The Flickcast – Page 267 of 1030 – Stuff Nerds Love

Box Office Report: ‘The Hunger Games’ Bowls a Turkey and Takes the Top Spot for the Third Strait Week

Posted on April 9, 2012

Yep, The Hunger Games wins again. The mega-hit has fended off the advances of two strong opponents to retain it’s Box Office crown for at least one more week. Bringing in over $33 Million dollars over the Easter weekend The Hunger Games now stands at over $300 Million in just three weeks.

The rest of the top three this week were dominated by 90’s nostalgia fare. Both came out with respectable numbers, especially considering the context of their release. Even still, neither could muster enough bank to truly challenge for the top spot.

Coming in at second was the fourth theatrical American Pie film, American Reunion. While it is true that its $ 21.5 Million dollar take is not very impressive compared to the previous films, the release of any R-Rated, raunchy comedy on Easter weekend is going to suffer. Considering that, and the bad will the franchise suffered from a long stretch of poor direct-to-DVD spin off films, you have to look at American Reunion as a win.

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Film Score Friday Retro Edition: ‘The Fifth Element’ by Eric Serra

Posted on April 6, 2012

When I started writing the weekly film score review, one of the things I wanted to do was shine a light on some of my favorite scores from the past. Now that I have just passed my one-year anniversary on The Flickcast I feel now is a great time to go retro and talk about one of my favorite scores of all time, The Fifth Element.

The film is one of my five favorite of all time, and it is one of those pesky films that I can’t watch more than five minutes of it without needing to stay put and finish the rest. A huge part of that attraction comes from the score. Eric Serra crafted a unique, original and forward thinking score that lays beautifully over the top of Luc Besson’s imaginative world.

Eric Serra is a french composer who often works with Luc Besson, crafting modern and non-traditional scores that can be very polarizing. The most famous example of this was his highest profile job in America scoring the excellent Goldeneye. The film was all about making Bond relevant to a 90s audience, and for the score, that meant getting a guy who would break away from the John Barry mold. This caused quite the stir among Bond fans, and ultimately lead to an innovative score that probably just didn’t work for the movie it was made for.

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‘Avengers VS. X-Men: War Journals’ Might Just Change How We Digest Big Comic Events

Posted on April 6, 2012

The concept of ancillary books to large comic events is becoming common place. No longer does an event take place in the confines of it’s own limited series or the pages of the characters involved, now it is everywhere. Marvel’s newest event, Avengers VS. X-Men, is no exception to that new rule, although Marvel might just be changing the game a little bit.

Marvel has teamed up with MTV to bring you Avengers VS. X-Men: War Journals, a web series that gives you a behind the scenes look at the event from the perspective of the people actually creating it:

Join Axel Alonso (Marvel Editor in Chief), Tom Brevoort (Marvel SVP/Executive Editor) and Nick Lowe (Senior Editor) as they discuss putting their own personal allegiances aside to craft the biggest story in Marvel history and meet fans at Midtown Comics in NYC for the largest Avengers VS. X-Men launch party in the world! As fans argue about who will win—Avengers or X-Men—some of the hottest celebrities—DJ Pauly D, Big Time Rush and the Wanted—let you know just which team they’ve chosen! Plus, discover more bonus clips featuring the biggest names in comics exclusively at MTV Geek.

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AT&T Reportedly to Begin Unlocking iPhones This Sunday

Posted on April 6, 2012

Call it an Easter miracle, or whatever else you want, but it would appear, at least according to the folks at Engadget and BGR, that AT&T will indeed unlock user’s iPhones beginning this Sunday. Now before you go and get too excited, there’s a couple things to be aware of.

First, this has not been 100% confirmed by AT&T. Even though one spokesman did email a confirmation to BGR. So, take it with a big grain of salt until you see it actually happening. Second, if it turns out to be true, it won’t apply to every iPhone customer using AT&T.

Here’s the rules: A customer’s “account must be in good standing, their device cannot be associated with a current and active term commitment on an AT&T customer account, and they need to have fulfilled their contract term, upgraded under one of our upgrade policies or paid an early termination fee.”

So, there you go. If you meet the above criteria and have always wanted to jump ship from AT&T to another GSM carrier that can support the Micro SIM and has the same frequencies as AT&T (T-Moblie, for example), now’s your chance. Maybe.

I’ll believe it when I see it. Of course, there’s also other alternatives.

The First Trailer for Simon Pegg’s Insane New Film ‘A Fantastic Fear of Everything’

Posted on April 6, 2012

It is the job of a trailer to sell you on a movie. Based on that most simple of definitions the first trailer for Simon Pegg’s next film, A Fantastic Fear of Everything, might be the greatest trailer of all time. This is a project that few of you would have heard about, but now many of you will be eager to see.

For those of you unfamiliar with this film (AKA almost all of you) here is the synopsis to set the table for you:

Jack is a children’s author turned crime novelist whose detailed research into the lives of Victorian serial killers has turned him into a paranoid wreck, persecuted by the irrational fear of being murdered. When Jack is thrown a life-line by his long-suffering agent and a mysterious Hollywood executive takes a sudden and inexplicable interest in his script, what should be his big break rapidly turns into his big breakdown, as Jack is forced to confront his worst demons; among them his love life, his laundry and the origin of all fear.

Those words don’t do the trailer much justice. The film seems to strike an amazing tone, somewhere between whimsy and fear lies this potential gem.

Check out the full trailer after the jump.

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Apple Updates Java in OS X to Address Virus ‘Outbreak’

Posted on April 6, 2012

In what seems like a response to two websites claiming a virus “outbreak” on Mac computers which exploits a Java vulnerability, Apple today issued a new software update for Macs running Mac OS X 10.7 Lion. The update, which is called Java for OS X 2012-002, supposedly addresses this vulnerability, although Apple doesn’t say that in the info released with the update.

In fact, in true Apple fashion, the update only says it delivers “improved compatibility, security and reliability” and little else. Although, as this update comes cloesly after Russian anti-virus experts Dr. Web revealed earlier this week news of the “Flashback” trojan virus and its supposed infection of over 600,000 Macs worldwide, Apple’s timing of the update is a bit convenient if it isn’t targeted directly at this exploit.

According to the Dr. Web report, the trojan can intercept sensitive information such as passwords and transmit them to somewhere else. It also claims 57 percent of the infected Macs are located in the US and 20 percent are in Canada. There’s even some on Apple’s Cupertino campus which, if true, is pretty amusing.

Regardless of wether you think viruses exist for the Mac or not or think this is all a big hoax, there’s no reason not to update your Macs. It’s a simple process through Software Update. Why take a chance?

Due to ‘Hunger Games 2’, Fox Bumps Shooting ‘X-Men: First Class’ Sequel

Posted on April 6, 2012

Now that Hunger Games shattered tons of records, making it the biggest film in the past few years, other studios are doing what they can to compensate for the massive train which will be the production of the rest of the Hunger Games trilogy.

The first in that line is Fox, as they’re moving the start time for production on Matthew Vaughn’s X-Men: First Class’s sequel. From THR:

Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that Fox is informing talent agencies Thursday that the studio plans to begin shooting its in-development sequel to X-Men: First Class in January. That means Lionsgate could move forward with an August-September start date for the Hunger Games sequel Catching Fire without a conflict for Lawrence, who is set to star in both. 

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Panels You Should Check Out at PAX East 2012

Posted on April 6, 2012


There’s a lot at PAX East, which takes place this upcoming weekend, to be excited for- the show floor will be jam packed with tons of exciting games, the concerts at night will be rockin’, and there’s endless free play areas for console, PC, tabletop, and card games.

But one other thing you should definitely make some time for is the panels- they’re a chance to catch up with some of your favorite people in the industry, learn more about making videogames a career, or ask your favorite developer or community manager a question. Here’s some of the panels I’m most excited for this weekend.

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