This last weekend I went to see Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones. The movie had its moments, but in the end it was just a disappointment. After seeing the first movie, I would have never thought the franchise would go this far. The newest movie is mostly separate from the first four films, but it does connect to them. It will be interesting to see what they do with Paranormal Activity 5, but I don't know if they will be able to keep it interesting, it's already gotten old. At least for me.

In a recent interview with /Film, writer and director of The Marked Ones, Christopher Landon, revealed that he, Oren Peli, and producer Jason Blum have developed an ultimate ending to the franchise. The thing is it's not going to happen anytime soon, if it even happens. 

We’ve always been looking ahead. I’ll say this much. There is a very specific end goal and I’m hoping we have enough time in the franchise to get there. We have a really big idea that’s at the finish line but we need time to get there. So we’re hoping the fans keep coming back and allow us to get them there.

When asked if the end of The Marked Ones was our first hint at that, he said,

The beginning of that started in Oren’s movie. I don’t think Oren realized it then, because when he made the first movie it felt like a stand alone movie, but then when we started making 2 and we started to see the potential and possibility there for a franchise, that’s when the real think tank element came in to play and we really started to throw out crazy ideas. Then, over the course of the last couple movies, we came to a really good, interesting place.

I wonder how many more films they have in mind before they bring the franchise to a close. I think there's a big enough fan base to keep it going to the end though. The movies have very low budgets, and they always pull in a huge profit. I imagine we'll get to see the end, but who knows how many more Paranormal Activity films we'll have to sit through before we get it. 

Wooden Heart Cakes has created this really cool Yoda Minion cake. It's amazing what people can do with designing cakes these days. Although I have to say, this looks like the most depressed minion ever. It's like he hates being Yoda! Thanks to Between the Pages.

Check out this awesome design created by Josh Nizzi for a character that didn't make it into Thor: The Dark World. It's of the Norse warrior goddess Valkyrie, a.k.a. Brunnhilde. The character first appeared in The Avengers #83 in 1970 and is part of the superhero team known as the Defenders. it would have been really cool to see this character brought to life in Thor: The Dark World, but if they were thinking about introducing her in this film, then I'm sure somewhere down the line they will get her up on the big screen kicking some ass. Thanks to io9 for the heads up!

DreamWorks has released a new behind the scenes featurette for their cool looking big screen adaptation of the Need for Speed video game. It focuses on the stunt car driving that Aaron Paul had to train for to film the movie. It looks like a hell of a lot of fun! I want to go to stunt driving school! 

"Need for Speed" chronicles a near-impossible cross-country race against time—one that begins as a mission for revenge, but proves to be one of redemption. In a last attempt to save his struggling garage, blue-collar mechanic Tobey Marshall (Aaron Paul)—who with his team skillfully builds and races muscle cars on the side—reluctantly partners with wealthy, arrogant ex-NASCAR driver Dino Brewster (Dominic Cooper). Just as a major sale to car broker Julia Bonet (Imogen Poots) looks like it will save the business, a disastrous, unsanctioned race results in Dino framing Tobey for manslaughter. Two years later and fresh out of prison, Tobey is set on revenge with plans to take down Dino in the high-stakes De Leon race—the Super Bowl of underground racing. To get there in time, Tobey must run a high-octane, action-packed gauntlet, dodging cops coast-to-coast and dealing with fallout from a dangerous bounty Dino put on his car. With his loyal crew and the surprisingly resourceful Julia as allies, Tobey defies odds at every turn and proves that even in the flashy world of exotic supercars, the underdog can still finish first.

The movie is set to be released on March 14th, 2014!

Every year, the Independent Games Festival gathers hundreds of indie games to play, judge, and recognize. Not only are they providing gamers the invaluable service of finding the hidden masterpieces that are released every year, but they also bring awareness to the gems that deserve to be played.

This year the over 650 entrants were distributed to 375 judges to be evaluated for each category like Excellence in Visual Art, Narrative, or Design. 650 is far more entries than they have had in years past, showing the obvious growth of the “indie gaming market” in recent years.

The winners will be announced on March 19th at the Game Developers Conference 2014, where the winners of each category will receive prize moneys (up to $30k for the grand prize), an immense amount of recognition, and even a deal with Valve for Steam distribution (if they wish). The Steam distribution deal may end up being the most valuable prize as many indie games released on Steam have already seen great success, like The Stanley Parable.

I am rather surprised by the number of finalist games that I have already played. I greatly enjoyed The Yawhg, The Stanley Parable, and Kerbal Space Program, so I will be quick to pick up and play the other finalists. The full list of the finalists is below. Which games are you hoping will win?

Excellence In Visual Art

DEVICE 6 (Simogo)

Gorogoa (Jason Roberts)

The Banner Saga (Stoic)

Perfect Stride (Arcane Kids)

Samorost3 (Amanita Design)

Drei (Etter)

Honorable mentions: Shelter (Might & Delight); Galak-Z (17-BIT); The Swapper(Facepalm Games); The Yawhg (Damian Sommer & Emily Carroll); Don't Starve (Klei Entertainment)

 

Excellence In Narrative

The Yawhg (Damian Sommer & Emily Carroll)

Paralect (Paralect Team)

DEVICE 6 (Simogo)

Dominique Pamplemousse in "It's All Over Once the Fat Lady Sings!" (Deirdra Kiai Productions)

The Stanley Parable (Galactic Cafe)

Papers, Please (Lucas Pope)

Honorable mentions: Quadrilateral Cowboy (Blendo Games); Gorogoa (Jason Roberts); Redshirt (The Tiniest Shark); Detective Grimoire (SFB Games); Monster Loves You (Radial Games Corp. & Dejobaan Games, LLC.)

 

Excellence In Design

TowerFall Ascension (Matt Thorson)

868-HACK (Michael Brough)

Mushroom 11 (Untame)

Papers, Please (Lucas Pope)

Don't Starve (Klei Entertainment)

Crypt of the NecroDancer (Brace Yourself Games)

Honorable mentions: The Banner Saga (Stoic); Perfect Stride (Arcane Kids); Threes(Asher Vollmer, Greg Wohlwend & Jimmy Hinson); DEVICE 6 (Simogo); Gorogoa(Jason Roberts)

 

Excellence In Audio

Samorost3 (Amanita Design)

Dominique Pamplemousse in "It's All Over Once the Fat Lady Sings!" (Deirdra Kiai Productions)

The Stanley Parable (Galactic Cafe)

Crypt of the NecroDancer (Brace Yourself Games)

DEVICE 6 (Simogo)

The Yawhg (Damian Sommer & Emily Carroll)

Honorable mentions: Sokobond (Alan Hazelden, Harry Lee & Ryan Roth); The Banner Saga (Stoic); Potatoman Seeks the Troof (Pixeljam); Jazzpunk (Necrophone Games);Don't Starve (Klei Entertainment)

 

Nuovo Award

Dominique Pamplemousse in "It's All Over Once the Fat Lady Sings!" (Deirdra Kiai Productions)

Luxuria Superbia (Tale of Tales)

Extrasolar (Lazy 8 Studios)

Perfect Woman (Peter Lu and Lea Schonfelder)

SoundSelf (Robin Arnott)

Papers, Please (Lucas Pope)

Save the Date (Paper Dino Software)

Corrypt (Michael Brough)

Honorable mentions: Shelter (Might & Delight); DEVICE 6 (Simogo); Elegy for a Dead World (Dejobaan Games with Popcannibal); SUPERHOT (SUPERHOT Team); 18 Cadence (Aaron A. Reed)

 

Seumas McNally Grand Prize

The Stanley Parable (Galactic Cafe)

Don't Starve (Klei Entertainment)

Jazzpunk (Necrophone Games)

Papers, Please (Lucas Pope)

DEVICE 6 (Simogo)

Dominique Pamplemousse in "It's All Over Once the Fat Lady Sings!" (Deirdra Kiai Productions)

Honorable mentions: Crypt of the NecroDancer (Brace Yourself Games); TowerFall Ascension (Matt Thorson); Kerbal Space Program (Squad); 868-HACK (Michael Brough); The Yawhg (Damian Sommer & Emily Carroll)

Check out this great infographic that features the first and last line of every Doctor that has passed through the Doctor Who series. It was actually pretty entertaining to go through these, so enjoy!

Cheezburger

Evan Jonigkeit

It's just been revealed that yet another mutant will play a role in Bryan Singer's X-Men: Days of Future Past. Just in case you didn't think there were enough mutants already, Toad will be back! It will be a younger version of the mutant played by Evan Jonigkeit. Ray Park played Toad in the first movie. 

The news comes from Jonigkeit himself during an interview with MTV in which he revealed he was playing Toad, and then went on to explain how he prepared for the role,

"I read a lot of the comic books. I found out the storyline of my character, who is Toad. X-Men fans will know that Ray Park played him in the first movie, so it's a generation story of how he came to be. It's really cool."

He didn't give any details on his look in the movie, but he does say that it will be different from how the character was portrayed in the first movie. 

"The aesthetics of the character are much different, and I'm not really allowed to say a whole lot more than that."

When asked specifically about the aesthetic changes he said,

"It's darker. I would say it's a darker tone." 

I like Toad, and it will be fun to see how they end up utilizing him in this storyline. I doubt he has a big role, but we'll see. The movie is set to be released on May 23rd, 2014! 

Get More: Movie Trailers, Movies Blog

Check out this amazingly cool sci-fi art series called Rebel Bikes by CGHUB artist Ignacio Bazan Lazcano. This is a personal project by the artist. I have no idea what he's planning for it,  but I love the ultra sci-fi Mad Max tone of it. 

Here is the latest poster for The LEGO Movie featuring Charlie Day's Astronaut character, Benny. This was actually a 1970s astronaut minifigure that has been brought back to life for the movie. The movie is set to be released on February 7th, 2014, and you can watch the trailer again here if you want.

Pacific Rim was one of the most entertaining movies that I saw this year! I had a smile on my face from beginning to end. It was so awesome watching those giant robots battling giant creatures! Industrial Light and Magic has released a very cool special effects reel that shows off the process of bringing this badassery to life on the big screen!

For over 2 years the team at Industrial Light & Magic in San Francisco, Singapore and Vancouver worked tirelessly to bring Guillermo del Toro's science fiction epic "Pacific Rim" to life. This reel represents a taste of the visual effects work the team was tasked with in creating everything from monstrous Kaiju to the man-made Jaegers and the environments they are seen in.

I love watching these things. This part of the movie making process fascinates the hell out of me!

It's incredibly exciting to see the X-Men franchise blowing up again! X-Men: Days of Future Past looks incredible, and the recently announced X-Men: Apocalypse sounds intriguing. We still know very little about what the new movie will entail, but in a recent interview with EW, director Bryan Singer talks about it, and reveals that he's not yet signed on to direct it. 

“I’m co-writing the story and I’m producing it. I’m negotiating to direct. We’re in the process. We’re trying to figure it out, schedules. My desire would be to direct it.”

I'm pretty confident that he and the studio will strike a deal. If he wants to direct it, then he'll end up directing it. When asked if he will tease Apocalypse in X-Men: Days of Future Past, he said,

“I’m still deciding that. Something that happens in this movie causes what’s going to happen in that movie."

Well… if that's the case, I'm pretty sure that there's got to be some kind of tease. Singer goes on to point out some of the themes that will be a part of Apocalypse, saying,

"It will also address historical mutant-cy, meaning the deep past, mutant origins and things like that. It’s something that’s always intrigued me when we think about our Gods and our history and miracles and powers."

Apocalypse will be released in theaters in 2016, and I can't help but think it's going to be epic. The future of this franchise seems like it's going to be gloriously awesome! 

Via: Deadline

Director Matt Reeves is currently in the middle of directing Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Now it's being reported that he's signed on direct the third film in the rebooted franchise as well. 

Reeves will co-write the script with Mark Bomback, who is one of the writers that worked on the sequel. I really surprised by how amazing the first movie was. Rupert Wyatt did a hell of a job with it. 

We still really haven't seen much from this next movie. There's not much shown in the teaser trailer. Hopefully Reeves can bring in that same energy and awesomeness.

Via: THR

Kevin James' Paul Blart: Mall Cop was a pretty stupid movie, and I think it's ridiculous that it's getting a sequel. Why is it getting a sequel? Because the movie made a stupid amount of money at the box office. People actually watch this crap. Oh well, that's just how Hollywood works. 

Andy Fickman (The Game Plan, She's The Man, Race to Witch Mountain) is currently in discussions to direct the film. The there's James, who will reprise his role as Blart, "the milquetoast security guard who will have to step up one for another adventure." The movie is scheduled to start shooting in April.

The man who brought us Captain America: The First Avenger, Joe Johnston, is in talks to direct the upcoming sci-fi film Extinction.

The Hollywood Reporter broke the news and gave very little info about the plot. Here is what they had to say regarding the project:

Plot details are being kept under wraps but it does involve a man trying to save his family with an alien invasion figuring into the proceedings.

Based on that next to nothing plot synopsis, I can tell you nothing. I can tell you that Johnston has been a solid director, so the movie is off to a good start. Don’t believe me? All I have to say is The Rocketeer! 'Nuff said!

Until Next Time…

Billy Out!

It's alway fun to revisit Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction! The movie never seems to get old. I know this is old, but I hadn't watched it until recently, and there are a few interesting little bits of info tucked away in it that are pretty cool. For example John Travolta's Vincent Vega reveals that he's actually the cousin of singer Suzanne Vega. Tarantino not only shows off the deleted scenes he couldn't fit in the film, but he also excitedly explains and sets up each of the scenes. Thanks to The Playlist for bringing this to my attention. It really is quite entertaining. 

Via: Variety

Disturbia director DJ Caruso is set to direct a new supernatural thriller called Selling Time. Will Smith has been interested in starring in the project for a long time but has yet to commit to it. 

The film tells a very interesting story of "a man who sells pieces of his life in order to relive one day when he hopes to alter a tragedy that had a lasting effect on his life.

The script is being rewritten by Dan McDermott from a script previously written by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver. Caruso is a solid director, and this seems like it would be a great project for him to take on. Hopefully Smith ends up jumping on board the project as well. I'm sure he'll make up his mind after he reads the script. 

Marvel fans have been eagerly waiting to find out how Agent Coulson cheated death after he was killed by Loki in The Avengers. Well, in the most recent episode of Agent's of S.H.I.E.L.D. it was finally revealed, and I have to say, it was pretty disappointing. For those of you who didn't watch the episode, here's a breakdown of how Coulson was brought back to life.

I think it's safe to say that we all knew the "magical place," Tahiti, Coulson talked about in the first episode never existed. In this episode Coulson tracked down a doctor to fill in the gaps, and revealed that Coulson really did die. In fact, he was dead for several days.

Coulson asked the doctor how it was possible that he could be brought back to life after being dead for so long, and the doctor told him that Nick Fury moved heaven and earth to make it happen. That he "had a team of scientists working around the clock, using procedures that no good doctor would ever allow." 

During all of these insane surgical procedures Coulson’s brain was fried. The doctor continued saying, “After what you had been through, we wanted to restore the man you had once been so we gave you a pleasant memory of a beautiful island. We didn’t want you to be that thing. You had lost your will to live. We tried to give it back." So in the process of screwing around with his brain they implanted the memory of Tahiti. So that means Coulson was conscious and aware during these procedures? 

And that's it! That's all we got. I'm sorry, but that is a terribly uncreative way to bring Coulson back. I really hope there is more to it than that. There are still a lot of questions about all that. I hope they answer them! I hope they don't leave it at that because that would be ridiculous. I'm not impressed!

We've got a great new Japanese trailer for director Bong Joon Ho's post-apocalyptic set thriller Snowpiercer. This is one of those movies that seems like we should have already seen a long time ago, but it still has yet to be released. It looks like an awesome movie, so I'm looking forward to the day where I actually get to see it! We still don't know when that will be, but in the meantime, check out the latest trailer with more new footage from the film!

Snowpiercer is set in a future where, after a failed experiment to stop global warming, an Ice Age kills off all life on the planet except for the inhabitants of the Snowpiercer, a train that travels around the globe and is powered by a sacred perpetual-motion engine. A class system evolves on the train but a revolution brews.

Thanks to Twitch!

Lord Angelus is Gambit  | Photo by: Brian Lim Photography

Remy Lebeau has singlehandedly kept playing card manufacturers in business, but in between all those bulk purchases at Costco he has somehow carved out time to become one of the most popular X-Men around. Rightfully so, as Gambit has an overabundance of charm and charisma, as well as a power that he makes all his own. Without further ado, let the best of collection begin!

The Luke Jester is Gambit | Photo by: Leox 90

I am the Wolverine (Jim Logan) is Gambit

Nadya Sonika is Gambit | Photos by: ASPhotography.ca

Lord Angelus is Gambit  | Photo by: Brian Lim Photography

Doriang26 is Gambit | Photo by: Fotomas

Nadya Sonika is Gambit | Photos by: ASPhotography.ca

Nadya Sonika is Gambit | Photos by: ASPhotography.ca

Omino Buffo is Gambit | Photo by: Mario Big Boss Bronx

Baku Project is Gambit

Zarathos the Exiled is Gambit | Photo by: Case 15

Nadya Sonika is Gambit | Photos by: Elysiam Entertainment

Yume Japanes is Gambit

Paolo Paraiso is Gambit | Photo by: Jay Tablante | Make-up and Styling by: Ria Redor & Hannah Kim | Costume Production and Art Direction by: Badj Genato & Rock Jehiel Manuel | Digital Imagin and Production Design by: Rock Jehiel Manuel & Raffy Tesoro

David Medcraft is Gambit

I am not the biggest gamer out there, but I do try to play as much as possible. As a writer for this site, I am obligated to bring you the awesomeness of the gaming world, and I think I have found just that.

Over on Kotaku, they have put up a video of the upcoming game Alien: Isolation. The game is centers on Amanda Ripley, the daughter of Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley from the movie franchise. Amanda is trapped on a space station and is looking for a way out. Oh yeah, she is being stalked by what has been described as the biggest alien of all.

As you will see in the video below, this is nothing like other Alien games. Others were pure shooters where you have to kill as many enemies as you can. This one is all about stealth and instinct. Instead of killing thousands of aliens, you have to get away from just one, one that is set on killing you. No game is the same because the alien AI reacts to the choices you make in the game. It looks scary as hell. I will definitely be playing this ASAP!

Watch the video below and enjoy.

Until Next Time…

Billy Out!