Dangerous Universe

Falling Skies: The Best Show of the Summer

Thu, 31 May 2012 23:59:45 -0400

Movies about the end of civilization have been in vogue since at least the late 1990s. There have been movies about doom coming from the skies like with Deep Impact and Armageddon, viruses ravaging mankind like I Am Legend and Contagion but it seems like the most popular of the apocalyptic movies have been about alien invasions like The War of the Worlds and Independence Day. And while films like these can do a great job of depicting events leading up to the end of things, the limited scope of movies means that they tend to focus on the spectacle of things going “bang” during the apocalypse rather than having the time to deal with any in-depth story of what comes after.

While movies might not be good at in-depth stories TV series are, and one of my favorite of these is the post-apocalyptic series is Falling Skies on TNT.

Click to continue reading this column on the TV series Falling Skies.

Falling Skies: The Battle of Fitchburg #4

Wed, 30 May 2012 11:08:37 -0400

The fourth issues of the online comic is out.

Starship Troopers: Invasion Japanese Trailer

Tue, 29 May 2012 10:37:52 -0400

Starship Troopers: Invasion Photos

Thu, 24 May 2012 08:18:08 -0400

The official blog for the upcoming Starship Troopers: Invasion film has posted some photos from the upcoming movie.

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Game of Thrones Battle of Blackwater Bay Poster

Wed, 23 May 2012 10:18:38 -0400

It’s interesting that HBO is not only promoting Game of Thrones, but also apparently a single event in the Game of Thrones story; The Battle of Blackwater Bay.

The Dark Knight Rises Poster

Mon, 21 May 2012 21:55:36 -0400

Here’s a weird little poster for the upcoming The Dark Knight Rises movie. Weird in that since the angle on the buildings is almost straight up, the only way to see Batman like he is here would be if he were falling forward.

The Avengers Concept Art

Mon, 21 May 2012 13:00:18 -0400

Here is some cool The Avengers movie concept art.

The Avengers Movie Review

Fri, 18 May 2012 17:30:31 -0400

3.5/4 Stars - The Avengers is the ultimate superhero team-up movie. This could almost be my whole review but since I like to keep my reviews at around 300 words and not nine I will write on…

Marvel Entertainment already has a great track record with their slate of comic book based films. They already have hugely popular films like Captain American, Iron Man, Thor and (the less popular) The Incredible Hulk with side characters such as Black Widow, Hawkeye and Nick Fury who’ve also appeared in those movies who have a following in their own right. So, it was really a no-brainer on Marvel’s part to put all these characters together into one movie; The Avengers.

In The Avengers, Thor’s godly brother Loki threatens the Earth with domination after he steals the powerful and mystical “Cosmic Cube” that will allow an alien army a gateway to invade the planet and it’s up to The Avengers to stop him.

And really, for comic book geeks like me we don’t need anything more than “Hulk SMASH” and Cap kicking butt. However, The Avengers is more, it’s a movie for the geeks as well as the general public who probably doesn’t know their Cosmic Cubes from their Infinity Gauntlets. I think The Avengers can be a crossover hit like this because of writer/director Joss Whedon who’s not only a guy who can come up with one heck of a compelling story but can also breath life and humor into a movie full of characters. Which, looking at previous team movies like X-Men: The Last Stand and Fantastic Four is no easy task.

The Thing 2011 Sculpture

Fri, 18 May 2012 08:39:04 -0400

Sculpture used for the The Thing remake.

Arrow

Fri, 18 May 2012 08:32:53 -0400

First look at video of the upcoming The CW TV series Arrow about the character Green Arrow.

Hot Toys Loki Figure

Fri, 18 May 2012 08:25:32 -0400

More photos here.

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If you’re already getting a Thor… ;-)

Movies Have Always Sucked

Thu, 17 May 2012 23:59:32 -0400

Over the last few years there’s been a lot of talk that the overall quality of films has been slipping from previous decades. And this seems born out by looking at lists like the American Film Institute’s “100 Years…100 Movies” of the greatest films of the last century. With the likes of Citizen Kane, The Godfather and Casablanca on that list makes the recent top grossing releases of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, Transformers: Dark of the Moon and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 look like relative trash in comparison.

And while the American Film Institute list might truly be a chronicle of 100 great movies, here’s a little secret about most other movies; they suck and have sucked since Hollywood first started making films.

Click to continue reading this column on why movies mostly suck.

Falling Skies: The Battle of Fitchburg #3

Wed, 16 May 2012 15:41:08 -0400

The third issue of the online comic is out.

Falling Skies Concept Art

Tue, 15 May 2012 22:07:10 -0400

Here is some neat concept art from the TV series Falling Skies.

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Falling Skies: The Battle of Fitchburg Comic Covers

Tue, 15 May 2012 08:49:39 -0400

Interesting that the covers for the Dark Horse digital comic for Falling Skies: The Battle of Fitchburg A) doesn’t seem to have anything to do with Fitchburg, Massachusetts but B), shows events outside the Falling Skies TV series and in other places like Argentina and The UK.

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Wolfenstein 3D is 20

Wed, 09 May 2012 11:37:45 -0400

Wow! Wolfenstein 3D is 20 years old this year! I remember getting the first levels as shareware and playing them over and over again on our Windows 3.0 PC

And in celebration of 20 years of Wolfenstein 3D Bethesda Software has ported Wolfenstein over to a version that can be played in the browser.

I wrote this about Wolfenstein back in ‘01 and it still holds true today.

Hot Toys Thor Figure

Tue, 08 May 2012 16:19:20 -0400

Retails for $200.

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Argo Movie Trailer

Tue, 08 May 2012 12:40:45 -0400

Starship Troopers: Invasion Bugs

Sat, 05 May 2012 23:47:46 -0400

The official blog has posted some images of the alien bugs from the upcoming Starship Troopers: Invasion movie.

Mars Attacks Book Due Out This Fall

Fri, 04 May 2012 10:14:07 -0400

From Amazon:

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of Mars Attacks, this comprehensive book is the first-ever compilation of the infamous science-fiction trading card series produced by Topps in 1962. Edgy, subversive, and darkly comedic, this over-the-top series depicting a Martian invasion of Earth has a loyal following and continues to win new generations of fans. For the first time, this book brings together high-quality reproductions of the entire original series, as well as the hard-to-find sequel from 1994, rare and never-before-seen sketches, concept art, and test market materials. Also included are an introduction by series co-creator Len Brown and an afterword by Zina Saunders, daughter of the original artist, providing an insider’s behind-the-scenes view of the bizarre and compelling world of Mars Attacks.