Check out this beautiful series of cover art for the Original Sin: Thor comic series. The illustrations were created by Simone Bianchi, and they're simply badass. I've also included a couple of videos showing the artist at work. Enjoy!

Taylor Kitsch is a solid actor who had a bad run of box office flops that included the likes of John Carter and Battleship. Just because he had a few bombs it doesn't mean he's not talented. I enjoyed him in Friday Night Lights and one of his more recent films, Lone Survivor.  According to The Wrap he has recently been offered the lead role in The Raid remake, which is being directed by Patrick Hughes (The Expendables 3). 

If cast, the actor will join Frank Grillo (Captain America: The Winter Soldier), who confirmed himself that he was going to be in the movie. I really wish this remake wasn't happening, I just don't see how it can be as badass and hardcore as what we've seen in the original films. The cast they are putting together though is pretty solid so far. 

When talking about the story that the remake will tell, the director revealed that it will center on a DEA task force.:

"Certainly, we're not there to recreate that film beat for beat, with the set up we're following a DEA task team, which was implemented by the Bush administration after September 11th when they realized that terrorism and the drug trade were so closely aligned. So they set up a DEA task team that's six units and they work across borders and sort of act like Navy SEALS. You never read about it, you never hear about it, but they go on these missions. So that's a really interesting take and a really nice premise and also what's interesting on this take on it is the clash of cultures and the clash of martial arts, the fighting styles, which is something that's going to be a lot of fun when we've really started pre-vizzing stuff."

On a positive note, maybe it will at least provide some decent entertainment and get people to   watch the original film so they can get the true experience of adrenaline-fueled badassery. 

Here's a ridiculous Transformers-inspired ring featuring Bumblebee. The custom made ring is available for $299 and can be purchased here. These kinds of rings are cool and all, but would you ever buy one for that special person who transformed you from a boy to a man? 

Via: Ohgizmo

Frozen writer and co-director Jennifer Lee is set to adapt Madeleine L’Engle’s classic novel A Wrinkle in Time as a feature film for Disney. The story follows a young girl whose father, a government scientist, has gone missing after working on a mysterious project called a tesseract. Meg and two of her friends use that tesseract to travel through time and visit strange worlds in order to find their missing scientist father.

This was one of my favorite books as a kid, and it's been so long since I've read it. I might have to read it with my kids before this movie comes out.  According to Variety, this was one of Lee's favorite books as well, and apparently she impressed Disney executives with her take on the story, "which emphasizes a strong female-driven narrative and creatively approaches the science fiction and world-building elements of the book." As of right now, Lee is only set to write the script, but there's always a chance she could direct it as well. After all, she did make Disney's biggest animated box office hit ever. 

Here's the description of the book:

It was a dark and stormy night; Meg Murry, her small brother Charles Wallace, and her mother had come down to the kitchen for a midnight snack when they were upset by the arrival of a most disturbing stranger.

"Wild nights are my glory," the unearthly stranger told them. "I just got caught in a downdraft and blown off course. Let me sit down for a moment, and then I'll be on my way. Speaking of ways, by the way, there is such a thing as a tesseract."

A tesseract (in case the reader doesn't know) is a wrinkle in time. To tell more would rob the reader of the enjoyment of Miss L'Engle's unusual book.A Wrinkle in Time, winner of the Newbery Medal in 1963, is the story of the adventures in space and time of Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin O'Keefe (athlete, student, and one of the most popular boys in high school). They are in search of Meg's father, a scientist who disappeared while engaged in secret work for the government on the tesseract problem. A Wrinkle in Time is the winner of the 1963 Newbery Medal.

Dimension Films has released nine minutes of behind the scenes footage from Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller's Sin City: A Dame to Kill For. It seems like there would be a lot of challenges working on a movie like this. There is lots of green screen action, and a lot of the time the actors were not even acting with each other. These people have got to have one hell of a vivid imagination to be able to pull this stuff off. It just seems like it would be really complicated to put together, but they obviously are able to make it work and turn it into something awesome. 

Artist David Giraud has created some very striking Mr. Freeze art. Modeled in 3D using Zbrush, Giraud created a very cool character study. His rendering of Dr. Victor Fries is hardened, intelligent, and menacing. I'd really love to see Batman's entire rogues gallery in this style.

Ever wonder why we call Dr. Victor Fries, Mr. Freeze and not Dr. Freeze? The reason is that he was originally called Mr. Zero, then the producers of the 1960s Batman show renamed him Mr. Freeze.

In case it hasn’t been evident in your geek circle, Attack on Titan has been a huge success stateside. Cons are flooded with cosplay, Adult Swim is pulling in crowds with it’s English dub running during Toonami, and the money is pouring in for the creators. So it’s no surprise that the show creators announced a second season to the series based off the manga of the same name.

Crunchyroll claims that during a Q&A, creator/showrunner George Wada confirmed that Season 2 of the series is in preproduction. It’s nice to hear that the series has been given a thumbs up when there were doubts it could see any progression outside the manga.

Other cool stuff mentioned during the Q&A was that Wada was first inspired to develop the series for anime when he envisioned it as Spider-Man vs. Pacific Rim. I never thought of it like that, but with the 3D gear they use, that’s totally what Attack on Titan is like! Now I’m desperate to see a mashup Spider-man wearing Pilot gear! Cosplayers: Make this happen and send it to me!

Chronicle screenwriter Max Landis is taking on a new project to script. He is teaming up with IWD to adapt the graphic novel Dirk Gently for the small screen. 

The character was created in 1991 by Douglas Adams in his graphic novel Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency and The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul. The story revolves around a holistic detective who investigates cases involving the supernatural.

Landis most recently wrote films such as Frankenstein with with Daniel Radcliffe and American Ultra with Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart. This will be the second time that Dirk Gently has been adapted for TV. It was also brought to life as a British TV series on BBC Four from 2010-12. The photos used in this post are from that series.

There's a lot of comic book characters being adapted for the small screen these days, and this sounds like it could be a good one due to its subject matter. I'm a big fan of the supernatural stuff. 

Source: THR

In my latest video I go over a not-so-well-known fighter game on the Playstation 1 Ehrgeiz: God Bless the Ring. I explain why this arcade port by SquareSoft (of all people) didn’t do so hot financially. On top of that, I let you know all the reasons it’s a fantastic game to add to your PS1 collection, and why it’s one of my “Hidden Gems.” So be sure to subscribe and see what other fun vintage games I talk about that you may not have heard of but definitely want to try out!

Elijah Wood has joined Vin Diesel and Michael Caine in the supernatural action thriller The Last Witch Hunter. Wood is a talented actor, and it's great to see him land a role in a decent-sized project like this. 

The story centers on "an immortal witch hunter (Diesel) who partners with his natural enemy, a female witch, to stop the covens of New York City from unleashing a plague on humanity."

There's no information on who he will play in the story, but I imagine he'll have a nice meaty role. Breck Eisner (The Crazies) directed the film, and it also stars Game of Thrones actress Rose Leslie. 

Source: Deadline

I've been waiting for this Legend of Conan movie to get made since it was first announced back in 2012. Arnold Schwarzenegger is set to reprise his role, and he will be a seasoned warrior. The story will supposedly pick up right where the classic 1982 film left off with an older Conan sitting on his throne. We now have word from producer Fredrik Malmberg that the movie will actually start shooting in the spring of 2015. This is what Malmberg had to say in an interview with The Arnold Fans:

"We want to polish up the script, specifically about the characters but we don’t think it will take long. We’ll probably have this turned in around September after the holiday and then we’ll take it to the studio and if they’re happy, we can hopefully start in the Spring."

When asked if they had approached any directors, he said:

"We haven’t been talking with directors yet. A lot of directors have come fourth and expressed interest and that they like Conan and want to be involved when we’re at that stage but the studio said they want the script to be ready before we officially approach the directors. But we have been in touch with old great names and new fresh faces. We’re excited about finding the right guy for that."

The producer then said that he’s hoping this film will be Schwarzenegger’s next big project after he's done with Terminator Genesis.

"That’s the intention. Arnold wants that. I would like that and I know everyone from the studio side would like that but it’s all in the script.  We need to get the script where it’s right and ready to go. In the movie world, nowadays, when a movie is a go movie, it happen very quickly. It’s up to Universal to set the date for it to be released but personally, I don’t think it has to be a summer movie. I think there’s plenty of examples of big event movies being released in the winter like the Matrix movies and The Lord of the Rings. I can see this being a winter movie as well as a summer movie. This iconic role of Arnold as Conan is so big that it can be year round."

I'm convinced that this will be one of Schwarzenegger's greatest film achievements if it happens. You can read some more awesome details on the plans for the feature here and here.

Artist Kilian Eng created this awesome poster art for The Matrix that has a glow in the dark overlay that takes the design down the rabbit hole. Below the overlay, I've also included a variant version of the poster. I love this movie. It was just so damn cool in every way. I wish the sequels that followed were just as good.

Warner Bros. has released a deleted scene from Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. This is a scene that will be included in the the extended edition of the film, and it features Bilbo and the dwarves trying to navigate their way through Mirkwood. "Bewitched by the dark magic of the forest, the gang begin to lose their sense of direction, and as this clip shows, their wits too."

The extended edition that will be released will include over 25 minutes of new footage that fans, like myself, will enjoy watching. I love these Middle Earth movies, and I can't wait to see the final chapter of the Hobbit trilogy in December. 

"I would rather get farted on by David Hasselhoff than punched by Orlando Bloom" — Chris Pratt, 2014.

One of the best things about Chris Pratt is the astonishingly candid interviews he gives. Most actors and actresses tell some goofy story that’s fun for the entire family, but when it comes to Pratt, you have no idea what’s going to come out. Case in point, this interview where Pratt talks about getting high in his van in Hawaii and listening to Dr. Dre's The Chronic 2001. You gotta wonder what Marvel/Disney thinks about him telling that story, regardless of the situation!

Of course, this is part of the reason audiences love him. He’s the embodiment of the dude you know who’s down for anything and doesn’t give a f***. Obviously he does give a f*** to some extent, though, considering his dedication to his roles he’s had over the years. Sometimes the personalities blend and we get truly classical moments like when he showed Amy Poehler his penis to make a scene work in Parks and Recreation…

Oh Chris Pratt we love you…

We've been hearing about this Expendabelles film project for awhile already. It's basically a female version of the action film franchise The Expendables. 

The movie is in development at Millennium Films, and Robert Luketic is currently set to direct the film, which Sylvester Stallone is also producing. Luketic has previously directed film such as Legally Blonde, 21, The Ugly Truth, Killers, and the very forgettable Paranoia.

As of right now, there has been no official casting for the film, but Stallone has his eye on Sigourney Weaver to play his wife in it. Stallone suggested to the press (via: /Film) that The Expendabelles could start with "a messy divorce between him and Weaver. The couple would be splitting up their assents, resulting in Weaver getting half the Expendables." He then joked, "So she’d get the house, the kids and my mercenaries!" 

He goes on to talk about some of the things they need to work out, “With The Expendabelles we’ve got a situation where we’re in unchartered waters. Do we put all women actresses together, would that really work? Or do we have some women who are actually really known to be tough fighters?”

It sounds like they are close to figuring things out though because producer Avi Lerner says that the film could go into production in early 2015.

“We are writing the final lines of the script, we’ve got lots of ideas about who is going to be in it."

This will definitely end up being an absurd movie, but one that will be fun to watch just like the Expendables franchise. It will be really interesting to see who they actually end up casting in the film, but Weaver would definitely make a great addition. She's definitely a badass. Other actresses that have been rumored include Zoe Bell, Cameron Diaz, Milla Jovovich, and even Meryl Streep.

If you missed the previously released plot details for the movie, you can read the ridiculousness below:

When America’s Navy SEALs are wiped out trying to penetrate the island lair of a deadly despot who has captured one of the world’s top nuclear scientists, it becomes clear that there is no such thing as the right man for the job and that this is a mission so impossible that only women can handle it. The only way in: some of the world’s deadliest female operatives must pose as high-class call-girls shipped in by private plane to satisfy a dictator–and instead save the scientist and the day.

Here's a awesome reimagining of Batman's cape and cowl in the style of the Joker. It was created by Derek Deal as part of the Cape/Cowl/Create exhibition which debuted at SDCC 2014. There's a lot more cool designs that you can check out at the link, but this one was my favorite. 

Some more news has surfaced surrounding the second season of HBO's True Detective. We've already heard that Colin Farrell and Taylor Kitsch were in talks to play two of three investigators in the story. Now according to The Wrap, Vince Vaughn is in talks with the cable network to play the central antagonist. They also report that Mad Men's Elisabeth Moss is looking to take on the female lead. If this all goes through, then this show is going to have a pretty incredible cast. 

I've seen a lot of people complaining about Vaughn's possible part in the series, but I think the guy would be awesome. He may have made a lot silly comedies in his career, but the guy has acting chops, and I can see a series like this bringing out a side of the actor that no one has seen before. I think a lot of people who were complaining about his involvement will be praising his performance in the end.

Now on to the juicy story details! The following information comes from a breakdown that The Wrap managed to get their hands on, and it sounds like we're in for another amazing season! 

The second season of True Detective will follow the death of Ben Caspar, the corrupt city manager of a fictional California city who's found brutally murdered amid a potentially groundbreaking transportation deal that would forever change freeway gridlock in the state. Three law enforcement officers from different cities and branches of the government are tasked with finding out who did it. They soon discover their investigation has much broader and darker implications than they initially thought.

Caspar's 52-year-old corpse is found on a lonely stretch of Pacific Coast Highway near Big Sur — satanic symbols etched on his chest. It turns out he had a penchant for rough sex and may have been involved in the occult.

Vaughn is in talks to play Frank Semyon, a former thug-turned-businessman who's working with a local mayor and his political cohorts to spearhead the construction of a high-speed railway system that links Southern California to Northern California in order to reap financial gains from federal grants and land purchases.

[Elisabeth Moss] Moss, who recently played a small-town cop in the similarly themed, “Top of the Lake,” is being eyed to play Ani Bezzerides, a tough, no-nonsense Monterey sheriff whose troubled upbringing has driven her to gambling and alcohol.

Farrell is nearing a deal to play Ray Velcoro, who has been damaged by years of turmoil in both his personal and professional lives.

Kitsch is angling for the role of Paul Woodrugh, a handsome, 28-year-old military veteran who has seen his own share of violence and destruction. Forbes, who starred on the first season of The Killing, has been rumored for a part on True Detective, and it's possible she could play either Farrell's ex-wife (a survivor of sexual assault) or Vaughn's charming but mercurial wife.

This is going to be intense. Series creator Nic Pizzolatto is still in the process of working on the script, and polishing it up. Cary Fukunaga directed all of the episodes in Season 1, but they won't be locking in one director this time around. The network in currently looking at hiring several different directors to help bring the second season to life.

Due to knee surgery, writer and director Joss Whedon was unable to attend San Diego Comic-Con, and there were obviously a lot of questions that fans and press would have loved to ask him about the Marvel cinematic universe. Lucky for us The Nerd Machine got to talk to him about all kinds of Marvel goodies while he was recovering in London! During the conversation he discussed Avengers: Age of Ultron, Marvel Vs. DC, and Guardians of the Galaxy 2.

When asked about how Age of Ultron would address what happened in Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Steve Rogers going on a mission to find Bucky Barnes he said,

"Ultron is the clear present danger, and Bucky is in the wind. We do mention the fact that [Bucky] is his sort of primary thing, but he's also working with the Avengers too. So, we're not ignoring it, but he definitely has to deal with a mad 8-foot robot. Because that's one of those things where, [if] you put it off, it just gets worse."

He was then asked what he would say to Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment about stepping up their game, to which he replied,

"I don't think I would say that. I think that would be a little presumptuous of me. I think that both studios have kind of different agendas, different ways of approaching the superhero genre, and the ethos of the thing, and the esthetic. They go very dark and serious and sometimes it works amazingly, and Marvel tends to be a little lighter. Both have movies that I adore, and both have movies that I'm like... (Whedon gives an aggravated facial expression), including bits of my own. I would not want them to do what Marvel does. I like what they do when they get it right. When you get a Heath Ledger [performance], and Batman Begins, and those things that really grip you. That's something nobody else is doing, and I like it. I want them to do what they're doing."

The last thing he talked about was Guardians of the Galaxy 2, which Marvel recently officially announced at Comic-Con.

"I was not aware of what they were going to announce, because I sort of stay away from everything else as much as I can while I'm trying desperately to finish [Age of Ultron]. We're two weeks away from finishing and I'm two days away from actually finishing the script as well. So, it's a lot going on with me right now. Kevin [Feige] has a big plan and every now and then, he'll tell me part of it if he thinks it's going to affect what I'm doing or if he thinks what I'm doing is going to affect his. But as much as possible, I try to live in my own bubble. Guardians [of the Galaxy] is very much its own thing. They're not the Guardians of this galaxy; it's a different one. So, I can sort of keep them at arm's length, long enough to do my thing and then I'm sure everything is gonna get mixed together because it's Marvel." 

I like how he throws in that little "mixed together" part. It's just further evidence that one day that Guardians of the Galaxy and the Avengers will come together for an adventure of epic proportions. There's so much amazing stuff happening in the Marvel universe, and these movies are just getting better and better. It's pretty spectacular stuff, and I hope it never ends. 

Via: CBM

There's a little bit of head slicing in this new clip from Sin City: A Dame to Kill For. It features Jamie Chung as Miho showing off her deadly skills of doom. This is actually one of the more entertaining clips that I've seen from the movie so I hope you enjoy it! 

Marvel has released a little taste of the blooper reel for Captain America: The Winter Soldier that will be be included in the film's DVD/Blu-ray release. It features some funny mistakes from Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Cobie Smulders, and even Robert Redford. This is a must own film, and it will hit stores later this month.