Cerbalus Aravensis, a giant spider was discovered in Israel. Reigning in at 5.5 inches to 6 inches across it is huge.
To put it into context and to share in my own skin crawling realization on just how big that is I want you to remember the Alien movies. Remember those nasty face-huggers that would crawl around and leap out at it’s unsuspecting victim, wrapping it’s self around their face.
The size of this spider is around the size of the face-huggers from the Alien movies. That is huge
It’s a nocturnal hunter using trap doors to get it’s prey.
With the success of recent films like the Transformers movies and District 9 (and to a lesser extent, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which is the 26th highest grossing film worldwide), it seems like Hollywood is going alien crazy, giving the green light and putting a lot of alien-based stories in development — more than ever before. In a couple years, will aliens be the new vampires? -(via /Film)
Will Aliens be the New Vampires?
No, the rise in interest in alien movies is just part of the Hollywood system. The very same system that will also decide people aren’t interested in Aliens as much as Vampire’s.
Hollywood has a past track record for starting many projects to hedge their bet on what the next big fad will be. Many of these projects get dumped or shelved after the sales numbers come in.
Image via Wikipedia
The sales numbers are not so good for alien movies. Transformers and Indiana Jones are franchises in their own right and won’t be thought of by the studios as alien movies.
There are also a lot of superhero movie projects in the works. Could the superhero movie be the next thing? With such a diverse story and setting potential there is a lot more that could be explored in this area on the big screen.
Vampire movies are still bringing in a lot for the studios. Do you think they will continue doing more of them? I hope not, it pains me to say that but with so many bad ones out there I would like for it to be given a rest.
What would you like to see as the next movie phase?
Theater or Renter: November includes eight SF movies 1/2 of them are books adapted into movies: A Christmas Carol, The Fourth Kind, 2012, Planet 51, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Ninja Assassin, The Road. Will we watch? Will we rent? or do we even care?
Rules of the Game: Watch the trailers. Rate the Trailer. Then share with us your comments: does the movie, it’s trailer and buzz make you want to watch it in the theater, rent it, or not interested at all, and why?
A Christmas Carol:
Release Date: NOVEMBER 6th
Listed as: Animation, Drama, Family, Fantasy
Studio: Walt Disney Pictures
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Produced by: Jack Rapke, Steve Starkey, Robert Zemeckis
Written by: Robert Zemeckis
Stars: Jim Carrey, Gary Oldman, Cary Elwes, Colin Firth, Bob Hoskins, Robin Wright Penn, Molly C. Quinn
The Plot / Story: An animated retelling of the Victorian morality tale A Christmas Carol. Ebenezer Scrooge an old and bitter miser undergoes a profound experience of redemption over the course of one night. (Wikipedia) (The Official Site)
The Fourth Kind:
Release Date: NOVEMBER 6th
Listed as: Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Studio: Universal Pictures
Director: Olatunde Osunsanmi
Produced by: Paul Brooks, Joe Carnahan
Written by: Olatunde Osunsanmi
Stars: Milla Jovovich, Elias Koteas, Will Patton
The Plot / Story: The Fourth Kind is a reenactment of alien abduction events that are claimed to have actually happened. An investigator is dispatched to Nome, Alaska to puzzle out a 40-year-long mystery involving an extraordinary number of unexplained disappearances in the town. Her videotaped evidence looks to present the most convincing evidence of alien abduction ever documented. (Wikipedia) (The Official Site)
2012:
Release Date: NOVEMBER 13th
Listed as: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Studio: Columbia Pictures
Director: Roland Emmerich
Produced by: Roland Emmerich, Mark Gordon, Harald Kloser, Larry J. Franco, Ute Emmerich
Written by: Harald Kloser, Roland Emmerich
Stars: John Cusack, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Amanda Peet, Thandie Newton, Oliver Platt, Danny Glover, Woody Harrelson
The Plot / Story: The film explores the idea of a global doomsday event coinciding with the end of the Mayan Calendar in 2012. In Guatemala reports start coming in of mass suicides in the Mayan jungles of people attempting to avoid the impending apocalypse. A secret organization that realizes the world is ending and is constructing of vast arks beneath the Himalayan mountains to save both the Human race and significant animal species when doomsday finally happens. The disaster strikes all over with super volcano and mega earthquakes from dramatic shifting in the earths crust. A group of survivors, including Jackson Curtis and his family fight their way to China before they can board the great arks and save themselves from the gigantic tidal waves sweeping across the Earth. (Wikipedia) (The Official Site)
Planet 51:
Release Date: NOVEMBER 20th
Listed as: Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Family, Fantasy
Studio: TriStar Pictures
Director: Jorge Blanco
Produced by: Ignacio Perez Dolset, Guy Colins
Written by: Joe Stillman
Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Jessica Biel, Justin Long, Seann William Scott, Gary Oldman, John Cleese
The Plot / Story: The film follows a human astronaut, Captain Charles “Chuck” Baker who lands on Planet 51 thinking he’s the first to set foot on it. However, he discovers it’s inhabited by little green people who live in a white picket-fenced world reminiscent of 1950s America. The inhabitants of planet 51 are struck with alien fear and Captain Baker struggles to survive and get off the planet before they capture him. (Wikipedia) (The Official Site)
Stars: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner
The Plot / Story: Based on the book The Twilight Saga: New Moon. Bella Swan is devastated by the abrupt departure of her vampire love, Edward Cullen, but her spirit is rekindled by her growing friendship with the irresistible Jacob Black. Suddenly she finds herself drawn into the world of the werewolves, ancestral enemies of the vampires, and finds her loyalties tested. (Wikipedia) (The Official Site)
Fantastic Mr. Fox:
Release Date: NOVEMBER 20th
Listed as: Adventure, Animation, Comedy
Studio: Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Allison Abbate, Steven Rales
Director: Wes Anderson
Produced by: Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Allison Abbate, Steven Rales
Written by: Wes Anderson, Noah Baumbach
Stars: George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Jarvis Cocker, Owen Wilson, Willem Dafoe, Helen McCrory
The Plot / Story: Animated kids film based on Roald Dahl’s book Fantastic Mr. Fox. Mr. Fantastic lives next to the three meanest farmers who push too far. Now it is time to strike back at them. (Wikipedia) (The Official Site)
Studio: Legendary Pictures, Dark Castle Entertainment, Silver Pictures
Director: James McTeigue
Produced by: Joel Silver, Andy Wachowski, Larry Wachowski, Grant Hill
Written by: Story: Matthew Sand Screenplay: Matthew Sand, J. Michael Straczynski
Stars: Rain, Naomie Harris
The Plot / Story: Raizo, kidnapped as a child and raised by the Ozunu Clan, is one of the world’s deadliest assassins. When Raizo’s friend is executed by the clan, he flees into hiding. Meanwhile, Mika Coretti, a Europol agent, retrieves secret agency files on The Clan. Finding out about the investigation, The Clan attempts to assassinate her, but she is rescued by Raizo. Reemerging, seeking revenge he must find a way to take down the Ozunu Clan. (Wikipedia) (The Official Site)
The Road:
Release Date: NOVEMBER 25th
Listed as: Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Studio: 2929 Productions
Director: John Hillcoat
Produced by: Nick Wechsler, Steve Schwartz, Paula Mae Schwartz
Written by: Joe Penhall
Stars: Viggo Mortensen, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Robert Duvall, Guy Pearce, Charlize Theron
The Plot / Story: Based on the book The Road. A father and his young son struggle to survive after an unspecified apocalypse and make their way toward the coast for possible food, shelter, safety, or to potentially find other survivors of the cataclysmic events. Along the way, they encounter grave struggles and hardships across the barren landscapes, with scarce shelter and resources available to them, and having to avoid bands of cannibals and other desperate gangs looking to pillage valuables and food. (Wikipedia) (The Official Site)
The ban on District 9 in Nigeria is sad. They are upset claiming that:
…the film clearly denigrated Nigeria’s image by portraying us as if we are cannibals, we are criminals…The name our former president was clearly spelt out as the head of the criminal gang and our ladies shown like prostitutes sleeping with extra-terrestrial beings… -Information Minister Dora Akunyili (via /Film)
Sweating the Small Stuff
I love the phrase don’t sweat the small stuff. To get stuck on the gang being Nigerian is to miss the commentary on the problems of apartheid and the problems that ghettos bring. The focus was not on the Nigerian gang it was on the social commentary. The use of a Nigerian Gang could have been replaced by any other if the setting of District 9 was in another part of the world. Watch the movie, ponder the deeper messages and don’t sweat the small stuff.
The message behind it is what is important.
The dehumanizing of another to allow for murder
Be careful of religious practices that promote cannibalism for many reasons mainly it’s just not healthy and it causes brain disease.
Prostitution problems
The deteriorating effect drug trafficking has on a populace by masking it in trafficking cat food.
Being Nigerian
The choice of having a crime syndicate be Nigerian makes sense within the context of the setting. All storytelling is lies and to make good fiction the storyteller must limit the number of lies in the story. We all know that there are not aliens living in a shanty town in South Africa. The true art is in limiting the false parts of the tale so as not to distract the audience from the message in the story.
If the writers made the crime syndicate American, Russian, Japanese or Colombian then the story would have suffered and the messages behind the story would be more obfuscated. The audience would have wondered why they were in South Africa and how they dealt with the South African crime syndicates without starting an all out turf war.
Crime Syndicate Not Representative An Entire People
A crime syndicate is not representative of an entire people. District 9 did not have a group of Nigerian people in the district they made it a Nigerian Crime Syndicate. There is a difference. To say that the movie is attacking the entire people is short sighted.
I would like to think that an audience as a whole would watch the movie and think wow that crime syndicate was bad and not thinking that represented all people of Nigeria. In a way, they have insulted the audience’s intelligence thinking that the audience will mistake a counter culture for the Nigerian culture at large.
In Conclusion
District 9 gave the audience a chance to look at the ugly underside of apartheid and demonstrating the problems that ghettos bring. The crime syndicate is Nigerian to make sense within the setting but the portrayal was to highlight the problems of crime and apartheid not to disparage a group of people. Mainly don’t sweat the small stuff and have faith that the audience is smart enough to know that a counter culture group is not representative of a culture at large.
Legend of the Seeker Vidders | Theater or Renter | G.I. Joe | Darkon | Harvey | Alien Prequel | Dresden Codak | Netflix and ABC | Dollhouse | Caprica | Champions Online | Star Wars Galaxies | Mass Effect | and Community Comments on Speculative Fiction Today.
Culture
Calling all Legend Of The Seeker Vidders (via Project: Shadow)
Movie
Theater or Renter: August 2009 (via dashPunk) G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, District 9, Ponyo, Shorts, Halloween II, The Final Destination
Exploring: G.I. Joe The Rise of Cobra (via dashPunk)
Now These People Know How To Have Fun: Darkon (via Project: Shadow)
Steven Spielberg to Direct Harvey Next (via /Film)
Wishful Thinking and pic Eliza Dushku Is Today’s Kickass Lady For The Ridley Scott ‘Alien’ Prequel (via MTV)
Fans v Haters | Contributing to dashPunk | Dalek and R2D2 | Gene Simmons | Darth Vader Corset | Alien in a Jar | Ghosts | Harry Potter Clip | ‘77 | G.I. Joe | Astro Boy | Kings | Question | Star Trek | Purefold Web Show | Dead High Yearbook | The Confessed | Ebooks | Writing | and Community Comments on Speculative Fiction Today.
Ever wanted your own alien in a jar, now you can make one with this weekend’s craft. This one looks awesome, I want it for my desk. It will cost more then some of the other projects to buy some of the supplies and require some minor electrical work to get the jar glowing.
What you need:
A jar with a lid that is thick enough to conceal a battery pack and some LEDs (local supermarket)
Glow water made from florescent dye extracted from a highlighter pen (http://www.metacafe.com/watch/464980/glow_water_how_to_make_your_own/)
Alien Embryo Growing Pet (http://www.thespacestore.com/alemgrpet.html)
6 x High Power Ultra Violet LEDs (http://www.protostack.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=24_30&products_id=36)
There are 8 steps to this project which can be read here on instructables. Some additional recommendations from the discussion that follows are:
Re circuit board: don’t have to have it but it helps hold everything together.
should add some kind of biocide to the water like salt or ammonia.
If you had a glowing Alien in a Jar how would you use it? I like the recommendation to swap out the batteries for a solar pannel and turning it into a solar powered porch light!
Pandora | Alien Baby | Night at the Museum 2 | Terminator Salvation | Transformers revenge of the Fallen| Alice in Wonderland | Stargate Atlantis | V | TNT Alien-Invasion | Vampire Diaries | and Community Comments on Speculative Fiction Today.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=11319465-6a08-4704-ae8c-cede7cfd0cea "Will Aliens Be the New Vampires?")
, 
. Ebenezer Scrooge an old and bitter miser undergoes a profound experience of redemption over the course of one night. (
. Bella Swan is devastated by the abrupt departure of her vampire love, Edward Cullen, but her spirit is rekindled by her growing friendship with the irresistible Jacob Black. Suddenly she finds herself drawn into the world of the werewolves, ancestral enemies of the vampires, and finds her loyalties tested. (
. Mr. Fantastic lives next to the three meanest farmers who push too far. Now it is time to strike back at them. (
. A father and his young son struggle to survive after an unspecified apocalypse and make their way toward the coast for possible food, shelter, safety, or to potentially find other survivors of the cataclysmic events. Along the way, they encounter grave struggles and hardships across the barren landscapes, with scarce shelter and resources available to them, and having to avoid bands of cannibals and other desperate gangs looking to pillage valuables and food. (
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=e1ce15ae-c6f3-4102-a0a8-f265b1b98080 "Theater or Renter: November 2009")
The ban on District 9 in Nigeria is sad. They are upset claiming that:![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=baf95957-c767-4721-9f33-0a88f9e4d83c "Speculative Fiction Today #424 “Knowing Is Half The Battle”")
ABC is tweaking the pilot for V making it slightly different for the lucky viewers who got to see it at SDCC.![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=b7430e4d-feb5-4d75-abd2-755710018017 "Speculative Fiction Today #409 “Vampire Hunter V”")
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=7b66a77c-59ce-4622-86fe-7fb4161c64e6 "Weekend Craft: Glowing Alien in a Jar")
