New novels, blockbusters to jazz up pop culture

December 31, 2009 05:16 pm

— Whether it is books, movies or comics, we can look forward to some old favorites next year.
Dalton-Whitfield Library director Joe Forsee says several popular authors have not one, but multiple titles each scheduled for release in 2010.
Novelist James Patterson, who claims 51 books that have hit the New York Times bestseller list, has two books scheduled for release in 2010.
�One is expected in February. It�s called �Worst Case,� and another in March called �Fang,�� Forsee said. ��Fang� continues a series, which is referred to as the Maximum Ride series. The first in the series was called �The Angel Experiment.� Those are going to be big.�
Georgia�s own Stuart Woods continues to put out popular novels, and Forsee says Woods has one titled �Kisser� slated for release later this month. It features his recurring character Stone Barrington, a New York police detective turned lawyer.
Mystery writer Robert B. Parker may be best known for his character Spenser, but he also produced several novels featuring small-town police chief Jesse Stone. Forsee says Parker has another Jesse Stone novel, �Split Image,� slated for February release. He also has a Western, �Blue-Eyed Devil,� scheduled for release this year.
And Jeffrey Deaver, author of �The Bone Collector� and other mysteries has a new novel called �Watchlist� slated for release in January.
Meanwhile, Hollywood will have its usual blockbusters to release in 2010.
For instance, according to the Internet Movie Database, �The A-Team� is scheduled for a June release. This is a big budget update of the 1980s television series. That same month will see the release of a remake of �The Karate Kid.� This time Hong Kong action legend Jackie Chan teaches a young man about martial arts and life. And June will also see the release of �Toy Story 3,� which is, of course, the third edition in that popular animated series.
Moviegoers will also have the chance to see a new version of �Robin Hood,� starring Russell Crowe, remakes of the horror films �A Nightmare on Elm Street� and �Piranha� (the latter in 3-D), the latest in the Shrek series �Shrek Forever After,� as well as �Sex and the City 2� and �Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps.�
2010 will also see the release of �Jonah Hex,� a Western starring Josh Brolin, John Malkovitch and Megan Fox, based on the DC comics character.
But A.J. Kocher, co-owner of Dalton�s The Fantasy Factory, says the biggest comic book movie scheduled for this year is probably �Iron Man 2,� starring Robert Downey Jr. The first Iron Man movie, released in 2008, has grossed almost $600 million worldwide at the box office.
Kocher says the sequel may do at least as well.
And Kocher says comic book fans are eagerly awaiting the return in 2010 of Captain America. The original Captain America, Steve Rogers, was killed off in the comics in 2008. But deaths are never final in comic books, and Rogers is scheduled to make his return in 2010.