Celebrating 25 Years of “Blade Runner”

It’s exactly 25 years since “Blade Runner” was released in the UK. Directed by Ridley Scott, it’s widely ranked among the greatest sci-fi movies of all time.

If you’ve seen it, you’ll be familiar with Harrison Ford as Deckard - a former “Blade Runner” charged with hunting down a group of illegal androids called “replicants”.

Ridley Scott directed “Blade Runner” following the success of “Alien” in 1979. The script picked up by the director was loosely based on Philip K. Dick’s novel “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?”. Despite compliments from the author saying that the director had nailed his vision of the future, Scott claimed never to have read the book.

Harrison Ford was hired for the lead role following the success of “Star Wars”. He would later say that the gruelling “Blade Runner” shoot was one of the most frustrating experiences of his career.

It’s been a source of much debate between “Blade Runner” fans since the original release: Is Deckard a replicant? Scott has claimed that the character is an android. Ford has always maintained that the character is human.

Ridley Scott and Harrison Ford didn’t get on during the shoot of “Blade Runner”. Ford has been uninvolved with Scott’s soon-to-be-released “Definitive” cut of the film.

The story sees Deckard fall in love with an experimental replicant called Rachael (Sean Young) on the hunt for the illegal replicants led by Roy (Rutger Hauer).

Ridley Scott’s vision of the future is one of the most striking features of “Blade Runner”. The massive futuristic sets were inspired by a factory the director worked at earlier on in life. The arduous process of building the film’s sets led some of the crew to call the film “Blood Runner”.

The most famous still from “Blade Runner” has been mirrored repeatedly ever since. It shows Deckard hanging desperately to the ledge of a gigantic Metropolis building.

The above picture shows Rutger Hauer (Roy), Daryl Hannah (Pris) and Edward James Olmos (Gaff) promoting the forthcoming “Definitive Cut” of “Blade Runner” at The Venice Film Festival.

Ridley Scott has gained a reputation for tinkering with his films following new versions of “Kingdom of Heaven” and “Blade Runner”. Following the unpopular “Director’s Cut” and years of legal battles, Scott is finally unveiling his “Definitive Cut”.

Text & Picture © msnmovies.com

The Sarah Jane Adventures - Episode Guide

1: Revenge of the Slitheen (two-part story)
“One of the discussions we had at a very early stage was whether we wanted to start in a school. In the end we decided to go with a school for episodes one and two because it was a very familiar and natural environment for kids to recognise and empathise with.”

2: Eye of the Gorgon (two-part story)
“It features a slightly bizarre group of women who go around dressed as nuns but it’s much camper and more overblown - it’s less rooted in everyday life. It’s probably the most effects-heavy of all the episodes, because it’s quite out there.”

3: Warriors of the Kudlax (two-part story)
“That is more of a classic Sci-Fi story, in the sense that there’s laser gunfire and running around and being pursued by dark suited guards and things. It’s more in the mould of “Star Wars”.”

4: Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane? (two-part story)
“It does touch upon Sarah’s childhood and one childhood friend in particular and a tragedy that has taken place in her past that comes up from the meddling of a particular evil alien character called The Trickster. He sort of exists to create chaos. We hope it has a flavour of “Back to the Future”, the idea that you can have alternative realities where you see how characters could have developed with different influences.”

5: The Lost Boy (two-part story)
“That is a fitting and surprising climax to the series where various twists happen.”


“We’re very happy with it. We set out to make a show that had at its heart a very simple proposition, which was just great adventure stories - they were ripping yarns. And that’s a phrase that’s been used by several people who’ve seen it. I think we achieved what we set out to do.”

“It seemed to me there was an opportunity to make something that, even if it’s a spin-off show from “Doctor Who”, felt quite fresh and original and exciting. To be honest I didn’t know the Sarah Jane character particularly; I’d obviously seen her in “School Reunion”, but her era is not a period of “Doctor Who” I was aware of - I came in a bit later. It was an opportunity to get to know the character.”

“I felt, as Russell did, that those stories that hark back to classic fantasy had kind of disappeared from children’s TV and we wanted to get that back.”

“We’ve removed the character of Kelsey (from “Invasion of the Bane”) and have brought in a new character called Clyde. We wanted to slightly change the gender balance. It felt like a rather feminine programme... so we decided to take Kelsey out and put Clyde in, and that’s paid real dividends over the course of the series because we’ve been able to explore masculine friendship and boys growing up.”

“The Slitheen had actually been leant out to an exhibition, and one of the things you learn as a producer on this show is that latex degrades very quickly. We had to get new Slitheen suits constructed at fairly significant costs, but the fantastic Millennium FX still had the original moulds. We used the same performers who had played them in “Doctor Who”, so the cost to us was somewhat less than it could have been!”

“There is one villainous character that does come back in episode seven. “Doctor Who” fans will recognise this character, but it is not a particularly big feature.”

“We’re talking about a second series now, although, as with anything in this day and age, it depends on how it performs with the audience - and rightly so. There are many other stories out there that we want to tell…”

Quotes by SJA producer Matthew Bouch © Starburst Magazine Issue 354

The Hole Story

Throughout Hole’s career, vocalist/guitarist Courtney Love’s notorious public image has overshadowed her band’s music. In their original incarnation, Hole was one of the noisiest, most abrasive alternative bands performing in the early ’90s. By the time of their second album, 1994’s “Live Through This”, the band had smoothed out many of their rougher edges, also adding more melodies and hooks to their song writing. Through both versions of Hole, Love’s combative, assaultive persona permeated the group’s music and lyrics, giving the band a tense, unpredictable edge even at their quietest moments. Love formed Hole in Los Angeles in 1989, recruiting guitarist Eric Erlandson through a newspaper ad. Love had played with numerous bands before Hole, including early versions of both Babes in Toyland and Faith No More. Erlandson and Love eventually drafted bassist Jill Emery and drummer Caroline Rue into the band, recording their first album with producer Kim Gordon, the bassist for Sonic Youth. The violent and uncompromising “Pretty on the Inside”, Hole’s debut record, was released on Caroline Records in 1991 to numerous positive reviews, especially in the British weekly music press.

In early 1992, Courtney Love married Kurt Cobain, the lead singer/songwriter of Nirvana. For a couple of months, the couple was the king and queen of the new rock world; soon, that world came crashing in. Cobain became addicted to heroin and the couple fought to keep custody of their baby after a piece in Vanity Fair accused Love of shooting heroin while pregnant, charges which she vehemently denied at the time; she would later admit that she had taken small quantities of the drug. By 1993, their private world had settled down somewhat, with Cobain and Love recording new albums with their respective bands.

Halfway through 1993, Love reassembled Hole with Erlandson, adding bassist Kristen M. Pfaff and drummer Patty Schemel. Hole was set to release their first major-label album, the more pop-oriented “Live Through This”, on DGC Records in April of 1994. Advance word on the album was overwhelmingly positive, with many critics calling it one of the best records of the year. Four days before the album was released, Kurt Cobain’s body was discovered in the couple’s Seattle home; he had died of a self-inflicted shotgun wound three days before.

Two months after Cobain’s death, Kristen M. Pfaff was found dead of a heroin overdose in a Seattle apartment, with rumours swirling that Love (understandably distraught over the recent tragedies) was abusing the drug as well. Two months later, Hole began touring again, with bassist Melissa Auf der Maur taking Pfaff’s place. “Doll Parts” was released as a single late in 1994, climbing into the Top 60 by the beginning of 1995. “Live Through This” topped many critics’ polls at the end of the year, including Rolling Stone and the Village Voice. Shortly thereafter, Hole toured with the fifth Lollapalooza tour, staying on the road for the remainder of the year.

Despite all the hardships, the album became the group’s commercial breakthrough, spawning several MTV/radio hits and being certified platinum early the following year. The band went on an extended hiatus afterwards, during which time many assumed the band had broken up when it appeared that Love was focusing more on her burgeoning acting career (“Feeling Minnesota”, “The People vs. Larry Flynt”) than music. To satisfy their fans’ demand for new music, two rarities collections were issued -- the 1995 EP “Ask for It” and the 1997 import “My Body, the Hand Grenade”.

After numerous delays, the band finally regrouped to work on a follow-up to “Live Through This”, with long-time friend Billy Corgan signed on to be a musical consultant. The album was finally issued in September of 1998 to favourable reviews, but Schemel left the band (for reasons unknown) around the same time. Former drummer for New York City alt-rockers Shift, Samantha Maloney, filled the vacant slot as the group embarked on their first substantial tour in two years. By the tour’s completion, Auf der Maur had left to join the Smashing Pumpkins, while Maloney eventually served as a stand-in drummer for Mötley Crüe. Even though “Celebrity Skin” was certified platinum shortly after its release, Love was unhappy with the way the album was handled by her record company and felt stifled by her contract, eventually bringing a lawsuit against the Universal Music Group trying to terminate her contract (she still owes five more albums under her current agreement), so she can release music via the Internet.

The future of Hole became even more uncertain in early 2001, when Love announced plans to launch a new outfit, called Bastard. Signing with Epitaph, the band consisted of Love, former Veruca Salt guitarist Louise Post, former Rockit Girl bassist Gina Crosley, and to the delight of long-time Hole fans, Schemel is back on drums. In typical Love style, this line-up eventually dissolved into only her and Schemel and the group essentially broke up before it even began. Despite the lack of any substantial project, Love finally announced the end of Hole in May of 2002. Unlike her often bitter press situations, she claimed that the situation was friendly and she would still remain friends with the previous members of the band.

Biography by Stephen Thomas Erlewine & Greg Prato © allmusic.com

Hole - Celebrity Skin

The video of “Celebrity Skin”, by Courtney Love’s band Hole, features the group miming the song on stage, Courtney with a pink electric guitar, as women wearing purple ball gowns descend slowly from the ceiling. As they meander around the stage, the models begin to hoist up their skirts. There are many close-ups of Courtney, showing her vivid green eyes, and also of bassist Melissa Auf der Maur. I get the feeling the clip is taking a pop at Madonna’s video of “Material Girl”, itself a tribute to Marilyn Monroe. When Hole performed at The Big Day Out in Australia, Courtney went topless for almost the entirety of the song’s duration! She managed to retain her bra at Glastonbury, however, even though she still succeeded in losing her shirt!!

After much consideration, I’ve decided to make this my last post and would like to thank everyone who has taken the time to read my blog over the past two-and-a-half years as well as those who have also left numerous interesting comments. Thank you. And, to finish, making reference to Jewish moneylender Shylock in Shakespeare’s “Merchant of Venice” no less, here are the lyrics of the Hole song “Celebrity Skin”…

Oh, make me over
I’m all I want to be
A walking study
In demonology

Hey, so glad you could make it
Yeah, now you really made it
Hey, so glad you could make it now

Oh, look at my face
My name is might have been
My name is never was
My name’s forgotten

Hey, so glad you could make it
Yeah, now you really made it
Hey, there’s only us left now

When I wake up in my makeup
It’s too early for that dress
Wilted and faded somewhere in Hollywood
I’m glad I came here with your pound of flesh
No second billing ’cause you’re a star now
Oh, Cinderella, they aren’t sluts like you
Beautiful garbage, beautiful dresses
Can you stand up or will you just fall down?

You better watch out
Oh, what you wish for
It better be worth it
So much to die for

Hey, so glad you could make it
Yeah, now you really made it
Hey, there’s only us left now

When I wake up in my makeup
Have you ever felt so used up as this?
It’s all so sugarless, hooker/waitress
Model/actress, oh, just go nameless
Honeysuckle, she’s full of poison
She obliterated everything she kissed
Now she’s fading somewhere in Hollywood
I’m glad I came here with your pound of flesh

You want a part of me
Well, I’m not selling cheap
No, I’m not selling cheap

I Will Be Kring!

I’ve fallen in love with Nora Zehetner, who plays Eden McCain in BBC2 series “Heroes”, only to discover her time on the show is limited! While most other guys will, no doubt, be drooling over Hayden Panettiere, as schoolgirl cheerleader Claire Bennet, or pining for Ali Larter, as single mom and internet porn star Niki Sanders, I find myself more-attracted to the supporting player, which is fairly-typical of me! Hayden looks too old for the part she’s playing, even though she’s not yet eighteen, while Niki’s back-story is the usual salacious scenario to try and hook males of a certain age group! Nora/Eden is more like the quirky Björk/Kate Bush pixie type-of-character that appeals to those prepared to look beyond the blonde hair and blue-eyed stereotype that all men are supposed to fall for. She’s the Wendy Padbury as opposed to the Billie Piper! I’ve seen Nora before in another American show called “Everwood”, not something I watched fastidiously but the few episodes I did see probably played their part in my taking notice of her in “Heroes”. The top picture shows Eden with geneticist Mohinder Suresh, played by Sendhil Ramamurthy, as they discover his father Chandra’s note book concealed in the laptop he has just flung carefully across the room, when perhaps it should’ve been thrown with a little more abandon!!

Thus far, Mohinder and Eden have forged an old-fashioned Doctor/companion relationship, while it transpires she seems to have known his father a lot better than he did. Mohinder’s the serious scientist with the searching mind. But, from what I’ve read, there’s more to Eden than presently meets the eye and she’s due for a showdown with resident villain Sylar, Zachary Quinto, presumably in episode eleven. Incidentally, Mr Quinto has just been cast to play the young Mr Spock in the next “Star Trek” feature so I’m wondering if his days in “Heroes” are numbered too. Ali Larter has put her film career on hold, as filming the NBC series takes up nine months of the year, which would suggest Zachary is leaving “Heroes” if he now has time for other things. Having much more fun with his role is Masi Oka, playing Hiro Nakamura, stealing comic books and cheating at gambling in order to fulfil his destiny. I like the way the geek is portrayed positively while ballplayer Brody Mitchum, played by Matt Lanter, whom all the chicks fawn over, is revealed to be the high school sleaze. I hope I’m not starting to sound too American, goddammit! I wonder why these guys are so revered by the ladies when, as is shown here, science fiction fans have much more imagination!!

Anyway, if you want to see why I have the hots for Nora, you can catch her in just five more of her eight episodes, beginning a week on Wednesday with episode six, “Better Halves”, and picking up again a fortnight later with episodes eight through to eleven, namely “Seven Minutes to Midnight”, “Homecoming”, “Six Months Ago” and finally “Fallout”. She didn’t feature in episode one, “Genesis”, she’s not in this week’s fifth instalment, “Hiros”, and isn’t included in “Nothing to Hide”, the seventh chapter. So, make the most of this lovely lady while you can! As you can see, I’ve got it real bad!!

Be Still, My Beating Hearts!

The BBC has released the first publicity still for season four of new “Doctor Who” and, I have to say, my response to it comes as something of a surprise. How like Sarah Jane does Donna Noble look was what immediately ran through my mind. Catherine Tate’s facial features definitely seemed to have softened, somehow, since “The Runaway Bride”! Of course, a photograph doesn’t talk and if she retains the same brusque manner, as in that earlier episode, then no amount of positive marketing will induce me to watch. But then Sarah Jane could be quite curt when the mood suited!! I showed my father the picture and, before I explained it, he asked if it was Sarah Jane!!! So, it isn’t just me with that initial reaction. I would be only too happy if Catherine Tate turned out to be another Elisabeth Sladen!

Elsewhere in the production of series four of the good Doctor’s adventures, imagination is running low! The Time Lord is to meet the creator of “Miss Marple” and “Poirot”, popular whodunit author Agatha Christie. I moaned last year about him meeting Shakespeare, having already met Dickens, and now the Doctor is to meet yet another writer. Talk about creativity!! Can’t Russell, tiresome dictator that he seems to be, come up with something other than that with which he is already familiar or doesn’t he want to spend time researching maybe a meeting with a scientist or a musician? A little (“Enigma”) variation wouldn’t go amiss! My guess is that when James Nesbitt takes over the keys of the TARDIS, for series five, the chances are the eleventh Doctor will meet a writer too, probably Robert Louis Stevenson!!!

It’s also been rumoured that Sir Ben Kingsley is to appear in next year’s series as Davros, fictional creator of the Daleks in the original series. Again, this is so predictable. During the era of the first Doctor, the Daleks were established as the main adversary and, naturally enough, they were the principal villain reintroduced in the first year of new “Doctor Who”. With the second Doctor came the Cybermen. Year two of new “Who” and, behold, a new breed of Cyber-buddies! Time Lord menace, the Master was pitted against the third Doctor eight times. Series three and up pops John Simm! Down boy!! Then, Dalek history was rewritten and fourth Doctor Tom Baker meets their maker a couple of times with each successive Doctor, over the next three incarnations, also squaring up to the crippled scientist. Why resurrect THE major villain from each era, of the classic series, one per year in the new series in chronological order? Talk about creativity! Oh, I’ve already said that!!

It shouldn’t be assumed, by the way, that just because Davros is returning the Daleks will follow. There has never been a televised Davros story without his demented offspring in tow and RTD’s notion of imaginative writing is to rework an old idea out of its usual context. Perhaps viewers will witness the decline and fall of Davros, pre-“Genesis of the Daleks”, discovering how he became shrivelled and wheelchair-bound. We saw Sec released from the confines of his casing and it might be interesting to see the process in reverse… If you’re interested in seeing what kind of villain Sir Ben might portray in “Doctor Who” then, as luck would have it, you can catch him in this Saturday’s ITV1 teatime movie premiere as the Hood in a very poor live action retelling of Gerry Anderson’s most-popular puppet series “Thunderbirds”. It also features Madame De Pompadour as Lady Penelope, Mr Magpie as Parker and a closing theme song by the god-awful McFly! You have been duly warned!!

Shakespear’s Sister - I Can Drive

Hey boys, it’s a steal
You’re hanging on, by your finger nails
As usual, the king is dead
Long live the queens
Hey girls, no big deal
Your fifteen minutes
Start right here, so baby let’s go
Let’s go…

I’m watching the world,
Taking my time
I’ve waited my turn
I’m gonna shine

Heroes take their toll
Hog your dreams, then crush your soul
And take you out, out to dinner
Roll on the original
Highly strung out, spaced out individual
Terminal sinner

I’m watching the world,
Taking my time
I’m waiting my turn
I’m gonna shine

And all the pretty people that I used to see
Have died or moved away
Or they’re in recovery
And all the buildings where the faithless used to play
Have crumbled into clay
And I don’t know what to say,
I just don’t know what to say,
I don’t know what to say

I’m watching the world
I’m taking my time
I can drive…
I’m waiting my turn
I’m gonna shine

I declare my innocence,
I’m worth more than sixty pence
Look, I’ve got a shiny car,
I can drive, I can drive
Yes, baby, I’m for real
That’s just the way I feel
I can take you anywhere,
Anytime, anytime

Everything I pass is old,
Everything I touch is gold,
Now I see the world unfold,
I can drive, I can drive
Yes, it’s a steal,
Nothing that you see is real,
Get yourself a pair of wheels,
Get to drive, go and drive
Come on, come on, I can drive

Hyde Who?

So, if Steven Moffat replaces Russell T Davies as Executive Producer of “Doctor Who”, after season four next year, it looks as though “Jekyll” and “Cold Feet” actor James Nesbitt will succeed David Tennant in the title role of the long-running science fiction series and become the eleventh actor to play the Doctor! I’m not really sure what I think about this. The idea doesn’t repulse me in the same way that the prospect of Catherine Tate nagging for thirteen episodes does! I gradually warmed to the actor’s performance in Moffat’s take on Stevenson’s horror classic and have previously enjoyed him getting to grips with a certain Billie Piper in “The Miller’s Tale” episode of “The Canterbury Tales”!! The possible casting of Mr Nesbitt does still seem a far cry, though, from the way I perceive “Doctor Who”. Sadly, the show isn’t meant for thoughtful and analytical types, anymore, but for those who prefer their entertainment wacky and zany in a manner far-removed from Tom Baker’s supposed eccentricities. New “Doctor Who” is for those who favour munching on a Big Mac to savouring a well-cooked meal. I wonder if Tate, and the returning Noel Clarke, will be gone by the time of Jimmy’s arrival and, if so, will he be “Coupling” with “Blackeyes” in the TARDIS or pulling (a pint with) the “Bionic Woman” in the old Queen Vic?!!

“Remember me to Destiny”

It may surprise regular readers of this blog to learn my initial posts, two-and-a-half years ago, weren’t on the subject of “Doctor Who”! The first two pieces I wrote were on “Gerry Anderson’s New Captain Scarlet”, to give it its full title, and so think it high time I revisit the Hypermarionation series. It’s currently being simultaneously rerun on ITV2 and CITV, early weekday mornings, with a repeat an hour later on ITV2+1. The series consists of 26 half-hour episodes which were originally aired from 2005 as two seasons of thirteen episodes each. This computer-animated show is based on the 1967 puppet series “Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons” also created by Gerry Anderson with his then-wife Sylvia. The opening two-part story of the revamped “Captain Scarlet”, “Instrument of Destruction”, went out a month or so before new “Doctor Who” first appeared on our screens and was therefore considered something of a rival. But new “Captain Scarlet” didn’t receive the same amount of publicity as the BBC ONE series and was buried in ITV’s schedules on Saturday mornings as part of the children’s strand “Ministry of Mayhem”. I think that’s a shame because “Gerry Anderson’s New Captain Scarlet” is everything I’d like new “Doctor Who” to be… “This is the voice of the Mysterons! We know that you can hear us, Earthmen…”

Tough and no-nonsense, “Gerry Anderson’s New Captain Scarlet” is populated with numerous characters, the Spectrum agents each with a colour coding. Captain Scarlet, aka Paul Metcalfe, becomes indestructible after a misunderstanding on a mission to Mars. His friend and co-astronaut Captain Black, Conrad Lefkon, misinterprets an alien scanning device as an act of hostility and destroys the Mysteron complex only for it to reconstruct itself through the power of retro-metabolism. The Mysterons vow they will be avenged and, in failing to make Scarlet their agent, take over the body of Black. Conrad leaves behind grieving girlfriend Destiny Angel, Simone Giraudoux, who, as the series progresses, begins to fall for Scarlet. This ménage à trois never gets in the way of the action, unlike the current crop of over-domesticated “Doctor Who” companions, but underpins it with an urgency-of-purpose highlighting what makes humanity something worth fighting for. Spectrum operates out of Skybase, formerly Cloudbase in the original Supermarionation series, and have a range of vehicles at their disposal. Destiny, for example, heads a squad of five Angel pilots using Falcon Interceptors as one line of defence. Scarlet is usually teamed with Captain Blue, Adam Svenson, under the command of Colonel White, Sir Charles Grey, and he, in turn, is assisted by Lieutenant Green, Serena Lewis, who has a soft spot for Blue. The series isn’t perfect, by any means, but it is tight and well executed. It’s the last episode today but, fear not, the series begins all over again from tomorrow!

Hey Who?

Kylie Minogue, in costume as Titanic waitress Astrid for the 2007 “Doctor Who” Christmas special “Voyage of the Damned”, leaves Morgan’s hotel in Swansea, post shoot, by the tradesman’s entrance but is still captured by the waiting photographer! This snap was taken only two days ago, on Monday. Apparently, Kylie was mistaken by an elderly customer, having no idea who she is, for a member of staff and promptly asked her if it was too late for a cup of tea? It’s believed the Australian actress-turned-songstress-turned-actress-turned-domestic replied, “It’s never too late”! But, it might well be in the case of “Doctor Who”!! And, there was me thinking this particular ship was unsinkable!!!