I realize that I am one out of millions when I say how much influence the original Star Trek series had on my life when it premiered in 1966. I was four years old then, had an older brother of seven and we were hopelessly addicted to the adventures of the USS Enterprise and her crew. When Star Trek conventions started popping up in New Orleans in the very early 1970s, I even put together a “Gorn” costume (the lizard creature from the episode “Arena”) and won an honorable mention. When Star Trek disappeared from television, it was a bit shocking for us young fans, and it would be a few years before it reappeared in syndication, at least in New Orleans. When Star Trek: The Motion Picture opened, I was in High School. Already tainted by the adventures of Luke Skywalker and pals in Star Wars, I was a bit less enthusiastic by this big screen effort. However, when I saw Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan in college a few years later, I knew that Star Trek was back on track! I was a fan again. Getting the call from make-up effects artist Richard Snell was one of the early highlights of my career. I had worked with the bay-area artist on House but our paths had diverged since. I knew that the Star Trek IV job was “floating” around Hollywood because I had done some bid sketches for James Cummins who was also pursuing the project. [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

With the entire original run of The Twilight Zone available to watch instantly, we’re partnering with Twitch Film to cover all of the show’s 156 episodes. Are you brave enough to watch them all with us? The Twilight Zone (Episode #57): “The Prime Mover” (airdate 3/24/61) The Plot:  A gambling addict finds out his best friend his telekinetic powers, which, as it turns out, could be incredibly useful while gambling. The Goods: Somehow, the abomination that was yesterday’s entry (Static) was also written by the same writer as today’s playful episode. Charles Beaumont churns out a winner here that’s smart even while it’s plot stays obvious. Ace Larsen (Dane Clark) is kind of a jerk. He runs a diner, but he’s so obsessed with gambling that he can hardly keep his quarters out of the one-armed bandit he keeps near the door. When he’s not losing spare change, he’s betting the customers double or nothing on their tabs. What’s worse – he’s rude to waitress/girlfriend Kitty (Christine White) and bosses orders at the eternally sweet Jimbo Cobb (Buddy Ebsen). But there’s more to this character than meets the eye. It doesn’t take the supernatural to see that, but when Ace finds out that Jimbo can move things with his mind, he has a chance to take his obsession to its breaking point.

With the entire original run of The Twilight Zone available to watch instantly, we’re partnering with Twitch Film to cover all of the show’s 156 episodes. Are you brave enough to watch them all with us? The Twilight Zone (Episode #56): “Static” (airdate 3/10/61) The Plot:  A bitter old man complains about a newfangled contraption called the television. Fortunately, he finds a radio that plays things without images. The Goods: Aside from this episode being shot in video, which makes it seem incredibly cheap, this episode is thoroughly annoying on its own. A 150-year-old version of Sean Connery named Dean Jagger plays a caustic elder gent named Ed Lindsay who can’t stand television and feels free to claim as much to all the people living in the boarding house with him. One of the inhabitants is Vinnie Broun (Carmen Matthews) who was supposed to marry Ed two decades ago, but the perpetual bachelor kept putting it off. Haunted by that regret, he hears music from the 40s coming through on a boxy radio he pulls out of storage. Funny how no one else can seem to hear it.

Today is the 91st birthday of a man who will live forever. Ray Bradbury had a profound effect on science fiction, on fantasy, on film, and on the future. Had he not become a writer, Bradbury would have been a magician, but in a lot of ways, he got to do both. Fortunately, some of his most iconic movies are available to stream right into your eyeballs using the wonders of technology (that Bradbury probably predicted). In case you want to discover the writer’s work or want to enjoy them all over again, here are five of those films and where to see them.

Doug Beswick’s career, like many creature makers, began with a love and practice of Stop Motion Animation. My understanding is that he met Rick Baker when they both worked at Cascade Studios (most famous for doing the claymation for the series Gumby & Pokey) and later had joined Rick’s crew as a mechanical, animatronics designer. I don’t know the details of how and why Doug decided to open his own shop, but his facility was in a small, industrial park, north east of the San Fernando Valley in Sunland. Prior to my arrival, Doug had gained some notoriety with a couple of projects. The first was Terminator in which, Beswick had built and animated the endoskeleton miniature for the few full body shots of the robot walking. The second was a Disney live action film entitled My Science Project. For that film, Rick and Doug had teamed up to build an impressive, miniature, mechanical Tyrannosaurus Rex puppet. It is interesting to see how logical progressions occur (albeit rarely) in Hollywood. Doug had built a sophisticated, miniature, mechanical puppet that looked phenomenal on film, AND he had prior experience working for James Cameron. The result: Doug was hired to build the miniature mechanical puppets for Aliens. See how that worked?

You may have noticed that we here at Film School Rejects took quite the shine to Joe Cornish’s debut feature film Attack the Block. Brian couldn’t praise it enough after its premiere at this year’s SXSW film festival and our resident Brit Simon Gallagher loved up on it in his Cannes coverage. Screen Gems picked it up for a domestic theatrical run and while it opened in 7 top markets a few weeks ago, it expanded to 6 additional markets over the weekend. It’s also now playing in big chain theaters like Regal and AMC which will hopefully encourage the popcorn-chomping masses to give it a shot. I fell in love with this movie at SX and can’t get enough of it. This is a film that deserves to be seen. I had a chance to sit down with writer/director Joe Cornish and star John Boyega to talk about the movie, their respective first outings into film and their inevitable slide into drugs and infamy.

Updated: First Alien, now Blade Runner. Deadline NeoTokyo is reporting that Ridley Scott has signed on to direct and produce a new Blade Runner film, although it remains unclear whether it will be a remake, a sequel, a prequel, or a wacky romantic comedy that happens to have the same name as is being called a “follow-up” to his sci-fi stunner. With so little information, except the big bombshell, speculation is easy to come by, but there are certainly a host of pros and cons here. The cons are the usual obvious complaints, and as for the pros, the clearest one is that it’s another opportunity for Scott to head back into that world that’s so loved. In a smaller way, it’s also a chance (like with Total Recall) to do a clearer, more direct take on Phillip K. Dick‘s work (even though that probably won’t happen). Here’s the full press release from Alcon Entertainment, and even more speculation:

Marty McFly is just your typical high school kid who has his own rock band, rides a skateboard to school every day and wants to make out with his girlfriend in his own car on the weekend. He also has a inexplicably close relationship with zany Doc Brown down the road, but that’s all okay because that guy has just invented a time machine out of a sports car. After the terrorists that gave Doc Brown the plutonium to get the time machine working come after them with big guns, Marty travels back to 1955 where he meets his parents, accidentally stops them from falling in love and must find a way to get them back together before he disappears from existence.

Acclaimed visual auteur Guillermo Del Toro recently sat down with MTV cameras to have a chat about a number of topics, and during the discussion talk turned to Children of Men director Alfonso Cuaron’s upcoming astronaut thriller Gravity. Whatever Cuaron is doing while filming this one seems to be the talk of the town, as he couldn’t help but gush at how blown away both he and big-time director and technophile James Cameron are with the technical aspects of Cuaron’s production. Keeping up with the stuttered sentence structure and charming accent is a little rough when trying for a transcript, but I think I’ve pulled most of the money quotes out of the interview. Del Toro starts by saying, “I think what is incredible about what they did is, they talked to David Fincher, they talked to Jim Cameron… I connected Jim and Alfonso for that… And what Alfonso is trying, is so insane. And Jim said, ‘Well look, what you’re trying is about five years into the future.’ When James said that it’s too early to try anything that crazy… they did it.”

It was bound to happen eventually. Alien invasions seem to be the note every production is striking these days (for better or worse), and there’s no way the paying public would want to see the fad die without Jean-Claude Van Damme taking a swing at those extra-terrestrial thugs. According to Variety, Dominic Burns will write and direct UFO, which sees Van Damme kickpunch his way through an invasion with help from several newcomers. Burns has acted, produced, written and directed most notably with Black & Blue Films (the studio that’s bringing you Strippers vs Werewolves!) which seems slightly like a Britain-based Asylum-style studio with a focus on schlocky horror and comedy. Sometimes at the same time. However, it’s Burns’s own Hawthorne Productions that will be handling this particular gem. Thus, the sky is literally the limit for this project. But honestly, who here among us doesn’t want to see Van Damme put his work boot through the slimy flesh of some alien with guts that hopefully explode out from his body? Exactly. None of us raised our hands. Bring it on. And if those aliens happen to look anything like snakes, they are boned (see above).

For newbies to the column, I’m recalling defining moments that made me what I am: A Special Effects Make Up Artist looking for relevance in the 21st Century. The time is 1985, and I have finished a tour of duty for Stan Winston’s Studio. I am 23 years old. Freelance. Footloose and fancy-free. Unemployed again. I had tasted of the good life and knew that, somehow, I needed to return to Stan Winston Studios. It was everything I imagined working in a Hollywood special make-up effects studio would be and more. It certainly was first class all of the way but at the moment, it was irrelevant. Alec Gillis and Rick Lazzarini had left and joined Stan and the rest of the crew in England to continue work on Aliens. I, on the other hand, needed to find work. Toward the end of Invaders from Mars, a rumor began circulating that Rick Baker was putting together a crew to build a Sasquatch suit for a film entitled Harry and the Hendersons. Now, regardless of what others may or may not think, I knew that my work was below the established standard of excellence at Rick’s studio. This was confirmed when I interviewed with him and I wasn’t hired.

With the entire original run of The Twilight Zone available to watch instantly, we’re partnering with Twitch Film to cover all of the show’s 156 episodes. Are you brave enough to watch them all with us? The Twilight Zone (Episode #49): “Back There” (airdate 1/13/61) The Plot: A man steps out of his fancy Washington, DC men’s club onto the streets of Washington, DC. So what’s the twist? It’s DC in 1865, and President Lincoln is about to be shot. The Goods: It’s odd that a story featuring such a dramatic base idea would end up being little more than a fun thought experiment, but the only thing heavy about Back There is the acting. Russell Johnson (who everyone should remember from It Came From Outer Space) plays a not-yet-white-bearded man named Pete Corrigan with enough money and respect to belong to an exclusive club where men go to read in plush chairs, smoke cigars, and play Bridge like old maids. The topic of conversation turns to the idea of changing history by means of time travel – a cockeyed concept that Corrigan dismisses outright as he gets up to head on home. He’s deep in thought when a steward accidentally spills coffee on him, but it’s a small matter, and Corrigan heads outside to find himself getting fuzzy and the lightbulbs inside the street lamps turning to flame. He’s, somehow, stepped back in time to the balmy night in April when President Lincoln was assassinated.

Falling Skies…. Before the season started I said the Steven Spielberg-produced, alien invasion program was “a special kind of show,” and I still stand by that statement ten episodes later. This entire season has been spent with the Second Massachusetts trying to achieve one goal: survival. With every passing episode, we watched as Tom and his rag tag group of soldiers tried to keep everyone breathing, all in hopes that it was building up to something. And the best part? It did.

I walked out of Rupert Wyatt‘s now wildly successful Planet of the Apes prequel thinking that it was a focused, satisfying film that concentrated on a very small, very personal story; but also that it worked well as an introduction to a sci-fi world that is ripe for further exploration. Sure, since this is a prequel we all know where it’s going to eventually end up: with apes wearing clothes, speaking English, and being in control of the whole planet; but there’s a whole big history between the end of Rise of the Planet of the Apes and when that space shuttle to Mars crashes back down in Planet of the Apes that can still be explored. I walked out of Rise of the Planet of the Apes wondering how long it would be before film geeks started salivating over the idea of getting an Ape War movie, just like they salivated over the idea of getting a Machine War movie for years after The Terminator. It turns out as I was wondering, it had already been happening, and that geek doing all of the salivating was Rupert Wyatt himself.

Welcome back to Commentary Commentary, the weekly analysis of our favorite films and what the filmmakers have to say about them. This week we’re calling someone. Not sure who. It’s almost like there should be a classic line to fit in here, but right now it’s escaping me. In addition to being a modern classic, Ghostbusters is also arguably the best comedy of the last 30 years. Plus, it features Reginal Veljohnson and William Atherton, two co-stars of Die Hard, so that’s something to note, right? The two also co-starred in Die Hard 2. We’ll have to cover Renny Harlin’s commentary on that classic some day. While you’re holding your breath for that, though, we’re in the mood to laugh, get slimed, and laugh heartily some more. So take a ghostly gander – yeah, I said it – at what we learned from the Ghostbusters commentary right here.

As a kid, I loved the original Invaders from Mars. To me, it was more akin to The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T than The Day the Earth Stood Still. An alien invasion seen through the experiences of a child meant an attack on the familiar, more personal, visceral level. Teachers, classmates, neighborhood cops and parents all fall prey to mind-controlling Martians, who drag their victims underground via a sand pit. The paranoia and frustration created by director, William Cameron Menzies, was only surpassed by the film’s strong, dramatic, dream-like design sense. So, when I discovered that Tobe Texas Chainsaw Massacre Hooper was directing the remake, I was skeptical. Now, before I get misinterpreted and receive hate talk-back and e-mails, I want to go on record as recognizing that Tobe has directed a few films that are outstanding and have withstood the test of time. Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Poltergeist, and, yes, even The Funhouse are very effective, however Invaders from Mars would bring with it, a set of unique challenges.

Why Watch? Because you have to watch it to realize that you’ve already watched it by watching it. This clever short takes the eye-burning cliche of time travel and spins it around until it tastes sweet again. It’s like the nicer cousin of Timecrimes, and, yes, the title totally vindicates Ralph Wiggum. An inventor is tooling around with a time machine when he hears an intruder and gives chase. But sensing that we don’t need another lesson in the dangers of time machines, writer/director Robin King just delivers a fun mini-mystery as to how everything that’s happened, happened. What does it cost? Just 3 minutes of your time. Check out Unpossible for yourself:

This editorial contains spoilers for Source Code. Consider yourself warned, and consider yourself given another excuse to go see the movie. You’re waiting for a train, a train that will take you far away. You know where you hope this train will take you, but you don’t know for sure. But it doesn’t matter. How can it not matter to you where that train will take you? Because that train is going to explode, killing everyone on it. In fact, that train has already exploded, but you’re waiting to board it in a very peculiar way. You’re Colter Stevens from Source Code, and you have a ticket in your pocket because a man who was on the train earlier in the day (when it blew sky high) has a ticket in his pocket. Your mind is inside the short term memory of a dead man. Source Code plays around with identity philosophy in at least three key ways, and it seems directly influenced by the story of a man who loses his head in order to play hero. Hold on tight to your brain, and let’s try to find Colter.

Cary Fukunaga will no doubt have a long and steady career because the young director came right out of the gate with the beautifully brilliant Sin Nombre and followed it up with a more than capable period piece in Jane Eyre. He’s an auteur who 1) is still building his style and 2) refuses to work within one genre. Even if he’s still developing his signature, hopefully Fukunaga will bring his sense of atmosphere and environment to his forthcoming sci-fi drama. Spaceless, according to The Hollywood Reporter, tells the story of “an assassin who wakes up inside a spacesuit tumbling helplessly through space, with a computer designed to keep him company until his air runs out. He must try to solve the mystery of his death, which began when he broke into an orbiting space station to carry out a hit. The man, however, begins to question his reality, unsure if he is succumbing to madness or in an artificially created environment.” It’s a fun idea (that certainly borrows from other ideas), and it’s great to see Fukunaga continue to elude definition. The director will also rework the spec script written by Jeff Vintar (no stranger to sci-fi himself), Gore Verbinski will produce, and it seems like the only actor not up for the role would be Sam Rockwell because, well, you know. There’s no way they could hire Sam Rockwell for this. They’re going to, aren’t they?

One of the few films from Comic-Con that I wasn’t looking forward to, but left feeling excited about, is Andrew Niccol‘s In Time. After viewing the sizzle reel in Hall H and interviewing Niccol, expectations got raised. Niccol isn’t a filmmaker that works all that often and considering this is his return to the sci-fi world, it’s somewhat of a mini-event. This is also his first action movie, and it is shot through the eyes of Roger Deakins. The action is apparently all running, too – something expressed pretty clearly in this trailer. Seeing Justin Timberlake run around for two hours isn’t exactly ideal entertainment, but there looks to be more than a generic chase film here. The world building comes off topnotch, Roger Deakins’s first step into the digital realm seems to be a success, and Cillian Murphy as the man hunting Timberlake down is an idea I can get behind.