SUNDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2014

[As always, spoilers below]

Not only do we have our very first peek at the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine star in full princely Dornish garb, looking all regal and stuff (love those flip-flops, but we’re pretty sure that’s not gonna be in the show), but we also have some very nice pics of Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Ser Jaime Lannister, also dressed in Dornish clothes — you know, when in Rome...or, in this case, Dorne.

We also get another look at the luminous Indira Varma as Prince Oberyn Martell’s (Pedro Pascale) lady love and paramour Ellaria Sand, and another one of Areo Hotah (DeObia Oparei), the captain of the Prince of Dorne’s guards.

But before you go take a look at the gallery below, there's this pretty cool BTS video of the filming of that scene, providing us with a tantalizing look at what is to be seen in episode nine of the fifth season (the filming of that scene took place in Alcázar Palace, in Seville, Spain):

Now, we want talk about the last pic in the gallery.

It was taken when filming moved in Osuna, Spain, and it’s subtitled as “Jaime and a walk in Dorne” by Juego de Tronos on his Facebook page. If you squint your eyes just a bit, you can make out Jaime in the procession of Dornish soldiers (he’s the last one). Could this be how Jaime will get into Dorne? It looks more and more that the second half of our favorite twincest couple may be fulfilling the Balon Swann storyline from the books (with the whole "Uncle" Jaime catches Myrcella kissing Trystane), since it looks like the character may not appear on the show. And you know what? We're actually pretty OK with it.

In other rather thrilling news, it appears that Game of Thrones will finally break with tradition and give us the first ever flashback scene! So, will we get to see Lord Eddard Stark again? After all, Sean Bean’s dying (pun intended) to make a splashy return to HBO’s fantasy series. Well...nope. But it's still good.

Entertainment Weekly reports that the opening scene of the fifth season will feature a glimpse into Cersei Lannister’s (Lena Headey) youth, which may also include the return of Charles Dance — who has hinted that he would be back for more just a few weeks back, despite his, hum, “tragic demise” — as Lord Tywin.

Here’s what Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss told film students during a Q & A in Spain (it was roughly translated and makes no mention of WHO actually said what):

“By making the first season, we set a rule: No prophecies, dreams or flashbacks. We failed the first two and this season the third. So yes, this season will finally have flashbacks.”

Despite the fact that it's been translated as flashbacks, plural, it looks like it may be only one. But guess we'll have to wait and see. Have a look at the pics below, and let us know what you guys think of Alexander Siddig’s look as Prince Doran, and about Jaime’s Dornish storyline.

PACIFIC RIM II
After barely getting a sequel to Pacific Rim off the ground, director Guillermo del Toro is already cooking up plans for a full-fledged trilogy. You’ve got to respect the ambition.

While promoting his new family flick Book of Life, del Toro chatted with Collider about his plans for the future of Pacific Rim. The first film was a moderate success in the U.S. but a solid hit globally, which finally led Legendary Pictures to pull the trigger on part two.

Del Toro is already in deep development on a Pacific Rim animated series, and he said they plan to start shooting the sequel film in late 2015. But the best part? While scripting Pacific Rim 2, del Toro is already laying the groundwork for story arcs that will set up a third installment. He teases a mix of new and old characters, and an ending that sounds almost like a cliffhanger:

“We got the first draft of the movie now, and we are going to spend another 4-5 months on the screenplay before we start pre-production. We start pre-production next year in August-September and start shooting November-December next year … Some of your favorite characters come back, some others don’t because we have decided that we’re going to shoot ambitiously and say ‘Let’s hope we have three movies,’ so some characters come in at the end of the second, hoping that it will ramp up on the third one.”

As if that news wasn’t enough to get us psyched up for more Jaeger vs. kaiju battles, the studio has also revealed the first tantalizing teaser poster for the sequel. Check it out above. It doesn’t reveal much, but it looks like another Breach has opened up and is in need of patrol. Hard to tell much on the locale, but it definitely looks like a different setting than the first film.

AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON
Although it's not entirely a surprise given the studios' tendency to push the bar with the scale of their films, Marvel Studios executive producer Victoria Alonso confirmed tonight during a speech for the Visual Effects Society that next summer's Joss Whedon-helmed Avengers: Age of Ultron will feature over 3,000 VFX shots. That's roughly 500 more than this year's Captain America: The Winter Soldier and 250 more than Guardians of the Galaxy!

Building those effects will take the involvement of artists all over the world with plans currently calling for the utilization of seven to twelve different VFX vendors. The Hollywood Reporter relates Alonso's belief in making the extended creative team of Marvel's films as international as possible, allowing for ideas to come in from as many sources as possible.

Alonso, who also serves as Marvel's VP of visual effects and post production, also announced that she's like to see more gender-neutrality on the creative playing field.

“You’ve got to get the girls in here, boys," Alonso said. "“I have been with you beautiful, handsome, talented, creative men in dark rooms for two decades and I can tell you those rooms are better when there are a few of us in them. So as you take this with you, please remember that it’s okay to allow the ladies in. They’re smart, they’re talented. They bring a balance that you need.”

Does the same go for Marvel's upcoming marquee plans? Variety posed to her that very question, reminding her that the Distinguished Competition just announced Wonder Woman for 2017.

“If it were up to me," Alonso said of Marvel's long expected announcement of a female-led superhero film, "It would be today."

Alonso has long been a vocal champion of equal rights in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. She and Hayley Atwell famously teased the "Agent Carter" television series during a 2013 Comic-Con presentation. It was the same one, in fact, that Marvel EP Louis D'Esposito got a loud audience reminder that many fans would rather see a film titled Captain Marvel than one called Miss Marvel.

Avengers: Age of Ultron hits the big screen May 1, 2015.

HANNIBAL
Work on "Hannibal season three is well underway up in Canada and, today, we're learning about the first major casting news. Deadline reports Tao Okamoto will play Lady Murasaki. Introduced in Thomas Harris' novel "Hannibal Rising," Murasaki was Hannibal Lecter’s aunt.

In the NBC series, there will be some slight alterations made to the character. When ShockTillYouDrop.com spoke to showrunner Bryan Fuller in August, he explained: "We're taking the spirit of the character because of the events that happen in their lives. Her relationship to Hannibal will be more damaged and different. That will definitely be interesting to the fans of [Thomas Harris'] literature."

The actress playing Murasaki, Tao Okamoto, was last seen in The Wolverine.

Season Three of "Hannibal" finds Lecter going on the run after the bloodbath that occurred in the season finale of Season Two. A manhunt will begin in Europe as Will Graham and the FBI track the killer.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2014

But where is he headed, what motivates him, and where on the board will he be at the end of the day? Actor Samuel Anderson revealed a bit of what we can expect.

Eps 11 and 12 were such challenging ones for me. I had to get it right. Forget your inhibitions. It would have been crappy if I hadn’t believed in it. You’ll see where Danny lies morally what he hopes to get out of his relationship with Clara… By the end of the season, Moffat has kind of immortalised Danny Pink. That has definitely been my proudest moment ever, ever, ever. Coming out the other end of Eps 10,11 and 12, and realising, ‘Wow, I’ve survived, I’ve made it, I’ve really pushed it,’ kind of makes you want to go, ‘One more year, c’mon!’

So maybe Danny won't be dead, but will he, like the Doctor, make decisions that push Clara away? Or will Danny be the reason Clara finally leaves? The thing we've heard repeatedly is that Clara is leaving. On the other hand, Anderson is really making a case for Danny to stick around. Or at least his descendent.

Start a campaign for Danny Pink. If not Danny, bring back Orson, as his descendant. Yeah, I feel like I’ve only just got started.

Orson could be interesting, although, considering the events from Listen, we're not so sure he'd want to do any more time traveling.

SHADOWLAND
David Goyer is a guy who knows his niche, and he’s following up NBC’s Constantine with another dark series based on Peter Straub’s Shadowland novel.

Goyer (Man of Steel, The Dark Knight) is developing and producing the NBC project, which is one of those ever-popular limited “event series” with a shortened episode order. The acclaimed 1980 horror fantasy novel focused on two young boys who spend their summer with an uncle who is an accomplished magician and just might be a sorcerer. The novel is good, and was a World Fantasy Award nominee.

Since Goyer is also keeping busy with the upcoming Batman v Superman, Deadline reports he will co-write the adaptation with BAFTA-winning writer Jack Thorne. Thorne is currently scripting the long-gestating graphic novel adaptation The Sandman, so it seems everyone is sticking close to the genre.

Though he’s been cranking out huge films the past decade, Goyer’s track record on the small screen is a bit more checkered. We’re hopeful Constantine will be a hit, but the only active series Goyer currently has in production is the modest cable success Da Vinci’s Demons. The rest? Blade: The Series, FlashForward, Freakylinks, Threshold, etc. were all canned in just one season.

SUICIDE SQUAD
We’d heard DC and Warner Bros. wanted to lock in some A-list talent to kick off that Suicide Squad film, and it sounds like they’ve might’ve found ‘em.

Deadline is reporting the studio has offers out to Will Smith (I Am Legend), Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises) and Margot Robbie (The Wolf of Wall Street) to headline the 2016 film — which will be among the first phase of DC’s massive release schedule anchored by two Justice League films. According to the report, the actors are “circling” the project, meaning there’s seemingly interest on both sides to make it happen.

No word on exactly which characters they could be playing, or who’ll make up the roster for the big-screen Suicide Squad, but this trio would definitely bring some clout to what will easily be one of the least recognizable properties on DC’s release slate. You’d also think these three would have the charisma to pull off playing a team of villains brought together to take on high-rise black op missions for the government.

We already know Hardy can play one heck of a cool villain from his tenure as Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, while Smith is still awesome — despite some recent high-profile flops (see: After Earth) to the contrary. Oh, and Robbie? She was great in The Wolf of Wall Street, and is also co-starring in the upcoming drama Focus with Smith, so there’s chemistry already there.

The small-screen version of the Suicide Squad on The CW’s Arrow has become a highlight of an already great show, so it’s easy to see that if it’s done right, this could be one heck of a fun movie. If they’re actually able to lock in this cast list, this could be a great way to kick off the next decade of DC movies.

TOMORROWLAND
Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow (land, that is) is going to see the sun of box-office success.

The teaser trailer for Tomorrowland, the secretive sci-fi project from Damon Lindelof and Brad Bird, was the most viewed coming attraction on Youtube for the week ending Oct. 13. The movie about an aging inventor (George Clooney), a curious teen (Britt Robertson) and a fantastic invention (we think) notched 6 million views in its first week, according to technology firm Zefr which tracks the numbers.

The first look at the project (which was originally titled 1952) and opens in May 2015 doesn’t give much away about the plot but features a couple of cool glimpses of a retro-futuristic city.

The only other new trailer in the top ten was Focus in the tenth spot. The Will Smith-Margot Robbie vehicle about a veteran grifter (Smith) and his young protege (Robbie) arrives in theaters on Feb. 27. Focus recorded 809,000 YouTube views in its opening week. The rest of the top ten (in order): Exodus: Gods and Kings, American Sniper, Interstellar, Taken 3, Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Inside Out and Big Hero 6. All were in the top ten last week. In the No. 2 slot Exodus managed 4.6 million views and American Sniper and Insterstellar about 3 million each. Fifty Shades continues to be the trailer hit of the fall. It added 2 million views for each a cumulative total of 73.5 million.

Dropping out of the top ten was last week’s No. 6 Inherent Vice (No. 6) and Dracula Untold (No. 8).

THE ZOCALO TODAY

Facebook as well as at ISN News: The Zocalo Today on Yahoo Groups.

Did you miss the news from yesterday -- or earlier in the week. Catch up by going to the October 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:
September News.
August News.
July News.
June News.
May News.

ON THE TUBE TONIGHT

8:00pm on ABC
Once Upon a Time
Season 4, Episode 4: The Apprentice
Hook asks Mr. Gold to reattach his hand before he goes on a date with Emma.

8:00pm on AMC
The Walking Dead
Season 5, Episode 1: No Sanctuary
The true motives of the Terminans come to light; Rick and the others end up in a situation.

8:00pm on FX
Men in Black 3
Even though agents J (Will Smith) and K (Tommy Lee Jones) have been protecting the Earth from alien scum for many years, J still does not know much about his gruff partner. However, J soon gets an unexpected chance to find out what makes K tick when an alien criminal called Boris the Animal (Jemaine Clement) escapes, goes back to 1969, and kills K. With the fate of the planet at stake, J goes back in time and teams up with K's younger self (Josh Brolin) to put things right.

8:00pm on TNT
Angels & Demons
When Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon discovers the resurgence of an ancient brotherhood known as the Illuminati, he flies to Rome to warn the Vatican, the Illuminati's most hated enemy. Joining forces with beautiful Italian scientist Vittoria Vetra (Ayelet Zurer), Langdon follows a centuries-old trail of ancient symbols in the hope of preventing the Illuminati's deadly plot against the Roman Catholic Church from coming to fruition.

9:00pm on ABC
Resurrection
Season 2, Episode 4: Old Scars
Margaret pushes Lucille to host a dinner celebrating Jacob's return; Rachael gets disturbing news.

9:00pm on AMC
The Walking Dead
Season 5, Episode 2: Strangers
Rick leads a risky mission for a possible small reward when the supplies run low.

9:00pm on BBC America
The Chronicles of Riddick
Galactic criminal Riddick (Vin Diesel) is on the run, with bounty hunters on his tail. He receives guidance from Aereon (Judi Dench), ambassador from the Elemental race, who informs him that a warrior army known as the Necromongers is annihilating all human life in the galaxy in a bid for universal dominance. The wise Aereon urges Riddick into battle, believing he is the one man who can defeat the Necromongers and their leader, the evil Lord Marshal (Colm Feore).

9:00pm on Syfy
Lost Souls
A modern thriller in which faith battles reason, Ryder plays a young woman who becomes aware of a conspiracy to enable the Devil to walk the earth in human form. To defeat the prophesy, she must convince a respected New York crime journalist, who is devoid of faith, that he is in fact the target of the conspiracy.

10:00pm on CBS
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Season 15, Episode 4: The Book of Shadows
When a chemistry teacher's science experiment goes terribly wrong, the CSI team suspects foul play.

10:01pm on AMC
Talking Dead
Season 4, Episode 2:
Guests discuss "Strangers."

KEEPING UP WITH CAST AND CREW

SPACE COMMAND
Look who are on a sound stage together again -- Bill Mumy and Bruce Boxleitner. Not in this picture, but also on SPACE COMMAND is Mira Murlan.

STAR TREK writer Marc Zicree teams with GALACTICA FX whiz Doug Drexler & Sci-Fi Legends to reinvent classic 50s show as Feature Films.

For more information on this kickstarter project, go to https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/58936338/space-command.

NEW AUDIO DRAMAS
Patricia Tallman and Claudia Christian have developed a series of audio dramas that you will want to listen to. "Anne Manx and The Blood Chase" is the latest episode, but you'll want to listen to them all. Here's a link for you.

https://soundcloud.com/user1452104/anne-manx-episode-recap.

Here is a quote from J. Michael Straczynski about emotions.
I had this theory that the more important and intimate the emotion, the fewer words are required to express it.

First it's in dating: "Will you go out with me?" Six words.
"Honey, I care for you." Five words.
"You matter to me." Four words.
"I love you." Three words.
"Marry me." Two words.
But what's left? What's the one most important and intimate word you can ever say to somebody? It's "goodbye."

While Michael O'Hare (Sinclair), Andreas Katsulas (G'Kar), Rick Biggs (Dr. Franklin), Tim Choate (Zathras) and Jeff Conoway (Zach Allen) are no longer with us, we will not forget their wonderful personalities and talent -- as well as their significant contributions to the BABYLON 5 universe. Be sure to visit In Memory Of for more information about memorial efforts.
Until we met again, in a place where no shadows fall.

BABYLON 5 BIRTHDAYS

OCTOBER
Dylan Neal - October 8
Jeff Conaway - October 5 - Gone too soon
John Vulich - October 10
Tim Choate - October 11 - we miss you
John Copeland - October 13
Linda Huse - October 16

Have I missed anyone? If you know the birthday of someone connected with Babylon 5, pass the information along. We want to include everyone in our Happy Birthday Wishes.

Go to http://www.hollywoodscifi.org/ for more information.

BABYLON 5 MUSIC VIDEOS AND TRIBUTES

John Hudgens has created many Babylon 5 videos, but I believe this is the most moving. It was first shown at the Phoenix Comic Con 20th Anniversary and honors many of the Babylon 5 family who have passed on.

Here is a link to John's Babylon 5 videos:
https://www.youtube.com/user/Babylon5MusicVideos?feature=watch

Richard Biggs memorial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyD4L8yNtsA

Andreas Katsulas memorial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2UQ2l9NPIg

- This is the extended version that I did for Andreas' widow ater the original cut was released on the net. It's never been seen online until now.

For those of you who've never seen these, I hope you enjoy them - and for those that have (and emailed me many times over the years about releasing them), I hope they're as good as you remember. Working with Joe on these videos was one of the highlights of my career, and I'll be forever grateful to him for the doors these have opened for me. I'm proud to have them on my resume.

John Hudgens
www.zteamproductions.com

CRYSTAL COAST CON
Date: October 18, 2014
Place: Mac Daddys Family Entertainment Facility, Cape Carteret, NC
B5 Guests: Pat Tallman and Bill Blair
Pat will be a media signing guest. The facility located at 130 Golfin Dolphin Dr., Cape Carteret, NC 28584
For more information, go to http://www.crystalcoastcon.com/.

LONDON FILM AND COMIC CON WINTER
Dates: October 18-19, 2014
Place: Earls Court 2, Old Brompton Road, SW5 9TA
Guests: Katee Sackhoff, Nicola Bryant, Ralph Macchio, Christopher Cousins, Colin Baker, David Prowse and many more
For more information, go to http://www.londonfilmandcomiccon.com/

Spooky's Ultimate Horror Weekend
Dates: Oct. 24-26, 2014
Place: Doubletree Universal Studios, Orlando, FL 32819
Guests:
Michael Rooker - Walking Dead & Jeremiah; Stephen Pearcy - Ratt; Dee Wallace Stone - ET & Cuju; Tyler Mane - Halloween & X Men, and Tobin Bell - Dexter
For more information, go to http://www.spookyempire.com/.

MALTA COMIC EXPO
Dates: October 31-November 2, 2014
Place: Mediterranean Conference Center, Valletta, Malta
Guests: Richard Piccardo, Dirk Benedict,Silvester McCoy and many more
For more information, go to http://maltacomicsexpo.com/.

LOSCON 41
Dates: November 28-30, 2014
Place: LAX Marriott Hotel, LA, California
Babylon 5 Guest of Honor: J. Michael Straczynski
For more information, go to http://loscon.org/41/.

STAR TREK SAN FRANCISCO: NEXT GENERATION REUNION
Dates: December 12-14, 2014
Place: Hyatt Regency San Francisco, CA
Guests: KATE MULGREW, JAMES DARREN, ROBERT PICARDO, Klingon Representatives GOWRON AND MARTOK, GARRETT WANG, DOMINIC KEATING AND CONNOR TRINNEER, JONATHAN FRAKES, BRENT SPINER, LeVAR BURTON, MICHAEL DORN, GATES McFADDEN and MARINA SIRTIS
For more information, go to www.creationent.com/cal/st_sanfrancisco.html.

MAGIC CITY COMIC CON
Dates: January 16-18, 2015 Place: Miami Airport Convention Center
Comic Guests: John Romita, Jr., Allen Bellman, Adelso Corona, Greg Kirkpatrick, Dan Scott
For more information, go to http://www.magiccitycomiccon.com/.

STEEL CITY CON
Dates: December 5-7, 2014
Place: Monroeville Convention Center, Monroeville, PA
Guests: Adam West, Burt Ward, Linda Blair, Henry Winkler, Michael Dorn, Peter Mayhew, Terry Farrell, John Wesley Shippe, and more.
For more information, go to http://www.steelcitycon.com/.

FED-CON 24
Dates: May 21-24, 2015
Place: Maritim Hotel, Dusseldorf, Germany
Guests: Sam Jones, Aaron Douglas, Grant Bowler and more to come
For more information, go to http://www.fedcon.de/en/.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS!
Wizard World Conventions has a large number of events planned for the year. Be sure to visit the page to see if there is a convention of interest near you.

Creation Entertainment has a large number of conventions planned for the next several months. They include stars from TWILIGHT, SUPERNATURAL, STARGATE, FARSCAPE, XENA, SERENITY, STAR TREK, etc. Check out their calendar to see if one will be in your neighborhood soon. Don't miss their Videos page as well. It is full of some priceless video from a number of conventions.

Be sure to visit the referenced sites to see if there have been changes in dates/guests attending. Visit our Convention Calendar for a full listing of upcoming conventions.

BACK ISSUES OF THE ZOCALO TODAY

The front page of the The Zocalo Today changes daily, so be sure to check the back issues to make sure that you haven't missed anything IMPORTANT! I hope you will become a regular visitor to The Zocalo Today!

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Take care and I look forward to hearing from you.
Sandra Bruckner (sgbruckner@aol.com)
Editor/Publisher
ISN News: The Zocalo Today
http://www.isnnews.net
Copyright - SBruckner, 1999-2014