The Flickcast

The Original RoboCop, Peter Weller, Sends a Message of Hope To Detroit

Posted on March 1, 2011

For those who may not be in the know, the great city of Detroit is currently lobbying to have a statue of one of their greatest film heroes erected in the middle of town as a symbol to rebuild the once great city. So who better to stand behind their plan than the man who played the half-cop, half-machine himself, Peter Weller.

Thanks to Funny or Die, Weller has sent out a message to those who are fighting for this statue to become a real thing, and had some words of wisdom on exactly what how he feels about being immortalized as a statue.

A bit disheartening to see Weller return to his Alex Murphy role after he’s made a name for himself as a great TV baddie in such films like 24, Dexter, and Psych, but he’s back, and he’s wearing a cardboard box on his head.

For those who want to help out the cause, be sure to like the official Facebook page at the Detroit Deserves RoboCop fan page. Check out Weller’s message after the jump.

New ‘X-Men: First Class’ Posters Remind Us of When the Franchise Was Good

Posted on March 1, 2011

Not to say that Matthew Vaughn’s upcoming prequel, X-Men: First Class won’t be a fine piece of cinema, but we’ve been burned before. As we all remember, the gigantic mess that was X-Men: The Last Stand was enough to leave a bad taste in the mouths of many fanboys across the globe.

Fox and Vaughn are hoping to erase that film from our minds, however, as they’re forcing us to remember when the film franchise was good and pure with moments of the original 2001 film.

In these new posters, we get a glimpse of the young Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Magneto (Michael Fassbender) with a perfectly placed reflection showing the men we remember from the film, namely Ian McKellan and Patrick Stewart. A bit on the nose, but it works.

Check out the posters in full size after the jump and catch X-Men: First Class in theaters on June 3rd.

Activision Brings Toys and Video Games Together with ‘Skylanders Spryo’s Adventure’

Posted on March 1, 2011

At Toy Fair, we were lucky enough to get the chance to see one of the newest undertakings by Activision called Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure. Under developer Toys For Bob, Activision is combining the much loved Spyro video game series with a brand new toy line.

But this isn’t just a tie in with action figures modeled off characters from the game. Instead, players will take these figures and place them on an attachment for their Nintendo Wii to load any of the 32 characters in to the game. Young players will be given the opportunity to do something they never have before, watch their toys come to life in front of them on a video game screen.

Seeing these toys in person, they look as if they were all beautifully hand sculpted. Spyro even has a little bit of a badass feel to him instead of the super fluffy dragon he started out as. What you don’t immediately see is the technology hidden underneath that gives these toys the read/write ability to load information in to the Wii using the Portal of Power and then take the experience and treasure that player has found with them to their next destination.

War Movie Mondays: ‘The Four Feathers’ (1939)

Posted on February 28, 2011

This week’s pick is yet another African adventure. Zoltan Korda (Sahara) directs the 1939 version of The Four Feathers based on the novel by A.E.W. Mason, which is one of the greatest redemption stories set during the Sudanese campaign to reclaim the region ten years after the death of General Gordon and the siege of Khartoum.

Both Zoltan and his brother Alexander (the Ridley and Tony Scott of their day) direct with amazing precision and deliver a fantastic period piece. The cast are John Clements (Harry Faversham), Ralph Richardson (Capt. John Durrance), June Duprez (Ethne Burroughs), Donald Gray (Lt. Peter Burroughs), Jack Allen (Lt. Willoughby), Frederick Culley (Dr. Sutton), and C. Aubrey Smith (General Burroughs).

The story begins in 1895 where after ten years, a British expeditionary force is sent to reclaim the Sudan and to avenge the death of General Charles Gordon who was killed by a Muslim army which is now led by the Kalifa (John Laurie). Lt. Harry Faversham (Clements) comes from a long line of military men in his family and joined the Surrey Regiment which has been chosen to lead the expedition along with General Sir Herbert Kitchener’s Anglo-Egyptian army.

New Costumes Coming to ‘Marvel vs. Capcom 3′

Posted on February 28, 2011

Way back in November, Capcom already announced the first batch of DLC coming for Marvel vs. Capcom 3. Jill Valentine and Shuma Gorath would be on their way to the roster. Last week, coinciding with the game’s actual release, Capcom announced another set of DLC. This time, much in the vein of Super Street Fighter IV, it is new costumes. Now we know what you are thinking. Why would you care about a different colored pair of jeans on Haggar or an alternate paint job on the Sentinel. Well there we would agree with you.

But this isn’t just any set of alternate costumes. Six characters will receive new attire. Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Chris, Ryu and Dante. Instead of just being fresh coats of paint on existing templates, these are entirely new costumes being added to the game.

Captain America will be given what Marvel fans have affectionately coined the Captain Steve outfit. As the world’s new top cop, Steve Rogers Super Soldier doesn’t hide behind the mask anymore. Instead he has a more modern costume. Interestingly enough, Capcom chose to give him the classic Cap shield though instead of his current comic weapon, a light disk shield.

Box Office: Third Week is a Charm for ‘Gnomeo and Juliet’

Posted on February 28, 2011

Audiences collectively thumbed their noses at the new box office releases this past weekend, paving the way for a three week old release to top the box office. Gnomeo and Juliet only dropped 26% in its third week to nab the number one spot with a puny $14.1 million.

That brings its three week total to $75 million; not too shabby for a film featuring garden gnomes. The film was bolstered by a jump of 101% (yep, you read that right) from Friday to Saturday night. Families seem to be clamoring for something to take the kiddos to. That bodes very well for Rango, a film that will open next weekend and features the voice talent of Johnny Depp.

Hall Pass was widely predicted to be a slam dunk at the box office, but the newest film from the Farrelly brothers only made $13.4 million. That’s quite a bit short of their best opening weekend back in 2001, when Shallow Hal debuted to $22 million during its opening weekend. Many were hoping this would signal a rebirth of the duo at the box office. A less than stellar B- from cinemascore means this film won’t be in theaters long. Catch it while you can.

The Flickcast – Episode 88: Toy (Fair) Story

Posted on February 28, 2011

Okay, here’s my official take on the Academy Award show this year. The entertainment world is abuzz today with reports of how horrible James Franco and Anne Hathaway were as hosts of the show. I think that they are being unfairly maligned. I found Hathaway charming, beautiful, and eager to please.

On the other hand, Franco seemed like he didn’t give a crap about the show or his performance. He was obviously stoned out of his mind, and I am not one to judge, but that is flat out disrespectful. Do that stuff on your own time, not when you are in front of a billion people. Anne Hathaway didn’t stand a chance when she was saddled with the stoner from hell. I genuinely felt bad for her.

Franco has had an amazing year. I used to dismiss him as a joke, until I saw his performance in 127 Hours. He was astounding. Shortly after I saw the film, I spoke at a public event, and swore that I would never sell him short again. Until now.

Franco has squandered all the good will he has earned in one catastrophic hosting gig. Back in the penalty box you go, Mr. Franco. This time it won’t be so easy to earn your way out. For a very funny take on Franco’s questionable frame of mind, check out this Gawker.com article.

To be fair, I truly didn’t feel that the two were given much to do. Outside of a great film montage at the beginning of the show, they were barely present. Perhaps that was a blessing. Still, Hathaway deserves props.

Franco’s quick little appearance in drag was bizarre, jarring and random. I felt like I was watching an SNL skit.

Will Superman Have To Bow Before Viggo Mortensen?

Posted on February 28, 2011

Now that we have a relative unknown with Henry Cavill playing Superman in Zack Snyder’s upcoming film for Warner Bros, it seems that Snyder and the studio are taking more of an “over the top” direction when it comes to the supporting cast. Two weeks ago, it was announced that Kevin Costner was being approached as a “person of interest” to play Jonathan Kent. As if that wasn’t a big enough name, The Road star Viggo Mortensen is now being approached to play the Kryptonian villain General Zod in the film.

From Heat Vision:

Mortensen, who is still in negotiations for Universal’s Snow White and the Huntsman, is said to be at the top of the list to play General Zod, the evil and super-powered scientist who was portrayed by Terrence Stamp in 1980’s Superman II.

If Mortensen’s Snow White deal doesn’t close, that would potentially free him up to make Superman. Or Universal and Warner Bros. could work out his schedule and enable him to do both.

So given what we know about Snyder’s previous work with Warners, we know that there will be plenty of slow-motion scenes and that he does tend to go for talent over “names.” Mortensen could just be the talent to take over for Terrence Stamp’s iconic character.

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