The Flickcast

Full Trailer for ‘Toy Story 3’ Goes Online

Posted on October 13, 2009

Those who were able to get out to the theaters over the past week to catch Toy Story 1 & 2 in 3D got a glimpse of the brand new trailer for the third installment of the franchise Toy Story 3. The trailer is now online, and it may have just been worth the 11 year wait.

The film picks up years after 1999’s Toy Story 2. Andy has grown up, and is now heading off to college. He realizes he won’t be able to bring his beloved toys with him, so he’s forced to sell them to the highest bidder. It just so happens that the bidder is a local day care with unruly kids.

The toys decide to rebel and attempt an escape in what looks to be a great revisiting of the beloved characters. Though Jim Varney has passed way, everybody else is back for the ride this time, including Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, John Ratzenberger, Don Rickles, and Wallace Shawn. Joining the cast this time is Michael Keaton, R. Lee Ermey, Bonnie Hunt, and Whoopi Goldberg.

Catch Toy Story 3 in theaters June 18, 2010. Watch the brand new extended trailer after the jump.

ABC Picks Up ‘Modern Family’ and ‘Cougar Town’

Posted on October 13, 2009

cougartown The last few years of television have shown us that the ratings darlings were either reality/competition shows, vast plots and casts where a suspension of belief were necessary, or the use of a microscope was employed… every week. Don’t call it a comeback, but times are a-changin’.

According to Variety, ABC has given full-season orders to Modern Family and Cougar Town, both sitcoms – “situation comedies” in case you’ve forgotten – revolving around normal, every-day characters and families dipped in abnormal circumstances. Even The Middle has scored enough viewership to convince the network to re-up and fortify its Wednesday comedy block, which has so far outperformed the same time slot from last year when the now-canceled Pushing Daisies and relocated Private Practice used to reside.

Is this a sign that sitcoms will once again return to prominence and dominate the airwaves? Possibly, however a case can be made for established television stars going back to the well and finding success with a new vehicle. Both Cougar Town and The Middle have comedic veterans as their centerpiece – Courteney Cox Arquette and Patricia Heaton, respectively – while Modern Family provides a good mixture of new talent with familiar faces that has been agreeable with viewers. As with anything television-related, stay tuned.

Horror Review: ‘Trick ‘r Treat’

Posted on October 13, 2009

Trick ‘r Treat is yet another horror film that has been severely mishandled over the last few years. A few other notables are Paranormal Activity (finally out in theaters) and All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (collecting dust on a shelf somewhere). Trick ‘r Treat was shown at a few genre film festivals last year and a few this year as well. It was received by the audiences with giddy, glowing praise, and was heralded an instant Halloween classic.

Then it sat on a shelf with no release date. Fortunately, Warner Brothers threw us horror buffs a bone and released it last week on DVD. It promptly sold out, which demonstrated the pent up demand to see this movie.

Admittedly, it has been over-hyped a bit. It is not among the best horror movies ever made, but it is really fun. It actually celebrates the traditions of Halloween, and is unique in that respect. In the town where the story takes place, candy still needs to be carefully checked for razors and poison, and you don’t disregard the rules of Halloween. Namely, never blow out the candle in a jack-o-lantern, lest bad things happen.

NBC Signs Thomas Lennon and Ben Garant For New Series

Posted on October 13, 2009

Let’s be honest, everybody who had ever sat through an episode of Reno 911 in its 6 years on the air knows how heartbreaking it was when the show got canceled two months ago. The show kept the flame of MTV’s The State burning for over a decade after the show had originally aired. It looks like NBC feels the same way, as they have hired Reno creators Thomas Lennon and Ben Garant for a new comedy series.

Lennon and Garant (who played Reno’s Jim Dangle and Travis Junior respectively) signed a deal with NBC and Universal Media Studios for a pilot commitment, which means if nothing else, we will get one episode. The team will write, star, and executive produce the series.

Those who aren’t fans of Reno or The State may know the written work of Lennon and Garant from the two Night at the Museum films, Balls of Fury, The Pacifier, and the Reno 911 feature film. The team also has a series of scripts in pre-production at a number of other studios.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, NBC was quick to pick up Lennon and Garant after news of their cancelation from Comedy Central:

“Our entire team has long been fans of the work Lennon and Garant have done on ‘Reno 911!’ as well as their comedy films,” NBC president of primetime entertainment Angela Bromstad said, noting that network brass will look for the duo “to come up with a comedy hit.”

No details have been released about the project’s premise or when we can see it hitting our TV’s, but with the purchase happening this week, you can expect to see the pilot premiere with NBC’s Fall 2010 lineup.

Complete ‘Lego Rock Band’ Playlist Revealed

Posted on October 13, 2009

Comic-Con-09--New-songs-for-LEGO-Rock-Band-1 Good news for all the rockers and Lego fans everywhere! The entire Lego Rock Band set list was released for both the PS3/Xbox 360 and Nintendo DS versions of the game and includes songs from Queen, Bon Jovi, P!NK, Jimi Hendrix and Blur. Warner Bros. and MTV Games also announced that tracks from the Rock Band Store will be available for play within Lego Rock Band, and for $9.99 (800 Microsoft Points), the Lego Rock Band tracks can be exported for play in any other Rock Band games. An internet connection will be required for this export.

LEGO Rock Band will feature everything we know and love about the previous Rock Band games as well as the family-friendly, silly antics gamers have come to expect from the LEGO franchise. Players will be able to design their whole band as well as their roadies and manager. Keeping with the family-friendly theme, only songs that are suitable for all-ages will be available for purchase and play within the Lego Rock Band store.

Lego Rock Band will be coming to your Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and Nintendo DS consoles this holiday season. While you get ready to rock, check out the full track listing for all versions of the game after the jump.

Comic Review: ‘Kill Audio’

Posted on October 12, 2009

Kill Audio #1 – Boom! Studios – $3.99

Score: 8.5

Back at San Diego Comic-Con, I had the pleasure of sitting down to talk to Claudio Sanchez, lead singer of Coheed and Cambria and writer of the Amory Wars about his upcoming comic release from Boom! Studios entitled Kill Audio. Check out the interview here (Part 1 and Part 2). This week, Kill Audio hit shelves and delivered upon what we were expecting from my talk with Claudio and brought a whole lot more to the table as well.

In addition to the knives that through knives, the angry and unstable lead character who cannot die and is constantly haunted by the Fix-ler who is always trying to kill him and of course the jive talking, blow snorting chicken that Claudio had talked to us about, Kill Audio also brings to life a plethora of new and outrageous characters in a complete insane fantasy world that felt like a mix of the land of Brutal Legend and Oz (from both the classic Judy Garland film and the HBO jail series scarily enough).

The issue starts off with the title character Kill Audio running from knives that throw knives before he is pulled “out of harm’s way” by the Fix-ler. After failing yet again to off Kill Audio, they have a brief conversation that sets Kill Audio off on his Wizard of Oz-like journey to search for his higher purpose. Along the way, he encounters Chi-co, the above mentioned constantly hallucinating coke addicted poultry, in his efforts to reach the Watchtower. Also on the way, the duo is joined by the Beav, who looks like a drunken prodigal son of Death, and his little pillow companion DJ.

TV RECAP: ‘Dollhouse – Belle Chose’

Posted on October 12, 2009

Tahmoh Penikett, Joss Whedon and Eliza Dushku Fan favorite, Joss Whedon’s TV show Dollhouse, is kind of like going back for a third date with someone you know can’t get it up. This week’s episode, “Belle Chose”, has the plot of a porno. Echo (Eliza Dushku) takes the implant to be an English student, and is contracted by a lonely English teacher. Yet another Battlestar Galactica alumni Michael Hogan (Colonel Tigh) guest stars on this episode and he has issues with Adelle DeWitt (Olivia Williams), the woman who runs this particular Dollhouse.

She informs Tigh that his nephew is a serial killer who kidnaps people that look similar to their family. He’s a dangerous guy, having smashed a woman’s skull with a croquet malet at the beginning of the episode. After the bludgeoning, Serial Killer gets hit by a car trying to kidnap another woman to replace the woman he just killed.

This puts him in a coma, and Tigh hires the Dollhouse to reconstitute his consciousness in an Active — which they do in Victor. He eventually tells Tahmoh Penikett how he (the Serial Killer) did it. Though Tigh releases him, and Victor escapes him on foot. Its at this point that Xander, I mean Topher, gets the idea to do a remote wipe of all the actives so that Victor doesn’t get all serial killer on someone.

This works, but Echo and Victor’s personalities exchange and Victor becomes a 19 year-old co-ed at a dance club, and Echo becomes the serial killer. Eventually, she flips out among the kidnapped women, and as she loses control of her multiple personalities she manages to hold back the Serial Killer until her Handler (Penikett) comes to the rescue.

Review: ‘The Boys Are Back’

Posted on October 12, 2009

The Boys Are Back opens with Joe (Clive Owen) blasting through the surf of an undisclosed beach in his Land Rover Discovery, kicking up water and sand as he clips along at a rather impressive speed. He gleefully laughs, then we see the trunk of the SUV, adorned with Joe’s son, who of course thinks this is great fun. As soon as the son entered the picture, I became white knuckled, and fretted over the safety of the actor portraying Joe’s son. I never really recovered from that scene, and kind of despised Joe throughout the movie. That makes is rather difficult to be sympathetic to his plight.

Joe is a sports writer at an Australian newspaper, and is happily married with a seven year old son, Artie (Nicholas McAnulty). He travels frequently for work and is somewhat of an absentee father. His wife Katy (played by Laura Fraser) pretty much runs the household entirely on her own. Unfortunately, his wife gets cancer and dies (no spoilers, it happens in the first 5 minutes). The opening scenes are quite upsetting, and I should caution you if you have a loved one suffering from a terminal illness, you might want to skip this movie.

Thrust into the role of primary caregiver, Joe fails miserably. Dishes and laundry pile up, and questionable food items become the norm (ketchup with noodles, anyone?). In the real world, his household would be a prime target for Child Protective Services. The movie depicts Joe’s struggle running the household quite realistically. Complicating matters further, Joe’s teenage son from a previous marriage decides that this is the appropriate time to go hang out with the father who abandoned him when he was six years old.

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