The Dune remake that was supposed to be headed to theaters may be so much sand in the wind after all. Deadline reports that Frank Herbert’s estate has issued an ultimatum for Paramount to announce production dates for the film by spring 2011 or they’ll lose the Dune license. This is hardly the first trouble the remake has seen — it’s been through two or more directors already, and one iteration was already completely scrapped, as seen in old concept art. If Paramount does end up losing the license, with hundreds of thousands of dollars already paid in optioning and pre-production funds, that money is basically sandworm food. Read more…
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic” goes the old saying, so it only makes sense that Harry Potter and his friends would be able to make an easy transition from contemporary fantasy to hard sci-fi. Kathryn Hudson cooked up this variation on the Potter theme, making Harry and his school pals the crew of the ISS Griffin, fighting against the Slytherin Alliance and the alien lord Voldemort. My only complaint, besides the misspelling of “Ginevra,” is that Ron looks handsome. What the! And an earring? How very un-Weasley. Read more…
Surprising no one, Todd McFarlane’s upcoming Spawn animated series on MTV will continue to be “adults-only programming.” The original Spawn series, which won two Emmy awards, functioned pretty much the same way — lots of violence, gore, language, and sex — so it’s a relief that MTV has essentially given McFarlane free reign to, in his words, “keep doing what I’m doing.” There’s no ETA on the new series, but even with that in mind, it’s a small miracle it’s happening at all, with legal troubles having put new Spawn properties on hold for the past decade. Hopefully this’ll be comeback worth going through hell for. Read more…
Ryan Reynolds’ upcoming superhero flick (well, one of several, anyway), Green Lantern, just had its first preview footage hit the net, courtesy of Entertainment Tonight. In terms of “feel,” it resembles Iron Man, with lighthearted humor on top of action scenes. The footage is a little rough and pixelated (you’ll recall that the first Iron Man clip looked pretty much the same way, and that film turned out okay), but you can still get a good look Hal’s suit with its odd musculature. And devoted fans will immediately recognize Kilowog, Hal’s Green Lantern Corps trainer.
ET has even more footage from the film ready to go for Tuesday’s episode, so keep an eye out after the weekend!
Posted by Michael Sacco on Nov 12, 2010 in Comic Books
I see superhero t-shirts in stores all the time, but they’re usually lacking that certain something, you know? In this case, that “certain something” is “Dr. Doom riding a unicorn,” and thankfully Mighty Fine has me covered in that regard. On top of the truly excellent Dr. Doom shirt shown above, they also have several other gems — Thor in a classic Frazetta Conan pose, Galactus eating Pegasus, and … a whole lot of Squirrel Girl shirts for the ladies. Yeah, I have no idea either, but somehow I can’t look away. Read more…
Legendary producer Dino de Laurentiis passed away yesterday morning at his Los Angeles home. At 91 years old, De Laurentiis had a long and fruitful career — he was responsible for funding and producing several classic genre films, including Barbarella, Dune, Army of Darkness, Conan the Barbarian, and Flash Gordon. Laurentiis was a truly influential individual who will be sorely missed. Read more…
I know all the “cool kids” these days watch Naruto and Bleach, but there are still some of you out there who really appreciate Dragon Ball and Akira Toriyama’s legacy. It seems like it’s been forever, but I can remember a time when obtaining your favorite anime required you to order your fan subs on VHS, and prior to being properly licensed, Dragon Ball was one of those series I scoured the net for. When FUNimation decided to bring over the recently released Dragon Ball Kai, the remastered, filler-free version of the hit series Dragon Ball Z, I was pretty stoked. Read more…
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Nov 11, 2010 in Fandom, Horror
He’s always been a favorite amongst Lovecraft fans, but his cameo in recent episodes of South Park has brought him national attention. Rather than hide your obscure love for Lovecraft lore, you can choose to embrace it, and what better way to do that than with an adorable Cthulu hand puppet. Okay, I’m sure there’s probably better ways to do it, but this hand puppet is pretty killer. He’s made out of a soft ploy-fiber plush, giving you the ability to manipulate the claws and tentacles with ease. I don’t know if owning him will grant you admittance to the enigmatic Cult of Cthulu, but there’s no harm in trying. Head over to Neatoshop to order yours today. Read more…
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Nov 10, 2010 in Tech, Videogames
Hasbro is reportedly developing an accessory that allows users to experience immersive 3D using Apple’s iDevices. The product, known as My3D, requires what the use of binoculars which attach to your iPhone or iPod, allowing you to simulate 3D. Under normal circumstances I’d post the image of the My3D accessory that’s been floating around the net, but seeing as it belongs to AP, who have been more litigious than normal as of late, you’ll have to settle for this lovely image of Nintendo’s Virtual Boy.
It’s a shame that Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World flopped at the box office. It wasn’t a terrible movie, and the entertainment industry as a whole would have benefited from it success. While I can’t build a time machine and take back to the opening weekend, you can do the next best thing and buy a copy of the DVD or Blu-ray that hit stores this week. I’m not sure if they’re planning on throwing this clip in the extras or not, but for whatever reason, director Edgar Wright decided to have the actors film the opening scene with British accents. I thought it was pretty funny even if Michael Cera couldn’t quite pull it off. If you’re curious as to why the video quality isn’t quite up to par, it’s because this test footage was apparently shot with a Lumix. Read more…
When he’s not busy lording over the Imperial fleet, or choking incompetent admirals who fail him for the last time, Darth Vader apparently spends his time hanging out in the Land of the Rising Sun. What’s he do exactly? Market cell-phones, what else. It would seem that he’s at the center of NTT Docomo’s latest ad campaign for Samsung’s Galaxy S smartphone. In case you’re wondering, it’s comparable to the Samsung Fascinate and Captivate in the US, featuring the Android operating system. Even though it’s obvious that he’s just hanging out, I’m still wondering what Darth Vader is up to — maybe someone told him that these were the droids he was looking for. Read more…
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.
