“It is a truly sad day for us all with the passing of Mary Tamm.

I first met Mary at a Doctor Who convention several years ago in Los Angeles where long time friend, Louise Jameson was attending. Louise hadn’t arrived yet, so I decided to hang out near registration and this beautiful woman and I made eye contact.

It was Mary Tamm. 

She came up to me and we started talking about our mutual friend, Louise. I discovered that Mary didn’t have an escort for the show, so I walked up to registration and told them I’m assisting Mary this weekend and they gave me a VIP pass.

I gave Mary a devilish grin waving my badge that she exchanged back admiring my boldness. The connection we made together that weekend made us feel like we were old souls.

Louise and her friend, David, finally arrived and the four of us get together for drinks laughing and talking. David is a fine actor and director as well as an incredibly nice guy.

Mary ended up giving some lively talks on her panels and graciously spent time with each of her fans in the autograph room. The Doctor Who fans were very polite and walked away with big smiles on their faces after meeting her. But then again she always had that warm effect on people.

I drove Mary around on her down time and showed her the local sites such as the Proud Bird near the Los Angeles Airport. It’s a World War II themed restaurant with full size, replica aircraft from that time period placed around its grounds you could walk by and read about. We had lunch there and Mary was quite impressed with it.

Later, we stopped by a local chemist shop that specialized in vitamins that she was interested in. The house cat that was inside gravitated towards her where she picked it up and began petting it. Even the chemist said that his cat’s never done anything like that before, but you could tell that Mary was a true animal lover and they can sense that.

After the convention, Mary and I stayed in touch via email for several years where we would exchange jokes with each other. She had a very funny sense of humour.

Mary was an accomplished writer as well as having scripted a comedy with Jim Carey in mind. She also did some detective work for me and placed me in touch with my childhood hero, Edward Judd before his untimely passing. Truly, this was a woman who had a heart of gold and would help her friends.

We had talked about the possibility of her reprising her character Romana on the new Doctor Who series which she would have enjoyed. Fans still ponder the thought of her playing Romana and then all of a sudden she becomes Princess Strella. We had come up with an idea that she was secretly a Time Lord and had her memory erased because she was being sought after by the Daleks for some hidden information. She agreed that made sense and would work. It definitely would have made an exciting episode.

Mary was a good friend. She was smart, witty and a classy woman all around. She loved the characters she portrayed in Doctor Who and always enjoyed meeting her fans.

I miss her, as all of us do, very much.”

Whitney Scott Bain

“Mary, who I knew for 44 years, talented, beautiful and very, very funny will be sadly missed by all who knew her.  You couldn’t help but be affected by her charisma and generosity.  Today my phone/email/twitter has been buzzing with tributes from all who met her, even those who knew her all too briefly, writers, actors, directors, producers.  But the main bulk of the mail has been from my class at RADA which is where we first met.  Our hearts go out to those she left behind, especially Marcus who she was very happily married to for over 30 years.  Rest in peace darling woman, we shall hold your memory dear.”

Louise Jameson

“Another bitter blow for Doctor Who fans, still shocked by the death earlier this month of actress Caroline John, with the news that Mary Tamm, who played Time Lord travelling companion Romana in the 1978 ‘Key To Time’ season, passed away this morning (26th July) at the age of 62. Mary had been battling cancer for 18 months. 

Born in Dewsbury but of Estonian descent, Mary Tamm learned her craft at RADA and began her stage career with the Birmingham Repertory Theatre in 1971. Screen roles quickly followed with appearances in feature films such as The Odessa File (with Jon Voigt) and the TV comedy spin-off The Likely Lads in 1974. In 1978 Mary joined Tom Baker’s fourth Doctor aboard the TARDIS in a season-long quest to find the six scattered segments of the Key To Time which, once assembled, would restore the cosmic balance of Good and Evil. Mary was reluctant to take the role fearing that Romana would become just another ‘damsel in distress’ but was promised by producer Graham Williams that Romana would be the Doctor’s intellectual equal and academic superior. Inevitably after a couple of stories Romana slipped back into the ‘companion’ stereotype and Mary opted not to return to the show for a second season; her character was ‘regenerated’ into actress Lalla Ward.

Mary worked steadily after leaving Doctor Who, cropping up in series such as Crime Traveller, Return of the Saint, the BBC drama The Treachery Game and its sequel The Assassination Run in the early 1980s. Mary enjoyed a four year off-and-on stint in Channel 4 soap Brookside as posh Penny Crosbie, at one point embarking on a torrid fling with soap bad-boy Barry Grant (Paul Usher) and in August 2009 appeared in EastEnders as the exotically-named Orlenda.

Like many classic Doctor Who actors, Mary returned to the fold in later years, reprising her interpretation of Romana in the Big Finish Gallifrey audio series and has more recently reunited with Tom Baker for a brand new series of full-cast audio adventures which have yet to be released. 

Mary Tamm, who published the first volume of her autobiography, First Generation in 2009, is survived by her husband Marcus Ringrose, her daughter Lauren and grandson Max to whom Starburst sends its deepest sympathies.”

Paul Mount

Everyone’s favorite day of the week, New Comic Book Day, has arrived and Starburst is here to lend a helping hand as you traverse the aisles of your local comic book store. And if Wednesday isn’t your favourite day of the week, then get out of here, because I don’t even know you.

X-Treme X-Men #1

Take a break from the Avengers VS. X-Men event with this new title from writer Greg Pak and artist Stephen Segovia. Though they share a name, this newly renumbered series has nothing to do with X-Treme X-Men by Chris Claremont and Salvador Larroca which run from 2001-2004. This new take on the title will feature alternative versions of well known characters from the current Marvel universe, like Kid Nightcrawler and Emmeline Frost. The 80s era fan favorite Dazzler is also set to join the team.

Debris #1

Writer Kurtis J. Wiebe continues his homerun streak at Image Comics with a new mini-series entitled Debris. The book stars a woman named Maya, hardened by a brutal post-apocalyptic Earth filled with all sorts of terrible creatures. Wiebe is joined by artist Riley Rossmo as they follow Maya’s adventures in a debris-filled dystopia.

Green Lantern #11

After a bit of a scheduling delay, Green Lantern #11 is finally reaching newsstands and it looks to be worth the wait. Geoff Johns and Doug Mahnke resurrect one of Green Lantern’s more bone-chillingly creepy villains, the Black Hand. Previously seen making a mess of the universe in Blackest Night, where he was subsequently imprisoned by the Indigo tribe (the Compassion spectrum of the Skittles Corp), the Black Hand is breaking free of his shackles t wreak havoc in Sector 2814 yet again.

Captain America #15

With Captain America #15, writer Ed Brubaker begins his final story arc “New World Orders.” Brubaker will be accompanied on his final jaunt with Steve Rogers by co-writer Cullen Bunn and artist Scot Eaton. Brubaker has been known for intimately tying his Cap stories in with contemporary American politics and New World Orders is no exception. As Steve Rogers struggles to prove his relevance to an increasingly dubious populace amidst a nationwide culture of fear, a new and mysterious group of villains called the Discordians are busy waging war.

I, Vampire #11

Arguably one of the unsung heroes of DC’s New 52, I, Vampire has gradually found its way on to a number of ‘Best of’ lists and issue #11 promises to be one of the most remarkable yet. Writer Joshua Hale Fialkov joins up with artist Andrea Sorrentino to answer burning questions regarding the various subspecies of the undead like “What happens when a zombie bites a vampire?” and “What happens when a vampire turns a zombie?”

Not much to report on this week I’m afraid, it still appears to be a quiet period before either Netflix or LOVEFiLM burst out again all guns blazing with an avalanche of content. Most of this week’s picks are titles from the last few years with only really two recent releases as the stand outs.

Oh and good news for console owners, LOVEFiLM has now added the entire Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel saga for viewing through their console app! Rejoice!

Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark (2011) – LOVEFiLM

Last year’s remake of an obscure ‘70s American TV movie has been pretty much forgotten about already which is a shame because it’s a solid and visually accomplished horror film which will appeal to anyone who ever got scared of the dark corners of their bedroom as a kid. Troy Nixey directed this and does a great job with the material and the performances, but co-writer Guillermo Del Toro’s fingerprints are all over this film. It’s very much in keeping with his previous films like Pan’s Labyrinth and The Devil’s Backbone and although it never reaches the heights of those movies, it’s a nice little companion piece.

The Prestige (2006) – LOVEFiLM

Before The Dark Knight and before Inception, Christopher Nolan made this film about duelling magicians based on the novel by Christopher Priest. On the surface this appears to be a period drama-thriller but actually goes to some places that will surprise you with some interesting science fiction trappings and a genius non-linear way of telling the story that is reminiscent of Memento. For all the narrative tricks though, what will stay with you is the way that these two magicians played by Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale are completely and utterly devoted to their art and how their conflict and one upmanship ultimately drags everyone close to them into it with some tragic consequences. This is a must see if you haven’t yet.

Life on Mars (2006-2007) – Netflix

Okay confession time, I haven’t actually seen this yet but I have heard nothing but good things. This short lived BBC series from the middle of the last decade was all about a police inspector who is involved in a car accident and wakes up in the politically incorrect 1973 and partnered with the bullish, iconic Gene Hunt. Is it real or some kind of pre-death mind trip? This was good enough to get an American TV remake and an ‘80s set follow up which apparently wasn’t as good. Looking forward to checking this out…

Beowulf (2007) – LOVEFiLM

The problem with these animated features which aim for photo realism and use motion capture is that they date really quickly as the technology evolves. This hasn’t affected Robert Zemeckis’ Beowulf as much as it has The Polar Express but the cracks are starting to show. Regardless of the technical wizardry on display, this remains a thrilling and visually inventive take on one of the very first stories on record and like all of the original stories it concerns a seemingly invincible hero brought down by a very human desire. Don’t be fooled by the animation either, this is dark with a capital ‘D’ and surprisingly violent too.

Retreat (2011) – Netflix

Retreat was another film from last year which was little seen by people in general and deserves another look. Many people try and set their low budget thriller in a single location and then forget to bring a truly compelling script with them, this is not a mistake that Retreat makes. You start off with a bereaved couple played by Cillian Murphy and Thandie Newton as they go to a remote island getaway to re-connect with each other. Then Jamie Bell’s soldier shows up at their door claiming that the outside world is falling apart because of a deadly virus and proceeds to seal them inside. Is he unhinged? Of course he is! However the possibility of a virus remains a mystery. It’s brilliantly acted, wonderfully tense and the writing is great even if it feels a little stagey at times.

300 (2006) – LOVEFiLM

It’s become trendy now to jump on the backlash bandwagon against director Zack Snyder but around the time of his second feature we were all on board his style over substance train. Taking its cue from the previous year’s Sin City adaptation, Snyder’s visually stunning interpretation of another Frank Miller book is all style, and what style it is. Violent visual eye candy of the highest order, as time has gone on it’s gotten less cool and the cracks have become more apparent but this is still thrilling in all the right ways and Gerard Butler has yet to match the charisma and intensity he shows here as Leonidas.

Speed Racer (2008) – Blinkbox

Speaking of style over substance, have you seen this? No? That’s okay nobody bothered four years ago either. One of the biggest flops of recent years, The Wachowski Brothers’ follow up to The Matrix trilogy is an eye ball searing literal translation of a fondly remembered old Japanese anime. Literally everything here apes the anime: the dialogue, the delivery and the camera angles and speed lines for things in motion. I wouldn’t necessarily say that this was a good film but it’s fascinating to watch. If you happen to have kids under ten though then this will likely blow their mind.

The Iron Giant (1999) – Blinkbox

Hard to believe I only caught up with this recently, Brad Bird’s very nearly lost animated masterpiece is a must see no matter how old you are. It’s a touching tale of a boy and his giant robot set during one of the most paranoid and fraught periods in American history when everyone was suspected of being a secret communist working for the red menace. The film captures that perfectly and has buckets of heart and wonder comparable to Spielberg’s ET. Bafflingly this is based on Ted Hughes’ The Iron Man, which I remember being super weird when I was a kid.

The year is 1989, Rain Man took the top prize at the Oscars for Best Picture, James Bond went rogue in Licence To Kill and Harrison Ford donned the fedora for a third time in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. However, no one was quite prepared for the film that not only changed the way in which comic book films were seen but the whole concept of a summer blockbuster; this film of course was Tim Burton’s Batman. Tim Burton defined Batman for a generation, taking him back to his darker roots after a long association with the high camp KAPOW! And OOOOFFFs! of the Adam West TV series.

What follows is a trip down memory lane, with an in depth look at how the 1989 film came to be and how this impact could help define a post-Nolan Batman. In the words of co-producer Peter Guber, speaking on Shadow of the Bat: The Cinematic Saga of the Dark Knight documentary, “the making of Batman was a marathon, it was not a sprint”, this metaphor doesn’t even begin to illustrate the development hell that Batman was landed in for the best part of ten years! The initial idea of a Batman film began in 1979 and was the result of two contrasting factors; firstly, executive producer Michael E. Uslan, who, as an avid Batman fan, had used a golden opportunity to raise the profile of comics by teaching a college-accredited course on comic books, as a result, he was able to acquire the rights to film a dark and serious portrayal of the Dark Knight. Secondly, 1978 saw the release of Richard Donner’s now classic superhero film Superman, which was a box office hit and got Warner Bros thinking that there was an opportunity for a serious Batman after all. But the problem for Warner Bros began when no could agree on the tone of the film. Screenwriter Sam Hamm commented that “they looked at doing an art-deco period Batman, they looked at a comedy Batman and looked, if I remember correctly at one point, at Bill Murray as Batman and Eddie Murphy as Robin!” And with these distinct suggestions of a tone came distinct choices of director, early candidates include Joe Dante (of Piranha and Gremlins fame) and Ivan Reitman (of Ghostbusters fame). As a result, there was never a satisfactory script developed, even a script submitted by the late writer of Superman, Tom Mankiewicz was knocked back, he later reminisced “they naturally wanted to follow up Superman with Batman and I was seen as a logical choice, but it soon became apparent that you can’t write these characters in the same way, they’re totally different characters”.

It was not until the late 1980s when the pendulum started to swing in the favour of Warner Bros. One reason for this change of mood was the sudden appetite for the dark, serious and psychologically driven interpretation of Batman which had been used in works now considered classics such as Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns and Alan Moore’s The Killing Joke; the media attention gained from such works shook away the camp images of the characters from the previous twenty years. Meanwhile, a little known director by the name of Tim Burton, who at this point had only released two other films, had developed a reputation for dealing with quirky, dark subject matter and making it accessible to a mainstream audience, as confirmed when Beetlejuice was released to commercial and critical success. Burton was prepared to use Miller and Moore’s work as inspiration for the dark tone of the film, whilst inviting Batman creator Bob Kane to help develop a faithful interpretation of his characters, including eliminating the part of Robin (though he was originally included and storyboards featuring the character’s introduction were developed for the film). This was based on the logic that Batman, when first introduced in the comics, worked solo. It seemed at long last that Warner Bros had found their tone and their director…

…And just when you thought it was safe to book your cinema ticket, the next problem emerged; casting! There was unanimous backing for Jack Nicholson to play the Joker, now one of his most memorable roles, and he was able to negotiate a deal which entitled him to a percentage of the film’s overall takings which made Nicholson a phenomenal amount of money. But the first problem came with the casting of Batman himself and Burton’s preferred choice; Michael Keaton. Keaton, then known for his comedy roles, created such a stir, the Wall Street Journal ran a front page article suggesting the problems with Keaton, that fans feared Burton’s choice would revert the film back to the high camp of the 60s; interestingly enough it was reported at the time that even Adam West felt himself a better choice for the role! However, Burton’s logic for such casting came from the fact that his Batman needed to be someone that didn’t look like a superhero and would need to dress up like a bat for effect. This then reduced the questions but no-one was ever quite satisfied until the film’s release.

The second problem came with the casting of love interest Vicki-Vale. Blade Runner actress Sean Young was cast originally. However, Young was later injured on set and had to be replaced; Kim Basinger was then selected for the role, as someone who could help sell the film in the way that Nicholson and Keaton could. The rest of the cast was made up with actors such as Star Wars’ Billy Dee Williams as Harvey Dent (who took the role with the expectation that he would be Two-Face in a future film), Hammer Horror actor Michael Gough (who became one of Burton’s regular performers), Mick Jagger’s former girlfriend Jerry Hall, Pat Hingle as Commissioner Gordon and veteran actor Jack Palance as Carl Grissom.

The filming, done completely at Pinewood Studios in London, has now passed into folklore as far as blockbuster films go; Burton had yet to have his smash hit despite such a good reputation as a filmmaker and came into conflict with producer Jon Peters over aspects of the film and the script (he allegedly re-wrote the film’s ending having seen The Phantom Of The Opera without consulting anyone); Kevin Smith has since commented on working with Peters on the Superman Lives film which was never made and it seems a similar conflict arose, the widely circulated film clip makes for a funny anecdote from Smith. Burton also talks to this day with high regard for Jack Nicholson who supported him a lot throughout the making of the film, instructing Burton “to keep going, you just get what you need”.

And keep going he did… upon release Batman earned $411.35 million worldwide (which for its day was unprecedented having earned over $110 million in less than 10 days!) and it changed the way in which films were merchandised (with everything from t-shirts to action figures to breakfast cereal which would eventually earn $750 million!) Burton’s reputation as a film director was sealed…

…In hindsight, one can argue that Burton’s Batman film is quite tame in comparison to some of the more dark comic adaptations out there. And yes, the use of the songs by Prince does date the film dramatically (one wouldn’t think that it is 25 years old in 2014!)  However, the legacy that it has left could affect both future Batman films and other franchises. Burton was able to establish a dark, serious tone which Christopher Nolan has applauded Tim Burton for in the wonderful Batman films that he has created, and that we will see I’m sure in his final instalment The Dark Knight Rises. However, what I feel Nolan’s films lack and what Marvel’s Avengers universe of films has embraced (this is due to the creative control given to Nolan and the need for his series of films to be seen as nothing like the Joel Schumacher films) is the larger than life flamboyance that comic books allow films to achieve without becoming ridiculous. As this article is being written, Warner Bros are planning a future for Batman without Nolan at the helm with attempts being made at a Justice League film, Warner Bros should look back to Burton’s Batman as this is the legacy that has been emulated in the Marvel movies with resounding success, it would be such a shame to go to ten years worth of trouble to establish a tone for it to be then completely disregarded.

This week things remain fairly stagnant in the old Netflix vs. LOVEFiLM war. After the one upmanship and sabre rattling of the past two weeks, things have settled back into a polite few titles here and there and a bonanza of geek TV from LOVEFiLM. What has thrown me however is that there is now something called Blinkbox which I heard about through the magic of the radio of all places.

Blinkbox is a new service run by Tesco (yes that Tesco) but you wouldn’t think so to look at it. It’s notable because it offers free movies to stream without signing up and there are some pretty good titles too. You can sign up and operate a pay as you go type account and get access to stream the latest releases and TV shows which is also what YouTube do for the standard price you would expect to pay these days. Be warned however that although the free titles are fairly decent, you do have to wade through adverts both at the beginning and during the film you have chosen. Currently Blinkbox is available through most of the ways that you choose to view sites of this sort; however it does not yet have a handy PS3 app and only an Xbox 360 one. Surely it’s only a matter of time though before PS3 owners get a Blinkbox app of their own.

Angel: Seasons 1-4 (1999-2003) – LOVEFiLM

To many people, Angel is the show that was superior to the show that launched the character. Up until Dollhouse it definitely felt like the Joss Whedon show with the most balls. For five years the Buffy spin off was darker, grittier and had a great penchant for killing off main characters or shocking betrayals. The show somehow managed to take potentially hokey storylines (Angel’s son Connor for one and evil law firm Wolfram and Hart) and make the best out of them with constant twists and revelations which meant you were never quite sure what was going to happen next. Like Buffy this takes a while to find its feet but by the mid-point of season two this is just as good, if not better, than Buffy was.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Seasons 2-7 (1997-2003) – LOVEFiLM

LOVEFiLM have gone and added the rest of the Sunnydale saga after adding season one last week which means that if you haven’t yet caught up you get to see where this ground-breaking TV show goes over its whole seven year run. You will quickly get used to the format; it’s a monster of the week affair with an overarching ‘Big Bad’ nemesis each season. Each season manages to also be a brilliant documentation of the different phases of growing up, taking in things like careers, addiction and even the death of family members. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry and you’ll get scared during classic episodes like Hush from season 4.

The Devil’s Rejects (2005) – Netflix

Rob Zombie’s sequel to his directorial debut House of 1000 Corpses is an altogether different beast from that film. Whereas the first film had teens in peril and some kind of bizarre underground zombie factory at its conclusion, The Devil’s Rejects does away with the supernatural elements and instead focuses on the Firefly clan as they go on the run from an equally deranged lawman out to kill them in the American Midwest in the 70s. It’s stylish, it’s violent, there is a great soundtrack and it’s morally confusing as there is nobody to root for who isn’t a sadistic killer. So far Zombie has failed to top this film or live up to the promise this showed for his directing career although he has continued to load his projects with genre veterans which he began here.

V for Vendetta (2005) – LOVEFiLM

James McTeague’s powerful and uncompromising screen version of Alan Moore’s seminal graphic novel is still fairly underrated. Considering the climate that it was released in this was an incredibly brave film to be released by a major studio. V for Vendetta is the story of a terrorist and also manages to show how a terrorist may come into the world and it’s not afraid to make you ask some lofty questions both about society and about how you would react in a similar situation. It’s challenging in all the ways that cinema should be. Definitely a film that struck a chord with many people as, if you watch the news carefully during any protest these days, you’ll see the V mask in the crowd somewhere. It’s also really well written by the Wachowski Brothers who unfairly got most of the credit here and although there is a lack of kinetic action scenes, somehow it never feels dull.

Troll Hunter (2010) – Netflix

Last year’s found footage sensation from Norway is now available on Netflix for the masses. Possibly the last really good found footage movie produced and something that will no doubt be imitated ad nauseam for the next ten years; this is still a hell of a lot of fun. It may take its time getting going and there may be one too many shots of the countryside and the breathtaking Scandinavian views but the creature work is flawless and the acting top notch.

Batman Begins (2005) – LOVEFiLM

Just in time for the third and final film in Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, LOVEFiLM have added both of the previous films in the series to their streaming service. Whilst it’s not quite the classic that the next film was, Batman Begins sets the scene and the template remarkably well and introduces the concept of a city dying from the inside out and the hero that Gotham needs born out of tragedy. I’ll never forget my first viewing of this film thinking that Christian Bale’s performance whilst in the outfit was spot on and loving the fact that the world’s greatest detective actually did some detecting in the film.

The Dark Knight (2008) – LOVEFiLM

The sequel to Batman Begins ups the ante considerably. Not only is this a great Batman film but it’s a perfect action crime film as well. I find it amusing that when something is this good there will be a backlash against it no matter how good it is. So for some people this isn’t comic booky enough and they appear to want a return to the Schumacher Batman films of the 90s, those films were soulless and empty and had a stubborn refusal to take the source material seriously. Here it feels like the villainous Joker is truly a threat to an entire city as he creates mass panic and pushes Batman to the limits of his own moral codes. Heath Ledger’s Joker is rightly celebrated, nobody knows where the murderous clown came from or why he is there, he just is and it feels right. Such a shame that he passed on as it would have been wonderful to see how he figured into the last movie in the trilogy (which was the plan apparently). The Dark Knight is a shining example of what is possible in comic book cinema.

Blade (1998) – Blinkbox

Up until this film, the comic book movie genre really wasn’t taken all that seriously and we suffered through the likes of Batman and Robin and Spawn. Stephen Norrington’s Blade film is the one where people started to take this a little more seriously; there was no camp and just stylish action and brutality with a never better and perfectly cast Wesley Snipes as the titular vampire hunter. Guillermo Del Toro’s Blade 2 was even better and they seemed like they were going to cap off a pretty great trilogy with a post-apocalyptic storyline, but then we got Blade: Trinity and it all went wrong. Some of the CGI may be a little ropey now but this still stands up surprisingly well and it makes you wonder just where the hell Stephen Norrington went when there were films like Judge Dredd that needed rebooting.

Visitor Q (2001) – Blinkbox

It’s alarming that this film is available for free to anyone online right now; you could begin watching half way through and think you had stumbled on to some kind of snuff home video. Visitor Q is perhaps not the best introduction to the work of Takashi Miike but it’s a pretty good demonstration of how a mad man can get a film made in Japan. On the surface this is a story about a stranger integrating himself into a suburban family and bringing them to life but then touches on rape, incest, necrophilia and graphic murder without restraint. I don’t know what it says about me that I laughed a lot during this film but it’s almost impossible to recommend although if you love ‘extreme’ cinema, your prayers have been answered. There is never any danger of Hollywood remaking this one…

Appleseed: Ex Machina (2007) – Blinkbox

One of the best anime titles of recent years is Shinji Aramaki’s sequel to the 2004 anime reboot of Masamune Shirow’s classic cyberpunk manga. The 2004 version suffered from too plasticky cut scene looking animation and a clunky screenplay. With the scene already set, here the franchise gets to tell a brand new story in this world with breathtakingly improved fluid animation as well. Even if you are not typically an animation sort of person this is worth watching, the climax is so exciting that you forget what you’re watching is animation and are completely caught in the wonderfully detailed sci-fi universe that Aramaki is showing you. Can’t wait for Aramaki’s Starship Troopers anime film due later this year.

Big Man Japan (2007) – Blinkbox

One last piece of Japanese weirdness for you, Big Man Japan looks and feels like something you would see on a weekday evening on BBC2 or 4 at about 8pm. What you have here is a documentary about a simple, dishevelled and moped riding man who just so happens to have the ability to grow gigantic when electrocuted and take on some of the weirdest looking monsters ever seen outside of Power Rangers as they terrorise Tokyo. Unfortunately this man is something of a social pariah and an annoyance to his community despite the fact that he saves their lives regularly. Big Man Japan somehow never lives up to its brilliant premise and has serious pacing problems but is frequently very well observed and hilarious.

New comic book day is upon us once more and Starburst is here to help guide you through the shelves of your local comic shop (or whatever digital alternative you use like comiXology). It’s a big week for publishing titans Marvel and DC but no one is having a bigger week than your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. 

Our first first top pick this week is the third installment in Brian Michael Bendis and Sara Pichelli’s mini-series Spider-Men. The last issue saw Earth 616’s Peter Parker and the Ultimate universe’s Miles Morales finally come face to face. Things quickly went awry and the issue ended on a literal and metaphorical explosion as Mysterio took aim for both Peter and Miles. Issue #3 picks up where Bendis and Pichelli left off, with our Spider-Men ready to face off against a bloodthirsty Mysterio.

Peter Parker’s adventures continue in Avenging Spider-Man #9, in which the iconic webslinger teams up with the new and improved Carol Danvers, now going by the moniker Captain Marvel. Danvers’ own title is set to launch next week but fans can get an advance look at the new Captain Marvel in action as she and Spider-Man battle the forces of evil with the creative team of Kathryn and Stuart Immonen calling the shots.

In Batman and Robin #11, the Bat-clan is experiencing a less amicable meeting of minds as Damian Wayne and Jason Todd come to blows in this book penned by Peter J. Tomasi with art by Patrick Gleason and Michael Gray. The youngest Robin is on the warpath and he’s intent on battling the Robins of yore, starting with the Red Hood, the second Boy Wonder. Meanwhile, Batman’s enemies continue to unite against them as they plan their revenge against the man they blame for all their troubles.

 

DC continues its Watchmen parade with this week’s Before Watchmen: Minutemen #2. Darwyn Cooke’s title was the gem of the Before Watchmen collection and it looks like he’s continuing to raise the bar in the series’ second installment. After last month’s introduction of the Minutemen, the team finally sees some action as Nite Owl I continues his confessional narration of the adventures of America’s first superhero team. Writer Len Wein and artist John Higgins continue to tell the tale of the Crimson Corsair in the issue’s backup feature.

 

With a whopping ten variant covers available, Image Comics’ Walking Dead #100 might just be this week’s most anticipated comic. The “Something to Fear” story arc continues as writer Robert Kirkman delves even deeper into his seemingly bottomless bag of horrors to deliver one of the most gruesome events in the series thus far while artists Charlie Adlard and Cliff Rathburn continue to breathe life in Kirkman’s violent and bleak post-apocalyptic vision. Just when Rick Grimes thought things couldn’t possibly get any worse . . . they do! C’est la vie in the zombie apocalypse.

Well the gloves are well and truly off. Netflix continues adding content like it’s competing for some kind of content adding prize by the end of 2012 and Lovefilm have stepped things up by adding TV shows that are essential parts of any genre geek’s education. Below are some of the best titles that would appeal to you but bear in mind that there are still a great many films and TV shows added that I can’t even begin to cover all of them. It’s also worth noting that if you have a console through which you choose to view Lovefilm, then not all titles are available through that app on your system of choice, you sometimes have to log on via a PC to view these. This is true at the moment for the TV series mentioned below.

YouTube for the moment remains only useful if you want to view films with titles like Alien Hunter…

Splinter (2008) – Netflix

Splinter stands out as one of the best straight to DVD films in recent memory. It’s essentially a horror film with a creature similar to The Thing except set in the countryside by a gas station with a similar something that assimilates anything it infects. It’s tense, exciting and features a strong performance from the underrated Shea Wigham. It’s a shame that director Toby Wilkins is stuck directing episodes of the Teen Wolf TV series as this shows real promise.

Mission Impossible 2 (2000) – Netflix

Although this is the worst of the Mission Impossible movies it’s still got some great things in it. John Woo brings his stylish eye to the franchise and it’s got all his trademark gunplay and bird fetishes that you would expect. It’s just not really about the spying and the elements that we would later come to love about this series are not really present, the team aspect is never really a factor as it’s all about Tom Cruise and his flowing locks with the other members of IMF barely present, also Thandie Newton is a pretty but weak love interest who seems to inspire major passion in the hero and villain. Still it gets worse when the finale decides to defy the laws of physics and the abilities of Cruise’s feet but it’s still great action filmmaking.

The Horde (2009) – Netflix

The Horde begins like the recent action sensation The Raid with a bunch of cops going to a high rise to take out the criminals that dominate the block. It then adds in a zombie apocalypse that is taking place outside and the cops and criminals have to team up to survive. It’s not bad but you never get to know any of the characters so it’s hard to care about them as they die. It just seems like one loud mouth ape getting mowed down after another. For violent zombie carnage though it’s hard to beat and features an eye watering scene in a kitchen.

The Fall (2006) – Netflix

Those people who have written off Tarsem Singh as a director who is all style and no substance clearly haven’t seen this film. Yes it has his trademark visual style but in this one he uses it just as fantasy sequences filmed in real locations around the world which gives the film a weight that his other efforts have lacked so far. The real thrust of this film is the beautiful relationship between a curious young girl and Lee Pace’s crippled and suicidal stuntman in ‘20s Hollywood when films were silent but no less hard work. It’s wonderfully acted by all concerned and this is what stays with you, the visuals are second fiddle to the characters. Shockingly this beautiful film about the power of imagination and love nearly didn’t get released.

Dollhouse: Seasons 1 & 2 (2009-10) – Lovefilm

Dollhouse is the series that disappointed a lot of Joss Whedon’s fans a few years back but managed to last a full two seasons before getting canned. The premise is fascinating; people have their memories wiped and are implanted with different personalities depending on their mission by a shadowy organisation equipped with some dangerous technology. There is something of an arc to each season with which to hang your hopes on but mostly it feels like a ‘mission of the week’ show. You can’t help thinking that the premise would have been better suited to a cable channel like HBO where they really could have gone to town with the mostly implied sauciness. Still worth a look.

Firefly (2002) – Lovefilm

After being on Netflix for a while, Joss Whedon’s much loved and mourned Firefly makes its debut on Lovefilm. If you are reading this it’s hard to imagine you haven’t seen this yet but even if you’re not typically a sci-fi nut then you should give it a whirl, it’s oddly addictive. Whedon’s space saga has great characters, great dialogue, a wonderful set up and the possibilities were endless. It’s also the reason Nathan Fillion was fan casted in everything for the last few years. Sadly it was not to be and the network killed it after half a season. Still, we got Serenity which closed the loop essentially and was a damn good film so it wasn’t a total loss.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 1 (1997) – Lovefilm

The one that started it all is now on Lovefilm and not Netflix. It’s hard to imagine now but without Buffy we probably wouldn’t be enjoying half the shows we do now in the same way that they are told with season long arcs and on-going characters. Buffy started all that and came at the perfect time with teen centric films suddenly becoming big business again. The first season has problems but introduces the characters and the relationships that will develop and make you smile and cry in the coming years and gets better and better the further you get from it. In short – it’s essential television.

Flashforward (2009) – Lovefilm

Of all the Lost clones that have come and gone over the years, Flashforward was the stand out. Humanity blacks out for two minutes and everyone gets a glimpse of their future. The world is devastated and the subsequent story delves into the impact this has on people’s lives and the investigation into why it happened. It was actually pretty smart and well written and I didn’t make it the whole way to the end but it seemed like it was actually going to give some answers. Still better than most of the crap they made trying to imitate Lost.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988) – Lovefilm

Between Back to the Future films, Robert Zemeckis made this loving homage to classic noir and the golden age of animation. I still can’t quite believe we ever got a film with both Disney and Warner Bros cartoon characters sharing the screen. This may have been aimed at kids but the plot is surprisingly dark and scary and the acting with the blend of animation is right on target. We have never gotten a sequel to this film because this one was so damn good that the next one became too important to screw up. Much imitated over the years but never bettered and the effects work is seamless.

American Movie (1999) – Netflix

Not really a horror movie but a documentary about making a horror movie which has to be seen to be believed. Like the best documentaries, American Movie has targets that could so easily have been scripted and acted but they are real people living real lives no matter how out of touch they may seem. Director Chris Smith simply had to show up and roll cameras on Mark Borchadt, the would be horror filmmaker whose enthusiasm exceeds his actual talent. It would have been easy to let this slide into a piss take except it’s not mean spirited at all, there is a lot of affection for not just Borchadt but his friends and family too; all of whom have their own little quirks. This is a celebration of the little guy and his dreams and dares you to do the same or better. Brilliant.

Body Double (1984) – Netflix

Brian De Palma’s Body Double was way ahead of its time. Essentially it’s another one of De Palma’s Hitchcock riffs, this time on Rear Window and finds itself going through a power drill death scene, a musical interlude with Frankie Goes to Hollywood and eventually finds itself in the seedy underbelly of the porn industry. All the while following an unemployed actor who may be a pervert or may just be a good man but the film keeps you guessing until the end. I think this film has been oddly influential in its time, Richard Kelly must have seen it and oddly enough elements of it are reminiscent of David Lynch’s most recent work. It may be overlong for what it is but it’s a fascinating and fun watch.

Stargate (1994) – Lovefilm

When I watched Prometheus recently I was struck by how similar it was to this film. I was partially disappointed in that film because it didn’t know if it was a horror or an intergalactic adventure. When Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin’s first epic SF collaboration came out in late ‘94 the genre was dead, there was nothing going on. People saw the trailer and then there was all this talk again of how much people loved Star Wars, understandably the film hit big at the box office and we ended up with Independence Day two years later. Stargate is tremendous fun, it has pacing issues but has some great stuff from Kurt Russell, James Spader and the missing presumed dead Jaye Davidson. At the time the writer and director talked up a trilogy which was then ruined when they took it to TV with Macgyver in the Kurt Russell role. I’ve always wondered where the series would have gone had we got two more films from the original creators.

Things have really heated up this week; Netflix has been adding content up the wazoo! I’m not egotistical enough to think they read my comments about their updates in the first version of this column two weeks ago and pulled their finger out but it’s an interesting coincidence. LOVEFiLM have yet to retaliate with an arsenal of content but chances are they are moving their missiles to a strategic position and formulating a plan. At the moment they have simply added a couple of Russell Crowe films and a couple of older titles. As always the true winner in this battle is you the consumer.

Anyway enough of my chin stroking, this week’s pick of the titles added to streaming are as follows:

Drive (2011) – Netflix

Ok not strictly a Starburst sort of movie, although I think it was reviewed on the radio show/podcast. Also apparently this film was very close to appearing in the line-up of last year’s London Frightfest due to the fact that Ryan Gosling plays a total psychopath who is fond of very splattery violence. Director Nicholas Winding Refn truly arrived with this film which is like a ’70s action flick with an ’80s sensibility and shot like a sci-fi flick. The driver character as played by Gosling with smouldering intensity has become a modern day icon of coolness and the film has several classic scenes. This was the best film to come out in cinemas last year and will be mimicked and referenced for years to come. If you haven’t seen it yet now is your chance. Prepare to buy the soundtrack and drive around at night wishing you were as cool as Ryan Gosling.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) – Netflix

Future Lego movie directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller got started with this delightfully silly and inventive animated feature based on a kid’s book. A mad scientist and town pariah makes it rain food in an island town where the sole industry and food supply is sardines. Suddenly he becomes a celebrity and celebrated genius but of course it all backfires with gigantic mutant food eventually causing massive destruction. Like many animated movies, this boils down to a simple tale of a man seeking his father’s approval but it works really well for adults and kids. It’s really stunningly animated and has top class voice work from Bill Hader, James Caan, Ana Faris and Bruce Campbell. Not many animated movies have made me laugh as much as this, recommended!

Zathura (2005) – Netflix

Jon Favreau’s directorial follow up to Elf was something of a box office disappointment when it quietly went in and out of cinemas in the middle of last decade. Surprising considering it was the spiritual sequel to Jumanji and revolved around another board game and this time took the fantasy elements into outer space. Zathura is a lot of fun, it’s not perfect but its fun with some pretty good special effects and a tone that doesn’t talk down to kids, which at the time was rare. The relationship between the two brothers is believable and real and Kristen Stewart even puts in an early performance and isn’t annoying. Strangely enough for a space set fantasy film it feels oddly small and confined due to its one house floating in space location. The kids will love it though.

Tucker and Dale vs Evil – Netflix (2010)

This horror comedy from last year has not yet become the massive cult film it deserves to be, but it’s still early days I suppose. If you haven’t caught up with this film on LOVEFiLM yet then now it’s on Netflix for your viewing pleasure. The simple yet brilliant premise of this film is the set-up of any number of teens slaughtered in the wilderness films, except here Tucker and Dale and genuinely nice guys out at Dale’s dilapidated cabin when the teens stumble across them and through fear end up doing themselves in very violently. A series of misunderstandings follow and poor Tucker and Dale end up thinking they are in the midst of some kind of teen suicide cult. The first hour of the film is hilarious, both Tyler Labine and Alan Tudyk are brilliant physical comedians that deserve A list status. It’s just a shame that after an hour it becomes the very thing its parodying so never quite becomes an all-out classic. Still definitely something you should watch with a crowd of mates and some beer for best effect.

A Horrible Way to Die (2010) – Netflix

Adam Wingard’s debut film has been heavily advertised as a horror film and if you saw the cover and the title you could be forgiven for thinking this was another straight to DVD torture porn movie. Except you would be dismissing something fairly unique. A Horrible Way to Die is gory and brutal but is more of a hard boiled noir film that an out and out horror. The simple story of a woman haunted by her serial killer ex-boyfriend who has just escaped from jail seems fairly simple but the film takes some twists and turns that defy expectation. The film is shot with a hazy dreamlike quality so that it comes across like some kind of memory or waking dream and is really effective. Great performances by AJ Bowen and Amy Semetz make this something of a minor classic. Adam Wingard’s follow up film You’re Next is supposed to be even better!

Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn (1987) – LOVEFiLM

If you haven’t seen Evil Dead 2 then frankly I’m amazed you are even reading this site. Depending on what mood I am in and what I have been watching, Evil Dead 2 is usually my official favourite film of all time. It’s fair to say that this changed my life when I was 14 years old. Sam Raimi remakes his own original with a new short introduction and then it picks up right where the first one left off except that this time the lunacy is cranked up to 11. Flying eyeballs, sawn off possessed hands and laughing deer heads all come into play in this absolute masterclass in comedy and terror. The film is also visually stunning thanks to the beautiful cinematography by future Lynch collaborator Peter Deming. If you want to understand why Bruce Campbell is such a geek demi-god then here is the reason, yes Army of Darkness has its fans but the hardcore that saw this one twenty times before that film realise that it was something of a disappointment despite its relative mainstream success. In short go see it now now now! Would make a pretty decent double bill with Tucker and Dale vs Evil as well.

Pickings are slim in terms of this week’s content, but spoof seems to be the order of the day. Netflix have wisely introduced a ‘Recently Added’ list to their website which means that it’s much easier to find out what’s new and you don’t have to rely on someone you don’t know in California feeding you through titles based on what you have watched already, which is a big step in the right direction.

Also forgot last week that YouTube offer free films for streaming now as well as a pay per view service of the latest titles. Haven’t tested out the pay per view yet and the free streaming titles are largely bottom shelf bilge, apart from one mentioned below. Someone told me that Troma have an entire channel devoted to streaming their films for free but as yet I have not been able to find it. Anyone have a link?

Anyway this week’s pick of the best streaming titles are as follows:

Student Bodies (1981) – Netflix

Twenty years before Scary Movie in what was still early days for the slasher genre, writer/director Mickey Rose got together with a producer named Allen Smithee (?!) and made this affectionate spoof of the films Halloween and Friday the 13th. At least one film a year ruins it with its hateful view of pop culture and the targets it’s parodying nowadays but back in the day the spoof was something of an art form. Student Bodies could have been crass and stupid but there is an evident affection for the horror genre that seeps through the screen. Overly and ridiculously horny teens are targeted by a killer known as ‘The Breather’ and that’s about it, it still introduces the concept of virgins being the last to die a full fifteen years before Wes Craven cottoned on to it. It’s cheap and cheerful and full of bawdy laughs with some hilarious characterisations.

South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut (1999)  – Lovefilm

I remember going to see this in a packed auditorium in August of 99; I think everyone in that cinema didn’t get quite what they expected. They came for an even more extreme version of the television show that they were enjoying on a weekly basis, they got that but also got the best musical Hollywood had produced in years. It’s no coincidence that Trey Parker and Matt Stone are currently enjoying major acclaim for The Book of Mormon on the Broadway Stage, South Park the movie was the dry run for that success and it’s awesome. The show at its peak is one of the cleverest things around and at its lowest is lowest common denominator base entertainment for teenagers. The film manages to combine both of these things, holding up a mirror to its audience of foul mouthed teens and their concerned parents with its plot and somehow managing to become a pretty epic film in its own right. Blame Canada will repeat endlessly in your head for weeks…

Candyman – Farewell to the Flesh (1995) – Netflix

The first Candyman film from 1992 is one of (maybe the) best horror films of the 90s. So hopes were high for the sequel released three years later and I think it’s fair to say that everyone was disappointed. The film didn’t feel as much like a modern dark fairy tale and more of a bog standard slasher franchise movie which moved the action to New Orleans. Well either time has been kind or this was never as bad as it seemed because recently when I watched this I kind of enjoyed it. It’s nowhere near on a par with Bernard Rose’s first movie but is fairly solid and well shot horror bogeyman mayhem that has some cracking set pieces. Worth noting that director Bill Condon went on to major acclaim and Oscar attention with Gods and Monsters, Kinsey and Dreamgirls so yeah it’s really not that bad…

The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus (2009) – Netflix

Terry Gilliam’s last film to date was his best since 1998’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, it’s also deeply flawed but a deeply personal film. You can tell how personal Gilliam’s films are by how wacky and similar to the old Python animations he goes and by how much sacrifice and hardship they had to endure making it. Few things can be harder than getting around the loss of your leading man, this was Heath Ledger’s final film and he died halfway through filming. Instead of letting it become a lost movie, Gilliam rounded up a few of Ledger’s mates and re-wrote the wacky finale to get around the fact that Ledger couldn’t film these scenes. Sadly it’s this aspect of the finale that shoots the whole thing in the foot and stops this being a masterpiece. The move to other actors including Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law playing the main character is too jarring and out there to accept. Everything before the finale is top notch though; Gilliam really was firing on all cylinders of his unique imagination with some cracking visuals and great performances from not just Ledger but Lily Cole, Andrew Garfield and Christopher Plummer as Dr Parnassus himself. As mentioned it’s flawed but essential fantasy cinema.

Kung Fu Hustle (2005) – YouTube

YouTube now offers free films to stream, which is deeply weird when you see it on screen but they offer almost nothing that you have heard of. Every now and then though they come through with a gem and Kung Fu Hustle is one of those gems. Star and director Stephen Chow doesn’t work enough, but due to his elusive nature each one of his films becomes a kind of mythical diamond that everyone should see because you are never quite sure if he will do another one. Kung Fu Hustle is a live action cartoon and spoof of the kung fu genre which manages to introduce elements of the supernatural and bizarre mutant kung fu masters and still be an action movie you can take seriously. All these elements combined should mean that the film is a mess but it’s not and it all works perfectly and hilariously. Sadly this version of the film is not the dubbed version found on the DVD which really added to the whole absurd nature of the film and the old school kung fu feel.

If you reckon you weren’t confused by Prometheus then I can only suggest that you weren’t paying enough attention; go back and watch it repeatedly until you are properly confused and then you’ll be up to speed with the rest of us. I’m not talking about all those obvious plot-holes here; you know the kind of thing – Noomi Rapace giving herself a caesarean, finding a vicious and rather icky life form inside her and then just forgetting to tell anyone. “Oh, while I think of it, when you’ve got a moment, there’s something nasty in the sickbay you might want to check is actually dead; you know how these things do have a habit of turning into big unstoppable beasties by the closing reel. Did I tell you about the caesarean I gave myself? What a day I’ve had…” That could have saved her a bit of bother later. What I’m talking about here are all those things that might get explained in later movies or maybe won’t: Earthworms underfoot, xenomorph frescos, vases of goo that do different things at different times, Engineers fleeing the wrong way (from what?), superior races with a penchant for changing their minds, the beginning of the movie, the rest of the movie and so on. While Prometheus seemed to dominate the Internet before its release, the arrival of the movie has caused debate, argument, name-calling and world-class trolling over what was going on in the movie, plunging the web into virtual meltdown since. Some people are Not Happy, while those who are have been quick in condemning those that aren’t as foolish and unworthy of what they see as an artistic triumph.

So why has Ridley Scott left everyone so dissatisfied and/or agitated? Is he getting old? Well yes, he is, but as long as studios are letting him play with nine-figure budgets then we’ll have to assume he still has his wits about him (even if he does think talking about the long-debunked Erich von Däniken was a good build-up to the movie’s release). OK, so Ridley never was a master storyteller, but it’s not like he’s Tim Burton or something (ooh, controversial). Whatever way you look at it, there were bits of the movie that, within the confines of the story being told in its 124 minutes running time, were clearly confused if not entirely inexplicable. Of course, with a (pro)active imagination, we can dream up all sorts of stuff to explicate what we saw, while the more cynical of us will believe some things were included simply because they looked cool. But this use of our imagination can’t be a Bad Thing, can it? I mean we’re always complaining how Hollywood spoon feeds us so what’s so terrible about a few bits left for us to sort out? Especially now we have the Internet to talk about these things.

Hang on a minute. Was this Ridley’s game all along? We all know that the Internet has become a major tool of the filmmaker in the run up to a movie’s release, be it viral marketing or simply feeding the forums (even though some remember when a poster on a bus stop was newfangled); but has Ridley pushed the whole film experience itself into something to be ‘enjoyed’ on the web? Of course, people have been arguing about movies on the net for as long as it’s existed but despite the passion of much of this activity, it has never really been more than a twenty-first century equivalent of a conversation in the pub that you can experience while sitting in your pants (you know who you are). But Scott and writers Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindelof seem to have littered the movie with unexplained dead-ends and bits and pieces that seem to serve no other purpose than to provoke debate. The resulting online argument has actually become part of the entertainment experience for anyone with the inclination (and time on their hands) to join in or observe. Either that or the team are leaving an awful lot of explaining to do in the later parts of what we all expect will be a trilogy. Or perhaps both of these phenomena are afoot? If we’re going to get another installment in a couple of years then the expectation is going to be even bigger than Prometheus had in the first place; we’re going to get to see whose pet theory was right and whose wasn’t. Scores will be settled among the geekhood. And there’s no problem if what we have all just watched is just a bunch of stuff randomly put together to look good on the screen. If the writers have any plot problems, the audience is providing the explanations they need. This could be an opportunity for us to write our own movie. ‘We’re damned if we know what’s going on, so just fill in the details and we’ll cobble together a couple of sequels’.

Of course, it would be terribly unsatisfying if any of this were true. One likes to think that there is a grand plan behind these movies as Ridley and chums gradually reveal their creation. Perhaps that’s true but Ridley has always liked to be at the cutting edge of cinema. The Blair Witch Project (1999) changed the stakes by using the web to give you a back-story and Prometheus has continued that tradition with its stand-alone teasers even going so far as casting Guy Pearce to play the ancient Peter Weyland so that he is the right age for the teasers. Or at least we’re assuming that’s the reason. So it’s perfectly believable that the wily old Scott has decided to make participation on the Internet part of our viewing experience. As to whether this is a Good Thing, that rather depends on your perspective; it’s a bit of a minority sport after all. Most people just want to see a movie. As far as the rest are concerned, best trolling trousers on until Prometheus 2.