Battlestar Galactica Season 4

The final series of Battlestar Galatica starts on the 4th of April, I'm really looking forward to it!

Stage6 is shutting down!

Ah crap... the awesome Stage6 site is to shut down on the 28th! No more high quality streamed videos for me according to this statement.

How am I going to keep up with Lost, Heroes, Sarah Connor Chronicles & Battlestar Galactica now?

Ghostbusters 3???

As IGN report, this poster was seen at a recent convention in San Francisco. What does it mean? Is it to promote the forthcoming Ghostbusters video game or the release of the two films on UMD & Blu-Ray? Is it a teaser for a possible 3rd film?

Watch this space!

Here's some footage from the new video game, available at the end of the year if things go to plan.

Be Kind Rewind (2008)

Be Kind Rewind is an original comedy about an old run down video (yes, VHS) rental shop on the brink of closure.

Whilst the manager (Danny Glover) takes a short break he leaves the shop in the capable hands of Jerry (Mos Def). Jerry is pestered constantly by his conspiracy theorist friend Mike (Jack Black) who owns the local scrap yard. Through some idiotic scheme (you'll have to watch it to see, its very funny!) Mike gets magnetized and accidentally erases the entire VHS collection in the shop.

In a desperate attempt to keep the shop running and to fool the customers Mike & Jerry re-shoot the films with the aid of a really old video camera, toys, tin foil, scrap metal and tonnes of enthusiasm! The re-made films (or 'sweded' films as the story refers to) become surprisingly popular with the customers in the neighbourhood, often running at a fraction of the time as the original but so much funnier. Business soon picks up after the public find out about the homemade movies.

The sweded version of Ghost Busters is simply fantastic, trailers for all the sweded films can be found here or the official (sweded) site - www.bekindmovie.com/youtube.

Theres more to the story than just sweded films but I don't want to spoil things any further.

The film itself has a nice low budget indie look to it, directed by Michel Gondry who's previous films include The Science of Sleep and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

Knight Rider (2008)

The Knight Rider T.V movie was aired on Sunday in the U.S and thanks to the many people that have uploaded the video I managed to download a decent copy by the Monday night. Isn't the internet wonderful!

I'm pleased to say it was an enjoyable experience watching this official 'sequel' (not a remake) to the original classic 80's series.

Although this pilot isn't as 'perfect' as some of the die-hard Knight Rider fans wanted I found it was straight forward good fun. The new KITT (voiced by Val Kilmer) looks and sounds great with some cool new functions. The car (a Shelby GT500KR Mustang) can now colour change and transform its shape. I'm sure as the series develops we'll see other new abilities.

The new lead, Justin Bruening who plays the character Mike Tracer seems to have enough attitude and charisma suitable for the role. In his first scene he's already in bed with two stunning women, thats a pretty good start if you ask me!

David Hasselhoff makes a guest appearance (as Michael Knight) in one of the final scenes and if things take off will hopefully return in later episodes.

By the very end of the episode the basic team had been assembled with characters mirroring those from the original team, Mike and KITT ready to take on the baddies as part of the Foundation of Law & Government.

Anyone familiar with the Knight Rider spin-off series, Team Knight Rider will recognise the replacement for the Foundation's juggernaut, not the most subtle forms of transport!

I'm really exited about this show and can't wait to see more.

Bionic Woman

I know the new version of the Bionic Woman has been around since September of last year but I hadn't seen any of it until yesterday and I'm now slowly working my way through the 8 episodes available.

I'm into episode 4 at the moment and I'm really enjoying it despite all the negativity its received in the U.S. The Bionic Woman role has gone to the ex Eastenders star Michelle Ryan and her American accent isn't too bad, I was half expecting her to speak cockney!



The story follows Jaime Sommers (Michelle Ryan), a woman who barely survives a terrific car crash losing both her legs, one arm, an ear and an eye. Fortunately her partner is a top bionic expert and she's quickly whipped to his lab to have all her damaged parts replaced. You later find out the parts are owned by this rich guy (Miguel Ferrer, the same guy that built Robocop!) who leads an anti terrorism crew, which she eventually gets drafted into so that she can help save the world.

Whilst all this is happening another bionic woman, the first known as Sarah Corvus (played by the excellent Katee Sackhoff - Starbuck from Battlestar Gallactica) is following Jaime. As the prototype she has many psychological problems brought on by the bionic implants, twisting her into a deranged weapon on her own path (I'm not entirely sure if shes evil at the moment). Totally obsessed with having new implants and doing the updating herself. She's addicted to new bionics. Sarah is a really cool dark character and she gets into some really awesome fights with Jaime and others.

What I like the most so far about the show is the way the bionics work with both the women. Although not visually obvious (there's no shiny endoskeleton underneath the skin (like the Terminator), wires or any other robotic cliches) most of the technology is on a nano technological scale. Jaime has nanobots inside her blood stream, enabling quick repair of her body. I also like the way that the technology has evolved with the times, she now has a GPS chip in her brain and her bosses can see through her bionic eye. Another cool thing which I've seen is that she can be hacked by others or can hack herself (to disable certain functions like the GPS). That sounds a bit confusing but trust me, its a really cool idea.

The show has some really decent female leads, similar to the Sarah Connor Chronicles. Its refreshing to see!

Unfortunately if the rumours are correct the show has been canceled although I'm hoping its just stopped due to the writers strike. Thats apparently now been resolved so I'll keep a look out to see if the show continues.

Knight Rider Movie - on NBC tonight!

The brand new pilot movie for Knight Rider is finally here. Hopefully this will be streamed onto Stage6 in the next few days, it looks pretty good from the clip although Will Arnett's voice is still featured as KITT (now known as the Knight Industries Three Thousand), Val Kilmer has now replaced him.

Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Trailer

Wow... I am really looking forward to watching Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull!

May 22nd isn't too far away, I've put a countdown timer underneath the Popcorn Monkey logo if you want to know how many days are left 'til its worldwide release.

Roy Scheider Dies at 75

Actor Roy Scheider, a two-time Oscar nominee best known for his leading role as the water-phobic police chief in the smash blockbuster Jaws, died Sunday in Little Rock, Arkansas, at the University of Arkansas Medical Sciences hospital; he was 75.

Though an official cause of death was not released at press time, a hospital spokeswoman stated that the actor had been treated for multiple myeloma at the hospital's research center for the past two years.

Born in New Jersey, Scheider pursued a career in boxing before turning to acting, and won an Obie award for his work with the New York Shakespeare Festival in the late '60s. His first major film appearances also began in the late '60s in such movies as Star! and Paper Lion, and it was in 1971 that he truly gained fame for his roles two popular thrillers, Klute and The French Connection; the latter earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

However, it was his role four years later in the Steven Spielberg thriller Jaws for which he became most well-known, playing a local lawman in a tourist beach town who must contend with the sudden appearance of a great white shark; his line, "You're gonna need a bigger boat," became one of the most well-known lines in contemporary film.

Scheider also appeared in the ill-fated sequel Jaws 2 (after dropping out of the lead role in The Deer Hunter and in order to be let out of his Universal Studios contract) and the thriller Marathon Man before embarking on his most acclaimed performance, that of Broadway director and choreographer Joe Gideon in Bob Fosse's All That Jazz. The role, closely based on Fosse's life, brought Scheider his second Academy Award nomination in 1979, this time for Best Actor.

Though none of Scheider's later films would reach the heights of his movies from the '70s, he continued to work steadily in both film and television, with diverse roles in such films as Still Of The Night, Blue Thunder, 2010, The Russia House, Naked Lunch, The Peacekeeper, The Myth Of Fingerprints (for which he received an Independent Spirit Award nomination) and the TV series SeaQuest DSV and Third Watch. Scheider is survived by his three children and his second wife, actress Brenda King.

* Pinched from IMDb, 11/02/2008

Whiplash The Cowboy Monkey

Whiplash has got to be the coolest monkey ever! From the looks of it the dogs doing all the work and the monkeys just strapped to its back, just going mental. The illusion is a good one if thats true.


I hope there's another monkey like this so they could get together, in miniature suits of armour and have a medieval monkey jousting session. I'd buy a ticket!

Some photos of the new Knight Rider

Here's some photos from the forthcoming Knight Rider TV movie (due to be aired in the US on the 17th of February).


The new version of K.I.T.T. (Knight Industries Two Three Thousand), now a Shelby GT500KR Mustang.


The new guy (Justin Bruening) & K.I.T.T.


An interior shot, looks pretty awesome!

Kilmer 'will voice' Knight Rider

Val Kilmer is to provide the voice of talking car Kitt in the TV movie remake of the 1980s series Knight Rider, trade magazine Variety says.

He replaces Will Arnett, star of comedy Arrested Development, who pulled out after a row over motor company Ford's sponsorship of the film, Variety adds.

It said Ford's rival, General Motors, asked him to step down because he had voiced adverts for the firm.

The film is due to air on the NBC network in the US on 17 February.

Arnett told Variety he had been "very excited" about voicing the part of Kitt, which he had already recorded.

"However, because of a long relationship with General Motors as the voice of GMC Trucks, I had to respectfully withdraw from the project," he added.

Bourne Identity director Doug Liman is executive producer of the pilot, which will lead to a TV series if successful.

Soap actor Justin Bruening, 28, stars as the son of David Hasselhoff's original character, Michael Knight.

Hasselhoff will also make a guest appearance, reprising his career-making role.

* Pinched from BBC Entertainment News, 08/02/2008

Cloverfield (2008)

Cloverfield is a really interesting alternative to the giant monster movies made popular by the Japanese film studio Toho.

The film takes a totally different approach to story telling from the usual action films. It adopts a documentary home-movie narrative that stays throughout the film, following the survival of a group of friends through New York during a terrifying monster attack.

The scenes of New York, devastated by the attack are spookily similar to those from the terrorist attacks of 9/11. That with the false reality the shaky video camera provides almost makes the film feel authentic. The director Matt Reeves has really used this footage well in creating a convincing scenario.

This is very different to your usual Hollywood blockbuster and although I enjoyed it, its probably not to everyones taste. Its basically The Blair Witch Project crossed with Godzilla, if you liked elements of either go check it out.