Behind the scenes on The Hobbit: #5

The latest behind the scenes video from The Hobbit has been released, and this time they are looking at location shooting. Enjoy:

First Hobbit movie trailer and poster

The first trailer for the first part of the movie version of The Hobbit has been released, and looks just as amazing as one would expect:



There's also a teaser poster (via apple):

Misfits renewed

Misfits (a ruder, grittier, and decidedly more British, Heroes-like series, if you don't know it) has been renewed for a fourth season, according to Broadcast.

The third series finishes tonight. Despite launching with the loss of arguably the lead character, the series has continued to deliver its humour and distinctiveness; with stories featuring Nazi alternate timeline, comic book drawing mind control, sex change, and zombies.

Latest Doctor Who christmas trailer

The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe, coming this christmas.

Wonderful Attenborough

David Attenborough narrating What A Wonderful World to BBC natural history footage. Wonderful:



A friend of mine pointed out this is somewhat in the style of William Shatner's "music". But Attenborough does it with so much more class.

Stargate novels switch to ebooks

Fandemonium Books, publisher of Stargate novels, have announced (in their last email newsletter) a change in their publishing, with a shift to ebook releases taking priority over print editions:

Some of you might have noticed that times are changing in the publishing world, and after much deliberation we at Fandemonium Books have decided that now is the right time to make the move to ebooks as our prime publishing media.

All our new books will be available for download from Amazon and all major ebook distributors, and in the coming months we’ll be releasing our entire back catalogue in ebook format.

I'm not an ebook convert yet, but this does at least been some of the stupendously expensive out-of-print books will become much easier to get hold of in some form. And there is an option to get print-on-demand copies of new releases too:

But, for those lovers of all things paper, we’re not abandoning you. We will offer all of our new titles as print-on-demand books, so you can still get hold of a paperback copy of our books including the newly released STARGATE SG-1: Transitions.

The two most recent Stargate novels have launched this model. The third book in the post-finale Atlantis series, Legacy: Allegiance:

Reeling from the shocking discovery of Rodney McKay's fate, Colonel Sheppard and his team retreat to Atlantis to regroup. With Rodney not only in the hands of the Wraith, but apparently working for them, Atlantis faces a new danger - their own man, turned against them.

While Zelenka and Colonel Carter work frantically to crack the security protocols McKay embedded in Atlantis's computer system, Ronan revisits his past and finds much is changing on Sateda. Meanwhile, Queen Death prepares to make use of her most valuable prisoner; with Rodney still unaware of his true identity, the fate of Atlantis hangs in the balance…

Set after the TV series' exciting finale, STARGATE ATLANTIS: Allegiance is book three of the gripping new Legacy series.

           Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Amazon.es, Amazon.it.

And the new crossover novel, Transitions:

After her mother’s death, Cassie Fraiser is moving on. So she thinks. But there are dangerous forces at work and she soon finds herself caught up in a situation far beyond her control. It’s a good thing Colonel Carter was keeping an eye on her.

But while Carter rallies SG-1 to Cassie’s aid, events on Atlantis are going from bad to worse. Facing a deadly plague and a computer virus that’s shutting down the city, it looks like Colonel Sheppard’s team will provide rich pickings for the incoming Wraith hive ship.

But sometimes events galaxies apart are connected in unexpected ways— and help comes from the most surprising of places. In this action-packed story, Sabine C. Bauer brings together the heroes of Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis in the fight of their lives…

           Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Amazon.es, Amazon.it.

Men in Black III trailer

Out next summer, the time travel third sequel/prequel to Men in Black:

New Jurassic Park reprints

Check out this beautiful omnibus of Jurassic Park and The Lost World. I'm very tempted to replace my mismatched copies with this pretty version:

Amazon's description:

From master thriller writer Michael Crichton: Two imaginative masterpieces of speculative science, full of adventure and larger-than-life characters. In Jurassic Park, scientists of today clone dinosaurs of the prehistoric past to serve as attractions in a modern theme park. When a rival biogenetic firm attempts to steal the scientists secret, the stage is set for a nightmare of science and dinosaurs run amok. The Lost World picks up the story six years later, with scientists scrambling to find the jungle island that served as the dinosaur production factory for Jurassic Park. Once again, rivalry and subterfuge combine to create life-threatening dangers for the scientists, who must contend with the rampaging dinosaurs as well as their cutthroat competitors. This volume contains the full text of both of Michael Crichton s bestselling novels. Featuring a beautifully stamped bonded leather cover, gilt edging, colorful endpapers, and a satin-ribbon bookmark, this collectible edition is a fine addition to any home library.

The novel omnibus is out already, while coming in January from IDW is their fourth omnibus of classic Jurassic Park comics: Return to Jurassic Park, Part One. With another nice cover:

Amazon's description:

The fourth volume of Classic Jurassic Park stories continues with Return to Jurassic Park #1-9, which contains the lead-in story to the four-issue adaptation of The Lost World. It also contains the two part stories "Heirs to the Thunder" and "Photo Finish" ending with the final issue, "Jurassic Jam," which featured multiple artists such as John Byrne and Walter Simonson.

And IDW's solicitation blurb:

The fourth volume of Classic Jurassic Park stories continues with Return to Jurassic Park #1-4. When a U.S. soldier is found floating, dead, off the coast of Costa Rica word makes its way to InGen headquarters in Palo Alto. Before long, Grant, Ellie, and Muldoon are headed back to Isla Nublar! And they're not going to like what they find on the island... Fills in the story between the first JP and The Lost World.

Bookshelf for your bookshelf

One of my favourite obscure-subject blogs is Bookshelf, a blog dedicated to showing the world the many varied bookshelves you can get, or make, to put your books on. They blew-my-storage-space-obsessed mind recently with an incredible stairs/drawers post. Due to being so awesome and unique the blog is being turned into something to be kept on its own subject matter, a book! And they have recently been showing off the cover, featuring, of course, a quirky bookcase:

So go check out the blog, or pre-order the book; should be good!

Out of This World

Out of This World: Science Fiction But Not As You Know It, was an exhibition recently held at the British Library, looking at the historical origins of science fiction - A review of it, by Wired, suggests they nailed that down to 170AD! I unfortunately only heard of it a couple of weeks after the exhibition closed, thanks to a review of the accompanying book I found on Grasping for the Wind. The exhibition and book were/are split into six thematic sections: Alien Worlds, Time and Parallel Worlds, Virtual Worlds, Future Worlds, The End of the World, and The Perfect World. Reflecting the exhibition the book is richly illustrated, and also goes to some effort to expand its exploration of the subject to include sources outside the usual english language male dominated world of sci-fi. It sounds really interesting, and is certainly being added to my to-read list, so I mention it here imagining you might feel the same - Have a read of those aforementioned reviews and I’m sure you'll agree.

Arthur Christmas trailer

Arthur Christmas, is the latest animation from Aardman (makers of Wallace and Gromit, Chicken Run, etc), and looks just as brilliant as everything they've made before, with an original take on how Christmas works:

Latest Muppets trailer

Need I say more? Watch:

BBC's Frozen Planet

The BBC has released a trailer for it's next big natural history series, Frozen Planet:

The BBC's Youtube channel also has several clips up from the series.

Doctor Who complete season six box set

Doctor Who News has reported details of the forthcoming Doctor Who complete season six boxset. All thirteen episodes will be included, plus cutdown versions of Doctor Who Confidential. Also included will be the last christmas speical, A Christmas Carol, the comic relief mini episode, Space & Time, the five webisodes that were released before episodes this season, and audio commentaries for four episodes. Additionally there will be a special five-miniepisode story just on the DVDs and blurays, called Night and the Doctor, with an accompanying Confidential episode.

The UK release will also be available in a limited edition Silence edition, with four lenticular prints (gifs of which are after the jump):

Doctor Who Confidential cancelled

As reported by The Guardian, Doctor Who Confidential, the behind-the-scenes companion program to Doctor Who, will not be returning with the next series, as part of the BBC's cost cutting. The BBC had this to say on the matter:

Doctor Who Confidential has been a great show for BBC3 over the years but our priority now is to build on original British commissions, unique to the channel.

I can't deny Confidential is far from perfect; it's too long, so gets padded out with fluff. But both excuses given by the BBC seem flawed to me: It must be one of the cheapest programs they can make, as everything they need for it is already in place from the production of Doctor Who; all they have to do is throw an extra crew in to film it, and pop it through an edit suite. And it is an original British commission, or is documentary exempt from that classification? What other program gives viewers such an incite in television production? An inspirational and informative look at one of the UK's biggest industries. It seems to me that the BBC should be the proud home of such programing, not removing it for poor reasons.

Jurassic Park Dangerous Games #4 solicitation

IDW's solicitations for December are out, which include the penultimate issue of the Jurassic Park series, Dangerous Games. Here's how they describe it:

Agent Espinoza has evaded near death on Jurassic Park countless times over the past 24 hours. Now he's looking to payback the man behind it all- drug kingpin Cazares! That means breaking into Cazares' headquaters in the Jurassic Park hotel... which is fortified with countless gun-toting goons! How can Espinoza storm the compound? A herd of triceratops might not hurt, for starters!

The issue will be available in a standard cover or black white retail incentive:

 

Out this week was the second issue of the series; if you haven't got it yet Comic Book Resources have a seven-page preview. Here's one page:

The Darkest Hour trailer

I saw this trailer before Rise of the Planet of the Apes (which might be my favourite film of the year), and thoguth it looked pretty cool. Hadn't heard a thing about it before. The characters don't seem that interesting, but the concept for the aliens is great. The Darkest Hour:

Super 8 bluray and DVD cover

The cover for the bluray and DVD releases of Super 8 (which if you haven't seen it, is rather brilliant) have been released. They're based on the old super 8 film packets, and while the extra blue bars of the bluray cases rather butcher the design, it looks quite nice on the DVD:

 

Source Code TV series on the way

According to Hollywood Reporter, ABC is working on a TV adaption of one of this year's best films; Source Code. Each week the Source Code team will jump into the minds of victims of tragic events. Should be good.

Primeval spinoff on the way

Digital Spy reports that the North American Primeval spinoff has been officially commissioned as a thirteen part series, Primeval: New Order, for Canadian channel Space. The new series will be "older, darker and scarier" and have a "younger, sexier" cast (because the current Primeval gang are really getting on...). Which I guess make it the Primeval equivalent of Torchwood or Stargate Universe.

Disappointingly it seems it might not be in the same continuity, as Impossible Picture's Jonathan Drake has commented: "This will be a bigger, better, badder re-imagining of the show, rather than a continuation." I rather hope that's just not the clearest word choice and it will all fit together. But any new Primeval is good news! The series is to film this winter in Vancouver, for release next autumn.

Tape is mesmerising

Stop motion with sticky-tape, watch, it’s amazing:

Tape Generations from johan rijpma on Vimeo.

Brilliant new Muppets trailer

The latest trailer for the new Muppets movie has been released, and it's a hilarious spoof of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo's trailer:

Jurassic Park: Dangerous Games #1 preview

The first issue of IDW's next Jurassic Park comic series, Dangerous Games, is out this week, and Comics Continuum have a five-page-preview. Here's the dramatic start:

You can see the rest, here.

The most useful goo ever invented?

Ever heard of Sugru? I hadn't until a few minutes ago, and after perusing their website I'm now pretty convinced it's the most useful stuff ever made! What is this stuff I hear you ask: Well, it's a type of silicon which comes in little packets and can be moulded like modelling clay, then left to dry for a day and it into lovely tough flexible stuff. It's heat-proof and water-proof, and sticks to nearly everything. Here's one of sugro's funky diagrams which illustrates some of its usefulness:

And a video too:



My favourite mouse is just a few threads of wire away from being broken forever, I'm excited at the potential for fixing it! Sugru have a whole gallery of things you can use it for. My favourite so far is this funky bicycle grip:

BBC's dinosaur season

The BBC have released a trailer for their latest dinosaur documentary series, Planet Dinosaur, which starts in a couple of weeks:



The six part series is one part of a whole season of dinosaur programing on the BBC, here's how they describe what's coming:

Planet Dinosaur

The last decade has been a golden age of discoveries for palaeontologists around the world: more dinosaurs have been discovered in the past 10 years than the previous 200 years. But the next generation of children won't be talking about Tyrannosaurus Rex or Diplodocus because bigger, badder and altogether more bizarre dinosaurs have been uncovered across the globe.

In an astonishing six-part series, BBC One brings to life the most incredible creatures that viewers never knew existed. From Spinosaurus, the biggest killer to ever walk the Earth, to the immense sea-monster Predator X, and the deadly cannibalistic Majunasaurus – dinosaurs were more monstrous, more horrific and bizarre than ever before imagined. Combining a 3D graphic world, incredible CGI and stunning photo-real fight scenes, this is a whole new perspective on dinosaurs.

How To Build A Dinosaur

Dinosaur skeletons are some of the most popular exhibitions in the world – each year, hundreds of thousands of children flock to the Natural History Museum to see the world famous diplodocus, Dippy. But how do these skeletons get from the ground to the museum hall, traversing millions of years in history to educate and entertain? For every museum, reconstructing a dinosaur skeleton is a fine balance between science and art.

Science presenter and anatomist Dr Alice Roberts guides viewers through the entire reconstruction of a museum's new dinosaur exhibition from the raw bones to the final skeleton.

Survivors

It is estimated that 99 per cent of Earth's species have become extinct. Professor Richard Fortey of the Natural History Museum discovers what allows the very few that survive to carry on going – perhaps not for ever, but certainly far beyond normal species life-expectancy. What makes a survivor when other species drop like flies?

From the jellyfish to the crocodile this series focuses on the survivors whose biographies stretch back millions of years and who can teach humans how it is possible to survive a mass extinction event.

Dinosaurs, Myths And Monsters

Prehistoric bones posed an enormous conundrum in the past. What were they? What did they signify? And what were the implications of those findings? How could they be reconciled to beliefs and myths about the origins of humans and indeed, the planet? For centuries, dinosaur and other fossilised bone remains have perplexed, challenged and amazed humans.

This film tells the story of the impact of the gradual discovery of dinosaurs. It's a story which explains how ideas, explanations and philosophies altered and evolved through time and how humans developed theories to explain the mysteries of the bones.

Mondo: Jurassic Park

Mondo (who I regularly follow to update my Star Trek blog on their latest releases) have launched a new poster license. The first in the series was released exclusively with a screening of Jurassic Park at the Alamo Drafthouse, and a second poster will be available when the trilogythe trilogy is released on bluray next month (if they're anything like the Trek posters you'll have a couple of minutes to try and get one of the small editions of prints before they sell out). Here is the first poster:

And its blue variant:

Sources: Movies.com, /Film.

Jurassic Park returning to cinemas!

Jurassic Park is possibly my favourite film, so I am very excited to hear (from Empire) that it will be shown once more in cinemas at the end of this month (in the UK at least), ahead of the trilogy's bluray release.

Great scott!

Back to the Future is back! For a rather odd Argentinian viral advert at least:

Indiana Jones and the Adventure of Archaeology

Indiana Jones is on his way to a city near you, in a world touring exhibition that recently began in Montreal and is soon its way to Europe. The exhibition is a mixture of artefacts from the films, and from real life, including:

• A vast and exclusive collection of Indiana Jones film props, models, concept art, and set designs from the Lucasfilm Archives

• An interactive tour of legendary sites that sheds light on historical myths such as the Ark of the Covenant and the Holy Grail

• A rare chance to see some of the world’s most impressive material remains and real-world artefacts from ancient societies from the collections of the world-renowned Penn Museum and the National Geographic Society archives

It also has an awesome poster:

And a trailer for good measure:



You can find out more on the exhibition's website, or Facebook page (the latter seems more useful as it's actually indicating where its going next).

Lion King 3D trailer

I'm pretty sceptical about post-production 3D conversion. But, I am really excited about Disney's forthcoming 3D re-release of The Lion King, on both bluray and in cinemas - Because with animation at least I find it easy to conceive how you could take a film apart a recompose it in 3D. And also because, as this awesome trailer demonstrates, The Lion King is just packed full of 3Dness!:

Futurama monopoly on the way, and there's a dinosaur one too!

While browsing USAoply's website I see they have a Futurama edition of Monopoly on the way, currently on pre-order for November release. I love the replacements for "chance" and "community chest": "Attention Puny Humans!" and "Good News Everyone!"

 

Pre-orders come with a Leela's boot and golden Bender token, with the boot not to be included in later releases and Bender de-goldened!

I also spotted a Dinosaur edition of Monopoly, with one of the taxes being a meteorite impact!

 

 

The Muppet Show song cover video

Check out this awesome cover of The Muppet Show theme by OK Go:



It's from a new album of Muppets song covers called The Green Album, which you can read about and listen to on NPR. Or you can listen to samples right here, via this thingy from Amazon:



Has a neat cover too:

The Dutch man who climbed a field and came down a mountain

According to Discovery News, there are plans afoot in the Netherlands to build their very own mountain; being discontent with the flatness of the country and the lack of skiing and hiking facilities they have has a result. Thijs Zonneveld, an advocate of the project, and a former professional cyclist, commented:

Flat is ideal for growing beetroot, raising cows or building straight roads, but it's a catastrophe from a sports point-of-view. I want a mountain, a real one. In the Netherlands.

According to Zonneveld, engineers and investors are looking into the project, with hopes of the new mountain featuring ski slopes, bobsleigh tracks, an ice rink, hiking trails, cliffs for climbing and scenic mountain roads with hairpin turns. According to Radio Netherlands, another supporter, professional skating manager Ron Mulder, even envisions the Netherlands being able to host the winter Olympics as result of the mountain’s construction! Here's Radio Netherlands' idea of what a Dutch mountain might look like:

Dinosaur film coming from Pixar!

At the recent D23 expo Pixar annouced a couple of future projects, one of which features dinosaurs! Here are the descriptions, care of io9, plus the desritpion fo the next Toy Story short:

The Untitled Pixar Film About Dinosaurs

What if the cataclysmic asteroid that forever changed life on Earth actually missed the planet completely and giant dinosaurs never became extinct? This hilarious, heartfelt and original tale is directed by Bob Peterson (co-director/writer, "Up;" writer, "Finding Nemo") and produced by John Walker ("The Incredibles," "The Iron Giant").

The Untitled Pixar Movie That Takes You Inside the Mind

Pixar takes audiences on incredible journeys into extraordinary worlds: from the darkest depths of the ocean to the top of the tepui mountains in South America; from the fictional metropolis of Monstropolis to a futuristic fantasy of outer space. From director Pete Docter ("Up," "Monsters, Inc.") and producer Jonas Rivera ("Up"), the inventive new film will take you to a place that everyone knows, but no one has ever seen: the world inside the human mind.

Small Fry

In the latest Toy Story Toon, Buzz Lightyear is left behind at a fast food restaurant when a kids' meal toy version of Buzz takes his place. While Bonnie's toys are stuck with the annoying 3-inch-tall Buzz impersonator, the real Buzz is trapped in the restaurant at a support group for discarded toys. As Woody and the gang devise a way to rescue their friend, Buzz tries to escape the toy psychotherapy meeting.

More information and coverage on io9, First Showing and /Film.

Jurassic Park: Dangerous Games

IDW have just released their solicitations for November, which include the third issue of their latest Jurassic Park series: Dangerous Games, written by Greg Bear and Erik Bear, with art by Jorge Jimenez. Here are blurbs and covers for that series to date:

Dangerous Games #1

The time has come... to return to Isla Nublar! The famed original Jurassic Park island has become overgrown and wild after years of being stuck in United Nations limbo. A major criminal overlord has moved in and started using the island as a base of operations. Undercover agent Espinoza tries to bring down the drug cartel- but when he's found out, there's only one place to run... the dino-infested island interior! It's survival of the fittest at Jurassic Park!

 

Dangerous Games #2

The hunt begins! Detective Espinoza is on the run in the deadliest of locations... Jurassic Park! With well-armed goons on his trail, this is a seemingly impossible game to win. Luckily Espinoza meets Dr. Frances White, an animal behaviorial expert also trapped on the island. But how much help will Dr. White be when she leads him directly to a hungry T-Rex? This is the dino action you've been craving!

Dangerous Games #3

Agent Espinoza is being hunted on Jurassic Park, both by dinosaurs and a blood-thirsty drug cartel. Tired, hungry and sick of being the prey, a desperate Espinoza decides to flip the tables and start getting crafty! The end result is a battle to the death at the top of a waterfall with deadly dinos on all sides. It's maximum Jurassic action in this issue of Dangerous Games!

If you make your way to Chris Ryall's blog you can also see some interior artwork, and some of the cover artwork without titles. Like this beauty:

Clone Wars season 4 trailer

Check out the new trailer for the forthcoming fourth season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars:



I'm still waiting for season three to come out on bluray!

Fly near to space, in a balloon!

Forget rockets and spaceplanes, the way to travel above the Earth ahs to be in a balloon! Zero2Infinity's Bloon project looks like one of the most amazing experiences you could ever have (one would certainly hope so at €110000 per flight). Their helium filled balloon launches from a special dome, which can be transported anywhere in the world, and gradually inflates as it gets up to about 36km above the Earth for a three hour flight. From there you'll get amazing views of the Earth, seeing the curvature of the Earth, and the dark sky above. While that isn't high enough to experience zero-g the company claim their balloon can be flown in a way that can give zero-g (or lunar or martian gravity) for twenty-five second bursts - But with these kind of views who needs zero-g too?

 

Doctor Who 2011 part 2 prequel webisode

The BBC has a released a Doctor Who webisode ahead of the return of the series for the second half of this year's season in a few weeks time:

Star Wars bluray art

I just came across the full artwork for the forthcoming Star Wars bluray releases, pretty:

 

 

Harry Potter Studio Tour opening next year

Warner Brother have announced plans for the Warner Brothers Studio Tour London - The Making of Harry Potter, to open in the spring of 2012. The tour will be about three hours long and include the major sets of the Harry Potter films, plus exhibitions of costumes, props, and special effects. They also plan to expand the attraction to include other Warner Brothers films made in the UK, such as the recent Sherlock Holmes and Batman movies. Here's what it will look like:

You can see more, and in a few months time book tickets, on the Studio Tour website.

UPDATE: Here's a video advert for it too:

Some highlights from the BBC Proms

We are in the midst of the BBC Proms season (that's a series of classical music concerts on BBC radio and TV for those not familiar), and this week has been particularly good, with the first comedy Prom, the always enjoyable movie music prom, and a prom by the Spaghetti Western Orchestra. Here are clips of the brilliant Tim Michin from the comedy prom, and the Spaghetti Western Orchestra:

Duncan Jones to expand his science fiction universe from Moon

In a LoveFilm interview, director Duncan Jones has revealed his next planned film will be set in the same reality as his (fantastic) film, Moon, although not necessarily otherwise connected:

It’s another science fiction film, which is hopefully going to be a summation of what I would love to make.

Hopefully this next film is going to be the best of both worlds, it’s going to be my own idea, really throwing myself and my own passions into it, but having the budget to be able to pull (it) off.

It’s sci-fi set, and it’s a little bit future set, connected to the universe that is described in Moon but a completely independent story. And in the same way, it’s also connected to this script I’ve been working on for a long time - Mute - independently and parallel as a graphic novel.

Chris Addison to be Mock the Week regular

According to The British Comedy Guide, Chris Addison will become a regularly weekly panellist on Mock the Week when it returns for the second half of the current series. Which is great, as he's very funny; and particularly good at the political/sociological sort of stuff Mock the Week is especially good at poking fun at.

On the flip side Russell Howard will no longer be a regular.

Niue's Star Wars coins

The New Zealand Mint has begun to release sets of coins, legal tender on the island of Niue, featuring Star Wars designs. There will be forty all together, starting with two sets of four solid silver coins in novelty cases (Darth Vader's helmet and the Millennium Falcon), and ten individual silver plated coins. Here are my favourite two:

 

You can find out more on the New Zealand Mint's website.

Mobius: An animated sculpture

Check this out, it's a stop-motion animated sculpture from Australian art and design firm Eness:



They also have a small wooden version for sale, so you can make your own mini versions!

Interesting behind-the-scenes look at Jurassic Park CGI

Jurassic Park is one of my favourite films, and what I continue to be amazed by every time I watch it is just how well the nearly two-decade old effects hold up; they look better than many modern effects! Here's an interesting look at how those amazing effects were made:

Terra Nova clips

Comics Continuum have posted six clips from the first episode of the forthcoming dinosaur/time travel show, Terra Nova. Here are my favourite two:


There are four more clips on Comics Continuum, plus the offical Terra Nova website has a whole load of prequel videos, here.