Knight Rider bringing KARR back!

It amazes me just how much I'm loving the first season of the new Knight Rider TV series. The main cast are great, Val Kilmer's voice for KITT seems spot on, the transforming car scenes are a great little nod to the recent Transformers movie and bring KITT screaming into the 21st century with the rest of his cool upgraded tech systems, the episodes seem to be getting better and now the series is bringing KARR back!

KARR from the 80's series

Yes "KARR" (Knight Automated Roving Robot) seems to be the secret villain behind the events of episode 6 and maybe the first season villain. KARR is the prototype Knight Industries high tech car that precedes KITT and was a major antagonist for two episodes of the original 80's Hasslehoff series. In the new series it's said to have killed 7 people in the past and is able to self programme... a dangerous thing for an artificial intelligence to be able to do as we know from Terminator and the Skynet system!

From what I can tell KARR can either transform into or actually is a robot (looking almost like the new version Robot from the Lost in Space Movie). What's interesting is that the writers seem to be tying KARR in to Michael's patchy history too (he has partial amnesia for a part of his time in the field as a Ranger) as he recognises the evil vehicle when he sees its specs.

KARR's schematics from episode six that Michael recognises.

Lost in space Robot? Robocop's ED209? A new powerlifter from Aliens? No it's KARR!!!

Oh and as a little side note both Sarah (Deanna Russo) and Zoe (Smith Cho) are two of the hottest women on current sci-fi TV... Watch it and you'll see what I mean.

The drop dead gorgeous blue eyed Sarah (Deanna Russo)

The sexy, funny and playful Zoe (Smith Cho)

Indy 5? Please don't George!

"It's crazy but great, George [Lucas] is in think mode right now" said Harrison Ford in an interview with the LA Times recently. "With the last one having done well... it's no surprise that some people ant to do it again".

OK, yes you have to admit that Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was a runaway hit this summer grossing over $780 million worldwide but the way I see it is that people went to see it and paid their money based on the fact that it was Indiana Jones and the last 3 films were classic greats. The actual film, if you take a step back and look at it, was an aged, forced shambles and a disappointment on almost every level, especially for die hard Indy fans like myself. I'll have to watch it again on DVD next week but I don't think I'll change my mind. Aliens from a different dimension had no place being the Mcguffin for the 4th instalment in my opinion.

Let's hope George goes back to his mystical artifact roots and chooses something like the Spear of Destiny or even the bloody fake Shroud of Turin, just not something as outlandish as aliens again please!

Green Lantern Greenlit (No pun intended!)

The Justice League and live action wonder Woman DC movies might have been put on the back burner of development Hell recently but it would seem that Green Lantern is set to start shooting next spring according to producer Donald De Line.

De Line stated to movie website FirstShowing that "A new draft of the script came in and we're gearing up to start shooting next Spring. It's coming together and I'm excited about it. Hopefully we'll make it to the starting gate. We're really close, really close."



Green Lantern is one of the movies I'd most like to see done, and done well I might add. I'd probably love to see Wonder Woman more for my own selfish male reasons of course but Green Lantern would definitely be the next on the list. I've recently had a renewed interest in the character, or should I say characters as there's technically multiple GL's, after reading comics and graphic novels lent to me by a colleague at work (thanks Tim) and I have recently bought the new DC Direct GL 13" action figure with interchangeable heads to go with my existing collection of 10 DC Superhero's (including the older Hal Jordan edition GL).


We'll see what happens with this one but there's so many comic movies coming out in the near future I don't think I can handle it!

Marvelous Marvel...

Marvel movies are set to dominate the silver screen for at least the next 4 years and that makes me a very happy fan.

Not only do we now have confirmed release dates for some of the most awaited Marvel Superhero movies of all time up until 2011 but we hear news recently that Dr.Strange, Ant-Man, Iron Fist and Luke Cage movies are all in the works. Recent news has also now confirmed that Tobey Maguire, Sam Raimi and Kirsten Dunst have all said yes to Spider-Man 4 (let's hope it's better than the God-awful Spidey 3) so good old web head will be joining the foray at some point too.

The US release dates are now set as follows:

Iron Man 2 - 7th May 2010
Thor - 16th July 2010 (with news just reaching the press that Kenneth Branagh could be set to direct)
The First Avenger: Captain America - 6th May 2011 (The film I'm most looking forward to)
The Avengers - 15th July 2011

And funnily enough Iron Man 3 is now on Marvel's future release list showing that the studio (now teaming up with Paramount for the next 4 years) have great faith in their new franchises. I know that Iron Man rocked the world recently (no small of amount of that success stemming from Robert Downey Jr's performance) and as a buyer for a toy/ collector company myself I know how well the toys, statues and replicas sold so I'm sure this is their new "cash-cow" that they want to keep nurturing for as long as possible.

I just hope the Mandarin and Fing Fang Foom are left out of the villain roster!

Michael Crichton R.I.P...

MICHEAL CRICHTON 1942 - 2008
RIP

It is with my deepest sadness and regret that I type this news; Michael Crichton the million-selling author who made scientific research terrifying and irresistible in such thrillers as "Jurassic Park," "Timeline" and "The Andromeda Strain," passed away on Tuesday in Los Angeles at age 66 after privately battling cancer. I got a text from my Mum this evening asking if I knew as she knew I'd be gutted... I can't believe I didn't hear elsewhere!

Anyone who knows me is aware of how huge a Michael Crichton fan I am. I own, and have read, every single one of Michael's novels starting with Jurassic Park before the movie came out and then following up with his extensive back catalogue and excellent newer books. Waiting for his next masterpiece has been a lesson in extended patience for me for a large part of my life and it will be a great loss to the literary world now he's gone. I almost failed my GCSE's because I read "Sphere" instead of studied and Timeline is one of my favourite books of all time, his stories always enthralled me more than any other author. It's a shame that none of the movie adaptations quite lived up to his novels (maybe Jurassic Park, but that movie was pretty far removed from the original book) and it is a testament to his popularity and skill that almost every single novel made it to the silver screen.

It's only been a few months since the comic world lost Michael Turner to cancer (pictured below) so now we have to say goodbye to another pioneer of of the 21st Century.

Thank you for your work Michael Chrichton, rest in peace, your number one fan.

Currently I'm...

Okay so during my spare time away from my kids, my work and everything else I do I play loads of video games and watch far too much TV, I am a TV addict...

Here's a short rundown of what I'm currently playing and watching, are you anything like me?...

Video Games:

SAINTS ROW 2 (X-BOX 360) 9/10 Pure chaotic fun!
FARCRY 2 (X-BOX 360) 8/10 Overly realistic but enthralling.
CALL OF DUTY 4 (X-BOX 360 + LIVE) 9/10 Best FPS around at the mo and great online!
LEGO BATMAN AND ROBIN (X-BOX 360) 8/10 Great to play with my 5 year old daughter but too much like the other Lego games before it.
SUPER SMASH BROS BRAWL (Wii) 8/10 Addictive game play and amazing single player adventure mode.
PRO EVO 6 (X-BOX 360) 8/10 My favourite 2 player game of the moment before Gears of War 2 comes out this week.


TV:
SARAH CONNER CHRONICLES: SEASON 2 8/10 Great second season for an increasingly enjoyable movie spin off (Lena Heady rocks)
THE UNIT: SEASON 4 10/10 My favourite series of all time never fails to impress me.
SMALLVILLE: SEASON 8 6/10 It's got some good moments but it's heading downhill now.
AMERICAN DAD: SEASON 4 9/10 Possibly the funniest animated series I watch, Roger never fails to make me laugh.
HEROES: SEASON 3 9/10 A little slow to start but always good TV.
STAR WARS - CLONE WARS: SEASON 1 9/10 Better than the animated movie and good for adults as well as kids this series is getting better by the episode.
KNIGHT RIDER 2008: SEASON 1 8/10 I love this series even if people have their doubts.
STARGATE ATLANTIS: SEASON 5 7/10 Not a fantastic season to be it's last but I love anything Stargate so it's great for me!
FRINGE: SEASON 1 9/10 So far this series has blown me away. I love the characters and the stories are like a scientific X-files exert. Can't wait to get some answers to questions raised!


I'm also watching various programmes on Sky such as Last Man Standing, Jack Osbourne: Celebrity Adrenaline Junkie, Dirty Sanchez Get High, The Prisoner (Celebs behind bars) and the reruns of my favourite Star Trek series of all time; Deep Space Nine.


How the Hell I get through all this in the little time I have to myself is beyond me!...

Is this the most beautiful woman on Earth?

Born in Los Angeles, California on June 4, 1975 the American actress Angelina Jolie (Voight) could possibly be the most beautiful woman on Earth...

I say this beacuse I saw her new pictures in the current issue of Harper's Bazaar online today and completely and utterly fell in love with her (again), just from this one amazingly subtle pic (above). It's well known to my friends that Angelina is one of the many women I think are stunningly gorgeous (my own gym wall can attest to the amount of women) and she's definately on my "list" but it takes a lot for me to say she's potentially the top of said list. She's done some amazing photoshoots in her time and seems to be flawlessly beautiful regardless of the situation but just take some time to look at the few images below and see if you agree with me. Those eyes, those lips, those big b..... I'm getting carried away, you enjoy!

Tennant quits Dr.Who... Billie Piper to play the Dr next?

After months of speculation David Tennant has confirmed that he will not reprise the role he has become so famous for for it's fifth season in 2010. Tennant will star in four special episodes during 2009 which replaces the normal series and then a new actor will take his role. Although many actors have been touted for the 11th Timelord such as Trainspotting star Robert Carlisle (the bookies current favourite), EastEnders star Tom Ellis and Paterson Joseph (who would be the first Black actor to play Dr.Who) it is now being said that Billie Piper could jump from her role as Rose straight into the Tardis itself as the first female Dr.Who (something that could have been potentially great with Catherine Tate's Doctor-Donna in season 4).

The 2010 series will also mark a new direction for the show because Russell T Davies, the man credited with reviving the classic series for modern audiences, has stepped down as its executive producer. Bafta-winning writer Steven Moffat, who created popular comedy drama Coupling, and wrote some episodes for Dr.Who previously will succeed Davies as lead writer and executive producer of the fifth series.

We'll have to wait a fair old while before the next actor is announced and 2010 seems so far away when we're not even out of 2008 yet, but David Tennant's shoes are mighty ones to fit into, let's hope we get someone worthy of our BBC screen time for 2010!

Hot Mama - Melinda Messenger

Ex Page 3 model and mother of three Melinda Messenger has stepped back into her modelling roots at the age of 39 to become the next face (and chest) of the Ultimo D-G Cup range, designed for curvier girls..

The still stunning former glamour girl from Swindon had all but given up on her modelling carrer after her debut 12 years ago and has stuck to TV presenting and being a Mum. Melinda follows in a line of stunning Ultimo faces including Mel B, Sarah Harding, Penny Lancaster, Gemma Atkinson and Rachel Hunter (pictured below).

Hats off to you Melinda, you are a yummy mummy indeed!

Pirates of the Caribbean for Russell Brand?

Less than a week after resigning from his BBC Radio 2 show in disgrace Russell Brand's career appears to have recovered.

Brand is reportedly negotiating a deal to appear in the fourth Pirates Of The Caribbean film (as if we need another bloody POTC film!) - as Captain Jack Sparrow's younger brother Jonathan. The deal could be worth as much as £5million for the hirsute presenter/ actor and would catapult the 33-year-old into the Hollywood A-list.

This is one of those moments when you sigh and go "do we really want another one of these films after the last couple of silver-screen disasters and do we really want more of Brand at all in any way or form? I've never thought this guy was funny and I've always changed the channel as soon as he's come on the screen... I will say one thing though; he's perfect for the role. Johnny Depp may put on a fantastic performance for Jack Sparrow (the only mitigating factor for the latter two POTC films) but Brand naturally acts and sounds like that all the time!

A Matter of Loaf and Death for Wallace and Gromit this X-mas

It's just one of those things that has become synonymous with Christmas in the UK, Turkey with stuffing, paper hats from a supermarket cracker, the Queens speech and Wallace and Gromit on the TV... Yes the stop-motion dynamic duo are back this Christmas with "A Matter of Loaf and Death".

The new film reunites Park with writer Bob Baker who co-wrote both The Wrong Trousers and A Close Shave. Sally Lindsay (Coronation Street) will be the voice of Piella Bakewell, alongside Peter Sallis who voices Wallace.

In this new masterpiece viewers will catch up with Wallace and Gromit who have opened a new bakery – Top Bun – and business is booming, not least because a deadly Cereal Killer is targeting all the bakers in town so competition is drying up. Gromit is worried that they may be the next victims but Wallace couldn’t care – he’s fallen head over heels in love with Piella Bakewell, former star of the Bake-O-Lite bread commercials. So Gromit is left to run things on his own when he’d much rather be getting better acquainted with Piella’s lovely pet poodle Fluffles.

Before long Gromit makes a shocking discovery which points to the killer’s true identity. Can he save his master from becoming the next baker to be butchered? And does Fluffles know more than she is saying? It’s a classic ‘who-doughnut’ mystery, as four-time Academy Award winning director Nick Park creates a hilarious new masterpiece in the tradition of ‘master of suspense’ Alfred Hitchcock.

Piella in the flesh... or plasticine...

Possibly the best geek film ever?...

A film that has slipped silently under my expansive and finely tuned radar is "Fanboys" a movie originally set for release in August 2007 and then pushed back again an again for various reasons. I remember seeing something about it at a convention I went to in London back then but now it's coming to a cinema near you in 2009 (hopefully!).

The trailer looks great and made me smile the whole way through with a multitude of Star Wars references and numerous SW actors starring too (even William Shatner appears which is never a bad thing in my book). The highlight for geeks everywhere though will be that fact that stunning Kristen Bell (currently playing Elle in Heroes season 3) is in this movie and she dons the legendary gold bikini...



Watch the trailer and read the synopsis for the full rundown of this great, fun looking movie.

Synopsis:

Set in 1998, "Fanboys" tells of a group of friends who, anxious for the premiere of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, decide to break into Skywalker Ranch and steal an early print of the film. The reason: one of them is suffering from cancer and wishes to see the film before his death. A road trip begins as the friends encounter William Shatner, obsessed Trekkies, and bikers who make them undress for water.

Bande annonce Fanboys trailer
by FilmGeek-TV

New Half Blood Prince Trailer...

A new trailer for Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince to give you some geeky goosebumps. Looking forward to this, but not to the ending which I'm guessing is gonna be harsher on the audience than when Cedric Diggery died in Goblet of Fire which was harrowing enough!

Is it just me?

Something I was contemplating the other day (you'd be surprised at some of the random things that come to light when you're bored at work) was how "real" Muppets are to me...

Strange I know, but when I think about it is it just me who considers such Muppets as Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Big Bird, Elmo and other such Jim Henson creations as actual sentient entities? Do we actually look at that green lump of felt and think there's a guy underneath puppeteering and doing the voice or do we accept that Kermit and co are real? The reason the thought came to mind was because I saw a picture of Big Bird and Elmo from Sesame Street at Macy's 150th Anniversary Gala (picture below) online and a smile came to my face induced by memories of my childhood spent watching Sesame Street and The Muppet Show on TV and never once considering that these Henson creations were anything but real to me. I've seen Kermit and Miss Piggy interviewed on UK TV on programmes like Richard and Judy (back in the day) and even on the evening news and again they always exuded such realistic characteristics.

Although this is coming from a guy that talked himself into believing no Ewoks died in Return of the Jedi because I didn't want to face the truth... ;)

Animated Wonder Woman!

I have no idea how long this trailer has been active but I was really happy to have come across it on the web yesterday. The DC original animated Wonder Woman movie is set to be released on DVD and Blu-ray in Feb 09 and looks absolutely fantastic as you'll see below.

The all star cast includes:

Kerri Russell as Wonder Woman/ Diana Prince
Nathan Fillion as Steve Trevor
Alfred Molina as Ares
Rosario Dawson as Artemis
Virginia Madsen as Hippolyta
David McCallum as Zeus
Oliver Platt as Hades
Vicki Lewis as Persephone

Sure to be a great addition to the current wave of animated Superhero DVD's being released lately.

Playing catch up...

Due to having a month or two away from my blog there are a number of headlines I missed posting. I really don't have the time (or energy) to post each one individually with images etc so below is a brief one line overview for each bit of news I found important. Some of it is probably very old news for you !

Watchmen movie ending changed to not include giant squid from the original comic book.

Marvel change James Rhodes/ War Machine actor from Terence Howard to Don Cheadle for Iron Man 2, Howard has no idea why!

Robert Downey Jr and Don Cheadle now confirmed as signed on for 2011 Avengers movie as Iron Man and War Machine.

David Tennant signs on for Dr.Who movie as well as new series but new actor (possibly Paterson Joseph, the first Black actor to play Dr.Who) is proposed for following series.

Johnathan Kent is killed off again in the DC Comics continuity.

Ghostbusters 3 is now in the works as all the original cast say yes (including the eternally difficult Bill Murray), but a female character may be added to the original 4 "Busters" this time round.

Gears of War, Bioshock and Kane and Lynch video games all now greelit for Hollywood movies.

Dr. Strange now added to Marvel movie releases before 2012 (Christian Bale maybe the lead?)

Daniel Craig turned down main role Marvel Thor movie.

XXX: The return of Xander Cage (XXX 3 basically) is set for release in 2010 with Vin Diesel set to reprise his role from the 1st movie.

American Pie 4 set for release in cinemas in the next 2 years with the original cast returning (no more straight to DVD spin-offs).

Stargate Atlantis cancelled to make way for "Stargate Universe" which centers on a simple reconnaissance mission that turns into a never-ending quest as a new crew of Stargate explorers gates onto the Destiny, an Ancient ship that is unable to return to Earth. They will travel to the far reaches of the universe, encountering new races, enemies and adventures.

New Futurama movie DVD now out, Into the Wild Green Yonder the fourth movie due next spring with the good chance of a series now set to follow.

Tim Burton's 2010 movie Alice in Wonderland now set to star Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, Michael Sheen, Matt Lucas, Christopher Lee and Alan Rickman!

Samuel L Jackson bulking up to play Nick Fury in "Avengers" and possible Nick Fury standalone movie.

Knight Rider picked up for a full season by NBC as ratings get better and better.

Seth Rogan slimming down considerably for the role of Green Hornet with popular Hong Kong Director/ Actor Stephen Chow directing and starring as Kato.

Battlestar Galactica returns on US TV at 10 p.m. on Jan. 16, 2009, with the remaining episodes of its fourth and final season culminating with the series finale on March 20.

Creators of Xena would love to make a reunion movie with all the original cast.

M. Night Shyamalan wanting to make an Unbreakable sequel.

Megan Fox has signed on to appear in a film adaptation of Michael Turner's Fathom comic series.

Johnny Depp will reprise the role of Captain Jack Sparrow in a fourth Pirates of the Caribbean movie.

Space... the Final Frontier...

OK so I was browsing the web yesterday and came accross some recently released images of the new JJ Abrams directed Star Trek movie. I must say that I'm really excited about this movie and although Mr. Abrams has used some pretty hefty artistic interpretation to augment the ST universe and characters into 2009, it still looks pretty damn good. Images below.

I'm back baby!

In the immortal words of one of my favourite TV characters; Bender Bending Rodríguez "I'm back baby"!

I'll be updating as much as I can over the next few days but to start us off I thought I'd add something here that I'm quite excited about; Transformers - Mighty Muggs Wave 1. I'd mentioned this before but now we have the first available image of Bumblebee, Megatron and Soundwave from the newest Diamond Previews. I haven't seen this pic online yet so I guess I'm the first to show it, don't I feel special! These will certainly be added to my ever growing collection of Star Wars, Marvel and Indy Mighty Muggs!

Transform and roll out!!!

I'm still here!

OK so it's been almost 2 months since my last post, and no I haven't been riding the theme park attractions for the whole time (although how cool would that be?!), but I have been incredibly busy recently so apologies for the lack of posts.
I'll be back in action very soon so please stay tuned and thanks for visiting!