Speaking of, Dragon Storm, which just aired, had the highest ratings ever for SciFi's features, beating our last movie (also filmed in Bulgaria), Torus (or Epoch Evolution).
I also hear that one of our cast members (the ballista-wielding chick 'Nessa'), Iskra Angelova, is getting inteviewed in regards to that movie, but I'm not sure whereabouts.
A few looks at our upcoming martian slave-girl makeup. (Actually, I'm pretty sure--like 100% sure--that this is the martian princess makeup, but you know she'll fall in love and become someone's martian slave-girl as the story reaches its climax...eh, should "martian" be capitalized?)
This is kind of the 'club' alien look. In fact, now Nellie tells me she wants to go out like this.
This butterfly look is still in the running, I think.
Teddy was unfortunate enough to have the prothetics applied to her. She's happy about it, too.
I like this, especially with the other accoutrements that will be on the martian.
No clubbing for her, though. Quarantine, perhaps.
This is another possible part of the process, which will probably be added to some prosthetics, and some contact lenses of ice blue variety.
Gene Simmon's martian slave-girl attempt was tossed early on.
Well, this looks disturbingly familiar...
Now we're cookin' with gas. This is the stuff used for Tedi.
Having it run down the neck is cool, IMHO.
Here's another angle.
Anyway, the upcoming show looks to be darn entertaining, at least for me. I mean, we got martian slave girls, explosions, cool sets, fisticuffs...
And we do not have cute and cheeky "monkey/ferret/boy genius" who is wildly underestimated/ignored and ends up saving the humans, or filching keys and unlocking the prisoners, or solving incredibly complex problems that the rest of the crew was baffled by.
I was at a bar last night (why do most of my stories start like that?), enjoying the company of a friend, and the conversation meandered--somehow--to George W. Bush.
"He's a cowboy," she said.
"You know, that's a compliment in most parts of America."
She didn't believe me. It took some time convincing her, and she was bemused at the whole idea. Received this over the email this morning, and it fit pefectly.
Well, here is good news for us:
I'm really excited, now. I always thought that this was going to be a cool movie, and we pull off a good grade, for us.
UPDATE: Another review!
"TUNE IN TONIGHT
WEEKEND, JAN. 24-25, 2004
Sci Fi unleashes a not-so-perfect 'Storm'
By Kevin McDonough
We hear a lot about "chick flicks." Those looking for the definition of
a "guy movie" are in luck. The 2004 special effects fantasy "Dragon
Storm" (9 p.m., Saturday, Sci Fi) serves as a crude but effective
example.
You know it's a guy movie right off the bat because the first 10
minutes of the film consist of nothing but violence and mayhem. Deep in
the heart of medieval Carpathia (I've been waiting all my life to write
that phrase), meteors or asteroids, or something cosmically nasty, rain
fire from the sky. But these don't merely burn holes in the ground.
They are actually flaming pods that contain space dragons that go on to
fly, breathe fire and incinerate everything and everyone in their path,
from hut to hovel to castle. Did I mention that all of this really cool
stuff happens in the first 10 minutes of the movie?
The next hour and 50 minutes are not as spectacular in the burning and
screaming departments, but they follow the rules of the guy-movie
genre. Unfortunately, this period marks the beginning of the film's
dialogue, which is so stilted it appears to have been dubbed, even
though "Dragon Storm" sports an English-speaking cast.
One of the roasted castles belongs to a bad king (John Rhys-Davies,
"Lord of the Rings"), who has to travel to the castle of a good king to
take shelter. Along the way he encounters a wily, handsome hunter
(Maxwell Caulfield) who is later enlisted by the good king to battle
the intergalactic fire-breathers.
As in most guy movies, the hunter assembles a posse of misfits -- which
in this case includes a not-so-gentle giant and a Mongolian kung fu
master, as well as the good king's beautiful, crossbow-wielding
daughter. Will this Carpathian dirty dozen be able conquer the space
reptiles? You'll just have indulge your inner eight-year-old and watch
"Dragon Storm" to find out."
Being lame, I really am like a Dark Age man living among ancient Greek science. I tried updating to the latest MT, and broke my entire site's publishing system, the comments, the trackback, and several other items, all to eliminate this irritating spam that's infiltrating the comments (I was hit with 336 comments for some medicine, and I went out of my way to delete each one).
Well, I got in touch with Stacey at Hosting Matters; she tried to help me, realized I was an idiot, and promptly fixed the site herself (actually, I think I just forgot to run a particular script, but I'm not sure).
"Why on earth should Bulgaria resolutely be denied access to the European Union because some of the most powerful leaders in our country sympathise with the US, while the vast majority of current EU member states are NATO members with American bases on their territory already?
Could you please supply me with some more information concerning the plans of the Bush administration to conquer our entire planet with the help of Zionist infiltrators?"
Went to a restaurant here called Gioia. Really small, hole-in-the-wall sort of place, down an unmarked alleyway, with a total of four seatings for guests. The place serves homemade pasta and noodles, along with a staggering display of wines. It's one of my favorite places, run by an Italian guy whose English is nearly non-existent, and whose Bulgarian is, eh, choppy.
I was there with our new director, David Flores (who directed Python vs. Boa) and his girlfriend, Hannah. I was with Nellie, and it was a fun mix of translating from the Italio-Bulgarian to English, and then the director's English to a mixture of Bulgarian and Italian. Actually, my gramatically-retarded Bulgarian seemed to gel quite nicely with the Italian's questionable skill with the native Slavic language we both grudgingly live under, and we communicated swimmingly.
NELLIE
You understand him?
ME
You don't?
NELLIE
I...no.
DAVID
Well, I don't. Is there a menu?
There is not a menu, at least none that I've ever seen. He says what he's got, and you say yes or no.
Some wine, some antipasta (oh, so fresh), some bread with olive paste, some homemade ravioli with shrimp, and homemade spaghetti marinara, some homemade tiramisu, some limoncello, some homemade cannolis...oh god...
I blew my entire diet.
Not that I minded.Posted by jkrank under
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Dragon Storm
It's been noted that Dragon Storm is going to be on the SciFi Channel this Saturday.
I haven't seen the final cut, but I hear it is pretty darn good, and SciFi is pushing it hard. The direction (by Steven Furst) was really inspired, as far as I was concerned, and the look is great. Acting is also good (esp. John Rhys Davies and Tony Amendola). I'm very excited. The dubbing of one role, I hear, is poor, however.
I'm also in it, as a Vulkan-like guard (Angie), which is a draw in itself. I do not help the rating for the overall acting, although...I'm certainly not the one who has a problem using his weaponry.
I'm a pretty optimistc guy. I don't get depressed easy. I have good teeth (not that that is relevant). When I see someone doing or saying something stupid, I'll laugh first, or mock them, maybe both.
Sometimes, though, I'm just shocked. This was in the Sofia Echo ODT, although now I can see that it's online:
"I find it completely incredible that a country such as Bulgaria which lived several decades controlled and dominated by the USSR should wish to bend over quite so quickly to the new empire and allow US forces to be stationed in Bulgaria.
Is there no discussion of this in Bulgaria? Why not? Have the citizens been given the truth as to what this will mean for them? I am a citizen of the UK but live in Spain, both countries which are US satellites. As is my right I will vote to reject the new applications from countries such as Bulgaria to join the EU. It seems that your countries first allegiance is to the US not to the EU and so in that case please feel free to apply for membership of the US but you will not be welcome in Europe so long as your first allegiance is to the fascists.
Your country never had freedom for over 40 years and now you are willing to give up that hard won freedom? Quite amazing!
Perhaps you haven't read the policy of the Project for the New American Century? Perhaps you haven't noticed that the signatories are the same as those in power in the Bush administration? Perhaps you haven't noticed how this US Admi-nistration has been infiltrated by Zionist agents of Ariel Sharon who are all in key decision-making and policy positions? Are you really so stupid that you don't believe what these people say? They are serious about world domination and the Bulgarian's succumb - presumably your Government has been bought as have the governments of Tony Blair and Jose Aznar...
You are about to be occupied militarily by another country without even a fight! What strange people you must be..."
Truly remarkable. I suppose it shouldn't have been a surprise--but still was--that Jews were involved in this decision, somehow. First Bulgaria, then the world!
I see; the US builds a modern base, pays the Bulgarians a ridiculous rental fee for a certain number of years (the Occupation, let's call it), then either renegotiates or leaves, giving the base to the Bulgarians.
"All without a fight!"
Yeah, if I were the EU, I'd want to steer as far from that level of business acumen as I could. Troublemakers.
Now look, there could be all sorts of reasons why the Bulgarians would not want a US base in their territory. For instance, it could be a terror target, or they could have problems with drunk US soldiers when they're off-base, or they've got a better deal from the EU, or they don't need millions of dollars, or don't want to offend British expats living in Spain who are suspicious of Jewish motives in rural Bulgaria, or something.
The point is, is that Bulgaria has the option. They are free to choose. And if Bulgaria says "no," then, well, the US will build it elsewhere. In this editorial's first paragraph comparison, he guesses if Bulgaria had only said "no" to the USSR, and not "allowed" them to dominate them...stupid Bulgarians.
"History repeats itself." You can just hear this guy say it at dinner, without irony.
Put aside the wild conspriacy theories, though. Much like Chirac's threat on the former Eastern bloc when they sided with the US at the UN pre-Iraq war--as is thier choice as a sovereign nation--so do their supporters threaten if Bulgaria makes a choice they don't approve of. Sorta like what an empire would do to a satellite, like the old USSR used to do with...
"History repeats itself." Sagely nods from his equally smart friends, also without irony.
On a different note, however, I received an email:
"I've got two young Bulgarian students who pound in numbers for me. I recently saw that the US was negotiating to open up a base in Bulgaria in the home town of one of the women. I mentioned to her that what usually happens when a US base opens is that the emigration rate of women in those countries tends to increase.
She smiled and said that if anything, the local women would be more than happy if the Americans were to be based in Bulgaria. That way, the supply of men wouldn't be exhausted quite so quickly.
I *think* she didn't mean that there weren't enough men, but rather that the Bulgarian women tended to wear them out too quickly."
Well, she could mean both, actually.
And America is once again lifting the sprits of women in the world. It's a tough job, folks, and we don't get enough credit. Perhaps if we were whiny and threatening, and brought Ariel Sharon in everyday conversation...
Nah, if you want to be lauded, just ask a Bulgarian girl for a dance.Posted by jkrank under
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