SUNDAY, AUGUST 17, 2014

Martel had various sci-fi roles in the heyday of the late 1950s and 1960s, but she’s best known as the prospective bride for Leonard Nimoy’s Spock in the classic Sept. 15, 1967, Star Trek episode “Amok Time,” which opened The Original Series’ second season.

The episode is revered as a true classic for the series, and found Spock compelled by pon farr to return to his home planet of Vulcan to mate with his betrothed wife T’Pring. She positively stole the episode every moment she was on screen, and that role would make her a Trek legend for decades to come.

As The Hollywood Reporter notes, Martel was stunned at the lingering Trek fandom that followed her throughout her life, and opened up about it in this excerpt from Tom Lisanti’s 2003 book Drive-in Dream Girls: A Galaxy of B-Movie Starlets of the Sixties:

“I was just so happy to be working and playing a part that was so challenging in terms of what I had done before. I had no idea it would continue to this day. Fans purchase my Star Trek photos at conventions, where I sign autographs. I had no idea that T’Pring would be so memorable to people.”

Though she’s most recognizable for Trek, Martel also popped up twice in The Twilight Zone, including the 1959 episode “What You Need” and the 1961 installment “Twenty Two.” But that wasn’t all: She also leaves behind appearances in The Outer Limits, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., I Dream of Jeannie, The Wild Wild West, Mission Impossible, Bewitched, the Six Million Dollar Man and Battlestar Galactica. There's no way around it — she was a legit icon of the golden age of television.

When word of her passage broke, Nimoy himself took to Twitter to offer his condolences. Rest in peace, and carve out some time for a sci-fi classic rewatch this weekend.

CREATIVE ARTS EMMY
HBO’s Game of Thrones won its third-consecutive Emmy for outstanding special and visual effects.

It topped a slate of nominees that included Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey, Almost Human, The 100 and Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

The team that won Emmys for Game of Thrones were JoeBauer, lead VFX supervisor; Joern Grosshans, VFX supervisor; Steve Kullback, leadVFX producer; Adam Chazen ,VFX coordinator; Eric Carney, previs lead; Sabrina Gerhardt, VFX animation producer; Matthew Rouleau, CG supervisor; Thomas H. Schelesny, CG sequence supervisor; and Robert Simon, concept designer.

Black Sails won the Emmy for supporting special and visual effects.

CONSTANTINE
Relative newcomer Michael James Shaw has been cast as Papa Midnite on NBC's upcoming DC Comics-inspired series, "Constantine," USA Today reports. Not really an absolute friend or foe of John Constantine's, Papa Midnite, who made his first appearance in the first issue of the ongoing "Hellblazer" and who was previously played on the big screen by Djimon Hounsou, is an immortal voodoo practitioner with ties to New York's criminal magical underworld. The character is set to reappear throughout the new show.

In "Constantine," based on the comic book series "Hellblazer," seasoned demon hunter and master of the occult John Constantine specializes in giving hell… hell. Armed with a ferocious knowledge of the dark arts and his wickedly naughty wit, he fights the good fight – or at least he did. With his soul already damned to hell, he's decided to leave his do-gooder life behind. But when demons target Liv, the daughter of one of Constantine's oldest friends, he's reluctantly thrust back into the fray – and he'll do whatever it takes to save her. Before long, it's revealed that Liv's "second sight," an ability to see the worlds behind our world and predict supernatural occurrences, is a threat to a mysterious new evil that's rising in the shadows. And now it's not just Liv who needs protection; the angels are starting to get worried too. So, together, Constantine and Liv must use her power and his skills to travel the country, find the demons that threaten our world – and send them back where they belong. After that, who knows… maybe there's hope for him and his soul after all.

From Executive Producer David S. Goyer (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight Rises) and director Neil Marshall ("Game of Thrones," The Descent) comes a dark new thriller that proves fighting evil is a hell of a job. The series also stars Matt Ryan, Lucy Griffiths, Harold Perrineau and Charles Halford.

"Constantine" premieres October 24 on NBC.

THE EQUALIZER
Columbia Pictures has debuted the first TV spot for director Antoine Fuqua's The Equalizer which features Eminem's new single with Sia, titled "Guts Over Fear."

Starring Denzel Washington, Marton Csokas, Chloë Grace Moretz, David Harbour, Bill Pullman and Melissa Leo, The Equalizer opens in theaters and IMAX on September 26.

In The Equalizer, Denzel Washington plays McCall, a man who believes he has put his mysterious past behind him and dedicated himself to beginning a new, quiet life. But when McCall meets Teri (Chloë Grace Moretz), a young girl under the control of ultra-violent Russian gangsters, he can't stand idly by – he has to help her. Armed with hidden skills that allow him to serve vengeance against anyone who would brutalize the helpless, McCall comes out of his self-imposed retirement and finds his desire for justice reawakened. If someone has a problem, if the odds are stacked against them, if they have nowhere else to turn, McCall will help. He is The Equalizer.

THE SCREAM
The "Scream" television series over at MTV just recast one of its main characters. The Hollywood Reporter says Bex Taylor-Klaus is taking over for Amy Forsyth as "Audrey," a teen who aspires to be a filmmaker. No reason was revealed as to why Forsyth exited the role.

Added to the cast, per THR:

- Bobby Campo (The Final Destination) will recur as Seth Branson, the hot English teacher at Lakewood High who has an easy charm and is clearly one of the "cool" teachers, who can go with it if a lesson plan gets a little off-track.

- Connor Weil (Sharknado) will be a series regular and portray Will Belmont, an all-American high school basketball player who adores his girlfriend, Emma (Fitzgerald). - Joel Gretsch ("Witches of East End," "V," "The 4400") is set as Sheriff Clark Hudson, a good guy and good sheriff who is father to Kieran (Amadeus Serafini). David Arquette famously portrayed the lovable sheriff in Williamson's features.

Taylor-Klaus, Campo, Weil and Gretsch will join previously-announced cast members Willa Fitzgerald (the lead), John Karna, Carlson Young and Amadeus Serafini.

Jamie Travis will direct the pilot which was penned by Jay Beattie and Dan Dworkin. Jill Blotevogel will serve as showrunner for the series. Wes Craven, Marianne Maddalena and Cathy Konrad are executive producers.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 16, 2014

Entertainment Weekly has just published its fall preview issue, and included inside is a handful of new photos from Christopher Nolan's upcoming sci-fi epic. The one that has made its way online shows Matthew McConaughey in his space suit, trekking across the treacheous and water-heavy surface of the new planet that he, Anne Hathaway and their crew visit via wormhole in order to find a new home for humankind.

According to EW's writeup, the "wastelands of Iceland" stood in for the alien world, which doesn't exactly look like a hospitable choice for a new human civilization. Still unexplained is the strange, black geometric shape also seen briefly crossing the water in the trailer, which is speculated to be some form of extraterrestrial life.

There's a lot about Interstellar that we don't know, but John Lithgow certainly whet our appetites by describing the film to EW as "a thrilling interaction between grand spectacle and intimate, intense relationships," adding, "More so than many films of this genre, Chris found a way to make fantastic drama out of cosmic ideas and current human anxieties."

Interstellar has been my most anticipated film of the year for a long time, and Mr. Lithgow's comments only make the wait for its Nov. 7 release that much more unbearable. Check out the photo and discuss below how much you're looking forward to the movie as well.

ACTION FIGURES RETURNING
If you still miss your old action figures, one company is about to make you very happy. Last year at San Diego Comic-Con, San Francisco-based toy company Super7 unveiled a set of vintage-style Alien action figures, based on the now-lost line of figures developed for the film by Kenner in 1979. Those figures were such a hit that the company returned to San Diego this year with a much-anticipated, limited-edition Alien Egg Chamber playset, but they didn't stop there. Super7 has now teamed up with fan-favorite toy company Funko (they make those adorable big-headed vinyl "Pop!" figures everyone loves so much) to create ReAction Figures, a line of action figures meant to capture that late-'70s-early-'80s vintage feel you remembered, but for properties that often either didn't get much in the way of toys at the time (because they were for adults) or didn't exist yet. "We make stuff we wish we'd had,” Super7 founder and owner Brian Flynn told Wired. “Like we didn't know these existed, then pulled them from under the rafters.” To get the right vintage feel, ReAction began its design process with the original Kenner specs for the first line of Star Wars figures, but eventually found as they tested the products that fans have a fonder recollection of the figures Kenner produced later for films like The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, which featured somewhat more intricate costume design, among other improvements. The end result is something Flynn calls "the proper level of sh---y," in a good way. The articulation is still limited, and the design is still crude compared to the often super-detailed toys produced by other companies today, but there's a throwback feel that's "endearing." Put that philosophy and those designs together, and you get stuff like this: The official ReAction website simply says "Coming Soon," but a number of figures from the line -- including characters from The Terminator, The Goonies, Firefly, Back to the Future and more -- are already available in the Super7 online store, and they're almost all only $10. They might not be the same as finally owning that giant Kenner AT-AT you always wanted, but they're close.

SUPERMAN COMIC
A near-perfect copy of Action Comics No. 1 — the comic that introduced Superman to the world back in 1938 — is currently being auctioned for sale on eBay. If you're hoping to score a bargain with some last-minute bidding, think again: After just 24 hours on the site, bidding has already topped a million dollars.
The issue, one of less than 50 unrestored copies believed to remain today, is being sold by the appropriately named Pristine Comics in Federal Way, Washington, with proceeds from the sale going toward the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation.
In a video released to promote the auction, Pristine Comics owner Darren Adams explained how the auction copy remained in such good edition. "There was a gentleman in 1938, buys a copy … off the newsstand. And he lived in a fairly high altitude area of West Virginia and kept the book in a cedar chest," Adams said. The quality of the issue — the pages of which, thanks to being kept in a dark, dry space for decades, haven't yellowed with time — makes the copy "not just a copy of Action Comics No. 1 [but] the copy of Action Comics No. 1," according to the dealer.
Back in 2011, another edition of the issue raised $2.1 million in auction, becoming the most expensive comic ever sold in the process. With nine days remaining on the current Action Comics auction and bidding currently at $1.6 million, it's very possible that record is about to be broken.

GEOSTORM
Jim Sturgess, Abbie Cornish, Ed Harris and Andy Garcia are in negotiations to join Gerard Butler in Geostorm, the sci-fi adventure feature to be directed by Dean Devlin.

Warner Bros. and Skydance are behind the movie, which is eyeing an October shoot in New Orleans.

The story centers on a stubborn but charming satellite designer (Butler) who, when the world's climate-controlling satellites malfunction, has to work together with his estranged brother (Sturgess) to save the world from a man-made storm of epic proportions. As the designer heads into space, the brother discovers a plot to assassinate the president. Cornish will play Sturgess' girlfriend, a Secret Service agent. Harris will play the secretary of state with Garcia taking the Oval Office as the president.

The script was originally written by Devlin and was also worked on by Kieran and Michele Mulroney.

David Ellison and Dana Goldberg are producing via Skydance. Also producing are Devlin's partners at Electric Entertainment, Marc Roskin and Rachel Olschan.

Drew Crevello and Nik Mavinkurve are overseeing for the studio.

Sturgess was one of the stars in the Wachowskis' Cloud Atlas and has several films in the can, including London Fields, a British thriller that counts Theo James, Amber Heard and Johnny Depp in its cast. He is repped by CAA and Garricks in the U.K.

Cornish (WME, Untitled Entertainment, Australia's International Casting Service) recently appeared in Robocop and TV's Klondike and last shot the Colin Farrell thriller Solace. Harris is part of the cast of Snowpiercer and has Warners' Run All Night awaiting a 2015 release. He is repped by CAA and Ziffren Brittenham.

Garcia, repped by CAA and Brillstein Entertainment Partners, is currently on screens with Fox's Let's Be Cops.

OPEN WINDOW
Cinedigm has today revealed a new trailer for Nacho Vigalondo’s latest thriller, Open Windows, starring Elijah Wood and Sasha Grey. Check it out in the player below, courtesy of ShockTillYouDrop.com.

Jill (Grey), the most exciting actress of the moment, refuses to have dinner with Nick (Wood), a fan who won a date with her in an Internet contest organized by the distributor of her latest film.

In return, a man named Chord, who is posing as Jill’s campaign manager, helps Nick to follow in the footsteps of the actress from his own computer. Nick starts a game in which he realizes that is only a puppet into the manic plans devised by Chord, to hunt down the star.

The film is told across Nick’s computer desktop and through the various “open windows” a labyrinthine, Hitchcockian thriller unfolds.

No release date has been set, however, we’re hearing it will hit this fall.

THE ZOCALO TODAY

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Did you miss the news from yesterday -- or earlier in the week. Catch up by going to the August News Archive. I have broken up the huge file into months to make it easier to scan through. It will bring you up to date for all that has been going on in the world of science fiction. Go to:
July News.
June News.
May News.
April News.
March News.
February News
January News
December News
November News
October News.

ON THE TUBE TONIGHT

6:30pm on FX
Avatar
On the lush alien world of Pandora live the Na'vi, beings who appear primitive but are highly evolved. Because the planet's environment is poisonous, human/Na'vi hybrids, called Avatars, must link to human minds to allow for free movement on Pandora. Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a paralyzed former Marine, becomes mobile again through one such Avatar and falls in love with a Na'vi woman (Zoe Saldana). As a bond with her grows, he is drawn into a battle for the survival of her world.

9:00pm on CBS
Unforgettable
Season 3, Episode 7: Throwing Shade
Eliot is forced to face his demons when one of his friends is murdered.

9:00pm on BBC America
The Musketeers
Season 1, Episode 9: Knight Takes Queen
The Musketeers come under siege while protecting the Queen from an assassin.

9:00pm on Syfy
Battle of the Damned

After a deadly viral outbreak, Max Gatling (Dolph Lundgren) leads several survivors and a band of robots against an army of the walking dead.

9:00pm on TNT
The Last Ship
Season 1, Episode 9: Trials
Rachel and Chandler seek volunteers for the human trials of her vaccine.

10:00pm on ABC
Castle
Season 6, Episode 16: Room 147
A guilt-ridden woman confesses to a murder, but contradictory evidence complicates the case.

10:00pm on TNT
Falling Skies
Season 4, Episode 9: Til Death Do Us Part
Tom and a team follow the Volm to a supply cache in search of equipment; Maggie and Ben grow closer.

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Sandra Bruckner (sgbruckner@aol.com)
Editor/Publisher
ISN News: The Zocalo Today
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