The reviews thus far of Tim Burton’s spoofy Dark Shadows remake have been less than sunny, so for weekend review, we’re looking back to the first Dark Shadows film. House of Dark Shadows, cast into theatres in 1970 when the original Gothic soap opera was still running, takes the show’s most memorable storyline, and retells it without having to worry about the next season.
The fans of the show loved it. Does it hold up now?
The Japanese think we need a witty, trilingual vacuum cleaner
In a what NASA calls an historic achievement, astronomers have detected the light emanating from an extrasolar world.
Wednesday May 9, Buzz Aldrin will announce the winner of the Space Race 2012 contest, the lucky person who will make a suborbital flight with Armadillo Airspace. Lauren Furgason of Seattle, Sara Cook of Washington, D.C., and Gregory Schneider of Tucson, Arizona are the final three contestants from an original roster of 50,000+.
Video of this below, plus a superheroic endorsement (with an appearance by a Bureau-crat), and yet another unique Youtube take on The Avengers:
SpaceX once again has delayed its first launch to the International Space Station. The new date is May 19.
Made in Space: the European Space Agency wants people to be aware of how many developments and products have origins in a healthy space program.
The Loch Ness Monster—or a reasonable facsimile— has been ordered to leave the Chippewa River in Wisconsin.
And below, a video glimpse of Free Comic Book Day, 2012 at my LCS, featuring Andrew Murray’s homemade replica of the 1966 Batmobile:
SpaceX has test-launched the rocket that will take the first-ever private space capsule to the International Space Station.
Russia plans to land cosmonauts on the moon by 2030. Perhaps they’ll take a few conspiracy theorists along and leave them behind.
A couple is suing their landlord because the house is haunted. Sucks when your place gets repossessed.
If you can’t get tickets to The Avengers this week, you can at least enjoy the biggest full moon of the year
And we follow up last week with more Avengers-related video shenanigans, after the click:
The shuttle makes its final flight this week, over New York City.
For some reason, right now, six different Frankenstein movies are at six different stages of planning and production
And after the cut, we have three very different video takes on The Avengers:
Sick to death of horror movies where young people go somewhere scary and get dismembered? How about horror movies that comment on and mock their own overworn conventions? How about 3-D?
Turns out, the makers of this film were sick of 3-D, too, and the desire of the studio for a 3-D release and the resulting kerfuffle delayed its release. However, the film manages to turn the other two overused premises into the most original and effective horror movie / comedy / pop social commentary film of the year.
Read our review of Joss Whedon’s other 2012 hit movie (also featuring Chris “Thor” Hemsworth), written with and directed by Chris Goddard (of Lost and Cloverfield fame).
Beware, of course, the Spoiler Tags…
Two Google-billionaires, a former Microsoft official, and a shuttle astronaut announce a new private space exploration company, Discovery settles in at the Smithsonian, BBC gives some advance press to The Avengers, and we embed video (for those of you missed it this last week) of NYC’s latest real-world hero, Snackman!
The film won’t be available for the general public until May, but a few people will be able to see the premiere very soon, and Marvel will be streaming highlights live.
The official announcement follows:
For those who haven’t been to an SF Convention, or haven’t been to one lately, I present this video, comprised of footage I’ve taken at different Cons over the last few years. Enjoy!
Marvel gives Spider-man a kid sidekick, Fox-TV plans a reality-tv show inspired by The Hunger Games, Virgin Galactic and Starbucks have formed a partnership, a loophole in the Hugos means a book published in 2008 qualifies for this year’s award, and Sideshow Collectibles releases a $6000.00 Star Wars: Old Republic collectible.
Video for each story below: