The Flickcast

April Fools – Monday Freeview: ‘Halo 2: HD Remix’ for XBox 360

Posted on April 1, 2013

As always, the Monday Freeview is here to help point you towards the tip top best in free entertainment. And today, a special one day promotion is in the works from the team at 434 Industries. The best kept secret in gaming, the Halo 2: HD Remix is up for grabs today. Though you won’t be able to play the game today, the 434 Industries website will be a giant treasure hunt for gamers and hackers alike as the game’s developers have taken the series creator Bungie’s approach to ARG marketing to their newly announced title. Hidden throughout the site will be series of 25 digit codes, that once found can be redeemed on XBox Live, granting the free downloadable versions of the game, including multiplayer, to one hundred individuals.

Studio head Frank O’Connar, who announced the game and the ARG early this morning, told the invited press, “We are happy to be able to help complete the cycle of Halo on the XBox 360. There are some people who have never had the chance to play the original Halo 2 because it was only available on the XBox. Now, they can get the full glory of the game’s story including its…. controversial abrupt ending as well as full Achievement support this fall. On top of the single player HD remix, there will be full makeover on the multiplayer too including new weapons from the other games in the classic Halo 2 maps.”

Box Office Report: ‘GI: Joe’ Comes Out Swinging Over Easter Weekend

Posted on April 1, 2013

The current trend in sequel box office returns is tied to perception. Gone are the days of diminishing returns as a rule, these are the golden times for franchises. How the general public feels about the franchise is now king, and the thing about feelings are, they can be changed.

Case in point, GI: Joe: Retaliation.

The franchise had a below average first film that left a sour taste in the mouths of cinema-goers. It did have a strong opening weekend and final total gross so a sequel was inevitable, but something had to be done to ensure the public perception didn’t bury the new film before it had a shot.

Warming the hearts of movie executives everywhere, GI: Joe Retaliation proved that franchise perception can be fixed and sequels to poorly received films have a shot to come out as strong as its predecessor without waiting on word of mouth or reviews to set in.

WC2013: WonderCon Photo Gallery

Posted on April 1, 2013

Hey all! As I am sure some of the regular readers of The Flickcast have noticed, my favorite part of the Con season is taking pics at them. Unfortunately, due to some professional responsibilities, I was only able to get down to one day of WonderCon this year.

But because my time was limited, I didn’t waste it on panels and the like. Instead I hit the floor with camera in hand and got as many pics of the Wondercon sights as I could.

While WonderCon doesn’t have the size of San Diego or New York Comic Con, the fans there weren’t any less fervent with their cosplay love. This year I saw a lot of new and original costumes I had not seen before. While a pimped out Boba Fett was present, I also saw for the first time Paper Mario as well as a group of female X-Man villains. Alongside the working R2 units, there was a life sized Wall-E that sadly the picture doesn’t do justice as it captured all of the personality of the movie and brought it to life in front of us all.

TV RECAP: ‘Grimm’ Episode 216 – ‘Nameless’

Posted on April 1, 2013

Our Wesen of the Week: The Fuchsteufelwild.

Someone is killing off the team of four programmers that wrote the breakthrough code for an online RPG. The twist? He is in the game, and he kills them in the game first.

Would you like another twist? He’s also a Wesen. A Fuchsteufelwild to be exact. A troll/goblin like creature with two giant acidic fingernails that it uses to cut its’ victims in half.

Based on the amazing luck that Sgt Wu is a gamer and puzzle fan, the police are able to determine that their suspect is an IT contractor that the head of the project (Jenna) called for help late one night. She promised him a dinner date, but stood him up.

WC2013: David Tennant and Billie Piper Confirmed for ‘Doctor Who’ 50th Anniversary

Posted on March 31, 2013

It’s the news Whovians everywhere have been waiting for. The Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) and Rose (Billie Piper) will be return to Doctor Who for the 50^th Anniversary. John Hurt is also slated to appear alongside current the Doctor (Matt Smith) and his companion Clara (Jenna-Louise Coleman).

This news comes as a surprise, though a very welcome one, to Doctor Who fans. As we reported only a few days ago, Steven Moffat himself was not confirming any details and just a week ago John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness) confirmed he wouldn’t be involved in the anniversary. Tennant was last seen as the much beloved Tenth Doctor in 2010’s The End of Time, which was also the last time we saw Piper’s Rose.

WC2013: Robert Sean Leonard and Gloria Reuben Join ‘Falling Skies’ Season Three

Posted on March 31, 2013

There’s new life and new guest stars ahead for season three of TNT’s Falling Skies. Robert Sean Leonard and Gloria Reuben are both set to appear in the hit aliens vs. human drama, which returns for 13 episodes this summer.

The latest season kicks off seven months after the end of season two with Anne (Moon Bloodgood) giving birth to her and Tom’s (Noah Wyle) first child. The birth of the baby may single a calmer time for the 2^nd Mass. As Seychelle Gabriel, who plays Lourdes, said, “The darkest moments are behind us.” That doesn’t mean fans won’t be seeing any more fights between our heroes at 2^nd Mass and the mechs and Skitters.

WC2013: ‘Superman: Unbound’ Review

Posted on March 30, 2013

As the premiere of the highly anticipated Man of Steel feature film with Henry Cavill draws closer every month (it’s set for June 2013), fans of Clark Kent and his alter ego can get geared up with Superman: Unbound. Coming out on DVD, for download and On Demand May 7, the DC animated feature pits Superman (Matt Bomer) against the formidable Brainiac (John Noble).

Based on the Geoff Johns and Gary Frank’s Superman: Brainiac (2008), Unbound is an adventure that will please adults and kids, though it’s PG -13 rating is well earned thanks to the abundance of blood and guts, both human and alien. Bomer brings a steely quality to the Last Son of Krypton.

“I knew this was a character that people had a lot of preconceived notions about,” he said, and even legendary voice director Andrea Romano (Batman: The Dark Knight Returns) admitted that Superman is always the hardest voice to cast. “He’s who we hope we could be,” Bomer said. “Our best self, the best version of us.”

Movie Review: ‘The Host’ – Nat’s Take

Posted on March 29, 2013

When I told my girlfriend I was off to review to the new Stephenie Meyers movie and that, having seen one of the Twilight movies, I had low expectations, she responded, “It could be worse. She could have teamed up with Nicholas Sparks.” “Good point!” I said, and then, a half hour into the film, the two main characters kiss in the rain. Damn.

The Host opens with a voiceover by Donald Sutherland (or at least a very Donald-Sutherland-sounding narrator) stating that war, famine, poverty, and the like have been eradicated from earth. It has been taken over by an alien race of what I’d refer to as “Solar Centipedes” if the film hadn’t bashed the symbol of glowworms into my noodle.

The glowworms apparently are implanted into humans through a delicate process that makes you wonder how they were able to do it seven billion times (and how was the first one implanted?) and the quickest way to tell them apart from the regular humans is that the glowies have blue rings around their eyes — chances are you’ve seen something like them before in a better film. I’m certain.

Their latest victim is Melanie Stryder (Saoirsa Ronan), a plucky teen who tried to avoid capture by leaping through a window. Fortunately, the glowworms have some magic healing spray to bring her back to life and implant one of their kind, known as “Wanderer” into her neck. But Melanie resists, and in one of the worst decisions of the film, is in constant voiceover arguments with Wanderer.

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