The Expanse Season 4 Is Available NOW on Prime Video!

Now that Game of Thrones is off the air, my favorite television show is The Expanse, based on the amazing 9-book space opera series written by James S.A. Corey is my favorite show. After the first 3 seasons aired on SyFy, that network failed to pick up the show but it was revived at Amazon Studios, which has produced Season 4 (based on Cibola Burn) and is currently in production on Season 5 (based on Nemesis Games). Season 4 (all 10 episodes!!) is now available for streaming on Amazon Video. Once my semester is truly over I expect to binge all 10 before the end of the year!

The Expanse Season 4 Premiere Date Is December 13; Season 5 Is a Go!

There is absolutely awesome news about The Expanse, the television adaptation of my favorite space opera novels of the same name written by James S.A. Corey. The first three seasons (covering the first 3 books) aired on SyFy which then cancelled the show. But it was picked up by Amazon Prime after an energetic campaign by fans (like yours truly), The release date for Season 4, which is based on Cibola Burn (not my favorite of the books) is December 13, 2019. But also announced (today!) is that the show has been renewed for season 5 on Amazon Prime, which presumably will be based on Nemesis Games, which is probably the best book of the 9-book series. It features an "oh @!$@&*#!!" moment akin to the Red Wedding in Game of Thrones which I absolutely can not wait to see.

Meanwhile here's an official synopsis for The Expanse Season 4 from Amazon Prime Video:

Season 4 of The Expanse, its first as a global Amazon Original, begins a new chapter for the series with the crew of the Rocinante on a mission from the U.N. to explore new worlds beyond the Ring Gate. Humanity has been given access to thousands of Earth-like planets which has created a land rush and furthered tensions between the opposing nations of Earth, Mars and the Belt. Ilus is the first of these planets, one rich with natural resources but also marked by the ruins of a long dead alien civilization. While Earthers, Martians and Belters maneuver to colonize Ilus and its natural resources, these early explorers don’t understand this new world and are unaware of the larger dangers that await them.

WATCH: Ta-Nehisi Coates' Opening Statement in Reparations Congressional Hearing

CELEBRITY FRIDAY: Black Mirror Season 5 Out June 5!

The fifth season of Black Mirror is coming out in 3 weeks, on June 5th, on Netflix! The season will consist of (only) 3 episodes but will star bug names such as Miley Cyrus, Anthony Mackie (who will also be appearing in another Netflix show, season 2 of Altered Carbon) and Anthony Scott (from Big Little Lies and Parks and Recreation).

WATCH: Official Trailer for #Incredibles2

The trailer for Incredibles 2 is now out. The movie will be out everywhere on June 15!

GODLESS WEDNESDAY: WATCH How Neil DeGrasse Tyson Explains His Godlessness

Neil deGrasse Tyson on God, religion and reality pic.twitter.com/aedtBERl7O

— Atheist Republic (@AtheistRepublic) February 6, 2018

Today's Godless Wednesday post is just a short video of Astronomer and Science evangelist Neil DeGrasse Tyson explaining why a lack of evidence explains why he is godless.

GODLESS WEDNESDAY: Dawkins Responds To "What If You're Wrong?"

For today's Godless Wednesday we have a treat for you. At the top of this post is a fun video of Richard Dawkins responding to a supposed "gotcha" question from a religious student at Liberty University and gives a near perfect reply.

Netflix's Altered Carbon IS Arriving 02/02/18 (And Looks Awesome)!

The next great television show based on a science fiction/fantasy books is going to be a reality soon! It was announced in January 2016 that Netflix had ordered a 10-episode season of 1-hour episodes based on Richard K. Morgan's Takeshi Kovacs trilogy: Altered Carbon, Broken Angels and Woken Furies. These books are set in the 24th century where humanity has expanded to about a dozen worlds and the most notable technological change is the development of human conscious transfer and storage. One consequence of this is effective immortality because once a body begins to fail, one can transfer one's consciousness into another body. In fact, for the super-rich there's no reason to wait until death to do this consciousness transfer from an , and so the bodies that store consciousness are known as "sleeves."

Netflix has now announced that the series is called Altered Carbon will be available on the streaming service starting February 2, 2018! In addition to announcing the release date, a number of teaser and trailer videos have been released and they look AMAZING!

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One quibble I have with what I have seen of the show (in the trailers) so far is that in the books Takeshi Kovacs (the primary protagonist) is described as being "of Japanese and Eastern-European descent" but in the Netflix television adaptation he is being played by an actor named Joel Kinnaman who looks pretty fair-skinned (he's a Swedish actor). Kinnaman is quite attractive, but the non-white hue of most of the characters in the books (as far as I remember) was definitely mentioned. I don't think this will become a huge talking point as the series starts getting more prominent public notice, but I do find it somewhat troubling. I believe they will explain it by referring to an original "sleeve" Takeshi had where he is played by a Korean-American actor.

There are other interesting tidbts about the show in this Entertainment Weekly article: the pilot was directed by Game of Thrones alum Miguel Sapochnik (S6E09: The Battle of the Bastards) and the budget is rumored to be the biggest ever for Season 1 of a show (and remember House of Cards had an estimated budget of $100m for its first two seasons, or approximately $4.5m per episode).

I can't wait see this show on February 2, 2018!

With Game of Thrones probably off the air until the end of 2018 at the earliest and Season 3 of The Expanse shot but no airdate released (but expected to be sometime in 2018) we are living in the golden age of television based on speculative fiction classic works (by George R.R. Martin and James S.A. Corey, respectively).

CELEBRITY FRIDAY: Black Mirror Announces Season 4 Episodes and Actors

Black Mirror is a wickedly funny, very irreverent and frequently brilliant television series at Netflix about our modern obsession with technology, devices and computer.  The eponymous "black mirror" refers to the screen of an unpowered device. Recently, the producers announced that Season 4 will contain six episodes and revealed the titles and actors involved:

• “Arkangel” stars Rosemarie Dewitt, Brenna Harding and Owen Teague. It is directed by Jodie Foster.
• “Black Museum” stars Douglas Hodge, Letitia Wright and Babs Olusanmokun. It is directed by Colm McCarthy.
• “Crocodile” stars Andrea Riseborough, Andrew Gower and Kiran Sonia Sawar. It is directed by John Hillcoat.
• “Hang the DJ” stars Georgina Campbell, Joe Cole and George Blagden. It is directed by Tim Van Patten.
• “Metalhead” stars Maxine Peake, Jake Davies and Clint Dyer. It is directed by David Slade.
• “USS Callister” stars Jesse Plemons, Cristin Milioti, Jimmi Simpson and Michaela Coel. It is directed by Toby Haynes. Brooker has co-written this episode with William Bridges.

Notice that Jodie Foster will be directing one of the episodes ("Arkangel"). The Season 3 episode "San Junipero" revolves around a very interesting lesbian love story and has been nominated for two Primetime Emmy awards.

It is expected that Season 4 of Black Mirror will begin streaming before the end of the year.

GOT Season 7: Watch 2nd Trailer For Game of Thrones #WinterIsHere

The second trailer for Season 7 of HBO's Game of Thrones dropped this week. New episodes will be available for illegal downloading viewing starting July 16, 2017.

GAME OF THRONES: Official #GOTS7 Trailer Released, Immediately Goes Viral

The first official full trailer for the upcoming penultimate season of Game of Thrones has been released and immediately set records for viewership of a tailer for a television show, garnering well over 60 million views in 24 hours.. (Previously a teaser trailer had been released.)

Season 7 of the hit show will premiere on July 16th and there will only be 7 episodes, instead of the usual 10 and Season 8, the final season, will consist of only 6 episodes.

GAME OF THRONES: Season 7 Full Trailer Released #GOTS7

The trailer for Season 7 of HBO's Game of Thrones has been released; new shows begin airing on July 16. It has already been announced that the final two seasons will have fewer than the 10 episodes the first six had, with Season 7 coming in at seven episodes and Season 8 will have just 6 episodes.

WATCH: The Epic 26-Stroke Rally In 9th Game of 5th Set #Fedal35

Watch this 26-stroke rally won by  Roger Federer is one reason he won his 18th major over his longtime rival Rafael Nadal by winning a 5-set thriller. This rally occurred at a pivotal point in the match with Nadal serving 3-4 deuce (40-all) which means winning the point gave Federer a break point which would lead to him serving for the championship. Notice the way Federer is hitting his one-handed backhand flat cross-court with extreme pace and depth.

WATCH: Awesome review of TV and Movies in 2016

Hat/tip to Gizmodo

WATCH: Trailer for Bladerunner 2049

The trailer for the long-awaited sequel to Bladerunner, called Bladerunner 2049 and directed by (one of my favorites) director Denis Villeneuve (Arrival, Incendies, Sicario).

WATCH: New Trailer for Season 2 of The Expanse

Season 2 of SyFy's The Expanse, based on the bestselling space opera series of the same name written by James S.A. Corey returns with new episodes available February 1, 2017! The third trailer for the second season is out now. These are some of my favorite books and I have previously blogged about most of the episodes of Season 1 and intend to do so again for the upcoming season (although I will try to do so in a more timely fashion!)

WATCH: First Full Trailer for Christopher Nolan's Summer 2017 Dunkirk

The very first official full trailer for Christopher Nolan's next film, Dunkirk was released this week. This is the first film Nolan is making after 2014's Interstellar. Dunkirk  is about the famous World War II event, and stars Kenneth Branagh, Tom Hardy and 2016 Best Supporting Actor Oscar-winner Mark Rylance.

WATCH: Final Trailer for Arrival (In Theaters 11/11)

Next week, Friday November 11th is when Arrival finally hits movie theaters! The other half and I will be in Arlington but I definitely intend to see it on opening day. The movie is helmed by one of my favorite directors Denis Villeneuve (Incendies, Prisoners, Sicario) and stars Oscar-nominated actors Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner and Oscar-winner Forest Whitaker. It's about the sudden arrival of aliens and the importance of communication.

WATCH: Trailer for Arrival Features Difficulty Of Intraspecies Communication

I"m very excited about the imminent arrival of Arrival, the new film by director Denis Villeneuve (Incendies, Prisoners, Sicario) starring Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner and Forest Whitaker based (loosely) on an award-winning short story by Ted Chiang. Villeneuve has made some of my favorite films over the last decade (notwithstanding my constant fan-boy love for Christopher Nolan) and I'm thriller he is working in my favorite genre of science fiction for the first time.

In this "Common Ground" trailer, the difficulty of communicating with people who share common experiences but not a common language is depicted as a means of emphasizing the key point of the film which is about the arrival of aliens whom humanity needs to communicate with.

2016 MTV VMA: Serena Williams Introduces Beyoncé

Serena Williams wore a pretty revealing outfit as she introduced a stunning performance by Beyoncé at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards held last night at Madison Square Garden. Beyoncé went on to win Video of the Year honors for "Formation" the lead single off her Lemondade visual album she released to wild acclaim this summer (and which featured Serena appearing in one scene.)

Serena's in New York City for the 2016 U.S. Open, which starts today.