“Virtual reality, to me, is the only reality.”

You've got to watch this amazing sci-fi short film called Uncanny Valley. It's set in a world that features virtual reality junkies, and it focuses on one character and how the line between games and reality starts to fade away for him.

The film was created by Argentinian filmmaker Federico Heller, and it's on its way to becoming a feature film. According to Deadline, Independence Day: Resurgence writer Carter Blanchard is helping develop the film. Here's the synopsis:

In the slums of the future, virtual reality junkies satisfy their violent impulses in online entertainment. An expert player discovers that the line between games and reality is starting to fade away. 3DAR’s latest short film explores the frightening potential of our next technological revolution. 

The report goes on to offer the following information on the feature film adaptation and how it will actually tie in with virtual reality:

The feature adaptation of Uncanny Valley is planned as part of a unique multimedia production that will see a series of innovative VR experiences made available via virtual reality platforms as the film nears release. In support of this effort, private screenings have included proof of concept demonstrations of virtual reality segments inspired by the film and accessible on the Oculus Rift headset.

This is a fantastic short film that I know you'll enjoy, and it looks like it would make an awesome feature film. I'm looking forward to seeing how this pans out. 

Lucasfilm has released a few new images from Star Wars: The Force Awakens and one of them features Kylo Ren staring at Darth Vader's charred helmet. it looks like he's paying reverence to master Sith lord. The photos come from Rolling Stone, in which John Boyega calls Kylo Ren "a Darth Vader fanboy who has, like, extreme mental issues." Adam Driver tells the magazine:

"The people on the dark side were more interesting to me. You can't beat their aesthetic!

Driver goes on to talk about how he approached playing Kylo Ren in the film:

"[My goal was] to forget you're in Star Wars and treat it like any other job that's filled with moments and problems."

In regards to the scene where he has a conversation with Darth Vader's mask, he says:

"When someone sets the scene for you, it's always very funny. The idea that in this reality, Darth Vader is real."

Star Wars: The Force Awakens comes out in only 15 days, and I couldn't more excited! You can check out the rest of the photos that were released below.

Last month, artist Scott Park released an awesome poster depicting every vehicle in the original Star Wars trilogy. The artwork is fantastic, but for those of you who prefer to see things in motion, Sploid has taken Park's art and rearranged it into a video that labels every one of the vehicles and ranks them by size, starting with a Stormtrooper uniform (not actually a vehicle, as far as I'm concerned) and an Ewok glider all the way up to a Super Star Destroyer and both Death Stars. It's a cool way to see if you know as much about that universe's vehicles as you think you do. Check it out below:

Via: Sploid

Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight is starting to screen for press, and reactions to his latest western are popping up on social media (I'll see it this Friday, but reviews are currently embargoed until December 21st). The director has mentioned he's considered retiring from making movies after he completes his tenth film (The Hateful Eight is, appropriately enough, his eighth), but I'm guessing his retirement might be similar to Steven Soderbergh's, in that he continues to create content, just not movies that are shown in traditional theaters. It seems like Tarantino has been hinting that he'd make a TV series for years now, and in a new interview, he seems to confirm that's finally going to happen.

The French Premiere magazine (via ScreenCrush) has an interview with him, and when asked about his next project, this was his (Google translated) response:

"It always takes me a while before thinking about the future. That said, I own the rights to this book I wanted to adapt for a while, and the time may have come from m ' tackle them. This is Forty Lashes Less One, Elmore Leonard (published in France under the title "The West Zulu"), which could be my third western. I like most is considering a project to on TV, in the form of a mini-series of four or six hours."

While the translation is a bit iffy, it's clear that he's considering a four-to-six hour mini-series adaptation of Elmore Leonard's Forty Lashes Less One as one of his next projects. The director is already familiar with Leonard's work, since his second feature, Jackie Brown, is an adaptation of the author's 1992 novel Rum Punch. Here's the Amazon description of Forty Lashes Less One:

The hell called Yuma Prison can destroy the soul of any man. And it's worse for those whose damning crime is the color of their skin. The law says Chiricahua Apache Raymond San Carlos and black-as-night former soldier Harold Jackson are murderers, and they'll stay behind bars until they're dead and rotting. But even in the worst place on Earth, there's hope. And for two hard and hated inmates -- first enemies, then allies by necessity -- it waits at the end of a mad and violent contest ... on a bloody trail that winds toward Arizona's five most dangerous men.

Sounds like perfect Tarantino material, doesn't it? And we know he wants to direct another western because he's on the record as saying "You have to make at least three westerns to call yourself a western director." Oh man, I can't wait until we can sit down and watch this play out as a mini-series on HBO or some other prestige network, basking in the glory of a potentially six hour Tarantino story. Count me in.

I don't normally post trailers for short films, but when I was presented with an Evil Dead crossover with the DC Undead universe, I couldn't help myself. The film is called Ash vs. Lobo and the DC Dead and it was directed by Brian Rosenthal. Here's a brief story summary:

After narrowly escaping a zombie infested NYC and a pack of blood thirsty superheroes, Ash Williams finds himself suddenly transported to a whole new universe. Can he stop the supernatural apocalypse? Will he survive?

We'll find out on December 25th, which is when the short will be released. This is the same filmmaking team that brought us the fan film Marvel Zombies vs. Army of Darkness, which was released a couple of years ago. If you want to watch that one, make sure to click here.

The upcoming short will include other characters like Gwen Stacy, Green Arrow, Green Lantern. and even Batman.

WB Montreal, the developers responsible for the criminally underrated Arkham Origins, as well as the way too short Batgirl DLC for Arkham Knight, is now hiring. That would be a good thing unto itself, but they also state the reason behind the open positions is to staff two AAA projects that seek to expand the DC Universe in the interactive space... View Full Post on GameTyrant

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I have the best news for you today! The awesomely epic adventures of Samurai Jack will continue in 2016 on Adult Swim! It's totally true! Fans have been waiting for the return of Samurai Jack for years, and now our wish has finally been granted. Adult Swim released a poster and a promo teasing the show's return.

A couple of months ago, we learned that creator Genndy Tartakovsky was still trying hard to bring Samurai Jack back as a film or a TV series. He explained at the time:

“I think through the years, after we finished Jack, almost every year it seems like Samurai Jack has gotten more and more popular and more and more people have seen it. I feel like it’s culminating to a fever pitch almost. I feel like it’s time to maybe finish the story. We’ve been trying to get the feature off the ground but maybe that’s just fate’s way of saying this is a television thing and maybe it should be a mini-series or something like that.”

I'm so happy and excited that Tartakovsky will actually be able to finish the story. There are no other details on the series other than what we have here, but the fact that this is actually happening is freakin' radical. Here's the promo!

2016 pic.twitter.com/C5udeSJ8tP

— [adult swim] (@adultswim) December 2, 2015

Oh, so you want a ginormous, curved gaming monitor with G-Sync, overclocking, and every other bell and whistle you can imagine? You're in luck with the new Predator X34 from the folks at Acer. But I digress, as this box arrived on our porch, my nerd excitement was peaked but controlled as to be honest, a lot of Ultrawide monitors have left me cold... View Full Post on GameTyrant

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I can't remember exactly what happened, but I ended up missing the press screening for the first Despicable Me movie back in 2010, and since I don't have kids and the movie didn't look particularly appealing to me, I never took the time to catch up with it. So when the sequel came around, I just skipped it, and then when the Minions spin-off came out earlier this year, I naturally skipped that one, too. But I've heard it was pretty awful, and this new Honest Trailer agrees that it was basically a cash-grab by Universal in a blatant attempt to milk more money out of audiences who liked the cute supporting characters in the first two films.

Check it out below, and let us know if you agree with this assessment or if the movie is better than what's being depicted here. If enough of you say it's worth checking out, I'll try to go back and catch up with these movies to see what I'm missing:

Lexi Alexander first caught my attention ten years ago with the excellent and under-seen Green Street Hooligans, and though her next film — 2008's Punisher: War Zone — didn't do very well financially, it exposed Alexander to a wider audience and made her a go-to choice any time fans put together a wish list of directors for superhero or action-heavy movie projects.

She directed an episode of Arrow that aired this past October, and now it looks like the talented filmmaker is heading to a different superhero TV series: Supergirl. She took to Twitter this morning to cryptically hint at the impending announcement:

Sorry I canceled all kinds of events in a secretive manner & sorry I won't make it to Christkindl Market this year, but #SupGirl...you know?

— Lexi Alexander (@Lexialex) December 2, 2015

Her friend Patton Oswalt wasn't nearly as cryptic:

So, @Lexialex is directing an episode of ANOTHER superhero show. When she told me I said, "That's super, girl!" #nospoilers

— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) December 2, 2015

And then she basically came out and said it:

Gif winner. https://t.co/xHu1uJzZr5

— Lexi Alexander (@Lexialex) December 2, 2015

TV is the new movies https://t.co/nXeT067f6y

— Lexi Alexander (@Lexialex) December 2, 2015

But TV > Movies...🙂 https://t.co/Km6CC58c98

— Lexi Alexander (@Lexialex) December 2, 2015

I'm happy for Alexander, and hopefully she'll be able to parlay this into more work on a larger scale again, if that's what she's interested in doing. Supergirl was just picked up for seven more episodes in its first season, and Alexander's tweet seems to indicate that she'll be filming sometime between now and the end of the year, so we can probably expect her episode to air sometime early in 2016.

I had the awesome opportunity to see Krampus earlier this week, but I'm not really allowed to talk about it until tomorrow, which is when my review goes live. While you're waiting on the edge of your seat to see this movie, Legendary Pictures has released a featurette that includes interviews with the cast and crew talking about this delightfully horrific Christmas movie.

They explain who Krampus is and talk about the inspirations behind the film, which includes classic movies like Gremlins and Poltergeist. The movie comes from the wonderfully twisted mind of Michael Dougherty, who previously brought us the Halloween classic Trick 'r Treat. If you enjoyed that film, then Krampus is a movie not to be missed. One of the things he enjoyed about the Krampus story is that it has a "dark fun sense of humor." 

When his dysfunctional family clashes over the holidays, young Max (Emjay Anthony) is disillusioned and turns his back on Christmas. Little does he know, this lack of festive spirit has unleashed the wrath of Krampus: a demonic force of ancient evil intent on punishing non-believers. 

All hell breaks loose as beloved holiday icons take on a monstrous life of their own, laying siege to the fractured family’s home and forcing them to fight for each other if they hope to survive. 

The film has a great cast that includes Adam Scott, Toni Collette, David Koechner, Allison Tolman, Conchata Ferrell, Stefania Lavie Owen and Krista Stadler. It will be released in theaters this weekend on December 4th, and I can't wait to see it...again. Koechner describes it as a horror film with three h's, "horror, heart, and humor."

That hero shot of Black Panther from Captain America: Civil War's first trailer was pretty badass, and then EW had to go and unnecessarily add the word "meow" next to his face on the cover of their magazine this morning. Meow? That seems a little insulting to the King of Wakanda, don't you think? Anyway, the magazine has released a new image of the character and has a few quotes from star Chadwick Boseman about what we can expect from the comic character's first onscreen appearance next year:

“He’s definitely not the life of the party in this instance,” says Boseman, who won the role last October. “I think this is something true of the comic book character and the movie. You never quite know where he stands. There’s always a bit of concealing and mystery. So I think mysterious is more his boat. Not to say there’s not charm and he can’t be a ladies’ man and all that. It’s more like if there is humor, it’s more like James Bond.”

“There definitely is a sort of tradition that he’s torn between, in terms of how things were done in the past and how things need to happen now in this new world,” says Boseman. “I think there’s perhaps a bit of a maverick there, and then there’s also a need to live up to traditions and his father’s legacy. And not even his father’s legacy, but the entire nation of Wakanda. I think those are the things you will see.”

Executive producer Nate Moore chimed in about the temperament of the character and how he won't be the older, wiser figure comic fans might recognize:

The movie version is also not the same Black Panther fans now see in comics, almost 40 years after his creation. “In publishing, he is sort of this very wise and a sanguine figure who seems to know more than he lets on,” Moore says. “I think this is Black Panther in his younger years, where he maybe is a little bit more fiery than I think how they write him in the comics because he’s very much in the nascent stages of being a hero. So that means he is probably more fallible than the Black Panther that you read in comics, but for reasons that are completely logical.”

There's more about the character in the full EW interview, but in the meantime, what do you all think about this new image? Are you excited to see Black Panther make his debut in Civil War?

I don't know if the same is true for you, but I'm fascinated by the idea of actors completely losing themselves in their roles and staying in character for the duration of a film shoot. Daniel Day-Lewis is probably the most talked-about example in the modern cinematic era, but Jared Leto has garnered a ton of press for his decision to remain in character as The Joker on the set of Suicide Squad, so much so that co-star Will Smith has never even met the real actor. Now we can add another name to the list of actors who took a deep dive into their roles: Adam Driver.

A new piece at Rolling Stone reveals that Driver, who plays the villainous Darth Vader acolyte Kylo Ren, stayed in character between takes:

Driver, meanwhile, was determined to take the role of Kylo Ren as seriously as anything he's done. As his castmates recall, that sometimes meant staying in character on set, and even leaving his mask on between scenes. "Do your thing, man," says [co-star John] Boyega, who is less Method in his approach. "I mean, for me, I follow what Laurence Olivier or someone said: 'Just act.' But it was great to see him go for his process. It was intense."

It's unclear whether Driver remained in character as Kylo Ren for the entire length of the shoot, or if it was only during certain sections of filming, but either way, for them to bring it up in this article indicates that it definitely happened enough times to be worth commenting about. I'm right there with Boyega on this one: if using that Method style is what it takes to get you into that headspace, then "do your thing." It's just kind of fun to imagine Driver wandering over to the craft services table, mumbling about Darth Vader as he chows down on a bag of snacks under that mask.

"It started in the desert, and it's gonna end there."

Here's the first trailer for Mojave, the second directorial effort of Oscar winning screenwriter William Monahan. You'd probably know him best as the screenwriter of Kingdom of Heaven and The Departed, since his directorial debut, London Boulevard, didn't make much of an impact. Monahan's new film stars Garrett Hedlund as a man who crashes in the desert and brawls with a mysterious loner played by Oscar Isaac. But when the loner follows the man back to his home and begins stalking his family, the tension escalates and it seems like one or both of these guys might not make it to the end credits alive. It looks like an interesting little thriller that might even have a bit of a supernatural lean to it (is Isaac's character really the devil?).

Check out the first trailer below, courtesy of Entertainment Tonight (via The Playlist). Thankfully, there's no annoying commentary — just their stupid logo plastered in the bottom left corner.

Mojave comes to DirecTV tomorrow and opens in limited release sometime in January. 

We have observed epic, tough, classic, and not so classic drum performances in pop culture before. For example, Jimmy Fallon hosted Will Ferrell and Chad Smith in quite a spectacular drum-off duel back in 2014. Obviously, 2015 didn't want to be left behind, so this year will have its own remarkable drumming contest as well.

On this week’s episode of ABC’s The Muppets reboot, we saw two musical gods face one another in an intense drum battle: Animal, who usually plays with the well-known band Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, meets Dave Grohl, the Foo Fighters frontman who is also widely recognized as the drummer from Nirvana, in order to compare and contrast their skills.

But who is the winner of this raucous rivalry? See for yourself.

Source: ABC Television Network

Indiana Jones is one of Disney/Lucasfilm's big properties that hasn't been utilized since 2008's Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Director Steven Spielberg has expressed interest in coming back to direct star Harrison Ford in another sequel, but with Ford growing older every day, the question becomes: what is the future of this franchise beyond Indiana Jones 5? Producer Frank Marshall recently said that Lucasfilm won't be recasting the role, and now Spielberg himself is backing up that claim with some comments to Screen Daily:

“I don’t think anyone could replace Harrison as Indy, I don’t think that’s ever going to happen. It’s certainly not my intention to ever have another actor step into his shoes in the way there have been many actors that have played Spider-Man or Batman. There is only going to be one actor playing Indiana Jones and that’s Harrison Ford."

I think a lot of fans are probably going to be happy with that mentality because to them, Ford IS Indiana Jones and they won't accept any substitutes. But while that mentality might be good for fans, it doesn't exactly make a lot of sense from a franchising perspective. How are Disney and Lucasfilm going to be able to capitalize on the name recognition of Indiana Jones years from now when Ford is no longer able to play the character? The franchise won't die any time soon — Disney paid good money for Lucasfilm, and they're not about to retire a franchise just because the lead actor stops playing the role. So what's the solution? It's becoming more and more obvious that they're going to find a different character to pass the baton to...but even then, that character won't be named Indiana Jones, and name recognition is such a huge part of why these future movies will exist. Are general audiences savvy enough to see something like Mutt Williams and the Island of Enchanted Gold on a marquee and know it's an Indy spin-off? I guess we'll find out.

To wrap this up, the interviewer also asked Spielberg why he would want to return to direct another Indy movie after Skull, and he answered:

“Because there are more adventures out there than films,” said the filmmaker, who turns 69 on Dec 18. “So as long as there’s more adventures out there, I’ve got a bullwhip, a fedora, a leather jacket and a man on a horse who knows how to get the job done.”

The Alamo Drafthouse has already established itself as one of the world's coolest movie theater chains because they actually value the experience of going out to a theater and paying to see a movie. The Drafthouse has a no talking, no texting policy that they actually enforce (unlike other chains, who lightly suggest you don't talk or text but do nothing if someone blabbers throughout the entire film for fear of possibly losing a customer). They also host Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas every year, which I've heard nothing but great things about but haven't yet attended myself. I'm stoked that they're opening a theater next year in downtown Los Angeles, because it means I'll finally be able to see a movie there...but for all of you Star Wars fans out there, the Drafthouse has opened a brand new theater that is definitely the one you're looking for.

EW has some photos of a new Star Wars-themed theater that just opened in Omaha, Nebraska, and it's completely decked out in the style of a galaxy far, far away. There's a 10-foot Death Star hanging overhead in the lobby, complete with an Emperor's chair which allows you to control the green lasers on the Death Star. That's pretty freakin' cool. Also cool: this theater isn't going to change themes after The Force Awakens comes out — this thing is staying all Star Wars, all the time. The Drafthouse is looking to make this the ultimate destination to see all of the upcoming Star Wars movies, and I know if I lived nearby, that's obviously the only place I'd even consider watching those films as they start pouring into theaters every year for the rest of our lives.

Shane Black is one of my favorite filmmakers. He's only directed two theatrical features thus far, but both are fantastic — Iron Man 3, and the exceptional neo-noir Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. If that was all he'd done, that would probably be enough to justify my appreciation of him, but he's also the guy who wrote The Monster Squad, The Last Boy Scout, The Long Kiss Goodnight, and almost singlehandedly created the buddy cop genre with Lethal Weapon. He's co-writing a new Predator movie, and right now he's working on his next directorial film, The Nice Guys, a 1970s-set Los Angeles noir starring Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe.

People Magazine has the first image from the movie (above), which Black describes as a "half whimsical private-eye movie" that's a "spiritual sequel" to Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. That's one of my favorite movies of the past decade, so I'm thrilled to hear this new film is in the same vein.

The plot follows a private eye (Gosling) and an enforcer (Crowe) thrust into the same case of a missing girl. The death of a porn star complicates matters, as does the conspiracy they unravel that will have a big impact on some powerful people in high places. Matt Bomer, Kim Basinger, and The Leftovers' Margaret Qualley also star.

Black had more to say about the film:

"I think we've really lucked out. Whether this thing is a comedy with action or a thriller with jokes, one thing that's very clear is these two are extremely funny. People will enjoy seeing the two of them [Gosling and Crowe]."

"It is an R-rated film and it's a caper," says Black. "It's a little fast, a little funny and a little rough in places, kind of coarse. These guys are working-class dudes, they're not really sophisticated private detectives, so it's a chance to do the kind of thriller I don't see too much of anymore."

"[The movie] retains the harshness of the world and gives a nod that we're very much in noir territory," Black says. "It's a little bit pushed – the premise, the time period, everything is a little crazy." 

Sounds great to me. This can't get here quickly enough. The Nice Guys hits theaters on May 20th, 2016.

It's not surprising to learn that stories told in films have been recycled in other movies over the years. It's something we've all noticed. Screen Rant has released a new video list which is called "10 Movies That Stole Their Stories From Other Films." The list consists of what is known as Twin Films phenomenon. These are movies that have the same or very similar plots and are released at the same time by two different studios.

Some of the movies included in the list are Antz and A Bug’s Life, Deep Impact and Armageddon, The Prestige and The Illusionist, Dante’s Peak and Volcano, and more. Hollywood is a crazy place where crazy things like this happen. 

After years of several stories on film, it’s hard to find a narrative that’s 100 percent original. Everything seems to take inspiration from something that’s come before. But sometimes, Hollywood hits rock bottom creatively, and two different studios work on movies that have nearly identical plots. The phenomenon is known as Twin Films! Here are Screen Rant’s 10 Movies That Stole Their Stories From Other Films.

"I just have a bad history with freaks dressed like clowns."

Warner Bros. has released the second full trailer for Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and holy freakin’ shit! This thing delivers one hell of a punch that will make fans swell with happiness and joy that just might cause them to explode. The trailer is loaded with new footage, and it definitely raised my excitement level for this movie substantially. 

The visuals in this film are faking’ stunning, and I just keep hoping that the story and script will match that kind of awesomeness. We really get a much better sense of the characters in this new trailer and how they will all interact with each other. The tension seems to build pretty quickly between Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent. That is, until Lex Luthor jumps in and awkwardly breaks it. From there the trailer just escalates into an intense barrage of complete awesomeness of Batman and Superman fighting each other. Then Doomsday comes into the picture and blows everything up. The End.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice comes out on March 25th, 2015, and just like Lex Luthor says in the trailer, this could be the "greatest gladiator match in the history of the world." Enjoy the trailer!