Oscar winner Denzel Washington (Unstoppable, The Book of Eli) and Ryan Reynolds (Green Lantern, X-Men Origins: Wolverine) star in the action-thriller Safe House.

Safe House follows rogue CIA agent Tobin Frost (Denzel Washington) who comes back onto the grid after a decade on the run. When the South African safe house he’s remanded to is attacked by mercenaries, a rookie operative Matt Weston (Ryan Reynolds) escapes with him. Now, the unlikely allies must stay alive long enough to uncover who wants them dead.

Safe House also stars Robert Patrick (Walk The Line, Ladder 49), Vera Farmiga (Source Code) and Sebastian Roché (Supernatural, The Adventures of Tintin) and is directed by Daniel Espinosa.

For more information on Safe House, head to the movie’s website and become a fan on their Facebook page.

After eight seasons Fox Network and House series creators agree that the time has come to end the show.

The fate of House was up in the air last season, as Fox and NBC Universal wrangled over a new license fee agreement in talks that went down to the wire close to the upfront last May. Following shake ups with casting and plot turns surrounding characters gone from the cast, the show managed to pull off an eighth season. House exec producers David Shore and Katie Jacobs and Hugh Laurie decided, with the network’s blessing, to bring the curtain down on their own terms.

In a statement, Shore, Jacobs and Laurie expressed that they “have always imagined House as an enigmatic creature; he should never be the last one to leave the party. How much better to disappear before the music stops, while there is still some promise and mystique in the air.”

In the statement, Shore, Jacobs and Laurie noted that the 177 episodes the show will have amassed by the end of its run “is about 175 more than anyone expected back in 2004.”

The show is currently planned to finish out its full contract for the current season. As the show wraps up, we’ll be back with a top moments of House retrospective.

Admit it. You watch the Big Game as much for the commercials as you do the game itself.

How can you not? There’s just as much hype on Super Bowl ads and commercials (over the past 15 years at least) as there is hype on the two franchises hitting the gridiron. This year’s Super Bowl XLVI had it’s serious host of quirky, inspiring and downright hilarious TV spots and we’re showcasing the best of the best (along with a few of the worst) out here.

The Top 8

#1 – M&M’S “Just My Shell”

Ms. Brown finally makes her big debut in this commercial and when onlookers think that she’s at a party naked, immaturity and hilarity ensues…

#2 – The Dog Strikes Back: 2012 Volkswagen

Commercials dealing with animals pulling off endearing stunts are almost always golden. This commercial not only tugs the heartstrings and has a serious payoff but it also gives Star Wars fanboys something to stand up and nerd it out to.

#3 — Pepsi – King’s Court

Sir Elton John and The X Factor winner, Melanie Amaro, face off in an epic, medieval music showdown. Proving once again, “Where There’s Pepsi, There’s Music.” While this spot is a sure fire way to show off the talent of the X Factor winner, the payoff comes at the end with the surprise appearance from Public Enemy’s Flavor Flav!

#4 — The Voice – Vocal Kombat

A heavenly voice starts belting out a few bars in a hotel shower prompting Christina Aguilera, Blake Shelton, Adam Levine and Cee-Lo Green to tear up the hotel squaring off Kill Bill style to bag themselves the next Voice.

#5 — Toyota Camry – It’s Reinvented

Car commercials had a glorious run during this year’s Big Game and Toyota made no exception with this ingenious TV spot. Toyota reinvents more than the Camry in this extended version of the blockbuster commercial that started it all.

#6 — Dannon Oikos Greek Yogurt – “The Tease”

When women play rough, it’s a sight to behold. See what happens when John Stamos comes between a woman and her Oikos.

#7 — Bud Light – “Here We Go” [Rescue Dog]

Budweiser introduces us to Weego, the charming little companion with one of the best skills a man could want in man’s best friend. Budweiser proudly brings this commercial to us with a message to support animal rescues so unfortunate pets can get a home and a second chance.

#8 — FIAT 500 Abarth – Seduction

Tapping into the two things that motivate almost any man, cars and sex, Fiat introduces the Fiat 500 Abarth with the reminder that you’ll never forget the first time you see one.

Honorable Mentions

2012 Honda CR-V Game Day Commercial – “Matthew’s Day Off” Extended Version

It’s pure nostalgia in Honda’s ad for the 2012 CR-V. To celebrate the launch of the all-new 2012 CR-V, Honda brought Ferris Bueller’s Day Off back in a big game commercial. Casting Matthew Broderick as himself, the movie star is seen skipping out on a day of acting work and living it up in his all-new CR-V. Relive movie history with Honda’s fresh twist and wonderful homage to this ’80s classic.

[Think you're a true fan of Ferris Bueller's Day Off? We hid over two dozen references to the movie throughout the commercial. Some are obvious, some are VERY subtle. See how many you can find. #dayoff]

2012 Acura NSX – “Transactions” Extended Version

Jerry Seinfeld is so excited about the new Acura NSX that he will stop at nothing to acquire the very first one. Check out the extended version of Acura’s big game commercial. See what else Jerry would do for the first new NSX at www.acura.com. The NSX is projected to debut in coming years.

The Worst Commercial of Super Bowl XLVI?

There were a few duds during the game, but a lot of people across Twitter worldwide agree that Samsung’s promo for the new Galaxy Note was both extravagant and more than a little perplexing. The lavish commercial makes fun at Apple (without actually naming names or pointing fingers) by having customers personified as bored hipsters waiting for the next update to their current phones. Once someone spots Samsung’s newest baby, a phone/tablet device using a stylus as being the next technological innovation (?), the commercial goes an entirely different direction.

The commercial itself wasn’t bad, but the promotion of a smartphone which is showcasing features that are 5 generations past pretty much cinched Samsung into the corner of worst effort. They spent $5M in advertising for a glorified PDA?

Did your favorite commercial make our cut? Post comments saying which ones you really loved and hated. See you next season!

And I was thinking to myself last week, why Sony would pass up an opportunity to put out a Super Bowl Spot for The Amazing Spider-Man.

The new trailer gives a better idea of what the story will be, touching on Dr. Curt Connors’ character and his transformation into the Lizard, who we still only get a few brief glimpses of (if the toy photos released are any indication however, he’s gonna remind a few people of the goombas from the Bob Hoskins Super Mario Bros. movie).

Action-wise, it looks pretty good, I must admit. But dammit if that suit still doesn’t look like crap!! Well, I’m sure some fans will overlook that, after they see Spidey cracking-wise with a carjacker.

The upcoming action-thriller movie Safe House follows rogue CIA agent Tobin Frost (Denzel Washington) who comes back onto the grid after a decade on the run. When the South African safe house he’s remanded to is attacked by mercenaries, a rookie operative Matt Weston (Ryan Reynolds) escapes with him. Now, the unlikely allies must stay alive long enough to uncover who wants them dead.

Safe House is in theaters Friday, February 10th but we have some cool stuff to give up to you before then!

The Safe House SWAG BAG features a draw string Safe House bag, a Safe House T-Shirt and a Safe House Digital Cleaner for LCD surfaces. How do you get in on this GIVE-A-WAY? It’s easy.

First off, check out the recent TV Spot below for Safe House. After that, head over to the movie’s website and learn more about it. When you’re finished, make sure you’re following us on Twitter (@popcultureshock) and then tweet the following phrase exactly: “Follow @popcultureshock + check out the Safe House trailer http://bit.ly/zmJbNU to WIN #SafeHouseSwag“.

That’s all you have to do. If you’re lazy (like we are at PCS), simply copy and paste the above text and your entry is in! The winner will be announced via Twitter by 11AM EST opening day for Safe House.

Safe House also stars Robert Patrick (Walk The Line, Ladder 49), Vera Farmiga (Source Code) and Sebastian Roché (Supernatural, The Adventures of Tintin) and is directed by Daniel Espinosa.

Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) investigate a case where the victims’ hands and feet have been severed and each have been branded with a strange symbol. While Sam does some research at a local university, Dean heads to one of his favorite places to investigate – the town bar. Dean strikes up a conversation with a local named Lydia (Sara Canning), and the two go back to her place. Sam discovers the symbol on the bodies is a sign of Amazon warriors.

Original Air Date: 3 February 2012 — Directed by Jerry Wanek and Written by Eugenie Ross-Leming & Brad Buckner.

Coming back off of another break, Supernatural brings us a tale that’s sure to remind everybody that everything has consequences — the major subject being Dean getting a woman pregnant. Very sensitive issues are brought back up and there’s a bit of a supernatural mystery going on that doesn’t have anything to do with Amazons.

With the leads on Dick Roman going nowhere, Sam and Dean follow a case where men are being murdered gruesomely and having a strange symbol carved into their chests. Sam notices Dean drinking from Bobby’s flask and after shuffling around with excuses for why he has it, Dean misdirects his brother’s accusations by talking about the absurdity of the case they’re following.

When Dean met Lydia

While examining the latest victim, the boys get a vibe that this is possibly their type of case by way of the evidence. Tthe medical examiner tells them that one victim managed to get a piece of the perp during the struggle but analysis came back negative noting nothing human in the DNA.

Dean ditches out on research by hitting the bar where he meets the very attractive Lydia. Talking it up over drinks Dean tells Lydia about his job (as an investment banker with a sufficient fortune) pouring on the charm while Lydia talks about a past of horrible dates and no need to rush settling down which immediately gets Dean’s attention. Sizing him up as a decent enough catch for a one-nighter, Lydia takes Dean home.

A new victim pops up the next morning and while the brothers investigate the crime scene they meet Charlene Penn (Kendall Cross) the leading detective on the case. The Winchesters realize they need an expert to figure this stuff out and Dean grimly muses that their expert (Bobby) is dead. After leaving the crime scene, Dean realizes Bobby’s flask is missing possibly still over at Lydia’s.

As he phones her, Sam starts in with the jokes about how Dean actually got a number from a conquest. Dismissing it as usual, Dean catches up with Lydia who is being super elusive with him and obviously lying about the flask. After hanging up the phone with Dean the camera pulls back and we get the exact reason why Lydia was rushing Dean off the phone…

The Expert(s)?

The boys meet up with Professor Morrison (Harry Groener), an anthropology professor who seems not too interested in their case and a little too quirky. After laying out an interesting bribe for the two FBI agents he thinks he’s dealing with, Morrison reluctantly decides to take on the work leaving Sam and Dean to ponder if he really is going to be any good to them. Arguing about why they’re using him in the first place,  it’s obvious that if Bobby was still alive, they’d be consulting him instead of anyone that appears to be certified on mythology.

Dean heads back to Lydia’s to recover Bobby’s flask. While there Dean meet’s Emma, the reason why Lydia has been so busy. Mistaking Emma for a babysitting gig, Dean finds out she’s Lydia’s little girl whom he was sure was in the picture the night before. Sam calls to check up and remind Dean that they’re meeting up with medical examiner Eddie and while Dean’s on the phone, he happens to catch crib sized Emma actually speaking and asking mommy “who the guy in the other room is” while Lydia tries to shush her and wait for Dean to leave. Dean’s Spidey-senses tingle big time and he hangs back, forcing Sam to meet up with the medical examiner on his own.

Sam gets no new leads from viewing the body but does discover that the last two victims had visited the Cobalt Room (where Dean and Lydia met). Both cases coincidentally happened to be at the bar within two nights of being murdered and there’s a 2-year pattern in different locations around the US. Detective Penn arrives and unceremoniously advises Sam that the case needs to be wrapped up quickly.

Contacting Dean, Sam tells him about the connection to the murders with the Cobalt Room and that Dean’s apparently dodged a bullet. While they talk, Dean is busy staking out Lydia’s place and watches as two women appear and meet up with Lydia. Dean can’t believe his eyes. The two women and Lydia return with Emma (who now looks like a grade schooler) and the two ladies take away to an old warehouse building where Dean follows them to.

The brothers meet back up with Professor Morrison and learn that the symbol left behind on all the bodies was the major clue. These women really are Amazons and that the men (Dean included) were apparently victims in a birthing/coming of age ritual.

The weird and strange keep coming for the boys. The Amazons procreate and the maturity cycle from fetus to adult is within a matter of days. Emma is Dean’s daughter (making Sam an unwitting uncle). Detective Penn is also a member of the Amazonian cult and has made both of the Winchesters as hunters — though they don’t know that part.

Scouring Bobby’s books and journals for more research, the one key piece of research they can use is blown across the table into Dean’s line of sight. The paper contains text written in Greek that neither of them can translate on their own and Dean immediately senses something is up and it wreaks of Bobby. Sam is quick to dismiss that there’s no way Bobby could be behind the revelation given that they burned his remains. Arguing that Dean is still emotionally compromised, Sam takes the paper to Professor Morrison and orders Dean to stay put because they know someone is on the way to kill him.

Keeping it in The Family

As Sam heads to the university, Dean gets a visit from Emma (Alexia Fast) who has come of age. Father and daughter talk about options and choices with Emma saying she’s torn between her heritage and how she wants to just live her own life.

Sam and the professor go over Bobby’s note discovering that the offspring of an Amazon and the male always satisfies the birthright by killing her own father. Realizes that Dean is in a lot more trouble than either of them imagined, Sam hurries back to get to his brother but is intercepted by Detective Penn. Penn catches him by surprise, hurling him across the hallway which smashes his phone and prevents Sam from calling his brother with the warning. Before Penn can make her move on Sam, he recovers in time to shoot her in the heart.

Emma and Dean wind up in a standoff, her with a ritual dagger and Dean with a pistol. As Dean tries to reason with his daughter, Sam makes it just in time to realize that his brother is very reluctant to kill her. As Sam zeroes in on his niece, Emma makes one last attempt at pulling Dean’s strings before Sam pulls the trigger.

Attempting to stop the Amazon operation, the boys move in on the warehouse only to discover that the tribe has moved on — nothing cluing them to where they have moved on to.

As the episode closes out, Sam and Dean talk about the situation with Emma where Sam reminds Dean that this is all too similar to the circumstances with Amy (The Girl Next Door) where Sam let the monster get away and Dean had to be the one to make the kill. Sam levels with Dean, telling his older brother that his emotions will get him killed evidenced by how Dean was ready to let Emma walk. With all of the turmoil of Castiel’s and Bobby’s death and the addition of Emma’s death, it’s now clear that Dean’s head isn’t in the game.

The biggest takeaway from The Slice Girls is how it pulled a reversal on a similar situation that took place during The Girl Next Door. Given how unraveled Sam’s emotional state is currently, having Sam with the opportunity to give Dean a lecture on keeping his head focused is a real twist. Supernatural has always been a story driven on emotion and while we see the brothers in the middle of some really hardcore stuff, someone is always facing the possibility of being hurt.

The Slice Girls was a good episode, but it didn’t really bring anything to the table outside of more thinking points about how the Winchesters function. The typical “Winchester flair” just wasn’t there, but the lack of it wasn’t a deal-breaker. Seeing Sam and Dean separating as much as they have done this season is almost as nerve-wracking as it is exciting because one of these days someone is going to pay a terrible price for working solo.

Sam seems to be becoming the more responsible one as of late while Dean is getting more and more emotional. I’m sure this is building up to something critical for the storyline as season 7 keeps moving.

Next week, it looks like Sam has to face his biggest fear (clowns) when Supernatural returns with Plucky Pennywhistle’s Magic Menagerie.

While it’s still hard to overlook director John Chu’s previous credits, which include two Step Up sequels, and a Justin Beiber documentary, I can’t help but get excited for G.I. Joe Retaliation, especially after seeing the below Superbowl Spot. I was psyched enough knowing Jinx was gonna be in the movie (as played by Future Ex-Wife alum, Elodie Yung, no less!), but now we’ve got a clear shot of Cobra Commander in the classic mirrored faceplate helmet (with a swagger that can only be described as “fuck a Joseph Gordon-Levitt!”), Roadblock rhyming (albeit quoting Jay-Z), and the goddamn Cobra H.I.S.S. Tank!!!! For someone like me, who as a kid, couldn’t let my mom leave K-Mart without getting me a G.I. Joe action figure, this movie looks to be hitting some major notes!

HD video available on iTunes Movie Trailers website.

Stephen Amell has landing the lead role of Oliver Queen in the pilot for CW’s Arrow, according to Deadline.

Described as a modern retelling of the story of DC Comics character Green Arrow, he will play the vigilante superhero who fights crime using archery, martial arts and technology under his secret identity as Oliver Queen, a wealthy playboy and billionaire industrialist-turned-outspoken politician in Star City.

Amell has previously appeared in other CW shows, including 90210 and The Vampire Diaries, as well as HBO’s Hung.

Oscar winner Denzel Washington (Unstoppable, The Book of Eli) and Ryan Reynolds (Green Lantern, X-Men Origins: Wolverine) star in the action-thriller Safe House. Washington plays the most dangerous renegade from the CIA, who comes back onto the grid after a decade on the run. When the South African safe house he’s remanded to is attacked by mercenaries, a rookie operative (Reynolds) escapes with him. Now, the unlikely allies must stay alive long enough to uncover who wants them dead.

Also starring Robert Patrick (Walk The Line, Ladder 49) and Sebastian Roché (Supernatural, The Adventures of Tintin) and directed by Daniel Espinosa, Safe House is in theaters February 10, 2012. Check out the trailer below and for more information on Safe House, head to the movie’s website and become a fan on their Facebook page.

Hollywood Producer Joel Silver is looking to develop a live-action feature film based on the Cartoon Network series, Ben 10.

Created by Man of Action, (comprised of comic creators Joe Kelly, Joe Casey, Duncan Rouleau, and Steven T. Seagle) the popular franchise is about a boy who acquires a watch-like alien device called the Omnitrix (later the Ultimatrix) attached to his wrist that allows him to turn into alien creatures.

Two live-action made-for-television films were produced for Cartoon Network, but Silver’s potential film will most likely be completely recast.

Deadline is reporting that 20th Century Fox has just closed a deal to bring back Matthew Vaughn to direct the follow-up to the X-Men prequel/reboot, X-Men First Class. In addition to Vaughn, Bryan Singer will be back on to produce.

I can only hope the people behind these fragrances mean for those to be bought purely for novelty’s sake, ’cause I expect they put about as much effort into actually making these smell good as they do any given celebrity fragrance. Although, I will give them credit for giving Loki’s Mischief a distintive bottle, compared to the ones for the actual Avengers themselves. Either way, I’d probably sooner buy Sex Panther (and you actually can!!!!)

Starring: Gina Carano, Channing Tatum, Ewan McGregor, Antonio Banderas, Michael Douglas, Bill Paxton, Michael Angarano, Michael Fassbender
Director: Steven Soderbergh

MMA fighter Gina Carano makes her acting debut (no, I do not count her bit role in Blood and Bone!) in the new Steven Soderbergh film, Haywire, as Mallory Kane, a freelance covert operative on the run after handler, Kenneth (McGregor), tries to have her killed on assignment in Dublin. With no one to trust, Mallory goes on a one-woman rampage from Europe to New Mexico, and South America, to get to the truth and clear her name.

One thing I loved about Haywire was the pacing. Soderbergh isn’t trying to make an all-out action film that’s just gonna pass through your system in 90 minutes with nothing for the audience to digest. There’s a genuine interest in crafting subtle, quite moments throughout the film, helped along with some great dialogue(minimal as it may have been), and a fantastic score, reminiscent of a classic 70s crime caper.

And it’s this subdued approach that makes the action in the film that much more effective. Mallory is clearly meant to be portrayed as an exceptionally well-trained operative, but she’s not a superwoman. Some opponents are easier than others, but especially in the case of Paul (Fassbender), it’s a three-minute, knockdown, drag-out fight for survival (apparently, Michael Fassbender actually knocked Carano unconscious during the scene), and you feel every kick, punch, and slam against every wall.

Time will tell of Carano can prove herself as a capable actress when she’s not kicking dudes in the face, but I’d be more than happy to see her in a bigger action production. She manages to hold her own with the likes of McGregor, Douglas, and Banderas, all of them playing their parts well enough, with only the most basic of character sketches. McGregor, in particular, I’d love to see in more villain roles. I also loved Bill Paxton’s small part as Mallory’s father. At the end of the day, Haywire is a solid, well-paced film, with the right amount of action and intrigue. Certainly worth checking out.

Final Verdict: B+

Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) tangle with the God of Time (Jason Dohring), who sends Dean back to 1944, where he is immediately arrested by none other than the one and only Eliot Ness (Nicholas Lea). While trying to figure out how to retrieve his brother, Sam is surprised by the reappearance of an old friend (Kim Rhodes).

Original Air Date: 13 January 2012 – Directed by Philip Sgriccia and Written by Robbie Thompson.

The moment has arrived for one of those uncanny time travel episodes. Supernatural gets back into its stride this week as the boys come to blows against Greek god Chronos in Time After Time.

The episode starts off with Sam and Dean chasing down a man in a fedora who sucks the life out of his victims. When Dean manages to grab the guy, they both disappear in a red flash of light, leaving Sam with only guesses as to what just happened.

A Case of the Mummies

Two days earlier, Sam and Dean are alerted to a case from Sheriff Jodie Mills who’s started keeping an eye out for activities of the supernatural variety. Bodies of young and healthy adults are turning up mysteriously mummified, aged beyond recognition. Picking up the case, the boys head to Canton, Ohio but not before Sam takes the opportunity to tell his big brother that he’s going to torture himself staying up at night obsessing over Dick.

Trying to tie leads together, the Winchesters talk to the only eyewitness to the most recent incident (who local law enforcement have branded as “unreliable”). After a rather passionate account from the witness chock full of details about a guy in a fedora choking the life out of his neighbor, more clues manifest. The victim aged right before his eyes followed by a strange red energy passing from victim to assailant and even his watch stopped as it happened.

This isn’t the first time that fedora guy has been spotted. Canton is rife with similar incidents of shriveled bodies throughout history and the boys come across an actual newspaper article containing a photo of the mystery man. Using local camera feeds (a trick Dean picked up from Frank), fedora guy is discovered stalking around a gas station where Sam and Dean realize that this same man hasn’t aged a day in over 55 years when compared to the photo from 1957. After talking with a witness from the actual 1957 crime scene, the boys get fedora guy’s address, stake out his house, and move on him when they see him leaving the house.

Dean manages to catch up with him in an alley right as he’s claiming another victim and we’re back to where the episode begins…

After tackling the man and being enveloped by the red light, Dean struggles with the mystery guy and catches a glimpse of the ring he’s wearing which has the inscription of the infinite hourglass — the mark of Chronos. Fedora guy gets away and Dean is immediately spotted by local authorities (wearing retro police uniforms) and gets arrested.

After being grilled by his arresting officer, a new case detective takes over the interview. Dean tells his story (the actual truth) to the detective and quickly realizes he isn’t being written off as some sort of kook by this new officer. Learning that the detective happens to be 1944′s version of a hunter, Dean is floored when he shakes hands with Eliot Ness.

Eliot takes Dean to meet his tailor, Ezra Moore (Linda Darlow) who is the era’s very own version of Bobby Singer all the way down to the sharp tongue. Ezra gives Eliot and Dean the scoop on Chronos, the God of Time while she decks out Dean in a new getup suitable for the era. Using Dean’s recollection of Chronos’ address from the future, the men raid his house learning that the God of Time has stayed wealthy by betting on sporting events that he knows the outcome to (Back To The Future style). They’re able to confirm this after (hilariously) working over the bookie that’s been handling Ethan Snyder’s (Chronos) gambling bets and get the location of Snyder’s favorite hang out.

Staking out Snyder from outside the diner, Dean and Eliot talk and we learn how Ness became a hunter and his motivation for staying in the profession. Spotting a young woman leaving the diner who is followed moments later by Snyder, the hunters suspect her as the next sacrifice Chronos has picked out. Making the move on Snyder, Eliot and Dean realize that the young woman is actually Snyder’s girlfriend and hang back long enough to figure out who she is and where she lives. Instructing Dean to swing back to Ezra’s for any new info she may have gathered on Chronos, Eliot elects to case the house of Chronos’ girlfriend Lila (Melissa Roxburgh), but gets ambushed by Chronos the moment he’s alone.

Back at Ezra’s shop, Dean receives the weapon that is guaranteed to kill the God of Time from Ezra along with a special “good luck” present from the wise hunter. Glancing over a stack of Ezra’s mail, Dean figures out a way he can get a hold of Sam in 2012.

Writing a letter to his kid brother, Dean leaves it in the house where he and Sam were squatting before he was zapped to 1944…

Back to the Future

Back in 2012, Sam is trying his best to connect the dots looking for some clue to where Dean has disappeared to. After another phone call from Jodie, Sam and the sheriff start working together on the case and Jodie uses her pull to break into one of Bobby’s storage units. They learn everything Dean, Eliot and Ezra has learned about Chronos, the God of Time along with Chronos’ motive behind the victims (sacrifices) he’s draining dry. Unfortunately, nothing they have solves the big mystery — where Chronos and Dean are actually at. The only way to figure out the next move is to learn how to summon a god.

Jodie finds lore indicating that Chronos can be summoned for a reading of the future which is good news until Sam delivers his bombshell. Sam has the spell to summon Chronos, but the deity has to be called when Dean is within range (hands on) to get them both together in the current time period. Stuck between a serious rock and a hard place, Jodie sends an exhausted Sam to bed to rest up and Sam makes the discovery of a lifetime as he’s about to close his eyes — Dean’s letter from the past.

Knowing where and when Dean is, Sam and Jodie still need an exact time from where to get Chronos and Dean together to make the spell work. With Dean’s letter mentioning Lila Taylor, the duo locates Chronos’ ex-girlfriend in a local retirement home and learns that in the 40′s, Ethan choked the life out of Dean right in front of her and Eliot Ness leaving every clock in the house stopped at exactly 11:34.

The Future is covered in Thick Black Ooze

Searching for Ness back at Lila’s place, Dean gets jumped by Ethan but the fight is interrupted when Ness shows up out of hiding having taken Lila hostage. Cornered, Ethan reveals that he is a god who has been killing to travel back and forth through time because of Lila who he is truly in love with. At the exact moment that Lila told Sam and Jodie about, Dean tries to come at him with the stake but Ethan intercepts him and starts to strangle him.

In 2012, Sam and Jodie incant the summoning ritual and  pull both Dean and Chronos through time back to the present. Before the two are yanked back to the future Ness makes sure Dean has the stake, calling the young hunter untouchable. Infuriated by being pulled back into the present, Chronos lashes out at Sam and readies to finish what he started in 1944 with Dean but is distracted long enough allowing Sam to deliver the fatal stab to the heart.

Dying, Chronos gives the hunters a reading on their future which is a direct foretelling of events to come for the rest of the show’s seventh season. “It’s covered in thick black ooze. It’s everywhere. They’re everywhere. Enjoy oblivion.”

While the episode ends very abruptly (no end scene where the boys sit on the car and talk about their feelings this week), we’re left with a very good episode of Supernatural that actually returns the show to its more classical formula of action, humor and solid storytelling.

Season 7 so far is turning out to be the “season of Dean” and this episode is no exception. Dean is once more brooding about Leviathans and drowning in the sorrows of his personal losses. Our boy gets some more advice on how to deal with the terrible pitfalls of his life as of late this time from the great Eliot Ness. His advice to Dean about dealing with life and loss comes on the heels of last week’s speech from Frank which basically reminds Dean that no one lives and sooner or later he’ll be dead, too.

Jodie Mills has come a long way since her introduction in Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid. It’s great seeing her character start to fit in better and better with the boys (and the hunter culture) and seeing her as she tries to unravel Bobby’s life puts a new spin to the take no attitude sheriff she was once introduced as. Watching how she interacts with the boys on this case we quickly get the impression that Jodie is going to become a bigger fixture in the series for a while to come.

If there’s one thing Supernatural time travel episodes do, its showing off how much of a dork Dean Winchester can really be. Whether he’s touting references to Untouchables or just relishing in the moment (“Is that a German name?”), seeing Dean geeking out and making a complete 180 from troubled Dean is always a sight to see.

Seeing the brothers also back in more of a light hearted spirit also let’s us know that they are trying to move past losing Bobby. From the classic Winchester rock-paper-scissors match (which always ends with Sam winning) to Sam’s teasing the Dean is “strictly into Dick,” we have ourselves a classic episode of Supernatural.

Supernatural goes on break for two weeks (reruns) before returning February 3rd with The Slice Girls. See you in a few weeks.

Michael Fassbender – Alex Murphy/Robocop

Apparently, Padilha is/was eyeing Fassbender for the lead, and I can’t really argue with that choice. Fassbender finally graduated from the “that guy” realm this year, with roles in X-Men First Class and Shame, and it’s about time. You would think that there wouldn’t be much acting for him to do as a cyborg, but look back at the original, and realize that there’s definitely a point in the film, when Peter Weller really sold the pain of the character once he realizes what happened to him, and I could definitely see Fassbender bringing that same intensity to the character.

Alice Braga – Ann Lewis

I’ve had a mad crush on Alice Braga for a while now, and her role in Predators certainly convinces me she could pull off a kick ass Lewis.

Rockmund Dunbar – Sgt. Reed

I loved him this past season on Sons of Anarchy, playing a take-no-prisoners sheriff. Him as Sgt. Reed would be a breeze!

Billy Zane – Clarence Boddicker

Boddicker is a maniacal sadist, but he’s also very intelligent. Zane has enough villainous roles under his belt to draw from them to flesh out Boddicker, possibly even moreso than Kurtwood Smith. And c’mon, you’re imagining him saying “Bitches, leave!” right now, aren’t ya!!!

Jackie Earle Haley – Emil Antonowsky

I heard a fan suggest this a while back, and the more I think about it, the more I can see it. He’s got the right kind of squirrely quality to fit in the henchman role, but more than enough of a badass edge where it’s almost baffling to see him as a henchman, when it’s clear he could easily be a lone wolf type.

Bryan Cranston – Dick Jones

He’s already in an upcoming Verhoeven remake playing a role originated by Ronny Cox, Why not continue the trend?

Bob Morton – Zachary Quinto

I honestly don’t think anyone does smarmy the way Quinto does. Even as Spock, he was the smarmiest prick in Starfleet!!! Apply that to a hotshot executive role, and you’ve pretty much got Bob Morton.

Katee Sackhoff will make her return to sci-fi with a role in the upcoming Riddick sequel, which has resumed production in Montreal. Sackhoff will play Dahl, a mercenary that will be hunting Riddick over the course of the film.

Everyone who wants to see a fist fight between Sackhoff and Vin Diesel, raise your hands!!!

Still reeling after what happened to Bobby, Dean (Jensen Ackles) becomes dangerously obsessed over finding a way to take down Dick Roman (James Patrick Stuart). Meanwhile, Sam (Jared Padalecki) decides to help a teenage girl (Madison McLaughlin) look for her father (Ian Tracey), a hunter who has gone missing. Sam traces his last steps to a truck stop where the help (Meghan Ory) turns out not to be so friendly.

Welcome back, Supernatural! It’s been a long 5 weeks since we saw the turn of events from last December’s Death’s Door. Let’s go ahead and come out with it: Bobby is dead. Death’s Door showed the stark reality that awesome characters die — and there have been tons of awesome characters (Ellen, Jo, Rufus, Castiel, Pamela) throughout the seven seasons of Supernatural.

Three weeks have passed since Bobby used the last of his time to write out 5 numbers (45489) on Sam’s hand before passing away and the boys are coping with the loss while trying to plan their next move on the Leviathan menace. While Sam and Dean are going to miss Bobby, ultimately, the fans themselves will miss him more. Adventures In Babysitting focuses on the Winchesters and how they deal with Bobby out of their lives.

A Hunter Gets Snatched

At the beginning of the episode Lee Chambers is sitting in a diner stalking something supernatural that carries the guise of a working girl named Sally (Once Upon A Time star Meghan Ory) who is setting up trysts with truckers coming in and out of the diner. His server refills his coffee and tries to make small talk when Lee sees his target moving on with a truck driver in tow. As he follows the pair between some parked 18-wheelers, he is surprised to find that his server has followed him outside the diner…

The server alerts him that she’s slipped him something in his coffee — her own venom. Feeling the effects of the toxin, Lee is easily overcome as he realizes that what he’s hunting is not simply one creature but a pair.

Sam and Dean are coping with their Loss

Back at Rufus’ safe house, the boys have started working on the singular clue Bobby left them. They’re both dealing with Bobby’s death in their own way with Sam turning it all inward and keeping it bottled up (like he has countless times before) while Dean goes to his typical ‘turn angst into revenge’ mode. Sam breaks the ice first by wondering if they should start contacting Bobby’s people and Dean immediately objects to the idea passing it off to Sam who is just as reluctant.

Having taken all of the information they have and turned it over to conspiracy kook Frank Devereaux, Dean is feeling the strain from not hearing from Frank yet. As the boys are talking it over, Bobby’s cellphone rings and Sam takes the call, speaking to Lee’s daughter Krissy who was left with specific instructions to contact Bobby Singer if he doesn’t return. Sam senses trouble and wants to check it out but Dean wants to find out what the hell happened to Frank. As they discuss splitting up, Dean’s freshly opened beer is suddenly sucked dry mysteriously (while in his hand) but they dismiss it pretty quickly.

Sam meets up with Krissy and after checking things out, he leaves her with Dean’s number to call in case she doesn’t hear from him (ominous instructions for the teenager at this point). Sam figures out that Lee was after a vetala, which happens to be similar to vampires. And that trail leads him to the same rest stop diner where Lee was taken. He makes a call to Dean (who is passed out from exhaustion) and leaves him a message about his discovery before making his move.

After having a conversation with Marlene (the waitress that handled Lee), Sam is led to Sally who lures him directly into an ambush where this time Sally is revealed to be a vetala. Sam is bitten and overcome leaving the two creatures another hunter to feed on.

Dean meets up with Frank

Dean shows up at Frank’s place which is completely ransacked and abandoned. Taking that as a bad sign, Dean doesn’t get long to investigate before Frank has gotten the drop on him (twice in as many episodes). Having been exposed to the information on Leviathans, Frank is overly suspicious that Dean may be a Leviathan and is ready to start shooting. After providing a simple blood screening (Leviathans bleed black goo) and then making Frank prove the same, they start talking and Frank takes Dean to where he’s relocated — an RV equipped with every piece of electronic equipment he owns. Frank gives Dean both the good and bad news about those numbers from Bobby.

Bobby had been short one number as he was dying but Frank managed to figure out the missing number which made up the coordinates (45″4′ 89″3′) to a patch of land in Wisconsin of special interest to Dick Roman. Dean and Frank, dressed up as telephone technicians, go out to investigate the plot of land and discovers that the whole area is under surveillance. After tapping into the rigged equipment, Frank makes the discovery that there’s something up with the site that has Dick very interested but there’s no clue to what it all amounts to yet.

Frank gives Dean some advice about the Bobby situation: fake your way through the rough stuff. Sharing with Dean the moment that changed his own life (seeing his wife and children heinously murdered), Frank tells him that he has to exercise professionalism if he wants to make it. As Dean listens, he get’s Sam’s voicemail about the vetalas and realizes that Sam has made a terrible mistake.

Dean gets to babysit Krissy

Already set to panic, Dean gets a phone call from Krissy telling him that Sam is missing. Dean gets a shot of reality when he meets up with Krissy as he realizes that the girl has a lot in common with both him and Sam. She’s plugged into the life and is just as cynical (if not more) as Dean. After Krissy proves that she can handle herself, Dean has no choice but to bring her along to find Lee and Sam tricking her long enough to handcuff her to the steering wheel so she can’t get hurt with what happens next.

Dean manages to get the drop on the vetalas before they can drain Lee dry but Krissy shows up and nearly blows everything when she is taken hostage by Sally. The interruption turns out to be well choreographed as Krissy winds up being the one to save them all by taking out Sally and distracting Marlene long enough for Sam to make the kill.

Family Matters

Leaving Krissy and Lee safely behind in the hospital, Sam and Dean hit the road. In the final scene of the new episode, the brothers talk about the situation they face. Sam admits that he’s not alright with what’s happened to Bobby and Dean is right there with him. Agreeing that they should get to work and figure out how to kick Dick Roman’s ass, the tone changes as Sam tries to sleep and Dean drives. As the scene closes out, you can see in Dean’s eyes that he is starting to accept the reality that the closest thing they had to remaining family is dead.

Adventures In Babysitting didn’t see the return of the normal action packed show that is Supernatural, but it brought back enough heart to the story to set us up for the future of where the rest of the season can only go. It would have been a terrible slap to the face if the show went immediately back to its standard humor/action formula in the wake of losing another major character. How people deal with life is just as important as how they deal with death, and we get to see the Winchesters dealing with something almost as profound as when they lost John.

The highlights of Adventures In Babysitting are Dean’s interactions with both Frank and Krissy. Frank helps to keep Dean grounded while Krissy gives Dean a vivid look back at where he came from. Seeing the boys in another emotional tailspin is a theme that we’ve seen throughout the show since season 1 and the hits keep on coming for Sam and Dean.

Dean’s suffering from exhaustion is also a key factor for the episode. As evidenced by his beer being drank dry without him realizing it, his confusion that it’s only been days since they contacted Frank about the Leviathans and his sleeping an entire 36 hours in the RV, Dean continues to struggle more and more as the series goes on.

Seeing Lee and Krissy’s future also helped out the Winchesters’ state of mind as well.

Next week, we’ll see Dean taken back to 1944 where he’ll hunt side-by-side with Elliot Ness (yes, that Elliot Ness). See you next week.

In a move that I’m sure will have scores of anime/manga fans running to the nearest mountain top to shout “HALLELUJAH!!!!”, word has come down courtesy of Hollywood Reporter that Warner Bros. is stopping production on their live-action Akira film. The production office in Vancouver has been shut down, with all talent and crew told to stop working. The studio apparently wants to cut 20 million from budget (originally 90 million), as well as resolve casting issues. As it stands, the film is in danger of being shelved altogether.

I’m sure I’ll be tied to a post in the middle of town square and stoned for this, but count me as one of the very few dissenters that wasn’t up in arms about Warner Bros. wanting to make a live-action adaptation of Akira, where they conveniently forget that the whole story was one of the many that addressed how fucked up Japan became (or could become) after they got the shit bombed out of them . . . TWICE!!! I’d still love for it to happen, just to see if all of fandom really had the testicular fortitude to flat out refuse to see it, but also spread the word to the general public of why the film would be so offensive in the first place, and truly see to its commercial failure. But the odds of that happening are about as great as the odds of Scarlett Jonhannson seeking out my lap to sit on! The moral being, we should all be so lucky!

Keishi ?tomo is directing “Rurouni Kenshin” starring 22-year-old actor Takeru Satoh (Kamen Rider Den-O, Rookies, Beck, Ry?maden) as Kenshin. 17-year-old actress Emi Takei plays the heroine Kaoru Kamiya. Yuu Aoi (Hana and Alice, Honey and Clover) plays Megumi Takani, Munetaka Aoki (The Last Message Umizaru, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time) is Sanosuke Sagara, and Taketo Tanaka plays Yahiko My?jin. Kouji Kikkawa (Let’s Dance With Papa) as Jine Ud?, Yosuke Eguchi (Shonan Bakusozoku, Tokyo Love Story) as Hajime Sait?, and Teruyuki Kagawa (From Up On Poppy Hill, 20th Century Boys) as Kanry? Takeda.

The film will open in Japan on August 25, 2012.

Fair to say, few fans were looking forward to a Buffy The Vampire Slayer reboot without the involvement of Joss Whedon. Now word is breaking that Warner Bros. may be losing interest in the project altogether. While they’re apparently looking for a new writer, as they rejected a script from first-time screenwriter Whit Anderson (gee, I wonder why!!), there seems to be growing sentiment that fans loyal to Whedon may never come around to accepting the project (ya think?!).