So, the other day I was thinking about plans in the offing and I realized there seemed to be a lot of things I was looking forward to in 2012. So here are a few lines each about the things I am happily awaiting in this coming year.

Part 1 January thru June

Strangely enough there are any for the months of January or February.
March 1 – Gail Carriger visit Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore. I knew Gail before she was Gail, and it has been a true pleasure watching as a friend goes from unpublished novelist to NYT bestseller. I hope we can find time for dinner and conversation.

March 2-4 – Condor. San Diego oldest SF/Fantasy convention is traditionally held in the spring, though I think this date is a bit early for them. It’s a small convention, under 500 people attending, but with good local authors and fans and most of the time it is still a fun one.

March 9th — John Carter. The big screen, live action adaptation of the SF classic, A Princess Of Mars. This film has gone though a few title changes, but everything I have heard and read indicates that the writers, producers, and directors are fan of the original. All of which helps the odds of getting a decent adaptation. I’ve never read the book, but I know several people who have including my sweetie-wife.

March 30th – Wrath Of The Titans. Sequel to last year’s remake of Clash of The Titans, a film I certainly enjoyed enough to pick-up on Blu-ray. If they keep the tone and don’t try to get too serious, this can be another fun romp.

April 4th – Iron Sky. A few years ago I stumbled across an incredible fan film “Star Wreck – In The Pirkining “ a fan mashing up of a war between a fake Star Trek universe and an equally fake Babylon 5 universe, with hilarious results. My understanding is that the fan film took seven years to make, but man it looks good. (The SpFx beat out the source material in both cases.) Now the producers and director of that fun fan film have made us a real movie. This is a comedy, and it has Nazi on The Moon!

April 13th – The Cabin in The Woods. Now, based on the trailers alone this is film I might have skipped on, however I know a bit more about this movie than just the trailers. Namely, this film was produced and co-written by Joss Wheadon, and so I will be giving it a chance.

April 19th thru 22nd – Vegas. A friend and I will be driving to Las Vegas for a weekend of shows, food, and guns. I did a Vegas trip a few years ago and I had a blast. (Quite literally as firing the Thompson sub-machine gun was thrilling.) There will be more machine guns, and I plan on seeing some shows while there. (Sheena Easton as last time, and adding at least Elton John this visit.)

May 4th – The Avengers Well, unless you’ve been washed ashore on a wasted island, this should surprise no one. Marvel Comics, through their sister group Marvel Studios has been building towards this for year. With the characters established in Iron Man, Iron Man 2, The Hulk, Thor, and Captain America, they will attempt the first big budget big screen superhero team unification. Written and Directed by Joss Wheadon, this will be witty and clever and hopefully fantastic.

June 8th – Prometheus Director Ridley Scott is for me a hit or miss proposition. If you give the man a good script you get a great film. (Alien, Bladerunner, Black Hawk Down.) if you give him a bad script you get lovely films that fail in their stories. (Legend, Kingdom Of Heaven, Hannibal.) This year for the first time since Bladerunner Ridley Scott return to making a Science-Fiction film, Prometheus. Facts on this film are few as the secrecy is high, but it looks clear to be set in the universe as Alien and is quite likely set before that iconic movie. The screenwriters have decent track records and there is a first rate cast, so my hopes are high.