I don’t like sand. It’s all coarse and rough and irritating. And it gets everywhere.
We have yet to see anyone get a live-action Dune to be exciting yet, and a new San Diego Comic-Con 2021 trailer for the new Denis Villeneuve movie doesn’t give us much hope it will happen anytime soon. One of the reasons Star Wars was so successful was that George Lucas cast relative unknowns in his leading roles, and the new trailer for Dune reveals why that was a good thing. It’s not Frank Herbert’s characters jumping off the screen but familiar faces that stand out, like Aquaman Jason Momoa and his trademark comedy one-liners, Galaxy Guardian Dave Bautista, Star Warrior Apocalyptic Oscar Isaac, Spider-friend Zendaya, and Thanos himself Josh Brolin. (Were there only superhero movies to cast from?) The images in this week’s trailer for Dune, the latest adaptation of Frank Herbert’s sand… er… spice planet world, could easily be spliced from the wide-angle, sparse landscapes of Villeneuve’s recent Blade Runner 2049. He also is conjuring bits of cinema’s sandy sci-fi heritage, like George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road, and you may even recognize shots straight out of the Star Wars J.J. Abrams movies (and the prequels), Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, The Chronicles of Riddick, and John Carter of Mars. You’ll see a lot going on in this trailer, which inexplicably adapts only the first part of Herbert’s novel. But is there anything new to get audiences back in the theater?
It’s been four years since the arrival of Denis Villeneuve’sBlade Runner 2049, the sequel to Ridley Scott’s 1982 sci-fi cult classic, Blade Runner, itself based on Philip K. Dick’s novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Since then we’ve seen two looks behind the scenes of the film: a worthy tribute to the artwork behind the production with Blade Runner 2049 Interlinked–The Artand The Art and Soul of Blade Runner 2049, a more general look at the entire production. Fans of the Blade Runner franchise and anyone who has ever wanted to know how to storyboard an entire film are in for a treat with the next look at the production of the film, this time at the process of cinematography. Storyboard artists Sam Hudecki and Darryl Henley’s Blade Runner 2049: The Storyboards is a rare glimpse at all the storyboards for the film, a director and camera tool rarely released for any production. It’s out now and available here at Amazon from Titan Books.
Back in 2018 we celebrated the 120th anniversary of the publication of H.G. Wells’ genre defining science fiction novel, The War of the Worldshere at borg. We’ve also reviewed several adaptations and retellings over the past decade. The latest historical adaptation is a 2019 three-part BBC series now streaming here on Amazon Prime. Director Craig Viveiros’ The War of the Worlds may be the best yet at blending the old and the new–the end of the 19th century with the demands of modern viewers. Suspenseful, consistent with H.G. Wells’ Edwardian themes, this short series is chock full of very British characters and concepts taking on several science fiction cautionary paradigms: warnings of the dangers of new technologies, the cost of hubris, prejudice, and colonialism, and the adventures, fear, and trials that come with the unknowable future.
Once you’ve seen a film by Denis Villeneuve, you can spot his work instantly. The images in this week’s trailer for Dune, the latest adaptation of Frank Herbert’s sand planet world of characters could easily be spliced from the wide-angle, sparse landscapes of Villeneuve’s recent Blade Runner 2049. He also is conjuring bits of other directors’ sci-fi works, like from the last successful sandscape flick, George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road, and you may even spot shots straight out of Ridley Scott’s Prometheus. You’ll see a lot going on in this trailer, but is there anything new?
It’s been three years since the arrival of Denis Villeneuve’sBlade Runner 2049, the sequel to Ridley Scott’s 1982 sci-fi cult classic, Blade Runner, itself based on Philip K. Dick’s novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? At last fans of the franchise, sci-fi, and futurism have a worthy tribute to the artwork behind the production with Tanya Lapointe’s Blade Runner 2049 Interlinked–The Art, now available from Titan Books. A companion piece to the author’s 2017 book, The Art and Soul of Blade Runner 2049, published in 2017, which focused more on the entire production than the ideas behind the look of the film, this new book is packed with more reproductions of concept artwork than text, a journey for anyone thinking about the next Syd Mead–who will he/she be, and what the world they create might look like.
Audiences have seen some great animated films in recent years, with movies upping the ante on technology and visual magic, whether in Ferdinand or Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse or Spies in Disguise or Klaus. Netflix’s new anime movie, a sequel to its live-action, futuristic, sci-fi hit Altered Carbon, takes animation and visual effects even further. Altered Carbon: Resleeved is part Blade Runner 2049, part Marvel’s The Punisher (season two), and part Wu Assassins. Live-action action sequences are rarely as thrilling as those choreographed in this film.
As with the live-action Altered Carbon, the inspiration from Syd Mead’s trademark futurism is all over this film, and that world looks just as stunning in anime form. The storyboarding and layouts, the surprise screen angles, wipes, and character movements are like nothing you’ve seen before, and the details are at times life-like and three dimensional. The story and execution is a vast improvement on the second season of the live-action show, which was a really good season of episodes to begin with.
Two years after the end of season two we catch up with Takeshi Kovacs, resleeved and working a job for Mr. Tanaseda, who has him pursuing a girl named Holly, a tattoo artist with cybernetic eyes and pawn of the yakuza, who carries some critical secrets. Working for CTAC is Gena, a badass agent carrying secrets, who clashes with Kovacs early on. It’s two days from an ascension ceremony–the anointing of a new mob boss–and in that time Kovacs must figure out why Mr. Tanaseda has set him on this job. The anime film, available with English subtitles or dubbed, has a new hotel and a new concierge named Ogai (voiced in the dubbed version by Chris Conner, who plays the concierge, Poe, and hotel manager in the live-action series). Ogai is a holographic Japanese man loyal to the new boss, but fond of Holly. Fans of the series will find his hotel to have equally exciting defensive feature’s as Poe’s hotel, The Raven.
As we first previewed here at borg last July, Titan Publishing and Alcon Media Group, the producer behind more than 30 films over the past 20 years, announced a partnership that will mean the beginning of an expanded universe of stories for Rick Deckard, Replicants, and the world of Blade Runner and Blade Runner 2049. Today Titan Comics released its first look at the new comic book series, and revealed its title, Blade Runner 2019. The original film and this year have been the subject of millions of shared memes commenting on the fact that the real 2019 looks little like Ridley Scott’s 1982 vision of 2019.
The new series will be “in canon” comics and graphic novels that dive deeper into the BladeRunnerworld. According to an Alcon representative, “The BladeRunner universe has barely been explored; there is so much more there. It’s an honour to be bringing this world to life in new ways for a new audience – and to reveal tales from that universe that you’ve never seen before.” Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner was adapted from the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, a novel by science fiction legend Philip K. Dick, who endorsed the original film project in 1982, but died before its release.
New character concept drawings for Blade Runner 2019.
Launching this summer, Titan Comics’ new series will be set during the exact timeframe of the original 1982 Blade Runner film, and feature a mostly new set of characters and situations. Artist Andres Guinaldo(Justice League Dark, Captain America) created the above first looks at characters featured in the new story. He joins Oscar-nominated Blade Runner 2049 screenwriter Michael Green(Logan) and Mike Johnson (Star Trek, Superman/Batman) on the series.
Titan Publishing and Alcon Media Group, the producer behind more than 30 films over the past 20 years, announced a partnership that will mean the beginning of an expanded universe of stories for Rick Deckard, Replicants, and the world of Blade Runner and Blade Runner 2049. So expect new comic book series, tie-in fiction books, and maybe even a new book on Syd Mead and that tech noir futurism the franchise is known for. It would seem the possibilities are endless.
In a press release issued late yesterday, the companies said they will develop and publish a variety of both fiction and non-fiction print media. The program will feature new, “in canon” comics and graphic novels that dive deeper into the BladeRunnerworld. They also plan to create a variety of publications focused on the visual and technical sides of the films. Titan is also well-known for its Hard Case Crime imprint featuring the best of classic, lost, and new crime genre stories. What better avenue to issue a vintage-style Deckard and femme fatale Rachael noir story than in a Hard Case Crime novel?
Alcon expressed its confidence that the world of BladeRunner will continue to organically grow in a way that refuses to sacrifice the quality, tone and high standards of this beloved property. “We are extremely excited to be publishing BladeRunner comics and illustrated books,” said representatives of Titan. “The BladeRunner universe has barely been explored; there is so much more there. It’s an honour to be bringing this world to life in new ways for a new audience – and to reveal tales from that universe that you’ve never seen before.”
Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner was adapted from the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, a novel by science fiction legend Philip K. Dick, who endorsed the original film project in 1982, but died before its release.
Last night the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films held the 44th annual Saturn Awards, honoring the best in science fiction, fantasy, horror, and other genres, held in Burbank, California. Coming into last night’s presentation, Black Panther was nominated in 14 categories, Star Wars: The Last Jedi was nominated in 13 categories, and Blade Runner 2049 and The Shape of Water were each nominated in nine categories. In television, The Walking Dead led the nominations with seven, followed by Star Trek: Discovery with five. You can never predict who and what will win at the Saturn Awards, but you can be sure they will be very fandom-centric picks.
Black Panther led the night with four wins, for Best Comic-to-Motion Picture Release, Best Director (Ryan Coogler), Best Supporting Actress (Danai Gurira), and Best Make-up. Star Wars: The Last Jedifollowed with three wins, for Best Actor (Mark Hamill), Best Writing, and Best Editing. In television, because of the Awards’ split between traditional TV shows and streaming shows, the expected suspects came out on top: The Flashand Marvel’s The Punisher as best superhero shows, and The Orville and Star Trek: Discovery each winning awards. But the most wins was a tie, with three awards each for Better Call Saul and Twin Peaks: The Return.
Here are all the winners and nominees:
Movie Awards
Best Comic-to-Motion Picture Release
Winner: Black Panther
Nominees: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Logan Spider-Man: Homecoming Thor: Ragnarok Wonder Woman
Best Science Fiction Film Release
Winner: Blade Runner 2049
Nominees: Alien: Covenant Life Star Wars: The Last Jedi Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets War for the Planet of the Apes
Best Fantasy Film Release
Winner: The Shape of Water
Nominees: Beauty and the Beast Downsizing Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle Kong: Skull Island Paddington 2
Best Horror Film Release
Winner: Get Out
Nominees: 47 Meters Down Annabelle: Creation Better Watch Out It Mother!
The biggest news of yesterday’s Oscar nominations was in the adapted screenplay category. Writers Scott Frank, Michael Green, and director James Mangold were nominated for their script for Logan, the film borg.com picked as last year’s best picture in our annual wrap-up last month. Never before has a comic book superhero story been nominated by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for best screenplay. The closest was a nomination in the original screenplay category for Brad Bird for The Incredibles, a superhero story not adapted from a comic book property, plus graphic novel adaptations for films History of Violence and American Splendor. But that puts Logan–an X-Men story starring Wolverine and a film that was the pinnacle of the Marvel franchise–right where it belongs, a film on equal footing with classic screenplay nominees featuring strong character development, including the likes of High Noon, Citizen Kane, Rocky, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Shane, The Grapes of Wrath, Sergeant York, and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. The writers adapted their story from no specific Marvel Comic series, instead pulling together ideas from several series, citing Craig Kyle’s X-23 series as a key influence. Unfortunately actors Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart did not receive a nomination in the acting categories.
But the progress of Oscar doesn’t stop with Logan. A creature feature, the supernatural fantasy The Shape of Water took a whopping 13 nominations, including best picture, best director (Guillermo del Toro), and best actress (Sally Hawkins) and supporting actor (Richard Jenkins).Get Out, which is something more than just a horror genre movie (that also made our top list), is nominated for four Oscars, including three for first-time director Jordan Peele, for best picture, best director, and best screenplay. That’s one heck of an introduction to Hollywood, and ties Peele for the record of most nominations in a single year (along with Warren Beatty for Heaven Can Wait and James L. Brooks, who went on to win all three categories for Terms of Endearment). The film’s lead actor Daniel Kaluuya will be a big contender for the top spot in the best actor category.
Another film we loved, the riveting historical drama The Post (sometimes historical dramas get it right), received two nominations, including nods for best picture and actress Meryl Streep‘s compelling performance (her 21st nomination, breaking her own record for most nominated actor of all time), but unfortunately Oscar ignored one of the best Tom Hanks performances of his career and Liz Hannah’s exceptional screenplay. For one of the four nominations for Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the beloved composer John Williams garnered his 51st Oscar nomination (he’s won five) for best score, besting his own record and hot on the heels of Walt Disney for most nominations ever (Disney was nominated 59 times). But was this a missed opportunity, when even Williams seemed impressed with himself for the unique work he’d created for his striking soundtrack for The Post? As he told Variety in a recent interview, “I’ve never done anything quite like it. There are three or four montages—the press-rolling montage, the extended review of the former presidents, waiting for Justice Black’s decision—with various degrees of intensity, speed and the like.” In our borg.com review we correctly predicted nominations for best picture and sound for the war genre movie Dunkirk, which was nominated for eight Oscars, including best picture and best director (Christopher Nolan). Hans Zimmer was nominated for his musical score, which was key to the film’s success.
