by John Carle, Mar 25 2011 // 9:00 AM
One of the most interesting aspects of THQ’s WWE game’s is their presentation and their storylines. Some have ultimate wrestling nerd nostalgia like when Edge and Christian reunited in SmackDown vs. Raw 2011 before they did on real WWE programming.
Others are completely out of the realm of reality (We all remember the video of Kurt Angle being magically transformed into a woman by Candice Michelle from a few years ago). With the completely over the top style of WWE All Stars, there is certainly some intrigue in to the presentation of its story modes.
Each of the three modes will consist of a 10 match tournament for the player, much in the style of fighting games like Mortal Kombat or Marvel vs. Capcom 3 where players will eventually reach their championship match against either the Undertaker (Legends path), Randy Orton (WWE Superstars path) or D-Generation X (Tag Team path). Here is what we know so far about these three different paths in WWE All Stars:
Path of Champions, WWE Legends – Undertaker
The World Heavyweight Championship is on the line at SummerSlam. Can you defeat 10 of WWE’s battle-hardened WWE Legends and defeat Undertaker? Paul Bearer welcomes you to his funeral parlor, as Undertaker emerges from a standing casket. He has a message for the player – “Rest in Peace!” There are plenty of surprises and more cutscenes along the way as you move your way up to face “The Phenom!”
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Posted in: Announcements · Games · News · Playstation 3 · Screen Shots · THQ · Trailers · Video Games · Wii · Wrestling · Xbox 360
Tagged: “Macho Man” Randy Savage, Andre the Giant, Big Show, Bret Hart, CM Punk, DLC, Drew McIntyre, Eddie Guerrero, Edge, Honky Tonk Man, Hulk Hogan, Jack Swagger, Jake "the Snake" Roberts, Jerry "the King" Lawler, Jim Ross, Jimmy Snuka, John Cena, John Morrison, Kane, Kofi Kingston, Mr. Perfect, Path of Champions, Playstation 2, Playstation 3, PlayStation Portable, Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio, Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat, Roddy Piper, Santino Marella, Sgt. Slaughter, Shawn Michaels, Sheamus, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Miz, The Rock, THQ, Triple H, Ultimate Warrior, Undertaker, Wii, WWE, WWE All Stars, Xbox 360
by Chris Ullrich, Mar 25 2011 // 8:00 AM
Apparently, old dogs (or in this case, old networks) can learn new tricks. The old dog in question today is the Fox network which, it seems, has learned that it’s okay to a give struggling series that you scheduled in the Friday night ‘Death Slot” a chance to reach an audience and continue its story. That series, we are happy to say, is Fringe – which has been renewed for another season by the network.
But wait, there’s more. Not only has the struggling series been given another season, its also received a full-season order of 22 episodes. Awesome, right? Despite low ratings, which got lower after the show was moved from Thursday to Friday, Fox management was still interested in the show’s creative direction.
In addition, Fringe has also been a big hit for the DVR crowd. So, when that is taken into consideration, the series ranks as the top-rated series on Fridays. Whatever the reason, or combination of reasons, we’re glad Fox decided to give Fringe another year to build an audience. It’s a great show that deserves to be seen. If you haven’t checked it out yet, you should.
Posted in: 20th Century Fox · News · TV
Tagged: Alex Kurtzman, Anna Torv, DVR, Fox, Fringe, J.J Abrams, John Noble, Joshua Jackson, Ratings, Roberto Orci
by Matt Raub, Mar 25 2011 // 7:00 AM
While most consider the style of storytelling dead, noir is still one of the most elegant and entertaining forms of film narrative to date. The entire culture of Hollywood was built on films like Sunset Blvd. which is easily one of the grandfathers of the genre, and it’s always nice to see modern filmmakers take a stab at recreating that feel in a current film.
That’s exactly what director Tony Krantz and writer Erik Jendresen have done with their upcoming “neo-noir” The Big Bang. The film stars just about everyone moviegoers have come to love, in a pretty intense and ridiculous (in a good way) plot. Here’s the synopsis.
Late one night, Los Angeles private investigator, Ned Cruz (Antonio Banderas) gets a visit from a recently paroled Russian boxer with an intriguing job offer: find Lexie, his missing girlfriend—and the 30-million dollar stash of diamonds she’s hiding. As Detective Cruz sets out to find her, the clues send him into the city’s seediest corners, from a Hollywood action star with a dirty little secret (James Van Der Beek), to an enterprising porn producer who takes a personal interest in his own work (Snoop Dogg), and a kinky waitress with an unusual fetish for particle physics (Autumn Reeser). Lexie proves to be as elusive as she is beautiful and Cruz becomes obsessed with finding her.
With time running out, Cruz discovers the trail leads to reclusive billionaire (Sam Elliott), and his physicist (Jimmi Simpson), intent on recreating The Big Bang underneath the New Mexico desert. Tailed by a trio of cops also looking to find the missing diamonds, and with the body count piling up, Cruz soon realizes that what appeared to be a standard missing person’s case is anything but, and could quite possibly bring about the end of the world as we know it.
The film is set to hit theaters later this year, but you can check out the trailer in the meantime after the jump.
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Posted in: Action · Comedy · Cult Cinema · Movies · News · Sci-Fi · Trailers · Video
Tagged: Antonio Banderas, Autumn Reeser, Erik Jendersen, James Van Der Beek, Jimmi Simpson, Otis, Sam Elliot, Snoop Dogg, The Big Bang, Tony Krantz
by Joe Gillis, Mar 24 2011 // 2:30 PM
It’s beginning to look a lot like Asgard around here as we start to see more and more from our friends at Marvel featuring the God of Thunder, Thor. Earlier today we brought you more on the upcoming game featuring the character. Now, with the big screen Thor slated to drop soon, Marvel hasn’t forgotten the character’s comic book roots and is set to devote more pages to him with an all-new comic book series.
Written by the Eisner Award-winning Matt Fraction with art by superstar Olivier Coipel, this new Thor will usher in “a bold new era for the kingdom of Asgard. But when the Silver Surfer suddenly appears to herald the arrival of Galactus in the Odinson’s realm, can the combined might of Thor and his brethren push back the devourer of worlds?” I don’t know but I bet it will be one heck of a fight.
To get you prepared for this struggle, we’ve got some preview pages for the comic to share today. Looking at them you really get a sense that this story is going to be pretty epic.
Check out the preview pages after the jump. The Mighty Thor hits store shelves on April 27th.
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Posted in: Comic Previews · Comics · Marvel · News
Tagged: Comics, Galactus, Marvel, Matt Fraction, Olivier Coipel, Silver Surfer, The Mighty Thor, Thor
by Matt Raub, Mar 24 2011 // 1:00 PM
Right after the announcement that one of our favorite shows on NBC, Community, is getting a third season, we’ve got something even more exciting as the show is doing an entire episode dedicated to Pulp Fiction tonight. And make no mistake, this one looks to be right up there with the classic chicken and paintball episodes.
From NBC:
On Community, our favorite study group puts down the chicken fingers and grabs a royale with cheese. In this clip you can get your first look Abed’s “Pulp Fiction” themed birthday party featuring Shirley with facial hair, Britta in a wig, and Pierce in a… well, you’ll just have to see what Pierce is decked out in.
Check out the very brief sneak peek after the jump. Catch an all-new Community tonight at 8/7C on NBC.
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Posted in: Action · Comedy · Drama · Fandom · NBC · Networks · News · TV · Video
Tagged: Community, Danny Pudi, Donald Glover, Joel McHale, NBC, Pulp Fiction, Quentin Tarantino
by Nat Almirall, Mar 24 2011 // 11:30 AM
On the surface, The Beaver is the story of Walter Black’s struggle with depression and the unorthodox means with which he copes, and, finally, his desperate attempt to return to a normal life. On a deeper level, it presents a much darker problem: What if one morning you woke up to find you had lost all interest in your family?
No reason, no explanation, just disinterest and dissatisfaction with the very things you thought were supposed to make you happy. This is Walter Black, played by Mel Gibson in perhaps the best performance of his career. Walter is CEO of a successful toy company, is married to a beautiful, smart woman successful in her own right (and played by director Jodie Foster), and has two children.
However, Walter’s life is far from perfect: His son Porter (Anton Yelchin) hates him and keeps an ongoing list of post-it notes detailing each quirk of his father that he himself exhibits and needs to rectify. Hhis youngest son Henry feels so ignored that he retreats into anonymity, so much so that when his own mother picks him up from school, she needs to make several passes to find him. His wife Meredith herself struggles to keep her family together before throwing up her hands and throwing Walter out.
But serious as these family problems are (and they aren’t particularly serious—what teenage boy doesn’t resent his father? What child doesn’t feel neglected? What mother doesn’t feel she’s the family adhesive?) they’re not the cause of Walter’s depression, or at least he seems so oblivious to them that it seems unlikely.
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Posted in: Drama · Movies · Reviews · SXSW
Tagged: Anton Yelchin, Jodie Foster, Mel Gibson, SXSW, The Beaver
by John Carle, Mar 24 2011 // 10:00 AM
This summer, Marvel films will be releasing two blockbusters with Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger on the way to their ultimate team movie, The Avengers. And with summer blockbusters comes the inevitable movie tie in games.
Comic book movie based video games have had mixed success in the past. Some titles like Spider-Man 2 were considered awesome games. Some like Wolverine: Origins received arguably more praise than the film they were based off of. Some, specifically Iron Man 2, were considered abysmal failures.
SEGA looks to fall in to the former of these categories with the rights to both of Marvel’s summer titles with Thor: God of Thunder and Captain America: Super Soldier. Recently, we reported rumors that both Chris Hemsworth and Chris Evans will reprise their respective roles from the feature films as voice actors in the video games. This is very good news for anyone who saw the live demo of Captain America: Super Soldier at New York Comic Con and heard the placeholder voice behind Cap.
Now SEGA has released a pack of screen shots of both titles. In each batch, there are screens from XBox 360 and the PlayStation 3 before a drastic drop off in graphic quality when the Nintendo Wii screens start popping up. And of course, the old school looking graphics appear on the Nintendo DS. Both the XBox 360 and PlayStation versions of the games will be playable in stereoscopic 3D.
Make sure to check them all out after the jump and check back right here for more news on Thor: God of Thunder and Captain America: Super Soldier as they both quickly approach launch.
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Posted in: 3-D · Comics · Games · Iron Man 2 · Marvel · Marvel Studios · News · NYCC · Playstation 3 · Screen Shots · Video Games · Wii · Xbox 360
Tagged: 3D, Captain America, Captain America: Super Soldier, Captain America: The First Avenger, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Marvel, Marvel Studios, Matt Fraction, Mjohnir, Nintendo DS, NYCC, Playstation 3, Sega, Thor, Thor: God of Thunder, Tom Hiddleston, Video Games, Wii, Xbox 360
by Chris Ullrich, Mar 24 2011 // 9:00 AM
If you’ve been a regular reader of this site you know we’re big fans of the BBC series Doctor Who and its companion, spin-off series Torchwood. Of course, we were thrilled to bring you the news that an all-new season of Torchwood was coming to the US on Starz featuring main characters Capt. Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) and Gwen Cooper (Eve Myles).
Now, we are also thrilled to telly you that Starz has set the premiere date for the Torchwood series and that date is Friday, July 8th at 10 E/P. In case you’re not familiar with the new Torchwood, it will also feature new characters and actors including Mekhi Phifer, Bill Pullman and, in an extended guest role, Lauren Ambrose.
Turning to the story, here’s what its all about:
It begins with a day when nobody dies. All across the world, nobody dies. And then the next day, and the next, and the next, people keep aging, they get hurt and sick, but they never die. The result: a population boom, overnight. With all the extra people, resources are finite.
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Posted in: BBC · News
Tagged: BBC, BBC America, Bill Pullman, Eve Myles, Jane Espenson, John Barrowman, Lauren Ambrose, Mekhi Phifer, Russell T. Davies, Starz, Torchwood, Torchwood: Miracle Day
by Erik Jensen, Mar 24 2011 // 8:00 AM
Some would say it’s a crazy move to try and sell apps for the Android smartphone market outside of Google’s own Android Market which seems to do a relatively commendable job of making apps available and easy to download. But that’s precisely what Amazon has decided to do.
You’d also think it was painfully obvious that naming your new Android marketplace “Amazon Appstore” would result in an instant lawsuit from Apple, but again Bezo’s company seems to be pitching caution to the wind with their latest move. And predictably enough, Apple has filed suit against Amazon for trademark infringement.
Despite all dangers, the new Amazon Appstore for Android has indeed launched and the company is bribing folks to give it a try.
Up for grabs? A full copy (no ad-supported nonsense here) of Angry Birds Rio, the latest version of the popular game from Rovio. Pretty sweet, right? And you know what else is free right now? World Series Of Poker: Hold’em by Glu.
Not so fast! First you have to download the Amazon app, which seems easy at first, but becomes increasingly more difficult than you can possibly imagine. It failed miserably on my first attempt to install it. More recently, it managed to download and install much more smoothly, so it seems like you may have an easier experience than I.
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Posted in: Android · Apple · Games · Google · Mobile · Mobile Apps · News
Tagged: Amazon, Amazon Appstore for Android, Android, Angry Birds Rio, Apple, Free Angry Birds, Google, iTunes Store
by Chris Ullrich, Mar 24 2011 // 7:00 AM
Ok fans, here’s the one you’ve been waiting for. The first official full trailer for Captain America has arrived (via ET) and lo it is good.
In it we get a real feel for the story and see all our favorite characters in their full glory. From the scrawny Steve Rogers and Dr. Erskine to the Red Skull, Tony Stark’s dad and the man himself, Captain America, all the characters look awesome and just as they should.
We also get a look at some of the great action scenes from the film and from the trailer we can see that director Joe Johnston and his team have gone to great lengths to make this one a worthy successor to the first two Iron Man films. Kudos to them.
In short, the movie looks great and all of us here at The Flickcast are counting the days until this movie arrives. In case you’re wondering, the number of days is 121.
Click through to check out the trailer. Captain America hits theaters on July 22nd.
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Posted in: Comics · Marvel · Marvel Studios · Movies · News · Trailers
Tagged: Captain America, Chris Evans, Comics, Hugo Weaving, Joe Johnston, Marvel, Movies, Sebastian Stan, Stanley Tucci, Steve Rogers, The First Avenger, Tommy Lee Jones
by Chris Ullrich, Mar 23 2011 // 4:30 PM
Since last week I’ve been testing out the new Wi-Fi Finder App from Boingo. It’s been particularly handy the last day or so when, due to severe storms in LA and the apparently highly vulnerable Timer Warner infrastructure, my Internet went out and I was forced to seek alternative methods to connect and get my work done.
So, an application that’s purpose is to find and connect you to more than 325,000 hotspots (or more) should come in pretty handy in this situation. Not surprisingly, it did. The app was able to find several open Wi-Fi networks clost to my home that, if I wanted to, I could have connected to and used. It was also able to connect me quickly to a hotspot at a local Starbucks so I could get back online. All by launching one app and letting it do its thing.
But connecting you to hotspots isn’t the only thing this app does. It also boast these features:
• Connects to more than 325,000 hotspots from more than 125 network operators in 105 countries (I know, we covered that already, but its really cool)
• Connects to any open, free network that you may encounter
• Can determine the best available open network if more than one are present
• Can be configured to auto-connect to free networks
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Posted in: Mobile · News · Software · Tech
Tagged: Android, Boingo, Boingo Wireless, iOS, iOS4, iPhone 4, Mac OS X, Software, Wi-Fi Finder, Windows
by Joe Gillis, Mar 23 2011 // 3:00 PM
This week on The Flickcast Chris and Matt are joined by Joseph Dilworth of Pop Culture Zoo and, of course, hilarity and informative discussion ensues. During the show all manner of new and recurring topics are discussed, dissected and otherwise examined.
Some of those topics include Emerald City Comic Con, Tron Legacy and potential sequels, Star Trek old and new, the Wolverine sequel without Darren Aronofsky, the renewal of Community and Fringe‘s rating slump, casting for various films including Kevin Costner as Pa Kent in Superman, X-Men First Class, Martin Scorsese’s The Dark Night and a whole lot more. And again this week, no Charlie Sheen. You’re welcome.
Of course, your hosts and guest also made some picks this week including Joseph’s dual picks of the movie Sourcecode and the new comic Vampirella, Matt’s pick of the movie Rubber and Chris’ pick of the new movie Limitless, featuring Bradley Cooper and Robert DeNiro.
As always, if you have comments, questions, critiques, offers of sponsorship or whatever, feel free to hit us up in the comments, on Twitter, at Facebook and MySpace or via email.
Posted in: News · Podcasts
Tagged: Brent Spiner, Commuinity, Darren Aronofsky, Emerald City Comic-Con, Eric Trautmann, Fringe, Hugh Jackman, Joseph Dilworth, LeVar Burton, Martin Scorsese, Podcasts, Pop Culture Zoo, Spider-Man, Star Trek, Superman, The Dark Knight, Tron, Tron Legacy, Vampirella, Wolverine