by Shannon Hood, Mar 22 2010 // 2:00 PM
Breaking Bad is one of television’s finest offerings. The show airs on Sundays on AMC, and revolves around a high school chemistry teacher who finds out he is dying of cancer, and begins to cook some highly coveted meth to acquire some quick cash to leave his family. Of course, unseen complications keep popping up, as you can imagine.
I’ll be your guide through the twisted universe of Breaking Bad this season. These weekly recaps will be chock full ‘o spoilers, so proceed at your own risk. You definitely will want to watch the episode before reading these. Feel free to chime in with your own thoughts or insights in the comments section.
Last season the premiere had some truly astonishing visuals, namely that teddy bear slowly floating down to a watery grave in the White family pool. Remember the unidentified eyeball lolling in the waves? I didn’t think those visuals could be topped, but No Mas (literally no more) began with some surreal and haunting imagery as well.
This time, the show opens in Mexico, and an elderly man is slowly making his way across the desert by using an army crawl-belly to the ground, dragging himself with his elbows. Curiously, when he encounters other people they simply ignore him and go about their business.
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Posted in: AMC · Drama · TV · TV Recaps
Tagged: AMC, Breaking Bad, Bryan Cranston, No Mas, Vince Gilligan
by Chris Ullrich, Mar 22 2010 // 1:00 PM
You know them, you love them and now they’re back together again in a concert reunion movie. Hey Watch This is a feature film showcasing comedy legends Cheech and Chong during their highly successful reunion tour, Cheech & Chong: Light Up America.
During the tour they performed together for the first time in over 25 years for more than 100 audiences, grossed eight figures and went on to become one of the most successful tours of 2008-2009. And now, the side-splitting film captures the essence of their live performances which have made them the fan-favorite comedians they are today.
Cheech and Chong’s Hey Watch This will be debuting via a new kind of release which will have it on every platform including a limited theatrical run, DVD/Blu-Ray, online and at local retail outlets, Video On Demand service, and streaming through the PS3 and Xbox360 Networks. Expect this movie to hit theaters, DVD/Blu-ray, VOD and more on, when else, 4/20.
In the meantime, check out the trailer and the full sized poster after the jump. By clicking through to watch the video you certify you are 18 years of age or older.
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Posted in: Blu-Ray · Comedy · DVD · Movies · News
Tagged: Blu-Ray, Cheech and Chong, Cheech Marin, Comedy, Concert Film, DVD, Hey Watch This, Movies, PS3, Tommy Chong, VOD, Xbox 360
by Shannon Hood, Mar 22 2010 // 12:00 PM
Remember the first time you saw Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer? If you were like me, you felt a bit dirty by the end for watching it, and a little sick to your stomach due to its disturbing realistic violence. At the conclusion of Red, White, and Blue I had that same mix of shame and disgust, and I wasn’t exactly excited about an upcoming lunch of shredded beef burritos, if you know what I mean. It takes quite a bit to conjure up such a visceral reaction in me, so kudos to director Simon Rumley (The Living and the Dead) for pushing all the right buttons.
The movie begins with a bang (or two, or three) of the sexual variety. Erica is the type of woman who looks like she was rode hard and put away wet. She recklessly scours the bars of Austin on a nightly basis and picks up different men that she sleeps with.
To demonstrate the emotional disconnect her character has, she promptly tells a suitor who is going to make her breakfast: ”I don’t stay over, I don’t fall in love , and I don’t f*&% the same guy twice.” She’s clearly damaged goods. One night she has a foursome with three guys that are in a band, who come into play later in the movie.
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Posted in: Horror Reviews · Movies · Reviews · SXSW
Tagged: Amanda Fuller, Horror, Marc Senter, Noah Taylor, Red White and Blue, Reviews, Simon Rumley, SXSW, Tim League
by Chris Ullrich, Mar 22 2010 // 11:00 AM
As I’ve said previously, I’m more a fan of Torchwood than I am of Doctor Who. But even though I may have felt that way in the past, I’m willing to give the new series, and the new Doctor (Matt Smith), a try — especially after viewing this brand new trailer for the series.
Seeing this trailer really helps persuade me to forget the problems I’ve had with the show in the past. In fact, after watching it I can only conclude that the show looks pretty darn good. I sincerely hope the trailer is a good indicator of the show itself. Either way, I’m going to give it a try so expect a review of the new Doctor Who series soon.
In the meantime, here’s some info about the show from our friends at the BBC:
From new lead writer and executive producer Steven Moffat, the series follows the adventures of The Doctor, the mysterious traveler who, with his human companions, journeys throughout all of time and space, facing a variety of foes and righting wrongs. This latest series sees Matt Smith’s debut as the new, Eleventh incarnation of the famous Time Lord alongside a new traveling companion, the enigmatic Amy Pond (Karen Gillan). Together they explore sixteenth century Venice, France during the 1890s, and the United Kingdom in the far future, now an entire nation floating in space.
Check out the new trailer after the jump. Doctor Who premieres Saturday, April 17, 9 PM ET/PT and is an extended version with limited commercial interruption.
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Posted in: Action · BBC · Drama · News · Sci-Fi · TV
Tagged: BBC, BBC America, Doctor Who, Dr. Who, Karen Gillan, Matt Smith, Sci-Fi, Steven Moffat, Time Lord, Time Travel, Torchwood, TV
by John Carle, Mar 22 2010 // 10:00 AM
Ever wonder what your toys do when you aren’t around? (And no, the proper response isn’t “They aren’t toys, they are collectible action figures.”) Well one Machinimist did and combined it with his love of Halo 3 to make Arby ‘n’ the Chief.
Instead of having someone from the real world voice a video game character, DigitalPh33r took a different approach when he showed the Master Chief is actually an action figure who hops on to Halo every now and then when his owner isn’t around and is terrible at it, as well as completely immature. In addition to flaming of opponents and denial of his own lack of skill, Chief tries to overcompensate with constant failed attempts of LEET speak.
And did we mention that Chief is voiced by Microsoft Sam, the in-Windows text to speech program, instead of having an actual voice actor? Surprisingly entertaining for this fact alone, it doesn’t end there for the Chief as he gets a roommate in the first episode of the series, rekindling the infamous video game odd couple when his owner receives a package containing, you guessed it, an Arbiter action figure.
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Posted in: Exclusive · Features · Machinima Mondays · News · Video · Video Games · Xbox 360
Tagged: Arbiter, Arby 'n' the Chief, Halo, Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo: Combat Evolved, Machinima, Machinima Mondays, Master Chief
by Matt Raub, Mar 22 2010 // 9:00 AM
This Friday marks a big weekend for fans of both science fiction and comedy as Hot Tub Time Machine opens across the country. We’re going to be bringing you coverage and goodies from the film all week, starting today. We recently got the chance to sit down with one of the film’s stars, Rob Corddry, and he was able to talk to us about not only the film, but his interest in an upcoming comic book project.
The Flickcast: The world of science fiction can be a tricky, and certainly a contrived world. How was it for you, getting your head around a concept like Hot Tub Time Machine?
Rob Corddry: Well, we had a roundtable meeting when we first got brought on to the film. We were all sitting in a room at MGM. The writers, and the cast, and we were talking about time travel. We had to have spent 4 or 5 hours talking about the logic of time travel as it was in the movie.
We couldn’t really figure it out, and we realized that every time somebody makes a time travel movie, this discussion takes place, and nobody ever figures it out. [laughs] If anybody figures it out, they would essentially figure out time travel.
So we decided that we had to set some rules and stick to them. What we inevitably did was just pick the simplest ones so that we could get to the comedy.
TF: Do you think that the success of The Hangover laid a lot of ground for potential success of another buddy comedy like this one?
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Posted in: Comedy · Exclusive · Interviews · MGM · Movies · News · Sci-Fi
Tagged: Children's Hospital, Clark Duke, Hot Tub Time Machine, Interviews, John Cusack, MGM, Rob Corddry, The Boys, The Daily Show, the hangover
by Elisabeth Rappe, Mar 22 2010 // 8:00 AM
A few days ago I raved about SyFy’s reality show Destination Truth, and hopefully inspired a few more of you to put it on your DVR or TIVO. In case my enthusiasm wasn’t enough to convince you, SyFy has sent us a clip of next week’s Destination Truth, where Gates and his crew investigate the Great Wall of China. I was hoping the clip would be of a hilarious cultural misunderstanding or bout of food poisoning, but it’s of Gates brushing up against a possible entity.
If you’ve never seen the show before, you might find yourself sneering at Gates’ goosebumps, but don’t judge too hastily. He’s actually a hard man to shake. Judge its night vision eeriness for yourself.
Along spookier lines, SyFy has also included a clip of next week’s Ghost Hunters, which finds TAPS doing its usual thing, and investigating some paranormal activity in New Jersey. (New Jersey may not be as exotic as China, but it’s just as colorful in its own way, right?) Watch them try to solve the mystery of the climbing EMF reading. Red-blooded males will probably appreciate it’s the two lovely ghost hunting ladies that are doing the investigating.
Is any of it for real? Who knows. It’s good fun, anyway. I’m not a fan of reality television, but SyFy has me hooked with all these investigations into pseudo-science. Plus, I saw Gates kiss a cobra on an Egyptian episode. Seeing someone risk death for a laugh and vaguely educational purposes is worth a Wednesday night.
The clips are embedded below. Thanks to SyFy for sending them to us!
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Posted in: Marketing · Reality · SyFy · TV
Tagged: Destination Truth, Ghost Hunters, Josh Gates, Reality, SyFy, TV
by Shannon Hood, Mar 22 2010 // 7:00 AM
Several prognosticators predicted that the one-two punch of Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler co-starring in a romantic comedy would equal box office gold. Well, until the reviews started trickling in. When the dust settled, The Bounty Hunter had amassed a truly rotten score of 9% favorable reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. Ouch.
Despite that, the film made $2 1Million, good enough to place it in third place for the weekend. With a production budget of around $40 Million, it is way to early to call this a flop. $21 Million is a respectable opening weekend take.
The Red Queen and company from Alice in Wonderland continue to surprise everyone.Now in its third weekend in release, Alice is still bringing in some pretty big numbers. It dropped 45% over last weekend, for $34.5 Million, bringing its three week cumulative total to a fantastic $265 Million.
So what box-office star beat out Aniston for the number two spot? Would you believe nobody? A cast of relative unknowns starred in Diary of Wimpy Kid, which you probably have never heard of unless you happen to have elementary school-aged children.
It is a hot book franchise for those who run in the pre-tween circles, and apparently that was enough to buoy its box-office take. Diary narrowly edged out The Bounty Hunter with $21.8 Million, but with a much more modest budget of $14 Million, it is already profitable. There are plenty of books (4 already out, with plans for a fifth this year) to pillage for a franchise, too.
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Posted in: 3-D · Box Office · Disney · Movies · News
Tagged: Alice in Wonderland, Box Office, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Gerard Butler, Jennifer Aniston, Jude Law, Repo Men, The Bounty Hunter, The Green Zone
by Cortney Zamm, Mar 21 2010 // 9:00 AM
Remakes and sequels are a dime a dozen. While Repo Men is neither of those, it bears incredible similarities with Repo! The Genetic Opera, a rock musical released in 2006. The films are very much the same in content and style, while the stories that they tell are very, very different.
Remy (Jude Law) seems like a normal guy. He’s got a wife and child, lives in a house in the suburbs, drives a fancy Volkswagon SUV. What isn’t so normal is Remy’s job. He repossess people’s artificial organs when they can’t afford their payments to The Union, the company that makes and finances the organs to people in need.
Anyone who becomes late with their payments is hunted down by The Union’s “repo men” and their artificial organs are repossessed, usually resulting in their immediate death. Remy and his partner Jake (Forest Whitaker) don’t mind being repo men, in fact they quite enjoy it. But when Remy’s wife decides maybe her husband should consider a career change, everything changes.
It’s hard to discuss this film’s plot without giving away the two major twists that make this film interesting, but I’ll just say that the Remy you meet in the beginning of the film is very, very different from the Remy at the end of the film. Think of Christian Bale’s character in Equilibrium as a comparison. Jude Law does a great job with this transformation, and Whitaker isn’t too shabby either.
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Posted in: Action · Movies · News · Reviews · Sci-Fi · Thriller · Universal Pictures
Tagged: Forest Whitaker, Jude Law, Miguel Sapochnik, Movies, Repo Men, Repo The Genetic Opera, Reviews, Sci-Fi, Universal, Universal Pictures
by Chris Ullrich, Mar 19 2010 // 4:00 PM
Over at the terrific Boy Genius Report, they’ve got
the reported details on the upcoming update to the Motorola DROID. This update will bring the DROID to Android Software version 2.1.
Sadly, as exciting as that is for DROID owners, the rollout details are somewhat underwhelming, especially if you’re not a fan of waiting. Check ‘em out:
• At noon EDT on 3/18, 1,000 users will receive notification of the update
• At 11:59 PM EDT on 3/18, 9,000 more users will receive the update notification
• After the first 10,000 users receive the update on 3/18, there will be a 24-hour period when no additional upgrades will be delivered
• On Day 3 (3/20), 200,000 users will receive the update notification at 11:59 PM EDT
• This schedule will continue each day thereafter until the update has been delivered to all users
• And here are a few conditions needed for the update to be applied:
• An OTA download requires 40% or more power availability
• If the device is not connected to an external power source or 20% or more power if it is connected to an external source
• If roaming, the customer will not receive the update
So it seems those of you getting the update the “legit” way will have some time to wait. Those of you who can’t wait that long and will acquire the update by other means, well, you’re wait won’t be as long. Happy updating.
Posted in: Google · Hardware · News · Software · Tech
Tagged: Android, DROID, Gadgets, Google, Motorola, Smartphone, Tech, Verizon, Wireless
by Bob Starr, Mar 19 2010 // 3:00 PM
This week On the Radar George Lucas seeks to capture the minds of even younger viewers, Image Comics takes a shot at Marvel, and one of the most famous music videos of all time may go 3D. All that and whole bunch of other fun stuff!
Crispin Glover talks Back to the Future controversy
Personally, I didn’t realize Back to the Future was mired in any kind of controversy, but it is. Speaking at a promotion for Hot Tub Time Machine, Crispin Glover, who played Marty McFly’s (Michael J. Fox) Dad spoke about the raw deal he was dealt after the first film came out:
“On the DVD to the Back to the Future trilogy, Bob Gale has said something that’s totally fabricated,” Glover told a group of reporters at this weekend’s press junket forHot Tub Time Machine. “He said I asked for twice the amount of money that Michael J. Fox asked for in the first film. In the negotiation for the second film, they offered me less than half of what any of the actors that were being asked to come back in the film—Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson and Tom Wilson. They had all done studio films, and they’d made a lot more money. I was being penalized.”
Interesting stuff. Mind you, considering the somewhat lackluster opinions of the second and third film maybe Glover got off easy by not being in them.
Jamie Foxx to star in Kane & Lynch video game adaption?
There hasn’t been a lot of talk about the film adaption of video game Kane & Lynch other than it could star Bruce Willis as Kane. Now, another big name is being tossed around to play opposite Willis, Jamie Foxx. Developed by IO Interactive Nu Image/Millennium is set to finance with Lionsgate distributing. While I’m confident in the actors involved, video games are not well known for the best of translations to the big screen.
George Lucas bringing Galactic Heroes to TV
Ask any “real” Star Wars fan and they will probably tell you that The Clone Wars cartoon is pretty childish. Well, prepared to consider that more mature entertainment. Looking to draw in even younger viewers to the Star Wars universe, George Lucas is working on a cartoon adaption of the Star Wars: Galactic Heroes toy line. You know, those chunky figures with a whopping two points of articulation (usually the arms). Worse yet, this problem means more screen time with the one Star Wars character that can relate best to 3 year olds-Jar Jar Binks.
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Posted in: 20th Century Fox · 3-D · Casting · Comedy · Comics · Film Festivals · Image Comics · Late Night · Lionsgate · Marvel · Movies · NBC · Networks · News · On The Radar · Reboots and Remakes · Star Wars · SXSW · TV · TV to Movies · Video Games
Tagged: Back to the Future, Bruce Willis, Conan O'Brien, Crispin Glover, George Lucas, Glee, Hank Azaria, Hot Tub Time Machine, Jamie Foxx, Jayme Mays, John Landis, Kane & Lynch, Michael Jackson, Neil Patrick Harris, Smurfs, The Avengers, Thriller
by John Carle, Mar 19 2010 // 2:00 PM
The Flickcast’s gaming division loves retro. Not one of us hasn’t broken out their old NES, blown into a cartridge, and booted up the original Super Mario Bros. even though it came out decades ago. So when we heard one of our Capcom classic favorites from the Super Nintendo and arcade era was making a return to XBox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network, of course we were excited.
Set for April 14th on XBox Live Arcade and a day later on the PlayStation Network, Final Fight: Double Impact brings back the classic side-scroller beat ‘em up goodiness of both Final Fight and Magic Sword. In Final Fight, players take the role of either Cody, Guy or the most jacked mayor ever, Haggar, as they try to save Haggar’s daughter from Mad Gear and his goons. With six levels of Metro City to explore, players will get the chance to see Cody and Guy before they appear in the upcoming Super Street Fighter IV release.
In Magic Sword, players take on the role of “The Brave One” who must defeated the evil forces of a mystical tower and rid the world of its evil lord Drokman. But The Brave One isn’t alone as he has eight companions of unique skill sets who will aid him in his journey.
Both games will feature online drop-in multiplayer as well as a fully remixed soundtrack and updated graphics. The two-pack will retail for $9.99 (or 800 Microsoft Points). Stay tuned to the Flickcast for more news and reviews on Final Fight: Double Impact as it becomes available.
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Posted in: Capcom · Games · Playstation 3 · PlayStationNetwork · Video Games · XBLA · Xbox 360
Tagged: Capcom, Final Fight, Final Fight: Double Impact, Magic Sword, Playstation 3, PlayStation Network, XBLA, Xbox 360