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DVR Worthy: PBS’s The Pioneers of Science Fiction Television
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 17, 2011 in Star Trek, Television
On Tuesday night the new season of the PBS show Pioneers of Television will showcase science fiction! The episode which airs on Tuesday will feature interviews with William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy and Nichelle Nichols. The show will cover the shows that were made by Gene Roddenberry, Rod Serling, Irwin Allen. Read more… Look Out Japan! The Taiwanese Weather Bunny Girls are Here
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 17, 2011 in Fandom, Television
Hello Kitty with Monster Hunter Headgear (and Vise Versa)
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 17, 2011 in Hobbies and Collections, Videogames
I read about the mythical Hello Kitty/Monster Hunter costumes over a year ago, but I didn’t get a really good luck until some kind folks posted them to Flickr. I have to admit that there’s something very surrealistic to the idea of wearing a costume of Hello Kitty wearing a costume and then the other way around. Read more… That is Not Dead Which Can Eternal Lounge
Posted by Michael Sacco on Jan 16, 2011 in Pulp Fiction
If you’re like me, while strolling through your local Ikea, you’ve thought to yourself “this black leather chair is nice, but if only it had an enormous octopus built into it…” Maximo Riera clearly feels the same way, as he’s designed this downright Cthulhuesque…Cthulhoid…Cthonic…Cthulhu-lookin’ chair. Perfect for not being dead, but lounging eternally. Alternatively, reading the writings of the mad Arab Abdul Al-Hazred and summoning horrors from beyond space and time. Really, the world is your oyster with this thing. Or at least the chair is your octopus. Read more… Star Wars Galaxy Map Finally Lets You Plot Those Imperial Trade Routes
Posted by Michael Sacco on Jan 16, 2011 in Cinema
Entertainment Weekly recently publicized this high-res map of the entire Star Wars galaxy, which the writer notes “may not be new to some of the real die-hards reading this, but it was new to me.” I’ve never seen it either, though it was apparently published in 2009’s Star Wars: The Essential Atlas. It even maps major routes of travel through the galaxy, as well as marking each segment from Deep Core to Outer Rim. Finally, I can figure out whether or not Andara is a Core or Colony world. Just kidding. I’ve never actually had occasion to wonder that. But now, thanks to this map, I’ll never need to, either. Read more… Remember That Mortal Kombat Short Film? It’s a Web Series Now
A few months ago, director Kevin Tancharoen released a short film that was intended as a pitch to Warner Bros. for a grittier, more realistic Mortal Kombat film. It was definitely a hit with the fans, but it didn’t succeed in getting picked up as a full-length feature. Bloody Disgusting reports that Tancharoen and the short’s star, Michael Jai White, got a deal almost as good, though: a ten-episode Mortal Kombat web series! Several of the usual suspects are slated to make an appearance in the series as well, including Shang Tsung, Liu Kang, Sub Zero, Durak, Kabal, Kitana, Mileena and Scorpion. There’s no release date for the series yet, but production will begin in Vancouver in February. Read more… Okay, Scratch That, No Alien Prequel After All
Posted by Michael Sacco on Jan 15, 2011 in Cinema
So that’s pretty much that. Ridley Scott announced today that his planned Alien prequel is dead, but he’s making a new film with ideas from the abandoned project. The new film, titled Prometheus, is being penned by Scott and Damon Lindelof, and Scott extolls its “unique, large and provocative” ideas. According to Scott, the film has “Alien DNA,” though he means in terms of concept and scope, not that actual xenomorph DNA will figure into the plot somehow. Fox, to their credit, has backed Scott’s plan and given the film a March 9th, 2012 release date. Tron Legacy Sequel Already Booting Up?
Posted by Michael Sacco on Jan 14, 2011 in Cinema
Tron Costume Guy and I certainly liked Tron Legacy, even if my boss Mr. Pinto didn’t. So did lots of moviegoers. Disney, for its part, put a lot of time and money into promoting the film, banking on it being successful, and according to Ain’t It Cool News, the film’s profits have just about “hit the tipping point.” AICN reports that Disney is almost ready to announce a third Tron movie, a direct sequel to Tron Legacy. Obviously, nothing is confirmed yet, but Disney’s already working on a cartoon series to make sure the franchise continues to have legs, so it makes sense that another movie would be in the works. Just do me a favor, Disney: more Daft Punk, yeah? Read more… First Pic of Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man is Powerful, Responsible
Posted by Michael Sacco on Jan 14, 2011 in Cinema, Comic Books
I was pretty iffy on Sony’s upcoming Spider-Man reboot, but recent photos from the set have started to thaw my frigid heart. Emma Stone is Gwen Stacy incarnate, and Andrew Garfield looks quite good as Peter Parker. But as Spider-Man? We had no idea until today, when Sony sent out a promotional still of Garfield in his battle-scarred Spidey getup. And hey, it looks pretty good. Some tantalizing tidbits: are those mechanical web-shooters I see on his wrists? Do those claw marks on the chest scream “Lizard” to anyone else? And how did they convince the Harlem Globetrotters to give them enough blue and red basketballs to construct the costume? Read more… Do We Really Need Another PSP?
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Jan 13, 2011 in Tech, Videogames
If you can believe it, it’s been almost six years since the PlayStation Portable debuted, and while there have been a few notable titles, its library seems scarce when compared to the competition. Sony’s attempt at staking its share of the handheld market has been an uphill battle from the outset with Nintendo having practically dominated the market since the late 80’s. It’s not entirely Sony’s fault. The system does make use of the proprietary UMD disc format, which I imagine can cost publishers a bit to produce. The system’s digital market also remains seemingly stagnant, despite the introduction of the PSP Go. Read more… Confessions from the Magic Kingdom
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Jan 13, 2011 in Animation
Ever wonder what it’d be like to work at a Disney theme park? I know I have, and thanks to this fantastic video my curiosity has been satisfied, though I have to admit that no amount of food could possibly make up for having to listen to “It’s a Small World” on repeat. I pretty much figured it’d be exactly as he described in the video, minus the awesome doodles. I just had no idea the food was that spectacular. Read more… Darth Vader’s Pachinko Ads Are Scary
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Jan 12, 2011 in Japanese TV, Star Wars
These have to be the most confusing Japanese ads I’ve ever seen. In fact, had I not researched it further, I doubt I would have realized they’re for a pachinko machine — Sanyo’s Star Wars Fever. The machine hit the market a few years back and while I’m not sure you’d still find them littered through out Japanese pachinko parlors, you’ll probably find one if you look hard enough. I’d rather just sit back and enjoy these terrifying, yet hilarious commercials. I just love the Empire’s fleet of Darth Vader themed 747s — or are those suppose to be B-52s. It’s hard to tell. Read more… Angry Birds Goes Analog
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Jan 11, 2011 in Videogames
It was perhaps the most popular iPhone game of 2010. Even I have to admit that I as hooked after finally deciding to give it a chance, and now it looks like Angry Birds will be moving beyond the digital realm in the form of a table-top game. I would have used the term boardgame, but there’s no board — only blocks, pigs, the birds and the sling you use to launch them. So how could that possibly work? Well, for those of you who are having a difficult time imagining it, check out the video above. Read more… The Perfect Post-Apocalyptic Helmet
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Jan 11, 2011 in Design, Videogames
It’s never easy crafting your own props, let alone attempting to recreate one from scratch. That said, artist Josh Jay did a fantastic job sculpting his very own Brotherhood of Steel power helmet from Fallout 3. That much is impressive, but what’s more is that he actually took the time to document the process through photos, posting several galleries detailing the techniques he used while constructing it. Had he actually taken the time to write out some instructions along with his photos, they’d make a fantastic visual aid. For more photos check out his galleries here and here. Eight Early 80s Overlooked Anime Sci Fi Series
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 10, 2011 in Animation
For Americans the early 80s was a golden age of sci fi with films like Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan, Blade Runner and of course Tron — and most of this was the wonderful geeky aftermath owed a great deal to the financial success of Star Wars. But what many fans today don’t realize is that this was also a golden age of sci fi anime that was going on at the same time. Sadly while some shows like Macross made it to America (as Robotech) there were still quite a few other series from that era that never came over here in a big way. So here’s a quick tour of some of the more obscure gems from that era: Read more… Taiwanese Animators vs. the Sushi Police
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 10, 2011 in Animation
It seems that the animators in Taiwan wanted to take the sushi protectionist movement in Japan to task, so they created this very cute cartoon to illustrate their point: Read more… Candy The Magic Dinosaur
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 10, 2011 in Animation
I’ve seen tons of comedians tackle YouTube, but one trend I’ve started to see more and more of is for animators to take their work to the world: Candy The Magic Dinosaur is a good example of this — it’s done out of the UK by asittingduck and is quite engaging. I realize it’s hard for a non-professional animator to appreciate it, but what you’re looking at is the efforts of one personal (and a few friends) without any real budget. My gut tells me that we’ll see the next Disney, or at the very least the next generation of animators emerge from the web animation scene of today. Game of Thrones’ HBO Premiere Gets Dated
Posted by Michael Sacco on Jan 9, 2011 in Television
A Game of Thrones, the first book in George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series of fantasy novels, is getting its crack at breaking into another media type: television, courtesy of HBO. Sean Bean is even in it, proving that there’s no fantasy series that he can’t improve. And if you want to catch it, you’d better tune your DVR for Sunday, April 17th, because that’s when the series will premiere, according to Entertainment Weekly. Martin himself seems pretty excited about the series, though he notes that fans shouldn’t have unrealistic expectations of the series’ quality: “We don’t have Peter Jackson’s budget!,” he says. Even with that in mind, though, the show looks like it’ll be pretty fancy for a TV fantasy show. Maybe the fanciest ever. Read more… Guess Who’s Returning in The Hobbit?
Posted by Michael Sacco on Jan 9, 2011 in Cinema
Yeah, he looks as surprised as we do up there, but Elijah Wood’s reps have confirmed that he’ll be making a return as Frodo Baggins in the upcoming Hobbit films. Now, bear in mind here that Frodo isn’t actually in The Hobbit (the book) in any capacity; it’s been indicated that he’ll be used as a kind of framing device to introduce Bilbo’s story in the film. If it all pans out, we’ll probably see Frodo and Sam hearing Bilbo’s account from Bilbo himself. I was a little leery about the announcement at first, but the more I think about it, the more I like the idea of seeing the band back together, you know? Read more… Star Wars Finally Coming to Blu-Ray
Posted by Michael Sacco on Jan 8, 2011 in Star Wars
Well, can’t really chalk this one up as a surprise — after all, the movies have been released on pretty much every type of film media ever made — but both Star Wars trilogies are officially on their way to Blu-Ray this September. On top of their presentation in the current-best audio and video formats, the six films will also be packaged with over thirty hours of special features, deleted scenes, and alternate endings, some of which we’ve apparently never seen before. Each trilogy retails for $64.99, or you can get the complete collection for $139.99. If that’s a little rich for your blood, then there’s good news: Amazon has special pre-order pricing, and you can get the whole shebang for $89.99. Search your feelings. You know you want it. Read more… Monsters Director to Helm New Godzilla
Posted by Michael Sacco on Jan 8, 2011 in Cinema
There was news from Comic-Con that Legendary Pictures, the studio behind films like 300 and The Dark Knight, had secured the rights to make a new Godzilla film. They even released a totally awesome piece of concept art for the Big G’s new look, shown above. We haven’t heard any new news since then, though — at least, until now! Variety reports that Gareth Edwards, who directed the successful indie monster flick Monsters, is slated to direct the lizard’s latest outing. Hey, it can’t be any worse than the 90s Godzilla movie we got in the US. Right? Read more… Want a Batman/Superman Movie? Too Bad
Posted by Michael Sacco on Jan 7, 2011 in Cinema, Comic Books
I Am Legend teased it. Fringe teased it. Once upon a time, it seemed like Warner Bros. really wanted to make it. But if you were looking forward to a Batman/Superman team-up movie, you’re in for a disappointment. WB producer Charles Roven stated in an interview recently that there are currently no plans to move forward with a Marvel-style shared film universe for DC Comics properties. With Chris Nolan’s Batman trilogy ending with The Dark Knight Rises and the Harry Potter franchise ending this year, though, the money has to come from somewhere, so it’s possible that the possibility will be reexamined at some point. Read more… Kinect, a Hacker’s Wet Dream?
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Jan 6, 2011 in Tech, Videogames
Since Microsoft’s Kinect hit the market last November, the homebrew community has been hard at work modifying the technology for all sorts of interesting applications. Using open source drivers, developers have created everything from adult-oriented mini-games to musical instruments like a virtual midi drum kit. One such modification makes use of the motion tracking sensors to deliver a 3d shadow puppet show. I’m sure it wasn’t too complicated to devise, but it just goes to show how easily the technology can be adapted for uses outside the gaming environment Microsoft had in mind when creating it. 3D Glasses? Who Needs Them
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Jan 6, 2011 in Tech, Television
Get ready to toss those 3D glasses sooner than you expected. That’s right, Toshiba has announced plans to debut their glasses-free 3D televisions worldwide come April. They’ve already been selling the technology to Japanese vendors since December, however those sets were limited to the 12 to 20 inch range. Instead, the TVs hitting North America in April will reportedly be 40 inches on up — so expect a hefty price tag. |
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As an old time anime fanboy I’ve been pleasantly surprised how NextTV from Taiwan has really knocked it out of the ballpark with their series of computer animated shorts on topical events: But when I took a look at their 
