Details Soon...

I know...I've got a lot of 'splaining to do regarding this. I'm a bit swamped with the aftermath, but I'm going to post something this weekend about what happened in Manhattan last week and where things could go from here. In the meantime, here are some press links:

The Hollywood Reporter
Life.com
NYTVF
Roosevelt University Press Release

I'm Back

With the summer--and the first hectic weeks of class--behind me, Mount Helicon is back in business. Expect multiple reviews (television, film, and fiction) every week, as well as interviews with people who tell stories for a living.

To start, head over to FringeTelevision.com (which has a slick new design) for my review of last night's second season premiere of JJ Abrams' Fringe

I'll be refocusing the blog, in a way, to center on my thoughts on storytelling (tv/film/books) as a writer...instead of just as a consumer of media.

Blogging Drought

I know. It's been nearly a month since my last post, but I got busy, okay? Rest assured that come September I'll have plenty of book/movie/tv reviews, along with more interviews with the cast and crew of Fox's Fringe (and hopefully more surprise interviews like last month's with Maria Baltazzi).

Speaking of Fox, I should hear back regarding my comedy pilot sometime between the 21st and the 26th of September, so keep your fingers crossed! I should also have an article on Jeffrey Ford's trilogy published soon over at Bookslut.

Lost University?

When I first saw this, I laughed. But it seems like this is an official Lost marketing campaign run by ABC. Here's the official website. Considered me enrolled.

I love the mascot.

Comic-Con Day 1

For the uninitiated, "Comic-Con" is a misnomer. Networks and studios use it as a marketing platform for their upcoming movies/shows. It's a big weekend for geeks, cinephiles, and writers (and I think I qualify as all three).

Here's what I've found interesting so far!

Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland trailer
How great does this look?

Elizabeth Mitchell talks about Juliet's "death" on Lost
Will she be back for Season 6? Liz plays coy, but she says Juliet's return "depends on whether everything happens that the writers want to happen."

James Cameron and cast talk Avatar
No footage from the film itself, but it's an intriguing prehash. I can't believe this thing hits theatres in December, and we still haven't seen a frame. Comic-Con attendees did get to watch an extended preview, so hopefully that'll wind up online soon. Apparently, this movie is supposed to blow everyone's mind.

Twilight fans wait in line for over 24 hours
It's sad, really.

Reviews of two upcoming genre TV shows
Human Target, starring Fringe's Mark Valley (I interviewed him!), and V, starring Lost's Elizabeth Mitchell.

The Funniest Thing I've Seen All Week

Skip to the 50-second mark, where Harry Potter himself shows up and gives this poor girl a panic attack.

Batman Does Have A Superpower

Say what you will about Batman being the only superhero without tangible powers, but fans have definitely overlooked something.

Judging from the Chris Nolan franchise, Batman has the uncanny ability to inadvertantly wind up in architecturally advantageous locations when fighting crime.

Here's the challenge: name an action sequence in Batman Begins or The Dark Knight where the architecture in Batman's immediate vicinity doesn't play a key role in his success.

• In Batman Begins, you've got the remote temple of Ra's Al Ghul, which Batman destroys and escapes from thanks to a convenient nearby poker and copious amounts of flammable thatch, wood, and explosives.

• He stops Falconi's drug shipment and later rescues Rachel from the Scarecrow thanks to some extremely high, poorly-lit ceilings with giant rafters.
  
  
  
• He gets away from a veritable horde of police by gliding down an extremely wide spiral staircase (pictured above).
  
  
• In The Dark Knight, he kicks things off by dropping down a perfectly placed atrium in a parking garage.

• Later, his Tokyo target happens to be staying in a glass-walled building.
  
  
• When the Batmobile breaks down on Lower Wacker Drive, he's able to drive the Batpod through some generously wide doors and through the Chicago pedway system to catch up with the Joker.

• He stops the Joker's 18-Wheeler using a few well-placed streetlamps on LaSalle Street.

• He neutralizes a SWAT team and Joker's thugs thanks to an under-construction skyscraper with exposed support beams and no windows.

My question. What would happen if Batman tried to stop a crime in, say, your neighborhood bank? If it wasn't under construction or built around an ever-reliable atrium, would he have to go through the revolving doors like everyone else? If it was on the eigth floor, would he have to take the elevator?

Disclaimer: despite the sarcasm, I'm a huge fan of every film Nolan has ever made.

Interview: Maria Baltazzi

Update 7/22: Maria sent me some more detailed answers about her experience with Mark Burnett, the History Channel, and the expedition team, which I've embedded below.

Note: Maria and her production team were just nominated for a 2009 Emmy for their cinematography.

The best thing on TV this summer, the History Channel's thrilling Expedition Africa, just wrapped on Sunday night. If you missed it, catch up on Hulu or History.com.

Maria Baltazzi is a veteran, hands-on producer who's worked with Mark Burnett on classics like Eco-Challenge and Survivor (can we bring Eco-Challenge back, please?). Maria was the original brains behind the concept of Expedition Africa, and was the on-location show runner, meaning she went on the same expedition, only behind the cameras. Tough girl!

After stumbling across my Mount Helicon reviews via Expedition explorer Mireya Mayor's tweets, Maria was kind enough to answer a few of my questions on making this summer's smash hit.

Adam Morgan
Where did the idea for Expedition Africa come from?

Maria Baltazzi
[First], I thought back to my elementary school days and thought about the explorers I most remembered. Even if someone knows nothing about exploration, they may have at least heard the words "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" Expedition Africa is the modern-day story behind one of the most famous lines ever said in exploration. Second, when you think of early exploration, Africa's daunting and epic landscape comes to mind first. Then, after many discussions with Mark Burnett and History, we all agreed this would be a great expedition to re-capture.

The initial inspiration for developing EXPEDITION AFRICA came from Nancy Dubuc, the Executive VP/General Manager for A&E Television Network’s History Channel. She wanted to do a series about the world’s greatest historical expeditions, and asked Mark Burnett to develop the series. Then Mark, knowing my great love for travel, asked me to develop the series with him. We have had a working relationship since the very first shoot day of Survivor: Borneo (season 1).

My very first meeting with Mark on this project was Jan 10, 2008. We presented our concept to History on Feb 26, 2008. A year -- to the day -- later, I delivered the very first completed episode of Expedition Africa. As the series showrunner, I could not have asked for a more supportive working relationship than the one I experienced both with Mark Burnett and the History Channel. I can truly say the experience was epic in every conceivable way.

Adam Morgan
Were any other locations or historical expeditions considered before you settled on Stanley and Livingstone?

Maria Baltazzi
We talked about Lewis & Clark, parts of Magellan's voyage, Marco Polo, the Arctic explorers... to mention a few.

Adam Morgan
How well do you know the explorers themsevles?

Maria Baltazzi
I did the casting, and they are exactly what you see on screen. I adore each one of them uniquely. They are so different and strong in personality. Each brought a special talent to comprise a well-rounded expedition team.

When I did the casting, I had our casting director look here, in the States, Canada, England (where I found Benedict), Australia, NZ, Kenya and South Africa. It was challenging to find experienced explorers, who’s skill-set didn’t overlap too much, could verbalize the history as well the “how-to” part of doing an expedition, and handle having a camera around them 24/7. I presented my choices to Mark Burnett and History for final approval, and the result was a dynamic none of us could have predicted. We all thought they were an amazing team of knowledgeable, skilled explorers, who were very expressive with their thoughts and feelings.

Adam Morgan
What's the best expedition you've ever been on?

Maria Baltazzi
Hard to pick "the best" expedition I've ever been on. They are each so unique. But I can truly say Expedition Africa: Stanley & Livingstone was EPIC. This is not an exaggeration.

Adam Morgan
Which explorer do you most resemble? Personality-wise, not physically!

Maria Baltazzi
I would have been mostly similar to Mireya with a touch of Pasquale mixed in there. You have to keep the expedition team moving forward AND look after everyone's well-being. That was my daily concern. In truth, I think I see a bit of myself in each of the Explorers: Benedict’s micro curiosity for the world he explorers. Kevin’s desire to tell stories about people and places. Pasquale’s focused determination to achieve a goal. And, Mireya’s love for people and nature/wildlife.

Adam Morgan
What's next for you?

Maria Baltazzi
More adventures! I specialize in shooting on location.

And while Maria wouldn't dish on the inevitable sequel, the tag scene of final episode contains a blatant reference to Marco Polo. Then again, it also blatantly refers to Subaru, so I guess Season 2 could ostensibly be a trek across the grounds of the Indiana Subaru plant, which doubles as a real-life wildlife preserve...

Major thanks and kudos to Maria and the rest of the Expedition Africa team. Head over to StudioDaily for a more in-depth interview with Maria about her experience on the show.

Expedition Africa: Finale

Summer usually means reruns. As a writer, I typically mourn the loss of scripted television between May and September.

Not this summer. Expedition Africa has been a welcome shot in the arm. In an era where the majority of Westerners spend their days lounging in climate-controlled, wireless-enabled offices and bedrooms, four intrepid explorers abandon the modern world for a real-life adventure in the wilderness. No sat-phones, no GPS. Just a compass and a tube full of hand-drawn maps.

The final two legs of the trek may have been my favorite. The music and the cinematography have really stepped up a notch here at the end of the season, with some Gregson-Williams-esque motifs and a lot of great helicopter shots. The night-hike through a moonless jungle was creepy (especially with all the hyena and lion eyes glowing through the trees), and I got a little anxious when they set up camp in an abandoned village (abandoned because too many children had been attacked by nearby crocs).

It was also nice to see Pasquale's soft side. After learning about his nightmarish childhood, I began to understand some of his social difficulties, and his geeky enthusiasm for geology was endearing. I even got misty-eyed when he and the rest of the explorers said goodbye to their loyal porters. You could tell they had really bonded, despite linguistic and cultural barriers.

Kevin's attitude did reach an all-time low towards the end of the first hour, but it's hard to blame the man after such a grueling month in the wild. I actually took his side when Pasquale argued against "wasting" time speaking with a local farmer. Kevin's a journalist. He should get fifteen minutes to interview someone every few days without catching flack for it.

The final hour looks to be smooth sailing (pun intended) after a leisurely canoe cruise down a placid river, but once the water opens out into Lake Tanganyika, all hell breaks loose. As those canoes, and later dhows, were near-capsizing in the choppy water, I couldn't help but ask the same question I ask every episode when conditions get rough:

"How does the poor CAMERA CREW deal with this?"

Hopefully some special features on the DVD will shed some light on these hidden expedition members, who had to make the trek with God-knows-how-much extra weight on their shoulders.

As the team neared Ujiji, the proverbial end of the road, I found myself sorry that it was almost over. I mean look, there's Pasquale, bathing in Lake Tanganyika, going on about wading through the same water molecules as Stanley and Livingstone. And there's Mireya, introducing us to another snake, Steve Irwin-style. It's a shame we won't see these guys for the rest of the summer.

Their well-earned arrival in Ujiji was a real treat to watch. Those Edenic avenues of mango trees, the colorful local dancers, and dozens of wide white smiles. I'm glad they made it in one piece, bodies and relationships intact. And I personally would like to see a spin-off with Julius and the Maasai.

Did you all catch the teaser scene at the end? Is there really a Marco Polo-centered sequel in the works? Executive producer Maria Baltazzi has been kind enough to do a short interview with me for Mount Helicon, so I'll see what hints I can tease out of her!

Major kudos to the explorers, the crew, and all of the creative minds behind the best reality show of all time.

I Want One Of These