Geek News Roundup - Week Ending May 10
By Great White Snark | May 11, 2008
Every week, I stick my fingers into the dark and varied crevices of the internet tubes to pluck out nuggets of geeky news. Every weekend, I share the gems with you, the fortunate reader.
MOVIES
- Marvel announced its upcoming movie slate, including Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America, and The Avengers.
- Matthew Vaughn (Stardust) is no longer attached to direct the live action adaptation of Thor, set for release on June 4, 2010.
- Meanwhile, Vaughn has completed a screenplay adaptation of Mark Millar’s new Kick Ass comic book series.
- Jonah Hill is no longer in talks to costar in Transformers 2. Meanwhile, Michael Bay denied that Australian Teresa Palmer had been offered a role.
- Images of the complete in-costume cast of G.I. Joe have been revealed.
- Rapper Common has been cast in Terminator 4, which will likely be rated a mild PG-13.
- The latest Dark Knight trailer has been released.
- The next Batman movie will in part be based on content from graphic novels Batman: The Long Halloween
and Batman: Dark Victory
.
- The high-def trailer for Star Wars: The Clone Wars debuted.
- Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean) will direct and produce the film adaptation of the best-selling Bioshock
video game.
- Lionsgate moved up the release of Will Eisner’s The Spirit–written and directed by Frank Miller–to Dec. 25, 2008.
- Creative Artists Agency picked up the rights to the estate of Will Eisner and will push for more movies based on his books.
- MacGyver creator Lee David Zlotoff announced that a big budget MacGyver movie is in the planning stages.
- Screenwriters have already been hired to pen the sequel to this Summer’s upcoming film based on Mark Millar’s comic book mini-series Wanted
.
- Nu Image/Millennium Films has acquired film rights to Buck Rogers, and will produce a live-action film.
- The Donnie Darko sequel S. Darko will begin shooting May 18. Richard Kelly, director of the original, is not involved.
- Brandon Routh (Superman Returns) will star as an investigator drawn into the world of zombies in Dead of Night, adapted from the bestselling Italian comic book series Dylan Dog.
- Ron Perlman (Hellboy) will play the bad guy in the hybrid martial-arts movie Bunraku, which will draw from puppets, origami, comic books, video games and German expressionism.
- James McTeigue (V for Vendetta) will direct Revelation, a thriller about alien abductions.
- Universal is developing The Knights Templar, about knights from the Middle Ages defending the Holy Grail from an invading vampire army.
- Dennis Quaid and Ben Foster will star in sci-fi thriller Pandorum.
- The Creature from the Black Lagoon remake is in motion.
- Lionsgate picked up the rights to the comic book Deal With the Devil and hired writer Kyle Ward to adapt.
TV / DVD
- Seth MacFarlane, creator of Family Guy, signed a $100+ million deal with 20th Century Fox Television.
- Allison Mac, who plays Chloe on Smallville, might be the latest actor to leave the show before next season.
- Both Reaper and Moonlight (ugh) are expected to return next season.
- Bruce Boxleitner (Babylon 5) and Brea Grant (Friday Night Lights) have joined the cast of Heroes. NBC has released a promo for seasons 3.
- Battlestar Galactica prequel Caprica got new casting news: Paula Malcolmson (Trixie on Deadwood) will play the mother of the girl whose likeness provides the mold for the first Cylon, and Esai Morales (Jericho) will portray Joseph Adama, Bill’s dad.
- The hit UK geek series Spaced will finally arrive on DVD in the U.S. on July 22.
- Marvel released a trailer for its upcoming Wolverine and the X-Men cartoon series.
- Marvel announced a new animated series to debut next year, Marvel Super Hero Squad, aimed at 6- to 8-year-olds.
- The South Park: Eleventh Season
DVD set will include three songs for download for the Xbox version of Rock Band.
- Blog@Newsarama has more images from the upcoming Batman - Gotham Knight
anime DVD.
- Marvel’s complete library of cartoons will be released on Region 2 DVD.
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COMICS
- Next week’s Batman #676 will feature a redesigned Batmobile, kicking off the Batman: R.I.P. storyline.
- EW.com has an exclusive first look at five pages from DC’s upcoming Final Crisis.
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art unveiled its new exhibit, “Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy.”
- Veritgo will publish writer Brian Wood’s new limited series DEMO, Volume 2 sometime after June.
- Michael Cho’s blog “Tony Stark: Your Go To Guy!” features tons of sketches of Iron Man from various artists.
Buy Comics at Things From Another World
VIDEO GAMES
- id Software announced Doom 4. No release date set.
- Grand Theft Auto IV
- New gameplay footage debuted from Gears of War 2.
- Activision revealed that we’ll see new installments of Call of Duty and Guitar Hero within the next year.
- There won’t be an annual Tony Hawk title released this year, for the first time since 1999.
- Amazon has sold out
pre-orders ahead of the May 19 launch.
- Killzone 2 got a release date timeframe of February, 2009.
- LucasArts might be the next publisher (after Activision and Vivendi Games) to leave the Entertainment Software Association, producer of the E3 conference. Meanwhile, id Software is uncertain about its attendance this year, and Electronic Arts will attend.
- Atari has been delisted by Nasdaq.
- The upcoming Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe game will feature less “outrageous” (read: bloodless?) finishing moves.
- The new James Bond game Quantum of Solace will feature the Call of Duty 4 engine and launch concurrently with the movie in the Fall.
- Ninja Gaiden 2
can get three costume packs in July from Xbox Live for 200 MS points a pop.
- NPD estimates that online gaming subscriptions in the U.S. total over $1 billion annually.
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Topics: News | 2 Comments »
Retro Snark: The Top Five Geek Icons Who Deserve Action Figures In Their Likenesses
By Great White Snark | May 9, 2008
In just two weeks, Herobuilders.com can create a personalized 12-inch action figure in your likeness… for only $425. Or, if you think of it in another way… for the cost of an original, G1 Optimus Prime, still in its package. In other words, perfectly reasonable. Especially when you consider the finished product, which I think is best described as, “Um, wow, seriously? That’s what I get for my money?”
A service like this exists for exactly one type of situation: When your ego demands a statue of your likeness in every city park, but your wallet only allows a 1/6th-scale plastic figurine with a disproportionately-shaped head.
Let’s face it… there’s no good reason for you to have an action figure version of yourself. Believe me, your kid would much rather have a Red Power Ranger, or whatever bullshit toy from Japan is as hot right now as Power Rangers were ten years ago. (Pokemon? Shake-me-like-a-baby Elmo? I don’t know. Sue me.)
No, Average Schmo, you don’t merit an action figure, but there are plenty of geeks–more famous than you, but not necessarily better-looking–who would have their molded-plastic, fully-articulated likenesses snatched off the shelves by adoring fanboys.
5) Wil Wheaton
The draw here is not in owning a scale model of a former television actor / current bitchy geek-writer. No, thousands of fanboys, including Yours Truly, would love to stage a battle of Star Trek TNG’s doe-eyed Wesley Crusher vs. legions of Imperial Stormtroopers.
Guess whose small, plastic head would end up on a pike on the front of a toy Tie Fighter?
4) Stephen Hawking
I know. This toy wouldn’t exactly put the action in action figure. But every science geek would want to display a Stephen Hawking figure in his lab or cubicle as a show of nerd-cred. And every toy collector would want one for its distinctive accessories; namely, the computerized wheelchair, the funny glasses, and the little, rolled-up map of the galaxy. (C’mon, toy collectors, tell me I’m wrong. You know you want a funky, little plastic wheelchair.)
3) John C. Dvorak
There’s one key to making this cranky tech-pundit’s action figure a best-seller: It needs to be a “talker.” That is, you need to be able to pull a string and have the mini-Dvorak offer the same half-baked, off-the-cuff conjecture and opinions that make its real-life doppelganger such an entertaining blowhard:
Apple should pull the plug on the iPhone
Thus a cloud is rising over OS X and its future unless Apple makes its boldest move ever: turning OS X into an open-source project.
Apple would ditch its own OS for Microsoft Windows
Eric [Schmidt, Google CEO] needs to take his billion dollars and buy a place in Tuscany and spend about six months there telecommuting. Then perhaps he might, maybe, heal. Meanwhile, he’s losing it.
2) Leo Laporte
The appeal for this geeky broadcaster’s figure is purely in its novelty. When was the last time you had a portly action figure? That Gamorean Guard you had when you were eight years old?
1) Steve Jobs and Bill Gates
…with G.I. Joe-style kung fu grip. Equip them with an assortment of scaled replica weapons from Marauder Gun Runners, and you’ve got a true Battle of the Tech Giants. On your coffee table. Whee! Take that, four-eyed purveyor of shoddy operating systems!
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Topics: Toys, Geeks | 2 Comments »
Geek Steal: Buy Two Blu-ray Discs, Get One Free on Amazon
By Great White Snark | May 7, 2008
Amazon loves the owners of Blu-ray players like Brett Ratner loves the lowest common denominator amongst America’s movie-going audience. That is to say: a lot.
For a limited time, you can get three Blu-ray discs for the price of two on Amazon
They’ve got plenty of sweet-ass geek movies that would look great in 1080P, like X-Men - The Last Stand
(Ok, so there’s nothing sweet about the ass on AvP, but it would look great in high-def.)
Check out the entire list of qualifying Blu-ray titles on Amazon
Topics: Steals and Deals | No Comments »
Geeky Curiosity of the Week: The Top Five Awful Yoda Cakes
By Great White Snark | May 7, 2008
Ok, there’s a bit too much mirth and goodwill in the air after last week’s stroke-fest over the Transfomers-themed birthday party.
You know what that means: It’s time to disparage and poke fun at the hard work of some hapless souls. And what better targets than the misguided, cake artisans (cough, cough) who had the temerity to post pictures of their baked creations on the interweb tubes. (Of course, by “baked creations,” I mean, “lopsided, mutant cakes that ride the short bus to cake school.” Or something like that.)
It’s almost as if they want me to victimize them, people. I can hardly be blamed for the the insensitivity and callousness that follows.
5)
Source: feli
“Whoops, this Gremlin cake I baked looks like gimpy crap. Let’s stick a stumpy lightsaber in its hand, call it a Yoda cake, and hope nobody notices.”
4)
Source: Kids and Cakes Etc.
Yeah, I’d be making the emoticon face for consternation, too, if someone modeled my head after a football.
Or maybe Yoda’s frustrated because you’ve imposed some arbitrary 1970s motif on him with that butterfly collar and the floral print. Damn, why don’t you just stick some corduroy bell-bottoms on the revered Jedi Master and call it a day?
3)
Source: xxPunchyxx
When your Yoda has more black lines across his face than Darth Maul and more crags than The Emperor, something has gone awry.
2)
Source: RS Joe
I hate to break it to you, “young Connor,” but there’s a strong chance that Mommy doesn’t love you. Otherwise she would have put some effort into this cake, instead of throwing something together after an afternoon on the couch in front of Oprah with a bottle of wine.
1)
Source: mhaithaca
Oh, where to start. 1) Yoda doesn’t actually look like Telly Savalas with a set of big, pointy ears. 2) Yoda does not play hockey. 3) Yoda definitely didn’t go to your college. Even if your college gave him an honorary degree, Yoda still wouldn’t wear your stupid college’s sweatshirt. Yoda doesn’t pander like that.
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Giveaway: Win the new Indiana Jones - The Adventure Collection - Special Edition DVD Set
By Great White Snark | May 6, 2008
If you haven’t already, check out my review of Indiana Jones - The Adventure Collection
To sign up to win one of three brand-new copies of Indiana Jones - The Adventure Collection:
- If you haven’t already, get an e-mail subscription to Great White Snark. It won’t cost you nuthin’.
- Leave a comment on this post. In the “Mail (will not be published)” field, enter the same e-mail address of your subscription, so I know who you are.
- In the comment, indicate whether you’d rather spend twenty-four hours with a) Short Round from Temple of Doom or b) Sean Connery, as himself.
I’ll randomly select the winners and announce them in an update to this post on May 13, the release date of The Adventure Collection set. I’ll also send updates via my Twitter stream (which you can follow via RSS) and the GWS Facebook page.
Topics: Contests | 8 Comments »
Review: Indiana Jones - The Adventure Collection - Special Edition DVD Set
By Great White Snark | May 6, 2008
So, unless you’re my grandma and you’re looking forward to seeing that new E.T. VHS that everyone in the nursing home has been buzzing about, you know that the next Indiana Jones flick, The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, comes out this Summer on May 22.
Which inevitably means that Paramount will “celebrate” (read: cross-promote) the event by releasing a special edition collection of the first three Indy movies on DVD. Behold: Indiana Jones - The Adventure Collection
Paramount graciously sent me a review copy of the DVD set. As “Special Edition” dictates, the collection overflows with extras. And some of the extras actually merit your attention:
- Introductions. Steven Spielberg and George Lucas talk about their inspirations, thoughts, notes, and approaches for each film. Not that I care what George Lucas has to say. But still… it’s revealing. And all the old behind-the-scenes footage (especially from Raiders) makes the viewing exercise doubly worthwhile.
- Documentaries. Here’s where you’ll find the real value in this edition. Each of these approximately-ten-minute documentaries features loads of behind-the-scenes footage and commentaries from the original players who oversaw some defining aspect of one or more of the Indy films. The creature wranglers who handled the snakes, bugs, and rats. The location planner who reveals where each of the supposedly-exotic locales was actually shot. (Hey, did you know that the canyon where Indy pointed the rocket launcher at the Ark was the same canyon where Jawas carried R2-D2 away?) The special effects designers who “melted” the Nazi face at the end of Raiders.
- Galleries. I enjoyed seeing high-rez still shots of many of the sets and special effects models, plus loads of images of promotional posters from around the world. (It’s nice to see that foreigners have the good sense to appreciate our classic cinema, even if they don’t have the sense to speak American.)
On the other hand, plenty of chaff occupies valuable digital space on these DVDs:
- Indiana Jones - An Appreciation. Appreciation would be one way to put it. Insufferable, self-congratulatory stroke-fest would be another. Ten minutes of Spielberg, Lucas, and the actors from Indy 4 (note that they couldn’t be bothered to gather up any of the other actors from the first three movies) sit around and talk about what a phenomenon the first three movies were. Yes, we know. Also? Shia LeBeouf? Worst. Haircut. Ever. I hope it’s worth it. P.S. Shut up.
- Storyboards. Thanks to this “extra,” you can compare a finished scene with the original storyboards. Guess what? The finished scenes are a lot more interesting, thanks to all the motion and acting and such. (Curiously, the storyboard artist portrayed Karen Allen’s role with cartoonishly huge boobs. Wishful thinking, I guess.)
- Indy’s Women - The American Film Institute Tribute. The leading ladies of the Indy movies sit around with the AFI and talk about their roles. Maybe I’d be more interested if they had their shirts off. Boring.
- Indy’s Friends and Enemies. Spielberg, Lucas, and other producers smugly pat themselves on the collective back for such developing such wonderful characters and for casting such perfect actors. Oh, and then they segue nicely into shamelessly shilling for Indy 4.
- LEGO Indiana Jones video game trailer and demo. Each disc features the very same trailer and demo that will surely be available online around the release date of the DVD set.
Considerable filler material aside, this special edition DVD set does offer several extras that will bring the original Indiana Jones trilogy even nearer and dearer to your heart. The Dolby Digital soundtrack doesn’t hurt, either.
Indiana Jones - The Adventure Collection
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