No, Abrams didn’t revive Flash Gordon — though, I really wish he would. Instead, these retro-futuristic propaganda posters feature the his reimagined Trek, captured brilliantly with an art deco approach. Of course, the designs already lent themselves to it, but that doesn’t make them any less cool. Lucky for me, I can’t really pick a favorite which is why it’s probably a good thing that ThinkGeek is forcing us to buy the lot of them rather than selling these individually. Unfortunately, if you do have a favorite, that might pose a bit of a problem. The set of four will run you roughly $30. My suggestion? Buy them, take one and sell the rest on ebay. Piece of cake, right? Read more…
Casting for the Spiderman reboot has legs (eight of them, specifically)! Hot on the heels of other casting announcements, like Gwen Stacy and the film’s unknown villain, we now know that Martin Sheen is in final negotiations to play Peter Parker’s Uncle Ben. Additionally, Sally Field is said to be in talks to play Aunt May. Honestly, I’m just not sure you can beat Cliff Robertson and Rosemary Harris, who played Ben and May in the previous three Spidey films, but I’m sure that Sheen and Field will do fine in the roles, all things being equal. Read more…
Posted by Michael Sacco on Nov 8, 2010 in Comic Books
Talk about seeing superheroes from a different angle! Or several of them, really. Mike and Matt of Wonder Bros. created these Cubist paintings of several superheroes, and they’re available as prints from their Etsy shop. Personally, I love these kinds of reinterpretations, though other people get so used to seeing superheroes presented in the same ways over and over that they tend to freak out when they’re not rendered “accurately,” and it’s hard to get more inaccurate than Cubism. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 7, 2010 in Animation
Asahi.com has reported that Yoshinobu Nishizaki has passed away. Nishizaki was the producer of Space Cruiser Yamato which was known as Star Blazers in the United States — a franchise that played a pivotal role in the history of anime. What’s very sad about this was that after years of legal troubles a live action version of the cherished retro anime series is getting a great deal of positive feedback from those who have seen the first sneak previews of the film. Had he lived the triumph of that film would have been a great personal victory to Nishizaki. Read more…
Posted by Michael Sacco on Nov 6, 2010 in Animation
Earlier this year, it was announced that classic 80s animated series Thundercats would receive a new animated “reimagining”, and now we have some solid information on what the new series will entail! The series’ producer, Michael Jelenic, says that one major change is a simplification of the show’s mythology — everything is taking place on one planet rather than three, for example. Of course, the question on everyone’s mind, eyes bulging, is “Will Snarf be in it?!” The answer is yes, with the caveat that everyone’s unfavorite cat beast thing won’t be speaking in this incarnation. Looks like Jelenic has foresight beyond foresight. Read more…
That’s right, this guy. Zac Efron is rumored to be in talks to star in Warner Bros.’ live-action remake of the classic anime film. The remake is said to take place in the USA rather than Japan, in a ruined Manhattan. He’d be playing Kaneda, who’s somehow still named Kaneda, despite looking American and the film being set in…well, you get the idea. I’m not sure how I feel about this one. Wait, no. I’m 100% positive how I feel about this one. Though, to be fair, that’s hardly Zac Efron’s fault. Read more…
Back to the Future is 25 years old this year, and to celebrate the occasion, Profiles in History is auctioning off a handful of incredible (and memorable) props from the film. Proceeds from selling the items, including the vanishing newspapers (above), Marty’s self-drying jacket (note: does not actually self-dry), and the classic Gray’s Sports Almanac, will go to Michael J. Fox’s charities for Parkinson’s research. Read more…
Any comic book fan worth their salt knows the name “Stan Lee” — the man behind Marvel Comics since its birth, the creator of Spiderman, the old dude with the mustache and the glasses. And now fans of the man himself can check out his new biography film, “With Great Power: The Stan Lee Story,” this Sunday at the American Cinematheque in Santa Monica. The 80-minute film by Terry Dougas, Nikki Frakes, and Will Hess will be accompanied by a Stan Lee signing session. Read more…
Remember these? The classic Atari 2600 joystick — I’m feeling nostalgic just looking at it. It brings back fond memories of classics like Defender and Frogger. Trying to gator infested chasms in Pitfall! or defending my cities from the constant barrage of missiles in Missile Command. Even thoughmy old Atari is broken and sitting in my closet collecting dust, I still enjoy playing those classic games via modern emulation. I’ve had to settle for whatever controller I’ve had on hand, be it an Xbox 360 wireless, or some piece of Logitech hardware, but fortunately, the guys over at ThinkGeek finally have a solution to that problem. Someone decided to finally create a replica of the original Atari 2600 joystick with a USB input. Amazing, right? If you want one of these one-button bad boys, they’ll run you about $25. That’s pretty reasonable if you ask me. Read more…
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Nov 4, 2010 in Cinema, Fandom
Harrison Ford has had his fair share of roles over the years –he’s done everything from cracking whips to hunting replicants. It goes without saying that roles like those require quite a bit of stunt work, and while he might not always be the one throwing himself out a window — they have stunt doubles for that — he still has to lend his voice to those scenes. Though many directors would resort to using stock audio, such as the famous Wilhem scream, Ford has proven time and time again that he’s mastered the art of screaming. In doubt? Check out this hilarious video by Jon and Al Kaplan.
Back in June, I touched on Capcom’s Okamiden, the upcoming sequel to their modern-cult classic Okami. I’ve had the opportunity to spend some time with the title at the various trade shows I’ve attended and I have to admit it was a lot more fun than I had expected. Well, it would seem Capcom has finally settled on the North American release date of March 15th, 2011. I know that seems a ways off, but they’re looking to make up for that by offering several limited edition pre-order bonuses if you purchase the game through GameStop. the first 20,000 pre-orders will recieve a special stylus for their DS in the shape of a brush, and a custom screen cleaner that’ll feature art of the main characters. Capcom has also created a Facebook app that lets you try your hand at painting a goblin mask. The app will allow users to enter contests to win a Nintendo 3DS, a copy of the game and several other Okamiden-related prizes. Exciting, right?
Filled with terrible acting and Trekkie humor, this web-series follows a family of Trekkers — I’d call them Trekkies, but the seemingly made a point to refer to themselves as Trekkers — who, in an attempt to prevent their Cardassian cosplaying neighbor from “shifting the balance of power in the quadrant,” plan a last minute trip to the annual Star Trek convention in Las Vegas. The series started back in late September and they’re already five episodes in with new episodes being released each week. It can be a little much at times, but they’ve peppered the scripts with enough references to keep you mildly entertained at the very least. It’s not quite as off the wall as Chad Vader, but it’s up there. If you’re interested, check out their YouTube channel or follow them of Facebook.
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Nov 2, 2010 in Cinema, Tech
Back in April, Paramount teamed up with Seagate to produce a special edition hard drive that came loaded with select movies, such as Abram’s Star Trek. Well, it sees Buffalo will be taking this cross promotional concept a step further with their upcoming Harry Potter hard drives. Buffalo has teamed up with Warner Home Video in order to load the drives with all six films to date. The films will come in a DRM-locked DivX format and require an Internet connection to be played. Chances are, if you’re reading this, that won’t be a problem. Aside from having the movies sitting on the drive, the only film-related reference seems to be the Harry Potter logo located on the external drive itself. Nifty, but is it worth the price? I guess we’ll have to see when it’s announced, along with the official release date later this month.
I imagine the first thought that’s probably running through most people’s heads would be “what’s wrong with that NES controller?” Well, good call. This slick little iPhone 4 case is actually modeled after a Japanese Famicom controller, hence the red and gold color scheme. Personally, I liked it but I wouldn’t dare question Nintendo’s decision-making process to rebrand their product stateside — it was only the best selling console of that era. Still, this design should speak to you, and if the classic d-pad or button layout aren’t enough, the fact that it’s an import might sweeten the pot in terms of nerd-cred. You can order them through geekstuff4u.com, but you’ll want to note that these are imported and will probably cost you a bit.
In this wonderful short video clip science writer Bill Bryson talks about how amazing it is that over the course of just a few short billion years we’ve gone from a collection of atoms to living life forms. Bryson also points out that it’s interesting that there is nothing special about the atoms that make up each of us.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 1, 2010 in Comic Books
Sadly he’s not better known in the west but Shigeru Sugiura (杉浦茂) was an amazing manga artist who lived in Japan from 1908 until 2000. He became famous after World War II with a series of manga aimed at kids but is best known for his more comedic work. Shown above is the beautiful print designed by otooto22 for a hoodie which will be released in mid-November: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 1, 2010 in Comic Books
How can you tell that Disney expect the upcoming Tron film to be huge? Because Marvel plans to cash in with a poorly done comic book based on the original film (Tron: Original Movie Adaptation #1) which will be released this week. Clearly the thinking is that fanboys will be nostalgic for the original and will buy almost anything with a Tron logo on it. Sadly a more creative team might have had fun with a creative interpretation of the original and done an amazing graphic novel — instead this preview reveals a bad tracing and coloring job: Read more…
