For all the good things there are about low-budget sci-fi/horror flicks, many of them, especially nowadays, leave a lot to be desired. Horror Squad has discovered one, however, that looks like it's going to kick ass: Manborg, made by astron-6. Its first teaser trailer was released two days ago.

If you haven’t heard this yet, then The Sci-Fi Block must be the only website you read. Megan Fox is now no longer a part of Transformers 3. There are various reports that she was simply not picked up for the film, and there are also (pretty legit, actually) reports that she walked out on her own. Either way, she’s gone. This is naturally getting a lot of coverage, partially because of how big the Transformers movies are, partially because the Transformers movies are what made Fox famous, and partially because of the bickering that took place between her and Transformers director Michael Bay, who always insisted that it was friendly banter. But how important was Fox to the franchise, and how big of a blow will it be for her to be gone?

Ever since science fiction hit its heyday the 1950s, the genre has progressed rapidly. During that decade, sci-fi films generally succeeded simply by having a strong premise and adequate special effects. Sci-fi films today, however, compete on every level, from the script and acting to the story and direction.

CollegeHumor has made this short video of a metaphorical superhero film franchise reboot, involving a certain webslinger who has been brought into the emergency room because his franchise is dying. It's a funny video, and it actually points out some of the things that go wrong with these titles. "How many supervillains did you put in his last film?!"

Last year, director McG was slated to direct Disney's upcoming re-adaptation of Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (one of my favorite Disney movies ever). A few months ago, though, it was announced, probably for the best, that McG would no longer be directing the film. Regardless of one's overall opinion of McG, he just didn't seem to fit the project. Things have been quiet since then, but now we learn that not only is Disney revving up the movie once again, but 20th Century Fox is, too (the source work is in the public domain, which makes it possible for anyone to make the film).

You may know about the legal problems that have been plaguing the Superman character for roughly the past year. Long story short, the family of Jerry Siegel, one of Superman's 1938 creators, has decided they want to regain the rights to the character, which DC apparently assigned to Siegel "forever," according to Variety (you know the DC execs must be cursing the company's 1938 management right now). The Siegels won the lawsuit, successfully regaining the rights to many (but not all) aspects of Superman, and the ruling is set to go into effect in 2013. Oh, and when the estate of of co-creator Joe Shuster found out about this, they got in on the deal, too.

You've probably heard about this, but James Cameron recently spoke at a technology forum in Seoul, South Korea, and said that not only will 3-dimensional presentation of media eventually become the norm but that it will become the norm "definitely" within twenty-five years and possibly as early as in a "couple" of years. (The AP article has been posted on practically every major website. SFGate seems to have been one of the first). I sort of expected the internet to erupt when I first read the article -- people tend to get angry over this 3D stuff -- but strangely, I've seen only one opinionated piece on the matter (which came from Cinematical's none-too-pleased Monika Bartyzel). Here are my thoughts on Cameron's statements. Short version: he is right.

As bad as Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was, I hold out unreasonable hope that the next film in the franchise will be good. Maybe that's just because Transformers are awesome. Maybe it's because the first installment of this line of Transformers movies was so great. Bottom line: I want this one to succeed, even though I doubt it will.