National convention organizer Wizard World will be hosting key cast members from across the 56+ years run of the BBC’s Doctor Whotoday as part of its Wizard World Virtual Experiences tour taking place through the summer. From the 7th Doctor and his Companion, to a memorable sort-of Doctor, to the head of Torchwood, to members of the Paternoster Gang, and notables William Shakespeare and Winston Churchill and more–fans can see them all free on a live-streamed panel and/or check out individual opportunities for photographs and autographs for a fee. It all happens today, June 17, 2020, online at noon Central Time.
For more than six years we at borg.com have been covering entertainment memorabilia auctions–sales of not merely replicas or mass-produced collectibles, but the real objects seen on film–rare or even one-of-a-kind costumes created by award-winning Hollywood costume designers, detailed props created by production crew, model vehicles created by special effects departments like Industrial Light and Magic, prosthetics created by famous makeup artists, set decoration, concept art, and much more. Amassing a wide variety of artifacts from classic and more recent film and television history, London and Los Angeles-based Prop Store is hosting its annual auction later this month. Known for its consignment of some of the most well-known and iconic screen-used props and costumes, Prop Store’s ultimate museum collectibles auction will be open for bidding from anyone, and items will be available at estimates for both beginning collectors and those with deeper pockets.
The Prop Store Live Auction: Treasures from Film and Television will be auctioning off approximately 600 items. You’ll find the following movies and TV shows represented and more: 3:10 to Yuma (2007), 300,Aliens, Back to the Future films, Blade Runner, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Chronicles of Narnia films, Elysium, Enemy Mine, Excalibur, The Fifth Element, Gladiator, The Goonies, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, Jason and the Argonauts, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, the Indiana Jones films, Iron Man, the James Bond films, Judge Dredd (1995), the Jurassic Park films, Kick-Ass 2, Kingsman: the Secret Service, Lifeforce, Looper, The Lost Boys, The Martian, The Matrix, Men in Black III, Mission: Impossible (1996), The Mummy (1999), Patton, Pirates of the Caribbean series, Predators, the Rocky films, Saving Private Ryan, Scarface, Serenity, Shaun of the Dead, Shawshank Redemption, Sherlock Holmes (2009), Star Trek franchise, Star Wars franchise, Starship Troopers,Superman films, Terminator films, The Three Musketeers (1993), Tropic Thunder, Troy, True Grit, Underworld: Evolution, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Willow, The Wolfman (2010), World War Z, and the X-Men films.
You can flip through the auction house’s hefty 360-page catalog, or start with a look at what we selected as the best 50 of the lots–what we predict as the most sought-after by collectors and those that represent some of fandom’s favorite sci-fi and fantasy classics and modern favorites.
Industrial Light and Magic 17 3/4-inch Rebel Y-Wing filming model from Return of the Jedi
Sark (David Warner) Grid costume from the original Tron (1982)
Julie Newmar’s Catwoman costume and Burgess Meredith Penguin hat from the classic Batman TV series
Buttercup (Robin Wright) Fire Swamp red dress from The Princess Bride
Chekov (Walter Koenig) “nuclear wessels” costume, Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley) costume, and Sulu (George Takei) double shirt from Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
Full crew set of costumes (Malcolm, Zoe, Wash, Jayne, Inara, Kaylee, River, Book, and Simon) from Serenity(sold as individual costume lots)
Jack Nicholson purple Joker costume, plus separate coat and hat, from Batman (1989)
Enterprise-D 48-inch “pyro” model from Star Trek: The Next Generation
Will Munny (Clint Eastwood) stunt shotgun from Unforgiven
Star-lord helmet from Guardians of the Galaxy
Thor (Chris Hemsworth) Mjolnir hammer from Thor
Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II jumpsuits made for Bill Murray as Dr. Peter Venkman
Witch-king of Angmar crown from The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
Val Kilmer Batman suit and cowl from Batman Forever
Maverick (Tom Cruise) flight suit from Top Gun
Geoffrey Rush Captain Barbossa costume from the first Pirates of the Caribbean film, Curse of the Black Pearl
Peter Jackson’s final installment of his screen adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic novel The Hobbit is a breathtaking piece of film which aspires to the almost insurmountable heights that his masterpiece The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King achieved. The goal is a worthy, if almost unrealistic one, and Jackson spares no expense in trying to soar to those heights where he took us ten years ago.
I’m of two minds about this movie, and have been struggling to combine them into a single piece for you, our faithful readers. But like Jackson with this trilogy, I am not quite up to the task. And so, like Jackson, I will split something that should be in a single piece into multiple pieces, and although I am aware that they will likely not equal the sum of what a whole, single review should, I will try nonetheless because I have too much to say on the subject and am utterly unable to edit myself. Much like a certain director we all know and admire.
Review by a fan of fantasy cinema
The Battle of the Five Armies is a really good film. Is it great? Well, that will be up to each viewer, honestly. It is big and bold, and gives good screen time to the multitude of characters we have come to know over the course of the last two films in the trilogy. The movie opens where the previous film left off, a different approach from other films in both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogies, which tended to open with flashbacks or clever recaps to bring the viewer back into the world of Middle-earth which may have faded slightly since the previous film. Not so here, as the audience is plunged directly into the story right where we exited it last year.
The dragon Smaug, scary and crazy in the second Hobbit film which bears his name, is magnificently rendered and feels vibrantly alive in the dark theater, the screen aglow with dragonfire and the air electric with his howls of rage and vengeance. Benedict Cumberbatch captures the right amount of menace and vanity, bringing the drake alive in ways that superb CGI just could not do on its own. The poor people of Laketown would surely stand in awe of Jackson’s creation if they were not fleeing for their very lives before it.
Martin Freeman knows how to play the everyman, which is essentially what Bilbo Baggins represents. An everyday man who is snatched up from his comfortable if boring life and thrown headlong into the exciting, unpredictable and oft-times dangerous unknown. His subtlety and good humor shine through his portrayal of the Hobbit and it is to Freeman’s credit that he can simultaneously stand up to the chiefest and greatest of calamities and also stand up for himself to Thorin, pointing out the sickness that everyone else can see but dare not mention. The dwarves are also a humorous, entertaining lot, but far too much time would be required to provide the multitude of them a lot of individuality or backstory. The few who are selected for the spotlight are well worth the time. Lee Pace, Richard Armitage and Luke Evans play three leaders of different races whose loyalties lie to their people but with widely different styles and personalities. As with the previous films, Cate Blanchett as Galadriel, Hugo Weaving as Elrond and even Christopher Lee as Saruman himself all put in appearances, though not in a way most might expect!
Another Planet Comicon is behind us, but we have some more photos to share, of celebrities and cosplay and other fun.
Wil Wheaton signing at his booth, returning for his second show in Kansas City.
Brent Spiner attended his first Planet Comicon this year and had long lines of fans his entire stay.
For Firefly fans, the biggest hit of the show was an appearance by Jewel Staite.
The guys with the Back to the Future Delorean asked me to pose in their car. Something about a character played by Sylvester McCoy in a time machine…
Speaking of McCoy, each day he began his day by umm… liberating a cart and taking it for a spin around the hall.
McCoy hadn’t seen the Weta replica of his Radagast staff before and really liked it, although he accidentally broke the blue jewel (oops). He said he had used only two originals of the staff in the films.
If you had any doubts about this year’s Planet Comicon being the biggest and best comic book and pop culture convention in the history of the region, you might not have been paying attention. With William Shatner, nearly the entire cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Lee Majors, Firefly’s Jewel Staite, John Ratzenberger from Cheers and The Empire Strikes Back, Zoie Palmer from Lost Girl, and Walking Dead’s Chad Coleman, plus an onslaught of comic book creators including Neal Adams and James Robinson, you’ve got a busy weekend ahead of you. But if you need more coaxing to make the drive or flight into Kansas City March 14-16, 2014, here it is. Sylvester McCoy, the lovable Radagast the Brown from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, and Doctor Who’s Seventh Doctor has joined the slate of headliners for this year’s show.
McCoy is currently in theaters in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug as the wizard of the woodland creatures–one of the best realized characters of Peter Jackson’s monumental fantasy trilogy. He was last seen in the 50th anniversary special The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot, along with David Tennant, Peter Davison, Paul McGann, and Colin Baker. If you missed this one, watch it online here. McCoy if a very funny guy.
Before that you might have seen the Scottish actor in Doctor Who: The Movie, where he made his last appearance as The Doctor, before getting killed in San Francisco and regenerating into Paul McGann’s Eighth Doctor, or the mini-series Doctor Who: Death Comes to Time, or one of his many audiobooks for Big Finish Productions.
So what are you waiting for? Get your tickets now and get your Doctor Who and Middle-Earth fix at Planet Comicon 2014. Get all the details at the con’s website here.
If you wondered why we never got to see Paul McGann’s eighth Doctor regenerate into Christopher Eccleston’s Ninth Doctor, wait no further. A new seven-minute episode on the Web written by Steven Moffat called The Night of the Doctor reveals the last minutes of the Eighth Doctor as the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who approaches next week.
If you haven’t seen the only appearance until now of the Eighth Doctor, you must get your copy of Doctor Who: The Movie, on DVD. When everyone everywhere was speculating on the selection of what actor would be the Twelfth Doctor, which ultimately was given to Peter Capaldi, my instant pick for the perfect Doctor was Paul McGann, based on his role as Mr. Bush in the A&E Horatio Hornblower mini-series opposite Ioan Gruffudd, as well as roles in Kidnapped and Sea of Souls. I was quickly advised by my brother-in-law, however, that McGann already played The Doctor. Since I began my watching with Eccleston, I hadn’t known.
After watching Doctor Who: The Movie this week, “my good idea” was confirmed as he is simply brilliant as the crazed Doctor with amnesia stuck in 1990s San Francisco, in his first adventure regenerating from Sylvester McCoy’s Seventh Doctor, with a new companion played by Daphne Ashbrook, who made an appearance at Planet Comicon this year. And now McGann returns to the role for the first time on-screen since his first appearance in the role.
At last! For those of us who thought The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey was the best genre film of 2012, we now have reason to get excited about Part 2 of the trilogy, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, with Warner Bros. releasing the first trailer a few hours ago. The theme for the first trailer is Elves–and we finally get our first look at Lost star Evangeline Lilly as the Elf called Tauriel. And she looks awesome, wielding bow and arrow, dressed in green with great red hair. Orlando Bloom is back, too, as Legolas, along with Martin Freeman as Bilbo, Ian McKellen as Gandalf the Grey, Sylvester McCoy as Radagast the Brown, Richard Armitage as Thorin Oakenshield, and Ken Stott as the wise old dwarf Balin. It’s also our first look at Luke Evans as Bard the Bowman, and the CGI Smaug the dragon, although we don’t hear Benedict Cumberbatch yet as the voice of the dragon.
This is the part of The Hobbit where we meet Shelob the giant creepy spider–long before she meets up with Frodo in The Lord of the Rings. And we get to see the great river barrel ride of the Dwarves, that Peter Jackson previewed for fans in a series of videos last year here. And what’s more fun than a barrel of Dwarves?
So wait no longer–enjoy the first trailer released for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug:
Director Peter Jackson could have sat back with his Academy Awards for the brilliant The Lord of the Rings trilogy and relished in what he had done. Instead he took on the risk of conquering Middle Earth again, and in doing so he did something I’ve never seen anyone do before, make a fourth entry into a major movie franchise that surpassed all prior films. And that’s a hefty feat considering what The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is being compared to. But in end-to-end storytelling, cinematography, casting, acting, adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s source work, spirit and heart, this first installment of The Hobbit trilogy can’t be beat.
Martin Freeman’s Bilbo Baggins presents a Hobbit in goodness on par with Samwise and with a strength of purpose on par with the King of Gondor. You cannot rave enough about Martin Freeman’s facial expressions and movements as the put-upon Hobbit. Richard Armitage’s Thorin Oakenshield pulls together the best of Faramir and Aragorn, yet his characterization is fully fleshed out in its own right with a brilliantly laid out character arc that took Aragorn three movies to achieve.
It is hard to believe that someone can take a band of 13 dwarves and make most of them individually compelling. You may get lost in Ken Stott’s wise old dwarf Balin and forget he is a dwarf–this wise soul and sturdy character speak loudly throughout the story. Aidan Turner’s cocky and plucky Kili will make you laugh at every turn in the way we saw Merry and Pippin in the LOTR movies. And the nature of The Hobbit story targeted as a younger audience vs the themes of The Lord of the Rings books means many more comical moments here, despite a dark and eerie adventure. Peter Jackson’s film looks so good that he makes it all look so easy.
Ian McKellan’s Gandalf the Grey is back, and you only wish we could see ten more adventures featuring the best wizard ever presented on-screen. We also meet a friendlier Elrond of the Elves played again by Hugo Weaving. An “epilogue” featuring Elijah Wood and original Bilbo actor Ian Holm at the movie’s beginning bridges The Hobbit right up to the scene before Frodo first meets up with Gandalf in The Fellowship of the Ring. We also meet Cate Blanchett’s Galadriel again. Although it is likely these LOTR characters were not needed for this movie, it’s a fun reunion for fans of the earlier films, and it also allows us an excuse to see the splendor and hear the sounds of nature at New Zealand’s Hobbiton.
The 3D imaging and cinematography surpass any film to date in pretty much every way. Where CGI characters in all past sci-fi and fantasy franchises never quite got right the realism of key characters or at best “almost” got it right, you will not see the same odd movements or doubt the believability of these unreal creatures, especially Barry Humphries’ (Dame Edna!?) Great Troll. And Andy Serkis’s Gollum looks even better than he did before.
Classic scenes from the original novel, like the arrival of the dwarves at Bilbo’s house and the riddle game between Bilbo and Gollum are just simply perfect. Special effects and new film wizardry present too many examples of incredible cinema to list, but even something as simple as feeling like you’re sitting across the table from a bunch of dwarves is better than the effects of most other films. Then there are other scenes, like the delicate carrying across a canyon of a wounded dwarf by a giant eagle’s talons, that reflect a fillmaking magic act in and of itself.
Although some may see the beginning half of the movie as slow, the measured pace will be savored by others, and the pace allows you to see every axe swing in each action scene instead of the blurred battles in most recent action movies. You can also admire the stitches and buttons and armor of the costumes, the excellent crafted props like smartly forged swords and a key to a hidden door, as well as the stunning environments, including a return to the beautiful waterfalls at Rivendell. The story then propels at a breakneck pace to the end, including overhead scenes of the band of dwarves as they move through mountain passes, and we meet a quirky and noble new wizard named Radagast the Brown played by Sylvester McCoy (the Seventh Doctor!) and his speedy team of sled rabbits who lead a mercenary pack of trolls and wolves away from the story’s heroes on their quest.
Two singing numbers by the elves are surprisingly good, one upbeat and one not, and the filmmakers use the more somber, reverent tune by the dwarves in a more upbeat version for the film’s end credits–and it’s a great song.
You’ll want to see this first of three installments of The Hobbit again and again. The only negative: the next installment, subtitled The Desolation of Smaug, is not out until December 13, 2013.
, on DVD. When everyone everywhere was speculating on the selection of what actor would be the Twelfth Doctor, which ultimately was given to Peter Capaldi, my instant pick for the perfect Doctor was Paul McGann, based on his role as Mr. Bush in the A&E 
mini-series opposite Ioan Gruffudd, as well as roles in 
and 
. I was quickly advised by my brother-in-law, however, that McGann already played The Doctor. Since I began my watching with Eccleston, I hadn’t known.
