I just came across the YouTube video below which mentions casting reality TV star Kim Kardashian as Frankenstein in a cult horror film which hasn’t started shooting yet. Now normally I’d dismiss this as a hoax, but the video is by Glenn Andreiev who actually has a decent body of professional work out there. Although frankly I can see more easily see Kardashian as a vampire, but not so much a Frankenstein: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Sep 13, 2009 in Television
After years of storing radioactive waste on the the moon massive nuclear explosions tore the moon out of Earth’s orbit on September 13th, 1999 — on this very day ten years ago. Earlier in 1994 previous concerns resulted in the closing Nuclear Disposal Area One on the moon, however with the boom economy that followed after the global war of 1987 all the now obvious warning signs were overlooked. As of today 3,648 days have passed since this event, and numerous attempts have been made to contact the 311 crew members of Moonbase Alpha — whose fate is still unknown at this time.Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Sep 12, 2009 in Star Trek
The minute I came across this Classic Captain’s Chair Replica from the original Star Trek series I just knew that I had to have it! Although the devil is in the details and I quickly realized the $2,933 price tag (on sale from $3k at Amazon) was still a bit much for my modest fanboy budget. But then I started to wonder “who would buy such a thing?” when my eyes skipped down to the review section; what I came across next made me glad that I’m on a low budget: Read more…
I never quite respected the film Rambo, but that said Brian Dennehy is a brilliant actor so I have to give his opinion some consideration. In this interview he talks a bit about the first Rambo film and how he feels that it was a good film, but what ruined it was the fact that Hollywood (i.e. the producers) had Rambo live instead of killing him off in the first film as shown here in the alternate ending: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Sep 11, 2009 in Animation
I’ll sidestep all of the politically correct (or not) arguments about this film until I see a bit more. On the positive side I really like the animation I see here, it’s classic Disney and that’s nice to see good old fashioned cartooning in a world filled with too many 3D animated films. However the one thing that I dislike in this second trailer is the soundtrack by Randy Newman. To me Newman has always been overrated and his previous work on Pixar films hasn’t changed my mind at all. Given the focus of the film on New Orleans I wish they did a bit more with the music, it feels like they’ve ignored all of those wonderful musical traditions associated with the venue.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Sep 11, 2009 in Japanese TV
In 1992 Norika Fujiwara (藤原 紀香) was crowned Miss Japan, and since then she’s done everything from doing the voice over work for the Japanese dubbed version of Shrek to acting as a goodwill ambassador for international sports games. In this commercial for ALC she dresses up like a medieval knight leading the charge to teach young kids English (ALC is an educational publisher in Japan). While doing my research on Fujiwara I came across this cute variety show skit where she plays a game of basketball against a guy dressed up as a french poodle: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Sep 10, 2009 in Animation, Fandom
Sadly all good things come to an end sooner or later: And thus I’m afraid for yours truly it’s a bit too soon as the giant Gundam on display in Tokyo is being taken apart! Part of me always assumed that the Gundam would be on display forever, but sadly I was wrong. And what makes it worse is that the damn robot just sits there and does nothing to defend itself against a wimpy looking crane…Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Sep 10, 2009 in Comic Books
It’s been unofficial for a while, but as of this week I’d say that as of this week the comic book biz is no longer about actually publishing comic books, but in fact about making films that star comic book characters. The take over of Marvel Entertainment by Disney and the reorganization of DC Comics into DC Entertainment is part of a larger picture which includes the death of print as a viable commercial medium. Although to be fair this story has been a long time in the making: In fact the first chapter in this story can be traced to Disney. Read more…
This wonderful fan made video features a scenario which calls all ten incarnations of Dr. Who into action. The funny thing is that for me this video has the unintended consequence of making you compare all the actors who have played the good doctor since the 60s. I hadn’t realized how much I really appreciated Tom Baker or hated Colin Baker until you see them all side-by-side. And of course with Dr. Who the acting and the script are everything because if you hide behind a high special effects budget the show just lacks its unique flavor. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Sep 9, 2009 in Videogames
The 1988 NES game Contra
Contra Rebirth is a WiiWare title that’s based on the 1987 Konami arcade game Contra ((魂斗羅) where you get to play an mutant killing commando (as a game the plot owed a great deal to the popular films of that era like Predator). The original game did so well that it was ported to NES in 1988 and has a well deserved rep of being the toughest game to beat. I’m really glad that we’re starting to see the market for retro games move out of the hobbyist era and into something more mainstream. Here are some screenshots: Read more…
In 1992 
It’s been unofficial for a while, but as of this week I’d say that as of this week the comic book biz is no longer about actually publishing comic books, but in fact about making films that star comic book characters. The take over of Marvel Entertainment by Disney and the reorganization of DC Comics into DC Entertainment is part of a larger picture which includes the death of print as a viable commercial medium. Although to be fair this story has been a long time in the making: In fact the first chapter in this story can be traced to Disney. 