23 years of this site still chugging along...
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes director Matt Reeves in for next sequel
by Doc on Jan.07, 2014, under Movies
Director Matt Reeves, who recently directed Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, the sequel of Rise of the Planet of the Apes, has already signed on for a third movie in the franchise, and he’ll also co-write the script with Dawn scribe Mark Bomback. The third movie appears to be getting fasttracked as well and will be Reeves next film.
Dawn will debut on July 11th, 2014, and features Gary Oldman, Jason Clarke and Keri Russell, with Andy Serkis returning as Caesar. Check out the trailer here.
A preview of Helix, including the first 15 minutes
by Doc on Jan.05, 2014, under Television
If you haven’t heard, Helix is the next big scripted show from Syfy. And out of all the new shows that debuted so far or are debuting soon, this is the one I’m most excited for. Helix premieres this Friday, January 10th, at 10/9c.
Helix is a science fiction thriller, set in a secret corporate research facility inside the Arctic Circle – outside of any government oversight – or laws, for that matter. After a distress call, a team of scientists from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) travel to the massive underground Arctic Biosystems facility to investigate a possible retrovirus outbreak, but instead find themselves in a life-and-death situation which goes beyond just a virus and it seems everyone knows more than they want to say.
A bit about the main characters first.
The CDC rapid-response team is lead by Dr. Alan Farragut (Billy Campbell, The Rocketeer, The 4400), a top pathologist for the CDC who puts science first, but is closed off emotionally after find his wife and brother having an affair. Making matters worse, his wife is on the investigative team, and his brother is one of those infected.
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Spike TV’s “The Empire is Coming to Town”
by Doc on Jan.04, 2014, under Fun Stuff, Movies
I totally missed this during the actual holidays, but here it is…bookmark for next year!
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Star Wars comics license returns to Marvel
by Doc on Jan.03, 2014, under Comics, Movies
Now that both Star Wars and Marvel are one under the Mouse, it is no surprise that today Marvel announced that the license for Star Wars comics will return to Marvel, where it began in 1977 and lasted for 9 years. After a break, Dark Horse picked up the license in 1991, and has been publishing Star Wars comics ever since, including some highly acclaimed stories, and most recently, “The Star Wars #1”, based on George Lucas’ original rough draft. Marvel will publish new comics starting in 2015.
From the announcement:
The Walt Disney Company’s Lucasfilm Ltd. and Marvel Entertainment are joining forces to bring new Star Wars adventures to readers across the galaxy, with Marvel granted exclusive rights to create and publish Star Wars comics and graphic novels beginning in 2015.
The agreement marks a homecoming for the Star Wars comic books. Marvel Comics published the first Star Wars comic book, STAR WARS #1, in March 1977, which went on to sell more than 1 million copies. Marvel Comics published its STAR WARS series for nine years. In 1991, Dark Horse Comics took over the license, publishing fan-favorite titles like Dark Empire and Star Wars: Legacy. Last year, Dark Horse released The Star Wars #1, an adaptation of George Lucas’ original rough-draft screenplay for the film, garnering rave reviews and national media attention and ranking among the top-selling Star Wars comics of all time.
“Dark Horse Comics published exceptional Star Wars comics for over 20 years, and we will always be grateful for their enormous contributions to the mythos, and the terrific partnership that we had,” said Carol Roeder, director of Lucasfilm franchise publishing, Disney Publishing Worldwide. “In 2015, the cosmic adventures of Luke, Han, Leia and Chewbacca will make the lightspeed jump back to Marvel, to begin a new age of adventures within the Star Wars universe.
“We here at Marvel could not be more excited to continue the publication of Star Wars comic books and graphic novels,” said Marvel Worldwide Publisher and President, Dan Buckley. “The perennial brand of Star Wars is one of the most iconic in entertainment history and we are honored to have the opportunity to bring our creative talent pool to continue, and expand Star Wars into galaxies far, far away.”
“We’re incredibly excited by this next chapter in the Star Wars saga,” said Andrew B. Sugerman, executive vice president of Disney Publishing Worldwide. “Bringing together the iconic Lucasfilm and Marvel brands to tell new stories will allow us to continue to thrill lovers of the original Star Wars comic books and entertain generations to come.”
HotShot teaser: The Amazing Spider-Man 2
by Doc on Jan.02, 2014, under Movies
The Generalissimo Stan Lee himself introduced the teaser for the upcoming The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which was played on the big screen at Times Square for all the revelers on New Years Eve…the movie premieres May 2nd…
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A quick glimpse of what’s in store for Being Human
by Doc on Dec.30, 2013, under Television
Syfy’s Being Human returns for its fourth season on January 13th, but we’ve had a brief glimpse into the future…and it involves a lot of running…
Way back in October, I was fortunately enough to visit the Being Human set and meet some of the production staff, crew and of course the stars of the show, along with a brief glimpse of the season premiere.
(you can see pictures of the visit, along with several other pics from the trip here on our Facebook page. While you are there, go ahead and like the page!)
Since then, I’ve seen a bit further into the future – about two episodes worth…
According to showrunner Anna Fricke, the theme for season 4 will be “Destiny”, and how the four roommates come to terms with what they are. However, they do need to deal with what happened at the end of last season: Josh not only has his wolf back, but is stuck as the wolf; Sally was dragged through her death spot to who knows where by Donna; and the vampires are in shambles after a widespread virus.
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Check out this classic Star Trek basement
by Doc on Dec.30, 2013, under Television
I wish I had the money…and the basement! Line Rainville, from Quebec Canada, remodeled her basement for $30,000, but it wasn’t your average finished basement. Instead, she themed it to various parts of the Enterprise, including the bridge, Spock’s quarters, observation deck, and rec room with faux replicators!
Why an older Doctor makes sense at this time
by Doc on Dec.26, 2013, under Television
“Capaldi? He’s too old…”
Those were some of the first words I heard when they announced Matt Smith’s replacement, Peter Capaldi. He is, after all, 24 years older than Smith. But then, Matt Smith was the youngest ever to play the role – he was 27 when he debuted. David Tennant was third at 34. Ironically the second youngest debut was Peter Davison, who was 29 – and is now David Tennant’s father-in-law. Christopher Eccleston was 41. The only other sub-40 year old was Paul McGann who was 36.
But regardless of Davison’s age, all the “classic” Doctors played the character as a fatherly figure. Advisor. Friend. Protector of his companions, and of humans and the Earth in general. It wasn’t until McGann that we saw any sort of romantic side of the Doctor. And although we didn’t really see much of that in Eccleston, his Doctor was still different than previous incarnations. He appeared to be younger, hipper – a more contemporary character to Rose, where something more than a father-child relationship might appear. That certainly continued with Tennant and more with Smith.
But it isn’t just teetering-on-the-edge-of-a-romantic-relationship angle. Overall the Doctor was different. He was alone – his people gone, and as far as he knew, forever – and he was responsible for it. He’s having to come to terms with it, and is perhaps even annoyed that he survived to have to. He’s younger in appearance but hardened. Perhaps he’s becoming a rebel. He cares less about the consequences of his own actions. Beings die at his hands. He isn’t immune to them, but seems more willing to sacrifice. After all, he had to make that decision on a grand scale in the Time War. And there was no one to stop him, keep him in check – or punish him. His compassion was lost, so he needed his companions to help him feel. After “The Name of the Doctor”, the last 7 years of the “new” Doctor made more sense.
Now that the reasons for this shift in character have essentially been resolved to a certain degree, I think the shift to an older Doctor makes perfect sense. He doesn’t need to feel guilty, or alone, or be mad at the Universe that made him that way. He can return to what he was, the father, the protector.
Whether the fans will go with him remains to be seen. There is the danger of losing the chemistry that has built up since last year with Clara. But there is a potential for new angles.
And if it doesn’t work out…well, there’s always the next regeneration.
A holiday message from Strax – of sorts
by Doc on Dec.24, 2013, under Television
One last message from our favorite Sontaran, who wants to destroy us…this time, Strax discusses the human custom of “Christmas”…
Are you prepared for the end?
Two clips from Doctor Who: “The Time of the Doctor”
by Doc on Dec.23, 2013, under Television
T minus 2 days and counting…to tide you over, here are a couple of clips from the Christmas episode, “The Time of the Doctor”, showing how a time machine can be very useful for certain things…
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