The Flickcast

Fan Film Friday: Optimus Prime’s Evolution of Dance

Posted on June 26, 2009

evolution_of_dance_optimus_prime Who Doesn’t Love Dancing Robots?

Coming up with this week’s Fan Film Friday was actually pretty tough. There are plenty of fan stop-motion films out there in the webverse, but which one warrants more attention? It had to be the one that doesn’t acknowledge the new films, as Bay’s latest sequel ruins Transformers for any real fan, so we ultimately went with the easiest, a dancing Optimus Prime.

The original, done about 3 years ago by inspirational comedian Judson Laipply, goes down as one of the most viewed YouTube videos of all time, with over 100 million hits. Check out Optimus’s version after the jump, and here’s the original Evolution of Dance, in case you feel the need to compare.

The War of the Witchblades Rages On

Posted on June 26, 2009

WB128_interiors_Page_01 When the Witchblade was formed, it was created to represent the balance between the light and the dark. Created by both the Darkness and the Angelus, the universe’s two primal forces, the mythical weapon bonded with New York City Police Officer Sara Pezzini. Recently the Witchblade split in to its two sides, with Sara retaining its Darkness while the light side went to Danielle Baptiste.

The two battled it out in last month’s Witchblade #127 which culminated in Sara sending Danielle off the edge of the building they fought on, only for Sara to be surprised herself by Angelus’s forces when Sabine plunged her blade through Sara’s back. Recently, we were given a sneak peek at the first few pages of Witchblade #128 and simply put, they look beautiful.

Stjepan Sejic’s pages look more like a painting than simple pencils. The level of detail and the backgrounds are gorgeous. Picking up the moments after the end of Witchblade #127, the fate of Sara and her side of the Witchblade is revealed.

Even in the first few pages, a few surprises pop up keeping the excitement high after seeing the series’ main character take a seemingly fatal blow at the end of the previous issue. Coming July 1st, this is a book that is definitely worth taking a look at. In the meantime, check out the bigger preview pages after the jump.

‘King of Pop’ Michael Jackson Dies at 50

Posted on June 25, 2009

michael-jackson According to various sources including CNN, The LA Times and TMZ, the ‘King of Pop’ Michael Jackson has died from an apparent heart attack at an LA hospital. He was 50 years old. Jackson was rushed midday today from his home in Bel-Air to UCLA Medical Center, where he could not be revived.

The Los Angeles fire department responded to a call that he was not breathing.

Jackson was attempting a comeback after years of tabloid headlines, most notably his trial and acquittal on child molestation charges. He had been scheduled to perform 50 sell-out concerts at London’s 02 arena from next week to March 2010.

Jackson, the seventh child of the Jackson family, started in the music business at the age of 11 as a member of the Jackson 5 with his brothers. The group had a number of hits on Motown in the 1970s.

Five of his solo albums are some of the top-selling albums of all time: “Off the Wall,” 1982’s “Thriller,” “Bad,” “Dangerous” and “HISstory.”

He was twice inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and had 13 Grammy awards and 13 number one singles. He has sold over 750 million albums worldwide. His total earnings have been estimated at $500 million dollars.

His music videos on MTV, such as “Beat It,” “Billie Jean” and “Thriller” were some of the most influential early music videos, and his sound influenced numerous hip hop and R & B artists.

He was tried and acquitted of sexual abuse allegations in 2005.

He married nurse Deborah Jeanne Rowe, with whom he fathered a son, Michael Joseph Jackson, Jr., also known as Prince, and a daughter, Paris Michael Katherine Jackson. After they divorced in 1999, he retained full custody of the children. In the early 1990s, he was briefly married to Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of Elvis Presley.

He lived at Neverland Ranch in Santa Barbara from 1988 to 2005. It was sold to Colony Capital, although he still owns a stake in the property.

To celebrate his 50th birthday, Sony BMG released a compilation album, “King of Pop,” in various countries, but it was not released in the U.S.

Jackson, the seventh child of the Jackson family, started in the music business at the age of 11 as a member of the Jackson 5 with his brothers. The group had a number of hits on Motown in the 1970s.

Five of his solo albums are some of the top-selling albums of all time: “Off the Wall,” 1982’s “Thriller,” “Bad,” “Dangerous” and “HISstory.” He was twice inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and had 13 Grammy awards and 13 number one singles. He has sold over 750 million albums worldwide. His total earnings have been estimated at $500 million dollars.

His music videos on MTV, such as “Beat It,” “Billie Jean” and “Thriller” were some of the most influential early music videos, and his sound influenced numerous hip hop and R & B artists. He also had a tumultuous personal life and was tried and acquitted of sexual abuse allegations in 2005.

To celebrate his 50th birthday, Sony BMG released a compilation album, “King of Pop,” in various countries, but it was not released in the U.S.

‘Ultimatum: Spider-Man Requiem’ Sells Out, Returns With Second Printing

Posted on June 25, 2009

Ultimatum_Spider-Man_Requiem_01_SecondPrinting_small Are you a Spider-Man fan? Of course you are. Are you disappointed that you didn’t get a chance to pick up Ultimatum: Spider-Man Requiem #1 and feel there’s now something missing in your life? Of course you do.

But don’t worry, Marvel knows your pain and is doing something about it.

Here’s all the info from the official Marvel press release:

Marvel is pleased to announce that Ultimatum: Spider-Man Requiem #1 has sold out at Diamond (though copies may be available at the retail level) and will return with Ultimatum: Spider-Man Requiem #1 Second Printing Variant! The end of the Ultimate Universe is upon us! Spider-Man has vanished, presumed dead amongst the wreckage of Dr. Strange’s home. How will his closest of kin deal with his disappearance?

The Ultimate Spider-Man All Stars of award-winners Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Bagley and Stuart Immonen deliver a powerful story of a city mourning its friendly neighborhood protector. Ultimatum: Spider-Man Requiem #1 Second Printing Variant features the interior art of Immonen on a new wraparound cover!

Awesome New Undocumented MacBook Feature

Posted on June 25, 2009

macbooks_pro-2009-06-06_at Let’s be honest, Apple makes some pretty great stuff. From iPhones to iPods, MacBook Pros to MacBooks, the company’s products are innovative, stylish and fun to use. They’ve carved out a well- deserved reputation for making some of the best products around full of great and useful features.

Up until now, the usefulness and features of Apple’s latest MacBook computers have been pretty well documented. Fortunately, there’s one more awesome new feature that most people don’t know about that we can bring you today in this video taken by Mac lover COREANOMAC.

Trying to put into words just how awesome this new, previously undocumented feature of the MacBook is would be an exercise in futility. You’ll just have to watch the video after the break and see for yourself. Believe me, once you’ve seen it, you’ll never look at your plain, old laptop the same way again.

Best Picture Noms Expanded to Ten This Year

Posted on June 25, 2009

Oscars to Nominate More Movies For Best Picture?!?!?

Variety Magazine is reporting that from now on, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will now nominate ten films for Best Picture instead of five.

According to the article, the change comes after some observations of the 2008 nominees and Oscars show. Perhaps after the exclusion of such films as “Wall-E” and “The Dark Knight” from the Best Picture category last year, much to the dismay of many film lovers, industry workers, and cinema critics, the Academy hopes to “widen the spectrum” of films nominated. The board hopes that this change will “make it more interesting and less cloistered” in the future, giving room for both small independent movies and big box office hits to win Best Picture.

This change will only affect the Best Picture category, and not any others. This also isn’t the first time the Academy has done this- the Best Picture category had ten nominees from 1931 to 1943.

Variety is reporting that from now on, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will now nominate ten films for Best Picture instead of five. According to the article, the change comes after some observations of the 2008 nominees and Oscars show by the Academy, critics and the public.

Perhaps after the exclusion of such films as Wall-E and The Dark Knight from the Best Picture category last year, much to the dismay of many film lovers, industry workers, and cinema critics, the Academy hopes to “widen the spectrum” of films nominated. The board hopes that this change will “make it more interesting and less cloistered” in the future, giving room for both small independent movies and big box office hits to win Best Picture.

This change will only affect the Best Picture category, and not any others. This also isn’t the first time the Academy has done this. The Best Picture category had ten nominees from 1931 to 1943.

The Pull List Comic Reviews: ‘Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Utopia’, ‘X-Factor’ and ‘Berseker’

Posted on June 25, 2009

This week was, to say the least, a BIG week in comics. My personal Pull List was 23 issues of all new books. Comic stores even said how expensive a week it was just by the sheer volume of books released. I’m just doing my best to keep you informed with the newest quality and best ongoing series from around the comics world. With that said, let’s get to the pulls.

Pull of the Week:

dark-avengers-uncanny-x-men-utopia-cover Dark Avengers / Uncanny X-Men: Utopia #1 – Marvel – $3.99

Score: 8.5

The new superstar creative team of 2009 has finally arrived. Matt Fraction and Marc Silvestri may be the best combination of writer and artist to be placed on any series thus far this year. This one shot issue does a fantastic job of setting events in to motion for the Utopia crossover as well as the formation of the Dark X-Men team.

With anti-mutant tensions at an all time high following footage of the massacre in Alaska following the first mutant birth since M-Day coming to the public’s attention, Simon Trask and his Humanity Now organization march on San Francisco to support the enactment of a law regulating mutant breeding to prevent another incident like that in Alaska from occurring again.

They are met on the streets by another peaceful protest lead by Beast along with Northstar, Hellion, Rockslide and Pixie. Trask incites a riot to break out which ultimately results in his injury at the hands of Hellion and the incarceration of Beast. Playing off the anti-mutant sentiments, the media puts the blame on the X-Men for the riot which leads to further protests and violence around the city between the opposing groups for and against mutant rights, as well as the X-Men who put themselves in the roles of peacekeepers between the two.

The world looks on as these protests lead to further rioting to the point that the San Fran PD and the X-Men can no longer keep everything in control. Enter Norman Osborn, H.A.M.M.E.R. and the Dark Avengers. Split up and playing with kid gloves on, Ms. Marvel, Spider-Man, Hawkeye and Ares take to the city to calm the riots.

Norman doesn’t put himself in the field but instead calls a meeting with one of his Cabal, Emma Frost. He had placed Emma in charge of making sure mutants were kept in control and promised not to intervene until she failed to uphold her side of the bargain. Norman hands Emma a folder with a large white X on it and lets her know that now is the time to think big.

As said before here on the Pull List, Fraction knows the X-Men. He can handle all of the characters expertly, much like Chris Clairemont was able to during his famous run on the series. Fraction also displays an understand of not just the major players like Cyclops, Emma and Beast. He also takes the supporting roles very seriously with his great representation of Mercury, Hellion and the Cuckoo triplets.

Snyder’s ‘Watchmen’ Director’s Cut Gets One-Week Theatrical Release

Posted on June 25, 2009

the-comedian-watchmen For those of you who wanted more Watchmen the first time around or felt like something was missing from the film, you’re going to get your chance to see the movie the way director Zack Snyder intended. According to Variety, Warner Bros. has set a one-week theatrical release for Snyder’s director’s cut of Watchmen, which contains much of the additional footage excised from the initial theatrical release, starting July 17th at theaters in Dallas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis and New York.

Snyder made the announcement yesterday during an event at the studio to promote the DVD and Blu-ray releases of Watchmen: The Director’s Cut and 300: The Complete Experience on July 21st. The Watchmen director’s cut contains approximately 28 additional minutes of footage not seen before.

The theatrical run takes place during the week before Comic-Con in San Diego where Snyder is set to host a July 25th “BD Live” screening of Watchmen. Owners of the Blu-ray version of the film will be able to use the BD Live feature to watch the movie and discussion at Comic-Con simultaneously.

The DVD and Blu-Ray versions of Watchmen hit stores on July 21st.

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