Terabithia = Giant Tree People!

Disney is working on a new kids fantasy film called ‘A Bridge to Terabithia’, and the latest trailer is now out:

A Bridge to Terabithia

The movie has a sort of ‘Escape to Witch Mountain’ meets ‘Lord of the Rings’ sort of feeling to it, and seems to feature a giant walking tree creature and ogre thrown n for good measure.

Hollywood Set to Ruin Underdog

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007’s Next Mission?

007’s Next Mission Revealed?

“The follow-up to Casino Royale will reportedly be based on the Ian Fleming short story Risico, which appeared in his 1960 book For Your Eyes Only.

“Bosses were so pleased with how well Casino Royale has been received that work has already commenced on Risico at Pinewood Studios,” claimed a source for the British tabloid The Sun. “Some of the same characters will crop up again. But one of the main aspects will be to develop Bond’s complex personality.”

The problem with Risico is that its basic plot and characters was already used for the 1981 film version of For Your Eyes Only. In Fleming’s Risico, 007 is sent to Italy to investigate a heroin ring and crosses paths with the likes of Colombo and Kristatos, both of whom were featured in the Roger Moore movie.”

Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix Trailer

The latest Harry Potter trailer is up for viewing and in this new film there’s an on screen kiss and even some Matrixlike flying around on broomsticks:

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Trailer

Vader Dad

Fan made public service announcement parody:

Star Trek XI set for 2008

J.J. Abrams confirmed to Variety that work is on track to release a proposed 11th Star Trek movie in 2008. Abrams is producing the movie for Paramount and co-writing it. TrekMovie.com, meanwhile, reported that Abrams and Paramount have added Stratton Leopold to the growing list of executive producers for Star Trek XI. On a slightly related note they also report that CBS is think of doing a new animated Star Trek series as well, but it has yet to get the green light.

cereal:geek Magazine

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Choujin Sentai Jetman

If you’re a fan of Gerry Anderson shows like Thunderbirds and the anime show Gatchaman (seen in the States as ‘Battle of the Planets’) you might get a kick out of Choujin Sentai Jetman (鳥人戦隊ジェットマン, Chōjin Sentai Jettoman) which is an early 90s live action TV show from Japan. The title of the show ‘Choujin Sentai Jetman’ translates into English as ‘Birdman Squadron Jetman’. Jetman was produced by Toei Company and Bandai from 1991 to 1992, yet it has a very 70s vibe to it.

Here’s the opening title of the show:

Below: Team Jetman in and out of costume, a Bandai Jetman toy, and the soundtrack CD to the show.

Futurama Interview

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Nickelodeon Swears by Cartoons

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Green Lantern Creator Passes Away

Above: The first comic book to feature the Green Lantern, from July 1940.

Green Lantern Creator Nodell Dies at 91

“Martin Nodell, the creator of Green Lantern, the comic book superhero who uses his magical ring to help him fight crime, has died. He was 91. Nodell was looking for a new idea for a comic book in 1940 when he was waiting for a New York subway and saw a train operator waving a lantern displaying a green light, said Maggie Thompson, senior editor of Comics Buyer’s Guide.

Nodell imagined a young engineer, Alan Scott, a train crash survivor who discovers in the debris an ancient lantern forged from a green meteor. Scott constructs a ring from the lamp that gives him super powers, and becomes a crime fighter.He brought his drawings and story lines to All-American Publications, which later became a part of National Periodical Publications, the company that was to become DC Comics, Thompson said.

The first Green Lantern appearance came in July 1940, an eight-page story in a comic book also featuring other characters. The character then got his own series, and Nodell drew it until 1947 under the name Mart Dellon. After its cancellation in 1949, the series was reborn in 1959 with a revised story line, and it has been revived several times. Meanwhile, Nodell left the comics field for an advertising career. In the 1960s, he was on a design team that helped develop the Pillsbury Doughboy.”

The Ultimate Star Blazers Model

If you grew up with Star Blazers (Space Cruiser Yamato) you’re going to want to own one of these:

1/350 Space Battleship Yamato

“There have been many, many Space Battleship Yamato models – Yamato is, after all, a seminal anime series – but Bandai is really pulling out all the stops for this Yamato extravaganza! This giant 1/350 scale model kit (766mm in length – that’s just over 2 1/2 feet long!) helps you relive the experience of watching Yamato, with all of its drama, romance and adventure.”

The model itself is amazing, everything works! The wave motion gun lights up and you can even launch a Black Tiger spacefighter from a hidden bay, just check out the video:

Hubert Rogers & Astounding Magazine

The University of Massachusetts Amherst Library is hosting an exhibit from December 3, 2006 through January 31, 2007 featuring the art of Hubert Rogers, who painted dozens of covers for Astounding SF from 1939 to 1942 and again from 1947 to 1952:

Hubert Rogers & Astounding Magazine

“Originally from Canada, Rogers found fame as an illustrator in New York. His paintings and drawings appeared in the magazine Astounding Science Fiction at the moment that a group of writers who would become famous and influential around the world began to publish their earliest and most important works. Rogers created both original color paintings which were published on the covers of the magazine and black and white illustrations for the interior pages.

The exhibition will include original oil paintings, sketches and finished pen and ink drawings as well as publisher’s proofs of the color covers for the magazines. Many rare issues of Astounding magazine and other publications will be displayed, as well as books and magazines featuring his inspirational wartime posters and his work as a portraitist.”

Becky and the Red Pandas

In our previous entry we enjoyed clips from “Tensai! Shimura Dobutsu-en” (aka Genius! Shimura Zoo) a Japanese kids show which features a new animal each episode. In this clip our intrepid host Becky moves in with a new set of Pandas, but instead of good old fashioned Giant Panda cubs in this episode she’s hanging out with Red Pandas which look like cute oversized raccoons:

The funny thing is when I last saw some Red Pandas at the Central Park Zoo they were rather shy! I guess Becky knows how to charm ’em.

Spielberg to do Time Travel TV Show

Steven Spielberg is developing as as-yet-unnamed time-travel television series for Fox TV. But the plot looks more like ‘Saving Private Ryan’ than ‘Back to the Future’:

Spielberg takes development role in Fox TV projects

“The untitled show will revolve around two young American physicists in WWII who discover a way to pinch time and travel to the future. They wind up hopping between 2007 and the 1940s in order to aid the war effort — but in the process begin to upset the space-time continuum. Along the way, one of the physicists also enlists a woman in 2007 to help him adjust to culture shock, and the two develop a relationship.”

But will it Sell an MP3 Player?

I recently came across Zune-arts.net a ‘viral website’ designed by Microsoft to sell Zune players. And I have to say that while I haven’t been impressed by the Zune hardware, this website has an amazing collection of interesting animation and artwork! So while I’m not quite ready to recommend buying a Zune, since this site lacks obvious advertising you might want to check it out: Read more…

Wii Decor

Tired of that all white Wii? Well now you can add some Wii wallpaper:

Wii Skins

“To show our love for the Wii, we developed exceptional Wii skins, with maximum coverage and a precision fit to avoid huge gaps between panels. Our premium thin materials cover both sides of the console, so it’s gorgeous in or out of the stand.”

Space Shuttle Launch Photos

There’s a great slideshow of photos of the nighttime Space Shuttle Discovery launch from the New York Times (registration required):

The Night Launching of Discovery

Below: Discovery streaked across the sky above Daytona Beach, Fla., on a mission to rewire the International Space Station.

Metal Slug

This is a very cool online Flash version of the classic run-and-gun game Metal Slug, the only catch is that the instructions are in Chinese! press the middle tab to see the keyboard controls, followed by the second tab to continue, then choose a difficulty level (easy, medium, hard – in that order):

Metal Slug Flash Game

Naruto on the Wii

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Hana-Kimi

The Japanese manga Hana-Kimi has been turned into a live action tv show in Taiwan titled ‘Hua Yang Shao Nian Shao Nu’.

The manga centers on Mizuki Ashiya, a Japanese girl who lives in the United States. One day, she sees a track and field competition on TV, and becomes attracted to one of the competitors. She begins to idolize the young athlete and eventually transfers to Japan to attend the same school. However there’s is a catch, it’s an all-boys high school! So she must disguise herself as a boy to enter the school.

Here’s a trailer for the Taiwanese drama show:

And here’s some artwork of Ashiya Mizuki from the Japanese manga:

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Trailer

The new film sort of has a Batman look to it (oh and try to ignore the G4 dorks at he start of this clip):

Fred Flintstone Sells Cigarettes

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Doc Savage to Hit the Screen

It looks like several pulp fiction heroes from yesteryear like Doc Savage and the Shadow are headed to the silver screen:

Exclusive: Sam Raimi’s Pulp Fiction

“Several pulp heroes of yesteryear will be brought to life on the big-screen courtesy of none other than Dark Man and Spider-Man filmmaker Sam Raimi. The project would unite a number of famous pulp heroes from Street and Smith Publications, which had once been among the top pulp publishers. Characters that we were informed would be included in the film are Doc Savage, The Shadow and The Avenger, and quite possibly other (or all) major Street and Smith characters.”

Below: The December 1941 and the February 1942 issues of Doc Savage.