Doctor Who:

Someone posting over at the IMDB forums claims to have seen "The End Of Time Part 1," and says Bernard Cribbins and the Doctor travel to "the vast wastelands of London" as well as visiting the Time War. Wilf wants to save his granddaughter, Donna, who's once again struggling with her own mind. The villains are Joshua Naismith and his wife, who resurrect the Master as part of a plan to bring back the Time Lords, but this is just part of a larger scheme. At the end of the first part, the Time Lords materialize through the Immortality Gate and arrest the Master. And meanwhile, Donna's eyes are on fire. Take of all this with an immense grain of salt. [Gallifrey Base]

Meanwhile, Russell T. Davies explains more about what's going on in this episode:

The Doctor went through hell, on Mars. I think its important to note the angry, vengeful Doctor glimpsed in that climax is gone-that was the point of Adelaide's death; she saved the future, and saved the Doctor from himself. He was brought back to his senses. And as you've seen from the Children in Need clip, a lot of the old, chipper Doctor has been restored. Which is only right and proper, because that's the Doctor we want to see in his final story - the classic hero, the good man, the lovely funny, skinny fellow in the suit and trainers... and as ever, there's a melancholy beneath the smile - he's still aware that he's facing the end of his song, and the ominous four knocks. He can't know whether this means regeneration or actual death - and neither can you, cos we might have some tricks up our sleeves!

And he adds, in reference to the Master:

In 'The Sound of Drums" and 'Last of the Time Lords', he mirrored the Doctor by being powerful, suave and megalomaniac. Now, it's a new opposite - lost and raw and savage. Something's gone very wrong with his return - you'll have to watch to find out what! - but that x-ray effect see in the trailer, where he's all skull and bones, is the just the start of the trouble....imagine all the pent up forces of a Time Lord body - artron energy, regeneration energy, all the stuff - ripping open and broken loose. A dying timelord is a terrifying thing! So with the Master dying, the Doctor's end approaching, and both determined to survive, they're hurtling along an almighty collision course. And that's just part one!

Also, Minnie Hooper is helping Wilf track the Doctor down because people have had bad dreams, and Wilf is hiding out at a church. And there's a mystery involving a silver cloak, which Wilf knows about. And the Doctor gets strapped down to a table at one point. [Doctor Who Magazine via Fanatical Whovian]

Meanwhile, RTD tells Time Out Magazine that this episode includes the homeless in London getting burgers from a charity van, and Donna's middle-class family sitting down for turkey dinner, and then the obscenely rich Naismith family, with a mansion and servants. And then of course there are monsters and a chase, and all of these elements are leading in one direction. [Life The Universe And Combom]

Lost:

Rumor has it that some of the leaks and set reports from this show's final season have caused some scenes to be reshot and changed. According to unnamed sources, nothing major has been reworked, but some minor details were changed to differ from what's leaked out so far. Bear in mind, this is only a rumor, and there aren't actually any details about what's allegedly been revamped. [SpoilersLost]

There's a pretty huge spoiler hidden as an Easter egg on the new season five BluRay set: This scene breakdown of the end of the last episode, in which apparently we were originally supposed to see Jack's group absorbed by a white light, and then Richard Alpert sees a mushroom cloud off in the distance. [SpoilersLost]

An unnamed source claims that Richard Alpert meets both the Man In Black and Jacob in his flashback, and Richard Alpert fights Jacob in the 1800s, and a "special" knife is involved. [SpoilersLost]

And here are some new promo pics of our castmembers, which aren't spoilery unless you consider who's included among the cast. [Doc
Arzt]

Day Of The Triffids:

Here are a ton of new promo pics from this British remake, which airs in the U.K. on Dec. 28 and 29. Cannot wait! [Den Of Geek]

Jonah Hex:

There are some reshoots going on, and apparently they include some scenes with Jonah's wife, who hasn't previously been included in the film. At least, that's what people are speculating based on a new casting call:

[CASSIE] - wife of 'Jonah Hex' (Josh Brolin). Native American. Pretty, young, sexy.

[TRAVIS] - age 9 (to play younger)... Must be a match to Josh Brolin and Native American 'Cassie'.

[JEB TURNBULL] - son of 'Quentin Turnbull' (John Malkovich). 30 - 35. Skinny, southern accent. Needs one or two days for prosthetics.

[PRESIDENT ANDREW JOHNSON] - 50-60. Look alike, if possible.

[ADVISOR] - to President Johnson. Younger, 1870's version of a "West Wing" character.

[DEAD GUY] - late 20s/30s. Scary looking.. May need a day for prosthetics/possible make-up.

[SpoilerTV-Movies]

The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus:

Terry Gilliam talks about his inspiration in a couple of new interviews, one of which is partly in Russian except the parts where he talks:

The Hobbit:

Peter Jackson hopes that both Hugo Weaving and Cate Blanchett will return for this duology, even though Blanchett's character, Galadriel, doesn't appear in the book. [MTV]

Nightmare On Elm Street:

It seems like they're filming a new scene in a diner where Nancy (the main character?) works, judging from a new casting call, seeking the diner's owner and waitress. Plus some teenagers hanging out there. It sounds as though this additional scene is meant to clear up something that confused test-screening audiences. [SpoilerTV-Movies and BloodyDisgusting via IGN]

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows:

The cast still hasn't shot the infamous epilogue scene yet, and they're waiting to hear if they'll do it themselves or have other actors replace them as adults. [MTV]

And even as this two-part movie is filming, there are tons of on-the-fly rewrites and new scripts and last-minute changes because "We're terrified we're not going to get it right," says Daniel Radcliffe. Also, after Rupert Grint's bout with swine flu, his new name is Pigboy Heart Attack. [MTV]

Fringe:

A casting call went out for a guest star whom we'll meet in episode 2x16:

[HEATH] 30-35... Interesting look, lean and wiry. Open ethnicity.

[SpoilerTV]

Asked whether Peter's mom is from our universe or Over There, Jeff Pinkner replies cryptically: "In a show exploring two alternate universes, there is more than one of everything… and everyone." [EW]

Chuck:

This season, there's more international travel, taking Chuck out of the U.S. and dropping him into hotspots. And don't worry, Chuck's still a bumbling hero even though he knows kung-fu. His emotions interfere with his new abilities, and the new intersect is sometimes "fritzing out." The first episode is a "heist episode," In which Chuck and Sarah have to rappel Mission Impossible-style into a vault. One thing that Chuck is getting better at, though? Lying. Which is both good and bad. [TV Guide]

Sarah will go from being Chuck's caretaker to something more like his boss this season. Chuck's training as a real spy will bring up more backstory about Sarah's own entry into the spy biz, including her real name. [TV Guide again]

Flashforward:

There are a ton of casting calls for episodes 15 and 16. In episode 15, we'll meet Spiller, a white guy whose affable veneer can't hide the fact that he's a dick. And Lilliana, an older Latina woman who distrusts the FBI. There are also a couple of hospital nurses who encounter a frantic man searching for his loved one who's a patient, a tattooed Latino tough guy mechanic, a motherly Japanese waitress who takes an interest in a female customer, a mysterious dreadlocked man named Geoff, a driver on a sensitive assignment, and a teenager who offers to help an obvious drunk guy. (Mark? Does Mark get drunk and then wind up in the hospital?)

And then in episode 16, we meet Secret Service agent Freddie Ochoa, who gossips about a former colleague, and Marlene, the world-weary director of a group foster home. Plus Daniel, a Korean family man, Wanda, an African American mother, Raymond, an African American father, a federal prosecutor, a judge, a stenographer, a local TV host, a local TV weather girl, an older drunk who startles the wrong person, and a cute young guy and the girl he gets to know better in a humorous scene. Then there's Kat, a 27-year-old girl next door who's hiding a dark secret. [SpoilerTV and SpoilerTV]

Heroes:

Nathan's death is really "the big one that sticks" this time around, says Adrian Pasdar. And then he adds, "You never really know with this show." [MultipleVerses]

Just because Gretchen let Claire go off and become a carny, doesn't mean we've seen the last of her, says actor Madeline Zima. Right now, Gretchen is doing the whole "if you love someone set them free" thing, but it's not going to work out that great, reading between the lines. [TV Guide]

Additional reporting by Mary Ratliff.

Doctor Who:

Why is "Waters Of Mars," airing Sunday, so scary? Says Russell T. Davies:

It's the intensity – it's trapped, claustrophobic, desperate – which really ups the stakes. Towards the end, the monsters aren't the scary things: it's the humans and the Doctor who really give me a chill.

[Daily Telegraph]

Shifting forward to 2010, here are some set pics showing Matt Smith and Karen Gillan, on set at the Temple Of Peace (first featured in "The End Of The World,") which is rumored to be the Silurian Senate in a new two-parter. A couple of these photos give glimpses of what might be a Silurian head poking through a window. What do you think? (For those who aren't steeped in the lore, Silurians were prehistoric lizard people who turned up in 1970's "Doctor Who And The Silurians," and then made a comeback in 1984's "Warriors Of The Deep.")

According to one poster who claims to have inside info at the Gallifrey Base forums, those really are Silurians, but they look like crap and don't have a third eye. And there's an "overweight senate Silurian" who will make us want to facepalm. (Note: Everything not supported by photos is purely a rumor at this point!)

This is believed to be the same two-parter that the earlier graveyard scenes were from, and some fans say there was a lizard woman with a Predator-style mask in the graveyard sequences. The pics also include Alan Raglan, who plays Mo Northover, the father of the little boy from the graveyard scenes. Also, there's a huge rig shining a light from an upstairs window in one of these pics. Photos by Alun_Vega on Flickr [Gallifrey Base]

Lost:

Here's a casting call for a scientist we'll be meeting in episode 6x08:

[SEAMUS] Any ethnicity, 30s-40s. A scientist with some physicality to him. Not afraid to take charge and give orders. Looking for someone interesting. CO-STAR, POSSIBLE RECUR

[SpoilersLost]

In episode 6x07, there's a big scene where Sun, Ben, Frank, Ilana and Miles are on the beach, and they're surprised to see Jack, Hurley and Richard suddenly appear out of the jungle. This could be the big reunion of the 1970s and 2007 timelines — except then why would Miles already be there? And why is Richard arriving with Jack and Hurley? In any case, everyone embraces, and Claire is there, looking tough with straight black hair. [The Transmission via SpoilersLost]

V:

Sleazy anchorman Chad Decker won't be meeting up with Elizabeth Mitchell's FBI agent character, Erica, any time soon, says actor Scott Wolf. [USA Today]

Morena Baccarin says Anna doesn't have a huge un-masking moment in the first four episodes, but there may be some effects added to her face to give a glimpse of the lizard beneath. She meets Tyler, Erica's son, setting up a plotline in which Erica may have to challenge Anna to save her son. In the next few episodes:

We get to see more about how the Vs live. There are more hints at how they do certain things and there's some really great plot twists. [There are] characters' worlds that collide that you wouldn't expect.

[TV Guide]

Here's what happens in the last episode of 2009, "It's Only The Beginning":

Erica works with newly-formed allies to uncover a biological threat they suspect the Visitors have been plotting. Aboard the Mothership, Anna meets with a special guest while managing the investigation into the murder of a V. And Chad does a segment on the V Healing Centers, demonstrating their amazing medical abilities, but then finds himself conflicted by some of his findings

[SpoilerTV]

Dollhouse:

An interview with Eliza Dushku, where she talks about getting shot, green goo, G.I. Jane, and duking it out with Summer Glau. Most of the spoilery stuff is towards the end. [SpoilerTV]

The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus:

Here's a new U.S. poster for Terry Gilliam's next film — click on the link to see the whole thing. [Slashfilm]

Fringe:

Here are some promo pics for episode seven, "Of Human Action." [Fringe Television]

Supernatural:

A new clip from Thursday's episode, in which Chuck the Prophet gets manipulated. (You'd think his prophetic powers would prevent this sort of thing.)

And here are the first four episode titles of 2010, all of which have a definite movie theme going on: "Sam, Interrupted," "Being Sam Winchester," "Back to the Future II," and "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid". [SpoilerTV]

2012:

A fairly damning review at Hollywood Reporter includes a few spoilers. This movie steals sequences from "Earthquake," "The Poseidon Adventure," "Volcano," and even "Titanic." And it follows a dozen characters through various scrapes. There's a corrupt presidential aide (Oliver Platt) who has to choose who gets to go on the nuclear version of Noah's Ark and survive the devastation. You'll know who's going to die in this movie — it's anyone who's committed any sort of "extramarital transgression." [THR]

The Prisoner:

James Caviezel and Jamie Campbell Bower are interviewed about their roles in this remake of the classic series.

True Blood:

Looks like we'll be meeting Bill's ex, judging from this casting call:

[CAROLINE COMPTON] 20's. Seen in 1866, a lovely, very strong, brave, well-bred and well-spoken Southern woman, Caroline pulls a shotgun on the intruder into her house—clearly prepared to use it—till she realizes it's her husband Bill (Stephen Moyer), whom she was sure had died in the War sptv050769. THIS IS A GREAT SCENE...ACTRESS SHOULD RESEMBLE THE ACTRESS IN THE ATTACHED PHOTO

And here's the photo in question. [SpoilerTV]

Smallville:

The season's 13th and 14th episodes, respectively, will be called "Hubris" and "Conspiracy." [KryptonSite]

And here's a clip from Friday's episode, "Idol".

Additional reporting by Josh C. Snyder.

Inception

Cillian Murphy has apparently read the Inception script. His thoughts? Excited but vague:

"It's conceptual. It doesn't fit into any genre," he explained. "There are elements of different types of things in it but it is all from Chris' imagination. I've never read anything close to it before."

[MTV Movies Blog]

Thor

An eagle-eyed reporter noticed Dominic Cooper was reading casting slides for Thor. Although Cooper cautioned that nothing has been finalized, the part he was reading for is Fandral the Dashing, a member of the Warriors Three, a team of Asgardians who fight alongside Thor. So we might be seeing the trio (and Cooper) in the movie. [Movieline]

Stan Lee is disappointed that Kenneth Branagh didn't consider him for the role of Odin, though he will have a cameo in Thor. [Collider]

Battlestar Galactica: The Plan

The TV Obsessed has another spoilerific review of The Plan, including the fact that the Simon who has a wife and kid on one of the ships in the fleet airlocks himself rather than destroy the ship or be revealed as a Cylon — but he gets found out anyway. And Cavil sets off Five's explosive suicide vest himself. Also, we see the beginnings of Leoben's Kara obsession as he sits alone and listens to the fleet traffic. Cavil randomly stabs a little boy for no reason, just so we'll know how evil he is.

And there are some cool apocalyptic images of the Cylon attack on the Colonies. [The TV Obsessed]

The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus

Interviews with Terry Gilliam and the cast offer a few more glimpses of the trippy fantasy movie:

2012

If the latest stills from Roland Emmerich's disaster porn teach us anything, it's that the apocalypse will be wet. [IGN]

X-Files 3

David Duchovny would like to do a third film, but if it happens, he'd like to focus on the aliens and conspiracy that were central to the show's mythology. [IGN]

Eclipse

Kirsten Prout has been cast as Lucy, a vampire who appears only in flashbacks. A vampire named turns Jasper Hale into a vampire during the Civil War and recruits him for her vampire army. Jasper eventually betrays Maria and two of her soldiers, including Lucy. [MTV Movies Blog]

Dollhouse

It looks like Paul Ballard and Echo are going to lock lips in an upcoming episode, but that doesn't mean Paul has completely given himself over to the Dollhouse. Tamoh Penikett says that although Paul's been drinking the Kool-Aid a bit, he's going to have more issues with his new corporate role. [E! Online]

And we get a better look at Summer Glau and her poor, poor (left) arm in November 6th's episode "The Left Hand." [Spoiler TV]

Supernatural

In the November 19th episode, "Abandon All Hope," Lucifer will capture Castiel while the latter is on a recon mission in Missouri. Lucifer interrogates Castiel by trapping him in a burning ring fueled by holy oil. [TV Guide Magazine]

Heroes

Executive producer Adam Armus drops a few more hints as to which male original cast member will die:

"We always pull surprises on Heroes. That's all I have to say. It is an epic battle. It's an epic struggle between two very well-loved characters, and it's going to be really compelling."

So, who will be involved in this epic struggle? Hiro and Ando? Parkman and Sylar? Nathan and Sylar? [SCI FI Wire]

FlashForward

In the November 5th episode, "The Gift," the apparent connection between a Blue Hand club and some recent suicides leads Mark, Demetri, Gough, and MI6 agent Fiona Bands to investigate. Aaron will receive a surprise visit from an army buddy of his late daughter's. While Demetri reveals his lack of flashforward to Zoey, Nicole will help Bryce solve the mystery of his while volunteering at the hospital. [Spoiler TV]

Smallville

Lois throws some punches in this preview from Friday's episode "Roulette." [via Spoiler TV]

The Justice Society is assembling on Smallville and three of the members have been identified. Stargate SG-1's Michael Shanks will be playing Hawkman, Andromeda's Brent Stait will play Doctor Fate, and Aliens in America's Britt Irvin will play Stargirl. [IGN]

The Sarah Jane Adventures

This Thursday marks the beginning of the two-part serial "The Mad Woman in the Attic." We get an early glimpse of Donald Sumpter as Erasmus Darkening, Suranne Jones as Mona Lisa, and Eleanor Tomlinson as Eve. [Blogtor Who]

And in the second part of the serial, we'll see a pair of very familiar faces: the Third and Fourth Doctors. Granted, we'll be seeing Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker in flashbacks using archival footage, but we'll also see Sarah Jane's future — one featuring another familiar Doctor. The vision of the future will involve the phrase, "He is returning, he is coming back," and we'll see the TARDIS appear in the Bannerman Road attic. In another flashforward toward the end of the episode, where we'll encounter none other than the Tenth Doctor, David Tennant. Sarah Jane's robotic sidekick K9 will also be back, supposedly for good. [Den of Geek]

Additional reporting by Alexis Brown and Charlie Jane Anders.

This film is starting to look better and better.

[Images from Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus]

Doctor Who:

Where to start? Today's set reports are almost too much to contain in one summary! First of all, it seems as though the "bachelorette party" thing was wrong — Amy Pond really is a policewoman, unfeasibly short skirt and all. There are some photos of her with her hair in a severe updo. And fans witnessed a scene where Amy tries to drag the Doctor to a black rover (not a police car.) The Doctor says there are just 20 minutes until the end of the world, and don't you know who I am? He also makes a comment about how you people are always trying to lock him up. In another take of the same scene, the Doctor stops and looks at something, and Amy shouts "Nooo!" and grabs him by the tie and drags him physically to the car. (And there's quite a striking pic of the tie-grabbing below.)

According to a call sheet, there's a man named Barney in the coma ward, and Dr. Ramsden bends over him and asks if he can hear her. Also, the guy in the hospital scrubs (played by Arthur Darvill) is named Rory, and according to the call sheet, the Doctor notices that Rory is taking pictures of the dog man. (And the dog is wearing a towel as a cape in one shot, oddly enough.) Also the dog gets a turn in front of the green screen (video by Mugimoe):

There is a phone booth (a red one, not the TARDIS) which explodes. And we get to see the Leadworth fire brigade swing into action. And there are little weird touches of Leadworth everywhere, including postcards and fake street names. The Beeb has really gone to town this time around — I'm wondering if Leadworth is a fictional town for a reason?

Amy runs through the front gate of a grand house, but the Doctor jumps over a flowerbed. Then later, he jumps out into that same flowerbed and runs away.

And then — and here's the really demented bit — the Doctor gives a speech about how he'll defend the human race once again, while Rory and Amy stare at something in the sky. The Doctor raises his sonic screwdriver up in the air, to do something heroic and dramatic — and then the sonic screwdriver explodes in a ton of sparks! The Doctor looks at the burnt-out screwdriver, looking distinctly perturbed.

Photos by Mugim0e, Alun_Vega, Thai Footsoldier, and others. You guys rule! [Gallifrey Base]

Lost:

We mentioned yesterday that Suzanne Krull, who played Hurley's fake fortune teller Lynne Karnoff, would be back this season. And now she's Tweeted that she has a scene with Terry O'Quinn (Locke). [SpoilersLost]

The Imaginarium Of Dr. Parnassus:

A new trailer came out yesterday, and though it's pretty similar to the psychedelic international trailer we ran a while back, it does have some new snippets:

Gentlemen Broncos:

Some new stills show Jemaine Clement in a bookstore, and teaching a dynamic, exciting writing class. [Fox Searchlight]

Daybreakers:

Ethan Hawke plays Edward, a "human sympathizer" who was turned into a vampire agianst his will by his his younger brother Frankie (Michael Dorman.) Now Edward hunts for a synthetic blood substitute, a "Tru Blood" if you will. Frankie, meanwhile, is a soldier in the vampire army, happily hunting down the remaining humans. And then Edward encounters a group of human survivors led by Claudia Karvan, and this sparks him to search for a rumored cure for vampirism — one which Edward's boss (Sam Neil) wants no part of, because it might reduce the demand for blood, and that's bad for business. As the vampires have become more powerful, they've built covered sidewalks and customized their vehicles for daytime commutes. There are also mutant vampires, Subsiders, who live in the subways and wear latex outfits. One Subsider attacks Edward in his home, and we see he was still wearing his wedding ring when he transformed. [Horror Squad]

Supernatural:

Episode eight of the season will show us what it would be like if Sam and Dean were trapped inside an episode of Grey's Anatomy. (This is the same episode that plays like a sitcom, complete with laugh track. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think this show may actually be getting too metatextual. But I'm sure it'll rule in practice.) [EW]

Fringe:

The shape-shifting Charlie impersonator gets a bit desperate this week, because his new body is breaking down, and the Fringe gang is closing in. And of course, Olivia starts remembering more of her William Bell encounter. And finally, Olivia-Peter shippers will be thrilled by a scene where they discuss classic scifi movies, and in particular Invasion Of The Body Snatchers. [EW]

When we get more of the William Bell-Olivia meeting, Bell gives Olivia the name of the enemy, as well as very specific marching orders. [TV Guide]

Chuck:

Bryce Larkin may or may not be returning from the dead, but we'll probably see more of him in flashback sequences, says actor Matt Bonner. [ChuckTV]

"Stone Cold" Steve Austin guest stars in episode 3x05, "Chuck vs. First Class," playing Hugo Panzer, a master of close-quarters combat. And that's the episode that features Kristin Kreuk as a woman Chuck meets on an airplane to Paris, who winds up working at the Buy More. [ChuckTV]

In episode 8, "Chuck Vs. The Nose," Chuck has to impersonate Frankie, a sharpshooting chameleon and the worst kind of assassin. Chuck has some trouble convincing the Goodfellas-esque Matt and Scotty, two thugs, but finally wins them over. [ChuckTV]

Heroes:

NBC is really pushing this coming Monday's episode as the honest-to-gosh turning point for the series — they've sent out screeners, and want to make sure you see these clips, including Sylar's comeback and the famous Lesbian Kiss:

Also in Monday's episode, Peter falls for his deaf coworker, partly thanks to her amazing synesthesia powers. And the two of them even play a piano duet together, with the swooshy lights and stuff. But Peter must put his love on hold when an old friend (HRG, I'm guessing) shows up in need of his nursing skillz. [EW]

In Monday's episode, Claire thinks Gretchen is stalking her, but really there's a third party — another girl, who also has her eye on Claire — who is stirring things up. And even though they kiss, Claire doesn't really like Gretchen that way. [E! Online]

As you've probably gathered from the clips, a police detective questions an amnesiac Sylar, who has no clue why he has bullet holes in his shirt, or who he is. [TV Guide]

So now that Sylar has amnesia, what do we do with him? How about letting the Circus ringmaster, aka Fake Keith Richards, baptise him, in episode six, "Tabula Rasa"? And if that doesn't sell you on the episode, how about Hiro doing magic tricks in pajamas? Sold! Here are a ton of promo pics. [HeroSite]

And assuming the show is still on the air by then, here's what we'll see in the Nov. 2 episode, "Once Upon A Time In Texas":

HIRO GETS A SECOND CHANCE TO SAVE THE LOVE OF HIS LIFE – JAYMA MAYS RETURNS AS CHARLIE – When Hiro (Masi Oka) travels three years into the past, he has a second chance to save Charlie (guest star Jayma Mays) from the hands of Sylar (Zachary Quinto). However, Samuel's (Robert Knepper) presence serves to complicate Hiro's mission even further. Elsewhere, H.R.G.'s (Jack Coleman) past with his Primatech partner (guest star Elizabeth Rohm) is revealed.

[SpoilerTV]

Star Wars: The Clone Wars:

Here's what happens in Friday's new episode:

After outwitting his Jedi foes and escaping with the Holocron, bounty hunter Cad Bane sets into motion the next stage of his nefarious assignment: to find Force-sensitive younglings and take them to Mustafar for Sith training. But Bane is merely the instrument of evil, a deadly distraction to occupy the Jedi while the true source continues to plot from the shadows. While he has been glimpsed in previous episodes – and in his seemingly benevolent double-role as Supreme Chancellor of the Republic – Darth Sidious emerges in "Children of the Force" as a direct threat to the galaxy's future.

And here's a new clip from the episode:

And here's a new photo of Sidious himself. [Lucasfilm]

Smallville:

Oliver Queen will meet the evil version of himself, called (bwaaaa ha ha)... The Dark Archer. In episode 10 of this season. And seriously, this show needs Ambush Bug or Booster Gold and Blue Beetle to do a commentary track on every episode. [EW]

In tomorrow night's episode, when Clark gets the power of (bwaaaa haa ha!) thought-hearing, he hears all of the schmoopy things Lois has been thinking about him. And Clark reads Lois' mind and realizes she has a love of giant cars — and she's been dying to go to the Monster Truck Rally. So he takes her there, on their first official date. And fans will find her date-night ensemble "really funny," promises Erica Durance. But a threat to Oliver Queen's life will force Clark to put their date on hold. [TV Guide Magazine via SpoilerTV]

FlashForward:

Dominic Monaghan will finally turn up — briefly — in next week's episode. [EW]

And a casting call for episode 11 gives a few hints about upcoming plot lines:

[CASSIE] 30s-50s, open to all ethnicities. Earthy, off-beat, sharply intelligent. Witty, cuts straight through the bullshit. Involved in a revealing conversation with high stakes for a major player. Guest star.

[AGENT GALLOWAY] Female, 30s, open to all ethnicities. An FBI agent, she interacts with an arrogant expert, giving it right back to him when he condescends to her. Could recur

[GIANCARLO] 30's Italian, attractive. A professional photographer and solid family man who comes to recent renown. Gets caught up in his own hype and loses sight of his values. 3 scenes

[AGENT] Male, 50s, open to all ethnicities. Veteran FBI Agent whose light banter with a co-worker suddenly turns serious upon the discovery of some disturbing news sptv050769. 1 scene

[JONNY] Early 20's, Caucasian, boisterous and fun-loving to a fault. Gets in trouble for being careless and irresponsible. His saving grace is an underlying sweetness. 3 scenes.

[LIARNA KASSEL] Female, open age and ethnicities. NPR news reporter heard over the radio reporting standard daily news. Voice only, not photographed.

[DARNELL] Teenager. African-American. Good kid, future NBA superstar, wrestles with his conscience when he's asked to throw a championship game.

[SpoilerTV]

Green Lantern:

Some new casting calls for this live-action superhero film don't really contain any surprises (they're in line with the script we reviewed ages ago), except maybe for Carol Ferris being an ex-pilot. But they do give us hope the film is moving forward despite some setbacks:

[CAROL FERRIS] 26-32, a smart and attractive woman with an MBA. She started as a pilot and now runs Ferris Aircraft. She is a work-a-holic...FEMALE LEAD

[DR. HECTOR HAMMOND] 27-35, Character actor who is austere and impersonal, he is real "scummy." He is a pathologist and also the son of a Senator.

[SINESTRO] Mid-30s to Mid-40s, he is smart, tough, intimidating and in great physical shape.

[ABIN SUR] Mid-30s to mid-40s, he is a great warrior.

[SpoilerTV]

Iron Man 2:

Edward Norton says that to the best of his knowledge, he's not in this film. But you never know — a cameo could easily be filmed and inserted between now and its release date. [MTV via ComicBookResources]

The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus:

Some new stills show just how decadent and wild this movie will really get. Nudity, dreamscapes and Verne Troyer! [IGN]

New Moon:

A new promo gives us more awesome Volturi action. Have you noticed there's a lot of mouth-breathing in this movie?

Dollhouse:

Eliza Dushku spills which Dollhouse regular gets to play with Summer Glau. And Enver Gjokaj and Dichen Lachman talk about Victor and Sierra's romance. [E! Online]

Fringe:

Some more promo photos from episode 2x03, "Fracture". [SpoilerTV]

FlashForward:

A casting call for episode eight introduces us to a character with an unforgettable name:

[HIGH ROLLER #2] 40s-60s, Male, Open to all ethnicities. Wealthy denizen of an upscale private gaming establishment. Finds himself quite entertaining, a Johnny Carson-type, but quick tempered when things don't go his way. Day player.

[SpoilerTV]

In an upcoming episode, Olivia (Sonya Walger) has to do lung surgery on a small child in a tense scene. In another scene, the main FBI agent heroes, Mark and Demetri, visit a Nazi in a German prison — he tells them he has information on the "event," but he won't spill unless he's released. [TV Guide via FlashForwardZilla]

Here's one new U.S. TV spot, plus a new Russian promo clip, and four new Spanish promo videos — just so you can get the international perspectives on this glimpse-the-future show. [FlashForward.PL and FlashForwardZilla]

Supernatural:

The title of episode 5x08 will be similar to that of a past episode. This time, it's "Are You There, God? It's Me, Sam Winchester." (Last year, it was "Dean Winchester.") [SpoilerTV]

Smallville:

The official title for episode 9x10 is "Disciple," and the Justice Society turns up in 9x11. Meanwhile, here are some new photos from the season opener, "Savior," plus a couple new pics from the second episode, "Metallo." [Kryptonsite]

Eastwick:

Another casting call — this show is looking for a few characters for its seventh episode:

[SUZY] In her early 20s, Caucasian, a pretty young thing, she is a teeny-tiny Abercrombie type. Raymond's date, she tries to make chit-chat when introduced to Kat, but is quick to feel the chill in the air...1 SCENE, POSSIBLE ONE DAY GUEST STAR (1)

[SILVER FOX-TYPE GENTLEMAN] Late 40s to late 50s. This silver fox-type gentleman and his much younger wife are perusing Roxie's paintings at a gallery showing. A self-possessed urbanite, he speaks authoritatively about the work, only to be surprised by Roxie's offbeat sales pitch and then unexpected show of temper...1 SCENE, POSSIBLE ONE DAY GUEST STAR (1)

[MUCH YOUNGER WIFE] Late 20s to early 30s. She is the Silver-Fox Type's much younger wife, seen in a splashy, tight Pucci outfit while attending a showing of Roxie's paintings. Smarter than she looks, she and her husband are equal parts appalled and amused by Roxie's strange sales pitch...1 SCENE sptv050769, POSSIBLE ONE DAY GUEST STAR (1)

[SpoilerTV]

And here's a new promo poster, with a catchy slogan. [SpoilerTV]

Additional reporting by Alexis Brown.

You have to admit the sight of Tom Waits as a sleazy, louche devil gets you kind of excited. And then there's the added visual evidence of Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell all playing the same person, which is something no other movie will ever attempt. Will the movie disappoint? You'll find out for yourself, when it opens Oct. 16.

[Cinemablend and Playlist]

During an interview to promote his new The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Gilliam revealed what he thought about Snyder's take on the classic graphic novel:

It got trashed, but there are great sequences in there, but the overall effect is kind of turgid in a certain way. I started putting it down to… you know, in the comic book, or graphic novel… They're still comic books to me (laughs)… It's like the Comedian's coffin is going into the grave with the stars and stripes on top of it and reading it in the comic book it's three panels, boom, boom and boom. On film "hhhhhhhhhhhhmmmmm…"

The pace is wrong. I was glad our version didn't get done, the one that Charles McKeown and I had wrote, because we had reduced it down to about two hours and five minutes I think and we lost so much. Comedian was cut down to next to nothing. So (Zack Snyder) did a good job, but it just felt… I also thought The Incredibles had kind of fucked it for him... [S]o much of that material had been in a quarry that everybody had been digging goodies out of and suddenly you get lost. I think Watchmen really bothered me, because I thought it should be better. It was all there. It looked right, but to me it was pace. It didn't have pace. It needed a bit more quirkiness in there. Dr. Manhattan was getting boring, frankly, and then Ozymandias by the end I thought "Oh, come on!" They lost me by the end, frankly, but it was certainly looking better than what I was going to do! (laughs)

Quint chats with Terry Gilliam about The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Watchmen, Pixar, Ledger and much more! [Ain't It Cool]

First off it looks like we're getting extra helpings of Terry Gilliam's demented psychedelic world, and a whole lotta wire-work. Let's keep our fingers crossed for Gilliam's success, so we can possibly get more than one Gilliam movie every five years.

Here's the wild synopsis:

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is a fantastical morality tale, set in the present day. It tells the story of Dr Parnassus and his extraordinary 'Imaginarium', a travelling show where members of the audience get an irresistible opportunity to choose between light and joy or darkness and gloom. Blessed with the extraordinary gift of guiding the imaginations of others, Dr Parnassus is cursed with a dark secret. Long ago he made a bet with the devil, Mr Nick, in which he won immortality. Many centuries later, on meeting his one true love, Dr Parnassus made another deal with the devil, trading his immortality for youth, on condition that when his first-born reached its 16th birthday he or she would become the property of Mr Nick. Valentina is now rapidly approaching this 'coming of age' milestone and Dr Parnassus is desperate to protect her from her impending fate. Mr Nick arrives to collect but, always keen to make a bet, renegotiates the wager. Now the winner of Valentina will be determined by whoever seduces the first five souls. Enlisting a series of wild, comical and compelling characters in his journey, Dr Parnassus promises his daughter's hand in marriage to the man that helps him win. In this captivating, explosive and wonderfully imaginative race against time, Dr Parnassus must fight to save his daughter in a never-ending landscape of surreal obstacles - and undo the mistakes of his past once and for all...

Doctor Parnassus will be out October 16th.

Here are the clips he showed:

Parnassus and the Devil

The first part of this scene between Dr. Parnassus and his daughter Valentina is here:

But the scene goes on from there. As the bird flies back down inside the monastery, we see a giant statue representing the world: a disc resting on the back of a turtle, resting on the backs of four elephants. Monks sit below the statue in fanciful Himalayan-inspired monk garb: saffron robes and tall pointed hats. Parnassus, the chief steward of these monks, sits apart from them in heavy eyeliner.

Parnassus continues to explain that the chief steward, after performing his task of keeping the world spinning on its axis, had a dream that a dark rider came and visited him. The heavy front door to the monastery opens and we see the masked rider outside — only now he is revealed as Tom Waits' Devil, riding mask in hand and a bowler hat on his head, ready with a genial greeting.

Your dreams:

Here's the whole thing:

Weird voyage:

A man is standing in front of the Imaginarium's faux mirror. Parnassus' daughter Valentina, wearing a dress and a white wig, comes out of the mirror, then back in, and the man follows her into the Imaginarium.

They are transported to a forest of fake trees, the sort of flat, painted set pieces you might see in a play. The man lustily chases Valentina — whose hair has become the wig and whose dress is transformed into something fancier and more fitted — as she runs away giggling. But when he finally catches up with her, she rewards him not with a kiss but with a punch in the face, and she dashes off giggling again. He falls face first into the mud, crying, "Come back, you bitch."

He starts to get up, but he catches his reflection in a puddle of water. The face staring back is now a different face. He becomes frightened, first shouting, "My face!" and then "Is anyone there."

Suddenly, we hear a horrible shrieking and an oversized green hand attached to a rope seizes the man and drags him up into the sky. The green hand has no body, but a tiny head with a mop of red hair where the elbow should be. It continues to shriek as it pulls the man up, up into a sky populated by gently pulsing jellyfish. The man begs the hand to release him. It complies, and of course he plummets to the ground.

We suddenly cut to a giant tack that is sitting on red sand prong-up, and we're obviously meant to fear that he'll be skewered when he lands. But instead, he merely falls into the bowl and, when he realizes he's safe, breathes a sigh of relief.

After showing those clips, Gilliam went upstairs for a chat with a handful of reporters, including us. He praised Ledger's deft, multi-layered performance, which laid down tons of clues for the actors who replaced him in the fantasy sequences: Colin Farrell, Jude Law and Johnny Depp. It was pure luck, he said, that Ledger made the artistic choice (which wasn't in the script) to wear his weird mask every time he went inside the magic mirror, which made it easier for the other actors to replace him in the weird sequences on the other side. He says Ledger's character was partly inspired by Tony Blair, because Gilliam was so angry at Blair for serving as such an eloquent mouthpiece for George Bush during the Iraq war.

We asked Gilliam what he thought he would see if he went inside the mysterious Imaginarium, and he laughed raucously, saying:

That's what's on film, what I see. You get to see what I see. I just had a lot of silly ideas. Let's make this mirror and on the other side... I was playing a bit, to see if I could find a world halfway between the realistic world and the cartoon world. Like the Grant Wood scene, with Jude, it's all a sort of Grant Wood landscape, a painterly landscape, but the trick is you have to feel you're in the space, even though it is what it is, and it's not realistic.

Someone pointed out that Gilliam actually started out his career as a cartoonist, so this is sort of returning to his roots. He replied:

This is my Fanny And Alexander, my Amarcord. This is a compendium of all the things I used to be good at. (Laughs)

He says he conceived of this film because he was fascinated with the idea of anachronism, and wanted to bring an old-fashioned carnival troupe into the present day — although he also wrestled with the idea of bringing in some futuristic elements or having a future setting.

Gilliam says he's "trying to push the idea that it's Parnassus' story." Ledger's character doesn't show up for the first 15-20 minutes of the movie, so if you go in expecting it to be about Ledger's character, you're going to be disappointed.

Iron Man 2:

A few new pics of Tony Stark on a trashed, flaming race track, plus Pepper Potts and Rhodey, from USA Today's Comic Con preview. [USA Today via Slashfilm]

Tron:

Producer Sean Bailey told MTV News that the new movie is a "stand-alone sequel" and you don't have to have seen the original to appreciate it. But it takes the stance that the original movie happened in 1982, and since then there have been developments with ENCOM and Kevin Flynn and all the other characters. In the film, Flynn disappeared in 1989, and there are tons of theories about what happened to him. But no trace has ever been found. Flynn's son, Sam, grows up never knowing what happened to him.

Says Bailey, "At the beginning of the movie, [Sam is] given a clue or a prompt and starts to investigate, which leads him into the Tron universe. And things have really changed." You'll still see lightcycles and tanks, but they'll be streamlined and improved, plus there are also new vehicles. And it's a "darker universe" with more intensity. It'll push the limits of the PG rating. It'll be, like, PG-12. [MTV]

District 9:

Sony Pictures released a new still showing Wikus (Sharlto Copley) wielding a honkin big alien-looking gun. [Slashfilm]

And here's your first longer TV spot, showing a bit more of this movie's backstory:

New Moon:

OMG new photo of Jacob and Bella. D00d! [Bella And Edward]

The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus:

Ahead of this movie's panel at Comic Con, here are a couple new clips, plus a better copy of the one we showed you a while back.

Doctor Who:

Even more set photos of day two of the Matt Smith/Alex Kingston filming. This is rapidly becoming the most photographed TV set in history. More pics at the link. [SpoilerTV]

The final David Tennant specials won't mention the events of Torchwood's big miniseries, as such.[EW]

Torchwood:

This show will most likely be back, and Captain Jack will probably continue to be the main character, says Russell T. Davies. "I would hope so. He's absolutely fundamental to Torchwood." But when the show returns, Davies will also be inventing some new characters and stories. [EW]

Fringe:

Ari Graynor will be back as Rachel in the season opener, but there's no clue about her availability beyond that. [EW]

Heroes:

Here's a new set pic, showing Rick Worthy (aka Simon the Cylon) as Matt Parkman's new partner and mentor. [Heroes Spoilers]

Smallville:

Episode three of the new season will be called "Rabid." [Kryptonsite]

Star Wars: The Clone Wars:

Here's your first look at how evil bounty hunter Aurra Sing (glimpsed in Phantom Menace and featured heavily in the Dark Horse comics) will look in this animated series. Click the link for another pic of a new character in Clone Wars. [EW]

Additional reporting by Alexis Brown.

Spider-Man 4:

I've been trying to avoid posting too many items about this movie where people speculate wildly because Sam Raimi coughed in the middle of an interview or mentioned that he likes anchovies. (That's a hypothetical example, but if Raimi did happen to mention he likes anchovies, that would mean the Sub-Mariner is in the film.) In any case, Raimi gave an interview where he was asked about the possibility of the new movie having Morbius the vampire in the film, and he gave a sort of non-committal answer. But he kind of winked. So, there ya go. [Fearnet via MTV]

Iron Man 2:

Jon Favreau and crew are building a massive set for this film. What do you think it is? More pics at the link. [Superhero Hype]

The Last Airbender:

Here are high-res versions of the two photos we ran the other day, plus another Dev Patel photo. [Slashfilm]

The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus:

Here's a bit of a plot synopsis for this Terry Gilliam film:

Doctor Parnassus (an absolutely wonderful Christopher Plummer) is immortal as the result of a pact made over 1000 years ago with the devil, known here as ""Mr. Nick"" and played with gravelly aplomb by Tom Waits. In contemporary London, the doctor, his teenage daughter Valentina (Lily Cole) and troupe members Anton (Andrew Garfield) and Percy (Verne Troyer, perhaps best known as Mini Me, in a straight role) give impromptu performances from their portable theater. Playing mostly to the poorer areas of the city, they invite patrons to walk through a slit-down-the-middle mirror that leads to fantastic and unpredictable landscapes.

Ledger played Tony as a fellow who may be helpful, may be harmful and should definitely be dead. (Given Ledger's untimely demise, much will be made of how Tony cheats death, but those scenes should be read as long-percolating fantasy and not ironic wishful thinking.)

All four Tonys sport a white suit and similar facial hair. The three adjunct Tonys take on some of Ledger's mannerisms but also bring theirown flourishes to the part (one of the special effects that Law ends up with really stood out for us).

The result is an epic, frequently comical and always imaginative showdown between good and evil, played out with a slightly overbearing mix of declaiming and flailing and rescued by wonderful set pieces in the Imaginarium itself.

Although there are dark and scary moments along the way, the ending is both satisfying and happy.

[NY Post ]

Cowboys And Aliens:

Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman talk this comic-book adaptation, due out in 2010. It's about an invasion of extraterrestrials who want to enslave humanity, but a group of cowboys and Apaches stand in their way. They'd like to see Robert Downey Jr. in the film, but it depends on his schedule. And they say there are some things in the graphic novel that don't translate to the screen, so they're having to make some changes. [Sci Fi Wire]

Scott Pilgrim:

Director Edgar Wright posted some hilariously awesome photos of stuff in this graphic novel adaptation. [Edgar Wright]

Doctor Who:

More about those awesome rumors that Timothy Dalton would be appearing in the final Tennant episodes. A totally unreliable source says Dalton is staying in Cardiff because he's just been filming Doctor Who. Also, they claim Dalton was fitted for a "Time Lord costume" back in London. [Doctor Who Forum]

Also, the show's first writer for 2010 (apart from Steven Moffat) has been confirmed: an agent's website says Gareth Roberts is writing one episode of the new season. [Life, The Universe & Combom]

Sarah Jane Adventures:

The BBC press release includes more details about season three of this awesome Doctor Who spinoff, including another hint about that wedding:

The series includes 12 weeks of brand new adventures featuring a new alien race, the reptilian Veil and their enemies the Judoon, alongside an extraterrestrial girl that can make people play games against their will.

There will also be a living painting, the inhabitants of a supposedly haunted house, monsters who want to infect Earth with a strangely aggressive weed and a chance for Sarah Jane to find personal happiness with someone who could be the perfect person to complete her family

[Planet Gallifrey]

Sanctuary:

Producer Damian Kindler Tweeted a bunch about episode eight of season two, in which there's a trapped helicopter and a dead oil rig, and a deadly sea creature. Robin Dunne is involved, which makes fans speculate that the "sexual tension" Kindler mentions involves Dunne's character, Will. And the trapped helicopter will be "hanging over the water." [Sanctuary Daily]

Additional reporting by Alasdair Wilkins.

So far, Parnassus seems to be getting mixed reviews, with critics enjoying Gilliam's inventiveness (especially in figuring out how to switch in other actors for Ledger) but feeling like the film is mostly for an arthouse audience or for die-hard fans.

Says Screen Daily:

To anyone not sympathetic to Gilliam's flights of fantasy, Parnassus will reek of rambling self-indulgence but fans will welcome it as a return to what he does best.

The Hollywood Reporter says that Gilliam used great imagination and skill to replace Ledger, but the film doesn't rank with Gilliam's greatest work. And the HR offers a bit of a plot summary:

Filled with phantasmagorical images with the occasional echo of "Monty Python's Flying Circus," the picture involves a classic duel between the forces of imagination, led by Dr. Parnassus (Christopher Plummer), and the architect of fear and ignorance, known here as Mr. Nick (Tom Waits).

Andrew Garfield and Lily Cole provide youthful love interest, and Ledger is again the joker in the pack as a stranger who is not what he seems.

The setting is a horse-drawn carnival sideshow in modern London, an attraction in which Dr. Parnassus, who claims to be immortal, invites ticket buyers to enter a world of their own imagination by stepping through a large mirror. Once beyond it, faces change and fates vary, which is how Gilliam gets away with having Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell step into the Ledger role.

Ledger makes his entrance as a man being hanged from London's Blackfriar's Bridge with his arms tied at his back. Saved and named George by the members of Dr. Parnassus' troupe, he claims to remember nothing and joins the players. The doctor and Mr. Nick have a lifelong wager in which the soul of Dr. P's daughter (Cole) is the prize, and he suspects the devil has placed George there to make trouble. The rest of the film involves various plunges into the mirror's vast wonderland, with George changing physiognomy along the way.

Says Variety:

With Ledger onscreen more than might have been expected, the film possesses strong curiosity value bolstered by generally lively action and excellent visual effects, making for good commercial prospects in most markets.

IGN is more damning:

With clumsy dialogue, poor plotting and some downright terrible performances, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is a huge disappointment for any fan of Terry Gilliam's work.

The BBC is muted:

There's no doubt that the imaginary world he's created is awe-inspiring, but it's ultimately designed for an art house audience.

The critics at Cannes loved it, but most cinema-goers would need to see it more than once to start untangling the multiple themes.

As for Ledger, it feels like a post-script performance - he's only in the movie for a third of the time and even if he had lived to complete it, it wouldn't be chalked up as one of his most memorable films.

The Huffington Post gives it one and a half stars out of four:

This modest fantasy feels like a mishmash of the usual Terry Gilliam obsessions, but less so.

And the Guardian seems to sum up the buzz perfectly:

When Gilliam shoots off into his surreal wonderland, his film has a kind of helium-filled jollity and spectacle. The moments when Plummer's face looms hugely out of the hallucinatory landscape are great: a reminder of the old Python magic. But the film's convoluted curlicues are tiring, insisting too loudly on how "imaginative" everything is. And when it descends into the real world – Lucy out of the sky without diamonds, as it were – the film can frankly be a bit ho-hum, with some very broad acting from the bit-part crowd players. Gilliam's previous movie Tideland showed he still has teeth, and he bares them occasionally here. The dark side reveals itself, time and again, in the ruined, unsentimental locations in London. But this movie, though perfectly amiable, could be for fans only.

Meet The Final Cylon
If there's anyone out there who's not looking forward to the final episodes of Battlestar Galactica, then they've either seen them already or should consider putting down that crack pipe. It's not just the revelation of the identity of the Final Cylon - and I'm totally putting my money on Gaeta at this point - but also seeing just how Ron Moore and team will bring the story to what we're promised is a satisfying and "operatic" close.

A Summer Not Dominated By Superhero Movies
Sure, there's Watchmen in March, but that already feels like something from the past; superhero movies were so 2008. 2009, by contrast is The Year Of Reliving Someone Else's Childhood, with new Transformers, new Star Trek, new Terminator and GI Joe (Not to mention new Witch Mountain). I'm ignoring Wolverine by way of leading by example, because you should all do the same thing. Along similar lines:

Genre Directors Pushing Themselves Again
Maybe it's just my cynical eye, but with the exception of the Wachowskis and Speed Racer (and, arguably, Chris Nolan and Dark Knight), 2008 seemed pretty light on big name directors trying to dazzle us. Thankfully, 2009 offers at least two movies to fill that void. James Cameron's 3D Avatar may have the most eyes on it right now - if only because he hasn't made a movie since 1997's Titanic - but I'm much more excited about Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus, which sees him try to reclaim the scope and grandeur of Time Bandits and Brazil. You know that, even if he fails, it'll probably be the most interesting movie of the year.

Scott Pilgrim
It's not just that 2009 will give us the fifth (and penultimate) volume of Bryan Lee O'Malley's video game-influenced magic realist series about life, love and being Canadian (Scott Pilgrim Vs. The Universe is released in February), but the long-discussed movie adaptation from Shawn Of The Dead and Hot Fuzz's Edgar Wright should begin shooting, as well. Pretty soon, the world will know Pilgrim's name, and I'll have to fight my urge to say his earlier stuff was better.

Who Is The New Doctor Who?
Yes, I'm sad that David Tennant is leaving as well, but I'm looking forward to the announcement of his successor. Not just because I want to know who it is - I'm still leaning towards Paterson Joseph - but because I'm ready for everyone to stop starting wildly inaccurate rumors about "the latest name to throw their hat into the ring." And, yes, that's also my main reason for hoping that Chris Nolan starts thinking about a sequel to The Dark Knight, as well. I mean, Rachel Weisz is one thing, but when you're reduced to Eddie Murphy, that's just getting ridiculous.

Final Cylon image from Nerdgod.

Gilliam is working on a movie called Zero Theorem, confirms the screenplay's author, University of Central Florida professor Pat Rushin. He won't divulge much about the movie's storyline, but it's supposedly a smaller story, more along the lines of The Fisher King than a huge 12 Monkeys-style operatic piece. Rushin is the author of a book of short stories called Quantum Physics And My Dog Bob, a title which which can't help filling me with hope for his writing.

Of course, Gilliam has some other projects on his plate. He's just finishing work on The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus, the last movie featuring the late Heath Ledger, which has Colin Farrell, Jude Law and Johnny Depp subbing in for Ledger. Says Gilliam:

Basically the movie (Dr Parnassus) is finished apart from about 600 special effects shots which are not quite finished,” Gilliam told City Times. “We’re in the final stages of development. Some of the effects have to be reshot because of Heath’s passing. He’s never computer generated in the film, but certain other things have to be changed. We had to change the script in certain ways. It was also partly due to the schedules of Johnny, Colin and Jude because they were all involved in other projects and we had to shoot very fast and not as controlled as I would like to be just to get them done. We literally had Johnny for a day and a half and I had a lot of work to do. Trying to work the transitions out from Heath’s character to the others took longer in some instances so everything just started growing.

He also says he rewrote the script in two days to accomodate the changing actors. I have a feeling Parnassus will be an interesting movie rather than a great movie. [Film Ick]

If anything, the retrospective nature of the 2:48 video is as depressing as it is comforting; it's one thing to say for Gilliam to say that the new movie "feels like the kind of films I made when I was younger," but the constant use of scenes from Brazil and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen throughout the piece - along with the generic trailer blurb about the movie taking you on a journey "beyond imagination" - also robs the viewer of any sense of newness or discovery. Or maybe I'm just being too picky. What do you think?

Teaser Trailer From Terry Gilliam’s THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS! [Quickstop Entertainment]

Thanks John