The Flickcast

‘Spartacus: Blood and Sand’ Season 2 Potentially Delayed

Posted on April 22, 2010

Andy Whitfield

Here at The Flickcast there is near unanimous love for the Starz Spartacus: Blood and Sand series. With its blatant gladiator-driven homo-eroticism, 300-level gore, violence and the treacherous characters whose destinies are tied to the sands of the Roman Arena of Capua and the House of Batiatus, there’s something for everyone.

Unfortunately, Spartacus lead Andy Whitfield has been diagnosed with a treatable form of non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, which leaves fans wondering just how Starz will handle Andy’s indefinite leave from the show while he is in treatment. A recent statement from Starz Entertainment indicates that it will postpone production on season 2, titled ‘Spartacus: Vengeance,’ while Whitfield undergoes cancer treatments.

Show writer Maurissa Tancharoe, elaborates via Twitter: “The second season is still happening; however, it is on hold at the moment due to star Andy Whitfield’s health problems.” Another tweet seemed to reassure fans that season 2 is definitely not cancelled declaring, “Season two of #Spartacus has NOT been cancelled. Don’t know where that rumor came from.”

Rumors have also surfaced that a prequel series could be under way with a younger actor filling Whitfield’s role as Spartacus, but it’s not clear if Lucy Lawless and John Hannah will be starring in that as well. NY Magazine seems to be confirming that Starz will be developing a 6-episode mini-series prequel to keep momentum going with the show’s nearly one million weekly viewers. Whatever happens, we wish Andy Whitfield a speedy recovery.

Stan Lee’s Cameo in ‘Thor’ Revealed

Posted on April 22, 2010

While a few faces may change in the Marvel movies (like Eric Bana to Ed Norton) or some actors may cross over (like Chris Evans playing Johnny Storm and Captain America), there is always one consant: the Stan Lee Cameo. He’s made an appearance in just about every Marvel film since they started with X-Men back in 2000.

It seems with this new wave of Marvel films coming up, even “The Man” isn’t getting a break. We get to see Stan as “Larry King” coming up in Iron Man 2, and we’re now getting word of where he’ll pop up in the upcoming Thor film. From Fanboyweb.com

Thor’s hammer ( Mjolnir ) is found lying inside a crater in the middle of the road by the U.S. Army. The army tries to move it but can’t because it’s too heavy. They decide to bring in a truck for assistance. The soldiers tie Thor’s hammer to the back of the truck with chains. The truck driver accelerates to pull Mjohnir. The back half of the truck falls apart as the front keeps moving. Finally, the camera cuts to the driver who happens to be comic legend Stan Lee.

Some may think it’s campy, but most think it’s a nice homage to the man who first thought up concepts like a scientists who’s hit by gamma rays or a teenager who’s bit by a radioactive spider. It’s nice to see that no matter what, we can always expect to see his smiling mustachioed face.

Next question is, where does Stan fit in to the upcoming films that have yet to start shooting? Could he be a delivery man knocking on the doors of Avengers Mansion? Is he the kind, old janitor that first stumbles onto The Ant-Man? Will he play a Nazi getting sucker-punched by Captain America? Only time will tell.

Facebook F8 Conference Recap: Expanding the Reach of Social Networking

Posted on April 22, 2010

Facebook's "Open Graph" Concept

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced a series of updates integral to their next-gen Facebook Platform today at their third annual f8 conference held in San Francisco. At the heart of these updates is the technology to allow Facebook data to flow more easily outside the carefully-controlled confines of Facebook itself.

Building on the success and widespread adoption of Facebook Connect, first announced at the inaugural f8 in 2008, a new concept dubbed “Open Graph” will expose your Facebook connections and public data to third-party web sites and mobile apps. In doing so, these outside services can better personalize your experience based on the data it finds. Expect the data to flow in two directions as services like Pandora, Yelp, Foursquare and other connected services feed even more behavioral data into your personal Open Graph.

You can easily imagine a scenario wherein after analyzing your Foursquare check-ins, Yelp decides that you really have a thing for Thai food and helpfully displays all of the Thai Restaurants in your immediate area upon start-up. Or perhaps you’ve favorited so many female singer-songwriter tracks at your favorite music-streaming service, that Yelp notifies you that Sara Barailles is playing at the Hotel Cafe nearby in Los Angeles this evening.

If you’re anything like me, you’re probably marveling at the glorious levels of personalization you might experience while simultaneously cringing at the potential privacy issues that Open Graph may unleash on unsuspecting users. But wait, there’s more!

‘UFC Undisputed 2010’ Career Mode Video Released

Posted on April 21, 2010

Today is a big day for fighting games. With the trailer for Marvel vs. Capcom 3 hitting the net and a new video being released for UFC Undisputed 2010’s Career mode, could this mean that genre that once defined the 90s could be making a move to overtake shooters as the most popular? While that statement might be taking things a little too far, it is true that fighting games have been on an upswing. With the success of last year’s UFC Undisputed and Street Fighter 4, things are definitely looking up.

In the trailer below, a first look is given at the drastic changes to the career mode of UFC Undisputed 2010. Trying to add more of a story element to the game, players will be given interactive weigh-ins and interviews where they can decide their fighters responses to create rivalries in addition to their basic training regime.

Game Tracking will allow the computer to learn your style, encouraging creativity in how someone fights. A player cannot hope to win every fight with the same maneuver. Opponents will learn and come up with strategies to counter you much like real fighters do by watching tapes before upcoming matches.

For added customizability, players don’t just customize the look of their fighter. They will be able to pick and choose the training camps available to their fighter. Different camps allow for different specialized training while working alongside experts in each discipline. Players will also take a path similar to real UFC fighters. Instead of just jumping into the UFC with full sponsorship and training, they will have to work their way from the ground up fighting in the WFA before being accepted into higher quality training camps.

Take a peek at the video after the jump and as always, stick to the Flickcast for more information on UFC Undisputed 2010 as it becomes available.

TV RECAP: ‘Justified: The Collection’

Posted on April 21, 2010

Okay, I’m back on board. Last week my faith in Justified was slipping a bit, and I was growing weary of Ava. Fortunately, her screen time was kept to a minimum this week. Raylan was busy investigating an apparent suicide, but he also confronts some latent feelings for ex-wife Winona. We are slowly becoming privy to what makes Raylan tick. Spoilers ahead.

‘The Collection’ begins with Raylan visiting Boyd in prison, in hopes of getting a morsel of information that can put Arlo (his father) away for good. Bad break for Raylan, Boyd has found Jesus while locked up in the big house, and he’s more interested in ministering than spilling Arlo’s secrets. Raylan leaves empty handed.

He joins Ava in the motel room, and the next morning they are interrupted by Art, pounding on the door. A shirtless Raylan (Timothy Olyphant has not been missing any workouts) answers the door and is chided for not answering his phone. Art tells him they need to head to Cincinnati to speak with an art dealer that Owen Carns is trying to sell some artwork to. In the car, Art lays into Raylan about sleeping with Ava.

After visiting with the art dealer, the two arrive at the ranch of Carns, whose property and assets are being seized for some type of money crime committed by Owen. He’s allowed to sell his paintings to the art dealer, but the U.S. Marshals keep the proceeds. Art and Raylan are intrigued and disgusted to find out that the paintings that are being sold are “Hitlers”, original works by a one Adolf, to be precise. The art dealer collects “Hitlers.” He proclaims the paintings to be fakes.

Go Behind The Scenes Of ‘NINE’ With a New Featurette

Posted on April 21, 2010

While director Rob Marshall is curruntly donning his tri-corner hat and swashbuckling pants for Pirate of the Caribbean 4: On Stranger Tides, he’s still doing some press for his film Nine, which hits DVD and Blu-ray on May 4th.

Marshall’s Nine made a few splashes last year, getting nominated for four Academy Awards and winning a few Satellite Awards. Marshall managed to take the excitement and aesthetic of 2002’s Chicago and put it into the setting of Italian cinema in the late 1960s.

The film also spared no expense on cast with names like Daniel Day-Lewis, Penélope Cruz, Fergie, Kate Hudson, Nicole Kidman, and Judi Dench. We’ll be bringing you more features from the DVD release as we draw closer to the date, so stay tuned. Meanwhile, check out a look at director Rob Marshall after the jump.

First Trailer for ‘Marvel vs. Capcom 3’ Hits the ‘Net

Posted on April 21, 2010

When it originally hit arcades, Marvel vs. Capcom 2: A New Age of Heroes dominated the coin-op world. It continued success on consoles and made a return last summer as an XBLA and PlayStation Network title. Nine years after its original release and with a $15 price tag, it still was one of the most popular releases of 2009.

Yesterday, Capcom announced Marvel vs. Capcom 3: The Fate of Two Worlds and released it’s first trailer to the world. With what looks like the visual stylings of Street Fighter 4’s, Marvel vs. Capcom 3 still has a lot of questions left on the table. Will it still be a tag system in combat? Who is the full cast of the game? And what is this “Fate of Two Worlds” story they look to be pushing? Capcom’s official press release told us:

It’s been a decade since Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes was first released and now the most popular Marvel and Capcom characters join forces again in a re-envisioned team fighting game for a new generation. Fill the shoes of legendary characters from the most beloved franchises in entertainment as you battle in the first VS. Fighting game powered by Capcom’s MT Framework.

As you can tell, we are already excited for this release since we have been waiting for it for years. The game will be released for PS3 and XBox 360 in the Spring of 2011. In the meantime, check out the first trailer after the jump.

The Flickcast – Episode 52: The Doctor Is In

Posted on April 21, 2010

This week on The Flickcast Chris and Matt are joined by comics historian and host of Crazy Sexy Geeks Series Alan Kistler to talk about all manner of new and exciting topics. Among those discussed include reactions and commentary on Kick-Ass, the new incarnation of Doctor Who featuring Matt Smith, Joss Whedon’s direction and vision for The Avengers, the postponment of the next James Bond film, great comics of the past, present and future and a whole lot more.

The three also made some great picks this week including Alan’s pick of The Losers movie and more, Matt’s pick of Martin Campbell’s Cast a Deadly Spell and Chris’ pick of the new comic S.H.I.E.L.D.

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.