Hugo Nominations Announced 225
Embedded Geek writes "With the 2004 Nebula Awards being awarded this weekend, the Hugo nominations have been announced. As usual, the field is packed with lots of deserving entries, although I'm sure everyone has a favorite that was missed. I was particularly interested in the Short Form Drama, though, with Joss Wheadon getting three nominations for canceled shows (two Firefly, one Buffy) and Gollum's Acceptance Speech at the 2003 MTV Movie Awards getting a nod. Also of interest are the Retro Hugos, an effort to look back and recognize SF published before anyone thought to hand out awards for it. Retro nominees include such greats as Childhood's End, Fahrenheit 451, and Duck Dodgers in the 24 1/2 th Century (no, really!). You have until 31 July, 2004 to join Noreascon Four and vote for your favorites!"
Retro Nods? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Retro Nods? (Score:5, Informative)
Although, it'd be interesting to see a show take nominations in both its retro and current incarnation. Or a novel and sequel, perhaps.
Something that erhaps they didn't consider when making the retroes.
Re:Retro Nods? (Score:5, Interesting)
D'ho! (Score:2)
Re:Retro Nods? (Score:3, Informative)
The current Duck Dodgers is nothing but Waner Brothers sliding down the same whorish slope Disney has blazed.
Re:Woo! (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Woo! (Score:2, Funny)
after so long they just quack up
Firefly Deserves It! (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Firefly Deserves It! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Firefly wasn't watched (Score:2)
Oh, there is a petition to revive Futurama [petitiononline.com]
Re:Firefly wasn't watched (Score:5, Insightful)
Fox made damn sure it couldn't have the chance to become popular.
They aired it at a random timeslot, not everyweek, and not at the time they said the night before that it would air.
Some episodes played on fridays at 8, one played at 12:05 AM, another around 12:20 AM, they played out of order...
I think Fox wanted Joss to make another teen-hit, but in space. And when he showed up with the best sci-fi show ever shown on TV, the execs freaked because that was not what they wanted. They didn't want innovative, or smart, they wanted bland and dumb, like them.
The show wasn't watched [pvponline.com], but not because it wasn't good, only because it was sabotaged by its cruel Fox masters.
You people (Score:2, Interesting)
And no it is not a joke that you don't have a t.v.- but that you can't help telling everyone at the slightest opportunity (even if you have to invent the opportunity).
Re:You people (Score:2)
The reason those of us who don't have TV and don't miss it tend to talk it up is that we've found it to be a better way to live. Sure, it probably gets annoying hearing about it, but that doesn't make the basic message wrong. TV is vapid crap used to
Re:You people (Score:5, Insightful)
By your logic you should also not have internet access, because its full of the same mindless crap.
TV is also a source of humour, educational documentaries, and the occasionnal morcel of wonder such as Firefly.
Just because it has a high crap content doesn't mean its ALL crap.
Re:You people (Score:2)
And yeah, there can be good stuff on TV; every now and again, I'll go over to a friend's house if there's something I really want to see.
Maybe part of the problem for me is that I grew up without TV. I never learned how to ignore the damned things, so I find that if there is one on when I'm around, it sucks me in. And yes
Re:You people (Score:2)
See, I have devellopped great ad-ignoring skills.
I can watch ads and enjoy their creative content without ever knowing what product they advertise. I either mute it or change the channel right before they start naming the product/company/promotion. Or right-away if its stupid.
L
Re:You people (Score:2)
Err.. ok... switching to tinfoil-hat-mode... Are you sure this isn't the way they intented their ads to work? Giving you those subtle subliminal cues... Is there any creative content in an ad that is separated from the product it is advertising? You receive those mental cues, those memes, and, even without realizing what product they are advertising, as soon as you see it, these cues kick back in, building up c
Re:You people (Score:2)
Yes I am. The ad hooks you, and when they have your attention they blast the message (buy Soylent Green!).
There's this ad for some credit card company, or bank, I'm not sure
I love that ad, its hilarious. No clue what they want me to buy, but I enjoyed it.
creating those needs, desires, and the
Re:You people (Score:2)
You know (Score:2)
You had to go (Score:2)
I don't watch much t.v.- though I did like Firefly and I own the DVD set.
I must confess I've flirted with not having a t.v. - but it's a nice escape sometimes. I do enjoy sports and can't afford to go in person - and PBS does some good work where I really do learn. I don't have cable.
I really limit how much my kids watch- and I just don't have time to watch much myself. Everything in moderation seems applicable.
Re:You had to go (Score:2)
As I mentioned to the other fellow who replied to me, I grew up without TV, and it's kind of coloured my views on the subject. You're right about the soft approach, though - most of the time I actually avoid mentioning that I don't watch TV. Going on and on about it would be a bit too much like "reformed" smokers for my taste. Cheers!
Re:You people (Score:2)
"I'm really lucky to have almost perfect vision. I'm guessing it's because I don't watch TV. In fact, I don't even own one."
Personally, I've watched a crapload of TV, played a bajillion hours of video games, and stare at a computer monitor about half of every single day of my life on average. My eyes are 20/20 (so far).
Dramatic Tension (Score:5, Funny)
I don't know. I thought it enhanced the drama: Will I be able to catch this week's episode? Will it stay in one timeslot long enough for me to program my VCR/Tivo? Will Fox cancel the show during one of the commercial breaks and replace it with When Gas company Meter Readers Attack VII?
'Kept me on the edge of my seat.
Firefly nominations (Score:4, Interesting)
-Matt
Re:Firefly nominations (Score:5, Informative)
Also, "Serenity" was the last one broadcast. I guess "The last shall be first" and all that.
Re:Firefly nominations (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Firefly nominations (Score:2)
So, out of just 14 filmed episodes of Firefly, three have been nominated for Hugo awards. I think that says something, but I doubt Fox is listening.
Personally.. (Score:5, Insightful)
I think a Fahrenheit 451 remake has a lot of potential too, with all the modern camera and computer technology today, they could really recreat the world of Guy Montag to such a degree. (And perhaps show all the parallels between it and our own which is ever growing closer IMO.)
Re:Personally.. (Score:4, Informative)
Have you seen "Equilibrium"? It's basically F451 with a bit of the Matrix and 1984 thrown in. It is emotion rather than books which are banned, but it makes little difference. Unfortunately, it isn't a particularly good film.
Re:Personally.. (Score:2)
I had nothing against this movie until I made the mistake of buying it for my boyfriend and was subjected to it three times in a weekend. For the next month: "I wanna learn gun-kata!"
-Carolyn
Re:Personally.. (Score:2)
http://www.freewebs.com/equilibrium-movie/index
all the info you could ask for on this exceptional film.
Catch-22 (Score:5, Interesting)
Catch-22 is one of my favorite modern novels. I read it at least N times (where N is a pretty large number) before I found out it had been made into a movie. One afternoon I was channel surfing, and happened to catch the opening credits. I was happy about this for a minute, then reconsidered - and turned the TV off.
I realized that through reading the book I had formed my own mental images of Pianosa, Yossarian, Hungry Joe, et al, and I did not want the director's interpretation to intrude on my own. I suspect at least a few of us on
Re:Catch-22 (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Contact (Score:2, Interesting)
1: in the book, Palmer is a barely-tolerable annoyance, while Ellie and her beau are obvious avatars for Sagan & Druyan, horrendously sappy. Ellie & Palmer made the movie story better.
2: in the book, there's a whole multinational team, but they're ALL pie-eyed scientists operating on the exact same wavelength, therefore all able to be discredited simultaneously. Also, they got to choose their own gear completely? And none of them had EM-proof recording
Re:Personally.. (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Personally.. (Score:5, Interesting)
Also remember that the movie was made in the late 1960s. Given the other sci-fi fare available at the time, such as The Omega Man, Fantastic Voyage, (exception: 2001) I think it holds up pretty well.
Fahrenheit 451 Remake in Progress (Score:2, Informative)
Remake scheduled for summer 2005 (Score:2)
Oryx & Crake passed over again (Score:3, Interesting)
I thought Oryx & Crake was fantastic. Are the other books on that list really that good? The only one I've read is Ilium, which just didn't do a whole lot for me.
Re:Oryx & Crake passed over again (Score:2)
Re:Oryx & Crake passed over again (Score:3, Informative)
`Science fiction has monsters and spaceships; speculative fiction could really happen.' (Guardian interview, 26 April)
SCO should be nominated (Score:4, Funny)
Re:SCO should be nominated (Score:5, Funny)
Their claims against Linux are pure science fiction.
Ak! No, don't nominate SCO. That would raise the whole spectre of "should fantasy be included in the Hugo awards" that we dealt with during Harry Potter IV years.
-Rob
Re:SCO should be nominated (Score:3, Funny)
It may be pure science fiction, but is it good science fiction?
I think not.
OMG, Elron and the CO$ are represented! (Score:4, Informative)
Master Storyteller: An Illustrated Tour of the Fiction of L. Ron Hubbard -- William J. Widder (Bridge, 2003)
Bridge publications isn't just a CO$ front org... They're the publishers of all the Dianetics (tm, pat. pending, please don't sue me) materials.
Dammit I thought that Fandom had gotten smarter than that.
(posting anon, cuz these are a scary bunch of MFs to cross!)
Re:OMG, Elron and the CO$ are represented! (Score:3, Funny)
Re:OMG, Elron and the CO$ are represented! (Score:3, Insightful)
Since Hubbard never won any serious award, I imagine that they'll really pull out the stops for this effort, including retro-history about how great a Golden-Age author he was. (He was never more than a B-list writer at best.)
Not posted anonymously because they can kiss my shiny SP ass. [xenu.ca]
Re:OMG, Elron and the CO$ are represented! (Score:2)
However, only members of this year's WorldCon can vote for the final winners. Better make people aware that they should vote No Winner in this category, rather than leaving it blank, to avoid a win
Conspiracy '87 (Score:5, Interesting)
Retro Awards... (Score:5, Funny)
Ilium (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Ilium (Score:5, Informative)
Ilium is worthy of study if for no other reason than Simmons illuminates some true character differences between ourselves and ancient Greeks. Hearing Odysseus speak on the notion of arete is likely superior to anything you've heard from a college professor. Exhilirating and highly recommended. Oh, and the best SciFi of the nominees.
Buffy - Chosen (Score:2)
Does anyone know what that episode was about?
Re:Buffy - Chosen (Score:2, Flamebait)
And it really kind of sucked. I'm suprised it got nominated.
Re:Buffy - Chosen (Score:4, Informative)
1953 Retro Awards (Score:5, Interesting)
Oh, and for the current year, Lois McMaster Bujold got a Hugo AND Nebula nominee for novel - for two different books!
Maybe it's time to consider a "Writer of the Year" for people who may not necessarily take a top prize for novel, short story, etc., but whose collected work for the year makes them worthy of recognition. (I'm not suggesting anything about McMaster-Bujold's books, since I haven't read either of them).
Re:1953 Retro Awards (Score:2)
Re:1953 Retro Awards (Score:2)
The novella category looks like a walkover for James Blish; and the novelette might go to Dick simply because "Second Variety" got made into
Nominations already? (Score:2)
And the Retros are going to be almost impossible, especially Best Novel. I had no idea 1953 was such a good year for SF novels.
-Carolyn
Shol'va! Tree! (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Shol'va! Tree! (Score:2)
exscpeali the non 'fantastic' science in the show.
And I have no desire to see Amanda Tapping in nothing but clothes, thank you very much.
And O'Niel is not Smarter then Kirk. They're both exactly as smart as the plot needs them to be.
Why is Finding Nemo listed? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Why is Finding Nemo listed? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Why is Finding Nemo listed? (Score:2)
Re:Why is Finding Nemo listed? (Score:3, Insightful)
Ack! (Score:2)
www.nthzine.com is an excellent rag..err..mag. I should know, I write for it!
(I know I know, I'm just grousing)
So much for the Hugo (Score:5, Interesting)
* "Rosetta" -- Smallville (Tollin/Robbins Productions/Warner Brothers). Directed by James Marshall; written by Al Gough & Miles Millar.
OK, I understand things have been tight for decent Sci-Fi of late, seeing as all the good shows keep getting killed off, but Smallville????
Smallville????
What, because Christopher Reeve was in that one?????
Re:So much for the Hugo (Score:2)
Re:So much for the Hugo (Score:4, Insightful)
And when they weren't doing that, they were doing things that reminded me of the commercials for that Everwood show. It became pretty clear that Smallville is nothing but another WB teen angst show with a teen age Superman as the gimmick to keep it on the air.
And the sad thing is, the premise they set up had a lot of promise. Lex Luthor starting off as a good guy living in Smallville (Even managed a decent explanation for that one, even if the mansion was way over the top) A young Superman still learning about his powers. His powers developing from the ground up. The episode where he first developed heat vision, while ultimately botched due to the absurd "B" plots, had a good start for dealing with a teenager who suddenly found heat rays streaming from his eyes.
They even had some fun twists on the traditional tellings of the Superman saga, such as the changes they made in the motivations for Superman's biological Father selecting Earth as the destination for his son's space capsule.
All told, the show had promise, but what hope there was was killed off by forcing the show to become just another WB melodrama. They should have hired some decent sci-fi / comic writers instead of the hacks they ended up using.
Are Hugo's and Nebulas collected? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Are Hugo's and Nebulas collected? (Score:2)
I want a futuroHugo (Score:4, Funny)
No?
What kind of fans are you?
Retro Awards - My Votes (Score:5, Interesting)
Hard to believe this was written in 1953. I give this one the nod for excellent writing as well as political content that is still current. Fahrenheit 451 is a close second; also relevant today. Of the other three, Mission of Gravity is my favorite. Excellent hard-sf writing from a guy who really knows his physics combined with memorable characters. Gotta love those Mesklinites.
Novelette - The Wall Around the World
Well written with a mathematical twist.
Short Story - The Nine Billion Names of God
Another strong category like the novel. My choice here is one of my all time favorite short stories, with the added benefit of the computer consultant factor.
Dramatic Presentation - It Came From Outer Space
Good early SF movie and runs counter to the xenophobia of the 50's.
The nice thing is that anything still being considered fifty years later is pretty good stuff. You can't go wrong reading any of these.
can there be a tie? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Mission of Gravity (Score:2)
He died just last year, dammit.
Fox Broadcast exec Job Posting (Score:2, Funny)
Are Even slightly complex plots hard for you to follow.
is it necessary for the plot and what is going on to be repeated to you 20 times during the show.
Do you suffer from ADD raging hormones, and gullibility syndrome.
At fox we think these are wonderful qualities.
If you are looking for a new job and your idea of employment is getting blow jobs by actresses, screwing off and generally canceling good shows. please send your resume. to
hr@fox.com also please submit a certified IQ test
n
Available online? (Score:3, Funny)
Download the nominees! (Score:3, Informative)
Or were you hoping not to pay?
Re:Available online? (Score:2)
Re:Available online? (Score:3, Informative)
At the moment, I know that Best Novelette nominee "The Empire of Ice Cream [scifi.com]" is available on-line; also, Kage Baker's novella The Empress of Mars [fictionwise.com] appears to be available for free from Fictionwise. Don't know about the others, although, like I said, I'm sure they'll turn up eventually.
Re:Available online? (Score:2, Funny)
Both Dramatic Short and Retros are an error (Score:5, Insightful)
Of all the Hugos, it was the one least in need of duplicating. It was a popular choice nonetheless (though still controversial) because people just like to give awards, and some people really enjoy their TV SF.
The DP award was also notorious for being the one the recipient often cared nothing for, the nominees coming rarely if at all to get the award. In some years the winner was told in advance they won (in violation of the principles for all the other awards) just to get them to show up.
Again, not what was needed to be duplicated. TV fans tend to be fans of series, and though this is an episode award, you can be sure voters will vote for their favourite series, even if another series had an episode better than the best episode of their series.
The Retros were written in in the 90s and tried in 1996. Participation was low, and voting was clearly based in some cases on the historical reputation of the authors rather than the works, or simply who was alive to receive or who it would be cute to receive in one category. The later worldcons entitled to give retro hugos deemed them a mistake and didn't do them again, but they were not removed from the rules so this con did them. Doesn't alter it.
Frightening (Score:2, Insightful)
I'd have to go with More Than Human for the retro novel award.
Who the hell is Hugo (Score:2)
Hugo Gernsback Re:Who the hell is Hugo (Score:5, Informative)
He wrote a bit too.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Gernsback
He doesn't judge a thing, being dead. The award was named in his honor.
Does anyone else... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Does anyone else... (Score:2)
So=, what your are saying is that there are now crappy sci-fi books? no sci-fi books that are just drivel?
door stop award for Dune #11? (Score:2)
Re:door stop award for Dune #11? (Score:2)
change in sci-fi over time... (Score:5, Interesting)
Two thing that stick out the most: how electronic media have grown up -- in some ways, overtaken -- the novel for sci fi, and how the "semi-pro" zines have become real powerhouses (I'm thinking in part of the NYRSF, which I'm most familiar with.)
Sci fi in 1953, when taken seriously by adults, was really an offshoot of "ordinary" literature still, and the television and movie stuff was silly. Sci fi in 2004 has grown and splintered and now has its own conventions and genres quite set in stone. Yes, there were the space operas even back in the day, but now it seems sci fi has, for better or for worse, become something quite separate from "mainstream" literature. I think it's true that a lot of the most adventurous, genre-busting work has been in TV and film, which would have been unthinkable in 1953, even though the film medium could have been said to be "mature" by then.
While 451 could be judged in the context of other work coming out at the time, it is only the cyberpunk novels (and the occasional Handmaiden's Tale type) that get examined in that way today.
Good or bad? I like sci fi, and I like hard sci fi as well, although it is clear that the writing suffers quite a great deal. If SF was taken seriously by The Man, would it improve? Or would the attention from the book reviewers in mainstream magazines make it less adventurous?
Final question: what about Ted Chaing [amazon.com]? What's he been doing recently?
Read one of the nominees (Score:2)
Just Like The Ones We Used To Know [asimovs.com]
Buffy wasn't canceled (Score:3, Insightful)
Retro-Hugo, 1953, Best Novel, illegitimate. (Score:2)
It's absolutely illegitimate for Boston to try to revoke or supercede that, and I've just emailed them to that effect.
mark, Philadelphian expatriate, PSFS member, 21 years
Re:Gollum speech in a better format? (Score:2, Informative)
Unless you're in region 2; I vaguely recall that it wasn't put on the region 2 DVDs to keep its more kid-friendly rating.
Um, it is ... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Gollum speech in a better format? (Score:2, Informative)
Gollum [a1021v0029...dfxwfver03]
Yoda [a1021v0029...fhzndver03]
Re:Gollum speech in a better format? (Score:3, Informative)
Don't think so... (Score:2)
Re:It Came From Outer Space? (Score:2)
The same is true, of course, for The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, another of the Best Dramatic Presentation nominees.