¡MONSTRO! is a charmingly fun horror comedy that was inspired by The Creature From the Black Lagoon. The film throws in a few surprising twists and turns that I didn't see coming. I really enjoyed how it makes you think the story is going to go in one direction, but then completely blindsides you and goes in the complete opposite. 

A rickety scientific expedition ventures down the Amazon River to a dark lagoon, in search of a mythic Creature! But the Creature, it seems, has a less than mythic agenda! MONSTRO! is a horror story. A love story. A ribald comedy!

The movie was created by Chris Romano, and I loved the animation style that he used to bring his story to life. This is an all-around great short, and I hope you like it.

The Star Trek franchise has traveled a long successful road. It has brought us years of entertainment, several TV series, and feature film productions. But along the way there have been attempts to create other Star Trek projects that never saw the light of day. You can read about some details here on Bryan Singer's Star Trek: Federation series, and there was another Star Trek sequel series called Phase II that was in development in the late 1970s. We previously posted some concept art for that series that you can see here. That series was eventually turned into Star Trek: The Motion Picture, but now some new details have surfaced for it.

io9 posted an article on TV shows that were never made, and a discussion started in the comments that I thought was really interesting. They offer some theories about what an alternate history might have been like for the franchise if the "Phase II" series was actually made.

There are also some details on how a few of the stories and characters created for the series eventually ended up in Star Trek: The Next Generation. I didn't know much about this Phase II series, so as a fan I found a lot of this stuff fascinating. Maybe you will too. 

Sean Kelley

As the biggest Star Trek fan in the world, this may sound like a weird one, but Star Trek Phase II. Mostly because I love TNG so much and I'm not sure TNG would've come into existence if Phase II had been a thing.

lightninglouie

Someone theorized that if Star Trek Phase II had gotten off the ground and lasted a year or two, we would have never gotten the "classic" movie franchise of the '80s or The Next Generation... but there might have been a big-budget movie reboot (a la Abrams Trek) circa 1996 or so.

It's probably worth pointing out that many of the characters created for Phase II did end up appearing in greatly modified form on TNG. Xon, the emotion-free Vulcan, inspired Data, Commander Decker became Riker, Ilia became Troi, albeit with very elaborate hair instead of a bald head. And a couple of Phase II scripts ended up being repurposed for TNG during the 1988 Writers' Strike, so in a number of ways the abandoned '70s series lived on through its official and hugely popular descendant (not to mention the 1979 movie).

Charlie Jane Anders

It's a statement of fact. Some Phase II scripts were even repurposed for TNG during the writer's strike, with Decker changed to Riker and Ilia changed to Troi.

Brawl2099

That's an interesting alternate reality of Trek fandom. I would bet that it would have been a TV reboot rather than a movie reboot though. Execs would have said "There's no way this is marketable on the big screen." Then Ronald D Moore or JMS would have exec produced a TV show reboot.

lightninglouie

During the '90s, every other show from the '60s and '70s was getting a big movie adaptation. It's highly possible that Paramount would have considered Star Trek as a candidate, with an A-list director and cast, thanks to its fanbase.

Lorin

We also probably would not have gotten Wrath of Khan.

Chris

It's funny, I was watching an OLD SNL from the 70s... maybe 1979, and there was a stand-up comedian doing a bit and his whole thing was about how excited he was for Star Trek Phase II because Star Trek was about the only show that was on wherever he went and he was sick of seeing the same 79 episodes over and over again. I never realized how close that show came to being real until I saw that.

Do you have any insight to the series, or just any other thoughts on the matter to add to the discussion? 

Cinematic Calling Cards is a new column on GeekTyrant that takes a fun look at actors and filmmakers with recurring themes or character types in their films, whether they be coincidental, serendipitous, or otherwise.

In this week’s Cinematic Calling Cards, we play connect the dots with Rachel McAdams' filmography. McAdams has played a variety of characters throughout her movie career, and she will certainly be taking on darker fare with her foray into television later this year on True Detective. But a few of her movies have blipped the typecasting radar. McAdams has played the love interest of time travelers in three different films! Granted, there are plenty of actors (nearly two dozen, we've counted) who have been in multiple franchises involving time travel — check out the highest grossing ones here. However, what makes McAdams' case unique is that despite being in three time travel movies, none of her characters have travelled through time. SPOILERS ahead...

The Time Traveler’s Wife (2009)

In director Robert Schwentke’s adaptation of Audrey Niffenegger's best-selling novel, McAdams plays Clare. As the title character, she falls in love with and eventually marries Henry (Eric Bana), a man who suffers from “Chrono-Impairment,” a rare genetic anomaly that causes him to involuntarily travel backwards and forwards through time. 

Why She Doesn’t Time Travel: Clare has been visited by an adult-aged Henry since she was six years old — yes, quite creepy. Though this makes her privy to future knowledge unknown to present day Henry — when he first meets her she has already known his future self most of her life — she does not have the ability to travel with him. However, Henry’s genetic disorder is passed on to their children. Only one child is successfully brought to term, though, due to the other unborn fetuses transporting out of the womb.

How Her Character is Affected by Time Travel: Henry uses his "disorder" to correctly "guess" the winning lottery numbers for a $5 million jackpot. Other than that leg up, the normal woes of married life are only magnified by Henry's random disappearances through time. Furthermore, the time travel mechanic is a "closed loop," meaning that Henry can’t change events that already happened — e.g. the death of his mother — and the course of current events are predetermined by what his future self has already done. This predestination at times causes Clare to question her free will in the relationship. 

Bonus Fact: The same year this movie came out, Bana also traveled through time (via wormhole) as the Romulan villain Nero in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek reboot.

Midnight in Paris (2011)

McAdams reunited with her Wedding Crashers co-star, Owen Wilson, in this romantic comedy from writer-director Woody Allen. In the movie, McAdams plays the fiancé of Wilson's character, Gil, a successful screenwriter attempting to finish his first novel while on vacation in Paris with McAdams and her parents. Gil finds himself rubbing elbows with Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, and other significant figures who were in Paris during the 1920s when he travels a street that becomes a conduit through time at the stroke of midnight.

Why She Doesn’t Time Travel: Though McAdams' character and anyone else who journeys the road at midnight can travel back in time — as evidenced by the private investigator hired by her father who unwittingly follows Gil back in time and gets stuck there — her character leaves just before midnight when Gil attempts to take her back in time with him.

How Her Character is Affected by Time Travel: While Gil's actions seem mostly inconsequential, his presence in the past is recorded in a diary he finds in the present. Also, while he takes his "nightly strolls" around Paris and begins falling for a woman from the past, McAdams becomes involved with another man (Michael Sheen perfectly playing a pedantic, pseudo-intellectual d-bag).

Bonus Fact: The film earned Allen an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, and became his first picture to gross over $100 million worldwide.

About Time (2013)

In this touching comedy from writer-director Richard Curtis, McAdams once again plays a time traveler's wife. This time, though, her character, Mary, is blissfully unaware of the special time traveling abilities of her husband Tim (Domhnall Gleeson). When the males in Tim’s family turn 21, they are able to travel back to any point in their lives and change events by simply finding a small dark place, clenching their fists, and picking a moment they want to go to — it's a time travel mechanic so simple that I'd be lying if I said I didn't try it.

Why She Doesn’t Time Travel: Although Tim is shown to be able to take people with him, namely his sister, he takes a cue from his father (Bill Nighy) and doesn't tell his wife about his secret abilities.

How Her Character is Affected by Time Travel: Too many to mention all of them. Unlike in The Time Traveler's Wife, which has a closed-loop or fixed timeline (think 12 Monkeys or Somewhere in Time), Tim can drastically alter events big or small in his life and those around him — a la Back to the Future. Tim learns early on that all the time travel in the world can't force someone to fall in love with you, but when he must override the moments when he first meets Mary in order to help his friend, he uses time travel to find and meet her for the "first time"... again.

Bonus Fact: McAdams replaced Zooey Deschanel, who was originally cast in the role of Mary but had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts. ♫ Who's that girl??? ♫ Not Jess.

Conclusion:

While the muddy timeline in The Time Traveler's Wife ultimately shortchanged the emotional stakes, Midnight in Paris and About Time hit all the right notes, in terms of romance and in offering the type of fun exclusive to, but not always inherent in, time travel movies.

As for the actress herself, McAdams is timeless...at the very least, she's practically ageless. She has hardly changed at all since her breakout role in 2004's The Notebook. In fact, that same year, the then almost 26-year old actress starred as a high school junior in Mean Girls, while Amy Poehler (who is only 7 years older than McAdams) played her mother. Here's to hoping McAdams continues stealing our hearts, and taking pictures where she's in profile almost kissing a time traveler. Who knows? Maybe one day she'll get a chance to play a character who travels through time herself.

I'm very excited about the upcoming James Bond film, Spectre. Skyfall director Sam Mendes (seen above in a new image from the set) is coming back to direct Daniel Craig, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Ben Whishaw, and newcomers Dave Bautista, Monica Belluci, Lea Seydoux, Andrew Scott (Moriarty on Sherlock), and Christoph Waltz. Skyfall was fantastic, and I'm stoked to see what Mendes does with a direct follow-up to that story.

The official 007 Twitter feed has released a new behind-the-scenes video blog of Mendes talking about what the movie is going to be about, and we get to see some B-roll footage of the production as he's talking. It's a good look at how Mendes came to be a part of this sequel, and makes me even more excited about seeing the final movie later this year.

Watch Director Sam Mendes discuss #SPECTRE in new behind-the-scenes footage #BTS https://t.co/iUMdDlLc7w

— James Bond (@007) February 26, 2015

In addition, Empire Magazine has some new images that give us a good look at Bautista's Mr. Hinx henchman character, as well as at Seydoux's Dr. Madeleine Swann - and remember, she's not the Bond girl; that'd be Belluci, the oldest Bond girl in franchise history. There are also a couple of magazine covers that'll let you get mesmerized by Craig's blue eyes, if that's something you're interested in. Bautista sounds like he's really digging his character, who is a bit smarter than Drax the Destroyer:

When I came over to meet Sam [Mendes], I only asked two questions. I asked him if Mr. Hinx was a badass. He said, ‘Yes, he’s a badass.’ I said, ‘Well, is Mr. Hinx intelligent?’ He said, ‘Very.’ That’s what I like about Mr. Hinx. He’s very well-dressed and very well-mannered. I’m not just here to fight people. He has a sense of humour. He definitely knows what a metaphor is.

And Seydoux won't fit the traditional expectations, either:

I don’t consider myself a Bond girl. I think I’m not really the stereotyped Bond girl. I feel quite different. You can’t be like, ‘Oh, James.’ You have to find something else. She’s not a fighter, she’s a doctor. She fights in another way.

Spectre arrives in U.S. theaters on November 6, 2015. Here's the official synopsis:

A cryptic message from Bond’s past sends him on a trail to uncover a sinister organisation. While M battles political forces to keep the secret service alive, Bond peels back the layers of deceit to reveal the terrible truth behind SPECTRE.

Marvel has released a cool piece of poster art promoting the return of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on ABC. Marvel has teamed up with EW to give us a series of posters that will showcase key events in upcoming episodes, and the art will be available for purchase here.

This first piece was created by artist Gabriele Dell’Otto, and it gives us our first look at the character Raina in her Inhuman form. When talking about the art and the character, executive producer Jeff Bell said this about the character design:

"I would say for this, it’s not without base and some fact. It’s representative, and it’s his interpretation of certain things, and I think certain things here are quite different than how she’ll look. But I think it’s also hinting at the transformation. So when we approach them, we say, 'we think this is interesting because of this or this.' This episode is the aftermath of Skye becoming a superhero, and maybe we’ll show them the script or let them watch the episode and let them respond to it emotionally and see what’s interesting to them. And then we have a conversation with them about how we’d like to portray that, and then we try to lean into the strengths that they have. Some are more graphic, some are more character based, some are more composite, and some are cleaner. And that’s one of the things we really look forward to each week, getting the initial sketches back from the artists and seeing their interpretation. It’s really fun to see how each one is unique and different, and we hope fans want to collect all of them—I know I do!"

So it's not the final look of the character that we'll see in the series, but I assume it's pretty close to what we'll see. To read the entire interview, click here. As for what we can expect to see in the mid-season return, here's a description of what is coming:

After discovering an alien city with ties to his resurrection, Coulson and his team destroyed it before the forces of Hydra could claim its secrets, eliminating the villainous Whitehall (Reed Diamond) in the process. But new threats to the world have arisen, including Skye's father, Cal (Kyle McLachlan), who now seeks retribution against Coulson for stealing his revenge against Whitehall; a disturbing alliance between former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Ward (Brett Dalton) and Agent 33; the enigmatic Raina (Ruth Negga), who struggles with her transformation into something inhuman by the alien Obelisk and seeks vengeance; and Skye (Chloe Bennet), who developed mysterious new powers from the Obelisk but whose lack of experience with her new abilities may threaten the safety of those she loves.

Meanwhile, Bobbi (Adrianne Palicki) and Mack (Henry Simmons) begin the next phase of a plan which seems to have grave repercussions for Coulson and his team, who are unaware that there's another mysterious force moving against them. And as Hunter (Nick Blood) is forced to make the biggest choice of his life, Coulson will find his mission threatened by this shocking endgame.

In the midseason premiere, "Aftershocks," Coulson's team must deal with the consequences of their war with Hydra as shocking revelations threaten to tear them apart, and Hydra makes a dangerous move that may involve a traitor in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s midst.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. returns Tuesday, March 3rd at 9pm.

Go smash 'em Hulk! You know you want to! Yesterday Robert Downey Jr. released a character poster of Iron Man, and teased that some kind of big announcement will be coming soon. Today we have a character poster featuring the Hulk, and it looks like he wants to wreak havoc. I can't wait to see the damage he does in this movie! The question is, will it be so bad that the Avengers are going to launch him out into space? I sure hope so!

At midnight tonight, Netflix will unleash the third season of House of Cards upon the world. The political drama has proven to be a pretty divisive series, with many claiming that it suffered a huge drop in quality in the second season. Personally, I enjoyed the second season, and even though the show can be a little overly ridiculous at times (well, most of the time), it's still a cool peek behind the curtain into an alternate reality in which people are actually willing to get things done in Washington, D.C. It's also immaculately shot, and certainly one of the best looking shows you'll see on TV.

I don't know about you, but before big shows like this return, I'm always seeking out recap videos just to brush up on some of the details that I might have forgotten over the past year. I was literally going to look for a video like this just for myself later today, but /Film pointed me to this nine minute recap from the Fine Brothers, so I figured I'd share it with you guys in case you were also looking for a way to refresh your memory before you check out the third season tomorrow. Happy binge-watching to all!

The Deep Blue Good-By is a project that's been kicking around Hollywood for years now. Based on John D. MacDonald's novel (the first in a set of 21 books), the story follows a Florida beach bum named Travis McGee who lives aboard a 52-foot houseboat called the Busted Flush (which he won in a card game), and who alleviates his cash-flow problems by hiring out his services as a "salvage consultant," working only when his money runs out. He recovers property for clients, taking half of the value of whatever they find. Leonardo DiCaprio was once in talks to star as McGee, but since then Christian Bale has signed on to play the lead role. And now it appears that he's found a female companion.

Variety reports that Gone Girl star Rosamund Pike is in talks to play the female lead for director James Mangold, who worked with Bale on 3:10 to Yuma and recently directed The Wolverine. Pike did a phenomenal job in Gone Girl - her performance as Amy Dunne was one of my favorites of last year. I'm excited to see her career jump to a new level, and working with the Oscar-winning Bale and a solid filmmaker like Mangold should help it progress nicely.

It sounds like this might be her next movie. Pike has already lined up a leading role in an action romance called The Mountain Between Us opposite Pacific Rim star Charlie Hunnam, but apparently this project will film first because they need to wait on weather conditions to fit the story's setting for Mountain, which already has a February 10th, 2017 release date penciled in. There's no official release date yet, but I'm guessing we'll see The Deep Blue Good-By arrive in theaters sometime next year.

Fox doesn't have too many big franchises these days, so if The Deep Blue Good-by takes off, they could easily turn it into a massive property with tons of sequels. First things first, though - make a great movie, and the rest could follow.

With Fifty Shades of Grey still very much in the cultural consciousness and having raked in over $400 million worldwide, this is a great time to poke fun at it with a parody video, and that's exactly what Adam Harum has done. Fifty Shades of Gandalf the Grey removes Christian Grey from the equation and replaces him with the Lord of the Rings wizard, and the results had me cracking up. It's so stupid, but in the best possible way. Seeing Dakota Johnson practically trembling with anticipation and knowing that it's Sir Ian McKellen as the object of her affection is hilarious, and there are some great Gandalf one-liners that Harum throws in that had me almost crying, I was laughing so hard. ("Prepare for battle!" nearly broke me.) This is even better than Fifty Shades of Buscemi.

I'm really curious to see how the fan community is going to react to this new Fantastic Four movie after they actually see it. There are lot of people complaining out there about this reboot, and we've hardly seen anything from it yet. I really love the cast of this movie, and because of that I want it to succeed. I know a lot has been changed with this new adaptation, and we aren't going to get the comic book version that fans might have been looking for. I'm open to new interpretations, especially if it's good. I'm just not sure yet what exactly we have here with this film. It looks like it has potential, but I can't tell if it's going to be good or bad yet.

Last night we posted some new images from the film, and director Josh Trank described it as being a "dark Amblin movie." Now we have some additional comments from the director, thanks to Empire, and he opens up a little about his version of the story and these characters. First he address the first two Fantastic Four movies, saying:

"The original two films to me are very similar to a lot of recent movies that have come out, in terms of that kind of cartoonish. It's just not something that me and Simon are interested in as storytellers. There's the opportunity to make something that is challenging and tragic and dramatic. The opportunity is right there in the material. We'd rather steer it in that direction as opposed to just embracing a tone that comes right off the page."

So it sounds like he is going for more of the gritty Dark Knight kind of vibe. There's nothing wrong with that, but I think Marvel Studios has managed to perfectly provide that same kind of tragic drama that Trank is talking about, and merge it with a lot of fun. I guess Trank isn't into those kinds of movies.

When it comes to the characters in the film and the actors that he cast to play them, he starts off with praising Miles Teller for his intelligence and resemblance to the comic book version of Reed Richards, and then moves to the casting of Michael B. Jordan as Johnny Storm, saying:

"I have mixed family. When I go home for Christmas, you'll see white people and black people. That's normal to me. I wanted a Storm family that represented 21st century families." 

When talking about his vision for Sue Storm (Kate Mara), he says:

"There have always been two categories of Sue - the slutty secretary version, and this brilliant scientist version. This is a really, really smart Sue, and one that is dignified and has integrity."

As for Ben Grimm a.k.a. The Thing (Jamie Bell), the director reveals that the character was breaking out of a "transformation cocoon" in the teaser trailer. He adds: 

"Ben is supposed to be a smaller guy in terms of height. That idea of Ben being Reed's best friend in the archetypical way, you want that character to have warmth and strength, qualities Jamie has." 

He went on to reveal that at one point in the movie The Thing will be portrayed almost entirely with the help of motion capture effects. Then when asked if he will be paying homage to certain aspects of the comic book in the film, such as Reed's greying hair on the temples of his head, he replies:

"There are surprises for everybody in the movie. We've had time to figure out every single iconic and subtle aspect of the Fantastic 4, and how it can organically belong to this film."

So there you have it. What do you think about the comments that Trank made in this interview? Did they manage to help you get any more excited? Or did they drive you further away?

Via: CBM

The team over at Beat Down Boogie recently attended Katsucon 2015, and while there, they got a ton of awesome cosplay on video. So much cosplay, in fact, that they had to edit together two videos to show it all off! The first video is called "Smiles Were Bright," and the second is called "Pretty Strange." If you love the art of cosplay just as much as I do, then you'll enjoy what you see in these videos. They're full of lots of impressive work. This looks like it would be a fun convention to attend. 

Director Joss Whedon has offered some awesome details regarding the final act of Avengers: Age of Ultron. I wouldn't worry about there being any spoilers here. Whedon would never say anything about the film in an interview that would spoil anything for the fans.

Remember that Comic-Con art featuring the Avengers in an epic battle with Ultron and his drones? Well that's one of the things he discusses, and he says the climax of the film is "completely unhinged." Here's what he had to say in an interview with UK Yahoo!:

"Avengers: Age of Ultron got larger than the first film. I didn’t mean for it to get larger, but the climax that I pitched was completely unhinged and nobody said no, so that’s that. The biggest thing for me [in ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’] is to go deeper with the characters.

“Now that people accept the reality where Thor, Iron Man and all these guys hang out, I can now bend that reality. I’ve got Quicksilver and I’ve got Scarlet Witch and they have very different ways of looking at the world, looking at The Avengers and different powers. So that visually and emotionally, we can go to a place that we didn’t have access to the first time.”

When asked what he thought about the genre the comic book movie fit in, he said:

"To me, adventure film is the best way to put it. Then science fiction, action, western, war, woman’s picture, horror movie … I’m not kidding; every single one of those things is in there."

He then goes on to talk a little bit about the huge battle at the end of the movie that will involve hundreds of Ultron drones:

“I knew before I made the first film that Ultron needed be in the second one, along with Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver as well. The way I approach a story is that I find these moments by thinking, ‘You know what I need to see?’ And generally if they work, you go from there.

“You know they’re going to fight Ultron. You know Ultron has a tendency to build hundreds of Ultrons. So that’s going to lead you in a certain direction, but the hard work of the thing is making sure everyone feels serviced and integrated. So, in the beginning it’s fun. You’re thinking, ‘What would be fun, what would be cool?’”

When it comes to the repercussions of the ending on the rest of the MCU, he explains:

“The whole movie [‘Age of Ultron’] is a process of changing everything and keeping everything the same. You want to hit all the things that made people love the first movie, but you also want to make something new or why are you here.

“I don’t want to make The Avengers again - I did that one time. With the ending it was important for me that we felt a progression. We didn’t just feel, ‘well, no problem, we cleaned that up!’ because that’s an episode of television. That’s not a film. This film, there’s more at stake and we take that seriously.”

We've seen a lot of amazing footage from the film, but I don't think anything will be able to prepare us for what Marvel and Whedon have done for the climax of this movie. I can't wait to see the action explode on the big screen!

Jurassic World is another one of this year's blockbusters that seems to have garnered a significant amount of mixed response from fans online. I've seen people who thought the first trailer was awesome, and others who were almost completely turned off by it. (If you're worried about the CGI, I'd wait until you see the movie because it's almost certainly going to improve.) We've seen a decent amount of footage and images from the movie already, but Empire (via CBM) has a few new ones for us. In the bottom right corner of the image above, you can barely make out that Chris Pratt's raptor trainer character's name is Ranger Owen, which I believe is the first time we've heard that information.

And hey, even if you hate these, there's always that awesomely senseless parody video to watch over and over again. Jurassic World debuts on June 12th, 2015.

"I'll take a good fight any day over all this hidin' and freezin'!"

I’ve been a collector of Star Wars toys since I was a little kid, and over the years they’ve just gotten more and more awesome. Especially with specialty toy companies like Sideshow Collectibles. They’ve created a ton of amazing Star Wars action figures over the years, and one of their most recent is this exclusive 1/6th scale Captain Han Solo - Hoth action figure, which as you can see, is incredibly cool. 

Sideshow provided me with a figure to review, and this is seriously a must-own figure for any fan of Han Solo. The figure is based on the character's outfit from the opening part of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. He's all decked out in the winter Hoth gear that he wore prior to the battle of Hoth, when he was out scouting and looking for Luke Skywalker.

One of the most impressive aspects of this figure is the clothes that were created for it. The craftsmanship and stitching is impeccably perfect. It's a true representation of what Harrison Ford wore in the movies. It comes with a blue parka with his rank badge, some cold weather garments, a couple of scarves, a belt with a gun holster, a detachable droid caller, as well as a pair of two-part sculpted boots. 

On top of all that, the fully articulated figure features a couple of perfectly sculpted heads of Ford from the movie. The first comes with winter headgear and goggles, and the other one comes without the headgear and you can see his whole head of hair. 

The figure also comes along with several other accessories including Han’s classic DL-44 blaster, binoculars with a strap, a life scanner with a retracted and extended antennae, a sculpted snow environment base Hugger, and four pairs of different hands.

The photos give you a good idea of what this figure is like, but only until you are actually holding it in your hands and playing around with it can you get a full appreciation of the awesomeness that Sideshow and its artists have created. 

The figure is currently up for pre-sale at Sideshow for $199.99 and you can place an order here.

You can find an official description of the figure below, along with several photos.
 
From Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, relive your favorite moments leading up to the Battle of Hoth with the Sideshow Collectibles Captain Han Solo - Hoth Sixth Scale Figure.
 
On the run and with a price on his head, the intergalactic smuggler Han Solo joins the Rebel Alliance at their remote secret location on Hoth, Echo Base. Dressed for the planet's notorious sub-zero climate, Solo is fitted in an authentically replicated blue quilted parka, complete with rank insignia and fur-trimmed hood. Two scarves, a cap and goggles frame the lifelike portrait which perfectly captures actor Harrison Ford in the role that made him a star - and for additional display options, swap in the portrait without headgear, depicting Han as he appears inside the base.
 
Though hiding and freezing on the wretched ice cube doesn't sit well with the smuggler's disposition, when Rebel Commander Luke Skywalker goes missing during a routine patrol, Solo has no choice but to leap onto the back of an ill-fated tauntaun and go out after him. Fully equipped with a blaster pistol, macrobinoculars, droid caller, and portable life scanner, he's willing to risk everything on a rescue mission to find his friend and save the day.

Lianne Moseley is a makeup artist with a very particular set of skills. She can turn just about anyone into a comic book character, and her final results are breathtaking and almost too good to be true. She uses a style that makes people appear as if they've actually burst into the real world from the pages of comics, complete with stylized shadows and bright, cartoonish colors. Her work is stunningly good, and it's the first time I've ever seen anything like this before. Check out some of her awesome creations below. All of these images come courtesy of her Facebook page (via Fashionably Geek), and you can head there to see even more of Lianne's stuff.

Here's the latest pile of crap from Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer, the guys who brought you The Starving Games, Meet The Spartans, and pretty much every other godawful "parody" feature film that's come through Hollywood over the past ten or fifteen years. We've known Superfast! was coming since 2013, but that doesn't soften the blow of actually seeing how bad this trailer is.

I legitimately love the Fast & Furious franchise, so watching this is almost like adding an extra layer of insults to the whole thing. It doesn't even look like a good parody - it's almost as if they're ripping setpieces straight from the real franchise, like they were afraid that audiences wouldn't recognize what they were doing unless they recreated those elements so closely that it becomes idiotically obvious. There's no subtlety in these films, and seeing this makes me long for the days when people like Mel Brooks and the Zucker Brothers were the ones pumping out spoof movies. Superfast! comes out sometime this year.

Undercover cop Lucas White joins Vin Serento's LA gang of illegal street racers. They are fast and they are furious and they plan to double cross LA crime kingpin Juan Carlos de la Sol who hides his cash in a downtown Taco Bell. The gangs outrageous plan is as daring as it is ridiculous and will see them towing the whole damn restaurant, at crazy speeds.

I don’t know what it is about movies and video games, but when people try to adapt them for each other, they just don’t seem to work very well. Zoomin.TV Games created a fun little video that focuses on movie to game adaptation. It’s called “5 Good Reasons Why - We Still Don’t Like Video Games,” and that’s exactly what the video explains. I also included a transcript of the video for those of you who are in a place that can’t watch it. They make some very valid points here.

Who doesn't love watching a good movie while eating microwave popcorn? But even though there's so much love for awesome movies, there's still a negative vibe surrounding the so called movie games. Here are five reasons why!

In case you missed it, you can also check out my list of 15 classic movies with crappy NES video game adaptations here. The only movie video game that I've ever really enjoyed playing was the one made for The Matrix. What are your thoughts on games based on movies?

1. Bad reputation

Movie games have a bad reputation. There was a time, not so long ago, that every big Hollywood movie got a game with the same title. Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Iron Man and Avatar were all great movies but we cannot say the same about the games. They are all steaming piles of garbage. 

2. Short development time

Usually it takes about three or four years to develop a good game. But with movie games the development time is cut short. Expensive license agreements, limited resources and a release date set in stone lead to a rushed development cycle. It's almost impossible to make a good game under those circumstances. That's one of the reasons many movie games are now smartphone apps instead.

3. Limited creative freedom

When developers make their own game, they can do whatever they want. But when they make a game based on a movie, they are limited by the things the movie company allows them to do. Things like story, level design and character development have to be approved by many different people. In many cases game developers can only work with the limited tools they are given by the movie studio. 

4. Marketing tool

In the end a game based on a Hollywood blockbuster is only being made as a marketing tool. Which basically means the game will hardly get any support after its release. There's a very small chance for DLC and even patching a game to fix bugs can be difficult due to financial constrains. It's riding on the back of the movie and obviously that's not in our benefit. 

5. The same story

When a game is based on a movie, it usually retells the plot from the movie. So watching or playing one, will spoil the other experience. And if the game does have an alternative storyline within the same universe, you can bet that it's not even half as good as the movie plot. In general movie games are just something gamers should be very weary of. 

Is there no hope left for movie games? Yes there is, as long as developers make games based on an entire movie franchises. Shadow of Mordor and Alien Isolation are recent examples of movie games done right. So there IS hope for the movie game, as long as its release is not supposed to coincide with the theatrical release of a blockbuster.

Ben Stiller's The Secret Life of Walter Mitty underperformed when it was released at the tail end of 2013, and the actor appeared in the third and presumably final Night at the Museum movie last year. So what's his next move? Before he gets to work on Zoolander 2, he's reuniting with Greenberg director Noah Baumbach (Frances Ha, The Squid and the Whale) for While We're Young. A new trailer has arrived, and it looks like a nice little drama typical of Baumbach's recent output.

Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts are Josh and Cornelia Srebnick, happily married middle-aged members of New York’s creative class. They tried to start a family and were unable to — and have decided they’re okay with that. But as Josh labors over the umpteenth edit of his cerebral new film, it’s plain that he has hit a dry patch and that something is still missing.

Enter Jamie (Adam Driver) and Darby (Amanda Seyfried), a free-spirited young couple, who are spontaneous and untethered, ready to drop everything in pursuit of their next passion — retro board games one day, acquiring a pet chicken the next. For Josh, it’s as if a door has opened back to his youth — or a youth he wishes he once had.

It’s not long before the restless forty-somethings, Josh and Cornelia, throw aside friends their own age — including Beastie Boy Adam Horovitz in a sly supporting role — to trail after these young hipsters who seem so plugged in, so uninhibited, so Brooklyn cool. “Before we met,” Josh admits to Jamie, “the only two feelings I had left were wistful and disdainful.” But is this new inspiration enough to sustain collaboration and friendship with a couple twenty years their junior?

Yahoo has the trailer. Check it out below and let us know what you think. While We're Young arrives in select theaters on March 27th, 2015.

Here’s a process we know well - put on unflattering athletic clothes. Drive several minutes to a gym. Realize you forgot your water bottle. Work out anyway. Rush back for bizarre home-blended “recovery drinks.”

There’s a reason why 25 million Americans now have a home gym. Leaving the house can be an unattractive prospect, especially when this involves public physical exertion  If you’re like me, you’ve sworn off gyms. The idea of running or biking and going nowhere is depressing.

The Concept:

Activetainment hopes to change that with the Ebove™ B\01 VR bike. Daily mountain biking is a distinct possibility. It is a truly non-stationary bike, pitching and yawing like you’re piloting your own calorie-burning plane of the future.

The Tech:

In order to properly experience the forces on your body on a bicycle, you would have to mimic the centrifugal force, for which the B\01 employs a spring-like system that pushes back as you lean into a turn.

The actuating brakes, shifting gears, and moveable handlebars are unprecedented here, unlike in otherwise boring exercise machines, but the real ground-breaking feature is its VR support.

The bike is complemented by Oculus Rift DK2 VR, specifically the mountain biking game MTB Freeride, that focuses on accurate riding physics.

Likelihood of Success: Almost There

Weather, wind, and slippery slopes all play a factor in making a believable biking experience. Much can be said about feeling the wind in your hair, and this type of sensory information that is missing with the B\01 bike.

Improving the immersion should only take a few adjustments, and Activetainment even has a rowing machine and treadmill employing similar concepts. Which raises the question..

When does virtual reality become reality?

Academy Award nominee director Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners, Enemy) is in negotiations to helm the sequel to Ridley Scott's classic sci-fi noir film, Blade Runner. A press release has been sent out with the news, and it also confirms that Harrison Ford will reprise his role as Rick Deckard! 

Blade Runner 2 is based on an idea that was hatched by Scott, and the co-writer of the original film Hampton Fancher, who is co-writing the script with Michael Green. The film is scheduled to start production in the summer of 2016.

As for the story, all that we know right now is that the story takes place several decades after the conclusion of the original 1982 film.

It's exciting that this sequel is actually moving forward! I'm a huge fan of the first film, and I've been looking forward to this. I was hoping that Scott would direct it, but I think Villeneuve will do a solid job. He's is a talented director, and I've liked the films that he's made. If you've seen his films, then you know he has what it take to capture the noir mood of the setting. Then the fact that Ford is coming back to reprise his role is very encouraging as well.

Check out the full press release below:

Harrison Ford will reprise his celebrated role of Rick Deckard in the sequel to Alcon Entertainment’s BLADE RUNNER and Academy Award nominee Denis Villeneuve to (Prisoners, Incendies) is in negotiations to direct, it was announced by Alcon co-founders and co-CEO’s Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson.

Film is scheduled to start principle photography in summer of 2016. Hampton Fancher (co-writer of the original) and Michael Green have written the original screenplay based on an idea by Fancher and Ridely Scott.

The story takes place several decades after the conclusion of the 1982 original.

State Johnson and Kosove: “We are honored that Harrison is joining us on this journey with Denis Villeneuve, who is a singular talent, as we experienced personally on Prisoners. Hampton and Michael, with Ridley Scott, have crafted a uniquely potent and faithful sequel to one of the most universally celebrated films of all time, and we couldn’t be more thrilled with this amazing, creative team.”

Ford will next be seen in The Age of Adaline for Lionsgate and the highly anticipated upcoming Star Wars for Walt Disney Pictures. Recent releases include the Warner Bros./Legendary box office hit 42.

Villeneuve most recently directed the crime thriller Sicario, staring Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin, and Benecio Del Toro for Black Label Media and Lionsgate. He also directed Canada’s Oscar nominated French language film Incendies, and Alcon Entertainment’s critically acclaimed Prisoners, staring Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal.

Alcon Entertainment acquired the film, television and ancillary franchise rights to BLADE RUNNER in 2011 from producer Bud Yorkin to produce prequels and sequels to the iconic science-fiction thriller. Yorkin will serve as a producer on the sequel along with Kosove and Johnson. Cynthia Sikes Yorkin will co-produce.

Frank Giustra and Tim Gamble, CEO’s of Thunderbird Films, will serve as executive producers.

Among its many distinctions, BLADE RUNNER has been singled out as one of the greatest movies of all time by innumerable polls and media outlets, and overwhelmingly as the greatest science-fiction film of all time by a majority of genre publications.

Released by Warner Bros., BLADE RUNNER was adapted by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples from Philip K. Dick’s novel “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” and was directed by Ridley Scott following his landmark Alien.” The film was nominated for two Academy Awards (Best Visual Effects, and Best Art Direction).

BLADE RUNNER was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” The film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 1993 and is frequently taught in university courses. In 2007, it was named the 2nd most visually influential film of all time by the Visual Effects Society.