Upcoming: MOCKINGJAY, Part 1 (Movie, Lionsgate)

The third (of four) Hunger Games movies. The trailer was unveiled today:

I rather enjoyed the first two movies, having not read Suzanne Collins’s novels. I intend to read Hunger Games, Catching Fire and Mockingjay, but I still haven’t decided if I want to do it before or after I’ve seen all the movies.

The Hunger Games trilogy is published by Scholastic.

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Elizabeth Banks, Woody Harrelson, Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Donald Sutherland, Stanley Tucci, Jeffrey Wright, Natalie Dormer, Sam Claflin, Jena Malone, Willow Shields.

Director: Francis Lawrence | Screenplay: Danny Strong, Peter Craig.

Trailer: AUTOMATA

This movie looks really interesting – an examination of what it means to be alive, human. I haven’t looked into it too much (I don’t want to spoil the movie for when I inevitably go and see it), but with the mentions of the “laws” of robotics, I wonder if it’s based on Asimov’s fiction, or if it’s just offering an homage to the author’s pioneering writing? Anyway, here’s the trailer (shared from IGN’s YouTube channel)*…

* Millennium Films’ own “share” option on their website is… Not generous…

HORNS Teaser Trailer… Looks fantastic.

I haven’t read Joe Hill’s novel, yet (it’s yet another on my ever-growing, never decreasing TBR mountain), but this teaser trailer for HORNS looks fantastic…

Found the clip via The Film Stage, which also had this cool poster…

Upcoming: EDGE OF TOMORROW (Movie)

Another interesting sci-fi movie coming out this year. Tom Cruise seems to be enjoying the uptick in popularity of the genre (see also: Oblivion, which was much better than I expected). Emily Blunt is also great. I’m looking forward to this, think it has a fair bit of promise. Check out the trailer:

Find out more at the movie’s website, IMDb, and on Facebook.

Upcoming: JUPITER ASCENDING (Movie)

This looks like a lot of fun…

Trailer: “THOR: THE DARK WORLD” Movie

Really looking forward to this! I enjoyed the first Thor movie a lot more than I anticipated (to be fair, I didn’t know much about the Marvel version of the character).

Book Trailer: “The Bone Season” by Samantha Shannon (Bloomsbury)

I mentioned a few days back that a copy of The Bone Season had arrived unexpectedly. I’m looking forward to reading the novel, and may also host an interview with the author, closer to the release date. Check out the trailer (above), and the synopsis (below)…

Welcome to Scion, no safer place.

The year is 2059. Nineteen-year-old Paige Mahoney is working in the criminal underworld of Scion London, based at Seven Dials. Her job: to scout for information by breaking into people’s minds. For Paige is a dreamwalker, a clairvoyant and, in the world of Scion, she commits treason simply by breathing. It is raining the day her life changes for ever. Attacked, kidnapped and drugged, Paige is transported to Oxford – a city kept secret for two hundred years, controlled by a powerful, otherworldly race. Paige is assigned to Warden, a Rephaite creature with dark honey skin and heavy-lidded yellow eyes. He is her master. Her trainer. Her natural enemy. But if Paige wants to regain her freedom she must allow herself to be nurtured in this prison where she is meant to die.

The Bone Season will be published in the UK by Bloomsbury, on August 20th 2013.

Book Trailer: “A Delicate Truth” by John le Carré (Viking)

I’ve never actually read a le Carre novel, much to my shame. I’ve always wanted to, but with an ever-growing TBR pile of ARCs and other novels, short stories, comics, etc., they always seem to get missed. (And they’ve been re-issued a few times, so I don’t have an excuse of them not being prominent…)

I’m hoping to get to this one some time soon. It’s out now. Here’s the synopsis…

A British civil servant is dispatched to Gibraltar where a top secret counter-terror operation (codename: Wildlife) is being mounted. He has been assigned by a Minister of Her Majesty’s Foreign Office to be his eyes and ears on the ground. The mission is so delicate that not even the Minister’s private secretary, Toby Bell, is admitted to the plan. The operation goes off without a hitch. Or does it?

Three years on, Sir Christopher “Kit” Probyn, a former British diplomat, is enjoying his well-earned retirement. Brought face to face with a living ghost from his past, he desperately appeals to Toby for enlightenment. With the surreptitious help of Kit’s daughter Emily, two men a generation apart, both loyal servants of the Crown, will separately discover whether Wildlife was the triumph it was made out to be, or a tragedy ruthlessly suppressed by the Foreign Office to which they owe their allegiance.

US / UK Covers

Trailer: THE WOLVERINE

I am sooo looking forward to this movie. Love the character, love the way Hugh Jackman portrays him, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed all the movies. Roll on July!

Official GAME OF THRONES Season 3 Trailer

This has been doing the rounds already, but I thought I’d share it here as well. I’ve really enjoyed the first two seasons, and am (despite never reading the novels) really looking forward to the third season.

“Injustice: Gods Among Us”

Just a quick news post: DC Comics has a new computer game coming out soon, and it looks kinda cool. Here’s the game trailer:

Injustice is made by the creators of Mortal Kombat, so this could actually end up a pretty decent fighting game… I am intrigued.

James Bond: SKYFALL Teaser

I seem to have missed all other news about this movie, but I’m rather glad they’re doing another Daniel Craig James Bond movie. The teaser trailer was just released, and it definitely whet my appetite:

Here’s the synopsis for the movie:

“Bond’s loyalty to M is tested as her past comes back to haunt her. As MI6 comes under attack, 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the cost.”

A strong cast once again, with Judi Dench, Ralph Fiennes, Albert Finney and Javier Bardem (among others) joining Daniel Craig in the top slots.

ARROW Teaser Trailer from the CW

I’m quite intrigued by this adaptation of Green Arrow. It appears to be a bit darker than Smallville, so it could end up being pretty good and different. And, who knows, it may survive for a few more episodes than series like this usually do.

Here’s the CW’s first trailer, released earlier today:

This teaser doesn’t really tell us anything more than the dude has a bow and has mad skills using it. And he can do some pretty intense exercises.

“The Dark Knight Rises” 3rd Trailer

A third trailer for my most-highly anticipated movie of the year! I am so excited about this movie it is quite probably unhealthy.

This movie has a truly amazing cast – Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy (ok, I don’t actually know if I’ve seen him in anything else) and… Myke Cole! Yes, Myke was an extra in some of the fight scenes. So make sure you keep an eye out for him.

The movie opens in July 2012, and I can’t wait.

“The Newsroom” – New Sorkin TV Series (Trailer)

I am so very excited about this…

Politics and the media? This is right up my street, and I am very, very much looking forward to this.

Maybe with the show on HBO, this won’t be cancelled as quickly as Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, and also allow Sorkin to write, direct and produce the show he’s always wanted to produce – unfettered by restrictions that exist on non-Cable channels.

New “PROMETHEUS” Trailer

Still don’t know too much about the movie, but if this trailer doesn’t whet your appetite, I don’t know what will:

Written by Damon Lindelof and John Spaihts, Prometheus is directed by master-director Ridley Scott (Alien, Blade Runner and many other superb movies).

The movie also has a pretty awesome cast: Noomi Rapace (original Swedish versions of the Millennium Trilogy), Charlize Theron (many great things), Michael Fassbender (X-Men First Class, Inglorious Basterds, and many more), Guy Pearce (LA Confidential and many more), Idris Elba (TV’s Luthor), and Logan Marshall-Green (The O.C., 24, and more).

For more information, visit the Official Facebook Site.

Walking Dead Videogame Trailer

Pinched directly from Tor UK’s blog, here’s the first trailer for the videogame of Walking Dead:

I’ve only seen season one of the TV series (which I thought was excellent), and have not yet read any of Rob Kirkman’s original comic series. I have a pretty low tolerance for zombie fiction, so I don’t know if/when I’ll get around to reading the graphic novels – I’m reading a zombie novel at the moment, and I tend to like a fairly long time between zombie-related media. The Walking Dead setting, however, is pretty great. I’ll have to get around to watching season two of the series, too…

If you click through the link to Tor’s blog, you’ll find another link to read the first three chapters of the Walking Dead novel, Rise of the Governor by Robert Kirkman and Jay Bonansinga.

Based on The Walking Dead graphic novels/comic books and the series starring Andrew Lincoln (Teachers, This Life and Love, Actually) and written/produced by Frank Darabont whose previous credits include The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile, this is a new trilogy of books written by Robert Kirkman and Jay Bonansinga, author of Perfect Victim and Shattered. Set in the world created by Robert Kirkman this standalone trilogy is fast-paced, action-packed storytelling about the lengths some men will go to survive. With new characters, new storylines and with the same in-depth character-based plotting that has made the television series such an immediate hit, this trilogy of novels is sure to be a hit with those who love zombies and those who have loved the TV series and comic books.

Not the most helpful synopsis, I must say – what’s it actually about?! Anyway, if I get the chance, I may give this a read.

Upcoming: “THE RETURN MAN” by V.M. Zito

A new trailer for the upcoming novel by V.M. Zito, The Return Man, has now made its way onto the internet. Because I’m very much looking forward to reading the novel, I decided to share it:

The Return Man is published by Orbit in the US (April 1st) and Hodder in the UK (March 29th).

Here’s the synopsis for the novel:

The outbreak tore the US in two. The east remains a safe haven. The west has become a ravaged wilderness, known by survivors as the Evacuated States. It is here that Henry Marco makes his living. Hired by grieving relatives, he tracks down the dead and delivers peace.

Now Homeland Security wants Marco for a mission unlike any other. He must return to California, where the apocalypse began. Where a secret is hidden. And where his own tragic past waits to punish him again.

But in the wastelands of America, you never know who – or what – is watching you.

Book Trailer: “Songs of the Earth” by Elspeth Cooper (Gollancz)

Just a quick Saturday post, as it’s on my mind.

Published on June 16th, Elspeth Cooper’s Songs of the Earth has not been receiving quite the publicity roll-out that I expected.

The ARC does, after all, boldly state “This is the Fantasy Debut of 2011”, and yet I’ve only seen much about it on Speculative Scotsman (in a great, exhaustive two-part interview with Elspeth), and I know of the feature that will appear in Living North magazine (written by some-time Civilian-Reader reviewer, Emma). As a transplant to the North of England (10 years off-and-on at Durham University), I feel I should do more to promote Northern authors who don’t get enough attention. (If anyone knows any more, please let me know in the comments thread.)

So, in advance of my review (which should come on Monday), and to do what little I can to generate some interest, here’s the rather nifty book trailer: