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David Honigsberg: 1958-2007

David Honigsberg: 1958-2007

David Honigsberg, the only science fiction and country music writing rabbi (and as such, the epitome of the sort of cross-culture we cover at ComicMix), died suddenly at his home yesterday. He was 48.

Honigsberg contributed a story, "Sambatyon", to the 1994 anthology The Ultimate Silver Surfer. He wrote other science fiction stories over the years, and contributed knowledge of Jewish religion, history, and Kaballah as a consultant to numerous science fiction writers over the years, and was instrumental in writing the first Klingon Jewish wedding ceremony in the Star Trek story, Creative Couplings. He was also active in the science fiction community, both as a speaker on panels and also presiding over numerous weddings of fans.

He is survived by his wife, Alexandra, who has our deepest sympathies. Funds are being raised for his funeral expenses here, and services information will be posted when we have it.

MARTHA THOMASES: About genres

MARTHA THOMASES: About genres

Over the weekend I started to read Will Self’s most recent novel, The Book of Dave. Like so much of Self’s work, this volume could quite comfortably be racked in the science fiction section of your bookstore. Set five or six centuries in a post-apocalyptic future, English culture has evolved based on its sacred text, the recovered letter from a divorced father, Dave, to his son.

It took me the better part of two hours to read the first chapter, which is only 27 pages long. In addition to creating a new religion, Self created a new language, an educated guess as to how English would mutate over the centuries. He thoughtfully provided a glossary in the back, but it still required me to extrapolate a great deal from my limited knowledge of English geography and manners.

This is my idea of fun.

Self is a writer who speculates in the most outrageous ways. In Great Apes, he created an England in which apes are the most evolved primates, and the culture is adapted accordingly. In How the Dead Lives, he imagined that, when you die, you get a dull, clerical job in the suburbs of London.

You won’t find Self’s books in the science fiction or fantasy sections of your bookstores or libraries. You also won’t find Riddley Walker, a book by Russell Hoban that’s a clear antecedent to The Book of Dave (Self wrote an introduction to a reissue of Hoban’s classic in 2002). You won’t find Norman Mailer’s Ancient Evenings, a novel about the pharaohs that includes mental telepathy, magic and time travel.

No, these are “literary” fiction, and they get racked with other novels that, allegedly, belong to no genre, like Waiting to Exhale, Oliver Twist, or Portnoy’s Complaint.

Genre is a useful construct. Sometimes, you want to find a book about a particular subject, whether it’s true love or rocket ships or murder. Putting those books together is a service to the reader. If prose books were racked all together, in simple alphabetical order, you might find Dickens next to the Dummies guides.

That’s about as useful as putting all the graphic novels together.

It’s not as bad as it used to be. Ten years ago, you’d find Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ Watchmen next to Garry Trudeau’s Doonesbury in the Humor section. Booksellers now realize that just because something is called a “comic book,” it’s not necessarily funny.

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Who three lined up

Who three lined up

For those in the know, the third season of the revived Doctor Who begins in England this Saturday, and to celebrate the event Radio Times – the British equivilant of TV Guide, only, you know, useful – does up the mandatory double-cover feature. Only both covers are use the same photographs, so we’re only reprinting one here.

They also include a listing of the titles of this seasons’ shows, excluding the between-season Christmas horror fest. Fans can tell quite a bit from these titles:

 

1: Smith and Jones

2: The Shakespeare Code

3: Gridlock

4: Daleks in Manhattan (Part One)

5: Evolution of the Daleks (Part Two)

6: The Lazarus Experiment

7: 42

8: Human Nature (Part One)

9: The Family of Blood (Part Two)

10: Blink

11: Utopia

12: The Sound of Drums (Part One)

13: Last of the Time Lords (Part Two)

The first episode introduces the Doctor’s newest companion, Martha Jones – played by actress Freema Agyeman. She’s the one who is neither Who nor the monster, pictured above. For more, consult Radio Times: www.radiotimes.com. But you would have figured that out.

By the way, from what I’ve seen there’s at least one scene in Saturday night’s episode that would not have been broadcast on American television back when William Hartnell created the role.

Fantasticar photos

Fantasticar photos

The Car Connection has pictures of the Fantastic Four’s new car from their upcoming movie, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. Although no one explains how they get through Manhattan’s traffic, the Fantasticar has a HEMI that allegedly will let them go at 550 miles per hour. 

Chrysler Group chief stylist Trevor Creed participated in the car’s design, with Tim Flattery. According to the New York Daily News, the car can break into three sections and travel at 30,000 feet.

Which might be high enough to reach the head of a certain planet eater.

Song of the South to rise again?

Song of the South to rise again?

 

Disney’s first live-action motion picture (well, mostly), Song of the South, just might see the light of day once again. Locked up tight in their well-promoted archives since 1986 and never released on video tape, LaserDisc or DVD in the United States, the subject once again was raised at their annual shareholders meeting, this time in acknowledgement of a petition drive demanding the movie’s release. The petition has attained 115,000 signatures thus far.

It should be pointed out that Disney’s fear they might be seen as actively racist has not deterred them from releasing the movie overseas, and these prints have served as the basis of the great many bootleg editions that are commonly found in this country.

“The question of Song of the South comes up periodically,” Disney CEO Robert Iger told the Associated Press. “We’ve decided to take a look at it again because we’ve had numerous requests about bringing it out. Our concern was that a film that was made so many decades ago being brought out today perhaps could be either misinterpreted or that it would be somewhat challenging in terms of providing the appropriate context.”

The movie is historically important, and, of course, there’s that annoying First Amendment thing. It stars James Baskett as Uncle Remus and Hattie McDaniel as Aunt Tempy. Ironically, there weren’t a lot of starring roles given to blacks in 1946. Baskett was quite the star in the black movie circuit.

The song Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah won an Oscar as best picture, and the Splash Mountain rides at the Disney theme parks were inspired by the movie.

It is believed a DVD release will make a great deal of money for the House of Mouse.

Galactica plots its new course

Galactica plots its new course

Now that the third season is behind him and he’s got a full commitment from the SciFi Network for a third, Battlestar Galactica developer and executive producer Ron Moore decided to spill a few beans about what’s ahead for the series.

Moore revealed Katee Sackhoff will be back as Starbuck throughout the upcoming season, although he did not reveal if she was the final Cylon. Despite her previous public comments regarding her getting new work on other series, Moore told the trade magazine TVWeek "She was very careful how she phrased it. We wanted people to feel the loss. We didn’t want to put Katee in the position of lying to people. She did look for other work and is getting other work — just other work that won’t interfere with her "Battlestar" commitments."

He also disclosed the upcoming two-hour Galactica made-for-teevee movie that will be airing this fall (and available on DVD shortly thereafter) will not pick up from the point where season three left off, providing a convenient "jumping in" point for new viewers. "It didn’t feel right to try and resolve the cliffhanger with a single airing and DVD release. It didn’t make any sense. We told a story that takes place in the past in the "Galactica" universe but relates to events in the fourth season."

As has been widely rumored, Moore confirmed the possibility of a prequel series called Caprica. It’s "still in development," Moore said. "They’re not picking it up as a pilot right now. They’ve talked about doing a two-hour version of it, or a DVD. The longer it goes on, the less likely it seems that anything will happen."

Of course, if this fall’s stand-alone movie does well – or if the Star Trek theatrical prequel does extremely well (a longer shot, IMHO) – don’t be surprised if SciFi gets a lot more interested.

Orbit expands

Orbit expands

Publishers Weekly reports that the new Hachette science fiction imprint, Orbit, will publish Kevin J. Anderson’s new series, The Terra Incognita trilogy, starting in 2009. 

Anderson is co-author of six Dune prequels, written with Brian Herbert. His current series, Saga of the Seven Suns, will be published by Orbit, with volume six, Metal Swarm, part of the imprints debut line this fall.

With the launch of Orbit, Hachette will probably end the Warner Aspect line. In fact, PW reported yesterday that Warner Books, bought by Hachette, will change its name to Grand Central, starting real soon.

New Tolkien next month

New Tolkien next month

The BBC reports (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6494985.stm) that Christopher Tolkien finished his father’s last book, Children of Hurin, and it will be published in England, the United States, Australia and New Zealand this April 17.  The younger Tolkien spent 30 years on the book, which JRR Tolkien started in 1918.  Alan Lee is the illustrator.

There are no plans at this time for a film.

Yet.

Evan Almighty trailer first at The Office

Evan Almighty trailer first at The Office

The trailer for Evan Almighty will debut on this Thursday. NBC will premiere the trailer during its "Night at the Office" event, in which airings of multiple episodes of the hit sitcom will air over the course of that evening’s prime time (8 pm – 11 pm Eastern/Pacific; 7 pm – 10 pm Central).

 

Steve Carell, reprising his role as the polished, preening newscaster Evan Baxter of Bruce Almighty, is the next one anointed by God to accomplish a holy mission. Director Tom Shadyac returns behind the camera for this next episode of divine intervention. This time, however, his cast grows two-by-two.

Newly elected to Congress, Evan leaves Buffalo behind and shepherds his family to suburban northern Virginia. Once there, his life gets turned upside-down when God (the divine Morgan Freeman) appears and mysteriously commands him to build an ark. But his befuddled family just can’t decide whether Evan is having an extraordinary mid-life crisis or is truly onto something of Biblical proportions…

Set for a June 22th release, Evan Almighty also stars Lauren Graham, John Goodman, John Michael Higgins, Jimmy Bennett, Wanda Sykes and Jonah Hill.

Prepare for Spidey-3

Prepare for Spidey-3

If, while waiting for the release of Spider-Man 3 in about five weeks, you feel you need a recap of the first two movies but you just don’t have the time,you might want to check out 30 Second Bunnies Theatre.

This Starz / Anrgy Alien animated production is a nice, convenient way to remind yourself of the complete cinema saga to date. Like virtually all Marvel-related productions, it even has a Stan Lee cameo.

Oh, yeah. And all the parts are played by cute li’l bunny rabbits.

http://www.starz.com/features/bunnyclub/spiderman/index.html