My New Cell Phone

Zack Morris would be proud

Star Wars in 3D

<sigh> I really don't like this 3D movie trend we're experiencing - especially for movies that haven't been directed with 3D in mind.  Avatar worked because Cameron directed and shot various sequences knowing that it would be seen in 3D.  Clash of the Titans didn't work because it was not shot in the same manner - the 3D was applied very much after the fact.  This latter case is becoming all too common.  And now it's being applied to "the Holy Trilogy" (and the "Un-Holy Trilogy").  All six Star Wars movies are getting the 3D treatment starting with Episode I: The Phantom Menace in 2012.  I know the Star Wars franchise is a huge money maker for Lucasfilm but this just seems, I don't know, too obvious an attempt at milking his cash cow bone dry.

There are definitely some scenes that have some awesome potential for 3D.  Consider the following from each movie:
- the podrace in Episode I
- the Battle of Geonosis in Episode II
- the massive space battle over Coruscant at the beginning of Episode III
- the Death Star trench run in Episode IV
- the Battle of Hoth in Episode V
- the speeder bike scenes and Death Star assault from Episode VI

Here's an idea: instead of re-releasing the movies so that we can watch Han kiss Leia or Anakin's terrible CG balancing act on those fat, cow things on Naboo, neither of which would benefit from 3D, how about releasing a special feature that is JUST those scenes I mentioned above.  Maybe throw in an occasional quick cut to showcase the Stormtrooper's stun rings when he shoots Leia in Episode IV or the A-Wing crashing into the Star Destroyer bridge in Episode VI, but more or less just make a one to two hour montage of the coolest scenes from all six movies in 3D and leave it at that.

Just my two cents.

Crazy Optical Illusion

You've got to check out this optical illusion. Focus on the white and black ball and see that it moves across the screen in a vertical manner. Focus on the blue ball to the right and it appears the white and black ball will move diagonally across the screen. Quite awesome. You can change some of the parameters of the illusion for fun too (controls on the bottom).

Homeless Man Under Pressure

Absolutely brilliant and touching.

Midnight Riders Video Contest Winners

There was an official contest to make a video for the Midnight Riders song "Save Me Some Sugar (This Won't Take Long)" and they ended up selecting two winners. Check 'em out below.

SLAYER RULES... Uh... Wait a Sec... On Second Thought....

Literal Resident Evil: Afterlife Trailer

Pretty funny stuff. The other videos in the "literal" series are just as good, if not better.

A Game of Thrones Coming 2011 to HBO

Been waiting a long time for this one: HBO's adaptation of George R. R. Martin's first book in his A Song of Ice and Fire series, A Game of Thrones. It's premiering sometime in 2011.

The Walking Dead

The Walking Dead series premiers on Halloween night on AMC - not sure how they snagged the show and I'm surprised that HBO didn't. The comic is absolutely incredible. Check out this 4+ minute trailer.

Francis Hates Everything

I hate stairs.

Taco Town

One of the best SNL commercials ever IMHO.

For Your Health & Brule's Rules

Dr. Steven Brule's For Your Health series and the always awesome Brule's Rules. 

Dude's 3rd Year Animation Project

This is a 3rd year project of Mike Rianda's, a student at California Institute of the Arts.  Some great stuff here.

Bill + "ninjah sword" = AWESOME

Via the official Left 4 Dead blog:  

"The Sacrifice” is the prequel to "The Passing," and takes place from the Left 4 Dead Survivors' perspective as they make their way South. You may read the comic to find out the official version of events or this October 5th you may play the game to choose your own ending.

In "The Sacrifice" for Left 4 Dead, gamers receive the complete Sacrifice campaign with maps playable in Campaign, Versus, and Survival. There are 5 new achievements, a new style finale and plenty of places for devastating Hunter pounces.

For Left 4 Dead 2, gamers receive “The Sacrifice” campaign and L4D1’s “No Mercy” both playable with the L4D1 Survivors. This version also offers 5 new achievements. In the L4D2 version of “The Sacrifice” each campaign is playable in Campaign, Versus, Survival, and Scavenge modes, and both "The Sacrifice" and L4D2 version of No Mercy feature the Left 4 Dead 2 Special Infected, items, and weapons. Yes, Zoey with a chainsaw!

"The Sacrifice" will be available as two separate packages on Xbox Live for 560 Microsoft Points each and free to all PC gamers.

Check out the incredibly awesome trailer for it below.



And other cool info (from the above video's description): With the AI Director 2.0, L4D's dynamic gameplay is taken to the next level by giving the Director the ability to procedurally change weather effects, world objects, and pathways in addition to tailoring the enemy population, effects, and sounds to match the players' performance. The result is a unique game session custom fitted to provide a satisfying and uniquely challenging experience each time the game is played. Adding new Survivors, boss zombies, weapons, and items, Left 4 Dead 2 offers a much larger game than the original, featuring more co-operative campaigns, more Versus campaigns, new Survival maps, and the new competitive game mode, Scavenge, all available at launch.

After reading all that and watching the trailer, I just popped a boner.

Guild Wars 2 Designer Talks About Loot, Gear and Playing Dress Up

John Hargrove, one of the main designers for Guild Wars 2, explains how the loot system, rewards, and character customization based on said loot will work.  Really juicy stuff in there with some nice pics.  Definitely give it a looksee right here.