Comic-Con 2015 – Suicide Squad, X-Men 8, Sherlock, Warcraft and more

The San Diego Comic-Con of 2015 has arrived in style with some of the biggest announcements of the year. We’ll roundup some of the biggest events of film’s biggest weekend.

Film: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2
Panelists: Jennifer Lawrence (Katniss, Silver Linings Playbook), Liam Hemsworth (Gale, The Expendables 2), Josh Hutcherson (Peeta, Escobar: Paradise Lost), Willow Shields (Primrose, Beyond the Blackboard), Francis Lawrence (director, I am Legend), Nina Jacobson (producer, One Day), Conan O’Brien (superfan)
Release: November 2015

Show: Doctor Who season 9
Panelists: Peter Capaldi (The Doctor, In the Loop), Jenna Coleman (Clara, Death Comes to Pemberly), Michelle Gomez (Missy, Green Wing), Steven Moffatt (writer, Sherlock)
Release: September 2015

Show: Sherlock season 3.5
Panelists: Rupert Graves (Lestrade, The White Queen), Steven Moffatt (writer, Doctor Who), Sue Vertue (producer, Coupling)
Release: December 2015

Film: Rock the Kasbah
Panelists: Bill Murray (Ghost Busters), Bruce Willis (Die Hard), Zooey Deschanel (Elf), Danny McBride (This is the End), Kate Hudson (Almost Famous), Scott Caan (Ocean’s Eleven), Mitch Glazer (producer, Magic City)
Release: October 2015

Shows: Agents of SHIELD season 3, Agent Carter season 2
Panelists: Hayley Atwell (Peggy Carter, Testament of Youth), James D’Arcy (Edwin Jarvis, Cloud Atlas), Clark Gregg (Phil Coulson, Much Ado About Nothing), Chloe Bennett (Daisy Johnson, Nashville), Brett Dalton (Grant Ward, Beyond Still Water), Ming-Na Wen (Melinda May, Mulan), Iain De Caestecker (Leo Fitz, In Fear), Elizabeth Henstridge (Gemma Simmons, Delicacy), Nick Blood (Lance Hunter, Babylon), Adrianne Palicki (Bobbi Morse, John Wick), Henry Simmons (Alpohnso McKenzie, No Good Deed), Luke Mitchell (Lincoln Campbell, The Tomorrow People), Jeph Loeb (producer, Heroes)
Release: September 2015 and January 2016 respectively.

Film: Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Panelists: John Boyega (Finn, Attack the Block), Daisy Ridley (Rey, Toast of London), Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron, A Most Violent Year), Adam Driver (Kylo Ren, Girls), Domhnall Gleeson (General Hux, Ex Machina), Gwendoline Christie (Captain Phasma, Game of Thrones), Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker, Arkham City), Carrie Fisher (Leia Solo, When Harry Met Sally), Harrison Ford (Han Solo, Blade Runner), Kathleen Kennedy (producer, Jurassic Park), Lawrence Kasdan (writer, Raiders of the Lost Ark), JJ Abrams (writer/director, Star Trek Into Darkness)
Release: December 2015

Film: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
Panelists: Lily James (Elizabeth Bennett, Cinderella), Bella Heathcote (Jane Bennett, Dark Shadows), Sam Riley (Mr Darcy, One the Road), Douglas Booth (Mr Bingley, Noah), Jack Huston (Mr Whickham, American Hustle), Matt Smith (Mr Collins, Doctor Who), Ben Sturr (writer/director, 17 Again), Seth Grahame Smith (author, Dark Shadows)
Release: February 2016

Film: Crimson Peak
Panelists: Mia Wasikowska (Edith Cushing, Stoker), Tom Hiddleston (Thomas Sharpe, Avengers Assemble), Jessica Chastain (Lucille Sharpe, Interstellar), Guillermo Del Toro (writer/director, Pacific Rim)
Release: October 2015

Film: Warcraft
Panelists: Ben Foster (Medivh, Lone Survivor), Paula Patton (Garona, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol), Dominic Cooper (Llane Wrynn, Captain America: The First Avenger), Travis Fimmel (Anduin Lothar, Vikings), Daniel Wu (Gul’dan, The Man With the Iron Fists), Clancy Brown (Blackhand, The Shawshank Redemption), Ben Schnetzer (Khadgar, Pride), Toby Kebbell (Durotan, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes), Duncan Jones (director, Source Code)
Release: June 2016

Film: Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice
Panelists: Ben Affleck (Bruce Wayne, Argo), Henry Cavill (Clark Kent, The Man From UNCLE), Gal Gadot (Diana Prince, Fast & Furious), Amy Adams (Lois Lane, American Hustle), Jesse Eisenberg (Lex Luthor, The Social Network), Jeremy Irons (Alfred Pennyworth, The Lion King), Holly Hunter (Senator Finch, Cast Away), Zack Snyder (director, 300)
Summary: The superhero smackdown showed off a trailer and Q&A.
Release: March 2016

Film: The Hateful Eight
Panelists: Kurt Russell (John Ruth, The Thing), Jennifer Jason Leigh (Daisy Domergue, Road to Perdition), Walton Goggins (Chris Mannix, The Shield), Michael Madsen (Joe Gage, Donnie Brasco), Tim Roth (Oswaldo Mobray, Selma), Bruce Dern (Sandy Smithers, Nebraska), Quentin Tarantino (writer/director, Pulp Fiction)
Release: January 2016

Film: Fantastic Four
Panelists: Miles Teller (Reed Richards, Whiplash), Michael B Jordan (Johnny Storm, Fruitvale Station), Kate Mara (Susan Storm, House of Cards), Jamie Bell (Ben Grimm, The Adventures of Tintin), Toby Kebbell (Victor Domashev, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes), Simon Kinberg (writer, Sherlock Holmes), Josh Trank (director, Chronicle)
Release: August 2015

Film: Deadpool
Panelists: Ryan Reynolds (Wade Wilson, Safe House), Morena Baccarin (Vanessa Carlyle, Serenity), Gina Carano (Angel Dust, Haywire), TJ Miller (Weasel, Cloverfield), Ed Skrein (Ajax, Ill Manors), Brianna Hildebrand (Ellie Phimister, Prism), Tim Miller (director, Gopher Broke)
Release: February 2016

Film: X-Men: Apocalypse
Panelists: James McAvoy (Charles Xavier, Trance), Michael Fassbender (Erik Lensherr, Prometheus), Jennifer Lawrence (Raven Darkholme, The Hunger Games), Nicholas Hoult (Hank McCoy, Warm Bodies), Oscar Isaac (En Sabah Nur, A Most Violent Year), Evan Peters (Peter Maximoff, American Horror Story), Lucas Till (Alex Summers, Walk the Line), Tye Sheridan (Scott Summers, The Tree of Life), Sophie Turner (Jean Grey, Game of Thrones), Alexandra Shipp (Ororo Munroe, Ray Donovan), Kodi Smit McPhee (Kurt Wagner, The Road), Ben Hardy (Warren Worthington, Eastenders), Lana Condor (Jubilation Lee), Olivia Munn (Betsy Braddock, The Newsroom), Channing Tatum (Remy LaBeau, 21 Jump Street), Hugh Jackman (Logan, The Prestige), Stan Lee (writer, The Fantastic Four), Simon Kinberg (writer, Sherlock Holmes), Bryan Singer (director, The Usual Suspects)
Release: May 2016

Film Suicide Squad
Panelists: Will Smith (Floyd Lawton, Independence Day), Margot Robbie (Harleen Quinzel, The Wolf of Wall Street), Joel Kinnaman (Rick Flagg, RoboCop), Jai Courtney (George Harkness, Terminator Genisys), Cara Delevinge (Enchantress, Paper Towns), Adam Beach (Christopher Weiss, Flags of our Fathers), Jay Hernandez (Chato Santana, Hostel), Karen Fukuhara (Tatsu Yamashiro), Adewale Akinnuoye Agbaje (Waylon Jones, Thor: The Dark World), Viola Davis (Amanda Waller, The Help), David Ayer (director/writer, Fury)
Release: August 2016

Guardians 2 title revealed and Comic Con lineup announced

Marvel’s third phase has titled its new properties fairly simply – Ant-Man, Doctor Strange, Black Panther, Captain Marvel and Inhumans – while their sequels have received subtitles – Captain America: Civil War, Thor: Ragnarok and The Avengers: Infinity War. The new Spider-Man’s title is yet to have been revealed but the latest news from Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn is that the sequel has been titled: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2.

Gunn directs the cast of Chris Pratt (Jurassic World) as Star Lord, Bradley Cooper (Limitless) as Rocket, Zoe Saldana (Avatar) as Gamora, Vin Diesel (Pitch Black) as Groot, Josh Brolin (No Country for Old Men) as Thanos, Karen Gillan (Oculus) as Nebula, Dave Bautista (Riddick) as Drax, Seth Green (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) as Howard the Duck and Benicio Del Toro (Traffic) as The Collector

The schedule for the famed San Diego Comic Con 2015 has been revealed.

Thursday:

• Lionsgate: ‘The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2′: 12:00 PM-1:15 PM, Hall H
  Lionsgate presents an exclusive first look at one of the studio’s highly anticipated films coming to theaters this fall. Get a sneak peek into the powerful final chapter of the epic The Hunger Games film franchise. Attendees will be shown exclusive, never-before-seen footage from Mockingjay: Part 2 and treated to a cast and filmmaker Q&A session revealing details on the big-screen finale. Featuring stars Jennifer Lawrence and Julianne Moore and director Francis Lawrence.
• CBS TV Studios Comic-Con Lineup: 12:00 PM-3:30 PM, Ballroom 20
  Exclusive Sneak Previews and Panels for the CBS series ‘Extant’, ‘Zoo’, ‘Under the Dome’, ‘Limitless’, and ‘Scorpion’.
• ‘Doctor Who’: BBC America’s Official Panel: 2:15 PM-3:15PM, Hall H
  Following his record-breaking first season as the Doctor, Peter Capaldi will make his first ever appearance at Comic-Con with stars Jenna Coleman (Clara Oswald) and Michelle Gomez (Missy), and lead writer and executive producer Steven Moffat. Doctor Who follows the adventures of the Doctor, the time traveler who will continue to journey through all of space and time in epic adventures in the new season premiering this fall. Capaldi’s first season delivered BBC America its highest rated season ever and is available now on all digital platforms.
• ‘Sherlock’: 3:45 PM-5:15PM, Ballroom 20
  Steven Moffat (co-creator, executive producer, and writer), Sue Vertue (executive producer) and Rupert Graves (actor, DI Greg Lestrade) discuss the latest adventures of Sherlock Holmes and his long-suffering faithful friend, Dr. John Watson. Sherlock will return to BBC in a forthcoming special.
• MTV’s ‘Teen Wolf’: 5:00 PM-6:00PM, Ballroom 20
  Teen Wolf cast members and executive producer are taking Comic-Con by storm for the sixth consecutive year. The pack of MTV’s hit series Teen Wolf will dish secrets, share a sneak peek of the upcoming season, and answer fan questions.
• ‘Damien’: 6:45 PM-7:45 PM, Room 6A
  From executive producer Glen Mazaara (The Walking Dead, The Shield), Damien follows the adult life of Damien Thorn, the mysterious child from the 1976 motion picture who has grown up seemingly unaware of the satanic forces around him. Haunted by his past, Damien must now come to terms with his true destiny: that he is the Antichrist. Starring Bradley James (Merlin), Barbara Hershey, Megalyn Echikunwoke and Omid Abtahi. Get an exclusive first look at the show followed by a Q&A with cast and producers, plus a special guest appearance.

Friday:

• ‘Lucifer’ Pilot Screening and Q&A: 11:30 AM-12:30PM, Room 6BCF
  Lucifer is the story of the original fallen angel. Bored and unhappy as the Lord of Hell, Lucifer Morningstar has resigned his throne and retired to the City of Angels, where he owns an upscale piano bar called Lux. When a beautiful pop star is murdered, for the first time in roughly 10 billion years, he feels something awaken deep within him. Is he actually capable of feelings for a human being? The very thought disturbs him. The murder attracts the attention of LAPD homicide detective Chloe Dancer, who finds herself both repulsed and fascinated by Lucifer. At the same time, God’s emissary, the angel Amenadiel, has been sent to Los Angeles to convince Lucifer to return to Hell. But with the City of Angels at his feet and a newfound purpose, Lucifer’s having too much fun to go back now. Sexy, dark and irreverent, Lucifer makes its Comic-Con debut with a screening of the complete pilot episode, followed by a Q&A with series stars and producers. From Jerry Bruckheimer Television and Aggressive Mediocrity in association with Warner Bros. Television, and based on characters created by Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth, and Mike Dringenberg for DC Entertainment’s Vertigo imprint, Lucifer premieres Midseason on FOX.
• AMC’s ‘The Walking Dead’: 12:00 PM-2:00 PM, Hall H
  Andrew Lincoln, Norman Reedus, Steven Yeun, Lauren Cohan, Danai Gurira, Melissa McBride, Chandler Riggs, Sonequa Martin-Green, Michael Cudlitz and Lennie Jamesjoin executive producer and showrunner Scott M. Gimple, executive producer Robert Kirkman, executive producer Gale Anne Hurd, executive producer Dave Alpert, and special effects makeup supervisor and executive producer Greg Nicotero in a panel moderated by Chris Hardwick (The Nerdist, Talking Dead). The panelists will discuss the shocking finale of Season 5 and what to look forward to in Season 6, debuting this fall on AMC. Join the panelists for a Q&A session and an official sneak preview of Season 6.
• ‘Minority Report’: 1:45 PM-2:45 PM, Ballroom 20
  Be one of the first to take a look at FOX’s new fall sci-fi action thriller. Based on the hit futuristic Steven Spielberg feature, Minority Report follows the unlikely partnership between a man haunted by the future and a cop haunted by her past, as they race to stop the worst crimes of the year 2065 before they happen. Join Stark Sands (Inside Llewyn Davis), Meagan Good (Think Like a Man franchise, Californication) along with other cast and producers for a special screening followed by a Q&A.
• ‘Game of Thrones’ Panel and Q&A: 2:30PM-3:30PM, Hall H
  Based on the bestselling fantasy book series A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin, HBO’s Game of Thrones concluded its 10-episode fifth season in June and will begin filming its sixth season this summer. The series, executive produced and written by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, is an epic story of treachery and nobility, set on the continent of Westeros, where summers and winters can last years. Panelists include (in alphabetical order) Alfie Allen as Theon Greyjoy/Reek, John Bradley as Samwell Tarly, Gwendoline Christie as Brienne of Tarth, Liam Cunningham as Davos Seaworth, Natalie Dormer as Margaery Tyrell, Conleth Hill as Varys, David Nutter (director), Hannah Murray as Gilly, Carolyn Strauss (executive producer), Sophie Turner as Sansa Stark, Carice van Houten as Melisandre, and Maisie Williams as Arya Stark.
• Marvel Television Presents: 3:00 PM-4:15 PM, Ballroom 20
  Jeph Loeb (Marvel’s head of television) brings you exclusive news and surprises about your favorite action-packed Marvel series on ABC. Join Jeph, showrunners, and the casts of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Agent Carter for this can’t-miss panel that’ll have everyone talking! Featuring Clark Gregg and Hayley Atwell.
• ‘iZombie’ Special Video Presentation and Q&A: 5:45 PM-6:45PM, Ballroom 20
  After the shocking events in the season finale of brainy hit iZombie, be among the first to get the scoop on what’s in store for Season 2. Now that Liv (Rose McIver) gave the cure for zombie-ism to Blaine and Major (one that she desperately wanted to take herself!) will Ravi find a way to develop another cure? Will Clive remain in the dark about the existence of zombies? A special video presentation will be followed by a Q&A with series stars as well as executive producers Rob Thomas (Veronica Mars) and Diane Ruggiero-Wright (Veronica Mars). From Bonanza Productions Inc. in association with Spondoolie Productions and Warner Bros. Television and based on characters created by Chris Roberson and Michael Allred, published by DC Entertainment’s Vertigo imprint, iZombie returns this fall with all-new episodes on Tuesdays at 9/8c on The CW. iZombie: The Complete First Season will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on September 29.
• Lucasfilm: ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’: 5:30 PM-6:30 PM, Hall H
  Lucasfilm president and producer Kathleen Kennedy, director J.J. Abrams, writer Lawrence Kasdan, and special guests provide a special look at Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Featuring Harrison Ford, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o and Andy Serkis.
• ‘Orphan Black’: BBC America Official Panel: 5:45 PM-6:45 PM, Room 6BCF
  Stars Tatiana Maslany (Sarah and the Leda clones), Jordan Gavaris (Felix), Maria Doyle Kennedy (Mrs. S), Dylan Bruce (Paul), Kristian Bruun (Donnie), and Ari Millen (Mark and the Castor clones) and co-creators John Fawcett and Graeme Manson look back at last season before filming begins on Season 4. Orphan Black Season 3 is currently on VOD. For those new to the Clone Club, you can also start watching the BBC America series by streaming the first two seasons on Amazon Prime or download the entire series from any of the major digital platforms.
• Star: ‘Ash vs. Evil Dead’: 6:00 PM-7:00PM, Room 6A
  Original filmmakers Sam Raimi (executive producer, director, writer), Rob Tapert (executive producer), Bruce Campbell (executive producer and star of the series, Ash), Ivan Raimi (co-exeuctive producer), and Craig DiGregorio (executive producer), along with Lucy Lawless (Ruby), discuss the highly anticipated new series and what fans can expect in the premiere season.
• ‘Yoga Hosers’: 7:15 PM-9:00 PM, Hall H
  An evening with Kevin Smith. After all the interesting and exciting movie panels are over, Hall H belongs to a middle-aged loser who dresses like a 12-year-old! Ask Kev questions about AMC’s Comic Book Men and his forthcoming Mallrats sequel Mallbrats, and see the world premiere of the trailer to his new movie, Yoga Hosers. Wrap up a busy Friday with the Clown Prince of Comic-Con! With special guests from the Yoga Hosers cast. Featuring Johnny Depp and Haley Joel Osment.

Saturday:

• Warner Bros.: 10:30 AM-12:00 PM, Hall H
  A “sneak peek” at a few upcoming releases from Warner Bros. Likely including The Man From UNCLE (Armie Hammer, Guy Ritchie), Pan (Hugh Jackman, Joe Wright), In the Heart of the Sea (Chris Hemsworth, Ron Howard), Point Break (Edgar Ramirez), Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice (Ben Affleck, Zack Snyder), Central Intelligence (Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart), Tarzan (Alexander Skarsgard, Margot Robbie), Knights of the Roundtable: King Arthur (Charlie Hunnam, Jude Law), Suicide Squad (Jared Leto, David Ayer) and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Eddie Redmayne, David Yates).
• The Weinstein Company: ‘The Hateful Eight’: 1:30 PM-2:15 PM, Hall H
  Academy Award-winning writer/director Quentin Tarantino brings fans an exclusive look at his highly anticipated 8th film, The Hateful Eight. Followed by a Q&A session with the cast: Samuel L Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Bruce Dern.
• Legendary Pictures: 2:30 PM-3:30 PM, Hall H
  Filmmakers and talent from Legendary’s upcoming Warcraft (Duncan Jones, Dominic Cooper, Toby Kebbell) and Crimson Peak (Guillermo Del Toro, Tom Hiddleston, Jessica Chastain), distributed by Universal Pictures, will discuss the innovative slate and present never-before-seen material. Chris Hardwick (AMC’s Talking Dead) hosts the panel that will also include surprises from highly anticipated legendary movies, including Great Wall, Krampus, and more.
• 20th Century Fox: 5:45 PM-7:30 PM, Hall H
  20th Century Fox Presentation including Fantastic Four (Miles Teller), Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (Dylan O’Brien), The Martian (Matt Damon), Bridge of Spies (Tom Hanks), Kung Fu Panda 3 (Jack Black), Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds), X-Men: Apocalypse (Jennifer Lawrence), Independence Day: Resurgence (Jeff Goldblum), Gambit (Channing Tatum), and Assassin’s Creed (Michael Fassbender).
• Warner Bros. Television and DC Entertainment Screening Block: 8:00 PM-11:00 PM, Hall H
  Includes Supergirl season 1 (Melissa Benoist), Gotham season 2 (Ben McKenzie), Arrow season 4 (Steven Amell), The Flash season 2 (Grant Gustin) and Legends of Tomorrow season 1 (Brandon Routh).

Sunday:

• TV premieres including Heroes Reborn, American Horror Story, Scream Queens, Supernatural and The Vampire Diaries.

Review of the Year – The Twelve Best TV Shows of 2014

It has been some year for television but sadly we’ve missed out on some of the big phenomena of the moment (True Detective, Game of Thrones, House of Cards, Sons of Anarchy, Orange is the New Black) but we’ve still had plenty to enjoy from both sides of the Atlantic.

12) Sherlock

Key Players: Mark Gatiss, Steven Moffat
Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, Amanda Abbington, Rupert Graves, Una Stubbs, Louise Brealey, Mark Gatiss, Lars Mikkelsen
Best Episode: 3.2 – The Sign of Three
Summary: A vastly disappointing third series for the BBC show. It’s weak on plot, dialogue and the whole ingenious essence of series two but the brilliant performances shine through.

11) The Big Bang Theory

Key Players: Chuck Lorre, Bill Prady
Starring: Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki, Kaley Cuoco Sweeting, Mayim Bialik, Kunal Nayyar, Simon Helberg, Melissa Rauch, Kevin Sussman, Carol Ann Susi, Wil Wheeton
Best Episodes: 7.14 – The Convention Conundrum/8.7 – The Misinterpretation Agitation
Summary: The entire show has been out of stride since series 6 and this eighth season in particular seems both forced and unoriginal. Still the cast, Parsons, Bialik and Nayyar especially, perform fantastically and guest starring turns from Billy Bob Thornton, Bob Newhart and James Earl Jones are enough to shake things up.

10) Doctor Who

Key Players: Steven Moffat
Starring: Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman, Michelle Gomez, Samuel Anderson, Ellis George, Chris Addison
Best Episodes: 8.4 – Listen/8.11 – Dark Water
Summary: Also entering the murky waters of an eighth series is the BBC’s flagship sci-fi show and, while Thick of It star Peter Capaldi’s turn as the new Doctor is a fresh of breath air, a string of weak episodes and poor climax mean this one’ll go down as mediocre.

9) The 100

Key Players: Jason Rothenberg
Starring: Eliza Taylor, Bob Morley, Paige Turco, Thomas McDonnell, Devon Bostick, Lindsey Morgan, Isiah Washington
Best Episode: 1.3 – Earth Kills
Summary: While a fairly low end production, this teen action is laced with far more gore, darker material and brutal twists than The Hunger Games could dream of.

8) Outnumbered

Key Players: Andy Hamilton, Guy Jenkin
Starring: Claire Skinner, Hugh Dennis, Tyger Drew-Honey, Daniel Roche, Romana Marquez, Emily Berrington, Rebecca Front, Samantha Bond
Best Episode: 5.6
Summary: A both fitting and touching end to the show which sees all five main characters grow up in one way or another.

7) Not Going Out

Key Players: Lee Mack, Daniel Peak
Starring: Lee Mack, Sally Bretton, Katy Wix, Hugh Dennis
Best Episode: 7.5 – Pointless
Summary: The Brit comedy may well be missing the talent of Tim Vine but still strong in its seventh series and at last properly develops the relationship of Lee (Mack) and Lucy (Bretton).

6) The Musketeers

Key Players: Adrian Hodges
Starring: Tom Burke, Luke Pasqualino, Santiago Cabrera, Howard Charles, Maimie McCoy, Peter Capaldi, Hugo Speer, Ryan Gage, Tamla Kari, Alexandra Dowling
Best Episode: 1.9 – Knight Takes Queen
Summary: There’s plenty of clumsily weak dialogue (“Justice won’t pay the rent”) but this is a gorgeously shot piece of swashbuckling entertainment for the masses.

5) Fargo

Key Players: Noah Hawley, Joel and Ethan Coen
Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Martin Freeman, Allison Tolman, Colin Hanks, Bob Odenkirk
Best Episode: 1.1 – The Crocodile Dilemna
Summary: Although we’re only half way into watching it, it’s hard to deny this show’s bleak brilliance. Freeman, Hanks, Tolman and Thornton are all incredible in a truly savage tale that plays to the viewer’s sick sense of humour.

4) Gotham

Key Players: Danny Cannon
Starring: Ben McKenzie, Donal Logue, Zabryna Guevara, Robin Lloyd Taylor, Jada Pinkett Smith, David Mazouz, Sean Pertwee, Camren Bicondova, Corey Michael Smith, Erin Richards, Victoria Catagena, John Doman
Best Episode: 1.7 – Penguin’s Umbrella
Summary: This superhero prequel may well need the rest of the season to iron out the chinks but it’s still a massively exciting watch for those in the know on the original sin city.

3) The Wrong Mans

Key Players: Matthew Baynton, James Corden
Starring: Matthew Baynton, James Corden, Anastasia Griffith, John Ross Bowie, Sarah Solemani, Rebecca Front, Stephen Campbell Moore, Dawn French, Alec Utgoff
Best Episodes: 2.1 – X-Mans/2.2 – White Mans
Summary: The long awaited follow up arrived just days ago but is a massive pay off for the fans. Our hapless (and seemingly cursed) heroes Sam Pinkett (Baynton) and Phil Bourne (Corden) improvising songs to prove to a DEA agent (Griffith) that their not smuggling any substances is a delight. Phil: “We didn’t know we were drug donkeys”, Sam: “Mules, Phil: “Drug mules!”.

2) Agents of SHIELD

Key Players: Jed Whedon, Maurissa Tancheroen, Joss Whedon, Stan Lee, Jack Kirby
Starring (series one): Clark Greg, Ming-Na Wen, Bill Paxton, Chloe Bennett, Brett Dalton, Elizabeth Henstridge, Iain De Caestecker, BJ Britt, David Conrad, Ruth Negga, Patton Oswalt, Saffron Burrows
Starring (series two): Nick Blood, Adrianne Palicki, Henry Simmons, Reed Diamond, Kyle MacLachlan, Simon Kassianides, Adrian Pasdar
Best Episode: 1.17 – Turn, Turn, Turn
Summary: The constant twists and turns require dedication but this Avengers-spin off boasts style and stunning visuals.

1) Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Key Players: Daniel J Goor, Michael Schur
Starring: Andy Samberg, Andre Braugher, Melissa Fumero, Terry Crews, Stephanie Beatriz, Joe Lo Trugilo, Chelsea Peretti, Dirk Blocker, Joel McKinnon Miller
Best Episode: 1.16 – The Bet
Summary: This cop comedy is supreme in its silliness. It’ll be a hard job selecting a stand out performance as each star is fantastic but our own highlight is Andre Braugher’s unfathomably stern Captain Holt or Chelsea Peretti’s ditzy PA Gina.

Doctor Who series 8 – every episode ranked

We haven’t done a TV review in a very long time and missed out on reviewing any episodes from the eighth series of Doctor Who but we’re compiling them from best to worst in this list. To put a bit of perspective on our Who opinions, we reckon the show peaked at series 5 and 6, when The Silence were actually cool. Series 7 was disappointingly bland and I still have mixed feelings about to 2013 specials. Series 8 retained Steven Moffat as chief writer and Jenna Coleman as the companion Clara but introduced The Thick of It’s Peter Capaldi as The Doctor, a seemingly inspired casting for a darker doctor. Sadly this Doctor, and the whole of this series, seems to be more comical than actually dark. Several episodes just seem as if they were discarded ones from the David Tennant or Matt Smith eras. They rarely had a unique sense of twelfth Doctory-ness to them.

Series 8:

1. Listen – Episode 4 – Writer: Steven Moffat – Starring: Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman, Samuel Anderson, Kiran Shah – UK Views: 7.01 million
2. Dark Water – Episode 11 – Steven Moffat – Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman, Michelle Gomez, Samuel Anderson, Chris Addison, Sheila Reid, Andrew Leung – 7.34 million
3. Kill the Moon – Episode 7 – Peter Harness – Peter Capadli, Jenna Coleman, Ellis George, Hermione Norris, Samuel Anderson – 6.91 million
4. Time Heist – Episode 5 – Stephen Thompson, Steven Moffat – Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman, Keeley Hawes, Jonathan Bailey, Pippa Bennett Warner, Samuel Anderson – 6.99
5. Deep Breath – Episode 1 – Steven Moffat – Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman, Neve McIntosh, Catrin Stewart, Dan Starkey, Peter Ferdinando, Ellis George, Michelle Gomez – 9.17
6. Into the Dalek – Episode 2 – Phil Ford, Steven Moffat – Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman, Nicholas Briggs, Zawe Ashton, Michael Smiley, Samuel Anderson, Nigel Betts, Ellis George, Michelle Gomez – 7.29
7. Mummy on the Orient Express – Episode 8 – Jamie Mathieson – Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman, Frank Skinner, Daisy Beaumont, John Sessions, Samuel Anderson – 7.11
8. Flatline – Episode 9 – Jamie Mathieson – Peter Capadli, Jenna Coleman, Joivan Wade, Christopher Fairbank, Samuel Anderson, Michelle Gomez – 6.71
9. Death in Heaven – Episode 12 – Steven Moffat – Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman, Michelle Gomez, Samuel Anderson, Chris Addison, Jemma Redgrave, Ingrid Oliver, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Nicholas Briggs, Nick Frost – N/A
10. In the Forest of the Night – Episode 10 – Frank Cottrel Boyce – Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman, Samuel Anderson, Abigail Eames, Harley Bird – Michelle Gomez – 6.92
11. The Caretaker – Episode 6 – Gareth Roberts, Steven Moffat – Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman, Samuel Anderson, Nigel Betts, Ellis George, Chris Addison, Michelle Gomez – 6.82
12. Robot of Sherwood – Episode 3 – Mark Gatiss – Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman, Tom Riley, Ben Miller

All in all the series was very mediocre. It isn’t Smith that the show misses but rather genuine imagination, excitement and scares, glimpsed in all too brief dashes.

25 X-Men DOFP posters unveiled, first image of Capaldi as Doctor and new Maleficent trailer

One of the biggest releases of this year is a new, kind-of, prequel to a Disney animated classic. Maleficent is the titular character and villain of the original Sleeping Beauty. A surprisingly terrifying new trailer for the film is not only haunted by Angelina Jolie’s Maleficent but Lana Del Rey’s eerie reimagining of “Once Upon a Dream”. First time director Robert Stromberg is calling the shots while Miranda Richardson (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), Sharlto Copley (District 9) and Elle Fanning (Super 8) make up the supporting cast.

Empire Magazine is not only the world’s biggest and best movie magazine; it has a huge fanbase here, at Tuorhoth Movies. To celebrate their 25th Anniversary and the release of X-Men: Days of Future Past, Empire have done something very special which is to release 25 alternate covers for their March 2014 issue. 15 covers have been revealed so far and more are being announced every hour.

There’s posters for all of the stars that you’ve seen already in the trailers, Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, Hugh Jackman, Jennifer Lawrence, Patrick Stewart, Peter Dinklage, Ian McKellen and Nicholas Hoult, as well as some we haven’t seen at all. First looks at Quicksilver (Evan Peters), Toad (Evan Jonigkeit), Havok (Lucas Till) and William Stryker (Josh Helman) are granted here. Ellen Page, Booboo Stewart, Fan Bingbing, Halle Berry, Daniel Cudmore, Omar Sy and Adan Canto also star and we can expect their covers to be unveiled very soon. Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Stan Lee, Hugh Jackman, Shawn Ashmore and director Bryan Singer are all offering insights into this special event on Twitter.

Speaking of Twitter, Doctor Who’s official page has launched the first image of The Twelfth Doctor in anticipation of this autumn’s series 8. Jenna Coleman has been confirmed to star as Clara and showrunner Stephen Moffat has hired Ben Wheatley (Kill List, A Field in England) to direct the first two episodes. For a start, I’m not convinced by the shoes or his arms’ impression of The Silence but Peter Capaldi has proved more than once that he’s capable of the charisma required for Who.

Doctor Who series 8 – autumn

X-Men: Days of Future Past – May 22nd

Empire’s X-Men: DoFP special – in shops 30th January

Maleficent – May 30th

Doctor Who: The Time of the Doctor review

Director: Jamie Payne

Starring: Matt Smith, Jenna Coleman, Orla Bradley, Nicholas Briggs, Peter Capaldi

The quality of Doctor Who Christmas specials vary dramatically. The annual seasonal Who tale has brought us hits like The Christmas Invasion, A Christmas Carol, Voyage of the Damned and The Snowmen as well as clunkers like The Runaway Bride, The Next Doctor and The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe. Sadly, there hasn’t been a brilliant Doctor Who episode since 2011, in my opinion. Series 7 (2012 – 2013) was a disappointment with some dire episodes (Nightmare in Silver, Dinosaurs on a Spaceship) and the only memorable one being The Name of the Doctor. For me, The Day of the Doctor fell a little flat. Now, more than ever, Stephen Moffat and Who need more consistency and better form but The Time of the Doctor is a big let down.

The ancient prophecy foretells that “Silence will fall upon the fields of Trenzalore, where no man can lie or fail to answer, when a question will be asked, the oldest question in the universe hidden in plain sight: Doctor Who?” Now Trenzalore is sending a message throughout time and space. A Church called the Papal Mainframe, led by Tasha Lem (Bradley), arrives first and shields the planet for teleportation while whole armies of Daleks, Cyberman and Weeping Angels turn up as well as a one man army who the message is meant for: The Doctor (Smith). Knowing that he’s on his last regeneration, he recruits his companion Clara Oswald (Coleman) and set out to find what’s got the rest of the universe so nervous.

Matt Smith is a brilliant Doctor who’s key characteristics are his charisma and energy injected into the role but The Time of the Doctor forgets that and gives us the dreary story of Doctor Who at the Retirement Home. The episode starts off well with some good gags and set pieces before it completely falls into regurgitating everything that Doctor Who’s thrown at us on the last eight years. The next two paragraphs contains heavy spoilers.

The concept of a message being sent out to everyone in space and time leading to all of the alien spaceships convening on one point was done in The Pandorica Opens (2010). The dying Doctor having visions of previous companions and the Time Lords attempted return from an unreachable place threatening the galaxy are ripping off The End of Time (2009). Also, as if there weren’t already enough similarities between Rose and Clara, The Doctor tells his companion to return to the TARDIS before sending her back to her home remotely, much like The Ninth Doctor did in The Parting of the Ways (2005). The Doctor grew old in the episode The Last of the Time Lords (2007). It doesn’t feel like it’s paying homage in any way rather just being lazy.

Additionally, The Silence don’t work at all as protagonists. Their dull origin story is just an anticlimax and it’s ridiculous that the Kovarian Chapter would go to the bother of genetically engineering a Time Lord assassin just to stop the Doctor from going to Trenzalore, couldn’t they have just restrained him. Also, the Silence start a huge war just to stop another huge war from happening.

On a less spoilery but just as negative note, Bradley’s Tasha Lem is another generic and annoying suspicious official, a return for Madame Kovarian would be much preferred, and the story makes waste of the once scary Weeping Angels. The Cyberman and Sontarans, in their small dosage, were fine but the Daleks shouldn’t have featured or should have been made centre stage as they’ve now become the generic nemesis.

This episode isn’t so much of a disappointment in terms of a waste of premise but just doing completely the wrong thing with what should of have been the epic conclusion of the nearly four year Silence saga. Some of the opening comedic sequences are fine but little else it at all entertaining or energetic, as The Eleventh Doctor should be. The Christmas episode seems to have been thrown in at the last second and Moffat has lost the brilliant sense of episode contunuity, scares and revelations once found in the series but, on the bright side, in should take Peter Capaldi’s new Doctor to rejuvenate Doctor Who for an excellent eight series.

4/10

“Kidneys! I’ve got new kidneys; I don’t like the colour!”

Four new stills from Hobbit 2, new trailers for Boxtrolls and Hercules: The Legend Begins and Doctor Who Christmas special pic and title

Above is the first official image from this year’s Doctor Who Christmas Special or, as we must now call it, The Time of the Doctor. The title stems from this year’s “of the Doctor” mini series. It started with the series seven finale The Name of the Doctor. The second major instalment of this trilogy was last Saturday’s 50th anniversary special The Day of the Doctor but that was preceded by the short film The Night of the Doctor. The Time of the Doctor will conclude Matt Smith’s time as the Doctor and will also introduce Peter Capaldi as the new incarnation. We won’t see Capaldi properly until Autumn next year when series eight begins with a two part episode directed by Ben Wheatley.

We know Jenna Coleman will star as Clara but no other castings are confirmed. The Silence, the Weeping Angels, the Cyberman and the Daleks are confirmed to be just some of the villains to feature and I think that they’re unlikely to leave Madame Vastra (Neve McIntosh), Jenny (Catrin Stewart) and Commander Strax (Dan Starkey) or indeed River Song (Alex Kingston).

Two Hercules films are to battle it out in 2014. We’ve no idea how the studios managed this but it’s awfully bad luck as their both hovering over August. One, Hercules, is from director Brett Ratner (X-Men: The Last Stand, Rush Hour, Red Dragon), stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in the title role with John Hurt, Peter Mullan, Rebecca Ferguson, Ian McShane and Joseph Fiennes and goes for a tale set after the traditional Twelve Labours of Hercules legend.

The other is Hercules: The Legend Begins. Renny Harlin, director of Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger and Deep Blue Sea, is calling the shots on a production which doesn’t seem to have many major stars beside Twilight’s Kellan Lutz. The first trailer reveals that this may have enough action and stun in it to go beyond the seemingly limited cast. With two versions of the Greek tale in production, the release is subject for change but it should come in August 8th.

The new trailer for The Boxtrolls has also landed. It serves as a cinematic teaser and a peek behind the scenes of an animation style that’s notoriously technical. Laika are the team behind brilliant stop-motion hits such as ParaNorman and Coraline so we can expect great things from this dark fantasy comedy. Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Elle Fanning, Toni Collete, Ben Kingsley, Richard Ayoade, Jared Harris and Isaac Hempstead Wright all lend their voices while Graham Annable and Anthony Stacchi direct.

We’ve now got some lovely new pics fresh from the editing room of Academy Award winning director Peter Jackson’s fantasy sequel The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (click next to cycle through). Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Dean O’Gorman, Ian McKellen, Sylvester McCoy and Luke Evans are the focus of today’s update.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – December 13th

The Boxtrolls – September 12th 2014

Hercules: The Legend Begins – August 8th 2014

Doctor Who 2013 Christmas Special/The Time of the Doctor – December 25th

Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor review

Director: Nick Hurran

Starring: John Hurt, Matt Smith, Jenna Coleman, David Tennant, Joanna Page, Jemma Redgrave, Ingrid Oliver, Billie Piper, Tom Baker, Nicholas Briggs, Peter Capaldi

This is my second Doctor Who related TV review of the week as it’s the second Doctor Who TV event of this week, after An Adventure In Space and Time. This is the main event though. It’s certainly only one for the Whovian who’s been following series 7 and the many other sagas tied into this extravaganza.

The Time War is raging at its peak as the villainous cyborg Daleks storm Gallifrey, home of the human like Time Lords, and their stunning city Arcadia. To end the war and the possibility of the Daleks escaping, The War Doctor (Hurt) steals a monstrous weapon: The Moment, who’s developed a conscience represented by a familiar interface (Piper). A fissure in time brings him to two his future incarnations. One, (Matt Smith) is deep into the mystery of the paintings with his companion Clara (Coleman) while the other (Tennant) becomes under attack from Zygons while romancing Elizabeth I. The three/one unite despite the 400 years between them to try resolve a faceless and unrelenting enemy.

The only flaw in this genius plot is the lack of action. The brilliant laughs and then angry tensions between the Doctors/Doctor could be lost on the target audience. Stephen Moffat’s script is a Who masterpiece but, besides the opening Time War sequence, it’s very dialogue and plot based compared to what we expect from The Doctor.

Beyond that, this is the best episode since 2010’s The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang, even if The Day of the Doctor lacks some of the craziness we loved in series 5. I loved that Rose Tyler’s involvement wasn’t substantial and the Zygons proved an interesting and scary sub plot. There’s some brilliantly memorable moments, namely the helicopter outside the National Gallery and The Twelfth Doctor’s cameo. Matt Smith, David Tennant and John Hurt, plus of coarse Peter Capaldi and Tom Baker, are all spot on.

We get a warm return for UNIT, Kate Stewart, The Fourth Doctor and the Zygons. We’ll be remembering this one a classic and a landmark in Who history, despite the faults. It completely reinvents the Who universe in many ways replacing the slight hiccup of series 7. It’s certainly magical and a little eccentric giving us a satisfying and cinematic but still loose ending.

8/10

“Great men are forged in flame. It is the privilege of lesser men to light the fire!”

If you cannot wait for this Christmas when Silence falls on the Fields of Trenzalore then check out other Doctor Who goodies such as these prequel episodes. This first is The Night of the Doctor. The short lived Eight Doctor (Paul McGann) has his regeneration explained in this short which is written by Who’s very own Stephen Moffat. Also written by Moffat is The Last Day, a genius first person introduction to Arcadia and its storm of Daleks. Also, remember to tell us who YOUR favourite Doctor is. I’m torn between Matt Smith and Tom Baker but YOU can decide.

Mad Max: Fury Road gets release date, new How To Train Your Dragon poster and Doctor Who special begins

You of coarse know the incredible list of films coming out in 2015: The Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ant-Man, Jurassic World, Batman vs. Superman, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, Fifty Shades of Grey, Star Wars: Episode VII, Assassin’s Creed, Terminator, Tomorrowland, Cinderella, The Fantastic Four, Inside Out, The Good Dinosaur, Crimson Peak, Warcraft, Bond 24, Mission: Impossible 5, Kung Fu Panda 3, Ted 2, Frankenstein, Chappie, Gods of Egypt, Alice in Wonderland 2, The Secret Service, Silent, Queen of the Desert, The White Circus, Triple Nine, Susan Cooper, The Penguins of Madagascar, The Adventures of Tintin: Red Rackham’s Treasure, Candy Store, While We’re Young, Bureau of Otherworldly Operations and American Sniper.

The new reboot of the Mel Gibson adventure trilogy Mad Max stars Tom Hardy and will be directed by the original’s George Miller. Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, Rosie Huntington Whitley, Zoe Kravitz and Josh Helman will be joining Hardy on May 15th 2015.

We’ve also got the new epic poster for animated adventure sequel How to Train Your Dragon 2. Dean DeBlois takes over directing this time and Jay Baruchel, Kristen Wiig, Jonah Hill, Cate Blanchett and Gerard Butler all star.

We do know that this week is Doctor Who’s incredible 50th anniversary. We haven’t had a huge income of Day of the Doctor news so we thought we’d make up for that with a couple of Who nicities around the web. First, there’s an excellent guide to the Doctors on Empire as well as the ever brilliant How It Should Have Ended team have animated a couple of excellent vids including How Doomsday Should Have Ended and The Eleventh Doctor makes a visit to HISHE’s mini-series Super Cafe.

This weekend, we hope to review the new TV movie An Adventure In Space and Time telling the tale of the BBC’s creating of Doctor Who, The Day of the Doctor, the epic anniversary special starring Matt Smith, David Tennant, Billie Piper, Jenna Coleman and the special guest star Sir John Hurt, plus The Hunger Games: Catching Fire but that may overrun into Monday. This, as well as your usual box-office results, will make up your great Doctor Who weekend.

Mad Max: Fury Road – May 15th 2015

How to Train Your Dragon 2 – July 4th 2014

The Day of the Doctor – November 23rd on BBC One

Mission Impossible 5 could fit in 2015, first Noah trailer, Chris Pratt in talks for Jurassic World and new Doctor Who mini-sode

Jack Reacher was last year’s mediocre action thriller. It starred Tom Cruise in the title role and Christopher McQuarrie directed the story based on the Lee Child novel One Shot. Cruise and McQuarrie will be reuniting, now with Iron Man 3 writer Drew Pearce, soon in the all action spy sequel Mission: Impossible 5 and it’s coming earlier than we thought.

In the vast summer of 2015, we didn’t think we’d be watching the adventures of Ethan Hunt of the  big screen until the year after  but the studios are determined. It’ll actually be released of Christmas Day so we’re not expecting an overly successful first day box-office but this could be another move to get the growing Chinese market in. In addition, film’s such as Sherlock Holmes have benefited from Boxing Day openings. It’s only direct competition will be the Ben Affleck (Argo, The Town) directorial effort Live By Night but it could suffer from coming out just a week after Star Wars: Episode VII.

We don’t know if Hunt’s colleagues from Ghost Protocol, Jeremy Renner, Paula Patton and Simon Pegg, will return but we should expect Ving Rhames’ series regular Luther Stickell to feature

Colin Trevorrow’s epic dinosaur reboot Jurassic World only has three confirmed stars so far: Bryce Dallas Howard (Spiderman 3, The Help), Ty Simpkins (Iron Man Three, Insidious) and Nick Robinson (The Kings of Summer). A further Josh Brolin, Idris Elba and David Oyelowo are rumoured to be part of the new reincarnation of the Steven Spielberg classic adventure and now another name has been thrown into the mix. He’s proved himself in comedy, with the much loved US TV sitcom Parks and Recreation, and drama, see Moneyball and Zero Dark Thirty, and scored two leads in huge productions of next year, he’s the voice of Emmet in The LEGO Movie and will play Peter Quill/Star Lord in Marvel adventure Guardians of the Galaxy.

If you haven’t guessed, Chris Pratt is the man for the prehistoric job, according to The Hollywood Reporter. It’s announced that he’s early in negotiations for a role as an ex-military man.

We finish with a couple of fresh new clips. The first is the brand new trailer for Darren Aronofsky’s biblical epic Noah. Aronofsky’s five feature films, Pi, Requiem For A Dream, The Fountain, The Wrestler and Black Swan, have all risen to critical acclaim leading to a whopping budget for his new production. Noah will have stunning visuals marrying likely brilliant performances from Russell Crowe, Emma Watson, Anthony Hopkins, Jennifer Connelly, Douglas Booth, Logan Lerman and Ray Winstone. As long as they don’t ponder on the on-ship events, it should be one of the biggest cinematic spectacles of 2014.

There’s an awesome new mini-sode in preparation for the forthcoming Doctor Who 50th Anniversary special. Matt Smith, David Tennant, Billie Piper, Jenna Coleman and John Hurt will be starring in that very episode, titled The Day of the Doctor. The Night of the Doctor is this new short film featuring the dashing but short lived Eight Doctor, played by Paul McGann. This isn’t really a prequel but we get the bridge-gapping between McGann’s reincarnation and John Hurt’s The War Doctor. It’s cleverly skipped over the fault of the number of regenerations not quite adding up. Get the youtube link here. I think I will rate the short a 9/10 but bare in mind it’s really only for Doctor Who fans, or Whovians if you will. By for now!

Mission: Impossible 5 – Christmas 2015

Jurassic World – June 12th 2015

Noah – March 28th

The Day of the Doctor – November 23rd on BBC One