Lights, Camera, Austin

If you couldn’t make it out to BookPeople last night, you missed my terrible Arnold Schwarzenegger impression. So as a consolation prize, here’s an interview I did last week on KOOP 91.7 FM’s “Lights, Camera, Austin,” hosted by Robert Sims.

Good Day Austin

My morning show debut.

Win Free Weekend Passes to Austin Comic Con!

Surely you’ve already reached the only logical conclusion and plan to join me tomorrow night (Wed., Aug 22) at 7 pm at BookPeople in Austin for a rip-roaring IF YOU LIKE THE TERMINATOR event. You know that I’ll be reading from the book, taking questions, signing copies, and that delicious beverages will be provided by Saint Arnold Brewing Company. But just in case you’ve been on the fence, I can now announce that all those who attend the event will have an opportunity to win a FREE pair of weekend passes to Austin Comic Con! The renowned comic book/sci-fi convention will be held October 26-28 at the Austin Convention Center, and will host a 25-year reunion of the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation! I have two pairs of passes to give away, so meet me at BookPeople, won’t you?

Skuriels Ballot

As I write this post, the Skuriels countdown of the 20 greatest movies of all time is underway. This is a joint effort by two critics organizations, the Skandies and the Muriels, and you can get a better explanation of all that here. I’ve written up a couple of my favorites that made the final cut, and those should be appearing on the Skuriels site sometime today. Meanwhile, I thought I’d post my full ballot here:

The Austin American-Statesman on “If You Like The Terminator…”

The Sunday edition of the local daily tooted my horn in fine fashion. With only a couple days to go until the BookPeople event, I need all the help I can get. Thanks to Joe Gross for an entertaining write-up that rightly emphasizes my Planet of the Apes love:

Everything you always wanted to know about ‘The Terminator’

“Terminator” Screening and BookPeople Event!

Attention Austinites!

The Terminator is playing the fabulous Paramount Theater this weekend (Aug. 18-19) as part of Sci-Fi week, and I will be introducing the 4:45 pm show on Sunday, August 19! I’ll be giving away a copy of If You Like The Terminator, so brush up on your trivia and come on down!

On Wednesday, August 22, join me at 7 pm at BookPeople for a special If You Like The Terminator event! I will be reading from the book, taking questions, and signing copies – and best of all, there will be FREE BEER courtesy of Saint Arnold Brewing Company! What kind of crazy person would miss out on such an opportunity? Again I say, come on down!

SHARK WEEK: Mission of the Shark

The new Jaws Blu-ray is out today, and here’s a trivia fact that may or may not be contained on its ocean of extras: When Universal first started to consider a sequel to Jaws, the original plan was to dramatize Quint’s monologue about the sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis and the subsequent shark attacks on the survivors. In the end, however, the suits decided to play it safe and return to the beaches of Amity.

SHARK WEEK: Jersey Shore Shark Attack

A few years ago, longtime readers may vaguely recall, I piggybacked on Discovery’s Shark Week with a week’s worth of shark movie reviews. Due to no popular demand, and because I’ve long since run out of ideas, it’s time to do it again!

No cable network has feasted on sharks quite like Discovery, but SyFy must be the (distant) runner-up. The “originals” division of the annoyingly-spelled science fiction channel has been churning out cheaply-made shark movies for years now, and they don’t come much cheaper than Jersey Shore Shark Attack.

Crime Fiction and Sci-Fi Panel in San Antonio

Residents of San Antonio and vicinity: Unite and join me at 2 p.m. on Saturday, August 18, at Barnes & Noble in The Shops at La Cantera for a fun and informative panel discussion! I’ll be talking crime and sci-fi books and movies with the following luminaries: