Michael Formichelli's Blog: Nero's Niche, page 9

Sci-Fi On this Fall

So I know I took forever getting this together, and some of these shows (all) are old news, but hey. I'm writing book 3, so that's good, right?

Below are my picks to check out this summer/fall for science fiction on TV complete with trailers.



From Fox:

Minority Report was a great movie (as many Phillip K Dick adaptations are. Blade Runner, anyone?) The series picks up with the three gifted children in their young adult lives. Could be interesting.


The Frankenstein Code could either be really cool, or really stupid. I'm leaning towards cool. Basically, think "modern day Frankenstein" and you have the basic plot. Throw in some revenge and eternal youth and that's the show.



Also, just on a personal note here. Fox, if you're listening, BRING BACK ALMOST HUMAN!!!


The Superhero Shows:

I still debate whether or not superheroes are sci-fi or fantasy (depends on the source of their powers I suppose). Anyway, here are the upcoming new superhero shows (only the new ones, Arrow, Flash, etc. are not included for that reason) this fall:

Heroes Reborn (NBC):

I watched season 1 and tried to watch season 2 of Heroes. I just couldn't get into 2, but 1 was interesting. The blurb I read about this stated the show was returning to the feel of season 1, so maybe it will be good. Maybe.



DC Legends of Tomorrow (CW):

I know, I just said Arrow, Flash, etc. were not included. Well, this is a new show about them so it still counts. (Sneaky, aren't I?)


Supergirl is coming (CBS).
Watching this extended trailer gave me mixed feelings. At risk of inciting the masses, I'm not sure this is going to be good, but it could be I suppose. Right now it sort of seems like a cheesy spin-off of the Zach Snyder film(s). Watch and decide for yourself.

Syfy Channel

Premiering this June, Killjoys chronicles the tale of interstellar bounty hunters (from what I can tell from the trailer). Looks kind of interesting.


Also premiering in June by the people who brought us Stargate, SyFy's Dark Matter. It almost looks like the continuation of SGU, but alas, it is not. The crew of a ship wakes up without memories to discover they know how to operate the ship, fight, etc. and must unravel the mystery.


Premiering in December, The Expanse appears to detail the journey of some kind of arc-ship from Earth to... somewhere. I first thought this was going to be a Mars vs. Earth type situation, but now I'm not so sure. IMDB has not been very helpful in finding out what this is about. Well, a little mystery can be pretty cool, right? Here's the trailer:


And also coming in December, SyFy's adaptation of the Arthur C Clarke classic, Childhood's End. I've never read the book, but I fear this might fall under my "why the hell would aliens want to be here?" objection. We'll see, I suppose (or I'll go read the book before December).



Also, on a sort of side note. I happened across something while I was searching the 'net for the trailers above. It's a kickstarter sort of thing, but it looks like they're pretty far along and I'd love to see it come to fruition. As far as I can tell, this looks legit (but who knows?)
Here, just watch:


Yeah, I joined the mailing list...


And that's it for my list. Did I miss something? I excluded a few shows that were borderline, but maybe I shouldn't have. Let me know in the comments.

Happy viewing, everyone.

Quick Post About a Cool Site

Hi all, I've been quite busy recently with moving, working on Book 3, and yes, I'll be doing a blog post soon about the new sci-fi TV line-up this fall.



So, as I get all that going I thought I'd plug my friend's website, Sisters In Geek (sistersingeek.com). If you haven't checked it out, you should. It's got a great book review system with icons right at the top of the review to indicate what you'll get into should you choose to read a given book. For example, looking for a fantasy book light on combat and strong on romance? Just check out the icons as you scan down the list and read the review once you find the set you're looking for

Oh, and they also do blog posts about popular movies and TV shows (all geek related), and have a schedule of upcoming movie, tv, and book releases. Very cool stuff, so go check it out.

Ex Machina : A Review

I saw Ex Machina last night, and it was awesome.

Written and directed by the same man who brought us 28 Days Later and Sunshine (Alex Garland), Ex Machina gives us a vision of the invention of AI and its consequences. Exploring what will happen when (not if) we create AI is not a new theme, but Ex Machina does it so well the movie made it feel like it was a new idea. I was surprised by the finesse with which the plot twists were pulled off, and I didn't see the end coming, which was the delightful icing on the cake to a very enjoyable film that kept me on the edge of my seat.

It's hard to talk about Ex Machina without giving away too much, so this is going to be a short review. I found myself thoroughly entertained, disturbed, and intellectually stimulated all at once from pretty early on in the film. Each plot twist both revealed new information and obscured the truth of what is going on such that I knew something terrible was going to happen, but I couldn't figure out from which direction it would come—and I loved it.

I left the theater with a smile on my face, happy, but pretty blown away by how dark a masterpiece Ex Machina was. I can't wait to buy it so I can watch it again and again. That doesn't happen very often, and I highly suggest you check this movie out.

New Trailers for 3 Upcoming Spec-Fic Films!

It's been a long time since I've made a post, and you have my apologies. It's also been a busy April for me. Work, moving, etc. reduced my available writing time, and I've been using what I do have to work on book 3 of the Chronicles of the Orion Spur. the good news is that the first draft is nearing completion. The bad news is that I probably won't have much free time for a while yet until things get settled.

However, I've got some now, and a couple of trailers came out this week worth noting. The first is the initially leaked and then officially released trailer for Batman v. Superman, Zach Snyder's adaptation of the DC Comics classic coming to us in 2016... Yeah, 2016. It seems like that's an unnecessarily long period of time to wait since they've already started filming and it's still early in 2015, but to be honest, after the first Superman in this series I'm not going to tear my hair out waiting. I wonder if the surprise ending will be Superman killing Batman?

Here it is:
(PS, if you listen carefully you can hear Neal DeGrasse Tyson speaking in the beginning)


The second trailer to come out this week is, of course, Star Wars: The Force Awakens (trailer #2). I'm still skeptical about this movie. I don't trust JJ Abrams with the material, and ugh, that lightsaber, ugh, (and this fan-made trailer actually looks better to me) but it does look a little more interesting than the last trailer at least.

Enjoy:



And now for a trailer that I didn't even know was coming, but which blows the other two away. (I'm super-excited for this now):

Some words on Dredd

Dredd 3D will probably not be getting a sequel.

I'm crushed.

You may not care, especially if you didn't see the movie because you had no idea who the heck Dredd is, or because you associate it with a horrible piece of crap movie from decades ago. If either is true, hear me out.

First off, if you saw the horrible Stalone movie, forget it completely. For fans of the original comics (like me), it was a travesty. I even hate having to state that, but it seems that was the reason a lot of people didn't go to see Dredd 3D.

They should have.

Dredd 3D is an amazing movie. It captured the spirit of the comic books and the story of the man fighting the unending crime wave that is Mega City One, Judge  Dredd, perfectly (Karl Urban did an amazing job). It even managed to do his catchphrase right. I really can't tell you how overjoyed I was that Dredd did that. This movie has that rare quality of being able to please die-hard fans like me, and those new to it as well. My wife, who only had a vague idea of who Dredd was (and kept saying, "is it that Stalone movie?" - to my horror), LOVED this movie, and she's not alone. That seems to be the reaction of pretty much everyone who sees it... On video. The movie did not do well in the box office, and though there was a letter-writing campaign to get a sequel, it may have no future ahead (except for a short film—maybe).

So why was it so good?

For one, it's well put together. The pacing is great, it will keep you tense and wanting more throughout. Second, the characters are well developed and manages to get you to feel for them more or less off the bat. Dredd (I'm dropping the 3D part of the title, it never should have been in there) chronicle's Anderson's rookie run. Anderson, for those who don't know, is a telepathic Judge (crime is so bad in this future that society has empowered law-enforcement to be Judge, Jury, and Executioners in the streets) who is thrust in to a deathtrap when she and Judge Dredd investigate a drug ring in the worst part of the city. She is sensitive without being weak, and we feel for her as she tries to impress the toughest, most hard-assed of all Judges in Mega-City One (Dredd) in what is perhaps the worst first-day on the job anyone has ever had.

Dredd as a character is perhaps one of the original anti-heroes. The comic book premiered in the British comic "2000 A.D." in 1977. Much like a shark, he hasn't needed to evolve much from then to now to get it right. Dredd is a sheer force of will, dedicated to fighting for justice in a world hell-bent on doing the wrong thing. He is tougher than steel, and yet anyone who reads the comics or sees Dredd (this movie) knows he's far from a one-dimensional character. He cares deeply about the citizens of the city as well as his partners. That is what motivates him to walk through waves of bullets, wade through nuclear waste, and keep going despite wounds that would kill lesser men. You may never want to run into him, but you'd be damn lucky to have him come to your aid. He's a hard-ass for your sake, not his own, and this was a brilliant twist that I'd guess has kept the comic going so long.

In classic 1970's and 1980's fashion, the comic has delved into all kinds of crazy things, from nuclear mutants to alternate dimensions and even a version of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse known as the Dark Judges (we were all hoping this would be the sequel's plot. It's really a good story). All of these crazy things still fit in Dredd's fantasy sci-fi world, because Dredd is ultimately the embodiment of the unbreakable will to stand up to any challenge, no matter how tough, to enact justice. I highly recommend you see Dredd, and if you like it, definitely check out the comics and graphic novels (the most up to date ones are by Duane Swierczynski, check them out). Also, below is one of the trailers from YouTube for your reference (it doesn't entirely do the movie justice, but it's what we got).

Review: Sid Meier's Starships Disappoints

I've had a bit of time to play Sid Meier's Starships now, so I feel justified in doing a quick follow up review to my previous post.



Starships is a turn-based strategy game. I happen to love these as a genre, though some get them more right (Civilization V) than others (Civ: Beyond Earth). Unfortunately, Starships falls into the latter category.

It's just as boring and two-dimensional as Civilization:Beyond Earth, perhaps moreso. Although the game did start to become fun after my initial adjustment period (had to stop thinking of it as a Civ-type game, it's more of a board game on the computer), the fun quickly wore off and I was glad I paid only about $15 for it.

Here's why:

1. You can only have one fleet, and you're supposed to manage your empire with just that one.

2. The diplomacy system is so stilted, it as might as well not be there.

3. The max level of a ship is 8, which comes pretty fast. It makes progress feel too easy.

4. Each turn is like every other turn, so I started to get the "I'm repeating everything too much" feeling.

5. The planetary development system is a little confusing, and when you get it, you get bored of it. There aren't even fancy graphics to keep you entertained.

In summary, it's a boring game that feels incomplete at best. I really hope the next game Sid Meier comes up with gets the attention it deserves, because right now he's not on a winning streak.

The Audible Martian

I recently decided to venture into audio books for the first time in my life. I'm on the road a lot, and I'm usually listening to the radio while driving, so why not listen to a book? I had some trepidation as I'd never done it before, and I usually think of the reading experience as above any other way to take in a book (and I still do), but I have to admit I enjoyed what I got.

I went with Amazon's Audible.com, and made my first book Andy Weir's The Martian as read by R.C. Bray, who did an awesome job (though it was slightly comical when he was doing the female voices). I was pleasantly surprised by how enjoyable it was to have a book read to me. It made me feel in some ways like a kid again, and it didn't hurt that the story is really quite amazing.

(Begin my cleverly inserted book review)

The Martian begins with astronaut Mark Watney admitting that he is totally screwed. Accidentally abandoned on Mars by his team, he is left to fend for himself in an environment that will kill him immediately if given the chance. It's the ultimate survival struggle, and Andy Weir pulls it off with humor, suspense, and damn-good storytelling. I was hooked within moments and had I not limited myself to only listening to it between stops, I would have lost quite a bit of sleep. Mr. Weir knows his science, and it not only makes Mark Watney's situation believable, it also makes his character very real. I found myself cheering his successes and cursing his luck with every new twist. The Martian, whether you read it or listen to it, is more than worth its cover price.

As for Audible, I'm definitely going to keep using it. The membership price is a bit steep ($14.95 for 1 book a month, $22.95 for 2 books a month), but you don't need to be a member to buy books and use it. I found it cheaper to buy the Kindle version of the Martian with the Audible add-on than to buy it directly from Audible itself (by a couple of bucks) which mystifies me, but maybe there's something I'm missing. Audible does have a free trial option and a no-questions asked return policy, but I'm not the type to take advantage of that policy just to save a few bucks. I like keeping access to the books I buy, too, so returning a book is usually out of the question. Also, Kindle's whispersync automatically keeps your place so if you listen to part of the book in the car, then want to read from where the narration left off at night on your kindle, you can sync the two up and bang, your'e right where you want to be. That was pretty cool and I made use of it a couple of times.

Also, I should give a shout-out to the Sword and Laser Podcast that put me onto trying audio-books in the first place. Thanks guys!

5 Reasons Why We'll Probably See Alien Life Someday

Artist Depiction of Kepler 186f
Photo Credit: NASA Ames/SETI Institute/JPL-Caltech
The origins of life on Earth is one of the scientific questions I've been following. Why, one might ask, is a science fiction writer like myself concerned with this? The answer is that I'd like to believe that the worlds depicted (predicted?) by myself and many of my fellow authors—TV shows, and movies included—might actually be possible someday. It's also a natural result of my blended interests in biology and all things space.

Following a recent Star Talk Radio podcast, real-world life on other planets is on my brain. Is it a reasonable assumption that such a thing is not only possible but probable? For me, I break it down this way:


1. The Universe is almost incomprehensibly big:
Looking at the scale of things, Earth doesn't even rate a speck of dust if you compare it to the size of the galaxy, let alone the universe. So to assume this is the only place where life evolved in such a large space, is a very big assumption. It's basically like assuming that all people speak English just because you've never met anyone who doesn't.
2. We find Earth-like planets all the time:
As Kepler has shown us, Earth-sized worlds going around Sun-like stars is not unique to our solar system. Planet formation is now believed to be a natural part of star-formation. Geoffrey Marcy of the University of California Berkeley estimates that 22% of the stars in our galaxy have Earth-like planets with "luke-warm temperatures" (like our world) around them. That translates to about 40 Billion Earth-like worlds in our galaxy.

Also, don't forget we found an Earth-type planet in a solar system much like ours (Kepler 186-f) recently, and we haven't been looking that long!
3. Asteroids are loaded with Amino Acids, the building blocks of DNA (and RNA):
I was surprised to learn that new theories indicate life on Earth may have begun because the building blocks of life were handed to this planet from the stars. A whole group of meteorites, called carbonaceous chondrites are both high in water and amino acids. Why this is the case, is the subject of a recent experiment at NASA in which the building blocks of DNA and RNA were found to form when exposed to the radiation found in space (simulated) on an ice-rich sample of pyrimidine (a substance found in asteroids).

It is known that meteorites bombarded the Earth for about 300 million years during the "Late Heavy Bombardment Period." As this hypothesis goes, it was during this period that the building blocks of life were delivered to Earth (possibly along with its oceans). The fact that we find the building blocks of life in asteroids, which are thought to be very common in the galaxy, could indicate that life as we know it is relatively common when conditions are right.
4. Life arose relatively quickly after the Late Heavy Bombardment Period:
The earliest undisputed evidence of life on Earth dates from 3.5 Billion years ago, about 300 million years after the Late Heavy Bombardment Period. According to Neil DeGrasse Tyson (see the podcast) this indicates life forms relatively easily when conditions are right. 300 million years may seem like a long time, but remember, in terms of the age of the Earth (4.54 Billion Years), 300 million years really isn't that long. Also, something interesting to consider is that it took much longer for complex life to form (about 1.5 billion years after the first single-cell organisms) than for life to start at all, which indicates that it was far easier for life to form on Earth (maybe elsewhere) than for life to evolve into complex organisms—which is why we have a higher expectation of finding simple or single-cell life in places like Mars and Europa than to find something like a fish, etc.
5. The Laws of Physics may dictate that Life has to form:
This is a relatively new but fascinating theory by MIT Assistant Professor Jeremy England indicates that when a group of atoms is driven by an external source of energy (i.e. the Sun) and surrounded in a heat-bath (like an ocean), it will automatically organize itself to dissipate that energy. How does this connect to life? Well, the one characteristic that all life we know shares is its amazingly efficient ability to collect and dissipate energy (what you do when you eat and move around, what plants do when they turn sunlight into food, etc.) In the words of Mr. England: 

“You start with a random clump of atoms, and if you shine light on it for long enough, it should not be so surprising that you get a plant...” (Scientific American, January 28, 2014)
Taken together, all of this suggests that the galaxy, and the universe, is probably teeming with life (at least the single-cellular kind). Until we actually find alien life, we won't know for sure if we're right about all this or not, but for me this means that I can feel 100% justified in writing about aliens and still calling it realistic. It feels good to think that the worlds I write about might actually be out there in some form (though undoubtedly different), and perhaps science fiction isn't so fantastical after all.

I am Consciousness: A (Mostly) Spoiler-Free Review of CHAPPiE

I saw CHAPPiE last Saturday with my wife at the Alamo Drafthouse (gotta love dinner and a movie in one place). Overall I liked the film. It's a story about an artificial intelligence coming to think of itself as alive in a kind of a violent, high-tech Pinocchio way. Now that I think about it, the story mirrors the plot of the classic fairy-tale closer than I realized when watching it. One could also frame CHAPPiE in terms of the 1986 film Short Circuit. The theme is similar to the 1986 movie, but CHAPPiE is far weightier in its treatment of the robot-comes-alive theme (unsurprising if you're familiar with Neil Blomkamp at all).

There were a few things in CHAPPiE that bugged me in minor, but still irritating ways.

I hate it when movies subtitle English when they're in English. There is a villain with a heavy, but still intelligible South African accident named "Hippo" (played by Brandon Auret) who is the only subtitled character in the movie. I have no idea why Neil Blomkamp chose to do this. Sure, he's a little hard to understand at times, but Bane (The Dark Knight) was much worse, and it really wasn't necessary as most of Hippo's lines consisted of "I want it!" and "Kill him!" I'm not against reading subtitles, but when I can understand someone without them but still find my eyes reflexively going to the bottom of the screen when it isn't necessary, I get annoyed. I feel like I missed small chunks of the movie because if it.

Second, the aforementioned Hippo isn't menacing at all. He's laughable, which makes it harder for me to understand how it is a whole gang is following this man. Hippo's meant to be the threat motivating Ninja and Yolandi (of Die Antwoord, playing themselves) to do what they do, but I just didn't get the feeling of menace from him which made his presence in the movie a bit of a strange artifact.

The one person in CHAPPiE who was menacing, and brilliantly so, was Vincent Moore (Hugh Jackman). The barely hinged Moore is the type of guy who can smile at you, offer you a beer, and then beat the crap out of you in the same breath for little or no reason. His selfishness was really the only antagonism CHAPPiE needed. I think the film could have done away with Hippo, had Ninja and Yolandi as simple criminals, and left Moore as the true villain without losing anything. In fact, I think that combination would have made the film feel more streamlined and less crowded with attempts at comedy.

I was expecting CHAPPiE to be a real tear-jerker, and although I am someone who can shed those watery drops pretty easily while watching a movie, I found my eyes dry throughout. That's not to say CHAPPiE is a bad movie for the lack of them, it's still good despite the issues I had, but I was surprised that I wasn't feeling more emotional. What did work for me was the story of CHAPPiE himself, and his struggle to understand a human world. I routed for him throughout. CHAPPiE is endearing, which made the last few scenes in the movie quite intense. I couldn't tear my eyes away from the screen until the credits started to roll.

Ultimately, CHAPPiE is a story of what might come to pass—and sooner than a lot of us might realize. Robots are already integrated into our police and military forces. From bomb disarming machines, to drones, to gear-carrying, horse-like robots, the use of our mechanical children is on the rise. I have no doubt that we'll probably see robots similar to CHAPPiE walking among us within the next few decades, and that makes films like this one important to watch. Not only might CHAPPiE be an accurate predictor of our future, but like Big Hero 6 and WALL-E, it shows that AI doesn't have to be menacing, or homicidal, which is nice to see considering I think it's only a matter of time before thinking machines live among us.

Season Finale of SW: Rebels was Awesome

I didn't originally mean to do two Star Wars posts in a row, but I have to comment on the season finale of Star Wars Rebels. (Spoiler Free)

In short, it totally blew me away. Not only did it nicely wrap the season up and tease the next one—it didn't end on a cliffhanger, fortunately, but instead served as an opening to next season's plot line—but it also connected itself to its predecessor series, and the movie universe, in a seamless way that had me bouncing up and down on my couch and clapping my hands like a little kid.

If you haven't checked it out, but are a fan of the animated EU, you absolutely should watch Rebels. You won't regret it.