The Flickcast

HP Buys Palm

Posted on April 29, 2010

Palm, Inc., the somewhat beleaguered company known for innovative software, hardware and the webOS has been in serious financial trouble of late. They have some really interesting products but sadly, still manages to lose money. Now it seems those trouble are behind them as Hewlett Packard today announced it is acquiring Palm for $1.2 Billion.

The acquisition has been approved by the boards of both Palm and HP, but is subject to regulatory approval by the Federal Government. Palm CEO John Rubinstein is expected to remain at the company in an as yet undisclosed capacity. It also appears likely webOS will live on, at least if you can believe what you read in press releases.

Want more info? If so, check out this official pres release from HP after the jump.

Catch A Sneak Peek at the New Season of ‘Eureka’

Posted on April 29, 2010

We follow this quirky tale of a town populated by a secret community of geniuses pretty closely here at The Flickcast. Eureka is a fun and often funny and dramatic show that will be making its return to Syfy on July 9.

To commemorate this event we’ve got a preview of the new season for you today directly from the horses, um, networks mouth. In this preview, we get a look at what to expect from the season including the appearance of some cool guest stars including Matt Frewer, Jamie Kennedy and Wil Wheaton.

The show also features a great cast including Colin Ferguson, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Joe Morton, Erica Cerra, Neil Grayston, and Niall Matter. If you haven’t checked it out yet it may be time to do it as this new season looks to be better than ever.

Until then, take a look at the preview for the new season after the jump.

Western Wednesdays (Thursday Edition): ‘Hombre’

Posted on April 29, 2010

One of my biggest misconceptions going into this feature was that Westerns never tackled the topic of racism. (You may call me a brainwashed and judgmental liberal if you like. I don’t mind.) I lumped them all in with The Searchers – which, incidentally, wasn’t as racist as I remembered but isn’t exactly condemning its characters’ biases either.

But a lot of Westerns tackle it. They just tend to examine it through the dewy and sad eyes of the white man such as Jimmy Stewart’s Broken Arrow. Hombre ups the ante by showing discrimination through the painfully blue eyes of Paul Newman. How can anyone look down on those pool colored irises? You’d have to be really evil. And boy, are the white people of Hombre evil.

Based on a novel by Elmore Leonard, Hombre introduces us to John Russell (Newman), a white man who was raised by Apaches and considers himself one of them. When his adopted father dies, and leaves him a boarding house, he bristles at the suggestion that he relearn to walk and talk as a white man. He sells the boarding house, and is on his way back out via stagecoach, but he can’t escape prejudice that easily.

Could The Sci-Fi Short ‘The Raven’ Be The Next ‘District 9’?

Posted on April 28, 2010

Back in 2005 an unknown director named Neill Blomkamp made a science fiction short with a few friends, a modest budget, and a Canadian production team. The short, titled Alive in Joburg, blew away many powerful people with its premise and blend of CG effects and documentary stock footage. Included in those powerful people was mega-director Peter Jackson, who decided to aid Blomkamp in adapting his low-budget short into a larger film called District 9, which turned into an overnight success.

Now, independent writers, directors, and 3D render artists everywhere ran back to their typewriters to come up with interesting and original new ideas, knowing that Hollywood is turning to them for a fresh start to an industry bogged down with sequels and reboots.

There are hundreds of nice attempts, but none of them have really stuck out as something that could be expanded into a major film. A year ago, a Uruguayan science fiction short titled Panic Attack!, by Fede Alvarez was the subject of a Hollywood bidding war, in which Sam Raimi got the rights to adapt the short. Now, it looks like we’re getting another great short for Hollywood to set their sights on with Ricardo de Montreuil’s The Raven.

The film is set in a dystopian future (2074), where futuristic robot cops have the authority to take down those who break the law with extreme force. The only person who has the potential to change everything is Chris Black, aka The Raven. Black has supernatural abilities that, if used in the right way, could save the free world.

Luc Besson’s ‘Transporter’ Coming to the Small Screen

Posted on April 28, 2010

No, this isn’t a plug for the world premiere of one of the Transporter films to hit basic cable. Creator Luc Besson’s production company, EuropaCorp, has gotten the greenlight to go ahead with a full season of a Transporter TV series to be produced in Europe.

Though Jason Statham may be too big an actor to reprise his role as the car-speeding, bad guy-kicking lead Frank Martin, the show’s budget may just be enough for him to reconsider. From Variety:

Luc Besson’s powerhouse EuropaCorp has greenlit a 12 episode one-hour series, produced with Takis Candilis’ Atlantique Prods.

Move marks the first series, and a big one at that, for EuropaCorp as it diversifies into TV, producing spin-offs from its hit movies.

Series will be shot in English, and will start lensing in early 2011 in Canada and France. The producers are in talks with major international television channels.

At $4 million per episode, it’s a pricey project for Europe, but by U.S. broadcast network standards, it’s still being made on a low budget.

This could mean a lot for foreign-produced series to make their way to the US, giving one more avenue for networks to use when buying up new projects. EuropaCorp is not worried about the money being a loss, as the Transporter films each cost roughly $30 million to make, and brought in a total of $238 million worldwide.

No word on a cast yet, but expect to hear new soon, with the large budget behind the series, and production to begin in less than a year.

TV Review: ‘Happy Town’ Premiere

Posted on April 28, 2010

ABC has been heavily promoting the new serial drama Happy Town during Lost this season, touting it as “from the network that brought you Twin Peaks.” Let’s face it, there will never be another Twin Peaks, but the Happy Town premiere is intriguing enough to keep my interest. It boasts a town mystery and some quirky characters, but the comparisons to Twin Peaks should stop right there. Happy Town is more accessible to mainstream audiences, though it still throws enough oddities in the mix to satisfy the more serious television fan.

This post will not have spoilers beyond those that can be seen in the promotional trailer for the series. Haplin, Minnesota is a quaint little town, home of “Daily Bread” bakery and confectionery, and a mysterious character called “the Magic Man.” The Magic Man earned his name because for eight consecutive years, someone would go missing, never to be heard from again. The missing residents were all children or teenagers. Suddenly, five years ago, the disappearances abruptly came to an end, and the townspeople have been enjoying a peaceful community.

The calm is shattered when a brutal murder is discovered. This time a body is quickly found, but rumors begin swirling about the Magic Man. Town sheriff Griffin Conroy is joined by his son (and fellow deputy) Tommy Conroy, and the two start investigating the murder. Griffin starts having some very odd spells where he seems entranced, and he keeps speaking of “Chloe”. As soon as he snaps back to reality, he has no idea what he has just said. Naturally, this concerns his son.

Suprise! Sequel For ‘How To Train Your Dragon’ On The Way

Posted on April 28, 2010

As if it was ever in question, Dreamworks was so pleased with the results that How To Train Your Dragon has brought in over the past month, pulling in nearly $400 million worldwide, that they are already gearing up for a sequel.

As if the films monetary success wasn’t enough, in an unprecedented turn of events, the film had a resurgence in popularity 4 weeks after it’s initial release, picking up the #1 spot over Warner’s The Losers and Lionsgate’s Kick-Ass. In a recent press release from Dreamworks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, they seem to be pleased with the results of the film, and believe that it was all thanks to the 3D medium.

2010 is off to a strong start, thanks in large part to the performance of ‘How to Train Your Dragon,’ which – having grossed nearly $375 million to date in worldwide box office – has become DreamWorks Animation’s next franchise. We plan to release the sequel theatrically in 2013.

3D continues to have a tremendous impact on the industry at large and we are now looking forward with great anticipation to bringing ‘Shrek Forever After,’ the final chapter in our beloved ‘Shrek’ series and the first in 3D, to audiences across the globe next month.

So there you have it. Dreamworks seems quite pleased with themselves, and rather than wait to see how the film fares against this summer’s blockbusters like Iron Man 2 or Robin Hood, they are cutting their losses and planning on the next film already.

You can also expect to see just about every upcoming Dreamworks animated (and probably live action) film to embrace 3D technology over the next 5 years.

The Flickcast – Episode 53: New Nightmare

Posted on April 28, 2010

This week on The Flickcast, Chris and Matt discuss new and recurring topics. Some of these include The Avengers, The Losers, Avatar, Cabin in the Woods, How to Train Your Dragon, cool technology, upcoming releases of A Nightmare on Elm Street and Iron Man 2 and the nature of journalism.

They also make some great picks this week including Matt’s pick of the awesome keyboard dock for the iPad and Chris’ pick of the Blu-ray release of Avatar.

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.