Today's Geek Art comes from CGHUB artist mandryk. It's called Star Wars studies, and it's basically some fun caricature art of our favorite characters from the classic sci-fi/fantasy film.

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Source: Comingsoon (http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=86333)
Source: Comingsoon (http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=86330)

The cool tee-shirt design above shows exactly what would happen if Jurassic Park and the Cookie Monster were mashed up.

Here is a description of the design:

Something went wrong during the cloning .... not only the color of her hair was different, also their ferocity, even more pronounced if possible. Now, the creature of the pre-digital era, has escaped from its cage electrified ..... because the cookies have not paid the electricity bill .... You know buddies, they call it the butterfly effect, a cookie does not pay the bill, and escape a horrible monster destroying everything. Any cookie knows this;)

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Source: Threadless (http://www.threadless.com/submission/393854/Monster_Park?streetteam=jstruan)

Rodney Ascher's Room 237 is a documentary exploring many of the wild theories of hidden meaning in Stanley Kubrick's 1980 classic, The Shining. Told in nine segments, the documentary features voiceovers from different Shining fanatics and uses footage from Kubrick's movie to show examples of their conclusions.

You won't find any talking heads here. Instead, Room 237 employs a unique method of illustrating stories from the voiceover participants: it uses footage from other Kubrick films. Example time: early in the movie, one of the participants talks about the first time he saw The Shining, mentioning how he saw the poster and walked into a movie theater. While he's telling this story, we see footage of Tom Cruise from Eyes Wide Shut as he stares at the poster for The Shining outside of a movie theater and walks in. Get it? The motions of these random film characters don't always match what the storyteller is saying, but it's a really cool way to avoid making those interview sections drag. It's also used to illicit laughter from the audience. After one particularly strange assertion, the film cuts to Jack Nicholson's character in The Shining incredulously saying, "Anything you say, Lloyd. Anything you say." Ascher is totally aware of how bizarre some of his subjects' conjectures are, and acknowledges that to the audience by including this little wink as if to say, "Hey, this sounds as crazy to me as it does to you."

But even if Ascher didn't use this technique, I doubt anyone could find this film boring. The sometimes-insane-but-always-entertaining theories presented are captivating, and though a majority of them sound totally bonkers, occasionally someone brings up a point that makes sense. Personally, I love hearing people's opinions about film (especially if they're wacky) because it makes me analyze the movie in a way I wouldn't have on my own. Ever heard the theory that Ferris Bueller's Day Off takes place completely in Cameron Frye's head? Readings like that - ones that make you rethink what the entire film is doing and how it works - are my favorites, and Room 237 delivers those kinds of ideas in spades.

I don't want to spoil many of these assertions because it's so much fun to hear them in the moment, but I want to give you a taste of what these people are talking about. They touch on the conspiracy theory of Kubrick shooting fake footage of the first moon landing, citing weird facts like room 237 in the film is used on purpose because the moon is 237,000 miles away. At one point, a guy superimposes The Shining playing normally and in reverse simultaneously, and talks through all kinds of insane coincidences (OR ARE THEY?!?!) that come up when the two images are shared on screen. Those are just a couple examples. This film is an in-depth video essay, linking symbols and imagery to supposed theories of The Shining's subtext in regards to Native American genocide and the Holocaust. Believe them or not; it's wildly entertaining.

In the end credits, the filmmakers claims to have the rights to all of the footage they used because of Fair Use laws, but I'm not entirely convinced of the legality of their usage. If it doesn't get purchased because of rights issues, this movie will be doomed to a life on the film festival circuit and will never be seen by a large audience. But if they somehow actually managed to secure everything they need, there's a chance this one could be available in some form or another to bigger crowds. The movie focuses on The Shining, but many of Kubrick's other works are touched on, so whether you're a big fan of the director or just a fan of wild theories like me, Room 237 has a lot to like about it.

Dear Hollywood,

If you haven't seen Aaron Sims awesome short film Archetype, then I'm sure you're familiar with his visual work.

Rise of The Planet of The Apes, War of The Worlds, Green Lantern, Clash of The Titans, War Horse, Green Lantern, Men In Black, Constantine, A.I., I Am Legend, Transformers 3, The Incredible Hulk, 30 Days of Night, It, and the list goes on as he nears completion in working with The Amazing Spiderman.

Along with his talented production company (The Aaron Sims Company), Sims has helped bring some of the biggest directors of this era some of the most creative character designs in cinema. No offense to Louis Leterrier but the only part I can effectively remember from Clash of The Titans was the Kraken scene just out of the sheer awesome use of scale and design. His work on Caesar in Rise of The Planet of The Apes left movie goers talking more about a CGI ape than the acting chops of James Franco. Two movies that he designed characters for (Transformers 3, War Horse) are both competing against each other this year for an Oscar for VFX. If I can be honest, if it weren't for his work I wouldn't have something positive to say about some of the films mentioned above.

Archetype is an interesting concept with great visuals, and seven minutes that make you want more. This is me asking you for more. Give him the same shot you gave Neill Blomkamp when he turned Alive in Joburg into sci-fi epic District 9. I doubt he will disappoint you.

Email Me: MickJoest@Geektyrant.com Twitter: @MickJoest

Source: Aaron Sims (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0801267/)

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Source: /Film (http://www.slashfilm.com/lock-out-trailer-guy-pearce-space/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+slashfilm+%28%2FFilm%29)
Source: IGN (http://www.ign.com/videos/2012/01/26/exclusive-lockout-trailer-debut)

Earlier we shared a cool mashup of The Walking Dead, and now we have what fans of the hit show have been waiting for - the midseason teaser trailer! AMC has debuted the teaser for the first episde titled "Nebraska," and I can not wait. The second season returns on AMC at 9:00 PM EST on Sunday, Feb. 12.

Watch the trailer below and share your thoughts. Are you looking forward to seeing the new season?

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Source: AMC (http://blogs.amctv.com/the-walking-dead/2012/01/new-episodes-teaser-trailer.php)

Monty Python members are reuniting for a new movie that will combine CGI and live-action. Variety reports that they are reteaming for the sci-fi film Absolutely Anything, which will be directed by Terry Jones and produced by Mike Medavoy. Jones co-directed my favorite Python movie, 1974's Monty Python and the Holy Grail with Terry Gilliam and was the sole director on Life of Brian and The Meaning of Life. He said Gilliam and Python members John Cleese and Michael Palin have joined the project and that they hope to sign Eric Idle.

Jones and Gavin Scott developed the concept for the film over the past two decades. Medavoy produced such Python classics as Life of Brian and will produce along with David Thwaites and Chris Chesser, in conjunction with U.K. partners Bill and Ben Prods.

Production is planned to start this Spring in the U.K., with the Pythons voicing key roles as a "a group of aliens who endow an earthling with the power to do 'absolutely anything' to see what a mess he'll make of things -- which is precisely what happens. There's also a talking dog named Dennis who seems to understand more about the mayhem that ensues than anyone else does. Robin Williams will voice the character."

The five surviving troupe members last appeared together in 1998 at the Aspen Comedy Festival along with an urn that allegedly contained the ashes of late member Graham Chapman.

Here is what Medavoy had to say about the project:

Terry and Gavin have crafted a classic farce -- something I feel I know a little bit about after all the 'Pink Panther' pictures we did with Blake Edwards at United Artists. In fact, the movie even has a pompous Frenchman reminiscent of Inspector Clouseau -- but there the similarity ends. Like all projects originated by any of the Monty Python guys, 'Absolutely Anything' delightfully defies a logline.

Medavoy went on to reveal that the producers are in talks with Williams to play the Frenchman and are actively casting the other leads.

This sounds like a great project for the Pythons. I grew up watching the show on reruns, and enjoyed all of the movies. Live-action and CGI will be perfect for this concept. What are your thoughts on this news?

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Source: Variety (http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118049265.html?cmpid=RSS%7CNews%7CLatestNews)

The international trailer for Mirror Mirror has arrived, and it does not look any better than the domestic version. Tarsem Singh (Immortals) directed this film that stars Lily Collins, Julia Roberts and Armie Hammer. 

Here is the synopsis:

Wicked enchantress (Julia Roberts) schemes and scrambles for control of a spirited orphan's (Lily Collins) throne and the attention of a charming prince (Armie Hammer). When Snow White's beauty wins the heart of the prince that she desperately pursues, the Queen banishes her to the forest, where a ravening man-eating beast hungrily awaits. Rescued by a band of diminutive highway robbers, Snow White grows into an indomitable young woman determined to take back her realm from the treacherous Queen.

This is more of a family film than Singh's past film, and I am sure it will do well at the box office. I personally will not be seeing it in theaters. Watch the new trailer below and share your thoughts.

Mirror Mirror arrives in theaters on March 30th, 2012. Are you looking forward to seeing this?

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Source: CBM (http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/BatFreak/news/?a=53532&t=New_International_Trailer_For_MIRROR_MIRROR_Debuts)

Kiefer Sutherland gave an update on the long-awaited 24 movie while doing press for his new show Touch. During an interview with Jimmy Kimmel he revealed that he will will reprise the role of Jack Bauer in the movie that will begin filming in the middle of April.

According to AssignmentX.com, the actor said he was anxious about getting back into the role of Agent Bauer. "Yeah, I’ll be scared to death the first couple days, but in all fairness, for me, that’s like going home," Sutherland said. 

I highly recommend you start watching Touch on Fox. I watched it this week and am already pulled in and caring about what happens to the characters. It will be cool to see 24 come to the big screen. Are you looking forward to seeing this?

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Source: CBM (http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/debbiedowner/news/?a=53530&t=More_From_Kiefer_Sutherland_on_the_24_Movie)
Source: AssignmentX (http://www.assignmentx.com/2012/exclusive-interview-kiefer-sutherland-talks-touch-and-24-movie/)

Red Dead Redemption is such a fun and immersive game and one of my favorite PS3 games. Red Dead has gotten better with a little help from Minecraft! The infamous town of Blackwater has been recreated in Minecraft. Check out the images (above and below) and download the map from Planet Minecraft.

Source: G4Tv (http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/720249/red-dead-redemption-in-minecraft-nugget-from-the-net/)

Every year I've come to Sundance I've seen a film that just shocked the hell out of me. As we are nearing the end of the festival, I wasn't sure if I was going to see that kind of film this year, but I did, and it was insane. Excision was a extremely disturbing and twisted movie that I can't get out of my freakin' head. There are visuals and images that are now forever burned into my memory, and that's not a good thing. 

I'm not saying the film was bad because it wasn't. It was actually very well made. It just had a extremely dark and demented story. Would it make sense if I told you that I enjoyed watching the film, but didn't think it was fun? This was a hard movie to watch, because of how incredibly twisted and evil it was, but that's also one of the reasons I liked it. If you can't already tell, I'm conflicted about this movie, because I don't think I should have liked it. I have a love-hate relationship with this movie.

The film centers on a dementedly crazy teenage girl name Pauline, who fantasizes about dead people, gushing blood, and brutal gore. She gets off on this stuff and has these insane dreams with jacked up visuals. It's these visuals I can't shake from my head. I need to clean my brain somehow. She has it in her head that she will be a surgeon without having to take the steps to actually becoming one. She's 100% delusional in the creepiest ways imaginable. Hell, I'm not even sure if you can imagine some of the stuff that was thrown into this movie. It was shocking! Even for me, and I'm a hard person to shock. There were times where I just didn't feel comfortable looking at the screen. There was some humor mixed in with everything, and I laughed, but I think I was laughing to calm my nerves. There was an uncomfortable laughter in the audience all throughout the movie. It's sure to cause some controversy due to its subject matter. I'm actually surprised I haven't heard any complaints yet.

The movie was written and directed by Richard Bates Jr. who obviously isn't right in the head. The film stars AnnaLynne McCord, Traci Lords, Ariel Winter, Roger Bart, Jeremy Sumpter, and John Waters. Everyone in the movie did a fantastic job, pulling off their roles in a tough film.

I can't recommend this movie to all of you. There might only be a select few that would enjoy watching a movie like this, and I think you would have to be a little sick in the head. Last year the most shocking film I saw was The Woman, but I honestly this this one tops it in terms of shock value. If that's what the director was going for, he wins. 

Here's the Synopsis:

Pauline isn’t your typical teen. She picks scabs, dissects road kill, and fantasizes about performing surgery on strangers. Her fascinations disturb her parents and her classmates. Pauline reserves special disdain for “the church” and her “therapist,” Reverend William, who, in Pauline's mind, is in no position to judge, or indulge in, her psychosexual fantasies. No one understands Pauline except for Grace, her younger sister, who suffers from cystic fibrosis. An outcast at school and at home, Pauline decides she is ready to lose her virginity. . . and this is when the weirdness really begins.

Richard Bates Jr. directs the hell out of this film with an expert understanding of multiple genres. Elements of horror, teen comedy, and cult classic are blended into a bone-jarring vision and peppered with great performances from the likes of Traci Lords and John Waters. But it is AnnaLynne McCord’s hideously captivating performance as Pauline that we may never forget. Excision will burrow under your skin and remain with you long after the lights come on.

Marvel has released five official high resolution images for The Avengers! We've seen a couple of these images before, but they were scans. These high quality images are a hell of a lot better! Damn, I can't wait for this film to be released to see what Joss Whedon has created for us. Check out the images below and tell us what you think!

The film picks up when an unexpected enemy emerges that threatens global safety and security. And Nick Fury, director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. The ensemble cast includes Chris Evans (Steve Rogers), Robert Downey Jr. (Tony Stark), Chris Hemsworth (Thor Odinson), Jeremy Renner (Clint Barton), Mark Ruffalo (Bruce Banner), Scarlett Johansson (Natasha Romanoff), Clark Gregg (Agt. Phil Coulson), Cobie Smulders (Maria Hill), Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury), with Tom Hiddleston (Loki Laufeyson), and Stellan Skarsgard (Professor Erik Selvig), the film releases worldwide May 4th, 2012!

Last night, Joseph Gordon-Levitt hosted an event at the Eccles Theater for his website, hitRECord.org. If you've never heard of the site, it's a collaborative site where anyone can contribute to making short films, building on the work of others until something really cool comes from it. You can write the lyrics to a song, and someone else can upload a drum beat to it, and someone else can add vocals, somebody else can lay down a guitar track, and so on. Same thing with films - scripts, animation, voiceovers, you name it.

I somehow lucked into sitting in the front row, so check out these videos I took of the event and leave your thoughts in the comments section.

Ok, so Nicolas Cage has just shot up to the top of my list of craziest actors in Hollywood. In a recent interview with Empire Online, the actor talks about how he prepared for his role as Ghost Rider. The interview starts out pretty normal when he's asked about how he prepared for the character, but the interview progressively gets stranger and stranger, and he talks about painting his face black with voodoo paint and carrying around magical rocks and amulets in his pockets to help him contact ancient ghosts.

Here's what he had to say:

It was the first time that I played Ghost Rider. Blaze was easy; I knew he was a man who had been living with a curse for eight years of having his head light on fire, and the tone that would take. I compared him to a cop, or a paramedic who develops a dark sense of humour to cope with the horrors he has seen. But Blaze has also caused the horrors, so he's hiding out because he doesn't want to hurt anyone else.

That's a pretty normal start to the interview... right? But then he goes on. 

Ghost Rider was an entirely new experience, and he got me thinking about something I read in a book called The Way Of Wyrd by Brian Bates, and he also wrote a book called The Way Of The Actor. He put forth the concept that all actors, whether they know it or not, stem from thousands of years ago—pre-Christian times—when they were the medicine men or shamans of the village. And these shamans, who by today's standards would be considered psychotic, were actually going into flights of the imagination and locating answers to problems within the village. They would use masks or rocks or some sort of magical object that had power to it.

That may be a little weird, but it's not really that surprising coming from Cage, but this next statement through me for a loop.

It occurred to me, because I was doing a character as far out of our reference point as the spirit of vengeance, I could use these techniques. I would paint my face with black and white make up to look like a Afro-Caribbean icon called Baron Samedi, or an Afro-New Orleans icon who is also called Baron Saturday. He is a spirit of death but he loves children; he's very lustful, so he's a conflict in forces. And I would put black contact lenses in my eyes so that you could see no white and no pupil, so I would look more like a skull or a white shark on attack.

On my costume, my leather jacket, I would sew in ancient, thousands-of-years-old Egyptian relics, and gather bits of tourmaline and onyx and would stuff them in my pockets to gather these energies together and shock my imagination into believing that I was augmented in some way by them, or in contact with ancient ghosts. I would walk on the set looking like this, loaded with all these magical trinkets, and I wouldn't say a word to my co-stars or crew or directors. I saw the fear in their eyes, and it was like oxygen to a forest fire. I believed I was the Ghost Rider.

I honestly can't tell if he's serious or not! But, if he is then that's pretty freakin' hard core. What are your thoughts on Cage's techniques of channeling his inner Ghost Rider? 

Here's a cute piece of Geek Art featuring Spider-Man shedding his clothes, and rushing into action. The image was created by Deviant Art user lastscionz. What do you think?

BioWare has released a great new trailer for their highly anticipated sci-fi game Mass Effect 3. The trailer is titled "Special Forces," and it shows off the multiplayer mode for the game in all it's glorious action! The trailer also includes details about the races and classes you'll be able to play with. This games looks like it will be badass and a hell of a lot of fun to play! Check out the new trailer and tell us what you think!

The game will be available on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC on March 6th 2012.

Here's the synopsis for the game:

In Mass Effect 3, an ancient alien race known only as "Reapers", has launched an all-out invasion of the galaxy, leaving nothing but a trail of destruction in their wake. Earth has been taken, the galaxy is on the verge of total annihilation, and you are the only one who can stop them. The price of failure is extinction. You, as Commander Shepard, must lead the counter assault to take it back. Only you can determine how events will play out, which planets you will save from annihilation and which alliances you will form or abandon as you rally the forces of the galaxy to eliminate the Reaper threat once and for all.

In an interview with PSM3 Magazine, Casey Hudson had this to say:

Mass Effect 3, in simple terms, is a little more like the first game. You're collecting pieces of a story, but the more you investigate and explore these themes, the more the game will unlock and you'll see the bigger picture. In a way, it's more of a traditional story where you're learning about things and the plot changes as you find things out.

Tyrants!

Time to review Justice League #5, as we return to the aftermath of Darkseid’s first full appearance in the New 52 DC universe. Does he measure up to the Darkseid of old? Can our recently formed League take him down? Let’s see!

Review:
The entire Justice League has been KO’ed by Darkseid’s initial assault. Flash and Superman are up first and quickly have to dodge away from Darkseid’s Omega Beams, which are homed in on them like heat seeking missiles. Flash uses his wits to barely avoid the beams, but Superman isn’t so lucky. He takes an Omega beam straight in the back! after which, he gets carted off to a boomtube by some Parademons.

However, other than the rest of the team realizing that they have another new member in Cyborg, most of the cast doesn’t have much to do in this issue. Green Lantern continues to be stupid and goes up against Darkseid by himself, getting his ass kicked and his arm broken in about three places. Then, inexplicably, Darkseid walks off toward downtown Metropolis instead of finishing him off.

Finally, Batman talks Green Lantern down from going after Darkseid and hits him with some armor piercing psychoanalysis. This however leads to a completely out-of-character moment that annoyed me. Batman tells GL who he is and removes his cowl. In PUBLIC!!!

Granted, we are to assume that most of the downtown populace is either dead, kidnapped by parademons, or in hiding miles away. But STILL! Batman would never take such a huge risk in public just to get through to a stupid teammate.

Regardless, Batman tells GL to regroup with the rest of the Justice League and formulate a real plan to take down Darkseid. Thankfully Green Lantern actually heeds Batman’s advice and gathers the rest of the team. Meanwhile, Batman sneaks into a boomtube and arrives…on Apokolips!

What worked:
Batman finally set Green Lantern straight without being a prick about it. Someone needed to rein Hal Jordan in before he got himself and others killed. Batman made him look beyond his own issues and take in the bigger picture.

Another good thing was showing that Darkseid’s Omega Beams can actually hurt Superman. As many have seen in the past, Superman is such a powerful guy that it’s hard to write him in perilous situations. But having Superman taken out immediately establishes that it’ll take more than the Man of Steel to take Darkseid down.

Even though it’s become a moot point now, Jim Lee and Scott Williams continue to impress with their amazing art.

What didn’t work:
Again, it came off as very OOC for Batman to reveal his civilian identity in public. That just felt lazy to me. There should have been another way to get through the Green Lantern that didn’t include Batman taking off his cowl and telling his long tortured origin story…in PUBLIC.

And again, the rest of the team (Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg, and Flash after the first few pages) didn’t have much to do. Best we take care of that in the next issue.

What was gross:
The way that Omega Beam hit Superman looked so WRONG. Eesh!

Conclusion:
All in all, this was one of the weaker issues in the new Justice League series. However, I think it served two purposes.

1.) Establish Darkseid as a legitimate threat.

2.) Get the Justice League to officially team up and strategize on how to deal with this new alien menance.

So in those veins it was successful. Let’s see some better plotting and action next issue! 'Til next time!

CCE 

Robot and Frank was an unexpectedly fun and charming sci-fi heist movie starring Frank Langella, Susan Sarandon, James Marsden, Liv Tyler, and Peter Saarsgard. The story takes place in the near future, and follows a character named Frank who is old, lives alone, and can't remember a lot of things. His son gets tired of coming up all of the time to check on his dad and taking care of him. So instead of putting him in a old people home, he buys him a robot to take care of him. Frank doesn't like the idea of being taken care of a robot at first, but it eventually grows on him, and the two form a bond. Frank teams up with the robot to start reliving his old days as a burglar, and starts pulling off heists in the town he lives in, which sparks a fire within Frank, as well as an investigation. 

The film was wonderfully directed by Jake Schreier from a solid script written by Christopher Ford. The movie had a good mix of humor and drama, and it was very entertaining watching Frank and this robot form a friendship and pull off these robberies together. It's such an odd concept, but it works great. There were also a couple interesting and dramatic twists added to the story that I appreciated. 

Frank Langella was awesome in this movie. He's such a great actor, and this was a fantastic role for him to take on. James Marsden was solidly good in his role. Liv Tyler played Franks daughter in the film, who is against this robot revolution. Susan Sarandon plays a librarian in the film at a library where Frank spends most of his time, and Peter Saarsgard lends his voice to the robot.  

Robot and Frank was a very cute and touching film, one I would recommend watching when the opportunity presents itself.

Here's the Synopsis:

Set sometime in the future, Robot & Frank is a delightful dramatic comedy, a buddy picture, and, for good measure, a heist film. Curmudgeonly old Frank lives by himself. His routine involves daily visits to his local library, where he has a twinkle in his eye for the librarian. His grown children are concerned about their father’s well-being and buy him a caretaker robot. Initially resistant to the idea, Frank soon appreciates the benefits of robotic support—like nutritious meals and a clean house—and eventually begins to treat his robot like a true companion. With his robot’s assistance, Frank’s passion for his old, unlawful profession is reignited, for better or worse. 

Frank Langella makes acting—and acting with a robot, no less—look effortless, and his relationship with the machine is filled with poignant exchanges and amusing adventures. First-time director Jake Schreier creates a lush world with futuristic flourishes and tells a beautiful story about family and the implications of humankind’s ever-changing relationship with technology.