Posted by Tim Sheehy on Jun 29, 2010 in Cinema, Horror
With the upcoming release of Robert Rodriguez’s Predators a little over a week away, many of us have been scouring the net for as much information as we could find regarding the upcoming sequel. It’s a shame that we had to wait so long for a proper sequel to the franchise, but whether or not it’s actually good remains to be seen. I have yet to see any marketing stunts for the film stateside. In Japan, on the other hand, marketing stunts seem to be a near daily ritual, so I wasn’t too surprised when I heard that former sumo grand champion Akinori Asashoryu showed up on stage dressed as a predator to promote the film. In my opinion, he looks pretty awesome, and ridiculous at the same time — I can’t even imagine what Dutch would have done if he was confronted by that. Read more…
Check out this awesome “Super Trooper” graphic t-shirt from the guys over at ThinkGeek. Based on the original stormtrooper helmet, it might seem a bit minimalist, but honestly, wasn’t that sort of the point of stormtroopers in the first place? Sure they were a bit too utilitarian, and seemingly incapable of actually hitting anybody they shot at, but you have to admit their armor looked pretty sharp — not to mention being color-coordinated. Then again, I guess it’s kind of hard to go wrong with black and white, it certainly makes for a great t-shirt at the very least. You can pick one up for roughly $20-21. Click here for more details. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jun 28, 2010 in Animation
Shown above is an ever so cute promotional illustration from the film Welcome to the Space Show in which five kids save the life of an alien space creature who happens to look like a cute doggie. The August issue of the Japanese publication Dengeki Daioh has an entire booklet on the show: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jun 28, 2010 in Animation
This latest trailer has quite a bit more detail than the previous one, and what’s interesting is that the special effects seem pretty darn good (which isn’t always the case with Japanese live action science fiction films). I should also note that the Star Blazers fanboy within me is very happy that they’re staying so true to the original concept. Read more…
These are screenshots from the upcoming K-ON! videogame Tea Time After School and Live which will be released at the end of September in japan for the PSP by Sega. The game will feature the K-ON! characters as 3D models playing popular songs after school — and there will also be a special bonus sticker book as well. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jun 28, 2010 in Comic Books
In the upcoming issue of Deadpool: Wade Wilson’s War #2 which comes out this Wednesday will feature a scene with the King of Pop — or rather a character wearing a Michael Jackson mask as seen above. There’s something a bit morbid about the reference, although I think it’s that offbeat sense of humor that always made me admire Deadpool above other Marvel Comics. I should add that Jason Pearson does a nice job of keeping the action going from page-to-page: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jun 27, 2010 in Comic Books
ArchieComics.com has published a long lost unpublished comic Iron Curtain Caper from the 50s which features the adventures of Archie’s cousin Andy Andrews who is an “ex Ivy league halfback, ex all-American, ex Captain in the United States Army who’s now a reporter for an American foreign news syndicate!” The first thing that I noticed looking at this unpublished comic book from the Cold War era is that the draftsmanship and inking work is amazing. What I also like about the book is that it shows you what a more action hero version of Archie would have looked like. At the end of the day I can see why this series wasn’t published — it was just too far away from the Archie comics brand which was more about romance and humor than action and adventure. But it’s nice to see what might have been. Read more…
A long time ago — well it was really really only a few years ago in 2007 that the post office started decorating postboxes across America by making them cosplay as R2-D2. And it was a cool event and then we thought it was all over, however Heart Art Collection in Japan has decided to make a collectors edition Star Wars R2-D2 Seikai no Post Collection model to celebrate that magical moment. And best of all this isn’t just a model but it also doubles as a piggy bank as well.
With this collection Hello Kitty gets the Mimobot treatment! This series of usb drives which each hold up to 4 gigs features five kitty themed memory sticks: Fun in Fields shown above and Hello Kitty X mimobot, balloon, apple and teddy bear each shown below: Read more…
Everyone loves Creative Commons-shareable webcomic XKCD, whether they’re geeks, nerds, or pretending to be one of them because they acknowledge that geeks and nerds now rule the earth. My personal favorite category of strips, however, are the pranks that the nameless characters of XKCD conduct upon an unsuspecting public. Here are five of the best prank strips. Read more…
Having managed to run the most popular X-Men characters into the ground in a mere four films (“mere” given the sheer volume of characters to make use of), Fox’s X-Men: First Class is starting to look like one of those movies that’s the fourth or fifth flick in a popular movie franchise, where the movie gets released directly to DVD and stars an entirely different (and cheaper) cast than the original. Read more…
A while ago former Apple CEO John Sculley gave an interview in which he confessed to deeply regret his firing of Steve Jobs twenty five years ago. To many it seems obvious that Jobs should have been running the company just as Bill Gates did with Microsoft. However I think Sculley firing Steve Jobs was in fact the best thing that he could have ever done for Apple, and perhaps the entire computer industry. Read more…
Apparently tired of their own boring and ubiquitous banner ads, Ancestry.com decided to try a more novel approach to publicity, more in the time-honored tradition of tabloids and Perez Hilton: release interesting information about celebrities. Rather than go about peeping in windows, however, Ancestry.com used its own database to discover that Robert Pattinson, aka “that guy who plays the vampire in Twilight, the book/movie franchise designed to sexually arouse 13-year-old girls,” is in fact related to Vlad Tepes, aka Vlad the Impaler, aka Bram Stoker’s inspiration for Dracula.
The funny part, of course, being that anyone who has the slightest understanding of genealogy or of how long ago ol’ Vladdie lived knows that you might be too! Read more…
I’ve been thinking a lot about those often (and not unfairly) maligned films known collectively as the Star Wars prequels– episode I (The Phantom Menace), episode II (Attack of the Clones), and episode III (Revenge of the Sith) –due to the subject coming up in a couple of interviews, and I’ve been thinking about the anger and hatred George Lucas receives from a particular set of Star Wars fans. Here’s why he doesn’t deserve it…kind of. Read more…
I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for Raiders of the Lost Ark, after all, it was the film that introduced us all to one of the most beloved action heroes of all time. I have to admit, it’s been some time since I’ve seen the film but several of the scenes have stuck with me to this day. Of course, there was the swapping of the golden idol for a bag of sand, and the pit of snakes, but more than anything, the image of a nazi’s face melting upon gazing at the contents of one very swank looking ark. It might not be the full-sized model, but this 1/4th scale replica of the Ark of the Covenant looks just as swank as the prop from the film. It’s a bit expensive, coming in at a hefty $249.99, but the details on the ark itself are immaculate. Sideshow Collectibles started taking pre-orders today through their official newsletter, but I can only imagine that they’ll be opening the pre-orders up to everyone else in due time. You’ll want to keep an eye on their website for additional information. In the meantime, you can sign up for the newsletter here.
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Jun 24, 2010 in Videogames
Back in 2006, Clover Studios developed one of the most innovative and beautiful titles to have ever graced to the Playstation 2 — Okami. The studio, who had been funded by Capcom Japan, had been riding off the success of their Viewtiful Joe franchise. While their previous games had featured similar cell-shaded graphics, Okami received crtical acclaim for its combination of beautifully rendered visuals and innovative gameplay. Unfortunately the game failed to sell and ended up being a contributing factor in the studio’s subsequent dissolution at the hands of Capcom’s board of directors the following year. As a result many fans who had enjoyed the game were left wondering if a sequel would ever be possible. Read more…
I wasn’t sure what I should title this post, but I was toying with the idea of calling it Abercrombie and Sith. I’m sure some of you are staring at these fantastic water-colored illustrations and wondering what exactly you’re staring at. Believe me when I say that I’m still kind of wondering about it myself. The various illustrations feature a variety of masked villains from the Star Wars Universe — and Jar Jar, regrettably — posing in designer clothing from labels like Viktor & Rolf, A.P.C., Band of Outsiders, Thom Browne. New York and more. The artist responsible, John Woo, not to be confused with the film maker, is actually quite a talented guy. If you want to check out more of his work — and trust me, you do — visit his website. Read more…
We’ll probably never have the opportunity to travel back in time to visit the sets of our favorite Sci-Fi movies and TV shows. However, thanks fanboys like Industrial Light and Magic’s Bill George — who, by the way, has a number of major film credits that including six Star Trek and two Star Wars films — many of the ships and models from those classic series have finally found a home of sorts. George has spent the last several years building a website, the Sci-Fi Airshow, which preserves many of the vehicles and ships designed over the years using a combination of digital photography and photoshop. In addition to some fantastic images, he provides semi-fictional accounts of the whereabouts of each ship since their Hollywood debut. Some of the ships to have been featured include Battlestar Galactica’s Viper and transport shuttle, and 2001: A Space Odyssey’s Orion space plane. Check out the his site for more information, and if you’d like, you can follow his group on Facebook. Read more…
It might not be the classiest umbrella I’ve ever seen, but it’s certainly one of the coolest. This samurai “busho” umbrella features a designed based on the armor and weapon carried by Kanetsugu Naoe, a famous samurai during Japan’s often romanticized Sengoku era. As you can see from in picture above, the Umbrella’s handle is actually a replica of the hilt from Kanetsugu’s blade and the umbrella itself is lined with his family crest. Personally, I could probably see myself taking one of these along with me to Baltimore next month. I usually attend Otakon each year, and I can’t remember a time when it hasn’t rained for at least one day. If you’re interested in picking one of these up, you can head over J-List and order one for roughly $34 plus shipping. Read more…
Last week, famed comic-artist and illustrator Al Williamson passed away at the age of 79. I do find it difficult to sum up my feelings regarding his passing, but perhaps I can provide some perspective for those of you who may not already be familiar with the man. As both an artist and inker, Williamson’s work meant a great deal to both readers and fellow artists alike, and I feel it’s safe to say it has had a tremendous impact on comics as we know them today.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jun 21, 2010 in Comic Books
I’m always knocked out when ever I see a cover by Felipe Smith! Shown above is a cover from his latest manga which combines an vivid color palette of pinks, yellow and lime green with some very dynamic draftsmanship and composition. Smith of course is an America living in Japan, but I dare say that he’s really earned the right to use the term manga to describe his work.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jun 21, 2010 in Comic Books
Liquid City, Volume 2 looks like a must read item if you call yourself any kind of manga fanboy (or fangurl). This second volume in the series is due out at the end of September and features the work of a collection of artists from Southeast Asia. The beautiful cover shown above is by Shelly Wan and the book features work by Lat, Sonny Liew, Miel and Charlene Chua: Read more…
Actually that’s not a actual dustbuster but in fact a replica of phaser from Star Trek: The Next Generation. While the show had a loyal fan base that’s still active till this day the industrial design of the series wasn’t always that imaginative and had many trappings of the decade. So of course in the politically correct depiction of the future a phaser couldn’t look like a good old fashioned handgun, and thus the phasers from the series earned their infamous dustbuster monikers. Of course this is no mere dustbuster but a collectable prop which will set you back about $500.
A while ago former Apple CEO John Sculley 
