Three years after launching its Zune entertainment product, Microsoft has finally realized the need to make it international. Financial Times is reporting that Microsoft is about to launch its Zune entertainment brand outside of the U.S. Obviously, Microsoft has finally realized that they can’t compete with Apple’s iPod brand if the Microsoft Zune HD remains within the confines of the U.S. market.Alright, Microsoft fanboys who are not based in the U.S. This is it, your wait might  soon be over. Although no defnite details have been out yes, it’s enough to know that Microsoft has bigger plans for the Zune product.

Apple’s iPod need a worthy rival. And the Microsoft Zune HD might just be it. Currently, Microsoft’s Zune product ranks only at number 4 in the U.S. mp3 player market – a mere 2% share of the market.

Microsoft has a lot of cathing up to do. Hope they do it right this time.

How’s Lightning McQueen and the other Disney Cars that twinkle when you have a new email sounds to you?

Well, you might want to get the Disney Cars USB Email Alert from USB Brando. I’m not really sure if they are the same company that sells those leather phone cases. But anyway, this USB Email Alert device supports Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook Express and those POP3 email accounts. It works in the background just like your normal browser-based email alert service.

The car will emit a peculiar sound effect or twinkle everytime you receive an email or when there too many unread emails in your inbox.

Here’s the fun part, the Disney Car USB device interacts with your keyboard’s typing motion too.

The Disney Cars USB Email Alerts will set you back for $33.00. And it’s available from this site. You choose any of the Disney Cars such  Lightning McQueen, The King, Doc Hudson, Chip Hicks, or Mater. Or better yet get them all.

How did the line goes? – Too infinity an beyond! Ops, I think that was from another movie.

And explosions of course.

Speaking about Transformers, check these cufflinks out from an Etsy shop: Silver Plated Transformer AUTOBOTS and DECEPTICON Cufflinks with Gift Box.

Whether you have a soft heart and like Optimus Prime and his band of Autobots or you lean towards the darker side and prefer Megatron, this cufflinks set will certainly bring out the movie/cartoon geek in you. One cufflink has the engraved image of the Autobots while the other is of the Decepticons. They are both silver plated and are placed inside a black PVV cufflink box (nothing like PVC to keep the Transformers safe, huh?).

Dimensions are as follows:

Measurements (cufflinks): 0.80 inches (Height) x 0.75 inches (Width), which is equivalent to 2cm x 2cm.

Cufflink box measures: 1.0 inch x 1.60 inches x 3.25 inches (2.5cm x 4cm x 8.1cm)

Finkstudio, the seller of the cufflinks also offers other Transformers cufflinks and features other super heroes as well. For you yuppies who actually use cufflinks and can’t let go of your cartoon fixation, you might want to browse this Etsy store for some great finds. Oh, this particular set of cufflinks go for $20, by the way.

I do not know if we needed to get the special _bonus_ of Neil Diamond though.

[Via Geeks are Sexy]

For the true-blue and hardcore geek no other country in the world would be the destination for a pilgrimage more than Japan and when in Japan, the geek will naturally gravitate towards Akihabara, like a pigeon sensing magnetic north.

Akihabara is the flashiest district in Tokyo and covers practically everything the geek will have any interest in. Akihabara is considered the technological district of Tokyo and with good reason. It is located in the eastern part of Tokyo and just a two stops away from the northern section of the main Tokyo Station. For the uninitiated, Akihabara is commonly known as Electric Town — a throwback from its earlier reputation as the center of electronics and home appliance retailers. But even though the area is littered with a wide range of shops that offer all of the gadgets and electronics you can think of, it has also acquired a new, much deserved, reputation as the place where geeks can go see the things that interest them.

Name the geek pursuit and Akihabara will most probably have it. What makes Akihabara a geek paradise is that it actually caters to all the kinds of geeks out there. Oh yes, there are many types of geeks and they have different pursuits, passions and obsessions.

One of the most common type of geeks are the gadget freaks that absolutely must have the latest and greatest gadget out there. Akihabara is the perfect place for these geeks because it enjoys a “pioneer” reputation for getting technologies and gadgetry fads way before it becomes popular or even hits the rest of the world. You will often see gadgets and electronic equipment there that will only catch the world’s attention after a few years. Just the thought of getting a gadget before everyone else boosts your bragging rights and makes you the ubergeek of your neighborhood.

Anime and manga geeks will also find their Shangri-la in Akihabara. The Tokyo Anime Fair is held near the area and there are many merchandising shops in the district that sell anime stuff — from OAVs, plush toys, replica weapons and action figures. Beware though, the hentai anime figures are also quite ubiquitous in the area so be vigilant if you’re going to visit with youngsters.

Of course, for geeks from the West, Akihabara has become synonymous with a particular geek pursuit — gaming. Electric Town is where you can find shops that sell all manner of gaming consoles (you can even get lucky and find the discontinued console you’ve been looking for). You’ll also find a dizzying array of games for sale for absolutely all kinds of platforms. Even games from discontinued platforms (even those that’s more than a decade old) will usually be available there. And the most insane thing is that they’re housed in huge places. You’ll find stocks in stores that are contained in several floors. All manner of games are represented in Akihabara. You’ll be amazed at the sheer number of games that have been developed in Japan that never got to see the light of day in the West — from RPGs to shooters to hentai type sex games.

Geeks that love music and movies will also find many interesting places to visit and shop in at Akihabara. Shops that sell second hand and brand new CDs and DVDs proliferate around the area. For non-music loving geeks here’s an interesting piece of information — Japan-pressed CDs have gained a reputation among audiophiles for having the best audio quality. Additionally, Japan-pressed albums usually contain additional tracks that are not usually available in CDs pressed in the US or the EU. These are the factors that make buying CDs in Japan a very interesting proposition.

Cinephiles will go nuts over the selection of Japanese movies that are the rage among movie lovers. From the wide array of horror movies to thought provoking dramas and in-your-face action — Japan offers films that are worth watching and collecting.

Akihabara is a wonderful place to explore. If you’re a geek there is just so many things to do and explore there that you’ll get lost in your own mind just looking at the dizzying array of products and things that cater to your every desire. But non geeks will love it too because Akihabara is the perfect reflection of what Japan is — a place steeped in history and culture that is not afraid to embrace the new. Go book hotels in Japan and don’t forget to visit Akihabara.

Earlier this week Variety reported that the popular series “Death Note” may be adapted into a Hollywood film by Warner Bros. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Death Note, it was a widely popular manga which was adapted into an anime and 2 Japanese live-action films, all of which turned out very successful.

The original story revolves around a student named Light Yagami who one day finds a notebook on the ground labelled “Death Note”. Inside, he finds instructions that explain that the Death Note is a special book that has the power to kill anyone if you write down their real name and picture their face in your mind. After testing the Death Note’s powers, Light decides to use it to rid the world of all evil and corrupt people, leaving behind only those he judges to be worthy. With criminals around the world suddenly meeting their demise, the police suspect that this isn’t just coincidence and hire the world’s top detective, whose alias is the letter “L”. Light and L face off in the rest of the series as Light tries to uncover L’s real name to escape suspicion, and L tries to figure out how a killer can kill with just a name and image.

It’s not every day that an anime gets adapted into a Hollywood film. In fact, the only two movies from anime that I can think of are Speed Racer and Dragonball Evolution, both of which didn’t do so well in theatres. Other anime titles that are being adapted into Hollywood films include Akira, The Last Airbender (which is actually an anime-like cartoon), Ghost In The Shell, and possible Full Metal Panic. Seeing how poorly Speed Racer and Dragonball Evolution turned out, it’s questionable whether a Death Note movie will be any better. I guess we’ll just have to wait for a few more anime movies to come out before we get our hopes up with Death Note.

Vintage Pool Ball Bottle Stoppers

Keep a bottle of wine fresh (if it lasts more than one sitting) with these pool ball adorned bottle stoppers. Link

Evil Skulls Pool Ball Set

Pool balls with skulls on. Mwahaha. Link

Texas Longhorns Pool Ball Set

If the Texas Longhorns are your thing, check out these themed pool balls. Link

Telephone Box Cue Stand

Very British (not that you can find many real ones in the UK any more) only this red telephone box is for storing your pool cues and pool balls. Link

Swirl Marble Pool and Billiards Set

Why play with boring plain pool balls when these marble ones feature great swirling colours. Link

Rocco Clear Pool Balls

Made from resin, fortunately, but don’t they just look like glass marbles? Cool numbering on them, too. Like a lot. Link

Pool Ties

OK, I’m not convinced novelty ties are allowed, but if you must… Link

Pool Table Cake

You know someone’s been a pool fan far too long when they start baking stuff on the theme. Link

Pool Ball Lighter

Apparently works as a real lighter, flame upon pressing the number. Link

Pool Ball Light Switch

Just for the kids’ room? I don’t think so. Link

Pool Ball Rings and Earrings

Wow… Eleanor Salazar makes them out of pool balls. I’m not really into rings but even I might consider that ring (one of the other colours, maybe). Link

Pool Ball Clock

If this one doesn’t grab you, there’s a few more at the link. Link

Pool Ball Candles

Want more than just the 8 ball, or actually burn the pool balls? Try this set of six pool ball candles. Link

Poker Pocket Billiards

A different twist on the game: 10 different cared games played on any pool table. Link

Mythical Beasts Pool Balls

Mythical creatures printed on your pool balls. Far more interesting – let’s hope they don’t fly away when you’re trying to sink them. Link

Marbled 8 Ball Door Knob

Actually made from blown glass and then stuck to your door. Link

Lunar Rocks Pool Balls

Designed for the Hollywood motion picture “The Adventures of Pluto Nash”. Link

Light up Pool Balls

Each ball is good for 50,000 flashes, and they flash upon impact with the cushions, cue and other balls. Link

Hidden pool ball and cue bench

If, worst luck, your pool table has to share the room with other things that don’t appreciate it, this pool bench at least lets you hide away the kit until it’s time to play. Link

56th Birthday Cake Pool Balls

Lucky birthday boy Mike may get to find out what the Magic 8 Ball says later on after he’s munched through this cake. Link

Glow in the Dark Pool Balls

Aramith glow-in-the-dark pool balls and pool table conversion kits. Comes with glow-in-the-dark phenolic ball set, reflective cushion tube with metallic springs, glowing cue rings, glowing break spots, and glow-in-the-dark rail sights. Link

Fred the Camera Robot

All manner of games represented here, as well as being a camera, but pride of place to the pool balls being used as Fred’s head. Nice. Link

8 Ball Candle Holder

Authentic American 8-ball, chopped and drilled so it can hold a candle. Link

Disco Pool Balls

Does exactly what it says. Just don’t get those 70’s clothes out again. Link

Cue Ball Wizard Pinball

Pool and pinball combined. Does it get any better? Loads more photos via the link. Link

Crazy Cue Ball

Everyone loves a practical joker when they’re lining up for that crucial make-or-break shot, right? Give ‘em what they want with the crazy cue ball – it’ll never shoot straight. Unlike their fist. Link

Billiard Ball Peppermints

Available in peppermint and cinnamon, WPBA Billiard Mints are shaped like miniature 9-balls. They are packed in rectangular tins illustrated to resemble billiards tables. Link

Snatch Wars (NSFW) is a mashup of Guy Ritchie’s Snatch and Star Wars. NSFW because of the high octane language. Video after the jump.

David Fincher Title Sequences

David Fincher is a specialist and usually pulls all stops out when creating title sequences. Therefore he deserves no less than 3 mentions in our list.

Fight Club

The title sequence in Fight Club is not always heralded as his best title sequence but defines the spirit of the movie from the first second: fast, mind-screwing (psychedelic almost) and full of delightful visuals. The title sequence was budgetted separately from the movie and the budget was only granted after the first movie previews were shown to the studio.

Panic Room

The title sequence of Panic Room is rather simple but has a mysterious feel to it. The title sequence is composed of shots of Manhattan with the names of the actors. Simple but it works well and creates a perfect ambiente for what follows.

Seven

The title sequence of Seven is probably one of the best title sequences in history. As soon as the sequence starts you realize that this movie is something different, you are going to watch something special. Weird and almost gory. This thriller will rock your socks!

Saul Bass

Saul Bass is more than just a name when it comes to titles sequences. Bass was the first one to make an art out of title sequences, he’s a legend. It would be way too boring and make our list too long if we added all the intro sequences by Saul Bass, so I will limit myself to only two.

Vertigo

The Master, Alfred Hitchcock, himself has worked regularly with Saul Bass, this resulting in several awesome title sequences. Although most of times the intro sequence of Psycho mentioned is to illustrate this awesome collaboration, I actually do prefer the work Bass did for the Vertigo opening credits.

North by Northwest

I don’t think this title and intro sequence requires any more information as it is mentioned on every single list.

According to reports, development on the live action movie is now moving again at Warner Bros. and Silver Pictures. This means that we could finally expect to see every fanboy’s wet dream on screen pretty soon. Hopefully the Wonder Woman movie will come out soon after the Green Lantern movie is finished. Writers are now being hired to write the script for Wonder Woman.

Here’s a little trivia — if Joss Whedon had pushed through with Wonder Woman he wanted How I Met Your Mother’s Cobie Smulders to play Diana.

Of course, for many people who will get to play Thor is more important than who will get to direct it. There have been a lot of names thrown around lately on who will most perrfectly fill the role of the God of War — Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, Karl Urban. One guy I know even wanted Triple H from the WWE. But Branagh seems to also have made that choice already. Reportedly, the director is already in talks with actor Alexander Skarsgard to play the role of Thor. Alexander Skarsgard is the son of Stellan Skarsgard (Pirates of the Caribbean, Mamma Mia), and he is most well known for starring in both HBO series Generation Kill and True Blood.

I think Branagh is making the perfect casting choice here. Skarsgard looks the part (he just needs to hit the gym pronto) and is even from Sweden so the Scandinavian/Nordic connection is even present. I hope this pushes through.

But what about you guys? Who do you think would be perfect for Thor? And since we’re talking about casting choices, who do you think will be perfect to play the part of Loki? Recent rumors has it that Josh Hartnett (Black Hawk Down) is being seriously considered for the role.

Watchmen

Set in a very different version of the 1980s to our own, relations between America and the Soviet Union are reaching fever pitch. This culminates in a very real potential of nuclear attack. Nixon takes a historic third term in the White House, whilst costumed heroes remain a part of society – albeit an outlawed one thanks to the Keene Act – which makes their very existence illegal.

In this extremely charged climate, the Doomsday Clock creeps ever closer to demonstrating the threat of nuclear war. In this backdrop, a masked crime fighter investigates the death of a former hero which leads to the discovery of a huge conspiracy that has far-reaching consequences for the whole of mankind.

Many years after the original Minutemen (costumed heroes) – Captain Metropolis, Mothman, Nite Owl, The Silhouette, Silk Spectre, Dollar Bill, Hooded Justice and The Comedian – a new breed of heroes takes up the mantle in the form of the Watchmen. The Comedian being the only hero remaining, he is joined by Nite Owl II, Silk Spectre II, Ozymandias, Dr Manhattan and Rorschach.

The film begins with an amazing action sequence, as The Comedian is systematically attacked by an unknown assailant and eventually thrown out of his apartment, resulting in his death. This leads to the violent vigilante Rorschach following a trail that leads him to a truth showing that one hero is anything but.

Dr Manhattan has been wonderfully realised in the film as the only character with true powers – although his powers are almost unlimited as a near god. His complex relationship with the other characters (including his lover Silk Spectre) and humanity as a whole leads to a conclusion of the film that is slightly changed – though the overriding sentiment is the same.

For me, Rorschach is clearly the highlight of the film. Played by Jackie Earl Haley, his subtle actions and stilted dialogue show the pained soul that is behind the mask. The fight sequence where he is rescued from the prison is truly breathtaking, with slow motion used to great effect (much like Snyder did in 300).

The overall tone of the film is quite dark, with some stylised violence throughout interspersed with some comedy moments (such as the flame thrower going off at the end of the love scene). Bear in mind, this is not a film for children. A violent rape scene and sequences involving torture are not pleasant and the film deserves the 18 certificate it received in the UK.

Watchmen is clearly a labour of love for Zack Snyder and if you’re a fan you’ll be able to see that immediately. Some of the scenes are literally frame for frame, whilst others have exactly the same dialogue. Most of the depth remains in the story and the action sequences will appeal to the modern cinema visitor.

The uniquely flawed ‘heroes’ in the film are unlike any others you may have seen and for that reason alone it’s worth watching whether you’re a fan or not. However, do be ready for the whole 162 minutes – this is not a short or easy going film.

I think I’m one of the few people who loves playing first person shooters and other shooting type game mechanics on the Nintendo Wii. I say few because there are still some people who criticize the Wii-mote for shooting. But it is quite evident in the Wii version of Resident Evil 4 that the Wii-mote brings more realism to aiming and shooting with Nintendo’s revolutionary controller.

That’s why I’m quite stoked about the announcement that Dead Space is going to be released on the Wii. The announcement officially came from Electronic Arts. The game will be made available sometime this year and will be officially titled Dead Space Extraction.

Here’s the official EA description of the game. According to the company Dead Space Extraction will “marry the innovative motion controls of the Wii Remote with a frenetic first-person perspective to create a new action-packed horror experience.” The Wii game looks like it’s going to be a different game from the one that appeared in the PS3, Xbox 360 and the PC. It will feature a new heroine who, in the story, will join with space colonists who are trying to escape the infection that has spread through the Aegis VII mining colony. It will have new weapons, new puzzles to solve and for the first time — a co-op multiplayer mode.

EA has assured that the Wii version of the game will not be “kidified” just because it is going to appear in the family-oriented Wii console. EA has assured that all of the blood, gore and violence that was in the first Dead Space game will also be included in Dead Space Extraction.

Can’t wait to play this!

Fear Alma – again. F.E.A.R., the seminal classic shooter, revitalised a tired FPS genre with a great mix of horror, gunplay and Matrix style slow-motion action sequences that proved a huge amount of fun. F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin returns to the same formula, and doesn’t really differ too much. However, more of the same means more fun.

Story

The sequel to the original game kicks off just before the original game ends, i.e. prior to the massive explosion triggered by the release of Alma (a girl raised to be a biological weapon used to produce ‘replica’ soldiers) and her crazy powers. The player takes the role of Sgt. Michael Becket, a member of a special task force sent in to rescue Genevieve Aristide – President of the corporation responsible for the replica soldiers and Alma herself. Luckily, quite early in, Becket receives the same power as the ‘Pointman’ from the original game, meaning that he too can slow down time (or rather his super reactions kick in) to take out enemy forces.

Graphics

There’s no doubt that F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin looks great. The environments, whilst at times looking quite similar, are very well rendered with a great level of detail. Textures are good and enemies are particularly well animated (check out how they try to vault walls and react when you shoot them). Perhaps the real visual treats come in the form of Alma and the other ghost encounters. Frequently disorienting, you’ll be amazed at the variety of effects used.

Sound

A true highlight of the game, there’s nothing quite like the ghostly sounds of Alma, the announcements by soldiers giving you a heads up on the plan or hearing the dreaded “I see a flashlight!”. All of the incidental stuff really does add to the game and it serves to really show what a quality package the whole game is.

Mood

I’m still undecided on how I feel about the mood of the game. There are some particularly tense moments provided by the horror atmosphere. However, it can be quite jarring to go from this to an action-packed encounter when you’re piloting a mech. It isn’t Dead Space, but at times it seems like it wants to be. When it does get it right, it’s fantastic, but at other times it does appear to be a little schizophrenic.

Gameplay

Ah, the most important element to any game – and F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin does not disappoint. The gunplay is very, very satisfying indeed. Only perhaps Black served up much destruction when using automatic weapons. Moving to the guns, there’s a lot to play with in F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin, from lasers to shotguns and everything in between.

The other aspect to the game that is more supportive of the horror storyline are the continuing encounters with Alma. They’ll frequently pop up in the game and you’ll have to either interact with a sequence or face a button mash to stop yourself from being ‘merged’. These quick time action sequences are nothing new but sit quite well with the game as a whole.

My favourite addition to the gameplay definitely comes in the action areas where you get to pilot a powered armour suit. The amount of destruction you can wreak is simply superb. There are a lot of destructible environments in the game and you’ll love the unlimited chaingun ammo and rechargeable missiles.

The single player part of the game is quite well plotted with a varied range of enemies to tackle (including Alma herself). The multiplayer modes are somewhat limited but nonetheless reasonably fun. I’m convinced it’ll find some fans out there.

Overall

F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin is an impressive achievement by Monolith – though given their previous pedigree of games I didn’t expect anything less. The story will keep you interested, the horror sections will make the hairs on the back of your neck stands up and the action sequences will make your blood pump. What more could you ask for from a game? It provides a heady, intoxicating mix with a lot of brilliant set pieces.

Those who are looking for lots of free-form, open gameplay should look elsewhere, but those seeking a superb action title with a nice line in horror and some truly awesome set pieces should go out and buy immediately. A worthy sequel to the original game? Hell yes. Monolith… You’ve done it. I F.E.A.R. Alma – again.

Available on: PS3, Xbox 360, PC
$50
8/10

This baby is perfect for those moments wherein you want to relax and let it all out under a gushing stream of water from the shower.  You don’t even have to worry about the Juke Tower getting wet – it is water proof!  As you can see, it has a vertical design, with the speakers face downward.  Though I do not know how that would affect the sound quality, it probably will keep water out better.  Then again, everything sounds so much better in the bathroom right?

The Juke Tower is actually an MP3 player.  The controls can be found on the top of the tower – volume and track skip.  The weird thing about this gadget is that it does not have any internal memory.  As such, you would have to use a USB stick to play tunes.  While the tower may be waterproof, I am not so sure whether a USB stick can take the moisture and steam that will surely ensue when you are taking a shower.

Other specs:

-LED clock (yeah, it lets you know that you have been practising your vocal chords for too long)
-powered by 3 AA batteries (about 12 hours of music – I doubt you take showers that long)
-white or black casing

Now available at TokyoFlash for £100.

It seems that every year more and more comic books and graphic novels are making the passage from the page to the big screen. Hollywood has cottoned on that not only are these art forms quite often full of great stories but they come complete with an already made fan base who will flock to the silver screen to see their heroes brought to life.

It is with this passion in mind that I’ve pulled together a list of forthcoming (and in one case now out) movies that originated in a comic book or graphic novel.

Punisher: War Zone

Date: Now

The only film in this entire listing that is now available for viewing (it was only released here in the UK on Friday); it’s safe to say that unless you’re a die-hard fan then you are probably going to be okay about missing this. It isn’t to say that Ray Stevenson does a bad job at being Frank Castle or that jigsaw doesn’t look cool, but the action is fairly derivative and to be honest I preferred Thomas Jane’s outing as the man with the black t-shirt featuring the white skull motif.

Website – Trailer – Rotten Tomatoes Review

Watchmen

Date: 6 March 2009

Arguably one of the most eagerly awaited titles for all geeks this year, Watchmen brings to the big screen a graphic novel featuring an epic story, flawed characters, moral dilemmas and superheroes without powers. The story is set in the 1980’s and the ‘Doomsday Clock’ is set to 5 minutes to midnight, so tensions are running high between the US and the USSR. Rorschach (a masked vigilante) investigates the murder of hero, only to discover the plot gets much thicker.

Alan Moore’s graphic novel of the same name should provide excellent material – but my top tip for this one is to read it in its original form before going to see the film. Whilst Moore won’t have anything to do with the movie adaptation, I’m fairly certain that everything we’ve seen so far is showing that this is going to be quite faithful in look and feel – but perhaps most importantly will offer a lot even for those who don’t know of the graphic novel.

website – Trailer

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Date: 1 May 2009

Wolverine proved very quickly to be one of the most popular characters following the screen adaptation of the X-men comic book, so it should be no surprise that his movie comes out first. Hugh Jackman reprises his role as the eponymous character, meanwhile we see a host of other characters appear from the Marvel/X-Men universe including Deadpool, Sabretooth (Liev Schriber), Silver Fox, Gambit, The Blob and more. Should you be excited? Oh yes, the action looks great and I’m expecting big things after the frankly poor X-Men: The Last Stand

Website – Trailer

Thor

Date: 16 July 2010

I’m a bit baffled why Kenneth Branagh is going to be directing Thor, but there we are. The plot is apparently going to feature Dr Donald Blake – a disabled physician who has an alter ego inside of him – none other than The Mighty Thor! For me, this one could go either way. I’m hoping that it isn’t too far out there, but as it is quite a while away I didn’t find too much info out on it. More info as it comes but I’ve heard a range of names mentioned for the role of Thor, including wrestler Triple H!

Sin City 2

Date: 2010

Unfortunately still listed in preproduction (so whether it will make 2010 is debateable) but the best received graphic novel to hit the big screen barring 300 was Sin City. Should the sequel live up to the original then this should definitely be a film on your list. This title is also known as ‘A Dame To Kill For’ and covers the story of the same name along with an unshelved Nancy Story and some short stories. It will return with the same look and feel and no doubt excellent action set pieces. Definitely one to see.

The First Avenger: Captain America

Date: 2011

After being deemed unfit for military service, Steve Rogers volunteers for a top secret research project that turns him into Captain America, a superhero dedicated to defending America’s ideals. There’s talk of this being a period piece, which could be quite interesting. The title indicates that this may well be the first of several Avenger films – though whether you like your superheroes on their own or all together may decide on how you’ll view such a film. I’m not a big fan of Cap but I am going to withhold judgement until we’ve seen a little more.

Iron Man 2

Date: 2010

Marvel Studios completely self-financed Iron Man, and I’m fairly sure that they are quite happy that they did so, given that it was such as resounding success. In the sequel, Robert Downey Jr returns to play Tony Stark in what appears to be a role he was born to play. Still not sure on the plot of this one, but there has been talk of Whiplash/Backlash as well as Crimson Dynamo. Don Cheadle is in whilst Terrance Howard is out for the role of War Machine/Jim Rhodes.

Other Films Of Note Coming Soon:

Super Max (2010) – Green Arrow
Green Lantern (2010)
Ant-Man (2010)
Dead of Night (2009) – Dylan Dog
Spider-Man 4

The wacky German director of such video game adaptations as Postal, BloodRayne and Alone in The Dark will get the Golden Raspberry awards. The awards, better known as the Razzies, is given each year to single out the worst movies and performances of the year.

Boll will be given the “distinguished” Worst Career Achievement Award. One of the rare times that the award has been given. He now joins past Career Achievement awardees as Bruce (the rubber shark used in Jaws), Linda Blair, Irwin Allen and Ronald Reagan.

If I were the people involved with the Razzies though I would start hiding. Boll is notoriously thin skinned has gained additional notoriety by challenging a few bloggers who ridiculed him to a boxing match.

I got a Wii Fit for Christmas and was super excited. Not only do I love the idea of having an easy, indoor exercise solution during the cold days of winter, but as a geek there was just something beautiful about the idea of my video game system doubling as my exercise gym.

My expectations were high, but did Wii Fit live up to them? The short answer is no. Here’s why.

There are three major shortcomings with Wii Fit in my opinion.

1) Wii Fit Is Missing Defined Exercise Programs
Perhaps the most glaring problem with Wii Fit is that it has no prescribed exercise program. You are left to your own devices in putting together a daily regiment. But I found this to be a major defect, because most of us would like to optimize the time we put into working out, and instead we are left guessing as to what is most effective. What Wii Fit should have provided, but didn’t, was the ability to take a quiz to determine what’s most important to you (weight loss, strength training, etc.) Each day, it would ask “How much time do you have to work out today?” Based on this information it could suggest 3-5 workout programs custom fit to your needs. But alas, nothing like this was present.

2) Too Much Downtime Between Exercises
As others have noted, it takes too much time to move onto the next exercise once you are finished with the previous one. Sure, if you’ve just taken a 10 minute jog, the minute or so it takes to move from the end of one exercise to the beginning of another is fine. But if you’re doing simple 1-2 minute, low-impact exercises, you quickly find that you spend half your time navigating the menus rather than keeping that heart rate up. Most of us have trouble fitting exercise into our daily routines. When it takes 30 minutes to do 15 minutes worth of exercising on the Wii Fit, it takes a psychology toll, and it feels like time is wasted.

3) Wii Fit Fails To Motivate
One of the most promising things of an exercise system built into a video game is the ability to motivate. Motivation is usually the number one inhibitor to daily exercise. Wii Fit could have easily implemented a deeply addictive RPG leveling up component to the game. But all we have to motivate us to use Wii Fit is the prospect of unlocking new exercises, losing weight and putting in more exercise hours….hardly things unique to Wii Fit. If anything, the Wii Fit is de-motivational because you know that if you take a few days off, you’ll get lectured. To drive home the idea that Wii Fit fails to motivate: I only lasted two weeks before I thoroughly lost interest.

At the end of the day, as a Geek, I needed more structure, more efficiency and more gaming elements built into the system. As it stands, not only was I bored with Wii Fit, but I also constantly felt like I was wasting time.

Ryan is a co-founder of the online information project Brainz.

Roku is a set-top box that plays Netflix movies. The box itself costs about $100. It enables you to watch unlimited “instant” movies via the Netflix service for less than $10 per month. Unfortunately, the movie selection available for “instant” viewing over the Internet leaves something to be desired.

If it weren’t for XBox 360 relationship with Netflix, the sheer quality of this product would bring me to predict marketshare dominance for Roku. However, that remains to be seen, given the current market penetration that XBox 360 has.

Getting Roku setup was a breeze. It took me all of 3 minutes (including the unboxing!). The user menus feel intuitive and tight. Using Roku reminded me of using the Nintendo Wii – family friendly. To watch movies you just add movies to your “Instant” queue in Netflix and these movies automatically appear on your Roku system.

After getting the Roku setup, I watched about 10 minutes from a few different movies. The picture quality is basically like watching a DVD. It’s alright, but on an HDTV you wish it was a little better. Given that this is a first generation product, that’s not bad though. The biggest frustration was the load time which was sometimes up to 30 seconds.

While the movie selection isn’t great, there are some good movies available on Netflix for instant viewing on the Roku box. There are thousands of movies to download but most of them are older movies. There are some recent releases, and some that are excellent. But, for the most part, the movies you really want to see just aren’t available for viewing using Roku and Netflix.

At the end of the day, I see Roku as proof of concept for the mechanism of subsription based online video distribution. Up until now, our only choices have been to pay per movie or to sacrifice quality and download movies for free (often illegally). Roku shows us the promise of IP based movie watching on our HDTVs … and that’s exciting!

Ryan blogs his thoughts on pop-culture at Thrive and is a co-founder of CC Matcher.

Quarantine

In case you’re unfamiliar with [REC], the back-story to the film is that a TV show is being shot by a two-person crew, and the show involves going with a local fire department on what should have been a standard job – rescuing someone from a room in which they are trapped. Unfortunately, it all goes wrong very quickly.

The power of Quarantine really comes from the camera that is used to show the situation that the characters find themselves in – this is a neat trick – though you’d question whether a cameraman, with his life at risk, would continue to bother lugging the thing about!

The film does begin quite slowly, but once the action starts up you’ll feel the tension mount up to a level not seen in a Hollywood movie for a while. The Strangers? Pffft, if you jumped at that, you should consider watching Quarantine from the bathroom, or indeed, not at all.

Perhaps one of the biggest departures from [REC] is the amount of core that you’ll see – it’s a bit more graphic in the depiction of the violence that takes place in the four-storey building that our intrepid crew find themselves locked into. Jennifer Carpenter as Angela is suitably frightened in the action – whilst the script has been altered to make her seem a little more sympathetic (though those of you who are quickly annoyed by the heroine’s screaming may find her performance a little much).

The biggest change over [REC] comes in the form of the story – and exactly what causes the strain of madness that apparently seems to infect the resident(s) of the house where Angela and Scott (the cameraman) find themselves in. This is one occasion where I actually found the rather more odd explanation from the original film rather easier to swallow (even if ultimately they both hint at the same thing).

It’s really very hard to say exactly how much you’ll enjoy Quarantine if you’ve seen [REC], simply because the similarities are so readily apparent. Nonetheless, if you’re looking for an English language version or if you did indeed have the misfortune not to see [REC], I can wholeheartedly recommend Quarantine as it’ll make you jump out of your chair – a lot – whilst it plays to a horrifying conclusion.

Perhaps the greatest recommendation is just how scary the whole Quarantine process is when it plays out – you can very easily believe that the characters are very much trapped in this form of living hell, with no chance at all to escape. Unfortunately, for those who did catch [REC] and want to see it again, don’t bother with Quarantine; it simply isn’t up to the standard of the original.

8/10

Some of the names being thrown about by fans include Brad Pitt (not a bad choice, actually) Serenity star Nathan Fillion, Matt Damon, Aaron Eckhart, Ryan McPartlin (the guy who plays Captain Awesome in Chuck), and Cole Hauser.

I myself am partial to Brendan Fraser.

What about you guys? Who do you think should play Captain America?

Well… there’s a place in me that says, “hey you might need this too”. This is the Vuzix Eyewear personal video viewing device. Curious how it all fits and feels like, as I haven’t really worn one and I often wonder that for those who do does it really feel like you’re also watching video on a huge plasma TV? A nagging question would be if it gives you more eyestrain in prolonged use. Like if I had a movie marathon tonight, will my eyes complain the following morning. Hmmmm…

Anyway.

This baby is “plug and play” so it will work with any video source like your portable DVDs, your video iPods, other portable video devices etc. Sound quality is good too, earbuds are detachable for easy storage and/or cleaning. Retails for about US$350. If you need uninterrupted viewing experience, this is for you. I’m guessing it may be a little weird when your moving your head… the video moves with you. If you get over that… it’s a cool experience to just shut everyone and everything around you and enjoy.

Got the following summary of features from the manufacturer website:

Supported Devices Include:
Portable DVD players
Media players
Gaming systems
Digital cameras
Camcorders
Cellular phones with video output

Features:
iWear® 3D enabled for automatic 2D/3D control; no buttons required
Can be worn with or without prescription eyeglasses
The integrated rechargeable lithium ion battery gives approximately five hours of continuous viewing
Includes mini USB charger

User Adjustable:
Removable, integrated can be upgraded or removed to allow you to plug in your own headsets
AccuTilt® viewer pivots up to 15 degrees for optimum viewing angle and clarity
Soft, comfortable, hypo-allergenic nosepiece extends up to 3/8″
Custom fit headstrap

Advanced Optics:
32-degree field of view
3/4″ eye relief and 5/16″ eyebox.
2.5″ intraocular distance (IOD).
Color corrected 10th order aspherical lens with diffractive surface

Technical Specifications:
Twin high-resolution 640×480 (920,000 pixels) LCD displays
Equivalent to a 62″ screen viewed from 9 feet
Millions of colors
Visor weighs 2.9 ounces
Integrated rechargeable lithium ion battery allows approximately five hours of continuous operation
60 Hz progressive scan update rate

I’m a big fan of Hulu.com, I try to go there about twice a week to see TV programs I missed. Oh I love “The Office”, season 4 rocks!

Well, I just heard that Hulu.com now plays movie trailers too. So just in case you’d like to see what a movie is, well, you don’t have to wait on cable to feature it. You can just hop on Hulu.com and clicking on Movies->Trailers will get the job done.

Just came from there and saw the “Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince” trailer. Spooky! I bet ‘ya it’ll be a smash hit, better than the last one. Their flash player offers an option to play a trailer in hi-res, which I think is cool. And as with the regular videos hosted on Hulu.com, trailers’ embed codes are available. So you can catch that movie trailer and plop it into your website.

At the bottom of the trailer page are buttons marked as “reviews” and “discussions”. There isn’t a lot there yet as this feature just got started, but I’ll be very interested to see movie fan communities there discussing “stuff”. That would be equally informative and entertaining!

Putting a Gaiman work on film is exciting enough but there are now plans to also make games based on the novel and movie. D3 Publisher has announced that it will make Coraline games for the Wii, PS2, and the DS and this will be made available by January next year, a month before the movie debuts in America.

This is great news for Gaiman fans, and you can count me as one of ‘em.

Directed by Henry Selick, Coraline will be the filmmaker’s first full-length stop-motion animated film since he first established himself with the classic The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach. As with James, Selick will be working from the source material of a well-respected scribe. The original novel Coraline was penned by Neil Gaiman, author of the seminal Sandman series of comics as well as Stardust, a novel adapted to the big screen last year.

In the film, a young girl discovers a doorway to a fantastic alternate reality in her house. However, when her alternate world turns sinister, she must marshal her wits to escape the predicament and return home to her old life.

Coraline has not yet been rated and is under development by Papaya Studios (Medal of Honor: Airborne, Larry Boy and the Bad Apple) and Art Co. (Shaun the Sheep, Gunpey for DS).

For kids, Halloween is all about candy. For teens, it’s an excuse for deviant behavior. And for adults, it’s all about living vicariously. Hence the number of slutty pirate costumes.

But as the dudes who dressed up as iPhones last year proved, geeks partake in the fun too!

If you don’t feel like looking like Stephen Hawking, here are some of the geekier costumes I’ve see so far.

Geek Couple: Plug and Socket

Odd Geek Out: Hung Like a Horse

Geek Girl Looking for Action: Twister

Nostalgic Geek: Pez Dispenser

Guaranteed to Go Home Alone Geek: Pickle Vendor

Grow the F Up Geek: Speed Racer

Three Years Too Late Geek: Cartman

Best Friend Geeks: Steve Jobs and Bill Gates

I might have a party to go to. For now, I’m 404 costume not found. Any ideas?

Another blast from the past is going to be made into a movie.

The hit 80’s cartoon series Voltron is going to get live action treatment in Hollywood. The new movie will receive a moderate budget and will reportedly use more “cost-efficient” technology similar to the ones used in making 300 in order to get more savings.

Max Makowski has been attached as the director of the Voltron movie.

For those who don’t remember it, Voltron was an anime series that tells the story of five survivors of an alien attack who pilots five lion-shaped robots that join together to form a big sword wielding robot.

WB also announced that the current focus for its superhero properties are on single characters and that the Dark Knight template will be used–meaning it will be darker superhero movies.

Hmm, a dark and brooding Plastic Man movie… that could be a first.

The Prince of Persia series is probably the best action-platformer franchise I’ve played. I dare say, it is even miles better than the Tomb Raider series. It ’s no wonder that it only took a few years before a Prince of Persia movie was developed.

Pictured above is Jake Gyllenhall as the titular Prince during the production of the POP movie. The action adventure movie is set for release reportedly in 2010. Gyllenhall looks buff and really looks good as the main character, but then who cares about him when Reese Witherspoon is in the picture.

This week, promo shots from the movie have started to leak out. I’m posting the solo picture of Goku, played by Justin Chatwin. Love the costume, that’s about it.

There are no words to describe the awesome Red Sonja teaser poster that was recently unveiled at Comic Con. I have said this before and I will say this again: Rose McGowan is the perfect Red Sonja.

Geeks all over the world will most probably dream about this poster tonight.