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Syfy lines up fairy tale double feature in February starring Tinsel Korey and Shannon Doherty; Gina Holden takes on the Mysterious Island
by Doc on Jan.30, 2012, under Television
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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Eve Myles: Torchwood could come back as a movie
by Doc on Jan.30, 2012, under Television
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 on DVD and Blu-ray: Review
by Doc on Jan.29, 2012, under Television, Video/DVD
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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Actor Ian Ambercrombie, 1934-2012
by Doc on Jan.28, 2012, under Obituaries
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 trailer
by Doc on Jan.27, 2012, under Movies
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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Bring out your aliens! New SF comedy could be Monty Python reunion
by Doc on Jan.26, 2012, under Movies, Television
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.
Could Fringe continue even if canceled?
by Doc on Jan.26, 2012, under Television
Fox still hasn’t announced its intentions regarding Fringe, although a lot of people are expecting the network to cancel the show after entertainment president Kevin Reilly’s statement that “We lose a lot of money on the show.” But Joshua Jackson, who plays Peter Bishop on the show, thinks it could live on after cancelation. “They’ve talked about maybe going off network with it, too,” he said of the possibilities. “The TV landscape is a different place than it used to be, so it might not be death.”
The TV landscape is VERY different. Gone are the days where a big budget show might survive in first-run syndication, and cable networks don’t seem to be quite up to the same level for production costs, although they are closing in. But if your loyal fan base is strong enough, there still seems to be alternative media outlets, including the Buffy route: tell the rest of the story in comics.
Tribute video for Elisabeth Sladen
by Doc on Jan.25, 2012, under Television
This video aired on the CBBC last year, but I hadn’t seen it until now…it’s a moving tribute to Elisabeth Sladen called “My Sarah Jane”, featuring bits from the stars of Doctor Who and The Sarah Jane Adventures, along with clips of Sarah Jane Smith.
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Oscar nominations roundup
by Doc on Jan.25, 2012, under Awards, Movies
Well, it wasn’t the greatest news for genre features this year, despite a lot of hopes…if you followed the nominations (or my tweets), you know that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 got the snub for Best Picture despite the 10-film field (the closest to a genre film was Hugo), while the Academy again shows they don’t know how to deal with motion-capture performances and ignored Andy Serkis yet again for his work in Rise of the Planet of the Apes. But what did garner nominations?
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Being Human preview: “All Out of Blood”
by Doc on Jan.25, 2012, under Television
In this preview for next Monday’s Being Human, we see Josh, Nora and Sally in a vacant storage unit where they discuss their location for their next werewolf transformation. Josh’s plan for them to be video taped during the process has Nora skeptical but assures Nora that he’s only trying his best to find out how they both can be treated and be cured from this werwolf disease. Watch and all-new sneak peek of Being Human and see as the couple confronts their first werewolf change together. Tune in at 9/8c Monday, January 30th on Syfy.
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