THE ZOCALO TODAY – February 15, 2009

WHAT'S NEW
Not a lot of new information to send your way. CHANGELING received 8
BAFTA nominations, but was shut out of the awards. However, since was
JMS' first big-time movie, I think he can gather a great deal of pride
in his hard work and those of others who worked on the film.

NEW BABYLON 5 MOVIE BOOK AVAILABLE NOW

THE BABYLON 5 SCRIPTS OF J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
THE TV MOVIES

Featuring these Scripts
• Thirdspace
• The River of Souls
• The Legend of the Rangers
• The Lost Tales

These TV Movie scripts are twice the length of a single episode of
Babylon 5 and are the page count equivalent of EIGHT episodic scripts
making it the second biggest book ever with more than 450 pages!

ALL THAT PLUS THESE SPECIAL BONUSES
* The included version of The Legend of the Rangers is an early draft
that is 20 pages longer than the script that was filmed, which means
you get to read scenes and exchanges of dialogue that never made it to
the screen.

* Exhumed from Joe's vault, a 3-page fragment of an outline detailing
the premise for a Psi Corps feature film . Focusing on The Telepath
War, and appropriately titled "Wars of the Mind," JMS' notes reveal
the background of the conflict -- teeps vs. teeps, the cast of
characters -- including the identity of the Interstellar Alliance's
Vice President, and the explosive deaths of two B5 regulars --
something hinted at, but never stated in an official series document.

* J. Michael Straczynski's personal, behind-the-scenes photos taken on
the set of The Lost Tales and The Legend of the Rangers -- included in
these 36 images are the last pictures taken of Andreas Katsulas as G'Kar.

For more information about this book, go to
http://www.cafepress.com/thejoestore. The $10 discount is only good
through February 5. This book will only be available through April 30.

DISCUSSION TOPIC
There are a number of new programs coming our way all the time. Do
any of them interest you? DOLLHOUSE made it's debut on Friday to
rather dismal ratings. Fridays have always been a hard rating day,
but did anyone watch? I just watched it on Fox.com. I think the story
premise is an interesting one – don't know if I can watch it every
week though. How about you?

Send in your comments to sgbruckner@.... We can compare notes and
see what you thought about the program. I'll post your impressions on
the Discussion Page on the website.

BABYLON 5 BIRTHDAYS
Michael Beck - February 4
Ardwight Chamberlain - February 16
Karen Harrell - February 21
John Iacovelli - February 25
Bill Mumy - February 1
Matt Plummer - February 26
Majel Barrett Roddenberry - February 23 - she is greatly missed
John Schuck - February 4
Myriam Sirois – February 2

Did I miss anyone? If so, let me know and I'll add them to our
birthday listing.

BABYLON PODCAST

Welcome to Show #144!
Interview: Jan Schroeder and Jason Davis of the Babylon 5 Scripts Team
join us to talk about the TV Movie Scripts book, and to tease us about
a series of mystery books that will be coming our way starting in March.

Jason tells us how he came to the project, and his history of doing
JMS interviews; both Jan and Jason talk about the finished movies vs
the original scripts and extra materials that paint a different about
of the movies, especially "Legend of the Rangers".

Don't forget: the TV Movies book is only available for a limited time,
so make sure that you order your copy before April 30th!
We muse over the possibility of a feature length new B5 movie, since
WB has thrown the thread out there in asking what dollar amount
constitutes "feature" to JMS; and Tim and Summer throw out guesses
about what the new series of books may contain, and we're shot down on
every one, not that they'd acknowledge if any of them were correct.
It's a long interview, so grab a beverage, put your feet up, and enjoy!

Visit Deep Geeking, and if you want to contribute a geeking essay,
send a note to Summer.

Second Life Info: FarPoint Media's Second Life space is now the
penthouse suite of Third Life Books. You can find the castle at
http://slurl.com/secondlife/beraudes/203/151/49. Come see the castle
roof pool, and more!

Babylon 5 Information Gathering: If you know of a dead or abandoned B5
related website that may be in need of a new home, let Summer know!
Maybe we can mirror it here or house it on a sister site.

BABYLON 5 SHIP MODELS
I received a note from Ranger Glenn this morning about a company he
discovered. See his note below:

For years I have seen companies like Entertainment Earth sell
figurines and ship models for practically every science fiction,
fantasy, horror or anime that you can imagine. One big missing product
line is Babylon 5. I never understood this as there is a large fan
base. I have always wanted a good model of a Whitestar.
Recently on eBay I found a company, www.eModelAirplanes.com selling
high quality wooden models of aircraft, spacecraft and science fiction
starships. They have a large collection of Babylon 5 spacecraft from
Shadow ships to Babylon 5 itself. I bought a Whitestar model. It is
gorgeous and is of the high quality expected of professionally crafted
aircraft models. My photo doesn't do it justice.

Thanks Glenn for sending along the note -- and the picture.

THE NEWS FROM AROUND SCIENCE FICTION

XIII
If you are a fan of 24, you will like this mini-series. Stephen Dorff
plays an amnesiac who is accused of killing the first female US
President, Sally Sheridan. Dorff is good as Steve Rowland; Val Kilmer
(Batman, Top Gun) is also very good as assassin Mongoose. While not as
many twists and turns as 24, it is enjoyable watching.

DOLLHOUSE
The series premiere of Joss Whedon's DOLLHOUSE was seen by just 4.7
million viewers on Friday night and earned a 2.0 preliminary adults
18-49 rating and 6 share, below even the network's modest expectations
for the series, the Hollywood Reporter's Live Feed reported. DOLLHOUSE
was beaten in the 9 p.m. hour by ABC's Supernanny (8.5 million
viewers, 2.2/7) and is the lowest-rated drama series premiere on a
major broadcast network this season, aside from NBC's now-defunct
CRUSO, the site reported.

TERMINATOR SALVATION/2012 SITES
Warner Bros. Pictures and Columbia Pictures have launched new viral
sites for TERMINATOR SALVATION and 2012, respectively.
For Terminator Salvation, you can visit Skynet Research to learn more
about the fake company's robot designs, outreach program and more!
For 2012, Columbia has launched The Institute for Human Continuity, an
organization whose mission it is to ensure the survival of the human
race beyond 2012. The site is very in-depth and you can even sign up
for the Lottery, which "guarantees every citizen of this planet an
equal chance at survival."

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE
Variety writes that FRIDAY THE 13TH is a day of bad luck, but for
Warner Bros./New Line it was a day of good fortune. The distribs'
release of the horror reboot FRIDAY THE 13TH scored a boffo $19.3
million from 3,105 theaters - the best domestic opening day ever for
an R-rated horror-slasher pic.

FRIDAY THE 13TH was produced by Michael Bay's Platinum Dunes label
which was also behind New Line's 2003 redux of THE TEXAS CHAINSAW
MASSACRE. Among the latest string of '70s-'80s horror franchise
remakes, TEXAS CHAINSAW remains the top grossing one with $80 million
at the domestic B.O. Paramount, which handled the original 1980
release, is on board as a co-producer with the 2009 version and is
distributing the pic overseas.

By the time final four-day holiday figures are counted on Monday,
FRIDAY THE 13TH could post an opening somewhere north of the mid $50
million range, potentially besting the frame's record holder, 2007's
GHOST RIDER which made $52 million. Previous first day champ for an
R-rated horror slasher belonged to 2007's SAW IV which grossed $14.8
million.

Among theater averages yesterday, FRIDAY THE 13TH also had one of the
highest among all pics playing with $6,215.

In its third Friday, Fox's Liam Neeson thriller TAKEN topped the day's
other two wide releases, Disney's CONFESSIONS OF A SHOPAHOLIC and
Sony's THE INTERNATIONAL, raking in $4.7 million, down 25% on 3,109
for a running B.O. of $63.4 million.

Disney's Jerry Bruckheimer production CONFESSIONS OF A SHOPAHOLIC
nabbed fourth with $4.4 million from 2,507.

Focus Features' family pic CORALINE dipped 34% in its second Friday,
earning $3 million from 2,320. Its eight day cume stands at $23.2 million.

Sony's Clive Owen-Naomi Watts thriller THE INTERNATIONAL bowed in
sixth with $2.6 million from 2,364. The studio's next title in the top
10, "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" continued to be the big man at the B.O.
becoming the year's first $100 million grosser with $2.4 million in
seventh place, down 13%, on 2,965.

AVATAR
Fox announced that Mattel will develop a toy line inspired by James
Cameron's upcoming 3-D sci-fi movie AVATAR. Tapped as master toy
licensee for the epic movie, Mattel will create action figures and
vehicles scheduled to hit retailers nationwide in October, months in
advance of the film's release in December. Mattel's AVATAR toy line
will feature heroes, creatures and vehicles straight from the movie,
the studio said. Each action figure or vehicle will come with a 3-D
"Web tag," bringing a new level of interactivity to Mattel's newest
action play line. Utilizing a computer's Web cam, consumers can "scan"
the web tag, unlocking special content unique to the product,
including bio information on action figures and creatures.

NCIS SPIN-OFF CAST GROWING
The Hollywood Reporter writes that the team of naval investigators on
the "NCIS" spinoff is coming into focus. Louise Lombard, Peter Cambor
and Daniela Ruah have been cast as leads in the hot CBS/CBS Par pilot,
which will air as an episode of "NCIS" in the spring, just as the
pilot for "NCIS" aired as an episode of "JAG." The three would join
Chris O'Donnell and LL Cool J, who are still in negotiations for the
other two leads in the spinoff.

Lombard will play Clara, a role perceived as the female lead on the
ensemble drama. A former major in the military police, Clara is an
intelligent, sharp investigator who can look after herself.
Cambor ("Notes From the Underbelly") will play the quick-witted Nate,
the team's conscience and beating heart. Nate is an operational
psychologist and a walking encyclopedia of American culture.

Ruah will play Kensi, a super bright young investigator who studied
forensics and criminology in college.

Brit Lombard is joining the "NCIS" franchise after a stint on another
hit CBS crime procedural, "CSI," where she played Detective Sofia
Curtis for three years. She also played the title lead in the ABC
pilor "Judy Got a Gun."

TV ON YOUR COMPUTER
Weekends are becoming some of the most boring times to watch TV. There
is just nothing worth the electricity to watch. That's not necessarily
a bad thing. It gives you a chance to explore some of what you can
find on your computer. Yes, there are more and more shows available --
FREE -- on your computer. My favorite is www.hulu.com, but there is
also www.joost.com, and www.fancast.com. Don't forget to look at the
network sites as well. I seem to watch my favorite show, FRINGE, on
the Fox network site more than on the TV. Works for me!

On the Joost site, you'll find Lexx, Forever Knight and our favorite,
Babylon 5. Enjoy.

LOST IN AUSTEN
Variety reports that Columbia Pictures is adapting LOST IN AUSTEN, a
British time- traveling TV miniseries about a modern-day woman who
finds herself living the life of a fictional heroine, for the big
screen. Sam Mendes (Revolutionary Road) is a producer. The film will
center on Amanda, an ardent Jane Austen fan, who lives in present-day
New York with her boyfriend, until she finds she's swapped places with
Austen's fictional creation Elizabeth Bennett. The show's original
writer, Guy Andrews, is writing the screenplay. The original four-part
series starred Jemima Rooper and Gemma Arterton and aired on ITV in
the United Kingdom in September.

GEMINI MAN
According to the Hollywood Reporter, LA CONFIDENTIAL director Curtis
Hanson is in negotiations to helm the long-gestating sci-fi action
thriller GEMINI MAN, which is taking shape at Touchstone Pictures.
David Benioff (The Kite Runner) wrote the script, about a brilliant,
aging assassin trying to leave the game whose employers dispatch a
clone of his younger self to take him out.

WOLVERINE PREVIEWS
Twentieth Century Fox announced that it will unveil three new
60-second ads for X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE over consecutive nights
during airings of Fox's prime-time programming, starting this weekend.
The three commercials will combine to make one full sneak-peek
narrative for the movie, which brings back Hugh Jackman as the title
X-Man.

The first spot airs Sunday during FAMILY GUY, the second on Monday in
HOUSE and the third on Tuesday during AMERICAN IDOL.

X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE, the first chapter in the X-Men saga, unites
Wolverine with several other legends of the X-Men universe and also
stars Liev Schreiber, Danny Huston, Dominic Monaghan and Ryan
Reynolds, as well as Taylor Kitsch, will.i.am and Lynn Collins. Gavin
Hood directs the movie, which opens May 1.

TAKING OF PELHAM 123
Columbia Pictures has made a trailer of THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123
available at http://www.movieweb.com/video/VIEJHMHM4EN6IK.
In "The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3," Denzel Washington stars as New York
City subway dispatcher Walter Garber, whose ordinary day is thrown
into chaos by an audacious crime: the hijacking of a subway train.
John Travolta stars as Ryder, the criminal mastermind who, as leader
of a highly-armed gang of four, threatens to execute the train's
passengers unless a large ransom is paid within one hour. As the
tension mounts beneath his feet, Garber employs his vast knowledge of
the subway system in a battle to outwit Ryder and save the hostages.
But there's one riddle Garber can't solve: even if the thieves get the
money, how can they possibly escape?

That's about it for now. There is much more over at the website at
http://www.isnnews.net. Be sure to visit when you can. Also drop by
my blog at http://isnnews.blogspot.com. I talk about some of my
favorite shows and other things there.

If you have some information you'd like me to post, be sure to send it
along.
Take care.
Sandy

Sandra Bruckner
Editor/Publisher
ISN News: The Zocalo Today
http://www.isnnews.net