FilmmakerIQ has released another great video essay. This focuses on the history of sound at the movies. When sound was first introduced to film, a lot of people thought it was just going to be a fad that wouldn't last. That's because it kind of posed a threat to silent film stars. 

This video essay is the first in a six part series that is included in an audio course that covers science, microphones, recording, editing, foley, and ADR.

The inclusion of sound at the movies was one of the most dramatic changes in all of film history. Dive into the early experiments of Edison trying to incorporate sound from film’s inception, through the experiments in the early 1920s, the Jazz Singer and the industry sound overhaul, and finally the multi-channel surround and modern movie sound technologies.

This is a must watch for any of you film lovers out there. 

HBO has cast Ed Harris and James Marsden in the pilot for their upcoming new series Westworld. It's inspired by Michael Crichton’s 1973 Western thriller, and it's described as "a dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the future of sin."

Harris will play one of the central leads in the story known as The Man in Black, "the distillation of pure villainy into one man." Marsden is will play a character named Teddy Flood, "a mysterious new arrival to a small frontier town. Teddy quickly proves both his charm — and his talent with a revolver — while his pursuit of a local beauty launches him on a dark odyssey." Eddie Rouse has also joined the production and will play Kissy, "a laconic American-Indian who deals cards and contraband from the town saloon."

The movie is being produced by J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot, and is being written by Jonathan Nolan. The remaining cast includes Anthony Hopkins, Evan Rachel Wood, Jeffrey Wright, Rodrigo Santoro, Shannon Woodward, Ingrid Bolsø Berdal, Angela Sarafyan, and Simon Quarterman.

Source: Deadline and Variety

Crystal Dynamics' recent Tomb Raider reboot hit all the right notes. It was a clear success in reinvigorating Lara Croft for a new generation of gamers, so it's nice to see Square Enix announce the follow up, which is titled Rise of the Tomb Raider. While we don't know much as far as story details, here's a snippet from the press release about her upcoming adventure.

"In her first adventure, Lara Croft was forged into a true survivor, but she glimpsed a deeper, secret world. Obsessed by what she has seen, Lara is now threatened by a shadow organization intent on killing her for what she knows. She is pushed to her physical and mental limits as she seeks the truth buried deep within the tombs of an ancient world. To unravel the mystery of a Lost City, Lara must use her survival skills and wits, learn to trust new friends, and ultimately accept her destiny as the Tomb Raider. Featuring the return of Camilla Luddington as Lara Croft, and Rhianna Pratchett crafting the story, Rise of the Tomb Raider will redefine survival action in Holiday 2015."

You can see the teaser trailer released for E3 above. If you've been reading the Tomb Raider comic by Gail Simone (by Dark Horse Comics), this will probably sound familiar to you, as it acts as a bridge between the two games. The sequel will be released during the holiday window of 2015, so if you haven't played the first one already, I suggest doing so, as it's a truly wonderful game.

Is there anything you want to see changed or upgraded in Rise of the Tomb Raider? Let us know in the comments!

Here's a powerful set of anti-drunk driving ads created by Costa Rican art director Fabio Obando. They feature superheroes that have been involved in drunk driving collisions. It looks look they were created for a Volkswagen ad campaign, and they come with the tag line, "Don't let your ego drive you. If you drink don't drive." The series definitely gets its sobering message across. It's a really effective ad campaign. 

Via: Geekologie

"I blame you for thinking you knew what was best for me when it was you who was best for me."

A full trailer has been released for the upcoming romantic drama The Best of Me, which stars James Marsden and Michelle Monaghan. The movie is based on a book written by Nicholas Sparks, who is also the author of books such as The Notebook and A Walk to Remember, both of which were adapted into great movies. 

I'm normally not a romantic movie kind of guy, but these films that come from the novels Sparks writes kind of hit a chord with me. The Notebook, is easily one of my favorite romantic films. That being said, I'm kind of looking forward to this new film. Hey… it's ok for movie geeks to like a wide variety of movies! The only thing that weirds me out about this movie is that the younger version of Marsden's character looks nothing like him. In fact, he actually looks older. 

The Best of Me tells the story of Dawson and Amanda, two former high school sweethearts who find themselves reunited after 20 years apart, when they return to their small town for the funeral of a beloved friend. Their bittersweet reunion reignites the love they've never forgotten, but soon they discover the forces that drove them apart twenty years ago live on, posing even more serious threats today. Spanning decades, this epic love story captures the enduring power of our first true love, and the wrenching choices we face when confronted with elusive second chances.

The movie comes out on October 17th.

Marvel Chief Creative Officer, Joe Quesada, has created this extremely badass variant cover art for Death of Wolverine #1. We've seen a couple pieces of art for this already, but this illustration is simply stunning. 

Written by chart-topping writer Charles Soule and superstar artist Steve McNiven, this four issue limited series chronicles the last stand of the Wolverine as he faces down his deadliest foes. Left without his healing factor, the indestructible killing machine must come to terms with his newfound vulnerability. And when word gets out that the Wolverine is mortal, villains from Logan’s past and present set their sights on their greatest enemy! After being the best there is at what he does for over a century, the day has arrived where his best will not be good enough. With Death of Wolverine poised to shake the foundations of the Marvel Universe this September, no fan can afford to miss out on this epic comic event of September! What does the world look like without Wolverine in it? Find out when this spectacular DEATH OF WOLVERINE #1 Joe Quesada variant cover hits comic shops on September 3rd!

Lionsgate has released a wonderful trailer for the upcoming Johnny Depp movie Mortdecai. The movie look great, and I love what I'm seeing from Depp's performance, it's a very fresh moronic role. This might end up being one of the best things he's done in years. You can tell he had a lot of fun with it.

Juggling some angry Russians, the British Mi5, his impossibly leggy wife and an international terrorist, debonair art dealer and part time rogue Charlie Mortdecai (Johnny Depp) must traverse the globe armed only with his good looks and special charm in a race to recover a stolen painting rumored to contain the code to a lost bank account filled with Nazi gold.

Mortdecai was directed by David Koepp, and it also stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Ewan McGregor, Olivia Munn, Jeff Goldblum, and Paul Bettany. The movie hits theaters February 6th, 2015.

Warner Bros. is ready to get Aquaman on the fast track to production. They want it so bad that they've hired two writers to write two different scripts for the film. The screenwriters hired are Will Beall (Castle, Gangster Squad) and Kurt Johnstad (300, Act of Valor, 300: Rise of an Empire).

Obviously Aquaman's release date is somewhere in the full list of release date that the studio announced recently that ranges from 2016 to 2020. It's also just more confirmation to me that Aquaman will at least be introduced in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, since that is the film that is really going to set up the DC cinematic universe. 

The news comes from THR who explains using two writers saying, "Aquaman is being developed on dual tracks, where studios and producers hire two separate writers to work on the same project in the hopes of getting the best version. The practice allows for release dates to be set while a project is still in development while giving it a muscular push."

This must be the greatest news for all of you Aquaman fans out there! You're going to actually get a standalone film. Now if only the studio could get James Cameron to direct and Vincent Chase (Character from Entourage) to star. 

Dexter's Michael C. Hall is set to star in Stanley Kubrick's unproduced drama God Fearing Man, which is being developed as a miniseries. 

God Fearing Man tells the true story of Canadian minister Herbert Emerson Wilson, who became one of the best safecrackers and most successful American bank robbers in the early 20th century. The project is currently being adapted by British screenwriter Stephen R. Clark.

Hall will take on the role of Wilson, and he will also be an executive producer on the drama for Entertainment One. Also producing is Philip Hobbs, who worked with Kubrick for more than 15 years and produced Full Metal Jacket.

Michael Rosenberg, eOne Television’s exec vp U.S. scripted television, said in a statement:

"Kubrick’s God Fearing Man presents a larger-than-life story with a complicated protagonist who undergoes a radical transformation. We knew we had to secure a leading man with the immense talent and charisma needed to carry the project, and we were dedicated to putting in the diligent time and effort to find the perfect fit. We cannot be more pleased to have Michael on board, who has time and again demonstrated an uncanny ability to portray captivating characters who must grapple with fundamental internal struggles.”

I think it's awesome that we are actually going to get to see a new Kubrick project come to life, and the fact that Hall is headlining it is awesome. The guy is an extremely talented actor, and he's going to be great in the role. 

Source: THR

A set of new photos have been released from Arnold Schwarzenegger and Abigail Breslin's upcoming zombie film Maggie. 

The story is set in a time when a zombie virus has spread across the country. Schwarzenegger will play the father of a young girl named Maggie (Breslin), who is infected with the virus and slowly turns into a cannibalistic zombie. Her dad takes her on a journey to help her come to terms with her infection as she turns.

Maggie was directed by Henry Hobson, and I think it might be a solid movie. It's set to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival next month.

Babs Tarr, the comic artist who recently helped design the new Batgirl look for the DC universe, did this really cool piece of Sailor Moon fan art that she calls Bōsōzoku Sailor Scouts. Tarr has a fun, colorful, and energetic style of art. The Batgirl comic she's working on looks like it's going to be great.

Thanks to io9 for the heads up!

One of the big questions that fans were left with at the end of Guardians of the Galaxy was, who is Star-Lord's dad?! The movie offered us a few hints about the character, like that fact that he hired Yondu to take Peter Quill from earth and bring him to him. It was also revealed by Quill's mom that he was like an angel composed of light. 

In a recent interview with Empire, director James Gunn opened up a little bit about Quill's father, and the first thing you need to know is that "It’s definitely not the character who it is in the comics." In the comics, his dad is J’Son, King of Spartax. So who is he in the cinematic universe? Gunn isn't going to tell you, but he does talk about him.

"There have been a lot of documents passed around about who Peter Quill’s father is between a select two or three of us. That’s been part of the plan since the beginning, that’s something I had to work out before we shot the screenplay. We wanted to make sure Yondu’s place in everything made sense and it does, so it’s all very specific stuff."

According to that statement, Yondu's place in the story and how it's told must have a pretty big part on who the dad is. It's going to be really interesting to see how these stories tie in with each other. In a separate interview with IGN, Kevin Feige says Quill's dad will play a part in the sequel,

“I think that would certainly be part of a next Guardians adventure. Certainly, that would be part of it.”

It's hard for me to even speculate who it could be, but I'm excited to find out! Feel free to speculate on who you think it could be! I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Gunn was also asked about Thanos and if he will show up in the sequel as well. To that he replied,

"He will show up [in the sequel] if he helps our story and he will not show up at all if not. Thanos is not the most important thing in Guardians 2, that’s for damn sure. There’s the Guardians themselves and other threats the Guardians are going to be facing that are not Thanos.”

So there ya have it! Even if Thanos is in the sequel, he isn't even going to be that big of an issue.

KurtToons has produced an animated video parody that features J.J. Abrams holding auditions for Star Wars: Episode VII. Of course, George Lucas has his own ideas on who should be cast in the movie so he brings in Matthew McConaughey, Justin Bieber, and Shia LaBeouf. He even gets Jake Lloyd to audition. Watch the video to see how it all plays out.

I think my mind has just been blown! I'm a ridiculously huge Silent Hill fan, and today I've learned that Norman Reedus from The Walking Dead is set to star in the new game Silent Hills and that Guillermo del Toro is actually developing the game with Metal Gear Solid creator Kideo Kojima. I'm completely geeking out over this team that is bringing us this game! There's a good chance that it will be the best one yet.

Sony announced the new installment of the horror franchise on Tuesday at the Gamescom conference in Cologne, Germany. I've included a teaser trailer that they've released as well, and you can check it below.

It features a man is walking down a dark street. When he turns, we see that it's Reedus as the main character. He will provide both his voice and likeness to the game. There's no other information about the story that it will tell, but I'll definitely keep you updated!  I seriously can't wait to find out more about this! 

With The Expendables 3 being released in theaters this week, Screen Junkies has created a very funny Honest Trailer for the movie that started the explosive action movie franchise. I don't care what anyone says, the first two Expendables movies were entertaining as hell. I loved how over the top they were. I hope the third movie will be just as fun, but I don't know how over-the-top they will go with a PG-13 rating. Can you even go over-the-top with PG-13? Nope.

Director Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted) is in the process of developing a Ben-Hur film for MGM and Paramount Pictures. According to Deadline, they've set a release date for February 26, 2016, and they are looking to cast Tom Hiddleston as Judah Ben-Hur.

The film will be based on the 1880 Lew Wallace novel Ben-Hur: A Tale Of The Christ, so it's more of an adaptation than it is a remake. I think it's great, too. As big a fan as I am of the original movie, I think a new vision of the story with today's filmmaking technology could be incredible. 

No offer has been made yet, so the actor hasn't officially been cast. According to the report, there are other film offers that he's considering, and he can't do them all. A movie like Ben-Hur seems like it would be a huge deal, though. I mean… it's Ben freakin' Hur! 

I think it'd be cool if he took the role. I can totally see Hiddleston in the role. Can you?

"Alright you primitive screwheads, listen up!"

There's been talk of an Army of Darkness 2 being developed by Sam Raimi and his brother. Both Raimi and Bruce Campbell have confirmed this. But since the Evil Dead TV series was announced I have no idea if that sequel is in the cards anymore. I hope it happens! Regardless of if it does or doesn't, I thought it would be fun to check out some facts about one of my favorite films ever… Army of Darkness. There are 13 facts here to go through, some I'm sure you'll know, but maybe there's one or two that you won't. 

• Bruce Campbell says that in order to make it appear that the chainsaw was always running, tobacco smoke was pumped through a tube that was slid up his right pant leg, up his shirt, and into the chainsaw.

• One of the items visible in Ash's trunk is a copy of "Dark Horse Presents Fifth Anniversary Special," originally published in April 1991. This comic includes the very first installment of Frank Miller's 'Sin City.' As well as an issue of Fangoria. They weren't product placement, that's just what Raimi had in the trunk of the car, which he owns.

• In the original draft, Ash (Bruce Campbell) lost an eye.

• During the filming of Army Of Darkness the Delta 88 car falling out of the sky was shot two times. During the first attempt, the 25 ton crane lifting the Oldsmobile failed due to mechanical problems and toppled over the edge of a cliff at the quarry location where filming was taking place. Fortunately no injuries occurred as the crane operator dropped from the cab before the crane went over the edge. Days later a larger 80 ton crane was brought in to remove the damaged crane and re-shoot the car drop. In the final edit, elements of the re-shoot as well as footage from the end of Evil Dead 2 were used.

• During filming of the climactic sword fight at Arthur's castle, Bruce Campbell suffered a small gash to his face when a decorative pin on his cape cut him during a stunt. He was immediately taken from the Polsa Rosa Ranch location to see a plastic surgeon to assess the damage. At the examination the doctor had to have the actual injury pointed out amid the myriad of special effect scars and cuts Ash's character had accumulated during the story. Campbell was treated and returned to set shortly afterward to finish the scene.

• The original script was 43 pages.

• There are several variants of the three words Ash must say when retrieving the necronomicon. Undoubtedly this arises from differing sound quality, people's hearing, and incorrect subtitling. The words are klaatu, barada, nikto, a reference to the sci-fi movie "The Day the Earth Stood Still".

• The rumor about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle on the set of the film is NOT true. 

• Bruce Campbell's dad is in the scene where the Deadites break through the castle walls, and Arthur's men do the *Hah who hey ya* thing, a few minutes after that, a man will fall into the camera, grey hair and a slash down his check. That's his dad!

• Bridget Fonda played Linda. 

• Ted Raimi, Sam's younger brother, appears as at least four characters: The cowardly warrior who doesn't want to die, the man who shouts "you can count on my steel", the swordsman with an eye-patch and the S-mart's store clerk.

• The movie actually has two different endings, both of which are available on the DVD. In the original ending Ash miscounts the drops of sleeping potion, and wakes up 100 years later than intended, in a world devastated by nuclear war. The more heroic S-Mart ending was filmed after the original ending was deemed too depressing.

• Ash splits into Good Ash and Bad Ash and eventually grows a second head. The double head, while amazing, was not Raimi’s original idea but an homage by the director to the bizarre U.S.-Japanese horror movie The Manster.

Source: Imdb, Eeggs

The trailer that was released for The Walking Dead Season 5 has been reconstructed with LEGO bricks and stop-motion animation. It's an incredibly detailed scene by scene version of the original trailer with the same action, intensity, and emotion. Only it's made out of LEGO! It was created by YouTube user kristo499, and I'm sure that you're going to enjoy it. 

The latest clip from Sin City: A Dame to Kill For features a scene between Ray Liott, Juno Temple, and Josh Brolin. It's called "Suck Me Dry," and it shows off Liotta's charming "Boss" character getting a beat down by Brolin. The movie hits theaters on August 22nd!

In celebration of the awesomeness of Guardians of the Galaxy and Firefly, this week's episode of GeekTyrant VS features a battle of geekdom over Malcolm Reynolds from Joss Whedon's Firefly and Peter "Star-Lord" Quill from James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy. Both of these characters are badasses in the world of sci-fi, and they each have a really fun and entertaining sense of humor. Which one is the better character, though? Watch the debate rage in the video below, and then let us know what side you fall on!

To catch up on previously released episodes click on the link below!