The Hobbit trailer, SOPA update, and other entertainment news

Movie news

Okay, I know I’m pretty late to the party on this one, but you have to check out the trailer for The Hobbit if you haven’t already:

I really like the actor Martin Freeman as Watson on the BBC show Sherlock, and I can’t wait to see him as Bilbo Baggins in this movie, which comes out December 14th.

Speaking of Sherlock, the show’s star Benedict Cumberbatch has been cast as the villain in the next Star Trek movie.  Cumberbatch is an excellent actor, and I can totally envision him as an awesome villain.

What did you think of the first Star Trek?  I enjoyed it, but I had never watched the television series, so I went into the movie with a clean slate.  For Sherlock fans: have you watched the second season yet?  I’m on the second episode, and loving it. 😀

Here are some more movie-related links that you might find interesting:

• Leonardo de Vinci to become a Hollywood action hero?
• Author Carrie Vaughn posts her thoughts on the movie Anonymous and its claims about Shakespeare.
• Trailer for Pixar’s new movie Brave, coming out June 27th.
• Trailer for Men In Black III, coming out May 25th.
• Cherie Priest’s popular book Boneshaker to become a movie.

Television news

One of my favorite television shows of all time, Arrested Development, is being revived for ten new episodes.  The episodes, scheduled to air in early 2013, will serve as a bridge from the show to the long-anticipated Arrested Development movie.

In Docotor Who news, Steven Moffat says that the Doctor may soon be getting a new companion(s).  Amy and Rory will only be on the show for a few more stories.  Personally, I’m going to miss Rory A LOT.  But I knew that eventually Mr. and Mrs. Pond’s time would be up.  I’m probably going to cry.  How do you feel?

In her post Ways of Struggling With Gender, author Kate Elliott linked to an interesting article about gender masquerades in the television show The Mentalist.  (If you’re at all interested in feminism or critiques of gender in fantasy and science fiction, I seriously recommend following Elliott’s blog.)  As a big fan of The Mentalist, I found the article’s perspective on the characters of Jane and Lisbon extremely thought-provoking.  I recommend giving it a read.

Finally, I just had to share the link to The Book Job, a hilarious episode of The Simpsons in which author Neil Gaiman guest stars.  I laughed very hard.

SOPA Update

Although this isn’t exactly entertainment, it’s definitely related to the entertainment industry.  A few weeks ago, I posted about SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act, and how it would basically kill the Internet.  Well, the Senate is going to vote on SOPA in a week, and the Internet is up in arms.

Tomorrow, January 18th, thousands of websites, including Google, WordPress, Wikipedia, reddit, and Mozilla are protesting Internet censorship.  Click here to write to Congress and learn how to join the strike.

I leave you with this hilarious video from the queen of the Internet, The Bloggess, telling you why SOPA should be stopped.  Enjoy.

Update:  Even during the SOPA blackout, The Oatmeal never fails to amuse.

Update 2: Via Neil Gaiman: An open letter to Washington from Artists and Creators

Update 3:  Author Seanan McGuire posted this funny and thoughtful piece about how SOPA would affect her.  The post also features some great links that go more in-depth into how SOPA would work, including this one from the reddit blog.