Anyone who comes to this site knows we love to pass along anything that touches the bottom of our geek hearts. Many times, these come in the way of fan films.

But today it’s a special treat with a free PC game. Through his website Eric Ruth Games,  a developer has posted his portfolio of 8-Bit style games which includes, you guessed it, a classic NES style version of 2008′s megahit, Left 4 Dead.

Entitled Pixel Force: Left 4 Dead, players step in to an 8-bit version of the four original campaigns of L4D. Either single or two player from one keyboard (sorry, no XBox Live or Steam connectivity here), gamers get to take a peek at what this genre defining game would have looked like had it come out twenty years ago in the days before graphics accelerators and first person shooters.

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While Twilight: New Moon has been sweeping the nation since it’s release last year, and Eclipse already in the can, producers of the franchise realize that they need to look forward to the final book in the series, Breaking Dawn. Unfortunately, nobody seemed to think the films would get this far, as producers are now stumped on how to film some of the outrageous moments of the final book.

For those like myself who have no intention on reading the books, [SPOILERS BE HERE] in the final book Bella becomes pregnant with Edward’s baby, and while pregnant, the baby grows at an accelerated rate. The baby begins to claw it’s way out of the womb, before Edward uses his teeth to perform a makeshift cesarean. They later discover that the baby has psychic powers and werewolf Jacob falls in love with it.

It looks like producers over at Summit finally read Breaking Dawn for the first time and realized that they may be screwed. From the L.A. Times:

Wyck Godfrey, the producer of all the films in the “Twilight” saga, admits that the creative team still doesn’t know how they’ll handle the character in the “Breaking Dawn” movie, but said that the plan is absolutely for the production to go forward — as either one or two installments — with an eye toward beginning to shoot in Vancouver this fall. All three stars are signed for “Breaking Dawn,” he said, meaning that Stewart and Pattinson will be dealing with the joys and woes of interspecies parenting and newly minted heartthrob Taylor Lautner will return as often-shirtless shape-shifter Jacob Black.

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Much like the rest of the college youth, Community makes it’s return to school this week, starting up the Spring semester with new stories, new laughs, and even new faces. Kicking off the second half of this season, guest star Jack Black will be stopping by to play. . . Jack Black?

Well, not really. Black is playing Buddy, a fellow classmate of the Spanish study group’s. This character breaks into song at random times, skats, and jumps around impishly, which is the exact opposite of the Jack Black we’ve come to know. In the episode, Buddy tries to join in on the study group, seeing all the fun they have, buy ends up causing more harm than help.

It’s not that outrageous that Black would guest star on an NBC sitcom. Not only did he have a quirky cameo in an episode of The Office, but he’s also good friends with show creator Dan Harmon. Black and Harmon worked on previous projects such as Laser Fart and Heat Vision and Jack, the latter of which being a failed Ben Stiller pilot about a man and his talking motorcycle.

Check out the clips after the jump, and be sure to catch this week’s new Community on NBC this Thursday at 8pm Eastern.

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Every geek has at one point wandered through their local comics or gaming store and come across the miniatures gaming section. Some stores merely carry a few items while others have full sections dedicated to Mechwarrior, Warhammer 40,000 and Warhammer Fantasy. One game that has made its way back on and off the store shelves over the years has also been Blood Bowl.

A mix of American football, rugby and the Warhammer Fantasy universe, Blood Bowl sets teams of miniature figures against each other to score touchdowns or beat the opposing team in to oblivion. After numerous ups and downs in the game’s development it looks like the over the top fantasy football “simulation” will be coming to video game consoles with SouthPeak Games’ Bloodbowl. Retail Windows PC and XBox 360 versions of the game are set for release this month with a PSP version of the game coming in the spring.

From SouthPeak Games Press Release: “Just in time for the human football season’s end, SouthPeak is here to offer a less than traditional spin on classic football. With a rich heritage of table-top gaming, Blood Bowl is poised to tear your Windows PC, Xbox 360 and PSP system a new end zone.

With turn-based gameplay and each play teetering on the roll of the dice, Blood Bowl will keep you on the edge of your seat from kickoff to final score. Inspired by the infamous Warhammer series, Blood Bowl brings some of the most vicious gameplay, dirty tricks and lest we forget – secret weapons – to the field in an all new way.”

Take a look below at some of the screens and trailer for the upcoming game and stay tuned to The Flickcast for more information as it comes.

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We recently brought you news that the newly released video game from comic creator Joe Madureira, Darksiders, may be growing legs and moving onto the world of film. Recently, we got the chance to talk to “Joe Mad” about his video game, and any thoughts he had on adaptations before the game was even released.

Darksiders, which hit game stores on January 5th, is an innovative action-adventure game from the creator of such comics as Battle Chasers and Marvel’s Ultimates 3. In the game takes the role of “War”, one of the horsemen of the Apocalypse, and throws you in a post-apocalyptic world where you must fight your way to the top.

Check out our exclusive interview with Madureira after the jump, and be sure to also check out our hands-on first impressions with Darksiders, which can be found for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 where video games are sold.

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With the success of Siege#1 last week (it sold out) Marvel is dropping all new books this week to try and continue the momentum they’ve started in January. This week, we’re particularly excited to read Psylocke #3, Strange #3, S.W.O.R.D. #3 and the latest Invincible Iron Man.

And, as we always say, be sure to click through for some cover art from some of these new books. The overs are pretty cool. See you at the comic’s shop on Wednesday.

Comics On-Sale:
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #617 (GNTLT)
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #617 SOMETHING IS COMING VARIANT (GNTLT)
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #617 RHINO IS COMING VARIANT (GNTLT)
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #617 VILLAIN VARIANT (GNTLT)
ANITA BLAKE, THE LAUGHING CORPSE – EXECUTIONER #3
BLACK PANTHER #12
BLACK WIDOW: DEADLY ORIGIN #3
DARK X-MEN #3
INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #22 ZIRCHER COVER
MARVEL ADVENTURES SUPER HEROES #19
NATION X #2
PSYLOCKE #3
PUNISHERMAX #3
REALM OF KINGS IMPERIAL GUARD #3
S.W.O.R.D. #3

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As soon as Iron Man hit the movie screen comic book fans began speculating as to whether Tony Stark would turn to booze.  This, of course, comes from the highly praised Demon in a Bottle storyline in which Stark falls into a depression, forsakes his Iron Man alter ego, and becomes an alcohalic.  With Marvel Studios casting Robert Downey Jr. in the title role, someone who has battled similar demons, it only bolstered the idea that this story had to be addressed at some point.

Neither Marvel nor Downey Jr. have said much about Demon in a Bottle.  The party line thus far has been little more then acknowledging they know the story exists, but have never committed to its inclusion in the films.  Now, thanks to comic book artist Bob Layton, we’re beginning to hear more about how Demon in a Bottle may play out in the films to come:

“I think they’ve come up with a terrific segue to the third film, which I think is going to be fairly powerful,” he said. “My understanding is that the third film could very well be the ‘Demon in a Bottle’ story mixed in there with everything and I’m kind of looking forward to that, if that’s where they wind up going.”

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I don’t know what it says about Stuart Townsend or Marvel’s upcoming Thor movie, but he has walked off of the project citing “creative differences”. Townsend (who also walked away from the role of Aragorn in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films) was signed to play Fandral, one of the “Warriors Three”, an Errol Flynn-esque Asgardian.

The question now becomes: with Townsend’s absence, will Thor become a new classic, much like the Rings trilogy, or will it fall by the wayside much like films that he originally signed up for such as League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Queen of the Damned.

Thor, which started filming this week, didn’t lose a second over the loss as newcomer Joshua Dallas has stepped into the role. Dallas recently had a role in the still-unreleased stateside horror sequel The Descent 2 and in the George Lucas-produced story about the Tuskegee Airmen, Red Tails.

Thor is being directed by Kenneth Branagh, also stars Chris Hemsworth (Star Trek), Natalie Portman, and Anthony Hopkins, and is slated for May 6th, 2011.

As first reported via Deadline Hollywood, things are going in a completely different direction in the cinematic world of Spider-Man. According to the report, the fourth film featuring the web slinger won’t star Tobey Maguire or be directed by Sam Raimi. In fact, none of the creative team from the first three films will be returning and the next film will be an entire reboot of the franchise.

This news comes after recent reports of script and villain problems and delays in filming in order to reach a projected release date in 2012. In addition, Sony released a statement today and we’ve got that for you right here:

Culver City, CA (January 11, 2010) — Peter Parker is going back to high school when the next Spider-Man hits theaters in the summer of 2012. Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios announced today they are moving forward with a film based on a script by James Vanderbilt that focuses on a teenager grappling with both contemporary human problems and amazing super-human crises.

The new chapter in the Spider-Man franchise produced by Columbia, Marvel Studios and Avi Arad and Laura Ziskin, will have a new cast and filmmaking team. Spider-Man 4 was to have been released in 2011, but had not yet gone into production.

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While folks over in the J.J. Abrams camp are revving up for the final season of LOST, there’s still something to look forward to on the horizon. News has just hit that a release date for the sequel to last May’s Star Trek has been announced…and that date is June 29th, 2012.

So before we start joining in the debate on whether the next villain should be Kahn, Klingons, The Borg, or Tribbles, realize that we still have over two years before we’ll get to “boldly go…” once more in theaters.

No word has been stated on what the plot will be, but last we heard from the cast and crew, just about everyone will be returning for the sequel (with the exception of Nimoy as Spock Prime). The film will at least be getting a prime box office slot, as it’s the weekend before Independence Day, which is primarily a hot ticket weekend for theaters.

Just think, between now and the time the film hits theaters, we’ll have already seen two Iron Man films, a Thor movie, and another six films starring Miley Cyrus. Isn’t the anticipation overwhelming??

The DGA, which unveiled the small-screen nominations in eight categories last Friday, will announce the winners Jan. 30 at its 62nd annual awards ceremonies at the Century Plaza Hotel. AMC’s Mad Men received three Directors Guild of America TV nominations for drama series and HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm and Fox’s Glee each got a pair for comedy. The nominations included a trio of season finales in Mad Men, Curb and ABC’s Lost. In the comedy category, two shows — the pilot for ABC’s Modern Family and Glee — also received nominations.

Thomas Carter scored a nomination in the TV movie-miniseries category for TNT’s Gifted Hands — The Ben Carson Story along with Bob Balaban for Liftetime’s George O’Keefe, John Kent Harrison for CBS’s The Courageous Heart of Irene Sandler, Ross Katz for HBO’s Taking Chance and Michael Sucsy for HBO’s Grey Gardens.

Here’s the complete list of nominations:

MOVIES FOR TELEVISION/MINISERIES

The nominees for the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television/Miniseries for 2009 are (in alphabetical order):

BOB BALABAN

“Georgia O’Keeffe” (Lifetime)

THOMAS CARTER

“Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story” (TNT)

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Listen up Heroes fans. Mind-reading cop Greg Grunberg is convinced Heroes will be back for another season. This is certainly great news for anyone still watching the show and concerned about the ratings. Keep in mind, this is his opinion, and does not necessarily reflect that of the network.

Grunberg made his renewal prediction while attending the People’s Choice awards, “We wrapped yesterday and the [final episode] is nowhere near a series finale…It is cliffhanger-y and exciting, but it is nowhere near an end to a series that people are so invested in. It does not tie everything up in a neat bow… I don’t have any doubt that the show will be back.”

It’s a bold statement to make. Just because the season finale is “…nowhere near a series finale…” does not guarantee the show will return next season.  Let me present Exhibit A: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. That wasn’t a series finale either, and we all know what happened to it (here’s a hint, Fox canceled it).

That said,  I hope Heroes viewers do get their show back. Fortunately, Heroes has some other things going for it other than Grunberg’s gut instinct. The series has solid DVD sales and a strong international following. Further, Heroes was the top pirated TV series of 2009. Okay, that may not be the best endorsement given the legalities (or lack there of) involved.  Regardless, it is a strong indicator that people are watching the show.

At the end of the day I think as long as NBC can continue to sell ads alongside Heroes it should last. With shows like Dollhouse and the aforementioned Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles getting axed there’s less genre programming to watch. In that, Heroes may find a resurgence in viewers as similar options in programming continue to dwindle.