In genre movie news this week we have the latest on sequels to Iron Man and Hulk and prequels to X-Men and I Am Legend, and to top it off a possible Buffy movie. Plus movie trailers and images. In TV news there are more details for the return of BSG and the latest on genre shows for 2009 and the creator of Heroes has an apology, plus of course TV images and previews and more.
MOVIE NEWS
Wolverine Details + Trailer Attached to Day the Earth Stood Still
Empire Magazine visited the set of 20th Century Fox’s "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" and the film is featured on the magazine’s cover (pictured right–click to enlarge), plus there’s a new character photo inside the issue. Here’s a brief segment from the article:
"There’s a scene in the first X-Men movie,” said Jackman, “where Wolverine’s introduced in a bar, fighting in a cage, and you felt that he did this every night of his life. If this movie is successful, you should feel that this guy can walk straight off the end of this film and into that bar."
[second photo via ComingSoon.net—click here to see another]
There’s also news that the trailer for the film will be exclusively attached–no current plans for an online or TV release–to "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (December 12th).
And finally, Hugh Jackman tells MTV that he’d like a sequel to be about Wolverine going to Japan: “The most intriguing thing to me was the Japan story. I love the Japan story,” said Jackman. “I wanted to do the Japan story from around ‘X-Men 2.’ Can you just picture Wolverine in Japan with the triads and the samurai? It’s just genius.” Watch a video of Jackman talking about the film below.
Could a new Buffy Movie be on the Way?
With the success of Summit Entertainment’s "Twilight" (which has made more than $100 million so far), people are talking about the possibility of a return to film for cult fave "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". Take this news item from the Herald-Sun Newspaper with the appropriate grain of salt (via Moviehole):
The monster success of girly vampire pic Twilight at the US Box office last weekend could kick open the door for a big-screen return of Joss Whedon’s much-loved Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Rumors are circulating in Hollywood that Whedon has a feature-film script based on his hit TV series ready to roll as soon as a studio is prepared to commit. The Buffy concept was first unveiled as a movie in 1992 with long-forgotten Kristy Swanson in the title role.
Jim Rhodes Character in Iron Man 2 Was Never Scaled Back
A few weeks back when Entertainment Weekly reported on the news that Don Cheadle was replacing Terrence Howard as Jim Rhodes in "Iron Man 2", they reported that screenwriter Justin Theroux minimized Howard’s story line in the sequel. But in an interview with MTV Splashpage, Theroux says that the character was not scaled back:
“I can’t really speak to the plot stuff and all the rest of it but Rhodes is completely present in a very strong and big way,” Theroux said of the man who would be War Machine. “He’s COMPLETELY present.”
“All that stuff that was in the ‘EW’ article,” Theroux started before a brief pause. “I don’t know. I can only tell you what I know which is that from a writing standpoint we didn’t do anything differently [with the character]. It’s not like we were sitting there going, we need less of this or that. We just approached the characters and the story on their own terms.”
Robert Downey Jr. on The Avengers
Speaking of Iron Man, In an interview with MTV, "Iron Man" star Robert Downey Jr. expressed his concerns over the upcoming superhero film "The Avengers":
“If we don’t get it right, it’s really going to suck. It has to be the crowning blow of Marvel’s best and brightest, because it’s the hardest thing to get right. It’s tough to spin all the plates for one of these characters,” Downey told MTV, adding: “The danger you run with colliding all these worlds is that Jon was very certain that “Iron Man” should be set in a very realistic way. Nothing that happened in Iron Man is really outside the realm of possibility. Once you start talking about Valhalla and supersized super soldiers and jolly green giants, it warrants much further discussion.”
I Am Legend Sequel or Prequel?
A user sent in the following information about the "I Am Legend" "prequel" project to AICN:
Let’s start at the beginning. Smith is actually the one who developed the initial story. It took place several years before the original film and there were still pockets of survivors and the story centered around Smith interacting, bonding, and ultimately failing to save them. For months this was the story. Warner’s didn’t much care for it and Smith and Weiss eventually came on board and all parties agreed to change things up. Well this change is pretty insane, the film is no longer a prequel, it’s a fucking sequel!
Considering what happens at the end of "I Am Legend", a sequel doesn’t seem all that likely, but we’ll find out soon enough…
Carla Gugino Talks Race to Witch Mountain and The Unborn
Carla Gugino spoke with SCI FI Wire about her role in David Goyer’s "The Unborn", and Disney’s remake of "Escape to Witch Mountain". Here’s what she had to say about "The Unborn" (January 9, 2009):
"I was really meant to go uncredited in," Gugino said. "David Goyer is an amazing writer and director. He wrote Batman Begins, and he created the [SF] television show I did, Threshold. I was talking to David, and he said, ‘I’m doing this movie, and we would be so excited if you would come and do this little cameo in it.’"
In "Race to Witch Mountain" (March 16, 2009), Gugino plays a scientist who believes in the existence of extraterrestrials:
"That’s with Dwayne Johnson and Ciaran Hines and AnnaSophia Robb and such great people, that Andy Fickman directed," Gugino said. "It was a totally different thing. It was so fun. It had been a year of such intense roles that it was fun to go and do an event action-comedy where I play a discredited astrophysicist.
Tim Blake Nelson Talks Hulk 2
Tim Blake Nelson, who played Dr. Samuel Sterns in "The Incredible Hulk", told Ain’t It Cool News that if there’s a sequel, the plan is for his character to become the villain The Leader:
Quint: Great well what about a potential HULK sequel? Gale Anne Hurd’s been going around talking about how you might be The Leader and the main villain of the next one.
Tim Blake Nelson: That’s the plan. That’s what they tell me, but I don’t know when that’s happening or what the details are but I am eager to do it and I hear that’s in the works. I would tell you if I knew more, but I honestly don’t.
Quint: Yeah, but you haven’t played a comic-book villain yet right?
Tim Blake Nelson: No, but I had a great time doing HULK, so if they want me for HULK 2 I’m there, it certainly was the plan going into HULK 1. When I met with them they said this is where it’s headed so I’m eager to do it.
NEW IMAGES
The Day the Earth Stood Still (more here)
Terminator Salvation (Animated Poster–Click to view animation)
Wonder Woman (more here)
NEW VIDEOS
Coraline
The Spirit
MOVIE BITES
- The final running time for "Terminator Salvation" will be around 2 hours and 10 minutes. [Stern.de via /Film]
- "Twilight" stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart will be getting a huge pay raise for the sequel, "New Moon". Both will be paid $12 million each. The pair were each paid $2 million for their work in "Twilight". [Chicago Sun-Times]
- Meanwhile, Stewart told Ryan Seacrest on his radio show that "New Moon" will begin shooting in March. [via ShockTillYouDrop.com]
- Seth Gordon ("Four Chistmases", "King of Kong") told /Film that he was interested in the new He-Man live-action film, but was too slow to get it: “I read a He-Man script that was really good…It’s great. It’s pretty awesome. It’s already been snatched up… I was too slow to get to it, but its gonna be great…”
- Last month, CHUD reported that 20th Century Fox was working on a script titled "Genesis: Apes", which the site reported was essentially a remake of "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes". Now it seems like the project may be close to becoming a reality. Between showings of the "Planet of the Apes" movies on the Fox Movie Channel this weekend, studio exec Tom Rothman talked about the possible prequel film: "We are very close at Fox on a new Apes script- this one a kind of prequel story before the first story, with a return to the social thematics that mark the first one, but with an entirely contemporary setting – Earth 2009". [CHUD]
- You can listen to composer Alexandre Desplat’s complete soundtrack of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" at Warner Bros.’ For Your Consideration Awards website.
- Warner Premiere is in discussions with "Superman Returns" director Bryan Singer to develop the apocalyptic sci-fi thriller "H+". The web series centers on the aftermath of an act of cyber terrorism that kills off a segment of the world population who elected to hardwire their brains to the Internet. [THR]
- Byung Hun-Lee says his character Storm Shadow will fight Snake Eyes in the upcoming live-action film "G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra" (August 7, 2009). [IGN]
- During Guillermo del Toro’s recent "Hellboy II: The Golden Army" chat on BD Live, Del Toro confirmed that filming will begin in 2010 on "The Hobbit" and that the shooting schedule will be for about 370 days. "The Hobbit" will be released in December 2011, followed by a December 2012 release for its sequel. [BilboHobbit.com via ComingSoon.net]
CASTING BITES
- Tricia Helfer ("Battlestar Galactica") will guest-star on NBC’s "Chuck". Helfer will play the new handler for Zachary Levi’s character Chuck Bartowski and will reportedly only be in a one episode of the series. [TV Guide]
- James Marsters ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer") stars in the SCI FI Channel original movie "Alien Western". The film is about "giant, vicious alien bugs that come to earth to gorge themselves on the uranium deposits found in the ground of an Old West town". Marsters plays Sam Danville, an outlaw who is about to be hanged when the aliens land. [Muse Entertainment via Whedonesque]
TV NEWS
BSG: You Will Know the Truth + Finale and Final Cylon News + Caprica in limbo
The SCI FI Channel has created a new website called You Will Know The Truth, and is posting clues to BSG’s remaining mysteries.
"YOU HAVE HEARD MY VOICE COUNTLESS TIMES, YET YOU DO NOT KNOW MY NAME."
Welcome. Here you will discover clues, theories, and perhaps even enlightenment, regarding the mysteries of Battlestar Galactica. You will know the truth on January 16th when Battlestar Galactica returns with all new episodes. Until then, your answers are here. Maybe.
Here’s the latest clue, a picture:
The next clue will be posted on December 2nd. Click here to check out the other clues that have been released. In other BSG news, star James Callis (Gaius Baltar) told the LA Times that he doesn’t expect fans to be disappointed by the show’s conclusion:
"It’s quite — do we use the phrase "space opera"? There is something operatic about the ending of the show, only in the sense that it’s like a full orchestra. Imagine very single person in the cast represents an instrument, and you’ve heard their theme or fugue. And then all the instruments play together. Everybody involved in this thing together — it’s like the ‘1812 Overture.’ Not only have you got all of the violins and the flutes, you’ve also got the flipping cannons they brought off Napoleon’s ship, blowing off the roof. It’s going off with a bang, this thing."
"Honestly you can’t be disappointed," he said. "I think if Adolf Hitler were back, he’d be crying in his handkerchief."
And rounding out the "Battlestar Galactica" news, SyFyPortal is claiming that the final cylon is one of these five people [Possible SPOILERS–highlight to reveal]: Laura Roslin, Felix Gaeta, Ellen Tigh, Cally Tyrol or Lee Adama.
Finally, SCI FI originally planned to air the BSG prequel "Caprica" in December, the TV movie is now on hold. "It definitely won’t see the light of day until after the BSG series finale … but also maybe not at all." [TVGuide]
The Last Templar Set for January, Chuck and Heroes Return in February
NBC has announced its January 2009 schedule, which includes the premiere of the original movie event "The Last Templar" and the return of "Knight Rider" on January 7th. "The Last Templar" will air as a four-hour miniseries from 9-11pm ET/PT on January 25-26.
The Last Templar opens with the fall of the Latin Kingdom’s reign in the Holy Land in Acre in 1291. As the burning city falls to the Sultan’s forces, a lone galley escapes out to sea, carrying a young knight from the historic order of the Knights Templar, Martin of Carmaux, his mentor Aimard of Villiers, and a mysterious chest entrusted to them by the Order’s dying Grand Master. But the ship never reaches its destination.
Later, in present-day New York, Chaykin (Sorvino) witnesses four masked horsemen, dressed as Templar Knights, who storm into the Metropolitan Museum, scattering Manhattan society gathered for the gala opening night of an exhibition of Vatican treasures. She watches in silent terror as the leader of the horsemen homes in on one piece in particular–a strange-geared device that he grabs as he disappears into Central Park.
"Chuck" and "Heroes", meanwhile, will return with new episodes in February. "Heroes" is having its worst season ever, averaging 8.47 million viewers and a 4.0/9 rating/share among adults 18-49. "Chuck" is averaging 6.48 million viewers and a 2.5/7 rating/share among adults 18-49. Just to give you an idea of just how poorly "Heroes" is performing in comparison to previous seasons, get a load of this: it has hit series lows in viewers during each of the last four airings; 8.19 million viewers, 7.85M, 7.65M and 7.51M, respectively. The same is true of its rating among adults 18-49, culminating with a series low 3.5/8 rating/share among the key demographic for its most recent airing on November 24th ("The Eclipse, Part 1").
The Sarah Jane Adventures Renewed for Third Season
The BBC has announced that they’ve given a third season renewal to the "Doctor Who" spin-off "The Sarah Jane Adventures". The show is scheduled to return with new episodes in autumn 2009.
On CBBC, Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) returns for a third series of The Sarah Jane Adventures in Autumn 2009, produced by Doctor Who supremo Russell T Davies.
Together with her companions Rani and Clyde and her adopted son Luke, Sarah Jane once again comes face to face with a whole host of weird and wonderful alien beings.
Co-Creator of BBC’s Life on Mars Praises American Version
Ashley Pharoah, who was a co-creator of the BBC series "Life On Mars", praised ABC’s version of the series:
"I think it’s marvelous," said co-creator Ashley Pharoah, who was in Manhattan on Monday to pick up the show’s second International Emmy for best drama. "We’re really very proud of it."
Pharoah said he understands that the U.S. version was likely to take a different direction than the British version. After all, "Life on Mars" went a planned 16 episodes where the ABC version could have a first season of 22 episodes and maybe more if it’s picked up.
"They’re changing the mythology, which I think is all right," Pharoah said. "It has to be different. Otherwise everyone just goes on YouTube and sees how it ends."
Kring Apologizes to Fans + Talks About What’s In Store for Heroes
"Heroes" creator and executive producer apologized for calling fans who watch the show "saps" and "dips**ts":
I need to strongly apologize for the slightly mangled quote of mine that is making it’s way around the internet. It was made while trying to explain the rise in DVR and online audience for the show. I was making the point that these platforms now offer a superior way to watch the show (without commercials, with extra content, commentary, at the audience’s convenience, etc.) And went on to say how it’s getting to the point where “watching the show on the air is relegated to the poor saps and dip****s who can’t figure out how to program their DVR’s”. (Or something close to that) It was a boneheaded attempt at being “cute” and making a point. Instead, it turned out to be just plain insulting and stupid. I know now how it sounded, but I truly never meant to suggest anything negative about our audience. No one cares more about the fans than we do at Heroes, and no one appreciates them more than me. We are grateful for whatever way people are finding our show. Now more than ever.
I want to take this opportunity to say that I’m very sorry for this careless, lame remark. The best way to make it up to you is to live up to my promise that the upcoming episodes of the show are fantastic. I think you’ll agree we’re really on a roll and we couldn’t be more excited about the last four episodes of “Villains” and the upcoming volume, “Fugitives”, which we feel will be a huge hit with the audience.
Thank you for hearing me out.
Humbly
Tim Kring
And in a an interview with SCI FI Wire Kring talked a bit about what’s in store for the rest of the current volume, "Villains". The last four episodes build to "a real showdown" that by the end will leave the "Petrelli brothers at real loggerhead with one another, completely on opposite sides". The two-part episode "Eclipse" (Part two airs on December 1st) will "explore the idea of what would happen to our characters if they lost their powers, which is really fun to see how our characters cope when they lose their powers," Kring said. And Kring says that the midseason finale on December 15th will offer fans an early present for the holidays:
"If you stick with it, you will be rewarded, because you’re not going to get put into a situation where answers never come," Kring promised. "There’s a finite number of episodes here, and you know it going in. We’ve announced that ‘Villains’ will be 13 episodes long, and so you know by the end of episode 13 you’re going to have seen the beginning, middle and end, … like reading a novel. These same characters are in another novel that starts six weeks later."
The new volume of "Heroes" is called "Fugitives," and will consist of 12 episodes.
Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder Hits DVD and Blu-ray in February
The fourth, and perhaps final, "Futurama" direct-to-video movie has been given a release date and title. ‘Into The Wild Green Yonder’ will be released on February 24, 2009 on DVD and Blu-ray. Here’s the synopsis courtesy TVShowsOnDVD:
All the other galaxies will be green with envy! In this all-new Futurama extravaganza, mankind stands on the brink of a wondrous new Green Age. But ancient forces of darkness, three years older than time itself, have returned to wreak destruction. Even more shocking: Bender’s in love with a married fembot, and Leela’s on the run from the law – Zapp Brannigan’s law! Fry is the last hope of the universe…so if you’re in the universe, you might want to think about going somewhere else. Could this be the end of the Planet Express crew forever? Say it ain’t so, meatbag! Off we go, Into the Wild Green Yonder!
Check out some images below, and click here to view more images and read the entire press release. Also, click here to watch a new trailer posted further down this page.
TV IMAGES
Doctor Who (click here for another image)
Heroes (more here)
TV VIDEOS
Battlestar Galactica
Fringe
Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder
Heroes
[Webisode] Heroes Destiny – Episode 3 – "Capture"
Lost
Smallville
TV BITES
- "Legend of the Seeker" tied with "CSI: New York" as the #1 weekly scripted hour on television. The series premiered the weekend of November 1-2 with an average 4.1 GAA HH national rating, taking in an estimated 5.8 million viewers. [Cynopsis]
- The sixth, and finale, episode of the BBC series "The Survivors", a remake of the 1970’s series, will end on a cliffhanger. [Sky]
MISC IMAGES
Star Trek (Comparison between "Star Trek" and "Cloverfield" monster–io9)
Firefly (The Verse Maps–click here for details)
Iron Man (Photo album from actor Jeff Bridges–click here to see more)
MISC VIDEOS
Mega Man (fan-made movie)
Transformers (Soundwave Toy)
Waterworld: The Musical
MISC BITES
- Click here to check out Movie-Moron’s take on the top 30 most stupid Batman comic book covers.
- A December 11th auction by Profiles in History, will feature several iconic props including Luke Skywalker’s original Lightsaber from "Star Wars" ($185,000), the real Fedora hat worn by Harrison Ford in "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" ($61,000), the original Jor-El tunic worn by Marlon Brando in "Superman" ($51,000) and much, much more. All told more than 500 objects from various films will be available. [Daily Telegraph via Gizmodo]
SCI-FI RATINGS
|
Top 10 SF&F Broadcast Shows |
HH Rating |
|
1) |
7.0 |
|
2) Ghost Whisperer |
6.8 |
|
3) Life on Mars |
5.8 |
|
4) Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles |
3.2 (5.17M) |
|
5) Knight Rider |
3.2 (5.12M) |
| 6) Smallville |
2.7 |
| 7) Supernatural | 2.1 |
11/3/2008 to
11/09/2008 – Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report via SCI FI Wire
|
Top 10 SF&F Syndicated Shows |
HH Rating |
|
SF&F Syndication ratings for this week will be reported at a later time. |
|
11/3/2008 to
11/09/2008 – Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report via SCI FI Wire
|
Top 10 SCI FI CHANNEL Shows |
HH Rating |
|
1) Ghost Hunters |
2.0 |
|
2) Yeti |
1.7 |
|
3) |
1.5 |
|
4) |
1.2 |
|
5) |
1.2 |
|
|
1.0 |
|
|
0.9 |
|
8) Savage Planet |
0.9 |
|
9) Grizzly Rage |
0.9 |
|
10) Sasquatch Mountain |
0.9 |
11/3/2008 to
11/09/2008 – Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report via SCI FI Wire
First Contact is on Universal HD right now and Nemesis is on AMCHD right now. Also, Star Wars and LOTR were on earlier on different networks.
Can’t wake for BSG!
Kind of off topic, but I was watching the clinically depressing Peanuts movies from 1969 and 1972. It brought to mind the Planet of the Apes sequels and the possibility of a Conquest of the Planet of the Apes remake. What an emotionally harrowing lot of movies these pictures were. Sure the late ’60s and early ’70s were a downbeat time, but did the movie producers have to take it out on little kids? It’s not hard to see why Star Trek shone like a beacon through the murk until the pseudo spiritual Star Wars popcorn movies finally came along.
I want to see Mega Man!! The trailer is well made so based on that I’d like to see this movie. Looks better than a lot of stuff on TV or in the movies right now. I hope they don’t put a lot of wacky stuff in the Avengers movie, keep it real guys.
#3-
HA! I know exactly what you mean. When I was about 13 years old, a local cable channel (back in the mid-’80s) showed all 5 PLANET OF THE APES films across five consecutive nights. Talk about traumatized! I was in a funk for days… the endings to the first 3 films, especially, were SOOOO depressing, whether it was the shock of the original PLANET, the grisly ending to BENEATH, or the absolute punch-to-the-gut of ESCAPE.
Took me years before I ever tried watching them again!
I was sad to see the series finale of “The Shield” for which BSG seemingly got its gritty influence from. I’m going to enjoy my final fix of BSG and be sad when its over.
On the other hand, for the love of Krypton will the CW pleeeeasseee end “Smallville”!!! Mid season trailer: “New Heroes, New Enemies, New legends”. Good lord, talk about milking the cow dry. Might as well introduce Krypto the dog while you’re at it.
We need more “Futurama.” This can’t be the last one! Noooooooooooo!!!!
We need more Futurama. Billy West needs Futurama. He’s too talented to just be doing the green M&M on commercials.
I would love to see the proposed Apes movie. There’s so much to love about the whole series, be it time travel, social commentary, or just plain camp. Good stuff!
As for Heroes, what a snooze-fest this season has been. I’m actually hoping NBC will can it or send it off to Sci-Fi. I long for the days of Season 1…
The comparison image of the new Trek monster vs. the Cloverfield monster seems to be non-existent, or linked incorrectly. Just thought you’d want to know.
What to say? Janeway’s my catalyst and sentimentally, always will be! But with so much time, space and knowledge, i’d be a fraud if i said my mind hadn’t been swayed, totally!! I’ve only just got online so i don’t get all this “new game stuff”!! I do a little, but don’t really care! Star Trek was never about gaming, it was about something far beyond our reach, yet so touchable!! Knowledge is power an all that!!
#6–I’ve actually thought Smallville has gotten better this year…. overall… but I do wish Clark would become Superman. It’s time.
#9–I also think this season does sucketh. I can’t say that around my S.O., so I release it here :)
Those Futurama movie things are just god awful. That show is overrated.
Also, the Cloverfield monster pic doesn’t work if you click on it
9 – But Tim Burton’s remake was terrible. Apes movies without Roddy McDowall just aren’t the same.
13 – Legions of fans beg to differ. It’s better and more clever than “The Simpsons.”
I love the Simpsons, but Futurama just seems to recycle everything.
The Simpsons has been recycling many things, including itself, for years now.
Even Tv Guide gave a nod to Futurama for being one of the most imaginative and funny cartoon universes ever done…I thought the first direct to DVD movie was great, so far the other two are good, though not as good as the first one….
Although I do love the scene in the newest one where Sulu and Captain Archer are in a spaceship demolition derby(just their heads in little glad domed spaceships) and as Sulu Shoots Archer, George T. Says “WAY TO KILL THE FRANCHISE BAKULA” hahah…
18 – I haven’t seen that one yet, but it sounds hilarious. I just moved, and I currently don’t have TV or cable — which is a good thing. But I miss Comedy Central for its Futurama reruns and for the Colbert Report.
Futurama is a great show. I only wish The Simpsons was still that clever.
I’ve been watching the Apes movies this weekend on Fox movie channel. It’s true, Roddy McDowall was the heart of the series. I have a hard time watching “Beneath.” It’s not for the depressing story but the fact Cornelius is played by another actor!
Anyway, I look forward to see whatever Fox comes up with in the new Ape movie. Let’s just hope Tim Burton is not attached to this one.
the benjamin button score is not bad, great find!
The Blue Bomber made its back in 8-bit Mega Man 9. But wait that movie will be so epic.
#12 Agreed. I did catch the last episode and it caught my interest: Doomsday, return of Lana, romance with Lois (although there is way less chemistry than with Lana). Not sure about this whole thing about throwing in more Justice League characters. Seems to be borderline jumping the shark as I thought this was an origin story about Superman. Hope I’m wrong, but yes it is about time Clark starts to grow up.
If Waterworld — The Musical is coming to a theatre near me, it’s time to move.
Lovin’ the Futurama DVDs. Critics haven’t been kind, but it’s a steady stream of laughs that poke fun at all my beloved sci-fi cliches.
BSG! BSG! Boy, I can hardly wait until January 16th — the day four years of angst exploads into a soul-crushing finale!
A shame about the Caprica film. Even if Caprica doesn’t make it to a full TV series, I’m sure it would do well as an occasional series of TV movies. And if it doesn’t even get that, a DVD release of the pilot would be much appreciated!
Dubious about the Buffy film. Serenity took Joss Whedon’s material into a geek cul-de-sac from which he’s never a emerged. A bunch of anorak-boy nerds calling themselves ‘Browncoats’ hijacking a few film-of-the-year polls via the web for a gigantic commercial flop that belonged on TV or DVD, pretty much killed his street cred.
Dollhouse looks like it’s dead before it’s even started.
And, in 2009, do I really want to see Sarah Michelle (Scooby Doo) Gellar, age 33, Nicholas Brendon, age 38 and James Marsters, age 47, pretending to be early-to-mid-twenty-somethings (or a vampire turned in his mid 20s)? Frankly, no.
I loved Buffy and Angel, but Whedon’s brand of snarky valley-speak was a thing of its time. TV’s moved on. The only way to do a mass-audience Buffy film now would be to recast and go back to the high school as hell concept or resurrect the animated Buffy concept as an inter-quel.
Nice to hear about Sarah Jane Adventures returning. I feel its vastly better than most of the BBC’s overrated new Doctor Who show, giving us a mature, articulate lead character who reminds me far more of the Doctors I grew up with than the immature, manic, gurning versions seen since 2005.
If Stephen Moffatt decides to continue SJA, I’d love to see what he could do with the series. Get Tom Baker back to guest star as some sort of parallel universe version of The Doctor, I say!
Can’t wait for new Galactica in January!
25 – “If Waterworld — The Musical is coming to a theatre near me, it’s time to move.” Hilarious! And I agree!
21 – Seems we agree on a few points. I had better hopes when I first heard that Burton was to direct the Apes remake. There had been rumors that it would be James Cameron directing Arnold Schwarzenegger! Yeesh! Shudder.
I remember when the film came out that Tim Roth (on Conan O’Brien’s show) poked fun at Roddy McDowall for having virtually no career beyond the Apes film. Well, Mr. Roth, Mr. McDowall — one of Hollywood’s few true gentleman and a great actor — had a career that spanned sixty years and included a number of classic films from his childhood on up. His career will be long-remembered past the time a handful of people might ask, “who was that actor who played the bad-guy chimp in the remake?” Sadly, we always lose the true class-acts too early. RIP Mr. McDowall.
#5
What I still remember was one Thanksgiving vacation, with family in Fresno many, MANY, years ago, when a group of the kids (including a much-younger ‘me’) went to see a local theater’s showing of a wide-released “Go Ape!” marathon…
All five movies… back to back to back to back to back. I can’t even recall how late at night it was that we got out. But, Fresno was still a fairly-small city at the time, and it was utterly deserted downtown — except for those who’d stayed for all five films.
Just wondering, are there any other Doctor Who fans around here? Because, um, the Tenth Doctor is holding a fob watch in one of the photos. If you’ve seen season three you know what that might mean. Just sayin’. I’m suddenly much more intrigued for the Christmas special.
#28.
Amen to that. Not only was he a great actor but McDowall was also a great voice actor. He did a phenomenal job as the Mad Hatter in Batman: TAS.
And let’s not forget Cornelius’ other half, Zira (AKA Kim Hunter), another fine actor and, sadly, another lost. RIP Kim Hunter.
Interesting BSG preview?
Obama’s the fifth Cylon?!?
It may sound hypocritical, coming from one who’s looking forward to the new Trek movie, but it does bug me that there are soooo many remakes, prequels, sequels, spin-offs, etc. Most of the time I simply wonder to myself, “Do we really need a new version of The Day the Earth Stood Still?” I acknowledge that a new version of TDTESS might bring something to a group of people who would never have watched the original. The original (regardless of its era) is a brilliant sci-fi film, full of intelligence and heart. How often do remakes, prequels, sequels, etc. ever manage to recapture, or reconnect with that?
It seems to me that there are many talented people who are not connected to the business, because the business is such a “members only”-type club. Many of these talented outsiders have new ideas to offer, new visions, new franchises to create, but they won’t ever get their break. The insiders are too busy remaking Planet Of the Apes, again.
Now, I’m not trying to be totally critical of the business, and (being a lover of sci-fi movies) I’ll probably be checking out TDTESS. But how about some new ideas? James Cameron’s upcoming Avatar sounds like a new idea, and I’m REALLY looking forward to this one.
31- Yes, Amen, indeed. Very talented actors all around in the original Apes.
Roddy McDowall also worked tirelessly for the preservation of film prints (in the days before VHS and DVDs) where the celluloid was literally disintegrating. He saved a number of movies that would have otherwise been lost to the ravages of time. He was every bit as much of a true fan of films as he was a superb actor in so many of them. Hollywood owes him a debt of gratitude that it has never fully acknowledged as much as it should.
That was a cool behind the scenes look at Iron Man from Jeff Bridges. Thanks for the link!
The first Futurama DVD movie was cute. However, what I saw of the second one left me feeling cold. It was more weird than funny.
Futurama Rules.
If you don’t get it, you must not be smart enough.
Watch harder next time.
JB
Sorry, that was not directed at you, Sxottlan.
I did not see you post until after I posted mine.
I don’t pretend to understand Brannigan’s Law; I just enforce it.
I love Waterworld… I love musicals… emmmm I hope that’s a joke!
33. P Technobabble said: ‘It may sound hypocritical, coming from one who’s looking forward to the new Trek movie, but it does bug me that there are soooo many remakes, prequels, sequels, spin-offs, etc.’
Nah, you’re not hypocritical, mate! Some stuff, like Star Trek, Batman and so on that exists in multiple media has a history of being serial drama and thus reinvention, sequels, prequels and spinoffs are inevitable.
On the other hand, films that stood pretty well on their own, especially pre-1980s films, that are timeless and don’t need remaking are a slightly different matter. Sadly, there’s a bunch of knuckledraggers who won’t watch a film if it’s not in colour. If they’re that dumb, better they don’t watch it at all!
The same goes for all the Asian films that keep on getting remade. The originals stand well on their own, but the US versions mostly ruin what makes them special and spoil the experience of watching the original if you haven’t seen it first. Even worse in the case of Ringu/The Ring, they supressed Ringu in the US until after The Ring was released!
Innovation is dying in the West!
My name is Rick and I have an attiction to Planet of the Apes. The original movies. Everytime my wife came into the room this weekend, there’d be an Ape film on! Mr. Comics came out with a great comic book story a couple of years ago called Revolution on the Planet of the Apes. It took place right after Conquest. And then it has side stories as well, that were preqels immediately preceding Planet. I’ve always been fascinated with the time travel and how much did the apes change by coming back in time? Anyways, I’d love to talk to someone about these movies. And I agree with a previous commentor (sp) about how depressing the endings were. I still love ’em though.