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The Li’l Depressed Boy Looks Uplifting
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 30, 2010 in Comic Books
I’m really excited about The Li’l Depressed Boy #1 for two reasons: First it’s just nice to see a book that looks different and secondly this comic is yet another example of how a web comic can become “discovered” and make its way to print. Featuring a story by S. Steven Struble and art by Sina Grace this book will be coming out in February 9th, 2011. Read more… I Wanna Introduce You to a Personal Friend of Mine
So you want to be a bald space marine? If that’s the case, you’ll need one of these — that, and the $900 it’ll cost you to buy it. Sounds like a bit much, but when it comes to faithful replicas of our favorite hollywood props, it usually is. This particular prop happens to be a replica of the M41-A pulse rifle from the sci-fi classic Aliens. Of course, you won’t stand a chance against a real alien, let alone one that bleeds acid, but at least you’d look pretty awesome carrying one of these around. Weighing in at a solid 15 pounds, it features a collapsible shoulder stock, pump action underbarrel, and a working LCD ammo display that requires some AA batteries. You’d think for $900 they’d make it a lithium battery, but I guess that’d be asking too much. At least it comes with a nice mount and plaque for when you’re done playing with it. If you’re crazy enough to drop the cash for this, ThinkGeek currently has them in stock. No Rest For The Wicked; Supernatural the Animation Official TrailerLast week I posted some of the character sheets from the upcoming Supernatural anime. While I liked the designs, I wasn’t quite sure how well they’d translate to the animation. Thankfully, there’s a short trailer that’ll illustrate it for us. Again, the series will be covering the first two seasons of its American live-action counterpart, and follows the story of two brothers bent on revenge against the demon responsible for their mother’s death. While the trailer has me a little worried — the animation certainly isn’t the best I’ve seen — they seem to have hit everything else about the show on the mark. Needless to say, I’m still excited and I’m looking forward to seeing what Madhouse and Warner Brothers have in store for us when the series hits shelves next year. Coco Gets a Hello Kitty Makeover
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 29, 2010 in Fandom
I love this! Illustrator Steve Dressler gives Conan O’Brien the Hello Kitty treatment. Read more… Mixi Makes Manga New Year’s Cards
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 29, 2010 in Comic Books, Tech
Pity us poor anime and manga fans who have to settle for mere Facebook for in Japan the social media service Mixi will be rolling out a series of premium manga themed new year’s cards for 2011. Included in the series is Nodame Cantabile (shown above) and Moyashimon (shown below). By the way sadly for us Gaijin signing up Mixi requires a Japanese cell phone. We’ll Miss You Leslie Nielsen
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 29, 2010 in Cinema
I was saddened to hear that Leslie Nielsen had passed away: While he was a brilliant comedic actor being a sci fi fanboy I’ve always loved his work in the 1956 film Forbidden Planet. Even fifty years later the craftsmanship on this film is quite amazing even if the special effects are no longer cutting edge. In fact I’d also dare say that in may ways Nielsen helped pave the way for Star Trek which hit television a bit over a decade later. Read more… 7 Ways That Windows Mobile 7 Could Win
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 29, 2010 in Tech
We tend to forget just how quickly things can change in the tech world. For example once upon a time Palm was a dominant player in the space, and by all rights they should still be there. What happened? Well you can blame it on any number of things (poor engineering, marketing, cash flow, etc.) but the reality is that it comes down to good old fashioned hubris. Read more… 4×4 Pixels Simplifies Your Favorite Heroes
When a character is ingrained in our heads well enough, we can recognize their color and shape even after they’ve been simplified many times over. 4×4 Pixels is out to prove this, with a growing gallery of 16-pixel renditions of pop culture heroes, like Legend of Zelda’s Link, shown above. I personally loved their interpretation of Jaws (yes, the shark) and Chewbacca — both instantly recognizable despite being little more than blocks of color. It really is amazing the gaps that our brain can fill. Read more… Gene Roddenberry Defends the Star Trek Pilot
Posted by Michael Sacco on Nov 28, 2010 in Star Trek
Prior to the original Star Trek series, there were never any real science fiction hits on television, or any kind of science fiction television, for that matter. Gene Roddenberry, the show’s creator, seemed to to understand the unique position that he was in as possibly spearheading the mainstreaming of sci-fi, and that’s clearly indicated in this letter unearthed by Letters of Note. In it, Roddenberry instructs his sales agent, who was in charge of pitching the Trek pilot to networks, not to make concessions or adjustments that would compromise the creative vision of the show. It’s almost alarming how candid he is in this letter; as he puts it, “Maybe it’s catharsis. But I think it’s more.” It certainly was. He was successful, though in a roundabout way — NBC rejected the first pilot, “The Cage,” but immediately requested a second pilot. This was the famous “Where No Man Has Gone Before” that kicked off the series right. Read more… Star Wars Mice! What Else is There to Say?
Posted by Michael Sacco on Nov 27, 2010 in Star Wars
House of Mouse on Etsy created these incredibly adorable Star Wars mice, in varieties including the above Chewbacca, Stormtroopers, Boba Fett, Vader, and even C3PO! They even manage to make Jabba disarmingly cute. Of course, Chewbacca wins out a little here, having been huggable in the first place. Look at that fuzzy mug and tell me that you wouldn’t let the wookiee win. Read more… Is the Next Batman Movie Bale’s Last?
Posted by Michael Sacco on Nov 27, 2010 in Cinema, Comic Books
Though it’s no great surprise to people who’ve been following the development of the past two Batman films, Christian Bale recently admitted that unless Chris Nolan tells him otherwise, the upcoming Dark Knight Rises will be his last Batman film. The statement does make sense — Bale is only contractually obligated to star in three Batman movies, and he’s said several times that he’d only star if Nolan was at the helm. He does leave some wiggle room, though; Nolan could very well decide to do another Batman film, and Bale could likely be convinced if that was the case. Read more… 77 Superheroes Reduced to Rectangles
Posted by Michael Sacco on Nov 26, 2010 in Comic Books
Fabian Glez created these 77 rectangles, each of them representing a superhero with a bare minimum of detail. How many of them can you identify? If you can’t figure them all out, Fabian has a cheat sheet on his Flickr page. Prints of the work are available if you’d like to make your wall minimally super. Read more… The Thing Prequel Gets Dated (Again)
The prequel film to John Carpenter’s The Thing was originally slated for an April 2011 release, but it just got bumped from that slot thanks to some reshoots. Thankfully, Universal decided not to just give up on the film entirely — it’s set to be released October 14th, 2011. Just in time for Halloween! Carpenter’s original film is a tense, claustrophobic horror classic, and the fact that the prequel is being handled by another director gives me cause for concern, but honestly I’m a little surprised it got made at all. Maybe there’s something here after all — and with a year until the release date, there’s enough time for the film to shapeshift into something compelling. Read more… The Supernatural Anime is Looking Scary Cool
It’s been months since this was officially announced, but I recently stumbled across what appears to be some of the original character sketches from the upcoming anime based on the hit show Supernatural. Like the series, the anime will feature the story of the Winchester brothers and will consist of twenty four episodes which will feature the same story arcs from the first two seasons — namely their quest to find their father and avenge the death of their late mother. The first twelve episodes will go on sale in Japan in early January, and while there’s been no word on if Supernatural: The Animation will be licensed for distribution stateside, I imagine it won’t be long before someone does — if not Warner Brothers themselves. Family Guy It’s a Trap Official Trailer
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Nov 25, 2010 in Star Wars, Television
Given the amount of time that passed between the previous installments of the Famliy Guy/Star Wars trilogy, I expected to be waiting until next season for the third and final episode. Family Guy: It’s a Trap, a reference to Admiral Ackbar’s most memorable quote. I’m impressed with the short turn-around, but I hope the episode doesn’t suffer as a result. I really enjoyed the previous two, Blue Harvest moreso, but I get the impression that someone was either holding an Imperial blaster rifle to the writing staff’s heads — either that or using thermal detonators. No word on when the episode will see a DVD or Blu-Ray release, but you can download the episode from iTunes on December 21st. Finally, Something That’ll Tell Me What a Jelly Baby is
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Nov 24, 2010 in Dr. Who
There are those of us out there, myself included, who haven’t watched a single episode of Doctor Who. I know, blasphemy, right? It’s not that we don’t want to watch it — okay, some of us just don’t want to — but the series has been running for over a quarter of a century. I honestly wouldn’t even know where to begin, and please don’t tell me we would have to watch them all because I’m sure most of you would agree that’s simply unrealistic. Maybe this little gem might be able to help us figure it all out. Doctor Who: The Visual Dictionary, a visual reference guide to everything a Whovian would want to know. I’m sure it’s not the most comprehensive guide, it seems pretty straight forward and might serve as a decent introduction to the series itself. ThinkGeek currently has it in stock for $25, though ordering it through Amazon can save you nearly $8 on top of that. Harry Potter and the Accent of Freedom
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Nov 24, 2010 in Cinema
The other week, we showed you Michael Cera and the cast of Scott Pilgrim vs The World attempting British accents. They weren’t so bad with the exception of Cera, but then again, it’s a difficult accent to master. This time, however, the shoe’s on the other foot as Daniel Radcliffe and the cast of Harry Potter try their hands at an American accent. Being American, I couldn’t imagine our accent is so difficult to emulate, especially when I listen to actors like Hugh Laurie pull it off with such ease — that was, until I saw this clip. Of all his castmates, the only one who had me convinced was Rupert Gint, but Tom Felton wasn’t so bad either. Emma Watson, who I thought would have it in the bad, seemed to struggle the most. In case you live under a rock, and haven’t seen it,or read it already, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1 hit theaters last week. Light Bright-esque Mario Brothers Pixel Art
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Nov 23, 2010 in Videogames
I’ve always been fond of pixel art, but I’ve never had the time to sit down and create some. I’ve always seen it as incredibly tedious, requiring a lot of precision and attention to detail. Of course, one could argue that it’s no different than playing with Lego blocks, but I beg to differ. Lego has always been, at least for me, a tangible experience. Well, it looks like someone decided to give pixel art some tangibility. J-List recently listed these sweet Super Mario Brothers pixel-art kits. How do they work? Instead of building blocks, you’re snapping them in place. like pins in a Light Bright — or so the product claims. It sounds neat, especially considering you can use the blocks to create the patterns provided, or whatever you feel like. You still have to import the product from Japan, but at $14, it might be worth the price of shipping. Even Vulcans Show School Spirit
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Nov 23, 2010 in Star Trek
It’s not really the 22nd century, and I doubt anyone would buy a degree in Xenolinguistics, but there’s no reason you can’t dress the part. Recently CBS Studios opened their very own Starfleet Academy store, which carries pretty much everything you can think of — from the ever-popular Red Shirt cologne, to vanity license plate frames. They have plenty of t-shirts with fictional institute’s logos, but given the season, I thought maybe you’d be more interested in a hoodie. Adorned with block lettering, this one simply reads Starfleet Academy MMCLXI — in case you’re still wondering, that’s 2161 — and comes in two colors, grey and navy blue. Personally, I’d choose the latter. The hoodie is probably trekkie enough to get noticed, but still cool enough to wear in a casual setting. Best of all, it’s slightly more fashionable than the fleece vests they’re selling. Currently, they’re going for roughly $49 each. Read more… Kawaii Critters for Your Fridge
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 22, 2010 in Tech
It’s the old classic problem: How do you keep your family from opening the fridge door all the time and wasting valuable electricity? Well Fridgezoo is here to help! These cute little characters which are shaped like mini milk cartons sense when you are opening the door of your refrigerator and then greet you in Japanese; and then if you leave the door open for too long they ask you to close it. The manufacturer claims that these critters are good for the environment, although I think the practical gag possibilities are much more entertaining: Read more… Meet Jean Bartik, a Computer Programmer from the 1940s!
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 22, 2010 in Tech
This amazing video clip below features Jean Bartik who was one of the first generation of computer programmers from the 1940s. Her first job was working on the ENIAC computer in 1945: Read more… Aaron Renier Floats an Unsinkable Pirate Tale
Posted by Guest Author on Nov 22, 2010 in Comic Books
The Unsinkable Walker Bean by Aaron Renier Walker is a boy, who is suddenly thrown into the middle of returning a cursed skull to an already cursed pair of Merwitch Sister Monsters. Everyone still wants the skull though, so Walker has to escape or out trick them. Read more… Karl Urban Looks Dreddful
Posted by Michael Sacco on Nov 21, 2010 in Cinema, Comic Books
The upcoming Judge Dredd remake, spartanly titled Dredd, has just started filming, but a set photo of Karl Urban as the titular ass-kicker has already leaked, giving us a sneak peek at his costume. Thankfully, it looks like very few liberties have been taken with Dredd’s getup, and it looks slightly more gritty than the version used in Stallone’s terrible take on the character. Urban has done pretty well in the other genre pieces he’s been in, sometimes in spite of the subject matter, so it’ll be interesting to see how we judge this Dredd. Read more… Fox Moves Fringe to a Parallel Timeslot
Posted by Michael Sacco on Nov 21, 2010 in Television
Fox’s dimension-hopping sci-fi drama, Fringe, took its time to get good, but by golly did it get good. Unfortunately, its ratings haven’t been up to par — it’s in a difficult timeslot, competing with shows like CSI Thursdays at 9 PM. Well, the good news is that it won’t have much competition anymore. The bad news is that it’s because it’s being moved to Friday at 9 PM instead. This timeslot is colloquially referred to as the “Friday Night Death Slot,” where dozens of other shows — usually genre shows, at that — have gone to die. So is there any good news? Actually, yes — Fringe’s grand-daddy The X-Files lived a good long life Fridays at 9, so if you care about it, make sure you watch it at its new time, or it’s bye-bye Fringe Division. Read more… |
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