The Flickcast

The Flickcast Presents: Best Video Games of 2009 – Part 2

Posted on December 24, 2009

In the first half of The Best Video Games of 2009, we saw Best Portable, Wii, Playstation 3 and XBox 360 Exclusive titles. Now things are ramping up on the way to the Game of the Year.

Best Music Game

Tie – The Beatles: Rock Band and DJ Hero

The Rock Band / Guitar Hero formula has been done to death at this point. Players play songs in a set list to unlock more music. Repeat as many times as needed until all songs have been unlocked. But it was 2009 that the music game genre took two big steps forward. As loved as Metallica is, their Guitar Hero installment couldn’t hold a candle to the weight of the legacy that the Beatles would bring with them in The Beatles: Rock Band. For the first time, there was a career spanning take on the legendary act with amazing and unique visuals attuned to the songs being played out.

With the addition of harmonies for the first time in any music game, The Beatles: Rock Band stepped up the feel of being in a full band to another level. Along with the unrivaled set list that only the Beatles could produce, the game has a shelf life that can outlast the pop-centric songs of current game releases.

A little over a month later, music gaming took another leap but this time into the unknown. Many people grow up hoping to become famous musicians at one point in their life but nowhere near as many look to become famous DJs. DJ Hero from Activision brought in masters of turntablism with the likes of the original hip-hop DJ Grand Master Flash to DJ Jazzy Jeff to electronica legends Daft Punk in the ultimate mashup collection.

Kevin Smith’s ‘Cop Out’ Gets A Trailer

Posted on December 24, 2009

cop-out After months of debate, Warner Bros. and Kevin Smith have finally come to terms on a title for their newest picture The movie, now known as Cop Out, stars Bruce Willis, Tracy Morgan, and Sean William Scott.

The film, originally titled “Couple of Dicks” then a “Couple of Cops”, is the story of two cops who are trying to find a rare and very expensive baseball card, and the fanatical gangster who wants it. Willis’ character, Jimmy, needs to get the card back in order to pay for his daughter’s wedding. His partner, Paul (Morgan), is too obsessed with his wife’s infidelity to really stay focused on the job.

Having gone through that synopsis, this trailer covers none of that. What we get is a lot of Willis and Morgan being funny, and a movie that looks (almost) nothing like anything that Kevin Smith has ever done before. The script comes from fresh screenwriters Robb and Mark Cullen (TV’s Las Vegas).

Check out the first trailer for the film after the jump, and catch Smith’s Cop Out in theaters on February 26th.

Happy Holidays!

Posted on December 23, 2009

christmas-tree

As families shop for gifts, travel to be with loved ones and make final preparations for the holiday season, we here at The Flickcast are doing the same. In order to let our contributors have some fun during the holidays and spend time with their families, we are taking some time off during the next couple weeks.

Consequently, we will have a reduced posting schedule for articles. Of course, if any breaking news hits, we’ll bring it to you. Also, we will have more in our series of “Best Of 2009” articles covering topics such as movies and games, so be sure and watch out for those.

In addition, we won’t be having a podcast this week. However, we will return next week with our “Best Of” edition of The Flickcast podcast where we will discuss everything movie, tv, comics, games and geek we thought was the best of 2009 and of the decade. So, be sure to check that out next Wednesday right here and in iTunes.

For now, we thank you for being here and from all of us at The Flickcast, we wish you the best for the holiday season and for the new year.

Here’s to a happy, healthy and even better 2010!

The Flickcast Presents: Best Video Games of 2009 – Part 1

Posted on December 23, 2009

2009 was a huge year for gaming. With some games not living up to lofty expectations, others took the reins set before them and ran with them further than many expected. Batman: Arkham Asylum proved it was possible to make a great game based on Batman, though it took the video game industry over 25 years to figure out how to accomplish that.

Wolverine: Origins proved that games based off movies didn’t have to be bad and in the eyes of many surpassed the quality of the film that inspired it. Legends were reborn as the Beatles were featured in their own Rock Band game. Yes, it was a momentous year for gaming which leads us to proudly present these awards for the Best Video Games of 2009.

Best Playstation 3 Exclusive Game

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune was easily one of the best early releases for the Playstation 3. But the problem is no one knew about it who didn’t have the system. A fantastic game, it fell victim to the lack of Playstation 3’s being in consumers’ homes. Knowing the gem they had their hands on, Sony made sure to give Uncharted 2: Among Thieves a spotlight at this year’s E3 along with a strong marketing push when it was released this year.

‘The Karate Kid’ Trailer Goes Online

Posted on December 23, 2009

I defy you to find an 80’s child who doesn’t recognize it when someone poses for the “Crane Kick.” The move was made legendary when it was used to win the “All Valley Karate Championship” at the end of 1984’s The Karate Kid. The film was the beginning of a franchise that became an institution for tons of teens during that decade, and now they’ve gone and remade it.

The reboot stars Jackie Chan as “Mr. Han” and Jaden Smith (The Day the Earth Stood Still and Will Smith’s son), as “Dre Parker.” It’s an updated story that takes the setting from Southern California to Beijing. Mr. Han will be teaching Dre karate (or maybe it will be kung-fu – most American audiences don’t know the difference) and putting him through workouts that might strain Jean Claude van Damme.

The movie also features Taraji P. Henson (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) as Dre’s mother and has Harald Zwart (The Pink Panther 2, One Night at McCool’s) in the director’s chair. I have to admit there are a couple of cute and funny moments in the trailer, all involving Chan’s interaction with Smith.

There’s even a nice nod to the fly-catching scene in the original film. The only problem I see so far is that the “Crane Kick” seems to have been replaced with a high-splits kick – which just isn’t as cool.

Check out the trailer and let us know what you think.

‘Doctor Who’ Special Breaks Records On BBC America

Posted on December 23, 2009

With a show that has it’s highest country-wide ratings on a broadcast during Christmas Day, which over shadow any ratings we have for any show here in the US, doesn’t it make sense that we finally get on board the Doctor Who craze? According the a BBC America press release, a recent special has broken records that nobody saw coming:

Television’s longest running hit science fiction series, Doctor Who, has never been bigger in the U.S. On Saturday, December 19, Doctor Who: The Waters of Mars delivered BBC AMERICA its highest ever primetime rating and delivery in total viewers and A25-54.

Over 1.1million viewers watched the program on Saturday, ranking BBC AMERICA #13 in coverage rating during the premiere among ad supported cable nets for A25-54.

DVD Review: ‘District 9’

Posted on December 23, 2009

Out on DVD and Blu-Ray this week, District 9 is a new sci-fi masterpiece from writer/director Neill Blomkamp and produced by Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings). The film is a documentary-style account about a race of aliens marooned on earth who have been quarantined in a shantytown, known by humans as District 9, on the outskirts of Johannesburg, South Africa.

The film has an “apartheid” metaphor in that the aliens (referred derogatorily by humans as “Prawns” because they look like crustaceans) represent an oppressed minority, all while the humans see the aliens as a nuisance and want to be rid of them once and for all. The film mainly focuses on two main characters; a human who was the head of a relocation program for the aliens, and an alien trying to find a way to return home to his planet.

Special features for the disc include a series of interesting deleted scenes that never made it into the final cut. Director commentary from Neill Blomkamp shows how the concept of District 9 was turned into a reality. In the special feature “Metamorphosis: The Transformation of Wikus”, we see behind the scenes footage of how the F/X team slowly turned actor Sharlto Copley from a human into a “Prawn.” Two other features include a concept design with production planners into creating the world of District 9 and the dazzling special effects that were generated for the film.

‘Avatar’ Showing It Might Have Some Legs

Posted on December 23, 2009

Box Office Mojo has reported that Avatar added another $16 million to it’s box office on Monday. Considering the soft opening that the movie had over the weekend ($77 Million), due to sold out shows and a snow storm that hit most of the east coast, this might just be the beginning of some staying power for James Cameron’s latest project. Titanic, the previous Cameron film released 12 years ago, managed to stay in theaters for almost 11 months, which helped to make it one of the top box office earners in history.

Compared with one of this year’s other financial heavy-hitters, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, which opened to around $102 Million in June but only made $14 Million on the Monday following it’s opening weekend. They’re slightly comparable in that both were released during a time when families and younger fans have more free-time, with Independence Day being the following weekend for Transformers 2, and Christmas coming this weekend, which is Avatar‘s second weekend .

It’ll be interesting to see how well Avatar is able to hold on, between the varied opinions on the film, the positive word of mouth, and the opening of another potential box office smash with Robert Downey Jr. and Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes. Whether or not Avatar proves itself to be the next financial Titanic or not, it’s sure to be an epic clash at the box office this weekend.

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