The Flickcast – Page 770 of 1030 – Stuff Nerds Love

Tribeca Announces Full Film Fest Schedule

While most of the eyes in film are on either SXSW or ShoWest out on the West Coast, folks out on the East Coast are gearing up for Tribeca Film Festival coming up next month. Last week, the fest announced the first group of films, which included the World Narrative films, the Documentaries, as well as Showcases and Special Events.

Now, the festival is getting a bit more star-heavy, as films starring such actors as Colin Farrell, Robert Duvall, Casey Affleck, and even Jessica Alba have joined the list of those titles appearing at the fest. All of these films are now coming to the festival this year, as well as the world premiere of Shrek Forever After.

The fest runs from April 21st to May 2nd. Check out the full list of new films after the jump, and be sure to keep it here, as the full list of film shorts will be announced on March 18th.

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Justice Society to Return to ‘Smallville’

Smallville fans have a lot to be happy about these days. The CW has officially renewed the show for its tenth season after strong performances on Friday nights and a creative resurgence due in no small part to the airing of “Absolute Justice,”  the two part Justice Society episode by Geoff Johns. Here’s one more reason to jump on your couch and get excited. The JSA will return to Smallville before the season 9 finale.

MTV’s Splash Page reports from last weekend’s Emerald City Comic-Con at Comics Alliance, Johns said that “[The JSA] do appear again at the end of season on Smallville.” Additionally, Johns stated, “The hope is for every DC character to appear outside the comic books. Correctly.”

This isn’t the only hint that the JSA would bbe back soon. In November, Michael Shanks (Hawkman) hinted to fans he might be returning in future episodes to mentor Clark Kent.

“Clark and his friends are figuring out what their destinies will be, so there is a ripe opportunity for the Justice Society who had been there done that to offer some tough love teaching,” said Shanks.“The way things land at the end of it all, there’s an open door for Carter Hall to be revisited and possibly be part of further mentoring Clark down the road.”

Additionally, Johns has also hinted that Darkseid and the dark gods of Apokolips may appear in season ten of Smallville.

No More Hulk for Edward Norton?

It sounds like the only “green” we’ll see Edward Norton dealing with in the near future will be for his upcoming film Leaves of Grass.  Speaking at SXSW, Norton was asked about whether he would be doing a sequel to The Incredible Hulk.  For fans of his take on the Hulk, his answer is somewhat disappointing:

“I don’t think so,” he said. “I think it has got more to do with what Marvel is doing. I get the sense they have this grand vision of unspooling a lot of their characters and then starting to put them together. I think they can only do so many at a time. Obviously, they are doing Iron Man 2 and then getting some of the new ones out.”

I’ll be the first to admit The Incredible Hulk was by no means awesome, but it was pretty good entertainment.  If nothing else, Norton’s portrayal of Bruce Banner was great, so it’s unfortunate he may not return.  So, if he’s not on board for another Hulk film what about the other Marvel tie-in films like Thor and The First Avenger: Captain America?

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Machinima Mondays: ‘Ultrahouse 13: Mega Kitchen’

Sometimes we watch Machinima because it tells a compelling story with some of our favorite characters. Most of the time we end up watching it because we appreciate a quick, cheap laugh. Ultrahouse 13: Mega Kitchen comes from an entirely different perspective: amazine visuals. You are probably asking how a Machinima could bring amazing visuals if it is just taking footage captured from a game.

Ultrahouse 13 uses the assets from the Half-Life 2 engine and places them in a real life house. Combine soldiers, no taller than a few inches, storm their way through a home and deal with resistance fighters along the way. The Combine don’t come alone as they are quickly joined by a Strider walker and drop-ship. But the rebels don’t go down easy as they defend their home with a gigantic DOG robot.

The short presentation seems very reminiscent of the style of “Ataque de Panico” which led to director Fede Alvarez being signed to Sam Raimi’s studio. Not to say that a “simple” Half-Life 2 Machinima will bring massive success to an aspiring effects artist, but after seeing what was accomplished here, it wouldn’t a huge surprise to see creator Eddie Smithson’s name in the credits of the silver screen someday soon.

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Welcome To the Age Of Sexy, Televised History!

When you say the word “history” out loud, it’s usually met with a chorus of groans. “I hated history in school! All those dates and crap! So boring.” It’s depressing.

History, if taught right, is a story.  (That’s why it has “story” embedded into it. No joke.) It’s not names, dates, and places. It’s blood and sex, with a dash of art and higher aspirations. It’s the stuff you pay to watch in theaters or on HBO but with the kicker that it actually happened.

I couldn’t be happier that television has decided to take that idea and run crazy with it. The new trend on cable is taking finding some notorious era of history, populated with sex and swearing, and spin a few seasons out of it. HBO kicked off the trend with Rome and Deadwood (and promptly broke our hearts in the process), and now Showtime and Starz have taken up the gauntlet.

Showtime has been happily running around Renaissance England with The Tudors, which is about to wrap up in its fourth season now that Henry VIII is coming to the end of his wives. While it’s played a little fast and loose with history, it’s been a sumptuous watch, and fans won’t have to look far for a replacement.

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Get Ready For The Future With The First Ever Interactive Horror Film

Every once and awhile, a groundbreaking idea creeps into the world of film and has experts and connoisseurs puzzled at exactly how it will play out to a mass audience. Whether it’s something like 3D that hits it big, or something that flops like “4D”, there is always room for new ideas and potential leaps in technology when it comes to the theatrical experience.

13th Street, a production company out of Germany, has recently tested out their newest project, which combines the classic horror film with the interactivity of a modern game show. Each viewer uses their cell phone to call in to the service and at the beginning of the film, one of them is chosen at random to “speak directly” with the film’s protagonist. From there, that person gives voice commands that dictate which direction the character will go, and what they will say.

Obviously, there are some pretty big potential flaws with this idea, such as “who wants to watch a movie when it’s encouraged for some jerk to scream at the screen?” or “why would I spend money for somebody else to interact with the film?” These are all valid points, which means that we could still be years away from seeing this project take off internationally.

The sheer idea that something like this is on the way only means that we’re getting that much closer to a Back to the Future 2-like lifestyle, which is exciting in it’s own right. Check out the trailer for Last Call and see exactly how it all works after the jump.

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Lady Gaga (and Cartman) Coming to ‘Rock Band’

Regardless of how you feel about her, Lady Gaga is certainly a pop culture sensation. Fans across the globe are going ga-ga for her newest music video “Telephone” featuring Beyonce, which just hit the web. This week, they’ll be able to rock out to some of her previous hits, including “Bad Romance” and “Poker Face,” which are coming to the Rock Band store.

What’s even more exciting, and hilarious, is that Eric Cartman’s cover version of “Poker Face” is also slated for Rock Band release. The song was first heard on a South Park episode where Cartman would rather play Rock Band than save whales being slaughtered by Japanese terrorists. The cover has been the subject of many a YouTube video, including some remixes with Lady Gaga’s original version, and the version sung/spoken by the amazing Christopher Walken.

Not sure how much fun the original Lady Gaga songs will be to play on Rock Band, but the Cartman version is sure to be a favorite. The Lady Gaga Track Pack and the rest of the new songs available for Rock Band will be released March 16th for Xbox 360 and Wii, and March 18th for the PS3. Here’s the full list of songs.

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War Movie Mondays: ‘Zulu Dawn’

Zulu Dawn (1979) is the prequel to the 1964 film Zulu which tells the story of a proud British army which suffered the worst defeat ever inflicted by a native army during the Victorian era. Burt Lancaster (Colonel Anthony Durnford), Peter O’ Toole (Lord Frederick Chelmsford), Simon Ward (Lt. William Vereker), Bob Hoskins (Sgt-Major Willams), James Faulkner (Lt. Melvill and film’s producer), Denholm Elliot (Lt. Col. Henry Pulliene), and Sir John Mills (Sir Henry Bartle Frere) head the cast of British officers and bureaucrats which began the legendary Anglo-Zulu war.

The film is a rather well researched account of the battle at Isandlwana. This was in Zulu land which bordered the British colony of Natal in South Africa. In January, 1879. Sir Henry Bartle Frere (Mills) is the High Commissioner for her majesty Queen Victoria who along with Lord Chelmsford (O’ Toole), insight a war against King Cetshwayo, the King of the Zulu people who rules in ways that the British view as a threat to their colony and hegemony in the region.

After a British ultimatum to disband his army, Cetshwayo refuses to capitulate to the British and the war begins. Lord Chelmsford leads his army which consists of two battalions of the 24th regiment of foot, to cross the Buffalo River which divides the border of the Zulu territory. Believing that their technological superiority will aid them in victory, the British send 1350 troops against a Zulu army of 25,000.

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