Geek News Roundup - Week Ending July 5, 2008
By Great White Snark | July 5, 2008
Every week, I stick my fingers into the dark and varied crevices of the internet tubes to pluck out nuggets of geeky news. Every weekend, I share with you–the fortunate reader–the top seven gems in movies, TV, comics, and video games.
MOVIES
- Helena Bonham Carter is in talks to join the cast of Terminator Salvation.
- Writer Mark Millar (Wanted) has a producer and director lined up for a new Superman movie in 2011.
- Judd Apatow (Superbad, Knocked Up) will produce a comedy starring Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat) as Sherlock Holmes and Will Ferrell as Watson.
- Check out the trailers for the next James Bond flick Quantum of Solace, and for the apocalyptic thrillers The Day the Earth Stood Still, Blindness, Mutant Chronicles, and Knowing. “End of the world” is the new black, yo!
- Saturday Night Live’s Kristen Wiig (Knocked Up) will costar with Jason Batemen and possibly Mila Kunis in Extract, the next comedy from Mike Judge (Office Space, Idiocracy).
- According to actor Luke Goss, the film adaption of video game Tekken might be rated R.
- Director David Fincher (Fight Club, Se7en) optioned rights to produce a CG-animated film out of the comic book The Goon from Dark Horse Comics.
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TV / DVD
- G.I. Joe: Resolute, a new series of ten 5-minute, PG-rated cartoon episodes written by Warren Ellis will debut next year.
- Part 1 of Joss Whedon’s Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along-Blog will debut on www.drhorrible.com on July 15. He hopes for an eventual DVD release.
- Check out photos from location shoot of the series finale of Battlestar Galactica. Meanwhile, actress Grace Park claims the next BSG movie has been greenlit and will start filming in August.
- In September, Google will syndicate via its AdSense ad system the new animated series Seth MacFarlane’s Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy from the creator of The Family Guy.
- iTunes now carries episodes of several DC cartoons including Batman: The Animated Series, Super Friends, Batman Beyond and Aquaman.
- The DVD set of Spaced: The Complete Series
will be released for the first time in North America on July 22. Check out the schedule of the four-city promotional tour.
- The major TV studios announced the shows getting promotional events at Comic-Con this month.
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COMICS
- The debut issue of DC’s summer event mini-series Final Crisis only sold 145,000 issues, far short of the 250,000 issues of Marvel’s Secret Invasion #1 that sold. Overall, sales are down and 11 series have been canceled.
- Joss Whedon revealed that fan-favorite character Oz will return to Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
- Next Wednesday, Dark Horse Presents on MySpace will feature a The Umbrella Academy short story and a prequel to Joss Whedon’s Dr. Horrible web series.
- Avatar Press announced that Max Brooks’ next book, The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks will get a late 2008 release. Also, the Black Summer team of Warren Ellis and Juan Jose Ryp will collaborate on new title, No Hero.
- Project Rooftop revealed the finalists in their Superman: Man of Style contest. (Awesome!)
- Check out the gallery of Simone Bianchi’s character designs for Astonishing X-Men.
- Check out the preview trailer for the Microsoft Zune-only The Lost Ones graphic novel from Steve Niles (30 Days of Night).
Buy Comics at Things From Another World
VIDEO GAMES
- Harmonix announced Rock Band 2
will hit the Xbox 360 in September, and the PS3 later this year.
- Blizzard has confirmed a another new forthcoming title, a next-gen MMO not related to Diablo III.
- A new page on MySpace reveals the first concept art for DC Universe Online.
- Sony has temporarily taken offline its latest PS3 firmware–the one that introduces a “trophy” system–due to reports of installation issues.
- Mega Man 9 drops on the Nintendo Wii in Japan in September.
- Check out the debut trailer for Crysis Warhead
.
- Xbox LIVE has added all kinds of DC Comics content, including gamerpics, classic cartoon series, and the new Batman: Gotham Knight anime when it comes out on July 8.
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Geeky Curiosity of the Week: The Top Five Awful R2-D2 Cakes
By Great White Snark | July 2, 2008
Here on GWS, I regularly lavish goodwill and praise upon honest-to-goodness talented cake artisans who bless our Yahweh-forsaken little planet with the simple joys elicited by first-rate geeky cakes.
But it’s time once again to turn our attention to the ham-handed, artistically-impaired, wannabe cake makers who bring another sort of pleasure to you and me, the arbiters of these sorts of pastry proceedings: the petty joy of scorn and derision.
Mmmmmmm… delicious pettiness.
5)
I wonder if R2 screamed when they took his legs. Or was he too busy doing his impression of a cheap piñata…?
4)
Eli, Mommy knows that you wanted a cake for your birthday, but Mommy could only find a container of vanilla frosting, a box of pancake mix, and half a tube of food coloring in the cupboard this morning, ok?
Now run along and play, Eli. Mommy drank too much happy juice last night and needs a nap.
3)
Yeah, if that’s R2-D2, then by the same criteria (”Duhhhr, it’s basically got all the right parts, duhhhrrr…”), I’m Twiki from Buck Rogers.
Perhaps, cake maker person, you should select a simpler subject for your next effort. In the meantime, I wouldn’t take any tests that depend on an aptitude for photographic recall. That wouldn’t go well for you.
2)
This is either a unfortunate stab at modern impressionism or the efforts of a spindly-armed stoner with A.D.D. Either way… this is one poor, misshapen bastard.
1)
Listen, it’s one thing to use M&Ms in lieu of frosting to detail R2’s exterior (P.S. what the fug?), but it’s another to be completely arbitrary about the design. At this point, why not make him a fedora out of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and call it a day?
Talkback: Chime in, people! Which one’s your (least) favorite?
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Top Ten: What Would Wonder Woman Twitter?
By Great White Snark | July 1, 2008
I like to think that when Wonder Woman isn’t polishing her indestructible bracelets and picking star-spangled wonder-wedgies out of her Amazonian derriere, she enjoys kicking back with her official Justice League-assigned BlackBerry to micro-blog her life on Twitter.
If you’re unfamiliar with Twitter, it’s a service that allows you to publicly notify your friends and contacts of your daily activities and thoughts in quick, 140-character-or-less updates from your phone or computer. Which is ridiculous in theory, but addictive in practice.
- At the Justice League happy hour. Gods! Green Arrow mixes a formidable appletini. I need to lie down.
- @TheFlash Just once I’d like to come home to my room in the Watchtower and not find you rooting through my underwear drawer.
- Sometimes I feel ridiculous flying the invisible jet. Like a mime doing a really good ‘driving the car’ impression.
- @Zeus Just found out that Clash of the Titans is getting remade(!). Do you know who’s playing you?
- Feelin good. Doesn’t happen all the time, but I am totally rocking my tiara today.
- I’d love to get the Lasso of Truth around Batman and find out if he’s been stuffing that codpiece.
- @BlackCanary Are we still on for Sex and the City on Friday?
- Ugh. Indestructible bracelets I can’t remove = swamp rot on my arms after a shower. (Too much info?)
- Um, hello, @Superman! My eyes are up here! ”Big blue boy scout,’ my ass.
- Who keeps leaving the toilet seat up in the Watchtower lav?
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Geek News Roundup - Week Ending June 28, 2008
By Great White Snark | June 29, 2008
Every week, I stick my fingers into the dark and varied crevices of the internet tubes to pluck out nuggets of geeky news. Every weekend, I share with you–the fortunate reader–the top seven gems in movies, TV, comics, and video games.
MOVIES
- Robert Rodriguez will produce and his girlfriend Rose McGowan will star in a Red Sonja remake.
- The Korean monster movie hit The Host will get a Chinese sequel.
- Check out a couple of new clips from X-Files: I Want to Believe, an exclusive clip from Hellboy II, and the first (super-whacked-out) trailer for Repo! The Genetic Opera starring Anthony Stewart head (Buffy the Vampire Slayer).
- Warner Brothers signed Louis Leterrier (Incredible Hulk) to direct the Clash of the Titans remake. Meanwhile, Relativity has tapped Tarsem Singh to direct War of Gods, another 300-style action flick about ancient Greeks and their gods. (Battle of the redundant geek movies, anyone?)
- Paramount won’t host any panels or bring any stars to Comic-Con next month, in spite of a huge presence last year. Meanwhile, an impending SAG strike threatens to keep any actors from showing at next month’s convention.
- Cloverfield and 300 were among the ‘best film’ winners of the 34th annual Saturn Awards.
- The Arrested Development movie is planned for 2009.
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TV / DVD
- Check out five minutes of footage from the direct-to-DVD anime movie Batman - Gotham Knight
, dropping on July 8.
- The voice cast of the upcoming Wonder Woman animated DVD movie will include Keri Russell (Princess Diana), Nathan Fillion (Steve Trevor), Alfred Molina, Virginia Madsen, and Rosario Dawson.
- The Simpsons, The X-Files, LOST, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer are among the top ten in EW.com’s list of the 100 best shows of the last 25 years.
- Family Guy, The Office, Pushing Daisies, Dexter, and LOST are among the Emmy finalists.
- Check out the teaser for Joss Whedon’s Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, a series of webisodes dropping soon.
- Steve Carrell has signed on for three more seasons of The Office.
- Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles will premiere on September 8, and CBS announced its full Fall premiere lineup.
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COMICS
- Michael Turner (co-creator of Witchblade and founder of Aspen Comics) passed away on Friday night at age 37 after a longtime struggle with cancer.
- Writer Sean McKeever offered up a preview image of the future Teen Titans lineup.
- Check out the preview of Marvel Apes, an upcoming series that reimagines Spidey, Wolverine, and others as “simian superheroes.” (Sigh, and I used to think that monkeys make everything better…)
- Marvel has tapped Mike Perkins to illustrate the adaptation of Stepehn King’s The Stand.
- EW lists Maus, Watchmen, Persepolis, and The Sandman among the 100 best reads of the past 25 years.
- Marvel will release a new slate of What If..? books coming this year.
- Garth Ennis (Preacher) will write a new Judge Dredd series that Dynamite will develop for the US in 2009.
Buy Comics at Things From Another World
VIDEO GAMES
- Blizzard officially announced Diablo 3. The official site has trailers, screenshots, and 20 minutes of gameplay footage.
- Lots of sweet media this week! Check out first trailer for Star Wars Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels, the teaser trailer for Crysis Warhead, the trailer for Saints Row 2, 20 minutes of gameplay of Far Cry 2, combat scenes from Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, leaked beta footage from Gears of War 2, and screenshots from Ghostbusters.
- Sony will offer a movie download service on PlayStation 3s in the US this summer.
- Kid Icarus Wii and Doom 4 will appear at E3, and Nintendo Power magazine has a preview of the new Castlevania game (a 3D fighter).
- A supposed Kmart flier indicates a price drop next month for the Xbox 360.
- More details on the upcoming DC Universe Online game have been released. No, you don’t get to play any of the DCU superheroes.
- Electronic Arts will release a line of casual sports games for Nintendo Wii based on Madden and others of their most popular franchises.
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The Top Five Costumes You Will Not See at the MET’s ‘Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy’ Exhibit
By Great White Snark | June 27, 2008
Through September, the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art is offering the “Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy” exhibit, taking a look at the influence of comic book costumes upon high fashion and sportswear.
The symbolic and metaphorical associations between fashion and the superhero are explored in this compelling exhibition. Featuring movie costumes, avant-garde haute couture, and high-performance sportswear, it reveals how the superhero serves as the ultimate metaphor for fashion and its ability to empower and transform the human body.
How very enlightened of the New York MET to look upon superhero costumes with such respect and insight. I’m sure I’ll be all the rage when I wear my Batman cowl and matching codpiece on my next trip to Paris or Milan.
But somehow I bet the MET neglected these five gems.
5) Sunfire’s Mask
Not only does Sunfire’s mask conceal his secret identity, but it also allows him to crash an old-fashioned New Orleans masquerade party whenever the mood strikes him.
Side note to aspiring superheroes: when your mask looks like a prehistoric butterfly trying to hump your face, it’s time to head back to the drawing board.
4) Anything Marvel Created in the 1970s
Marvel had a very simple formula for outfitting its heroes during the 1970s: skin-tight unitards with v-necklines more deeply plunging than Deep Throat and popped collars more towering than John Travolta’s hairdo in Saturday Night Fever.
Not that I have anything at all against some hearty side-cleavage, but I haven’t seen a look this dated since John McCain got dressed up for President Lincoln’s wedding. (Get it? He’s totally old. I’m here all week, folks.)
3) Ghost Rider’s Leather Ensemble
This is what a night with Ghost Rider looks like: he dons his tight leather jacket and pants, wraps himself in chains and spikes, and cruises around on his motorcycle looking for naughty boys to torment.
If that doesn’t scream “S&M,” then I’m a super-brilliant actor named Nicolas Cage. Who likes to eat baby penguins. And koala bears.
2) Nova’a Non-Costume
Street festivals here in San Francisco had the market cornered on “naked and flaming” long before Frankie “Nova” Raye came along.
1) Anything Designed by ‘Artist’ Rob Liefeld
In reality, it would take a steroidal weight-lifter with short, gimpy mutant arms carrying a camping backpack filled with smooth boulders on his chest to fill out the Captain America costume that Liefeld has designed here.
Liefeld’s other abuses of the human form have been extensively and hilariously documented.
Thanks to Nima of Equinox of Insanity for contributing to this post.
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Giveaway: Win The Spiderwick Chronicles 2-Disc Field Guide Edition DVD!
By Great White Snark | June 26, 2008
The two-disc “Field Guide” special edition of The Spiderwick Chronicles hit stores this past Tuesday, and Paramount has made a shiny new copy available to GWS to give away to a lucky reader.
So, if you’re (a) lucky and (b) a reader, you’ve already improved your odds of warming these discs in your personal DVD machine box sometime very soon.
Ok, Paramount, hit me with a synopsis!
From the best-selling series of books comes an extraordinary fantasy adventure, revealing the unseen world that exists all around us. From the moment the Grace family moves into a secluded old house peculiar things start to happen. Unable to explain the accidents and strange disappearances, the Grace children, Jared, Simon and Mallory start to investigate and find the unbelievable truth of the Spiderwick Estate and the amazing creatures that inhabit it.
Oh, plus that whole second-DVD’s worth of bonus material. That’s a $22.99 value on Amazon, people. (Unfortunately, those are American dollars, but still…)
All you have to do to enter to win the DVD set is leave a comment on this post, indicating the kids-friendly fantasy movie that you still love as an adult.
(I totally call dibs on Willow.)
Make sure you leave a valid e-mail address in the “Mail” field. I’ll select the winners at random and announce them in an update to this post next Thursday, July 3rd.
UPDATE: Congrats to Debbie, who won the DVD. Debbie, let me urge you to diversify your film palate if Night at the Museum was one of your favorite movies of the past few years. Spiderwick will be decent start.
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