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Movie & TV News

Smaug the Magnificent ... in candy

Posted in by Kenneth Newquist on Wed, 01/13/2010 - 6:17am

The good folks at Miss(ed) Manners have done it again: they've recreated one of J.R.R. Tolkien's most epic scenes ... in candy. This time around, it's the conclusion to The Hobbit, featuring the Battle of the Five Armies and the assault on Lake Town by the dragon Smaug.

As with their previous creations -- The Battle of Helm’s Deep, The Battle of Pelennor Fields, The Mines of Moria, the diorama is truly a sight to behold. A red licorice Smaug rises from a frosted Lonely Mountain to ravage a gingerbread Lake Town. Gummi bear armies of goblins, orcs, humans, dwarves and elves battle for the treasure under the mountain, while overhead eagles and giant bats fight for ariel supremacy.

The Gingerbread Zombie Apocalypse is Upon Us

Posted in by Kenneth Newquist on Sun, 12/27/2009 - 6:30am

The Zombie Apocalypse

We all knew it was just a matter of time until the zombies rose up from their graves, the sickly-sweet smell of confectioners sugar still clinging to their rotting forms, and attacked the neighborhood gingerbread church. Or at least, we should have.

This gingerbread diorama features a gingerbread church surrounded by the newly risen undead, and a handful of survivors. It cheats a bit -- the zombies and survivors aren't made from candy (unlike, say, the spectacle of Helm's Deep) but I'll forgive them that indiscretion given that they included a classic Jeep CJ-5. It looks like they used confectioners sugar and icing for the snowscape, and I have no idea what the trees are made of. All in all, it looks great ... and makes me think I really need to ramp up my own gingerbread efforts next year... 

Gingerbread TARDIS

Posted in by Kenneth Newquist on Mon, 12/21/2009 - 9:29pm
Photo: TARDIS Gingerbread House

Clearly I've only just begun to explore the frontiers of gingerbread construction, especially geeky gingerbread construction.

This gingerbread TARDIS (pictured at left) is just too darn cool; I love the attention to detail, especially the window panes AND K-9 the robodog. I'm also impressed that it stayed together long enough to take the picture (especially after last years less-than-successful icing glue experiment). Hats off to Anna Marie for a most excellent project.

SciFiWire.com: Heroes ratings plummet. Do you even care anymore?

Posted in by Kenneth Newquist on Thu, 09/24/2009 - 6:27pm

I offered a plan to save Heroes. It looks like SciFi Wire's ready to grab their shovels. This review of the series to date, and the first episode of the "Redemption" arc, echos my own sentiments (and those who've commented here).  The general sense I get from the comment thread is either "I'm done with it" or "I've come this far ... I must watch it until the end." No one seems particularly pleased with the series opener, which isn't surprising; it's less of shot to the series' heart, than it is a gentle kick to a recently deceased corpse.

Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles Now On Hulu

Posted in by Kenneth Newquist on Thu, 07/16/2009 - 8:31pm

Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles is now available on Hulu. The follow-up to the popular 1980s anime series can be viewed in its entirety. What can't be watched, unfortunately, is the original series. One can only hope that this is the first crack in the wall; I'd love to be able to re-watch the Macross Saga on my lunch break.

The Clone Wars, Season 2 Trailer

Posted in by Kenneth Newquist on Mon, 05/25/2009 - 5:30am

I have mixed feelings about The Clone Wars animated series. On the one hand, I've found it to be a great source of ideas and inspiration for my Star Wars RPG campaign, but on the other, I hate that Anakin is being made into a bigger hero than Luke. I'm hoping this starts to change in Season 2; we should really start to see the influence of the Dark Side on him (as well as his relationship with Palpatine). If they can use the series to help setup his eventual fall, then it will be far more appealing to me.

V: The Resurrection

Posted in by Kenneth Newquist on Fri, 05/22/2009 - 5:30am

V was one of my favorite mini-series as a kid, and not just because it was one of the first times I was allowed to stay up late on a school night. The theme of benevolent oppressors struck a cord with my proto-libertarian self, and I loved the battle for Earth that unfolded over the course of several nights.

ABC is resurrecting the series for Fall 2009, and I'm cautiously optimistic. Here's the trailer:

The main lesson of the series -- beware aliens (or politicians) bearing gifts -- is just as relevant now as it was then (even more so now, given the state of the economy and reactions to it). Moreover, it could be a good fall for science fiction and geekdom as V takes its place alongside new seasons of Dollhouse and Chuck.

SciFiWire.com: 18 Sci-Fi Twitter Feeds You Should Be Following

Posted in by Kenneth Newquist on Thu, 03/26/2009 - 4:10pm

My column about  science fiction folks worth following on Twitter is up on SciFiWire.com. It's a pretty expansive list, with 18 people in the main story, and another five that didn't make the active list, but were still worth noting. This pretty big project -- you wouldn't think it would be, Twitter being Twitter -- but it takes a goodly amount of time to find, follow and read this amount of Twitter feeds (actually, there were more than this during the research phase).

Robotech Available as Digital Downloads

Posted in by Kenneth Newquist on Sat, 12/06/2008 - 10:40am

The complete Robotech series is available as digital downloads on Amazon.com, iTunes, and Xbox Live. Each major story arc -- Macross Saga, Southern Cross and New Generation -- is sold seperately. You can also buy or rent the sequel to the series, Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles.

That said, it's not particularly affordable. Buying the Protoculture Collection of the complete series on DVD is only $79 on Amazon ($129 retail); it's $112.97 for the whole series on iTunes. You can also buy individual episodes for $1.99, which seems pricey given that each episode is only about 23 minutes long. It's not a bad price to sample the series, but personally I can't see buying the entire thing in digital format when I could have the series on DVD for significantly less.

Reason: We the Living Dead

Posted in by Kenneth Newquist on Mon, 10/20/2008 - 6:30am

If I ever get back to writing my Libertarian Gamer columns, I'll be sure to do one on the Living Dead. Zombie flicks have had political overtones almost since the beginning reaching their pinnacle with George Romero's Dawn of the Dead. Reason.com writer Tim Cavanaugh surveys  three books on the subject -- including my favorite Pretend We’re Dead: Capitalist Monsters in American Pop Culture by Annalee Newitz -- and offers his own thoughts on the subject matter: 

No zombie discussion would be complete without orotund socio-political theory, so here’s mine: By foregrounding the question of how much dignity there can be in death and dying, the era of physician-assisted suicide and Terri Schiavo has spurred the recent revival of the zombie film. The British director Danny Boyle revived his career with the zombie-type plague picture 28 Days Later (2002).