Archive for November 12, 2009

Open Discussion Thread: 2012

We’ve been covering Roland Emmerich’s “2012″ since it was announced in February of 2008. Almost two years later, the film explodes its way into theater this Friday, and no one and nothing is safe. Emmerich and company ponders the end of the world in “2012″ by way of the Maya Calendar, which depending on your belief, either foretells the end of the world in December 2012, or, well, doesn’t. That’s all fine and well, but the real question isn’t whether the Maya Calendar predicts the end of days, but if the movie was worth your time.

Roland Emmerich Wants Double The Independence Day Sequel Fun

Roland Emmerich Posits the End of the World in 2012I am one Sci-Fi fan that never tires of films where the aliens come down to Mother Earth and think that we humans will be as easy to conquer as butter, only to see us rise up and deliver a serious lesson in smackdown.

Duncan Jones’ Mute Script Details

duncan-jones-mute-1Duncan Jones, the director and co-writer of this years stupendous “Moon” was supposed to be gnawing away feverishly on the film “Mute” about a deaf bartender in Berlin trying to find his missing girlfriend.

Gattaca TV Show to Become a Generic Cop Show?

The idea of a “Gattaca” TV show sounds like a winner when I first heard it, but the idea of turning Andrew Niccol’s perfectly honed world into another generic TV cop show on TV? Aw, man, I don’t know, that sounds, well, generic to me. In any case, Gil Grant, who has been assigned to adapt the movie into a TV show for producer Denis Leary recently talked to MTV about his approach to the show.

More on Shawn Levy’s Real Steel

Director Shawn Levy has revealed more about his upcoming sci-fi movie “Real Steel”, which is being described as “a father/son action drama set in the near future, surrounding the sport of robot boxing.” If that sounds familiar, it may be because the movie will be based on a short story by the prolific sci-fi/fantasy writer Richard Matheson (“I am Legend”, among many, many others), who previously adapted his story into a “Twilight Zone” episode in 1963 called “Steel”. In the interview, Levy says that the movie won’t be an all-out robot action movie ala “Terminator” or “Transformers”. He also confirms that the top candidate to headline the film is Hugh Jackman.

V’s Second Episode Drops Slightly in the Ratings

The second episode of ABC’s new “V” show dropped in the ratings — which is both expected and a little bothersome, according to THR. The bothersome part is that the show was down 27% from its record-setting pilot last week, a notable drop as it marks the largest fall from a premiere for a scripted show all season. The good news? Last week’s numbers were record-setting for a reason, so a drop in numbers from week one to week two was entirely expected.

Smallville’s Justice Society Episodes to be a Two-Hour Event Movie

Honestly, I tried to give “Smallville” a chance after ignoring it all these years, but after devoting my undivided attention to three full episodes of the current season, I’ve removed the show from my DVR schedule. I don’t know what it is about the show, maybe it’s the complete uselessness of the Green Arrow character (really, did this guy ever actually manage to win a single fight on the show? because he sure looks like the world’s slickest punching bag in the three episodes I’ve seen him in), or the overly goofy Lois Lane-Clark Kent romance, or the unGodly boring Tess Mercer stuff… Anyways, I really didn’t plan to watch another episode of “Smallville”, but this news may change my mind. At least, for one night.

Fox Officially Cancels Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse

Let’s face it, this isn’t that much of a surprise. The ratings have been abysmal, even with some positives from time-shifted numbers, Joss Whedon’s “Dollhouse” never really took off as Fox had expected, or was hoping for after giving it a year two commitment. As it turns out, maybe they should have saved “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” instead — or perhaps, it wouldn’t have mattered anyhow. Of course, it didn’t help putting the genre show on a night that has been given somber nicknames like Friday Night Death Slot and Graveyard Shift. That’s like going on a date with someone name “Body Odor Bob” and then wondering why he smells.

Plot Details for Oren Peli’s Area 51

I don’t know how the boys over at Latino Review does it, but I do know that they’re one of the more trustworthy movie sites out there when it comes to scripts. Their latest find is the shooting script for “Paranormal Activity” director Oren Peli’s “Area 51″, his latest “found footage” follow-up to “Activity”, which continues to clean up at the box office and turning a tidy (re: humongous) profit from its $11,000 dollar budget. Obviously, “Area 51″ is going to be enjoying a significantly higher budget, which will come in handy because, it would appear, aliens will definitely be making an appearance. Read on below to see how the movie begins. POTENTIAL SPOILERS.

J.J. Abrams Passes On Stephen King’s Dark Tower

The Dark TowerAt some point in the distant past we reported that J.J. Abrams had purchased the film rights to Stephen King’s Dark Tower series, a hybrid Sci-Fi Fantasy group of novels that redefine epic. J.J. purchased the rights for 19 bucks, a magical number in the series and quite a steal.

Kate Beckinsale’s Hubby To Direct A Post Apocalyptic Mystery

len-wiseman-nonstop-1Len Wiseman, either known as the director behind a few of the Underworld films, or as the husband of the even more gorgeous in person Kate Beckinsale, has pitched and sold a story about a group of folks that are lucky (or unlucky) enough to survive what I’m confident will be a wonderfully horrific and soul scarring apocalyptic future.

Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths Teaser Trailer

Wow, I hadn’t even heard of this one until the teaser trailer showed up over at IGN. Of course, DC is pumping these out on a pretty regular basis, so who can keep up with it all? It’s another DC animated movie called “Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths” based on an old “Justice League of America” comic book storyline, and features a good Lex Luthor crossing over to our universe to ask for assistance from the Justice League. It seems in his world, on a parallel Earth, the League is made up of superpowered criminals.

V Recap: 1.02 There is No Normal Anymore

So what do you do after you’ve killed your partner of seven years and discovered that he was actually a space alien in disguise? For FBI agent Erica Evans (Elizabeth Mitchell), it means lying through her teeth when her boss and the FBI wonder what’s happened to agent Dale Maddox (Alan Tudyk, who gets two brief cameos in tonight’s episode). There’s good news and bad news for our FBI heroine: the bad news is that Erica, as a good liar as she is, has a very insightful boss (Roark Critchlow) who sees holes in her story, but the good news is that the Visitors know how to cover their tracks. By the time the FBI shows up at the warehouse where the fledging human resistance and Visitor commandos threw down at the end of the pilot, there are no traces of a fight or bodies. Erica is safe … for now. Meanwhile, Father Jack (Joel Gretsch) struggles about what to do in the aftermath of the warehouse debacle, especially when the FBI come calling.

Fede Alvarez Animates The Robocalypse In Panic Attack

iron-giantFede Alvarez, Fx man and commercial director, brings us this wicked Sci-Fi short about the inevitable day when the giant robots finally get tired of us sticking forks in our toasters and come from The Forbidden Planet to hand us all our asses.

James Caviezel and Jamie Campbell Bower Talk About The Prisoner

the_prisoner_large_tcm19-20Sometimes when an actor is interviewed for a movie or television show that is about to air, you can tell when they think the thing is actually really bad. Of course, pushing the show is something they are contractually required to do. Lying well is an art that takes time. In the case of James Caviezel and Jamie Campbell Bower, playing Six and Eleven and perhaps Twelve, when they say “The Prisoner” is really good, you can tell they speak the truth.