A to Z Challenge – T – Cult Classics: This is Spinal Tap, Tremors, Triumph, The Time Machine, and More! Plus Divinity: Original Sin Review and Judges Needed

A to Z Challenge – Cult Classics – T

Movies-Music-Sci-fi Book-Bloggers-Dragon Term

Movies –

Tremors
This 1990 film harkens back to the classic monster movie. Starring Kevin Bacon, Fred Ward, and Reba McEntire, it spawned three sequels and a series, and became a huge hit on video.

This is Spinal Tap
Directed by Rob Reiner, this rock mockumentary debuted in 1984. Selected for preservation by the USA National Film Registry, it became a huge hit, and many musicians said it hit close to home. The IMDB ranking for this movie was adjusted to eleven in honor of the film.

Time Bandits
This quirky 1981 British film featured an all-star cast, including Sean Connery and John Cleese. Directed by Terry Gilliam, it was the first of the director’s Trilogy of Imagination.

Music –

Triumph – Allied Forces
The fifth album from the Canadian trio, it was their first mainstream success. It featured the hits Magic Power and Fight the Good Fight.

Science Fiction Book –

The Time Machine – H. G. Wells
Published in 1895, Wells established the idea of a time machine. It’s inspired numerous movies, radio programs, comics and more. It’s likely inspired more works than any other story.

Bloggers –

Tara Tyler
Want to learn some fun stuff about marketing, organizing, kids, and everything in between? Need some tips, advice, or just a friendly smile? Then you need to follow the delightful author Tara!

TB Markinson at Making My Mark
Enjoy a variety of genres? Want some tips from authors who have gone before you? Then visit English lass TB today!

Teresa Powell Coltrin at Journaling Woman
Enjoy spiritual reflections on Sunday? Want to follow the adventures of Millie the dog? Get some writing tips? The you need to check out the wonderful Teresa!

Tonja Drecker at Kidbits
Want to learn more about the author journey? Learn about life on a farm? Meet someone who is uber-supportive? Then visit the joyful Tonja today!

Dragon of the Stars Term –

Tarquin
One of the oldest battleships in the Hyrathian fleet, the Tarquin saw the Dragon in action. Her age does not help her when the other races declare war against the Hyrathians though.

Dragon of the Stars is out now!
Check out the site What Are the Kargrandes? for clues as to how they tie into the story.

Calling Speculative Fiction Authors!

Last fall I got to judge a short story contest for high school students and it was a blast. (Bold New Worlds is available now.) Well, judges are needed for this year’s volume of the anthology.
Charity Bradford states:
I'm ready to start looking for the 2015 Judges. Judging will take place during the month of November. During the contest your photo, bio and links to books and webpages will be up on Bold New Worlds. You'll also be listed in the 2015 BNW Anthology as a judge.
If you are a speculative fiction author, see her site for details.

Computer Game Review

Divinity: Original Sin

This computer game was funded by a Kickstarter campaign.
It’s a cross between Icewind Dale and Dungeon Seige. It’s old school – a free roaming with turn based combat RPG. You have the traditional three-quarter view looking down on your party of four and it can be either single or multi-player.
The main quest has dozens of side quests. When you add them all up, there’s at least a hundred hours of play.
If you have the patience and aren’t all hack and slash, you can get lost for months with this game.
A lot of fun – highly recommended!

And have you signed up for the Blood, Boobs, and Carnage Blogfest yet?
Sign up – you know you want to!!

Fan of Spinal Tap? (This one goes to eleven.) Remember Triumph? (No, not the Insult Comic Dog.) Met those bloggers yet? Interested in judging for the anthology? Played any good computer games lately? And are you sad or excited the Challenge ends in one week…?

And if you missed it yesterday, I visited Donna K. Weaver and talked about building a strong online presence while maintaining privacy.

Great Science Fiction Movies You May Have Missed

Some science fiction movies that may have slipped under your radar...


A dystopian look at the future…

Equilibrium 2002

Staring Christian Bale, Sean Bean, William Fichtner, Emily Watson, Taye Diggs

In a futuristic world, a strict regime has eliminated war by suppressing emotions: books, art and music are strictly forbidden and feeling is a crime punishable by death. Cleric John Preston (Bale) is a top ranking government agent responsible for destroying those who resist the rules. When he misses a dose of Prozium, a mind-altering drug that hinders emotion, Preston, who has been trained to enforce the strict laws of the new regime, suddenly becomes the only person capable of overthrowing it.

Time travel and an aircraft carrier - what more could you want?

The Final Countdown 1980

Staring Kirk Douglas, Martin Sheen, Charles Durning

The USS Nimitz, a modern-day nuclear aircraft carrier, is drawn through a time warp from 1980 to a couple days before the Japanese assault on Pearl Harbor, and the crew must decide whether to launch a preemptive strike against the incoming Japanese carrier fleet with their more advanced air wing, or allow history to take its course, which might not happen since they had rescued Senator Chapman, who disappeared shortly before the attack, from his death.

Space man + Vikings + space creature = great time!

Outlander 2008

Staring Jim Caviezel, John Hurt, Ron Perlman

During the reign of the Vikings, Kainan, a man from a far-off world, crash lands on Earth, bringing with him an alien predator known as the Moorwen. Though both man and monster are seeking revenge for violence committed against them, Kainan leads the alliance to kill the Moorwen by fusing his advanced technology with the Viking's Iron Age weaponry.

One of Cronenberg’s earliest and best.

Scanners 1981

Staring Michael Ironside, Patrick McGoohan

There are 4 billion people on earth. 237 are Scanners. They have the most terrifying powers ever created... and they are winning.
Darryl Revok is the most powerful of all the scanners, and is the head of the underground scanner movement for world domination. Scanners have great psychic power, strong enough to control minds; they can inflict enormous pain/damage on their victims. Doctor Paul Ruth finds a scanner that Revok hasn't, and converts him to their cause - to destroy the underground movement.

Bizarre mind trip of suspense…

Cube 1997

Staring David Hewlett, Nicole de Boer

Six total strangers awaken one day to find themselves alone in a cubical maze. Once they meet, they work together using their given skills and talents to survive the deadly traps which guard many of the colored cubic rooms. Using Leaven's mathematical skills, they press forward, upward, and downward through the hatches to try and find the outer shell.

Alex Proyas’s intricate and incredible masterpiece.

Dark City 1998

Staring Rufus Sewell, Jennifer Connelly, John Hurt, Kiefer Sutherland

John's life has become a nightmare. He is hunted by the police for a series of murders he knows nothing about, a woman who claims to be his wife is after him, and so is a mysterious "doctor". But his worst trouble is the strangers, a series of vastly powerful beings who seem to manipulate just about everything in the city, and want him because of the extraordinary powers he manifested. John decides to find out what is happening in his city; why is it always night? And why can nobody tell him a way to leave the city?

Science fiction writing at its very best!

The Lost Room 2006 mini-series

Staring Peter Krause, Julianna Margulies, Kevin Pollack

A Policeman uncovers a key while working on a murder case. The key can open every door and take him into a motel room, but if you leave there something that doesn't belong to you- it will be gone as soon as the room "restarts"... He discovers that there are objects hidden in whole the world. They don't look special, but they have special powers. When his daughter is kidnapped and he is framed for killing his partner, he must find a way to bring her back from the room, while working with different groups and men searching for all the objects. But who can he really trust when everybody goes crazy once touching the objects...

And in case you missed this outstanding Terry Gilliam flick – funny, quirky, strange, and with little people!

Time Bandits 1981

Staring John Cleese, Sean Connery, Shelly Duvall, Ian Holm, David Rappaport, David Warner

A young boy's wardrobe contains a time hole. Through this hole an assortment of short people (i.e. dwarfs) come while escaping from their master, the supreme being. They take Kevin with them on their adventures through time from Napoleonic times to the Middle Ages to the early 1900s, to the time of Legends and the Fortress of Ultimate Darkness where they confront Evil.


What else would you select? What outstanding science fiction film has not been seen by the masses or enjoyed a decent box office take?