tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43285498243002381122024-03-13T07:06:04.074-04:00Andy's AnachronismsExploring Time Travel and Alternate History in Literature and Entertainment since 1999. Book, TV, and movie reviews of all things time travel related.Andy Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16607709651434579162noreply@blogger.comBlogger32125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328549824300238112.post-89627777350652275242021-09-10T17:57:00.000-04:002021-09-10T17:57:27.917-04:00Is this thing still on?
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<p> <br /></p><p>I'm not dead yet!<br /><br />It's been a while folks. About 8 years give or take since I was active on this site. Doesn't mean I've stopped watching, reading or thinking about time travel, alternate history, parallel worlds etc. Just been busy. Mainly dealing with life and working on my own writing.<br /><br />I am looking to breathe some new life into this old site and bring it kicking and screaming into the 21st Century. Back when I started this site 20+ years ago, blogging wasn't even a thing and most of the design was hand coded HTML stuff. I would have killed for a Blogger or WordPress kit back then. I enjoyed the creative side of designing and testing out new layouts, but it sucked up a lot of time.<br /><br />So I am in the process of converting the old reviews to a new WordPress site and plan to relaunch this site in the near future with new content. Late 2021 or early 2022 depending on how it goes.<br /></p><p>I appreciate the support and interest people have shown in my site over the years and I hope you'll check out the new site when it re-launches soon.<br /><br />To quote Doc Brown - "When this things gets up to 88 mph you're going to see some shit."<br /></p><p></p><p><br /></p>
<div class="tenor-gif-embed" data-aspect-ratio="1.86047" data-postid="13825333" data-share-method="host" data-width="100%"><a href="https://tenor.com/view/88mph-88-eighty-eight-back-to-the-future-doc-gif-13825333">88mph Eighty Eight GIF</a>from <a href="https://tenor.com/search/88mph-gifs">88mph GIFs</a></div> <script async="" src="https://tenor.com/embed.js" type="text/javascript"></script><div class="blogger-post-footer"><A HREF=http://www.timetravelreviews.com>Andy's Anachronisms Web Site</A></div>Andy Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16607709651434579162noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328549824300238112.post-87923939085379006072013-06-25T21:41:00.001-04:002013-06-25T21:50:59.240-04:00Author Richard Matheson dies at age 87<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eE-3RDJsL9Q/UcpBRbitfAI/AAAAAAAAAMA/-fwG6DspC0E/s1600/BookCover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eE-3RDJsL9Q/UcpBRbitfAI/AAAAAAAAAMA/-fwG6DspC0E/s320/BookCover.jpg" width="199" /></a><br />
You might not immediately recognize the name, but you almost certainly know his work. Author and screenwriter Richard Matheson passed away earlier this week on June 23, 2013 at age of 87.<br />
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He's probably best known for his novel I am Legend, which was adapted to film no less than 3 times -<i> Last Man on Earth </i>(1964) with <b>Vincent Price</b>, <i>The Omega Man</i> (1971) with <b>Charlton Heston</b>, and finally in 2007 as<i> I Am Legend </i>with <b>Will Smith</b>.<br />
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But that's just the tip of the iceberg, Matheson wrote 14 episodes of the original<b> Twilight Zone</b> series including the classic <b><i>"Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" </i></b>staring William Shatner as the passenger who sees a gremlin on the wing of the plane. He is also credited for writing Rod Serling's opening monologue on the show.<br />
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His film credits and novels are too many to list here, but you'd be surprised how many films and tv shows he's had a hand in. You can check out his Wikipedia entry here - <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Matheson" target="_blank">Richard Matheson - Wikipedia Entry</a>.<br />
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Of course time travel fans will know his 1973 novel <b><i>"Bid Time Return"</i></b> which was made into the 1980 movie <b><i>Somewhere in Time</i> </b>starring Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour. Matheson also wrote the screenplay for the film.<br />
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A very busy and prolific author and story teller who touched many people.<br />
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Obituary at the CBC - <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2013/06/25/obit-matheson-richard-author.html">http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2013/06/25/obit-matheson-richard-author.html</a><br />
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Obituary at the Hollywood Reporter - <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/iconic-sci-fi-author-richard-574197">http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/iconic-sci-fi-author-richard-574197</a><br />
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<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><A HREF=http://www.timetravelreviews.com>Andy's Anachronisms Web Site</A></div>Andy Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16607709651434579162noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328549824300238112.post-33332340446699337142013-02-04T22:51:00.002-05:002013-02-04T22:51:45.962-05:00Time Travel Related Commercials (Pt. 2)Advertisers and marketing departments love using Time Travel in commercials. Back in 2009 I posted another entry on <a href="http://blog.timetravelreviews.com/2009/07/time-travel-in-commercials.html" target="_blank">Time Travel in Commercials</a> - that looked at a 1986 Pepsi commercial and a more contemporary Bacardi commercial that used Time Travel to sell a product.<br />
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Recently on TV there have been two commercials that play on the notion of time travel.<br />
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The first is a Pizza Hut spot that is hyping how their low price is a blast from the plast so to speak and the hapless guy buying pizza wonders if he hasn't accidently travelled back in time. The spot takes it one step further when he meets a young look alike that he urges to "invest in the internet".<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/e6kRSFx091E?rel=0" width="560"></iframe><br />
Pizza Hut "Price from the Past" Commercial.<br />
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The second commercial actually involves a time machine comes to us from Dodge and the re-introduction of the DART as an econo replacement to the Dodge Neon. Bragging that tech so futuristic must have involved a Time Machine it reminds me a bit about the Toyota commercial from a few years back.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/k7eGINFXp5s?rel=0" width="560"></iframe>
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How to Make the Most Hi-Tech Car (Dodge Dart)<br />
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The Toyota commercial was bragging about things that are reinvented including of course their Toyota Camry. One included a baby that didn't poop and for no particular reason, other than it was funny, was also a time machine. Personally I am holding out for the rain that makes you skinny.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/T8XmdQjJ7BM?rel=0" width="560"></iframe>
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Toyota Camry 2012 Reinvented.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><A HREF=http://www.timetravelreviews.com>Andy's Anachronisms Web Site</A></div>Andy Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16607709651434579162noreply@blogger.com30tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328549824300238112.post-9254015348042028632013-01-12T11:26:00.002-05:002013-01-12T11:26:32.518-05:0015 Years of Andy's AnachronismsYou might have noticed that there hasn't been much activity on Andy's Anachronisms in a while. Doesn't mean the website or the blog is dead. Far from it.<br />
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It's bee a busy year personally and I have been working on drafting up a new design for the website, now heading in to its 15th year. Yes, in one form or another Andy's Anachronisms has been on the internet since February of 1999. Hard to believe.<br />
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From its humble beginnings its been a one man show with the ocassional guest contribution. Speaking of which I am always looking for interesting Time Travel and Alternate History references and reviews. If you see something during your travels on the web, don't hesitate to send it my way.<br />
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You can leave it here or find me on Twitter @SooGuy68. (see link below)<br />
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If there is something you'd like to see a review for or have a question feel free to drop me a line.<br />
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Here's to 2013 and a new year of time travel fun.<br />
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<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><A HREF=http://www.timetravelreviews.com>Andy's Anachronisms Web Site</A></div>Andy Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16607709651434579162noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328549824300238112.post-76173878932178664232012-07-30T21:56:00.000-04:002012-07-30T22:05:14.018-04:00Chris Marker - Director of La Jetee Dead at Age 91I was saddened to learn that <b>Chris Marker</b> passed away today. Most are likely unfamiliar with his contribution to cinema, but among those that have been exposed to his work it's a sad day.<br />
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Perhaps his best known work is the 1962 experimental short film La Jetee which would later form the inspiration for the 1995 Terry Gilliam film Twelve Monkeys.<br />
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La Jetee is THE perfect time travel film in my opinion and the fact that he manages to distil so much into under a half hour is an amazing feat.<br />
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With the exception of a few brief frames of motion La Jetee is told entirely with the use of black and white still photos that are stitched together in what Marker calls a photo-roman. <br />
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La Jetee tells the story of a man who witnessed a traumatic event as a child and is selected as a guinea pig for a time travel experiment. Set in a post-apocalyptic Paris destroyed by World War III the survivors live beneath the city which has become “rotten with radiation”. The victors stand guard over a “kingdom of rats”. Realizing that the human race is doomed, the victors work to manipulate a loophole in time to seek assistance from the future.<br />
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The man is sent to past on several occasions to visit the woman from his childhood images, before an attempt is made to send him to the future. In an effort to evade his captors he strikes a bargain to return to the past of his childhood, but it is not to be.<br />
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The film manages to explore the horror and futility of war, human degradation of the natural environment, the nature of time itself, and the intricacies of human memory.<br />
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I have reviewed the film at length on my site here - <a href="http://www.timetravelreviews.com/movies/la_jetee.html" target="_blank">La Jetee by Chris Marker</a> and recommend the film to anyone who will listen.<br />
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On Twitter today <b>William Gibson</b>, author of Neuromancer and Pattern Recognition, tweeted in recognition of Marker's passing:<br />
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Its well worth seeking out but try to get a copy with the original French narration and English subtitles if you can.<br />
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<a href="http://www.criterion.com/boxsets/77-la-jetee-sans-soleil" target="_blank">Criterion Collection</a> released a restored version of La Jetee in 2007 in standard definition and in 2012 on high definition Blu-Ray together with Marker's film San Soliel.<br />
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I found a copy of La Jetee in 1999 as part of a short film collection called <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Short-2-Dreams-H%C3%A9l%C3%A8ne-Chatelain/dp/B000031VPS" target="_blank">Short 2: Dreams</a> that had a number of bonus features including interviews with both <b>Terry Gilliam</b> (Director of Twelve Monkeys) and <b>Janet and David Peoples</b> (Writers of Twelve Monkeys) discussing the Marker’s work and the influence La Jetée had on the creation of Twelve Monkeys.<br />
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For further reading check <b>The Guardian</b> which has a very in detailed obituary on its website here: <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2012/jul/30/chris-marker?newsfeed=true" target="_blank">Chris Marker obituary Experimental French director acclaimed for his post-apocalyptic film La Jetée</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><A HREF=http://www.timetravelreviews.com>Andy's Anachronisms Web Site</A></div>Andy Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16607709651434579162noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328549824300238112.post-15641450175158571482012-05-07T22:35:00.001-04:002012-05-07T22:35:42.266-04:00Safety Not Guaranteed<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3VJdi4Vn8EE/T6iEPRXky7I/AAAAAAAAAHE/vJBfjTfBkH0/s1600/Ad_Safety_Not_Guaranteed.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="111" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3VJdi4Vn8EE/T6iEPRXky7I/AAAAAAAAAHE/vJBfjTfBkH0/s320/Ad_Safety_Not_Guaranteed.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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Only just stumbled across a reference to this indie movie called<b> <i>Safety Not Guaranteed</i> </b>about a man who places an ad looking for a "companion" to accompany him on a time travel adventure and the reports that try to investigate his claim that he can time travel.<br />
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The trailer tries a bit too hard at first, but I think it has potential by the end of the trailer to be a very interesting and engaging film.<br />
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Check it out here - <a href="http://safetynotguaranteedmovie.com/#" target="_blank">Safety Not Guaranteed - Official Site</a><br />
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It looks like it will be in limited release in June 2012<div class="blogger-post-footer"><A HREF=http://www.timetravelreviews.com>Andy's Anachronisms Web Site</A></div>Andy Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16607709651434579162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328549824300238112.post-79037477406604126692011-11-06T00:03:00.000-04:002011-11-06T00:13:48.473-04:00Book Review: Triptych by JM Frey<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Had the pleasure of reading the début novel from author JM Frey earlier this year, but only now have had time to write a proper review.<br />
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In Triptych, earth has become the last refuge of a race of bipedal aliens whose planet has been destroyed in a cataclysmic explosion. While the majority of people have been accommodating and accepting, with many nations formally working to integrate the aliens into Earth civilization, there still exists groups whose racism and bigotry have found new targets.<br />
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Enter two reasearchers with The Institute, Gwen Pierson and Dr. Basil Grey who are working with the alien Kalp to help reverse engineer some of the alien tech and acclimatize to each other's cultural norms. Frey's trio of characters are the emotional heart and soul of the story. Their journey from workmates to an "aglunate", a type of intimate social unit common on Kalp's home planet, is what drives the story. Not everyone is ready to accept this level of integration and conflict ensues.<br />
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Oh and did I mention there is time travel? While not the focus of the novel, time travel does play a pivotal role in the story and is used to good effect.<br />
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You can read my full review here -<a href="http://www.timetravelreviews.com/books/frey_triptych.html" target="_blank">Review of Triptych by JM Frey</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><A HREF=http://www.timetravelreviews.com>Andy's Anachronisms Web Site</A></div>Andy Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16607709651434579162noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328549824300238112.post-455368168380397432011-09-16T19:52:00.000-04:002011-09-16T19:54:12.890-04:00Why I Hate Terra Nova<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Review contains some swear words - If you are easily offended stop reading now</span><br />
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Okay maybe HATE is strong word considering I haven't seen it yet, but as a fan of most things time travel related, I am NOT looking forward to Terra Nova's debut later this month on FOX.<br />
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For starters the premise strikes me as clichéd - human race is doomed, scientists decide to save the human race by exporting our problems to some other planet or in this case time period. It sounds like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_2_(TV_series)">Earth 2</a> meets <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_of_the_Lost_(1974_TV_series)">Land of the Lost</a>.<br />
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If you were actually going to use a time machine to try to save the human race, I would not choose the Cretaceous period. For starters there's that nasty problem of carnivorous dinosaurs to deal with and if that weren't enough civilization is still likely doomed in 65 million years when that big old meteor comes crashing to Earth. I could probably give you another 50 reasons why this little colony is more doomed than first settlers at Roanoke.<br />
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Okay so I gather from early reviews that perhaps the pioneers were misled about the time period, but still the scientists should have known better. The only logical reason I can think of transporting back to the era of T-Rex and his bad ass buddies would be for pure entertainment purposes. Oh, wait that's right, this is TV and people lapped that Jurassic Park shit up 20 years ago. It would make for killer TV right?<br />
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I dunno, I am not sold. YET. I'll try not to prejudge it more than I already have, but its going to be hard to get over my distaste for the premise.<br />
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I could think of a lot more DRAMATIC and interesting times to transport people back to if you were going to try to give humanity a better chance of surviving. I gathered from previews that the expedition is largely American-centric so why not send the crew back to pre-Columbus times in America. It's <i>your</i> country anyhow right. [Sarcasm Alert] Who's going to argue if you go back and colonize America a few hundred years earlier. Sure you mess up the timeline (just a little), but it would make for interesting drama. You could have factions that want to do it right this time around and come up with some sort of Utopia where they live in harmony with the aboriginal people (Native Americans or as we Canadians say First Nations people.) Except they're not Native Americans yet, its their land still, ain't it. So the assholes among the expedition want to "do it right this time around" and "assimilate" them before they become a problem. Ah, now I see the problem, people don't want to deal with that sort of racism and race issues on TV.<br />
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So they give you dinosaurs. No one can get upset about blowing up some T-Rex because they threaten your plans to conquer the world.<br />
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I somehow doubt this overpriced show will last more than one season, but I wait for them to prove me wrong.<br />
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For anyone unfamiliar with the show here's the<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6aNEIZwPFc"> First Look Trailer</a> on YouTube<br />
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If you want a second opinion check out the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/18/arts/television/foxs-terra-nova-aims-for-broad-appeal.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1">NY Times Review here</a><br />
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<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><A HREF=http://www.timetravelreviews.com>Andy's Anachronisms Web Site</A></div>Andy Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16607709651434579162noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328549824300238112.post-9941725244572853272010-11-21T00:46:00.002-05:002010-11-21T01:12:59.344-05:00Source CodeDirector <b>Ducan Jones'</b> follow up movie to his brilliant, if flawed, <b>Moon</b> is due out next Spring (April 15, 2011) and is called <b>Source Code</b>.<div><br /></div><div>Here's the synopsis from the website <a href="http://www.enterthesourcecode.com/">ENTERTHESOURCECODE.COM</a><br /><br /><div><blockquote>When decorated soldier Captain Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) wakes up in the body of an unknown man, he discovers he's part of a mission to find the bomber of a Chicago commuter train. In an assignment unlike any he's ever known, he learns he's part of a government experiment called the "Source Code," a program that enables him to cross over into another man's identity in the last 8 minutes of his life. With a second, much larger target threatening to kill millions in downtown Chicago, Colter re-lives the incident over and over again, gathering clues each time, until he can solve the mystery of who is behind the bombs and prevent the next attack.</blockquote><br /></div><br /><div align="center"><br /><iframe width="480" height="295" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/mnJegNyAb1w?fs=1" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></div><br /><br />You can see the trailer here as well.<br /><br />At first glance it seems like a cross between <b>Groundhog Day</b> + <b>12 Monkeys</b> + <b>The Matrix</b>, which isn't a bad thing if its done right. What worries me is when you watch the trailer, they lean way too heavily on the love interest. Then it starts sounding a bit like the Denzel Washington movie <b>Déjà Vu</b> and that can be a problem.<br /><br />I'll reserve judgement on it until I see it or learn more about it, but I pray and hope that Jones doesn't turn into another M. Night Shyamalan, and fails to live up to his promise.<br /><br />Check back in the spring for a full review of the movie.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><A HREF=http://www.timetravelreviews.com>Andy's Anachronisms Web Site</A></div>Andy Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16607709651434579162noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328549824300238112.post-91849248461450114242010-06-21T08:34:00.004-04:002010-06-21T08:57:28.999-04:00Awesome Anachronistic Alt/1977<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5FoDz3B14yU/TB9hb3fPQ9I/AAAAAAAAAA0/QsQ4elS68jU/s1600/amv_alt1977_logo_print.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5FoDz3B14yU/TB9hb3fPQ9I/AAAAAAAAAA0/QsQ4elS68jU/s320/amv_alt1977_logo_print.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485210002539889618" /></a><br /><br />I just stumbled upon <span style="font-weight:bold;">Alex Varanese's</span> website courtesy of <a href="http://www.boingboing.net/2010/06/21/modern-gadgets-made.html">Boing Boing </a>and am in love with his <a href="http://www.alexvaranese.com/work/alt1977">Alt/1977: We Are Not Time Travelers</a>. He takes 2010 technology and re-imagines it in glossy 1977 ads with faux-wood products, red LEDs, and a orange and yellow color scheme straight out of the 70s. Even better than the retro-mp3 players or the LapTron is the ad copy.<br /><br />Sample line from the Pocket Hi-Fi: <br /><br /><blockquote>"So next time you are looking for a way to bring your tunes with you on the go, remember two things: Nothing beats the Pocket Hi-Fi<sup>tm</sup> and our company <span style="font-weight:bold;">definitely</span> wasn't started by rogue time travelers from 33 years in the future. Like at all."</blockquote><br />Priceless. <br /><br />Now, I need framed prints of these ASAP!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><A HREF=http://www.timetravelreviews.com>Andy's Anachronisms Web Site</A></div>Andy Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16607709651434579162noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328549824300238112.post-43660602319811329612010-05-18T20:24:00.003-04:002010-05-18T20:36:25.554-04:00Summer Movies with Time TravelThere are at least two movies coming out this summer with elements of time travel and alternate universes. <br /><br />Due out May 21st is <span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">Shrek Forever After</span></span>, the fourth installment in the franchise. This go around finds Shrek doing battle with Rumpelstiltskin who tricks him into wishing for a universe where he never met Fiona and still lives in the swamp. This alternate universe has Rumpelstiltskin as King and Shrek is forced to try to set things right.<br /><br />Due out May 28th is <span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">Prince of Persia: Sands of Time</span></span> which is based on the video game of the same name. Starring a very buff <span style="font-weight:bold;">Jake Gyllenhaal</span>, as the Prince Dastan who is trying to stop the Sands of Time from destroying the world. The Prince is able to control the flow of time using a magical dagger.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><A HREF=http://www.timetravelreviews.com>Andy's Anachronisms Web Site</A></div>Andy Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16607709651434579162noreply@blogger.com28tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328549824300238112.post-82277337305518631992010-02-11T23:29:00.003-05:002010-02-12T00:20:36.960-05:00Hot Tub Time Machine<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5FoDz3B14yU/S3Tk2aALevI/AAAAAAAAAAk/hqmKZsj1HOU/s1600-h/Hot+Tub+Time+Machine+movie+poster+(1).jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5FoDz3B14yU/S3Tk2aALevI/AAAAAAAAAAk/hqmKZsj1HOU/s320/Hot+Tub+Time+Machine+movie+poster+(1).jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437222273487174386" /></a><br /><br /><br />Yup, you read that right. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Hot Tub Time Machine</span> is coming to a screen near you this March. A R-rated comedy starring John Cusack, Rob Corddry, Craig Robinson, and Clark Duke, the group is transported back to 1986 and a ski weekend via a hot tub time machine.<br /><br />It looks ridiculous and who doesn't love to make fun of the 1980s. Those of us that are of the main character's generation remember it well and anyone born in the 1980s is sure to love the retro-nostalgia of a time they don't remember. Only an iPod-generation would find the thought of a chunky, yellow, Walkman, that plays cassettes funny.<br /><br />The trailers do look funny and I think its largely a combination of the material and the deadpan comedic timing of the actors involved. <br /><br />Check out the latest trailer here at i09.com <a href="http://bit.ly/90mxhs">http://bit.ly/90mxhs</a><br /><br />The trailerw can also be found here - <a href="http://www.apple.com/trailers/mgm/hottubtimemachine/">http://www.apple.com/trailers/mgm/hottubtimemachine/</a><br /><br />Or you can go to the official website <a href="http://www.kicksomepast.com">http://www.kicksomepast.com</a><br /><br />io9.com also has the Restricted trailer (NSFW)here - <a href="http://io9.com/5454056/raunchiest-hot-tub-time-machine-trailer-to-date-%5Bnsfw%5D">http://io9.com/5454056/raunchiest-hot-tub-time-machine-trailer-to-date-%5Bnsfw%5D</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><A HREF=http://www.timetravelreviews.com>Andy's Anachronisms Web Site</A></div>Andy Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16607709651434579162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328549824300238112.post-85580892034030568852010-02-09T21:09:00.002-05:002010-02-09T21:34:36.004-05:00Time Travel is a Bitch"Time travel is a bitch" - Sawyer from "Lost"<br /><br /><div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px;"><embed src="http://media.entertonement.com/embed/OpenEntPlayer.swf" id="1_e74ac53c_15e9_11df_9719_0015c5f4d562" name="1_e74ac53c_15e9_11df_9719_0015c5f4d562" flashvars="auto_play=false&clip_pid=lpyycjtxmp&e=&id=1_e74ac53c_15e9_11df_9719_0015c5f4d562&skin_pid=wfxswdnlkf" width="300" height="30" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" allowscriptaccess="always" wmode="transparent"></embed><div id="1_e74ac53c_15e9_11df_9719_0015c5f4d562_anchor" style="font-size: 8px; color: black; text-decoration: none; display: block; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.entertonement.com/clips/lpyycjtxmp--Time-travel's-a-bitchLost-Lost-The-Little-Prince-" style="font-size: 8px; color: black;" target="_blank">Time travel's a bitch sound bite</a> <a href="http://www.entertonement.com/collections/4135/LOST?ht_link=1_e74ac53c_15e9_11df_9719_0015c5f4d562" style="font-size: 8px; color: black;" target="_blank">LOST sound bites</a></div><img alt="Time travel's a bitch sound bite" border="0" height="0" src="http://www.entertonement.com/widgets/img/clip/lpyycjtxmp/1/1_e74ac53c_15e9_11df_9719_0015c5f4d562/blank.gif" style="visibility: hidden; width: 0px; height: 0px; margin:0; padding:0; float:right" width="0" /></div><br /><br /><br />I was just browsing this site <a href="http://www.entertonement.com">Entertonement.com</a> which has a wealth of clips from everything and anything imaginable including <B>Time Travel</B> related quotes like the one from Sawyer above.<br /><br />There's also the sound from Lost when they are travelling through time.<br /><br /><div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px;"><embed src="http://media.entertonement.com/embed/OpenEntPlayer.swf" id="1_54b8551a_15ec_11df_bf33_0019b9e56dac" name="1_54b8551a_15ec_11df_bf33_0019b9e56dac" flashvars="auto_play=false&clip_pid=xlgqtprrfn&e=&id=1_54b8551a_15ec_11df_bf33_0019b9e56dac&skin_pid=wfxswdnlkf" width="300" height="30" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" allowscriptaccess="always" wmode="transparent"></embed><div id="1_54b8551a_15ec_11df_bf33_0019b9e56dac_anchor" style="font-size: 8px; color: black; text-decoration: none; display: block; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.entertonement.com/clips/xlgqtprrfn--Time-travel-soundLost-Ringtones-Because-You-Left-Lost-Season-5-Ep-1-Because-You-Left-" style="font-size: 8px; color: black;" target="_blank">Time travel sound sound bite</a> <a href="http://www.entertonement.com/collections/4135/LOST?ht_link=1_54b8551a_15ec_11df_bf33_0019b9e56dac" style="font-size: 8px; color: black;" target="_blank">LOST sound bites</a></div><img alt="Time travel sound sound bite" border="0" height="0" src="http://www.entertonement.com/widgets/img/clip/xlgqtprrfn/1/1_54b8551a_15ec_11df_bf33_0019b9e56dac/blank.gif" style="visibility: hidden; width: 0px; height: 0px; margin:0; padding:0; float:right" width="0" /></div><br /><br />You can also find audio clips from Terminator, Back to the Future, and Dr. Who television series. Surprisingly there are very few clips from movies like Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure or say Donnie Darko.<br /><br />Let me know if you know of any other great sites for sound clips (especially time travel / sci-fi related ones).<br /><br />I'll leave you with this last one with wise words from Doc Brown.<br /><br /><div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px;"><embed src="http://media.entertonement.com/embed/OpenEntPlayer.swf" id="1_983ad83a_15ec_11df_b6ba_0019b9e56dac" name="1_983ad83a_15ec_11df_b6ba_0019b9e56dac" flashvars="auto_play=false&clip_pid=ddwmpngcgj&e=&id=1_983ad83a_15ec_11df_b6ba_0019b9e56dac&skin_pid=wfxswdnlkf" width="300" height="30" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" allowscriptaccess="always" wmode="transparent"></embed><div id="1_983ad83a_15ec_11df_b6ba_0019b9e56dac_anchor" style="font-size: 8px; color: black; text-decoration: none; display: block; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.entertonement.com/clips/ddwmpngcgj--88-mphBack-to-the-Future-Christopher-Lloyd-Dr-Emmett-Doc-L-Brown-" style="font-size: 8px; color: black;" target="_blank">If my calculations are correct, when this baby hits 88 miles per hour, you're gonna see some serious shit sound bite</a> <a href="http://www.entertonement.com/collections/5855/Back-to-the-Future?ht_link=1_983ad83a_15ec_11df_b6ba_0019b9e56dac" style="font-size: 8px; color: black;" target="_blank">Back to the Future sound bites</a></div><img alt="If my calculations are correct, when this baby hits 88 miles per hour, you're gonna see some serious shit sound bite" border="0" height="0" src="http://www.entertonement.com/widgets/img/clip/ddwmpngcgj/1/1_983ad83a_15ec_11df_b6ba_0019b9e56dac/blank.gif" style="visibility: hidden; width: 0px; height: 0px; margin:0; padding:0; float:right" width="0" /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><A HREF=http://www.timetravelreviews.com>Andy's Anachronisms Web Site</A></div>Andy Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16607709651434579162noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328549824300238112.post-23325096103605742852010-01-17T12:15:00.003-05:002010-01-17T13:46:49.340-05:00Inglorious Basterds - Alternate History (?)Finally got around to seeing Tarantino's Jewish revenge epic <span style="font-weight:bold;">Inglorious Basterds<span style="font-style:italic;"></span></span> on DVD yesterday.<br /><br />I generally thought it was well done despite feeling like it was overly slow in places. Was surprised how little the over-the-top violence factored into the story. They sure played it up in the marketing when the film first debuted. I figured it was going to spend a lot of time focusing on how the Basterds found creative ways to take revenge on the Nazis they caught. While the scalping and the other torture is pretty graphic it didn't amount to a lot of screen time. It's almost like Tarantino want's to make a 'straight' movie but can't quite let go of the gimmicks. The morality is a bit murky throughout the film which contributes to a lot of the controversy.<br /><br />Tarantino's revisionist history results in an unique alternate history tale. It works on a number of levels the most obvious of which is the divergent timeline and the outcome of World War II.<br /><br />Watched a really good discussion on the film online here today - <a href="http://www.themonthly.com.au/inglourious-basterds-can-hollywood-rewrite-history-2036">Inglorious Basterds: Can Hollywood Rewrite History?</a> which has a lot to say about cinema, Jewish history, holocaust, Tarantino's work in general. It's in several parts and runs over an hour.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><A HREF=http://www.timetravelreviews.com>Andy's Anachronisms Web Site</A></div>Andy Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16607709651434579162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328549824300238112.post-20375036032475223222010-01-12T22:07:00.004-05:002010-01-12T23:30:22.976-05:00Hirsute - Time Travel Short FilmI saw this short film about time travel called <span style="font-weight:bold;">Hirsute</span> a couple years ago at a film festival and love the tone and simplicity of it.<br /><br />A man trying to invent time travel is visited by a future (parallel) self who is more arrogant and devoid of body hair. The movie plays with time travel and sexual themes, but in my mind is really about identity and self-perception.<br /><br />It's well acted and directed and takes you places you probably don't expect. All things a good movie should do.<br /><br />You can watch the entire movie at the Internet Movie Database site. Here's the URL.<a href="http://www.imdb.com/video/wab/vi1670644505/">http://www.imdb.com/video/wab/vi1670644505/</a> You can also catch it at the Vimeo site here: <a href="http://www.vimeo.com/2381662">Hirsute</a>. It's about 14 minutes long.<br /><br />Visit the film makers A.J. Bond and Amy Belling website at <a href="http://hirsute.thesiblings.ca/">http://hirsute.thesiblings.ca/</a><br /><br />Read a review of the film here - <a href="http://torontoist.com/2007/09/tiff_2007_hirsute_and_the_many_martys_theory.php">TIFF 2007: Hirsute And The "Many Martys" Theory</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><A HREF=http://www.timetravelreviews.com>Andy's Anachronisms Web Site</A></div>Andy Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16607709651434579162noreply@blogger.com59tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328549824300238112.post-54874660350203285442009-12-13T21:42:00.005-05:002009-12-13T22:06:37.905-05:00The Yiddish Policemen's Union - Michael Chabon<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.timetravelreviews.com/blog/uploaded_images/yiddish_policemen_small-765957.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 221px;" src="http://www.timetravelreviews.com/blog/uploaded_images/yiddish_policemen_small-765948.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a> Michael Chabon's <span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">The Yiddish Policemen's Union</span></span> is a ground-breaking alternate history novel that was released in 2007. Combining the best of alternate history story telling and hardboiled detective fiction, it's a bit like <B>Harry Turtledove</B> meets <B>Raymond Chandler</B>. <br /><br />Description of Meyer Landsman: <blockquote><span style="font-style:italic;">He has the memory of a convict, the balls of a fireman, and the eyesight of a housebreaker. When there is crime to fight, Landsman tears around Sitka like a man with his pant leg caught on a rocket. It's like there's a film score playing behind him, heavy on the castanets. The problem comes in the hours when he isn't working, when his thoughts start blowing out the open window of his brain like pages from a blotter. Sometimes it takes a heavy paperweight to pin them down.</span></blockquote><br />Chabon asks what if the Jewish state of Isreal never gained a foothold in the Middle East in 1948? What if, instead the Jewish refugees from the Second World War found sanctuary in the most unlikely quarters - Sitka, Alaska? <br /><br />The novel opens with the imminent threat of the 'Reversion' of the Sitka settlement to the U.S. and the displacement of the Jewish settlers to points unknown after building a culture and a community for 60 years.<br /><br />Meyer Landsman, an alcoholic homicide detective at the end of his rope, finds himself investigating the murder of a John Doe in the Zamenhof, the rundown hotel that Landsman calls home. As Landsman begins to unravel the identity of the murder victim with the aid of his partner and cousin, Berko Shemets, they find that a number of people don't want the murder solved including Landsman's superior officer and ex-wife Bina Gelbfish. Bina has the unpleasant task of informing Landsman and Shemets that the squad has been ordered to solve all cases or declare them unsolvable before Reversion occurs in two months time. <br /><br />Winner of the Hugo, Nebula, and numerous other accolades the novel is well worth the read.<br /><br />You can check out my full review here - <a href="http://www.timetravelreviews.com/books/chabon_yiddish_policeman.html">Andy's Anachronisms review of Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon </a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><A HREF=http://www.timetravelreviews.com>Andy's Anachronisms Web Site</A></div>Andy Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16607709651434579162noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328549824300238112.post-26477453748874106542009-12-12T09:55:00.002-05:002009-12-12T10:28:51.802-05:00Beatles Time Travel - Get Back<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.timetravelreviews.com/blog/uploaded_images/john-709891.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 285px; height: 295px;" src="http://www.timetravelreviews.com/blog/uploaded_images/john-709889.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br /><br />It was recently reported by the <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3ie26373dd9e43426158cda685f7153ee2">Hollywood Reporter</a> that actor <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Lee_(actor)">Jason Lee</a> <span style="font-style:italic;">(My Name is Earl, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Chasing Amy)</span> is working on directing an independent film tentatively called <span style="font-weight:bold;">"Get Back"</span>.<br /><br />The film will be produced by Matt Berenson whose questionable track record as a producer includes Let's Go to Prison and the Daddy Day Care/Camp franchise. The story will involve two music-obsessed friends who travel back in time to 1966 London where one gets involved in a love triangle with John Lennon and Yoko Ono. <br /><br />Whether or not it will include any of the other Beatles or more importantly any of their signature music remains to be seen. <br /><br />Just a little anachronistic foot-note in 1966 John Lennon was still married to Cynthia Lennon so technically it would make the situation even more complicated.<br /><br />No word on when we might see this in theatres.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><A HREF=http://www.timetravelreviews.com>Andy's Anachronisms Web Site</A></div>Andy Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16607709651434579162noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328549824300238112.post-24271712077607418852009-12-01T22:50:00.000-05:002009-12-01T22:51:12.890-05:00Road To the Multiverse - Family Guy<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.timetravelreviews.com/blog/uploaded_images/familyguy_roadtomultiverse-749325.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 276px; height: 320px;" src="http://www.timetravelreviews.com/blog/uploaded_images/familyguy_roadtomultiverse-749304.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />Family Guy's Season 8 debut "Road to the Multiverse" found Stewie and Brian leaping between alternate universes a la <a href="http://www.sliders.net/">Sliders</a> with Stewie's hand-held 'timer'. The jokes are often crude, offensive and sometimes fall flat, but when they work, they're brilliant.<br /><br />They start off with a universe where Christianity doesn't exist and as result the "Dark Ages" didn't happen(?) which means science and technology has surpassed that of their own universe. When Brian asks Stewie what happened to all the religious inspired art and culture, Stewie takes him to see the alternate version of what is painted on the ceiling of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sistine_Chapel_ceiling">Sistine Chapel</a>.<br /><br />The second universe they visit is a Flinstone's inspired one with the obvious Peter/Fred and Lois/Wilma cliches. They try way too hard to riff on the Flinstone's penchant for adding ROCK-like suffixes to words. The result is a SMURF-esque mess where ROCK becomes verb/noun/adjectives.<br /><br />The third universe finds Quahog and the United States as a Japanese version that was conquered during the Second World War. It's no Philip K. Dick <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_in_the_High_Castle">"Man in the High Castle"</a>, but it wasn't meant to be. Played for cheap fart jokes and racial/cultural stereotypes it's one of the weaker scenes for me.<br /><br />The fourth universe they arrive in seems normal at first until they discover that everyone has two heads, one happy one sad. Some fairly lame jokes follow only for the scene to end with two-headed baby Stewie making out with himself. Ewww.<br /><br />The fifth universe they jump to finds them stuck in a glacier with the device out of reach of both of them. Brian finds when he wags his tail the ice melts a little, so Stewie must get him "worked up" to the point where his tail melts through and they can reach the device.<br /><br />The next universe, their sixth lands them in bizarre universe where everyone has to poop all at the exact same moment and are dancing on the spot trying to hold it in. WTF?<br /><br />The seventh universe they visit finds them in a Disney-esque animated world (done in the style of Beauty and Beast) where Peter extols the virtue of pie, while Lois and anthropomorphic animals and inanimate objects join in the song. Stewie and Brian are intoxicated of this universe until they find out that its a very anti-semitic one, sending up Walt Disney's rumoured anti-Semitic leanings. A little too over the top for me, but fun to start with.<br /><br />The eighth universe finds them in a Robot Chicken version of the Family Guy where the crudely stop motion animated versions of Peter and Chris are watching tv sitting on the couch. Stewie and Brian have an argument with them and Stewie yells "How does it feel to be on a major network for 30 seconds?" Chris Griffin swears at them before they leave. The in joke here being that Seth Green who does the voice of Chris Griffin is also an executive producer and voice actor for Robot Chicken series.<br /><br />The 9th universe is a bombed out post-apocalyptic world where they discover Sinatra was never born, therefore Kennedy was never elected President, Nixon was elected and botched the Cuban Missile Crisis causing world War III. The scene while brief provides one of the more funny and tasteless jokes involving Lee Harvey Oswald and Mayor McCheese.<br /><br />The next is a bizarrely animated 'low resolution blocky universe' that looks like a cross between bad Korean anime and retro Game Boy graphics. The Griffins of this universe have a brief nonsensical argument that leaves Stewie 'frightened'.<br /><br />The next two universes are the quickest and best sight gags of the entire show. In the 11th jump, they land in a world with fire hydrants from horizon to horizon. Brian simply says "Love It", Stewie says "Hate It" and they teleport out. The 12th universe is awash in a sea of nearly nude men wearing speedos, holding balloons, with a prominent rainbow in the background. Stewie this time gets to say "Love It" and Brian says "Hate It" before they jet.<br /><br />The 13th find the duo in a universe where Brian is a real dog and Stewie a real baby. It doesn't take them long to leave this universe behind.<br /><br />The 14th universe is "where everything is depicted as a Washington Post Political Cartoon." Brian pretends to get the political satire, while Stewie calls him on it.<br /><br />The 15th universe has a sole inhabitant who is "a really far away guy who yells compliments". Its absurd and funny.<br /><br />The 16th is the universe of "misleading portraitures" in which really far away guy makes a brief appearance.<br /><br />The 17th and final universe they land in is a <span style="font-weight:bold;">"<span style="font-style:italic;">Planet of the Apes"</span></span> take off where Dogs rule the earth and have pet humans. In this universe the Griffins are a family of dogs and Brian is their pet human. Brian 'accidentally' smashes the hand held device. Stewie frustrated with the role reverse seeks his revenge on Brian by "doing his business" in the park. In this universe Stewie the dog confides in Stewie the human that he too has perfected multiverse travel and can help him get back to his own world. Dog-Stewie points out that Human-Stewie must have had the "shuffle" feature on his timer turned on hence the random jumping around between universes. When Stewie and Brian escape to their own universe Human-Brian makes the leap with them as well, only to come to a tragic end.<br /><br />For me I appreciated the sight gags and the action that happens off screen, but is described in several of the universes. The plot device of the hand held timer was great since allowed Stewie to give the audience a thumbnail sketch of each universe just like Al was always giving Sam in each <span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">Quantum Leap</span></span> episode without wasting time.<br /><br />Definitely worth a look. If you are in the United States you can probably find this on a streaming site such as Hulu.com, outside of the US you might have to hunt a little harder for a copy of it, if you were like me and missed when it first aired.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><A HREF=http://www.timetravelreviews.com>Andy's Anachronisms Web Site</A></div>Andy Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16607709651434579162noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328549824300238112.post-70298255248251806872009-09-23T23:45:00.004-04:002009-09-24T00:17:03.421-04:00Flashforward<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.timetravelreviews.com/blog/uploaded_images/flashforward_tie_in-780300.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 198px; height: 320px;" src="http://www.timetravelreviews.com/blog/uploaded_images/flashforward_tie_in-780297.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Don't forget <a href="http://abc.go.com/shows/flash-forward">ABC's FlashForward </a>debuts on Thursday September 24th, 2009.<br /><br />Based on the award-winning 1999 novel by Canadian author <a href="http://www.sfwriter.com/exff.htm">Robert J. Sawyer</a>, the series features a stellar cast including Joseph Fiennes, John Cho, Jack Davenport, Courtney B. Vance, Zachry Knighton, Peyton List, as well as a couple of LOST alumni Dominic Monaghan and Sonya Walger. The premise involves a global event that causes everyone's consciousness to "flashforward" 6 months into the future. The event lasts for 2 minutes and 17 seconds during which time everyone on the planet blacks out. The character are forced to deal with the ensuing chaos from the black out and trying to reconcile what they saw in their own future. <br /><br />And you have no excuse for missing this. For starters, ABC is repeating the first episode this Friday night. And secondly it has been sold to 44 markets:<br /><br /> * Australia: Seven<br /> * Canada: /A\<br /> * Cyprus: Fox International<br /> * Finland: Nelonen<br /> * France: TF1<br /> * Greece: Fox International<br /> * Hong Kong: TVB<br /> * Iceland: RUV<br /> * India: Zee Cafe<br /> * Ireland: RTE<br /> * Korea: OCN<br /> * Malaysia: Media Prima<br /> * Netherlands: SBS<br /> * New Zealand: TVNZ<br /> * Norway: TV2<br /> * Philipines: ABS-CBN<br /> * Portugal: AXN<br /> * Singapore: MediaCorp and Signtel<br /> * Southeast Asia: Fox International<br /> * Spain: AXN<br /> * Spain: Cuatro<br /> * Turkey: Digiturk<br /> * UK: Five<br /> * US: ABC <br /><br />Watch it and then check out <a href="http://www.jointhemosaic.com/s">http://www.jointhemosaic.com/</a> where people can relate their flashforward stories and piece together a mosaic of what the future looks like.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><A HREF=http://www.timetravelreviews.com>Andy's Anachronisms Web Site</A></div>Andy Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16607709651434579162noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328549824300238112.post-25359604401853467522009-09-07T09:25:00.001-04:002009-09-07T09:29:30.321-04:00Wyld Stallyns Rule!<center><img src="http://www.timetravelreviews.com/blog/uploaded_images/BillTed_AirGuitar-777734.jpg" alt="Wyld Stayllns - Bill and Ted" border="0"></center><br /><br />For a few years between 1989 and about 1992, you couldn't go anywhere without running into two of the most unlikely time travelers since Marty McFly hit 88 mph in a borrowed time machine.<br /><br />Released in 1989 <a href="http://www.timetravelreviews.com/movies/bill_and_ted_excellent.html"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">"Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure"</span></a> - introduced the world to Ted "Theodore" Logan and Bill S. Preston, Esquire. Legends in their own mind this high school duo dreamed of the days when their band Wyld Stallyns would be bigger than Van Halen - only problem was they needed to learn to play the guitar first. On the verge of flunking history, the duo with the aid of their most excellent guide Rufus (George Carlin) and his time machine travel through time kidnapping the likes of Joan of Arc, Genghis Khan, So-crates, Bill the Kid, and Abraham Lincoln.<br />Little did they know that the fate of the universe depended on them passing their high school history class and becoming a most excellent band.<br /><br />The movie was so successful, that it spawned a sequel in 1991 - "<span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey"</span> less of a history lesson than the first, the second film featured killer robots from the future, a la Terminator, sent back in time to kill Bill and Ted and prevent them from winning the battle of the bands and become mega stars. Bill and Ted are dispatched to the afterlife where they have to match wits with the grim reaper DEATH and win their freedom.<br /><br />This movies spawned both a <a href="http://www.billandted.org/toon.html">Saturday morning cartoon series</a> and limited run comic book, <a href="http://www.billandted.org/comicinfo.html">Bill and Ted's Excellent Comic Book</a> that began with a film adaptation of Bogus Journey and then proceeded to a 12 part series. I recently came across a copy of issue #10 in my local comic store's delete bin and picked it up for 25 cents.<br /><br />There were video games, action figures and even a <a href="http://www.billandted.org/merchandisefood.htm">breakfast cereal</a> that was apparently a mix of cinammon oats with marshmallow musical notes. If you don't believe me head on over to Linda Kay's most excellent site <a href="http://www.billandted.org">BillandTed.org</a> where all things non-heinous about the dynamic duo can be found.<br /><br />I think I'll spend the rest of Labour Day with a Bill and Ted marathon myself.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><A HREF=http://www.timetravelreviews.com>Andy's Anachronisms Web Site</A></div>Andy Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16607709651434579162noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328549824300238112.post-74089933052843291402009-08-15T12:23:00.003-04:002009-08-15T12:56:45.508-04:00The Time Traveler's WifeI first read Audery Niffenegger's The <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Time Traveler's Wife</span> when it came out in 2003 and while I enjoyed it immensely, but I almost never got past the first two chapters.<br /><br />I can see why she had troubles finding a publisher for this first novel. Stories told in the first person can be hard to sell, but a story with TWO alternating first person view points AND jumps in time is enough to make most publisher's heads explode never mind the general reading public. Luckily the author's decision to preface each chapter with a little 'title card' giving the date, the relative ages of Henry and Claire, as well as indicating who was narrating the chapter helped guide the reader through the novel. And what a fine journey it is. Emotionally moving and rich in secondary characters, it's a real page turner from what I recall.<br /><br />Here is a link to my review of the book <a href="http://www.timetravelreviews.com/books/niffenegger.html">The Time Traveler's Wife</a>.<br /><br />The book was optioned as a film virtually the moment Niffenegger signed her book deal, but it wasn't until 2007 that a script and casting started to firm up for the movie. Eric Bana was cast in the role of Henry and Rachel McAdams in the role of Claire. The majority of the film was shot in the fall of 2007 in and around Hamilton and Toronto, Ontario. An initial release date of February 2008 was announced, but was quietly and quickly withdrawn. At the time I suspected the studio had lost faith in the movie and was quietly pulling for a DVD release or dumping in a few markets . In the end it was rescheduled for August 14th, 2009 release date. The explanation for the delay that has been circulating was that reshoots were needed and could not be rescheduled until the locations were available (the outdoor meadow) and Eric Bana's hair grew back after his role in Star Trek.<br /><br />I haven't had a chance to see the movie since it came out this week, but hope to see it in the next week or so. Based on reviews and the dismal 36% freshness rating over at <a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/time_travelers_wife/">Rottentomatoes.com</a>, I am afraid it won't match the magical nature of the book.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.thetimetravelerswifemovie.com/">The Official Time Traveler's Wife Site</a><br /><br />Have you seen the movie? What did you think?<br /><br />Have you read the book as well?<br /><br />I appreciate your thoughts, but please not too many "spoilers" for those that haven't read the book or watched the movie.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><A HREF=http://www.timetravelreviews.com>Andy's Anachronisms Web Site</A></div>Andy Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16607709651434579162noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328549824300238112.post-9040310366264588712009-08-03T12:05:00.003-04:002009-08-03T12:14:31.423-04:00404 Error - Page Not FoundYou think after owning a website for 10 years I would have created a decent 404 Error Page. I like to think I am creative and clever. Problem is there are never enough hours in the day to do all the projects I would like.<br /><br />It's hard enough finding time to write reviews and work on my own writing, never mind designing the backyard time machine, dreaming about creating a time travel web comic, creating an online time machine, and little distractions like designing my own clever 404 Error page.<br /><br />If I was going to design my own 404 Error page obviously it would have something to do with time travel. A broken time machine perhaps? Not sure what else.<br /><br />Any suggestions?<br /><br />In the meantime here are some clever ones <a href="http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2007/08/17/404-error-pages-reloaded/">Smashing Magazine - 404 Error Pages</a> to browse.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><A HREF=http://www.timetravelreviews.com>Andy's Anachronisms Web Site</A></div>Andy Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16607709651434579162noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328549824300238112.post-59282419743431744382009-07-31T22:48:00.003-04:002009-08-01T00:05:50.605-04:00Time Travel in CommercialsTime travel references always show up in the strangest places including television ads.<br /><br />One of my favourites from back in the day was a Pepsi commercial that featured some intrepid inventors preparing to test their time machine and send an individual back to 1885. The time traveller accidentally takes a Pepsi he is drinking with him into he time machine. When they realize he error the one scientist exclaims to the other "This is catastrophic - it could change history!" The other scientist tries to reassure him "Relax Smith, you don't think one can of Pepsi can alter 100 years of history do you?" As the pair leave the lab, a Coke machine with the banner - 100th Anniversary disappears as does a transport truck emblazoned with Coke disappears as well a factory for Coke.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/6UCmFwFKGjE&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/6UCmFwFKGjE&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />So, what are you trying to say with this commercial? That your product, Pepsi isn't good enough to beat the competition, so you need to go back in time and eliminate Coke? I am surprised they went with the "Back to the Future" ripoff and not a "Terminator" spoof. Despite being primarily a Coke drinker most of my life, I still love this commercial.<br /><br />Watch for a young Bruno Kirby as one of the scientists that send the kid back to 1885.<br /><br />Our second time travel commercial for today is more recent one for Bacardi Mojitos. The premise is simple but well executed both from a visual time travel experience and from a marketing one as well. A guy at a night club finishes his very tasty Mojito and decides to head to he bar to get another. As he crosses the club he passes through a variety of decades, 1960s, 1950s, 1920s, and finally the 1860s. The guy retrieves his drink and the voice over says - "Since 1862 the best mojitos have always been made the same way. Bacardi. The Original Mojito"<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/O0rx1srLsh0&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0xcc2550&color2=0xe87a9f"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/O0rx1srLsh0&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0xcc2550&color2=0xe87a9f" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />It reminds me a bit of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4slV7jvj4I">Will Smith's 1999 video Will2K</a>, but better.<br /><br />Do you know of any other commercials that use time travel?<div class="blogger-post-footer"><A HREF=http://www.timetravelreviews.com>Andy's Anachronisms Web Site</A></div>Andy Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16607709651434579162noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328549824300238112.post-69375185286995070472009-06-25T12:28:00.004-04:002009-06-25T13:06:34.882-04:00Julian Comstock - Robert Charles Wilson<a href="http://www.timetravelreviews.com/blog/uploaded_images/JulianComstock-780324.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 211px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://www.timetravelreviews.com/blog/uploaded_images/JulianComstock-780281.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div>One of my other favourite Canadian authors, Robert Charles Wilson released his 14th novel this week. The retro-futuristic <strong><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#3366ff;">Julian Comstock: A Story of 22nd Century America</span></strong> tells the story of Julian Comstock heir to the presidency of a very depopulated and technological hamstrung society that looks more like 19th century America than the 22nd. Ruled in part by a religious group called the Dominon, the novel focuses on a four year window in Julian's life as told by his companion Adam Hazard. I haven't read any of the book myself, just glowing reviews of it.</div><div><p>Personally I can't get enough of Wilson's fiction. I first discovered his work with <a href="http://www.timetravelreviews.com/books/darwinia.html">Darwinia</a> which was published in 1998. His work is very accessible, full of characters that are as real as your co-worker and next door neighbour, and still delivers on the big ideas in a way that is intergral to the story-telling and not just a big Wow factor that you often find in less adept SF.</p></div><p>I just finished reading a great interview with Rob over at <a href="http://io9.com/5302253/robert-charles-wilson-talks-about-movies-and-limits-to-the-singularity">io9.com</a> (see link) in which he talks about the novel and his style. My favourite part of the interview of course is where he talks about time and time travel. Here's an excerpt from the interview.</p><br /><br /><blockquote><p><strong><span style="color:#ff0000;">io9:</span></strong> Many of your books have dealt with time travel or time warping ortemporal mash-ups in some way. I think the temporal juxtaposition of past and future in Julian Comstock could make it a time travel novel too. What appeals to you about messing around with time?<br /><br /><span style="color:#ff0000;">RCW:</span> I like to say that science fiction de-privileges the present. Past, present, future — those aren't fixed categories; they're points of view. It was the French composer Nadia Boulanger who said, "In art there are no generations, only individuals; all times have been modern." Not just in art, I would add. The quaintness of the past and the marvelousness of the future are entirely in the eye of the beholder. Messing around with time in fiction is one way we remind ourselves of that truth. Science fiction does it more consciously and consistently than any other genre, and that's one of the things I love about it.<br /></p><p></p></blockquote><br /><br />Julian Comstock is available June 23rd 2009 for sale at most book stores.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><A HREF=http://www.timetravelreviews.com>Andy's Anachronisms Web Site</A></div>Andy Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16607709651434579162noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328549824300238112.post-46452786760130164782009-05-25T00:24:00.003-04:002009-05-25T00:43:45.448-04:00Rob Sawyer in Sudbury<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.timetravelreviews.com/blog/uploaded_images/cousw1lghc-707139.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 212px; height: 320px;" src="http://www.timetravelreviews.com/blog/uploaded_images/cousw1lghc-707137.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />One of my favourite SF authors, Robert J. Sawyer is coming to Sudbury on Monday the 25th to host a reading and signing of his latest book <a href="http://wakewatchwonder.com/">Wake</a>. I'll be there, book in hand.<br /><br />Rob has made numerous contributions to the Time Travel/Alternate History genre in his long and short fiction over the years. I have reviewed <a href="http://www.timetravelreviews.com/books/sawyer_end_of_an_era.html">End of an Era</a> and <a href="http://www.timetravelreviews.com/books/sawyer_hominids.html">Hominids</a> on my site a few years ago. One of his other fantastic novels that deals with time (travel) is Flashforward (or Flash Forward as it has now been republished as).<br /><br />If you've been living under a rock, you may not know that ABC has developed Flash Forward as a series (13 Episodes) for the fall 2009 line up and has been running teaser ads for during the final few episodes of LOST.<br /><br />You can catch one of the teasers here on YouTube <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLq8Z24VHt4&feature=player_embedded">FlashForward Teaser</a>. It's being hailed by many as LOST's replacement and I think rightly so.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><A HREF=http://www.timetravelreviews.com>Andy's Anachronisms Web Site</A></div>Andy Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16607709651434579162noreply@blogger.com0