Monday, April 8, 2013

Captain's bLog 0408.13

•  As you may have noticed, March was pretty much a bust as far as maintaining any momentum in posting to this blog. This can be attributed to a number of factors, including a bit of seasonal depression deriving from a seemingly endless winter, a touch of creative burnout, and some now-resolved physical ailments over the last few weeks that had a disastrous effect on my overall productivity. Then, last week, I lost a dear friend, and that really sent me reeling, too.

Anyway, I'll be making a very sincere effort to resume somewhat regular posting here beginning this week, starting with this "Captain's bLog" post, and, over the next few days, some long-promised reviews (Westworld, Futureworld & 1974's Wonder Woman). Stay tuned.

•  Poll Results: Last month, I posted the musical question: "Which 70s "Space Princess" Was The Sexiest?" With 271 votes cast, the clear winner (116 votes!) was Ornelia Muti's smokin' "Princess Aura," from 1980's Flash Gordon.

Making a respectable showing in second place, was Pamela Hensley's sultry "Princess Ardala," from the Buck Rogers television series, with an impressive 92 votes. Carrie Fisher's iconic "Princess Leia," from the original Star Wars trilogy, placed a distant third, with 43 votes. Sorry, Your Worship.

 •  DVD News: Various sites recently reported that the long-awaited Space: 1999 Year Two Blu-rays had gone up for pre-order at Amazon, with a release date of May 17, but this was an error on Amazon's part. In May, Space: 1999 is being re-issued on DVD (again) in Season One and Season Two packages. There's still no confirmed release date for the Second Season Blu-rays.

Remake News: Disney is still teasing a remake of 1979's The Black Hole, to be directed by TRON Legacy's Joseph Kosinki. This past week, it was announced that Prometheus screenwriter John Spaiht was penning the new script. Hard to get excited about any of this... I didn't hate TRON Legacy, but I wasn't very impressed by it, either, and as for Prometheus.... oh well. We'll always have the original, and if the remake actually gets off the launch pad, maybe we'll finally get a Blu-ray.

Space: 1970 on the Radio: Well, not exactly - but your humble Captain will be appearing on an upcoming episode of the Earth Station One podcast, where I'll be joining in on a discussion about the character of Buck Rogers - in all his incarnations. No doubt, I'll be talking a lot about Gil Gerard and Erin Gray... and TWIKI, too. Of course, I'll post an announcement here when the episode goes live, later this month. 

•  Blatant Cross-Promotion: First, I want to remind you all again that my new weekly sci-fantasy webcomic, Perils On Planet X, drawn by the talented Gene Gonazles, can be read for free at perilsonplanetx.com.  This serialized interplanetary swashbuckler sees a new page posted every Friday, and chronicles the adventures of modern-day Earth astronaut Donovan Hawke, stranded on the lost planet of Xylos, hundreds of millions of years in the past. The story is packed with monsters, beautiful women and lots of Flash Gordon/Blackstar-styled thrills. I hope you'll check it out, bookmark it, and follow the comic each Friday.

Anyone who enjoys my writing and the DVD reviews on this blog should check out my DVD Late Show site, where I have been reviewing B-movies, cult films and genre television shows on DVD and Blu-ray disc since 2005. Among the over 700 reviews on the site are plenty of Space: 1970-era favorites, like Battle Beyond The Stars, Damnation Alley, Starcrash, The Starlost, the Space: 1999 Blu-rays, and many more.

7 comments:

  1. I'm kind of jazzed about hearing a Black Hole remake. I really enjoyed that film as a kid but, then again...I was just a kid.

    Either way, I'll be cautiously optimistic about it.

    Left and Write

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  2. Thanks for all that you do to make this blog enjoyable and so very entertaining. And my condolences on the loss of your friend.

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  3. Same as Steve, appreciate the work you put into the blog. Sorry it's been such a rough month.

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    1. As Steve and Adam have expressed, so do I...

      \as for Prometheus - the dog old saying: "If you seen the trailer, you've seen the movie" applies aptly...

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  4. I don't know you well enough to try and placate you with pleasantries and such, so yeah, I'm gonna take the Klingon path and wish you strength, sir. And patience; dealing with loss can get on your nerves after a while.

    Other than that, I'm at an uncharacteristic loss for words. You seem like a good guy, I enjoy your blog, and I hate to think of you going through sad times. I wish you peace.

    Your Pal,

    Storm the Klingon

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  5. Sorry as well, but WELCOME BACK..!!

    MISSED YOU..!!

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  6. Sorry you had a rough time, Chris. Good to have you back. I found this lovely selection of Maren Jensen pics (including some modelling shots), that I've never seen before.

    http://www2.shootingstaragency.com/cgi-bin/xgrid.fcgi?q=_personalities_J_Jensen_Maren_&start=1

    Hopefully they'll persuade the summer to come early. However, I can't seem get the thumbnails any bigger, so if anyone has any ideas...

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