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Tag: Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner

Douglas Trumbull Special Effects Legend Remembered

“2001: A Space Odyssey.” “The Andromeda Strain.” “Silent Running.” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” “Star Trek: The Motion Picture.” “Blade Runner.” “Brainstorm.” “The Tree of Life.” There’s no shortage of things to talk about when it comes to special effects legend Douglas Trumbull.

Trumbull died on February 7 at the age of 79 and took a part of the movies with him. Before the pervasive banality of CGI deadened the world’s senses, Trumbull fueled our dreams by forging new realities in which special effects were very special indeed.

Lew Place will be our guest this week, as we pay tribute to Trumbull, on the next Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner. Leave us trembling with your insights in the comments section, when we livestream on Facebook, this Friday evening at 7:00 EST!

https://www.facebook.com/roystiedyescificorner

February 17, 2022
The Shining Layered Horror or Gilded Lily?

Is “The Shining” (1980) the most layered horror movie ever made? Or is it one of cinema’s most flagrant examples of gilding-the-lily? Are the two necessarily exclusive?

Roy and I grope our way through some the film’s dichotomies, as we talk “forever and ever and ever” about Kubrick, cast, and music. You might say we take a shine to “The Shining” during last night’s discussion, on Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner, archived here:

Tomorrow, Roy will fly solo as he welcomes guests David Hirsch and Tim Mallett, who will talk about their work on “Super Space Theater,” a collection of high-definition restorations of four “Space: 1999” movies. Learn more about it, when they livestream on Facebook at a special time, this Sunday afternoon at 3:00 EST!

https://www.facebook.com/roystiedyescificorner

February 5, 2022
The Shining Telepathic Deep Dive

When the Groundhog forecasts six more weeks of winter, what do we do but hop a snowcat to the Overlook Hotel.

On the next “Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner,” join us for a telepathic discussion of “The Shining” (1980). Stanley Kubrick builds his house on a foundation of sand – or an Indian burial ground, as the case may be (revealed in the first ten minutes of the film, so I’m not spoiling anything) – and ups the ante by casting an over-the-top Jack Nicholson, who’s obviously bananas from the start. Clearly, this is a director who savors a challenge.

Stephen King, upon whose book the film was based, has had a complicated history with this adaptation. Still, somehow, in spite of itself, “The Shining” has managed to achieve iconic status, routinely ranked toward the top of lists of the greatest horror films ever made and selected for preservation by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

All praise and no criticism makes Jack a dull boy. We’ll be gazing through the mirror at our REDRUM, on the next Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner. Tear around the corridors on your Big Wheel in the comments section, when we livestream on Facebook, this Friday evening at 7:00 EST!

https://www.facebook.com/roystiedyescificorner

February 3, 2022
Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner Quark Review

Watching Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner makes you feel so brainy. Too bad we forgot to come up with a topic for next week’s show! Stay tuned for the impending announcement.

In the meantime, you can enjoy last night’s stream with special guest Randy Lee, winner of this month’s Viewer’s Choice, and our discussion of Buck Henry’s short-lived 1970s sci-fi parody “Quark.”

Find out which cast member played jazz trombone with stride legend James P. Johnson (of “The Charleston” fame), which wrote 52 novels (when he wasn’t busy serving in the Royal Army or working as a game hunter), and which one actually attempted to put a hit out on series star Richard Benjamin. HINT: It wasn’t the Doublemint Twins.

There are quirks aplenty, even if the “Quark”s were few.

Join us on our continuing mission to patrol the entertainment universe for lingering debris. We’ll reserve your space in the comments section, when we livestream on Facebook, next Friday evening at 7:00 EST!

https://www.facebook.com/roystiedyescificorner

The galaxy, ad infinitum!

January 29, 2022
Quark TV show review Sci-Fi Corner

It’s true, we’ll go to any length so that we don’t have to do “Orca” (1977).

To this end, we’re happy to announce our latest viewer’s choice: the short-lived television series “Quark” (1977-78).

This sporadically amusing science fiction spoof, created by Buck Henry (with Richard Benjamin as the commander of an interplanetary garbage scow), ran for exactly eight episodes before its untimely cancellation. And what do you know, they’re all posted on YouTube.

The principal targets are “Star Trek” and “Star Wars” (hardly surprising), but there’s also plenty of old-fashioned objectification and fill-in-the-blank “phobic” schtick of a kind they would never be able to get away with today.

Without Mel Brooks, Henry’s “Quark” is no “Get Smart,” but it’s at least as worthy as (the admittedly awful) “Spaceballs.”

Special thanks to Randy Lee, whose choice this was. He’ll be joining us as we open up this 1970s time capsule, on the next Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner. Leave your trash talk in the comments section, as we livestream on Facebook, this Friday evening at 7:00 EST!

https://www.facebook.com/roystiedyescificorner

January 27, 2022

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