If you’re a fan of the X-Men franchise and X-Men: First Class in particular, Deadline’s stealthy mention that Matthew Vaughn and some of the rest of the First Class team has signed back on to make a sequel stands as one of the biggest examples of burying the lead out there.

But it’s true: in the site’s report about 20th Century Fox production president Emma Watts signing a new multi-year deal to keep her at the company, there’s a line about the studio closing a contract with Vaughn to return and direct the sequel.

It’s not exactly a shock. First Class might not have knocked down any franchise box office records, but it won plenty of acclaim and did well enough that the studio began putting a sequel in motion. But it wasn’t definite that Vaughn would come back and make it. Now? He’s committed.

Simon Kinberg, Fox’s in-house superhero veteran who produced the first movie, is already on board to write the script. But we wouldn’t be surprised to see Vaughn (and possibly co-writer Jane Goldman, provided she’s not too busy) taking a pass before the film (which we’re going to have to start calling X-Men: Second Class, even if that sounds bad) hits screens. And as to when that will be? No one can say for sure. The cast’s schedules, particularly a certain Mr Fassbender, have exploded since the first movie, though the Heat Vision blog is reporting that everyone will be back for the new pic. But there’s stilll a chance it’ll wait for the director; Vaughn himself has lots of projects in the development hopper. Let’s just hope he has a bit more scheduled time to make it this go-around…

If you’re looking to see when “Torchwood” will be available on your television dial in 2012, you might want to look for something else.

As expected, there is no movement behind producing more “Torchwood,” either by BBC or its new American home Starz, which aired “Miracle Day” last year.

And now the actress who plays Welsh cop Gwen Cooper is making it official.

“Nothing’s going to happen in 2012, I know that much for sure,” Eve Myles recently told Cult Box. “But who knows what will happen in 2013. Maybe a movie, to kind of draw a line under it.”

Despite the hype going into “Miracle Day,” the most recent season of “Torchwood” under-performed when it came to actual audience. But because Starz is a premium cable channel that does not depend on viewer totals for specific shows, it becomes more about how many new subscribers signed on to Starz because of “Torchwood.”

The fact that more “Torchwood” was not ordered may have more to do with its showrunner Russell T. Davies than anything else. Davies is currently back in England, caring for his partner who was diagnosed with cancer. Before that, however, Davies announced he was working on a new project for Showtime, the premium cable channel that aired an American version of his British hit “Queer as Folk,” and that seemed to anger the leadership at Starz, who implied that Davies was too distracted to continue “Torchwood.”

“Torchwood” is a spinoff of the popular genre series “Doctor Who.” It features John Barrowman as Capt. Jack Harkness and a band of alien hunters protecting the Earth.

Over the course of four seasons, characters have come and gone, the main base in Cardiff, Wales, was destroyed, and although there was a slight relocation to the United States for “Miracle Day,” what’s happening next is up in the air.

The show has built popularity over its short life. It premiered on BBC Three in 2006, but moved to BBC Two in 2008. The main BBC channel aired the five-episode third season, “Children of Earth,” which one vast critical acclaim. Starz and BBC Worldwide ordered a 10-episode season of “Torchwood” that aired in 2011. Starz stepped in after the Fox network passed on the idea.

So yes, there may be some time before “Torchwood” is on again, but there is a good chance it will be on again.

“That’s the thing about ‘Torchwood,’ every [season] we’ve changed our format,” Myles said. “We’ve always had a gap in between, so fingers crossed, because we’ve got such an outstanding loyal fan base. They deserve ‘Torchwood’ to go ahead with something else to draw a line under it, for the fans to have a bit of closure.”

Source:AirlockAlpha
by KEVIN BAYER

This review contains spoilers.

4.15 Deception

Ah, Clone Wars. Every now and then you come around with an episode that whacks the rest of the season out of the way and places itself firmly amongst the very best stories that Star Wars has to offer.

Deception, is such an episode.

Moralo Eval, a criminal mastermind has been captured and imprisoned by Republic forces, but the Jedi discover he is behind a Separatist plot to kidnap Chancellor Palpatine. And so a daring plan is hatched…

Actually, ‘daring’ is selling it rather short. Awesomely audacious would be a better description. Obi-Wan Kenobi fakes his death (though Yoda and Mace Windu are in on it) leaving Anakin Skywalker, and Ahsoka Tano to pick up the pieces and hunt down their buddy’s ‘killer’, Rako Haardeen.

(As a sidenote, just how cruel are the Jedi? First they drag little Ani away from his mother and now they’re letting him think his mentor and BF is dead. The bastards!)

Anyway, this is where the plan takes its first turn. Obi-Wan undergoes some gruesome reconstructive surgery to transform the bearded Jedi into the bald, tatooed murderer Rako. The makers of the animated spin-off go to some lengths to demonstrate that the plan is not easy. It’s another deepy unsettlng scene from The Clone Wars but the unpleasantness continues.

Ben, as he rather amusingly refers to himself at one point, gets himself imprisoned as Rako – yes, it’s not unlike John Woo’s 1997 film, Face/Off (except the other guy isn’t roaming free). Quickly, the disguised Jedi makes contact with his target Moralo Eval where another twist is revealed – his cell mate is bounty hunter, Cad Bane. Doesn’t take long before the Jedi realise that Bane’s capture wasn’t “without purpose”.

The scenes in the prison, a futuristic Panopticon (and full points for that rather mature reference), are incredibly gritty and certainly adult in tone. Despite the fan-pleasing collection of aliens from both the Original and Prequel Trilogy and The Clone Wars, the violence is not fantastical. Obi Wan is reduced to hand-to-hand combat, as revealing his Jedi powers would out him, sticking forks into inmates hands.

Writer and Dark Skies co-creator, Brent Friedman, has woven an incredibly adult tale (complete with lurid lines such as, “Wow, I want to check his midi-chlorian count!”), plotting thoughtfully throughout; portraying the ‘bad guys’ as intelligent with an agenda of their own.

But that’s not enough here, however. Anakin’s leanings towards the Dark Side are also broached and it’s hard not to feel sorry for Tatooine’s finest. Skywalker’s anger at the murder of Kenobi awakes the Sith inside and the slightest touch of The Imperial March during the funeral scene’s score is tantalising.

At the heart of it, Deception is a rollicking Star Wars prison drama/action/thriller, the likes of which we’ve never seen previously. This is an episode which grips and holds without contestation and sets up, one hopes, a story arc of equal measure.

Rating : 8/10

source:denofgeek.com
by:Cameron K McEwan

This review contains spoilers.

1. Fugitivus

It’s been almost two years since Spartacus and his loose coalition of slaves and gladiators killed their masters and escaped the Ludus, and in that time, much has changed, both in-show and in the real world.

Picking up some months after the initial rebellion, Spartacus: Vengeance finds the rebels enjoying some success, living off the spoils of raids against small parties of Romans and generally acting as a thorn in the side of Capua. When the political fallout threatens the career of Gaius Claudius Glaber (the one-time Legatus, now Praetor, who originally captured Spartacus) he is compelled to return to the city and take personal charge of putting down the rebellion. As you’d expect, it’s not quite as simple a prospect as it sounds.

Before we go any deeper into the contents of the episode, we have to address the elephant in the room, and that’s the casting of Liam McIntyre following the untimely death of previous series lead, Andy Whitfield.

Under the circumstances, McIntyre succeeds as well as could be hoped. It isn’t quite a seamless transition, but McIntyre retains the piercing stare, restrained temper and surprising gentleness of the character, if filtered through his own interpretation. Perhaps it’s the amount of time since the original series, or perhaps it’s the knowledge that the show doesn’t rely on the character (it did fine without him in last year’s six-episode prequel, Gods of the Arena) but as sad as the circumstances of Whitfield’s departure were, it’s clear that the show can go on with McIntyre in the lead without too much retooling.

That said, it certainly helps that structurally, there’s almost no similarity between this series and the first. The cast is drastically reshuffled, with a host of new names and faces replacing the many slaughtered favourites from last time. A selection of returnees keep things on even ground, and the elevation of Glaber from secondary to primary antagonist helps to imply a shape for the coming episodes, as does the escapee’s plan to rescue Naevia. Familiar locations such as the Ludus courtyard and the Arena make small appearances, but evidently the decision has been taken to move forward as completely as possible.

That’s not to say a little recap and familiarity wouldn’t have been nice. It’s clear that the writers haven’t wasted too much effort reminding us who the characters are and how they relate to one another. In a world where Wikipedia exists, and where many viewers will have seen the series on DVD far more recently than its initial broadcast, it’s perhaps fair to not waste time explaining who’s who to viewers, but personally, I would have liked a little more of a refresh. The A-listers are of course unforgettable, but it took me a while to dredge up who Mira was, and remember whether Agron was a new face or not.

Complaining about that, however, seems churlish when the series’ true strengths are back in full force. Spartacus: Vengeance serves up the same mix of violent and sexual content as its predecessors, capped off with some charmingly melodramatic dialogue and the best TV-cursing this side of The Thick of It.

It’s Oenomaus who gets the episode’s best fight scene, fending off multiple assailants without breaking a sweat, but the most ridiculous overall surely goes to the raid on a roman brothel, which is almost impressive for the sheer range of perversions it packs into about three minutes. The combination of age and critical acclaim has clearly not impressed any additional maturity on Spartacus: Vengeance, and one suspects viewers would have it no other way – particularly at a point in the series where events have barely begun to warm up.

In terms of ongoing plots, there are plenty of threads already running, though not all as good as each other. It’s clear that the rebels’ difficulty in holding the revolution together will play a major (and enjoyable) part, as will Ilithya’s attempts to cover up her murderous extra-curricular activities.

On the other hand, Oenomaus’ difficulty reconciling his betrayal of Batiatus seems to have an inevitable conclusion (not least because he’s based on a real historical figure) and Lucretia’s re-appearance as a madwoman might grate if she doesn’t snap out of it in the long-term (one suspects she will, as soon as it becomes most inconvenient for those around her) though for now it’s the hook of an interesting question: how did she survive anyway? That wound had clearly been seen to…

Overall, a decent start to the series by any assessment. Perhaps not the out-of-the-gate sprint some might have expected, but certainly it knows where it’s going and will doubtlessly play its audience like a maestro in reaching those destinations. As ridiculous and compelling as ever, Spartacus is truly back, and we know from experience that as good as this was, things can only improve from here.

Rating : 8/10

source:denofgeek.com
by:James Hunt

The Walking Dead’s Glen Mazzara and Robert Kirkman have dropped hints about the show’s return.

Showrunner Mazzara told Collider that mid-season premiere ‘Nebraska’ will pick up “five seconds” after the cliffhanger finale of ‘Pretty Much Dead Already’.

“After the finale, finding Sophia in the barn is just a huge event that rocks our characters and changes everything on the farm,” he explained. “So, I think the stakes are much higher and people are dealing with a lot more.”

He added that the second half of the season “accelerates the storytelling”, following criticism from some fans that the first seven episodes lacked pace.

“I don’t know if we’d say that we regret any of the episodes that we did,” said Mazzara. “I’m proud of those episodes and, if some people feel that some of those episodes were slower than others, I could argue that we were spending time with our characters.”

Kirkman added: “We recognise this criticism, and it is valid, but we are working on a 13-piece puzzle that, as a whole, should be seen in a different light. We’re hoping that, when it’s all put together, people will see that it all came together in a good way.”

Mazzara also suggested that The Walking Dead is “a difficult show to write”.

“People have expectations about the show,” he argued. “If we have a zombie attack every week, people say it’s the zombie-of-the-week. And, if we don’t have zombies, people say there are no zombies. So, it’s a challenging situation.

“[But] I think people will be satisfied, by the end of this run. You learn how to do a show, as you’re writing it. The story material reveals itself, so if there’s a way to break down that criticism and look at it moving forward, that’s valid.”

The Walking Dead returns to AMC in the US on February 12. The show resumes on FX in the UK on February 17.

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.

Rating : 4/10

source:sfx.co.uk
by:jordanfarley