Check Out Episode One of SyFy's The Expanse NOW!

What's a TV addict to do? The Walking Dead wraps up tonight (until 2016 at least), and maybe you haven't started in on Jessica Jones yet (what's wrong with you?!). So you're in need of something to fill the cold nights, maybe something...as cold as the deep vacuum of space?

Fans of good old fashioned hard science fiction have been eagerly anticipating the SyFy channel's return to form, and the premiere of The Expanse, adapted from the novels by James S. A. Corey. The trailer promised a faithful adaptation of the books, and folks who've read the novels know what a sprawling canvas this story occupies.

The series formally debuts December 14th, but SyFy has made the pilot episode available NOW on numerous formats, including online and cable OnDemand. Definitely check it out. SyFy's going for a definite Battlestar Galactica feel - with a dollop of Game of Thrones. It's a hybrid of far-flug space opera and detective story. The cast is engaging, though there are a lot of characters for non-book-readers to get to know. Numerous title captions explain the necessary backstory, which is a bit of a mouthful. It's 200 years in the future and the solar system has been colonized - there are numerous factions and resentments. Just go from there. The writers gave us Iron Man and Children of Men, so that ought to inspire confidence. Overall this first glimpse feels like SyFy has done a solid job of making a large story accessible and intriguing for a broadcast audience. It feels like it may take an episode or two to get their momentum truly up and running, but I'm intrigued enough to see more, and I have a feeling that acceleration and inertia are coming. See what you think!

Jon Snow Get His Jesus On For Season 6

Rumor had it the 6th season of HBO's Game of Thrones might be debuting later than normal this year, which the network confirmed this morning with a striking single-word poster - "April," accompanied by a single, attention-getting image: Jon Snow, bloodied, head bowed - and back. 

We see what we want to see, and fans clearly read into this image that Jon Snow has returned from the dead. The image has a lush Biblical quality, that will have many theorists nodding and making check marks: "Betrayed and murdered by those he trusted?" Check. "Resurrected with new purpose, inspiring followers?" Check - well, almost, anyway. It sure seems we're heading in that direction. Just in time for Easter.

Cinemachines: NECA Rolls Out New Vehicle Line

At the New Jersey Comic Expo this weekend, the tireless folks at NECA unveiled their new line of 6" vehicle replicas, known as the Cinemachine series. The line begins with a quartet of vehicles from the fan favorite Alien(s) series, with an expected debut of February 2016.

The 6" size is comparable to Galoob's old Action Fleet line of Micromachines, though these look to be even more detailed, made from diecast metal and plastic. NECA main man Randy Falk hinted that future waves may include vehicles from the Terminator and  Predator film series, with a retail price point under $25.

Preorders are rumored to begin as early as this week, so keep your eyes peeled! This looks to be a fantastic expansion from the dependable NECA crew.

 

 

Branagh Both Passenger and Engineer in Orient Express

We've known for a while that Kenneth Branagh would be directing a new adaptation of Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express. But now we've learned that in addition to helming the feature, Branagh will also portray detective Hercule Poirot, the Belgian detective who appeared in 33 of Christie's novels.

Sidney Lumet directed a big adaptation of Orient Express back in 1974, with an all star cast including Lauren Bacall, Ingrid Bergman, Sean Connery, John Gielgud, and Albert Finney as Poirot. David Suchet embodied Poirot on British television for two decades.

I like this immensely, as the classic nature of the story really suits Branagh's sensibilities as a director, as he proved beautifully with Cinderella. And with his enduring run as Wallander, he's got more than enough detective experience to match wits with the longest trainload of killers.

Looking forward to this one!

SPECTRE: Shaken! Stirred...?

Spectre opens in spectacular fashion. Bond films have always been famous for their pre-credits action sequences, and director Sam Mendes serves up a whopper. Beginning with a Touch of Evil meets Goodfellas tracking shot that's simply mindboggling, as James Bond (Daniel Craig) makes his way through a ravishingly elaborate Dia de los Muertos parade in Mexico City, culminating in the most amazing helicopter stunt sequence in the history of helicopters. It's a scene most movies would kill for in their finales, and Spectre dares to start there. So it's a hell of a shame the rest of the movie never quite matches that sublime start.

Designed as a direct sequel to the superior Skyfall, Spectre also aims to knit-up threads from all the previous Daniel Craig Bond outings - to suggest that one nefarious entity has been pulling the strings all along. Great concept. And for the first fortyish minutes, Spectre is downright engaging and entertaining. In an obvious bit of casting, the minute we lay eyes on Andrew "Moriarty" Scott, we know he's going to be in league with the larger Shadowy Them. There's a crackerjack car chase with the new Aston Martin DB10, and Hoyte Van Hoytema's cinematography (Her, Interstellar) is sensational.

But we've got script problems. Not quite Quantum of Solace problems, because at least Spectre is trying everything but the kitchen sink. But the good will of that first act quickly evaporates and we're left with a very muddled segue into a frankly daft and silly grand finale. Part of the problem is actress

Léa Seydoux, who I'm sure is a perfectly lovely person, but who takes a quantum step backwards in the lineage of useless Bond-girls. She's no Rebecca Ferguson, that's for sure.

 

The hands of way too many writers are painfully evident here, as the tone careens all over the place. A mid-point airplane stunt pales woefully in comparison with that earlier helicopter work. Dave Bautista is exudes threatening charisma as a villain cobbled from the Jaws/Oddjob mold. There's a tremendous fistfight on a moving train that very deliberately tries to out-punch the threat level of Robert Shaw in From Russia with Love. And that's a big part of the problem with Spectre - it's so deliberate and intentional in its repeated call-backs to earlier Bond motifs that it starts to feel less like a movie and more of an exercise in generating Easter Eggs for audience recognition. Where that was done with aplomb and wit in Skyfall, here it seems to be pandering broadly to the cheap seats, which is likely why the lackluster reviews haven't hurt the box office. Spectre absolutely looks and walks and mimics all the iconic beats of a classic old school James Bond movie, but it feels like Bond-by-committee, and loses enormous swaths of the grounded realism the previous Craig films have worked so hard to establish. A gag involving a slow-moving car and an airbag sends us careening right back into Roger Moore territory.

 

We tend to judge a Bond picture by its villain, and Christoph Waltz gets a great introduction that hearkens back to the heyday of Thunderball. Bathed in shadow, indistinct, Waltz radiates quiet menace that's genuinely unsettling. Which is what makes his later transformation to sockless wide-eyed clown all the more baffling. He never recaptures that initial threatening stillness, and his keyboard torture of Bond is just completely off-putting and lame.

And we haven't even made it to the end yet. Yes, the title song is as lackluster as you've heard, and the love interest is just a crashing bore. I don't fault Daniel Craig here, as he's resolute and convincing, while more glib with the dialogue than we've previously heard. But he sells it, and it's very likely his star quality that's pushing the movie past its eye-rolling impediments into box office success. If this is his last outing as Bond, it's a bit of a shame, as Spectre's something of a buzz-kill after the seamless intelligence of Skyfall.

 

Spectre is a fun night out, and you could do a hell of a lot worse. It's crazy entertaining at times. And crazy-crazy at others. Bond fans should definitely check it out and decide for themselves. Adjust your expectations accordingly.

 

You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown!

It’s hard not to be a little nervous when cherished franchises of old are repurposed for a new generation. As movie fans – and parents – we take a deep breath and wince a bit, hoping to be spared another Garfield or Alvin and the Chipmunks trip to the dentist.

 

Thank goodness The Peanuts Movie exceeds expectations in nearly every way. It’s a delightful rendering of Charles Schulz’s classic characters and is clearly made by people with tremendous affection for the look and feel of the original, determined to introduce it to a modern audience in a way that preserves the spirit of what makes Peanuts so beloved.

 

Written by Charles Schulz’s son and grandson, and directed by Steve Martino (Horton Hears a Who!, Ice Age: Continental Drift), while the technique of The Peanuts Movie may be 3-D Computer Animation, great care has been taken to maintain the look and feel of the old animated specials and comic strips. Background objects like trees remain stationary, and the characters move with a slight flutter, evoking the hand-drawn quality of the old shows. It gives the movie a real warmth and charm that might seem intangible, but which really comes across. Small nods of affection are peppered throughout – a moving truck bears the name “Mendelson & Melendez,” after the original producers of the animated specials. 

 

You get the feeling that rather than set the stage for a massive new franchise, the folks at Blue Sky Studios (along with Paul Feig) had the attitude that “…if we're only ever going to make one Peanuts movie, let’s make it the best that we possibly can,” and that really shines through. The music of Vince Guaraldi, the voices of the kids (and the always unseen “wahh wahh wahh” adults), the Bill Melendez recordings of Snoopy and Woodstock – everything is comfortingly familiar, while seeming fresh and vibrant all at the same time. Charlie Brown just wants the Little Red-Haired Girl to like him and be noticed. And no matter how many setbacks he endures, he never seems to let failure stop him. He perseveres and tries again, which is incredibly endearing and a wonderful lesson in character for smaller audiences. The film gets the tiniest bit over-inflated when Snoopy’s imagined dogfight with the Red Baron threatens to escalate into a full blown retelling of The Blue Max, but The Peanuts Movie is overwhelmingly the most charming family film since Paddington. Very highly recommended.

 

Triple 9: How's this for a cast...?

In Triple 9, a gang of dirty cops are blackmailed by the Russian mob into pulling of a nigh impossible heist. In order to draw attention away from the crime, they set up an officer-down situation (Code: 999), setting up an unsuspecting rookie to die. The rookie has other ideas.

Check out this cast: Casey Affleck (the rookie), Woody Harrelson, Chewitel Ejiofor, Kate Winslet, Norman Reedus, Anthony Mackie, Gail Gadot and Aaron Paul. The script is from Matt Cook, with John Hillcoat (The Road) directing.

Reedus! Up first quarter, next year.