Giant Freakin Robot

With the promise of Star Wars: Episode VII only three years away in 2015, it’s important to gain some perspective as Lucasfilm hires a team of writers and filmmakers to create a new vision for Star Wars. In an interview with Lawrence Kasdan from just before the release of Return of the Jedi in 1983, the screenwriter talks about the writing process and the future of the Star Wars saga.

Managing Editor David Wharton
I’m thankful that we’ve had more than one memorable science fiction movie this year. I’m thankful that I got to watch my childhood dreams dance across a giant screen in John Carter, sitting the whole time next to my dad, the guy who introduced me to Burroughs’ books in the first place. I’m thankful for The Cabin in the Woods, the single best time I had in a movie theater all year. I’m thankful that Joss Whedon made The Avengers work better than any of us could have hoped. I’m thankful for the good parts of Prometheus, and that at least the painfully stupid parts looked pretty. I’m thankful that Seeking a Friend for the End of the World didn’t wuss out. I’m thankful for Total Recall…the original version. I’m thankful for the pleasant surprise of Robot & Frank, a movie I hope more people discover on DVD.

I’m thankful that the enjoyable science fiction wasn’t limited to summer would-be blockbusters. I’m thankful for a Dredd movie that knew exactly what it wanted to be, and excelled at being just that. I’m thankful that Looper was just as good as I’d hoped, and even more of a surprise than I could have guessed. I’m thankful that the Wachowskis returned to both the big screen and the science fiction genre with Cloud Atlas, an unforgettable movie experience that I still find myself thinking about all these weeks later.

Season three of AMC’s ratings juggernaut The Walking Dead has one real purpose: to set the stage for the inevitable collision between the group of survivors led by Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), and the Governor and his enclave at Woodbury. All the side stories, violent deaths, and crying newborns are just window dressing. To that end, the season has largely been successful, inching forward towards that clash, ratcheting up the tension notch by notch with each successive episode.

At the end of last week’s episode, “Hounded,” the vision of this conflict has never been clearer. Check out this sneak peak at the next episode, “When the Dead Come Knocking,” and we’ll talk more afterwards.

The idea of former Doctor Who actors returning for the show’s 50th anniversary celebration next year certainly aren’t new, with pretty much all of the living former Doctors rumored to be putting in an appearance at one point or another. David Tennant has been the source of many of these rumors, which makes sense given that he’s the most recent Doctor before current lead Matt Smith. We still haven’t heard anything official, but one entertainment website says this rumor may be a done deal.