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Break Dancing to the Star Blazers Theme SongThis amazing footage is a must watch if your grew up with Star Blazers (Space Battleship Yamato) — it’s from a Japanese TV show which shows cast members breakdancing to the opening theme music while dressed in the appropriate costume. Found via Patrick Macias… Read Roddenberry’s Original Pitch for Star Trek, Complete with “Satanic” Spock
Posted by Michael Sacco on Jan 30, 2011 in Star Trek
Before Star Trek became a worldwide phenomenon, it was just a pitch to NBC. We know that the show ended up being quite different from its original pilot, but even the pilot is pretty removed from Roddenberry’s recently-unearthed original pitch. Roddenberry describes the show as a “Wagon Train” analog in the future, starring Robert April, captain of the SS Yorktown. He describes Mr. Spock, April’s first mate, as having a reddish complexion, pointed ears, and an overall look “so satanic you might expect him to have a forked tail.” Most of the beloved characters are absent, and some character archetypes never made it into the show at all; Chekhov, for example, is replaced by hotshot South American navigator Jose Ortegas. In fact, Spock is really the only character who made it completely into the actual series mostly intact, though Phillip “Bones” Boyce kept his nickname even if his full name is quite different now. It’s a fascinating look into what might have been. Read more… Plug in to This Evangelion Hotel Room (For a Price)
Posted by Michael Sacco on Jan 30, 2011 in Animation
Japan’s Fuji-Q Highland amusement park is ready to unveil their…well, it’s a life-size replica of Evangelion Unit 02’s head. Which is definitely something you can’t find in the US. Another thing you can’t find in the US: the Highland’s Eva-themed hotel room, open for booking in March. It’s got a replica Eva entry plug to sleep in, a touch-panel telephone that talks with Ayanami’s voice, and Eva art all over the walls. You can even have Ayanami give you a wake-up call! After all, she’s right there by your bed, in statue form. It’s more than a little weird, but so is Evangelion. Should you be in Japan in March, you can book the room for around $450 USD a night. Read more… Battlestar Galactica’s Twelve Colonies in Map Form
Posted by Michael Sacco on Jan 29, 2011 in Battlestar Galactica, Television
Ever wonder how twelve habitable planets could exist in the same solar system? So did Jane Espenson, showrunner for Caprica, the Battlestar Galactica prequel series. So she and science advisor Kevin Grazier went to work on a star map where it would all fit. In the end, they settled on a double-double-binary star system, giving each planet a home with a few other local planets to keep them company while still falling under the “solar system” category. Also on the map (above, click to embiggen): lore tidbits for each planet, some information on the spacefaring history of the Kobol colonists, even what colonies support universal health care. No, really. Check it out. Read more… Axe Cop: The Movie Will Chop Your Head Off
Posted by Michael Sacco on Jan 29, 2011 in Comic Books
Axe Cop is a webcomic collaboration between artist Ethan Nicholle and his brother Malachai. The twist here is that Malachai is 6 years old. Axe Cop is….well, an axe-wielding cop who chops heads off of dinosaurs, fights aliens, teams up with Flute Cop, and other bizarre situations only a little kid could dream up. It’s glorious. The comic just celebrated its first anniversary, so it’s only fitting that director Peter Muehlenberg release his live-action Axe Cop fan film today. It’s short, but it pretty much nails the Axe Cop aesthetic. “I’ll chop your head off!” Read more… Learn Advanced Dungeons & Dragons with Community
Posted by Michael Sacco on Jan 28, 2011 in Television
NBC’s Thursday night comedy Community isn’t just one of the best shows on TV, it’s also one of my favorite shows of all time. So when I hear that the show is ready to tackle one of the most pressing issues of our time — Dungeons & Dragons, of course — I have to tell everyone on the internet. According to the press release, Jeff and crew encounter a fat loner on campus, and Abed suggests that they invite him to a friendly game of D&D to help raise his spirits. Of course, their plan is thwarted by Pierce, who takes over as DM when he discovers he wasn’t invited. The episode, appropriately titled “Advanced Dungeons & Dragons,” will air next Thursday, February 3rd. Read more… This Year’s Best Picture Nominees in Lego form
Posted by Michael Sacco on Jan 28, 2011 in Cinema
Oscar season is upon us, and you know what that means: a dozen or so self-serious award-bait films competing with each other for Best Picture. So what can you do to bring a little levity to these proceedings? The answer, of course, is “render scenes from the Best Picture nominees in Lego brick form.” And that, incidentally, is just what Alex Eylar has done. From 127 Hours’ Lego James Franco anguishing over the loss of his arm to Lego Joseph Gordon-Levitt fighting in a zero-G rotating Lego hotel hallway, it’s all here. Just Lego-fied. Read more… Studio 4°C Gives Thundercats an Anime Makeover
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Jan 27, 2011 in Animation
Last year, it was revealed that ThunderCats would be making its return to television. It was exciting news, but until recently nobody had any idea as to what we could expect. Warner Brothers had mentioned the involvement of Studio 4°C, the animation studio responsible for numerous projects such as Detroit Metal City, and Spriggan. More recently, the studio was involved with several Warner Brothers projects including The Animatrix and Batman: Gotham Knight. Star Trek Bridge Buffoonery Never Gets Old
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Jan 27, 2011 in Star Trek
Poor Geordi. This litle edit from Star Trek the Next Generation has been floating around the net for quite some time now, but it never ceases to entertain. I’m not sure what it is about Star Trek that makes it so fun to edit, but I imagine a lot of it has to do with how easy it must be. There’s so much footage that I’m sure someone might be able to create an entirely new episode with little more than a few mouse clicks. On the other hand, every purist out there will look at each of these scenes and be able to tell you which seasons based on Riker’s hair, their uniforms and Troi’s ever-evolving wardrobe selection. Any way, if you’re interested in more edits like these, check out jandrewedits.com — beware, not all of these are work safe. Liked GANTZ, but Hate the Dubbing?
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Jan 26, 2011 in Cinema, Comic Books
It remains to be seen as whether the advance US screening of GANTZ was a large enough success to warrant future engagements of that nature, but after being forced to sit through one of the worst dubs I’ve seen in recent history, I can completely understand if any of you may hesitate to attend one. I’m not really sure the decision to premiere the film in English was entirely the fault of any one party, or if in fact Viz Pictures, Goodman Media, or NCM Fathom were responsible for forcing the hands of the others, but there may be something each of you can do about it. Like the Terminator Meets Starcraft
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Jan 26, 2011 in Tech, Videogames
When it comes to real-time simulations, Starcraft has pretty much cornered the market. Sure, we’ll still make a little room for the occasional game of Command & Conquer, or Civilization, as far as sales go, Blizzard’s entry reigns. They developed a title that withstood the test of time, and even captured the heart of an entire nation. I wouldn’t be surprised if South Korea named it their national sport at this point, but is there a game that can ever surpass it? Well, it seems someone might just have what it takes after all. The Foot Clan Are Not Fond of Macs
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Jan 25, 2011 in Cinema, Comic Books
This new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fan short — I can only hope they’ll be turning this into a full-length film — looks spectacular. A striking brunette, no doubt Apirl O’Niel, sits alone in her apartment having recently photographed members of what appears to be the foot clan. After tracking her down, they attempt to assualt her when she’s saved by Raphael. Read more… The Matrix Pentalogy?
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Jan 25, 2011 in Cinema
[Update: Slashdot has confirmed that this is not happening, but I suppose there’s always wishful thinking. Thanks to Fanboy Brian for pointing this out.] Keanu Reeves apparently gave quite the keynote at the London School for Performing Arts. During his speech, he reportedly dropped some details about upcoming projects including two Matrix scripts that are currently in the works. Now, that’s cool and all but I’m kind of concerned. While I enjoyed the first film quite a bit, the second film was a bit of giant CGI mess, and the third did little to improve on that, if anything at all. A shame really, considering how much promise the original film had. They could have literally taken the story any number of directions — hell, I can remember three or four different conspiracy theories I had at the time. The fact that they’re thinking of add two new scripts to the pile, both featuring Neo in some capacity, will at least give them another chance to surprise us with an interesting twist. The films will also be in 3D, so take that for what it’s worth. Read more… The Lupin III Lottery: Yet Another Reason to Move to Japan
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 24, 2011 in Animation, Hobbies and Collections
As an old school anime fanboy I found myself drooling over this collection of Lupin III figurines from Japan. Of course the sad catch is that this line is a limited edition series, and in order to get them you have to be part of some lottery system — and as such are forced to buy in Japan. I realize that I’m just looking at the photos from Banpresto but the wonderful level of detail and craftsmanship is quite eye pleasing: Read more… Blame the Otaku: Japanese Boys Lose Interest in Girls
Call it Danny Choo Syndrome! My favorite animation network in Taiwan recently slagged otaku as one of the reasons that Japanese men are losing their interest in sex with real women. Although there is something a bit ironic that the animators would use 3D techniques to render what a real women looks like (as seen on the left above) as opposed to the cartoony cheesecake version (as seen on the right). This was part of a larger segment on “Herbivorous men” which seems to be a Japanese take on metrosexuals: Read more… Red Dwarf Returning to Orbit
Posted by Michael Sacco on Jan 23, 2011 in Television
Good news for fans of the classic sci-fi comedy series Red Dwarf — it’s coming back! Craig Charles, its original star, confirmed that the show will return to UK channel Dave (yes, that’s the channel’s name) this fall with six new episodes. Apparently the ratings success of the TV special Back to Earth helped along the process, though fans weren’t quite as impressed with the special as they were with the classic series. Charles made note of this, saying that they hope to recapture the feel of the series in its prime. Cat and Kryten are appearing in the series along with the obviously-returning Lister, but Charles notes that other casting decisions haven’t yet been made. Read more… The Mug That Gives You The Energy to Jump Through Boss Doors
Posted by Michael Sacco on Jan 23, 2011 in Videogames
Start your morning the Mega Man way — fill up this awesome energy tank mug with some piping hot joe and foil whatever dumb plan Dr. Wily cooked up this time. Fangamer, makers of lots of other fine video game-themed merchandise, created these hefty glazed mugs from the ground up. If you want one, you can order one now and receive it in February. And of course, you definitely want one. How else are you going to refill that meter? Read more… On a Bicycle Built for Dredd
Posted by Michael Sacco on Jan 22, 2011 in Cinema, Comic Books
Karl Urban’s new Judge Dredd film (spartanly titled “Dredd”) is filming in South Africa even at this very moment. Some set photos have inevitably started to appear, including the titular Judge in full judicial kit riding the Lawmaster, his souped-up motorcycle. Reasonably-sized, yet ostentatious and ominous. A perfect for He Who Is The Law. All in all, I’m hopeful that the new film will be a little more faithful to the source material than the Stallone vehicle from the 90s. Less Batman and Robin, more Mad Max. Read more… X-Men: First Class Set Photos Give Me Hope
Posted by Michael Sacco on Jan 21, 2011 in Cinema, Comic Books
I really want to like X-Men: First Class, but past news about the film had me worried that it would meet even my lowest expectations. A badly-photoshopped and unauthorized pic of the film’s cast in their X-Men uniforms had me even more concerned. It appears that Fox agreed, releasing three new promotional stills showing the cast in their ’60s duds in response. It didn’t really strike me until the seeing the image above just how well-suited Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy are to play Magneto and Xavier, respectively. And yes, that’s January Jones in the catsuit as Emma Frost. As to how the movie will actually turn out, who knows? They’re still filming, which hardly bodes well for a movie that’s supposed to come out in June, but Matthew Vaughn is a good director, so I have faith. At least the film got me to utter one phrase I once thought impossible — “and Azazel is in this movie.” Read more… This TARDIS is Somewhat Smaller Than I Remember
Posted by Michael Sacco on Jan 21, 2011 in Dr. Who
And so is the Doctor inside! Mateo’s graphic designer dad made him this miniature TARDIS out of corrugated cardboard. I’m not sure if he can travel through time and space with it, but it probably makes a great hide-and-go-seek spot. At the very least he’s probably going to have some jealous friends — once they’re old enough to appreciate campy British sci-fi adventures, anyway. And I thought my Power Wheels fire truck was cool. Read more… A Fanboy Reminder, GANTZ North American Premiere is Tonight
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Jan 20, 2011 in Animation
Back in August we wrote about why it was so important that you attend the premiere of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. The destined-to-be cult classic underperformed at the box office and that may have sealed the fate of future films based on independent comics. While GANTZ may not have the potential to carry the same weight in Hollywood, it’s still just as important you see it. Read more… The Secrets Behind Uncharted 3
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Jan 20, 2011 in Videogames
I imagine many of you probably watched the teaser for Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception the other month and thought to yourself “oh, neat.” There wasn’t too much to it. We saw a table, some items, Nathan Drake reading a passage to Sully and what looked like an endless desert. What I never imagined was just how in-depth this teaser truly is. The guys over at GameTrailers actually took the time to dissect the teaser, pointing out numerous hidden bits of info that would have otherwise gone unnoticed. While some might be coincidental or just easter-eggs, a few of them might provide some serious clues as to what we can expect from the upcoming title. Pixels and Paint, the Art of Adam Shub
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Jan 19, 2011 in Videogames
I’ve always had a soft spot for pixel art. I suppose I can attribute that to the endless hours I spent glued to various game consoles as a youth. Last weekend I attended MAGfest in Alexandria, Virginia where I encountered Adam Shub. The man had a booth set up in vendor room, and I had just happened by it. On his table, there were multiple pieces of pixel art he had hand-painted. Kotobukiya’s Beautiful Bishoujo Figures
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Jan 19, 2011 in Comic Books, Hobbies and Collections
Following the success of their earlier bishoujo figures, Kotobukiya went ahead and expanded their bishoujo line to include figures from both the Marvel and DC universes. The figures, modeled after designs by popular artist Shunya Yamashita, have been selling out at various comic conventions over the past few years. This year, they’ve announced two brand new bishoujo figures. From the DC universe, they’ve brought us Supergirl, and for Marvel they’re introducing the Invisible Woman, Susan Richards. I have quite the collection going, but if they keep releasing these, I’ll never be able to keep up. The figures retail for around $65 each, and will likely be available by the time New York Toy Fair rolls around later this year. No word on if either will have a con exclusive. |
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