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Posted by Ben Huber on Jan 16, 2015 in Cinema, Comic Books 
Rumors are fun! You also can’t always take them seriously. But this one has some heft behind it: over the past month or two we’ve seen tons of leaked Sony emails and an abundance of rumors that all point to Sony being in talks with Marvel. They want to do something with Spider-Man… but as usual with giant corporations, they’re getting hung up on all the little details. However, Da7e from Latino Review is reporting that according to their sources, the Marvel and Sony deal has gone through, and Spider-Man will feature in Avengers: Infinity War Part 1. It will not feature Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man. Still, it’s hard to really believe this until we see it, because hey: it still sounds almost impossible for the two behemoths to agree. But I sure do hope that this all works out in the end! Read more…
Tags: Marvel, Sony, Spider-man
Posted by Ben Huber on Jan 16, 2015 in Cinema 
Don’t lie, dear readers: I know you’ve all been on the edge of your seat waiting to see which films get snubbed this year! Which of your favorite films will be totally ignored, or related to a simple Best Sound Mixing nomination?! Well, I’ve included the full list below, but there are a few curious choices here. One omission of note is the lack of The LEGO Movie in the Best Animated Picture category (although Isao Takahata’s The Tale of Princess Kaguya did thankfully get a nod). Another surprise is the number of noms for American Sniper, which is probably at the top of my list titled “Films I Couldn’t Care Less About.” Check out some salient tweets and the full list below! Read more…
Tags: Academy Awards, The Oscars
Posted by Ben Huber on Jan 12, 2015 in Cinema, Hobbies and Collections 
Awards season is coming up, so a few Blu-ray featurettes are starting to show up online as part of the promotion cycle. One of the more interesting ones I’ve caught is a behind-the-scenes look at some of the CGI and real-life LEGOs that were used in The LEGO Movie. It might surprise you how many real LEGOs were used in the film! It’s a pretty cool process and the amount of care and detail put into everything is astounding. I hope that any future Lego movies can have the same amount of attention and love put into them… and not devolve into quick cash-ins. Video embedded below! Read more…
Tags: Lego, The LEGO Movie
Posted by Ben Huber on Jan 12, 2015 in Fandom, Hobbies and Collections 
When I saw these adorable Dinobot plush toys on Topless Robot I simply had to share them with you here. However, as I was writing this article, they sold out! So I suppose now I’m just dangling a tantalizing treat right in front of you. Don’t fret too much, though! In addition to these, Etsy seller MythFit Creations also has plenty of other cute Transformers along with several Deadpool, TMNT, How To Train your Dragon, and Catbug-themed plushes. Check out the rest of their work here, and I bet you’ll find something cuddly to add to your collection! Read more…
Tags: Dinobots, Etsy, plush toys, Transformers
Posted by Ben Huber on Jan 11, 2015 in Cinema 
We’re starting to get a clearer picture of what Phil Lord and Chris Miller have in store for the upcoming Lego Batman Movie. In a recent interview, the writing and directing duo spoke about the film and Lord said, “I think the movie is really exciting because it’s about, ‘Can Batman be happy?’ … Batman is the ultimate in white people problems.” This is probably true, and definitely funny angle to take for a Batman movie. Miller revealed before that “every era of Batman filmmaking will be acknowledged” which implies we could see cameos or references to Christian Bale, Adam West, and Michael Keaton… which would be grand, I think. “He’s like, ‘oh, I’m so rich and handsome, women like me and I’ve got a Maclaren! Something about my parents!” Read more…
Tags: Batman, Lego, The LEGO Movie
Posted by Ben Huber on Jan 11, 2015 in Star Wars 
You may remember that Book of Eli scriptwriter Gary Whitta had been signed on to write the first standalone Star Wars film (which would be directed by Godzilla’s Gareth Edwards). Now, Whitta has tweeted that his first draft is done, and he’s off to work on other projects. Quite a few folks interpreted this as a firing, but no: it’s simply an amicable parting of ways. Whitta finished the first draft, and now Disney will presumably hire someone to wrap it up and finish the project. This happens all the times on movies… but hey, because this is Star Wars we’re talking about, way more people are paying attention to every little detail. The last rumors said this film was to be a heist film in which bounty hunters were hired to steal the Death Star plans. Sounds neat! Read more…
Tags: Gareth Edwards, Gary Whitta
Posted by Ben Huber on Jan 10, 2015 in Cinema 
Liam Neeson has enjoyed a bit of a renaissance as an action hero thanks to Taken and other similar films — especially since he seems to start in two or more every year. The latest one of these is Run All Night, in which Neeson plays a mob hitman who must protect his son from waves of violent gangsters after he witnessed something he wasn’t supposed to see. Drama! The idea that it takes place over one night could be enough of a hook, though. Also in Neeson news: he says he wants to play Qui-Gon Jinn again! “I don’t know [how he would return], unless you went back in time or he becomes a hologram or something. He’s a Jedi, anything could happen, it’s Star Wars world!” Yes, Mr. Neeson, it is Star Wars world. How about a movie where Qui-Gon needs to rescue his family from Coruscant mobsters? Hmm? Read more…
Tags: Liam Neeson, Star Wars
Posted by Ben Huber on Jan 10, 2015 in Cinema 
Neill Blomkamp has been in the news recently with his shelved Alien film idea, but never mind that — a film he’s finished is coming out soon. Chappie is a robot with a revolution intelligence and the ability to think and feel freely. Of course, not everybody thinks that’s a great idea, as you might expect. There’s a great cast here: Dev Patel, Sharlto Copley, Sigourney Weaver, Hugh Jackman, and Ninja & Yo-Landi Vi$$er. Yes, that’s correct: Die Antwoord is in this movie. This trailer is way more action-heavy than the previous cutesy one. Perhaps that may bring in more mainstream audiences? Check out the trailer below! Chappie comes out March 6th. Read more…
Tags: Chappie, neill blomkamp
Posted by Ben Huber on Jan 9, 2015 in Tech 
Last month, a report came out of Kyodo saying that Nintendo was looking into free-form displays made by Sharp for their next handheld. According to the rumor, Nintendo was particularly interested in a circular display with a hole in the center — essentially a doughnut shape. At CES, Sharp brought their latest prototypes to show off and The Verge got some photos, so take a look to possibly get a glimpse at what Nintendo could do next. Most of Sharp’s examples are car-themed, as their custom displays could easily fit into the unique shapes of a car dashboard. My current theory is Nintendo either wants to put a screen around buttons and joysticks, or perhaps this could be used on their sleep-monitoring device they’re planning as well? Read more…
Tags: Nintendo, Sharp
Posted by Ben Huber on Jan 9, 2015 in Videogames 
In one of Nintendo’s smartest team-ups in a long time, popular puzzle game Puzzle & Dragons will be mashed up with Nintendo’s mascot in Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Edition for 3DS. This will sell like gangbusters in Japan, as the mobile game (and its handheld console games like Puzzle & Dragons Z) is one of the biggest games out right now. It has already been confirmed for a US and Europe release via the official Puzzle & Dragons Twitter account, so don’t fret, P&D fans! This’ll have much more stuff going on than the free mobile game, but you can check that out for free if you haven’t experience P&D yet. Trailer below, along with the reason Nintendo made this partnership. Read more…
Tags: 3DS, Nintendo, Puzzle & Dragons
Posted by Ben Huber on Jan 5, 2015 in Hobbies and Collections, Star Wars 
If you’re looking for an imposing evil figure to guard your shelf space or desk, look no further! Hot Toys has put up pre-orders for their latest Star Wars figure, the dark lord himself, Darth Vader. It’s based off of the costume used in A New Hope down to the last detail, also features a voice box with breathing sound effects, and tops it all off with LEDs that light up on his belt and lightsaber. Imagine seeing that in the dark! It’ll also come with multiple hands, a stand, and an Interrogator Droid. Vader will run you $299.99, and will release in September later this year. He’s over 13 inches tall! Check out more details and the pre-order page here.
Read more…
Tags: Darth Vader, Hot Toys
Posted by Ben Huber on Jan 5, 2015 in Cinema, Comic Books 
In one of the most open interviews Sam Raimi has done, the director has taken to talking about Spider-Man 3 and the circumstances surrounding it. On Chris Hardwick’s Nerdist podcast, Raimi hinted at the reasons behind the film being… generally not good, and said, “If a director doesn’t love something, it’s wrong of them to make it.” Hinting at his dislike of a certain popular villain character, when asked if he’d do it differently if he had a second chance: “[…] if I had a different story with characters that I cared about that I thought was engaging and true to the Spider-Man universe, yes. In a second. I love Spider-Man, so that was never the issue.” Listen to the full podcast to hear even more! Read more…
Tags: sam raimi, Spider-man
Posted by Ben Huber on Jan 4, 2015 in Fandom 
I think it’s safe to say there is a HUGE spoiler warning for this video for… well, uh, everything. The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones (I mean, come on, half the list is GoT characters), The Hobbit, True Blood, Gotham… wait. Listen, I don’t think Martha and Thomas Wayne count. If they did, they’d be on this list every year! I was most surprised not by the video itself though, but by the uploader: Hot Topic. When did they get into the silly internet video business? I thought they were too busy appropriating memes to print on shirts. This is a surprisingly clever video and well-timed — good job, whoever at Hot topic that came up with this! Read more…
Posted by Ben Huber on Jan 4, 2015 in Cinema, Hobbies and Collections 
I think we’re reaching the point where we can safely say: if something exists, someone has remade with LEGOs. Plus, how many times am I going to get to tag a post with both “Lego” and “Alfred Hitchcock”? Yes, Bricktease has remade the Psycho shower scene with LEGOs, and it’s stunningly accurate. Sure, it’s hard to do the more subtle finger movements (“Can you see the quotations I’m making with my claw hands?“), everything else is spot-on. To show just how accurate they are, Bricktease has also uploaded a side-by-side comparison video with the original scene. Good work, guys! The tension is still there, even in brick form! Read more…
Tags: Alfred Hitchcock, Lego
Posted by Ben Huber on Jan 3, 2015 in Cinema 
Talk about left field: Neill Blomkamp, the director of District 9, has been posting concept art on his Instagram from an Alien film he was working on. Yes, really. Blomkamp doesn’t really elaborate too much, aside from saying “Was working on this. Don’t think I am anymore. Love it though.” Theories abound, one mentioning that perhaps Blomkamp and Sigourney Weaver began brainstorming an idea while working together on his upcoming film (currently in post-production), Chappie. Either way, this seems to be fairly dead, especially with Blomkamp posting the concept art freely… although perhaps it’s a power play to garner interest? Well, probably not. Gaze upon the gorgeous art below! Read more…
Tags: Alien, neill blomkamp
Posted by Ben Huber on Jan 3, 2015 in Cinema, Comic Books 
Actually, yes it is. Marvel has released a teaser… for the teaser trailer… for Ant-Man. It’s all very silly, and it’s also very, very small. The teaser for the teaser trailer has been released at an ant-sized resolution, making it not very useful if you want to make out any details, but incredibly useful for generating hype. The teaser trailer itself (in a human size) will air during the series premiere of Agent Carter on January 6th at 8PM ET on ABC… But that’s not the only teaser for a trailer Marvel released! They also teased a new Age of Ultron trailer which will arrive on January 12th during the College Football Playoff National Championship at 8:30pm ET. If you’re a Marvel fan, the next week or so should be pretty good! Read more…
Tags: ant-man, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Marvel
Posted by Ben Huber on Jan 2, 2015 in Cinema 
The special effects business is a tough one. You don’t have to look far to see many issues coming up amongst hardworking VFX folks. They’re talented people, and this latest video from Industrial Light and Magic shows off their work they did on Captain America: The Winter Soldier. While ILM didn’t do all of the VFX for the movie (there were over 900 VFX shots!), this is a sampling of the impressive digital effects and CGI models they created for Black Widow and Falcon. This kind of behind-the-scenes work is always really compelling to me! I’d love to see even more in-depth looks at how they create and build each scene from scratch! Read more…
Tags: captain america, Marvel
Posted by Ben Huber on Jan 2, 2015 in Science 
Electric cars are pretty cool, even if they aren’t quite mainstream yet. Real-life Tony Stark fellow Elon Musk has been doing some impressive work at Tesla over the past few years, trying to make the perfect electric car. He recently tweeted out another one of his ideas that they’ve been working on: an automatic charging cable that’ll come “out from the wall & connects like a solid metal snake. For realz.” Holy crap, that sounds terrifying and awesome at the same time. I imagine it’s based off of those cool robotic snakes. Automation taking care of everything is a little frightening, but pretty impressive, too! Read more…
Tags: Elon Musk, Telsa
Posted by Ben Huber on Dec 29, 2014 in Star Wars, Videogames 
As with everything on the internet, if there’s something big, there’ll be parodies of it. This Star Wars: The Force Awakens teaser trailer parody places Nintendo characters into a “Smash Wars” video, in which “The Triforce Awakens.” It’s short, it’s sweet, and it does a good job fitting Nintendo characters into the spaces where each Star Wars character would fit. The animation isn’t too shabby either! Their substitute for the new lightsaber design is also very cute. Also: props to the musician who made the background music, as it successfully straddles the line between Nintendo and Star Wars music at the end. Read more…
Tags: Nintendo, Super Smash Bros., The Force Awakens
Posted by Ben Huber on Dec 29, 2014 in Comic Books, Star Wars 
So, a little thing happened a while back: this little-known company called Disney bought another unknown property called Star Wars. You may have seen it as a child. All joking aside, this deal also dubbed Marvel the new publisher of Star Wars comic books (surprise surprise). Dark Horse’s license officially runs out on the last day of the year, so if you’ve ever wanted to own any of their Star Wars comics digitally, now’s the time to buy them. Everything is 50% off, and you can buy the entirety of the their collection for a flat $300. You’ll be able to read all these comics digitally after the license expires, so no worries there, but this is your last chance to buy them before they’re gone forever! Read more…
Tags: Dark Horse
Posted by Ben Huber on Dec 28, 2014 in Star Trek 
You may have heard that Roberto Orci is no longer directing Star Trek 3. That’s good news (for me, because I dislike his works)! But he was still a producer and writer on the project until now: he’s now just a producer. Instead, Justin Lin of Fast and Furious will be directing the film instead. Curious indeed! Rumors are that Paramount didn’t like Orci’s approach (deep space adventures) and instead want the series to angle more towards a Guardians of the Galaxy-style story… which sounds like a recipe for disaster. No, Paramount, you don’t need cute talking animals in Star Trek. I can’t believe I’m defending Orci’s ideas, but here we are! Deep space is definitely the way to go here. Read more…
Tags: Justin Lin, Roberto Orci
Posted by Ben Huber on Dec 28, 2014 in Fandom, Videogames 
Basketball trick shot videos and, well, trick shot videos in general have been incredibly popular — because hey — it’s fun to see people do crazy things dramatically. But suffice to say, they’ve kind of gotten a little long in the tooth, so what if someone gave it a twist? And by a “twist” I mean putting a Portal gun in it. Corridor Digital have created a silly video featuring two scientists dunking with the aid of a Portal gun, bro-ing it up with high-fives and screaming at the camera, just like you’d expect. Check out the video below, then imagine using a Portal gun for your own “sick dunks.” Read more…
Tags: Portal, Portal 2
Posted by Ben Huber on Dec 27, 2014 in Videogames 
Star Citizen continues to lumber along with it’s ridiculous amount of crowdfunded money and collection of alpha and beta modules. Who knows if it will ever be the game it promises to be, but it’s been a fascinating journey so far. I sure hope it all works out. The latest two videos from Roberts Space Industries are a dubstep-infused trailer and another fake advertisement for a new ship, the Consolidated Outland Mustang. Or, you know, the Mustang, as everyone will probably call it. It’s more of a single-pilot craft, armed to the teeth and very stylish with lots of hard angles. Check out both videos below for lots of accents and “epic” scenes. Read more…
Tags: Star Citizen
Posted by Ben Huber on Dec 27, 2014 in Hobbies and Collections 
One of the first looks at the Jurassic World dinosaurs was from leaked Lego moulds, and now we’re getting an even better view of the sets. The sets feature dinosaurs (obviously) but we can also catch a glimpse of Lego Chris Pratt and a Lego scientist holding an adorable mosquito in amber. From what I understand, the last dinosaur line from Lego sold very well, so combined with the Jurassic Park name it should do even better. Also in leaked Lego news, an image has surfaced of Ultron and Tony Stark minifigures for Avengers 2. Suffice to say: Lego Ultron looks terrifying. Image below! Read more…
Tags: Avengers: Age of Ultron, Jurassic World, Lego
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