Quantum of Solace posters

Although I am in two minds about the Quantum of Solace movie (better than I thought it would be, but not as good as Casino Royale) I would quite like to get my hands on some of the posters.

So far I have only seen the grey "teaser" poster in the shops. I've been doing a little bit of research on play.com, ebay.co.uk and pyramidposters.com and I've "discovered" three poster designs that hopefully be available in the shops soon.

The first design is the standard poster art with Daniel Craig and Olga Kurylenko.



The second design is a "quartet" featuring Daniel Craig, Olga Kurylenko, Gemma Arterton and Mathieu Amalric.



Finally we have one with just Olga Kurylenko, who, I must add, is looking suitable sultry.



If they release one of Gemma Arterton I will be uber-happy, but I'll be pleased enough if I can find the three above!

Devil May Care paperback cover

I just found this image for the paperback cover of Devil May Care, the James Bond novel written by Sebastian Faulks in the style of Ian Fleming. The book was published in hardback this year to mark the centenary of Ian Fleming's birth.

So six months before the paperback comes out here's the cover design.



Given that the book is not out until May I would not be surprised if the cover art changes.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles Episode 2.6

I will call this episode "the one with the child therapist".

Quite a good little episode with a lot going on.

Sarah and the gang work out that the resistance fighter from the future was trying to tell them about a therapist that Skynet was interested in. But do they need protect him or stop him?

Sarah, John and Cameron pose as a family that wants some therapy so they can bug his office. To Sarah's surprise John wants to go back for an individual appointment. The therapist tells John that he is exhibiting the behaviour of a war veteran. John tries to tell the therapist that he had to kill a man (in episode 2.1) but changes his mind.

Shirley Manson gets a big chunk of screen time as Catherine Weaver in this episode. It transpires that the T-1000 has taken Weaver's place and is using her company to further the research into the Turk computer from season 1. Weaver's small child is terrified of her "mother" but is too young to express it. (Frankly Shirley Manson scared the cr*p out of me!) Weaver hears that the therapist can "fix" the child and takes her to see him.

Derek recognises a girl and follows her to a hotel. Its one of his resistance soldiers who claims to have gone AWOL and run away to hide in the "past". Later we see surveillance photos of the gang under her bed so she must be telling fibs. (I think the actress played Kendra Shaw in the "Razor" episode of Battlestar Galactica.)

A scary lady terminator arrives from the future and goes to the therapist's office just as Cameron enters. They both realise what the other is at the same time and fight with some darkly comic consequences. Cameron is victorious but the gang don't know if the lady terminator was there to kill or protect the therapist.

The Turk is exhibiting some unusual behaviour and Weaver asks the therapist to take a look at it. He realises the computer is telling a joke: "Why is a math book so sad? Because its full of problems." Weaver asks him to help her as a consultant.

A Lena Headey gets a chance to emote as she listens to John's bugged session with the therapist.

One amusing moment comes as the therapist tells Sarah that he thinks her "daughter" might have Ashbergers Syndrome.

good solid episode that moves the plot along, gives an excuse for Summer Glau to have a girl fight and explore what the never ending war is doing to john's head.

Rebecca Hall Sunday Times scans

After writing my previous posts on Rebecca Hall I remembered that she had been featured in a copy of the Sunday Times Magazine last year and that I had saved it from the bin.

The magazine in question is from 4 February 2007 and had a cover feature on the 'young British stars of tomorrow'.

Here are three scans of Rebecca for your viewing enjoyment.

Torri Higginson in The Eleventh Hour

Not too long ago there was a British fiction show about science called The Eleventh Hour. ITV were at pains not to call it "science fiction" mind you. Patrick Stewart and Maggie from Extras were in it but the show was lacking something and I just didn't get into it.

So imagine my surprise when I discover that there is a US remake. Not only that but Rufus Sewell is in it. I'm a big big fan of his movie Dark City and I've always thought that he's very underrated. Not only that but Marley Shelton is in it. You might remember her from 2007's Grindhouse movies Planet Terror and Death Proof. I have to admit I've a lot of time for Marley.

And this all comes to light because I read that Torri Higginson is guest staring in an episode. Torri played Doctor Weir in Stargate Atlantis. Well, until the writers or producers decided to get rid of her. I only started watching Atlantis in the first place because of Torri.

So if this US version of The Eleventh Hour makes it over here I will be keeping an eye on it. Who knows, it might even be better than the UK version!

The Kingdom Beyond the Waves by Stephen Hunt

I've just finished a book that I enjoyed very much so I thought I'd mention it here. (I read a lot and I'm hard to please. Normally my reaction is more akin to "meh" when I finish a book.) It's called The Kingdom Beyond the Waves and is by an author called Stephen Hunt.

The book defies easy description. It's a science fiction/fantasy/steampunk/alternative history novel that may be set in the distant past or the distant future. The action starts in the state of Jackals which seems to be based on a 19th Century Britain, only with computers called "transaction engines" and instead of the Royal Navy or Royal Air Force we have the RAN - the Royal Aerostatical Navy which uses giant airships to keep military superiority.

Except those are just side details. The novel deals with the quest to find the missing mythical city of Camlantis, a city that thousands of years before disappeared into the sky during the last dark age. Professor Amelia Harsh joins the mercenary crew of a u-boat to venture down a dangerous river in Heart of Darkness fashion to search for the city. Danger lurks outside the u-boat and inside it as well because some characters have their own agenda.

I don't want to say too much as discovering the details is as much part of the fun as the overall story. The novel is a long one at 556 pages but fairly rattles along packed with incident and cliffhangers aplenty.

Stephen Hunt has written a previous book set in the same world called The Court of the Air and next year he publishes the third book called The Rise of the Iron Moon. I will be reading both.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles Episode 2.5

Mmmm... Another stand-alone episode.

A new terminator has turned up with a mission to kill one of John Conner's future resistance fighters. John and Derek head off to a military academy to protect one of the possible targets. Sarah and Cameron in turn protect another target who happens to be a young boy.

Sarah takes the young boy in for the weekend while they hunt the terminator. She bonds with him and helps him write a book report on The Wizard of Oz. Seriously.

John gets enrolled at the military academy and Derek gets a job as an instructor, one assumes without references. They manage to dispatch the terminator.

Sarah puts the kid on a bus, unconcerned that he'll probably tell the cops about the crazy ladies with guns.

This episode did not have the ring of truth somehow.

Meanwhile agent Ellison investigates the terminator fight at the power plant from a couple of episodes ago. He reports back to Shirley Manson and she then cleans up loose ends behind his back.

Oh well. At least Lena Headey and Summer Glau were looking well.

No Cromartie!