The Flickcast

‘An American Werewolf In London’ Remake In the Works?

Posted on June 29, 2009

david-naughton-american-werewolf-1981 The reboot/remake train just keeps on roiling along. Now we can add John Landis’ 1981 horror/comedy An American Werewolf In London to the list of movies getting a “refresh” — at least according to a tipster who dropped some info over at Bloody Disgusting. In the article, the tipster reveals that writer/director Landis himself may be responsible for setting the wheels in motion on the reboot by selling his remake rights to Dimension Films.

Producing the film for Dimension will reportedly be the Weinstein brothers, who are currently about to launch Halloween II into theaters and are also hard at work on a reboot of yet another horror franchise: Clive Barker’s 1987 film Hellraiser. In case you’re not familiar with Landis’ original film, it concerns two friends traveling in England who are attacked by a werewolf.

One of the friends is killed but the other survives and begins to change and become a werewolf himself — much to the dismay of his new girlfriend, a nurse he met while recovering from the attack. In truth, this movie is one of my favorite horror/comedies of all time and I was actually discussing and recommending it to some friends just the other day. This particular reboot seems like a very bad idea.

The original film was great and achieved just the right mix of horror, action, suspense, romance and gore making it a very tough act to follow — as evidenced by the abismal sequel An American Werewolf in Paris. I know reboots and remakes are inevitable but I also know, especially in this case, there’s pretty much no way a reboot will ever live up to the original.

New ‘Mac Bundle’ Software Titles Now Available

Posted on June 29, 2009

macbooks_pro-2009-06-06_at Of the writers who work here at The Flickcast, we mostly use Macs to get our work done. The hardware just seems to be conducive to creativity and doesn’t get in the way of what you want to accomplish. Of course, what’s great hardware without great software? Fortunately, there’s a lot of software available for the Mac right now, with more coming out all the time.

Speaking of software, the folks at Kagi are at it again and offering a brand new bunch of useful Mac software, called the Mac Bundles, for your use and enjoyment. Want to know more? Here’s some of the info from the official Kagi press release:

Last month Kagi was pleased to announce the debut of a unique bundle of Mac software. This month a new complement of Mac software titles premieres at TheMacBundles and on Kagi’s own home page with savings of 80% off retail. Often smaller software developers have little opportunity to get widespread exposure to for their software without giving up a significant portion of their revenue. With the launch of TheMacBundles, developers have market presence and a fair share of the profits.

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iPhone 3GS Launch Causes YouTube Usage to Explode

Posted on June 26, 2009

iphon3gsliv06191 According to a report over at YouTube, uploads to the video-sharing site have jumped 1700% in the last six months. After last Friday’s launch of the new video capable iPhone 3GS, that growth sped up even further — to 400% growth per day. Of course, with this latest jump in network activity, you have to wonder how AT&T’s network is handling the load, given its relatively well-known issues.

According to DSL Reports, the AT&T network is doing just fine, thank you. “Upload has been a strength of our network for a while now with HSUPA,” said AT&T spokesman Seth Bloom in the article. HSUPA boosted the upstream capability of the company’s wireless network to between 500kbps and 800kbps, and the upgrades were all-but completed by Spring of 2008.

Bloom continued: “Things like adding 2100 cell sites around the country, adding improved backhaul to thousands of other sites, upgrading to HSPA 7.2 (7.2Mbps downstream) beginning later this year and concluding in 2011, and rolling out 850 (Mhz) to improve overall and in-building coverage”

So, there you have it. More users, more bandwidth being used and no problems. Sure. So why has MMS been delayed until “Summer”?

‘BSG Trek’

Posted on June 26, 2009

As we seem to post quite a bit of video here at The Flickcast, especially on Fridays, it only stands to reason we’re going to do another one — seeing as how its Friday and all. So, in an effort to not disappoint those of you who love video as much as we do, as promised, here’s another one for your viewing pleasure.

This time around its a great mashup of the trailers for two of our favorites, Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica, turned into quite an entertaining show. Created by YouTube user Aliotsy, this video demonstrates what a person with talent, time and determination can do. Simply put, its quite impressive.

Check out the video after the break.

The Deadliest Schoolgirls of All Time

Posted on June 26, 2009

blood-the-last-vamp In honor of the upcoming film Blood The Last Vampire and its plaid skirt wearing protagonist, over at io9 they’ve put together a little gallery of other schoolgirls who kick considerable butt and look good in the process. Among the list of notables are the girls of D.E.B.S. (including Devon Aoki), the chicks from the schoolgirls versus zombies film Uniform Sabaigaru, Go Go from Kill Bill and Hermione Granger of Harry Potter fame.

Of course, as much as girls in schoolgirl uniforms are cool, I might expand the list to include other types of killer girls in uniform like cheerleaders and nurses. But that’s just me. Maybe that’s a topic for another gallery? Perhaps. In the meantime, check out some of the pics after the break.

For the full gallery, head over to io9.

Trailer for Richard Kelly’s ‘The Box’ Now Online

Posted on June 26, 2009

diaz-marsden-the-box Writer/Director Richard Kelly’s Donnie Darko is one of our favorite movies here at The Flickcast. Its mix of humor, sci-fi, horror, a six foot time travelling rabbit named Frank and Patrick Swayze make it a great movie to watch and ponder. Now, Kelly is back with a new film called The Box, based on the Richard Matheson short story Button, Button.

In case you’re not familier, The Box concerns a couple (Cameron Diaz and James Marsden) visited by a stranger (Frank Langela) with a question for them. Will they take a million dollars to press a button? What’s the catch? If they press the button, they get the money but someone they don’t know will die.

The question and what follows causes the couple to come to terms with their own lives, morals and the very fabric of society. Its a great concept that should be, at the very least, interesting when filtered through the prism of Kelly’s vision.

Check out the first trailer for the film after the jump. The Box opens October 30.

Interview: Jeff Parker and Steve Lieber Go ‘Underground’

Posted on June 26, 2009

ug_01_00_color Both Jeff Parker and Steve Lieber are well-known in the world of comics. Parker, a veteran writer of such titles as Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four and Guy Ritchie’s Gamekeeper and Lieber, the artist responsible for drawing the monster hit Whiteout, have worked side by side as partners in Portland’s Periscope studios for years. But they’ve never worked on a project together before. That is, until now.

This year, the two have teamed up to create the five-issue miniseries Underground, which hits stores in September and is published by Image Comics. Parker and Lieber were nice enough to share some pages of the new book — which are featured at the end of the interview. I also had a chance to chat with the creators a bit about the new book, their inspiration for creating it, Steve’s reaction now that the Whiteout movie is finally on the way and more.

The Flickcast: Underground is an interesting title. How did it come about?

Steve Lieber: Tim Cahill wrote an essay of caving the made my brain explode. I knew the moment I finished reading it I had to draw a cave story.

TF: Tell us about the story? What was your inspiration for creating it?

SL: That one should go more to Jeff. I had a sense of the setting, and scenes, and the tone I wanted to strike, but I didn’t know who my characters were, so I didn’t have a story. I had a lot of conversations with Parker about it, and it was clear that he just had a much better sense of the people and the conflicts they’d find themselves in.

Where he grew up is an easy drive to the Kentucky state line, so he’s writing with some real understanding.

The Pull List Comic Reviews: ‘Dark Reign: Sinister Spider-Man’, ‘Green Lantern’ and More

Posted on June 26, 2009

For yesterday’s The Pull List, go here.

sinister-spider-man

Dark Reign: Sinister Spider-Man #1 – Marvel $3.99

Score: 7.5

(Sings) “Spider-Man. Spider-Man. Does whatever a spider can. Stops a bank robber. Eats his arm. Kills a stripper. Frames the Mayor. Watch out. Here comes the Spider-Man.” Not exactly the friendly neighborhood wall-crawler we all know and love right? Well of course not because good old Peter Parker isn’t the Spider-Man staring in this issue.

Instead, the Sinister Spider-Man is actually Venom of the Osborn sponsored Dark Avengers, a.k.a. Mac Gargan, a.k.a. the former Scorpion. For those not very familiar with the character, despite the amount of exposure he’s been getting all over Marvel lately by being tied to both Spider-Man and Norman Osborn, the issue gives a fair amount of background about who Venom once was and now is.

The issue starts out with “Genetic Terror of the Third Reich” General Wolfram, or just a Nazi with a dead wolf carcass on his head, robbing a bank in NYC. He is promptly stopped by the cities newly liked savior, Venom posing as the black suited Spider-Man. Venom, enjoying his new found heirdom, takes a moment to soak in the applause, kiss a few girls, and grab a few butts before taking off with Wolfram where he collects the money Wolfram robbed for himself and doing his own version of “taking a bite out of crime.” In other words, he ate Wolfy’s arm.

After a little flashback to his origins as a private detective and the deal he made with now Mayor J. Jonah Jameson that ultimately turned him in to the Scorpion, Venom heads to his favorite hangout, the strip club, where he finds a new favorite dancer, having eaten a previous one. Meanwhile, JJJ deals with the public scrutiny behind his mayoral run, including the rise in crime since his administration began. He is visited by a small, quirky doctor who wants to discuss a Super Villain Rehabilitation program which JJJ promptly shoots down.

Back at Avengers tower, Venom has taken his new favorite dancer back only to get yelled at by Norman for the bank’s missing money and Wolfram’s missing arm. Venom tells himself that Norman has just made his list, but he has other fish to fry first like JjJ who finds Venom’s dead stripper friend in his bed later that night. The issue concludes with a new “villain” popping his head up with the quirky doctor donning a white mask with a symbol like the Punisher’s on it, calling himself the Redeemer who sits in front of a group of villains that Venom had recently taken down.

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