James Cameron's Time Tunnel

"Michael Rennie was ill,

The Day The Earth Stood Still,

but he told us where we stand..."

-- Richard O' Brien Science Fiction Double Feature

So AVATAR is now the biggest blockbuster of all time with apparently no end in sight, but it was a long time a comin' because ever since the initial sensationalism of Bwana Devil and the first successful 3D hit 1953's "House Of Wax" the format nearly died and was barely kept alive by cheaply shot soft-core porno flicks in the '60's & '70's, and another attempt in 1982 -83 with "Coming At Ya", "Spacehunter: Adventures In The Forbidden Zone", "Metalstorm: The Destruction Of Jared-Syn" (a real letdown as I thought that 'Jared-Syn' was like a phantasmagorical mythical sci-fi planet or city but alas, another Aussie villian leftover from the

Mel Gibson "Road Warrior/Mad Max" movies), and even "Jaws 3D".

Years ago I told my then Trekkie friends that both 3D movies and 3DTV would become commonplace soon-- this was 1980 before the early '80's 3D 'fad' --but it took about 30 years

to get it right, mostly through the diligent efforts of master auteur James Cameron.

Cameron topping Kubrick when it came for having elaborate sets and rigging-- 2001's centrifuge was the first for verisimilitude when it to simulating weightlessness and artificial gravity --witness the sealab and actual underwater filming for "The Abyss", or the recreation of the various areas of the Titanic in "Titanic", really goes the distance to the nth degree by making the audience a part of the show.

Not just stuff thrown at you, but you enter a world of for all intents and purposes virtual reality.

Yeah, I know it sounds cliche, but that's what it is.

Too bad Don LaFontaine wasn't around to do the trailer, "In a world...", eh?

But what is really of interest to me and I'm certain of to you (or otherwise you wouldn't be reading this) is the influence of Michael Rennie whether directly or indirectly, intentionally or unintentionally, consciously or sub-consciously.

Huh? What?? Isn't this one going to about James Cameron and The Time Tunnel?

Well consider this-

HDTV

You know that by now most of you tech-savvy bloggers out there probably have ditched your old analog glass tube TVs for one of the new digital HDTV flatscreen rigs with their 50", 65", and up image area.

Not me.

Because after you've gotten used to all these newfangled gizmos, the electronic industry is going to throw you a real curve ball-- 3DTV.

So while you've spent beaucoup buck$ on this stuff, I'll wait a little longer when prices really plunge and while you're scrambling to keep up with the 'Joneses'-- and am certain that a lot of you are 'jonesin' for a three-dimensional experience similar to the theater -- simply pick up this stuff cheap.

But remember that no matter how good 3DTV will get, it'll never be as good as the one in the 1963 pilot for the "Outer Limits" entitled "The Galaxy Being".

Now that's something I'd really love to see!

Wouldn't you?

Poe: More Than A Poet? Definitely!

Yesterday was the celebrated birthday of Martin Luther King Jr., and rather than trying to equal or top all the blog entries regarding him, his life, his death, I will later hopefully cover him in another as yet to be ascertained 'item'- I always liked Kolchak The Night Stalker when he spoke into his little tape recorder and before noting an entry he would say 'item', kind of like William Shatner with his 'Captain's Log';

Today however is noted and renowned scribe the late Edgar Allan Poe's B-Day, which had its Bi-Centennial last year (which I missed naturally), and so now I toast Mr. Poe with some green tea and organic jam on those round Silvercup bread thingies which, alas!, they don't make anymore:

"Better late than never (c'mon, say it -more, more...)! "

Oh yeah, it's Tippi Hendrin's birthday too-- wonder what kind of bird she fancies?

Gee, I guess I sound like a raven lunatic.

Gumby Gumma

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