OPENS: May 21, 2009
RATING: PG-13 (Violence, Gore, Language)
GENRE: Science Fiction, Horror

Starring: Christian Bale , Sam Worthington, Anton Yelchin, Blair Williams , Bryce Dallas Howard, Jane Alexander, Helena Bonham Carter

Director: McG

Writer:маси и столове John D. Brancato & Michael Ferris

Plot: Set in post-apocalyptic 2018, John Connor is the man fated to lead the human resistance against Skynet and its army of Terminators. But the future Connor was raised to believe in is altered in part by the appearance of Marcus Wright, a stranger whose last memory is of being on death row. Connor must decide whether Marcus has been sent from the future, or rescued from the past. As Skynet prepares its final onslaught, Connor and Marcus both embark on an odyssey that takes them into the heart of Skynet’s operations, where they uncover the terrible secret behind the possible annihilation of mankind.

The eleventh and newest Star Trek film with its all-new cast posted an all new opening record this past weekend. It brought in more than $72.5 million in ticket sales in its debut weekend - more than the next 19 top-grossing films combined. Additionally, compared to other Trek films, after only three days of release, the film is already the fifth-highest money maker for Paramount. With these numbers, odds are we'll see more Trek in years to come.

In its second weekend, X-Men Origins: Wolverine ticket sales fell more than 68% to $27 million for the No. 2 spot on the Genre Top 10..

the only genre film set to debut next week, the supernatural religious thriller Angels and Demons is the follow-up to the DaVonci Code and is set for wide release.

Following are the Top 10 speculative fiction movies in release in North America for the weekend of May 8-10, 2009.

RANK #. (Overall Rank) Title - Weekend Gross | Total Gross [Budget]

1. (1) Star Trek - $72.5 million | $76.5 million [N/A]
2. (2) X-Men Origins: Wolverine - $27 million | $129.6 million [$150 million]
3. (3) Ghosts of Girlfriends Past - $10.5 million | $30.2 million [N/A]
4. (5) 17 Again - $4.4 million | $54.2 million {N/A]
5. (8) Monsters vs. Aliens - $3.4 million | $186.9 million [$175 million]
6. (20) The Haunting in Connecticut - $0.19 million | $55.3 million [N/A]
7. (21) Battle for Terra - $0.18 million | $1.5 million [N/A]
8. (25) Crank: High Voltage - $0.12 million | $13.6 million [N/A]

Source: Box Office Mojo - list only includes science fiction, spy fi, fantasy and dark fantasy/horror titles.

Teen heart-throb Zac Efron's latest film, the light fantasy comedy 17 Again pulled in enough teen greenbacks to finish in the top spot in this past weekend's box office. . It brought in more than $24 million in ticket sales in its debut- weekend - almost more than the next two top-grossing films combined.

The only sci fi flick to debut this weekend was the Spanish-language Sleep Dealer, whichwas shown only an a hanful of theatres in Los Angeles and New York. It debuted at No. 10 on the genre movie list and No. 37 overall with just over $30 thousand.

The sole genre film set to debut next week: The Mutant Chronicles also is set for a limited release befire going to DVD and a broadcast TV debut on the Sci Fi Channel later this summer.

Following are the Top 10 speculative fiction movies in release in North America for the weekend of April 17-19 , 2009.

RANK #. (Overall Rank) Title - Weekend Gross | Total Gross [Budget]

1. (1) 17 Again - $24 milllion | $24 million [N/A]
2. (3) Monsters vs. Aliens - $13 million | 163 million [$175 million]
3. (8) Knowing - $3.4 million | $74 million [N/A]
4. (10) The Haunting in Connecticut - $3.2 million | $52 million [N/A]
5. (11) Dragonball Evolution - $1.6 million | $7.8 million [N/A]
6. (15) Race to Witch Mountain - $0.7 million | $64 million [N/A]
7. (23) Coraline - $0.2 million | $75 million [N/A]
8. (26) Push- $0.09 million | $32 million [$38 million]
9. optical channel(30) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - $0.06 million | $127.5 million [$150 million]
10. (37) Sleep Dealer - $0.03 million | $0.03 million [N/A]

Source: Box Office Mojo - list only includes science fiction, spy fi, fantasy and dark fantasy/horror titles.

OPENS: April 24, 2009
RATING: R (Violence, Language)
GENRE: Horror, Science Fiction

Starring: Thomas Jane, Ron Perlman, Devon Aoki, Sean Pertwee, Benno Fürmann, John Malkovich

Director: Simon Hunter

Writer: Philip Eisner

Plot: In the year 2707, war rages between earths four giant corporations as they battle over the planet's dwindling resources. In an era marked by warfare and social regression, the earth is on the verge of ruin, destruction is everywhere; battles explode on every ravaged continent. Amidst heavy combat, an errant shell shatters an ancient buried seal releasing a horrific mutant army from its eternal prison deep within the earth. As the mutant scourge threatens human extinction, a single squad of soldiers descends into the earth to fulfill the ages-old prophesy of the MUTANT CHRONICLES and save mankind.

After spending last week on at the top spot, animated science fantasy flick, Monsters vs. Aliens fell to the No. 2 spot behind the fourth installment fo the Fast and the Furious franchise.

The only sci fi flick to debut this weekend was Alien Trespass, the 50's-era sci-fi comedy spook starring Eric McCormick, which debuted at No. 29 on the genre movie list and No. 29 overall with just over $10 million.

Genre films set to debut next week: Dragonball Evolution is set for wide release.

Following are the Top 10 speculative fiction movies in release in North America for the weekend of April 3-5, 2009.

RANK #. (Overall Rank) Title - Weekend Gross | Total Gross [Budget]

1. (2) Monsters vs. Aliens - $33.5 million | 105.7 million [$175 million]
2. (3) The Haunting in Connecticut - $9.55 million | 37.2 million [N/A]
3. (4) Knowing - $8.1  million | $58.3 million [N/A]
4. (6) Race to Witch Mountain- $3.4 million | $58.4 million [N/A]
5. (13) Watchmen - $1.1 million | $105.4 million [$150 million]
6. (19) Coraline - $0.2 million | $74.3 million [N/A]
7. (22) Push - $0.14 million | $31.3 million [$38 million]
8. (23) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - $0.13 million | $127.2 million [$150 million]
9. (29) Alien Trespass - $0.04 million | $0.04 million [N/A]
10. (33) Fanboys - $0.02 million | $0.6 million [N/A]

Source: Box Office Mojo - list only includes science fiction, spy fi, fantasy and dark fantasy/horror titles.

If you're a fan of the 1927 silent science fiction classic Metropolis, I've got some news for you: you haven't seen the whole movie. In fact, you don't know the half of it. Literally.

This past summer, film archivists discovered Fritz Lange's director's cut of the 1927 film that has been thought lost for 80 years.

The version known to most audiences is the 1929 114-minute theatrical release version by U.S. studio,Paramount.

The director's original cut, on the other hand is three and a half hours, or a whopping 210 minutes.

According to the discoverers, the previously deleted scenes - once restored - flesh out entire subplots and give new meaning to secondary characters in the film.

Because of scratches and degraded condition of the long-lost film, restorers say it could be years before the full 3.5 hour epic director's cut is ready to be shown in theatres or available for sale on DVD.

Sources/Additional reading:

• AFP: http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jvdX-dyfyMFmNKJeUMeMGPwNfvCQ
• NYT: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/05/movies/05arts-LOSTANDFOUND_BRF.html?em&ex=1215403200&en=1222edeba861a31c&ei=5087%0A
• CBC: http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/07/04/metropolis-original-lang.html
• BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7489278.stm
• Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSL0344303820080704
• Independent: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/missing-reels-from-langs-metropolis-discovered-860006.html
• Duetsche Welle: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,3460612,00.html

OPENS: April 3, 2009
RATING: PG (Cartoon violence)
GENRE: Science Fiction Comedy

Starring: Eric McCormack, Jenni Baird, Robert Patrick, Jody Thompson

Director: R.W. Goodwin

Writer: Steven P. Fisher based on the story by Steven P. Fisher and James Swift.

Plot: Aliens invade - and hilarity ensues. Set in 1957, Alien Trespass chronicles a fiery object from space that crashes into a mountaintop in the California desert, bringing the threat of disaster to Earth. Out of the flying saucer escapes a murderous creature – the Ghota, which is bent on destroying all life forms on the planet. A benevolent alien from the spaceship, Urp, inhabits the body of Ted Lewis (Eric McCormack) – a local astronomer – and with the help of Tammy, (Jenni Baird) a waitress from the local diner, sets out to save mankind.

While not as prevalent today as in the past, science fiction, fantasy, and horror (SF/F/H) authors continue to use pseudonyms (pen names). Reasons for this practice include the following: 1) Publishers of prolific authors want to avoid flooding the market with many books by the same author; 2) Magazine editors want to disguise the fact that two different stories in an issue are by the same author; 3) Anthology/magazine editors want to disguise the fact that one or more of the stories they include is by the editor himself/herself; 4) Authors write in different genres and want to have a particular name associated with a particular genre; 5) Authors with names similar to those of other writers use pen names to avoid confusing the reader; 6) Collaborations between (among) authors are disguised by a pen name; 7) A publisher has a series of stories and wants to be able to continue the series without interruption if the author doing the series leaves, so s/he requires the stories to be written under a “House” name; An author wants to disguise his/her sex to make the story more credible; 9) Authors want to disguise authorship because of personal revelations made, the sensitive nature of the story, the quality of the story, to conceal their writing activities from their principal employer and/or their colleagues, etc.

There are some SF/F/H authors whose genre fiction has been published almost exclusively under their pen names (e. g., William Fitzgerald Jenkins writing as Murray Leinster). When felt to be appropriate, the pseudonyms of these authors are indicated as “usual name.”

I have included some SF fans and their pseudonyms, especially those fans who write for publication and are current (or former) members of the National Fantasy Fan Federation (N3F, NFFF).

A few prominent SF/F/H comic book authors/artists whose work has been published in book form also are included.

Additions and/or corrections to this compilation of SF/F/H authors/fans and their writing names will be appreciated.

Format reads as follows; Author Names: Pseudonyms

So, I’m taking History 17A (from about the time of Columbus all the way to 1877) as an online course. For the last three days I’ve been writing two essays for this class, and that’s my first midterm (apparently I have two midterms plus a final). The essay topics are about slavery in the Chesapeake and the American Revolution. I think I got the first one nailed down pretty well. It’s the American Revolution that I seem to be meandering on.

And it’s due in just a few short hours. *cries*

I like writing, I’m fairly good at it, but I’m sick, again (though nothing like last time), and that just makes it harder. Plus, when I tried to get started early on this I had the worst time focusing and reading. Talk about inopportune writer’s block. Oy.

Yesterday I finally managed to write paragraphs! Huzzah! I was listening to the Halo and Halo 2 soundtracks at the time, and it was like BOOM, I could write. Why ruin a good thing? So that’s all I’ve been listening to while writing this stuff over and over in the background. I tried listening to something else, but nothing was working out so I went back to Halo. And no, silence doesn’t work either. The only time Halo became an issue was when I had to do some extensive reading and, after fumbling around a bit trying to find appropriate reading music, I switched it to Dirk Freymuth’s Celtic Music for Stress Relief (I am suddenly seeing the ironic pun in that). Then I was able to concentrate on reading. Yeah, I know, I’m weird, but we all knew that already didn’t we?

Okay, back to work for me; but hey, I’ve got Halo backing me up yo.

(Quick FYI: Halo is a science fiction first person shooter game. Apparently it’s a good game. Either way the music is freakin’ awesome and totally worth owning.)