THE FANTASTIC JOURNEY – This was a very promising hour-long science fiction tv series that somehow just never gelled well enough to last even for a full 13-episode tryout. The premise involved a 1976 nautical expedition into the Bermuda Triangle by a group of scientists and a few of their family members.
Their ship encounters green mists connected to the many sea and air disappearances in the Triangle and they wind up stranded on a continent-sized island called Evoland. Beings from many time periods and planets are trapped there as well and at times try to help or hinder our main cast in their efforts to escape the Bermuda Triangle.
VARIAN, played by Jared Martin. Varian was an Earthling from the 23rd Century. He is cultured, refined and highly intelligent. Like many scholars from his time period, Varian is capable of focusing his mental energies through his crystal rod/ tuning fork called a Sonic Energizer. The device responds only to his mind and lets him diagnose and heal others, as well as manipulate matter in various destructive and constructive ways depending on the needs of each episode’s story.
Yes, the Sonic Energizer was every bit as much of a Deus ex Machina as the Sonic Screwdriver on Doctor Who. In fact, I’ve always felt that if American television had decided to do an Americanized version of that BBC series rather than import the episodes starring the terrific Tom Baker, that Jared Martin would have made a perfect U.S. incarnation of the Doctor. (Or maybe even a rebooted Gary Seven.)
FRED WALTERS, MD, played by Carl Franklin. Fred is fresh out of medical school and is co-leader of the group along with Varian.
Dr. Walters is a brilliant physician in his own right and his 20th Century cynicism lets him read many potentially dangerous situations more accurately than Varian, whose largely innocent and pacifistic 23rd Century nature leaves him a bit naive. Fred was like an 80s badass in a 70s tv show. Continue reading
FOES (1977) – Though I’m reviewing this movie under my Bad and Weird Movies category, let me be clear that Foes is not bad and it is weird in the best way possible. I’ve watched the 91-minute version with Jerry Hardin (Deep Throat from The X-Files) and Macdonald Carey (“Like sands through the hourglass …”) top billed AND the 72-minute version with just the virtual unknowns appearing. 
THE HERO: Space traveling anti-hero Smith was created by the female writer C.L. Moore in the 1930s. Four decades before Han Solo, Northwest Smith was a ruthless swashbuckling smuggler, thief and all-around mercenary. Smith’s less than sterling character made him a refreshing change from the usually wholesome pulp heroes of the time. 
SHAMBLEAU (1933) – While trying to lie low between smuggling runs, Northwest Smith stays in New Chicago, a dangerous Martian hotel with a deadly clientelle. Walking the nighttime streets, he saves an eerily seductive woman from a mob who want her dead for being one of the sinister race called the Shambleau. Can Yarol save Smith from himself as the Shambleau lures him into deeper and madder indulgences? Click 
THE STRUGGLE FOR EMPIRE: A STORY OF THE YEAR 2236 (1900) – Written by Robert W Cole. I left out the first half of the title for the headline, since The Struggle For Empire sounds like a mundane history book. In reality this novel was a very, very early example of the Space Opera sub-genre. 
Initially the Earth colonized and inhabited the planets and certain moons of our own solar system all the way out to Neptune. (Pluto was not discovered until 1930.) In a quaint quasi-Steam-Punk way, all of those planets and moons have Earth-like atmospheres and conditions. 
DAS BLAUE PALAIS (1972-1974) – This German science fiction series is criminally neglected. The title building is where scientists led by Louis Palm (Silvano Tranquilli) conduct interdisciplinary research and investigate unusual phenomena. 
Additional regulars included Lyne Chardonnet as Yvonne Boucher, Jean-Henri Chambois as Professor Manzini, Luminata Iacobescu as Sibilla Jacopescu and Dieter Laser as Enrico Polazzo. Rainer Erler wrote and directed every installment. 
ONE: THE GENIUS (October 15th, 1974) – The international group of scientists at the Blue Palace are pursuing their usual boundary-pushing research while periodically debating the ethics of various projects. 
MOUNTAINS, SEAS AND GIANTS aka BERGE MEERE UND GIGANTEN (1924) – Written by Alfred Döblin, later famous for the novel Berlin Alexanderplatz. A 2021 translation of the book uses the title Mountains Oceans Giants: A Novel of the 27th Century. 
THE CONQUEST OF THE MOON (1887) – Written by French author Paschal Grousset under the alias Andre Laurie. This work ranges from absurd to fascinating, with – for people looking for science fiction – WAY too much time devoted to the fighting in the Sudan during 1884 and 1885. 
THE AIR BATTLE: A VISION OF THE FUTURE (1859) – Written by an unknown author using the name Herrmann Lang. (Ignore the misspelling on the cover to the left.) Speculation has it that the author was British despite the German pseudonym and despite the narrator’s claim that he is a black man. 
THE MILLTILLIONAIRE (1895) – This novel was written by American author Albert Waldo Howard under the pen name M. Auburre Hovorre. A second edition came out in 1898. 
PRIMER (2004) – HAPPY NEW YEAR! Yes, I’m just childish enough to pat myself on the back for that play on words in the title of this blog post. With that out of the way I know I’m late to the game when it comes to Primer but my own skepticism about it made me keep it on the back burner in terms of priority movies to watch. 
Shane Carruth stars as Aaron and David Sullivan portrays Abe. The pair are engineers who – on the side – run a tech business out of Aaron’s garage. As a side effect of a project they are working on the two discover a means of time travel. 
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