BATMAN #1 COLLECTOR TIN
RRP: £3.99
It’s already been available on an A3-sized tin sign, an A5 journal and a fridge magnet; now the cover of the first issue of Batman (from Spring 1940) is available on a dinky little tin. Manufacturers Half Moon Bay are also bringing out a rather natty Superman-emblem tin.

SUPER EGG EGGCUP
RRP: £5.99
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s… er… a boiled egg. Let’s hope this eggcup doesn’t actually make your egg super strong, otherwise it’ll take forever to cave in the shell for your morning soldiers. A definitely-not-infringing-on-Terry-Nation’s-copyright-honest-guv “Eggsterminator” eggcup is also available.

PORTAL COMPANION CUBE COOKIE JAR
RRP: £32.99
Solve that tricky biscuit-storage dilemma (cookies? We’re British, goddamnit!) with this ceramic jar shaped like the iconic hearts-emblazoned boxes from the videogame franchise.

MARTY MCFLY HAT
RRP: £22.99
We’re still waiting for the hoverboard and the self-fastening trainers (come on Nike, pull your finger out!) but now you can look more like the future Marty, thanks to this replica of the cap he wears in Back To The Future 2. Apparently it features “ultra-refractive fabrics”. Ooh, we’re impressed.

DARK KNIGHT RISES MR POTATO HEAD
RRP: £19.99
Will the march of the Potato Heads never end? First it was Star Wars, with the likes of Spud-Trooper, Artoo-Potatoo and Darth Tater. Then it was Transformers (Optimash Prime) and Star Trek. Now it’s Batman’s turn to be root-vegetable-ised. Amuse yourself for a moment by picturing Christian Bale’s reaction to this.

STAR WARS WIND-UP WALKING WOBBLERS
RRP: £4.99
Super-cute wind-up Star Wars toys. There are seven in all: as well as Vader, there’s Boba Fett, Captain Rex, Chewbacca, a Clone Trooper, Darth Maul and a Stormtrooper.

Read last month’s Toys And Tat Time Telescope.

All items are available to pre-order from Forbidden Planet International.

Does your company have products you’d like to see featured in SFX? If so, email our reviews editor at ian.berriman@futurenet.com. And send us some samples. We like free stuff.

To celebrate the release of Ghost Rider Spirit Of Vengeance in 3D on February 17, we’re giving you the chance to win an ultimate adrenaline experience day, courtesy of Adrenalin Antics!

Renowned stunt motorcycle rider Johnny Blaze (Nicolas Cage) did a deal with the devil that saw him transformed into the legendary vigilante known as The Ghost Rider.

Now in an attempt to keep his soul-sucking alter ego at bay, Blaze has isolated himself in the remotest of locations, but, when Moreau (Idris Elba), a spirited monk implores him to save a young boy from the devil himself, Blaze must put aside his reluctance to bring out the Ghost Rider in order to face his own demons and possibly rid himself of the curse forever.

Based on the Marvel comic book and story by David S Goyer (The Dark Knight Rises, Man of Steel) and directed by Mark Neveldine and Brain Taylor (Crank, Crank 2) the adrenaline-fuelled Ghost Rider Spirit Of Vengeance is loaded with action and incredible 3D special effects.

Ghost Rider Spirit Of Vengeance is action-packed, so to celebrate this release we have teamed up with Adrenalin Antics to offer you their exhilarating Big Canyon Adventure! This takes place in one of the most dramatic canyons in Wales. You will shoot down a 100m natural rock slide, submerge yourself in plunge pools and traverse drops! Adrenalin Antics is a premier adventure and activity holiday provider, based in the Snowdonian National Park. They offer some of the most exciting canyoning and adventure activities in the UK. Other activities include: gorge walking, cliff jumping, rock climbing, abseiling, raft building, mountain walks, zip lines and more! The prize is a full-day Big Canyon Experience for four people (but does not include travel to the venue).

To win, simply watch the trailer above (this is IMPORTANT!) and then click here to answer the all-important prize-winning question and enter the competition.

Ghost Rider Spirit Of Vengeance in 3D explodes into cinemas on February 17, 2012 – join us on Facebook.

For more information on Adrenalin Antics visit: www.adrenalinantics.com

Marvel, and all Marvel characters including the Ghost Rider character ™& ©2011 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

The time has come to take part in SFX’s biggest ever movie poll. That’s right, because SFX.co.uk now has more regular users than ever before (over a quarter of a million) we’re confident that this will by some way be the biggest poll ever undertaken to find the nation’s top SF, fantasy and horror movies.

So what do you have to do? Simple. We want you to vote for your top five films, in any order. Below we’ve suggested 100 movies that could well be contenders for your affections – if your top five are there, just tick them. If NONE of these films are your ultimate choices then use the text box at the bottom of the poll to list the ones you want to add. You could also vote for one off the list and four of your own, or two from the list and three of your own, and so on.

Apologies for this rather laborious way of doing things, but our polling software only allows for 100 different options (doh!), but rest assured we will be counting the “written” votes – we just entered 100 of what we thought may be the most popular (not reflecting our own opinions, of course) because that makes it easier for us to tot up the scores. But we will be taking our socks off to count the “written” votes on our fingers and toes.

If writing into the box at the bottom, please separate your film choices with commas, and try to get your spelling correct (that’ll make it easier for us to collate the results).

So please, check the list first to see if your faves are there, and then use the space at the bottom of the poll if necessary.

If you need more of a memory jogger, there are a load more potential favourite films for your consideration on the next page.

The results will revealed on 21 May in a special edition of SFX Collections. Make sure you get your vote in or you won’t be able to complain about it being wrong! You can vote until Wednesday 29 February.

Get voting! We’re as excited as you are to see what comes out top…

On Sale Wednesday 8 February

Got iOS5 for your shiny new iPhone/iPad/iPod touch? You do! Well, did you know you can download issue 219 of SFX direct from Newsstand (our US chums can use this link) on the day of release for a mere £2.99? Not bad, eh? iDevice users still in the dark ages of iOS4.whatever can also download the SFX app direct from the app store, which acts as a portal for you to download (or subscribe) to your favourite science fiction and fantasy magazine. Android users have no reason to feel left out either as you can still pick up the latest issue from Zinio.

Short But Sweet

The Hobbit might be the best part of a year away, but since when has that stopped us getting excited about something? Never! We’re incredibly excited about Peter Jackson’s return to Middle Earth, and can you blame us? Martin Freeman is the perfect choice for Bilbo, and as for the rest – well, you’ll have to check out our 50 Things You Need To Know About The Hobbit feature for that.

Game On

Game Of Thrones rocks, and rocks hard: dragons, magic, enormous swords, amazing performances and some of the finest writing to hit the small screen ever, we sat down for a chat with George RR Martin about what lies ahead in season two. Be still, our beating heart…

Joss Sticks

We’ve got Whedonitis, and we’ve got it bad – the Buffy creator, Avengers helmer and all round fandom superstar Joss Whedon takes us through his Heroes & Inspirations. Not bad, eh?

Titan Up

Back and brasher than ever, Wrath Of The Titans aims to prove that sometimes anger can be put to good use (like selling lots of cinema tickets, for example). We talk to director Jonathan Liebesman about bringing Sam Worthington’s swords and sandals back to the big screen.

A Mars A Day

Disney are finally bringing John Carter and his Martian adventures to the big screen – hurrah! To celebrate, we settled down for tea and biscuits with director Andrew Stanton and leading lady Lynn Collins. Wonderful!

Don’t Miss!

• Retro action! Michael Ironside gets out the reminisi-box as Scanners get the Time Machine treatment, while we give both sides of The Phantom Menace debate an airing and ask is the Star Wars prequel better than you remember? Obviously we’re not including Jar Jar in that statement…

• One On One! We have a Close Encounter with former Bath resident and pro Ghost Rider, the one and only Nicolas Cage.

• Spoiler Zone! American Horror Story, Chuck, Grimm, Lost Girl, Merlin, Misfits, Once Upon A Time, Sanctuary, The Secret Circle, Supernatural, Terra Nova and The Vampire Diaries are all rated for your pleasure…

Rated

Chronicle, The Devil Inside, A Monster In Paris, The Darkest Hour, Blood Car, Game Of Thrones, Paranormal Activity 3, Fright Night, Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark, Melancholia, Merlin Series Four, The Sarah Jane Adventures, Teen Wolf, Intrusion, Dead Harvest, ADD, Wolverine And The X-Men and Star Wars: The Old Republic and much, much more!

SFX 219 is on sale Wednesday 8 February, in stores as well as through Newsstand and Zinio. You can also subscribe to the print version of SFX to save loads on the shop price – UK readers will receive a sweet Marvel Mug if they do (offer ends 10 February, so be quick!).

Toby Whithouse

Being Human’s Toby Whithouse and Camelot’s Chris Chibnall have been confirmed as writers for the next season of Doctor Who (is is seven? It’s difficult to keep track these days with all the extra breaks) in Doctor Who Magazine.

Further to that, Whithouse confirmed to SFX at the Weekender that his script is currently planned as third episode of the new season, and – although he wouldn’t confirm if it was the final Amy & Rory story – he did suggest it would be “one of the final ones” (whatever that means…).

Whithouse has previously written “School Reunion”, “Vampires Of Venice” and “The God Complex” for Doctor Who, while Chibnall, a former showrunner on Torchwood, has written “42”, “The Hungry Earth” and Cold Blood”.

Filming on the new season is due to start on the 20th of this month, and the Chibnall story will apparently feature one of the show’s biggest ever sets.

Jules Verne’s Mysterious Island, the directorial debut of SFX fave actor Mark Sheppard (Battlestar Galactica, Doctor Who, Supernatural, Firefly) airs on the US Syfy channel on 11 February. Filmed on location in Louisiana, this epic adaptation of Jules Verne’s 1874 novel The Mysterious Island (L’Île mystérieuse) stars Pruitt Taylor Vince, Lochlyn Munro and Sheppard himself, as the young Captain Nemo.

“We were faced with a tremendous challenge. It’s always hard to bring Jules Verne’s stories to life – you run the risk of upsetting an awful lot of diehard fans. But we tried to stay true to some of the key elements of the book in the spirit of what makes Jules Verne one of the greatest storytellers of all time,” says Sheppard.

As famine and death ravage Richmond, Virginia, five northern Civil War POWs, including Pruitt Taylor Vince (The Walking Dead, JFK, Drive Angry, Constantine) and Lochlyn Munro (Dead Man On Campus, White Chicks) escape by hijacking a hot air balloon. Drifting through the night, they wake to find themselves marooned on a desert island … but they’re not alone. Littered with wreckage, the island is home to a cast of survivors who have been lost in space and time, including sisters Abby Fogg (Battle Los Angeles’s Susie Abromeit) and Jules Fogg (Syfy’s Flash Gordon and Alien vs. Predator’s Gina Holden), two young women from modern times who become stranded while flying over the Bermuda Triangle.

Forced to defend themselves against vicious pirates, terrifying creatures and a volcano that’s ready to blow, they must find a way to survive. Their only hope to escape the island lies with its longest resident, Captain Nemo (Mark Sheppard’s real life father – W Morgan Sheppard). With his help, they craft another plan… but will they make it before the island claims them all forever?

For more information, visit www.julesvernesmysteriousisland.com.

• Kit Harington, Game Of Thrones’ Jon Snow, has joined Jeff Bridges, Ben Barnes, Julianne Moore and Alicia Vikander in the cast of the fantasy film The Seventh Son. The film – an adaptation of Joseph Delaney’s children’s book – will be directed by Sergei Bodrov with a script from Matt Greenberg and Chuck Leavitt. It’s about Thomas J Ward, the seventh son of a seventh son, born in the 1700s with supernatural abilities who is trained a learned “spook”. The novel is the first in a six-part series known as The Wardstone Chronicles. [Variety]

• The Jetsons movie – which seems to have been in development Hell for an eternity – has signed up two new writers in the form of newcomers Van Robichaux and Evan Susser. [Variety]

• Despite numerous delays and a change of director (James Mangold is the man calling the shots now) it looks like The Wolverine is back on track, with 20th Century Fox announcing an official release date: 26 July 2013. [Coming Soon]

• Sony Pictures Animation has released some concept art from director Genndy (Samurai Jack) Tartakovsky’s Hotel Transylvania, showing Murray, a mummy who will be voiced by Cee Lo Green. The film will be released in the UK on 12 October.

• Images of Catherine Tate’s next guest appearance on the US version of The Office have emerged on the ’net. [via Blogtor Who – click for more]

• Stan Lee has launched his official website, http://therealstanlee.com/.

Appearing on  US magazine show Watch What Happens Live, American Horror Story co-creator Ryan Murphy dropped a few hints about the very-different second season of the hit FX show, reports TV Line.

The second season will be a very different affair from the first, with new plot-lines and a new location, and very few of the first season ensemble returning. However, Murphy confirmed that Jessica Lange will appear in some capacity, and added that, “I’m in negotiations with four of the people who were on last year’s show, and none of them were the Harmons,” which means Connie Britton, Dylan McDermott or Taissa Farmiga will presumably not be appearing.

He went on to reveal that the second season would take place on the East Coast in a “horror institution.”

Maine, then?

Entertainment Weekly has posted five new photos from Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, the Timur (Wanted) Bekmambetov-directed film starring starring Benjamin Walker (as Lincoln), Dominic Cooper, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Alan Tudyk and Rufus Sewell. It’s based on the book by Seth (Pride And Prejudice And Zombies) Grahame-Smith – who also wrote the script – and is due to hit UK cinema screens on 2 August 2012. Plot? Well, the title says it all, really…

The vampire Lestat could be heading back to the big-screen, reckons The Hollywood Reporter.

According to the movie trade site Brian Grazer and Ron Howard’s Imagine Entertainment has optioned the rights to Anne Rice’s The Tale Of The Body Thief, the fourth book in Rice’s The Vampire Chronicles series of novels. Lee Patterson, who wrote a well-regarded screenplay titled Snatched, is working on the screenplay. Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, the writer-producers behind Fringe and the Star Trek and Transformers movies, are producing.

In the body-switching, Lestat, depressed and lonely after centuries as a vampire, decides to transfer souls for a day with a psychic, who after the transfer reveals that he has no intention of switching back.

Lestat was previously played by Tom Cruise in 1994’s excellent Interview With The Vampire, directed by Neil Jordan and by Stuart Townsend in 2002’s decidedly not excellent Queen Of The Damned, directed by Michael Rymer. (And looking at that cover, they really ought to cast Tom Welling this time, though we’d love to see Ian Somerhalder in the role.)

Read our Top 50 Vampires feature

More new footage than was shown on the Super Bowl TV trailer. Not sure why this French version has surfaced first, but it’s out there to enjoy. GI Joe: Retaliation is released in the UK on 22 June 2012.

Game Of Thrones’ Ice Wall is an award-winning effect\

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Feature Motion Picture: Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Feature Motion Picture: Hugo
Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature Motion Picture: Rango
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Miniseries, Movie, or Special: Inside the Human Body
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Series: Terra Nova “Occupation & Resistance”
Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Broadcast Program: Game of Thrones “Winter is Coming”
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Live Action Commercial: Dior J’adore
Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Commercial or Video Game Trailer: Diablo III: The Black Soulstone
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Special Venue Project: Transformers the Ride: The Ultimate 3D Battle
Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture: Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Caesar
Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature Motion Picture: Rango, Rango
Outstanding Animated Character in a Broadcast Program or Commercial: Canal +, The Bear
Outstanding Created Environment in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture: Transformers: Dark of the Moon, 155 Wacker Drive
Outstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature Motion Picture: Rango, Main Street Dirt
Outstanding Created Environment in a Broadcast Program or Commercial: Game of Thrones, The Icewall
Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture: Hugo
Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in an Animated Feature Motion Picture: Rango, The Dirt Saloon
Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a Broadcast Program or Commercial: Gears of War 3, Dust to Dust
Outstanding Models in a Feature Motion Picture: Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Driller
Outstanding Models in a Broadcast Program or Commercial: Boardwalk Empire, Georgia Peaches
Outstanding Compositing in a Feature Motion Picture: Captain America: The First Avenger, Skinny Steve
Outstanding Compositing in a Broadcast Program or Commercial: Boardwalk Empire, Gimcrack & Bunkum
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Student Project: a.maize (see below)

Stan Lee received the Lifetime Achievement Award and visual effects pioneer Douglas Trumbull received the Georges Méliès Award.

Wrath Of The Titans is released in the UK on Friday 30 March.

Read our Greek myths on screen feature!

As guests to our recent SFX Weekender know, our awesome pub-quiz-in-your-pocket iPhone game is now FREE! Yes, you too can test your geek credentials with over 1,000 fiendish questions without having to pay us any money.

Here are the quick links:

In the UK?

From the US and the rest of the world.

What’s your high score? Remember to tweet your success from within the game.

By the way, if you have an iPhone or iPad and would like to get SFX digitally, remember that with or without the new Newsstand app you can get all our latest mag content to read on screen now.

1. The episode isn’t what you might expect from the title.

2. The farewells aren’t over.

3. Hal isn’t the only one with focus problems.

4. The discovery of a gruesome trophy leads to a fight.

5. There’s rivalry in the house – and not only between Dickhead and Neanderthal.

6. Annie rewrites an inspirational song, spouts Latin, and references Star Wars.

7. It’s too orangey for vampires!

8. We find out exactly what it’s like to kill.

9. Leo and Pearl have a very important engagement.

10. Does television inspire real-life violence? Nearly…

11. Dominoes have never been so sinister…

12. The owl and the wolf look over a corpse in a cot.

Read our review of Being Human series four, episode one.

Don’t let your brain go to waste – why not use those SF-loaded synapses for the betterment of mankind. Every month the SFXperts mailbag is chock-a-block with queries posed by your fellow readers, and some we open out to you to show how much you know about science fiction and fantasy. Supplying the best answer of the month can be your route to getting your words in SFX. Not only that, but we’ll print your picture and give you a little prize from the SFX grotto of delights.

If you know one (or even all) of the answers to these questions, put together a fact-packed, informative answer of around 150 words, grab a colour photo of yourself (it needs to be at least 350 pixels across) and send it to sfxperts@futurenet.co.uk, marking the subject header I’m an SFXpert!

Also don’t forget, if you’ve got a niggling sci-fi question you want to ask the Xperts email us at sfxperts@futurenet.co.uk, stump us and you’re question could appear on this page in the near future.

The game is afoot! This month’s questions (sent to us by readers) are:

1. I remember reading UK based magazine Starburst and it was previewing Superman Lives/Reborn. It had all the details about Nic Cage being Superman and that it was working form the Kevin Smith script but also in the article it said that Roxette would be doing the title song for the movie (just like Seal’s “Kiss From A Rose” for Batman Forever) and it was going to be called “Wish I Could Fly”.  Just after the article the project went into development hell.

A few years later (1998?) Roxette released a single called “Wish I could Fly” with the chorus:

“I wish I could fly
out in the blue
over this town
followin’ you
I’d fly over rooftops
the great boulevards
to try to find out
who you really are
who you really are”

Here is the song on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBswiNn23RU

I cant find any evidence anywhere to prove what I read was true, I hope you can help this has been bugging me for years!

2. The main stinker I have for you to help me with is a comic book. I remember this from my childhood, as it belonged to my dad (he can’t remember the name of it either and it has been thrown out long ago, along with other “clutter” in the loft to make way for an art studio – the philistine!) It was a huge tome, and hard back book. It starts with a very odd looking spaceship crash landing (I think on earth) the occupants are dead, but the scientists learn of the history of where the ship has come from which is the main story of the book. It’s about a civilization on a planet and I think it goes through the history of it and the great city. I think near the end they have a war with another planet and they build a huge ray gun. But it obviously finishes with the building of the spaceship that crash lands. I think it was in the Dan Dare style of sci-fi comic art work if you know what I mean. Can you help with this one and I will be eternally grateful.

3. Hi, help and info needed!  I watched US show Project Blue Book, mid-70s. Probably made in the 1960s. It featured two Air Force pilots who witness a UFO. In the show the US government denied everything. Any details on what it is is much appreciated!

Also I’m looking for a US show about Gargoyles, seen mid-late ’70s. I think it was based around a police deptment; one gargoyle was possibly half-human but the leader was scarily badass! May have been shot on location in LA or NYC. It had good effects for its time.

4. I hope that this finds you well. I have an inquiry for you with regards to Leonard Nimoy. To be more specific a song about Leonard Nimoy. In the early or mid 90′s I saw a late night TV show in which a band took the stage and played a song in with the two words “Leonard Nimoy” were sung over and over for several minutes. I am one of only three known people who claim to have witnessed this spectacle. Can you shed any light on this as I have been looking for footage to convince people I did not imagine this. Leonard Nimoy’s singing career does not make Google searches easy for it.

.

Tricky, eh? Remember send your answers or any questions you have to sfxperts@futurenet.co.uk, marking the subject header I’m an SFXpert! and be sure to include a picture of yourself if you want to make it into the magazine.

The funfair had seen better days.

UK Release Date: 10 February
Price: £49.99 Format reviewed: Xbox 360
Also available on: PS3 and PC
Publisher: 2K Games

We all hear voices in our head occasionally. Sometimes they’re helpful: “Don’t forget that Mothers’ Day card like you did last year…” At other times, annoying: “You think you checked you turned the gas off, but did you //really//?”  But to our knowledge, we’ve never known anyone’s voices to turn against their owner and manifest themselves as two jet-black tentacles with an insatiable hunger for human hearts. Nobody but Jackie Estacado, that is.

The first Darkness game dealt with Jackie coming to terms with his “gift” on his 21st birthday and coping with the murder of his soul mate Jenny. Under the watchful eye of The Chronicles Of Riddick developers Starbreeze, it became something of an cult hit. Not popular enough to cement itself in charts or any Game Of The Year lists, but good enough to get a few sizeable “Bring Back The Darkness” petitions online.

That was then and this is now, and things have changed dramatically. First up are the new developers Digital Extremes (also currently beavering away at Star Trek: The Game for Paramount) who’ve stepped in and shaken up the core mechanics into something almost unrecognisable.

Realistic visuals have been retired for a “Graphic Noir” effect, which does a superb job of bringing the comic books to life. Rather than diminish the Darkness’s uber-violence, the striking mix of crosshatch shading and bright tones enhances it. Rip somebody in half like a wishbone and you can now make out their brain, their spine, their organs… pretty much everything, in fact, as their halves lie quivering on a grimy subway floor. And headshots look glorious, if you’re into that kind of thing. Which we are. In a big way.

‘Quad-wielding’ is another sizeable change that sees you attacking mobsters with up to two guns and two Darkness arms simultaneously. The Left arm, “Grabby”, is used to pick things up – be it people (for executions), car doors (for shields and body-slicing Frisbees) or poles (for human skewers) – while the right arm, “Slashy”, simply cleaves people in two.

Far from being complicated, it’s quite refreshing to wield that much power. But the extra clutter has seen some of the first game’s better touches die an undignified death. There’s no drawn out animation when a Darkness arm rips a heart out of a body and slurps it down greedily, for instance, as these moments are now throwaway blips in more hectic/less memorable gunfights. And gone are the kooky out-of-body Darkness arm puzzles and assassination trips so many were so fond of.

Returning writer Paul Jenkins does keep the tone mostly consistent with game one, however, by throwing in a few curveball moments the original is famous for. And special mention must go to online mode Vendettas, which offers an entire bonus campaign designed for four people with a story interwoven into the single player adventure.

Purists will scoff at the changes, but the voices in our head tell us The Darkness II’s a slender improvement over the much-loved original.

Matthew Pellett

Read other sci-fi videogame reviews

Mirror Mirror, a new twist on Snow White directed by Tarsem (Immortals) Singh and starring Julia Roberts and Lily Collins, is released in the UK on Monday 2 April.

Time loops are such a downer.

Spoilers ahead! If you haven’t watched Misfits series four don’t say we didn’t warn you… Have all the spoilerphobes cleared off? Good, because it’s impossible to talk about the future of Misfits without referring to the shocking events of series three. Simon and Alisha are no more – trapped in an endless cycle of love and death for all eternity – and only two of the original cast are left. Already it seems series four will usher in a more significant upheaval than Nathan leaving ever did.

The question is what would you like to see when Misfits goes fourth? And more importantly who would you like to see in the iconic jumpsuits? Joe Gilgun, Lauren Socha and Nathan Stewart-Jarrett are returning (presumably), but in such a character-driven show filling the remaining gaps will be crucial. How about returning to the This Is England pool and recruiting Thomas Turgoose and Vicky McClure? Or nicking Michael Socha (Lauren’s brother) from Being Human?

There’s also the small matter of the superpowers. Maybe it’s time Misfits got its first proper supervillain, in which case what powers would you like to see in the new series? If lactokinesis is fair game anything goes. Post your best ideas on the thread and the best of the bunch might just make an exciting future instalment of Wishlist.

Wizard’s Tower Press is pleased to announce a publishing deal with British fantasy author, Juliet E McKenna. As revealed exclusively at the SFX Weekender, the first release will be a short story collection, A Few Further Tales Of Einarinn, set in McKenna’s fantasy world.

Of the five stories contained in A Few Further Tales Of Einarinn, four have been published previously, but only in magazines and other limited distribution venues. One story, “Absent Friends”, is original to the collection. The book also contains a number of black and white drawings of well-loved characters from the Einarinn books drawn by prominent British comics artists.

The book will be available for the Kindle, and in the standard epub format for other reading devices and computers. It will be available worldwide. A Few Further Tales Of Einarinn should appeal to all existing fans of McKenna’s writing, and provide an easy introduction to the world of Einarinn for others.

A web site re-launch, including a wealth of background information about Einarinn, will be announced soon. McKanna is currently working on her fifteen novel set in this world; the final volume of The Hadrumal Crisis trilogy, to follow Dangerous Waters (2011) and Darkening Skies (2012), published by Solaris Books in the UK and the US.

Wizard’s Tower’s Cheryl Morgan said: “I have known Juliet for many years. She wrote several book reviews for me back when I was publishing Emerald City. As well as being a fine fiction writer, Juliet is a tireless promoter of fantasy fiction. Few people I know work harder to help their fellow writers. It is a pleasure to be able to help her for a change.”

Juliet E McKenna said: “I’m delighted that ebook technology enables me to offer readers, new and established, this chance to enjoy these short stories featuring some of our favourite characters.  I’m also profoundly grateful to have friends like Cheryl, together with Elizabeth Campbell of Antimatter ePress, to provide the necessary technical skills, in keeping with the finest traditions of collaboration and mutual support within the SF and fantasy genre.”

The book will be available through the Wizard’s Tower bookstore, http://www.wizardstowerbooks.com/, on the Kindle, Nook, Kobo and through other online venues.

Two returning telefantasy shows bolstered their respective channels’ ratings spectacularly when they livened up the airwaves on Sunday night.

Being Human was back on BBC 3 for its fourth series, with the first episode drawing on just under 1.2 million (889,000 viewers on BBC 3 and a further 227,000 on BBC HD).  That’s slightly down on the season three opener (1.37) but DON’T PANIC! It was still up 89% on BBC 3’s slot average for that time slot the past three months, so the Beeb is going to be mighty happy with that performance.

Meanwhile, over on FX True Blood season four kicked off on Sunday night with 249,000, which may not sound much, but that’s a massive 1,200% increase on the number of viewers FX had been averaging in the same time slot over the past few months.

Images via 2000AD (where you can saee larger versions). Dredd is released in the UK on 21 September.

Images via Cineheroes. John Carter is released in the UK on 9 March.

Gotta admit, this is a lot more promising than the previous trailer. What do you reckon? The Amazing Spider-Man is released in the UK on 4 July.

Alcon Entertainment, the production company behind Ridley Scott’s new Blade Runner movie, is vehemently denying web rumours claiming that Harrison Ford is is early talks to return as Rick Deckard, reports Deadline.

The company categorically denies that  any such discussions have have taken place. “It is absolutely patently false that there has been any discussion about Harrison Ford being in Blade Runner,” says producer Andrew Kosove. “It’s like asking if we’re going to make the sky red or blue, there has been no discussion about it.”

Kosove doesn’t rule out Ford returning completely, but warns that we shouldn’t hold our collective breaths. “In advance of knowing what we’re going to do, I supposed you could say yes, he could,” says producer Andrew Kosove. “But I think it is quite unlikely.”

Instead he likes Scott’s approach to the project to what he’s doing with Prometheus. “What Ridley does in Prometheus is a good template for what we’re trying to do. He created something that has some association to the original Alien, but lives on its own as a standalone movie… To be clear, what we are trying to do with Ridley now is go through the painstaking process of trying to break the back of the story, figure out the direction we’re going to take the movie and find a writer to work on it.”

A ten-minute trailer for upcoming SF movie Modified was screened for the first time at the SFX Weekender on Friday afternoon. Modified is a science fiction thriller set in the underground world in which people modifiy their bodies with technology. Modified boasts an international cast of actors including John Sandeman, Robert Dawson, Cory Sanders, Lia Albers, Joe Law, Megan Anstee and Gabriel Constantin as cyberpunk antiheroes in a high-tech world of easy sex and death. Kerr (Cory Sanders) searches an underground world of illegal body modification with technology for Cole (Lia Albers) the woman he loves, but soon finds himself caught in a battle for control of the modification scene.  Event Films is handling UK distribution and will be announcing an autumn 2012 release date shortly.

Superbowl, smuchperbowl, the Twitter-sphere was rocked to its foundations this weekend by the #sfxweekender, or at least it would have been if anyone could get a decent signal and/or wifi. In spite of Prestatyn’s communications black-hole the tweets came thick and very, very fast from attendees, guests and your humble hacks.

Naturally Twitter isn’t the best place for accurate reporting of facts, but overall we’re chuffed to bits with the reaction we’ve been receiving from Twits in attendance (hoho) and thought you might like to see a selection of our favourites from the weekend:

@philfordesq In other news at the #sfxweekender @mrtonylee and I got down with da kids and got up on stage and danced with Craig Charles. Oh yeah.

@brianblessed So lovely to see so many of you. Might take a while though. #sfxweekender lockerz.com/s/180592062

@Paul_Cornell The best of many good things about #sfxweekender: a 4000 people standing ovation for Brian Aldiss. #fb

@SarahPinborough It is time to leave Wales… Thanks to all at the #sfxweekender for looking after me and I’m sooo relieved I survived Just a Minute!

@mrtonylee Highlight of #SFXWeekender for me? Walking into the green room to find Brian Blessed with a black wig on yelling ‘GORDON’S ALIVE!’. Really.

@LordWinchester Lovey time had at the #SFXweekender though a distinct lack of death threats. I must be doing something wrong!

@JaineFenn I should be writing, but I’d much rather check out everyone’s photos from the #SFXWeekender. It was a blast.

@normanlovett1 Back from SFX Weekender which was most enjoyable and it makes me appreciate that there are lots of nice people on this planet.

@JonCG_novelist So, 1 hangover, 2 proofs (first one great), 3 invitations to lunch sometime soon, and caught up with numerous friends. Good result. #sfx

@AquilaRift Finished a draft of a story; would normally rush to polish it but will let it sit while I go to the SFX Weekender.

@jamesmoran Apparently the #SFXWEEKENDER train derailed when somebody said they didn’t like Firefly. Heads exploded.

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The SFX Twitter Stream

@RealReeceShears Just watched the season finale of “American Horror Story”! That’s my kind of series! Loved it.

@feliciaday I just thought about Mass Effect 3, the act of popping in the disk on release day, and I got super excited. #thane4life

@hughhefner The girls & I have decided to start watching “The Walking Dead.”

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@ManMadeMoon Sneak peak of new SF script… INT. EMP MING’S CASTLE – NIGHT JARJAR Mesum hoping Megatron not found yellow power ring! MEGATRON Too late!

It has all four of the basic SF food groups.

@gregmottola Nobody could argue that digital filmmaking didn’t improve the Star Wars films. Oh wait, I went temporarily insane.

@colinferg Just finished ADR with the boys…. i am officially done all of my work on Eureka. #sniff. Its been a great run. Thanks everyone.

@DamonLindelof Spock and Kirk go on an adventure. RT @mason1313 just in case the mayans were correct, will u please tweet the plot to new star trek?

@NathanFillion I wonder if Clark Kent ever gets, “Thanks, Supes!” on his. say.ly/sQj1lfY

Two of comics’ most hardworking creators cooked up this bonkers and mightily fun offering for the SFX Weekender, showing people the thought processes that go into writing a comic book story.

Eve Myles cracks up when she’s asked to recall a “little” something about Torchwood at the SFX Weekender.

UPDATE: Some people have had trouble making out the audio on this. If you’re amongst them, click here to read a transcript.

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island is in the cinemas this week, and its stars the actor formerly known as The Rock, who gets all fatherly while punching giant lizards on the nose. Dwayne’s probably the most famous wrestler-turned-actor to dip his toe into our gentle genre, but, as Jayne Nelson discovers, there are plenty more out there…

(Oh, and if you’re wondering why the legend that is Hulk Hogan isn’t in the list anywhere, well… that was the subject of much discussion. He has acted, of course, but not in much sci-fi, and when he is in sci-fi, he tends to be playing himself – as in Gremlins 2 – or a variation on himself – as in Muppets From Space. Then we get into the hairy topic of whether Thunder In Paradise was an SFX show or not, and that gets certain members of the team more heated than in discussions about whether James Bond is sci-fi. So let’s just call Mr Hogan an honorary 11th on the list, okay?)

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10 “Stone Cold” Steve Austin

If you share a name with the Six Million Dollar Man it’s a handy bonus if you’re able to kick ass as well as he can – and Mr Stone Cold never failed to do so in his extraordinary wrestling career. Winner of 19 championships and a showman who always entertained a crowd (usually by playing the bad boy), Austin’s larger-than-life persona has followed him into acting… although it’s probably fair to say it’s not exactly his natural environment, if his performances are anything to go by.

His biggest role to date has been in The Expendables, but we’re highlighting his guest appearance in two episodes of Chuck as Hugo Panzer, a muscle-bound baddie who nearly wipes our titular hero off the face of the planet. When it comes to looming, glaring and punching, Stone Cold Steve Austin is the master. Dialogue and nuance? Not so much. The end result is still jolly good fun, though…

John Carter is released in the UK on 8 March.

Lots in the way of new action clips, not much in the way of new Whedon quippage. Is dialogue a difficult concept for American football fans to grasp? The Avengers is released in the UK on Friday 27 April. (Updated with version with UK release date!) Visit http://www.facebook.com/AvengersUK.

No lousy, stinking vampire was gonna steal George's favourite table lamp - no sirree!

Writer: Toby Whithouse
Director: Philip John

THE ONE WHERE Nina’s dead… and by the end, George is too. Blimey.

VERDICT Being Human’s fourth series kicks off with an episode which feels more like an episode three. Or an episode four. Or possibly a season finale. Those with flaky memories could be forgiven for wondering if they’ve somehow missed a couple of weeks.

Although it’s a hugely impressive piece of writing, which suggests that we’re in for another classic series, it’s inevitably somewhat hamstrung by the circumstances of its production, an episode over-shadowed by a cloud of what-could-have-beens. Nina’s death is shocking, but for long-term fans it’s hard not to feel cheated when it occurs off-screen. When the bombshell is casually dropped in a line of dialogue five minutes in it has incredible force, but still… it’s hard not to pine for what could have been. If only Nina could have had a proper send-off, perhaps tragically dying in childbirth. And the same is true for George – if to a lesser extent. At least he gets a proper farewell, albeit a rather short one.

Of course,  slating the production team for the slightly indecent haste with which these two leads are written out would be missing the point on a epic scale. No-one would choose to write out two lead characters like that. We’re not privy to the inside details, but obviously Russell Tovey’s desire to move on to other projects meant he was only able to commit to the briefest of bow-outs – and we can’t blame him for that (good luck to you, sir! We’ll miss those magnificent lugs of yours). Similarly, for whatever reason, Sinead Keenan evidently wasn’t available.

All things considered, it’s pretty astonishing just how good the episode is. This year’s arc plot – the War Child – is immediately gripping. The flash-forwards to a resistance bunker in a 2037 ruled over by vampires are seriously cool (So, you enjoyed Dollhouse’s “Epitaph One” did you, Mr Whithouse? Well, so did we. Mind you, they were ripping off The Terminator…)

Russell Tovey is superb as a George all but destroyed by grief. Michael Socha is downright hilarious, and looks like he’ll be providing many of the comedy highlights from now on (loved his sledgehammer-subtle hints about moving into Honolulu Heights). Damien Molony doesn’t really get enough screen-time to show what he can do (killing two characters, introducing another and launching an arc plot is rather a lot to cram into one episode) but shows considerable promise. But the character I really can’t wait to see more of is Cutler, Andrew Gower’s dryly humorous vampire. Tellingly, I didn’t miss Mitchell for a moment.

Niggles? Well, some of the additions to the show’s supernatural lore do rather come out of nowhere. Werewolf blood is toxic to vampires now, is it? How come no-one ever mentioned that or made use of it before – you’d have thought McNair would know! And doesn’t that make the whole business of capturing werewolves and locking them in cages to fight to the death an insanely dangerous business? I’m kinda tempted to do a marathon rewatch of the first three series looking for incidences of vampires getting splashed with werewolf blood without any ill effects. The same goes for the way that George induces his own transformation, and ends up looking like he could only afford half of the Charles Atlas muscle-gain plan… Wouldn’t someone have tried that before?

DID ANYONE ELSE THINK… That the future-resistance woman must be Eve? Of course, she still could be, travelling back to kill herself in a temporal paradox?

REFERENCES First we had a vampire bad guy called Wyndham. Now we’ve got an equally short-lived one who, like HG Wells’s Invisible Man, goes by the name of Griffin. Hmm, we’re starting to suspect that the “W” section of Toby Whithouse’s book collection is directly above his desk. Mind you, the “S” section isn’t far away either, judging by the name Stoker Import/Export…

The vampire recorder Regus’s gibberish incantation includes, “Dead, for a ducat” – a line from Hamlet, of course – and a nod to the Cambridge Latin Course, the textbooks that also inspired the names of characters in Doctor Who‘s “The Fires Of Pompeii”.

Not one but five references to Rentaghost – surely a record?

And then there’s “It’s a trap!”, of course…

SO, HOW DOES SUPERMAN CUT HIS HAIR? Tsk, anyone who’s read John Byrne’s 1986 mini-series The Man Of Steel would know the answer. In that, he shaves by bouncing his heat-vision off a fragment of the Kryptonian space-pod that brought him to Earth. So presumably he does the same with his hair. Next question!

IT’S WOSSISNAME! Louis Mahoney (Leo the werewolf) seems to be the BBC’s go-to guy for old-bloke-dying-in-a-bed roles: he was also the aged version of Billy in Doctor Who’s “Blink” (and decades before that he was in classic Pertwee/Tom Baker tales “Frontier In Space” and “Planet Of Evil”).

Oh, and was anyone else half-expecting The Fast Show‘s Mark Williams to say, “This season I’ll be mostly wearing a Luke Cage t-shirt”?

COOL MUSIC As a Stone Roses fan I’m a bit conflicted about Wretch 32’s “Fool’s Gold”-sampling “Unorthodox” (heard playing in the café) – it feels faintly sacrilegious. I have no such qualms about Timbuk3’s  “The Future’s So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades”, though. That’s just ace.

THEY SHOULD HAVE STUCK WITH THE BABY’S ORIGINAL NAME Then when it filled its nappy someone could say “Splodge mess abounds”. Splodge mes… it’s like the ‘80s novelty punk band Splodgenessabounds, y’see. Oh, forget it.

BEST LINE Cutler: “I bet the Magna Carta doesn’t have a nipple on it.”

Ian Berriman

Read our Being Human series four interviews.

This was how Robert Rankin and Raygun brought the 2012 SFX Awards to a close at the SFX Weekender 3 last night. Our camera actually ran out of battery power before the end, so thanks to David Howe for YouTubing this (this is a better version than the one we posted yesterday, but it wasn’t tdrury’s fault he was further away!).

The SFX Awards 2012 winners have been announced at a star-packed ceremony at the SFX Weekender 3. And now we can reveal the winners to you.

There’ll be footage of the ceremony up on this site soon, so expect a few more acceptance speeches, but we’ve included here the video acceptances from “those who couldn’t be here tonight…”

There are a few more, erm “esoteric” awards that weren’t handed out on the night. You can discover who or what they went to in the new issue of SFX, out next Wednesday.

Reader-Voted Awards

BEST FILM: HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART TWO
Shortlisted: X-Men: First Class, Thor, Super 8

BEST DIRECTOR: MATTHEW VAUGHN FOR X-MEN: FIRST CLASS
Shortlisted: David Yates for Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part Two, JJ Abrams for Super 8, Kenneth Branagh for Thor

BEST COMIC: THE WALKING DEAD
Shortlisted: Batman Inc, The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen: 1969, Fables

BEST NOVEL: A DANCE WITH DRAGONS by GEORGE RR MARTIN
Shortlisted: The Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan, The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie, Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch

BEST TV SHOW: DOCTOR WHO
Shortlisted: Game Of Thrones, Misfits, Fringe

BEST NEW SHOW: GAME OF THRONES
Shortlisted: Falling Skies, Being Human USA, Camelot

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BEST ACTOR: MATT SMITH for DOCTOR WHO
Shortlisted: Peter Dinklage for Game Of Thrones, Michael Fassbender for X-Men: First Class, Iwan Rheon for Misfits

BEST ACTRESS: ALEX KINGSTON for DOCTOR WHO
Shortlisted: Karen Gillan for Doctor Who, Eve Myles for Torchwood: Miracle Day, Maisie Williams for Game Of Thrones

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT: NO CAMEO FOR STAN LEE IN X-MEN: FIRST CLASS
Shortlisted: Jack’s arse being censored in UK Torchwood, Green Lantern, the fairies in True Blood

SFX Team Choice Awards

OUTSTANDING LITERARY CONTRIBUTION: BRIAN ALDISS

SCREENWRITING EXCELLENCE: NEIL GAIMAN for Doctor Who “The Doctor’s Wife”

BREAKOUT: JOE GILGUN for Misfits

LIVING LEGEND: BRIAN BLESSED

ELISABETH SLADEN AWARD* : THE SARAH JANE ADVENTURES

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT: JOHN WAGNER & CARLOS EZQUERRA

HOPE FOR THE FUTURE: DIRK GENTLY

PHENOMENON: MERLIN

* This is a new award instigated this year in honour of Elisabeth Sladen. In future years, the award will continue to recognise outstanding contributions to children’s sci-fi and fantasy, in any medium.

A special video Blastermind for you this week. This was one round in the Blastermind quiz at the SFX Weekender. Can you name the films and TV shows these SF and fantasy trains come from (there are 11 different ones in all) plus can you name the person with a sci-fi connection who’s singing the song?

The Seventh Doctor goes walkabout at the SFX Weekender

"Woody's a HUGE fan of Nicholas Lyndhurst, you know."

Release Date: 6 February 2012
2011 * 12 * 94 minutes * £19.99
Distributor: Warner Home Video
Director: Woody Allen
Cast: Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Kathy Bates, Michael Sheen, Marion Cotillard

Despite being promoted as a simple romantic comedy, as if the distributors feared the slightest hint of whimsy might alienate audiences, Woody Allen’s latest is a gloriously unapologetic fantasy. Owen Wilson plays would-be novelist Gil who, in a puff of pure wish-fulfilment, hitches a ride back to jazz-era Paris. There he quaffs champagne with legends like Ernest Hemingway, flirts with Picasso’s ex-girlfriend, and receives professional advice from Gertrude Stein.

It’s short and smart, at once both silly and pretentious, and it strides along with a delightful absence of subtlety. Gil’s journey is literal as well as literary: is there a cruder way to examine nostalgia than by actually visiting the hotspots of yesteryear? The film’s themes are openly articulated so you know precisely what to think (“I’m having an insight now!” Gil even exclaims at one pivotal moment). Wilson plays a more mellow, Californian version of Allen’s typical screen persona – less neurotic, but still with that nervous, eccentric wit – and his affable enthusiasm makes him a pleasant time-travelling companion.

It’s not flawless: farcical scenes in which Gil steals a pair of his fiancée’s earrings or banters with Surrealists feel forced. Nevertheless, it’s an utterly charming love letter, both to the French capital (indulgently celebrated in a long slideshow of gardens and boulevards) and to the greats of 20th century fiction. This is one of 2011′s hidden gems, a must-see movie for those seeking creative or romantic inspiration.

Extras:
Rien.

Dave Bradley

For an alternative perspective, read our cinema-release review of Midnight In Paris.

Read more of our DVD reviews.

The kids were shocked by the sights of Amsterdam.

Release Date: 6 February 2012
2011 * PG * 158 minutes * £14.99 (DVD)/£19.99 (Blu-ray)
Complete series one to five box set also available (DVD only, RRP £69.99).
Distributor: 2entertain
Directors: Ashley Way, Joss Agnew
Cast: Elisabeth Sladen, Daniel Anthony, Anjli Mohindra, Sinead Michael

So, it’s arrived: the last time we’ll have cause to review the CBBC Who spin-off. By now it’s surely unnecessary to restate how much Elisabeth Sladen is missed, so let’s focus instead on the sterling work of writers like Phil Ford and Gareth Roberts.

In these final three adventures, both gentlemen demonstrate a knack for imparting important life lessons to the kiddywinks by smuggling them in inside a great big bundle of fun. Series five’s opener preaches that you can be who you want to be, not what you’re expected to be, and sings the praises of pacifism. The second story encourages empathy for the homeless by reminding us how easily any one of us can suddenly fall from grace. The third briefly steps aside to remind us that slavery still exists.

The show’s remarkably versatile – almost as much as its parent series. Tapping into childhood fears of abandonment and broken friendships, “The Curse Of Clyde Langer” is liable to have you blinking back the tears, whilst “The Man Who Never Was”, with its cheeky “What if Steve Jobs was a hologram?” premise, is a laugh-a-minute romp which even manages to sneak in a nob joke.

This year’s major addition is Sky, another alien-made child for Sarah Jane to surrogate. Young Sinead Michael is cute as a button (if occasionally indecipherable), and it’s a shame we’ll never see her grow into the role. Heartbreaking as it is that we’ll never see Sarah Jane again, we’re gonna miss her young acolytes too.

Extras:

Have a hanky ready for “Goodbye Bannerman Road” (filmed on location at the street), in which Elisabeth Sladen’s co-stars (including Matt Smith) pay tribute to her.

Ian Berriman

Learn who was originally cast as Sarah Jane.

Read our review of Elisabeth Sladen’s autobiography, and discover 35 facts we learned from it.

Read our review of The Sarah Jane Adventures series four.

Release Date: 6 February 2012
1963-1964 * £26.19 (DVD)/£36.97 (Blu-ray)
Distributor: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Creator: Rod Serling
Cast: Jack Klugman, William Shatner, Lee Marvin, James Coburn, Mickey Rooney, Telly Savalas

In his essential book The Twilight Zone Companion, expert Marc Scott Zicree says of the programme’s fifth season: “The thoughtfulness and innovation of the first three seasons was, for the most part, sadly lacking… The quality of the writing slipped badly.” He’s being a little harsh because, besides marking a welcome return to a half-hour format, the Zone’s final season is full of fine performances, memorable scenes and some truly excellent episodes.

Pick of the lot is probably “Nightmare At 20,000 Feet”, a suspenser worthy of Hitchcock featuring William Shatner’s best pre-Trek performance. Not far behind is “Living Doll”, the twisted tale of a little girl’s doll who says things like “My name is Tina and I’m going to kill you.” Also notable are Jacques Tourneur’s spooky “Night Call”, the Richard Matheson-scripted “Steel” (recently adapted by Disney as Real Steel), and “Number 12 Looks Just Like You”, according to Charlie Brooker a key inspiration for the “15 Million Merits” episode of Black Mirror.

Sure, there are some weak instalments: “Black Leather Jackets” simply makes no sense; “The Long Morrow” is one of the episodes with a very silly pay-off; and the likes of “What’s In The Box” and “Sounds And Silences” substitute people shouting for subtlety. Maybe it was right for the show to call it a day, but the final season certainly didn’t disgrace itself.

Extras:

Extras: An astonishing amount of stuff – all the extras from the DVD releases have been ported over, and there are loads of new additions, including twenty more episode commentaries (mostly by expert Marc Scott Zicree), 22 radio adaptations, and vintage interviews.

Russell Lewin

Read more of our DVD reviews.

The cast had all mastered the art of pretending to look at something too interesting to be in the publicity photos.

Release Date: 3 February 2012
PG * 94 minutes
Distributor: Warner Bros Pictures
Director: Brad Peyton
Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Michael Caine, Josh Hutcherson, Vanessa Hudgens

“I can’t believe we made it,” gasps Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, as he washes up on the shore of Jules Verne’s legendary mysterious island after a hurricane and helicopter crash strand him there for 94 minutes of 3D fun. “It’s Jules Verne, man,” drawls his stepson, Sean (Josh Hutcherson). “You gotta believe…”

While we’re not sure you’ll actually end up believing any of this nonsense, you will probably find yourself cracking a grin at this film’s likeable cast, deliberately lame jokes and bonkers setpieces – the weirdest being the sight of humans riding bees through a jungle while being chased by birds, a cheeky homage to Return Of The Jedi‘s speeder chase.

Picking up a year after Journey To The Centre Of The Earth – which saw Sean exploring our planet’s bowels alongside Brendan Fraser – Journey 2: The Mysterious Island tackles another of Jules Verne’s iconic fantasies, this time throwing in nods to Treasure Island, Gulliver’s Travels and 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea to boot.

Trapped on the mysterious island are the now nearly grown-up Sean, his stepdad Hank (Johnson), pilot Gabato (Luis Guzman) and Gabato’s daughter Kailani (Vanessa Hudgens), who Sean falls immediately in love with because he’s a teenage boy and she has boobs. Naturally, she hates him, but once he’s saved her life… well, you know the drill.

Johnson puts aside his ego and his dignity to become the butt of most of the movie’s jokes – he even plays a tiny ukulele and sings! – while Michael Caine is amazingly cheerful as Sean’s long-lost explorer grandfather, probably thrilled to bits to be working in Hawaii. Filmed on Oahu, home of Lost, the lush jungles and beautiful mountains really pop in 3D, and there’s some glorious production design to make the island seem even prettier: not least the discovery of a certain lost city hidden in its depths.

With Johnson’s affable presence, impressive monsters and an action-packed script designed to mesmerise kids with miniscule attention spans, Journey 2 is a jolly good adventure let down only by an overload of Americanisms (“That is so sick!”) and a predictable plot. Sure, its silliness may try the patience of many adults, but in the words of Marty McFly, “Your kids are gonna love it.”

Jayne Nelson

Read more of our film reviews.

Watch a trailer for Journey 2: The Mysterious Island.

Watch a featurette about Journey 2: The Mysterious Island.

Ugly Alien Of The Week

You wasted half your childhood playing Space Invaders (not that you regret it, mind) but would you have been quite so eager to spend all those hours with something that looked like this?

Artist Tom Carruthers decided to create a digital image of what one of those invaders look like – and boy, is it fugly. Still, at least they never took over the Earth thanks to your excellent shooting. Pat yourself on the back, kiddo.

“Inconceivable!” Menu Of The Week

The Alamo Drafthouse cinema chain in Texas has come up with a wonderful way of promoting its Princess Bride screenings on Valentine’s Day: a specially-themed menu! Mmm, those Twue Wuv Twuffles sound delicious. Count us in!

Health & Safety Oversight Of The Week

The Mayor of Storybrooke in Once Upon A Time – aka the Evil Queen – did a good deed in the latest episode, thoughtfully building a playground for local children. See?

But what on Earth are parents thinking, letting their beloved sprogs play on something made out of… blades? It’ll all end in tears, you mark our words.

You’ve Been Slimed Of The Week

An unsuspecting chap in Bournemouth was faced with a puzzle when a bunch of blue jelly balls fell from the sky and landed in his garden. Nobody’s figured out what they are yet, but if this is the first sign of an alien invasion we’ll be over in the corner, sniggering about them having “blue balls”. Heh.

Turning Japanese Of The Week

We all know George Lucas was partly inspired by the films of Akira Kurosawa when he made Star Wars (specifically 1958’s The Hidden Fortress, which is a damn fine movie). But what would his saga have looked like if it had actually happened in feudal Japan with a twist of sci-fi?

Hats off to artist Clinton Felker for these beauties.

More Spurious Awards on the next page…

SYNOPSIS OF SHOW: DR SAM BECKETT, theorising that one could TIME-TRAVEL within his own lifetime, steps into the QUANTUM LEAP ACCELERATOR and VANISHES. This is, in retrospect, a BAD MOVE. For the next FIVE SEASONS, SAM keeps waking up in BODIES that aren’t his OWN, spending at least 30 seconds each episode trying to copy the movements of the PERSON IN THE MIRROR so we know it’s HIM.

The only companion on his journey is AL, who remains in contact with the FUTURE and talks to a GIANT SUPERCOMPUTER named ZIGGY. AL is probably a CYLON.

ACT ONE

SAM BECKETT wakes up inside a BODY that is not his OWN.

SAM: Oh boy.
RANDOM STRANGER: That’s easy for you to say, you filthy murderer! Police! Police! Someone call the police!
SAM: Bzuh?

SAM looks down and he is standing over a BODY. He has a SMOKING GUN in his hand. He RUNS AWAY.

SAM: What I really need now is a hologram from the future to tell me what to do next!

AL appears from NOWHERE. It is amazing that SAM doesn’t hear him coming because AL is wearing a VERY LOUD SHIRT.

AL: Sam, Ziggy says there’s a 90% probability you’re here to clear this poor schmuck’s name.
SAM: Great! How do I do that?
AL: I have no idea.
SAM: Damn.
AL: Why don’t you go find this guy’s girlfriend and shtup her while I do some research?

SAM finds the guy’s GIRLFRIEND and shtups her, although because he is a VERY NICE MAN this somehow isn’t CREEPY. Although it really is, if you THINK ABOUT IT.

THE GUY’S GIRLFRIEND: Wow, Billy, you’re being so much nicer to me today. It’s like you’re a new man or something!
SAM: Er, yes, aren’t I just?

SAM has lots of AWKWARD CONFRONTATIONS with people he doesn’t know but the MAN HE JUMPED INTO does know. Along the way, AL gives him RANDOM CLUES and HINTS which eventually, after what seems like FOREVER, help him clear the MAN HE JUMPED INTO’s name.

SAM: Is there any way Ziggy can figure out how to do this stuff any quicker? What a crap supercomputer! Who on earth built it?
AL: You did. You’ve forgotten because when you leaped it Swiss-cheesed your brain.
SAM: Oh. So why did I build a computer that can only come up with answers to my questions after I’ve all but figured them out myself?
AL: It’s easy, you chump: because otherwise we wouldn’t have a show.
SAM: Right. Uh-oh, I think I’m leaping again…

SAM glows and LEAPS. He finds himself inside a WOMAN.

SAM: Oh boy.

ACT TWO

Because SAM is a GOODY GOODY, he refuses to do what ANY MAN ALIVE would do and spend the ENTIRE EPISODE PLAYING with his new LADY BITS. Or if he does, we don’t get to SEE IT. Instead he tries to fix whatever went wrong in the WOMAN HE LEAPT INTO’s life.

AL: Okay, you’re in 1959 and this woman is the victim of sexism in the workplace. Ziggy says she will never amount to anything because of her mean boss. Maybe you’re here to give her a future?
SAM: You know, Al, don’t you think it’s strange that I’m leaping through time doing good deeds that all seem to have a strong moral message? Who is controlling my leaps?
AL: Search me. What keeps me up at night is how you keep Butterfly-Effecting the future. What if you change something back here that wipes out the future I know? I learned from Star Trek that meddling in the past was bad, but this show says it’s the best thing ever!
SAM: Don’t worry, I’m sure I’ll never meddle in your life, Al.
AL: You’d better not!

SAM is approached by the WOMAN HE LEAPT INTO’S MEAN BOSS. He tries to HARASS her. SAM hits him with his HANDBAG and the MEAN BOSS is so shocked he never HARASSES her again.

SAM: Did I do it?
AL: Ziggy says she goes on to run her own business. She’s happy and it’s all because of you.
SAM: What a relief! It’s really difficult walking in heels. I hope I don’t jump into a woman again.

SAM glows and LEAPS. He finds himself inside a CHIMPANZEE.

SAM: Oh boy.*

*Translated from chimp.

ACT THREE

SAM and the CHIMP HE LEAPT INTO are in a research laboratory.

SAM: This is ridiculous. I’m wearing a nappy! One day I’ll go on to Captain the USS Enterprise and here I am now in a nappy! The dignity!
AL: Ziggy says you’re here to stop Bobo the chimp dying. Heh, you should see how freaked out Bobo is back in our waiting room.
SAM: Wait, everybody I leap into ends up in the future? What do you tell them? How do they handle all this? Don’t they freak out when they leap back and everything’s changed?
AL: The writers never really bothered explaining it. Who cares?
SAM: But it’s like half of the story is missing every single week!
AL: Whatever.

SAM and the CHIMP HE LEAPT INTO get up to all sorts of WEIRD SHIT until finally SAM changes history.

AL: Bobo survived!
SAM: Yes! Can I leap now? Though after this, I’m kind of scared of what I’m going to leap into…
AL: My money’s on you leaping into something totally crazy, like a Cornish pasty.

SAM glows and LEAPS. He finds himself inside LEE HARVEY OSWALD.

SAM: Oh boy.
AL: I said “pasty”, not “patsy”!

ACT FOUR

SAM can’t seem to hear AL and gets caught up in the life of LEE HARVEY OSWALD. This is WORRYING, because it means SAM will SHOOT JOHN F KENNEDY. What’s more WORRYING is that this episode is actually quite DULL.

AL: Sam, don’t do it! Don’t shoot!

Just in the NICK OF TIME, SAM leaps out of LEE HARVEY OSWALD and into a SECRET SERVICE AGENT, who then saves JACKIE KENNEDY’S LIFE.

AL: In the original timeline, Jackie was killed too. You saved her life!
SAM: That’s great!
AL: I guess this means you have the power to change huge events in history without there being any paradoxes or problems or moral implications. Star Trek was completely wrong all those years.
SAM: Sweet.
AL: Just don’t do anything with my timeline, okay?
SAM: It’ll never happen, Al.

SAM glows and LEAPS. He finds himself inside a young version of AL.

SAM: Oh boy.

ACT FIVE

AL is on trial for MURDER. SAM accidentally gets him the DEATH PENALTY and suddenly AL’S HOLOGRAM disappears and is REPLACED by RODDY MCDOWALL.

RODDY MCDOWALL: Hello, I’m your new hologram guy. I used to be a chimp, too. Let’s bond!
SAM: Er… hi?
RODDY MCDOWALL: I’ll be here for exactly 30 seconds, just long enough to make you wonder what this show would have been like if you’d hired me instead of Dean Stockwell. Are you aware that he’s a Cylon, by the way?
SAM: Er…

RODDY MCDOWALL disappears and AL returns. SAM clears his name and ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL.

AL: Please don’t change my timeline again.
SAM: I promise I won’t. Really. Never.

SAM glows and LEAPS. He finds himself inside JIMMY LAMOTTA, a young man with DOWN’S SYNDROME.

SAM: Oh boy… wait… hang on, this feels familiar…

ACT SIX

STRANGE THINGS are happening. SAM has already fixed JIMMY’S LIFE but it’s all unravelling. Eventually we DISCOVER that this is because there is a HOT EVIL LEAPER at work.

HOT EVIL LEAPER: I will put wrong what once went right!
SAM: That is so not cool!
HOT EVIL LEAPER: You can’t stop me! I’m evil!
SAM: Search your feelings! You’re a nice person inside, in addition to being hot!
HOT EVIL LEAPER: …
SAM: See?
HOT EVIL LEAPER: You’re right, what I’m doing is wrong! Also, I love you!
SAM: I love you too!

They are SOULMATES, destined to be together. SAM is actually MARRIED but we’ll just PRETEND that isn’t the case and you just IMAGINED that ENTIRE EPISODE with his POOR WIFE in it. Really, it NEVER HAPPENED. SAM leaping through time SLEEPING WITH LOTS OF WOMEN and falling in love with a HOT EVIL LEAPER isn’t ADULTERY at all. Or perhaps, if he really is WORKING FOR GOD, this means GOD APPROVES OF ADULTERY.

Our heads HURT.

SAM: So wait. If the Hot Evil Leaper is leaping through time doing evil things, and I’m leaping through time doing good things, who’s controlling us? Is it God and the Devil?
MYSTERIOUS BARTENDER: Hello, I’m a mysterious bartender who may or may not be God.
SAM: Oh wow, is this the final episode? But I have so many questions!
MYSTERIOUS BARTENDER: And I won’t answer any of them. But answer me this: do you want to leap home now?
SAM: Woohoo! Hell yeah!
MYSTERIOUS BARTENDER: Or you can meddle with Al’s timeline again, this time to make sure his wife doesn’t give up on him while he’s a prisoner of war and they can live happily ever after together.
SAM: …Oh.
AL: What was that? Are you meddling with my timeline again?
SAM: Maybe.
AL: Goddamn it!
SAM: I think you’ll like this one, though. Also, it will make the audience cry.

SAM glows and LEAPS. He finds himself inside HIMSELF.

SAM: Hello, Al’s wife. He’s still alive, you know.
AL’S WIFE: In that case I will wait for him, he’ll come home and we’ll have lots of kids and a long and blissful marriage! It will be perfect!
THE AUDIENCE: [Weeps]

SAM: Told you they’d cry.

A CAPTION appears on the SCREEN: DR SAM BECKETT NEVER RETURNED HOME.

THE AUDIENCE: [Weeps]

SAM: Oh shit. [Weeps]

END.

Script by Jayne Nelson

Read our other Scripteases

This weekend sees the ultimate sci-festival kick off at Prestatyn Sands holiday camp. To help mark the event, one of the event’s guest stars, author Stephen Hunt, is making his novella In The Company Of Ghosts free for download worldwide on Amazon Kindle from Thursday 2 February to Sunday 5 February – the actual days of the event. In The Company Of Ghosts is a thriller with elements of fantasy and horror, and is the first in Stephen Hunt’s new spy-fi series.

Agatha Witchley used to be a spy in the Cold War, but now she’s locked up in the UK’s premier maximum-security mental institution. She believes that the ghosts of the celebrity dead visit her padded cell and whisper the world’s secrets in her ears. Which is a big problem for the British government, because she’s the only one who can help them when an American billionaire is murdered in London in one of the strangest killings yet. The Home Secretary needs the case locked down and solved before the entrepreneur’s death becomes public knowledge and economic chaos ensures. The woman he has in mind for the job might be paranoid, she might be lethal, she might half-insane and drawing a pension, but it’s amazing how you can forgive that in a genius when it’s a genius’s help you need. Yes, the security forces need Agatha Witchley again. It’s just the ghosts of Churchill, Elvis and Groucho Marx they could do without.

Hunt’s Kindle e-book can be downloaded free during the days of the SFX Weekender from these URLs…

Amazon UK
Amazon USA
Amazon Germany
Amazon France
Amazon Italy
Amazon Spain

Stephen Hunt is a best-selling writer of adventure, thriller, science fiction and fantasy novels. His latest novel, From The Deep Of The Dark, is published on 16 February 2012 by HarperCollins. You can meet him at the SFX Weekender to talk about it – full schedule here including Hunt’s book signing slot.

Do I need a Signing Pass to get a star’s autograph? Not for authors and artists, who’ll be signing at the Forbidden Planet, Black Library, Abaddon/ Solaris/2000 AD and Angry Robot stands in Bartertown. The writers won’t charge for autographs, though you’ll be able to buy books to be signed. Check out schedules around the venue for timings.

To get an actor autograph, however, you’ll need a Signing Pass – they’re included in the VIP package. Non-VIP guests will need to have bought a Signing Pass. We’re expecting these to have sold out before the event, but if there are any still available, they will be on sale in reception at £30 each.

I’ve got my Signing Pass. How do I get an autograph? Actors will be signing in the Signing Area. This year we have introduced a virtual queuing system, to keep the time you spend waiting in line to a minimum. To get access to the actor queues in the Signing Area (each star will have their own line), you will need a Timeslot Ticket for a specific signing session. Each queueing slot lasts an hour.

To get a Timeslot Ticket you will need to go to the SFX stand in reception with your Signing Pass, and select the session you want. (Please note that space in each session is limited, so you may not get your first choice.) When you have your Timeslot Ticket, you’re free to go and enjoy the delights of the Weekender – but please make sure you get to the Signing Area in good time for your session.

Does my Signing Pass guarantee me an autograph from the guests?

Unfortunately we cannot guarantee you’ll get any particular guest’s signature – even if you’re a VIP. Also note that all guests appear subject to work commitments.

When can I get Tickets?

Timeslot Tickets will be available to Signing Pass holders whenever the SFX stand is open in reception – Thursday until 7pm, 10am-7pm on Friday, 9am-6pm on Saturday.

Timeslot Tickets for Friday signing sessions will be available for early birds on Thursday night and on Friday until 4pm.

Timeslot Tickets for Saturday signing sessions will be available from 5pm on Friday until 4pm on Saturday afternoon.

Timeslot Ticket for these “open” sessions – just a Signing Pass. (Please note: Hattie Hayridge and Norman Lovett will not have an “open” signing session, as they will be on stage at the end of the day.)

I’ve got a Timeslot Ticket for Eve Myles, but I’ve decided I’d like another star’s autograph. Can I join a different queue?

No, your Timeslot Ticket is only valid for one actor, one session.

What if I miss my signing session? Will my Timeslot Ticket be valid for a later session?

Your ticket is only valid for your specific hour-long signing slot, so please make sure you’re there on time. If you do miss your slot, you’ll need to queue for another Timeslot Ticket, or return for the “open” sessions at the end of the day.

How many signatures can I get from each actor? Will they sign anything I bring along?

To ensure as many people as possible get autographs, only one signature is available from each person – though they will sign anything (within reason!) you ask.

Can I pick up Timeslot Tickets for my friends?

You can only get one ticket per actor, so everyone who wants an autograph will have to queue separately. But you will be able to get tickets for more than one of the actors when you queue – take care that your timing slots don’t clash!

I have a VIP badge. What does that entitle me to?

Timeslot Tickets for all signing sessions will be available for VIP guests (while stocks last). Standard Signing Pass holders will only have access to Standard signing sessions (ie non-VIP).

Can I buy a star’s photograph for them to sign?

Yes. There will be a stand selling star photos in the Signing Area.

Can I lend my Signing Pass to a mate?

Sorry, passes are non-transferable.

Look out for updates on the SFX stand or in the Signing Area. If you have any questions, go to the SFX stand or ask someone wearing an SFX t-shirt.

Coming to the SFX Weekender? Then here is your mission, set by our chums at Geek Syndicate, should you choose to accept it. Seek the geeks.

They are runnin a competition at the Weekender challenging people to seek out and find as many of the Geek Syndicate team as possible. In order to win a prize they want you to seek out all the Geek Syndicate teamsters at the SFX Weekender. There will be 10 of them attending and you’ll need to get your photo taken with at least seven of them to get a prize and there will be a grand prize for the person to get all 10 of them. Once you find them feel free to shout “Get your Geek on Ninjas!” (We’re not sure what the Grand Prize is, but SFX has donated them a Doctor Who Animated Chess Set Lenticular Edition so that’ll be up for grabs for someone.)

But how will know them? They will be all wearing Geek Syndicate badges – like the one pictured – to make life a little simpler.

How do you claim your prize? Once you have seven of you with difference Geeksters, then ask the seventh member of the GS team you found to arrange your prize. If you are the first to have all ten then you get the special prize.

You will be able to follow us on twitter @geeksyndicate using #seekthegeeks

In case you want a check list, the names of the Geek Syndicate people attending are: Barry “The Nuge” Nugent, David “Monts” Monteith, Montoya, Mattie, Matt, Dion, Amy, Phil, Clover and Antony.

Good luck all.

The crowd at SFX Weekender 2011. Looking... crowdy

SUBSCRIBERS! Are you attending the SFX Weekender?

We’re giving away some snazzy free gifts to our loyal subscribers (while stocks last).

If you fancy getting your mitts on some free stuff (and who wouldn’t, really?), all you need to do is bring along proof of your subscription (i.e.: your subs confirmation letter or email, or a print out of your subscription details from My Favourite Magazines) and the freebies are yours!

See you there everybody.

With only hours to go until the doors open on the SFX Weekender 3, Connie Fisher – star of BBC One talent show How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? – is one of the thousands heading to Prestatyn for the galaxy’s greatest SF event.

Filming for a BBC Wales series called Connie’s Wales, the Weekender will be her first glimpse of the world of sci-fi fandom. As well as interviewing guests and no doubt dealing with a constant stream of Carrie Fisher gags, she will also be part of the judging panel for Saturday’s Cosplay Competition.

To enter the Cosplay Competition you’ll need to register at the desk in the Queen Victoria from 4pm until 7pm on Saturday. Tony Lee, Adrian Hill and representatives of the Victorian Steampunk Society will also be helping judge. There are more details about the competition here.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 will be on sale in the UK from Friday 3 February 2012. Developer Square Enix has also announced that extensive additional downloadable content is planned for the game for both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions. This includes Coliseum Battles that pit you against friends and foes from previous Final Fantasy titles, that, when defeated can be recruited into your party. A Coliseum Battle called “Lightning & Amodar” will be available for Xbox 360 on 7 February via Xbox LIVE Marketplace and on 8 February for PlayStation 3 via PlayStation Network. In addition, there will be opportunity to explore the game’s secrets through story episodes for some of the key characters, such as Lightning which complement the narrative of Final Fantasy XIII-2. For more details visit the Final Fantasy XIII-2 official site, the Final Fantasy XIII-2 Facebook page or the Square Enix Twitter feed.

There are few films more suited to videogame adaptations than Aliens. Though recent games in the Aliens-verse have added Predators to the mix, the latest from Sega and developers Gearbox Software strips the series down to its raw, terrifying basics: marines, pulse rifles and big, scary xenomorphs.

You can see the latest, cinematic, trailer above (which plays out to a snippet of Clint Mansell’s superb score from Moon), or catch it at the SFX Weekender the way it deserves to be seen – on a whopping big screen. It’ll play before all screenings taking place over the three day festival of sci-fi, including Aliens which we’ll be showing on Thursday night.

The Aliens: Colonial Marines UK release date is Autumn 2012.

Clash Of The Titans (1981) Clash Of The Titans (2010)

Giant scorpions! Pegasus! The Kraken! Andromeda in the nuddy! Anybody who was a fan of fantasy cinema in 1981 has fond memories of the original Clash Of The Titans, and generations since have come to love its stop-motion charms (not that Andromeda in the nuddy was stop-motion, we hasten to add).

Although some of the FX haven’t aged as well as they could have done – particularly the giant scorpion fight, the filming of which was hampered by bad weather, making it look dark and dingy – the ’80s Titans still has an ace up its sleeve: Medusa. For kids of the era she was a monster as terrifying as anything CGI can conjure today, dragging her giant snake body around by her hands, rattling her rattlesnake tail, her hair hissing and pulsating… The work that went into her is astonishing: every time Ray Harryhausen filmed a frame he had to move every one of the 12 snakes on her head (24 movements, heads and tails) as well as the rest of her. The sequence is still chilling 30 years on.

As for the remake, however… well, we’ll allow the fact that the scorpions look better in CGI, the Kraken is pretty cool, and Liam Neeson yelling “Release the Kraken!” is pretty damn iconic right there. But something’s been lost in translation; the original Clash revelled in the chance to bring Greek myths and monsters to life, while the remake seems to be screaming, “We’ve spent a ton of money on this, flock to your local cinema to pay us back!” Or perhaps we’re being churlish.

Either way, check out this handy mash-up between the old Medusa and the new one. Which is your favourite?

Mitch Benn, the topical minstrel on Radio 4’s The Now Show, has been signed up to write a science fiction novel by Gollancz, after an impromptu exchange on Twitter.

The deal came about when Benn tweeted that he had time to kill in London and Gollancz Deputy Publishing Director Simon Spanton, who follows Benn on Twitter, suggested he should use that time to come by the Gollancz offices to discuss the SF novel “that you’re going to write for Gollancz”.

“I had no idea at the time whether he was even writing anything, let alone an SF novel,” said Simon. “He tweeted back saying ‘You’re on!’ And we met up that afternoon. He said he was writing a novel. We talked about it and he followed up by sending the opening pages. I read them. Loved them, sent him an email, we met up again, he sent more pages and it went from there.”

Spanton bought world rights, including audio and film, in two books for a good five figure sum via Benn’s manager Ian Wilson. The first novel, tentatively titled Terra, will be published in 2013.

Terra is described as “a charming and hilarious fable” and tells the tale of a girl who spends her childhood on an alien planet. She is taken there by an extra-terrestrial biologist sent to study the wonders of our planet (Rrth, as they call it) before humanity completely wrecks it. Humans are not trusted in the rest of the universe and no one can understand why they are so intent on destroying the only place in the universe we can call home.

During his visit, the alien accidentally causes a car crash and in the wreckage he discovers a baby girl. He decides she needs saving not only from the wreck but from her planet and her humanity. The book is about how alien people can be and how human aliens can be and how Terra’s humanity is, in the end, her greatest gift.

Simon Spanton said: “I’d always loved the laugh-out-loud righteous outrage of Mitch’s contributions to The Now Show. I had a serious “fan boy” moment when he answered my tweet and it’s been lovely to discover a gentler side to his satirical humour in his novel. I can’t wait to let other people see it as well.”

Tomato ketchup: not an adequate substitute for blood.

SFX: This is your first TV role, and it’s as a regular, so it must be a massive deal for you, right?

Damien Molony: “Yeah! I’m really, really happy about it and I’m really excited about the fans seeing it, and the audience at large, because I think it’s a fantastic storyline.”

It must be a bit daunting to follow in the footsteps of Aidan Turner, because Mitchell was such a popular character.

“Yeah, it is. I talked to the producers when we first started – before I did any acting we did a week of rehearsals – and they were like, ‘You are not replacing Mitchell, but you will be seen as Mitchell’s replacement.’ So I was nervous.”

It’s a great platform for an actor: Aidan’s career has really taken off…

“… On to bigger and better things, absolutely, and Russell’s done so well. And there’s so many fantastic guest actors, which is the best thing. You do the readthroughs and you see the trainload of guest actors who’ve come in for it and you’re like, ‘Oh my god, I recognise him, I recognise her!’ That’s the best thing. Then they’re in for three weeks and you get three weeks of opportunities to work with these fantastic actors.”

So tell us about your character, Hal. What’s he like?

“Well, he’s very old, he’s been a vampire for a very long time. Basically he goes through life cycles, because he’s been around for so long: he can have 30 years of being quite calm, quite contained, living a very basic life and then suddenly he’ll have 50 years of out-and-out aggression, rape and torture and tearing through the countryside killing everything he sees. When we first see Hal in one of the prequels it’s 1955 and I’ve been tearing it up in Eastern Europe. In the last 50 years I’ve been hosting dogfights [with werewolves], and we have this specific werewolf who’s a fantastic fighter – he hasn’t lost a fight. I’m getting to the end of a cycle, I’m really tired of the way that I’ve gone and slightly remorseful and very guilty, and there’s a lot of shame, and I kinda realise that enough is enough and I need to go clean. Hal’s very taken by this werewolf, Leo is his name, and I ask him, ‘If you can take care of me would you?’, and Leo says, ‘If you’re looking for a simple life I can provide you with that”. So when the series starts, for the last 50 years basically, Hal has just existed in this bubble.”

Does he remember his past?

“Absolutely, and he’s trying to block it out. So he listens to music and he plays with a domino in order to stop the memories coming back. And Leo’s given Hal basic exercises to do with fitness, and different things to keep his mind focussed and stay away from blood. So there are focus issues that he really has to deal with.”

So he’s completely out of touch with the modern world, basically?

“Completely. He’s got a tweed suit on and he’s very prim and proper. He’s so dated and so 1950s, and he’s terrified of any sort of human contact. And he’s so posh, and he’s so sneering about Tom [McNair] and werewolves. So for Hal the series is him being thrown back into this whole world. When it comes to episode two, Hal moves into the house and is relying on them to look after him, basically. But so much shit happens in this house – it’s probably the worst place to put a vampire in that’s trying to deal with being thrust back into the world! Then I have to go and work in a café with Tom, and that’s obviously a disaster because there’s customers all the time, which is a nightmare!”

Click on “next” (below right) to continue reading.

Although Matt Smith continues vague about his plans for his future on Doctor Who, he was still game enough to muse about what kind of Doctor his successor should be in a Press Association interview [via DoctorWhoTV].

“I think they will need to be a younger, cooler person than me. Or maybe an older, cooler person, who knows?” So, definitely cooler? But aren’t bow ties cool now? But if the Doctors get any younger we’ll be having a foetus playing the Time Lord before long.

But questioned again about his plans for his tenure in the role all he would say is, “I don’t think I’ll be doing it as long as Mr Baker.” He meant of, of course, Tom Baker (seven years) and not Colin Baker (two or three years depending on whether you’re counting the enforced gap year). So hey, we could have Smith around as the Doctor until 2016!

“I just sort of take each year as it comes really,” he added. “We’ve got all the rest of this year to get through and then we’ll just sit down and review it from there and see where it goes… But I love playing the part and I love working with Steven Moffat.”

It’s been a long time coming, but finally, this Friday in the States, Fringe is giving us an Astrid-centric episode.Yep, she’ll being more than just handing Walter a jar of liquorice sticks or pressing some button in the alt-universe in “Making Angels”.

“I cried like five times when I was reading the script,” confesses Astrid actress Jasika Nicole in the video above. “It would be easy for the writers to say, ‘Oh, there’s an Astrid episode; she solves a case.’ But it’s not that simple. It’s a really lovely story about Astrid [and alt-Astrid] meeting each other.”

Fringe returns to UK screens next Wednesday for the second part of season four.

Michael Green

Yep, it’s that time of the year when we start to get an inkling of what the US TV landscape may look like by the end of the 2012, as the pilots get the green light. ABC has ordered four new shows, one of which is definitely SFX, and one other of which may be, according to what we can glean from Deadline.

Gotham comes from Kings creator and The River showrunner Michael Green. It features a female cop who, after pursuing a seemingly unsolvable case, discovers a magical world that exists within New York City.

Zero Hour involves on a man who, in a bizarre twist of fate, is pulled into one of the most compelling conspiracies in human history after spending 20 years as the editor of a sceptics magazine. The driving force behind this one is Prison Break creator Paul Scheuring.

ABC has already announced that it also has a Beauty And The Beast project in development (not to be confused with the other Beauty And The Beast in development at the CW).

US TV network The CW (home of Supernatural and The Vampire Diaries) has ordered two new sci-fi romance series, The Selection and Joey Dakota, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The Selection, based on a series of books by Kiera Cass (left), is described as an epic romance set 300 years in the future about a poor young woman who’s chosen by lottery to participate in a competition to become the next queen of a war-torn nation at a crossroads (hmmm, getting in on some The Hunger Games action are we, CW?). The show is being developed by Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain, whose credits include The Vampire Diaries, Dollhouse and The Secret Circle… but to be fair, they jumped shipped from The Secret Circle very early in the show’s development over “creative differences” so we can’t really blame them for it.

Joey Dakota is apparently a romantic-time travel musical (hmmm, getting in on some Glee action are we, CW?) which features a documentary filmmaker who travels back in time to the 1990s where she meets and falls in love with the rock star she was making a film about. But then she’s cruelly propelled back to the modern day, in the knowledge that he‘s going to die. How can she travel back in time again and prevent his death?

Joey Dakota is being written by Easy A’s Bert Royal and is based on the Israeli format Danny Hollywood (see below… but no, we have no idea what’s going on…)

Yep, these teasers-for-trailers are definitely here to stay, especially with websites like us happy to host them. Teeny-tiny bits of new footage (such as more alien ships in the explodey bits) and the Hulk’s head coming in from the opposite direction to the last trailer. Probably worth a few seconds of your life.

Director Jose Padilha’s reboot of RoboCop now has a scriptwriter, and, according to The Hollywood Reporter, it’s Gran Torino’s Nick Schenk.

Schenk also wrote the original script for The Judge, which is in development at Warner Bros, and being made by Robert Downey Jr’s production company.

Padilha has said that his version of RoboCop will concentrate on what it’s like for a man to be rebuilt as a machine: “In the first RoboCop when Alex Murphy is shot, gunned down, you see some hospitals and stuff and then you cut to him as RoboCop. My movie is between those two cuts. How do you make RoboCop? How do you slowly bring a guy to be a robot?”

The film is expected to go before the cameras this summer.

US network The CW is forging ahead with it pilot for a Green Arrow TV series, called simply Arrow, with the announcement that the show has found the man to fill the emerald outfit.

According to Deadline, The new small screen Green Arrow/Oliver Queen will be Canadian-born Stephen Amell, whose credits include recurring guest roles on shows like Private Practice (in which he played Scott Becker), Hung (Jason), The Vampire Diaries (werewolf Brady) and the US Queer As Folk (spinning instructor). He was also on the shortlist for taking over the lead role in Spartacus following Andy Whitfield’s tragic departure, though that role ultimately went to Liam McIntyre.

The Green Arrow was previously seen on a CW show in Smallville, where he was played by Justin Hartley. The new show is also rumoured to feature Black Canary, another DC superhero.

George was willing to defend his dressing table to the death.

1. At times this feels more like an episode three or four (or even a season finale) than an episode one.

2. Some bits may remind you of Dollhouse.

3. The correct interpretation of a dream is key to this year’s story arc.

4. There’s a new vampire bad guy blessed with a deliciously dry sense of humour.

5. The strains of a Frank Sinatra classic herald some very bad news. But not today.

6. Rentaghost gets more name-checks than ever before.

7. A massive bombshell is dropped five minutes in.

8. We learn who the first two vampires were.

9. This week, he has been mostly wearing a tea towel on his head…

10. A change which you expect to happen doesn’t happen, and a change that you didn’t think was possible does.

11. Freeze-frame some strange symbols and it looks like someone had a crack at inventing the smilie centuries ago!

12. George has cause to despairingly scream a line from Star Wars.

13. We discover a new vampiric Achilles Heel.

14. The problems of Kryptonian hairdressing are discussed.

15. What one actor does in bed may give Doctor Who fans a feeling of deja vu.

16. Reference is made to the fact that the Magna Carta doesn’t have a nipple.

Ian Berriman

“Eve Of The War” airs on BBC Three (and BBC HD) on Sunday 5 February at 9pm.

Read our interview with Michael Socha (Tom McNair).

Read our interview with Toby Whithouse.

]]> http://www.sfx.co.uk/2012/01/31/being-human-eve-of-the-war-spoiler-free-preview/feed/ 2 http://www.sfx.co.uk/2012/01/31/danger-academy-set-be-kickstarted-as-a-us-cartoon-series/ http://www.sfx.co.uk/2012/01/31/danger-academy-set-be-kickstarted-as-a-us-cartoon-series/#comments Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:39:24 +0000 sfx http://www.sfx.co.uk/?p=60294 Forthcoming comic from SFX Weekender faves Tony Lee and Dan Boultwood set for Stateside small screen

Danger Academy, the forthcoming comic from legendary creative team Tony Lee and Dan Boultwood described as Harry Potter meets James Bond, is set to be made into a US cartoon series for TV.

Lee has confirmed the Internet leak to SFX, saying, “We always had this in our minds as more as a cartoon than movie, so to have it developed as an animated series is a dream come true. And the team involved are established, well known and understand the book, so we’re in great hands.”

Kickstart, the company behind such animated series as Wolverine And The X-Men and The Amazing Screw-On Head, is developing Danger Academy with a Hollywood writer/producer for American television.

The first comic is due out in December, but you can quiz Tony and Dan about Danger Academy at the SFX Weekender, where they’ll be presenting a workshop on Friday at 2pm.

Dirk should never have fired his cleaner

It takes a brave show to tackle Douglas Adams, but so confident were the team behind the BBC’s Dirk Gently that they not only adapted Adams’ other famous tale for small screen, they made it their own.

So, after a successful one-off episode that aired late in 2010, the world’s one-and-only holistic detective is back for a three-part series early this year on BBC Four. And to get you ready for Dirk Gently’s new investigations, Dirk himself, Stephen Mangan, and the show’s producer, Chris Carey, are coming to Prestatyn for the SFX Weekender. The duo will be appearing live on stage for a live Q+A, and debuting clips from the new series.

And if you’ve a niggling question about Schrödinger’s cat or Electric Monks, these are the guys in the know, and you can see them live on Friday 3rd Feburary 2012 at the SFX Weekender in Prestatyn. Residential tickets are completely sold out but day passes are still available. Make sure you get yours before it’s too late! Book now by calling 08700 11 00 34, or head to www.sfxweekender.com/tickets for more information.

You know the feeling. You’re watching something and you recognise an actor or actress and just, relax a little bit. It’s them, it’s him or her from that thing you like, and you know even if the rest of what you’re watching is so unbelievably horrible you’ll be picking a hole in your trouser leg to distract yourself (I’ve done this), they will, at least, be watchable. Freelance scientists have come to refer to this as The Sheppard Effect or MarkSheppardosis and this week, in the interests of science, we’re looking at exactly who causes The Sheppard Effect for us. So join us! As we answer this question:

Which actor or actress are you always happy to watch and why?

Steven Ellis: “When I was asked this question I pondered it. I really didn’t have an answer. There are actors I don’t like and I’m unhappy to see them some of the time; those actors I can name straight away. But as to who I’m always happy to see… I couldn’t pin anyone down. There are lots of actors I like to see and they play a lot of different characters. And there is a trend in sci-fi of having guest cast from one show appear in another show. Someone from Stargate shows up in Smallville, someone from Star Trek shows up in Supernatural and vise versa. Joss Whedon seems to use the same ten actors for everything he does. Sometimes that works and sometimes it feels like stunt casting (you’re not gonna like Cabin In The Wood then – ed).

It’s not usually about the actor for me. It’s about the character and the story and the plot and the drama. Unless the acting is particularly terrible I can watch a whole host of different actors in loads of different things… If I had to list the actors I enjoy to see then we could be here all day. So who do I say? I decided to let my DVD collection speak for me. I had a look on the shelves and by sheer number of things I own with him in it Samuel L Jackson wins. I own 16 films with him in, three more films than the nearest rival Bruce Willis. so, there you go. I tried to come up with someone for TV too but I own that many boxed sets of that many shows it just made my head hurt… So, by the logic of numbers the actor I most look forward to seeing is Samuel L Jackson. Will that do?”

Narin Bahar: Pretty much any of the Firefly cast, but particularly Adam Baldwin and Nathan Fillion. Partly it’s because I fell in love with Firefly early and thus experienced the full teeth-gnashing fury at the injustice of such a fab show being culled before its time, and as such whenever any of the cast pop up in anything else I get a twinge of pleasure that their talents have been recognised elsewhere. But partly it’s because they tend to choose fun or interesting roles – especially Fillion and Baldwin, the latter being the hook that got me into Chuck (although I stayed for the geeky references and likeable characters).

Up to a few months ago Michael Emerson (Ben from Lost) was someone else I’d say I’d watch in anything. Not so much now – six episodes of Person Of Interest were quite enough thank you. He is an amazing actor though.

Will Salmon: I could watch Matt Smith all day. And intend to later on from my custom-built observation platform. Also Bernard Cribbins, who is just childhood magic personified. I gave a pathetic little cheer the other day when I saw that episode of The Avengers where he plays a knitting obsessive. And also Scarlett Johansson for tediously obvious guy reasons.

Matt Risley: I figure this is going to be a common one, but….. Nathan Fillion. Not only is he insanely charismatic, but he can pull off comedy, drama and everything in between with equal amounts of talented gusto. Henry Cavill may have bagged the title of “unluckiest man in Hollywood” after years of nearly-roles on some of the world’s biggest movie franchises, but Fillion is almost certainly the “most overlooked”. But if Cavill can get his time to shine, then surely it’s only a matter of when, not if, for sci-fi’s most loveable rogue.

Kelly Harker: Nathan Fillion was born to play Captain Reynolds I’m sure you’ll agree, and even without Firefly he’s an amazing actor and always a hero. I have never been involved in so many Twitter campaigns as much as I have in support of Nathan: “Dear Hollywood gods, please cast Nathan Fillion as Nathan Drake”; “Make Nathan Fillion the Master Chief!’; “Ant Man is an awesome role for The Fillion!” But for now I’m just grateful to have him back on my screen every week as Richard Castle, and showing up as The Holy Avenger in James Gunn’s Super (Thank you so much, Mr. Gunn!). From experimental media such as Dr Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog and PG Porn, to spending his time doing charity work and sci-fi conventions, to big time Hollywood films, Nathan Fillion rocks them all and rocks my world. He will always have fan support because he’s not only a great actor, he’s a great guy. In other words: he’s shiny.

Laura McConnell: I could pick from quite a few candidates for this one, but really the choice is as plain as the four noses on your face. (What? You don’t have four noses? Well, too bad, because I have four answers.) First up is Stargate Atlantis’s Paul McGillion, because he’s gone above and beyond the norm for his fans on several occasions that I know of and three that I’ve experienced myself. Next come Firefly’s Nathan Fillion and Stargate SG-1’s Michael Shanks, for similar reasons. And finally, the internet legend that is Wil Wheaton rounds off the pack, as he seems to truly not be a dick, despite his penchant for playing them so well on some of my favourite shows.

John Cooper: Ron Perlman. Guillermo del Toro’s go-to guy first came to my attention in The City Of Lost Children and del Toro’s Chronos, with his size and unusually big jowls. His casting in Hellboy is perfect and it was about time he got a starring role in his own movie (even if he is heavily made-up throughout). He might be a bit cheesy sometimes, but he’s incredibly watchable, whatever he’s in. My personal favourite Perlman moment isn’t even a movie, but during the making of Alien 4; just the opening few moment where he narrates the documentary, walks into shot, looks out the screen with a steely gaze and says “Hi, I’m Ron Perlman.” This man knows exactly what he’s doing.

Lee Harris: That’s easy: Garrett Dillahunt. I first saw Dillahunt in The 4400, where he played Matthew Ross – a sneaky, no-good piece of work, with a penchant for stabbing people in the back (metaphorically). His performance was spot-on. Via the magic of time travel, I then saw him in season one of Deadwood – not a show that SFX would cover, but one that appeals to almost every geek I know. I didn’t know Dillahunt was in this, though, not at first. He played Jack McCall – a sneaky, no-good piece of work, with a penchant for stabbing people in the back (not metaphorically). Oh, and shooting them. He was virtually unrecognisable in this, though – he was dirty, unshaven, and had a lazy eye. Only a glance at the credits told me he was in it. Unfortunately, the character of McCall was written out (due to the demands of the plot). That didn’t prevent Dillahunt from being in season two, though – oh no, sirree! So impressed were the producers that they offered him a different role, in order to keep him in the show! In season two he played the upright, respectable-on-the-outside Francis Wolcott – a sneaky, no-good piece of work, with a penchant for stabbing people… No, not really: he was the sort to get others to do the stabbing for him.

He also played Doctor Michael Smith in the HBO series John From Cincinnati. This was a change of pace from the other roles listed, above, and though a regular character, his was very much on the sidelines. Still good to watch.

Most people know him from The Sarah Connor Chronicles where he played Cromartie/John Henry. Another change of pace, though he nailed the performance, as he always seems to do.

He was also in No Country For Old Men and the remake of The Last House On The Left. Most of the performances that would bring him to the attention of SFXers, have been in dramatic roles. I was interested to see him play one of the leads in a new US comedy, Raising Hope, which premiered last year. Now into its second season, it has quickly become one of my favourite shows, thanks to Dillahunt and the rest of the brilliant ensemble cast.

He’s done a lot more than the shows and films I’ve listed above, though. His name on a cast list means it’s a show or film I will definitely watch – it’s a guarantee that at least one performance will be top notch.

Alasdair Stuart: Henry Rollins. The man isn’t just a fearsome genius he’s also consistently massive amounts of fun and a pathological auditioner, which is why he turns up in so many things. Need a guy to get thrown through a window by Al Pacino in Heat? Rollins. Need a large, scary looking Cyberpunk doctor in Johnny Mnemonic? Rollins. Need someone to voice Kilowog in Emerald Knights? Rollins. Need someone to play Deadpool in the best alternate universe movie version of the character we’ll never get to see? Rollins. He’s smart, he’s funny, he’s hard as nails and I’m always glad to see him.

And, resembling nothing more than a slightly smaller version of Rollins, Tom Hardy is someone else I’m ridiculously happy to see turn up in pretty much anything. I was one of the four people on the planet who liked Nemesis and since then Hardy hasn’t turned in a bad performance. He’s great, along with the equally fun Gerard Butler and Idris Elba in Rock’n’Rolla, he all but steals the show in Inception and he’s stunningly good as an ex-marine turned Mixed Martial Artist in Warrior, the best movie very few people saw this year. In fact, put Hardy and Rollins in the same movie, it writes itself:

He’s erudite, angry and tattooed!

He’s laconic, angry and tattooed!

They fight crime!

I’d be first in line.

What’s your favourite geeky guilty pleasure?

Prepare for spirited defences of some of geekdom’s best misfit toys as we discuss why we love the things the rest of fandom loves to rag on. Bring your own guilty pleasures, burning torches and pitchforks and we’ll see you then.

Read our other Blogbuster features

If you’re coming along to the SFX Weekender you’ll be among the first people to see this great new comedy drama based around the world of comics publishing, Pulp. It’s on in the Screening Zone on Saturday at 4pm. Tony Leary, the hapless owner of Junk Comics, is gearing up for one last roll of the dice. His new superhero title, The Sodomizer, launches at the International Comic Show. And if life weren’t complicated enough, Tony is drafted by the police to identify another comic company that is laundering money for a gang of Geordie criminals. Aided by his trusty geek sidekicks, Rick and Keith, Tony must defy the odds if he is to become a real life hero. Learn more about Pulp here.

The poor condition of his shed made Michael sad.

On a cold November afternoon in Being Human’s Welsh base (a former bus depot which feels more like a rivet factory or something than a TV studio), SFX stands on the sidelines observing as cast and crew shoot part of episode five of the new series, “Hold The Front Page”.

It features Michael Socha as young werewolf Tom McNair, but he doesn’t have to do much other than sit on his bed and react. The scene showcases the erotic possibilities of Latin, as a female guest star dressed as a barrister (wig, gown and all) advances on Tom, sensually intoning phrases like “habeas corpus” and “mutatis mutandis” whilst unbuttoning her blouse… Good luck figuring out how that might fit into a storyline!

Afterwards, we catch up with the actor to find out what it’s like stepping up from being a recurring guest star to a series regular.

SFX: So, you were in, what, three episodes last year..?

Michael Socha: “Four, actually! The main episodes!”

... And you’re all through the series now. Are you bricking it a little bit?

“Absolutely! Because when it comes to watching it, I’m gonna be in a lot of it…”

So you can’t be rubbish anymore!

“Well, I can, but I’ll be aware of the fact that I’m rubbish in lots, rather than rubbish in the odd scene!”

Do you watch yourself normally, then?

“I do, yeah. In anything that I’m in, whether it’s big or small, unfortunately I watch the first time and it might sound a bit vain, but I’m looking at myself. I’m seeing how I perform and how I fit in with the rest of the people. Then the second time I can watch it as a viewer and see the whole thing together. But I do watch myself yeah, I do, and sometimes I fucking hate myself! Lauren, my sister does it as well.

“It’s like: I know me, and I know Tom, so it’s me who would probably feel it more than anybody. Somebody else might say, ‘That was great’ but I think, ‘No it fucking ain’t!’ But this time, when I’ve watch myself on telly after I’ve gone, ‘I’m fucking proud of you, Mike – you’ve done well!’ But sometimes I watch and think, ‘Oh god, that’s me done now, I’m gonna be a brickie!’ Not that a brickie’s a bad thing, but that’s what I’m gonna be doing for the rest of me life now. I had my chance, and I fucked it up!”

We gather that Tom gets paired up with the new vampire character, Hal, quite a lot. How do they get on together?

“Oh, they hate each other at first! They’re complete opposites. There’s werewolves/vampires, and Hal’s very posh and OCD and very stiff upper lip. He’s got to keep certain things in a certain order – that’s what keeps him on the straight and narrow, keeps him off the blood. He needs routine, he needs order, and there’s bits where if, like, you move a little domino he’ll go mental.”

So is Tom the sort to move things deliberately, to wind him up?

“Well, no – he just doesn’t give a fuck, to be honest! He’s just a woods boy isn’t he? He’s an outdoorsy boy: he’s like Bear Grylls without any intelligence! He’s very naïve though, Tom. He doesn’t understand certain things about people – he’s a lot to learn about the world. He’s got manners and he’s reasonably well-behaved, but I think he needs to grow up a little bit more.”

And he’s the youngest one in the house of course, so do they treat him that way?

“Yeah, Tom’s very much treated like a child, and there’s an episode where Tom goes mad at being treated like a child. He’s had enough of it and goes, ‘Fuck off!’ Well… he doesn’t swear! There’s so many things he hasn’t done – even a teenager has done a lot more things than Tom McNair. But then also Tom’s done things that a man of 70 would never have done, and he knows about things that your typical academic wouldn’t do.”

Click on “next “below  to continue reading

Welcome to Hollow Pike where witchcraft never sleeps. Watch the haunting trailer if you dare . . .

Young-adult supernatural romance author Amanda Hocking is one of the most experienced and successful first-time novelists around. A few years back, that phrase would have been nonsense, but now, thanks to the internet, it makes a crazy kind of sense. Because Hocking  wrote 17 books before she got her first publishing contract, published most of them online in the form of ebooks, and built up a massive fanbase in the process.

What this also means is that her book series out in paperback format, The Trylle trilogy, doesn’t require a massive gap between the publication of each instalment. They’ve already been written, so her publishers are wasting no time getting this quirky, pacy series onto the shelves. The first book, Switched, in which a girl called Wendy discovers that she’s a changeling troll with a scary inheritance, has just been published, with the second book, Torn, due out on 1 March and the concluding tome, Ascend, on 26 April. Yep, you can pre-order the entire trilogy now.

SFX: You’re one of a growing list of young authors who have broken into “proper publishing” by self-publishing. Is this some sort of new wave of literary communism, breaking the publishing power block?

AH: “I know, I think it gives writers more options and more control which is  great and I think the publishing industry might needed a little shake-up I guess. I think publishers have a place too, obviously.”

Did you actually try to get published previously or did you turn straight to e-publishing?

“I tried to get published before. I mostly submitted letters to agents because most publishers don’t take unsolicited material so there was probably eight years before I started self-publishing.”

Can you remember what the agents were saying, what advice they were giving you?

“Most of them were just standard letters saying like ‘Not for us’ and ‘Best of luck’, that sort of thing. A couple of agents gave me notes on Switched, and I tried to implement them a bit.”

You went the route of e-publishing and were massively successful. How many books had you written?

“I’d written 17 books but I only self-published nine or ten, I think.”

You’re still only 27, so that’s an impressive output. How fast do you write?

“I write pretty quickly, it normally takes me two to four weeks to write a book.”

That’s incredibly fast.

“Yeah.”

Do you have everything plotted in your head when you start or do the characters take it where they’re going to take it?

“I outline, a lot. I think that helps me write so quickly.”

With something like the Trylle series would you have the entire trilogy in your head before you start?

“I had the over-arcing themes, but when I wrote the first book I only had the first book outlined and major plot points for the second book and some for the third one. The further away I am from a book, the less I have of an outline.”

Amanda Hocking

The Trylle trilogy centres on trolls. Where did the inspiration to use trolls come from?

“This series is kinda based on Scandinavian folklore. Trolls are big in general over in Scandinavia, and most of them are the kind you normally think of as trolls. But they had some which are really beautiful, though they were mean and ill-tempered, and they practised using changelings and they had the power to trick people into giving them what they wanted. That was the whole ground work for the whole series.”

Was it also a case of finding something new and supernatural to write about, with vampires, werewolves and zombies so overused now?

“Yeah, that was the case too. I knew I enjoyed writing about the paranormal but I didn’t want to write about the things that were already being written about.”

The teenager who discovers they have a secret, supernatural heritage they didn’t know about is a standard trope within fantasy. How do you go about making sure you don’t fall into the clichés?

“I really just tried to be true to how things actually were, in a way. A lot of times in fantasy somebody finds out they’re a princess and everything is magical and wonderful. And in reality if you have a monarchy with a princess that means that there are going to be servants, and classes and people are put upon. It isn’t going to be some magical fairyland. Usually the end of the story is finding out you are a princess and going home. In this trilogy, that’s just the beginning. It’s not always a happy ending.”

Wendy, the girl in the trilogy who discovers she’s a troll, has uncontrollable hair, which you go into with gleeful detail. Do you have uncontrollable hair? Was it a frustration you needed to vent?

“No! My hair is just flat and straight and stuff. It was just one of the ways to tell you’re a troll in the old folklore – they had really curly and unmanageable hair.”

I found a quote from the New York Times that says your books are, “Literature as candy, a mash-up of creativity and commerce.” Is that praise or criticism?

“I take it as a compliment. I’m sure there are people who’d take it as a criticism. I think that it’s a fairly accurate statement. I set out more to be an entertainer than an artist. This is entertainment… that’s how I feel about it.”

When you were e-publishing were you actively marketing your novels online?

“In the beginning I didn’t know what to do. I had a blog, a Facebook page and a Twitter account, but I had no followers or anything. I posted some stuff about it and nobody really read it. Then I became active in writing forums and the book blogger community online. People started reviewing it and talking about it and it became a word-of-mouth thing.”

Going by that route, do you feel you have more of a connection to your readership?

“I think I do. My readership is very important to me and I interact with them as much as I can, I think that is one of the things that has been able to make my book stand out because my readers felt more connected to me and talked about it to promote it.”

More of this interview on the next page

Well, as attempts at revamping your interiors go it's less disturbing than most of Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen's...

1.12
“Afterbirth”
Writer: Jessica Sharzer
Director: Bradley Buecker

THE ONE WHERE Hayden kills Ben, Constance steals the baby, and a new family moves into the Murder House…

VERDICT Talk about going out with a whimper… “And they all lived happily ever after as ghosts”? That’s it? That’s the thrilling climax after 11 episodes (the last two of which were absolute humdingers)? Tut.

With the small matter of the birth of the flippin’ Antichrist shunted to the sidelines for most of the duration, this finale feels strangely anti-climactic. Okay, “Afterbirth” isn’t as kick-the-screen-in infuriating as the finales of Lost or Battlestar Galactica, but that’s only because I had invested less viewing time in it.

It’s hard to swallow the Harmons’ post-mortem contentment – they didn’t get along in life, so why would they be such a happy family in death? The way the scene shifts into dreamy blur-o-vision when Ben finally sees Vivien and Violet (and again later) is also extremely annoying. What’s that all about? It’s as if a new director has joined the show, missed a memo, and thinks you have to make everything look a bit weird whenever a ghost is on screen. And the speed with which Nora grows weary of caring for the stillborn baby rather serves to underline how utterly ridiculous that whole story strand was.

This episode has just two things going for it: Ben’s shocking death by hanging, and the chilling three-years-later coda, where we see just how deadly Tate and Vivien’s evil offspring is. Otherwise it’s dreadfully disappointing.

SPECULATION Ben’s line in the flashback about he can see a happier future unfolding in the Murder House “like a movie in my mind” does make you wonder whether the Harmons were somehow drawn to the house.

CUTE MUSIC Lovely to hear the 1956 version of “Tonight You Belong To Me” by wholesome singing sisters Patience and Prudence.

NITPICKS Why do the Harmons even bother scaring away the Ramos family? They’ll only have go through the same rigmarole again when another family move in. It’s incredibly convenient that Constance had a framed photo of herself and Tate on display all the time but no one spotted it before. What happened to Violet’s corpse? Come to that, did anyone ever come looking for that pest control guy that Tate murdered in episode ten? Presumably his van is still parked outside! And where the hell did the Harmons get that Christmas tree from? It’s not like they can pop down to the local garden centre and buy one, is it?

WHERE NEXT? So where the hell will American Horror Story go for its second season? Well, thanks to co-creator Ryan Murphy we know it’ll leave the Murder House behind. He also teased “There’s a clue in the last three episodes where we say what the second season will be.” If there is it passed me by. Anyone got any ideas?

It might provide a satisfying sense of continuity if season two kept the anti-Christ storyline rolling, but to be honest I could do without seeing another replay of The Omen. In fact, I’m kinda hoping that series two won’t feature ghosts either. And it’d be very cool if there’s a new role for Jessica Lange. Given that she’s just won a Golden Globe, you’d think they would be desperate to keep her on-board – fingers crossed.

BEST LINES
Vivien (of the stillborn baby): “What do you call him?”
Nora: “Little noisy monster.”

Ian Berriman

Read all our American Horror Story season one reviews.

American Horror Story airs in the UK on FX.

Seems like The X-Men: First Class sequel is now definitely on, with director Matthew Vaughn once again calling the shots.

There hasn’t been an official announcement from Fox yet, but Deadline, in a report about Fox renewing its contract with production president Emma Watts, throws in the line, “Fox has just closed a deal with Matthew Vaughn to come back and direct the sequel to X-Men: First Class, with Simon Kinberg writing the script and Bryan Singer back as producer.” Deadline is usually pretty spot on about these matter, so it looks like this could be kosher, rather than just a rumour.

Kinberg was a producer on the first First Class, though didn’t receive an official writing credit. His script credits include X-Men: The Last Stand, Mr & Mrs Smith, Jumper and Sherlock Holmes. No news yet on whether Jane Goldman will be involved, but at the moment she’s busy on Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children, to be directed by Tim Burton (according to the same story).

The first half of The Walking Dead’s second season ended on a hell of a cliffhanger. And if you can’t wait a couple of weeks until the show returns from its break to see how things start to get resolved, then check out the first our minutes of the next episode, “Nebraska”. The Walking Dead returns to the UK on 17 February on FX.

Toby was surprisingly chipper for a man who was trapped in the fridge.

Being Human returns to BBC Three on Sunday 5 February (9.00pm), and in SFX 218 (on sale now) we have an in-depth feature on the fourth series. However, we had plenty of exclusive interview material we couldn’t fit into the mag, so we thought we’d share some of it with you here, starting with creator/showrunner/writer Toby Whithouse. We kicked things off by discussing the aftermath of the dramatic climax to series three, which saw fan-favourite vampire Mitchell staked.

SFX: Was it always the principle that this show is about a werewolf, a vampire and a ghost, so you have to have that kind of line-up, or did you ever think, ‘Well, maybe this can go in a different direction now’?

Toby Whithouse: “Well, there was never any pressure from the channel to replicate the format, but it was something that we felt… I mean, arguably that’s what the show is. EastEnders is set in that square and although they’ll occasionally have excursions, you wouldn’t take them out of that precinct. And similarly with our show, the format is the format and ultimately even though there’ll be moments of flux nonetheless we’ll always return to what is the essential DNA of the show. But that was absolutely our choice.”

Obviously the loss of Mitchell is a big change – and there are others too. How do you get over a bump in the road like that? Misfits went through something similar with Robert Sheehan leaving.

“Losing Mitchell is the least of our problems, to be honest! I think that you just attack the new stories and the new characters with a lot of confidence.

“Also, you have to be definitive about it. So after the end of season three, with the death of Mitchell, whenever I did any interviews, or anything about the show, I would be very dogmatic about the fact that Mitchell is gone. The Mitchell character is dead and he’s not coming back. I felt that unless we made it absolutely clear that Mitchell wasn’t coming back people were always going to be expecting him to come back and therefore not keeping their eye on the stories that we’re telling now.

“But, as I’m sure the guys on Misfits felt, there comes a point when… y’know, much as we loved and adored and respected Aidan, there comes a point where you just do forget he was in it, because actually what you’re seeing on screen in series four is so fantastic.”

Is there a narrative explanation for why the characters don’t move out of Honolulu Heights? Because you’d think they might move out after their friend was killed in the living room…

“Yes, you would think that! It is explained over the course of the series, but as is often the case there’s two explanations: the narrative explanation and the real explanation. The real explanation is –  as always – we don’t have the money!”

Is Wyndham, the Old One we met right at the end of series three, still part of the series?

“That was a one-off. It’s a bit like… is it China that have had about five different Prime Ministers in as many years? So there’s a new nemesis for episode one.”

Michael Socha’s in every episode this year as the young werewolf Tom McNair, and we gather he’ll be providing quite a lot of comedy. What was the thinking there?

“Well, it was a big risk, because we didn’t know what Michael was like at comedy. I mean, obviously he had some very funny bits in This Is England but nonetheless we didn’t know how good he was gonna be when we expanded his character into quite comedic territory. But watching him in the rushes is just such a joy, because he’s a genuinely brilliant comic actor.

“Actually, on that subject I have to say that Lenora as well, in series four… her performances are absolutely breathtaking. I genuinely think she’s one of the best comedy actresses of her generation. We always knew that she was very good and could handle comedy and was very confident with it, but in series four she absolutely knocks it out of the park. With episode three in particular, I texted her afterwards and said that it was one of the funniest, most moving performances I’ve ever seen.”

Was making Tom more comedic character a matter of balancing the amount of comedy and darkness? Because there were some very dark storylines in series three.

“Well, since the pilot it’s always been a very conscious decision. To do the kind of gothic, epic stories that we do you absolutely do have to ameliorate it with comedy. Life is a mixture of styles and tones, and I think that your responsibility as a writer is to reflect real life, and real life doesn’t just exist within the tramlines of one particular tone or style. So everything I write always has a mixture of comedy and tragedy, drama and domesticity because that’s what life is like.

“We’re very lucky with the writers who come on and write other episodes because they have to have lots of different hats, so to speak. They have to be able to handle the genre, they have to be able to handle the character stuff, but also have to be able to handle the comedy, and it’s a big ask for a writer. There are writers who are absolutely stunning in one or more of those disciplines but getting a writer who can handle all of those is quite a tall order. But we’ve been incredibly lucky so far.”

@JoshuaEGomez Since its really ending I feel it's only appropriate... #goodbyechuck #goodbyebeard

After five cancellation-flaunting years on the air, Chuck came to an emotional end with the series finale last Friday. Don’t worry, no spoilers here as we’re still not sure when the final season is going to begin in the UK, let alone end, but for any of our American chums who have already seen it, or any UK friends who deal in the internet dark arts, you will know it’s quite a teary affair. #goodbyechuck was trending for a short while – a testament to the power of the show’s online fanbase which was instrumental in keeping Chuck on the air all these years. Let’s hope they all take Fringe to their hearts now instead, eh?

By way of a final tribute to one of SFX’s favourite shows here’s a brief roundup of tweets from the stars (and fans) of Chuck:

@ZacharyLevi To everyone who made these 5 years of Chuck possible, thank you from the bottom of my heart. I was honored to be a part of this journey.

@Y_Strahovski Taking a bow. Wiping the tears. Sending a hug. And saying thanku…For the last time…you.were.all.amazing. #goodbyechuck in my heart 4ever

@adamsbaldwin #GoodByeChuck ==> Ever Forward! ~ @ZacharyLevi @Y_Strahovski @JoshuaEGomez @JoshSchwartz76

@MarkChrLawrence Thanks for all the fun over the last 5 seasons. Chuck fans are the best! lockerz.com/s/178196280

@BrandonJRouth Thanks to Chris Fedak and Josh Schwartz for including me in the #Chuckverse. And thx to all the lovers AND haters of Daniel Shaw :) #CHUCK

@RealMichelleT @JoshSchwartz76 Congratulations on a great run. Like Buffy, all good things must come to an end, great to go out on top. #Chuck

@MekennaMelvin Tonight’s the night!!! are you guys ready?! #GoodbyeChuck

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@JoshSchwartz76 #goodbyechuck and thank you all. The end

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In other, weirder, news seems Angel star David Boreanaz is taking on Misha Collins at his own game and attempting to become the king of surreal on Twitter. That or this is some kind of reference to his show Bones. We prefer the former option.

@David_Boreanaz What’s worse peeing in the pool or Synchronized swimming?

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The SFX Twitter Stream

@TheRealNimoy I’ve been invited to visit the set of the new Star Trek film. Hope to do that next week. LLAP

@GroovyBruce “@DarthMode: @GroovyBruce will “The Oldsmobile” be in the Evil Dead remake?” Chances are very good. pic.twitter.com/0j9ZvHul

@BryanFuller DEAD EWOK pic.twitter.com/XOSpSMka

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@rainnwilson In what universe was Super not nominated for an Oscar! #Super #BestPicture #ShutUpCrime

@russelltovey I’ve seen ep 1 of Being Human series 4…. Hells bells x

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@EddieMcClintock What’s the first thing any self-respecting gentleman, buys himself upon arriving in Toronto for a nine month odyssey? pic.twitter.com/eqSzrTc9

@EmilyroseLA @EddieMcClintock gotta play my uncharted game:)

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@EddieMcClintock I hear good things! Can’t wait! xo RT @EmilyroseLA Gotta play my #Uncharted game:)

@wilw The guy who played Data in the TNG porn parody won Best Supporting Actor at AVN. HA! TAKE THAT EVERY PORN PARODY THAT ISN’T STAR TREK!

@pattonoswalt (1 of 2) Love reading all the idiots who somehow believe I’m involved in a PRINCESS BRIDE re-make.

(2 of 2) Calm down, Twitter. PRINCESS BRIDE is DEFINITELY being re-made, but I am NOT involved. It’s an all-black version.

@SethGreen By the way @BreckinMeyer did I mention it also travels thru time? twitpic.com/8czmi9

@edgarwright If @SimonPegg reads this, then he’s definitely checking his Twitter while we are writing.

@simonpegg @edgarwright You nob.

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Videogames don’t come more nerve-jangling than the Resident Evil series. The games have been a staple of small screen scares for more than 15 years, but now you can experience the terror on the bus, in the office or even on the loo thanks to Resident Evil: Revelations – a brand new entry in the series set between the events of Resident Evils 4 and 5.

Series favourites Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield return, along with new characters Clive R O’Brian and mysterious agent Raymond Vester, for a complex, intertwining narrative experience. Jill and BSAA partner Parker Luciani have been sent to search for Chris Redfield, whose last known whereabouts put him onboard a supposedly abandoned ship. Danger hides around every corner as you explore the confined space of the ship and face menacing new enemies and the T-Abyss virus.

In a first for the 3DS Resident Evil: Revelations heralds the return of classic Resident Evil game play in campaign mode, while the brand new Raid Mode offers a different kind of Resident Evil gameplay experience, in either solo or co-op play. Compete as Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield on a variety of missions to defeat enemies, earn points and select from a range of upgrades to improve your weapon’s performance as well as level up your character.

Built from the ground up specifically to make the best use of the Nintendo 3DS capabilities, players can utilise the new Circle Pad Pro accessory with Resident Evil: Revelations for more effective expert play, or as a traditional “twin-stick shooter”. You can also make use of the Touch Screen to solve puzzles, switch between weapons more easily and check out the labyrinthine map.

Resident Evil: Revelations is on sale across the country from 27 January 2012 as a standalone game or limited edition bundle, including a copy of the game and the new Circle Pad Pro accessory. Resi fans are in luck, however, because we have two standalone units and one bundle to give away to three lucky winners. To be in with a chance of winning take a shot at the following simple question.

I’ve been watching loads of Stargate: SG1 of late. Sky TV has been showing two episodes a day on weekdays for a while and I’ve been really enjoying them. Sky used to show episodes at tea time and I can remember Channel 4 showing episodes on Sundays. Between all these showings it’s been ages since a week went by where I didn’t watched at least one episode of Stargate.

It’s funny when I think of SG1; if I’m asked what sci-fi I’m into I usually say “Star Wars, Star Trek, BSG, Farscape and 2000AD’s Judge Dredd, maybe name a few films…” I never mention Stargate… And I think I really should. I’ve probably watched more Stargate over the years than any of the other stuff. It’s on the telly all the time and I’m always happy to watch it, even if I’ve seen the episode before.

Unfortunately my mind seems to always relegate Stargate to the back; behind whatever current hot show is flavour of the month, or whatever films I’ve seen of late, I don’t think I’ve really ever talked about the show with friends or on the SFX forum at all. Stargate has always been there, plodding along, providing excellent drama and entertainment week in and week out for all its ten year run and beyond. It’s about time the show got a bit of love from me…

After starting as a TV spin-off of a fairly standard sci-fi movie back in 1997, Stargate: SG1 went on to become the longest-running North American science fiction show with ten seasons and 214 episodes. The show has only recently had that crown taken away by a teen Superman in Smallville, which racked up 218 episodes before it finished last year. Stargate: SG1 also spawned two other live action shows, a couple of TV movies and a cartoon series.

It’s a great show with a great premise; a small secret branch of the US military exploring and defending the Earth from the evils galaxy. The Stargate itself is a great narrative device. Like the TARDIS in Doctor Who or Star Trek’s transporters, it is the perfect sci-fi gadget for getting a wide range of story possibilities off the ground with the minimum fuss. From the ongoing Goa’uld/Replicators threat to the exploring-a-planet-of-the-week stories the potential possibilities are vast. You never know what you’re going to get: from small character pieces to laugh-out-loud comedy episodes through to epic space battles, Stargate covers it all. There’s arc stuff and season-long storylines but it’s not essential to know what’s going on as you can catch up quickly and easily. Unlike some of the recent TV shows where you could quickly get lost if you miss just one or two episodes, SG1 is very easy to dip in and out of.

The core group of SG1 character are excellent: Sam Carter is the military scientist always ready with a techobabble answer; then there’s the taciturn ex-Jaffa Teal’c and his extremely expressive eyebrow; Daniel Jackson is the brilliant civilian Egyptologist turned soldier; and finally their leader is Jack O’Neill, who brings a whole new meaning to the idea of a laid-back command style. It’s a great group of characters, played by very good actors. The casting is great, all four of the main cast work well together and look like they all get on off-screen; that camaraderie translates onto the show and gives everything a slightly informal familial feel. And with a large number of secondary characters from General Hammond and the much missed Doctor Frasier to countless alien allies and the almost pantomime range of Goa’uld villains the show is never short of interesting and engaging characters.

The show also had a great number of sci-fi TV guest faces over the years too. Everyone from Voyager’s EMH to RoboCop’s bad guy, there’s always someone familiar showing up. Speaking of guest casting I haven’t seen the last two seasons when Ben Browder and Claudia Black join the cast and as a fan of Farscape I was looking forward to seeing them, but I’ve discovered that this run of SG1 is ending this week with the last episode of season eight. Sky is replacing the show with double episodes of Stargate: Atlantis in the same time slot. I haven’t seen much Atlantis so I’ll be giving that a go next.

There has been a steady progression for sci-fi shows to get darker and grittier over the years, even SG1’s second live-action spin-off, Stargate: Universe went down that path, although I didn’t think the “dark” they talked about meant you wouldn’t be able to see what was going on because it was being filmed with all the lights off. Every new project announcement seems to relish the idea of dark and gritty, or serious and adult and edgy. Stargate: SG1 wasn’t like that. With this show you (almost) always knew who the baddies were. It’s a small bunch of heroes saving the Earth week in week out from the worst of the galaxy. It was a classic show of good versus evil. The show is action packed and full of drama but it never takes itself too seriously. In fact humour is one of the great things about the show; this is a show that was never afraid to poke fun at itself or sci-fi in general. Even when faced with insurmountable odds there was always a cheeky humour to everything. And this is something that I think is sorely missing from our TV schedules. Sure, we have a few shows like Warehouse 13 or Eureka that embrace the funny – shows that don’t take themselves too seriously – but mostly things have gotten so serious that it can be a little bit depressing.

So, I’m glad shows like SG1 are still being shown on our screens, sci-fi wouldn’t be half as much fun without Stargate and shows of its type. It even had space ships… I miss shows with space ships in them…

Looking for a theme for this week’s quiz, we were inspired by the premiere of Woman In Black that took place at The Royal Festival Hall a couple of days back (even though the film’s not actually released to us commoners until 10 February – what happened? Did somebody at the film company forget to book Leicester Square? “Bugger. Hang on, the Royal Festival Hall’s available… but only three weeks before we open. Ah, what the hell, we’ll take it!”). So, what did we go for? Haunted house movies? Potter stars in other roles? Victorian sci-fi.

Nah. Sorry. We couldn’t get much further than the title.

So below are some sci-fi and fantasy women in black to identity – name of character, please!

And if you think this is all some shockingly sexist excuse to print a lot of female backsides, then we promise we’ll redress the balance with a “Gratuitously Shirtless Men” Blastermind in a couple of weeks (there’s a special Weekender-related Blastermind planned for next week).

Usual request: Please don’t put answers in the comments section below (though feel free to use it to boast/bemoan how well/badly you’re doing) but the folks on this thread are quite happy for you to post and discuss answers if you follow the golden rule of only posting answers in invisible text (if you don’t know how ask somebody there – they’re very friendly).

Answers (and reveal images) on the next page

Answers on the next page…

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Vin Diesel continues to use his own Facebook page to publicise the third Riddick film (well, it’s cheaper than hiring a PR company), posting this new pic of him on set. On the third film, once again directed by David Twohy, Diesel is joined by Katee Sackoff, Jordi Molla and Nolan Funk. And here’s another pic hs posted a couple of weeks back…

Meanwhile, here in the UK, season four is set to kick off on FX on Sunday 5 February at 10pm.

Game Of Thrones season two starts in the UK on Monday 2 April, 9pm on Sky Atlantic.

Release Date: 27 January 2012
15 | 99 minutes
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Director: Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
Cast: Clive Owen, Carice van Houten, Daniel Bruhl, Kerry Fox, Ella Purnell

This unusual, beguiling ghost story is almost as hard to see as its titular spook, getting a very limited cinema release. It’s a story of parallel hauntings in England and Spain, and the Spanish scenes are (horror of horrors!) subtitled. Perhaps the distributors feared that the “foreign” bits would deter the stereotyped multiplex crowd.

A little Spanish boy and a 12 year-old English girl, both with vivid imaginations, are similarly menaced by a lurker in their bedroom shadows: a no-faced figure in a hood, dubbed Hollowface. Harry Potter fans will quickly think of the Dementors. Intruders has many such familiar elements (this is basically a “monster in the closet” story). However, it’s not a problem; the film uses its archetypes wisely, and never glibly.

Clive Owen plays the English girl’s dad; nonplussed about his girl growing out of teddy bears, he’s reassured that she still has childish terrors. (The film would make a strong double-bill with last year’s non-supernatural drama Trust, where Owen played a father whose daughter fell victim to a molester.) Intruders’ storybook trappings and parent/child threads link the film to Spanish offerings like Pan’s Labyrinth and The Orphanage.

There’s a twist which may throw out some viewers – not least because of the actor involved – but it doesn’t diminish the film’s achievements, which include a “dark and stormy night” prologue which could have been a great short film by itself, and a lyrical final image.

Andrew Osmond

Read more of our film reviews.

Unexpected Guest Star Of The Week

Doctor Who’s time vortex relocates to Being Human USA.

One-Upmanship Of The Week

Lincoln: “I lost a partner.” Peter: “I lost a universe.” Game set and match to Fringe’s Mr Bishop.

Theory Of The Week

Private Eye continues its proud tradition of incisive investigative journalism by uncovering this exclusive. We’re sold.

Avant-Garde Musician Of The Week

Man tries to get a tune out of somebody’s leg (“Footloose”, perhaps?) on Being Human USA.

Oversight Of The Week

We originally screen-grabbed this image from Lost Girl for an entirely different award (feel free to make your own suggestions), but then we noticed something a bit odd. What the hell does, “A SHORT TITLE” mean in the DOG (Digital On-screen Graphic, or Distracting On-screen Guff as they’re better known)? It’s there throughout almost the entire episode, only vanishing in the final act. The it dawned on us: it’s a bit of guide text that’s somebody’s forgotten to change to something relevant… Good job they didn’t use “Type some sh*t in here”.

Enemy Of The Week

Fern Britton – definitely not a sci-fi fan. Appearing on panel show Room 101 she tried to put science fiction into the hate room, but failed miserably, mainly because her arguments were banal. “It’s not real,” she moaned, to which host Frank Skinner pointed out that the word “fiction” suggested as much. Britton said she’d tried to watch Star Wars three times, but, “I’ve never got past the first 12 minutes as I’ve always fallen asleep,” and called Doctor Who, “dreary.” When she complained, “[science fiction] is always set in the future”, fellow guest Robert Webb pointed out that Star Wars was set “a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away”, to which her witty response was to call him “nerd”. The irony of the fact that she was appearing on a show named after one of the most famous science fiction novels ever completely escaped her. Because she is clearly very, very stupid. As Skinner pointed out sarcastically, “the problem with Star Wars is that there’s quite a lot of reading at the beginning.”

Vampire Slayer Of The Week

Why Audis and vampires don’t mix.

More Spurious Awards on the next page

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This is one 21st-century reboot that didn’t make audiences go ape. While some did love it – and it was a moderate box-office success – others deemed it a indulgent waste of time. But is really all that bad?

Case for the prosecution: The original King Kong, released in 1933, is a bona fide celluloid classic. Anybody could have told you that a remake was a bad idea – just look at the disastrous 1976 version with Jessica Lange – but that didn’t stop Peter Jackson from ploughing ahead with his big-budget update once he’d finished throwing that ring into Mount Doom.

But did he do the original film justice? Did he heck! The King Kong we were given in 2005 was a mess: a film that was self-indulgent, over-long and in love with its own technology. It insulted the memory of the ’30s original.

Case for the defence: Wow, you really hate it, don’t you? But come on, Jackson’s King Kong isn’t that bad. It’s an entertaining adventure with a likeable cast, some truly spectacular setpieces and a central performance that helped to change cinema forever. Andy Serkis as Kong built on all the good work he’d done as Gollum, confirming beyond a shadow of a doubt that a CGI character could be a triumph (repairing all the damage done by Jar Jar Binks…). You can’t deny that Kong is magnificent – the great ape barely rings false during the film’s entire runtime.

Case for the prosecution: The prosecution must concede that point. Our concerns with King Kong aren’t with the eponymous beast, however (more the lack of him, to be honest – it seems like centuries pass before we get to see him). While it’s definitely laudable that you can see every hair move on his furry head, it takes more than cutting-edge FX to make a film worthwhile. It needs a plot that hangs together as more than a series of setpieces. That’s all King Kong is: one action sequence segueing into another. Criminally, the bits in between are tedious.

Case for the defence: But it’s the same story as the original, with only one or two tweaks! And may we just point out to the court that the ’30s King Kong relied heavily on its cutting-edge FX, too. The majority of people these days only remember it for its stop-motion effects, so brilliantly rendered by Willis O’Brien.

Case for the prosecution: But that’s the point! A film should be more than a collection of monsters fighting with each other using the latest cinematic technology – it should have a heart as well! With King Kong, that lies in the central relationship between girl and beast. The original gently implied that Kong was in love with Fay Wray’s Ann Darrow, but this one tries too hard to make that feeling mutual. There are too many moments in which Naomi Watts’ Ann simpers and giggles over Kong. They even go ice-skating, for pity’s sake. Get a room, guys!

Case for the defence: That scene has received a lot of stick over the years and yes, it may have been a little misjudged; Jackson has a soppy side and sometimes he can get carried away (although he’s certainly not as bad as someone like Steven Spielberg). However, if you watch it again you’ll note that it’s not as daft as you remember – it’s just a gentle moment before the big finalé, allowing you to take a breather. It’s not as though Kong straps on skates and dances to “Bolero”. Lighten up.

Case for the prosecution: He belly flops on the ice. On purpose.

Case for the defence: Oh, don’t be such a joyless misery guts. Look, Jackson worked hard to ensure that you felt something for Ann and Kong; you saw them bonding, which made the tragic finale all the more tear-jerking. It adds a lovely layer to the film that the original lacked – all Fay Wray’s Ann did was scream!

Case for the prosecution: But the scenes between Ann and Kong aren’t the only ones Jackson over-eggs. Take the journey to Skull Island, for instance. We’re introduced to the crew of the boat as though they’ll all be hugely important characters later on. Jamie Bell’s character gets a back-story and everything, but none of it amounts to a cent: it’s all just padding. It’s like one film stops and another one begins.

Case for the defence: It’s supposed to make you feel for them when they all start dying off. Clearly you have no empathy.

Case for the prosecution: It’s a waste of time! You don’t need to know that your average Star Trek red shirt was tragically orphaned at an early age, do you? It doesn’t matter! And then there’s Jack Black as Carl Denham. He spends the entire film mugging at the camera like he’s in the Three Stooges, even when people are dying all around him. He’s a comedian in the middle of a drama, but he never stops being a comedian. He’s always Jack Black, no matter what, and it brings you out of the action every time he speaks. Or, more commonly, gurns.

Case for the defence: Nonsense! There has to be some comedy in the film or it’s all doom and gloom! Black has a huge following and he brought lightness that may otherwise have been missing.

Case for the prosecution: Jackson may as well have cast Michael McIntyre as Hamlet. Such a misfire! Just watch the godawful “dinosaur stampede” scene and tell us he belongs there: it’s like he’s in an episode of Scooby-Doo. Although, to be fair, that entire sequence is one big cartoon anyway. If ever there was a setpiece that could have been excised for its sheer idiocy, this is the one. It’s dreadful.

Check out our other Isn’t It About Time features

Case for the defence: Your honour, the defence feels that the prosecution has said enough. Now it’s our turn in front of the court. First, may we just reiterate how brilliant Andy Serkis is as Kong? Naomi Watts deserves credit, too, for managing to “sell” her scenes with him when most of them were done through greenscreen.

But that’s not all. While we’ll allow that some CGI doesn’t work – such as the ill-advised dino stampede mentioned above and the pole-vaulting native stick men – just check this out:

A re-enactment of the original film’s T-rex versus Kong fight that is as believable and adrenaline-filled as O’Brien’s stop-motion version was to ’30s audiences. Look at that badass gorilla mofo defeat that dinosaur! It’s thrilling cinema, and you’re a fool if you can’t see it!

Case for the prosecution: …We will agree. Grudgingly.

Case for the defence: Then there’s the cinematography, which is amazing – particularly given that so much of the film is computer-generated. The jungles of Skull Island are realised with lush, steamy realism, and so is 1933 New York, rendered in exquisite detail. The climactic scene atop the Empire State Building is awash in glorious sunset golds (a perfect reimagining of the original, which couldn’t use such a trick). And the final fight which leaves Kong mortally wounded is also genuinely moving, given that Jackson worked so hard to set up the relationship between woman and ape.

The film is full of fond homages to the original and sensational makeovers to bring it fully into the 21st century; a tough task for any filmmaker, but Jackson and his team have managed it with grace, control and delicacy.

Case for the prosecution: Delicacy? Really? So having Kong fight off THREE T-rexes isn’t just showing off? It’s CGI porn!

Case for the defence: Why not? It’s a great fight and it’s wonderfully choreographed. At least you can figure out what’s going on, unlike in something like Transformers. It’s well-reasoned and exciting.

Case for the prosecution: Pah. Well-reasoned? This is a movie that has its human star spending the final act of the story being carted around a snowy, freezing New York in a flimsy dress without shivering once! Can you imagine how cold it must have been atop that skyscraper? Did she shudder? No!

Case for the defence: You’re really nitpicking now.

Case for the prosecution: Okay, yes, we’ll admit it. It’s because this film drives us up the wall. It’s too long, it’s full of its own importance and it’s illogical. Basically, it’s a filmmaker putting his own stamp on his favourite film for no other reason than to prove he can do it better.

Case for the defence: Phooey! It’s a filmmaker bringing a classic film to an audience who might never have bothered investigating it otherwise. How many people watched the original King Kong out of curiosity after seeing this one, eh? It’s a tribute, and one that was handled well.

Case for the prosecution: The prosecution must rest its case here. To sum up: “It was Jackson killed the beast.”

Please note that the Friday schedule has changed since first published – unfortunately, circumstances beyond our control mean that Anthony Head will not be signing before 4pm.

Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence, left), Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson, center) and Cinna (Lenny Kravitz, right) in The Hunger Games

Lionsgate has just released two new images ahead of the highly anticipated The Hunger Games. Based on Suzanne Collins’ bestselling novel, The Hunger Games stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Woody Harrelson, Stanley Tucci and Elizabeth Banks, and will be released on 23 March 2012. In a not-too-distant future, the United States of America has collapsed, weakened by drought, fire, famine, and war, to be replaced by Panem, a country divided into the Capitol and 12 districts. Each year, two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal intimidation of the subjugated districts, the televised games are broadcasted throughout Panem as the 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors, literally, with all citizens required to watch. When 16-year-old Katniss’ young sister, Prim, is selected as the mining district’s female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart, Peeta, the son of the town baker who seems to have all the fighting skills of a lump of bread dough, will be pitted against bigger, stronger representatives who have trained for this their whole lives.

Jennifer Lawrence stars as 'Katniss Everdeen' in The Hunger Games.

It’s not sci-fi, but hey, it’s got Eve Myles, aka Gwen from Torchwood, so we don’t mind bending the rules on this occassion. Myles will be starring alongside Zach Braff (Scrubs and Garden State) when he makes his UK stage-acting debut in All New People, written by Braff and directed by award-winning Peter Dubois.

In the dead of winter, at his wealthy friends’ Long Beach Island apartment, Charlie (Braff) has hit rock bottom. Away from the rest of the world, this perfect escape is interrupted by a motley parade of misfits who show up and change his plans.

Visit www.allnewpeople.co.uk for full information & to book tickets for Manchester, Glasgow & London; or try your chances in our competition to win one pair of tickets. To be in with a chance of winning answer the following simple question.

Selene got absolutely LIVID whenever someone failed to put their crisp packet in the bin.

Release Date: 20 January 2012
18 | 88 minutes
Distributor: Entertainment
Directors: Måns Mårlind, Björn Stein
Cast: Kate Beckinsale, India Eisley, Stephen Rea, Michael Ealy, Theo James, Charles Dance

It’s been six years since Kate Beckinsale donned Selene’s eye-catching black catsuit/corset combo, and though she doesn’t appear to have aged a day, the Underworld series is now looking very long in the fang.

This fourth chapter follows on directly from the second. Though technically a direct continuation of Underworld: Evolution’s narrative, Awakening feels more like a reboot, with the series’ rich mythology jettisoned in favour of a new status quo. Humanity has learnt of the existence of vampires and lycans and hunted them to near extinction. Selene is captured, but escapes 12 years later with the hybrid child she never knew she had in tow, a child which could change the outcome of the war forever…

Awakening could be praised for attempting something different, but given that humans take a back seat almost immediately after the opening mass-cleansing montage in favour of a tired super-Lycan conspiracy, the new world established in Awakening feels like a missed opportunity. Directors Måns Mårlind and Björn Stein up the gore quotient significantly, with Lycan noggins prised apart and throats ripped out at regular intervals, but the pair have little sense of pacing or an eye for dynamic action sequences, while the prevalence of CGI wolves betrays the series’ roots in much more satisfying practical effects.

It’s not awful, merely functional and lacking an identity now that the lore of previous entries has been abandoned. If you only see one sexy-black-catsuit-lady-killing-monsters-in-pointless-3D movie this year you might be better off waiting for Resident Evil: Retribution.

Jordan Farley

Selene features on the cover of our latest Vampire Special.

Find out where Selene placed in our latest Top 50 Vampires poll.

Read more of our film reviews.

Perfect Sense: not actually a story about conjoined twins.

Release Date: 30 January 2012
2011 | 15 | 92 minutes * £12.99
Distributor: Arrow Films
Director: David Mackenzie
Cast: Ewan McGregor, Eva Green, Ewen Bremner, Stephen Dillane, Connie Nielson, Dennis Lawson

The problem with most modern apocalyptic blockbusters is that you care for the characters about as much as a fungal infection. There is, however, a proud tradition of more intimate apocalyptic dramas on the big screen, from Don McKellar’s criminally underseen gem Last Night to the superb Children Of Men, films just as concerned with human interactions as big bangs. Small budget Brit flick Perfect Sense has the good sense to shoot for a spot amongst the latter.

And it almost succeeds. By making its end of the world scenario far more subtle and sinister than an alien invasion or mumbo-jumbo Mayan prophecy it doesn’t overshadow the pivotal central relationship between Ewan McGregor’s chef, Michael, and Eva Green’s ludicrously glamorous epidemiologist, Susan. One by one the five human senses simply stop working, on a global scale. First smell (preceded by feelings of profound grief), second taste (terror and voracious hunger) and third hearing (rage). At first humanity attempts to carry on as normal, but as the body horror becomes something that can no longer be ignored and the world falls apart around them, Michael and Susan are drawn closer and closer together.

Sci-fi is a genre of ideas, and it’s in this respect that Perfect Sense soars. Its high concept is a deft means to explore something as fundamental as human relationships. There are ideas here that will stick in the mind long after the film has finished, such as a street artist performing a theatre of the senses, or the sight of dozens frantically scoffing anything they can get their hands on, from lumps of butter to sticks of lippy.

It’s beautifully shot, scored and edited too. Unfortunately it’s hobbled by the central performances, which feel too distant to allow the level of emotional investment required, while the use of an overbearing voiceover and dubious documentary footage give the film a slight whiff of pretentiousness – odd, given how silly the film gets on occasion.

Is it an ecological apocalypse? A biological attack? The questions are never answered because they’re not important. What is important is the bond between the two figures at the film’s heart. Unfortunately this isn’t enough to get your own senses fired up.

Extras:

A Q&A with McGregor and a Making Of.

Jordan Farley

For an alternative perspective, read our cinema-release review of Perfect Sense.

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"Oh my god, what's that?" "I think it's an SFX reader." "I'm not filming that, it might crack the lens."

Release Date: 3 February 2012
12A | 83 minutes
Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox
Director: Josh Trank
Cast: Dane DeHaan, Alex Russell, Michael B Jordan

Apparently, there’s an American version of Misfits in development. We say “apparently”, because watching Chronicle you may wonder if it hasn’t been made already. Albeit with a “faux documentary” makeover.

Having said that, Chronicle is neither as funny as Misfits or as lightweight as its trailers suggested. That’s not because it’s a failed comedy; rather, it’s a lot darker and disturbing than you might expect. This is evident right from the opening scene, with shy teenager Andrew (Dane DeHaan) barricading his bedroom door against his abusive, drunken father, warning him, “I’m filming everything now”. And he does. Compulsively. To the point where girls think he’s a freak and bullies play football with his camera.

After that, things lighten up for a while as Andrew, his cousin Matt and a guy they meet at a rave, Steve, gain telekinetic powers from a never-explained underground something, which bonds them into a close-knit trio. But even then, Andrew’s hang-ups threaten the party. While Matt is enthusing that the day they learn to fly is “the best day ever of my life”, Andrew is questioning why Steve is now his friend, whereas before their shared experience they never even exchanged glances as school.

When a redneck tries to drive them off the road, and Andrew forces his car to crash into a lake, you can sense the fall coming. And when it comes, it comes hard, fast, and spectacularly. Amazingly for a film that had a budget of only $15 million the final battle is one of the best “superhero” slugfests ever put on screen. Visceral, dirty, desperate and gutwrenching, it’s like Carrie meets Superman II, and is worth the price of the ticket alone. Its impact is all the stronger because you’re genuinely invested in the characters. It makes you hope that the rumours about director Josh Trank helming The Fantastic Four are true.

The message doesn’t seem to be “power corrupts” so much as “power shouldn’t be given to people with borderline psychoses” – well, duh, you might think. But Andrew, despite all his issues, is a sympathetic character – you can see how his psyche has been beaten out of shape – and his journey into the heart of darkness remains thoroughly engrossing. All three leads nail their roles, and the relationship between them is the true heart (dark or otherwise) of the movie.

There are, however, numerous irritating little problems with Chronicle that stop it becoming a truly great movie. The main one is that old bugbear: the found-footage format. Not only does it seem particularly pointless here, it often actively gets in the way of your enjoyment. Trank and his scriptwriter tie themselves up in knots trying to stick to the format while keeping the story going: it’s not just Andrew’s videos they use, but CCTV footage, and other characters who handily turn up with cameras at the ready. While this enables Trank to cut between cameras to create a more cinematic effect than, say, Paranormal Activity, the artificiality of it can be distracting. The worst culprit is a hospital scene in which someone has set up a camera on a tripod for no fathomable reason other than for the reason that the scene needs to be filmed.

On the other hand, if Trank didn’t have such a wayward attitude towards found footage, it’s doubtful that the final fight would have looked as good. He uses every trick in the book, including tourists’ video footage and police cameras, to incredible impact. This, along with a subtext about Andrew’s pathological need to be filmed, almost make the format worthwhile, but overall, you can’t help thinking it hampers the film more than helps it.

The other main problem is that early scenes where the trio starts experimenting with their powers never quite kick into top gear in the way you feel they should. It’s mildly amusing watching them build Lego towers without touching the bricks or skimming stones using only their minds, but you can’t help feeling that if you suddenly became telekinetic you’d be doing a whole load more. When Steve “reparks” a woman’s car at a supermarket, the three lads wet themselves like the Jackass crew, but you’re probably thinking, “I’d flip it on its roof to really freak her out.”

It’s not until they learn how to fly that the film really – ahem – takes off. Even then, the first scenes of them flying are a little lame (with the actors looking a little stiff on some digitally-removed Kirby wires), before they really learn to soar. Following that it’s a game of football in the clouds which finally captures a true sense of wonder (the fact that it’s shot in a style about as far from home-videocamera footage as you could imagine helps).

For all these minor gripes, Chronicle is a consistently watchable, assured debut from director Trank, which has the good sense to save the best until last, and largely overcomes the problems of its (now long past its sell-by date) format. Oh, and just to hammer home the similarities with Misfits, there is an embarrassing jizz-related moment…

Dave Golder

Watch a clip from Chronicle. That not enough for ya? Okay then, how about another clip from Chronicle?

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They soon regretted buying tickets for The Human Centipede 2.

Release Date: 27 January 2012
U | 90 minutes
Distributor: Entertainment One
Director: Bibo Bergeron
Cast: Vanessa Paradis, Sean Lennon, Adam Goldberg, Jay Harrington, Danny Huston

We don’t give away plot points lightly, but this time we think we owe it to our readers. The “Monster” of the title isn’t really a monster; it’s a giant-sized, gentle flea which bounces around Paris, and then learns to sing. Wearing a Phantom mask. In a nightclub. With the voice of Sean Lennon. Well, anything goes in animation…

A Monster In Paris is solidly staged and charmingly quirky, but be prepared for a few longueurs, mainly before the flea takes off. The film is aimed at children, but will appeal to fans of cartoon design too. The quaint period Paris, with its pearly mists, its rattletrap vehicles and its civilians in funny shapes and sizes, is delightful. So is the pairing of the flea and the nightclub singer who finds him; she has the sultry tones of French star Vanessa Paradis. It’s a shame that Monster’s release has coincided with Paradis receiving some rather catty attention from the world’s press (two words: Johnny Depp), but at least it may help to get the film noticed.

The film’s other double-act is less appealing: a couple of irritatingly fast-talking buddies who trigger the flea’s transformation. Also, the denouement is rather laboured and obvious, and could have done with some of the vinegar sharpness of Gallic animator Sylvain Chomet (Belleville Rendez-Vous). But as we wait for 2012’s more scary-looking stopmotion films – the zombie pic ParaNorman and Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie – A Monster In Paris makes for a pleasant hors d’oeuvre.

Andrew Osmond

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Release Date: 2 February 2012
435 pages | £14.99
Author: Julianna Baggott
Publisher: Headline

When it comes to raising the dramatic stakes and getting the sort of cathartic kick that reminds you your life is actually pretty good, you can’t beat a good dystopia. Pure offers two for the price of one.

On the one hand, we have the survivors of an apparent nuclear holocaust, scraping for food in the wreckage of civilisation and literally carrying the past around with them: when the bombs hit, you see, they left people fused to whatever they were carrying, or standing beside. Teenage protagonist Pressia, for example, has a plastic doll’s head in place of a hand. She got off lightly – we meet others who live with much grimmer consequences. (Two words: mothers, children. Yeah.)

On the other hand, there are the privileged few who reached shelter just before the blasts, and now live within the confines of the Dome. “Confines” being the operative word; although protected from the extremes of life outside, the Dome’s children are channelled relentlessly towards repopulating the world (girls) or fighting off the ragged few outside who’ve inconveniently failed to clear the way for them by dying (boys).

Baggott has published three collections of verse, and her skills as a poet shine through in some understatedly well-crafted prose – descriptions are sketched with crystalline precision, not floweriness – but she also has a flair for keeping the pages turning with a combination of short, sharp action beats and drip-fed revelations. Strong stuff, and gripping to boot.

Nic Clarke

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Hello and welcome to the SFX weekly bargains round up. We’ve been surfing the net and wandering round the supermarkets looking slightly dodgy to bring you a selection of low priced sci-fi goodies that won’t break the bank.

First up we’ll mention Play’s Warehouse Clearance sale, with offers across most of its products including DVDs, games and clothing it’s well worth a look round the site to see if you can spot any gems amongst the chaff.

There’s a distinctly apocalyptic feel to our bargains selection this week, starting with the rather depressing film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s gloomy book The Road. It’s available from Amazon on Blu-ray for £5.49 and on DVD from Zavvi for just £4.95.

Another post apocalyptic road movie up next, but this one has a lot more action. Denzel Washington stars in The Book Of Eli on DVD for £4.49 and Blu-ray for £5.95.

Next up is one of George Lucas’ few pre-Star Wars efforts and it’s a film with a title seen in many a sci-fi in-joke; THX 1138 can be yours on Blu-ray for £4.99.

Bruce Dern stars alongside cute robots Huey, Dewey, and Louie in the sci-fi classic Silent Running. Gardening fun in space can be yours from Amazon for £11.99 on a limited edition Blu-ray.

Post-apocalyptic meets time travel as Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt both do a turn in the nut house in Terry Gilliam’s Twelve Monkeys on Blu-ray for £6.67 and DVD for just £2.99.

Next we have a pre-Batman Christian Bale as a warrior Priest type in future dystopian thriller Equilibrium, on DVD for just £2.99 and Blu-ray for £5.49.

Madness on a space ship next with Dennis Quaid and Ben Foster in Pandorum available on Blu-ray for £4.99.

More space ship madness but with added tanning opportunities next with Danny Boyle’s Sunshine, on DVD for £3.39 and on Blu-ray for £7.99.

It’s all Muppets and leather pants in the bizarre but brilliant Farscape Definitive Collection Blu-ray. We don’t think it’s exactly “definitive” as it doesn’t include The Peacekeeper Wars mini-series, but at £49.95, this offer from Zavvi is way cheaper than we’ve seen it anywhere else. If you’d prefer, Amazon do have the DVD version of this set which does have The Peacekeeper Wars included. It’s available for £60.97.

Next we have a Frank Darabont adaptation of a Stephen King book. With everything from giant flying insects to religious fanatics we think The Mist is one of the better King adaptations out there and it can be yours on DVD for £5.29 or on Blu-ray for £6.49. Whichever format you choose we recommend you turn the lights off and watch the black and white version of the film for added eeriness.

And while we’re on the subject of horror, Gore Verbinski’s 2002 remake of the Japanese horror film The Ring is available in a Collectors Edition from Zavvi for just £3.45.

You may have heard that Star Trek: The Next Generation is being prettied up for Blu-ray. The first sample disc, The Next Level, featuring the episodes “Encounter At Farpoint”, “Sins Of The Father” and “The Inner Light” is out on 30 January, and you can pre-order it for £6.99 from Amazon. The boxed set of the Complete Next Generation is available on DVD from Play for £99.99, not exactly a bargain we know, but you can bet it’s cheaper than the complete Blu-ray set is going to be.

We found loads of bargains in our weekly wander round the supermarkets this week. First up in Asda’s DVD shelves we spotted Jumper and Weird Science for £3, Inception for £7, The Mummy for just £2, Limitless for £7 and The Crazies and Monsters for £5 each. We also spotted a selection of Batman: The Animated Series DVDs, including The Legend Begins, Out of the Shadows and Tales Of The Dark Knight, all for £3 each.

On Blu-ray we found Splice and Terminator 2 for £7 each and Hulk, The Mummy 3 and Stargate – Ultimate Edition for £5 each. We also spotted Drive Angry for £9.

Over the road in Morrison’s we found JJ Abrams’ Star Trek, Johnny Depp in Sweeny Todd and Super for £4 each. Also on the shelves we spotted The Happening, Jonah Hex, The Iron Giant, The Terminator, Muppets From Space (not to be confused with Farscape), the recent Wolfman remake and The Thing all for £3 each. The first three Pirates Of The Caribbean films are available for £5 each, and recent releases Melancholia and Shark Night can be yours for £9.99 each.

In Blu-rays Morrison’s had Iron Man and the original Clash Of The Titans for £5 each and The Day After Tomorrow and Super for £6 each.

Random suggestions from the forum this week start with Midnighter spotting some Tron: Legacy toys in The Works. Vehicles are available for £1.99 and action figures for £2.99, although he cautions that those prices might actually be the other way round. VALIS74 has also been in The Works this week and they spotted Marvel bobble heads: Wolverine, Whiplash, Mr Fantastic and Vision for £2.99 each.

Quinny on the forum found this Thor T-shirt for £7 from Asda’s George range. We also spotted a Captain America shirt for the same price.

If you find anything we’ve brought you this week cheaper somewhere else please mention it in the comments section below. We want as many bargains ideas for our readers as we can get. And remember; if anyone out there spots a sci-fi bargain they want to share then please pop over to the forum and mention it in the relevant thread. This thread is for bargain films and this one is for TV bargains. Keep your eyes peeled for great offers for your fellow geek and maybe your find will be in the bargain list next time.

Episode 1.4
Writer: Matthew Graham
Director: Jamie Payne

THE ONE WHERE Zak and Tom prosecute a woman accused of stabbing her stalker, causing Tom to have a crisis of conscience.

VERDICT Well, that was unexpected. After three distinctly average episodes suddenly a few things have clicked into place and, after the downbeat and surprising ending of the legal story of the week, for the first time you may actually look forward to the next episode.

The angels’ conflict at carrying out Mr Mountjoy’s will when they can’t understand it is both well portrayed and – when Tom is finally able to convince his grumpy colleague to listen to his concerns for the mother of the murdered boy – quite sweet.

There are still some bits that don’t quite sit right – Zak’s unique brand of grief counselling is uncomfortably cheesy. Meanwhile Tom intervening to stop Gemma jumping from the railway bridge is possibly one of the most moving moments of the series so far, but overall his broody, argumentative celestial adolescence is rather annoying, making Mrs Sheringham’s despatch of Jude to Durham a blessed relief. If only she could do the same to Hannah.

Richard is on brilliant form, making Tom question exactly what Mr Mountjoy is asking him to do. Paired with his gleeful confrontation with Zak outside the pub you can’t help rooting for the dark side a bit – it’s just so much more fun and finally Pembroke seems a worthy nemesis to our angelic heroes. The life and death / angels and devils side of the Eternal Law story has always been more exciting than the latest legal machinations and it’s really seeming to gain momentum. That Doomsday clock is ticking quickly all of a sudden…

LAW 101 We’re no legal eagles, but surely the discussion between Tom and Zak about how to argue that first case during breaks in the court session is too late in the game to be useful?

HE’S EEEEEVIL Bribing journalists to bring about a mistrial? Pembroke is very sneaky – although you can’t help thinking that kind of hackish behaviour is more News Of The World than local paper.

DATED POP CULTURE REFERENCE OF THE WEEK Poet Pam Ayres, teenage girl detective Nancy Drew and, “how do you like them apples?” – are we to understand Zak’s a fan of Good Will Hunting?

CONTINUITY? In the first episode Tom seemed fairly clueless about his mission on Earth, but here we’re told he had legal training before he arrived.

BEST LINE

Richard Pembroke: “Do you know why he [Mr Mountjoy] doesn’t show himself? Because he wants them to love him unconditionally. Like some kind of cosmic Katie Price.”

The Avengers is released in the UK on 27 April.

Fringe’s Zeppelin guy

In the remainder of this season of Fringe we’ll not only be learning a lot more about the Observers, but also we’ll finally be told something about that mysterious guy who popped up in the Zeppelin the animated episode last year, and revealed that he was destined to kill Olivia.

Speaking to TVLine, producer JH Wyman says, “We ourselves get frustrated with other shows that only ask questions and leave things up in the air and don’t really answer them, so we really take pride in saying, ‘Look our drama is strong enough that we can actually answer the questions.’ Let’s just say that we’re going to try and get you satisfying conclusions for all those things that are up in the air… You’ll learn a lot more about the Observers this year. And yes, you probably will understand a lot about that guy in the zeppelin.”

Max Landis

Max Landis (son of John) is having a great start to his writing career. You probably haven’t seen Chronicle yet (it’s out in the UK on 1 February), but you must have caught the positive buzz that it’s been creating. And the guy already has a whole host of other projects on the go, including an Untitled Frankenstein film and Pied Piper, both at 20th Century Fox, and Amnesty, which is being directed by Ron Howard for Universal

And now Variety reports that Landis has sold a sci-fi space adventure pitch to Disney. Little is know about the project so far, except that it focuses on a brother and sister (who presumably aren’t called Luke and Leia).

Nicolas Winding Refn does his best Swedish Chef impression

Here’s a throwaway quote from an interview that definitely needs further investigation if we ever get to interview the guy (which we should, since he’s currently developing a remake of Logan’s Run). Talking to Shortlist about the DVD and Blu-ray release of the critically-acclaimed hit movie Drive, Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn dropped this little bombshell:

“I would have loved to direct Doctor Who but they didn’t want me — they turned me down last year. Maybe if they revive Blake’s 7 I could do that. I love it. It’s great. That could be fun to update.”

How great would that have been? The director of Drive and Bronson giving us his version of “The Doctor’s Wife”. Or imagine what he would have done with the opening scenes of “A Good Man Goes To War”.

Presumably there were scheduling or cost issues that came into play. Okay, Refn hadn’t become the big Hollywood director he is now at the point when he would have been in negotiations but with films like Bronson and Pusher under his belt he was still a bigger name than most of the directors on the show. On the other hand he did have TV experience (Miss Marple, The Chosen) and US shows like ER have had big-name guest directors (Quentin Tarantino).

So, we’ll have to file that one under, “What if…?” and hope that one day he gets to make a movie version of Blake’s 7 when the rights become available.

Former Monty Python mad men John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin are reteaming to voice some animated aliens in Absolutely Anything, a sci fi farce combining CGI and live action. Terry Jones is directing, reports Variety.

“It’s not a Monty Python picture, but it certainly has that sensibility,” Jones tells the industry magazine.
The Pythons will voice a group of aliens who endow an earthling with the power to do “absolutely anything” to see what a mess he’ll make of things. There will also be a talking dog called Dennis – to be voiced by Robin Williams – who seems to understand more about the mayhem that ensues than anyone else.

The script has been written by Jones and Gavin Scott (the former That’s Life presenter who went on to script Small Soldiers and the 1997 The Borrowers film). Shooting should begin in the UK this spring. Jones tells Variety that Gilliam and Python members John Cleese and Michael Palin have agreed to perform and added that producers are attempting to sign Eric Idle.

Jones last directed Wind In The Willows in 1996.
Producer Mike Medavoy reckons, “Terry and Gavin have crafted a classic farce – something I feel I know a little bit about after all the Pink Panther pictures we did with Blake Edwards at United Artists. In fact, the movie even has a pompous Frenchman reminiscent of Inspector Clouseau, but there the similarity ends. Like all projects originated by any of the Monty Python guys, Absolutely Anything delightfully defies a logline.”

Those wags at Dave are being such teases… there is about a second of Lister and Rimmer. Still kinda exciting, though! (Via DaveTVChannel)