V – The Series è una serie tv di Scott Peters (quello di 4400 e di Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles per intenderci) trasmessa a partire dal 03.11.2009 dall’americana ABC. Prodotta in USA, la serie viene e per ora è composta da una stagioni che vedrà trasmesse solo 4 puntate nel 2009 .

TRAMA: La serie è un remake del telefilm cult degli anni ‘80 Visitors, che andò in onda dal 1985 al 1986 negli States e fece successo anche qui in Italia. Il mondo si sveglia con astronavi aliene che stazionano sulle principali città. I visitatori assicurano di essere venuti in pace ed offrono il loro aiuto, ma l’agente Erica Evans, nel corso di una indagine per rintracciare una cellula terroristica, si imbatte in una sinistra verità...

Abbiamo atteso di vedere le prime tre puntate prima scrivere di questa serie solo perché non volevamo seguire l’onda dei fan che con entusiasmo l’hanno attesa per mesi insieme a noi. E possiamo affermare che forti del ricordo della serie degli anni ‘80 non siamo rimasti di certo delusi e sebbene l’emorragia di ascolti in America speriamo che il network lasci che gli autori portino a termine questa prima stagione.

Cast:

• Elizabeth Mitchell as Erica Evans — un agente dell’FBI contro il terrorismo, che scopre per caso la vera natura dei Visitors e i loro secondi fini;
• Morris Chestnut as Ryan Nichols — un Visitor posing as human and trying to undermine the insidious plans of the Visitors;
• Joel Gretsch as Father Jack Landry — un prete il cui disagio verso gli alieni è presto convalidato dalla sua alleanza con Erica oltre e dalla loro scoperta del segreto dei Visitors…
• Logan Huffman as Tyler Evans — figlio adolescente di Erica, che diventa un membro del programma di avvicinamento dei Visitors;
• Lourdes Benedicto as Valerie Stevens — Fidanzata di Ryan, che non è a conoscenza della sua natura aliena;
• Laura Vandervoort as Lisa — una Visitors molto carina che interessa a Tyler. Lei è la figlia del comandante Anna.
• Morena Baccarin as Anna — Alto Comandante della Visitatori e madre di Lisa.
• Scott Wolf as Chad Decker — un anchormen incastrato tra la sua etica giornalistica e la sua ambizione.

Grazie a EZTV (per gli episodi) e a ITASA (per i sottotitoli) è possibile seguire gli episodi settimanali anche in Italia, praticamente in contemporanea con la messa in onda negli States.

Jaimie Smith-Windsor’s article The Cyborg Mother: A Breached Boundary reads like part journal and part theoretical analysis. She incorporates her experience of giving pre-mature birth to her daughter into a parallel with Cyborg theory. The incubator that keeps her baby alive becomes a physical and ideological surrogate. Smith-Windsor’s fears come true when she realizes that “the interface is the matriarch of cyborg culture”, and that it has now impregnated itself into her pre-mature daughter. Her article explores Foucault’s notion of the ‘panopticon‘ and that becoming a cyborg means “internalizing the panopticon”. (p.283) Becoming both the invisible watcher and the subject being watched — like a closed circuit — even after the machine is turned off, “cyborg life continues to occupy the human condition through consciousness, subconsciousness, and perception.” (p.283) This same idea pervades Terminator:  The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2008), as the mother and son must constantly be on the run from the machines.

They do however have the aid of a cyborg, sent from the future, to help them run. The mother-son relationship has a cyborg intermediary than can provide as much, to the young John, as the real mother. This threat of replacement is felt as a ‘breached boundary’ in Jamie Smith-Windsor’s article, as she underscores the impossibility of ‘being’ outside of technologie’s invisible grip. She brings up an important issue about privilege and, as Jaques Derrida calls the ‘logocentric moment’, how “where one technology of knowing is priviliged over another, and infinite other histories of being are forgotten.” (p.282) This point clarifies how “identity is bound to the logocentric privileging of the dominant discourse”, which is impregnated with a panoptical-technological-gaze, and makes it impossible for difference or divergence.

Returning to the introductory paragraph, after getting through her arguments, had me asking myself if her challenge of ‘rebelling against myself or the technologies of myself to discover new ways of being’, held much weight. I would not go so far as becoming a ‘country-bumpkin’ or menonite but how different would my life be without technology? Or maybe less frequency or less access during the week? Would it chase me down like a Terminator and try to stop me from stopping? Or more-likely that other people with their ‘panoptical gaze’ would be surrogates for the Terminator and my friends and family would look down at me in my underprivileged existence and question me. This kind of experiment might be a good point to start off with, in my post Film-4002 blogging.

Apparently Fox announced the cancellation of Dollhouse five days ago and I missed it.

Boobs increase readership... sometimes you've got to pander to your audience

I’m annoyed. Not because Dollhouse was canceled; I expected this.

What really bothers me is that this show never had a chance, and they kept it instead of giving Terminator The Sarah Conner Chronicles an opportunity to shine. Terminator had a devoted and growing fan-base, much like that of Firefly. Dollhouse, while it has devoted fans, they don’t have the same passion, simply because it isn’t as good as Firefly or Terminator ever were.

Making this even sadder, is the fact that Dollhouse finally started hitting its stride in the last three or four episodes; it was starting to shine. Too little too late.

Fox should have canceled Dollhouse last season and let Terminator live for a little while longer.

Dollhouse will eventually air its remaining episodes, then it will be sent to the attic.

I am now the official Shirley Manson news reporter at the Sarah Connor Society. I talked myself into volunteering for the position yesterday, a couple days after posting the opening on a Garbage forum. Check out my first post:

http://sarahconnorsociety.com/2009/11/03/shirley-manson-to-preform-at-benefit-for-the-pablove-foundation/

TERMINATOR franchise rights up for auction

No word on how this might effect Christian Bale’s already reported 3 movie deal for the new Terminator trilogy they had been working on. Seems unlikely he would return but that doesn’t mean his contract couldn’t be included in the purchase (or does it?).

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Today I saw an old friend and former teammate at a cross country race. She moved out West and the only real contact we’ve had was very minimal via Facebook.

We were catching up and talking about Halloween costumes and when I told her I was going as Sarah Connor (from the TV show, not the movies) we had a nerd moment. Apparently she and her boyfriend are huge fans of the show and they both know about www.savethescc.com and are both Resistance Fighters. He was even in one of the Save the SCC’s videos and we may be friends on Twitter and not even realize it (I’ve never met him). How crazy is that?

Jamie Bamber (Martin Klar) and Eliza Dushku (Echo) in the season two Dollhouse premiere "Vows." Photo copyright of Fox Television

What would you give to have the perfect man or woman to perform everything from a daring heist to a kinky sexual act? That is the premise behind Fox TV’s Dollhouse, which stars Eliza Dushku as Caroline Farrell, a former college activist who, against her will, has her personality and memory wiped and becames an “Active” or “Doll” for a worldwide organization called  The Dollhouse. As Echo, she is programmed with various personalities depending on the needs of the person or persons who hire her. At the end of the show’s first year, our heroine had started to regain snippets of who she once was, and this (second) season, Echo is fighting to regain her true self while fighting The Dollhouse from within. 

The daughter of an Albanian-American administrator father and Danish-American professor mother, Eliza Dushku was raised with ambition in her blood. At the early age of 10, she was discovered by casting agents for the lead role of Alice in the feature film That Night.

Most recently, Dushku co-starred with Alan Rickman and Bill Pullman in Bottle Shock, a drama about the birth of the Napa Valley wine country. In 1993, the actress landed the role of Pearl alongside Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio in This Boy’s Life. The following year, she starred with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis in True Lies, opposite Paul Reiser in Bye Bye, Love and alongside Halle Berry in Race the Sun.

After high school, Dushku returned to acting with the role of Faith Lehane in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Though initially planned as a five-episode arc, the character became so popular that the actress stayed on for the entire third season and returned for a two-part appearance the following season. The remainder of her original story arc was played out in the first season of the spin-off Angel. Repentant and rededicated, Faith returned as a heroine in a number of later episodes of Angel and the last five episodes of Buffy.

A few weeks ago, Dushku graciously spent part of her day off speaking with me and other journalists on a conference call about season two of Dollhouse. Here is an edited version of that Q & A. Enjoy!

How do you feel the direction of this (second) season differs from the last one?

ELIZA DUSHKU - Well, there’s so much being cracked open and explored, especially with Echo having this new place that she’s in, in terms of what we picked up from last year. She had all these personalities downloaded into her in one swift punch, and they’re not going away. This year, Echo is still tapping into these personalities. Sometimes it’s of her control, other times it’s not. Overall, she’s absorbing things from her engagements as well as The Dollhouse and she’s really becoming self-aware. However, it’s not necessarily as Caroline, but as Echo, as her own person, so she’s definitely more complicated. This season it’s a little darker all around. We’ll explore things such as the origins of some of the other Dolls as well as other characters. We’re also bringing in a number of guest-stars and other fabulous people, so there’s a lot of exciting stuff happening this year.

What trouble will Echo run into during her attempts to save everyone?

ED - I’m sure every kind and all kinds because it’s a Joss Whedon show. We’re starting episode seven and there are so many directions as well as layers. It’s all over the map. Of course, one of the main storylines is Agent Paul Ballard’s [Tahmoh Penikett], who spent last season trying to get into The Dollhouse. Now that he’s in and Echo’s handler, he’s working with her and they may possibly be trying to bring The Dollhouse down from the inside. We also get some backstory involving Dell [Olivia Williams] and her superiors along with other Dollhouses around the country and the world. We get an idea of just how big the Rossum Corporation is, and Summer Glau [Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles] will be joining us as well. She’ll play a programmer from the D.C. Dollhouse, and we’ll get an idea of the way the other houses are being run.

How does a Watertown (Massachusetts) girl become Joss Whedon’s muse?

ED - That’s such a funny and good question, and I have no idea. When I made my audition tape for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I went to the Arsenal Mall [in Watertown, Massachusetts] and bought my outfit at Contempo Casuals. I remember telling the clerk that I was making a tape for Buffy and they were so excited. And then I was actually emancipated by a Boston judge, who was also a Buffy fan. Obviously it’s a show that dealt with vampires who come out at night, and I was still technically a minor, so I had a great judge who emancipated me so that I could go out to Los Angeles and do the show. Fortunately, I was already out of high school at that time. I guess I’ve always gotten by with a little help from my friends, in Boston and everywhere else.

What do you like about working with Joss and doing his shows?

ED - First and foremost, I love the guy as a friend. Joss has been a friend, a brother, a teacher, a mentor, but the other obvious thing is just his talent. Joss’ skill is so beautiful to me, and he’s just wildly creative as well as smart, a feminist,  funny, dark, scary and twisted. Joss combines all that and more into such a sweet little package, and he gets me every time.

As great as the show is, as talented as the cast is, and as clever as Joss and his team are, obviously you want people to watch the show, and I’m just wondering, do you think Fox has put the show in a position for that to happen, airing you on Friday night after a comedy?

ED - Well, I think they realized last year that people who wanted to find the show did, and, obviously, there has been a lot of talk about DVR and TiVo and how we really are alive for a second season because of that in a major way. I can see how they would say that people found the show last year, so we’re just going to leave it where it is and hope that that continues.

Ratings are obviously important, but, you know, having a professor for a mother, she always taught us about qualitative versus quantitative research. I know we’re making a quality show and that we have quality fans and people who tune in experience something different and out of the ordinary. There are so many shows on TV that are instant hits; we’re not that, but we have a core following, and I think that people check the show out and aren’t intimidated by it. In fact, they find themselves being sucked in pretty easily. It’s sharp, intelligent fun. Sometimes it’s off-the-wall TV, too, and I know that when I’m spending an hour of my life sitting down to watch the boob tube, I love getting a rich experience out of it. And I’ve always found that to be true with Joss, in particular, as well as his shows. Having been given a second season, we’re just so grateful to the fans and to Fox for giving us another chance, and we’re making the most of it.

You and Summer Glau shot a promo last year, and back then your two shows kind of were fighting for the last spot in the line-up. Now that she’s part of your show, what’s the dynamic like between you and her?

ED - Summer is great. I love her. We’ve had such a good time during the past two episodes. She has come in with her A-game and is such a sweet, positive and fun actress. Summer is great to play off of. Our characters have some backstory that we have to fight out, and so that’s a lot of fun. Also, anyone who’s from Joss’ past and who he’s bringing back to work with, I assume he had a great working relationship with them. He wouldn’t bring any bad eggs into our house, so I can always pretty much safely know that we’re going to have the cream of the crop coming back and coming in.

You mentioned that Echo was kind of all over the place this year as a character; as an actor, how do you approach that?

ED - It’s easier this year because we don’t have as much of that sort of ‘dumb down Doll’ with Echo. She has all these personalities and is the sum of all these parts, including Caroline. At the same time, she’s not really any of these personalities, but is, in fact, Echo. There’s something grounding in that, and there’s a strength in the personality that she’s forming through that. Echo is picking and pulling information from all these different people that she’s been, and as a result she’s coming to understand and form her own ethics and morals. This character is constantly absorbing, thinking and processing, whereas last year she was switching from this dumb down Doll to a singular personality imprint, and it was always a different one. This season, there’s something going on inside Echo that’s not just what you’re seeing on the surface and it’s fun for me to play.

It seemed that you guys had such a strong fan base even before the show premiered. Do you guys pay attention to the blog sites and what the fans are saying when you’re coming up with how to shape the episodes and the series as a whole?

ED - I know that Joss and I have always paid attention to the fan love, and we love the fans right back, absolutely. I don’t know how much he takes tips from the fans when it comes to storylines. On the contrary, from what I’ve seen, when he sees someone falling in love with a character, he’s been known to assassinate that character or do something else terrible to him or her. Maybe that’s a blessing in itself, but Joss definitely has a mind of his own. Within the group of writers, they aren’t really conformists, I can confidently say. So whether it’s fans or critics or studios for that matter, they do their best work when they’re sort of left alone and they reveal things as and when they feel they should be revealed. And that goes for me and the other actors as well.

Sometimes it’s really exciting for me. I don’t want to necessarily know what’s going to happen three episodes down the road because it may affect the way I’m playing Echo today. I enjoy the thrill, the adrenaline that comes from reading the next new chapter, and the next layer that Joss reveals is one of the most exhilarating things that I’ve experienced as an actress.

Is there a particular role or character in an upcoming episode that you’re going to play that was hard for you to get into, and if so, why?

ED - Well, I’ll tell you, playing a mother was certainly something I hadn’t expected. I’m an aunt, and I’ve always loved other peoples’ children and babies, but playing a mother and trying to tap into that maternal instinct was a challenge, but also a thrill, and a beautiful thing, too.

Do you sit down with a script and break it down insofar as how aware Echo is of what’s going on with her, or do you just sort of do a scene and see what feels right in how to play it?

ED - We’re absolutely breaking it down more this year because those realized moments with my character are much stronger. It’s actually been deeper work for me, but, again, it makes the character more interesting and challenging for me to play. I have to say it’s been a blessing this year to also be shooting in HD [high-definition] because we have more time,which means i get to spend a lot more time with the material and these characters and their glitches, etc. I feel like that’s paying off for me a lot this year, and that my performance has gotten stronger and more honest.

In the season opener with Jamie Bamber there’s that scene in the office where he catches me, then bashes my head off the table, and then I end up in that sort of tailspin. I sort of famously now burst into tears in the middle of that scene because it was so emotional, and I now feel this real connection to the character that came from the inception of the show. Joss and I have tried to make this character a little bit based on me where it’s this struggle, this battle of who I  am. Even with all the pressures of society and things pouring in on me, where does that break and where is my authentic self, and how it feels to stand and live in that. So it’s very personal as well as exciting, terrifying and gratifying.

Do you feel like Dollhouse is really about the experience of being an actor living and working, in particular, in Los Angeles, and people expecting you to kind of fulfill their fantasies and the dark side of that? Is that something you feel when playing Echo?

ED - Yes, I absolutely think there’s a layer or more of that. When Joss and I had our infamous lunch, that was one of the threads and one of the themes, but I think it also translates to young women all over the world. I was the only girl in a family with three boys, and I remember my mother reading this book called Reviving Ophelia about adolescent girls and the way young women are broken down starting in their teens, where they’re starting to get hit from all sides by images in the media and how things start to change in their lives, especially when it comes to their fathers as well as their peers. It’s like the spirit of a young woman is so fragile and can be so toyed with and broken. My mother was always aware of that and really tried to fight against it and to teach me how to be comfortable in my own skin and all of that. So when I sat talking about that stuff with Joss, it’s so extraordinary that, as a man, he tapped into that in such a profound and intelligent way. I can’t think of anyone else that gets that and can create a fantasy show that encompasses such a universal and serious thing in our society. So it’s definitely parallel to me and, I feel, to women all over the world.

How much closer will Echo get to rediscovering her true self this season?

ED - Every single episode it’s been a little bit more. Again, we’re on episode seven now, and in this one we’ve been building to a real extreme. I’m scared to say too much because I don’t want to ruin it for the viewers, but Echo really is becoming an entirely different character in many ways. She’s getting further away from Caroline, even though she is Echo’s original self. Caroline is there, but Echo is discovering things about her that are unsavory or that are not Echo.

The development of my character has been so exciting and fascinating because of the way Joss and the writers pick pieces from each of her experiences and weave them into this new character. So you’ll be seeing a whole new Echo this season who is the sum of all the parts that she’s been.

They just released a film you did called Open Graves that kind of flew in under the radar. Can you tell us a little bit about it?

ED - I shot Open Graves in Spain about two-and-a-half years ago, and as is sometimes the case in this business, there are times that movies don’t come together at the pace or with the expectation that was initially intended. I actually haven’t seen the movie. It premiered on TV when I was in Italy, but I have yet to even watch it on my TiVo. The movie was a cool experience. I was interested in working with the director [Alvaro de Arminan], who had worked very closely with [producer/writer/director] Pedro Almodovar, and I thought the script had some interesting and different Sci-Fi/Horror twists to it. I enjoy working in that genre but it never quite gelled into the movie that I had anticipated, but, again, it happens, but you keep going. You don’t quit, and I certainly won’t quit that genre.

How much of a factor does (the Dollhouse episode ) Epitaph One play into season two, because it wasn’t originally broadcast but is part of the DVD set. Joss Whedon was saying that he’d like to revisit that in the future. Could you tell us a bit about that, please.

ED - Epitaph was so well done and it brought me to tears. Truly, when Joss told me about it, I wondered how the hell he was going to do it, but I was just so impressed and proud of him and everyone involved. It was such a beautiful episode and I think it’s a shame that it didn’t air here [in the States]. But also the fact that it didn’t air was sort of the reason we came back, because they didn’t end the story. Getting picked up for a second season, the network probably wanted to pick up where we left off.

I know that in the first episode of this season, Joss originally planned on weaving some of that [Epitaph] into it, but there was already so much to cover. We had Amy Acker [Dr. Claire Saunders], who we’re not going to be able to have with us for the entire season, so we had her character’s storyline and we had to have a big, fierce engagement. So we took anything to do with it [Epitaph] out, but I do know Joss wants to slice in some stuff into future episodes. I loved the way the future looked, so dark and terrifying, and I hope we see more of it.

As noted above, photo is copyright of Fox Television, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!

Tuesday: Sci Fi Exploration

After years of attempting to debut a successful science fiction pilot, the Big 5 networks seem to have accepted defeat at the hands of cable television. Viewers proved they are not interested in the sci fi fare offered by broadcast networks – “Reaper,” “Journeyman,” “Bionic Woman,” “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles,” and “Day Break” are among the sci fi shows that failed to make more than two seasons in the past three years. Instead, sci fi diehards turn to SyFy and BBC America to get their fix.

What does this mean for Doc Sonya’s recommendations to you? Since we’re exploring strictly broadcast shows, this means there are only a handful of sci fi shows even on the air, and of those, only one gets my recommendation.

Time to break up with…

• “Heroes”
  “Heroes” is a classic example of a show that debuted a phenomenal first season, became too hyped, and suddenly failed to live up to its expectations. While it is somewhat expected for shows to experience a sophomore slump, “Heroes” never climbed out of the pitiful ditch it dug itself into. Now in season four, “Heroes” is exploring Claire’s sexuality (yawn), killing off/bringing back to life Nathan and Hiro (like they’re really going to kill off series regulars), and failing to capitalize on its breakout star, Zachary Quinto.

Bottom Line: Grab season one on DVD; skip the rest.

Flings: Don’t require a whole lot of commitment from you. If it’s on, watch it. If you get distracted by something shiny, you probably won’t miss too much.

• “Flash Forward”

Flash Forward is ABC’s follow-up to megahit “Lost.” While it lacks the flair, intrigue, and mythology of Lost, “Flash Forward” has a fascinating premise – the issue is whether the execution is good so far.
The concept is that for two minutes and 17 seconds, everyone in the entire world blacked out and caught a glimpse of their lives six months in the future. Some premonitions were good, others bad, some intriguing, and some nonexistent. This show reminds me of CBS fan-favorite “Jericho” (2006-2008), which chronicled an isolated town dealing with a nuclear terrorist attack in America.

Bottom line: “FlashForward” would make for a fun disaster/action movie, but as a TV serial, it needs to pick up the pace and make the characters into people we actually care about, or it’ll meet “Jericho”’s demise.

Casual dating: These shows are not the crème de la crème of the genre, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have the potential. These are campy and/or guilty pleasures, just short of appointment TV but good enough that you’ll stick around to see the end of the episode. Feel free to indulge if you like what you see.

• “The Vampire Diaries”
  This show is the CW’s response to the vampire trend, and for once, it seems like the CW actually made a decent creative decision. Based on the ’90s novels of the same name,”The Vampire Diaries” follows Elena, a teenager whose parents recently died in a car crash, as she navigates high school – with a vampire (no one knows, of course). Oh, and the vamp’s devious older brother spooks the town too.I like Ian Somerhalder (Boone from “Lost”) as older brother Damon. The rest of the characters, however, are written poorly and stereotypically; I wouldn’t be surprised if the character’s name on the script reads Best Friend or Main Character or Good Vampire. We don’t get a sense of a three-dimensional person on the show. We just see how an undeveloped personality reacts to events.

   

  Bottom Line: I won’t deny it’s a good choice for those into the vampire thing. However, for a similar premise but better characters/plots/actors, check out the WB’s “Roswell” on DVD. You won’t regret it

• “Fringe”
  “Fringe” was a huge critical accolade when it debuted last fall, but the furor seems to have died down a bit since then. The show is about a team that investigates (you guessed it) the paranormal. “Fringe” does well with the mythology, meaning the overarching storyline is strong, sensational, and sometimes surprising. However, given that “Fringe” comes from “Alias” and “Lost” creator J.J. Abrams, I don’t think it is living up to its potential.Bottom Line: It’s a slightly more difficult show to get into than, say, “The Vampire Diaries.” It’s also got a more serious overtone. Not bad for a show in its sophomore season, but it certainly has yet to find what it is creatively capable of.

Long-term dating: Arguably the best show currently on television…

• “Supernatural”
  “Supernatural” debuted on The WB in 2005, the WB’s final year as a network. It stars my future husband Jensen Ackles Dean and Jared Padalecki as Sam, brothers who hunt things that go bump in the night. In a nutshell, Dean and Sam lost their mother to an evil demon when they were kids, causing their father to delve into the world of the paranormal and raise his sons as hunters.What started out as a procedural premise quickly turned into the most campy, addictive show on TV. While the standalone episodes are fun, witty and often scary, “Supernatural” creator Eric Kripke’s true mastery is the show’s mythology. There is more to Dean and Sam than the show ever let on during the first season, and now that “Supernatural” is in its fifth (and potentially final) season, viewers can see the threads that were sewn nearly four years ago. The show is unafraid to throw certain stereotypes on their heads. For instance, this season the mythology is stopping God’s angels (they’re the antagonists) from unleashing the Apocalypse – oh, and while Sam and Dean are at it, they need to locate God and stop Lucifer from rising.

   

  Whatever the season’s mythology, “Supernatural”’s strength is undoubtedly the bond between Sam and Dean, which is unlike any portrayal I’ve ever seen on TV. One second, the brothers are pulling a prank on each another, and the next, they’re making deals with demons to save each other’s lives.

Bottom line: Still not convinced? TV Guide magazine critic Matt Roush recently wrote, “My decision to get busy and catch up on (the previous seasons of) Supernatural was the best call I made all year.”

-Sonya Chudgar

Just like his “John Connor” character in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Thomas Dekker was the main protagonist in the life story of a 17-year-old biker.

Dekker who was allegedly drunk hit the victim. The teen biker was ejected from his bike and fell onto the street.

After the incident, Dekker was arrested and brought to Van Nuys jail where he was released under a $100,000.00 bail.

Dekker’s counsel claimed that the blamed should be put on the biker for riding on the sidewalk.

Celebrities are often involved in drunken driving incidents. This is because alcoholic drinks are always on hand due to frequent Hollywood parties. Moreover, their celebrity status draws a considerable media attention that any trouble with the law will cause such a media frenzy.

Well, that’s the price they have to pay for being in the limelight.

A entrega do Scream Awards 2009, teve algumas surpresas, e reconhecimentos, True Blood, Watchmen  e Star Trek merecidamente.

Para quem não sabe o Scream Awars, é a premiação mais famosa voltada a SCI-Fi, filmes de terror, Quadrinhos e Fantasia.

THE ULTIMATE SCREAM (Melhor Filme)

Arraste-me para o Inferno
Deixe Ela Entrar
Star Trek
Transformers: A Vingança dos Derrotados
Crepúsculo
Up

melhor filme de fantasia
“Coraline”
“Harry Potter e o Enigma do Príncipe”
“Crepúsculo”
“Up”
“Watchmen”
“X-Men Origens: Wolverine”

melhor filme de horror
“Dead Snow”
“Arraste-me para o Inferno”
“Sexta-Feira 13″
“Deixe ela entrar”
“Dia dos Namorados Macabro 3D”
“Splinter”

melhor série
Battlestar Gallactica
Dexter
Fringe
Lost
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
True Blood

melhor atriz em filme ou série de ficção científica
Moon Bloodgood; “Exterminador do Futuro 4: A Salvação”
Eliza Dushku; “Dollhouse”
Megan Fox; “Transformers: A Vingança dos Derrotados”
Lena Headey; “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles”
Katee Sackhoff; “Battlestar Galactica”
Zoe Saldana; “Star Trek”

Melhor ator em filme ou série de terror
Bruce Campbell; “My Name is Bruce”
Michael C. Hall; “Dexter”
Kre Hedebrant; “Deixe ela Entrar”
Justin Long; “Arraste-me para o Inferno”
Ryan Kwanten; “True Blood”
Stephen Moyer; “True Blood”

 melhor atriz em filme ou série de terror
Jennifer Carpenter; “Quarentena”
Jaime King; “Dia dos Namorados Macabro 3D”
Lina Leandersson; “Deixe ela Entrar”
Alison Lohman; “Arraste-me para o Inferno”
Anna Paquin; “True Blood”
Monica Potter; “The Last House on the Left”

melhor ator revelação
Taylor Kitsch (X-Men Origins: Wolverine)
Taylor Lautner (Twilight)
Robert Pattinson (Twilight)
Chris Pine (Star Trek)
Will.I.Am (X-Men Origins: Wolverine)
Sam Worthington (Terminator Salvation)

melhor atriz
revelação
Anna Torv (Fringe)
Zoe Saldana (Star Trek)
Lorna Raver (Drag Me to Hell)
Isabel Lucas (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen)
Lina Leandersson (Let the Right One In) 
 Malin Akerman (Watchmen)

melhor roteirista de quadrinhos
Brian Michael Bendis (Dark Avengers, Ultimate Spider-Man)
Joe Hill (Locke & Key)
Grant Morrison (All-Star Superman, Batman and Final Crisis)
Geoff Johns (Green Lantern, Justice Society of America)
Mark Millar (Wolverine: Old Man Logan,  Kick-Ass)
Brian K. Vaughan (Ex Machina)

melhor filme baseado em quadrinhos
“Dragonball Evolution”
“Punisher: War Zone”
“The Spirit”
“Watchmen”
“X-Men Origins: Wolverine”

melhor diretor
J.J. Abrams; “Star Trek”
Tomas Alfredson; “Deixe ela Entrar”
Michael Bay; “Transformers: A Vingança dos Derrotados”
Pete Doctor & Bob Peterson; “Up”
Duncan Jones; “Moon”
Sam Raimi; “Arraste-me para o Inferno”

melhor vilão
Eric Bana as Nero; “Star Trek”
Cam Gigandet as James; “Crepúsculo”
Lorna Raver as Mrs. Ganush; “Arraste-me para o Inferno”
Liev Schrieber as Victor Creed/Sabretooth; “X-Men Origens: Wolverine”
Alexander Skarsgrd como Eric Northman; “True Blood”

I know what you’re thinking… when the hell is Legend of the Seeker coming back? Isn’t it fall? Shouldn’t we be watching Richard and Kahlan getting all tense around each other as they try to rid the world of evil?

Well! You’re answer is November 7th.

At least that’s the date the first episode of Season 2 is set to air, but if you just can’t wait 3 more friggin weeks, because it surly is a long time, The Complete First Season is available on DVD.

If you don’t want to buy it from Amazon.com, I’m sure you can pick it up at your local Target or Best Buy. And THEN, you can watch it ever so slowly as we count down the days to Season 2…

The much anticipated, possibly hit show will NOT be returning as previously planned. Even after filming 6 whole episodes, NBC decided to pull the show.

Word on the street is that even though the rating were “iffy” last season, NBC had decided to take a chance on the show, but after viewing said 6 episodes they decided it was just TOO “raw and gritty” for us we folk.

Personally, I think it has more to do with the fact NBC allowed Jay “I’m too annoying to retire” Leno fill the cop drama’s time slot.

Did you ever wonder what it looked like to sell your soul to the devil? Just go watch the Leno show – it’s like a train wreck. And then when you’re done, go watch Conan on Late Night so you can see what comedy really looks like.

Grant Wilson announced on Twitter yesterday that he and his co-star Jason Hawes, will not be doing the Live Halloween special this year.

Yes, you will see your two favorite “what the frag” Ghost Hunters, but their segments will be pre-taped. This year they will be spending the holiday with their families.

I say go you! Halloween with kids is SO MUCH FUN! Yes, we will miss you, but it’s not like you’re leaving us forever now is it?

I’ve never seen this show, nor do I want to – mostly this is just me ripping on the CW.

Seems “The Beautiful Life” (or TBL, cuz things are better when we abbreviate) will not be making it. The shows been on for only one hot second and it seems that the CW is pulling it.

Some say it’s due to Mischa Barton – you know – because personal chaos hurts shows… I think it’s probably because the CW has the management skill of a 14 year old at McD.

Yes, I’m still bitter about the canceling of the late, great show – Reaper.

But hey! The now have every teenage soap know to man – and all of them complete crap. Hm… wonder how those 30 year old vampires on Vamp Diaries are doing? Polanski?

I’d say surprise, but really?

I think the only member of the female cast that can act is Stephanie Jacobsen. I mean, Ashley Simpson? Katie Cassidy? <- Let’s just say Harper’s Island wasn’t gonna get you an Emmy and this will probably get you a razzie!

But then again, I didn’t even watch the original version of this show, so why would I watch a mediocre remake? (Plus Jacoben was on one of the best shows ever – Terminator:TSCC, which was canceled, but hey they left us with Dollhouse!)

Even though pretty much every actor that I came from a show I loves is now on this show (Summer Glau – Firefly, Terminator: TSCC, Jamie Bamber – BSG, L&O:UK) the ratings STILL STINK!

Yes. I still think that FOX was scared seeing that the late great Firefly is STILL a hit, and since the cancelled that show, they had better hold on to whatever Joss Whedon was handing them… to bad this time it really not good at all. It’s actually SO BAD that FOX isn’t even airing it during November sweeps. Yup. Ouch.

As for ABC, it seems that they are already planning on canceling Hank, The Forgotten, Castle and Eastwick.

Hank was Kelsey Grammer’s new show. I know nothing about this show, I didn’t even know it existed until I saw it on the “Cancelled” list for ABC. That probably isn’t a good sign for them… and when I searched it – nada…

The Forgotten was Christian Slater’s attempt at a new show. Evidently he’s afraid he’ll be “forgotten” sadly, he won’t, for he will be remember as that guy that kept doing really crappy shows later in his life.

Castle… this just make me sad – I love Nathan Fillion. Last year they kept going back and forth between canceling and keeping this show, so maybe they’ll change their mind.

Eastwick – cuz it’s not 1987 and your not Cher, Susan Sarandon or Michelle Pfeiffer. It just hit me, my husband must have LOVE this moving as a kid. His two crushes… Susan Sarandon and Michelle Pfeiffer… ANYWAY – why are we trying to make television shows out of movies that aired over 20 years ago? What the hell – there have to be at least 50,000 writers in L.A. proper – just look harder.

For CBS their two that will most likely be out of here by May are Three Rivers and Cold Case.

Three Rivers – I don’t know what this show is about. Someone wanting to save someone because if a television show doesn’t have high moral content then it might just be fun?

Cold Case – I’ll believe it when I see it. They’ve been saying for years this show would be cancelled, but it just never went away… maybe now it will. Maybe we’re entering a new era that is about more things than cops… oh wait, we are – welcome back medical drama…

I actually think the age of the sitcom is on its way back in – just look at NBC’s Thursday lineup with 30 Rock, The Office, Community and Parks and Rec – and then let’s at to it that the head of Law & Order, Trauma and Mercy are probably out.

Law & Order - how can you be surprised by this? It’s been on the air since I was in high school – and I haven’t been in high school for a long while now. Plus, this show just became redundant. How could it not be? Sorry L&O, I used to love you – but that was like circa 1999.

Trauma – My problem with this show is I hear the name and I think of Emergency, yes, that Randolph Mantooth drama from back in the 70’s. And then I saw the commercials – really? Are you serious? If you want to make something that over dramatic make a medical drama about a unit in the middle east – WAIT! Just remake M.A.S.H.

Why must everything be in slow motion? Michael Bay does TV.

Mercy – because we’ve grown tired about hearing how sad rich doctors are so now we get to hear about caring nurses… (Hawthorne?)

And for FOX!! ‘Til Death, Brothers and Dollhouse…

‘Til Death, I was surprised it made it this far, but hey – this isn’t my kinda show. But still, I’m a fan of Brad Garrett so I always wished them the best.

Brothers – I know nothing about this show so I can’t even make a snarky comment… but it looks as though it’s getting the boot.

And we already covered Dollhouse. (This week on Dollhouse, FOX regrets canceling Terminator: TSSC and keeping this steamy mess of…)

I’d tell you about the CW but mostly I don’t like them – yes – Reaper. The one good show they had.

Oh and I want to give a shout out to Modern Family! If you haven’t seen this one yet, you should totally check it out. It’s very funny.

Now – on to real life, whatever that is…

Os fãs de ‘Dollhouse’ e seguidores de Joss Whedon podem respirar aliviados: a Fox irá exibir os treze episódios da segunda temporada da série.

Com novo gás por causa da audiência da série em DVR, os executivos da emissora afirmaram que todas as horas já gravadas da série irão ao ar pela emissora – apesar dos péssimos números da audiência.

Preston Beckman, o presidente de programação da emissora foi além e deixou claro que a emissora não está satisfeita com os números, mas que eles também não precisam reagir exageradamente, afinal, não adianta trocar seis por meia dúzia. Quanto a uma possível terceira temporada ou cancelamento, a emissora não se manifesta ainda.

Apesar de aliviar um pouco os fãs da série, a decisão da Fox de já anunciar que irá sim exibir os treze episódios é também um indício de que uma temporada completa com 22 episódios está fora de cogitação.

Depois da informação, Joss Whedon também se manifestou. O produtor disse que diante do fato, já está escrevendo a décima terceira hora da segunda temporada e que os fãs terão um encerramento digno não só do ano, mas possivelmente da série – caso seu cancelamento seja mesmo confirmado.

Beckman ainda comentou sobre os fãs de Whedon, que acompanham a série não só pela TV, mas pela Internet, através de redes sociais – gerando um burburinho positivo para o show. O executivo alegou que sofre até hoje com o cancelmento de ‘Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles’ e que quando se trata de lidar com fãs “xiitas” de ‘Dollhouse’, nunca há vitória para a emissora, pois eles nunca estão satisfeitos.

I’ve been wanting to do this video for a long time, basically since I saw Ayria open for VNV Nation this summer. Music is Ayria – My Revenge On the World. If you haven’t heard Ayria’s other stuff, check it out. They’re currently on tour in Europe.

*Warning Spoilers!*

Due to some family issues Aryn’s Cult TV will be down for about a week or so.

I promise to have it back up and running as soon as I can, but for now, please go watch TV and tell me about it!

Bother you all soon!

~Aryn

WOOOHHOOOO!! Direct confirmation from someone with major influence that Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles is not yet fully dead. There have been “many discussions” about a TSCC DVD movie.

And just in case you were not aware, io9 rocks. Seriously.

Read the full story at io9.

James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is an Academy-Award winning Canadian film director, producer and screenwriter. He has written and directed films as disparate as The Terminator and Titanic. To date, his directorial efforts have grossed approximately US$1.1 billion domestically, unadjusted for inflation. After a string of landmark feature films, Cameron turned his focus to documentary filmmaking and the co-development of the digital 3-D Fusion Camera System. He is currently working on a return to feature filmmaking with the science fiction film Avatar, which will make use of the Fusion Camera System technology. Avatar is scheduled for release in December 2009.

And this is why. There’s a giant 10′ x 20′ billboard driving around LA this week all to try and save Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. It makes me smile just thinking about it. It’s freaking big and right out there.

View slideshow here

So far, the campaign has been pretty successful in it’s first day, with stories published by SciFi Wire (SyFy Network’s news site) and The SciFi Block.

• http://scifiblock.com/news/2009-09-21/fans-of-sarah-connor-chronicles-make-builboard-drive-it-around-la.htm
• http://scifiwire.com/2009/09/sarah-connor-fans-push-fo.php

Tomorrow (Tuesday), the billboard will be doing loops past CNN and CBS. Full route info and details are here.

And if that weren’t enough, there’s some stickering ninjas across the globe:

View slideshow here.

I love it!