(1) AUTHENTIC STAR WARS CHOW. “Seen at the local coffeeshop,” says Will R. “Like the Ewoks themselves, I’m not sure this was such a great idea, but at least they’re getting in the spirit.”
(2) HERE’S WHO THEY CALLED. Yahoo! TV spotted “the first official photo of the new ‘Ghostbusters’”.
1st official image from #Ghostbusters shared with the fans 1st! @ghostbustershq @paulfeig @gbfans @GBNewsdotcom pic.twitter.com/hg76rsEI1i
— ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? (@protoncharging) December 16, 2015
(3) NOT AGHAST. Neil Gaiman is in talks to adapt Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast for the screen reports the Guardian’s Alison Flood.
Gaiman, a fan of the series, revealed last week that he was set to begin discussions about turning the novels into a film. “Tomorrow we start talking to studios, and will soon find out which of them wants to make Mervyn Peake’s wonderful Gormenghast as a movie,” he wrote on Twitter, later retweeting a fan who had advised him: “do not let Peter Jackson anywhere near it. I don’t want to watch 9 Gormenghast films. I ?would?, but I don’t want to.”
Fabian Peake, Mervyn Peake’s son, welcomed the possibility. “It is wonderful news that progress is being made on the filming of my father’s books. Plans for making a film, with Neil Gaiman as the writer, have been going on for a while now,” he said, describing himself as “very excited by the prospect of a Gormenghast film”.
(4) TRICK QUESTIONS. Steve Davidson at Amazing Stories has posted a 100 question “Fannish Survey”.
The questions were generated as I reviewed my own Fanhistory, comprised of both personal experience and acquired knowledge. It’s meant to be an exploration of the many different things of which the fannish community is comprised. But by no means all. A thousand question survey would not come close to covering the field. So I’ve restricted myself to a mere 100.
I refer to the survey as an exploration because the intent is more about encouraging survey takers to look into the history and culture and mores and sheer craziness the questions touch on, than it is about getting the answers right or demonstrating your mastery of the subject.
If even one question causes a fan to scratch their head and resort to Google, I’ll consider this exercise a success.
And on that score: please be honest with the survey and with yourself. Don’t use the internet or that copy of Harry Warner’s All Our Yesterdays sitting on the corner of your desk to help you figure out what the right answer is. You might get tripped up in the process because sometimes there isn’t a right answer. There may be an optimal answer, one requiring a little fannish logic to unravel, but in the end, sometimes “I don’t know” may be the correct answer. Which is your clue to do a little exploration of your own. Fannish culture is a rich and varied one, filled with many weird and wonderful geeky, nerdy things that have proven, through the evolutionary process of history, to be of interest and value to fans.
(5) JESSICA JONES REVIEW. Abigail Nussbaum is back with “Show Me a Hero: Thoughts on Jessica Jones “.
This is not to say, however, that Jessica Jones is only conventional. If the show lacks its own style, it more than makes up for it by having a very definite point of view–that of a show by, about, and for women. This goes all the way down to the smallest details, such as the fact that bit parts that in almost any other series would have been filled by men almost as a matter of course–roles like a courier delivering a package, a guest on a radio talk show, or a drug dealer–are here played by women. Or the fact that the show casts many of its recurring and guest roles with middle-aged characters actresses like Carrie-Anne Moss, Robin Weigert, Jessica Hecht, and Rebecca De Mornay. Or the fact that it features three gay women. Even closer to the core of its story, the show continues to prioritize female characters and female relationships. Its central relationship is between Jessica and her foster-sister Trish (Rachael Taylor), and though both women have romantic subplots–Jessica with handsome bar owner Luke Cage (Mike Colter, whose own MCU Netflix series will debut next year); Trish with police officer Will Simpson (Wil Traval), another of Kilgrave’s victims who tries to join Jessica’s fight against him–ultimately both of these men are treated as sideshows to the season’s main love story between the two sisters. And then, of course, there’s the thing that everyone has been talking about, the fact that Jessica Jones is explicitly, unabashedly, a show about rape, abuse, and recovering from them.
(5) MORE FALLOUT. Joe Abercrombie reviews Fallout 4.
It’s taken five years for Fallout 4 to appear, but it’s been well worth the wait. There’s a cracking opening – classic Fallout both expanded on and condensed – in which you witness the fall of civilisation, are put into deep-freeze as part of one of Vault-Tec’s sinister experiments, and wake to a strange, new, and horrible future in the post-nuclear wasteland. The action this time around moves to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and though with Minutemen, Lexington and Bunker Hill there are shades of revolutionary stylings the focus mostly returns to Fallout staples like vault suits, raiders, super mutants and the Brotherhood of Steel, and is stronger for it.
(6) ALTERNATE HISTORY? Michael J. Walsh assures me this Netflix ad aired during the Republican candidates’ debate the other night.
Frank Underwood – FU2016 – House of Cards
(7) PROBABLY NOT A SPOILER BUT YOU WERE WARNED. Drew McWeeny answers the question “Who Played The Voice Of BB-8 In ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’?”
One might think that BB-8’s “voice” would simply be created in the same way that R2-D2’s was, with the outstanding sound team on the film following in Ben Burtt‘s footsteps. Instead, this is how comedian/actor/omnipresent film personality Bill Hader described his work on the film to me today when I asked him what “vocal consultant” consisted of:
“JJ f**king around with this sound effects app on his iPad that was attached to a talk box operated by me. It looked ridiculous but it made BB-8’s voice. At first I tried doing a voice, but we all agreed it sounded too human.”
… Ben Schwartz, known to many for his stellar work as Jean-Ralphio on “Parks and Recreation,” was also credited as a “BB-8 Vocal Consultant,” so I guess they both contributed to the final version of what we hear onscreen.
(8) YULE BE SORRY. The Verge’s Chris Plante, in “Five hours of Darth Vader’s burning corpse will replace your Yule Log”, points to a YouTube video.
…But then you hear a soft, crackling sound coming from the living room. The warm glow of Christmas bends around the corner of the hall, and you follow it, believing the holiday and its flickering decorations will provide a reprieve from Star Wars mania. Surely, you think, someone wouldn’t pervert Christmas for the sake of crass consumerism.
And there you see it, roaring on the television. Your goofy Five Hours of Yule Log DVD has been swapped with five hours of Darth Vader burning in a funeral pyre. You fall to your knees, raise your credit card hands into the air, and you scream….
Plante also published some Jedi theology he later received as feedback from a reader who suggested it would be more accurate to say “Five Hours of Darth Vader’s burning suit will replace your Yule Log.” Because you can’t slip this kind of thing past trufans…
(9) DARTH VADER’S RESUME. Julie Bort on Business Insider, in “This is What Darth Vader’s Resume Would Look Like If He Were Job-Hunting,” tells how the website Enhancv would pump up Darth Vader’s resume in case the Sith Lord was on the Evil Job Market. This state-of-the-art resume looks like a clever infographic.
Let’s say you are the Sith Lord Darth Vader, when your employer, the evil Emperor, decides he doesn’t need your services anymore and lays you off. Maybe he appoints another Sith, and for reasons known only to his own black heart, doesn’t dispense with you in his typical way by ending your life.
You’ll find yourself suddenly jobless, but with a lot of specialized skills that are surely valuable to some other incarnation of evil being.
One catch: You’ll need a résumé. And given your previous work history, a boring, old-school résumé won’t do. You’d need something snazzy. Something that can capture your skill, your personality, and the eye of a new nefarious lord you can serve.
The folks at résumé-writing startup Enhancv came up with this résumé of Darth Vader for just such an occasion. Enhancv offers an online service that automatically critiques your résumé with suggestions to improve it….
(10) VADER’S CHARMS: “All the sugar plus the dark side,” promises John King Tarpinian.
[Thanks to John King Tarpinian, Martin Morse Wooster, and Michael J. Walsh for some of these stories. Title credit goes to File 770 contributing editor of the day Daniel Dern.]
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(2) HERE’S WHO THEY CALLED.
They look awesome!
This is for real, right? It’s not some cruel joke and it’s really going to be three more white guys and the black guy they crop out?
3) NOT AGHAST.
Neil Gaiman? That bodes well!
Curious to hear who else is involved.
Hey, where is everybody?
pre-fifth!
not at all cheating godstalk fifth!
::sorry:
Fifth: The Sequel.
Also, if anyone can do justice to Gomanghast’s weird wonderfulness, it’s Gaiman.
Don’t forget to vote in the first heat of the Science Fiction Movie Bracket! Some great films old and new and everything in between, so don’t let your favourites go unsupported. 🙂
(Okay now that’s done I’m off to read the actual Scroll.)
(5) MORE FALLOUT. – I’m still at Act !’s end, as I keep getting sidetracked by settlement building and companion collection. I disagree on some of the things Abercrombie says. I think a lot of the game has been overly simplified – the dialogue system is horrible, as are the sneak mechanics, and I do find the character development system overly simplified.
OTOH, combat has improved, and the sandbox is probably the best of the modern Fallout games. The story – what little I’ve seen of it – is certainly quite fascinating as well, but let’s see if it overtakes New Vegas’s overall incredible story.
(7) PROBABLY NOT A SPOILER BUT YOU WERE WARNED. BB-8 is so effin’ awesome it’s ridiculous.I look forward to Camestros’s hit job portraying him/ her as a Sith though.
I haven’t seen the film yet but I assume ‘BB-8’ (i.e. ‘baby hate’) is R2 and C3PO’s child. Looking forward to seeing how those crazy Skywalker kids have accidentally messed up R2’s plans again.
Closer to 5 than ever before!
4) Trick Questions: I was surprised by the number of answers I knew (or at least believe I know). Alas, I couldn’t remember the Dave Kyle Said You Can’t Sit Here answers, even though I know I used to know them.
::ticky::
I’m on my way northbound to the likes of Eugene, Portland, Olympia, and Seattle, (all in the US Pacific Northwest, for non-locals). Got myself my own bench in the van so I finally have time to figure out how to post these kitty pics.
The first are from when they were sequestered in our attic, a little over a week ago. The last are from the last couple days. Very sad to be missing out on them while I’m out of town.
https://goo.gl/photos/2R2wsUJBSgFKeyiM9
https://goo.gl/photos/tLRYHxLm12RZ3gMZ8
https://goo.gl/photos/SS7jF6HQ6EFoefLMA
https://goo.gl/photos/wzZhfXgiU6LEQgoC9
Honestly, I’m not sure I’m as excited about seeing Star Wars this weekend as I am about the next episode of the Expanse. Holy freaking crap, that show is rattling along. The casting is exquisite. The world was well built. If it has one single, superb episode, that’ll be the example for my Short Form ballot for sure.
Forgot to ticky…
So, reading Leviathan Wakes and loving it. So good. I keep forgetting James SA Corey is part Daniel Abraham. Of course I’m gonna love it. Very happy to be embarking on a new series.
3) great subtitle. This show will likely be amazing.
5) A little worried about reading the review as I’m only three episodes in so far. Best new TV series I’ve seen in a while.
[ticky]
(2) Here’s Who They Called
They’ve all been practicing their badass poses, it seems. 🙂 Tentatively excited about the Ghostbusters reboot, but refusing to get my hopes up too much until I see some reviews. Still, the cast is good.
(3) Not Aghast
If anyone wanted to get a Gormenghast-with-visuals fix in sooner, the BBC miniseries is enjoyable and very pretty.
(4) Trick Questions
I enjoyed that, even if I was very unsure for quite a few of them. “Fanfic” or “fanfiction” is just fine, though, no need to call it “fanfic fiction”! 🙂
(5) Jessica Jones Review
I really need to get the spoons together to watch this show.
Second (5) More Fallout
Those among my gamer friends who are playing it are very happy, so there’s that. Some bugs but the game is getting rave reviews nonetheless.
Personal: I got the flu shot. 🙂
@Kathodus
Yay kitty!
Aw, Jessica Jones. I find myself wanting to rewatch it already, which is unusual.
4) Trick Questions
That was fun. (I was surprised how many I could actually answer.)
Guys! Guys! They found Galapagos tortoises related to Lonesome George! They’ve definitely got a male and female and they’re waiting on DNA from another 32 tortoises! They think they can bring them back!
HOW COOL IS THAT?!
Meredith: I got the flu shot.
Yay. I suffer Meredith withdrawal when you’re gone, so I’d rather you weren’t.
Gone, that is. I’m just sayin’. 😉
Kathodus, your kittehs are gorgeous!
RedWombat: Guys! Guys! They found Galapagos tortoises related to Lonesome George! They’ve definitely got a male and female and they’re waiting on DNA from another 32 tortoises! They think they can bring them back! HOW COOL IS THAT?!
That is VERY cool. We humans have fucked up so much about our world; it would be really nice to un-fuck something for once. 🙂
@JJ: We humans have fucked up so much about our world; it would be really nice to un-fuck something for once. 🙂
JJ, I think we need to have a word about how one gets baby tortoises…
(2) I like half the cast and hate the other half, so don’t know if I’ll see this.
(4) I didn’t Google, just went with what I thought. Knew most of them easily.
@Kathodus, it must be very hard to be away from kittens. So cute.
It looks as though the end of eligibility season will come halfway through this season of “The Expanse”. That might hurt. I, for one, am keeping two episodes of “Person of Interest” on my list. (If-Then-Else and YHWH)
That’s amazingly cool! I hope they’re fertile and can be persuaded to breed!
::tick::
Sort of surprised that this Scroll didn’t include the bit from last night’s Late Show With Stephen Colbert, featuring Harrison Ford and JJ Abrams.
http://www.cbs.com/shows/the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert/video/71C4EFD7-8C42-2BC1-577E-A852DE097001/harrison-ford-almost-wasn-t-in-star-wars-the-force-awakens-/
@Kathodus: utterly adorable. Thank you for sharing with us!
@Red Wombat: Just plain awesome, says I.
Gaiman on Gormenghast? I’ll buy that for a dollar.
TRICK QUESTIONS – I was amazed that I got a respectable number of the answers! I have almost no fancred!
ALTERNATE HISTORY – Yeah, that commercial was confusing last night. I was barely unfogging from my first med dose and was starting to refog with the second and was totally flummoxed by the commercial. “Hmmm? Wha? Spacey’s running?”. Surreal.
@ Red Wombat
That’s wonderful news! I sincerely hope there can be Lonesome George cousins all over the island asap. (And they’d be cute itty bitty turtleletts? tortoiseletts? for a looooong time.)
Excellent!
Clicky.
And sleep.
Saw both original Ghostbusters movies at the cinema. Watched the cartoon series, owned the C64 game and the RPG. Soooo looking forward to the new movie! Looks freaking awesome!
Sing along with me, to the tune of the old Lucky Charms commercial –
“VADER’S CHARMS… They’re Magically Malicious!”
Have these scientists not seen Jurassic Park? Are they so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should? If we’ve learned anything from Jeff Goldblum it’s that life ..uh.. finds a way, and before long one of these tortoises will be rampaging very slowly through San Diego o_O
@RedWombat,
Excellent news!
(5) Fallout: you know, while it’s true that Fallout 4 has a pretty solid opening, that same opening becomes an Albatross around its neck. Literally two hours, subjectively, after the end of the world, your lawyer (well, okay, you could also be a veteran) is winning a firefight with raiders, commandeering a suit of powered armor to fight a deathclaw, and being named general of some rando collection of idiots who think it’s 1776. And, not incidentally, frequently forgetting about your kidnapped kid.
It’s just so, so dumb. Yes, even by the standards of CRPGs. And then you get things like your dog following a year-old scent trail across all of Boston.
It’s just. Oh, lord.
I can take or leave a Gormanghast film. Would I see it? Yeah, probably. Is it something if I heard was coming out I would be eagerly anticipating? No.
Winners of the first heat of the Science Fiction Movie Bracket can be found here. Second heat is open for voting.
@MaxL
Yeah, I had a problem with that section of the game as well.
Fighting one of the toughest enemies while wearing power armour at the very beginning of the game felt totally wrong.
I hadn’t earned that power armour, or the mini gun, and prior to getting into the power suit the toughest enemy I had faced was a bloody cockroach.
And every aspect of the user interface is just horrible.. crafting, weapon modding, settlement building… they couldn’t have made it less intuitive if they tried.
But .. the actual gameplay…. awesome and totally addictive.
Mark:
Agree, Fallout 4 was kind of disappointing in introducing you to both Deathclaw and Power Armour from the beginning, the thing you shouldn’t see until after many, many hours of gaming. Myself, I’m not fond of all this crafting stuff, think it gets in the way of the game. I want to customize my house, and perhaps a bit more. Not play Sim City.
I have played maybe 60 hours now and think Fallout 3 was better. I’m not found of the dumbed down skill system. But it is still Fallout. Whatever I think about the changes, it is still a great game to play.
RE: The House of Cards commercial during the RNC debate.
Somehow this feels more PKD-like, to have a fictional President comment on the real life Presidential debate, than the entirety of the Man in the High Castle TV Show…
I just recently finished a marathon session of reading Titus Groan and Gormenghast aloud… it gives you a real feel for the language of the books.
The thing is, though, Peake’s prose is strongly visual, as one might expect from someone who was also an artist and a poet. His descriptions are rich, detailed, and evocative, giving immense depths to the characters and the places he creates. You get the feeling of really knowing these people….
… which means, of course, that any screen adaptation is going to Get It Wrong: the picture on the screen isn’t going to look like the picture in my head. (The BBC miniseries was, well, a brave effort. It still struck a lot of false notes with me, though.) Well, never mind.
My top tip for anyone who is just starting Fallout 4:
Don’t forget to mix the paint.
4: Can’t enter multiple answers. Slightly invalid.
Oh, Peter Dickinson just died. I’m thinking thoughts for Philippa and John Dickinson and their siblings, and Robin McKinley. 🙁
He had a good innings, and his work will live on, but it’s always sad.
Ed: What happens if you forget to mix the paint?
@Hampus Eckeman & Ed
ROT13 is your friend for hiding spoilers.
http://www.rot13.com/index.php
Rfcrpvnyyl vs lbh jnag gb or BHE sevraqf! 🙂
Enh. I’ve been enjoying FO4 a lot, but the actual storylines leave a lot to be desired. Having the Brotherhood in so prominently as well as the Super Mutant dominance makes the game feel like a retread of FO3. As has been mentioned, you start out with a huge advantage having a power armor suit, minigun and mini-army. At this point, I have about seven or eight suits of power armor littering up the place and almost never use them, opting for my ridiculous Silver Shroud outfit.
There’s some really strong points. Some of the companions are excellent, like Piper or Nick Valentine, that bring a very cool old style aesthetic to the story, with news scoops and detective work mixed in with exploration. Some of the side missions are equally well put together. And the world itself is tremendous. I actually quite like the crafting elements, but I wish that they had made the environments that you craft in either better suited to it or less rigid to apply to. Nothing like a fence that runs two feet over the ground for a couple of hundred metres because being able to attach AND shift down a panel is outside of the tech scope.