"Thor: The Dark World" (2013)

Starring Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman and Tom Hiddleston
Written by Christopher Yost, Christopher Marcus and Stephen McFeely
Directed by Alan Taylor
Rated PG-13 - Fantasy/sci-fi violence and action, language
Running Time: 112 Minutes
Trailer

Ages ago, an army of Dark Elves led by the vicious Malekith (Christopher Eccleston) waged war to control a powerful weapon called the Aether, capable of sapping the life out of the very universe itself. He was stopped by the forces of Asgard, led by Bor, father of Odin (Anthony Hopkins). The Dark Elves were defeated, Malekith and his lieutenant Algrim (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) sacrified most of their warriors to buy their escape and wait until the time was right to strike again.

That time is now, thousands of years later as the Nine Realms once again move into alignment, weakening the dimensional borders in a way that would allow the Aether to spread across the entire universe more quickly. Thor (Chris Hemsworth) has spent the last couple years bringing peace and order back to the Nine Realms after the events of the first film and beating back the Chitauri invasion of Earth. He pines for Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) the human woman he fell for during his exile there, and his friends and father all notice the difference in him.

Foster, meanwhile, similarly wishes for Thor's return to Earth as she investigates a series of strange electromagnetic disturbances in London with her trusty intern Darcy (Kat Dennings) and her mentor Dr. Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgaard), who has somewhat lost his mind after the trauma of being brainwashed by Loki (Tom Hiddleston). Back on Asgard, Loki is imprisoned for his crimes against Asgard and for leading the invasion of Earth.

All these storylines will come crashing together when Foster accidentally discovers the location of the Aether and becomes infected by it, drawing Thor to her side to protect her and Malekith to seek her out in order to use her to destroy the known universe.

"Gravity" (2013)

Starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney
Written by Alfonso Cuaron and Jonas Cuaron
Directed by Alfonso Cuaron
Rated PG-13 - Peril, frightening images, language
Running Time: 89 Minutes
Trailer

Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock), an astronaut with little training, is on a mission to install a prototype scanning device she designed on board the Hubble telescope. She's joined by her mission commander, Matt Kowalski (George Clooney), a veteran of the program on his last mission. While on a spacewalk to install the device, their space shuttle is hit with debris from a destroyed Russian satellite. The debris is circling the world at high speed, destroying other satellites and creating more debris.

With their crew dead and shuttle destroyed, Stone and Kowalski find themselves alone in Earth orbit, out of contact with mission control in Houston. Stone's lack of training is causing her to panic, and her dwindling oxygen supply isn't helping. With limited options, and time running out before the debris circles round the planet for another devastating event, Stone and Kowalski make a desperate run for survival and salvation.

'Continuum' Season Two (2013)

Starring Rachel Nichols, Victor Webster and Erik Knudsen
Created by Simon Barry

Following the terrorist bombing in downtown Vancouver in Season One, time traveller Kiera Cameron (Rachel Nichols) decides to end her official association with the Vancouver PD. She feels it's safer for her and her allies there to work on the fringes. Meanwhile, her friend Alec Sadler (Erik Knudsen) suffers a personal crisis: His stepfather has been killed and his stepbrother Julian (Richard Harmon) was arrested in connection with the bombing.

Elsewhere, the terrorist group Liber8, now led by Sonya Valentine (Lexa Doig) continue their campaign to alter the future by taking the bold move of assassinating Vancouver's mayor. Kiera teams up with VPD detective Carlos Fonnegra (Victor Webster) once again to investigate the crime, and eventually pulls Alec back into the fold as well. But schisms within Liber8 set up an even deadlier set of circumstances as rival factions set off a gang war in the streets.

All the while, the influence of the mysterious and powerful owner of Piron Corp, the man known as "Escher" (Hugh Dillon) becomes known. Who is Escher? What interest does he hold in Kiera and Alec Sadler? And why is he using his money and power to turn the Vancouver Police into a private army with little regard for the rule of law?

"Metallica: Through The Never" (2013)

Starring Dane DeHaan and Metallica
Written by Nimrod Antal and Metallica
Directed by Nimrod Antal
Rated R - Violence, strong language, frightening images
Running Time: 93 Minutes
Trailer

There's never a lack of crazy when you're a roadie for Metallica. Trip (Dane DeHaan) is just such a roadie, hired by a manager to be a gofer for the band. On the night of a massive, one-night-only show, Trip is sent on a mission to retrieve something of vital importance to the band. It seems a truck carrying their parcel broke down on its way to the venue, and Trip has to take his van and a tank of gas and get the thing running again.

At first, Trip seems disappointed that he's missing the show and rushes to get through his task in time to catch the rest. But when he's T-boned at an intersection, he discovers that he's got bigger problems to deal with: Trip finds himself stranded in the midst of a massive battle between rioters and police.

Worse, a mysterious rider on horseback wearing a gas mask seems to have set his sights on Trip, stalking him through an increasingly dangerous and apocalyptic setting.

'Fringe' Season Five (2013)

Starring Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson and John Noble
Created by JJ Abrams, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci
Trailer

After saving the universe from power-mad William Bell in Season 4, the Fringe team has settled into something of normalcy. New parents Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv) and Peter Bishop (Joshua Jackson) take their young daughter Etta to the park. In a flash of light and a crack of thunder, the invaders come: the strange men from the future known to the team as the Observers quickly conquer the world. Etta is lost in the fray. The Fringe team joins the resistance, and then they disappear.

21 years later, an adult Etta finds her parents, and her grandfather Walter Bishop (John Noble) and his assistant Astrid Farnsworth (Jasika Nicole) frozen in amber. She frees them, and brings the team up to speed: the Observers control the world, and are slowly converting the atmosphere to something more suitable for their kind. Humanity lives under their thumb, and the oppressive forces of the human Loyalists. Travel is restricted. Freedom is a myth.

The Fringe team quickly gets to work with the resistance. Before they were frozen, Walter had concocted a plan to defeat the Observers. But the information has been stolen from him by an Observer named Windmark (Michael Kopsa), who sucked it telepathically from his very mind. Fortunately, Walter detailed the plan on a series of video tapes frozen in amber under his old lab in Harvard.

Now the Fringe team is desperately working to unlock the mystery of Walter's plan. With the Observers closing in, time running out, they'll put everything on the line for the sake of the future.

'Star Trek: The Next Generation' Season Four - 1990 [Blu-Ray]

Starring Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes and Brent Spiner
Created by Gene Roddenberry

As season four opens, Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) has been taken by the hive mind of the Borg, twisted into the villainous Locutus and forced to commit violent acts of aggression against the Federation. The crew of the Enterprise, now led by Captain William T. Riker (Jonathan Frakes) races against time to stop him before Locutus reaches the heart of the Federation - Earth - and decimates its population.

The Borg are not the only threat the crew of the Enterprise will face this year. Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner) will come face to face once more with his evil twin, Lore (also Brent Spiner) and his own creator (also also Brent Spiner). Counselor Troi (Marina Sirtis) will deal with the trauma of losing her empathic powers. Doctor Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) finds herself trapped in a slowly-collapsing alternate universe, with no means of her own escape. Chief Engineer Geordi LaForge (Levar Burton) investigates the mysterious disappearances of some of his former crewmates, and discovers he may be next.  Lt. Worf (Michael Dorn) will face his destiny as he is once again plunged into the dangerous world of Klingon politics.

'Spartacus: War of the Damned' (2013)

Starring Liam McIntyre, Manu Bennett and Dustin Clare
Created by Steven S. DeKnight
Trailer

Rome is in crisis. With its forces spread thin dealing with foreign threats, it is unable to counter heavy losses at the hands of the rebel army of Spartacus (Liam McIntyre). To this end, the Senate broaches its richest citizen, Marcus Crassus (Simon Merrells) to use his fortune to raise an army of his own to meet Spartacus. To this end, Crassus recruits a young, but highly-skilled warrior, Julius Caesar (Todd Lasance) to infiltrate Spartacus' ranks. Then, with his son Tiberius (Christian Antidormi) at his side, Crassus makes his march with an army 10,000 strong.

Meanwhile, Spartacus' rebel army has grown massive. In need of food and shelter, Spartacus and his lieutenants, Crixus (Manu Bennett), Agron (Dan Feuerriegal) and Gannicus (Dustin Clare) hatch a bold plan: to capture an entire city and make it their stronghold. The rebels manage to infiltrate and overthrow the city of Sinuessa, on the coast, slaughtering the many nobles that reside there.

Spartacus draws the ire of his people, however, when he decides to keep some of the Romans as prisoners instead of killing them outright. He places one of the prisoners, a woman named Laeta (Ann Hutchison) in charge of the prisoners. Though she resents him for killing her husband, Laeta proves sympathetic toward Spartacus as time passes.

And Spartacus soon finds that taking a city is far simpler than keeping one. With Crassus at his doorstep, pirates of uncertain loyalty on the seas, and ever-growing rivalries between his own men, Spartacus struggles to keep his rebel army from falling apart... and falling beneath Crassus' sword.