New X-Men 3: The Last Stand Clip

If you haven't seen the new clip from X-men 3: The Last Stand that is floating around the internet, HERE it is.

It's from Hugh Jackmans appearance on Leno last week. Colossus throwing Wolverine is a classic X-men move from the comic. I have to say that I am getting excited despite the bad dialogue between Wolverine and Storm.

BattleStar Galactica Spin-off

Yesterday, Scifi Channel announced the intriguing, wonderful, and a little scary news that they are making a spin-off series from Battlestar Galactica that will

take place more than half a century before the events that play out in Battlestar Galactica.

Called Capricia, it follows

the lives of two families, the Graystones and the Adamas (the family of William Adama, who will one day become the commander of the Battlestar Galactica)

The main focus of the series will be the creation of the Cylons, but it will also

weave together corporate intrigue, techno-action and sexual politics into television's first science fiction family saga, the channel announced.

That is where it gets a little scary. Unlike, Star Gate: Atlantis, the ties to the original are sparse at best, with no (at least named) movement of characters or possible crossover. When they call it a family saga they make it sound like it's a sci fi Dallas or something. Lost in Space was a family saga, but the campy comedy must disqualify it.

I am mixed on this one, but I bet Sci Fi pulls it off.

Will Smith in I am Legend

Will Smith is back in the role of the last man on Earth. If anyone remembers, he and Micheal Bay were in talks to do it back in 2002.

I think Smith will do wonderful in a new adaptation Richard Matheson's classic SF novel. I have the guilty pleasure of loving Will Smith movies. Especially the ones that everyone else frowns on (Wild Wild West).

I have never read Matheson, but I have seen both of the movies that have come before, Price's The Last Man on Earth and Heston's Omega Man. I liked them both.

A look over at IMDB shows that Matheson has a few movies based on his work coming out in the next year and a look at Amazon shows that he's written more than a few that have been made into movies. What have I been missing here? Anyone read his stuff?

Read more about the movie at Sci Fi Wire

The Omen Trailer

One of the reasons I love horror movies is because I am such a huge wuss and I get scared easily. So, when I saw that picture of Julia Stiles looking at a freaky demon in the mirror I shuddered. I had to see the trailer.

The trailer itself (besides the scene where the picture came from) didn't scare me much, but it did intrigue me. Maybe this will be better than a hokey remake.

The whole premise of The Omen is a little dumb in my book. Don't get me wrong, I am not usually bothered by people taking religious themes and using it as myth for their own purposes. I love Gaiman and Carey's Lucifer, I also liked The Exorcism of Emily Rose and I am excited about An American Haunting, but the whole child of Satan thing has been done to death.

I was scared by the demon looking thing though. It reminded me of those creatures from The Village. Those were the scariest monsters I have seen in a long time. And, I do love that it is coming out on 06.06.06. I heard that some death metal albums were going to be realesed that day as well.

Star Wars 3-D

Film Junk is discussing how George Lucasfer's new idea to bring the original trilogy back into theatres in 3-D is a very bad one. I have to agree. Is there no one around this guy with the guts to tell him when he is screwing up or are they all just out for the money he makes?

J.J. Abrams to helm 11th Star Trek film

According to Variety,

Paramount is breathing life into its "Star Trek" franchise by setting "Mission: Impossible III" helmer J.J. Abrams to produce and direct the 11th "Trek" feature, aiming for a 2008 release.

Even better news for Trek fans, the film will center on the early days of Kirk and Spock's friendship. I have to think that Abrams and his writing team can breathe new life into this franchise.

All I want to see is a young Scotty! He has to be in there somewhere!

Robin Williams as the Joker

According to The Movie Blog,

in a recent interview, Robin Williams said he would love to work with Chris Nolan (Batman Begins Director and he worked with Williams on Insomnia) again. He also directly said he would love to play the Joker. His exact words were "Oh God Yeah!".

Please, God, NO!

Sure he can play a psycho, Insomnia and One Hour Photo proved that, the problem is they were both Robin Williams playing a psycho. Like so many comedian actors, he rarely has the depth to make you forget he is Williams.

My vote for the Joker is Bruce Campbell. You might throw my argument about Williams back in my face, but one viewing of Bubba Ho-Tep would show you how well Campbell can slide into another persona when the part is right.

Plus, he has the chin!

Brian K Vaughan Interview

C.H.U.D also has a great interview with one of my favorite comic writers, Brian K. Vaughan. Vaughan writes the wonderful sci-fi book, Y The Last Man and the excellent, barely superhero, Ex-Machina.

In the interview Vaughan states that Y will only last till issue #60 and that Ex-Machina also has a difinate ending. He talks a little about both books being optioned for movies. He also talks a little about his new book, Pride of Baghdad

Check out the interview HERE.

MEG - Concept Art

Talk of making a movie from Steve Alten's Jurrasic shark book MEG has been floating around for a few years. Finally, C.H.U.D. has posted a concept pic from the movie Alten's website says the movie is slated for a 2007 release.

I read MEG a handfull of years ago. It was a step down from Benchly, but I have a soft spot in my heart for moster shark stories, so I loved it.

30 Days of Night almost ready to start filming

Director David Slade has told Zap2it that he is ready to start directing the film adaptation of Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith's 30 Days of Night in New Zealand this July.

This is great news. 30 Days was the most original and interesting horror comic and vampire plot that I have seen in forever. I was excited when Sam Rami's Ghost House Pictures picked up the movie rights. It has been slow going since then, but now it seems to finally be getting off the ground.

Slade also stated that he will try and be as thoughtful as he can to Templesmith's art style. If this is true, the movie will have a look that is completely original.

via Sci Fi Wire

Wonder Woman Rumors - Will they go the Superman route and hire a soap star?

Moviehole.net is reporting that Days of Our Lives actress Nadia Bjorlin is a rumored hopeful for the lead in Joss Whedon's Wonder Woman.

I vote no! I am sure that Whedon will be surfing over No Blasters and listen to my suggestion. Get someone new, but please not this woman. Without being down right mean, she is a little "strange looking." I thought it might be the air brushing, but I couldn't find a picture of her that didn't contain "facial anomalies."

ABC will show Lost (and 3 other primetime shows) for free on the internet.

Good news for all of us that can't catch Lost on Wedensday nights and don't want to pay the outragous fee to download it from I-tunes.

Disney has figured out that they can show television shows online with commercials for free making it more profitable than the audience just taking the torrent and not worrying about paying their outragous fee.

This is the way replaying shows on the interent should have been in the first place.

According to Yahoo News, four shows including Lost, Desperate Housewives, Commander in Chief, and the final season of Alias will be available sometime in May.

Screwtape reviews The Da Vinci Code

One of my favorite books of all time is The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis, so I couldn't pass up posting a link to this review of The Da Vinci Code written by Eric Metaxas in the character of Screwtape himself.

My favorite part of this spot-on characterization is when Screwtape talks about the gullibility of the humans and our useless knowledge,

Ask your average fellow in the street the slightest detail of a daft sitcom of forty years ago and he will move heaven and earth to to supply you with the answer, and then will likely prate on with other similarly inane details -- as if knowing who lived at 1313 Mockingbird Lane was his very passport to the Elysian Fields. Ha! But ask him to tell you about the Nicean Council, or ask him what are the Synoptic Gospels and you will suddenly find yourself in the presence of a weatherbeaten cigar store Injun! But then go ahead and ask him who played drums for The Monkees, or the name of that blasted itinerant peddlar on Green Acres and you will think yourself in the presence of a very Voltaire! Our television executives Down Under have been awfully successful!

My favorite, of course, because that is the way I feel on a daily basis. My useless knowledge outweighs my real knowledge 10 to 1.

Check out the full letter at Church of the Masses.

Via Looking Closer Journal.

Bubba Nosferatu is gearing up to Take Care of Business!

Sci Fi Wire is reporting that the prequel to the wonderful Bruce Campbell as Elvis horror/comedy Bubba Ho-tep is back on track.

"The project has a life of its own," said Coscarelli, who is working on the script in collaboration with writer Joe R. Lansdale, who came up with the original short story. "People seem to want it. We just have to get it finished. The whole idea of Bubba Nosferatu was a joke." The end of Bubba Ho-tep promised a sequel: Bubba Nosferatu: The Curse of the She-Vampire, starring Sebastian Haff, the fictional Elvis impersonator who supposedly switched places with the real Elvis and then wouldn't switch back.

If you haven't seen the original, it is well worth seeing. Bruce Campbell is hilarious as Elvis and Ossie Davis was wonderful in his role also.

Read more at Sci Fi Wire.

Battlestar Galactica: Beyond the Red Line

All I can say about this MOD (modification) for Freespace 2 is that it looks amazing and there is no scheduled release date. But, over in their forums they have posted a trailer and some video that you have to see. This is going to be one heck of a space shooter!

Check the video out HERE

Pre-Order Slam Bang Vol III #1

Slam Bang comics Vol. III issue one contains two comics by art guru Ben Ferarri and me (your local blogger). Both are filled with the rough and tough tales of our Sleepbringer! It is also stuffed with 200 pages of independent comic talent. Here's a small blurb about the book :

(TWO COVERS) Slam Bang #1, vol III, is a digest, square bound book with color covers and will be printed by Dream Weaver Press. Front cover by Charlene Chua, and the back cover is also a cover, by Christina Wald! For a complete list of contributors click HERE!

WithPayPal $10.00+ $2.50 shipping. Or mail check or money order made out toAllen Freeman to: Fan-Atic Press, 3106 Dade Cv, Owensboro, KY 42303

If the button doesn't work for you try HERE

Buy one for yourself and one to send to a friend in need a good read!

Book Review - Stephen King's Cell

There is going to be moment while reading Stephen King's new novel, Cell where your cell phone is going to ring. This will be the moment of decision. Do you risk it? Pick it up and take the chance that the zombie making Pulse will hit your brain, or do you pitch the small devise across the room.

King revisits familiar territory in his new novel, apocalypse: A topic that he addressed in his Gunslinger series, The Stand, and some other works. Yet, King induces Cell with enough cynicism about our technology obsessed culture that this work stands out from the rest. It makes the reader look warily and fearfully at modern life's little conveniences.

The hero of the novel, Clayton Riddell, a comic book creator who wants nothing more than to celebrate the best day of his career with an ice cream cone when the world is thrown into turmoil by a pulse that turns every one listening into a raving lunatic.

If the story stopped there, Cell would be nothing more than an inventive Zombie story, but King, a master at taking the tropes of horror and turning them on their head, takes us into the new territory. Riddell must get home to Maine and his son, he meets people on the way, some good, some bad, but it is fully his journey. He also notices that the zombies who were mindless and violent right after the pulse are changing, evolving into something new, something more terrifying than the shambling hordes of Romero's Night of the Living Dead or the running rage freaks of Boyle's 28 Day's Later.

I loved every page of the novel. A long time Stephen King fan (my favorite is Desperation), I went in expecting the story to grip me by the throat and it did. King has always been good at fleshing out characters with a few words or deeds, but with Cell he shows the best and worst that humanity has to offer.

Read an Excerpt HERE.

My name is Inigo Montoya...

... and you can watch me on special DVD editions of the Princess Bride.

Do you want the girl version or the boy version?

via Looking Closer Journal.

Science fiction writers and Christianity

Elliot from Claw of the Conciliator is blogging about Faith and Science Fiction.

At some point after that I started to become curious about which other sf & fantasy authors had religious commitments or dealt with religious themes. I discovered that a number of widely acclaimed writers had such commitments and/or seriously tackled religious questions.

I also became aware of a disconnect: Many famous science fiction writers were atheists and agnostics, and so were many fans. The sf culture, particularly, often did not take religious beliefs very seriously, and sometimes held them in contempt. At the same time, authors who were clearly religious or at least sympathetic to religious concerns were very popular, and they seemed to get along well with their colleagues. But I noticed that many non-religious fans seemed somewhat baffled or dismissive of the religious themes in their work. I also noticed that there wasn't much knowledge of these authors (aside from Lewis and Tolkien) among reading Christians. Sometimes this was the result of literary snobbery, and at other times simply sprang from preconceptions about fantasy and science fiction.

He brings up some interesting commentary on the history of Christian writers of science fiction, as well as authors of today.

My only beef with him is that he calls Orson Scott Card a non-Christian. Orson Scott Card has been very good to Catholics in his works. Too bad Catholics can't consider him a brother in Christ. /end snark

Anyway, part 1 is here.

H/T Julie.

Mike Carey interview at Alien Online

Mike Carey, the amazing writer of the olny comic I buy monthly, Lucifer (yeah, that Lucifer--The one that Neil Gaiman introduced to us in Sandman) has written his first novel, The Devil You Know.

It sounds like a nice romp;

Felix Castor is a freelance exorcist, and London is his stamping ground. At a time when the supernatural world of the dead and departed is in upheaval and spilling over into the mundane reality of the living, his skills have never been more in demand. A good exorcist can charge what he likes but there's a risk; sooner or later he's going to take on a spirit that's too strong for him to take down easily…

There is a nice inerview with him up over at Alien Online. He talks about the book, writing, and the influence of Buffy the Vampire Slayer on current horror stories.

I thought what he had to say about Buffy was interesting:

Well the importance of Buffy as a paradigm-shifting event is colossal, and I think it's playing a part in almost all that's going on in the horror / fantasy genre at the moment, in more or less every expressive medium. And actually its influence goes even wider than that, because the whole ensemble cast formula has now become a default for new TV drama, where a little while ago it was consciously avoided.

Check out the full interview HERE.

Wookieepedia - The Star Wars encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

If you have a billion hours on your hands or just have a quick question that none of your sci-fi buff friends can't answer then Wookieepedia, the Star Wars encyclopedia that anyone can edit. If you are an uberfan, you can jump on and make a few entries yourself.

I wish they would have had this up back in my Star Wars the Role Playing Game days. It would have helped a GM out. I should go on and add my old character, Reignchilde. She was always working behind the scenes making sure the Empire was heading for a fall.

Garth Brooks to make Firefly themed record.

Accrding to, Sci Fi Wire the country hit maker Garth Brooks is ready and willing to make a Firefly themed album called You Can't Take my Show from me: Songs from and Inspired by Joss Whedon's Firefly.

Brooks is a huge fan of the show stating:

I am a fan of Westerns. I love Walker, Texas Ranger and Deadwood. When I saw Firefly I was flabbergasted. Why was such a great show cancelled? I could only think of one thing to do. Turn the millions of Garth Brook's fans onto Firefly with a concept album.

Read the rest of the story HERE.