He’s superpowered! He’s weird-looking! He’s completely insane! He’s Deadpool, and his movie may finally have a director. The LA Times reports that Tim Miller, a visual effects wunderkind, has been given his first shot at the director’s chair for Deadpool. Miller, perhaps most well-known for this visual effects work in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, is the latest in a long line of possible Deadpool directors, including Robert Rodriguez and Adam Berg. Ryan Reynolds, who despite his busy schedule is still attached to the project, had high praise for the film’s fourth-wall-breaking script several months back. If you’re concerned about the choice of director, just remember that Zack Snyder directed commercials before he directed comic book movies. Take that how you will. Read more…
It’s been hinted at for a while, but now we can finally confirm that Hawkeye makes an appearance in the Thor movie via this puzzlingly context-free clip from Marvel. Why’s the dude just hangin’ out on the crane? Why doesn’t he shoot Thor? Does he shoot Thor after the clip ends? Why is this fight scene so important? I probably shouldn’t be so glib. They’re obviously just trying to toss us a little Avengers bone here, get the ol’ word-of-mouth machine rolling to get people hyped. It’s working! By the way, if you missed Hawkeye, he’s at about 24 seconds in, and shows for less than a second. Hopefully he’ll be in the full film for a little bit longer.
Cosplay isn’t a new phenomenon — for pretty much as long as there’s been fandom, there’s been cosplay. These retro cosplay photos, posted on 4chan’s cosplay board, prove it! We’ve compiled the best here for your perusal, from events ranging from WonderCon to WorldCon from the 70s to the 80s. You’ll notice some patterns — Red Sonja was a very popular cosplay choice for ladies back then, and Vulcans and Elric of Melnibone were popular for men. You can even see cosplay mainstays like Orion slave girls. It’s almost comforting to know that people have been dressing themselves up like fantasy and scifi characters for this long — it means that there have always been incredibly nerdy people in the world. Read more…
Those of you who were waiting for the various Star Trek television series to hit Netflix this month will be disappointed to know that they’ll have to wait a little longer. Trek Movie recently confirmed that the original series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star TrekVoyager and Enterprise won’t be available for instant streaming until July 1st. Deep Space Nine fans will have to wait till October. Why? Don’t ask me — the wait seems rather arbitrary, but I’m sure there’s a reason. Unfortunately, most of these series won’t be available in HD. Enterprise was shot more recently, and the original series has also been remastered, so both of those will be.
With its simplistic controls and straight-forward gameplay, the original Pac-Man has cemented itself in many of our hearts. We’ve seen several attempts at Pac-Man platformers in the past, most recently with the Pac-Man World series, and so far none have really captured the charm of the arcade classic. Namco is looking to give it one more try with their latest Pac-Man title, Pac’N-Jump for the iOS. Read more…
When it comes to PVC figurines, Yamato Co. is among Japan’s best. It’s no wonder that famed-artist Luis Royo trusts them to produce these stunning PVC recreations based on his art. Many of you may recognize Royo’s work from the covers of the 90’s Pocket Books Star Trek novels, Ultra X-Men, Heavy Metal magazine and more. In order to accurately capture the unique aspects of his dark, wonderous, and often exotic creations, few studios would be able to produce a sculpt with such detail, and Yamato certainly fits that bill.
Hallmark’s official Star Wars Darth Vader pinata is quite possibly the coolest pinata money can buy. It’s not quite the Deathstar, but you’d have to make one yourself. This bad boy measures 10.5 inches in width and hight while being nearly a foot deep — plenty of room for candy. If, on the other hand, you want to pull a fast one on your friend, you might be able to hide his picture behind the mask to freak him out when he knocks it open just to freak him out a little. Worked for Yoda, didn’t it? The pinata should run you about $22 on Amazon and comes packed with safety strings in case you’re not fond of swinging a lightsaber around. Read more…
If you want a blast from the past, the official Star Blazers website has posted scans of the original Star Blazers fanzine from the early 80’s. Over 30 years ago, our Fanboy.com founder Michael Pinto started the fanzine in an attempt to see the series renewed after networks had dropped the show in New York. With the series returning to television later this month, these newsletters give us an opportunity to see the passion that fuled Star Blazers’ fandom. It’s a shame that they’ve had to wait three decades, but for those of us who were late to that party, we’ll be able to catch the series the second time around when it airs on SyFy starting April 21st.
Unlike The Book of Mormon, Predator isn’t quite broadway material. However, if someone told me Schwarzenegger planned on making one, I’d be there any way. Rather than waiting for that fantasy to come true, we can settle for the Kaplan brothers’ latest musical parody — and, regrettably, the final one featuring Arnold — Predator: the Musical. Like their previous videos, some of which are pretty fantastic, we’re treated to a cast of impersonators singing along to a pretty convincing soundalike of the actual score for the film. Even if you’re not fond of musicals, you’ll probably end up loving it.
So you want a fanboy friendly Broadway musical? Well the South Park crew could pull off what Bono and marvel never could — an amazing geek friendly Broadway musical which is the best I’ve seen since Monty Python’s Spamalot. In addition to musical numbers that made me laugh so hard that I had problems breathing there were numerous fully costumed references to Star Wars, Star Trek AND the Lord of the Rings! Also the Disney fan in me loved the never ending mocking of The Lion King. My guess is that this show will be sold out for eons, but if you have a chance to get your hands on tickets grab them right away. Read more…
Twitter as a social medium, is conversation or line of thoughts in 140 characters or less. It has taken the world by storm, since its inception in 2006. In this past year, it has made its availability to other countries, creating a global community. Twitter has become a valuable tool in communication for Japan crisis awareness to other parts of the world. When nearly all lines of normal communication became compromised, Twitter was useful with just a cell phone or a computer, and an internet connection. There currently is a #quakebook that has began, because of Twitter. Read more…
CLAMP as manga creators has had phenomenal success and a large following of anime and manga fans around the world. For some fans, their passion with the Japanese animation began with watching a CLAMP title. CLAMP works did have origins in manga though. As a team of female mangaka/creator, they began during the 1980’s as a doujinshi/comic group. They are still currently actively with creating more series that is bound to be picked up by American publishers. Dark Horse has been acquiring and re-publishing some of their works in omnibuses. Read more…
Play Pac-Man, apparently! Among several other surreal activities, as captured by photographer Thurston Roscoe. How he managed to fool action figures of normally quite astute characters with a rudimentary hidden camera is a mystery, but I think the discovery speaks for itself. Who knew He-Man was so good at arcade games? And who knew Uhura was into Eternians? These photos will undoubtedly help us further human-figure relations for decades to come. Read more…
Warner Bros. has admitted that the original Green Lantern trailer was underwhelming at best, so they’ve vowed to provide the public with only the coolest material from the movie from here on in. And, I’ve got to say, based on the above footage shown at WonderCon, there might be hope for this movie yet. Check out all those awesome alien lanterns! And Mark Strong is a pretty great live-action Sinestro if ever I’ve seen one (I haven’t, mind you). Guess we’ll all know for sure in a few months! Read more…
William Stanhope, a schoolteacher, wrote venerable sci-fi author Ray Bradbury in 1991 asking him to describe an obstacle he had faced in his lifetime and how he overcame it. Bradbury eventually replied, and his response is recorded in this letter now being auctioned by RR Auction. Bradbury describes the moment when he destroyed his Buck Rogers comic strips after a classmate made fun of him, and his realization that his interests helped enrich his life. His resolution? Collect more Buck Rogers, of course! His advice, “love what YOU love,” is great for just about anybody, not just schoolkids or sci-fi fans. Me, I’d do pretty much anything Ray Bradbury told me to do. As long as it wasn’t burning books. Read more…
Posted by Michael Sacco on Apr 2, 2011 in Television
You might know Cinemax (or “Skinemax,” in the vernacular) for a lot of things, but original series aren’t one of them, especially original sci-fi series being helmed by Ridley Scott. As part of the channel’s plan to rebrand as a hub for male-oriented television and movies, Cinemax is teaming up with Scott to produce The Sector, a one-hour drama that’s being called a spiritual successor to Blade Runner. In fact, the plot — about a cop that tracks down either androids or genetically-enhanced humans, depending on who you ask — is almost identical to Blade Runner. But you don’t see me complaining about that! Read more…
Okay, so Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen wasn’t very good. Even Michael Bay, the film’s own director, thinks so. He’s promised that the third film in the Transformers series, The Dark of the Moon, will be heaps better, and he appears to be following through on that promise by adding the one thing sure to draw nerds to a film: the venerable Leonard Nimoy. Nimoy will be lending his voice to the pre-Optimus leader of the Autobots, Sentinel Prime, whose remains are discovered on the moon in the film. This isn’t Nimoy’s first foray into the Transformers universe, either; diligent fans will recall that he was the voice of Galvatron in the Transformers movie of old. Read more…
Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t Romulan Ale suppose to be alcoholic? I thought as much — which is why I’ve found myself wondering why anyone would ever consider making it an energy drink. Maybe someone thought blueberry soda would be a great idea and realized it actually tastes pretty nasty so they upped the caffine and slapped the term “energy drink” on it. That’s one theory, at least. The last time I had something claiming to be Romulan Ale, it was actually German beer with some food blue coloring — not the best beer I’ve ever had, but the novelty was certainly there. Any way, if you’re interested in trying some, ThinkGeek is selling a six-pack for $15. Expensive, right?
It would appear that NBC’s Wonder Woman has had an official wardrobe change. Apparently, enough people complained about the bright blue vinyl to make a difference. In addition to ditching the shiny pants in favor of a darker spandex, it looks as though they’ve decided to do away with her glossy red lipstick, and blue high-heels as well. While the changes are arguably for the best, I can’t help but feel the costume still seems a bit off. Perhaps I’m just not used to seeing Wonder Woman in anything but shorts. Maybe it’ll grow on me. Read more…
In case you’ve been waiting, Telltale Games has finally released the third installment of Back to the Future: The Game for PC & Mac. For those of you with consoles, the PS3 release of chapter two should be available tomorrow as well, via Playstation Network. The iPad & European releases should follow in coming weeks, but so far there’s no official date. In other news, the first episode of their Jurrasic Park adventure series should be out sometime next month. Unfortunately, if you’d rather own a console version you’ll be stuck waiting until Fall. I can’t imagine why they’d wait so long to port it, but I’m sure they have a good reason. Besides, there’s really nothing like playing a point-and-click adventure with a mouse. Read more…
This video has been making the rounds on twitter for the past few days, and while I don’t exactly find it humorous — especially considering how many people are still suffering overseas — I found it very interesting watch. For those of you who don’t speak Japanese, it’s a government sponsored propaganda cartoon that insists that plutonium is not as harmful as activists may have led you to believe. I’m not sure when this film was drawn, but judging by the fact that it’s completely hand-drawn, I’m sure it’s safe to assume it wasn’t recent. I certainly hope any kid ever exposed to this would know better by now.
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Mar 29, 2011 in Videogames
For those of you who’ve been waiting, Square Enix’s Final Fantasy III hitthe app store last week. The game appears to be a port of the 2006 Nintendo DS remake with upgraded visuals and obvious tweaks to the gameplay, accounting for the touch-based interface. Both this, and the 2006 remake feature a number of enhancements over the original Famicom title, including a revamped story, developed characters, added scenes, an overhauled job system, and much more. While all of this sounds pretty awesome, I should note the app is fairly expensive at $15.99. That said, if you’re a fan of Japanese RPGs, it’s probably worth the price.
Like many of you, I spent last weekend wondering why I saw Zack Synder’s Sucker Punch and subsequently worrying about his upcoming Superman reboot. I tried to convince myself that the film really wasn’t so bad but I’d just be lying. It really seemed like the film had an attention deficit disorder. The poorly paced, terribly written script mixed with Snyder’s inability to direct had me wanting to lobtimize myself halfway through. Unfortunately, I’m not the only one who felt this way. So, what does this mean for The Man of Steel? Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 28, 2011 in Animation, Fandom
The latest episode of CollegeHumor’s Nerd Alert features an interview with Fanboy.com publisher Michael Pinto (although you have to get a few minutes into the show: Read more…
