The Science Fiction Review Books,Movies Frank Herbert’s Dune to be directed by Peter Berg and released by Paramount

Frank Herbert’s Dune to be directed by Peter Berg and released by Paramount

March 19, 2008March 19, 2008| StettinStettin| 0 Comment| 12:30 pm
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It looks like Hollywood just can’t get enough of Dune. I’m midway through my reading the novels written by Frank Herbert (currently on God Emperor of Dune), have seen the 1984 movie and Sci-Fi Channel Miniseries. I’m about to watch the Children of Dune Sci-Fi Miniseries and just ran across this bit of news about a new Dune movie.

Found via Variety, actor turned director Peter Berg is set to direct the next adaptation which doesn’t appear to have any type of ETA. Hopefully they will get good script writers that can be faithful to the book. Although the Sci-Fi Channel remake was more true to the book than the 1984, the special effects were pretty bad due to a low budget. Most of the backgrounds were simply matte paintings. I’d like to see a new movie that looks great and is also true to Frank Herbert’s vision.

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Yes, I am still aliveYes, I am still alive

February 27, 2012February 27, 2012| StettinStettin| 0 Comment| 5:14 pm

Where have I been lately? A number of factors have resulted in me not posting since December. One of which was that over the past few months I’ve been chipping away at The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke. At just shy of 1,000 pages, it has been my lunch time reading for a while now. There are a couple short stories that I plan on reviewing, as soon as I can remember to bring the book home from work. I’ve also been filling most of my free time, 177 hours now, with playing Battlefield 3 (my stats).

I’ve watched a few movies, but I didn’t get around to reviewing those. One was Gamer, which I didn’t expect much from. The other was Battle: Los Angeles, a cookie cutter “aliens attack, let’s fight back” movie. I didn’t really “watch” these as much as listened to them as I cleaned out my office. After going through my recent posts, I noticed that I never reviewed 28 Weeks Later. This was actually one of the sequels I’ve seen that I liked more than the original. I might have to re-watch, then write up a review. I watched a decent movie last night though, The Adjustment Bureau, which I plan on reviewing in the next few days, if not tonight. My goal for myself is to have it done before the end of the month. Thank goodness for leap years!

OK, enough excuses. Thanks to all of you that still have me in your newsreader. I’ll try to be better about posting updates in the future.

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Dune by Frank HerbertDune by Frank Herbert

November 15, 2007November 15, 2007| StettinStettin| 2 Comments| 5:15 pm

Dune Book Cover

Dune is by far one of the most famous classics in Sci-Fi, winner of both the Hugo and Nebula awards for best science fiction novel in 1966. I am ashamed to say that I am just now getting around to reading it. I have of course seen the original theatrical movie, the Sci-Fi Channel remake, and subsequent mini-series Children of Dune. I have just vague memories of the original movie and don’t really remember much of the Sci-Fi Channel remake or Children of Dune. I wanted to see for myself the vision that Frank Herbert had for Dune, and then compare it to the movies afterwards. Keep an eye out for a DVD review of both the original movie and the Sci-Fi movie in the near future.

Frank Herbert includes a series of appendixes, glossary, and map at the end of Dune. I chose not to read any of the appendixes or glossary to see how much of the details are described throughout the novel. My first impression is that Herbert plunges the reader directly into a galaxy full of history and mysteries. I felt like the first few chapters, or even novels, had been left out. Herbert clearly spent a lot of time developing the history and background of the characters and worlds for this novel. The appendixes are very helpful, but I think there are too many spoilers for me to recommend reading them before diving into the novel. (more…)

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So who wants to control your own personal robot?So who wants to control your own personal robot?

September 28, 2009September 28, 2009| StettinStettin| 0 Comment| 8:02 pm

How would you like to control your own personal robot to do your bidding? The new movie Surrogates, starring Bruce Willis, takes this concept to extremes. In the movie, humans link their minds to a robot and control them directly. This is a bit different than being converted to a cyborg like Ray Kurzweil predicts.

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The critics could be wrong though. Do any of you think I should give it a chance?

Check out the full article via CNN for more information. I found it to be an interesting read.

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