Infinite Number Of Monkees Part I: Pedal To The Metal

If you had an infinite number of Monkees, and an infinite number of typewriters, then, given paper, ink ribbons, lots of WD-40 and sufficient time, would they eventually come up with some truly classic sci-fi television?

I was recently reminded by a fellow blogger of the many talents of Mickey Dolenz, the voicebox of The Monkees and the man responsible for:

"The four kings of EMI are sitting stately on the floor
there are birds out on the sidewalk and a valet at the door
he reminds me of a penguin, with few and plastered hair
there's talcum powder on the letter, and the birthday boy is there."

You may also have noticed Mr. Dolenz' recent cameo in Mega Python Vs Gatoroid. More importantly from a cultural perspective, he was the creator of this.



Metal Mickey is a progamme I remember from my childhood as being embarrassingly bad. Of course I was probably too young to pick up on the subtext, or to appreciate the subtle nuances of irony. However I have to acknowledge the iconic status of Mr. Mickey (the metal one.)



Mickey's quest to understand human emotion is a crucial sci-fi narrative that has perplexed Johnny Five, Marvin, the Terminator, DATA, O11iver and other great fictional robots. Mickey's LED heart is also echoed by GERTY's emoticon screen - could they be related?

Who is Shane Van Dyke? [Titanic II Week]

A message to everyone who sailed with me on Titanic II Week, I hope you've had a pleasant voyage. It's been a lot of fun writing these posts. I had hoped to bring you a review of Titanic II along the way but it hasn't been possible - in retrospect, shipping the review copy to me across the Atlantic by sea might have been asking for trouble...

Shane Van Dyke, director and star of Titanic II, comes from a hard-grafting cinematic dynasty: the Van Dykes. His grandfather Dick Van Dyke cut a swathe through Hollywood as cheery Cockney chimney sweep Bert in the classic witchcraft horror Mary Poppins. In his later years he would also become known as Dr. Mark Sloan of the long-running series Diagnosis: Murder. Dick Van Dyke's son Barry and another grandson Carey also worked on Diagnosis: Murder, Shane's aunt Stacy Van Dyke made a guest appearance, and the Happy Families set was completed when Shane himself appeared as medical student Alex Smith.

Shane has worked on other Asylum movies: he appears in Transmorphers: Fall Of Man which he also wrote, and Paranormal Entity which he also directed. I'm pleased to report that according to IMDb his next film Super Shark is in post production - you can never have enough films about sharks. What has the rest of the dynasty been up to? Shane and Carey Van Dyke also co-wrote The Day The Earth Stopped with Darren Dalton. You can look forward to seeing Carey again in Mega Python Vs Gatoroid, alongside Debbie Gibson and Tiffany who, contrary to popular belief, have not been cast in the title roles.

Source: IMDb

It's Gonna Be The Future Soon

Sci-Fi Gene is looking forward to these films:

Tron Legacy: a no-brainer. Even if this film had no dialogue, no characters, no plot and was just a two hour fly-through of the virtual city I would still watch it twice.
Titanic 2: A hundred years after the fateful voyage of the Titanic, a replica ship is retracing the original route when a freak storm throws a giant iceberg into it's path. You can add your own jokes about going down in history, sinking without trace, cold reception etc. here as much as you like, I still want to see this Asylum classic.

Predators: open. I wasn't a fan of the original Predator which was well made but kind of a one-trick pony. However this film, set on the Predator homeworld, looks like a different kettle of fish. Also, has anyone noticed that when hamsters yawn they look like Predators?


Inception: opening now. Leonardo DiCaprio narrowly missed out on the lead role for Titanic 2, instead opting to appear in this potentially mind-blowing film made by the director of The Prestige.

Splice: Looks like a brilliant tale of genetic engineering. Sadly I missed this one at Sci-Fi London but hope to catch it on release.

Mega Python vs Gatoroid: just entering production now so a little further into the future, this is the film that will re-unite 80s singers and monster slayers Debbie Gibson and Tiffany.