GHOSTWOOD 125: "The Short Films of David Lynch" Is Up!

 
"By golly, Slim...He's got French fries!"
"By golly, Slim...He got French fries."
"Hell, shoot, French fries! Well then, by golly, I'll bet you a nickel we got ourselves a Frenchman here."
-- Pete, Dusty and Slim, The Cowboy and the Frenchman

It is happening again...My amazing co-host Xan Sprouse and I are back with a new episode of Ghostwood: The Twin Peaks Podcast!  This time, we discuss The Short Films of David Lynch, the 2002 DVD collection of the early student and commissioned film work of David Lynch, including his short films The Alphabet, The Grandmother, The Amputee, and The Cowboy and the Frenchman!

LET'S ROCK

In this episode, Xan and I discuss things like Xan and I going to see Peter Gabriel in concert later this year, why it took us six weeks to get this episode recorded, Xan hooking me up with a couple of Twin Peaks replica artifacts, how you can find The Short Films of David Lynch on DVD, the short films of David Lynch that aren't on the the 2002 DVD, thinking about all the years it took for Lynch to finish Eraserhead, the annoying AF siren in Six Men Getting Sick (Six Times), Lynch's early short films building on top of one another, The Alphabet as a terrifying version of Sesame Street, the boy in The Grandmother growing a grandmother because his parents are abusive assholes, Xan wondering if David Lynch got the name Mot from the Looney Tunes cartoon Rocket-Bye-Baby, Lynch's The Grandmother defying categorization at the American Film Institute, the strange positivity of David Lynch, the Log Lady intros made for the Bravo cable channel broadcasts of Twin Peaks, more of Twin Peaks on VHS, Catherine Coulson in The Amputee, our attempt to understand the amputee's letter, wondering if Lynch and Frost named Jack Nance's character Pete Martell after Nance's character Pete in The Cowboy and the Frenchman, Michael Horse playing a stereotypical Native American of mysterious tribal descent, our joy learning that Tracey Walter appeared in a David Lynch film, the film shot with a Lumière camera involving a train coming right at the audience, European filmmaking being at the forefront of creativity, the rivalry between Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison, wishing Sean Pertwee would portray his father Jon's character the Third Doctor, our finally getting to discuss Inland Empire, the annoying snoring guy who ruined the ending of the Inland Empire for me, and more!

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Be sure to come back in two weeks for Episode 126 of Ghostwood: The Twin Peaks Podcast, as Xan and I finally discuss Inland Empire, the 2006 psychological thriller film directed by David Lynch, featuring Laura Dern as Nikki Grace/Sue Blue, Jeremy Irons as Kingsley Stewart, Justin Theroux as Devon Berk/Billy Side, and Harry Dean Stanton as Freddie Howard!

Paramount+ Announces Series Order for STAR TREK: STARFLEET ACADEMY

 
Admission is now open at Starfleet Academy.

Paramount+ has announced a new Star Trek live-action TV series, titled Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, which will begin production sometime in 2024.

Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau will serve as co-showrunners for the series and will executive produce alongside executive producers Gaia Violo, Aaron Baiers, Jenny Lumet, Rod Roddenberry, Trevor Roth, Frank Siracusa and John Weber. The series premiere episode is written by Gaia Violo. Star Trek: Starfleet Academy will be produced by CBS Studios in association with Secret Hideout and Roddenberry Entertainment.

According to the announcement on the official Star Trek website, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy will "introduce us to a young group of cadets who come together to pursue a common dream of hope and optimism. Under the watchful and demanding eyes of their instructors, they will discover what it takes to become Starfleet officers as they navigate blossoming friendships, explosive rivalries, first loves and a new enemy that threatens both the Academy and the Federation itself."

In addition, a joint announcement was made by co-showrunners and executive producers Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau. "Admission is now open to Starfleet Academy! Explore the galaxy! Captain your destiny! For the first time in over a century, our campus will be re-opened to admit individuals a minimum of 16 Earth years (or species equivalent) who dream of exceeding their physical, mental and spiritual limits, who value friendship, camaraderie, honor and devotion to a cause greater than themselves. The coursework will be rigorous, the instructors among the brightest lights in their respective fields, and those accepted will live and study side-by-side with the most diverse population of students ever admitted. Today we encourage all who share our dreams, goals and values to join a new generation of visionary cadets as they take their first steps toward creating a bright future for us all. Apply today! Ex Astris, Scientia!"

The Latin phrase "Ex Astris, Scientia!" translates into English as "From the stars, knowledge!"

And if the "For the first time in over a century" line is any clue, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy will be a spinoff from Star Trek: Discovery, which is currently set in the year 3190 and is ending in 2024 with its upcoming fifth season. In the Discovery Season 4 opener, "Kobayashi Maru", it was stated that Starfleet Academy was reopening, 125 years after it closed for unknown reasons in the year 3065. Presumably, the Season 4 episode "All Is Possible" became a backdoor pilot for the new series with Lieutenant Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman) likely returning as a main character.

In "All Is Possible", Silvia Tilly, who has been feeling unsure about her place on the USS Discovery, accompanies a group of new Starfleet Academy cadets on a team-building exercise. The team of cadets -- Val Sasha, a Human (Amanda Arcuri), Harral, an Orion (Seamus Patterson), and Taahz Gorev, a Tellarite (Adrian Walters) -- need to work together to survey a planet. They initially don't get along but are forced to bond after they are thrown off course and crash land on a dangerous moon called Kokytos. Together, they're able to signal a Starfleet ship that saves them and returns them to Federation Headquarters, where the mysterious Dr. Kovich (David Cronenberg) offers Tilly a teaching position at the Academy. Tilly accepts the teaching position and leaves Discovery.

WONDER MAN Casts Demetrius Grosse as the Grim Reaper

 
The Grim Reaper is coming for Wonder Man.

TVLine is reporting that the upcoming Disney+ Marvel Cinematic Universe TV series Wonder Man, based on the Marvel Comics superhero, has cast Demetrius Grosse as Eric Williams, better known to Marvel fans as the supervillain Grim Reaper.

Wonder Man will explore Hollywood actor Simon Williams, who is thrust into the world of superheroes as he gets powers of his own, and becomes the new superhero Wonder Man. The cast also includes Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Wonder Man/Simon Williams and Sir Ben Kingsley, reprising his MCU role of Trevor Slattery.

Grosse, 42, is probably best known as Emile and Josiah LaRoux on the AMC series Fear the Walking Dead, and has appeared in episodes of Dexter, Bones, Heroes, The Cape, Justified, Banshee, Westworld, The Rookie, and Lovecraft Country. In addition, Grosse has appeared in the films Straight Outta Compton and Rampage.

Created in 1968 by Roy Thomas and John Buscema, the Grim Reaper first appeared in The Avengers (vol.1) #52 as Eric Williams, the brother of Simon Williams and black sheep of his family. As they grew older, Simon grew studious while Eric was an athlete. Eric also became more rebellious, and tried to get Simon to join in his petty thefts. Eric eventually became a gambler, joined the Maggia and moved to Las Vegas, while Simon took over the family business, Williams Innovations. When Williams Innovations began to fail, partly due to competition with Stark Industries, the desperate Simon turned to Eric's mob ties for help. Simon embezzled money from the company to invest with Eric, but Simon was caught and jailed. Simon was freed from jail by Baron Heinrich Zemo, induced by an offer of revenge on Iron Man and the Avengers to which Eric's brother was transformed into Wonder Man.

Learning of his brother's death, Eric was inflamed with guilt and anger. Through his Maggia contacts, he contacted the Tinkerer to provide him with his scythe weapon, which was further enhanced by Ultron with coma-inducing abilities. Taking the "Grim Reaper" name, he became a professional criminal and defeated Hawkeye, Goliath and the Wasp, placing the three Avengers in comas, but was beaten by the Black Panther's surprise appearance.

The Grim Reaper later had Wonder Man resurrected as a zombie by the Black Talon to attack the Avengers, leading to Wonder Man being restored to true life. Grim Reaper then captured the Avengers, and staged a trial to determine whether the Vision, who had Simon's brain patterns, or Wonder Man was his true brother. Later still, the Grim Reaper with Ultron, Nekra and other allies, captured the Avengers. Grim Reaper attempted a recreation of "Simon Williams" as a zombie. He was pursued by the Vision and Wonder Man in a cave, and died in a fall from the cave ledge. Grim Reaper was resurrected by Nekra as a zombie, but he believed himself to be alive. The zombie battled Wonder Man and Magneto, but when he realized he was actually dead, he "died" once again.

The Grim Reaper was later restored to life by the Scarlet Witch's magic. When Ultron attempted to create a new "family" for himself, Grim Reaper was abducted as one of the six individuals that came closest to being Ultron's "family" - the others being Hank Pym, Wasp, Vision, Scarlet Witch, and Wonder Man. Ultron regarded Grim Reaper as the first human connection made apart from Pym, as well as the connections to Wonder Man and Vision. While Vision distracted Ultron, Eric was able to escape his bonds and free the other prisoners, although he subsequently fled, informing Vision that he only released the others to save himself rather than any more noble goal.

Grosse will be the first actor to portray the Grim Reaper in live action, although the character has appeared in various animated projects, including The Avengers: United They Stand (voiced by Allan Royal), The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes (voiced by Lance Henriksen), and Avengers Assemble (voiced by Roger Craig Smith).

Wonder Man is expected to arrive on Disney+ sometime in 2024.

THE X-FILES' Chris Carter Reveals Ryan Coogler Is Developing "Remount"

 
Fans of The X-Files want to believe in a relaunch.

Deadline is reporting that Chris Carter, creator of science fiction drama TV series The X-Files, is being "remounted" by Black Panther director Ryan Coogler.

Celebrating the show's 30th anniversary on the CBC podcast On the Coast with Gloria Macarenko, Carter revealed, "I just spoke to a young man, Ryan Coogler, who is going to remount The X-Files with a diverse cast. So, he’s got his work cut out for him because we covered so much territory."

Coogler, 36, is best known as the director of the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Black Panther, which was the first superhero film to receive a Best Picture nomination at the Academy Awards, and its sequel, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, In addition, Coogler has directed the films Creed and Fruitvale Station.

The X-Files television series aired from September 1993 to May 2002 on Fox for nine seasons totaling 202 episodes, and spawned two feature films -- 1998's The X-Files: Fight the Future and The X-Files: I Want to Believe, released in 2008. A short tenth season consisting of six episodes ran from January to February 2016. Following the ratings success of this revival, The X-Files returned for an eleventh season of ten episodes, which ran from January to March 2018.

The series revolves around Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), who investigate the eponymous "X-Files" -- marginalized, unsolved cases involving paranormal phenomena. Mulder is a skilled criminal profiler, ardent supernaturalist, and conspiracy theorist who believes in the existence of the paranormal, whereas Scully is a medical doctor and a skeptic who has been assigned to scientifically analyze Mulder's discoveries.

In other X-Files news, TVLine has word that The X-Files: Albuquerque, an animated comedy spinoff, is not moving forward at Fox. First announced in development back in August 2020, the project wasn't planned to revolve around Mulder and Scully. Instead, the series would've centered on "an office full of misfit agents who investigate X-Files cases too wacky, ridiculous or downright dopey for Mulder and Scully to bother with."

NEXT STOP EVERYWHERE 285: "The Wedding of River Song" is Up!

 
"It's all still waiting for you -- the fields of Trenzalore, the fall of the Eleventh, and the Question!"
"Goodbye, Dorium."
"The First Question! The question that must never be answered! Hidden in plain sight! The question you've been running from all your life! Doctor Who? Doctor WHO? DOC -- TOR -- WHO?!"
-- Dorium Maldovar and the Eleventh Doctor, Doctor Who: "The Wedding of River Song"

Hello again, everyone! My partner in time Jesse Jackson and I are back with a new episode of Next Stop Everywhere: The Doctor Who Podcast! This time, we're joined by special guest companion Holly Mac to discuss "The Wedding of River Song", the 13th episode from Doctor Who Series Six in 2011, featuring Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor, Karen Gillan as Amy Pond, Arthur Darvill as Rory Williams, and the return of Alex Kingston as River Song!

In this episode, Jesse, Holly and I discuss things like Holly getting a bunch of snow before her spring break, the recent news of the upcoming UNIT spinoff with Jemma Redgrave as Kate Stewart, wondering if we'll get the return of Brigadier Winifred Bambera, UNIT making sense as a Torchwood replacement, the upcoming Doctor Who: Doom's Day multi-platform event, getting the return of Dorium Maldovar, Winston Churchill, Malokeh, and Charles Dickens, the Eleventh Doctor learning that the Brigadier died in his sleep in a nursing home, the eye-drives being a tribute to Jon Pertwee era story "Inferno", Mark Gatiss being credited under the pseudonym "Rondo Haxton", Today show host Meredith Vieira making a cameo as a newsreader, the unrevealed backstory of Madame Kovarian, where "The Wedding of River Song" falls on the River Song timeline, Jesse's spoiler of the ending for The Last of Us Season One, River selfishly putting her love of the Doctor over the needs of the universe, the Doctor's quest to find information regarding the Silence, the Silence resembling vampire bats, the Doctor marrying River to create enough physical contact to restart time, the reason River agreed to kiss the Doctor, Amy killing Madame Kovarian as revenge for what happened to her daughter Melody Pond, Amy Pond as James Bond, the fairness of River having to spend the rest of her days in Stormcage Prison, Steven Moffat creating the Teselecta as the Doctor's escape hatch to avoid his fate, the Doctor's sobering reaction to the Brigadier's death, our favorite quotes of the episode, my Reverse the Polarity segment, new feedback from Dave Proctor, Xan and I watching The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005) for our 42nd episode of Drunk Cinema, "The Final Beginning" being set after the end of "The War Games" but before the beginning of "Spearhead from Space", and more!

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Be sure to come back in two weeks for the next episode of Next Stop Everywhere as Jesse and I discuss "The Final Beginning", the first audio drama from Big Finish Productions' Doctor Who: Beyond War Games set from 2022, introducing Michael Troughton as the Second Doctor and Emma Noakes as Raven, along with Jon Culshaw as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart!

THE FANDOM ZONE 264: "Closer" Is Up!

 
"C'mon, you guys don't want to hear about when you were born?"
"It was very painful, don't you ever forget that!"
-- Clark Kent and Lois Lane, Superman & Lois -- "Closer"

Hello again, everyone! It's time for another new episode of The Fandom Zone Podcast!  This time, DJ Nik and I discuss "Closer", the first episode of Superman & Lois Season 3, featuring Tyler Hoechlin as Superman/Clark Kent, Elizabeth Tulloch as Lois Lane, and introducing Michael Bishop as Jon Kent and Chad L. Coleman as Bruno Mannheim!

In this episode, DJ Nik and I talk about things like Nik and I opting to discuss Superman & Lois instead of The Flash this episode, Nik bailing on Gotham Knights after the first ten minutes, The Flash's Tom Canavagh directing Superman & Lois, Michael Bishop taking over for Jordan Elsass as Jon Kent, Chad L. Coleman as Tyreese on The Walking Dead, some comics background on Bruno Mannheim and Onomatopoeia, Nik preferring the original Cape Fear, Lois & Clark getting it on at Tal-Rho's villa, Lois thinking that she might be pregnant and probably having cancer instead, Clark sending Jordan into the ocean while racing him in flight, Clark being a bit too harsh when criticizing Jordan's failed attempt to rescue people, Jordan being put into the Friendzone by Sarah, still waiting for a Jon vs. Jordan superpowered fight, Sam hanging out with Natalie at a horror movie just to recruit her for the DoD, John Henry laying into Sam about how he treated Natalie, Kyle getting it on with Chrissy Beppo, Chrissy finding out that Kyle and Lana are divorcing, wondering if Lana will hook up with John Henry, Chrissy reassuring Kyle's fragile male ego, the return of Atom Man, our early take on Bruno Mannheim, the impressive debut of Onomatopoeia, our favorite quotes of the episode, some questions about Gotham Knights from Christine Peruski, our enjoying the film Gladiator, Nik's recent appearances on Next Stop Everywhere: The Doctor Who Podcast, and more!

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Be sure to come back next week as DJ Nik and I discuss "Uncontrollable Forces", the second episode of Superman & Lois Season 3, on The Fandom Zone Podcast!

DRUNK CINEMA 041: "Flash Gordon (1980)" Is Up!

 
"Pathetic earthlings. Hurling your bodies out into the void, without the slightest inkling of who or what is out here. If you had known anything about the true nature of the universe, anything at all, you would've hidden from it in terror."
-- Ming the Merciless, Flash Gordon (1980)

Hello again, movie fans!  My wonderful co-host Xan Sprouse and I are back with a new episode of Drunk Cinema! This time, we watch Flash Gordon, the 1980 space opera film directed by Mike Hodges, featuring Sam J. Jones as Flash Gordon, Melody Anderson as Dale Arden, Max von Sydow as Ming the Merciless, and Topol as Dr. Hans Zarkov!

In this episode, Xan and I discuss things like Xan feeling my pain regarding my aging parents, why we decided to watch Flash Gordon instead of The Terminator as originally planned, paying tribute to the passing of Topol, why David Niven isn't counted as a James Bond, Xan and her husband Chris playing Queen's version of the wedding march at their wedding reception, screenwriter Lorenzo Semple Jr. writing Batman (1966) and Three Days of the Condor, Buster Crabbe as the original live-action Flash Gordon, Max von Sydow being in all kinds of cool movies, Xan having the hots for Max von Sydow in guyliner, Timothy Dalton as James Bond and Mr. Pricklepants, the three Flash Gordon actors who appeared on Doctor Who, the awesome Season 1 theme to Space: 1999, the first Funko Xan ever bought, my using "King of the Impossible" as part of my social media profile description, William Hootkins being the patron saint of Drunk Cinema, Xan having a thing for guys whose sleeves are rolled up to the elbow, Zarkov being a hot mad scientist, my seeing Flash Gordon in the theater at the age of 11, producer Dino de Laurentiis loving lavish productions, Flash's football fight scene, Max von Sydow rocking a skullcap, Princess Aura being an evil Captain Jack Harkness, Dale having the sense to take off her high heels before running, Barin and Aura's toxic relationship, how to avoid having your mind erased, Brian Blessed saying "Gordon's alive?!", the rotating disc fight covering Sam J. Jones and Timothy Dalton in silver spray paint, the Hawkman Walkman, George Lucas making Star Wars after not being able to get the Flash Gordon rights, new Drunk Mail from Christine Peruski, watching the Hitchhiker's movie for our 42nd episode, and more!

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Be sure to come back in two weeks for Episode 042, as Xan and I watch The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the 2005 film based on the Douglas Adams novel and directed by Garth Jennings, featuring Martin Freeman as Arthur Dent, Sam Rockwell as Zaphod Beeblebrox, Zooey Deschanel as Trillian, and Alan Rickman as the voice of Marvin the Paranoid Android!