I don’t want to be an optimist, but so far, the Hornet has escaped an exploding car, survived a plane crash, gotten the best of a runaway train, and narrowly escaped a collapsing tunnel. Somehow, I think he’ll survive his car being set up as a time bomb. Sarcasm aside, even though we know the Hornet and Kato will survive, it’s still fun to see how they resolve seemingly unresolvable cliffhangers. But hey, you didn’t come here to listen to my spiel, you (hopefully) came to watch some exciting Green Hornet action, so let’s get to it!

As always, if you’ve missed an episode (for shame!) Click where it says “Movie Serials” at the top of the post for the rest!

On the heels of the release of All Star Superman this week, we’ve got the trailer for the next direct to video animated movie from DC.  Green Lantern: Emerald Knights will be similar to one of the previous animated movies, Batman: Gotham Knight,  in that it will be an anthology. It will have different stories featuring Lantern Corps members Sinestro, Abin Sur, Kilowog, Mogo, and Rori Dag. The Batman film was supposed to be set in the same continuity as Christopher Nolan’s “Bat” films, but I’m not sure if this one will follow that and be set in the same universe as the upcoming Green Lantern movie. The trailer does say that it is brought to us from the producers of the movie so take that as you will. The voice cast includes Henry Rollins as Kilowog, “Madmen’s” Elizabeth Moss as Arisa, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper as Bolphulga, and fan favorite Nathan Fillion as Hal Jordan. Set to release on June 7th of this year, Green Lantern: Emerald Knights will be available 10 days before the live action film hits theaters on the 17th of June.

In case you missed the announcement yesterday, Amazon unleashed upon the world their own Instant Streaming service to compete with Netflix. The cost? Become an Amazon Prime member for $79/year and their entire instant-watch library is included with it!

I get my television and movie entertainment almost exclusively from streaming video through my wonderful little Roku, so I was very excited to see another option for instant streaming become available. Yesterday I rushed home from work, signed up for my free trial of Amazon Prime, fired up the Roku, and started checking things out on the Amazon Instant Video channel. This post contains just my first impressions that I wanted to share right off the bat. I plan to right up a full length “review” of this service at the end of my one-month Amazon Prime trial membership.

The first thing I was curious about was the selection of movie and television shows available and how they compared to Netflix’s library. It was about what I expected, there are a lot of similarities, but I was pretty much expecting that. Unfortunately, it’s the movie studios that control what’s available to stream instantly online through these services.

After perusing the library of available titles, I decided to watch Louis C.K.’s stand up special, Chewed. The video loaded and began to play just as quickly as Netflix, and the picture was just as good as well. I experienced zero problems while playing the program (note that your internet connection/speed plays a factor into this), and I was satisfied with the experience. It’s important to note that I do next to zero streaming on my PC laptop, and this experience was all through my Roku. A few friends gave the web version a go, and while they said the streaming experience was just fine, the library navigation was a bit “clunky”.

So, which is better, Netflix or Amazon? Frankly, it’s too early to tell at this moment. Amazon does cost less for a year’s worth of service by about $20, and that’s something to definitely consider. Also, we’re already starting to see something that some BSR bots here – and some of you readers – pointed out that was likely to happen: Exclusivity rights. Just yesterday, Netflix announced an exclusive deal with CBS to begin offering a bunch of their shows including, Star Trek, Frasier, and Cheers, so you won’t be finding any of these classic titles on Amazon Instant Video any time soon. With an exclusivity deal being announced right out of the gates in this newly-born competition don’t be surprised if this becomes a back-and-forth battle of which service can get an exclusive deal with certain studios. I was really hoping that this competition would benefit the customer by making these two services compete with prices, but it’s looking like it’s going to go the other way, and it may end up being that to get a truly full library of movies and shows to watch from an assortment of studios, the customer may be “forced” to have both. I’m not opposed to having both if there are small and beneficial differences in their offerings and the price is right, but to create a need for customers to have both will end up being very frustrating.

Those are my initial thoughts on Amazon Instant Video one day in. I’ll be back in a month with a full review!

Share your thoughts on Amazon Instant Video in the comments below!

On Monday, February 21, Bill Murray was on Howard Stern’s radio show. Of course Ghostbusters 3 came up, here’s what Bill had to say:

Howard Stern: Is it true that there is a Ghostbusters 3 and that you’re the problem and you will not sign off on this? Do you know about this?

Bill Murray: Yeah, I guess I’m the problem. Before I was an asset, [but] now I’m a problem. There’s a script somewhere [on my desk], but I haven’t read it yet.

Robin Quivers: So you have no interest?

BM: Well, I’ll get to it… I gotta get to it – I feel bad. I got a message and I think people – I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings – it’s not the foremost thing in my mind, so I don’t think about it.

You know, the studio gets excited every 10 years or so. What they’d really like to do is recreate the franchise. I remember when the new Ghostbusters was going to be Chris Rock, Chris Farley and Chris Crane… Kris Kringle… someone [laughs] – that had it together.

HS: Is that a threat to you? In other words, did they try to threaten you by saying we’re going to put together a new Ghostbusters and therefore you guys will have to go do it?

BM: It’s not a threat, it’s sort of businesslike – they’d like to keep it going. There are still kids today that watch this movie and love it, it’s still very popular. They still sell a lot of toys and everything.

So there you have it. Although it doesn’t seem as though Bill was quite as stand-offish as in the past. At the end of the interview Murray jokes that he’s going to go find that Ghostbusters 3 script. Below I’ve embedded the first part of the interview on YouTube. Thanks to GhostbustersNews.com for letting us know about this.

Just under a week ago the internet was a-buzz when Nathan Fillion mentioned he would be up for once again filling the Captain shoes on the Serenity on the heels of the announcement that The Science Channel would be running the Firefly series in its entirety. It looks like Mr. Fillion isn’t the only one who’d be up for more intergalactic old west adventures. Two writers from the series took to Twitter the following day to show their support and willingness to revisit the series.

First, Jose Molina, who is the executive producer of Haven and wrote the Firefly episodes “Trash” and “Ariel,” tweeted a few hours ago that “For what it’s worth, I’ve told him I’d drop what I was doing and follow.”

Replying to Molina, Jane Espenson, who is the co-creator of Syfy’s Warehouse 13 and wrote the “Shindig” episode of Firefly, added, “I’m there, if needed.”

[Source: blastr.com]

So, could this be enough to convince FOX – who still own the rights – to take another look at their decision to cancel the series? As hard as it is for me to admit, it’s not likely. A lot of pieces would have to fall in place at the right time considering much of the cast have moved on to new, successful television series.

Not only did Nathan Fillion’s remarks spark some interest in some former crew, it of course got the fans of Firefly motivated. The plan? Help Nathan Fillion raise $300 million to buy the rights to Firefly! The goal seems to be a bit lofty, but it shows just how much love the fans of the show have!

I, just like all of you, would love to see Firefly make a comeback – hell, I’d settle for a Serenity sequel! But unfortunately, it’s ultimately up to FOX right now with regards to what happens to the series in the near future. Are the chances of ever seeing Firefly return in some form or another zero? The optimist in me says no, but right now, unfortunately, the chances are slim. Hopefully the fans will continue to be vocal and use this new found momentum to our advantage and having the series running on cable again may help generate even more love for the series to help the cause!

Starring Jeff Vice from MSN Entertainment and Jimmy Martin from SLUG Magazine (and both regular panelists on The Geek Show Podcast), the Big Movie Mouth-Off is produced and directed by Bryan Young (me) and Elias Pate from Big Shiny Robot! It appears on Xfinity On Demand in Utah and on Xfinity’s Channel 6, on line, and at Brewvies Cinema Pub.

You’ll want to friend the Big Movie Mouth-Off on Facebook, too, as they are constantly giving away passes to advanced screenings of all the newest films.

First we have the podcast:

The podcast features the stars and producers of The Big Movie Mouth-Off film review show, which appears here at Big Shiny Robot! and on Xfinity (Utah On Demand and Channel 6).  That lineup is: Jeff Vice from MSN Entertainment, Jimmy Martin from SLUG Magazine, and Bryan Young (me) and Elias Pate from Big Shiny Robot! and ShineBox Media Productions.

To download the latest episode from iTunes, follow this link .

There, you should rate and subscribe to the podcast.

This week, we cover:

• Shane Black directing Iron Man 3
• Superman casting
• Pixar Sequels
• The Criterion Collection
• Michel Gondry and Philip K. Dick
• The Summer of Sequels
• The Mouth-Off Recommends: War Movies
• In Memoriam

And now onto the reviews:

First we have the documentary Sons of Perdition:

Then we have the Liam Neeson film Unknown:

And finally we have D.J. Caruso’s I Am Number Four:

A lot of directors have had their hats in the ring for the adaptation of the graphic novel series Preacher. John August was brought in to adapt it at one point and a lot of names have been circling it.

Apparently, D.J. Caruso (who directed Disturbia and Eagle Eye) has landed the gig.

This news comes from his Twitter (which isn’t verified, so take it with that grain of salt):

My deal just closed on Preacher. Going back to the dark side and pretty fucking pumped!

Now, this doesn’t mean we’ll see a Preacher movie. A lot of writers and directors have snagged the job, but that hasn’t exactly meant they got to film it. Especially since people have been saying for years that this series is unfilmable except in an HBO miniseries situation.

And I’m not sold that Caruso is the best man for any job. His two-bit remake of “Rear Window” (Disturbia) was mediocre at best and I’m told that’s his best work.

His name was also a front runner for a long time for Brian K. Vaughn’s “Y the Last Man” with Shia Lebeouf starring. Which could have been interesting, but again, that story is more geared toward a longer format.

In any case, we’ll hold our breath and see.

It appears that the rumors were true!

A few weeks ago there was speculation that Amzon would be introducing their own online video streaming service as part of their Amazon Prime memberships to compete with Netflix (there were even rumors of a partnership with RedBox). Today, upon visiting Amazon, you are greeted with this message:

This is fantastic news for those of you out there who already enjoy an Amazon Prime membership, and great news if you don’t. Paying the annual $79 fee to be a member is more than a competitive price to pay for such a service; if you’re paying for Netflix’s streaming only service you’re paying just about $100 annually for that service.

Amazon giving everyone who wants one a free month trial membership is a great move and gives all of us video streaming fans out there a chance to try out this service and compare. I just started my trial membership this morning and can’t wait to get home and hop on my Roku to see what Amazon has to offer in the way of titles compared to Netflix. I imagine at the end of the month I’m going to have a decision to make: Netflix or Amazon, or is there justification to have both? I plan on writing up an in-depth review of my experience and my decision at the end of my free trial, so watch for updates in that regard!

Are you excited to have another option for online video streaming? Are you going to compare and look into making a decision between Netflix and Amazon, or do you plan on having both? Share your thoughts below!

Deadline is reporting that Kevin Costner is close to coming on board for an undisclosed role in Zack Snyder’s Superman.

Since we know so little about the story it’s impossible to know who he’s playing for sure, but we can make some pretty educated guesses.

1. Pa Kent – I think this might be the most likely choice for Costner.  He’d be perfect for that role if there’s a place for him in the script.  It wouldn’t surprise me, either, if Pa Kent were already dead in this draft.  But if this film is taking place pre-Lois Lane, as has been rumoured, it’s not only entirely possible, but an inspired casting choice.
2. Lex Luthor – He’s been in just about every Superman film and I’d love to see Costner play a bad guy.  On the other hand, the fact that he’s been in every Superman film you can remember is a good indication that Snyder will avoid the Lex route altogether.
3. Perry White – Though I think Frank Langella was the perfect choice for the role with Superman Returns, and remains perfect for the role, Costner could knock this out of the park as well.  But with signs pointing to no Lois Lane will the supporting cast of The Daily Planet even factor into the film?

I can’t think of anyone else that would be fitting.  The last thing Costner was in that had a high profile in any meaningful sense was Rob Reiner’s defecation of a film “Rumor Has It…”  Could a spot in a big time comic-book franchise be exactly what his career needs to come back?

What do you guys think?  Who would Costner be perfect to play in the new Superman franchise?

Oh manny! Last time, the Hornet was knocked out with a wrench and the car he was in careened into a gas station. The station exploded and we saw a body! I dunno about you guys, but I have no idea how the Hornet is going to get out of this scrape. I am on the edge of my seat. Turn down the lights and watch Chapter 5: The Time Bomb with me, won’t you?