The Space Room

Everything Sci-Fi & a Little Astronomy

 

Sci-Fi and Fantasy Movies Coming This Spring and Summer (Part 1)

 

by Anna Sanclement

 

Some good flicks in the science fiction and fantasy realm are coming up in the next few months. Of course, many are waiting for The Twilight Saga: Eclipse to arrive, but from here until mid-July, there are many others worth a second look.

 

Not to mention that one of these great films will be a promising sci-fi/fantasy adventure featuring one of the many sought-after Twilight vampire actors, Jackson Rathbone, who plays Jasper in the acclaimed series.

 

Clash of the Titans

 

This movie is a remake of the film made in 1981 called by the same name, but with the perks that modern technology has to offer these days, the effects in this new version look magnificent.

 

Sam Worthington stars as Perseus, with Ralph Fiennes appearing as Hades and Liam Neeson as Zeus.

 

The story is based on the Greek mythology tale of Perseus. Fighting against Hades to save his family, Perseus leads a dangerous mission to defeat him. Clash of the Titans opens April 2^nd in theaters nationwide.

 

Kick-Ass

 

Kick-Ass is a movie based on a comic book that goes by the same name. The movie was produced by Brad Pitt and directed by Matthew Vaughn.

 

Aaron Johnson stars as Dave Lizewski/Kick-Ass, Nicolas Cage is Damon Macready/Big-Daddy and Chloe Moretz is Mindy Macready/Hit-Girl.

 

The story centers around a teenage boy who decides to become a real life superhero. He tries, but fails miserably at first. He succeeds the second time around, though and gets involved in a huge entangle with a big time mobster. Kick-Ass opens April 16^th.

 

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

 

The super anticipated 3^rd installment to the Twilight Saga, Eclipse is, like its precedents, based on the best-seller book written by Stephenie Meyer.

 

Eclipse will go deeper into the relationship between Bella, Edward and Jacob as they face a new dangerous challenge when a vampire baddie comes back looking to get revenge on them.

 

Kristen Stewart returns as Bella, Robert Pattinson as Edward and Taylor Lautner as Jacob. Most of the movie’s cast also returns to reprise their roles, and there will be some new additions as well. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse opens on June 30^th nationwide.

 

The Last Airbender

 

This movie is based on the first season of the successful Nickelodeon cartoon series Avatar: The Last Airbender and will be the first of a planned series trilogy.

 

The story brings us to a world that is ruled by four tribes that each controls water, fire, air or earth. A war begins when the fire tribe wants to take over and control the rest of the tribes along with the entire world.

 

The Last Airbender stars Noah Ringer as Aang, Twilight’s Jackson Rathbone as Sokka and Nicola Peltz as Katara. The film is opening on July 2^nd nationwide.

 

Be sure to check back next month for more movies coming soon in Sci-Fi and Fantasy Movies Coming This Spring and Summer Part 2.

 

Sky events this month, April of 2010:

 

The Last Quarter Moon happens on Monday the 6^th, with the New Moon occurring on Wednesday the 14^th. The Last Quarter Moon will be on Wednesday the 21^rd and we will see a Full Moon on Wednesday the 28^th.

 

This month brings the Lyrids meteor shower into view, which will be peaking on April 22^nd. Under clear dark skies, observers can expect to see up to 20 meteors per hour.

 

The radiant for the shower will be to the east a few degrees to the right of Vega in the Lyra constellation. Look for the meteors to start streaking sometime after midnight.

 

Saturn will be in display all month and it can be seen soon after sunset as it rises in the east. The ringed planet will remain visible all night, reaching its highest point in the sky at about 11:00 p.m. midmonth.

 

Venus has been back in view for a few weeks now and it is rising higher in the sky at twilight. Look for it low on the western horizon as the sun goes down; it will be the bright ‘star’ easy to spot with the naked eye.

 

With a pair of binoculars you may be able to spot Mercury just a few degrees to the right of Venus during the first couple of weeks of the month. Once you spot it you may be able to see it with the naked eye.

 

Mars is high in the southwestern sky early on in the evening; it is shrinking now and will be appearing much smaller in the weeks to come. At midmonth, Mars will pass by the Beehive star cluster, making for a very pretty sight, especially with binoculars or a wide-field telescope.

 

Look on up and smile!

 

For more sky events log on to: www.astronomy.com and http://space.about.com/od/computerresources/tp/2009MaySkyGuide.htm