Race is an eye-popping, action-packed animated film from the imagination of Robert Brousseau and Rhonda Smiley whose energy exceeds its budget. You can view the trailer and order the DVD from http://www.phase4films.com/detail.aspx?projectId=716e0202-07d6-4f71-89be-9d100086fe15#.

Project Arbiter is a an independent film effort that appears to still be in the fishing-for-funding stage, but they have created an impressive looking trailer and a crowd-pleasing concept. Project Arbiter focuses on the efforts of an O.S.S. team to obtain the latest Nazi secret weapon, a high-tech battle suit that could alter the course of the war….sort of a Saving Private Iron Man. In spite of the “you-got-chocolate-in-my-peanut-butter” story…or perhaps because of it…this film looks like it could be fun to watch. Visit http://www.projectarbiter.com and see for yourself. And, if you like what you see, throw’em a bone.

IF you’ve ever been to Kentucky, you know that there are many fascinating things to do tucked away among the forrested hills of this great redneck habitat. Kentucky is a geological wonderland, and is home to many caves and rich fossil beds dating back hundreds of thousands of years. Built atop one of these prehistoric graveyards is Kentucky’s newest and most infamous tourist attraction, the Creation Museum. (I’m not sure if the museum’s founders were simply unaware of the irony, or just being spiteful, but you can still wander over to the nearby rocky hillsides and, with a little digging, unearth fossilized trilobites dating back millions of years. They make great skipping stones, or gifts for museum visitors.)

The Creation Musem itself doesn’t really qualify as a science fiction topic, because there isn’t enough science in it, but one of its exhibits DOES contain elements of a good science fiction film. I am, of course, referring to that illustrious staple of creature features, the Land of People-Eating Dinosaurs. Here is a picture:

This is an actual exhibit in the museum. At first glance, it appears suspiciously like a scene from a Harryhausen film, with cave girls and dinosaurs coexisting in defiance of all things carbon-dated. But closer examination reveals that it is not at all accurate in its depiction of the cave girl. Anyone who has seen a People-Eating Dinosaur movie knows very well that cave girls wear far less clothing. They also scream and fall down a lot, and her ankle does not appear to be twisted in any way. Nor is she being abducted by Pterodactyl, wrestling with another cave girl, or otherwise in any peril whatsoever. In fact, the dinosaur behind her appears quite content to simply watch her eat berries. It must be a species of Peeposaurus Pervus. They stalked cave girls, but never attacked. No one is sure if they went extinct or were simply forced to live in hiding because of all the restraining orders.

Here is a REAL cave girl…in fact, THE cave girl, Raquel Welch from the Harryhausen stop-motion masterpiece, One Million Years B.C. :

Raquel put the movie cave girl on the map. There have been many lesser cave girls since, but none as iconic as Loanna the Fair One. Good science is reproducible, though, and so is a good box office draw, so let’s examine a few more cave girls. Hammer studios was quick to see the potential of the scantily-clad cave girl movie, so they gave us Victoria Vetri in When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth:

If you are one of the lucky owners of the original version of this movie on DVD, hang onto it. It seems that Best Buy initially marked the box as being rated “G”, but was forced to recall them after some wide-eyed kiddies saw two more monsters than they had bargained for (when Victoria lost her top). You won’t see THAT in the Creation Museum (not even in the Adam and Eve exhibit…sorry, kids).

Hammer made yet another cave girl movie, the Creatures That Time Forgot, but it scarcely merits a mention, since Hammer forgot the creatures, too, eschewing stop-motion for more fur bikini time. This violated the unwritten law of People-Eating Dinosaur movies that they must, at some point, contain a dinosaur. Otherwise, it might as well be a beach movie, and no one wants to hear a bunch of pre-literate cave people sing.

My personal favorite entry into the People-Eating Dinosaur club is the Mighty Peking Man (aka Goliathon). While not technically a dinosaur, Goliathon IS a giant prehistoric monster, and there is little doubt about who he is peeking at in this over-the-top-in-a-Hong-Kong-kind-of-way grindhouse film. Here is a photo of the highly peekable Swedish cave girl, Evelyn Kraft, which was taken in one of the rare moments when her top was not falling off:

So, as we can see from first-hand evidence, the Creation Museum exhibit is hopelessly innacurate in its depiction of cave girls. There is plenty of proof to the contrary (including less noteworthy films as the People That Time Forgot, Prehistoric Women or even Dinosaur Valley Girls) But don’t take my word for it. Do your own research. You may not learn a lot watching films like Tammy and the T-Rex, but it’s every bit as educational as a trip to the Creation Museum, and a lot cheaper.

Enigma is a compelling little indie sci-fi film that has garnered a lot of awards, and further proof that you don’t need a million dollars to make a film that looks like a million dollars. The Shumway Brothers did it for less than fifty grand. Check out their website at http://www.enigmathemovie.com/ or view the inevitable Youtube trailer…

OR should I say…Dr. Bean! Yes, Rowan Atkinson appears in this parody of Dr. Who, written by a guy who should know. A must see for Who fans…

http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2010/04/mr-bean-as-doctor-who/