There’s only a few weeks left before Doctor Who returns to TV, and both BBC and BBC America are ramping up promotion in the lead up to the relaunch of Series 6. The BBC has released another new trailer, a follow-up to the first teaser previewed at SDCC. You can view the new trailer at the bottom of this post.

While it’s a short teaser, it does give fans a glimpse of a lot of new footage – though not too much to spoil any surprises along the way. There are a few more people wearing an eye patch, which adds to the mystery of new villain Madame Kovarian (Frances Barber).

We also get a few glimpses of companions Amy Pond (Karen Gillan), Rory Williams (Arthur Darvill), and River Song (Alex Kingston); and of course the Doctor himself, Matt Smith.

Also, a new promotional poster has been floating around the web lately, in the run-up to the return of the show. The design is fantastic, so I figured I would also include it in this post in its full-size glory [...]

Check out Episode 29 of the Flix of Doom podcast, the official movie podcast of Geeks of Doom, with hosts Justin Vactor, Michael Merlob, and Will Melton.

Click HERE to open the podcast player in a new window.

Full Episode Guide is here below, along with player.

Listen now!

Films discussed in this episode:
- Cowboys & Aliens
- The Smurfs
- Crazy, Stupid, Love.
- Captain America: The First Avenger
- Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes[...]

It’s being reported that Bryan Cranston, the Emmy Award–winning star of AMC’s Breaking Bad, is in negotiations to join Brad Pitt on the cast of the post–apocalyptic zombie flick, World War Z.

Who Cranston would be playing is not yet known, but it’s said to be a “small but notable” character. It’s also unknown whether the actor would be taking on the role once filled by either Ed Harris or Matthew Fox—both of whom departed the project not long after being cast.

The movie—which is currently in production and based on the Max Brooks novel of the same name—takes place a decade after the zombie apocalypse as survivors continue to cope with this horrific new world. The story is told from the perspective of some of these survivors.

World War Z is directed by Marc Forster, from a script written by Matthew Michael Carnahan and J. Michael Straczynski. [...]

As we amble into the unofficial final month of the summer movie season, Rise of the Planet of the Apes beckons us with its big hairy paw to enjoy the mayhem of the final huge release of the summer. If you miss Rise, you have only yourself to blame as the rest of August feels like the leftovers no one wants to eat so they’ll be put in the back of the refrigerator until they get moldy as…

…you’re going to have to prefab your excuse right now to miss The Help as it’s placed in the exact same release slot that Eat Pray Love was in last year, and you’ve regretted the 5 hours you wasted watching that, haven’t you? You’ve been warned. Remember, racism is bad and Blacks and Whites and ________ [insert an oppressed minority here] working together is good, so you’ve gotten the Very Important Lesson from The Help so you really don’t need to see it.

…it really hasn’t been good summer for Ryan Reynolds has it? And this is from someone who was relatively neutral about Green Lantern. But when The Change-Up (despite Olivia Wilde) can barely beat out the Hangover remake, um, sequel, as an R-rated comedy, then you know you’ve got problems that not even Jason Bateman can solve [...]

The $10 t-shirt deal of the day over at RIPT Apparel today is the Doctor Who-themed shirt called “Impossible Spaceman” by artist D4N13L.

The shirt went on sale at RIPT today, Sunday, August 7, 2011, at midnight CST, and will continue for 24 hours from then, and once it’s over, it will not be sold on the site anymore [...]

Yes, because when the world thinks of Carl Sagan and his beloved series The Cosmos, it thinks of Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane.

Joking aside, THR is reporting that Fox along with The National Geographic Channel have signed up to team-up with the funny man on a new series entitled Cosmos: A Space-Time Odyssey.

The series will run as a 13-part documentary series, and will find MacFarlane aboard, along with Sagan’s widow, Ann Druyan, and astrophysicist Steven Soter. The kicker here is that it will be hosted by the brilliant astrophysicist (and frequent guest on The Daily Show, where is likely best remembered from) Neil deGrasse Tyson [...]

Fans of weapons, musicians, and big budget blockbusters have just found their new favorite story.

Rihanna Daily has posted a new photo of the hugely popular singer-turned-actress Rihanna with what appears to be a big freaking gun on the set of her upcoming film, Battleship.

The photo itself looks just as entertaining as the first trailer for the board game “adaptation,” which stars Taylor Kitsch, Brooklyn Decker, and Liam Neeson and follows a young man looking to not only prove the father of his main squeeze wrong, but also save his crew from an impending alien invasion [...]

“My mom was so right. Nice guys really do eat the best pussy.”
“Not really sure how to interpret that.”

The holiday season. Perfect time for spending time with the family, going for moonlit strolls on a winter evening, and battling crowds of insane consumers for that last bottle of your wife’s favorite perfume or else she’ll divorce your sorry ass. How about a hard-R comedy about babysitting that’s about as raunchy as a major studio can get these days? Don’t mind if I do.

Up until a few days ago I had no idea this movie even existed to be perfectly honest with you, but 20th Century Fox has just released a trailer for The Sitter, a new comedy starring Jonah Hill and directed by David Gordon Green. You can watch the red band NSFW trailer below this article [...]

I think we’re all in agreement that Christopher Nolan‘s upcoming trilogy–maker, The Dark Knight Rises, is one of the most exciting movies ever to be made. After the brilliance that was The Dark Knight and with the knowledge that Nolan won’t be holding anything back with this being his last hurrah in the realms of Batman, we have every right to be optimistically ecstatic.

For those who don’t know, the movie has been filming in Pittsburgh lately, with plenty of pics and videos showing up online as a result. And it appears that Nolan has more plans for the city than just using it as a filming location. According to reports, Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger, WR Hines Ward, and about a dozen teammates in total will take part in filming a football–related scene at the team’s Heinz Field. It’s unclear what exactly will go down in the scene, but the athletes will be turned into a Gotham City team and thousands of fans/extras will be brought in to create a game day atmosphere. [...]

We still have a little under a year before Marc Webb‘s reboot of the Spider-Man franchise, titled The Amazing Spider-Man, arrives in theaters on July 3, 2012, but plans on the sequel are well underway.

If you’ll recall, it was announced back in March that screenwriter James Vanderbilt was already fast at work on the script for the sequel, and now Sony and Columbia Pictures have laid claim to the May 2, 2014 calendar spot to unveil their follow–up effort, The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

Studios often make such early plans to stay organized and keep on pace with their overall plans, but, unfortunately for we who enjoy accurate news, they also almost always change the release date at least once along the way. So don’t get too warmed up to May the 2nd.

The Amazing Spider-Man stars Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Martin Sheen, Sally Field, and Denis Leary. [...]

Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Directed by Rupert Wyatt
Starring James Franco, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Andy Serkis, David Oyelowo, Brian Cox, Tom Felton
Release Date: August 5, 2011

Next to Star Trek the Planet of the Apes series is my favorite science-fiction and adventure film franchise by far. I can watch each one of the films, even the lesser sequels like Beneath the Planet of the Apes and Battle for the Planet of the Apes, and come away with something new to think of every time. Each film was a bold and heady Molotov cocktail of intriguing ideas, complex characters, pitch-black satire, and rousing adventure. With the exception of Battle, none of the films ever reached a fully optimistic conclusion, and despite some last-minute tinkering not even the ending of Conquest of the Planet of the Apes was all sunshine and relaxed laughter. The movies were all about the downfall of the human race, brought down by their own imperial arrogance and replaced in the pecking order by the highly evolved apes once treated as pets and slave labor by the ruling elite. It’s certainly one of the most influential series of films in the history of the medium, the original genre franchise, and a merchandising powerhouse years before Star Wars and Harry Potter even existed.

Even though the series reached its end in 1973 with Battle, the Apes franchise endured for decades to come; there was an ill-advised attempt to relaunch the Apes film series in 2001 with the Tim Burton-directed “reimagining” of the original Planet of the Apes and attempts to keep the Planet of the Apes thriving in live-action and animated television that never had achieved the impact of the films. Now the series is getting another shot in the arm with the long-awaited prequel Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which approaches the legend of the Planet of the Apes from an interesting new direction [...]

“Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a redhead.” — Lucille Ball

On August 6, 1911, Lucille Désirée Ball was born, and so was a star.

She would get into modeling at first and then eventually show business in 1933, and she would do plenty of uncredited work before moving into more substantial roles. But it wasn’t until 1951 when she and then husband of 11 years, Desi Arnaz, came into homes everywhere on I Love Lucy. The show would span six years and 181 episodes, and remains popular to this very day.

Lucy would eventually move on to other ventures—The Lucy Show (156 episodes); Here’s Lucy (143 episodes)—but none would have the lasting effect that I Love Lucy had and will continue to have on generations to come. Even in black and white, you could almost see that iconic fiery red hair bursting through your television screen. [...]

The $10 t-shirt deal of the day over at RIPT Apparel today is the Lord of the Rings shirt called “Mordor University” by artist The Creep.

The shirt went on sale at RIPT today, Saturday, August 6, 2011, at midnight CST, and will continue for 24 hours from then, and once it’s over, it will not be sold on the site anymore [...]

Jason Bateman has been making the talk-show rounds this week to promote his new flick The Change-Up, a body-switch movie co-starring Ryan Reynolds, out in theaters this weekend. While the premise might seem played out already [not to me, I'm watching The Hot Chick as I write this], if Jason Bateman’s in it, I’m watching it [I'm still waiting for the big-screen version of It's Your Move].

One role Bateman is remembered for is from his early days is as the lead in Teen Wolf Too, the 1987 sequel to the Michael J. Fox hit Teen Wolf. During Bateman’s recent appearance on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, the actor mentioned how that film was a “low light” of his career, prompting Jimmy Fallon to bust out a clip from Teen Wolf Too where Bateman’s character wolfs out a bit at school while requesting a change in his class schedule. After watching, Bateman says he could do the scene better now, and so guess what happens? Yup, Bateman and Fallon do a re-take on the scene! You can watch the re-take and the Teen Wolf Too portion of the interview right here [...]

With a new Planet of the Apes movie, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, out this weekend, it’s time to go back to the movie that inspired it: Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, the fourth film in the Apes film series that was first released in 1972 and became a smash hit despite the fact that it had a darker tone and more violence than any of the Apes films at the time. Before the film was released its ending had to be changed significantly at the behest of test audiences and understandably nervous studio executives. The original ending saw the light of day when Conquest and the other films in the Apes series were released on Blu-Ray in 2008.

You can watch the original ending for Conquest of the Planet of the Apes below this article by clicking on the screen capture I’ve included at the bottom [...]

With Kenneth Branagh taking his name out of the running for the directing duties for the upcoming sequel to his fantastic 2011 superhero picture, Thor, who better to turn to than someone from the hit HBO series Game Of Thrones?

According to Variety, that’s exactly what Marvel is doing. The studio is currently in talks with Thrones helmer Brian Kirk, and would mark his feature directorial debut when the film hits on July 26, 2013.

While plot at this point is up in the air with regards to Thor 2, actor Chris Hemsworth will be back for the sequel, which will likely feature the fallout from the upcoming 2012 ensemble film, The Avengers, or any repercussions from the fellow 2013 release, Iron Man 3 [...]

Now, while the second unit director may not get the biggest amount of publication, not every second unit director is one of today’s most interesting filmmakers.

The Playlist uncovered a tweet from production designer Eddie Mills revealing that director Steven Soderbergh is apparently shooting second unit for the upcoming Gary Ross-directed film, The Hunger Games.

Soderbergh has gone on the record many times revealing that he does have every intention in the world in retiring somewhere in the near future, but with this and the cavalcade of projects he has currently on his slate (ranging from the upcoming thriller Contagion to the remake The Man From U.N.C.L.E.), we’ll still be seeing quite a bit from the filmmaker [...]

Hey everybody, I just woke up to see that the first official promotional photo of Anne Hathaway as Catwoman from Christopher Nolan‘s The Dark Knight Rises had just been released. Thirty minutes staring at the photo, 3 minutes finding a picture of Julie Newmar, and two scans later, I’m ready to give you guys my perspective in the first edition of what I like to call Geeks of Doom’s Bat-Analysis.

So, let’s start with the actual promo photo shown above, shall we?

What we have here is Anne Hathaway in a tactile suit that looks like leftover costuming from the G.I. Joe movie. That’s not a bad thing at all, mind you, it just has the appearance of being more along the lines of something a spy or high-tech thief would wear, as opposed to the all-leather costumes we’ve seen before. You know, those horrible made from scratch [get it!?] costumes that were featured in Tim Burton’s Batman Returns starring Michelle Pfeiffer and [this is totally not] Catwoman starring Halle Berry. So Hathaway’s costume itself is faithful enough to a real world adaptation of something the character that Selina Kyle from the comics would actually wear [...]

Never one to keep quiet, Bruce Campbell has yet again taken to Twitter to reveal another bit of news. The actor has revealed that he will indeed be joining the cast of his partner in crime Sam Raimi‘s next film Oz: The Great And Powerful in a yet to be disclosed role.

Campbell tweeted: I. Am. In. Oz. Sam Raimi refuses to tell me what character I will portray. Just know that the role is PIVOTAL.

The film is led by Rachel Weisz, Mila Kunis, Michelle Williams, and James Franco, the latter of whom takes on the titular role, who goes from snake oil salesman to member of a magic world controlled by witches. Disney is behind the project, which is slated to bow next year [...]

The MP3 album deal of the day over at Amazon today is the Hot Sauce Committee Part Two by The Beastie Boys for only $3.99.

The album is the latest from the group and contains 16 songs. It would cost $15.84 if you were to all buy the 16 songs on the album separately. If you’d like the physical copy of the album, the CD is $11.70.

Obviously, if you’re a fan of The Beastie Boys, then grabbing this album for 4 bucks is a no-brainer. I dig their early stuff, but admittedly, I’m not familiar enough with their entire catalog to personally recommend this new album. Therefore, I turned to one of my closest friends, Doug, who, when it comes to The Beastie Boys, knows his shit. I asked Doug if he already owns Hot Sauce Committee Part Two, and after laughing at me like the silly fool that I am, had the following to say:

Of course I have it. I love it. It’s definitely much more realized than their last record, To The Five Boroughs. It’s reminiscent of the Check Your Head/Ill Communication period and at the same time, still breaks a lot of new ground.

Key tracks: “Don’t Play No Game I Can’t Win” (featuring Santigold) and “Lee Majors Come Again.”