A few weeks ago, one of our contributors talked to us about doing a piece on the 1986 LucasFilm bomb Howard The Duck. ‘Wow, Howard The Duck,’ I thought, ‘I haven’t seen that movie in years.’ and I think it’s been out of print for a long time. So, I looked it up and see that a new Special Edition is available now for pre-order with a release date of March 10, 2009 (yeah, that’s going right on the Wish List).

Next thing I know, it’s on Hulu [synchronicity!]. (Watch it here below.)

Now, I know the film was considered a bomb and an embarrassing blip in the LucasFilm Archives, but I remember enjoying it when it came out back in 1986. But, I was kid back then and at that time I devotedly followed anything with George Lucas‘ name on it, so I wondered how I’d feel about the movie now. So, on Christmas Eve night before I went to bed, I watched Howard The Duck, and you know what? I still liked it. Is it a good movie? Nope. But is it the worst movie? No way.

Judge Gary A. Rees, who had recently set a January 20, 2009 court date for the Warner Bros. vs Fox trial to see who has the rights to WB’s highly-anticipated Watchmen adaptation, has gone ahead and made a surprise ruling. I guess the judge must have gotten a Ding! from Southwest with can’t-miss airfare to Cabo, because he’s skipped the trial and made a decision in favor of Fox.

The official ruling came in the form of a five-page written order, but detailed reasons were not given. The only explanation given so far is simply that “Fox owns a copyright interest consisting of, at the very least, the right to distribute the “˜Watchmen’ motion picture,” which is really bad for the movie and Warner Bros. A lot more information is expected to be released soon.

The judge’s reason behind the initially set January 20 court date was that there were just too many variables going on to make a decision without a trial, which makes this decision only that much more questionable.

Who received gift cards for Christmas and just can’t wait to spend ’em? Me too! Which is why I’m getting in on this sale at Amazon to buy one get one free on select TV shows on DVD. Check it out here: Buy One Get One Free.

Visit the TV on DVD Sale page to check out the select offerings like seasons of Damages, Seinfeld, The Shield, and The Tick (damn, I gotta get The Tick!), as well as some real throwbacks like Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, and The Partridge Family, and lots more.

There’s some other TV on DVD sales going on right now as well:

— Great Deals on TV on DVD: Hit shows from the ’70s through today (for example, King of Queens, Hart to Hart, Mad About You)

— 50% Off TV on DVD: Half off select TV shows on DVD (for example, The Addams Family, Stargate SG-1, The Venture Bros.)

— DVD Blowout Sale: This includes movies as well as TV shows at a major discount (for example, Curb Your Enthusiasm, 2001 – A Space Odyssey, Caddyshack, 300, and much much more — it’s insane).

Serenity
Blu-ray Edition
Directed by Joss Whedon
Starring Nathan Fillion, Summer Glau, Gina Torres, Alan Tudyk, Adam Baldwin, Chiwetel Ejiofor
Universal Home Entertainment
Release date: December 30, 2008

Now, I will admit right off the bat, that I love Joss Whedon‘s work, and I realize that he is a creator that some people love, and other people hate, and it’s hard to find people in the middle. Me, I watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer from the beginning, I love his comic book work, and I’m eagerly awaiting the start of his new show Dollhouse. So, yeah, my opinion may be a little biased, but I’m man enough to point out the good and bad points of his work. So, if you’re not a fan of Whedon’s work, what can I say to convince you that this movie is worth your time, and if you are a fan of his work, what can I say to convince you to buy this movie for what may be a THIRD time?

If you don’t know the plot of Serenity by now, you’ve clearly been living in a Sci-Fi deprived cave for the last 5 years, but I’ll re-cap for you anyway. The movie picks up from where the television series Firefly left off; we find the crew of the Firefly-class ship Serenity doing what they do best: taking any job they can to make ends meet. The crew, led by Captain Mal Reynolds (Nathan Fillion), is generally on the run from the Alliance, mostly thanks to two passengers on the ship, Simon (Sean Maher) and River Tam (Summer Glau). River was a government test subject and has been turned into a powerful psychic and a one woman fighting force of extraordinary magnitude. Now the Alliance has sent an Operative (Chiwetel Ejiofor) to kill River because of all the secrets she may hold in her head. What follows is a story of loss and the power of beliefs, told in the way that only Joss Whedon can.

Singstar: ABBA
Playstation 3
Rated T for Teens
Release Date: December 2, 2008

In an effort by both XBox 360 and Playstation 3 to make their system more than just a game console, various new types of games have tried to capture the multi-use nature of the systems. SingStar ABBA, the latest SingStar game, is a perfect example of this trend.

Based on the Singstar series which started over on the Playstation 2, the game is basically the vocal version of another popular game involving music, Dance Dance Revolution combined with karaoke. Players choose a song in the game and sing the lyrics that are highlighted as you would do in karaoke. Along the way, there are various vocal bars that appear on the screen that you must hit to rack up points. At the end of the song, they tally up the points and rate your performance.

For this version of the game, all the songs came from the super popular pop band from yesteryear ABBA. Yes, you too can sing their smash hit songs “Dancing Queen” to “Mamma Mia!”, and even “Knowing Me, Knowing You” in the privacy of your home (you know you want to) or with a friend.