The AFC and NFC championships are upon us but we’ll sandwich it between a slice of Vampire, Lycan, snake, mouse and an alternate world.
THEATER PREMIERE
Underworld Awakening (R / 88 mins / In 2D, 3D, IMAX 3D & RealD 3D) Starring Kate Beckinsale (Contraband), Stephen Rea (The Reaping), Michael Ealy (TV’s FlashForward), Theo James (TV’s Bedlam), India Eisley (TV’s The Secret Life of the American Teenager) and Charles Dance (TV’s Game of Thrones). Written by Len Wiseman (Underworld), John Hlavin (The Shield), J. Michael Straczynski (TV’s Babylon 5) and Allison Burnett (Untraceable). Directed by Måns Mårlind and Björn Stein (both of Shelter).
‘Vengeance Returns’ and Kate Beckinsale returns in the fourth film but second sequel (2009’s Underworld: Rise of the Lycans was a prequel) of the Underworld franchise. Underworld Awakening is a reunion for Beckinsale and Vampire Selene, and Len Wiseman and Underworld but just about everything else about the production was new. Though Wiseman returned to the series, the director sat in the producer’s chair while the Swedish team of Måns Mårlind and Björn Stein sat in the director’s chair(s), injecting neo-goth style into Awakening. Shot in Vancouver, Canada, the pair used the RED EPIC camera to film the action-horror movie in 3D although Wiseman, Mårlind and Stein were apprehensive at first about 3D for the 2D-greenlit film; Underworld: Awakening is the first movie to be released in theaters that shot with the RED EPIC in 3D. There are also a number of new Vampires and Lycans, and now humans, which adds a new element to the story as humans were just victims of the war between the two species. As for another Underworld sequel, Beckinsale says, “It probably is [the last], but then who knows? We’ll see how people like this one” (courtesy of Entertainment Weekly).
Synopsis: Vampire warrioress Selene (Beckinsale) escapes imprisonment to find herself in a world where humans have discovered the existence of both Vampire and Lycan clans, and are conducting an all-out war to eradicate both immortal species.
WEEKEND TV SCHEDULE
FRIDAY 1.20:
Fringe (S4.E9 – “Enemy of My Enemy”) at 9/8c on FOX – Peter’s (Joshua Jackson) visit to the other side intensifies as the alternate FRINGE division faces off against a formidable new foe in a harrowing race against time.
Grimm (S1.E9 – “Of Mouse and Man”) at 9/8c on NBC – When a man is found dead in a dumpster, the investigation leads to a sly snake and a timid mouse.
Merlin (S4.E3 – “The Wicked Day”) at 10/9c on SyFy – An assassin’s attack during Arthur’s (Bradley James) birthday party throws the kingdom into chaos.
SUNDAY 1.22:
Once Upon a Time (S1.E10 – “7:15 A.M.”) at 8/7c on ABC – A stranger in town arouses Emma (Jennifer Morrison) and Regina’s (Lana Parrilla) suspicions, and feelings of unrequited love plague Mary Margaret (Ginnifer Goodwin) and David (Josh Dallas). Elsewhere, Snow White’s (Goodwin) heart breaks as the wedding between Prince Charming (Dallas) and the daughter of King Midas approaches in the fairy-tale world.
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