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13 articles
The End of Time Part 2: A fitting farewell for David Tennant?
14 hours ago
Tonight's concluding part of Doctor Who's two-parter The End of Time saw in the new year with the departure of David Tennant.
After a rather mixed first instalment - involving a silly plan by the resurrected Master - it was time for goodbye and Matt Smith emerged from the regeneration process ready for the next series in the spring.
So, what did you think? Did the episode work? Was it a good send-off for Tennant's Time Lord?
If you haven't yet seen the episode, there are Spoilers Ahead...
Thankfully, this second part corrected some of the weaker parts of the first instalment, with Timothy Dalton's Time Lord president zapping away the Master race subplot (which brought us John Simm in a skirt) with a supercharged gauntlet. Meanwhile Bernard Cribbins, whose performance was one of the strengths of the earlier episode, got a greater role in the story.
There »
- David Bentley
Kevin Feige talks Thor and a decade of Marvel, Jeremy Renner talks Hawkeye
18 hours ago
With the decade at an end, many have been taking the chance to look back on what it brought and forward to what the next one promises, including Marvel Studios president of production Kevin Feige.
In an interview on Marvel's website, Feige (pictured above) reflects on the various movie adaptations, including X-Men and Spider-Man.
Interestingly, he acknowledges that: "Spider-Man 3 and X-Men: The Last Stand were the most successful of their franchises and that says a lot about the loyalty of the fans. They were challenging films to make. Spider-Man 3 got to be too much of a good thing. With those films we learned that bigger is not always better."
Bryan Singer is now back on the X-Men franchise and Sam Raimi has vowed to get back to basics on Spider-Man 4, so it looks like the excesses will trimmed for future instalments.
And, looking to the future, Feige »
- David Bentley
Moon director says film denied chance of Oscar consideration
19 hours ago
Duncan Jones, director of sci-fi release Moon, claims his film has been denied the chance of an Academy Award by its distributor, Sony Pictures Classics.
Moon has not yet come out on DVD and Blu-ray in the USA (it's out on January 12) and, as a result, Sony is reluctant to send preview discs - so-called 'screeners' - to critics and Academy members.
The limited-release film only made $5million and the cost of watermarking the screeners to protect against piracy has been deemed too expensive.
Sending out preview discs is a key publicity strategy to ensure a movie has been seen by all those who have any say on the list of Oscar contenders, so Jones obviously isn't too pleased that his well-received debut feature could be ignored or forgotten.
He spoke on Twitter of his unhappiness that Sony had omitted Moon from the package of screeners it had sent out, »
- David Bentley
The best comic book film adaptations of the decade?
30 December 2009 3:18 PM, PST
The Process of turning comic books into movies has seen some hits, misses and very varied approaches over the years, with few films (or TV show interpretations) given a serious treatment in previous decades.
It's often said that the first Blade film, released in 1998 and based on Marvel's vampire title, paved the way for the current era of adaptations, although many mainstream viewers won't even realise that Blade is a comic book character.
It's more likely that the catalyst was Bryan Singer's first X-Men film in 2000 which was a major success. Whatever you might think of the movie and its changes from the source material, its combination of a heavyweight cast to broaden the marketability and a serious, respectful take on the comics to satisfy fans proved to be a win-win situation.
Since then there's been 10 years of releases, not all of them well-regarded or financially successful.
I recently »
- David Bentley
Stan Lee promises Doctor Strange, Black Panther and Ant-Man films
29 December 2009 4:40 PM, PST
Marvel's upcoming schedule of comic book movies includes Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America and then culminates in The Avengers in 2012. But what's after that?
There's been some talk of films that may follow. In March, Marvel announced it was planning to hire writers to work on film adaptations of lesser-known characters such as Black Panther, Cable, Doctor Strange, Iron Fist, Nighthawk and Vision.
Stan Lee, Marvel's former president and chairman, who turned 87 yesterday, has now chimed in with his own thoughts of what's coming next.
He told MTV: "The funny thing is, I think all of them will come to the screen sooner or later, because they're always looking for new properties, and Marvel has more than anybody.
"Doctor Strange I'm sure will be out. You probably know they're working on Ant-Man now."
In September, Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead filmmaker Edgar Wright confirmed he was still working on an Ant-Man movie, »
- David Bentley
Zoe Saldana says work on Star Trek 2 set to start in a year
29 December 2009 2:27 PM, PST
There's been talk of a sequel to this year's Star Trek since March, more than a month before the first film even came out.
Various story possibilities have been mentioned - including the return of Khan and integrating real-world themes into the plot - although director Jj Abrams has said his return for the next instalment is by no means certain.
Zoe Saldana, who played the new Uhura, has now said that she believes work on the next movie will begin in about a year's time.
Speaking to MTV, she said: "I spoke to Jj and Bryan Burk, his producing partner at Bad Robot, and they are still in the middle of building the script with [writers] Alex Kurtzman and Bob Orci, and we'll probably be going into pre-production around this time next year."
»
- David Bentley
Pan's Labyrinth is named film of the decade: Do you agree?
29 December 2009 11:48 AM, PST
It's not only nearly the end of the year but the end of a decade and, as a result, time to look back over the movies released during that period.
Over on Metacritic, a site that compiles reviews of films and other media, there is a list of the top releases of the decade, according to the scores of leading professional film critics.
The top overall movie was Guillermo del Toro's excellent fantasy horror film Pan's Labyrinth from 2006, which has an overall score of 98 out of 100. Made for $19million, it earned $83million worldwide which, although not the massive heights reached by Hollywood blockbusters, is definitely a success for a Spanish language project, especially since it was not on full release at all cinemas in the UK.
The rest of the top five consisted of 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (score: 97), Ratatouille (96), Spirited Away (94) and The Hurt Locker (94).
It's worth mentioning »
- David Bentley
James Cameron talks possible directions for Avatar sequels
29 December 2009 11:26 AM, PST
In an age of insatiable appetites for information and entertainment, there is already talk and speculation about sequels to James Cameron's new sci-fi adventure Avatar.
The next-level 3D motion-capture technology that took so long to develop will almost certainly be put to good use, whether on further Avatar instalments or on other films that would benefit from such digital magic.
While Avatar itself - see my review here - is fairly self-contained, I'm sure there are more stories that could be told and Cameron says he does indeed have a saga in mind.
Back in September, he indicated some possibilities for a follow-up, saying: "Here we are exploring the surface of the moon called Pandora. The interior remains to be seen."
At the London premiere, he said he had ideas for two more films, explaining: "It really makes sense to think of it as the potential start of a »
- David Bentley
Captain America 'to film in June' as we get closer to casting news
29 December 2009 5:42 AM, PST
I Previously revealed here on The Geek Files that the script for Captain America was done and filming would begin in summer 2010.
Director Joe Johnston is "readying for a June start", according to a new report on Fangoria.
We must now be getting closer to news on casting, with numerous rumours and suggestions, including a list of contenders here on The Geek Files.
Fans have come up with many names, recently including Ryan McPartlin (pictured below), who reportedly lost out on the lead role in Superman Returns to Brandon Routh and plays Devon 'Captain Awesome' Woodcomb in Chuck.
Meanwhile, Twilight actor Kellan Lutz and Chuck star Zachary Levi have each expressed an interest in the role of the supersoldier.
A popular choice has been Jensen Ackles, who won a poll on The Geek Files. The calls from fans turned into rumours he had been officially approached. But the actor said: »
- David Bentley
Merlin star Colin Morgan: Darker themes and 'big things to come' in third series
28 December 2009 6:47 PM, PST
Actor Colin Morgan is most famous for playing the title role in the BBC1 fantasy adventure series Merlin, which follows the early years of the sorcerer at Camelot.
Born in Armagh, Northern Ireland, the 23-year-old has also appeared on the Catherine Tate Show and in the acclaimed Doctor Who episode Midnight in 2008.
The second series of Merlin recently ended on BBC1 and will be out on DVD in February. A third series has been commissioned and in a new interview, Colin has spoken about what's coming and also what he would like to see in the show.
How Did Working On The Second Series Of Merlin Compare To The First Run?
When we first started on the series, filming was new to me. So whenever you start on a second series you're familiar with the technical things for a start. Also there's the character - you know how to approach a scene, »
- David Bentley
Top of the Crops: Where do Triffids come in the countdown of killer plants?
28 December 2009 6:23 PM, PST
Tonight sees the new adaptation of John Wyndham's novel The Day Of The Triffids begin on BBC1, with the concluding part tomorrow.
And with not so much as the hint of a tendril in the publicity shots, sci-fi fans have been wondering what the latest incarnation of the fictional flora will look like.
Triffids are probably the most well-known venomous vegetation on the big or small screen but far from the only example. So, with the Triffids about to wield their deadly stingers once again, it's time to take a look at the top horticultural horrors.
Please note that the following list will include fungi which were previously considered to be plants but are now classified in their own kingdom separate from animals, plants and bacteria. In fact, genetic studies have shown fungi to be more closely related to animals than plants. Nevertheless, mushrooms are grown as crops and eaten as vegetables, »
- David Bentley
District 9: Your definitive guide to the DVD and Blu-ray
28 December 2009 1:52 PM, PST
Tomorrow sees the release of sci-fi thriller District 9 on DVD and Blu-ray, as I mentioned previously, and so here's a closer look at what's on offer on both formats.
In the story, directed by Neill Blomkamp and produced by Peter Jackson, a million aliens stranded on a spaceship that grinds to a halt over Johannesburg are rescued and exiled to a slum on the fringes of the city.
Tensions erupt and a bureacrat given the task of moving the creatures to a new site goes through a life-changing process, discovering what it means to be the ultimate outsider on his own planet.
The DVD comes with a director's commentary in which Blomkamp speaks continuously throughout the running of the film (with none of the usual pauses).
There is also an array of deleted scenes, some revealing the motion-capture performer (in a skintight body-suit with body-mapping markings; he was replaced »
- David Bentley
Sherlock Holmes takes on Avatar in record weekend at box office
28 December 2009 8:55 AM, PST
Guy Ritchie'S action-hero reinvention of Sherlock Holmes this weekend took on James Cameron's sci-fi epic Avatar at the box office. So who came out on top?
When it opened on Friday, Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law, found all the clues for success with $24.9million in the USA compared with Avatar's $23.5million on the same day. But the case wasn't closed and it didn't hold the No1 spot.
The weekend has ended with Avatar taking $75million in North America and $145million overseas, bringing its total earnings so far to $212million in North America and $403million overseas - a global total of a staggering $615million in just 10 days.
But Sherlock is still celebrating - the film took $65million on its weekend debut in North America, the biggest Christmas weekend opening of all time Stateside. The previous record-holder was Meet the Fockers at $46million.
Together, Avatar, »
- David Bentley
13 articles
