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Boy Meets World sequel?

burstfaces — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 15:33:25 GMT

We haven't seen a lot of Ben Savage on the small screen in recent years, but the 32-year-old actor is still remembered well for his role as Cory Matthews, the lead character in ABC's 90s sitcom Boy Meets World. And there's a chance he could reprise that role, should things work out for the sequel Disney Channel is reportedly trying to develop.

TVLine says Disney Channel is in the early stages of putting together a sequel series for Boy Meets World, which would center on the preteen daughter of Savage's character Cory and his childhood sweetheart Topanga. TVLine's sources say Disney is in the process of trying to get Ben Savage and Danielle FIshel (Topanga) to sign on for the project.

Boy Meets World premiered in 1993 as part of ABC's TGIF lineup, and followed Cory Matthews, a grade-schooler at the time, and his friends Shawn and Topanga. As the series went on, Cory, Shawn and Topanga grew up. That was sort of the point of the sitcom, but the series gradually evolved as the characters aged and attended high school and then college. The show ended in 2000, by which time Cory and Topanga were married.

Hearing this sequel news, my first thought was to wonder why this project wasn't being developed at ABC Family. It seems like it'd be a good fit to pair with Melissa & Joey, a comedy that has its own double-dose of nostalgic value in its 90s stars Joey Lawrence and Melissa Joan Hart. But with Disney Channel developing the project, the idea may be to target an audience that consists of kids as well as their parents, similarly to programming like Good Luck Charlie.

I was a big fan of Boy Meets World in its earlier seasons, but admittedly, I lost track of the show around the time Cory and Topanga went to college. A follow-up in some form could be fun. Cory and Topanga were a beloved 90s TV couple and there are probably plenty of fans would love to see them back together in a TV show, as well as kids who'd be up for another preteen-focused comedy. At this point, nothing sounds official, but apparently the idea is out there and who knows what could happen?

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'Twilight' fan struck and killed by car at Comic-Con

burstfaces — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 07:05:08 GMT

Just when things were starting to settle in for Twilight fans at Comic-Con, a woman was reportedly injured when she was struck by a car outside of the San Diego Comic-Con convention center.

According to one attendant's tweet, "If you pray pls do so now for Twi fan G! She was just hit by a car in front of the convention center! She was unconscious when taken hosp."

Vale from Twilight Poison, who is in the area, has informed me that the fan in question was crossing the street next to Hall H when she was struck by a vehicle. "From the moment she was hit to when the ambulance arrived and took her, she was completely unconscious. I don't know if it's super serious but it might be if she was knocked off her feet and left unconscious! ... Everybody is pretty shaken up about it," she explained.

UPDATE: Sadly, it has now been reported that "G" now been pronounced dead as a result of the incident, due a head injury. According to her friend who reported the accident on Twitter, "Im sorry to tell everyone G passed away." What a sad day for us all.

UPDATE 2: A San Diego report now indicates that the incident took place at Fifth and Harbor, and police received a call at 9:20 a.m. PST. When ambulances arrived, they found the victim with head trauma and bleeding and she died at the hospital. Reports the source, "The driver of the car that struck the pedestrian stayed on the scene."

UPDATE 3: I've now learned that the victim's name was Gisela G. and that her Twitter handle was @Mad4Hugh. A photo of her with friends camping for the event can be seen here (the woman in the green shirt). The area is now being blocked off by police, as can be seen in this picture. She was reportedly 53 years old, and the driver was a 67-year-old male.

UPDATE 4: Some fans are now petitioning for a moment of silence during the Breaking Dawn - Part 2 panel in honor of Gisella. You can sign it here. Other fans have now organized a fundraiser for funeral expenses for the victim's family.

UPDATE 5: According to a fan on the scene, "Security decided we had to move once again and told us it would be an hour before we would do so. She went with friends across the street thinking there would be plenty of time before they had to return. Security then came back and told everyone they had decided to move us in 20 minutes. They were rushing back to the line to gather their things to move. I received info from someone who went with her to the hospital that they were rushing across the street, the car turned in front of her, she made eye contact with the driver, she tried to stop to avoid the car, stumbled and fell hitting her head on the pavement."

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“Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Complete Series” Available for Pre-Order Read more at ONTD: http

burstfaces — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 06:59:07 GMT

The exclusives at San Diego Comic-Con may be sold out, but do not fret! You can pre-order Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Complete Series at Shout! Factory for $119.98. Release date is August 28, 2012.

Bonus Features Include:

- Morphin Time! -- A look back at Mighty Morphin Power Rangers with members of the cast, crew and creative team.
- A Morphenomenal Cast -- Casting Director Katy Wallin and the cast recall what it took to become Power Rangers.
- The Fans Power Up -- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers fans remember the series.
- Lord Zedd’s Monster Heads
- Alpha’s Magical Christmas
- Rare Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Fan Club Video
- MMPR Karate Club: The White Ranger Kata
- Power Rangers Live: The World Tour
- . . . And More!

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10 Most Horrific Movies Disnry Ever Made

burstfaces — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 06:40:05 GMT

If you think Disney is just a bunch of enchanted roses, glass slippers and princesses rescued from towers, think again. Behind the fairytale facade, Disney has put out some truly dark films riddled with miscarriages, bloody ends and animal cruelty. Even your childhood favorites contain scenes that include deaths belittled in upbeat songs, animal shootings off-screen and, occasionally, a mass slaughter. In one movie, the entire cast is killed.

Here are the 10 films that pushed the boundaries of kids' entertainment the furthest. You may never see them the same way again.

10. "Up" (2009)

A childless widower, 78-year-old grump Carl Fredricksen (Ed Asner) literally ups and leaves—he attaches balloons to his home—to get away from the big city expansion that has plagued his neighborhood and to fulfill the wishes of his late wife.

The film's opening sequence is one of the most moving, albeit depressing, pieces of cinematic footage in an animated film. Through four minutes, Disney and Pixar tell an entire love story—complete with marriage, dreams of children and traveling, and broken spirits from a miscarriage—before the wife falls ill and passes.

9. "The Fox and the Hound" (1981)

At the beginning of the film, the protagonist, Tod, a fox cub, is abandoned at a farm by his mother. She runs off and shortly after shots are heard. Tod is comforted by an owl named Big Mama and a clueless woodpecker before an elderly widow comes to his rescue.

Tod quickly befriends the neighbor's dog Copper. While they frolic in the woods, we later discover Copper's owner Amos is the man who killed Tod's mom.

Tod never has a clue. The film then pits the two friends against each other as Copper becomes a hunting dog and Tod, the game.

The trailer merely points out the funny friendship of the unlikely pair.

8. "Bambi" (1941)

Happy woodland creatures rolling in flowers and playing on ice? Sure. But what about the raging forest fire?

Before that, you have to make it through the scene where the title character's mother is killed by hunters in the dead of winter.

We're then forced to watch Bambi scramble around through the snow, calling for his mom until he runs into his father, the Great Prince of the Forest, who says, "Your mother can't be with you anymore."

One of the film's first trailers even ends with the movie title hovering over the rampant forest flames.

7. "The Lion King" (1994)

In this one, the King, Mufasa, is thrown off a cliff by his brother, Scar, who then blames his nephew Simba, and sends hyenas to kill the young cub.

Although "The Lion King" is a re-telling of the Shakespeare play "Hamlet," in which Claudius kills his brother, Hamlet, it was still shocking to see a main character brutally killed in a kid's movie.

Earlier, during the number, "Be Prepared," Scar sings about plotting the king's murder. While standing over his hyena flock, their assembly march looks suspiciously like Nazi goosestep.

Near the film's end, Simba returns to send his uncle into the depths of a fiery pit.

6. "Old Yeller" (1957)

No surprises here: Disney's retelling of Fred Gipson's classic tale of a stray dog brought home by Travis Coates. After the family—and audiences—fall in love with the pooch, Old Yeller gets rabies and the family kills him.

The film spares us the visuals; however, we can hear the gunshot as Travis shoots his beloved dog.

5. "The Littlest Horse Thieves" (1976)

Forget off-screen shootings, in this 1976 collaboration between Disney and British filmmakers, children are subjected to ponder the mass killing of horses.

The film revolves around pony labor in the coal mines. When the workers are done with them it's off to the slaughterhouse. The title of the film was changed from the gloomy "Escape From the Dark" to the sunshiny "The Littlest Horse Thieves."

Here's how Disney's Movies Guide describes the flick:

"Filmed very darkly, which is understandable since a coal mine is the primary setting, this film epitomizes the classic British sense of 'impending doom and gloom' of foggy marshlands and overcast skies. The storyline involves a Yorkshire coal mine which employs ponies as labor, but the owner has decided to mechanize the operation, apparently dooming the ponies to the slaughterhouse."

4. "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" (1996)

If you get caught up in the farce of fancy fun the film offers—a colorful feast, the naive, but lovable hunchback, Quasimodo, and the whimsical gypsies—you'll be quick to miss blood spilled early on in the movie. "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" includes a song showing Judge Claude Frollo killing Quasimodo's mother onscreen.

After leaving her in a puddle of blood on the steps of Notre Dame, he attempts to dump baby Quasimodo in a well, but is stopped by a member of the church. When asked what he's doing he says: "This is an unholy demon. I'm sending it back to Hell where it belongs."

3. "Dragonslayer" (1981)

Disney's Oscar winning "Dragonslayer" touts the bravery of a young apprentice sent to kill a dragon that's been eating young girls. Awesome. What the box cover doesn't tell you is that this dragon is being offered virgin human sacrifices from a King, many of which a burned at the stake in gory detail. There is also a cross-dressing subplot!

Other than this, the wizard from the beginning of the film turns out to be a sham. His untimely death results in the dragon's demise.

2. "The Black Cauldron" (1985)

The villainous "Horned King" would be enough to give us nightmares. By far one of Disney's darkest films, "The Black Cauldron" was the studio's first film to receive a PG rating.

It follows the adventure of Taran and his gang as they attempt to prevent a villain from raising an army of the undead. The film is riddled with skeletons, black magic and a Skeletor-like villain dubbed the "Horned King."

According to Slate, the movie was re-edited with 10 minutes of footage cut from the original to attain a PG rating. One of the controversial scenes involved one of the main villain's minions slicing a person's neck and torso, killing him in the process. There was another deleted scene where a magic mist dissolved a person's flesh. Pretty dark stuff (Tim Burton did concept art).

1. The Black Hole (1979)

The Black Hole assembled a sterling cast—Maximilian Schell, Anthony Perkins, Ernest Borgnine, Roddy McDowall and Slim Pickens—for a relentlessly depressing tale of mass-murder in space. It was Disney's biggest-budget movie at the time it was made.

At the beginning of the movie, Perkins and his crew discover a long-lost spaceship, the Cygnus, mysteriously circling the rim of a black hole in an apparently stable orbit. Upon investigation, it turns out that the Cygnus's captain (Schell) has killed his entire crew and turned them into zombie slaves. Worse, he intends to fly directly into the Black Hole to see what's on the other side.

None of the cast escape their impending doom and they all end up in Hell. Literally, not figuratively.

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Melissa Joan Hart to publish memoir, "Melissa Explains It All"

burstfaces — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 06:31:21 GMT

St. Martin’s Press announced today that it struck a deal with Melissa Joan Hart to publish her memoir Melissa Explains It All: Tales from My Abnormally Normal Life in the fall of 2013.

In the memoir--described as "forthright and funny" by the publisher--Hart will write about a childhood split between growing up in the suburbs and being a young star on Nickelodeon's Clarissa Explains It All and then ABC's Sabrina, The Teenage Witch. She promises to detail her rise as a child actor, her rebellious teen years, the difficulties of fitting in as a famous teen and her struggles to balance motherhood with her work as an actor, director and producer. The publisher also promises that Hart will dish on "the actors she worked with, competed against, befriended."

A native of Long Island, New York, Hart starred in commercials and made guest appearances on TV shows before landing the role of Clarissa in 1991 at the age of fourteen. Clarissa Explains It All ran for five seasons, ending in 1994. The next year she landed the lead role on Sabrina, The Teenage Witch, which ran until 2003.

Since Sabrina ended, Hart has attended New York University, appeared on the ninth season of Dancing With the Stars in 2009 and starred in several made-for-TV movies.

She returned to series TV in 2010 on the ABC Family show Melissa & Joey, which co-stars former child starJoey Lawrence as a male nanny for Hart's small-town politician who is suddenly entrusted with the care of her niece and nephew. Season two debuted on May 30, 2012.

Alyssa Reuben at Paradigm Literary and Talent Agency and Gordon Gilbertson at Gilbertson Entertainment represented Hart for the literary deal. Editor Michelle Richter negotiated the deal for St. Martin's Press.

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Tiny Toon Adventures - Warner DVD Release Describes 'How I Spent My Vacation'!

burstfaces — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 06:28:04 GMT

School's out for summer, and it's vacation time for the Tiny Toons gang from Acme Looniversity! Babs and Buster Bunny's vacation starts with a good old fun-in-the-sun squirt-gun fight! Once the flood gates are opened (and all of Acme Acres is under water!), they are swept away on a summer adventure of a lifetime. Plucky joins Hampton J. Pig and family for a road trip to none other than Happy World Land - the greatest theme park this side of the globe! From the endless annoyances of Hampton's family to escaped convict hitchhikers, Plucky is in for one long and very hot summer! Elmyra is in wild animal bliss as she visits a drive-through nature park. Will the animals survive her unique brand of affection? Join the summertime fun with all of your favorite Looniversity Toons in this feature-length riot, on DVD for the first time!

In 2008 and 2009, Warner Home Video released Season 1, Volume 1 and Volume 2 of the Steven Spielberg-presented Tiny Toon Adventures, and since then there's been no further word about more DVD releases of the popular animated show. Today, however, the studio announced that they're coming out with something new at last! No, it's not the 2nd or 3rd seasons of the series. Instead, they're bringing out the long-awaited direct-to-video telefilm Tiny Toon Adventures - How I Spent My Vacation.

The telefilm was first released on VHS in 1992, smack in the middle of the show's original broadcast run. The sequences in this production were later re-edited and put out as part of the series' aired episodes. With no word yet of the second or third seasons coming to home video, Tiny Toon Adventures - How I Spent My Vacation is the only taste fans will have for now of the later two seasons. If this sells well enough, then hopefully it will help encourage Warner to finally continue with the season sets!

Priced at $19.97 SRP for 79 minutes, Tiny Toon Adventures - How I Spent My Vacation will be in stores on August 14th.

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‘Avengers’ Becomes Disney’s Highest-Grossing Movie

burstfaces — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 06:23:47 GMT

“Marvel’s The Avengers” was the No. 1 movie at theaters in the U.S. and Canada for a third straight weekend, taking in $55.6 million for Walt Disney Co. (DIS), and making it the studio’s highest-grossing film ever.

“Battleship” was second with sales of $25.5 million, researcher Hollywood.com Box-Office said today in an e-mailed statement. Sacha Baron Cohen’s “The Dictator” opened in third place with $17.4 million and “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” was fifth in its debut with $10.5 million.

“The Avengers” is benefiting from positive word-of-mouth among moviegoers after Disney’s major marketing push ended, Paul Dergarabedian, president of Hollywood.com’s box-office unit, said in an interview. Since its first weekend, the movie has overcome challenges from two major releases, “Battleship,” from Comcast Corp. (CMCSA)’s Universal Pictures, and Warner Bros.’s “Dark Shadows.”

“Great marketing can buy you a big opening weekend, but only a crowd-pleasing and solid movie can get you to where ‘The Avengers’ has gone,” Dergarabedian said in an interview.

“The Avengers” opened over the weekend of May 4 with a record $207.4 million in sales and set another record a week later with $103.1 million, the most ever for a film in its second weekend. It has become the highest-grossing film in Disney’s history with $1.18 billion in global sales, surpassing “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” which had $1.07 billion in worldwide sales, according to Hollywood.com.

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10 shows that are better when viewed as one long lazy marathon

burstfaces — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 06:18:46 GMT

It was announced this week that NBC will be airing the last three episodes of “Community” on one night. Over on Warming Glow Dustin asked if you can handle that much Troy, Abed & Co. B*tch, please, that’s amateur hour (and a half). In an age of Hulu, Netflix Instant and On Demand television, we’re quite accustomed to watching shows in huge greedy chunks. “Just one more” is the rallying cry of the serious TV watcher. And despite the fact that the weather is nicer and Mother Nature is beckoning, summer is one of my favorite times to marathon a new show or rewatch an old favorite. Here are a few suggestions on how to spend your warm summer nights. No, before you ask, these are not just my favorite shows. They’re also not just shows that you should see, though, of course, you should. They’re shows that engage in the kind of storytelling that really is improved when watched marathon-style. So grab your friends, a themed beverage and some snacks and settle in for a long winter’s summer’s watch.

10. “Buffy The Vampire Slayer”: I think you know how I feel about this one.

9. “Mad Men”: The biggest complaint that people have about this fantastic AMC series is that “nothing happens.” I think you’ll find, if you watch several episodes in a row, that not only has plenty happened, but you’ve witnessed some of the best character development out there. “Mad Men” is truly one of the finest shows on any channel right now and you’re doing yourself a disservice by skipping it.

8. “Justified”: This show is such an interesting blend of perfectly fine stand alone episodes and meatier, season long arc episodes that watching it a season at a time is really the way to go.

7. “Band Of Brothers”: Listen, I don’t want to sound racist, but all those white dudes in uniform look the same to me. The only way I was able to track them was by giving them all nicknames and watching this mini-series in one go. Same goes for the inferior (but still enjoyable) The Pacific.

6. “Game of Thrones”: Once again,not to sound racist, but white dudes in furs and beards are difficult enough to tell apart. This series employs so many characters (with hard to track names) that the most helpful way to watch is all at once. P.S. Everyone has told you about the nudity and the violence, but did they mention puppies? Cause there are puppies.

5. “The Wire”: I know a lot of you haven’t seen this yet. Even though you know you are supposed to. It seems heavy and daunting, doesn’t it? I’ll also acknowledge that it takes a few episodes each season for the storyline (and new characters) to really grab you. If you marathon and power through, you’ll find you won’t be able to stop.

4. “Doctor Who”: I’m not sure I really understand the hold-outs surrounding this much-beloved series. There’s some weird sort of obstinate, hipster hate for the “Who.” That’s your prerogative, I’m not going to force you. But seriously, you’re missing out on loads of goofy fun. The special effects are terrible, so just close your eyes and think of England and eventually you’ll find you won’t notice that the “scariest monster in all of space and time” is actually a trash can.

3. “Downton Abbey”: If “Doctor Who” is like a jaunty British biscuit, then “Downton Abbey” is straight up British crack. You could try to watch it in moderation, but I wouldn’t advise it.

2. “Battlestar Galactica”: If it’s your first time watching BSG, you have to marathon in order to stay in front of all the friends and loved ones who will try to spoil it for you. Turn off your phone, ignore the internet, and watch like the wind, my friends. You won’t regret it…much.

1. “Firefly”: Bar-none the most delightful show to marathon. Given its brief run (*sob* *wail*), this is a manageable 14 hours. Child’s play. Just don’t attempt to play the drinking game while you do.

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Who died on Community?

burstfaces — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 06:12:21 GMT

As a fitting end to its hilariously dramatic Law & Order homage, Community offed one of its own: Starburns.

While not a major character, Mr. ‘burns (aka Alex Osbourne) still felt like a member of the Greendale gang. He was a middle-aged community college student who rocked geometrically-shaped facial hair far better than most and often donned a mean top hat.

He was also Greendale’s premiere drug dealer, and, sadly, it ended up being the death of him. The victim of a meth lab explosion in the trunk of his car, Starburns and his weird ways will be missed.

All that said, his portrayer Dino Stamatopoulos remains a consulting producer on Community (he co-wrote the classic stop-motion animated episode “Abed’s Uncontrollable Chirstmas”), so Starburns’ presence will continue to be felt on the quirky comedy… particularly next Thursday when Greendale hosts a lavish funeral in the cafeteria for its fallen Human Being.

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Survey: Most anticipated summer movie

burstfaces — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 06:03:29 GMT

A survey of customers at Fandango, the movie ticketing and information site, names The Avengers as the most anticipated movie of the summer of 2012 the company announced today.

In the survey, 31 percent of men and 16 percent of women put the Marvel adventure romp at the top of their list. It was the most anticipated movie among men. The Kristen Stewart-starrer Snow White and the Huntsman edged out Avengers, 22 percent to 16 percent, to top the women's list.

But as Fandango Editor-in Chief Chuck Walton notes the big winner is Chris Hemsworth. "All eyes will be on Chris Hemsworth,” said Walton. "The Australian heartthrob, who stars as Thor in The Avengers, and as the male lead in Snow White and The Huntsman, sits atop both the men’s and women’s ‘Most Anticipated’ lists.”

The Dark Knight Rises and Men in Black 3 also appeared on both the men's and women's list. But men also preferred Prometheus as one of their top choices, while women gravitated to the Dark Shadows remake starring Johnny Depp.

“It’s clear from the Fandango survey that there’s something for both men and women at the movies this summer,” added Walton. “After an incredible first quarter, Hollywood is delivering even more spectacular choices for moviegoers in what’s shaping up to be one of the biggest summers in years.

See the men's and women's top five lists below.

Men’s Picks for Most Anticipated Summer Movie:

1.            “The Avengers” 31%
2.            “The Dark Knight Rises” 23%
3.            “The Bourne Legacy” 14%
4.            “Men in Black 3” 8%
5.            “Prometheus” 7%

Women’s Picks for Most Anticipated Summer Movie:

1.            “Snow White and the Huntsman” 22%
2.            “The Avengers” 16%
3.            “Men in Black 3” 13%
4.            “The Dark Knight Rises” 10%
5.            “Dark Shadows” 8%

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The Cabin in the Woods is "game-changingly great"

burstfaces — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 05:36:23 GMT

The Cabin in the Woods is the anti-Scream. Where Wes Craven’s seminal film dismantled the slasher genre, reveling in the deconstruction and poking fun at the tropes of horror, Drew Goddard’s directorial debut revels in the tropes. This film reconstructs horror, reminding us why we love the genre and why it’s so important to us. The Cabin in the Woods is, in many ways, the ultimate love letter to horror. While also being an absolutely terrific horror film.

I don’t want to spoil the film’s pleasures, but it’s worth noting that the movie isn’t really twist-based. The opening scene of Cabin sets up the fact that the film isn’t your average “bunch of kids go to a remote place, get slaughtered” romp. There are no further ‘twists.’ The pieces are in place from the first frame, but what happens during the course of the film is a ramping up of events, an escalation in which things become clearer - and crazier.

There’s an “Upstairs” world, where five kids are going to a cabin in the woods where they will be picked off one by one, and there’s a “Downstairs” world where Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford play technicians who control behind the scenes aspects of the slaughter. The singular brilliance of the film is that while both worlds are used to examine and comment on horror movies, both are played to the hilt, creating a situation where the meta-commentary never gets in the way of good old fashioned storytelling.

I have to admit that Downstairs is my favorite part of the film. Jenkins and Whitford are incredible, playing guys whose daily routine involves the management of unspeakable evil. These actors are up for the heightened - yet almost naturalistic - dialogue that Goddard and Joss Whedon’s script throws at them. It’s eldritch horror with middle management.

Upstairs the standard, expected beats of a slasher movie happen, but with a slight twist that makes all of the going through the motions kind of a blast. The script perfectly balances the two worlds, cutting between them at exactly the right moments to keep the equilibrium right and the feeling fresh.

What happens next is what I can’t talk about until the film comes out - but that I want to talk about so badly. The Cabin in the Woods is the ultimate ‘buzzing in the theater lobby’ movie, a film that sends you out wanting to talk all of the amazing, mind-blowing stuff you’ve seen. The escalation is extraordinary, and by the end there’s a crowd-pleasing money shot every few minutes. And these aren’t just bits designed to get reactions, they’re gloriously precise pay-offs. The structure of the movie is air-tight.

It’s rare that a film is both fun and smart. Most smart movies feel like trudges, while most fun movies leave you feeling intellectually diminished. The Cabin in the Woods is both fun and smart, and it operates on so many levels. It’s a great horror movie, it’s a great comedy, it’s a great meta film - and beyond that it’s an amazing treatise on the very nature of horror, and why we crave these scary stories. The Cabin in the Woods isn’t a reflexive cataloging of film references; in its best moments it’s a scholarly piece about the nature of storytelling and fear and the darkness inside of us that demands these things.

But just because that’s the part that spoke to me the most doesn’t mean it’s the part that will speak to you. The slasher story is incredible, and would be a great movie on its own. Those looking just for scares and gore will be beyond satisfied, while those looking for a Whedonesque bit of fun will be equally satisfied.

I loved every minute of The Cabin in the Woods. If you’re a horror fan this movie will quickly become one of your all-time favorites - the affection for the genre is palpable. But I can’t stress enough how Cabin is also just a GREAT MOVIE, a fun time at the theater filled with laughs and scares and shocks.

Now comes the wait for the film’s actual release, because I want to get into the heavy spoiler stuff so badly. There’s so much to dig into and discuss in Cabin that it feels like a movie with infinite rewatch potential (I’ve already seen it twice and am making plans for my third viewing). This isn’t just one of the best horror movies I’ve seen in years, it’s one of the best movies I’ve seen in years, and it’s definitely one of the top movies of 2012. The Cabin in the Woods is simply fucking great.

To go back to Scream for one last moment: when Scream came out it felt like it was laying the final dirt on the grave of slasher films. The way that it made explicit the tropes of the genre was a killing blow. After Scream horror became self-aware in ways that weren't attractive, like an ugly person always trying to hide their worst features. The Cabin in the Woods resurrects all of these tropes - and many more - and when you walk out of the film you'll feel like horror is revitalized, like its importance is more obvious than ever. That might be Cabin's greatest achievement, reminding us why we love and need this genre.

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Interview with Legend of Korra creators, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko

burstfaces — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 05:26:52 GMT

It’s doubtful that they have Saturday morning cartoons in the police-state future of “The Hunger Games” (in fact, they probably don’t even have Saturdays in the no-fun nation of Panem), but if they did, Katniss Everdeen would see a kindred spirit in “The Legend of Korra,” the ambitious new Nickelodeon series that premieres April 14.

Flinty, brave, loyal, impatient, impertinent, fierce and dangerous — Katniss and Korra have plenty in common and both live in a world that is close to our own but tilted by desperation and dark miracles of magic or science. If the pair attended the same high school, they could go out for the archery team and commiserate about how their names sound like two new lines of Ikea cabinets. (lmao wth)

For “Korra” co-creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, it’s heartening to see teen heroines get a major spotlight in any medium. “But you know,” Konietzko said dryly, “there’s room for a lot more than two.” Kim Possible, the Powerpuff Girls and She-Ra are among the animation heroines who beat the gender odds and got their own series, but, really, when it comes to legacy and expectations, the biggest rival for “The Legend of Korra” is the show’s own heritage.

The new series is a sequel saga to one of Nickelodeon’s signature successes, “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” which premiered in 2005 and won over a wide, loyal following (it consistently ranked in television’s top five animated shows among boys ages 6-11) with the tale of a boy named Aang who can manipulate fire, water, air and earth. Those abilities mark him as an “avatar,” and a figure of destiny in his world, which seems like a more supernatural magical and tribal counterpart to 19th century Earth.

“Avatar: the Last Airbender” found its animation aesthetic in anime but to fill out this other world the writing and art team drew on a wide range of influences (Chinese history, Hinduism, Inuit culture and yoga among them) and that gave the three-season series a surprising richness; “SpongeBob SquarePants” may possess a special genius of its own but “Avatar” is the only Nickelodeon show with a Peabody Award on the mantle.

The new show takes the story forward 70 years. Aang is gone but hardly forgotten — there’s a majestic statue of him in the harbor of bustling Republic City, which feels like old San Francisco and Hong Kong mashed-up and dropped into the topography of Vancouver, Canada. This is where the new avatar — a headstrong 17-year-old named Korra (voiced by Janet Varney) — arrives for the training she’ll need to become a worthy heir to Aang and a champion in a troubled time. Her mentor is Aang’s son, Tenzin (J.K. Simmons).

“All the old characters — Aang, Katara, Sokka — as these heroic figures and Aang casts a constant shadow over Korra and Tenzin who are trying constantly to live up to his legend,” DiMartino said. “Tenzin is trying to be the man that his father was and expects him to be and he’s carrying on his culture.”

The show is packed with steam punk touches and a culture that takes on different shapes as magic and technology combine and compete; flying beasts circle the skyline and other people who possess the ability to “bend” fire or water or earth (none of them can bend all three of those plus air, that’s the distinction of the avatar) have professional sports league where they test their skills in a sport as fantastical as Quidditch in the “Harry Potter” stories.

The characters are hand-drawn, a point of pride for the “Korra” team that fills an entire wing at Nickelodeon’s Burbank studios, but the approach might test the traditional assumptions of that term with a stylus and screen replacing the art table approaches of the past. The backgrounds of the series are infused with light, detail and texturing that go far beyond most shows — art director Konietzko set the bar high and he admits that the workload has been grueling.

“We have to live up to what we’ve done in the past and now we have to live up to the goals we’ve set, which are even higher,” Konietzko said. He added that the new series is leaner in its focus — it will stay on the core mythology and not meander as much as the previous series — and meaner as the world it presents. Politics and cultural divides will also push the show’s ambitions up another notch as far the content expectations of a cartoon series.

Really, though, the biggest question facing Korra is with her audience. With her powers and fighting ability, she can hold her own against any boy in her world, but will she be able to win over the affections of a young male audience here on Earth? She’ll need that for the show to qualify as a hit. Brown Johnson, president of animation for Nickelodeon, said the avatar will prove herself with any fan who watches, no matter their age or gender.

“There’s a generational shift that encourages girls to feel powerful — and for boys to see them as equals and partners,” Johnson said. “Korra takes the female hero to the next level and we are very proud to showcase her as the passionate teenage girl that she is.”

SOURCE

Davy Jones Dead :(

burstfaces — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 05:20:29 GMT

Davy Jones -- lead singer of The Monkees -- died after suffering a heart attack this morning ... TMZ has learned.

An official from the medical examiner's office for Martin County, Florida confirmed with TMZ they received a call from Martin Memorial Hospital informing them that Jones had passed away.

We're told Davy suffered the heart attack at a ranch near his Florida home, where he was visiting his horses. Davy began experiencing distress while he was sitting in his car, and that's where a ranch hand found him.

The ranch hand told Sheriff's detectives ... the singer began to complain that he was not feeling well and was having trouble breathing. Paramedics were called and Jones was taken to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead. Authorities say there are no suspicious circumstances surrounding his death.

Jones is survived by his wife Jessica and 4 daughters from previous marriages. He was 66-years-old. Jones was married to Jessica Pacheco -- his 3rd wife.

SOURCE

Breaking down the Game of Thrones Season One box set

burstfaces — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 05:07:44 GMT

Let’s get this out of the way, Game of Thrones: The Complete First Season on Blu-ray is awesome. Why? Because the first season of Game of Thrones is on it! That alone means it is worth a purchase. HBO could have just stopped there and been guaranteed a best-selling box set. But they went, “Screw it, let’s load this sucker up with some interesting commentary, some great ‘making of’ features and some truly amazing animated histories.”

Before I get to what I like about it (a lot) and what I didn’t like about it (not much), I’m gonna break down exactly what you’ll get in your Blu-ray set. If for some reason you’d like to remain ignorant of the awesomeness that awaits you then don’t read any further.

So here are details on all the special features you will get in the Blu-ray set (the DVD set does not have the animated histories, In-Episode Guide, Anatomy of an Episode or the Dragon Eggs).

The Complete Guide to Westeros

A comprehensive, interactive guide of the houses, histories, and lands of Game of Thrones. The guide is broken down into three sections:

Houses – Contains six gorgeously animated histories of the great houses as told by characters from the series: Robb and Bran (Stark), Catelyn (Arryn), Robert (Baratheon), Tywin (Lannister), Viserys (Targaryen) and Jeor Mormont (Night’s Watch). Also includes bios of each member of the house and their various servants and vassals.

Histories & Lore – Nineteen animated histories of the Seven Kingdoms, as told by various characters from the series. Certain histories have multiple characters telling the same story from differing viewpoints. Here is the full list of histories with the character(s) that narrate each:
The Children of the Forest, The First Men, and the Andals – Bran
The Age of Heroes – Bran
The Old Gods and the New – Bran and Catelyn
The History of the Night’s Watch – Jeor, Luwin, Tywin
The Order of the Maesters – Luwin
Valyria & the Dragons – Viserys
The Field of Fire – Viserys, Robb
Mad King Aerys – Robert, Luwin, Tywin
Robert’s Rebellion – Robert, Viserys
The Sack of King’s Landing – Viserys, Robert, Luwin, Tywin

Lands – Learn more about the regions and lands of Westeros and Essos in this interactive map.

In-Episode Guide

The same content that is available in the Complete Guide, only accessible via an on-screen menu while watching the episode. The content available changes based on what is happening in the episode and certain aspects are only accessible once they are “unlocked” by the action on screen.

Anatomy of an Episode

A view into how they filmed episode six of the first season, with various behind-the-scenes features and interviews popping up throughout the episode.

Making Game of Thrones

A 30-minute look into the making of Game of Thrones. New interviews with Nina Gold and her casting associate Robert Sterne, Ramin Djawadi, Tom Martin (construction manager), Adam McInnes (vfx supervisor), Jim Warren (animal handler), and others. Of course, we also get quotes from David & Dan, GRRM, the directors and much of the cast as well. Some new cast interviews too, from Rory McCann, Alfie Allen, Kate Dickie, Iain Glen, and Finn Jones. The feature covers all aspects of the production from casting to set building, stunts and visual effects, costumes and more.

More Behind the Scenes Videos

Character Profiles – Short videos where the actors talks about the characters they play. Same as the ones released prior to Season One airing.

From the Book to the Screen – GRRM and David & Dan talk about the challenges of adapting this story to television.

Creating the Show Open – Interviews with Angus Wall and the Elastic team about how they created the title sequence.

Creating the Dothraki Language – Interviews with David J. Peterson, David & Dan and the actors about creating and speaking the Dothraki language.

The Night’s Watch – Interviews with GRRM, David & Dan and the Night’s Watch cast about the history and the ways of the Watch.

Hidden Dragon Eggs – Six hidden dragon eggs that contain cast audition footage.

Episode Previews & Recaps

Short previews and recaps of each episode. These are the same videos that HBO released as the season was airing (and can be found on our season one episode guide).

Episode Commentaries

Ep 1 – David Benioff & Dan Weiss
Ep 2 – Lena Headey, Mark Addy, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau
Ep 3 – Maisie Williams, Sophie Turner, Isaac Hempstead-Wright
Ep 4 – Bryan Cogman & Kit Harington
Ep 6 – Emilia Clarke, Harry Lloyd, Peter Dinklage, Dan Minahan
Ep 8 – George R. R. Martin
Ep 10 – David Benioff, Dan Weiss, Alan Taylor

So that’s what is included. It is a lot of great stuff. I’ve been watching the discs for hours and I still haven’t seen everything (have yet to watch Anatomy, the commentary for eps 6, 8 and 10, and the dragon eggs). I could write pages and pages about this box set, but I will spare you and just bang out a quick list of what I liked and didn’t like.

What I Liked: The animation on the house history videos. Lena Headey’s potty mouth. Finally putting a face to the name of Nina Gold. The kids singing along with the opening theme. Hearing about important events in the past from different characters’ perspectives. The ‘Making of’ video. Nikolaj referencing the Youtube video of Tyrion slapping Joffrey for 10 mins straight. The little teases for season two dropped by cast and crew in the commentaries. Learning that Bryan Cogman wrote pages and pages of actual lineages for the Lineages of the Great Houses book. Charles Dance’s readings as Tywin Lannister.

What I Didn’t Like: No deleted scenes. Having boobs appear on screen while Sophie, Maisie and Isaac are doing commentary. No commentary for episode nine. The ‘Making of’ video being only 30 mins long. Sean Bean’s absence from the commentaries. No gag reel. Anatomy of an Episode being available for only one episode. The hidden dragon eggs being too hidden.

To sum up, this is a great set for both hardcore fans of the series and casual fans as well. The amount of hard work put into this set is clearly evident. The Complete Guide, with its animated histories, is amazing. Bryan Cogman was the one responsible for much of the content here, and you can read more about his role in creating this special feature in our exclusive interview with him.

With all this great stuff on the Blu-rays, I strongly recommend getting them over the DVDs, even if you have to go out and buy a Blu-ray player. Not because of the superior sound or picture quality (I was watching this on my 32 inch SD TV with sound coming from the TV speakers, so the quality of the picture and sound did nothing for me), but because you will miss out on some amazing original content if you get the DVDs.

Either way though, this set will certainly help with the wait until season two. Game of Thrones: The Complete First Season releases on March 6th in the US, pre-order it now at Amazon or the HBO Shop.

SOURCE

Bill Lawrence predicts Cougar Town's ratings

burstfaces — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 04:58:27 GMT

The Cougar Town cast has pounded grapes, traveled the country, and, from a promotional point of view, pretty much killed themselves getting word out about the return of their show tonight for an exciting third season after a lengthy absence. (EW readers likely have heard the news.)

But the result of their efforts — and, in turn, the true power of guerrilla, self-funded promotion — won’t be known until tomorrow morning, when overnight ratings are released. Though, even then, creator Bill Lawrence, who largely funded the massive campaign pegged to the show’s return, says he’s trying to stay realistic about the possible ratings outcome for a show premiering on Valentine’s Day. “Here’s what I really think will happen: I think the show will not premiere as high as people hope,” he admits. “And what I hope will happen is what always happened on Scrubs when they brought it back. The first week, the numbers are always lower than their predecessor….But what would happen then, as people became educated that the show was back on, each week it would be higher. The next week, the gap would be closed.”

Should his prediction come true, he’s prepared himself for the reaction — the Internet will try to stick a toe tag on Cougar Town. “We’re such an immediate culture that you immediately read on blogs is, ‘It’s dead!’ I read that about Scrubs for four years in a row,” he says.

Understandably, the team’s very public investment in the show’s future will make any disappointing result sting, but he sees their ambitious efforts as a source of great pride. “The one thing we all talked about as a group was that if the show went away and we all didn’t at least try, we would be so bummed out that we didn’t take a shot. So we’re taking a shot. We feel like this might be the future of TV — taking your marketing out and trying to get your own project going with people,” he says. “One of my writer friends joked, ‘If this doesn’t work out you’re going to feel like an idiot. You spent a bunch of money.’ I didn’t break the bank, and I don’t feel like an idiot. I liked it as an experiment but I liked it more on a personal level of getting to see how passionate some people are about our show and TV.”

The next four to six weeks will be the best indicator whether Cougar Town will have a fourth season, he says. But they luckily don’t have to pull out any miracles to win this coin flip. Should the same number of viewers return for the third season (season 2 averaged a 3.2 rating) he thinks they’ll be in good shape. “If we have the same audience, it will live on. And that’s such a small number that I told [star and fellow executive producer Courteney Cox] that maybe we’re in a future where we can affect it and turn the dial and make a difference by being on Twitter and having contests and giving fans access to writers and stars.” Another bright spot? The absence of Glee from the TV schedule for almost two months after that show’s new episode tonight. “I think we have a very good shot.”

SOURCE

2012 Oscar Nominations!

burstfaces — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 04:25:16 GMT

Best Picture
"The Artist"
"The Descendants"
"Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"
"The Help"
"Hugo"
"Midnight in Paris"
"Moneyball"
"The Tree of Life"
"War Horse"

Best Director
Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist"
Alexander Payne, "The Descendants"
Martin Scorsese, "Hugo"
Woody Allen, "Midnight in Paris"
Terrence Malick, "The Tree of Life"

Best Actor
Demián Bichir, "A Better Life"
George Clooney, "The Descendants"
Jean Dujardin, "The Artist"
Gary Oldman, "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy"
Brad Pitt, "Moneyball"

Best Actress
Viola Davis, "The Help"
Glenn Close, "Albert Nobbs"
Rooney Mara, "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"
Meryl Streep, "The Iron Lady"
Michelle Williams, "My Week With Marilyn"

Best Supporting Actor
Kenneth Branagh, "My Week With Marilyn"
Jonah Hill, "Moneyball"
Nick Nolte, "Warrior"
Christopher Plummer, "Beginners"
Max von Sydow, "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"

Best Supporting Actress
Bérénice Bejo, "The Artist"
Jessica Chastain, "The Help"
Melissa McCarthy, "Bridesmaids"
Janet McTeer, "Albert Nobbs"
Octavia Spencer, "The Help"

Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
"The Descendants"
"Hugo"
"The Ides of March"
"Moneyball"
"Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy"

Best Writing (Original Screenplay)
"The Artist"
"Bridesmaids"
"Margin Call"
"Midnight in Paris"
"A Separation"

Best Art Direction
"The Artist"
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2"
"Hugo"
"Midnight in Paris"
"War Horse"

Best Cinematography
"The Artist"
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"
"Hugo"
"The Tree of Life"
"War Horse"

Best Costume Design
"Anonymous"
"The Artist"
"Hugo"
"Jane Eyre"
"W.E."

Best Film Editing
"The Artist"
"The Descendants"
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"
"Hugo"
"Moneyball"

Best Makeup
"Albert Nobbs"
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2"
"The Iron Lady"

Best Music (Original Score)
"The Adventures of Tintin"
"The Artist"
"Hugo"
"Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy"
"War Horse"

Best Music (Original Song)
"Man or Muppet" from "The Muppets"
"Real in Rio" from "Rio"

Best Visual Effects

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2"
"Hugo"
"Real Steel"
"Rise of the Planet of the Apes"
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon"

Best Animated Feature Film
"A Cat in Paris"
"Chico and Rita"
"Kung Fu Panda 2"
"Puss in Boots"
"Rango"

Best Short Film (Animated)
"Dimanche/Sunday"
"The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore"
"La Luna"
"A Morning Stroll"
"Wild Life"

"Hugo" led the way with a whopping 11 nominations while "The Artist" wasn't far behind with 10. But what's interesting is that there is a big gap between those two films and the next tier, as "Moneyball" and "War Horse" (which made it into the Best Picture field and was clearly popular throughout, despite its paltry guild showing) landed six each. "The Descendants," meanwhile, landed five (and Shailene Woodley was indeed snubbed, following suit with the indications of SAG last month), as did "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," which was snubbed in the Best Picture field after a really strong guild showing.

SOURCE

'Cougar Town' gets return date!

burstfaces — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 15:33:01 GMT

Here’s a Valentine’s Day present for Cougar Town fans. The comedy is returning to ABC on Tuesday, Feb. 14, at 8:30 p.m.

You had to figure with the cancellation of Work It (which was sneakily axed late Friday night) that this was coming, right? That’s why ABC seemingly ignored Cougar Town during its midseason dates announcement — you can’t declare a return date for a series that you suspect is going to take the place of another show that has a high likelihood of not working.

And yet, ABC also demonstrated a sort of accidental brilliance by leaving Cougar Town off its schedule and recent Pasadena press-tour lineup. The decisions seemed to slight the show, yet it galvanized fans and rallied creators Bill Lawrence and Kevin Biegel to promote the comedy as an underdog, resulting in more press attention and buzz than if the show been on the schedule all along.

So here’s the new question. Cougar Town used to enjoy the huge Modern Family lead-in on Wednesdays. Now, moving to Tuesdays, its lead-in will be Tim Allen’s Last Man Standing, which has gone through two companions in the last few months (Man Up, Work It). Will Last Man Standing and Cougar Town get along?

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Best Of 2011: Top 10 Games of the Year

burstfaces — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 15:35:35 GMT

The process of selecting Gamasutra's top 10 games of 2011 required a healthy dose of debate among our editors, perhaps even more so than in previous years.

That's simply because there were so many good games released this year. If you step back and look at 2011 objectively, it's hard to deny the high level of quality.

Looking at the great games that didn't make the top ten just drove home the fact that nice visuals, satisfying gameplay and coherent stories are becoming increasingly commonplace. There are plenty of games that didn't make the cut that are wonderful examples of interactive entertainment, and possess all things that are associated with "quality."

But to truly stand out and leave a lasting mark on players who've seen everything, a game also needs personality and heart. To us, the following 10 games, including the one that earned our coveted Game of the Year, captured the purest essence of video gaming during 2011.

10. Battlefield 3

Developer: DICE
Publisher: EA
Platforms: PC/PS3/Xbox 360

For war shooter veterans, there was quite the battle of the titans to focus on towards the end of 2011, as Battlefield 3 took Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 head on. But while the latter clearly came out on top in terms of sales thanks to its legions of fans, Battlefield 3 proved itself to be a worthy competitor, providing one of the deepest team-based multiplayer shooter experiences ever released.

Not only does Battlefield 3 look stunning (begging many gamers to update their PC graphics drivers in the process), it is also meticulously designed and balanced to ensure that every victory and every loss is completely down to how well players worked together as a team. This is a game in which you can score not a single kill and die over a dozen times during a 20 minute period, and yet still come out as the round's top player due to your teamwork skills and objective-capturing.

Battlefield 3 also features one of the most in-depth ranking systems in any game to date. Players can go dozens of hours using a single class and a single gun, and you'll still be unlocking upgrades and achievements throughout -- or you can have a dabble with a variety of weapons and classes and see great results too. The browser-based Battlelog system is great for skimming after a few games, even if it does make launching the game a bit awkward.

Okay, so the single player campaign isn't up to snuff, and reviewers marked it down rightly so, but if you're buying this game for single player content, you're doing it wrong. Battlefield 3 is quite easily the best multiplayer shooter since Counter Strike: Source. -- Mike Rose, UK Editor

9. Catherine

Developer: Atlus Persona Team
Publisher: Atlus (Deep Silver in Europe)
Platforms: PS3/Xbox 360

In what was to me the year of the as-expected high-polish AAA sequel, a bizarre game about infidelity, the unconscious and the morality of freedom versus responsibility was pretty much exactly what I wanted. Catherine wasn't a consensus kind of game. The Q*Bert-style block puzzles could get too difficult (even the Japanese wanted a patch), and the long dialogue sequences didn't offer much in the way of interactivity as the modern era favors it.

But no one can talk about Catherine without talking about what it means to them. Some found Vincent, the tormented bachelor caught between a long-term girlfriend and a hot young affair, implausible; others saw their own relationship history, saw themselves. Even for those who found the choices prohibitively binary, or for those who were put off by the late-stage fantasy spin the story takes, it was a game that made everyone talk and think about what commitment and adulthood means to them.

We are a generation often (perhaps fairly) accused of an intense yen for escapism. That Catherine exists amid the year's predictable slate of battlefields and sword-swingers -- and that it sold well, despite being difficult to explain and so intensely Japanese -- says interesting things about our curiosity for new kinds of content, our appetite for new definitions of adulthood in games, and the potential for video games to illustrate poignant conflicts beyond what we've imagined so far. -- Leigh Alexander, editor-at-large

8. Orcs Must Die

Developer: Robot Entertainment
Publisher: Microsoft
Platforms: PC (Steam), XBLA

I expected to load this up just to see what it was like, but wound up playing for hours in the first session. Orcs Must Die's blend of third person action and tower defense is instantly engaging, offering a pleasant mix of action and predictable randomness that, when combined with rankings and in-game currency gained from playing well, adds up to make players go for "one more try."

Building traps in the actual game world is a tense race against time, but the payoff is fantastic when scads of orcs go flying into a waiting pit. Though other games like Dungeon Defenders and SoulCaster have attempted the action/tower defense hybrid, it's Orcs Must Die's cleaner AI, better animation, and more inventive arenas that give it the edge.

Though I wish there were more trap combos possible, Orcs Must Die is perfect for a score attack competition. The only unfortunate thing is that nobody on the Gamasutra staff can get anywhere close to my rank. Yeah, I said it. -- Brandon Sheffield, senior editor/EIC Game Developer magazine

7. L.A. Noire

Developer: Team Bondi
Publisher: Take-Two (Rockstar label)
Platforms: PC/PS3/Xbox 360

What a weird wake of ambivalence this game left; a pall of unanswered questions, of split decisions, studio troubles and rumors. L.A. Noire was something of an unfortunate casualty of its own grand vision -- so clear was its intention that all the ways it didn't quite meet those goals stood out all the more.

Maybe the strange dissonance between gameplay and story, the strange lifelessness of its stunningly-built, preciously-detailed 1940s L.A., whether on purpose or otherwise, reinforced the film-noir vibe, the spiritual deadness that is part of detective Cole Phelps' character. Players who struggled to read facial cues and choose responses that would be correct were often frustrated by Phelps' overreactions -- but that fervent zealotry was part of the man's story, part of his tragedy.

What was interesting is that through its high ambition, and through a few lightning flashes of unprecedented brilliance, L.A. Noire seemed to poke at the scrim that's kept video games a walled garden all along. Those of us well acclimated to the language of games could find all of the game's disassociated points, but new and infrequent gamers seemed to take to it much more naturally, without overthinking, drawn into an interactive detective drama. Suspension of disbelief came much more naturally to my friends, and it taught me a lot about how I think about games. -- Leigh Alexander, editor-at-large

6. Super Mario 3D Land

Developer: Nintendo EAD Tokyo
Publisher: Nintendo
Platform: 3DS

With Super Mario 3D Land, Nintendo has a lot to prove. Its flagship series, in this case, didn't just have to be a success -- it also had to showcase the 3DS' glasses-free 3D. Fortunately, it does a great job of showing how the effect can enhance and support gameplay when the designers really consider it.

While the Mario series first stepped into 3D in 1996, in recent years it's had a 2D renaissance. This game blends these two styles so perfectly that it almost seems like 3D Land could have been the first 3D evolution of the series. Like a 2D game, it features brief, challenging levels: each has one great design idea, and you move on to the next. This game is a testament to simplicity -- there's nothing here that doesn't need to be, just bite-sized chunks of clever gameplay.

Nintendo may have revolutionized portable gaming, but this is the first time it's been able to successfully bring its mascot to a handheld in a way that fits perfectly with the platform -- not just in the design and the rhythm of the gameplay, but also in playing to the platform's specific strengths, too. And by perfecting a new formula, it opens up a new creative offshoot for the series, distinct from both side-scrolling New Super Mario Bros.-style games and more elaborate Super Mario Galaxy-style home console titles. -- Christian Nutt, features director

5. Rayman Origins

Developer: Ubisoft Montpellier
Publisher: Ubisoft
Platforms: PS3/Xbox 360/Wii

I'm amazed, frankly, that Rayman Origins even got made. The high res art was clearly a huge undertaking, with massive care paid to its every nook and cranny. The music thematically matches each scene, and the voice acting all fits within the ridiculous world. Everything in the game is alive -- it's absolutely lovely, but I'm not surprised nobody bought it. At $60, it was a tough sell for what nowadays "looks" like a downloadable game. That's why it topped our Top Overlooked Games list.

Of course, Rayman Origins isn't in our overall top 10 for that. The game is just so generous and lush, in all respects. It asks the player to enter a world that we might have imagined in our childhood, and rarely since. And it controls perfectly -- some may tout the inertia-filled controls of the new Super Mario Bros., but I'll take good old fashioned "stick to the ground" pixel perfection any day.

The best thing about the game, though, is the free-for-all that is co-op multiplayer. There are very few co-op sidescrolling games nowadays, and even fewer that support four players. But Rayman Origins does so with ease, letting players slap each other around, toss each other off cliffs, and revive each other in a madcap dash for the end of the stage. This is the game I wanted to exist when I was 10 years old. My hope is that a number of current 10-year-olds will find their way through to playing it. -- Brandon Sheffield, senior editor/EIC Game Developer magazine

4. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Developer: Bethesda Game Studios
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Platforms: PC/PS3/Xbox 360

There's something to be said about a game where you can get lost for 30 hours, aimlessly wander the countryside, and make absolutely no progress on the main campaign. That kind of experience is plenty common in Bethesda's latest open-world role-playing game, which succeeds not in providing a tightly-directed thrill ride, but by letting players guide the game at their own pace.

Nothing forces you to travel to one area over another, or adopt a certain playstyle, or even to follow the game's story. There's plenty of joy to be found simply hunting mammoths, exploring tucked-away ruins, or otherwise just exploring what the province of Skyrim has to offer. With such unrestrained freedom, it almost guarantees that each player will carve out his or her own, unique experience.

Some of this might sound familiar to those who have played other Bethesda titles like Oblivion or Fallout 3, but Skyrim offers a more compelling experience through and through, offering more variety in the game world, a more robust combat system and a more efficient user interface (for console players, at least). It's the small things that make Skyrim stand out from its predecessors, but these changes go a long way toward establishing a consistent and seamless experience.

When so many games take pains to hold the player's hand and provide precise and guided experiences, Skyrim's freeform play comes as a distinct breath of fresh air. -- Tom Curtis, news editor

3. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Developer: Nintendo EAD
Publisher: Nintendo
Platforms: Wii

There's a sense of wonder that the Legend of Zelda series captures in the hearts of its devotees, lifetime fans who remember their first adventure in the original NES game, or running out into Ocarina of Time 3D's Hyrule Field, or discovering that Nintendo somehow fit a complete and amazing Zelda game into a portable screen with Link's Awakening.

Skyward Sword is full of that wonder and new thrills. Director Hidemaro Fujibayashi and his team made something as simple as leaping off any ledge exciting, while also crafting some of the most inventive dungeons of the 25-year-old franchise. You'll see puzzles that ride you across different eras in a mine cart, and traps that send cursed creatures chasing behind you as you scramble to climb a thin line of thread (a scene seemingly inspired by Ryunosuke Akutagawa's short story "The Spider's Thread").

The Wii game's fourth dungeon boss is one of the most fun you'll fight in any game. A six-armed automaton swings giant axes and cutlasses at you, pausing after each ground-shattering swing. There's your chance to flick your Wii Remote/whip to grab hold of its joints and unravel the machine's limbs. Sheathing your own sword, you can hoist one of its massive cutlasses onto your shoulder, and make short work of the rest of the boss's legs and arms. Even then, as you dismember this robot that laughs with a child's voice, there is wonder in this dance. -- Eric Caoili, news editor

2. Batman: Arkham City

Developer: Rocksteady
Publisher: WBIE
Platforms: PC/PS3/Xbox 360

In 2009, a relatively unknown London studio called Rocksteady did what no others could before: it released a game that actually made me feel like Batman.

Note that when I say this, there is some added weight to the statement. I am a nerd. I think Batman is rad, and even now as an actual adult with an actual job and house of my own, I still have conversations with other adults (some of whom work here) about how great he is. I have spent an unhealthy amount of time pondering the character's motivations, his world, and what inhabiting his body would be like.

I have therefore, as you might imagine, always had a horribly unrealistic vision of what a proper Batman game would be like. And while I won't be as bold as to say that Rocksteady met that vision, I can easily say that its game is way more fun than the jumbled mess I came up with.

This year saw a sequel that took what some might describe as an "open world" approach, putting the Dark Knight in his natural habitat: standing on rooftops and looking introspective. And it's in this open world that Batman: Arkham City truly became magical for me.

I don't know how they did it but somehow, no matter where I was and what I was doing, I always seemed to be in the right place, with something to do. Yes, most open world games have tons of content to keep you going, but somehow everything I did in Arkham City seemed immediately relevant and important (even if it wasn't), and that to me is game design magic. -- Frank Cifaldi, news editor

1. Portal 2

Developer: Valve Software
Publisher: Valve Software
Platforms: PC/PS3/Xbox 360

When I first watched a demo for Portal 2 a few years ago during a closed-door session at E3, I was a little bit worried. What Valve appeared to be doing was over-complicating the finely-tuned idea that was expressed in the original Portal by adding, well, lots of stuff.

That "stuff" included more story, more voice acting and more game mechanics involving gels, lens blocks and light bridges. When viewed out of the context of the entire game, as I did back before the game came out, these new aspects of Portal 2 seemed intimidating, and worse, unnecessary.

But in typical Valve form, once the final product released, all worries were laid to rest. Turns out that Portal 2 has spot-on pacing, and by the end, you feel like a virtuoso, whose instrument of choice is the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device.

With every tough puzzle that you solve, you feel empowered to soldier forward and take on the next challenge, which usually is even more difficult than the last. The ratio of difficulty to player satisfaction is virtually perfect, and something that Valve's contemporaries might want to closely study.

That's not even to mention Portal 2's excellent story and voice acting, which are extremely effective in urging the player to move forward and solve these puzzles. And the co-op (which also allows for cross-platform play between PC and PS3) is more than a nice bonus, as experiencing this game with a friend tends to be just as hilarious as it is challenging. Portal 2 is bursting with personality, and it begs to be played.

So all that extra "stuff" isn't superfluous -- every new addition has a purpose, and has a meaning. They made Portal 2 better than the original. Leave it to Valve to screw up the old adage, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." -- Kris Graft, editor-in-chief

SOURCE

Sales of Louis C.K.'s Standup Download Top $1 Million

burstfaces — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 06:23:26 GMT

Comedian Louis C.K. has earned more than $1 million on sales of his latest comedy special, Live at the Beacon Theater, which he made available just 10 days ago as a $5 download on his website. Appearing Wednesday on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, the comedian said he'd already given away $280,000 of the money to several charities, some of which he discovered after asking his Twitter followers for suggestions.

The star of FX's dark, groundbreaking sitcom Louie, the comedian used the internet-only distribution of his latest special as an experiment. It's been a thorough success: after setting aside $250,000 of the profit thus far to pay for the production, he says he'll use another $250,000 to give bonuses to people he works with and then pay himself $220,000. The organizations he's donating to include one that offers outdoor and animal therapies to children, another specializing in pediatric cancer research and a group that provides clean drinking water.

SOURCE

Holiday TV Schedule

burstfaces — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 06:15:44 GMT

Television networks are hosting scores of specials, movies and concerts celebrating the season. With something on every day from Nov. 29 to Christmas, there is a show to watch for everyone.

NOVEMBER

“Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” 8 p.m. Nov. 29, CBS. A reindeer with an unusual nose saves the day.
“Christmas in Rockefeller Center 2011” 8 p.m. Nov. 30, NBC. Tony Bennett, Justin Bieber team up to light the Rockefeller Center tree.

DEC. 1

“Mickey’s Christmas Carol” 6 p.m., ABC Family. The Disney gang retells Charles Dickens’ famous tale.
“Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too” 6:30 p.m., ABC Family. Pooh and Piglet rush to mail Christopher Robin’s letter to Santa.
“The Santa Clause” 7 p.m., ABC Family. Scott Calin (Tim Allen) becomes the new Santa Claus.

DEC. 2

“Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas” 8 p.m., ABC Family. Live-action version of the classic tale starring Jim Carrey.
“Good Luck Charlie, It’s Christmas!” 8 p.m., Disney. The Duncans try to reunite for the holiday after they get separated.

DEC. 3

“Straight No Chaser — Songs of the Decades: Holiday Edition” 7 p.m., WITF. The a cappella group performs timeless holiday hits.
“A Princess for Christmas” 8 p.m., Hallmark. An American woman falls in love with a handsome prince.
“It’s a Wonderful Life” 8 p.m., NBC. One man discovers how important his life is.

DEC. 4

“The Nightmare Before Christmas” Midnight, ABC Family. Halloweentown’s Pumpkin King decides to take on Santa’s job.
“Richard Roeper’s Holiday Movie Picks” 9 a.m., Reelz Channel. Not sure what to watch this holiday? Richard Roeper offers picks.

DEC. 5

“Rudolph’s Shiny New Year” 6 p.m., ABC Family. Rudolph has a new mission from Santa — find Baby New Year.
“Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Island of Misfit Toys” 7 p.m., ABC Family. Rudolph tries to rescue Santa’s toys from the Evil Toy Taker.
“A Charlie Brown Christmas” 8 p.m., ABC. Charlie Brown learns the true meaning of Christmas.
“Adventure Time: Holly Jolly Secrets” 8 p.m., Cartoon Network. The Ice King’s video diary is discovered by Finn and Jake.
“The Sing-Off Holiday Special” 8 p.m., NBC. The winning groups for all three seasons perform holiday songs.
“The Polar Express” 8:30 p.m., ABC Family. Inspiring film based on the beloved book by Chris Van Allsburg.
“A Christmas Carol (1938)” 9:45 p.m., TCM. Starring Reginald Owen as the miserly Scrooge who hates Christmas.

DEC. 6

“‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” 6 p.m., ABC Family. Animated retelling of the famous poem by Clement Moore.
“A Michael Bublé Christmas” 8 p.m., NBC. The crooner sings songs from his latest holiday album.
“Home Alone 2: Lost in New York” 8:30 p.m., ABC Family. It’s up to Kevin (Macaulay Culkin) to stop a toy store heist.
“A Christmas Story” 9 p.m., TCM. Family favorite film about a young boy’s Christmas in the ‘40s. Love the movie? Catch the marathon starting at 8 p.m. Dec. 24 on TBS.

DEC. 7

“A Very Pink Christmas” 6 p.m., ABC Family. The Pink Panther discovers the true meaning of the season.
“How the Grinch Stole Christmas” 7:30 p.m., Cartoon Network. The Grinch tries to ruin Christmas in this animated short film.
“Tom and Jerry: A Nutcracker Tale” 8 p.m., Cartoon Network. The Mouse family discovers what Christmas is all about.
“National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” 9 p.m., ABC Family. The Griswold family’s Christmas plans hilariously go awry.

DEC. 8

“Jack Frost” 6 p.m., ABC Family. The story of how Jack Frost helped a knight win the heart of his lady.
“Frosty’s Winter Wonderland” 7 p.m., ABC Family. Frosty wants to get married, but evil Jack Frost has other plans.
“Cranberry Christmas” 7:30 p.m., ABC Family. Mr. Whiskers tries to preserve a local skating bog.
“Santa Claus is Comin’ To Town” 8 p.m., ABC Family. The origin of Kris Kringle is explored in this animated classic.
“The Year Without A Santa Claus” 9 p.m., ABC Family. Santa decides he needs a vacation, threatening Christmas.
“A Miser Brother’s Christmas” 10 p.m., ABC Family. Santa is hurt and Christmas is on the brink of being canceled.

DEC. 9

“Frosty the Snowman” 8 p.m., CBS. A magical snowman comes to life in this classic tale.
“Frosty Returns” 8:30 p.m., CBS. Frosty comes back to save the day.
“Yes, Virginia” 9 p.m., CBS. True story about a girl who tries to prove there is a Santa.
“Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause” 10 p.m., ABC Family. Jack Frost decides he wants Santa Claus’s job this year.

DEC. 10

“Snow” 7:30 a.m., ABC Family. A reinvention of the Santa Claus myth.
“Snow 2: Brain Freeze” 9:30 a.m., ABC Family. Santa loses his memory right before Christmas.
“Olive the Other Reindeer” Noon, Cartoon Network. A dog saves the day when one of Santa Claus’ reindeer is injured.
“Unaccompanied Minors” 2 p.m., ABC Family. Holiday romp about kids stranded in an airport with their parents.
“Jack Frost” 4 p.m., ABC Family. When Jack Frost dies he returns to life as a snowman.
“Annie Claus is Coming to Town” 8 p.m., Hallmark. Santa’s daughter finds love in LA in this original movie premiere.
“Flight Before Christmas” 9 p.m., CBS. A reindeer with vertigo takes lessons from a flying squirrel.
“Snowmageddon” 9 p.m., Syfy. When this snow globe is shaken, bad things happen in the real world.
“Movies a la Carte — Holiday Cooking with Celebrity Chefs” 10 p.m., Reelz. Celebrities make their favorite holiday dishes.

DEC. 11

“Once Upon a Christmas” 8 a.m., ABC Family. Santa’s daughter tries to persuade him to not retire.
“Twice Upon a Christmas” 10 a.m., ABC Family. Santa’s daughter has to save Christmas again.
“Christmas in Connecticut” 10 a.m., TCM. A food writer is forced to eat her words when her fictional persona is forced to host a Christmas for a stranger.
“Snow Globe” Noon, ABC Family. A girl is transported to a Christmas wonderland.
“Santa Baby” 2 p.m., ABC Family. Santa’s daughter is a business executive seeking his approval.
“Holiday in Handcuffs” 6 p.m., ABC Family. A young woman kidnaps a guy to be her date for Christmas.
“The Christmas Pageant” 8 p.m., Hallmark. A NYC director is sent to direct a small town’s Christmas pageant.
“12 Dates of Christmas” 8 p.m., ABC Family. A young woman is forced to re-live the same first date on Christmas.
“Trans-Siberian Orchestra: Ghosts of Christmas Eve” 9:30 p.m., WITF. Jewel and Michael Crawford perform with the orchestra.
“Celebrate Hanukkah” 11 p.m., WITF. The Jewish Festival of Lights is celebrated through song.

DEC. 12

“Santa Who?” 7 a.m., ABC Family. Santa forgets who he is in this comedy.
“A Flintstone Christmas” 6 p.m., ABC Family. Santa’s injured, forcing Fred Flintstone to take his place.

DEC. 13

“Meet the Santas” 7 a.m., ABC Family. Nick Claus has to marry in order to take over his dad’s job of Santa.
“Merry Madagascar” 6 p.m., ABC Family. Santa crash lands on Madagascar with the wacky penguins.
“Kung Fu Panda Holiday Special” 6:30 p.m., ABC Family. Po is torn between spending time with family and his warrior duties.
“Christmas with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Featuring David Archuleta” 8 p.m., WITF. The acclaimed choir celebrates Christmas.

DEC. 14

“Santa Claus: The Movie” 7 a.m., ABC Family. Santa’s origins are revealed.
“Live from Lincoln Center” 8 p.m., WITF. New York City Ballet’s performance “The Nutcracker.”
“Ed, Edd n Eddy’s Jingle, Jingle, Jangle” 8:30 p.m., Cartoon Network. Eddy plans to steal other people’s presents.

DEC. 15

“Chasing Christmas” 7 a.m., ABC Family. A single father is visited by ghosts on Christmas Eve.
“Christmas Do-Over” 9 a.m., ABC Family. A man is forced to relive Christmas over and over again.

DEC. 16

“Christmas in Boston” 7 a.m., ABC Family. Childhood pen-pals set up a real-life meeting, but send their friends in their stead.
“Three Days” 9 a.m., ABC Family. An angel fights for love and second chances.
“Mickey’s Christmas Special” 6 p.m., ABC Family. A collection of Disney holiday shorts.
“Christmas in Washington” 8 p.m., TNT. Justin Bieber and others perform in Washington.
“Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas” 9 p.m., Fox. Manny’s favorite decorations are destroyed, and Sid’s to blame.

DEC. 17

“Nestor, The Long-Eared Christmas Donkey” 7 a.m., ABC Family. The donkey that carried Mary to Bethlehem tells his story.
“The Little Drummer Boy” 7:30 a.m., ABC Family. A drummer boy has no gift for Jesus, so plays him a song instead.
“Pinocchio’s Christmas” 8 a.m., ABC Family. Pinocchio loses the money he meant to use to buy Geppetto’s gift.
“Christmas Returns to Canaan” 8 p.m., Hallmark. A Texas family struggles to reconnect.
“The Story of Santa Claus” 9 p.m., CBS. Fun, family holiday classic about Santa and his elves.

DEC. 18

“Santa Buddies: The Legend of Santa Paws” 7:30 a.m., ABC Family. Puppy Paws has forgotten the real meaning of Christmas.
“The Search for Santa Paws” 9:30 a.m., ABC Family. Dogs, elves and children team up to rescue Santa.
“Richie Rich’s Christmas Wish” 11:30 a.m., ABC Family. Richie Rich battles his scrooge-like cousin in an alternate universe.
“National Christmas Tree Lighting 2011” Noon, WITF. The 89th annual tree-lighting celebration.
“Prima Princessa Presents The Nutcracker” 3:30 p.m., WITF. Cartoon fairy ballerina tells pre-schoolers “The Nutcracker” story.
“Great Performances” 6:30 p.m., WITF. David Foster, Andrea Bocelli and others perform holiday favorites.
“Christmas Magic” 8 p.m., Hallmark. An event planner is put on “angel duty” before she can go to heaven.

DEC. 19

“Scrooge” 1 a.m., TCM. Musical version of “A Christmas Carol.”
“Picking Up & Dropping Off” 7 a.m., ABC Family. A single father keeps running into a woman on his trips to the airport.
“I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” 11:30 a.m., ABC Family. A young boy catches his mom kissing Santa, and fears the worst.
“I’ll Be Home for Christmas” 1:30 p.m., ABC Family. A prankster is forced to hitchhike his way home for Christmas.
“Phineas and Ferb Christmas Vacation” 6 p.m., ABC Family. Phineas and Ferb try to thank Santa for his hard work.

DEC. 20

“Ernest Saves Christmas” 7 a.m., ABC Family. Taxi driver Ernest plays chauffeur to Santa Claus in this comedy.
“Deck the Halls” 9 p.m., TNT. A holiday mystery movie based on the book by Mary Higgins Clark.
“Saturday Night Live Presents: A Very Gilly Christmas” 9 p.m., NBC. Hilarious special featuring favorite holiday sketches.
“Christmas at St. Olaf” 9:30 p.m., WITF. 100th anniversary of annual Christmas festival at St. Olaf College.
“Holiday Affair” 11 p.m., TCM. Romance blooms for a young woman and a sales clerk.

DEC. 21

“Christmas Every Day” 7 a.m., ABC Family. A young boy relives Christmas until he learns the day’s true meaning.
“Sons of Mistletoe” 9 a.m., ABC Family. An heiress settles her father’s estate, which includes a boy’s home.
“The Dog Who Saved Christmas” 11 a.m., ABC Family. A family adopts a guard dog to keep their home safe on Christmas.
“Hollywood’s Top Ten: Happy Holiday Movies” 12:30 p.m., Reelz. The name says it all as the channel counts down the happiest films.
“Disney’s Prep & Landing” 7 p.m., ABC Family. Elite elf unit Prep and Landing share their story in this cartoon film.
“13th Annual Home for the Holidays” 8 p.m., CBS. Martina McBride hosts this seasonal drive for adoption.

DEC. 22

“The Christmas List” 7 a.m., ABC Family. The wishes on a Christmas list start coming true, but not as expected.
“Christmas Caper” 9 a.m., ABC Family. A jewel thief plans a Christmas heist.
“Secret Santa” 11 a.m., ABC Family. A journalist plans to reveal the identity of her town’s Santa.
“Hollywood’s Top Ten: Mall Madness Holiday Shopping Scenes” 12:30 p.m., Reelz. A look at the Hollywood’s favorite crazy shopping scenes.
“Christmas at Belmont” 8 p.m., WITF. The Belmont University annual holiday concert.

DEC. 23

“Christmas Cupid” 10 a.m., ABC Family. A Hollywood publicist is haunted by an infamous client.
“Hollywood’s Top Ten: Top Ten Cinema Santas” 12:30 p.m., Reelz. Who’s the best Santa of them all? Find out by tuning in.

DEC. 24

“The Little Drummer Boy Book II” 7:30 a.m., ABC Family. The drummer boy and a wise man hunt for bells to give baby Jesus.
“Rudolph & Frosty’s Christmas in July” 11:30 a.m., ABC Family. Rudolph and Frosty team up to save the day.
“Our Favorite Holiday Movies” 7:30 p.m., Reelz. A look at Reelz Channel’s favorite holiday films.
“Miracle on 34th Street” 8 p.m., TCM. A department store Santa may be the real deal.

DEC. 25

“Disney Christmas Parade” Noon, ABC. Disney heroes and heroines parade for Christmas.

SOURCE

The Dark Knight Rises: 10 Things We Demand to See

burstfaces — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 06:05:17 GMT

As one of the most anticipated movies of 2012 from the minute it was announced, the film has inspired strong feelings for years about what direction it should go. For months the internet has been devouring spoilers, screen caps, bootleg footage and other leaked information with fervor and it seems that every bit of information brings about either dread or joy.

Although it’s now too late to advice the production crew and even though we have faith in Nolan that he doesn’t need it, here’s 10 things we’d enjoy (or demand!) seeing in this next Batman film.

More Detective Work

One of the things that’s been sorely missing from the Nolan films is the sense that Batman has trained his mind as well as his body. The training he received in Batman Begins was focused entirely on acquiring the skills of an assassin. Sure, Bruce learned to take down fifty men without breaking a sweat, but when Lucius Fox explains to him how he created the antidote for the Fear Toxin, he says “Am I supposed to understand any of that?” The Batman we’ve seen in other media was an expert in chemistry and would often synthesize formulas for use in crime fighting.

In The Dark Knight, Batman does do some forensic investigating to obtain fingerprints from a shattered bullet, but the reasoning behind that was faulty at best. That was not detective work; it was pseudo science and the entire sequence could have been removed from the film without missing a beat.

Batman’s greatest weapon is his mind and he should be finding clues, reasoning things out and solving problems with tools other than his fists. He doesn’t have to be Sherlock Holmes, but Batman is a detective above all and should be given a challenging mystery to solve.

Cleaner Streets

We learned this week that The Dark Knight Rises takes place eight years after the end of the last movie. Batman has had almost a full decade to wage his war on crime. When last we saw Gotham, the mob was on its last leg after the destruction caused by the Joker. We should be told that Batman used that opportunity to put the last nail in the coffin of organized crime. Now, the city should still be dangerous and the theme of escalation should be present. More and more, criminals should be adopting new tactics for breaking the law to avoid easy capture by the Caped Crusader. Maybe we could even see a few shots of the interior of Arkham, showing recognizable members of Batman’s Rogues Gallery imprisoned. It would make a great opportunity for some fanboy shout-out cameos and could be handled well without falling into the trap of “Hey, everybody! Look! It’s the PENGUIN!”

Having the mafia and crime families still present and as active as they were previously will force us to wonder what Batman was actually doing for those eight years. Gotham needs to be different otherwise there is no explanation for why Batman is relevant or necessary.

Ra’s Al Ghul Remains Dead

In the comics, Ra’s Al Ghul is hundreds of years old and prolongs his life with the use of Lazarus Pits: mysterious, naturally occurring pools of green ooze that can heal wounds, cure disease and bring the recently deceased back to life. With the announcement (via numerous reports that he was spotted on set) that Liam Neeson will be reprising the role in The Dark Knight Rises, speculation erupted that he would be revealed as surviving his death at the end of Batman Begins.

However, people coming back from the dead does not fit into the realistic setting that Nolan has created for his Batman universe. That type of thing works well in comics, but the last two movies worked hard to create a world that felt like our own reality.

We can only assume that Neeson will be appearing in some sort of flashback or dream sequence; having him return as the main villain would undermine Bane and Catwoman’s roles in the story.

Marion Cotillard is Actually Talia Al Ghul

When Marion Cotillard was first cast in the film, a lot of fans (this website included) believed that she would be playing Ra’s Al Ghul’s daughter, Talia. In the comics, her and Batman have a romantic history and Ra’s Al Ghul’s original plan was to wipe out humanity and start over with Bruce and Talia repopulating the world. Of course, Batman refused, so Talia remains as a scorned lover from his past.

Cotillard and Nolan have both denied the idea, stating that she would instead play an original role to the film universe: a Wayne Enterprises board member named Miranda Tate. But, Nolan has played a similar trick before. In Batman Begins, Liam Neeson’s character was billed as “Ducard” and though many fans correctly guessed he would actually be Ra’s Al Ghul, Nolan was tight lipped. It would be quite brilliant for Talia to disguise herself as Miranda and infiltrate Bruce’s inner circle. The official description of Miranda Tate describes her as wanting to help Bruce rebuild the legacy of his father, which would be very interesting if she was also trying to do that with her own father as Talia. She could tease Bruce with help while antagonizing Batman (surely she would be aware of his secret identity).

On top of that, Cotillard has been seen wearing a costume that would fit Talia way more than some board member. It almost feels like a foregone conclusion that Tate will end up being Talia.

Explanation for Batcave Construction

One of the larger plot holes of the Batman story is the Batcave. Batman Begins handled it well with a sort of protobatcave that was already there as a result of the Wayne family’s participation in the Underground Railroad. But, the more elaborate the Batcave becomes, one has to wonder how Bruce managed to have it built without alerting anyone to his identity. In most incarnations, it’s something that is just completely ignored. The movie provides the convenient excuse of Wayne Manor needing to be rebuilt after the fire, but there’s no way Bruce and Alfred could build the whole thing themselves.

We’re hoping that Nolan can come up with an explanation that seems plausible and doesn’t involve a bunch of shallow graves underneath the Batcomputer.

Some Reference to The Joker

Heath Ledger was unquestioningly an enormous part of The Dark Knight’s success. With Cillian Murphy appearing in all three movies as the Scarecrow, it’s sad that we’ll never see a Joker cameo due to Ledger’s untimely demise. But, the character and the actor deserve to at the very least be mentioned at some point in the film. Even if it’s just a line of dialogue like, “And the Joker is still safely locked away in Arkham Asylum.”

The Joker is arguably Batman’s greatest enemy and we should at least get the sense that he’s still a concern for both him and the people of Gotham. A man who caused that much destruction would leave an irreparable mark on the city and there’s no way he would just disappear from people’s awareness.

Bane Slamming Batman Over His Knee

During the Knightfall storyline of the ‘90s, the comic book Bane broke Batman’s back, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. The image has become one of the most iconic from Batman’s history.
We’re not saying that Batman should end up in a wheelchair by the end of the movie, but having an homage to this moment in the film would be vastly appreciated. It was a scene that really showed how much of a threat Bane poses and why his handling in Batman and Robin was so disastrous. Bane is not a mindless simpleton who can barely speak; he’s a cunning strategist who managed to put Batman out of commission for an extended period of time. It would show that the film makers know the source material and respect it.

Batgirl

A recent and unconfirmed rumor has sprung up regarding Commissioner Gordon’s daughter, Barbara. Apparently, a sign was seen on set with “E.Page” and “B. Gordon” written on it, perhaps referring to actress Ellen Page.

Considering that Nolan has a habit of working with certain actors repeatedly (Marion Cotillard, Tom Hardy and Joseph Gordon-Levitt were all imported from Inception), it would not be surprising that he reserved a role for Page, who was also in Inception. Having a brief cameo from her in the movie would be fun and she can definitely play a teenager. (We definitely don’t want to see her anywhere near an actual Batgirl costume, though.)

While Barbara is a great character, the odds of this rumor being true are pretty low. All it takes is one smart ass on set with a felt pen to get the Internet buzzing. Still, Barbara’s presence in the movie helps with building the fictional world and making things feel fully realized.

Robin

Just kidding! It’s pretty much universally agreed that Robin shouldn’t go anywhere near this movie. Christian Bale said in an interview that he would walk from the production if they chose to include the character.

Batman’s Redemption

But seriously, folks, by the end of the film, Batman must redeem himself in the eyes of the public. For eight years he’s been seen as a murderer, which is the exact opposite of his life’s work. The type of stress associated with pressing on with the fight against crime while everyone thinks you’re no better than a cold blooded killer has to be horrible. The people of Gotham deserve to know the truth and Batman deserves recognition for his actual deeds. Nolan has said that he is treating the movie as the final chapter and plans to offer some finality for the story of Bruce Wayne and Batman. Whether or not this means Batman will retire by the end of the film is anyone’s guess, but if Nolan does end the movie with Bruce ceasing his activity as the Dark Knight without getting credit for his accomplishments, we will be severely disappointed. The very name of the movie is The Dark Knight RISES. This is something that has to happen.

Christopher Nolan has done right by Batman up until now, but it’s still a very strong possibility that he could drop the ball this time around. Hopefully, even if the movie is not as good as The Dark Knight, it will still be a high quality film. Only time will tell, but if some of these things are included it should certainly help.

SOURCE

Emilie de Ravin cast as Belle on Once Upon a Time

burstfaces — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 05:41:57 GMT

Once Upon a Time has landed another Lost alum.

Emilie de Ravin, who played Australian castaway Claire on the ABC island mystery series, has been cast as Belle, as in Beauty and the Beast's Belle, TVGuide.com has learned exclusively.

ABC's Once Upon a Time turns fairy tales into reality

Details of her role are scarce, but we hear Once's Belle will have a connection to Rumplestiltskin (Robert Carlyle). No word on whether the titular Beast will appear, but Gaston is slated to pop up as well.

The 29-year-old Roswell alum has starred in such films as Remember Me, Public Enemies and Brick. She will first appear in Episode 12, slated to air early next year.

SOURCE

The 25 Best Horror Films of the Aughts

burstfaces — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 05:28:30 GMT

25. The Orphanage. It's difficult to talk about The Orphanage without talking about Guillermo del Toro. As melancholic as it is frightening, the film (which del Toro produced) makes us mournful even as we're dreading whatever lies in wait on the other side of a door or tucked behind a crawlspace. This uncomfortable blend, an unfortunate rarity these days, is something the creature-obsessed del Toro excels at, and it finds a uniquely clear expression under the careful direction of J.A. Bayona. The Spanish director privileges character and quietude over corpses and cheap tricks, lending the film a feeling of transcendence over the genre that its makers understand so well.

24. Drag Me to Hell. Many horror films from the 2000s are so eager to splatter and slice their way into our hearts that they end up covering their canvases in bloody clichés. Not so with Sam Raimi's masterfully paced throwback, which is smart enough to withhold its more disturbing visceral elements until the very last moment. This directorial restraint allows the perfectly calibrated sound design and dread-inducing mise-en-scène to drive the viewer mad with anticipation. Anchored by Allison Lohman's brilliant performance as a loan officer fated for Hades's gallows, Drag Me to Hell is as much about greed as it is culpability, or more specifically our arrogant attempts to cover up sin even when the devil herself is staring us down.

23. Visitor Q. A formally accomplished director when it suits him, Takashi Miike can be so shocking because he's willing to discard his conventional gifts and dive face first in the muck; he doesn't play the distancing art-house games that characterize the hypocritical Michael Haneke. Miike's most popular contribution to the horror genre is Audition, which acted as a correction to the self-serving immorality of Fatal Attraction and its endless clones. Visitor Q, on the other hand, acts as a correction to the relentless popularity of reality TV, a phenomenon that invites us to vicariously feast on human misery as distraction from our own daily indignities. The story follows a family as they casually film one another indulging in incest and necrophilia as well as a long list of other similarly taboo activities, and Miike stages each escalating atrocity with a flip, tongue-in-cheek, and sometimes nearly slapstick manner that's authentically horrifying. Yet, the filmmaker, as Audition made clear, is a moralist deep down, and the brilliant, surreal Visitor Q—so powerful and disgusting that many will probably find it unwatchable—is the ultimate middle-finger to media sponsored narcissism.

22. Suicide Club. Sion Sono kicks things off with one of the great openers in recent horror cinema: Holding hands and chanting "a one and a two," 50 uniformed Japanese high school girls throw themselves under a subway train, drenching bystanders in gouts and gallons of gore. Investigations into the ensuing outbreak of teenage suicide pacts, headed by Detective Kuroda (Ryo Ishibashi), leads to a tween-idol girl group disseminating hidden messages that exhort listeners to promptly snuff it, concealed in the media blitzkrieg surrounding their ear-candy megahit "Mail Me." Boasting plenty of splatter for the fanboys (much of it blatantly artificial CGI), Suicide Club at times deepens into an existential inquiry, even if it raises more questions about social media manipulation and interpersonal disconnect than it can hope to answer. An outrageous finale takes its audience behind the music, and through the looking glass, into a harsh realm filled with gerbils, raincoat-clad tykes, and new uses for woodworking tools.

21. The Human Centipede (First Sequence). The most remarkable thing about Dutch writer-director Tom Six's now-infamous provocation is that nobody seems to agree as to what it is. Even the critics that saw and despised it, of which there are many, don't all think Six takes the film's eponymous monster seriously. To be clear, he doesn't, and that's the crux of The Human Centipede (First Sequence), an effectively queasy chiller that constantly keeps you off-balance by anti-climactically pulling the rug out from under its viewers in almost every other scene. Dieter Laser's evil Dr. Hieter is a hilariously campy mad scientist, but the threat that he poses to his very scared victims is very serious. Vile though it may be, Six's vision is clever enough and jarring enough to make the story both rather funny and deeply unnerving.

20. A History of Violence. Unconditional love and true evil are both core family values in David Cronenberg's A History of Violence, a cinematic shotgun blast to the face that splits the classic American dream in half. After effortlessly dispatching two wayward thugs, father, husband, restaurant owner, and gangster-in-hiding Tom Stall (Viggo Mortensen) finds himself physically and emotionally cornered like a classic western outlaw. As Tom's splintering identity sheds an outer layer of artifice to reveal a snakes skin underneath, brutal physical violence becomes his only communication device. But the real horror resides in the deafening silence of the film's aching final shot: a quiet dinner table standoff foreshadowing years of familial hell to come.

19. Let Me In. How fitting it is that the vampiric Ronald Reagan makes a cameo in Let Me In, the most unexpectedly tender, affecting film of its kind since Kathryn Bigelow's Near Dark. The creatures of the night and the anguish of a generation raised by hypocrites and yuppies fit right into Matt Reeves's heartfelt depiction of '80s suburbia, a society that's ravaged itself on a steady diet of fear. Distinctly warmer in tone than the Swedish original (and featuring a newly conceived carjacking sequence as nail-bitingly prodigious as anything in Hitchcock), this justified remake nonetheless finds equal levels of unrest and hurt among its cast of characters, eschewing traditional notions of villains and heroes with a dramatically ambiguous push-and-pull of overlapping, conflicting motivations. Kids, cops, bullies, killers, and even a vampire seem to share the same twisted soul. The bloodshed is tragic regardless, while a deceptively upbeat tone guards the true nature of the sinister conclusion—the end of this story, but more importantly, the beginning of another just like it.

18. The Strangers. The Strangers is practically an abstraction, an old-school spooker spun from the blood splatter on a wall, a nearby record player scratching an oldie, a CB radio in the garage, a creaky swing set in the backyard. First-time helmer Bryan Bertino is beholden to genre quota, skidding the relationship of pretty young couple Kristen and James (played by Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman) before subjecting them to an after-dark home invasion. But he offers no profound rationale for why she refuses his marriage proposal; like the shadowy stranger that comes knocking at their door (eerily asking, "Is Tamara home?"), it's something that just happens. Plying an old-school artistry that begins with a creepy montage of bumblefuck houses and holds up almost without fail until the strangers offer a creepy non-justification for their transgressions, analog-man Bertino teases with the unknown until he's left no pimple ungoosed. Sometimes avoiding the synapse-raping bad habits of splat packers Eli Roth and Alexandre Aja is its own reward; doing so without also submitting to Michael Haneke–style hand-slapping is nearly monumental.

17. The Mist. Frank Darabont pulls off an impressive coup with The Mist, making the human monsters more unnerving, vile, and volatile than the genetically mutated creatures stalking their every move. After dense fog suddenly blankets a Northeastern coastal town, many of the citizens band together inside a local supermarket to wait out the crippling weather. As time passes, collective annoyance and unrest turns to fear, dissent, and ultimately divisive rage, creating a tenuous moral landscape driven by shifting mob mentalities. Extreme ideology becomes the characters' sharp-edged weapons of choice, and the result is pure savagery, a Lord of the Flies-style community apocalypse that leads to a blunt-force ending both resolutely depressing and bravely fitting. In the face of collective doubt and panic, even the best of us are beasts of burden.

16. Them. Hoody-clad sadists attack a couple, alone in their country home. That's all the setup that co-writers/directors David Moreau and Xavier Palud need to dredge up some uniquely discomfiting chills. You won't be able to shake Them after seeing it because it's scary without being grisly or full of cheap jump scares. Instead, it's a marvel of precise timing and action choreography. The silence that deadens the air between each new assault becomes more and more disquieting as the film goes on. Likewise, the house where Them is primarily set in seems to grow bigger with each new hole the film's villains tear out of. To get the maximum effect, be sure to watch this one at night; just don't watch it alone.

15. 28 Weeks Later. The nature of seeing is at the bedrock of our human experience, and is key to unlocking the emotions simmering just beneath the surface of 28 Weeks Later. The decade's heir to the throne of Romero, Juan Carlos Frenadillo's brilliantly staged savagery comes equipped with disarming fairy-tale overtones, his generous, intelligent storytelling drunk on equal parts love and hope, destruction and chaos. Deliberately shouting out to America's War on Terror was a timely choice with genuine political insight, but the real theme here is the timelessness of our human frailties; the sins of our fathers determine our struggles of today, and sometimes, a loving mother's instincts are the worst thing in the world. The breakneck opening sequence sets a tone of apocalyptic doom, and though the dispatching of the undead en masse has rarely been topped (see the film's bodacious helicopter sequence, the original Dawn of the Dead's infamous decapitation scene writ large), it's the introspective moments—like a James Wolfe statue, seemingly weeping for senseless loss of life—that lend resonance to this raging sequel.

14. Let the Right One In. Not unlike Matt Reeves's American remake, Tomas Alfredson's Let the Right In is, in color and emotion, something almost unbearably blue. When Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant), a 12-year-old outcast perpetually bullied at school, meets Eli (Lina Leandersson), the mysterious new girl at his apartment complex, one child's painful coming of age is conflated with another's insatiable bloodlust. The film treats adolescence, even a vampire's arrested own, as a prolonged horror—life's most vicious and unforgiving set piece. This study of human loneliness and the prickly crawlspace between adolescence and adulthood is also an unexpectedly poignant queering of the horror genre. Do not avert your eyes from Alfredson's gorgeously, meaningfully aestheticized vision, though you may want to cover your neck.

13. The House of the Devil. Though The House of the Devil is so steeped in nostalgia for the genre films of yore that it seems to belong far more to the '80s than to the present day, it nevertheless carved a perfect niche for itself in late-aughts cinema. Relative newcomer Ti West deals in nail-biting suspense and dread, making him a welcome outlier among his more gore-obsessed contemporaries: Each time West punctuates one of the film's long periods of placidity and unease via an abrupt act of violence, the moment feels earned, even necessary, rather than tacked on. It's a film that both relies on and rewards the viewer's imagination to fill in the blanks of its slow-going narrative, a refreshing change of pace from the mindless horror fodder it surpasses with such ease and gravitas.

12. Bug. Bug, an intense little chamber play of blossoming madness, allowed William Friedkin to put his characteristic screws to both his characters and his audience while nearly achieving a poignancy that only heightens the horror. Your enjoyment of the film may depend on whether or not you buy how quickly Ashley Judd succumbs to paranoia and insanity. I didn't buy it, but the film's relentlessness overcomes the occasionally stagy absurdity. In one of his first key roles, Michael Shannon looks a little like Anthony Michael Hall at his most hungover, but his presence and surprisingly soft voice throws you off balance, and Friedkin masterfully exploits that emotional uncertainty, paving the way for an ending that's abrupt, unforgiving, and the perfect capper for a very over the top last third. Bug has been referred to as a thriller or a horror story, but it's really a perverse romance—a heightened, demented parable of losing yourself to someone.

11. War of the Worlds. The apex of what critic Matthew Wilder astutely pinned as the summery popcorn movies finally wrestled with the aftermath of 9/11 (along with Land of the Dead and Red Eye), Steven Spielberg's relentless update of H.G. Wells's creaky, pre-Cold War property often feels like a regression into the cheap safety of a zero-relativity "Us vs. Them" mentality. Which is exactly why it still seems like the most upsetting mass entertainment in Spielberg's entire career. Stuffed with all the brutally efficient mayhem of Jaws, Poltergeist, Gremlins, and Jurassic Park put together, War of the Worlds is a mirror held up against the nation's sense of festering shock. But for all the sympathetic shots of people running for their lives with grimaces of terror on their faces, you can't help but wonder if Spielberg's ultimate disaster movie isn't also smuggling in criticism about the nature of our worst collective fears.

10. Wolf Creek. A beautiful expression of existential terror that doesn't come with the noxious sexual baggage that typically dooms its horror ilk, Wolf Creek immediately stands apart from the pack, beginning with the stunning image of sunset-tinted waves crashing onto the sands of an Australian beachfront. For a split second, this expressionistic shot resembles a volcano blowing its top, and the realization that it's something entirely more mundane exemplifies the unsettling tenor of the film's casual shocks. Like two of the best horror films of the '80s, Robert Harmon's The Hitcher and Kathryn Bigelow's Near Dark, Wolf Creek is propelled by a lyrical sense of doom, and the ease with which first-time director Greg McLean creates a compelling sense of place and characters worth rooting for is truly something to behold.

9. The Devil's Rejects. If House of 1000 Corpses successfully transposed the grotesqueries evoked by Rob Zombie's music onto film, then The Devil's Rejects cemented his status as a filmmaker worth noticing. Zombie's sophomore effort, ungodly violent and gruesome as it is, would be nearly unbearable to watch were it not so wonderfully aestheticized. His most noticeable trait as a stylist is, unsurprisingly, a knack for selecting the perfect songs to both match and offset the morbid goings-on of his film, but there's more at work here than mere artifice: Zombie infuses an unexpected somberness where his debut tended toward camp. His sideshow-esque cast of characters, while far from sympathetic, have evolved into genuinely fleshed-out beings whose unexpected pathos only intensifies the terror they evoke. The rejects' long string of satanic ritual murders make for a carnivalesque experience far more viscerally stimulating—and strangely watchable—than it seems to have any right to be.

8. Antichrist. Lars von Trier's two-hander psychodrama Antichrist draws heavily from a rich tradition of "Nordic horror," stretching back to silent-era groundbreakers like Häxan and Vampyr (and Dreyer's later Day of Wrath), in particular their interrogation of moral strictures and assumptions of normalcy. In the wake of their son's death, He (Willem Dafoe) and She (Charlotte Gainsbourg) follow a course of radical psychotherapy, retreating to their wilderness redoubt, Eden, where they act out (and on) their mutual resentment and recrimination, culminating in switchback brutal attacks and His and Her genital mutilations. Conventional wisdom has it that Von Trier's a faux provocateur, but that misses his theme and variation engagement with genre and symbolism throughout, rendering Antichrist one of the most bracingly personal, as well as national cinema-indebted, films to come along in a while. It's heartening to see that real provocation still has a place in the forum (let's not say "marketplace") of international cinema.

7. The Descent. Soullessness and emptiness manifest physically in the form of screaming night crawlers in Neil Marshall's The Descent, the ultimate prison movie devoid of any trap door for escape. What starts out as a weekend spelunking trip between female friends quickly degenerates into a claustrophobic master class in visceral directionality and piercing sound design, a setup that builds repression and cripples inertia in equal measure. Since every shadow holds the potential for sudden attack, Marshall instills a feeling of being emotionally, physically, and psychologically stuck, layers of simultaneous dread that are terrifying for both the characters and audience alike. Considering the dank corners of the mind Marshall explores in the film's batshit-crazy ending, a denouement crawling with ambiguity, The Descent ultimately shows there's nothing like extreme panic and betrayal to make even the sunniest parts of the physical world a very dark, confined place.

6. Halloween II. Jason Vorhees and a thousand other disposable serial killers have long tried to diminish the essence of Michael Myers, a shell of a man devoid of morality, nothing less than evil manifest. Less a sequel than a continuation of Rob Zombie's own remake of John Carpenter's 1978 masterpiece, Halloween II restores Myers to his deserving, iconic status, holding a candle to the original film in the process. As artful as it is ferocious, Halloween II quickly numbs the viewer to the effects of physical destruction and random violence ("Cow! COW!") as a primer for the inward, downward spiral experienced by the victims, who must now attempt to reassemble their lives after such horrible events. Compared to the existentially tinged levels of bloodshed, the film's media satire is practically an afterthought, but one is thankful for the spurts of levity amid Michael Myer's expressions of primal rage. The incomparable Brad Dourif provides the emotional anchor, his familial tragedy another confirmation of Zombie's deeply felt empathy. Like a gnarly David Lynch joint, the film isn't necessarily pretty to look at, but it most definitely is beautiful.

5. Martyrs. If any one film could be used as a poster child for the punishing and unrelentingly gory new wave of recent French movies, Martyrs would be that film. Writer-director Pascal Laugier's film leaves you with the scopophilic equivalent of shell shock. The gauntlet that his film's heroine, a "final girl" who's abducted and tortured by a religious cult straight out of a Clive Barker novel, is forced to endure is considerable. Which is like saying that King Kong is big, Vincent Price's performances are campy, and blood is red. Laugier's film is grueling because there's no real way to easily get off on images of simulated violence. The film's soul-crushing finale makes it impossible to feel good about anything Laugier has depicted. In it, Laugier suggests that there's no way to escape from the pain of the exclusively physical reality of his film. You don't watch Laugier's harrowing feel-bad masterpiece, you're held in its thrall. Abandon hope all ye who watch here.

4. Audition. Gonzo director Takashi Miike delivers one of his most controlled, if not exactly straightforward, films with Audition. Middle-aged widower Aoyama (Ryo Ishibashi), tired of his sad-sack existence, lets himself be persuaded by a film-industry colleague to hold a cattle call for love. Aoyama's finicky laundry list of love-demands require a degree of polish in his woman, though he's encouraged to settle for second-best, as too much of a good thing makes a woman prideful and unruly. At first, demure Asami (Eihi Shiina) seems to fit the bill, though there's soon something clearly amiss. Maybe it's repeated shots of the girl, slumped over, waiting by the phone, a conspicuously bulging sack glimpsed in the background. The leftfield second half, a surreally shifting hall of mirrors, mixes memory, desire, and nightmare, and Asami becomes an exterminating angel in white, liable to do terrible things with acupuncture needles and piano wire.

3. Inside. Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury's Inside is a beautiful junk painting of your worst nightmares. Like Takashi Miike at his most unhinged, Bustillo and Maury announce their disregard for all notions of good taste and restraint with their opening image of a severe car accident as seen and experienced by an unborn child. One moment the child is soothed by his mother's loving, if alarming, words, the next he's jolted and throttled, blood rising and floating from the inside. The film, in more ways than you can imagine, is driven by the fallout from that accident, and what follows is the most potent exploitation of unyielding, inexplicable violation outside of Takashi Miike's Audition. The violence, before it goes haywire, is ghastly and remarkably apt thematically. The tides of blood flow and spurt and explode, and hauntingly confirm and underline a terrified young woman's mental implosions. A mother's most forbidden nightmares have finally arrived. The ending reveals the filmmakers to possibly be more in touch with their inner woman than we initially assumed, though the horror lies in which woman they appear to be in touch with.

2. Inland Empire. That Inland Empire—which is difficult to classify under any umbrella, let alone horror—ranks as highly on this list as it does says as much about the current state of the genre as it does about David Lynch's mental state. But if horror may be thought of as a state of mind, a particularly intense form of suspension of disbelief owing as much to what we don't know as to what we do, then Inland Empire's status as one of the most terrifying films released in the last decade is immediately understood. At three hours long, the film is above all else a durational experience: There's something about the singularly bizarre mix of digital video, Balkan intrigue, and talking rabbits which, after a relatively normal opening, takes you further into a claustrophobic, even nightmarish experience that you want to end as desperately as you want it to keep going. Lynch's refusal to give us concrete clues as to what's behind his impenetrable narrative makes it linger in your headspace—for days, weeks, months—after it's ended.

1. Pulse. When The Social Network came out, it was tagged with suspicious unanimity as the movie of "our moment." But nearly a decade earlier, Kiyoshi Kurosawa pretty much wrote the ultimate obituary for the concept that there would ever again be an "our" anything, moment or otherwise. A neo-Invasion of the Body Snatchers in ghostly J-horror trappings, Pulse is a mournful techno-eschatology in which the world ends with not a bang, but the quiet murmur of billions of modems snatching away the souls of all who use them, and leaving all who opt out feeling even more alone than the throngs doing purgatory on the other side of the monitor. Coming, as it did, almost concurrently with the onset of "death of cinema" alarm bells, Pulse's desperate plea for real, messy, analog emotions is all but unbearable, and should send a chill through anyone who's found themselves absently caught up in YouTube roulette.

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Tom Hiddleston Talks 'Avengers' And Loki's Evil Plans

burstfaces — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 05:08:57 GMT

How can one individual take on the greatest team of superheroes ever assembled? According to Tom Hiddleston, it's "all in a day's work." And as the man who plays Loki, the Norse god of mischief and the lead villain in upcoming Marvel ensemble epic "The Avengers," Hiddleston should know.

The lanky British star sat down with a group of reporters on Friday to discuss his role in next summer's supercharged superhero film, revealing new details about how his character, who was first seen in last June's "Thor," serves as the evil force that brings together some of the most storied characters in comic book history.

"Essentially, he's come down to Earth to subjugate it, to rule the human race as their king," Hiddleston said. "And his primary argument is this planet is rife and populated by people who are constantly fighting each other. If they're all united together in their reverence of one king, there will be no war."

That Loki even wants to rule Earth might seem a bit counterintuitive, given the action he took in "Thor." In that movie, he attempted to usurp the throne of the mythological kingdom of Asgard, hatching a scheme that drove his title-character brother to be banished through a dark tunnel to the decidedly less magical human world. Eventually, of course, Loki's plan faltered, and he lost his grip on the Asgardian seat of power, leaving him a bit jealous of Thor -- and seeking a kingdom of his own.

And this time, he's much better equipped, both physically and mentally, to make his bid for power. At the same time, he's facing exponentially more powerful opposition.

"He changes in that he is definitively more menacing," Hiddleston said. "A lot more. Loki in 'Thor' is a lost prince, and there is a degree of vulnerability and confusion in his identity. In 'The Avengers,' he knows exactly who he is, he's fully self-possessed, and he's here with a particular mission."

Loki is also helped by the clash of egos that comes naturally when such a large group of heroes -- Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Nick Fury, Black Widow and Hawkeye -- are forced to give up their solo acts and function as a team.

"It's not an easily functioning team," Hiddleston said of the members of SHIELD. "A lot of the strength and uniqueness of the film comes in the fact that there's a lot of square-peg/round-hole fitting going on."

Hiddleston referenced a moment in the film's first trailer -- downloaded from iTunes a record-setting 10 million times in just 24 hours following its Tuesday release -- in which Steve Rogers, Captain America's alter ego, challenges Tony Stark. Without that advanced suit, Rogers asks, what is Stark reduced to?

The answer is playboy billionaire philanthropist genius, hinting at some of the humor that director Joss Whedon was able to inject into the film, but the point was also made: There's major discord within the reluctant team. On camera, anyway.

While much of the action is set in Manhattan, where Tony Stark's Stark Industries is located, the cast found themselves without much to do off set while shooting in locations such as Cleveland and Albuquerque. That meant lots of table tennis at Chris Hemsworth's rented house -- "I hate to brag, but Loki beats the crap out of both Thor and Captain America in table tennis," Hiddleston said -- and nights at local watering holes.

"There was one night when Chris Evans sent a round-robin text message that said, 'Avengers assemble,'" Hiddleston laughed, referencing the comic book team's famed call to action. "We ended up in a bar in Albuquerque. It was just this place where everyone goes out to hang out on a Saturday night. And what was quite interesting was that your regular Albuquerque bar-goer is looking and saying, 'Is that Jeremy Renner doing a lunge on the dance floor? I think it is!' or like, 'Why are Chris Hemsworth and Scarlett Johansson dancing together?' It was really fun."

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FOX Gives “New Girl” A Full-Season Pickup

burstfaces — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 05:01:41 GMT

FOX has ordered an additional 11 episodes of the hit comedy New Girl, bringing the series to a 24-episode season order, it was announced today by Kevin Reilly, President of Entertainment, Fox Broadcasting Company.

“We love the charming Zooey Deschanel and the entire cast, we’re knocked out with the work that Liz Meriwether and the whole staff is doing and we are really psyched about the upcoming episodes in the pipeline," said Reilly. “It's great that audiences have responded so positively so far and we're confident that even more people will embrace the show – and more comedy on FOX – this season."

New Girl premiered as FOX’s highest-rated fall sitcom debut in 10 years. Since it launched, the single-camera comedy has quickly established itself as Tuesday’s No. 1 series among Adults 18-49 and this season’s No. 1 new series among Adults 18-34, Women 18-34 and Teens.

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