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‘Max’ Cuts Out Some ‘Payne’ to Land PG-13

  • News
  • September 30, 2008

According to Shack News, Max Payne will be released with a PG-13 rating. Director John Moore had been advocating for this rating, which is significantly more financially viable than the R rating that the MPAA had granted.

Moore and his team "trimmed some frames for the sake of trimming frames," which led to the MPAA’s reconsideration of the film’s rating.

Fans will still see a bloodier cut of the video game adaptation, which Moore refers to as the "Gamer Dedicated Cut."

"It’s a little slower and a little more atmospheric," Moore tells GameDaily. "There are some rougher edges on it, but it’s not going to be a bloodfest. I want this to be the Max Payne that I set out to shoot. It’s not that I wanted to release one version in the theaters and make a cheap buck by following up with a blood-drenched DVD version. The movie you see in the theaters will be an intense experience and the movie you see on DVD will be as intense an experience with some extra sensibilities for people who really adore the game."

Starring Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis, Max Payne centers on a DEA agent (Wahlberg) whose family is slain as part of a conspiracy. He teams up with assassin (Kunis) out to avenge her sister’s death. The duo will be hunted by the police, the mob, and a ruthless corporation.

Max Payne arrives in theaters on October 17, 2008.

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Iron Man – A Video Game History

  • News
  • September 30, 2008

iron-man-the-video-game-2008-7831621Today, the world will be purchasing the wildly successful Iron Man film on DVD and Blu-ray and to commemorate the event, we’re taking a look at the hero’s history in videogames.  While his feature film debut was acclaimed by comic fans and critics alike, his video game appearances, while many in number, are spotty at best. Let’s take a look at what ol’ shellhead brought to screens before Downey filled his tin boots.

Captain America and the Avengers – 1991 (Arcade, NES), 1992 (Sega Genesis), 1993 (SNES, Sega Game Gear), 1994 (Gameboy)

Tony’s first appearance was in the arcades in 1991 in a side scrolling beat ‘em up adventure.  He may not have gotten top billing, but he along with Hawkeye, Vision and (obviously) Cap roamed the US bashing baddies like the Wizard and Tornado in an effort to defeat the Red Skull.  It was pretty standard fare as far as action games go: just continue to the right of the screen, defeat miscellaneous thugs and continue to the boss characters.  The formula worked for the time (when brawlers like Double Dragon and Streets of Rage were all the…um…rage) but the home console ports didn’t fare as well. The first on Genesis wasn’t able to match the arcades sounds (not that “Avengers Assemble” and “Oh No!” needed to sound better when repeated ad nauseum) and the control was severely lacking. The SNES version a year later was slightly better graphically, but was still a bit maddening in the control department.  Oddly enough, the best version was on the lower powered NES…but that version only let you select Cap and Hawkeye, as the plot was changed slightly to have you rescue Iron Man and Vision from the grips of the Mandarin. Weird.

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Review: ‘Gus and His Gang’ by Chris Blain

  • Uncategorized
  • September 30, 2008

gus-and-his-gang-8054883

Gus and His Gang
By Chris Blain
First Second, October 2008, $16.95

There must be some reason why the good Western comics – hell, pretty much all of the Western comics – of the past three decades have all come from France, but I don’t know it myself. France never had a West of its own; never had a frontier on its border to expand into. (Rather the opposite, actually – their big neighbor is Germany, which spent several hundred years trying to expand into them.) But there’s a streak of Western comics – about the American West, of course – from France going back through the “Blueberry” stories by Charlier and Moebius up to this book.

Well, whatever the reason, the French like stories about our Old West at least as much as we do, and now here’s another one: [[[Gus and His Gang]]], a collection of stories originally published between 2004 and 2007 about three outlaws and the women they pursue (and are pursued by). Gus, Clem and Gratt do rob banks and hijack trains – that’s how they make their living – but those things are mostly incidentals in these stories. These guys are much more concerned with getting a leg over – money never seems to be a problem (there’s always another bank to knock over), but sex always is.

Gus is the title character, the guy on the cover, and the ostensible leader of the three-man gang, but he has the worst luck with women of the three. The first story, “Natalie,” sets the tone – a woman from his past (he knew her five years before, in Cincinnati, when he was working in a wild west show) comes back into his life, and he chases around after her – as she leads him on by his exceptionally long nose – but doesn’t get anything out of it.

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Wolverine May Lose Heart in San Francisco

  • News
  • September 30, 2008

The X-Men have been going through a lot of changes recently. With the X-Mansion recently destroyed (for what I think is the third time now), and with Xavier no longer trusted by the majority of the team, the mutant heroes have picked up stakes and moved to San Francisco, a community which welcomes mutants. Certain characters have had interesting experiences trying to adjust to the west coast and Marvel is putting out a few mini-series under the banner of Manifest Destiny that tackles this subject.

Wolverine: Manifest Destiny will feature the Canadian "Canuckle-head" making his way into California only to discover that a bounty has been placed on his head. Honesty, as if it weren’t hard enough being a mutant who’s often targeted by Mafia and Yakuza and somehow divides his time between solo missions and being both an illegal Avenger and an X-Man and leader of X-Force. It turns out that Wolverine’s ex, now leader of the Triads, has summoned a quartet of mystical warriors who each are fully capable of killing the nearly-immortal hero and they’re not going to stop until the contract has been fulfilled.

This story is brought to you by artist Stephen Segovia and writer Jason Aaron. Fans will recognize Segovia’s excellent work from the ongoing series Wolverine: Origins. Jason Aaron has gotten a lot of praise not only as the writer of Verrtigo’s Scalped, but also for his hard-edged Wolverine: Origins story arc "Get Mystique" and his accomplishment in taking the Ghost Rider series and re-energizing it with interesting drama, a high-level of humor and enjoyably insane violence. With credits like that, Wolverine: Manifest Destiny is sure to be a hard-hitting, violent ride. Just perfect for Wolverine fans.

Don’t believe me? Then you obviously need to read the new Ghost RIder series and see for yourself how Aaron has made the demonic anti-hero more fun than he’s been in years. And here’s what some folks said following "Get Mystique."

James Hunt of ComicBookResources.com said, "Jason Aaron has himself an appropriate niche, telling a solo Wolverine action story that showcases the character’s brains as much as his brawn."

And Daniel Crown of IGN.com remarked, "To put it simply, Wolverine is an extremely torn character, and it just so happens that Jason Aaron is outstanding when it comes to writing irresolute characters."

The X-Men books have really risen in quality in the past few months so this story comes with high hopes.

Kirsten Dunst is ‘in’ for ‘Spider-Man 4’

  • Uncategorized
  • September 30, 2008

spidermankirsten-dunstcredit-columbiaA few weeks ago, news broke that Tobey Maguire and Sam Raimi would be strapping on their webslingers (err, maybe surgically outfitting their bodies with adhesive web goo is more like it) for yet another Spider-Man installment. Spider-Man 4 and 5 will be shot back-to-back, not unlike the latter (and lesser) two Matrix and Pirates of the Caribbean sequels. But what those films lacked making them inferior to their predecessors, Spider-Man has in spades… Kirsten Dunst!!

[Crickets]…

Nothing?

Alright, well, word is coming in that Ms. Dunst, whose been playing hot-and-cold with your friendly neighborhood franchise both on and off the screen, is "in" to reprise her role as Mary Jane Watson.

"I’m in," the actress told MTV News while promoting her upcoming film, How to Lose Friends and Alienate People.

She was later asked to make the announcement official, to which she cryptically replied, "I’m not saying anything, I know there’s rumors…"

C’mon, Kirsten. Cat’s outta the bag. And the feline’s a feisty creature; once she’s out, you can’t put her back in. Either Kirsten Dunst is returning to play the fiery redhead one more time, or she’s just curb-stomped the collective hopes and fantasies of teenagers everywhere.

Review: ‘Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles’ Episode #204

  • Uncategorized
  • September 30, 2008

Note: Click here to relive the past episode!

204cameronscc-sc-04-3057-1289317This Week’s Operation: “Alison from Palmdale”

Mission Briefing:

Cameron, whose been malfunctioning lately, goes amnesiac in a grocery store while having strange visions of the future. A woman identical to her in the future, named Alison Young, is captured by Terminators and interrogated about the whereabouts of John Connor. Eventually, Alison comes into contact with Cameron, who is trying to infiltrate John’s rebel camp. When it becomes clear that Alison won’t comply, Cameron breaks her neck.
 
In the present, Cameron begins to think that her name is Alison from Palmdale, California. She’s befriended by a troubled girl named Jody, who takes her to a halfway house. Cameron calls Claire Young, Alison’s mother, but she’s actually still pregnant. Later, Cameron leaves the halfway house with Jody, where John finds her and tells her what she really is: a killer robot from the frickin’ future. Cameron realigns her identity, but still decides to run away with Jody. They break into a home which turns out to be Jody’s, and Cameron realizes that Jody was going to leave her behind for the cops to take the blame. John shows up just in time to prevent Cameron from killing Jody. As they’re driving home, Cameron lies to John about a necklace she got from Jody, implying that her malfunctioning days are far from over.

Meanwhile, Sarah keeps Casey company at the hospital while doctors check on her pregnancy. Sarah meets Casey’s LAPD boyfriend, Trevor. Elsewhere, Agent Ellison accepts Catherine Weaver’s offer to join Zeira Corp to find and disassemble Terminators.

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Dr. Phil and Me, by Dennis O’Neil

  • Uncategorized
  • September 30, 2008

president-bush-and-first-lady-attend-christmas-programAfter two 30 minute office visits and a little homework, we listened to the therapist tell us, matter-of-factly and unequivocally, that our relationship was somewhere south of hopeless, we had nothing for each other, the sooner we went back to being merely colleagues, the better for all concerned. I wasn’t surprised, and I don’t think she was either. But I guess I didn’t expect the final pronouncement to come so quickly and definitively.

The therapist was the late Dr. Albert Ellis, developer of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy, and boy! he didn’t believe in mincing words, nor, I’d say, in ignoring he obvious. I remembered him and this pretty inconsequential bit of autobiography when I was paging through a Book of the Month Club mailing the other day and found that BOMC was offering Real Life, by the gent who bylines himself Dr. Phil McGraw.

Soon after I stopped spending my weekdays in a Manhattan office building and became a lazy slug who could, and sometimes did, watch television at three in the afternoon, I sampled Dr. Phil’s daily offering on Channel 2 and was mildly impressed. Like Ellis, he seemed to be interested in solutions, said what he meant. And although “common sense” is overrated – common sense tells us that the world is flat – it does have its uses and Dr. Phil seemed to be using it well. The approaches of both McGraw, as exhibited in those early broadcasts, and Ellis remind me of Morita therapy, a Japanese treatment championed in this country by David Reynolds. Morita therapy says – my interpretation – that, look, we could talk for years and maybe never find out what damaged you, or when, and if we did, we might not be able to do a repair job. But we can deal with the ways the damage is making your life unmanageable, so let’s do that.

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Sarah Michelle Gellar Heads Back to TV

  • News
  • September 30, 2008

sarah-michelle-gellar-9672977Sarah Michelle Gellar is set to appear in the ensemble drama The Wonderful Maladys for HBO.  Written by Charles Rudolph, he said he had the Buffy actress in mind for the series which will be set in New York City.

The half-hour series would involve, according to Variety, about “dysfunctional lives of three adult siblings who lost their parents at a young age.”

Gellar and Randolph would both serve as executive producers and the writer described his leading lady’s character as having "a kind of zealous immaturity — like a drug addict with a to-do list."

"We’re on a fast track," Brillstein Entertainment Partners CEO Jon Liebman told the trade.

The return to television for Gellar is no doubt bittersweet considering her tepid film career since her signature series ended.

The writer’s credits include The Life of David Gale and The Interpreter.
 

Official Roster Announced for MK vs DC

  • News
  • September 30, 2008

943567_20080820_screen007-8040276On the heels of last week’s big release of LEGO Batman: The Videogame, Midway has announced the final characters for their newest game; Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. The story takes place after the two franchises collide during a universal "crisis" (probably not the same one). Now fanboys (and fangirls) can finally their aggression on the Justice League like it’s their job. Here’s the complete list:

      DC Comics Universe:

  •  Batman
  • Superman
  • Catwoman
  • Green Lantern (Hal Jordan)
  • Shazam (Captain Marvel, not wizard)
  • The Flash (Barry Allen)
  • Deathstroke
  • Wonder Woman
  • The Joker
  • Lex Luthor
  • Darkseid

      Mortal Kombat:

  • Scorpion
  • Sub-Zero
  • Sonya
  • Jax
  • Shang Tsung
  • Liu Kang
  • Raiden
  • Kitana
  • Kano
  • Baraka
  • Shao Kahn

The game is currently slated for a November release on the PS3 and XBox 360, and for the real gaming fans, you can see a complete list of achievements to unlock here On the page, there is reference to a character only called "JF". No word on who this can be, possibly another cameo? You decide.

 

 

Review: ‘Chuck’ Season 2 Premiere

chuckWith NBC going into the fall season with a fairly light deck, [[[Chuck]]] is the one fan favorite that makes sure to deliver on it’s promises (unlike another show involving superpowers). This season of Chuck is said to be bigger and more adventurous than it’s first, while bringing in some great cameos along the way.

We left off last season where Chuck was finally coming into his own as a spy-computer, assuming the Bond-style alias Charles Carmichael. The romance between Chuck and Sarah also spiced up, but could never be due to their job. Also, Adam Baldwin’s Casey was given instructions that a replacement intercept (the computer that is in Chuck’s brain) is being built, and when it is, he has to take Chuck out.

This season picks right up in the action as Chuck’s life is in danger by a new baddie, played by Michael Clarke Duncan. He explains basically the entire premise of the show, which is great for newcomers. Chuck, of course, escapes and the spy trio is now in possession of the piece they need to create the newest intercept. Chuck is told that once the machine is up and running, his duty as a spy supercomputer is over and he’s free to live his life. Meanwhile, they shadowy government figures have already told Casey that he is to assassinate Chuck when the machine is built. The episode on a whole held through from start to finish, setting up some great storylines down the road and coming together at the end of the episode like any spy serial really should.

A big step for season two is character expansion. Now that everyone is established, it’s time to take them all to new places. Casey goes through a conflict which shows a more softer side, while Sarah and Chuck grow closer together as a couple. Chuck also realizes that it may be time to move on from the Buy More and get a new job, which could mean “goodbye” to Morgan and the Nerds. This season could mean a lot more “whining and screaming” from Chuck and some action that we would expect from a Spy Comedy Series. Some great things to expect this season are cameos from both Michael Clarke Duncan and John Larroquette, A new job (with new skimpy outfit) for Sarah, and even a death (or two) from a major character.

Anyone who isn’t caught up on the show should do so by picking up the DVD (available now). The series isn’t heavy and overall fun to watch. Between the skimpy outfits, endearing lead, and a badass Adam Baldwin, there’s something in it for the whole family. Season 2 premieres tonight on NBC right before [[[Heroes]]] at 8pm ET. RATING 8/10

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