This year marks the end to one of the msot lucrative franchises of all time. A seven book stories and eight movies comes to an end in a conclusion thats guranteed to make a boat load of money. However, there are a fair amount of great finales out there in multiple forms of media across several different series. (Of course, finales never really stay finales for long.)

Disclaimer: As always, this is limited to my own experience. If a reader out there wishes to recommend a series with a great finale, go ahead and place it in the comments below.


10. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Last Battle (novel)
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Although its tone is decidedly more bleak than previous installments in C.S. Lewis's beloved franchise, the final novel in the series presents another Chrsitian parallel in its portrayel of the apocalypse. Characters are killed brutally, but in typical Lewis fashion returns in the final chapters. The Last Battle is a truly smart capper to a great series.


9. Ultimate Spider-man
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Although the series has yet to officially conclude, Brian Bendis has done tthe unthinkable, Peter Parker has died. Although death in comics is hardly permanent and main characters have been known to die, Marvel's Ultimate line is decidedly different. Only rarely do characters return from the grave and unlike the Marvel's main coninuity, writer Brian Bendis has complete control over how the series will play out from this point forward. Peter's death is handled with class and incredible emotion. It never feels like a gimmick.

8. Toy Story 3
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Last year, I doubt many of us would have expected to include this amoung the best series cappers of all time. However, Pixar's incredible third installment in the Toy Story series is just that. It not only stands on its own as a clever and inventive animated film, but delivers a poignant statement on mortality. It also delivers closure to characters we have come to love for over a decade.

7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (novel)
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Are there lots of deaths? Yes. Powerful character revelations? Check. Controversial final scene? Yep. J.K. Rowling's modern fantasy epic concludes in typical fashion, but with a sense of grandeur and style the series is known for. And yes, while some hated the final scene, I have to admit I rather liked it.

6. Buffy The Vampire Slayer-"Chosen"
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Although it is not the best episode of the series, "Chosen" ends Buffy in grand fashion with the battle for evil taking even greater stakes than ever before. Friends are lost in heart breaking sacrifice and at the same time preparing its series for a new step in its mythology and a eventually a new medium.


5. Serenity
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Whoa, another Joss Whedon show? Insanity! This movie conclusion to the short lived series easily earns its place on this list. In addition to wrapping up the majority of the mythology questions posed by the series. However, Serenity thrives in bringing about sometimes heart breaking character conclusions through action filled spectacle.

4. Lost: The End
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Controversial and beloved at the time, the final episode of the epic television series Lost does not answer all the questions viewers posed about the show's intricate mythology. However, what it suceeds beautifully at is at creating some of the most satisfying and beautiful character resolutions ever seen. Plus there's that scene with the dog.

3. Star Wars: Return of the Jedi
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Although it is still the worst of the original trilogy, Return of the Jedi is one hell of a series capper. The epic of Anakin Skywalker comes to an emotional and empactful close amongst epic spacebattles and slug like crime lords. The wordless finale also delivers a sense of galactic euphoria.


2. Watchmen
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I may be cheating with this one. I mean Watchmen is a book right? Well before it was a book, Watchmen was a critically acclaimed miniseries. The bleak and atypical finale to the series not only subvert nearly every superhero cliche at the time, but creates a resolution that caps off a timeless series. It would also earn the series the label of being completely unfilmable for years.

1. Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Film/Novel)
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Perhaps the greatest fantasy series ever created, The Lord of the Rings suceeds in both forms of media. It brings its quest to a climactic close with spectacular battles, blood thirsty creatures, and twists left and right. However, what makes the finale to this trilogy such a winner are its quiet moments. Especially in Peter Jackson's film adaptation this finale suceeds with its characters. Whether its the realization of Gimley and Legolas's friendship, Pippin singing to the steward of Gondor, or its great conclusion that remembers that there are more to endings than climactic battles, Return of the King is storytelling gold and the best series finale of all time.

Last night, the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards were held celebrating the very best in television. The show was certainly a site to behold with Jimmy Fallon's sucessful hosting and numerous musical numbers, including the cast of Glee.

Outstanding Drama
**Winner** "Mad Men"
"Breaking Bad"
"Dexter"
"The Good Wife"
"Lost"
"True Blood"

Outstanding Comedy
**Winner** "Modern Family"
"30 Rock"
"Curb Your Enthusiasm"
"Glee"
"Nurse Jackie"
"The Office"

Outstanding Actor in a Drama
**Winner** Bryan Cranston ("Breaking Bad")
Hugh Laurie ("House M.D.")
Jon Hamm ("Mad Men")
Kyle Chandler ("Friday Night Lights")
Matthew Fox ("Lost")
Michael C. Hall ("Dexter")

Outstanding Actress in a Drama
**Winner** Kyra Sedgwick ("The Closer")
Connie Britton ("Friday Night Lights")
Glenn Close ("Damages")
January Jones ("Mad Men")
Julianna Margulies ("The Good Wife")
Mariska Hargitay ("Law & Order: Special Victims Unit")

Outstanding Actor in a Comedy
**Winner** Jim Parsons ("The Big Bang Theory")
Alec Baldwin ("30 Rock")
Larry David ("Curb Your Enthusiasm")
Matthew Morrison ("Glee")
Steve Carell ("The Office")
Tony Shalhoub ("Monk")

Outstanding Actress in a Comedy
**Winner** Edie Falco ("Nurse Jackie")
Amy Poehler ("Parks and Recreation")
Julia Louis-Dreyfus ("The New Adventures of Old Christine")
Lea Michele ("Glee")
Tina Fey ("30 Rock")
Toni Collette ("The United States of Tara")

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama
**Winner** Aaron Paul ("Breaking Bad")
Andre Braugher ("Men of a Certain Age")
John Slattery ("Mad Men")
Martin Short ("Damages")
Michael Emerson ("Lost")
Terry O'Quinn ("Lost")

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama
**Winner** Archie Panjabi ("The Good Wife")
Christine Baranski ("The Good Wife")
Christina Hendricks ("Mad Men")
Elisabeth Moss ("Mad Men")
Rose Byrne ("Damages")
Sharon Gless ("Burn Notice")

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy
**Winner** Eric Stonestreet ("Modern Family")
Chris Colfer ("Glee")
Jesse Tyler Ferguson ("Modern Family")
Jon Cryer ("Two and a Half Men")
Neil Patrick Harris ("How I Met Your Mother")
Ty Burrell ("Modern Family")

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy
**Winner** Jane Lynch ("Glee")
Holland Taylor ("Two and a Half Men")
Jane Krakowski ("30 Rock")
Julie Bowen ("Modern Family")
Kristen Wiig ("Saturday Night Live")
Sofia Vergara ("Modern Family")

Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series
**Winner** "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart"
"The Colbert Report"
"Real Time With Bill Maher"
"Saturday Night Live"
"The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien"

Outstanding Reality Show Competition
**Winner** "Top Chef"
"Project Runway"
"The Amazing Race"
"Dancing with the Stars"
"American Idol"

Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality Competition Program
**Winner** Jeff Probst ("Survivor")
Phil Keoghan ("The Amazing Race")
Ryan Seacrest ("American Idol")
Tom Bergeron ("Dancing with the Stars")
Heidi Klum ("Project Runway")

Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series
**Winner** Steve Shill ("Dexter) - "The Getaway"
Michelle MacLaren ("Breaking Bad") - "One Minute"
Jack Bender ("Lost") - "The End"
Leslie Linka Glatter ("Mad Men" -" Guy Walks Into An Advertising Agency"
Agnieszka Holland ("Treme") - "Do You Know What It means" (Pilot)

Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series
**Winner** Matthew Weiner and Erin Levy ("Mad Men") - "Shut the Door"
Rolin Jones ("Friday Night Lights") - "The Son"
Michelle King and Robert King ("The Good Wife") (Pilot)
Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse ("Lost") - "The End"
Robin Veith and Matthew Weiner ("Mad Men") - "Guy Walks Into Advertising Agency"

Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series
**Winner** Ryan Murphy ("Glee") - "Director's Cut (Pilot)"
Paris Barclay ("Glee") - "Wheels"
Jason Winer ("Modern Family") (Pilot)
Allen Coulter ("Nurse Jackie") (Pilot)
Don Scardino ("30 Rock") - "I Do Do"

Outstanding Writing for a Comedy
**Winner** Steven Levitan and Christopher Lloyd ("Modern Family") (Pilot)
Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Ian Brennan ("Glee") - "Director's Cut (Pilot)"
Greg Daniels and Mindy Kaling ("The Office") - "Nicaragua"
Matt Hubbard ("30 Rock") - "Anna Howard Shaw Day"
Tina Fey and Kay Cannon ("30 Rock") - "Lee Marvin Vs. Derek Jeter"

Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Special
**Winner** "The 63rd Annual Tony Awards"
"The 82nd Annual Academy Awards"
"Bill Maher... But I'm Not Wrong"
"The Kennedy Center Honors"
"Wanda Sykes: I'ma Be Me"

Outstanding Directing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Special
**Winner** Bucky Gunts ("Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games Opening Ceremony""
Ron de Moraes ("In Performance at the White House: A Celebration of Music From the Civil Rights Movement")
Louis J. Horvitz ("The Kennedy Center Honors")
Glenn Weiss ("The 63rd Annual Tony Awards")
Joel Gallen ("The 25th Anniversary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concert""

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie
**Winner** Julia Ormond ("Temple Grandin")
Kathy Bates ("Alice")
Catherine O'Hara ("Temple Grandin")
Brenda Vaccaro ("You Don't Know Jack")
Susan Sarandon ("You Don't Know Jack")

Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie
**Winner* David Strathairn ("Temple Grandin")
Michael Gambon ("Emma")
Patrick Stewart ("Hamlet")
Jonathan Pryce ("Return To Cranford")
John Goodman ("You Don't Know Jack")

Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special
**Winner** Adam Mazer ("You Don't Know Jack")
Michelle Ashford and Robert Schenkkan ("The Pacific") - "Part Eight"
Bruce C. McKenna and Robert Schenkkan ("The Pacific") - "Part Ten"
Peter Morgan ("The Special Relationship")
Christopher Monger and William Merritt Johnson ("Temple Grandin")

Actress in a Miniseries or Movie
**Winner** Claire Danes ("Temple Grandin")
Maggie Smith ("Capturing Mary")
Joan Allen ("Georgia O'Keeffe")
Dame Judi Dench ("Return To Cranford")
Hope Davis ("The Special Relationship")

Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special
**Winner** Mick Jackson ("Temple Grandin")
Bob Balaban ("Georgia O'Keeffe")
David Nutter and Jeremy Podeswa ("The Pacific") - "Part Eight"
Tim Van Patten ("The Pacific") - "Part Nine"
Barry Levinson ("You Don't Know Jack")

Actor in a Miniseries or Movie
**Winner** Al Pacino ("You Don't Know Jack")
Jeff Bridges ("A Dog Year")
Ian McKellen ("The Prisoner")
Michael Sheen ("The Special Relationship")
Dennis Quaid ("The Special Relationship")

Outstanding Miniseries
**Winner** "The Pacific"
"Return to Cranford (Masterpiece)"

Made for Television Movie
**Winner** "Temple Grandin"
"Endgame"
"Georgia O'Keeffe"
"Moonshot"
"The Special Relationship"
"You Don't Know Jack"

Outstanding Reality Program
**Winner** "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution"
"Antiques Roadshow"
"Dirty Jobs"
"Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List"
"MythBusters"
"Undercover Boss"

Outstanding Nonfiction Series
**Winner** "The National Parks: America's Best Idea"
"American Experience"
"American Masters"
"Deadliest Catch"
"LIFE"
"Monty Python: Almost the Truth (The Lawyer's Cut)"

Outstanding Animated Program
**Winner** "Disney Prep & Landing"
"Alien Earths"
"The Ricky Gervais Show"
"The Simpsons"
"South Park"

Outstanding Children's Program
**Winner** "Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie"
"Hannah Montana"
"iCarly"
"Jonas"
"Wizards of Waverly Place"

Although many would not pin it at first glance, there is quiet a bit in common between Batman Begins and the newest Star Trek reboot directed by JJ Abrams. Both are widely sucessful attempts at rebooting franchises that had previously gone stale, and lost their touch with a modern generation. These similarities have been noted by the people who made the 2009 Star Trek possible.

According to reports and interviews conducted by E! with executive producers Bryan Burk and Damon Lindelof, the creators have been looking at what made the Dark Knight such a success for their attempt at a sequel. Lindelof mentions that The Dark Knight managed to expand upon the sucess of Batman Begins but at the same time making it more emotional and thematic. Star Trek 2 is also planned to be an even bigger film then the first.

Star Trek 2 will be released June 29, 2012.

Although he has already become a big name in Hollywood, X-men: First Class will be Matthew Vaughn's first studio funded production. Accustomed to such self funded productions such as Kick Ass, Vaughn has been feeling the pressure when it comes to adapting a well loved franchise for a big named studio. The upcoming X-men prequel has already undergone several rewrites and drafts since it began production last year.


However, with most of the film casted and shooting to begin later this year. Vaughn never expected another rewrite to come so late in the game. According to Hero Complex, this latest roadblock came to Vaughn's attention last weekend after viewing Christopher Nolan's Inception. While the Kick Ass director openly expressed his love for the supernatural dreamscape thriller, he was also forced to remove almost twelve pages of script and storyboard from First Class. This lost sequence was in fact going to be a dreamspace combat sequence between Charles Xavier's mutants and a rival faction. These scenes, which were to feature spinning rooms and physics bending combat, were labeled as being to similar to the already popular Inception, and thus scrapped.


Despite this Vuaghn remains optimistic about his upcoming edition to the X-men franchise. In fact, in an enthusiastic discussion with IGN.com, he compared his latest attempt at adapting Stan Lee's beloved franchise to the highly successful JJ Abrams 2009 Star Trek reboot. "Obviously [Abrams] couldn't make everyone happy with that one, but he did a pretty good job," Vaughn said. "He made a fantastically exciting reinvention of that world, with those great characters. And I think there will be comparisons a little bit with X-Men: First Class. It's very similar, in a way. But we're doing some cool stuff in this movie, some really cool stuff that you haven't seen before."


Vaughn also hinted that the setting for the story, written by Bryan Singer, is also something he is excited for, seeing as it deals with recent world events.

Conflicting reports have been released today for the shooting schedule on the upcoming sequel to JJ Abram's 2009 Star Trek reboot.

Hollywood.com announced today that they had heard from actor Bruce Greenwood, who played Captain Pike in the 2009 blockbuster, that shooting would begin in January of 2011. However, the authenticity of this announcement was questioned seeing as Greenwood did not know if he was involved with the project or not.

Later, Trekmovie.com released a conflicting report from producer Bryan Burk that shooting would in fact begin in Spring or Summer of next year.

Star Trek 2 is due for release June 29, 2012

As many know the television series LOST came to an end last Sunday amid a fervor of media and internet hype. Whether the finale was satisfying or a disappointment you have not seen the last of LOST. The DVD set of the final season and the six season bundle due for release this fall will contain almost 40 new minutes of footage. Accodring to Michael Emmerson, who appeared on Attack of the Show this week, among these are twelve minutes of epilogue that will follow Hurley and Ben's years off the island.

More tributes to the final episode of LOST. I love you Damon and Carlton thanks for the amazing ride!

Site: http://www.rocketpoppeteers.com/

What exactly is Rocket Poppeteers? And what does it have to do with trains, car crashes, cameras, and Area 51? We'll be sure to follow this as the Super 8 mystery develops.

The Super 8 trailer is finally online. While it does not lighten the mystery surrounding the film, it is certainly an exciting and evocative look at what has become one of my most anticipated films for next year.

Yesterday, I ran a story regarding the top secret JJ Abrams project Super 8. One popular rumor was that this film was connected to the 2008 monster film, Cloverfield. However, Abrams himself has reported to New York Magazine that the project is actually completely unrelated to his earlier hit. This only furthers the mystery regarding this highly anticipated project.

As the Season premiere for Lost's final season draws closer we now have a brand new awe inspiring trailer with new footage. Watch at your own risk.

That's right. We already have confirmation that Dominic Monaghan (Charlie) and Ian Somerhalder (Boone) would be returning for this final season of Lost, but now we have confirmation that actors Harrold Perrineau (Michael) and Cynthia Watros (Libby) will also be joining us for one final year of island hopping fun. It will be great to see so many old faces returning. Also, all Lost fans will breath a sigh of relief knowing that President Obama has decided NOT to have his State of the Union address the same night as the premiere. Whew.

Fringe, the brainchild of JJ Abrams (Lost, Star Trek) and Robert Orci (Transformers), has long been fighting an uphill battle. The series premise, loosely based on modern day terrorism scares and the X-Files, follows an FBI sect that deals with a paranormal activity that ranges from mutated children to alternate universes. The original six episodes were unoriginal, bland and formulaic, but then, something happened. Fringe developed a plot, and a rather complex and intricate one at that. People often criticize Lost for its overly convoluted and complex plot, but compared to Fringe it is first grade fare. Fringe delves deeply into such topics as metaphsics, alternate universes, and highly volatile political and social issues.

Now due to personal reasons involving the date of creation regarding this blog, I will be starting weekly reviews for Fringe at about three episodes into the second season. Now to help readers catch up to the current point in the show, I have included a handy little video up above. Ah the wonders of youtube.