Monthly Archives: March 2015
Comic Book Reviews for March 25, 2015
DC delivered another round of finales and climaxes as Convergence approaches, Marvel featured a handful of highly impactful Avengers and X-Men issues, and the indie books hit in full force.
Check out our comic book reviews, then let us know your thoughts in the comments.
DC COMICS
Written by Jeff Parker | Drawn by Paul Pelletier
Dark Knight Rises Baddie May Join Star Wars Spinoff
Star Wars: Rogue One, the stand-alone film set outside of the core Star Wars saga, might be closing in on another lead.
Deadline reports that Australian actor Ben Mendelsohn (The Dark Knight Rises, Killing Them Softly) is up for a role in Star Wars: Rogue One. It is not clear what role that may be and Disney had no comment.
The actor can currently be seen in Netflix’s original series Bloodline, a new drama that premiered last week.
Sony Takes Over the Robotech Movie, Plans a Franchise
Sony Pictures announced today that they have secured the rights to the science-fiction anime Robotech, "with the intention of moving quickly toward production of a future global franchise."
The project had previously been set up at Warner Bros. where star-producer Tobey Maguire had tried to get a film version off the ground.
As we reported last month, the film will be produced and written by a trio behind 300, producers Gianni Nunnari and Mark Canton and screenwriter Michael Gordon.
The project will be overseen at Sony Pictures by Doug Belgrad, Michael De Luca, and Matthew Milam. De Luca said in a statement, “Robotech is unique in that it has always been a marriage of spectacle with human characters that seem drawn from life. That’s why we are so excited to be working with Mark and Gianni as we move forward on this project. With a history that offers an epic love triangle, a renegade hero, and a world on the brink of extinction, Robotech offers a wide scope and a rich and impressive universe where the story possibilities are endless.”
Why Kojima’s Possible Exit Isn’t a Surprise
Noted Metal Gear fan Max Scoville joins Podcast Unlocked this week to discuss the whole (alleged) Kojima/Konami fiasco. And we have what may be an unpopular opinion about the entire thing. Plus: why the hell is there a Russia-only Halo Online game for PC? Will the next Xbox hit in 3-4 years instead of 7-8? What's the deal with Conker in Project Spark? Also: Shark Finnegan explains how to get thrown out of a Denny's. And don't forget to watch the show on the IGN Xbox One app if you haven't tried it already!
Super Troopers 2 Hits $2M Crowdfunding Target in 24 Hours
Broken Lizard’s crowdfunding campaign for Super Troopers 2 has been an immediate success, securing the USD$2 million minimum funding goal in just one day.
“If we could cry, we'd be crying,” reads a new update on the Super Troopers 2 Indiegogo project page. “Thank you so much. Sincerely. We can make the skinny version of Super Troopers 2 but I think we all want the muscular version so let's keep going.”
The money raised so far via the campaign will be enough to finance a sequel to Broken Lizard’s 2001 cult comedy hit, although the team warns that this total is the “bare minimum we’ll need to get into production.”
Shadow of Mordor GOTY Edition Rated by Australian Board
It looks like Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor will be getting the Game of the Year Edition treatment, at least according to a rating issued by the Australian Classification Board. The AusVGClassifications twitter account, which is unaffiliated with the official Australian agency, tweeted out the M15+ classification.
The only information that can be gleaned from the classification at this time is simply Warner Bros. submitted the game for classification. It doesn't necessarily mean there's a GOTY Edition of Shadow of Mordor on the horizon.
But given the fact that submissions to official game rating bodies have revealed information on games in the past, and Shadow of Mordor took home the Game of the Year honor at the 2015 Game Developers Conference, it certainly seems ripe for a special edition.
Emilia Clarke Turned Down 50 Shades Over Nudity Concerns
A slew of actresses were considered for the role of Anastasia Steele in the blockbuster Fifty Shades of Grey before Dakota Johnson was cast. One such actress was none other than Daenerys Targaryen herself, Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke.
Clarke met twice with Fifty Shades director Sam Taylor-Johnson about starring in the erotic drama. So why did she ultimately turn down the film?
Clarke -- who has appeared nude on Broadway as well as in several episodes of Game of Thrones before stipulating that she won't do that again -- was simply uncomfortable with appearing naked onscreen (in what would end up being a large portion of the movie).
"I'd done nudity before and was concerned with being labeled for doing it again," she told The Hollywood Reporter. "No regrets," Clarke said of her decision.
Podcast: The Digigods go off on a journey with The Hobbit.
From their secluded home-theater compound, film critics Wade Major and Mark Keizer mix insightful commentary with irreverent banter, covering the latest DVD and Blu-ray news and new releases of the week, including studio, independent, television and special-interest titles.
Digigods Podcast, 03/24/15 (MP3) -- 35.3 MB
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Hannibal Writer May Pen Friday the 13th Script
The new Friday the 13th movie has reportedly found its writer: Nick Antosca, the writer behind episodes of Hannibal and Believe. Richard Naing and Ian Goldberg wrote a previous draft.
Although it was recently reported that Friday the 13th likely won't be a found-footage film, The Hollywood Reporter now claims the film is "expected to employ the found-footage technique and answer the decades-old question of why slasher Jason Voorhes can't be killed."
The film will be directed by David Bruckner (V/H/S). Platinum Dunes' Michael Bay, Andrew Form, and Brad Fuller are producing this installment as they also did the 2009 reboot.
New VR Headset Offers Built-In Motion Controls
Leap Motion has officially revealed a partnership with Razer to create a virtual-reality headset with built-in motion controls.
Razer announced the OSVR (open-source virtual reality) initiative at CES 2015. While the specifications already included support for motion control, that particular version (and another version IGN demoed at GDC) used the Leap Motion mounting bracket that allows a user to install a separate device to the front of a headset.
The new OSVR hacker kit will include motion control built-in to the headset instead of as an add-on. The new faceplate will be optional, so customers don't have to buy it if they don't want to.