Your Geekness

The first trailer for the long awaited TRON LEGACY has been found online after fans followed a treasure hunt of links and clues. There’s no embed of it available legitimately just yet, but you can view it in all its glory (and various sizes) right here. Not sure how long the trailer will be up at that location, so enjoy it while you can, dear friends! The TRON LEGACY trailer looks beautiful, even though there are only fleeting glimpses of the Tron universe in it. We get some nice setup, and revisiting Flynn’s Arcade is a moment of serious geek goosebumps, but it’s the computer world scenes that many people will wnat to check out. What we see looks very sleek indeed, but maybe a little, hmm, flat? I’m hoping the colours are more vibramt once we see the real thing, as it was those stark colours that helped to make the original TRON movie so damn stunning. Still, cool trailer. We can has movie nao? Kthx.

The remake of The Crazies is doing very well right now, with a great many positive reviews flying about online and in print. This is a cool thing to see, considering it’s a remake of a cult low-budget flick from way back in 1973, which was directed by none other than Night Of The Living Dead mastermind George A Romero. The political satire aspect may have been toned down a bit for the remake in favour of more insanity, but it’s still a powerful remake.

This original version is worth seeing for more than just curiosity though. It’s a brilliantly executed (and somewhat underrated) SF film with a horror edge that holds up well today even of the production values are less than impressive now.

If you like the new big-screen version of The Crazies, then the original movie is well worth checking out for comparison. Then, if you like that film, I’d suggest searching out a good copy of the Farenheit 451 movie too. Oh, and Soylent Greeen! Those three work well together in my head

Check out the trailer to the original:

The trailers are out, the posters are showing up all around the world, and we’re not far off finally seeing the long awaited adaptation of the notorious Mark Millar/John Romita Jr comic series KICK ASS.

The buzz is reaching its apex, but is this flick going to be this year’s major comic book movie hit? Probably not in terms of box office (IRON MAN 2 will take that honour, without a doubt), but possibly in terms of acclaim, anyway.

With what has the potential to be a, erm, kick ass cast and direction that seems to have really captured the spirit of the source material, I think a lot of people around the world are about to get a new favourite film.

The release of the Kick Ass movie is being accompanied by a bunch of tie-in making of books and whatnot, all of which are helping the cause by giving non-comics fans a look behind what it takes to put these stories together. It does feel a bit weird when something that has been so loved by a core audience crosses over into the mainstream, but at least this time it looks like we have something to be proud of. Now that kicks ass.

Geeks and movies go together like Han and Chewie, but there’s a common misconception that all we’re into is spaceships, monsters and people in spandex with hair that never gets messed up. While this is true to a certain extent, there’s much more to geeky films than just insane blockbusters and guys running away from explosions Just In Time. Here are five brilliant films that are dear to the hearts of many geeks.

Ghost World: The movie adaptation of the classic graphioc novel by Daniel Clowes is a bittersweet story of two girls coming to terms with how life changes once you’re thrown into the real world. A great cast is headed up by Thora Birch, Scarlett Johansson and Steve Buscemi.

Napoleon Dynamite: Vote for Pedro! A modern cult classic geek movie. It’s funny as hell once you get the hang of the humour, and everyone has known characters like these at some point in their lives.

High Fidelity: The adaptation of Nick Hornby’s great novel is a geek movie all collectors can all relate to, not to mention everyone who’s ever had a messy breakup. A great flick for older geeks.

Office Space: A bunch of office workers rebel against their dull existence following one of their number being hypnotized and losing their neuroses. Great fun, and a definite cult film. It bombed when it came out, but found an audience on DVD.

American Splendor: This comic book adaptation/biopic is a fascinating mix of dramatized scenes and monologues from the subject of the film, namely indie comics star Harvey Pekar. A great look at another side of the comics world.

These are just five examples of the wealth of great stuff that is out there in the realm of geek movies. These are geek movies with a difference, and great examples of films with a cult edge that still manage to have a heart. What would you add to the list?

There’s been some hoo-ha doing the rounds this past few days about a possible delay to the production of Spider-man 4. It was floated recently that the studio execs at Fox and Sam Raimi were butting heads over who should be the film’s villain. Raimi is apparently wanting to use the Vulture as the main bad guy in the new film, while Fox were said to be wanting him to use bigger, more popular villains (I’m thinking the studio was wanting to use Carnage or something). Then came word that the production had indeed stalled, but only for the Christmas holidays. D’oh! Is this a case of a break being blown out of proportion, or is there genuine trouble with Spider-Man 4? After Spider-Man 3’s critical pounding (although, remember, its opening box office was MASSIVE), I can understand the execs wanting to use a big villain, but I can also understand Raimi wanting to do something different. Me? I’d suggest appearances by Kraven, the Black Cat and, erm, Modok! Every Marvel movie needs Modok Whatever happens, we’ll be bringing you the details.

Tis the season to be armoured! Iron Man 2 is coming, and what better to lift us all out of the doldrums of bad weather, terrible colds and trying to find the perfect Christmas presents for mad Uncle Bill than this awesome Iron Man 2 teaser poster featuring our first official look at the War Machine costume? Check this bad boy out:

Oh yes indeed. Iron Man 2 is looking ever more likely to be just as awesome as the first film. Actually, speaking of Christmas gifts in a similar vein, what about some of these fantastic official high-end, in-stock statues from Sideshow Collectibles (click the images for more info):

John Hughes, director of classic films such as The Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, has sadly died following a heart attack while out walking in New York. This is tragic news for those that were close to him, as well as the millions of people around the world to whom his films are so special. We’re certainly amongst those people.

Those films mean something very special to his fans, and we’ll never forget his work. While the man himself was something of a recluse, which when you hear his reasons is perfectly understandable (He apparently went into self imposed exile of a sort to ensure his kids could have a normal life), the films of his early years as a director tell you a great deal about him.

He was a man that fully understood the troubles that people face when growing up, and through the medium of film he told audiences; “It’s okay, you’re not alone.” That’s how it felt to Hughes fans like us, anyway.

Yes, movies like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Pretty in pink and Weird Science are all very much of their time, but they are still timeless stories. Then you have brilliant comedies such as Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Uncle Buck and the global hit Home Alone.

The man certainly knew what he was doing. While later work was of a less moving standard than those classic 80s brat pack films, he remained a very talented man. His passing is premature and very sad. Another hero I’ll never get to meet.

The San Diego Comic Con is here, and movie, TV, comics and collectibles fans the world over are fuming with jealousy that they’re not there with those lucky ****s who managed to go this year. This year’s event is the 40th annual SDCC, and has attracted another sell-out crowd, along with the absolute cream, of the film, TV, video games, toys and comic industries, peddling their wares and previewing the delights that are to come.

There have been some massive panels at this year’s event, with James Cameron previewing Avatar, Robert Pattinson and ‘those other ones’ from Twilight previewing New Moon, Robert Downey Jr and co previewing Iron Man 2, a million and one comics industry announcements, the stars of the collectibles scene (check out the new items from Sideshow Collectibles at SDCC this year!).

Plus there have been the usual million workshops, panels, dealers, and mini events at the event that the major press doesn’t seem to cover, all of which we’d love to be able to go to.

Man, one year, ONE YEAR we’ll be there and soak it all up. Above all, aside from all of the big names that are there being all big named, the event is about fans and geeking out over the fantastic. What’s not to love?

One year it’ll be us there, filling YouTube and Flickr with goodies and making you all jealous. Until then, we must go and polish our Stormtrooper outfits and dream of Olivia Munn.

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Okay, so you’ve probably seen the trailer for Jennifer’s Body, the new teen horror movie starring Megan Fox, and written by Juno’s Diablo Cody. It will be interesting to see how this film turns out, as it’s Diablo’s first movie to use any amount of effects, and Megan’s first real stab at taking the lead in a flick.

While the Megan Fox backlash is in full swing, she must have something going for her aside from her looks to keep getting these roles. No? Well, okay, but there has to be something interesting going on here.

The idea of the film is kinda cool, although from the trailer it does look a little bit like a straight-to-DVD knockoff of the Cherry Falls/Ginger Snaps/Final Destination school of teen horror. That is, light on the horror, heavy on the teen. After being the eye candy in the Transformers movies, Megan is finally getting some higher billing.

How long it will last is anyone’s guess, as her range doesn’t seem that broad. I’d love to be proven otherwise. Plus, I am interested to see how Diablo Cody’s writing style fits with the horror genre. Here’s hoping it doesn’t grate quite as much as Juno did with me…

Check out the trailer:

The announcement of the Watchmen Blu-ray ‘Maximum movie Mode’ feature that has Zack Snyder pop up throughout the film and take you through the making of key scenes has got us thinking about what we can expect in the future with extras on movies. The idea of the commentary track has always been one of the most interesting things about DVDs, but now with the more advanced capabilities of Blu-ray movies, and thus the advance in extras, what can we expect ion the future?

We’re very much into the idea of the commentary track becoming more of a multimedia experience, very much like it is with the forthcoming Watchmen disc. Something I personally would love to see is a movie extra feature that allows you to watch the film with footage from the various featurettes included in the film at the point of the story they take place, along with storyboards, raw green screen footage, rehearsals and so on.

It would be fascinating for viewers and also give us more of an idea of the amount of work that goes into creating each shot of the movies we love (and indeed the ones we hate- there are a number of times I’ve loved the special features on a DVD and hated the film).

Interactivity will be the key with future advances in movie extras, we would imagine. The viewer should be able to get information on any particular scene or effect they wish, selecting a particular mode and then selecting an area of the screen with some form of cursor (or the touch-screen of a handheld device such as an iPod or mobile phone), leading to information, stills and footage regarding whichever aspect of the movie they have selected.

Select a big effect, and it should take you to information on how the effect was achieved. Select a cast member, and it could show you their screen test or interviews on set. That sort of thing. Or, what about watching the whole film in storyboards and animatics? That would be awesome.

Of course, this is all probably on the way already, and I’m coming across as hopelessly outdated. If so, then I’m sorry, I just want cool stuff! Thankfully, now that the technology is available and in use, better and better extras are becoming available, and a whole new way of enjoying films and TV shows is here.

Being able to see further into the creation of our favourite films, and see deleted material and alternate versions with Blu-ray movies is making it so much more fun to watch a movie again. Now, how about some films that are as good as Watchmen to go along with these great extras?