The Flickcast

Trailer for ‘Hostel: Part III’ Brings Torture Porn to Las Vegas

Posted on October 18, 2011

It may have taken a back seat since the Saw franchise ended, but the “torture porn” genre, which is an offshoot of the gore exploitation genre, sure hasn’t faded in popularity. That is evident in the fact that Elo Roth’s Hostel franchise is continuing on without him in Hostel 3.

It may be going straight to DVD, but that only means you’ll be getting much more gore and raunchy content that made Roth’s original films so controversial in theaters. Here’s the synopsis for the newest film.

High stakes gambling takes on a sinister new meaning in this third chapter of the terrifying HOSTEL series. While attending a bachelor party in Las Vegas, four friends are enticed by two sexy escorts to join them at a private party way off the Strip. Once there, they are horrified to find themselves the subjects of a perverse game of torture, where members of the Elite Hunting Club are hosting the most sadistic show in town.

The film, directed by Scott Spiegel (From Dusk til Dawn 2) and written by Michael D. Weiss (The Butterfly Effect 2), is set to hit Blu-Ray and DVD on December 27th. Check out the new trailer after the jump.

Monday Picks: ‘John Carpenter’s: The Thing’

Posted on October 17, 2011

Welcome to Monday Picks, a new weekly feature that examines a new movie every week from a wide array of different genres. In the spirit of the Halloween season, and being that the prequel opened this weekend, to kick us off is this week’s pick: John Carpenter’s 1982 classic The Thing.

The Thing is one of my favorite sci fi horror films for several reasons. 1) It is one of John Carpenter’s best films besides Escape From New York, Assault on Precinct 13, Starman, and Big Trouble in Little China. 2) Kurt Russell’s acting is phenomenal and his character MacReady is the textbook hero of the film, who overcomes and triumphs. 3) It is a very well done film in which the suspense, and the acting play a crucial role in executing the plot. From beginning to end, the film is truly a flawless picture.

The film was based off of John W. Campbell Jr’s short story “Who Goes There?” The film is not a remake of the classic 1951 Howard Hawks film, but is a very faithful new version of the short story for a new generation of sci fi horror fanatics.

Web Debate Show ‘GeekDown’ Weighs In on the Movie Reboot Fad

Posted on October 17, 2011

Film remakes are something that we’ve all grown accustomed to over the years but with two major releases last week both being remakes, Footloose and The Thing, have we reached the breaking point? Is no film safe from a remake? Is it only time before we see Howard the Duck remade with a CGI duck a la The Smurfs? The new pop-culture debate show GeekDown discuss the pitfalls and necessary evils of remaking classic, or not so classic, films.

Jonathan London of Geekscape.net sits in the guest chair this week to give his insight on why piracy is causing the massive influx of remakes in recent years.

The trailer for Joss Whedon’s Avengers hit the internet this week and fanboys around the world had to change their pants. We manage to calm ourselves for a few minutes and dissect the trailer to make sense of why Thor is about to bring the hammer down on Captain America, why there’s so much Tony Stark, and why Loki hates cars so much.

If that wasn’t enough for one show, Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer is also up for discussion. After a drawn out “will they, won’t they” situation worthy of any sitcom, BioWare finally announced that they will have multiplayer in next year’s hotly anticipated Mass Effect 3.

Is it the final step towards making the game of the year or is it just an afterthought to sell more $10 online passes? Find out what we think on this episode of GeekDown after the jump.

Apple Sells Over 4 Million iPhone 4S Units First Weekend

Posted on October 17, 2011

For those of your doubting the demand for the new iPhone 4S and decrying it’s inevitable failure, we say it’s now time for you to stop hating Apple and realize that they know precisely what they’re doing. How can we be sure?

Apple has just announced that the company sold over 4 Million iPhone 4S handsets during the first weekend they were on sale. You can count some of us here at The Flickcast in that number too — especially Mr. Ullrich, who seems to get all the cool toys.

That’s more than double the amount when the iPhone 4 was lunched last year. Additionally, Apple says that over 25 million customers are already using iOS 5, and over 20 million have signed up for iCloud.

Apple is planning on launching the iPhone 4S in more than 90 countries by the end of the year, and has launched the device in 7 countries so far. So, you can imagine what its eventual sales figures will be.

Can you say astronomical? We can. And so can Apple.

Click through for the full press release from Apple. Have you picked up your iPhone 4S yet? If so, what’s you favorite feature so far?

Matt Reeves to Direct Warner’s ‘Twilight Zone’ Movie, Won’t Be Anthology

Posted on October 17, 2011

The original Twilight Zone is one of those classic shows that will always be considered as creepy and intellectual as it was back when it first aired. Several reincarnations of the series ended up falling flat to the episodes that Rod Sterling himself presented back in the early 1960s.

For many, the franchise was rejuvinated in 1983 when a series of directors collaborated together to put together a massive anthology film. Warner Bros. is hoping to jump start the franchise’s popularity once again with a new film, helmed by Cloverfield director Matt Reeves.

Here’s the catch: It won’t be an anthology. Deadline has the exclusive:

Let Me In and Cloverfield director Matt Reeves has been chosen by Warner Bros to direct The Twilight Zone, the Jason Rothenberg-scripted thriller based on the classic Rod Serling TV series. Negotiations will get underway early next week, but this is an assignment that was coveted by a number of top directors.

Box Office: Things & Dancing Can’t Beat Boxing Robots

Posted on October 17, 2011

For those who thought this weekend would be a relapse into the mid 1980s with the Footloose remake and reboot/prequel of The Thing, they should have taken into account how awesome gigantic, fighting robots are.

That’s right, after receiving mixed reviews for the first week of the film’s release, Real Steel managed to steal the #1 spot once again, bringing in $16.3 million for the weekend, and a total worldwide gross of $73.8 million so far. Not totally unexpected for a movie starring Wolverine, Evangeline Lilly, AND robots.

Taking the #2 and #3 spots this weekend were the send-offs to the 1980s. Paramount’s Footloose pulled in $16.1, just inches behind the #1 spot, where as the prequel/reboot venture of The Thing from Universal managed to underwhelm audiences and only make $8.7 million.

Finally, the indie comedy The Big Year, starring Jack Black, Owen Wilson, and Steve Martin just squeaked into the top 10 with $$3.3 million. Hard to believe the film made that much considering the complete lack of a marketing strategy Fox made for it.

Alex Albrecht’s ‘Voltron’, ‘Thor 2’ Gets a Director, & Fred Durst Going to CBS are all On the Radar

Posted on October 14, 2011

Welcome to another edition of On the Radar where we delve into all corners of the entertainment, tech and geek Internets for news, views and whatnot that may have escaped our regular coverage during the week. Let is know if we missed something interesting.

• It looks like Thor 2 has found its director, and it won’t be Brannagh again. Looks like Monster director Patty Jenkins is taking on the task this time.

• Chris Pine and Tom Hardy fight over Reese Witherspoon for some reason in the first trailer for This Means War.

• Talk about random, here’s an amazing Voltron fan film made by Digg’s Alex Albrecht, starring Psych star Tim Omundson.

• Just to get you ready for the 3D re-release of Star Wars Episode 1, here’s a Maul-happy poster to remind you of the times without Jar Jar Binks.

• Don’t check your calendars, it’s not 1999, yet CBS has announced that they are taking on Fred Durst to star in his own sitcom. Why? We have no idea.

• Walking Dead picks back up this Sunday with season 2, so why not see what you missed last season in every zombie kill in 5 minutes.

• You’ll be too busy getting ready for next week’s release of Batman: Arkham City to realize how awesome Gotham City Impostors will be next year. Here’s a trailer showing you the fun you’ll be missing.

• Unboxing videos are all the rage these days, but what happens when an unboxing goes horribly wrong? Technivator finds out for us.

Film Score Friday: ‘Batman Arkham City’ by Various Artists

Posted on October 14, 2011

Video game composing is fast becoming a significant player in the entertainment scoring world. As games become increasingly cinematic we are seeing more opportunities for the composers of these projects to get more recognition and exposure. The best example of this is Oscar winning composer Micheal Giacchino who first turned heads with music from the Medal of Honor series.

Aside from the changing perception of video game soundtracks, I also wanted to give this score a listen because Batman has long had an amazing history with film and TV music. Dating all the way back to the Adam West series, the music associated with the Bat has been an eclectic mix of styles and sounds that seem to all work perfectly with the capped crusader. So does the new video game live up to those lofty standards? Do we have another worthy addition to the Bat-Music pantheon?

The first thing you will notice about the soundtrack is that it is front loaded with songs, these are the “big draw”, but not what I am interested in. We will come back to these later. The score portion of the soundtrack begins about halfway down the track list. The music is written by Nick Arundel who has some video game experience, but not many listed credits I can find. Hopfully the high profile nature of this game and the quality of his music will change that.

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