The Flickcast

‘Call of Duty: Black Ops’ First Strike Map Pack Now Available

Posted on February 1, 2011

You read that headline right folks. The moment you’ve all been waiting for is here. The Call of Duty: Black Ops new map pack, known as “First Strike”, has arrived and lo it is good.

As our own John Carle told you about before, the map pack contains some new goodness including four traditional multiplayer maps as well as one additional Zombie mode map. While no information was given on the Zombie map other than its name, Ascension, now that the map pack is available we will know a whole lot more very shortly.

Kowloon takes place in a revamped layout of the Kowloon single player level. Discovery takes place in an arctic research lab and shows what may be Call of Duty’s first steps towards destructible environments. Berlin Wall features a great design choice with the inclusion of a no man’s land. In this area, players can quickly get across the map but this time there isn’t much fear of other players.

Finally, Stadium seems to be the most traditional of the maps. In it, players will be more focused on pure classic strategy using a level’s design and tight corners as a way to ambush opponents.

The “First Strike” map pack is available now. To the XBox 360!

New Lawsuit Claims AT&T’s iPhone, iPad Data Billing Inflated Like ‘Rigged Gas Pump’

Posted on February 1, 2011

Oh AT&T, will the complaints against you never cease. What’s going on now? A new lawsuit has been filed in a federal court in California alleging that AT&T regularly and purposely overcharges iPhone and iPad customers on capped data plans by inflating the amount of data they download to their devices.

Patrick Hendricks, who filed the lawsuit, contends that AT&T adds “phantom traffic” to its invoices in order to overcharge users. Says Hendricks in his complaint:

“AT&T’s billing system for iPhone and iPad data transactions is like a rigged gas pump that charges for a full gallon when it pumps only nine-tenths of a gallon into your car’s tank.”

Apparently, Hendricks isn’t just speculating with his lawsuit. Instead, he and his lawyers hired a consulting firm to investigate and it apparently determined that AT&T regularly inflates data usage by between 7% and 14%. In addition, on some occasions, the carrier actually inflates data usage by as much as 300%. Huh, that seems a bit excessive, doesn’t it?

Of course, in a statement to Computerworld, AT&T said it would fight the lawsuit “vigorously.” Did you think they wouldn’t? Okay, informal poll time. Do you feel AT&T charges for data fairly or do you think they don’t and this lawsuit will expose them for the cheaters they are?

Sound off in the comments.

Oscar Best Picture Nominees If They Were LEGO

Posted on February 1, 2011

We all love LEGO. Everybody grew up with them, so they all hold a special place in our collective hearts. Except for those who grew up with Mega Bloks, but nobody liked those kids growing up anyway.

The world of LEGO has been celebrated more lately as franchises like LEGO Batman and LEGO Star Wars have taken over our consoles. Now we get even more of this fully manifested world as one cinema fan has captured some of our favorite Oscar nominated films and turned them into LEGO.

The remade scenes come from LEGO artist Alex Eylar, who has tons of creations over at MOCPaged. This site is completely dedicated to people making stuff out of their favorite LEGOs so it’s particularly awesome.

While you try to ponder that business model, take a look at some of our favorite Oscar nominated scenes after the jump and comment with guesses on which films these scenes are inspired from. Good luck!

Carla Gugino’s ‘Elektra Luxx’ Gets A Trailer

Posted on February 1, 2011

In the past five years, Carla Gugino has solidified herself in just about every fanboy’s fantasies as a favorite. From Sin City to Watchmen, comic fans everywhere have salivated over the actress for quite some time now. Now they have a bit more to salivate over during her latest role . . . as a porn star.

Here’s the full breakdown for the film Elektra Luxx, which is a sequel to 2009’s Women in Trouble.

Recently retired from the adult film industry, superstar Elektra Luxx (Carla Gugino) is pregnant with the child of late rock star Nick Chapel. She is trying to make ends meet by teaching a community college sex education class aimed at housewives when a figure from her past, flight attendant Cora (Marley Shelton), approaches her with a proposition.

In exchange for the (stolen) lyrics to Nick Chapel’s last record, all of which is about Elektra, Cora needs Elektra to seduce her fiancee. Elektra reluctantly agrees to do this favor, setting in motion a series of hilarious events which will see her come face to face with detectives, sex bloggers, emotionally unstable neighbors and the Virgin Mary herself as she wrestles with the prospect of motherhood and tries to become a person of substance.

We’ve got a full trailer for the film which you can check out after the jump. Elektra Luxx hits theaters on March 11th. Also, check out our interview with Elektra Luxx director Sebastian Gutierrez for more on the film.

Check Out a Bunch of New Promos for ‘Chuck’, ‘The Event’, ‘The Cape’ and More

Posted on January 31, 2011

Unlike that other network that changes the schedule for its shows at the last minute (Yes, CW, we’re talking to you) NBC seems pretty consistent when it comes to airing its own programming. So this week expect all-new episodes of Chuck, The Event, The Cape and more to air when they are scheduled to.

To get you ready for all these new shows we’ve got some promos and whatnot for them to share with you today. First up is Chuck, which has a brand new episode tonight wherein the final head-to-head clash between our hero Chuck and the evil Alexei Volkoff takes place. Who will win and what will be the fate of Chuck’s mom and his love Sarah? Find out tonight.

We’ve also got the goods on The Cape as Mena Suvari’s Dice takes center stage and tries her best to separate The Cape from his, um, cape . . . and also his head. On Harry’s Law Harry tries to exonerate an imprisoned man on tonight’s episode. She probably has a gun too and intimidates people with her folksy charm.

Finally we’ve got The Event and Ian Anthony Dale who introduces some deleted scenes from the show, featuring his character Simon Lee. These two scenes from Episode 7 are web exclusive extras that we didn’t see on air. Plus, Jason Ritter is back for another “Day in The Life” profile. In part 2, Jason shows off his knack for hair and makeup styling.

Check out all the promos after the break. Things kick off tonight at 8/7C with Chuck on NBC.

War Movie Mondays: ‘Midway’

Posted on January 31, 2011

This week’s pick is Midway (1976) which depicts the U.S. and Japanese naval battle which turned the tide of the war in the Pacific. Director Jack Smight assembled some of Hollywood’s A-list talent including Charlton Heston (Capt. Matt Garth), Robert Mitchum (Vice Adm. William “Bull” Halsey), Henry Fonda (Adm. Chester Nimitz), James Coburn (Capt. Vinton Maddox), Glenn Ford (Rear Adm. Raymond Spruance), Hal Holbrook (Cmdr. Joe Rochefort), Steve Kanaly (Lt. Cmdr. Lance Massey), Tom Selleck (Capt. Cyril Simard), Robert Webber (Rear Adm. Jack Fletcher), and Toshiro Mifune (Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto).

Midway is best known for two things, its Academy Award winning Sensurround pre-surround sound/William Castle inspired movie experience, and as a war film which was shot using mostly colorized combat footage from World War II, and scenes from Hollywood greats like Tora! Tora! Tora! and Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo.

Jack Smight had stated in an interview years later that the footage was meant to show the scope of the battle and that these were scenes shot under real battlefield conditions. Despite these flaws, the film does have a wide array of well orchestrated scenes, and the action is quite convincing in that many historical moments are made through matters of sheer luck and through careless actions.

Film Review: ‘Blue Valentine’

Posted on January 31, 2011

The opposite of love is not hate; it’s indifference.–Elie Wiesel

The true meaning of that quote is fully realized in this haunting anti-love story. Blue Valentine is a stark, quiet film that packs an emotional punch you won’t soon forget. Featuring terrific performances by Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling, the film examines the demise of a once promising relationship.

As the movie starts out, it is obvious that Cindy (Williams) and Dean (Gosling) have seen happier days. Cindy seems to be quietly simmering with hatred when she interacts with Dean. She’s utterly defeated, and when Dean tries to use his boyish charm to engage her, she won’t succumb.

Cindy mentally checked out of the marriage long, long ago. By the time Dean actually realizes that, we see him make some feeble attempts to salvage what they once had.

Two More All-Stars Coming to ‘Marvel vs. Capcom 3′

Posted on January 31, 2011

It’s nearly impossible to think of the foes of the X-Men and not think of the Sentinels. Since their introduction in 1965, these mutant hunter robots have been a constant bane to the X-Men’s existence. Not surprisingly, the Sentinels have made appearances either as foes or playable characters in at least a dozen X-Men related video games.

The first time playable was coincidentally in X-Men: Children of the Atom, a precursor to the Marvel vs. Capcom series. The Sentinel would make its Marvel vs. Capcom debut as an assist character before becoming a fully fledged playable character in Marvel vs. Capcom 2: A New Age of Heroes.

To this day, many players consider the Sentinel one of the most powerful in the game due to its high damage attacks and crushing combos. Take a peek below to see the new Sentinel in action.

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