The Flickcast – Page 593 of 1030 – Stuff Nerds Love

Review: ‘Black Swan’

Posted on October 7, 2010

Darren Aronofsky has made a career of choosing interesting, non-traditional material and illuminating the unexpected aspects of his subject matter. Case(s) in point: The Wrestler (a down-trodden wrestler), Pi (mathematicians), Requiem For a Dream (middle-aged drug addiction), and now Black Swan (competitive ballet.)

His knack for taking something completely mundane and elevating it to something tense and dreadful is astonishing.  Who would have ever thought that a movie about mathematicians could be exciting, much less sinister?  It is no surprise that the man who brought us Pi delivers a dark,  provocative, psychological drama, set in the cutthroat (who knew it?) world of competitive ballet.

Natalie Portman stars as Nina, a beautiful ballerina who dances for a New York City ballet company.  Though technically gifted, she has never gotten her big break because the company’s arrogant art director thinks she is too bland to carry a performance.

The film opens with us being privy to some of the cattiness that takes place behind the scenes at the ballet.  The troupe’s principal ballerina, Beth (Winona Ryder),  is being forced into retirement at the ripe old age of 37. Nina finds it sad, and defends the dancer, while the other girls titter on about her age and diminished athletic ability.  It’s immediately established that the women are highly competitive.  There is no sense of camaraderie, everyone is out for themselves.

The perennial classic Swan Lake is set to be the season opener, and Beth’s departure leaves the principal role wide open. Director Thomas (Vince Cassel) pits the girls against one another as they audition for the coveted role of The Swan Queen.

Continue Reading

‘Transformers 3’ Has A Subtitle: Dark Of The Moon?

Posted on October 6, 2010

With the fan reaction being as negative as it could have been for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, it was expected that the studio and Michael Bay would be very careful in choosing a title for the third film. Fans felt alienated with the way Revenge of the Fallen went down, between the racist robots and robot balls, and now that creeping feeling is returning as the title for the third film has been announced.

It isn’t confirmed just yet, but according to a reliable Transformers fan site, marketing has started for the title Transformers: Dark of The Moon.

Some upcoming books listed at the Amazon revealed what might possibly be, the Title of the 3rd Transformers Movie.
The books are to be released (May 17, 2011) very near the release date of Transformer 3 (July 1, 2011). The author of the books is official and has written books for the 2007 Movie and ROTF. The publisher is none other than HarperColins, which produced similar books for both movies.

So it may sound like a high school adaptation of a Pink Floyd film, but this could bring new depth to Bay’s Transformers universe. It has been confirmed that Megan Fox is not returning, while LaBeouf, Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, and Turturro are all coming back. Joining the cast for the first time is Malkovich, Patrick Dempsey, Ken Jeong, Alan Tudyk, and Frances McDormand.

The film is slated to hit on July 1st of 2011, so expect to see a big trailer by year’s end, hopefully along with a confirmed title.

The Flickcast – Episode 73: Waiting for Superman

Posted on October 6, 2010

This week on The Flickcast Chris and Matt are together again and ready to tackle a whole bunch of new and exciting topics. This week those topics include Zack Snyder as the director of Superman, more about True Grit and what Aaron Sorkin should write next.

In addition, they discussed casting news from Spider-Man, more TV show cancellations, The Social Network, Boardwalk Empire and the classic Mark Hamill film Corvette Summer. Finally, the boys made some picks again this week including Matt’s pick of the movie Monsters and Chris’ pick of Season 1.5 of Caprica.

As always, if you have comments, questions, critiques, offers of sponsorship or whatever, feel free to hit us up in the comments, on Twitter, at Facebook and MySpace or via email.

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | TuneIn | RSS

It’s Official? Apple Bringing iPhone To Verizon By Year End

Posted on October 6, 2010

If you own an iPhone, and have since the beginning, then you know exactly how frustrating it can be to be an AT&T customer. Dropped calls, terrible service, overall just a terrible experience. Fans of Apple and the iPhone have been protesting for a Verizon phone for years now, and it looks like they’ll get what they were looking for by the end of 2010 with a brand new phone made for the Verizon network. From the Wall Street Journal.

The new iPhone would be similar in design to the iPhone 4 currently sold by AT&T Inc. but would be based on an alternative wireless technology called CDMA used by Verizon, these people said. The phone, for which Qualcomm Inc. is providing a key chip, is expected to be released in the first quarter of next year, according to the same people.

An Apple CDMA iPhone would spell the end of the exclusive U.S. arrangement with Apple that AT&T has had since 2007, when the original iPhone debuted.

So Christmas may just come early for iPhone users, or even those who have been holding out because they hate AT&T’s service. What could this mean for Droid users? And will this be the proverbial nail in the coffin for AT&T’s wireless division? Only time will tell, and we’ll be sure to keep you posted on this new phone as it surfaces.

UPDATE – In the interest of clarity we changed the headline to this post as the iPhone for Verizon is not “technically” official . . . yet. However, this is a strong indicator we will most likely see one. Can’t wait. — Ed.

Syfy Renews ‘Warehouse 13’

Posted on October 6, 2010

It’s a good thing when Sci-Fi shows on a mainstream network keep getting further opportunities to be seen. Too often a show doesn’t get a chance to build an audience and is canceled. Fortunately, that’s not the case with Syfy’s Warehouse 13, which has been renewed for a third season.

After weeks of rumors, the cable network is set to announce a 13-episode pickup. Showrunner Jack Kenny will on board for another round and has signed a development deal with Syfy. During its second season, “Warehouse” averaged 3.4 million viewers and 1.5 million in the adults 18-49 demographic, making it Syfy’s most-watched series this year.

“Jack Kenny’s superlative leadership and the incredible talent of his cast and crew delivered an outstanding second season of ‘Warehouse 13,’ ” Syfy programming chief Mark Stern said. “We’re excited to see this successful series return next year and to developing our next hit with Jack.”

The Tuesday night drama follows two Secret Service agents who collect dangerous supernatural artifacts. No, its not the X-Files — but it is sorta similar. Still, a good show we’re glad to see get a third season.

Google Goggles Comes to iPhone

Posted on October 6, 2010

Yesterday, Google announced that its Goggles image search feature is immediately available in the App Store for Apple’s iPhone smartphone. The new feature, which will be bundled into the Google Mobile App, will support iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 devices running iOS 4 or higher.

“Computer vision is a hard problem and Google Goggles is still a Labs product. It works well for things such as landmarks, logos and the covers of books, DVDs and games. However, it doesn’t yet work for some things you might want to try like animals, plants or food,” explains Google. Ok, well, we won’t blame you for that. Maybe it will come in a future update?

This is a pretty darn cool app and makes the iPhone even more useful than it already is. Plus, if you use it correctly, it kinda makes you look really smart. Like you know stuff.

Want to know more? Check out this video from Google after the jump.

Continue Reading

Sony’s ‘DC Universe Online’ Pushed Back To Next Year

Posted on October 6, 2010

There’s no way of this news coming across as good. Sony’s revolutionary new MMORPG which players access to the entire DC hero and villain catalog has been pushed back once again, this time to next year. It was originally slated for next month, but due to more tweaking, the game will not hit until Spring of 2011. The good news? There is now more official info for the Beta of the game, which will be out sooner than the game itself.

SOE has also revealed new details regarding the beta program. Players with VIP key cards and those having registered at the DCUO website will receive access on a priority basis starting as early as next week. As an added thank you, everyone that has already pre-ordered the game, and those who do so by November 15, 2010, are assured access to beta by November 30 (North America only).

Anyone pre-ordering the game after November 15 will gain beta access one week prior to the launch date and will be able to participate in the special beta ending event entitled Battle of the Legends with the rest of the beta participants. As an additional bonus, all beta participants will be recognized post release with a special emblem for their character when the game goes live.  Beginning October 7, 2010, instructions on how to qualify and receive your pre-order beta key, visit:  www.dcuniverseonline.com/betakey.

No word on if the Beta is the reason whether the game was pushed back or not, but it is good news to know that the select few of us who preorder the game will get front row seats to the action before everyone else. Even before that, you can get a look at what’s available in the beta with an all-new trailer for the game showing off the beta combat.

Check it out after the jump and keep it here for more news on the game’s release date.

Continue Reading

New Trailer For ‘The Tempest’ Is Here And It Looks Amazing

Posted on October 6, 2010

Julie Taymor has made quite a lot of progress in Hollywood in the past few years. If bringing Across The Universe to theaters and Beatles music to a whole new audience wasn’t enough, she was one of the driving forces to bring Spider-Man to Broadway (whether we want it or not). Now Taymor is bringing her unique knack for stage adaptation with Shakespeare’s The Tempest.

The movie looks like an intense music video, with elements of mythology, magic, and yes, Russell Brand. Here’s the full synopsis for those who fell asleep during that 9th grade English class.

In her big-screen adaptation of Shakespeare’s mystical thriller “The Tempest,” Academy Award(R)-nominated Julie Taymor (“Across the Universe,” “Frida,” “Titus”) brings an original dynamic to the story by changing the gender of the sorcerer Prospero into the sorceress Prospera, portrayed by Oscar(R) winner Helen Mirren (“The Queen”). Prospera’s journey spirals through vengeance to forgiveness as she reigns over a magical island, cares for her young daughter, Miranda, and unleashes her powers against shipwrecked enemies in this exciting, masterly mix of romance, tragicomedy and the supernatural.

Mirren is followed by an almost Expendable-sized cast such as Alfred Molina, Djimon Hounsou, David Strathairn, Chris Cooper, Alan Cumming, Ben Whishaw, Reeve Carney, Felicity Jones, and Tom Conti.

The film is expected to hit theaters on December 10th, but you can see what we’re going on about with the first trailer after the jump. Enjoy!

Continue Reading

Terms and Conditions - Privacy Policy