By Jeff Pfeiffer
Scene from Columbia Pictures' "2012"
Here we go again. Just as with all the Y2K worries in 1999 and several “end-of-the-world” scenarios and dates speculated about throughout history, people have again found something “apocalyptic” to fret about. [Read more →]
The kids aren't all right in Syfy's "Children of the Corn"
By Jeff Pfeiffer
A few months back, we warned informed you that SCI FI Channel’s changeover to Syfy would not impact the “quality” of the network’s original movie franchise. That is to say, you could expect more of the same formula that has made the channel’s Saturday night lineup into what it calls “the most dangerous night of television.” That held true with a few summer films that debuted under the new Syfy branding, and it continues with this fall’s original movie lineup — except perhaps for tonight’s premiere, Children of the Corn.
I can’t speak to the film’s execution, not having seen it, but it is a little different for Syfy at least in regards to the source material. Often these films are based on public domain stories whose authors are either unknown, or are long dead and have no relatives left to sue over wild changes in the plotline. But Children of the Corn is a Stephen King story, so one would imagine the rights weren’t all that cheap. And who knows — maybe it will hold a little truer to the source than usual, and be all the better for it. It certainly cannot be worse than the many failed theatrical and straight-to-DVD attempts at telling this story that have been made. [Read more →]
"Boa vs. Python" remains a SCI FI original movie "classic"
By Jeff Pfeiffer
Those of you who were worried that SCI FI Channel’s quality of programming would change too much when its name and branding becomes Syfy on July 7 don’t have to be concerned. The network has announced that, along with a very promising new series called Warehouse 13 debuting that day, July will also see the return of favorites like Eureka, Ghost Hunters, Ghost Hunters International and the annual Twilight Zone Independence Day Marathon. So rest easy.
But not too easy. The network also indicated that its infamous slate of original films will likewise continue to “entertain” us, churning out cheap quickie horror and sci-fi flicks based off the freest public domain and news stories money doesn’t need to buy, and filled with just enough of the barest-bones CGI effects needed to make it at least look as if something is onscreen chasing Michael Shanks.
By RabbitEars
Before ...
SCI FI Channel (or “Syfy,” as the network will be known by the time these projects air, but that’s another story) has announced the production of three new adventure movie events. Each “event” will air over four hours and two nights. The projects announced are:
Alice — 4th Quarter 2009. A modern-day reinterpretation of Lewis Carroll’s classic Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, written and directed by Nick Willing, who also directed Tin Man, SCI FI’s successful retelling of another helpfully public domain novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
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The Phantom – 2010. The classic comic book character is reimagined and transported to the present day in this live action film.
Riverworld — 2010. The award-winning series of novels by Philip Jose Farmer come to life in this movie. It’s the adventure of Matt, a combat photojournalist killed along with his fiancée by a suicide bomber, who awakens in a world where everyone who has ever previously lived on Earth has been reborn along the banks of a seemingly endless river. Determined to find his lost love, Matt joins forces with a 13th-century female samurai warrior and novelist Mark Twain, and they sail upriver in search of its source.
By the way, speaking of SCI FI’s upcoming new branding starting July 7, which do you prefer? SCI FI, or Syfy? Or don’t you care too much, as long as the programming isn’t drastically overhauled? Inquiring minds want to know!
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