Sci-Fi Storm

Josh asks Sally and Aidan if he looks extra “wolfy” today and while Sally responds by saying no, Josh proceeds to explain that he was approached by another werewolf and was asked to help her release her werewolf brother from the pysch ward. A shocked Sally asks why and he continues on by stating that he looked harmless and that he was afraid that he’d impose more harm institutionalized. Catch the sneak peek for Being Human to find out what other plans each of them have in the coming episode. Being Human airs Monday, February 6th at 9/8c.
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An interesting 24 hours in the “games to screen” craze…it seems that Universal has been second-guessing its idea to bring a lot of Hasbro games to the big screen. Although Battleship is starting to generate heat, the studio has dropped plans for several others by placing them in turnaround (where other studios can pick them up), like Monopoly and Magic: The Gathering.

Stretch Armstrong has apparently landed on that list. It originally had Taylor Lautner (Twlight saga) attached to star, but Universal put it in to turnaround where it was picked up by Relativity Media – but now Lautner is out. Lautner’s people say it was their decision, but it also seems that the studio may not see Lautner as having enough draw.

Another former Universal/Hasbro project, Candy Land, was also placed in turnaround, and currently Columbia Pictures/Sony is in talks to develop the movie, with Ben Stiller (Bedtime Stories) set to star and possibly co-write the screenplay with Robert Smigel (Saturday Night Live) and directed by Kevin Lima (Enchanted).

Deadline is reporting that Stephen Amell (Hung, Private Practice) will star as the Green Arrow in a pilot for CW, which appears to have dropped “Green” from the title and will go with just Arrow. The Green Arrow is the superhero identity of wealthy playboy billionaire Oliver Queen, who uses all sorts of trick arrows to defeat his enemies.

Arthur faces a true test of his rule when he forces King Caerleon to sign a peace treaty that the King refuses to obey, putting his life at risk. King Arthur gives him one last chance to bring peace to both Kingdoms, just as their fathers once did but King Caerleon states he is not his father and neither is he. Tune-in to Syfy for an all new episode this Friday, February 3rd, at 10/9c and watch as Arthur faces the wrath of Queen Annis of Caerleon, a neighboring kingdom, after he kills her husband.
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Tinsel Korey (The Twilight Saga) and Shannen Doherty (90210) become embroiled in two dark takes on the increasingly popular fairy tale genre – the first ever Syfy Original Movie Double Feature – while Gina Holden (Flash Gordon) is trapped on a deadly deserted island, in a special three-pack of February Saturday Original Movies.
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We haven’t been hearing much about Torchwood since the conclusion of Torchwood: Miracle Day (other than John Barrowman always saying how much he’d like to play Captain Jack again) – oh, and that thing about Torchwood coming back this month? Poppycock, apparently – but in a recent interview with Cult Box, Eve Myles says that “As far as I know at the moment, everything’s still very much on hold. Russell [T Davies] has things happening in his personal life,” and she, like John, would jump at the chance to do more. But she’s certain that nothing will happen in 2012, “But who knows what will happen in 2013. Maybe a movie, to kinda draw a line under it.”

“That’s the thing about Torchwood, every series we’ve changed our format. We’ve always had a gap in between, so fingers crossed, because we’ve got such an outstanding loyal fan base. They deserve Torchwood to go ahead with something else to draw a line under it, for the fans to have a bit of closure.”

Doesn’t mean anything really at this point, as it’s all up to Davies and the studio, and someone to pay for it. But there is still hope.

Primeval: Volume 3 was released on both [sfs=1192]Blu-ray[/sfs] and [sfs=1191]DVD[/sfs] ([sfs=1189]Volume 1[/sfs] and [sfs=1190]Volume 2[/sfs] are only on DVD) from BBC Video in the U.S. a couple of weeks ago, and consists of what in the U.K. were considered Series 4 and Series 5 of the program, a total of 13 episodes. We reviewed Volume two back in 2009.

With Connor (Andrew Lee Potts, Alice), Abby (Hannah Spearritt, Seed of Chucky) and Danny (Jason Flemyng, X-Men: First Class, Snatch) trapped in the past at the end of Volume Two, the ARC has had to find new recruits to take their place. Matt (Ciarán McMenamin, Jericho, Demons), the new field leader, is an ex-soldier with a secret which he keeps hidden from his team. Unconventional and highly efficient Jess (Ruth Kearney, Gracie!) now runs operations from the ARC Control Center. Charismatic businessman and scientist Philip Burton (Alexander Siddig, Clash of the Titans, 24, Syriana, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) has become part owner of the ARC after the government lost faith in Home Office official James Lester’s (Ben Miller) ability to run such a dangerous and expensive operation on his own. Once Philip gained half ownership and privatized the ARC, the fine line between saving the country and creating scientific history became blurred. Will greed outweigh the true danger of the anomalies?
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I am hearing the sad news from the Star Wars: The Clone Wars cast: Actor Ian Ambercrombie, who was the voice of Chancellor Palpatine/Darth Sidious, passed away yesterday at the age of 77.

Abercrombie was also most recently a recurring character in Disney Channel’s Wizards of Waverly Place as Professor Crumbs, and appeared in the final episode aired a couple of weeks ago. An accomplished stage actor, SF fans may also remember him for his role of Alfred in the short-lived Birds of Prey series, guesting as Correlilmurzon in some memorable comedy moments in the Babylon 5 episode “Acts of Sacrifice”, and the role of Wiseman in Army of Darkness, among other guest spots and smaller roles.

Lockout, in theaters on April 20th, 2012, follows a falsely convicted ex- government agent (Guy Pearce, Memento, The Hurt Locker), whose one chance at obtaining freedom lies in the dangerous mission of rescuing the President’s daughter (Maggie Grace, Taken, Lost) from rioting convicts at an outer space maximum security prison.

Lockout also stars Peter Stormare (Armageddon, How I Spent My Summer Vacation), and is directed by James Mather and Stephen St. Leger.
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There are some things that seem to go together, one one seems to be that SF fans are also fans of Monty Python, and can recite any scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail spot on…I’ve even been explaining to my kids how if a woman weighs as much as a duck, she’s made of wood, and therefore a witch…ahem. So no wonder I got giddy when I heard about Absolutely Anything, a SF farce comedy being directed by former Python Terry Jones, who also directed Life of Brian and co-directed Grail, and already has John Cleese, Terry Gilliam and Michael Palin signed up – Eric Idle is in negotiations – potentially bringing the five surviving members of Monty Python together again (the sixth member, Graham Chapman, passed away in 1989 from cancer). Add in the voice of Robin Williams and just sit back and laugh…

The story, being developed by Jones and Gavin Scott (The Mists of Avalon, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles) and combining CG and live action, is about a group of aliens (voiced by the Pythons) who grant the power to do anything to a human – and watch how he screws up everything. Williams will add his voice as a talking dog named Dennis, and they are hoping to use him in a live role as well.