Sci-Fi Squad Sci-Fi Movies, News, Trailers, DVDs and More

I was largely unimpressed by the toy line based on the film Avatar. Mattel's action figures were all too lanky, with funky likenesses and an overall cheap quality that looked more like an of-the-moment licensing cash-in than something they wanted to build a new, long-lasting line of toys around. I still love Mattel (I can't imagine growing up without Masters of the Universe), but I'm in love with Sideshow Collectibles.

Take a look at their Neytiri statue -- a $300 piece of polystone, lovingly rendered with all of the care that goes into every Sideshow product. They've started pre-sales on the Avatar statue, through their newsletter, and I'd expect brisk sales on their first Avatar collectible just based on the film's overwhelming popularity.

You can see a full view of the statue after the jump.

Every year, San Diego Comic Con hosts the Eisner Awards, honoring outstanding achievements in the world of sequential art. Think of it like the Oscars for comic books. These prestigious awards are named after comic book innovator Will Eisner, who actively participated in the ceremony every year until his death in 2005.

Honoring work both mainstream and off-the-beaten path, the Eisner nominees are always a good indicator of that year's must-read titles.

You can read the full list of winners after the jump.

Some speculation reared its head around the time of Zack Snyder's film adaptation of Watchmen, that DC Comics was looking to spin-off the beloved comic mini-series into a brand-new series of prequels and sequels. Turns out the speculation was true, and that the projects were offered to writer Alan Moore by DC in exchange for the rights to the original series.

"They offered me the rights to Watchmen back, if I would agree to some dopey prequels and sequels," Moore told Wired. "So I just told them that if they said that 10 years ago, when I asked them for that, then yeah it might have worked, but these days I don't want Watchmen back. Certainly, I don't want it back under those kinds of terms." Moore goes on to tell Wired that he doesn't even own a copy of Watchmen, and that he feels the comic may have had an overall negative effect on the industry.

The official word from DC is that if they moved forward on any new Watchmen projects, they'd offer them to Moore and collaborator/artist Dave Gibbons first. That's merely lip service, as they have to know by now that Moore is never, ever coming back to the property (or any property, for that matter -- Moore has been outspoken about leaving comics behind forever). If there's money to be made, rest assured, DC will stripmine the series for all its worth, regardless of whether it should be left alone or not. I'm surprised it hasn't been done yet, but I think the powers that be haven't wanted to piss off Alan Moore. If he's retiring, then, sadly, pissing him off doesn't have the same consequences as it used to have. That door is already closed.

Revenge of the Creature, Directed by Jack Arnold, 1955

Synopsis: The Creature from the Black Lagoon (referred to as the "Gillman" in this movie) is moved from the Amazon to Florida, as part of a theme park attraction.

My Thoughts: This was my first time to watch this film away from the MST3K commentary, and even when I originally saw that episode, I felt like the movie was probably too good for their usual lampooning. It's dated, but not a bad high-concept sequel. They could've chosen a whole new team to journey down the Amazon and run afoul of the Creature, but they didn't, so kudos for trying something new.

There's nothing particularly remarkable about it, and it plays out almost exactly how you expect it to, but as a monster matinee, you could do a lot worse. I like the scenes where the Creature is passed out face first in the water and the theme park workers have to sort of move him around in the pool, almost like walking a dog. I kept waiting for him to jump up and claw a trainer's arm off. This sequel bridges the gap to The Creature Walks Among Us, which I've always felt is one of Universal's most unjustly overlooked monster movies.

Recommended If You Like: Jaws 3D, Humanoids from the Deep

Am I late to the cocktail party? Have I been missing out on the blog The Drunken Moogle this whole time? Check out the beauty of the Triforce (pictured), one part dark rum, one part 99 Bananas, and one part Goldschlager, guaranteed to make you rock-arina on your ocarina. The site finds libation inspiration in all kinds of classic video games, including Final Fantasy, Metroid, Super Mario Brothers, and The Legend of Zelda.

Do you have an idea for a drink? The Drunken Moogle takes submissions from fans for brand new recipes and photos of your crazy creations. I'm rather inspired to make a shot for every single character from the original Punch-Out. A Bald Bull, anyone?

You can follow Drunken Moogle on Twitter or friend them on Facebook for all new recipes.

Confession time. When I went to the Austin screening of Inception, exactly one week ago, I took it in, enjoyed it immensely, and was pretty much finished thinking about it by the time my head hit the pillow a couple of hours later. I'd heard it was a great movie, and while I completely agreed, I thought some of its goodness may have been amplified by most of this Summer's unusual amount of badness.

It's strange to think that a fantastic movie like Inception might seem like a bigger deal when placed against a desert of idiotic and uninvolving product. Shouldn't great just mean great? I felt odd, because I really liked the film, but it seems like there are people going absolutely gaga bananas over-the-moon for it. I'd count it as my favorite film this year, but there's something about it that's keeping me a little restrained.

There's one single sci-fi film that's going to have everyone talking this weekend -- Christopher Nolan's mind-bending thriller Inception. I can't think of a better place to air out your thoughts than right here on Sci-Fi Squad.

Now, there's a lot of people that seem unusually concerned about Inception being spoiled for them (I don't think wanting it unspoiled is the unusual part -- I think the number of people avoided ALL trailers and discussion is unusual for a big movie like this). To those people, I would recommend staying away from the comments section for now, just in case, but I'd also ask our regular readers to hold their comments until the discussion post on Monday, if possible. This will give people a chance to see it, and enough time for you to dissect it in your own head before sharing your opinion -- and you'll definitely want to do that.

I'm probably going to see the film again, before Monday's discussion post, so that I can come back and lead the talk without sounding like I have a massive head injury. I enjoyed Inception, and found it to be an incredible sci-fi "heist" movie, but it's intricate, and almost demands a second viewing.

See you back here on Monday!

Edward Norton replaced Eric Bana to give Louis Leterrier's Incredible Hulk a clean break from Ang Lee's Hulk. Now the rumor is that Mark Ruffalo is replacing Edward Norton, who won't be returning to the role after Marvel publicly called him out as not being a team player. Somewhere between Norton and Ruffalo, Joaquin Phoenix was the front-runner for about a day, but Marvel may have realized it's not in their best interest to replace a guy, that they feel is difficult to work with, with a guy whose behavior is so erratic he let someone poop on him for his rap documentary.

That's quite a casting merry-go-round for one character, the kind we haven't seen since the revolving door of Batmen in the 1990s. The plan is to include the Hulk in the upcoming Avengers movie, and possibly follow that film with another Hulk sequel (will we still get Tim Blake Nelson as The Leader?). There've been some rumors that the Hulk would be the thing that unites the Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, and others), keeping the story from the very first issue of the Avengers comic somewhat intact.

Even by the title alone, Predators promised a ton of Predators, in much the same way Aliens delivered a lot more aliens than the original film. We even got that great shot in the trailer of Adrien Brody as Royce, covered in dozens of the three-dot laser sightings that Predators use before blowing their subject away. It turned out only to be a bait-and-switch advertising moment -- a scene used to sell a moment that is drastically different in the actual film, where Royce is pinpointed by only one laser sight.

"A lot of my movies have trailer shots that I shoot just for the trailer," Predators producer Robert Rodriguez told MTV, "so that people haven't seen the movie already but they get the feeling of what it's supposed to represent." And what was that supposed to represent? According to the image, it represents a film with at least fifteen Predators, not the mere three that are on the hunt in the movie.

This isn't a case of cutting the scene from the final film or filming a scene explicitly for a trailer -- it's a deliberate, deceitful post-production fake-out to sell people on the film by promising them more Predators than ever before. I'm sorry, but there's a big difference between three and fifteen. I don't think anybody went to the movies to see that one single shot, but it's still a sneaky cheat, and when you reach that point in the movie, the glaring difference in the scene will take you out of the film just as surely as someone's cell phone going off. I'm sure that wasn't the filmmakers' intent.

If you've ever wanted your very own Minnie Mouse as Boushh action figure, you're in luck! Disney is offering all-new Star Wars action figures at their theme parks, as part of the Star Tours experience.

Their fourth assortment of characters include Boushh, as well as Pete as Boba Fett, Goofy as C-3PO, Donald Duck as Han Solo (with carbonite), and Mickey Mouse is, of course, Luke Skywalker, in his outfit from Return of the Jedi. They've managed to find a way to take two things that shouldn't really go together at all and turned them into something pretty cool.

Even though the figures are only available at the parks (according to Figures.com), you never know when a set might show up on ebay. While you're there, pick me up one of those Emperor Palpatine Stitch figures.