The Flickcast – Page 686 of 1030 – Stuff Nerds Love

‘Dr. Strange’ Movie Moves Forward With ‘Conan’ Writers

To be honest, I was a fan of Dr. Strange comics growing up. But now that I’m a bit older and, perhaps, a bit wiser I have to wonder if a Dr. Strange movie is really what’s needed — especially given the mostly unfortunate treatment of comic book movies these days. Still, regardless of my feelings about the idea, it seems an adaptation of the Marvel comic is moving forward with Conan writers Thomas Donnelly and Joshua Openheimer now on board to pen the script.

Dr. Strange, which has a long development history and various writers and directors involved including Wes Craven, Dovid Goyer, Steven Norrington and Guillermo del Toro, will reportedly be one of the first projects to be developed now that Disney owns Marvel. At least with Disney now involved, Marvel should have the financial backing to do the film justice on a production value basis and hopefully carry on the high quality of films like Iron Man.

Created by Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko in 1963, Dr. Strange was a brilliant yet shallow surgeon who lost his skills after a car accident damages his hands. Seeking ways to heal his injuries he instead discovers the ability to harness his psychic and magical powers and use them to battle evil.

It’s hard and probably unwise to judge a project with only this much info to go on. So, instead of thinking its probably not going to be good or wonder if it should be made at all, I will instead try to give it the benefit of the doubt. Let’s hope, in the end, it turns out more like Iron Man and The Dark Knight and less like Daredevil or Jonah Hex.

War Movie Mondays: ‘Southern Comfort’

This week is a different kind of war movie, because it’s a war movie on the home front which mirrors the actions and feelings of what the country was going through during the latter half of the Vietnam War. Southern Comfort (1981) is a psychological thriller from acclaimed director Walter Hill (The Warriors, The Long Riders, 48 Hours, Streets of Fire, Geronimo: An American Legend.)

The film centers around a squad of nine National Guardsmen who are on weekend maneuvers in the Louisiana bayous in 1973. The film stars an assortment of fantastic character actors ranging from Powers Boothe (Cpl Hardin), Keith Carradine (Pfc. Spencer), T.K. Carter (Pfc. Cribbs), Peter Coyote (Ssgt. Poole), Brion James (Cajun trapper), Sonny Landham (Cajun hunter), Lewis Smith (Pfc. Stuckey), and Fred Ward (Cpl. Reece).

As the squad of men descend deep into the swamp, Cpl. Hardin (Boothe) and Pfc. Spencer (Carradine) quickly become pals and are the only two level headed individuals in this motley crew of weekend warriors. Hardin is a recent transfer from the Texas Guard who is trying to finish his stint so he can return to civilian life. He has total lack of respect for the Army and for those in charge such as Ssgt. Poole (Coyote) and Sgt. Casper (Les Lannom).

As the film progresses, the squad commandeers a few Cajun canoes in order to make their way to the other side of the swamp. In doing so they seal their fate with a bunch of Cajuns who retaliate due to their canoes being stolen, and after Pfc. Stuckey (as a prank), scares them by opening fire with his M-60 machine gun which is loaded with blanks. Terrified, the Cajuns shoot back killing Ssgt. Cribbs. The men quickly become paranoid as to their fate and have only a few precious live rounds to do battle with the Cajuns who use their knowledge of the terrain to their advantage.

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Sci-Fi Epic ‘Ready Player One’ Coming To Warner Bros

When the statement “think Willy Wonka, The Matrix, and Avatar rolled into one” is used, and not referring to a drug-induced coma, you can understand why a studio like Warner Bros. would greenlight the project. Not only did the studio become interested after that description, but it won in a bidding war for the project against other studios such as Paramount.

The film is based on a book that hasn’t even been released yet about a teenage boy who escapes his bleak reality into a virtual one, uncovering an epic adventure along the way. Ernie Cline (Fanboys) is penning the script with Green Lantern producer Donald De Line stepping in to produce.

The description actually feels more like Reboot meets It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, but we can understand why they went with the appeal of Avatar. Check out the logline, courtesy of Heat Vision, and judge for yourself.

In the near future, outcast teenager Wade Watts escapes from his bleak surroundings by logging in to the Oasis, a globally networked virtual utopia where users can lead idyllic alternate lives. When the eccentric billionaire who created the Oasis dies, he offers up his vast fortune as the prize in an elaborate treasure hunt.

Along with gamers from around the world Wade joins the adventure, and quickly finds himself pitted against powerful corporate foes who will do anything, in the oasis or the real world, to reach the treasure first. Think Willy Wonka, The Matrix, and Avatar all rolled into one.

No word on when we can see more from this project, but with Warners ramping up their Comic-Con presentation for next month, you can be sure we’ll see at least a little bit from Ready Player One at the show.

Game Review: ‘Guitar Hero’ for iPhone

With all the craziness of E3 last week, we didn’t get much of a chance to kick back and enjoy our regular dosage of playing games, watching movies or reading comics. Instead, this reviewer got gaming in nice short casual samples. The iPhone was the perfect medium for this. Waiting during a commercial break before a press conference started or killing a few minutes while uploading or downloading new videos to the site, casual gaming dominated last week. One of those casual games that helped pass the time was Guitar Hero.

No, don’t worry. There is no plastic guitar peripheral to add to your iPhone to make it work. Instead, Guitar Hero works similar to a DDR system where falling notes need to be pressed when they hit the bottom of the screen. Separating it from just being button presses, Vicarious Visions has added some unique Guitar Hero moves like swiping your finger down the “strum” bar, connecting notes and star power.

As with all Guitar Hero games, gameplay and control is everything. While it is different to play a screen tapping game than plastic guitar controller game, the basic feel of the series is still there. There is a little bit of a learning curve adjusting to the new moves like the note swipe but that is quickly corrected with a few songs.

Track difficulty doesn’t change much. The Expert tracks are moderately more challenging than the Medium versions of the same song, often just sped up with a few extra note moves tossed in there.

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HBO Gives ‘True Blood’ A Fourth Season

With only two episodes aired for season three so far, HBO has already given the green light for a fourth season of Alan Ball’s vampire series True Blood. The announcement, given by HBO’s programing president Michael Lombardo, will give the series a new season of twelve episodes and follow the continuing adventures of your favorite residents of Bon Temps, LA.

The series, based on the Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charliane Harris and featuring Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer and Alexander Skarsgard, had a very successful premiere episode and scored a 38% ratings increase over last year’s season two opener. Obviously, this was enough to convince HBO to give the show another season.

“The new season of True Blood is off to a terrific start, as enthusiasm for this unique show continues to build among both subscribers and critics,” noted Lombardo.

This is great news for fans of the show (like me) and with the series going into some new and interesting directions so far this year, I can’t wait to see where it all ends up. The series will begin production of new episodes early next year in Los Angeles, with a season four debut set for summer 2011.

Catch A Sneak Peek At Jerry Bruckheimer’s ‘Chase’

With the news of upcoming Fall TV season pretty much out of the bag we’ve been bringing you previews for many of the new shows here at the site. This way, perhaps you can figure out your Fall viewing schedule well in advance so you don’t miss any show you might have wanted to see.

This time around we’ve got a preview for super producer Jerry Bruckheimer’s upcoming show Chase, which features Kelli Giddish as US Marshal Annie Frost. She specializes in tracking down outlaws who don’t want to pay their debt to society and you can expect a lot of running, shooting and probably some fighting as well.

In the three clips we’ve got for you we hear from star Giddish about the physical nature of her role and series producer Jerry Bruckheimer about what really makes the series work. Also, we’ve got a sneak peek clip from the show which gives you a better idea of what it’s all about.

Check out all three videos after the jump. Chase, which in addition to Giddish features Cole Hauser, Amaury Nolasco and Jesse Metcalfe, will air Mondays at 9/8C on NBC.

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Apple Releases iOS 4 to the Masses

Don’t be jealous of your friends who ordered a new iPhone 4. Well, maybe just a little. At least you’ll be able to use that fancy OS Apple designed for the new iPhone because they have just released iOS 4 into the wild for all to download and enjoy.

iOS 4 can be installed on your newer iPhone OS devices including the iPhone 3G, the iPhone 3GS, the 2G iPod touch and the 3G iPod touch. With iOS 4, you’ll be able to multitask, use folders to organize your apps, have a unified e-mail inbox, and much more. Sadly, without an actual iPhone 4 you will miss out on some features, like that two-way-video chat thing, but you still get some cool stuff.

As has been pointed out at various outlets, this version of iOS4 is the same 8A293 build seeded to developers with the GM release candidate. So, if you’re a developer, no need to update.

You will also need iTunes 9.2 for your new iOS 4 installation. Also, iPhone 3G users may need to do a full restore, not just an update, to get this release working.

If you do decide to update, let us know your experiences, good and bad, in the comments. For us, one iPhone 3GS updated so far and all is well.

Box Office: ‘Toy Story 3’ Is Tops

Pixar’s Toy Story 3 won the Father’s Day weekend with a total of over $109 Million, making it the highest grossing opening weekend for a Pixar movie thus far. I’ve got to say, it couldn’t have happened to a nicer movie.

Toy Story 3 is a true 4 quadrant film that the studios are always hoping for. It’s the the holy grail of box-office goodness, because it appeals to men and women, young and old.  It’s rated G, which means families can feel at ease bringing the young ones. Critics universally loved the film, and audiences polled by cinemascore raved as well (Entertainment Weekly.)

Toy Story 3 enjoyed a massive opening, as it played on over 4,000 screens.  Roughly half of those were 3D screens, which bolstered the total gross.  Toy Story 3 is the second highest opening for an animated movie, bested only by Shrek the Third’s $121 Million opening back in 2007.

Another family-friendly film took the number two spot.  The Karate Kid dropped around 48%, and tallied up another $29 Million, bringing its 10 day total to an impressive $106 Million.

The A-Team didn’t benefit from word of mouth all that much.  It experienced a 46% drop from last week, earning $13.7. The movie has made about $49 Million in two weekends, but it had a $110 Million budget, so it has a long, steep hill to climb to recoup its budget.  I have yet to talk to anyone who disliked the movie, so I am really puzzled over its performance (or more accurately, lack thereof.)

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