It’s true, production on Star Trek 2 has finally wrapped, and while I think the film would have fit nicely under my tree this holiday season, we’re all stuck waiting for its May 2013 release date. I can’t imagine what kind of schedule allowed for the film to be shot in just under four months, but Abrams managed to pull it off. Ironic, considering the length of time it took to get the ball rolling on the sequel in the first place. It’s killing me that they plan to spend an entire year on post-production work, but I’m sure it’ll pay off in the end. After all, it’s not like it’ll take them the whole year just to add a few lens flares — right? Read more…
It’s a question I’ve wrestled with all day. Do I spend the extra cash to witness Whedon’s superhero extravaganza, The Avengers in 3D, iMAX or just settle for the normal 2D experience. After a bit of research, it seems apparent that the film was shot with only 2D cameras, with no iMAX or 3D cameras in sight. This means any 3D or iMAX versions of the film were converted entirely in post. Generally speaking, these conversions are never perfect, and should be treated as such — but that doesn’t mean they can’t be good either. Read more…
When Darth Maul made his debut in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, I had high hopes for the character. He certainly seemed menacing enough for a Sith, and wielding a dual-bladed lightsaber made him slightly more endearing, at least as far as a villain could go. But, those hopes were dashed the moment he met his maker at the hands of Obi-wan having only uttered five lines, at most, during the course of the film. That being the case, I found him incredibly one-dimensional — his one saving grace being his fantastic look. Hence why every collectible statue I’ve seen so far has looked amazing, and Sideshow Collectibles’ latest offering is no exception.
I’m not entirely sure I’m responsible enough to own any real firearms, but I think I could settle for LEGO replicas. Introducing LEGO Heavy Weapons: Build Working Replicas of Four of the World’s Most Impressive Guns. Its17-year-oldauthor, Jack Streat, delivers a complete guide to building 1:1 scale replicas of several well-known firearms, such as a SPAS shotgun, or Desert Eagle handgun with realistic built-in blow-back. Despite the subtitle’s claim of allowing you to build “working” replicas, I seriously doubt you’ll ever get one of these to fire live ammunition. At least, I hope so. Also, isn’t it terrifying to know there’s a 17-year-old kid out there who can design a replica AKS-74U assault rifle using LEGO bricks?
With Star Wars Celebration VI around the corner, you’ll want to start the celebration right! With that in mind, ThinkGeek has stocked a new line of Star Wars-themed ice cube molds. The designs include Darth Vader’s mask, Millennium Falcon, and a X-Wing starfighter. Unfortunately, none of them beat Han Solo frozen in carbonite, but I don’t think anyone would object to some iced Vader with their tea or vodka. Of course, you can also use the molds for other means, such as chocolate, or Jello. Millennium Falcon Jello shots? Yes, please. The molds are also incredibly affordable at just ~$10 a piece.
I love how papercraft has been really picking up steam and becoming popular. It’s really incredible to see some of the things people make, and not all of it is the traditional boxy models. Cameron Garland has made a “papersculpt,” which is layers of paper laid on top of one another to give a dimensional feel to the creation. This Zelda: Twilight Princess set of weapons and items he created are super-detailed – they almost looked like drawings to me at first. It was on sale for $300, but it looks like someone has already gotten to it. Now this is giving me the urge to get out my X-acto knife and try doing it myself! Read more…
If you polled kids and asked them about their favorite fictional characters, I’m gonna guess Darth Vader and Batman would be pretty high up on the list. Now if you combine the two? You get the Darth Knight, an amazingly detailed custom action figure by John Harmon at Mint Condition Customs. This model stands 6 inches tall and would probably eat your other action figures for breakfast. If you were wanting to get your hands on this figure, though, you’re out of luck, as he’s already been sold. Better get cracking on making your own! Read more…
Here’s a great weekend-capper: Rickonami on YouTube has recreated the Star Fox intro using CGI. Yup, the whole thing, and he’s done an excellent job with it! This single video has made me more nostalgic for Star Fox than the recent Star Fox 64 3DS remake, so that’s saying something. I do like that he included the slightly-creepy-but-still-endearing puppets of the Star Fox crew as the profile images – it adds to the awesome factor. I hope to see more fantastic work from Rickonami in the future… he’s got talent!
I’ll be honest, I’m still a little pessimistic about the upcoming Amazing Spider-Man film. But this trailer has gone a long way to give me something to look forward to. The cinematography in particular is really great, and seeing Spidey swing through the streets of New York with such style makes me happy. At least we’ll get some good eye candy out of this. The Amazing Spider-Man releases on July 3rd, this summer.
For the 30th anniversary of Macross this year, what better way to celebrate than with a life-size, 1/1 scale VF-25 Valkyrie? Yup, that’s right – and it looks amazing too, as if could actually lift off from that room. This elaborate model is on show in Ikebukuro, Tokyo till May 6th, and then in Nagoya June 1st to 3rd, along with the rest of a huge Macross exhibit. Full-size statues of Lynn Minmay, Sheryl Nome, and Ranka Lee are also featured. You can get your photo taken in the hand of the Valkyrie, but sadly I don’t believe you can sit in the cockpit. Still, it’s an impressive model and the exhibit seems packed with content! Read more…
After much guessing, Game Informer’s exclusive cover story for their upcoming issue is none other than the heavily-rumored Elder Scrolls Online, a new MMO set in the expansive Elder Scrolls world. The MMO will encompass all of Tamriel, such as Elsweyr, Skyrim, and beyond. The setting, however, is a millenium before the events of the last Elder Scrolls game, Skyrim, allowing for plenty of new and different settings. I’m interested in how this will play out, as I’m not sure an Elder Scrolls MMO is necessarily the next step. The game is set for 2013 on both PC and Mac. Read more…
I’ve always wanted to take a trip to Disneyworld, but given my close proximity to Anaheim’s Disneyland resorts and inability to schedule a proper vacation, I’ve had to settle for the California equivalent over the years. Of course, it’s not really equivalent in any way shape or form, but I digress. Those of you planning on attending the California theme park this summer will want to stop by Downtown Disney — a shopping arcade located outside of the park itself — and admire some of the new Star Wars-inspired art now on display. Read more…
Posted by Tim Sheehy on May 3, 2012 in Cinema, Horror
I know we’ve been posting quite a few trailers lately, but this latest featurette for Tim Burton’s big screen adaption of Seth Grahame-Smith’s Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is definitely worth watching. So far, the trailers for the film have featured plenty of special effects, and fast cuts of the film’s over-the-top action sequences, but until now, we really haven’t had a close look at the actual fights between Lincoln and the vampires. This small featurette gives us a glimpse at some of the axe-play you can expect from the film, as well as plenty of never-before-seen footage from the upcoming film without really spoiling anything.
Episode 1: Our first ever special guest, Jake Thomas, joins us!
It’s the first (official) episode of Fanboy.com’s Fanocracy Podcast! Ben and Tim chat with special guest Jake Thomas about Prometheus, the Avengers, cameras, acting, and more! Tune in each week for discussion and news… or ranting and raving! Click here to subscribe to us via iTunes and listen on your iPod, iPad, or computer! Or, hit the jump and stream it directly in your browser! Read more…
It should come as no surprise at this point, but Bioware and Dark Horse have announced an upcoming digital comic based on the hit title, Dragon Age: Origins. Titled Dragon Age: Those Who Speak, the three part series will focus on the characters of Alistair, Verric and Isabella, as they investigate the death of Alistair’s father. As a bit of a spoiler for anyone who has yet to play the game, Alistair is apparently crowned King at the end of the game, with the comic taking place during his reign. The first issue of the digital comic will be available on August 22nd.
Being the fanboys that we are, it wouldn’t be right if we didn’t take a moment acknowledge the untimely passing of Joel Goldsmith. Joel was an Emmy-nominated composer who scored a number of our favorite films and television shows. His credits include several Stargate television properties, Sanctuary, the live-action adaptation of Witchblade, along with a few Sci-Fi cult-classics from the late-70s and early 80s, such as Moon 44 and LaserBlast. Read more…
Finally a reason to go to Canada! I’m kidding, I’m sure there’s plenty of reasons — maple syrup, for instance — but Star Wars fans have something to add to that list. Star Wars Identities attempts to bring you into the Star Wars universe as you’ve never experienced it before. With over 200 props, costumes, models and works of art from the series, the exhibition offers a unique look at the Star Wars Galaxy as we’ve come to know it.
Here’s the latest trailer for Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises. As reported earlier, fans attending The Avengers this week will be treated to it in theaters, but we figured you’d want to catch it sooner rather than later. It may reveal a tad more about the plot, such as the reason for Batman’s absence from Gotham, and along with an extended look at Catwoman’s role in the film. Unlike previous trailers, Bane’s dialog is actually intelligible, so that leads me to believe Tom Hardy had some additional ADR work in recent months — probably for the best. Oh and we finally get a look at Nolan’s take on the Batwing. Like the rest of the vehicles to appear in previous films, it’s a bit rugged, for lack of a better term, and not quite as whimsical as the design from Burton’s films.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 30, 2012 in Star Wars
There’s a very cool project on Kickstater which aims to send a Captain Picard and a Captain Kirk action figure into outer space via weather balloon. While I’d prefer an overpowered Estes rocket the idea of a weather balloon is a tad more legal if not less fun. In addition to Kickstarter you cans how your love for the project on this Facebook page as well. Read more…
Here’s a few bits of Doctor Who news from the past week. Producer Steven Moffat recently stated that contrary to popular belief, The Doctor isn’t the main character of the show. Instead he believes that while The Doctor is certainly the hero, the main characters are, in actuality, his companions. With the impending exit of Amy and Rory next season, one story will be coming to an end, with Jenna Louise Coleman’s story about to begin. Sadly, he hasn’t given any further details regarding her upcoming role as the Doctor’s new companion.
I’ve always wanted to post one of these Schwarzenegger montages, but I never really had the chance. Of course, using the “top 100 quotes” will probably be a bit of an overkill, but that’s okay. I’ll probably have to move on to Jason Statham quotes next, but let’s be honest, none of his one-liners have ever been as campy or, by virtue of that fact, entertaining. On the bright side, now that Schwarzenegger’s making his return feature films, someone might decide to film another 80s action flick — oh wait, they have. The Expendables 2 will hit theaters August 16th. Let’s hope they release another awful set of promotional posters for that one.
EVE Online has always been fascinating to me, mainly due to the open nature of the digital economy it has. Anyone can do anything they’d do in real life – sell goods, steal goods, attempt to control a resource in high demand – it’s all possible. So for your lazy Sunday, take a look at this: EVE Online is currently going through a massive upheaval as a powerful federation called Goonswarm (a player-created federation, by the way) is killing anyone in the trading hub Jita. This is the final piece in a massive plan by Goonswarm to control alloy prices and become the sole provider right before the EVE expansion, Inferno, is released. And the game’s creators are going to stand by and watch it all happen. Read more…
That doesn’t mean it doesn’t look fun, though! Sony recently announced a new PS3 game that will finally combine all your favorite first-party Playstation characters into one fighting brawler. Wanted to have Fat Princess fight Kratos? Done. Parappa the Rapper versus Sly Cooper? It can happen. If you like the gameplay of Smash Bros. Brawl, then you’ll feel right at home here. No news on a release date yet, but I’m sure we’ll hear more at E3. Read more…
You’re going to have to forgive me for bringing up Portal 2 again so soon, because this new trailer featuring J.K. Simmons reprising his role as Cave Johnson is hilarious. If you pay attention to the computer screens, you can also catch a short glimpse of Meet the Pyro, Valve’s final short film for Team Fortress 2. I must also admit, the idea of utilizing alternate earths as gardens for harvesting creative ideas while never paying for them is very clever. However, what if the earth creating that idea is already being used by another earth for their ideas? It boggles the mind. I think.
