The Flickcast

Phoenix and Haggar Added to ‘Marvel vs. Capcom 3′ Roster

Posted on January 10, 2011

With just a month away from its release date, Marvel vs. Capcom 3: The Fate of Two Worlds is still dropping announcement bombs all over the fighting game world. With members of the final roster still to be revealed, Capcom announced two new characters this past weekend at the Consumer Electronics Show.

Making her debut to the Capcom fighting genre is Jean Grey, better known as Phoenix. With the power to literally rip worlds in half, the Phoenix force is considered one of the strongest entities in the Marvel universe. Now, the Phoenix comes to the Marvel vs. Capcom 3 arena with the cosmic power to take on man and immortal alike. Take a peek below at the new footage of Jean Grey in action, including her hypercombo Dark Phoenix finish.

Judd Apatow Working On Rudd-Centric Sequel To ‘Knocked Up’

Posted on January 10, 2011

There may have been plenty of mixed emotions about Funny People, but before that film, writer/director Judd Apatow struck comedy gold with Seth Rogen and Katherine Heigl in Knocked Up.

The film also starred plenty of Apatow regulars, such as Paul Rudd and Apatow’s wife Leslie Mann. Now, word is coming in that Apatow is planning on returning to the world of Knocked Up through the film’s B-story characters played by both Rudd and Mann. From Variety.

Apatow will write and direct the film, the first he’s helmed since 2009’s “Funny People.” Apatow, Barry Mandel and Clayton Townsend will produce.

In “Knocked Up,” Mann played Katherine Heigl’s older sister, who is married to Rudd’s character. Plot details are vague, and it’s not clear whether Heigl or Seth Rogen would reprise their roles from 2007’s “Knocked Up,” one of Apatow’s biggest successes with $200 million in worldwide box office.

The film is set to hit theaters in 2012, with Universal backing it. Expect to see some interesting viral stylings from both Apatow and Rudd, as they both frequent Funny Or Die.com, a site that Apatow is partnered with.

Director’s Guild Announces Outstanding Feature Film Director Nominations

Posted on January 10, 2011

Today the Director’s Guild of America announced its nominations for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in feature films 2010. As the DGA nominations are traditionally considered an indicator of who might end up with the Oscar in the same category, these nominations, and the winner, are watched pretty closely.

The nominations are :

Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
David Fincher, The Social Network
Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech
Christopher Nolan, Inception
David O. Russell, The Fighter

I’m a little surprised that the Coen brothers were not nominated for True Grit. They’ve won the award before three years ago, for No Country for Old Men, so I thought they may be nominated again this year. I would bet they were choice number six on the list and just didn’t make the cut. Besides, I think Fincher is a lock for this, and probably the Oscar as well, so it’s not such a bad thing.

The winner will be announced at the DGA’s annual awards dinner Jan. 29 at the Grand Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland. Who do you think will win, and who do you want to win?

‘Wonder Woman’ TV Show Put On Hold

Posted on January 10, 2011

If you were one of the many Wonder Woman fans eagerly awaiting the debut of the new show featuring your favorite female Amazon, sad to say but you’re going to have to wait a bit longer. The TV reboot of Wonder Woman that we told you about previously is being postponed.

Set to be written and produced by big time TV guy David E. Kelley, the show had gone out to various networks after Kelly’s script was finished but as if often the case with high-profile and expensive projects like this (superheroes in WWII), the major networks decided to pass or couldn’t reach a consensus decision. According to reports, this is not a reflection on Kelly’s take on the material (which is said to be good) but more on the current state of network TV and the timing of the project.

Supposedly, here’s how things went. This will give you a bit of insight into how Hollywood works. The project was supposedly taken to the networks on Wednesday night. Fox and ABC passed and the CW couldn’t afford it. This left CBS and NBC. The execs at CBS could not make a decision and with no real person in charge at NBC yet (new chief of programming Bob Geeenblat has yet to start) it was a no go there as well.

So, for those keeping score, that was a pass (because we don’t like anything good), a pass (because we’re owned by Disney who owns Marvel), a too expensive, a we can’t make up our minds and a we can’t make a decision because we’re afraid to do so before a new boss starts. Yes, I added those little items in parenthesis but after being around Hollywood for many years I have learned to read between the lines.

Besides, between the lines is where all the interesting stuff happens anyway. And no, that pic of Lynda Carter has nothing to do with David E. Kelly’s Wonder Woman TV show. I just like it, so there.

Spartacus Prequel ‘Gods of the Arena’ Kicks Off January 21st

Posted on January 10, 2011

It’s no mystery that we here at The Flickcast offices are huge fans of the Starz original series, Spartacus. Having followed the original season, Blood and Sand, as well as keeping tabs on titular character actor Andy Whitfield’s ongoing battle with a recurrence of cancer, we eagerly awaited the dynamic show’s return for its second season. Well, it’s almost here, as the 2nd season, in prequel form, is set to air on Starz January 21st at 10PM EST/PST, so be sure to set your DVR.

The events of the prequel to Blood and Sand occur 5 years prior and was filmed last year without Whitfield. With only a shortened six-episode season, Gods of the Arena tells the story of the original Champion of the House of Batiatus, Gannicus whose skill with a sword is matched only by his thirst for wine and women. Check out the full official synopsis of the new season after the jump.

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Box Office: Third Week’s A Charm For ‘True Grit’

Posted on January 10, 2011

It’s very rare for a film to hit the number one spot at the box office several weeks after its release, but that is exactly what the Coen Brothers’ True Grit accomplished this weekend. The film finally shook the monkey (Little Fockers) off its back for a clear shot at the number one slot.

Grit made about $15 M over the weekend, and because it was a god-awful weekend at the box office, that was good enough for a first place finish. Business was down almost 30% from last weekend. Entertainment Weekly reports that it could be the worst January weekend since 2000!

The good news is that the Coen Brothers just surpassed the $100M milestone for the very first time. This is the first film they have made that has made it to into the club, so to speak. Good for them. True Grit will surely continue to succeed in theaters, particularly if the film receives any Oscar nominations.

CES11: Household Consumer Tech Gets Smarter

Posted on January 7, 2011

At CES, one expects to see sexy new computing devices and ever-thinner flat-panel HDTVs with the latest and greatest specs, but what about household appliances that tweet? Or refrigerators that text? Clearly, a trend is developing at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, and that trend is to spread the “smart” treatment around the household.

No longer content to let smartphones and other mobile devices steal the thunder at CES, appliance makers like LG and Samsung are getting updated with features that allow them to communicate important information to their owners. Who hasn’t dreamed of a smart refrigerator that could alert you when its water filter needed replacing? Or what about a dryer that texts you when your clothes are dry?

Personally, I’d love to see a gas range that let me know if I’ve left the burner on after making breakfast in a pre-coffee haze. It’s either that, or I’ll surely burn the house down one day.

At CES 2011, household appliance makers had devices with just these sort of capabilities on display. Withings, a french company, showcased their Wi-Fi enabled bathroom scale, which ratchets up the peer pressure by tweeting its owner’s weight as well as graphing one’s weight-loss progress via an iPhone app.

Potential iPad-Killer, Motorola ‘XOOM Tablet’ Announced.

Posted on January 7, 2011

Tech writers love to compare each and every new tablet computer that hits the market to Apple’s wildly successful iPad. And it makes sense, considering Apple’s device is truly the one to beat within the tablet niche. With almost a year under its belt and millions of sales, Apple is unlikely to yield its advantage in this important product sector anytime soon.

With that said, Motorola’s just-announced XOOM Tablet ($TBA), might just be the device to do it. Billed as the first 4G LTE upgradeable tablet, the specs speak for themselves:

• 10.1-inch widescreen HD display
• Dual Core 1GHz processor
• Android “Honeycomb” software
• 1080P HD Video Content Support
• HDMI out
• Forward-facing 2MP camera for video chatting

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