I have a real appreciation for natural disaster flicks. Volcano, Dante’s Peak, 2012, I love them all and it doesn’t matter how absurd they may be.  One personal favorite is Twister. This film came with a whole bunch of destruction with a baked in love story between Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt.  Because nothing says I love you better then sharing the moment of running scared from a category five tornado.

Even with the success of his show Big Love, Paxton wants another Twister film.  Some may scoff at the idea but I’d love to see a sequel. Paxton said the inspiration for the the film came to him while retracing the path of the 1925 Tri-State Tornado. This massive tornado left a path of destruction 219 miles wide and killed 700 people. Paxton said:

“There’s actually footage that I found in Murphysboro at their historical society. They had footage from a biplane that the government sent down, just to do aerial footage of all of the destruction and the damage. So we just did that to kind of get some ideas, and from that I kind of extrapolated an idea for a sequel. And I kind of put that together into a format, and now we’re kind of waiting to see if that’s going to move forward.”

One thing to consider about doing a film like this is how it would be accepted by audiences. Until 2012, the disaster film genre kind of disappeared (Cloverfield doesn’t count, it was a monster after all). In that time the real world has suffered some major disasters of its own (e.g. Hurricane Katrina). This is not to say we didn’t have major disasters when Twister was originally released, but I feel there’s a higher social awareness surrounding the tragedy of the events rather than the sensational nature of them.

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Much like vampires, zombies are having quite the resurgence these days. Not that they ever really went anywhere, but it seems after the success of Zombieland (and video games like Left 4 Dead) everyone in Hollywood wants a piece of the zombie pie (which, while popular, probably wouldn’t taste very good).

Recently, AMC announced they were adapting Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead for the network with Frank Darabont in charge and now, not to be left out, MTV is apparently turning George Romero’s classic Dawn of the Dead into a TV series.  Yes, one more non-music program on a channel named Music Television.  Don’t worry, it’s doubtful they’ll make the zombies dance.  At least in that MTV will preserve the greatness that is Michael Jackson’s Thriller video.

So far MTV has not made any details about the project available:

“They haven’t given away much in terms of details surrounding the show, how it will link to the original film or even when it might hit the air. They have noted the show will feature a mix of the classic, slow moving zombies and the latest fad of turning the undead into Olympic sprinters. It’s good to see so much diversity on television.”

A television series based on zombies may seem unconventional, but one only has to look to shows like HBO‘s True Blood to understand the supernatural appeal. Moreover, I can’t help but wonder if some, if not all, of MTV’s motivation is driven by Zombieland itself.  While made into a movie, Zombieland was originally pitched to CBS as a television series.  Coincidence? Perhaps not.

No matter how the project started, is anyone really going to complain about more zombies to watch?  I didn’t think so.

As if we had any doubt, TV Guide reports that Glee, Fox’s ratings juggernaut about a high school choir, has been picked up for a second season. We’ve loved Glee ever since it was a pilot script,” said Fox President Kevin Reilly. “So it’s been an incredible thrill to watch the show take root and see audiences embrace these characters in such a huge way.”

Even more exciting than the promise of another season of Glee is that there will be a nationwide casting call starting in February to fill three new roles being added in the second season. For all the “Gleeks” out there who would die for a place on the show, now’s your chance!

Glee returns to your televisions on April 13th.

Change, as they say, is inevitable. So it is with most things, including super powered suits worn by members of The Avengers. Case in point this new, improved armor design for one of our favorite flawed heroes: Iron Man.

The new suit, according to our friends at Marvel:

” . . . signals a new era for Tony Stark and the Marvel Universe! From the minds of Eisner Award-winning series writer Matt Fraction and Ryan Meinerding, designer on the Iron Man and Thor films, comes the most bleeding edge, out of this world armor you’ve ever seen!

Following the sold-out “Stark Disassembled” storyline, the Marvel Universe still needs its armored champion and a new mission requires a new kind of armor! But when you see just what Iron Man has planned for the Marvel Universe, your jaw will be on the floor! There’s never been a super hero like the new Iron Man!”

The all-new Iron Man makes his debut in Invincible Iron Man #25, which hits stores on April 25. In the meantime, click through to check out a larger pic of the new armor.

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Well, I have officially run out of clever ways to say that Avatar won the weekend box office, and I think I still have weeks, if not months, to go. For the fourth week in a row, Avatar ruled the domestic box office and it has now made a mind-blowing $429 Million in one month. The movie dropped almost 30% from last weekend, yet still managed a hefty $48 Million, which places it in the seven spot for highest grossing movie (domestically) ever. It has earned $1.2 Billion globally.

Trailing the top earner were Sherlock Holmes, and Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, which each made around $16 Million. Holmes has now made $165 Million in three weeks, and Squeakquel has made $178 Million in as many weeks. Both look poised to surpass $200 Million during their theatrical runs.

New releases were almost shut out of the top five this weekend, but the vampire horror flick Daybreakers, starring Ethan Hawke, managed to squeeze into fourth place with a respectable gross of $15 Million. It’s Complicated took the number five spot, and made $11 Million, for a cumulative total of $76 Million. The critically maligned  romantic comedy Leap Year stirred enough interest to make about $9 Million for sixth place.

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It’s easy to go on about how much money Avatar is making at the box office. However, a more interesting result of the film’s success is the possibility that it proved 3-D can be far more than just a gimmick.  Instead of having objects fly out at the audience James Cameron used the technology to pull viewers into the environment.  It was such a simple twist on 3-D I’m surprised nobody thought of it before now.

However, with Avatar’s explosion in popularity, and everyone it seems hoping on the 3-D bandwagon, Cameron may have unintentionally become the “3-D guy”.  Any projects he takes on moving forward people are going to anticipate some kind of 3D component, which may not necessarily be the case.

As such, I (along with everyone else writing about this story) have to assume that Cameron could have 3-D plans in mind for the book The Last Train From Hiroshima. Cameron has optioned the rights to the book by Charles Pellegrino which probably means he plans on making either a documentary or movie based on it.  Moreover, Cameron purchased the rights with his own money, which isn’t really a stretch given two of his films, Avatar and Titanic, have made over a billion dollars each.

Pellegrino’s book “…takes place over two days and weaves together eyewitness accounts of the Japanese civilians and American pilots who experienced the atomic explosions firsthand.”

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As reported previously, Blake Lively was rumored to be in the running to play the female lead in the upcoming Green Lantern movie, opposite Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan. Well, Variety is reporting that she has indeed landed the role and is set to start filming when the movie goes into production later this spring.

Blake Lively, best known for her role on the CW’s series Gossip Girl and in the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series, will later this year be seen opposite Ben Affleck in the movie The Town. As mentioned in the previous post, her being a newer star makes it easier to lock her down into a contract where she’ll appear in, hopefully, many sequels and not limit her role solely to that of a love interest. ‘Carol Ferris’ is both a vital part of the Green Lantern mythology as the head of the aviation company that employs the former Air Force pilot, and also has played the part of super-villain, in the form of ‘Star Sapphire’.

Not being too knowledgeable of Lively’s career, or talents, I have to say I’m fairly interested in this casting decision and look forward to seeing where it goes. Although, counter to what I had stated in my first post, I think it would have been interesting to see the film cast an older woman that runs the business and is also a viable leading love interest.

The Martin Campbell (Casino Royale) directed movie, has a script by Marc Guggenheim and Michael Green (with Michael Goldenberg working on a new draft) and is scheduled to be released in June of 2011.

The year 2010 is here! With a new year comes resolutions to make, new goals in mind, and new schedules to follow. But it also means some brand new TV for us all to enjoy.

January 14th

This night brings the return of some of our favorite shows here at The Flickcast including 30 Rock, Bones, Fringe, Supernatural, Grey’s Anatomy, CSI, Private Practice and The Mentalist.

All these shows have been on hiatus, some for almost a month, so with these ratings giants this is sure to be the biggest night on TV all month, no matter what channel you’re watching.

Chuck

Everyone’s favorite geek-turned-spy is back, and Chuck is better than ever. After downloading the Intersect 2.0, we’ll see Chuck perform karate chops AND Spanish Guitar in his quest to keep his family safe and lead a normal life.

Chuck returns for its third season on January 10th with a two hour premiere, and a brand new episode the day after!

American Idol

Regardless of how you feel about this show, you can’t deny its cultural impact and the success it has produced. However, the fun in watching the first few weeks of American Idol is not the talented singers or the tense eliminations.

It’s watching all the people who really can’t sing try their hand at making it big and failing miserably. Let’s face it, with the economy in the can and the current political climate, we all need a little schadenfreude. Idol returns on January 12th on Fox.

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According to the Associated Press, people hoping to get the newest Warner Bros. release on DVD via Netflix will have now have to wait 28 days in order to give the studio more time to sell the films on DVD first. The bonus here is that Netflix will then get a discount on the discs when they can buy them for renting and Warner Bros. is opening up more of it’s catalog to Netflix’s Watch Instantly streaming device.

This news has garnered understandable outrage and also acceptance from the online community. From cheering for more online content to wondering what this will do for DVD rentals through Netflix mail service if other studios make the same kind of deal. I have to side with the people that don’t see this as a bad thing because usually new movies are on such a long wait for me that it takes about a month before I can even get a chance to see them anyway.

Plus, more Watch Instantly streaming titles means fewer trips to the mailbox and less hassle, which is also a good thing. What do you think? Is this is a good or bad thing for Warner Bros. and Netflix? Let us know in the comments.

Say what you will about fans of ABC’s LOST, but they are certainly imaginative. From a Lost-inspired painting of the “Last Supper”, to an entire art show dedicated to it, the fans are always looking for some way to incorporate Abrams, Lindelof and Cuse’s mysterious island into their daily lives.

Now it looks like fans want to experience the island for themselves…as a ride. What started off as a joke from California blogger and Lost fanatic Jon Stueve, who originally threw the idea of a Lost ride into the ether, fans are now hungry for the idea. The Examiner reports:

“In a random tweeted conversation between Stueve and someone he follows, photos of Disneyland led to the statement, ‘Let me know when they’ve made Tom Sawyer Island into Dharma Island.’ Having it out there, Stueve thought the idea was 1) humorous, and 2) had potential, so he made another public tweet. He was flabbergasted when Doc Jensen tweeted back, ‘I TOTALLY SECOND LOST_WFTB’s CALL FOR TURNING TOM SAWYER ISLAND AT DISNEYLAND INTO #LOST ISLAND! GET ON THAT, DISNEY!’”

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Chuck is one of those rare TV programs that manages to combine humor, action, drama and suspense all in one pretty satisfying package. Sure, the show takes a few missteps here and there, but overall its a solid hour of television that’s sure to please fans, especially of the more “geeky” variety. Even though it was “on the bubble’ as they say in the biz and was at risk of cancellation, we’re happy that it was finally granted a reprieve and is now coming back for a third season this Sunday with a special two hour premiere.

So, now that Chuck‘s coming back, what can we expect from season three? Well, fortunately our friends at NBC have graciously sent us a pretty awesome press kit about the upcoming season and were kind enough to include the first five episodes for us to watch and tell you a little about. Don’t worry, no spoilers.

When last we saw Chuck, he had had quite a day and at the end of it had been fully integrated with the brand new Intersect 2.0, complete with a whole array of new skills including martial arts and, apparently, guitar. It should also come as no surprise that even with these new skills in his head, Chuck still has a few problems getting the Intersect to behave exactly how he wants to utilize these new abilities.

Of course, as you’ve no doubt seen in the previews for season three, he does manage to engage his fighting skills some of the time, which makes for some pretty good action sequences. That guitar skill also comes in handy as well but, as is often the case, end up leading Chuck into even more danger.

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Thanks to the cool guys and gals at Yahoo Movies, we can bring you the latest theatrical trailer for Matthew Vaugh’s highly anticipated (especially in Geek circles) film Kick-Ass. As you might be aware, the film is based on the comic series by Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr., tells the story of teenager Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) who decides to take crime fighting into his own hands and don the moniker “Kick-Ass” while he uncovers the true darkness in the city and gets the crap kicked out of him in the process.

The first trailer and the clips looked pretty cool and left us all hungry for more. And I don’t mind saying that this new trailer only increases our level of excitement adding much more to the action and character mix. This movie looks great and hopefully we’ll get to see it once SXSW rolls around.

Check it out after the jump. Kick-Ass, starring Aaron Johnson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Chloe Moretz and Nicolas Cage, hits theaters on April 16th, 2010.

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