by Bob Starr, Sep 10 2010 // 2:00 PM
Welcome to this week’s On the Radar where we delve into all corners of the entertainment, tech and geek Internets for news, views and whatnot that may have escaped our regular coverage this week. Let is know if we missed something interesting. Otherwise, on to the links!
• Remember that awesome trailer mash up between The Matrix and Scott Pilgrim? Here’s an even better one featuring The Big Liebowski.
• A new trailer for Jedi Junkies hits the web, and while it may feature Olivia Munn, we still think it’s pretty cool.
• You’ve heard the rumor for a while, but now it’s here. Introducing Target’s Facebook gift cards.
• We love Chris Klein and we hated The Legend of Chun-Li so this video of every line he has in the film is pretty damned hilarious.
• In conjunction with the rising popularity (not population) of Zombies, who isn’t surprised to see Zombie Jerky make it’s way to the US?
• They may not be for sale, but these Portal book ends are already on our office Christmas list.
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Posted in: Movies · News · On The Radar · TV
Tagged: Jedi Junkies, Jeff Bridges, Megamind, Portal, The Big Lebowski, Twilight, Will Ferrell, Zombies
by Joe Gillis, Sep 10 2010 // 1:00 PM
As TV series go, Spartacus: Blood and Sand ranks very high. No, not just because of the action, blood and naked flesh — although that doesn’t hurt. It’s because of the characters.
As the Blu-ray release of the series approaches, we’ve been showing you some highlights of it to get you ready. Today is no exception.
This time you’ll get a chance to know the men and women of the show a bit better. And really, who wouldn’t want to do that? Amiright?
The heroic four-disc DVD and Blu-ray hits on September 21st. Until then, check out the men and women of Spartacus: Blood and Sand after the jump.
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Posted in: News · Starz · TV
Tagged: Andy Whitfield, Blu-Ray, DVD, John Hannah, Lucy Lawless, Spartacus: Blood and Sand, Starz, TV
by Joe Gillis, Sep 10 2010 // 12:00 PM
As we’ve been doing a lot lately, we’ve got another huge bunch of previews for another Fall TV show to share with you today. This time around the previews are for the new J.J. Abrams show Undercovers.
In case you’re not familiar with the series, here’s a little bit of info on its plot and characters:
Outwardly, Steven Bloom (Boris Kodjoe) and his wife, Samantha (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), are a typical married couple who own and operate a small catering company in Los Angeles. Secretly, the duo were two of the best spies the CIA had ever known, until they fell in love on the job five years ago and retired.
When fellow spy and good friend Leo Nash (Carter MacIntyre) goes missing while on the trail of a Russian arms dealer, the Blooms are reinstated by boss and agency liaison, Carlton Shaw (Gerald McRaney), to locate and rescue Nash. Following leads that take them to cities spanning the globe, Steven and Samantha quickly realize that perhaps this supercharged, undercover lifestyle provides exactly the kind of excitement and romance that their marriage has been missing.
Okay that’s the story. Now, to help you learn even more, we’ve got those videos we told you about after the jump including the full length trailer, interviews with the show’s two leads and and interview with the man himself J.J. Abrams. Check them out. Undercovers premieres September 22nd on NBC.
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Posted in: NBC · News · TV · Video
Tagged: Boris Kodjoe, Fall Previews, Gerald McRaney, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, J.J Abrams, NBC, TV, Undercovers
by Chris Ullrich, Sep 10 2010 // 11:00 AM
Here at The Flickcast we like to experiment with cool gadgets, software and such that can add something fun to our otherwise dreary lives toiling away for the man. Of course you can find most of us on Twitter and Facebook and yes, the site itself has its own Twitter and Facebook presence as well.
Another social media site and software we’ve been having a go with is called GetGlue. I could describe the site and its mission to you, but instead I’m going to let the folks who know it best tell you all about it (Plus, its Friday and I’m lazy). From the GetGlue website:
GetGlue is a social network for entertainment, with more than 4.5M new unique ratings and check-ins for tv shows, movies, music and books every month. GetGlue users rate and check-in to things they like to get recommendations and earn rewards.
The GetGlue mobile app enables users to check-in to tv shows, movies, music and books, plus see what their friends are consuming in real-time. On GetGlue.com users can quickly build up their taste profile, get fresh suggestions every week, browse top lists and find taste neighbors.
And with that, a cool new idea was born which now consumes time in my day. Fortunately, the GetGlue team make it very easy to check in and share your favorite items with applications for the iPhone, Android and now the iPad.
This is good news for us iPad users because using the GetGlue iPhone app on the iPad wasn’t working so well. Now that there’s a native iPad app, my use of GetGlue will undoubtedly increase. Plus, did I mention the stickers?
Posted in: Geek · News · Social Networking · Software · Tech
Tagged: Android, Books, GetGlue, Internet, iPad, iPhone, Movies, Music, Social Networking, Software, Tech, TV
by Chris Ullrich, Sep 10 2010 // 10:00 AM
The Syfy Network has confirmed that Caprica will return on October 5, three months earlier than originally planned. Previously, it was announced that season 1.5 of the Battlestar Galactica spinoff would not air until January of 2011, which really didn’t make much sense.
In its new timeslot, Caprica will air following new episodes of Stargate Universe, which makes a heck of a lot more sense considering they are both Sci-Fi shows and Stargate is a great lead in. Syfy EVP Mark Stern obviously agrees.
“Though we initially announced the January return of Caprica, we still had hopes of finding a way to get the series back on the air sooner,” said Stern. “We’ve been able to successfully re-work our schedule, and are thrilled to bring the show back during what is traditionally Syfy’s most-watched time of the year.”
Sadly, while this is good new for fans of the series, the fact that no decision has been made on a second season for the show makes this news not quite as good as it could be. It seems Syfy is trying to give the show a chance by moving the premiere earlier but will most certainly be watching the ratings carefully to see if a second season is warranted.
So, if you’re a fan of the show and want to see it come back for a second season, you had better encourage everyone you know to watch the show when it comes back.
Posted in: Battlestar Galactica · News · Sci-Fi · SyFy · TV
Tagged: Alessandra Torresani, Battlestar Galactica, Caprica, David Eick, Eric Stoltz, Esai Morales, Polly Walker, Ron Moore, Sci-Fi, SyFy
by Matt Raub, Sep 10 2010 // 9:00 AM
Back in the early 2000′s, studios both big and small were starting to really get on the bandwagon of computer-generated animated films. Pixar was already rolling in giant piles of money, and other people wanted the same, so they started cranking out some relatively decent pictures like Shrek and a few others. Then things took a turn when Robots hit screens in 2005.
It then became clear to the general public that just because a studio has the ability to make a computer-animated film with a handful of well-known actors, doesn’t mean they necessarily should. This is the case with Sony’s Resident Evil: Afterlife.
We can all face the fact that 3D has taken over modern cinema, and it isn’t going anywhere any time soon. The positive side to that fact is that we get some visually genius and beautiful films such as Avatar. The negative to that is when something like Alice in Wonderland or Clash of the Titans are done in 3D after they’ve been made, and all the process does is ruin the experience.
Resident Evil: Afterlife likes to take 3D to the precipice of being campy and overplayed, and do an Irish jig on that line. Technically, the film is a mess. It looks like a music video someone wrote after staying up all night watching a Matrix marathon. There are wire techniques that don’t even bother looking like they would ever take place in this physical world, in which the main character Alice (Mila Jovovich) just awkwardly hangs in the air.
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Posted in: 3-D · Action · Horror · Movies · News · Reviews · Rogue Pictures · Sci-Fi · Sony · Video Games
Tagged: 3D, Ali Larter, Matrix, Milla Jovovich, Paul W.S. Anderson, Resident Evil, Resident Evil: Afterlife, Shaw Roberts, Sienna Guillory, Wentworth Miller
by Joe Gillis, Sep 10 2010 // 8:00 AM
This year’s summer blockbuster season is over, which means only one thing…it’s time to start getting excited for next year’s Summer Blockbuster season! We’ve already seen the first trailer for Thor and some cool set pics from Captain America: The First Avenger, and now we’re getting the very first full theatrical trailer for the sci-fi explosion Priest, starring Paul Bettany and Karl Urban.
The film may look a bit like other movies in the genre such as Constantine or I Am Legend, but with the amount of star power and visual effects that have been poured into this film, you can expect to see something completely different.
With that comes the newest trailer for the flick, which gives us plenty of new action shots of both protagonist Paul Bettany, antagonist Karl Urban, love interest Maggie Q and even True Blood’s Stephen Moyer in his first major film role since becoming the character of Bill Compton.
Check out the full trailer after the jump, and be sure to catch Priest in theaters on May 13, 2011.
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Posted in: Action · Fantastic Fest · Horror · Movies · News · Sci-Fi · Sony · Trailers · Video
Tagged: Karl Urban, Paul Bettany, Priest, Sony, Stephen Moyer, True Blood
by Shannon Hood, Sep 10 2010 // 7:00 AM
Just six years after making its debut, redbox has rented its one billionth movie. On Sunday, September 5th, a kiosk in Tampa, Florida dispensed Clash of the Titans, which officially became the company’s billionth rental.
To celebrate the milestone, redbox is having a “Thanks a Billion” celebration. Redbox renters will receive a free rental, and can enter a contest for prizes. Here are the details:
“Throughout the month of September, eligible redbox renters can enter the unique DVD code found on their redbox rental at redbox.com/thanks to receive a promotional code good for a free, one-night rental. Renters also will be entered to win the “Thanks a Billion” grand prize – a choice between a trip to the People’s Choice Awards®or a Sony® Home Entertainment Theatre System. The nationwide “Thanks a Billion” celebration runs from Sept. 1 to Sept. 30, 2010. Log on to redbox.com/thanks for complete rules and details*, as well as complete odds of winning and prize descriptions.”
Redbox started out with a locations in Denver, Colorado, and have now expanded to over 24,000 locataions nationwide. The company rents over 9.5 million DVDs and Blu-rays a week, and recently added an iPhone app so renters can reserve a movie online.
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Posted in: Contest · News
Tagged: "Thanks a Billion" contest, Blockbuster, Netflix, Redbox
by Nat Almirall, Sep 9 2010 // 4:00 PM
Beat the Devil, despite it’s 1953 release, may be the most relevant Huston film for our current Age of Self-Parody Performances. You know: once-serious actors who now seem to coast by on playing offsetting exaggerations of former roles–Christopher Walken, Gary Busey, and, of course, William Shatner, spring to mind.
I’m sure there’s plenty more, but these three are the front-runners (Nick Cage doesn’t quite make the cut because I don’t think he’s ever doing a parody of himself–it’s just him). Walken led the way somewhat accidentally, revealing a comic side on Saturday Night Live and showing the world that this creepy, Oscar-winning skeleton man can dance in Spike Jonze’s music video of Fatboy Slim’s “Weapon of Choice” (ahh 2001…).
Reading The Three Little Pigs; The Country Bears, “Poker Face.” Busey kind-of, sort-of predates even that with his cameo in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (“Gimme a kiss”), but with his recent Vitamin Water ads it’s become pretty full blown. Aaaaaaand then there’s Shatner.
But whatever the reason for our love of character actors mocking their early, legitimate stuff, it’s nothing new, because Beat the Devil is essentially the same thing, and one of the oddest entries into Huston’s filmography (a phrase I feel I’ve been typing a lot).
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Posted in: Classics · Movies · Reviews
Tagged: Beat the Devil, Gina Lollobrigida, Jennifer Jones, John Huston, John Huston Thursdays, Peter Lorre, Robert Morley
by Shannon Hood, Sep 9 2010 // 3:00 PM
There has been a lot of talk about Terrence Malick’s Tree of Life film of late, and Fox Searchlight has announced that it has acquired the U.S. rights to the highly anticipated film. Tree of Life is written and directed by Malick, who’s past credits include Badlands with Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek back in 1973.
That film went on to become a respected and iconic film about the true life Starkweather-Fugate killing spree in the 1950′s. More recently, Malick directed such films as The Thin Red Line (1998) and The New World (2005.)
Tree of Life stars Brad Pitt and Sean Penn and has been finished for a while (it was first announced back in 2005.) It was originally supposed to appear at the Cannes film festival earlier this year, but was not ready. Some people were hoping it would debut at Telluride last week since Brad Pitt attended the festival, but it did not.
Now there are some hopes/rumors (unsubstantiated) that it could sneak into Fantastic Fest. Guess we’ll find out in a few weeks.
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Posted in: 20th Century Fox · Fox Searchlight · Movies · News
Tagged: Badlands, Brad Pitt, Fox Searchlight, Sean Penn, Terrence Malick, The New World, The Thin Red Line, Tree of Life
by Chris Ullrich, Sep 9 2010 // 2:00 PM
Even though Iron Man 2 wasn’t quite as good as its predecessor, it still managed to entertain and excite enough fans to bring in over $300 Million at the domestic box office. And what follows a terrific box office performance like that (besides a sequel of course)? Why it’s a feature packed Blu-ray DVD release.
To commemorate the pending debut of the three-disc Iron Man 2 on Blu-ray, we’ve got a new behind the scenes video from the release to share with you today. In it you’ll see director Jon Favreau and stars Robert Downey, Jr. and Samuel L. Jackson discuss their characters and the film with screenwriter Justin Theroux. Interesting insight indeed.
Iron Man 2 hits Blu-ray and DVD on September 28th. For more info on the release, check out the official press release for it as well as the video after the jump.
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Posted in: Blu-Ray · Comics · DVD · Marvel · Marvel Studios · News
Tagged: Action, Blu-Ray, Comics, DVD, Home Video, Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Jon Favreau, Justin Theroux, Marvel, Robert Downey Jr., Samuel L. Jackson
by Joe Gillis, Sep 9 2010 // 1:00 PM
This month will be a good one for fans of cool and unusual genre films as fantastic Fest kicks off on September 23 in Austin, TX. To enhance their already great lineup the Fest announced more films that will be screening. Here’s all the scoop from the Fest’s official press release:
FANTASTIC FEST 2010 ADDS NEW FILMS TO ITS IMPRESSIVE LINEUP
Fantastic Fest, the largest genre festival in the U.S., is excited to announce additional films to its mind-blowing roster of features & shorts. Highlights of this announcement are the US premiere of the hyper-stylized action film Bunraku, a sneak preview of Darren Bousman’s terrifying new horror-thriller film, Mother’s Day (featuring a bravura performance by Rebecca DeMornay), and the world premiere of Agnosia, the latest film from Fantastic Fest 2005 Alumnus Eugenio Mira.
Additionally, Fantastic Fest will play host to a sneak preview of the highly anticipated action-comedy RED, starring pretty much the best cast assembled for a comic book adaptation…ever. And if you’re not excited to see Helen Mirren at the helm of a .50 caliber machine gun, we don’t want to know you.
Bill Pullman, one of our all-time favorite Fantastic Fest guests is returning to the festival this year. Pullman will join the hecklers of Master Pancake Theater for a special screening of Independence Day and will make an appearance as Lone Star for the Spaceballs Quote-Along.
In celebration of the upcoming book “DESTROY ALL MOVIES!!! The Complete Guide to Punks on Film”, written by Alamo Drafthouse’s own , Zack Carlson, Fantastic Fest will hold a screening of cult classic Class of 1984. Carlson will introduce the film and will sign copies of the book, a massive A-to-Z guide of punks and new wavers on the big screen, featuring 1100 reviews, hundreds of color stills and countless exclusive interviews with filmmakers and musicians!
Lastly, we are announcing a special encore performance of Jason Neulander’s critically-acclaimed Intergalactic Nemesis.
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Posted in: Fantastic Fest · Film Festivals · Movies · News · Press Releases
Tagged: Agnosia, Bill Pullman, Eugenio Mira, Fantastic Fest, Fantastic Fest 2010 Programming, Helen Mirren, Mother's Day, Rebecca DeMornay, Red