Way back in the mists of ancient time (1985 or so) a movie hit the multiplexes - a film of such passionate vision that I immediately hailed it as a modern masterpiece to be venerated for all time. That movie was the Richard Donner film "The Goonies", and although I'm probably overstating my love for it a bit, it is one of my favorite flicks, and I'm still just as entertained by it today as I was when I first laid eyes on it at age 15.

Time is a really funny thing. Most people believe that it travels in an eventual circle, a sort of "what comes around goes around" sort of mentality. I tend to believe this, especially when I see how my oldest son Collin is growing up and taking after his old man.

I bought a DVD copy of "The Goonies" several years ago, and it has resided in my movie collection ever since. Collin, who has been going through a major pirate phase for the last couple of years thanks to Johnny Depp and a certain trilogy of films based on a classic Disneyworld attraction, was bored one rainy summer afternoon and couldn't find anything good on tv. I happened to glance over and saw "The Goonies" sitting on the shelf. The gears in my brain started moving a little, like they do from time to time. I figured "hey, it has pirate stuff in it, and it has a cast of mostly young kids. He should really relate to this." So I put in in the DVD player, and the rest is history.

To say that Collin liked it is something of an understatement. He's watched it so many times now that I have lost count. What's more, the DVD has now taken up permanent residence in his collection instead of mine. Oh well, I don't mind handing it over. I look at it as the passing of the torch, so to speak, as well as another example of the circle of life.

The BBC has announced that Scottish actress Karen Gillan is to play the new companion, alongside Eleventh Doctor Matt Smith, in the next series of Doctor Who, due to be broadcast in the spring of next year.

Twenty-one year-old Gillan previously appeared in last year's episode "The Fires of Pompeii", as the Soothsayer. BBC News reports that she studied acting at Telford College in Edinburgh, and has also appeared in The Kevin Bishop Show and the forthcoming film Outcast, starring James Nesbitt.

In the press release, executive producer and chief writer Steven Moffat is quoted as saying: "We saw some amazing actresses for this part, but when Karen came through the door the game was up. Funny, and clever, and gorgeous, and sexy. Or Scottish, which is the quick way of saying it. A generation of little girls will want to be her. And a generation of little boys will want them to be her too."

Gillan herself says: "I am absolutely over the moon at being chosen to play the Doctor's new companion. The show is such a massive phenomenon that I can't quite believe I am going to be a part of it. Matt Smith is an incredible actor and it is going to be so much fun to act alongside him – I just can't wait to get started!"

(Courtesy of Outpost Gallifrey)

Truth be told, I've hated the Sci Fi Channel for several years now. I think their peak was back in the early 2000's when their original programming consisted of shows like Farscape, The Invisible Man, and The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne. True, they do show Doctor Who these days, but they really have nothing to do with it, and it can be seen on other channels too. Eureka and the modern Battlestar Galactica are fairly well made shows too, but for the most part Sci Fi Channel is full of drek like their original made for TV movies and even worse original programming like Who Wants To Be A Superhero and Mad Mad House. Bad as those are, if you told me ten years ago that Sci Fi Channel would be showing wrestling and Law & Order reruns I would have laughed in your face.

And now, in a move that pretty much confirms (to me at least) that the Sci Fi channel is distancing itself away from the genre that created it in the first place, they have announced that they are changing their name to SYFY. The whole thing smacks of rebranding, and I will virtually guarantee a huge dropoff in actual Sci Fi programming on the channel in the next year or too. I predict that it will eventually become another channel like SPIKE, or worse yet OXYGEN.

I would expect no less from Bonnie Hammer. The fact that shows like Eureka, BSG, Stargate, and Doctor Who are allowed to flourish on the channel continues to amaze me. After all, I blame her for the demise of Mystery Science Theater 3000. The show was doing OK when Barry Schulman was still running things at Sci Fi. Then, incoming exec Bonnie Hammer gave the show the axe because it didn't fit in with her vision of the network. Reportedly she had even said "I can't wait to take over so I can cancel that damn puppet show". And things have gone downhill ever since then.

I can remember the good old days when the Sci Fi channel was fairly entertaining to watch. You could catch reruns of some of your favorite classic Sci Fi shows and even get up to date with some of the Sci Fi news shows that were on, especially during the 90's. Now the channel has just lost its way, like a lot of other channels have recently. When you can watch the movie Small Soldiers on Cartoon network or see Top Gun on TV Land, something is just plain wrong. Networks are all losing their identity as they scramble to adjust and readjust their target demographics in today's competitive cable world. Sci Fi (or should I say SYFY) is just another casualty in that battle.

Word came down from the Beeb today that 26 year old actor Matt Smith will be replacing David Tennant at the end of 2009 when his Doctor Who tenure comes to an end. He is now the youngest actor to be cast in the role, beating Peter Davison's record by three years. Is he a little too young for the part? I seem to remember Steven Moffat once saying that he thought the Doctor should be played by an older man, so I wonder what happened to change his mind. I'm sure the BBC influenced the decision more than a little bit. With Harry Potter and Twilight being so popular right now I can understand they would want to skew the show toward a younger audience. Message boards are ablaze right now with fanboys bitching and moaning about the casting choice, but I'm at least going to give Matt the benefit of the doubt and actually watch the show before I pass any judgements. I have faith in him and Moffat to turn out a good program. But filling David Tennant's shoes is going to be a pretty hard act to follow...no pressure or anything.

After a week's absence, The Clone Wars returned with a new episode Friday night, and was yet another entertaining half hour of television. Paul Dini wrote the script, which was a big plus for me. I've always liked his work, especially on Batman The Animated Series.



Lucas has culled some pretty impressive writing talent for his animated series, and anyone who thought the prequel trilogy was lacking should give this show a try. It offers a broader view into the Star Wars universe, and is able to greatly expand on characters and ideas that were briefly touched on in the films.



The show has been moving from strength to strength, and I hope they can keep up the pace. I'm already looking forward to the inevitable season one DVD set.

I've been checking out Cartoon Network's new animated 'Clone Wars' series, and must profess that it's really ben growing on me. At first I thought it might be nothing more than a nice little diversion, but I've been pleasantly surprised by it, especially in the past few weeks. Even fans who strongly dislike the prequels might find something to like about it (although last week's installment did have the almost-universally despised Jar Jar Binks in it, but more on that in a moment).

In its post 9:00 timeslot, the show is able to depict characters meeting some upleasant demises (although it is usually the Clone Troopers that this happens to - they are almost the Star Wars version of a redshirt) and deal with some concepts that normally might not be touched upon in a prime-time kid show.

The animation, by television standards, is pretty good. The stylized look of the characters is inspired, in part, by the old Gerry Anderson Supermarionation shows like Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet, according to Lucas. It has especially looked good in the last few weeks. Kudos to the CGI crew.

One of the interesting developments of this show is in giving the Clone Troopers unique personalities and making them heroic and sympathetic characters. Because of this, it makes the events of Ep. III all the more tragic when they are issued Order 66 and have no choice but to obey.

Even the reviled Jar Jar gets his own episode, but it was penned by fan fave Kevin Rubio (of TROOPS fame), and ended up actually being a fairly harmless, entertaining half hour of tv.

What could have ended up as a 30 minute toy commercial each week has exceeded my expectations, and I look forward to it each week, along with my three young boys.

Apple has the new Star Trek trailer in glorious Quicktime. Check it out:

http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/startrek/large_trailer2.html

Go to youtube and check it out before Paramount pulls it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDhBMbX7a8c

The first pic of the reimagined USS Enterprise from the upcoming film has surfaced on the internet today. Let the fanboy bickering begin.

In no paticular order...
10. Red - King Crimson
9. Zeppelin 4 - Led Zeppelin
8. Strange Brew: The Very Best of Cream - Cream
7. Are You Experienced? - Jimi Hendrix
6. Deadwing - Porcupine Tree
5. Master of Puppets - Metallica
4. Space In Your Face - Galactic Cowboys
3. The Real Thing - Faith No More
2. Gretchen Goes To Nebraska - King's X
1. Moving Pictures - Rush

No list of horror movies would be complete without this groundbreaking shocker. Made in 1968 on a miniscule budget, this movie not only ushered in the zombie subgenre of horror, it also influenced countless other films as well.

One of the things that's most effective about Night of the Living Dead is the way that George Romero places his horror story in such a normal, everyday setting with average joes that are a lot easier to relate to than some cloaked Victorian Vampire hunter out on the moors. This was one of his many ways of breaking rules and redefining the horror film. Another was hiring a black actor to play the lead in the movie. In the late 60's this was a pretty unusual move for a director to make because of the controversy involved. Romero, however, denies any kind of agenda and admits to hiring Duane Jones because 'he simply gave the best audition'.

The movie is stark, brutal and bleak. Filmed in black and white mainly because of budgetary reasons, the movie takes on a newsreel-type look which actually adds to its realism. The fact that there are no big-name actors involved with this project also contributes to the reality of it.

Being a product of the late 60's, the film naturally taps into the growing disillusionment with the government and the war in Vietnam. The military is shown in the movie as being completely clueless about the cause of the unfolding epidemic and incapable of protecting civilians against the zombie outbreak. And at the end, the hero is killed by a sheriff and his mob of townspeople who mistake him for one of the living dead. This in particular has fueled debate about the deeper meaning of the scene, which shows a black hero figure getting shot by an approaching gang of gun-toting rednecks.

Volumes have been written about 'Night of the Living Dead' and the intent of the filmmakers, but I'll keep my comments about it on a purely fan level rather than an academic one. It is an effective chiller, somewhat dated now of course, with some decent scare moments. It is also a pretty bleak film. I remember watching it on USA's Night Flight (anyone remember that?) when I was a kid growing up in the 80's. It disturbed me and left an impression on me for days, something that a horror movie hasn't done in a long, long time.

Courtesy Outpost Gallifrey:

David Tennant will be leaving Doctor Who at the conclusion of the 2009 specials currently in production, the actor announced live on stage this evening at the National Television Awards.

The Guardian newspaper this evening broke the story prematurely, reporting on their website (in a report subsequently pulled down) that Tennant is "vacating the TARDIS and leaving the BBC's Doctor Who series at the end of next year. Tennant's decision brings to an end his popular four-year tenure as the time lord." The article went on to say that the BBC had confirmed that the actor "would complete the filming of four special episodes to be screened this year and in early 2010, as well as 2009's Christmas special."

The BBC Doctor Who website has now posted the full news: "I've had the most brilliant, bewildering and life changing time working on Doctor Who. I have loved every day of it," the actor says. "It would be very easy to cling on to the TARDIS console forever and I fear that if I don't take a deep breath and make the decision to move on now, then I simply never will. ... I'm still the Doctor all next year but when the time finally comes I'll be honoured to hand on the best job in the world to the next lucky git - whoever that may be." Tennant added that he "always thought the time to leave would be in conjunction with Russell T Davies and Julie Gardner who have been such a huge part of it all for me. Steven Moffat is the most brilliant and exciting writer, the only possible successor to Russell and it was sorely tempting to be part of his amazing new plans for the show. I will be there, glued to my TV when his stories begin in 2010." He furthermore says that he feels "very privileged to have been part of this incredible phenomenon, and whilst I'm looking forward to new challenges I know I'll always be very proud to be the Tenth Doctor." Says Russell T Davies, "I've been lucky and honoured to work with David over the past few years - and it's not over yet, the Tenth Doctor still has five spectacular hours left! After which, I might drop an anvil on his head. Or maybe a piano. A radioactive piano. But we're planning the most enormous and spectacular ending, so keep watching!"

Says the BBC News site, Tennant is quoted as saying, "I love this part, and I love this show so much that if I don't take a deep breath and move on now I never will, and you'll be wheeling me out of the Tardis in my bath chair." Tennant also says, "I think it's better to go when there's a chance that people might miss you, rather than to hang around and outstay your welcome," he said.

Tennant will appear in this year's Christmas special, as well as four specials being produced for 2009 and 2010 airdates by executive producers Russell T Davies and Julie Gardner. Tennant confirmed to BBC News that the four specials for 2009/2010 will be "the four last stories that I do." New incoming executive producer Steven Moffat will then take over the series with new leads as the show returns for a normal, fifth series of episodes in 2010.

--------

I'm sorry to see David go, but I respect his decision as an actor and wish him the best. To paraphrase his forerunner in the part, it's been the trip of a lifetime.

The tagline of this movie pretty much says it all: A Romantic Comedy. With Zombies.

The movie is side-splitting hilarious. It's also scary and gruesome as hell, too. Quite a tricky task to juggle what would seem two completely different genres and meld them into one coherent movie, yet Edgar Wright does it quite well. I didn't really know what to expect going into the film, as this was my first exposure to the work of Edgar Wright, as well as Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. I have been a fan of British comedy for what seems like my whole life, give or take a year or two, so I felt that relating to it wouldn't be a problem. I have also been a big fan of zombie movies as well. George Romero is one of my heroes - and he was so impressed by this movie that he gave Wright and Pegg cameos in his 2005 film 'Land of the Dead' - and whether or not he invented the Zombie horror subgenre, he definitely defined it. And Wright and his team follow it pretty close to the playbook.

The scenario is even Romero-ish, with the protagonists eventually ending up trapped in a barricaded place (in this case a pub) while hordes of zombies lurk outside, waiting to get in. And like Romero, they take the opportunity to use the zombie outbreak as a mirror to hold up to humanity, in this case showing that in a way we are zombies already with our dead-end jobs and our failed relationships.

The movie could also be considered a slacker comedy, with Shaun working in a British equivalent of Best Buy, and hanging out with his flatmate Ed, who raises the bar in being apathetic to unbelievable new levels. The zombie outbreak occurs on the eve of his breakup with his girlfriend Liz, and most of the plot from that point revolves around trying to rescue her and their relationship while at the same time not being devoured by the hordes of zombies that begin to overrun London.


Despite being a comedy, it has some pretty scary moments and also a stomach turning scene that would make Romero proud. What's not to like?

This movie almost always makes lists like this so I thought I'd go ahead and get it out of the way. It rightfully deserves its place among the most venerated horror films of all time. It is a masterpiece of suspense and terror, and it is done with such skill that one doesn't really realize that director John Carpenter doesn't rely on massive gore to deliver the chills. Although there is plenty of killing in the movie, hardly any bloodshed is shown at all.

It is also one of the most successful independent films ever, spawning several sequels and a remake (all of variable quality). Made on a miniscule budget of $325,000 dollars, wardrobe and props were often crafted from items on hand or that could be purchased inexpensively. One particular anecdote that Carpenter likes to share is how the iconic Myers mask came about. He sent the production designer out to find a mask, and he ended up buying a William Shatner mask, painting it white and enlarging the eyeholes. When he was done no longer bore any resemblance to the Star Trek actor but Carpenter still jokes that he owes his career to William Shatner.

A rumored production tidbit is that Carpenter originally wanted to have the film devoid of a musical soundtrack, much like Alfred Hitchcock did with 'The Birds'. Test audiences did not react well to it, and Carpenter went dack to the drawing board and composed his trademark musical score for the film. Probably a good thing, since the creepy piano music that he composed is one of the reason the film works so well. The music helps ratchet up the level of tension in the film and is one of the most effective weapons in Carpenter's arsenal.

The entire movie works because of its simplicity and its directness. Michael Myers is basically the Boogeyman. No long, elaborate backstory was given to him other than what was necessary to establish the character, and this helps to dehumanize him. In the credits he is even listed as 'The Shape' because that is pretty much what he is in this movie. He is the faceless, unstoppable nightmare that will eventually get you. The plot is simple and direct as well, and could almost fall into urban legend territory with its tale of a babysitter and her friends being threatened by a murderous intruder.

I remember catching this on HBO when it first premiered on there (Hey, I was only 8 when it hit the theaters for crying out loud). For a 9 year old, it was a damn intense experience, and I won't ever forget it. Even to this day, a viewing of 'Halloween' still evokes chills and fear. Now that's what I call staying power!

I'll never forget the first time I saw Don Coscarelli's 'Phantasm'. It was back in 1980 (I was too young to see it in theaters when it was theatrically released, so I had to wait for it to show up on HBO) and I remember overhearing some kids at school talking about how scary it was. So I decided to stay up one night and watch it. It came across as pretty surreal, especially when I got to a scene where a flying silver sphere attacks a guy and drills into his head. But more on that in a minute.



(That's gotta hurt!)

The film involves two brothers, Jody and Mike, living alone following ther deaths of their parents. There has been a series of mysterious deaths in their community, and the two brothers, along with their friend Reggie, the local ice cream vendor, become convinced that the local mortician is behind it all, especially when Mike spies on him and sees him lift a coffin single handedly. What follows is a strange set of events in which the trio investigate the doings of the 'Tall Man' as they have taken to calling him. He has an army of robed dwarf zombies made from the bodies of the recently deceased to do his bidding. He also uses spherical devices (dubbed Sentinels by Phantasm fans) to patrol the mortuary and attack intruders. Most people who have seen the movie, fans or otherwise, always remember the silver sphere attack, mostly for its delightful gruesomeness. It is one of several inspired moments of the film. The film just has a look and a feel that is uniquely its own, almost a sort of demented fever dream in which everything seems strange and doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Basically, the film has its own internal logic and not everything is neatly answered or explained (although a lot of what happens in this film is addressed in the 3 sequels that followed over the years).

Another thing I liked about this movie is that the protagonists become actively involved in what is going on. They are not mere victims or cannonfodder - they plan their actions, prepare and arm themselves, and cruise around in a really kick-ass muscle car as they go about their business of defeating the 'Tall Man'.

If I had anything to complain about this movie is that the ending was very cryptic and somewhat unsatisfying. That said, Phantasm II neatly picks up where the first one left off, which is pretty amazing considering that there is a nine year gap between the films. You wouldn't know it to watch it, though.

My earliest memory of 'An American Werewolf in London' is seeing a commercial for it back in 1981 and being really freaked out by the transformation they were showing. It was cool and disturbing at the same time. Nowadays it might seem old hat to some people, but 27 years ago people were being blown away by Rick Baker's work. It even won an oscar (the very first one for special makeup effects if I remember correctly). It was just one of the ways that writer/director John Landis redefined the Wolfman subgenre of horror movies. In previous movies a transformation like this was pulled off by quick edits and dissolves, but Landis had a different idea for his film. He wanted the whole transformation to be shown in real time, in a brightly lit room. Luckily, Rick Baker rose to the challenge and produced effects work that still hold up today, nearly 30 years later.

John Landis came up with the story while he worked in Yugoslavia as a production assistant on the film Kelly's Heroes. He and a Yugoslavian member of the crew were driving in the back of a car on location when they came across a group of gypsies. The gypsies appeared to be performing rituals on a man being buried so that he would not rise from the grave. Such an old world notion seemed strange to Landis in the modern age. He worked up a script for the film, but was unsuccdessful in pitching it to studios, who thought it was too funny to be a horror movie and too scary to be a comedy. Only after he developed his reputation in Hollywood with the successes of 'Animal House' and 'The Blues Brothers' was he able to secure a studio deal and get the picture made.

The plot involves two young American men, David Kessler (David Naughton) and Jack Goodman (Griffin Dunne) who are backpacking across the Yorkshire moors. They are attacked by a werewolf, and Jack is killed. David is injured but survives the attack thanks to some intervening locals who shoot the beast. When he wakes up some time later in a London hospital, he does not remember what happened and is told of his friend's death. Things get stranger when he is visited by Jack's ghost, which takes the distressing form of a reanimated corpse, who explains that they had been attacked by a werewolf, suggesting that David himself is now a werewolf. Jack urges David to kill himself before the next full moon, not only because Jack is cursed to exist in a state of living death for as long as the bloodline of the werewolf that attacked them survives, but also to prevent David from inflicting the same fate on his eventual victims.

Upon the arrival of the next full moon David does inded become a werewolf and go on a killing rampage throughout the city. One particular chilling scene occurs when a British commuter is pursued by the wolf in one of the Underground Tube Stations and we catch our first real glipse of the creature and realize just how damn big it really is.

The whole movie is great. The direction and pacing are excellent, and Landis assembles a great cast to populate his film. David Naughton is terrific as the doomed David, who goes from disbelief to grim acceptance throughout the course of the film. Griffin Dunne delivers a lot of the comic relief as the ghost of Jack, whose appearance deteriorates more and more throughout the film. Most of the humor here is pitch black, and Landis handles it with a deft hand. It makes me wonder though, why Naughton never really had any more a-list leading roles. He's really good here. I also wonder why Landis' career seemed to stall after this movie (remember Beverly Hills Cop III or Blues Brothers 2000 anyone?) and never completely recovered.

The movie has become something of a cult classic over the years, and even spawned a sequel called 'An American Werewolf in Paris', which involved none of the original cast and crew, and the less said about it the better.

With Halloween just around the corner, I decided to talk about some of my favorite scary movies that I enjoy watching at this time of year. They can range from really frightening and disturbing or semi-comical, from A-list production to Z-grade schlock. Each has something about it that makes it endearing. So without further ado, the first movie I want to discuss is:

'Night of the Demons'

OK I saw this as a video rental back in 1990. I believe it had been made and released a year or two before. As films go, it's not great literature as they say. It's kind of hokey, the acting is inconsistent, and it comes across as pretty dated when viewed today. That said, it does have some inspired moments, some of which are quite frightening. And the setup is pretty simple: a bunch of teenagers decide to have a Halloween party in a local abandoned mortuary with a long and creepy history (always a good idea). Naturally they get bumped off one by one. Normally this is the work of some sort of axe-wielding lunatic, but in this film it is actually the teens who are killing each other, possessed by the demonic spirits that reside in the building. Worse still, whenever someone dies, they too become posessed and swell the demons' ranks.

Some highlights include some interesting cinematography and a really neato animated opening title sequence. The synthesiser score, although dated, gets the job done and is kind of catchy in places. Perhaps the coolest thing about it (besides us male viewers getting to see Linnea Quigley naked) is the demon makeup. Steve Johnson did a pretty good job with it, considering that the movie was probably a low budget affair. The story is passable, nothing to write home about but not a shambles either. Some lowpoints include a ridiculously long dance sequence and the fact that none of the characters are very likeable - they're just there to get bumped off.

I still watch this film every once in a while, especially at this time of year. It gets me in the festive mood with its Halloween setpieces, and still offers a few good scares after all these years. I even hear that someone is doing a remake of it. Oh well, they've remade (or are planning to remake) just about everything else.

Next up: John Landis reinvents the wolfman genre with 'An American Werewolf in London'

To paraphrase a like-minded fright film fan, 2008 will be remembered as the year that horror got screwed. Clive Barker's 'Midnight Meat Train' got exiled to limited release by its distributor, Lionsgate. Likewise, the upcoming horror musical 'Repo! The Genetic Opera' took a similar rear-ending and will open on a miniscule number of screens in November before being consigned straight to video. But perhaps the worst offense in this string of horror-screwings (is that even a word?) are the atrocities that Warner Brothers have visited upon a film I've spoken about before - 'Trick R Treat'.

Before I go into the sordid details let me bring the uninitiated up to speed a little. 'Trick R Treat', which has zero relation to the 1986 hair band horror flick which starred Marc 'Skippy' Price, is a film by Xmen/X2 writer Michael Dougherty. For his directoral debut, Dougherty has crafted an anthology movie of sorts, sort of in the vein of 'Creepshow' and 'Tales rom the Crypt', but with an interesting twist. Each story takes place in the same Ohio town on Halloween night, and the plotlines intertwine (sort of like what Tarantino did with 'Pulp Fiction'). The stories involve all sorts of interesting elements - Vampires, Werewolves, Zombies, Serial Killers, and a trick or treater named Sam who is to Halloween what Santa is to Christmas and the Easter Bunny is to Easter. Basically, he is the embodiment of the holiday and he intends for there to be hell to pay for those who don't follow and respect Halloween's rituals. So in a sense, we are provided with a little bit of a history lesson too. Why do people dress in costumes for Halloween? Why do they make Jack O' Lanterns? It sounds like the ideal movie for me (Halloween is my favorite holiday aftrer all). So what's the problem?

The problem is Warner Brothers, ladies and gentlemen. In their infinite wisdom, they first pulled the film from last year's lineup (it was originally slated to open on Oct. 5th), then decided to bump it to 2009, and now have decided to not release it at all for the forseeable future. Their reasoning, as I laughingly refer to it, is that they don't know how to market it. 'Release it around friggin Halloween you dolts!!!' would seem to make sense, and indeed it was originally scheduled to open in October last year. Then, WB says that it doesn't want to compete with movies like 'Saw'. Why the hell not? The 'Saw' franchise has pretty much been a turd after the second installment anyway, and these endless streams of J-Horror remakes and watered down pg13 flicks make me yearn for something new, original and exciting in horror. 'Trick R Treat seemed like just the ticket. It has garnered great reviews from the lucky few that have seen it at film festivals. Everyone talks about how spooky and clever it is, and how it has a macabre sense of humor. And it is universally praised as perfectly capturing the spirit of the holiday and making you feel like a kid again. It is an R-rated flick, so no watered-down scares here, although Dougherty reportedly makes use of tension and atmosphere instead of relying on buckets of blood to provide his thrills.

It just makes the whole fiasco that much more unbearable. WB has what many people are proclaiming to be a winner, and are just letting it sit on a shelf collecting dust. An online reviewer likened it to having the most amazing sex with a woman who is your absolute soulmate that you want to spend the rest of your life with, and then while you're out of the room, some asshole comes along and kidnaps her.

Damn you, Warner Brothers!

And the Trek pics just keep a 'comin. I'm gonna have to pick up a copy of EW - this is very cool. I don't think they could have picked a better Spock than Zachary Quinto. And Chris Pine does a pretty good job of posing heroic as Kirk. Don't know what the deal with the black shirt is that we've been seeing in all these pics. I hope he doesn't wear it through the whole movie. C'mon guys, it's friggin' Caprain Kirk, Stick a gold shirt on him already.

After what seems like decades of secrecy, several images from the new Star Trek movie are hitting the internet, including the two above. After ages of speculation we can see what the cast looks like in their roles, the new uniforms, and what the new bridge looks like. All we need now is a shot of the Big E herself.

The uniforms are a perfect update, capturing the feel and spirit of the old 60's ones in a modern way. Excellent. The bridge seems cool, but something just isn't quite right about it. Maybe if I see more photos of it it will grow on me. Not that it's bad or anything. Just...different.

The cast continues to impress. Pegg and Urban look hellishly perfect in their roles as Scotty and McCoy. Don't know what the story is with Kirk's black shirt, but I'm sure the movie will address it.

My excitement for this film has increased tenfold today!