It looks like Amazon has thrown down the tablet gauntlet to Apple (and others) in a big way today. During a press event in New York City, the company unveiled its $200 Kindle Fire tablet.

And before you get too skeptical and lump the device in with the recent offerings from Blackberry or HP, let’s check out the specs. The Kindle Fire has a 7-inch display and will give users access to all of Amazon’s services including: AmazonMP3, Amazon Prime, Amazon Kindle Bookstore, Amazon Instant Video and the Amazon AppStore.

It’s powered by a dual-core processor and weighs 14.6 ounces. Customers can pre-order the Kindle Fire today and it will ship in November. Not bad Amazon, not bad.

Also unveiled was a brand new version of the company’s eReader called the Kindle touch. It is $99.00 for the base model or $149 for the 3G one and has an infrared layer on top of the E-Ink display to help avoid with any interference while reading.

It also has Amazon’s EasyReach technology for turning pages by tapping the screen in specific areas. In addition, an X-Ray feature allows users to view where and when certain characters and more take place in a book. Pre-orders for the Kindle touch eReader begin today and will ship by November 21st.

Finally, Bezos announced a new non-touch Kindle for $79. It is available for shipping today.

Well, that’s a lot of info. It will be interesting to see how the Kindle Fire and it’s reasonable price competes with the iPad and its not so reasonable price. The Christmas season just got a lot more interesting.

Check out the full press release from Amazon after the jump.

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The origins of The Gunstringer are not what most people would expect. At Comic-Con in San Diego, TwistedPixel CEO Michael Wilford let us in on the story that has already spread throughout the internet that the pitch for the game came about during the time span of a bathroom break.

After talking to TwistedPixel about the Kinect technology, Microsoft executives went to the bathroom. Michael and one of the other’s on his team looked at a skeleton marionette on the wall of the Mexican restaurant they were at and came up with the pitch by the time the Microsoft suits had returned. The rest, as they say, is history.

Gameplay:

At first, the Gunstring appears as a fairly simple concept. Players use one hand to control the motion of the character left, right or jumping while their other hand aims an imaginary gun at up to six targets. Players fire by lifting their right hand quickly just like they would back in the childhood days of playing cowboys and Indians or cops and robbers.

There is something to be said for the immediate nostalgia brought to this game with that one simple action. Not only does it have a control that is intuitive to the Kinect sensor for the action it represents, but it brings people back to their childhood which makes it almost impossible not to like.

Whether its ninjas, ducks, cowboys or Indians, everything in the Old West wants to take out the Gunstringer and the player needs to be able to shoot it out before it gets to him or at least get out of the way.

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It all started as a little, micro-budget horror flick 3 years ago, that has now become a phenomenon (pun intended) and one highly anticipated trilogy. Oren Peli’s Paranormal Activity is just that, and the viral marketing campaign for the upcoming third installment is just beginning.

Over the weekend, several news outlets received a VHS tape and VCR in the mail that had some pretty scary stuff on it. Just enough to get you to pee yourself with both fear and anticipation for what the next film has to bring us.

Here’s what we can look forward to in terms of a story.

The third film takes place in 1988, when Katie and Kristi were kids. While trying to get video proof of Bloody Mary, Katie and Kristi are first confronted by the monstrous demon haunting them in the first and second movies along with their family.

Check out two of the static-filled videos after the jump, and catch Paranormal Activity 3 in theaters on October 21st.

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It seems HBO isn’t alone in the giving series a second season before they hardly run their first department. In fact, Starz has even done them one better.

The network has officially given the Kelsey Grammer government corruption drama Boss a second season of ten episodes. That’s great news for the show but what makes it even more remarkable is the fact that the show hasn’t even premiered on the network yet.

Don’t be too shocked, though. This move isn’t ompletely without precedent for Starz. The network did the same thing with Spartacus: Blood and Sand.

In case you’re not familiar with Boss (and no reason you should be as you can’t actually see it yet) it was created by writer Farhad Safinia and features Gus Van Sant making his TV directing debut. Grammer plays a ruthless Chicago mayor who has a secret that threatens to destroy him. Don’t they all.

Also in the show are Connie Nielsen, Jeff Hephner, Hannah Ware, Kathleen Robertson and Troy Garity. Production on Season 2 is reportedly set to begin in early 2012.

Look for the first season of Boss to debut on Starz on October 21.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say Castle and Firefly star Nathan Fillion likes comic books. Did you see this week’s episode of Castle which aired on Monday night?

If not, take my word for it, the guy likes comics. That probably explains why he’s joining the cast of the latest Warner Bros. animated opus Justice League: Doom to reprise his role as Green Lantern.

He’s not the only one either. Tim Daly will also be returning to once again take on the role of Superman in the new project. Good times.

Here’s the scoop on the new movie:

Justice League: Doom finds Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Cyborg and Batman on their heels when a team of super villains discover and implement the Dark Knight’s “contingency plans” for stopping any rogue Justice League member. The story is inspired by Mark Waid’s much-heralded “JLA: Tower of Babel.”

Fortunately for fans, Fillion and Daly won’t be alone in the cast. Also returning are Kevin Conroy as Batman, Michael Rosenbaum as Flash, Susan Eisenberg as Wonder Woman and Carl Lumbly as J’onn J’onzz/Martian Manhunter.

Warner Home Video will premiere the Justice League: Doom trailer during New York Comic Con on Friday, October 14. Look for the full film to be released early next year.

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One of the worst kept secrets of the last few months has now been officially confirmed. That’s right Apple fans, your favorite fruit-flavored tech company has started sending out invites for its big iPhone 5 shindig taking place next month.

As we told you previously, the magic day is October 4th and the event will take place at Apple’s campus in Cupertino, CA. It will begin at 10AM Pacific and by 11AM we should know if we’re getting an iPhone 5 any time soon, and if so, what that may entail specs and features-wise.

In the interest of participating in the often amusing speculation game I would guess we will see a few announcements at least. The first will be a firm release date for IOS 5. Next, we’ll probably get an announcement that the iPhone is coming to Sprint.

Finally, the big one. Apple will announce the iPhone 5 (or whatever they end up calling it) and the world, as we know it, will remain largely the same. It is just a phone, after all. Sure, it’s pretty much the best phone available (unless you have AT&T service) with the best apps out there but still, at the end of the day, just a phone.

In fact, I’ll be interested to see if the iPhone 5 will have 4G on Verizon’s network. If not, I might have to wait for the iPhone 6. I do like me some 4G and my iPhone 4 works quite well at the moment, thank you very much.

Fortunately, we don’t have to wait too long to find out what’s going to happen. October 4th is right around the corner.

There’s no doubt that comics featuring the X-Men are some of the most popular of all time. The characters, situations and stories have captured the imaginations of millions of fans worldwide.

Over the years as they’ve gained in popularity, the X-Men have been comprised of many great members. Arguably, the most popular and iconic is Wolverine. And now, thanks to the gang at Marvel, he’s headlining another new comic coming soon.

That’s right folks. Here’s the scoop directly from Marvel:

“A brand new crew of X-Men in the oversized debut of Wolverine & The X-Men #1! From Marvel Architect writer Jason Aaron and fan favorite artist Chris Bachalo, this new team will have their hands full as the Hellfire Club makes their next move. With covers by Bachalo – no fan can miss this bold new era of mutantkind as X-Men: Regenesis continues in Wolverine & The X-Men #1!”

Look for the new book to hit store shelves on October 26. Check out the covers (in the larger, easier to see size) for issues #1 and #2 after the break.

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Sequels are sometimes considered just an attempt at squeezing more money out of a franchise that studios or producers feel is possible after the success of a single film. That definitely isn’t the case with Tom Six’s upcoming sequel to Human Centipede: First Sequence.

This sequel, simply labeled Full Sequence, takes the premise and understanding of the first film and goes all meta and cerebral with it. Here’s the film’s premise.

Martin is a mentally disturbed loner who lives with his mother in a bleak housing project. He works the night shift as a security guard in an equally grim and foreboding underground parking complex. To escape his dreary existence, Martin loses himself in the fantasy world of the cult horror film The Human Centipede (First Sequence), fetishizing the meticulous surgical skills of the gifted Dr. Heiter, whose knowledge of the human gastrointestinal system inspires Martin to attempt the unthinkable.

Not only will this film follow a completely different story than First Sequence, but its toting itself as being “100% Medically Inaccurate”, which alone is a brilliant marketing strategy.

The film is currently making its way around the festivals, including making huge waves at Fantastic Fest, but you can expect it to hit everywhere but the UK early next year. Take a look at the first full trailer after the jump.

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When you think of quality drama on TV the network that probably comes to mind in HBO. With series like The Sopranos, Treme, Game of Thrones, True Blood and The Wire, HBO has and is the place where you can find some of the best shows anywhere.

Now an upcoming series is hoping to take its place among those great shows. That series is Luck, which is a horse racing drama from producers Michael Mann and David Milch which features Dustin Hoffman and Nick Nolte.

Over the weekend the network released a teaser trailer for the series and we, of course, have it for you right here. In it you’ll get a better idea of the show and how its all gonna go down.

Gotta say, it looks pretty interesting. Plus, with the cast and creative team involved, it wil definitely be worth checking out.

Luck is slated to premiere in January. Check out the preview after the break.

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This week’s pick is the HBO film By Dawn’s Early Light (1990), directed by Jack Sholder. The film stars Martin Landau, Powers Boothe, Rebecca De Mornay, James Earl Jones, Darren McGavin, Rip Torn, Jeffery DeMunn, Peter MacNicol, and Nicolas Coster.

By Dawn’s Early Light was based on the novel Trinity’s Child that depicts a full nuclear exchange between the U.S. and USSR. The film is set in 1991 as the Soviet Union is undergoing radical political change (when the film was produced, the Soviet Union was in fact beginning to collapse).

A group of Soviet brass launches a nuclear strike with a stolen missile against the Soviet city of Donetsk. U.S. forces track the trajectory of the missile from allied Turkey. This act makes the Soviet Première and Soviet forces think it was a surprise attack from the U.S. and NATO forces.  The Soviets launch a retaliatory strike which threatens U.S. land based bombers and many key points of communication such as the NORAD facility, SAC headquarters in Omaha, Nebraska, Washington D.C., and Andrews AFB in Maryland which is where the president would be evacuated from.

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People who complain that DC Comics reboot their universe too many times needs to take a look at Marvel Comics Ultimate Universe line.

Founded in 2000 with the debut of Ultimate Spider-Man, the Ultimate universe was always intended as a continuity free entry point into the Marvel Universe. Characters and origins were updated to feel as if they were created in the 2000′s, and many of the movie properties of Marvel took several ideas and storylines from the Ultimate Marvel universe. Unfortunately, somewhere along the way, the Ultimate Universe became confusing and has been rebooted not once, but twice in ten years! Let me say that again, twice in ten years. Even with all the odds stacked against it, Ultimate Comics X-Men #1 turns out to be a decent issue.

Peter Parker, the Spider-Man, is dead. Wolverine, Cyclops, Professor X, and Magneto are also in the ground. This ain’t your papa’s Marvel Universe. The issue begins with a scene that could have been ripped out of an X-Men movie. Karen Grant a.k.a. Jean Grey, who has changed her name for safety reasons, visits the parents of a little girl who has just discovered she is a mutant. Karen discusses options with the mother while the father of the little girl is upstairs with her.

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It seems, according to this weekend’s box office report, that audiences still aren’t tired of 1994′s Lion King, even 17 years later. The film’s re-release in 3D has made the #1 spot again in two weeks, bringing in $22 million this weekend.

That ranks the film up to over $60 million in 3D, and over $400 million combined with the film’s original domestic total from the 90s. Not too shabby for a film that ripped off a Japanese anime series from the 50s.

The rest of the weekend’s releases weren’t too shabby, either. Brad Pitt’s Moneyball, which almost didn’t get made, pulled in $20.6 million at the #2 spot, while Morgan Freeman’s adventure saving a sea mammal in Dolphin Tale came in 3rd with just over $20.2 million.

The big flops of the weekend came in the form of the #3 and #4 spots. Taylor Lautner’s attempt at being Matt Damon in Abduction brought in $11 million, which is less than a third of the film’s production budget.

All the while, the action-packed Killer Elite, which had a production budget of $70 million, only brought in $9.5. Not a good sign for the DeNiro/Statham/Owen on-screen team.

Next weekend, a few possible sleeper hits with Universal’s Dream House, cancer drama 50/50, and the romantic comedy What’s Your Number?. Who will win? We’ll find out in one week!