Joseph Mallozzi's Blog, page 294

November 26, 2017: Happy Dark Matter Family Day!

[image error]Dark Matter

November 24, 2017: Following your lead!

One of the nice things about not being in production (thanks again, Syfy) is the free time I now have to read, hang with the dogs and, of course, catch up on movies.  There are a bunch of new releases I’m considering checking out, but I’m…unconvinced.  So, please convince me – one way or the other: Should I go see these movies?

[image error]

Blade Runner 2049

Reason to go see it: I loved the original.

Reason not to go see it: I loved the original.  Also, it’s freakin’ 164 minutes long!

[image error]

Justice League

Reason to go see it: After three seasons working with him on Stargate: Atlantis, I feel I owe it to Momoa to go see his movie.

Reason not to go see it: After the big, bloated DOA corpse of a movie that was Avengers: Age of Ultron, I’m very circumspect when it comes to superheroes on the big screen.

[image error]

The Killing of a Sacred Deer

Reason to go see it: An intriguingly weird-looking.

Reason not to go see it: So was Mother.

[image error]

Murder on the Orient Express

Reason to go see it: A great cast.

Reason not to go: Of all of Agatha Christie’s works, the ending to this one was perhaps the most unsatisfying.

[image error]

Lady Bird

Reason to go see it: Great reviews.

Reason not to go see it: Doesn’t really look like my cup of tea.

[image error]

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Reason to go see it: That audacious title.

Reason not to go see it: I’ve heard little about it.

[image error]

Thelma

Reason to go see it: Foreign genre entries are often unique and compelling (ie. Pan’s Labyrinth, The City of Lost Children).

Reason not to go see it: And, occasionally, plain awful (Pinocchio, High Tension).

Steer me right, people!

November 23, 2017: This ‘n That!

[image error]

Quick, get in!  Next stop = Slumber Land!

[image error]

Hey, if you’re thinking of making our dogs new outfits, Akemi offers up the following doggy measurements.  I think she does a fairly good job of capturing Suji’s trademark wide-eyed wonder, and Lulu’s general furtiveness.

[image error]

Who feels like kaka for dinner?  Pardon me?  Happened across this sign for a new Japanese restaurant a little while ago.  Debatable name aside, not sure how a restaurant that has yet to open can claim to be the “No. 1 rated all-you-can-eat sushi in Toronto”.  Who voted?  Time-traveling nigiri-enthusiasts from the future?

[image error]

I’m sure we can all agree that, next to politics and religion, there is no subject more controversial than marzipan.  Its mere mention will incite a tirade so impassioned from my former writing partner you’d think almond paste had somehow played a role in the tragic passing of a loved one.  I, on the other hand, love the stuff, so you can imagine my delight the other day when I happened upon a Danish Pastry House pop-up and discovered the above pictured delicacy – some unpronounceable North Germanic confection comprised of marzipan, chocolate, sliced almonds, and assorted umlauts.  Delicious!

[image error]

Happy Thanksgiving to our American friends.  May you be as generous as the Mark Sanchez-led Jets offense, and as thankful as the New England Patriots defense five years ago today.

November 22, 2017: Awesome Comic Book Covers – Week of November 20th, 2017!

Another Wednesday brings us another vast selection of great comic books to discover and, with it, a slew of fantastic comic book covers worth noting.  These were my favorites –

[image error]

Black Panther #167 (cover art by Brian Stelfreeze)

The Klaw’s sonic emitter offers a simultaneous yet alternating glimpse at both the murderous master of sound and Black Panther, the Wakandan protector.  Gorgeous yet very clever in its efficiency, I love the in-your-face boldness of this cover.

[image error]

Star Wars: Darth Vader #9 (cover art by Jim Cheung)

Another week, another Star Wars: Darth Vader cover, this one illustrated by Jim Cheung.  I’ll admit to a certain childhood affinity for the character and this cover, with its stirring blacks and reds illuminated by the blinding white heat of the light saber, reawakens the love I held for this franchise.

[image error]

God Complex #2  (cover art by Hendry Prasetya)

There’s a slick, stylistic weirdness to Prasetya’s cover art, a surprisingly complimentary melding of disparate worlds: humanity and technology.  Gold and greys mark the sleek cybernetic marriage of realism and alien incongruity.

[image error]

Gung Ho #1 (cover art by ?)

Representing the small press is this title from Red Fox Comics that offers up a delightful weird amalgamation of gorilla, grenades, and banana.  It all hints at a hyper-realistic over-the-top fun but I’ll be damned if that gorilla doesn’t look mighty peeved.

[image error]

Heat Vision #1 (cover art by ?)

Echoes of the pulp SF magazines of the 50’s makes this yet another nostalgia-fueled pick.  It’s James Bonds meets Lovecraft by way of Fantastic Magazine.

 

[image error]

Luke Cage #167 (cover art by Rahzza)

Check out this hypnotic cover by single-named artist, Rahzza, with its center shocks of vibrant colors against a double-hued purple backdrop.

[image error]

Optimus Prime #13 (cover art by Kei Zama)

Full admission: I have never owned a Transformers toy, watched a Transformers movie, or read a Transformers book in my life, but I’ve got to give it up to artist Kei Zama’s bad-ass low angle shot of our towering heroes.  They are the good guys, right?

[image error]

Star Wars #39 (cover art by David Marquez)

It’s hard not to see the beauty in this admittedly unnerving character design by David Marquez, another glorious confluence of man, machine, and unknown other.

[image error]

Swordquest #5 (cover art by Goni Montes)

Love the way this one plays with light and shadow, the advancing primaries bathed in that background darkness.  The blue skin tone is a delightfully creepy touch.

[image error]

The Beautiful Death #3 (cover art by Mathieu Bablet)

Strange as it sounds, there is a certain sense of comfort in the underlying herbaceousness to Mathieu Bablet’s post apocalyptic vision that contrasts the death of glass and steel with the rebirth of nature.  And, at the heart of it, two lonely figures gaze out on the seemingly empty world.

[image error]

The Shadow #4 (cover art by Lee Weeks)

This one captures an infinitesimal instant of flow and fury, the train streaking out of the tunnel, The Shadow making the leap to board, guns in hand, his trailing crimson cape the single punctuation of colorful in a world of black and white.

[image error]

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War #4 (cover art by David Sondred)

Big-ass gun?  Check.  Big-ass battle suit?  Check.  Blood red foreground palette backed by the smoked-out greys of destruction?  Check-check.  I’m not exactly sold on that modesty curtain cover…what exactly?  His nuts and bolt?…but otherwise a very cool character design.

 

November 21, 2017: Projects! Books! Robots!

Recently, much of my days are spent reading, writing, and in creative discussions over the phone, via email, or while enjoying double chocolate mochas.  Again, the plan was to take time off, travel, catch a bunch of matinees, but the opportunities that have presented themselves have proven too intriguing to pass up.  Besides, in this business you just never know.  One day you can be juggling a half dozen slam-dunk prospects and, the next, you can be wondering where it all went.  Suffice it to say, it’s always a good idea to have more than a few balls in the air.  It’s always not a bad idea to diversify your creative portfolio.  With 350+ hours of television to my credit as a produce (100+ hours as a writer), most of it in the sci-fi realm, I’m more than happy to field offers in that particular arena.  On the other hand, if the prospect of working in another genre (fantasy, horror, crime) presented itself, I’d be delighted to pursue.

Considering the various tangible prospects that have recently crossed my desk (everything from materials forwarded for review to participatory deals), and accounting for crossover in certain categories, they break down as follows:

SF: 50+%

Horror: 20%

Fantasy: 10%

Comic book-related: 25%

Adaptations: 67%

A lot of very interesting stuff that has kept me very busy of late.

BUT not too busy to keep me from my reading!  I’m pleased to report that of the 44 (2017 release) titles I listed  on my blog last week, I’ve managed to read five (3 very good,1 okay, and 1 excellent) and abandoned one after a hundred pages. Only 39 more to go!

[image error]

While the poop emoji is the new hot thing and Akemi is all about the hearts, the thinking emoji is far and away my favorite because it reminds me of my former Stargate cohort Carl Binder –

[image error]

Oh, hey!  The Robopocalypse is upon us!

 

 

 

 

November 20, 2017: Knock Knock!

In the almost eight years she’s been living in Canada, Akemi has mastered many aspects of western culture – its unreliable transportation system, the English language, Beef Wellington – but there’s one uniquely North American oddity she’s yet to grasp: the knock-knock joke.  And yet, despite her repeated failures to fully grasp its nuanced set-up and delivery, she keeps trying.  Like last night, when she insisted we, once again, go down the knock-knock route.  After some reluctance, owing in large part to the fact that my storehouse of knock-knock jokes is almost bare, I conceded.  The results were, if not exactly predictable, certainly not that surprising –

“Knock knock,”I said.

“Who’s there?”she asked.

“Boo,”I said.

“Who’s boo?”she asked.

I sighed and explained to her that the correct phrasing of her response should be “Boo hoo?”, thus setting up the classic follow-up: “You don’t have to cry about it.”

A realization seemed to dawn.  “So you have to think of something that ends in hoo?”

“Well no – ”

“Like tofu,”she said, pronouncing the “fu” in tofu as she often does, with an “f” so soft it could be misinterpreted for a “hu”.  “Or kung-hu?”

“No – ”

“Knock knock,”she said.

“Who’s there?”

“Toe.”

“Toe who?”

She frowned.   “It doesn’t really make sense.  A better way would be – knock knock?”

“Who’s there?”I asked.

“Something soft,”she replied.  “And then you guess tofu.  You see?”

Yeah.  No.  I tried again: “Knock knock.”

“Who’s there?”

“Lettuce.”

“Lettuce who?”

“Lettuce in!  It’s cold out here?”

She frowned.  “Why lettuce?”

“Because lettuce in it’s cold out here.”

She started back at me, genuinely mystified.  “That’s not a joke.” Uncomprehending: “That’s funny?  That’s not funny.  I think my kung-fu joke you didn’t like is better.”  And then, after some consideration, a sigh of resignation. “The knock-knock joke – it’s very hard to nail it.”

I don’t even want to get her started on puns.

November 19, 2017: More pics from the Dark Matter vault!

Courtesy of Mean Jean Brophey!

[image error]

Matt Purdy, Jozie Conte, and Kelly Anastasiou – behind the scenes on EOS-7.

[image error]

Bits and pieces – Episode 304, “All the Time in the World”

[image error]

Turn off the damn light!  Can’t you see Mishka Thebaud is trying to sleep here!

[image error]

Ready to shoot – Episode 304, “All the Time in the World”.

[image error]

Our little lady, laid up.

[image error]

Checking out the weekend weather updates between scenes.

[image error]

Andrew Moodie (aka Teku Fonsei) = Dinner for one.

[image error]

Lisa Amaral Wright with the last minute check on the day’s munition facility menu.

[image error]

Dave Sheridan sets up his next shot from afar.

[image error]

Anthony Lemke is exhausted after a long day’s shoot.

 

November 18, 2017: Dark Matter – behind the scenes!

Some behind the scenes photos from the set of Dark Matter‘s third season, compliments of Mean Jean Brophey:

[image error]

Jean and Anthony from the pilot episode for their buddy cop show.

[image error]

Downtown at the Ishida Palace.

[image error]

Our kooky emperor.

[image error]

Mmmmm.  What’s cooking?

[image error]

Director J.B. Sugar’s red carpet walk.

[image error]

Grant Boyle in the infirmary for his annual check-up.

[image error]

Second team: Alyssa Pawlak and Matt Purdy.

[image error]

First team: Melissa O’Neil and Anthony Lemke.

[image error]

Jesse Partin grabs some shut-eye between set-ups.

[image error]

Assassin down in the palace.

November 17, 2017: Busy, but never too busy for tapas!

While I may not be as busy as I was while Dark Matter was in production, I find myself surprisingly busy for someone without a show to run.  Most of my days are spent reading comic books and reviewing anime…for work!  In addition, I’ve got a little over a half dozen “things” percolating, from being hired to co-develop and write  the pilot for a new sci-fi project to angling on four different book-to-screen adaptations.  Throw in a couple of very intriguing showrunning opportunities and let’s call it a year.  Decisions, decisions.  Cannot wait to share the details – and head back into production.

No, scratch that.  I can wait a little longer.  Enjoying the first real vacation I’ve had in…oh, about 20 years.

Being suddenly free for lunch and dinners has given me the opportunity to enjoy – well, what else? – more lunches and dinners.  Recently, we hit up our favorite place for tapas, Bar Raval, with our friend Nicole Tsang (who took all of the following snaps).

[image error]

The happy (albeit slightly suspicious) couple.

[image error]

Order from the menu, but always check out the bar for the daily additions.

[image error]

Akemi’s favorite – the torta (which is like an Italian frittata and all sorts of delicious).

[image error] [image error]

From their conserva section: mackerel and scallops.

[image error]

The morcilla.

[image error]

Crispy eggplant with honey.

[image error]

Croquetas.

[image error]

And, for dessert, one of everything – as is the custom!  Well, the custom when you’re dining with yours truly.

If you’re in town, check it out!

Okay, back to the graphic novels!

November 16, 2017: Suji and shout-outs!

 

[image error]

Ideally, I’d like my next show to be either an anime, comic book, novel adaptation – or one featuring dogs in pajamas.

[image error]

Akemi, meanwhile, has been hard at work designing for her upcoming Suji-themed lapel pin and badge line.

A few shout-outs are in order today:

Marc Bendavid, Dark Matter’s ONE, stars in a new webseries.

How to Buy a Baby is the story of an infertile couple that struggles to conceive with the help of a doctor.  And a nurse.  And a financial planner.  And unsolicited advice from everyone they know.

The six episode miniseries is available to stream online.  Check out Episode 1:

ZNation creator Craig Engler has a new project in the works.  Check out the link for info on how you can support it:

[image error]

The Last Days of Earth