Things I'm Looking Forward To In 2011

1. Primeval

Well at least I don't have to wait long for this one; the series 4 opener is on the 1st of January and the second episode is shown the next day! Not only do we have the best characters returning (Lester being the most awesome) and the worst characters written out but we get two series in 2011. The first will premiere on ITV and the second will be shown towards the end of the year on Watch (all thanks to the unique joint funding that has brought Primeval back from cancellation).



It looks like the special effects budget has been improved, although the first few episodes seem very reptilian heavy. Despite having been rather sceptical when Primeval first arrived on our screens, it's grown on me and I think it can be excellent with the right people behind it. I'm quietly confident it finally has the right mixture of people and money to be a success.

2. Terra Nova

The pilot is due out in May, and I've been looking forward to it for a while. Steven Spielberg, Brannon Braga, time travel, dinosaurs and a family in peril?? How can I not get excited?

I don't know any of the cast and the plot is a little vague but I'm still eagerly awaiting our first look at this show!

3. Movies

Lots of movies to get excited about, but here are a few of the one's I'm looking forward to.

The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn - Tintin. I mean, you have to see it don't you??
I Am Number Four - Only interested because everyone else keeps telling me about it.
Battle: Los Angeles - Really excited about this
Scream 4 - 1990s retro.
X-Men: First Class - I'm an X-Men completist. I suspect this will be shite.
Green Lantern - I don't know why but I think the trailer for this looked awesome. (Muscles I suspect ;) )
Rise of the Apes - I LOVE the Apes movies.
Transformers: Dark of the Moon - I was disappointed by the last movie. Let's hope they've learnt their lessons.

4. Doctor Who Series 6

I'll admit I was extremely lukewarm towards Matt Smith but the Christmas Carol episode and a rewatching of series 5 has made me rediscover my love for Doctor Who and with the following trailer how could you not get excited??



5. Torchwood: The New World

After the amazing Children of the Earth I am very excited to see what the 10 part story they are dreaming up at Torchwood towers is about!

6. Falling Skies



Steven Spielberg. Aliens. How can you go wrong??

7. The Walking Dead

Both the second series of the TV series and the continuing monthly comic series make The Walking Dead a highlight of 2011. You simply must check both out.

A Christmas Carol: 2010 Xmas Doctor Who Special

It just wouldn't be Christmas Day without a Doctor Who special! I imagine in a hundred years it'll be as much a part of the Christmas holiday as the Christmas tree and mince pies are today. Alright, a boy can dream can't he?

I was only saying to my better half today, whilst watching Scrooged, that A Christmas Carol must be the most adapted novel in all of history. So there was a big concern that Doctor Who's take on it might be dry, boring and old hat. Surely there's only so many ways to tell a story, after all. Yet I felt that this episode took the heart of the traditional Dickens story, and put a wonderful twist on it meaning it seemed fresh, and unpredictable.

I particularly liked the fact that as Kazran Sardick (this episode's Scrooge) was changed through the "Ghosts" process, there were unintended consequences blending the best of the old with the best timey-wimeyness one can expect from Doctor Who.

The acting was initially worrying but got stronger and stronger as the episode went on, the flying fish were an excellently alien but still charmingly kitsch addition and the flying shark was basically added just to please me. Surely a flying shark in a Christmas themed Doctor Who episode is as close to realising my ultimate dream as there can be?

The romantic/depressing subplot was played out with an unfamiliar subtlety. Whereas Russell T. Davies would have bashed us round the head with it, here it was allowed to just be and was all the more touching and upsetting for it.

And, as someone who hasn't particularly warmed to the Eleventh Doctor during the fifth/two hundredth and ninty first/twelth series of Doctor Who, I was mightily impressed by Matt Smith's performance and finally feel like I can accept him as our favourite Time Lord.

All in all an absolutely top notch episode of modern Doctor Who with the series 6/five million/-5 trailer looking totally epic!

Gay Pirates - Cosmo Jarvis

Can't stop myself sharing this absolutely awesome Youtube music video. Gay Pirates is one of the best Youtube productions I've ever seen:

The Walking Dead's First Season

So, after 6 awesome weeks we are at the end of the first season of The Walking Dead. Whilst, as a Brit, I'm used to short seasons, 6 episodes seems insulting considering just how great the show has been!

I'm usually the sort of person who finds any changes to the source material in a movie or TV adaption pretty disgusting. You should of seen my reaction, at the age of 10, to the differences between Jurassic Park the movie and the book (she's not meant to be the oldest, it's a Stegosaurus not a Triceratops! etc.). Unusually, I've been far more forgiving of this series. The changes have been fairly substantial, with totally new characters and some important characters missing. And the CDC storyline came out of nowhere. BUT it's all been handled well, scripted excellently and with enough nods to the source material to keep this fanboy happy.

If you think "Oh God, I hate gore and zombies" and refuse to watch this, I urge you to reconsider. Yes there is gore. Yes there are zombies. But it's so much more than that. This is, like the comic book, about the characters, and how they deal with their circumstances. And it will have you hooked!

I cannot believe there's nearly a year to wait for the next set of episodes! :( How will I cope??

Night Of The Living Trekkies

As a zombie apocalypse fan and a (recovering) Star Trek obsessive, Night of the Living Trekkies has been on my radar for a few months. But I put off getting it as I just didn't see it being all that good. How wrong could I have been?! 

Basic plot outline in one sentence: a zombie outbreak occurs during a Star Trek convention in Houston. As diehard geek, that sentence is enough to get me extremely excited indeed. But I understand it might not appeal to everyone. I say, give it a go.

The book is superbly, tightly written, with humour woven into the dialogue so well that it feels totally natural. The characters are believable and likeable. It's a short, easy read and I will say it's definitely the best book I've read this year. My only criticism would be that, for those who aren't total nerds, some of the jokes might go over the reader's head. But hey, I am a total nerd so I laughed at every one.

A must buy.


Further Reading


Night of the Living Trekkies - Kevin David Anderson (UK Book, UK Kindle, US Book, US Kindle)

Zombie Apocalypse by Stephen Jones

Full disclosure: I'm a Zombie-aholic. I've seen the movies, read the books, adored the comics and just this last two weeks raved about TV series. So when, whilst wandering through my local bookstore the other day desperate for inspiration, I saw a book entitled "Zombie Apocalypse I could not walk past. 


In retrospect, picking it up and taking it home was an excellent decision. The story is told via the medium of letters, emails, diary entries, blogposts and Twitter feeds which makes it quite disjointed but not unduly so, and is very reminiscent of World War Z by Max Brooks (not a bad thing at all). It helps create a picture of the world far more easily and quickly than a normal narrative story. 


Mixing humour, recent political and news events, horror and an underlying bleakness, the story rolls on quickly to a humourous if despairing end. I got through it in a matter of hours, which shows just how easily it grabs your attention.


You do care about the characters, you do get taken in by the story (I stopped reading half way through and was surprised to find there were no zombies trying to break down my door!) and it will leave any horror or zombie fan very satisfied indeed. 


An excellent book and one I wholeheartedly recommend. 


Further Reading 


Zombie Apocalypse! US Amazon UK Amazon

If you feel benevolent and particularly generous, this writer always appreciates things bought for him from his wishlist

Another Shark Movie... With A Controversial Budget

After yesterday's shark post, I've found another upcoming shark movie. This time it comes from Australia and looks absolutely awesome based on the trailer.



Part of this awesome factor might be because this 3D movie is receiving state funding. And that's proving controversial given the portrayal of sharks as killing machines when they are far more at risk from us than we are from them. Read more here.

Upcoming Features: Sharks

Thanks to Mega Shark Vs. Giant Octopus, we've got a lot of shark related movies coming up. As a fan of Jaws, and of sharks in general, this can only be a good thing. As long as they are better than Dinoshark anyway...

First up is the eagerly awaited Sharktopus and the B-movie lover in me got very excited after seeing this trailer:



Then next we have the less than inspiring Super Shark (it can fly... hmm...)



And finally, actually looking quite good, we have a Jaws tribute with a twist: Swamp Shark



I think Swamp Shark might just be my most eagerly awaited monster movie for the next few months... :)

The A-Team

The A-Team is far more enjoyable than Predators was. 

When I first saw the trailer for this movie, I thought it looked like total crap; cheesy and generic. But actually, apart from the rather dull ending, it's a very fun and engaging movie that holds your interest for a good while. 

Unfortunately it's let down by the lacklustre ending. If it hadn't been for that I'd put this movie as one of my favourites of the year... good acting, good script, good simple story and plenty of action. But alas, nothing's perfect. So I'd rate this a "Give it a look if you've nothing better to do". 

Predators

I'm a franchise fan. Predator was a masterpiece, Predator II was great, Aliens Vs Predator was alright and AVP:R was.... well absolutely awful but I watched it. That's how much of a fan I am. 

I've had July's release of Predators set in my diary for a while and was really looking forward to it. Alas, it turns out to be yet another bitter disappointment. 

The pacing was all wrong. In Predator, the slow parts were short and useful for building up the tension. In Predators, the slow parts of the bulk of the movie and were useful for story advancement but failed to build up the tension at all. I didn't feel the characters were in constant jeopardy, as they should have been, and I didn't feel excited or interested about their fates. Each death came with inevitability rather than surprise. Each death was in fact far from sudden. You knew it was coming. And you just don't care. 

The acting was decent, the filming alright, the overall story had promise. But the weird, glaring errors (despite being out in the open often, none of them noticed the planets above their heads until they reached a scenic clifftop setting!!) and the total lack of pacing leads this movie to be on a par with AvP. Alright but not recommended. It's worth a watch if it comes on the telly, but don't part with any hard earned money for it!

Big Brother 11: The Final Showdown

Last night was Day One for the final series of Big Brother. In a slight twist, the housemates were "chosen" on the night as sent into the house from among a group of 81 hopefuls. Our housemates, sadly, seem to be the usual sort Big Brother sends in and not the rather ordinary types (for ordinary read.. erm... porn stars, lesbian nuns and a chicken fancier) of old. I.e. FREAKS.

We have:

Josie, a loud country girl.
Steve, a former soldier who was seriously injured in Northern Ireland (just waiting to see what sort of soldier [i.e. violent pisshead or honourable defender of these isles).
Ben, POSH
Rachael, she is pretty but conceited.
Nathan, wide boy.
Dave, loony Christian (no offence to Christians, in this case the two things might be independent)
Caoimhe, erm.
Govan, camp bisexual.
Shabby, pretentious middle class muppet/alt lifestyle hero. You decide.
Ife, seems interesting
John James, Aussie randomist. Only possible totty in house.
Sunshine. Sunset
Corin, common.
Mario, the wildcard normal guy chosen at random who is to act as BB's mole in house.

So. Same old, same old. I was looking forward to this series, but it looks like it just be BB by the numbers. I hope I'm wrong.

Eurovision Song Contest 2010 - Oslo, Norway - UPDATED

On my main blog it is a yearly tradition that I maintain a Eurovision post in the months leading up to the Final. It is kept updated as and when new selections are made and news comes out. Now that tradition moves here, where it truly belongs... 

Check out this Aussie programme... Eurovision A-Z

Location

The Telenor Arena, Greater Oslo, Norway.  

Presenters

Erik Solbakken 

Haddy Jatou N'jie

Nadia Hasnaoui

What's Different

This year the 2 Semi Final shows will introduce the same voting system as used, with quite some success, in the 2009 final. This means the votes shall be split 50/50 between a phone vote and jury vote. For more see Wikipedia

Countries, Singers and Songs 

Albania - Juliana Pasha "Nuk mundam pa ty"
Armenia - Eva Rivas "Apricot Stone"
Azerbaijan - Safura Alizadeh "Drip Drop"
Belarus - 3 + 2 "Butterflies"
Belgium - Tom Dice "Me And My Guitar"
Bosnia and Herzegovina - Vukašin Brajić "Munja i grom"
Bulgaria - Miro "Angel si ti"
Croatia - Feminnem "Lako je sve" 
Cyprus -   Jon Lilygreen and The Islanders "Life Looks Better in Spring"
Denmark - Chanée & N'evergreen "In a Moment Like This"
Estonia - Malcolm Lincoln "Siren"
Finland - Kuunkuiskaajat "Työlki ellää"
France - Jessy Matador "Allez Ola Olé"
Georgia - Sopho Nizharadze "Shine"
Germany - Lena Meyer-Landrut "Satellite" 
Greece - Giorgos Alkeos and Friends "OPA" 
Iceland - Hera Björk "Je ne sais quoi"
Ireland - Niamh Kavanagh "It's For You" 
Israel - Harel Skaat "Milim"
Latvia - Aisha "What For?"
Lithuania - InCulto "East European Funk"
Macedonia - Gjoko Taneski "Jas ja imam silata"
Malta - Thea Garrett "My Dream"
Moldova - SunStroke Project and Olio Tira "Run Away"
Netherlands - Sieneke "Ik ben verliefd, Shalalie"
Norway - Didrik Solli-Tangen "My Heart Is Yours"
Poland -  Marcin Mrozinski "Legenda" 
Portugal - Filipa Azevedo "Ha dias assim"
Romania - Paula Seling and Ovi "Playing with Fire"
Russia - Peter Nalitch Band "Lost and Forgotten" 
Serbia - Milan Stankovic "Ovo je Balkan" 
Slovakia - Kristina "Horehronie"
Slovenia - Ansambel Roka Žlindre and Kalamari "Narodnozabavni rock"
Spain - Daniel Diges "Algo pequeñito"
Sweden - Anna Bergendahl "This Is My Life"
Switzerland - Michael von der Heide "Il pleut de l'or"
Turkey - maNga "We Could Be The Same"
Ukraine - Alyosha - "Sweet People"
United Kingdom - Josh Dubovie "That Sounds Good To Me" 

Doctor Who: Amy's Choice

What with resigning my job, and moving house (ongoing) I've had little time for Pop Culture I'm afraid. I'm way behind on my American shows. I have however been watching Doctor Who. Sadly I've been... well I don't know what I've been. I've not been disappointed. I've not thought it was rubbish. But I've also not been inspired and I've not thought it was "great" like I normally do (hell, I liked Paradise Towers!). Hence lack of reviews.

But last night's Amy's Choice was absolutely awesome. Very weird, beautifully shot, rather creepy but still amusing villian. And Amy Pond is certainly becoming an excellent companion. Finally feel like "I'm getting it" again. Hurrah!! Check it out!

Doctor Who: The Beast Below

The Beast Below was the second episode of Matt Smith's first series of Doctor Who and, as a Whovian, I have to say I bloody loved it!

Firstly... how eighties was this episode? Dark, industrial, a little quirky with a Doctor who is a pronounces words a little funny and is a bit disparaging of the human race occasionally. As a Seventh Doctor obsessive (BRING BACK ACE!) I smiled.

Secondly... Star Wars references. We'll take the 10,000 smileys I could just put here as read.

Thirdly... the story wasn't all that bad with the Doctor hot on the trail of a nasty little secret whilst Amy is trying to forget it.

Fourthly... Amy and the Doctor work very well together.

Fifthly... the end scene (not related to main story) in which Amy picks up the phone to Winston Churchill was awesome... DALEKS!!

I'm way too excited about next week now!!

Clash Of The Titans

Last weekend Jim and I had a nice day out in London, which we ended with a trip to the cinema to see Clash of the Titans. 

I was expecting great things. A film steeped in Greek mythology (well themes thereof), with great special effects and hot men. How could it go wrong? 

By being dull, derivative and plain. This is not a BAD movie. I wasn't sitting there cringing and I didn't find the act appalling. But I was sat there wondering when the movie would get going. It never did. It was one boring scene after another and no reprieve. 

The ending was ridiculously simple, the Kraken being defeated so easily that any possible tension or excitement was completely lost. 

Avoid this movie if you can!

A Weekend Of Sci-Fi

Despite the unwelcome absence of Caprica following last week's awesome episode, us sci-fi geeks were not without our pleasures. In fact, this week saw the welcome return of several US shows that been on hiatus and one British show which has the status of most eagerly awaited new season of the year!

Fringe - Peter

An episode of awesomeness. We are treated to flashbacks into Walter and Peter's past. Excellent acting from John Noble who really captured the youthful, sane Walter and his feelings over the death of his son. Tough choices and some wonderful little pieces of information drip dropped throughout and it was one hell of a return for Fringe. Sadly it looks like it wasn't so lucky ratings wise, which is a real shame.

Stargate Universe - Space

Space battles, new aliens, political intriuge aboard the Destiny. This was a great start to the second half of the series and adds some much needed extra excitement to the formula.

V - Welcome To The War


I have been trying to give this series a chance, and episode 5 marks it's return to our screens... it's good but it just isn't holding my interest. There's enough to keep me watching right now, but I'm a sci-fi geek. I don't know if there is enough to keep the main bulk of the audience interested. However the liberal use of half naked men throughout the episode may keep certain elements glued to the action!

Doctor Who - The Eleventh Hour 

OMG! That is of course, my obligatory statement. A new Doctor. A new companion. A new adventure. Let's go. And this episode was excellent, awesome and amazing. Matt Smith will be a great Doctor, Amy will be an interesting companion and a little sneaking part of the Time Lord Victorious shone through in the moment the Doctor stares in the giant Eye of the alien ship and simple state "Run". :)

And there was an epic moment when all the past Doctors were shown, and past enemies too, and I couldn't help but squeal with joy like some schoolgirl seeing her crush for the first time.

But... it's a minor thing but I always find the first episode of a new Doctor Who series to be a bit of a let down. Mainly because I've built it up so much, and it can never met my inflated expectations. As this happens every series, I know now it's me and not the episode that is the problem so I look forward to next week with my expectations firmly grounded in reality (i.e. no original series Cybermen, no half naked muscled adonis drapped over every scene nor Daleks in World War II.... ;) )

GLEE!

I know. I've come late to this party. My other half watched the first episode, without me, ages ago and reported back that it was rubbish. Loyally I ignored all information and anecdotes to the contrary until I found I was unable to even talk to someone or read my Twitter feed without the word "Glee" appearing somewhere.

So I watched the first episode. Then the second. Then the third. Then the fourth. I'm totally hooked! Sure, it's absolutely and totally wish fulfilment. What self respecting human being wouldn't wish to live in a musical high school, in which gay guys can be the saviour of the football team and footballers can be the saviour of the choir???

But it's also funny, clever and entertaining. I feel so bad for not getting into this earlier... but I shall make up for it!

Dinoshark

Eric Balfour - The Only Good Thing About This Movie

You see something titled "Dinoshark" and you hope for a truly awesome B-movie. You're thinking Jaws meets Jurassic Park, and you get overly excited at the prospect.

Alas. I have very low standards. I love B-movies! LOVE 'EM. I accept a certain level of bad special effects and terrible acting.

But... Dinoshark mixes the very worst special effects money can't buy and awful acting little seen since "Leeches"  and comes up with diddly squat. There's no tension, no suspense, nothing. If it had simply straight copied the scenes from Jaws it would have been better. Instead we get simple attack after uneventful attack. Boring

Eric Balfour is the only good thing in this movie, but that makes it even worse... when you have someone actually acting talking to someone trying desperately to act it only shows the flaws up even more clearly.

 Lesson learnt: SyFy (don't you hate their rebranding??) TV movies are just never going to get any better.

Eurovision Song Contest 2010 - Oslo, Norway

On my main blog it is a yearly tradition that I maintain a Eurovision post in the months leading up to the Final. It is kept updated as and when new selections are made and news comes out. Now that tradition moves here, where it truly belongs... 

Location

The Telenor Arena, Greater Oslo, Norway.  

Presenters

Erik Solbakken 

Haddy Jatou N'jie

Nadia Hasnaoui

What's Different

This year the 2 Semi Final shows will introduce the same voting system as used, with quite some success, in the 2009 final. This means the votes shall be split 50/50 between a phone vote and jury vote. For more see Wikipedia

Countries, Singers and Songs 

Albania - Juliana Pasha "Nuk mundam pa ty"
Armenia - Eva Rivas "Apricot Stone"
Azerbaijan - Safura Alizadeh "Drip Drop"
Belarus - 3 + 2 "Butterflies"
Belgium - Tom Dice "Me And My Guitar"
Bosnia and Herzegovina - Vukašin Brajić "Munja i grom"
Bulgaria - Miro "Angel si ti"
Croatia - Feminnem "Lako je sve" 
Cyprus -   Jon Lilygreen and The Islanders "Life Looks Better in Spring"
Denmark - Chanée & N'evergreen "In a Moment Like This"
Estonia - Malcolm Lincoln "Siren"
Finland - Kuunkuiskaajat "Työlki ellää"
France - Jessy Matador "Allez Ola"
Georgia - Sopho Nizharadze "Shine"
Germany - Lena Meyer-Landrut "Satellite" 
Greece - Giorgos Alkeos and Friends "OPA" 
Iceland - Hera Björk "Je ne sais quoi"
Ireland - Niamh Kavanagh "It's For You" 
Israel - Harel Skaat "Milim"
Latvia - Aisha "What For?"
Lithuania - InCulto "East European Funk"
Macedonia - Gjoko Taneski "Jas ja imam silata"
Malta - Thea Garrett "My Dream"
Moldova - SunStroke Project and Olio Tira "Run Away"
Netherlands - Sieneke "Ik ben verliefd, Shalalie"
Norway - Didrik Solli-Tangen "My Heart Is Yours"
Poland -  Marcin Mrozinski "Legenda" 
Portugal - Filipa Azevedo "Ha dias assim"
Romania - Paula Seling and Ovi "Playing with Fire"
Russia - Peter Nalitch Band "Lost and Forgotten" 
Serbia - Milan Stankovic "Ovo je Balkan" 
Slovakia - Kristina "Horehronie"
Slovenia - Ansambel Roka Žlindre and Kalamari "Narodnozabavni rock"
Spain - Daniel Diges "Algo pequeñito"
Sweden - Anna Bergendahl "This Is My Life"
Switzerland - Michael von der Heide "Il pleut de l'or"
Turkey - maNga "We Could Be The Same"
Ukraine - 
United Kingdom - Josh Dubovie "That Sounds Good To Me" 

Eurovision Selections: Two Very Different Shows

This weekend has seen two national selection contests for Eurovision (alright there has been more but I only watched two!). One was Your Country Needs You, which selects the UK entry. The other was Melodifestivalen, which selects Sweden's entry. They were very different entities... 

So this year we went back to the old "all on one day" format of Your Country Needs You. Last year's format of having 6 contestants who were gradually voted off by the public and the judge (Andrew Lloyd Webber) was great especially as Webber hadn't written the song until he saw who was in the final and who might be able to carry it off best. 

This year Pete Waterman was in charge of the song, and after some truly abysmal performances of Waterman classics and then a final 3 set of performances of the "winning song", we ended up with Josh Dubovie, 19 from Essex as our performer singing "That Sounds Good To Me". I can't say I'm inspired by the song. Given Waterman's record it is actually pretty awful. Couldn't we just have sent Steps??? 





Anyway, if you wish to hear the winning entry a video is here. I just wish we had an open competition in which actual artists could compete with their own songs and allow the best one to win. Alas... we must leave that for: 

Melodifestivalen is less a televisual event than it is a Swedish religion. Weeks of musical shenanigans in a large arena resulted in last night's final in which ten songs competed for the glory of Eurovision stardom. Not only were the songs and singers all of a higher calibre than our lacklustre one's. but the voting was done on a semi international basis with foreign juries and Swedish public votes all leading to the final result. That left them with the far better "This Is My Life" by Anna Bergendahl

Although I have to say I really enjoyed Eric Saade's Manboy:

Roll on Eurovision! 

Eurovision: Your Country Needs You!

We knew Pete Waterman would be taking the place of Andrew Lloyd-Webber as songwriter and producer this year. But now the acts who will be competing to take his song to Europe have been revealed as Your Country Needs You! is less than a week away.

Alexis Gerrard, aged 20. 

Esma Akkilic, aged 17

Josh Dubovie, aged 19

Karen Harding, aged 18 

Miss Fitz 

Uni5

A very young crowd, with no one older than their mid 20s. A good looking bunch, it'll be interesting to see how well they can sing and who is ultimately chosen to fight our corner in May!

For some reason the show is on a Friday this year, so this coming Friday you'll find me crossing my fingers and hoping for gold! 

Alien Prequel Vs Predators

With Predators due to be released later this year and Ridley Scott's return to the Alien franchise almost a given, it's time to start getting excited!

Below are the first on set pictures from the production of Predators, a film I trust will see us put the AvP franchise to bed and return us to firmer movie ground.

And if the rumours are to be believed we might even get a brief cameo by his most sexiness himself...

And an Alien prequel would be very, very exciting. With the mess made by Alien3 and Alien Resurrection, it's probably good to return to a time when the Xenomorphs were terrifying. Most exciting stuff indeed!