Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 19, 2011 in Comic Books
Desert Island is a very dangerous comic book shop for me to visit — I always find myself wanting to buy every book that I see in the shop! What makes the store so special is that every inch of it is packed with a wonderful selection of indie comics from all over the world. But in addition to their wonderful selection of books and zines they also have beautiful window display which is a work of art on to its own: Read more…
We haven’t really covered it much, but last month David Yates discussed plans for a potential Doctor Who motion picture. Yates, credited for directing final four installments of the wildly successful Harry Potter film franchise, mentioned his desire to reboot the series from scratch, setting aside the series crafted by Russel T. Davies and Steven Moffat. Though I couldn’t fathom why, Yates insists a reboot would be necessary for Doctor Who‘s transition to a feature film — Moffat doesn’t agree.
This falls into that category of “too cool not to post.” Ever want to see a bunch of Jedi ninjas battle to the death? Well, thanks to directors James Mark, Justin Lovell, you’ll get to. Featuring the martial arts performance squad Team 2X, this awesome short aims to recreate some of the stylized lightsaber combat featured in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. It’s very reminiscent of those over-the-top lightsaber battles from the latest trilogy, but you have to admit those lightsaber duels were probably the best part of the films. Be sure to watch the clip all the way through, as there’s a pretty funny reveal around two minutes and twenty seconds in.
Two new pieces of news are floating around regarding Spike Lee’s remake of Park Chan-Wook’s film Oldboy. While Josh Brolin had been confirmed to be playing the leading man (Dae-su), several other important parts were left un-cast. However now we have two names popping up: Clive Owen is being offered the role of the villain (Woo-jin), and Mia Wasikowska the role of the lead female (Mi-do). I think Clive Owen is a perfect choice, and I love him as an actor. He simply needs more roles to breathe in, and this could be a great part for him. Read more…
Posted by Ben Huber on Dec 18, 2011 in Comic Books
I was always fond of Sam Raimi’s two Spider-Man films (What? Spider-Man 3? Never heard of it), however they had a layer of cheesy fun applied to them. But I liked them for that – they are comic book films after all, must we always be so serious about them? Anyway, the Green Goblin costume in the first film has been discussed to death over the years, but just recently FX company Amalgamated Dynamics released this video of their original makeup test of the first Green Goblin mask. And it’s awesome. Read more…
I love finding beautiful or cool art prints online. There’s always something new and exciting popping up, you just have to keep your eyes open. And I’m glad my eyes caught this poster by Victor Vercesi! He recently created a great custom Star Wars print featuring everyone’s favorite green bounty hunter, Boba Fett. I’m particularly fond of the integrated logo – solid work all around. It’s available on his Society6 page for purchase. Read more…
LEGO has their hands in everything these days. From the immensely popular LEGO Star Wars and Harry Potter lines to Pirates of the Caribbean and Toy Story, they’ve tried their hardest to embed themselves in current pop culture. It’s served them well, especially with the success of the LEGO video games series, which have done a pretty good job of appealing to pretty much everyone. So what’s next? Lord of the Rings, of course! Read more…
A beautiful new art book to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of The Legend of Zelda is surprisingly cool of Nintendo, who hardly ever lets concept art seep outside the confines of their company. This book features 274 pages packed full with content. But in the listing for the book there is a mention of a “historical timeline of Hyrule” being contained in it. Read more…
I was skeptical when a movie adaption of Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter was announced. Sure, it made for a fun book, but let’s face it, so much gets lost in translation when most books hop over to the big screen. I’m honestly surprised this film got much of a budget at all, given how terrified many studios seem to be of new ideas. Why make something original (well, an adaption of something original) when you can churn out another sequel? The answer is simple, I think: vampires. Read more…
It’s a sad day for fans of The Doctor’s latest companions, Amy & Rory. At a Doctor Who press screening in London today, series producer Steven Moffat confirmed our fears when he announced that the Doctor would be moving on next season with a “new friend,” stating “The final days of the ponds are coming.” Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 15, 2011 in Star Trek
This very silly British commercial for National Power must date from at least the early 90s judging by the C+C Music Factory track at the very end. The spot features William Shatner and James Doohan in a transporter mishap: Read more…
In March 2012 Bandai will be releasing the Bravism: Bleach Styling set of Bleach figurines. You can buy them individually or in a pack, and if you’re lucky enough to be in japan on December 17th at the Jump Festa 2012 you can see them in person — but if you can’t make it here’s a preview: Read more…
Here’s some exciting news for all you Whovians out there. BBC Worldwide just announced the first in a new line games planned for home consoles. Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock, currently being developed by Supermassive Games in collaboration with BBC Wales, is set for both the PS3 and Playstation Vita early next year. Not much is known about the plot, but we can expect a completely new adventure featuring the voices of Matt Smith, and Alex Kingston reprising her role as River Song. If you only own an Xbox, don’t worry — the game will also be receiving a PC port. For more info, head over to the official twitter feed and be sure to check out a short teaser after the jump. Read more…
Check out this neat little recreation of the Battle of Hoth from The Empire Strikes Back by youtube user TheToma69. It was crafted using Xbox Live! Arcade’s FortressCraft. I’m sure some of you probably wondering what that is, and the answer is yes, it’s just another MineCraft clone, but it also happens to be the highest grossing indie title on Xbox Live, and I’d say this was pretty good for something built on a home console. Read more…
Much like G.I. Joe: Retaliation, The Expendables 2 is one of those films that has the potential be much better than the first, or just really really bad. However, unlike the one for G.I. Joe, the trailer for The Expendables 2 doesn’t really help its case. It actually starts out promising. Bruce Willis mentions something to Stallone about having to pay back his debt, but that’s it. Suddenly, we’re treated to an impressive list of action stars with some nifty cut-aways and nothing more. There’s something ironic about spending the last 30 seconds of that trailer just list the stars. Then again, after the first film — whose plot could be summed up in one word, “dismal,” — we really shouldn’t expect much. Let’s just hope there’s more to it than a few explosions.
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Dec 13, 2011 in Tech, Videogames
There was a time when I would look at portable gaming with disdain. The products, ranging from Tiger handhelds, to even Nintendo’s GameBoy, always struck me as poorly developed, delivering casual experiences just to kill time. A lot has changed since then and, in recent years, I’ve grown new-found respect for the medium. These days, developers have found ways to offer the deep, immersive experiences that were once exclusive to the consoles and PCs of old. Even some of those classic titles I once held in such high regard have made their way to our smartphones. But what about the ones that haven’t? There’s options.
Earlier today, Machinima gave us the first trailer for the upcoming film,G.I. Joe: Retaliation, and I hate to admit it, but it looks pretty good. Of course, after how terrible the first film was, that’s not much of an achievement. Not surprisingly, those silly, over-the-top, accelerator suits are missing in action, along with The Baroness, previously played by Sienna Miller. Instead, we’ve got Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and Bruce Willis — not a bad trade by any means, but I think I might miss Sienna a bit, even if she didn’t really add much. If the trailer is any indication, expect to see more Byung-hun Lee, and Ray Park, as both ninjas are featured throughout. I find that promising, since they were easily the best thing Rise of Cobra had going for it. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 12, 2011 in Star Trek
Granted that most of us mere mortals who weren’t born in the future can only dream of serving on board the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D, but if you want to get one step closer here’s a 24 hour sound loop of the ambient background sound effect for the Enterprise used in Star Trek: The Next Generation: Read more…
With Christmas around the corner, and no new titles on the horizon, you’re probably wondering what to get your favorite Valve fan. Since you can’t just hand them a new hat for Team Fortress2, try this fantastic collection of comics inspired by Valve’s most recent hits instead. Published by Dark Horse, and featuring the work of veteran comic artist and writer, Michael Avon Oeming, Valve Presents: The Sacrifice and other Steam Powered Stories Vol. 1 boasts over 200 pages of fully-illustrated stories with titles like Team Fortress 2, Left-4-Dead, and Portal — the perfect gift for all those Valve-addicts out there. Seeing as the first-edition hardcover just hit shelves in November, you probably won’t have to worry about them already owning a copy. It retails for just $25 via ThinkGeek, so if you need it in time for the holidays, don’t delay. Just promise me you won’t try to stuff it in a stocking.
I confess, I love Kotobukiya’s bishoujo line. They’re easily collectible, are often equal parts sexy and cute, and for whatever reason, my wife loves them as much as I do. Not only that, but each of these figures are based off a sketch by one of my favorite artists, Shunya Yamashita. Recently, Kotobukiya posted images of their upcoming Storm bishoujo figure, and the fan reaction hasn’t been as positive as one would expect. Read more…
If you’re looking for a bright, cheerful bit of video game pop art to spruce up your office or home, Axel Pfaender has you covered. You may have seen this poster or his 2011 version floating around online already, but now it’s available as a beautifully print offset lithograph. It’s in DIN A1 format (23.4 in x 33.1 in) so it’s pretty big, and surprisingly affordable at €9.50 too. Read more…
It’s a movie poster kind of day it seems, and another addition is The Amazing Spider-Man, being directed by Marc Webb. It looks to be a fun and enjoyable look at Spider-Man, plus I did like Andrew Garfield in The Social Network, so I’m excited to see his work here. A new poster isn’t anything truly groundbreaking, but in this case I have a bone to pick with this one. Hear me out, okay? Read more…
Well have to wait until next Summer to actually see the new Batman film, but here’s a preview of the poster for The Dark Knight Rises which features the tagline “The Legend Ends”: Read more…
