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According to Canadian retailer Chris Butcher, the number of this week's Marvel releases seem unusually high in comparison to DC's:

Retailers reading over their invoices for comics and graphic novels shipping [this]week will be shocked to discover that Marvel Comics is shipping about 34 titles next week, to only about 17 titles from DC Comics. It’s a rare thing for Marvel to ship that many titles in a week ([last] week, for example, they only shipped about 17 or so), but to double the output of their closest competitor? That’s very rare indeed… Until you stop to consider that one of DC’s titles shipping [this] week is the next installment in their summer crossover Final Crisis... In addition to numerous Marvel comics scheduled to arrive in the month of June that were seemingly pushed from their original on-sale date to this week (including both [Brian] Bendis [scripted] Avengers books, both X-Men books, [Ed] Brubaker’s Captain America & Daredevil, [Mark] Millar’s Fantastic Four & Marvel 1985, and [Warren] Ellis’ last Thunderbolts) this week also includes three of Marvel’s largest lateness-plagued titles: Hulk #4, Ultimates 3 #4, and even the final issue of Joss Whedon’s Runaways all drop next Wednesday. Plus another 20 comics.

Is it some kind of attempt for Marvel to bury the second issue of Final Crisis, or just the result of trying to get late books out at least in the month they were originally scheduled to appear? We may never know, but at least it'll mean that Marvel fans have a lot to pick up this week. For everyone else, there's always Final Crisis #2, as well as the following:

Dark Horse's Indiana Jones Adventures takes George Lucas' eponymous ode to archeology and pretends that it had a Saturday morning cartoon spin-off that they're then adapting; imagine a version done by Batman: The Animated Series' Bruce Timm or Clone Wars' Genndy Tartakovsky, and you're not a million miles away from what they're aiming at. If you'd rather your childhood heroes were treated with fewer kid gloves, then you owe it to yourself to pick up the first hardcover collection of DC's All-Star Batman and Robin The Boy Wonder, in which Frank Miller cashes the checks as he gleefully creates the world's oddest Batman parody. "What are you, dense? Are you retarded or something?" as the saying goes... He's the goddamn Batman.

More respectful versions of familiar icons can be found at the apparently overbearing Marvel — Captain America: The Chosen sees Rambo creator David Morrell write about an alternate end to Steve Rogers' career, while Mythos: Captain America gives another look at his origin as America's favorite soldier. Alternatively, you could pick up the collected edition of Marvel Atlas and find out where all of Cap's origin takes place - Is Marvel's Germany in Europe, or has it been forced out by Latveria?

The two best buys of the week happen to be new books: Warren Ellis' new series No Hero brings superheroes to San Francisco to see which one survives, while Marvel's charity book What If - The Fantastic Four Tribute to Mike Weiringo completes the unfinished final story by artist Mike Weiringo - who died last August - with new art by artists like Art Adams, Alan Davis, Mike Allred and Stuart Immonen with all profits going to The Hero Foundation, which helps current and former creators without insurance or benefits.

As is always the case, you can find the complete list of everything hitting stores here and then find out where said stores are by going here and putting in your zip code. Just remember: Buying a non-Marvel comic this week isn't just a good idea - It's the right thing to do if you want to fight back against big publisher bully tactics. Potentially.

The Darabont script, titled Indiana Jones And The City Of God, follows roughly the same trajectory as the Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull. The main difference, besides the missing Mutt, is that the "traitor" character is a Russian named Yuri. He's a friend of Indy's, who takes advantage of Indy's trusting nature to borrow Indy's truck and get inside a military base. So it makes a lot of sense that the CIA mistrusts Indy afterwards. There's no Irina Spalko in the script at all.

The script still has the rocket-sled escape, and Indy still uses a fridge to escape a nuclear blast. There's also a huge airplane chase, a mile above the ground, which would have looked fantastic on film. (Except that a monkey poops on Indy.)

With no Mutt to ask for Indy's help, Indy just sort of gets drawn into a web of intrigue instead. He finds the crystal skull in a hotel room whose key he gets from a Grand Central Station locker, whose key he takes, in turn, from an assassin's pocket.

Marion is still in the movie, and actually has a way better part. When she first sees Indy, she punches him in the face. "I told you if I ever saw you again, I'd pop you one!" Marion is in charge of the expedition to find the Lost City of the Gods, and Indy gets signed up as her partner because he has the crystal skull. She and Indy bicker constantly and entertainingly. She's married to a jerky archeologist whom Indy hates — and who turns out to be a Russian spy. "This isn't like leaving the cap off the toothpaste! You're a goddamn Russian spy!"

There are still the giant ants, but there's also a scene where they get attacked by a swarm of killer tree frogs. Really. Killer tree frogs! "Don't let touch 'em! Don't let 'em get on your skin!" Indy shouts.

When they enter the "Chamber of the Gods," there's a star map showing the Pleiades system. There are thirteen headless crystal skeletons, and Indy somehow knows which one to put the skull on. Replacing the skull causes a huge dark machine to emerge and thunder into life, and we can see the aliens the skeletons belonged to, seated in "astronaut blast-seats." An alien mummy appears, with tubes connected from its body to a column, and it starts seeping fluids from its tubes as it connects with the alien skeleton via eye-beams. The alien speaks through Professor Oxley:

WE ARE THE ONES WHO FELL FROM THE HEAVENS. WE ARE THE NEPHALIM. WE ARE THE RUBEZAHL. WE ARE THE LIGHTS IN THE SKY. YOUR KIND HAS GIVEN US MANY NAMES. YOU MAY WORSHIP US.

And the alien reveals that his race "enhanced" humans and gave us civilization. And gave us "knowledge of the stars," including the Mayan calendar. The aliens lift up the five men who seek knowledge/power/whatever — including Indy — and offer them whatever they want. But Indy alone isn't tempted by ultimate knowledge or power, because he realizes what he really wants is Marion. Aww. Everybody else gets a poetic punishment — the evil archeologist who wants total knowledge has his head explode with knowledge, the evil dictator of Peru who wants to be the most feared and deadly becomes a poisonous tree frog. (Later, Indy steps on him.)

Just as things are reaching their peak, Indy shoots the crystal skull, right between the eyes. Blam! Things go boom. And then the alien mummy comes to life and becomes a living alien. Indy says, "Welcome to Earth," and shoots the alien. Blam!Blam!Blam!Blam!Blam! (He doesn't say the "MF" word, sadly.) The alien spaceship tries to take off, a huge saucer rising out of the ground, but it blows up.

We get more resolution on the Indy-is-a-traitor plot — President Eisenhower himself gives Indy the presidential Medal of Total Awesomeness at the end of the movie, and then it cuts to Indy marrying Marion. Awww.

Separately, there's a leaked "scriptment" for an earlier version called Indiana Jones And The Saucer Men From Mars, which is more of a straightforward B-movie about buglike aliens (who speak Sanskrit) and their ultimate weapon that the Russians are trying to get their grabby little hands on. [Thanks to Jack Morrissey's Nerdletter]

The Complete Making Of Indiana Jones [Amazon]

The site - which uses an arcane but highly notated system to score movies from 100 down to zero, based upon "acceptability" (higher numbers bring the movie closer to God), in addition to reviewing them - found itself at the center of a strange quandry when looking at the latest Lucas/Spielberg "joint": Namely, that it apparently seemed much more blasphemous than it actually was:

While all the violence and profanity in Crystal Skull were indeed morally invasive I was personally offended not only by the three uses of God's name in vain without the four letter expletive but by the single use of God's name in vain with the four letter expletive. And by Ford himself, no less. The use of God's name in vain with the four letter expletive even sounded as though it was inserted just to increase the "bad" of the film. Thus I felt this film should be restricted from anyone seeing it, but my opinion is meaningless to the CAP Analysis Model. However personally offensive some of the content was, the final score of 67 out of 100 goes to show you no matter what my personal opinion might be the results of the analysis are pure and insulated from my opinion.

In South America Indy finds Oxley but Indy's path crosses again with the Russians and again with a ghost from the past, Marion. SPOILER: This is where a special connection between Indy, Marion and Mutt is revealed. The Bible tells us that if a man has sex with a woman that he must marry her ... and stay married. [Deut. 22:29, 1 Cor. 7:2] Get married is what Indy and Marion do but decades after-the-fact. Just remember, a noble destination does not excuse an ignoble path. Sex outside of a monogamous heterosexual marriage is just plain wrong. If you don't believe me, ask God. His Word about sexually immoral behaviors can be paraphrased into one sentence: any sexual contact (including visual), conduct or activity outside of a monogamous heterosexual marriage is immoral. And if you don't like that rule or get all huffed up about me saying it, argue with the One who wrote the Rules, the One who will sit on the Judgment Throne just on the other side of our last breath.

While no gender-specific nudity is seen, Ford is seen nude from the near-pubic area up behind a steamed shower glass wall as he is being scrubbed to remove radioactive contamination. This, along with the semi-thong nudity of a few dozen warriors, the innuendo and all the drawing of attention to the crotch make up the sexually-oriented content.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull [CAP Movie Ministry]

Crappiest effort to pay homage to a once-great franchise, while also failing to pay homage to 1950s science fiction and misapplying CGI ant swarms:

Sure, I said Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was a fun afternoon diversion, but that doesn't mean it wasn't total crap. I love Indy, and I loved the "alien skull" premise of this film, and yet the more I thought about it, the less I liked it. The ending felt like bad TV. And no, it's not cool or neato that Indy was able to survive a nuclear bomb blast by hiding inside a refrigerator. I can believe that he might escape a giant zooming rock by the skin of his teeth, but a nuclear bomb? That stretches the bounds of credibility so far that I'm not having fun anymore. I'm just feeling condescended to. Plus, as many io9 commenters already noted, the CGI ants were crap. Swarm of ants = good. Swarm of ants so fake they look like a batch of angry M&Ms (and not the good kind you can drink with the Carl Brandon Society) = crap.

Plus, why did putting the crystal skull inside a burlap sack prevent it from being magnetic? Oh I know: probably the same forces that made gold and gunpowder ferromagnetic in the movie. The force of crap.

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There's a lot to love in this movie if you've been missing the nerd swagger of Indiana Jones, the archeology professor with fists of steel and a lust for treasure. Roughly two decades have passed in real time and movie time, so director Steven Spielberg has fun with period scene-setting just to let us know we've moved from fighting the Nazis in 1938 to fighting the Russkies in 1957. Yes, you'll get to see Indy tangle with a Soviet ninja dominatrix (Cate Blanchette), paranoid government agents, and even a goddamn atomic bomb blast — and it's all perfectly good fun. Nothing brilliant, but nothing boring either. The main plot arc, which involves a crazy search across South America for the remains of classic big-headed aliens, is an homage to 1950s pop culture the way earlier Indy movies were to 1930s and 40s adventure tales.

And here's where you can see some serious X-Files stuff bubbling up, because the aliens in Crystal Skull aren't just your typical 50s invaders. They're more like X-Files creatures, connected with ancient native mythology and coveted by secret government agents. Their crystalline skeletons give people visions, and have strange unscientific magnetic powers. Supposedly if the "crystal skull" of the film's title is reunited with its crystal skeleton in some secret place that requires lots of puzzle-solving to reach, there will be some sort of singularity. I kept wanting Scully to pop up at some point and whack everyone upside the head with a rationality stick. Or a dick joke.

What I'm trying to say is that while the Crystal Skull is in many ways a successful reimagining of the franchise, it also lacks punch. Sure, there are totally cool killer ant swarms and zooming over giant waterfalls and lots of gesturing at ancient maps. But are no crap-that's-amazing moments, and certainly nothing that will make you hoot with admiration over an artfully-executed genre satire. The satire, such as it is, is just a sad imitation of the X-Files, which is even more sad because the X-Files movie will probably be less imaginative than Crystal Skull.

The only edge to the film is a clumsy, knee-jerk liberal subplot about how the evil U.S. government suspects everyone of being part of the Red Menace — even Indy! Sounds just like the evil, suspicious U.S. government today! Wow, thanks for the commentary, but honestly if there had just been cooler aliens or a weirder plot I would have been a lot happier.

Don't get me wrong: the flick is definitely worth seeing, and you won't be disappointed unless you are expecting Raiders of the Lost Ark. Star Ford can still lay on the charm, even though the film keeps tiresomely reminding us that he's REALLY OLD, and Karen Allen returns as his still-tough-as-nails and seriously cute ex-girlfriend Marion (she who could drink Siberians under the table in Raiders). Even the ordinarily-heinous Shia LaBoeuf is tolerable here, partly because he's dressed as Marlon Brando from 50s juvenile delinquent classic The Wild One, and partly because there's a long jungle chase sequence where his crotch is repeatedly and resoundingly slapped by tree branches.

There's nothing better on a weekend afternoon than being stalked through the deep jungle by a hot Ukrainian spy while you quest for the lost city of El Dorado and a bunch of crystal alien skeletons. But you might not really want to do it again. And that's exactly the thing about the new Indiana Jones flick: good for one afternoon of diversion, but not much more than that.

Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull:

I think we've already spoiled the heck out of Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull before now, but some reviews do include a few details we haven't had in morning spoilers. Like the fact that Harold "Ox" Oxley (John Hurt) spent most of his career searching for the lost city of Akator — and finally found it.

And Indy almost married Marion sometime after Raiders of the Lost Ark, but ditched her at the altar. And then Marion never bothered to tell Indy she'd had his child: good old Mutt (Shia LaBeouf.) Indy doesn't approve of the guy Marion married instead of him. And Indy admits to Marion he's been with a few women since then, but "They all had the same problem," he says. "They weren't you." Awww.

Oh, and the movie abandons its CGI-light regimen in the final moments, which may spoil the film a bit for some viewers. [Comic Book Resources]

Wanted:

A new clip from July's super-assassin movie Wanted went online, although the coolest bit was already in the trailer. Actually, the coolest bit may be all the animal bobble heads on the cat-food truck's dashboard. [MovieWeb]

Lost:

The official podcast for island-castaway show Lost's two-hour season finale has gone online. It mentions that the special before the finale will include deleted scenes from the "Oceanic Six" press conference. Ben, Jack and Charles Widmore won't die until the island is done with them — and the island kept Jack from killing himself. We will see Walt again. And they won't say who Abaddon works for, but he's not the "top of the chain." [Lost Spoilers]

Battlestar Galactica:

Some tidbits from Ron Moore's podcasts on recent episodes of robot-apocalypse show Battlestar Galactica: Starbuck's pristine Viper will play a "pivotal role" in an upcoming episode. We will learn more about the Six (and occasionally Baltar) in Gaius Baltar's head, and the Baltar in Caprica Six's head, including how they work and why.

The Galactica will start looking more and more banged-up in upcoming episodes. The Admiral Adama/President Roslin relationship still has some developing to do, and the book Adama is reading to Roslin will play a bigger role in the story. The interactions between the Caprica Six and Col. Tigh in the brig will play an important role in the rest of the series (as you may have guessed from the trailer for episode 8.)

The podcast write-ups also include some info on stuff that Moore and the other writers changed from the earlier drafts of the episodes that have already aired — like Tyrol talking in the final scene of "The Road Less Traveled," when Baltar comes to his quarters. [TV Squad]

There won't be any legal ramifications from Anders' shooting of Gaeta, since it happened during a mutiny. Plus, Adama is a slap-on-the-wrist kind of guy. [ComicMix]

Stargate Atlantis:

The fifth season of Stargate SG-1 spinoff Stargate Atlantis airs starting in July, and more details are emerging. Teyla gives birth to her child, and she'll also get closer to her Wraith side after she communes with a Wraith Queen. After that contact, Teyla's Wraith genes will be activated and she'll become a host for the Wraith Queen herself. Actor Rachel Luttrell will appear in full Wraith makeup and become the leader of "an alliance of Wraith."

And in the show's 100th episode, the cast visits Las Vegas for a more light-hearted story that may involve the Replicators. And as you may have heard, Richard Woolsey (Robert Picardo) takes over as station manager and Dr. Keller (Jewel Staite!!!!) becomes a series regular. [SyFyPortal]

And new detailed spoilers for the twelfth episode of the season have come out. The team gets invited to join a new coalition against the Wraith — but the new government also wants to prosecute the Atlantis Expedition for crimes they allegedly commited. Sheppard speaks to a council made up of representatives of three groups: Kelore of Latira, Shiana of the Tribes of Santhal and Dimas of the Free People of Riva. When a representative of the council, Myrus, comes to Atlantis to tell Woolsey about the situation, Woolsey has Myrus put under arrest in retaliation. Sheppard tells the council all about the plague, and about Michael. (There are flashbacks, which makes this sound like a clips episode.)

Woolsey comes to the council to take over the Atlantis team's defense. Woolsey finds out the Genii are behind the whole prosecution, because they want the Atlantis team out of the way so they can become the military power behind the new coalition. Woolsey tries to convince Kelore that the council is backing the wrong horse and should go with Atlantis instead. Kelore isn't convinced, and then the council accuses Atlantis of conspiring with the Wraith — which is ridiculous, except for the fact that Atlantis was working with Todd. [Notes... Written On Water]

And in another upcoming episode, the Wraith-worshiping Satedan Tyre captures Ronon and tries to sacrifice him to the Wraith. Ronon gets so pumped full of Wraith enzyme, he gives into his dark side and does some damage to Sheppard. Jewel Staite's Keller gets trapped with a Wraith in one episode, and Woolsey shows his emerging courage when he's about to be killed by a Wraith. [Sci Fi Wire]

Specifically, Oregon's Dark Horse Comics — publisher of Star Wars, Serenity and Buffy comics, alongside non-media tie-ins like The Umbrella Academy — are planning on a couple of fixes for your Jones jones. In addition to the first issue of their adaptation of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, you can also pick up the collected, complete, edition... before the other issues have been published. Curious scheduling decision, or way to blow your mind? Find out on Wednesday.

(While you're at it, you may also want to pick up Dark Horse's Hellboy Companion, a 200-page "definitive guide to the Hellboy Universe", ahead of what's sure to be the sleeper of the season. Am I the only person who thinks that this may be the best summer for comic movies?)

If you'd rather read about other comics-turned-celluloid, then there's always Batman Vs. Two-Face, a collection of stories designed to prime you for the Christian Bale/Aaron Eckhart face-off in The Dark Knight. Or Marvel's hefty $100 Incredible Hulk Omnibus hardcover, reminding you that the first forty-nine issues of the Jade Giant's existence were actually pretty crappy (There's also Hulk Visionaries: John Byrne Volume One, which is a somewhat unusual choice for a movie tie-in considering its... uh... interesting quality).

You can also revisit former celluloid greats with DC's Superman: Escape From Bizarro World, which sees Geoff Johns and Superman: The Movie's Richard Donner co-write the return of Superman's mentally disabled clone brother.

Maybe you're wanting to read something new, though. In that case, Casey Blue: Beyond Tomorrow could be your bag. Casey may have a name like a pornstar, but really she's just your average teenager. There are boy troubles, school troubles and being the only person who can stop an alien invasion troubles. That's right, it's Buffy The Alien Slayer, but admit it - That kind of sounds just a little bit fun, right?

More kick-ass female leads can be found in Tank Girl: Visions of Booga, Alan Martin's second series reviving his 90s-zeitgeist-shagging Australian heavy-artillery fetishist. Meanwhile, Image Comics puts out Invincible Universe Primer, collecting the first three issues of Robert Kirkman's superhero series Invincible, Brit and The Astounding Wolf-Man for the low low price of $5.99, and giving you a jumping-on point for one of the more quietly successful superhero lines of recent years...

Just like every single week of the year, you can find out what's hitting the stores in its entirety by looking at the weekly shipping list, and then go and find out the ending of the new Indy movie two days early by finding your local store and picking up the collected adaptation, just to ruin it for all your friends. You're such a schmuck sometimes.

Indiana Jones:

Aintitcoolnews has the first obligatory grouchy reviews of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which is suspense-free according to one person who saw an early screening. Some spoilers: Yes, (duh) Shia is Indy's son. Indy is a colonel now, having been a World War II hero. That was a snake Shia was using to save Indy from quicksand. Cate Blanchett actually has psychic powers, (which I bet is true in real life also.)

And here's the crux:

The storyline is basically about an alien corpse from some crash in some town call Roswell, that has magnetic properties that may or may not be the ultimate weapon in the future. The Nazi's are replaced by the Soviets who are obviously bad and want said weapon to do bad things with. The alien corpse prize is replaced with the crystal skull from the corpse (the actual skeleton of aliens is crystaline, and the Crystal Skull is literally an alien's remains) and chases and such ensue as they try to figure out how to 'Return' the skull to the Lost City of Gold and let it's supernatural abilities run rampant.

Hancock:

And Aintitcool also has another damning early review of Will Smith's drunken superhero movie Hancock. The movie starts with Hancock drunk and asleep on the roof of a building while the radio talks about what a public menace he is. Then he stops some robbers and causes tons of property damage (including putting the robbers' car on top of a building.) He picks up a hot woman and takes her back to his two smushed-together mobile homes. He tells her to get away when he ejaculates — and then the girl gets thrown across the room and Hancock's sperm punches three baseball-sized holes in the roof of the trailer.

Hancock saves Jason Bateman's PR agent when his car is stuck on the train tracks with a train coming. Bateman offers to help fix Hancock's image, and the first step is turning himself in to the cops for all that property damage. In prison, Hancock shoves one inmate's head up another inmate's ass, and this is shown quite graphically. Then there's a huge hostage situation in a bank and the city calls for Hancock's help, which he gives. Meanwhile, there are confusing flashbacks about Hancock and a small child that are never explained.

Hancock has a weird vibe with Bateman's wife, played by Charlize Theron. Hancock doesn't remember anything earlier than waking up in hospital 80 years earlier with two tickest to Frankenstein in his pocket. And then the truth comes out:

Charlize later reveals that she and Will are descendants of Gods or Angels... she was at one time Isis. She also reveals that they were once husband and wife! We also find out that they are each others respective kryptonites. The more time they spend together, the weaker and more mortal they become... so they need to stay apart. She was at the movies with Hancock 80 years ago. They were on the road to mortality when Will saw a man getting mugged. Will intervened and got clocked in the skull. He lost his memory and Charlize decided to disappear from his life because the world needs one hero— Hancock!

Then the hostage-taking bank robber (from earlier) shows up at the hospital. The bank robber shoots Charlize, and then Hancock gets his powers back as Charlize gets weaker. (And yes, it makes no sense.) Hancock beats the bank robber and his cronies, with some help from Bateman. And then Hancock realizes Theron is dying, and he has to get as far away from her as possible so she can regain her immortality. The film ends with Hancock living as a superhero in New York, while Bateman and Theron are happy together in L.A. [AintItCoolNews]

And now that you're all excited to see Hancock, here are some new pics. [IESB]

Batman: Gotham Knight:

More info has come out about another segment of the animated Batman: Gotham Knight DVD. The penultimate segment, Brian Azzarello's "Working Though Pain," is less violent than his usual work. The segment "explores an early chapter of Bruce Wayne's training as a mysterious and exotic Indian woman named Cassandra introduces Batman to techniques that would help him to conquer the physical and spiritual consequences of what he does." And yes, the synopsis actually says "exotic Indian woman." I know. Here are some stills:

[IESB]

Iron Man 2:

Iron Man 2 will be about Nick Fury recruiting Tony Stark to help battle the super-terrorist known as the Mandarin. And the Mandarin will have super-dragon Fin Fang Foom on his side, according to sources familiar with the movie's storyline — but there's no script yet. [Cinemablend]

Batman 3:

And the third Batman movie will feature a lot more of Two-Face, the villain who debuts at the end of The Dark Knight. But the Joker won't be in it, largely due to Heath Ledger's death. And the story will be based on the graphic novels "The Long Halloween" and "Dark Victory" — especially the second one, which charts the rise of Two-Face and introduces Batman's sidekick Robin.

Indiana Jones:

Here's a new TV spot for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull, with a bit of new footage. In particular, Shia tells Indy: "Get on, gramps!" [ComingSoon.net]

Doctor Who:

The first (lukewarm) review of Saturday's Doctor Who episode "The Doctor's Daughter" is online. Jenny, the Doctor's you-know-what, has amazing abilities and challenges the Doctor at every turn. Martha gets captured by the fishlike Hath, while the Doctor and Donna fall in with the humans, who want their help in continuing their war against the Hath. The Doctor tries to stop the fighting and explores "what makes a person a person." Martha and the Doctor hardly have any time together, making their farewell at the episode's end a bit hollow.

And there's the usual mixture of spoilers and red herrings from Digital Spy, including Martha helping to set a fish's dislocated shoulder, the Doctor putting a gun to someone's head, Donna calling the Doctor's daughter "G.I. Jane," and the Doctor being surprised what he finds when he puts a stethoscope to Jenny's chest. [Doctor Who Insania]

The Doctor-less episode, "Turn Left," happens in a bombed-out looking Leeds with corrugated tin covering people's windows. And Donna has some kind of animatronic insect on her back, and people keep commenting on it. Soldiers (including UNIT soldiers) are running around, and one soldier tries to arrest Donna because of her back-insect. The Racnoss spaceship (from Donna's first appearance in the 2006 Christmas special) is attacking Earth. Towards the end of the episode, Donna runs out in the street carrying something that looks like a "vortex manipulator" and gets hit by a car. Rose appears and kneels next to Donna's body.

Rose is in a relationship with someone in the alternate universe, and it's not Mickey. And there are more rumors the Daleks recruit former Prime Minister Harriet Jones to become a new Supreme Dalek. The Supreme Dalek is red and has three head-lamps instead of the standard two.

Also, more details on the final scene of the fourth season, which we reported on a while ago. Donna falls down, and the Doctor and Grandpa Wilf help her to her feet. Then Wilf and the Doctor have this parting moment as the Doctor is leaving:
Doctor: Get a lot of this. Atmospheric disruption. (The rain stops.) Bye, Wilfred.
Wilf: What about you? All those friends of yours....who have you got?... Next time, at night, when the stars come out... I'll look up and I'll think of you... out there on your own... on her behalf...
The Doctor turns, walks sadly across the road, gets out his key, opens TARDIS and goes inside... Also, the Doctor shouts "You can never tell her!" at Wilf right before this exchange. The person watching filming surmised that maybe Donna has lost her memory of him.

And it's rumored the Chrismas special is based on the "One Doctor" audio play, in which a con artist pretends to be the Doctor. And those bronze Cyber-Shades are fakes cooked up by the fake Doctor (David Morrisey.) But then the real Doctor and the real Cybermen show up. (I think this is a bit dodgy, actually.) [Doctor Who Forum]

Lost:

It turns out Sawyer isn't in that scene of the Oceanic Six getting on the raft after all — that was Desmond's stand-in. And Desmond is definitely in the scene. [Lost.sc]

Both Sawyer and Locke are still alive and on the island in the future "Oceanic Six" timeline. And it sounds as though the finale's "spectacular kiss" may be between Sawyer and Kate. Also, the next two seasons will include more stories about the Oceanic Six's adventures off the island. And here's another new preview clip from Thursday's episode. [E! Online]

Smallville:

In the tail end of Smallville season seven, Lana gets better and then decides to leave town, which is why she's not in next year's episodes. [E! Online again]

In general, it looks like Crystal Skull will be the kinkiest of the Jones movies, with bondage, mind control and blowing down the wrong end of a blowdart, among other things.

The movie starts on a downbeat. Indy's dad and his friend Marcus are both dead, and it's been a "brutal couple of years," so he decides to leave the country for a while. Indy's become a bit of an embarrassment so the university decides to give him a "promotion" to Associate Dean. In a scene with his friend the Dean, Indy talks about his feelings of obsolescence, and the Dean says when you're young, you spend so much time finding out who you are and then announcing it to the world. And then when you're old, you just want to know how the world will remember you. Indy takes solace in teaching Archeology 101, which is still full of lustful female students.

In Arnie's Diner, surrounded by lettermen and poodle-skirted coeds, Indy listens to "Mutt" Williams tell about his mom and his surrogate dad, Harold "Ox" Oxley. Ox is a long-lost friend of Indy's, and Mutt's mom claims to have met Indy during his past adventures. (But Mutt's real dad is Colin, an RAF pilot who died in the war.) Mutt is a "rock'n'roll swashbuckler" who was a fencing champion for two years. Mutt has a classical education, thanks to years of boarding schools, in spite of his Marlon Brando demeanor. In the course of his adventure, Mutt learns there's more to life than hair pomade, motorcycles and "shake, rattle 'n' roll." (There is?!)

The early "Hangar 51" warehouse set piece involves the movie's main Russian villains, who are searching for a means of psychic warfare. Indy is forced by Spalko, that Russian dominatrix, to lead her troops to a special crate, using his knowledge of magnetism and some gunpowder and shotgun pellets. The crate slides open to reveal a mysterious figure. There's a sword-fighting confrontation, and Indy threatens to kill Col. Dovchenko unless the Russians drop their weapons. Indy glimpses the Ark of the Covenant in storage, and ends up on the hood of Col. Dovchenko's car, speeding towards a railroad flatcar with jet engines crudely bolted on. The flatcar (rocket sled) roars to life, incinerating some of the pursuing Russians. Indy and an unconscious Dovchenko are flung into a "cushioned blast shield" in the back of the railway car, which flies past the Russian soldiers and winds up miles away, in the desert. Indy staggers out of it.

Spalko was raised in a Ukrainian village, where the superstitious villagers branded her a witch because of her psychic powers.

And at some point, Indy ends up in an artificial town named Doom Town (the one with the weird 1950s life-size dolls) and it's scheduled for nuclear blasting. Indy gets out just in time, but the Russians chasing him are totally liquified.

The skull of the movie's title has a "more atom-age, Roswellian, Chariots of the Gods" origin, based on science rather than magic. Spalko thinks it's a new "mind weapon," Stalin's greatest dream. Whoever returns it to the lost city of Akator gets to control the skull's power. "We will be everywhere at once, Dr. Jones, as powerful as a hypnotic command," she says.

Indy finds the skull behind the mummified body of a Conquistador in Chauchilla Cemetery. For a moment, Indy is so excited about finding the skull, he almost forgets about saving his friends. There's a confrontation involving blow-dart-wielding Nazca warriors dressed as skeletons. (The Nazca are "small, feral and vicious.") Indy and friends escape, only to fall into the hands of Col. Dovchenko and Indy's friend Mac (Ray Winstone), who's a turncoat. Mac later claims to be a double-agent, working for the CIA, but Indy's not sure if he can be trusted. (The cards dealing with Mac's double-crossing are called "Nailing Mac!" and "Nailing Mac... Again!")

At some point, Spalko puts Indy in bondage for an "interrogation." Harold "Ox" Oxley is the key to finding Akator, but an "interpreter" is required. The Russians use Indy as the interpreter, forcing him to stare into the skull's deadly hypnotic eyes. Indy goes into a trance, and Spalko thinks she can use the skull to turn him into a Communist. "Stare into its eyes, and it'll drive you mad," Indy warns. At some point, in the jungle, Indy escapes from the Russians and launches a counterattack. But they launch a counter-counterattack.

Mutt gets stung by a scorpion, but Indy tells him he'll be fine.

The Temple of Akator is such an overwhelming sight, Mutt wants to leave. But Indy says they have to return the skull to the temple, because it asked him to. But then they get attacked by savage Ugha warriors armed with blow darts. Indy kills one of them by blowing on the wrong end of his blow dart, sending the dart back in the opposite direction.

Revealing the skull drives the Ughas away, but then Indy has to solve a "puzzle" to get into the temple — reassembling the four pieces of the pyramid, which are too heavy to lift. Indy figures out he needs to drain sand from the center of the structure, and then the pyramid will automatically reassemble. A 15-foot stone obelisk lying on its side is the "key" to the temple. Indy breaks some stone "plugs" causing the sand to flow, and the enormous obelisk to move.

But Spalko pays a heavy price for her desire to learn all, as the walls of the temple start spinning, and a black sinkhole forms at its center. (At first, I thought it said "shithole.") The double-crossing Mac is pulled in but won't let Indy get dragged down with him. [INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL'S BLOG]

Iron Man:

I know I said we weren't going to talk about the Samuel L. Jackson cameo in Iron Man ever again, but then people started posting cameraphone copies of it on YouTube. Here's our version. [Thanks, Greg!]

X-Files: I Want To Believe:

X-Files 2 is a return to the "horror genre X-Files started in," says David Duchovny. Also, Scully is working in a Catholic infirmary called Our Lady Of Sorrows Hospital, which is really an abandoned mental hospital in Vancouver. One scene involves Scully, a bed-ridden boy, and a "vulture-like priest." And there's a scene which takes place in the hospital's chapel. Also, that rural house where Mulder is living at the start of the movie? He's hiding out there, because he's still a fugitive. [X-Files News]

Indiana Jones And the Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull:

A memorabilia site has photos from Indiana Jones And the Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull for sale, and some of them are quite spoilery, including some pics of Indy handling the eponymous skull of crystal. Plus, Indy in quicksand! (Is Mutt using a snake to get him out, or a big stick?) And Indy getting choked by soldiers! And Indy in a weird 1950s pastiche with plastic kids. Huh? [Worst Previews and Slashfilm]

Batman: Gotham Knight:

Warner Home Video released some new images for Batman: Gotham Knight, its direct-to-DVD animated anthology that comes out July 8. And Alan Burnett, who edited all six of the scripts, revealed some new details about the sixth segment, which he wrote. Titled "Deadshot," it features the gunman with perfect aim from the Bat-comics. Says Warner, "The segment ties together threads from all the film's chapters as Batman must thwart an unerring assassin whose love of guns and disregard for human life lets him cross lines that even a Dark Knight shies away from." Burnett, who worked on the seminal Batman: The Animated Series says he was never allowed to use Deadshot in the TV cartoon because they weren't allowed to show real bullets. In the DVD, Deadshot's first murder takes place against a backdrop of fireworks and balloons. [Warner Home Video]

Amazing Spider-Man:

On the heels of that picture we showed you of Anti-Venom, who's like the antifreeze to Venom's engine oil, more details about this summer's Amazing Spider-Man storyline have come out. "New Ways To Die" runs from ASM #568-573, and features Norman Osborn, current Venom Mac Gargan and original Venom Eddie Brock... who is now Anti-Venom.

Besides totally radical fashion sense, these villains have one thing in common: they knew Spider-Man's secret identity long before he unmasked in the "Civil War" storyline. Now that the timeline has changed in the wake of Spider-Man's deal with the Devil (don't ask), suddenly these three villains don't know his identity any more. The storyline crosses over with Thunderbolts, where Norman Osborne is in charge, and culminates in one of the most asked-for battles of all time. Oh, and it's written by Dan (She Hulk) Slott, who's quite good when he's allowed to be fun. [Comic Book Resources]

Indiana is once again trying to stop the bad guys from getting their evil hands on another source of ancient power, although this one may be extraterrestrial in origin. Looks like the poorly named Mutt Williams (Shia LeBouf) is the butt of many Indy jokes. And oh my good god, there are a few moments of ancient city's guard zombies, thank you Spielberg and Lucas. I could watch Dr. Jones deliver one-liners, narrowly escape death and put on his hat again and again, no matter what his age.

Still if they were going to bring back the feisty, shot drinking Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen) then why not return everyone's real favorite sidekick Short Round? Maybe Short Round can team up with Mutt if we discover that he's Marion's son with Indiana. This will then lead to more Young Jones movies or at the least a Saturday morning cartoon. It doesn't matter how many times Spielberg laughs off the questions, you know he can't avoid the father and son storyline.

Indiana Jones:

Here are a bunch of stills and production photos from Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull, some of which are new and some of which are just much higher resolution than before. Not terribly spoilery, except that there's quicksand. And skeletons who aren't crystal. [Slashfilm]

Iron Man:

There's a scene in Iron Man where inventor Tony Stark's best friend Jim Rhodes looks at the Mark II Iron Man armor and says to himself, "Next time, baby." This is fueling speculation that the next movie would see Rhodes suiting up as War Machine — or, more likely, replacing Tony as Iron Man for a while first. And you won't see the way the movie introduces superspy organization S.H.I.E.L.D. coming, either. And there are tons of hints about uber-villain The Mandarin, who's not in this film. Also, the movie's end credits include animations that reference War Machine. [Rotten Tomatoes, via Cinematical]

And there are tons of hints that the next two movies in the would-be trilogy will address Tony's alcoholism (a big theme in the later comics) and Rhodes' arc on the way to becoming War Machine. [Moviefone]

And here's an incredibly boring behind-the-scenes video about Iron Man, in which director Jon Favreau points at a bunch of empty rooms and said, "this was where we shot the cave scenes, but we already took those sets down. This was his workshop, but it's been dismantled now." It includes some footage from the movie, but it's mostly stuff you've seen before. [MySpace]

X-Files: I Want To Believe:

World's most minor spoiler: Someone got a copy of the X-Files: I Want To Believe script and said the following three words appear on page 17: "believe," "visions," and "cigarette." [Thanks to Ewan]

Battlestar Galactica:

Nana Visitor (Kira from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) talked a bit about her role in episode six of Battlestar Galactica, as a fellow cancer patient who drives President Roslin nuts. "I'm dying and losing my hair. Talk about looking bad." She's not a Cylon, but her character does give "a glimpse of the other side, [what happens] when you die." [Jonja.net, thanks Chris]

Spectacular Spider-Man:

Here are some stills from this Saturday's Spectacular Spider-Man, which introduces the Green Goblin, and includes a big role for Mary-Jane Watson.

Lost:

At least one of the stars of Lost was in an "altered state" when E! Online visited the set recently. And Charlie puts in an appearance in next week's episode.

Meanwhile, the show just filmed the scene where the Oceanic Six arrive back in civilization, via a military transport plane. (And it sounds like they land in Honolulu, so Hawaii can actually play itself.) In another scene, the Six hold a press conference and are confronted by a very skeptical group of reporters, who have lots of questions and get some misleading answers. Also present at the press conference: Margo Shepherd and David and Carmen Reyes. The press asks:

Ms. Austen, how old is Aaron? Ms. Kwon, what happened to your husband? Mr. Reyes, what of your fortune, and this hefty airline settlement?

And here are more stills from the May 8 episode, showing Locke (and Claire?) in Jacob's Cabin, plus some goings-on on the freighter. [Spoilers Lost]

And here are two clips from next week's episode, "Something Nice Back Home":

Kyle XY:

Mark, that cute DJ who's been making a move on Kyle's step-sister Lori, is actually working for Latnok, the morally suspect group of scientists. And Kyle is going to get shot in season three. [Spoiler TV]

Also, Jessi XX, Kyle's female counterpart, will be back in season three and learning more hard lessons. Her biological mom Sarah (Ally Sheedy!) may also be back. And Kyle will come face-to-face with the scientists who created him, and have to deal with the fact that they're "not working with him." Kyle's relationship with his biological father Adam will be "doled out in pieces." Kyle's whole story arc has been planned out in advance, and may take him all the way through college. [TV Week]

Artist Jim Nichols has been painting scenes of spaceships and flying saucers for years, and he's even co-hosted a cable show called UFOAZ all about visitors from outer space. In 1980, Jim met with retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Wendelle Stevens who was researching UFOs, and this inspired him to pursue a career in UFO illustration. Most of his pieces are on sale at his website, which features six pages worth of prints. There's bound to be something in there you're interested it since he runs the gamut from a saucer hovering over a lone farmhouse in "Country Road," to Nazi spaceships in "World War II UFO."

Transformers:

Here are two concept sketches of the Transformers movie version of Optimus Prime, with a special trailer attachment that combines with his cab/body in robot mode. This is either concept art for Transformers 2, or kewl fan art. [Seibertron]

Indiana Jones:

Some guy posted tons of info on Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull (supposedly from an unreleased press kit) on his MySpace page. It could even be true. Here's the gist, along with an image that could be from the press kit, or could be cheesy fan art.

The movie starts in the desert Southwest in 1957, and Indy and his sidekick Mac (Ray Winstone) have just escaped a close call with some evil Soviets on a remote airfield. (And the big warehouse scene from the trailer is part of the film's opening set-piece.) Indy comes home to Marshall College, only to find out from the dean (Jim Broadbent) that his recent activities have made him the object of McCarthyite suspicion, and the college is under pressure to fire him.

Indy heads out of town, but runs into the rebellious young punk named Mutt (Shia LaBoeuf) who holds a grudge against him, but also has a proposition: if Indy helps Mutt on a mission with "deeply personal stakes," Indy may be able to score one of the greatest archeological finds in history: the legendary Crystal Skull of Akator. But the Russkies also want the Crystal Skull, because they think it'll help the USSR dominate the world.

Indy and Mutt head to the remotest part of Peru, an area of "ancient tombs, forgotten explorers and a rumored city of gold." (And we'll see the little red line going across the map, superimposed over the plane, etc.) But the Soviets, led by Cate Blanchett's Irina Spalko, are there too. There's a jungle chase sequence where Blanchett sword fights, and then another chase where she does a karate chop. Spalko has a muscley sidekick, Col. Dovchenko, played by Igor Jijikine, a former trapeze artist.

And John Hurt plays Professor Oxley, a recluse, who's been on his own for a couple of decades, and has become "possessed" and sort of insane, because of the skull.

Besides a Peruvian cemetery, and a local village near the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, an important location in the film is a military bunker in New Mexico. (Hopefully related to the whole "Area 51" alien plot.) There is one gigantic snake in the movie, an Olive Python, which menaces Indy. [The KOTCS Fan Page]

Doctor Who:

They're still filming the Doctor Who 2008 Christmas special, and here are a couple of pics. The TARDIS arrives in a Victorian marketplace, and the Doctor appears to be alone. But he also has a scenes with Velile Tshabalala, who appears to be his new companion. (No Rose, not surprisingly.) And David Morrissey is playing the character referred to as the "other Doctor" on the actors' trailers. At one point, Morrissey says to Tshabalala, "The Doctor's companion will do what the Doctor says. Now go!" Oh, and the real Doctor looks quite cheerful on arrival, which doesn't seem consistent with one or more of his companions having died horribly. (But he's a resilient chap.)

And then the Doctor attends a funeral, while the Cyber-wraiths spy on him from a discreet distance. [Spoiler TV and Planet Gallifrey]

Lost:

The Lost fourth season finale will show us what happens after that flash-forward scene involving Jack and Kate, in the third season finale. In an upcoming scene, Sawyer, Miles and Claire find a dead body and an extra dismembered arm in the jungle. And Sawyer turns all protective towards Claire. Actress Emilie de Ravin says she hasn't yet heard anything about her character dying. And in the May 1 episode, Juliet has to perform emergency surgery on Jack after he collapses on the beach, and she realizes she loves him... but his flash-forward in that episode is all about Kate. Also coming up: Future Hurley delivers a "chilling message" from Charlie to Future Jack. And Christian Shepard reaches out to both of his children.

And the season finale will include some scenes involving Sun's father, the powerful mogul Mr. Paik, set in his business office. [Spoilers Lost]

Greg Grunberg, who plays the pilot of Oceanic Flight 815 who was killed by a monster in the first episode, was spotted in Hawaii filming some scenes for an upcoming episode. We'll finally see the Orchid Station, and it'll be a big set going into the fifth season. [E! Online]

And here are three new sneak peeks for Thursday's episode, including a longer version of a scene we featured yesterday. [Doc Arzt]



Heroes:

Heroes season three will introduce a new character named Jesse, who is "mean, angry and out of control." [E! Online again]

Smallville:

Here are four new stills from the May 1 Smallville, which takes place in an alternate universe where Clark never came to Earth. Lois is a Pulitzer-winning journalist, who wears a really shiny (pleather?) skirt. [Devoted Fans Network]

As you may have heard, the highly-anticipated game "Star Wars: The Force Unleashed," due Sept. 16, takes place between Episodes 3 and 4 in the movie timeline. You play as Darth Vader's secret apprentice (neither side can know about you), and your Force powers are "over-the-top," in every way that is awesome. I can only describe them as Luke's abilities on acid. The premise seems to be that while the apprentice is mostly being sent on missions to take out Jedis, you also get to dodge and take out Stormtroopers who threaten exposure.

The game looks unbelievably cool, and we saw a clip with creators who said they wanted to give players the chance to go in and really experience using Force powers. Lightning crackles, people levitate in what looks like bullet-time, huge cinematic landscapes sprawl, a TIE fighter explodes — all is right with the world. We also saw a level where the crazy Jedi master assembles "junk gollums" from his giant planet of garbage for you to fight.

Young Indiana Jones is coming to DVD. And on May 1st, individual special DVDs of the first three Indy movies will be released, plus an all-new DVD box set with exclusive bonus features. The Lego Indy video game is coming soon, with the tagline "the greatest adventure ever assembled" and will let you play through the action of the first three movies in Lego form.

Seth Green and his Robot Chicken co-creator Matthew Senreich joined and livened things up, bringing the funny and the Robot Chicken Star Wars Special clips. Green said that one of the notes he received from George Lucas after he agreed to cameo was "Don't use penises." Green and Senreich, fanboys themselves, were thrilled to receive attention from Lucas, and he was game to take their direction when voicing his own tiny action figure.

We saw a few short clips from The Clone Wars, the Star Wars animated series debuting in theaters this August and then coming to television this fall. The show will premiere on Cartoon Network and then air on TNT. The plot goes that Anakin and Obi-Wan leave the Clone Army to fight the forces of darkness. Lucas is said to be very hands-on with the creative process.

They're particularly proud of creating a new "vertical battle" display that will have Walkers and Jedi alike fighting vertically. We're told that the mysterious female padawan Ahsoka Tano is "feisty and fun," and that each episode will be like having a new Star Wars mini-movie each week. That seems okay with me, because the animated Hayden Christensen is already displaying a hundred times more expression than the real one.

Indiana Jones:

Here are some new pictures from Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull — including a lot of detail of an elaborate temple-like set. [Slashfilm and TrekMovie]

The Happening:

And here are three new stills from M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening. [TrekMovie again]

Heroes:

Heroes vol. 3, "Villains," will take up only the first 13 episodes of the 25-episode third season. And the good guys will save the world at least twice next season, which will have a much faster pace than the sluggish season two. Actor Sendhil Ramamurthy (Mohinder Suresh) is "thrilled" with what's in store for his character next season. Also, we'll learn what Mama Petrelli's power is, and she'll play a super-important role in the season. And we'll learn more about "the evolution of powers." [HeroesTelevision]

Lost:

In the eleventh episode of the current Lost season, Locke finds out where Jacob's cabin is, while life on the freighter becomes dangerous. And in this Thursday's episode, we'll learn something about the smoke monster. We'll know who shot Karl and Rousseau. (But we haven't seen the last of Rousseau.) And we'll find out why Mrs. Hawking was with "that monk." And in this episode, a few minor characters die in the first 15 minutes — and then a major character is shot in the head, execution-style, later on. And it's not who you think! And here are some new pics from this Thursday's, um, explosive episode. [Spoilers Lost]

Doctor Who:

In the upcoming Doctor Who two-parter featuring the Sontarans, the potato-headed clone warriors have a plot to choke the Earth to death. To make matters worse, the paramilitary organization U.N.I.T. has a traitor in its ranks. And the Doctor has to choose between Martha and Donna. (Choose Martha! Choose Martha!) Oh, and the second half's description asks whether the Doctor will be forced to "make the ultimate sacrifice." (Answer: probably not.) [SpoilerTV]

Smallville:

Here are some new spoilers for this Saturday's Smallville, courtesy of some cellphone-only clips. Jimmy tries to cook Chloe the "Wholesome Olsen" breakfast, but she's running late. So Jimmy whines about wanting to put the spark back in their relationship. Chloe says it'll just take a little time. And then in another scene, Vanessa has Chloe tied up and is roughing her up, asking about how Chloe accessed the power grid exactly when/where there were power surges. Jimmy sneaks up behind Vanessa as she starts tasering Chloe. [Operation Save Clark Kent]

And here's a new trailer showcasing the next few episodes — including Lex finding a certain cold stronghold:

Battlestar Galactica/Caprica:

The title of the Caprica pilot TV movie is "Revolution," and it's an allegory for the American Revolution, says Sci Fi Channel executive vice president Mark Stern. [Wired]

Iron Man:

That metal thingy in the middle of Tony Stark's chest? It doesn't just keep his heart beating, it actually replaces his heart, claims one guy who's seen the movie. And part of Tony's transformation when he returns home from his harrowing captivity in Afghanistan is that he starts seeing more in Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) than just a lowly assistant.

Tony decides to stop making weapons, but his mentor Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges) disagrees and cuts Tony out of all decision-making at his own company. So Tony puts on his Iron Man suit and flies back to Afghanistan to destroy all the weapons he made. Also, the film is too long and sluggish, especially the first half. [Moviehole]

Indiana Jones:

Indiana Jones IV is about "greed, abduction, the Cold War, anticommunist fervor, torture, theft, artifact-acquisition rivalry, and the post-WWII generation gap," says Entertainment Weekly. The warriors you meet in the South American jungle are called the Ugha, and there are "large, nasty ants." Shia LaBoeuf plays a "muscled up" Marlon Brando-style punk-rebel named Mutt Williams. The Russians are seeking that Crystal Skull because of its "reputed mind-controlling powers." There were aliens in earlier drafts of the movie's script, but nobody's saying whether they're still in there. Oh, and Indiana Jones doesn't die in this movie.

X-Files: I Want To Believe:

Here are two new X-Files stills that just came out. [Slashfilm]

The Happening:

The "villlain" in The Happening, to some extent, stays unseen, says director M. Night Shyamalan. It's a "very scary thing that can permeate the entire movie — even when you walk out of the theatre." [Entertainment Weekly again]

Doctor Who:

Here's a completely random Doctor Who rumor: Donna will die at the end of the season, and Rose will stay with the Doctor, appearing in all the 2009 specials. [Soapchat]

And here's a clip from this Saturday's episode. Digital Spy have also done their ever-annoying thing of releasing some real, and some fake, spoilers for the episode. Off the top of my head, I'm guessing it's true that the Ood should be holding something organic instead of those translation globes they're all stuck with, and there's a silly song that markets the Ood as servants. [Planet Gallifrey]

Lost:

The Lost producers held a teleconference yesterday, and spilled some info about upcoming episodes. Don't expect to see Penny any time soon, because actress Sonya Walger is busy with her HBO show, but we will see more of Penny/Desmond at some point. The fate of Danielle and Karl will be decided in the next episode, and they were shot with actual bullets. We'll get more of Danielle's backstory, even if she really is dead.

As for the Jack/Kate/Sawyer triangle, producer Damon Lindelof says:

All we can say is that Sawyer is not one of the Oceanic Six, and Jack and Kate are. Obviously there will be a huge focus in the finale in terms of how that series of events transpires and what ultimately happens to Sawyer, and it's all on the axis of the love triangle. We think that both fans of Sawyer and Kate — otherwise known as the 'Skaters,' I am told — and Jack and Kate, the 'Jaters,' will have a bounty of interesting romance scenes.

They had no comment about whether we'll be seeing Claire after this season, but added that she'll have some "compelling events" in the next batch of episodes. We'll also see more of Jeff Fahey in upcoming episodes, and more than we might expect to see of Alan Dale.

Orchid will play a big role in the season finale. And huge, "seismic" events will befall all the characters before the season's end. Some characters' fates will be clear — but not all.

We'll see more of that wacky four-toed statue, and it will be explained before the show ends. We'll also see more of the smoke monster and of Jacob. The end of the show will be an end