Check out this John Woo-esque short film made to unveil a brand new IP from Square Enix London called Sleeping Dogs — a gritty crime thriller dealing with the Hong Kong Triads.

I strongly recommend watching the trailer before you read anymore (but note that it’s bloody and brutal, so keep the kids away). There’s a twist at the end that sets up a big plot point from the game.

Okay, watched it? Back with me? Let’s continue.

Sleeping Dogs puts you in the shoes of Wei Shen, a cop and talented fighter who’s given a difficult assignment: go undercover with the Triads to try and bring it down from the inside. As you saw in the trailer, it takes some doing, but he does earn the Triads’ trust. The game will build on this, placing the player in increasingly sticky situations that require tough moral choices and lightning-fast combat skills. Will Shen hold to his purpose, or will he get sucked too far into the world of the Triads?

You’ll be able to freely explore Hong Kong island, Grand Theft Auto style. Every spot, every landmark, every street corner or skyscraper building potentially offers some new mission or confrontation for you to deal with. Shen will engage in hand-to-hand martial arts, vehicle races through bustling city streets, and intense shoot-outs. Square Enix London is particularly excited about its new combat system, which it claims is much more intuitive than your standard fare, giving you access to bone-crunching moves that can be used against multiple enemies at one time.

In addition to guns and martial arts, you’ll also be able to take full advantage of the interactive environment around you, using anything and everything you see to your advantage. The developer cites examples such as circular saws, incinerators, refrigerator doors, and phone booths as just a few of the kinds of things you can use for defense and offense.

Sleeping Dogs is expected to drop later this year for PS3, Xbox 360, and PC. Take a look at the first screens from the game below. Then let us know what you think of Sleeping Dogs in the comment area.

The King is dead, er, alive, er, dead. Long live the King!

Many people say, and I’m not one to argue, that what started as a brilliant franchise became watered down after a number of sequels that failed to reach the dizzy depths that were plumbed by the original Hellraiser.

‘Oh we have such sights to show you’ became a jaded phrase.

Having said that, I seem to recall I really liked the eighth and final movie, and feel it was much maligned in later recollections. Or maybe it was the seventh. Anyway, moving on…

We lived through Marvel’s abortive attempt at Clive Barker’s derived characters in the Razorline family of titles, which again contained a small number of gems but fell by the wayside. That’s not to mention the prior Pinhead title from Epic, and the less said about ‘Pinhead versus Marshall Law’, the better. At the time everybody had to read it, but it hardly went down in the annals of comics greats.

Nevertheless, when Boom released their recent Hellraiser series, I was excited. Yet somewhere around issues 4 or 5, I lost interest. I can’t specify quite for what reason, but somehow I lost track of quite which character was which (barring Kirsty Cotton of course).  The new issues kept getting shuffled to the bottom of my reading pile, and last night I discovered I had the three of them together.

And now I am so glad I did. Where the title falls down in terms of individual issues halfway through the eight issue storyline, this is perfect for the graphic novel. That is not to dismiss the monthly format, each issue had a more than acceptable cliffhanger; and in terms of Kirsty Cotton and the machinations of Pinhead in the view of the Leviathan, I felt that I knew what was going on.

No, that’s wrong, as a number of reveals drove home time and again. What I did experience however, was those same feelings the original two movies evoked; my skin tingled in both fear and anticipation, and I was open to the idea that horrors were wonders, and every wonder a horror.

Christopher Monfette has struck exactly the right note with this series, his previous five-year association with the master of horror Mr Barker evident in every speech bubble and every twist of the plot. If you haven’t grabbed this series, you will be pleased to hear that #8 ended with the word ‘Next’. Pinhead has become mortal again and tricked Kirtsy Cotton into taking his role in hell. Jump on now, and grab the first eight issues, or the trade as soon as it is released.

There are new sights to behold.

If this is the case, then you might be interested in the recently launched stamps series by the UK’s Royal Mail. The series is none other than artwork from the stories of children’s book author Roald Dahl.

Who doesn’t recognize that name? After Charlie and the Chocolate Factory captured the attention of people of all ages all over the world, Roald Dahl became a household name – if he wasn’t before that. I particularly remember him for his story The Witches. I still am not sure if that is to blame for my fascination with witches, but that is one tattered book in my bookshelf.

In any case, even if you are not a hardcore philatelist, the idea of getting your hands on these fun Roald Dahl stamps is a worthy one.

The Roald Dahl stamps are illustrated by Quentin Blake, who has been the artist behind Dahl’s works. Dahl fans will be delighted with stamps featuring The Twits, Matilda, The Witches, Fantastic Mr Fox, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, and The BFG. These children’s books, I think, should be introduced to every kid.

While the author certainly does not lack recognition and acclaim as a writer, these Roald Dahl stamps serve as icing on top of the cake. As his daughter Ophelia Dahl states, “My dad wrote thousands of letters home throughout his life and never dreamed that one day one of his own characters would grace a stamp.”

Take a look at the Roald Dahl stamps yourself.

Now who is in the UK and willing to send letters via post?

Via Design Taxi

You are not looking at a real human being. Hard as it is to believe, this video demo of a new 3D skin mapping technique is CGI being rendered in real-time.

Imagine playing Call of Duty or Skyrim or Arkham City with in-game characters that look every bit as 100% real as you and me, with living, breathing skin that’s both uniform and randomized to the perfect degree — perfect enough to fool the ultra-discerning human eye. Created by a pair of researchers named Jorge Jimenez and Diego Gutierrez, it’s called “Separable Subsurface Scattering” (SSS), it was made to be used by video game developers who need realistic human skin in modern video games.

The amazing thing to me is that the video and the technology behind it are not pre-rendered. It’s written in Direct X 10, and to prove it, Jimenez and Gutierrez have made their tech demo freely available to download. I know as I watch it that this character is a fabrication, but my mind refuses to accept that it’s not real, because it’s flawless.

Now I’m dying to see a character using SSS skin in motion. Let’s see the skin move, stretch, and contract. If it’s just as believable in how it moves, then future video game avatars are about to ascend to a whole new level of realism.

I’ve made no secret of my disdain for Sony rebooting the Spider-Man franchise so quickly after Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire’ trilogy came to an (unplanned) end. But after watching the new trailer for Marc Webb’s Amazing Spider-Man, I’ve finally found a reason to get excited about a new Spidey. Click through to watch the trailer and check out some high-res screengrabs of its blink-and-you’ll-miss-’em key moments.

First of all, do yourself a favor and bump the trailer up to full 1080p resolution, and expanded it to full screen. Totally worth it.

There’s lots of cool VFX in this trailer. There’s some terrific character moments (the one that will most warm your geeky little heart is when Spidey smack-talks a car thief). There’s some dynamic, fast-paced, brutal action scenes (seriously, Peter escaping the cops: whoa). There’s some fun dialogue (Gwen noting under her breath, “I’m in trouble,” I’m guessing comes shortly after she learns Peter’s secret, and realizes that she’s in love with him). The lighting and cinematography are appropriately dark and glistening (Webb’s New York City looks like the real thing more than Raimi’s candy-colored NYC). And there’s a noteworthy absence of any hokey FPS sequences, like we saw in the teaser trailer.

These are all things that fill me with great hope. But they’re not what changed my mind about The Amazing Spider-Man.

What captured my imagination is that the trailer reminded me once again why we love Spider-Man in the first place. We love him because he’s one of us. He’s a dork. A geek, who gets superpowers and finds the nobility to use them for good instead of gain. A fanboy who learns the hard way that being a superhero is a lot more complicated than the comic books make it look. A regular Joe who accepts the responsibility fate has thrust on him, despite the hardships and pains that it brings, and simply tries to do the best he can with the hand he’s been dealt.

I watch this trailer… And I believe. Again.

Raimi’s first Spider-Man was good. 2 was excellent. Just a brilliant, brilliant movie. But 3 was a hot mess. It had so many good things going for it, including a lot of potentially great ideas. Its problem was in getting away from the core of who Peter Parker is, by awarding him with fame and adoration, and letting him get caught up in it. Peter Parker is not Superman. He’s the underdog. People love him, but they don’t throw parades in his honor or give him the key to the city. I don’t fault Raimi for trying new things and attempting to push the character in new directions. I fault Spider-Man 3 for being a bloated, busy exercise in excess that lost sight of who its hero is.

From this trailer, it’s plainly obvious that director Marc Webb and star Andrew Garfield know exactly who Peter Parker is. And I can’t wait to see their dark new take on everyone’s favorite web-slinger.

Oh, and the mechanical web shooters? Flippin’ awesome.

We can’t do anything about that but wait, although you have the option of stoking the fire of anticipation by watching the teaser again and again. Or reading up on the movie over and over. Or you can just head on over to The Big Bad Toy Store and get your very own Dark Knight Mr. Potato Head.

Dark Knight Mr. Potato Head

If you are a fan of spuds, then you will need no convincing to get this toy. If you don’t have a single Mr. Potato Head in your home, what better time to start collecting them than now?

You have two options: Standard Grade and Collector’s Grade. The former will give you:

• The item is brand-new, in mint condition, and sealed inside its packaging.
• Packaging condition is verified to be 80% mint (C8), or better.
• Standard Grade items are suitable to display in the package, or to open.

For the latter, you’ll have:

• The item is brand-new, in mint condition, and sealed inside mint packaging.
• Packaging condition is verified to be 90% mint (C9), or better.
• If you upgrade, our warehouse will carefully choose items in mint condition.
• Each item will be wrapped in a clear poly-bag for protection during shipping.
• Collector’s Grade items are meant to be displayed in their packaging.

You only need to add $2 to get the Collector’s Grade toy.

The Dark Knight Mr. Potato Head is available on pre-order basis and is estimated to be available by June 2012. If you order from The Big Bad Toy Store now, you get a $2 discount from the list price of $19.99. That should leave you with enough to get the upgrade.

On Saturday, 13,000 Half-Life fans showed up on Steam to play Half-Life 2 multiplayer simultaneously. That’s 10k more HL2 players at one time than the Steam servers are accustomed to. Their reasons for gathering to play? They want to know the status of Half-Life 3.

30,000 players originally signed a pledge to play over the weekend, but in the end, less than half of them showed up. The idea was cooked up by the Steam Community Group, who (like many of us) have grown frustrated at Valve’s refusal to comment on future plans for Half-Life 3 and/or Half-Life 2: Episode 3. But rather than risk ticking off the games’ developers, SCG decided to hold a more positive “protest” to send a message to Valve.

In their own words, that message is:

Your oldest and longest running fanbase would like better communication.

Waiting patiently for over four years can be challenging as a fan… Valve had stated that information was scheduled to be released towards the end of 2008, and we believe that if they have chosen to change those plans, fans should be acknowledged, regardless of developmental plans for the next Half-Life project.

The entire trilogy of [Half-Life 2] episodes was scheduled to be completed and released by 2007, and if Valve have decided to do other things for the time being, that is fine; all that we ask for is a basic response on the matter, and to let fans know whether or not the current story arc is scheduled to conclude at another point in time.

I’m all for creators keeping their secrets. Creative expression is largely dependent upon surprise, after all. But I sympathize 100% with these Half-Life fans. I will cheer them on until they get results, because I think they’re in the right. They’re not asking for Valve to spill all their secrets. They just want some idea of whether or not Half-Life 3 and/or Half-Life 2: Episode 3 are even in the cards, particularly the latter, which was due for release five years ago.

You know, if they’re saving their big reveal for E3, that’s perfectly understandable. But throw the fans a bone in the meantime. A morsel. Anything. Something as vague as, “We can’t comment on Half-Life at the moment, but stay tuned!” would appease the masses.

Valve is in no way required to respond to their fans. Delays are inevitable, and Valve has a history of them, due to the uncompromising quality of the games they produce. Then there’s the industry, which goes through seasons of change, financial/business considerations, employee turnover, and any number of other reasons why developers alter their plans all the time. No doubt Valve has a very good reason for not releasing Episode 3 when they said they would.

But they’ve fostered a symbiotic relationship with their fans based on mutual communication from the start. Now, after making promises to their fans regarding the future of the franchise, they’re dead silent. This is unacceptable. Valve has a moral responsibility to at least comment on any change to the promises they’ve made to their fans. And it’s not like we’re talking about a few months of silence, here. Valve has been in total black-out on the topic of Half-Life for five years.

There’s a word for that kind of blatant neglect of fan interest and enthusiasm.

It’s called disloyalty.

Did the 1992 “Death of Superman” storyline from DC Comics send you into a fit of fanboy fury? Max Landis, son of director John Landis and writer of the film Chronicle, was pretty ticked by it. His 15-minute rant-slash-reenactment is required viewing for all true comic book fans.

Landis himself directs and retells the story of Superman‘s death and return, while a bunch of his friends act out the story he’s telling. Among the many, many guest stars Landis enlisted for his short film are Elijah Wood, Mandy Moore, Simon Pegg, Matt Bennett, Ron Howard, Chris Hardwick, Morgan Krantz, Kelsey Gunn, and many more, all of whom prove entirely game for Landis’ lo-fi, low-budget dramatizations.

Despite the angry ranting over the endlessly illogical plot points and wacky play-acting by his goofball friends, in the end Landis does make an excellent point about how this pivotal moment in comic book history changed the medium forever — and not for the better.

Just be warned: watching this video is not recommended if you’re turned off by excessive profanity. Because of this, it’s most definitely NSFW.

In fact, today’s post just might make you appreciate flowers more than ever. Without the usual connotations that come with it. These flower pictures are the work of American photographer David Lachapelle, and while they might not be as geeky as the flowers Robin wrote about some time last year, they will certainly catch your eye and keep you hooked as well.

Lachapelle calls his work “Earth Laughs in Flowers”. Obviously, the photographs have flowers – all sorts – in focus, but it is the surrounding details that make the difference. And such a huge difference does the setups make!

Forget mushy and sloppy flower arrangements. Think vivid, dark, brilliant – all exploding in one image! Think cigarette butts, dismembered dolls, water guns, and ripe fruit that looks like the flavor is bursting out of them. Oh, and don’t forget the mobile phone and medication.

Lachapelle’s work is more than about the universal symbol of the month of February. It “explores the fragility of society and ideas of vice and vanity”. It might be difficult to internalize that concept without seeing the photos, but once you go through the gallery below, I trust that you will not walk away without getting the message.

Make sure to click on the thumbnails for the full Earth Laughs in Flowers experience.

It has been nearly 11 months since the Tohoku earthquake that shook Japan and damaged the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant, but recovery efforts are still ongoing and relief organizations are still seeking donations. Doing their part to help, figure manufacturers Max Factory and Good Smile Company have released a series of “Cheerful Japan” figures, in which a portion of the profits is donated to relief efforts. This line-up of figures include Vocaloid and anime characters dressed up in cheerleader uniforms and are sold directly by the manufacturers. While the “Cheerful Japan” figures have been very successful, out-selling most of the companies’ other products, Max Factory and Good Smile Company seem to be continuing to find ways to raise awareness and promote themselves at the same time.

With the 2012 Winter Wonder Festival coming up this month, the companies have launched a Miku Art Project to be displayed at the event. Miku Hatsune is clearly one of the most popular characters among figure collectors, so Max Factory and Good Smile Company are calling on individuals to submit pictures of their Miku or other Vocaloid figures in order to create a huge mosaic. For each submission, 100 yen will be donated to relief/recovery organizations that are continuing to clean up after the earthquake. You can submit a picture with yourself in it as long as it also contains a Vocaloid figure from either Max Factory or Good Smile Company, and what figure fanatic wouldn’t want their picture shown at the Wonder Festival?

Up to 10,000 submissions will be accepted for the mosaic, and it should be complete by February 12, the first day of the Wonder Festival. Limiting submissions to pictures of their own products may be a bit self-serving, but they are not making any money off of the submissions and they’re donating to a good cause. Anyone who already owns a Max Factory or Good Smile Company Vocaloid figure would only need to take a few minutes to take a picture and upload it to the “Wonderful Hobby Life for You” website. All images will be resized to 200×200 pixels and the final mosaic will be on Mika-tan’s blog for those who can’t make it to the Wonder Festival.

The popular deck building game, Ascension is no stranger at Forevergeek. So when we fond out that a certain Alan Gerding planned an Ascension Wedding Proposal to his girlfriend Crystol Shelton, we were absolutely delighted.

Alan contacted Justin Gary’s crew asking for help. He wanted to do an elaborate wedding proposal during one of their gaming sessions. It appears that Ascension was the all time game of choice between the couple. For those unfamiliar with the game, we’ve done three features here:

Ascension: Chronicle of the Godslayer
Ascension: Return of the Fallen
An Interview with Justin Gary, Creator of Ascension

Watch the proposal below. Alan caught everything on his Flip camera. The video is hilarious because Crystol was too stunned to even notice the ring.

Alan wanted to surprise his girlfriend by having a special card constructed which he was to shuffle into the deck. The guys from Gary Games were glad to oblige and they developed a card, illustrated by Eric Sabee himself, a staple artist throughout the Ascension series. He was able to capture Alan and Crystol’s faces into the card.

Ring of Gerd was the card they developed under Alan’s careful guidance. It’s crafted in the style of the Lifebound faction (makes sense) with their faces captured in Sabee fashion.

The flavor text is romantic-geeky: “Crystol, life is but a game. As long as we have one another, we shall never lose.” Ring of Gerd gives infinite LOVE and can never be discarded or banished.

Gary Games also created a promotional card for actual play called Ring of Life which will be made available this February at Game Day Locations.

As a card, Ring of Life is especially useful if you build your deck around Lifebound cards. Not only does it give you one extra white for casting, it also becomes useful for drawing more cards when used in tandem with the new Unite ability in Storm of Souls. If you go Lifebound, you’ll be able to draw through your deck much faster while gaining Victory Points / whites when you draw cards like Lionheart and Starchild. The ring converts all heroes into Lifebound heroes allowing you to expand your casting pool and gaining points. You’ll definitely steamroll through you deck.

Once again, congratulations to Alan and Crystol!

This week, ForeverGeek posted our annual Movie Calendar, and this year, we selected 10 movies as our “Must See” picks for the year. Which is the one you’re looking forward to the most?

In the poll, you’ll find our 10 Must See films of 2012. (See the Movie Calendar page for the full list of more than 100 films hitting theaters this year. And we’re adding more all the time, so remember to bookmark it!)

Anyhow, if you are into calendars that serve a different kind of purpose, you will love the Mapping Stereotypes Calendar Project by Alpha Design. As you can read from the title, however, this is definitely not for you if you are rather sensitive about political correctness and everything else remotely related to the concept. The Mapping Stereotypes Calender Project might very well be the furthest thing from political correctness.

The idea is to take the map of the world – or parts of it – and change the labels on the countries depending on the perception of a group of people. You can easily see how wrong this can go. Then again, you have to bear in mind that this was done with all silliness in mind. Just laugh it away and not take it too seriously.

With that warning being thrown out there, I shall let the maps speak for themselves.

Mapping Stereotypes Calendar: World According to the United States of America

World According to the United States of America

Mapping Stereotypes Calendar: Europe According to the United States of America

Europe According to the United States of America

Mapping Stereotypes Calendar: Europe According to Greece

Europe According to Greece

Mapping Stereotypes Calendar: Europe According to Germany

Europe According to Germany

Know what I mean now? If you only took a short time to go through the maps, take a look again with a more open mind this time. These maps – and a whole lot more – are part of the Mapping Stereotypes Calendar, which you can purchase at Alpha Designer.

Calvin & Hobbes Art Print

As all fans of Calvin & Hobbes know, Bill Watterson shunned all tie-in merchandise for his creation, never selling so much as a bumper sticker. So it’s a very big deal that one lucky buyer is about to get an incredibly rare art print signed by the artist.

The original watercolor illustration Watterson created for the 1989-90 16-Month Calvin & Hobbes Calendar is going up for auction on February 23rd, where it’s expected to fetch a price upwards of $50,000. Heritage Auctions is selling the piece as part of its “Vintage Comics & Comic Art Signature” event at the Fletcher-Sinclair Mansion.

Calvin & Hobbes creator Bill Watterson was exceedingly single-minded in his artistic integrity, refusing the huge piles of cash he could have made from authorizing licensed products like plush toys and posters, and ending his strip’s run after ten years at the height of its popularity. Comic strips mean something to the incredibly private Watterson, and his insistence on never compromising is one of the many traits that made Calvin & Hobbes so special.

The only art prints Watterson ever created he gave away as gifts, and it is one of these gifts that is now being sold. Heritage claims that the piece is in pristine condition, and is signed to “Rick Marschall,” whom Watterson gifted it to.

Click here to visit the Heritage Auctions listing for this Calvin & Hobbes art print, where you can bid on the piece in secret and read more details about it.

Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen in 'The Hunger Games'

The much-anticipated Hunger Games movie is almost here, and as an avid fan of the books, I’m hungry for any scrap of news I can get my hands on. I’m a bit surprised that Lionsgate has no plans for a big console or PC tie-in game, but they just announced today a “social game” that actually sounds promising.

Social game maker Funtactix has been contracted by Lionsgate to create The Hunger Games Adventures, which will launch the same day as the movie, on March 23, 2012. It’s billed as an adventure game with social elements, where players will be able to explore all of Panem (the post-apocalyptic nation where The Hunger Games takes place), including the Capitol and all twelve Districts, and interact with characters from the book. The game sends players on missions, which advance their individual storyline within Panem. The game will roll out in chapters, each of which will expand the game world.

Particularly enticing to fans of the books will be the official Map of Panem, considered canon to both the films and the books, which shows for the first time, exactly how all of the Districts are laid out. The Hunger Games Adventures promises to be the first place fans will get access to this map; it will be a reward for successful playing of the game.

Funtactix hasn’t yet revealed how the social elements of the game will work, though one imagines that you’ll be able to create your own in-world avatar and solve puzzles and complete missions with friends. The developer also isn’t saying yet what the intended platform for the game is (though the words “social game” are synonymous with Facebook for most of us), but this player expects it to be a standard in-browser game of some kind.

Lionsgate and Funtactix point readers to the web address www.thehungergamesadventures.com for more information about the game, but at the moment, the URL just points to the movie’s Facebook page.

It’s here at last — the one you’ve been waiting for. ForeverGeek is proud to present the ultimate movie calendar featuring all the movies you should care about in 2012.

This is an exhaustive list, but not a comprehensive one. We’re geeks, so there are no romcoms, no tear-jerkers, and no dumb kiddie flicks. (And no sparkly vampires!) Not every movie you care about from 2012 may be on this list, but every movie you should care about is here.

This page is constantly being updated with new movies and new details. Know a movie that belongs on this list? Suggest it to the list curator.

Watch for ten special films that we’ve selected as our Must-See Picks for 2012.

Click a link to jump to that month’s movies:

February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December | Unknown

February 3

Chronicle Forget the Teen Titans and the Young Avengers. Here’s what would happen if high schoolers really gained superpowers like strength, telekinesis, flight, and invulnerability. The buzz is strong for this tale of indulgence with power, and zero responsibility. Where’s Uncle Ben when you need him? Directed by newcomer Josh Trank. Trailer Official Website

The Innkeepers A pair of amateur paranormal investigators set out to prove that a 100-year-old inn is haunted. Wanna bet they find more than the guys on Ghost Hunters? (Rumor has it you should stay through the credits for a little something extra.) Trailer Official Website

The Woman in Black Daniel Radcliffe headlines this throwback to the days when “horror” was about chills, not torture porn. Radcliffe plays young lawyer Arthur Kipps, sent alone to a deceased client’s house to sort through her papers. But this house has been home to much tragedy and many secrets, and Kipps finds himself stalked by a mysterious woman dressed in black. Probably just a Harry Potter fan who’s still in mourning. Trailer Official Website

February 10

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island Dwayne Johnson steps in for Brendan Fraser in a sequel nobody saw coming. There’s always a chance it could be kooky fun, though the addition of Luis Guzman as the Goofy Latino Sidekick doesn’t instill confidence. Trailer Official Website

Safe House When a CIA-operated safe house is targeted by a group of bad guys, the facility’s house-sitter (Ryan Reynolds) is tasked with the dangerous job of moving the criminal who is being hidden there (Denzel Washington) to another secure location. Seeing these two share the screen should be worth the price of admission alone. Trailer Official Website

Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace It’s the Star Wars movie we all want to forget the most! Now in entirely unnecessary 3D! Lucas hopes to convert all six movies to 3D if this one proves it’s worth it. (I would have started with a better lead-in.) Trailer Official Website

Perfect Sense It’s not often that “serious scifi” and “serious romance” cross paths, and the results are always unpredictable when they do. This one has an intriguing premise, though: a doctor (Eva Green) falls for a chef (Ewan McGregor) who’s suffering odd symptoms that affect his emotions and five senses. She investigates his illness and discovers that his case is one of many to break out in just 24 hours, all over the globe. Trailer Official Website

February 14

This Means War Star Trek‘s Chris Pine and Inception‘s Tom Hardy are CIA agents and besties who fall for the same gal (Reese Witherspoon), forcing them to pull out all the stops to stop each other from getting the girl. Sort of like Mr. & Mrs. Smith with a love triangle. Trailer Official Website

February 17

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance The first movie wasn’t really good enough to warrant a sequel, but at least this one looks crazy enough to be fun. The guys that brought you Crank bring their over-the-top style to the franchise, allowing even Nic Cage to enjoy himself a lot more as the title character. Trailer Official Website

The Secret World of Arrietty The revered Studio Ghibli brings their interpretation of the classic children’s books, The Borrowers. Disney distributes. Ghibli only knows how to make masterpieces, and this should be no exception. Trailer Official Website

February 24

Act of Valor It’s a documentary shot like an action thriller. Real-life Navy SEALs are sent on a covert mission to recover a kidnapped CIA agent that leads to the demise of a complex web of terrorist cells. Strong buzz surrounds this one. Trailer Official Website

Gone Nothing can stop Jill (Amanda Seyfried) from finding her missing sister, because she’s convinced that the serial killer who kidnapped her two years ago has returned for her sibling. Trailer Official Website

March 2

Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax The same studio that brought you Horton Hears a Who puts their CGI spin on another classic Dr. Seuss story. Anybody else getting an unfortunate Garfield vibe from that poster? Trailer Official Website

March 9

John Carter Disney has a lot riding on the live-action debut of Pixar’s Andrew Stanton — not the least of which is a ginormous VFX budget. Taylor Kitsch stars as Edgar Rice Burroughs’ classic hero, a Civil War veteran who’s transported to Mars, where he becomes a savior figure. Hollywood’s been trying to get this movie off the ground for ages, since nearly every science fiction epic in existence was influenced by the ideas Burroughs dreamed up first. So it stands the risk of feeling “old hat” to modern audiences unaware of its pivotal place in history. Its scheduling in early March (well outside summer blockbuster season) and shortened title (it originally matched the novel’s title, John Carter of Mars) has us nervous about Disney’s confidence in the film. But our hopes remain very high. Trailer Official Website

Playback While digging into their town’s infamous past, a group of high school students unwittingly unlock a dark secret, unleashing an evil spirit that takes possession of its victims. Stars Christian Slater, and screams “direct-to-video,” but I’m in a charitable mood so here’s hoping. Trailer Official Website

The Silent House A chilling thriller from South America based on a true story about a girl trapped inside a cottage by someone — or something — bloodthirsty. The movie follows her actions and her rising panic, second-by-second, for the majority of its running time. Trailer Official Website

March 16

21 Jump Street Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum attempt to revive the franchise that put Johnny Depp on the map. The old Fox TV series comes to the big screen with a more lighthearted tone. Unfortunately, it’s probably going to be funny for all the wrong reasons. Trailer Official Website

Seeking Justice After his wife is assaulted, a husband (Nicolas Cage) enlists the services of a vigilante group to help him settle the score. Also stars Guy Pierce and January Jones. Trailer

March 23

4:44 Last Day on Earth What would happen to people, to society, if we all knew the exact day and time that the world was going to end? Stars Willem Dafoe. Official Website

Brake A Secret Service Agent (Blade‘s Stephen Dorff) is held captive in the trunk of a car and endures high-speed mental and physical torture as terrorists attempt to extract needed information from him. In other words, the feel good movie of the year. Trailer Official Website

The Hunger Games All eyes are on star Jennifer Lawrence and director Gary Ross to see if they can bring Suzanne Collins’ runaway bestseller — a book that begged for a big-screen adaptation — to glorious life. Expect a faithful adaptation of Collins’ mesmerizing story of survivalist Katniss Everdeen, a sixteen-year-old forced into a brutal, televised competition where teenagers are pitted against one another to the death. The trailer shows that Ross has perfectly captured the future society of the books on film, but he faces a serious challenge in bringing Katniss to life. Since the book treats readers to Katniss’ inner thoughts, everything happens from her first-person perspective. Translating the core of this beloved character — whose often subtle actions don’t always betray her true feelings — won’t be easy. Lionsgate has big plans for The Hunger Games (they’re filming both sequels), but as the book’s legions of fans know, Katniss Everdeen is the most worthy successor to Harry Potter to come along in a very long time. Trailer Official Website

The Raid Gareth Huw Evans follows-up his Indonesian martial arts flick Merantau with this stylish romp about a special forces team forced to fight their way, floor-by-floor, out of an apartment building owned by a notorious drug lord. Trailer

March 30

Mirror Mirror The first of two Snow White movies out of the gate in 2012 is the more lighthearted of the pair. It has the benefit of Julia Roberts as its above-the-title star, but the candy-colored production looks awfully campy, considering it comes from a director (Tarsem Singh) usually known for his visually sophisticated style. It’s the more family-friendly Snow White of 2012, but it hasn’t made a good first impression. Trailer Official Website

Transit A family on a road trip is stalked by criminals who stashed stolen money in their car. Starring Jim Caviezel, Elisabeth Rohm, James Frain, and Harold Perrineau. Trailer

Wrath of the Titans Sam Worthington returns as Perseus when the gods go to war once more, but this time Zeus is captured by the Titans and must be rescued from the dark realm of Tartarus. Bigger effects, more characters, and (hopefully) better 3D. Oh, and a bizarre reunion for the two lead actors from Schindler’s List (Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes), who play godly brothers. Trailer Official Website

April 6

The Cold Light of Day A young American (Henry Cavill) uncovers a conspiracy during his attempt to save his family, who were kidnapped while on vacation in Spain. Also stars Bruce Willis and Sigourney Weaver. Trailer Official Website

Detention A slasher movie about a slasher movie killer who scares a group of high school seniors. Wasn’t that the plot of Scream? Trailer Official Website

The Hunter A mercenary, played by Willem Dafoe, is sent by a mysterious biotech company to the Tasmanian wilderness to hunt down the last Tasmanian tiger. Trailer Official Website

April 13

Bad Ass Danny Trejo stars as a former war hero who gains fame a second time for saving a black man’s life from a group of skinheads. When his best friend is murdered and the police refuse to do anything about it, our senior citizen hero takes matters into his own hands. Trailer Official Website

Bullet to the Head Based on a French graphic novel, this one tells the story of a New Orleans hitman (Sylvester Stallone) and a young New York City cop (Sung Kang) who form an alliance to bring down the killers of their respective partners. Also stars Christian Slater and Jason Momoa. (Can’t help wondering how many steroids it takes to sport a body like that at 65. I’m sorry, but look at his arms! Those veins are about to explode!)

The Cabin in the Woods Joss Whedon and his former Buffy/Angel writer Drew Goddard, who also wrote Cloverfield, came up with this one, which is expected to take the stereotypical horror movie tropes and turn them on their heads. As the poster suggests, expect endless twists and turns, where the rug is swept out from under the characters (and viewers) time and again. It was filmed in 2009 but held back by the distributor for unknown reasons. Stars Chris Hemsworth pre-Thor and marks Goddard’s directing debut. Trailer Official Website

April 20

Lock-Out An odd scifi/action mashup about a man (Guy Pierce) wrongly convicted of treason against the U.S., who’s offered freedom if he can rescue the President’s daughter (Maggie Grace) from an outer space prison (that’s right) taken over by violent inmates. Hopefully will answer the nagging question of why Maggie Grace keeps getting kidnapped in movies. Trailer

The Moth Diaries A teenage girl at a boarding school suspects her roommate is a vampire. And you thought you were the only one!

April 27

Headhunters Subtitled action/thriller about an accomplished headhunter who risks everything to obtain a valuable painting owned by a former mercenary. Trailer

The Pirates: Band of Misfits Aardman brings us their one-of-a-kind take on the world’s recent pirate obsession, clamation style. Hugh Grant stars as the main character, who wants only to win the coveted Pirate of the Year Award. Boasts a great supporting cast that includes the voices of Jeremy Piven, Salma Hayek, Imelda Staunton, and David Tennant. Trailer Official Website

The Raven John Cusack playing Edgar Allan Poe? Awesome. Poe trying to stop a serial killer who uses Poe’s fictional tales as inspiration for his murders? Coolness. Seriously, what’s not to love about this? It’s just a flat-out great idea. But the worst idea ever can make for a great story if it’s told exceptionally well. How many amazing-sounding premises have turned out to be stinkers because of how clumsily they were handled? We’re hoping for something inspired, but there are no guarantees. Trailer Official Website

Safe Jason Statham, doing that “former elite agent” thing he does, must rescue a girl from the Chinese Triads and then use a unique — and highly sought-after — safe combination to somehow outwit the Russian Mafia and corrupt New York City officials. I don’t know why he does any of those things, but all that matters is that he’ll look cool doing it. Trailer Official Website

May 4

The Avengers By Hollywood standards, The Avengers should never have happened. Marvel Studios’ audacious plan to introduce a team of superheroes one-by-one in their own movies (Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, and Hulk, along with Nick Fury, Black Widow, and Hawkeye) and then assemble them dream-team style, is way too risky a proposition for Hollywood. Then there’s writer/director Joss Whedon, geek god extraordinaire, best known for Buffy, Firefly, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, and his bestselling run on Marvel’s Astonishing X-Men comic. Handing him the keys to this $220+ million kingdom is insanely ballsy — and ingenious — on Marvel’s part, since they’re allowing him to bring his vision to the screen with no interference. The Avengers is the kind of pie-in-the-sky project that fanboys drool about in their sleep. You could say our hopes are kinda high. Trailer Official Website

May 11

Dark Shadows A longtime passion project of Johnny Depp’s, I’m not sure what to make of Tim Burton’s revival of the gothic vampire soap opera. Depp stars as Barnabas Collins, a vampire buried for 220 years who finally resurfaces to discover his descendants even more twisted and secretive than the family he remembers. It’s unknown if Burton is paying homage to the tone of the original, or playing it for laughs. Also stars Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bonham Carter, Jonny Lee Miller, Chloe Moretz, and Jackie Earle Haley.

May 18

Battleship Yes, it really is based on the classic board game. It pits the American Navy against an alien invasion, which for some reason happens at sea. Despite this, there’s always a chance it could be good fun, right? Right? Peter Berg directs Liam Neeson, Taylor Kitsch, Alexander Skarsgård, and songstress Rihanna, in her acting debut. Trailer Official Website

May 25

Men in Black III The last film was ten long years ago. And Will Smith and director Barry Sonnenfeld have clashed on set, reportedly. The plot finds Agent J heading back in time to 1969 to visit a young Agent K (played by Josh Brolin, doing an uncanny Tommy Lee Jones impression). The film’s villain, Boris (Flight of the Concords‘ Jemaine Clement), travels back to kill Agent K, which will somehow set off a chain reaction that will bring about the end of the world. Trailer Official Website

June 1

Snow White and the Huntsman The more compelling of the dueling Snow White movies releasing in 2012, this one puts a Tolkien-esque twist on the fairy tale that (gasp!) dares to take its subject matter seriously. Sparkly-vampire lover Kristen Stewart stars as a kick-butt fairest of them all (hopefully she’ll reveal hidden depths we haven’t seen yet), Chris Hemsworth is well cast as the Huntsman sent to kill her but who decides to help her instead, and Charlize Theron looks menacingly lethal as the Evil Queen. Let’s hope for a thrilling surprise with this one. Trailer Official Website

June 7

The Rift Not much is known about this indie scifi pic, which cost a meager $20,000 to film. It comes from writer/director Robert Kouba, a Swiss newcomer with no prior credits, and an untested production company called Vantis Pictures. The plot has something to do with enormous rifts opening in the night sky, behind which something is watching the Earth. Trailer Official Website

June 8

Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted The first film had its charms, but no one involved with the sequel seemed to have seen the first one. The problem with the Madagascar franchise is that its four main characters (voices of Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Jada Pinkett-Smith, and David Schwimmer) have never been as interesting as its supporting cast (namely, the penguins, the lemurs — heck, even the barely-seen monkeys). The only way to justify a third movie is if the core four finally become characters worthy of a trilogy. At least the premise is more interesting than Escape 2 Africa, and Frances McDormand is ready to steal the show as a tough-as-nails animal control officer. Trailer Official Website

Prometheus We have nothing but questions about Prometheus (is it Ridley Scott’s return to scifi form? a prequel to Alien? a space expedition to discover the origins of mankind??), but the one thing we know for certain about this top secret, big budget, science fiction thriller: we’re there. There’s the cast, which includes Charlize Theron, Michael Fassbender, Patrick Wilson, Idris Elba, Guy Pearce, Noomi Rapace, and many more. There’s the script, by Jon Spaihts and Lost mastermind Damon Lindelof (who knows a thing or two about secrets). And then there’s Scott, whose last few films have been neither buzz-worthy hits nor huge failures. Robin Hood, Body of Lies, American Gangster, A Good Year, etc. were filed by audiences under “Meh.” Plus, he hasn’t done science fiction in thirty years (not since Blade Runner). One gets the impression he has something to prove. We’re just glad Scott’s finally making something to get excited about. Trailer

June 15

The Woman in the Fifth Based on Douglas Kennedy’s novel, it involves an American who’s fled to Paris after a scandal that cost him his job as a university film lecturer. He takes up with a widow who might be involved in a series of murders. Trailer

June 22

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter When President Lincoln’s mother is killed by a vampire, Honest Abe sets out to crush the entire vampire race — and their slave-owning helpers. Sounds awesomely crazy or maybe too ridiculous to prop a big-budget feature on. But that’s never stopped Hollywood before. Directed by Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted), which gives one hope that it might be something we’ve never seen before. Based on the novel by Seth Grahame-Smith.

Brave Still the greatest animation studio on earth (despite Cars 2), Pixar is set to continue its dominance with this new fairy tale set in the Scottish highlands. For the first time, Pixar has a female lead character (and co-director) in Merida, a princess who craves freedom and adventure. When Merida (Kelly Macdonald) defies her parents and makes an ill-fated wish to an eccentric witch, she accidentally unleashes a curse that wreaks havoc upon her kingdom. The wispy trailer looks positively enchanting. Also stars the voices of Emma Thompson, Billy Connolly, Kevin McKidd, Craig Ferguson, and Robbie Coltrane. Trailer Official Website

June 29

G.I. Joe: Retaliation Cobra returns in force, crushing the Joes and leaving just a handful of team members alive — only one or two of whom, conveniently, were in the first movie. A new, more visceral director and the surprise additions of Dwayne Johnson and Bruce Willis to the franchise means this will either be a bold new direction, or a should’ve-been-direct-to-home-video disaster. Trailer Official Website

July 3

The Amazing Spider-Man Probably the fastest reboot in history, The Amazing Spider-Man returns us to the beginning of the story — Peter Parker getting his spider powers in high school — and builds an entire film around that time in his life. The script is reportedly based more on Marvel’s hipper, younger Ultimate Spider-Man comics than the flagship series, and director Marc Webb looks to be going for a grittier approach to the material than Sam Raimi’s trilogy. Andrew Garfield stars as a taller, lankier Peter, with Emma Stone as not MJ but Gwen Stacey, Peter’s first love. Rhys Ifans is the flick’s big bad, the Lizard, and what little we’ve seen of the character’s design has left us unimpressed. The thrust of the new film — which is, of course, positioned as the start of a new franchise — is the journey of a young man trying to find his deceased father. Spider-Man’s popularity has weathered worse storms than a franchise reboot (do I even need to mention the musical?), so naturally we’re eager to see what Garfield and Webb’s take on the character is like. Trailer Official Website

July 13

Ted I’m including this one purely based on Seth McFarlane’s geek cred, because otherwise it probably wouldn’t have made the list. McFarlane makes his big-screen directing debut in this off-kilter story of a man (Mark Wahlberg) who owns a teddy bear that’s brought to life due to a childhood wish. Of course, this being McFarlane, the bear in question is brash and offensive, and complicates Wahblerg’s life considerably.

July 20

The Dark Knight Rises The most anticipated film of the year, after the critically-acclaimed, box office bonanza that was The Dark Knight. This third and final entry in Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy is set eight years after the caped crusader took the fall for Harvey Dent’s crimes. Things have been going pretty swell in Gotham City in that time, but nothing lasts forever. Enter Bane, the super-strong, brilliant, ruthless terrorist leader played by Inception‘s Tom Hardy, who wants to break Batman (which literally happened in the comics, in the famous storyline where Bane broke Batman’s back). Anne Hathaway is the latest to don the pointy ears of Catwoman, and you can count on her moral ambiguity to play an important part of the story; will she be Bruce Wayne’s nemesis or his ally? Rumors suggest that the film might bring the series full circle, with the top-secret resurrection of Liam Neeson as Ra’s al Ghul, or maybe his daughter Talia masterminding things as revenge. Gotham has never been in greater danger, but while we have no doubt Batman will save the day, the lingering question is… Will he live through it? Trailer Official Website

August 3

The Bourne Legacy A Bourne movie without Jason Bourne (Matt Damon). How’s that gonna work? The franchise attempts to reinvent itself under Tony Gilroy’s direction — who wrote the first three movies. Jeremy Renner, aka the man who is in every franchise film of 2012, is given the spotlight as a new operative with a similar background — and a mysterious connection — to Bourne. Renner’s supported by a great cast, including Rachel Weisz, Edward Norton, Albert Finney, and Oscar Isaac, but will audiences accept a Bourne-less Bourne?

Total Recall Len Wiseman remakes the Schwarzenegger classic with a revitalized focus on the Philip K. Dick source material. Colin Farrell takes on the Douglas Quaid role, Kate Beckinsale is his duplicitous wife, Jessica Biel the rebel fighter he falls for, Bryan Cranston the villainous Chancellor Cohaagen, and Bill Nighy the leader of the underground resistance. The biggest change from the original movie? No Mars. Everything happens on Earth this time.

August 10

Warm Bodies When a highly unusual zombie rescues a girl from imminent death at the hands of his cohorts, their unlikely romance sets in motion a chain of events that will transform him, his fellow dead, and maybe even the whole lifeless world. And if you’re thinking, “Um… WHAT??” You’re not alone. From writer/director Jonathan Levine.

August 15

The Odd Life of Timothy Green A family-friendly fantasy about a married couple who dream of starting a family but are unable to conceive a child. So they spend an evening dreaming up what their child would be like — and are stunned to find that very child on their doorstep one stormy night. But there’s more to magical little Timothy than it first appears. Stars Jennifer Garner and Joel Edgerton. Trailer Official Website

August 17

The Expendables 2 The team sets out for revenge when one of their own is cut down. Sylvester Stallone is back as writer and star, but hands off directing duties to Con Air‘s Simon West. Original actors Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Hale Caesar, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Bruce Willis are all back, joined by new additions Jean-Claude Van Damme and Chuck Norris (!!), and a pair of new, young team members played by Liam Hemsworth (Chris’ younger brother) and Yu Nan. Trailer Official Website

ParaNorman Meet Norman. He’s considered strange by his friends and family, but in reality, he can speak with the dead. And when a centuries-old curse threatens his hometown, Norman must take on ghosts, zombies, and (oh no!) grown-ups, to save the day. From the stop-motion studio that produced Coraline. Trailer Official Website

August 24

The Apparition A parapsychology experiment conjures up a scary apparition that terrorizes a young couple played by Ashley Greene and Sebastian Stan. Their only hope: an expert in the supernatural, played by Tom Felton (aka Draco Malfoy).

Premium Rush Hollywood script doctor David Koepp must’ve seen bicycle messengers zipping through New York City one day, dodging all sorts of obstacles on their specialized, single-gear bikes with no brakes, and decided that there was an adrenaline movie in there somewhere. Koepp both co-writes and directs Joseph Gordon-Levitt as an agile, skilled cyclist whose last run of the day turns into a life or death chase through Manhattan. Trailer Official Website

Sinister Yet another “found footage” film — but with a twist. Ethan Hawke stars as a novelist who travels the country, researching gruesome murders for inspiration. When he and his family move into a house where another family was murdered, he finds home videos that reveal horrifying clues about how the family died. Writer/director Scott Derrickson (The Exorcism of Emily Rose) returns to horror after his scifi bout with The Day The Earth Stood Still.

August 31

7500 Thriller that follows a group of passengers from disparate walks of life who encounter a supernatural force while on a transpacific flight. From the director of The Grudge.

The Possession A fictional retelling of an LA Times article about an antique wooden box, purchased on eBay, that supposedly holds an evil spirit. According to the Times, the box brought terrible calamities down on everyone who bought it. The movie adds cursed family relics to the box, which present a mystery for the main character to solve before it destroys her family.

September 6

Shadow Dancer Talk about your fascinating team-ups. The X-Files‘ Gillian Anderson stars alongside Clive Owen in this tense story of a woman who’s entrenched in the IRA alongside her husband and brothers, who decides to become an informer for MI-5.

September 14

Resident Evil: Retribution This is the fifth movie in the Milla Jovovich action series that just keeps going and going, even though I don’t know a single person who’s seen any of them. Paul W.S. Anderson returns to the helm for this one, which goes deeper into Alice’s mysterious past, while taking her on a worldwide hunt for those responsible for the zombie outbreak. Impact Pictures promises a “mind-blowing revelation” at the movie’s climax.

Argo When 52 Americans are captured by Iran in 1979, six of them (led by Ben Affleck) slip away and devise a risky plan to escape the country. Based on a true story that was unknown by the public for decades.

September 21

Dredd The disappointing Sylvester Stallone adaptation wasn’t terribly faithful to the comic book, so director Pete Travis (Vantage Point) is bringing us a new movie that is. Karl Urban (who doesn’t remove his helmet for the duration of the film) stars as the title character, a futuristic cop given the authority to arrest, sentence, and execute lawbreakers right on the streets. And he has no problem doing so.

Hotel Transylvania Dracula (Adam Sandler) opens a lavish, “five-stake” resort, where monsters and their families are free to be who they are, in the lap of luxury. On his daughter’s 118th birthday, Dracula invites the world’s most famous monsters to the hotel to celebrate, when an ordinary guy stumbles across the hotel and falls for Drac’s daughter.

House at the End of the Street A mother and daughter move to a new town and find themselves living next door to a house where a young girl murdered her parents. When the daughter befriends the surviving son, she learns the story is far from over. Starring Hunger Games‘ Jennifer Lawrence, Elizabeth Shue, Gil Bellows, and more.

September 28

Looper A killer who works for the mob of the future recognizes one of his targets as his future self. Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, and Emily Blunt. A high-concept thriller from the writer/director of Brick and The Brothers Bloom. Official Website

Savages Pot growers Ben and Chon face off against the Mexican drug cartel who kidnapped their shared girlfriend. Directed by Oliver Stone, and starring Taylor Kitsch, Blake Lively, Aaron Johnson, John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Benicio Del Toro, Salma Hayek, Emile Hirsch, and Demian Bichir.

October 5

Frankenweenie Tim Burton’s second film of the year, a Disney production, is the animated tale of a boy who brings his beloved dog back to life — with a few “minor” adjustments. Filmed in stop-motion black & white, the voice cast includes Winona Ryder, Martin Short, Catherine O’Hara, and Martin Landau. Official Website

Taken 2 Liam Neeson’s Bryan Mills and his wife (played by Famke Janssen), are taken captive by the father of one of the kidnappers from the first film. This time, it’s up to his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace) to free her mom and dad, under her old man’s tutelage and with an assist from her boyfriend (Luke Grimes).

October 12

Parker Crime/thriller about a thief (Jason Statham) who lives by a code of honor that includes never stealing money from people who need it. Also starring Jennifer Lopez, Clifton Collins Jr., Wendell Pierce, Michael Chiklis. Written by John J. McLaughlin and directed by Taylor Hackford.

October 19

The Gangster Squad A noir thriller based on the true life of mob king Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn), who ran Los Angeles’ criminal underground in the 40s, even owning the police and local politicians. The only ones who dare to stand against him are a secret crew of LAPD outsiders led by John O’Mara (Josh Brolin) and Jeremy Wooters (Ryan Gosling).

Paranormal Activity 4 More paranormal, more activity. You know the drill.

October 26

I, Alex Cross Tyler Perry steps outside of his box to portray detective Alex Cross, hero of James Patterson’s bestselling empire. Lost‘s Matthew Fox co-stars as Cross’ psychotic nemesis, who murders the detective’s wife, leading to a one-on-one match between hunter and prey. Directed by Rob Cohen and also starring Rachel Nichols, Jean Reno, Ed Burns, Cicely Tyson, and more.

November 2

Red Dawn A remake of the Brat Pack classic, about young adults who take up arms and use guerrilla tactics to take back their hometown when it’s invaded. Instead of Chinese invaders, this time they’re the more timely North Koreans. This one’s been in the can for a while, but MGM has held back from releasing it for unknown reasons. Stars Chris Hemsworth, Adrianne Palicki, Josh Hutcherson, Josh Peck, Isabel Lucas, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan.

Wreck-It Ralph Disney Animation takes a break from fairy tales to produce this story of an arcade game villain (John C. Reilly) who’s spent decades being defeated by Fix-It Felix (Jack McBrayer) and grown tired of being the bad guy. So he hops through other video games in the arcade, which include titles from all eras of gaming, to prove himself as a hero. But when Ralph accidentally unleashes a deadly enemy that threatens the entire arcade, he has to realize his dream and save the day. Veteran TV animation director Rich Moore (The Simpsons, Futurama) makes his big-screen directorial debut.

November 9

Skyfall Daniel Craig returns at last in his third big-screen adventure as James Bond. The plot is being kept tightly under wraps, but here’s what we know: it involves M’s past coming back to haunt her, bringing MI-6 under attack. And Bond’s loyalty to M (Judi Dench) will be sorely tested along the way. Sam Mendes directs the 23rd Bond adventure, which features a phenomenal cast that includes Javier Bardem (as the bad guy), Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Albert Finney, and more. Skyfall is also noteworthy for being the first Craig/Bond movie not written or rewritten by Paul Haggis. Taking his place in that role is Gladiator‘s John Logan.

November 21

47 Ronin Keanu Reeves knows Kung Fu. Again. This time he’s the lone Caucasian actor in a cast of Asian martial arts masters (awkward!), playing an outcast named Kai who joins a group of outcast samurai, led by Hiroyuki Sanada. Together, these 47 ronin seek vengeance on the evil lord that murdered their master and banished them all.

Gravity Genius director Alfonso Cuaron is back in the director’s chair for the first time in six long years (dude, seriously, what’s the hold up?) for a scifi character piece — that might be more than it first appears. Sandra Bullock and George Clooney star as astronauts who are on a spacewalk when their shuttle is destroyed, leaving them tethered to nothing but one another and spiraling into the blackness of space. With no chance of rescue and dwindling oxygen, the two fall into panic. But get this bit, from the film’s official byline: “But the only way home may be to go further out into the terrifying expanse of space.” Methinks Cuaron has something up his sleeve with this one.

Rise of the Guardians Animated film based on a series of children’s books by William Joyce, which paints Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and Jack Frost as a group of immortal superheroes. The film finds the Guardians banding together to fight an evil spirit named Pitch, who tries to take over the mortal world. Starring the voices of Chris Pine, Alec Baldwin, Hugh Jackman, Isla Fisher, and Jude Law. Official Website

December 14

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey For years, it seemed like it was never going to happen. After one big behind-the-scenes drama after another (the departure of director Guillermo del Toro, union woes in New Zealand), the stars aligned at last, and Peter Jackson is finally back behind the camera to take us all back to Middle Earth. Tolkien’s prequel to Lord of the Rings is a more lighthearted tale, which gives the filmmaker an opportunity to show us Middle Earth before the age of fear caused by Sauron’s return to power. Jackson & Co. have split the book into two films, and augmented it with material from Tolkien’s appendices (such as the convening of the White Council), and are bringing back many of the trilogy’s actors to cameo as their younger selves. But the real action surrounds Martin Freeman’s Bilbo Baggins, who’s dragged on a quest alongside Gandalf and thirteen dwarves — a fateful trip that includes the introduction of Gollum, a showdown with the dragon Smaug, and the enormous Battle of Five Armies. Can’t. Freaking. Wait. Trailer Official Website

December 19

Untitled Osama bin Laden Film After her critical success with The Hurt Locker, director Kathryn Bigelow returns to the Middle East for another story of modern wartime. But this one is based on some of the most important real-life events of our time: the covert U.S. mission to find and kill Osama bin Laden. It’s an unexpected choice for Bigelow, to go back to the War on Terror right after her last trip there, but her style lends itself perfectly to this true story. Her cast includes Joel Edgerton and Mark Strong.

December 21

Hunter Killer Guys’ guys Gerard Butler and Sam Worthington team up in this Crimson Tide-ish tale of a rookie submarine captain who has to work with a veteran Navy SEAL team to rescue a captive Russian president from a Russian general intent on starting World War III. Directed by Phillip Noyce, best known for his Tom Clancy adaptations.

Life of Pi M. Night Shyamalan was once attached to bring this beloved, bestselling novel to the big screen, but it’s Ang Lee who’s finally making it happen. The philosophical, nigh-allegorical story involves an Indian zookeeper’s son named Pi, who sets out to emigrate to North America with his family and a ship full of zoo animals. Disaster strikes and the ship sinks, but Pi survives in a lifeboat — along with a hyena, an orangutan, a wounded zebra, and an enormous Bengal tiger. When Pi reaches the coast of Mexico 227 days later, his encyclopedic knowledge of animal behavior has allowed him to survive while most of his animal companions are dead. He tells the authorities his story, but they refuse to believe it, so he tells a second, less fantastical version of his story. So which one is true?

World War Z Brad Pitt is a UN representative assigned to write a report on the great zombie war, which recently decimated the planet. He sets out to interview survivors all over the world, gathering stories and recollections of human survivors of the events leading up to the war and what happened during it. Director Marc Forster has reportedly been given a ginormous budget to film the script from fan-favorite writer J. Michael Straczynski (Babylon 5), who adapted Max Brooks’ revered novel. No easy feat, since the unconventional book has no straightforward narrative. There’s a ton of pressure to get this one right. So how do you create a movie out of a series of disconnected, first-person reports? We’ll find out this Christmas.

December 25

Django Unchained Quentin Tarantino writes and directs this story of a German dentist turned bounty hunter (Christoph Waltz) who frees a slave named Django (Jamie Foxx) from a brutal Mississippi plantation owner and trains him as his partner. With his newfound skills, Django teams with his mentor to search for his wife (Kerry Washington).

Airborne Mark Hamill (yes, that Mark Hamill) in this thriller set on an airplane that takes off in the midst of a severe snow storm. In the air, the plane suddenly tells the ground that both pilots are dead, and the passengers on board are dying one-by-one.

The Beasts of the Southern Wild A big award winning indie that got rave reviews out of Sundance, Southern Wild is an unusual coming-of-age story set in a sort-of-post-apocalyptic southern Delta community called “the Bathtub.” A six-year-old girl named Hushpuppy lives there with her father Wink, but when Wink contracts a strange illness, the whole world seems to react, with rising temperatures, melting ice caps, and the unleashing of a prehistoric army of creatures called aurochs. In the midst of all of this, Hushpuppy sets out alone to find her long lost mother. Official Website

Cloud Atlas The next big thing from the Wachowski’s, who are adapting the esoteric David Mitchell novel with a big-name cast headed up by Tom Hanks. The movie is broken into six segments that jump to differing eras and characters; half of these segments are being directed by the Wachowski’s and half are being handled by Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run). The undercurrent idea is that a single soul keeps being reincarnated to appear in all these different times, so we kind of follow his journey over time and how his different “lives” interconnect. Also starring Halle Berry, Hugh Grant, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Jim Broadbent, Susan Sarandon, and others. (Don’t be surprised if its release is pushed back to 2013.)

Cogan’s Trade Brad Pitt stars in this tale of a mob enforcer named Jackie Cogan who investigates the heist of a mob-protected poker game. Based on a 1974 novel of the same name by George V. Higgins.

The Creed of Violence Based on a novel by Boston Teran, Leonardo DiCaprio has been circling this one for a while. In 1910, two men — an assassin and a government agent with a hidden connection to him — try to stop an organization behind an arms smuggling ring.

Grabbers Crazy alien invasion farce set in Ireland, where natives discover that the one thing their giant, bloodsucking, tentacled invaders can’t withstand is alcohol. In order to survive, the locals have to — you guessed it — get sloshed. Which, coincidentally, they’re extremely good at.

Iron Sky The Nazis set up a secret base on the moon in 1945 where they hide out and plan to return to power in 2018. Supposedly a steampunk “action/comedy,” though it sounds more like a high-concept scifi flick. Trailer Official Website

John Dies at the End The weirdest movie of 2012, guaranteed. It’s a metaphysical stoner concoction that has something to do with a pair of college dropouts who get hooked on a new street drug that allows users to drift across time and dimensions with each hit. Some kind of alien invasion threat is also involved, but I couldn’t tell you much more than that. Cast includes Paul Giamatti, Chase Williamson, Rob Mayes, Clancy Brown, Glynn Turman, and the brilliant Doug Jones. Trailer Official Website

Only God Forgives The star (Ryan Gosling) and writer/director (Nicolas Winding Refn) of Drive pair up again for the story of a Bangkok police lieutenant and a gangster, who settle their differences in a Thai-boxing match. The real buzz on this one surrounds Kristin Scott Thomas playing against type as “a merciless and terrifying mafia godmother.”

Red Lights Rodrigo Cortes, writer/director of the Ryan Reynolds thriller Buried, returns with another unconventional thriller about the world of paranormal investigation. Sigourney Weaver and her assistant Cillian Murphy play famous investigators who routinely disprove the paranormal claims of those who call on them. Robert De Niro is an infamous psychic who disappeared in the 70s and resurfaces now — and who people have a habit of dying around. A battle of wits ensues. Word out of Sundance is that Cortes made a solid thriller until its final moments, where he botched the ending. Trailer

Robot and Frank Another award-winning indie Sundance hit, this one was picked up by Sony and Samuel Goldwyn Films for distribution sometime this year. Frank Langella stars as a curmudgeon named Frank, a former jewel thief who gets his groove back with an assist from the robot his children buy him as a caretaker. Official Website

Seven Psychopaths The star (Colin Farrell) and director (Martin McDonagh) of In Bruges re-team for this film about gangsters, dogs, and psychopaths, where a screenwriter gets caught up in a friend’s plot to kidnap a dog. The eccentric cast includes Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell, Christopher Walken, Abbie Cornish, Tom Waits, and Kevin Corrigan.

Spaceless The story of an assassin who wakes up inside a spacesuit tumbling helplessly through space, with a computer designed to keep him company until his air runs out. He must try to solve the mystery of his death, which began when he broke into an orbiting space station to carry out a hit. But the man soon begins to question his reality, unsure if he is succumbing to madness or in an artificially created environment. Directed by Cary Fukunaga. Current status of this one is unknown; no actors have been announced or production started, so it very well could slip into 2013.

Under the Skin Jonathan Glazer, the director of Sexy Beast, heads into science fiction, taking a premise that could’ve come right out of the 70s and turning it on its head. Scarlett Johansson stars as a voraciously sexy alien in human form who preys on human men. The twist comes when she, over time, is fascinated and changed by the complexity of human beings. Her alien resolve weakening, she winds up as a kind of defender of mankind, standing against her own kind.

V/H/S A horror anthology with segments directed by six different directors. Involves a group of Jackass-style idiots turned criminals who are hired to retrieve a VHS tape from a rundown house in the middle of nowhere. There, they find huge stacks of video cassettes that must be sorted through to find the right one. But the tapes hold a series of horrifying videos. One particularly gruesome sequence caused a man to feint at an early screening.

However, I don’t think that you can deny the pleasure of actually wrapping your fingers around a nice pen and writing things down on a sheet of paper. And nowadays, when it comes to notebooks, I think we can all agree that Moleskine is one of the more popular brands out there. This is not to say that I actually use them – I think they are overrated notepads – but they do come up with cool collections now and then.

LEGO Moleskine

The LEGO Moleskine collection notebooks feature imprinted covers, which in themselves make buying a notebook worth considering. You do get more perks such as a LEGO-themed bookmark, stickers, and LEGO graphics. There is even a LEGO patch which you can play around with.

Open LEGO Moleskine

Via Freshness Mag

Nor the Huntress we know. Or rather she is. But she isn't. I give up!

How permanent are our comic book universes?

Even as I ask the question, I find myself wondering what that very word means. With DC’s recent announcement of the return of Earth 2 and the Shazam family of characters, we know the enduring characters and settings will return again and again.

The recent (and thoroughly enjoyable) relaunch by Dark Horse of what’s become known as the Jim Shooter stable of characters only serves to prove the point. Dating back to short lived appearances in the Gold Key years Solar Man Of The Atom and Magnus, Robot Fighter et al have returned and again, under the labels of Valiant, Acclaim and then Dark Horse. Changed everytime according to the predelictions of the writers and the fashions of the age, but nevertheless returning again and again.

Yet returning our attention back to DC, the universe is far from permanent. The original multiverse survived a whole fifty years, only to be wiped away in the Crisis, leaving us with the DCU 1.0. Zero Hour took this to DCU 1.5, and the Infinite Crisis to version 2.0, the New Multiverse. Which still sort of exists, if I understand Flashpoint correctly, it is only Earth Zero that was rebooted.

Thus the new Earth 2 we are about to experience should really be the same Earth 2 as we saw in the excellent Kingdom storyline; a brief but tantalising glimpse. So we discover that the Huntress and Power Girl of Earth 2 are loose on Earth, erm, what Earth do we call it nowadays?

Still, as a long time fan, I miss the original worlds, and I fear that DC make a mistake by simply discarding and destroying their previous worlds. We could take a leaf out of Marvel’s book here; the House of Ideas feared that their creations were becoming outdated and thus was born the Ultimate line, updated for a new age with added cliché.

Marvel sat back and let the sales figures decide their fate. Surprise, surprise, the fans stuck with the tried and tested incarnations of the characters, the original Marvel Universe is still going strong. But guess what?

So is the Ultimate line, a vibrant universe with many years left in it yet, surviving disaster after disaster and allowing the creators freedom to tell stories we would never see in the ‘real’ MU.

Maybe DC should keep that in mind next time they decide to have an enormous reality changing event, and open the door for new stories set in the older worlds. Like the old ‘Whatever happened to’ back-up feature in DC Comics Presents, but with the same freedom the Ultimate universe has given creators.

Or in other words – bring back Kamandi!

Designer Nikita Kovalev has thought of a different way to use firepower by creating gun doorknobs that will be a fun addition to any gun lover’s furnishings. Her work, as shown on Behance¹, is an impressive set of pistols, as you can see below. The concept is called the Bang Bang Handle.

Bang Bang Handles

The site does not divulge a lot of details about the designs and how Kovalev went about conceptualizing the Bang Bang Handle. That does not take away one bit from designs, though, does it?

We also know a little bit about the pistols, but that’s about it.

9 mm Makarov (PM, GRAU index – 56-A-125, unofficial name – “Makarov”, “Makar”, “Macaroni,” “Makarych”) – semi-automatic pistol, designed by the Soviet designerNikolai Fyodorovich Makarov, in 1948
. MP from 1951 until now is the personal weapon of the Soviet and post-Soviet armed forces and law enforcement.

Now if you want to see the Bang Bang Handle “in action”, here’s what it could look like.

Black Bang Bang Handle

I don’t know about you, but that would be pretty cool sight. Then again, I have worries that the handle would break if a little bit of force is used on it. Also, I wonder how keys come into the picture?

1. Kovalev on Behance

Is there another character or object in modern video games that inspires devotion like Portal‘s Weighted Companion Cube? Here’s how some fans have expressed their adoration for the grey box of love.

I’m amazed at how many fans have burst into mellifluous poetry over this “character” that’s not alive and never speaks, and is only in the game for a few minutes. I think it has something to do with the fact that WCC (spoiler!) is executed/destroyed by order of the game’s villainous artificial intelligence, GLaDOS, after helping the player at a crucial moment.

Below I provide you with excerpts of some of the most interesting WCC poems I’ve seen. Click on the links to read the full versions.

A deeply sorrowful player still laments the Cube’s demise:

My only friend
In these dark times
You told me not to dispair
GLaDOS said not to listen
To anything you said
Told me not to care

Not in cruelty,
Not in wrath,
The Reaper came today;
An Angel visited
this gray path
And took the cube away.

Here’s a heartfelt Ode that’s hopeful for a reunion with the Companion Cube in the afterlife. An excerpt:

For it seems that the delicious cake
Was actually a lie.
To lure me to a hot place
Where I shall surly die.

So into the fires that stole my cube
I shall also pass.
But I don’t fear this burning death
As it will reunite me with my cube at last.

And we will spend eternity
In our little private hell.
And we will talk about our hopes and dreams
And maybe have some cake as well.

Not every player has fond memories. This free verse (non-rhyming) poem expresses very mixed feelings:

Oh Companion Cube,
I wish you ill.
The trouble you bare me,
Is it all really worth it?
But then I remember,
Those days back in Aperture Labs,
Where you, my only friend,
Kept me company, made me glad.

The oddest entry on this list has some surprisingly dirty thoughts about WCC:

Into my life through a hole in the sky,
As you fell into my hands I felt glad.
Never thought I would ever say good bye.
Did I just think of you scantily clad?

I think this is my favorite. It oscillates between feelings of guilt and inevitability, quite beautifully:

i held him over the open pit
with seconds before it shut
if there was only another way
could someone tell me what?

i couldn’t save my best friend’s life
there was nothing i could do
i dropped him in and watched
as red fire turned to blue

after the horrid deed was done
i heard the voice once more.
she seemed happy that i murdered him
and she opened up the door.

Finally, here’s a music video for a player who was so moved, she wrote a love song for her Companion Cube and even filmed a music video!

Instagram collage created using InstaBG.

LEGO Lord of the Rings: Gollum

We’re salivating with each new reveal that comes along from LEGO for its upcoming Lord of the Rings toy line. We’ve seen several character posters, but today we’ve got your first look at the killer minifigures for the entire Fellowship and several baddies, including Orcs, Uruk-Hai, Gollum, and Nazgul.

Above you can also see the new character poster for Gollum, which really nails the malevolent part of his personality. Of all of Tolkien’s characters, Gollum was probably the hardest to translate to LEGO form. But he’s instantly recognizable, so I think it works.

These official images of the Lord of the Rings minifigures (below) were sent over by the great folks at LEGO, who are hard at work putting the finishing touches on their lineup of LEGO Lord of the Rings toy sets. LEGO is expected to unveil their boxed sets at Toy Fair in two weeks. Stay tuned!

I think my favorites are Gimli and the Nazgul.

LEGO Lord of the Rings minifigures

LEGO Lord of the Rings minifigures

In any case, this really might be the only classic cocktails chart that one will ever need. Created by Pop Chart Lab, the image puts together what looks to me hundreds of classic cocktails² and breaks them down so that anyone who reads it has a reasonable chance of concocting each cocktail.

In the middle, you will see a myriad of liquors and spirits labeled accordingly. The classic cocktails are then arranged in a circle around the main ingredients, complete with the kind of glass to use, how many ounces, and name, of course. The main ingredients are connected to the appropriate cocktail via colorful lines. These lines will either confuse you or mesmerize you. Guess what they did to me?

It doesn’t end there. Other ingredients such as mixers (juices, sodas, condiments, etc.) and garnishes (fruits) are placed at the top and at the bottom of the chart, also with lines connecting them to the matching classic cocktail. The result is one comprehensive classic cocktails chart.

Classic Cocktail Chart

For $28, you can have a 27″ x 39″ print of the classic cocktails chart. Then you’ll only have to stare at your wall when you need to whip up a drink or two.

1. Though I highly doubt it for me as I don’t think I have bartender blood in me.
2. Okay, I can’t count.

Xbox was the first out of the online network gate with Xbox Live in 2002. Sony got into the swing of things four years later with PSN (though the paid subscription arm of their service, PSN Plus, just launched in 2010). At long last, Nintendo has decided to step up to the plate with the “Nintendo Network.”

Nintendo has been halfheartedly offering multiplayer capabilities for Wii and DS (and now 3DS) for a while now via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, but most of the features that fans of Xbox Live and PSN know and love have been left by the wayside. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata in a quarterly financial briefing on Friday said that he’s aware that WFC has always been “focused upon specific functionalities and concepts” instead of offering the wide range of features that online gamers want, such as player accounts/profiles, multiple players on a single device, and achievements.

Nintendo’s efforts here seem largely tied to the launch of the new Wii U console, though Wii and 3DS users will also be able to take advantage of its services. Iwata says that his company intends to use Nintento Network tie together its disparate online offerings into a single, unified service, including downloadable games and DLC, gamer competitions, and of course multiplayer gaming. He made this jab at the glut of DLC plaguing the industry these days:

Nintendo, as a software maker, does not plan to deploy businesses where our consumers cannot know in advance which item will appear as the result of their payment and they have to repeat the payments and, before they know it, they end up spending a huge amount of money in order to obtain the items they originally wanted to purchase.

His comments aren’t unwelcome. Having to download additional content in order to finish a game or play it the way you want to play it rates on the annoyance scale right up there with the Red Ring of Death.

But is anybody else struck by the hypocrisy in what he’s saying here? Replace the word “software” from his statement with “hardware,” and you get an exact description of how Nintendo handled its last few console launches. Most early Wii owners “originally wanted to purchase” a motion controlling console that offered precise motion tracking, but we didn’t get that until the add-on “Wii Motion Plus” controllers came along a few years later, requiring an additional purchase. Most 3DS buyers wanted to buy a handheld device that offered all of the controls we needed right there in the device, but less than a year after its launch, the “Extended Slide Pad” was released to add the second thumbstick that Nintendo suddenly realized should have been there all along.

Iwata didn’t provide a launch date for the Nintento Network, but it’s safe to assume it will launch alongside the Wii U as one of its key selling points.

This is not the real opening credits sequence from The Dark Knight Rises. But it should be.

Turkish graphic designer Doğan Can Gündoğdu created these fake opening credits for Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises for, according to a Tweet, a “video lesson.” One assumes this means it was made for a lesson of some kind related to the Communication Design in Bahcesehir University reference in his bio.

Can you imagine? Creating something of this caliber for a college lecture? Or from the other perspective, can you imagine what it would be like to walk into your classroom and have this as the centerpiece of the lesson you sit through? Beats the heck out of any school lesson I ever heard.

Gündoğdu’s take on the tone of The Dark Knight Rises is just brilliant. He totally gets the importance of conveying that eight years have passed since the last film, and establishing the setting of where we pick back up with the story. He even incorporates the Bane chant heard in the official trailer.

You don’t even need to take a second look at this photo to make the decision to make a go for it, do you?

Alien Brain Hemorrhage Cocktail

Doesn’t that look like a disgusting thing? It’s so disgusting it becomes good! And actually, if you think about it, the Alien Brain Hemorrhage Cocktail seems rather complicated to make. That is, if you base it on the looks of the drink. (Then again, I am no bartender, so I really have no idea.)

The nice surprise is that it seems that anyone – maybe even I – can make a shot of Alien Brain Hemorrhage Cocktail! According to Latin Rapper¹, all that you need to do to make the Alien Brain Hemorrhage Cocktail is to get together some peach schnapps, Bailey’s Irish Cream, Blue Curacao, and Grenadine Syrup. Of course, you need a shot glass.

First you pour some peach schnapps into the shot glass – about halfway full. You then take the Bailey’s and gently pour it over the peach schnapps. Just before the glass gets totally full, add some Blue Curacao to the mix. The last touch is to add a few drops of Grenadine Syrup. The result? Something that you might actually believe is an alien’s brain hemorrhaging!

Apparently, the Alien Brain Hemorrhage Cocktail is from Scotland (I guess they have some alien specimens there), and here is a video which can show you how it is made. Be warned: offensive language is used.

1. Latin Rapper