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Originally published at Better Living Through Science Fiction. Please leave any comments there.

Just in case you thought “Incredible Hulk” was good but not rush out and buy it good, the kids at Film School Rejects have discovered what appears to be a Captain America cameo. In an alternate opening to the film, a figure which bears a resemblance to a man holding a circular, red, white and blue shield can be seen buried in ice. Check out the DVD if you want to play detective at home.

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Originally published at Better Living Through Science Fiction. Please leave any comments there.

“Transformers” fans are clamoring to find out of Megatron will be making a return after his apparent destruction in the first film. Latino Review claims they have an exclusive first look at the designs for Megatron in the upcoming “Transformers 2.” If they are authentic, Megatron will have a stylized tank as his alternative form, which some “Generation One Transformers” fans may remember as the form they introduced after his original form, a very realistic gun, got ganked from toy store shelves.

I actually think this design works on some level, considering this is the same franchise that put flames on the Optimus rig. I’m sure they’ll bring Megatron back for the sequel, but I have my doubts about the authenticity of these pictures. What do you think?

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Originally published at Better Living Through Science Fiction. Please leave any comments there.

A sixth “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” book will be written by Eoin Colfer for publication in October of next year. Colfer, author of the “Artemis Fowl” series of young adult novels, will be taking over the series from Douglas Adams, who passed away in 2001. The book, titled “And Another Thing,” has been approved by Adams’ widow, Jane Belson. A film based on Colfer’s “Artemis Fowl” novels will begin production next year.

My initial reaction to this news was disgust that Adams’ greedy widow was trying to cash in on the last nickel they can squeeze out of the “Hitchhiker” series. Then I read Colfer’s reaction when he was asked to write the book was the exact same shock that I felt. In the end, he decided that he would love to make up new adventures for Arthur Dent, Zaphod, Marvin, and the rest. I won’t say the thought isn’t intriguing, but I’ll remain skeptical until I can get my hands on this sucker. In the end, I’m just mad I that my “Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide” will no longer be complete.

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Originally published at Better Living Through Science Fiction. Please leave any comments there.

CNN has a great article here on the future of cinema. As the whole home distribution system becomes more popular and goes digital, struggling theaters are going to have to start pulling rabbits out of their hats to get people to leave their homes to watch movies. Fortunately, it appears the technology’s coming along. 3D is becoming the gimmick of choice for major studios, thanks to the success of things like the Miley Cyrus 3D concert and “Chicken Little.” Theaters are gradually making the shift to digital projectors. The technology is advancing to the point that we may not even need the glasses for digital projectors to produce what appears to be a 3D image in high definition.

It’s great that theaters are finally overhauling in order to attract people. I just hope in all the confusion that the studios don’t forget that they have to make movies worth watching in 3D high-def. I love going to the movies, but there are times where the choice is spending $10 to see a movie I know I’m going to hate or staying at home and watching something I might enjoy. Based on the grosses last week, I’d say the blockbuster summer is over, which means the next movie I look forward to seeing will be “Quantum of Solace,” and that’s not until November.

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Originally published at Better Living Through Science Fiction. Please leave any comments there.

Warner Bros. is planning a “Dark Knight” re-release in January in an attempt to make a play for Oscar nominations. The studio hopes that the film will remind Academy voters of the fantastic special effects and performances, most notably by Heath (or Health, according to Reuters) Ledger. So far the film has grossed over $500 million in the United States and over $440 million internationally, making it the second-highest-grossing film ever, next to 1997’s “Titanic.” Negotiations are currently taking place to also rerun the film on IMAX screens. “Dark Knight” is the highest grossing film ever run on IMAX.

Alright all you suckers who have only seen “Dark Knight” on a regular screen, it’s time to scrape up your laundry money and go see Batman kidnap a foreign national on IMAX. There are worse ways to blow $15. What amazes me is that, while the movie grossed $100 less than “Titanic,” in the United States. “Dark Knight” undersells “Titanic” by over $700 million internationally. That’s right, “Titanic” made $1.24 billion dollars internationally, plus the $600 million it made in the States. I wonder if any movie will ever beat that record (without adjusting for inflation, obviously).

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Originally published at Better Living Through Science Fiction. Please leave any comments there.

Do you ever catch yourself taking a sip of some cool, refreshing tap water and ask yourself, “I wonder if there’s any chemicals in this that will turn me into a hideous, yet powerful monster?” Thankfully our friends at the EPA are earning our tax dollars by allowing access to their database which tells you which factories are dumping potentially toxic chemicals in your zip code. Just click on Toxy over here and put in your address for a complete report on your area.

Go ahead, it’s not as scary as it sounds.

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Originally published at Better Living Through Science Fiction. Please leave any comments there.

Resonance Features and SF34: The Boston Science Fiction Film Festival present Anime After Dark, a twelve hour film festival event at Boston’s historic Somerville Theatre, 55 Davis Sq., Somerville on October 18th, 2008. It will start at dusk, 7:00 PM, and run continuously until dawn, 7:00 AM.

The festival will bring some of the best in new and vintage anime to the big screen, in many cases for the first time. Ticket holders will be treated to an array of cinema treasures by masters of the genre like Studio Ghibli, Satoshi Kon, Leiji Matsumoto, Kenji Kamiyama, and others in a program that will run from dusk until dawn and include rare 35mm prints. Special events and more surprises to be announced.

In the spotlight of the lineup is “Grave of the Fireflies” in a special promotional screening of its upcoming 20th anniversary pay-per-view release. Anime After Dark will be one of the first times that this masterpiece has been projected on an American screen. Roger Ebert has called the film, “an emotional experience so powerful that it forces a rethinking of animation.”

New features include the recently released “Tekkon Kinkreet” winner of the 2008 Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year. Other notable films in the lineup include Millennium Actress, Ghost in the Shell: Solid State Society, and Project A-Ko.

The Somerville Theatre is located at 55 Davis Sq in Somerville right next to the Davis Sq Red Line T station. The festival will unspool in the classic 900 seat auditorium. Built in 1914, the theatre has become a landmark location for film festivals and concerts.

For a full schedule of films and special events visit the official website www.animeafterdark.net (a site which doesn’t tell you much more than this, I’ll warn, but could reveal more in the future). Tickets go on sale Wednesday, September, 10th 2008 for the introductory price of $20.00. Prices will rise to $25 on September 20th and $30 if purchased at the door. Order now because space is limited.

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Originally published at Better Living Through Science Fiction. Please leave any comments there.

This Star Wars loving cockatiel has mastered the art of singing the Empire Strikes Back theme. This is perhaps an even greater feat than the one minute Star Wars girl.

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Originally published at Better Living Through Science Fiction. Please leave any comments there.

Sony Pictures has confirmed that both Tobey Maguire and Sam Raimi are close to reaching an agreement to respectively star in and direct two more installments of the “Spider-Man” movie franchise. Speculation suggests that the next two installments will be shot back-to-back in order to save money. No comments yet have confirmed whether Kirsten Dunst will be reprising her role or which villains Spider-Man face.

This is great news. As much faith as I have in Raimi as a producer, I was afraid a new director with the same actors may not have the same feel as the last three pictures. Sony said that they never even considered replacing Maguire (yeah, right), so why couldn’t they use that logic in regard to the “Ghostbusters” movie?

Update: The Hollywood Reporter says that Sony has also stepped up production on the “Venom” spinoff movie which will be written by Jacob Estes as well as Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese. No word yet on if Topher Grace will reprise the role of Eddie Brock or Sony will pick a new actor for the role.

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Originally published at Better Living Through Science Fiction. Please leave any comments there.

Or maybe not, what I do know is that Sony Pictures has hired “The Office” writer-producers Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg to write what Reuters is calling a “reboot” of the “Ghostbusters” franchise. Original actors and the director, Ivan Reitman, are all involved in the film’s development and may even play a non-central role in the movie. The writers previously penned the biblical comedy, “Year One,” scheduled for a 2009 release, with Harold Ramis who co-wrote and portrayed Egon in the original “Ghostbusters” films.

Every feeling I have tells me this is going to be awful. I would love to think they can pull this off, especially having a seal of approval from the original writer, but no new cast can replicate the comedic genius that was the original “Ghostbusters.” Seriously, try imagining Steve Carell, Ryan Reynolds, John Cho and Anthony Anderson running around New York being “The New Ghostbusters.” Nothing against any of those actors individually, but given the humor level of modern comedies, do you really see the same snappy dialogue or down-to-earth sensibilities of the original films being rediscovered?

Why do they even need to reboot? Every one of the original players is still alive and acting. Why not bring the Ghostbusters back as being middle-aged and having to save the city. Imagine Venkman separated from Dana and being completely detached from everything around him, Winston’s trying to put his kids through college, Ray’s married to some horrible woman who hen-pecks him constantly, and Egon’s trying to lose weight, and then they have to save New York from some ancient god. Yes, the recent Indiana Jones debacle makes me wary, but they went out with a bang 19 years ago. Why not give them one more chance?

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Originally published at Better Living Through Science Fiction. Please leave any comments there.

Honda has announced that it will be premiering a (sorta) new low-cost hybrid at the Paris auto show next month. The new five-door, five-seater hatchback will be taking up the name “Insight,” the name of Honda’s previous attempt at a dedicated hybrid, which was discontinued in 2006. The new vehicle will sell for 2 million yen ($18,500) in Japan next spring. Honda expects to sell 200,000 units per year, half of which in North America.

I’m glad to hear Honda’s taking another shot at the hybrid market. The original Insight and Accord hybrids were such a disappointment, and the Prius really has the edge when it comes to dedicated hybrids. The only factor that will affect my opinion will be actual fuel efficiency, which has yet to be announced.

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Originally published at Better Living Through Science Fiction. Please leave any comments there.

The Los Angeles Museum of Natural History is hosting an exhibit that features live (by way of Walking with Dinosaurs FX) prehistoric creatures. This is so awesome.

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Originally published at Better Living Through Science Fiction. Please leave any comments there.

Guillermo Del Toro is involved in enough projects at this point that he’s booked for almost the next decade. As everyone knows, he’s set to write and direct “The Hobbit,” then Universal has him tapped for remakes of “Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde” and “Frankenstein” as well as an adaptation of “Drood” by Dan Simmons. Last but not least, Del Toro also plans to direct an adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse Five” which is supposed to be more faithful to the novel than the 1972 film. As if that wasn’t enough, Del Toro is also trying to secure interest to adapt “At the Mountains of Madness” by H.P. Lovecraft for the big screen.

Don’t you feel lazy now? All of these projects sound like they could be cool, though I have my doubts about yet another film about Frankenstein or Jekyll and Hyde. The one that really sounds interesting is “Slaughterhouse Five.” Del Toro’s one of maybe three directors I can think of that could do a faithful adaptation of that book without totally tossing the whole alien abduction and Kilgore Trout angle.

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Originally published at Better Living Through Science Fiction. Please leave any comments there.

We proudly present you with Cleavagefield, the latest epic from the director of Chopping Mall! Click the photo for the full trailer.

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Originally published at Better Living Through Science Fiction. Please leave any comments there.

 Somewhere in all these crazy rumors like Cher as Catwoman and Johnny Depp as the Riddler, joblo.com took the time to point out that Chris Nolan hasn’t even committed to making the next Batman film. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the cast and crew are still waiting to see if Nolan will sign a deal for the next picture. Keep in mind Nolan took the time between “Batman Begins” and “The Dark Knight” to make “The Prestige.”

It’s hard to imagine a sequel to “The Dark Knight” without Nolan at the helm, but I could understand his trepidation. Look at the criticism the internet rumor mill has already generated over rumors about the next installment. For my money, though, I’ll see the next Batman flick four times in the theater (one more than “Dark Knight”) so long as Nolan directs it.

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Originally published at Better Living Through Science Fiction. Please leave any comments there.

Baylor University physicists Gerald Cleaver and Robert K. Obousy believe they’ve found a way to travel faster than the speed of light. The theory centers around observations made in bang bang physics that have allowed for faster than light travel at the outskirts of the expanding universe. The proposal, which will be published in the September issue of the British Interplanetary Society Journal, outlines the means by which this effect of warping space-time can be achieved artificially.

From io9.com

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Originally published at Better Living Through Science Fiction. Please leave any comments there.

Popular dating site eHarmony recently released a list of potential photo types that are likely to make you “undateable” in the eyes of potential matches. The number four photo type listed is “You’re Dressed as a Superhero.” eHarmony made a point of saying that there is nothing wrong with dressing up in costumes for fun, however warned that some non-cosplayers may be put off by images of a potential partner dressed as a cartoon character.

I guess I’m asking the wrong crowd about this, but I assume we have some readers who like sci-fi and fantasy but don’t necessarily enjoy dressing as their favorite characters. What do you think? Would you be immediately put off by person who looked interesting but had a picture of themselves at a convention dressed as a super hero?

Note: Special thanks to Illusion’s own Dekker Dreyer for linking this to us.

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Originally published at Better Living Through Science Fiction. Please leave any comments there.

The 80’s loved mad scientists! and so do we! Check out the original trailer for Back to the Future…

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Originally published at Better Living Through Science Fiction. Please leave any comments there.

The 9 minute preview session of the new Trek MMO is now online. It looks pretty exciting.

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Originally published at Better Living Through Science Fiction. Please leave any comments there.

Columbia Pictures has secured screen rights to James Patterson’s “Maximum Ride,” a series of young adult novels about genetically modified human-avian teenagers. Maximum Ride is the leader of the Flock, who were created by a secret facility known as The School. The group often finds themselves pursued by the Erasers, human-wolf hybrids who serve The School. Patterson’s fifth novel in the series will be released next year. Producers for the feature include Marvel property guru, Avi Arad, and Steven Paul. Don Payne (”My Super Ex-Girlfriend,” “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer”) has been attached as the screenwriter for the adaptation.

While I’m sure there will be a collective groan knowing that the producer of “Ghost Rider” and writer of “Rise of the Silver Surfer” are behind this flick, take a moment to remember that Arad has been responsible not just for movies like the “X-Men” and “Spider-Man” franchises, but also for every animated series based on Marvel’s intellectual property. Also, while it tanked, I actually enjoyed “My Super Ex-Girlfriend” as a romantic comedy and as a parody of the traditional super hero dynamic. I think Payne was bogged down by fan expectation when it came to “Fantastic Four,” but “Maximum Ride” allows for a greater range of interpretation. For the moment, I’m optimistic.

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