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Posted by Ben Huber on Nov 3, 2014 in Star Wars 
It appears that aside from a few minor shots in the next few days, Star Wars Episode VII has officially wrapped. J.J. Abrams recently sent out thank-you cards to the cast and crew, thanking them for their hard work on the film. Then, of course, came the wrap party. I’m not interested in antics of who went to the party or who didn’t (it seemed like a packed event, though!), but I will include John Boyega’s delightful Instagram from the party, featuring himself and his cast-mates singing along to Stevie Wonder’s Superstitious. Also, R2-D2 was there. Read more…
Tags: Episode VII
Posted by Ben Huber on Nov 2, 2014 in Videogames 
…Because, sure, why not, right? This new ad for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare features lots of bullets, explosions, falling from high places, and Taylor Kitsch. It’s directed by Peter Berg, who you might recall directed the Battleship film. The ad itself feels pretty breakneck, but yet hollow. I can’t help but think that I’ve seen this sort of ad several times now? I also don’t really understand why they needed to shoehorn in a “hot babe” scene in there. Definitely seems like pandering, to me! The rest of the ad is selling the action and new armor-suits for the soldiers in-game, which allows you to run and jump faster than before. Plus, you can punch down doors! That’s got to be worth something, right? Read more…
Tags: Call of Duty
Posted by Ben Huber on Nov 2, 2014 in Cinema 
Alex Garland is directing his first film! You might know him from his work with Danny Boyle, such as his script for 28 Days Later and Sunshine, or perhaps elsewhere, like his Dredd script. Now he’s working entirely on his own project, a sci-fi film titled Ex Machina. It stars Domhnall Gleeson as a programmer who meets a secretive CEO (Oscar Isaac) and his “true” AI woman he’s created (Alicia Vikander). It looks to mostly take place in the CEO’s remote cabin, focusing on the characters and what lurks beneath the surface. I’m hoping there isn’t a “you were a robot all along” twist at the end, because otherwise this looks really interesting for a directorial debut. Check out the trailer below. Read more…
Tags: Alex Garland
Posted by Ben Huber on Nov 1, 2014 in Animation 
Most folks know Juanjo Guarnido as the man behind Blacksad (the amazing French noir comic series), but he also used to be a Disney animator. He recently teamed up with Fortiche Production earlier in the year to raise a bunch of money on Kickstarter (over $140,000) as a means to create a music video for Swedish rock band Freak Kitchen. Let’s just say: the money was put to good use. They’ve officially released the completed music video and it features a ton of gorgeous animation and fluid head-banging. Sadly, the song isn’t that good… but the video more than makes up for it. Check out the music video below! Read more…
Tags: Juanjo Guarnido, music videos
Posted by Ben Huber on Nov 1, 2014 in Fandom, Star Wars 
There sure are a lot of aliens in Star Wars, all created by a multitude of talented puppeteers, designers, actors, and costume creators. Sometimes it’s a little difficult to keep track of all of them, though, so a certified Star Wars races expert, Neil Cicierega (of Potter Puppet Pals and Brodyquest fame) is here to help you get them all straight in this humorous video that’s the perfect way to start your weekend. See if you can keep a straight face the whole way through! Then, if you’re ready for more, check out his earlier thorough and detailed video about the various races in Star Trek! Read more…
Tags: fan videos
Posted by Ben Huber on Oct 31, 2014 in Videogames 
Wow, it’s been six years running now that Team Fortress 2 has done a Halloween special update! Not too bad, Valve. The latest update features plenty of spooky spells, a Halloween-themed map, new hats (of course), and best of all: bumper cars! Playing on the new Halloween map features a section where you can bump and bash into everyone else in a rush to collect points and win. As usual, there’s also a short comic as well, featuring the incompetent wizard of the TF2 universe, Merasmus. Goofiness and spookiness awaits! Check out the update page here. Read more…
Tags: Halloween, Team Fortress
Posted by Ben Huber on Oct 31, 2014 in Cinema 
Terminator fans: I have bad news. Here are some new images from Entertainment Weekly of the upcoming film, Terminator Genisys. Yes, it’s really spelled that way still. I like many of the actors in this, but man, I am not optimistic after seeing this and hearing the plot details. Emilia Clarke (KHALEESIII) and Matt Smith (Who?) are the headliners here, along with Arnold, of course. Still, these seem like bizarre photos to use, as everyone’s head appears to be photoshopped onto their bodies. What exactly happened here? I think fans would love a new Terminator film but I’m not anywhere close to being sold on this one. Are they angrily shooting the ground? Read more…
Tags: Terminator, Terminator Genisys
Posted by Bob Muir on Oct 30, 2014 in Videogames 
Halo: The Master Chief Collection is an interesting prospect, a way to look back on the series’ past achievements while looking forward to the future. The centerpiece is easily Halo 2 Anniversary, a graphical update similar to what 343 Industries did for the first game. Part of that are completely redone cinematics by Blur Studio, a graphics department responsible for most of the stunning trailers you likely associate with many recent games. There might be a bit of uncanny valley here and there in this trailer featuring their work, but putting that aside, the work they’ve done is quite impressive. Come November 11 when the compilation releases, I predict the Halo series will get a nice little nostalgic surge that will build some strong hype for Halo 5: Guardians. Read more…
Tags: Halo, Microsoft, Xbox One
Posted by Bob Muir on Oct 30, 2014 in Videogames 
Square Enix has constantly placed Final Fantasy XV (or Final Fantasy Versus XIII if you go back far enough) just over the horizon for years now. And while I’m still excited about it, I’d be lying if I wasn’t more interested in Final Fantasy Type-0 HD, a port of a game that actually materialized three years ago on the PSP. The game is coming out on March 17, 2015 (March 20 in Europe), which feels right around the corner now that we’re in the holiday game release period, so this latest trailer (featuring English voices) is very enticing. It captures some of the warring nations angle that Final Fantasy XII tried out, or perhaps Final Fantasy Tactics. Sure, as an enhanced PSP-port, the graphics don’t look that spectacular, but at least the gameplay and art design seem interesting. And really, do we need another game like Final Fantasy XIII that emphasized graphics over everything else?
Read more…
Tags: Final Fantasy, PS4, square enix, Xbox One
Posted by Bob Muir on Oct 29, 2014 in Star Wars, Videogames 
Playing old PC games is much more complicated than old console games. Console games are standardized, so something like Uncharted will play on any PS3, provided you have a PS3. Old PC games, however, require lots of tinkering, often installing fan-created mods to play them on your current system. So it’s great to have a storefront like Good Old Games that sells old games that will work on modern PCs. GOG has just put up Star Wars: X-Wing and Star Wars: TIE Fighter, which haven’t been rereleased in years. Both games are special editions that include slightly better audio and video, as well as their expansions. They’re both available now for only $10 each, so go grab them! Read more…
Tags: Star Wars, x-wing
Posted by Bob Muir on Oct 29, 2014 in Cinema, Comic Books 
If you’re a Marvel fan, you have good reason to be very, very excited. Marvel Studios has announced all nine — yes, nine — films that will make up “Phase Three” of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, lasting from 2016 to 2019. (Phase Two will end not with Avengers: Age of Ultron, but instead end on July 17, 2015 with Ant-Man.) Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige made a ton of announcements which apparently weren’t fully worked out until recently, or else they’d likely have announced them at Comic-Con. Some of these may have been rumored in the past, but there’s still a lot of new information, including three films in both 2017 and 2018, so let’s jump in! Read more…
Tags: Avengers: Infinity War, Black Panther, captain america, Captain Marvel, Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy, Inhumans, Marvel, thor
Posted by Bob Muir on Oct 28, 2014 in Videogames 
Nintendo doesn’t expect everyone to buy both versions of a new Pokemon game. Other than minor plot differences and certain exclusive pokemon, they’re basically the same game. Nintendo does this to encourage trading with other players. But some people buy both versions for various reasons: collecting, sharing the second game with a poor friend, a second save file, or maybe not having anyone else to play with. If you are thinking of getting both Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, Nintendo has a “deal” for you. For the exact same cost of buying the games separately, you can buy them together in a bundle. What’s the incentive? Two download codes for 100 potions each, to help you start your game. Read more…
Tags: 3DS, Nintendo, Pokémon
Posted by Bob Muir on Oct 28, 2014 in Cinema, Comic Books 
It seemed as though Marvel had locked down Joaquin Phoenix to star in their upcoming comic adaptation Doctor Strange. But when he pulled out at the last second, it was back to the drawing board. But according to Deadline, they may have finally found their Sorcerer Supreme. Sherlock‘s Benedict Cumberbatch is reportedly entering negotiations to star in the film. Jared Leto and Tom Hardy are supposedly in the mix, but it sounds fairly certain that Cumberbatch will end up signed. Then again, many thought the same for Phoenix, so I wouldn’t fully trust the casting until we see something official from Marvel. Read more…
Tags: Doctor Strange, Marvel
Posted by Ben Huber on Oct 27, 2014 in Videogames 
I love behind-the-scenes looks into game development, so a documentary into how a game is made will always pique my interest. Microsoft is releasing a documentary about the development of Halo 2: Anniversary (the remaster of Halo 2) on Halloween. It’ll be available on Twitch as a live stream and on Xbox Live as a download. The Twitch streams will happen at 2pm ET on the 31st, then at 9pm ET on November 1st and 2nd. You can also check it out on the Halo Channel on November 11th (I didn’t even know there was a Halo Channel). Check out the trailer below! I’m curious if this’ll mostly be a promotional opportunity, or if they’ll delve into the details of game design? We’ll see! Read more…
Tags: Halo, Microsoft
Posted by Ben Huber on Oct 27, 2014 in Videogames 
You may have heard of a small indie game from earlier this year called Stranded. It was a unique sci-fi exploration-based adventure game amidst ancient alien ruins depicted with gorgeous pixel art. Now, the devs are teasing their next game, titled Murder, which looks to be exploring a robot murdering a human in a cyberpunk future. They list their biggest inspirations: Masamune Shirow, Katsuhiro Otomo, and Neal Stevenson, among others. Ok, I’m interested! I love this style of world, with its oppressive rain, neon lighting, and dark alleyways. Check out the teaser trailer below, then keep an eye on their website for future updates. Read more…
Tags: Indie Games
Posted by Ben Huber on Oct 26, 2014 in Comic Books, Television 
I mean, uh, what? First, an Archie TV series, titled Riverdale, has been put into production by Archie’s Chief Creative Officer and pilot writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa. He’s hyping it up big time, as you might expect. He recently say down and was interviewed by Comic Book Resources, and there was a lot of stuff going on. He sells the series by describing it as “Riverdale is Archie Meets ‘Twin Peaks. You know how we’re doing Archie Meets Predator? This is Archie Meets David Lynch.” He then goes on to say, “…if, god willing, this works out the way we all want it to work out, every Halloween we’ll be doing an Afterlife episode of Riverdale.” And this series hasn’t even been picked up yet! Aim for the stars, dude! Read more…
Tags: Archie Comics
Posted by Ben Huber on Oct 26, 2014 in Cinema 
Yes, J.K. Rowling can’t stay too far away from her most popular creation: a new Harry Potter short story will be arriving this Halloween, on October 31st. The story will focus on Dolores Umbridge. Do you think some fans might take umbrage at that idea? Eh? Eh? Ok, I’ll stop (I’m sure that joke has been done a million times). The short story will show up on Pottermore.com, run 1700 words, and will feature “back story about Umbridge’s life filled with many new details, as well as Rowling’s revealing first-person thoughts and reflections about the character.” Check back on Halloween at Pottermore is you want to read all the villainous details then! Read more…
Tags: harry potter
Posted by Ben Huber on Oct 25, 2014 in Cinema 
Air New Zealand is loving all the extra tourism due to the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films, so what better way than to theme their entire new safety video around The Hobbit? It features Elijah Wood, Sylvester McCoy, and Peter Jackson himself. It’s pretty silly, and barely has any actual instructions in it, because hey — you guys already know what not to do in an airplane, don’t you? It’s pretty fun, although the actual title of the video is the most marketing-driven internet-speak possible: “The Most epic Safety Video Ever Made #airnzhobbit” Yeah, uh, no. Check it out below! Or, you know, fly Air New Zealand and watch it there. Read more…
Tags: The Hobbit
Posted by Ben Huber on Oct 25, 2014 in Videogames 
Nintendo recently streamed “50 Things” about Smash Bros. for Wii U, touting a bunch of new features, items, stages, and game modes. The biggest news was an 8-player mode, which let’s 8 people in the same room duke it out on extra-large stages. This is kind of crazy, as Smash Bros. is already pretty hectic. They also announced a new and improve stage creator, a new board-game mode called Smash Tour, and basically all features from Brawl returning. Lastly, they confirmed DLC for the game: if you own both Smash Bros. for 3DS and the Wii U, you’ll receive Mewtwo as a downloadable character for free. Neat! I hope that means there will be more DLC in the future. Smash Bros. for Wii U is out November 21st. The entire stream is embedded below. Read more…
Tags: Nintendo, Super Smash Bros., Wii U
Posted by Ben Huber on Oct 24, 2014 in Animation 
Last year, it was reported that French animation studio Normaal Animation would be making a massive 500 90-second animated shorts based on Peanuts. Here’s two looks at the shorts, in both French and English (off-camera). Sadly, they appear to be sluggishly done. I’m not a Flash hater, but when it has that stereotypical “Flash” look, it turns me off. I’m sure these’ll be popular, though, and they’ve definitely caught Charles Schulz’s style in still images. The series will premiere in France on France 3 on November 9th, and will slowly have an international roll out through the next year. No word on when they’ll come the US, though! Check out the videos below. Read more…
Tags: Charles Schulz, Peanuts
Posted by Ben Huber on Oct 24, 2014 in Videogames 
Titanfall is a game that I found very fun, but also fairly slim on content. Developer Respawn has added a lot since release, and they just announced a new update with several new features. The leading item is a new game mode called Frontier Defense. It’s a four-player co-op mode in which you defend towers from waves of AI enemies. As you might expect from a tower defense mode, you can set up titans, turrets, and more to defend the area. Along with this update, they’ll also be including a “floor is lava” game mode (which sounds amazing), and Marked for Death Pro. You can download the update now! Check out their Twitch stream featuring video of the new modes here! Read more…
Tags: Titanfall
Posted by Bob Muir on Oct 23, 2014 in Videogames 
Since 343 Industries took over the Halo series from Bungie, parent company Microsoft has been trying to reinvigorate the brand with more products. Maybe this is in hopes of recapturing the attention they had before the reign of Call of Duty. Regardless, this has resulted in more film experiments, such as Halo: Nightfall. They got Ridley Scott to executive produce this series about Agent Jameson Locke, the co-star of the upcoming Halo 5: Guardians. It’s looking pretty good, but many don’t know where to watch this series. So here’s a reminder: the episodes will be included with Halo: The Master Chief Collection, releasing on the Xbox One on November 11. Read more…
Tags: Halo, Xbox One
Posted by Bob Muir on Oct 23, 2014 in Cinema, Comic Books 
There was much rejoicing when Marvel announced that there would be a trailer for The Avengers: Age of Ultron attached to next week’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. episode. But what if you could watch it…now? After some sort of leak (Marvel jokingly blames HYDRA), Marvel has decided to release the official version, and man, does it look exciting. We get to see various forms of Ultron, lots of similar robots, and Iron Man fighting the Hulk with his Hulkbuster armor. Best of all, it’s set to a creepy recording of “I Got No Strings” from Pinocchio, a nice thematic touch that likely wouldn’t have happened if Disney didn’t own Marvel. But enough talk, go watch the trailer over and over again! Read more…
Tags: Avengers: Age of Ultron, Disney, Marvel
Posted by Bob Muir on Oct 22, 2014 in Videogames 
Shantae is one of those cult franchises, a series of games full of great gameplay, solid controls, and beautiful 2D graphics. Many people don’t even know the series exists because the first game had a limited print run on Game Boy Color after the Game Boy Advance had already launched. The second game launched on the DSi’s online shop, which almost no one used. Maybe the third game, Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse, will finally make a bigger splash. Though the titular half-genie has lost her powers in this installment, her pirate skills look fun to use. The game is out this Thursday on 3DS. Unfortunately, the Wii U version has been delayed until later this year, but that’s not too far off, so I can’t be too sad. Read more…
Tags: 3DS, Shantae, Wii U
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