Sherlock returns, and if only he could meet The Doctor

The BBC have delivered a most excellent Christmas present, in the form of a new mini-episode of Sherlock, ahead of the start of the new season next week:



And here also is the trailer for said new season:



In wholly less official realms, there is also a rather wonderful fan video doing the rounds lately, a dream crossover of Sherlock and Doctor Who. It's a pretty impressive feat of editing:



And, if you're curious how that was made, here's a behind-the-scenes video too:

New Harry Potter film! (sort of)

Warner Brother have today announced J.K. Rowling will be expanding the wizarding world of Harry Potter with a new film series based on the adventures of Newt Scamander, the author of the in-universe and real world book, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Rowling will be scripting the films, which will presumably focus on the magical animals of the title. The first story will be set in New York, seventy years before the events of the Harry Potter series. Here's what Rowling had to say in Warner Brothers' press release:

It all started when Warner Bros. came to me with the suggestion of turning ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ into a film. I thought it was a fun idea, but the idea of seeing Newt Scamander, the supposed author of ‘Fantastic Beasts,’ realized by another writer was difficult. Having lived for so long in my fictional universe, I feel very protective of it and I already knew a lot about Newt. As hard-core Harry Potter fans will know, I liked him so much that I even married his grandson, Rolf, to one of my favourite characters from the Harry Potter series, Luna Lovegood.

As I considered Warners’ proposal, an idea took shape that I couldn’t dislodge. That is how I ended up pitching my own idea for a film to Warner Bros.

Although it will be set in the worldwide community of witches and wizards where I was so happy for seventeen years, ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ is neither a prequel nor a sequel to the Harry Potter series, but an extension of the wizarding world. The laws and customs of the hidden magical society will be familiar to anyone who has read the Harry Potter books or seen the films, but Newt’s story will start in New York, seventy years before Harry’s gets underway.

I particularly want to thank Kevin Tsujihara of Warner Bros. for his support in this project, which would not have happened without him. I always said that I would only revisit the wizarding world if I had an idea that I was really excited about and this is it.

Jurassic World, coming 2015!

Universal Pictures have officially announced the fourth film in the Jurassic Park series is coming! Released on the 12th of June 2015, in 3D (spared no expense) will be Jurassic World. The Jurassic Park Facebook page posted the blue tinted teaser logo for the film.

Deadline reports that the film will be directed by Colin Trevorrow, with a script from Trevorrow and Derek Connolly - The two have worked together on several films, although none I am familiar with. Steven Spielberg will be producing, along side Frank Marshall and Pat Crowley.

I love Jurassic Park, and The Lost World, and, well, Jurassic Park 3 has some nice dinosaurs in it... Lets hope Jurassic World can do justice to the earlier films. Hurry up 2015!

So blue tint, that surely means we're going to see pre-historical aquatic reptiles (not dinosaurs!) this time? And "Jurassic World", sounds like a new take on the original dinosaur theme park idea...

First look at Star Wars: Rebels

At the past weekend's Star Wars Celebration Europe convention the first images from the new Star Wars animated series, Rebels, were revealed. The series will be set between the the prequel and original trilogies, focusing on the Rebel Alliance (or its fore-bearers), as StarWars.com describe:

It takes place in a time where the Empire is securing its grip on the galaxy and hunting down the last of the Jedi Knights as a fledgling rebellion against the Empire is taking shape.

The series is being heavily influenced by the aesthetic of Ralph McQuarrie's concept art for the original trilogy - Which I think is an excellent decision; I really like that look! The logo above, and the following images were released by StarWars.com, as you can see, they really capture the crisp clean and bright look of McQuarrie's art:

The central ship in the above image is the hero ship of the series, the Ghost. TheForce.net uncovered a schematic of the ship, from a url hidden on badges given away at the convention:

Hoth Bricks posted photos from the Rebels presentation at the convention, there are a few highlights after the jump, but you can see lots more of the Ghost, new stormtroopers, droids, and location designs on Hoth Bricks:

Monty Python, Benedict Cumberbatch, and aliens

So you know what's awesome and hilarious and wonderful? Monty Python. Definitely one of the best things there is.

And you know who's captivating, irresistibly watchable, and stupendously talented? Benedict Cumberbatch for sure; who doesn't LOVE Sherlock? And, controversial, better Khan than the original Khan, I think so.

And you know what else is great? Aliens, because they mean sci-fi, and sci-fi is awesome.

Well, if you agree with all the above, you're in luck, because those three things are soon to be combined, in one of those sequences of images they call a movie. A movie called Absolutely Anything. Here's how First Showing describe this film:

The Pythons are voicing key roles as a group of aliens who endow an earthling (Benedict Cumberbatch) with the power to do "absolutely anything" to see what a mess he'll make of things — which is precisely what happens.

Also there's a talking dog voiced by Robin Williams. I like Robin Williams, less enamoured by talking dogs... But am willing to chance it. Here's a poster:

That my lad, is an excellent trailer

Warner Brothers has released the first trailer for the second film in The Hobbit trilogy, The Desolation of Smaug. I think it's a pretty excellent trailer, well structured. Have a watch:



They have also released a poster, which I'm less impressed by, it seems a bit bland. Then again, I suppose it's meant to be showing a dead landscape, so maybe that's half the point...

The Doctors, a la Mr Men

Over the past few months, artist Mike Key has been posting some very special Doctor Who art on his fan art Facebook page. Now this particular project is complete, behold, The Doctors, as Mr Men!:

Bonus Mr Man, Mr Spock!

I so wish these were real books! Follow Mike's Star Art on Facebook for more excellent art from Mike.

Star Wars Episode VII fan poster channelling Struzan

Check out this excellent Star Wars Episode VII fan poster, featuring all the aged regulars from the original trilogy, ready to step back into action:

It was made by DeviantART user Adam Schickling, though would fit right in with Drew Struzan's posters for the special editions and prequels.

Details of Independence Day sequels

Talking to Entertainment Weekly, Roland Emmerich has revealed details of his potential two-part sequel to the ultimate alien invasion film, Independence Day. The two sequels will be set a couple of decades after the original, with the next generation of humanity dealing with the return of the aliens:

The humans knew that one day the aliens would come back. And they know that the only way you can really travel in space is through wormholes. So for the aliens, it could take two or three weeks, but for us that’s 20 or 25 years.

Emmerich apparently already has an art team working on visualising the alternate timeline of post-alien invasion Earth:

It’s a changed world. It’s like parallel history. [Humans] have harnessed all this alien technology. We don’t know how to duplicate it because it’s organically-grown technology, but we know how to take an antigravity device and put it in a human airplane.

Two scripts co-written by Dean Devlin have apparently already been written, with a mix of characters from the first film and new guys:

It’s still some of the same characters, but also new younger characters; it’s a little bit like the sons take over.

Emmerich also commented on the general shape of the two films depicting the second invasion:

The first one ends on a little success, but only enough to give the humans hope. And then in the second one they free themselves again [from the aliens].

What do you think? I am intrigued by the idea of post-alien invasion technological advancement, but also cautious: Independence Day is a pleasingly formed, happily ever after. Is it worth the risk of a less satisfying sequel? Lets hope these live up to the original.

The Doctor returns

The new series of Doctor Who starts in one week! I for one am intrigued and excited about the charming and curiously ever-dying new companion, Clara Oswin Oswald. The first episode is called The Bells of Saint John, and sounds like it will feature an interesting new alien threat. Here's the official synopsis, and movie-style poster:

The Doctor’s search for Clara Oswald brings him to modern day London, where wifi is everywhere. Humanity lives in a wifi soup. But something dangerous is lurking in the signals, picking off minds and imprisoning them. As Clara becomes the target of this insidious menace, the Doctor races to save her and the world from an ancient enemy.

Ahead of that the BBC have released a really cute prequel minisode, enjoy:



And here's a trailer for the episode:



Continue reading after the jump for synopses and images from the next three episodes, and a trailer for the series:

Beautiful Jurassic Park print

Quite possibly my favourite scene in all of cinema, the reveal of the brachiosaurus in Jurassic Park is so beautiful, so moving, and so awe inspiring. Seeing it again at cinema scale when Jurassic Park was re-released last year was just amazing, and I can't wait to try it out in 3D this year.

Now artist Mark Englert has made an equally magnificent print of this wonderful scene. It will be available for one day only, starting later today, so don't miss out:

Jurassic Park IV out next summer!

The news I've been waiting for since, ...well Jurassic Park III I suppose; Variety has just announced that Jurassic Park IV is going into production, and is set for release in less than a year and a half! On June 13th, 2014.

Steven Spielberg is set to produce a script by Rise of the Planet of the Apes' Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver. It will be shot in 3D, and that, is all we know. Given Spielberg just paused production on what would of been his next film, an adaptation of Robopocalypse, hopefully he will return to direct!

Whatever form it takes, a new Jurassic Park film fills me excitement! Although hopefully nothing has remained from the previously aborted dino-super-soldiers idea...

Amazing Star Wars films as maps

Check out these amazing maps of the Star Wars films, by artist Andrew DeGraff. The ingeniously guide us through all the story points, and locations, of all the original trilogy:

These will be part of an exhibition of his work opening in Los Angeles this week, which will apparently include similar treatments of the Indiana Jones films. Amazing! Via /Film.

More Stargate sets from Best Lock

A little while ago I reported on the surprise appearance of Stargate Best Lock construction sets - Lego compatible, but much lower quality, simplistic, and cheaper. Something of a mixed blessing, as you will see in the pictures below, even Best Lock's own PR department can't make their bricks stick together very smoothly, but they are Stargate Lego-like toys, which makes them at least a little bit cool...

At the time four sets had appeared, but it seems that was just the tip of the iceberg, as various retailers are now offering a much wider range, including minifigure sets, minifigure scale playsets and ships, and mini ships as well. Here's a run-down of the sets so far available:

BC-304 Daedalus

• One of three Atlantis branded sets in the range so far, although you could imagine it as an SG-1 304 as well I'm sure. Looks like one of the better made models of the series too.
• Purchase: Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Think Geek.

F-302

• One of two mini starfighter sets.
• Purchase: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr.

Wraith Dart

• The second mini starfighter set, and one of the three Atlantis sets.
• Purchase: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr.

Deathglider

• The classic Jaffa fighter, complete with serpent guard pilot.
• Purchase: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr.

X-301

• Earth's first attempt at a starfighter, unfortunately built up from a Deathglider (which didn't go so well), with Teal'c figure.
• Purchase: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr.

 X-302

• Earth's second try at a fighter, built from scratch this time. With Sam Carter figure.
• Purchase: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr.

F-302

• The final version of Earth's fighters, introduced in SG-1 but later seen in Atlantis and Universe. With Jack O'Neill.
• Purchase: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr.

Wraith Dart

• The final Atlantis branded set, a minifigure scale Wraith Dart, with Wraith.
• Purchase: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr.

SGC

• Stargate Command's gateroom, with SG-1 and attacking Jaffa.
• Purchase: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr.

Abydos

• The largest set in the range, includes an X-302 and Deathglider, with assorted scenery, SG-1, soldiers and Jaffa!
• Purchase: Amazon.de, Think Geek.

Battle Over Abydos

• Smallr version of the Abydos set, swaps the X-302 for an F-302 and omits some of the scenery.
• Purchase: Amazon.de, Think Geek.

Deathglider Attack

• Deathglider, with the bits of scenery from the Abydos set left out of the Battle Over Abydos set.
• Purchase: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Think Geek.

Jack and Daniel Off World

• Jack and Daniel with a stargate. If you just want a molded stargate to use with proper Lego I guess this is the one to get!
• Purchase: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr.

Jaffa Defense Tower

• Jaffa with a turret...
• Purchase: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr.

Jaffa Hunt

• If this is based on an episode it's not one I remember! A buggy thing for hunting Jaffa, apparently?
• Purchase: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr.

Jack and Teal'c

• Minifigure set with O'Neill, Teal'c and what I guess is a MALP.
• Purchase: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr.

Apophis and Jaffa

• Minifigure set with Apophis and a serpent guard, plus an obelisk and some random palm trees
• Purchase: Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr.

Thoughts on 3D, IMAX, and HFR

In the last couple of weeks I have seen The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in IMAX high frame rate 3D, with the attached preview of Star Trek Into Darkness, also in IMAX 3D (read my extended thoughts about that preview on my Star Trek blog), and Life of Pi, in 3D, but otherwise plain old 24fps normal sized screen. All three offer very different cinematic experiences which I think show us interesting developments in cinema technology.

3D

I was a little sceptical when the first few of the modern wave of 3D films came along, I thought at first it was all a gimmick. However I have quickly turned around, and am now an enthusiastic supporter of 3D cinema, and even got myself a 3D TV! I think all three of technologies I'm writing about here are aiming to make cinema feel like a more "realistic" experience, and of all three I think 3D goes the furthest to making that happen, but is also the most distinct and visually impactful as an art-form. Watching Life of Pi, I was blown away by the 3D; it completely sucks you into the world of the film, and makes the stunning and fantastical visuals come alive.

3D is most impressive for me when it completely immerses you in the image, some of the most stunning scenes in Life of Pi did this amazingly, especially some of the underwater shots where I literally exclaimed "woah" out loud a couple of times I was so taken aback. As film makers grow more familiar with 3D as part of their movie making I hope they learn to use it to such impressive effect more often. Aside from Life of Pi I can only think of a few examples where I felt similarly as dazzled; Tangled, specifically the sequence with the chinese lanterns; How to Train Your Dragon, most effectively in some of the flying scenes; and a few shots in Avatar.

Life of Pi also excelled in its use of 3D to make it a more visceral experience. I'm talking here mainly about the tiger - I'm not a horror fan, so don't know how this compares to some of the vile imagery of that genre, but I felt genuine fear when experiencing some of the tiger attacks in Life of Pi. The 3D makes it seem so real, so unavoidable, it was like being attacked by a real animal. I guess our ancient instincts to fear dangerous animals are still very much ingrained in me because I felt those scenes like nothing I've ever felt before on screen. And I certainly wasn't the only one, I have never experienced such incredible reactions from a cinema audience before seeing Life of Pi.

The 3D in The Hobbit, while flawless, mostly did not move me nearly as much. Where it was effective, and in common with Life of Pi, was in wide landscape shots, where you really felt a sense of scale. In Life of Pi they contributed to a feeling of isolation in the empty ocean. In The Hobbit they make it seem grand and beautiful. You thought those stunning shots of Middle-earth throughout The Lord of the Rings trilogy were impressive? Well try those sort of shots in 3D from The Hobbit and you have some really breathtaking epic imagery.

One thing I am quite curious about with the 3D from The Hobbit is how on earth they made it work on any false perspective shots they did - Where Gandalf is seen much larger than a hobbit or dwarf due to placing him nearer the camera, but filming the actors in the same shot. I know they used this trick to great effect in The Lord of the Rings, and am curious whether filming in 3D meant they had to do more compositing of separate shots this time because of the effects shooting in 3D must have on a false perspective shot. Guess I'll wait for the bluray extra features to find out that!

The Hobbit, Life of Pi, and Star Trek are all heavy on visual effects, which being mostly computer generated can be made natively 3D relatively easily. Of the three I believe Star Trek was the only on that wasn't actually filmed on 3D cameras as well though. I am generally very skeptical of post-converting 3D; if you're going to do 3D, do it properly I feel. However I thought the job they did in the short section of Star Trek I've seen so far was pretty darned good. I'm still not sure if I want to endorse post-conversion by seeing the whole film in 3D, but what I've seen so far did make quite good use of 3D.

IMAX

I had only seen one IMAX film before, a mesozoic documentary, I think it was probably the Sea Monsters film. I can't say I was all that impressed by the MASSIVE SCREEN format. And seeing my first feature film in the said format didn't really impress me that much either. It's bigger, but, you can still see you're in a big room with flat screen, with a black edge around it and a bunch of people in front of you. It just didn't feel that special. If the aim with IMAX to help make cinema more "real" or immersive, it just didn't work for me.

When I saw Life of Pi a couple of weeks later on a normal screen it did, for the first few minutes, feel kind of small, having recently experienced cinema in huge scale. But that was quickly forgotten. So I'm not convinced IMAX is anything to make a fuss about. It's just, bigger.

HFR

The really new, and seemingly quite controversial, development: The Hobbit has broken new ground in film making by doubling the frame rate. This means rather than having a flow of still images just fast enough to trick you into thinking the sequence of stills is in fact a moving image, we get twice as many images in the sequence. As a result everything is smoother and crisper, because the motion blur has been cut in half.

I'm sure many of you have read the same negative reviews that decry the HFR experience as I had. So I was ready to be unimpressed. But, I was not unimpressed. I was in fact, impressed. In those landscape shots mentioned about, and in action sequences, everything being so smooth and sharp is noticeable. In a good way I feel. The incredible scenery in The Hobbit in smooth crisp 3D is simply beautiful - I'm sure the New Zealand tourist board is once again jumping for joy at glowing advert for their country this film is!

Where I can see the cause for concern is in a limited number of shots that were clearly done in sets rather than in real world locations of with CGI convincing enough to make them seem real. In just a few shots the level of realism afforded by the HFR picture was too real for filming a not real thing. You could tell they were sets, and you could tell they were artificially lit. I am sure if HFR takes off then the set dressers and lighters will learn to refine their craft even further to make those sets seem more real. Until then I think the slightly less than perfect exceptions are worth baring for the majesty of seeing the rest of Middle-earth in the detail HFR allows.

It was quite interesting to experience HFR in The Hobbit next to the preview from Star Trek Into Darkness, because it highlights how very different the two films are. The new Star Trek films are proudly cinematic; they've got lens flares, and shaking and roaming cameras, continuous sets, etc. Star Trek fully embraces cinema as an art form with its own particular visual queues that make it as distinct as an other medium. The Hobbit on the other hand, shot in perfect 3D, with the hyper-realism of HFR seems determined not so much to be an example of cinema, but a window into Middle-earth. I don't think this is a bad thing, I did enjoy the film, but I do appreciate different media embracing their own values - I don't really like movies pretending to be comics, I'd rather paintings look like paintings than photographs, and maybe I don't need The Hobbit to pretend it's sucking me into the real world of Middle-earth. I'm not sure though that this can all be attributed to HFR; the makers of Star Trek aren't afraid to let the viewer know this story is told through a camera, I'm sure they could shoot through a HFR camera and still have it come out as stylised, while enjoying the benefits HFR gave The Hobbit.

The Films

A finally some general thoughts on the films:

As you might have guessed from my gushing above, I thought Life of Pi was truly phenomenal. It is absolutely beautiful, and I think makes the most effective use of 3D seen so far; it was integral to the experience of this film. It is also a delightful story, with a charming central character and quite funny at times. It's one of the best films of 2012, so don't miss it!

I'm in two minds about The Hobbit, I did enjoy, a lot. It was beautiful, funny, had outstanding performances, especially from Martin Freeman, and stealing the show Andy Serkis ever so briefly as Gollum. I even enjoyed the songs, something I found annoying as hell in the books! It is a long film, but not in any sort of annoying way; it's sort of like going on holiday to Middle-earth, which is a beautiful holiday to go on. In that way it sort of reminds me of the wonderful film, Monsters; it's a bit meandering, but you become so immersed in the world you just sit back and soak it all in. As a film on it's own, I think it's too long and ponderous, but already being invested in the characters and the world they live in, it's just like going home, which is nice.

Of course as a devout trekkie I cannot wait for Star Trek Into Darkness. The preview was exciting, funny, and visually rich. I am also so very excited about Sherlock's Benedict Cumberbatch playing the bad guy, he's already stolen the trailers and I'm sure will shine throughout the film.