I'm fascinated by the history of Halloween, and over the years there has been an evolution of the kinds of costumes that people would wear to celebrate this awesome holiday of darkness. I've always liked the old school Halloween costumes. There's something about them that is freakin' terrifying. The video comes from Mode who says:

Carving pumpkins, sipping cider, and trick-or-treating may all be indicative of Halloween, but nothing gets us into the spirit more than dressing up. For centuries, people have celebrated Halloween with costumes that run the gamut from spooky to sweet. Today, we’re revisiting Halloween costumes one decade at a time, and ending with a 2015 costume guaranteed to break the Internet.

What is your favorite Halloween costume era? In case you missed it, you can check out a list I compiled of classic retro Ben Cooper costumes right here. 

A rumor recently went around that Marvel got the rights to Fantastic Four back in a deal that allowed Fox to make their two X-Men TV series Hellfire and Legion. Those rumors have turned out to be false. 20th Century Fox contacted Den of Geek, the site that made the claim, and told them that those rumors are "completely untrue." Marvel also sent them a denial.

That kind of sucks because I was actually kind of excited for the possibility of Marvel Studios developing a Fantastic Four movie. This just means that Fox is holding on to the property and will eventually try to make another film, which seems absolutely ridiculous. Fox has killed any kind of success for these characters as long as they hold on to them.

It seems like all of the fans feel that the only hope this franchise has of being good is if Marvel took it over. It's a shame that this rumor turned out to be a dud.

This incredible RX-78 Gundam Mobile Suit was created by Japanese Twitter user Punival. It made complete sense for him to go to Tokyo's Odaiba to take photos of his suit with the life-sized statue that resides there. This is one of the coolest homemade Gundam costumes that I've seen, and I wish I had the time and talent to build something like this. 

Via: Kotaku

Bafflingly, Lionsgate is still planning to move forward with Robin Hood: Origins, a new movie with Kingsman star Taron Egerton as the bow-and-arrow wielding outlaw. I guess they think it'll be better than Ridley Scott's Robin Hood, which was also an origin story for the character. In any case, Deadline reports that The Knick actress Eve Hewson is in negotiations to star opposite Egerton as Maid Marian. (Fun fact: Hewson is the daughter of U2 singer Bono.)

Apparently she beat out over 100 actresses for the role, including future Star Wars star (if rumors are to be believed) Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Vampire Academy star Lucy Fry. Peaky Blinders director Otto Bathurst is directing, and the "gritty" revisionist story will reportedly follow Robin Hood as he "returns from fighting in The Crusades and finds that Sherwood Forest is rife with corruption and evil. He forms a band of outlaws and they take matters into their own hands." Well, that sounds a lot like pretty much every other Robin Hood movie out there, so they're going to have to do a hell of a lot to get me interested in this.

Get ready to be absolutely inundated with Robin Hood movies, by the way, since Sony wants their own cinematic universe, and both Disney and Warner Bros. are developing their own takes on the character. Gimme a freakin' break.

Rocksteady has released a comprehensive list of all the remaining DLC coming for Arkham Knight (even PC, but I'm sure the schedule might be altered a bit due to all the problems), and it is pretty sizable... View Full Post on GameTyrant

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Jurassic World was a dinosaur-sized hit for Universal earlier this year, making $1.6 billion worldwide at the box office and becoming the third highest-grossing movie of all time. As with most mega-popular films, some loved it, others hated it, there was a controversy, a backlash, and a backlash to the backlash. Typical movie culture cycle. We don't need to rehash whether we liked it or not, but you can read my review here if you haven't yet.

We're not here to talk about the film's quality (or lack thereof). We're here to take a look at this great fake trailer for the film cut together by ChiefBrodyRules, which imagines what Jurassic World would have looked like if it was a disaster movie from 1978. With a cast that includes Michael Caine, Raquel Welch, Richard Pryor, and Charlton Heston, I'd watch this movie in a heartbeat.

Huge fan of the Jurassic Park series. I loved Jurassic World. It reminded me of 70s disaster movies and I thought I would try to do a "What if Jurassic World was made in the 70's?" video. I thought it would be easy but it's taken 17 weeks to make this video. LOL It was difficult, but I had a lot of fun making it.

Via: Uproxx

Sony Pictures has released a red-band trailer for a completely insane-looking horror comedy called Freaks of Nature. I haven't even heard of this film until today, but it sure does look like a wild and crazy good time. The story features a world in which zombies, vampires, and humans are all living together in society. That society is torn apart, though, when a massive alien invasion occurs.

The movie was directed by Robbie Pickering and the cast includes Nicholas Braun, Mackenzie Davis, Josh Fadem, Joan Cusack, Bob Odenkirk, Keegan-Michael Key, Ed Westwick, Patton Oswalt, Vanessa Hudgens, and Denis Leary. Here's the synopsis:

In Freaks of Nature, we welcome you to Dillford, where three days ago, everything was peaceful and business as usual: the vampires were at the top of the social order, the zombies were at the bottom, and the humans were getting along in the middle. But this delicate balance was ripped apart when the alien apocalypse arrived in Dillford and put an end to all the harmony. Now it’s humans vs. vampires vs. zombies in all-out, blood-sucking, brain-eating, vamp-staking mortal combat – and all of them are on the run from the aliens. It is up to three teenagers – one human, one vampire, and one zombie – to team up, figure out how to get rid of the interplanetary visitors, and try to restore order to this “normal” little town.

The movie is set to be released on October 30th, and it's a movie that I have to see because it looks like something I'd really enjoy. Check out the trailer! 

George R.R. Martin's fans have a reason to celebrate and be excited because...no, unfortunately it's not a new Game of Thrones book that continues the A Song of Ice and Fire saga, so take a deep breath. Fans will get a sort of book, but not the type we have all been praying and waiting for. Instead, it's a coloring book. Better than nothing, right?

ALL MEN MUST DRAW

In a world where weddings are red, fire is green, and debts are paid in gold, countless images leap off the page thanks to the eye-popping intricacy of the vivid settings and details. Now, for the first time, fans of this blockbuster saga can fill in the blanks and marvel as this meticulously imagined universe comes to life, one sword, sigil, and castle at a time. With dozens of stunning original black-and-white illustrations from world-renowned illustrators Yvonne Gilbert, John Howe, Tomislav Tomić, Adam Stower, and Levi Pinfold, this unique collector’s item expands the reach of an international phenomenon with flying colors.

In fact, this book is more than welcome. It gives all of those who love the fantasy series and novels a chance to experience the stories not in words, but in pictures. Given Martin's liking for blood, dramatic murders, unexpected deaths, and killing, the 45 black and white images might require an impressive number of red pens in order to receive that typical Game of Thrones flavor. What do you think?

If you're a fan of the world of stand-up comedy, a subscription to Showtime may be a necessity in the near future.

The network just sent over a press release revealing that they're going to shoot a pilot for a dark comedy series called I'm Dying Up Here that's based on the book of the same name by author William Knoedelseder. Here's the official description:

Set in L.A.’s celebrated, infamous stand-up comedy scene of the 1970s, during which the careers of most of our comedy superstars began, the pilot will delve into the inspired and damaged psyches that inhabit the hilarious, but complex business of making an audience laugh.

The show already had actors Ari Graynor (For A Good Time Call), Andrew Santino (Mixology), RJ Cyler (Earl from Me and Earl and the Dying Girl), Erik Griffin (Workaholics), and Stephen Guarino (the hilariously flamboyant Derrick on Happy Endings) attached, but it's just added a trio of bigger names to its cast: Oscar winner Melissa Leo (The Fighter), Sebastian Stan (Captain America: The Winter Soldier), and Clark Duke (Hot Tub Time Machine). Here's what the press release has to say:

If the pilot is picked up to series, Leo and Duke would appear as series regulars, Stan would guest star. Leo will play the role of “Goldie,” a brassy comedy club owner who rules over her business with an iron fist and nurtures her comedians with tough love. Stan will play “Clay,” a funny, charming comedian on the rise, who declares irrelevancy as his biggest fear. He is idolized by his ex and fellow comedian Cassie (Graynor). Duke will play “Larry,”  a ballsy young comedian from Boston who moves to L.A. with the hopes of making it big.

This is a pretty solid cast, and it sounds like a cool concept for a show. Jonathan Levine (50/50) is directing the pilot, and I'm hoping this one gets picked up so we can see more. Jim Carrey is executive producing with Michael Aguilar (The Departed, Semi-Pro) and Christina Wayne (Copper), and it sounds like the showrunner will be Dave Flebotte (Masters of Sex, Will & Grace, Desperate Housewives), who's writing and executive producing.

Looking forward to this one?

Get your Ewok mace and keep a lookout for them in the trees: Sideshow Collectibles has a Scout Trooper and Speeder Bike combo from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi that you can buy. Highly detailed and very posable, this figure is ready to be displayed in a variety of fun ways. He comes with a little hold out blaster and big ol' sniper rifle, as well as a variety of hands — including a pair that are specifically made to go with the Speeder Bike.

After some assembly, the Speeder Bike looks fantastic. I felt like I was putting together a snap-it model, except it looked a lot more awesome after I was done. It even has a real canvas tarp on the back end that you can fold out and find an Imperial logo on it. I really appreciate that its stand has a pivot point so you can give it the appearance of banking. 

The details on these collectible action figures are incredible, and we wanted to highlight those details in the video I shot below. Sideshow and Hot Toys never seem to disappoint with their amazing action figure creations.

Now all I need is for Sideshow to release some Ewoks so I can have them beat up the Trooper while they steal his bike. What? Ewoks are thugs, man. I've also included the product photos and descriptions from Sideshow Collectibles. To get on the waitlist for either of these, click here and here.

Sideshow's description for the Scout Trooper :

From Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, Sideshow Collectibles is proud to present the Scout Trooper Sixth Scale Figure.

Far more mobile than Stormtrooper units, Imperial Scout Troopers were assigned to the forest moon of Endor to patrol perimeters, perform reconnaissance missions, and identify enemy positions. Capable of reaching breakneck speeds on their Speeder Bikes, the Scout Troopers raced between the trees in an unforgettable chase against Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia, as they attempted to warn the shield generator stations of the Rebel Alliance's presence during the Battle of Endor.

Armed to provide rear-guard cover with their blaster pistol, the Scout Troopers are trained as efficient survivalists, equipped with lightweight armor, utility belt, sidearm boot holster, and helmets with enhanced macrobinocular view plates for efficient target acquisition. Displayed with a forest terrain base, or piloting the Sixth Scale Speeder Bike (sold separately), these loyal scouts are ready to be assigned to their post.

(This is a guest post from Tyler, my co-host on The 5Cast. Enjoy! — Ben)

Hey, Tyrants! Tyler (of 5Cast fame) here! And this week on The 5Cast Podcast we talked about A Nightmare on Elm Street with our good friend Garon Cockrell (from the Never Not Funny podcast). And since October is riddled with horror movie binges and online reviews of said horror movie binges, we add to the madness with our own look at the Elm Street franchise! Now, you're probably doing the same, with tons of horror movies streaming this time of year. Well, some of those horror classics fall through the cracks, and my good pal Ryan Stockstad (we've never met) has produced Season 2 of Halloween Horror Picks!

After successfully fulfilling his Kickstarter campaign, Stockstad's reviews are all fan supported and independently produced. And who knows, maybe one of these gems will be your next cinematic and spooktacular viewing! So shiver up next to someone you love (or admire) and get some cool movie ideas from Halloween Horror Picks!!   

Look for new episodes of Pop Culture Beast’s Halloween Horror Picks every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday in October! You can watch past episodes here.

And don’t forget to vote in the HHP Viewer’s Choice poll! They'll take the highest voted movie and review it in the penultimate episode of Season 2.

ROUND 1 is closed.

ROUND 2 is OPEN!

The fifth season of the American TV series Homeland premiered just a few weeks ago. Watching the first episode of the new season made me realize that the show was going in a different direction. In an attempt not to reveal too much information and spoil the pleasure of watching it (if you haven’t already), I will only say that the storyline is set two years after the events that we saw in the previous season. The original focus seems to be altered, and I believe everyone will notice. Don’t get me wrong, though — it is still as interesting, mysterious, intriguing, and a bit confusing as before. Which is just fine, because the combination of all these shaped Homeland as one of the most successful TV shows around the globe.

Homeland is watched all around the world, but its impact on people seems to be diverse. As became apparent in the second episode, not everyone is expressing positive opinions about the storyline and how things are being depicted. In that episode, the main character Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes) visits a Syrian refugee camp. She walks past a wall covered in graffiti and Arabic words. The writings on the wall were the product of three Arab graffiti artists hired by the show. What is interesting about this text on the wall is that it reads “Homeland is racist.” But what is the reason for this?

Here's a short history: The trio was hired to give a sort of authenticity to the refugee camp scene. Instead, they saw it as the perfect opportunity to express their criticism towards what they perceive as the show’s racist views and messages. In a statement, the artists commented:

At the beginning of June 2015, we received a phone call from a friend who has been active in the Graffiti and Street art scene in Germany for the past 30 years and has researched graffiti in the Middle East extensively. He had been contacted by “Homeland’s” set production company who were looking for “Arabian street artists” to lend graffiti authenticity to a film set of a Syrian refugee camp on the Lebanese/Syrian border for their new season. Given the series’ reputation we were not easily convinced, until we considered what a moment of intervention could relay about our own and many others’ political discontent with the series. It was our moment to make our point by subverting the message using the show itself.

 They also told The Guardian: 

“We think the show perpetuates dangerous stereotypes by diminishing an entire region into a farce through the gross misrepresentations that feed into a narrative of political propaganda.

“It is clear they don’t know the region they are attempting to represent. And yet, we suffer the consequences of such shallow and misguided representation.”

Despite this event, I personally still find the show good enough. What do you think?

I have no idea if Pixar's The Good Dinosaur is going to be any good. The film has gone through a lot of different iterations and has dramatically changed during its development, but that just goes to show how important the story is to the brain trust at the studio; they wouldn't accept releasing what they consider to be a sub-par movie, so they reworked it until they got it where it needed to be. We'll find out whether their work paid off when it arrives in theaters on November 25th.

In the meantime, though, this year marks the 20 year anniversary of Toy Story, the first Pixar Animation film, so the studio has released a heartwarming little video highlighting some key friendships in their movies over the past two decades in the lead-up to The Good Dinosaur. Check it out if you need a little bit of positivity in your Friday afternoon.

"The Good Dinosaur" asks the question: What if the asteroid that forever changed life on Earth missed the planet completely and giant dinosaurs never became extinct?  Pixar Animation Studios takes you on an epic journey into the world of dinosaurs where an Apatosaurus named Arlo (voice of Raymond Ochoa) makes an unlikely human friend. While traveling through a harsh and mysterious landscape, Arlo learns the power of confronting his fears and discovers what he is truly capable of.

There's a whole subset of Star Wars fandom devoted to trading cards, which is a level of fandom I simply don't possess. I just don't have the money or patience to collect things like that anymore, but Disney and Lucasfilm's revenue streams are doing just fine without my participation.

So while a lot of the talk about Star Wars cards goes over my head, here's a simple enough thing even non-collectors can talk about: Vulture points us to a new Star Wars: The Force Awakens Topps card that reveals a pilot of Han Solo's Millennium Falcon in the movie. And that person is...

Daisy Ridley's Rey! But since this is a still image, and all the information we have, we're left with some pretty big questions: is Han Solo on board this ship with Rey and Chewie, or do those two know each other outside of Han? Is she just driving for a second while Han wanders around in the back, maybe fixing that confounded hyperdrive motivator again? Early rumors involve children of the Skywalkers and/or Solos, so does this maybe imply that Rey is Han and Leia's daughter? Or — and this is what I really hope happens in the movie — did Rey win it from Han in the same way Han won it from Lando back in the day, and now she's the owner of the ship? Maybe we'll find out in the new trailer that's debuting this Monday.

What do you think?

One of the major difference between PC gaming and console gaming is the fact that you can't really do much on the couch with your PC... View Full Post on GameTyrant

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This last week marked the 40th anniversary of the classic 1975 comedy, Monty Python and the Holy Grail. To mark the occasion, Academy Originals has released a new episode of their web series, Moments That Changed The Movies, that pays tribute to the film and explores the impact it had on the future of comedy movies. 

Wes Anderson reached the top of his game with The Grand Budapest Hotel, which earned nine Oscar nominations. According to The Playlist, his next film project will be a stop-motion animated film about dogs. This will be the second stop-motion film that he’s made. His first one was Fantastic Mr. Fox, which was freakin’ hilarious! 

According to Nerdist, Jeff Goldblum, Bob Balaban, Edward Norton, and Bryan Cranston will provide the voices to some of the characters in the film. It’s also been said that the movie will be “Japanese-inspired.” This will be the first time that Cranston will be a part of a Wes Anderson movie. Hopefully somewhere down the line the director uses him in a live action film because that would be amazing!

There are no details regarding the story, but according to the report, sources have confirmed that the movie is in pre-production, and it will be Anderson’s next movie. I love that Anderson is making a movie about dogs. For those of you familiar with his films, you know he likes to harm dogs in the films that he’s made. It’s just one of the things he does. 

This is something he’s been called out on before by journalists. A few years ago it was brought up that he killed a dog in Moonrise Kingdom, and this was his response:

“Well, I've killed dogs before in my work and it never goes over that lightly. In ['The Royal Tenenbaums'] we had a car run over [the dog] but you just saw the leash."

The New Yorker even wrote an amusing article back in 2012 called “Does Wes Anderson Hate Dogs?” It goes through and points out all of the times that Anderson killed or injured a dog in his films. It doesn’t look like this is going to stop any time soon.

The films of Wes Anderson always provide me with hilarious entertainment, and I’m looking forward to seeing this next project of his. 

The new droid BB-8 from Star Wars: The Force Awakens is already a huge hit with fans, and that fandom is going to grow even more after the movie is released. It now comes in backpack form from Entertainment Earth. It’s called the BB-8 Back Buddy, and this is the product description:

The Star Wars BB-8 Back Buddy can do it all! The little droid has performed many functions throughout his career, but now he's ready to help carry your goodies around. The Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens BB-8 Back Buddy is a necessity for your Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens collection. Measures about 18-inches tall. Bring home your little friend today! Ages 3 and up.

If you want to buy yourself one, click here. It will cost you $44.99.

One of my favorite movies to watch when I was a kid was Terry Gilliam’s Time Bandits. I watched that movie all the time, and it’s still something I enjoy. I loved the fantastic universe that it's set in, and the characters are fun as hell.

During an online Q&A that took place on The Guardian, the director revealed that he is looking at developing a TV series based on Time Bandits! I never thought anything like that would happen, and the possibility is exciting. Here’s the comment that Gilliam made:

“We are involved in two possibilities — one, a TV series based on Time Bandits, another based on a script by Richard LaGravanese and I wrote after Fisher King, called The Defective Detective. We’re currently adapting a two hour film into a six hour series. It’s about a middle aged New York cop who was once a hero who has grown fat and cynical and is in the middle of a breakdown, ending up in a child’s fantasy world where the rules of the mean streets of New York no longer apply. The best way to kill a dragon is no longer a gun, but a tree branch you think is a sword.”

With Gilliam behind the development of this Time Bandits project, it could be pretty fantastic. The fact that Gilliam is behind the development of the series makes the whole thing very promising. I wish he would have offered more details on what he’s planning, but that will all come if Gilliam actually ends up moving forward with it. As for The Defective Detective, that sounds like it could make for an awesome series as well.

Back in 2011, there was talk of a remake without Gilliam, but thankfully that didn’t happen. The only reason I’m in support of this series is because of Gilliam’s involvement. What are your thoughts on a possible Time Bandits TV series?

Over the past couple weeks, we've showed you some covers by Frank Miller for his upcoming comic series Dark Knight III: The Master Race. He did one for Superman and one for Batman, and both of them were pretty disappointing for fans to see. 

Well, we have some great looking variant covers for the first issue of the series that were created by several different artists that include Sean Gordon Murphy, Joshua Middleton, Stanely Lau, Bill Sienkiewicz, Amanda Conner, Rafael Albuquerque, and Dave Dorman.

They’re all much better than what Miller did.