The Moviefone Blog

Big Changes Are Underway For Sci-Fi Squad

Sci-Fi Squad Staff — 2010-09-15T10:15:00+00:00

As you've no doubt noticed by now, Sci-Fi Squad is owned by Aol's Moviefone. Well, Moviefone is in the midst of some massive under-the-hood remodeling and the changes will be affecting both Horror Squad and Sci-Fi Squad. Wednesday will be a bit of a transitional day for us and then when you return on Thursday you'll notice that things look a whole lot different.

Our content isn't going anywhere (everything we've written in the past will simply be found at Moviefone now) and neither are our writers, we're basically just changing addresses. So please stick with us during the migration. It may initially be a bit awkward as we all get a feel for the new home, but it won't be long before we find our sci-fi groove at Moviefone.

Thanks,

The Sci-Fi Squad Staff

SDCC Review: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Sci-Fi Squad Staff — 2010-07-23T15:25:00+00:00

[Written by Todd Gilchrist]

As this summer season has repeatedly proven, some movies produce odd, unexpected, and often deeply polarizing reviews. But while it's certainly the onus of any critic to protect his or her integrity and defend that reaction, there are some of these movies whose reviews I'd argue are really just kind of wrong, while others, no matter how extreme or opposite, are probably all equally right. And Scott Pilgrim vs. The World decidedly falls into the latter category.

Although the film is a glorious celebration of video games, a sweet little twentysomething romance, and at its most intimate, a subtle and smart coming of age story, Edgar Wright's adaptation of the beloved graphic novel series of the same name is going to generate as many pans as it does praise, primarily because some viewers may feel it cuts out a deeper emotional connection in the service of rendering some of the most razor-sharp pop-cultural specificity in recent memory. But even though I can't help but pre-emptively understand if some of my colleagues argue that it's too generationally narrow or even attention-deficient to leave a lasting impression, I really, really liked Scott Pilgrim, and think that it's one of the most technically astounding and yet personally resonant movies of the year.

Read the rest of this review at Cinematical.

First Official Teaser for Festival Favorite 'Monsters'

Sci-Fi Squad Staff — 2010-07-23T14:15:00+00:00

[Written by Joe Utichi.]

I may only have spent a couple of months with Cinematical, but if you've read more than a few of my posts in that time you've probably heard me banging on about the brilliance of Gareth Edwards's Monsters, which I saw at this year's Edinburgh Film Festival in June.

IGN today has your first proper look at the film, courtesy of a brand new teaser trailer, in which I'm quoted banging on about its brilliance yet again. But it can't be understated: Monsters is genuinely one of the most exciting debut feature films I've seen in my career, and it marks the arrival of a talent whose ability to handle epic scale whilst still maintaining an emotional core is sorely lacking from most of his Hollywood competitors.

Read the rest of this post and see the Monsters trailer at Cinematical.

Captain America Nabs a Sidekick

Sci-Fi Squad Staff — 2010-04-02T13:03:00+00:00

By: Elisabeth Rappe

Now that the nail-biting tension of waiting to see who would play Captain America is over, watching the rest of the cast fill out will just be trivial fun. We're watching the pieces of the Marvel Universe come together, and the wisest can try to start predicting where all these installments will go. The latest bit of casting news is quite a cool addition to the universe, as THR's Heat Vision reports that The First Avenger: Captain America has a sidekick in Bucky Barnes. He will be played by up-and-comer Sebastian Stan. (You may recognize him from his work in Hot Tub Time Machine.)

Bucky Barnes is no goofy Robin character, though. Young James "Bucky" Buchanan Barnes was an orphan, the son of a soldier killed during a training exercise. He kept hanging around U.S. Army Camp Lehigh until he was adopted as a sort of mascot, and was even given a uniform, although he was too young to enlist just yet. He befriends Private Steve Rogers, discovers he's the Captain America that he eagerly reads about, and demands to accompany him on missions. The military says "What great propaganda!" and happily ships off this young teenager alongside Cap. This ends up having tragic consequences. The loss of Bucky is why no one else in the Marvel Universe digs adopting teenage sidekicks. Of course, as no one ever stays dead, Bucky eventually came back as the Winter Soldier, a Soviet operative. But again, no one stays on the wrong side in the Marvel Universe for very long.

Read the rest over at Cinematical

Is Will Smith Returning for Two Independence Day Sequels?

Sci-Fi Squad Staff — 2010-03-30T13:15:00+00:00

By Elisabeth Rappe

I remember the summer of 1996 and Independence Day so vividly, mainly because the movie scared the crap out of me thanks to walking out to a rainstorm that looked exactly like that which preceded the monster UFOs. Good times. Good nightmares. I also remember there was a ton of sequel talk at the time, and ID4 certainly seemed set up for it. But it never happened, and 9/11 kind of took the fun out of seeing landmarks leveled anyway.

But now the franchise might be alive again, according to IESB.net. It's only been 14 years, but oh well. The hangup has always been both Will Smith's enormous salary and Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin's then-reluctance to return to the franchise. But now 20th Century Fox is rolling in Avatar money, and thinks it would be fun to spend some of it on a revival of bad aliens. IESB says Smith is supposedly locked in for two Independence Day installments, and that they may even shoot back to back in the Pirates of the Caribbean and Matrix fashion. They caution it's not official at this point, though.

Read the rest over at Cinematical

Terror Tapes (Special Sci-Fi Squad Edition): Split Second

Sci-Fi Squad Staff — 2010-01-19T14:40:00+00:00

Greetings fellow cinephiles, Brian Salisbury of Horror Squad here; Sci-Fi Squad's twisted sibling. Over on our side of the blogosphere, I operate a weekly feature focusing on horror movies on VHS that never graduated to DVD or are no longer readily available as such. It's called Terror Tapes and it has sent me wading waist-deep through some of the worst garbage the local Austin video stores have to offer. There have been a smattering of gems among the waste, but for the most part these films emphatically argue against their own upgrade.

I received a film for Christmas that I have desperately wanted to see ever since saw the cover art on the rental shelf when I was younger. It was called Split Second and featured an alarmingly nonchalant Rutger Hauer strolling casually away from a badass alien monster. Once the DVD went out of print a few years ago, tracking it down became a bit arduous. Thank goodness for dead formats!

So, I thought I would do a special Sci-Fi Squad edition of Terror Tapes as Split Second certainly seems to fall under that banner far more than horror. Enjoy!

Split Second takes place in the distant future of 2008 in London. A great flood has submerged a large portion of the city and created a number of annoying, yet manageable puddles in the parts of town still above water. The story centers on Harley Stone, Hauer, a cop whose partner was murdered by a deranged serial killer. Stone becomes obsessed with tracking down the madman and will stop at nothing to find him. Fed up with his antics, and suspicious of his habit of showing up to crime scenes before they are even committed, Stone's superiors saddle him with a partner with an extensive knowledge of serial killer mentality hoping to both calm him down and keep tabs on him. As the two dig deeper and deeper into a new rash of killings with a hauntingly familiar m.o., they discover the man they're looking for is no man at all.

There is no reason this film should not be a blast. I mean it's freaking Rutger Hauer fighting monsters in the future! On top of all of that it's a rogue cop story with a fantastic character actor in the lead role. Unfortunately they neglected one small detail, one of the minutiae elements that tend to complement a film: plot. For all the setup and all the potential of Split Second, this thing is incendiary in its tedium. It's paced like a heart monitor connected to an elephant, with traces of life appearing sparsely after long intervals of silence. Hauer is great, but even he cannot carry the tired, lethargic story between sightings of the monster. Not to mention the fact that they are building up the origin of the monster throughout the film and the final payoff of that investigation doesn't really payoff at all.

I do really like Hauer in this. He is unhinged and wildly unpredictable; wondering how much of that was in the script and how much was ad lib. I think my favorite character trait is the giant handfuls of chewing gum that he keeps inexplicably cramming into his face. His character seems too ridiculous to take seriously in this, but I was just so elated that he was providing some spec of entertainment in otherwise bland-as-instant-oatmeal scenes. To be fair, the final fight scene between him and the creature is pretty balls-out incredible. Hauer achieves new levels of macho action star zeal with his choice of fight-ending tactic.

The film also features Kim Cattrall, everyone's favorite aging tart, as the wife of Hauer's slain partner. You may notice that she is still sporting her haircut from Star Trek VI, as Split Second was filmed directly thereafter, and she must not have had time to de-Vulcanize. I half expected Hauer to pull her hair back and reveal pointy ears. She's passable in this, but annoyingly vulnerable. I also found Alastair Duncan, who plays the brainy partner, to be more-than-a-little grating.

All in all, while it features some very entertaining moments, Split Second is an overwhelmingly lackluster sci-fi thriller. Hauer is great but not given a heck of a lot to play with and the supporting cast offers little in the way of support. The monster looks pretty cool, but also bears a striking resemblance to Venom from Spiderman. Too bad he couldn't spread his essence from person to person because that actually would have made the film far more interesting. The explanation as to what the monster is and where he comes from will more-than-likely leave a bad taste in your mouth.

It still has a lot of potential that I would like to see farmed; possibly in a remake. For example, I would love to see a London that actually felt as though it were partially submerged instead of a slightly damp city with a few large puddles. If nothing else, this film provided me with a new distinction for horror versus sci-fi. If it's set in the future and features a monster, the line can still be a little blurry. But the moment that monster picks up a gun and starts firing at the hero, the scale has unalterably tipped toward science-fiction.

The Best Science Fiction Films of the Decade

Sci-Fi Squad Staff — 2009-12-11T16:02:00+00:00

It's been ten years since we crossed into the seemingly futuristic "Year 2000." While we didn't get moon colonies or hovercars, we did get a collection of amazing science fiction films, both blockbusters and indies. The staff of Sci-Fi Squad has compiled their top ten (okay, eleven) favorite films of the decade, a list that will allow you to nod your head in agreement or spit venom at us in the comments. So now, in alphabetical order...

Children of Men (2006, Dir. Alfonso Cuarón)

The opening scenes of Children of Men plunge the viewer neck-deep into an icy future with an expiration date firmly set. The human race faces extinction because women all over the world have become infertile: no children have been born for a generation. The British government endeavors to stave off chaos by deporting all foreigners, but many of its citizens have already succumbed to hopelessness and despair. Theo Faron (Clive Owen) strides through this terrible new world with a cynical air of resignation until a glimmer of light -- the possibility of a future - turns his head. Adapting a novel by P.D. James, director Alfonso Cuarón and his collaborators (notably cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki and production designers Geoffrey Kirkland and Jim Clay) meticulously create a nightmarish future in which the walls are closing in, and then proceed to smash through the limitations of imagination. Michael Caine, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Clare-Hope Ashitey, and Julianne Moore bring varying shades of humanity to their ultimately haunted characters. (Peter Martin)

Donnie Darko (2001, Dir. Richard Kelly)

In 2001, Richard Kelly brought us Donnie Darko, the story of a troubled teen who finds out that the world will end in 28 days. Kelly's take on time travel perfectly intermingled dark humor and a killer soundtrack with science fiction to create an instant cult classic, kickstarting the careers of Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal while giving Patrick Swayze a dark and meaty role. It's also a prime example of the importance of editing, the theatrical version being wildly popular and thought-provoking while the over-explained Director's Cut revealed too much and tarnished the magic of ambiguity. Nevertheless, the world of Donnie Darko reigns supreme was one of the decade's best Sci-Fi flicks. (Monika Bartyzel)

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004, Dir. Michel Gondry)

Science Fiction comes in many shapes and sizes. It's not all alien motherships and post-apocalyptic nightmares, although there is something very bleak and hopeless about the way Michel Gondry and Charlie Kaufman envision Montague, a central location in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Beyond the film's Philip K. Dickian premise of wiping out the memory of an ex-loved one, Eternal Sunshine gives one of the best modern cinematic deconstructions of a relationship, regardless of whatever genre tag you try pinning on the film. Like Annie Hall before it, the film is painfully honest in its thumbing through of the best and worst of Joel (Jim Carrey) and Clementine's (Kate Winslet) time together. When the merry-go-round cycles through for them at the film's closing, Gondry and Kaufman offer the possibility of reconciliation, an honest move that belies the tacked-on happy endings of so many Hollywood romances. Embracing in the apartment hallway, Joel and Clem feel like the last two people on Earth, and in a sense, they might as well be - at least for one another. (Zachary Herrmann)

The Man From Earth (2007, Dir. Richard Schenkman)

Most science fiction films are born of technological flash-and-awe. Futuristic storylines often go hand-in-hand with big budgets and cutting edge special effects, but neither are actual prerequisites to being a (good) science fiction film. Case in point, The Man From Earth, a 2007 indie film directed by Richard Schenkman from a script written by prolific sci-fi regular Jerome Bixby. It's about a professor, who, when surprised by an impromptu goodbye party, reveals to his colleagues that the reason for his unexpected departure from the university is in fact because he has been alive for 14,000 years and if he stays in one place too long, people start to notice that his face never ages. Schenkman's film may have zero special effects, but what it has in abundance are ideas; ideas that roll around in its brain like rocks in a tumbler, becoming more and more polished the longer the film spins. Is it all a thought experiment by the professor examining the plausibility of a man who could spend dozens upon dozens of lifetimes accumulating all the knowledge the world has to offer? Or is he really an immortal, and if so, are there others like him and what kind of consequences would his seemingly timeless actions bring? It's a brilliant script that examines the deep rooted fears everyone has about their own mortality (made all the more poignant when one learns that Bixby wrote the script on his death bed) brought to life by a wonderful cast, most notably by David Lee Smith, Tony Todd (breaking from his typical horror movie persona), and the always-excellent John Billingsley. (Peter Hall)

Minority Report (2002, Dir. Steven Spielberg)

Before Tom Cruise went completely crazy, before Steven Spielberg dropped aliens on Indiana Jones, before the idea of a Hollywood "adaptation" of a Phillip K. Dick story became something to automatically moan and groan about, there was Minority Report. The film is an engrossing look at a startlingly realistic future where psychics are used to predict murders and "Pre-Crime" units arrest would-be killers in advance. It is also a rousing, muscular action film in the vein of Raiders of the Lost Ark and the only film in recent memory to have a jet-pack chase. A jet-pack chase. It raises fascinating questions about choice and destiny and how even the best intentions can be abused and corrupted. It features oddness not seen from Spielberg since the '80s, including a cackling Peter Stormare and Cruise pursuing his own rogue eyeball down a hallway. You can easily quibble about the film's flaws (you should have cut the final ten minutes, Steve), but in a decade filled with lousy science fiction action films, this one stands head and shoulders above the rest. Minority Report is a mash-up of summer blockbuster, thoughtful science fiction, dark comedy and a good old fashioned man-on-the-run story. And it all works. And it has a jetpack chase. (Jacob Hall)

Moon (2009, Dir. Duncan Jones)

Moon is old school science fiction, that eschews gimmickry for a solid, provocative story of identity and memory that will make you wish you never gave up your old copies of Analog. Sam Bell, a man too long alone in the final days of a three year solitary assignment monitoring mining on the lunar surface. His only companions are the artificial intelligence controlling his environment, GERTY, and the recorded video-letters from his wife and young child. Sam Rockwell is mesmerizing, no mean feet considering for most of the film he is alone. The attention to detail and the slow build to the big reveal makes it a film to savor as the story unfolds and long after the closing credits. (Jenn Brown)

Primer/Timecrimes (2004, Dir. Shane Carruth / 2007, Dir. Nacho Vigalondo)

Okay, so this is cheating. It completely nullifies that concept of a top ten list. However, I think I can be forgiven because Primer and Timecrimes feel like different sides to the same coin. Both are low-budget films about time travel and the various complications of such an activity, but each is thrilling in it's own unique way. Primer is interested in hard science, using complicated jargon and plausible technology to tell the story of two scientists who build a time machine in their garage and proceed to seriously screw up their personal lives and health. The hard edged reality of Primer lends itself to intense personal drama and as the situation escalates in ways that will be criminal to spoil for those who haven't seen it. We feel the pain of our protagonists in a real and horrible way.

Timecrimes follows a man as he accidentally steps into a time machine and proceeds to have pretty much the worst day of his life, a day that feels like an extended Marx Brothers routine directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The dark comedy is masked because the whole affair is so unbearably intense, but it's there, right below the surface. As our hapless hero tries desperately to fix what he's undone and is forced to take darker, more drastic actions, he maintains our sympathy because you know very well you'd do the exact same thing in his shoes. Both Primer and Timecrimes take the worn science fiction trope of time travel and give it a fresh, exciting new coat of paint. They are ingenious thrillers, using science fiction subtly to raise the stakes, making them so much more than simple dramas. (Jacob Hall)

Serenity (2005, Joss Whedon)

No one watched Firefly when it was on television. So when Joss Whedon miraculously got the chance to "finish" the series on the big screen, it can't be that surprising that no one watched it in theaters. A real shame, since Serenity is one of the great space adventure films of all time, taking place in one of the most wonderfully realized universes ever created. Whedon's trademark wit and eye for character ensure that this is not just a spaceship action movie, but a story about the people on that spaceship, whom we grow quite fond of (just in time for Whedon to twist a knife in our guts in the final reel). Serenity is the best space opera since The Empire Strikes Back and it's cleverly staged action, its sense of humor, its attention to detail and it's HEART put the far more expensive Star Wars prequels to shame. I know people who fell in love with Serenity and then realized there was a TV series that came before it. This is not just a movie for fans. It's a movie that makes its own fans. It's a masterpiece. (Jacob Hall)

Star Trek (2009, JJ Abrams)

J.J. Abrams' slick and exuberant Star Trek revival made it cool to root for the Enterprise crew again - or for the first time, depending on your level of geekdom. While other Hollywood heavies revamped old franchises with empty dazzle and truckloads of dynamite, Abrams offered a thrilling, soulful and unique-looking blockbuster that reminded us of a valuable truth: The future is full of promise. Armed with incredibly assured performances from a game young cast -- and much love for the past forty-some odd years of Trek history -- Star Trek saved a classic series from falling into camp (again), and it made Kirk, Spock and the ol' NCC-1701 (No bloody A, B, C or D!) more popular than ever. (Mike Moody)

Wall-E (2008, Andrew Stanton)

I have no choice but to go into wild, unrestrained hyperbole regarding the animated sci-fi adventure love story Wall-E. Ready? Here we go. Visionary. Emotional. Fantastic. A Must-See. A Thrill Ride. Romantic. Eye-Popping. Incredible. Instant Classic. The best Pixar film ever made. Let that sink in for a minute. The best. THE. BEST. I would go so far as to say that the first half of Wall-E is as good as a movie can get. It transports you wholly to another place and time, and connects you emotionally, almost immediately, to an object-not a person, or a loveable talking animal, but a garbage compacting machine called a Wall-E. What kind of skill does it take as a filmmaker to make me empathize and cheer for a garbage compactor? (John Gholson)

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Yes, there are major films missing, some of which were almost physically painful to leave off the list, but you can help ease that pain by giving us your favorite science fiction films of the decade in the comments below.

'Star Trek' Blu-ray Review

Sci-Fi Squad Staff — 2009-11-17T12:32:00+00:00

By: Todd Gilchrist

The franchise comeback story of the year, if not the decade, is Star Trek, which arrived in theaters with an amount of buzz that could only be matched by a metric ton of tribbles, and eventually grossed almost $400 million worldwide. This week Trek debuts on Blu-ray in a 3-Disc Special Edition, and the set includes enough extras and special features that one can expect the series to continue on successfully for the foreseeable future - even if it's only because you can't get it out of your head.

Though it's unnecessary to revisit the merits of the movie itself - by now you're either with J.J. Abrams' reinvention of the series mythology or you aren't - it looks absolutely wonderful in high definition, emphasizing every last lens flare and visual flourish injected into its agile, lyrical cinematography. The color quality itself is just positively luminous, but augmented by the sound design, which offers a muscular 5.1 TrueHD mix, you're completely immersed in the film; in fact, so great is the sound on Disc One that even the menu screens rumble with house-shaking bass.

As for the encyclopedia of bonus materials.....

....well, it seems fairly impossible to ask for much more, although as a colleague observed, some of this might have been better served by being combined in a comprehensive documentary instead of as individual featurettes. Ultimately, I think that there are different rules for creating documentaries than featurettes (the difference between the two being a literal matter of running times), which is probably why it was more cost-effective for Paramount to put together 15 or so featurettes or mini-docs instead of a single feature-length piece, but either way there's nothing absent from this set that fans new or old could possibly want.

Backing up a little, however, on Disc One there's a terrific commentary track featuring J.J. Abrams, Bryan Burk, Alex Kurtzman, Damon Lindelof and Roberto Orci, where they not only examine how and why they came up with what eventually made it into the movie, but offered some insights and explanations about what didn't, and further, what their goals were when faced with the task of re-creating a world that is already do full of fantastic mythology. (They also explain those lens flares as well.)

Disc Two launches with "To Boldly Go," the first of ten featurettes exploring various aspects of the conception and production of the film. This one, like a few others, is viewable in an "Extended" version that offers branching interludes, behind the scenes footage, and other tidbits that might only be of interest to folks interested in poring over all of the minutiae that makes up the film. At the same time, there are some really clever and interesting details included here, exploring everything from obvious questions like why William Shatner wasn't included in the movie (in "The Shatner Conundrum") to simply rating the Trek fandom of the folks involved (complete with a goofy, futuristic "barometer"). Regardless whether you dive into the sidebar featurettes or just follow the main narrative of the main piece, this offers a great overview of the movie's origins and sets the stage for the other featurettes' more in-depth examination of various aspects of its futuristic universe.

Read the rest at Cinematical

Review: The Fourth Kind

Sci-Fi Squad Staff — 2009-11-06T09:45:00+00:00

By Todd Gilchrist (reprint from 10/28/09 -- L.A. Screamfest)

I'm not sure exactly what quality it is that real people possess and actors lack, but any time a film pretends to document real behavior, either literally or as a reenactment, something is almost always missing. Sometimes the problem is a deliberate decision to enhance events with artificial emphasis or drama, and sometimes it's simply too great a sense of self-awareness in the actor, who knows he or she is performing. But while there are a precious few movies that nail that authenticity, notably the recent underdog-blockbuster Paranormal Activity, such is certainly the case in The Fourth Kind, a film that purports to build an argument for alien abductions using "actual" footage from case studies.

While much of the movie's so-called source material carries the convincing roughness and deficiencies of homemade, handheld recording, too much of it seems far too calculated, both in its technical proficiency and the performances contributed by its "real" people. Further, its accompanying reenactments by recognizable actors undermine the possibility that audiences can take its case seriously, all of which adds up to thriller that unravels easily even if it nevertheless occasionally qualifies as a scary good time.

The film opens with a literal introduction by Milla Jovovich, who explains that the film is based on actual footage from real cases, some of which is used alongside the reenactment footage she participates in as Dr. Abigail Tyler. The "real" Tyler more or less provides a through-line for the story via an interview she agreed to with Olatunde Osunsanmi, who also happens to be the film's writer and director. As she describes the discovery of a shared vision of a smiling white owl among her patients, Jovovich provides context for Tyler's increased hysteria: after Tyler's husband dies under mysterious circumstances, she immerses herself in his work, a psychotherapy study which alienates her from her children, lands her in hot water with the authorities, and eventually endangers her life.

The main problem with the film may be that audiences are just plain too sophisticated to buy into its combination of actual and staged material; even if it's believable to release therapy sessions and private interviews, much less ones where strange and violent behavior occurred, there's just no way that the police would allow filmmakers to include actual shots of a man killing himself and his family. Meanwhile, the rest of the movie is so aggressively over-stylized that you get the impression even the filmmakers don't quite know what they're doing when they keep the camera constantly moving, flip, shift and juggle "actual" images with reenactment footage, and generally overplay the falseness of the acting footage as some extreme counterpoint to the real stuff.

It doesn't help that the performances are almost all over-modulated as well. Jovovich has never been an actress of spectacular depth - her best performance to date was as a gibberish-spouting hottie who saves the universe in The Fifth Element, and I mean that as a compliment - but unfortunately, she fails to generate much emotional substance in Tyler's descent into skepticism and madness. Meanwhile, Will Patton apparently decided that he was going to single-handedly act the sh*t out of every scene in which he appears, not only devouring scenery (and in one case, destroying it), but providing a character who, were he based on a real person, would certainly attract a lawsuit for the filmmakers. There is certainly a place in a film like this for an aggressive nonbeliever, the guy who when confronted with irrefutable or even ambiguous evidence, refuses to acknowledge the possibility of something "else," but when you're playing a cop there's still such a thing as procedure, and smashing up the house of a woman who claims her daughter has been kidnapped seems to violate that procedure. Egregiously.

That said, the "case study" footage is often eerily convincing, because those actors are far more naturalistic than their Hollywood counterparts; not to mention the fact that the 8mm-camcorder patina, along with some incredibly subtle but effective special effects, mostly buried beneath video noise, give those shots a credulity that the rest of the film doesn't share. But the deeper questions the movie conjures about extraterrestrial intelligence are meant to dissuade audiences from asking shallower ones, like, say, why aliens can apparently travel through ceilings, but still use doors, or the larger question why they would even bother with this one woman. There are simply too many unanswered questions to sustain a compelling emotional center for the story, even if its jump scares and effectively disturbing imagery occasionally rouse the audience into believing there's something more there than studio trickery.

Ultimately, however, the biggest obstacle that The Fourth Kind may face is the success of Paranormal Activity, for two reasons: first, the little thriller that could is still going strong at the box office, eviscerating even established horror franchises like Saw; and second, that film reminded audiences and critics alike how effective traditional horror conventions could be if executed effectively - which the ones here are often not. Truth be told, I admit I was myself optimistic about the its authenticity when I initially emerged from the theater, but a couple of conversations with smarter colleagues than I and the duration of a car ride home was all it took for the film to fall apart in my eyes. In which case, The Fourth Kind is itself a little bit like a UFO sighting: you're not quite sure what you saw when it was happening, and it was momentarily exciting to experience, but if you really think about it, it's pretty ridiculous, and especially disappointing in retrospect.

'The Prince of Persia' Finally Gets a Trailer

Sci-Fi Squad Staff — 2009-11-03T09:02:00+00:00

By: Elisabeth Rappe

After so much hype surrounding the casting and a handful of beefy stills, the trailer for Disney's IGN. From the comments left on Todd's preview of the trailer, I know you've been as eager to see its swashbuckling as we have.

It really looks like Jerry Bruckheimer and Mike Newell have taken the best of Pirates of the Caribbean, and employing it here. The costumes and sets are lush and exotic, the cast is gorgeous, there's plenty of crazy action sequences, and the special effects look as solid as golden sands of time can look. My only issue with it is that we only see a few glimpses of wit and fun. Part of what made Pirates so enjoyable was the chemistry and dialogue, and a cast that seemed to be relishing every moment it spent swashbuckling. There was a healthy sense of the ridiculous inherent in it. Everyone in Persia seems to be taking magical daggers, destines, and demons very, very seriously and such earnestness can be offputting for an audience who wants to be transported. Luckily, there's some promising flickers of humor at the end of the trailer (Do jokes about body searches ever get old? Not if they're delivered with the right twinkle in the eye.), and I hope it's a sign that it's not going to be grim and humorless stuff.

Check out the trailer below the jump, and let us know what you think. Thanks again to IGN for the embed.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time at IGN.com

[From Cinematical]

'Thor' Casting: Anthony Hopkins Will Play Odin!

Sci-Fi Squad Staff — 2009-10-30T10:05:00+00:00

By: Elisabeth Rappe

There's big news from Asgard tonight! According to The Hollywood Reporter, the legendary Sir Anthony Hopkins has joined the cast of Thor. This isn't one of these tightly kept casting announcements either, as THR reports that he and no one else is playing Odin. (Incidentally, there's no mention of Robert DeNiro and Jude Law among the confirmed cast members, so I'm guessing that was just a fever dream of a rumor.)

If you're not up on your Thor or Nordic mythology, Odin is the father of Thor and the ruler of Asgard. He's your typical white-bearded god sort, fond of wine, women, and wisdom. He's not immortal (none of the gods of Asgard are), but ages slowly, and possesses amazing powers of strength and wisdom. He famously sacrifices his eye for the foresight to prevent Ragnarok, a sadly futile act, but you can't blame a god for trying.

While a lot of people were hoping that the Brian Blessed would be Odin (and my own money was on the recently signed Stellan Skarsgard), you can't really get much better than Sir Hopkins. He'll add just the right amount of gravitas, but he's an actor who can still have fun in a role. I can't wait to see him go up against Loki, and watching him smack down Thor for his arrogance is going to be pure theater. Cheers, Kenneth Branagh!

This post originally appeared at Cinematical

Movie Review: The Fourth Kind

Sci-Fi Squad Staff — 2009-10-28T17:02:00+00:00

By: Todd Gilchrist

I'm not sure exactly what quality it is that real people possess and actors lack, but any time a film pretends to document real behavior, either literally or as a reenactment, something is almost always missing. Sometimes the problem is a deliberate decision to enhance events with artificial emphasis or drama, and sometimes it's simply too great a sense of self-awareness in the actor, who knows he or she is performing. But while there are a precious few movies that nail that authenticity, notably the recent underdog-blockbuster Paranormal Activity, such is certainly the case in The Fourth Kind, a film that purports to build an argument for alien abductions using "actual" footage from case studies.

While much of the movie's so-called source material carries the convincing roughness and deficiencies of homemade, handheld recording, too much of it seems far too calculated, both in its technical proficiency and the performances contributed by its "real" people. Further, its accompanying reenactments by recognizable actors undermine the possibility that audiences can take its case seriously, all of which adds up to thriller that unravels easily even if it nevertheless occasionally qualifies as a scary good time.

Read the rest over at Cinematical

Have A 'Star Wars' Halloween with A Death Star Jack O'Lantern!

Sci-Fi Squad Staff — 2009-10-27T09:32:00+00:00

By: Jen Yamato

If you're still on the lookout for the perfect movie-themed jack o' lantern patterns for Halloween, look no further because we've dug up something for everyone. Are you a stickler for the rules of Halloween (i.e. don't blow out the jack o' lanterns til after midnight...)? Try the bag-headed Sam from Trick 'R Treat. Jedi in training? Carve the Death Star so you can practice infiltrating it. Bonus: you and Lego Luke Skywalker can even blow it up once Halloween's over!

Personally, I always went for the grotesque or ironic celebrity pumpkins. One of my best Halloween creations was a glowing, sultry J. Lo pumpkin. (The best part was watching her wither and decay the next week. So evil!) I've always sworn by the patterns over at Zombie Pumpkins, where you can find just about every movie icon you can imagine. Download SUPER easy patterns like Freddy Krueger, the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, the Joker, Jigsaw's puppet, Gremlins, and even assorted characters from the Harry Potterverse. (An Albus Dumbledore to protect your porch!) And yes, folks - they've even got new patterns from Twilight, Zombieland, and Michael Jackson, circa Thriller. Too soon?

Read on for more -- and the Death Star jack o' lantern -- after the jump.
In past years Zombie Pumpkins creator Ryan Wickstrand has offered hundreds of patterns for a donation, but it looks like business is booming now; choose from a sliding scale of membership levels for varying access to his pattern archives. (Trust me, it's worth it if you're a true jack o' lantern connoisseur.)

However, the folks over at Fantasy Pumpkins are offering a tantalizing free Star Wars pattern: the Death Star. Fantasy's patterns can be a tad more difficult and integrate a "three-color" pumpkin-carving technique in which you make half-deep incisions in places to create a more layered, shadowy effect. They even call their Death Star a "pumpkin sculpture." Yes, these folks take their jack o'lanterns seriously, but hey -- so do you! A quick perusal of their 11-step Death Star pictorial shows that this particular pattern should take just under...doing the calculations...3 billion hours to complete. Ok, maybe not that long. But we are talking multiple hours, here. Then again, if you're even considering making a Death Star pumpkin, you probably don't have much else to do. (Death Star via MSN.)

(I kid, I kid.) Did I mention the LED-powered Cylon jack o' lantern over here?

Tell us which movies will inspire your Halloween jack o' lanterns this year, and link us to your proud photos once they're done!

Rebooted Predators, Meet 'Psy-Ops'

Sci-Fi Squad Staff — 2009-10-14T09:02:00+00:00

By: Elisabeth Rappe

Robert Rodriguez's Predators reboot has left us all with mixed feelings, particularly after the offbeat casting choices that were announced last week. If you read that and said "Man, you know what I really want instead? A movie that's like Predators, but original!", then you might be in luck. The Hollywood Reporter tells of an action thriller called Psy-Ops that was penned by Scott Stewart and Gus Krieger, and might just introduce some new terror into the jungle.* It was just optioned by Bold Films, and will be directed by Stuart Maschwitz as his feature film debut.

Psy-Ops centers on that usual gang of suspects: a U.S. military team sent on a routine mission to the Amazon Basin. Instead of being the typical black-ops bunch, these guys are psychological operatives who specialize in exploiting the deepest and darkest fears of their enemies. But on this trip to the Basin, the tables will be turned, and blood will be spilled as they "discover something more terrifying than they could have imagined." And these guys have imagined a lot.

The script is said to be a mix of Predators, Aliens, Black Hawk Down, and the Bourne films. Bold Films is hoping to mix the good of the 1980s with the psychological grittiness of our current action crop. I'm not about to judge on just a few lines of plot (and don't think I'm tearing Rodriguez down to elevate this), but wouldn't it be nice if this generation had an original alien slasher to call their own?

*Apologies for the hideous graphic on your right. That's my attempt at portraying a scary jungle. Color it red and it looks scary, right?

Orci & Kurtzman On Cowboys, Aliens, Star Trek and Giant Robots

Sci-Fi Squad Staff — 2009-10-09T11:02:00+00:00

By: Todd Gilchrist

At a press day for the release of Star Trek and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen on DVD and Blu-ray, screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman discussed the futures of those respective franchises, and offered a few highlights from their upcoming slate of screenplays and producing projects. When asked about their process for developing sequels, Kurtzman said, "Every franchise has a different need, so you have to look at them differently, based on whatever the mandate is. You need to be able to not have seen the first movie to appreciate the second one. But, for us, it's always about going back to the sequels that we loved as kids and asking ourselves why we loved them."

Offering a list of their favorite follow-ups, Kurtzman continued, "there's Empire Strikes Back, Superman II, Aliens, Terminator 2, Star Trek 2. What do all those movies have in common? Well, they're amazing stories all on their own. You didn't have to see the first movie. And, there was some incredible, emotional test of character, in all of those movies. Superman has to give up his powers for love. The Spock and Kirk relationship is tested by Khan. Ripley finds a daughter. All of those things are such big ideas, in and of themselves, and you really can't tell those stories in movie number one because movie number one is very much about establishing a world."

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen debuts on DVD and Blu-ray October 20, 2009, and Star Trek follows on November 17. The following is an edited version of a news conference featuring Orci and Kurtzman.

In terms of Star Trek's expanded universe, are there any elements from the later series that you might want to throw into the next film?

Roberto Orci: I think we'd think about it, just because we do love The Next Generation, but I think our instinct would be to first look at the original series before we considered that. But, all that is on the table for us.

Is there a possibility of doing a Star Trek 2 and 3 back to back?

Alex Kurtzman: It's very, very important to us to make sure that each movie is good, not "Hey, let's do as many as possible." We feel like we've inherited this incredible honor and this mantle of Star Trek, and the most important thing is to make sure that we're protecting that first. So, if the studio wants more than one, great. But, our thinking is going to be very much about the story and whether the story prescribes that there will be more than one. Part of what is great about Star Trek is that it's a continuing adventure, so you naturally think that there will be many, hopefully, but we only focus on what comes next, and then build off of that. Right now, we're not thinking specifically about making 2 and 3. It may come up, but it's not where our heads are at right now.

Where are you with the story and script for the Star Trek sequel?

Orci: We're still just brainstorming, internally. We're going to get together soon and see what happens, and start putting it together.

Is it true that you will you be using torture as an allegory for the next film?

Orci: The torture thing was just a for instance. Someone asked, "Modern day issues?" And we said, "Yeah, sure, modern day issues." But, we're not doing a story about Gitmo. I read on some site that it was going to be about Guantanamo Bay. But, now that we've established the characters, we can have a more philosophical allegory, where what's happening in the future represents our world, like the best versions of it in the '60s did with women's rights and racial equality.

As fans of the original series and mythology, have you given any thought as to how you could incorporate Khan?

Kurtzman: Where we're starting is, okay, where are our characters now? What are interesting complications that we can put in their lives? What feels like an organic emotional place for us to get to? How do we want to test them? And then, you look at everything and start asking who would be the best foe?

Orci: There are mental exercises we play. You can't be a fan of this and not sit around and wonder.

Kurtzman: But the short answer is that we haven't landed on anybody yet.

Have you guys decided how much time will have passed between the first Star Trek film and the sequel? Are they still going to be new on the job, or will they have some experience?

Orci: We're actually debating that.

Kurtzman: We don't have an answer yet.

Now that Cowboys & Aliens script is a go, how is that film developing and how is it to work with Jon Favreau?

Kurtzman: It's the greatest.

Orci: We just started and we're getting along really well. We've sent ourselves back to school and we're watching Westerns together and analyzing them. We're just getting into it. We just watched The Searchers last.

Kurtzman: We had a lot of these Westerns in our head, but Jon is an incredible fountain of Western knowledge.

Orci: And, Star Trek was originally pitched as a space Western, anyway, so it was a nice lead up to this, for us.

Kurtzman: I think Jon also comes from a very similar emotional place and, because he's an actor, he knows what plays and what doesn't play very quickly. We're having an unbelievably good time working with him.

Why have you decided not to be involved with Transformers 3?

Orci: We've been working on Transformers longer than I was in college. I feel like we have our degree in Transformers now.

Kurtzman: The franchise is so wonderful that it deserves to be fresh, all the time. We just felt like we'd given it a lot and didn't have an insight for where to go with it next, and said, "You should do it right."

Orci: The studio was nice to say, "Oh, yeah, if you guys want to come back then come back." But, we never want to do that, unless we have an idea. We always think the best idea should win, and that means opening it up to everybody.

Do you have an update on the View-Master film?

Kurtzman: We've read a lot of the wildly cynical response to that. What I'll say is that some toys should be movies and some toys should not be movies, and I'd like to believe we know the difference between those things. The movies that work, work when there's a story there that you could take the toy out of, but then, when you put the toy in, it becomes an even more amazing experience, for whatever reason. Brad Kane, who was a writer for us on Fringe, came to us with an amazing idea that had absolutely nothing to do with View-Master. We loved it and thought it was fantastic.

Orci: But, we said, "It's missing one thing. I don't know what that thing could be."

Kurtzman: And along came View-Master, and it sounded like the perfect marriage of ideas. But, it's because we started with a story that felt like it could be told, all on its own, before that came along. So, it's like, "Bring it on!" If you want to be cynical about View-Master, great 'cause we're so confidence in where it's going to end up going that we feel like there's nowhere to go, but up.

So, is that already through the pitch phase?

Kurtzman: Yes. Brad is finishing a script.

Is it something where that object used as a device in the movie?

Kurtzman: Perhaps.

Orci: [Steven] Spielberg actually told us once that his first draft story of E.T. didn't have an alien in it. It was a family drama about a kid missing his father, and E.T. was born from that. And, that's always stuck in our minds. You've got to be able to take out the thing.

J.J. Abrams Chats Up 'Star Trek' Sequel

Sci-Fi Squad Staff — 2009-10-09T08:38:00+00:00

By Todd Gilchrist

J.J Abrams, director of this summer's blockbuster relaunch of the Star Trek film series, told reporters that the forthcoming follow-up will, like its predecessor, both appeal to nonfans and reward those familiar with the long-running franchise. "Whatever the story is and whatever the final movie ends up being, I know it will be something that will work on its own terms and be something that you don't need to know and study Star Trek to get," Abrams said in a press conference Thursday afternoon. "But if you are a fan, there will hopefully be gift after gift of connections, references, characters that you hold near and dear. At least, that's the intent."

Cinematical spoke to Abrams at a press day for the DVD and Blu-ray release of Star Trek, which is due November 17, 2009. The following is an edited version of Abrams' comments to the press about the sequel, which is currently being developed by the director and his original screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman.

Since you were able to wipe the slate clean with your prequel, do you plan to come up with something completely original, or is there a possibility you will reference some of the existing creatures or races in the next installment?

Abrams: The fun of this movie series is that we will have the opportunity, given its alternate timeline, to cross paths with any of the experiences, places and characters that existed in the original series. We have to be really careful, obviously, doing that. I don't want to do something that is so inside that only die-hard fans will appreciate.

Will the first film's alternate timeline affect what you can leave in and what can't be a part of subsequent films?

Abrams: The trick in doing any movie, but especially something like this that involves some weird alternate reality-time travel thing is that you don't want to not explain it, but you don't want to explain everything. I think you have as much fun with the missing pieces as you do with the pieces you get. So, for me, not knowing every detail, allows me to get inside of the story and start to fill in the blanks. When everything is spoon-fed, typically I feel like you're being pandered to, or it's too expositional. It's always a balance.

Read the rest at Cinematical

Will 'Heroes' Lesbian Kiss Really Boost Ratings?

Sci-Fi Squad Staff — 2009-10-08T10:30:00+00:00

By: Laura Hudson

Ever since NBC hinted that their ratings-challenged superhero TV show "Heroes" might feature a more-than-friends relationship between cheerleader and invincible college freshman Claire and her attractive new roommate Gretchen, the countdown to their lesbian kiss became pretty inevitable. Now it's been confirmed that it will take place in the next episode, "Hysterical Blindness." Even as shameless, exploitative ratings stunts go, this one is still impressively shameless, and I say that as someone who works in comics.

Read the rest over at our partner site, Comics Alliance

'Predators' Will Chase Adrien Brody and Topher Grace

Sci-Fi Squad Staff — 2009-10-07T09:02:00+00:00

By: Elisabeth Rappe

When you think of a man of brawn who can outwit the ruthless Predator, you think of two men: Arnold Schwarzenegger and Adrien Brody. What, you didn't picture that last one? Well, Robert Rodriguez and Nimrod Antal did. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Brody and Topher Grace are both set to join Alice Braga, Mahershalalhashbaz Ali, Walt Goggins, Danny Trejo and Oleg Taktarov in Predators, a franchise reboot of sorts that will follow several of earth's "killers" who are kidnapped and dropped on the Predator's home planet for a game of hide, seek and be brutally murdered.

All joking aside, Brody and Grace's unassuming demeanors will be a big part of their characters. Brody will play a soldier forced to become a leader (presumably because the Predator killed the old one), but is fit for the job because he's "a hunter of men." Grace will play a nerdy, accountant type whose very ordinariness hides the fact that he's a serial killer.

Check out the rest of the cast over at Cinematical

'Thor' Adds a Different Skarsgard

Sci-Fi Squad Staff — 2009-10-05T09:45:00+00:00

By Elisabeth Rappe

We're entering into a frustrating trend with Thor news now. Excellent actors continue to sign on, but we have no idea who they are playing, which certainly keeps things interesting, but hurts when it comes to the geek discussions we could be having. The latest to reportedly join the cast is a Skarsgard, but not the one who you might expect.. According to Swedish news site Ystands Allehanda, Stellan Skarsgard has joined the cast of Thor in an unspecified role.

As you Thor fans undoubtedly remember, Stellan's son Alexander was in the running to play Thor. Skarsgard confirmed that he was so close as to have tried on the costume, and was one of the last contenders cut before Kenneth Branagh chose Chris Hemsworth. (Every episode of True Blood I see, I think Hemsworth has to be something really special if they cut Skarsgard, who would have been my pick.) If the elder Skarsgard is indeed part of the cast, I would like to be a fly on the wall for that family phone call.

My immediate guess (or my biggest hope) as to who Skarsgard might be playing would be Odin. While Marvel's version of Odin is a very beefy one, Skarsgard would be more in tune with how the god is usually portrayed in Nordic art and mythology. It would certainly be more interesting to have the crafty, American Gods version of Odin over one that just looks like an older Thor. Otherwise, your guess is as good as mine. Hopefully, we won't have to make too many guesses, and Skarsgard will not only be confirmed through official channels, but those official channels will reveal just where he fits into Asgard.

[via Empire]

Cory McAbee Chats Up His Space Western, 'Stingray Sam'

Sci-Fi Squad Staff — 2009-10-02T17:02:00+00:00

By Kevin Kelly

Cory McAbee is not your average indie filmmaker. He's more of a self-taught Renaissance man who paints, writes, composes music, and also directs mind-bending films. At Sundance earlier this year, I had a slot to fill in my schedule and I thought Stingray Sam sounded interesting. Science fiction meets the Western? Sign me up.

What I didn't know was that I would be treated to a bizarre musical that was sliced up into a serialized format, complete with dance numbers, elaborate 60-second long handshakes between partners, and social commentary on everything from the U.S. prison system to tobacco companies. It's great stuff, and the songs will stick with you long after the movie ends.

Cory is no stranger to film festivals, having been at Sundance with three different films. I spoke with Cory at Fantastic Fest, where he was screening Stingray Sam. Check out the full interview after the break.

So I saw Stingray Sam back at Sundance. What did you do to it since then?

We did a couple of color corrections, just tweaks, and some more work on the sound quality, brought up a few things, lowered a few things.

So where are you off to after Austin? Back home?

Minneapolis. I was supposed to go to Moscow but they had some problems with my ... they wanted my passport for a couple of days to get me a visa, but I am using it right now so I wasn't able to give it to them. So fortunately I get to go home.

I have never heard of anybody holding on to a passport like that.

Yeah, it was kind of a weird situation.

Russia is still Russia I guess. So you have been to Austin before?

Yeah. Played here a couple times.

South by Southwest?

Well actually I played at South by Southwest once. They were very rude.

So what is your background? I hadn't seen The American Astronaut. What led you up to Stingray Sam?

I came to making films through painting and music. My first film was an animated short that was accepted into the Sundance Film Festival. It was submitted by a local film festival that was put on down the street from where I lived in San Francisco at the time. So I started making short films.

What year was that?

Well the animated short ... it took three years to paint it. It was 2,173 paintings.

Wow.

Yeah, it was tedious. It was completed in its final form, I think, in '92 is when it played at Sundance. And when I say final form, it is because we redid the soundtrack and everything. But then I made a couple of short films and then began working on The American Astronaut; wrote it, storyboarded it, did a lot of work before I could ever get it done or find the funding. That was completed...we started shooting that in 2000 and completed it by 2001. It was premiered at Sundance. Then I did a couple of short pieces since then. I have written a couple of screenplays that hopefully I will get them made at some time.

But then I was commissioned by Sundance to make a film for mobile phones. They have really been supportive and they were very nice to select me for that project. I enjoyed working with that idea, working in the idea of small screens and alternative forms of distribution. But I also didn't want to give up big screens, so I thought it would be nice to make a film for screens of all sizes. And that was our tagline, "Coming soon to screens of all sizes." It was inspired by a lot of different things. The structure and the way it was designed and written was trying to address the way films are consumed and distributed today.

What was the name of that animated film, the '92 film that was in Sundance?

Billy Nayer, which is what we named The Billy Nayer Show after, our band.

When you conceived this idea and worked on the script, was this all you or do you have guys that you work with?

I wrote it. I wrote it and storyboarded it, and wrote the songs and worked on the music with my band, or who I was playing with at the time. My band is actually me and Bobby Lurie. He is one of the producers. A lot of people come and go. Frank Swart was playing bass with us, and he plays the bartender in episode one. And Crugie has been playing with us off and on for a few years. He played The Quasar Kid.

Who is sort of your cohort throughout the movie.

Yeah. And I wrote it for him hoping that he would be able to do it. I figured if he couldn't do it, I could get an actor to do it, but it would be better if he could do it because he is such an unusual person.

Yeah, he had that great deadpan style. But it definitely seemed like you guys had a great familiarity with each other.

You have gone on tour together, and one of us would sleep in the backseat while the other slept in the floor.

And like the scenes with the long elaborate handshakes. Where did you come up with that?

The handshake, that was one of those experiments in humor where I thought it would be cool. I wrote it down on a piece of paper and said they would shake hands for one minute. I was like, "Wow! This is going to be so cool." You never know. And then when I got on set, I was hoping it would work. But me and Crugie had been ... when I first told him about this, he was like, "Oh I am not very good with patty-cake." I am like, "Ah, we will come up with something." So we worked on it. And it got to a point where every time we would see each other we would do it, and it was this long handshake. We were always amazed that we could keep doing it. So it became how we greeted each other after a while.

What about the naming song? Where did that come from?

The Fredward song.

Yes, which is hilarious.

I love that piece. I mean I like this film and I am very happy with it. But that piece was another kind of experiment. I figured if it wasn't funny it would at least be really interesting. And fortunately people find it funny, and then they kind of fade, and then they start finding it funny again. And just keeping it going is part of its strength. To combine that many preexisting names to make preexisting names, to just keep it rolling and to do that with the photos, that was the idea behind that. And to watch it on a big screen, too, was a blast. I loved seeing it.

So the film is serialized, but was never presented in that format?

No. The idea was to release it first as a feature.

And then chop it up?

Or present it first as a feature at festivals. We had the release online a couple of weeks ago. And the idea is that it is on 35 millimeter as a feature film, and you can download it in its entirety on either high definition downloads, which are very lovely, or smaller definition, smaller downloads, for iPhones and iPods and things like that. And so if you get it on the small version, you can watch it in segments if you want. But you have it as an entire piece.

Where can people go to get that?

Stingraysam.com.

I think that's where I downloaded the song "Welcome To Mars" after I saw the movie.

Yeah, we had that for free.

Yeah, that was very catchy. So there was another movie you were trying to get funding for at the time and that didn't happen, so you ended up doing this one?

Werewolf Hunters of the Midwest. I have been trying to get funding for that off and on. Werewolf Hunters is a much more serious film. But fortunately I am really happy that everything fell together for Stingray Sam. I think, with the distribution model, I think it is very organic to the way the world works right now. Young people are consuming films differently than we did, the way they take in entertainment and the style of entertainment. And I wrote this to where if you did see it on a small device while you were in transit or something, which I think that is how people watch things these days.

A lot of the time, yes.

Yeah. They watch it on trains and stuff, that it would be dense enough in information to where it would be enjoyable, and you could also watch it again several times and enjoy it hopefully more. But as far as me myself not being raised on computers the way people are now, I still watch films on small screens digitally in segments. I am trying to think of what her name is. I was talking to somebody about her today. The Wind. What is her name? She was also in Night of the Hunter.

Lillian GIsh?

Right. Well I wanted to watch The Wind because I had heard something about it. And the only way I could find it was to watch it in segments on Youtube. And so that is how I watched that feature. I wanted to make Stingray Sam and The American Astronaut also in segments. So instead of taking a feature and segmenting it however you will, it is pre-designed for it. And also, the way it comes back around when you watch it as a feature is fun. Like to hear a 20 second theme song each time is part of the enjoyment.

Yeah. It got to be sort of anticipatory. You were looking forward to that each time when a new one is about to begin.

Yeah, people were singing when I came in. It was fun.

Like I said earlier, the music is such a big part of that. What is your musical background? When did you start learning music and what instruments do you play right now?

I played an electric auto harp in the soundtrack. You can't tell what it is. It sounds kind like an electric guitar. But I play that. I also play ukulele in the film and sang.

When did you start learning? Where you pretty young when you got into music?

Well when I first started ... actually Bobby, my partner in this, him and a mutual friend, I had just met him, they were talking about getting together and playing some music. And I said, "All right. Can I come too?" We were like 20. We went there and everybody jammed. And of course I thought I was going to sing. There was nothing for me to do there. So I said, "I tell you what. I will go home and write some songs and we will get together in two weeks and we will play these songs." I had never written a song before, so I went home and ...

You mean lyrics? You mean musical arrangements? Both? Everything?

Well the arrangements, I had to sing them to the guitar player and try to hunt for what chords went with it with him playing them. I do that myself.

That is pretty amazing. Most people start like, "Well I was five years old and my parents gave me piano lessons."

No. I taught myself everything. I didn't come from the kind of family where going to college was an automatic option. But I wanted to learn how to paint and I was always interested in music and everything. So each one became part of the other. Illustration became part of music, became part of film, and all that.

You said Brooklyn is home right now. Where did you grow up?

I grew up right outside of San Francisco. And then when I was about 19 or 20 I moved into San Francisco and worked in bars and night clubs running security. And then I moved to Chicago for two years and then moved to New York, and I have been there for about 10 years.

What were your influences in music, or film, or even painting and illustration wise when you were first getting into that stuff?

Honestly it was people that I knew more than anything else, people who were around me. The places that I worked, the clubs and everything, there was a lot of different entertainers and they influenced me a lot. Other than that, I mean I listened to a very diverse collection growing up. And as far as films go, the same thing. I watched all sorts of different films. I had no specific genre of film or filmmaker even. It was more about what struck a chord.

Had you had formal painting training before you started making that or did you just teach yourself?

I taught myself. At one point I took a one semester course at a local community college for drawing. I was drawing before that. And I think like everybody in there was a senior citizen but me. That was this local course. But I learned a lot about shadows, which is a huge part of what I do anyway.

Do you know what your next project is going to be? I mean the werewolves movie, are you still seeking funding for that or do you have another project you are behind?

I have no funding for Werewolf. I am rewriting it because the people that I wrote a couple of the characters for are older now and I want to change it so that they can still be these characters. And in doing so it has actually become much more interesting of a film. I have another one which I am not sure what is going to happen with it. It is about the heartbreak of time travel. Both of those are very dark films. I am starting to write a piece ... I want to use Stingray Sam and the Quasar Kid. I like their relationship. And I want to do something else with them because I enjoy them so much. And I also am thinking about doing another episodic piece.

Part of the appeal of Stingray Sam is that when you start watching it, it instantly feels retro from the old singing cowboy movies, even though it is not really set there. Is that an era that you are particularly drawn to or was it just right for Sam?

Well one of the things that I wanted to do was ... I was trying to ... In a way I was trying to represent American culture in that film by using things that were American-borne genres, like singing cowboys and science fiction serials and all those, and put them in a creative science fiction landscape that is actually our landscape. I always use privatized prison systems as an example and capitalizing on our prisoners, and pharmaceutical companies, and tobacco advertisers, and all the stuff that is ours, and turn it into a science fiction landscape in the same way, which is actually a tradition in science fiction.

During the Cold War a lot of the TV programs, like The Outer Limits, would use Cold War themes to create these outside things. So when I was creating Stingray Sam, for that time I got really into the idea of the singing cowboys, which in America was enormous, maybe around the world, too. I am not sure. But like Roy Rogers had more swag than the Beatles. We still call this one drink Roy Rogers or Shirley Temple, depending on who it is for. But he really like had ... it was like his own universe. There were also spin-offs. There were so many singing cowboys happening at that period in time. And it came and went really fast. So I thought having a singing cowboy space serial would be really fun.

It's true, the sheer amount of stuff produced with Roy Rogers' face on it was amazing. I remember my dad telling me how when he was a kid he was such a huge fan of Tom Mix. Sam really felt like he stepped out of that era.

He is also very optimistic, which I really like. When I first started writing it I had him and The Quasar Kid as a couple of tough guys. But it took all the fun away. And so when Stingray Sam became very optimistic, it made him a much more interesting character. I mean he is even optimistic when he is robbing a gallery. He is just happy to be there.

Did you fund this yourself or did you guys have funding for Stingray Sam?

Bobby Lurie, my partner who plays drums in the band and produces the films, he arranged the funding.

Will there be plans for an eventual DVD? Right now you said you can download it. Would you guys release it on physical media or have you already?

Well actually it is supposed to be available already, but we hit a couple of snags. The recent one which we are trying to deal with right now is...the DVD, it looked beautiful. Everything was fine, but it defaulted to 5.1 surround sound. So when you put it on a TV and you just hit play, it wouldn't sound good unless you were in 5.1. So we have to fix that now. So it is all these little setbacks in trying to construct your own DVDs.

So you can actually download the movie online now? We'll have to let people know.

Yes, please check it out. The high definition download is actually gorgeous. I saw it projected once in a movie theater.

So you just arrived in Austin, are you seeing any other movies while you are here?

Today I have been doing some interviews and meeting people, and kind of enjoying the festival that way. Tomorrow I will watch more films. I also flew in from Copenhagen, so my hours are off. I am so messed up. I got to bed at three last night and woke up at 6:30. I was like, "Why did this happen to me?"

So when you are not filmmaking, you guys are still actively playing music and you are playing shows somewhere?

Not at the moment because I am on the road with the movie.

Right, of course.

There might be a few changes in our lineup. Right before we went into preproduction we had been working for two years on a new album. And we performed a lot of the music from it in the studio where we recorded Stingray Sam and built our sets and our interiors and stuff. So we did a live concert in there and filmed it. So hopefully in the near future we will be posting those online and showing pieces of our recent concert.

Let's say someone comes in tomorrow and says, "I want to make Werewolf Hunters of the Midwest, but I want someone else to direct it." Is it something you want to direct or would you be open to somebody else interpreting your writing?

I would want to direct it. But I am not greedy. I don't care that much about that kind of thing. But if somebody came to me and offered me enough money, I would put it toward doing something else. But I don't think anybody is ever going to do that.

Would be a feature?

It would be a feature, yeah. A regular feature that I am sure would get serialized. Who knows, everybody else would take care of that for us.

So, how was the audience reaction at your screening?

Great! I came in at the end of episode 5, right as the lullaby song was sung. And the audience applauded.

They saw you come in?

No. They applauded the song. They didn't see me. I was around the corner. So I snuck in and I sat through episode 6. The response was unbelievable. And then when I got up and did the Q&A, I had so much fun.

That's great. We'll let people know about it.

Please do! Very nice to meet you.

Proof That a Live-Action 'Star Wars' TV Show Exists?

Sci-Fi Squad Staff — 2009-09-30T17:49:00+00:00

While I'll admit that the photo at right is not the most detailed, and Ansel Adams is unlikely to claim it as one of his own due to its lighting and composition, it should prove an important image for Star Wars fans.

The sign artfully painted on the glass door in this tasteful, Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired hallway within the Skywalker Ranch compound in Marin County, Calif. reads "LucasFilm Television." You'll have to trust me on that. This is as close as I could get with a camera.

You might wonder what the big deal is about that sign -- considering that LucasFilm has a show on the air already with Cartoon Network's Star Wars: The Clone Wars. But, those 22 episodes originate across the building in LucasFilm Animation -- a separate division.

Read the rest over at TV Squad

More Join Pixar's 'John Carter of Mars'

Sci-Fi Squad Staff — 2009-09-30T09:32:00+00:00

By: Elisabeth Rappe

I was slightly disappointed with the initial casting of John Carter of Mars, but as Andrew Stanton keeps bringing the wonderful with every addition to the roster, I just have to trust him when it comes to his choice of Taylor Kitsch. But Stanton is sending more impressive talent to Mars, as according to The Hollywood Reporter, James Purefoy, Thomas Haden Church, and Mark Strong have joined the cast.

Purefoy will be playing Kantos Kan, the captain of the Xavarian, the grand flagship of Helium. Carter meets him in the prisons of Warhoon, and they're forced to battle in a gladitorial match. They become allies as only former gladiators can, and Kan assists him on his quest to save Mars / Barsoom. I found it difficult to picture the secondary characters in Princess of Mars, so I feel lame in saying "Purefoy is perfect as Kan!" but he'll fit the part of a seasoned naval captain. He'll be quite dashing, even. (Actually, I think Purefoy would have made a good Carter.)

Church will be playing Tal Hajus, who THR calls "a vicious Thark warrior who is determined to become king." In the books, he's a Jabba the Hut type who lusts after Princess Dejah Thoris, and is happily ensconced as a leader, so this might be one of the first big changes you'll see in the story. It would probably make things a lot more interesting to have Church play him as a capable bastard than a slobby wreck.

Last but not least, Strong will be playing Matai Shang, the revered ruler of the Thems. I sped through the series and I don't think he appeared until later, but Stanton was open about picking out characters to develop for sequels, so he'll undoubtedly be one of them.

Purefoy, Church, and Strong round out the cast that includes Kitsch as Carter, Lynn Collins as Dejah Thoris, Willem Dafoe as Tars Tarkas, Samantha Morton as Sola, Dominic West as Sab Than, and Polly Walker as Sarkoja. It's great casting all around (Walker will be absolutely terrifying as Sarkoja), and I can't wait to see filming begin.

Who Wants Some Outrageously Expensive 'Where the Wild Things Are' Outfits

Sci-Fi Squad Staff — 2009-09-29T17:32:00+00:00

By: Jenni Miller

We've already covered some of the clothing inspired by Where the Wild Things Are that you can buy at Urban Outfitters, both for us normal people who buy t-shirts and stuff and for the people who can afford insanely awesome suits designed by Christian Joy, who is most well-known for creating costumes for Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Karen O.

Well, they're not the only ones gunning for your hard earned money this Halloween. (Actually, any time of the year is a fine time to dress up like a Wild Thing or Max, if you ask me. Or furries.) The ultra-hip and expensive store Opening Ceremony collaborated with Spike Jonze and a number of designers for an entire line of Wild Things-inspired clothes, with the crowning touch being a super-cuddly pajamas outfit just like Max. It's also available as a sweater (with gloves that have cut off fingers!).

Do you think the Wild Things hype has gotten out of control? Or are you lusting after these crazy outfits too? How many Maxes and Wild Things do you think we'll see this Halloween?

Check out images of the costumes over at Cinematical

'Surrogates' Movie Review

Sci-Fi Squad Staff — 2009-09-25T10:32:00+00:00

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Some science fiction films take us to different worlds or alternate realities, or offer visions of the future. In each of these new worlds, certain new rules apply. Sometimes the rules are pretty simple and can be easily and clearly established, as in Star Trek or District 9. Other times the rules are exceedingly complex and raise a million questions, as in the new Surrogates, which is based on a comic book by Robert Venditti and Brett Weldele. In this future world, humans can strap themselves into a chair, plug themselves into a bunch of sensors and have complete control of an artificial being, including movement, speech and senses. This artificial being can then go out into the world to perform daily tasks, while the real person is safe at home, never risking getting hit by a car or falling down a manhole.

From there, things get sticky. A narrator explains to us that 98% of the population uses the surrogates, and later a character says something about a "billion" users. Last time I checked, a billion was only about 20% (or less) of the population. Plus, how much do these surrogates cost? Can all the poor people of the world afford them? We do get to see a few things like a surrogate bringing home food for its owner to eat, and other points in which surrogates freeze up while their owners use the bathroom, but just how do people go about their daily lives? Some of the users look like they're in pretty bad shape, sitting in their chairs. Is using a surrogate physically or emotionally addicting? Do their muscles atrophy? Do they take showers? Do they ever get together to have sex? Has the population gone down because of too much surrogate sex and not enough human sex?

Read the rest over at Cinematical

A Chat with 'Surrogates' Director Jonathan Mostow

Sci-Fi Squad Staff — 2009-09-24T11:02:00+00:00

Originally posted on our sister site Cinematical, 9/23/09

By: Todd Gilchrist

Jonathan Mostow is one of the "that guys" of the directing world: you almost always recognize his handiwork, but you're not quite sure who he is, because his films maintain a more assertive sense of themselves than they do of him (and we mean that as a compliment). Although he did some smaller films before then, 1997's Breakdown was his calling card as a filmmaker, and contained all of the elements that would signify something made by him - namely, an interesting idea that was executed with mastery of form and a comfortable grasp on genre conventions. Subsequently he directed the submarine thriller U-571 and Terminator 3, and his latest, Surrogates, is another example of high-concept storytelling streamlined to maximize its entertainment potential.

Cinematical recently sat down with Mostow in Los Angeles for an exclusive interview about the ins and outs of the film, which follows Bruce Willis as a cop investigating a murder in a futuristic society where humankind interacts through android proxies of themselves, called surrogates. In addition to explaining the film's world and surrogates' place within it, Mostow talked about his technique as a director marrying interesting ideas to effective storytelling, and reflected on his expansive career both as a director and producer.

Cinematical: What is the point of the surrogates for the people in this film? How does it revolutionize their lives?

Jonathan Mostow: It's not so much that it revolutionizes their lives. It's just kind of like it's the extrapolation of where we're going, which is more and more we seem to be able to do stuff through our computer and online. Like right now, you can stay in touch with all of your friends via email or Facebook or Twitter; you can get all of the information in the world from AP.com or NewYorkTimes.com, whatever. So the only thing you need to leave the house for is to go to your job, and if you really wanted to socialize in person with somebody. What if there was a machine to enable that to happen as well? Where we're going with robotics and this whole new developing field of brain stuff, it feels like it doesn't take a lot of speculative science-fiction to imagine we could sort of get there. This movie isn't really asking the question, gee, if in the future this technology existed, what would actually happen?

Surrogates is really a metaphor for asking the question, today, right now, we live in a time where we are swamped with all of this technology; we love it and we're addicted to it, but we also can't let go of it. What's that doing to us as human beings? That's really kind of to me what this movie is fundamentally about, so the appeal to people of having a surrogate is extrapolating out where we're already at. We're all constantly seeking convenience and a better existence, so if you can live with a surrogate, you have no personal jeopardy, moral boundaries are conveniently erased, and you also just feel better. It's why video phones never took off; there have been several iterations of video phone technology, and they never took off because ultimately people didn't want to be shown to the person they're talking to. The internet gives you that anonymity - you could be anybody on the internet. So it's the same thing with surrogacy; it affords you that cloak of hiding your personal identity, and that's the other necessary requirement of any of these technologies succeeding.

Cinematical: How important was the conceptualization of surrogates in developing your story? Was the priority telling a compelling story that you then seeded with the idea, or did the idea come first and then you figured out how to tell a story about it?

Mostow: It's funny - a cart before the horse question, and I'm not sure which is which. The reason I don't make more movies is because it's really hard to find ideas that I go, yeah, I could spend two years of my life doing this. Mostly what I do is say no to movies, because I go maybe I would see that, but I don't think I could spend two years on it. I'd go nuts. For me there has to be the idea, but I'm also a very mainstream, middle-America moviegoer, so I don't have patience for a lot of movies that feel like they're medicine, or are preaching to me. I want to be entertained; if I'm going to spend my nine or ten bucks, I want to have an escapist entertainment.

I look for both, so for me the thing I initially responded to when I read the graphic novel is I went, oh, that's a cool idea! Then when I started working on the movie, I said, well, the reason it's cool is because it's a metaphor for how we're living right now, it's connecting to something I'm feeling inside, but it's also cool to have these really good-looking robots going around. So those two things kind of go together. It's kind of like my submarine movie [U-571]; when I had the idea to do that, I was on an old WWII submarine you can take a tour through, and I was like this is cool, and then once I started understanding the history of it, I realized this was fascinating. Cool and fascinating are sort of the two things that I need, and those are the litmus tests for every decision I make in the movie. I don't know if that quite answers your question...

Cinematical: I'll rephrase: How important is it that the idea you come up with maintains a sense of accuracy or continuity if it "interferes" with telling a story that's more interesting?

Mostow: That's the best question I've heard all day. I think for filmmakers, that is the most difficult thing that you deal with, because if you're working on a movie that gives a hoot about the audience, you hear the phrase "serve the story" a lot. Because everything's got to be in service of the story; my philosophy about movies is the star of the movie is the story, and by the way, behind any star that's had longevity, they know that too, [because] the audience is there to see a story. They like whoever the movie star is and that may have enticed them to come see the movie, but really what they want is story.

So once you have the basic story, which for whatever reason you've decided is what you're doing, then you have to service it, in a movie like this where there's a million cool ideas, and you can't fit them all in. First of all you couldn't fit them in even if you had a story that enabled them all because you only have your two hours or whatever, and then once you have the story set that's like the foundation of the house. so if there's a frustrating aspect, you wish you could get it all in but you can't, particularly in a movie like this where there's so many interesting things to talk about that some people may go see the movie and go, "well, I thought that was cool but I thought they were going to deal with [this or that]. What happens when you have to go to the doctor?" We couldn't get to that because we just couldn't fit it all in the movie. This is one of those things where there was a wealth of cool ideas and we just could only fit so many of them into the movie.

Cinematical: Is this a world where this technology is fully developed but fundamentally flawed, and a person discovers that flaw? Or is it about a technology that is genuinely beneficial to humanity, but because someone is abusing or exploiting it, it needs more control or vigilance?

Mostow: I'd say it's a third thing. The technology exists, it's great, everybody uses it, and there's a little problem off to the side that someone has developed this device that can use this technology to kill people and that's certainly not a good thing. But from the emotional character journey that Bruce's character goes through in the movie, it's more about a guy waking up and smelling the coffee and going, wait a second. I know we're all living like this and I know this is better for a million good reasons, but is this really the best way to live? And do I really want to live like this? I don't know. It's sort of asking those questions. [But] in a movie where the macguffin is something very gimmicky, like a time-travel movie or something, that could be a cool movie, but it's hard to relate to that macguffin because there's nothing in my own personal experience that has anything to do with time travel. But this is a movie where it's so metaphorical that it enables a different kind of vibe. Once you see the movie, I think it becomes clear; it's not a movie that says, gee, some day this technology will exist but we should be very afraid of it. it's a movie where it's talking about the here and now through this macguffin and what exactly happens with surrogates is actually less important than what it refers to in our current existence.

Cinematical: How do you decide which movies you prefer to produce instead of direct, and how are those producorial efforts a creative stopgap between your directorial efforts?

Mostow: Most of the things I've had a producorial involvement on began as things I was going to direct or I set out to direct my self and realized either I don't have the fire in my belly to do it, or I don't feel like I've licked the story enough. It takes such a commitment of passion and energy and time and it's all so encompassing to direct that you've got to see the bullseye and you know you can hit it, or at least get awfully close. When you're not quite sure how you're going to get to the bullseye, for me I feel that's when it's time to sort of step aside and go, you know what? I'm going to let someone else do it. There's movies where the schedule just didn't permit me to do it so I segued over into a producing thing, but I don't have anything I can think of where I produced it where I didn't at least start out thinking in wanted to direct it.

Cinematical: You've been attached to Sub-Mariner and Escape From New York. Are you planning to direct either, or both?

Mostow: Escape From New York is just a rewrite I did for New Line a couple of years ago and I was sort of briefly attached to direct, and then New Line got folded into Warner Brothers so it's sort of under a whole different thing so I don't see myself doing that. Sub-Mariner is something that I am developing, but again that's one of those superhero movies you have to get exactly right, and if you don't then you shouldn't make them. That's one that's sort of in there. I don't develop a whole bunch of stuff and unfortunately the internet tends to aggregate and accumulate old projects. I used to have a company at Universal and we had like 40 projects in development, very few of which I had an involvement in in any capacity. It's one of those things where it's like, don't believe everything you read on the internet - except your site, of course.

Will You Buy 'The Ultimate Cut' of 'Watchmen'?

Sci-Fi Squad Staff — 2009-09-24T08:45:00+00:00

(Looks like Warner Bros. is triple dipping when it comes to Watchmen, which was a move we all expected when you take into account all the little tidbits Zack Snyder threw in there -- but with all three DVDs arriving in stores so close together, will fans just get irritated and stay away? Has there been enough breathing room between DVD cuts? Here's Elisabeth Rappe reporting for Cinematical.)

As we know and lament often, studios are never content to release a DVD just once, and any special edition is just a precursor to a bigger and better version somewhere down the road. Just a few months after we enjoyed Watchmen: The Director's Cut comes Watchmen: The Ultimate Cut, which hits store shelves on November 3. As you can guess from the cover art, this is the edition that will splice The Tales of the Black Freighter back into Watchmen, extending the movie's running time by another half hour or more.

Presumably, the footage with the newsstand vendor and the kid reading the comic will also be added in to help it flow better, but the official press release doesn't actually mention that. Other than the Black Freighter, the special features are just one big grab bag of what already appeared on the Director's Cut and Tales of the Black Freighter DVDs. (For reasons of space and word count, I've included the bullet list below the jump. Compare at your leisure.) It should also be noted that back in July, Zack Snyder stressed the Director's Cut was his preferred cut, and seemed to dismiss the Ultimate Edition as an excessive re-release.

I'm tempted to buy this one just so I can hang out with the newsstand vendor, and watch Black Freighter without having to swap discs. But I know that when I really want to kick back for a Watchmen viewing, I'll just put in the Director's Cut. That version of the film was good enough for me, and if I really want the ultimate fan experience, I'll just read the book again. What about you guys? Will you race to the stores and buy this triple dip? Did you hold off buying it, knowing this version would hit at Christmas? Or are you one of the Watchmen movie haters who doesn't want any version but the paper one by Alan Moore?

Check out the DVD specs over on Cinematical

The 11 Greatest Comic Book Robots

Sci-Fi Squad Staff — 2009-09-23T12:32:00+00:00

(Everyone loves a comic book robot, but not everyone can shovel out a list of the 11 greatest comic book robots of all time. Here's Chris Sims reporting for our sister site Comics Alliance)

Robots! Along with Ninjas and Gorillas, they complete the Holy Trinity of character types that make comics more awesome by virtue of their very presence, even if some of them -- like Red Tornado, seen at left fighting crime by employing Hostess cupcakes -- are so terrible that they can star in stories where they punch out Hitler and still complain all the time about how they'll never understand what it's like to be human.

But we love 'em, which is why when ComicsAlliance sat down to list our favorites, which--considering that the Doom Patrol's Robotman, Invincible's Robot, and Jack Staff's Tom Tom the Robot Man aren't really robots at all--we found it was a little trickier than it might sound. So we turned as always to contributor Chris Sims to crank up the Daft Punk and give us a gallery of the Eleven Greatest Robots in Comics!

1. ATOMIC ROBO

Built by Nikolai Tesla in 1923, the title character of Brian Clevinger and Scott Wegener's Atomic Robo has learned a lot in 83 years of action that included service in World War 2, team-ups with Charles Fort, H.P. Lovecraft and Carl Sagan, a long-standing feud with Professor Stephen Hawking, and leading the Action Scientists of Tesladyne. Namely, he's learned that talking dinosaurs are not to be trusted, it's always safe to assume that mummies are involved in pyramid related troubles, and that there's no problem so scientifically complex that it can't be solved with the liberal application of a Lightning Gun.

Check out the rest over at Comics Alliance

Will Stephenie Meyer's 'The Host' Be As Popular As Her 'Twilight Saga'?

Sci-Fi Squad Staff — 2009-09-23T12:15:00+00:00

By Monika Bartyzel

Did you even know that Stephenie Meyer has another series that does not deal with sparkly vampires? It's called The Host, and sadly no, it's not about large, killer tadpoles that have to be brought down by a weird and dysfunctional family. Instead, it's about an alien race whose souls have taken over the planet, inserting themselves into their human hosts by erasing their minds and taking over. But there's a girl named Melanie Stryder who is not so willing to let the aliens take over her mind, and this Wanderer starts feeling what Melanie does, and wants "to locate the last pocket of surviving humans on Earth." Oh yeah -- and it's an adult novel.

Variety reports that producers Nick Wechsler, plus Steve and Paula Mae Schwartz, ponied up their own money to grab the screen rights to Meyer's novel, and have tapped Andrew Niccol (Gattaca, The Truman Show) to write the script and direct the feature. Turns out, Meyer had been refusing bids for The Host, but was charmed by "a significant offer, a strong vision for the project, and a collaborative spirit." It helped that Niccol was involved. It seems two of her top 5 sci-fi films are Truman and Gattaca.

Read the rest over at Cinematical

What if Nicolas Cage Became Superman?

Sci-Fi Squad Staff — 2009-09-22T09:02:00+00:00

(Apparently a screen test shot dating back to that failed Superman project starring Nicolas Cage has arrived online, and we think we speak for all of you when we thank the heavens that this thing never made it out alive. Here's Monika Bartyzel reporting for Cinematical.)

I was always intrigued by the notion of Nicolas Cage as Superman. It seemed insane, but possibly brilliant, especially in a time before the craptastic fare that Cage has busied himself with recently. But man, if the above image is legit, we dodged the biggest bullet ever. Tim Burton JP revealed the above stunner, which is supposed to be one of Cage's costume tests for the production. It looks one teeny tiny degree away from rubber nipples. So much for my visions of Cage in stretchy cotton!

As IGN outlined, the Warner Bros. production of Superman Lives was gearing up back in the late '90s, with Cage playing Supes, and Tim Burton directing from a screenplay by Kevin Smith (that was rewritten by Wesley Strick). But the budget was expanding out of control, and after concept art and costumes were designed, the project was scrapped (Hallelujah!) and ultimately reworked into the less-than-stellar Superman Returns many years later.

I love The Burton, but he really would've rivaled Joel Schumacher for ridiculous superhero costumes if this made it to the big screen. Could this possibly be real? Could you have stomached Superman donning a cape and faux-muscled body suit?

Clint Eastwood Goes Supernatural with 'Hereafter'

Sci-Fi Squad Staff — 2009-09-18T12:45:00+00:00

By: Elisabeth Rappe - originally posted on Cinematical

Once Clint Eastwood casts you in a movie, you're his friend for life and you'll probably enjoy a steady supply of work until the terrible day he decides to retire. (If I was a young actor at Warner Bros, I would just happen to walk by his office with bagels and coffee, just in case he was hungry and casting.) Thus, it's almost no surprise that Eastwood's next film will share the same leading man as his last. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Matt Damon, soon to be seen in Eastwood's Invictus, will take the lead in Hereafter.

The plot of Hereafter is being kept under tight, tight wraps. All anyone knows about it is that it boasts a script by Peter Morgan and is "a supernatural thriller in the vein of The Sixth Sense." (Movieline, though, snagged a copy of the script and offered up some more details, including the following: "After two tense set pieces that leave its main characters changed forever, the film becomes a quiet drama about three people trying to figure out what, if anything, exists after death." Oh, and Matt Damon sees dead people.)

It's also being executive produced by DreamWorks and Steven Spielberg. They were the original owners of Morgan's spec script, but happily handed it to over to Eastwood and Warner Bros, with Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy staying on as executive producers. It'll be the fourth film Spielberg and Eastwood shared producing credits on. (The others are The Bridges of Madison County, Flags of Our Fathers, and Letters from Iwo Jima. You might need that for a trivia contest someday.)

Hereafter will be the first time Eastwood has made a supernatural thriller (unless you count High Plains Drifter) (or The Beguiled -- SW). As an unabashed Eastwood fangirl, I'm happy whenever I hear he's prepping something new, but to have him venture into the world of the weird? I'm beyond excited. Filming begins this fall, and knowing Eastwood's quick turnaround, he won't keep us waiting too long for the finished product.

J.J. Abrams Talks 'Star Trek' Sequel

Sci-Fi Squad Staff — 2009-09-17T12:02:00+00:00

(J.J. Abrams is beginning to talk more about the obligatory Star Trek sequel and how it needs to be relevant. Some fans are afraid that means it will be dated. Here's Elisabeth Rappe reporting for Cinematical)

Whenever J.J. Abrams, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman are pinned down, the talk inevitabley turns to the Star Trek sequel. They're only just beginning to toss around story ideas, but Hero Complex managed to pry a little more news out of Abrams & Crew, who hinted that Trek might start tackling contemporary issues.

"In many ways a sequel will have a very different mission. It needs to do what [Gene] Roddenberry did so well, which is allegory," says Abrams. "It needs to tell a story that has connection to what is familiar and what is relevant. It also needs to tell it in a spectacular way that hides the machinery and in a primarily entertaining and hopefully moving story. There needs to be relevance, yes, and that doesn't mean it should be pretentious."

Orci echoed Abrams, noting that it had been one of the biggest criticisms of the new Trek. "One of the things we heard was, 'Make sure the next one deals with modern-day issues.' We're trying to keep it as up-to-date and as reflective of what's going on today as possible. So that's one thing, to make it reflect the things that we are all dealing with today." When asked if "modern day issues" meant war, terrorism, and torture, Orci agreed that was "an approach" they were taking.

Read the rest at Cinematical

Interview: Megatron (Technically, Frank Welker)

Sci-Fi Squad Staff — 2009-09-15T18:02:00+00:00

By: Todd Gilchrist

Like Peter Cullen, the actor who provides the voice for his on screen adversary, Optimus Prime, Frank Welker is a bona fide icon of the voice recording world. Not just because he has more than four decades of work and 600 individual credits to his name. Not just because yes, he provided the voice for Megatron, one of the most famous villains in cartoon history. Rather, it's because people know and identify him just from his voice, which may run contrary to the idea of actors disappearing into their roles, but it demonstrates that what he does is so distinctive and special it transcends the limitations of the medium.

SciFi Squad recently caught up with Welker via email to discuss his illustrious history in voice recording, in conjunction with Shout! Factory's Sept. 15 DVD release of Transformers Season Two, Volume One. In addition to talking about bringing Megatron to life, he talks about the technical and creative challenges of voice work, and reflects on a few of the roles that linger in the memories of movie and TV fans long after the characters left the screen.

SciFi Squad: I'll start with the obvious first: How did you get into voice acting, and by the time you performed on Transformers, was your work as Megatron initially just another job or was the process of getting the role distinctive in your career?

Frank Welker: Well, to your first question, I was doing standup comedy in a club in Los Angeles when this fellow and his girlfriend walked in and sat down in the middle of my dog and cat fight. Based on my performance of barking and growling and hissing, he cast me in a Friskies dog food commercial and his lady friend cast me in Scooby Doo! Now that is being in the right place at the right time.

As for Transformers, yes at the time it was just a job - a really fun job because of the cast, but honestly none of us knew much about Transformers and how popular this show would become. I remember what a surprise it was when someone called and invited me to a Botcon. A what? I had never heard that term before. It has been a fun awakening and my thanks go out to the fans for their support, education and for not forgetting us!

SciFi Squad: How much of the character's persona was defined in the script and how much did you develop? Or, was there anything that you specifically came up with that eventually became a trademark of the character?

Welker: That is a great question but I have to give you a weak answer. Not much, most of what we did was written. Of course, the voice and overacting I can claim as my own.

SciFi Squad: We always hear how isolated the process is or can be for voice actors. At this point is that something you are comfortable with, or does it help you focus on the character in a different way?

Welker: Another great question and hopefully a better answer. I have worked alone and with a cast and enjoy the process both ways. There is more back and forth with a full cast and you can feed off the other actors' performance. Peter Cullen and I loved to do this with Megatron and Optimus Prime. But there is also something compelling about having a sound stage to yourself, and being able to concentrate completely on your own lines and characters. I guess finally it depends on the project and the director.

SciFi Squad: You have enjoyed a longtime collaboration with other iconic Transformers voice actors like Peter Cullen and Chris Latta, at least on screen. How much time did or have you had to build the chemistry your respective characters enjoy on screen?

Welker: I had the pleasure of working with Peter Cullen on many projects before the Transformers and I can say we were good friends and had a strong mutual respect. Chris was new to me but I had seen him around town at comedy clubs. I did not know him well. Our working relationship was great; he was an intense fellow who gave it 100 + and his fire was contagious.

SciFi Squad: How were you approached about providing voices in Revenge of the Fallen, and were you eager or reluctant to relinquish Megatron's voice to Hugo Weaving?

Welker: I was asked to audition for Soundwave, which I was happy to do. Unfortunately, I was unable to audition for Megatron in the first feature due to conflicts in schedules. Of course I would have loved to continue on the long rivalry between Peter Cullen's Prime and my Megatron, but it wasn't to be. Hugo Weaving is a very good and creative actor - whatever he does is interesting. I think with a franchise like Transformers there are changes and iterations but ultimately the fans will choose what they like.

Recently, my friend Corey Burton did a Megatron for the newest TV version of Transformers (neither Peter nor I were asked to reprise our roles) I didn't see the show but I know it is no longer on the air. I have done the voice again in "Transformers The Game" one and two and it was great fun. Also, a prequel for the first film (a bonus in certain stores) on DVD, and Family Guy and Robot Chicken which also were a hoot! So I feel like a lot of the fans see me as the leader of the Decepticons, for which I am very grateful.

SciFi Squad: You've obviously provided voices for Transformers characters over the years, but how if at all was it different to provide them for these CGI iterations as opposed to their cartoon incarnations?

Welker: I think it is much more difficult for the CGI bots. They have less facial expression and are much bigger in size. When we did the animation, the artists had to draw to our recorded tracks. In the CGI versions we had to voice to completed actions or anticipated actions and that tends to lock you in to what is on screen.

SciFi Squad: What sort of direction were you given by Michael Bay for your characters, be it in the recording booth or simply reconceiving the characters for a live-action setting?

Welker: I think Michael was happy with Soundwave and just wanted him to be a little more edgy. We really didn't fiddle with it much. I know some fans were disappointed that the sound effect from the original show was not evident. I have not seen the film nor have I talked with anybody at the studio, but from what I have read Michael was concerned that the audience understand Soundwave's voice and his exposition and the effect may have interfered.

SciFi Squad: Soundwave was always my favorite Transformer. What for you was the essence of his personality, or what was the best way to sort of get into character given the voice modulation, his sort of monotone delivery, and the fact that he had his "cassette army" to command? Was any of that different now that he's a satellite in the film?

Welker: Hey, thanks Todd. You know it is such a fun voice to do. I liked the fact that I didn't have to yell. With Megatron, I was always screaming, but with Soundwave I could make his presence felt with sheer sound. It is a trick voice and the less you push it the better it sounds. There is mic technique but you are right it is pretty much just monotone and that was a challenge to give him dynamics and yet keep him on one level. I think the sound effects that Scott Brownlie of the animation version did with the harmonizer were very cool. Also, having my cassette army helped, Lazerbeak, etc., as you stated all helped. In the feature, I kind of liked the idea of that voice coming from the depths of space but again I have not seen the film.

SciFi Squad: As a voice performer are you afforded a lot of opportunities to improvise? Either on the original series or in the new movie, was there an instance of a memorable improvisation that you're happy ended up on screen? [Also,] your earliest credits include more on-screen work. Is that something you enjoy or want to do as much, or are you completely satisfied by voiceover work?

Welker: I just finished working on camera in Steven Soderbergh The Informant. This is my first on-camera appearance in a very long time. I have a very small part playing Matt Damon's dad. Candy Clark plays my wife Damon's mother. We have our scene together in front of the house where she is pruning roses. I get a telephone call from a reporter and I come out of the house to have her take the call and ask her to come into the house. I started ad libbing each time she came to the house, a different ad lib each take - "Are you pruning or planting?" or "Kinda hot out there?" or "Would you like a glass of water?" Just stuff to keep the scene rolling along. It felt natural as opposed to just standing there at the door. The first couple of times she looked shocked that I was saying things that weren't in the script. I found out later that she went to the director and said, "Frank keeps saying things that aren't in the script, what should I do?" Steven said, "Answer him!" All of the sudden Candy answers me and ad libs her own lines and I was completely speechless. She got me good! She is a very good actor and a great sport, I really enjoyed working with Soderbergh and Ms. Clark. Oh, and I think our ad libs exceeded our scripted dialog!!

SciFi Squad: What's coming up next for you? How is your work on Futurama coming?

Welker: I am happy to say we are starting a new season of Scooby Doo. Also, another live action Scooby movie will be out in September. Futurama starts a new season this week and Garfield the Cat just got picked up for a bunch of shows for the Cartoon Network. Looks like Scooby snacks and Kibble ahead!!!

SciFi Squad: Maybe it's a dumb question, but to folks unfamiliar with the process technically or creatively, is all voiceover work the same? Are there different challenges or levels of artistic investment?

Welker: Not dumb at all, voice work is widely different and I think that is why it is so appealing. [For] example, announcing is a specialty; you need good pipes and usually on the deeper side. Guys, like my buddies Greg Berger and Peter Cullen are very good at this because they are good actors and very good readers and superb voices. I wish I could do it but my natural voice is a little too close to Freddie Jones from the Scooby Doo gang. Then there is looping. This I do well and I don't really know why. I have this peculiar ability to be able to anticipate mouth movements on screen and fill them with words or sound. Let me back up just bit in case the readers are unfamiliar with "looping." "Looping" is when an actor goes into a sound stage and puts vocals to an existing picture. For example, in Rescuers Down Under I played the part of George C Scott's partner in crime, which was this little lizard creature, Joanna. We actually did readings to drawings over about a two the three year period and the artists would draw to our sound tracks. Towards the very end of production, the actors would go back in and loop extra scenes or changes or entire new characters [or] things that you haven't seen before. You voice it on the fly [and] it is great fun. During this picture, George was not feeling well and the sound engineer knew I did impressions in my act. I actually got to help out and some looping for George.

There are live reads which actually terrify me. I have done them and had to give my clothes away afterwards. I will give you a great example of this: my friend and bodyguard Kevin Richardson did the Academy Awards live. They would come to him sitting at a table and he would be reading the script; it was live and he was on and off camera reading French and German names and Foreign films. He was brilliant, I might add. You would have to put a howitzer to my head to make me do that; actually, I still wouldn't do it I would just say, "pull the trigger!"

SciFi Squad: Is there anything that you are proud of or especially happy with that hasn't yet come to DVD or Blu-ray? Or just something you think should be resuscitated?

Welker: You know I have been so lucky to work consistently for over forty years I would have to think about all those years worth of shows. Some I have special fondness towards for different reasons. Now you given me a question that is too tough to answer!!!

SciFi Squad: Is there any chance we'll ever see Spiral Zone, Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends, or Pryde of the X-Men, three of my childhood favorites, on DVD or Blu-ray? Or are there any other shows that you know might be released on DVD any time soon, or for which you participated in interviews or bonus materials?

Welker: Wow, I had completely forgotten about Spiral Zone. I did a lot of voices on that show and anther great cast of friends Neil Ross, the irrepressible Mike Bell and many others. I would love to see these shows on DVD. Maybe the folks at Shout! would consider them.

Thanks Todd for spending much of your youth watching our shows. Apparently somewhere along the line you were studying your English and Journalism, because you asked some very good questions!

A Chat with 'Tron' Director & 'Tron: Legacy' Producer Steven Lisberger

Sci-Fi Squad Staff — 2009-09-15T09:20:00+00:00

By: Kevin Kelly

It will have been 28 years after the original Tron when Tron: Legacy arrives, but the nearly three-decade gap hasn't dulled Steven Lisberger's enthusiasm for the project. He wrote and directed the first movie, spending much of his own money in the development process, until he and his team finally found a studio to say yes. Even after that, it wasn't easy getting the movie made. People were skeptical about using computers to do special effects, and, in the end, Tron failed to win a special effects Oscar ... because the Academy said they "cheated" by using computers. Oh, the irony.

These days, Lisberger more closely resembles The Dude, Jeff Bridges' character in The Big Lebowski. He has long hair, a bushy goatee, and a very laid-back attitude about life. He doesn't give short, bite-sized, media-ready answers that the internet loves, but instead he takes the time to pause and give thoughtful answers to questions both simple and complicated. Read on after the break for the full interview, where he compares Tron: Legacy to the Wright brothers' flight attempts.

Cinematical: Did you think you would be back here talking about Tron this long after you made the original?

Steven Lisberger: It is an amazing journey. I will say that. 28 years. It is a good thing I was 29 years old when I made Tron. In a way, this is almost ... you couldn't write this scenario because you would be accused of: "Life doesn't work out this way." So it is sort of a fairytale. But when you think about it, this is what happens. The Wright brothers invented the airplane in 1903. But the same year the Pentagon tried to fly. And when they couldn't, they declared flight impossible. So they would never look at the Wright brother's plane. The Wright brothers couldn't get a patent because the government had declared flight impossible. And they sat on their airplane for six years. And then finally the French said, "Well if you have an airplane that can fly, come over here and show it to us."

And the Wright brothers actually flew for the first time in public in 1909 and sold their airplane to the French military. And it took all of that before the government of the United States said, "What? Well we have to have an airplane." So there is a history for this time lag that Tron has gone through. And it is great for me, though, to see people that were 10 when the movie came out say to me, "I saw it five times and it really changed me, and I love that film!" At the time I didn't spend a lot of time talking to 10 year olds, so I didn't know that was really happening. But I think this is what happens if things come true. As I said in there, so much of this has actually come true in such a major way. I mean when we made the first film, Bill Gates had just started Microsoft and Steven Jobs had just gotten graphic user interface. The mouse hadn't been invented yet.

There was no Internet and everybody was just wondering, "Are we going to be under the thumb of the mainframe for the rest of our lives?" That was just such an...there was just a sense that that was going to topple. It was in the air. It was part of the zeitgeist. And in a way, Bill Gates sort of is the Tron character who put his disk into the MCP, which was IBM, and rewrote the code and created the personal computer. All of a sudden the past really feels like the old days crossing the Rockies and going out West.

Read the rest over at Cinematical

Zoe Saldana Chats Up 'Star Trek' Sequel & 'Avatar'

Sci-Fi Squad Staff — 2009-09-14T09:02:00+00:00

By: Elisabeth Rappe

The lovely Zoe Saldana is quickly becoming a name to contend with after managing to land plum parts in not one, but two of the biggest sci-fi films of the decade: Star Trek and Avatar. One is a bonafide hit, the other remains shrouded in a lot of mystery, but it's a mark of Saldana's star power that she's making a name outside of their huge hype. Plus, she's becoming an action heroine in her own right, and just might be our generation's Sigourney Weaver or Linda Hamilton.

We had the chance to catch up with Saldana this week, and she was game to talk about both projects. Of course with the Star Trek sequel still in a misty writing stage, she didn't have any big secrets to spill, but she shared the opinion of a lot of female Trek fans in hoping Uhura gets to do a little butt-kicking later on. "In Star Trek, I had so much fun, but the boys got all the action! J.J. [Abrams] promised me that I'm going to -- [that] in the sequel, she will have at least one little fight. I mean, just [let me] kick a guy in the groin or something!" Laughing, she revealed that there was an enormous ongoing e-mail list among the cast, Abrams, and the Trek producers where they regularly chat and joke back and forth. From the sound of it, that's also where the groin-kicking requests are made.

Check out her thoughts on Avatar over on Cinematical

'The Road' Gets Another New Release Date

Sci-Fi Squad Staff — 2009-09-10T17:45:00+00:00

This post originally appeared on Cinematical.

By: Elisabeth Rappe

Days after Jessica Barnes compiled a nice fall schedule for you, the Weinsteins and Dimension Films had to go and mess it up a little. According to Variety, they've pushed the release date of The Road back from October 16 to November 25 -- almost a year to the day when it was supposed to come out in 2008.

The delay isn't because Dimension has lost faith in the film -- quite the contrary. The film is playing to rave reviews at Telluride (where our Eugene Novikov saw it and loved it) and Venice Film Festival, and the Weinsteins have realized they have an awards contender on their hands. "We've been getting great audience reaction at Venice and Telluride," Dimension topper Bob Weinstein said. "We feel that this is a commercial film that's worthy of a wide release." Considering Cormac McCarthy's book was a bestseller and won a Pulitzer, you'd think that might have tipped them off, but ah well. What's good about this decision is that it not only puts it into Golden Globe contention, it also promises a wide release. One of the big fears lurking around the film was that audiences wouldn't get it, and the film could vanish into limited release hell.

The Road will now be in direct competition with Nine, Old Dogs, and Ninja Assassin. Something tells me John Hillcoat's bleak adaptation won't top the holiday box office, but it'll make a far bigger impact. I've been saying since the first stills came out that this might be a role that nabs Viggo Mortensen an Oscar, and I'll stand by that.

'Chuck' Producer Brings Back The Sci-Fi Western

Sci-Fi Squad Staff — 2009-09-09T15:49:00+00:00

By: Jason Hughes

I know what you're thinking. Joss Whedon already did that with Firefly. But you see, Firefly was quite different than the western Chuck producer Scott Rosenbaum is developing. See, Firefly was a space-based science fiction with western elements. This project is a western with sci-fi elements.

I know what you're thinking. Michael Garrison already did that with The Wild Wild West. But you see-- I'm not going to do all that again. Actually, the description leaves things a little vague, so I've taken the liberty of filling in the blanks with only my sleep-deprived mind and a healthy dosage of Diet Dr. Pepper to guide me.

Read the rest over at TV Squad

Rambo to Fight Monster in Fifth Installment

Sci-Fi Squad Staff — 2009-09-08T12:15:00+00:00

By: Jenni Miller

Oh, that Sylvester Stallone. Rambo V has just been greenlit, and rumors have been bouncing around like decapitated heads about the storyline. Originally, Sly was said to be "fighting his way through human traffickers and drug lords to rescue a young girl abducted near the U.S.-Mexico border," according to Variety just over a week ago. (Hence the aliens. Get it?)

Well, Sly Stallone decided to go straight to Harry Knowles at Ain't It Cool News with the straight story -- in fact, he left the Head Geek a freaking voicemail, which you can listen to here. (Can you imagine waking up to a VM from him? Just sayin'.) The plot of Rambo V: The Savage Hunt, as CS points out, is very similar to a book that Sly owns the rights to: Hunter by James Byron Huggins, which seems quite popular with the author's fans over at Amazon. ("BIGFOOT ON STEROIDS WITH AN ATTITUDE TO MATCH" trumpets one review headline.) You can peep a hard-to-read scan of the plot summary at AICN, or give your eyes a break and read the official write-up courtesy of ComingSoon after the jump.

John Rambo could track anyone - or anything - on earth. Now the military desperately needs him for a mission that his ultrasensitive instincts tell him he should refuse. A beast is loose somewhere north of the Arctic Circle. It has already decimated a secret research facility and annihilated a squad of elite military guards. And the raging creature is headed south toward civilization, ready to wreak bloody devastation.
It's a job that Rambo and his 22-year-old hunting partner, Beau Brady, can't turn down, but they and a team of highly-skilled special forces kill team discover that the prey is a terror beyond their wildest imagination - a half-human abomination created by a renegade agency through a series of outlawed genetic experiments. It has man's cunning, a predator's savageness, and a prehistoric power that has transcended the ages. And even if Rambo and Beau survive its unrelenting hunger for human blood, they'll still have to confront the grim reality that it may have grown immortal.

IMDB, which has been known to be wrong before, has Mickey Rourke listed as a rumored costar, as well.

So, what say you? Have you had your fill of Rambo? Will this crazy DNA-tweaked monster give the original Predator a run for its money? Is the human trafficking theme exploited by action stories?

Fan-Made 'New Moon' Mazes Are Freaky

Sci-Fi Squad Staff — 2009-09-08T10:03:00+00:00

By: Monika Bartyzel (originally posted on Cinematical)

Forget about crop circles -- those are as passe as lame-o's hitting the dance floor to jive to the funky chicken. There's a new crop-destroyer to contend with, and it doesn't just plow down strange circles of land. It professes love for young, suddenly muscled studlets and sparkling boys with a taste for blood. In one of the strangest twists of fandom and movie marketing yet, New Moon has inspired a "Team Jacob" and "Team Jacob" proclamations in maize.

Black Island Farms in Utah has gotten into the Twilight craze by creating puntacular mazes in maize, where fans can stroll through the corn-filled faces of both Jacob and Edward. Vampires, werewolves, whatever floats your boat, they'll deliver! No surprise that it's in Stephenie Meyer's home state of Utah, and I imagine that as utterly over-the-top as this is, it'll probably do good business even if the patrons can't see that they're actually walking through the hotties' faces.

Go Team Crazy!

[via Just Jared]

'Cowboys & Aliens' Nabs Favreau and Downey Jr.

Sci-Fi Squad Staff — 2009-09-02T09:02:00+00:00

By: Elisabeth Rappe (originally posted on Cinematical)

I really believe this is the best geek news we'll have all month. Not only is Robert Downey Jr. officially on board Cowboys & Aliens, The Hollywood Reporter announced that he's bringing Jon Favreau along for the ride. Considering the graphic novel was penned by Iron Man screenwriters Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, it's literally a dream team come true.

As if it wasn't touched by the movie gods enough, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, they-who-can-write-no-failures, are penning the script, and producer Damon Lindelof came aboard last fall. There's no way this can fail. Even if the movie was one big trick, and simply 2 hours of Robert Downey Jr. in a cowboy hat reading a phone book, it would succeed. We would just call it arthouse, and praise them all for subverting our expectations!

But there's no danger of arthouse here, Cowboys & Aliens really does promise to be pure fun with this team. The story takes place in 1880s Arizona, where a war is raging between settlers and Native Americans. Their war is interrupted by the arrival of a UFO, which promptly unleashes hell onto the plains of Silver City. The Native Americans and settlers must unite to fight a larger threat, and are led to battle by Zeke Jackson (Downey), a gunslinger and former member of the Union Army. You can read the entire graphic novel online, which should keep you satisfied until Cowboys & Aliens hits theaters in the summer of 2011.

Role Play with 'True Blood' in Twitterfic Theater

Sci-Fi Squad Staff — 2009-09-01T10:03:00+00:00

With True Blood continuing to gain steam throughout season two (ok, a few folks weren't that crazy about this week's "Frenzy," but I continue to love the show), it's only natural that fans would take over the characters and create their own reality. And because everything happens on Twitter these days, that's where True Blood TwitterFic Theater is taking place.

Find out how Eric really feels about Sookie, what goes on in Sam's head, and how Tara is coping with Maryann's spells. Not only that; TwitterFic Theater goes beyond mere characters. Some fans are even happy to be inanimate objects in the show, like Hoyt's cell phone and Bill's robe.

My colleague Alison over at b5media (I blog at FilmGecko.com) put together a really nice package about TwitterFic Theater, complete with interviews with the characters. Check it out on Screamstress.com.

Read the rest over at TV Squad