Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
SciFi Diner Podcast Ep. 157
Our Interview with Musetta Vander
(Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Stargate SG-1,
Star Trek: Voyager, Babylon 5,
Xena: Warrior Princess) Shore Leave 34
The SciFi Diner Podcast
A 2012 Parsec Finalist
Please call the listener line at 1.888.508.4343,
Email us at scifidinerpodcast@gmail.com
or visit us on Twitter @scifidiner.
And check out our YouTube channel.
Tonight’s Diners: Scott & Miles
Welcome to the Diner.
If you have listened to the show for sometime, we would love to have you leave feedback on iTunes. We know not all of you use iTunes, but for those that do, it helps us become more visible. If you don’t use iTunes, your feedback is still valuable. Visit our webpage at https://scifidinerpodcast.com and leave a comment on the show notes or email us at scifidinerpodcast@gmail.com We want to know what you are thinking about what we are saying and what shows you are watching.
Menu:
- Interview: Musetta Vander (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Stargate SG-1, Star Trek: Voyager, Babylon 5, Xena: Warrior Princess) Shore Leave 34
- Trivia: Trivia this week! Win Thomas Dekker
- TV News: TV Mid Season Finales, Fringe exec admits to story line that in their mind was a bust.
- Movie News: Batman in new Justice League movie not Bruce Wayne?; Original X-Men stars returning for the prequel; and The Ewoks were a necessary evil.
- TWIST: New Star Trek movie synopsis revealed, Star Trek Renegades news, New Life after Trek Pod Cast
- SciFi 5 in 5 : Top Sheldon Quotes from Big Bang Theory
New Trivia
Question: Who was Starman, in the movie by that name?
You will have until December 11th to send us your answers. Please include the code word mentioned in the first 15 minutes of the show. Send your answer with your mailing address to scifidinerpodcast@gmail.com, call us at 18885084343, or DM us on Twitter at @scifidiner. Make sure you include your e-mail with all entries! Only one entry per person. The SciFi Diner is not responsible for any injuries occurring if you secretly decide to go all shiny and dress in a browncoat and walk into your local bar.
Promos
Interview: Thomas Dekker
Musetta Vander (born Musetta van der Merwe, 26 May 1963) is a South African actress and model who is best known for her roles in science fiction and fantasy films.
Personal life
As the daughter of a ballet teacher her first appearance on stage was at age 4 in one of the many shows her mother choreographed. She earned a BA in Communications and Psychology and shortly after completing school she qualified as a ballet teacher. In 1988 she married director Jeff Celentano.
Film and television
After college, Vander landed the job of anchor host for South Africa’s answer to MTV. Then she moved to the United States and began her career appearing in more than twenty music videos for such artists asRod Stewart, Tina Turner, Elton John, Chris Isaak and Amy Grant.
Musetta first notable role was as ‘Zander Tyler’ in the action-adventure TV series Super Force.
In 1997, Vander portrayed “Sindel” in Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, the sequel to the original video game adaptation Mortal Kombat.
In 1999, she had a supporting role in Barry Sonnenfeld’s film Wild Wild West in which she played an assistant to Kenneth Branagh’s character, “Dr. Loveless”.
In 2000, Musetta played a seductive Siren in the critically acclaimed O Brother, Where Art Thou? directed by the Coen brothers. The same year, she had a role in The Cell alongside Jennifer Lopez and Vince Vaughn.
She has also appeared in a wide variety of TV shows, primarily science-fiction and fantasy series, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer (as an alluring teacher who turns out to be a giant praying mantis), Stargate SG-1, Star Trek: Voyager, Babylon 5, Xena: Warrior Princess, Frasier and NCIS.
In 2006, she was cast for a role in the movie Alpha Dog, but the filming schedule kept changing, and because she was working on another project at the time she was unable to play the part in the end.
Vander played Robert Duvall’s wife in the comedy Kicking & Screaming and co-starred alongside Rade Serbedzija and Faye Dunaway in Say It in Russian. She played the lead female character in Breaking Point, a thriller with Tom Berenger and Busta Rhymes. Vander can also be seen in the spoof/comedy Transylmania.
Musetta starred in a Christian movie called Johnny with Lee Majors and played a part in the psychological thriller Spreading Darkness with John Savage and Eric Roberts. Her most recent credits include the horror movie Under the Bed, directed by Steven C. Miller and the indie film Five Hour Friends with Tom Sizemore.
Other works
In 1998, Vander starred as Lady Elara, one of the lead characters in Dune 2000, a real-time strategy video game. In 2002, Vander reprised her role for the sequel: Emperor: Battle for Dune. Her theater credits include The Bourgeois Gentleman and Soweto’s Burning. Vander has made national commercials, including playing Agent 24-7 for Prudential Real Estate and Yoplait Yogurt. She has been featured in a number of magazines, including a pictoral in Maxim and a cover on Details.
Kahless has a Blog
http://jimsscifi.blogspot.com/
TV News:
Walking Dead, Revolution midseason finales and more
It looks a lot like war this week as the midseason and winter finales bring us The Walking Dead headed for a big battle, Revolution’s much-awaited clash, and Once Upon a Time embracing the good vs. evil of it all.
Also this week, the Huntress arrives on Arrow, Castiel wants to be a hunter on Supernatural, Sister Mary Eunice believes there’s a dark angel at Briarcliff on American Horror Story: Asylum, it’s still Thanksgiving on Last Resort, Sheldon and Wolowitz battle about a parking spot on The Big Bang Theory, Elena and Stefan break up on The Vampire Diaries, Vincent may be a murderer on Beauty & the Beast, Mark Pellegrino guest-stars on Person of Interest, Holmes investigates an explosion on Elementary, Audrey tries to figure out how to change her fate on Haven, dragons and wasps prove a lethal combination on Syfy’s movie Dragonwasps, and Whoopi Goldberg guest-stars on 666 Park Avenue.
Fringe exec confesses controversial plotline he regrets the most
Awesome as it may be, not every storyline on Fox’s sci-fi series Fringe was a winner. For every Over There reveal of the Twin Towers, there were a few creatures of the week that never really worked. So which season-long plot does current showrunner J.H. Wyman regret the most?
As some fans might’ve guessed, Wyman admits the long-running season-four storyline that saw Peter Bishop (Joshua Jackson) erased from existence was a dud that didn’t do much more than piss off an already small (but fiercely loyal) fanbase.
In an interview with SFX he explained how the idea fit thematically but proved a misstep in actual execution:
“Like the whole [season four] disappearance of Peter, I learned a great deal from that. It didn’t work. People didn’t like it and felt it was sort of stupid and didn’t get it. I totally agree. I look back at it and consider it one of our missteps. It didn’t work as well as we all thought it would. We liked it and thought it was cool. But no matter how many times we told people, ‘No, Peter is still part of the show. Come on? It’s Peter Bishop, he’s still part of the show,’ everybody was saying, ‘Peter is not on the show so I’m not watching anymore!’ They didn’t get it. But maybe in retrospect when people watch the series from beginning to end they’ll realize why thematically that was so important to do. People may or may not get what we did, but it is what it is. It’s not a pizza. You don’t get to order what you want on it. [Laughs]”
We’d have to agree. Though the storyline allowed more time to focus on the other characters, Peter is the heart of the show, and it just felt empty without him there to pull all the different players together.
Judging by the focus on the core cast tromping through the future for the shortened fifth season, Wyman seems to have learned from the mistake.
What do you think? Did you like the missing Peter storyline?
Movie News:
The Batman in that Justice League movie might not be Bruce Wayne
The Justice League movie would be Warner Bros.’ first attempt to create a consistent DC universe within the comic-book giant’s film franchises. It only makes sense that Batman would be a part of that. What makes less sense is a Batman who is NOT Bruce Wayne—but that may be exactly what we’ll get.
First, some very important backstory. Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel has had a big question mark above it, and the question is “Will this Superman movie be a part of the larger narrative building toward a Justice League movie?” In the past, the answer has been a firm no, but over the weekend Snyder seemed to indicate that Man of Steel would put Supes on track to be in Justice League.
With that in mind, it is being reported that Joseph Gordon-Levitt has already been cast to play Batman. That’s right—the man who played the would-be successor to Bruce Wayne in Dark Knight Rises seems set to play the Dark Knight proper. And with the announcement coming so soon, is it possible that Gordon-Levitt will even appear in Man of Steel?
With Dark Knight Rises coming to DVD and Blu-ray imminently, we won’t spoil the entire ending of the film, but suffice it to say that Gordon-Levitt does not play Bruce Wayne in it, but does play a crucial role that makes it seem as though, if he is playing Batman in Justice League, he won’t be doing it as Bruce Wayne.
Which brings us to the following question—has Warner Bros. had a collective loss of sanity? While we’ve seen non-Bruce-Wayne players put on the classic cape and cowl, it has never lasted very long. Why? Because Bruce Wayne is Batman!
Or are we wrong? What do you think?
Two MAJOR original X-Men stars returning for Days of Future Past
There have been rumblings that some former X-Men cast members could return in the upcoming sequel Days of Future Past. Now we know for sure—and it seems Magneto and Xavier’s battle will rage through a few generations this time around.
Bryan Singer has confirmed that X-Men stars Patrick Stewart (Professor X) and Sir Ian McKellen (Magneto) are the latest additions to First Class sequel Days of Future Past, which is said to be a time-jumping story based on the seminal 1980s comic arc of the same name.
James McAvoy (Xavier) and Michael Fassbender (Magneto) took up the characters in the recent prequel, and it’ll be amazing to see what happens with all four now in the mix.
Singer confirmed the casting news on Twitter:
@BryanSinger
Thrilled to announce @ianmckellen118 & @SirPatStew are joining the cast of #XMEN #DaysOfFuturePast #magneto #professorXMore to come…
Possibly the best part? That last bit. What does he mean by “More to come…”? We don’t know, but we can’t wait to find out.
WIth original X-Men director Singer back in the saddle tackling this storyline specifically, it looks like the studio is taking a real shot a revitalizing both versions of the franchise with one film—a gutsy and potentially awesome proposition.
What do you think? Could Days of Future Past make up for the mess that was X-Men: The Last Stand?
Star Wars’ Warwick Davis to Ewok haters: ‘We kicked arse
‘
As the man who brought to life Star Wars’ Wicket the Ewok, actor Warwick Davis has a love/hate relationship with some hardcore fans. But don’t think that means he’ll sit back and let you crack on the Ewoks.
For Davis, all the “cuddly” insults are crap when it comes to the furry little race introduced in the original Star Wars trilogy. The reason? The Ewoks “kick arse” when push comes to shove in the battle with the Empire.
He told Metro:
“There are Star Wars fans who don’t appreciate Ewoks for what they were. We kicked arse and helped the rebels defeat the Empire. Without us, what would have happened?”
But some people see Ewoks as an excuse to sell merchandise; they were ‘too cute’ and so on. That’s a minority view within the Star Wars community. When I go to the events, everyone is usually happy to see me.
Those are the sort of people who look forward to playing the Star Wars video games where you get to be a Stormtrooper and kill Ewoks. They know who they are.”
Davis has a few points, and the Ewoks did play a role in the epic battle from Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.
What do you think? Are you an Ewok fan?
This week in Star Trek:
Official Star Trek: Into Darkness Synopsis Revealed
Paramount has issued the first official film synopsis for J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek: Into Darkness.
In Summer 2013, pioneering director J.J. Abrams will deliver an explosive action thriller that takes Star Trek Into Darkness.
When the crew of the Enterprise is called back home, they find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organisation has detonated the fleet and everything it stands for, leaving our world in a state of crisis.
With a personal score to settle, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one man weapon of mass destruction.
As our heroes are propelled into an epic chess game of life and death, love will be challenged, friendships will be torn apart, and sacrifices must be made for the only family Kirk has left: his crew.
Does the description make you more or less excited about the film? Tell us in the comments below.
Star Trek Into Darkness, starring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, Anton Yelchin, John Cho, Benedict Cumberbatch, Peter Weller, Bruce Greenwood and Alice Eve, hits theaters on May 17, 2013.
Edward Furlong, Corin Nemec, & J.G. Hertzler Join Star Trek: Renegades Cast
By Captain Pyke | November 24, 2012 – 11:19 pm
With much fanfaire, and maybe a little help from our Tim Russ interview, Star Trek: Renegades has met it’s initial $200,000 goal on Kickstarter and is shooting for stretch funding of $250,000. Even if the new goal isn’t met, the new fan film is funded and with that good news we learn that new stars have been added to the already full roster.
Life After Trek-ker J.G. Hertzler joined the cast this week as well as a few other SciFi familiars. Terminator 2 star, and ex-boyfried of Jolene Blalock, Edward Furlong has joined the cast for an undisclosed role. Stargate SG-1 and Parker Lewis Can’t Lose fans can look forward to seeing Corin Nemec in the upcoming feature too. If you guys and gals remember, Life After Trek-ker Michael DeMeritt worked on Park Lewis in his early days in the business we call show.
The Trek connections know no bounds…Life After Trek Podcast Episode 22 Featuring Robert O’Reilly & JG Hertzler
By Captain Pyke | November 19, 2012 – 11:47 pm
We’re pleased to announce episode 22 of our “Life After Trek” podcast, featuring Robert O’Reilly & J.G. Hertzler. Many of you know them as Chancellor Gowron and General / Chancellor Martok. We would like to give a special thanks to the fine folks at Starbase Indy for hooking us up with this fantastic interview. If you’re in the Indianapolis area, be sure to stop by this coming Thanksgiving weekend (November 23-25, 2012) and enjoy this fantastic fan run con. Both Bob & J.G. will be on hand in full Klingon regalia for a special panel, plus other (non-forhead ridged) events for the full run of the convention.
Just to be a bit transparent, we had some technical difficulties in the recording of this episode. So, some of the interview will seem a bit disjointed and spliced together. Both J.G. & Bob were fantastic and gracious in re-recording a few parts that were lost.
During the interview, we talk about their respective times in Trek-dom as well as other projects that the duo have worked on. If you’re fans of Klingons (like we are), be sure to download this episode.
Sci Fi 5 in 5
Great Sheldon Cooper quotes
5. Sheldon: Why are you crying?
Penny: Because I’m stupid!
Sheldon: That’s no reason to cry. One cries because one is sad. For example, I cry because others are stupid, and that makes me sad.
4. Sheldon: I am not crazy, my mother had me tested
3. Leonard: What were you doing at Penny’s?
Sheldon: Well, we had dinner, played some games, and then I spent the night. Oh, and you’ll be happy to know that I now have a much better understanding of ‘friends with benefits.’
2. Raj: I don’t like bugs, okay? They freak me out.
Sheldon: Interesting. You’re afraid of insects and women. Ladybugs must render you catatonic.
1. Sheldon: Scissors cuts paper, paper covers rock, rock crushes lizard, lizard poisons Spock, Spock smashes scissors, scissors decapitates lizard, lizard eats paper, paper disproves Spock, Spock vaporizes rock, and as it always has, rock crushes scissors.