The Flickcast – Page 569 of 1030 – Stuff Nerds Love

TV RECAP: ‘Eastbound & Down: Chapter 13′

Another season of Eastbound & Down wrapped up, and this week we leave Mexico. Kenny, Stevie and his new wife Maria are headed back to North Carolina so Kenny can reclaim April, but a lot has changed since he’s been gone.  April’s moved on, giving up her teaching job to become a real estate salesman with her partner, referred to by Kenny as simply “the black man.” And she’s pregnant.

Sensibly, April wants nothing to do with Kenny since he abandoned her at a random gas station last season. So Kenny does the only thing left: coke and pool, followed up by crashing Dustin and Cassie’s date night (white wine and Grace Slick—nice) for a little advice, which is pretty much leave her to live her life. And like many of the hard truths Kenny’s had to face this season, he accepts it, but as a last act of good will, gives the tapes of his book to April, so she can try to understand his reasons for leaving her.

And in a final grand gesture, she shows up just as Kenny’s about to leave for Myrtle Beach to make some kind of amends…and reveal that the baby’s his.

All I can say is, “Wow.” And, after a few seconds in awe of this show and its season, I’d go further and say that Season 2 is superior to EB&D’s powerhouse first. Kenny went from vulgar curiosity to halfway decent human being—and all without the aid of the first-season cast (save, of course, Stevie).

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Windows Phone 7 Launches in the U.S.

I don’t think we’ll see the kind of lines normally associated with the launch of an iPhone, but if you’re a Microsoft and Windows 7 fan, today’s your day. Why? Well, in case you didn’t know, today is launch day for Microsoft’s new smartphone powered by Windows 7.

That’s right, Windows Phone 7 devices are now available for purchase in the U.S. The Redmond Giant (As we like to call them) already launched its new mobile OS last month in Europe and fans here in the US of A have had to wait patiently for the launch here. Now, the wait is over.

At the moment, you can get one of three smartphones powered by Windows 7 from two different carriers. The HTC Surround, Samsung Focus and HTC HD7 are good to go with the Dell Venue Pro is rumored to drop later today. The LG Quantum is also available for pre-order from AT&T starting today.

CDMA Windows Phone 7 devices on Sprint and Verizon are not expected until the first quarter of 2011. AT&T is investing heavily in the Windows Phone 7 launch, with touch screen displays providing information about the system and “experience tables” to showcase the Windows Phone 7 handsets. Also displayed are Xbox game console and a laptop with Windows 7 operating system.

Expect to pay $199.99 for any of these Windows Phones. Of course, you can probably find better deals elsewhere by doing a little searching.

So, anyone planning on lining up for a Windows Phone 7 today? If so, let us know how it goes.

Steve Pink To Direct & Co-Write A ‘Toxic Avenger’ Reboot

Just when you thought a Superman and Spider-Man reboot would be enough for the world of superhero films, you’ve got to think again. Everybody’s favorite Jersey crusader is getting another chance at the limelight, as Hot Tub Time Machine director Steve Pink is getting a shot at the reboot. From Deadline.

“The Toxic Avenger is exactly what the country–wait, that’s not big enough–what the world needs right now,” said Pink, who also directed Accepted and whose scripting credits include Grosse Pointe Blank and High Fidelity. Kerry Foster, who runs Goldsman’s Weed Road, is executive producer with Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz, the Troma proprietors who created Toxic Avenger.

While this could be great news for fans of Pinks past work on Hot Tub, High Fidelity, and Grosse Point Blank, the sad news is that the rights of Toxie no longer fall to Lloyd Kaufman and the gang at Troma Films.

Back in April, super producers Akiva Goldsman, Richard Saperstein and Charlie Corwin all obtained the remake rights to Toxic Avenger, which include all 4 films and the animated series. While that may mean you’ll never see a resurgence in The Toxic Avenger Musical, this remake could prove to be entertaining.

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TV RECAP: ‘The Walking Dead: Guts’

Well, it certainly seems that The Walking Dead has delivered on the promise of its pilot episode, and then some.  When we last left Rick, his hapless steed was serving as zombie kibble, and Rick seemed doomed, trapped in a tank, surrounded by the walking dead.

This episode began at the base camp for the other survivors.  That camp happens to include Lori (Rick’s wife) and Shane (Rick’s partner.)  Lori announces her intentions of going into the forest to forage for food (presumably.)   In actuality, she nabs a little nooky from Shane.

Last week, I was willing to give Lori the benefit of the doubt when it came to her dalliance  with Shane.  I thought perhaps they hooked up after the zombie apocalypse. However, this week I felt that their rapport was just too familiar, and I get the distinct feeling that these two have been going at it for quite some time.  Am I way off base here?

At any rate, things are going to get a tad awkward when Rick enters the campsite.  Did anyone notice that Lori very deliberately removed her necklace that had a ring and a heart pendant before she let Shane jump her bones?   I found it interesting that she did not remove her wedding ring. In fact, the camera lingered on it for just a moment.

Meanwhile, back at the tank, Rick is receiving a radio message from someone who is telling him that he is surrounded by walkers, but he must make a run for it.  The voice further explains that the zombies are distracted because they are eating the horse.  Rick takes note of his ammunition, and puts good faith in the voice.

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Game Review: ‘DJ Hero 2’ for XBox 360

Last year, DJ Hero was tied as the best music game of the year on the Flickcast alongside The Beatles: Rock Band.  When it was announced a sequel was coming so soon this year, there were some mixed feelings. Would there be enough changes made to the game or would it be DJ Hero 1.5 with just an expanded song list. Luckily, it is the former with a revised career mode, more interactive DJ control, added multiplayer modes and yes, more music and that is DJ Hero 2.

Gameplay:

Take last year’s DJ Hero gameplay of a cascading note highway using a turntable controller and add in drop in, drop out multiplayer for a second controller as well as a singer and sprinkle in Guitar Hero’s vocal controls for a singer/rapper and you have the basics of DJ Hero 2. Luckily, things don’t end at the basics as freestyling takes a big leap in this sequel.

Last year, player’s freestyle abilities were limited to selecting audio packages they could occasionally drop in to the song. This year, that gets kicked up a notch as songs each have their own specific samples to be dropped in at certain parts which help the mixes feel stronger and more cohesive. Additionally, crossfader freestyling has been added.

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Box Office: Megamind Crushes The Competition

On Saturday morning, it looked like Megamind was going head to head with Due Date.  Both films made around $12M on Friday evening, but Megamind built on its momentum and added another $20 M to its total on Saturday, bringing its full weekend total to $47.7M.  This came from a mixture of 2D and 3D venues.

That is still a bit lower than Despicable Me ($56.4M)  made on its opening weekend, though. Incidentally, Paramount has had a number one movie three of the last  four weekends (Paranormal Activity 2, Jackass 3D and now Megamind.)

That is  not to say that Due Date didn’t have a great weekend.  It’s total of $33.5 M was good enough to break the November record for best opening for an R-rated comedy. The Robert Downey Jr./Zach Galifianakis comedy didn’t so fare so well when it came to critics, but audiences seemed to enjoy the movie.

Tyler Perry continues to be box office gold for Lionsgate.  His latest movie For Colored Girls was not widely screened for critics, but it managed an impressive $20.1 M anyway.  This is the first time Perry has released a R-rated film.  The weekend total is a bit lower than what his films typically earn, but it is a good, solid number.

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The Flickcast’s ‘On the Radar’

Welcome to this week’s 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 this week. Let is know if we missed something interesting. Otherwise, on to the links!

• Joel McHale, proving to us once again that he’s the man, stopped by The Today Show to pimp Community and mock Kathy Lee and Hoda.

• Halloween may be over, but here are some awesome costumes you may have missed.

• People and their damned streaming. Internets everywhere have been clogged up by the massive use of Netflix over the past week.

A laptop desk that you can attach to your steering wheel? Not since the first porn film played on a portable in-car DVD player has another device potentially caused so many accidents.

• Miss last Sunday’s pilot of AMC’s The Walking Dead? Well lucky for you, the episode is currently online in its entirety.

• Getting your list on, as usual, here are 10 of the best lessons taught to us by comics.

• A group of die hard Harry Potter fans gathered in the center of Grand Central to reenact one of their favorite scenes. New Yorkers were not phased.

• It looks like he may not have found another Alias after all, as J.J. Abrams’ Undercovers has officially gotten the boot from NBC.

TV RECAP: ‘The Office: The Christening’

The Christening introduces an interesting element in the characters of The Office that, given the number of times the gang has visited a church, has curiously not been explored much before: religion.

The plot revolves around Cice’s titular christening, and Jim and Pam (I refuse to refer to the couple as “Jam”) invite the office to the celebration. The context had me dreading that Michael was going to make a scene and embarrass himself in front of everyone else, but, like Niagra, the writers wisely choose to keep him under some restraint—save for a few misplaced Godfather impersonations.

But, as I wrote, the focus is on how each Sabre employee treats religion, which is handled with a lot of humor and, oddly, some profoundness. Angela, the most overtly “religious” character, uses the church, both literally and figuratively, as a free pass to criticize and admonish everyone around her while maintaining an unearned feeling of superiority.

Here she takes aim at Jim and Pam for whatever reason while cooing over Cice (to such an extent that when Cice goes missing,  Jim immediately accuses Angela of baby-napping, and his admission of that mistake is both blunt and very funny). Jim and Pam themselves don’t seem especially pious and treat the christening more as something that is simply done than anything holy.

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