Here it is, a brand new TV spot for the most recent film featuring J.K. Rowling’s teen wizards Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Previously, we brought you some other cool TV interviews with the cast and crew.

Now, courtesy of the folks at Trailer Addict, this new spot features even more of your favorite Harry Potter characters including Hermione, Ron, Dumbledore, Snape and, of course, Harry himself. It also highlight even more that as this series develops it becomes less and less a story only children or tweens can enjoy and more a story, and a movie, for all ages that even has something for adults.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince hits theaters on July 15th. Meantime, enjoy this new spot after the jump.

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Its no secret we’re fans of Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse here at The Flickcast. Its a great show full of interesting possiblities, good performances and a unique premise. Sadly, it doesnt seem to be doing so well in the ratings and it probably won’t get another season. We’re also huge fans of another show on Fox called Fringe, which is doing very well and already has a commitment for another season.

Both shows are basically one form of Sci-Fi or another and deal with similar issues, themes and feature attractive casts of people springing into action each week to take on whatever antagonist happens to be in their way. And, both shows were created and produced by two of the biggest names in the geeky sci-fi genre world these days: Joss Whedon and J.J. Abrams. But if they are so similar in so many ways and have the geek pedigree from two of the world’s most popular creators, why is one doing so well and one seem to be failing?

That’s an interesting question and fortunately writer Nathan Alderman at The Incomparable has taken the time to analyze it and provide what I consider some very good reasoning for why Fringe is doing well and Dollhouse isn’t. Some of the reasons Alderman cites are that Fringe has clear-cut good and evil characters, the fact that Fringe is a sci-fi show with a touch of philosophy while Dollhouse is a show that tries to make you think while also throwing in some action and the fact that audiences generally consider themselves underdogs but identify and want to watch a show where the protagonists are not.

Its a great read and worth checking out, especially if you’re a fan of these shows.

This is part two of this week’s Pull List, check out yesterday’s reviews here.

Dark Reign: Young Avengers #1 – Marvel – $3.99
Score: 8.0
Under the cover headline “They’re exactly what you think”  stands a team of unknowns in the same pose as the Young Avengers on their first cover. In the opening pages the reader is introduced to this new cast of characters who introduce themselves to a group of liquor store robbers as the “Young Avengers”. The rag-tag group is made up of Coat of Arms (sword wielding artist who had brought the team together), Enchantress (not the classic Thor villain, but with similar powers), Egghead (a robot), Big Zero (a size changer with a bad attitude), Executioner (a weapons expert) and Melter (the team leader whose name is fairly self explanatory for his powers).

Originally announced as Norman Osborn’s own team of Young Avengers, this issue shows that the team actually has no affiliation with the former Green Goblin but instead came together in an effort to be heroes similar to the way the original Young Avengers had done. Their methods however quickly come into question as their “success” isn’t gained in the way any hero would have done.  This brings about what looks to be the theme of the issue, and hopefully the rest of the series, of “what makes a hero a hero?” Seen in actions of the characters, flashbacks and conversation between Melter and Coat of Arms, this seemingly simple question is one that is actually very hard to answer.  Even Melter, the one who is so in tuned with what his idea of what makes a hero and his desire to be one must question his own place on the team as the issue plays out.

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Even though its not on Matt Raub’s list (at least I don’t think it is), Reaper is one of those shows you’re not watching, but probably should be. The story of a boy who collects souls for his father Satan and sends them back to hell with the help of his two bumbling pals hasn’t exactly been a ratings darling for the somewhat struggling CW network. Sadly, given its ratings, it seemed cancillation and oblivion was the likely scenario for the show. Not so, according to an article over at The Hollywood Reporter.

According to the article, sources say show producer ABC Studios is in talks with CW affiliate stations about continuing Reaper as a syndicated series on Sunday night — seeing as how the CW recently gave Sunday back to its affiliates and they need programming besides local car commercials and reruns of Jerico. Another possible scenario is for the show to continue on cable. However, both of these are considered longshots mostly due to the cost of producing the show for cable or syndication and to series co-star Tyler Labine’s new Fox comedy series Sons of Tuscon, which was recently picked up by Fox. 

To be honest, Reaper was an interesting and intriguing show with a good cast when it first started but, for whatever reason, lost me half way through this season. Perhaps the show could find its stride once again if given a new lease on life in syndication or on cable? Or, maybe its time to just let the show die a dignified death like so many other quality shows these days that can’t seem to find an audience.

We shouldn’t really be surprised about any remakes or reboots these days. With the new Star Trek out recently and reboots of films like Predator and Dune in the works, its just a matter of time before someone dusts off another old project ripe for an update. In this case, according to an article at The Hollywood Reporter, that project is the 1985 horror “classic” Fright Night – which Dreamworks has the rights to and is currently in the process of developing an updated version.

In case you’re not familiar with the original horror-comedy film written and directed by Tom Holland and featuring Chris Sarandon, William Ragsdale and Roddy McDowall, it concerns a teenager who discovers that his neighbors are vampires. Then, once he realizes that they are, with the help of his girlfriend and a washed-up horror TV show host, he has to destroy the vampires before they take over the town.

According to the article, no writer has been hired but the updated version will keep the comedy-horror tone while modernizing the visual and make-up effects. In the scope of things, I guess its a good thing Dreamworks is taking this on. If a remake or reboot has to be made, it seems like that studio could probably do it justice. At the moment, no other information about the Fright Night remake is available. But when there is, we’ll bring it to you.

We’ve been waiting for this one for some time and now, thanks to the folks over at Trailer Addict, here’s the first trailer for the feature film adaptation of Cormac McMcarthy’s novel The Road. The film, which is directed by John Hillcoat and stars Viggo Mortensen, Kodi Smit McPhee, Robert Duvall, Chalize Theron and Guy Pearce, will be released in October.

It tells the epic story of a father and son’s journey across a post-apocalyptic wastland after the earth was blasted by an unnamed cataclysm that destroyed civilization and most of the life on earth. As a big fan of the novel, this trailer make me very interested in seeing the film. It looks great. Check it out.

As discussed on the most recent episode of The Flickcast, there’s been quite a bit of Terminator: Salvation footage dropping over the last few weeks. Sure, its great to see it and it all makes the movie look pretty good.

But as talked about during the show, it also sorta seems a bit desperate on the part of the studio to try and make sure everyone knows the movie’s good and not a piece of crap. Still, we’re fans of the franchise around here so the more Terminator the better as far as we’re concerned.

On that note, be sure to check out this latest clip from the film which appeared today over at AOL’s Moviefone site. If the video doesn’t play here (they do that sometimes), be sure to click on the link at go directly to AOL’s site.

I’ve always had a major love for zombies. Like most fans of the zombie genre, I’ve been eagerly awaiting any news of the upcoming feature film adaptation of Max Brook’s NY Times Best Seller, World War Z: An Oral History Of The Zombie War. Unfortunately, little information has been released and I believe they’re still hashing out the script.

To temporarily satisfy the hunger for all-things undead, director/writer David Morley’s debut film Mutants was recently released in France and will surely make it’s way here soon in a theater or, more likely, on DVD. Mutants follows Sonia, an EMT worker secluded in an abandoned French hospital desperately trying to save her infected boyfriend from mutation. Meanwhile outside the hospital, the entire country has become overrun by the walking dead. Helene de Fougerolles and Francis Renaud star as the ill-fated couple. 

Evidently, this pic is very gruesome from beginning to end and delivers the edge of your seat tension that makes watching a zombie flick so damn fun. If I’m in France and a zombie outbreak occurs, I’m heading somewhere safe where there are no other humans around to infect and or eat me. That’s right, I’m going to EuroDisney.

Watch the trailer (unfortunatly, in French with no subtitles) after the jump.

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First, a note of warning. This post contains some SPOILERS, so read at your own risk. It’s no secret that we love the new Star Trek here at The Flickcast. Well, most of us anyway. It was a great movie that helped reboot an ailing franchise that had seen better days.

Still, as much as we liked the movie, there were a few decisions made by the writers and director that had us scratching our collective heads and certainly had the potential to anger Star Trek fans.

Now, thanks to an article over at MTV’s Movies Blog, some of those head scratechers are being brought into the light by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, the film’s co-writers and producers. According to the article, Orci and Kurtzman struggled quite a bit with several questions and story points, incuding a couple huge ones. What were some of those huge ones?

“Destroying Vulcan obviously,” Kurtzman said in the article. “The scariest thing about that was us having to pitch that to Leonard Nimoy: ‘Hi, I know we just met, but let me tell you about what happens to your home planet’.”

Another story decision, according to the article, with a huge possibility for controversy was the relationship between Spock and Uhura. Orci explained: “It was a decision that was made largely because Spock had just suffered the death of his planet, and you felt for him so dramatically, and in a moment like that the person he would talk to – in his own Spock way – would have been Kirk, except him and Kirk weren’t friends at that point.”

This is part one of this week’s Pull List, check back tomorrow for part two, and check out last week’s edition here and here.

Before we start off, I have to offer my apologies to a few readers. Despite all the hype and love people have for their pets,  I just couldn’t bring myself to purchase Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers…sorry again.
—- John

Pull of the Week:

Green Lantern Corps #36 – DC – $2.99
Score: 9.0

Continuing to move towards Blackest Night, writer Peter Tomasi takes the reader through three very different stories that all seem to be very dependent on each other. The first picks up with Sinestro, the leader of the Sinestro Corps, explaining to his daughter how the revelation of their relationship came to pass. It becomes quite a heart wrenching scene as Green Lantern Soranik must come to accept that the man, whose defeat made her the hero of her planet and people, is actually her father. Sinestro doesn’t come across as a typical mustache twirling super-villain in the scene either as there seem to be some honest intentions from the former tyrant. He explains to Soranik her role in what is supposedly destined to come.

At the same time there has been a breach in the facility where the Green Lantern Corps has been holding members of the Sinestro Corps captive for their despicable actions. These pages play out beautifully more as a news real feed than a comic book action sequence. Fleeting glimpses of the chaos are shown instead of following each of the specific Green or Yellow Lanterns during the battle. Instead, the overall drama of the confrontation is told with almost CNN-style narrative over what is definitely more than just the “Riot!” proclaimed on the cover of the issue.

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Here at The Flickcast, we’re big fans of the newly departed Battlestar Galactica, which was one of the best shows on television and recently ended its four season run on Sci-Fi Channel. Fortunately, we’ve still got Caprica to look forward to as well as a tv movie called The Plan, which was written by Jane Espenson, directed by Edward james Olmos and takes place between seasons one and two of BSG.

Plus, in The Plan we will still get to see some of our favorite BSG cast members, including the lovely Grace Park who played Boomer and Athena on the show. In an interview with Park over at Sci-Fi Wire, she explains how The Plan was put together and details a bit more about her role.

“What we did was we took scenes that we already shot, that you’re going to recognize, and then either add another angle, or add some dialogue,” Park said in the interview. “So if someone whispered something in someone’s ear, which you never heard, we’re actually adding that dialogue. So it’s going to inform things on so many different levels. So it’s tricky.”

The two-hour pilot of Caprica is now available on DVD and the Web. Caprica the series starts on Sci-Fi early next year. Battlestar Galactica: The Plan is due to hit the airwaves in November.

According to Variety, Starz has decided to renew one of Matt Raub’s favorite shows, and his pick from last week, Party Down. Even though its posted rather unimpressive ratings for its first season, the Rob Thomas created show will still get another chance to improve those numbers. All of the cast including Ken Marino, Adam Scott (who will now also serve as a producer), Martin Starr, Ryan Hansen and Lizzy Caplan return for season two with the possible exception of Jane Lynch, who’s currently comitted to Fox’s new series Glee.

In case you’re not familiar with Party Down, the show, Exec. Produced by Thomas, John Enbom, Dan Etheridge and Paul Rudd, centers on wannabe Hollywood players making ends meet by working for a catering company. The show airs its season one finale on Friday and according to the article, Starz wanted to send a message by renewing the show before its first season wrapped.

“This is an indication of how strongly we see the show,” said Starz programming exec veep Stephan Shelanski. “It’s something we’re really proud of.” Excellent. We like it when good shows get a chance to grow an audience. Nice job Starz.