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Pius: 'S SCI-FI ADVENTURES JrSUPERMAN X-MEN www.starlog.com JlAlv MINIATURES

And you'd better run down to your local game retailer. 'Cause the new Star Wars'" Miniatures Starship wizards, cnm/starwars

Batiks" set is sure to take off - it's a whole new way to play! Starship Battlas'is a stand-alone game that takes place entirely in space and contains SQ starships, including the legendary Millennium Falcon.

And the Starter Set includes two exclusives: Oarth Vader's flagship Super Star Destroyer Executor and the massive Man Calamari Star Defender Viscounfl.

So cruise on down to your local gamES retailer before this set flies off shelves. NUMBER 352 JANUARY 2007 THE SCIENCE FICTION UNIVERSE

As Returns on DVD, John Ottman whistles the score (page 50) and James Marsden offers emotional Kryptonite (page 80).

INSIDE THIS ISSUE WORLD WITH END. AMEN UNMASKED ponder their barren future Bill Nighy adds squidly shivers to the Pirates saga BREAK TIMES Who knows where the Day will take you? BAD MAN'S HAND At Casino Royale, deals death BOOKED AGAIN! Noah Wyle's in action anew as the Librarian 80 THE OTHER GUY James Marsden has grown accustomed to the WRITING part They penned the Time Lord's latest exploits 84 MY SUPER EX 34 GREAT CHARACTER Now, the powerful C-Cirl gets dumped on DVD Actor Paul Ciamatti has a touch of chameleon 86 APPLE'S WAY 38 DESTINY OF DRAGONS Steve Wozniak computerized all our tomorrows films a bestselling fantasy IRWIN ALLEN'S SCI-FI ADVENTURES 43 CALL HIM ERAGON 56 ROBERT COLBERT SPEAKS Young Ed Speleers learns how to be a hero Leaping into , he relives history 46 A SCANNER DARKLY 63 EVER IN GIANT PURSUIT Richard Linklater visualizes Philip K. Dick's nightmare Kevin Hagen enjoyed chasing all the little people

50 MUSIC OF METROPOLIS 66 BEAUTY IN MINIATURE Deanna Lund found love in Film editor John Ottman also scored Superman Returns WE HARDEST PART OF ANY TAMES BOHDF/LM-

WHY TOOK IF JAMES BOND HAD ALL THOSE CWlQERDUS FACED THE DEADLV, MISSIONS.

CASINO ROYALE. WARS.

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His last gig: much-SF action adventure Deja Vu this issue. And Eragon. He gets our highest accolade: He was a Contributing Editors it's a decision that, if we could go back in time, we true pro. ANTHONY TIMPONE MICHAEL CINCOLD would make again. And again. And possibly again. Ed Benedict (August) The animation charac- TOM WEAVER But, you know, it may be time to do something ter-design genius who designed such Hanna-Bar- IAN SPELLING JOE about that Howard the Duck STARLOG cover. bera stars as the Flintstones and Ruff and Ready. NAZZARO WILL MURRAY Not to mention save all the women we love from Sam White (August) A second season produc- certain death. er of TV's original The Outer Limits. In 1944, he STARLOG GROUP, A CREATIVE GROUP Company gave audiences the two-for-one monsterfest The JOSEPH V. AVALLONE, CEO BY OUR CONTRIBUTORS Return of the Vampire with Bela Lugosi; post- there's anybody who knows just about all there Outer Limits, in 1968, he gave audiences the two- Executive Assistants: Dee Erwine, If Logan DeSisto. is it star to know about Conan the Barbarian, must be for-one Shatnerfest White Comanche, with Correspondents: (LA) Pat Jan- Roy Thomas, the legendary writer-editor who William as half-breed twin brothers. White died kiewicz, Bob Miller, Marc Shapiro, Bill warren, Dan Yaklr; (NYC) Dan championed Robert E. Howard's creation in his two months shy of his 100th birthday. Dlckholtz, Mike McAvennie, Mau- Marvel Comics rendition Glenn Ford (August) Superman's reen McTlgue, Keith Olexa; (Chica- go) Kim Howard Johnson; (Phoenix) (and even co-scripted the sec- Dad (foster father Jonathan Kent in Bill Florence; (D.c.) Rhonda ond Conan movie). Now, DK Richard Donner's Superman). His Krafchin; (Orlando) Bill Wilson; Publishing has commis- countless mainstream credits include (Canada) Mark Phillips; (Booklog) penny Kenny, Jean-Marc & Randy is sioned Thomas (the noted Gilda, Blackboard Jungle, Fate the Lofficier, Michael Wolff; (Toons) comics historian behind one Hunter, The Gazebo, A Pocketful of Alain "Big Bad Bubba" Chaperon, Mike Fisher, Tom Hoitkamp, Bob of our favorite magazines, Miracles, The Teahouse the August of Muleady; (Photos) Donn Nottage, Alter Ego) to chronicle the Moon, The Rounders and 3:10 to Lisa Orris, Albert Ortega. Thanks to: Claire-Hope Ashitey, Cimmerian's life, loves, Yuma. Lauren Bantit, Bob Burns, Kristy friends and foes in Conan: Jane Wyatt (October) Spock's Chan, Robert Colbert, Adrienne The Ultimate Guide to the Mom (Amanda in Star Trek's "Jour- D'Amato, Russell T. Davies, Douglas Diamond, Chiwetel EJiofor, Stefen World's Most Savage Bar- ney to Babel" and Star Trek IV: The Fangmeler, Jeffrey Fordis, Paul Gla- barian (he, $24.99). It's pro- Voyage Home). The heroine of Lost matti, Neil! Gorton, Howard Green, Kevin Hagen, Dan Harary, Diane Her- fusely illustrated with Horizon (1937). She was also seen in zog, Charlie Hunnam, Jeff Kaplan, contributions from Conan TV's Starman (as Stella Forrester, Lana Kim, Fumi Kitahara, Beth By Crom, you must add this Krakower, Richard LInklater, Deanna artists Frank Frazetta, John mother to the original human whose entry to your STARLOG Lund, Joshua Machat, Tom MacRae, Buscema, Barry Windsor- DNA identity Starman assumed), The James Marsden, Mikkelsen, Contributors Library. Mads Smith, Ken Kelly, Gary Gian- Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (as Steven Moffat, Olivier Mouroux, Steve Newman, Bill Nighy, John ni and others. Naturally, this volume also has the Indy's lost love), St. Elsewhere (as Katherine Ottman, cilve Owen, Rex Polklng- beautiful production values one expects from DK Auschlander) and . Mainstream home, Chrlssy Quesada, Ivan Reit- man, Michael Sharp, crystal Shin, Publishing. Highly recommended! America recalls her always as Margaret Anderson, Michelle Sisco, Gina Soliz, Ed Robert Greenberger has a tale in Star Trek: the beloved mother of TV's Father Knows Best. speleers, uma Thurman, Jeff walk- Corps of Engineers: Aftermath (Pocket Books, (STARLOG #161) er, Toby whlthouse, Luke Wilson, Melinda wood, Steve wozniak, tpb, $14.95), which collects eight exploits initially Phyllis Kirk (October) The feisty heroine of Noah Wyle, Vika Zahn, Paul only available online as eBooks. Greenberger's House of Wax (1953). She also visited The Twilight zbyszewski. Cover images: Eragon: ILM/Trade- entry is Time. for of His Buying Zone "A World Own." mark & ©2006 20th Century Fox. All And is ready to launch another Nigel Kneale (October) The protean British Rights Reserved; Doctor Who: ©2006 BBC TV; Pirates: ©2006 Disney Star Trek: New Frontier adventure, Missing in writer who gave us SF's most intelligent hero, Pro- Enterprises, inc. & Jerry Bruck- heimer, inc. All Rights Reserved. For Advertising information: STARLOG (ISSN 0191-4626, Canadian GST number: R-1 24704826) is published monthly except for February & September by STAR- (646) 649-8131: LOG GROUP, INC., a CREATIVE GROUP Company, 1372 Broadway, 2nd Fir., New York, NY 10018-6311. STARLOG and The Science FAX (212) 889-7933 Fiction Universe are registered trademarks of STARLOG GROUP, INC. This is issue Number 352, January 2007. Entire contents are Advertising Director copyright ©2006 by STARLOG GROUP, INC. All rights reserved. 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8 mm/January 2007 www.starlog.com If Superman Looked Like Other Comic FISHERMANIA! Book Aliens... cartoonist Fisher items of interest. First, there's the Longtime STARLOG Mike has two HEY.' why is EVERYONE SCREVHW& all-Fisher, all-the-time 3-D Pete's Big Orbit Comics! #8 ($4 postpaid). The first edition in AND KUNMING ) a decade, it's a Special Animation Issue that's filled with downright Fisher cartoon AWAY ?• goodness, laughs and giggles. Fisher also has The Goofa Man Collection ($12 postpaid), a DVD collecting his seven award-winning, independent computer-animated shorts. Get one or (better yet) both! The comic! The DVD! Ask kindly, and he'll probably autograph them, too! Get them direct from Mike Fisher, 510 Enchanted Way, San Antonio, TX 78258. Make checks payable to Mike Fisher. For more info, see the website (www.goofaman.com). fessor Bernard Quatermass. His Quatermass terpiece Pan's Labyrinth. Tell them STAR- live TV plays were filmed as (listed here LOG sent you. For more, see the upcoming under their American titles) The Creeping interviews with del Toro in FANGORIA Unknown, Enemy from Space and Five Mil- #259 and STARLOG #353. lion Years to Earth and followed by the later TV movie The Quatermass Conclusion. His BOOKS NOTE TV play The Creature became The Abom- With his mind-blowing movie already in inable Snowman of the Himalayas. He theaters, now is the time to savor the adapted George Orwell's 1984 for British writer-director's amazing journey in The TV in 1954 (starring Fountain: A Book as Winston Smith) and also script- By Darren Aronof- ed Ray Harryhausen's First Men in sky (Universe Pub- phy of interest: Claude Rains by John T. the Moon. One of STARLOG's lishing/Rizzoli, he, Soister with JoAnna Wioskowski (McFar- » Most Important People in Science J $30). It's edited by land, tpb, $35). It's a reissue of a 1999 book. Fiction. (STARLOG #139-141, a Aronofsky (inter- Round up the usual suspects! three-part interview) viewed just last issue) and showcas- WHATEVER HAPPENED TO WHERE TO BE... es his original script Howard the Duck? We thought we had

In a theater December 29 (or as well as art, put the movie on issue #1 1 1's cover, but we when it goes into wide release in THE FOUNTAIN design concepts and just went back to check it out, and it wasn 't January) watching Guillermo lotsa movie pix. there. We suspect fowl play! And look! {Hellboy) del Toro's fantasy mas- Here's a biogra- Where did all those women come from?

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GUEST COMICS ARTISTS GEORGE PEREZ • ALAN HEINBERG • STAN SAKAI FEBRUARY 16TH-18TH STEVE MCNIVEN • ETHAN VAN SCIVER • AMANDA CONNER nRANfirnn nnuuFHTinH hfntfr . nRinunn ri DARWYN COOKE • JIM CHEUNG • DAVID FINCH JIMMY PALMIOTTI • MIKE CAREY • GREG HORN SPONSOR anrl mnrt* try hit* ztnnm inr&Hl

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UPDATES roles) as a guy named Dave who also serves Robert Zemeckis' Beowulfjoins the crowd as a home to Murphy-faced mini-aliens. of movies debuting day and date in both regular and large-screen formats. In this COMICS SCENE case, it'll be in 3-D too on November 16, Terrence (Crash) Howard will play Tony 2007. Stark's right-hand guy Jim "Rhodey" More immediately, as in December 22, Rhodes in Iron Man. As fans know, Rhodes Night at the Museum will debut simultane- By DAVID MCDONNELL sometimes wears the Iron Man suit in the ously in regular and IMAX versions. comics and eventually gets his own armor The Museum of the Moving Image and heroic identity as War Machine. (located in New York City's Astoria section ANIMATION SCENE Zak Penn is scripting the live-action in Queens) is playing host to "Star Trek: 40 That pixie from Neverland, Tinker Bell, is Avengers film for Marvel. Years of Fandom" (which runs through April getting her own animated Disney direct- Marvel and No Equal Entertainment are 15). This special exhibit highlights Trek's, fan to-DVD sequel for a 2007 flight. Brittany outlining a possible Moon Knight TV series. culture, displaying more than 600 items Murphy—who voices Luanne on King of the (fanzines, comics, action figures, trading Hill—will speak for the previously mute THE REMAKE GAME cards, fan-produced films, toys, games, etc.). Tink. It's time for another attempt to film Jay The Museum is open Wednesdays-Sundays Imagi Animation Studios—which is cre- IWard's dog-genius-and-boy act, Mr. (admission is $10 adults, $5 children, $7.50 ating the upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Peabody and Sherman. Rob (The Lion King) senior citizens & college students). For info, Turtles—is next setting its sights on a new Minkoff is directing a CG-animated feature see the website (www.movingimage.us). Tell version of Astro Boy. version for DreamWorks Animation. An- them STARLOG sent you. Fox Animation has acquired The Leaf drew Kurtzman is scripting. Due to budgetary considerations, Univer- Men and the Brave Good Bugs for Blue Minkoff, by the way, is also working on a sal and Fox have withdrawn from backing Sky's Chris (Ice Age) Wedge to direct. movie version of Sergio Aragones' long-run- the -produced Halo movie Fox has also picked up Roald (Charlie ning comic Groo the Wanderer. adaptation. Game maker Microsoft was ex- and the Chocolate Factory) Dahl's kids' They can rebuild her! They have the tech- pected to set up Halo elsewhere, but has book Fantastic Mr. Fox, intending a movie nology! Thus, execu- instead shelved it until financing is in place. version that will mix stop-motion and other tive producer David Eick is retooling The forms of animation. Wes (The Royal Tenen- Bionic Woman as a potential new TV series. SEQUELS baums) will direct from a script he co-wrote Laeta Kalogridis will write the pilot. The MGM is planning two direct-to-DVD with . force behind TV's Birds of Prey, she's also sequels: WarGames II and Species IV co-writing Battle with James Cameron (with Helena Mattsson as the alien girl). SF CINEMA and scripted Pathfinder (the Indians-vs.- Meanwhile, Sony is mounting the direct- Universal and Imagine Entertainment Vikings early-American adventure now due to-DVD Starship Troopers 3. Ed (RoboCop) have purchased J. Michael Straczynski's in theaters next month). Neumeier—who scripted the first two The Changeling. Imagine partner Ron The Jim Henson Company, meanwhile, is Troopers—will direct. Howard may direct it. mounting a filmization of the classic Henson Yes, Bryan Singer is now officially Mike Myers hopes to learn How to Sur- series Fraggle Rock. Ahmet Zappa scripts. signed to helm another Superman film. vive a Robot Uprising. He'll star in a movie is writing a remake of his DreamWorks Animation is plotting two version of Daniel H. Wilson's manual, as 1987 Hellraiser. He won't direct this version.

TV series spin-offs from its theatrical fare scripted by Reno 91 's Thomas Lennon and The Weinstein Company and Jerry Lewis for Nickelodeon. Paul (Freakazoid!) Rugg is Ben Garant. are teaming to do another new version of scripting a pilot that would take the penguins Director Brian (the Shaggy Dog remake) Lewis' 1963 classic The Nutty Professor. from Madagascar on their own exploits. Robbins just finished working with Eddie This one will be animated. Evan And Tom Martin is writing a potential TV Murphy on one movie (Norbit). In March, Spiliotopoulos is scripting this remake. version of DreamWorks' upcoming Kung Fu they'll be shooting another one together Chad & Carey Hayes are writing the Panda. Starship Dave, with Murphy (in multiple unnecessary second remake of The Blob. Brett Ratner is going to direct a contem- porized update of The Boys from Brazil. But why! FANTASY FILMS The Mist is enshrouding moviemaker Frank Darabont. He'll adapt and direct a movie version of Stephen King's story for Dimension Films.

Walden Media is planning a movie ver-

sion of Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising for September 2007 release by Fox. David (The Path to 9/11) Cunningham is directing, with shooting beginning early next year. Special FX master will work his cinemagic on Paramount's The Spider- wick Chronicles. Mark (Chicken Little) Dindal moves over THE S to the live-action arena to direct Sherlock's Who's the sleepiest star of The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause? Secretary. It concerns letters sent to 22 IB Why, STARLOG favorite Michael Dorn, of course! In this sequel (now in theaters), Baker Street that involve real crimes—and he's , seen here with his fellow Council of Legendary Figures the folks who investigate 'em. colleagues Mother Nature (Aisha Tyler) and the Tooth Fairy (Art La Fleur).

10 mm/January 2007 www.starlog.com 3

AMERICAN DAD HEROES Jane in the series (taking over for the Airs Sundays on Fox. Fox has also New series airs Mondays on NBC. movie's Emmanuelle Vaugier). renewed it for a third 22-episode season Renewed by NBC for the rest of the sea- (to air 2007-8). son. It's a hit! Jack Coleman (who plays STARCATE SC-1 Claire's father) is now a series regular. Airs on SCI FI. The saga isn't dead. Two BATTLESTAR CALACTICA direct-to-DVD movies are now being Airs Fridays, 9 p.m. on SCI FI. Its third JERICHO planned, one to be scripted by Robert 19-episode season debuted 10/6. 12/1: New series airs Wednesdays on CBS. Just Cooper, the other by Brad Wright. They'll "Unfinished Business." Title bout! It's after last issue's presstime (as predict- follow the series finale, wrapping up plot Apollo vs. Starbuck in the boxing ring. 12/8: ed), this was renewed for the rest of the sea- threads. "The Passage." Written by Buffy's Jane son. It's a hit! Espenson. 12/15: "The Eye of Jupiter." WHO WANTS TO BE A Written by Mark Verheiden. KING OF THE HILL SUPERHERO? ew season (the 11th) premieres 1/21, SCI FI has renewed the super-"reality" DAY BREAK N airing Sundays, 7:30 p.m. on Fox. series for a longer second season to be New series airs Wednesdays, 9 p.m. on broadcast in summer 2007. ABC (in place of Lost) through mid- LOST season. Writer Paul Zbyszewski previews On hiatus after 1 1/8, scheduled to return the program on page 20. 2/7 and air 16 consecutive new episodes on ABC. THE DEAD ZONE Renewed by USA Network for a 13- THE LOST ROOM episode sixth season (to air next year). Six-hour mini-series airs on SCI FI this month, 12/11-13, 9 p.m. nightly. For as little as S60, you can reach Earth's largest SF DOCTOR WHO magazine audience.

Six Feet Under's Peter DEADLINE: For #353, in our offices by 12/1 . For #354, in Returns to SCI FI with Krause plays a homicide by 1/5. Absolutely no ads accepted after the deadline. second season epi- BASIC RATE: per line. Minimum: 3 lines, 48 charac- detective who discovers a $20 sodes airing Fridays, 8 ters per line {including punctuation, symbols & spaces). motel room key that unlocks | Small display ads: $150 per column inch. (Camera-ready p.m. 12/1: "The Satan ! the door to unimaginable only!) first line only, words of your choice Pit." 12/8: "Love & powers. What's in The Lost HEADLINE: On the (underline them) will be printed in BOLD CAPS. Monsters." 12/15: "For Room'? Tune in to SCI FI CATEGORY: Please indicate. STAFtLOG reserves the

Her." 12/22: "Army of December 1 1 (9-1 1 p.m.) to right to list ads under a label it chooses due to space lim- itations. Ghosts" (8 p.m.) & watch the first part of this PAYMENT: Cash, check or money order must accompany six-hour mini-series. "" (9 p.m.). ad. Checks payable to Starlog Communications Int. BBC Video will release MAIL TO: STARLOG Classified, 1372 Broadway, 2nd Fir, New York, NY 10018-6113. the Second Season on READERS: Beware! STARLOG is not liable or responsi- DVD in the U.S. on 1/16. ble for any product or service printed herein. When order- ing from anyone, print your name & full address carefully. Series guru Russell T. Davies and others discuss writing Doctor Who on STARSHIPS OF THE THIRD FLEET TREK writers group. Free membership. Must be 1 8. page 29. Join at: http://www.ss3f.com THE DRESDEN FILES SUBSCRIBER SERVICES New 13-episode series based on Jim Missing copies? Moving? Renewals? Butcher's bestselling paperback saga MASTERS OF HORROR Receiving duplicates? Subscription questions? Write to: debuts early next year on SCI FI. Star Trek Second season is now airing on Showtime. veterans Hans Beimler & Robert Hewitt "Prolife" (directed by John Carpenter). STARLOG Subscriber Services, RO. Box 430 Wolfe are in charge. Paul Blackthorne stars. "Pelts" (directed by Dario Argento). For Mt. Morris, IL 61054-0430 more on this , see FANGO- Inquiries to editorial offices only delay matters. EUREKA RIA#259, on sale 12/19. Renewed by SCI FI for a second 13- NEW SUBSCRIBERS: episode season to air next year. MEDIUM See subscription ad in this issue. 11/15, airing Do NOT send money to above address. THE 4400 kWednesdays, 10 p.m. Attach Mailing Label Here Renewed by USA for a fourth, 13-episode season. Production begins early next PAINKILLER JANE NAME year for a summer 2007 premiere. SCI FI has greenlit this property as a 22- episode series. It's based on the Event GHOST HUNTERS comic by Jimmy Palmiotti & Joe Quesada ADDRESS SCI FI has ordered a third season of 1 that became a TV-movie pilot. Now shooting episodes; six began airing in October in at Insight Film Studios for an

(Wednesdays, 9 p.m.), and the others are early 2007 bow on SCI FI, followed by fall CITY. slated for early 2007. syndication. T3's Kristanna Loken will play

STATE ZTP. Note: Airdates can shift without notice. Airtimes are EST. Series are only listed for which STARLOG has new info.

www.starlog.com Smm/Janumy 2007 11 JUST IMAGINE! get: Disc One, "Bugs Bunny Classics," includes Imagine having a girl friend. (It could hap- more than a dozen of the wascally wabbit's best- Ipen!) OK, now imagine having a girl friend loved exploits, including "Rabbit Hood" with super-powers. And now imagine trying to ("Arise, Sir Loin of Beef!") with a live-action dump her if she—with her flying, car-lifting guest appearance by Errol Flynn (stock footage and thermal-vision talents—has no intention from The Adventures ofRobin Hood). Disc Two, of heing dumped. That's the wacky premise of "Frank Tashlin Classics," includes some of the My Super Ex-Girlfriend (Fox Home Enter- director's cartoons with WB standbys Porky, tainment, $29.99), the superhero comedy with Petunia, Elmer Fudd and Daffy (plus Bugs Uma Thurman and Luke Wilson, arriving OVtD again). Disc Three is a Speedy Gonzales compi- December 19 on a flipper disc with both lation. And Disc Four is a collection of cat-star- widescreen and full-screen versions, deleted By TOM WEAVER ring cartoons, including 1943's "The scenes, an extended shark sequence and a Aristo-Cat," which marked the first appearance music video. Need a Super-fix before then? Check out the chat of mice Hubie and Bertie. The set is also crammed with extras,

with Thurman, Wilson and director Ivan Reitman on page 84. It's a including commentaries by people like Tashlin, directors Chuck DVD tie-in! Jones and Friz Freleng and voice artist June Foray. Imagine an America that has lost the War on Drugs, where an On December 19 (there's that day again), Walt Disney Video

undercover cop ordered to spy on his friends is launched on a para- inundates fans with new releases, all of them $32.99 two-discers: noid journey. It's A Scanner Darkly, a cautionary tale based on the the Walt Disney Treasures line presentations More Silly Sym- Philip K. Dick novel, starring Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder. The bonus material includes a commentary track with Reeves, writer-director Richard Linklater, Dick's daughter Isa Dick Hack-

ett et al. and the featurettes "One Summer in Austin: The Story of Filming A Scanner Darkly" and "The Weight of the Line: Anima- tion Tales," the latter devoted to the film's rotoscoping technique. It's also coming to DVD on the very same day, December 19 (Warner Home Video, $27.95). Need a fix of a different sort before then? Can't help ya. But check out the interview with Linklater on

page 46. It's a DVD tie-in! Imagine being the children of M. Night Shyamalan and having the writer-director concocting for you bedtime stories like Lady in the Water—then watching dear old Dad go off and write and direct it as a motion picture! That's the genesis of this fantasy in which Paul Giamatti stars as a building manager who rescues a mysteri- ous young woman (Bryce Dallas Howard) from the pool and dis- covers she's a narf (a character from a bedtime story) who is trying

to make the journey from our world back to hers. Warner brings it to DVD ($28.98) and tacks on various extras. Yup, December 19 again, and again there's a this-issue DVD tie-in story: an interview with Giamatti. Look up the page number yourself—don't you think

I have better things to do?... Well, you're right. But it could happen. phonies: Volume Two: 1929-1938, The Complete Pluto: Volume The Giamatti talk is on page 34. Two and Your Host, Walt Disney. (And, for the completists among

Finally, imagine buying all skeighty-eight volumes of TV's The you, the same-price two-disc The Mickey Mouse Club Featuring Twilight Zone when Image Entertainment originally released them, the Hardy Boys.) Also from the Mouse House: Go a little bit coun- then being compelled to buy them again when they were remas- try with The Fox and the Hound 2 ($29.99), an all-new 69-minute tered and garnished with boatloads of bonus features. Now soak in feature with the voices of Reba McEntire, Patrick Swayze and Jeff the fact that, really, all you had to do was wait for The Twilight Foxworthy. Zone: The Complete Collection, Image's newest (and hopefully Memory Lane time: Remember HarveyToonsl If you don't last!) TZ go-round. Listing for $299.99, the 28-disc, 156-episode now, you will after ingesting 15-plus hours of Classic Media's The box set also includes the Rod Serling bio-documentary "Submitted Complete HarveyToons Collection, which includes such characters for Your Approval" and the unaired pilot. as the unforgettable Casper the Friendly Ghost and the perhaps- less-well-remembered Wendy, the good little witch; Hot Stuff, the

little devil; Richie Rich; the cat-and-mouse duo Herman and Kat- BLU-RAY BLUES nip; and (sez the press release) "the lesser known, but cult favorite, After some delays, Sony's high-definition Blu-ray DVD player the Modern Madcaps." All 312 cartoon shorts have been digitally is now scheduled to be in stores December 4. So, perhaps Vide- restored and are presented on four double-sided discs (with a olog should begin noting genre releases that are also available in Casper comic!) for $39.98. the Blu-ray format (or Bluray—the studios can't agree on how to Big laughs come in a small package as The Ant Bully makes its spell it). First up from Sony are Click, Underworld: Evolution and Warner Home Video debut ($28.98). Featuring the voice talents of Ultraviolet ($38.95 each) and ($28.95). Warner Julia Roberts, Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep and Paul (Mr. Page 34)

is offering Corpse Bride ($28.99). And Disney/Miramax has The Giamatti, the computer-animated adventure tells the tale of a 10- Brothers Grimm, Sky High, Dinosaur, Dark Water and The Wild year-old—new in town and tormented by a bully—who takes out ($34.99 each) as well as The Haunted Mansion (at a ghostly his frustration on the ant hill in his yard... until the ants retaliate by $29.99). shrinking him down to their size. A "Making of," additional scenes and seven animated shorts are included to sweeten the deal. When the farmer's back is turned, the animals have some wild TOONINC UP hoedowns in Barnyard: The Original Party Animals (Paramount, I n our book, the big news this month comes from the world of vin- $29.99). Another "name" voice cast—Courteney Cox, Danny Itage animation, well-represented by releases from two major Glover, Sam Elliott—handles the exposition as Otis the young cow companies. First, there's Warner's Looney Tunes: Golden Collec- (Kevin James) struggles to handle the heroics as the barnyard is tion: Volume Four, $64.98 for just four discs—but look what you menaced by killer coyotes.

12 S\m.OG/Jmwary 2007 www.starlog.com commentary, featurettes, 1 0 deleted scenes and, get this, "gag reel."

Indeed! A gag reel is also a feature of Slither (Universal, $29.98), in which a plague of parasitic worms descends on a small town. Director-star commentrack, "Making of and deleted/extended scenes are also included. In Warriors of Terra (Genius Entertainment, $24.95), a team of animal rights kids raid a secret research facility and find more than they bargained for, including a ghost-like girl with deadly powers and—eerier yet—security guard Edward Furlong, looking like the Before in a Before-and-After Visine ad. Edward, get the red out!

DVDS IN BRIEF Ultimate Flint Collection (Fox, $19.98): These are, of course, the spoofy spy flicks Our Man Flint and In Like Flint starring James Coburn as the dashing Derek Flint, a takeoff on James Bond. The latter's adventures, by the way, are also re-re-re-re-re-returning to home video, this time as a And this guy's like an animated feature on two series of five-movie Ultimate legs: Rod Steiger as The Illustrated Man. Stories V Editions, each one a shaken- by Ray Bradbury supplied the basis for this 1969 not-stirred $89.98 from MGM. film adaptation, coming to DVD from Warner Volume One boasts Goldfinger, Home Video along with the vintage featurette Diamonds Are Forever, The "Tattooed Steiger" ($19.97). Man With the Golden Gun, The i -j Living Daylights and The

i World is Not Enough. Volume

TV ON DVD / Two has Thunderbolt, The Spy about time! Following three installments of Who Loved Me, A View to a It's the big-screen Mission: Impossible movie series Kill, Licence to Kill and Die

with Tom Cruise, Paramount has finally seen fit to Pluto may no longer be a planet, but he'll always Another Day. start bringing the TV original to DVD in season- be our favorite Disney dog. Enjoy his exploits in The Island of Dr. More- by-season sets. In the $49.99 seven-disc First The Complete Pluto. aulDark City/The Hidden Season (1966-67), the Impossible Mission Force (New Line, $14.98): The Mar-

is led by Daniel Briggs (Law & Order's Steven Hill) into adventure lon Brando--Michael Nouri (respectively) star- in the four corners of the world. rers on a single bargain-priced disc. Jennifer Garner handles the same type of assignments, often The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the solo, in Alias: The Complete Fifth Season, a $39.99 four-discer Wardrobe: Four-Disc Extended Edition (Walt Disney Video,

from Walt Disney Video. That being the end of the DVD trail for $42.99): The title kind of says it all, doesn't it? A box set with an Alias, Disney has also assembled a 29-disc Complete Collection extended version of the movie, a new feature-length film on C.S.

($ 1 99.99) packaged in a replica of a Rambaldi artifact box. A secret Lewis and a "Certificate of Authenticity" to foil the legions of Nar- compartment contains a bonus disc of never-before-seen extras nia (Four-Disc Extended Edition) counterfeiters. (Garner's first interview as Sydney Bristow, bloopers, lots more). Edgar G. Ulmer: The Man Off-Screen (Kino, $24.95): The life Under the ocean, spy adventure is the province of the men of the and times of the B-movie master are detailed in this 2004 docu- nuclear submarine Seaview in another '60s series, Voyage to the mentary featuring comments by some of his actors, more modern Bottom of the Sea. The first 13 episodes of Season Two—the directors (Peter Bogdanovich, , Joe Dante, John show's first in color—have surfaced on DVD (Fox, $29.98) and Landis) and fans (Greg Mank, Tpm Weaver—that's me!). feature the debut of the couldn't-be-cooler Flying Sub (not to men- Blood of the Vampire (Dark Sky, $14.98): Eminent Shake- tion the fabulous "Jonah and the Whale" episode which creatively spearean actor Sir Donald Wolfit (made up to look like Bela reused Fantastic Voyage sets as whale innards). Also stowed away Lugosi!) goes slumming in this 1958 gaslight shocker about a vam- on board are bonus FX footage, a concept art gallery and a public- pire-like madman preying on inmates in the asylum he runs. Com- ity photo gallery. mentary by producer Robert S. Baker and writer Jimmy Sangster, David Tennant becomes the 10th actor to play the Time Lord in plus a bonus feature—the swashbuckling The Hellfire Club (1961) Doctor Who: The Complete Second Series (BBC Warner, $99.98), with Peter Cushing. a six-disc set in which and Rose (Billie Piper) meet George Reeves Double Feature (VCI, $14.99): Capitalizing on Queen Victoria, an evil race of Catwomen and the dreaded Cyber- the recent release of Hollywoodland and the newest surge in Super- men. It's on DVD January 16. man interest, VCI twin-bills Jungle Goddess and Thunder in the Wrapping up quickly, there is Fox's Family Guy: Volume Four Pines, a pair of 1940s adventures starring the TV Man of Steel and (Season Five) ($39.98) with 44 deleted scenes and optional uncen- Ralph (Dick Tracy) Byrd. Includes many Reeves-themed bonus

sored audio tracks; Paramount's Charmed: The Complete Sixth features, among them a new song (!). Season ($49.99), Charmed: The Complete Seasons One-Six A Fish Called Wanda (MGM, $24.96): It's making its DVD re- ($305.99); and Warner's Tales from the Crypt: The Complete Fifth premiere as a two-disc Deluxe Edition with the movie now featur- Season ($39.98). ing 25-plus minutes of deleted and alternate scenes and other new extras. Why is this mentioned here? Because is a STARLOG favorite! CRITTER ATTACK! Independence Day: 10th Anniversary Edition (Fox, $19.98): It Ouick! Call pest control! Mutated rats overrun a small village in pairs, on a single DVD, the original theatrical flick with the nine- the German-made telemovie Scratched (Genius Entertainment, minutes-longer Special Restored Edition, plus all the old extras. $22.95), sequel to the superior (and still available) Revenge of the Ultraman: Series One: Volume Two (Brentwood Home Video, Rats (Silver Nitrate Entertainment, $9.99). What could be worse $39.98): Kaiju! ...Gesundheit! Japanese monsters galore in this than rats in your walls? Try Snakes on a Plane (New Line, $28.98), three-disc set, but fret none, the Science Patrol is still out there slinking onto DVD with star (Samuel L. Jackson) and director fighting to keep us all safe! It could happen!

STARLOGAwory 2007 1 3 Chance Fortune and the Outlaws by Shane that it takes place in a 1949 England that against the anti-technological faction known Berryhill (Tor, he, 272 pp, $17.95) signed a peace accord with Adolf Hitler eight as Inru. Somewhere between the 2005 film Sky years prior, and is now tottering toward fas- As with any dedicated hero, Lea is facing a High and the Harry Potter series, Chance For- cism in turn. dragon of unparalleled proportions. The Inru tune is the story of 14-year-old During a weekend retreat, a terrorists are launching what promises to be

Joshua Blevins, who has always politician is stabbed with a their supreme assault, born from the depths of wanted to be a superhero. Not strange dagger. Inspector Mars, and whatever swords Lea has in her possessing any super-powers, Carmichael investigates. This arsenal had best be sharpened—and soon. however, Joshua takes another could indeed be the starting Giller's work on screenplays has resulted route: undergoing tutelage from a point of a Hercule Poirot mys- in a crisp visual style that now raises its head retired costumed crimefighter tery, but Walton isn't bound by in his fiction. While other writers in this vein and eventually bluffing his way the ordinary limitations of the are busy howling about the future of humani- into the Burlington Academy genre, and injects John le ty and its identity in the face of new technolo- under the identity of Chance For- Carre-like subtleties in her plot gies, Giller is gradually becoming an author tune (possessor of "unnatural that Christie would likely not unafraid to toss a hi-tech thriller into the read- good luck"). There, he soon have employed. er's lap. becomes the leader of a group of As America totters toward —Michael Wolff students who take on the name of its own pact with the Devil, and "The Outlaws" and—in true dark forces manipulate events 1635: Cannon Law by Eric Flint & pulp-fiction tradition—acquire to rob people of their liberties, Andrew Dennis (Baen, he, 400 pp, $26) the habit of falling into trouble. Farthing resonates with an Ah, a beautiful spring day in 17th-cen- It's obvious that Berryhill unexpected sense of urgency. tury Rome. ..and then Spanish troops land reads comics, and he can talk the Highly recommended. at Ostia, practically within cannon shot of talk. But as someone trying to —Jean-Marc Lofficier the Vatican. But historical purists need not write for the young adult market, scratch their heads. It's only Flint & Dennis he's guilty of underestimating the Crossover by Joel Shepherd putting a fine-tune on the Thirty Years' War sophistication of his audience. (Prometheus, tpb, 468 pp, in the course of producing another volume The characters are also too card- $15) in Flint's Ring of Fire series. boardy, so hopefully, in future April Cassidy is an ordi- In 1635, the wide range of characters Outlaws adventures, they'll nary young woman trying to who make up both Grantville's transplant- develop into the sort of flesh- lead an ordinary life on a ed Americans and their allies are hard at and-blood people who make future-human colony world. work attempting to expand their influence heroism worthwhile. But her life is a lie. Her real name is Cas- within the halls of European power. But

—Michael Wolff sandra Kresnov, and she's in hiding never let it be said that tyranny took such because she's actually a "hunter killer" things lying down, and diplomacy soon Eifelheim by Michael Flynn (Tor, he, android who—having experienced some- walks hand in hand with military strategy. 320 pp, $24.95) thing of a moral awakening—has decided In other words, this is more of the Marvelous. Wonderful. A tour de force. to abandon her programming and try to same—which has made similar works in Choose your superlative. Like Connie lead a normal existence underground. But the Ring of Fire Universe worth perusing. Willis' The Doomsday Book, Eifelheim it's not easy. She's living on a world that There's not only war and skullduggery, but

puts a human face on the suffering experi- would destroy her if its people knew her romance, humor and the sort of historical

enced during Medieval Europe's plague true identity, and circumstances are moving tweaking that explains why this series is years, even as it shows the heights humani- to put her—or, rather, her original abili- the current favorite within the alternate-his- ty can rise to and fall from. ties—back on the firing line. tory crowd. Eifelheim is two stories. In one, Father Most books of this type fall into the trap —Michael Wolff Deitrich—while serving the German parish of being soulless shoot-'em-ups with thinly of Eifelheim in 1349—makes first contact disguised roleplaying-game scenarios. Spirit Gate: Book One of Crossroads by with a stranded alien race. In the second, a Shepherd at least goes the distance and Kate Elliott (Tor, he, 448 pp, $25.95) historian and physicist puzzle over the works to make Cassandra someone the Merit is a reeve—one of the hawk-bonded mysterious disappearance of that same vil- reader is interested in. His depiction of the judges and protectors who keep the land of the

lage. politics and society in Cassandra's universe Hundred safe. She is ready to start a family Flynn uses physics, theology, logic and is a bit overwritten, but this first volume with her lover, but on a routine patrol she

extraterrestrials to explore the subtleties of makes the proposed trilogy look to be a comes across something that is anything but the human heart and mind while telling a promising ride. routine. Shadows of evil have fallen over the

page-turner of a tale filled with vivid char- —Michael Wolff land, and Merit is about to become their next acterizations of time and place. Highly rec- victim. Her death will set off a chain of events ommended. Prodigal by Marc D. Giller (Bantam, tpb, that will either save or destroy her homeland. —Penny Kenny 416 pp, $12) Elliott enjoys telling big stories. She likes

Here, Giller continues the thread of future- lingering over scenes and milking them for all Farthing by Jo Walton (Tor, he, 320 pp, espionage techno-thrills that began in Ham- the emotional resonance they're worth. She $25.95) merjack. Lea Prism was once a hammerjack, a also likes characters who exhibit various Agatha Christie might have written Far- code thief, but circumstances have driven her shades of grey in their thinking. In short, Spir- thing had she become an SF writer. The novel to become a corporate spook and wage what it Gate is vintage Elliott. reads like a British "cozy" mystery, except sometimes seems to be a one-person war —Penny Kenny

14 SMWG/Januaty2007 www.starlog.com

Working under Cuaron's decree of lengthy takes tested the FX and pyrotechnics crews, who needed to carefully choreograph the action sequences.

—-§ In an empty, impotent future, a revolutionary group fights for the Children of Men, By JOE NAZZARO

r

IK a crisp December morning in It'sUpper Heyford, about an hour's drive from London, and nearly two dozen people are supposed to die today. The man responsible for this death sentence is Alfonso Cuaron, but at the moment he doesn't seem concerned

about it. In fact, watching the 45-year-old Mexican director discussing the day's activities with cinematographer Em- manuel Lubezki in the middle of a bombed-out city block, he looks more like a mischievous schoolboy than a dedicated filmmaker. This is the third month of shooting on Children of Men, based on the post-apoc- alyptic novel by acclaimed mystery writer P.D. James. Starring Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Michael Caine, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Charlie Hunnam and Claire- Hope Ashitey, the film takes place several decades into the future, where humanity is facing a slow extinction after discover- ing that children are no longer being born due to unspecified causes. As civilization —

nd has become a those days will be jus dictatorship, and the only ray of hope is probably rehearse this s use what's

Kee, a young pregnant girl whose child shoot it tomorrow. It's Alfonso's method the point? Through the course of the may hold the key to mankind's survival. of making you feel like you're in the thick Theo changes and begins to engage; he's

Today's sequence takes place in the of things and witnessing it for real. thrown into these extraordinary situa- middle of what appears to be a dilapidat- "The minute there's a cut [in a movie], tions and doesn't particularly want to be ed refugee village. A block of three-story you feel the director manipulating what there. But as the story progresses, he buildings ends in a chaotic jumble of you're supposed to be thinking and feel- opens up. One of the big themes is hope buses and trailers that have been convert- ing, whereas if [the director] sustains the being reawakened, and this movie follows ed into impromptu homes. A pen outside shot for as long as they can, you feel Theo's personal journey." one trailer holds a pair of dirty-looking especially in an environment like this, Because the film has more action and sheep; an equally grimy dog lies across a where there's so much going on—that adventure than James' novel, Owen's nearby stoop looking thoroughly bored by you're in the [middle of things]. That was character doesn't have as much dialogue. the day's activities. Alfonso's take from the beginning, and "It's a reactive part, and there are it's easier to act because it's for real." remarkable things going on, so Alfonso is Grim Tomorrows Owen plays Theo, a mid-level bureau- shooting much of it wide," notes Owen. While Cuaron and Lubezki run crat at the Ministry of Energy who has "There aren't big, long dialogue scenes; through their shot, a lanky, tall man given up on life after a personal tragedy it's very much about the environment. dressed in well-used clothing carefully involving his child. When a former girl This is set 30 years in the future, so the picks his way through the debris-tilled friend (Moore) asks for his help, Theo environment is [crucial]. And because street. It turns out to be Owen, who fea- finds himself embroiled in a plan by her we're seeing things through Theo's eyes, tures heavily in today's lengthy sequence. revolutionary group, the Fishes, to help the movie isn't a huge dialogue or charac- "It's an exciting way to work when you do the pregnant Kee escape from England. ter piece. It has more to do with this inter- these long takes," he explains, "because "At the movie's beginning, he's cynical esting, adventurous, bold take on what we'll come in for three days and two of and drinks a lot," says Owen. "I think at could happen 30 years in the future." www.starlog.com STARLOG//mi/a/y2007 1 7 Theo (Owen) sleeps with the Fishes—sort of. Owen is no stranger to the genre, thanks Revolutionary leader Julian (Julianne Moore) is to such recent projects as King Arthur and Theo's former girl friend. Sin City, but he believes Children of Men is a world away from films of that nature. "I don't know what genre this is; I have no idea," he confesses. "Children of Men is not science fiction at all. It's Alfonso's version of three decades in the future. I'm a big fan of Alfonso and his work, and this is such an unusual, intelligent [approach to this sort of] story. And I'm playing such a reluctant hero—this guy who's thrown out of his usual world into this extraordinary place." Before being called buck to the set, Owen explains the scene about to be shot. "This takes place toward the film's end," he informs. "To get Kee to a safe place, we've landed in this refugee camp. There's practi- cally a revolution going on in the camp, and I've been separated from Kee and the baby. The Fishes have taken her to this building, and I'm trying to reconnect with her while a full-on war rages around us."

While Cuaron is running through the sequence, a small army of people is being mobilized for various tasks. The armorer circulates among the extras dressed in mili- tary garb, checking their weapons, demon- strating their use and answering questions. A few yards away, a pair of animal handlers dressed as refugees are dirtying down their canine companions, much to the Irish wolfhound's consternation. "We're using the same stuff they put on the actors," explains Jill the wrangler. "It's brown hair gel that is dirtied down, and it just sham- poos out—but there has been an awful lot of shampooing!"

One of the production's unsung heroes is location manager Michael Sharp, whose team was responsible for finding more than 30 different semi-futuristic locales—from the Tate Modern Museum to the section of Upper Heyford they're shooting in now. "We worked on the concept together with Alfonso and the designer, and then we decide how to achieve that with the maxi- Kee (Claire-Hope Ashitey) is k civilization's survival. She's the mum look," says Sharp. "There are key land- only pregnant person on the planet. marks that Alfonso wants to see, but we don't want the film to look like we've only Cuaron's method of done the landmarks. And we haven't gone shooting Children of Men hi-tech either, so there's quite a mix of archi- made Owen feel like he tecture. We can't go too futuristic, because was in "the thick of things" things supposedly haven't progressed from during the production. where we are today." Not surprisingly, the most difficult loca- Like many Londoners, Luke tions to pin down involved present-day land- (Chiwetel Ejiofor) has marks, such as Fleet Street and Trafalgar been forced into a corner, whi Square. "There were seven different depart- only intensifies the Fish ments that we had to deal with, between member's extreme methods. Whitehall, Trafalgar Square and the Mall, so it all added up!" Sharp laughs. Pregnant Futures By midday, Cuaron is ready for the scene's initial run-through. An assistant director clears away anyone who's not sup- posed to be in the shot, while another AD positions suitably dirty extras in various places. Jill the animal handler grabs a grimy terrier and clips his leash to the sheep pen;

18 mm/January 2007 —

one of her assistants takes the grumpy "We designed a special sole that isn't just a me that he wanted to film everything in one wolfhound and crouches in a nearby door- thin layer of silicone, because that would rip sequence whenever possible," he states. "In way. Jill runs her dog through his scene: to shreds straight away. It's made from car- this scene, for instance, most directors

pointing to an eye is apparently the signal for bon fiber embedded in a urethane plastic. It's would shoot 15 sections, but he's doing it all

the terrier to bark furiously. The sheep have a clever little build, and no one will have a in one. I thought that approach might limit no lines, so they stand in the background clue what we did. the actors, that we wouldn't have as much looking, ahem, sheepish. "I remember when we were first talking freedom and would be slaves to the choreog-

Watching from the sidelines is Ashitey, about it, and one of the costume people said, raphy, but actually the reverse has happened.

who plays Kee, mankind's last hope. A rela- 'Nike spent millions trying to develop some- I find that we have complete freedom, tive newcomer to the business, she's soaking thing like that. It will never work!' But not because we don't have anything to match, so

up every scrap of filming knowhow that she only did we get it to work, we came up with we can really live in the space that we're cre- can. "Shooting Dogs was my first movie," this carbon-fiber sole that totally protects the ating. she remarks. "I went to drama school on feet from stones or whatever. Clive can also "Today, we're rehearsing and rehearsing,

weekends, and that was so much fun, but I run in them, and because it's winter, we and I don't know if we'll even film anything. really hadn't done any kind of filming until inserted an electrically heated sole so he can But we'll come in tomorrow and shoot the

Dogs. That was a big dive into the water, as warm his feet." scene three or four times and get it. So it is this. I'm 18, so I'm still a newbie." Children of Men's FX are being split bet- doesn't take any longer, and it's going to

Kee doesn't appear in James' novel. ween makeup wizard —who look great. I think Alfonso is planning to do "When I first auditioned, I was quite baf- devised the birth scene—and Gorton's team, some digital cuts, so this last sequence might

fled by that," she admits. "I thought I would who are supplying most of the big blood- appear to be one 20-minute take, whereas it

go out and grab the book, but I read it and and-gore gags. "We worked on the cafe was actually shot in three or four sections." said, 'My character isn't in there!' So that bomb sequence," says Gorton. "Because of Patric's boss Luke is being essayed by didn't really help me. Kee is a hardened and the no-cuts documentary style of the film, Ejiofor. whom Firefly fans will remember as rebellious young girl. She's a refugee from people had to be prepared to get out of the the villainous Operative in Serenity. "He's North Africa who came to London, and she way while the actor walked out of the scene. involved with the Fishes, the revolutionary

has been living in rebel camps and places And when it exploded, the extras had to group trying to gain rights for the under- like that until she finds herself pregnant. jump in and be in situ, almost like a theater classes in this futuristic society," says

Now, it's a matter of getting her out of production. Ejiofor. "Luke has delusions of grandeur at England, because she knows the baby will "It was complicated shooting that be- times, a very strong belief structure and

be taken away from her. Kee is tough, but cause we couldn't switch to different angles. extreme methods of carrying it out. I don't she's also in need of support and guidance, It was one shot, a single camera following think Luke changes very much in the film, which she never had but finds with these one actor, so everything that was going on but as the audience understands him more characters—the ones who aren't trying to had to happen without cutting to a wide shot they may change their attitude about him. I kidnap her!" or the other side of the street. The character view Luke as an incredibly strong person She credits Cuaron with helping her find comes out of a shop, and we follow him in terms of his beliefs and what he's willing her feet as the character. "He's an enthusias- down the street, through doorways, past peo- to do to see them through." tic director and very talented," praises ple, all without a cut, and suddenly this place To prepare for the role, Ejiofor look some Ashitey. "It's amazing to watch him work explodes." weapons training as well as researched the and see ideas come to him. Alfonso is a lives of other revolutionary leaders. "I great guy and knows what he needs to get Next Nightmares looked at Che Guevara, Fidel Castro and out of his actors. He has a way of drawing As the special FX technicians move in to people who talked about not necessarily rev- things out of you that you didn't know you reset the pyrotechnics for another rehearsal, olution, but ways in which violence is justi- had." Hunnam sits down for a quick chat. With his fied when you're forced into a corner," he

As for working alongside such stars as bizarre wig, gold teeth and mock military says. "[So I researched! how that position Owen, Moore and Caine, Ashitey comments, gear, the actor looks totally unlike the char- arises in society, and all those things fed into

"You get used to it, because you have to. But acters he played in Nicholas Nickleby and the character and his own delusions and I have thought, 'This is really cool!' They've the TV series Undeclared. "I'm Patric, a madness and where that comes from." all been down-to-Earth, though. I've never member of the Fishes," he begins. "They're Ejiofor appreciates Cuaron's receptive- bought into the whole idea of celebrity and fighting for equal rights for all of the English ness to his actors' input. "The question of people who think [actors] are demigods. immigrants who are being horribly persecut- finding the characters' voices has been a They eat the same food and breathe the same ed for not being 'generation-English.' As huge collaboration," Ejiofor offers. "That air as us. [All of the actors on this film] are every place else falls, England's soldiers are means putting forward personal opinions on really sweet people." armed, because people are coming there in what direction the character should go, and

It's now 2 p.m., and Cuaron is ready for masses. England still has food and electrici- Alfonso is incredibly open to those sugges-

the second rehearsal of the day, this time ty, but the government has decided to only tions. In fact, as soon I said I wanted to do with full pyrotechnics in the background. look after their own and not these immi- the film, that process opened up almost Judging from the number of crew members grants. immediately, to the point where we were

slipping on pairs of ear defenders, it's going "This is supposed to be Bex Hill that talking about reworking scenes, doing dif- to be loud. As explosions rock the badly we're shooting in now, which is ostensibly a ferent things with Luke and bringing out the damaged block, Owen staggers into the shot concentration camp. They're not actively character in [new] ways." and makes his way down the street, sticking killing the immigrants themselves, but With that, the actors are called back to to the doorways. When a particularly intense they're putting them here and allowing them the set for a final rehearsal, but not before explosion goes off, the actor falls onto a to die. I'm Luke's right-hand man, an angry Chiwetel Ejiofor offers one final observation strategically placed crash mat and Cuaron person who is easy to manipulate. I do all of on Children of Men. "There are people with yells cut. the nasty things that he doesn't want to get strong agendas on both sides. Much of that is

The fact that Owen is barefoot through his hands dirty doing himself. I'm an just the politics of power positioning in order most of the film presented some interesting enforcer with gold teeth and dreadlocks." to achieve results and so on. But it doesn't challenges for the production, which had to Hunnam admits to initially being nervous feel like there's an antagonist-protagonist rely on Hobbit-like prosthetics courtesy of about Cuaron's directorial style of shooting set-up, even though the film will open up makeup FX wizard Neill Gorton and his very long takes, but he eventually found it a those questions. And I suspect I know which team at Millennium FX. As Gorton explains, freeing way to work. "Alfonso explained to way it will end!" www.starlog.com SmiOG/January 2007 1 9 What's worse than living through the pilot and the concept of who Brett was, what show with a solitary hero saddled with real- worst day of your life? How about he did for a living and the horrible elements world problems, but in an extraordinary

reliving it, over and over and over? of the day that are happening to him. It was fashion," explains Zbyszewski. "You boil

In ABC's Day Break, Detective Brett even more complicated than I expected! But this guy's day down, and he has issues with

Hopper (Taye Diggs) awakes to find he has I'm hoping it's the kind of show that will his girl friend, doesn't get along with his ex- been framed for killing Assistant District appeal to Lost fans. It definitely has the mys- partner, has some family history and is a lit- Attorney Alberto Garza. He goes on the run tery and puzzle aspects. Day Break plays tle gruff and rough around the edges. We to catch the real killer, only to learn that his with time and logic a little bit, and will get take him and throw him into an extraordi- loved ones are also in danger. And when he people thinking. It's a TV show that you nary circumstance, and try to get him to wakes up the next morning, he discovers that have to pay attention to, and we're pretty prove his mettle. That appealed to me, the he is living the same day again and again... happy with it." throwback quality of it—in an action sense The concept of a repeating day is not unknown in science fiction, but Day Break's Daily News creators were determined to make it work as Hopper has issues with nearly all of his an hour-long, serialized prime-time thriller. supporting characters. His girl friend Rita

Executive producer Matthew Gross (STAR- (Moon Bloodgood) is his ex-partner's for- LOG #351) had the idea in mind for some mer wife, which increases the tension; his Paul Zbyszewski time, but it was only after he presented it to current partner is under investigation; a (pictured) writer Paul Zbyszewski that the project took reputed gang leader has apparently been tar- believes that hold. geted in the same conspiracy involving Day Breaks "Matt and I had been trying to work Hopper; and his sister, whose husband is mysteries and together for a few years," says Zbyszewski. abusing her, is being used as a pawn to get to puzzles will "He pitched me one line: 'It's kind of The her brother. appeal to

Fugitive and Groundhog Day' And I said "I wanted to create a modern noir feel, a Lost fans. 'OK!' I had been interested in the repeating- day idea for a while. I actually wrote a pilot on my own a while back on spec that had a version of that manipulating-time concept. It never went anywhere, but [that set-up has] always intrigued me, so when Matt brought riAv it up again, I thought I ought to take a stab at it. I told Matt right off the bat that it was going to be big and complicated. Matt called me the very next day and asked, 'Have you got it yet?' I told him, 'No, give me some time.' I then called him back five days later TblDDV and said, T think I have something...' "I came back to him with the pitch for the FOR WRITER PAUL ZBYSZEWSKI, TODAY IS NOT ONLY Jm

These are the Days of his life. Brett Hopper Exec producer Matthew Gross pitched (Taye Diggs) is forced to relive his very worst one line to writer Zbyszewski: "It's kind of The day over and over again. Fugitive and Groundhog Day'.'

20 mm/January 2007 and tone, it's kind of its own beast. I was 'What are the key moments that need to hap- ferent the days are. Each episode feels dif- also intrigued by the idea of creating some- pen this season to make this work for him?' ferent from the next, and we're proud of that.

thing different, something that isn't being And filling in the blanks in between is where We're going to be telling some pretty enter- done on television and melds these various the writing comes in. We have really smart, taining stories, and people are going to be styles, genres and tones." talented people who have helped with the surprised at how different the days are." The process of creating such a compli- mechanics, story points and plot points that cated show was long and involved—espe- weren't covered in the broad strokes that I USA Today cially since they needed to plan out the entire initially outlined. We started macro, and then As Gross told STARLOG, one reason storyline before they started to put the series we went micro." why Zbyszewski was hired for Day Break together. "It began with, 'What is the worst Careful viewing—particularly of the first was because he immediately got the repeat- day possible that this guy could have?' 'Who show—will be rewarded. "There's so much ing-day concept and recognized its inherent is this guy?' 'What are the circumstances?' planted in the pilot," Zbyszewski reveals. possibilities. Remarks Zbyszewski, "It was And then we had to figure out how to do that "We took special care to drop in a bunch of just being able to open up my head and say, as a series," Zbyszewski recalls. "We had to things that will play out—perhaps not for 'Let's think outside the box a little. If a guy find 'the thing' that we could use week-to- many episodes. There are plenty of callbacks walks outside his door and makes a left at a week to keep people interested and not con- and references. And people who haven't corner instead of a right, his day will be

fused. While the story is serialized, we've seen the pilot will understand what we're completely different. If he goes left, he taken great care in introducing elements in talking about, because we'll reintroduce walks to the bus stop, gets on a bus and every episode that are self-contained—as those elements as they occur." heads down to Mexico. If he turns right, he well as stories that are self-contained. We The creators are varying the story struc- takes a cab to the airport, gets on a plane and don't want people to be completely lost if ture so that each episode won't necessarily goes to Paris.' You can do anything in a day,

they tune in at episode three, after missing begin with Hopper awakening. "We start step outside the box and say, 'Yes, it's the the first two shows. If viewers come in with each day as he wakes up, but not nec- same day, but different things happen.' knowing that the concept is about this man essarily each episode," Zbyszewski explains. "So that was the initial challenge. living through a repeating day, they'll really "We decided early on that we weren't going Because of Groundhog Day—in which the get hooked into his plight. to get married to any particular story struc- same things happen to Bill Murray every "We have the advantage of Taye being ture. We didn't want to have every episode single day, played out in an hour and a this incredibly versatile, talented, appealing begin with a Day One wakeup. We'll cover half—people are predisposed to think that physical presence on screen—he's magnetic. anywhere from three hours to eight days in a there's nothing else to it. But that never Watching him in these circumstances is very single episode. It can be whatever it needs to stopped my imagination from working. I compelling. But in conceiving this as a be, depending on the story we're trying to was fascinated by the notion of a guy having

series, I had to know what the end game was tell. We're not handcuffed by any format that a set amount of circumstances that he knows

going in, because otherwise I couldn 't come will keep us stale. will occur, can control and play to his advan-

up with the puzzle. It's not the kind of thing "One of the challenges is trying to over- tage. Also, I was intrigued rather than daunt- you can make up as you go along, because come peoples' initial prejudices: 'Oh, he ed by the Butterfly Effect concept of chang-

every little detail can come back and bite lives the same day over and over again? I ing peoples' actions and the repercussions of you. So we put forth a lot of effort deciding, guess that means every episode is going to those decisions. Once I wrapped my head

'How is Hopper going to fix this day?' and be the same.' But you won't believe how dif- around how big Day Break could be, it

TOMORROW BUT ANOTHER YESTERDAY. bv kim howard johnson

Working within Day Break's recurring day premise hasn't been a hassle for Zbyszewski, who sees no limit to the amount of stories they can tell.

www.starlog.com STARLOG/JonuoryW 21 —

Andrea (Victoria Pratt), Hopper's current partner, is under investigation by the department and can't be trusted.

Framed for a murder he Solving the murder isn't didn't commit, Hopper Hopper's only problem. wakes up every morning Chad (Adam Baldwin) is with another chance to angry that his ex-partner prove his innocence. is dating his ex-wife.

became very exciting, because there is no where they're supposed to be and how things tured guy, and we wanted to take a hero with limit to the amount of stories we can tell." work. So we've set a master template for lots of flaws at the season's beginning and In fact, there are many advantages to hav- them to make sure that we don't contradict fix those flaws by the end. Hopper has an ing a recurring day. "We can play with the ourselves." actual character arc, a path, a progression, a characters—like what their days are like if While viewers who miss an episode or growth, which is something you don't see a Hopper does or does not affect them, and two won't be lost, regular watchers will be at whole lot of on television. The prototypical

how he affects them. The slate is clean for us an advantage in figuring out the conspiracy. hero is a hero when he starts, and he really every day in terms of Hopper's decisions," "The overall mystery this season is who doesn't change. He saves the day—but that's Zbyszewski discloses. "We get to kick killed Alberto Garza and why Hopper was not this guy. Hopper has some issues, and

around all kinds of scenarios: 'Wouldn't it be framed for it," Zbyszewski comments. "We working on them is part of the progress he funny if...?' This isn't a show where you tune have to make sure that people understand the makes this season." in and in the first two minutes there's a dead clues and that we present each clue in a clear body, and then in the last five minutes, you fashion, so that the audience can follow LA Times

find out who did it. Breaking these stories in where we're going and Hopper's drive in The first season of Day Break is being the room is like re-creating the wheel every that particular episode. But we also can't hit presented in 13 hour-long episodes. "If ABC time. There is no template that restricts us." the audience over the head with hints. We had wanted 22, my reply would have been " Still, there are some disadvantages to the want people rapt in attention with their eye- 'Bring it!' exclaims Zbyszewski. "Our plan repeating-day device, too. "Knowing exactly balls staring at the screen." was to go as far as we had to. There's no where everyone is supposed to be, how their Day Break is structured so that a different shortage of story potential. And by the time days unfold and making sure we're not con- piece of the puzzle will be doled out to view- people watch the first few episodes, they'll tradicting ourselves—we have a lot of logic ers each week. "We have certain touchstone clearly understand that." police on the staff and crew—is a tough moments in the season that have to happen, Upcoming episodes will see the support- task," says Zbyszewski. "Little things pop and we build up to those moments where ing cast facing more serious dangers, and up, and we'll go, 'Oh, that's right! We can't Hopper earns a particular piece of the puz- Hopper confessing his situation to more than

go to her at this time of the day, because zle. This isn't just about plot moves one of them. "Other people in Hopper's life, she's supposed to be someplace else.' There Hopper has to go through inner turmoil and not just Rita, are going to be put into serious are complications upon complications when growth to achieve those goals," Zbyszewski jeopardy," Zbyszewski promises. "He's

it comes to the characters' movements, observes. "The show is really about this tor- going to be exhausting his options as to how

22 mm/January 2007 Hopper's sister Jennifer Damien Ortiz (Ramon (Meta Golding) and her Rodriguez) is just one of children are being used the people affected by the as pawns by someone choices Hopper makes as attempting to get to him he tries to fix the day.

Expect the unexpected. In Day Break's pilot, Rita (Moon Bloodgood) dies twice thanks to Hopper's bad decisions.

to fix this day. The episode after the pilot is the energy, the pace, the emotion—Rob blew place. So in that sense, we have great leeway about what happens when he runs, tries to me away. Every step of the way, I was a kid in the storytelling. Not having to do every- escape his problems and the bad repercus- in a candy store. I couldn't be more pleased. thing in real time allows us to go anywhere

sions that ensue. That forces him to rethink I think the pilot is really strong, and I in LA. We plan to give the show a genuine his approach. There will be episodes down attribute that to Rob and his vision. He's LA feel and show off some of the city's the road that deal with more than 'How do I amazing, and a wonderful collaborator." icons and different neighborhoods." clear my name?' and 'Who killed Garza?' Probably the biggest change to the series The creators already have a second (and and venture into 'Why is this happening to and storyline was switching the setting from possibly third) day ready for Hopper. And if me?' And Hopper will vocalize his problem Zbyszewski 's hometown of Chicago to LA. Day Break returns next season, Zbyszewski to more than one character, and how they "I originally had the show scripted for is anxious to put his hero through another react to his strange confession is interesting." Chicago, but the production concerns—how very long, very bad day. "That's one of the Zbyszewski is thrilled with the way the do you repeat Chicago's weather in questions you have to answer to the network series is unfolding, and praises both the cast March?—were challenging, so I had to re- when they want to know your plan," he says. and crew, particularly director Rob {Reign of imagine the locations, style and feel of the "Their initial questions were, 'How do you Fire) Bowman's contributions. "The whole show for LA," Zbyszewski explains. "It do this as a series?' 'How do you do this for

thing turned out better than I hoped. I was turned out to our advantage. Chicago has a more than one season?' 'How do you do this completely blown away by what Rob did seaminess and history with crime, conspira- for more than one episode?' So we had to lay with the pilot," he smiles. "When Matt asked cy and gangsters, but LA has its own noir out a couple of scenarios for the network, me, 'What do you think about Rob flavor, which we've heartily embraced." and we must have satisfied their questions, Bowman?' I almost jumped out of my seat Hopper can go anywhere in the course of because we're here! and said, 'Do you think we can get him?!' his repeating day, knowing that when he "We do have plans for seasons down the He replied, 'I'm having lunch with him wakes up again, he will always be in the road and things we can do with Hopper, and today.' Luckily, Rob liked the script. He ele- same place. That gives the writers tremen- they're pretty exciting," Paul Zbyszewski

vated the project beyond my expectations. dous flexibility. "The fun of it is that we're grins. "For this year, we just want to con- When we were on set, just the things he not playing in real time," Zbyszewski states. vince people that there really is no shortage

came up with, the way he interpreted the "If Hopper wakes up at 6: 17 in the morning, of stories we can tell. Once people embrace material, put you in Hopper's head and his he has 23 hours 59 minutes to get anywhere that, get on board and start watching, they'll predicament; the style that he brought to it, he needs—to a story, plot clue, person or understand what we mean!" ^ www.starlog.com mm/January 2007 23 By BILL FLORENCE

Flynn Carson, the titular character in pulled into a roadside truck stop to talk via John Carter for a decade on ER. On the other AsTNT's Librarian TV movies, Noah cell phone about his role as Carson in the hand, special FX and comedic fantasy- Wyle has traveled to some of the two Librarian movies. His one-year-old adventure represented new ground for the

world's most wild and romantic locations to daughter, Auden, is unhappy to find her actor when executive producer Dean protect humanity's greatest secrets. First, the father's attention divided. "Bear with me," (Independence Day) Devlin sent him the brainy but goofy Carson journeyed to the Wyle says apologetically. "I'm dealing with script for Quest for the Spear. "I'm a huge jungles of Mexico to retrieve a magical arti- a little girl who has a runny nose and a fan of these kinds of movies," Wyle offers. fact in The Librarian: Quest for the Spear cranky disposition." "You run out of hyphens to

(2004). The sequel, premiering December 3, Paternal issues arise in describe the Librarian films. is The Librarian: Return to King Solomon's Return to King Solomon's becjuels Basically, they are action- Mines, in which Carson's adventure takes Mines, too, as Carson dis- adventure-sci-fi-romantic

him to the wilds of Africa. "We shot scenes covers that his late father had were always comedies, and I like that. for the new film in the middle of the veldt in an important connection to We're not making spoofs art; of the Kenya, and at the base of Mount the Mines. STARLOG p here; we're not mocking Kilimanjaro," Wyle relates, a sense of awe favorite Jonathan Frakes plan/! n films like Raiders of the Lost creeping into his voice as he recalls those directs, and Robert {The Ark or Romancing the Stone. exotic environs. Questor Tapes) Foxworth We're actually paying Today, however, the actor finds himself co-stars as the mysterious family friend. homage to the genre while building some- in quite different surroundings. He has Gabrielle (Body Snatchers) Anwar plays thing new—something that hasn't been done Carson's sidekick, a brilliant and beautiful on television much." archaeologist. Olympia Dukakis, Bob Despite lacking a track record in both Newhart and Jane Curtin all reprise their comedy and SF, Wyle was offered the part of roles from the first Librarian, which proved Flynn Carson outright, without auditioning. enormously successful for TNT. "Those situations are few and far between,"

"I enjoyed that one so much that I he admits. "It meant that I was reading the

thought it would be difficult to top," Wyle script with the job already in hand. Then I

confesses. "It had a kind of built-in new- saw that it was a great page-turner, with ness, as we had never seen the comedy to boot. I had done some comedic

Metropolitan Library before. It was a things on ER, but I hadn't been given a completely foreign world to the audi- chance to really stretch that muscle. With

ence. That one is my sentimental Quest for the Spear, I saw a wonderful favorite. But with Return to King opportunity to play a character who is hero-

Solomon's Mines, we got much more ic, cerebral and silly at the same time. I production value for our budget. This

one is much more expansive. The story is good, and the jokes are very good. Gabrielle is wonderful, and the returning characters are funnier, because you have that sense of familiarity with them." On the Books Wyle, 35, has established himself as a solid dramatic performer after playing Dr.

If adventure has a

name. ..it must be Flynn Carson? Noah Wyle leads the Return to King Solomon's Mines in TNT's second Librarian TV movie, premiering December 3. could use a very broad Emily Davenport (Gabrielle Anwar) palette of colors to paint has even more degrees than Carson. The beautiful archaeologist meets him with. There aren't the Librarian in Morocco and many things you can to do joins his globe-trotting exploits. to screw up playing a part like that." "Uncle Jerry" The character appeals (Robert to Wyle for "flipping the Foxworth) traditional superhero para- and Carson's digm on its ear. When the mother audience roots for Carson, (Olympia they're rooting for a guy Dukakis) whose biggest muscle is reveai family the one between his ears. secrets in Even beyond that, he is this sequel. very different from my ER

character, and I find play- ing him to be incredibly liberating. In Questfor the Spear, he's hiding in his realm of academia. He has spent his entire adult life in college, collecting 22 degrees, but he has never actu- ally held a job until the Library hires him. "That film was all about putting this cerebral character into an action-adventure story and letting the hilarity ensue. In

Return to King Solomon 's Mines, Carson is

more mature in some ways, but he still has a youthful naivete about him. That's what makes him accessible and charming. In the sequel, we show that he has a little more 'game' now; he has a little more savvy. He's handling missions on his own and doesn't

WyleADVENTURESreturns for more Dewey Decimal System derring-do. Read all about it! of the LIBRARIAN SWm/January 2007 25 need a woman to fight his battles for him does in a scene. It's very

anymore. At the same time, when it comes to infectious!" his relationships with women and certain Wyle also enjoyed the

other situations, Carson is still like a clumsy directing style of Star Trek puppy." veteran Frakes, whom he Is Noah Wyle, the actor, anything like praises for "setting a great

Flynn Carson, the adventurer? "Probably in tone on set. He's profession-

some ways," Wyle says with a laugh. "He is al, but he takes suggestions

much smarter than I am, but he's funny, from just about anybody if

loves his mother and is always up for a good he thinks it will make the adventure. Carson has a spirit of fun about project better. That's exactly him." the quality in a director that

I like. Jonathan comes pre- in the Stacks pared to the table, but he That spirit of fun helps the unlikely hero isn't so married to his ideas deal with a multitude of treacherous, fright- and his homework that he's ening situations while struggling to protect unwilling to listen to input the Library's many treasures, from King from the actors or anybody

Arthur's sword Excalibur to the Spear of else. I loved working with Destiny. Most of these perils involve special him. We had the pick of the FX in the way of green screens and digital litter in finding a director to post-production magic. For Wyle, working do the second Library,

with the FX was all fun and games. "That You're supposed to be quiet in a library, because the first one was so stuff was a bit of a first for me," he notes. "I but Wyle had a hard time not cracking up successful. I have friends had done very little green-screen work in my in his scenes with Bob Newhart. who highly recommended

career before this. It does pre- him, and Jonathan lived up sent a certain challenge. You to the hype. He has a good sense of timing have to conjure up in your and an eye for aesthetics." imagination what 1,000 flying As for the future, Wyle says he and ghosts will look like, for Devlin have discussed the possibility of example. You have to try to making as many as seven Librarian movies.

believe that this is really a pit "Ideally, that's what we'll do," declares of fire you're standing next to, Wyle. "Sequels were always part of the plan.

or that the bridge you're walk- I had a blast making the first two. Dean runs

ing on is 2,000 feet above an a beautiful set, and everyone who's involved active volcano. But that's one in the project—both cast and crew—is there of the reasons I got into acting because they believe in the project and want to begin with: I like playing to have a good time. The spirit that goes into silly games! the making of the Librarian films comes

"The team of special across on screen. So, yes, I would love to go effects guys that Dean assem- on playing Flynn Carson for a while." bled for King Solomon's Little Auden Wyle has fallen quiet, for Jonathan Frakes is in Wyle's good phenomenal. very little is Mines was With books. The actor commends the Dad on the move again. "I'm driving money to work with, they delivered. I was director for doing such a fine job on around, trying to get her to take a nap," pleased when I saw how much the effects King Solomon's Mines. explains Noah Wyle, who also has a four- year-old son, Owen. What's next for the actor? He laughs a bit tiredly and answers, They 're rooting for a guy whose biggest "Making my son's Halloween costume!" And, of course, more exciting adventure muscle is the one between his ears." as the Librarian.

enhanced the storytelling. Sometimes spe- cial effects are used like a crutch to gloss over holes in your story or performances that don't quite come up to the mark. In this case, the effects only elevated the material." In his introduction on the Quest for the Spear DVD, Wyle was especially enthusias- tic about working with comedy legend Newhart, who plays Judson, the Library

curator. "Bob and I have a strange friend- ship," Wyle chuckles. "With the exception of one dinner here in LA, I've only worked

with him internationally. I'll see him in Kenya, South Africa, Mexico or wherever

these movies take us—but that's it! He has one of the sharpest comedy minds I've ever

had the great fortune to work with, and he is one of the nicest men I've ever been on set with. The only down side to acting with Bob is that you tend to start stuttering like he

26 SWm/January2007 www.starlog.com Explore 30 Years of

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#2 Gene Roddenberry. Leagues Under the #61 Trek II 2. Walter Koenig. #89 Jane Badler. Helen TV. Sharon Stone. $50. Coates. John Colicos. R #167 Pertwee. Creature Space: 1999 EPG (i.e. Sea. Chekov'sZ. $10. Sean Young. RWarrior. $15. Slater. Patrick Troughton. Rabbit. B7. $10. from Black Lagoon. $10. Episode Guide). Logan's Jim Cameron. Irish #1 1 4 Nimoy. Guy Williams. Run. War of the Worlds. #32 Sound FX LP. Buck #62 Ricardo Montalban. McCalla. Kyle MacLachlan. Robert Hays. Gareth #139 Patrick Stewart. #168 15th Ann. Terminator Flash Gordon. $50. Rogers & Trek designs. Koenig 2. . Starman. $10. Thomas. $150. Gareth Thomas. Landau. 2. . Michael Chekovs 3. $10. KenTobey. Dr. Who. $10. Coates 2. Nigel Kneale. Moorcock. $10. #3 Space: 1999 EPG. #90 Scheider. Karen Allen. #116 Majel Barrett. Robin "Doc" Smith. of Nichelle Nichols. George #33 Voyage EPG. Ellison #63 Spielberg. Nimoy. Ironside. Dean Stockwell. Curtis. Whitney. Paul the Opera. $10. #169 Schwarzenegger. Takei. DeForest Kelley. $35. reviews ST.TMP. $10. Russell Rutger Hauer. Joe Morton. $200. Darrow. Nichols. Ray Roald Dahl. Alan Arkin. Bill James Horner. $25. Russell. $75. #140 Bill Murray. Kneale 2. & Ted 2. Dr. W/?o.$10. #4 Outer Limits EPG. SF in #34 Tom Baker. Irv #91 Dune. Michael Wheaton. Rex Reason. Eric 3-D. Richard Anderson. $50. Kershner. Buck Rogers. #65 Arthur C. Clarke. Crichton. Koenig. #117 Nation. Lenard. Adam Stoitz. B&B. $10. #170 Cameron. Keanu Martian Chronicles. $15. Hamill. £ IPX. Tim Terminator. V. $10. West. Oz. RoboCop. $10. Reeves. Robert Patrick. Dr. #5 3-D films. Space: 1999 & Hildebrandt. $10. #141 Diana Muidaur. Jared Who. BTTF. Time Tunnel UFO EPGs. Don Dixon. #35 Billy Dee Williams. #92 Carpenter. . #118 Shatner. Rod Taylor. Martin. Amanda Pays. writers. Trek IV. $10. David Gerrold.$15. Voyage FX. $10. #66 Dark Crystal. Frank Gilliam. Barbarella.$\Q. Jeff Morrow. Michael Gilliam. Kneale 3. $10. Herbert. Frank Marshall. Keating. D.C. Fontana. #171 Brent Spiner. Gilliam. #6 Fantastic Journey. #36 4th Ann. Nichols. Gary Kurtz. $10. #93 Donner. Lithgow. John George RR Martin. $15. #143 Perlman. Kelley. Fred Saberhagen. 72. Robert Heinlein re: Prowse. Yvette Mimieux. Hurt. Robert Englund. Robert Picardo. Tracy Tunnel writers 2. $50.

Destination Moon. Glen Larson. $10. #67 TRON. 'The Man Who Simon Jones. Dr. Who. Jedi #119 Doc Savage. Takei. Torme. Indy III. Batman. SF Animated Trek. $25. Killed Spock."$10. FX 5. Monty Python. $10. Kerwin Matthews. $10. costuming. $50. #172 Koenig. Brian Aldiss. #37 Harrison Ford. Shah Lewis. B7. 6<56.$10. #7 Star Wars. Rocketship Terry Dicks. $10. #68 007. Harve Bennett. #94 Doohan. Sayles. #121 Chris Reeve. Mel #144 13th Ann. Richard X-M. Robby the Robot. Richard Maibaum.$10. William Katt. John Barry. Brooks. Dante. Lithgow. Chaves. . #173 Kelley. Frakes. Bakula. Space: 1999 Eagle #38 CE3K. Buck Rogers Michelle Pfeiffer. V. Jedi FX Weller. Henriksen. Karen Kim Basinger. Shatner. A/ren/Va//on EPG. $10. blueprints. $35. EPG. Kelley. $10. #69 Anthony Daniels. 6. $10. Allen. Joe Sargent. $10. R Rabbit FX. Indy III. Tom Mankiewicz. $10. Batman. $10. #174 Stewart. Nimoy. Takei. #8 Harlan Ellison. Star #39 Buck Rogers. Tom #95 Grace Jones. Matthew #122 007 Film Salute. Lambert. GC Johnson. $1 0. Wars. The Fly. Space Gorbett. Erin Gray. #70 Man from U.N.C.L.E. Broderick. Butrick. Hauer. Martin Short. Duncan #145 Tim Burton. John Shuttle. $25. Fred Freiberger. $10. Debbie Harry. Chris Lee. Mad Max III. Cocoon. $10. Regehr. Paul Verhoeven. Rhys-Davies. William #175 Roddenberry Salute. John Badham.$10. Lost Boys. $100. Gibson. Shatner 2. Dalton. Shatner. Dorn. Nichols. $1 0. #10 Ray Harryhausen. #40 Hamill. Gerard. #96 9th Ann. Peter Cushing. Moranis. Cobb. RR FX 2. Isaac Asimov. George Pal. Roddenberry. Jane #71 Carrie Fisher. Judson Jonathan Harris. Moore. #123 Nancy Allen. Dolph Stuart Gordon. $10. #176 Anthony Hopkins. . $20. Seymour. Freiberger 2. Scott. Dan O'Bannon. $10. John Cleese. Jedi FX 7. Lundgren. Tim Dalton. Doohan. Kim Cattrall. £mp/re FX. $10. TinaTurner.$10. RoboCop. ST:TNG.$100. #146 Matt Frewer. Andre Wheaton. Jon Lovitz. $10. #11 CE3K. Prisoner EPG. #72 7th Ann. . Norton. Doohan. Takei. . Superman. $20. #41 Sam J. Jones. Bradbury. Hamill. Shatner. #97 Mel Gibson. River #124 Burt Ward. Kevin Abyss. RR FX 3. $10. #177 Nick Meyer. John Carpenter. $10. June Lockhart. $10. Phoenix. Ron Howard. Chris McCarthy. Gary Lockwood. Carpenter. Wlm Wenders. #12 Roddenberry. Steven Walken. Donner. BTTF. $10. Courteney Cox. $15. #147 Danny Elfman. Nimoy . $10. Spielberg. Doug Trumbull. #42 Robert Conrad. Mark #73 Cliff Robertson. Robert Chris Barnes. Koenig.

Dick Smith. $10. Lenard. Dr. Who. $10. - Vaughn. Roy Scheider. #98 MJ Fox. George Miller. #125 Bruce Dsrn. Gerry Norton 2. RR FX 4. $15. #178 Batman Returns. Jason Robards. Hamill 2. Dante. Jennifer Beals. $10. Anderson. Carpenter. Young Indy. $10. #13 David Prowse. Pal. #43 Altered States FX. Maud Adams. $10. Cameron. $10. #148 Tony Jay. Julie Logan's Run EPG, $10. David Cronenberg. #99 Anthony Daniels. Ian Newmar. Chaves. Biehn. #179 Tim Thomerson. Hu//cEPG.$10. #74 Molly Ringwald. Holm. Zemeckis. "Cubby" #126 Marina Sirtis. Hays. Warner. RR FX 5. B7 EPG Robert Colbert. B&B. #14 Project UFO. Jim Michael Ironside. Malcolm Broccoli. Mad Max. $10. Schwarzenegger. Macnee. 2. $125. ALIEN. $10. Danforth. Saturday Night #44 Altered States. McDowell. Lorenzo Semple. Michael Praed. B&B. $25. Live Trek. $10. Bob Balaban. $10. WarGames. $10. #100 Lucas. Nimoy. Irwin #149 Yvonne Craig. Robert #180 16th Ann. Tim Burton. Allen. Carpenter. Ellison. #127 Lucas. Harryhausen. Lansing. RR FX 6. $10. Mariette Hartley. Henriksen. #15 Twilight Zone. This #45 Thorn Christopher. #75 Nancy Allen. John Cushing. Roddenberry. Davison. Kathleen Kennedy. . $10. Island Earth. Galactica. Peter Hyams. Escape from Lithgow. George Lazenby. Harryhausen. Nichols. $10. Gates McFadden. $50. #152 Leslie Stevens. Gareth Richard Donner. $10. NY. SF comics. $10. McQuarrie. Semple 2. $10. Hunt. B&B. "Real Indy." $10. #181 Asimov Tribute. #101 Ellison. Ridley Scott. #128 John de Lancie. Ron Deanna Lund. Stuart #16 Phil Kaufman. Fantastic #46 Harry Hamlin. #76 Crabbe. Sybil Danning. Sting. Roddy McDowall. Perlman. James Earl Jones. #153 Bradbury. Edward Gordon. Voyage writers.

Voyage. Invaders EPG. $10. Superman II. Greatest Something WickedFX. $10. Macnee. Takei. $10. William Campbell. Weller. Albert. . Lundgren. $10. American Hero. $10. Darrow. Koenig. Prowse. . 6Se.$10. #17 Roddenberry. Ralph #77 Phil Kaufman. Chuck #102 Spielberg. Mel Blanc. Bradbury. $50. #182 Lloyd Bridges. McQuarrie. Spielberg. Joe #47 Takei. Sarah Douglas. Yeager.Tom Baker. Michael Douglas. lAllen 2. #154 Ron Koslow. Sally Van Damme. Roland Haldeman.$10. Doug Adams. Outland. $10. Trumbull. Scatman Alley Doug Adams. Peter #129 William Windom.Wil Kellerman. T Recall. $10. Emmerich. Voyage Crothers.$10. Davison. Gilliam. $10. Wheaton. Robert Shayne. writers 2. 65. $10. #18 Dirk Benedict. Richard #48 5th Ann. . Michael Cavanaugh. #155 Phil Farmer. Paul Hatch. Joe Dante. $10. Ford. George Lucas. #78 Ferrigno. Meyer. #103 Daryl Hannah. Hauer. Starman. RoboCop. $75. Winfield. Colm Meaney. #183 Danny DeVito. Pfeiffer. Carpenter. $10. Trumbull 2. Lance . Elmer Ironside. Flatliners. BTTF 3. Walken. Tim Powers. Young #19 Roger Gorman. Gil Henriksen. Clarke. Bernstein. . #130 Tim Burton. Denise Nancy Allen. $10. indy. Voyage writers 3. $10. Gerard. Star Wars, $10. #49 Kurt Russell. Lucas 2. Scott Glenn. $10. Ben Burtt. $10. Crosby. Jack Larson. Takei. 007 FX. $15. Pertwee. Munro. B&B. $10. #156 14th Ann. Nielsen. #184 Blade Runner. Scott. #20 Pam Dawber. Kirk Alyn. #80 Billy Dee Williams. #104 Peter Mayhew. Schwarzenegger. Gale. Quantum Leap. Stephen Buck Rogers. $10. #50 Lucas 3. Spielberg. Anthony Ainley. Jedi FX. Stephen Collins. Bradbury. #131 Jonathan Frakes. Dorn. Dante. Farmer 2. Donaldson. $10. Sean Connery. Lawrence Last Starfighter. $10. Ken Johnson, Outer Limits. Hays. Geena Davis. Larson Starman EPG. $10. #21 . Lost in Kasdan. Ray Walston. $100. Louis Gossett Jr. $10. 2. Colin Wilson. 0<&&$1O. #185 Highlander. Zemeckis. Space EPG. BRogers. $10. #81 Alan Dean Foster. Fred #157 Verhoeven. Ronny Robert Shecktey. Immortal. #51 Kasdan 2. Shatner. Ward. Veronica Cartwright. #105 Lambert. Colin Baker. #132 12th Ann. Howard. Cox. Marshall. Weller. $10. Old Indy. $10. #22 Special FX careers. Harryhausen. Roddenberry. Buckaroo Banzai. $10. Jonathan Pryce. Grace Lee Alan Young. Russ Tamblyn. Lome Greene. Veronica Jerry Goldsmith. $10. Whitney. Planet of the Apes. Colin Baker. RoboCop. #158 Chris Lee. Kershner. #186 Stewart. Anne Francis. Cartwright. ALIEN. $10. #82 Schwarzenegger. Max VBPG. Japanimation. $10. Roger Rabbit. Beetlejuice. Haldeman. Darkman. $10. Adrian Paul. Red Dwarf. #52 Blade Runner. Shatner von Sydow. Chris Lloyd. Janet Leigh. $10. Immortal 2. $10. #23 Dan O'Bannon. 2. Peter Barton. $10. Faye Grant. Jedi FX 2. $10. #106 Nimoy. Tim Curry. #159 Orson S Card. Nicolas Prowse. Dr. Who. The Day Clancy Brown. Terry Nation. #133 Bob Hoskins. C.J. Roeg. Michael Piller. Leiber. #187 Rick Berman. Gordon the Earth Stood Still. #53 Bradbury. Patrick #83 Kate Capshaw. Robin ALIENS. Japanimation. $10. Cherryh. Roy Dotrice. Land of Giants writers. $1 0. Scott. Craig Charles. Glen ALIEN. $10. Macnee. Blade Runner. Curtis. Fritz Leiber. Patrick Culliton. Sirtis. Cook. Time Trax. $10. Greatest A Hero. $10. Marshall. Dr. Who. V. $10. #107 Henson. Tom Cruise. Goldsmith. Badler. R #160Whoopi Goldberg. Kim #24 3rd Ann. Leonard Dicks. W.D. Richter. Jean M. Rabbit. B&B. $10. Hunter. GRR Martin. Eric #188 Terry Farrell. Andreas Nimoy. William Shatner. #54 3-D Issue. Bob Culp. #84 8th Ann. Nimoy. Frank Aue\. ALIENS. $10. Pierpoint. Edward Judd. Katsulas. Doug Adams. Walter Hili. $10. Leslie Nielsen. Terry Oz. Chris Lambert. Marc #1 34 Zemeckis. Crosby. Ghost. Flash. Giants 2. $10. Bennett. Chris Barrie. $10. Gilliam. Trek bloopers. $10. Singer. Drew Barrymore. #108 10th Ann. Russell. Ken Johnson. Cherryh 2. #25 Ray Bradbury. Mike Banzai. Jedi FX 3. $10. Rod Taylor. Martin Landau. James Caan. Sylvester #161 Jane Wyatt. Martin 2. #189 Dale Midkiff. Robert Minor. Thing. ST.TMP. $10. #55 Phil Dick. Ed Bishop. Chuck Jones. Roddenberry. McCoy. $10. Liam Neeson. Ghost. $10. Patrick. DS9. $10. Culp 2. Trek bloopers. $10. #85 Jim Henson. Jeff Michael Biehn. David #26 Gerry Anderson. Ridley Goldblum. Bob Zemeckis. Hedison. $10. #135 R Rabbit 67. Jerry #162 Stockwell. Patrick #190 Armin Shimerman. Scott. H.R.Giger. $10. #56 Zardoz. Triffids. Trek Ivan Reitman. Dante. $10. Sohl. Patrick McGoohan. Swayze. LeVar Burton. Val Mark Goddard. Anne bloopers. $10. #109 Sigourney Weaver. . Van Williams. Guest. Don Matheson. $10. McCaffrey. Danny #27 Nick Meyer. Galactica #86 Peter Weller. John Henson. Carpenter. Take:. Alien Nation. $10. John-Jules. Koenig. $10. EPG. ALIEN'FX. $10. #57 LiS Robot. Caroline Sayles. Chris Columbus. AllySheedy $10. #163 Mumy. Guest 2. Munro. Ron Cobb. $10. Rick Moranis. Lenard. Jedi #136 Mandy Paiinkin. Jock McFadden. B&B. B7. $10. #191 Rene Auberjonois. #28 Lou Ferrigno. Wonder FX 4. $125. #1 10 Bradbury. Cameron.; ; Mahoney. Carpenter. Sohl Lucas. Jurassic Park. $10. Woman EPG. $10. #58 Blade Runner. Thing. Cronenberg. Bob Gale. 2. Terminator. Lost Trek. #164 Dan Aykroyd. John Syd Mead. Bloopers. $10. #87 Ghostbusters FX. Geena Davis. Nimoy. $10. Catherine Hicks. $10. Agar. Richard Denning. Tim #192 17th Ann. Spiner. #29 Erin Gray. Buster Kelley. Prowse. David Burton. Jerome Bixby. $10. Crichton. Frederik Pohl. Crabbe.$10. #59 Kirstie Alley. Arnold Lynch. $10. #111 Columbus. Sarah #137 Marshall. War of the Body Snatchers. $10. Schwarzenegger. Merritt Douglas. Nick Courtney Worlds. Eric Menyuk. $10. #165 Dick. FX 2. $10. #30 Robert Wise. Chekovs Butrick. $75. #88 Terminator Kelley 2. Martin Caidin.$10. #193 Schwarzenegger. Enterprise. QTapes. $15. Keir Dutlea. Schwarzen- #1 38 Michael Dorn. John #166 Robin Hood. Chris Lloyd. Jurassic Park. #60 6th Ann. Carpenter. egger. V. Dune. Gremlins. #113 Doohan. Robert Larroquette. JC Van Rocketeer. Mark Ryan. Gorgo. $10.

#31 Empire. 20,000 Scott. TRON. Trek II. $10. Alan Lee. $10. Bloch. Rick Baker. Starman Damme. Lenard. Phyllis l4Wor/ds EPG. $10. : :

#194 Fay Wray. Brian #217 Chris O'Donnell. #240 21 st Ann. Rhys- #262 Samuel L. Jackson. #282 Patrick. Picardo. Lisa Lee. Sonnenfeld. Anthony #327 Sky Captain Pulp. Bonsall. 2001. Jurassic Marshall. Howard. Nimoy. Davies. de Lancie. Winston. Matt Groening. Carrie-Anne Ryder. Brendan Fehr. Baf Michael Hall. Kevin (Ares) Law. Kerry Conran. Alan Park.$-\0. Piller. William Alland.$10. Gordon 2. Men in Black. Moss. Reeves. Wachowskis. Beyond. Dune. $10. Smith. David Drake. $25. Tudyk. Alfred Molina. M. A.C. Crispin. $10. Jeremy Bulloch. $100. Night Shyamalan. Welling. #195 Piller. Praed. Ann #21 8 Jim Carrey. Stan #283 . Keith #302 Tommy Lee Jones. Ghost in the Shell. $25. Robinson. 25 best Next Winston. Crosby. Kennedy. #241 Jodie Foster. Rick #263 Ewan McGregor. Hamilton Cobb. Majandra Will Smith. Christian Bale. Generations. $10. Alland 2. $10. Baker. Goldblum. MiB. $10. Nicole deBoer. Cronenberg. Delfino. Lorenzo Lamas. Sam Jackson. Banderas. #328 . Mummy. Matrix FX. $50. Pileggi. Wang. $10. Mel Gibson. deBoer. $50. Gwyneth Paltrow. . #196 Sylvester Stallone. #219 Kevin Costner. #242 Will Smith. Barry Boreanaz. Browder. Sirtis. Hatch. Richard Stephen Furst. Dorn. Nimoy. Sonnenfeld. Ironside. Kull. #264 23rd Ann. Gary Cole. #284 Traci Lords. Dean #303 Whedon. Stewart. Incredibles. AVP FX. $25. Llewelyn. Alan Hunt. $10. Alland 3. Writing Lost in Spawn. Star Wars. $10. Jude Law. Joe Pantoliano. Haglund. Richard Kiel. Craig. Hedison. Dina Meyer. Space. $10. Warren Stevens. Tarzan. Michael Weatherly. McNeill. Corin Nemec. $15. #329 . Julie #197 . #243 Mimic. MiB. Robert Shimerman. Matrix. $10. Torres. Flores. $10. Schwartz. Jolie. Biggs. Wesley Snipes. Michael #220 Space: Above & Beltran. Glen Larson. Erin #304 Connor Trinneer. Tom Incredibles. . Polar Whelan. Peter Davison. Beyond. X-Files. Writing Gray. Zemeckis. V. $10. #265 Lucas. Mike Myers. #285 . Tom Welling. Dominic Purcell. Express. $25. Jonathan Brandis. $50. LiS 2. $10. Neeson. Sonnenfeld. Ryan Braidwood. Alexondra Lee. Sean Bean. . #244 Max Grodenchik. Gosling. Van Damme. Pratt. Farscape. $1 0. . Spiner. #330 Michael Chabon. #198 Lockhart. James #221 Chris Carter.de Casper Van Dien. Stewart. Siddig. Iron Giant. $10. Biehn. Boreanaz. $15. Edward James Olmos. Bama.Ted Raimi. Jackie Lancie. Spiner. Barry Morse. EFConflict. X-Files. MiB. #286 Jonathan LaPaglia. Jessica Biel. William F.

Lane. $10. Toy Story. Red Dwarf. $ 1 0. William Gibson. $10. #266 Kelley Tribute. Will . Chris #305 . Nolan. Torri Higginson. Smith. Ian McDiarmid. Kevin Carter. . Russ. Chuck Jones. Michelle Richard Taylor. Keating, #199 Nana Visitor. McCoy. #222 . Garrett #245 Starship Troopers. Kline. Iron Giant. $10. McCaffrey. Beltran. $10. Trachtenberg. Dominic Simcoe. Schwartz 2. $25. John Barry. TekWar. $10. Wang. Cameron. Gilliam. Verhoeven. X-Files. Monaghan. Billy Boyd. $15. Auberjonois. $10. Hercules. SG-1.$1Q. #267 Berman. Eric Idle. #287 Angie Jolie. James #331 Jamie Bamber. David #200 William Gibson. Gale Sebastian Spence. Shirley Arness. E de Ravin. David #306 Steven Soderbergh. Goyer.Tom Kenny. David Ann Hurd.Tim Burton. #223 Michael Hurst. Stella #247 Jimmy Stewart. Pierce Eaton. Crusade. $10. Boreanaz. Wayne Pygram. Nathan Fillion. Radcliffe. Hewlett. Taylor 2, Hatch. Clarke. Gilliam. Dante. Stevens. Weller. Koenig. Brosnan. Winona Ryder. Dawson. Phillips. Bruce Emma Watson. Rupert Tom Corbett Trio. Pixar Bova.$15. Roy Thinnes. Verhoeven. David McCallum. Leni #268 Chris Carter. Mulgrew. Harwood. . $10. Grint. Astin. Wood. Bakula. Illustrated. $10. John Crawford. $10. Parker. Ted Raimi. Weaver. de Lancie. Darren. Rosweli. Newmar. Sirtis. Taken. $15. #201 Chris Carter. Visitor. Furlan. Perlman. O'Connor. Iron Giant. S10. #288 25th Ann. Jules Verne. #332 J.J. Abrams. Garner. Alexander Siddig. Colin #224 Bruce Willis. Robin Benedict. Ferrigno. $10. H.G. Wells. Spielberg. #307 George Clooney. Ron Grace & Linda Park. Shawn Baker. Bob May. Red Dwarf. Williams. Kristen Cloke. #269 Weaver. McNeill. Reitman. Joe Johnston. Glass. Halle Berry. Bernard Ashmore. Pygram. Sam J. RoboCop. $10. Ford. Lithgow. Vic Lundin. #248 Jonathan Harris. WB Sorbo. Steve Reeves. Geof Witchblade. $15. Hill. Miranda Otto. Emma Jones. Corbeff Trio 2. $10. Michael Stackpole. $10. Davis. Von Flores. Costner. Darrow. Ray Park. Toy Story Caulfield. Gerry Anderson.

#202 . Mira Steve Railsback. $75. . 2. Futurama. $10. #289 Burton's Apes. Rick Jason Isaacs. Taken. $15. #333 . Mary Furlan. Ernie Hudson. $10. #225 Michael Ansara. Mitch Baker. John Chambers. McDonnell. Rachel Luttrell. Pileggi. Thompson. #249 Jeri Ryan. Tracy #270 Nimoy. Tim Allen. Duchovny. $10. #308 Spielberg. Cameron. Katsuhiro Otomo. Clancy #203 Rod Serling. Ray Hercules FX. MST3K. Scoggins. Crusade. Lost in Natalie Portman. Brendan Mortensen. Karl Urban. Brown. Edgley. Barrie. Liotta. Jerry Doyle. . $10. Space. SG-J.$10. Fraser. Desmond Llewelyn. #290 Carpenter. West. Law. Head. Rockne O'Bannon. Robots. $10. Matheson.$10. Gerrit & Heather Graham. Ming-Na. HJ Osment. $50. McNeill. Judge. $15. #226 Jason Carter. Sabrina #250 Duchovny. Berman. Dana Wynter. Cleese. $10. #334 Rachel Weisz. Jorge #204 18th Ann. McFadden. Lloyd. Day in the Trek. $10. Bennett. Van Dien. Gary #291 Tim Burton. Takei. #309 Peter Jackson. Brad Garcia. Heather Menzies. " Frakes. Claudia Christian. Oldman. From the Earth to #271 Tom Hanks. Johnny Frakes. Rhys-Davies. Lani Dourif. Jennifer Garner. Paul McGillion. Terry V Rockne O'Bannon. $10. #227 Jennifer Lien. Nick the Moon. Deep Impact. Depp. Brosnan. Ben John Tupu. Braga. $50. Mike Connors. Tom Lenk. Goodkind. Mayhew. Tate. Billy Zane. Meaney. Creature. S10. Browder. Marc Singer. Vin Albert. Tupu. Pratt. X2. $25. Hitchhiker's Guide. $10. #205 . B5. $10. Diesel. Columbus. First #292 Liv Tyler. Jet Li. Alba. Gerry Anderson. Lionel #251 Heather Graham. Matt Wave. Cleopatra 2525. $10. Holm. Berman. Daniel #310 Hugo Weaving. Colin #335 Josh Holloway. Bale.

Jeffries. Chuck Russell. #228 20th Ann.Goldblum. LeBlanc. Hudson Leick. SG- Radcliffe. Samurai Jack. Farrell. Teryl Rothery. Christensen. Sin City. ;

$150. O'Bannon. Mulgrew. John 1. X-Files. $10. #272 Jason Behr. Gina Mutant X. Smallvilie. $50. Affleck. Mumy. Reeve. $15. Spamalot. $15. Frankenheimer. $10. Torres. William Sadler.

#206 de Lancie. Invaders #252 22nd Ann. Boxleitner. Xenia Seeberg. Katey #293 Bakula. Shatner. #31 1 Bryan Singer. Peta #336 29th Ann. Chris Lee. writers. Peter Beagle. $10. #229 Ethan Phillips. Dina Earl Holliman. CCarter. Sagal. P//cn B/ac/r. $1 0. Nimoy. Sean Astin. Warwick Wilson. Greg Bear. Allison Zooey Deschanel. David Meyer. Bill Paxton. $25. Nimoy. Jerry O'Connell. Edd Davis. Pat Warburton. Mack. Richard Fleischer. Koepp. McDiarmid. Berman. #208 Michael O'Hare. Ed Cartier.$10. #273 Jeri Ryan. Larry Columbus. Kilner. B5 jam Tapping. Animatrix. $25, AM Hall. Batman Begins. Wood. Carl Lumbly. $10. #230 Van Peebles. Jeff Niven. Jet Li. Victoria Pratt, talk. Monsters, Inc. $50. 4400. $10. Conaway. Will Smith. $1 50. #253 Antonio Banderas. Cole Hauser. Radha #31 2 27th Ann. Hugh #209 . Ben Affleck. Kari Wuhrer. Mitchell. Futurama. $10. #294 Peter Jackson. Elijah Jackman. Shanks. Alan #337 Lucas. Spielberg. Generations. Helena #231 Trek 30th Salute. S5.$10. Wood. . John Cumming. Ken Johnson. Cruise. Sam Jackson. Chris Bonham Carter. Andrea Voyager jam interview. #274 Charisma Carpenter. Shea. Billingsley. Lexa Nemo. $10. Nolan.Cillian Murphy. Thompson. $10. V Auberjonois. Shimerman. #254 UmaThurman. Kirsten Terry Pratchett. Christian. Doig. HB Carter. Jimmy Torres. 4400. $10. Writing Buck Rogers. $10. Dunst. Catherine Zeta- Vail. Keith David. John Neutron. JM.$15. #313 Stan Lee. Ellen Muth. #210 Mario Van Peebles. Jones. Farrell. Pileggi. Billingsley. Frequency. $10. Titans. Nemo. T3. $15. #338 Tim Burton. Dakota West. Barrett. Nichols. #232 Russell. Dorn. Keaton. Steen.SlOO. #295 Jolene Blalock. Gate Fanning. Scarlett Brown. X-Fiies. $10. Emmerich. Buck 2. $1 0. #275 Gillian Anderson. Don Blanchett. Lauren Smith. #314 Kelly Hu. Eric Bana. Johansson. Joel Gretsch. #255 Gillian Anderson. Davis. X-Men. $10.; Coltrane. B5. Viggo Fishburne. Pirates of the Gilliam. McGregor. Night #211 Kevin Sorbo. Jerry #233 Gillian Anderson. Marc Alaimo. Snipes. Mortensen. $10. Caribbean. X2. $25. Watch. $10. Hardin. Kenneth Branagh. Stewart. Frakes. Koenig. Jefferson. Hatch. $15. #276 24th Ann. Duchovny. Russell. Wise. $10. Torme. $10. Verhoeven. Virginia Hey. #296 Annabeth Gish. #315 Andy Serkis. Gene #339 Adam Baldwin. #256 Elizabeth Gracen. Vincent Ventresca. $10. Gordon Woolvett. McKellen. Barry. Kate Beckinsale. Morena Baccarin. Jacque- #212 Kate Mulgrew. #234 Peter Jurasik.Tim Matheson: . X-Files. 7 Nichols. $10. Jada Pinkett Smith. Alan line McKenzie. Dave Shatner. Stewart. Bakula. Burton. "Tribbles." $10. Days. Pleasantvilie. $50. #277 Ian McKellen. Anna Moore. Marsden. $50. McKean & Gaiman. $10. Lambert. Geraint Wyn Paquin. James Marsden. #297 Chris Lee. Howard Davies.$100. #235 Neil Gaiman. Doyle. #257 Robert Leeshock. Russ. inv. Man. $200. Shore. Winston. Ice Age. #316 Michael Rosenbaum, #340 Jennifer Love Hewitt. Carrey. Elfman.$10. Norman Uoyd. Stewart. Jeremiah. Spider-Man. $50. Bloom. AMoore 2. Trinneer. . William #213 Gillian Anderson. Shatner. Carpenter. $50. #278 Chris Carter. Famke Gerard Butler. Elliott Reid. Fichtner. Whedon. Radcliffe. Bruce Boxleitner. Robert D. #236 Star Wars 20th. Janssen. Gigi Edgley. Kevin #298 Orlando Bloom. Tobey Farscape. Camivale. $15. Carla Gugino. $10. McNeill. Malcolm McDowell. Hamill. Daniels. Renee #258 Justina Vail. Kevin Bacon. S/o6. $10. Maguire. Dominic Keating. Chris Barnes. Jessica O'Connor. Alice Krige. $10. Smith. Russell. Frakes. The Rock. Sorbo. Tammy #317 Chris Gorham. Kristin #341 Chris Van Allsburg. Steen.$10. Frewer. A Bug's Life. $10. #279 Farscape FX.Yancy Macintosh. Katsulas. Kreuk. Bakula. Boyd. Clone . Eddie Cibrian. #237 Cronenberg. Lucas. Butler. Stewart. Paul. Dark Daniels. Dinotopia. $50. Wars. Tru Calling. $15. Stuart Townsend. Lawless. #214 Rebecca Gayheart. Lawless. Spiner. Buffy. #259 Sirtis. Rick Baker. Angel. Andromeda. $10. Narnia. $10. Roxann Dawson. Mumy. Highlander. X-Files. $10. Nation. B5. Batman Beyond. #299 Willem Dafoe. James #318 Will Ferrell. Wood. Species- Outer Limits. $10. Wayne Barlowe. $10. #280 Schwarzenegger. Gurney. Portman. Linda Mortensen. Monaghan. #342 Peter Jackson. #238 Sorbo. Christian. Tim Cameron. Sorbo. Bruce Park. CCarpenter.$50. Whedon. Gaiman. Moss. Charlize Theron. Connelly. #215 Duchovny. Michael Russ. LeVar Burton. $10. #260 Bruce Campbell. Campbell. Anthony S. Head. Donner. Indy's Women. Sith makeup. Narnia. $75. Gough. Donald Pleasence. Kevin Bacon. Piller. EFC. Gena Lee Nolin.$10. #300 26th Ann. Lucas. Tricia Heifer. Galactica. $15. Nigel Bennett. $10. #239 Michael Caine. Wonder Woman. Spielberg. Chris Carter, #343 Christopher Eccles- Richard Biggs. Howard Trekonyms. $10. #281 Jessica Alba. Shiri . Piller. YButler. #319 Peter Jackson. ton. Tilda Swinton. Brendan #216 19th Ann. Picardo. Bill Gordon. Luc Besson. Hauer. Appleby. Mulgrew. Lawless. Boreanaz. Browder. Weller. Pygram. Andy Halfett. John Gleeson. Adrien Brody. Pullman. Antonio Sabato Jr. Xena FX. 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Issue* Price $ lssue#_ . Price $_ [email protected] Russell T. Davies

& his team of t storytellers delight >\

in writing^ Doctor Who.

By JOE NAZZARO

Ever since the BBC cancelled Doctor Who in 1989 after more than a quarter-

century on the air, there has been no shortage of writers and producers who have wanted to revive the series, each with their own take on how to accomplish it. Some ideas stayed true to the original show, while others are probably better left forgotten. But until now, none of them have been successful. Enter Russell T. Davies, award-winning writer and lifelong Doctor Who fan. For years, the BBC had been courting Davies to work on all sorts of projects, but there was only one series in which he was interested. "1 was in a lucky position," he admits. "For starters, the BBC had their eye on Doctor Who as a property that could be resurrected, and the drama department and controller of BBC1 wanted to work with me, so when they came to me, I was given a clean slate."

As it turned out, Davies was (to use a time-honored pun) just what the Doctor ordered. In only one season, his fresh but faithful interpretation starring Christopher Eccleston as the eccentric Time Lord and Billie Piper as compan- ion became an instant hit. A second season (now airing in the U.S. on the SCI FI Channel)—with David Tennant taking over for Ec- cleston—was also successful, and Davies is now hard at work on Season Three, as well as a supernatural spin-off series called Torchwood.

While there may be all sorts of rea- sons for Doctor Who's newfound popu- larity—from the likability of its lead actors to its glossy-looking production design and high-quality digital FX—there's no denying the importance of a good batch of scripts. Davies writes half of each 13-episode season himself, and he has also assembled a. group of scribes who really know their stuff. Witness the fact that no less than three free- lance scripts from Season One were nominat- ed for Hugo Awards as proof that the bar has already been set pretty high.

"First of all, they had to be good writers,"

DISCLOSURE: STARLOG writer Joe Nazzaro is married to Sheelagh Wells, the head of makeup for Doctor Who's second season. www.starlog.com he did it magnificently. So all these decisions just made sense, and we did that with the sec- ond series as well." Having established a successful format with the first season, Davies admits that most of his plans for Season Two were basically more of the same. "The temptation of the for-

mat is to keep being different, but it's easy to

forget that for many people, this is a brand

new series, so there were elements that I want-

ed to become regular—what I call the 'celebri- ty historical,' " he grins. "Doctor Who has always done historical stuff, so last year we met Dickens, and this year we met Queen Victoria. Next year, there will be another one

of those stories, so that's a little format within a format. "There are also the episodes set in the year five billion. We did 'The End of the World' last

year and 'New Earth' this season, and I would really like to do more. There's a certain com- fort zone in repeating themes and motifs, even though the stories move on. So there are con-

Davies explains. "But beyond that, many of use them. So I needed writers with a literacy in stantly new adventures, but without too much them had backgrounds in the history of Doctor SF, because there simply wasn't time to teach change, because for part of the audience, it

Who. None of them had written for the pro- people." might take a bit of bedding in. I think people gram before, but they had been particularly immediately will love David, but it can't do vocal fans while Doctor Who was off the air. Outlining any harm to stick with those comfort zones Some of them had started their own TV series, For Season One, Davies handed out story and keep going back to our strengths. We while others had written Doctor Who novels premises to each of his writers based on a know the historical stories will be beautifully

and commented on the show during its treatment document that he had originally designed, and the futuristic stories have a dif- absence, so they were very creative fans. But drafted for the BBC. "I thought up very basic ferent energy, so we want to continue doing there's not much of a tradition in this country storylines and settings for all 13 episodes, that. But if [I'm impelled] to be different all of SF writing for the small screen, so it's a allocating them to the correct writers," he the time, then I'll end up doing a cartoon mime hard thing to get right. In England, there are relates. "Mark Gatiss, for example, is a star black-and-white episode and nobody will radical differences between the prime-time and writer from The League of Gentlemen, a watch it!" soaps, so I needed people who know those tiny marvelously dark and Gothic comedy series, As with year one—which reintroduced the details that make all the difference in telling a so I knew he had a great love of Victoriana. Doctor's old enemies the Daleks—the current SF story. When we had an episode set in the Victorian season presents other popular characters from

"For example, the Doctor can't do magic. era with Charles Dickens, it was absolutely the show's past. In "School Reunion," former

It's easy for new writers to assume that the automatic that we give it to Mark. companion Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Doctor and the TARDIS can do anything, "Steven Moffat invented Coupling, and Sladen) and the robot dog K-9 make return

because the program is an extremely free for- he's a hugely prestigious writer in this country, mat. While he can travel anywhere in time and very brilliant at structure and plot, so he was space, there are strong limits within that for- the only writer outside of myself to be given a mat as to what you can do and how an adven- two-parter, because they're difficult to con- ture works. I was able to go for people who are struct. Rob Shearman had penned the most

well-versed in that sort of storytelling, so I brilliant piece of fan fiction about the Daleks.

didn't need to have script meetings in which I It was an audio play, and you could not get a explained to them how the SF of Doctor Who more clever, intelligent and exciting take on

worked. I could have story meetings to discuss the Doctor's old enemies than that, so as a

the story, characters, pace, laughs and matter of honor, I felt we had to offer him that scares—normal drama meetings instead of sit- episode. It was a big chance for him, writing a ting there defining time paradoxes and how to piece of television for prime-time BBC1, and

30 mm/January 2007 appearances, and the season's first two-parter New series, old friends. Former brings back the robotic Cybermen, who made companion Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth the their debut in the early '60s. "That was a les- Sladen) and Doctor shared a "School Reunion" in Season Two. son I took from Star Trek: The Next

Generation'' notes Davies. "In the first sea- son, they were quite uptight about continuity and didn't refer to [the original Trek] much and kept The Next Generation a new show. Asked by Davies to write a teleplay Once they were successful, they relaxed and including K-9 the robot dog and Sarah Jane, Toby Whithouse made those they introduced the Romulans at the end of the beloved characters part of "School first year, and accepted that all those great Reunion." icons from the show are public icons.

"I always say it's like Dracula: If you're set it in a school,' whereas before it had been doing a Dracula film, I want the crucifix and in a completely different location. So I went the garlic and the bats and the brides, and I'm away and wrote up the school idea, using the pretty disappointed when that's not given to elements that Russell wanted to save. They me. It's the same with Doctor Who: The show liked that, and that's when I started the script." is a folk memory, so people who have never But at its heart, the core of "School Re- even heard of the Cybermen will say, 'Are you union" remained the contrast between the old bringing the Cybermen back?' But, again, you and new companions and the notion of being don't want to do too much of that; otherwise, premise for "School Reunion" and sent him cast aside for a younger model. "There's a you're just making a greatest hits album. off to write the script. "They just said, 'We scene where the Doctor, Mickey, Rose and

However, if you can find a way to reinvent want you to have K-9 and Sarah Jane, and Sarah Jane are all together creeping around the something, tell a new story and have a bit of aside from that, go away and write whatever school," recalls Whithouse, "and Mickey says, " nostalgia at the same time, I think that's a win- you want,' he remembers. "Obviously, 'Oh my God, this is every man's worst night- ning recipe." because it was Sarah Jane, I understood that it mare—the missus and the ex-wife!' That was The task of bringing back Sarah Jane and was going to be a modern-day episode, as something that filled me with absolute terror,

K-9 fell to "School Reunion" writer Toby opposed to one set in the past or future. So I so I tried to make sure that the situation was

Whithouse, who believed he was quite a went away and wrote the story, and we went accessible and the audience could relate to it." knowledgeable Doctor Who fan until he was back and forth refining it. introduced to some of his fellow freelancers "About halfway through that process, Scripting Cybermen on the show. "I could probably name all of the Russell said, 'I really like that element and this The Doctor had women problems of a very

Doctors in the right order, and I could proba- element, but other than that, I want to com- different kind in "The Girl in the Fireplace," in bly name you four villains or monsters," says pletely change it. Take that bit and that bit, but which he encounters the French noblewoman

Whithouse, "so I thought that made me a big fan—although my wife would say being able to do that makes me quite sad. Then I met the other writers and realized that I know absolutely nothing. They're genuine fans who have been immersed in this world for most of their lives, and I'm just an amateur. They have an encyclopedic knowledge of Doctor Who; I don't know anything compared to them!" Whithouse met with Davies and executive producer Julie Gardner, who gave him the

Season One's "The End of Madame Du Pompadour (Sophia Myles) and the World" was set in the finds himself attracted to the beautiful and year five billion. The Doctor brilliant was written and Rose returned to that era courtesan. The episode by in Season Two's "New Earth" Moffat, who had penned the chilling, Hugo- (pictured), where they met winning WWII episodes "The Empty Child" some very catty nuns. and "The Doctor Dances" the previous season, and who turned in an equally moving story for Season Two.

As Moffat recalls, "Although I made no

assumptions, I got the strong impression that

they were very keen for me to come back, so I was happy to return. This time, the extent of my brief was 'Madame Du Pompadour and the possibility of a clockwork man,' so there was less of a premise. But at this point, everybody knew what Doctor Who entailed, which was spending all the money the BBC has—which isn't very much!

"The first thing I did was read a book about

Madame Du Pompadour, because I didn't real-

STARLOG/jfom/fl/yW 31 — —

Neophyte Tom MacRae jump-started the second season with "Rise of the Cybermen" and "The Age of Steel."The two-parter explained the origin of the mysterious robots.

Usually, Davies handles the two-parters himself. But he turned to Coupling's Steven Moffat to pen year one's "The Empty Child" and "The Doctor Dances."

ly know who she was, and if you're putting a real person at the center of the show—as opposed to a monster, which is the more tradi- tional way of starting a Doctor Who episode then how do you make that matter? Anyone who meets the Doctor becomes some person who has to run down a corridor screaming

because a fanged beast from Krakador is after them. The moment a character gets involved in one of Doctor Who's adventures, who they are

isn 't that important.

"So after reading that book about Madame I watched Doctor Who. So I tried to create the out. "I had read a line about them saying, 'Iron

Du Pompadour, I thought it might be interest- same effect I felt as a child, and that took a bit lungs and prosthetic limbs and pacemakers,

ing to have the Doctor dip in and out of her life of adjustment. I wanted to recapture what I but how far would you go?' So I took that

in quite a traumatic way for her. What would it remembered, which was dark and scary, but it slight fear of science, but the modern twist is

be like if you met a man like the Doctor a few really wasn't. It just seems that way when to say, 'What if someone just wanted to do it?'

times in your life spread over many years? Just you're a kid. So it took a while to get used to "That's why it's called upgrading instead

try and imagine having a lifelong relationship what Doctor Who actually is as opposed to of conversion or assimilation, because you're

with the Doctor." what I misremembered it as being, if that being made better. You can upgrade your Where "The Girl in the Fireplace" really makes any sense." phone and computer, so now you can upgrade hits home is not in the SF trappings that pro- Ironically, MacRae's portrayal of the new your body—and it's the seduction of technol- vide the episode's backdrop, but the genuine Cybermen turned out to be quite close to the ogy rather than the fear of sickness forcing heart-tugging romance—an element that was original concept created by Gerry Davis and you in that direction. That interest in upgrad- rarely explored in the original series. "Despite Kit Pedler more than four decades earlier. ing makes you chase after technology, which

the fact that the Doctor is warm, charming and "That was absolutely intentional," he points is absolutely true to their original intention fun, there's also a streak of coldness in him," notes Moffat. "He's capable of things that other people aren't and, in a way, he's quite

selfish, because everything is about him. "Madame Du Pompadour was also an incredibly accomplished and literate woman. We think of her as a courtesan or a jumped-up prostitute, but she was one of the most remark- able ladies who ever lived. The Doctor seems to specialize in young impressionable girls

who are dazzled by his time machine, so I

thought it would be quite interesting to have this extraordinarily smart, sexy woman. She has been trained since childhood to cope with the demands of a megalomaniac, so she can handle the Doctor in a way that Rose can't. Going face to face with a grown adult isn't something the Doctor seems to seek out." Season Two kicked into gear with the two- parter "Rise of the Cybermen" and "The Age of Steel," written by series newcomer Tom MacRae, who was given the task of creating a new origin story for the robotic creatures, set in a parallel universe. To prepare for the assignment, MacRae went back and watched a number of old Cybermen episodes on DVD, only to discover that his childhood memories were somewhat subjective.

"When I first started on those scripts," he remarks, "I was writing them to be as scary as

I remembered [those episodes were]. Then, of

course, I realized I was about 12 the last time

32 mm/January 2007 probably even more so than any other Cybermen story." Revising Time Lords Arguably Season Two's most unusual episode was "Love & Monsters," which Davies reportedly wrote as a way of minimiz- ing Tennant and Piper's roles while they were busy shooting the two-parter "The Impossible Planet" and "The Satan Pit." Told from the POV of Elton (Marc Warren), a naive young man who joins a group of kindred spirits try-

ing to track the Doctor's activities, it may also be the most offbeat episode to date.

"The Doctor Who format, for all its flexi-

bility, is actually very fixed," Davies insists.

"You land somewhere, find a problem, sort it

out. In a way, it's every science fiction show's formula, but with this new lease on life we've

got on BBC1, it's my job to keep stretching but I'm never going to get so experimental that wisely said, Ts anything worth a friendship or

that format, in all sorts of ways—to push it Doctor Who looks like a piece of art house, a proper working relationship?' And I'm sure more to comedy sometimes, and push the because it's a mainstream program. If you there's no one on the team selling stories to the

darkness other times. And with that episode, watch something like Farscape, they tried tabloids. I think it's just people getting excited

we pushed the format more than it has ever some incredibly brave things, as did Buffy. at the pub, at work or possibly at home. That's

gone before. I think it's important to do that, Farscape did a cartoon and stuff like that, and what the head of drama meant by 'Be careful,'

3-D glasses aren't necessary for the Doctor to see other dimensions. "Doomsday "rounded out year two's second season and left the door open for the Torchwood spin-off series. Moffat returned to write "The Girl in although it was absolutely brilliant, I would be because if your partner works at a desk next to the Fire," in which the Doctor meets wary of doing the same." someone who's fascinated by this stuff and his match in Madame Du Pompadour wrote final two- they online... But it's time to stand back and (Sophia Myles). Davies Season Two's go parter, which brought back the Cybermen as say, 'It's only a science fiction spoiler; it's not " well as another of the Doctor's old foes, not to worth ruining a relationship over!' mention some major revelations for the Doctor With Season Two done, Whithouse has and Rose. Many of the events in episode 13 already finished a script for the first season of had to be kept strictly under wraps, with the spin-off series Torchwood (which Davies Wmf marked script pages only given to the show's calls "Modern urban sci-fi, but it's also quite department heads. Still, Davies scoffs at the dark"), while both Moffat and MacRae have

notion that it has become too difficult to keep been commissioned for Doctor Who's third things secret. season. As for Davies, he has completed his

"The secrecy is actually quite easy in that script for the Christmas special "The Runaway

you just don't tell people" he smiles. "There Bride," and is now laying out the rest of are certain decisions about next year that Julie, Season Three. [producer] Phil Collinson, our casting director "I'm certainly going to stick with Doctor

and I know because we want to flag some Who for at least a couple of more years,"

things well in advance, but it's easy not to say Russell T. Davies promises, "but I also know

a word to someone. It's interesting when what I'm going to be writing in the two years something leaks out; you think, 'Where did after that as well, which won't be SF. I'm in a that come from?' very lucky position where I'm doing well and "I remember that there was a leak in the my name generates work. I'm not new to the

first series, and the head of drama seriously game. I'm 42 years old and I've got a long CV. mooted involving a marvelous department People want to work with me and, frankly,

called 'BBC Investigations.' They're brilliant Doctor Who is such a fine product that it's and lethal and will track down where the infor- doing me nothing but good. So I think I'll stick

mation is coming from, but the head of drama with it!"

mm/January 2007 33

a —

GREAT CHARACTER ACTOR PAUL GIAMATTI FOUND HIMSELF IN DEEP WITH LADY IN THE WATER.

Lady in the Water got torpedoed by crit- you to do on the page," says Giamatti. "The Night does lots of rehearsal, and he was very ics, and moviegoers pretty much stuttering was very relevant to him. I know specific about what he wanted. And he's ignored the M. Night Shyamalan film people who have stuttered, and I tried to extremely helpful about getting you to go upon its theatrical release. No one, however, draw on that, but I didn't want to go too over where he wants you to go. The way he really had a bad thing to say about the per- the top with the stutter because I wanted to shoots makes [the process] feel different. He formance of Paul Giamatti. The actor, mak- make sure that people could follow the story, doesn't beat the hell out of you during the ing a rare leap into leading-man territory, because the story is really important. That day or shoot the hell out of things. And he delivered a terrific turn as Cleveland Heep, was probably the most crucial element doesn't need tons of coverage. We filmed the stuttering, intensely private manager of having Night clarify the story all the time lots of close-ups and things were done sim- the Cove apartment complex where the because I'm not too bright and sometimes ply, so the days were really great. And he's arrival of Story (Bryce Dallas Howard)— get lost in the story. incredibly nice to the crew. mermaid-like narf—forces him to become "Night was instrumental in keeping me "He always has it incorporated into the her unlikely protector. on top of it. The fact that Heep is a doctor budget that he can build a bar on the set. The Giamatti credits Shyamalan with helping was also significant. That was a big thing, groundsman that Night always uses—this shape his performance. "What's great about even though it's only mentioned once, I amazing guy named Jimbo—opens a bar having a writer-director guy like Night is think, and you don't even know what kind of called Jimbo's on every set, and after work that he has pretty much got what he wants doctor. But it was all there on the page. everybody goes there. People just love work-

This isn't your typical love Story. In Lady, Cleveland Heep (Giamatti) becomes the unlikely protector of a narf (Bryce Dallas Howard).

Giamatti illuminated such recent films as Cinderella Man, Sideways and American Splendor (pictured), in which he played comic book writer Harvey Pekar.

^Mm/January 2007 35 ing for Night, and [having a bar] is incredi- backed off a bit, because I think it could overplayed that." bly smart because it makes for a great work- have become obtrusive, with people getting Not that Giamatti had any issues whatso- ing atmosphere. Everybody has a good time, distracted by the fact that I had the hots for ever with Howard. She, of course, is the and he doesn't make the days long. Night is the narf. But there definitely was a little exceptionally talented daughter of director reasonable about it. He doesn't want to kill weird sexual tension at first that develops Ron Howard, with whom Giamatti worked anybody." into a more paternal relationship. However, on Cinderella Man. "Bryce is great," he

it would have been too strange if we had raves. "She's one of those people who's so Character Parts Lady in the Water required Giamatti to be more physical than moviegoers have seen him in such films as Private Parts, The Truman Show, Man on the Moon, Big Mom- ma's House, Paycheck and Planet of the Apes (2001). So, what was the toughest part of making the film, which is out on DVD this month from Warner Home Enter- tainment? "Running around, carrying Bryce," Giamatti smiles. "She's a lovely wo- man, very light, not heavy, but I'm weak. And that was actually one of the hardest things I've ever had to do in my life—run- ning up those stairs carrying her. The entire

movie was tough, because I'm in it so much.

And I was obsessed about making sure that

the story was clear, because if it wasn't, there was no point to the film. The whole

idea is that you're supposed to follow the

story as they follow the story. Clarity is a dif- ficult thing for me, so that was a big concern.

And the underwater stuff was actually fun. I

enjoyed that. I can swim. I wouldn't have The critics can done this if I couldn't swim." knock Lady in the Giamatti may have gotten the clarity he Water all they want needed from Shyamalan, but most critics and but no one can moviegoers did not. They found the plot con- accuse Giamatti of founding. Narfs? Scrunts? Epic fairy tales? phoning in his Giant birds? How come nobody at the Cove performance. questions what's going on around them? Are the characters real, or perhaps figures in a fairy tale? And what's up with Heep and Story? Was there a sexual subtext between them or did people just imagine that? Supporting roles are just fine "There was supposed to be some" Gia- with Giamatti as matti replies, referring to the last question. long as they're as "We didn't want to get too out of control and good as his make it weird. In ways, some Night was police detective part always playing with that. In others, he in The Illusionist.

open as a person that she can only be even more open as an actor. She's fantastic and really skillful, and made me focus more

because she's so focused. I have a hard time concentrating, but she's fantastically, laser- like focused.

"Bryce is an extremely sophisticated act- ress, well beyond her years—and my years. She's like a seasoned veteran, and she reminds me of an English actor because of

her incredible precision, which is admirable and great. She's also beautiful and looks fan- tastic on film." Supporting Roles The last three years have been incredible for the chamelonic actor. Giamatti scored big with the one-two punch of American Splendor—in which he played comic book writer Harvey Pekar—and Sideways. Besides his Supporting Actor Oscar nomina- Audiences have been hearing a great deal of Giamatti lately. In The Ant Bully, tion for Cinderella Man, he co-starred with he voiced insect exterminator Stan Beals. Edward Norton and Jessica Biel in The

36 mm/January 2007 Illusionist. He has done quite a bit of Vaughn and Kevin Spacey and director voiceover work: Tim the Gate Guard in David (Wedding Crashers) Dobkin calling Robots, Stan Beals in The Ant Bully and the the shots. "That should be interesting," titular secret agent of the SCI FI Channel's Giamatti offers. "I play Santa Claus, and Amazing Screw-On Head. they're going to really make me look like the And there's more: he intones Dr. Satan in full-on Santa everybody has in their head. So Rob Zombie's animated film The Haunted I'm going to have to wear lots of prosthetics World of El Superbeasto, acts alongside and a giant fat suit, which I'm not looking Monica Bellucci and Clive Owen in Shoot forward to. There are a bunch of jokes about 'Em Up, reunites with the American his weight. He's trying to lose weight, and is

Splendor writing-directing team of Shari neurotic and embarrassed about it. He thinks Springer Berman & Robert Pulcini in The he's having a heart attack all the time. He's a Nanny Diaries and will don a fat suit to por- stressed-out Santa Claus. It's a funny idea." tray Santa in Joe Claus. And finally, Giamatti will play one of "Shoot 'Em Up is a pure action movie, America's founding fathers (and the coun- and I've never done anything like that try's second President) in John Adams, a before," Giamatti explains. "That was inter- seven-episode TV mini-series based on

esting because it can get mechanical and David McCullough's acclaimed bestseller.

weird for the actors, because it's literally all It's being made by Playtone (Tom Hanks'

about, 'Spin around and shoot. Do it again. company) for HBO. Spin around and shoot. Spin around and Giamatti isn't signed for anything be-

shoot...' It was constant gunfire, and it's a Amazingly, despite very violent movie. There was also this his rising star, incredibly macho atmosphere that gets Giamatti still has his tedious after a while. Head Screwed On "So Shoot 'Em Up was totally different straight—although from Lady in the Water, and it was much his bodiless Civil more of a workhorse experience, where they War secret agent might be an do beat you to death because it's the nature exception. of the thing. You're getting thrown down a staircase over and over again and, after a

while, it's hard. I don't know if I want to do another one of those again too soon, but it's a great movie and really fun." As for those animation gigs, Giamatti finds them kind of tricky. "I have to cut my voice off from everything else, and I consid- He did the er myself a physical actor. I need my body Limbo as an avaricious and my face, because I have to mug and do orangutan in stuff like that," he comments. "I don't think Tim Burton's my voice is that expressive, so it's a skill I'm Planet of the learn. I have a good having to People think Apes remake. voice, which is very nice of them, and they

keep hiring me. But it's odd, because you're yond those efforts, though he's loosely in this booth alone and you don't interact attached to Hungarian director Ildiko with other people. And the extent to which Enyedi's SF project Tender Interface, and he you can improvise is never quite clear. It's a has expressed a desire to collaborate with funny process, because you don't know what Don Coscarelli on whatever the Phantasm

it's going to look like, they don't know what and Bubba Ho-Tep director does next, which

it's going to look like and it takes a couple of could very well be Bubba Nosferatu. "That years to make one of those films. would be nice," Giamatti remarks. "I'm a big

"The Ant Bully is a very fun movie in fan of all of Don and Bruce Campbell's

which I play an exterminator trying to kill an movies, and I love Bubba Ho-Tep. If they ant colony. The Haunted World of El make a sequel to that, I would happily do it. Superbeasto is a Rob Zombie R-rated car- That's not quite locked in yet, but I await it.

toon. It's really dirty and full of drug humor. I've become friendly with Don. I don't know

I play a guy named Dr. Satan, who is trying Bruce, but I can't wait to meet him."

to take over the world. Then I did Amazing Looking to the future, genre fan Paul Screw-On Head, which is based on a one-off Giamatti says that he won't stand on cere- comic book by Mike Mignola, who created mony. He doesn't pretend he's a typical

Hellboy. It's an extremely weird thing set leading man, so if more lead roles come his during the Civil War about a robot who's a way, great, and if not, he's happy to jump secret agent for Abraham Lincoln. He's like back into supporting parts. "Oftentimes, the Abraham Lincoln's 007. His head comes off, supporting characters are more eccentric and and he can screw on different bodies. And interesting to me. I've been getting so many I'm the robot. It's bizarre, the stories are intriguing roles, like this really great sup- strange and the animation is wild-looking porting part in The Illusionist. It's a period

thriller, and I play a police detective. and beautiful. The hope is that people will Reuniting with the American Splendor somber like the show and it will become a series, writing-directing team of Shari Springer So the supporting stuff is often better. I'm which would be great." Berman & Robert Pulcini, Giamatti will be happy doing leads, too, as long as people Then there's Joe Claus, with Vince seen in The Nanny Diaries. keep hiring me. But those are a lot of work."-j www.starlog.com mm/January 2007 37 Tate takes a hand as effects wizard Stefen Tanameier directs afantasy epic.

By JOE NAZZARO

s the old cliche goes, "I really liked the core of the story and

M I what Stefen Fang- was happy that I connected with these W M I meier really wanted characters," he recalls. "I was always a bit JfL—pBI to do was direct. worried that I would get a film that had ^^^^^^k Having established visual effects as a big element, but not W himself as one of the necessarily a strong storyline that I con- JIT industry's top visu- nected with—something that would end al FX supervisors on such big-budget up being less emotional and lacking a Hollywood blockbusters as The Perfect great character arc. But that's not what I

Storm, Signs, Master and Commander and found in Eragon, because the story is Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate about destiny, maturing and the relation- Events, Fangmeier was looking to make ship between Eragon and Saphira. the jump into directing. It was just a ques- "If you look at films like Alexander or tion of finding a studio willing to give him Troy, I have to say that I wasn't emotion- that first break. ally involved in them. To me, as a movie- And as luck would have it, 20th goer, it's important to have more than just Century Fox executives were shopping an escapist experience. I really thought around for a director to take on the fea- about why I wanted to direct, which is to ture film adaptation of Eragon. Based on make people feel something—and I think the bestselling fantasy novel by most of my visual-effects work has done Christopher Paolini, the story follows the that. It's also important to me that young adventures of a young farm boy who dis- audiences can track the emotions of the covers an object that turns out to be a characters, and that was one of the things dragon egg. With a dragon as one of the I expressed to the studio that probably picture's principal characters, it seemed helped make my case for being involved. I only logical to pick a director with exten- told the people at Fox that I wanted to sive visual FX experience, and Fangmeier keep Eragon smaller and concentrate finally had his break. more on the characters, rather than try-

A frustrated Fangmeier (right) had problems casting a leading man, but the long wait was worth it when he found his Eragon in Edward Speleers (left).

38 STARLOGAnuory 2007

—

that I chose. I wanted strong reds and blue- time lead, and nobody black costumes for the bad guys, so red and knew if it was going to black became my color scheme. Durza's red work. hair and facial scarification and all those "On the other hand, I ideas came out of me sitting down with the have a 13-year-old son artists and working everything out—which I and a stepson who's 21, so was able to do because of my position with Ed and I bonded. It was a ILM." neat experience and really

Meanwhile, Fangmeier had to start cast- worked for the role. And I ing his movie, beginning with the role of was able to shoot the Eragon, which turned out to be more diffi- opening act first—the cult than anybody anticipated. While the scenes with Eragon grow- director confirms that production came close ing up and living on the to shutting down due to the frustration of not Charged with safeguarding the last dragon egg, Arya farm. We brought in Chris (Sienna Guillory) the daughter of the elven Queen joins finding the right lead, he disputes early — — Egan, who plays Eragon's Eragon on his epic journey. reports that they looked at thousands of can- cousin Roran. Chris is a didates before deciding on more experienced actor, and it helped to Edward Speleers. have somebody there with whom Ed got "I don't know where along." that story came from, but For the role of Arya, the beautiful elf who it was hundreds, not thou- has been working with the rebel Varden to sands," he corrects. "We safeguard the last dragon egg, Fangmeier had casting agents all over cast Sienna Guillory, with whom Speleers the world looking for quickly developed a convincing on-screen actors, so many people chemistry. "I had to remind Ed—especially showed up, and eventually in the first couple of scenes with her and we began to think a little some of the other females—to not be too bit older. When the young flirtatious, because he's quite an outgoing adult male audience young guy," Fangmeier grins. "So I had to which is 18 to 25—goes to say, T know you like her, but pull back a bit, something like the Matrix because we don't want you to over-empha- movies, they'll see them How do you top The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy's size it.' Even in the book, their relationship is again and again, so that's Humma Kavula? Being John Malkovich isn't easy, but the more one of destiny—where he has these an important [demograph- actor did his best as the intimidating King Galbatorix. visions of Arya before they actually meet ic] to get. "We started aging Eragon and making him more mature. I did five screen tests with different actors, but I kept going back to the script, and even when we were screen-test- ing those scenes, they just didn't seem right for somebody that old. Six weeks before shooting began, we still didn't have Eragon, and I began to think, 'Are we going to be able to make this film?' because without Eragon, there wasn't going to be a movie. We would have had to come back the next spring because we had run out of time, and there were some weather concerns because it had started snowing in Budapest in No- vember.

"At that point, I flew to London, and they brought in 25 boys who were 17 to 19 years old. We read them all, because the next day I had to send out a DVD with my top 10 favorites. I found one actor whom I really liked, and two days later he came in and read for us again, this time off the page, because he had memorized the lines. So six weeks before we started filming, we were finally " able to say, 'He's Eragon!' Fangmeier may have been positive about his choice, but casting an unknown young actor as the high-profile lead in a major film wasn't without some risk. "The studio had to make their commitment, but I felt in my gut that it was Ed, and it worked out in the end," he declares. "Although Ed had never done anything in front of the camera before, he had been in some school plays, so it was a matter of finding him an acting coach right away. It was a first-time director with a first-

40 miOManuary 2007 halfway through the film. So it was impor- Jurassic Park added a fresh twist to dinosaurs by incorporating bird tant to not make that relationship too obvi- elements. For Eragon's dragon, Fangmeier wanted to stay away from lizards, adding feathery lion parts. ous. It's a fine line between that attraction wings and out of mystery and one out of pure lust and the hormones working. "The thing that impressed me about Sienna was that the role required a tremen- dous amount of energy, and she really

worked hard to convince me that 'I can do this. I'm a great horse rider.' And for the fighting sequences, we needed somebody who—even though she's petite—could make people believe that she's actually able to do all of these things. I saw King Arthur,

and as much as I like Keira Knightley as an

actress, I thought for that particular role, she didn't work for me. I was a little concerned, but Sienna convinced me that she could pull it off and still have an elvish feel to her."

In addition to his youthful leads, Fangmeier put together a strong supporting son says no—what's our backup plan?' And cast: Jeremy Irons as Eragon's mentor there wasn't one. Brom, Alun Armstrong as Uncle Garrow, "There were people that the studio insist- Djimon Hounsou as Ajihad, leader of the ed on, and there were some people I fought Varden, Robert Carlyle as the evil "Shade" for. I had a strong conviction about Alun and Durza and John Malkovich as King Robert. We had to spend a third of our bud- Galbatorix. "The casting process was quite get on UK talent, and I found out—even interesting, but it seemed chaotic to me," though this wasn't meant to be a period says Fangmeier. "I come from ILM, where piece—that having English thespians gave there's a very structured method of produc- the film an aged feel. And then we threw in tion, but our casting people would say, 'Oh, a wild card like Garrett Hedlund [who plays let's go for this person! But what if that per- Murtagh] to get something different. So the

No "stinking lizard," Saphira was digitally created by ILM. Fangmeier insisted on a creature that was Shade of red. Robert Carlyle is Durza, "something real and the fiery-haired and -tempered second in not cartoony." command to Galbatorix.

mix of American and English actors worked out quite well. "I only had John for a few days, so he wasn't around as long as Robert, and yet all his scenes were with Robert, and that really informed their scenes together, because there was some intimidation going on.

Galbatorix is the ruler of the land, and Robert was a little intimidated, but he rose to the occasion of being slightly defiant when he could be. Durza would prefer not to deal with the king, but because Galbatorix has the

dragon and is a dragon rider, he has to. Durza has ambition, as the second in com- mand often does; he wants to outdo Galbatorix." Although Fangmeier cast against type, he never had any doubt about his choices. "I'm a big believer in intuition, because when an actor shows up and says the first couple of

lines, you instinctively buy it or you don't," he remarks. "That's why good casting is so important, because actors inhabit their roles. Jeremy has never played a part like this before, and what he and I locked onto right away is that Brom is like a Vietnam vet—he has fallen from grace and has a troubled past. We wanted to play that up, because it's crucial that Brom has an arc; his redemption www.starlog.com S\m.WJanuory 2007 41 After having gone through this Eragon experience, Fangmeier remarks: "I now understand why George Lucas uses a computer %v to create everything."

comes from taking this young dragon rider of the last things we did. Hopefully, we why George Lucas uses the computer to cre- to the next level. came up with a new look: strong and power- ate everything, because you constantly have "The best performances come from the ful, yet feminine. There are all these differ- to make compromises and deal with limita- subconscious," Fangmeier continues. "For ent components to her character, and we tions. Just working with the weather—you instance, with Robert, we thought Durza wanted to end up in the middle: something start shooting a scene in the morning and it's should speak strangely because he's a real and not too cartoony." sunny, and then you shoot the reverse and Shade. So I went to Robert and we tried that suddenly everything is cloudy. Hopefully, for a couple of hours, but then we agreed An Eldest Fate you can take care of that later on with color that he should speak the way he's comfort- Production on Eragon took place around timing, but those things are challenging for a able, because actors can overdo it or try too Budapest and several other Eastern director." much and then they lose what they bring European locations, which made for some If Eragon is a hit, the studio would al- with them." interesting complications during the shoot. most certainly make the next installment in Apart from Eragon, the most significant "I always pictured the film as having an Old Paolini's Inheritance Trilogy, Eldest. "I feel character in the film is Saphira, who was World European feel, particularly with the a strong commitment to Ed, and if there are created by ILM using cutting-edge technolo- costumes, which are sort of Eastern going to be any more films, we would like to gy. It's not the first time that a digitally cre- European," says Fangmeier. "In retrospect, I do them together," Fangmeier comments. ated dragon has played a major role in a probably would have chosen somewhere "Ed is more likely to be in the next movie; movie—look at Dmgonheart (1996) and else, but that's one of those things that you whether it gets offered to me is a decision Reign of Fire (2002)—but Fangmeier want- learn from experience: to make sure the that the studio has to make. I would [prefer ed his creature to look much different. "It's places you need actually exist. to film parts] two and three together—which interesting that you mention those films, "Once we were located in Budapest, we makes sense economically—and approach because they're two extremes," he points were limited to about a 45-minute radius for them as two tightly connected movies. Since out. "I call the dragons in Reign of Fire most of our locations. There are constant we know that there's a third one, I would 'stinking lizards,' because they had no per- limitations and compromises that you have want to keep the second film interesting and sonality or emotions. They were purely terri- to deal with. Hungary is also very flat, which pay off everything in the last one. The sec- ble reptiles—they could have been giant alli- I didn't realize, so we spent about 10 days in ond film would be more of a set-up." gators. Slovakia to get the mountain landscapes. It Whether or not an Eragon sequel lies

"And in Dmgonheart, they took it to the was scenic, pretty and far less expensive ahead, Fangmeier is certain that directing is other extreme of having this chatty, cartoon- than Hungary, which has been in the the career path he wants to pursue in the like dragon. The visuals were interesting, but European Union for a number of years now, coming years. "I know that I want to do this, the personification went too far. I wanted to which automatically drives up costs. All of and it's extremely fulfilling, but it's a com- do something like the dinosaurs in Jurassic those things added up, and there were some pletely different lifestyle. I'm unfamiliar Park, which were grounded in the real ani- hitches, but we just had to roll with them. with not constantly being hard at work, and mal world. You bought their fierceness, and "I also wanted to give the film a natural that's a letdown in terms of the shooting there was also something you could person- and organic rather than artificial look, aspect. _ ally relate to—it's a fine line. because this farm boy comes from a world "I've talked to other directors who have £ "We talked about things like the dragon's that isn't all that unfamiliar to us. I wanted to two or three years between films as they're 1 eyes, because you can't connect with reptil- construct as much of it as possible and not developing things that don't go ahead, and ^ ian eyes, so we steered away from that. In do a whole lot of blue screen. That might that's a big change for me," Stefen | terms of the elements, initially body we had work for some space adventure, but Eragon Fangmeier admits. "That's why you always J" a mane on the dragon. We took lion parts and is a more natural story. Even though there have to put your best foot forward. And I feel * body positions and stayed away from the are dragons, they're animals of nature. positive that there is material out there that I ~ lizard qualities. The feathery wings were one Having gone through this, I now understand really want to do." a

42 STARLOG/towa/y 2007 www.starlog.com !Eragon art reafity hero Syeieers. Waking y became for young T^d

,„ M e's a great character," i therethere'ss this sensitive'sensitive side to him, and you i on to Eragon. My drama teacher at school

declares Edward Spe- I see glimpses of that coming out in his rela- actually told me about the Eragon audi ^^^m B j it m leers, discussing his I tionship with [the dragon] Saphira, which I tion, so that's how came about." ™MM flamM starring role in the i is amazing. You see a best friend/mother What Speleers didn't know was that

S much-anticipated fea- I figure rather than a dragon, and I'm real- I director Stefen Fangmeier had already

ture film adaptation I ly looking forward to watching that arc auditioned hundreds of actors across the W M j of Eragon. Based on develop over three books." globe without much success. And without 4v j the bestselling fantasy novel by Chris the movie's lead in place, the producers topher Paolini, Eragon tells the story of an COITlllig were seriously wondering if the start of Coming ofOt AQ6Age j j immature farm boy who discovers an egg I Talking to Speleers about the film, it's principal photography would have to be j

that hatches into a dragon, propelling difficult not to see flashes of life imitating I pushed back. "That's what I was told j both characters into an ancient destiny of art and vice versa. After all, Eragon is the later on, so when people ask me about the j j

magic power. tale of a young man leaving boyhood ; pressure, I'm glad that I wasn't aware of and j of the most essential things about behind in order to set out on the greatest [all those other actors] until afterward," "One j j this character is the journey he's taking," i adventure of his life. For the 19-year-old says Speleers. j says Speleers. "Obviously, there is ! British actor, Eragon isn't only a huge i "Apparently, they had auditions in Eragon's journey as a dragon rider, but undertaking, but his first major show Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, j j

he's I business project of any kind. "I went on the U.S. all the English-speaking coun- embarking on another journey: This business | — naive, confused boy is becoming a young I auditions for Chronicles Narnia," he tries. they came to London, I of j When

man. And I was in a similar position in my I notes, "and I auditioned for a couple of j walked into the audition thinking, 'At

life I was really I other things here and there, but I was still least I've met these people who are part of [while shooting Eragon], j

young, caught between boyhood and I enjoying school at that point and prepar- I the industry and I've had fun!' Of course,

adulthood, and I didn't know whether I I ing to try and enter drama school,school. i I would have been upset if I didn't get the

wanted to be a boy or an adult. I had to University was my first priority, so I was I part, but I wouldn't have been heartbro- j take step, has to do that, leaving auditioning to the side, but when ken. Then the second audition happened, that and Eragon j j I too. Christopher writes these books for they came up, I would go out for them." | and I thought, 'Hang on—now am going j

16-year-olds, and he does it so well I That included a new fantasy film ; to get quite upset!upset!'' And then I was told I understands that process. called Eragon that was looking for young had been short-listed, and a few days later because he j j is sensitive person. He's an actors in the London suburb of Hammer- dad phoned me to tell me that I had it. "Eragon a j my j

loves nature; I see as smith. "I didn't even have an agent at the i So it was very fast and weird and I'm still earthy boy who him j

somebody who's at one with everything, time," Speleers remembers. "I never had j on the same rush that I was back then." j

And he's an interesting character because I an agent until about a day before I signed ! Although Speleers was given the whole

A drama teacher's comment about the Eragon audition resulted in Edward Speleers getting his very first acting job—and what a debut! Just like his character, the young actor came of age during the greatest adventure of his life.

J

By JOE NAZZARO *

STARLOG/Zam/ary 2007 43 mm

script to work with during the second coaching Eragon in the ways of the was hard work, but the cast and crew audition, he was already familiar with ancient order. During their travels across pulled together to keep everybody smil- Eragon, the first installment in Paolini's Alagaesia, Brom is killed, but Eragon is ing. There were times when I was alone, Inheritance Trilogy. "There was only one rescued by a stranger named Murtagh and it was a scary task, but I had so much book at that stage, and I had read it at (Garrett Hedlund), who accompanies him support from people." school," he says. "The younger boys were on a search for the Varden, a rebel faction That included a number of his co- into that stuff, so I read it, and when the that Brom had previously mentioned. stars, who were happy to take Speleers second novel came out in August [2005], Along the way, Eragon encounters Arya under their wing. "Jeremy and Robert we had already been filming for about a (Sienna Guillory)—an elf with a strong were fantastic about helping and guiding month or so, and I read that one, too. I re- connection to Saphira—and an army of me," extols Speleers. "It was a little read the first book once I had the part, bestial Urgals commanded by a powerful daunting, the idea that, 'Oh my God. I'm because I wanted to study the character, "Shade" named Durza (Robert Carlyle), going to be working with Jeremy Irons and even though it might not come a human possessed by spirits. and Robert Carlyle!' But if I thought through in my performance, I certainly everything was scary the whole time. I thought about how Eragon was written. Baptism of Fire wouldn't have been able to do the job, so One of the things that Christopher does In another case of reality imitating art, I had to put that pressure behind me. brilliantly is that he stays so true to the Speleers admits that he was able to chan- "Jeremy and Robert are sympathetic emotions of a 16-year-old." nel some of his own thoughts and emo- actors, and they gave me a lot to work Eragon takes place in the kingdom of tions as a neophyte actor into essaying a with. I was in a very lucky situation.

Alagaesia, which is ruled by the evil King character who is learning the ways of the Jeremy was a mentor figure on and off Galbatorix (John Malkovich), once a leg- world himself. "I hope I've been able to screen, and Robert is one of the sweetest

endary dragon rider. But the king has all put some of my feelings into the perfor- guys I've ever met. Sienna is a lovely but wiped out the other riders, and the mance," he muses. "I think there will be girl, wonderful to work with, and we dragons are now believed to be extinct. some kind of link—in terms of the growth got on really well. We're good Then Eragon—a young villager from and development of Eragon as I'm grow- friends, and if all goes according Carvahall—finds a mysterious blue stone ing and developing myself. So hopefully to plan with Eragon, it will be in the wooded mountains and discovers we can grow up together." fun to develop our relationship that the object is in fact an incredibly rare With production due to begin almost even further. She's a stunning dragon egg. When the sapphire-blue immediately in Budapest and parts of lady. dragon hatches, he names the animal Eastern Europe, Speleers quickly found "I also got to work with Alun Saphira and keeps it hidden until the himself in unfamiliar surroundings—and Armstrong [Eragon's Uncle Garrow], monstrous Ra'zac arrive in Carvahall in more ways than one. "Fortunately, I who has a small part in the beginning. I looking for the stone. had great people around me," he says. grew up with him on British TV and film, Deciding to become a dragon rider "There were many Brits there, so we and he's a lovely man as well. Chris Egan himself, Eragon leaves the village along would talk about what was happening in plays my cousin Roran, and we had loads

with Saphira and Brom (Jeremy Irons), the [football] Premiership in order to of fun doing our scenes together. I also got an enigmatic storyteller who begins keep the humor going. Shooting the film on very well with Garrett. There were so

Eragon (Speleers) didn't realize that he was playing with fire when he picked up that odd blue stone, which turned out to be a rare and much coveted dragon egg be delighted to do it—if people want happy, and that's part of the acting side. me to, of course." In terms of Eragon 's development, we can Eldest—the second book in the trilo- grow together, and hopefully I'll be able gy—is quite a different piece, as Eragon to explore some of his other characteris- has been severely scarred emotionally and tics, like his sadder side." physically by the events of Book One. "I Looking back at working on Eragon, think we can still make that journey Ed Speleers remarks: "What I've taken = together," Speleers says of his character. from this experience is the joy of manag- ^ many actors coming in and out to do little "I don't want to become a tragic figure ing to get in the position that I've always .1 bits, and I made some nice friendships out myself, but that development can come wanted to be in. I also take a lot of happi- ^ of it." out through certain emotions. I don't ness from making this movie. There are so g Speleers' biggest supporter may have have to be Method to get to that point. I'm many good memories, and I'm now begin- 5 °° been Fangmeier, whose extensive visual not saying that I have a terrible year ning to understand what I need to do in ™ FX experience was invaluable, since ahead of me, but there are things in my order to better myself and stay in this Speleers had to spend so much time acting life that aren't always going to make me industry." a with a non-existent dragon. "Stefen looked out for me all the time, as a direc- tor and a friend," he agrees. "We had a good bond, and I knew from the original audition that even if I didn't get the part, I would get on well with him. Stefen was helpful and came up with some amazing, creative ideas. "I also had a great coach for acting and dialogue, and I had one of the best blue-screen whiz-kids around in Stefen. At first, I did struggle with the whole notion of the dragon, but once I got the idea of Saphira being a tennis ball on top of a pole and made it something of my own using things from my life, it became easier. Whether my performance is good or bad, it became easier for me." Should Eragon prove to be a box office hit, it's a foregone conclusion that 20th Century Fox will greenlight a sequel, and that's just fine with Speleers, who recent- ly decided to forego his university educa- tion in favor of a full-time acting career. "If the next movie comes along, I would —

A Scanner Darkl/s protagonist is Bob Arctor/Officer Fred (Keanu Reeves), an overwrought cop assigned to spy on himself.

PARANOID See as through A Scanner Darkly this rotoscoped view of

Richard Linklater stumbles, bumbles and fumbles as he tries to explain A Scanner Darkly to the uninitiated. "Wow," begins the filmmaker, who dared to tackle Philip K. Dick's mind-bending 1977 novel as

a feature. "It's. ..we... At its core, this is so multilayered, I think, that there's no way I could narrow it down to one sentence. For me, it was just this feeling I had about Bob Arctor, this sense of loss, this future moment where we've all sort of turned on one anoth- er, where power structures and technology are used against us. It's a picture of alienation alienation from yourself and those around you. But it's definitely not just one thing...

"By telling the whole story, it becomes many things," continues Linklater, who wrote

and directed the film. "It's a comedy and it's

a tragedy. And it doesn't matter what I think, because everyone's going to see something different anyway. Also, when we were mak- ing this, I said, 'Yeah, technically we're in the science fiction genre, but the only thing that's truly science fiction about it is the scramble

suit.' My thought was, 'Let's just say they invented the scramble suit tomorrow. Well, that's our science fiction future.' It didn't need to be years and years from today. We're living in science fiction right now. If you jump back a generation, we're in science fic- tion today. It's amazing if you look back far enough. The future, tomorrow, is always sci- ence fiction." Dazed Looks For the record, A Scanner Darkly is set seven years from now, and follows Bob Arctor/Officer Fred (Keanu Reeves), a cop so deep undercover that his superiors don't even realize they've assigned him to spy on him-

self. It's that kind of world, though, ruled by

46 miOG/January 2007 www.starlog.com Woody Harrelson has had some eccentric parts in his career, but perhaps none as crazy as Ernie Luckman.

ATIO Dick's addictive future.

By IAN SPELLING

paranoia brought on by non-stop government surveillance and the population's knack for turning one another in to the authorities. And

poor Officer Fred is in bad shape, bored with his job, hidden behind his identity-protecting

scramble suit, dating a sexually disinterested woman (Winona Ryder), hanging out in a beat-up house with a bunch of stoners/slack- ers, among them Luckman (Woody Harrel- son), Barris (Robert Downey Jr.) and Freck (Rory Cochrane). He's also growing increas- ingly addicted to the drug Substance D, which he's supposed to be helping keep off

the street. A Scanner Darkly seems like an odd

choice for Linklater. However, it's as eclectic a project as anything else he has done: Slacker, Dazed and Confused, Before Sun- rise, The Newton Boys, Waking Life, Tape, The School of Rock, Before Sunset and The Bad News Bears. "I responded to the materi-

al," Linklater says of the novel. "I've always believed that the material must have been

deeply personal to Dick. I felt something for those characters. I'm a Philip K. Dick fan,

and I thought it would be a good one to try to

tackle. I also thought the fdm could be very different from other movies based on his books and stories [Blade Runner, Total Recall, Minority Report]. Yet, there's some- thing very Philip K. Dick about this story,

too. It captures many of the same themes that he revisited over and over: his view of the world, sense of humor, great imagin- ation.. .everything." Securing the rights, however, proved com-

Slimb/January 2007 47 In a near future plagued by paranoia and suspicion, shady characters like James Barris (Robert Downey Jr.) shouldn't be trusted.

Philip K. Dick s book is ^ autobiographical. Between 1970 and 1972, the author lived with a rotating group of drug users at his home in Marin County.

Hoping to film the novel, Linklater had to convince Dick's daughters that he was the right person for the project.

plicated. Numerous filmmakers—many with far deeper pockets than Linklater—had sought to bring A Scanner Darkly to the screen over the years, but none had gotten the OK from the keepers of the Dick Estate, namely his daughters Isa and Laura. Linklater

somehow pulled it off. "It was pretty hard,

ultimately, especially once it was clear that we couldn't pay the going rate," the filmmak- er notes. "I flew up and met with his daughters. They had read the script and wanted to talk

with me. They were intrigued that I wanted to do it, and they liked where I was going with

it. They just wanted to talk some more about

the script, and it was a great opportunity to get to know them and find out more about

their Dad. It confirmed a lot of stuff that I felt about the book, like this had to have really happened, this had to be very autobiographi- cal. And, in fact, Isa, his youngest daughter, What's bugging Freck (Rory Cochrane)? The Substance D addict is convinced that told me that, yeah, she had lived in that house. insects are crawling all over his body.

48 mm/January 2007 This isn't the first time Linklater used interpolated rotoscoping. He applied the same process to 2001 's Waking Life.

She was a little girl who lived there, then did were able to work a little quicker. And movies at this point. I know we all did the best not live there anymore, and then those guys because you get an hour or so on the tape, I we could. We brought our A-game and gave it moved in." could let it roll and say, 'Go again, go 100 percent, so what's there is our absolute again' —but I do that anyway on my films. best effort. I don't expect everyone to love this Confused Lives Still, it was pretty freeing to do it in Hi-Def. film, but that's kind of in the design of this Befitting the story's schizophrenic nature, We worked fast and did the whole movie in one. It's not a mainstream movie in that way, Linklater thought both big and small with A about 23 1/2 days. We were scheduled for 25, and yet I think the people who want to go Scanner Darkly. Armed with a paltry-by- but the actors were well-rehearsed and we just there with us will be rewarded." Hollywood standards $8 million budget, he rock and rolled. And we had a good time Actually, there's more to the Cannes Film assembled a pricey cast—Reeves, Ryder, doing it, too." Festival story than some critics heading for Harrelson and Downey—who agreed to work As for the rotoscoping, Linklater points the exits during A Scanner Darkly. Linklater for scale. He then set about filming A Scanner out that the scramble suit alone would have was there with a second film, the controversial Darkly in Hi-Def and, once the live-action cost more than the entire movie had it been Fast Food Nation, a fictionalized version of shoot wrapped, had the footage animated shot as a live-action feature with CGI. "We the bestselling non-fiction indictment of the using the same time-consuming interpolated could have done some cool effects, for sure, fast food industry (scheduled for release rotoscoping technique he applied to Waking but then it would have made it seem—for me, November 17). If nothing else, Linklater likes Life. from my aesthetic—goofy, in a live-action showing different sides of himself, much like "You follow your instincts in casting, just setting," he says. "Kind of like in a graphic a human scramble suit. like anything else you do on a film," Linklater novel, the uniformity of the look [all animat- "I shot A Scanner Darkly two years ago," explains. "This is the best cast imaginable ed] makes you accept everything on an equal Richard Linklater says. "It has been a while, and, at this point, I can't picture anybody else level. You kind of go, 'OK, that's real and but we had a lengthy post-production as these characters. Reflecting back, people that's real and that's real.' You incorporate it [because the rotoscoping took longer than were going, 'Wow, look at that group.' all into your thinking. It's all equally unreal, expected]. I've directed two other films in the

They're all kind of radicals, in their own way. which makes it real." meantime: The Bad New Bears, which is one

Each one of them is a free-thinking, outsider, The finished film, Linklater fully realizes, side of myself, and Fast Food Nation, which radical-type personality, and I think they doesn't please everyone. Some critics walked is another. And I would say that A Scanner needed to be just to want to do this film at all. out of screenings during the Cannes Film Darkly is yet another side. I'm not looking for "Like any team you put together, they each Festival. On the other hand, few people truly consistency in this world; I'm just trying to brought their own game to it, and it's all dif- appreciated Dick until well after his death in follow my own muse and do what I'm inter- ferent. But that's the fun thing about directing 1982. "I'm very satisfied with it," Linklater ested in at any moment. That's just the way I a movie like this—you get everyone's unique notes. "I've felt this way about most of my want to go through life." sensibility and can incorporate it into the whole. With his humor, for instance, Woody reminds me of a silent-film comedian, kind of big and slapsticky. That was his impulse, and

I really liked that for Luckman, who's just there, but he's a physical presence. Downey is more modern, but very cerebral, and equally interesting in his physicality. His brain works so quickly. That's what's so humorous: seeing his brain almost overrunning his body. Rory is totally tweaked out. He's way out in left field. And then you have Keanu, who's much more subdued and also cerebral. So they brought all these different vibes. "I usually had two cameras going, like I would on a normal movie," Linklater adds, speaking now about shooting in Hi-Def. "So, on one hand, it was pretty much how I would usually make a film. On the other hand, we www.starlog.com mmh ilm composer and through that. The carrot is that I get to score editor John Ottman the movie." was 14 when Chris- Ottman was up to the challenge of writ-

topher Reeve first ing a new score for Superman Returns, but it flew into theaters in took him a while to feel comfortable step- HHH^H Superman (1978). ping into Williams' shoes. "I felt pressure to ^^^^^^^^^^ The fdm created a do the right thing and live up to what the whole new genera- expectations would be," he notes. "Even if I

tion of Superman did the best job I could and created a really

fans, including Ott- good score, I thought it would never be man, for whom the embraced. I reached a climax of anxiety John Williams musi- because I was too concerned about the cal score was as powerful as the Man of whole John Williams thing. Finally, I real-

Steel himself. ized I couldn't do that to myself. It was "It was an emotional fdm on an epic going to cripple me creatively. scale," Ottman reflects. "There are scenes in "So I threw all that out the window and it that still give me chills, like when started writing a score as I would for any Superman's [adoptive] father dies. He has film, with my own sensibilities and my own this beautiful moment with Glenn Ford [Pa style. Then I incorporated Williams' Super- Kent], and afterward he runs up to the barn man material as the main theme for our and collapses. [Director] Richard Donner movie. That released me from the pressure. cuts to a wide shot, and it's very quiet, with Once in a while, I would still stop and think, subtle music. Sequences like that are beauti- 'Oh my God, it's Superman!' Then I would fully done and gave an air of legitimacy to snap out of it and keep writing. I'm elated

Superman, when it could easily have been now, because the response to the score has Ottman adds. "When I saw Lost in Space, for something ludicrous. The tag line was, been positive. I haven't had people throwing example, and Wild Wild West, I was really 'You'll Believe a Man Can Fly,' which says Molotov cocktails at my house!" bummed that they didn't use the themes it all." from the TV shows. Even with the Spider- Given that kind of reverence for the Recurring Themes Man movies, I wanted to hear a big, orches- Donner picture, it's no wonder that Ottman There was never any question in tral version of the cartoon theme we all suffered some initial pangs of doubt when Ottman's mind that Williams' Superman know." director Bryan Singer gave him the task of theme had to be included in the new score. "I While Superman Returns had its own writing the score for Superman Returns would have been one of the rioters in the specific musical requirements, Ottman saw

(now on DVD). "I felt like no matter what I streets if we hadn't used the original main the task in the same philosophical light that came up with, I would be fed to the lions," title music," says Ottman. "The whole idea he sees all film scores. "Music is the soul of Ottman says with a laugh. "I understood behind Superman Returns was to preserve a film," he declares. "You can have a movie how people might ask, 'Why the hell isn't and update the world that Donner had creat- without music, but it would be like a person " John Williams scoring this?' ed in 1978. We didn't want to pervert that in without a soul. Music can make or break a The answer is that Ottman is Singer's any way. As Bryan said at one point, not picture. One film can become three different first choice to score, as well as edit, all of his using the original Williams theme would be films if you score it three different ways. movies. "Bryan and I are a creative team," like taking the red cape off of Superman. It This is why directors panic when they hire a states Ottman. "When he places me in edit- would be wrong. composer and go to a scoring session. Music ing jail for a year on his films, he has to dan- "I'm a firm believer in keeping the estab- is the one element that forever changes the gle some sort of carrot for me to put myself lished musical themes in film franchises," movie in one way or another. It's difficult to

50 Smm/January 2007 www.starlog.com All Superman Characters & Photos: Trademark & Copyright 2006 DC Comics, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Superheroes and Bryan Singer movies are becoming synonymous with composer-film editor John Ottman.

SUPERMAN RETURNS JOHN OTTMAN SCORES WITH A DUAL CAREER AS FILM COMPOSER & MOVIE EDITOR.

control, because not everyone speaks in musical terms. Additionally, music is very subjective. So it's a scary phase of filmmak- ing, but it can also be an exciting one." The Superman Returns score needed to reflect the personal nature of Superman's story in the film. Lois Lane also required special musical treatment, as her story is much different than before. "Lois is in a dif- ferent place in her life now," Ottman muses. "She's dealing with a love triangle involving Richard White and Superman, and she has a child, too. So the music had to comment on both Lois and Superman in their new situa- tion. That's where most of the new thematic material came in." Ottman wrote new music for Lex Luthor, who never had a theme in the earlier Superman movies. "That was fun to do," Ottman comments. "Previously, Otis had a theme, but not Lex. So that was a nice motif acknowledges. "A chorus is an element that to weave throughout the movie—a simple adds an extra 'something' to the emotion and thing that people could latch onto quickly." humanity of a scene. It's a tricky thing, Some of the film's most beautiful and because if you use a choir in the wrong way,

moving music is part of what Ottman calls it can seem cheesy. "Superman's Personal Theme." "That's the "One of my influences was the choir in music that plays whenever Superman is by the soundtrack for 2007: A Space Odyssey. I himself, or listening to the words of his thought of the Monolith in that movie, and

father," the composer explains. "You hear it the weird choir that is from a piece by a when he leaves Lois' house after she says composer named Gyorgy Ligeti. I wanted to she doesn't love him. Superman feels deject- do something similar to that for Kryptonite. ed, and he hears the words of his father as he But I didn't have the Ligeti scores, and I flies into space to be alone. The 'Personal have no idea what he was really doing with

Theme' also plays when Superman the choir, so I just made up my own thing. Not being flies up to be rejuvenated by the During the choir session for Superman intimidated by Sun. I designed the music so it Returns, I had the males sort of quiver John Williams' to between half steps and quarter tones, jump- Superman score could be passed off the boy, it's around. conductor looked at like was critical to because obvious that they ing My me nailing the right share a strong connection. And I was insane, but when we did two or three notes for that theme became my main tracks of it, it sounded very cool." Superman Superman theme for the movie." Despite 2001's influence and his affec- Returns. The extensive use of softer, tion for Williams' work, Ottman says his all- more serene motifs might seem a time favorite film scores are those by the late departure to those familiar with Jerry Goldsmith. "Anything he did between

the the early is Surprisingly, Ottman's scores for such scare '60s and '80s bound to be a Lex Luthor flicks as Halloween: H20, Gothika favorite of mine," proclaims Ottman. "The (Kevin Spacey) and House of Wax. Ottman chuck- Star Trek: The Motion Picture score is one never had his own les knowingly at that suggestion. example. Often, though, it's the obscure theme in the "I've been pigeonholed for a Goldsmith scores that I like best. He scored Superman films. decade as the dark and sinister a TV mini-series in 1981 called Masada that Ottman was glad guy," he says. "But I have always was astounding." to provide one. yearned to create beautiful music. Ottman has praise for James Horner, too.

The funny thing is, the scores for many of "Growing up, it was Goldsmith, Williams Halloween: the twisted films I've done have included a and Horner. Those were the main guys I lis- H20 is now water under few beautiful moments. If the movie itself is tened to," he says. "People like to rag on the bridge, seen as dark, though, then people don't real- Horner, but if you're a film score geek like I but Ottman ize that there was music that wasn't dark. am, and you know all the work that Horner wasn't With Superman Returns, it's nice to finally has done, you realize there are some brilliant overjoyed create some expository music that people moments in his career. His scores for The that most of notice is emotional in nature." Land Before Time and An American Tail are his work was Equally noteworthy is the score's judi- real gems." replaced. cious use of choirs, which Ottman called

Photo: Nicola upon several times with intentionally differ- Final Cuts Goode/Copyright ent results. Sometimes it's a female choir, The conversation turns to the other hat 1998 Dimension Films sometimes male; sometimes the effect is Ottman wears whenever he works on a lofty and pleasant, while other times the Singer picture. Ottman admits that he isn't voices are discordant, almost frightening. nearly as fond of editing movies as he is of "An orchestra can only do so much," Ottman scoring them. "I'm a composer first and an

Photo: Bob Akester/Copyright 1999 20th Century Fox. All Rights Reserved.

Composing for crocodile wasn't easy; Ottman considers Lake Placid the shallowest score he has ever done.

His first full-length When Marvel's feature as a director, mutants United in Urban Legends: Final X2, Ottman reunited Cut cost Ottman the with Singer and got chance to contribute his shot to score an , MM - to X-Men. X-Men adventure.

52 mm/January 2007 www.starlog.com editor second. Editing is dreary and long," Eight Legged he laughs. "It isn't something I seek out. But Freaks' both jobs are about telling a story and creat- unapologetic B-movie spirit ing the right peaks and valleys to make that inspired Ottman's story interesting. You can have a movie with- entertaining and out a score, but you cannot have a movie lively music. without an editor. Editing is probably the

most important job on a film. It involves lots of problem solving and a ton of diplomacy. Most editors see a light at the end of the tun- As any horror fan knows, the score nel, but when I get finished editing a picture, can add to the I've got this looming task to do, and that's scares on screen. the score. Ironically, I sometimes dread the Ottman feels thing I love, because I'm so burned out by that's the case the editing process." with Gothika. Nevertheless, Ottman continues to han- dle both jobs for Singer, largely because the production. "The fun thing about that job two men work together so well. "We have a was taking the John Carpenter theme from

system down, and a trust that goes with hav- the original Halloween and making it larger ing done so many projects together," Ottman than life," Ottman recalls. "H20 was an avows. "That's extremely valuable. We have 'event' movie in the lexicon of the a shorthand. Bryan can refer to an instance Halloween series. I expanded the original in another film where I did such and such, theme, and I created a new one for Jamie Lee and I'll immediately know what he's talking Curtis' character, among other things. about. Early in our careers, we rubbed off on "The director, Steve Miner, wanted to each other as far as our tastes and sensibili- approach the movie with a Hitchcockian ties. We share a certain taste that allows us to style, so I came up with a score in that vein.

see eye to eye 90 percent of the time." Miner and his editor loved it, but when it And yet, says Ottman, "There's still a went to the final dub stage, the Weinstein tension in the room that you can cut with a brothers [co-executive producers Bob & knife when Bryan comes over to hear some Harvey] said, 'Oh, this isn't like the temp musical cues. That's because we're both afraid that he's not going to like the cue. I've With Hide and Seek, got a schedule to adhere to—not to mention Ottman had a musical concept that I like—and I don't to orchestrate want my whole house of cards collapsing. music that And Bryan doesn't want that house of cards touched on a to collapse, either; he wants me to be happy range of and enthused. So we approach that phase of emotions. every film with a good deal of stress. My anticipation of Bryan's arrival to hear a cue that I've written is 10 times more exhausting than writing that cue over three days." Ottman has scored several films without Singer at the helm. One was Halloween: H20, which unfortunately didn't turn out well for Ottman, whose work was largely replaced with the temp score late in post- score.' The temp music was very in-your- face music that they used in Scream. I'm not slamming the music from Scream, but that film was obviously meant to be cliched and silly—which turned out to be what the Weinsteins wanted for H20. They wanted the screeching strings every time Michael Myers walked into the room. So, they put pieces of

the temp score back into the movie, and it became a weird mish-mash. "They even brought in [composer] Marco Beltrami to do synthesizer connectors between the different cues," he adds. "//20 was a weird project. There are moments in the score where I'm like, 'Great, that music

stayed where it was supposed to be.' But

there are others where I cringe and think, 'Oh my God, I hope no one sees this film.'

Those who have seen it look at me like I'm an idiot, but once you finish recording the

score, it's out of your hands." Miner's Lake Placid, released a year later, was another unhappy experience.

STARLOG/toaryW 53 Photo: Copyright 2005 Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. & Village Roadshow Films (BVI) Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Singer in 1988. "Final Cut taught me to find story starring Halle Berry. "I was quite a better script in the future," Ottman points inspired by that movie," Ottman reveals. "I

out with a laugh. "I had a good time, though. think I brought out a lot of scares and the

I remember walking onto the set and think- creepy feeling that might not have been there

ing, 'Am I going to be a deer in the head- without the score. I felt that Gothika set out

lights? Or is it all going to come back to to be an intelligent horror movie, so that's

me?' Within 10 minutes, it all came back. I what I tried to do with the music." felt very comfortable directing the actors, Hide and Seek (2005) was yet another creating the angles and so on. I would love to horror film featuring an Ottman score. "That

direct again, because it seemed natural to one includes one of my favorite themes that me. With my film editing experience, I I've created for a movie," he remarks. "It always had my shots completely planned was a challenge, because the theme had to convey many different emotions at one time. Breaking out the Emily, the little girl [played by Dakota church organ and Fanning], has just lost her mother, so there's going wild, Ottman devised a a sadness, but Emily is also about to start a Gothic horror new life with her father, so there's hope. score for the However, she could be the 'bad seed,' so House of Wax there's something disturbing, too. The theme remake. had to relay all those feelings simultaneous- An "X-Men movie ly. That was the challenge, but it was fun, with the leash and I'm happy with the way the score turned off," Fantastic out." Four was a fun Ottman also did the 2005 House of Wax popcorn picture remake, although he scoffs at the "remake" for Ottman. He's label. "You better put quotes around that," he scoring the grins. "I created an all-out, Gothic horror sequel, too. score for that movie, which, at its root, was

out, and I came in $1 million under budget a teen horror film. I knew going into House Reflecting thexharacters' humanity and because I was so organized. My favorite part of Wax that it wouldn't be a subtle score. It magic is Ottman's intent when Ben of directing is working with the actors. As an was something where I could get the church Stiller spends a Night at the Museum. editor and composer, I have very little inter- organ out and go crazy." action with people. I miss the camaraderie." He stowed the church organ away on Ottman paid a steep price to direct Urban Fantastic Four, which Ottman says was "like Legends, as his commitment to that film pre- scoring an X-Men movie with the leash off. vented him from scoring Singer's X-Men. The X-Men films are a more serious venture, The latter movie remains the only Singer and you have to be careful [to toe the] line

project not to feature an Ottman score (it's between a comic book and a movie that you by Michael Kamen and Matthew Ferraro want people to take seriously. Fantastic Four instead). "That wasn't the plan," he explains was a superhero popcorn picture, much ruefully. "Bryan and I wound up shooting lighter in nature. The music was therefore

just blocks from each other, and I would go unrestrictive in a way."

visit him on the X-Men set. The intention It comes as a particular pleasure to Ott- was for me to finish up my film and then man that he will get to score the sequel, score X-Men, but then the release date for X- Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. "It Men moved way up, and it collided with my has always been a fantasy of mine to follow post-production on Urban Legends. up my music with a sequel to my own work,"

"We tried everything to work it out. I he says. "That was my fantasy with X-Men g "That's the one movie, out of all I've done, went to Phoenix Pictures—which produced 2—I thought [Bryan and I] would go on to I where I struggled mightily to find where the Urban Legends—and asked if they could put do X3, so I established all these themes in X2 £ music's point-of-view was coming from," post-production on hiatus for a couple of to be expanded upon later. When I found out ~ the composer relates. "In every movie I months so I could score X-Men. Legends we weren't doing X3, I was crushed. Now, g score, I use the characters to draw my musi- didn't have a release date yet, but they still with Fantastic Four, I'm getting my chance 3 cal ideas. But in Lake Placid, the characters said no way. Then I offered to pay for them to continue with some themes. Right now,

were just cardboard cutouts. The film really to hold up the post-production on Legends. I though, I have no idea how I will approach wasn't about them as much as it was about would make nothing on X-Men, but I really the Silver Surfer until I see the visuals. I've

the crocodile. So I thought, 'That's OK, I'll wanted to do it. They still wouldn't go for read the script, and he's definitely a sad

score it from the crocodile's point-of-view.' it." character with the weight of the world on his Unfortunately, he didn't really have a point- shoulders. It will be fun to have that as a dif- of-view. He didn't have a problem. I mean, if Fantastic Scores ferent beat in the score." the croc was dying or in some sort of plight, He did score Eight Legged Freaks in Next up for Ottman is Night at the

that would have given me something to go 2002. It wasn't X-Men, but it was still lots of Museum, Shawn Levy's fantasy-comedy in

on. Instead, the music could only comment fun. "I had a blast doing that," says Ottman. which exhibits at a museum come to life.

on the action. I wasn't able to go much deep- "A couple of years earlier, I scored Goodbye John Ottman is careful to point out that his

er than that. It worked for what it was, but Lover, during which I discovered a dark, score won't be quite as comedic as the

it's still the shallowest score I've ever done." quirky side of myself that I felt very com- movie itself. "The music is more magical in In 2000, Ottman took a turn in the direc- fortable with. So when Eight Legged Freaks nature," he explains. "It reflects the other-

tor's chair for Urban Legends: Final Cut, came along, I embraced that part of me and worldly nature of what happens in this which he also, naturally, edited and scored. really had fun with the score. It's a B-movie, museum. The comedy speaks for itself, so

It was Ottman's first time at the helm since and it makes no apologies for that." the music is all about reflecting the humani- he co-directed the short film Lion 's Den with In 2003, Ottman scored Gothika, a ghost ty and the magic of the characters." ife

54 mm/January 2007 www.starlog.com

—

Baby Boomer SFfans, one of the big events of the fall For1966 TV season was the premiere of producer Irwin Allen's latest adventure series The Time Tunnel.

Different from Allen's other series in its semi-anthology set-up, the show starred Robert Colbert as Dr. Doug Phillips, head ofthe government's Project Tic Toe—a scientific com- plex beneath the floor of the Arizona desert, and incorporating a tunnel whose occupants can be sent into the past orfuture. Or both, as Doug and his associate Tony Newman (James Darren) learn when they find themselves haplessly hurtling back andforth through the ages, often from one historical event to another, despite the ongoing efforts of their project co-workers (Lee Meriwether, Whit Bissell, John Zaremba) to return the reluctant time travelers to the here and now.

Celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, the one-season series is now available from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment and, to commemorate its DVDebut, Colbert sends his mind back in time (cue the kaleidoscopes of his acting career). Our first stop along the infinite corridors of time: Okinawa, Japan, where Army M.P.

WITH '

Once upon a Time, Robert Colbert /Anniversary Celebration traveled through Irwin Allen's TV Tunnel—and the nnninp rest is history.

No matter what the Colbert has just made his stage bow in a touring production of'The date or place in his Time Tunnel exploits, Caine Mutiny Court-Martial... Dr. Doug Phillips was always attired in a STARLOG: And that's when you got hooked on acting? Norfolk suit. "I got Yes. service in ROBERT COLBERT: When my time was over real sick of that Okinawa, I thought, "I might give this acting a try when I get back." puppy!" Robert After I was discharged, I lived in Portland, Oregon, and I started Colbert groans. working with a little theater group. We did theater in the round, and I was also doing some Shakespeare at the Portland Civic Theater.

While I was doing The Little Hut at the Amatos Supper Club, Mickey Shaughnessy saw the performance. He was a nightclub performer and in movies like Don't Go Near the Water [1957] with Glenn Ford and Designing Woman [1957] with Gregory Peck—he was pretty hot at the time. Mickey came up to me afterward and said, "If you ever wanna come down to LA, I

have an agent in Beverly Hills. I would like him to meet you

and see if he would be interested in handling you. I think you

have a career in films and the theater." I said, "Well... when is the next plane?" [Laughs] STARLOG: In Portland, you had been hired to do two com- mercials on live TV—and then went blank on the air. COLBERT: I was standin' there, just lookin' at the camera, not havin' a clue how to get myself out of this thing. Finally,

after about 40 seconds of dead air time, I was [off the air]

and I was informed that it was no longer necessary for me to do

the other spot. I could go home. STARLOG: In other words...

COLBERT: In other words, I was fired. I went home, and I was so

56 STARLOG/tom/o/y 2007 — —

depressed. I had let myself down and thought I had just ended my STARLOG: You had a much bigger part in Have Rocket Will Travel career. Well, I sat down that evening and wrote a poem called [1959] with the Three Stooges. What can you say about that?

"Endeavor." It was the first time I had ever written anything. It was COLBERT: At the time I was no Three Stooges fan. All I remem-

a pretty long poem, and I wrote it during a time in my life when I ber about that is [leading lady] Anna-Lisa was a little taller than me!

was depressed and thought I was a failure. [Laughs] I'm 6-foot-2, so she was a big woman. I sure did like that

1 Now, flash-forward. At Mickey Shaughnessy's suggestion, I flew Anna-Lisa—I remember that part! But as far as any particular mem- 0 down to Beverly Hills to meet with the Lillian Small Agency. Green ories of the Three Stooges, I don't have anything to report except 2 as I could be, I was brought into this room with a big conference that, years later, I was a golfer and played on the Hollywood f table with about 12 people sitting around it. All of them were look- Hackers. Moe and Larry were Hollywood Hackers, too, and I got to 1 ing at me, and one of 'em said, "Do you have any film on ya?" I said, know 'em. So, many years after Have Rocket, Larry and I had many o> "Oh, no, I don't. I've done some stage work and that's about it." a laugh together. I don't think I even told him I was in the movie; we

? They said, "Can you do anything?" I replied, "I just wrote a poem; I never brought it up. But I loved Larry because we had lots of fun on

I, could recite that for you." [Sarcastically] Well, that lit up the room the golf course. Anyway, movies like Have Rocket, Joy Ride and g they just couldn't wait for that! But they said, "Sure, recite the Macabre were all part of my "dance" on the way to signing with 0 poem," and I read "Endeavor" for them. Warner Bros, and settling down to where I didn't have to go around 1 It went on for a bit, and when I got to the end, there was silence on interviews all the time. a and they were looking at me. Then they said, "Would you mind step- I ping out for a few minutes?" I sat out there for probably 20 min- £ utes—it seemed like 10 hours—and then they came out and told me,

leading lady who nearly rose to his altitude in the Three Stooges comedy Have Rocket, Will Travel.

"We've decided to take you on." And, by God, the next day they sent STARLOG: You were mostly in TV stuff at Warners. me out on an interview for a movie called Under Fire [1957]. That COLBERT: They signed me to a contract, and I did a ton of shows. was my first film. That's when Warners had , , STARLOG: So one day later, you got a job? Cheyenne, Maverick, , you name it, on and on and on. COLBERT: That's right—a small part in Under Fire as an Army Just about every week I was in a different show, constantly working guy. I got the first job I went on, and pretty much never stopped amongst all these stars and just havin' the time of my life.

working. I did a couple of pictures over at Allied Artists Joy Ride Warners was getting ready to do a movie called Black Gold and Macabre [both 1958]—little B-movies. One thing just led to [1963]—and I was looking forward to having a shot at the lead. I another. was sent down to wardrobe, where I thought they were going to put

STARLOG: Macabre was William Castle's first horror movie. me in the clothes for Black Gold, but I didn't come out lookin' like COLBERT: We used Lance Reventlow's home, where half of the Clark Gable; I came out lookin' like Jim Garner! This was at the swimming pool was inside the house! You could dive into it in the time when Garner [star of the hit Warners series Maverick] was living room and swim around, or go outside by swimming under the fighting with Jack Warner, because Garner wanted more money and

bottom of this huge pane of plate glass that went down into the pool they wouldn't give it to him, so he walked. That pissed Jack off, he and coming up in the outdoor part, which overlooked the city. I've and Garner ended up in a blood feud and Garner was blackballed in

that idea, would like to incorporate it into this town; they wouldn't let him work. So as I was walking down t always loved and my & home after I get rich from the sale of these Time Tunnel DVDs! Warner Bros.' Main Street on my way to the screen test, everybody 0 [Laughs] was hangin' out of the windows and lookin'. They thought Garner I [playboy son of jillionaire heiress was the lot! [Laughs] jj remember meeting Lance back on £ Barbara Hutton] and thinking, "Jesus, here's a kid who's set for life." Turns out they wanted to put me on Maverick as a new Maverick x When you meet some boy whose mother is the richest woman in the brother named Brent. When I found that out, I said, "Jesus, don't do 1 world and he's got everything while you're out there trying to pay that! Give me a break. Garner's the hottest thing in the damn TV o the rent, you just go, "Wow. What a lucky guy." A few years later, world. You can put me in his boots, but I can't fill his shoes!" But o he's dead [in a plane crash], and you're still cookin' along, makin' they did it anyway, and it was OK. I didn't get damaged too much | babies and havin' a life long after [the deaths of] people you might out of it, and I had fun working with [as Bart Maverick] g have been a bit envious of. That has happened to me numerous and Roger Moore [as Beau Maverick]. | times. I looked up at so many people who then just went. So long, STARLOG: Why did you leave Warners? w long ago, Bobby quit wishin' that he had some of the stuff they had! COLBERT: I was the only one at Warner Bros, who ever got out

www.starlog.com STARLOG/Vawary 2007 57 prior to the end of their contract—and not by any grand design! A COLBERT: My agent sent me to 20th Century Fox to meet Irwin friend of my wife's came out to LA and wanted to open a restaurant, Allen. There was no mention about any screen test; Irwin and I were and he wanted me to be his partner. I thought, "Well, that sounds like just talking and so forth. Then he took me into a room where he had

a good idea," so I put up the money and we opened this restaurant in his storyboards—black-and-white drawings, 11x14s, all over the

Beverly Hills called The Corner, and it was a huge success. But then walls, depicting practically every scene in the upcoming Time people started stealing food and booze and everything out of there. Tunnel pilot ["Rendezvous With Yesterday"], which was set on the

You don't realize what it can do to your bottom line when turkeys, Titanic. There were renderings of costumes, all kinds of stuff. I hams and cases of champagne start disappearing. My father died, thought, "This is really incredible. Such great detail."

and I went to the funeral in Oregon, and when I came back, I pulled STARLOG: Had you met Allen? Were you aware of his movies and up to the restaurant and all across the eaves of the building was writ- TV series? ten: "HAPPY HOUR 5-7. TWO COCKTAILS FOR 750." I said, COLBERT: I didn't know Irwin from a rock. But he was telling me

"What the hell is this?" about how this pilot was going to be the So I went into the bar, and there was a most expensive one ever filmed—it was marshal chained to the drawer of my cash like half a million bucks, and that was a

register, and every dime that went in the lot of money in '67. When I saw the

register, he would put it in a bag. We were storyboards and all this other stuff, and in the throes of bankruptcy, and we ended he was tellin' me how much money

up having to close the restaurant. My they were gonna spend on it, and that

partner took bankruptcy and went broke, would be in it... I was

Not only could the Tunnel transport our heroes to any spot

on Earth, it could also send them into space, as in "Visitors from Beyond the Stars."

A direct portal into 20th Century Fox's stock footage library, the Time Tunnel could deposit Doug and Tony (James Darren) anywhere from prehistoric plains to pirate isles.

and I owed $80,000—which, in 1961, was more money than I had quite impressed. ever seen in my life. I didn't take bankruptcy, but owed all these peo- And it was like he was ple: banks, the purveyors, the meat people, the liquor people, the tryin' to sell me on the idea

produce people. ..you name it, / owed 'em. of goin' to work for him. I was deep in debt and didn't know what the hell to do, and they STARLOG: Rather than Allen trying to figure out if he wanted you said they were going to garnish my wages at Warners. I went to working for him.

[Warners executive] Bill Orr and [writer] Hugh Benson and told 'em COLBERT: I don't know where he knew me from, but I was the

my circumstances. "Listen, if you let me out of my contract and I'm one he wanted, 'cause I had the job. And I wanted that job, once I

able to say I'm unemployed, I can negotiate with these people at so- saw Irwin's dog-and-pony show. I didn't know Jimmy Darren, Lee

much on the dollar and see if I can pay my way out of this thing Meriwether or anybody from Adam's off ox, but I wanted the part before I go broke and lose my credit and everything." Well, by God, and he said, "Well, you got it." Then he took me over to meet [cos- they took it up to lack Warner and decided, "OK, this is a rare thing, tuming & design genius] Paul Zastupnevich to pick out the

but we're gonna do it. And maybe you'll come back and be with us wardrobe. after you get this all squared away." STARLOG: You wore one suit of clothes for practically the whole Released from my contract, and unemployed, I went around to all run of the series!

the creditors. I had $3,700 in the bank, which I owed about $18,000, COLBERT: [Laughs] That's right. I didn't know I was only gonna

but I got them down to where they would take $1,500. Then I went get one shot at wardrobe! If you remember the pilot, Jimmy's char-

to the meat, liquor, produce, all those people, and I paid 'em off at acter went off in the middle of the night, jumped into the Tunnel and

10 or 20 cents on the dollar. Squaring things with them cost me went back in time to the Titanic, and I had to rescue him before it

$3,500, so I still had 200 bucks in the bank. Then, the next day, I went down. So I needed to dress in the clothing of that era, which

signed with Universal for $2,100 a week! was 1912. The Norfolk suit was appropriate—I wouldn't look con- STARLOG: How much had you been making at Warners? spicuous aboard the ship; I would look like one of the passengers. COLBERT: Maybe $700 a week! So within about 10 days, I had That's how the Norfolk suit came about.

paid off the $80,000 and was making three times more money a STARLOG: And then you had to wear it in every other episode, too.

week than before. Pretty soon, I had much more than 200 bucks in COLBERT: Yeah, and I tell you what, I soon got real sick of that

the bank, and I was out of my Warner Bros, contract. I was the only puppy! About 10 years ago, Jimmy was offered $6,000 for one of the

one who got out. Then I went on and did The Time Tunnel. sweaters he wore on the show. I can't imagine what 10 Norfolk suits STARLOG: What are your memories of landing that part? would be worth to the fans!

58 Smm/January2007 I

STARLOG: That Titanic episode was directed by Allen himself. STARLOG: Your approach to the role? COLBERT: As a director, Irwin was very low-key, competent, great COLBERT: Hit my marks and payday was Friday night! I got about authority. There was a lot of respect for him among the crew and $3,500 an episode, somewhere in that area. cast. When he was around, we all deferred to Mr. Allen as the leader STARLOG: What would you like to say about working with James of the pack, and everybody was very pleasant to him and vice versa. Darren?

Incidentally, he had one of the best comb-overs I've ever seen. But COLBERT: I always thought the world of Jimmy; he's a talented one time he walked in front of a Ritter wind machine—an airplane guy. And he looks today pretty much like he did when we did the propeller inside a cage—and you couldn't see the Ritter for the hair show; he looks like it's still '67 and he just stepped off the set. The that flew up off the back of his head, straight up in the air! So Irwin portrait in the attic must be ripped, rancid and smelly by now had to be very cautious about his hair [laughs]. He only directed the [laughs], because he looks great. Jimmy's a terrific guy—everybody one Time Tunnel episode, but I did a movie-of-fhe-week, City Be- likes him. I think he hangs the moon; I just love the guy. He came neath the Sea [1971], that he helmed. over to the house a few months ago, and we had a great time. STARLOG: Was he on the set much during the other Time Tunnel STARLOG: And Lee Meriwether? episodes? COLBERT: She's a princess. Lee's more beautiful now than she COLBERT: He didn't come down when he didn't have reason to; was then—she's a stunning woman. You talk about a high-class, top-

he monitored it from afar. Irwin rarely visited, and when he did, he flight human being, why, she's it. Lee gets an 1 1 in every aspect of

usually brought somebody. If he was showin' someone around the her life. She loves the theater, works all the time, is married to a

lot, he would bring 'em to Time Tunnel. Irwin was as big a fan as any wonderful guy, Marshall Borden, and has her kids and little grand-

of us, and he would bring people like Joseph Cotten, Edward G. daughter. Lee is one of the most beautiful, finest and classiest

Time slot turmoil: Colbert believes the scheduling of Time Tunnel against other networks' action-adventure programs contributed to its early demise.

Robinson, Victor Ma- women I've ever met in my life. ture... You never knew STARLOG: Are you interested in who was gonna come science fiction at all?

wander around the set COLBERT: I'm a huge fan. I love

with Irwin, and it was H.G. Wells' works, The Time Machine always fun to have all and other great SF treasures of the past.

these people that you were However, when it comes to NASA and so just a fan of, wanting to meet on—as far as wanting to spend eight minutes on and talk with you. Mars, the Moon or any other rock out there in the STARLOG: Tell me what a typical week galaxy—I have no interest in that. If they offered me a free of filming was like on Time Tunnel. ride on the next space shuttle, I would have to check my calendar. I

COLBERT: Jimmy and I usually worked in the field. Most of it was just have zero interest in what the hell's goin' on out there in space. shot on the backlot at 20th or—if we had to go to location—out at I want to see what we can do to take care of what we got here. I look the 20th Ranch, Malibu Canyon and various places. We would do at [NASA's exploits] like, "OK, I'm glad to have seen some of this five days in the field—with Jimmy and myself having whatever stuff, but it's just people up there strokin' themselves about... adventure the episode was about—and then the "Tunnel People" dunno...puttin' a Rover on Mars. Well, how about doin' something [Meriwether, Bissell, Zaremba, etc.] would come in on the sixth day for mankind and humanity hereV and work on the Tunnel set, doing various scenes that were inter- STARLOG: On a lighter note, can you talk about some of the Time spersed throughout the script. Outside of the pilot, Jimmy and I Tunnel guest stars you particularly enjoyed? never—except on rare occasions—worked with them. We hardly COLBERT: Michael Rennie [the Titanic Captain in the pilot] was ever crossed paths or even saw each other. just the best, and we ended up spending a lot of time together. We STARLOG: The Tunnel itself was one of the show's attractions. were buddies—chasin' chicks, drinkin' margaritas and just havin' a COLBERT: For the pilot, they had two back-to-back stages, and we great time. Carroll O'Connor was on the show ["The Last Patrol"]; used both of them for the Tunnel. The Tunnel went from one stage he played a modern-day general as well as one of his own ancestors right on through to the other, another 40, 50 feet. After that, they back in the War of 1812.

only used the half of it [one stage], and at the back of the Tunnel, STARLOG: And, in the 1812 part, doing a Charles Laughton imi- they put a scrim that showed an infinity type of twirl, and away we tation. went. COLBERT: Yes, very Laughton-ish! Eduardo Ciannelli ["The www.starlog.com mm/January 2007 59 —

Ghost of Nero"]—now there was a class act. A total gentleman. He underwent a very serious operation where they tied off the veins to treated me like a prince; he kinda adopted me. And his legs, and he never recovered from that. Glen is still alive, but he ["Pirates of Deadman's Island"] was another one of my favorites. He [lost the use] of his legs. He was the most incredible physical spec- ran with , Ward Bond and all those hard-drinkin' guys imen, stuntman, motorcycle rider and fighter. Glen could hit you, back in the hard-hittin' days. Victor was a wiry, thin guy, but and before you hit the ground, he could hit you eight more times he was the toughest of all of 'em. Victor was the meanest son of a [laughs]. I never saw reflexes like his. gun who ever walked the planet. When he hit you, you stayed hit. So STARLOG: When Doug and Tony are passing through time and

Victor and I became good friends. floating in that weird kaleidoscope, is that really you and Darren? STARLOG: Speaking of getting hit, who was your stuntman? COLBERT: Yes. We were each rigged up with a harness and hangin' COLBERT: My stuntman was my brother. Glen was the same in front of a huge blue scrim with big Ritters on us. Afterward, they height, nine years younger than me, and just one of the greatest superimposed those kaleidoscopic images [over the blue]. So, yeah, physical specimens you ever saw. that was us up there, danglin' 40 feet in the air in our suits and twist- STARLOG: He was your stuntman right from the get-go? ing and turning as they hit us with wind machines and everything! COLBERT: No. Paul Stader was the stunt coordinator, and he STARLOG: Could they even make a show like Time Tunnel today? assigned himself as my stuntman. But at some point in the early In 2006, is any kid going to sit down and watch stories about the War stages of the show, I expressed a desire to have my brother be my stuntman. Well, Paul Also for the airwaves, wanted the job so bad he could taste it—it Colbert hit the air field, meant a whole lot of extra money to him. So flying in a That Girl episode with Mario Thomas. Time out: Colbert strums to the delight of co-star Meriwether.

when I said I wanted Glen, well, it wasn't the most popular thing I of 1812 or the Dreyfus Affair? ever said in my life. I had to go through quite a bit in order to get COLBERT: Oh, I think so. History is always interesting. When you

Glen the job, because doubling me meant a couple of hundred grand have a show where you can go backward or forward in time, it strips a year to Paul. Paul was my height, coloring and everything, he was away alllll the barriers of boredom! You never know what's coming a fine double for me, but not anywhere near as good as my brother. up next.

With my brother, you could hardly tell if it was him or me working. STARLOG: I have the impression that you liked Allen better than So I fought and got Glen the job. some of his other series stars did. What was good and what was bad STARLOG: And Stader's attitude about this? about working for him?

COLBERT: It was like somebody took that money right out of his COLBERT: Well, I liked him—I had no reason not to. And I pocket. I hadn't realized the significance. These guys [the stuntmen] respected that he had 250-something people working [on his series]; didn't want my brother there, because they were all close to Paul that's a lot of families, food and bread. I've always respected the per- who had hired them in the first place—and anything Paul felt toward son who puts the food on the table. Irwin wasn't someone I wanted my brother trickled down to them. But everyone ended up respect- to hang with—because he had a different mindset than me—but to ing Glen completely, and he became the most popular guy in the have disliked him is pretty picky, because he didn't really interfere stunt department. Glen was awesome: He could do everything they with people. Poor Paul Zastupnevich—if anybody disliked Irwin, I could—and faster, better and more convincingly. would guess it would be him. Paul worked night and day putting all After that first season, during the hiatus, Glen was badly injured of those costumes out on all of those shows. Especially Time Tunnel, in a motorcycle accident. One of his ribs punctured his heart or lung, because every time we went to do the next episode, he had a whole and he broke an arm and had some other injuries. But he was anx- new cast of people to outfit.

ious to get back to LA, so he left the hospital too soon and jumped STARLOG: Because it was almost like working on an anthology on a plane, and the pressurization caused blood clots to form. He series, with different demands every week?

60 SWm/knuary 2007 COLBERT: Right. The other [Allen series] were more laid-back people like that. Time Tunnel was an interesting show that had a lot once Paul got 'em set up. But if anybody got abused by Irwin, it was of merit. Sure, it was crude in some aspects, but it still stands up

Paul. You didn't hear it from him, but you could see his exhaustion today in many ways, which is hard to believe. and always felt sorry for him. I had no reason to like or dislike Irwin, STARLOG: What was your reaction when Time Tunnel was can- but from my point-of-view, I thought he was an OK guy because he celled? kept a lot of people working and a lot of families fed. So I have noth- COLBERT: We had already been picked up [for a second season], ing bad to say about him, and when he passed away, I was a pall- and we were home on hiatus, when we found out it was being can- bearer. His wife Sheila [actress Sheila Mathews] lives up the street celled. So we were in shock, because we all expected to come back. from me here in Malibu; she and I have always been friendly. At the end of the first season, we had a huge party for the 256 peo- STARLOG: So why wasn't Time Tunnel more of a success ratings- ple—and their families—who worked on the show. Irwin was hap- wise? pier than hell, and everybody else was, too. Then about three months COLBERT: You have to look at the shows that were up against us later, we were told that ABC had changed their mind. It was a big on Friday night: Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Wild Wild West... letdown. STARLOG: There was Tarzan, too. Oh, as a kid, I just couldn't STARLOG: A few years after Time Tunnel shut down, you were in stand the fact that half the shows I liked were all on at the same time! City Beneath the Sea.

COLBERT: Yeah, a movie of the week. I was one

of the leads, and Jimmy did a little cameo in it. It had a pretty good cast of "outsiders" [actors not associated with Allen] who came in and worked

Darren and Colbert hit a full season's worth of historical hotspots, monitored by (in cartoon art below) Project Tic Toe members Whit Bissell, Meriwether and John Zaremba.

Time marches on—but has left little mark on series stars Colbert, Meriwether (with her stuntwoman-daughter Lesley Aletter and granddaughter Ryan) and Darren.

COLBERT: In that time slot, there were a bunch of shows of inter- with us, like Stuart Whitman and Robert Wagner. Stu didn't want to est to the public, and we were just one of them. And you couldn't do it—I think he had heard some horror stories about Irwin. He watch everything; you didn't have the ability in those days to watch called me and asked me what I thought, and I said, "Come on, suit more than one channel. So we lost a lot of audience, but the people up and get in here. You'll have fun." Somehow or other, between who did watch it were an amazing group. Teachers all over the coun- when I talked to him and when he showed up on the set, he badly try built classroom assignments around the episodes because—even injured his shoulder. Stu could hardly move that arm, so we shot the though we weren't historically accurate—we provoked enough whole show with one side of his body immobilized. interest that the kids would do reports on Robin Hood, Krakatoa or Bob was very aloof. I would see him some place and say hi, and whatever. The teachers just loved us! We had a real solid core of fol- he wouldn't know me from Adam's off ox no matter how many times lowers, and I think if Time Tunnel had gone another year, we would we met. He was that kind of a fellow, just a different breed than me. have run seven years. Then Bob's daughter Natasha got a horrible crush on my boy Clay- One time, I went to Roadtown, in Tortola, down in the British ton. Oh, she wouldn't let him out of her sight, and Clayton finally

Virgins. I started at one end of town, and by the time I got to the had to set things straight, because he didn't feel the same way. But, other, there were alllll these people following me. It was like the boy, she had her sights set on my son. I thought, "Gee, wouldn't it Pied Piper of the Saloon Set! Time Tunnel was the biggest hit on the be funny if I end up being related to Robert Wagner?!" [Laughs] island. And in England, they still show it. I get fan mail from English STARLOG: And you think a new version of Time Tunnel would viewers who are just nuts about it. You would think Time Tunnel was work today? in prime time and just released. Out here [in ], it's shown COLBERT: I believe there's a tremendous market for it. A show six days a week. So it has had a "shelf life" bar none. I don't know like Time Tunnel just opens up the world of imagination—it runs the of another series with such a limited original viewing audience that gauntlet from reality to fiction to surrealism to anything you want. still runs with the frequency of Time Tunnel. STARLOG: And you're now retired from acting? STARLOG: Recently, on Conan O'Brien's show, Tom Hanks said COLBERT: I retired about 12 years ago, but I'm thinkin' about suit- Time Tunnel was his favorite TV series as a kid. He would do slow- in' up again. I still look good. And, you know, the money has just motion tumbling on his sofa, imitating you and James Darren. gone crazy. I have enough to last me the rest of my life—I own a COLBERT: I had no idea! But, in addition to the "regular" fan let- very expensive piece of property out here in Malibu—but I wouldn't ters, I've gotten 100 fan letters from people saying that their careers mind doing a little more work on this high dollar that they're puttin' were based on their interest in Time Tunnel. One was this female sci- out today. So if you run across any producers who think I'm dead, entist who designs aircraft in London, and there have been many let 'em know I'm still here! www.starlog.com STARLOG/JonraryW 61 .

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kidding!" Kevin Hagen couldn't believe his ears. You'reThe actor was amazed when informed about critics' reviews of Land of the Giants, in which he played the By MARK PHILLIPS relentless hunter of little people, Inspector Kobick, during the show's 1968-70 run on ABC. claimed, "It's Irwin Allen's best work, emphasizing the human element with a credible cast." The Los Angeles Times noted, "The show does a good job of creating a giant

environment," while proclaimed it "a winner." Newsday was amazed by the special FX and declared, "It's a visual GimsmwCRIST' gas." He may have tracked down little people, but in reality, Kevin Hagen was a giant talent.

Most people know Kevin Hagen as Doc Baker, but before he ever practiced medicine at that Z./rf/e House on the Prairie, the actor appeared in numerous genre TV series. —

Hagen shook his head in disbelief. "That's surprising. I had no sinks a research ship, attacks the submarine Seaview, swallows a 50- idea the show received any favorable reviews. To me, it was more of megaton bomb and then heads on a collision course with the a kids' show, but as an actor, it was interesting and fun to do." President's aircraft carrier. "That was a typical Irwin Allen story The actor's many credits (only some of which were covered in larger than life," he laughed. "Voyage was a really good show, and I this interview conducted before his July 2005 death) included his had fun playing this crazy scientist." role as Doc Baker on Little House on the Prairie and guest shots on His later Voyage, "Attack," cast him as a alien leader who directs The Manfrom U.N.C.L.E, The Wild Wild West, Thriller and Mission: his purple-clad, Roman-like soldiers to clash with a group of friend- Impossible. He also appeared in a pair of Twilight Zones, the first ly aliens opposed to Earth's destruction. The episode featured sever- being "Elegy," as one of three astronauts who land on an idyllic al fantastic FX shots originally devised for Allen's previous unsold world where people are frozen in place. "The extras in that show pilot, Man from the 25th Century. "I played another one of those actually froze into position when the director yelled action," he

The Time Tunnel only lasted one season, but Hagen guest-starred in four of the 30 episodes. In "Raiders from Outer Space," an alien leader (Hagen) takes Doug (Robert Colbert) and Tony prisoner.

In the Lost in Space episode "His Majesty Smith," Hagen's bearded alien selects Dr. Smith (Jonathan Harris) to be the king of an extraterrestrial civilization. But there's a catch: the aliens are actually picking him to be sacrificed!

humorless, imperious leader types," Hagen frowned. "I remember Richard Basehart was very tired of the show by that time. He was a marvelous actor and we enjoyed discussing cur- rent events. What was happening in our world was far more important to me than talking about who was doing what to whom in Hollywood." Allen also cast him in four Time Tunnel seg- ments during 1966-67: "Revenge of the Gods" (as a Greek warrior); "Secret Weapon" (an investigator trying to uncover an enemy time tunnel from 1956); "The Death Merchant" (a Confederate officer who loses a duel with Malachi Throne's Machiavelli in the Civil War); and "Raiders from Outer Space," about space amphibians invading Khartoum in 1883. That episode—distinguished by an Emmy nomina- tion for its cinematography—starred Hagen as a recalled. "There was no trick photography used. As we walked past spoiled alien prince who captures the two time travelers (James these stilled people, we hoped no one would accidentally and Darren and Robert Colbert). ruin the take!" "Irwin wanted me to wear a monster mask that would complete-

The astronauts (the other two spacemen were played by Jeff ly cover my head," Hagen said. "I objected because I wanted to show Morrow and Don Dubbins) learn that these petrified people have some facial expressions, so they put a big brain appliance on top of been embalmed—space-age style—by an eccentric caretaker (Cecil my head, with these giant ears. I remember the young son of one of Kellaway). The show ends with the trio of astronauts—against their the production people walked in, took one look at me and said, 'Hey, wishes—on permanent display. it's Batman!' And I did look like a giant bat!" In his other Zone adventure, "You Drive," Hagen played a man That was funny, but a special FX stunt that went awry was not. framed for a hit-and-run by the real culprit (Edward Andrews), until "At the climax, they blow up the aliens' consoles, and my alien brain a haunted car brings the villain to justice. "Rod Serling was a won- caught fire in one of the explosions. My alien head went up in flames derful man and a one-of-a-kind writer," said Hagen. "I'm very proud and they tore it off and extinguished it. That was a harrowing expe- of being involved with that series." rience." When Allen's last SF series, Land of the Giants, aired during the Irwin Allen worlds 1968-69 season, the producer decided to enliven the show by adding

Born in Chicago in 1928, Hagen preferred Westerns to SF, yet it a recurring giant character to chase the stranded Earthlings. Enter was his genre work for producer Allen that attracted many fans. In Dobbs Kobick, a by-the-book inspector who considers the little peo- Lost in Space ("His Majesty Smith"), he was a bearded alien who ple to be alien subversives. Allen originally offered the role to Del conned Dr. Smith (Jonathan Harris) into participating in an ancient Monroe (Kowalski from Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea), and when sacrificial ceremony. He also sailed twice on Voyage to the Bottom Monroe turned it down, actors such as John Crawford, Vincent of the Sea. In "Shape of Doom," Hagen created a huge whale that Gardenia and Gilbert Green were considered. But when Hagen's

64 mm/January 2007 name came up, the decision was unanimous. And Hagen couldn't ment value of his shows. I'll never forget meeting him in his office have been more pleased. at 20th Century Fox. Behind his desk were splendidly bound copies "I was between jobs at the time, selling cars at the Beverly Hills of all his TV series scripts, and along the walls were toy model kits Ford-Lincoln-Mercury," revealed Hagen, "so I was delighted to get from all his shows. He was an extremely organized man and he had

the role. Kobick wasn't a one-dimensional villain; he truly believed final say on everything. I especially recall how much he expected

that these little people were dangerous." from his actors and how little he paid them. Also, how little prepa- As the head of the Special Investigative Department (SID), ration time there was for acting and yet how much attention was paid Kobick had to answer to the mysterious Supreme Council. "I to the props, special effects and set dressings." admired Kobick's dedication. He was driven by his professional Allen later created blockbuster films like The Poseidon Ad-

pride to keep his job in this authoritarian society. I always felt it venture and The Towering Inferno. "I was extremely angry that he would have been interesting to see Kobick called in to justify his ignored the actors who had worked in his TV shows when he made

His Tunnel raider was part-Batman, part- Mars Attacks! mutant. Objecting to a full monster mask, Hagen ended up in absurd brain and ear appliances.

When Doug and Tony (James Darren) arrive in Khartoum, November 2, 1883, the last battle they expect to find themselves mixed up in is one involving aliens.

Kobick's trademark his later motion pictures," observed Hagen. "He was playing the glasses, stopwatch Hollywood game of casting name stars." and stern gaze Michael Landon cast Hagen as Doc Baker on Little House on the gave Hagen's Prairie (1974-1983). "Doc Baker was a tragic hero, as were all Land of the Giants prairie doctors," he explained. "Folks expected miracles from them. inspector an It was a rough life for people. A man would wear out three wives in aura of austere a lifetime, and if you lived on a real little house on the prairie in authority. 1 874, chances were good you would be in a pine box by age 40. Doc actions in front of the Supreme Council, which we often heard about Baker fought his battles against overwhelming diseases and super- but never saw." stition without proper tools or knowledge. Little House was a series

loved by children and their parents all over the world." Hagen's son, Giant People Lands Kristopher, appeared in several episodes as an extra. Kobick frequently captured the Earthlings during his nine In the '80s, Hagen began performing a humorous and informa- episodes, but they always got away or struck a temporary deal (like tive one-man show as Doc Baker across the country, which he con- in "Doomsday," where Kobick has to barter with the Earthlings to tinued to do after moving from California to Grants Pass, Oregon, in save a city). "I did convey his frustration at his being outsmarted by 1991. In 2002, he reunited for the first time with his Giants co-stars such small creatures," Hagen remarked. "I also showed his begrudg- at a nostalgia convention in New Jersey. Despite the fact he had had ing admiration for their ingenuity and tried to display a little humor both knees replaced (due to his early TV days of doing his own in Kobick, which wasn't common." stunts) and a later battle with cancer, Hagen always made time to The character's trademark glasses and stopwatch also gave the autograph photos and answer questions from fans on his website giant Inspector Kobick the look of austere authority. "I was married (which is now maintained by his wife, Jan, at www.docbaker.com). to a devastatingly beautiful and tempestuous German actress, Kevin Hagen was, to the very end, a total professional. ^ Susanne Cramer, at the time, and her ex-husband [actor Helmut Lange] gave me that watch," said Hagen. "I selected the glasses from For more of Irwin Allen's Sci-Fi Adventures, see the interviews the prop department. They seemed right for Kobick." in these past issues of STARLOG (and sister magazines): Allen

Dealing with little people he couldn't actually see in the studio (#100, #102), Paul Zastupnevich (#187). Voyage to the Bottom caused its own challenges. "Sometimes they gave me a little doll to of the Sea: David Hedison (#108, #145, #303), Allan Hunt

look at, but most of the time I looked just below or above the cam- (#196), Writing Voyage (#181-#183), Voyage FX (#35). Lost in era lens or at the cameraman's knees, elbows or crotch and pretend- Space: Guy Williams (#114), June Lockhart (#72, #198), Mark ed to see a little person. It took a good deal of imagination and con- Goddard (#190, STARLOG PLATINUM #2), Jonathan Harris centration." (#96, #248), Bill Mumy (#48, #163, #214, #226, #310, SCI-FI In the surrealistic episode "Nightmare," Kobick appears in a TV #2), Marta Kristen (#135), Bob May (#201), Writing Lost in

dream sequence, driving a train locomotive that is bearing down on Space (#219-#220). The Time Tunnel: James Darren (#180, Captain Burton (Gary Conway). "I loved doing that," he grinned. "I #268), Robert Colbert (#179, page 56 this issue), Lee Meriwether was tooting the horn and screaming my head off, with this maniacal (#153, #343), Writing The Time Tunnel (#170-#171). Land of the

laugh. I based that on every mad scientist I had ever seen in the Giants: Gary Conway (#151), Don Matheson (#162), Deanna movies!" Lund (#181, page 66 this issue), Don Marshall (#230), Stefan As for his working relationship with Allen, Hagen commented: Arngrim (#323), Writing Land of the Giants (#159-160). "He wasn't a cynical producer; he really believed in the entertain- www.starlog.com mm/January 2007 65 girl, like 'the Nurse.' Elvis a weird duck. He had no was I was a Hot was Deanna Lund interest in you once he found out you were a mother! He had this a small wonder whole Madonna-whore complex. I suspect that's why he lost inter- est in Priscilla after their daughter was born."

trying to survive in the Land of the Giants came her way "when I did the film Tony Rome Land of the Giants. with Frank Sinatra and Fox put me under contract. I told my agent that I was ready to go home to Florida; I had two little babies and

anymore. So I said, 'I'm not com- By PATJAIMKIEWICZ wasn't into the Hollywood scene ing back unless you get me a good part in a film or TV series.' I real- ly wasn't expecting anything, though, because you usually don't go

away and get a job because of it. "I did Tony Rome for Gordon Douglas [director of the SF classic

Them!]. I auditioned for one role, and they liked me, but they asked me to play another part instead—I didn't know it was a lesbian strip- per! The dailies for Tony Rome were shown to Irwin Allen, who then LIFE cast me in Giants. Originally, my agent told me I was the stewardess, N M1NUTWF

a cool concept for a TV series: a commercial Since special Whatflight from New York to London crashes, strand- effects were ing the diverse passengers in an unknown, the stars, Lund (here with unfriendly environment surrounded by giant mon- Gary Conway) sters. To survive, they must band together against knew "Giants creatures and conspiracies until they find a way to escape. No, it's wasn't going not Lost, TV's hottest show, but Irwin Allen's SF adventure Land of to get anyone the Giants (which debuted in 1968). "I guess it did have a premise an Emmy." similar to Lost" mulls Giants' sexy star Deanna Lund. "But it cer- tainly didn't get the respect that Lost has!" The pretty, petite redhead with the lilting voice has enjoyed a 40- year career, working with everyone from Elvis Presley to the Incredible Hulk. She has been in horror, SF, musicals and comedies.

And the charming actress is followed everywhere by her loyal

wheaton terrier, Zeke. "He was a gift from Larry King, whom I used

to date. 'Zeke' is Larry's real name, so we called the dog 'Zeke Jr.'

I should sue him for puppy support," she jokes. "In those days, doing science fiction was looked down upon,"

Lund admits. "Many people saw it as selling out or slumming.

Nowadays, they're the only shows people care about. I wanted seri-

ous character roles, I had no desire to even do comedy, but here I

was, running away from giants every week! Basically, I did Giants

for the money; I had a lot of mouths to feed."

Girl Robot To feed her kids, she took any role, no matter how outrageous. Long before Austin Powers, Lund was a fembot in the 1965 farce Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine. "I was a girl robot in that," Lund

laughs. "It was the first thing I ever did in Hollywood, and it was strictly to pay the rent! That was six weeks in a gold bikini without ever opening my mouth. None of the robots had any dialogue [except for Susan Hart]; we just stood around. Vincent Price was

very professional and nice. I saw more of him after we did the film, at different events." First, however, she screamed her way through the 1966 killer jel- lyfish flick Sting of Death. "All I remember from that is that we did

our own stunts because it was extremely low-budget," says Lund. "I ran into a swamp in one scene, and when I came out, I had to pull all these black leeches off of me—it was a nightmare! To this day, I

have never seen the movie. I remember the guy changes into a giant man-of-war and chases me around. If any of your readers have a

copy, I would love to finally watch it. That was my very first film. "I did a couple of other things before going to Hollywood: Run for Your Wife with Juliet Prowse, and one in Orlando, with Chad Everett and Robert Taylor, called Johnny Tiger—they kept changing

the title. I also did several Elvis movies, but I was never 'The Girl.'

66 mm/January 2007 but Irwin called me and said, 'If you don't mind, I would like you to

be my leading lady.' He made me the playgirl, which probably fit my personality better!" On Land of the Giants, Lund was Valerie, the spoiled rich girl. "I saw her as an irresponsible playgirl who was self-centered and demanding," she declares. "Valerie was used to immediately getting everything she wanted. Unlike the rest of the group, she was into herself and not a team player, but she evolved as she came to grips

with the real world and realized that it didn't just revolve around her. That gave me something to start from and someplace to go. Valerie went from being a hard-ass to becoming more responsible." The actress remains ambivalent about the show. "Land of the Giants was a mixed blessing," she confesses. "I don't regret doing

it, but it's just the way things worked out. For one thing, I never expected to see myself on a lunchbox!" Small Heroine She had fun working with all the oversized props. "Land of the Giants wasn't going to get anyone an Emmy, because the stars were the special effects: the big pencils, shoes and everything," Lund notes. "That was also the series' downfall. Viewers needed to get to know us better, and that never really hap- pened. There weren't any close-ups of us, because they wanted to show our size in comparison to the giants. That made a dif-

ference. And it was a physical show, too. But we enjoyed doing most of our own stunts. That kept us awake." Series fans will remember how often Valerie was tied up, strapped down, caged or forced to perform for the giants. "I

At the time, Deanna Lund really had no idea the Giants impact Land would have on the SF TV scene. "I did Giants for the money," she admits.

www.starlog.com —

Lund's Then I realized, 'Oh my God, I'm under contract.' I told my agent, character 'You've got to let me do this!' Valerie was "My agent tried, but Irwin wouldn't let me. He said, 'Polanski is often tied up, crazy. He won't finish on time, and you'll be late and hold up pro- strapped duction.' So even though I would have shot Rosemary's Baby during down, caged or our hiatus, Irwin wouldn't change his mind. I don't he otherwise know why behind a rock for an episode. forced to couldn't have had Valerie hide But perform for Irwin said, 'I own you!' That was a tough part to give up." the giants. Lund had a much better relationship with the Land of the Giants cast. "Stefan was brilliant, a really smart kid, and we all liked him," Looking great she says. "Stefan would memorize his dialogue, your dialogue and in that everyone else's! If you forgot your line, you would just ask him. swimsuit, it's There was no need for a dialogue coach with Stefan around. Some easy to see why Lund was asked to be in Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine.

noticed that, too," Lund grins. "I always wondered why it was me in the giant gorilla hand or being strapped down!" The actress was particularly striking in the episode where a giant makes Valerie perform as a bal- lerina. "Quite honestly, that really wasn't fun to do. because the day we shot it, I had an enormous hang over! I was barfing behind the scenes! Oh, that was bad..." In a STARLOG #323 interview by Mark Phillips, Giants co-star Stefan Arngrim (who played young Barry) remem- bered the giant prop fingers sometimes inappropriately touching Lund. "If that were true, I would have a helluva sexual harassment case," she kids. "The crew sometimes played little jokes, but the fake hands never hurt me. I Co-star Don Matheson (bottom left) was hurt much worse riding rodeo before I came out to was such a good egg that, in real life, Lund Hollywood." married him and had a daughter. In "Wild Journey," Valerie is captured by a deranged giant played by Bruce Dern. "I worked with Bruce of us got lazy and didn't bother memorizing

Dern? Wow! I wish I could tell you what that was like, I scripts after a while, because they were all so but the giants always filmed on a different day and set similar. " than us 'little people,' Lund reveals. "I do recall doing "Chipper the dog was great, but it was never one with Zalman King ["The Lost Ones"]. He the same Chipper. Although I'm a lover, I \ dog was. ..interesting—especially when you look at the didn't realize at first that he was played by a films he made later! whole bunch of dogs. When Chipper would roll

"Don Matheson [who played Mark] and I start- on his back and I scratched his belly, I started ed dating while making the show. We later married noticing that his sex was changing. Sometimes and had a daughter, Michelle. Irwin was funny he was quite obviously a boy—and other times he knew that Don and I were planning on getting he wasn't! married, and he told us if Giants went to a third "Heather Young is sweet, more laidback season, he was gonna have us married on the show than when we did the show. I like her," Lund in real life by a giant preacher! He said, 'If I give remarks. "Kurt Kasznar was the guy we all you a honeymoon around the world, would you do looked up to, a great actor with many cred- " that?' Being greedy, we told him, 'Yeah!' its. I finally said to him, 'What are you Like many others, she had a complicated relationship ^ doing on this?' He laughed and replied, 'I'm with Allen. "Irwin Allen. Oh boy, Irwin..." she says with here for the same reason you are!' [The a shake of her head. "He was Irwin! His wife Sheila is money.] Don Marshall felt a more serious wonderful, and she was the only one who could handle him sense of responsibility toward Giants than I in just the right way. did. There weren't many African-American "During our hiatus, I auditioned for Roman Polanski and regulars on TV then, and he thought the show did a scene with John Cassavetes for his upcoming film deserved to be treated seriously. I, of course,

Rosemary's Baby. Roman told me, 'You got it' right on the spot. didn't feel that way regarding my part!" I was gonna be the girl who gets pregnant and kills herself Even though Giants was a ratings hit, the [played by Victoria Vetri a.k.a. Angela Dorian in the movie]. series was cancelled after only two seasons. "It

68 mm/January 2007 www.starlog.com !

Everybody on Batman was very energetic

and creative. It was just a fun show, and Adam was terrific—and quite a man with the ladies "I laughed and kidded Adam about his Batman costume; I asked him if he was going to ballet class. But he didn't like

that at all. I thought my costume was fan-

tastic, and I played the Riddler's moll as

vampy and free. I got to help 'take out' Batman and Robin. Everything was over

the top, so I hammed it up. And it was a physical show, too—lots of kicking, falling and slamming." The Rashomon-like Incredible Hulk episode "Of Guilt, Models and Murder" revolved around whether Lund's charac- ter was murdered by the green giant. "I just remember getting killed and that Loni Anderson breaks my neck with a kung-fu kick!" she chuckles. "Bill Bixby

directed it. I knew Bill and his wife, Brenda Benet, from when I worked with them on the TV show Search. My favorite moment was when Lou Ferrigno comes Irwin Allen didn't give Lund a helping hand when she asked the Giants producer to let in as the Hulk to save me. Lou is a nice in Baby. her act Rosemary's guy; very big, too. I liked him a lot."

Riddle me this: What's an anagram for Anna Gram? Lund essayed the Riddler's henchgal in two Batman episodes.

"Land of the Giants was a mixed blessing," she remarks. "I never expected to see myself on a lunchbox!" cost too much, and 20th Century Fox was going through Doctor How did a nice girl like Lund wind up in a mess of a movie like Dolittle and other costly flops at that time," Lund explains. "Each Elves—in which a chain-smoking Dan Haggerty plays an ex-cop- episode cost a quarter of a million dollars—that was the quoted turned-department-store Santa Claus who has to save the world from price, so it was probably more. Not that the actors saw much of that; a homicidal, Nazi-created elf?! "That's a good question," she gig- the special effects were the star." gles. "The director took his name off it, and I wish I had, too! It was

just bad. They used a body double for my nude scene, but it is what Gangster Gal it is. I think I get killed in that. And to make matters worse, Elves On TV's Batman, Lund put the Dynamic Duo through their paces almost got me kicked out of the union!" as the Riddler's sultry moll, Anna Gram. "It was great fun working As of late, the actress has kept a low profile. "I've been focusing with Batman and Robin," she says. "Adam West was a real gentle- on my art, because I really love to paint. I was in severe back pain man, and neither Batman nor Robin hit on me! I especially liked from my days riding rodeo, so I couldn't act [for a while]. But I had working with John Astin, who played the Riddler; he was personable back surgery and feel great! I've done a few commercials, but right and charming. And I've always thought that Anna Gram was an now I'm enjoying spending time with Michelle and my dogs. But if excellent name for a henchgal. As a henchgal, your main job is to be an interesting part comes along," Deanna Lund smiles, "I would love a vamp who raises havoc and destroys all the men around her. to do it." •#

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with some of the greatest people of my life- what the performance should be and how it sad old reject from Devo—like Devo's dad! time—certainly in terms of the theater, and was going to look and sound. It was a long way from Love Actually, film as well. Then there was a series of jobs "When you're wearing silly grey pajamas although I wore some silly trousers in that." that all came out at the same time, culminat- with white bobbles all over and a skull cap Nighy was impressed by the immensity ing with [writer-director] Richard Curtis' particularly when you're standing next to of the Dead Man's Chest production. "I Love Actually. More people saw me in that Johnny Depp or Orlando Bloom—it's hard would drive up for a night shoot, a beautiful than everything else I've ever done. That to project. And I had to keep remembering Caribbean night," he comments. "There

helped enormously. I owe him dinner." that I had a live octopus growing out of my would be three galleons floating on the

chin. Gore was good at explaining how ocean, lit by huge, massive, truck-size Squid Face everything would be properly informed by Chinese lanterns that were hanging from

Taking the Pirates gig wasn't a hard what happened on the day, and why it cranes. The ships themselves cost God

choice. "These writers are very clever, and I wouldn't disappear in the mix." Far from knows how much money. They were beauti- liked the first movie," he says. "It's kind of disappearing, Nighy's Davy Jones has taken ful, fabulous props, and the inventiveness beloved now has on life in yet another form: his face is pro- put into them was incredible. Then there gone beyond some movie that audiences jected on a sheet of water in the refurbished, were these rain barges that surrounded the

fondly remember; it's something that has Captain -enhanced Pirates of whole sea set, and they pumped movie rain

O O entered the language. And I'm a bit of a the Caribbean ride at Disneyland. through the lights onto these ships. It was the CO c sucker for pirates in the that I the very first day of shooting, I biggest thing I had ever seen, it looked -- c same way am "On was and for vampires." standing there in those pajamas with the amazing. And I thought, "Well, I had better M " 1.1 He can't relate anything of the story for bobbles, white spots all over my face, and I be pretty good!' o c the third Pirates outing. "As you know, if I was on the biggest film set that I've ever He was also amused to find himself E jg tell you that, they'll kill me," he jokes. been on in my life," says Nighy. "Everyone turned into Davy Jones action figures. "I've £ S Q S "They'll come to my house. So no, I can't else was dressed real cool as pirates, and seen the five-inch, the seven-inch and the

tell you. But big stuff happens; it's com- they looked really good. But I looked like a 12-inch. My action figures outclass anybody pletely nuts. They go places that no human 5, >• A Magrathean being has ever been before." designer of His Pirates role demanded a lot not so — planets, in terms of acting, but in submerging much Slartibartfast's his ego and allowing himself to be "buried" speciality is in CGI. Even Nighy's clothes were created creating in a computer. "I had never engaged in any- coastlines thing like this before," he remarks. including the fjords of IA (II "[Director] , who's exem- = E Norway on u- V plary and very acute about the technology, planet Earth. was always encouraging. He would explain

GJTi

4H

"I'm an albino Nighy has ex-lab rat essayed some who has brain strange figures; damage due to The Hitchhiker's overexposure to Guide to the hallucinogenics" Galaxy's is how Nighy Slartibartfast (left) describes unquestionably his Flushed fits that bill. Away character.

Photo: Laurie Sparham

72 mm/January 2007 —

else's," he grins. "I heard that there's a new Big and dopey 12-inch Davy Jones who talks. It's my sec- Whitey is the ond toy. Viktor the vampire was the first. He brawn who came with two extra daggers, which was backs up the impressive. I was a rabbit once, in The sharp and Magic Roundabout, which was called sneaky Spike (right, voiced by Doogal in the States. I voiced Dylan the rab- Andy Serkis). bit. If you pressed the left paw of the Dylan " toy, he said, 'Don't toast the hamster.' Some of his recent co-stars—particularly on Pirates—have put Nighy in his daugh- ter's good graces. "My daughter is 23, and she's very thrilled that her father is on rea- sonable terms with Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom," he laughs. "I worked with Josh Hartnett [on Blow Dry] and, at the time, I was unaware who Josh Hartnett was—but my daughter was very impressed. "Johnny is a comic assassin in Pirates; he's so gifted," Nighy extols. "This is iconic. planet went to see it, and people still watch movie and what the guys did with it. I

People will watch these movies in 20 years' it," Nighy points out. "They loved the first thought it was funny and sweet, and every- time, and they'll say, 'There's the guy!' And Pirates and they loved the second. That body was very, very good in it. I'm a big fan they'll show these films to their kids. If you makes you feel considerably better when of Sam Rockwell, and Zooey Deschanel is wanted to describe Hollywood and some of you come out of a movie house than when charming. And Mos Def is the coolest man you went in." Vampire Ears The wry, charming actor says "it was a great honor" to appear in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. "Douglas Adams tried so hard to make that movie," Nighy notes. "For 20 years, he attempted to get the script

placed, but he was unable to do it in his life-

time. It's just great that the people who knew him and loved him were happy with the

Killed off in the first flick, Viktor (Nighy) returned in Underworld: Evolution—albeit only in flashbacks.

in the world. They all did a really good job." Playing Viktor in the Underworld films finally made Nighy a celebrity with

, the kids in his neighborhood. "They

>' were always slightly surly before," he

\ says. "They knew I was in show busi- A ness, but I was this middle-aged guy who probably didn't do anything inter- the great achievements therein, and you esting. Then I was a vampire, and they wanted to do that by choosing particular ;were very impressed." performances, one of them would be Landing the role was surprisingly j Johnny's as Jack Sparrow." easy. "I auditioned for it and, to my No kidding. Although reviews of amazement, the very young Dead Man's Chest were largely luke- then—director Len Wiseman gave warm, audiences flocked to the film, me the job," Nighy laughs. "I went making it one of the biggest hits in over to Budapest where he was Hollywood history. "Love Actually filming with Kate Beckinsale and didn't get very good reviews either, in everybody else. They were an j England anyway, and yet half the extremely good bunch of peo- ple, and they're real enthusiasts How do you impress, lore. I too. I'm the neighborhood kids? for vampire am, Nighy credits his Underworld 1 a sucker for all things vampire, so I was pleased to be a part of vampire role for making him | a "celebrity" on his block. it. But no one will be allowed www.starlog.com STARLOG/Jonuor/2007 73 — I

to do what the prosthetics guy did to me in ple from the Ministry. York, flame-haired actress—was very kind the first movie ever again. Now that I'm in "I'm also in a film called Notes on a to me that day. I used to have—and I occa- the world of CGI, maybe that won't be nec- Scandal, with Cate Blanchett and Judi sionally still do—a habit of inventing a hos- essary." Dench. It's about a primary school teacher, tile parallel universe, and I live there for

Then there was the role that got away. played by Cate, who has an affair with one awhile. In that universe, I get fired as soon as

"There was a lot of talk about how perhaps I of her 15-year-old boy pupils. I play her hus- I start to work. In a minute, they'll come

would be Doctor Who, but in the end, it was band. Patrick Marber wrote the script, Sir across the room and say, 'Bill, it isn't work-

not to be," he remarks. "The show is huge in Richard Eyre directed it, Chris Menges is the ing out.' I act with that channel in my head

England. It took a couple of series to catch cinematographer and two of the greatest all the time, but I discovered that I can go to on, but Doctor Who is a real, proper, smack- actresses in the world are playing fabulous work anyway.

ing TV hit." parts. So it should be a pretty powerful "So Marcella saw this kid there doing his

He enjoyed his time on Shaun of the movie." best, and I didn't blow it or anything, but it Dead, even though "they couldn't afford to was my first day of professional work. She use me all the way through. No, I'm just kid- Rat voice came in, and she was wearing a fur coat, ding. I read the script and thought it was an Nighy gets to show off his voiceover high heels and a big pair of shades— absolute rocker. It had a joke or three gags skills in Flushed Away (now in theaters). thought all actresses looked like that. When

on every page, and it was faithful to the "I'm an albino ex-lab rat who has brain dam- I finished my six lines, there was a big genre. [Co-writer-director Edgar Wright and age due to overexposure to hallucinogenics. silence, in which I imagined myself being co-writer ] know more about They needed a stoned-out freak and, guess fired and never acting again. Marcella zombies than anyone I've ever met. They're what? They thought of me!" he chuckles. looked at me, looked at the director and then sincere about their zombie love. Shaun of the "My character Whitey is a double act with she looked back at me and said to the direc- Dead was a rare commodity, the birth of a Spike. I'm a big, dopey rat, and Spike is the tor, 'Where did you get him? This kid is fab- genre—the 'rom-zom-com.' Nobody had little, sharp and clever one. Andy Serkis ulous.' I knew, she knew and the director ever done one before, and I figured I should voices Spike, Sir Ian McKellen is the big knew that I wasn't particularly fabulous, but

be a part of it. The balance between scaring gangster Toad, Kate Winslet is the heroine it was an actor's kindness. She was a most people and making them laugh is notorious- and Hugh Jackman is the hero—or kind of remarkable woman." ly difficult. anti-hero. There are lots of extremely good Nighy won the BAFTA (British Aca-

"I've just done a tiny cameo—as has actors in it, and it's Aardman, who brought demy of Film and Television Arts) Award for nearly every other actor in England—in their you Chicken Run [and Wallace & Gromit]. Best Supporting Actor in Love Actually, but new film, Hot Fuzz- Basically, it's a cop Their animation is world-class." he wasn't nominated for an Oscar. "I've

movie, an English action picture, which is a His beginnings were initially murky. never had a day where I expected an Oscar

rare genre. City cop goes rural. Simon and Like many people, Nighy knocked around nomination. I've never had a day where I

[Shaun of the Dead actor] Nick Frost are aimlessly for a bit after leaving school. He thought I would get a BAFTA. I didn't think once again the heroes. It's a rocking picture wanted to be a journalist, but wound up as a that was a role that might be considered for and a great script. There are some big sur- messenger boy on a magazine staff. He lived major praise." prises in the casting, which I can't tell you in Paris a while, hoping to write a great While he's adept at drama and comedy, about yet." novel, but returned to England. Then, a girl "I enjoy comedy more than anything else. Hot Fuzz isn't Nighy's only recent pro- friend suggested he try acting. Says Nighy, It's endlessly fascinating how you can make ject. "I'm in Alex Rider: Operation Storm- "My first professional job was in regional material funny, and how you can make it breaker, a kind of teenage James Bondish theater, six lines in a Tennessee Williams funnier—just discovering what's humorous movie, in which I'm the M figure, like Judi play, The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here and what's not. It's a challenge, but getting Dench in the adult James Bonds," he offers. Anymore, which was made into a movie, people to laugh is a useful thing."

"It's taken from six or seven books by Boom, with Richard Burton and Elizabeth Now, it's time to return to the set of At Anthony Horowitz, which are very popular Taylor. They put me in a singlet, and I'm not World's End. "Terry Rossio wrote some

in England. In every book, the schoolboy a singlet kind of guy, so I couldn't quite fill piratespeak, and he told me that certain lines

hero saves the world. Mickey Rourke is the it. I had to stand there and speak in a South- are just better shouted in the rain," Bill

villain, Alicia Silverstone is [the hero's] gov- ern accent. Nighy smiles. "So now I have to go shout erness, and Sophie Okonedo and I play peo- "Marcella Markham—a wonderful New some lines in the rain!" <$&

The actor enjoyed The Aardman- working with Shaun of DreamWorks the Dead filmmakers animation—supported Edgar Wright and Simon by a stellar cast Pegg so much that he spurred Nighy's decision cameoed in their next to voice Flushed Aw/ay's film, Hot Fuzz. simple-minded rodent.

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By JOE NAZZARO Playing high-risk poker, Mads Mikkelsen takes a big gamble in the deadly game with James Bond —

o James Bond adventure would be complete without a larger- than-life villain, but no scoundrel has had as strange a history as Le Chiffre, 007's nemesis in Casino Royale. Originally created as a Russian agent and baccarat player in Ian Fleming's 1953 novel (the first Bond book), the char- acter was played by Peter Lorre in an episode of the TV series Climax a year later, and then Orson Welles in the 1967 Casino Royale film spoof. The latest performer to essay the villain- ous Le Chiffre is Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen for the 2006 version of Casino Royale, which reboots the Bond franchise with Daniel Craig stepping into the role of 007. This time, though, the somewhat dated aspects of Communist Russia and bac- carat have been dispensed with in favor of more contempo-

rary elements. "First of all, ijhe's a money launderer for terrorist organiza- tions around the world," explains Mikkelsen, "so The stakes are high really high—for Le Chiffre, who must recoup the money he has he doesn't have a politi- lost. Laundering funds for terrorist organizations can be a dangerous job. cal agenda. He doesn't

?care; he's just in it for the Chiffre sympathetic in my world, even know them himself, but the audience does.

money. Le Chiffre is also a though what he's doing isn't especially sym- That's why it's nice to scream at a character, vain character. He enjoys pathetic—and that's the job of the actor and 'No, go this way, not that way!' In that sense, being behind the scenes, not director working together. You have to look you have to analyze them, but the character : too much out there, and he at different films in different ways. In some doesn't have to be aware of them himself." doesn't like the Sun. Le Chiffre movies, you try to make the small characters Like many actors, Mikkelsen often cre-

is like a vampire who stays really realistic, and in others, you don't. I ates an internal backstory for his character, indoors. He wants to remain think we achieved making Le Chiffre slight- which doesn't necessarily get seen on unrecognized." ly likable, but we'll have to wait and see." screen, but helps to flesh out the role. "I do Unlike a number of Bond vil- that all the time, but I think every actor does lains—who have been somewhat Betting Man the same thing," he notes. "Even with the lacking in depth apart from their obvi- So how does one go about making a ter- character I played in [the popular Danish ous motivation to rule a big chunk of rorist money launderer into a sympathetic crime drama] Pusher, we don't really know the free world—Mikkelsen insists his person? "Well, the story does some of it for anything about him, but we feel that we

character is more than a mere cardboard you, and if the script is good, it will do that know everything about him, so I could make f cut-out. "Actors always try to make their too," Mikkelsen remarks. "If not, you try to up my story about what his childhood was

characters more than one-dimensional," he do it with little details and pauses or the like and everything else, even though it was

I says. "We try to give them two faces, so the energy in the character. The thing is, you not necessary in the picture. I try to do that baddies have to be likable and the goodies have to be smarter than your character all the every time, whether the script is focused on have to be unlikable. We have to find that time. You have to see what their mistakes his whole life story or not; I'll add some-

dualism somewhere, so I tried to make Le are, and normally the character doesn't thing in my own head. In Casino Royale, I pictured this guy as an orphaned street kid, maybe since he was four. Le Chiffre is a real survivor; he comes from nothing, and sud- denly he becomes filthy rich as he starts going bad. That's [how I imagined] his story." Not surprisingly, playing a high-profile character in the latest Bond outing marks a career milestone for Mikkelsen, who remembers seeing a number of the previous 007 films while growing up in his native

Copenhagen. "When I was a kid, I watched them if they came to Denmark, which almost all of them did," he recalls. "I'm not a freak or an expert, but I've seen most of them. The

Bonds I remember best were the ones with Jaws, because he was such a scary guy." The Danish-born Mikkelsen began his professional career as a gymnast and dancer before turning his attention to acting. "When

Before he hit the casino table, Mikkelsen sat at the Round Table as Tristan, you're a dancer, nobody knows about you," one of the knights in service to King Arthur. he candidly comments. "I wasn't there www.starlog.com Wm/January 2007 77 —

\ advertising that I was a dancer, Gerard Depardieu, Shake It All About, couple of times because I was working on a but when I went to drama , Wilbur Wants to Kill Danish movie in Prague, so instead I had a 9\ school, people were interest- Himself, The Green Butchers (another meeting with Martin and [producer] Michael \

's ed—quite quickly—in me Danish Film Critics nomination) and Pusher Wilson. After that, I did go to an audition, all working in films. I've always II, reprising his role from the 1996 original dressed up in a suit, ready to film with been in love with movies, and the and picking up a handful of awards in 2005. Daniel, but he was busy doing something fact that you can drag the audience to you Mikkelsen began grabbing international else. I think they had already seen enough, instead of going all the way out to the audi- attention the previous year with King Arthur, though, so they just offered me the part. At ence—the transition wasn't hard at all." Antoine Fuqua's retelling of the Knights of the first meeting, they gave me the script and

After graduating from the Arhus Theatre the Round Table legend. The actor played I read the whole thing and really liked it. It

School, Mikkelsen appeared in a number of Tristan opposite Clive Owen's Arthur. "I was a real page-turner, which is rare." As the new Bond villain, Mikkelsen spent the next several months traveling back and forth between the production's interna- tional locations. "I was in two places in the

Czech Republic, and I was in London as

well," he says. "No Bahamas for me, but I

really enjoyed the areas we went. I was in the Bahamas last year for a film festival, so

I've already been there, and it was fun.

"I still remember my first day, for many reasons of course. We had a scene on a giant boat—which was inside the studio—and it was on some kind of mechanical system that went up and down so we didn't have to play

the waves. When we completed the scene, I

got up to leave the room, and suddenly I felt

this boat moving and I thought, 'Wow, this is a Bond set!' Normally, you would have peo- ple out there pushing the boat, but we had a

machine doing it. So that was awesome." He has high praise for his on-screen nemesis Craig. "Daniel is a very funny guy, and he felt really comfortable in this part. To better understand Le Chiffre, Mikkelsen created a backstory for the character. He had time," Mikkelsen offers. "I pictured this guy as an orphaned street kid," he says. a good "Daniel works with his fellow actors, so if there was stage productions before moving on to TV don't know if I'm necessarily moving into a scene with him and me, we would sit down shows such as the popular police drama Unit bigger films, because I've never looked at with Martin and make it work and maybe 1, which earned an international Emmy for my career as a career; I've always looked at add a few slight changes. He's extremely

Best Drama Series. "I was working in films the work," he reflects. "I've really enjoyed focused and disciplined, which is what at the same time as I was working on this TV the work and being part of those changes actors should be. Sometimes you work with thing, but moving back and forth wasn't a back home in Denmark, so every time I get people who are big stars or are becoming big big problem for me," says Mikkelsen. "I offered something, I never regard it as, 'Oh, stars and that can create problems, but haven't done TV since then, not because I where will this take me?' I don't care about Daniel was always focused on the work. I don't want to, but because that was kind of that. If you start thinking like that, you'll think he's ready for this." enough. You tend to get identified with one always be disappointed in life. But if you And so is Mads Mikkelsen, who is look- character after two-and-a-half years, and I focus on the job, you'll be happy in the end." ing forward to public reaction to Casino like to do a variety of stuff." Maybe so, but it would be difficult to Royale. "The interest is already enormous,

Mikkelsen earned acclaim for his edgy argue that Mikkelsen's higher profile didn't and it has been a great process. I've met so portrayal of a low-life junkie and drug deal- make him a more appealing candidate when many fantastic people—the actors, director er in director Nicolas Winding Refn's the Casino Royale producers began search- and crew—and it has been nice to experi- Pusher films. "They were so different that ing for their new villain. "There's a great ence how a big-budget film can feel just like making the transition was easy," he states. deal of focus on Danish films these days a small-budget one. For me, it's all about the "It's dangerous for some actors when they not necessarily by average people around the work." itg get stuck there, but I was fortunate enough to world, but it has been a big get offered different material. The original thing in the movie business Pusher was my first film ever, and I guess for the last five or six years," many people my age just wanted to change he explains. "So if they're Danish film in those days, so we went out casting for foreign or and did movies for no money—it was pure European actors, they'll defi- energy. I think we succeeded in changing nitely take a look at Danish things—not only me, but many other actors, films, and that's how this directors, camera guys and writers. And if came about. The casting we can keep that on track for some years to director saw some of my come, that would be great." movies and introduced me to Martin Campbell, the direc- High Roller tor, and a couple of the pro- Over the last few years, Mikkelsen has ducers. They had seen the continued to build up a body of quality Pusher films and a darker pic- work, including the lead role in Open Hearts ture I did called Open Hearts. (which earned him a Danish Academy "Originally, I had to audi- A Knight to remember. Casino Royale may be the film

Award nomination), / Am Dina opposite tion, but I couldn't make it a that propels the Danish actor to movie stardom.

78 mm/January 2007 www.starlog.com This holiday season. ..why not give

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When it comes to heroic romance, James Marsden seems destined to be the other guy.

" Hi! ^|u^, MERSMMfc. l il l'illlWllHlill i mini' IllUflllWIII ^n James Marsden had one hell of a summer. allels to today. You can look at your skin color, Marsden notes. "And in the third movie, he It began in May, when he co-starred in X- religion or sexuality, and it makes you ask, 'If loses his luster a little. He isn't dealing very

Men: The Last Stand. Then, in late June, I had a chance to cure myself of this, would I? well with her death. Scott still feels her pres- he appeared in Superman Returns, which Or would I look at it as a slap in the face?' ence and energy around him. He's basically reunited him with X-Men and X2: X-Men Those are big questions for a popcorn movie. haunted by her. So he can't put his feelings to

United director Bryan Singer. Both films gen- Most of the characters view it as an insult. rest, so to speak, and it takes its toll on him. He erated blockbuster numbers and are now out Those kinds of issues are in the comic, and has lost his grip on his responsibilities at the on DVD. Meanwhile, Marsden was off, busily Bryan introduced them in the films, too. school, and it was interesting to play that. shooting yet another promising picture: the "It would be so easy just to Things really were reversed animated/live-action fairy tale Enchanted. "It put these people in tights and between Scott and Logan, and has been fun," Marsden acknowledges. "I'm bright colors and have them they sort of swapped roles." enjoying it, and I know I'm incredibly lucky." jump around, showing off their Marsden chuckles when Scott Summers/Cyclops wasn't quite so powers. But Bryan said, 'Let's asked what he made of the fortunate in The Last Stand. The character go against that as much as we Dark Phoenix storyline. "I who appeared primed to assume Professor can, because that element is only knew about the Dark Xavier's (Patrick Stewart) position as leader of going to be there anyway. Let's Phoenix saga because every the X-Men—fell apart following the death of make these characters live in a time I was approached by a fan his beloved Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) at the reality that's similar to ours on the street about the X-Men end of X2. Suddenly, in The Last Stand, he and today, and let's make them very movies, it was impossible for Logan/Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) seemed to real with human emotions. them not to mention Dark have switched places, with Logan as the strong They're reluctant superheroes Phoenix," he explains. "I one and Scott as the wreck. Additionally, who are conflicted and trou- would be like, 'What is this

Xavier tapped Storm (Halle Berry) to take his bled.' That, to me, was interest- Dark Phoenix thing?' And I place as second-in-command. Then, Jean Grey ing, and I believe it's part of the learned that it was a beloved returned in the form of Dark Phoenix and reason why the first two X-Men storyline that took place in the in apparently killed Scott. were so popular. I think it's Nobody really dies the comics, and I anticipated that X-Men Universe. "I was very pleased with it," Marsden why The Last Stand did so would be a part of The Last Professor X and Cyclops enthuses. "It's lots of fun. The Last Stand is a well. And, frankly, I think Stand, along with other things may appear gone, but big popcorn movie. It's difficult with the X- that's why the X-Men comics like the Danger Room. there's always the Men movies: You always have to introduce have been as popular as they've looking forward it chance of resurrection. "I was to new characters, and yet you also have to keep been since 1963. It's not about because, once I learned about the movie right at or under two hours. So showing off their cool powers; it's about the it, I liked the idea of the love of Scott's life you're stuck with this situation where you internal conflict in these people that is caused and, to some degree, the love of Logan's life, have to find time for everybody. And it can by those powers. Sometimes their powers are turning bad and us having to battle her. It was feel a little spread thin at times because you're a curse. They affect who they are and how they an exciting dynamic, having to fight this per- dealing with so many characters. But [direc- fit into the world. I'm more fascinated by son we loved. Jean has reached her full poten- tor] Brett Ratner did a great job of giving those things than I am by special effects." tial as the most powerful, omnipotent force in everybody something to do and making their the X-Men Universe, and Scott is so over- purpose known while they're up there on the Mutant Feeling whelmed by her physical return that he does screen. It cranked up the volume a bit, and it's Despite a limited amount of screen time not notice that she's not the same person. All a nice end to the trilogy. particularly in The Last Stand—Cyclops of this is fantastical to a certain degree, but it's "The Cure was an intriguing thing for us to evolved from film to film. In the first X-Men, fun taking the characters down these roads. I deal with in the third film," Marsden adds. he was very polished and strait-laced, like a wish that Scott wasn't de-atomized or de-mol- "The foundation of the X-Men and their uni- Boy Scout, always doing the right thing ecularized or whatever she did to him, but as verse is that it deals with tolerance, embracing because circumstances demanded that he have the producers said while we were shooting the your individuality and being hated for being his act together. That began to crack in X2, movie, 'Nobody really dies in the X-Men different. So the Cure was a great concept to when Jean sacrificed herself to save the X- Universe.' And if you stayed through the cred- introduce to the series. There are so many par- Men. "You saw how much he truly loves her," its, you know that's true."

80 iWm/January 2007 www.starlog.com Scott Summers (Marsden) evolved from X-Men's strait- laced Boy Scout into the third X-film's bitter loner.

Marsden attacks! Well before Marsden flew off to James Marsden Vancouver to shoot The Last Stand, he sat the big stormed down to dinner with Singer. Over the course screen in two of that meal, the director revealed that he summer superhero wouldn't be helming the third X-Men; instead, blockbusters: Superman Returns he was taking the reins on Superman Returns. and X-Men: "I wished him all the best and knew that he The Last Stand. would make a great Superman film, but it was bittersweet because it meant that we didn't have Bryan for the third movie," Marsden recalls. "We were all good friends even away 3 from the set, so everyone wished him well on £• us well on X-Men 3. Superman and he wished | "Then I took him to the premiere of The Notebook [in which Marsden starred opposite g Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling], and g Bryan said, 'Well, that was interesting. It was 2 All Superman funny seeing you as a different character. I've .5? Returns Photos: David James/Copyright spent so many hours in an editing room look- £ 2006 Warner Bros. ing at you wearing goggles and playing Scott Entertainment, Inc.—U.S., ^ that it was a breath of fresh air seeing you do ° Canada, Bahamas & Bermuda. something different.' About four or five s Ail Rights Reserved. months later, he called me at home and said, 3

I this role in that I want All Superman 'Hey, have Superman f Characters & Photos: you to play, and I would love to tell you about £ Trademark & Copyright it. Come on over to Warner Bros, and read the 2006 DC Comics, Inc. J All Rights Reserved. script. You can't take it home, but you can sit >4

mm/January 2007 81 in both instances, the audience is rooting for

the other guy to get the girl.

"I wish I could say that I planned that, but

I didn't," Marsden jokes. "I'm certainly find- ing my niche in this business, aren't I? There's a strong misconception out there that actors have the choice of doing what they want to do.

To a certain point, it's true. There are certain roles you pursue, that you go after. And you can say no to something that you're offered. But to be completely and 100 percent honest,

I wasn't prepared to not be involved in a Bryan

Singer Superman film just because I would be

playing the other guy again. Would I rather be

Superman? Sure. But it's not something that bothers me.

"What's more exciting is that I'm a part of these great movies and working with this real- ly good director. In Superman Returns, I'm Superman's emotional Kryptonite. I'm the one

guy who is emotionally more powerful than Lex Luthor [Kevin Spacey]. So that was

intriguing, and I didn't mind it. And characters

like Scott and Richard, they're good guys. It would be different if they were only two-

dimensional assholes. Richard is an ail- American, charming, intelligent and likable person. He's Superman-esque, but without the

powers. Lois is engaged to him, and you can see why. He flies a seaplane, so he's a pilot. There are lots of similarities."

On the Superman set, Marsden spent most of his downtime in the company of Langella and Bosworth. They were, he acknowledges, two "completely different" people, but he liked them both. "I had a great time with Frank," says Marsden. "I learned so much from him. He has a wealth of funny Holly- wood stories because of his history and having been in the industry so long. We had lots of laughs. Frank has a very sharp, sarcastic sense

of humor. It's refreshing to be around someone like that—who has been in the business, seen everything, had success come and go and

come back again. It's interesting to see what Many fans call X2the kind of human being that creates. I had a fab- best chapter, but ulous time with him. Frank is an extremely Marsden thinks Last thoughtful, giving actor. He told me that it's Stand director Brett Ratner did a great job great to have success, to be in a big movie like on short notice. Superman, but he also told me to have another life outside of the business. That's the most

here in the office and look at it. We would like important thing. Frank likes to laugh, joke and

to have you on board.' have a good time, so it was a very easy energy

"I said, 'Wow! But how is this going to when he was on the set.

affect X-MenT Bryan told me, 'I think we'll "Kate is fresh, young and more talented be ready to go in March, and X-Men isn't Sight for sore eyes. Lonely Cyclops got than she might even know. I've been doing this his (death) shooting until August or September. So, in my wish when the enhanced Jean for 13 years, and I'm trying to get where she is Grey returned in The Last Stand. eyes, you can do both.' I responded, 'Sure, let talent-wise. Some people, when you meet

me look at it.' Richard White is a very differ- them, you just have to watch them. Kate won ent character from Scott and, at that time, they Emotional Kryptonite the genetic lottery. She looks like she was didn't have a director on X-Men 3 and were And so Marsden found himself in Australia painted. And at the same time, she's this

still working on the script. I didn't know if shooting Superman Returns. Richard White, tremendously talented actress. In addition to

they were ready to go on X-Men, so I accepted of course, is the nephew of Daily Planet Editor that, she's this laid-back, cool, down-to-Earth

Superman. Then I got a call from Fox saying Perry White (Frank Langella) and the fiance of person. Most of my scenes were with her, and that they were ready to go on X-Men, had a reporter Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth), whose they were fun. script that they liked, had a couple of fabulous former beau, Clark Kent/Superman (Brandon "When you work on a movie for eight

directors in mind and that I had a great role in Routh), vanished mysteriously five years earli- months in Australia, you become very close

the movie. So then it became a scheduling er. Now, the Man of Steel is back, which caus- with the people you're surrounded by. I've got

thing. I've got to hand it to Fox and Warner es all sorts of ripple effects. Strangely enough, to hand it to Bryan: He has a knack for assem- Bros.—they were both very collaborative on there's a common thread between Richard and bling not only super-talented people, but great the dates." Scott: They're both in romantic triangles and, people to work with. It's a daunting task to put

82 STARLOG/Jmuory 2007 www.starlog.com a

together a movie of this size, a more jaded, cynical world like New York. and he wants to be around That's the fun of the movie, and it opens the good people who enjoy the door for lots of humor. I go in after her to res- experience—and Kate em- cue her, and that's a whole adventure unto bodies that. She loves being itself. I'm running around the street in on a set, and is professional Columbus Circle and Times Square, on top of and prepared, yet she also buses, with my sword swinging above my likes to laugh and joke. We head, and barking things like I'm doing might have messed up a few Shakespeare. It's loads of fun: a classic Disney takes on purpose, just for the fairy tale mixed with a contemporary romantic gag reel." comedy." Marsden notes that he'll Marsden has also completed The Alibi— happily reunite with Singer, comedy with and X-Men's Langella and Bosworth if Rebecca Romijn—as well as 10th & Wolf, a Warner Bros, ever flies the drama in which Marsden stars as a young man sequel route. In the mean- who returns to Philadelphia after a military He was sad to see Bryan Singer exit the X-saga for time, audiences seem delight- stint only to confront the mob boss (Dennis Superman Returns—and then surprised when the ed by Superman Returns. Hopper) who played a key role in his leaving director asked him to play Richard White, boy friend of "It's true to the mythology," town. There's Conan: Red Nails, an upcoming Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth). Marsden comments. "Bryan animated film in which Marsden voices has a deep respect for the mythology and what Techotl, a young warrior who seeks out the that means to the people who've embraced the help of Conan of Cimmeria () to Superman character. take on the bad guys that include the skeletal "And yet there's this whole new generation Tolkemec (Mark Hamill). And next up, he'll who might not have seen the old series or the sing and dance in the movie version of the Richard Donner film, but who know of Broadway musical Hairspray.

Superman because of the iconic symbol or "I'm an actor, and I love to play different they saw a cartoon or played a video game. roles," Marsden says. "So I've been very for-

Bryan is bringing to that generation a whole tunate to not be pigeonholed into any type of new re-education of who Superman is, what character, aside from being the other guy in a he embodies and why he is the greatest super- lot of movies! Unfortunately, those are the hero ever." ones that come out and are the biggest films. I

do get the girl sometimes; it's just that, so far, Enchanted Romance those movies haven't made $300 million. But Marsden's summer also included a few it's great to have a couple of films where I'm months spent shooting Enchanted (due out in Singer has a habit of casting Marsden as doing something totally different. I like fool- November 2007). That picture casts Marsden "the other guy." In Superman Returns, ing with people's minds and that audiences as Prince Edward, more or less the Prince Marsden had to compete with the Man of will see that the guy jumping around in tights

Charming character opposite Amy Adams' Steel (Brandon Routh) for Lois' affections. and puffy sleeves in Enchanted is the same Giselle. Co-stars include Idina (Wicked) Menzel, Patrick Dempsey and Susan Sarandon, with Kevin (Tarzan) Lima direct- ing. "I have an affinity for playing characters in uncomfortable outfits," Marsden jokes. "I can't wait to do a movie where I'm actually in street clothes. The first 10 or 15 minutes of

Enchanted is your classic, traditionally-ani- mated Disney film like Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White. It's two-dimensional, and stunningly beautiful. These characters exist in this fairy-tale, 2-D-animated world.

They sing to each other. It's a musical. There are, I think, six original songs written by Alan

Menken and Stephen Schwartz, and I have a lovely duet with Amy, who plays the princess.

I do two songs in the movie. "Amy gets pushed down a well and, as

The actor hopes to develop the Richard-Superman-Lois love triangle in future sequels.

she's falling down, she transforms into a real guy who was Cyclops and in The Notebook. human being and comes out of a manhole in 'Oh, no way! Are you kidding me?'

present-day, live-action New York City. So "That's exciting because it keeps people

now she's a real person and you've got these guessing and, for me, it's creatively inspiring

Previously heard in STARLOG #277 & classic, perfect, drawn characters who sing to to do these different roles," James Marsden #315, Marsden was seen in The Notebook each other and fall in love in 10 minutes and grins. "I've been very lucky to have that diver- (pictured), The Alibi and 10th & Wolf. get married in five seconds juxtaposed against sity in my career." 0%

Smm/Jtmuary 2007 83

"

During the day, ly. Jenny became G-Girl thanks to a strange I G-Girl is the meteorite, and the film spends little time I milquetoast, focusing on heroics. Instead, the picture is j mousy Jenny (Uma more of a romantic/sex comedy with j Thurman). Little Jenny/G-Girl dancing on a razor-thin line j does Matt (Luke between being likable and thoroughly i Wilson) know unsympathetic. what's in store for

"She's completely petulant and uncen- I him when he sored," Thurman notes. "It was actually fun ; starts dating this "normal" girl. playing G-Girl, especially for a good New i England girl [like myself]. I mind my p's j

and q's, and so to portray a character like i this— throat just opened up and never my j

closed. She goes into primal-scream mode i Comedy is halfway through the movie, and that was an i Wilson and absolute thrill." director Ivan "My sense is that she has probably lived Reitman's forte, j but Thurman a fairly sheltered life," Reitman says of i hasn't had many Jenny. "I mean, she was kind of a geek as a I opportunities to teenager and might have gone through a j show off her brief flowering. The premise behind all of I funny side. , tfiiG ic frtinHv that !t'« n rftm^lntu rnmpHv : where everything is naturalistic. This is set in a real city; it isn't Gotham or Metropolis. It's New York, and everyone is real—except one of the characters happens to have spe- cial powers because of an accident that occurred when she was a teenager. That came from those musings you have as a teenager: What would happen if a super- hero was a real person in a real city sur- rounded by other real people? F-word and nudity to shoot for an R rating. With the walk and the sex scenes, it's the "Apart from all the mythical things that "No, because that wouldn't have made it reactor who really ends up adding an extra- we've seen in comics and comic book any funnier," the director insists. "What we ordinary amount of comedy to the movie." movies, My Super Ex-Girlfriend isn't sup- wanted to do was make this funny, and sex "This movie was tremendous fun be- posed to be part of that universe. Although is part of the whole romantic equation. I cause it's so spicy," Thurman interjects. there's a little bit of that, the film is really think people are sometimes too afraid of "Most films are either straight dramas

tough torm, because we ve all seen it iuu inurmans iraniic, irenetic ana un- people tor many montns. bui any super ex- times. The My Super Ex-Girlfriend script predictable actions generate many of the Girlfriend had a good variety of things. We changed the sexual dynamic between men laughs in the movie. Likewise, Luke would have days of wonderful character and women, and I thought, 'Well, there's an Wilson's snide remarks and Izzard's dry scenes that weren't necessarily in the con- opportunity for comedy here.' line readings provide additional chuckles. text of the superhero world—classic roman- Reitman hastens to add that he never And so it fell to Wilson to play the straight tic comedy or drama moments, or just talk- considered letting it all hang out, using the man, although he does get arguably the ing—and then other days we would be biggest punchline in the movie—a post- flying around New York City, with me Visions of The Texas Chainsaw lovemaking crack that can't be repeated swinging Luke by his pants off of a crane on Massacre run through Matt's mind here. He also elicits laughs in the next scene, 54th Street. It was a nice mix and very when his vindictive ex vows a morning-after bit in which he walks down entertaining." vengeance. the street clearly in great, great pain down The last word belongs to Thurman, lest in his nether regions. she beat anyone up. Jenny/G-Girl is both "That ties into what was being said ear- every guy's fantasy and worst nightmare,

lier, in that this film isn't much different something the actress took into account from anything else," Wilson says. "You're from the moment she signed on for My just playing a role, whether it's a drama or Super Ex-Girlfriend. "I see women as

a comedy, and it was extremely fun to act incredibly strong, intense and balanced

opposite Uma, because she would bring it creatures for the most part," she offers. "I up and down during different takes. We rarely meet a meek woman anymore. We're

would do ones where she would play it more really fully up with what's going on. Many ' s V straight and others where she would be people have asked me if I changed this

over the top. And then I also had to keep in character, and I have to say that I played

mind that she's a superhero. So I didn't find Jenny pretty much how Don wrote her on

it a challenge being the straight man—and the page. apparently I do that in lots of movies." "Jenny was a wonderfully draw n char- "I'm going to differ with that opinion, acter," extols Uma Thurman. "I think that because I think Luke is spectacularly funny in movies women are stronger than they're

in the film," Reitman remarks. "Yes, he's presented to be, and I think that men are the glue that holds the movie together, we more sensitive and complicated than how come into the story through Luke's charac- they're presented to be. To me, it's com-

ter and it's his point-of-view throughout the pletely normal to have a strong female -Mr film, but he's still very loose and funny. character." With his Apple Computers, Steve Wozniak made science fiction into fact. And he's a Star Trek fan.

86 mm/January 2007 —

th Anniversary Celebration

Sometimes referred to as "the other Steve," Wozniak doesn't seek the

spotlight. But if you want to learn more about this computer pioneer, check out his candid autobiography iWoz.

Steve Wozniak with Gina Smith —

visionary is someone who makes doing, but I would answer their phone calls body else has been stabbed and I was just sit-

the impossible possible. By any and be polite. I figure that if [people want to ting too close! I like being involved with A stretch of the imagination, Steve look at me as] a symbol, I should try to be as new projects, but I also like being in on Wozniak is a visionary. Wozniak good a symbol as I can by giving, donating, unusual things that I may never get another ("Woz" to his friends) took the teaching, just being into other people in- chance to do in my life. This time, I get to be computer, a longtime genre staple, and did stead of myself. splattered with blood in a Stephen King film. something unimaginable—something that "Because we had a successful company, That's a rare opportunity, so I wouldn't let had only been depicted in Flash Gordon many people change and become big busi- them wash it off me!" serials and SF stories: He helped put the nessmen. I decided I was gonna be the things While much has been written about Woz- computer in everyone's home, and made it in life that I wanted to be when I was in the niak, there's a side to him that STARLOG as indispensable as the telephone, TV and sixth grade. I wanted to be a fifth-grade readers may find particularly intriguing refrigerator. It's an action that truly changed teacher, keep my jokes and humor, never run he's, well, one of us. "Oh yeah, I'm a science the world. a company and be an engineer for life. And I fiction fan, always have been," he says. "All His part in creating this device with his managed to do that!" my favorite books have been in that genre, Apple Computers partner Steve Jobs was starting with the Tom Swift novels I read in outlined in The Pirates of Silicon Valley (the SF Dreams elementary school. I preferred Tom Swift to highest-rated basic cable movie of all time) As he speaks on a rainy Southern Cali- Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. I loved and his new autobiography iWoz (Norton, fornian afternoon, Wozniak's face and shirt anything having to do with building equip- he, $25.95, written with Gina Smith). are streaked in blood. No, he didn't fall ment, solving problems with your own Wozniak also survived a horrific plane crash while riding his Segway Human Transporter resources, running your own company or and staged several fabled rock concerts. around the soaking wet parking lot; he's co- designing stuff. I enjoyed the stories where Most amazingly, the hard-working, bearded producing an adaptation of Stephen King's Tom and his friends would build something inventor—a generous contributor to charita- short story "Lunch at the Gotham Cafe." like a submarine, a plasma field to hold ble causes—remains a nice guy. With the author's blessing, the short film is aliens or a rocket ship to win a race in outer Being part of history "is really nice," being called "Stephen King's Gotham Cafe," space. Tom always did that stuff for a good Wozniak says. "People want symbols. I did and Wozniak has a cameo as "Horrified cause," Wozniak chuckles. "That was my not ever seek out to be anything like that. I Patron." start. I never read comic books. would never call the press about what I was "It's not my blood," he smiles. "Some- "After that, I fell in love with Isaac Asi- www.starlog.com Wm/January 2007 87 —

mov's short stories and Considered one of the greatest TV commercials of film, funny and really captured

Stanislaw Lem. I really liked all time, Ridley Scott's Orwellian ad for the 1984 launch of the the feelings of the old Star Macintosh aired during XVIII. Lem, with his great mixture of Super Bowl Trek. I occasionally went to science and science fiction. I Star Trek conventions, where I loved his stuff so much! My heard the actors from the show favorite book is J.R.R. Tolkien's speak, but I never got into the The Lord of the Rings, which I later Star Trek series. Maybe I read back in high school. I had passed it in my tastes. haven't read it since, I haven't Sometimes, things that I was had time, but I've always re- into before, I don't always go membered it as an incredibly back to. Also, by the time Star deep and rich story. All those Trek: The Next Generation personalities, hardships, good came on, I had given up TV. I vs. evil, conflicts and resolu- rarely watched it, because I tions." pretty much decided that the

His company showed its love quality of acting was too low for SF in director Ridley Scott's and I would rather watch famous 1984 Apple Computers movies. commercial. In an Orwellian "When the first Star Trek

1984, a woman with a sledge- movie came out [in 1979], I hammer smashes Big Brother's bought out the local theater on computer screen (intended to opening night, but I only sold represent the monolithic IBM) half the tickets—at twice the and liberates the masses. "When price—to Apple employees so

Steve [Jobs] showed it to me, I everyone would have a seat, was stunned," Wozniak admits. and we had a big Apple event.

"I was knocked out because it I went to the theater the night was the greatest science fiction before at midnight, because a of all, and I think if our compa- friend worked for the theater ny should stand for anything, it chain. He gave me his badge, should come from these rooms and I put it on and crashed of dreams, science fiction and their employee screening of artificially computerized tech- Star Trek: The Motion Picture, nology changing things. hoping that no one would real-

"I looked at the commercial, ize I didn't belong there and and Steve said, 'Our board real- kick me out! I watched it, but I ly doesn't want to show it. It's didn't think much of the gonna cost a lot—$800,000 to movie. It was dull, and I knew put it on the Super Bowl...' I the next night, all my Apple said, 'But we should show it friends Computers have come a long way since Wozniak would come and be it's us! Tell I'll half ya what, pay and Jobs (left) teamed up in the 70s to shape what is now a really disappointed! of it if you will! ' I thought it was billion-dollar industry and alter all our tomorrows. "Of all the films, I like Star a matter of money, so if the two Trek IV: The Voyage Home of us paid the cost, it would be fine, but it when those characters were on their own. most of all—the one where they go to San was really that the board didn't want to show "I also have DVDs of all the [original] Francisco and get the whales," Wozniak it. They were afraid staid business type-peo- Star Trek episodes. The ones where they take remarks. "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan ple wouldn't like to see themselves por- a fake action—like giving up to the was a bit better than the first one, and I trayed as dumb autobot clones. But I liked Romulans or Klingons, only to surprise bought the theater out for that one, too. I also the George Orwell setting and, happily, we them in the end by turning the tables—are love the Star Wars and Indiana Jones series. ran it and got a lot of attention." the greatest. I enjoy the episode where they In fact, I actually asked George Lucas for his fool the Romulans ["The Enterprise autograph at a screening of Enterprise incidents Incident"]. I also love the shows where they Menacel Besides being a computer genius, threaten the aliens by declaring they're "Apple President Mike Scott started buy-

Wozniak is also a Trekkie. "I grew up with going to blow themselves up and take out ing out theaters as well; he did that for the original Star Trek and watched it every everyone else around them. The aliens Raiders of the Lost Ark. I would bring pizzas single night on TV [in syndication], even would ditch and the Enterprise would then and Mrs. Fields cookies for everybody to eat while designing the Apple II computer," he escape!" during the movie, but the theater was stupid confides. "I would come home from work, OK, if Wozniak were marooned on a to let me do that—it cut them out of the con- watch that night's Star Trek and go back to desert island with a DVD player, which cession money! Mike actually brought in designing the Apple II! I have a few favorite episodes would he bring along? "Well, defi- these well-dressed caterers, who served episodes, one of which is the pilot, 'The nitely 'The Cage' and 'Tribbles.' 'The Cor- fancy hors d'oeuvres. When he did that, I

Cage,' the two-parter where the aliens are bomite Maneuver' is a big favorite of mine... snuck a bunch of X-rated fortune cookies holding the first Captain [Jeffrey Hunter]. I don't think about the show every day, but onto the table! Everyone picked up these X- "I like 'The Trouble With Tribbles,' but I this conversation is bringing them back. I rated cookies and thought they were from enjoy so many of them. I can't be like other loved Galaxy Quest. It was an incredible him! One of my favorite parts of a prank is people and pick specific favorites. I've making it look like somebody else did it!" always admired Captain Kirk, Spock, Dr. McCoy and Uhura—you could take every- Computer Games thing else out, but I love every single one of "I'm a science fiction fan, Wozniak's momentous decision to create those characters, independent of whatever a computer came "when I realized why / the story was. It was always interesting always have been." wanted a computer. There were two reasons.

88 mm/January 2007 a

I wanted one my whole life because pro- hokey or phony. The computer universe "The whole idea of early gramming was my passion, so if I had a reminded me a little bit of TRON. computer, I could program. That didn't computers was "One thing I liked about TRON wasn't in mean that I had to receive a salary, have a the movie, but it was in the book [the novel- to make us masters." nice set of clothing or even have a job in ization, based on the original script]. In the

computers. I just longed to sit down by middle of this sequence, a lightcycle races

myself and solve little puzzles. and races on the edge of the scene, but

"With my own computer, I could write a One wonders if Wozniak realized he was there's a software bug, and it switches to two

program to do any dumb thing I felt like. I going to change the world. "At some point, kids playing the video game in a bowling had wanted that since I was in the 12th when we started with Apple I, we knew that alley—and they can't understand why the grade, and now the parts were cheap enough we were gonna make a good product for peo- game went kaput! I bought the theater out

that I could design one and do it, so I built ple who were like ourselves," he shrugs. "By for TRON too, and there's a reference in the one. My computer had to play games as Apple II, we started seeing that the world film by Jeff Bridges or somebody to 'the two

well, so I sniffed the air and decided Basic was making a change toward computers, and guys who started Apple Computers!' The

was the right language for the starting com- it was going to be pretty huge. We had the theater was full of Apple people, so we all

puter. All games were written in Basic. I had best product, and really did believe that when cheered and applauded! I thought that was

never programmed in Basic, but I wasn't we introduced the Apple II, this would be a cool. going to use a programming language that I billion-dollar industry—even for us. "I also loved Independence Day—loved

knew really well. I would rather go the way "I had designed computers my whole it all the way through!" Wozniak enthuses.

the world was heading. life, and I had built computers five years "The speech the President [Bill Pullman]

"I wanted something that could play before, but this one was a new style, with all gives is so heroic. I have seen other movies

games and do the job I had at Hewlett- these fun, entertainment elements. The done in that style which really let me Packard," he continues. "I designed chips for [Apple II] was designed to be the best com- down—especially when it comes to the big, calculators there. Those were the most puter for the home. I was a really good heroic speech—but Independence Day real- incredible technical products of that time. I designer. I could build things with fewer ly delivered. That ending—where they give had to share a computer with 40 other engi- chips and do incredible things—including the aliens' system a computer virus—was

neers, and we all had to reserve time on it. I come up with a five-chip circuit that could clever. I didn't have any objection to that.

used the computer to do simulations of my do as much as a 50-chip one! We had so But I don't believe that there are aliens or designs to make sure that they worked, step much in the Apple II that nobody ever UFOs. Could we, as a species, exist another

by step by step. I figured if I could do that on thought could come in a low-cost computer. 1 ,000 years and reach that level of technolo- my own computer, I wouldn't have to wait in That was just enough to change the world. It gy—which would allow us to visit other line. I could also do it faster and better, was considered to be everything a computer planets at random—without blowing our- which would give me a one-up and make me in the home should be." selves up first? a master of my work. The whole idea of "Sometimes, computers are used in films early computers was to make us masters, but Alternate Universes and I don't even recognize it," he adds. "I now it's like you have to use somebody As for how computers are depicted by was halfway through The Two Towers— else's program and do what it does. I feel Hollywood, Wozniak replies: "Well, let's put great, great movie—when my son told me like a slave! I can't even change my e-mail it this way: My favorite movie is The Matrixl that Gollum was computer-generated! I

program because I wouldn't know where to The first one. I was a little let down by the thought he was a guy in a suit, so I was total- go on the menus!" sequels. The Matrix has a very difficult ly blown away by that!" How did he feel when Time made the theme to present in a story or a movie—that Years after his technological break- computer "Machine of the Year"? "That did whole idea of an alternate universe. But they throughs, Wozniak looks back a bit wistful-

not offend me one bit, but it was a strange did it and pulled it off beautifully. It wasn't ly. "When we started Apple, there was some- decision," Wozniak says. "First of all, the thing so passionate within us. If there's a main Time reporter came around Apple and desire inside a person, they can turn out

did major interviews, talking to lots of peo- incredible product. But if it's just a job

ple, because they had originally chosen you're good at, you get rigamarole. The few

Steve Jobs as Man of the Year. But when people who change people's lives do it for a they got negative stories about him, they reason that's inside of them" he says. "I was

decided to make the computer 'Machine of so inspired. I feel I'm in the people business,

the Year' instead! By then, everybody knew and every project I worked on at Apple had that computers were a big deal." to be a 'plus' project. It's my belief that you Being the subject of a TV movie (based should always do a little more than you think on Paul Freiberger and Michael Swaine's you can."

book Fire in the Valley) about his life and the Currently, Wozniak is working on "Got-

creation of the Apple Computer "was unusu- ham Cafe" and "running a little start-up com- al. There aren't many movies about engi- pany, but I'm not gonna talk about that yet..."

neers! I didn't even know I would be in it. I One senses in Wozniak an ambivalence about liked Pirates of Silicon Valley very much. It the computer revolution. "The first Apple was entertaining, not dull business, and the computer was built in 1975," he says. "I got to characters were spirited and interesting. grow up and see the world before computers Most books about engineers are pretty dull, and after computers. The kids nowadays only

but this wasn't! get to see the world with computers, and I

"I liked the actor who played me, Joey think I prefer it the way it was." Slotkin," he adds. "I felt he got the important This from the guy who changed it? "I

parts of my personality right: playing jokes know, I know," Steve Wozniak laughs, "but I and being non-political, caring and helping. built my own computer for me. It was so fun! I later met him, and we're in occasional con- Today, I would be stuck buying one and try- "It's not my blood," co-producer tact. In fact, he's a Macintosh user, and we Wozniak assures from the set of the short ing to learn how to play a few games. There sometimes do video chats via Apple's iChat film "Stephen King's Gotham Cafe." He wouldn't be as many places for me to go in program." cameos as "Horrified Patron." the areas that are my passion!" i$ www.starlog.com STARLOG/JonuoryW 89 #348's Notes (input by me, not Allan, so it's my fault). Somehow, in moving from legal pad to

computer screen, I managed to omit a

sentence I had written in my list of thank I've noted several times previously, I almost _/tb yous to those who have helped STAR- Asalways write this column by hand. My pen gets /Anniversary LOG keep publishing for 30 years. So, Celebration pressed down strongly so that the words can leap who did I thus fail to thank? Just the wildly from my fingertips directly onto the lined legal pad (yel- / // advertisers, all those who have support- low paper preferred, white OK). None of this newfangled tech- ed STARLOG at one time or another in nology (typewriter, word processor, computer) for Liner Notes! our three decades. Yikes! No one It just seems more personal this way to me. But like body- (except me), as far as I know, noticed this inadvertent omis-

snatching and rum-smuggling—sorry, I've been reading Victori- sion (or complained about it), but I feel chagrined nonetheless. an mysteries—this is work best done in the dead of night. Hey, I prepared for a career in advertising (before twisty turns So, I often get up at 3 a.m. (like now) and madly scribble out brought me here), so I know how important it is. Like with you pages. Losing track of time and space while listening to late- readers, we really couldn't have survived 30 years without our night radio, I almost always write too much—and have to cut advertisers. Thanks to all of them!

stuff down the line (so there's room for a graphic). At other On the other hand, writing too much (again) last issue, I with

times, I instead pen Liner Notes in the cold light of day while precise premeditation took an ax to a graph about our cartoon- dawdling over a meal at a local restaurant or sipping the brew at ists' departments. Before they draw me in effigy, let me note that (where else?) Starbucks. we've only had a few such continuing features: Mike Fisher's Hours (or days) later, after I'm done crafting a bunch of non- Creature Profile, Kevin Brockschmidt's Great Moments in SF consecutive graphs (and crossing out stuff here and there), Man- History and Tom Holtkamp's Scenes STARLOG Always Wanted aging Editor Allan Dart takes the whole, barely legible mess and to See (relocated here this issue because we needed the room to throw in the kitchen sink). We used to assemble vari-

IF ONIY WE MADE -EM DEPT. ous cartoonists' contributions in Logtoons, but differ- ing artistic styles sometimes clashed when included on one page. Instead, for the last several years, we've devoted that space to a single artist, namely STAR- THE (ACTUALLY) FUNNY ONES! THE ONES WHERE THE PLOT LOG's most prolific cartoonist, Bob Muleady, in the MAKES SENSE! THE ONES KKffiEN SINK! WITHOUMHE aptly-titled Bobtoons (although this issue, it's Bond- toons on page 4). There were other departments unmentioned in last issue's roundup (like Toylog), due to space con- straints, but just one notable feature that eluded my memory. And that's a column by Ed Naha initially known by one name (until the author of the same- titled book protested) and then dubbed L.A. Offbeat (a

moniker I recall Ed wasn't crazy about). It only had a short run in STARLOG (#65-74), ending when Ed (who had moved from NYC to LA) devoted his time more fully to books and screenplays. While in the Big Apple, Ed had previously been a STARLOG editorial staffer who helped create FUTURE and, most impor- tantly, edited FANGORIA #1 under a pseudonym ("Joe Bonham"). Later, on the West Coast, he wrote paperback mysteries and movie novelizations (Robo- Cop and its first sequel) and scripted such films as Dolls (one of Charles Band's best movies) and, most notably, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. Coming full circle, we've even interviewed Ed, who went on to write and produce a syndicated TV version of Honey as well as create The Adventures ofSinbad (STARLOG #239). Just one other thing to note as the STARLOG 30th

Anniversary Celebration continues. We haven 't brand- ed some stories we once intended to with the above anniversary icon (namely Tom Weaver's imagined Forbidden Planet Set Visit, Bill Warren's Bill Nighy chat, Pat Jankiewicz's talk with Sarah Douglas and Will Murray's piece on the art book James Bama:

American Realist). Why? Because I thought the 30th

inputs it into his eMac. After a few formatting flourishes, he pro- star might clash artistically with the graphics involved or crowd duces a Liner Notes draft all nice and typeset for me to whittle the layouts (three of them already boasted DVD Out icons). To

down into publishable length. Recently (and most egregiously), I recap, though, we have so far published eight special 30th really got carried away and ended up writing what turned out, Anniversary stories: Tom's Eva Marie Saint conversation and his when typeset, to be 44 inches of copy for STARLOG #350 Tales of Three Roberts (Conrad, Vaughn and, on page 56 this (there's only 30 inches of space on a page). I had to borrow a issue, Colbert), Will's Q&A with Walter Gibson, Pat's ren- chainsaw from FANGORIA to hack 20 inches out of that one, dezvous with Steve Wozniak (page 86), Ian Spelling's Richard

cutting it to fit and leaving space for logo and cartoon. Dean Anderson chat and Jeff Walker's real Family Plot Set Visit.

In all this editorial slaughter, words I actually want to keep As always, there's more to come. occasionally get lost in transition. That was the case with issue —David McDonnell/Editor (November 2006)

90 SWm/January 2007 www.starlog.com Up-1-o-dcat~e> editorial from the best entertainment journalists, in the qpnrp:

. Newsl

. BehinP-fhe-scenes reports.! 3 . Exclusive interviews.!

. DVD/Film/TV reviews!

. Magazine previews! E Hew trilogy of Swords and Sorcery Begins!

ClK tpk Crilogy of I Swords and