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Star Wars: Purge – The Hidden Blade

Due out April 7th from Dark Horse

On a remote world, Darth Vader chafes at the assignment given to him by the Emperor: guarding an Imperial manufacturing facility from the anti-Imperial natives. Vader feels the duty is beneath him-until he learns that a Jedi Master and his Padawan are in league with the natives!

Now the game is afoot, and Vader is on the trail of his favorite prey. No ambush, no local monstrous lizards, will deter him his pursuit. Woe be to the Jedi when Vader catches up with them! This issue follows events in Revenge of the Sith!

Click Here for More New Releases from TFAW.com

Sebastian Stan (Kings) may not have made it to the Captain America role for the upcoming big screen adaptation of the character (that went to Chris Evans), but he will get to play second fiddle to the shield wielding Cap.  He he has officially landed the role of the captain’s side-kick Bucky.  Apparently, though, this will not be playing the teen version from the original comic . . . Anna Friel of Pushing Daisies is currently in talks to co-star with Bradley Cooper (Alias) in the film Dark Fields.  The movie follows a writer who comes by a drug that increases intelligence but which also has deadly side-effects.  Neil Burger (The Illusionist) will direct the film and Robert De Niro and Abbie Cornish are on board as well . . . Sylvain White, who has directed the upcoming big screen take on The Losers comic book series, has expressed interest in helming the live action version of Robotech.  Toby Maguire (Spider-Man) is producing the project and it is still in the earliest stages of production.  Meanwhile, the movie reboot of another 80’s Americanized Anime series, Voltron, appears to have slipped into “development hell” with no script (the previous one was jettisoned), no director, and no cast.

James Hibberd at The Hollywood Reporter’s The Live Feed yesterday posted his assessment on the shows currently “on the bubble” with their networks which included several Science Fiction and Fantasy entries.  He considers FlashForward to currently be in serious trouble (as do we) and he thinks V will only stick around if it can manage to keep its ratings from dropping off.  Heroes has really struggled this past year, but he says that NBC is currently giving serious consideration to a final season order for the show.  He also thinks that Chuck has a good chance of surviving into a fourth season, even though its numbers have really plummeted lately.  He notes that FOX really likes Human Target and that its numbers have mostly stabilized, so its prospects seem decent.  And on CBS he says that the future of Ghost Whisperer and Medium will depend on how strongly CBS feels about the pilots it sees this year.  You can read his full assessment of the current bubble shows at this link.

At WonderCon in San Francisco this past weekend, executive producer of FOX’s Human Target, Jonathan Steinberg, was asked about what he is hearing on the show’s chances of renewal and “Good Things” was his response.  He elaborated on the show’s future prospects:

I feel like FOX, they’ve been a fan of the show from early on. I think they got it. I think they like where the show is. I think that even they are aware of the fact that this was such a difficult launch for us, just being all over the schedule. On some level, I think it’s about, ‘Let’s make a great show and then let’s figure out how to get people watching it.’ I think that that’s kinda how Kevin Reilly thinks and how the network thinks. So I’m hopeful. The show has a lot of room to grow, but I’m hopeful we’ll have a chance to do it and make a bunch more of them.

He did admit that the show had some scheduling challenges early on:

You know what’s the weird thing? The temptation early on is that somebody screwed up, but they kinda didn’t.  It was just a series of really bad breaks — the State of the Union, the Chargers winning — the odds of all of those things happening are so slim and the odds of us surviving them all are even slimmer, so I think for us, the show seems to be doing pretty well creatively and it seems to be received well and we’re still alive. We should have been dead after those first four weeks. So I think those things together are enough to give you an opportunity at a second swing at it.

You can read the full conversation with Jonathan Steinberg at Hitfix.com

Another week, another new movie in the Number 1 slot at the Box Office.  Last week, How to Train Your Dragon knocked Alice in Wonderland out of the top spot now this week the remake of Ray Harryhausen’s Clash of the Titans toppled Dragon.  Titans pulled in an estimated $61.4 million in receipts domestically, putting it well on the way to recouping its $125 million budget.  And it has not even had its foreign release yet.  How to Train Your Dragon slipped all the way to Number 3 in its second weekend of release, but it still had a respectable draw at $29.2 million for the weekend, bringing its domestic total to over $92 million.  That one also pulled in over $42 million from its foreign debut over the weekend bringing it to a healthy worldwide gross of nearly $135 after two weeks of release.  Alice in Wonderland slipped to the Number 5 slot after its fifth week, but has managed to surpass $670 million in receipts during that period.  Hot Tub Time Machine dropped to Number 6 in its second week.  Note that all of these numbers are estimates as of Monday morning and will change slightly when the final tally comes in.

You can see the full Box Office results from the weekend at Box Office Mojo.

Blood Ties: The Complete Series

Due out April 6th

Before True Blood and even before Moonlight there was Blood Ties, a Canadian made vampire series which starred Christina Cox (Defying Gravity) and Kyle Schmid (Odyssey 5, Smallville).  Cox plays Vicki Nelson, an ex-cop turned private investigator, who gets involved with a case that results in her forming a partnership, and relationship of sort, with a 480 year old vampire (Schmid).  The series aired on Lifetime in 2007 and had a pretty rabid following and now all 22 episodes are available in one DVD set!

See more of this week’s new releases at Amazon.com at this link

Phillip K Dicks Electric Ant #1 (of 5)

Due out April 7th from Marvel Comics

FROM THE MIND OF LEGENDARY SCI-FI AUTHOR PHILIP K. DICK!

Garson Poole had a pretty great life: good job, nice apartment, a sexy, flirtatious assistant. And then he wakes up in a hospital room when the doctors inform him that he’s been in a car accident and they can’t treat him. Because he’s a robot. Specifically, Garson is an Electric Ant, a human-like robot created and programmed to serve a specific function. But what is Garson’s function? How will his friends and co-workers treat him, knowing that he’s a machine, and not a person? And how much of his world is real, and how much of it is part of his programming?

Written by Kabuki scribe David Mack and illustrated by Pascal Alixe.

Click Here for More New Releases from TFAW.com

Iron Man 2 is just a little over a month away (May 7th release date) and anticipation is building.  Here is the latest trailer for the movie:

The Lord of the Rings (1978 Animated Movie) (Remastered Deluxe Edition)

Due out April 6th

Amazon.com Product Editorial Review:  Although it was ultimately overshadowed by Peter Jackson’s live-action Lord of the Rings trilogy, Ralph Bakshi’s animated adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy classic is not without charms of its own. A target of derision from intolerant fans, this ambitious production is nevertheless a respectably loyal attempt to animate the first half of Tolkien’s trilogy, beginning with the hobbit Frodo’s inheritance of “the One Ring” of power from Bilbo Baggins, and ending with the wizard Gandalf’s triumph over the evil army of orcs. While the dialogue is literate and superbly voiced by a prestigious cast (including John Hurt as Aragorn), Leonard Rosenman’s accomplished score effectively matches the ominous atmosphere that Bakshi’s animation creates and sustains. Bakshi’s lamentable decision to combine traditional cel animation with “rotoscoped” (i.e., meticulously traced) live-action footage is jarringly distracting and aesthetically disastrous, but when judged by its narrative content, this Lord of the Rings deserves more credit than it typically receives. –Jeff Shannon

See more of this week’s new releases at Amazon.com at this link

Did that count down clock on Tuesday’s episode of Lost, counting down to the return of V, just annoy the hell out of you?  Especially when it covered up some of the things that Sun wrote and showed to Jack?  Well then you will enjoy Stephen Colbert’s little bit on it:

Word broke yesterday that Joss Whedon is in the lead for consideration as the director for the upcoming Avengers movie.  Several sources confirmed that this is no April Fools joke and the creator of such beloved shows as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly is currently in talks to take the director’s chair on the upcoming movie set to start filming in 2011 or 2012.  Whedon has written or co-written several motion picture screen plays including the Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie, Toy Story and Titan A.E..  He directed Firefly’s jump to the big screen, Serenity, and was signed to write and direct the Wonder Woman movie, but that never came about . . . Sam Worthington, who’s Clash of the Titans hits theaters today, continues to stay busy with big screen projects.  He has confirmed in a conversation with MTV that he will star in the upcoming Dan Dare movie, based on the British Buck Rogers-style comic strip.  He will also be working on another big screen adaption of a comic, The Last Days of American Crime.

The CGI, 3-D remake of Ray Harryhausen’s epic about Perseus and the Greek Gods The Clash of the Titans hits the theaters today, but the critics do not consider this one much of a Hommerian saga.  As of its opening day, the movie has only conjured up a 35% Fresh Rating at the Rotten Tomatoes site from the gods . . . er . . . I mean critics.  Following is the current consensus opinion on the movie:

An obviously affectionate remake of the 1981 original, Louis Leterrier’s Clash of the Titans doesn’t offer enough visual thrills to offset the deficiencies of its script.

Kirk Honeycutt of the Hollywood Reporter seemed to favor the movie in his review calling it “a fun digital ride through Greek mythology as humans clash with gods and monsters.”  Nick Setchfield of SFX Magazine was much less kind in his review saying “the first Clash Of The Titans had considerably more charm than this. Money can buy you technology but it can’t buy you magic.”  You can see the trailer for the movie at its official website and you can read more of the critics’ opinions at the movie’s Rotten Tomatoes page.

Yeah, you heard it right. TFAW.com has started to sell exotic meats and they are starting out with Tauntaun Steaks!  And right now they have them at 35% off, but you better hurry before supplies run out!

The 2009-10 television season is winding down and we will shortly be facing the Summer months which usually have a dearth of offerings on the tube for Science Fiction and Fantasy fans.  Syfy, though, will at least have a few choices to sift through which includes their Summer staple Eureka.  That show will return with new episodes for its fourth season starting on 9 PM EST Friday, July 9th when James Callis (Baltar from Battlestar Galactica) will jump on board as former town resident Dr. Grant who stirs up some bad feelings among the other townspeople.  Warehouse 13, a huge success for Syfy last year, returns for its second season at 9 PM Tuesday, July 6th and continues the paranormal investigations of Myka, Pere, and Artie.  New series Haven will pair up with Eureka and debut at 10 PM Friday, July 9th.  This one is based on the Stephen King novella The Colorado Kid and gives us a supernatural spin on its lead-in.  Syfy also has its slate of “reality” shows returning in Summer which includes Ghost Hunters and Ghost Hunters International and with two new entries Mary Knows Best and Paranormal Investigators.  Click on the link above for more info on those shows.  Also, the cable network has a slate of original movies set for the Summer which includes titles like Lake Placid 3, Stonehenge Apocalypse, Jack Hunter and the Lost Treasure of Ugarit, and Goblin.  Well . . . at least we can look forward to the return of Eureka and hope that this year will improve on that show’s tepid third season.  And Haven looks mildly interesting as well. -JJJ

Buy Eureka and Warehouse 13 on DVD from Amazon.com:

ABC’s V returned from its long hiatus Tuesday night (the last time we saw the show was at the end of November) and the ratings, while not terrible, didn’t break any records.  The show averaged a 2.9 rating in the 18-49 demographic with just under 7.3 million viewers.  That’s down slightly from the 3.1 rating the show landed in it last two episodes in November.  Those aren’t bad numbers for the 10 PM EST timeslot and the show did win the hour by a pretty decent margin.  But is it enough to keep an expensive show like V on the air?  Hard to say at this point.  If it drops much at all in the coming weeks, count it gone.  ABC rarely sticks with shows that don’t have much ratings traction, especially those in the Science Fiction and Fantasy genre.  If it improves over the next few weeks, that might be just enough to get the show at least a 13 episode order for next season.  If it stays at this level, then look for the “will they or won’t they” debate as the show airs out the remaining episodes of its inaugural season.  This could lead to a real nail-biter for fans of the show and I’m sure they will find some sort of gimmick to show the network they are supporting the show.  Stay tuned for the next couple of weeks because that will provide the leading indicator.  If the ratings start to drop, they will likely continue in that direction.  If they start to improve, expect more of the same.  If they stay level, then hold onto your hats for a wild ride to the end of the season! -JJJ

Science Fiction And Alternate History: A Collection of Short Stories by David Scholes

Alien invasions, alternate realities, the Battle of Britain and a futuristic Los Angeles are just some of the subjects Scholes’ wicked imagination has tackled, with spellbinding twists.

In “The Day Nobody Died,” Scholes poses the question — what if no one ever died for one day? What would our world and culture be like if overpopulation were taken to the nth degree?

“Grey Power” is a chilling tale of senior adults having a disquieting power in Los Angeles.

Unless you’re very wealthy or very old, life is dreadfully unpleasant in “Life Wasn’t Meant to Be Easy.”

In “The Battle for London, the troubled youth of today are innocent and benevolent babes compared to Scholes’ characters — feral youth challenging authority in a decaying futuristic city.

Scholes expertly weaves tales of suspense, terror and unexplored “what if’s.” His characters come vividly to life and you’ll wonder if the alternate world you’re in while reading may be lurking at the fringes of reality. Travel from the Mediterranean to black holes across the Universe — this one is an impossible to put down read.

Buy the Book Now from Strategic Book Publishing

Sci Fi Wire recently caught up with Lee Unkrich who is the director on the upcoming Pixar release Toy Story 3.  He had this to say on why it has taken so long (15 years) to bring us a third installment in the beloved franchise:

We actually had an idea for years, but the political machinations between Pixar and Disney prevented us from making Toy Story 3.  Luckily when Disney finally ended up buying the studio, that opened up the floodgate of freedom to finally make the sequel. Interestingly enough, the sequel that we thought we were going to make for Toy Story 3 for all those years is not the movie we ended up making. We started talking about it and really getting deeper into it, and we realized it was a cool concept but it wasn’t a deep enough story to sustain a feature. That panicked us, because we never wanted to make a sequel just for the sake of making a sequel. We wanted to do it because we had a good story, but all of a sudden we found ourselves wanting to make a sequel but not having the story. We felt like we were doing it all backwards. Luckily we pounded away on it for a couple of days and talked about what was really important to us and how we could tap the emotional depth of the stories we had told so far. We came up with what over four years is now Toy Story 3.

You can read the full conversation at this link and see the latest trailer at the movie’s official site.  Toy Story 3 hits the theaters on June 18th.

Rumors are floating around that two sequels to Roland Emmerich’s Independence Day could be in the works and that the first of these could be his next project after Anonymous (about the “real” William Shakespeare) he is currently committed to.  In addition, word is that Will Smith will be on board for both of these movies which would shoot back-to-back.  None of this is official at this point, but stay tuned for further developments . . . Middle Earth’s return to the big screen may be further off than previously indicated as rumors fly that Peter Jackson and Guillermo Del Toro’s Hobbit will get pushed.  Apparently the production has run into the wall of MGM’s financial problems.  Previously the movie had a target release date of late 2011/early 2012, but now that could get stretched further . . . With the 3-D frenzy sweeping the theaters lately, word is that all of the Harry Potter films could get a re-release with the extra dimension.  The upcoming film Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows will hit the theaters in 3-D and franchise producer David Heyman has said its possible that the earlier movies could reappear in that format.

SPOILER WARNING!

When ABC’s FlashForward wrapped up the first half of its season last Fall, I have to admit that I had just about given up on it. What seemed like a really promising concept, the entire world experiences a blackout during which time they see visions of what they will be doing six months in the future, fizzled as they never really ran with (see my review from last Fall). Instead of delving into the implications of this planet-changing event, the show bogged down with procedural storylines and soap opera asides. But now that it has returned after an extended hiatus, it looks like FlashForward may have made a course-correction for the better. There were all sorts of stories about behind the scenes shake-ups during the hiatus, and I’m not certain how much that impacted the three episodes we have seen so far, but at least the show has shown some spark of life. The two-part episode that kicked off the show’s return focused pretty heavily on the core story arc while also delivering answers fast and furious. I have to admit, though, that I was disappointed that they killed off the Ted Flosso character so quickly because Ricky Jay (Deadwood) gave a splendid performance as the delightfully villainous “uncle” of Simon Campos (Dominic Monaghan). Now this last week’s episode did not quite keep up the momentum as it started to betray some of the missteps (including the clunky directing) that hampered the show last Fall, but the show has not derailed yet and I have some hope for the coming episodes if they can just stay focused on the main story. Unfortunately, these will almost certainly act as a wrap-up for the series because the downward trend in the ratings that the inflicted the show prior to its hiatus returned as it has barely registered in the Nielsens these past two weeks. Basically, it needs to improve its numbers right away otherwise it will get cast into the Summer months to burn-off its remaining episodes. -JJJ