Pre-Book Your Hobbit Tickets

Ready your wallets, Middle-earthlings. Even though it's still five weeks out, advance tickets for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey are ready to go on sale -- online and in theaters across North America -- starting Wednesday, November 7, at 12pm ET.

Also be sure to check out this new TV spot in anticipation of the pre-sale:

Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opens in 2D and select 3D theaters and IMAX on December 14.

Max Nicholson is a writer for IGN, and he desperately seeks your approval. Show him some love by following @Max_Nicholson on Twitter, or MaxNicholson on IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Elementary: "Pilot" Review

Advance Review: The idea of updating Sherlock Holmes is nothing new. It's not even new for CBS, which has twice before aired modern-day series based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's iconic detective (The Return of Sherlock Holmes in 1987 and the radically differently titled Sherlock Holmes Returns in 1993). But this latest iteration is notable for coming out at a time when Holmes is enjoying a resurgence on screens both big and small. Tempted as I am to compare and contrast Elementary's version of Sherlock Holmes to the recent Guy Ritchie film franchise or the Steven Moffat series (still my favorite) or even Hugh Laurie's Dr. House, I'm going to try and stick to evaluating the premiere on its own merits.

But let me just say this before moving on - if you enjoy Elementary and you haven't yet seen Moffat's Sherlock, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, track it down and watch it immediately. You won't be sorry. Then you can come back to Elementary and bask in the notion that there will be a fourth episode a week after the third, and then another one after that, and so on for likely 13 episodes at the very least, and probably 22 in one whole year if it gets a full-season order. Of course, just those 13 would be more than twice as many episodes as Sherlock has had in its two seasons combined.

The case that kicks off the series is a standard murder mystery, with twists and turns no more surprising or extraordinary than those you might find on Law & Order, or any other procedural show (and not, as far as I know, based on any particular Doyle story). What sets Elementary apart is the enigmatic personality of Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) himself and the unique way he reacts to his surroundings. He leaves rehab early to offer his skills as a consultant, free of charge, to the NYPD via a former colleague, Captain Gregson (Aidan Quinn). Worried about his son's rash actions, Holmes' father --- unseen for now, though producers say we will meet him -- hires a "sobriety companion" to follow him around and make sure he doesn't use. That companion, of course, turns out to be Joan Watson (Lucy Liu), a washed up surgeon who finds that solving murders is a lot more fun than glorified babysitting.

Miller gives us a more emotionally vulnerable Holmes than we've seen before. He's had his heart broken and is recovering from drug addiction, exiled to New York for the convenience of an American television show. These scars are close enough to the surface they sometimes get in the way of the cold, robotic analysis we're used to seeing from the ultimate detective. He still makes instant appraisals of total strangers based on deductive reasoning but, at least in the pilot, it's often as much a trick of smoke and mirrors (and Google) as it is the unrestrained tick of a genius mind. This Sherlock is good at looking like he has a master plan, even when he's just losing his temper. He may not always be in control, but it seems like he is. And if there's one thing Miller is good at, it's looking cool.

As fascinating as he is, we can't truly appreciate Holmes' intellect without Watson by his side to serve as an exposition device, someone to ask, "How did you know that?" Liu's Watson is quite capable, almost his equal. She even picks on clues he misses. Based on this first episode, it doesn't seem like the show will immediately be exploring a romantic angle between the two, but by casting a woman as Watson the door will always be open for that possibility. So far, I like platonic working relationship the two have established in the pilot, even if it is muddied by the fact that Watson's loyalties are divided between Sherlock and his father. I hope the writers can resist messing with it for a while - and for what it's worth executive producer Robert Doherty says he doesn't intend to make things romantic between Holmes and Watson. Regardless though, that relationship will keep viewers coming back to the show more than the weekly cases, I suspect.

Speaking of the cases, it's worth pointing out that it isn't just the other versions of Sherlock Holmes that Elementary has to contend with, but all the other procedural shows on television now as well. This kind of detective storytelling has become so formulaic it's difficult to be original or shocking. The first hour does a good job of introducing us to a new Sherlock, but I predict the ongoing challenge of making this show will be to keep the storylines as smart as the main character.

Elementary premieres Thursday, September 26th at 10pm on CBS.

Source : ign[dot]com

Ben and Kate: "Pilot" Review

Advance Review: From creator Dana Fox (What Happens in Vegas) comes a sweet, but not too sweet, comedy about a pair of grown siblings who, long ago, formed a unique bond due to an unhappy home life while growing up. Kate (Dakota Johnson - daughter of Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith) wound up getting pregnant at an early age and is now the sort of typical young, quirky "trying to make ends meet" TV mom that we've all come to expect. Unlucky in love, but lucky when it comes to the simple, genuine things in life. Like her extremely precocious five year-old daughter, Maddie. So far, so what, right? Kate's a somewhat typical klutzy, "rom-com" leading lady. But then comes Ben.

Ben, played by Academy Award-winning screenwriter (he co-wrote The Descendents with Community's Jim Rash) Nat Faxon, is Kate's older brother. And whereas Kate "grew up too fast," Ben "never grew up at all." He's a big, doofy man-child who's constantly making Kate's life more complicated with his crazy, random antics and, honestly, your enjoyment of Ben and Kate is primarily going to depend on whether or not you find Ben annoying or endearing. I happen to be fall into the latter category on this one, although I can totally see people not enjoying Ben's juvenile mania. I understand if he gets under your skin. In fact, I've seen this pilot twice now and I think about the Bill Murray movie "What About Bob?" each time I see it. Because, drawing from that film, you either love Bob or you totally empathize with Richard Dreyfuss.

So, much in the same way that FOX presented us with Zooey Deschanel's quirky Jess last year when New Girl premiered, Ben's naive dreamer qualities will either excite or irritate you. I think Faxon does a wonderful job of playing a lovable idiot and there were more than a few scenes here that I found pretty damn funny. In this first episode, Ben discovers that his ex, the love of his life, is getting married and decides to come up with a last ditch effort to win her back. Of course, none of this gels with Kate's plan to finally go out on a normal date with her boyfriend George and, possibly, have "the sex" for the first time since her daughter was born.

And while I brought up "What About Bob?" earlier, my thoughts also shift into darker territory when I'm reminded of Laura Linney's character from Love Actually. Remember her? The woman who had to be at the beck and call of her mentally ill brother and couldn't maintain a normal relationship because of it? I probably think of that because A) I just recently watched that movie again, and B) Kate's total acceptance/surrendering to the fact that the comically-obtuse Ben will always be a giant, dominating chunk of her life.

The spotlight might be on Faxon's Ben, but it's Johnson's Kate who does the heavy lifting. She's the other main reason why I feel this show works. If she were just the "straight man" put-upon sister, this would fall apart. These two have a goofy connection and by the end of the episode you feel as though they actually compliment one another. Ben, despite his life-disrupting ways, is protective of Kate a way that has no equal. Which comes in handy since Kate herself winds up in screwball situations of her own.

The rest of the players here - Lucy Punch's full-of-advice bimbo BJ, Echo Kellum's Kate-obsessed Tommy - are fine. Young Maddie (Maggie Elizabeth Jones), when not spouting wisdom beyond her years, makes a great, doe-eyed sounding board for Ben's lunacy. Again, depending on your personality there's a chance that Ben might frustrate you, but I think Ben and Kate is one of the most promising new comedies of the season.

The Ben and Kate pilot can be seen on Hulu. The series premieres on Tuesday, September 25th on FOX.

Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and IGN. WARNING: No Nudity!

Source : ign[dot]com

Vegas: "Pilot" Review

Advance Review: Older dude solving crime? Check. A well-known, likeable veteran actor cast in the lead? Sure. A "case of a week" blueprint set up for viewers not looking for heavy serialization? Yup. But hold on there. CBS' new retro-series, Vegas, does have a bit more going for it than your average mega-popular crime-labbapalooza. Set in early '60s Las Vegas, this series not only boasts movie star Dennis Quaid as the lead justice dispenser, but a dusty, modern-era Western tone that's brought about by the clash of two worlds; that of cattle rancher Ralph Lamb (Quaid) and casino owner Vincent Savino (Michael Chiklis).

Make no mistake though. Even though the title at the outset of this pilot reads "This is the true story of Sheriff Ralph Lamb and the rise of the Vegas Strip," Vegas is still going to be, underneath the historical histrionics, a procedural. Lamb will solve a crime each week; a murder that will most likely have to do with shady strip dealings causing him to passive-aggressively butt heads with transplanted Chicago mobster Savino. But while Vegas may not be totally off-brand for CBS, it gets some extra points for tweaking the formula.

As Savino's plane lands outside Vegas, pointedly throwing Lamb's herd of a cattle into a frenzy, it's clear that Lamb's peaceful post-war life, and the lives of those living in the Vegas vicinity, will never be the same. Savino's in town to help whip a casino called The Savoy into shape, but with Chiklis' Savino comes a sort of calm logic that you wouldn't expect. He's more Ace Rothstein than he is Nicky Santoro, if we're going by the yin and yang of Scorsese's Casino. He doesn't have it out for innocent citizens, but instead the inept and corrupt goons and thugs that have caused him to have to move to Las Vegas to fix a hotel that's bleeding money. Yes, it's interesting to pit Quaid's rootin' tootin' rustler against a "gentleman gangster," but the mostly-polite Savino also comes off a bit toothless.

So I would expect that, down the line, things will get much more vicious between the two. Because the conflict that we might be anticipating from these two actors is not really present in this series opener. Instead, we're given the tale of how a reluctant Lamb, who was a former crack MP investigator, becomes acting Vegas Sheriff. "Ask a few questions. Listen to what people say. What they don't say is just as important." That's Lamb's low-key take on solving murders that he shares with his brother Jack (a fresh off Terra Nova Jason O'Mara), who Lamb brings along for the ride when the Mayor asks Lamb to solve the murder of the Governor's niece, Samantha. Fortunately for Lamb, the real Sheriff is nowhere to be found (aka "hiding from the mob") and the Mayor knows Lamb from the war and can testify to his stubborn determination when it comes to tracking down perps.

Carrie-Anne Moss (The Matrix, Memento) is also on hand as an Assistant DA whose family ranch was next to the Lamb's ranch when she was growing up. So she represents both an "in" with the slick political crowd and a down home girl who will probably wind up being a love interest for a seemingly non-interested Lamb. I say non-interested because Lamb, a widower, for all his gruffness, really just wants to tend to his herd. He only agrees to find Samantha's killer so that he can get back to his ranch. And because he's not actually the Sheriff, he doesn't feel compelled to follow any of the pesky rules that come along with the title. By the end though, Lamb sees that he can actually step up and face the corruption that surrounds him when he's got a star pinned to his vest. And he likes feeling in control again.

Vegas isn't perfect, and it may very well fall too deeply into the less-interesting "case of the week" zone after a few episodes, but it does represent a couple of interesting left turns for CBS. And for those of you who might be a bit exhausted by the veneer of the '60s on TV, Quaid's side of the fence shows us that not everything was highballs and fedoras.

Vegas premieres on Tuesday, September 25th at 10/9c on CBS.

Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and IGN. WARNING: No Nudity!

Source : ign[dot]com

The Mob Doctor: "Pilot" Review

Advance Review: The first thing that FOX's new series, The Mob Doctor, has working against it is... its name. It's hard to not giggle and pre-judge a show with such a nail-on-the-derp title. Yes, creators often look for for a name that can singularly sum up their show, but I feel like a lot more people aren't going to be able to get past this silly title than will wind up eventually over-looking it. Also, it doesn't help that the show a mostly-laughable shlock-fest riddled cliches and familiar beats.

My Boys' Jordana Sprio (off her two-episode dramatic arc on Dexter last year) stars as Grace Devlin (a name not lost on anyone), a tough, punchy surgeon who grew up poor on the south side of Chicago. She's part angel, part lie/cheat/and steal if it protects the right people hellion. And her hospital rounds are filled with a rogue's gallery of characters you've seen before. Her bitchy rival (Jamie Lee Kirchner), her arrogant, weaselly boss (David Pasquesi, almost channeling his Strangers with Candy role) and wasted Emmy-winner Zeljko Ivanek as an extra-bland Chief of Surgery.

Instead of starting off the show with the story of how Grace became a doctor who moonlights for the local mob in order to pay a debt for her brother's life, we begin in the thick of it. Grace has been a "Mob Doctor" for years already and we're just catching up with her on a particularly busy day where she deals with a goon who has a screwdriver in his head, a kid with a gunshot wound, a girl from the "neighborhood" who's pregnant thanks to outercourse and an FBI witness in dire need of heart surgery. And once again, thanks to pilot-itis, everything moves at breakneck speed, with the writers thinking that fast stories and super-speed dialogue make things seem more urgent and characters seem more clever.

Spiro can be a fun and lively actress, but she crumbles here at the feet of sloppy sentiment and an interesting premise that's treated more like a glossy adventure series than a tension-filled drama. Grace's doctor boyfriend, Brett (Zach Gilford), is handsome and nice while the crooks she deals with, notably Michael Rapaport's Moretti, are dumb and mean. It's all flat. I will say that, toward the end, there's a surprise twist that gave the show a jolt, but it's all for naught. One would think, that given the premise, Grace would be desperately looking for a way out. That she's afraid of being caught and tired of keeping secrets. But she's not. In fact, when given the opportunity to actually leave criminal servitude and make a clean getaway, she stays. And becomes an even mobbier Mob Doctor! Her excuse is, naturally, family. Even though we meet her pushy mom and incompetent brother and see first hand that they're no treasure trove.

But she's from the south side. And just like Boston's south side, cinematically, family is supposed to mean more than anything, no matter how dopey and troublesome they are. William Forsythe, fresh off his Boardwalk Empire stint, plays a typically Forsythian role in the form of Constantine Alexander, a soft spoken crime boss freshly released from prison. And while his relationship with Grace might feel more interesting, and rife with potential, the fact that, right off the bat, Grace has accepted her lot in life as a physician for both sides of the law makes the show feel empty and harmless.

The Mob Doctor premieres on Monday, September 17th at 9/8c on FOX.

Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and IGN. WARNING: No Nudity!

Source : ign[dot]com

Ben and Kate: "Pilot" Review

Advance Review: FOX's new single-camera comedy Ben and Kate doesn't officially premiere for another month, but since the pilot episode is currently available for viewing via Hulu (see below!), we're considering it fair game for review.

From creator Dana Fox (What Happens in Vegas) comes a sweet, but not too sweet, comedy about a pair of grown siblings who, long ago, formed a unique bond due to an unhappy home life while growing up. Kate (Dakota Johnson - daughter of Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith) wound up getting pregnant at an early age and is now the sort of typical young, quirky "trying to make ends meet" TV mom that we've all come to expect. Unlucky in love, but lucky when it comes to the simple, genuine things in life. Like her extremely precocious five year-old daughter, Maddie. So far, so what, right? Kate's a somewhat typical klutzy, "rom-com" leading lady. But then comes Ben.

Ben, played by Academy Award-winning screenwriter (he co-wrote The Descendents with Community's Jim Rash) Nat Faxon, is Kate's older brother. And whereas Kate "grew up too fast," Ben "never grew up at all." He's a big, doofy man-child who's constantly making Kate's life more complicated with his crazy, random antics and, honestly, your enjoyment of Ben and Kate is primarily going to depend on whether or not you find Ben annoying or endearing. I happen to be fall into the latter category on this one, although I can totally see people not enjoying Ben's juvenile mania. I understand if he gets under your skin. In fact, I've seen this pilot twice now and I think about the Bill Murray movie "What About Bob?" each time I see it. Because, drawing from that film, you either love Bob or you totally empathize with Richard Dreyfuss.

So, much in the same way that FOX presented us with Zooey Deschanel's quirky Jess last year when New Girl premiered, Ben's naive dreamer qualities will either excite or irritate you. I think Faxon does a wonderful job of playing a lovable idiot and there were more than a few scenes here that I found pretty damn funny. In this first episode, Ben discovers that his ex, the love of his life, is getting married and decides to come up with a last ditch effort to win her back. Of course, none of this gels with Kate's plan to finally go out on a normal date with her boyfriend George and, possibly, have "the sex" for the first time since her daughter was born.

And while I brought up "What About Bob?" earlier, my thoughts also shift into darker territory when I'm reminded of Laura Linney's character from Love Actually. Remember her? The woman who had to be at the beck and call of her mentally ill brother and couldn't maintain a normal relationship because of it? I probably think of that because A) I just recently watched that movie again, and B) Kate's total acceptance/surrendering to the fact that the comically-obtuse Ben will always be a giant, dominating chunk of her life.

The spotlight might be on Faxon's Ben, but it's Johnson's Kate who does the heavy lifting. She's the other main reason why I feel this show works. If she were just the "straight man" put-upon sister, this would fall apart. These two have a goofy connection and by the end of the episode you feel as though they actually compliment one another. Ben, despite his life-disrupting ways, is protective of Kate a way that has no equal. Which comes in handy since Kate herself winds up in screwball situations of her own.

The rest of the players here - Lucy Punch's full-of-advice bimbo BJ, Echo Kellum's Kate-obsessed Tommy - are fine. Young Maddie (Maggie Elizabeth Jones), when not spouting wisdom beyond her years, makes a great, doe-eyed sounding board for Ben's lunacy. Again, depending on your personality there's a chance that Ben might frustrate you, but I think Ben and Kate is one of the most promising new comedies of the season.

The Ben and Kate pilot can be seen on Hulu. The series premieres on Tuesday, September 25th on FOX.

Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and IGN. WARNING: No Nudity!

Source : ign[dot]com

Copper: "Surviving Death" Review

Advance Review: From TV crime veteran Tom Fontana (Oz, Homicide: Life on the Street) comes BBC America's first ever original scripted series, Copper - a gritty, gloppy "Uptown/Downtown" look at law and order in 1864 New York City. And you don't have to look much further than the cinematic world of Five Points, Manhattan in Scorsese's The Gangs of New York to know that justice rarely reared its head in this time and area that we now consider to be a fascinating hotbed of socioeconomic strife.

Copper has the appealing grime and soot for a show dedicated to showing the corruption that permeates through an entire city system, but I never quite felt invested in any of the characters; especially (and most importantly) the hero of the tale, Irish immigrant Officer Kevin Corcoran (Tom Weston-Jones). Within this first episode, entitled "Surviving Death," we're loaded up with so much back-story that there's almost no way one leading man can live up to all the potential.

Old Timey Pew Pew Pew!

Corcoran is a beloved Civil War hero and a former prized pugilist looking for his missing wife and a mysterious ship all while mourning the death of his six year old-daughter, Maggie. Sure, he's corrupt, but only enough to make him fit in with his historical surroundings, and nowhere near as corrupt as his higher-ups. As a man with - conveniently - no prejudices, Corcoran is able to utilize the entire city in order to solve a crime - from a black forensic expert named Matthew who's opinion no one will accept, to a posh city-aristocrat who Corcoran saved in the war. Copper never stops being interesting, but the predictable way that Corcoran is allowed to be, for example, the only one who cares about the death of a young prostitute sinks the show into the mire a little bit.

Business does pick up however when Corcoran starts running into bureaucratic walls after his investigation begins pointing to places and people whose reputations simply won't allow for sordid accusations. And so while a case might get solved in the pilot episode, it doesn't necessarily mean that things will play out the way we might expect them to on a contemporary cop show. And I'm not sure whether the loose ends from this premiere will get wrapped up as soon as the second episode, or if they'll play out in a Terriers/Luther-style through the rest of the season.

I will admit to enjoying watching how Matthew (Ato Essandoh) uses the science and lab techniques available at the time to run his CSI: Five Points experiments, even though anybody who's watched enough procedural autopsy TV could look at the dead girl's body and tell you the exact murder weapon.

As Copper moves forward, with several mysteries yet to play out, we'll watch issues of immigration, segregation and voter rights texturize the background, giving the series extra weight and significance. And like Scorsese showed us previously, any hero of this era is mostly likely marked by past tragedy as a way of helping us believe that he would want to see true justice served. A yearn for vengeance works well in that respect too. Unfortunately, any hero surrounded by so much interesting history can be easily overshadowed and made bland. Run Lola Run's Franka Potente is also on board as Eva, a hooker with a heart of silver - aka Corcoran's lust interest. As female characters go on this series, it'll probably be hard to find one that isn't a prostitute or a princess as such was the times.

Copper has some good seeds planted down in its muddy Mulberry Street and I'm hoping that the reason that some of it came off as bland to me is due to the fact that I've seen a lot of these characters before; in Westerns and other films and shows taking place post-Civil War. Still, a decent start.

Copper premieres Sunday, August 19th at 10/9c on BBC America.

Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and IGN. WARNING: No Nudity!

Source : ign[dot]com