If you've already watched the amazingly badass short film "Kung Fury," then you're already familiar with a character introduced in the story named Hackerman. His insane computer skills are unrivaled, and it was because of him that time traveling was made possible for his team's adventurous journey. 

In case you were wondering how Hackerman achieved time travel, here's a hysterical tutorial video that was released by LaserUnicorns. It offers us further insight into the mind of Hackerman, and "demonstrates how to hack common household objects back or forward in time." You're gonna love this.

Another thrilling trailer has been released for the psychological thriller Regression, which stars Emma Watson and Ethan Hawke. I enjoy watching these kinds of films, and this one looks really freakin' good. 

The movie was directed by Alejandro Amenábar (The Others), and it tells a dark and fascinating story based on actual events. The story is set in the 1990s, which was a time when kids were accusing their parents of Satanic ritual abuse. The film centers on a father who is accused by his daughter (Watson) of a crime that he has no memory of committing. Hawke plays the detective investigating it, and David Thewlis plays a psychologist who helps with the case. The story will explore whether or not Watson’s claims are true, or if there’s something more sinister to her story that she’s not revealing.

Here's the official synopsis:

Minnesota, 1990. Detective Bruce Kenner (Ethan Hawke) investigates the case of young Angela (Emma Watson), who accuses her father, John Gray (David Dencik), of an unspeakable crime. When John unexpectedly and without recollection admits guilt, renowned psychologist Dr. Raines (David Thewlis) is brought in to help him relive his memories and what they discover unmasks a horrifying nationwide mystery.

The movie will hit theaters on August 28th.

Right before my screening started, I told my wife there was absolutely no way this movie was going to be great: based on the dialogue featured in the trailers, I was convinced it was either going to be just passable or an outright disaster. Thankfully, I can't remember a time when I've been more wrong. Jurassic World is a thrilling, breathless, edge-of-your-seat adventure with some of the best action of the year.

Colin Trevorrow directed a small indie called Safety Not Guaranteed a few years ago, and was called up to the big leagues in a pretty massive way; this is only his second feature film, and he tackles it with the skill of a director who's handled this kind of thing a dozen times before. Frankly, I'm shocked at how confident this movie feels, and after being an acolyte of Safety Not Guaranteed since its initial release at Sundance 2012, I'm now even more convinced Trevorrow is the real deal. If he wants one, Lucasfilm should give him a Star Wars movie immediately.

Though the script can occasionally be a little on the nose, the rest of the movie is so good I found whatever issues it has easy to overlook. We don't ever quite get the same childlike wonder that we felt in the original, but the film acknowledges that by making the movie a giant metaphor for blockbuster film culture. Companies come by to slap their brand names on coming attractions, a convenient and ironic way to get most of the film's product placement out of the way in one fell swoop. "No one's impressed by a dinosaur anymore," Bryce Dallas Howard's character says, and though she's talking about the guests at the park, she may as well be talking about the audience sitting in the theater. "Consumers want something bigger," and that need for the next big thing is justification for the park's genetically modified mega-dinosaur: the Indominus Rex, which has all of the best qualities of the most badass dinos who ever walked the Earth.

Like his 1975 classic Jaws, Steven Spielberg's original Jurassic Park is a master class in building tension. I feel like part of that may have been out of necessity because of the brand new CGI techniques they were developing on that film and the expensive animatronic dinosaur models they built for it. Jurassic World has a few suspenseful moments of its own, but its reliance on mostly CG dinos means that Trevorrow can throw the whole kitchen sink at us, making for a much more intense experience.

From purely a story perspective, Jurassic Park is still top dog (or top dino, if you will), but Jurassic World is the best sequel fans could have possibly hoped for. No reasoning is going to be able to justify how the park received enough funding to rebuild after the disastrous events of 1992, or why tourists would decide to visit such a place knowing the history of what happened the first time around, so the script doesn't even bother addressing those questions. The film features a finely-tuned mix of nostalgic references to the original movie with its own inventive new set pieces, ignoring the second and third entries in the franchise and using the first as its foundation.

Some of its characters may not be overly complex, but Jurassic World does a good job making us care about them, and the film feels like it has real stakes when it puts them in danger. Chris Pratt does a fine job as an alpha-male badass who trains raptors (something the trailers make seem idiotic but surprisingly works well in context), Howard slowly ditches her initial characterization as the super-organized park overlord (which feels very much like a movie character) and eventually gets into the action herself, and Nick Robinson and Ty Simpkins are solid as her nephews who come to visit the park and get stranded in the jungle on their own. Jake Johnson and Lauren Lapkus provide some levity as control room employees, while Vincent D'Onofrio plays the villain, a guy who wants to utilize the trained raptors as a weapon for the military.

Aesthetically, the movie looks wonderful and all of the cool new attractions are a great fit for what you'd expect from a modern version of the park. The effects look pretty good for the most part, but I suspect in another twenty years, the effects in Jurassic Park will still be more impressive because of their tactile nature; try as they might, there's something about those animatronics that pixels just can't replicate. And after what I considered to be a misstep with Tomorrowland, composer Michael Giacchino returns to excellence with this score, which incorporates John Williams' soaring theme at just the right moment.

The ideas and iconography of Spielberg's original movie hang over this one at all times — there's literally a statue built in honor of founder John Hammond in the visitor's center, for example — but Trevorrow embraces it and delivers everything I wanted in a sequel: Jurassic World reveres and acknowledges Jurassic Park, but isn't so beholden to it that it's afraid to be innovative. Hold on to your butts: Jurassic World is a hell of a ride.

Universal Pictures is moving forward with the development of Pitch Perfect 3, and they've hired the writer of the first two films, Kay Cannon, to write the script. The first two films in the franchise have been hilariously entertaining, and I hope they can keep that magic alive in this third film. 

Elizabeth Banks not only co-starred and produced the second film, but she also directed it as well. There's no word on if she will return to the director's chair for the third one, but it's a franchise she's obviously very passionate about. In a recent interview with Access Hollywood, she said:

"We would love to spend more time with these characters that everyone’s fallen so hard in love with.”

If you've seen the film then you know that most of the core Barden Bellas have graduated college. It remains unclear if the franchise stars such as Anna Kendrick and Rebel Wilson will come back for a third, but I imagine there wouldn't be much of a point in making a third movie without them. 

It will be interesting to see how they get everyone back together with the Barden Bellas, if that's even the direction they plan on going with the story. 

Source: THR

Remember that time when Jason Statham insulted the action in Marvel films? 

"I could take my grandma and put her in a cape, and then put her in a greenscreen, and then have stunt doubles come in and do all the action. Anybody can do it. I mean, they’re relying on stunt doubles, and greenscreen, and $200 million budget, it’s all CGI-created. So to me, that is not authentic. I’m inspired by old, real star guys that can really do it."

Well, Mark Ruffalo doesn't agree, and in a recent interview with Vulture, he was asked about what Statham said, and this was his amusing response:

“I mean, do you really need to ask that question? It's Jason Statham. He's like a featherweight. He's got nothing on me! Clearly.”

Ruffalo's got a fun sense of humor. Statham could have joined the Marvel cinematic universe as Bullseye in Daredevil Season 2, but he apparently dropped out of negotiations after the news leaked. There's no doubt that he would have brought even more badassery to the MCU. 

It's a shame he won't be involved. Now there's no chance of us ever seeing Ruffalo's Hulk fight Statham's Bullseye. 

We've seen a ton of photos from the set of Captain America: Civil War along with some story and character details, all of which you can check out here. Thanks to JoBlo.com we have some more information about the movie to share with you involving Black Panther, Falcon, Hawkeye, War Machine, Ant-Man, new costumes, and more.

I will warn you that the following information is only a rumor at the moment, but there are potential SPOILERS. I'm going to jump right into it now:

Black Panther will be on a mission of his own that isn't a part of the Steve Rogers and Tony Stark split. There have been rumors that he could be hunting down The Winter Soldier on his own, but we don't know the exact reason why. However, the report does say that Black Panther will start out on the side of Tony Stark, and somewhere down the line there will be a showdown between the Panther and Cap. "In the showdown between Cap and Panther we'll see him scratching Cap's shield easily and his prowess will prove to be a viable threat to Rogers. It is speculated that Stark needs Black Panther to help take Cap down."

It shouldn't come as a surprise that Black Panther's costume will be shrouded in Vibranium, which is the key resource in his homeland of Wakanda. In addition to the costume, we'll also see "a sleek Panther jet of some type, which we're told looks very 'Stark-like' in its technical buildout."

As far as some of the other costumes go, Hawkeye will be getting more purple and flair in the costume he'll be sporting in Civil War, and it will include a full right sleeve to his costume. Ant-Man will also be getting a costume upgrade, as the one he wears in the upcoming solo film is of Hank Pym's 1960s version. In Civil War, he'll be given a more "modern/techno stylish costume." We'll also see the hero take on his Giant Man form, which is about 15-20 feet tall. He'll be going up against Iron Man and his team. One of the visuals we'll see is "Ant-Man standing on one of Hawkeye's arrows, ready to be launched." 

War Machine will be back and see some more action, and according to the site, he will be getting "a serious armory upgrade." They go on to reveal that he'll have more of a tank-style look in the movie, and "will have a new dual weapon that acts as a shoulder cannon/gun that can also be detached and used as a kind of warhammer/baton."

As for Falcon, his new uniform will include wrist lasers and grappling hooks. It's also explained that Sam Wilson's telepathically-linked bird Redwing will and won't be in Civil War. Apparently, it depends on how you look at it. They explain that Redwing "will be featured as The Falcon's helper/sidekick in Civil War, although there's one big difference; Redwing will be a robotic drone, obviously 'linked' to him, but not quite telepathically. The 'bird' will be red in color and will resemble a cooler, modified MCU-like 'bird' drone." It seems to make complete sense that this is the direction they would go with Redwing in the MCU.

Finally, they say that Captain America will finally wear his comic book trademark chainmail armor to his suit! This is something I've been waiting to see in the MCU, and I'm excited that it's going to happen in Civil War.

That's all of the information we have for you today, and I think there's a lot of cool stuff here to think about and discuss with your other geek friends. Directors Joe and Anthony Russo seem to have a solid handle on things, and I don't think they are going to let the fans down with this one.

Captain America: Civil War hits theaters on May 6th, 2016. I'm excited to see how all these rumors and speculation measure up when the film is actually released. 

Out for a walk on a perfect day
No one carries weapons and they all feel safe
But something is looming up there in the sky
Just out of the reach of the naked eye
Everybody's laughing and they're having fun
And everybody gets along with everyone
But a sudden flash of light, everything is gone
Goodbye, Alderaan

Those are the lyrics to "Goodbye Alderaan," a blazing pop punk anthem sung by Indianapolis-based geek band The Yavin 4. To say these guys are underground would be an understatement. I LIVE in their city and just recently heard about them! Despite their obscurity, these guys are pretty talented! Granted, there's a bit of a nerd curve as every song is about Star Wars and the band performs in full costume, so don't expect your friends with low midi-chlorian counts to immediately jump on board.

Some of the songs have the typical fandom you'd expect. There's a song about Boba Fett being a badass, and to be honest, I'd be shocked if any Star Wars band did not have a reference saying that exact thing. On the flip side, these guys take their fandom deep, dedicating an entire song to bounty hunter Amanaman, who was a briefly shown character in Jabba's Palace in Return of The Jedi.

He's the guy on the left, if you didn't know.

A personal favorite track of mine, "Arfive Defour," is a track dedicated to a droid with a want to bang, but he needs his motivator replaced. It's the right mix of creativity, ludicrousness, and originality that this genre deserves, and The Yavin 4 owns it.

In addition to "Arfive Defour," my personal favorites on this album also included "Goodbye Alderaan" and "Queen Amidala."

I really like what these guys are doing. With the con scene growing, we need more acts like these to fill out panels! I'm sick of seeing podcast after podcast of guys I don't follow nor know taking up numerous slots! Give me some fun and dancing! Hell, with as many cons as there are now, a geek band could do pretty well going on a strictly con tour around the nation!

If you are someone who's into punk music with a twist, these guys are totally worth your time. Their album, Intergalactic Rock and Roll, is available to stream for free below...and if you happen to like it, maybe throw these guys some support by buying it? At the very least give them a like on their Facebook page! We need more of this in the community!

The Yavin 4 is Benny NoGood (guitar/vocals), Travis Harmon (guitar/vocals), Jason Bambery (bass/vocals), and Chad Prifogle (drums) respectively.

If you've seen the documentary Lost in La Mancha, then you're acutely aware of the troubles director Terry Gilliam (Brazil, 12 Monkeys) had trying to get his Don Quixote film off the ground for nearly twenty years, with as astounding seven unsuccessful attempts between 1998 and 2014.

But according to a new interview with The Playlist, it seems that Gilliam is finally going to be able to bring his passion project to life, and for a rather unexpected outlet: Amazon. The writer/director revealed that the movie is a part of his deal with the company, and it will begin with a theatrical run before moving over to the streaming service. As far as we know, Jack O'Connell and John Hurt are still set to star, and filming is still slated to begin this summer for a May 2016 release date.

It seems like Amazon will be a good fit for the auteur, who had this to say about his new overlords:

“Amazon and the like are interesting because they are all still in their formative stages. They’re not a bureaucracy that has been around for years like the studio system, and so they’re full of people that are open to new and fresh ideas. So it’s a good time to be working with people like that.”

Here's hoping his long-awaited passion project is finally able to be completed. I can't imagine what a relief that will be for him to have that movie behind him after struggling with it for so long.

Heart-wrenching.

There are almost no words for how hard this hit me. I won't spoil here, but watch the episode (via Machinima) and judge for yourself. The crew at DC Animation are able to do with ease and elegance what many live action studios and directors only wish they could, which is delivering focused storytelling along with emotionally-charged performances. The familiar tale of Superman vs. Braniac takes on a whole new tone here, and truth be told there are so many feelings to unpack that, well, I'm a bit speechless. Not sure why, but that really hit me hard. 

Ironically, Superman's was the one I was looking forward to least, but it has set the bar quite high for Wonder Woman. Check back in on Friday for my impressions on her Gods and Monsters Chronicles debut.

Yesterday I posted a round up of photos that David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, and Chris Carter have posted since they started production on The X-Files limited series. As a huge fan of the show, it has been very exciting for me to see that this is really happening. Now today, thanks to Carter, we have have our first look at Mulder and Scully on the set of the film, and I'm completely geeking out and overcome with joy. You can check it out in the embedded tweet below. 

EXCLUSIVE: Your first look at Mulder and Scully! #TheXFiles pic.twitter.com/UexSfktTbA

— The X-Files (@thexfilesfox) June 10, 2015

Mitch Pileggi will be back as Walter Skinner, and Joel McHale will play a conservative internet news anchor in the new episodes. We've also heard that William B. Davis’ Cigarette-Smoking Man and Annabeth Gish and Robert Patrick’s special agents Monica Reyes and John Doggett will be back. That has yet to be confirmed though. 

The series is set to premiere on January 24th, 2016.

Imperator Furiosa not only kicks ass in Mad Max: Fury Road, she also kicks ass in this funny fan-made tampon commercial spoof. I don't know what prompted Doug Hurley and Whitney Rice to make this, but it works on so many levels. Enjoy!

While Project Almanac director Dean Israelite is in the process of developing the new big screen adaptation of Power Rangers, the official logo has been revealed, and we have some details on two of the main characters that we'll see in the movie. As you can see above, they kept the nostalgia factor of the past logos that we've seen.

Before we get to the character information, I wanted to share with you this quote from an interview with IGN in which the director of the film calls the script mature, but playful:

“I read the script and was really surprised by it and thought there was a really cool, contemporary, mature but still playful, buoyant and fun take on the material, and was updated in a really interesting way. It had this wonderful character that’s essential to going on a fantastic adventure. I was instantly drawn to it. I remember it as a kid. I grew up with it in South Africa. When I opened the script I had no idea how it was going to be updated, and I was really impressed by it. So I put a really big presentation together, because I needed to win the job. There were a lot of guys going out for it and saw the potential in it, so I put a really big presentation together and was lucky enough to get the job. We’re in sort of a soft pre-production right now, doing a lot of design work and reimagining the world. It’s really cool and exciting.”

The expectations of Power Rangers fans seem to be high. Hopefully, Israelite can pull it off and make them happy. The director also revealed they’re in the beginnings of casting for the film and shooting is set to start soon.

The movie has previously been described as a modern reinvention of the long-running franchise. The story of which follows "a group of ordinary high school kids find themselves infused with extraterrestrial powers and must harness those powers as a team to save the world."

You might want to steer clear of the following information as it reveals details on two characters that we'll see in the film. None of this should come as a surprise to anyone who grew up watching the show, but I'm throwing a SPOILER warning out just to be safe:

The main villains of the film will of course be Rita Repulsa, and thanks to Heroic Hollywood, we have this description of the film version of the character:

“A huntress. A striking, yet subtly alien-looking woman. She carries a metallic staff topped with a distinctive crescent shape. Advances with a soldier’s confidence, guided by some sort of compass... Her staff is actually a device of immense power. She points it at the ground. Heads emerge, built layer upon layer like 3-D printing, made from the earth itself... The staff’s technology grants her the ability to create humanoid figures, soulless and robotic.”

The report goes on to say that Rita will be introduced in the prologue of the film "which takes place during the cretaceous period, on the last day of the dinosaurs on Earth. Rita fights that period's Power Rangers."

The site then reveals that the Red Ranger is also fan favorite Zordon described as follows:

“Though alien, he looks like a man in his 50s. Sinewy and strong, as if carved from some root that refused to die. A being of integrity and iron will.”

That's all the information on the movie that we have so far. It's set to be released in theaters on January 13th, 2017. I'm really curious to see how this thing turns out. It really does have the potential to be an epic, action-packed adventure film. 

I’ve got some awesome fan-made CG animated Batman video art for you to check out. The piece was created by artist Meas Agun, and he created the video below as a teaser for a much bigger idea. There’s a lot of thought that went into the development of this Batman creation, and I think it’s best to let the artist explain it in his own words. Read what he had to say, watch the video, and let us know what you think about what he has done.

"A few words… (First, I'm French, so please forgive my poor English.) 
I'm not particularly a 'Comics' fan, even if I've read many when I was 13 or so, but as lots of people, I've seen and enjoyed most of the movies that came out these last years. Nonetheless, I conceived this video as an exercise in style: I wanted to create the kind of 'Comics' film I'd like to see. Not realistic at all, but closer to a proper Comic Book, with a painterly look as they often have on the covers (in this case, airbrush), and more important, with characters that look like their original design, and not an 'OK-ish' adaptation in the real World. Because Comics are all about aesthetic (mainly a glorification of the Human body for the visual part), and surely not what is practical in real life. After all, you don't read Comic Books because they depict our real World, but rather because they show heroes bigger than life. Anybody who'd wear tight colorful clothes to fight villains would simply be ridiculous in real life. So, I ended up thinking I'd prefer to watch a whole computer generated movie which would retain all these impossible, yet beautiful improbabilities.

"About the Batman movies (by Burton or Nolan), some things I never liked were for instance the rigid rubber hood that prevents the actor to turn his head which eventually led to create this kind of helmet he has in the latest movies and video games. I also hate the 'full armor' concept anyway. Come on, this is Batman, not Irondude! But the worst thing to me has always been about the eyes. Batman has plain WHITE eyes (like most of the Super Heroes); we just don't see Bruce Wayne's real eyes through the mask. This is capital to give him this non-human and dreadful appearance. Being able to see the actor's eyes is a crime to me. Besides, despite the fact that in Nolan's films, they worked hard to explain us why and how Batman would wear this theatrical costume, let's face it, it's just silly! And that's why it's insanely cool! I mean that, to me, what works very well in 'Comics' about strong aesthetic choices (unlikely costumes, impossible physical stuff and so on), simply doesn't in a realistic movie. If a dude were to wear a robotic armor like Ironman, maybe could he fly, but certainly not tolerate the enormous g-force that a single punch from the 'Hulk' would inflict on his body. He simply would be turned to some gory jam inside his beautiful suit, right?

"For all this, I tried to render a classical, generic look as seen in usual comic books, with white eyes, regular suit, and because I loved Dave McKean's "Arkham Asylum" graphic novel, huuuuuuge overweening horns. I don't care these would be cumbersome in a fight; it just looks awesome!!! And it looks crazy, which Batman is. I mean, he's the 'Dark Knight', tormented, enraged, insane… not a fair, pure white hero. He also is enormously tall (something like 7.3 feet, without the horns ^^), because he… well… he's a monster. And I pictured him being 50 years old or so, hurt and weary, yet powerful.

"Finally, this video is conceived as a teaser. The 2 gunshots remind his parents killed when he was a child, which is why I chose to use the pure and innocent voice of a boy at the beginning of the music. Then, comes the bat from the whirls of darkness, as a permanent obsession in his tortured mind; the flapping wings slowly turning to his waving cape, as he stands above Gotham in an iconic stance, ready to jump, while the music becomes gradually more epic with the use of brass instruments and full choirs. In short, classic, and cinematic!

"As for the programs used to produce this video (3D, modeling, texturing, painting, compositing, music and so on…), the question is irrelevant; it can be done with any of the existing ones. They are tools, nothing more. This video doesn't rely on a specific technology.

"Please, enjoy. Thank you for watching, listening, and reading."

If you liked the 2007 video game documentary King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, you'll want to watch Man Vs. Snake: The Long Twisted Tale of Nibbler. It tells the outrageous and inspirational true story of one man's quest for the highest video game score...EVER!

The movie is set to screen at the FilmQuest Film Festival later this month, and here's the full synopsis that offers up even more details on the fascinating story:

MAN VS SNAKE is a documentary feature film the quest for the highest video game score of all time. The film tells the story of Timothy McVey (not to be confused with the Oklahoma City bomber) who in 1984 was the first person in history to score over one billion points on an arcade game (in over 44 hours of continuous play) and his present day odyssey to better his score and set a new world record. Along the way, we meet players from Canada, Italy and Japan all with a connection to the video game Nibbler and all with interesting lives and aspirations of their own. The doc features intimate interviews with the players, days-long back-breaking marathon attempts and unique archival footage from the 1980s. While the film is very entertaining, it also seeks to explore the central theme of one man's pursuit of his dreams and the lengths he will go to realize them. Even if you're not a gamer yourself, we feel you will enjoy this film, as it provides a privileged view of a unique subculture.

This looks like a great doc that is worth checking out. I enjoy this kind of stuff, and I think you'll like what you see in the trailer below, especially if you're a big fan of old-school video games. 

Last weekend, I had the opportunity to attend the press junket for Pixar's Inside Out, which I'm happy to say is a fantastic return to form for the studio after a couple of relative misfires in recent years. This movie is one of the studio's best, and I'll have a full review coming before the movie arrives in theaters next week.

In the meantime, I wanted to share with you one of the coolest aspects of the press junket, which was hearing director Pete Docter and producer Jonas Rivera (the same team behind Monsters, Inc. and Up) talk about how they cast each of the main characters in the film. Amy Poehler plays Joy, Lewis Black plays Anger, Phyllis Smith plays Sadness, Bill Hader plays Fear, and Mindy Kaling plays Disgust, and they're all brilliantly cast in their respective roles. So how did Docter and his team secure the perfect voices for his characters?

Lewis Black

Docter: A lot of the lines on paper, if you read the script, it’s like, ‘Well, that’s sort of funny.’ But when these particular actors bring them to life, it’s somehow so specific and so wonderful, it’s fantastic. Lewis Black was one that even as I was pitching the concept, I would say, ‘Imagine the fun we’re going to have when it comes to casting. We could get people like Lewis Black as anger!’ and people would go, ‘Oh, yeah!’ So when we cast him, Jonas called him.

Rivera: Yeah, I called Lewis through our casting department at Pixar and we pitched him the movie, we wanted him to play Anger. And immediately, he was like, [sarcastic voice] ‘Great. Real stretch casting, guys. Brilliant.’ He mocked us for calling him. He was so great.

Bill Hader

Rivera: Bill came on pretty early. I was just a fan of Bill Hader from Saturday Night Live, and it turns out Bill was a fan of Pixar and we didn’t know it. He shows up one day at Pixar and our casting director calls and says, ‘Bill Hader’s in the atrium. Does anyone want to go have coffee with him?’ [And I said] ‘What?!’ So we go down there, and there’s Bill Hader drinking coffee by himself, and he, on his own dime, had flown up because he loves animation, and he loves it. Bill knows more about movies than anyone I’ve ever known, animated or otherwise, not only at Pixar. We introduce ourselves to him, and he goes, ‘Oh my God, is that Ralph Eggleston?’ Our production designer that no one would know unless you watched side 3 of the Wall*E Blu-ray, and he’d watched everything and knew everybody. We just fell in love with him. He came on to write with us, actually, because he’s a great writer. He was so much fun in the story room and we just went through the script and he started developing voices and leaning towards Fear and he was perfect at it. He really brought this sort of Don Knotts, sheriff of Mulberry, turn-on-a-dime [element] that made us laugh.

Mindy Kaling

Docter: Disgust we struggled with a lot, because we weren’t sure whether she should be disgusting or disgusted. Once we arrived at disgusted, Mindy’s voice came up. And again, she takes lines that are fine writing and makes them amazing to listen to. And she, like most of the cast, we would come with the script and I would say, ‘Do you have any other ideas for this? Go ahead and play around.’ She would come up with little alternate lines and aside and added a ton to both the character and the film.

Phyllis Smith

Docter: Sadness was one that early on, we actually had that character as male in the very first versions. And then as the film went on, we realized, ‘We have too many guys in this movie, especially if it’s supposed to take place in a girl’s head.’ And I think that was about the same time you found…

Rivera: I saw [Phyllis] in the movie Bad Teacher. You had written her more like a crybaby, which was funny, but in Bad Teacher she was hesitant and couldn’t even order a chicken sandwich without saying, “I’ll have the chicken sandwich?” Everything had a question mark. That felt right, and it worked, and that’s how we ended up playing the character. And she just nailed it.

Amy Poehler

Docter: Joy was the last one to be cast and the most difficult of any of the characters to write for, because she had a tendency of being really annoying. If you write someone who’s always really chipper and upbeat, and is like, ‘Come on guys, we can do this!’ it just got to be like, ‘Ugh, I want to sock that person.’ And so Amy was able to put that in some way that made it entertaining, it was not insufferable, you root for her. I think there were a couple other small writing clues that helped break that open a little bit.

I don’t remember whose idea this was, but instead of recording right away, we spent the whole day reading through the script one sequence at a time. Amy would start narrowing in on certain lines, not just for her, but for some of the other characters as well. She’s got such a brilliant writing mind as well as being a great performer, so we took advantage of that.

Inside Out arrives in theaters on June 19th.

It has been over a decade since director Patrick Read Johnson started shooting his Star Wars fan film 5-25-77. The film is a coming-of-age drama that centers on a teenage movie geek played by John Francis Daley (Freaks and Geeks), whose life is changed by George Lucas' classic sci-fi fantasy film. 

A work-in-progress cut of the film has previously been screened at Star Wars Celebration in 2007 and TIFF in 2013. Due to money issues, the movie took longer to finish than expected. Over the years the director slowly raised the funds to complete his passion project, and it's finally done. Johnson revealed in an interview with Yahoo! (via: IGN) that he just needs to clean up the final cut now.

Johnson also said that the film has a distributor and they plan to release it in theaters and VOD later this year. There's no exact date set yet, but he does say, “I can tell you that the film will come out in theaters on a significant date."

The filmmaker went on to say that fans should look out for "unconventional advertising” leading up to the release of the film. He explains that, “A few months out, you’ll start to see some things appearing around the country, and if you’ve seen the movies these things are referencing — like 2001 and Jaws — you’ll know it’s advertising before anyone else does." So we'll just have to keep our eyes peeled.

While we wait for more details, here's the synopsis and the trailer for the movie:

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away—or rather, in early-’70s Wadsworth, Illinois—Pat, a teenage geek with a big imagination, devoted his spare time and excess energy to concocting supremely amateur “sequels” to the genre cinema of the day. With his backyard and basement standing in for a Hollywood studio, he set the sights of his Super-8 on his own visions of JAWS, PLANET OF THE APES, DUEL and of course the catalyst for his crazed creativity, 2001: A SPACE ODDYSEY. His best pal Bill doesn’t entirely share his raging passion but he’s perfectly game to have his arm torn off or heart ripped out in the name of homemade sci-fi cinema—and be Pat’s comrade in discovering the delights and disasters of an average adolescent’s life. But such lives, even those in ordinary Wadsworth, have their dramatic defining moments. Pat’s arrives in a chance opportunity to visit Hollywood and while there, meet with special effects maestro Douglas Trumbull. Along that path, however, lies a fateful detour… an audience with the young, rising director Steven Spielberg, a journey through the guts of Industrial Light & Magic in its infancy, and an encounter with one George Lucas as he manically mixes up a little space-opera movie that would soon shake the foundations of cinematic art and business…

Darkest Dungeon is a wonderful game. I first heard about it in late 2014 (thanks to Jim Sterling), picked it up as soon as it entered Early Access, and quickly put 30 hours into it before I ran out of content. That by itself was worth the cost of entry, and the game wasn’t even complete yet! Over the next few weeks I hoped for new classes or dungeons to be released, but considering development time they, understandably, never came. My excitement for the game faded and I moved on. Yesterday, a big patch for Darkest Dungeon was released, adding new bosses and new classes. But those are an add-on for a game I’ve already played, and I have many more games competing for my time now (curse you, Witcher 3, for having so many side quests!). I might not ever get back to it and experience the new content now, let alone when it eventually has its final release.

My experience with Darkest Dungeon highlights one of the problems I’ve had with Early Access games ever since its popularization. Receiving a game in small chunks really kills release day hype. With games that are released already complete, like Witcher 3, Splatoon, or Bloodborne, you receive the entire product on the day of release. You may play it as much as you like without holes or gaps in the experience. You don’t get halfway through the story then have to wait for the next patch, so there is an excitement to play it as soon as possible because the entirety of the game lies before you. Early Access games don’t have that potential for release day excitement. If you played it during its Early Access period, you were playing an unfinished gamem and it always felt that way. If you wait for release, the game has been playable for months (or years in some cases), so the vast majority of people that want to play the game already have done so and moved on. The game has already been analyzed and talked about. There is no excitement in playing it.

Another game that suffered from this release day apathy is Planetary Annihilation. During Early Access, Planetary Annihilation was all over gaming news sites. People were enthused about the chance to play another large scale RTS, and the hype was obvious. But as time wore on, the passion died and by the time it hit final release, no one was talking about it anymore. The only reason I knew it was fully released was a note on the Steam page! That lack of coverage would be the death knell for a normal game release, and it wasn’t good for Planetary Annihilation either, since the multiplayer was supposed to be a significant aspect of the game. With players trickling in and out over the course of its Early Access career, it never had the huge influx of players a multiplayer community needs, and lacking that population boost, the community is all but dead.

It would be unfair for me to act like Early Access is entirely bad. Video gaming’s greatest success story, Minecraft, was one of the first major “Early Access” titles, and it worked out wonderfully for them. Other games like Don’t Starve and Kerbal Space Program have gone through Early Access and had relatively good success before and after their official “release,” and the money they gained during their stint in Early Access undoubtedly helped improve the final product. But for every success story, there are dozens of games that either never get released, or do get released and no one really cares.

Although Early Access can help some games be developed that wouldn’t otherwise have the resources, it’s not necessarily all good for the players or the game itself. Spreading the community growth out over a longer time frame makes it more difficult to establish a strong multiplayer community, and distributing the game content in small chunks greatly reduces the chance players will see all of it. Early Access has become a gravely abused system that once helped encourage creativity but now breeds greed and laziness. I hope more Early Access games in the future prove me wrong. Now, time to go back to The Witcher. I wonder how many more hours I can put into it without ever leaving Velen...

Marvel may be ditching San Diego Comic-Con this year, but Lucasfilm isn't going to miss out on the opportunity to bring Star Wars: The Force Awakens to the event! This is huge news for fans! I seriously didn't think that they would come, especially with Disney's D23 Expo taking place the following month. 

According to the announcement, Disney will present a special look at the film in Hall H on Friday, July 10th. Director J.J. Abrams, producer Kathleen Kennedy, and screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan are expected to take the stage with a group of "special guests," which could be anyone. But wouldn't it be awesome if Harrison Ford showed up!?

On top of the Hall H panel, Disney and Lucasfilm will host several other Star Wars-related events that fans might want to join in on. Those include Hasbro’s in-depth look at the popular Star Wars toy line, as well as a 40th anniversary panel for special effects house ILM.

There's no word on what they will show, but I imagine we'll get another teaser trailer, or maybe even some clips from the movie, which would be amazing! Star Wars: The Force Awakens opens in theaters December 18th!

Writer: Dennis Hopeless

Artist and Colorist: Javier Rodriguez

Inker: Alvaro Lopez

It’s on, son!

The fight that the last 2 issues have been building to is finally here, so let's not waste time with pleasantries and just get to it.

Spoilers from here on out, folks.

The first page sets the tone pretty well. This is a slugfest, but the thing is that Spider-Woman isn’t exactly known for her fisticuffs skills. It also doesn’t help when the opposition is attacking you via a giant-sized Tonka truck exoskeleton. About midway through, it starts to feel like another german suplex-a-ganza from Brock Lesnar, but let's take a quick second to examine how we got here.

Last issue revealed that Moons Hollow was a utopia of sorts for the supposedly kidnapped villains ex wives and girlfriends. In issue 8 we see how that all started. Cat (Tonka lady) was in a seriously abusive relationship, but after one too many close calls, decided to take things into her own hands. After that, she started building what is now Moons Hollow.

As always the writing here is quippy and sarcastic, but Dennis Hopeless knows how to let the moment breathe when it needs to. While Tonka runs roughshod over Spider-Woman for the majority of the fight, the brightside is that Javier Rodriguez really knows how to lay out a fight scene. I cringed a little with every blow, and I love how the sound effects are integrated into the motion of the scene (see the WHUD below for an example). 

Here are a few takeaways as this first arc comes to a close. I love the way the issue ended, and while she can be prickly at times (lovably so though), very few have a heart as big as Jessica Drew. I also couldn't be more ecstatic that this quirky little team of Ben, Porcupine, and Jess are staying together. I can't wait to see what comes next.

See ya next time!

We all know by now that Wolverine 3 will be Hugh Jackman's last time playing Logan in Fox's X-Men franchise. Yesterday we posted an article about how Jerry Seinfeld influenced his decision to step away from the character. Since Wolverine 3 isn't going to be released until 2017, if Fox wanted him to, he could still appear in Deadpool and X-Men: Apocalypse. 

While attending the premiere of Jackman's documentary Dukale's Dream, the Huffington Post caught up with the actor and managed to ask him a few questions about Wolverine and the X-Men franchise. During this discussion, he was asked about whether or not he could speak on the Deadpool cameo rumor teased by Ryan Reynolds, Jackman replied coyly:

"Hmmm, I can't ... no. Nope," Jackman mumbled under his lips while giving off a sweet smile. "But, I am really good mates with [Reynolds] so ..."

He could have always just denied it and said no, but judging by his response, it sounds to me like he will show up at some point during the course of the film. When asked about X-Men: Apocalypse, all he said was "Who knows?" I'll tell you who knows: he does! 

The actor continued to talk about his retirement from the character, and the factors that played a part in making his decision:

"There was a period about six years ago when I could see my choices being narrowed by Wolverine, but now I feel like they've opened up from doing 'Les Mis' or 'Prisoners' or 'Pan.' The options coming to me right now are more varied than they've ever been in my life. Hopefully, I'm not that actor in 10 years who's unemployed going, 'Why did I ever leave it?' and then begging to come back."

I'm sure Jackman will be just fine. He goes on to praise the support he has had from Fox and Marvel:

"They were all really supportive -- 17 years is a long time, and I'm sure that they've already started casting, you know? Someone may sign up for an 11-picture deal, as we speak."

I seriously doubt that, but it's inevitable that he will be replaced with a new actor some day. We have no idea who that could be, but we have discussed a few choices in the pst, which you can read here.

As far as Wolverine 3 is concerned, he's excited about jumping into production:

"Weirdly, I'm really excited about shooting it. I feel great enthusiasm, I suppose it's denial -- like the football player who announces their retirement before their last season -- and so I'm really looking forward to it. But, I know it's not over yet! I still got a lot of 4 o'clock mornings and a hell of a lot of egg white omelettes and steamed chicken to have, and all of that. 

"I feel very blessed that I loved playing this part, the last 'Wolverine' and that last 'X-Men' ['Days of Future Past'] were maybe two of the best and I feel like, hopefully, we'll do it again with this last one."

It's going to be sad to see Jackman go, but the actor sounds like he's going to give his last performance of the character everything he's got. Hopefully he goes out giving fans the greatest X-Men franchise movie they've seen! Deadpool hits theaters on February 12th, 2016, X-Men: Apocalypse on May 27th, 2016, and Wolverine 3 on March 3rd, 2017.