The Flickcast – Page 779 of 1030 – Stuff Nerds Love

The Flickcast’s ‘On The Radar’

There’s a lot of interesting stuff on the radar this week. An Avatar alumni could face off against Conan, Modern Warfare developers bring a fight to Activision, and director Guy Ritchie may be breathing new life into the heroes of Camelot.

Fox finds its shadow for $1 million and David Slade may be the man

Fans of the comic book series The Shadow rejoice as it seems the reboot continues to move forward.  While it was thought Sony and director Sam Raimi (Spider-Man, Army of Darkness) would bring a new version of the character to the big screen things have changed somewhat.

After Raimi began shopping the property around Fox decided to purchase the rights. Sadly, it sounds like Raimi may no longer direct, possibly replaced by David Slade.  Slade directed the vampire film Thirty Days of Night which, unfortunately, felt just that long in the theater. Here’s hoping he can put a little more adrenaline into The Shadow.

How I Met your…Smurf?

Neil Patrick Harris will be venturing to the land of blue, three apples tall creatures in Smurfs: The Movie.  The How I Met Your Mother star won’t be playing a Smurf though.  As this film will be a mix of live action and animation, Harris will be playing the lead live action character.  Too bad, I would have liked to know just which Smurf he’d play.  “Awesome” Smurf maybe?  Let us know your picks in the comments.

‘Wolverine 2’ starts shooting next January

X-Men Origins: Wolverine was pretty good, but it was missing one thing: ninjas!  Hopefully that will be rectified in the sequel which is set to begin shooting next January.  Delving into Wolvie’s Japanese mythos the script follows stories penned by two pretty big names:

“Based on a story cycle by Frank Miller and Chris Claremont, Wolverine’s adventures in martial arts will be a love story featuring a Japanese actress, I am told. ‘It’s a beautiful story,’ says a source, ‘and will be very different than the first film.'”

Okay, I’m not really sold on the “love story” angle but considering the number of women that went to see Wolverine (pretty much for mutant hunk, Hugh Jackman) at least this will be one you can take your girlfriends to.

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‘Tomb Raider And The Guardians Of Light’ Announced

She’s had scores of games released, two movies and is probably the hottest video game vixen out there. And from the looks of things, everyone’s favorite Tomb Raider, Lara Croft, doesn’t plan on slowing down in 2010. Thursday, Crystal Dynamics, which is a part of Square Enix Europe, announced the next chapter in the Lara Croft story with the upcoming digital download only Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light.

Other than the announcement and logo, very little information has been released about the upcoming title. Darrell Gallagher, General Manager of Crystal Dynamics, says that, “This is a really exciting project for Crystal Dynamics, we have created something completely new and very different to what people might be expecting… Lara Croft is such an iconic character in video games, with Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light we have created what we believe is a truly original digital experience.”

At the moment, Crystal Dynamics has said that Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light will only be seen “behind closed doors” at next week’s GDC conference.

TV RECAP: ‘The Office: The Delivery’

A classic staple of the sitcom, aside from the clip show (hmm, they covered that one a few weeks ago, right?) and the Big Wedding (that one, too) is the Baby Episode. Staples, yes, but also synonymous with jumping the shark.

Fortunately, The Office writers seem aware of this and made the wedding episode, Niagra, one the season’s strongest. On the other hand, the clip show, The Banker, was one of the weakest.

The Delivery, The Office’s Baby Episode falls somewhere in between. In this hour-long installment, Jim and Pam, on the verge of joy-bundling, are determined to hold off on getting to the hospital until the very last minute since their health insurance covers only two nights’ stay. As Pam begins contracting, Michael calls a conference to get her mind off the little fella inside her clawing to get out. Andy performs the evolution of dance (sans music, as it’d just throw him off), Erin recites Kentucky Derby winners, and Michael usefully suggests doing the opposite of 10 Things to Induce Labor.

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It’s Official: Apple’s iPad Available April 3rd

If you’re been waiting for an excuse to use that extra $499.00 you’ve got burning a hole in your wallet, Apple may have just given you one. Today, the company announced, via their website, that it will begin shipping its brand new tablet device, the iPad, on April 3rd and will begin taking pre-orders on March 12th.

This is great news for those of you who want to take your eBook reading to the next level and also for people who never jumped on the Kindle bandwagon. It’s also great news for those of you looking for a super-sized iPhone that will run all those cool apps without having to agree to a lengthy contract with AT&T. Although, if you do want to have such a contract (and 3G wireless), the iPad with 3G will be available later in April, complete with said AT&T contract.

Even though I’ve pointed out a few things I feel the iPad is missing (although some, like the camera, may actually be there after all) I still feel there’s some merit to the device. I would be even more excited if I didn’t already have a Kindle, which I feel, as a “single use” device, is actually better for reading books than the iPad will be.

Still, the iPad definitely has a lot of possibilities and I look forward to exploring those come April 3rd. Expect a full review of the iPad once I get my hands on one. Until then, if this device is truly for you, better start saving those pennies because April 3rd isn’t that far away.

Review: ‘Alice In Wonderland’

Even when he tackles darker subject matter, Tim Burton always manages to bring a touch of whimsy to his films.  On the surface, Alice in Wonderland seems to be the perfect tale for the eccentric filmmaker to put his own spin on. With Alice oscillating wildly between giant and diminutive proportions, two queens vying for control of the land, and anthropomorphic fauna and animals, the tale seems ripe for a wild re-imagining.

Trouble is, Burton leaves the enchantment at home along with warmth and heart. The resulting movie is rather cold, devoid of color and brightness (save for the mad hatter’s shock of orange hair and startling green eyes) and not a lot of fun. I’m not saying that makes it bad, but it was very different from what I was expecting.

In this particular retelling, Alice is a grown woman instead of a little girl. At a large party she learns she is to marry a stodgy bore of a man. She rushes off to be by herself and falls down the rabbit hole into the “underworld.”  There she encounters the characters that we are all familiar with. There is the white rabbit (voiced by Michael Sheen), the Cheshire Cat (Stephen Fry), the stoned-out-of-his-cocoon caterpillar (Alan Rickman), and of course, the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp.)

This version of the  Mad Hatter is a more tragic character with a brutal back story to explain his madness.  I found Depp’s portrayal of the Hatter annoying and frenetic, crazy for the sake of being crazy. He drifts in and out of a heavy Scottish brogue for reasons not immediately clear.  I wish the character had been toned down a bit as I think it would have made him a little more likable.

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Get A Sneak Peek At Tonight’s ‘Caprica’ Featuring James Marsters

After long month of waiting since the news first broke, tonight fans of Buffy and Angel finally get their wish as James Marsters makes his debut on Caprica. Taking on the role of terrorist Barnabus Greely, Marsters will bring the crazy and definitely up the tension even more on this great show.

In the clip we’re introduced to Greely and from the first moment we know he’s not messing around. He’s here to make a difference and will do whatever it takes to get what he wants. It’s great to see Marsters, one of my favorite characters from Buffy and Angel, become a part of my favorite new Sci-Fi show. Now, all things are as they should be.

Check out the preview for tonight’s episode after the break. Caprica airs at 9/8C on Syfy.

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Video Game Sales Bragging Rights for Take-Two

Take-Two Interactive has a lot to be happy about. They were pleased to report that BioShock 2 has already surpassed the 3 million unit sales mark since its February 9th release. At its current pace, it already looks like it will break the 4 million in sales the original game did. Some of the success is likely attributed to simultaneous releases of BioShock 2 on XBox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC as opposed to the staggered releases of the original.

Take-Two also reported their latest epic selling release, Grand Theft Auto IV, has topped the 15 million mark across all platforms. This doesn’t even include the downloadable content or Episodes from Liberty City disc pack sales. It’d be no surprise if this year at E3, a new GTA title was announced whether its GTA 5 or a Vice City or San Andreas update.

In Wii and DS news, Take-Two was proud to say that their Carnival Games series has exceeded the 6 million mark and continues to sell steadily. Like many games on the Wii and DS, Carnival Games is experiencing a longer than usual life cycle which lets Take-Two executives sit back with their feet up and not even have to bother planning a sequel just yet.

First Images & Trailer From Zack Snyder’s ‘Legend of the Guardians’

Originally titled Guardians of the Ga’Hoole, Zack Snyder’s next directorial work, Legend of The Guardians has been picking up quite a lot of steam lately. This is the first thing that Snyder has worked on since he’s finally settled down after the epic task of adapting Alan Moore’s Watchmen last year.

Originally based on the young adult series by Kathryn Lasky, it’s basically an epic adventure of heroism and wonder, but with owls. The book series ended in November of 2008, topping it off at 15 books, and now Snyder and Warner Bros. are planning on taking that success to the world of film.

The film has a pretty huge cast list, as most big-budget CGI films do these days. Sam Neill, Hugo Weaving, Emilie de Ravin, Ryan Kwanten, Jim Sturgess, Geoffrey Rush, and Helen Mirren round out a pretty well known list of players.

USA Today recently got their hands on the first images from the upcoming film, which is currently set for a September 24th release date. Check out the pics along with the very first trailer after the jump, and be sure to keep it here for any new info as we get closer to the release date of Legend of The Guardians.

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