Interesting News on the Gaming Front for Fantasy Movie Fans

Two Years ago I gave a review of Fantasy Flight's excellent game Beowulf the Legend, designed by Reiner Knizia. If you haven't played it, you should check it out because it might just alter the way you look at board games. The game utilizes a series of different bidding systems that, as the game unfolds, reveal a winner. The game mechanics are very common in "euro" style games, the kind of games that Knizia develops, but are rare in the "american" style war games.

It seems that Fantasy Flight is releasing a "follow up" to this game that will be released in "October." I put October in quotes because Fantasy Flight is notoriously tardy with game releases and the FFG website lists November. The follow up game is a licensed board game adaptation of Robert Zemeckis' upcoming Beowulf film. I cannot understate how HUGE a deal it is that a small time game company, though FFG is certainly an excellent and growing company -- they are no Hasbro, to acquire this license. The board game will share the Beowulf theme with the prior release, but will use systems based on Reiner Knizia's game Kingdoms. Unlike Beowulf: the Legend, the Kingdoms game (which the upcoming Beowulf the Boardgame's systems will be based upon) is a territory control game where players attempt to acquire resources.

According to the press release the Beowulf rules will significantly modify the basic rules of Kingdoms, including the addition of a "three act" structure which follows the Beowulf narrative. The game will feature high quality plastic pieces and use artwork from the film.

I am excited to see this game released and hope that it might provide a "gateway" for new people into the board game hobby.

Monday, June 25, SF and Fantasy Author Susan Palwick Discusses Her New Novel Shelter Live on Geekerati Radio.

Award winning Science Fiction and Fantasy author Susan Palwick will join the panelists at Geekerati Radio at 7pm PDT. In addition to discussing her latest novel, Palwick will talk with the panelists about her influences and her general thoughts about the state of SF/F today.

Fans can listen to the show live, and call in with questions, by visiting the Geekerati website (http://www.blogtalkradio.com/geekerati) during the broadcast. Those who miss the live broadcast will be able to listen to an archived version of the show approximately fifteen minutes after it airs online. During the show, the Geekerati panel will be giving away two copies of her most recent novel, Shelter, and one copy of her previous novel, The Necessary Beggar.



Susan Palwick holds a doctoral degree from Yale and is an associate professor of English at the University of Nevada, Reno. She has written three novels, Flying in Place (Tor Books, 1992, reprinted 2005), The Necessary Beggar (Tor Books, 2005), and Shelter (Tor Books 2007). A collection of many of her short stories, The Fate of Mice (Tachyon Publications 2007) was published earlier this year. Flying in Place won the Crawford Award for Best First Fantasy Novel, presented annually by the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts. The Necessary Beggar received starred reviews from PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY, BOOKLIST and LIBRARY JOURNAL (which also named it one of the best genre books of 2005). Additionally, The Necessary Beggar was honored with an Alex Award from the American Library Association, won a Silver Pen award from the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame, and is a finalist for the Mythopoeic Award. Shelter recently received a starred review from LIBRARY JOURNAL. Palwick’s stories often examine issues of identity and the relationships between the individual and society.

ABOUT GEEKERATI RADIO – Geekerati Radio is an online radio show which includes Christian Johnson, Shawna Benson, Bill Cunningham, Eric Lytle, Wes Kobernick, and Steven Merrill in a round table discussion of popular culture by geeks for geeks. Geekerati Radio is a featured show in the BlogTalkRadio network. The Geekerati Radio show airs Monday nights at 7pm Pacific.

You can contact the Geekerati Crew at geekeratiradio_at_gmail.com.

Jurassic Park with Cyberdinosaurs

Be careful what you hunt for.

Pinkberry Contains Yogurt

Los Angeles Times finds that Pinkberry does contain yogurt.

Los Angeles Times: Pinkberry, the taste that launched a thousand parking tickets.

Pinkberry's Official Site.

Wikipedia: Pinkberry.

Listen to My Radio Show... Dammit.

For those of you who didn't listen live, our most recent radio show, from Monday at 7pm ,is now available for listening.



If you are the first listener to email me at geekeratiradio@gmail.com answering the trivia question on the show you will win an autographed picture of Katee Sackhoff.

Finding Neverland Director to Helm Bond 22

Coming on the heels of Martin Campbell's redefinition of the Bond character in Casino Royale, Marc Forster (Finding Neverland, Stranger than Fiction) will be directing the next Bond film. The 22nd installment of the franchise will also see the return of Daniel Craig in the starring role.

Initially, the choice of Forster to direct the new film may seem an odd one, but I think it might be a further step in the right direction. While Campbell's Casino Royale was one of my favorite Bond films in years, I think that had more to do with the inclusion of Alexander Witt as the Second Unit Director than it did with any input Campbell had as Director. Casino's strengths were in the action and Craig's acting, and not in the subtle direction of small scenes.

Let us ask the question the following way. Please allow for the underlying assumptions (the "given" statements) for the sake of the argument, even if you disagree.

1. GIVEN: That Casino Royale was one of the best James Bond films ever made.


2. GIVEN: The Bourne Identity was a key film in the redefinition of the spy film genre.


3. GIVEN: One of the things that made Casino Royale so entertaining was the way the action sequences awed the audience.


4. GIVEN: Martin Campbell directed Goldeneye, Vertical Limit, and No Escape in addition to two Zorro films without Alexander Witt as Second Unit Director.


5. GIVEN: The above films had wide range of quality, from good to bad.


6. GIVEN: Goldeneye has a very different "feel" than Casino Royale


7. GIVEN: Alexander Witt was Second Unit Director on Black Hawk Down, The Bourne Identity, Gladiator, Black Rain, and Speed.


8. GIVEN: The action sequences in the listed Alexander Witt films have certain stylistic similarities that contributed to the entertainment value of those films.


9. GIVEN: Casino Royale had a "Bournesque" feel to a lot of the action.


10. THUS: Alexander Witt had a lot to do with what was entertaining about Casino Royale

With all of the above in mind, I think that bringing in a director who has directed some very entertaining (non-action based) films in the past is a way that the Bond films could improve. But only if they hire the right Second Unit Director.

The Earth's Mightiest Heroes Coming to Big Screen

When one imagines the reaction of a comic book fan to the news that The Avengers (totally different than The Avengers) were finally coming to the Big Screen, one imagines images of geeky childhood delight. Well, according to Borys Kit of the Hollywood Reporter, the first part of that equation has arrived. The Avengers will be coming to the big screen, with a screenplay by Zak Penn.

But the second par of that imagining, isn't happening on my part. Instead, I worry. I worry an unreasonable amount. I am getting hives from worry. I am very precious about my dear Avengers. You see, they are my favorite superhero team. I own every issue of their comics, no small feat, and have stuck with them through thick and thin. Sure, I don't think that The Avengers have ever been as entertaining as the Giffen/Maguire/Dematteis era of The Justice League, but their lows haven't been as low and their "average" level of writing has kept me entertained for over thirty years. So, in my preciousness I am worried that any Avengers movie will lack the heart of what I enjoy about the franchise.

But my preciousness is really the least of my worries. I am more concerned with the fact that The Avengers are a TEAM, a very large team, as this picture demonstrates.



That picture was drawn in the 90s. Since then the list of heroes who have been a part of The Avengers has only grown. No, I don't expect any movie about The Avengers to try to include every Avenger, but I do expect the movie to be a team movie and that means team movie problems.

What team movie problems?

Well, there's the whole, "how do you introduce the team members to an audience who might not know them" problem. This problem was key in the weaknesses of the Fantastic Four film. Too much time covering the back story and you end up with no narrative.

Then there's the "too many heroes" problem. What heroes do you choose and how many? How many are too many? Which heroes get personal narratives? Do any? Is this just a "group" story, in which case it isn't very Marvelesque, or does it have the requisite Marvel soap opera qualities?

Finally, there's the "satisfying the fanboy" problem. How obscure do you get with the members of the team? Do you do the "original Avengers," Iron Man, Hulk, Ant-Man, and Thor (with Captain America coming quickly, but the Hulk leaving as rapidly)? Do you go with the "classic Avengers," Iron Man, Ant-Man (in one of his multiple forms), Vision, Captain America, Thor, Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye, and Wasp? Is that even really the "classic Avengers?" What about Black Panther and Beast? They both rule and spent a lot of time hanging out with the team.

I don't want to think about it. I'll just think about the animated movies they did recently. They were okay. They lacked the Marvel essence, but they were a good team adventure.

I don't even want to think of who the villain might be in an Avengers movie.

Zak, I don't envy you the attempt.