You should know Isaac Asimov as a fundamental part of all science fiction. His ‘three laws of robotics’ have pretty much defined the genre’s depiction of robots ever since. He’s known as one of the “big three” science fiction authors and he’s basically had an influential role in every android, automaton, and metal man you know and love. On top of being one of the most prolific writers ever, he’s credited with writing arguably the best science fiction short story of all time.
Anyway, if you’re not so much into sci-fi literature, you might have heard Asimov’s name attached to mediocrity-fests like I, Robot. Just let it be known that the original short story is very different and very much better. Asimov’s had a few of his works adapted into unfaithful movies that blandly miss the point, but Gamma Squad’s got word that Hollywood’s giving it another go, this time with the Foundation trilogy. Three books that make up the major storyline of a vast saga Asimov added to and compiled throughout his writing career.
In case you Asimov fans were crossing your fingers and mouthing prayers to the sci-fi Gods, you should know the series is set to be written by relative newcomer Dante Harper and directed by Roland “Make Things Go Boom-Boom” Emmerich, so the beloved and iconic stories so cherished in the genre will likely be handled with the care and subtlety of a propeller plane dodging an exploding Los Angeles.
Above: Subtlety
Fox has also recently greenlit Asimov’s The Caves of Steel, so now would be a good time to hit the library and read these books before they go the way of Bicentennial Man. Unless you’ve already read them, in which case now would be a good time to cry.
It’s the best idea Nike has had in years, and it’s not at all new. In 1989 film fans everywhere flocked to see Back to the Future: Part II, sequel to the single greatest film ever made. In said film, Marty McFly traveled though time to the year 2015. The future was filled with 3D sequels to movies, books sold in antique shops, and shoes with automatic laces. And while 3D movies are everywhere now, and bookstores are closing left and right, we still hadn’t nailed down the intricacies of the ‘auto lace’. Untill now.
Last year, word got out that legendary Nike designer Tinker Hatfield and company filed a patent for an Automatic Lacing System similar to the technology featured on the “Marty McFly” Nike Air Mags in Back To The Future II. Since then, fanboys and sneakerheads alike have been speculating that Nike was working on a real-life version of the Air Mags. Speculate no more, because those shits are coming.
Around midnight tonight, members of the media and the fashion world got calls from Nike inviting them out to Los Angeles for a top-secret special event, hosted by Hatfield himself. Following the calls, a video by a YouTube user named DocEmmettBrown88 dropped the following video, showing what appears to be “shelves and shelves of 2011 Nike MAG shoes”.
Here’s the video…
This news was sent to me by several people over the last 12 hours or so as most everyone knows my affinity for the movies, and I wouldn’t be true to myself if this really comes out and I don’t buy a pair. So for the first time ever, Nike is guaranteed some of my cash. Or rather some of my Credit Card company’s cash…
The Walking Dead season two trailer was revealed at Conic Con yesterday, and is now online! This trailer shows SO MANY different things that I had to watch it twice. So we’ve got it for you, but first here’s some words from Creator Robert Kirkman who did an interview with Entertainment Weekly.
This is how it went:
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: So what can fans expect at your panel?
ROBERT KIRKMAN: We’re bringing out more actors this year. I’m hoping to get some awkward questions from the audience that I can’t answer too well. And I’ll be wearing a different shirt. Last year my favorite was: “Why aren’t you filming the show in Los Angeles?”
I love the Georgia setting. When you watch Justified — it’s a great show, but it looks like Santa Clarita.
And one of the best things about this season is we’re getting out of Atlanta. It’s very rural. You’re going to see a lot more woods. One of the main set pieces is this farmhouse. It’s going to be pretty awesome, like an Andrew Wyeth painting — with zombies.
In the clip that was released, Rick Grimes is using a rock to kill zombies. Are they running low on ammo?
We’re going to see them run short on pretty much everything this season. It’s going to be a desperate season for our cast. Ammo, food and supplies are going to be scarce, which of course makes it much more fun.
Does the high ratings set by the first season, with only six episodes, put you under pressure for the longer second season?
If we were just coming back for six episodes, it might be more pressure. But we’re confident if you liked the first season, you’re going to really like the second season. It’s everything you liked about the first season, but more of it.
Does the second season follow the comic book more or less than the first?
It’s about as close as the first season, which in my opinion is very faithful to the comic book. The first season took a huge departure in the last episodes. The overall story line is very much taken from the second collection. But there’s also going to be things in there that come out of left field that will leave you completely shocked.
Anything more you can tell us?
We’ve got a tremendous amount of tension between Rick and Shane, with them butting heads. We’ve got Maggie Greene introduced, who’s a potential love interest for Glenn. We’ll possibly be seeing some romance. I think romance and zombies go well together.
I’m a huge fan of movies involving extra terrestrials, [Ed. – ET for Life!] and there here has been a whole slew of them in the past year. None though stood out to me, or left a real lasting impression. I either disliked the aliens in them, or the cast of human characters trying to survive against them. Out of District 9, Monsters, and Skyline – I really only took a liking to District 9. Monsters didn’t show me enough aliens and Skyline had too many idiotic humans in it. But then I watched Battle LA.
Battle: Los Angeles was basically a simple storyline with excellent visuals. But being simple didn’t by any means make it a terrible movie. By simple I mean “Aliens are here killing people. We had better kick their asses.” which makes up pretty much 85% of the movie, but all the fire fights between the marines and aliens never wore thin for me. It was spread out and the scenes in between gave chances (albeit sparse) for character development. They also gave a nice overview of the characters at the beginning.
The cast was pretty rounded, very well put together. You get to see Ramon Rodriguez in a not so annoying role as a young commanding officer, as opposed to his vomit-inducing portrayal of Leo Spitz in the crap pile that was Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.
Bridget Moynahan and Michael Pena were good, though both felt under-utilized. To their credit though, as civilians they didn’t bog the movie down at all and their characters actually enhanced scenes.
Even Michelle Rodriguez took a departure from her normal role as “Female Hardass Character who Yells a lot” in to a more realistic Air Force intel specialist who can fire a rifle. Still no ‘Damsel in Distress’, but something different for her. And then our hero of the movie, Aaron Eckhart. Eckhart was solid and believable as Marine Corp Staff Sargent Nantz, who was actually on his way out of the Corps when the alien aggressors launched their invasion. It’s his experience that gets our cast of characters moving.
The cast also includes a great young ensemble of actors as the grunts, including Cory Hardrict (Gran Turino), Noel Fisher (Terriers), and Will Rothhaar (Jack Frost). Hell, we even had child actor Bryce Cass, who was better than twenty Jake Lloyd‘s could have ever been!
Now I’m expecting a lot of people to ‘rabble rabble‘ about how cliché and melodramatic Eckhart’s couple of speeches to the troops are, but personally I had no problem with them. In terms of melodrama Independence Day still takes the cake on that one. And while I may feel the different about Battle: Los Angeles in about ten years, right now, I thought it was well done and heartfelt.
The movie was shot in a familiar way, the closest thing I can think of being Black Hawk Down, in terms of the urban warfare and house-to-house fighting. The camera utilized the ever-popular ‘shaky sense of urgency’ during the battle scenes, making you feel like you were in the middle of a firefight, actually watching the aliens landing in L.A. And their drone ships hovering all about the war-torn landscape of Los Angeles gave me goosebumps.
The aliens themselves overall were done pretty well. You only catch glimpses of them at first as they ambush our brave marines and seem nearly unkillable. After a certain point though, a weakness is obviously discovered, and then it’s game on.
The aliens reasoning for attacking Earth (which I won’t spoil) may initially sound stupid, but makes perfect sense once you think about it. If anyone out there is a fan of military movies, and alien invasions then this movie is the best of both worlds for you. Good pacing, great cast, and realistic looking effects.
It’s also very refreshing to see it win the weekend box office up against a variety of animated kids films and a Red Riding Hood-Twilight hybrid with a $36 million rake in. (Box Office Mojo)
You should know Isaac Asimov as a fundamental part of all science fiction. His ‘three laws of robotics’ have pretty much defined the genre’s depiction of robots ever since. He’s known as one of the “big three” science fiction authors and he’s basically had an influential role in every android, automaton, and metal man you know and love. On top of being one of the most prolific writers ever, he’s credited with writing arguably the best science fiction short story of all time.
Grizzly Bomb 