The Flickcast

The Flickcast – Episode 98: Django!

Posted on May 11, 2011

This week, Chris and Matt draw closer to the 100th episode of The Flickcast as they shed a tear for the canceled shows announced in the last week like Human Target, The Chicago Code and Breaking In. Some shows, however, are still “on the bubble” such as Chuck and ABC’s V.

The two also go over why Will Smith joining Tarantino’s Django Unleashed would be such a bad idea, the pointlessness of HBO Go when you’re a Time Warner Cable customer, and what it means to be a real fan of comedy.

Their picks this week were, as usual, quite different. Chris went old school and reminded us how awesome and less ridiculous the first season of 24 was, while Matt explains the insanity and hilarity that ensued in HBO’s comedy special Talking Funny starring Ricky Gervais, Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, and Louis C.K.

And for those who still don’t know what the title is referencing, and why Matt is singing through most of the episode, behold the original theme to the film Django.

Take a listen to what we’re talking about in this week’s episode after the jump.

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Sony Says PlayStation Network Coming Back In ‘at least a few more days’

Posted on May 11, 2011

If you’ve been one of the people banging your head against the wall waiting for Sony to restore the PlayStation network so you can get on with your life (trust us, we know people who are doing exactly that), you’ve got more time to wait. On its PlayStation Network blog yesterday, Sony gave an official statement on when the PlayStation Network will be back online.

Sadly, the answer wasn’t “right now.” Instead, the answer is that the network won’t be restored for “at least a few more days.” I’m sure you recall that both the PSN and Sony’s Qriocity networks suffered a major security breach recently where hackers reportedly stole 12.3 million credit card numbers and compromised personal data from 101 million accounts. Awesome, right?

“I know you all want to know exactly when the services will be restored,” Sr. Director, Corporate Communications & Social Media Patrick Seybold wrote on Sony’s PSN blog. ”At this time, I can’t give you an exact date, as it will likely be at least a few more days. We’re terribly sorry for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience as we work through this process.”

Sure we will. I can hear cash registers all over the world ringing right now with sales of brand new XBox 360’s.

Sony better hurry, get the network back up and running and make this right with users or soon nobody will care and will have switched to XBox 360 and XBox Live.

That is, if they haven’t already.

SXSW Film Review: ‘Fambul Tok’

Posted on May 11, 2011

(Even though it’s been over for a while, there’s still some reviews to squeeze out of SXSW!)

The opening scene of Fambul Tok is as powerful as any documentary could hope for: A few dozen Sierra Leone villagers circle a campfire—the social center of their tiny community—one of them stands and accuses another, her own uncle, of slaughtering her family during the 1991 civil war. The gathering becomes a tribunal as the leader reiterates the charges and then asks the accused if they are accurate. And then, instead of handing down a sentence, the leader asks the man’s accuser if she forgives him. She does.

It’s everything an opening scene should be: engaging, tense, and a capsulation of the film.

Fambul Tok, which is Sierra Leonean for “family talk,” refers to this process, where, instead of charging one with a crime and judging him with a jury of his peers, justice is replaced with forgiveness in the hope of fostering peace. This method, its application and merits, are the focus of the film as explored by director Sara Terry and her guide John Caulker, himself a victim of the Sierra Leonean atrocities.

Google I/O Developer’s Conference: Day 1 Recap

Posted on May 11, 2011

Google’s annual developer’s conference kicked-off yesterday with some fairly big announcements from the Moscone West Convention Center in San Francisco, California. As 5,000 web, mobile, and enterprise developers packed in for the two-day event, Google provided the “State of Android” speech that everyone was expecting.

With over 100 million Android devices already activated and roughly 400,000 new ones registered each day, Google’s mobile OS is truly making some huge strides against their nearest competitor, Apple. In the app department, Google does not disappoint, with 200,000 apps available via Google’s Market as well as Amazon’s new Appstore for Android.

The biggest announcements from Day 1 of I/O seemingly patched up Google’s strategy for media sales and consumption on Android-powered devices, a substantial vulnerability for the Android platform when compared to Apple’s robust iTunes. ‘Music Beta by Google‘ was announced as an invite-only beta service, offering cloud-based storage for up to 20,000 user-uploaded tracks, quite a bump over Amazon’s similar Cloud Drive service, which offers 5GB of storage for streaming.

Google Music launched with nary a single record label on board, so users will not be able to purchase tracks directly. ‘Google Movies,’ available via the Android Market, sounds a bit more ready for prime-time.

Prepare For Friday’s ‘Smallville’ Series Finale By Downloading All 10 Season Premieres FREE On iTunes

Posted on May 11, 2011

This Friday marks a pretty big event for both Warner Bros. and DC Comics as their biggest and longest running TV series, Smallville, comes to an end after 10 solid years.

While we have no idea what to expect from the ending between the suit, flight, Darkseid, the Legion of Doom, Lex Luthor and Lois Lane’s cold feet, it should still be one hell of a finish. To help get you ready for Friday’s finale, Warner Bros. is getting you prepped by giving all 10 season premieres of the show…for FREE! That’s right, free.

Here’s the details:

To celebrate Warner Bros, Digital Distribution is giving fans the chance to get FREE Downloads of all 10 season premieres in HD and discounts on seasons 1-9, now for a limited time on iTunes.

So, if you’ve seen every episode of the series and want a refresher or you want to be in on the story of young Superman, pick up every season premiere in iTunes now. Hurry, though, because it’s only going to be around for a limited time.

Catch the 2-hour Smallville series finale this Friday at 8/7C on the CW.

New Trailer for ‘Reel Steel’ with Hugh Jackman Released

Posted on May 11, 2011

As we do often, we’ve got another trailer to share with you today. That’s one of the cool things about Hollywood, they’ve always got another movie to promote and there’s always a new trailer to watch and maybe even enjoy.

Case in point today is a brand new one for Reel Steel starring Hugh jackman and some battling robots. DreamWorks has released a new trailer for the movie and in this one we get to see more of Jackman in action, more fighting robots and, unfortunately, more of the “human story” as well. Sorry, the kid is a bit annoying.

I know the movie can’t be two hours of robots kicking the crap out of each other but at least they could have found a slightly more appealing kid to play, well, the kid. Hey, its probably not as bad as we think it is.

Judge for yourself and check out the trailer after the jump. Reel Steel punches its way into theaters on October 7th.

New ‘Conan the Barbarian’ Poster Arrives

Posted on May 11, 2011

We’re still on the fence about the upcoming Conan the Barbarian. Sure, it could be cool and star Jason Momoa might just become the “next big thing” and take Arnold’s place as our new favorite Cimmerian warrior.

Or, the film could just as easily go down as yet another in a string of bad ideas that die a quick death at the box office. That’s what makes this business so interesting. Pretty much anything can, and does, happen.

Regardless of what will happen in the future, right now we’ve got the new poster for the film to share with you today. It gives us a good look at the character in action and if the movie ends up looking, and being, this cool, we’re hooked.

Here’s some more info about the film direct from the studio:

A quest that begins as a personal vendetta for the fierce Cimmerian warrior soon turns into an epic battle against hulking rivals, horrific monsters, and impossible odds, as Conan realizes he is the only hope of saving the great nations of Hyboria from an encroaching reign of supernatural evil.

In addition to Momoa as Conan, the film features Rachel Nichols, Stephen Lang, Rose McGowan, Saïd Taghmaoui and Ron Perlman. It’s directed by Marcus Nispel and written by Thomas Dean Donnelly & Joshua Oppenheimer and Sean Hood.

Check out the full poster after the jump. Conan the Barbarian hits theaters on August 19th.

Fox Cancels ‘Human Target’, ‘Breaking In’ and ‘Chicago Code’

Posted on May 11, 2011

Apparently, the Christian Slater TV curse is starting to affect shows he’s not even on. Although, I guess we can’t really blame him for these latest Fox cancellations.

After all, the writing was pretty much on the wall for Human Target already, what with the eleventh-hour renewal last year. That’s right folks, late yesterday Fox announced the cancellation of Human Target, Breaking In and The Chicago Code.

Even though Human Target had been given a second season, the show had continually struggled in the ratings and I was actually surprised it came back for season two at all. It’s sad, though, as the show was really finding just the right blend of action, drama and humor with a cast that was clicking very well.

Same with Chicago Code. It was an interesting show that really seemed to be finding its way.

Oh well. I though the same thing about Firefly, Dollhouse and a lot of other shows and look where that got me.

As for Slater’s show, even though it started strong with a good lead in from American Idol, it was just a matter of time. Apparently, audiences don’t want to see Slater on TV. Perhaps he should go back to making movies?

With Human Target gone, Smallville ending this week and Chuck currently on the bubble for next year, there’s only a few genre shows left on network TV. What to watch?

At least we still have Fringe — for now.

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