"Prometheus"/"Alien" Link Revealed?

From darkhorizon, An apparent translation of an interview with Hungarian website Mozinezo (via AVP Galaxy) has director Ridley Scott explaining how his upcoming sci-fi epic “Prometheus” and his cinematic classic “Alien” together.

Up until this point all those involved have downplayed the link of "Prometheus" being a prequel as much as possible, despite the teaser trailer for the film showing numerous connections to the original 1979 feature.

Go here for minor spoilers.

The world's shortest man

Chandra Bahadur Dangi has officially been crowned the NEW world's shortest man (and is even smaller than the shortest woman), at a scant 54.6-cm (21.5") tall. Just kidding, they didn't give him a crown -- it was a thimble! Just kidding, he only got some lame-ass certificate. :/

Chandra has five brothers and two sisters, according to Guinness. He is a weaver by trade, but also cares for his family and helps look after the village's buffaloes and cows.

"I'm very happy that I'm being recognized by Guinness World Records and that my name will be written in book," Chandra said after he was awarded the two Guinness certificates. "It's a big thing for my family, my village and my country. I am very happy."

According to Guinness, Chandra claims weigh 14.5 kilogram, or 32 pounds.

Did I mention Chandra is 72 years old? Because I bet he was taller when he was younger but shrank in his old age. I bet he was like, five-foot at one point. "You know, GW -- you're so f***ing stupid sometimes it actually pains me." Pains YOU? I touched the stove this morning cooking oatmeal!

[JPX] It's terrible but my very first thought was this,

Box office

From ew, Patriotism ruled at the box office this weekend, as the Navy SEAL action film, Act of Valor, scored a big victory with $24.7 million.

Relativity acquired the military movie (which was independently financed by the Bandito brothers for $12 million) for just $13 million and then spent another $30 million promoting it — a large percentage of which paid for four Super Bowl spots — and their gamble has paid off in a big way. Relativity successfully captured their target audience of males 18-54 by campaigning to gamers, ethnic audiences, sports fans, country music fans, military, and the faith community. Crowds were 71 percent male, while 60 percent of audiences were above the age of 25. Act of Valor earned an “A” CinemaScore grade, meaning it may thrive at the box office for weeks to come.

Read the full analysis here

Skull And Bones

The jig is up

I gave Octopunk a hard time yesterday for giving away the game on my "Meth coming to Riverdale" post (mainly because I'd linked it on FaceBook and it seemed like there was still a chance that other people might be taken in). What's funny is, I never intended for one second to fool anyone -- It was straight-out parody. As far as I was concerned the idea was so ridiculous that nobody would take it seriously for a second. Plus it was full of giveaways (like the initial reference to a site called whoneedsit.com). Once I saw that you guys were actually believing it, I quickly went back and improved the artwork, fixing obvious errors in my drawing, but, again, nobody noticed.

I deleted Octopunk's remarks from yesterday. Here's what he said: "[Octopunk says] I got on the phone with Jordan tonight and the first thing he says is "I never thought anyone would think that was--" and I immediately cracked up because I realized I'd been had. I've reposted this at the top because it's hilarious. Kudos to JPX for being quicker on the draw than me (and really, I was told, so I didn't even get a shot off. Ha)."

First Glimpses of ‘Star Trek 2′ Reveal Villain Benedict Cumberbatch

Go to slashfilm for more information

Phantom Menace Crosses $1 Billion Mark At Worldwide Box Office

From cinemablend, This will be the answer to a trivia question some day: Name the only Star Wars movie to pass the $1 billion mark at the box office. Now don’t cry when I tell you that the answer – at least for the time being – is Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace.

Thanks to the recent re-release in 3D, George Lucas’ first installment in his Prequel Trilogy crossed the $1 billion line at the worldwide box. THR reports that it is the first film in the six-film franchise to achieve that lofty mark. It’s also $1.5M away from surpassing Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight on the international box office charts. As if genre geeks weren’t already sobbing, that bit of news likely will push them right over the edge.

The trade notes that Phantom Menace has earned $74.3M in additional ticket sales since opening for its recent run, with $35.8M of that coming from right here in the United States. Episode I also becomes the 11th film to break into the prestigious billion-dollar club. James Cameron still has the top two all-time box office earners in Titanic ($1.8B) and Avatar ($2.7B), though the former will add more dollars to its coffers when it floats out its re-release in April.

And even though Lucas plans to release all six of his Star Wars films in 3D, Phantom Menace likely won’t have to look over its shoulder. The next-highest grossing sequel is Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, and it sits at a “measly” $848 million, so the chances of it catching Menace are slim to none.

Vader Can Dance

6 Giant Blind Spots in Every Movie Alien's Invasion Strategy

Octo: I thought this was relevant to the discussion barely started on the "How much would the Death Star cost?" post below.

From Cracked

Number 6: Wear Something

Everyone makes fun of Signs because it depicts an alien invasion that is thwarted because the aliens die if they touch water. But that's not the issue. It's not their fault that water is like acid to them, but it is their fault that they showed up naked. You have intergalactic starships, but you don't have goddamned pants? How does a civilization's evolution just skip over that part?

See the rest here.

Meth coming to Riverdale?

From whoneedsit.com, Archie Andrews and friends have never been afraid to tackle the issues of the day, and the newest story arc in the long-running comic book franchise will reportedly depict the legendary high school friends battling the ravages of methamphetamine. "It's time to use our beloved platform to address this scourge," asserts Bill Forsbush, spokesperson for Fawcett Group (who publishes the decades-old Archie Comics series). "Archie, Jughead, Betty, Veronica and the others need to be shown falling prey to the evils of homemade drugs, as so many Americans have done. It's not our place to shy away from controversy."

Details of the upcoming storyline have not been revealed, but a rumored intervention by Dilton and a Weatherby/Big Moose-led gun battle (and subsequent jailhouse shiv-fight) are all rumored to be part of the plot. "We don't want to offend anyone," insists Forsbush, countering claims by church groups that the Riverdale gang's hard-core activities could provide bad role models for younger readers and possibly encourage illegal experimentation with harmful, addictive substances. "Archie and his pals are only human -- their mistakes will make their stories more appealing to children of all ages."

The Raid looks awesome

Report: Google is developing 'Terminator' glasses

(CNN) - Looks like we're all about to get way more familiar with the concept of "augmented reality."

According to a report on The New York Times' Bits blog, Google is developing a set of glasses that will display digital information on top of the real world. Or, for the pop-culture inclined, they're making "Terminator" glasses.

Here are some details from the report, which CNN has not confirmed:

According to several Google employees familiar with the project who asked not to be named, the glasses will go on sale to the public by the end of the year. These people said they are expected “to cost around the price of current smartphones,” or $250 to $600.

The people familiar with the Google glasses said they would be Android-based, and will include a small screen that will sit a few inches from someone’s eye. They will also have a 3G or 4G data connection and a number of sensors including motion and GPS.

A Google spokesman declined to comment on the project.

Read about all the cool features here

Every face punch from Road House condensed into 45 seconds

[via iwatchstuff]

A Good Day to Die Hard

From worstpreviews, 20th Century Fox has announced that Jai Courtney ("Spartacus: Vengeance," One Shot) has been cast as John McClane's (Bruce Willis) son, John (Jack) McClaine Jr, in the fifth "Die Hard" installment, called "A Good Day to Die Hard." The studio also unveiled a photo from a test screening Courtney did with Willis. Check out the photo below.

Plot: The new movie puts McClane (Willis) on an international stage - truly a NYC fish out of water in Moscow - and introduces his estranged son Jack (Courtney). An apple that has not fallen far from the tree, Jack may even be more of a hardass than his father. Despite their differences, they must work together to keep each other alive - and the world safe for democracy.

"A Good Day to Die Hard" is directed by John Moore (Max Payne, Behind Enemy Lines) and is set to hit theaters on February 14th, 2013.

Classic Universal Monsters

What's going wrong with Blu-ray?

From denofgeek, Why hasn’t Blu-ray won quite the level of support and business that was originally anticipated?

I’ve had a couple of off-the-record conversations with people in disc distribution over the past month or two, and they seem to be in some kind of agreement: Blu-ray hasn’t taken off in quite the way that people had hoped. Perhaps that's why some films in the UK, Disney's Winnie The Pooh for instance, don't get a Blu-ray release at all.

In America, Blu-ray is faring well, but you only have to look at the quantity of new weekly releases in the UK against the same number for DVDs five or six years after that format launched, and the picture is fairly clear.

I like Blu-rays. I prefer having a physical disc format, and, appreciating that the download revolution is fully upon us, I still think that a strong packaged film, with interesting extras, is the best choice for home entertainment. But I can’t help but feel that Blu-ray has suffered as a result of some odd decisions that nobody seems in much of a hurry to fix.

Such as these...

The Best Satanic Movies You Probably Haven’t Seen

From slashfilm, With Lucifer on the mind I figured this week’s column would be about Satan, Satanism, demons, witches, possession and whatnot. There’s a whole world out there beyond the obvious (fantastic) Exorcist, Rosemary’s Baby and the color-saturated visions of Dario Argento. Such as. . .


Night of the Demon (1957); Jacques Tourneur, director

See the rest here

I hate snakes

Math nerds calculate Death Star cost at $852 quadrillion

From msn, If you've ever asked yourself "What am I going to do with the $852 quadrillion I stashed under the sofa cushions?" (Oprah, we're obviously talking to you), why not consider building your own Death Star? According to calculations posted on Centives, a blog run by Econ students at Lehigh University, building Darth Vader's planet-destroying mega weapon would cost "roughly 13,000 times the world's GDP" and would require so much steel -- writing the amount uses 15 zeroes -- it would take more than 833,000 years to produce it.

Oh well. The second-best thing to owning an intergalactic weapon? Reading the counter-arguments in the Centives article's comment section.

WTF?

Box Office

From ew, President’s Day weekend proved to be another strong one at the box office. In its second weekend in theaters, Safe House, an action thriller starring Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds, climbed past last weekend’s victor The Vow and topped the box office chart. Meanwhile, newcomers Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, This Means War, and The Secret World of Arrietty didn’t make a big dent on the chart, but they still contributed to a very sold frame overall.

Go here for full report.

50P's Saturday Afternoon YouTube Adventure: Part 2

The YouTube video for Party All the Time was preceded by this ad for Ghost Rider 2. The ad didn't make me want to see the movie more, but I did think the footage of the DP zipping on rollerblades behind a motorcycle was pretty impressive. You might wind up seeing the ad before the Eddie Murphy thing anyway, but in case your music vid experience is ad free, this is what I'm talking about. Ummm...enjoy?

50P's Saturday Afternoon YouTube Adventure: Part 1

I just looked up the video for Eddie Murphy's Party All the Time because, whatever. Fuck it. I'm bored.



The video itself is pretty great, featuring a completely sincere Eddie Murphy, a young and enthusiastic Rick James, and some of the best hair you're going to see all day. But what made me feel like writing a post about it, other than that there hasn't been a new post in a while, is the Wikipedia article on the song, containing the following hilarious synopsis. Enjoy.

"The song tells a harrowing tale from the perspective of a heartbroken lover, portrayed in the first-person by Eddie Murphy. He begins by questioning, perhaps rhetorically, why the female with whom he is currently participating in a relationship would want to cause him emotional pain. The narrator goes on to list extravagant items he's purchased for her, including, but not limited to: Champagne, Roses, and Diamond rings. Despite the items that the narrator has given, the female still insists on staying out all night (presumably in the company of other men). The narrator then poses perhaps another rhetorical question as to what he should do to remedy this depressing situation. The listener is then repeatedly informed that the narrator's "girl" wishes to attend nightclubs and house parties at all hours of the day and night. Later on, the narrator points out that he's acted as a voyeur and observed said female whilst she was present at an unknown nightclub. She was seen providing her telephone number to virtually every male patron of the club with whom she came in verbal contact. We are then informed that the narrator's female companion never arrives at their place of residence in the evening. Her absence is believed to be caused by infidelity, presumably with one or many of the men with whom she became acquainted earlier that evening. The narrator then goes on to wish that his female companion would have sexual intercourse with him, instead of the many other men with whom she has been copulating."

Felis Monstercus

The Woman in Black

(2012) ****

Yesterday on a whim I called Abduscias and said, “Hey, I’m bored wanna go to the movies?” One hour later we found ourselves waiting, popcorn in hand for The Woman in Black to begin. Just before the lights dimmed an old friend and co-worker came ambling into the theater, Peter the projectionist from our Showcase days. After exchanging warm greetings we settled into our seats as the previews began to roll. Abby and I awaited the feature film with little expectation, as our last theater horror experience was such a letdown (The Devil Inside). We became more hopeful when the Hammer logo appeared emblazoned across the screen.



So…
Harry Potter, still grieving over his deceased wife is sent to this creepy little village filled with weird folk to settle the estate of the infamous house in the marsh. The townsfolk are determined to run Harry out of town before he can discover the history of the house. What they don’t know is that Harry’s boss has threatened his job if he doesn’t do what he was sent there to do. He makes his way to the creepy old house and opens the proverbial can o’ worms setting off a curse that has plagued the town. The result brings on a chain of gruesome child suicides.



Call me nostalgic, but I’ll take a good old-fashioned haunted house flick any day of the week. The Woman in Black hit that mark quite well. It’s a Hammer through and through, from the period setting to the fog and grey overtones, the strange town filled with even stranger people and of course the dark foreboding house. The ghost is no slouch either, she gets right down to it without wasting any time. I would not have wanted to be in Harry’s shoes. At one tense moment of the film my arms actually erupted in goose bumps. I can’t remember the last time I had that happen. Although I have heard mixed reviews, mostly from some folks who got confused by the story, Abby, Peter and myself all agreed that this one delivered the goods. Just what the doctor ordered to cure a case of Horrorthon withdrawal. Once we left the theater, we discovered another former co-worker, Tony, who is still working for the theater and was on shift. We gabbed about things new and old like a bunch of old biddies then called it a night, not before getting this sweet snapshot in a cardboard picture booth display though.

At long last, 'The Simpsons' reaches 500th episode

From usatoday, With Sunday's episode — "At Long Last Leave" (Fox, 8 ET/PT) —The Simpsons, in its 23rd season, will hit 500, a nearly unheard-of milestone reached by only two other prime-time scripted series, Gunsmoke (635) and Lassie (588).

"I never imagined this," creator Matt Groening says. "I thought it would be a hit with kids. I wasn't sure adults would dig it."

But adults and kids have been digging it for decades. "In a business where things get tired in a matter of months, we were able to sustain for a whole generation," says executive producer Al Jean, who oversees production of the show.

There must be some reason for the longevity of the ubiquitous yellow family, which also has a hit movie, a theme park ride and mountains of merchandise, and has gone from being condemned by a president to being blessed by the Vatican.

Read the full article here.