The Flickcast

Netflix’s Delay, Mortal Kombat, and a Potential New Zod For ‘Superman: Man of Steel’ Are all ‘On The Radar’

Posted on March 25, 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.

Let’s get started!

• The first reboot of the Spider-Man franchise hasn’t even gotten a trailer yet, but James Vanderbelt is already locked in to write a sequel for Sony.

• We love the original series The Wire, but one question we never asked was “What if it was Written as a Classic Novel?”

• Turns out millennials aren’t the only reason for the degradation of the English language, as both LOL and OMG seem to have a pretty deep history.

• If last night’s episode of Community wasn’t enough Pulp Fiction for you, how about these original Pulp Fiction action figures?

• In more casting news for Superman: Man of Steel, star of Boardwalk Empire Michael Shannon is in talks to play the film’s villain.

• Just after Netflix’s deal with Showtime’s original series went sour, Starz has issued a 90-day delay for new original programming to hit the instant servers.

Wireless Carrier’s 4G Data Speeds Tested, Verizon Declared the Fastest

Posted on March 25, 2011

One of the more annoying marketing gimmicks among wireless carriers, but also true among WiFi hardware makers as well, is that as soon as a new standard is announced, the urge to jump in and declare “we have that,” often trumps actually waiting for standards to be finalized, and far too often before the company can even deliver the real goods.

Case in point is the 4G service being touted by the nation’s wireless carriers. In case they weren’t aware, the term ‘4G’ actually means something. In 2008, the ITU-R organization specified the IMT-Advanced (International Mobile Telecommunications Advanced) requirements for 4G standards, setting peak speed requirements for 4G service at 100 Mbps for high mobility communication (such as from trains and cars) and 1 Gbps for low mobility communication (such as pedestrians and stationary users).

With that said, which of the carriers are truly delivering data speeds truly approaching the 4G standard? Seattle-based Analyst Root Metrics set out to determine exactly that. In a test comparing AT&T’s HSPA+, Sprint’s WiMAX, T-Mobile’s HSPA+21 and Verizon’s LTE networks in the Seattle area, the company used 4G-capable smartphones to get a clearer picture of what the consumer experience looks like on the ground. Down here in reality.

What they found will interest you.

Leonidas Heads to the Lanes In Fan Film ’300 Pins’

Posted on March 25, 2011

Here at The Flickcast we get sent all kinds of videos made by fans. Many of them are, sad to say, not very inspired. Some, however, like the ones from Freddie Wong, are indeed awesome.

This most recent one has been around for a bit but we just got a chance to take a look. In it, creator msignore takes the familiar tale of 300 and moves it to the only other place we can see that story ever taking place: a bowling alley. Yes, you read that right, a bowling alley.

It’s a pretty interesting tale full of danger, suspense and, of course, shirtless bowling in slo-mo. We look forward to seeing what else this guy comes up with.

Check it out after the jump.

TV RECAP: ‘Parks and Recreation: Camping’

Posted on March 25, 2011

The Harvest Festival has come and gone (about 16 episodes earlier than I thought), and Leslie’s getting the kudos she deserves…until the city manager Paul suffers a heart attack during her recognition ceremony and collapses with a death grip on her right mammary. Nice. (And the headline “Knope Grope Is Last Hope” is the icing on the booby.)

Before he does, though, he tenders some eagerness toward what Leslie’s next big idea will be, which leads Leslie to call a mandatory work/brainstorming retreat for the parks department, a fancy name for camping in one of Pawnee’s starry-night-sky-infested parks. Naturally, the rest of the office is reluctant (I do love how Leslie seems to be the only person in her department who actually enjoys the parks): Ron would prefer to skip the get-together and go camping by himself (presumably at some private campground).

Tom would prefer to bask in the pervading effulgence of SkyMall; and Jerry just brings bad luck by scaring all the fish (and misidentifies “rappers” as “rappists”). The only one who shares Leslie’s gung-ho-i-ness is Andy, who sees it as an opportunity to build a love-tent for himself and April (not too bad of an idea, had he not chosen the wrong campsite to pitch it).

Indie Comic ‘Chew’ Being Adapted For Showtime

Posted on March 25, 2011

Ever since The Walking Dead went off famously on AMC, it seems like other networks are ready to jump on the “indie comic” bandwagon. Showtime has recently picked up a script based on the comic book series Chew about a detective who gets a psychic impression of things he eats. From Deadline.

Showtime has bought a script for Chew, a quirky half-hour cop show based on John Layman and Rob Guillory’s bestselling comic book of the same name. Stephen Hopkins is attached to direct and executive produce the project, which hails from Circle of Confusion, the company behind AMC’s hit series adaptation of Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead.

Chew tells the darkly comic story of federal agent Tony Chu, a “cibopath” able to get psychic impression from the things he eats who is assigned to the most usual and bizarre crimes.

Not only is Circle of Confusion the studio behind the brilliance of bringing The Walking Dead to screen, but they’re also the company that is working on bringing Brian Michal Bendis’ Powers to FX. Expect the next few years to be quite huge for the lesser-known comic book world. Which is not a bad thing at all.

With news of Chew hitting, who would you like to see as the titular character Tony Chu? John Cho? Stephen Chow? Are these all too easy?

You tell us.

SXSW Film Review: ‘Insidious’

Posted on March 25, 2011

Insidious was one film that was high on my list of priority to view at SXSW. Essentially a haunted house genre movie, the film is from writer Leigh Whannell and director James Wan, who previously worked together on Saw. No worries, this film is more carnival fun-house ride than house of horrors. I mean that in a good way.

Wan keeps the gore to a minimum, and the film is more campy than truly frightening. It’s still a darn fun ride, in the vein of Drag Me to Hell. The jump scares are plentiful, and had the audience squealing and screaming, but you won’t lie in bed at night pulling the covers up under your chin. It’s quickly forgotten as a fun diversion.

Young couple Josh (Patrick Wilson) and Renai (Rose Byrne) have just moved into a big, creepy house with their three children. Josh is pretty oblivious to just how stressed out Renai is, what with caring for three small children and settling into this huge house. You could even say she is (understandably) emotionally unstable.

‘WWE All Stars’ Reveals Path of Champions and Free DLC Honky Tonk Man

Posted on March 25, 2011

One of the most interesting aspects of THQ’s WWE game’s is their presentation and their storylines. Some have ultimate wrestling nerd nostalgia like when Edge and Christian reunited in SmackDown vs. Raw 2011 before they did on real WWE programming.

Others are completely out of the realm of reality (We all remember the video of Kurt Angle being magically transformed into a woman by Candice Michelle from a few years ago). With the completely over the top style of WWE All Stars, there is certainly some intrigue in to the presentation of its story modes.

Each of the three modes will consist of a 10 match tournament for the player, much in the style of fighting games like Mortal Kombat or Marvel vs. Capcom 3 where players will eventually reach their championship match against either the Undertaker (Legends path), Randy Orton (WWE Superstars path) or D-Generation X (Tag Team path). Here is what we know so far about these three different paths in WWE All Stars:

Path of Champions, WWE Legends – Undertaker

The World Heavyweight Championship is on the line at SummerSlam. Can you defeat 10 of WWE’s battle-hardened WWE Legends and defeat Undertaker? Paul Bearer welcomes you to his funeral parlor, as Undertaker emerges from a standing casket. He has a message for the player – “Rest in Peace!” There are plenty of surprises and more cutscenes along the way as you move your way up to face “The Phenom!”

Fox Renews ‘Fringe’ for Another Season

Posted on March 25, 2011

Apparently, old dogs (or in this case, old networks) can learn new tricks. The old dog in question today is the Fox network which, it seems, has learned that it’s okay to a give struggling series that you scheduled in the Friday night ‘Death Slot” a chance to reach an audience and continue its story. That series, we are happy to say, is Fringe — which has been renewed for another season by the network.

But wait, there’s more. Not only has the struggling series been given another season, its also received a full-season order of 22 episodes. Awesome, right? Despite low ratings, which got lower after the show was moved from Thursday to Friday, Fox management was still interested in the show’s creative direction.

In addition, Fringe has also been a big hit for the DVR crowd. So, when that is taken into consideration, the series ranks as the top-rated series on Fridays. Whatever the reason, or combination of reasons, we’re glad Fox decided to give Fringe another year to build an audience. It’s a great show that deserves to be seen. If you haven’t checked it out yet, you should.

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