Every once in a while, a spec script comes along and gets made into a movie that completely blows the world of formulaic Hollywood films out of the water. This time around, that film is called Rubber and it’s about a tire named Robert who has the ability to blow people and things up with it’s mind. We know, tires don’t have minds, but that’s just the kind of thinking you’re not allowed to do during this flick.

It was the smash hit at last year’s Fantastic Fest, and now Quentin Dupieux’s twisted tale is finally getting a wide release. Here’s the official synopsis for those who just don’t get it.

RUBBER is the story of Robert, an inanimate tire that has been abandoned in the desert, and suddenly and inexplicably comes to life. As Robert roams the bleak landscape, he discovers that he possesses terrifying telepathic powers that give him the ability to destroy anything he wishes without having to move.

At first content to prey on small desert creatures and various discarded objects, his attention soon turns to humans, especially a beautiful and mysterious woman who crosses his path. Leaving a swath of destruction across the desert landscape, Robert becomes a chaotic force to be reckoned with, and truly a movie villain for the ages. Directed by legendary electro musician Quentin Dupieux (Steak, Nonfilm), aka Mr. Oizo, RUBBER is a smart, funny and wholly original tribute to the cinematic concept of no reason.

Needless to say, this flick is going to be a weird one. But don’t take our word for it, check out the trailer after the jump and catch Rubber in theaters on April 1st.

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Happy third week of January. As with weeks past, this week brings new comics from our friends at Marvel. So, let’s take a look at what they are dropping for our reading pleasure this week.

Among the new coming out on Wednesday, we’re most interested in X-Factor #214, Wolverine #5, Scarlet #3, Invincible Iron man #500 and Deadpool Max #4.

As with most weeks, new comics arrive on Wednesday, so hit your nearest comics book store early for best selection.

Don’t know where your nearest comic store is? Use this handy guide to find one.

Comics On-Sale:

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #652
AVENGERS ACADEMY #8
AVENGERS VS. PET AVENGERS #4
DEADPOOL MAX #4
INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #500 DJURDJEVIC VARIANT
INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #500 JRJR VARIANT
INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #500 LARROCA WRAPAROUND (50/50 COVER)
INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #500 QUESADA WRAPAROUND SKETCH VARIANT
SCARLET #4
SCARLET #4 MALEEV VARIANT
SCARLET #4 OEMING VARIANT
SUPERIOR #4
SUPERIOR #4 YU TRIPLE VARIANT
THOR #619

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While Call of Duty: Black Ops didn’t reign two years in a row as game of the year, that doesn’t mean we love it any less. After all, you don’t become one of the highest selling games of all time along with being the highest first day entertainment franchise in history if you aren’t a damn good game.  As previously announced, the first map pack titled “First Strike” will be coming first to the XBox 360 on February 1st before later being ported over to the PlayStation 3.

The “First Strike” Map Pack will include four traditional multiplayer maps as well as one additional Zombie mode map. While no information was given on the Zombie map other than its name Ascension, the trailer below gives a quick peek at the development behind and the layouts of the other four maps in this pack.

Kowloon takes place in a revamped layout of the Kowloon single player level. Having a very similar feel to the streets of Brazil from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Kowloon offers players their first and only opportunity to use a zip line to traverse through a level. This zip line looks like a quite risky venture as it will leave a player completely exposed and weaponless. The reward however is the ability to cross great distances of the map at tremendous speed.

Another unique map is Discovery. Taking place in an arctic research lab, Discovery shows what may be Call of Duty’s first steps towards destructible environments. In Discovery there is a choke point over the chasm that divides the level in half where players must cross a bridge to reach their opponents. This bridge can be destroyed with proper explosives. Imagine what this could do for the game with Red Faction style level physics on top of the already intense Call of Duty multiplayer.

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Those who remember the original Rocky and Bullwinkle show remember two sister franchises fondly. Those being Dudley Do-Right about a bumbling Canadian protagonist and his wins against the evil Snidley Whiplash, and then there was Peabody and Sherman. The latter was about a super-genius talking dog and his teen boy sidekick who would hop in the WABAC time machine and learn about various triumphs and follies in history.

Do-Right got his 15 minutes of Hollywood fame in the form of a Brandan Frazer adaptation, and now it’s Peabody and Sherman’s turn. It looks like Dreamworks is moving ahead with their completely CG adaptation, and have now cast Robert Downey Jr. in the lead role. From EW.

The project was just announced internally to the DreamWorks staff, with Robert Downey Jr. signed to voice the super-smart, bespectacled canine.

The new animated feature, planned for 2014, aims to bring the duo back to the pop culture mainstream. “Certainly for Boomers, they’re in the sweet spot of our childhood animation memories, but beyond there it gets a little bit, well, not quite as familiar,” says director Rob Minkoff (The Lion King).

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Remember Pit Fighter for the Sega Genesis and how cool it was bashing your opponent’s heads in with a no holds barred fighting game? Now imagine upgrading those graphics about twenty years with realistic bodily damage physics added in for good measure. Being published by 505 Games of ArmA: Armored Assault fame, Supremacy MMA is being developed by the newly founded Kung Fu Factory studio.

In the trailer and screens below, you’ll see a first peek at this extreme version of the MMA world. Not licensed, the fights in Supremacy MMA look to be more brutal than anything sponsored by the UFC or ever Pride. There won’t be any shortage of blood, broken limbs and big knockouts in this game.

505 Games was also pleased to announce that former UFC lightweight champ Jens Pulver will appear in the game. Jens is one of only two fighters to ever beat UFC legendary lightweight BJ Penn. Jens will be competing XFO 38 on January 22 which will be sponsored by Supremacy MMA. Interestingly enough, Jens is a self proclaimed avid PC gamer and is known to play World of Warcraft.

Check out the full press release, screens and debut trailer below of Supremacy MMA and stick to the for more info as it becomes available.

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Quite a week for horror trailers, and we’re only two days in. First, we got the first official look at the upcoming fourth film in Wes Craven’s Scream franchise, and now things are turning over to the maternal side of the genre, with Darren Lynn Bousman’s remake of 1980′s Mother’s Day.

The film has been in production and under a bit of wraps for quite some time, but now we’re finally getting a glimpse at actress Rebecca De Mornay’s stoic performance as the titular mother, and no–this isn’t the type you’ll want to introduce your new girlfriend to. Here’s the official synopsis.

After a bank robbery gone wrong, three brothers head for home, hoping their MOTHER (Rebecca De Mornay) can provide them with a getaway. The youngest brother, JOHNNY (Matt O’Leary), has been shot, and their back-stabbing former partner has gotten away with all the cash.

But when the brothers get home, they find that all their stuff is gone and Mother is nowhere to be found: She lost the house months ago in a foreclosure. The new owners, BETH and DANIEL SOHAPI (Jaime King and Frank Grillo), and their guests, gathered for an ill-timed birthday party, become the brothers’ unwitting hostages.

Not long after, Mother arrives, along with the boys’ sister LYDIA (Deborah Ann Woll), and it soon becomes clear that Mother will do absolutely anything to protect her children. In one terrifying evening she brilliantly takes control of the situation and masterminds her sons’ escape from the law.

With the man behind most of (the good) Saw films, you can expect this flick to fall on the side of the gory and tortuous. Definitely not one to take the kids to. Check out the trailer after the jump, and catch Mother’s Day in theaters on 11/11/11.

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If you’re a fan of the Starz series Spartacus: Blood and Sand you are no doubt aware that series star Andy Whitfield has been battling illness for some time. Recently, the network decided to find someone else to take on the titular role in the series once Whitfield’s return was not possible. Then began a search for the actor who would would be the new Spartacus, which recently was down to three.

According to the network, that search has now ended. Australian actor Liam McIntyre has been named the new star of the series. According to the report, Starz executives liked his acting abilities but he was told to bulk up to look more like a gladiator.

About the casting, Starz had this to say: “(McIntyre) has excelled at a grueling and rigorous audition process to claim the title role in the second season” of Spartacus: Blood and Sand. The series’ prequel, Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, debuts on Friday.

Click through for the official release from Starz. We wish McIntyre luck but also recognize he has some pretty big, um, shoes to fill.

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This week’s pick salutes the first American combatants of World War II who began fighting the Japanese in the Philippines following the clandestine attack on American forces at Pearl Harbor. Bataan (1943) was directed by Tay Garnett and stars Robert Taylor (Sgt. Bill Dane, 31st Infantry Div.),Thomas Mitchell (Cpl. Jake Feingold), George Murphy (Lt. Steve Bentley), Lloyd Nolan (Cpl. Barney Todd), Lee Bowman (Capt. Henry Lassiter), Robert Walker (Musician 2nd Class Leonard Pruckett), Desi Arnaz (Pvt. Felix Ramirez), Barry Nelson (Pvt. F.X. Matowski), Phillip Terry (Pvt. Matthew Hardy), Roque Espiritu (Cpl. Juan Katigbak), Kenneth Lee Spencer (Pvt. Wesley Epps), Alex Havier (Pvt. Yankee Salazar), and Tom Dugan (Pvt. Sam Malloy).

The history surrounding the battle for Bataan and Corregidor is one of history’s greatest bookmarks. The Japanese attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941, left the United States crippled and unable to protect its vital interests throughout the Pacific theater.

The Philippine Islands were one of the United States’ greatest territories which were coveted by the Japanese who wanted to capture it for symbolic purposes. Just three days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese launched a coordinated offensive against the northern island of Luzon.

A few days later they began invading from the east and hoped to capture the capital of Manila and trap the American and Filipino forces now in retreat. To save the civilian population from total annihilation, General Douglas MacArthur, U.S. military governor of the Philippines, declared it an open city. Despite regard for it’s civilian populace, the Japanese bombed the city.

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Back in June, we brought you the very interesting web video that was circulating to just about everyone in the video game and film world. The film was titled Mortal Kombat: Rebirth, and had no legal ties to the Acclaim game, but re-envisioned the classic characters in a modern, crime-ridden world.

The short came from video game diehard Kevin Tancharoen, the director behind 2009′s remake of the classic musical Fame (talk about a leap, eh?). The internets were all abuzz after the video was released, with the most outrageous being that this was actually a trailer for the upcoming Mortal Kombat film, and they had secretly been shooting the thing for months.

Sadly, that wasn’t the case. Yes, Warner Bros. is working on a film reboot of the franchise with Oren Uziel writing a script, but this isn’t it. It looks like the studio is passing on Tancharoen’s vision of the film, and instead he’s taking his idea to the web in the form of a 10-episode web series.

Not much is known about production or distribution, but the webseries is set to begin filming next month in Vancouver. So fear not, MK fans, you’ll still get your gritty, crime-drama world (and possibly Michael Jai White), just not on the big screen.

For those who missed the short film back in June when it hit, you can check it out after the jump.

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Earlier this week, Apple released a beta version of it’s next iteration mobile operating system to developers. iOS 4.3 beta, which is not yet released to the public, incorporates a host of interface refinements and new multi-touch -gesture controls. As for a public release date, Apple isn’t saying, however it should be sometime quite soon as there is never much of a gap between beta releases and public releases of iOS.

The iPad will benefit from several new multi-touch gestures to control various aspects of the tablet. For instance, swiping up with four fingers across the tablet’s surface will cause the multi-tasking drawer to appear. Want to switch between apps? Swipe left or right while working with your current app, and the iPad will move seamlessly between apps that are currently running in the drawer. Want to return to the home screen? Pinch inwards with four or five fingers and you’re there.

Want to learn more about what to expect with iOS 4.3? There’s more after the jump.

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Despite some tepid reviews, Green Hornet ran away with the top spot this weekend.  The Seth Rogan comedy/action hybrid made about $34 M, which is good enough to be the third highest January opening ever. About 69% of the film’s take was from 3D screens. It was a pricey film to make ($110 M), so it will need to build on its opening weekend momentum.

Vince Vaughn’s latest film The Dilemma made about $17 M, placing it solidly in second place. True Grit only dropped 23%, and made an additional $11 M.  This $38 M film just passed the $125 M mark.  Kind of reaffirms your faith in movie audiences, doesn’t it?

If that tidbit of intel warms your heart, then wait for the next news: we had a trifecta of terrific movies occupying the top five this week.  In addition to True Grit, The Kings Speech and Black Swan had great weekends.

The King’s Speech actually surged 41% in its eighth week in release for a cool $9 M. It is still playing on less than 1600 screens, so those are some impressive numbers. Very quietly, the film has made $44 M to date.

Black Swan has also done remarkably well. Made on a shoestring budget of $13 M, Natalie Portman’s star vehicle now totals almost $73 M in box office receipts, without a 3D screen in sight. Gwyneth Paltrow has not been as lucky. Her movie Country Strong fell completely out of the top ten this week, coming in at number twelve. In four weeks, the movie has only made $13 M.

Barney’s Version opened on only four screens, but it managed to make $17,925 per/screen.

For the most part, sequels past 3 are rarely any good, let alone big name theatrical releases with an ensemble cast. Especially those films that fall into the “horror” or “slasher” genre. This time, things look to be different, as just about everyone (alive) is coming back for Scream 4.

Even original writer and director Kevin Williamson and Wes Craven are returning to revisit this franchise 10 years later. From what we can tell this far into production, the reasoning is to revamp the franchise for the brand new generation of tweeting, texting, and underage drinking teens. Here’s the plot rundown.

SIDNEY PRESCOTT has been living the last few years of her life in relative silence. Now a guidance counselor for Woodsboro High School, her alma mater, she finally lives her life out of the media spotlight.

But with the discovery of a murdered student, Sidney Prescott’s world will once again be ripped apart by the reemergence of Ghost Face.

We got a less-than revealing teaser a few months back, but now we’re finally getting the goods, and plenty of Hayden Panettiere as the new ditzy blond (who very well could be the new Ghost Face).

Check out the full trailer after the jump, and catch Scream 4 in theaters April 15th.

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