Inception:

One blogger teases apart some of the clues in the newly released trailer. Joseph Gordon Levitt seems to be part of a security detail, watching as Lukas Haas is being taken away, and maybe Haas has info that can lead to whatever Ken Watanabe is up to. It seems like people's imaginations are reshaping cityscapes, and cities are also like mazes. But when your mind reshapes cities, sometimes gravity applies and sometimes it doesn't. There's a car explosion in a city, being witnessed by Haas through a window.

Also, it seems like the train racing down the city street is chasing a taxi, which has Tom Hardy in it. Ken Watanabe jumps out of bed with his gun, and there's medicine on his bedside table.

JGL and Haas have a man tied to a chair, and JGL says, "We've got to get out of here. Give him the kick!" JGL fights in a room where the walls and floor are shifting around, and masked men walk in on two men who are tied up, as prisoners. Also, Leonardo DiCaprio is holding something as he's drowned in that bathtub. [Eating Class, thanks Gerard!]

Paranormal Activity 2:

Micah Sloat talks about the inevitable sequel:

I can't say anything specific about it, but I can definitely tell you that Paramount and the producers are very aware of what happened with Blair Witch 2, and how you can't really take something that's unique like Blair Witch or Paranormal and then follow it up with just a typical, Hollywood horror film. It just doesn't work. I think you can expect Paranormal Activity 2 to be just as unique, or at least have a quality of uniqueness, just like the original did, in its own way and I think it's really going to be a great movie.

[MovieWeb]

Lost:

More mysterious spoilers: One of the original Losties from the start of season one will try to kill himself, but Jack will save him. (And I'm guessing this is in alternate universe-land. Just a guess, since OG castaways are in short supply in the regular timeline.) Also, someone "tall, dark and handsome" whom we've known a long time will die within the first four hours, in the season's first shocking death. [E! Online]

Sawyer begins the new season racked with guilt over the events of the previous season finale, and Josh Holloway says Sawyer needs a second chance to rectify some of his mistakes. The badass Sawyer will be back in 2010, but first he'll get some closure with Juliet in some "poignant" scenes that set up important developments later on. But Sawyer says his grief over Juliet makes it "not possible for him to be with Kate. Right now, he doesn't give a f—- about life…or anyone in it. He's destroyed inside. There's an undeniable love for Kate, but everything inside of him is fighting not to go there." Also, it sounds like Sun and Jin will be separated again this year. [TV Guide Magazine]

Some more details about the Sun/Jin episode. There's a crucial scene involving Sun, a beat-up Jin, Sayid, Keamy (who has a gunshot wound in his side), Omar (who has a GSW in his stomach), and Mikhail (who looks young, has both eyes, and speaks Korean). In the scene Mikhail surprises Sun and takes her hostage, and they come around the corner, and there's Keamy, already shot. Mikhail goes to check on Keamy, and Jin jumps him. Mikhail and Jin fight. Jin shoots at Mikhail three times, hitting him in the eye the third time. Also, the Sun/Jin episode includes scenes at Sydney Airport and a Korean bank. And a car will drive off a pier.

Meanwhile, scientists are chasing Sawyer down to the beach. And we'll see a new camp full of airplane stuff — and this turns out to be Claire's camp. We'll learn what Claire has been up to all this time, and it's pretty "wild." [The Transmission via SpoilersLost]

Some rumors/hints from inside sources. Supposedly a great deal of the season opener takes place on Flight 815, and we'll see Desmond on the plane. Plus we'll see the Statue from the plane, and Jack bumps into Kate on board the plane. Jack saves Charlie once again — and maybe this is the suicide that Jack prevents? We'll see Juliet die, but first she gets a final kiss. Jacob appears to Hurley, Jack and Sawyer fight again, and it's "pretty fucking crazy." [SpoilersLost]

Dollhouse:

The next episode, "Getting Closer," includes Bennett (Summer Glau), November/Mellie, Mr. Dominic AND Whiskey/Claire Saunders. And here's a description:

Topher races to reconstruct Echo's original personality and memories when Adelle realizes they are the key to averting a devastating future. Meanwhile, Echo and Bennett's shared past and the identity of the Rossum's Corpration's mysterious leader are revealed in the all-new "Getting Closer" episode of DOLLHOUSE airing Friday, Jan. 8

[Summer-Glau.net]

Doctor Who:

John Simm answers YOUR questions about his return as the Master. Not all that spoilery, though. [Pop Culture Zoo]

Batman: The Brave And The Bold:

A series of clips and some awesome pics from Friday's episode, "The Revenge Of The Reach," featuring Guy Gardner, the Challengers Of The Unknown, Blue Beetle and the Green Lantern Corps. Looks like a late Xmas present to those of us who loved the Rogers run on Blue Beetle. [Comic Book Resources]

Smallville:

A new mid-year teaser includes a few tantalizing glimpses. [OSCK]

Heroes:

Here's the official description for episode 4x15, "Close To You." A grim vision of the future? That never happens on this show!

H.R.G. EXPOSES SAMUEL'S GREATEST WEAKNESS IN AN EFFORT TO STOP HIM - LISA LACKEY, DAWN OLIVIERI AND ELISABETH ROHM GUEST STAR - H.R.G. (Jack Coleman) recruits Matt (Greg Grunberg) to help him take down Samuel (Robert Knepper), as they use his long-lost love, Vanessa (guest star Kate Vernon), to lure him to them, but Samuel has his own plans for Vanessa in the works. Meanwhile, Hiro (Masi Oka) and Ando (James Kyson Lee) go to extreme lengths to save Dr. Suresh (Sendhil Ramamurthy). Elsewhere, Peter's (Milo Ventimiglia) introduction of Emma (guest star Deanne Bray) to his mother (Cristine Rose) brings forth visions of a very grim future.

[HeroSite]

Additional reporting by Josh C. Snyder.

Pandorum:

Excited about Dennis Quaid and Ben Foster's space horror romp yet? How about after you see this German trailer? It's Teutonic!

And here's a new featurette where the stars actually explain a bit more about the movie:

Zombieland:

A couple TV spots I don't think we've featured before:

The Fourth Kind:

Here's a new poster for this alien abduction/Blair Witch mashup. [IGN]

Twilight: New Moon:

The L.A. Times has a ton of set photos and promo photos from this film. More at the link. [L.A. Times]

Doctor Who:

There's a new Q&A with Russell T. Davies and Julie Gardner about the new animated adventure "Dreamland." (It's the third part of three, and the other two parts are here and here.)

Lost:

One new set pic shows Matthew Fox at the airport, dressed in his suit from Flight 815. And there are other set photos showing a new structure being built, which appears to have some ancient walls, and could be a new entrance to that temple. More pics at the first link. [The ODI and The ODI]

FlashForward:

And here's a new description for episode three, "137 Sekunden":

MARK AND JANIS MEET WITH AN IMPRISONED NAZI WHO CLAIMS TO HAVE KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE BLACKOUTS, DEMETRI RECEIVES A TIP ABOUT HIS FUTURE, AND AARON WANTS TO EXHUME HIS DAUGHTER'S BODY TO RE-TEST HER DNA AND CONFIRM HER IDENTITY, ON ABC'S "FLASHFORWARD"
Gabrielle Union Guest Stars as Zoey

"137 Sekunden" - Mark and Janis travel to Germany to speak with an imprisoned Nazi who claims to have knowledge about the blackouts, and an anonymous tip leads Demetri to believe his deepest fears about his future. Meanwhile, Aaron pleads with Mark to help him get the approval to have his daughter's body exhumed in order to re-test her DNA and confirm the identity of the remains.

[SpoilerTV]

Smallville:

Here's a new sneak peek from Friday's season opener.

Batman: The Brave And The Bold:

Henry Rollins will guest star as Robotman, the cyborg member of the Doom Patrol, in an upcoming episode. [MTV]

Sanctuary:

Some new promo pics from the season two premiere. [SpoilerTV]

Eastwick:

Here's the official synopsis for episode three, "Madams And Madames":

Haunted by the ghost of her daughter's ex-boyfriend, Roxie questions her sanity and turns to a local psychic for help. Declining Darryl's offer of a high-powered - and high-priced - divorce attorney, Kat decides to give Raymond another chance, but is she only delaying the inevitable? Joanna's quest to find the truth about Darryl leads her to a new and different scandal, and then she realizes her discovery was no accident. Meanwhile, Roxie's daughter, Mia, reluctantly attends her boyfriend's memorial, and though Bun has lost her memory, her mind is consumed with a mysterious symbol.

[SpoilerTV]

Additional reporting by Alexis Brown.

Introducing the panel, executive producer James Tucker told the excited crowd:

You guys got what we're trying to do with the show, you understand that Batman goes back further than 1989... I always envisioned the show as a show for nerd dads and moms and their offspring.

That family feel continued throughout the panel, culminating with Batman actor Diedrich Bader bringing his two kids onstage to show off their homemade superhero costumes. Bader - one of three voice actors on the panel, alongside John DiMaggio (Aquaman) and James Arnold Taylor (Green Arrow) - explained to the audience why the caped crusader is his best gig yet:

This is my favorite role ever. I've been playing the character for so long now that, we have a scene in a future episode where Batman gets some closure, I can't say too much — but it's huge, I think you can extrapolate from there — and we're recording and I'm there reading it, everyone else is joking and I'm crying, thinking 'It means so much to him...' I realized that I couldn't sell the jokes [as Batman, but] I learned to undersell the joke. I had to sell the reality of the show, there has to be a grounded element [and Batman becomes that element] Once you know that, then there're jokes, but they're really dry. When you know that, you can really move forward with who Batman is. He's 'The Dude'.

For the producers, the fun of the show is more in the freedom it offers, as Michael Jelenic revealed:

The fun thing about this show is that everything I've learned as a writer, I have to disregard. Anything goes... James and I had a 20 minute conversation over whether or not Batman should be wearing a scarf in World War I. I won. He will be wearing a scarf and the goggles... The show works best when we go into the room and have no idea what we're doing. If logic gets in the way, we're in trouble. Our approach is putting things that don't fit together and making them fit together.

According to producer Tucker, future guest-stars on the show will include such DC characters as GI Robot, Detective Chimp, Vixen, Enemy Ace, Captain Marvel and the whole Marvel Family, Firestorm, Metal Men, Doom Patrol, B'Wana Beast, and the villain Starro the Conqueror. Jelenic added that they're "working on" appearances from Superman and Wonder Woman, but there are rights issues involved.

But those aren't the only familiar names involved with the show's upcoming second season. The panel finished with a video showing former Batman TV show Catwoman Julie Newmar recording dialogue for an upcoming episode as Bruce Wayne's mother, Martha Wayne. (Bader told the panel that Batman would get "closure" this season, adding "You all know what I'm talking about"). Tucker later told us that the episode would be an adaptation of a comic where Bruce Wayne discovered that his father had also worn a Batman costume at some time in the past, before telling us that the show will also be adapting the Batman of Zur En Arrh comic from the 1950s, but shying away from the revisionist retcon from last year's Batman RIP.

After the panel, we had a chance to talk to Michael Jelenic about the making of the Neil Patrick Harris-starring musical episode, as well as why the show's tone is so light and fun.

The musical episode was amazing. How long have you been planning it, how long did it take? Tell all, because I'm in a good kind of shock after watching it.

So you liked it.

I thought it amazing. My first thought was that it was the new Dr. Horrible.

Well, you know, I wanted to do a musical in some form for four years. Like, when I was on The Batman, we tried to put in a musical number with Harley and Joker, but that wasn't really a musical, and then, when I was on Legion with James [Tucker, co-executive producer], we sort of talked about it, but there were a lot of reasons why we couldn't do it. But with Brave and the Bold, it's a show where we could do anything. And a show where we always have to try and top ourselves. The show's absurd to begin with, I think, it's all weird stuff, and there's only so many weird situations you can create, and after the Bat-Mite episode, I mean, it's like how can we get bigger than that? The reaction to that surprised us, even Mark Hamill, he came and did a voice on our show and told us that it was messed up.

So, basically, I've been pushing. And James really wanted to do it as well, and he's like, okay, let's do it, but it's so much work. It's so easy for me to say 'Let's do a musical,' because I have the least amount of work to do, so we had to have about three months. The composers had about three months to write the songs. James and I came up with [lyrics], he did two songs and I did three, gave them to the composers, met with them a couple of times. And even after that, that's a huge amount of work, but then we've got to record the voice actors, and that's a huge task. Normally [voice] records take two hours, this took two days.

Because they have to sing in this one.

Yeah, and it has to be perfect. It has to be in tune... Fortunately, Neil Patrick Harris came in and he was amazing, I mean, really professional, got through it really quick and, he gets it. And after the voice records, it's another huge task to direct this. It has to be in rhythm with the song, it has to be choreographed, and it's a huge, huge challenge.

Sitting in the room, I don't know if you really got it from where you were, but everyone was in love with it from the start.

When I work on anything, I tend to hate anything I work on, I tend to only see the flaws, so I told someone else, I won't know whether this is good or not until after the screening.

You've got some really obscure characters coming up in the show... Are you really a massive comic geek?

I'm not, that's the really good thing about the pairing of James and I on the show. James is a huge geek. He knows everything. When I started at Warner Bros and started on The Batman, Batman was pretty much the only character that I knew. Batman and Joker and Penguin, and that's it. And suddenly, I'm indoctrinated into this whole culture over the years, and even starting off with the beginning of Brave and The Bold, I knew none of these characters. [Someone like] Gentlemen Ghost was pretty absurd. Now I look at Gentleman Ghost on our show and there's nothing absurd about him at all... Our goal is to take absurd characters and make them into ridiculous fun. And not just fun, with a character like B'Wana Beast, he has a real serious arc [in the season], and Detective Chimp plays an interesting role at one point in season two. The Haunted Tank thing, I remember when I was doing press for Wonder Woman, someone was telling me about Haunted Tank and I said, 'Is that a character? It sounds so ridiculous.'

We were joking... We were working with the writer of that episode on the closing, and Batman's final line is 'Great job, Haunted Tank.' Because it's a stupid line, but come on. It's the Haunted Tank.

But you embrace the silliness, you're having so much fun, it's infectious.

Yeah, we really lucked out. The stars kind of aligned, the network's been supportive... I've been on shows where you get notes like 'You can't have a character called B'Wana Beast, or Haunted Tank, it's too absurd, kids won't think it's cool.' But they've left us to do what we want, and we either succeed or we fail.

Was there resistance to doing such a light show? You're kind of making Batman silly. Was there resistance to that?

Not from James and I. We've both worked on other Batman shows, so we've done all those plots. So we didn't have that baggage coming in. We wanted to do something different, and we're not going to do a better serious show than Batman: The Animated Series, so let's go in the other direction, because that's the only direction to go and be different, and hit all the demographics. The tone of the show seemed natural, I think.

Spider-Man 4:

A somewhat unlikely comeback: Michael Papajohn, who played the carjacker who kills Uncle Ben in the first movie, reportedly told a convention he'll be back in the fourth. A flashback? Or is the carjacker getting out of prison? Or something else? It could be just a bit part, but it's odd that Papajohn claims to have this gig already, when the script was probably just finished a week ago. Of course, Papajohn may not have said this at all, and it may just be a garbled report. [Superhero Hype]

Star Trek 2:

Co-writer Roberto Orci tells ComicBookMovie it's "tempting" to introduce Khan in this sequel, because the sequel will probably weave in and out of the original continuity the way the first one did. But it's risky, because you open yourself up to comparisons. [ComicBookMovie]

Inception:

Chris Nolan's "architecture of the mind" thriller has reportedly started shooting, and our only real spoiler is that locations reportedly include Tokyo, Tangiers, London, Paris, Calgary and Los Angeles. And did we already pass along the rumor that Ken Watanabe plays an exec who blackmails Leonardo DiCaprio's character? [Slashfilm]

Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen:

Here's another new clip from this movie — Shia drops a fragment of the Allspark, and it sets his floor on fire and makes all the household appliances freak out. Hilarity, as they say, ensues.

The Box:

So you might have wondered just how Richard "Southland Tales" Kelly manages to turn Richard Matheson's six-page short story into a feature-length movie. Apparently, it's by treating the original story as the "first act" of a three-act structure. In the original 1970 story, a young couple receive a box with a button in it, and a man tells them that if they press the button, they receive $50,000 but someone they don't know will die. And there's a twist ending you can see coming a mile off if you've ever encountered a twist ending in your life. Kelly continues the story after the twist ending, as the couple struggle to survive and to discover the secrets behind the box. He keeps the story in the 1970s, but ups the reward to a cool million dollars. [Sci Fi Wire]

Doctor Who:

Timothy Dalton "plays a terrifying judge who puts the Doctor on trial in an intergalactic court case," claims a Welsh newspaper. (But I suspect this is made up — I think they're getting this from the Sun, which invented this plot strand when they were running our photos without attribution last week.) [Wales Online]

Fringe:

J.J. Abrams explains what's coming in season two:

First of all, I would say that the first year was about learning there is an enemy and I would say that Season 2 is about knowing the enemy. As the show progresses, and in the second season, it's building to a specific confrontation and a really interesting shift in the fundamental paradigm on the show in a very cool way. Without going into any details about it, it has a fun, fresh way in next year that I think you never know how it's going to work, but cross your fingers people are going to like it. Next season is thrilling for me, not in that they audience is coming back to experience what we're doing, but the excitement is not just these characters, but now playing with [those characters].

[IF Magazine via HeyUGuys]

FlashForward:

We will find out why everyone on Earth blacks out for exactly two minutes and 17 seconds, in particular. Alex Kingston (River Song from Doctor Who) has a role in the pilot and it's hinted she'll be back. The show's first thirteen episodes take place in six countries, including one episode in Dubai (with subtitles.) There are 10 main characters and each of them has his/her plot arc mapped out on a "mega bulletin board" made out of six regular-sized boards. And the MosaicCollective website will be an actual plot device on the show — everyone on Earth can go on there and map out what their flashforwards were, and cross-reference with other people's. It's the new Facebook. Saying "I Mosaiced you" will become common and grammatical.

There's an aspiring musician who has a "flashforward" showing that he becomes a huge rock star, but the two minutes and 17 seconds end just before he's about to play his signature song — leaving him uncertain what that song might be, and whether he's written it yet. None of the people who are in the audience during that flashforward know what the song is, either. And we'll find out if animals also experienced the "flashforward" phenomenon. [Zap2It]

Heroes:

New set photos show Milo Ventimiglia and Zachary Quinto on set together. Are Peter and Sylar going to have an encounter, after Matt's incredibly inept brainwashing wears off for the first time? (Really, it was more like a brain-splashing. Or even a brain-sprinkling.) Way more pics at the link. [Just Jared via SpoilerTV]

Warehouse 13:

Star Eddie McClintock describes his character, Pete Latimer:

He's a very impulsive, intelligent, man-child who has joined the Secret Service, in order to make good on some feelings of guilt that he has, in relation to the death of his father, when he was a child. He wants to make the world right.

And there's an episode where he's stuck in a cave and an artifact is trying to attach itself to his body, and he's in pain and terrified. Also, Myka (his fellow agent) gets into an altercation with Pete at one point, where she's punching and kicking him, and he's getting thrown over a table, knocking over lamps, and then falls down a hole.

Normally, though, Pete and Myka have a sort of brother-sister relationship, with Pete being the annoying younger brother. Over the course of the show, the Warehouse full of arcane artifacts becomes more of a main character itself, with the artifacts serving as antagonists. But around episode four, we meet a flesh-and-blood antagonist who's someone from warehousekeeper Artie (Saul Rubinek)'s past. [IESB]

Batman: The Brave And The Bold:

A few more details about that upcoming musical episode starring Neil Patrick Harris. Apparently, it co-stars Aquaman, voiced by John "Bender" DiMaggio, who also voices Gorilla Grodd — and Aquaman sings! Given how boastful and shallow DiMaggio's version of Arthur Curry is, that ought to be fun to watch. [Newsarama]

Additional reporting by Alexis Brown.

Batman 3:

I don't know if there's enough grains of salt in the world for this, but in any case a script fragment of Chris Nolan's third Bat-flick has been making the rounds online. Everyone agrees it's probably fake, but then again that's what they said about the early Dark Knight synopsis that turned out to be real. In any case, the script starts out with a map of Gotham City, pulsing with blue and white lines, which are hit with brown-outs, until the remaing lines form a Bat-signal. Then we go to newscasters Vicki Vale and Mike Engel, reporting on the hunt for the Batman and the rash of Joker-inspired gang crime. A shadowy figure is listening to the reports and talking to the cops.

Then there's a police cordon around a building where Batman has already taken out a gang of Joker thugs. The cops are surrounding the building, because they can hear Batman still inside, fighting the remaining Joker-gangsters. The police SWAT teams are ready to storm the building, but Commissioner Gordon keeps stalling them. And then the shadowy figure shows up — it's police consultant Edward Nigma, who keeps talking in riddles. (Subtle, eh.) And then we cut to Batman inside the building, fighting the last Joker thug and demanding to know where the other hostage is.

Okay, so it really is probably fake. [Scribd via Oh No They Didn't]

Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen:

Here's a new set video showing Sam's parents running from something that will be CG-added later, during their vacation in Paris (which is really Philly.) [Transformers Movie Chronicles]

Also, writer Roberto Orci says it's no exaggeration to say there are 40-odd robots in the movie. Nobody utters the word "Spike" in the film. (??) The camera work may be less choppy this time around, so we'll be able to see what's actually happening. [Transformers Live]

Battlestar Galactica:

Here's the Canadian promo for Friday night's episode, showing a bit more of the crazy mutiny action. Apollo is having a bad day. [Battlestar Blog]

What else happens on Friday? Apparently, Adama and Roslin decide to take their relationship public, by smooching in front of the whole fleet. Everyone. They, like, broadcast it or something. Apparently, the display is greeted with a mixture of "ewwws" and "awwwws." [EW]

Doctor Who:

Here are some more set pics of David Tennant and Michelle Ryan, this time from the British newspapers. [via Life, Doctor Who and Combom]

Lost:

We mentioned a while back the show was looking for someone to play a younger Philip Seymour Hoffman. And it turns out this role will be filled by Brad Henke (October Road). He's playing someone connected to Ilana, the pivotal new character played by Zuleikha Robinson, who may become a regular in season six. [EW]

According to set reports, in episode 5x09, Sawyer and Jin are reunited with the first half of the Oceanic Six in a very emotional reunion. And Jack talks to Marvin Candle. Also, by this point, Sawyer and Juliet are shacked up. (Ooh!) [SpoilersLost]

More set reports: Dharma wants to capture/kill Sayid, and a teenage Ben helps Sayid escape. Ben gets shot, and Jin may witness this. Juliet tries, and fails, to help Ben, but she convinces Sawyer and Kate to help her carry Ben back to Richard Alpert and the Others. Locke was shooting a scene where he's wearing a suit very similar to the one he's buried in. And there may be a sequence where Locke sits near the injured Ben. [SpoilersLost]

Also, there's a casting call for episode 5x13, in which we meet a prepubescent Asian boy, who wanders away from his mom and finds himself in a scary situation — but discovers he has more fortitude than he ever imagined. [SpoilersLost]

Tonight's episode starts to unveil the possible reason for Charles Widmore's and Faraday's interest in the island, and increases the danger to the people left behind by the Oceanic Six. And we learn a reason why Desmond might want to abandon his promise to help Daniel. [IGN]

And a clip from next Wednesday's episode, "The Little Prince," already aired on Good Morning America:

Heroes:

We already mentioned the rumor that both Ali Larter and Hayden Panettiere want to leave the super-powered angst fest. Apparently, it's only really true for one of those two, and NBC is unlikely to let it happen. [EW]

And here are some new set photos featuring Hiro and Ando. And a baby! [SpoilerTV]

So remember how this spring's episode "Cold Wars" is supposed to be a new HRG-centric episode along the lines of "Company Man"? Here's what actually happens:

While being held hostage, HRG (Jack Coleman) is subjected to Matt Parkman’s (Greg Grunberg) unique brand of interrogation, revealing how he became involved with Nathan’s (Adrian Pasdar) government plot to capture those with abilities. Meanwhile, Matt’s discoveries bring Peter (Milo Ventimiglia) face-to-face with “The Hunter” (guest star Zeljko Ivanek).

[SpoilerTV]

Life On Mars:

The time-lost detective show starts up again tonight, and we'll see the beginnings of actual romance between Sam and Annie back in 1973. But don't forget about Sam's 21st century girlfriend Maya — she hasn't turned up much because Lisa Bonet has been on maternity leave. But she'll be back at the end of the season, with some information that may "rock Sam's world." [Zap2It]

Smallville:

In episode 8x19, "Stiletto," Lois and Chloe are having some "cousin time" and hanging out. And then they get attacked by two thugs, and Lois takes one of them down with her stiletto heels. The other one gets away with Chloe's car, which has some sensitive info inside. Lois starts to feel like a superhero, and she decides to spread rumors there's a new heroine named Stiletto in town, in hopes of bringing the red-blue blur (aka Clark) out of hiding. She gets Jimmy to help her document her fake story. But when she tells Clark about this, he tells her she's a better reporter than to use a fabricated story to scare up a scoop. And she may actually encounter the red-blue blur in this episode. [KryptonSite]

Fringe:

Jared Harris, who plays Mr. Jones, says he's definitely a villain, but he may also help out the good guys. We'll see Mr. Jones' relationship with Olivia develop further. He gets to spend more time in the lab and hang out with Broyles and John Noble. (Haven't seen last night's episode yet, so he may be talking about stuff that aired la [TV Guide]

Star Wars: The Clone Wars:

Here's a new shot from Friday night's episode. Anakin winds up on an icy planet which is having conflicts with a nearby moon, and he needs help from super-translator C-3PO to mediate the dispute. [Lucasfilm]

Supernatural:

Here are some new pics from episode 4x14, "Sex And Violence." Strip joint! [FanPop]

Batman: The Brave And The Bold:

What happens in Friday's episode? Here's what:

Batman's life hangs in the balance when he is poisoned by Chemo, who is under the control of the evil Brain. The Atom races to the rescue with Aquaman by shrinking down and entering Batman's bloodstream. While Aquaman and the Atom battle the infection deep inside Batman's body, Batman struggles to end Chemo's rampage and defeat the Brain! This week's teaser features Elongated Man and Plastic Man teaming up to derail a bank heist and capture the criminal Baby Face.

Wow, Plastic Man and Elongated Man teaming up at last! Oh, and here's a couple clips. [Comic Book Resources]

Additional reporting by Alasdair Wilkins.

Iron Man 2:

So what's the deal with Justin Hammer, the "money guy" that Sam Rockwell plays in the sequel? "He takes over all the weapons stuff after Tony's left," says Rockwell. And not only does he take over Tony's abandoned weapons businesses, he may actually take over Stark Industries itself. [IGN]

Terminator Salvation:

So the ending of Terminator 4 — the one which will piss off a bunch of people, but doesn't necessarily involve John Connor being replaced with a machine? What exactly is that ending, anyway? McG offers another hint: "It’s an elliptical ending that will keep people guessing." What does the word "elliptical" mean in this context? Your guess is probably way better than mine. [Movies Online]

Dragonball Evolution:

A new Bulma pic. At least she's well armed. [DBTheMovie]

Street Fighter: The Legend Of Chun-Li:

So what happens in your movie, Kristin Kreuk?

It's very simple in the sense that she lives with her father and her mother and goes on this quest. And she finds a master who helps her let go of her anger and continue her quest. And eventually she goes after the man who took her father and finds her father again. And the whole journey, until the end of the film, gets you to the point where you can see how she becomes the Chun-Li in the video game.

Makes perfect sense to me. [Sci Fi Wire]

Battlestar Galactica:

The final scene of tonight's episode will reveal the identity of the final Cylon — and Ron Moore says some people will hate the choice. (Others will love it, though.) Learning who the final Cylon is won't answer all the questions about this person's relationship to the other Cylons, or the show's mythology. Starbuck questions whether she's alive or dead, human or Cylon, and she has a meltdown. The final scene the crew filmed involves Starbuck, Apollo, Sharon, Helo, Baltar and Six in some kind of massive gunfight. [TV Guide via SpoilerTV]

Also, the "thirteenth tribe" turns out not to be what anyone expected. And at one point — as seen in the trailers — Roslin burns the prophecy of Pythia. Admiral Adama contemplates ending it all, but first he and Tigh have it out with guns and Scotch. People make lots of mistakes, sometimes for the best reasons. And the Cylons themselves turn out to be different than we'd believed. [L.A. Times]

British broadcaster Sky One posted two dozen pictures from the episode, a few of which we've seen before — but some of which may be intensely spoilery. [Sky, Thanks Mark]

Meanwhile, Sci Fi uploaded seven new clips to its YouWillKnowTheTruth site, and here they are as embeds:







Plus a couple more pics. [Multiple Verses]

Lost:

It won't take as long as you expect for Jack to convince the other Oceanic Five to return to the island with him and their dead friend, says Matthew Fox. Desmond's mental ability to move through time and space makes him a "wild card," say producers. We'll learn what Sawyer said to Kate before jumping out of that helicopter. And the show definitely won't end with a copout ending, that it all happened in a snow globe, or it was all in the dog's mind, or that it was in a snowglobe in the dog's mind. [USA Today]

One more new sneak peek:

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles:

Episode 2x20 will introduce Detective Sykes, an LAPD detective assigned to a high-profile case, who keeps his cards close to his chest. [SpoilerTV]

Fringe:

Here are two more photos from the next episode, "Bound." [Fringe Television]

And here's the official press release for the following episode, "No-Brainer":

A COMPUTER SCIENTIST-TURNED-SERIAL KILLER HAS DISCOVERED AN UNCONVENTIONAL METHOD TO KILL PEOPLE ON "FRINGE" TUESDAY, JANUARY 27, ON FOX. Olivia, Walter and Peter are called in to investigate the death of a car salesman who was found in a pool of "goo," exactly like another man across the country. When Walter discovers that the "goo" is brain matter, the trio tries to figure out how the killer can liquefy human brains. As the deaths pile up, the investigation reveals a common thread linking the victims together in an unthinkable manner. Meanwhile, Olivia is horrified when the case places a loved one in harm's way.

[Fringe Television]

Heroes:

A casting call for episode 3x22 reveals a few characters: FBI agent Donner heads up a top-secret operation, and he's got two agents with him. Alena Mihalov is a Russian former escort (with a heart of gold) who's now being taken care of by a former client with whom she fell in love. There's a funny, amiable, Japanese truck driver with a pure Texas accent. [The ODI]

Smallville:

In episode 8x14, "Requiem," an explosion at LuthorCorp injures Ollie and kills all the company's board members. [SpoilerTV]

Batman: The Brave And The Bold:

A few sneak peeks from tonight's episode, co-starring Dead Man (Michael Rosenbaum). (Plus Kamandi, the last boy on Earth!)

Wonder Woman:

So you know the new direct-to-DVD animated movie retells Wondy's origin, but how does it deal with all that Greek mythology stuff? Let producer Bruce Timm explain:

Her character has distinct roots in classic Greek mythology, so we really played that up. The movie actually starts with a fairly long, epic battle that takes place in ancient times. It's swords and sorcery, die-hard Amazon warriors versus monsters and barbarians.

And here are a couple new images: Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor fight when they first meet. And Queen Hippolyta and Artemis prepare for battle with Ares' forces. [Warner Bros.]

Terminator Salvation:

The new movie happens in 2018, after the bombs have gone off, but never specifies exactly when Judgment Day happened, to avoid tangly timeline issues. The film does make an effort to respect the earlier movies' timeline, says McG. [Star-ECentral]

Dollhouse:

A new review of the Joss Whedon show's replacement pilot, "Ghost," includes some details I haven't seen before. In this version, we actually meet Eliza Dushku's character before she becomes a mind-wiped puppet. When we first meet Dushku, she's playing Caroline, a girl who's gotten herself into a tough spot. She winds up at the Dollhouse, where Adelle DeWitt offers her a five-year contract, and promises the organization is there to help people. The next time we see Caroline, she's having the time of her life dancing with a man she met three days earlier. But then she goes back to the Dollhouse and all knowledge of that encounter is erased from her mind. Now she's an "Active" known as "Echo." And as we mentioned in our review of a partial copy of the script, most of the episode's plot involves Echo serving as a hostage negotiator for a Mexican businessman, Gabriel, whose daughter has just been kidnapped.

A new character we meet (who isn't in earlier scripts, I think) is Lawrence Dominic, Adelle's right-hand man who puts the well-being of the Dollhouse above everything else. Also, in this version, Echo has lingering memories of walking in on computer geek Topher reprogramming her fellow "Active," Sierra. And her hostage-negotiator personality has an unforeseen flaw. The rest of the script seems to be the same as the pages we read, including another "Active," Topher, trying to confuse FBI agent Paul Ballard, who's on the trail of the Dollhouse. [Futon Critic]

Doctor Who:

It's never too soon to start obsessing about spoilers for the Easter special — which starts filming Jan. 19, hopefully yielding lots of set reports. So far, there are a few facts, like the Doctor meets new characters Malcolm and Christina, and gets reunited with the Unified Intelligence Taskforce. Also, he's supposedly without his TARDIS, and Tunisia is supposed to be standing in for an alien planet.

More fanciful rumors: we visit the Daleks' homeworld of Skaro (hence the title, "Planet Of The Dead," since our first trip to Skaro was in the episode "The Dead Planet.") Also, maybe Tunisia is the site of the eighth Doctor's final battle against the Daleks during the Time War, as shown in a huge flashback? Or maybe not. [Ultimate Doctor Who Site]

Battlestar Galactica:

Another short clip went up on the "clues" site, and this time Adama is having a quiet freak-out. Is he changing places with Tigh, becoming the drunk lunatic to Tigh's quiet steely leader? Also, note only one toothbrush: is Roslyn gone? [YouWilKnowTheTruth via Battlestar Blog]

And here are pics of new BSG billboards, showing people's cut-off faces. A clue? Will everybody on the show lose their eyes? [Galactica Sitrep]

Lost:

A new ABC 2009 promo includes snippets from Lost, Life On Mars and other upcoming shows. [SpoilerTV]

Heroes:

Some new details about the start of Volume 4, "Fugitives." The arc picks up three months after the end of Volume 3. Claire is getting ready to go to college, when she finds out that her bio-daddy Nathan has created a special section to detain anyone with superpowers. Nathan's mission excludes Claire, Peter and Angela, so Nathan himself won't be exposed as a superhuman. But Claire hears that Nathan's next target is Matt Parkman, so she rushes to save him. Meanwhile, Mohinder and Tracy are still working on developing a new superpower formula (why why why?) and the special properties in Mohinder's blood make him an important factor in fighting the new heavy, the Hunter.

At last, most of the heroes are captured and on a plane en route for Guantanamo Bay. Claire gets loose and tries to free the others. Tracy freaks out and freezes the plane, killing the pilot. The plane crashes, but first Peter jumps out with Claire.

In the second episode, we discover most of the heroes survived the plane crash, but Maya was captured. Meanwhile, we learn more about the Hunter's past ties with HRG and Angela Petrelli. And Hiro and Ando help Daphne search for Matt Parkman, who meanwhile discovers his ex-wife Janice is about to give birth to a son who's important to the Hunter.

In the third episode, Matt's son is born and we see the death of a character who first appeared in Volume Two. (Maya?) In the fourth episode, "Cold Wars," we learn still more about HRG's ties with the Hunter, and a Cold War program that trained people to hunt down superhumans. And in the fifth episode, Sylar infiltrates the team that's hunting superhumans. Sylar discovers his dad is still alive — and it sounds like he's the team's next target.

And then in the sixth episode, "Shades Of Gray," we discover the whole story about (yawn) Sylar's past. We'll get flashbacks, but no actual time travel. In the seventh episode, Monica (remember her?) reappears, and she's the key to helping some of the heroes escape from captivity. And allegedly, invisible man Claude is back in episode nine. In the penultimate episode of the volume, there will be two major deaths, and in the final episode, there'll be "the mother of all deaths," plus a shocking plot twist. [Zona Heroes, via Google Translate]

Stargate Atlantis:

Are you tired of reading interviews where the stars of BSG make statements about how the show's final episode will potty-train your kids and leave your grout spotless? How about Robert Picardo's thoughts on the SGA finale instead?

I thought they pulled out all the stops for the finale, not only with different beloved characters in the Atlantis gallery that pop up, but I think it's a pretty spectacular one hour [with] three different storylines really hurtling toward the conclusion... It's going to have good action, great visuals, and it's got a nice little emotional punch at the end. I think it was a very nice way to not only wrap up the series but to open the door to some television movies, because where we left off at the end it certainly begs the question of what's next. I think it's a very well-crafted finale.

Now isn't that better? [Gateworld]

100 Feet:

Are you excited about this horror movie, which is making its debut on the Sci Fi Channel instead of in theaters? Maybe this synopsis will get you lathered up:

[Famke] Janssen plays Marnie Watson, a woman granted early release from her prison sentence for manslaughter (killing her husband – a violent NYC cop – in self defense) on condition she wear an electronic ankle bracelet and remain within her home, effectively under house arrest, for the remainder of her sentence. Her late husband's partner keeps tabs on her from a patrol car parked across the street, hoping she'll violate probation and he can send her back to prison. But the 100-foot radius her ankle bracelet allows isn’t the worst of her problems. Her dead husband – now a malevolent ghost is still in the house, where he died - intent on savage revenge.

They say revenge is best served savage. [ShockTillYouDrop]

Brave And The Bold:

OMG, a couple of clips from Friday's new episode, where Batman and Green Arrow meet Merlin, and then Bats has an unfortunate transformation.

Knight Rider:

Here's the official synopsis for the Jan. 21 episode, "Knight To King's Pawn":

Sarah is not coping well with her father's death and decides to leave town. Concerned, Mike goes looking for her and in return gets the answers he has been searching for about his past. Meanwhile, the NSA has decided to dismantle the SSC now that Dr. Graiman is dead and they can then move forward with KITT's nemesis KARR. With Torres' permission they take out KITT's chip that contains his personality and memories and place it in KARR. Upset by what has happened, Mike, Sarah, Billy and Zoe devise a plan to find where KITT has been taken and get him up and running and destroy the evil KARR once and for all.

[Knight Rider Online]

Iron Man 2:

Don't expect the sequel to be more comic book-y and fantastical than the original film, warns writer Justin Theroux. It has to stay within Tony's world, which is the world of technology. And he and Jon Favreau have already settled on a villain. [IGN]

Terminator Salvation:

Here's the UK trailer for Terminator Salvation, which is basically the same as the U.S. trailer, just with a couple of shots from the Japanese version. [IGN]

Dragonball Evolution:

We already showed you the new international trailer for Dragonball Evolution, but now IGN has posted it in high quality sparkly video. [IGN]

And here are some new posters as well. [DBTheMovie]

The Day The Earth Stood Still:

Here's an extended clip that showcases a sequence you may have seen before, where Jennifer Connelly's character gets dragged out of her home to help investigate the arrival of a mysterious alien sphere.

Also, apparently I'm not the only person who didn't hear Keanu say "Klaatu Barada Nikto." Keanu and director Scott Derrickson got very bummed when Sci Fi Wire asked about it, because they recorded that line 20 times. Apparently Keanu says it backwards and forwards at the same time, or something. [Sci Fi Wire]

Knowing:

Here's a new pic from the Alex Proyas-directed film about a guy who finds a time capsule full of numbers that predict disasters. Like the previously released pics, it deals with a big plane crash, that confirms that the guy (Nic Cage) is onto something. Bigger pic at the link. [JoBlo]

Fringe:

The next batch of episodes will up the emotional stakes, as Peter's past bites him in the ass and Olivia's kid sister shows up, after being abandoned by her husband and four-year-old kid. We'll get to see sides of Olivia we've never seen before, but action is always a big part of the character's DNA. And she'll keep investigating her dead partner John Scott, who will reveal a huge wrinkle in the Pattern. [TV Guide via Fringe Television]

So what's going on with John Scott? Actor Mark Valley has some ideas. [Fringe Television]

Dollhouse:

Mind-wiped puppet for hire Echo can have as many as four assignments per episode, says Eliza Dushku. And the reason the dollhouse has no windows is because it's actually deep underground. And that giant Muay Thai boxing scene she mentioned shooting recently? Is between Echo and Paul (Tahmoh Penikett.) [SpoilerTV]

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles:

The last nine episodes of season two will pay off all the stuff we've learned this fall, promises producer Josh Friedman. That includes the Summer-bot's malfunctions and the relationship between John and Riley. And a major character will die before the end of the season. [TV Guide via SpoilerTV]

So why exactly did Jesse travel back through time? It's because she has certain ideas about how things should be done, says Stephanie Jacobsen. [Sarah Connor Society]

Smallville:

And here's a new pic of the Legion of Superheroes, who see Clark as a pioneer in making the Earth a safe place for aliens. [OSCK]

Heroes:

A couple of new set pics from next spring's "Fugitives" storyline. Looks like Claire's making a little pitstop at Sam's Comics. Does this mean more Seth Green? Also, she just filmed a scene with the Puppetmaster guy, Doyle. [TenGossip and The ODI]

And here's a sneak peek from Monday's episode, where Ando schemes to rescue Hiro from his latest blunder. [Heroes Television again]

Also, in Monday's episode, heroes team up against each other, and villains reveal their inner angels. Peter and Nathan square off. Sylar has HRG, Claire, Meredith and Angela held captive inside the Company. Sylar and Claire face off, and one of Claire's parents will die — probably Meredith.

And in this spring's "Fugitives" arc, Matt's wife Janice will reappear, and Matt will realize that anyone who's in the heroes' lives is in danger as much as the heroes. There won't be much time travel, but we'll still somehow see more of Ando's past, and also possibly see the founding of the Company, in 1977. Mohinder will have an "uphill battle" to remove his powers. Sylar will search for more answers about his past, and this will (surprisingly) lead him to do more "awful and scary" things. [Heroes Spoilers]

Supernatural:

The show returns in January with four stand-alone episodes. The brothers investigate a haunted house. Then they meet a trio of aging magicians (including one played by Barry Bostwick.) They investigate a ghost at their high school and we see flashbacks to the brothers, aged 14 and 18. (We had some script pages from that episode a while back.) And then a dangerous siren enthralls the boys and makes them turn on each other, allowing them to say some stuff they've been bottling up all season. And in the longer run, Ruby pushes Sam to uses his supernatural powers, and Dean learns what the angels want from him. And it's not a good thing. [SpoilerTV]

Star Wars: Clone Wars:

In January's two-parter, George "Sulu" Takei plays Lok Durd, a creature who devises a nuclear weapon that kills organic life forms but leaves droids unharmed. And the peace-loving inhabitants of the grassy planet Maridun, the Lurmens, refuse to shelter Anakin and Ahsoka, because they think the Jedi are war-mongers — even though Lok Durd plans to test his weapon on their planet. The Lurmens are like Lemurs with an Irish accent. [TV Guide via SpoilerTV]

Batman: The Brave And The Bold:

January's episodes include even more awesome team-ups. A full-fledged Green Arrow teamup. Batman's mentor, the boxing hero Wildcat. An appearance by the original Blue Beetle (voiced by Wil Wheaton!). The Atom (Ryan Choi version) has to shrink down to microscopic size to battle a toxic infection inside Batman. The strait-laced Atom will have a hard time collaborating with the jovial Aquaman. [TV Guide via SpoilerTV]

Kyle XY:

Season three will be the most action-packed, as Kyle gives up on trying to be normal and starts using his powers more. Kyle goes looking for his girlfriend Amanda (who was kidnapped by the Latnok organization) and immediately gets himself captured by Latnok as well. Kyle fights his way out, then goes and finds his fellow test-tube kid, Jessi, and they team up to rescue Amanda. Kyle becomes more sneaky and tricky as he fights against Latnok. We meet a new Latnok leader, Cassidy, who wants Kyle to join them. And a Latnok scientist, Nate, who sees Kyle as a threat. Also, Kyle realizes he and Amanda can never share the bond he has with Jessi, even though he can't trust Jessi. Jessi, meanwhile, goes through some heavy stuff, and we learn to appreciate her more. [TV Guide via SpoilerTV]

Wonder Woman:

Here are some new stills from the direct-to-DVD animated movie, which premieres at New York Comic-Con. Wonder Woman is pissed, Steve Trevor is resolute, and Ares is kind of a bastard. Actor Alfred Molina, who voices Ares, says he went for "suave" rather than rough with the character. [Warner Bros.]

Additional reporting by Katharine Duckett.

Let's get everyone else's books out of the way first, shall we? Dark Horse ask what may be the unexpected question of the week - "Who wants to relive Pamela Anderson's second-greatest hit?" - with their Barb Wire Omnibus release. But then they make up for it with the particularly awesome MySpace Dark Horse Presents anthology, collecting the best of the first year of their web anthology, including the deservedly award-winning Sugarshock by Joss Whedon and Fabio Moon. Image Comics are offering the first collection of their new-age illuminati supervillain book New World Order, and Marvel continue their alien war story with the first issue of Secret Invasion: Amazing Spider-Man. Much more interesting from the House of Ideas is the first issue of the third volume of Runaways or the first hardcover "omnibus" collection of Brian Michael Bendis' Daredevil run.

But, as I said, DC just plain have everyone else beat this week. They have the collection of mind-bending Duncan Rouleau's time-traveling robot Metal Men, which was completely underrated when originally released and will reward anyone willing to put the time and effort into it. Same goes for the Brave And The Bold: The Book Of Destiny collection, which features time travel, parallel worlds and more super-heroes than you can shake multiple sticks at.

If you're following the Final Crisis storyline, then you might want to check into Brad Meltzer's DC Universe: Last Will And Testament, which shows what happened to your favorite characters on the last night before Darkseid took over. Then skip over to Grant Morrison's sure-to-be-awesome Final Crisis: Superman Beyond, in which everyone's favorite corporate icon breaks free of reality's bounds in order to save his true love. (And if you find that Morrison's take on the Man of Steel agrees with you, then you should definitely pick up this week's paperback release of All-Star Superman, if you've somehow missed it until now.)

More Morrison can be found in the first hardcover re-release of his over-the-top JLA run, which features alien invasions, robots learning about humanity and the trouble with falling for your own dreams, all dispatched with humor and surprising speed. Somewhat stunningly, each of these - well, maybe with the exception of the Meltzer book, and that's only because of my personal distrust of any man who has a crush on Terra - is well worth your time and money. They're the kinds of books that reawaken your love of superheroes, science fiction or just comics that like to tackle their subjects with imagination and a sense of humor. Go forth and spend your hard-earned dollars with only a little bit of fear.

As you may have heard by this point, a full list of this week's books can be found here, and you can take that list to the comic books store closest to you... which you can locate by going here. Just remember to tell your local store clerk that, like Elvis, you were born standing up and talking back.

Clone Wars is "Star Wars starring an 11-year-old girl," according to George Lucas, referring to Ahsoka, the "feisty" apprentice to Anakin Skywalker in the cartoon. He showed clips of an acrobatic Yoda, a more menacing version of the evil General Grievous, Anakin and R2D2. Lucas also said that instead of making the show look like Beowulf or The Incredibles, he reached to Gerry Anderson's Thunderbirds for inspiration. And he said the big advantage of doing television is that if you make a mistake, people will forget it a week later, when the next episode airs. (Clearly, Lucas doesn't spend much time on the internet.)

Clone Wars and Brave and the Bold will both be part of a Friday night "action/adventure bloc" on Cartoon. It also includes a relaunch of Ben 10 called Ben 10: Alien Force, and The Secret Saturdays, a show about "a family of world-saving adventure scientists." [TV Guide, thanks to Rich and Alex]

Brave and the Bold Vol. 1 is jammed with the weird-ass plot twists, but writer Mark Waid keeps the characters solid and believable. Even when a superweapon somehow merges Batman with Deathlok, a cyborg from the 31st century, into a single creature, you never quite think of it as pure camp. Each chapter of the story teams up two heroes who are as different as possible, yielding some weird chemistry. But the real purpose of the book is to let artist George Perez create many eye-popping visuals as possible. It starts out in Las Vegas, where aliens are seeking a weapon that alters probability, and then quickly veers to an entire gambling planet, which is like Vegas on acid AND steroids.

Before you know it, a story that starts out as aliens who want to cheat at gambling turns into an interstellar war involving a device that could destroy the entire universe. The story never slows down, but it also never spins off into pure zaniness without substance.

You can't quite say the same for The Saga Of The Super Sons, which is genuine Silver Age cheese. In this alternate-universe story, collected from a dozen different comics, Superman and Batman both have college-age offspring. Batman Jr. and Superman Jr. decide to carry on their dads' legacies, but they're just too groovy for their square dads. All four superheroes go to a men's retreat to try and repair their relationships, but the dads just make things worse with their uptightness:

The best single comic this week is probably Buffy #9: Brian K. Vaughn finishes up his story about Faith, the rogue slayer, who has to battle an even more rogue slayer to the death. In England. With fancy dresses and hot tubs. Also, some sites are reporting Vaughn's sequel to Michael Chabon's Kavalier and Clay will be out in hardcover this week. But other sites say you won't see The Escapists in hardcover until next week. It's worth keeping your eyes open in case it turns up early.