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[fluff] Now Playing, from the Whole Fenspace Catalog
[fluff] Now Playing, from the Whole Fenspace Catalog
#1
I mentioned in the "If somebody's looking for something to write about..." thread and on the FenWiki that the Whole Fenspace Catalog has cultural content as well as scientific content. What might be found in the cultural database?

A few entries to start things off, including the ones already mentioned in the FenWiki article:
  • Two different versions of baseball player Fidel Castro's autobiography
  • Francis Ford Coppola's The Empire Strikes Back
  • Blazing Saddles, starring Richard Pryor and John Wayne
  • His Girl Friday, starring Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers
  • A version of Casablanca where it's Laszlo and Renault who walk off into the desert
  • DC's final "crossover" title, Crisis on Infinite Earths - the title that killed the entire concept of the "crossover series" in its universe because it was so heavy-handed in its reorganization of the company's default story setting. (Hey, they aren't all winners...)

Any more?
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
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#2
Quote:Blazing Saddles, starring Richard Pryor and John Wayne
...which did for John Wayne what Airplane! did for Leslie Nielsen... whether he liked it or not.
Quote:Any more?
Driving Miss Daisy, starring Lucille Ball (from a world where she lived several years longer than she did in ours.)
Titanic, starring Macaulay Culkin and Kate Winslet
Charlie's Angels, starring Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz, and Angelina Jolie
Grease, with porn star Harry Reems as Couch Calhoun
The Crow, starring Christian Slater

(Historical note: All these almost happened in our time line. Harry Reems was replaced by nervous studio execs at the last minute with Sid Caesar, and if Lucy hadn't died in April 1989 she would have been cast as Miss Daisy -- she died just as the final decisions were being made. Most of the others were failed negotiations, either with the actor or with the studio.)
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
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#3
You just know that there'll be a few .jpgs of Hitler watercolors in there, somewhere. Maybe even a copy of the "real" Iron Dream.
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"
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#4
Quote:Historical note: All these almost happened in our time line.
As did mine, with the exception of signing Castro to the majors (he was never scouted) and the botching of Crisis on Infinite Earths.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
Reply
 
#5
Oh, yes - let's not forget the music that almost was, such as Sugar, Sugar by Stephen Stills and the Monkees...
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
Reply
 
#6
Or a set of LPs from a world where The Masked Marauders were a real supergroup.

And Beatles recordings from a world where Paul really was dead, and they didn't try to cover it up.

Oh, and in literature, the complete works of Kilgore Trout!

-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
Reply
 
#7
General Engineering: Advanced micro-vacuum-tube technology, from a world
where the transistor was not developed until the mid-2060's.

Literature: "How we took Moscow", by Admiral Robert A. Heinlein, Rear Admiral Grace Hopper, and Dr. Issac Asimov; descriptions of now-declassified "black" projects which aided in the campaign on the Eastern Front, after Patton leapfrogged Berlin and blindsided Stalin's forces.
"The Narnia Cookbook": would be mostly unremarkable, excepting for the first chapter; "How to Identify Non-sentient Food Species, Both Animal and Vegetable." By these standards, many humans are non-sentient...
Music: "Jerry is Dead", the breakout album by Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions, written after the death of Paul McCartney. Jerry Garcia spent three months in Jamaica after faking his own death due to burns from highly inflammatory hair gel being set alight by a malfunctioning stage light. His reappearance on stage at the "Farewell Concert" caused the band to change their name, after Garcia thanked the crowd for coming to his wake...
Victor Borge and Jack Benny's highly successful series of classical music recordings, in which the two, backed by the Lindley Armstrong Jones Symphonic Orchestra, play Beethoven, Brahms, and Chopin, ending with a double-LP recording of Franz Schubert's Symphony No. 8.
TV: "CSI: Mayberry", starring Andy Griffith and Don Knotts as scientific crime scene investigators. (Crime Drama, 1hr; 8 seasons) Critics agree that the spinoff series, "CSI: Hazzard" was generally inferior, with the exception of the character of Calleigh Duquesne, portrayed to brilliant effect by Jessica Simpson. The theme song by Willie Nelson and Pete Townsend was, however, a critical success. Sadly, only the pilot episode and Season One of the spinoff series were included with the recordings. Rumor has it that there was a second spinoff, "CSI: Dogpatch", starring David Caruso and Gary Sinese, which was so awful that it has been deliberately suppressed.
"The Gilda Radner/Gene Wilder Comedy Hour"; beginning in 1979, the show ran for eleven seasons. Widely regarded as only surpassed by "The Carol Burnett Show" as the funniest variety show ever recorded, this show is regarded as revitalizing the entire prime-time variety show genre. The season six two-hour crossover between the two shows has been credited with saving the lives of dozens of potential suicides since its release. Sadly, Gilda Radner, Gene Wilder, Anne Bancroft and Mel Brooks perished together with their pilot, Glenn Miller III, May 20, 1989, in a small-plane crash on their way to accept Lifetime Achievement Awards at the Aspen Comedy Festival, an event referred to by most as "the Day the Laughter Died."
Movies: "Plan 9 from Outer Space", by Franz Kafka. Regarded by many as his crowning masterpiece, surpassing even "Metamorphosis".
"Revenge of the Old Queen": the "true" sequel to the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Starring Anthony Stewart Head as the resurrected Dr. Frank. N. Furter; Joan Jett as Columbia, James Marsters as Brad Majors,and Amber Benson as Janet Weiss. Richard O'Brien reprises his role as Riff Raff, the new King of the Transylvanians, Patricia Quinn as his Queen, Magenta, and, in a surprise role, Duane Johnson as Rocky the Second. Cameos by Tim Curry, Peter Hinwood, Barry Bostwick, and co-starring Susan Sarandon as the Criminologist.
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#8
Quote:"Revenge of the Old Queen": the "true" sequel to the Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Mal: Gloriosky, Sandy! We've hit Moria silver!
Sora: *eying picture of Tony Head as Frank* And Balrogs too, apparently.
Mal: Hush, you.
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"
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#9
Disney's:

Fellowship of the Ring (1985)

The Two Towers (1987)

Return of the King (1989)

All from different universes. The Two Towers is notable for being completely in Tolkein's Languages with subtitles, and Return of the King marks Elvis Presley's second comeback after withdrawing from public life for health reasons in 1977.
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''

-- James Nicoll
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#10
Did we ever do an In Character SMOF Politics thread on the Catalogue?
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#11
That's a question for its own thread, BA. It doesn't really belong here, unless there's a connection I'm missing.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
Reply
 
#12
Carl Macek's critically-acclaimed English-language version of the Macross saga, renowned for its unwavering faithfulness to the Japanese original and responsible for the mid-1980s anime boom on the world where it was released. (Macek's success guaranteed him first-refusal on the rights for every subsequent Macross series and movie, and he built a career on quality adaptations of the sequels.)

A complete collection of Skysabre anime, including the motion pictures. From every world that they've been to. (Skysabre productions appear to be one of the few constants found in every universe. In Sakura Taisen, they're the chief competitor to the Red Lad franchise. In Buckaroo Banzai's world they rival Buckaroo's comics and books. Even in pre-mass-culture worlds, traveling bards sing lays about Skysabre. The girls are sure this means something. but even Skuld can't figure out what -- or so she claims.)

Disney's Steamboat Willie, starring Mortimer Mouse.

Sir Thomas Malory's La Morte de Riothamus

Chretien de Troye's La Belle Geste de Toltiir

A copy of the Voynich Manuscript -- in Pig Latinized Quenya.

-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
Reply
 
#13
Bob Schroeck Wrote:A complete collection of Skysabre anime, including the motion pictures. From every world that they've been to. (Skysabre productions appear to be one of the few constants found in every universe. In Sakura Taisen, they're the chief competitor to the Red Lad franchise.
Which means that there's at least one crossover work. Kohran plays Red Lad, of course, but who gets cast as Skysaber?

Bob Schroeck Wrote:Chretien de Troye's La Belle Geste de Toltiir
Owwwwwwwwwwww... My brain hurts...
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
Reply
 
#14
Well, Sumire's going to want a romance scene with him, so it'll have to be Maria or Ohgami.
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.
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#15
Quote:Which means that there's at least one crossover work. Kohran plays Red Lad, of course, but who gets cast as Skysaber?

"There's only *one* ego big enough to play Skysaber!"

"Shatner?"

"No! Not big enough!"

*gasp* "You mean?!"

"Yes!"



"Skysaber plays himself!"
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"
Reply
 
#16
A big-budget production of J.R.R. Tolkien's one attempt at scriptwriting, a sequel to a classic 1950s SF movie: The Return Of The Thing.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
Reply
 
#17
Quote:Bob Schroeck wrote:The Crow, starring Christian Slater

To say nothing of the long and storied acting career of Brandon Lee after he finished "The Crow." Included in his catalog is the remake of his father's noted film "The Game of Death," which features a re-imagined fight between Brandon and Kareem, Jr., and Amir Abdul-Jabbar.

(Both of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's older sons (and possibly his third son, Adam) practice martial arts like their father and attained the rank of black belt at about the age of 19.)
Ebony the Black Dragon
http://ebony14.livejournal.com

"Good night, and may the Good Lord take a Viking to you."
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#18
(applies CPR to thread)

Found some more...

--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
Reply
 
#19
*gets dust off thread with leaf blower*
~~~
ENTERTAINMENT:
Star Wars: Galactic Civil War (Cartoon Network - 2015 to 2025: CN followed up their successful Star Wars: The Clone Wars program with the animation of several decades worth of the Expanded Universe novels, starting with the events of Shadow of the Empire. It received critical aclaim for its bringing onboard as many of the original and new trilogy personas to provide character voices as CN could. It and its own sequal series, Star Wars: The New Republic [featuring material up to the Yuuzhan Vong War], received Emmy Awards for its animation alone.)
JLA/Avengers #1-#100 and Teen Titans/X-Men #1-#62 (DC and Marvel Comics cooperative venture - 2003 to 2010)
Buckaroo Banzai Against the World Crime League (Sherwood Productions/20th Century Fox - 1986)
Ghostbusters 3 (Columbia Tristar- 1994; Virtually identical to the 2009 Ghostbusters: The Video Game, but different in ways that suggest the events of the 1986 to 1991 The Real Ghostbusters occured in-universe)
Big Trouble in Big China (20th Century Fox/China Film Corporation - 1990; Jack Burton, who has reluctantly claimed a monster servitor from his San Fran misadventure as a pet/roommate-who-keepes-taking-his-beer, accepts Wang Chi and Miao Yin's offer to join them on a vacation to China's Gansu Province to vist Miao Yin's family. There, the trio finds the elderly couple to be among several hundred people declared missing, the PLA searching for both the people and a stolen cache of weapons, and Egg Shen on the hunt for Chinese vampires. All these mysteries tie in to a secret cult of Hui black magic practitioners who plan to seize control of the Middle Kingdom... by resurrecting Lo Pan! Notable for the highly succesful cooperation between the PRC's CFC and the USA's TCF.)
TECHNOLOGY:
Reardenium - As of 2015, it is reproduced by several Fen and Dane groups/corporations. To the amusement of readers of the catalog, it was discovered that Rearden Metal and the alloy developed by Andrew Ryan for building Rapture, Ryanium, are one and the same.
MEDICINE:
Phalanx - A highly-effective rabies treatment drug. The only possible side effects are excessive gas and ocassionally diarrhea.
“In politics, stupidity is not a handicap.” – Napoleon Bonaparte
“They opened up a can’a dumbass!” – Jon Stewart regarding Fox News, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
“Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself.” – Harvey Fierstein
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#20
Highlander 2: The Beginning - This highly-successful prequel to the cult favorite tells the story of Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez's life, mostly through flashbacks. The anecdotes form inspiration for Ramirez' student, Connor Macleod, as the latter faces the challenges of Nazi-allied Immortals and the French Resistance during World War 2.
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.
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#21
Zardoz - In every universe covered by the Whole Fenspace Catalog, if the local film industry is sufficiently mature, there will be a Zardoz. The actors might be different, the dialogue might be better (or worse!) than OTL's, the visuals slightly different to compensate for different cultural norms, but the overall story and major plot beats are always the same. It's always set in the post-apocalyptic future, the gun is always good, the penis is always evil and Sean Connery (or the local equivalent) will always wear an International Safety Orange diaper and matching bandoleer through most of the movie.

There are a lot of Zardozes in the WFC.

Every year on Connery's birthday, Kandor 3 does an all-day marathon of "Zardoz Across the Multiverse," a compilation of the best and worst of the WFC collection.
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"
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#22
In a hole in the ground 1917: Collection of WW1 Poetry by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark 1942: It's the Height of WW2 and the Nazi's are searching for a new weapon. Enter Archaelogist, Lieutenant Henry Jr. 'Indiana' Jones, doing his patriotic duty for the US Army. Featuring John Wayne in the titular role and Faye Wray.
Indiana Jones and the Great Escape 1943: Indiana Jones, captured at the end of the previous serial, escapes from Stalag Luft III.
Indiana Jones and the Spear of Destiny 1944: Race against the Nazi's to keep Hitler from claiming the Spear of Destiny and the power it supposedly grants
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade 1945: Keep Hitler from getting his hands on The Holy Grail and Immortality.
Indiana Jones and the Light of Vishnu 1945: A race against the Japanese in India to secure the titular artifact - a sphere of metal supposedly capable of releasing enough energy to destroy a city in a single flash of light. Release postponed until after the Hiroshima/Kokura bombings because of feared security leaks in the Chicago Project.

Zvezdnyy put' 1967. These are the Voyages of the Cosmoship USSR Krasniy Oktyabr. It's 5 year mission. To seek out civilised worlds. To unite all peoples under a free and socialist banner. To boldly journey where no human being has gone before.

Okhota na Ohio 1990. After his wife is allowed to die by a hospital refusing treatment to an uninsured patient while he was on patrol, American Missile Submarine Captain Bart Mancuso decides to defect to the Soviet Union, along with the latest prototype of a new class of silent ballistic missile submarines, the USS Ohio. KGB Analyst Vasily Borodin and Commander of the Attack Submarine K-463 Markas Ramius attempt to intercept the Ohio, before the American navy can find her, and sink her.

And yes, I did just stick those into Google Translate.
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?
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#23
Robotech II: The Sentinels (1987 - Harmony Gold USA)
Robotech: The Freeman Chronicles (2012 - Stan Bundy Productions, Ltd: Where the fanfiction author won the lottery, bought up the copyrights, and went to town with the studio that made Macross Plus; Satelight, Inc. and Palladium Books surprised everyone in this world by agreeing to join in with Bundy on the latter parts and chipping in to convince the other copyright holders to join in, too.)
Monster Hunter International (2012-2018 - Vertigo Comics; Graphic Novelization of the book series by Larry Corella)
The Dresden Files (2015 - MGM Television; Airing on the SyFy Channel, ran nine seasons with material both from the books and original material)
The Folly (2016 - BBC; syndication of the book series by Ben Aaronovitch about a rookie cop who ends up joing a magical division of the London police)
“In politics, stupidity is not a handicap.” – Napoleon Bonaparte
“They opened up a can’a dumbass!” – Jon Stewart regarding Fox News, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
“Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself.” – Harvey Fierstein
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#24
The three season and six movie run of Star Trek with Captain Christopher Pike, with the unaired first pilot with Captain James Kirk, which was declined because it "wasn't cerebral enough".

Five seasons of the series Firefly.

Several years worth of the black and white movie serial Captain Proton.

84 episodes of a Japanese/French animation series based reasonably close on the Dragonriders of Pern.
--

"You know how parents tell you everything's going to fine, but you know they're lying to make you feel better? Everything's going to be fine." - The Doctor
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#25
Disney's big-budget, feature-length live-action Sailor Moon film from 1998, starring Kirstin Dunst as Serena, Ariana Richards as Mina, Lacey Chabert as Amy, and Geena Davis as Queen Beryl.

(And if anyone has any ideas for teenaged actresses from the period to play Lita and Raye, I'm open to suggestions.)
ETA:  Or actors for the four generals, for that matter; given that the film is clearly based on the DiC dub -- and it's Disney -- that means one is a woman... 
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
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