universe and
the fact that it is 20 billion years old, certainly other species have
reached the spacefaring capability. Some may have dispatched the UFO's in
other directions, and some may have landed here. Now. Whether people have
actually seen it or not ... I haven't seen any case that's convinced me
100%. But as we're talking I wouldn't be surprised if there's an emergency
news flash that a UFO had indeed landed on the White House lawn giving us
concrete proof of the existence of extraterrestrials."
So why ARE people so interested in UFO's? "With more movies and more
books coming out about UFO's, I think that more people are also coming
forth with cases. Now some are obviously phonies who are looking for
publicity. No doubt about that. Others legitimately believe that they
have seen something or been an abductee. but I think certain shows, like
sightings, probably beginning with Star Trek, which is so popular, and of
course now we have Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Star Trek Deep Space
Nine, and of course the movies, talking about extraterrestrials I think all
of that tends to increase interest in it, and that brings out both the
legitimate and the illegitimate cases. So I don't think that we're
necessarily having more abductions, but I think that the media is helping
to bring out more of them. Although we have had, in the past, years when
there were UFO waves, such as 1952, but the fact is the media is bringing
out more of it. Some people are afraid to speak about their experience
because of the fact that they thought they would be ridiculed. I don't
think there's as much fear today. But again, undoubtedly phonies. It's so
hard to really tell who is telling the truth and who isn't. You have to
look at the evidence and judge each case individually."
For my part, I agree with the people who thought the set should be
brighter. In some respects it's like a scientific equivalent of Whoopi
Goldberg's now-deceased talk show. It needs something to jump out at you.
I also think that the show would be vastly improved if they rebuilt the set
-- and the production schedule -- to allow for guests. That, and more
"location" stories, would bring a bit of variety that the show needs. Dr.
Ruehl throws out a LOT of information, and you need time to recover.
When you come right down to it, though, the show is Dr. Franklin Ruehl
and that very information. Probably the strongest thing he's got going for
him is that he DOESN'T try to convince you of anything. He presents the
evidence, both for and against, and let's you decide for yourself.
He has an agenda, and he's quite serious about it. "We present the
scientific evidence for controversial theories and subjects such as those
from UFOlogy, parapsychology, paleontology and cryptozoology as well as
anything else of an unusual and curious nature, with the basic underlying
idea that it is interesting. Of course, I can make it interesting because
I believe you can take any subject, no matter what it is, and make it
intriguing for your audience."
When you come right down to it, he's reading for one thing. "My goal
is to make this show the greatest program in the history of
television with a weekly viewership of 1 billion with a target date for
those goals the year 2015 of not sooner, I say, if not sooner."
And so, since I promised the good Doctor I'd leave you all with a
little cosmic empowerment, "May the power of the universe be with you!"
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--!3!-- The Illusion of Falling: KENNY BATES Makes His Mark On Filmmaking
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by TJ Goldstein
My first pro writing job was explaining how the fall at the beginning
of STAR TREK V: THE FINAL FRONTIER was completely impossible in real life.
(Actually, it was the sudden stop at the bottom that was my problem, but
why split hairs?) My contention was that anyone who fell off El Capitan
and came to a sudden stop at the bottom would find their insides somewhere
around their eyeballs, whether they hit the ground or not. What I found
out talking to stuntman turned producer Kenny Bates, however, is that it IS
possible to survive a fall like that. Sort of. After all, he's the one
who did the falling.
"Inverted, I've pulled up to 12 g's. G's can kill you in the right
conditions, but it's how short of a time you pull those g's and what kind
of condition your body is in. I've been in a situation where I've popped
blood vessels in my eyes, I've cracked teeth, you're face swells up for a
couple of days ... the reality of it is that you get diarrhea for a couple
of weeks."
"You're born with two basic fears," he explains, "a fear of loud
noises and a fear of falling. When you've put yourself in a situation
where you're falling at 100 miles and hour with no airbag and the loud
noise is you screaming all the way down, it's like combining those two.
You're body rejects it. You have a few nightmares, but you learn to shake
it."
There are some people who might not shake it, though. They're the
people who called the ranger station to report that a man had fallen off El
Capitan. William Shatner, who was not only starring as James Kirk, but was
also directing, "liked it so much that they actually changed around the
opening of the picture a little bit to accentuate the shot. So it was very
gratifying."
Bates cheated, of course. While he DID fall 450 feet off the
mountain, it certainly wasn't a free-fall experience. He won the Science
and Technical Academy Award for the design and development of the
Decelerator System, which provides two advantages. First, it allows a
stuntperson to fall from much higher platforms.
"To back up a little," Mr. Bates explains, "just to give you an idea
of how this came to be, if you date back into the early days of motion
picture history, when stuntmen first started doing high falls, they would
do it into water, or they would put up two sawhorses and put planks between
the sawhorses, and they would actually jump, say, 15 or 20 feet onto these
breakaway planks. These are how high falls basically originated." As
falls got higher, stuntmen began to use haystacks, nets, and cardboard
boxes. "I've heard of stuntmen falling up to 10 stories, or 100 feet, into
cardboard boxes. These boxes were actually set up in a configuration to
break the fall."
Then came the airbag. "The highest high fall into an airbag is 311
feet. That's 31 stories. Most commonly, though, airbags are used for
doing falls from, oh, 20 feet up to 150. The most common falls are between
20 feet and 80 feet." While airbags are great and they're still in use
today, they still leave one problem.
Shooting down. With any of these devices, the director must always
shoot from the bottom up to avoid filming whatever it is the stuntman is
going to land on. What's where the Decelerator's second advantage comes
in. Since all you've got is a cable attached to the stuntman's ankle, it
doesn't matter what direction you film in. In the film SLIVER, in fact,
Mr. Bates did a double fall, actually filming from alongside as a woman as
she fell a building.
But that's only part of Mr. Bates' bag of tricks. "When we did Die
Hard, I started using a device called a Descender, to do controlled falls.
In other words, we do a controlled fall from I've been anywhere up to 105
stories. The fall is controlled because your descending on a small cable.
If the film is undercranked, it looks like you're falling." What Bates has
done is used his knowledge of physics and film to calibrate the speed of
the fall versus the degree to which the film must be undercranked. "In DIE
HARD, where Alan Rickman dies, falling backwards out of the building, that
would have been a death defying feat. Instead we came in and packaged an
illusion for Joel Silver. Since then I've done every one of his films."
He also doubled Bruce Willis when he leapt off the top of the building with
a firehose.
But Bates doesn't just know about this because of all the jumps he
does. He is also the head of Alternative Innovations, which routinely
"packages illusions" for films. "I think of myself as a filmmaker and not
as a stuntman. The Decelerator system is used in that way." So what does
that mean?
"When I come in to do a picture, I come in for the whole picture.
I'll come in through my company, and we'll act as either a consultant or as
a rigging package, and what we'll do is we'll put together, say a dozen
sequences for a film. In other words, we shoot a lot of things practical
instead of process." That means what instead of using special effects to
throw somebody off a building, they actually throw somebody off a building.
"Somebody said my company represents the new Hollywood Houdini," he laughs.
"We create illusions on film, whether it's moving vertically or
horizontally like in the film CAPTAIN HOOK or many other films, we create
looks on film that are very very interesting. As far as action goes, we
are the most advanced equipment in the business.
There are lots of advantages to using this system as opposed to the
traditional airbags, even for falls that don't break records. "Using the
Decelerator, you can actually free fall until the last 15 or 20 percent of
the fall. In other words, when you come out of a window, you're in free
fall and there's no restriction of the camera. When you can shoot from any
angle, there's quite a impressive visual look to it. In the LAST BOY
SCOUT, I fell about 5 stories and stopped about 3 feet from a spinning
helicopter blade. For the movie THE FIRST POWER with Lou Diamond Phillips,
I leaped 12 stories to my feet with the Decelerator, pulled a quick release
and took off running. That was a first.
"When we do these things, they've become so advanced that we'll come
in beforehand and work with different insurance companies to give them
different specifications on every part of the fall. We'll give load
distributions, airflow, acceleration, air flow, how many g's we're pulling.
We have a dynamometer gauge to calculate how many pounds we're pulling, so
it's all calibrated as much as possible. Right now, I'm the only one who's
using it throughout the world. So you can see there's a little bit of
demand for it. We stay real busy and even though we do the big stunts and
the big looks, we do little stuff too."
How big does it get? "The biggest one was on DEMOLITION MAN where I
doubled Stallone and jumped 23 stories out of a helicopter and stopped
about 6 feet before the roof of a building. Stallone did part of the
stunt, too. he put his life in my hands in a dangerous situation that was
another calibrated situation, and he was very good about everything.
Together we got a great sequence on film -- probably one of the greatest
opening action sequences ever on film. The opening of this picture is
incredibly visual, and it's probably the most money I've ever seen invested
in the opening sequence of a film. It's incredible. We had a helicopter
that we flew down from Portland to test with that cost $9,000 an hour.
We're talking millions of dollars just for the opening sequence of this
film. I'm going on an on about it because I get excited when I talk about
it. As a filmmaker I get excited about the illusions we create on film."
So what does the Hollywood establishment think of all this? "There
are people who have been in the business for a hundred years, and some of
them are still using the same flying stage techniques that they used 50, 75
years ago. We deal with pneumatics. To give you an example, we're taking
a person and we're flying him 100 feet in the air and he's getting up 40,
50 feet and he's landing on his feet on top of a building somewhere, and
he's looking around and leaping to the ground again all in one cut. So
it's just phenomenal."
Although the technology is so new, he doesn't have a problem with
older producers or directors giving him a problem once he's one the set.
"An old filmmaker is one that isn't current. When you talk about action
films, if you don't know something exists, then you're not going to plan on
using it. I think it's the people that do more research are the people
that benefit financially." The financial advantages are twofold. For one
thing, film time is expensive. Often what Mr. Bates does in 45 minutes
would take 3 hours to do with traditional methods. That means that you
have more time to make a shot or a sequence perfect, which itself can be
financially rewarding when the film hits the theaters. "A lot of directors
want something better than what they put together. You wouldn't want to
work on a film with Burt Reynolds or Clint Eastwood, or Bruce Willis, or
Stallone or any of those guys and not offer them 100 percent because your
name's on it. We do all kinds of fims. I was just associate producer on a
film that was 9 million dollars and we're getting ready to do one that's 80
million. I don't adjust my price for the project, I just basically base my
fee on what it's worth."
The paramount concern when doing a stunt like this, of course, is
safety. Often Bates is asked if he treats the celebrities he works with
differently because of who they are. "I think it's a lot of responsibility
whether it's Stallone or anybody that works with me, I mean I still take
the same precautions in calibrating any of the equipment or preparing them
safely. I don't say, well, it's Stallone so we're going to throw two more
ropes on him. If I don't feel good about it, then I won't hook it up in
the first place. You have to know the limitations. You can go overboard
and overboard, you just never want to go underboard. You want to build in
a good safety factor so you have a good safety margin. The Occupational
Safety and Health Administration uses something like a four to one margin,
and we try to operate in those parameters or better. So we have a very
good track record, and we get a lot of different looks. Believe it or not,
it's the people, and Stallone isn't that crazy about working with heights,
but he's very good about working with people, so he does open up to being
put in a precarious situation even though he's apprehensive. He does open
up to people when they're able to perform and they know their business.
That's kind of good to know."
It sounds almost like cliche, but what he really wants to do is
produce. "My goal is to produce my own film within the next two years.
I've had a couple of offers and hopefully I can bring something to the
screen that people will appreciate. I hope have the talent to give the
viewer something that is quite entertaining. I've already done it on other
people's projects, and I hope I will do it on my own projects, within the
next year and a half, two years."
When you come right down to it, however, death-defying is still his
stock in trade. "If I were to count world records I'd probably have 15 or
20, but I don't count world records. I create illusions. I'm not in this
to be the toughest guy on the block. I have a better chance getting
injured driving to and from work then while I'm there."
Unfortunately, it does happen, and this spring, it did. Brandon Lee
was killed during the filming of THE CROW when a gun that was supposed to
fire blanks allegedly fired a live round. So far an investigation has not
settled the question of what actually happened. "I was affected by the
death of Brandon Lee. I don't know what the outcome will be. I worked on
the film but at the time, I wasn't there, so I don't know and I'm sure that
the research will be done. Whether it was an accident, or negligence or
something else, it's a shame that it happened... I've lost friends in the
business before. Dar Robinson was a good friend. I worked with him for
about 4 years. The tough thing about this business is that you DO lose
friends. People do die in this business. It is a business where you can
get killed. Not so much as an accident, though it does happen. You know
there's a possibility, even if it's only one in 10,000. You know they're
going to do 10,000 stunts in a year. "
He is currently working on a one hour television special about the
behind the scenes facts of being a stuntperson. Burt Reynolds will produce
and host the show, which will air brand new footage. It won't be like the
old STUNTMASTERS show, but "it removes the macho mask from the business and
shows the real mechanics of what happens." William Shatner, Steven Segal,
Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, and other stars are scheduled to appear.
So what goes through his mind as he's sitting on the top of a mountain
(or building, or whatever) getting ready to hurtle off into nothingness
with only a cable between him and the ground? "Usually I look around and I
say, I don't want to die here. Then I think why am I saying that? I don't
want to die anywhere! Once I get in the air, I'm too busy thinking about
what I'm doing and my movement and making sure I look the way I should look
or turning the way I should turn that I never think of that. It doesn't
even come into my mind. All of my anxiety is before the stunt.
"I want to leave my mark on this earth, and not on the pavement."
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--!4!-- PETER CUSHING And The Mystery Of The Missing Films: Trying
To Write A Book About The Master Of Horror
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by TJ Goldstein
One of the nice things about this job is talking to people who take
those things many of us only dream about, and do them. Take Deborah Del
Vecchio, for instance. For years, she headed the Peter Cushing fan club
here in America. Lots of people do stuff like that, right? Many of them
think of writing a book about their heroes, but most of them never do.
"I've always aspired to be a professional writer," Debbie told me in a
phone interview earlier this year. "Tom [Johnson] and I had thought about
doing this book on Peter, but we had other things. We both had full time
jobs, he got married, I got married, and we just never got around to it.
Finally it got to the point where we said, well, nobody else is doing this,
and we know so much about him, we said, well, why don't we give it a try.
So we contacted MacFarlane, and they were interested, and that's how it
came to be. It's as simple as that, really. We were very lucky. They
were the first publisher we had written to."
Tom laughs at the simplicity of her explanation. "It sounds a lot
easier than it was." In fact, they sent a traditional proposal, complete
with sample chapters, to MacFarlane. The end result was PETER CUSHING:
THE GENTLE MAN OF HORROR AND HIS 91 FILMS. Almost immediately afterward,
Debbie sold her first article to a professional publication -- a piece on
Peter Cushing for STARLOG.
It certainly wasn't her first experience with writing, however. While
running the fan club, she also published a journal detailing Mr. Cushing's
activities and films. In late 1972 she wrote to him about starting an
American Club in the United States. There was already an organization in
Canada, but she didn't feel that she would be competing with it. As it
was, the club was a rousing success, drawing members from all over the
world, including lots of people who either were in or went on to be in the
movie industry. Tony Temponi, editor of FANGORIA, was a member, as was
Forry Ackerman. In 1975, Ackerman invited Mr. Cushing to be the Guest of
Honor at a convention in New York City. 8000 people attended, and that was
just on the first day. Fifty of the 400 worldwide members showed up -- on
two weeks notice. They were certainly rewarded for the trip, as they had
dinner with the man who had brought them together.
Debbie and Tom had first met him, actually, in 1973 during the looping
(sound re-recording) for BEYOND THE GRAVE. A small group from the club
were going to England and were invited to have lunch with him, Max
Rosenberg, the director, and Roy Wood Baker. "You're always worried. You
think, 'I've corresponded with this individual over the years, I've seen
his films, and here I'm going to meet him in person. It's either going to
be the best ever or it's going to be a disaster.' There's no in-between."
So how did it go? What kind of person is he? "I tell you, this man
felt like family. It was like I knew him all my life. It's his charm, his
personality, the fact that he's just such a down to earth person. He's
very modest. He'd rather talk to you about you than talk about himself. A
lot of actors, if you're not talking about them, they tune out. It wasn't
that way with Peter at all. He'd look over and he'd say, 'Finish your
dinner. Are you sure you have enough? Can I get you anything?' This man
was just like a dad. He had all his kids around the table and he was
making sure that everybody eats, and that they get what they want, and it
was just astounding. This man was just so accommodating and so gracious.
Barb Liltz, a member of the club and talented artist -- "She can never
be too successful as far as I'm concerned" -- did an oil painting of Mr.
Cushing in TALES FROM THE CRYPT, and they presented it to him that day. "I
remember that he sat there and he was astounded. He was without words,
because he's an artist himself. He was praising her work and he was just
so touched by this."
Tom cuts in. "You got the impression that he would have been very
impressed had it been a stick figure drawn with crayons."
Debbie disagrees. "He was impressed with her artwork from the
covers she did for the journals, and this was even better. And he was
touched that we thought enough to give it to him." She's got proof to back
it up. "When he did his next film, he brought the painting on the set and
had the stills photographer take pictures of himself, and Freddy Francis,
and the portrait, and he sent a copy to us. I think that it was nice that
even that far down the line he was still touched by it."
And so, deciding that nobody else was going to write the book that
they wanted to read, they decided to write it themselves. There was just
one problem with writing a book with every one of Peter Cushing's films:
"Some of the ones that he made in the United States in the early 1940's,"
Tom explains, "have literally vanished. There were a also few from the
early '60's, like CONE OF SILENCE, that were low budget but were not horror
movies. A low budget horror movie develops a life of it's own. It's
always available somewhere. But some of the straight dramatic films he
made ..."
"For example," Debbie explains, "BLACKJACK was nowhere to be found.
That's a film that he did in Spain. He did it around the same time he did
MYSTERY ON MONSTER ISLAND. MMI was released. It was a fantasy/mystery
kind of film. But BLACKJACK completely disappeared. We've only recently
learned that it was released on video in Germany. But prior to that we had
searched high and low, contacting the Spanish Embassy, archival museums
over there, nothing. And here it was available on video in Germany.
BATTLEFLAG was another one. That was never released but it was shown on
German television. HITLER'S SON disappeared completely. TOUCH OF THE SUN,
which he made in Zambia, Africa -- nobody's ever seen it. It's vanished.
It's gone. The others were released. SWORD OF THE VALIANT, TOP SECRET,"
which stars a very young Val Kilmer, "and of course BIGGLES came out on
video and cable, but these films didn't have any wide release, or in some
cases no release at all. It goes to show you what can happen. You think,
well, because it was made in the '40;s, there's just no interest in it.
But there's these films that were made in the '80's that no-one's ever
seen!"
Tom is optimistic. "We have scant hope that some of these from the
early forties will show up on [the cable station] American Movie Classics"
Trouble is they don't always know what to look for. "He did a movie called
THE HOWARDS OF VIRGINIA, where he has a very small part in a scene with
Cary Grant and Richard Carlson, and Peter Cushing never even listed this on
his film list because he'd apparently forgotten about it. There's really
no reason why he would have remembered it. I guess he began compiling a
list of his movies in the early 1960's, and this had just slipped his mind,
yet he's in it, plain as day. Debbie and I were just saying today that we
live in horror that someone's going to find another one like that that he
did, where he just walks across the street, and that's always possible. You
never know. He could have made 2 or 3 other movies in the 1940's that he's
forgotten about.
The trouble is, we're not talking about large time commitments.
"Well, something like this, it was only a one day kind of thing, where
somebody says, 'OK, we need a British actor, for this role, and he was
there and said, 'OK, I'll do it.' He comes on screen and presents himself,
and that's it. It's a one day shoot, and he would have written that off as
a walk on. He was even surprised that we found it." Plus, it gets even
more complicated. "He didn't even recognize it as THE HOWARDS OF VIRGINIA.
He finally recognized it under it's British title, TREE OF LIBERTY. It was
a shock to him to see it."
So, given that some of the films were not available, where did they
get the detailed information, not only as to plot, but cast and crew?
"There's a magazine called SCREEN INTERNATIONAL that was published in
England, and we found production information and synopses from trade
screenings."
Much of the later information, however, came from Mr. Cushing himself.
"When I ran Peter's club, he used to send me the publicity kits and photos
from the studios, so I had a lot of this stuff to begin with. He was able
to get me production information, background on the cast and the crew, that
kind of thing, everything you would normally get in a press kit. Peter was
very good about it. He used to send me everything. I have quite a
collection, so I was really ahead of the game because I had all this stuff,
plus the information that Tom and I had collected really helped us. We
still made trips in to Lincoln Center and other libraries to get as much
information as we could.
For the film BLOODSUCKERS, there were lawsuits, internal feuds, "It
would probably have been better off it they had let it die. It's awful.
It's available on video," but they don't recommend it.
"The startling thing about a movie even that terrible, and it IS
terrible," Tom says, "is that I swear to G-d he's great in it. He's only
in it for about five minutes, but it's like he was doing Shakespeare. It's
like it was an Academy Award nominated film that would have a royal
premier. He just doesn't play down to the audience even in a lousy movie
like that, and that's one of the reasons he has as many fans as he does.
"Actually, I take it back. I DO recommend that everybody see it,
just as an example of what a talented actor who actually has some standards
of what he will consider a performance can do even with a piece of garbage
like that. In fact, I think if I wanted to explain Peter Cushing to
somebody, I'd ask them to watch that instead of one of his good movies.
Anyone can look good in a good movie. It takes a real pro to look good in
a piece of dirt like this one."
So what does Mr. Cushing think of modern horror films, which, more
often than not, are gorefests? Debbie explains. "He's very disturbed by
it. He always felt that his films were pure fantasy. You went into the
theater and you had a good fright and then you went home and went about
their business. Nowadays, he says, they show everything on the screen and
there's nothing but blood and gore, and he's just horrified by it because
he says there's just nothing left to the imagination."
Tom continues. "You get the feeling that he doesn't want people to
associate him with that kind of film. He made horror films, yes, but he
doesn't want people to think that he made slasher type of films. That
would be very embarrassing for people to lump him in with that kind of
thing. His films were adult fairy tales, but most of them had some sort of
literature base."
And what about the film that younger readers might remember him for?
Debbie remembers, "I'm thinking back to 1976 when nobody had even heard of
George Lucas. I got a letter from Peter telling me that he was making a
film with George Lucas called 'The Star Wars'. And he mentioned something
else about it and I'm thinking 'oh my G-d what is this?'"
"Bad career move," Tom adds.
"Yes, I'm thinking WHAT is he doing? Nobody knew anything at that
point. It was all secret, all hush hush, closed sets and all that, so not
much news was getting out. I remember going to the theater thinking 'well,
Peter Cushing is in it, I'm going to see it.' I went on opening day and by
the first 10 minutes, I was cheering. It was monumental. At the time, it
was a phenomenon. 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY was an experience in itself but
this was just miles, generations beyond that. I just did not believe what I
was seeing on the screen and I was SO GLAD that Peter Cushing was in it! I
did a complete turn around.
While he was thrilled to be seen by a whole new generation of fans,
"he was very upset that they blew him up at the end because then he
couldn't be in the sequels. Originally he was offered the part of Obi Wan
Kenobi, which eventually went to Sir Alec Guinness. Then, when George
Lucas met the two of them, he decided to reverse their roles. I always
worried about that because I wondered what it was that George Lucas saw in
Peter Cushing that I didn't see that meant he should play a villain. The
man is so far removed from a villain that it's laughable, but he accepted
the role because he figured, well, this is the director, and I should do
what he says. That's the way he is. You don't argue with the director. So
he took it, but he was very upset because he never got a chance to be in
any of the other movies, which he would have been if he had been Kenobi.
He's always hopeful that they'll do that prequel, but the man is 79 years
old. He'd certainly do it, but there's only so much you can do with makeup
nowadays. Peter, it's going to be rough."
In the meantime ... "Hyberion films, which had done GHOUL and LEGEND
OF THE WEREWOLF, they went out of business as far as motion pictures were
concerned, but they have been involved in some television work. They're
trying to get this project made. It will be shown in England, and
hopefully will be picked up here, called the HERITAGE OF HORROR. Peter
says it's his gift to all his fans, and he's looking forward to doing it.
Basically Peter is an actor who used to do things like King Lear, and of
course nobody wants that anymore, and he tries to convince them otherwise.
It's all top secret, so he won't tell me anything about it. I keep trying
to get information out of him, but no luck. I don't know whether it's a
matter of luck, or what, but I guess he wants me to be surprised."
In the end, no matter how the book sells, it was certainly a success
in one respect. Tom's friend Mark Miller is doing a book on Cushing
Christopher Lee films, and he met with Peter Cushing in England in
November. "He goes to a little restaurant almost every day and that's
where Mark met him, and he was taking the book in with him to show the
regulars. He was saying how proud he was and how pleased he was with the
book. That was the only review we were interested in, and that's the one
we got."
Once that book was finished, they contracted with MacFarlane to do a
similar book about the company that made many of the films for which Peter
Cushing is best known: Hammer. "Watching early Hammer films is hard
because they mad a lot of NON horror, and the monsters just aren't showing
up. You've got to look at it in a different way." Examples of non-horror
Hammer films are the Lyons family films such as LIFE WITH THE LYONS and THE
LYONS IN PARIS. In England they were apparently the "ideal" family, the
way Americans refer to Ozzie and Harriet.
The book will be out somewhere around July 1995, but they are looking
for a catch subtitle to follow "HAMMER FILMS INC:". "And then, of course,
it will be up to MacFarlane. We didn't originally choose the subtitle to
the Cushing book. They chose that. There was some gnashing of teeth about
it, because to me it sounded a little silly -- 'Gentleman of Horror and his
91 films.' They'll find that out when they open the book, that he made 91
films."
I suggested that perhaps the company thought people might think he was
a deranged killer who murdered stuffed animals or something.
Tom says that he hadn't considered that people might not know what the
book is about. "Unless they're like five year olds, is there anyone out
there who doesn't know who Peter Cushing is?"
Actually, among younger fans, I've met many.
"Well, I have a suggestion." Tom says. "There's this great book
that will explain it to them. All 91 films are included ... "
[PETER CUSHING: THE GENTLE MAN OF HORROR AND HIS 91 FILMS is avaliable
from MacFarlane Publishing, PO Box 611, Jefferson, NC, 28640, USA.]
HOW YOU CAN HELP: The following Hammer Films are "missing." They cannot
be located, either in film or video form. Since our readers are the sort
to have collections that are not only off-beat but extensive, we thought
we'd run the missing titles by you. If you have, or know where the authors
can find, any copy of any of these films, please contact Deborah Del
Vecchio, 115 Prospect Ave., Westwood, NJ, 07675 USA; (201) 664-5889. Let
her know you saw the list in CV. US titles for the British films are
listed in parentheses.
1935: The Public Life of Henry the Ninth
1937: Sporting Love
1948: River Patrol, Who Killed Van Loon?
1949: Dr. Morelle -- The Case of the Missing Heiress, Celia, The
Adventures of P.C. 49 1950: The Man in Black, Meet Simon Cherry
1950: What the Butler Saw, Dick Barton at Bay, The Lady Craved Excitement,
The Rossiter Case, To Have and To Hold
1951: The Dark Light, The Black Widow, A Case For P.C. 49
1952: Death of an Angel, Whispering Smith Hits London (Whispering Smith
vs. Scotland Yard), Never Look Back, Wings of Danger
(Dead on Course), Mantrap (Man in Hiding)
1953: The Gambler and the Lady, The Saint's Return (The Saint's Girl
Friday) 1954: Life With the Lyons, Mask of Dust (A Race for Life)
1955: The Lyons in Paris (The Lyons Abroad), Third Party Risk (Deadly
Game)(TV title was Big Deadly Game), Murder by Proxy
(Blackout), The Glass Cage (The Glass Tomb)
1958: Up the Creek, Ten Seconds to Hell, Further up the Creek
1959: I Only Arsked, The Ugly Duckling, Don't Panic Chaps
1960: Never Take Sweets From a Stranger
1961: Visa to Canton (Passport to China), Weekend With Lulu, Watch it
Sailor!
1962: Nightmare
1964: The Brigand of Kandahar
1968: The Lost Continent
1969: Moon Zero Two, Crescendo
1971: On the Buses
1972: Mutiny on the Buses
1973: That's Your Funeral, Love Thy Neighbor, Nearest and Dearest
1974: Man at the Top, Holiday on the Buses
1975: Man About the House
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
--!5!-- Guesting for the Old Comics Curmudgeon -- Asserting Your
Independents
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
by Mike Hill
I remember the day I became a comic collector. It was the summer of
1975 and I was thirteen years old. I went to the local candy store and
looked through the rack of comic books.
I found a book called THE INVADERS #1. It was a comic book from
Marvel about the World War II adventures of Captain America, Sub-mariner,
and the Human Torch. I took it home and read it cover to cover at least
ten times. I was hooked! I eagerly awaited each issue as it came out (and
at that time it was a bi-monthly book -- ouch!) As new series came into
print I would pick up the first issue. Some books I would continue to
collect and others I would not. After all, I only had my weekly allowance
with which to finance my hobby.
My teens turned into my twenties. I joined the work force and with a
regular pay check my collection grew.
In 1984, Marvel Comics published "Secret Wars" and DC Comics
answered it with "Crisis On Infinite Earth." "Wow!" I thought, "what a
great idea! The comic companies would each bring all of their major
characters together in one book to fight a common foe all in a twelve issue
mini-series.
Then in 1985 Marvel published "Secret Wars II." I thought, "Okay, it
was fun the first time around. Let's do it again." But at the completion
of this mini-series the story was not resolved, and instead Marvel
continued the story throughout all of its titles. DC did the same thing
with its comic books.
"Wait a minute!" I thought. "In order to keep up with one story I
must collect a bunch of titles I did not normally collect." Then, like
Wile E. Coyote, my eyes slowly shifted upwards to see a giant boulder
falling down towards me. The great rock hit me with a ton of grim reality.
"They don't care about entertaining me! All they care about is getting
more of my money!" Don't get me wrong. I know that comic books are a
business and that the object of any business is to make money, and
hopefully lots of it. But I feel a company should make its money due to
the fact that it produces quality products that you can pick and choose
from. Quality = Demand = Money. I felt that these comic book companies
were holding a gun to my head and saying, "If you want to keep up with the
story you must buy ALL of our books. Continuity was being held for ransom
and at a high price -- a price I refused to pay.
I quit! it wasn't easy. I felt like I was casting away a part of my
childhood. I packed all of my comic books in white Defence boxes and
stored them away in my parents' attic. My twenties became my thirties. I
would visit the comic shops once in a while, but only to purchase other
items of interest (role playing games, posters, tee-shirts, etc. ...)
One day last year I was in a comic shop and as I passed the comic book
section I thought my blinders were firmly in place. But one cover caught
my eye. It was titled SPAWN, from a company called Image. Curiosity
forced my hand. I reached for the book and a small voice in back of my
head said "NO!!!" I flipped through the pages sampling the art work.
"NO!" warned the voice. "Remember!" it said. "Remember." "But it's only
$1.95" I said, and I walked up to the counter. I asked the sales clerk,
"what's this?" She said it was a new company started by some guys who
used to work for Marvel and they had another book out called YOUNGBLOOD. I
read these comic books and I was hooked all over again. I started
collecting again, primarily Image, Topps, Innovation, Harris, and other
small independents.
I feel that I am receiving quality for my money and continuity is just
standard equipment included in the cover price. And I'll tell you, it's
good to be back!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
--!6!-- Reviews by EVELYN C. LEEPER
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE DESTINY MAKERS by George Turner
A book review by Evelyn C. Leeper
This story, like many others by Turner, is set in a future, pre-
holocaust Australia. There's been no bang, but the world seems to be going
through one long drawn-out whimper. Politicians spend time trying to
figure out how to stretch Earth's resources over an ever-growing
population. There are technical advances, but on the whole Turner paints
an Australia of not-quite-enough for everyone--except of course the upper
class. Shortages and substitutes are the order of the day. Only the
veneer of equality, of "we're all in this together" spirit keeps the lid
on.
But in Australia the government has even more problems--or at least
the prime minister does. Having illegally rejuvenated his father (in a
world bursting at the seams, extending lifetimes is not considered a good
idea), he then discovers that his daughter is illegally pregnant.
(Everything, it seems, is controlled. But everything has to be to keep the
world together.) Harry Ostrow, a policeman of the lower-middle class, finds
himself called upon not only to protect these high-level politicians, but
to extricate them--and perhaps the world-- from the mess they've gotten
into.
The background of THE DESTINY MAKERS is well thought-out and
developed, but the story itself is somewhat weak, and the resolution for
some of the plot threads contrived and rushed. The main idea of the end
might have made a good novel in itself, but here it's wasted as almost a
throwaway. It could be that Turner will take this idea and expand it in a
future novel (as he expanded "In the Nursery" to BRAIN CHILD.) But as it
is, I can recommend THE DESTINY MAKERS only for its description of a seedy,
run-down future facing the abyss.
(It is unlikely that a sequel will appear soon, since it is reported
that George Turner has been hospitalized following a stroke.)
%T The Destiny Makers %I AvoNova
%A George Turner %O hardback, US$20.
%C New York %G ISBN 0-688-12187-X
%D February 1993 %P 321pp
HARVEST by Robert Charles Wilson
A book review by Evelyn C. Leeper
What if aliens offered us the chance to live forever--if the only
price we had to pay was to give up being human? That is the premise of
Robert Charles Wilson's latest book, HARVEST.
As might be expected from the premise, HARVEST is more a study in
characters than an action story, though there is a very impressive storm
sequence. Wilson looks at the world through the eyes of those few who
chose to remain human. And they are a motley crew--a doctor, a
fundamentalist Christian, a car salesman, a politician, two teenagers, a
farmer's wife, an Army colonel, a retired worker. They have little in
common--except their decision. What makes some choose one way and some
another is one of the main questions of the book, but Wilson never
satisfactorily answers it, and indeed, towards the end HARVEST becomes very
much like an update EARTH ABIDES, as the remaining humans cope with lack of
electricity, the search for food, and so on. Wilson also makes a few flubs.
He says that on election night, "a long Republican ascendancy over the
White House had come to an end," obviously expecting Bush to win in 1992.
(Internal evidence says the story takes place in 1996.) He also seems to
think Lima is in a time zone between Los Angeles and Anchorage, while it is
actually in the same time zone as New York.
In spite of these minor quibbles, however, I would still recommend
HARVEST. Wilson at least touches on the nature of humanity, and his
characters and their reactions to the situation and to each other may give
us some clues, if not to *the* answer, at least to *an* answer.
%T Harvest %I Bantam Spectra
%A Robert Charles Wilson %O trade paperback, US$12.
%C New York %G ISBN 0-553-37110-X
%D January 1993 %P 394pp
---------- Copyright 1993 Evelyn C. Leeper
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
--!7!-- SF Calendar: What's Coming Up in the Near Future
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The BOOKLIST ..........
As you can see, the list of upcoming books is beginning to grow. If you
have a favorite small press that you'd like us to keep track of, drop us a
note with the company's name and address and we'll see what we can do.
AUGUST:
DEL REY: THE SHINING ONES (2nd book of _The Tamuli_) - David Eddings,
STORM RUNNER (3rd book of _Wolfwalker_) - Tara K. Harper, THE WIZARD'S
SHADOW - Susan Dexter, TIME, LIKE AND EVER ROLLING STREAM (Sequel to THE
RAGGED WORLD) - Judith Moffett, THE BIRTH OF THE BLADE - Dennis McCarty,
STAR TREK LOG 7/LOG 8/LOG 9 - Alan Dean Foster
TOR: HARVEST OF STARS - Poul Anderson, LETTERS TO JENNY - Piers
Anthony, IN THE CUBE - David Alexander Smith, RING OF SWORDS - Eleanor
Arnason, ALIEN BOOTLEGGER AND OTHER STORIES - Rebecca Ore, FLYING IN PLACE
- Susan Palwick, THE TOWERS OF THE SUNSET (prequel to THE MAGIC OF
RECLUCE)- L.E. Modesitt Jr., ALIEN PLOT - Piers Anthony, BLACK UNICORN -
Tanith Lee, CONAN THE SAVAGE - Leonard Carpenter
ORB: THE FALLING WOMAN - Pat Murphy
------------
SEPTEMBER:
DEL REY: THE FAR KINGDOMS - Allan Cole and Chris Bunch, THE OATHBOUND
WIZARD (sequel to HER MAJESTY'S WIZARD) - Christopher Stasheff, MUDDLE
EARTH - John Brunner, THE LOSERS - David Eddings, DEL REY DISCOVERY: THE
RISING OF THE MOON - Flynn Connolly
------------
OCTOBER:
DEL REY: THE STRICKEN FIELD (book three of _A Handful of Men_) - Dave
Duncan, UPLAND OUTLAWS (book two of _A Handful of Men_) - THE GUNS OF THE
SOUTH - Harry Turtledove, THE EARTH SAVER (sequel to CHILDREN OF THE EARTH)
- Catherine Wells, MORNINGSTAR - David Gemmell
DAW: WHEN TRUE NIGHT FALLS - CS Friedman,
TOR: THE SHADOW RISING - Robert Jordan, THE FIRES OF HEAVEN - Robert
Jordan
------------
NOVEMBER:
PEGUNIN/ROC: SHROUD OF SHADOW - Baudino Gael
BANTAM/SPECTRA: GROWING UP WEIGHTLESS - John Ford
------------
DECEMBER:
POCKET: STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION: DARK MIRROR - Diane Duane
Upcoming MOVIES ..........
This is not really the "Upcoming Movies" list that Bryan D. Jones
(bdj@engr.uark.edu) puts out over Usenet every week or so. It's actually a
pared down version that he was kind enough to let us print. We thank him
and remind you that if you have any updates or corrections, please send
them on to him. (Especially if you have access to the National Association
of Theater Owners listings ...)
All dates are US wide release dates. -Bryan D. Jones (bdj@engr.uark.edu)
Aug 13: Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday(was Friday the 13th Part IX),
Johnny Zombie, Needful Things, The Secret Garden
Aug 20: The Crow
Aug : Warlock II: The Armageddon
Summer: Body Snatchers, Deep Blues, Delta Heat, The Giving, Nemesis,
Starfire, Carnosaur, Enchanted Forest, The Speed Racer Movie Show
Sep 10: Ghost in the Machine
Sep 17: Fortress
Sep 20: Surf Ninjas
Sep 24: Deadfall
Oct 1: Blink, Wilder Napalm
Nov 5: Flesh & Bone, The Nightmare Before Christmas
Nov 19: Addams Family Values
Nov 24: Annie and the Castle of Terror
Nov : RoboCop 3
Fall : The Fantastic Four
Dec 10: Sister Act II, Tombstone
Dec 17: Intersection
Dec 22: Schindler's List
Dec 25: Batman: The Animated Movie, Frankenstein, The House of the Spirits,
Sgt. Rock
1994 : Crusade, Clear and Present Danger, Ed Wood, Interview with a
Vampire, The Lawnmowerman 2, The Mask, Sinbad Tales, Tremors II
Spring: The Lion King (animated, was King of the Jungle),The Muppet
Treasure Island
Summer: Aliens vs. Predator: The Hunt,Cartooned, The Flintstones, Spiderman
Decemb: Godzilla (American)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
--!8!-- All The News That's Fit To Transmit
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
...........
Books, Stories, and SF Literature in General .....
...........
According to TERRY PRATCHETT, the people putting out THE DISCWORLD
COMPANION will be publishing a map of Ankh-Morpork in November, all from
the descriptions in the books. The first three DISCWORLD books will be out
on audio on November 4, and the TRUCKERS trilogy on September 23. (Dates
are for the UK. Look for them in Australia, Canada and New Zealand, but he
says in a Usenet post that although South Africa will get them "in the
fullness of time," but he doesn't expect for us to see them in the United
States or in languages other than English. They will be read by TONY
ROBINSON, of BLACKADDER fame. (Sod off, Baldric!)
DAVID BRIN is reportedly working on another Uplift novel. He is also
working on a graphic novel version of THE VANILLA NEEDLE,
The world really is moving towards electronic publishing. This year
Clarinet is offering an electronic version of the Hugo and Nebua nominees,
along with lots of extra stuff. What kind of stuff? Well, for one thing,
how about nomineee A FIRE UPON THE DEEP, with 500K of hypertext provided by
VERNOR VINGE himself? They are also providing the nominated artwork in
machine readable form. The collection comes in a disk, CD-ROM or network
version, and costs $11.95 to $29.95, depending on how much stuff you want
on it. For more information, send mail to net-sf@clarinet.com. For those
not on the net, you can connect to sf.clarinet.com by dialing 408-296-3733
by a modem. Log in as "sf", then select "o" for order at the menu prompt.
You'll run an interactive order script.
VISIONS OF MARS: Science fiction is riddled with stories of colonists
finding messages from the past. Now real life is going to imitate art, as
the Planetary Society and the Russian Space Research Institute prepare to
put together a CD-ROM containing thousands of pages of fiction about the
planet Mars. The discs, called Visions of Mars, will be placed in special
landers and sent with the Mars 94 mission to the Red Planet next year. In
addition to Mars-related fiction from various languages and cultures, the
disc will also contain a portion of the 1938 ORSON WELLES WAR OF THE WORLDS
broadcast, artwork depicting our conception of Mars in various eras, an
audio recording of reactions to the landing of Viking I on Mars from the
likes of GENE RODDENBERRY and ROBERT HEINLEIN, and brief messages to the
future from such notables as ARTHUR C. CLARKE. The disc, which will be
designed and produced by Time Warner Interactive Group, will sport an
instruction label in English, Finnish, French, German and Russian, the
languages of the Mars 94 mission. Facsimiles, capably of running on MS-DOS
or Macintosh machines, will be available in bookstores.
ENDINGS: With great sadness, Del Rey Books announces the passing of LESTER
DEL REY, author of approximately 50 books and founder (with wife JUDY-LYNN
BENJAMIN DEL REY) of Del Rey Books. According to his wishes, there was no
memorial service or public funeral following his death on May 10 after a
week of hospitalization for serious heart problems. Mr. Del Rey was
responsible for discovering many of today's best selling science fiction
and fantasy authors. .. Cartoonist VINCENT T. HAMLIN, creator of the ALLEY
OOP comic strip, has passed away. No word on the cause of death, but he
was 93 years old. ... AVRAM DAVIDSON, former teacher and editor of THE
MAGAZINE OF FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION, and author of the Hugo award winning
story "Or All The Seas With Oysters," several anthologies and 25 novels,
including, most recently, the Owlswick Press novel ADVENTURES IN UNHISTORY,
died May 8th at the age of 70. Although he suffered a series of strokes
seven years ago, he continued to write from his wheelchair with one hand on
his typewriter. He is best remembered for his VERGIL MAGUS stories.
...........
SF and Fantasy Movie News ....
...........
Composer JOHN WILLIAMS, who wrote the score for seven of the top ten
money making films of all time, has retired from his position as conductor
of the Boston Pops. I was lucky enough to attend his final regular season
performance, and here's what I have to say about it. Please forgive me for
a little sentimentality, but I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this
way.
First of all, for 13 years I have been saying that "someday" I would
get out to Boston to see him conduct. I have been mesmerised by his work
from the first time I conned my parents into letting me see STAR WARS, and
so, for his final concert, I took a train 600 miles to do just that.
It was worth it. Definitely.
There were 3 sets, and while the first two were exquisite classical
pieces, the final set was the theme from Superman, then Jurassic Park, then
Jaws, and finally The Imperial Death March, Princess Leia's Theme, and the
music from the ceremony and ending credits from STAR WARS. I tell you, to
be right THERE (front row center, no less -- I could read the viola's
music!) and hear it performed live knowing that it is EXACTLY what he had
in mind -- no arranger intruding here -- was something out of a dream. And
to see him conduct ... the man was a blur. He really put everything he had
into that performance. When it was over he looked like he was practically
in tears.
He received at least three standing ovations: When the last piece
from SW was over, after his first encore (Varsity Rag and Satin Doll (or
was it String of Pearls -- I told you it was a dream)), and after the
finale, the traditional Stars and Stripes Forever.
The last standing ovation was something like SIX curtain calls and 10
minutes long. The only reason we stopped was because he finally came out
and, awash with emotion, pointed at his watch as if to say, "Come on,
everyone, it's late. Go home." He had no mike and did not speak to the
audience, but mouthed the words "Thank you" more times than I can remember.
This man wrote the soundtrack to my adolescence. All I could think of
was, "No, thank YOU."
-!-
WILLIAM GIBSON is coming to the big screen. Rumors are that ABEL FERRARA
will be directing a film version of Gibson's short story "New Rose
Sentinel" and that VAL KILMER (WILLOW) will be starring as JOHNNY MNEMONIC,
with JANE MARCH and ICE-T filling out that cast.
SPIDERMAN is going to be busy this year. Rumors are flying about an
ANIMATED TV show by the same people who are doing the X-Men. This is in
addition to the live action version, which will be written by NEIL
RUTTNEBURG and JAMES CAMERON for Carolco. Cameron will also direct.
And according to rumors ... THE MANGLER, based on the STEVEN KING short
story, will be directed by TOBE HOOPER. King will also have a cameo in THE
STAND, as will TOM SAVINI, SAM RAIMI, and MICK and CYNTHIA GARRIS ... WES
CRAVEN will be making NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 7 ... HELLRAISER IV will
start shooting any time now, and HELLRAISER III is out on video in both an
R and an NC17 version ... the same fate will likely befall JASON GOES TO
HELL: THE FINAL FRIDAY, which has been trimmed for the R rating.
Production is wrapping for the last time at Elstree Studios in
Hertfordshire, north of London, England. While many classic films were
filmed at the historic studio, genre fans will probably be more moved by
the fact that it was the site where sequences were filmed for the STAR WARS
films, the INDIANA JONES films, the SUPERMAN films ... well, you get the
idea. STEVEN SPEILBERG has described the studio as "a home away from
home." In the past three years, the slowdown ofthe British film industry
has led to more than half of the 28 acres being sold to a supermarket chain
for $42 million. The Brent Walker Group, which owns the studio, has been
subsidizing the studio hoping that a buyer would take it over with the
intent of continuing its use as a film studio, but it was not to be. The
Save Our Studios Campaign vows to continue the fight.
Thought you were safe from a Batman movie this year? Wrong. Christmas Day
will see the release of BATMAN: THE ANIMATED MOVIE. In addition to the
Joker (the be voiced by MARK HAMMILL, who also does the voice in the TV
show), there will be new characters, including a villain called Phantasm.
The animated film ASTROCOPS: PEACEKEEPERS OF THE FUTURE will feature the
voices of JAMIE FARR, EDDIE ALBERT, and JAMES WHITMORE. It's written by
GENE AYRAS.
GEORGE ROMERO will direct THE BLACK MARIAH, about a man running away from a
curse. The film, which is scheduled to begin production this fall, is from
New Line Cinema, and is based on an as yet unpublished novel by JAY
BONANSINGA.
Then there's MANDROID, a film shot completely in Romania, about a killer
indestructible robot. No word on what language it's in, but it will be
released on video August 11th by Paramount Home Video.
HIDEAWAY, based on DEAN R. KOONTZ'S novel about two very different men
returned from the dead, will be directed by BRETT LEONARD (LAWNMOWER MAN).
TriStar purchased the rights in 1991, and are hoping that NEAL JIMENEZ can
come up with a suitable script. Preproduction will start this fall.
JAMES CAMERON and ARNOLD SCHWARTZNEGGER, the team that helped to bring you
TERMINATOR and T2, will be reuniting for TRUE LIES, an action comedy.
Londoners can now enjoy food and films at their very own PLANET HOLLYWOOD,
owned by SCHWARTZNEGGER, BRUCE WILLIS, and SYLVESTER STALONE. They spent
$21 million buying the place and redecorating, including the addition of a
75 seat cinema. As a side note, Schwartznegger and wife MARIA SHRIVER are
expecting their third child.
DAN ACKROYD, who, along with JANE CURTAIN is starring in the revival of
their old Saturday Night Live sketch THE CONHEADS, has more than just a new
movie to celebrate. He and his wife, DONNA DIXON, were blessed with a
daughter, Belle Kingston Aykroyd, June 9. They already have a 3 year old
daughter, Danielle.
ALAN RICKMAN (ROBIN HOOD: PRINCE OF THEIVES) will be starring in MESMER,
about Dr. Franz Mesmer, the founder of hypnotism and the basis for the word
"mesmerize." It will be directed by ROGER SPOTTISWOODE, and executive
produced by DAVID BOWIE (LABYRINTH).
The Imagine Films production GREED, a dark comedy about a fight over a
will, will have quite a few genre veterans, including MICHAEL J. FOX (BACK
TO THE FUTURE), BOB BALABAN (CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE 3RD KIND) and ED
BEGLEY JR. (MEET THE APPLEGATES).
SURVIVING THE GAME, about a homeless man, will star RUTGER HAUER
(BLADERUNNER, LADYHAWKE) and ICE-T. It's from New Line Cinema.
Showtime Networks has added TriStar to the list of studios whose films it
can broadcast exclusively. Showtime Networks, which includes Showtime, The
Movie Channel, Flix, and Pay Per View, signed a five year deal with
TriStar, which incidentally is owned by Sony Corp.. The deal covers all
films slated for theatrical release starting in 1994. Showtime already has
exclusive rights to films from Castle Rock, New Line, Disney, and PolyGram.
And speaking of cable, CRUSADE, starring ARNOLD SCHWARTZNEGGER, could very
well start a new trend. The PAUL VERHOVEN film, which goes into production
next spring, could very well be the first film in a major step towards
interactive television. Tele-Communications Inc. is spending $2 billion
upgrading its cable system to give it the capability to provide 500
channels to its subscribers, and one of its projects involves a $90 million
deal to air up to four Carolco films on Pay Per View -- a week before they
are released in the theaters.
FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA, fresh from directing BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA and on his
way to producing FRANKENSTEIN for TriStar, will also be directing a series
of six 23 minute "films" for VH-1. They will actually be long-form music
videos, and will be produced through his company, American Zoetrope, and
Palomar Pictures.
Coppola 's FRANKENSTEIN, meanwhile, will star KENNETH BRANAGH as Dr.
Frankenstein and ROBERT DENIRO as the monster. Brannagh will also direct
the film for TriStar.
BATMAN III rumors: We've previously reported rumors that MICHAEL KEATON
and MICHELLE PFIEFFER had signed. Now, according to USA Today, it is
indeed in the works, with TIM BURTON as executive producer and JOEL
SCHUMACHER (THE LOST BOYS) as director.
After protests from American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, Disney has
agreed to change some of the lyrics from ALADDIN. The claim was that the
lines, "... if they don't like you're face, they'll cut off your ear ...
it's barbaric, but hey, it's home," perpetuate the stereotype that ancient
Arabia was a barbaric place. They will be redubbing for the video release,
but the ADC says that the changes aren't enough to reverse what they call
the racism of the movie.
One of the big questions we keep getting is "What about an X-MEN movie?"
Well, it's certainly somewhere in the reasonably near future (i.e., the
next couple of years) but we don't know whether it will be animated or live
action. According to CNN, 20th Century Fox has bought the rights, and with
the current popularity of the mutants, we can't see them holding on to them
too long without doing something about it.
FIRST KNIGHT, an action adventure about King Arthur and the round table,
has been postponed by Columbia. JERRY ZUCKER will be directing when it
goes back into production in January. It's being held up by script delays.
ABEL FERRARA wasn't too informative about his new version of INVASION OF
THE BODY SNATCHERS when it was screened at Cannes last month, but he did
joke that the idea is "to take great old stories and screw them up."
Critics, however, have commented that there isn't much original in his
version, though it is less violent that his last film, THE BAD LIEUTENANT.
He told UPI that though he hadn't really considered taking an a science
fiction project, but "the truth is, I always loved Martian movies. I used
to dress up as a Martian when I was a kid, and go out and terrify the
neighbours."
GARY OLDMAN (BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA) will produce, direct, and star in LORDS
OF THE URBAN JUNGLE, about small-time British criminals. It's from his
company, Matisse, and Portman Entertainment, and will be filmed on location
in London.
JACK NICHOLSON (BATMAN) will star in CROSSING GUARD, about a man awaiting
the release of the drunken driver who killed his daughter. It's from
Warner Bros. He will also be seen in MIKE NICHOLS' WOLF with MICHELLE
PFIEFFER (BATMAN RETURNS), who has just adopted a baby daughter.
Purists should be happy. After years of complaining that movies are
butchered when shown on a conventional television screen, they can get the
new RCA "CinemaScreen," says Thomson Consumer Electronics. The television,
at 16 inches by 9 inches, duplicates the shape of a movie screen, allowing
the full effect for widescreen films. For the less concerned, it also
allows two conventional programs to be shown on the screen at the same
time. As yet there was no word on how you're supposed to watch them both,
or whether special versions of widescreen films will be needed.
According to a National Public Radio interview with ARTHUR C. CLARKE, the
rights to THE HAMMER OF GOD have been bought by Paramount.
According to UPI, a QUANTUM LEAP movie is being planned, but not for a year
or two.
It would seem that Disney's film HOCUS POCUS has offended a very specific
religious group: witches. LAURIE CABOT, the "official witch" of
Massachusetts, is the high priestess of the Wicca temple in Salem. Her
temple has several thousand members, and she has spent her life trying to
defend the image of modern day witches, who insist that they are NOT
connected with the Devil. According to the Boston Globe, she has cast a
spell on the film to ensure that it is a box-office bomb, but if the
critics are correct, she needn't have bothered.
KIM BASINGER (BATMAN) will have a cameo in WAYNE'S WORLD II. She has filed
for bankruptcy protection following a multi-million dollar judgment against
her for pulling out of BOXING HELENA.
The film version of INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE, the ANNE RICE novel, is
well underway. Geffen Pictures says shooting will begin October 18 in
London and New Orleans. Who's in it? BRAD PITT (COOL WORLD), RIVER
PHOENIX (INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE) as the reporter, ANTONIO
BANDERAS, STEPHEN REA, and as the vampire Lestat ... TOM CRUISE. Yes, TOM
CRUISE. He will reportedly be receiving more than $15 million for the
role. The film, which will be distributed by Warner Brothers, will be
produced by STEPHEN WOLLEY and DAVID GEFFEN and directed by NEIL JORDAN,
who also wrote the screenplay. Jordan won this year's Oscar for best
screenplay for THE CRYING GAME.
The list of "interesting convention souvenirs" might have just gotten a
little longer. SYLVESTER STALLONE is thinking about suing the Sunday
Mirror for printing -- censored -- nude pictures of him taken on the set of
his science fiction thriller DEMOLITION MAN. Don't be surprised if the
uncensored version makes its way to dealer rooms.
It would seem that the big screen version of THE FLINTSTONES will have some
big names. Perhaps the biggest will be ELIZABETH TAYLOR, who will be
playing Wilma's mother, Pearl Slaghoople. Other stars? JOHN GOODMAN
(ROSANNE, as well as the psuedo-genre film MATINEE) as Fred Flintstone,
ELIZABETH PERKINS as Wilma, RICK MORANIS (HONEY, I SHRUNK THE KIDS) as
Barney, and ROSIE O'DONNELL as Betty.
Look for LEA THOMPSON (BACK TO THE FUTURE) as the Donna Reed mom in DENNIS
THE MENACE, and as a "real sexpot" in THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES.
SUPERMAN will be doing double duty this year, as the subject of both LOIS
AND CLARK, a new series on ABC, and SUPERMAN: THE NEW MOVIE. More info as
we get it.
Also in the rumor mill is SGT. ROCK, starring ARNOLD SCHWARTZNEGGER. If it
is true, let's hope it does better than his last action movie ...
DIE HARD 3 was supposed to be on a cruise ship, but they were beaten to it
by STEVEN SEGAL'S UNDER SEIGE, so now it looks like it'll be in a subway
system.
Anime fans be on the lookout: Universal is supposedly trying to line up a
deal for putting out a $60 million live action version of AKIRA.
Walt Disney Co. has signed a multimillion dollar multi year liscencing deal
with DIC Animation City, Inc. In addition to DIC programs, Disney's Buena
Vista Home Video will be working on interactive and multimedia programming.
DIC is the producer of INSPECTOR GADGET, SONIC THE HEDGEHOG, SUPERMARIO
BROS, and lots of others.
The 17th JAMES BOND film has been approved by MGM. It will star TIMOTHY
DALTON.
The summer movies season is heading for a record. Between MICHAEL
CRICHTON's JURRASIC PARK and RISING SUN, and THE FUGITIVE, the summer is
currently running 11 percent ahead of the record setting 1989, when BATMAN,
INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE, and LETHAL WEAPON 2 were in the
theaters.
Orion will be releasing ROBOCOP 3 in November. That is, in the United
States. It was supposed to be out here in July, but so was JURRASSIC PARK.
It has already earned more than $12 million in Japan and South Korea, and
made $2 million on it's opening week in France, but that money, along with
all overseas revenues from Orion films, goes to Columbia/TriStar, which
does Orion's overseas distribution. Orion, by the way, doesn't make films
anymore. They just finance them, but they still have 700 movies in their
library.
Columbia has named LISA HENSON, daughter of the late JIM, to replace
MICHAEL NATHANSON as the president of production. Analysts see this as the
part of a management shakeup following the $100 million bombing of LAST
ACTION HERO.
Purists beware... TED TURNER is reportedly negotiating to buy New Line
Cinema and Castle Rock. He will supposedly pay $500 million in the deals,
but he needs approval from his partners, Time Warner Inc., and Tele-
Communications inc.. Bertelsman Music Group, a German-owned company, is
also trying to buy Castle rock. While Turner owns five cable TV stations,
Bertelsman owns RCA, Arista, Doubleday, Bantam, and Dell. And, to make
things even more complicated (is that possible?) Castle Rock reportedly
receives most of its financing from New Line in a deal that is about to
expire.
The wife of BRUCE LEE has auctioned off some of his personal collection,
including photos and writings and the cap and suspenders he wore as Kato on
THE GREEN HORNET. No word on how much was paid, but a portion much or all
of the proceeds went to charity.
ROBIN WRIGHT (THE PRINCESS BRIDE) has given birth to a 7 pound 5 ounce baby
boy named Jack. He is her second child with SEAN PENN. Her daughter,
Dylan, is 2 years old.
SEAN CONNERY (HIGHLANDER,INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE, ROBIN HOOD,
JAMES BOND (need we go on?)) is currently in negotiations over the
starring role in SMOKE AND MIRRORS, about Houdin, a French illusionist in
the 1850's. It's written by JANET SCOTT BATCHLER and LEE BATCHLER, and is
from Disney's Hollywood Pictures. It's being called a "period action
drama."
And last, but certainly not least, there's JURASSIC PARK. If you haven't
seen it in your part of the world yet, here's when you will: Germany:
Sept. 2, Sweden: Sept. 3, Italy: Sept. 17, Netherlands: Sept. 30, Spain:
Oct. 8, France: Oct. 20 and Greece: Oct. 29.
The big story though is just how much MONEY this thing has brought in.
To tell you the truth, we don't have room to list all the records this film
has broken.
Previously, the top ten domestic grosses looked like this:
1. E.T. -- The Extraterrestrial (1982) $399.8 million.
2. STAR WARS (1977) $322 million.
3. HOME ALONE (1990) $281.6 million.
4. RETURN OF THE JEDI (1983) $263 million.
5. JAWS (1975) $260 million.
6. BATMAN (1989) $251.2 million.
7. RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981) $242.4 million.
8. BEVERLY HILLS COP (1984) $234.8 million.
9. THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (1980) $223 million.
10. GHOSTBUSTERS (1984) $220.9 million.
And for those of you who are interested, BACK TO THE FUTURE was at #12
with $208.2 million, T2 was at #14 with $204 million, INDIANA JONES AND THE
LAST CRUSADE was at #15 with $197.2 million, and INDIANA JONES AND THE
TEMPLE OF DOOM was at #17 with $179.8 million.
Once it cracked the list of top grosses, JP just went on a rampage,
climbing up the list like some of the characters running from T-Rex. It
took only a month to reach number 10, and four days later it was at number
7. A week after that it was at number 5. Two weeks later it was in the
number 3 spot. Frankly, we haven't checked in a few days. It might very
well have topped STAR WARS already, but we doubt it.
It might be held up from topping SW or E.T. for a little while, at
least, by the fact that both domestic totals include rereleases, of $35.2
million and $40 million respectively. E.T. brought in a total of $645
million for Universal, counting domestic and foreign ticket sales.
Remember, these are just DOMESTIC grosses. JP is breaking records all
over the world.
Internationally, the top grosses at this point are:
1. GHOST (1990) $290 million.
2. THE BODYGUARD (1992) $289 million.
3. E.T. -- THE EXTRATERRESTRIAL (1982) $286 million.
4. PRETTY WOMAN (1989) $279 million.
5. TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY (1991) $263 million.
6. INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE (1987) $258 million.
7. RAIN MAN (1988) $240 million.
8. BASIC INSTINCT (1992) $235 million.
9. BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (1991) $202 million.
10. ROBIN HOOD: PRINCE OF THIEVES (1991) $201 million.
Between theater rentals (which usually run at half the gross) domestic
and foreign home video and television rights, JP is expected to bring
Matsushita, Universal's parent company, a net PROFIT of almost $340
million.
Frankly folks, we're stunned.
...........
SF and Fantasy TV News ....
...........
First let's get the announcements of new shows out of the way. If things
go well, we should be able to put out a CV: Extra with more info. Keep
your fingers crossed.
NBC, Sunday 8-9 pm Eastern -- SEAQUEST DSV: From STEVEN SPEILBERG. Eco-
science fiction, with ROY SCHIEDER as the head of a submarine patrolling
the deep.
ABC, Sunday 8-9 pm Eastern -- LOIS AND CLARK: THE NEW ADVENTURES OF
SUPERMAN: DEAN CAIN and TERI HATCHER as the leads. It's supposedly closer
to the comics than we've seen before.
Sci-FI -- THE NEW ADVENTURES OF GIGANTOR: (Remember, folks, we don't make
this up.) There's really not much to say here, except that there are 52
new animated episodes, and they're in color.
Fox, Friday 9-10 pm Eastern -- THE X-FILES: Let's just say that the
producer/creator's favorite show as a kid was NIGHT GALLERY. It's about an
FBI agent who decides to take on those "weird" unsolved cases, like aliens
and the paranormal. CHRIS CARTER promises it'll be good and scary, but not
bloody. We'll run the interview with him either in the Extra or the next
issue, depending on how things go.
Syndicated, so bug your local stations: BABYLON 5: Laurel Takashima is,
in accordance with many people's wishes, gone. WALTER KOENIG is a bad guy.
We don't have room for everything here. Check out CV issues 1 and 3 for
details from J. Michael Straczynksi himself.
Syndicated, so bug your local stations: ROBOCOP: If there's anyone who
hasn't seen the movie, it's basically about a cop who's been turned into a
cyborg by a heartless corporation running the police force of Detroit. He
starts to remember who he is and fights against OCP -- the corporation.
The TV series apparently picks up from there.
That's all we've got for now, so on to the rest of the news ...........
DR. WHO fans have been up and down in the last few months. First there was
a rumor that the BBC was reviving the show. Then there was a rumor that
they MIGHT revive the show if there was enough interest in the special that
they were going to air for the 30th anniversary of the show in November.
Then there was gossip of problems between the surviving Doctors (or that
actors playing them, anyway.) Supposedly, JOHN PERTWEE, PETER DAVISON, and
SYLVESTER MCCOY were upset because the bulk of the show had gone to TOM
BAKER. (COLIN BAKER had not signed, citing prior committments.) Then the
word was that the special had been pushed back to early next year.
Now it seems that it was all pointless, because the rumor is that the
BBC has cancelled the special completely, and has no plans to revive DR.
WHO on television in any form. They will not even be showing any more
reruns for at least two seasons. (U.S. readers remember: In England, a
season is 13 weeks.)
On the brighter side, rumor is that BBC RADIO LIGHT ENTERTAINMENT and
the BBC Audio Collection will be producing 35 radio episodes of DR. WHO
starting JON PERTWEE as the Doctor. Some of the people who have reportedly
been contacted are KATY MANNING, ELIZABETH SLADEN, ERIC SAWARD, TERRANCE
DICKS, BARRY LETTS, PHILLIP MARTIN. Even more unconfirmed is that some of
the "lost" episodes that exist only in audio form may be released on
cassette tape or compact disc.
QUANTUM LEAP: Continuing on in life, SCOTT BAKULA will be starring in
MERCY MISSION, about the rescue of a single engine plane lost in the
Pacific Ocean. ROBERT LOGGIA also stars, and TED DANSON will produce. It
will air sometime in the 1993-4 season on NBC. (Yes, NBC.) But, of
course, the big news is that Bakula will be a semi-regular on MURPHY BROWN.
His role has been described as an "aggressive but charming international
reporter." Look for "strong sexual tension" between him and CANDICE
BERGEN.
DEAN STOCKWELL will play an "evil strip miner" trying to obtain the
Ponderosa in BONANZA -- THE RETURN, about the next generation of ranchers
and staring the sons of the original series, MICHAEL LANDON JR., and DIRK
BLOCKER, and LINDA GRAY.
And speaking of sons, JASON CONNERY, son of SEAN and formerly of ROBIN OF
SHERWOOD, will be starring in the film IESKA,about a Sioux Indian. It will
start shooting in Nashville this fall, and will also star FRANCESCO QUINN
(son of ANTHONY) and TAHNEE WELCH (daughter of RAQUEL).
Also for you alumnus watchers, ROBERT WOLTERSTORFF, former QL Supervising
Producer and writer is now the Executive Producer of DANGER THEATER, which
we have been looking for an excuse to mention. It's a half hour parody of
the action shows of the 1970's and '80's and it's (in our humble opinions,
of course) a fun way to spend 30 minutes. The show also features genre
veterans ADAM WEST (BATMAN) and ROBERT VAUGHN (THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.).
There are two segments each week, so there's little time for a gag to get
stale. The two are "The Searcher" starring DEITRICH BADER -- a takeoff on
everything from THE HITCHHIKER to the A-TEAM, and "Tropical Punch",
starring West in a straight takeoff of HAWAII FIVE-O. (Also, for those of
you following the campaign to save QL, the infamous Harriet will have a
cameo as a Liz Taylor lookalike in "Sex Lies and Decaf" to air August 22nd.
So you thought you read it all in GROWING UP BRADY, the controversial
biography of BARRY WILLIAMS? Now there is a tell all memior from, of all
people, BURT WARD. Yes, the boy -- now a man -- who played Robin opposite
ADAM WEST'S BATMAN in the campy 1960's television show. The book will be
called BOY WONDER: MY LIFE IN TIGHTS. (As tempting as it was, we are NOT
making this up.) Among the "revelations" to be found among the pages are
the existance of a nude Christmas special shown only to the executives.
(Can you imagine THAT in a dealers' room?) Remember, now, that Ward was a
very young man at the time, but if you've been following his life since,
you know that he has certainly gotten ... older. He claims that there are
no less than three chapters that are so sexually explicit that should not
be read by minors.
WHOOPI GOLDBERG's talk show has been cancelled becuse of low ratings.
Looks like we're going to have a wait for GEORGE R.R. MARTIN'S DOORWAYS.
it seems that ABC scheduled it for July 10 -- in a one hour slot. The
problem is that the short version of the pilot is 90 minutes long, with the
European version running 2 hours. Columbia pointed that out to ABC, but
there were no 90 minute slots available in the summer, so we may have to
wait as long as a year.
Steven Speilberg is taking TINY TOON ADVENTURES one step farther. Fox has
picked up STEVEN SPIELBERG PRESENTS ANIMANIACS. It's about three Warner
Bros characters, Wakko, Yakko, and Dot, the Warner Brothers (and Warner
sister) who have supposedly been kept in the WB water tower since their
creation 50 years ago because they were too outrageous. It will air at 4pm
on weekday afternoons. We'll let you know what will happen to TINY TOONS,
which is currently airing in that slot.
Looking for RED DWARF scripts? Fans in the UK have spotted PRIMORDIAL
SOUP: THE LEAST WORST SCRIPTS, by Grant Naylor. It's from Penguin Books,
and even includes "Psirens," a script from the sixth season which has not
even been shown yet. See SPOILERS AHOY for a little bit more information.
According to "Red Dwarf Smegazine," Season 1 of RD would be released on
video in the UK around May 4th, so it's probably out there somehwere.
No word on when other countries would see it.
There seems to be an affinity among science fiction fans for the classic
detective, SHERLOCK HOLMES. Maybe it's that intelligence runs in both
groups. Or perhaps it's just that Holmes, like the average sf fan, was
always looking forward to the future, to technology ... and to all the
little things that mundanes usually miss. Well now CBS is combining both
groups with a TV movies called SHERLOCK HOLMES RETURNS! IN THE ADVENTURE OF
THE TIGER'S REVENGE.
The story revolves around Holmes' adventures when he is thawed out
after 94 years. I seems that he was so bored in Victorian England that he
invented cryogenics and jumped in. Written by KENNETH JOHNSON, it will
star ANTHONY HIGGINS as Holmes and (surprise!) DEBORAH FARENTINO as his
sidekick. Instead of the stodgy Dr. Watson, we get Farentino as a sexy
doctor companion. (Yes, tension, but no romance -- yet.) If it does well,
there may be a series of TV films.
Although they have tried to keep things like the meerschaum pipe and
deerstalker cap, Holmes adapts to modern life pretty quickly. Just picture
Sherlock Holmes with the resources of computers and networks behind him and
you get the idea.
And while we're on the subject of Holmes, it was at about this time
100 years ago that ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE, sick of the detective he had
created, sent him hurtling over the Reichenbach Falls to his death. Well,
a year or two later he was forced by public outcry to bring him back, but
that isn't stopping the United Kingdom from issuing a set of Sherlock
Holmes stamps to commemorate the anniversary. They should be in the stores
October 12. (Or should way say 12 October?)
...........
STAR TREK News ....
...........
MOVIE NEWS: OK, here's the poop. STAR TREK VII will not be called STAR
TREK VII, though nobody knows what it IS going to be called. Right now the
leading candidate is STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION: THE MOTION PICTURE, so
that should answer the question as to which crew will be in it. There
will, however be 18 minutes of TOS characters. There are at least two
scripts in the works, and the will pick the one they like best for the
first film. The first two will have a budget of $100,000,000, if
statements made by Creation are correct. Paramount has booked 2400
theaters for Christmas week, so it had better be ready. This meant that
the TNG actors had to go back to work early, and will get only one week for
their mid-season hiatus, leaving them free to start production July 1,
1994.
Apparently one problem with making another TOS film is the insurance
companies. When you're making a film, you buy insurance that pays off if
for some reason you can't complete the film -- like the death or serious
illness of one of your stars. Given the advanced age of some of the cast,
STVI could only be insured for $26 million.
Also, the rumor that Paramount will be making yet another Star Trek series
once TNG ends is now a fact. It will take place on a starship and not a
space station, and during the same time period as TNG, so forget RICHARD
DEAN ANDERSON as a grown up Wesley Crusher.
There is talk that TERRY FARRELL is pregant. This is completely
UNCONFIRMED.
WALTER KOENIG suffered a heart attack while attending a convention in
Chicago. He was hospitalized and subsequently underwent heart surgery.
Koenig, whose age has been variously listed as 54 and 56, is doing fine,
and his family thanks all of those who sent their good wishes during the
crisis.
In a monumental display of well-meaning but misinformed explanation, United
Press International distributed an article about a STAR TREK convention in
Pasadena, California. The article patiently explains that you shouldn't
call fans "trekkies" because "Since [DEEP SPACE NINE] was launched in 1993,
Star Trek fans have sought a more serious image, hence the name change."
To it's credit, though, the article also quotes trekker Neil Norman as
explaining that "Being a trekker is about everyone getting along. It's not
about space ships and monsters." UPI also ran a report recently detailing
MARINA SIRTIS's refusal to attend a question/answer session until all video
equipment was removed from the room, quoting an unnamed con organizer as
saying that the TNG people just "stay for their hour and leave," and that
the TOS people are more personable. Anybody want to comment on that?
(UPI also ran the story of Walter Koenig's heart attack under the
headline "Star Trek character suffers heart attack".)
BRENT SPINER was reportedly offered a chance to direct, but turned it down.
Not so for ADAM NIMOY (son of LEONARD), who will be directing another
episode -- but we don't know which one.
A strange sounding rumor, supposedly from E! (the cable network) says that
JOHN DELANCIE has been signed for 26 episodes of TNG. A theory put forward
is that he might be playing a new regular in alien makeup.
There's just no stopping that STAR TREK franchise. According the The Wall
Street Journal (7/12/93), Paramount Video has sold 200,000 copies of "The
Cage," the original TOS pilot. That's $3 million, folks. For one episode.
The other 79 episodes have sold 50,000 to 100,000 each, and the TNG
episodes on the market have sold 25,000 to 30,000 each.
DWIGHT SCHULTZ (BARCLAY) will be starring in a brand new series come fall.
BOOMTOWN is about a dreamer who buys a run down rural hotel in anticipation
of a superhighway that winds up bypassing them, leaving them broke.
Funny how statistics can be manipulated ... According to the TIME
Magazine, the fastest growing language in the world is Klingon, created by
Mark Okrand. Why? It's very simple. As recently as a few years ago,
practically nobody was speaking it, but now, with the publication of the
KLINGON DICTIONARY, lots of people are spitting their way to being
bilingual.
On the lighter side, it seems that plenty of things are out there if you
just ask for them. For instance, Riverside, Iowa was designated the
birthplace of James T. Kirk because then City Councilor STEVE MILLER saw a
listing in THE MAKING OF STAR TREK of Kirk's birthplace as "a small Iowa
town." Paramount told him that the first Iowa town to lay claim to him
could have him, so they did. So now every first Friday after March 22
(yes, it's also WILLIAM SHATNER'S birthday) is the annual summer Trek Fest,
complete with Romulan Ale -- food coloring in the green beer left over from
St. Patrick's day.
The British satellite channel Sky One has purchased the rights to STAR
TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE, and will begin showing it in the next month or so.
JOHN DELANCIE just finished making a movie with BRUCE DERN, and plans on
doing more audio tapes. (What did he do before?) He has also done a comic
for DC, but reportedly does not plan to do another.
Since the beginning, big name stars have been showing up in Star Trek: The
Next Generation, and we may see more of that in what future the show has
left. "Descent," the final episode of the sixth season, featured a small
role for scientist STEVEN HAWKING, who is reportedly a huge fan of the
show. (The staff was apparently quite excited that such a world renowned
scientist is a fan. He also reportedly has quite a sense of humor, and
Levar Burton reccommends renting A BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME, the story of
Hawking's life.) According to a TV Guide interview with executive producer
RICK BERMAN, other celebrities who have expressed an interest in appearing
are JASON ALEXANDER, DANA CARVEY, CHRISTOPHER LLOYD, LYLE LOVETT, who,
according to Berman, is "an obsessive fan," Los Angeles Laker JAMES WORTHY,
who has reportedly signed to be the tallest Klingon in the show's history,
and ROBIN WILLIAMS. Berman says that they are looking for something more
than a cameo for Williams -- but nobody's mentioned the return of Mork from
Ork. Various sources are also saying that ARNOLD SCHWARTZNEGGER has signed
on to be an alien captain, but we think that if that were true, Rick Berman
would have mentioned it to TV Guide. Others mentioned in a March issue of
Entertainment Weekly are JOHN GOODMAN and ELLIOT GOULD.
WILLIAM SHATNER was also talking to TV Guide for their special "Sci-fi"
episode, and what he had to say might surprise a few people. He said that
he had no idea that much of the rest of the original cast of STAR TREK
didn't like him until he started to write his memiors. WALTER KOENIG --
Pavel Chekhov -- agreed to talk to him for the book, but what he had to say
was far from favorable. He said that Shatner always felt that aside from
the Big Three, the other actors were insignificant.
JIMMY DOOHAN wouldn't even talk to Shatner for the book. Doohan also has a
book deal for his memiors and though he does not yet have a title, he told
TV Guide (man, they talk to everybody!) that "It may have a whiff of
blasphemy, so I have to check it out with a couple of priests first."
NICHELLE NICHOLS is also writing a book. It's called BEYOND UHURA, but she
says that if you're looking for lots of details of the much heralded
"liason" between her and GENE RODDENBERRY, you're going to be disappointed.
She says that it happened long before STAR TREK, it was short-lived, and
that it will only get a couple of sentences in the book.
...........
Contests ....
...........
Attention writers: ASIMOV'S SCIENCE FICTION MAGAZINE and the
International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts (IAFA) have
announced the creation of the Isaac Asimov Award for the best unpublished
science fiction or fantasy short story by an undergraduate student. The
award is $500, a trip to IAFA's annual conference in Florida to receive it,
and consideration for publication in ASIMOV'S. Submissions, which should
be in the range of 1,000 to 10,000 words, are due by November 15, 1993.
For more information, write to Isaac Asimov Award, USF 3177, 4204 E.
Fowler, Tampa, FL 33620-3177.
-!-
The UPC SCIENCE FICTION AWARD
[Editor's note: We were going to try and paraphrase this, but there's just
so much in the way of specifics you need to know that we decided to just
reprint the posted notice, since you don't really have time to write to
them for more info. It IS a yearly contest, however, so even if you don't
make it this year, there's always the next go-round.]
This message contains the rules of the UPC Science Fiction Award 1993. This
competition is organized by the Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya (UPC).
Since its 2nd edition in 1992, the works can be presented in Catalan,
Spanish, English or French. Last year, Jack MacDevitt won the award with
the short novel "Ships in the Night".
Conrado Martinez (conrado@lsi.upc.es)
UPC SCIENCE FICTION AWARD 1993
RULES
1.- Any unpublished narrative work which comes within the science fiction
genre may take part in the competition.
2.- The works presented must be of between 75 and 110 pages, written in
Catalan, Spanish, English or French. Two copies of the manuscript must
be submitted, typewritten and double-spaced with 30 lines on each page
and 70 characters per line. The submitted manuscripts will not be
returned.
3.- The author must sign his or her narrative with a pseudonym, and
enclose a sealed envelope containing the following details: full name,
personal identification number (identity card or similar), full
address and contact telephone or fax. The title of the work and the
pseudonym of the author must appear on the outside of this envelope.
Members of the UPC community must also state "UPC Member" on the
outside of the envelope.
4.- Manuscripts must be send to:
Consell Social
Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya
Edifici ETSAB
Diagonal, 649
08028- Barcelona (SPAIN)
The envelope should be clearly marked: "UPC Science Fiction Award
1993".
5.- The final date for presentation of manuscripts for the 1993 edition is
August 30, 1993. The decision of the jury, which will be final, will
be made public before the ending of year 1993 (December 1st, 1993).
6.- According to the decision of the jury, a prize of 1,000,000 PTA will
be awarded. If the awarded narrative is not written in Catalan or
Spanish, a special mention with a prize of 250,000 PTA may be awarded
to the best narrative written in these languages. A further prize of
250,000 PTA may also be awarded for the best narrative presented by a
member of the UPC.
7.- The competition, which is held every year, may be declared vacant.
8.- The prizewinners grant the rights of the first Spanish edition to the
UPC, and waiver their right to any other monetary remuneration from
this edition.
9.- The winning novellas will be published by the UPC through Ediciones B,
in its collection "NOVA ciencia ficcion".
10.- The jury for the 1993 edition will be composed of Lluis Anglada,
Miquel Barcelo, Pere Botella, Josep Casanovas and Domingo Santos.
11.- The participation in the UPC Science Fiction Award 1993 involves the
implicit acceptance of the rules.
Barcelona, February 1993.
-!-
[Editor's note: The official closing date for voting was supposed to be
the weekend of August 13th, but Brad Templeton of Clarinet says that since
the ballots are still coming in and they're so easy to process, they will
be accepting them for a while longer -- but they absolutely must close the
balloting Labor Day weekend.]
The Electric Science Fiction Award Ballot
Clarinet is also running an electronic version of the Hugo voting.
Simply put, replace the question marks with your choices, in order of
preference. If you hate something, rank it below "No Award." All ballots
will be machine processed. They state in the instrctions that "BALLOTS
THAT CAN'T BE PARSED WILL BE DROPPED ON THE FLOOR." Neat trick for an
electronic ballot, but hey, it's their poll.
One more note from Clarinet: To not rank a story is to rank it last.
Thus if you have stories you hated, you should actually rank them after
stories you didn't read, rather than not ranking them, presuming you wish
to give them the benefit of the doubt. Likewise, you may wish to rank
stories you didn't read above No Award if you want to give them the benefit
of the doubt.
=====CUT HERE=====
Mail this part, or at least the answer lines, to esf-vote@clarinet.com
#start:
Best Novel
A China Mountain Zhang by Maureen F. McHugh
B Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
C Steel Beach by John Varley
D A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge
E Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
! No Award
#novel: ???
Best Novella
A "Uh-Oh City" by Jonathan Carroll
B "The Territory" by Bradley Denton
C "Protection" by Maureen McHugh
D Stopping at Slowyear by Frederik Pohl
E "Barnacle Bill the Spacer" by Lucius Shepard
F City of Truth by James Morrow
G "Contact" by Jerry Oltion and Lee Goodloe
H Griffin's Egg by Michael Swanwick
! No Award
#novella: ???
Best Novelette
A "True Faces" by Pat Cadigan
B "The Nutcracker Coup" by Janet Kagan
C "In the Stone House" by Barry N. Malzberg
D "Danny Goes to Mars" by Pamela Sargent
E "Suppose They Gave a Peace..." by Susan Shwartz
F "Matter's End" by Gregory Benford
G "The July Ward" by S.N. Dyer
H "The Honeycrafters" by Carolyn Gilman
I "Prayers on the Wind" by Walter Jon Williams
! No Award
#novelette: ???
Best Short Story
A "The Winterberry" by Nicholas A. DiChario
B "The Mountain to Mohammed" by Nancy Kress
C "The Lotus and the Spear" by Mike Resnick
D "The Arbitrary Placement of Walls" by Martha Soukup
E "Even the Queen" by Connie Willis
F "Life Regarded as a Jigsaw Puzzle of Highly Lustrous Cats"
by Michael Bishop
G "Lennon Spex" by Paul Di Fillipo
H "Vinland the Dream" by Kim Stanley Robinson
! No Award
#short: ???
Best Professional Artist
A Thomas Canty
B David A. Cherry
C Bob Eggleton
D James Gurney
E Don Maitz
! No Award
#artist: ???
Best Original Artwork
A Cover of Aristoi by Jim Burns
B Dinotopia by James Gurney
C "Bridges" by Ron Walotsky
D Cover of Illusion by Michael Whelan
E Asimov Tribute Portrait, by Michael Whelan
! No Award
#artwork: ???
Best Fan Writer
A Mike Glyer
B Andy Hooper
C Dave Langford
D Evelyn C. Leeper
E Harry Warner Jr.
! No Award
#fanwriter: ???
Best Fan Artist
A Teddy Harvia
B Merle Insinga
C Linda Michaels
D Peggy Ranson
E Stu Shiffman
F Diana Harlan Stein
! No Award
#fanartist: ???
Best New Writer of 1991-1992
from the John W. Campbell nominees
A Barbara Delaplace
B Nicholas A. DiChario
C Holly Lisle
D Laura Resnick
E Carrie Richerson
F Michelle Sagara
! No Award
#newwriter: ???
Other questions:
For these questions, replace the answer field with the right answer. If
you see something like "yes|no" it means we expect you to leave either a
yes or no in the field. If you leave a literal "yes|no" we will disregard
your response.
1. Did you purchase the ESF 1993 Hugo and Nebula Anthology? (You can vote
even if you didn't, but we would like to know.)
#purchase: yes|no
2. Are you a member of the 1993 WorldCon, ConFrancisco?
#worldcon: yes|no
3. Did you or will you vote on the Hugos?
#vote: yes|no
#end:
Brad Templeton
ClariNet Communications Corp.
Sunnyvale, CA
408/296-0366
...........
.... And Awards
...........
Genre and related nominees for the 45th annual Primetime Emmy Awards, to be
presented live on ABC on Sept. 19 from the Pasadena Civic Auditorium:
Actor, drama series: QUANTUM LEAP -- Scott Bakula
Supporting actor, drama series: QUANTUM LEAP -- Dean Stockwell
Animated program, one hour or less: BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES (Fox);
INSPECTOR GADGET SAVES CHRISTMAS (NBC); LIQUID TELEVISION (MTV); THE
REN & STIMPY SHOW (MTV); THE TALE OF PETER RABBIT AND BENJAMIN BUNNY
(Family Channel).
Directing, drama series: THE YOUNG INDIANA JONES CHRONICLES -- Northern
Italy, 1918 -- Bille August
Art direction, series: QUANTUM LEAP -- Cameron Birnie, Ellen Dambros-
Williams, Robert Zilliox; STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE -- Herman
Zimmerman, Randall McIlvain, Mickey S. Michaels; THE YOUNG INDIANA
JONES CHRONICLES: Vienna, 1908 -- Gavin Bocquet, Keith Pain, Maggie
Gray
Art direction, miniseries or special: WILD PALMS -- Dins Danielson, Mark
Zuelzke, Suzette Sheets
Cinematography, series: QUANTUM LEAP -- Michael Watkins; THE YOUNG INDIANA
JONES CHRONICLES -- David Tattersall
Editing, series, single-camera: QUANTUM LEAP -- Jon Koslowsky
Cinematography, series: QUANTUM LEAP -- Michael Watkins; THE YOUNG INDIANA
JONES CHRONICLES -- David Tattersall
Supporting actor, miniseries or special: BARBARIANS AT THE GATE -- Jonathan
Pryce (BRAZIL)
Costume design, series: QUANTUM LEAP: LEE HARVEY OSWALD -- Jean-Pierre
Dorleac;
STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION: Time's Arrow, Parts 1 & 2 -- Robert
Blackman; THE YOUNG INDIANA JONES CHRONICLES -- Peggy Farrell
Music composition, series, dramatic underscore: QUANTUM LEAP: Leaping On A
String Part 1 -- Velton Ray Bunch; THE SIMPSONS: Treehouse of Horror
III -- Alf Clausen; THE YOUNG INDIANA JONES CHRONICLES: Young Indiana
Jones and the Scandal of 1920 -- Joel McNeely; THE YOUNG INDIANA JONES
CHRONICLES: Vienna, 1908 -- Laurence Rosenthal
Main title theme music: COVINGTON CROSS -- Carl Davis; STAR TREK: DEEP
SPACE NINE -- Dennis McCarthy
Sound editing, series: QUANTUM LEAP: Leaping Between The States -- Greg
Schorer, Gary Macheel, Rick Crampton, Dan Luna, Bob Costanza, Rick
Steele, Ernesto Mas, Bruce Frazier; STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE:
Emissary Part 2 -- James Wolvington, William Wistrom, Ashley Harvey,
Miguel Rivera, Jeff Gersh, Sean Callery, Steffan Falestich, Steve
Rowe; STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION: Time's Arrow Part 2 -- William
Wistrom, James Wolvington, Miguel Rivera, Masanobu Tomita, Guy
Tsujimoto, Jeff Gersh, Dan Yale, Gerry Sackman; THE YOUNG INDIANA
JONES CHRONICLES: Somme, 1916 -- Tom Bellfort, Larry Oatfield, Chris
Scarabosio, Michael Silvers, David Slusser, Tom Villano, Jamie Gelb-
Forrester
Costume design, series: QUANTUM LEAP: Lee Harvey Oswald -- Jean-Pierre
Dorleac; STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION: Time's Arrow Parts 1 & 2 --
Robert Blackman; THE YOUNG INDIANA JONES CHRONICLES -- Peggy Farrell
Music composition, series, dramatic underscore: QUANTUM LEAP: Leaping On A
String Part 1 -- Velton Ray Bunch; THE SIMPSONS: Treehouse of Horror
III -- Alf Clausen; THE YOUNG INDIANA JONES CHRONICLES: Young Indiana
Jones and the Scandals of 1920 -- Joel McNeely; THE YOUNG INDIANA
JONES CHRONICLES: Vienna, 1908 -- Laurence Rosenthal
Music composition, miniseries or special, dramatic underscore: THE YOUNG
INDIANA JONES CHRONICLES: Young Indiana Jones and the Mystery of the
Blues -- Joel McNeely
Main title theme music: COVINGTON CROSS -- Carl Davis; STAR TREK: DEEP
SPACE NINE -- Dennis McCarthy
Sound editing, series: ``QUANTUM LEAP: Leaping Between The States'' --
Greg Schorer, Gary Macheel, Rick Crampton, Dan Luna, Bob Costanza,
Rick Steele, Ernesto Mas, Bruce Frazier; ``STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE:
Emissary Part 2'' -- James Wolvington, William Wistrom, Ashley Harvey,
Miguel Rivera, Jeff Gersh, Sean Callery, Steffan Falestich, Steve
Rowe; STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION: Time's Arrow'' Part 2 --
William Wistrom, James Wolvington, Miguel Rivera, Masanobu Tomita, Guy
Tsujimoto, Jeff Gersh, Dan Yale, Gerry Sackman; THE YOUNG INDIANA
JONES CHRONICLES: Somme, 1916 -- Tom Bellfort, Larry Oatfield, Chris
Scarabosio, Michael Silvers, David Slusser, Tom Villano, Jamie Gelb-
Forrester
Sound editing, miniseries or special: STEPHEN KING: THE TOMMYKNOCKERS --
Richard Taylor, Peter Austin, David Mork Beadle, Peter Bergren, Ken T.
Gladden, Sonya L. Henry, Gary Lewis, Myron C. Nettinga, Brian Thomas
Nist, Adam Sawelson, Matthew Sawelson, Bruce Tanis, James B.
Hebenstreit, Albert Edmund Lord III, Marty Weresky
Sound mixing, comedy series or special: THE SIMPSONS: Tree House of Horror
III -- Brad Brock, R. Russell Smith, Greg Orloff, Anthony D'Amico
Sound mixing, drama series: STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE, EMISSARY Part 2 --
Bill Gocke, Christopher Haire, Richard Morrison, Douglas W. Davey;
STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION: A Fistful of Datas -- Alan Bernard,
Doug Davey, Richard Morrison, Christopher Haire; THE YOUNG INDIANA
JONES CHRONICLES -- Carl Rudisill, Gary Summers
Makeup, series: SPACE RANGERS: Death Before Dishonor -- Marvin Westmore,
Ed French; STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE: Captive Pursuit -- Michael G.
Westmore, Jill Rockow, Karen J. Westerfield, Gilmosko, Dean Jones,
Michael Key, Craig Reardon, Vincent Niebla; STAR TREK: THE NEXT
GENERATION: Inner Light -- Michael G. Westmore, Gerald Quist, June
Abston Haymore, Karen J. Westerfield, Jill Rockow, Doug Drexler
Hairstyling, series: STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE: Move Along Home --
Candace Neal, Ron Smith, Gerold Solomon, Susan Maust; STAR TREK: THE
NEXT GENERATION: Time's Arrow Part 2 -- Joy Zapata, Candy Neal, Patty
Miller, Laura Connelly, Richard Sabre, Julia Walker, Josee Normand
Music direction: THE YOUNG INDIANA JONES CHRONICLES: YOUNG INDIANA JONES
AND THE MYSTERY OF THE BLUES
..............
The editors of TV Guide picked their favorites: STAR TREK took the award
for Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy of the 1960, and STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION won
Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy of the 1980's. PATRICK STEWART also won Best Dramatic
Actor of the 1980's. The best SF/F of the 1950's was TWILIGHT ZONE, and,
in a move that makes us wonder, they chose MORK AND MINDY as the best SF/F
of the 1970's.
And, it seems that someone's always running a "Sexiest Men" contest, and
this time it's Playgirl. Among the winners for 1993 are JOHNNY DEPP
(EDWARD SCISSORHANDS), BRAD PITT (COOL WORLD, INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE),
DANNY GLOVER (PREDATOR 2), and ROBERT DENIRO (FRANKENSTEIN).
Genre winners of the 29th annual Academy Awards:
Makeup: Greg Cannom, Michele Burke, and Matthew W. Mungle, BRAM STOKER'S
DRACULA
Animated Short: Joan C. Gratz, MONA LISA DESCENDING A STAIRCASE
Visual Effects: Ken Ralston, Doug Chiang, Doug Smythe, and Tim Woodruff,
DEATH BECOMES HER
Sound Effects Editing: Tom C. McCarthy and David E. Stone, BRAM STOKER'S
DRACULA
Original Score: Alan Menken, ALADDIN
Costume Design: Eiko Ishioka, BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA
Original Song: WHOLE NEW WORLD, from ALADDIN, music by Alan Menken,
lyrics by Tim Rice
On the other hand, ALAN MENKEN was also "honored" with the Golden Raspberry
Award for worst original song for his part in the writing of HIGH TIMES,
HARD TIMES for Disney's NEWSIES. The Razzie is a gold spray painted
mangled film reel about the size of a golf ball, and is valued at $1.79.
CELINE DION and PEABO BRYSON, both Canadian, have been awarded the Candian
Grammy award for their rendition of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST.
LEVAR BURTON'S READING RAINBOW, has been nominated for Outstanding
Children's Series in the 20th Annual DAYTIME EMMY AWARDS. The nominations
for Outstanding Animated Children's Program went to BATMAN: THE ANIMATED
SERIES, DISNEY'S DARKWING DUCK, DOUG, RUGRATS, and TINY TOON ADVENTURES,
and the nominations for Outstanding Writing in an Animated Program went to
BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES, DISNEY'S GOOF TROOP, DISNEY'S RAW TOONAGE,
RUGRATS, and TINY TOON ADVENTURES. Nominations for Outstanding Performer
in a Children's Series went to JOHN ASTIN for THE ADDAM'S FAMILY, and LEVAR
BURTON for READING RAINBOW.
The Boring Institute has made its choices for 1992, citing, among other
movies, BATMAN RETURNS and SEAN CONNERY'S MEDICINE MAN. They also cited
the acting of BATMAN alumni JACK NICHOLSON and KIM BASINGER.
QUANTUM LEAP: A Song for the Soul and JON KOSLOWSKY, ACE are winners of the
American Cinema Editors Award, and the Motion Picture Sound Editors 1992
Golden Reel Award for Television One Hour Series ADR editing went to
Supervising ADR Editor ERNESTO MAS and ADR Editor J. MICHAEL HOOSER for
QUANTUM LEAP: Leaping of the Shrew.
The winners of the 1992 Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America
Nebula Awards:
Novel: Connie Willis, Doomsday Book (Bantam)
Novella: James Morrow, City of Truth (St. Martin's Press)
Novelette: Pamela Sargent, Danny Goes to Mars (Asimov's SF)
Short Story: Connie Willis, Even the Queen (Asimov's)
Grand Master: Frederik Pohl
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
--!8!-- SPOILERS AHOY/Including Episode Guide For HIGHLANDER Season One
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
According to reports, we can expect the following early next season on STAR
TREK: THE NEXT GENERATIOM:
Hugh Borg will be returning for the second half of "Descent," lending
credence to those who were sure that he would be an integral part of the
solution to the Enterprise's problem.
After 6 years, we will finally see Geordi's conception of himself. In
the upcoming episode "Interface," Geordi will be working in a virtual
reality environment, and we will get to see how he views himself WITHOUT
the visor. He will apparently be performing some sort of remote operation
on a space probe. As reported here, Levar Burton, who plays Geordie, loves
technology and new toys, and reportedly had lots of fun with this episode.
In another episode, we will get to see Geordie's parents, his missing-in-
action mother (who is the captain of her own ship) and his father, to be
played by BEN VEREEN. (Burton originally wanted SIDNEY POITIER, but he was
unavailable, and he is apparently quite happy that Vereen stepped in.)
Also rumored: Net sources have quoted Science Consultant NAREN
SHANKAR as saying that there is a Wesley Crusher oriented show in
development for the upcoming season. WIL WHEATON, who plays Wes, is
currently attending UCLA, and his character is at Starfleet Academy. She
also mentioned that they were going to pick up the theme of Data's dreams.
On the other side of the camera, once again we will see cast members
directing: The sixth episode will be directed by PATRICK STEWART, the
tenth by JONATHAN FRAKES, and the twelfth by LEVAR BURTON. No episode
titles are available yet.
AIR SCHEDULES FOR THE UNITED STATES:
Star Trek: The Next Generation
8/7/93 -- Frame of Mind
8/14/93 -- Suspicions
8/21/93 -- Rightful Heir
8/28/93 -- Second Chances
9/4/93 -- Timescape
9/11/93 -- Descent
9/18/93 -- SEASON PREMIERE: Descent Part 2 (unofficial title)
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
8/7/93 -- Progress
8/14/93 -- Duet
8/21/93 -- If Wishes Were Horses
8/28/93 -- The Forsaken
9/4/93 -- Dramatis Personae
9/11/93 -- In the Hands of the Prophets
9/18/93 -- The Nagus
9/25/93 -- SEASON PREMEIRE (Title unknown)
.............
HIGHLANDER EPISODE GUIDE -- SEASON ONE
Original by Bill Reeves -- breeves@oracle.com
Additions by Obie Slotterbeck -- obie@hirama.hiram.edu, Roderick Lee --
rnlee@sdcc3.ucsd.edu, and Jonathan Blum -- jblum@eng.umd.edu. Additional
information taken from the Net.
REGULAR CAST:
Adrian Paul as Duncan Macleod
Alexandra Vandernoot as Tessa No:el (that's an umlaut over the o)
Stan Kirsch as Richie Ryan
TEXT FROM THE BEGINNING OF EACH EPISODE:
First form (6 episodes):
I am Duncan Macleod, born 400 years ago in the highlands of Scotland. I am
Immortal, and I am not alone. For centuries we have waited for the time of
the Gathering, when the stroke of a sword and the fall of a head will
release the power of the Quickening. In the end, there can be only one.
Second form:
I was born 400 years ago in the highlands of Scotland. I am Immortal, and
I am not alone. Now is the time of the Gathering, when the stroke of a
sword will release the power of the Quickening. In the end, there can be
only one.
Short Episode Listing
---------------------
01 The Gathering 03R Road Not Taken (repeat)
02 Innocent Man 04R Bad Day in Building A (repeat)
03 Road Not Taken 06R Deadly Medicine (repeat)
04 Bad Day in Building A 12 See No Evil
05 Free Fall 13 Band of Brothers
06 Deadly Medicine 14 For Evil's Sake
07 Mountain Men 15 For Tomorrow We Die
08 Revenge is Sweet 16 The Beast Below
01R The Gathering (repeat) 17 Saving Grace
09 The Sea Witch 09R The Sea Witch (repeat)
10 Eyewitness 11R Family Tree (repeat)
11 Family Tree 10R Eyewitness (repeat)
02R Innocent Man (repeat) 12R See No Evil (repeat)
07R Mountain Men (repeat) 08R Revenge is Sweet (repeat)
05R Free Fall (repeat) 18 The Lady and the Tiger
EPISODE DETAILS
---------------
Format
#) Title
Written by writer, directed by director
Guest star actor as character
Semi-regular actor as character
Short plot summary
01) The Gathering
Written by Dan Gordon, directed by Thomas J. Wright
Christopher Lambert as Connor Macleod
Richard Moll as Slan Quince
Wendell Wright as Sgt. Powell
Connor Macleod comes to town to visit his kinsman Duncan, and together
they fight the evil Slan Quince.
02) Innocent Man
Written by Dan Gordon, directed by Jorge Montesi
John Novack as Sheriff Howard Crowley
Victor Young as Lucas Desiree
Vincent Schiavelli as Leo Atkins
Amanda Wyss as Randi McFarland
Wendell Wright as Sgt. Powell
Duncan's old friend Lucas Desiree is killed, and Vietnam vet Leo Atkins is
framed for the murder. Duncan must protect Leo and track down the real
killer.
03) Road Not Taken
Written by Terry Nelson, directed by Thomas J. Wright
Dustin Nguyen as Chu Lin
Soon-teck Oh as Kiem Sun
Wendell Wright as Sgt. Powell
Christianne Hirt as Angie
A friend of Richie's is killed by a mind control drug, and Duncan suspects
an old friend could be behind it.
04) Bad Day in Building A
Written by Kevin Droney, directed by Jorge Montesi
Andrew Divoff as Bryan Slade
Amanda Wyss as Randi McFrland
Jay Brazeau as Comissioner Comanski
Terrorists take over a courthouse and take Duncan, Tessa, and Richie as
hostages. When they decide to execute a hostage, they choose the wrong
one...
05) Free Fall
Written by Philip John Taylor, directed by Thomas J. Wright
Joan Jett as Felicia Martins
Eli Gabay as Devereux
Jay Brazeau as Comissioner Comanski
An evil immortal pretends to be innocent in order to gain Duncan's trust,
and endangers Tessa and Richie.
06) Deadly Medicine
Written by Robert L. McCullough, directed by Ray Austin
Joe Pantoliano as Doctor Wilder
Amanda Wyss as Randi McFarland
Duncan is critically injured in an auto accident -- when he makes a
miraculous recovery, his E/R doctor takes an unhealthy interest in him.
07) Mountain Men
Written by Marie-Chantal Droney, directed by Thomas J. Wright
Marc Singer as Caleb
Wes Studi as Sheriff Benson
John Dennis Johnston as Carl the Hermit
Duncan must rescue Tessa, who's been taken captive by an immortal who has
been hiding in the wilderness for years.
08) Revenge is Sweet
Written by Loraine Despres, directed by Ray Austin
Vanity as Rebecca Lord
Christoph Ohrt as Walter Reinhardt
Christianne Hirt as Angie
Tim Reid as Sgt. Bennett
An old enemy of Duncan's uses his former girlfriend as a tool to get
Duncan's head.
09) The Sea Witch
Written by David Tynan, directed by Thomas J. Wright
Stephen Macht as Alexei Voshin
Johannah Newmarch as Nikki
One of Richie's friends from the old neighborhood is involved in a drug
deal gone bad, with one of Duncan's old enemies behind the deal.
10) Eyewitness
Written by David Tynan, directed by Ray Austin
Tom Butler as Andrew Ballin
Amanda Wyss as Randi McFarland
Tim Reid as Sgt. Bennett
Tessa witnesses a murder and becomes the target of an immortal crooked cop.
11) Family Tree
Written by Kevin Droney, directed by Jorge Montesi
J.E. Freeman as Joe Scanlon
Peter Deluise as Clinch
Tamsin Kelsey as Mrs. Gustavson
Matthew Walker as Duncan's father
While trying to help Richie find his father, Duncan has painful memories
of his own past.
12) See No Evil
Written by Brian Clemens, directed by Thomas J. Wright
John Hertzler as Marcus Korolus
Dee McCafferty as the Scalper
Moira Walley as Natalie Ward
Amanda Wyss as Randi McFarland
Tim Reid as Sgt. Bennett
Duncan becomes involved in a series of murders which are similar to several
he witnessed in the 1920's.
13) Band of Brothers
Written by Marie-Chantal Droney, directed by Rene Manzor
Werner Stocker as Darius
James Horan as Grayson
Earl Pastko as Victor Paulus
Amanda Wyss as Randi McFarland
Duncan must protect a world-famous philanthropist from assassination by an
ancient evil immortal.
14) For Evil's Sake
Written by David Abramowitz and Fabrice Ziolkowski, directed by Ray Austin
Peter Howitt as Kuyler
Hugues Leforestier as Inspector Lebrun
An immortal assassin strikes in modern-day Paris, and the police officer in
charge of the investigation believes Duncan is involved.
15) For Tomorrow We Die
Written by Philip John Taylor, directed by Robin Davis
Roland Gift as Xavier St Cloud
Werner Stocker as Darius
Hugues Leforestier as Inspector Lebrun
Duncan must stop an immortal thief and murderer who targets Tessa's art
fundraiser with a nerve gas time bomb.
16) The Beast Below
Written by Marie-Chantal Droney, directed by Daniel Vigne
Christian Van Acker as Ursa
Dee Dee Bridgewater as Carolyn
Werner Stocker as Darius
An immortal who lives in the sewers underneath Paris falls under the spell
of an opera siner, who asks him to kill for her.
17) Saving Grace
Written by Elizabeth Baxter and Martin Broussellet, directed by Ray Austin
Julia Stemberger as Grace
Georges Corraface as Carlos Cendero
Werner Stocker as Darius
Duncan protects an old flame (and we do mean old) from her possessive
immortal lover.
18) The Lady and the Tiger
Written by Philip John Taylor, directed by Robin Davis
Elizabeth Gracen as Amanda
Jason Isaacs as Zachary Blaine
An immortal femme-fatale is planning a major robbery, but must contend with
both Duncan and her former partner, who wants her head.
LIST OF IMMORTALS
-----------------
Duncan Macleod (episodes 1-18)
Connor Macleod (1)
Slan Quince (1) (deceased, killed by Duncan)
Lucas Desiree (2) (deceased, killed by Howard Cromley)
Howard Crowley (2) (deceased, killed by Duncan)
Kiem Sun (3)
Felicia Martins (5)
Devereux (5) (deceased, killed by Felicia Martins)
Caleb (7) (deceased, killed by Duncan)
Carl the Hermit (7) (deceased, killed by Caleb)
(there is some debate as to Carl's immortality)
Walter Reinhardt (8) (deceased, killed by Duncan)
Alexei Voshin (9) (deceased, killed by his ship's propellors)
Andrew Ballin (10) (deceased, killed by Duncan)
Marcus Korolus (12) (deceased, killed by Duncan in the 1920's)
Grayson (13) (deceased, killed by Duncan)
Darius (13,15-17)
Kuyler (14) (deceased, killed by Duncan)
Xavier St Cloud (15) (dis-armed by Duncan)
Ursa (16)
Grace (17)
Carlos Cendero (17) (deceased, beheaded by subway train)
Amanda (18)
Zachary Blaine (18) (deceased, killed by Amanda)
... And a couple of HIGHLANDER spoilers for season two from
sjgavula@terminator.rs.itd.umich.edu:
JIM BYRNES (Lifeguard on WISE GUYS), will be seen in some of the first
episodes of season two. The recurring character will be a good "Watcher"
in contrast to those evil "Watchers" (formerly "Hunters").
Also showing up will be RON PERLMAN (Vincent from BEAUTY AND THE
BEAST), will play the immortal of the week in the fifth episode to be
produced for season two. No episode titles are available yet.
..............
Reports are that the sixth season of RED DWARF takes place mostly on
Starbug, as Lister and Rimmer (who spends time as "solid light")
looking for Red Dwarf. There's no Holly, but we will see the
stimulants (robot antagonists who "pull your head off and spit down
the stump") and a virtual reality episode set in the Wild West.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
--!9!-- Publications and Conventions
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
CV has no connection with any of these magazines, other than the fact that
we know they're out there. (If we know more than that, we'll say so.) We
are listing them as a public service, and make no warrantee as to their
quality or reliability.
To have a publication listed, send a SHORT but complete description to
xx133@cleveland.freenet.edu.
............
Quanta, has been awarded the Digital Quill by the Digital Publishing
Assiciation, and in our opinion, they deserve it. You can pick up this
magazine of fiction by FTP from ftp.eff.org or export.acs.amu.edu. You
also request e-mail subscription from quanta@andrew.cmu.edu
The APA DIMENTIA is looking for new writers. The idea is that entities
from all sorts of timestreams communicate via letters and diaries sent by
interdimensional fax machines sent by the sorcerer/wizrard "Procavia."
Writings are ENTIRELY in character, and writers are not to give away their
real identities to anyone but the managing editor. The dues are $5 per
year, and the minimum activity is four pages, in character, every four
months, if we read it right. Issues have been running 150-200 pages. For
more information or to join, write to: Apa Dimentia, c/o Emory Churness,
2705 N. Shepard #1, Milwaukee, WI 53211 USA.
The first issue of MINDSPARKS should be out by now. From what we've heard,
the monthly newsletter has an emphasis on the science of science fiction,
carrying fiction and nonfiction, the latter including articles on straight
science that can be or has been incorporated into science fiction or about
the scientists and writers themselves. For more information on
subscriptions or submissions, contact MINDSPARKS, P.O. Box 1379, Laurel MD
20725-1379.
According to Issue 72 of ANSIBLE, MILLION: THE MAGAZINE ABOUT POPULAR
FICTION (which has seen its subscriptions dwindle) will be combining with
INTERZONE. Certain mainstays of M:TMAPF will make their way over to
INTERZONE, but the magazine "will not change it's nature." MILLION
subscribers will get INTERZONE.
............
CONVENTIONS
............
Convention listings are provided as a public service to our readers. Cyberspace
Vanguard makes no warranty as to the reliability of the information -- or the
cons, for that matter. We have not checked out these cons and are not
affiliated with them in any way.
Listings should be sent to xx133@cleveland.freenet.edu. They should be in the
following form:
CONVENTION NAME: Dates; Hotel; City, State, Country; GUESTS; Rates (Please
indicate currency. $30 is thirty US dollars. #30 is thirty pounds sterling);
Address, including country; Telephone; E-mail address, if any; Comments --
PLEASE, 150 characters of less!
-!-
VISIONS '93: November 26-28; Hyatt Regency O'Hare Hotel; Chicago, IL USA; JON
PERTWEE, PETER DAVISON, COLIN BAKER, SYLVESTER MCCOY, FRAZER HINES, ELIZABETH
SLADEN, NICOLA BRYANT, SOPHIE ALDRED, LOHN LEVENE, CAROLE ANN FORD, ANTHONLY
AINLEY, JEREMY BENTHAM, JEAN-MARC LOFFICIER, JOHN PEEL, JOHN NATHAN TURNER,
DANNY JOHN-JULES, GARETH THOMAS, MICHAEL KEATING, JOHN ABINERI, JEREMY BULLOCH;
(deadline/3 day/2 day/1 day) 11-1-93/$85/$75/$65, door/$100/$90/$80; Her
Majesty's Entertainment, PO Box 1202, Highland Park, IL 60035 USA;
fergus@areaplg2.corp.mot.com
FARPOINT (formerly OktoberTrek): October 9-10, 1993; Marriott's Hunt Valley
Inn; Cockeysville, Maryland USA (12 miles north of Baltimore); GEORGE TAKEI,
JOHN DELANCIE, and more; $30 for pre-order 3-day ticket, also
sold at door; Farpoint, 5657 Utrecht Road, Baltimore, MD 21206 USA; (410)
866-5516
WISHCON III: November 19-21, 1993; Sheraton Monarch (413) 781-1010; Springfield,
Mass. USA; ARMIN SHIMERMAN, WALTER KOENIG, JONATHAN HARRIS, JOHN LEVENE, MELISSA
CRANDALL, BOB GREENBERGER, CORTLAND HULL, RON D. MOORE (tent.), MARK OKRAND
(tent.), KEN PENDERS, and ARNE STARR; Advance ('till Oct. 15th): $35/Weekend,
Door: $40/Weekend, $20/One Day, Reserved Seating: $10 extra (total $45). By
mail only, cut off Oct. 15th (or sooner if sold out), Saturday Night Banquet:
$23 by mail only; Checks to K & P Productions, 500 Monroe Turnpike, Monroe, CT
06468. Ticketmaster also has week end and one day passes available at the same
prices, though service charges may apply. Call (413) 733-2500 or (617)
931-2000. NO Reserved seats at the door or through TIcketmaster. NO one-day
passes available through the mail; (203) 459-0413 for information -- use numbers
above for phone-in tickets; Chreotho@cup.portal.com. To receive Progress
Reports, please include an SASE and register by mail.
MILFORD SF WRITER'S CONFERENCE: September 12-19, 1993; has been cancelled
FANTASYCON XVIII: October 1-3, 1993; Birmingham UK; #30, or for BFS members -
#20; 137 Priory Rd., Hall Green, Birmingham, B28 0TG, UK
ARMADACON V: November 12-14, 1993; Astor Hotel; The Hoe, Plymouth, UK; Various
guests, all 'subject to work commitments'; #20; 4 Gleneagle Ave., Mannamead,
Plymouth, PL3 5HL UK
MASQUE III (costume con): March 4-6, 1994; Stakis Victoria Hotel;
Nottingham, UK; ; Advance (to December 30, 1993) - #20; Ednaston Ct,
Ashbouorne, Derbyshire DE6 3BA UK
CORFLU NOVA (fanzine con): May 20-22, 1994; Arlington, VA USA; $47;
P.O. Box 1350 Germantown, MD 20875. Corflu plans to exhume a long-dead
horror: the partly rugose and partly squamous Fanzine Activity Achievement
Awards
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
--!10!-- Administrivia
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yes, it's a big one. I wonder how many of you actually stuck it out
this long ...
Well, for those of you who did, thanks. We also want to thank Carol
(wangc@cpsc.ucalgary.ca), without whose newsgathering skill this would be
impossible, Elizabeth Jenkins (est@lingua.cltr.uq.oz.au), Linda E. Smit
(LINDAESM@uga.cc.uga.edu), sjgavula@terminator.rs.itd.umich.edu, Mike Hill,
and of course Evelyn C. Leeper.
As always, electronic subscriptions to Cyberspace Vanguard are free and can
be obtained by dropping a note to cn577@cleveland.freenet.edu. If you
would like to write for us (or do anything else, for that matter) feel free
to contact us at xx133@cleveland.freenet.edu.
Also, for those who missed the last issue, the paper version of CV is on
hold temporarily. No checks have been or will be cashed until we are up
and running on paper. (Unless you want to send donations, of course.)
Until next time,
THANKS A MILLION
---- TJ Goldstein, Editor
--
CYBERSPACE VANGUARD MAGAZINE
News and Views from the Science Fiction Universe
TJ Goldstein, Editor | Send submissions, questions, comments to
tlg4@po.cwru.edu | cn577@cleveland.freenet.edu