Hollywood propaganda

My frequent writing partner Matthew Alford - a leading expert in the study of Hollywood propaganda - was interviewed recently on PsiOp Radio.

In a lively eighty-minute discussion with the show's hosts, Matthew covered a range of fascinating topics relating to the politics of Hollywood, effectively busting the myth that Tinseltown is, in any meaningful sense of the term, a "liberal" institution.

Corporate shenanigans and issues surrounding product placement are explored; so too Hollywood's symbiotic relationship with the US government in the form of the DoD and CIA. Also discussed in this latter context are Hollywood's UFO movies. You can listen to the interview at PsiOp Radio's website. It's eighty-minutes well spent!

Dark Skies on DVD

Created by Bryce Zabel and Brent Friedman, the UFO-themed TV series Dark Skies was first broadcast by NBC in 1996 only to be cancelled the following year, placing it in the good company of innumerable challenging TV shows to have been shoved unceremoniously by cigar-chomping corporate executives into the televisual memory hole.

Great news, then (for those of you that didn't know already) that Dark Skies has finally come to DVD. Both slickly entertaining and UFOlogically fascinating, the series will resonate with casual fans of the sci-fi genre and seasoned UFO researchers alike.

For much more information about Dark Skies, including where you can purchase the series, head on over to Bryce Zabel and Richard Dolan's website, After Disclosure.


For the Dark Skies DVD trailer, see here.

Aliens to experience British hospitality

Following on from the success recently of Brit sci-fi comedy Paul comes another UK UFO movie: the genre-bending Attack the Block, with a story pitched as 'inner city vs. outer space.'

For anyone who's ever asked the question: "If aliens are real, why don't they just come and visit us?" a selection of Britain's best and brightest youngsters have the answer.


Attack the Block hits UK cinemas May 13, 2011.

UFOs and Hollywood: Fact and Fantasy

My latest article - a detailed analysis of how Hollywood UFO movies shape/distort popular perceptions of the UFO phenomenon - is now accessible at UFO Digest and will be permanently accessible here at Silver Screen Saucers in the 'Articles' section.

The article draws considerably from my current doctoral research and hopefully brings into sharp focus ideas that have long been swirling around in the UFO research field. Do UFO movies serve to fictionalise the UFO phenomenon for audiences, or to actualise it? I suggest that Hollywood achieves both results simultaneously. For discussion of the cinematic and UFOlogical processes at the heart of this curious dynamic, check out the article: UFOs and Hollywood: Blurring the Line between Fact and Fantasy.

CIA advised secretly on 2009 Disney UFO movie

An active operative of the Central Intelligence Agency provided detailed, on-set advice to the makers of the 2009 Disney film Race to Witch Mountain - this according to the film's director, Andy Fickman. In a September 2010 interview, Fickman revealed to me that his CIA advisor - who had been hired "through back door channels" - personally designed the written alien language seen in the flying saucer during the film's climactic scenes. The advisor also recommended that certain UFOlogical content be removed from the script.

Along with an active Air Force Colonel (also advising uncredited on the film), the CIA man even accompanied Fickman and selected members of his production crew on a private tour of NORAD's sensitive Cheyenne Mountain facility, where Fickman discussed the UFO question with top-ranking military personnel, including the heads of NORAD themselves.

The full details of the CIA's clandestine involvement in Race to Witch Mountain will feature in the Spring 2011 issue of 49th Parallel - a peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary academic journal devoted to North American Studies - in a new article co-authored by myself and Matthew Alford.

The in-depth article, entitled: A History of Government Management of UFO Perceptions through Film and Television, brings together six-decades-worth of concrete cases in which the US government and military have attempted - often successfully - to shape the content of UFO-themed film and TV products. I'll be providing a direct link to this article as soon as the journal publishes it online this April.

MIB III due May 2012

Things haven't been going too smoothly of late for the third installment of the Men in Black franchise with its script having been subject to a number of rewrites and the film's production currently on hiatus. Nevertheless, Columbia Pictures is standing firm on its scheduled release date of 25 May, 2012.

The film's plot will see Will Smith's 'Agent J' travel back in time to 1969 to team-up with a younger version of Tommy Lee Jones' MIB curmudgeon 'Agent K' in order to once again save the world from 'the worst scum of the universe.'

With Josh Brolin in the role of the young 'Agent K' and with other new cast members including Emma Thompson and Alice Eve (with the latter playing a younger version of the former), as well as Jemaine Clement on villian duty, Columbia Pictures clearly is hoping that some fresh faces and a temporal change in scenery will breath new life into the MIB universe. The other added ingredient this time around, of course, is 3D.

UFO MATRIX conference

UPDATE (AUG. 2011): UNFORTUNATELY, THE UFO MATRIX CONFERENCE HAS BEEN CANCELLED.

I'll be speaking on the subject of 'UFOs and Hollywood' at the UFO MATRIX conference in Yorkshire this October. Keynote speaker at the event will be Travis Walton, whose now famous abduction experience in the White Mountains of Arizona in 1975 inspired the Hollywood UFO movie Fire in the Sky (1993).

Conference details below as provided by UFO MATRIX editor Philip Mantle:

UFO MATRIX MAGAZINE

PRESENTS

50 YEARS OF CLOSE ENCOUNTERS

October 15^th & 16^th, 2011

 King’s Croft Hotel, Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England

To commemorate the 50^th anniversary of the Betty and Barney Hill alien abduction account, UFO MATRIX is staging a two-day conference. The conference will have a line-up of UFO researchers and experiencers plus new books signings and other unique UFO items for sale.

The full line-up of speakers is:

Travis Walton (USA):

Abductee whose experience was made into the l993 Paramount movie ‘Fire in the Sky’, and author of the book of the same name.

Kathleen Marden (USA):

The niece of Betty Hill and co-author of ‘CAPTURED – The Betty & Barney Hill UFO Experience.’

Nick Pope & Bridget Grant (A joint researcher/experiencer presentation)

Mike Hallowell

Philip Mantle & Rosalind Reynolds (A joint researcher/experiencer presentation)

Robbie Graham

Malcolm Robinson & Garry Wood (A joint researcher/experiencers presentation)

John Hanson

Dave Hodrien

This will be Kathleen Marden’s first ever presentation in the UK and Travis Walton has not lectured here since the release of his movie in 1993. Kathleen will be speaking on both days and each presentation will be different.

All speakers subject to change.

Ticket Prices:

Single day £25.00 per person

Saturday & Sunday ticket: £40.00 per person.

Tickets for this event are strictly limited so you are advised to order early to avoid disappointment. There is ample free parking at the venue but accommodation is limited. There will be a hot buffet lunch available for purchase on both days and refreshments can be obtained all day from the hotel bar. There will also be two vendors’ rooms selling a wide variety of ufological items such as books, DVDs and a whole lot more. Accommodation at the venue is very limited; you are therefore advised to book alternative accommodation nearby if you plan to stay overnight.

Tickets will go on sale shortly. To be placed on our mailing list please email: philip.mantle@gmail.com

On behalf of everyone at UFO MATRIX we look forward to seeing you in October.
UFO MATRIX MAGAZINE:www.healingsofatlantis.com