io9: rudy giuliani

Host Sequel Has Multiple Monsters

charliejane — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 13:10:17 PST

A forklift driver tries to block a monster coming out of the ground in this early concept art from The Host 2, which starts filming this summer. The sequel to the best monster movie in ages will feature multiple monsters, says writer Kang Full. And it sounds as though it'll be even more political than the original. Click through for full image and more details.

I love the look on the forklift operator's face. Says scriptwriter/comics artist Kang:

I wanted to maintain the grace of the original film and to overcome the difficulties and limitations a sequel could have. And I wish to show more action with multiple monsters.

According to the synopsis from production company Chungeorahm, the movie aims a barb squarely at Lee Myung-Bak, South Korea's new president-elect. Not unlike Rudy Giuliani taking credit for cleaning up New York, Lee ran for president based on his record of renovating Cheonggyecheon, a foul-smelling concrete-covered creek running to downtown Seoul. The restored creek is now a major tourist attraction. But environmentalists call the restoration a sham, because the stream's water is piped in.

The Host 2 takes place in 2003, six months before the first movie. Once again, our sympathies are with the regular people. We follow the street vendors displaced by the renovation and the demolition workers and police involved in it. Supposedly a line in the movie actually mentions Lee pushing for the river project so he can run for president. The project disturbs horrible creatures that live underground, and you can guess the rest. Monster pile-on! [Scifi Japan, via MonsterFest]

Clinton is the Only Presidential Candidate With a Space Plan

Annalee Newitz — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 07:30:23 PST

Apparently Hilary Clinton is the only presidential candidate who has taken a public stand on space-related issues. In a terrifically-helpful rundown of candidates' sci/tech policies from Popular Mechanics, Clinton was the only one to comment on the space program. She promised to renew NASA's R&D funding, prep for more human space flights, and maintain NASA's extensive network of Earth Science-related satellites for measuring the progress of climate change. But she also shared one interesting science policy promise with another Democratic front runner.

Like John Edwards, Clinton promised to give the White House Science Adviser direct access to the President once again. This is huge: for eight years, no top science adviser has had the ear of the Commander in Chief. Not surprisingly, the Republican candidates are following in Bush's footsteps and showing little interest in elevating the science adviser again, or in forging close ties with the scientific community.

Also not surprisingly, candidates' science policies were at their most elaborate and promisey when they talked about climate change issues — a popular topic with broad appeal. Every single candidate promised to invest more in "clean energy" or "alternative energy." For Clinton, this meant working hard to get in line with Kyoto and post-Kyoto protocols. For Giuliani, this meant investing in more nuclear power plants. Hey, nukes are clean energy! Just be sure to keep a lot of boron around in case of meltdown.

Geek the Vote with Popular Mechanics' Guide to the Candidates [via Slashdot]