-
In the prosperous, optimistic days that followed World War II, Americans dreamed of a utopian future made possible by advances in technology. In this gleaming future, all menial labor would be performed by robot servants, sparking a new Renaissance as Americans found themselves unfettered from the need to work. But, during the counterculture movement of the 1960s and '70s, when many Americans began to distrust the government and other established institutions, robots and technology were increasingly viewed with suspicion and paranoia. Increasingly, visions of the future of human-robot relations tended toward the antagonistic, if not the apocalyptic, with the smarter, faster, stronger machines intent on supplanting human beings or wiping us out, altogether.
Whether you believe that we humans will always be able to keep our technology on a leash or you're of the variety that predict we will inevitably be challenged for supremacy of the earth by our humanoid creations, both of those future scenarios recently became closer to reality with the unveiling last month of the "world's most high-tech humanoid," a robot with lifelike features and expressions and working artificial human organs.
the future has arrived >> Posted 03.05.13 by BrentJS -
Which of this year's directors deserve the industry’s highest honor?
No one was too surprised when French director Michel Hazanavicius and his (mostly) silent film The Artist practically swept the Academy Awards last year or when British director Tom Hooper's The King's Speech did the same the year before. This year, however, there are no "sure thing" movies, with several being heralded as "brilliant," "masterful," and "the best movie of the year" by critics...until the next great movie comes along.
Several Oscar-winning directors — including two-time Best Director winner Steven Spielberg (Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan) and Kathryn Bigelow, the first woman to win Best Director — are among this year's contenders, but they are up against stiff competition from upstart indie directors who helped to make this one of the best years for independent movies in recent memory and the genre movie directors who gave us superheroes, wizards and time travelers as compelling as the special effects that blew our minds. We won't know which directors the Academy will nominate until the middle of January, but we want to know who you, the moviegoers, think deserves the industry's highest honor.
Top 10 Most Oscar-Worthy Directors of 2012 >>
Posted 12.12.12 by BrentJS -
What would it be like to communicate with another intelligent species, one not of this earth? Mankind has been contemplating that question since before the concept of "aliens" entered our cultural lexicon. Despite the assertions of religous leaders, empirical scientists and government officials that aliens are not real and that we have not been visited by UFOs, more than 36% of Americans — 80 million people! — believe that aliens, or E.B.E.'s (Extraterrestrial Biological Entities), have visited the earth, with nearly 80% of those surveyed saying that the government is keeping information about UFOs and aliens from the public.
Skeptics can always punch holes in blurry video tapes and eyewitness accounts of aliens, but what if we received a message from a foreign intelligence or intercepted one of their radio transmissions? Receiving such a message or signal is a major plot point of several of the best sci-fi movies, but the strange truth is that we may have already received a signal from an extraterrestrial intelligence.
E.T. Phone...Us? >> Posted 11.19.12 by BrentJS -
Which Director is Strongest With the Force?
Like many Star Wars fans, it took us a while to process the news that the creator and caretaker of the greatest sci-fi epic of all time, George Lucas, had sold Lucasfilm Ltd. to Disney. And, as if that news wasn't momentous enough, Disney concurrently announced that plans were already underway for an all-new Star Wars movie, a sequel to the original trilogy that would likely be the first movie in a new trilogy.
Minds thoroughly blown, we started to think about the future of the franchise. Jar Jar Binks and Hayden Christensen's horrible acting had really hurt the prequel trilogy and Lucas' constant meddling with the original trilogy tested our faith in ol' grey beard even further. With Lucas out of the picture, could the franchise regain its former glory?
In the days following the announcement, it was revealed that Michael Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine) had been hired to write the screenplay for Star Wars: Episode VII, while rumors continue to swirl that Matthew Vaughn (X-Men: First Class) is in the running to direct. Do you think that Vaughn is the right man for the job or would you like to see J.J. Abrams (Star Trek), Jon Favreau (Cowboys & Aliens) or someone else direct? Who do you think has the vision to chart the course of the future of the Star Wars franchise?
Rate the Top 10 Best Directors To Helm Star Wars: Episode VII >>
Posted 11.13.12 by BrentJS -
"What man is a man who does not make the world better?"
To celebrate the debut next week of our eight-part mini-series World Without End, we've dedicated all of October to epic movies set during the Middle Ages like tonight's movie, Kingdom of Heaven, currently ranked #5 in our ongoing poll of the Top 10 Epic Medieval Movies of all time. Produced and directed by acclaimed filmmaker Ridley Scott — who also co-produced World Without End through his Scott Free Productions — Kingdom of Heaven stars Orlando Bloom as a young blacksmith named Balian who struggles to find meaning in his life after the death of his wife. Forced to flee his small town after killing his half-brother (Michael Sheen) in a fit of rage, Balian journeys to Jerusalem to aid his Crusading father, Godfrey of Ibelin (Liam Neeson), in defending the holy city from invading Muslim forces. After being knighted by his father, Balian finds love in the arms of a princess and finds his calling as a warrior and defender of the people.
kingdom of heavenMovies nightly on Reelz, check listings
watch the trailer >> Posted 10.13.12 by BrentJS -
"Big things have small beginnings."
Travel to the stars to discover the origin of life on Earth and the answers to the most important questions facing humanity, but beware— you might not like the answers.
Sci-fi fan? Horror fan? We've got what you need! >> Posted 10.09.12 by BrentJS -
Playing a former President or First Lady is becoming a trend in movies these days, especially with Precious director Lee Daniels' upcoming The Butler, which will span eight different administrations while it tells the story of White House butler Eugene Allen. While Alan Rickman will play actor-turned-President Ronald Reagan in that project, it looks like Michael Douglas will also get a chance to play Reagan as well.
Catch more casting tonight Weekdays 5:30p ET / 2:30p PT
-
Geena Davis won an Academy Award for her role in director Ridley Scott's 1991 classic Thelma & Louise. Now, she has re-teamed with Ridley and his late brother Tony Scott in Coma, an upcoming mini-series airing on A&E that was developed and produced by the famous brothers' Scott Free Productions. Hollywood Dailies was given an exclusive look at the mini-series based on Dr. Robin Cook's novel of the same name, and Davis explained to our own Viviana Vigil that the basic premise of the "creepy, spooky thriller" is pretty simple: "Don't ever let them put you under in a hospital."
Exclusive interviews, every day Weekdays 5:30p ET / 2:30p PT
-
The entertainment world is still reeling from the loss of one of the true icons of modern cinema, Tony Scott, who died on Sunday after jumping off of the Vincent Thomas Bridge in San Pedro, CA. Though Scott received few accolades for the movies he directed, he consistently turned out entertaining hits and his kinetic visual style has been influencing other action movie directors since his sophomore effort, Top Gun, became an instant classic in 1986.
In addition to sending Tom "Maverick" Cruise's career into the stratosphere, Scott helped advance fledgling filmmaker Quentin Tarantino's career when he directed the Tarantino-scripted neo-noir crime-romance movie True Romance, which is arguably Scott's best work. Scott was also Denzel Washington's director-of-choice, with five collaborations between the two, starting with Crimson Tide in 1995 and ending with Scott's last movie as a director, Unstoppable, in 2010.
The latest entertainment headlines weekdays 5:30p ET / 2:30p PT
-
Director Ridley Scott's return to science fiction culminated in this summer's Prometheus, which, while it suffered derision from Alien fans who didn't care for the movie's ending (or, possibly, it's loose association to the Alien franchise), still earned a respectable $302 million worldwide for Twentieth Century Fox. Scott admitted in February that a possible Prometheus 2 was a part of his future plans, remarking: "I’m also thinking about what the hell I might do for a Prometheus 2." It's a good thing he thought ahead, because a Prometheus sequel appears to be in Fox's plans as well.
who will return? >> Posted 08.01.12 by Ryan