By Shannon Hood / Originally posted on October 7, 2010

Darren Aronofsky has made a career of choosing interesting, non-traditional material and illuminating the unexpected aspects of his subject matter. Case(s) in point: The Wrestler (a down-trodden wrestler), Pi (mathematicians), Requiem For a Dream (middle-aged drug addiction), and now Black Swan (competitive ballet.)

His knack for taking something completely mundane and elevating it to something tense and dreadful is astonishing. Who would have ever thought that a movie about mathematicians could be exciting, much less sinister? It is no surprise that the man who brought us Pi delivers a dark, provocative, psychological drama, set in the cutthroat (who knew it?) world of competitive ballet.

Natalie Portman stars as Nina, a beautiful ballerina who dances for a New York City ballet company. Though technically gifted, she has never gotten her big break because the company’s arrogant art director thinks she is too bland to carry a performance.

The film opens with us being privy to some of the cattiness that takes place behind the scenes at the ballet. The troupe’s principal ballerina, Beth (Winona Ryder), is being forced into retirement at the ripe old age of 37. Nina finds it sad, and defends the dancer, while the other girls titter on about her age and diminished athletic ability. It’s immediately established that the women are highly competitive. There is no sense of camaraderie, everyone is out for themselves.

The perennial classic Swan Lake is set to be the season opener, and Beth’s departure leaves the principal role wide open. Director Thomas (Vince Cassel) pits the girls against one another as they audition for the coveted role of The Swan Queen.

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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!

• Ever wonder which reality TV stars would be the perfect team for the zombie apocalypse? Here’s the top 6.

• Craig Ferguson’s Doctor Who special had to cut an epic music number. Thanks to Ferguson’s Twitter, that music number is no longer lost.

• Against everyone’s better judgment, a film about Space Nazis titled Iron Sky is actually going into production.

• Need help teaching a youngling the alphabet? How about by way of Star Wars characters?

• Voldemort may get taken down by Harry Potter in the next film, but he’s hitting Manhattan in the meantime.

• Microsoft has decided to give Xbox 360 users FREE Microsoft Points….for a price.

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I never would have thought that I’d see Tom Sizemore make a cameo in Sunny, but he seems like a perfect fit among The Gang, playing Byron, the married trucker with a penchant for male prostitutes (“Treat me like a mailbox: Just shove anything you want in there”) who picks up Charlie and Dennis when they get titularly stranded in the woods.

That’s just one of the many highlights in an episode where The Gang heads to Atlantic City for an animal rights convention Frank endows simply so he can show up in a leather coat and tell off the activists—and so Mac can meet his idol Chase Utley (and on a lesser note for Dee to meet and seduce Ryan Howard, despite Frank’s observation that she’s “pregnant as shit”).

However, Frank doesn’t want to cough up any change for the “toll jockeys,” so he’s taking the backroads, and a chance encounter with a squirrel ends up totaling the vehicle. Frank, Mac, and Dee stay behind to scrounge up some food while Charlie and Dennis foot it for a ride, which takes us back to Tom Sizemore’s trucker.

Charlie and Dennis is one of my favorite pairings; Charlie’s bizarre host of talents and willingness to do almost anything and Dennis’ serial-killer charm make them ideal con men, and there’s a nice recognition of that dynamic when Charlie poses as Frank to deliver a speech to the animal-lovers (complete with him “making it rain” dolla bills, “FOR THE RATS!”). And Dennis takes up the role of Mac so he can drink heavily with Utley and Howard.

I enjoyed the uncharacteristically upbeat plotline with Charlie and Dennis (Charlie winning $15,000 at roulette and spending the bulk of it on a private jet for he and Dennis is a nice little reward for poor Charlie), but the best lines, as usual, belong to Frank, who goes into Elmer Fudd mode when he stalks wabbit—and then gets caught in its stare and concludes that its stolen his soul.

There isn’t too much for Dee and Mac to do, but overall the episode doesn’t have any dead spots—Utley and Howard don’t offer too much, but their nonplussed-to-creeped-out reactions to Charlie and Dennis is funny enough on its own, and Sizemore finds the right note of menace and perversity that I hope (though doubt) he’ll return.

Not the best episode, but solid all the way.

In what feels like a George Lucas joke arms race, Seth Green’s Robot Chicken and Seth McFarlane’s Family Guy have been going neck and neck with their own Star Wars specials. The good thing is that there is no real loser, as both productions share much of the same talent, and we all benefit.

Hard to believe, but coming up this month is the third installments of both Robot Chicken and Family Guy’s specials. It’s A Trap, McFarlane’s Return of the Jedi spoof will be hitting DVD and digital download on December 21st, but Green has him beat by mere hours, as Robot Chicken: Star Wars III airs on Adult Swim December 19th at 11:30.

All of your favorite characters are back for the special, like Donald Faison as the Stormtrooper, Breckin Meyer as Boba Fett, Seth McFarlane as Palpatine, and countless other voice actors lending a hand.

Check out the very first promo for the special after the jump and be sure to tune into Adult Swim on December 19th.

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While we may still be getting films like Warrior’s Way here in the states, there are still plenty of mind-blowing martial arts films being made across the world. One of those films is the first in the Ip Man franchise. Now that list may get slightly larger as the first trailer for Ip Man 2: Legend of the Grandmaster has arrived. From the official press release.

After escaping the Japanese occupation of his hometown of Foshan, China, Ip Man and his family have arrived in Hong Kong, which is living under the iron fist of British colonial rule.

Ip wants to support his family by opening up a martial arts academy to teach his unique Wing Chun style. But a corrupt cabal of Hong Kong martial arts masters, led by Hung Chun-nam (the legendary Sammo Hung), refuses to allow Ip to teach until he proves himself – and prove himself he does, in an intense series of fights against the masters showcasing a dazzling variety of martial arts styles, culminating in a highly anticipated brawl between Ip and Hung atop a rickety table.

But even after gaining the respect of the masters, Ip’s troubles are far from over. Hong Kong under British rule is a world of corruption, and when a Western-style boxer named Taylor “Twister” Milos comes to town to entertain the British upper-class, and insults both Chinese martial arts and the native citizens in a horrifically violent way, Ip must step up and fight for the honor of both his kung fu and the Chinese people.

Yes, the film has been seen in many parts of the world by now, but we’re getting the original, un-dubbed international version that was released in Asia, and it’s hitting major theaters in both the US and Canada on January 28th. Check out the first full teaser trailer after the jump.

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Dead Rising 2 was easily one of the most fun games of the past year to come out. Aside from the series’ signature creative violence, part of what helped hype the game was the XBox Live exclusive Dead Rising: Case Zero.  The prequel to the events of Dead Rising 2, Case Zero help set the stage for the unique father / infected daughter relationship that would drive the events of Fortune City.

Dead Rising 2: Case West looks to continue the downloadable trend by filling in the events that take place after Dead Rising 2 but also letting players catch up with their favorite war covering and zombie invasion surviving photo journalist Frank West. Frank, the protagonist from the first Dead Rising, will fight alongside DR2′s Chuck Green. There will apparantly be some cameos from survivors of Dead Rising which will also help explain the events that happened in between the two games further.

Returning to the DR fold will be Frank’s signature camera (as well as a disposable for Chuck). Just like capturing PP in the first DR with awkwardly posed zombies and rampaging psychopaths, we hope Dead Rising: Case West gives us that same photogenic eye.

Dead Rising 2: Case West won’t strictly be a co-op experience though. Capcom has revealed that if a player wants to go through the game solo, Frank will be controlled by computer AI. And while AI of survivors has been the leading cause of their deaths in the past, Frank won’t be able to be killed as long as he is under computer control.

Stick to the Flickcast for more coverage on Dead Rising 2: Case West when it comes out next month on XBox Live Arcade.

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Want to jump back into your favorite comic books to check in with some of your favorite superheroes and superheroines, but unable to pick up the pieces in the middle of a heavy storyline? Marvel has you covered by introducing the Point One program. Here’s the skinny.

The Point One program offers readers the perfect starting point for new storylines spinning out of the new year. Self-contained and featuring some of Marvel’s greatest talent and characters, these Point One books will lay the groundwork for a whole year’s worth of storytelling.

For years, this is the one problem that the comic book industry has dealt with. Now, fans can start fresh and continue getting weekly comics courtesy of Marvel without feeling like there are tons of back issues and trades that they have to read.

Starting in February, the publisher will be rolling out this new program on some of their mainstream titles, and eventually roll them out to all big books by May. Take a look at the complete list of effected books after the jump, and start picking up these new books this February.

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It’s officially film awards season!  Today the National Board of Review released their list of winners for the best in film for 2010.  The Social Network was a big winner.  The movie picked up Best Picture, Best Actor (Jesse Eisenberg), Best  Adapted Screenplay (Aaron Sorkin), and Best Director (David Fincher).

The National Board of Review typically releases their list toward the beginning of the film season.  Last year they picked Up in the Air as Best Picture.  It did not go on to win an Oscar, though it was nominated.

Here are the major awards that were announced.

Best Film The Social Network
Best Director David Finch, The Social Network
Best Actor Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
Best Actress Lesley Manville, Another Year
Best Supporting Actor Christian Bale, The Fighter
Best Supporting Actress Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom
Best Foreign Film Of Gods and Men
Best Documentary Film Waiting for Superman
Best Ensemble Cast The Town
Breakthrough Performance Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone
Best Original Screenplay Chris Sparling, Buried

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Love Netflix but not always completely satisfied with the number of first run movies the service offers for streaming? Same here. Fortunately, it seems the company is taking steps to remedy the situation in the form of a new content partnership agreements.

Back in August, Netflix closed a deal with Epix, a a joint venture between Viacom, Paramount, MGM and Lionsgate. And now, as of yesterday, the company entered into another agreement with new partner with producer/distributor FilmDistrict. Under the terms of the deal Netflix will license movies from FilmDistrict during what’s knows as the “pay TV window,” or the period of time when the films would have normally appeared on premium cable TV channels such as HBO or Showtime.

The first two movies to come to Netflix as a result of this partnership will be Drive, starring Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan, and Lockout, starring Guy Pearce and Maggie Grace. Both films are set to be released early next year.

This is good news as other services like Google TV seem to be struggling a bit to make content deals. Netflix offers a good service for a decent price and I, for one, hope they can continue to do so. They do need more first run movies, however, and these deals do seems like steps in the right direction. Lets hope they can keep it going.

Click through for the full press release announcing this latest content deal.

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Just when you thought the mashups of fictional carnivores couldn’t get any more ridiculous, think again. The Asylum, a dvd studio company that prides itself of taking marketable ideas like Pirates of the Carribbean and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, only to churn out knock off films like Pirates of Treasure Island and Transmorphers: Fall of Man has now decided to set it’s sights a bit lower.

How low? How about last year’s cult SyFy TV movie, Mega Shark Vs. Giant Octopus.

In this film, you can expect to see tons of plot holes, poor CGI, and bad acting, but the best part? The cast is rounded out by Star Trek: Voyager’s Robert Picardo and Family Matters star Jaleel Whilte. That’s right: Urkel.

The plot is almost too laughable to mention, so we’ll just let you experience the trailer for yourself after the jump. Thankfully, Megashark Vs. Crocosaurus will be available on DVD and Instant Netflix just in time for Christmas on December 21st. Joy!

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Has the thrill of San Diego Comic-Con waned (gasp!) in the last few years? Is the scheduling for the San Diego, Chicago or New York Cons not ideal for you? Or, would your love of comics, games and movies inspire you to travel internationally (this writer is definitely in that camp)? If you fit into any or all of these categories, then today’s your lucky day! Mark Millar is about to become your new hero (if he isn’t already)!

Millar (Kick-Ass, Wanted, Civil War) has announced that he is launching a Comic Con-themed event for the UK market next April. The Kapow Comic Con will take over London’s Business Design Centre on April 9 and 10, 2011 and be dedicated to the world of comics, movies, TV, games and more.

Stars from Hollywood and TV-land have yet to be announced, but Dave Gibbons, John Romita Jr, Frank Quitely, Bryan Hitch and Andy Diggle have all been confirmed for attendance.

Kapow will also introduce the Stan Lee Awards, which will pay tribute to the comic book legend by giving recipients gong statues for Best Comic, Best Superhero or Sci-Fi Movie and Best Comic Book Hero among others.

For more information, check out the official Kapow Comic Con site. See you in London!

Who doesn’t love a classic stop-motion Christmas special around the time of the holidays? Rankin/Bass productions like Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer have pulled families together for generations around this time of year, and now it’s time for NBC’s breakout comedy Community to do the same.

Next Thursday, the gang is going a little bit clay, as they get transformed into a world of claymation, thanks to the Dino Stamatolpoulus’ (Star-Burns) stop-motion studio. Here’s the episode’s official synopsis.

When Abed wakes up in stop-motion animation, he takes it as a sign that he and the group must re-discover the meaning of Christmas. Meanwhile, Jeff and Britta become growingly concerned about Abed’s mental health and enlist the help of Professor Duncan. The group undergoes hypnosis to explore Abed’s winter wonderland and soon unravel the truth behind Abed’s madness.

Series stars Danny Pudi and Allison Brie got to go behind the magic at the stop-motion studio and check out how things were going. Check out parts one and two of their all-access tour and be sure to catch “Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas” Thursday, December 9th, on NBC.

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