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Posted by Ben Huber on Mar 27, 2015 in Star Wars 
The Star Wars spinoff film Rogue One is picking up steam fast: we heard recently from Disney that Felicity Jones would be in the production, but now rumors are circulating that Ben Mendelsohn could sign on to a lead role too. He’s been making news more and more often for his excellent performances in Killing Them Softly and The Place Beyond the Pines (he also had a brief role in The Dark Knight Rises). But mainly he’s been doing a great job in the Netflix series Bloodline, which has put him in the spotlight. He would fit perfectly into the Star Wars universe — let’s hope this rumor is true! Read more…
Tags: Rogue One
Posted by Ben Huber on Mar 27, 2015 in Anime, Cinema 
Warner Bros. has toyed around with the idea of doing a Robotech film for a long time, but never really got anywhere. Now, Sony has taken over the reigns, and plans to move quickly to start up what they hope to be a successful film franchise. Gianni Nunnari and Mark Canton are producing (they produced 300) and Michael Gordon is writing the script (he previously wrote G.I. Joe and… 300 too). As anime fans might know, there’s quite the history between Harmony Gold (the company that licensed the popular anime series Macross and re-edited it into Robotech) and the fanbase. However, my main concern is if the film can be any good… Read more…
Tags: Macross, Robotech, Sony
Posted by Bob Muir on Mar 26, 2015 in Anime, Cinema 
Ever since the first Studio Ghibli movie came out on Blu-ray, I’ve been waiting for Spirited Away to come out. It’s only been available on DVD since its US release in 2003, while it’s been available on Blu-ray in Japan since last year. That’s set to change, according to this new listing on Amazon, which official-looking box art. The Cat Returns also has a listing, helping to fill out the Blu-ray releases for their entire catalog. There are no release dates listed yet, but it’s just good to know that Disney, the official US distributor, hasn’t forgotten the second film to win Best Animated Feature. Hopefully it’s out by this summer! Read more…
Tags: Disney, Hayao Miyazaki, Studio Ghibli
Posted by Bob Muir on Mar 26, 2015 in Cinema, Comic Books 
Jesse Eisenberg seems like a strange choice to play Lex Luthor in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, but I could see it working. I can see it even more after Entertainment Weekly released this image showing how he’ll look in the movie. Yep, he’s bald, but it’s his eyes that grab my attention the most. It’s very intense, and I could see that working in the movie, provided he puts on some muscle. He doesn’t need to be a muscleman, but he could stand to bulk-up a bit. Read more…
Tags: Batman v. Superman
Posted by Bob Muir on Mar 25, 2015 in Animation, Fandom, Star Wars 
Look, Star Wars: Rebels is alright, but they could be doing something so much more stylized and interesting with the franchise, like Genndy Tartakovsky’s Star Wars: Clone Wars. They should be doing, say, a Star Wars cartoon that looks like a late-80s sci-fi anime, with detailed ships and dramatic shading. That’s what animator Paul Johnson has been working on for the last four years of weekends, and now he has finished his seven-minute short. Star Wars: Tie Fighter takes inspiration from the 1994 PC game of the same name and captures that dark, cool look of some classic anime like Gunbuster. Watch it and be amazed! Read more…
Tags: Star Wars, TIE Fighter
Posted by Bob Muir on Mar 25, 2015 in Television 
It’s been a long time coming, but The X-Files is coming back to TV. Fox has ordered a new six-episode event series, though we don’t have any details on what it’s about. It doesn’t seem to be a reboot though, as David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson are confirmed to return. Creator and executive producer Chris Carter is also returning, so this is as official as it gets. The X-Files will resume production in summer 2015, so I’d expect it to air sometime in 2016.
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Tags: Fox, The X-Files
Posted by Bob Muir on Mar 24, 2015 in Cinema, Comic Books 
Here’s a cool video by Jacob Swinney that depicts the evolution of Batman through his movies. It journeys from its humble beginnings in serials in the ’40s, through Adam West, Michael Keaton, George Clooney, Christian Bale, and more, all the way to his latest film. (By the way, that’s The Lego Move, if you forgot that Batman was in it.) Check out the video and the list of movies below.
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Tags: Batman
Posted by Bob Muir on Mar 24, 2015 in Cinema, Comic Books 
In what was one of Hollywood’s worst-kept secrets, the Russo brothers have been confirmed as the directors of Avengers: Infinity War, the two-part epic that all of Marvel’s previous films have been leading to. The first two Avengers films were directed by Joss Whedon, who is stepping down to work on his own projects. Joe and Anthony Russo first directed Captain America: The Winter Soldier for Marvel, and they will begin shooting Captain America: Civil War next month. Seeing as The Winter Soldier is arguably the best Marvel film so far, I’d say the movies are in good hands. The Russo brothers will shooting both parts in one long shoot in 2016. Read more…
Tags: Avengers: Infinity War, Joss Whedon, Marvel, the Russo Brothers
Posted by Ben Huber on Mar 23, 2015 in Videogames 
Recently, the director of the Smash Bros. series, Masahiro Sakurai, discussed some of the work that went into making the Wii U and 3DS iterations. Of course, people mainly asked him the questions you’d expect. When’s the Mewtwo DLC coming? “Soon.” What were some of the most ridiculous character requests? “Goku, Spongebob.” Any characters who were cut? “Takamaru.” Yes, originally the ninja from NES game The Mysterious Masamune Castle was on the cards to be in Smash Bros. He still showed up as an Assist Trophy, but I think he could’ve been a cool addition! Then again, do we really need another blue-haired swordsman in Smash Bros.? Read more…
Tags: Super Smash Bros.
Posted by Ben Huber on Mar 22, 2015 in Cinema 
Yes, another Mission: Impossible film is on the way, and it’s titled Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation. Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg, and Jeremy Renner are all back for another episode of “what crazy thing will Tom Cruise hang off of next?” This time? It’s an airplane. Cruise apparently did the stunt himself in his quest to one-up himself each film! The full trailer for the film will come out tomorrow on Monday, but until then, this is a pretty good teaser trailer. I mean, there’s actual footage in this thing! M:I5 will open July 31st this year. Read more…
Tags: Mission: Impossible, tom cruise
Posted by Ben Huber on Mar 22, 2015 in Star Wars 
Here’s something a little off the beaten path: a short documentary about the work and puppeteer effort put into making Jabba the Hutt! Yeah! Jamie Benning makes video and audio interviews about film, along with short documentaries. He recently interviewed Toby Philpott about his work as a puppeteer as Jabba the Hutt, but it quickly grew and turned into a 20-minute documentary about the entire process behind the puppet. It’s really fascinating to hear about how it was manned, created, and the hurdles they faced along the way. Often restrictions can induce really creative solutions! Watch the whole documentary below! Read more…
Tags: documentary, Jabba the Hutt
Posted by Ben Huber on Mar 22, 2015 in Videogames 
Straight out of Fanfest 2015, CCP Games has released new gameplay footage of EVE: Valkyrie, their upcoming dogfighting game made for VR. So far, all impressions for this game have been wildly positive, saying it does a great job making you feel like you’re really piloting a small spacecraft. This trailer shows a more story-based setting, which leads me to wonder how linked this game will be with EVE Online proper. So far it appears fairly standalone. I would love to have an effect on the full EVE world if possible! The trailer is below, check it out! Read more…
Tags: EVE Online
Posted by Ben Huber on Mar 21, 2015 in Videogames 
I’ve been surprised by Telltale’s Game of Thrones episodic video game series. The first episode was a little rough in spots and felt too similar to the Stark’s story in the series proper, but in episode 2 suddenly things became much more fleshed out and a few interesting wrinkles were thrown into the plot. I can only hope that the series to continues this upward trend! Telltale has released a few new screenshots from the upcoming episode 3, which is presumably coming soon. They also said that a new trailer for the episode will arrive on Monday, March 23rd. Perhaps we’ll get a release date then! Check out the screenshots below. Read more…
Tags: Game of Thrones, Telltale Games
Posted by Ben Huber on Mar 21, 2015 in Cinema 
This may have passed for an April Fools joke if this news came out a week later, but here we are: Joseph Gordon-Levitt will produce and and in a Fraggle Rock movie for New Regency. A film of the Jim Henson muppet band has been in the works for… well, a very long time, and was generally regarded as dead. However, Gordon-Levitt signing on to the project has given it a big boost and essentially brought it back. No word on what the film would entail, but it appears that Gordon-Levitt would be playing a human character as opposed to a muppet. Is a Fraggle Rock movie something people are clamoring for? Read more…
Tags: Fraggle Rock, Jim Henson, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, The Muppets
Posted by Ben Huber on Mar 20, 2015 in Cinema 
Usually TV spots are pretty throwaway, often focusing on one goofy clip or really short shots of action scenes. They’re more just there to keep the movie’s name in your mind rather than actually convince you to see it, as they’re only 30 seconds long anyway. This new Avengers: Age of Ultron TV spot, however, runs 1 minute long and actually features quite of a lot of funny and interesting footage. If you’re still not sold on Avengers 2 yet (which, hey, maybe there are a few of you who haven’t fallen on one of the two sides of the superhero-movie-fest fence), this will definitely be something to watch. Check it out below! Read more…
Tags: Avengers: Age of Ultron
Posted by Ben Huber on Mar 20, 2015 in Videogames 
Some big gaming news is rumbling through the industry right now: it appears Konami is going through a restructuring right now and want the Konami branding front and center, instead of other studio names like Kojima Productions. As part of this, they’re renaming Kojima Productions LA Studio to Konami Los Angeles Studio, and the “A Hideo Kojima game” branding on Metal Gear Solid V ads and website has been removed. According to Gamespot and their anonymous source, the restructuring has resulted in a power struggle between Kojima Productions and Konami, the latter of whom has embargoed corporate internet, emails, and phone of KojiPro. Kojima and other senior studio staff are essentially only on as contractors now, and plan to leave once their contract is up in December. Gamespot goes into more details here, but suffice to say, it appears Kojima and Konami won’t be working together after MSGV. Read more…
Tags: Hideo Kojima, Konami, Metal Gear Solid
Posted by Bob Muir on Mar 19, 2015 in Videogames 
If you purchased a first-run copy of the just-released Final Fantasy Type-0 HD, you received a code for Final Fantasy XV: Episode Duscae, a demo for one of the longest in-development games ever. If you don’t have access to this demo, well, sucks to be you, because look at this video. Like past games, summons return; but what was almost a vestigial feature in most recent games looks to be a lot more impressive with this game. It’s very cool the way that Ramuh is foreshadowed by a darkening sky and lightning before finally showing up to pluck main character Noctis out of danger. The rest of the party is not so lucky, but somehow they survive, so whatever. Read more…
Tags: Final Fantasy, square enix
Posted by Bob Muir on Mar 19, 2015 in Anime, Cinema 
I’m sure most fans of Attack on Titan would rather have a second season of the popular anime. But until that happens, this live-action movie is looking pretty good! The first footage showed up on a Japanese show, and if you look under all the visual clutter that makes up many Japanese shows, you can get a glimpse of what the movie will look like. And it looks pretty great! It won’t make the wait for the second season any easier, but at least this movie seems like a faithful adaptation. Read more…
Tags: Attack on Titan
Posted by Bob Muir on Mar 18, 2015 in Cinema, Videogames 
It’s not like expectations were high for Pixels, a feature-length adaptation of a neat short. What sounded like a shaky concept for a film was soon torpedoed when it was announced to be an Adam Sandler vehicle. Even the presence of Peter Dinklage couldn’t boost interest that much. And so this trailer is pretty much a confirmation of that line of thinking. It gives you the plot justification you’re curious about and shows a bunch of gags, some of which are admittedly amusing, but which you could imagine would get very tiresome when stretched out over 90 minutes. Basically, the whole joke of this trailer boils down to “Man, isn’t it crazy that videogames, of all things, are killing us?” There, let’s all move on. Read more…
Tags: Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, Pixel Art, Space Invaders
Posted by Bob Muir on Mar 18, 2015 in Videogames 
I have never understood the people who think Nintendo, a company that has only ever made games for its own systems, should put their games out on phones. Never mind the fact that their development style doesn’t fit the mobile market at all, or the fact that they’d be competing against themselves: how are you supposed to play games like Mario, designed for precise buttons, with an inherently imprecise touchscreen? Some people don’t care, but it’s the kind of design mismatch that I’d imagine even Steve Jobs would have disapproved of. Nintendo still refuses to put their existing games on phones, but they have just announced a partnership with DeNA, a Japanese online company responsible for the Mobage mobile game platform. That’s right: Nintendo is finally making games for phones. Read more…
Tags: Nintendo
Posted by Bob Muir on Mar 17, 2015 in Videogames 
Real talk: even though it’s a collectathon, Rare’s Banjo-Kazooie is easily one of my favorite N64 games. The expansive worlds (for the time), the humorous characters, the amazing music, it all made a game I got lost in for days. After Microsoft purchased Rare, they became a shell of their former selves, so any hope for a true sequel from the original developers is gone. But a bunch of former Rare developers are now at Playtonic, and they’ve announced Project Ukulele, a spiritual successor to Banjo-Kazooie. Playtonic says the game is going to be released regardless, but crowd-funding would allow it to be even bigger. The Kickstarter will go up in May, but I’m already dreaming about what a current-gen Banjo-Kazooie-like game could look like. Read more…
Tags: Banjo-Kazooie, Kickstarter
Posted by Bob Muir on Mar 17, 2015 in Cinema, Star Wars 
In what may sound like sacrilege, one of the upcoming Star Wars movies will be the first Star Wars movie to not be scored by John Williams. Gareth Edwards’s Rogue One will instead be scored by Alexandre Desplat, which may not be as familiar a name to some of you. But the score is left in capable hands, as Desplat is fresh off winning an Oscar for The Grand Budapest Hotel‘s soundtrack. Desplat recently worked with Edwards on Godzilla, and his past work is impressive: The Imitation Game, Moonrise Kingdom, Argo, The King’s Speech, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and Zero Dark Thirty, to name just a few. Since Rogue One is a spin-off and not part of the new trilogy, maybe this will help the movie stand out even further. Read more…
Tags: Gareth Edwards, Rogue One, Star Wars
Posted by Ben Huber on Mar 16, 2015 in Animation 
Things are tough out there for Genndy Tartakovsky. The dude seems like a stand-up fellow, so why do all of his projects seem to have such a hard time getting made… or staying around? It must be hard on him! Yes, Genndy has told Moviefone that he has moved on from Sony’s CGI Popeye film (with the amazing sizzle reel from last year). In fact, he implies Sony may can the project entirely. He’s still working on finishing up Hotel Transylvania 2 (which actually has a high chance of being better than the first film since he’s not picking up someone else’s leftovers), and will then move on to an original project he created, Can You Imagine?, which will hopefully have better luck! Read more…
Tags: Genndy Tartakovsky, Popeye
Posted by Ben Huber on Mar 16, 2015 in Television 
Just a few weeks ago we saw a cute Birdman parody with the man behind Big Bird, Caroll Spinney. If you watched that and wondered about Spinney and his life, then look no further, because a great-looking documentary is coming out soon, titled: I Am Big Bird. It’ll follow Spinney from his humble beginnings to mesmerizing children all around the world with his iconic characters. Amazingly, at age 81, he’s still playing Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch, and plans to continue as long as he can! Check out out the trailer below. The documentary comes out May 26th. Read more…
Tags: Caroll Spinney, Sesame Street
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