From what we've heard about Ant-Man as it made its way through development, the movie has always seemed to be fairly disconnected with the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Rumors abound that the studio wanted to include more connections to the MCU, and that's partially what caused the rift between the execs and original director Edgar Wright, but we'll have to wait for the eventual tell-all story to come out a few years from now before we discover the truth.

In any case, the marketing campaign is now directly referencing The Avengers in a new TV spot and three new posters, presumably in the hopes of letting people know that this inherently ridiculous character actually does have some bearing on the future of the MCU (he's next slated to appear in Captain America: Civil War). What do you all think about the new TV spot and these posters?

Armed with the astonishing ability to shrink in scale but increase in strength, master thief Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) must embrace his inner-hero and help his mentor, Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), protect the secret behind his spectacular Ant-Man suit from a new generation of towering threats. Against seemingly insurmountable obstacles, Pym and Lang must plan and pull off a heist that will save the world.

Ant-Man arrives on July 17th, and you can now see six minutes of footage in an IMAX presentation attached to Jurassic World.

Have you ever wondered why some Christopher Nolan fans can be so…extreme?

The anonymity of the internet has made death threats somewhat of a constant occurrence on message boards, social media, and comment threads, but if you speak with anyone who writes about movies for a living and ask them if they’ve ever written a negative review of a Chris Nolan movie, there’s almost a 100% chance they’ll say they've received death threats because of it. But since the same can’t be said about the works of Steven Spielberg or Quentin Tarantino, what is it about Nolan’s films that draw such a vitriolic response — oftentimes before the commenter has even seen the movie in question?

It’s not just Nolan acolytes, but they’re probably the best representation of the phenomenon I’m talking about. Keep in mind, I’m a huge fan of Nolan’s work: he’s directed three movies that I consider modern masterpieces, and I’d place the rest of his films at various points on the “good” to “excellent” scale.

My take? These commenters are on a quest to find a director with a perfect record. 

It’s rare to find movie fans in 2015 who appreciate or agree with a nuanced take on a movie; people seemingly either prefer “love it” or “hate it” responses, and there’s not much room for anything in the middle. Those kinds of pieces certainly don’t get the same online attention as a glowing review or a scathing pan, and while it’s fun to write both of those things when the situation calls for it, I find that more often than not, I tend to have more complicated feelings about a movie than just simply whether it kicks ass or sucks. (Shocking, I know.) Applying statistics to movies and boiling down our reaction to a piece of art into a letter grade, popularized by sites like Rotten Tomatoes, have encouraged this kind of binary discussion to dominate most online conversations about movies. You either agree with the consensus, or you’re wrong.

With a statistics-driven approach to analyzing movies, all of the subtlety falls away. If a director has a perfect record — a filmography in which the hive mind agrees that all of his/her films are “good” — that person can be held up on a pedestal as a shining beacon of what a director should be. People like Spielberg, Tarantino, James Cameron, and Martin Scorsese don’t qualify, since they’ve all already made movies that were either box office duds or critical failures. But since Nolan hasn’t made an outright turd yet, he’s still riding that line where fans can try to make a case for every one of his films, desperately clinging to the notion that he’s The One, their director with the perfect record.

I’m not saying that there aren’t people out there who truly believe that every single film Nolan has made is fantastic. But I do think there’s something to this theory, and a lot of the fans lobbing death threats are probably doing it (maybe even subconsciously) as a reaction to the notion of his perceived perfect record being marred and the pedestal being knocked out from under their cinematic hero.

I'm not completely immune to this thinking, either. For me, Colin Trevorrow and Rian Johnson are two directors that immediately come to mind who would qualify as having perfect records at this point in their careers. Trevorrow made Safety Not Guaranteed (which I loved) and Jurassic World (which I really enjoyed), while Johnson has Brick, The Brothers Bloom, and Looper under his belt, all of which I adore. I understand the gut-level appeal of wanting a perfect record to exist — it's fun to root for people we like — but becoming obsessed with that idea and not allowing ourselves to engage with a piece of art on a case by case basis strikes me as the wrong way to go about it. And I can't believe I even need to say this, but come on, guys: death threats? Really?

It seems incredibly unlikely that when Trevorrow and Johnson retire, I'll be able to look back on every single movie in their filmography and declare that I love them all. And that's totally fine! We can often get a better sense of an artist's identity by witnessing their imperfections instead of a sheen of perfectly-produced product anyway.

What do you all think? Am I onto something with this "perfect record" theory?

"For a special agent, you're not having a very special day."

A great new trailer has been released for the wicked awesome-looking spy thriller called The Man From U.N.C.L.E. The stylish movie was directed by Guy Ritchie, and Henry Cavill (Man of Steel) stars in the film as an American spy named Napoleon Solo opposite Armie Hammer (The Social Network) who plays Russian agent Illya Kuryakin. The film offers us a fresh and updated take on the popular 1960s TV series. 

I've never seen the TV series, but this movie seriously seems like it's going to be a helluva lot of fun to watch. It's something worth getting excited about. Here's the synopsis:

Set against the backdrop of the early 1960s, at the height of the Cold War, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. centers on CIA agent Solo and KGB agent Kuryakin. Forced to put aside longstanding hostilities, the two team up on a joint mission to stop a mysterious international criminal organization, which is bent on destabilizing the fragile balance of power through the proliferation of nuclear weapons and technology. The duo’s only lead is the daughter of a vanished German scientist, who is the key to infiltrating the criminal organization, and they must race against time to find him and prevent a worldwide catastrophe.

The film also stars Alicia Vikander, Jared Harris, Elizabeth Debicki, Luca Calvani, and Hugh Grant. The Man from U.N.C.L.E. will be released in theaters on August 14th, 2015.

A new behind-the-scenes featurette has been released for Terminator Genisys. What makes this one so interesting is that it focuses on the story behind Arnold Schwarzenegger's aged T-800 Terminator character, who is referred to as "Guardian" in the movie. It also gives us some insight to the relationship between Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke) and Guardian. On top of that, the video includes plenty of new footage from the movie.

John Connor (Jason Clarke), the leader of the human resistance, sends Sgt. Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) back to 1984 to protect Sarah Connor and safeguard the future, but an unexpected turn of events creates a fractured timeline. Now, Sgt. Reese finds himself in a new and unfamiliar version of the past, where he is faced with unlikely allies, including the Guardian, dangerous new enemies, and an unexpected new mission: To reset the future…

Terminator Genisys will be released on July 1st!

I don't know if the rest of you feel the same way, but this year has really flown by for me. June 12th is almost upon us, and midnight brings the arrival of the entirety of season 3 of Netflix's highly-acclaimed series Orange is the New Black. My wife and I caught up with the first two seasons earlier this year and really enjoyed them, and I'm definitely looking forward to seeing how the inmates at Litchfield progress as the new season moves forward.

The women of Litchfield unapologetically return for the third coming. With a crisis of faith and their beliefs and loyalties being tested, each character must decide what and who to believe in.

Remakes, remakes, and more remakes! It's the Hollywood way. As much as people complain about remakes, they sure do like to fork over the money to watch them! That's one of the main reasons why Hollywood will never stop remaking movies. 

PBS Digital Studios has released a video from their Idea Channel on YouTube, and it goes into further depth on why we see so many remakes getting made these days. Reasons that don't include the money aspect and do includes all reinventions even outside of movies. Here's a description that came along with the video:

Fantastic Four, Jurassic World, The Hulk, Star Trek, Spiderman… is it just me or does it seem like remakes are EVERYWHERE? And not only that, but it seems like some movies are just sequel bait, deliberately leaving their ends open to ensure we return to the theaters a year from now to catch the second half of a story we thought we were getting the whole version of. What’s up with that? Besides financial reasons, why are there so many remakes? Does Simon Pegg have the answer? Or maybe our grumpy friend Jean Baudrillard! Watch this week’s episode of PBS Idea Channel with Mike Rugnetta to find out!

Watch the video and let us know about what you think they had to say!

Via: Laughing Squid

San Diego Comic-Con is starting to sneak up on us, and before you know it we'll be bathing in geek awesomeness. The plans for the studios are starting to be released, and today we have panel information about DC Entertainment and FX TV Shows.

First up Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Vixen, Gotham, and Supergirl will be taking over Hall H on Saturday night, July 11th. There's going to be a lot of great stuff to see. I really enjoyed the panel they put on last year. It was one of the highlights of the convention. Here's what they have going on this year!

8:00–11:00 p.m. Warner Bros. Television & DC Entertainment Present: Super Hero Saturday Night Offers Fans a Look Inside the Worlds of Arrow, The Flash and Gotham, plus a Pilot Screening of Supergirl and Video Presentations of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow and Vixen: DC fans … get ready for another Super Hero Saturday Night! Warner Bros. Television and DC Entertainment will again welcome fans into the worlds of some of DC Comics’ greatest characters during a three-hour super-experience in Hall H. The exclusive evening will feature a pilot screening of the highly anticipated new action series Supergirl, followed by a Q&A with stars and producers; plus, individual special video presentations and Q&As with stars and producers from Arrow, The Flash and Gotham. Also, don’t miss a special Q&A with cast and producers of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow and a peek at the new digital series Vixen

As far as FX goes they will be bringing Archer, American Horror Story, The Strain, Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll, and The Bastard Executioner. It looks like a series of panels that's not to be missed. Below you will find the details on each of the panels:

FRIDAY, JULY 10

5:00-6:00 PM, Indigo Ballroom: “Archer” (Moderator: TBD)

“Archer,” the award-winning animated comedy about a spy agency whose employees constantly undermine, sabotage and betray each other for personal gain, will bring together Creator Adam Reed and Executive Producer Matt Thompson with the voice cast of H. Jon Benjamin, Jessica Walter, Aisha Tyler, Judy Greer, Chris Parnell, Amber Nash and Lucky Yates. In addition to the panel, fans will see an exclusive screening of a “Best of…” reel highlighting many of the series’ best moments.

SUNDAY, JULY 12 

12:30-1:30 PM, Hall H: “American Horror Story” (Moderator: Tim Stack, Entertainment Weekly)

“American Horror Story” – fresh off its fourth installment, “Freak Show,” and soon to return with “Hotel” – will feature stars who will appear in both chapters: Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett, Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters and Matt Bomer. They will share the stage with stars of Ryan Murphy’s upcoming Fox comedy “Scream Queens.”

3:00-4:30 PM, Hall H: FX TV Block Featuring “Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll,” “The Strain” and a Sneak Peek of “The Bastard Executioner” (Moderators: TBD)

Kick out the jams with “Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll,” premiering on FX on July 16th at 10 PM ET/PT. Denis Leary stars as the lead singer of a legendary 90s band called The Heathens, who were on the brink of stardom when they broke up and now, years later, are looking to recapture some of the old glory. Creator/Executive Producer/Writer/Director Denis Leary will be joined on stage by actors Elizabeth Gillies, Elaine Hendrix, Robert Kelly and John Ales to discuss the new series and present an exclusive sneak peek of the show. Then catch “The Strain,” a thriller based on the best-selling vampire novel trilogy of the same title that will debut its second season on July 12th at 10 PM ET/PT. Fans will get an exclusive screening of all-new material, including two original pieces created specifically for SDCC and an insightful discussion with Showrunner/Executive Producer Carlton Cuse, Co-Creator/Executive Producer/Writer Guillermo del Toro, Co-Creator/Executive Producer/Writer Chuck Hogan and actors Corey Stoll, David Bradley, Mia Maestro, Kevin Durand, Ruta Gedmintas, Richard Sammel and Natalie Brown. And for an epic finale, get an exclusive world premiere first-look at “Sons of Anarchy” Creator Kurt Sutter’s highly-anticipated new series “The Bastard Executioner. “

Artist Coran “Kizer” Stone is the creator of this art series called "Alter Egos." It features several of our favorite superheroes standing alongside their secret identities. It's a fun exercise that shows off the two types of personalities for each of the characters. 

Via: Poopbird

Here's the first trailer for Rock the Kasbah, a new film from director Barry Levinson (Diner; Good Morning, Vietnam; Rain Man) that stars Bill Murray, Zooey Deschanel, Danny McBride, Kate Hudson, Scott Caan, and Bruce Willis. Sounds like a winning combination of people, right?

Well, this trailer doesn't exactly make the film out to look like much of a crowd-pleaser. I'm fully aware that this could simply be a case of a poor trailer and not have any bearing on the quality of the film itself, but as a piece of advertising that's supposed to get me excited about a movie, this trailer didn't accomplish its goal.

Murray is a living legend, but as we saw in Cameron Crowe's Aloha just a few weeks ago, even he isn't immune to occasionally delivering a bad performance. This doesn't necessarily look like bad work from the actor, per se, but the film seems like it has a lot of conflicting elements at play and based on this footage alone, I'm not sure if Levinson is able to reconcile all of them in a compelling way. I guess we'll have to wait until October 23rd to find out.

Like any parent, Ryan Weimer wanted his kids to have a awesome Halloween. This proved a challenge, because three of his five kids have a form of Muscular Dystrophy called Spinal Muscular Atrophy. A year ago, Ryan started a Kickstarter to raise money for the materials to build a Toothless costume for his son, Keaton.  He said if he raised more money than his goal he would start a nonprofit. Having a hard time finding the knowledge and resources needed, he reached out to Stan Winston's School of Character Arts, known for their online videos tutorials expertise in character fabrication. He was surprised to hear back from them so quickly and with genuine interest in helping out. That blossomed into them doing something even more awesome: helping Ryan with his nonprofit.

"It's pretty irresistible, the fact that Halloween costumes come into play puts it right in the wheelhouse of our community." -Matt Winston, Co-Founder of Stan Winston's School of Character Arts

After the success of his first Kickstarter. Ryan decided to make good on his promise and started Magic Wheelchair, a non-profit that turns kids' wheelchairs into epic Halloween costumes. During this campaign, Ryan and Lana Weimer, along with volunteers and the support of Stan Winston's School, plan to build 5 new costumes for kids in the community with wheelchairs. They're starting small, but it has huge potential. There are schools across the country who have expressed interest in having their students make the costumes in their areas, as a branch of Magic Wheelchair. They've been approached by engineers and costume makers from across the globe all saying they want to build some for their communities. Even the High School group Stan Winston's school is working with has risen to the challenge of making some costumes.

One of the coolest byproducts is that it builds those connections. Kids don't see them as kids in a wheelchair, they see them as friends. - Ryan Weimer, Co-Founder of Magic Wheelchair

Building those relationships is what Magic Wheelchair is really about — making the chairs disappear and letting the kids shine through. Everyone wants to be seen for who they really are, and Magic Wheelchair is making that happen. So what can you do? Head over to their Kickstarter and donate what you can. If you're in the Portland, OR, area, volunteer, or if you have a kid who is in a wheelchair, you can submit them to be chosen to have a costume built. Even if you aren't in the area, reach out to Ryan and see what would take to start a branch of Magic Wheelchair in your community. Let's make this go global! Like Ryan says, "Our goal is to put a smile on the face of every child in a wheelchair."

Following the success of Pitch Perfect 2, it was just a matter of time until actor/producer/director Elizabeth Banks found her next directorial gig. THR reports that she's in talks to direct Red Queen, Universal's upcoming film adaptation of Victoria Aveyard's best-selling young adult novel of the same name.

Here's the synopsis:

The YA fantasy is set in a world divided by blood color — red for ordinary people, silver for elites with supernatural abilities. When a street urchin saves her best friend, she is brought before the king and queen, where she suddenly displays special powers — powers impossible for a red blood. To hide this startling news and to keep her under control, the king invents a past for the young woman as a lost princess and sets her up to marry one of his sons. But the woman soon finds herself conflicted as she becomes part of the silver world while at the same time aiding a group plotting a red rebellion.

Well, this sounds like a typical young adult story in line with The Hunger Games, Divergent, The Mortal Instruments, and Beautiful Creatures. Personally, it's going to take a lot more than that description to get me interested in the film version, but the involvement of Breaking Bad writer Gennifer Hutchinson on script duties is a step in the right direction. Hopefully Banks will be able to bring some flair to this project that will help it stand out from its contemporaries. At the very least, it should be an opportunity for her to work with a bigger canvas and get involved in some visual effects work on a scale she's never worked before.

Like so many of the films he's worked on over his storied career, John Williams' score for Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park is a big part of the reason people have such a strong response to that movie. Composer Michael Giacchino uses Williams' theme to great effect at a key moment in Jurassic World, and in honor of that film's release in theaters tonight, I wanted to share these two videos with you.

First up is an a cappella version of the theme song, performed by The Warp Zone:

And then we have a piano and cello version of the song performed by The Piano Guys in a place called Crawdad Canyon: 

H/T: GeeksAreSexy and LaughingSquid

Jeremy Renner, who is reprising his role as Hawkeye in Captain America: Civil War, shared a photo on Twitter of himself holding a promo poster of sorts that was given to him when he showed up on the set of the film. As you can see, it features Iron Man and Captain America, and it comes with the tag line, “Whose Side Are You On?” As I’ve said before, I’m on team Captain America all the way! 

What do you say? What side are you on? #avengers #civilwar #captainamerica #ironman #marvel pic.twitter.com/aKKwuYR9mY

— Jeremy Renner (@Renner4Real) June 12, 2015

"Following the events of Age of Ultron, the collective governments of the world pass an act designed to regulate all superhuman activity. This polarizes opinion amongst the Avengers, causing two factions to side with Iron Man or Captain America, which causes an epic battle between former allies."

The movie hits theaters on May 6th, 2016. To catch up on all of our Captain America: Civil War news, rumors, set photos and spoiler click here.

The film also stars Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America; Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man; Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow; Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Falcon; Paul Bettany as The Vision; Don Cheadle as Jim Rhodes/War Machine; Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch; Paul Rudd as Scott Lang/Ant-Man; Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa/Black Panther; Emily VanCamp as Sharon Carter/Agent 13; Daniel Brühl as Baron Helmut Zemo; Frank Grillo as Brock Rumlow/Crossbones; William Hurt as General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross; Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier; and Martin Freeman. 

LEGO already has an official Hulkbuster figure for Avengers: Age of Ultron, but it's not as awesome as this custom made concept created by Raymond Chow. This thing is supercool, and a much better version than what LEGO came up with. He submitted his concept to Lego Ideas, where if it gets 10,000 votes behind it, the company might consider putting it into production. It's a long shot seeing as they already have a Hulkbuster figure, but it would hurt to produce a better one. Here's what the creator had to say:

"Hi all, This is my first project and hope you like it. Hulkbuster is a wonderful machine and he is so powerful. I decided to build one after the movie and also watched the hottoys show in HK this year. I spent nearly 2 weeks to design and build this lego model and used around 800 pieces to build that. I try my best to make it looks powerful. Since I also like Gundam so I believe I add some gundam design in the model accidentally :P. I put hulk in the model because I don't ironman minifigure at the moment."

I’m not really sure what to think of this Lifetime parody movie that stars Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig. It’s called A Deadly Adoption, and seems like a hilarious concept that could be extremely funny, but the thing is… this is described as a serious “high-stakes dramatic thriller” that is based on a true story. It’s just so ridiculous that these actors are in this kind of movie, and there’s no way I’ll be able to take it seriously. But then that’s the whole point. It’s all done intentionally, and it plays on the campy appeal of Lifetime’s movies.

Here’s a description of the film:

Inspired by a true story, A Deadly Adoption is a high-stakes dramatic thriller about a successful couple (Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig) who house and care for a pregnant woman (Jessica Lowndes) during the final months of her pregnancy with the hope of adopting her unborn child.

A Deadly Adoption is scheduled to air Saturday, June 20th. This is going to be such a weird movie to watch. 

Here's a fun t-shirt design that I think any geek can appreciate. It features Voltron built from various iconic vehicles of geek culture. The design is called "Defender of The Nerd-verse," it comes from Nerd Bastards, and it was created by Brooks Smith. It's a fun concept, and it comes along with the following description:

From days not so long ago, from uncharted regions of the your parents basement, comes a legend; the legend of Culture-Tron, Defender of the Nerd-verse, a mighty tee, loved by geeks, feared by normals.

As you can see, the design includes Doctor Who's TARDIS (torso), Back to The Future's Delorean (right arm), 1966 Batman Batmobile (left aft), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Turtle Van (right leg), and Ghostbuster's Ecto-1 (left leg).

If you want to buy one, head on over to Red Bubble.

A new TV spot has been released for Fantastic Four, and it introduces us to four unique subjects. Those subjects obviously are Reed Richards (Miles Teller), Sue Storm (Kate Mara), Johnny Storm (Michael B. Jordan), and The Thing (Jamie Bell). Their powers are all displayed in this latest promo.

I'm curious to see how this movie does at the box office. As much as some of the fans complain about it, they'll probably fork over the cash to see it because their curiosity will get the better of them. There's also a good chance that it will completely bomb, though. Judging from what I've seen so far, it looks like it has potential, regardless of the fact that the majority of the comic has been reimagined.

The film "centers on four young outsiders who teleport to an alternate and dangerous universe, which alters their physical form in shocking ways. Their lives irrevocably upended, the team must learn to harness their daunting new abilities and work together to save Earth from a former friend turned enemy."

Fantastic Four hits theaters on August 7th.

Written by: Chris Warner  Art by: Patrick Olliffe

Inked by: Tom Nguyen  Colored by: Gabe Eltaeb

Lettered by: Michael Heisler

Barb Wire as a property has had a bit of a... let’s call it uneven past. To be fair though, so did Captain America, Spider-Man, The Justice League, etc, before the right people and companies got ahold of them. Barb Wire is much more than a bad late night movie on TNT, and Darkhorse Comics aims to remind people of what the badass bounty hunter is truly capable of with their new ongoing series, written by Chris Warner and illustrated by Patrick Olliffe.

Going into this I can’t say I was too familiar with the character's history, but after reading Issue #1, I really didn’t need to be. Barb Wire isn’t doing anything that crazy or outside of the box, but that doesn’t seem to be the intent. The book is truly funny, something that pleasantly surprised me. If you extract the fun back and forth banter from movies like Assassins or Lethal Weapon, you have a good idea of what fills Barb’s world. Perfectly in sync is Patrick Olliffe’s bustling art style. Olliffe’s pencils perfectly suit the ragtag band of characters that make up Barb’s world. Characters likeike Guy, her brother Charlie, the landlord Vern, or ganglords Mace and Hunter. Last, but certainly not least, you have the drunk tornado that is Wyvern Stormblud, who is a lot like Volstagg if he were on an all night bender, probably with a small bit of cocaine involved.

Oh, and speaking of Mace, not sure if it was intentional or not, but when did Angel Batista start hanging out in Steel Harbor? Read the issue and you'll see what I mean.

By the end of the issue I was also surprised by how much empathy I had for the main character. The hallmarks are all here. She kicks ass, hates the word babe, runs a bar, and has a mean streak. Chris Warner, however, doesn’t forget to give her a sense of humor, and most times her threats are delivered with just a hint of dry wit, as opposed to a more generic Hulk Hogan-esque kind of put down.

Something like, “I’m going to eviscerate you brother!”

In trying to keep the doors open, take care of her brother and her employees, and somehow manage to keep the two warring gangs from taking all of Steel Harbor down with them. Barb Wire has a lot on her plate, and it’s not easy. She’s not out to save the world, just trying to comfortably survive it for another day.

I really enjoyed Barb Wire #1 significantly more than I thought I would. I think I’ll be spending some more time in world of Barb Wire.

Issue #1 is on stands July 1st. 

For those of you who were hoping to see some Ash Vs. Evil Dead panel action at San Diego Comic-Con this year, you got your wish! Starz has announced that they will have a panel for the Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell produced horror series, along with Ronald D. Moore’s Outlander. The panels will include members of the cast and crew, and I’m really hoping that they have some awesome footage to show off!

Here are the panel details:

Ash vs Evil Dead:

Friday July 10th, Room 6A in the San Diego Convention Center - 6:00 – 7:00 PM

Executive Producers and original filmmakers Sam Raimi, Rob Tapert, and Bruce Campbell will be panel guests along with Lucy Lawless.

“Ash vs Evil Dead,” which is currently in production in New Zealand, is the long-awaited follow-up to the classic horror film franchise The Evil Dead and is set to premiere on STARZ in Fall 2015. The 10-episode first season of the half-hour series is executive produced by Sam Raimi, Rob Tapert, Bruce Campbell, the original filmmakers of the franchise, and Craig DiGregorio who will serve as executive producer and showrunner. 
 
Campbell will be reprising his role as Ash, the stock boy, aging lothario and chainsaw-handed monster hunter who has spent the last 30 years avoiding responsibility, maturity and the terrors of the Evil Dead.  When a Deadite plague threatens to destroy all of mankind, Ash is finally forced to face his demons –personal and literal.  Destiny, it turns out, has no plans to release the unlikely hero from its “Evil” grip.
 
The cast is led by Bruce Campbell (Evil Dead, “Burn Notice”) in the role of Ash Williams, Lucy Lawless (“Salem,” “Spartacus”) as Ruby a mysterious figure who believes Ash is the cause of the Evil outbreaks, Ray Santiago (“Touch,” Meet the Fockers) as Pablo Simon Bolivar, an idealistic immigrant who becomes Ash’s loyal sidekick, Dana DeLorenzo (A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas) as Kelly Maxwell, a moody wild child trying to outrun her past and Jill Marie Jones (“Sleepy Hollow”) as Amanda Fisher, a disgraced Michigan State Trooper set to find our anti-hero Ash and prove his responsibility in the grisly murder of her partner.

Outlander:

Saturday July 11th Ballroom 20 in the San Diego Convention Center - 4:00 – 4:45 PM

Executive Producer Ronald D. Moore, author Diana Gabaldon, and actors Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan will be there to talk about the series.

“Outlander” spans the genres of romance, science fiction, history and adventure as it follows Claire Randall, a married WWII combat nurse who mistakenly falls back in time to 1743. As the season continues, Claire and Jamie's relationship is tested and Claire must reconcile her modern mindset with this 18th century world. Ruthless redcoats, volatile clan politics, and a brutal witch trial force Jamie and Claire to escape to a new home. Just when their life as a married couple begins to take shape, Jamie is once again drawn into Captain Randall’s darkness. Ultimately, Claire discovers there is a fate worse than death as she struggles to save Jamie’s heart, as well as his soul.

I think Ash Vs. Evil Dead should have had a Hall H panel. It’s going to be hard getting all of the fans of the franchise into room 6A! These people seem to underestimate the power of the Evil Dead. 

Yesterday we learned of the passing of iconic actor Christopher Lee. I've been seeing a lot of tributes to the actor flooding the internet, but this heartfelt tribute by Lord of the Rings and Hobbit director Peter Jackson is one that I had share. The director worked with Lee on five of the Middle Earth movies, and he offers a very touching eulogy about one of his favorite actors who became his friend.

"It is with tremendous sadness that I learnt of the passing of Sir Christopher Lee. He was 93 years old, had not been in his usual good health for some time, but his spirit remained, as always, indomitable.

"Christopher spoke seven languages; he was in every sense, a man of the world; well versed in art, politics, literature, history and science. He was scholar, a singer, an extraordinary raconteur and of course, a marvelous actor. One of my favourite things to do whenever I came to London would be to visit with Christopher and Gitte where he would regale me for hours with stories about his extraordinary life. I loved to listen to them and he loved to tell them - they were made all the more compelling because they were true - stories from his time with the SAS, through the Second World War, to the Hammer Horror years and later, his work with Tim Burton - of which he was enormously proud.

"I was lucky enough to work with Chris on five films all told and it never ceased to be a thrill to see him on set. I remember him saying on my 40th Birthday (he was 80 at the time), 'You’re half the man I am'. Being half the man Christopher Lee is, is more than I could ever hope for. He was a true gentleman, in an era that no longer values gentleman.

"I grew up loving Christopher Lee movies. For most of my life I was enthralled by the great iconic roles he not only created - but continued to own decades later. But somewhere along the way Christopher Lee suddenly, and magically, dissolved away and he became my friend, Chris. And I loved Chris even more. There will never be another Christopher Lee. He has a unique place in the history of cinema and in the hearts of millions of fans around the world.

"The world will be a lesser place without him in it.

"My deepest sympathies to Gitte and to his family and friends.

"Rest in peace, Chris.

An icon of cinema has passed into legend."