Boy do I love the summer. Not only is it a time to kick back and relax by the pool, but it’s also when we get some of the biggest, most anticipated movies of the whole year. We’re about a month into the summer movie season and I wanted to give you guys a wrap up of my thoughts of how the summer’s been shaping up, cinematically.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

I held out hope for months and months that this movie wouldn’t turn into a steaming pile of guano, that perhaps the actors (mainly Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, and Ryan Reynolds) would pull it through past the bad writing, and past the atrocious effects. Sufficed to say, they didn’t. Almost everything about this movie fails at its first attempt. In terms of story and character, this movie ranks somewhere between Daredevil and Catwoman. Everyone, especially Logan, is a 2D cardboard cut out parody of their comicbook (or in Logan’s case, previous movies) version. And the effects! Oh the effects. How is it possible that we can make a movie with worse effects than the original X-Men? Which came out in 1999?! Ten years ago and effects have gone backwards. I’m ashamed. A terrible, awful, jumbled story, ridiculous characters, just plain bad filmmaking, and some even worse effects make this movie less watchable than the yule log. Skip it.

Star Trek

This movie is the polar opposite of Wolverine. It has compelling characters, a story that makes sense, state of the art effects, and loads of kick ass actions scenes. And best of all? It’s all a wonderful homage to the Original Series. I’m simply amazed at what J.J. Abrams has been able to do here, without any prior knowledge of the source material. At its heart this is just one big budget episode of original Trek. Kurtzman and Orci, the writing team behind Fringe, and Transformers are mainly responsible for this, as they bring us a fascinating story about all our favorite characters, one that fits into the original story line via a brilliant plot device I won’t spoil here. Even if you’re not a fan of any Star Trek, you’ll still find loads of stuff here to enjoy. And if you are a fan, well you’ll have the time of your life. See it.

Angels & Demons

I wasn’t a fan of the first DaVinci Code movie, although I did like the book. Tom Hanks’ haircut, mixed with an incomprehensible story and weird storytelling made it a miss for me. I had hopes that Angels & Demons would succeed where DaVinci Code failed, in making a faithful yet enjoyable adaption of Dan Browns rather mediocre novels. Well, it was certainly better than the first one, but not by enough. Part of the problem lies in the fact that the Vatican wouldn’t allow Ron Howard and Co. to film in the actual physical locations the film demanded. So, they decided to shoot it all on greenscreen and recreate the sets. Bad idea. The end result feels like a bad mix of a video game and Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. At least Tom Hanks’ mullet was gone. Rent it.

Terminator Salvation

The Terminator franchise has always been close to my heart. The absolutely stunning effects and all of that badassery made them ideal movies for a 12 year old filmmaker. I even enjoyed Terminator 3. So when I read they were making another Terminator movie, with Christian Bale, this new guy Sam Worthington and today’s effects, I was ecstatic….Then I heard it was being made by McG (of Charlie’s Angels) and my hope dissolved instantly. McG promised us this would be the end all be all of Terminator flicks, that it would be gritty (it wasn’t), realistic (it wasn’t), R-rated (it absolutely wasn’t) and badass (kinda was). One thing about Terminator, all of them have been R rated, so why was this one PG13? Well that may be because you can show things in a PG13 movie today you never could ten years ago, but still it feels wrong. Salvation suffers from a cripplingly terrible story and characters you can see through. Not to mention the effects ranged from impressive to Wolverine bad. There were some shots that were pretty effective (all the stuff with Marcus Wright’s face and limbs revealing his metal skeleton were awesome), and others that made me nostalgic for the days when directors took care in crafting their visual effects (i.e. James Cameron’s Terminator 2). Bad effects and filmmaking aside, there are a few action scenes (like the ones with the motorcycles) that are actually pretty awesome. Rent it.

Well that’s all for now, the first couple movies of summer 2009. Be sure to stay tuned for more reviews throughout the rest of the summer!

This is going to be an exciting weekend for sci-fi fans. Tonight saw the first of three brand new half hour Red Dwarf specials, continuing through the weekend, and tomorrow we’ll finally get to see the next Doctor Who special! But before that let’s focus on the first new episode of Red Dwarf in 10 long years. Well fear not fellow smegheads!! Red Dwarf is back, in high definition, with the original cast, original writers, and all new effects, and it is bloody fantastic.

Series co-creator Doug Naylor has been trying to ressurect Red Dwarf for quite some time now, whether it be in the form of a movie, short series, anything, and his (as well as our) dream finally came true. Only a few months ago Channel Dave in the UK offered Naylor a chance to bring back the show as a short series of brand 30 minute episodes. Since many of the sets and props had been destroyed long ago, and in an effort to keep down costs, the team chose some seriously forward thinking production techniques to re-create the show’s original sets and effects. To get technical for a moment, they shot the new series on the utterly revolutionary RED Camera, which shoots at a resolution four times that of 1080p HD. It shoots digitally so no need for film, only hard drives.

As for the show, part one aired Friday night, with the subsequent two parts airing on Saturday and Sunday. It felt like returning home. Everything just sort of clicked. It didn’t take long for the original cast to slip right back into their old routine, like they never stopped doing the show. Sure the effects were updated, everything felt a bit shiner, and Rimmer looked a bit older, but the whit and sci-fi humor was all still there.

Plot wise Back to Earth gets a bit too convoluted for me, but the novelty of having the old gang back together was rewarding enough. Back to Earth follows the Dwarfers as they are thrust into our own universe, where they are just characters in a TV show. They must search for their creators and beg for more life before the series is extinguished once and for all. The plot only works because of the wacky universe Red Dwarf exists in, I mean they’ve dealt with crazier stuff before.

Back to Earth feels more like a proof of concept, proof that the show could be produced again, cheaply, with the original cast, and with surprisingly high production values. I really truly deeply hope this leads to Red Dwarf getting picked up for a full new series, if it’s anywhere near the quality of this miniseries, fans will be satisfied.

Two of my favorite things in TV are procedural crime dramas, and Nathan Fillion, and here are they together at last! ABC’s new mid-season procedural dramedy Castle, starring everyone’s favorite hammer related superhero as a cocky pulp crime fiction writer who must help the NYPD when a killer starts killing straight from his books. Fillion is the king of snark, he plays the ultimate sleezy cheeseball, at the Dr. Horrible Comic-Con panel Joss himself said “Shatner, you’re time is done”.

Nathan Fillion plays Rick Castle, a full of himself best selling crime author with an attitude. A performance from any lesser actor would prove cliched at best, but the way Fillion plays it, Castle is both hilarious and interesting. There’s definitely something more to this character than his cheeseball personality. The question is can Nathan Fillion’s performance alone carry the show?

Since Fillion isn’t the only person with screen time let’s look at the other actors. Everyone else on the payroll is playing straight against Fillion’s cheese, so that balance works out fairly nice. Kate Beckett (Stana Katic), the hard nosed female detective seems a bit boring… She may prove to be the show’s weak point, unless she and Castle and keep up enough of a clever dynamic to keep the audience hooked week to week. Alexis, Castle’s daughter, is a pretty interesting character, since Castle is so immature she’s got to be the ‘parent’ in the relationship. There seems to be a good amount of give and take. I’m interested to see where that goes.

Writing is the other strong suit of Castle. It ranges from mild to extremely clever. The material is strong and made only stronger by the performances. We’ll wait and see if they can keep up the steam through a full season, but they’ve certainly spiked my interest.

On the surface Castle is like a more sarcastic version of Law & Order, but starring Nathan Fillion, and that elevator pitch alone has me hooked. My hope is the show can find it’s own niche and its heart before people start to tune out.

Tune in to Castle, Mondays at 10pm EST on ABC.

Like I said last week, never underestimate Joss Whedon. This week’s episode rocked harder and faster than the pilot, I dare say this would have made a better pilot. In a show like Dollhouse where the main character undergoes a personality change from episode to episode, you needed at least two episodes to really get a sense of how the show will feel. Now I think we know. Every week will be a new adventure, presenting a new acting challenge for Eliza Dushku, as the overall series plot moves forward. And I say, sign me up.

Unlike some of his other shows, Dollhouse seems to be almost entirely dark. Not that Buffy or Angel were sitcoms, but they were interjected with more humor than in Dollhouse. Looks like Joss has taken a bit of a risk here. At its core the show is about human trafficking, not exactly light subject matter. But of course that darkness is broken up by that trademark Joss Whedon whit you’ve heard so much about (looks like Topher is our Xander-esque comic relief this time ’round).

Seeing Matt Keeslar in a Joss Whedon show made my week. He quickly became one of my favorite new actors over the summer with his run as The Middleman in The Middleman. Here we get to see how far his acting range can stretch (although we saw a bit of that in the Mirror Middleman season finale). He plays Richard, the psychotic, active hunting client of the Dollhouse this week, and he is down right terrifying.

Like something ripped out of a terrific thriller/horror movie, he turns on Echo right after sex (I’m seeing a theme in Whedon’s work here…) and goes on a manhunt for Echo across the woods. An intense and fairly action packed scene ensues that carries us right through the episode.

Eliza Dushku also improved ten-fold this week, both of her characters (Echo and her active state) evolved over the course of the hour. Echo started to become self aware, which is the plot of the entire series, and Eliza showed us she can handle the multiple personalities that come along with being Echo.

Now, after two episodes I think we know what to expect from Dollhouse, and like I said that is greatness. Next week’s episode, which has Echo protecting a pop star, was written by Dr. Horrible vets Marissa T and Jed Whedon. Tune in, Friday at 9pm on Fox.

The International, starring Clive Owen as a renegade Interpol agent, had some very misleading, and frankly awful trailers and ads. Tom Tykwer, who directed the bizarre, stylized, German action film Run, Lola, Run, added some much needed style to the decent script, and Clive Owen brought his typical brooding bad-assery. As it turns out, The International isn’t as mediocre or ‘Hollywood’ as the ads made it out to be. It’s actually a pretty compelling action/thriller with moments of serious greatness (there’s a shootout in the Guggenheim, and damn is it incredible).Up until the big ol’ shootout in the Guggenheim though, it’s just decent, and after the shootout returns to just being decent. But man, that shootout makes up for it. Seriously, go and see the movie just for that scene. It has everything you’d want from any half decent action movie crammed into one break neck speed action sequence, with Clive Owen at his most awesome.

Endings are always hard in movies, how do you wrap up a whole bunch of story-lines to the audience’s satisfaction in a pretty limited amount of time? The International does something a bit different, the last half hour or so is entirely dedicated to neatly wrapping up the story. I respect the idea, but it just feels like it drags on towards the end.

Oh, and just to mention her, Naomi Watts was quite good. She didn’t bring much action to the scene, but her more human emotions were good contrasted against Clive Owne’s Cylon-ness.

Any movie that has a bank as its villain is bound to run into a few problems isn’t it? The International isn’t the magnum opus of action/thriller movies, there are a few bumps along the way, but in the end you’ll have enjoyed the trip. If you’ve got the time and the cash, and want to see more than a few people’s bodies get riddled with bullets, go and check out The International.

“Grrr, Arrgh.” Seeing those immortal grunts return to the TV almost brought tears to my eyes. Joss Whedon‘s shows are always leaps and bounds above everything else on television, but I’ll be honest, Dollhouse gets off to a bit of a rocky start. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned it’s never, ever, ever underestimate Joss Whedon. That man will surprise you to no end, and at every single turn. He inspires creativity and all around genius form everyone around him, and we’re all better off for it. Buffy and Angel took a whole season each to really get rolling, but I’ve got a feeling Dollhouse will get us invested much quicker. Dollhouse has been a long way coming. It’s gone through several reshoots, re-edits, and re-whatevers to finally grace our boob tubes. The episode we saw last night was not in fact the original pilot. Network execs discussed it with Joss and they decided to create an entirely new first episode, after the original pilot had been finished.

They both agreed the first pilot was too dark, and didn’t give away enough of the show’s plot. So in the end we get an episode that feels like it’s trying a bit too hard to explain the world and the rules, and not enough effort on getting us into the characters.

Tahmoh Penkiett, of Battlestar Galactica fame, is only in about five minutes of the episode, and in those five minutes he barely ever speaks (it’s mostly blurry shots of him beating up some guy). Some of the secondary characters had the spotlight this time around. Topher, the Active reprogramming nerd, and Boyd Langdon (Harry Lennix), the ex-cop turned Active handler, seemed interesting enough but I wanted more Eliza Dushku and Tahmoh.

In terms of sheer quality it wasn’t the ‘Best. Pilot. Ever.’, but it wasn’t any worse than the Buffy or Angel pilots (I’ll leave Firefly out because it’s an anomaly). I expect great things from Dollhouse, and I’m quite certain we’re going to get it. Dollhouse shows a lot of promise, stick with it folks, Whedon is worth the time and effort. Tune in to Dollhouse Fridays on Fox at 9pm EST.

Why are BBC shows consistently better than most US shows? Doctor Who, Torchwood, Life on Mars (the original, UK version), and now Being Human. I think the answer is because they take risks. I could never imagine a US network (even a cable one) green lighting Doctor Who or Being Human, they’re just too out there, too original. Get this, in Being Human a vampire, a werewolf, and a ghost share a house in Bristol, each trying to figure out how to survive as supernaturals in a human world. Being Human feels like a modern descendant of Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel, at its heart its a clever character drama in the guise of horror. You can catch Being Human on BBC Three in the UK and on BBC America when it hits the States later this year.

George, the neurotic werewolf (shown above, middle), is played by Russell Tovey, who also guest starred in the Doctor Who Christmas Special ‘Voyage of the Damned’ as Midshipman Alonso Frame. Midshipman Frame was one of the best parts of the episode, its good to see Tovey getting a starring role.

Aidan Turner plays Mitchell, a vampire trying to go cold turkey from blood. Mitchell is a bit like Angel, he’s a vampire searching for redemption and trying not to feed. The vampire mythology is a bit screwy (they can walk around in sunlight? What the frak?) but we should let it slide for the good of the show.

Last but not least is Annie the ghost (Lenora Crichlow). Annie’s stuck in limbo, her fiancé (their landlord) has moved on but she can’t. Again the supernatural rules seem bent, she can be seen by some people (mainly other ‘supernaturals’), and can touch and move objects with ease.

Not only does the ensemble cast come together perfectly, but the horror moments and special effects are damned impressive. The werewolf transformation scene takes a note from An American Werewolf in London, it’s gritty and real (and uses some very similar techniques). Some of those prosthetic effects really look feature film quality, on a television budget that is phenomenally impressive. In the second episode there’s a vampire ‘porn’ tape of a female vamp feeding on a man while having sex with him. Since vamps don’t show up on film, the man is by himself the entire time until the blood starts to come pouring out. Wow. That moment is straight up horror, and they pull it off wonderfully.

Don’t miss this fantastic new outing from the Beeb. If you’re a Buffy fan, a fantasty/horror fan in general, or just a fan of good TV, this is one of the best and most original shows I’ve seen in recent years. Thank you BBC Three, I look forward to watching more.

J.J. Abrams’ procedural science fiction drama has come back from its mid-season break with a vengeance. “The Transformation” was co-penned by Zack Whedon (yep, that Zack Whedon, brother of the all mighty Joss Whedon, of Dr. Horrible fame) and J.R. Orci. Fringe seems to have taken a bit of a break from their season long story arcs in favor of more serialized episodes. But this week sees the return of the John Scott / Nina Sharp / Massive Dynamic storyline, and with some interesting developments. Fringe may not be the most intelligent or complex show on TV, but it sure is loads of sci-fi fun.

To me, Fringe is the total sci-fi-ification of Lost, and as the season’s gone on it’s delved farther into sci-fi. When it started out Fringe Division was dealing with flesh eating viruses, and now they’ve got scientists transforming into full on monsters. But the whole time they keep it semi-grounded, with explanations that at least make some semblance of sense.

Zack Whedon’s got a serious knack for writing. He’s got a hint of his brother Joss’ wit, but takes it in a whole other direction. He gives some seriously hilarious lines to Walter this week, there’s a discussion about the 1/2 nipple rule that may be the best Walter Bishop-ism yet.

Olivia is still the weakest point in the show, and she’s the lead! But it’s OK, I’m not bitter, because the amazingness of the rest of the cast (mainly John Noble as Walter Bishop) keep the show afloat and kicking. Fringe continues to prove that you don’t need a deep message to have fun with sci-fi. Stay tuned folks, this show has got some serious steam left.

Now that the holidays are over and we’ve entered the New Year, our favorite TV shows are finally starting up again. This week alone we saw Lost, Fringe, and How I Met Your Mother again, and now, Burn Notice is back baby! I’ve already spoken on the total brilliance of Burn Notice, and now that its back I highly recommend giving it a looksie,. Even if haven’t been watching the whole series you can still jump in at random and have a kick ass time.

Damn, Jeffery Donovan is good. Donovan stars as the ever bad ass ex-spy Michael Weston, and he’s proven time and again that he’s one of the best spies around. Like some awesome blend of Jason Bourne, James Bond, and MacGyver, Weston is clever, suave, and just plain cool. And in addition to all that? Donovan brings a great level of depth to the character, making him a real human being as opposed to the Bournes, Bonds, and MacGyvers of the world, which are almost comic book characters.

One of the best bits of the show is when Weston gets to go undercover, and Jeffery Donovan gets to really show off his acting chops. This wasn’t his best undercover performance, but it was fun to see him get to play the lunatic henchman again (Donovan is so good at it). And the B story, or maybe the A story depending on how you look at it, of the dying child and the medical scammers was pretty touching and allowed for Fi to get in on the undercover action.

I am very very glad to have this show back on the air, and am very much looking forward to the rest of the season. One thing the show does exceptionally well is balance season story arcs with individual episode arcs. Now that the Carla story line is starting to become the shows focus we’ll get to see some extremely cool spy action (a la Michael’s house exploding, how cool was that?!). Stay tuned folks, it’s just the beginning.

One of the more irritating trends in recent films is the menagerie of horror remakes the studios have been trotting out in an attempt to wipe out the world’s creativity. At first My Bloody Valentine 3D seems to be another one of these, but it isn’t really. Bloody Valentine is more of a classic 80′s slasher flick than it is a modern horror remake. It’s not torture porn, or a psychological thriller, what it is is straight up blood and guts horror…and in 3D no less. Within 20 minutes you have at least two very gory massacres, in 3D. If you’re looking for old school straight up fun horror, look no further. My Bloody Valentine 3D has it in spades, plus, it’s in 3D!

Horror is my second favorite genre (right behind Sci-Fi), but in recent years we haven’t had very many good (or even decent) horror films (at least here in the US). Sure, The Descent was brilliant, but it’s a rare occurrence, more common are films like The Unborn (which is a contender for worst film of the century in my book). It’s great to see a filmmaker once again embrace the horror/slasher genre in its purest form. This is a modern successor to stuff like Friday the 13th and Texas Chainsaw Massacre, light on plot and high on death and mayhem.

It’s about time a horror film took 3D and used to full effect. Almost every kill in this movie is made for for the 3D format, some of them are classic 3D cliches, and others are really quite clever. Valentine has no shame, and it really doesn’t care. What other film would have a 3D sex scene followed by a girl, in full frontal nudity, running for her life from an pick-axe wielding miner?!

My Bloody Valentine is nothing but pure distilled slasher horror fun, and I’m OK with that. It’s not brilliant, or particularly original. But all the little parts come together to make one ripping good time. Yeah the 3D is the only real reason to see this movie, but it’s enough of a reason to pay for such a great theater experience. Go, catch this flick in 3D in theaters before it lands in 2D on DVD and becomes just another mediocre exercise in modern horror.