Justice League Unlimited season finale

I'm not sure the people who make the JLU animated series fully understand the concept of television seasons. Season 1 of JLU (which was also sorta season 3 of the Justice League series) ended yesterday, with the second half of a fairly strong time travel episode. Season 2 starts... next Saturday. In a series where one often has to wait a several weeks between episodes, airing the season opener one week after last season's finale is a bit... odd.

Still, scheduling issues aside, JLU is an excellent show. It is truly all-ages in its appeal, and episodes are written by some of the finest writers in the genre (a recent episode was penned by Warren Ellis, and next season promises an episode by Gail Simone). The conceptual change between JL and JLU, which allows the writers to use any hero (and, obviously, villain) in the DCU, makes for an interesting variety of stories.

The season finale was a bit odd in the fact that it only featured Green Lantern, Batman, and Wonder Woman. But is was a decent story, with interesting reveals regarding the future of the animated version of the DCU.

Moore on Chain Reaction

Chain Reaction is a rather brilliant concept for a radio show. Take a bunch of interesting people, and have them interview each other in a chain of interviews, so that this week's interviewer in next week's interviewee. This week, British comedian Stewart Lee interviews comics super-genius Alan Moore. Next week, Moore will be interviewing musical genius Brian Eno. You can listen to the whole show as aired, plus some bits that were cut for time. It's a very interesting and entertaining interview, which should not be missed by Moore fans.

Link via several sources, including The Comics Reporter, Fanboy Rampage, The Beat, and The Neil.

Locus Poll and Recommended Reading List for 2004 are up

I'm always looking for new science fiction and fantasy novels to read. It's a big part of my job, as the editor of a genre series that focuses on translations.

Locus magazine, and its excellent website, are invaluable to me in that search, and their annual Recommended Reading list is always a great way to see what I may have missed during the year. They have a great staff, and the list always has a combination of big sellers and lesser known gems. And there's always something interesting that I've missed.

The Locus poll has been the genre award with the biggest voting pool for several years, though this may be changing now that one can vote online for the Hugos. It's also the only major genre award with separate categories for sf and fantasy novels.

Will the real Mirrormask trailer please stand up?

A few posts ago, I mentioned the Mirrormask trailer being up. Turns out it was an early teaser trailer, hated by Gaiman and McKean. I thought it was a flawed trailer, which still looked awesome. I had no idea what I was talking about. The REAL Mirrormask trailer is online. Still not available in true quality (or in Quicktime, which is about the same when talking about trailers). But it doesn't have the stupid narration, doesn't indicate that the Henson company is the creative force behind the movie, and does mention McKean.

Also, it gives a much better peek at the awesome visuals, and has a nice bit of the funny and the creepy. Check it out.

Whiteness

What do you people think of the new color scheme? Better? Worse?

Edit: I've made it a little less white (white smoke instead of white). Comments?

To all sports writers - a requst

Please stop writing about the players in my NBA fantasy team. Seriously, this jinx thing is getting annoying. Eddie Griffin has only recently recovered from the slump he got into when every other NBA writer wrote about him and about how he's the key to the Wolves season. Tracy McGrady took a whole month to recover from pre-season talk about his teaming up with Yao Ming to create the best inside-outside punch in the league. Jason Hart got injured and was sent to the bench after being crowned the Bobcats' second best player by some writers. Shareef Abdur Raheem took the good press all the way to the injured list. Talk of Peja being an elite player has not been good for him either.

Please stop writing about Shawn Marion and Chris Bosh. My team is completely sunk without them. Marion just recovered from a slump (caused by Steve Nash getting injured after being crowned the league MVP by some writers), and Bosh is just asserting himself in Toronto.

Please people. I don't have the best team in my league, but with some luck, I could be a contender. Please stop messing it up for me.

Wonderfalls on DVD

It may have been cancelled, but in the DVD era, any show with a cult following is likely to get a DVD release, even if it was cancelled after only a few episodes were aired. C0-creator Bryan Fuller credits the fans, but I have to think the success of the Firefly DVD set had something to do with it as well.

Fuller also uses to opportunity to praise ABC for pushing Lost and Desperate Housewives from the get go, and to wish Fox had done the same for Wonderfalls.

I only watched a few eps of WF, as watching unfinished stories always depresses me. But it was a very good show. Well written, clever, well cast, quirky. I wish it wasn't cancelled, and I'll probably watch the DVD set at some point.

Mirrormask trailer online

Finally, on the day it debuts at Sundance, Mirrormask has an official trailer. Someone needs to tell Sony that flash-only sites suck. And the site doesn't seem to work very well in Firefox. The trailer's a little short, it's got crappy narration (which mentions Gaiman and the Henson Company, but not freaking Dave McKean), and it's available only in small versions, and only in Windows Media and Real Player... but it IS awesome. It's got a lot more live action than I thought it would, but it still looks like McKean art come to life. And that alone would be worth the price of admission.

Wilkens resigns as Knicks coach

I've never been a fan of Lenny Wilkens as a coach. He may have won more games than any other coach in NBA history, but he also lost more games than any other coach. Fact is, he just COACHED more games than anyone else. And while he may have won more than he lost, a record of 1,332-1,155 really isn't all that impresive.

And he wasn't working out as the coach of the Knicks. This is a coach who lost his team in the last two places he coached, and was on the verge of losing the Knicks. Wilkens teams seem to underachieve on a regular basis, and a team of career underachievers such as the knicks were bound to do perform unimpressively under his watch.

The Knicks have the talent to go to the playoffs, and even win a round. They have a very talented backcourt, made up of two highly gifted players with very problematic personalities - Marbury and Crawford. In Tim Thomas, they have a super-talented small forward who may be headed to that special Hall of No-Fame reserved for soft and underachieving players. The right coach (errr... Larry Brown? I can't think of anyone else) may be able to get TT to play to his talent, but I'd prefer the knicks benched him in favor of rookie Trevor Ariza, or trade him to some team stupid enough to believe his athletic skill will help them despite his softness and unwillingness to step up. Kurt Thomas is a decent power forward, but he's losing his edge, and would be better used as a backup to talented second year player Mike Sweetney. Nazr Mohammed is a solid center in a league that is very short on centers.

With Marbury, Crawford, Ariza, Sweetney, and Mohammed in the lineup, and Kurt Thomas, sharp shooter Allan Houston, and Tim Thomas on the bench, the knicks have a unit that, if motivated, could win quite a few games in the weak East. It would be a smallish team, but a fast and athletic team that could play the game the way the Suns play it - fast, hellblazing, energetic. They wouldn't be nearly as good as the suns, who have superior players in four of five positions (Crawford is more talented than Suns guard Joe Johnson, but is a wilder and less mature player), but they're playing in a much weaker division.

Herb Williams was named interim coach. I like Herb. This is a player who was retained on the knicks long after his physical talents have been depleted, because his voice in the locker room was so important. He's a smart guy, and a tough guy. Who knows, he may work out as a regular coach. But personally, I'd like to see the Knicks hire another former Knick - currently retired/free agent Mark Jackson. Jackson was a smart, smart player. And as a former point guard (and a great one at that), he could make the move to head coach fairly easily. He could really help Marbury learn to use his incredible gifts to become a better point guard. And I think he'd be a great fit in New York.

Of course, I'm biased. I became a Knicks fan during Jackson's rookie season in 1987, when he burst into the league with his amazing passing, and was named Rookie of the Year. Even after the Knicks foolishly pushed him out of favor for Rod Strickland (and later Maurice Cheeks), I remained a fan, and followed his career with great affection.

Michel Basilières appreciates Fritz Leiber

Canadian author Michel Basilières writes a long and interesting appreciation of Fritz Leiber. I've long been a fan of Leiber's, and while they've sold quite poorly, I'm still happy I got to publish the first two Fafhrd and Grey Mouser collections in Hebrew.

Link via Jessa at bookslut.

Rules in fiction

Trent Walters writes about the necessity of rules in fiction. Matthew Cheney disagrees.

My own opinion is closer to Cheney's. I think it's important (and more than that, helpful) for a writer to know the rules. I don't think following them is important.

Trent talks mostly about the importance of consistency of character. But people do what people do, for whatever reasons they do them. Anything can happen in fiction. That's why it's called fiction. If it's compelling, I'll read it. If I care about the characters, I'll go along for the ride, even if they do things that may seem unpredictable, strange, or seemingly inexplicable.

Point Pleasant eps. 1+2 aka Marti Returns

I now know why Fox decided to air the first ep of PP opposite Alias, which should have a fairly similar demographic - they hoped no one would watch it, and start off with the second ep instead.

For me, lowered expectations were the key to enjoying the pilot. I'd already read some very negative reviews before watching it, so I was pleasantly surprised by the parts that didn't suck.

The second ep was much better. Better writing, better plotting, and somewhat better acting. If the really annoying characters end up getting killed soon, this show can really take off.

Now, genre shows starting off badly has become almost a tradition - Babylon 5, Farscape, and Buffy all started out fairly crappy, and all became very, very, very good. So I'm definitely still along for the ride.

And I'm a Marti fan. Anyone who blames her for seasons 6+7 of Buffy is both underestimating Joss' control of the show, and is just misguided. I liked a lot of the last two seasons of Buffy, and I don't have a problems with bad things happenning to characters in shows. If it works. And apart from a bad stretch in the middle of season 6, I thought it worked.

And I will remind the Marti haters that this is the woman who wrote What's My Line 1+2, Surprise, The Wish, The Prom, New Moon Rising, Buffy vs. Dracula, Forever, Villains, and Bring on The Night. She can flat out WRITE.

And I understand Ben Edlund is on board as a writer. He's pretty damn good too.

Mysterious Poe Toaster strikes again

Apparently, every year for the last 56 years, an unknown man has been breaking in to the locked graveyard where Edgar Alan Poe is buried. He leaves three roses and a half empty bottle of cognac. This really sounds like something out of a Tim Powers novel.

And I think Cleo should write a movie about it.

Ed Zwick to direct Lions of Al-Rassan

Lions of Al-Rassan is one of my favorite novels. A somewhat fantastical re-telling of the Spanish Reconquista.

Ed Zwick was the co-creator of Thirtysomething, and the director of The Last Samurai. He also directed Glory. So he can make good looking movies with big stories.

Vera Blasi, tabbed to write the script, previously wrote two movies about chefs, neither of which I've seen.

I think the news that these two will be adapting Lions to the screen is good news. I certainly hope I'm right.

Hannigan to appear on Veronica Mars

On February 22, on the 15th episode of Veronica Mars, Alyson Hannigan will appear as a guest star, playing Logan's half-sister, Trina Echolls.

This is, obviously, a good thing. Zap2it, which reports the happy news, say the role may become recurring, which would be an even better thing. Proceed with caution to the link, as it contains minor spoilers for the series, and huge spoilers if you're watching the show on Israeli TV, where it premiered tonight.

A couple of TV notes...

From zap2it.com:

Every week, the cast of ABC's "Lost" gathers for a viewing party, generally hosted by the performer whose backstory makes up the night's episode.

I just think that is so cool. It's such an excellent cast, and with the faraway island premise, they have very few guest stars, so I certainly has the potential of being a closely knit group.

Also, I watched last night's ep of The Amazing Race. Finally, the single most annoying couple in the history of reality tv are eliminated. And it was their constant bickering that did them in. Huzzah!

edit: And if you think I was happy about it, check out what the forum at TWOP had to

Speaking of Sin City...

Jim Henley links to the trailer that was shown at last year's San Diego Comic-con. It's isn't really a trailer. For one thing, it's a lot longer (6:23). It's also much slower, and some of the shots seem... unfinished (makes sense, it was shown quite a while ago). It's more of a showcase for fans of the books, saying: "here, this is how we took that shot, that scene, and put it in our movie."

If you're not a fan of the comicbooks, this trailer won't get you all excited about the film. If you are a fan, it won't do half as good a job as the real trailer did.

However, if you hate Josh Hartnett, you'll probably be happy to know that his scene in the trailer (a scene shown in full), should be his ONLY scene in the film.

Some genre movie thingies

Well, the future V For Vendetta film, based on Alan Moore's dark and brilliant graphic novel, now has one potentially negative indicator and one clearly positive indicator.

The negative indicator was the Wachowskis' decision to make career assistant director James McTeigue the director. McTeigue worked on some excellent genre films, such as Dark City and Matrix. Sadly, he also worked on the Matrix sequels and on SW: ep II. And he's been an assistant director for over ten years. The Wachowski bros may not know how to write more than one movie of any given series (a sweeping statement, given that they've only done one series, but I think said sequels were bad enough to warrant it), but they do know how to direct. Their visual touch, combined with Moore's story could be amazing.

But Natalie Portman was apparently cast as Evie, and this is a very good sigh. I'm not a huge fan of hers, but she just fits as Evie. If the casting of V is equally inspired, I may be inclined to start feeling optimistic. V is a tough, tough part to cast. Both villain and hero (particularly the latter), mad and sane (particularly the former). He's lethal and grandstanding. But he's a character the viewer MUST care about.

Also in genre films, the trailer for Fantastic Four is online. And it... kinda sucks. I'm not counting this film out quite yet, though. F4 are definitely A-list characters for Marvel, and while movies based on B-listers have generally, well, sucked, the A-listers have been treated quite well. And Julian Mcmahon won me over on the Globes red carpet, when he outed himself as a comics fan.

Speaking of Marvel B-listers... it seems Elektra blows. A shame, as I like Garner quite a bit. Oh, well. It's the other film Frank Miller related film that I'm really looking forward to.

Finding Neverland

As I sit here, in front of the computer, with a rather nasty cold, let me tell you what those of you who can go out and do such things as movie-watching should do - go watch Finding Neverland.

It is a charming film. Moving and subtle. It plays fast and loose with the facts (about which you can read in Terry Windling's excellent article), but the story of the writing of Peter Pan shouldn't be ABOUT the facts. It should be, and it is, about the power of fantasy and imagination.

Johnny Depp is terrific, but then, he's Johnny Depp. I haven't seen The Aviator, but that won't stop me from proclaiming Depp was ROBBED at the globes (just like Lost, Eternal Sunshine, and Uma Thurman were). Kate Winslett isn't as brilliant as she was in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, but her part is much less demanding.

Everyone else is very good as well. It is an extremely well made film, subtle and wise and moving. A bit mushy, so those who don't like mush should beware. But even the mush is quite well done.

As it arrived on Israeli screens on January, it will not be counted amongst last year's fare. It is, for me, the first excellent film in what seems to be a rather promising year of cinema.

How the Mac was born

Great Cnet interview with Andy Hertzfeld, one of the original Mac's development team, and author of Revolution In The Valley: How The Mac Was Made. Talking about Apple (and the computer industry)'s past, present, and future.

Link via Guardian's Onlineblog.

Some Interaction program participants announced

Sailing The Clyde, the Interaction blog, has some names of SF pros who will be attending Worldcon and agreed to participate in programming.

Soem of the names I'm most excited about are:

* John Clute. The premier critic of SF&F literature. Co-editor of several encyclopedias, critic, and author. One of the finest minds in the field

* Ellen Datlow. Editor of Scifi.com's Scifiction, and numerous anthologies. A very influential editor, who publishes some of my favorite authors.

* Terry Pratchett. Need I say more?

* Mike Resnick. A very talented author, and appears to be an incredibly nice man from my brief correspondence with him.

* Robert Silverberg. He wrote "Nightwings." He wrote "Enter A Soldier. Later: Enter Another." Even if he hadn't written anything else (and he wrote a LOT. Much of it good, some of it great, some of it really not so great), those two would be enough to put him in the pantheon.

* Kim Stanley Robinson. Red, Green, Blue: Mars.

* Cory Doctorow. Haven't read much of his SF, but the guy is SHARP. Also, he's the main reason I read BoingBoing.

Not to say I'm not excited to meet some of the others named. But those are pretty damn big for me.

Biggest logic flaw in this week's Veronica Mars...

By now, don't you think people will have learned that Thou Shalt Not Fuck Around With Veronica Mars?

Seriously. People repeatedly try and "get" Veronica in all sorts of ways. They always go down. Why try?

Other than that, a pretty cool episode. Didn't really further the overall plot in any meaningful way, but did contain some bits of info that may be important to The Big Secret. Mostly bits "we" knew, but Veronica didn't.

I would care about the subplot if I cared about the Echolls family. I don't (except for Logan, obviously. He IS one of the best sorta-villains ever), so... not so much.

Bookshop employee sacked for blogging

Like many bloggers, I was sad to read about Joe Gordon's firing from the Waterstones (a major UK bookstore chain) Edinburgh branch for having a blog (you can read about it at the botton of the Gaiman post I linked to in the previous post). It's always a bit scary and sad to hear about people's blogs being used against them in "real life."


After reading Charles Stross and Ken Macleod writing about it, I'm even sadder. As an editor who sometimes goes to shops to talk about the new SF and Fantasy books that have been published in my series, I'm always delighted to meet knowledgeable bookselles. In Israel, booksellers who know and like SF&F are few and far between, and whenever I meet one, I always know "my" books are in good hands. SF&F-savvy booksellers are a boon to bookshops and costumers and publishers alike. It's a niche market, with a loyal readership, who much prefer shopping where the booksellers know what they're talking about, and care about the books they care about.

Reading the story as detailed by Stross, it would seem some people don't think so. That, on top of the free speech issues and everything else (mostly Joe's own misfortune, of course), makes this an even sadder story for me.

Teresa Nielsen Hayden presents: Agents

I've linked to Teresa Nielsen Hayden's blog several times. It is one of the best blogs on the net, has one of the best communities of commenters I know, and is generally a great boon to all mankind.

One of the blog's best features is TNH's occasional posts about writing, editing and publishing. Being a writer, as well as an editor at a major publisher (Tor), she knows whereof she speaks.

When people asked Neil Gaiman about literary agents, he did a pretty smart thing: He asked TNH. She answered, and Gaiman posted it in his blog in a post he called Everything you wanted to know about literary agents... And rightly so. Anyone interested in writing professionally should read it.

An incredibly bad trade

So Sacramento traded Doug Christie, their best defensive player, to Orlando. In return, they got Cuttino Mobley, a gifted scorer. Sacramento needed the added scoring punch, with Bobby Jackson injured. Orlando badly needed defensive help. On the face of it, this is a good trade for both teams.

I think it's a horrible trade for both teams. Unless further moves are made.

Sacramento is a team built around copious passing, with an already deteriorating locker room chemistry. Their best players, Webber and Peja, seriously don't like each. Mobley is a chucker. A shoot first, shoot second, shoot third, pass when you absolutely have to kinda player. He also isn't a very good defender. The only possible way this works is if teh Kings have a trade lined up for Peja. Preferably for a good defensive player. If that's the case, I understand the need for Mobley's scoring punch. Otherwise, this trade makes them the easiest team to score on since... errr... ever? It also makes them a team that's gonna need at least one more ball, with all the we-want-the-ball shooters.

On the Magic, the problem is purely a chemistry issue. Mobley is Stevie Francis' best friend. Francis is an emotional player, prone to pouting and throwing tantrums when things don't go his way. Last night, after being told of the trade just before tip off, Francis sucked all game long. Then he whined about the trade. You do NOT trade your best player's best friend. Especially when your best player is a bit of a headcase. In the short term, this is a nightmare. However, in the long run, it could work out. Mobley was a bad influence on Francis. If clearing him out opens room for Grant Hill to become a bigger influence on Francis, this may turn out for the best. But in the weakened East, the magic could have had a very decent season. Mobley's contract runs out at season's end. Why not sign-and-trade him in the offseason? Give Francis some time to adjust to the idea?

These are two situations that could implode for both teams. Both teams needed to make moves to get better. I just don't think they needed to make THIS move.

Clerks, as written by BoingBoing editors

If you read BoingBoing (and really, you should), and you've ever watched Clerks, you should this parody hilarious.

Link via (who else?) BoingBoing.

Asaf Asheri leaves Opus

Well, now it's official. And public. Asaf Asheri, who did such a magnificent job taking over for me at Opus Press, is leaving the position. No official word yet on who will take over for him.

Asheri will be going off to work in mainstream lit, as well as juggling some scripting projects and a writer's workshop with author Gail Hareven. He's a brilliant and tremendously talented guy, and I wish him all the best in his future endeavors.

The Israeli SF field will surely miss him.

Why I haven't been posting...

First, there was this, which depressed the hell out of me. For non Hebrew readers, that's a link to a review of my translation of Childhood's End. A review which slams my work, and points to several errors that, well, are only errors if you can't do math, don't know how people get down canyons, and consider choices-you-would-have-made-differently to be errors .

Then there were this, this, this, this, this, and several comments in the talkback to the original review. All disagreeing with the slam. Which cheered me up.

I know one shouldn't comment on reviews. Reviewers should review, and translators should translate. And each should do the best job possible. But when one is slammed unfairly, remaining quiet is hard. And when a reviewer finishes a review in which she demonstrated a rather serious lack of understading of the text by offering to help "correct" it for the next edition... well.

So I'm breaking my silence here. I hope this will be my one and only post on the matter. If you read Hebrew, read my translation of CHILDHOOD'S END yourself and judge for yourselves.

We now return to your irregularly scheduled blogging about subjects other than the quality of my translations.

Fisheye's annual Golden Fish awards

Fisheye is easily the best Israeli film-related website, and probably the country's best online community as well. Every year, Red Fish, the site's founder and co-editor, hands out Gold Fish awards for good films, trends, characters and moments, as well as Herrings for bad films, trends, and so on. My favorite part is "The years top twenty minutes", which count down the year's top moments in film.

This year, he names The Incredibles as the film of the year (with Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind as a close runner up).

FictionWise Nebula giveaway begins

Now that the prelimenary ballot for the 2004 Nebulas has been published, FictionWise have begun their annual Nebula noms giveaway. From now until April 30, they'll be giving away most of the stories nominated in the short fiction categories, in a variety of electronic formats. I usually get my stories in Palm Doc format nowadays, so that I can read them on my phone, but your mileage may vary.

Comic books and the human condition

Washington Post columnist Jabari Asim writes a potent short column about the death of Susan Sontag, Tsunami relief, and comic books. Too bad the comic he chose to shine the light of the Wa-Po on is the stupendously crappy finale of DC's Identity Crisis.

Will Eisner, RIPA

The news just hit. Will Eisner, quite possibly the most respected and influential creator in comics and graphic novels, passed away yesterday morning. He was 87 years old when he died.

Peter David mourns the passings of Eisner and fantasy artist Frank Kelly Freas.

Last year, there was talk that I might translate one of Eisner's classic graphic novels. While it never materialized, the thought of translating the work of a giant such as Eisner was both daunting and exciting.

You can read about Eisner's incredible career in the Newsarama link above. I'll post more links in edits to this post as they come on the wire.

Update:
Steve Pheley remembers Eisner.
As does Millarworld.
Update:
The Beat eulogizes Eisner.
And so does Neil Gaiman.
Update:
Brian Michael Bendis pays tribute to Eisner.
Update:
Variety's Bags and Boards blog eulogizes as well.
Update:
Now that some time has past, the mainstream press are also posting eulogies. The Chicago Tribune and the AP are the first I've seen.

House of Flying Daggers

I can't decide whether House of Flying Daggers is a crappy, pretty movie, or just a pretty crappy movie.

While not as morally odious as Zhang Yimou's previous film, Hero (moral of the film - mass deaths are supercool, as long as China is Great), it is a pointless excercise in colors and action. The film's plot is, essentially, meaningless, the love story is stolen (it is, in its way, yet another retelling of Romeo and Juliet), and even the pretty action isn't all that exciting. We've seen better in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. And in that film, the beautiful action served an actual plot.

The film's one saving grace is also its link to CTHD - Ziyi Zhang, who is as talented as she is lovely, and as lovely as anyone on the planet this side of Uma Thurman.

Mark R. Kelly, who liked Hero and House of Flying Plotlines much more than I did, asks if they (and Crouching, Hidden), are Fantasy.

I definitely think Crouching (etc.) is Fantasy. People don't just leap in an unbelievable manner, they actually FLY in the film. Human flight is Fantasy. I don't view the other two as Fantasy, though the martial arts certainly has fantastical elements. Feats of the type you see in these films are par for the course in Kong Fu movies. Leaping two meters into the air effortlessly is pretty much the essence of the genre.

House of Flying Daggers certainly strains the viewer's disbelief, but the plot is the aspect of the film I found truly unbelievable, not the leaping from slender, slender trees.

Knowledge can lead to heroism

10 year old Tilly Smith, who was on vacation with her parents in Thailand, saved 100 people by recognizing the early signs of Tsunamis, thanks to the fact that she listened in Geography class.

Bravo to her, to her teacher, and to her mother, for listening when her 10 year old told her they need to get off the beach NOW.