Based on the Oz series by L. Frank Baum
Written by: Mitchell Kapner, David Lindsay-Abaire
Directed by: Sam Raimi
Starring: James Franco, Mila Kunis, Michelle Williams, Rachel Weisz
In Short: A less-wicked origin story, but less interesting.
Recommended: Kind of – this movie is best served on DVD.
OSCAR: I might not actually be a wizard.
GLINDA: Yes, but they don’t know that.
The Wizard of Oz is all about magic, and ingenuity and a sense of childlike wonder. Even with the other side of the MGM classic: that “not family-friendly” version where adults watch it on mute …

Based on the novel The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
Written by: Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson, Guillermo del Toro
Directed by: Peter Jackson
Starring: Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Andy Serkis
US Release Date: Friday, December 14, 2012
In Short: Bilbo Baggins is pulled into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf kingdom.
Recommended: HELL YES!
GOLLUM: Oh, we like goblinses, batses, and fishes, but we hasn’t tried Hobbitses before. Is it soft? Is it juicy?
It’s here! It’s here! It’s finally here! December 14th, 2012 marked the US release of The Hobbit: An …

Based on Star Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry
Story by: Rick Berman, Ronald D. Moore, Brannon Braga
Written by: Ronald D. Moore, Brannon Braga
Directed by: David Carson
Starring: William Shatner, Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, LeVar Burton, Gates McFadden, Marina Sirtis, Malcolm McDowell, Whoopi Goldberg
Movie Marathon: Prequels
In Short: The Next Generation farewell Kirk, the Enterprise-D and interesting plots…
Recommended: Not really.
KIRK: I take it the odds are against us in a situation this grim.
PICARD: You could say that.
KIRK: You know, if Spock were here, he’d say that I was an irrational, illogical human being …

Based on characters created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster
Story by: Bryan Singer, Michael Dougherty, Dan Harris
Written by: Michael Dougherty, Dan Harris
Directed by Bryan Singer
Movie Marathon: Prequels
In Short: Superman…er… returns. We wish he hadn’t bothered.
Recommended: Die first.
LOIS LANE: Well you’re back and everyone seems happy about it.
SUPERMAN: Not everyone.
Upon its release, Superman Returns was framed an “alternative sequel” to the original Superman and Superman II films – alternative as it completely disregards the third and fourth films. For the purposes of this particular Movie Marathon, then, I am going to …

Written by: David Benioff and Skip Woods
Directed by: Gavin Hood
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Danny Huston, Ryan Reynolds, Taylor Kitsch
In Short: The little amount of good is off-set by some of the worst plotting and CGI imaginable.
Recommended: Just barely, but more so for how bad it is than anything else.

STRYKER: You were sentenced for decapitating a senior officer. The warden tells me that your sentence was carried out by a firing squad at 1000 hours. How’d that go?
LOGAN: It tickled.
Almost four years later, I still try to forget that X-Men …

Based on Battlestar Galactica, created by Glen A. Larson
Also based on Battlestar Galactica (2004), developed by Ronald D. Moore
Created by: Michael Taylor & David Eick
Starring: Luke Pasqualino, Ben Cotton, Lili Bordán
Number of Episodes: 10 (1 Season)
TV on DVD: Web Series
In Short: A young William Adama gets a chance to prove himself on his first mission aboard the Battlestar Galactica.
Recommended: Yes
JENNA: You lookin’ for some action? [points to the Galactica] There’s the girl that’s going to give it to ya.
The long awaited (other) prequel to Battlestar Galactica (2004) finally saw the …

Written By: Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindelof
Directed By: Ridley Scott
Starring: Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba, Logan Marshall-Green, Guy Pearce
US Release Date: Friday, June 8th, 2012
In Short: An intergalactic pursuit of man’s origins goes terribly, terribly wrong.
Recommended: Hell, yes!
DAVID: Big things have small beginnings!
In a way, Prometheus is the product of two movies. On one hand, it’s a basic horror movie that borrows heavily from almost any other movie in the Alien franchise, which director Ridley Scott helped pioneer way back when. On the other hand, it surrounds …

The First Formic War, Book 1
(Prequel to Ender’s Game)
Published by Tor Books
Release Date: Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Available in Hardcover, Audio CD and Download and Kindle editions
FREE sample of the Macmillan Audiobook Earth Unaware (The First Formic War) available at bottom of page…
In Short: A subject ripe with possibility – all that occurs before Ender’s Game – but that unfortunately decides to retcon all that we already knew.
Recommended: Hrm. Well…yes? Maybe?
“A flicker of movement in his peripheral vision stopped him. He turned toward the nose of the pod and saw a …