The other day we saw an episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. crossover with Thor: The Dark World. It was actually pretty disappointing and not as awesome as it could and should have been. Marvel is also planning another cinematic crossover with Captain America: The Winter Soldier, but after seeing what they did with Thor, I'm not expecting anything special. 

S.H.I.E.L.D. producer Jed Whedon recently spoke with TV Guide regarding the series and the next movie and TV crossover episode, saying, 

"We're trying to flesh out the world. The Marvel brand carries with it a lot of familiar faces. We're trying to flesh out the world of S.H.I.E.L.D. with the established characters and the characters we're introducing to build out the larger organization that we operate in. That's where some of the fun can be had."

Whedon then confirmed that Samuel L. Jackson will be back in the episode, saying,

"Nick Fury [Samuel L. Jackson] is in that one, and S.H.I.E.L.D. makes an appearance, so we will definitely try to tee-up some stuff and probably play a little bit of the fallout from that film. We're hoping to do some cool stuff."

He also talked a little bit about Coulson and his return from the dead.

"We know that there's going to be a lot of theories and there's no chance that whatever we reveal won't, at some point, be written on the internet. We're just trying to come up with ways to make it surprising or make it not how they expected it to unravel. We know what it is, but we know that no one else does yet."

I guess that means none of the theories floating around out there about Coulson's return are exactly right. 

I was just hoping that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. would have been a better series. I've started losing interest, as the characters aren't really getting any more interesting. Everyone is actually kind of boring with is a shame. I imagined S.H.I.E.L.D. being something a lot more badass than what we've been given. 

Here's an awesome video clip that features magician David Blaine showing Harrison Ford a magic trick. As you'll see in the video, Ford's mind is completely blown, and his reaction is hilarious. Ford is 71 years old, and you'd think he's seen almost everything in his life, but Blaine rocked his world here.

Even though we haven't seen any Star Wars characters in the trailers for The LEGO Movie, it's being reported by The Wall Street Journal that a few Star Wars characters will appear in the film. There's no information on what characters will be included in the film, or how big of a part they will play in the story.

The report goes on to explain the licensing rights to the characters since Star Wars is owned by Disney and LEGO is a Warner Bros. property. "Given that The Lego Movie has been in the works for several years, it’s possible that Warner struck a deal with Lucasfilm before Disney agreed to acquire the Star Wars company in October of 2012."

The Phil Lord and Chris Miller-directed movie features the voices of Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Alison Brie, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman, Charlie Day, Will Ferrell, and Will Arnett, and it's set to hit theaters February 7th, 2014.

Check out this great illustration featuring the DC Comics vixens. The illustration is called "Bad Girls," and it was done by Mimi Yoon. This is her rendition of Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, Catwoman, and Talia. The art comes from Kult Studio, who had this to say about the artist,

Known for her sensual portrayal of women, Mimi’s art has been seen in galleries and museums all around the world including Europe, Canada, Australia, and Japan’s MOMA and The National Museum of Modern Art in Kyoto, Japan. 

Each piece of the limited edition has been numbered and is signed by Mimi Yoon. Starting at $275. The perfect art piece for any proper “Man Cave!"

Click here if you're interested in purchasing a print.

USA Today

The first trailer for David Ayer's latest film project, Sabotage, which was previously titled Ten, has hit the Internet. The action thriller stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as "an elite DEA task force dealing with the world's deadliest drug cartels. Specializing in complex mobile operations, the team executes a tactical raid on a cartel safe house. What looks to be a typical raid turns out to be an elaborate theft operation, pre-planned by the DEA squad. After hiding millions in stolen cash, the team believes their secret is safe – until someone begins assassinating them one by one."

Ayer has made some awesome films in his career, his most recent being End of Watch. I'm looking forward to seeing Schwarzenegger kick some ass in the movie. This movie looks like the best thing he's made since he got back into acting. It looks like Ayer has made another great, intense movie.

Sabotage also stars Sam Worthington, Josh Holloway, Malin Akerman, Terrence Howard, Mireille Enos, Joe Mangianello, Olivia Williams, Max Martini, and Dawn Olivieri.

The movie comes out on April 11th, 2014! I've also included some images from the film. 

Warner Bros. and director Zack Snyder are in the process of coming up with a title for their Man of Steel sequel, which everyone has been calling Batman Vs. Superman. Obviously, fans of the comics like the title World's Finest, but it never seemed like that was going to happen.

According to Fusible, the studio has secretly registered several different titles for the film through the internet brand protection company MarkMonitor. Here are the possible titles...

Man of Steel Battle the Knight

Man of Steel Beyond Darkness

Man of Steel Black of Knight

Man of Steel Darkness Falls

Man of Steel Knight Falls

Man of Steel Shadow of the Night

Man of Steel The Blackest Hour

Man of Steel The Darknness Within

I don't care what they call it as long as turns out to be a great movie. I liked Man of Steel, but the story and script had a lot of issues. Hopefully this next time around they have a better script that isn't so disjointed.

So far the sequel stars Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, Amy Adams, Diane Lane, and Laurence Fishburne, and it hits theaters on July 17th, 2015.

Here's another fun series of Disney princess art. The series features the princesses as Final Fantasy-inspired characters. The illustrations were done by Deviant Art user Geryes, and they turned out pretty cool. 

Art by Isikol

I never doubted that Edgar Wright's Ant-Man was going to be a very different kind of Marvel movie. I'm actually pretty excited about it, and at the same time I think it will end up being the least successful Marvel film so far. Not because it won't be good, but because outside of the Internet and the comic book world not many people know about Ant-Man, and general audiences may think it sounds like a stupid movie. I hope I'm wrong, but when I bring it up with people not familiar with the property it doesn't seem to interest them at all. 

In a recent interview with ET, the director discussed the film a little by saying that “people will be surprised” by Ant-Man. He also acknowledges those who aren't familiar with the character, saying,

"I want to make him into a badass [laughs]. No, I always liked that comic and I always thought it would be an interesting thing to see in live-action. That’s why I [showed] that Comic-Con test that we did for Marvel, to show this fight scene like a proof of content, like this is what the action is going to look like. I think a lot of people who maybe don’t know the character sort of see that test and go, “Oh, right, I get it. It’s like an action film,” so that’s the idea. I think people will be surprised by what kind of movie it is, and so in that respect it’s something that I know is going to stand out because it’s got a very different story and is a very different movie."

Wright went on to talk about the tone of of the film, saying it will keep in line with the tone of the rest of the Marvel universe

Well, I think the Marvel movies are funny, you know? I think generally the Iron Man films and The Avengers are funny. They’re not ever in the comedy section, but they are funny and entertaining, so I think it’ll be something in a similar vein to that.

Ant-Man is sure to be a very entertaining movie, and I'm sure it will do great at the box office, I just don't think it will do as well as the other Marvel films that have been released. It opens up on July 31st, 2015.

A few months ago it was reported that Die Hard 6 would be called Die Hardest and that it would be written by Ben Trebilcook. Trebilcook is finished with the script, and in a recent interview with What Culture, he spilled some details on the story that fans of the franchise might like to hear. 

As a fan of the early films in the franchise, I really like the direction he is taking the story and character. It sounds like this is going to be the final film in the franchise as well, and they plan to bring back some familiar faces. 

Here are the details, which could be considered SPOILERS, so I'm just throwing that out there.

"Hmm, what can I say? What can I say? What am I allowed to say? OK, without spoiling too much, I can say that McClane is invited to Tokyo by the Nakatomi Corporation to be commended for his bravery and efforts in saving 36 lives, celebrating this on the 30th anniversary of the Naktatomi Hostage Crisis. It’s by no means Black Rain. Perhaps has a slight Rising Sun type tone. It’s also not a double-act buddy-buddy story. McClane began on his own and should end on his own. Of course he’s had assistance in various guises, aiding him in his ventures; but it’s not Lethal Weapon or a Jackie Chan film.

"McClane is a gunslinger. A now retired, worn-out, tired, busted and broken cowboy. Everything he’s been through has to be taken into account. Yes, it’s a movie, but he isn’t invincible. He was never Bond. That’s what was so appealing to me with Bruce’s character. He got hurt. I see the first one as a drama with elements of action. It took its time to set up the story and unfold great characters. I believe I got that and also what I call ‘the hose-reel moment’. You know, when McClane, in the first Die Hard leaped off the building with a fire hose, before it went kaboom; in the second, he ejects himself from the plane when he’s surrounded by grenades and in the third, he’s shot out the tunnel, through the air with a gush of water. I’ve got that ‘hose-reel moment’, as well as that cringing ‘glass pulling from the feet’ type scene. Man, that gets me every time. Pursued by bad guys; does he face them and die, or retreat, barefoot, across broken glass? THEN picks out itty bitty shards from his cut feet. Great acting, too. Bruce has done some neat films: Twelve Monkeys, Unbreakable, Last Boy Scout, Mortal Thoughts, Pulp Fiction. He may regret turning down Swayze’s role in Ghost, but.. anyway, Die Hard 6…

"My story, being set in Japan, obviously has Nakatomi playing an extremely significant role; in a way that.. well, it’s John McClane in Japan and if you’ve seen any Japanese movies or at least know anything about their culture at all, you know it would have a lot of potential to be nuts. It’s not Ichi The Killer, but it is crazy and as real as you can get in these realms. It’s violent, but not over the top nor unnecessarily Loony Tune like Olympus. It’s well researched, faithful to the franchise, yet giving a possible audience such a refreshing punch to the face, they’ll be saying ‘Wow. I really wasn’t expecting that.’ You want a nugget, don’t you? I’m pretty sure it’s out there. A few Japanese fans on Twitter put two and two together when I uploaded a picture of a Katana (Samurai Sword) with some kanji reading ‘Zeus’. Yes, I’ve written Zeus Carver in for Samuel L Jackson.

"Like I said before, it’s not a buddy-buddy script, but you can’t ignore him. Zeus played a major part in McClane’s life. They went through a lot together. They would certainly, without a doubt, still be in contact. A guy I know, Stel, wrote the 51st State (aka Formula 51) with Sam the Man. I put the idea to him and he said Sam would probably love to have a sword in a movie; that’s how you could woo him. Let’s say I have a Better Tomorrow 2 vibe. Have you seen that film? Tell you what else? Probably the best ‘Yippie Ki Yay’ one could ever hope for."

I love the direction that he's taking the story, and I hope it happens! There's a lot more to read in the interview, so if you want to know more about the movie and the previous projects the writer has worked on, click here.

Omlette

Lucasfilm has released this Imperial propaganda poster for their upcoming animated series Star Wars: Rebels. The poster is translated as saying, "Enlist - The Empire is the Future." The Empire will be taking over planets for their resources and enlisting the people on those planets to work for them, many of whom become Stormtroopers. The premise behind this series is really awesome, and I think Star Wars fans are going to love it. 

The series is set between the events of Episode III and IV -- an era spanning almost two decades never-before explored on-screen. It takes place in a time where the Empire is securing its grip on the galaxy and hunting down the last of the Jedi Knights as a fledgling rebellion against the Empire is taking shape.

For more details on the series, click here! Star Wars: Rebels is set to debut on Disney XD in the fall of 2014.

Universal Pictures has released two new TV spots for the Keanu Reeves fantasy martial arts thriller, 47 Ronin. The action-packed spots include some new footage from the great-looking film. The movie was directed by short film and commercial director Carl Erik Rinsch, and it is set to be released on December 25th.

Delivery Man really, really wants to be heart-warming, but its many issues keep throwing water on the fire. Written and directed by Ken Scott—and adapted from his French language version, Starbuck— Delivery Man stars Vince Vaughn as an aging loser who discovers that through sperm donation he has fathered 533 children, about 100 of whom are suing to discover his identity. Hilarity doesn’t really ensue.

Part of the problem is that Vaughn’s character, David, isn’t just hapless and down on his luck at the start of the movie. He is a screw-up with a capital F. He works as a delivery man for his father’s meat company, but owes $80,000 to the kind of people who will happily rough up his family to get it back. (It is a major flaw in the film that we never find out what the money was used for.) He has just turned his apartment into a grow house, but doesn’t have the requisite green thumb for that to pan out. His sort-of-maybe girlfriend (Cobie Smulders in a joyless role) is newly pregnant and doesn’t want him to have anything to do with the baby. That’s a pretty deep hole he’s dug for himself.

Then comes the (very, very crowded) plot: the fertility clinic that he donated sperm to accidentally used it for ALL of the babies, and now there are 533 children, a large portion trying to find out who he is. He immediately turns to his lawyer-cum-stay-at-home-dad buddy, Brett, played by Chris Pratt. Brett tells David he is in no way prepared to be a father and promises to represent him in keeping his identity a secret. The plaintiffs, 100 or so of his biological children, send a file with photos and short bios of themselves to entice him to come clean. Since he has absolutely no impulse control, David reads the bios and starts interacting with his “children,” all while fighting in court to keep his identity a secret.

Enter another problem, David is apparently the best father in the whole wide world. Every single choice you make as a parent can be a mistake. It is fraught with the possibility of harming your children, even when you mean well. Although there are a couple of white-knuckle moments, everything David does works out perfectly, even letting his heroine addict “daughter” check herself out of the hospital after an overdose. That one stretched credulity too much for me. There is also a strange subplot in which one of the kids finds out his identity and blackmails him into a relationship, but it’s honestly best forgotten.
 
Another issue is David’s determination to remain anonymous, even after spending time with all the kids and discovering that he really loves being in their lives. He needs the money from his countersuit—against the fertility clinic, not the kids—to pay off the loanshark who is now harming his actual, grew up with them, family, but he is clearly so desperate to tell them that it’s hard to believe he never just blurts it out. And again, although we eventually find out the heart-warming reason why he donated sperm so many times, we never learn what the loanshark money was for, so we can never really forgive him that particular sin, which is sort of a major one.

Vaughn acts very Vince Vaughn-y, which works really well here. You never really expect much from him, but he conveys a lot of heart, enough to care for 534 children, and enough to make everyone around him happy to forgive him for some terrible things. Pratt, of course, steals the show. He gets just about every laugh in the movie. His onscreen kids get the other ones. Of the supporting cast, only Andrzej Blumenfeld as David’s father and a couple of the bio-kids (Dave Patten, Jack Reynor) stand out. Bobby Moynihan is terribly flat as one of David’s brothers, and Smulders is mostly just no-fun.

So what did I like? Jon Brion’s soundtrack was fantastic. When David and Brett raced off to see the first bio-kid and ACDC’s “Thunderstruck” played, every head in the theater was bobbing. When David finally tells his father the truth about the situation, Blumenfeld plays the reaction so wonderfully it goes a long way in making us like David. Pratt’s final scene was hilarious and perfectly underplayed. And, god help me, in spite of all the flaws, I liked the last 30 minutes. My heart was warmed. His choice of when and how to tell his girlfriend about the 533 kids he fathered should have made you want to kick him in the nuts, honestly, but with Vaughn standing there, looking all hopeful, you can honestly believe that he doesn’t realize what a dick he is. And, like his 500-some odd family members, you just want to give him a hug.

I’m sure so many people have heard of Forced that it hardly needs an introduction. No? None of you have heard of it? Don’t worry, I hadn't heard about it either. More people should know about it since Forced is one of the best co-op games I have played all year.

Forced was developed by Beta Dwarf Entertainment, a very small indie company that began development while squatting in an empty college classroom. Eventually they got kicked out and finished the game elsewhere, but any company that has its beginning sleeping in a classroom without permission is a company I respect. The entire story is told in a giant picture available on their site. I’ll post it after the review for your information and enjoyment, as it is rather entertaining. Even if the development team lived off of ramen for years of their life, Forced doesn't feel rushed or anemic in the slightest and bears a level of polish rare in indie circles.

At heart, the game is a Co-op ARPG, like Diablo or Torchlight II, with heavy puzzle elements. You run around and kill monsters using a fun system where you mark enemies then consume the marks using your abilities, but the enemies are usually just distractions to interfere with you are you try to figure out how to complete each stage. After you discover the solution, actually doing it is another question entirely. The tutorial levels are easy, but the difficulty quickly ratchets up afterwards and only rarely frustratingly so. Even on the levels where my wife (my co-op partner) and I died repeatedly, I always felt we had almost bested the challenge and we would definitely get it next time. The puzzles are well done and are introduced naturally, with each level building on the previous ones. The puzzle solutions aren't simple by any means, but I never felt the need to look up help online either. There are occasional boss fights which do involve fighting a larger opponent, but there is always some sort of trick to them. Occasionally, the camera will be less than helpful, but it was a rare occurrence and seemed to only happen on larger fights/puzzles.

The main campaign is touch short, around 4-6 hours depending on how much trouble you have, but each level has an array of challenges outside of just completion, like a time requirement, or a special puzzle you need to solve in the level. Finishing levels and challenges will get you Crystals, which you use to level up your character. This gives the game a decent amount of replayability, especially since some of the time challenges are hard.

There are only 4 different character classes to chose from. There’s a Tank, a Rogue, an Archer, and a Hammer-guy, one for each player, but within the class there are 8 active and 8 passive abilities to unlock and use, so there is a decent amount of customization. Also, since characters unlock abilities depending on how many Crystals you have earned total, you can jump back and forth between classes without losing any progress.

Forced features both Keyboard and controller support, so whichever you fancy, they've got you covered. But don’t try to play by yourself, it isn't worth it. The main pleasure of this game is conversing with friends, trying to find the solution to the puzzles, then screaming wildly as your plan falls completely to pieces.

In a world that seems to be trivializing co-op gameplay, Forced is a wonderful diamond in the rough. It is incredibly fun to play, and I honestly have no major complaints with it. If you like co-op games, especially ARPGs, this one is a definite buy.

P.S. Here is a link their story picture. 

A couple of weeks ago the gang over at Slacktory brought us the original Star Wars trailer mashed together with some of the blooper outtakes from the film. Today we bring you their latest blooper trailer creation, featuring Marvel's The Avengers. These have been fun to watch, and it should be fun to see what they do next. 

We have another behind the scenes video from the Hong Kong set of Transformers: Age of Extinction for you to check out. It's one of those annoying ET videos, and it kind of focuses more on the on-set pranks. But director Michael Bay did offer up a little plot detail on the film at the end of the video where he says,

"The world has progressed and modernized to a point where it can almost cannibalize and kill itself."

I'm sure we'll have a better idea of what he means by that when we see the movie, but it definitely sounds intense. 

The movie stars Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Tucci, Jack Reynor, Nicola Peltz, Kelsey Grammer, Sophia Myles, T.J. Miller, Peter Cullen, and Li Bingbing. It hits theaters on June 27th, 2014.

Technabob

Here's a great set of of drink flasks that a lot of you might think are cool! They are perfectly modeled after the classic Nintendo Entertainment System cartridge. They were created by Ink Whiskey, and each one has been given a fun label, including Metal Beer, Super Bar-Hop Bros., CastleVodka, and Drunk Hunt. 

Ink Whiskey is raising funds for production of the flask over on Kickstarter. People who pledge at least $20(USD) will get you a cartridge flask. If you pledge $50 or more you will get a gold The Legend of Drink edition, reminiscent of the gold Zelda cartridge. 

Hammer has announced that they will be producing a remake of their 1957 film, The Abominable Snowman.

The movie will be a modern take on the Yeti legend, and in the story "a scientific expedition’s illegal assent up an unclimbed peak of one of the World’s most formidable mountains accidentally awakens an ancient creature that could spell a certain end for them all."

The screenplay is being written by Matthew Read (Pusher, Hammer of the Gods) and Jon Croker (The Woman In Black: Angel of Death, Desert Dancer). President and CEO of Hammer Simon Oakes had this to say in a statement, 

"The success of Let Me In and The Woman In Black has shown that there is an appetite for quality horror films so it is exciting to draw on Hammer’s unparalleled source material in this genre which can be reimagined and updated for a new audience."

I've been enjoying the films that Hammer has made, and The Abominable Snowman sounds like another fun project! 

Few characters are as calm and collected as Nathan Drake. Well, maybe calm isn’t the right word, but who could blame him? The guy walks 5 steps and is suddenly falling down the side of a cliff, or having to hang on for dear life as a train falls beside him. I get freaked out when my cat jumps on me when I'm sitting on the couch, so no stones will be thrown by me. Suffice it to say, Nate’s got a lot going on, and now you can recreate every over the top situation he finds himself in with Sideshow’s Sixth Scale figure, complete with map leading to Jimmy Hoffa, a pistol that has killed more people than some countries' entire armies, and a holster that is probably in wonderful shape from lack of use.

The exclusive version throws in a pretty imposing spider, but both will run you the same price, which is $159.99. Sideshow’s Sixth Scale line of figures all come with an immense amount of articulation, and everything is real fabric, even down to Nate’s scarf. Pre-orders open today, so head to the official page to put your order in. 

Art by Gary David

While Marc Webb and Sony Pictures are working on the next three Amazing Spider-Man films, it seems like the studio is looking to get some spin-off films into production as well! The news (via: Deadline and The Wrap) comes from Sony Pictures Entertainment Co-Chairman Amy Pascal, who says,

“We are going to access Marvel’s full world of Spider-Man characters, so be on the lookout for new heroes and villains."

I'm actually surprised that they didn't do this sooner, especially with Marvel having so much success with their cinematic universe. I guess it's better late than never, though. Sony Pictures Entertainment chief Michael Lynton also added,

“We do very much have the ambition about creating a bigger universe around Spider-Man. There are a number of scripts in the works” 

There's no mention of what characters or villains will be featured, but I'd personally like to see Venom, Carnage, Morbius, and Black Cat on the list of characters to get their own films. There's been talk of a Venom spin-off for a while, and Morbius was rumored to be a villain at one point as well. 

Which Spider-Man characters would you like to see get their own movies? And will Stan Lee make a cameo in all of them? For a full list of Spider-Man supporting characters, click here, and for villains, click here. I'm not sure how many of these characters Sony owns, but it should give you a good idea of what they might be working with.

MTV

Here's a new photo from the upcoming episode of The Walking Dead titled "Dead Weight." The image teases a very pivotal moment from the comic books that the series is based on. 

SPOILERS ahead!

The photo features David Morrissey as The Governor sitting next to a tank, and if it follows the comic book storyline, he is planning to raid the prison with it!

"Something new unfolds at a camp outside the prison, and the addition of new members may threaten peace."

Do you think the Governor is going to run the tank into the prison like he did in the comic?