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Vancouver Sun
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Vancouver Sun
Adventures in Streaming: Outer Limits is your next favourite binge
If one measures the success of a TV series by its spinoffs, Star Trek (Paramount+), must stand alone, with an astonishing 13 different television iterations — that's not even counting the dozen or so movies. Surely, though, the original series –Trekkers call it TOS for short — was the fountainhead that inspired all those offshoots. Has it aged well since its 1966-69 run? Well, developments in everything from visual effects to fight choreography have rendered the show somewhat quaint, at least through the jaded eyes of contemporary media consumers with the ability to pinpoint slipshod digital alterations while standing 20 paces from a 4K flatscreen. But in these divisive times, it remains a series that made one hopeful about the future in its depiction of earthlings from different backgrounds and ethnicities who put aside their differences to co-operate on a noble, non-colonizing interstellar mission: 'To boldly go where no man has gone before.' Get top headlines and gossip from the world of celebrity and entertainment. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sun Spots will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. And yet the show's reputation as the alpha and omega of television science fiction is as persistently tight as a Vulcan Nerve Pinch. Star Trek's mission was, in a way, forecast in a series that developed years before Captain Kirk was but a glimmer in the eye of a CBS network programmer. The Outer Limits (1963-65, new on Tubi), is delightful old-school science fiction that anticipated TOS, even if its format went with a different story and cast every week. If Star Trek looked forward, Outer Limits was very much formed by its immediate past, the geopolitical aftershocks of the Second World War, with the threat of nuclear annihilation at the forefront. Also, it was shot in newsreel black and white, which gives it more gravitas than Star Trek's '60s sickly-psychedelic colour palette. Even with its primitive effects, it could induce nightmares. The episode The Zanti Misfits is about powerful aliens who negotiate a deal with earth to harbour a Botany Bay-like ship filled with prisoners. Once revealed, the creatures are merely large bugs with human faces, animated with stop motion. And yet, these crawlies still have the power to creep you out. Go for the bugs. Stay for the hair-raising sado-masochistic sparks between earthly criminal Bruce Dern and his girlfriend (Olive Deering), a runaway wife, who unwittingly facilitate the misfits' escape. (The series' main writer Joseph Stefano wrote the screenplay for Psycho, and presumably knew a little something about, psychosexual subtext.) The most celebrated episode, Demon with a Glass Hand, was written by sci-fi gadfly Harlan Ellison, and stars Robert Culp as a man with no memory, dropped into Los Angeles, vaguely aware of a mission to foil an aggressive alien race that will defeat earthlings hundreds of years in the future. (In 2009, TV Guide ranked the episode as #73 on an all-time list of great TV episodes.) Infamously, Ellison sued the makers of James Cameron's 1984 film The Terminator because it lifted the premise of a man from the future time-travelling to the past on an assignment to save mankind from a menace yet to come. The film company Hemdale settled with Ellison to the chagrin of Cameron, who quite justifiably felt no one author owned the concept of time travel. (Look at it now and the episode more closely resembles Blade Runner (1982), given that it features a proto-replicant engaged in a violent battle to the death in the iron-wrought confines of the Bradbury Building, a real-life location utilized in both properties.) Perhaps the most significant feature of the show is that Star Trek actors — including Leonard Nimoy and James 'Scotty' Doohan — keep showing up. William Shatner seems to be doing a trial run as Captain Kirk playing a cocky astronaut who finds himself transformed when he encounters an alien on Venus in the episode Cold Hands, Warm Heart. Taken on its own, The Outer Limits was so much more than a warm-up act. Binge accordingly.
Calgary Herald
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Calgary Herald
Adventures in Streaming: Outer Limits is your next favourite binge
Article content If one measures the success of a TV series by its spinoffs, Star Trek (Paramount+), must stand alone, with an astonishing 13 different television iterations — that's not even counting the dozen or so movies. Article content Surely, though, the original series –Trekkers call it TOS for short — was the fountainhead that inspired all those offshoots. Article content Has it aged well since its 1966-69 run? Well, developments in everything from visual effects to fight choreography have rendered the show somewhat quaint, at least through the jaded eyes of contemporary media consumers with the ability to pinpoint slipshod digital alterations while standing 20 paces from a 4K flatscreen. Article content Article content Article content But in these divisive times, it remains a series that made one hopeful about the future in its depiction of earthlings from different backgrounds and ethnicities who put aside their differences to co-operate on a noble, non-colonizing interstellar mission: 'To boldly go where no man has gone before.' Article content Article content And yet the show's reputation as the alpha and omega of television science fiction is as persistently tight as a Vulcan Nerve Pinch. Article content Star Trek's mission was, in a way, forecast in a series that developed years before Captain Kirk was but a glimmer in the eye of a CBS network programmer. Article content The Outer Limits (1963-65, new on Tubi), is delightful old-school science fiction that anticipated TOS, even if its format went with a different story and cast every week. If Star Trek looked forward, Outer Limits was very much formed by its immediate past, the geopolitical aftershocks of the Second World War, with the threat of nuclear annihilation at the forefront. Also, it was shot in newsreel black and white, which gives it more gravitas than Star Trek's '60s sickly-psychedelic colour palette. Article content Article content Even with its primitive effects, it could induce nightmares. The episode The Zanti Misfits is about powerful aliens who negotiate a deal with earth to harbour a Botany Bay-like ship filled with prisoners. Once revealed, the creatures are merely large bugs with human faces, animated with stop motion. And yet, these crawlies still have the power to creep you out. Article content Go for the bugs. Stay for the hair-raising sado-masochistic sparks between earthly criminal Bruce Dern and his girlfriend (Olive Deering), a runaway wife, who unwittingly facilitate the misfits' escape. (The series' main writer Joseph Stefano wrote the screenplay for Psycho, and presumably knew a little something about, psychosexual subtext.) Article content The most celebrated episode, Demon with a Glass Hand, was written by sci-fi gadfly Harlan Ellison, and stars Robert Culp as a man with no memory, dropped into Los Angeles, vaguely aware of a mission to foil an aggressive alien race that will defeat earthlings hundreds of years in the future. (In 2009, TV Guide ranked the episode as #73 on an all-time list of great TV episodes.)
Daily Mail
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Ben Affleck's Chasing Amy costar who worked with Jennifer Aniston is making a comeback… see what she looks like now
The actress who starred in the 1997 romantic comedy Chasing Amy and has since left Hollywood is preparing to return to the spotlight. Joey Lauren Adams is perhaps best known for playing Alyssa Jones, the object of Ben Affleck 's affection in the film that helped launch his career. While Joey, 56, now lives in her home state of Arkansas, she still acts on occasion for various passion projects. She recently announced she will be starring in CatNIP, a new film starring Chevy Chase and Bruce Dern about a family fighting for their lives against a herd of feral cats. The Dazed and Confused actress gushed about the project on her Instagram last month, posting a Deadline article announcing the film. 'Had too much fun fighting killer cats with these two legends! Big thanks to @geoffreyarend for being such an incredible actor and a joy to work with as well as all the cast and crew! Many thanks for including me @keliprice and Nyle Cavazos @smalltownpictures,' she captioned the post. The Deadline article was published in February and reported filming was set to begin that month. Based on Joey's caption, it appears her portion of production is now done. April 4 marked the 27th anniversary of Chasing Amy, the third film in director Kevin Smith's View Askewniverse series. The film is about Affleck's character falling for Adams, who plays a fellow comic book artist. But his romantic hopes are crushed when he finds out she's a lesbian. That film - along with Good Will Hunting - helped launch Ben's career. Chasing Amy received numerous accolades and nominations, including two Independent Spirit Award wins and was even partly inspired by Joey. The actress had been dating Smith but they split shortly after the film debuted. 'Kevin wrote Amy about our relationship and all the s*** he gave me,' she told The Independent last year. 'Then he gets the glory and becomes such a great person and I'm, like, left in the s***,' she said. Joey's resume includes a slew of projects, including a number of big films that include the cult classic Dazed and Confused. She even had Jennifer Aniston as a co-star in The Break-Up She also starred opposite Adam Sandler in the 1999 comedy Big Daddy, playing his girlfriend, and even had Jennifer Aniston as a co-star in the 2006 film The Break-Up. Joey's work with Smith also includes Mallrats, the Jay and Silent Bob reboot, and the animated Clerks: The Lost Scene. Her most recent role was in the 2024 film Greedy People and she has five other projects - including CatNIP - in the pipeline. It's not just acting that Joey has done - she has also directed. In 2006 she released Come Early Morning, a film she wrote herself that was partly inspired by hometown of North Little Rock, Arkansas. Joey in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back 'I loved it,' she said of the movie. 'I just remember feeling like [behind the camera] was where I was meant to be. But directing is an even harder world to break into than acting – I would love to do more.' Joey then left LA and headed to Mississippi before returning to Arkansas. Now she is enjoying life at a lake house in Hot Springs, Arkansas with her husband, cinematographer Brian Vilim. While she is now miles away from Hollywood, she still appears in front of the camera, but prefers seeking out projects being worked on by friends or newcomers that can benefit from her assistance.
