The Flickcast

SDCC: Olivia Munn to Produce and Star In ‘Star Wars’ Fan Films

Posted on July 22, 2009

Its not like this should be a surprise to anyone. After all, Olivia Munn is a self-professed Star Wars nerd and often makes her fans extremely happy by dressing as their favorite Star Wars princess — complete with slave outfit. Example on the right.

So it makes perfect sense that she would want to utilize her Star Wars knowledge and also her creative abilities in a new way. And what better way then by producing and starring in some cool new Star Wars fan films? I can’t think of a better way and apparently, Olivia agrees because she just signed a deal with Atom.com to produce and star in fan films exactly like we are talking about.

Want to know more? Of course you do. Fortunately, here’s all the info from the official Atom.com press release:

ATOM.COM JOINS FORCES WITH OLIVIA MUNN TO PRODUCE

STAR WARS FAN FILMS

“Operation Olivia” Videos To Premiere With Munn’s Appearance At

Atom.com And Lucasfilm Events At Comic-Con On Friday And Saturday Nights

“Operation Olivia” Site Debuts Saturday At http://olivia.atom.com

Atom.com announced today that Olivia Munn –Attack of the Show co-host, current Playboy cover girl, and all-around geek goddess — has signed to star in and executive-produce Star Wars fan films for the digital comedy network.

Munn is joining Atom at San Diego Comic-Con International this weekend to premiere the first of the Star Wars-themed videos she is producing through “Operation Olivia: The Star Wars Challenge,” a new online destination that will launch Saturday, July 25 at http://olivia.atom.com. (Select photos from Munn’s first fan film production are already available on the site.)

SDCC: Get a Sneak Peek at the ‘Lost’ Auction

Posted on July 22, 2009

lost_items_1

If you’re a fan of Lost and have always dreamed of getting a piece of the show for your very own this post is for you. Profiles In History will be holding an auction for those of you who love Lost and are ready to bid on items from the show.

Before that, interested parties will be able to preview the items up for sale at this week’s Comic-Con in San Diego.

Here’s the info from the official press release:

PROFILES IN HISTORY TO OFFER A SNEAK PREVIEW OF THE “LOST” AUCTION AT THIS YEAR’S SAN DIEGO COMIC CON

Original Props, Costumes And Set Pieces From The Hit ABC Television Series “LOST” To Be On Display July 23-26, 2009

Fans of the hit television show LOST will be getting a sneak preview. No, they can’t see it on TV, but they CAN see it at Comic Con!

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Novel Adaptations: How Close Should They Be?

Posted on July 22, 2009

script-cw-0709 The release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has reopened discussions about what makes a good book to film adaptation. The Potter series often divides fans, and the latest chapter is no exception. I’ve heard from a number of fans of the book series who are disappointed with the current film’s adaptation, while I’ve also talked to fans who are satisfied. Brad Brevet from RopesofSilicon reflected on some of the more negative fan reactions and he asks, “how faithful should film adaptations be?”

Adapting a book into a film is not an easy process. Squeezing a 300-page novel into a 120-minute film is difficult, especially if the book has lots of exposition or other elements that are not easily cinematic. For books that are rich and deeply characterized, like the Potter books, adaptation is almost always going to mean losing some characters or the minute characterizations that many fans hold dear.

That said, making an adaptation that is too close to the original work can often be just as problematic as making an unfaithful adaptation. Brevet mentions this spring’s Watchmen as an example of a film that while remarkably true to its graphic novel counterpart, still didn’t end up endearing itself to even diehard Watchmen fans. I would argue this was because despite getting the character and plot details correct, Watchmen didn’t effectively bring enough of its own cinematic virtues to the project. In contrast, Frank Miller’s Sin City was a tremendous adaptation of various vignettes from the graphic novel series, and it managed to be both accurate and bring in its own voice.

SDCC: Dave’s Weekly Comic Recommendations: Comic-Con Edition

Posted on July 22, 2009

parker_cov With a lot of you heading to Comic-Con, it would be good form for those of us not going to recommend some books you should be looking out for on the Con floor this week.

The biggest one of the week simply has to be Darwyn Cooke’s adaptation of Richard Stark’s novel The Hunter. I got the chance to read this a couple of weeks ago, and to say the very least if you’re expecting something along the lines of Cooke’s The Spirit run or The New Frontier you’re going to be in for a shock. This is absolutely nothing at all like those books in design, color scheme or story. But nonetheless, it is my top pick of the week.

My second recommendation is the double-sized issue of Amazing Spider-Man #600. Truth be told, Marvel is putting out a number of great books this week. I’m a sucker for all things Deadpool, for a reason I still don’t understand, I just enjoy them. The many mini-series featuring the character seems to be leveling off at the ridiculous. However, with each and every spin-off I can’t stop going back for every new issue for only one reason: they are books full of pure fun.

The other Marvel book out this week includes Immortal Weapons #1. This book focuses on the other immortal weapons introduced in Immortal Iron Fist. Written by Jason Aaron and Duane Swierczynski and an all star cast of virtually every artist I love working at Marvel, this is a must have in my book. More stuff spinning out of the Iron Fist corner is a good thing in my mind.

As always, if you didn’t like the picks we have for you this time around, check out Midtown Comics for a great selection of everything that comes out on Wednesday. And if you’re going to Comic-Con, be sure to keep it locked here for some great coverage from the Con floor.

Happy Reading!

SDCC: Danny DeVito Hungry for Blood Online

Posted on July 22, 2009

We’re in the home stretch for Comic-Con, but for those of you who can’t wait for the excitement to start, Variety is reporting that Danny DeVito will be revealing his latest venture, thebloodfactory.com at his panel on Friday. The website will initially feature five short horror films, although 15 are already completed and as many as 50 stories are lined up. DeVito describes the shorts as “splatter cuts” that are largely moral tales of revenge and retribution. Prepare to be shocked by what you see, as the films contain copious amounts of blood, slashed flesh and some incestuous cannibalism.

The website, which started as a creative way to pass the time between filming features and episodes of FX’s It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, is a partnership with writer John Albo and will feature the work of Tracey Walter and Carol Kane among others. Additionally, DeVito and Albo will be using the website as a testing ground for income based upon the graphic subject matter, not advertising.

“There could be a business in this,” DeVito said. “We’re doing graphic novels of each of the films, and the plan in the long run is to offer them to people in every service you can get away with, cell phones, computers, DVDs.

“We might make feature films out of some of the material. We’ll grow this and figure out where it’s going, but right now, we’re just having a good time.”

Diablo Project Lead Placed in Charge of Marvel MMO

Posted on July 22, 2009

This week, Gazillion Entertainment announced that David Brevik would be placed as studio director at Gargantuan, the studio house developing the Marvel massive multiplayer online game. After originally being scrapped by Cryptic Studios in favor of Champions Online, Gazillion entertainment had been filling its ranks up under the weather by recruiting members of Apple, Blizzard, Pixar and Microsoft Game Studios to create their team.

Now with the addition of David Brevik who has been credited as leader programmer, project lead and design lead of both Diablo games, gamers should feel confident in the studio’s ability to deliver on the multiplayer experience required for a quality MMO. But can the Marvel Universe MMOG survive in a landscape already dominated by the behemoth World of Warcraft. Other properties like the Age of Conan, Lord of the Rings and Warhammer have taken shots at unseating Warcraft but have thus been unsuccessful.

Even other strong properties outside of the medievil time frame have fallen short like the ill-fated Star Wars Galaxies and the Matrix Online. What may be Marvel’s biggest threats though come from the blossoming superhero MMOG genre that has been popping up over recent years, the pinnacle being City of Heroes/City of Villains which came in to legal trouble with Marvel and DC for such robust character creation tools that many players were able to create incredible likenesses of their favorite proprietary heroes.

New ‘Wolfenstein’ Behind the Scenes Video

Posted on July 22, 2009

wolfenstein-game We’ve been following this game here at The Flickcast and have been able to bring you several cool items to help peak your interest in Activision’s upcoming Wolfenstein game. Among the previous bits of info there’s been a trailer for the game and part one and two of an awesome prequel motion graphic novel for the game.

This time around, we’ve got a new video to share with you that will give you further information on how the game is being put together and some more clues on the look of it and a bit more info on the story and characters. It also shows you just how much work actually goes into making a game as complicated as this and how much the people involved really enjoy their work.

Wolfenstein 3D is available now on XBox Live and PSN. The new, improved Wolfenstein game is coming later this year for all next gen consoles. Meantime, check out this very cool video after the jump. And, because the video is for an “M’ rated game and contains some blood and gore, by clicking through you certify you are 18 years of age or older.

The Flickcast – Episode 17: Comic-Con or Bust!

Posted on July 22, 2009

200534768-002 Last time on on The Flickcast, your favorite trio discussed topics include Ryan Reynolds as Green Lantern, Natalie Portman in Thor, AMC’s reboot of the classic The Prisoner TV series, the potential Smallville Superman movie and much much more!

This week, Chris and Matt go it alone and jump into full Comic-Con preview mode to discuss all the great things coming up at the Con like the Twilight Zone movie, Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, the Tron reboot, Willem Dafoe in John Carter of Mars, Torchwood: Children of Earth and how fun it is to say the word “Hufflepuff” while doing a British accent.

Chris and Matt also made some picks this week including Matt’s pick of Justice League: New Frontier and Chris’ pick of the novel A Princess of Mars, the first book in Edgar Rice Burroughs John Carter of Mars series.

As always, if you have comments, questions, critiques or offers of sponsorship, feel free to hit us up in the comments, on Twitter and at Facebook, MySpace or via email. Thanks for listening.

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