Free Republic

Do androids eream of electric sheep. Do they even sing "Happy Birthday" to each other? Read/see more at: http://www.oregonlive.com/geek/2016/01/happy_birthday_to_blade_runner.html#0

Alcon Entertainment has an offer out to Harrison Ford to reprise his role of Rick Deckard in its Ridley Scott-directed sequel to Blade Runner. Original screenwriter Hampton Fancher and Michael Green are writing the new one, which takes place several decades after the conclusion of the 1982 original. Alcon acquired Blade Runner‘s film, television and ancillary rights in 2011 from producer Bud Yorkin to produce prequels and sequels of the sci-fi cult classic. Yorkin will serve as a producer on the sequel along with Alcon’s Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson. Cynthia Sikes Yorkin will co-produce. Frank Giustra and Tim Gamble,...

Economic study suggests we're heading for a Blade Runner future Earlier this month, a group of economists released the results of a massive study looking at the economic prospects of people from across the United States. What they found was that the U.S. is like a patchwork quilt of different countries, where some regions offer people the economic prospects of a typical developed nation — and other regions are more like a developing country. This study debunks a few myths about the United States, including the idea that wealthy nations have wealthy citizens. It's a powerful reminder that nations are...

"If you've ever enjoyed an action-packed Kung Fu film," Morning Edition host David Greene says, "take a moment to thank Sir Run Run Shaw, who passed away Tuesday." There are conflicting accounts about whether Shaw was 106 or 107 at the time of his death. There's no disagreement, though, about his influence on the film industry. The New York Times calls Shaw "the colorful Hong Kong media mogul whose name was synonymous with low-budget Chinese action and horror films — and especially with the wildly successful kung fu genre, which he is largely credited with inventing." Sir Run Run Shaw...

Local reports stated police believe he may have used the bat to attack girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp before shooting her dead on St Valentine's Day morning. Detectives are working on two other theories concerning the bat: that it was either used to break down the door of the bathroom where she hid, or that she used it to defend herself against Mr Pistorius, South Africa's City Press reported.

South African paralympic star Oscar Pistorius has been charged with murder and is in custody after reportedly shooting his girlfriend dead in the middle of the night after mistaking her for a burglar. Gunfire was heard inside his Pretoria mansion at 4am this morning and it is believed his partner may have been killed after a Valentine's Day surprise went tragically wrong. The dead woman is Reeva Steenkamp, 30, a former FHM model who had been dating the 26-year-old for two months. She was shot in the head, the chest and the arm, police have said, and Pistorius will appear...

Hours before the most romantic day of the year, Oscar Pistorius' model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp tweeted: "What do you have up your sleeve for your love tomorrow??? #getexcited #ValentinesDay". Her excitement for the big day was palpable on her Twitter feed. Replying to one response she tweeted: "That sounds amazing! Wow that's what it's all about! It should be a day of love for everyone :) may it be blessed!"

No project is off limits to Ridley Scott. Over the course of his 35-year filmmaking career, the English auteur has dazzled audiences with his thrillingly diverse oeuvre, tackling everything from science fiction (Alien, Blade Runner) and sword-and-sandals epics (Gladiator) to modern warfare (Black Hawk Down). He is probably the closest thing to this generation’s Kubrick. ..................................................... What about the rumored Blade Runner sequel? Funny enough, I started my first meetings on the Blade Runner sequel last week. We have a very good take on it. And we’ll definitely be featuring a female protagonist. (Emphasis Mine)

A retinal scan to verify that the person filling the prescription is the same person it was prescribed to, patient data sent over encrypted communications to check for drug interactions and preventing doctor shopping--all of this information, plus some, in a statewide database. This could be the future of medicine access control. Colorado lawmakers want to make medication dispensing more secure by establishing a new medical database and requiring biometric verification when patients fill prescriptions, but critics of the plan worry that with the amount of data lawmakers want to collect, information breaches could be more damaging to patients than...

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — Actress Sean Young is free on bail Monday morning following her arrest at a post-Oscars bash Sunday night. Young, 52, was placed under citizen’s arrest following a fight at the Governor’s Ball just before 9:30 p.m. Sunday, the Los Angeles Police Department said. The “Blade Runner” Star was booked at the Hollywood police station on misdemeanor battery charges, police said. She posted $20,000 bail around 3 a.m. and was released from custody. It is unclear what the fight was about. No further details were released. Young has a history of alcohol abuse and sought treatment in...

And it’s a “liable to be a sequel” according to Scott himself, who was recently interviewed by the Wall Street Journal‘s Speakeasy blog. When I first heard about this project, back in the summer, it was unclear whether the movie would be a prequel or a sequel. But saying I was intrigued would be falling short. Blade Runner wasn’t much of a hit when it was released in theaters back in 1982, but I could never get my eyes off it — without fail — every single time I rented it (Yes. On VHS). And I rented it several times...

American actress Daryl Hannah is arrested in front of the White House along with other environmental protesters opposing a planned oil pipeline from Canada to the US Gulf Coast. Hannah was released after paying a $100 fine, following her arrest for failure to obey a lawful order, said US Park Police spokesman Sergeant David Schlosser. More than 70 people were arrested in the Tar Sands Action protest on Tuesday, which is named after efforts to block the proposed Keystone XL pipeline project to bring oil sands petroleum from Canada to Texas refineries.

EXCLUSIVE: After revisiting his classic Alien with the upcoming 3D Fox film Prometheus, Ridley Scott is committing to direct and produce a film that advances his other seminal and groundbreaking science fiction film. Scott has signed on to direct and produce a new installment of Blade Runner. He’ll make the film with Alcon Entertainment, producing with Alcon partners Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove. This would be the most high profile project for Alcon since The Blind Side. They got control of the franchise earlier this year, but it's a whole different ballgame with Scott at the helm.I’m not getting a...

When we first caught sight of Sega Toys' meowing, purring robo-feline, we fervently hoped Lucky the robo-dog or some other bigger, stronger robot would come along and scare the creepy cat out of the neighborhood. Alas, that's not to be. "Yume-Neko Venus," or "Dream Cat Venus," is slated for a July 30 release, according to Sega (PDF in Japanese). The fake feline will cost 10,000 yen (about $108)--not bad considering you'll be saving a bundle on kitty litter and toy mice. The battery-operated robo-cat is equipped with five touch sensors that let it engage in real-life behavior like rolling on...

BLADE RUNNER and THE THING are a quarter-century old today Twenty-five years ago today, two movies debuted in theaters: Blade Runner and The Thing. Personally, I think these are two of the most classic movies ever made. That a quarter-century later we are still debating so much about each of these films should say something about their timelessness. For what it's worth, I've never thought that Deckard was a Replicant in Blade Runner. I'm really looking forward to the definitive release of this movie on DVD (including Ridley Scott's "final cut") later this fall. And so far as the ending...

Twenty-five years ago, the Ridley Scott film Blade Runner became an instant science fiction classic. Set in a sodden, squalid Los Angeles of 2019, the neo-noir masterpiece influenced a generation of filmmakers and video-game designers. Long before I teamed up with Jamie Hyneman to form the MythBusters, I was a special-effects modelmaker, and Scott's cyberpunk gem almost instantly became the most important film in the canon of movies I love. I'm still such a big Blade Runner fan that I watch it at least once every 18 months. I also own pretty convincing replicas of the "blade runner blaster" wielded...

It was a tension-filled shoot. The rising star and the director didn’t get along. When the test screenings were disastrous the producers added a voiceover narration, hoping to make the story comprehensible to baffled audiences. It was a flop when it opened in theaters on June 25, 1982. Yet 25 years later “Blade Runner” is on many lists of the top sci-fi movies of all time. It has become a cult favorite of hundreds of thousands of young adults who weren’t old enough to see the R-rated movie when it played commercially but have watched it repeatedly on home video....

London -- A British newspaper survey of scientists has chosen Blade Runner as the world's best science-fiction film. The 1982 movie was the favourite when 60 scientists were questioned by The Guardian, including evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins and Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker, the newspaper said Wednesday. In the film, a retired cop played by Harrison Ford hunts down renegade human replicates in a dark futuristic vision of Los Angeles. Stephen Minger, a stem-cell biologist at King's College, London, said the movie was the best he had ever seen. "It was so far ahead of its time and the whole premise...

The NY Times has named names on why the Blade Runner Special Edition 3-DVD set is on hold. It is their report, not mine. They say, "The avidly awaited, definitive version of Ridley Scott's science-fiction classic, "Blade Runner," won't be out on DVD anytime soon for stranger reasons. When "Blade Runner" was being shot in the early 1980's, Bud Yorkin, a veteran television comedy producer, and Jerry Perenchio, now the C.E.O. of Univision, were the film's bond-completion guarantors. When the film went over budget, by contract they assumed ownership of the film. Paul Sammon wrote in his book "Future Noir:...