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Hugo Nominations Announced
Embedded Geek writes "With the 2004 Nebula Awards being awarded this weekend, the Hugo nominations have been announced. As usual, the field is packed with lots of deserving entries, although I'm sure everyone has a favorite that was missed. I was particularly interested in the Short Form Drama, though, with Joss Wheadon getting three nominations for canceled shows (two Firefly, one Buffy) and Gollum's Acceptance Speech at the 2003 MTV Movie Awards getting a nod. Also of interest are the Retro Hugos, an effort to look back and recognize SF published before anyone thought to hand out awards for it. Retro nominees include such greats as Childhood's End, Fahrenheit 451, and Duck Dodgers in the 24 1/2 th Century (no, really!). You have until 31 July, 2004 to join Noreascon Four and vote for your favorites!"
I really hope that firefly gets the awards it has been nominated for! I am so ticked off at Fox for cancelling such a great show. I want them to win not only to validate the work that the cast and crew of the show did, but also to give a little kick in the butt to the fox execs who stole Firefly from us.
It's interesting that the two episodes from Firefly to be nominated are "The Message" and "Heart of Gold", both unbroadcast, and only seen in the DVD box set. IMHO, the strongest episode was the las one broadcast, "Objects in Space". I wonder if the nominating comittee disagreed, or if the broadcast eps. were otherwise ineligable for this years awards.
-Matt
-MattT *** Not speaking for my employer, or any other sentient beings ***
Oryx & Crake, which I found out about through This Slashdot review has been overlooked again. (It didn't get nominated for the Nebula either.)
I thought Oryx & Crake was fantastic. Are the other books on that list really that good? The only one I've read is Ilium, which just didn't do a whole lot for me.
fox continually moved the show from one time-slot to another while airing episodes out of sequence, killing the dramatic tension that several moments ought to have had. and viewers can't watch a show if they don't know when it's on.
viewing the episodes now in the sequence intended by joss whedon makes that point eloquently, IMHO.
ed
Of course, if you notice, Kelly Freas is nominated for Best Pro Artist both currently and in the Retro's...
Catch-22 is one of my favorite modern novels. I read it at least N times (where N is a pretty large number) before I found out it had been made into a movie. One afternoon I was channel surfing, and happened to catch the opening credits. I was happy about this for a minute, then reconsidered - and turned the TV off.
I realized that through reading the book I had formed my own mental images of Pianosa, Yossarian, Hungry Joe, et al, and I did not want the director's interpretation to intrude on my own. I suspect at least a few of us on
I want to drag this out as long as possible. Bring me my protractor.
This post makes me think of my favorite book that was turned in to a movie that most say wasn't good. Dune. Sci-fi just redid the first two books and I think they are worse than the David Lynch version. So just because something can be done and has potential to be better doesn't mean it will turn out so. ... /cough cough Star Wars cough
500 dollar reward for tip(s) leading to the arrest of the person(s) who stole my sig.
One of the nominees for best novel, Ilium, I highly recommend. It's by the same author that did the Hyperion novels. Incredible blend of myth, science, religion, you name it. It's only part 1 of (2 part?) series and it just kicked 7 different kinds of ass. I won't spoil it by telling you any of the story. Just go read it already.
---- El diablo esta en mis pantalones! Mire, mire!
Check out the nominees for best novel - 1953 was one hell of a year for SF.
Oh, and for the current year, Lois McMaster Bujold got a Hugo AND Nebula nominee for novel - for two different books!
Maybe it's time to consider a "Writer of the Year" for people who may not necessarily take a top prize for novel, short story, etc., but whose collected work for the year makes them worthy of recognition. (I'm not suggesting anything about McMaster-Bujold's books, since I haven't read either of them).
are a living joke. http://www.theonion.com/onion3604/doesnt_own_telev ision.html
And no it is not a joke that you don't have a t.v.- but that you can't help telling everyone at the slightest opportunity (even if you have to invent the opportunity).
It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
I thought these were Science Fiction awards.
Doesn't it make you feel good to know that our freedoms are protected by politicans, lawyers and journalists.
Farenheit 451 was Francois Truffaut's only english language film to my knowledge. I suspect he suffered from Hollywood-itis ... constant meddling by the producers, script re-writes ad nauseum, etc.
Also remember that the movie was made in the late 1960s. Given the other sci-fi fare available at the time, such as The Omega Man, Fantastic Voyage, (exception: 2001) I think it holds up pretty well.
John Maynard Keynes: "When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do?"
Best Dramatic Presentation -- Short Form (212 ballots) ...
* "Rosetta" -- Smallville (Tollin/Robbins Productions/Warner Brothers). Directed by James Marshall; written by Al Gough & Miles Millar.
OK, I understand things have been tight for decent Sci-Fi of late, seeing as all the good shows keep getting killed off, but Smallville????
Smallville????
What, because Christopher Reeve was in that one?????
"Live Free or Die." Don't like it? Then keep out of the USA
For someone who would love to catch up on all of the old best sci-fi writing, are there collections of the nominated novellas and short stories going all the way back?
- For the complete works of Shakespeare: cat
Novel - Childhood's End
Hard to believe this was written in 1953. I give this one the nod for excellent writing as well as political content that is still current. Fahrenheit 451 is a close second; also relevant today. Of the other three, Mission of Gravity is my favorite. Excellent hard-sf writing from a guy who really knows his physics combined with memorable characters. Gotta love those Mesklinites.
Novelette - The Wall Around the World
Well written with a mathematical twist.
Short Story - The Nine Billion Names of God
Another strong category like the novel. My choice here is one of my all time favorite short stories, with the added benefit of the computer consultant factor.
Dramatic Presentation - It Came From Outer Space
Good early SF movie and runs counter to the xenophobia of the 50's.
The nice thing is that anything still being considered fifty years later is pretty good stuff. You can't go wrong reading any of these.
Some mornings it's hardly worth chewing through the restraints to get out of bed.
I thought the movie was better than the book.
1: in the book, Palmer is a barely-tolerable annoyance, while Ellie and her beau are obvious avatars for Sagan & Druyan, horrendously sappy. Ellie & Palmer made the movie story better.
2: in the book, there's a whole multinational team, but they're ALL pie-eyed scientists operating on the exact same wavelength, therefore all able to be discredited simultaneously. Also, they got to choose their own gear completely? And none of them had EM-proof recording equipment? The movie version was more plausible.
Two thing that stick out the most: how electronic media have grown up -- in some ways, overtaken -- the novel for sci fi, and how the "semi-pro" zines have become real powerhouses (I'm thinking in part of the NYRSF, which I'm most familiar with.)
Sci fi in 1953, when taken seriously by adults, was really an offshoot of "ordinary" literature still, and the television and movie stuff was silly. Sci fi in 2004 has grown and splintered and now has its own conventions and genres quite set in stone. Yes, there were the space operas even back in the day, but now it seems sci fi has, for better or for worse, become something quite separate from "mainstream" literature. I think it's true that a lot of the most adventurous, genre-busting work has been in TV and film, which would have been unthinkable in 1953, even though the film medium could have been said to be "mature" by then.
While 451 could be judged in the context of other work coming out at the time, it is only the cyberpunk novels (and the occasional Handmaiden's Tale type) that get examined in that way today.
Good or bad? I like sci fi, and I like hard sci fi as well, although it is clear that the writing suffers quite a great deal. If SF was taken seriously by The Man, would it improve? Or would the attention from the book reviewers in mainstream magazines make it less adventurous?
Final question: what about Ted Chaing? What's he been doing recently?
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Just so peope know what to expect, here's an account of the last time Scientology tried to buy a WorldCon and Hugo Awards: Strange Vibrations
One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
Lynch fucked it up... but he fucked it up massively. It was an enormous, bloated mess -- but it was an ambitious one. So many films are cautious or middle of the road. If you are going to fuck up, do it spectacularly, and the result is still worth watching even if it will never win any awards.