Seeking a Friend for the End of the World

A little-hearted romantic sort of take on the classic end-of-the-world meteorite film? Could work. I find Steve Carell and Keira Knightley both quite watchable, and the trailer doesn't put me off, even if it doesn't quite make me dash for the nearest cinema either.

Saucer Country

This caught my eye; a new political UFO/Alien ongoing comic series coming from DC's Vertigo imprint starting in March, called Saucer Country. Here's how they describe the first issue:

Arcadia Alvarado, the leading Democratic candidate for President of the United States, says she was "abducted by aliens."

As the Mexican-American Governor of New Mexico, she's dealing with immigration, budget cuts and an alcoholic ex. She's about to toss her hat into the ring as a candidate for President in the most volatile political climate ever.

But then…a lonely road and a nightmarish encounter have left her with terrible, half-glimpsed memories. And now she has to become President. To expose the truth – and maybe, to save the world.

Arcadia's quest is at the heart of this new monthly series from writer Paul Cornell (DEMON KNIGHTS, ACTION COMICS, Doctor Who) and artist Ryan Kelly (NEW YORK FIVE, NORTHLANDERS). With the help of her quirky staff, Arcadia will pursue the truth of her abduction into danger, mystery and awe. SAUCER COUNTRY is a dark thriller that blends UFO lore and alien abduction with political intrigue, all set in the hauntingly beautiful Southwest.

The writer described it, on his blog, as: "The West Wing does The X-Files", and released this second piece of art:

Pre-order: Things From Another World, Forbidden Planet.

A remarkably articulate Tyrannosaur

Check out this incredible Jurassic Park Tyrannosaurs Rex action figure from Revoltech. It’s a bit diddly, at just 20cm, and a bit pricey, but it’s wonderfully detailed and highly articulated; with particularly impressive posing possibilities around the head and legs, plus a bendy tail:

 

 

Mongolia's Dinosaur Fairyland

Jurassic Park might not quite be a reality yet (though mammoths might be on the way); but if you fancy encountering some wild dinosaurs, it looks like Erlian, near the Chinese border with Mongolia, is the place to go. Something of a dinosaur hotspot, the little town has tried to encourage tourism by building a dinosaur museum, and doting the place the dinosaur statues, the most impressive being a pair of sauropods which reach out to each other over a road:

The same pair are pictured in a huge sign carved into a nearby valley wall, which identifies the attraction as Dinosaur Fairyland:

On the other side of the valley are similar massive drawings of dinosaur skeletons, which can be seen from space, if you zoom in enough on Google maps:

Dotted about the town and along the roads are many smaller dinosaur sculptures, here are a few of my favourites from the photos I've found:

 

 

 

 

 

According to Atlas Obscura, you pretty much have the place to yourself if you visit too:

The park features dozens of full scale dinosaur models as well as bones, both real and fake. There are also lots of photo opportunities with dinosaurs smashing down walls and hatching from eggs. However, Dinosaur Fairyland is never crowded, probably due to its remote location, about 20km outside the town of Erlian in Outer Mongolia. However, this means you will have the park all to yourself, except for the occasional men in military uniform that use the park as a thoroughfare to the bus station.

More pictures after the jump:

Mondo's second Jurassic Park poster

On the subject of Jurassic Park, did you see Mondo's second Jurassic Park poster, released a couple of months ago? It was a thing of beauty:

Congratulations to those lucky 375 who got the standard version, and the other 125 who nabbed the edition without text. I was seconds away from being one of them frustratingly!

Jurassic Park Dangerous Games #5 preview

This week see's the release of the fifth and final issue of IDW's latest Jurassic Park comic series, Dangerous Games. Here's how IDW describe the finale:

Agent Espinoza has done the unthinkable and survived 24 hours on an island full of predators who want to kill him- both human and dinosaur. Now the end is near, and drug kingpin Cazares is the only thing standing in the way of Espinoza's freedom. Cazares, and an entire island of angry, rampaging dinosaurs thst is! It's a crazy, chaotic, climactic finish to Dangerous Games!

Continue after the jump for a seven-page preview:

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.