The long July 4th holiday weekend kicks off tomorrow, which for many of us means trips to the beach, burgers on the grill and fireworks (only where legal, of course). But it should also mean some time spent remembering those patriots who defended our liberty—both the real ones who fought for our freedoms and those fictional ones who on television and at the movies reminded us what that liberty was all about.

With that in mind, let's take a look back at our 10 favorite sci-fi examples of patriotic film and TV.

A two-minute film, "House of Imagination," has gone live to reflect SCI FI's brand evolution to Syfy on Tuesday, celebrating Syfy's unique spin on imagination.

The new film features stars from Warehouse 13, Eureka, Ghost Hunters, Caprica, Sanctuary, Stargate Universe, Destination Truth and ECW.

Comic-Con can be an overwhelming four days of multimedia spectacle, and unless you can clone yourself or you have access to time travel, there's no way to attend every cool event. That's where we can help.

The schedule's not even out yet, but we've already gotten wind of dozens of must-see happenings. For those of you corporeal beings traveling to San Diego July 22-26, here are SCI FI Wire's recommendations for 11 Comic-Con events not to miss. (The movies, panelists, days and times are all tentative; check Comic-Con's official Web site closer to the convention for the full schedule.)

Dylan Walsh, who's been playing doctor on Nip/Tuck since 2003, looks like he could use a few stitches himself right about now. Fake flesh hangs from his neck, and he's a bit bloodied up. He's playing the title character in The Stepfather, the upcoming horror film that reboots a cult classic from 1987.

Much like the original (which starred Lost's Terry O'Quinn as daddy dearest—who, according to producer Mark Morgan, declined a cameo role), the new movie centers on a sociopathic killer who blends into broken families. When the new wife and kids inevitably disappoint him, he slaughters them and moves on to the next unsuspecting household.

SCI FI Wire was on set at Sony Studios in Culver City, Calif., a few weeks ago during the filming of The Stepfather for a scene in which Walsh embodies wicked wedder David Harris ... and leaves a few bodies lying around.

Our Australian sister site SCI FI TV reports a rumor that preproduction is gearing up for George Lucas' proposed live-action Star Wars series, which is to be shot Down Under.

It's been a long, long wait for the return of Torchwood, but star John Barrowman, who plays Capt. Jack Harkness, promises it will be worth the wait when the series returns on July 20 for consecutive nights on BBC America in a five-episode mini-season called Torchwood: Children of Earth. And if it does well, we could expect more (more on that later).

"If I were to describe the progression since series one, I'd say [season] one we were like a toddler who was learning how to crawl," Barrowman said in an exclusive interview. "And [season] two we were walking, and now [season] three we're running. We have totally found our feet. ...

A few months ago, we pointed out 18 Sci-Fi Twitter Feeds You Should Be Following, which included a lot of well-known Tweeters that you've probably read about elsewhere.

Since then, the number of sci-fi luminaries on Twitter has grown tremendously, so we've put together a new list of interesting people you should be following, including both newcomers and some overlooked gems:

The recent vampire craze born of Twilight and True Blood came a bit too late to save CBS' Moonlight: The vampire detective series was canceled after one season. But it won a Saturn Award for best series on DVD last week, and executive producer Harry Werksman offered fans some hope that a Moonlight movie could offer some closure.

Kristen Bell—who has become a cult favorite for her roles in Heroes, Fanboys and Veronica Mars—is likely to extend her following as she lends her voice to the ultimate sci-fi franchise: She plays the new girl in Imagi Studios' upcoming 3-D animated feature-film version of the venerable Japanese Astro Boy series.

"I play Cora, who is a girl who befriends Astro when he comes down from Metro City onto the surface of Earth," Bell said in an interview last week at the Saturn Awards in Burbank, Calif. (She presented the award for best action/adventure film.) "She runs a little kind of like Peter Pan group of kids. She's pretty tough, pretty sassy."