For all of you who say there is nothing good to come out of Hollywood, think again my friends. Last week John Stamos showed up to surprise Kaitlyn Dobrow, a fan of his since she was young, inside her hospital room in Orange County, California.

Dobrow had to have both of her arms and legs amputated during her drastic fight with the bacterial infection known as meningococcemia, since February she has undergone multiple surgeries and skin graphs to help save her life. 

Image Via Hollywood Babble-On

Upon the surprise visit, Stamos tweeted "Hanging out with my girls kaitlyn @kristenkiddie – we're planning our trip to @disneyland !!!" Apparently Uncle Jesse promised Kaitlyn that when she was all healed up and ready to go out and about that the two of them would go on a date to Disneyland.

It's good to know that there are people like this is the Hollywood industry, it warms my heart, and I hope it warms yours as well!  

For podcast news, all things Comics, and relatively geek related things, follow me on twitter! @ThatBHoove

Mondo has released a new Aliens poster featuring The Queen. The piece was created by Jason Edmiston. This is one of several illustrations he did for his solo art show called "A Rogue's Gallery," which celebrates "cinematic monsters and villains." It's taking place at the Mondo Gallery in Austin from August 23rd to September 14th. I've included a few other pieces that will be on display at the show as well, but the Aliens poster is my favorite. The images come from io9, who talked with the artist about the inspiration behind his work, and this is what he said: 

A lot of time, people will do portraits of pop culture characters and they'll try to get really quirky with them, and they'll be tongue-in-cheek. But I wanted to treat most of these portraits as pretty much, straight-up ultimate versions of these characters, as if they were going to be turned into stamps. You know what they did with the Elvis stamp? They made the ultimate 1950s version and the ultimate 1970s version.

"Hold on to your nuts." 

Yep, Wanted director Timur Bekmambetov is looking to produce a movie about killer squirrels. It's called Squirrels, and it was written by Daniel Antoniazzi and Ben Shiffrin. As of right now there's no director attached to the project, but below you can find a great little concept trailer to help the movie find funding. 

The story centers on “a town under attack by flesh-eating squirrels after a natural gas company buys up a town and destroys their food chain through environmental destruction.”

The movie looks absolutely ridiculous, and it's something that we will probably see on the SyFy Channel. Of course if it was a movie about shark squirrels, there's a 100% chance it would end up on SyFy. Check out the trailer. 

Obviously I enjoy watching short films, and here's the trailer for a great looking sci-fi short called "Last of You," directed by Israeli filmmaker Dan Sachar. This is the guy that directed a great short called "Overture," which I've also included below for you to watch. Here's the synopsis for "Last of You":

The inventor of a memory recording device obsessively replays the last day he shared with his late wife. One night, a call for help forces him to face the outside world and choose between present-time reality or total immersion in the remnants of a playback past.

The movie looks like it was shot very well, and I'm looking forward to seeing how the whole film turns out. Thanks to Twitch for the heads up! 

After THQ dissolved and had its assets auctioned off, the fate of many game franchises was in question. In a recently released Gearbox blog, the future of one IP has been confirmed. Homeworld will live on!

Brian Burleson, the producer in charge of the Homeworld project, outlines Gearbox’s plans for the Homeworld series. At this point their plans are to:

Preserve and assemble the purest possible form of the Homeworld and Homeworld 2 for digital release.

Create HD versions of Homeworld and Homeworld 2 that can take advantage of modern technological advances that weren’t available at the time of their original releases.

 Burleson discusses the challenges the team has faced, and they already seem many. The content they received from THQ was incomplete and they had to reach out to past Homeworld devs to help piece together the sourcecode. Even with the abundant help, Gearbox was still missing multiple tools, including the rendering tools used to create Homeworld 2. Luckily, Gearbox was able to reach out to the Homeworld modding community and utilize the numerous fan-made tools available to help make up for some lost time.

As an avid fan, I am really excited by the prospect of a Homeworld 2 HD remake. I have incredibly fond memories of sitting down with my older brother and playing the multiplayer against a couple of AI opponents. My brother was always better than me since I could never get a good grasp on the concept of a “z-axis.” Luckily, the ship AI was smart enough to take care of most of that for me, but it kept me from greatness.

The twists and turns that Dexter has taken in its final season have been amazingly intense! For those of you who thought that there was going to be a spin-off series with that kid, looks like you can scratch that. I was really starting to like him, too! It's a damn shame, but the show must and will go on! At this point in the season where do you see the story going now? I think things are going to end very badly for Quinn. 

Here's another behind the scenes video from Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines from Stan Winston School. The video features the first Terminators that were built, which were the robotic T-1 tanks that ended up turning on their human creators. The video gives us a cool look at the process of creating these robots.

For Terminator 3  Stan Winston Studio built five T-1s, two of which were fully functional, hydraulic robots with a huge range of movement.

Check this awesomeness out!

I'm calling it now. Once this adorable set of Funko POP figures featuring some of our favorite lead characters from the Assassin's Creed series hits the market there will be a ridiculous shortage of Ezio's and Plague Doctors, and enough Connors to fill a Costco. That is said with love by the way, since I really enjoyed Connor, but I'm kind of on an island by myself with that opinion. That said, I might be adding every one of these cute little uber-violent people to my shelf, though it hasn't been revealed yet when I can actually do that, but I'll keep you posted. 

Anyone else in the AC universe you would like to see? Let us know in the comments, but as for me, an Aveline would be at the top of my list. 

Ok, this Star Wars inspired Stormtrooper jacket is pretty freakin' cool! I'm not one to go out and wear geeky clothes like this, but I'd definitely sport this leather Jacket. 

Here are the specs: 

• Motorcycle jacket with body armor for fans of Star Wars
• White leather jacket with black thread accents and contrasting Empire logo on sleeve
• Two-tone arm patches with fine embroidered outlining
• Raised rib detailing on the sleeves
• Snap buttons on the cuffs and wrist zippers
• Vertical front pockets
• Removable quilted cotton lining
• Made from grade-A cowhide
• CE-approved body armor in the shoulders, forearms/elbow and back spine protector is standard for riders but is easily removed for day-to-day wear

The jacket costs $449.99, and you can get it at ThinkGeek.com.

Check out this great vintage 1990s interview with Gene Siskel,  Roger Ebert, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, and Martin Scorsese. In it the discuss the future of movies. It's a fascinating conversation that any fan of film will want to listen to. Some of the things they discuss include computer effects, their careers, film preservation, and more. There are also some great little tidbits of information in there, like Spielberg talking about making a Howard Hughes biopic when Scorsese was the one that ended up making it. Thanks to The Film Stage for the heads up! Check it out!

IGN

We've seen a lot of trailers and posters for The Grandmaster over these many months, but the movie is finally set to be released on August 23rd in the U.S., and today we bring you the final trailer and poster for the film. The trailer features beautifully awesome shots of some of the Kung-Fu action sequences in the film, and it's set to a track by RZA. This movie looks like an amazing martial arts movie, and I'm excited about seeing it later this week!

The film is based on martial arts legend Ip Man, and it was directed by Wang Kar Wai. The fight choreography in the film was done by Yuen Woo-ping, and it stars Tony Leung, Zhang Ziyi, Chang Chen, Zhao Benshan, and Song Hye Gyo. 

Here's the synopsis for the film:

With martial arts getting more popular in the Thirties, more people seek to learn them via the professionals at Foshan in Southern China. Some of the experienced masters like to challenge their counterparts and undergoing battles. To have their whole concentration, it is their practice to lock up the venues and no one is allowed to leave during battles. No food and no rest before reaching any results. 

Ip Man is a young rich man extremely talented in martial arts, but he chooses to keep a low profile. Yet this doesn't keep him out of these troubles ahead. One day he is trapped in this battleground so he has to use every means in order to get out of there. The masters are amazed by his abilities. Master Kung and his daughter Kung Yi are amongst, and the latter is attracted to this newcomer. 

A high warlord is assassinated by his own guard Yi Xian Tian. All masters in Foshan vow to take Tian down no matter what....

Now check out the new trailer!

A couple of months ago Ubisoft said that they were going to develop a feature film adaptation of of their incredibly cool-looking video game, Watch Dogs. The game developer has now announced that the movie has landed at Sony Pictures. 

The game revolves around a vigilante named Aiden Pearce, "a highly-skilled computer hacker who has access to the CtOS of Chicago through the use of a device called a Profiler, and is obsessed with surveillance, protection and control. People that he loved were afflicted in the past and are being attacked once more, so he has become a vigilante in an attempt to prevent this. His obsession has reached the point where he even monitors his own family, although they are not aware of this. He has been described as in a gray area."

The game itself looks amazing, and I can only imagine that it will make for a fantastically intense movie thriller. It will be interesting to see the kind of talent they bring in to develop the movie. So far Ubisoft has a solid track record of getting big names on board. Some of those other projects include Ghost Recon with Michael Bay, Assassin's Creed with Michael Fassbender, and Splinter Cell with Tom Hardy.

I've included the trailer for the game below, just in case you need a reminder about how good this film project could be. 

Via: Variety  

Between the Citadel DLC, which is just a handful of buttered popcorn flavored fan service, and finally finishing my third playthrough, I seem to be on a bit of a Mass Effect kick lately. My gaming obsession did produce some nice results however, as I stumbled upon some truly cool watercolor style art featuring some of our favorite members of the Normandy crew, including Jack, Thane, Wrex, a few versions of Shepard, and many others. The art was created by Mycks Art Studio, which is a family affair with Mom handling the calligraphy, Big Sis taking on the painting, and Little Sis accepting the Graphic Design and Illustration responsibilities. That's pretty rad in itself, and before you scathe me for using rad, it was between that and tubular, so be thankful I went with rad.

Back to the point, the art itself is a series of watercolor styled portraits with the calligraphy representing something important to the character, hence Garrus is Trust, Shepard is Courage, Kaiden is Righteousness, etc. Love the concept and love the art, and if you agree, you can grab a print for yourself at their online store. Make sure to let them know if you dig their work, as that's the only way I will get a Kasumi to round out the collection.

This new UK trailer for Ridley Scott's The Counselor gives us a lot more detail on what the story to this film is actually about. The film was written by Cormac McCarthy, the author of No Country for Old Men, and it looks really freakin' good! I loved this new trailer. 

The movie stars Michael Fassbender, Penélope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Javier Bardem, and Brad Pitt, and the story centers on a respected lawyer’s one-time dalliance with an illegal business deal that spirals out of control.

The movie come out on October 25th!

Visual effects artist Jon Sorenson posted a stunning series of photos from the set of Ridley Scott's classic film Alien. The photos show you just how much care and detail went into making this film. The atmosphere on the set looks just as amazing as the actual film. Make sure to click here to see more! I don't recall seeing any of these photos before, so if you're a fan of the film like I am, you'll love these. 
 

Via: AICN

In a recent interview with The Huffington Post, director Edgar Wright talks about the villain in his upcoming Marvel film Ant-Man. When Joss Whedon announced Avengers: Age of Ultron, fans began to speculate on whether or not Hank Pym or Ultron would be involved, but that was shot down fast by Whedon himself. Since then we've all been wondering where that leaves Ant-Man because the main character is no longer involved in creating Ultron. In this interview, Wright says that Ultron was never a part of the story he came up with in the first place. 

Statue image via: Sideshow Collectors

"It was never in my script. Because even just to sort of set up what Ant-Man does is enough for one movie. It's why I think "Iron Man" is extremely successful because it keeps it really simple. You have one sort of -- the villain comes from the hero's technology. It's simple. So I think why that film really works and why, sometimes, superhero films fail -- or they have mixed results -- because they have to set up a hero and a villain at the same time. And that's really tough. And sometimes it's unbalanced."

When talking about Iron Man, Wright throws in a little hint of where the villain might come from in Ant-Man by saying, "the villain comes from the hero's technology." Now I've never really read any of the Ant-Man comics, but for those of you who do know, do you have any ideas on who this villain might be? 

He went on to talk about the joys in working with a lesser known comic character like Ant-Man saying,

I think there's something in that it's a lesser known character, there's hopefully more license. For the one percent of people who are like, "Wait, Hank Pym would never do that!" there's 99 percent going, "Who's Hank Pym?" So, to me, the source material is great but it also frees you up to be like: I'm going to make a movie. The movie is not going to represent 50 years of Marvel comics because that's impossible. But I'm going to make a 100 minute movie -- or 110 minutes [laughs].

I love Wright's style, and after seeing his test footage for this movie, I have no doubt fans are going to love what he's going to do with it. No casting has been officially announced yet, but Ant-Man is set for release on November 6th, 2015.

 X-COM (or X-Com, or XCOM, depending on which decade the individual game is from) is a storied franchise. UFO: Enemy Unknown, which debuted in 1994, got the series off to a strong start. The game was very positively received and remains a highly acclaimed tactical strategy game, even topping some recent "Best PC Game" lists.

The X-COM series envisions a near future in which aliens have begun an invasion of Earth. It is a highly strategic game that places you in command of an organization called the Extraterrestrial Combat Unit (X-COM). You develop your base of operations, research alien technology, and direct your squad of fighters to protect Earth from the alien attack. The Geoscape view lets you direct all affairs of the organization. This comprises assigning research, selling recovered alien technology, managing relations with member countries, deploying satellites, and directing aircraft. It is an impressively complex challenge in base management that could play as a standalone game. But when you're on the ground, you get the other half of X-COM, a turn-based isometric tactics game. Called the Battlescape, this includes many strategic features, such as morale and line of sight based on cover and illumination.

After the wild success of Enemy Unknown, the series began to see diminishing returns. The second game, Terror from the Deep, focused on an underwater threat and was also well received. The third and fourth games, Apocalypse and Interceptor, started to shake things up with mixed results. Finally, a third-person shooter called X-COM: Enforcer was released on PC in 2001 to a disappointing Metascore of 65. Two more games, Genesis and Alliance, were scheduled but later scrapped. For all intents and purposes, it seemed like X-COM, which premiered as a milestone in strategic gaming, had fizzled out of existence.

Then, "like a phoenix rising from the ashes of the X-COM disaster," according to Julian Gollop, a creator of the game, the game was revived by 2K Studios. Firaxis released XCOM: Enemy Unknown in January of 2012. It held close to the original game, with its two-tiered gameplay of real-time base management and turn-based tactical combat. The game, likely as a result of its respect for the original game, was a rousing success. It revitalized the franchise and was very favorably reviewed.

With the series now seemingly back on its feet, 2K Marin (developers of the Bioshock series), are releasing The Bureau: XCOM Declassified. This game will take us back to a Don Draper-esque era, when X-COM was first being established in 1962. You play as a field commander on the ground. This means that you're playing a third-person shooter but with the ability to pause the game and give tactical commands to the members of your squad. It's a departure from the winning formula of Enemy Unknown--and the last departure of this magnitude, Enforcer, was reamed by critics and seen as the ultimate low point in the franchise. Will The Bureau retain enough tactical elements to impress fans of the original? Will the darker, creepier 1960s vibe add to the appeal of the game? 

The Bureau: XCOM Declassified releases on August 20, 2013.

Update: Once again, it looks like straying from the X-Com formula has not paid off. Early reviews have The Bureau sitting at a 68/100 on Metacritic, a far cry from XCOM: Enemy Unknown's 90.

I've got an incredibly charming CG animated short for you today that you have to watch. It's called "One Rat Short." It comes from director Alex Weil, and it follows the misadventures of a city rat who pursues a nearly empty bag of cheese snacks that's drifting in the breeze. It leads him through a vent into a highly technological rat lab, where he falls in love with a white lab rat and decides to try to rescue her. I promise that you'll like this one! 

CG Art by Sam Yang

Fans have long clamored for a Pokemon fighting game. There are even fan-made versions of one. Rumors of such a game sprung up last weekend at the Pokemon Game Show, when an HD screenshot was released of two Pokemon, Blaziken and Lucario, facing off in the middle of a big city.

Screenshot via: Gamespot

Was it unrealistic for fans to see that screenshot and hope for a Pokemon fighting game? Perhaps not. According to serebii.net, The Pokemon Company just filed for two trademarks: "Pokken Fighters" and "Pokken Tournament." Sure sounds like a Pokemon fighting game to me.  It's all still speculation until we get an official announcement, but things are hopeful. A full-fledged HD Pokemon fighter for the Wii U would certainly bolster its lineup of games and thrill fans.

Personally, I'm not into the whole piracy scene. There's the whole going to jail, massive fines, and oh yeah, the in-theater experience out of the theater. This guy clearly isn't worried about the consequences of pirating, and even threatens the people with him in the audience. It's downright hilarious, and I can only imagine the reactions of people who pirated this film when they heard it.