by Nat Almirall, Mar 28 2011 // 12:30 PM

Kumaré is a good documentary. It (somewhat) does what it sets out to do, does it well, takes some daring chances, scores some laughs, and is a nice-enough movie-going experience. It’s premise is ingenious: Vikram Gandhi, a 30-ish lad of Indian descent, poses as the “enlightened guru” Kumaré and amasses a following among some of the spiritually attuned (and gullible) residents of Arizona.
Dispensing platitudinal and often comically obtuse wisdom, he nevertheless ingratiates himself to his followers, who soon (and not surprisingly) take him to be their confidant, asking questions far less abstract and, personally, much deeper than the lofty spiritual conundrums he poses.
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Posted in: Documentary · Movies · Reviews · SXSW
Tagged: Kristin Calgaro, Kumaré, Purva Bedi, SXSW, Vikram Gandhi
by Heather Toshiko, Mar 28 2011 // 11:30 AM
As with NBC last week, ABC has unveiled their schedule for the Summer and it looks like reality series (which are cheap to produce and make good money for networks) will dominate the lineup. Returning shows Wipeout, The Bachelorette and Bachelor Pad are joined by five new ones including spinoff of Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition, Take the Money and Run and Mark Burnett’s Expedition Impossible.
On the scripted side ABC will drop two shows, both of which are produced elsewhere. Canadian import Rookie Blue (featuring Reaper’s Missy Peregrym) is back as well as the new Canadian/U.K. co-production The Hot Zone are on the schedule. The thriller Missing, originally to be released in the Summer, has been pushed back.
Here’s a list of the network’s Summer shows and their premiere dates followed by some description of the new shows:
Monday, May 23
9:00-11:00: The Bachelorette (season premiere)
Monday, May 30
8:00-10:01 PM: The Bachelorette (regular time premiere)
10:01-11:00 PM: Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition
Thursday, June 16
8:00-9:00 PM: Wipeout (sneak-peek episode)*
9:00-10:00 PM: 101 Ways to Leave a Game Show (series premiere)*
10:00-11:00 PM: Rookie Blue (second season premiere)*
*If there is a Game 7 of the NBA Finals, programs will move to Thurs., June 23
Tuesday, June 21:
8:00-9:00 PM: Wipeout (regular time premiere)
9:00-10:00 PM: Expedition Impossible (series premiere)
10:00-11:00 PM: The Hot Zone (series premiere)
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Posted in: ABC · News · Press Releases · TV
Tagged: ABC, Missy Peregrym, Press Release, Reality Series, Rookie Blue, Summer Schedule, The Hot Zone, TV, Wipeout
by Nat Almirall, Mar 28 2011 // 10:00 AM

The Office has finally stopped lollygagging around the Michael-Holly will-they/won’t-they (of course they will) question? and given us what we all expected: The Proposal, albeit coyly buried under the episode’s evasive title “Garage Sale.” But who’s complaining?
In the show’s 145-episode run, it’s deftly avoided cheap sentiment, and though Michael’s erratic behavior can be grating, especially in this last season, Steve Carell knows how to keep it sweet instead of cloying—even when you have the rest of the office bearing candles and ominously asking Holly to marry them in some weirdly druidic ritual (not that I know anything about druidic rituals [though one of the tech guys at my old job was a druid]; it’s just the best adjective to go with “ritual”).
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Posted in: Comedy · NBC · Reviews · TV · TV Recaps
Tagged: Amy Ryan, Garage Sale, NBC, Rainn Wilson, Steve Carell, The Office
by Chris Ullrich, Mar 28 2011 // 9:00 AM
It’s beginning to smell a lot like iOS as Apple today announced the dates for its Worldwide Developer Conference, which will take place June 6th to the 10th in San Francisco at the Moscone Center. The software-centric, annual event provides developers and fans a look at what Apple has in store for its operating systems and, as is sometimes the case, its hardware.
“At this year’s conference we are going to unveil the future of iOS and Mac OS,” said Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, Phil Schiller. “If you are an iOS or Mac OS X software developer, this is the event that you do not want to miss.”
So, what can we expecgt from this event? Well, if tradition holds we should see a nice demo of the next generation of Apple’s iOS as well as a preview of the next version of Mac OS X, code named “Lion.” We should also see a preview of the next generation iPhone, which we will call the iPhone 5 for now. Although, there has been some speculation we might not see that last thing.
Whatever happens, WWDC is always a great time and often a perfect indication of what Apple has up their virtual sleeve for the next year. If you’re interested in attending, head on over to this website to pick up tickets.
Posted in: Apple · Events · Mobile · News · Software · Tech
Tagged: Apple, iOS, iPhone, iPhone 5, Mac OS X, World Wide Developer Conference, WWDC, WWDC 2011
by Matt Raub, Mar 28 2011 // 8:00 AM
We love it when a family comes together. Over the past few weeks, the entire Kent family in the upcoming Superman reboot helmed by Zack Snyder has been completely cast, with Diane Lane and Kevin Costner playing the “Ma and Pa Kent” to Henry Cavill’s Clark Kent.
Now, the circle is complete as Clark’s girlfriend/wife Lois Lane (depending on what continuity the film follows) will be played by Enchanted star Amy Adams. An interesting choice, as it seems that Snyder and producer Chris Nolan aren’t pulling any punches in terms of a well-known cast.
Snyder recently had some words about casting Adams in the classic role.
“Second only to Superman himself, the question of who will play Lois Lane is arguably what fans have been most curious about,” Snyder said in a statement Sunday. “So we are excited to announce the casting of Amy Adams, one of the most versatile and respected actresses in films today. Amy has the talent to capture all of the qualities we love about Lois: smart, tough, funny, warm, ambitious and, of course, beautiful.”
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Posted in: Action · Announcements · Casting · Comics · DC · DC Entertainment · Movies · News · Reboots and Remakes · Sci-Fi · Superman Reboot · Warner Bros
Tagged: Amy Adams, Diane Lane, Enchanted, Henry Cavill, Kate Bosworth, Kevin Costner, Lois Lane, Superman, Warner Bros, Zack Snyder
by Shannon Hood, Mar 28 2011 // 7:00 AM
At the end of the day, it was a Wimpy Kid who beat up on the highly stylized and sexualized Sucker Punch. An effective trailer campaign launched by Warner Brothers stirred up plenty of interest in Zack Snyder’s latest offering, but a 17% drop from Friday to Saturday squelched its chances of winning the weekend. Snyder previously directed Watchmen and 300, both of which performed much better on their opening weekend than Sucker Punch, which came in at number two with $19M.
Sucker Punch was leading the weekend on Friday, but the drop-off cleared the way for Disney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules to win the weekend. The sequel to Diary of a Wimpy Kid outperformed its predecessor: Rodrick Rules made $24.4M, while the original Wimpy Kid made about $22M on its opening weekend. With a reported budget of about $18M, Rodrick Rules should put the franchise in good shape for a third movie.
Bradley Cooper’s Limitless didn’t have any trouble retaining an audience. The film only dropped about 19% (very solid for a second weekend) and made an additional $15.2M. That puts its two week tally at $41M. Matthew McConaughey fared almost as well.
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Posted in: Box Office · Kids · Movies · News · Warner Bros
Tagged: Box Office, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules, Limitless, News, Rango, Sucker Punch, The Lincoln Lawyer
by The Flickcast, Mar 25 2011 // 4:30 PM
Welcome to another edition of 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 during the week. Let is know if we missed something interesting.
Let’s get started!
• The first reboot of the Spider-Man franchise hasn’t even gotten a trailer yet, but James Vanderbelt is already locked in to write a sequel for Sony.
• We love the original series The Wire, but one question we never asked was “What if it was Written as a Classic Novel?”
• Turns out millennials aren’t the only reason for the degradation of the English language, as both LOL and OMG seem to have a pretty deep history.
• If last night’s episode of Community wasn’t enough Pulp Fiction for you, how about these original Pulp Fiction action figures?
• In more casting news for Superman: Man of Steel, star of Boardwalk Empire Michael Shannon is in talks to play the film’s villain.
• Just after Netflix’s deal with Showtime’s original series went sour, Starz has issued a 90-day delay for new original programming to hit the instant servers.
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Posted in: News · On The Radar
Tagged: Fringe, Futurama, General Zod, God of War, James Vanderbelt, Light's Out, LOL, Michael Shannon, Mortal Kombat, Netflix, OMG, Pulp Fiction, Showtime, Spider-Man, Superman: Man of Steel, The Wire
by Erik Jensen, Mar 25 2011 // 3:30 PM
One of the more annoying marketing gimmicks among wireless carriers, but also true among WiFi hardware makers as well, is that as soon as a new standard is announced, the urge to jump in and declare “we have that,” often trumps actually waiting for standards to be finalized, and far too often before the company can even deliver the real goods.
Case in point is the 4G service being touted by the nation’s wireless carriers. In case they weren’t aware, the term ’4G’ actually means something. In 2008, the ITU-R organization specified the IMT-Advanced (International Mobile Telecommunications Advanced) requirements for 4G standards, setting peak speed requirements for 4G service at 100 Mbps for high mobility communication (such as from trains and cars) and 1 Gbps for low mobility communication (such as pedestrians and stationary users).
With that said, which of the carriers are truly delivering data speeds truly approaching the 4G standard? Seattle-based Analyst Root Metrics set out to determine exactly that. In a test comparing AT&T’s HSPA+, Sprint’s WiMAX, T-Mobile’s HSPA+21 and Verizon’s LTE networks in the Seattle area, the company used 4G-capable smartphones to get a clearer picture of what the consumer experience looks like on the ground. Down here in reality.
What they found will interest you.
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Posted in: Android · Gear · Geek · Hardware · Mobile · News · Tech
Tagged: 4G network speeds, 4G speed test, AT&T HSPA+, Root Metrics, Spring WiMAX, T-Mobile HSPA+21, Verizon LTE, Verizon Thunderbolt
by Joe Gillis, Mar 25 2011 // 2:30 PM
Here at The Flickcast we get sent all kinds of videos made by fans. Many of them are, sad to say, not very inspired. Some, however, like the ones from Freddie Wong, are indeed awesome.
This most recent one has been around for a bit but we just got a chance to take a look. In it, creator msignore takes the familiar tale of 300 and moves it to the only other place we can see that story ever taking place: a bowling alley. Yes, you read that right, a bowling alley.
It’s a pretty interesting tale full of danger, suspense and, of course, shirtless bowling in slo-mo. We look forward to seeing what else this guy comes up with.
Check it out after the jump.
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Posted in: Fan Films · Fandom · Movies · News · Video · Video Friday
Tagged: 300, 300 Pins, Fan Films, Gerard Butler, Leonidas, Xerxes
by Nat Almirall, Mar 25 2011 // 1:00 PM
The Harvest Festival has come and gone (about 16 episodes earlier than I thought), and Leslie’s getting the kudos she deserves…until the city manager Paul suffers a heart attack during her recognition ceremony and collapses with a death grip on her right mammary. Nice. (And the headline “Knope Grope Is Last Hope” is the icing on the booby.)
Before he does, though, he tenders some eagerness toward what Leslie’s next big idea will be, which leads Leslie to call a mandatory work/brainstorming retreat for the parks department, a fancy name for camping in one of Pawnee’s starry-night-sky-infested parks. Naturally, the rest of the office is reluctant (I do love how Leslie seems to be the only person in her department who actually enjoys the parks): Ron would prefer to skip the get-together and go camping by himself (presumably at some private campground).
Tom would prefer to bask in the pervading effulgence of SkyMall; and Jerry just brings bad luck by scaring all the fish (and misidentifies “rappers” as “rappists”). The only one who shares Leslie’s gung-ho-i-ness is Andy, who sees it as an opportunity to build a love-tent for himself and April (not too bad of an idea, had he not chosen the wrong campsite to pitch it).
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Posted in: NBC · TV · TV Recaps
Tagged: Adam Scott, Amy Poehler, Camping, Nick Offerman, Parks and Recreation
by Matt Raub, Mar 25 2011 // 11:30 AM
Ever since The Walking Dead went off famously on AMC, it seems like other networks are ready to jump on the “indie comic” bandwagon. Showtime has recently picked up a script based on the comic book series Chew about a detective who gets a psychic impression of things he eats. From Deadline.
Showtime has bought a script for Chew, a quirky half-hour cop show based on John Layman and Rob Guillory’s bestselling comic book of the same name. Stephen Hopkins is attached to direct and executive produce the project, which hails from Circle of Confusion, the company behind AMC’s hit series adaptation of Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead.
Chew tells the darkly comic story of federal agent Tony Chu, a “cibopath” able to get psychic impression from the things he eats who is assigned to the most usual and bizarre crimes.
Not only is Circle of Confusion the studio behind the brilliance of bringing The Walking Dead to screen, but they’re also the company that is working on bringing Brian Michal Bendis’ Powers to FX. Expect the next few years to be quite huge for the lesser-known comic book world. Which is not a bad thing at all.
With news of Chew hitting, who would you like to see as the titular character Tony Chu? John Cho? Stephen Chow? Are these all too easy?
You tell us.
Posted in: Action · Adaptation · Comedy · Comics · Drama · Horror · Image Comics · News · Sci-Fi · Showtime · TV
Tagged: Chew, Circle of Confusion, Eureka, Image, John Layman, Powers, Rob Guillory, Rob Milbauer, Showtime, Terri Hughes Burton, The Walking Dead
by Shannon Hood, Mar 25 2011 // 10:00 AM
Insidious was one film that was high on my list of priority to view at SXSW. Essentially a haunted house genre movie, the film is from writer Leigh Whannell and director James Wan, who previously worked together on Saw. No worries, this film is more carnival fun-house ride than house of horrors. I mean that in a good way.
Wan keeps the gore to a minimum, and the film is more campy than truly frightening. It’s still a darn fun ride, in the vein of Drag Me to Hell. The jump scares are plentiful, and had the audience squealing and screaming, but you won’t lie in bed at night pulling the covers up under your chin. It’s quickly forgotten as a fun diversion.
Young couple Josh (Patrick Wilson) and Renai (Rose Byrne) have just moved into a big, creepy house with their three children. Josh is pretty oblivious to just how stressed out Renai is, what with caring for three small children and settling into this huge house. You could even say she is (understandably) emotionally unstable.
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Posted in: Horror · Horror Reviews · Movies · Reviews · SXSW
Tagged: 'Insidious', Horror, James Wan, Leigh Whannell, Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, SXSW, SXSW reviews