Not many people outside of the world of film know Shane Black by name, but most certainly do by reputation. Black is best known for being the driving creative writing force behind such films as Monster Squad, Last Boy Scout, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, and all of the good Lethal Weapon films.

Black has been bouncing around for the past few years, with rumors that he would be working on a revamped Doc Savage property, with Schwarzenegger as a strong contender back in the 90s. Well, Arnie may be out, but Black is most definitely in, definitely writing and possibly directing, according to Collider.

“[the film] will be set in the 30s and not modernize the story….The producers of “Doc Savage” are Neil Moritz and Ori Marmur.  They’re the guys who are also producing “The Green Hornet”, “Battle: Los Angeles”, and “Jack the Giant Killer.”  Furthermore, they have a deal at Sony so if the film gets made, “Doc Savage” will be made at Sony.”

Continue Reading →

When I heard about Microsoft‘s Windows 7 tie-in with Family Guy I was slightly taken aback. Doesn’t Hollywood live and die by the Apple Mac? I thought so, which made me wonder why anyone in that industry would be pitching Microsoft products.

I may not have a specific answer to that (other then the most obvious one: money) but at least I now know the air date for the Family Guy special in which Windows 7 will be promoted, fiercely I imagine, to viewers of the hit series:

“The half-hour “Family Guy Presents: Seth & Alex’s Almost Live Comedy Show” will air at 8:30 p.m. Nov. 8 and star series creator Seth MacFarlane and his co-star Alex Borstein. The special will air without traditional commercials and instead will feature Microsoft-branded programming that Fox said will blend with the show’s content.”

Now, this could go one of two ways: brilliant or horrible. If McFarlane and company craft something in which they don’t try and hide the baked-in advertising, it could work.  30 Rock has had pretty good success in a comedic capacity when it comes to product placement and is definitely something to emulate.

On the other hand, should the writers try and trick the audience into thinking they are not watching an ad for Windows 7, that could backfire. Considering the quality of the show, I’m less inclined to think they’ll hide what’s really going on and fess up. This should bring the audience in on the jokes and make it that much funnier.

Continue Reading →

You love Battlestar Galactica. We love Battlestar Galactica. Everyone loves Battlestar Galactica. Or, at least they should. For those who do, following is info on a great contest going on right now to commemorate the release of the BSG movie The Plan, which hits store shelves tomorrow.

Want to know all the details? Well, I could tell you but it would probably be easier just to let this fancy press release do the talking for me. Check it out.

For the first time ever, fans can experience the uncut and uncensored story of humanity’s futuristic fight for survival through the eyes of their deadly adversaries, the Cylons when Battlestar Galactica: The Plan comes to DVD and Blu-ray October 27th, which includes the uncensored 90-minute feature and revealing bonus features that take viewers onto the set of the most unexpected twist ever in the intergalactic saga’s history!

In support of the release, UGO invites you to enter for a chance to win Dinner with the Admiral! Here’s your chance to win a trip to Los Angeles to dine with Edward James Olmos. Frakkin’ awesome, right? But this honor isn’t going to be bestowed on just anyone.  You’ll need to fill out the “Viper Pilot Application” form so that we know you qualify for consideration. You will be asked to answer 10 questions.

Entries will be judged on the following criteria: 1) Knowledge of Battlestar Galactica TV series as displayed in the answers; 2) Creativity in formulation of answers; and 3) Clarity of thought in presentation of answers. So grab your gun and bring in the cat. Good hunting!  Enter here: http://www.ugo.com/BattlestarContest!

Once again its time for the weekly list of new comics coming out on Wednesday from our pals at Marvel. This time around there’s some pretty cool titles including the new Dark Avengers: Ares #1, Punisher #10, Secret Warriors #9 and a Zombie variant X-Men Forever.

As always, we’ve got some cool art from some of these comics after the jump. On the way there, be sure to check out all the info via the official press release.

Comics On-Sale:

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN PRESENTS: ANTI-VENOM – NEW WAYS TO LIVE #2

ANITA BLAKE, THE LAUGHING CORPSE – EXECUTIONER #1

AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE #29

AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE #29 SHS VARIANT

DARK AVENGERS: ARES #1

DARK REIGN: THE LIST – DAREDEVIL 2ND PRINTING VARIANT

Continue Reading →

We’re all pretty excited for the release of LEGO Rock Band around The Flickcast offices. We’ve brought you plenty of coverage of the game, including a brand new Queen video, and even the complete track list to get your mouth watering. We’re now bringing you something even better, as the full trailer has just been released.

The game will do all the things Rock Band fans have come to crave in a game, from singing to rocking out electric base. One of the newest features is the aesthetic look of the LEGO people and surroundings. You can create full bands to use on tours, which are all about as customizable as the LEGO people you used to play with as a kid.

The trailer shows off four of the exclusive tracks that can be found on the game, including Bon Jovi’s “You Give Love a Bad Name”, Counting Crows’ “Accidentally in Love”, Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’”, and Europe’s “Final Countdown”. Check out the trailer after the jump, and be sure to grab LEGO Rock Band from your local video game store on November 3rd!

Continue Reading →

Well, cut me open and splay my innards. This episode was awesome. Written by Joss Whedon’s little brother Jed and his wife Maurissa Tancharoen, this episode Topher develops morals and Sierra kills a client. Also, this episode was directed by Jonathan Frakes (of Star Trek The Next Generation) making it all around awesome.

The last time I recapped Dollhouse, I was pretty harsh saying the show has to give me something worth saving it for. Now I can say that for episodes like this one, its worth saving this show for more of this kind of stuff.

We open on Sierra displaying some of her art on the beach, when Dr. Nolan Kinnard (Vincent Ventresca) comes up to her and asks her out. Flash forward to a gallery showing of Sierra/Priya’s work. Priya wants to leave with Victor who has been imbued with the consciousness of an Italian Art Dealer.  Within minutes Dr. Nolan gets a little possessive and uppity demanding that Priya stay, harsh words are exchanged and Priya leaves.  Flash forward to the next year where Kinnard is seeing Sierra again, and I’m like: “Wait. There are no repeat engagements.”

Apparently Kinnard is a VIP, and is allowed multiple reservations. During a kindergarten class Sierra draws a black blotch on her drawing saying the black blotch is the “bad man” to Echo (Eliza Dushku).  Echo brings this to Topher so Topher investigates by talking to Boyd (Harry Lennix) about Sierra’s last engagement.  Its revealed that Kinnard is a doctor at a psychotic facility, and that Topher brought Sierra in from.

Continue Reading →

It’s been two and a half decades since the original miniseries first hit TV, but now V is finally making a comeback next week on ABC, and we’ve got two new clips to give you a taste of what the show has to offer.

For those who didn’t see the original, the plot is about the arrival of a seemingly peaceful alien race on Earth, who say they have only good intentions. Slowly, however, its reveled that those intentions could mean bad things for the inhabitants of our planet. No word on how the plot will change from the original, but you could expect it to grow it’s own legs, much like Sci-Fi’s Battlestar Galactica.

In first clip, one of the cooler effects takes place. It’s the first communication between the alien race and the humans using a gigantic screen in the sky. Firefly’s Morena Baccarin plays Anna, the alien ambassador, and does a nice job of portraying a creepy calm.

In the second clip, Baccarin is joined by Scott Wolf, playing TV journalis Chad Decker in the first interview between alien Anna and the human race. Things get dicey when she asks not to be portrayed in a bad light.

Check out these clips after the jump, as well as the first 8 minutes of the pilot on ABC.com. Be sure to catch V on ABC, Tuesday, November 3, at 8pm/7pm Central.

Continue Reading →

Good news for PS3 owners everywhere! Netflix and Sony have partnered up to bring Netflix streaming to the Playstation 3 console, Kotaku reports. The announcement comes after much speculation that Netflix streaming would become available for consoles other than the Xbox 360.

The PS3 version of Netflix streaming will be very similar to the experience we’re familiar with from the Xbox 360, with the ability to browse and update right from the PS3′s XMB. To access the streaming, Playstation 3 owners will need a Netflix-provided Blu-ray disc in their consoles in order to take advantage of the Blu-ray’s BD-Live technology and watch movies and tv from the service. These discs will be free, and can be requested at netflix.com/ps3.

As of now there’s no release date for this new feature, but The Playstation Blog reports that Netflix expects to begin streaming to PS3 owners in the United States sometime next month.

Before getting a chance to sit down and talk with Dean Haspiel (American Splendor, The Quitter, Billy Dogma) at the Alternative Press Expo, I met him at the Isotope Comics Lounge on the eve of APE weekend for a pre-APE Isotope in-store bash. Currently, Haspiel is but one artist that is part of a larger collective of storytellers at ACT-I-VATE.

Recently, October saw the recent release of The ACT-I-VATE Primer by IDW Publishing, featuring new and original stories. While at the Isotope, I discovered Haspiel is as gracious and as nice as I could have imagined just sitting and talking with him as he signed and sketched a head shot of Harvey Pekar in my copy of The Quitter.

That night talking generally about the unique positivity that courses through the comic industry, Haspiel signs my Pekar sketch advising me to “never quit.” It’s good advice.

Needless to say, I was excited to sit down and talk with Haspiel again on Sunday as APE was coming to a close.

Joey Pangilinan: How did you come to start working with Harvey?

Dean Haspiel: Here’s a long answer to a simple question. I grew up reading superhero comics. My dream was to become a penciler and draw for Marvel. I didn’t know there were other comics that could be non-superhero or not published by DC and Marvel. I started to expand my horizons and got hungrier for the medium.

In the early ‘80s, I discovered American Splendor, at a place called Soho Zat in lower Manhattan, which had a lot of alternative and underground comics, and I discovered a whole bunch of different types of works.

So, there I am reading the Fantastic Four, and suddenly I come across semi-autobiographical comics and stuff like Yummy Fur by Chester Brown, and it just blew my mind. I started out being a fan, like most people are, of Harvey Pekar, or whoever else they admire.

Continue Reading →

When it comes to horror,  for the last several years October has been monopolized by the persistent and prolific offerings of a one Saw series. Jigsaw might be smarting a bit this Monday, because he was decidedly trounced by “the little demon that could,” otherwise known as Paranormal Activity.

Based on early estimates from Box Office Mojo,  Paranormal Activity finally claimed the top spot at the box office in its fifth week of release.  This makes it only the second movie this decade to do so after that many weeks in release, the other being Gran Torrino (2008).   Scaring up another $22M, the film played on 1,956 screens and brought its cumulative total up to $62.4M.

Despite playing on over 1,000 more screens than Paranormal, Saw VI brought in only $14.8M for second place.  This is the worst opening weekend for the franchise since the original Saw.

Where the Wild Things Are had a fairly steep dropoff of 55.9% from its opening week, which indicates few repeat attendees, and less than stellar word of mouth.  Still, it made $14.4 bringing its cumulative total to $53.9M for its first two weeks.

Continue Reading →

Last week, we got word of the first new downloadable characters for the sequel to Marvel Ultimate Alliance in X-Men’s Psylocke and Spider-Man’s Carnage. After that, in one of the promo screen shots for the character, we got a glimpse at a few of the other characters soon to be announced, including Magneto, Black Panther, and Cable.

It looks like that may have jumped the boat, as the developers announced this weekend that Cable is indeed the next downloadable character for Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2. There’s a new trailer for the character after the jump, which you can check out, and there isn’t a whole plethora of information on when the content will be hitting our consoles and for how much.

No word yet on Magneto and Black Panther, but seeing as how it only took a week to announce 3 new characters, don’t expect to have to wait very long to play the Ukanda King and Master of Magnetism. Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 is now available on all next gen systems.

Continue Reading →

The Vampire’s Assistant is based on the first three books in a series of twelve by Darren Shan. Like the Twilight series, The Vampire’s Assistant books are targeted towards young adults, and naturally this movie is as well. If you are not a tweener, or a fan of the book series, it is best to steer clear of this painfully bland adaptation.  The movie seems entirely too self-aware of its target audience, and consequently it takes the safe route at every turn throughout the film.  This results in a rather boring final product, despite some bright spots.

Darren  (Chris Massoglia) and his friend Steve (Josh Hutcherson) sneak out one night to attend a freak show in their area.  Ringmaster Mr. Tall (Ken Watanabe) introduces a plethora of captivating creatures, including a snake boy (Patrick Fugit of Almost Famous), a woman capable of spontaneously regenerating lobbed off  limbs (30 Rock’s Jane Krakowski), a bearded lady/psychic (Salma Hayek), and a girl with freakishly large teeth (Kristen Schaal), amongst others.

The opening scene featuring the freak show was my favorite part of the movie.  It aptly portrays the shock, excitement and disgust that two young boys would feel the first time viewing such an event.  It also had some very cool makeup/CGI effects.  Having been a fan of the original Freaks (1932) I tend to delight in this subject matter, and I was not disappointed.

Continue Reading →