Posted by Tim Sheehy on May 31, 2011 in Cinema, Tech
There are so many drinking/bartending apps on the app store . So many in fact, that I’ve had a hard time picking one — that was until this little gem caught my eye. Have you ever wanted to drink like a spy? Never had the time to write 007’s recipes down in the middle of a film? The Bond Mixology iPhone app has you covered. Every recipe from every film, complete with recommended brands and scene notes. On top of that, they’ve even thrown in imdb profiles for the actors to add a smidge of authenticity. They even offer up proper alternatives for the mixers that are no longer being produced, and for only $1.99, it’s a steal. For more information, check out their official website.
So, Lenny Kravitz is set to play the role of Cinna, a serious (if small) role in the upcoming adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ kinda-sci-fi young adult novel The Hunger Games— a role that would become bigger if the second book, Catching Fire, were to be adapted. In the first book, Cinna serves as the remarkably sedate fashion designer for the series’ protagonist, archer Katniss Everdeen. Read more…
Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner is a scifi staple, and its unique look continues to be an inspiration for other genre works. But it’s just a movie, made by real people, which is easy to forget. Periodically we’ll get some behind-the-scenes footage or photos that help us put film production into perspective, though, like these Blade Runner set Polaroids from actress Sean Young, who played Rachel in the film. If you want to see Harrison Ford making googly eyes at a camera, or just want to see Sean looking particularly glamorous, her collection is definitely worth a look. Read more…
Peter Jackson’s in-production film adaptation of The Hobbit has a largely new cast, including Martin Freeman as a young Bilbo Baggins, but given the film’s nature as a prequel to the events of Lord of the Rings, there’s also a cadre of returning characters. And that means a cadre of returning actors, too! According to Peter Jackson’s Facebook page, you can now count on Orlando Bloom to return as Legolas, the fan-favorite elf from the original trilogy. Bloom joins Ian Holm, Ian McKellen, and Elijah Wood in reprising his role. Read more…
There were several reasons to worry about the latest entry into the X-Men film franchise, X-Men: First Class. You could worry about the film being fast-tracked and barely having its filming done in time for release. You could worry about it being set in a time period removed from our own. You could, especially, worry about it being the latest entry into the X-Men film franchise. But it looks like Marvel made a wise choice in director Brian Vaughn (Kick Ass) — early reviews are overwhelmingly positive, stating the film’s script and stars do a great job in reviving the series and shedding new light on familiar characters. It even gets a favorable James Bond comparison in Michael Fassbender’s Magneto. Sounds good to me. We’ll know for sure as more reviews come out in the next few days, in time for First Class’ June 3rd release. Read more…
Uncharted is easily one of this generation’s most “cinematic” video game series, so it only makes sense that Hollywood would be jumping to adapt it to the big screen. Director David O. Russell has been attached to the project for a while now, and made waves with fans months ago by communicating his intentions to cast Mark Wahlberg as Nathan Drake and make the film about “a family of art thieves.” It was announced today that Russell left the project due to “creative differences” — differences I can only assume were “people wanted the Uncharted movie to actually be based on Uncharted.” There hasn’t yet been any word on a new director. Read more…
Like many of you, I’ve spent the last year pining away for the upcoming Blu-ray release of the Star Wars saga. Specifically, I’ve been looking forward to owning a copy of the original trilogy in high definition, seeing as I haven’t purchased a set since the THX remastered edition in 1995. They released those “special edition” films less than 2 years later, but the way I see it, at least I’ll always have proof that Han shot first. I was hoping that the upcoming Blu-rays would feature both the original and “special” editions of each film. God knows they have the space to fit them on the disc, but it’s as I feared, only those “special” editions will be included. At least the box art looks pretty swank, right?
For the last few weeks there has been a bit of buzz surrounding the proposed 2012 sequel to J.J. Abram’s Star Trek. According to a recent interview with writer/producer Robert Orci, the film is currently being prepped using a 70-page outline. The script hasn’t been finished, and Abrams is busy wrapping up work on Super 8, and with the film currently set for a June release, things have been looking rather bleak. Now, we’re hearing a rumor that the film’s release has been pushed to the holiday season. A December release date would give them the time they need to throw the film together, but I have to admit I’m disappointed. Still, I wonder if anyone didn’t see this coming a mile away.
Like many of you, I’ve spent the last week glued to my copy of Rockstar’s latest thriller, L.A. Noire. As you may already know, the title’s inspired by film noir — a genre defined by its hardboiled action, dark narratives and unique visuals often associated with the ’40s and ’50s. The game itself borrows heavily from the novels of James Ellroy and films like Chinatown, and The Big Sleep. If you’ve been enjoying the game so far and want some supplemental material to watch, look no further.
The Onion’s A.V. Club site is currently reporting that Hook & Ladder Company 8 of Tribeca, also known as the firehouse that became Ghostbusters HQ in the popular ’80s flicks, may join a number of other fire stations being shut down later this year as the result of budget cuts. Read more…
Posted by Michael Sacco on May 22, 2011 in Cinema, Star Wars
Graphic designer Barn Bocock took iconic brand logos and gave them a Star Wars twist. You can see some of his handiwork above, with inspired edits to the Nike and Puma logos. There are other great pieces on his page, and t-shirts and stickers are (of course) available should you wish to adorn yourself or your property in pop culture versions of already-ubiquitous corporate propaganda. That’s some pretty Dark Side stuff, I think. A Jedi knows not crass commercialism. Read more…
Posted by Michael Sacco on May 22, 2011 in Cinema, Star Wars
Star Tours, the venerable Star Wars attraction at Disneyland, recently underwent a big renovation to bring it up to speed for the 21st century. So how does it stack up to the original? “Light years better,” says the L.A. Times. Not only was the ride updated to feature hi-def 3D , but it also has a total of 54 possible storylines, so you’ll likely never have the same ride twice. The physical hardware (the seats, for example) apparently wasn’t updated as much as the visual stuff, but the Times admits it’s a minor quibble amidst the admittedly awesome rest of the ride. You can ride the brand-new Star Tours on June 3rd. Read more…
You may recall The Dark Knight’s long, involved alternate-reality game, which had followers doing everything from decoding messages hidden in street addresses to taking pictures of themselves in clown makeup to attending fake Harvey Dent campaign events. Even though the film’s release is over a full year away, the marketing campaign for the third film in the trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises, is heating up. Literally. Today, Warner Bros. released a sound clip on the DKR website that, when viewed in a sound editing program, contained the phrase “#thefirerises”. Posting on Twitter with that in your message would add your icon to the page, which eventually filled up, revealing the above photo of Tom Hardy as Bane (click for a high-res version). If that sounds complicated, well, it is! And it’s only going to get more complicated from here. Also, Bane looks pretty imposing, doesn’t he? Read more…
Summit Entertainment is once again making noise about their upcoming plans to “reimagine” the Highlander film franchise — I’m not sure how I feel about that term, but it’s probably for the best. In a recent press release, it was announced that they’ve inked a deal with RCR Media Group to co-finance the project. The release goes on to list Justin Lin as still being attached to direct the film, though Lin seems to be in high demand lately. He’s currently set to direct the sequel to his previous film, Fast Five, which proved to be a smash at the box office, as well Terminator 5 — of which, I’d rather see. It also names Art Marcum and Matt Holloway as the script writers. Holloway did a bang up job with Iron Man, so I’ve got high expectations going in. Hopefully the franchise will finally get the treatment it deserves. After all, it’s a hell of a concept, I just wish they had gotten it right the first five or so times.
Netflix actually has a lot of genre stuff available to watch instantly, so you may suffer from what I like to call Netflix Indecision Disorder: the condition that forces you to just aimlessly browse Netflix for two hours instead of actually picking something to watch. Suffer no more, friends! SF Signal concocted this excellent chart that’ll help you find the perfect scifi show or movie to watch on Netflix based on your interests or capricious whims. That reminds me … I need to go watch Alien Nation again. Read more…
Posted by Tim Sheehy on May 10, 2011 in Cinema, Horror
The New York Timesrecently released this photo of the upcoming film Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter — a film I still can’t believe is actually in production. I have yet to actually sit down and read the novel its based on. The concept for the film just seems so far fetched, not that it isn’t the least bit awesome. Imagining Abraham Lincoln waging war on the South while taking the occasional sabbatical to axe a few vampires sounds pretty cool, and the trailer for the novel did a great job of selling it. I just hope the film lives up to the hype.
Directed by Takeshi Miike the film 13 Assassins is playing at quite a few art houses — if you’re into samurai films this looks pretty amazing. Here’s the trailer: Read more…
Three of late the 80s’ pop culture mainstays (Back to the Future, Beetlejuice, and Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure) are being reimagined at Galleries One Nine Eight Eight in Los Angeles in the “3 B” show. Yes, that’s right: a real art show with artists’ renditions of 80s movies. Pieces like the above Beetlejuice-themed painting can be viewed right now at the gallery, and they’re even purchasable for what the gallery owners say are “insanely low prices.” Maybe not as insane as Beetlejuice, but still, that counts for something. Read more…
Perhaps it’s a day late to post fun Star Wars stuff, but: did you know Christopher Walken was almost Han Solo? It’s weird to think of it now, of course. So who knows what could’ve happened if Star Wars was made a little … earlier? These mashup pics of classic cinema stars as Star Wars characters delves into it a bit, with appearances from Marilyn Monroe and Peter O’Toole, as well as … William Shatner? You’ll have to see that one yourself. Now we can just try to imagine a strange universe where there Star Wars movies made in the 90s. Maybe ones that took place before the original films. Boggles the mind, doesn’t it? Read more…
Film director Takashi Yamazaki who brought Space Battleship Yamato to life in the world of live action back in 2010 is working on a kids film which will be called Friends: Naki on Monster Island. Like the Yamato film this picture will have a bit of SMAP by making use of the voice over talents of Shingo Katori and Kouichi Yamadera. Here’s a trailer: Read more…
So maybe Corellia isn’t as nice a place as the Hundred Acre Wood, but that doesn’t stop Wookiee the Chew from having grand adventures Chrisolo Robin. This Winnie the Pooh-style Star Wars woodcut comes from James Hance, who also has a book coming out — The House at Chew Corner — with art that’s just as adorable as the above. It’s like the earlier and latter years of my childhood put into a blender. In a good way. And yes, they made Eeyore into an AT-AT. Read more…
No, for real this time! Summit, the studio behind tween film behemoth Twilight, is set to distribute the film adaptation of Orson Scott Card’s much-loved sci-fi novel Ender’s Game. Genre fans might worry a bit about the film’s director, X-Men Origins: Wolverine‘s Gavin Hood, but he’s also made some pretty good dramas, so a novel like Ender might actually be a pretty good fit. To assuage other fears, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, two of the dudes behind TV’s Fringe and the Star Trek reboot, are co-producing. Could it be a dynamite combination? Maybe, if this project gets off the ground. Wolfgang Peterson’s 2008 attempt didn’t. Read more…
We’ve known that the upcoming Green Lantern movie is going full-blown crazy in its display of alien Lanterns, as evidenced by its recent WonderCon footage, but the latest poster really exhibits the almost Lucasian variety of alien life. Just offhand, you’ve got yourself a Boodikka, Stel, Abin Sur, Kilowog, Tomar Re, Sinestro, and that looks like R’amey Holl with the butterfly wings. And that isn’t even all of them in this poster! Being a Green Lantern must be like living in the Mos Eisley Cantina every day, you know? Let’s hope all these neat races get their due in the film, which comes out in about a month and a half. Read more…
Here’s a fan-made trailer for a non-existent film set in the Tron universe, entitled Tron: Destiny. Not much is known about the clip, but the production quality is pretty spectacular to say the least. The acting is even decent. These fan-produced shorts keep getting prettier and prettier. Not to spoil it, but I’d have to say he did magnificent job of rendering a light-bike, and definitely leaves us wanting more. It’s a shame that nobody has come forward to claim the video yet. But when they do, I expect we’ll find out more about what he may planned. Maybe an actual web series? It worked for Mortal Kombat.
