No, for real this time! Summit, the studio behind tween film behemoth Twilight, is set to distribute the film adaptation of Orson Scott Card’s much-loved sci-fi novel Ender’s Game. Genre fans might worry a bit about the film’s director, X-Men Origins: Wolverine‘s Gavin Hood, but he’s also made some pretty good dramas, so a novel like Ender might actually be a pretty good fit. To assuage other fears, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, two of the dudes behind TV’s Fringe and the Star Trek reboot, are co-producing. Could it be a dynamite combination? Maybe, if this project gets off the ground. Wolfgang Peterson’s 2008 attempt didn’t. Read more…
We’ve known that the upcoming Green Lantern movie is going full-blown crazy in its display of alien Lanterns, as evidenced by its recent WonderCon footage, but the latest poster really exhibits the almost Lucasian variety of alien life. Just offhand, you’ve got yourself a Boodikka, Stel, Abin Sur, Kilowog, Tomar Re, Sinestro, and that looks like R’amey Holl with the butterfly wings. And that isn’t even all of them in this poster! Being a Green Lantern must be like living in the Mos Eisley Cantina every day, you know? Let’s hope all these neat races get their due in the film, which comes out in about a month and a half. Read more…
Posted by Michael Sacco on Apr 29, 2011 in Comic Books
Zack Snyder’s upcoming Superman film, The Man of Steel, is already featuring one familiar villain by way of Michael Shannon’s General Zod, but it looks like another one is waiting in the wings: Variety reports that German actress Antje Traue will be playing Kryptonian brawler Faora. The man-hating martial artist had a number of appearances in Superman canon, including stints in classic Action Comics (where a stymied Superman was forced to flee their first encounter) and even showed up on Smallville, so it’ll be interesting to see how they tie her into the movie’s web of villainy along with Zod. Read more…
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Apr 28, 2011 in Videogames
When Square Enix originally announced plans to produce the first Chaos Rings title, I was excited by the prospect. The intent was create a fully-featured role playing experience that could harness the graphical capabilities of an iDevice. After it launched on the app store a year ago, the game was met with rave reviews and seems to have done well enough for Square Enix to consider not one, but two follow-up projects, the first of which is the upcoming prequel Chaos Rings Omega, which will be hitting the Japanese app store next month.
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Apr 28, 2011 in Videogames
Back in January, fellow fanboy Michael Sacco informed us that Warner Brothers would be adapting Kevin Tancharoen’s Mortal Kombat film pitch as a web-based miniseries. As I’m sure many of you already know, Mortal Kombat: Legacy began “airing” earlier this month. So far, they’re about three episodes in and despite some initial gripes, it’s been getting better and better. The latest episode even features a guest appearance by the game’s creator Ed Boon. While it’s not exactly as gritty as the initial pitch, I still want to see where they plan on taking the series. Who knows, if it proves to be popular enough, we may even see a transition to network television. Read more…
Here’s a fan-made trailer for a non-existent film set in the Tron universe, entitled Tron: Destiny. Not much is known about the clip, but the production quality is pretty spectacular to say the least. The acting is even decent. These fan-produced shorts keep getting prettier and prettier. Not to spoil it, but I’d have to say he did magnificent job of rendering a light-bike, and definitely leaves us wanting more. It’s a shame that nobody has come forward to claim the video yet. But when they do, I expect we’ll find out more about what he may planned. Maybe an actual web series? It worked for Mortal Kombat.
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Apr 27, 2011 in Television
Don’t worry, you can breathe a sigh of relief. According to IGN, the CW has announced plans to renew Supernatural for a seventh season. While I haven’t followed its ratings since series creator Eric Kripke handed the reins to Sera Gamble, it’s nice to know the network has confidence in her performance so far. From what I’ve seen of the sixth season, it’s not terrible, but I can’t honestly call it their best to date. While the episodes have been entertaining, the story arcs have seemed a bit rushed. Then again, Kripke had planned the series three seasons in advance while eventually stretching those plans to fit five. Given the age of the series, I’m not sure Gamble has that liberty. Still, season seven — that’s something.
I’m sure most, if not all of you, may be wondering who Norio Ohga was. A former opera singer, and Sony chairmen, Ohga was credited with developing the compact disc. Unfortunately, he passed away last weekend, but not before leaving a lasting legacy. Ohga led Sony to create what would become the standard for commercial audio and ushered in a new era of technology as a result. Read more…
It’s not as nifty as crafting your own Portal 2-themed Easter egg, but this little crossover video by YouTube user Prefim is pretty cool. The video takes the intro to Mad Men and thrusts it into the world of Portal 2 with some stunning results — it almost seems natural. Within a day of being posted, the video shot to 32,000 views. Impressive, right?
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 25, 2011 in Animation
This wonderfully done infographic is an informal guide to must see anime which I discovered via a topsy.com search.. The one thing I like about this chart is that it admits that it’s subjective and a matter of taste. I’ll also add that as anime is always focused on the latest and the greatest that often the old gems of yesteryear tend to be overlooked in favor of the latest eye candy. Read more…
There are a lot of people that can call themselves an otaku, but branding, up to designing a personal mascot is definitely something that can be done if a person is quite serious about this niche hobby. Meet Otaku Dan, a blogger who I know who has one cool mascot, and interesting blog entries to share. Here are some of his opinions, and thoughts from an email interview. Read more…
Posted by Michael Sacco on Apr 24, 2011 in Videogames
Happy Easter! This turret Easter egg comes to you from Markt022002’s Flickr page. Portal 2 has been (no pun intended) a huge success in the few days since its release; what better game to celebrate Easter with? “Still Alive,” indeed. Now if only I could use some of those portals to get to my aunt’s house for holiday dinner (and then back home again before my uncle starts talking to me about venture capitalism). Read more…
So it’s not just me, then? Even George Takei thinks whitewashing the cast of Akira for the planned US live-action remake is a bad idea? That’s what he tells The Advocate in a recent interview, saying that the film is destined to flop just like The Last Airbender did if it ignores the importance of Japanese culture and history in the story and use all white actors. Takei, a longtime human rights advocate, is probably right; not only would closely following the original film’s Asian characters show respect for the property, it would also do what an all-American cast couldn’t — attract the original film’s fans along with the summer popcorn crowd. Read more…
Well, specifically, Ian Holm is back as Bilbo in The Hobbit. Not for the whole movie, of course! That’s Martin Freeman’s job. But old-Bilbo will be there for bookend sequences, apparently reading his book to Frodo as a way of introducing/closing the story. Peter Jackson was happy to confirm this recently, a move that I’m sure will delight fans of the original trilogy. Heck, I’m all for it, so long as there are no weird, jarring mean-face Bilbo scenes to serve as reminders of what Peter Jackson used to do before Lord of the Rings. Read more…
The Crow is a pretty beloved genre film, not only due to the tragic death of its young star Brandon Lee (son of Bruce Lee) during filming, but also because, hey, it’s a good movie. And like any good movie made in the last thirty years, Hollywood is about to remake it. Or are they? Relativity Media is supposed to handle distribution of the remake, with Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (28 Weeks Later) directing and Bradley Cooper stated to be in the running for the lead, but they appear to have hit a snag. Miramax has filed a lawsuit claiming that they control the film’s distribution rights, a claim that Relativity Media calls “absurd.” Relativity says Miramax is just trying to sabotage production of the film and create bad press. I don’t know. Would that be so bad? Do we really need another Crow? Read more…
Of all of Marvel’s film projects, Thor has stood out as the wildcard. Iron Man grounded itself very firmly in reality (with a dash of science fiction, of course), The Hulk was more a psychodrama than a comic book movie, and Captain America is surrounded by something we can all dig — killing Nazis. Thor, on the other hand, represents the more Jack Kirby side of the Marvel universe; the powerful cosmic forces that exist unbeknownst to the general Earth public. It would’ve been easy to go full cheese mode for this one (hi, Green Lantern), but it looks like director Kenneth Branagh centered the film around the very Shakespearean politics of the god of thunder and his relatives instead. And, according to its 92% rating on Rotten Tomatoes after its Australian premiere, it looks like it worked. You’re up, Cap.
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Apr 21, 2011 in Television
For those of us still waiting for our favorite Trek series to begin streaming this June, Shatner’s TekWar hit Netflix this week. I honestly don’t think it’ll fill the void, but you’re more than welcome to give the series a try. I love Bill Shatner, but sometimes I find myself asking why they let that man direct anything, let alone publish novels. Like The Final Frontier, I’ve found that TekWar serves as a prime example of why the man should never step behind the camera. Read more…
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Apr 21, 2011 in Tech, Videogames
There are plenty of musical genres out there, but none of them so in sync with geek culture as that of chip music. The genre, known for its low-bit sound with roots in the early home computer and gaming scenes, has developed a tight knit scene of artists and fans that span the globe. The idea of creating something beautifully complex out of a set of limitations drives these artists to craft innovative works that inspire their peers. While the internet allows for these artists to communicate and share their creations freely, they’ve been known to congregate on occasion. One such meeting will be taking place next month at the annual New York Blip Festival on May 19th through 21st. The three day event will feature live performances from a number of scene artists, showcasing some of the best talent the scene has to offer. For more information on how to attend, including the complete list of acts set to perform, check out the official website for more information. Read more…
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Apr 20, 2011 in Television
I knew the premiere of HBO’s Game of Thrones, based on the best-selling fantasy novel by George R.R. Martin, would be a hit, but I’m not sure anyone was expecting HBO to announce plans to renew the series for a second season — at least, not so soon. The first episode aired last weekend opposite the NBA playoffs, yet still managed to snag solid ratings with 2.2 million households tuning in for the debut airing. The re-airings that evening captured an additional 1.2 million viewers on top of that. It’s no surprise that HBO would be pleased with the performance, not to mention all the praise the series has garnered in the press. Still, renewing it after only one episode? That’s a lot of confidence, espeically when most shows end up having to wait on pins and needles for that kind of good news. If the series turns out to be as good as the novel, I’m sure the investment will pay off.
While there’s plenty of Star Trek-themed paraphernalia to choose from these days, I haven’t found much in the way of clothes — at least, clothes that I’d find fashionable enough to wear out. Sure, I’m not afraid to admit that I own a replica of Kirk’s tunic from the 2010 film, and one of those nifty Original Series-themed bathrobes, but they’re both a tad costumey. However, on occasion, I come across something that catches my eye like this nifty design by TeeFury artist comic_city. It’d simplistic, yet bold and practically guarantees you a grin from any trekker passing by. Like all TeeFury products, the design will only be available for the next 24 hours and will only cost you $10 plus shipping, so pick yours up today.
We can’t really call it a trailer, but this video’s the latest in a series of teasers for the upcoming Persona 4 anime. Fans of the series have been freaking out since plans for an anime adatption were recently announced, and I really can’t blame them. So far, it’s looking pretty fantastic. Unlike the Persona: Trinity Soul anime which was loosely based on the world of Persona 3, this one will feature the main characters from the fourth installment of the series. It’s probably safe to assume that it’ll follow the plot of Persona 4, so those of us who haven’t already played it may be in luck. If not, you’ll have a nice excuse to pick up a copy. The series is set to air later this fall.Read more…
With San Diego Comic-Con is right around the corner, plenty of retailers are starting to ready their exclusives for this years show. Last week, Sideshow Collectibles unveiled their exclusives for the event, some of which look mighty fine. There’s a G.I Joe 12 inch Cobra Ninja Viper figure, AvP Predator replica mask set featuring three three separate sculpts from the series, a Star Wars Clone Commander 12 inch figure, and finally an Iron Man 2 bust set that feature replicas of the helmets used in the recent film.
Posted by Linda Yau on Apr 18, 2011 in Comic Books
In a time before the iPad, or the streaming wonders of the internet and back in the late 90’s, there was Mixxzine later to be known as Tokyopop. At the end of last week, news broke out regarding about Tokyopop closing shop on American soil. This probably is a shock to many fans, and there are still questions about what would inevitably happen to their unfinished licenses. Things have not been looking great for Tokoyopop this year, so take this closure with a grain of salt. Consider the good and the influence that this company had generated for the field of manga and graphic novels. Read more…
As you can see from all of the nin-dogs surrounding Kakashi, dogs are known as “man’s best friend” — and as such they’re very well represented in anime and manga from Japan. Here’s a list of some of our all time favorites: Read more…
