Obviously, we’re very curious to see new epiosdes of Community now that Dan Harmon is off the show from the beginning of the season and Chevy Chase left part way through. Putting it bluntly, we’re not optimistic about the show’s chances.

We felt that way, that is, until we saw this new mash-up featuring the cast. Seeing it almost gives us hope for the new season. Almost. You should judge for yourself.

And as if that wasn’t enough, we’ve also got a treat for Grimm fans: part one of a Grimmm web series. That’s right, check it out after the break and enjoy while you wait for the show to return on March 8th.

Oh, in case you didn’t know, Community returns on February 7th. Check out all the vids, well, you know the drill.

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To be honest, I haven’t always thought much of “digital” series. In many cases they just can’t seem to hold up against more traditional TV fare. Of course, there’s many reasons for that and I don’t really hold it against them. However, as skeptical as I might be, things seem about to change now that Bryan Singer’s new digital series H+ has arrived.

The series tells the story of a computer virus that invades the global network and starts to wreak havoc on both the network and people connected to it. In other words, all hell breaks loose as we all loose connectivity . . . or worse.

The first two episodes are now up over at YouTube with new ones coming out every Wednesday. To help you check it out now, we’ve got the first one after the break. That way, all you have to do its click once. No need to thank us.

Could this be the future of entertainment? Maybe. I will say that after watching the first two episodes, I want to see more. So there’s that.

Oh, one small gripe. Can we just call it H+ or H Plus and drop “The digital series”? That just sounds dumb, especially as most network series are shot digitally these days. Thanks.

Check it out after the break and let us know what you think.

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While the world of film and TV awards get more and more jaded to the hardcore fans, it’s time to pay more attention to the forms of media that could, very soon, become the new medium to-be. I’m talking about the form of New Media, or “web series”, which is becoming more and more of what kids are talking about these days.

With that comes, of course, a cornocopia of popular awards to give accolades to these hard-working men and women. One of these is for the The International Academy of Web Television, a freshman organization that’s made to bring more attention to the growing medium.

Yesterday, the nomimations for the first year of awards was announced, and as expected, Sean Becker & Felicia Day’s popular web series The Guild, and the excellent drama series RCVR made out like bandits. From Variety.

“RCVR” racked up a dozen nominations. The show focuses on covert government agents that try to suppress the truth about extraterrestrial encounters and hunt humans selected by an alien species to act as channels for advanced technologies. “The Guild,” a long-running Web series that is arguably the field’s most popular, picked up nine nominations.

Voting is currently underway and the show hits on January 12th in Vegas the upcoming CES. Take a look at the full nominees after the jump.

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There are a few quintessential film scores in every generation. Amongst the first of the new century is the music from The Fellowship of the Ring, Howard Shore’s epic, sweeping and moving first score in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. At the end of the day, all three scores work together to tell the single story of the Lord of the Rings, weaving in and out of complex themes and structures more like an opera than a traditional film score.

This epic master work has recently found new life with the release of The Lord of the Rings Symphony, a six movement piece that spans the entire trilogy. The music is structured into two movements per movie, emulating the two books in each volume of the trilogy. Each movie getting between twenty and forty minutes of their best musical moments, woven together like a single cohesive musical experience.

So the first question on my mind as I hear about this release is how it sounds. Many times when there is a re-recording of a release, it doesn’t have that certain spark of the original recording, the music is all there, but it is just not quite the same. Thankfully, for this release the music is almost perfection, and several cases I even prefer the new recorded cues to the originals I have listened to for years.

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While Tropic Thunder may have been one of the best satires of the Hollywood system and funniest comedies of the past few years, one thing that every person who saw the film couldn’t help but love was the collection of fake movie trailers preempting the film.

Ben Stiller, director of Thunder and the brains behind most of the trailers as well as the classic Heat Vision & Jack pilot, has decided that there’s more than enough interest from fans to support doing more parody trailers that will stand on their own. Here’s the full deal from Deadline.

The new project, essentially a series of at least 12 short trailer parodies, will be distributed online via a partner to be named shortly. The plan is to bring together top actors and filmmakers across all genres to take part. I’m now told that they’ll come one per week, starting in the late fall or winter.

Stiller will produce with Stuart Cornfeld and Mike Rosenstein through Red Hour Digital, with longtime Red Hour collaborator Robert Cohen exec producing and directing some of the shorts. Among the actors and directors who’ll contribute content are Stiller’s Tropic Thunder co-writer Justin Theroux, Night at the Museum scribes Tom Lennon & Ben Garant, and Clueless helmer Amy Heckerling.

Expect to see more directors show interest in this project, as Robert Rodriguez and his band of genre and horror friends have been attempting the same thing after Grindhouse was such a cult success.

From the folks that brought you G33K & G4M3R Girls and superHarmony, and the guy you love to call Chuck, comes a brand new web spoof that takes place in the distant future of 1964!

That’s right, things are going back to the beach in this brand new short from Team Unicorn, The Guild director Sean Becker, and Robot Chicken writer Zeb Wells. It’s called Alien Beach Crashers! and that’s exactly what you’re going to get. As if you needed a synopsis, here it is.

Team Unicorn is back and putting a new spin on the classic beach party song and dance movies of the 60’s with their comedic homage “Alien Beach Crashers!”, a story about pesky intergalactic invaders ruining the most awesome beach party ever.

Starring a pretty “far out” cast including Zachary Levi (Chuck), Pete Wentz (Fall Out Boy), Abraham Benrubi (ER, Robot Chicken) and of course, Team Unicorn, made up of Clare Grant, Michele Boyd, Milynn Sarley, & Rileah Vanderbilt.

Take a look at the hilarious short after the jump, and be sure to subscribe to Team Unicorn’s channel, as they’re sure to post some great new shorts in the coming weeks!

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Since the arrival of affordable and professional level video editing and effects equipment, it’s become more and more common for a small fan film on the Internet to have as good or better visuals (and often a story) than many of the big Hollywood  films we usually see. That case is clear once again with the new short film Robots of Brixton by Kibwe Tavares.

The film takes an interesting look at a futuristic (and not very optimistic) world where robots not only rule, but have the same hardships as humans.

With some of the most unsettling and gorgeous visuals we’ve seen in a some time, Brixton runs a short 5 and a half minutes. However, that time will go by fast and once you’re done, you’ll want to watch it again.

Check out the full synopsis and short itself after the jump.

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NBC’s Thursday night lineup may be some of the funniest comedies on TV today, and that is in no small part due to the outrageous ensemble cast on Parks & Recreation. Sure, people love Amy Poehler and Aziz Ansari, but another performance that stands out beyond many others is the dry one-liners of Aubrey Plaza.

She’s done great things on Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, Parks & Rec, and seems to have a continuing relationship with College Humor. A few years ago, she worked on a Twilight spoof for the online comedy site, titled Three Wolf Moon. Now she’s back again, this time spoofing Star Wars.

Sure, they avoided a heavy budget and a letter from Lucas Ranch by using knockoff stormtrooper helmets, but that doesn’t mean the skit didn’t capture the true essence of the Imperial prison from A New Hope.

Sadly, you can’t add Plaza to the list of actresses like Olivia Munn and Alessandra Torresani who have donned the epic Slave Leia outfit, but that doesn’t mean she still doesn’t have the hair buns. Check out the skit after the jump.

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A few weeks back, we announced that Warner Bros. independent production company, Warner Premiere, was taking Kevin Tancharoen’s Mortal Kombat: Rebirth fan short and extending it into a full web series.

Now, as production continues, 3 players from the original short have been cast in the new series. So fans of Jeri Ryan as Sonya Blade, Michael Jai White as Jax, and now Darren Shahlavi as Kano now have plenty to get excited about. Here’s the official press release.

Warner Premiere today announced initial casting for their upcoming live-action digital new media series “Mortal Kombat” which is based on the iconic gaming franchise. Jeri Ryan, (“Star Trek: Voyager”) will reprise her role as the headstrong “Lieutenant Sonya Blade” from the unofficial fan short. She is joined by Michael Jai White (“The Dark Knight”) as “Major Jackson ‘Jax’ Briggs” and Darren Shahlavi (“300”) as the sly and cunning “Kano.”

Kevin Tancharoen who directed and produced the popular, unofficial “Mortal Kombat: Rebirth” fan short that garnered over 10 million views worldwide, is bringing the same immersive directing style to this live-action digital new media series. Fans will be able to delve deep into the history of the warriors they know and love including “Sub-Zero” and “Scorpion.” Shooting for “Mortal Kombat” is currently underway in Vancouver.

The web series is expected to premiere later this Spring.

As sad as it was that Jackass 3D got snubbed at the Oscars, the antics get to live on in an awesome new “sequel” with Jackass 3.5. Coming to the internet via Joost.com in weekly installments, Jackass 3.5 brings you never-before-seen stunts and gags in about 85 minutes over the period of several weeks starting on April 1st (April Fools Day, how poetic).

Why would a website promote a digital sequel of Jackass as its first? Wel,l back in 2007 Paramount released Jackass 2.5 as a digital movie which quickly became the most successful non-theatrical release in the studio’s history, with over 20 million views in the first few weeks. So, they are obviously hoping for more of the same.

After the jump, you can check out the official trailer of 3.5, courtesy of Joost.com. Plus, a special photo of Steve-O to get you through the weekend. To keep up with all things Jackass, be sure to follow them on their official Twitter and Facebook pages.

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We all know unconventional superhero stories are all the rage right now, between Kick-Ass, Green Hornet, and the popular BBC series Misfits. Now one indie filmmaker is taking that trend to the web with a super low-budget short about your not-so-average super powered crime fighters in Lazy Teenage Superheroes.

Filmmaker Michael Ashton, who shot, wrote, cut, and did VFX for the short, brings humor, pop culture references, and the voice of this generation all together in a classic comic team-up setting. Here’s the synopsis.

Tyler is your average awkward teenager just trying to get by like the rest of us. Until one day, he moves in with three unusual roommates – Mitchell, Calvin, and Richard all have extraordinary, super human abilities. Although Tyler still has one thing they don’t have: ambition. Lazy Teenage Superheroes follows Ty as he tries to get his new “super” friends to put down the video games, get off the couch, and use their powers to help save the world, instead of themselves.

There are some low budget elements that you have to look past in order to get some some amazing visual effects and storytelling. With any luck, this will turn the heads of a few Hollywood bigwigs and allow them to realize that productions like these are what fans of the genre are looking for, not things like The Cape or a sequel to Ghost Rider.

You can check out the short after the jump, which is rapidly approaching the 500,000 views mark on YouTube in just over a week. You can also hit up Ashton’s official site for more details on the production.

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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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Netflix came one step closer to total entertainment domination today with its announcement of a new deal that will bring additional content from ABC, ABC Family and the Disney Channel to the company’s online streaming service. New shows will now be available on Watch Instantly 15 days after their initial air date.

Some of the new content coming to the service includes Grey’s Anatomy, Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters. The deal also brings complete seasons of past shows such as Lost, Ugly Betty and Scrubs.

“TV content streamed from Netflix has proven to be immensely popular with our members,” Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos said in the release. “Adding to our existing Disney-ABC lineup with great network and cable shows, and opening up ABC Family for the first time, are important steps in creating a wide and diverse selection of content Netflix members of all ages can watch.”

Netflix’s “Watch Instantly” service allows DVDs-by-mail subscribers to stream an unlimited amount of TV and movie content to computers, compatible set-top boxes and other devices like Apple’s iPad and iPhone 4. The company also recently made available a stand-alone version without the physical media component for $7.99 per month.

Today’s deal with ABC/Disney is the latest in a series of deals Netflix has put together in an effort to increase the quantity of new content available to its streaming customers. We say keep up the good work and keep the content coming.

We’ve seen real innovations in the way that films are being distributed as of late.  Many films are being rolled out for a pre-theatrical release via On Demand.  This helps build word of mouth and buzz before the actual opening date of the movie, and allows people to see the movie who might not otherwise have the opportunity until the movie is released on DVD.

Now comes word that online retail giant Amazon is poised to change the very way that movies are developed. The Los Angeles Times has reported that Amazon will start a new website, Amazon Studios, that will partner with Warner Brothers for a first look option at new movie scripts and sample movies.

Here’s how it will work: writers and filmmakers will be able to upload their scripts and sample movies directly to the site. The site community then will provide feedback and suggestions for the submission. The cream of the crop will brought to Warner Brothers, and if a film is optioned, Amazon Studios might end up producing the project.

Roy Price is the president of Amazon Studios, and he claims that the idea is to update the decades-old process of script submission and movie development, and bring it  into the digital age. There is a catch, though.  People who submit their ideas will be signing off on an 18 month exclusive right to their material by Amazon Studios. Still, for the creative type who hasn’t been able to get their foot in the door, this will be a viable option.

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Though it may not feel like very long, Conan O’Brien has been off the air for quite some time now. Over at NBC, it’s like we’ve already forgotten that red-haired man that took over The Tonight Show for a brief stint while Leno had his experimental phase. On the web, however, CoCo has been thriving. For 8 weeks, O’Brien and his team have been putting out web videos via TeamCoco.com in which he addresses the fans, takes questions, and keep entertaining. Now, in the dawn of his brand new show on TBS, Conan brings us his first talk show-like format since he was taken off of NBC.

In Show Zero, Conan invites a group of real-life Conan fans to sit in his conference room as the audience as he puts on the fastest talk show in the history of the world. Need legitimacy? His first, and only guest is The Big Bang Theory’s Jim Parsons.

A great idea from Team Coco as they get ready for next Monday’s premiere of Conan on TBS. In the meantime, check out SHOW ZERO after the jump.

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