The Flickcast

New Apps Website for Reading Comics on Phones

Posted on August 11, 2009

Comic book fans who have been frustrated with trying to find apps to read their comics in a crowded Apple App Store are one step closer to enjoying one stop shopping. Genus, a software development firm based in L.A. that specializes in mobile devices, has created findcomicapps.com, a website for apps created for reading comics on the iPhone and other mobile platforms.

Publisher’s Weekly describes findcomicapps.com as a site that gathers together 13 different comics mobile app developers—among them Kamikaze, Comixology, Dark Horse, Uclick, Keenspot, DC Comics and Robot Comics—and their applications and titles. The site has been organized by Genus co-CEOs, Helen Cho Anthros and Melissa Pope, to offer easy access to apps developed to read comics on mobile devices. Genus unveiled Kamikaze, an app designed to read comics on the iPhone, earlier this year at the New York Comic-Con, and Anthros and Pope were also on hand during the San Diego Comic-Con in July to showcase an updated version of Kamikaze that included new titles and enhanced functionality.

The site has been developed as a neutral zone for the advancement of all mobile applications for comics. Currently, most of the apps are for the iPhone, but the site includes some apps for the Android platform and they plan on adding more. “As more apps for other platforms are developed our goal is to add them to the site,” said Anthros. The site anticipates new releases every week from developers across all platforms.

“It’s no secret how entangled, buried, and confusing it can be to navigate through the App Store’s enormous success and find what you’re looking for,” said Anthros. “We wanted to find a way to aggregate the mobile comics community into one place where consumers can go to find out what comic books are available on mobile platforms,” added Pope.

Two New Clips From ‘District 9’

Posted on August 11, 2009

district9_bigposter2 With the release of District 9 imminent, two new clips — via MTV — have been released to give fans a small taste of what life is like in the mysterious District 9. The clips feature the local MNU (Multi-National United) representative and what they have discovered about alien weaponry. They also invite you to walk around the alien slums with Wikus Van De Merwe (Sharlto Copley) to experience first-hand the conditions there.

As a warning, the clips rely on a shaky cam so it might be a bit unsettling, but rest assured that the process is used to enhance the experience. Directed by Neill Blomkamp and produced by Peter Jackson, District 9 will be in theaters Friday.

Check out the clips after the jump.

Marvel Celebrates 70th Anniversary

Posted on August 11, 2009

Celebrating-70-Years-Of-Marvel Its no secret we’re big fans of Marvel here at The Flickcast. The company produces some of the most interesting, compelling and fun comics around and we look forward each week to what they have to offer. If you’re a fan of Marvel as well, and you probably are, you’re going to want to join us in celebrating a major milestone for the company: their 70th Anniversary.

Started on this day in 1939, the company has grown to be one of the biggest publishers in the world. And to do things right and commemorate the event, Marvel is having a bunch of parties all across the country and featuring exclusive comics for you to read and enjoy.

To find out if there’s a party in your area so you can drop in and join the celebration, check out all the info from the official Marvel press release.

To celebrate its 70th anniversary, Marvel Comics will commemorate the milestone event on Tuesday, August 11th with special anniversary parties taking place around the world! Over 500 comic shop retailers will be hosting parties to celebrate the comic book giant’s 70 year history from 1939 to today.

Continue Reading

New On DVD This Week

Posted on August 11, 2009

Here’s a list of some of the new DVD and Blu-ray releases this week we’re particularly interested in. Plus, some old favorites (and not so favorites) coming out this week for the first time on Blu-ray.

Movies

About Last Night… ~ Rob Lowe, Demi Moore, James Belushi (Blu-ray)

Alien Trespass ~ Eric McCormack, Dan Lauria, Robert Patrick, and Jenni Baird (DVD and Blu-ray)

Blue Thunder ~ Roy Scheider, Warren Oates, Candy Clark, and Daniel Stern (Blu-ray)

Chaos ~ Jason Statham (Blu-ray)

The Class (Entre Les Murs) ~ François Bégaudeau, Agame Malembo-Emene, and Angélica Sancio (DVD)

Cutthroat Island ~ Geena Davis, Frank Langella, Matthew Modine (Blu-ray)

Eagles Over London ~ Van Johnson, Frederick Stafford, Francisco Rabal, and Luigi Pistilli (Blu-ray)

‘Cowboys & Aliens’ Script Finished

Posted on August 11, 2009

Screenwriting duo Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman (Star Trek) recently told Sci Fi Wire they turned in their draft of Cowboys & Aliens on Aug. 5 and are awaiting feedback on their adaptation of Fred Van Lente’s graphic novel.

“We’ll find out, literally,” Orci said. “We’re waiting to hear from the principals. We try not to turn it in until we think it’s ready. Obviously, there are always things you can improve.”

Van Lente’s graphic novel deals with feuding frontier settlers and Native Americans in the Old West who team up to fight extraterrestrials. Orci and Kurtzman have stated that they put their own spin on the adaptation, and now producers Brian Grazer, Ron Howard and Steven Spielberg and potential star Robert Downey Jr., will have the opportunity to voice their opinions.

“We’re just literally waiting to hear if they hate it or what,” Orci said.

Cowboys & Aliens is tentatively slated for a summer 2011 release.

DVD Review: ’21 Jump Street: The Complete First Season’

Posted on August 11, 2009

21-jump-street-dvd-season-one “We never thought we’d find a place where we belong. ” The opening words of the NAMBLA credo? No, the line sung by Holly Robinson Peete during the opening of the 21 Jump Street theme song. The one hour drama about four young cops and their radical Captain, set in an American metropolitan city, was ostensibly the launch pad for Johnny Depp’s acting career.

In 21 Jump Street, cops who looked too youthful to be taken seriously are sent to the undercover unit located in an abandoned chapel on Jump Street. There, Captain Richard Jenko (Frederic Forrest — who was replaced in later episodes by Steven Williams as Captain Fuller) preaches peace, love and Miranda warnings. With capers usually taking place in area schools, the Jump Streeters bust kids for all sorts of creative diversions like “smash and grab” robberies, stolen cars and, of course, drugs.

As the season progresses, the detectives become better friends, better at their jobs, more fearless and eventually, more likable. Judy Hoffs (Peete) is the cool and beautiful African American chick who takes Depp’s character, rookie Tom Hansen, under her bedazzled-denim-jacket-clad wing, to transform him from straight-laced polo boy to 80’s badass complete with earring and leather jacket. Peter DeLuise, son of late comedian Dom DeLuise, is Doug Penhall, a big, affable guy with a heart of gold. Rounding out this melting pot crew is Harry T. Ioki (Dustin Nguyen), a Vietnamese immigrant turned cop. In many scenes, his mullet steals the show.

Michael Fassbender Discusses Inspiration for ‘Jonah Hex’ Henchman

Posted on August 11, 2009

For actor Michael Fassbender, getting into distinct characters is another day at the office. Over the last two years, he has transformed himself into a Spartan warrior, an emaciated hunger striker and a dashing English military man. For the upcoming DC Comics adaptation of Jonah Hex, Fassbender donned facial tattoos to play the charismatic henchman Burke, and the actor told Sci Fi Wire it was the costume that helped him get into character the most.

“Burke on the page was a certain sort of character, but then when I arrived in New Orleans and met up with Michael Wilkinson and Christien Tinsley, who did the tattoo, they really gave me all of the information I needed,” says Fassbender. “I put on this three-piece suit, and then I was going through hats, and I just put on a bowler hat, and I was like, that reminds me of Clockwork Orange, and that reminds me of Frank Gorshin’s Riddler. So that would be my physicality—I wanted to try and make him quite angular and quite rakish, and I definitely got the inspiration through the hat. So I found it all in that bowler hat, to be honest.”

According to Fassbender, his primary purpose in the film is to offset the intensity of John Malkovich, who plays Turnbull, a calm and menacing character and Jonah’s main adversary.

“I knew that [Jimmy] wanted quite a sort of boisterous, colorful character to go against John Malkovich’s,” he said. “Something that was sort of off the wall. So that’s sort of why I thought of the Riddler in the 1970s, and then there’s also something very sinister and dangerous about the Clockwork Orange element. So I just sort of mashed them together.”

‘Battlestar’ Vet to Appear on ‘Caprica’

Posted on August 11, 2009

kat-bsg-viper

Luciana Carro is returning to Syfy with a role on the BSG prequel series Caprica. TV Squad is reporting that the actress best known for portraying Kat on BSG, the cocky Viper pilot and “stims” addict who eventually became Starbuck’s nemesis, is also the first BSG actor to join the Caprica cast.

As fans will remember, Kat succumbed to radiation poisoning after flying her last mission in season three of BSG. Although Carro will most likely be playing a new character on Caprica, fans will no doubt wonder if the Caprica character will be related to Kat. Since the series takes place 58 years prior to BSG, there is certainly plenty of time to explore the character’s heritage.

Caprica will air on Syfy beginning January 22, 2010.

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