The Comic Shack #9 and "Marvel: Season One"

As of a couple of weeks ago, I'm regularly co-hosting The Comic Shack podcast on 5by5. On last Friday's show ("Concatenation of Severed Heads"), I talked with host "Captain" Jim Metzendorf about how Captain Marvel #1 made me cry, X-treme X-Men threatens to make Dazzler awesome, and how terribly behind I am on The Defenders, which I caught up on last night. Jim also gave a crash course in comics grading and storage technology. Yes, it qualifies as technology.

Regarding "Season One", Marvel is retelling the origin stories of many signature characters in graphic novels that are around the length of five issues of comics. I'm shocked they didn't do one for their new highest-profile team in advance of The Avengers hitting theatres.

I wasn't really aware of these until Greg Pak announced he was doing one for Doctor Strange. For the record, Strange is my favorite Marvel character. You'll hear more about him from me, rest assured.

I picked up the X-Men and Ant Man ones the other day at the comic shop. They're clean, crisp quality hardbound trades that include a digital copy slip. This is the future of how to make money on printed books. Give it to us at a reasonable cover price and bundle digital at no additional cost. I just ordered Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, and Daredevil. I'll get around to pre-ordering Hulk and Doctor Strange soon.

DOCTOR WHO Series 7 Trailer

Dinosaurs on a spaceship, folks.

Sampled: Mac OS X Snoop Lion and Snoop Voltron

After tweeting both of these jokes regarding Snoop Dogg's "reincarnation", they've been sampled, shared, reappropriated, and expanded upon. Here are the original jokes:

Who else does Snoop Lion need to form Snoop Voltron? What space monsters will he defeat?

Later...

BREAKING: Mac OS 10.9 Snoop Lion leaks early

Amazon Instant Releases an iPad App (That Kinda Sucks)

On the heels of Hulu Plus releasing an AppleTV app, Amazon has put Amazon Instant Video on the iPad. I downloaded the app, and sure enough...no AirPlay compatibility. Watch everything you want, only on your iPad and not on your TV. I'd love to watch all of The West Wing on my TV, not necessarily so on my iPad.

Movie Producer Says We Must "Tear Down These Walls"

Keith Calder has produced an indie CG animated movie (Battle for Terra), a documentary directed by Morgan Spurlock (POM Wonderful Presents The Greatest Movie Ever Sold), and some fantastic indies (Thunder Soul and The Wackness among others). He's a very smart guy and happens to also be a friend.

He took Patton Oswalt's Just For Laughs keynote address to heart and penned a piece about breaking down the barriers between fans and content:

In the entertainment business, we’re living in very interesting times. There’s a wave of momentum pushing forward a powerful new relationship between artist and fan.

I could not agree more. I discussed this very subject on the pilot of my new show Screen Time, coming soon on 5by5. I think I've found my second guest.

Regarding THE HOBBIT in Three Parts

Peter Jackson is in the "more money than God" tax bracket. He's not making a third Hobbit movie for the money.

I'm not personal friends with the guy. I've never spoken to him in person. I really, really love his early films as well as his Lord of the Rings trilogy. King Kong lost a bit of its luster after the first viewing, and The Lovely Bones is a narrative that I'm convinced no one could make "fun" (since it's drenched in dreariness).

If there's a third movie to be made, it's because the narrative bears out with the breathing room of three features. As far as I know, part of the issue is the 150-160 minute limit arbitrarily placed on the studio by the exhibitors. Jackson isn't making a trio of 4-hour movies, and I trust that he is focused on telling the best story possible. Then again, I think that 48fps isn't an aberration on the face of cinema, so what do I know.

TNG S1 Replacement Discs

CBS has done the right thing. When you call, make sure to have your Blu-ray set in-hand. They'll need proof of purchase info. You also won't have to mail in your flawed discs to get the replacements.

From the press release earlier today:

Dear Star Trek Fans, We have discovered an anomaly in the English 7.1 DTS Master Audio track in our Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 1 Blu-ray Box set.

There are some episodes that inadvertently had their front channel designations incorrectly mapped, resulting in an undesired playback experience when listening to them in a 7.1 or 5.1 Surround Sound environment.

We are quickly working to remedy the situation. Replacement discs (Disc 1, 3 and 4) will be made available free of charge.

Please email phe.stng@bydeluxe.com for details regarding the replacement program.
You may also call 1-877-DELUXE6 (877-335-8936) between 8am to 6pm Pacific, Monday-Friday. We strive to provide our fans the best Blu-ray experience possible and sincerely apologize for this inconvenience.

DARK KNIGHT RETURNS Part 1 Trailer

MTV has the exclusive on the animated adaptation of Frank Miller's iconic Batman story. Peter Weller is a perfect Old Batman. Can't wait to find out who they got for Joker and Superman...casting which they haven't announced yet.

Hulu Plus Finally Comes to AppleTV

After what seems like forever, Hulu and Apple have worked things out so that Hulu Plus can have a little jellybean button next to Netflix on AppleTV. The app has been ready to go since last fall.

Mark my words: this is the beginning of more things like this arriving of the tiny sleeping giant that is the AppleTV hockey puck.

Like Netflix, Hulu is $7.99 a month for all-you-can-eat access to loads of content.

For me personally, this means I finally have a box connected to my TV that can access Hulu's Criterion Collection channel full of all sorts of movies that you can't even find on disc.

Unlike Netflix, Hulu's TV library leans toward the much fresher end of things, but does contain commercials to keep the pricing at 8 bucks.

I signed up for Hulu Plus the moment that I fired up my box this morning (after a reboot late last night) and saw the button in the listing. Try it out with their two week free trial and see if you like it.

So...when do we get Amazon Prime and their exclusive access to The West Wing?

ANNIE 30th Anniversary Blu-ray on 2 October

Until now, it's been pan-and-scanned or non-anamorphic widescreen only. That changes on 2 October.

The disc adds no new special features, but retains a sing-along feature (billed as Blu-ray exclusive) along with the "My Hollywood Adventure with Aileen Quinn" featurette, trailers, TV spots, and a performance of "Hard Knock Life" by a group called Play.

Contrary to what one's fuzzy memory might tell them, Annie is really good, and was part of the boom that was the Summer of 1982. The movie itself in 2.20:1 widescreen for the first time on disc is the special feature here, with what I assume will be beautiful video and audio remastering done by the always-reliable folks at Sony.

Snoop Lion, Form Voltron!

At 4pm CST today, the below embed will broadcast a live press conference in which rapper Snoop Dogg (aka Snoop Doggy Dogg, aka S-to-tha-N-to-tha-Double-O-P to That D-O-Double-G) announces his "reincarnation" as Snoop Lion, a rastafarian musician.

I maintain that if he were to have gone with Snoop Lion-O (ThunderSnoop, HOOOOO!) or Snoop Voltron, he'd be crossing over in a bigger way.

BREAKING: This can only mean that Mac OS 10.9 will be Mac OS "Snoop Lion".

(UPDATE: I gave the live stream a full 15 minutes after its scheduled time to start before I gave up.)

Proper Sourcing: Tom Hardy, Rapper

I'm relatively sure that the internet could sustain a blog entirely composed of tracking original writing theft, since it's so common and badly covered up. Here's a nice, fresh example.

My friend and former coworker Devin Faraci at Badass Digest found a video of Tom Hardy rapping the old-fashioned way: actual work. Hardy had a record deal in his teens. Check out his post for the interesting and unique story.

Then take a look at this douchebag on The Insider who magically came across the exact same video the same day.

Call him out, internet, and see what happens. He's @JarettSays on Twitter.

(UPDATE: Now Gawker has repurposed it. And so the internet cookie crumbles...)

TNG Blu Audio Bugs

I should have known that I wasn't nuts when I thought that there was something off in the sound mix on this thing.

According to The Digital Bits, CBS is now aware there's an audio mastering bug that affects seven episodes on the Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 1 Blu-ray set. The 7.1 tracks bleed audio from the center channel into the Front Left and Frot Right channels. The affected episodes are Encounter at Farpoint, Hide and Q, The Big Goodbye, Datalore, 11001001, and Too Short a Season.

I thought it was just flawed source.

Apple Doubles Down on Security

Stan Schroeder reports the developing acquisition story for Mashable (keep checking them for updates):

AuthenTec‘s line of products includes smart fingerprint sensors for PCs, smartphones and other products as well as identity management software for individuals and businesses. The company’s clients include HP, LG, Cisco, Motorola, Nokia and others.

This is an acquisition of a scale much larger than simply plugging in-app purchase holes. As a major, multifaceted platform company, they need to own some security talent just like they needed semiconductor talent a few years ago. If we don't continue to trust them with all our credit cards, then they lose one of their biggest advantages.

He also notes that one of AuthenTec's bigger clients is Samsung. Hm.

E.T. Blu-grade on 9 October

This release complately ditches the 2002 "enhanced" cut, which included digitally-altered effects shots and loads of things that fans complained about. Spielberg saw the light in a way that George Lucas never will with Star Wars and killed it. Bravo to him.

Here's the temp box art and a rundown of what's new, missing, and held over on the new Blu-ray as compared to the 2002 Limited Edition DVD:

New

The E.T. Journals:  In this all-new bonus feature, retrace the day-to-day experience of creating E.T from never-before-seen, behind-the-scenes footage shot by Academy Award®-winning cinematographer John Toll.   This piece will give viewers a unique feeling of being on the set and living the excitement of what it was like to make E.T.

Steven Spielberg & E.T.*:  Watch an all-new interview with Steven Spielberg, as he reflects back on the film and discusses his experience working with the actors, as well as his overall and current perspective on E.T.

Deleted Scenes*: Two scenes from 2002 version of the film. 

A Look Back*:  A special insider’s look into the making of E.T. featuring interviews with Steven Spielberg, the cast, and others intimately involved with the film.

iTunes/Android Digital Copy (which you might actually use) 
Ultraviolet Digital Copy (which I doubt you will redeem or use)

Missing

The 2002 "Enhanced" Cut: the inclusion of the above scenes from this cut is a sufficient record of it in history for me. I would never watch the do-over cut anyway.

Spielberg introduction from 2002 DVD: it auto-played on the 2002 cut disc, with the director explaining and justifying why he opted to do the digital retouching and recutting. Also not a loss.

Cast/Filmmaker Bios and Production Notes: did anyone use these after IMDb on phones came into existence?

A "Space Exploration" thing for kids: no one will miss this, especially since it erroneously listed Pluto as a planet**

Any of the Laserdisc extras not on the 2002 release: I remember a really good doc on there

Previously-Available

The E.T. Reunion: The cast and filmmaker reunite to discuss their thoughts on the impact of the film. 

The Evolution and Creation of E.T.: From idea to screenplay, throughcasting and making the film.  

The Music of E.T. - A Discussion with John Williams:  Interviews and footage focused on the long-standing relationship between John Williams and Steven Spielberg.

The 20th Anniversary Premiere: Composer John Williams played the score of E.T. live at the Shrine Auditorium for the re-release premiere of E.T.   This featurette gives us a behind the scenes look at this presentation.

Original Theatrical Trailer
Special Olympics TV spot

Designs, Photographs and Marketing: E.T. Designs by Production Illustrator Ed Verreaux, E.T. Designs by Carlo Rambaldi, Spaceship Designs by Ralph McQuarrie, Designs by Production Illustrator Ed Verreaux, Production Photographs, Marketing E.T.

*denotes extras also found on the Combo Pack DVD
**yes, I know Pluto was still a planet in long-ago 2002

CLOUD ATLAS: Life, The Universe, and Everything

Check out the just-posted extended trailer for Cloud Atlas, from Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run) and the Wachowskis (Matrix, Speed Racer).

It's pretty abundantly clear that although its story may not answer The Question as posed in Douglas Adams' "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", it most certainly is about "life, the universe, and everything". Actors play different characters, ages, roles, and even genders across the span of human existence.

I'm glad they didn't rush bringing footage to CinemaCon back in April, becuase this is how the movie should be packaged and sold: the epic story of existence, and all that entails.

Count me sold.

AppleTV versus XBOX360

Todd Bishop for Geek Week:

Apple sold 1.3 million Apple TV devices during the June quarter, an increase of 170 percent over the same quarter a year ago.

He also notes that Microsoft "only" sold 1.1 million XBOX 360 units during that quarter. The thing is, the XBOX 360 is six years old and near the end of its lifespan. If the point is to look at relative platform strength, a more interesting comparison would be the installed base of "hockey puck" AppleTV units versus active XBOX Live accounts.

DIABLO 3's "Story" Sucks

Brilliant screenwriter and techie John August puts it best:

Every once in a while, your character chimes in, but it’s generally to say, “I’ll do it!”

The decisions have been made and you’re sent off to do/get/kill whatever they’ve decided upon.

I finished Diablo 3 many weeks ago, and I have barely felt the urge to pick it back up since. In fact, it was difficult to finish because I felt so completely uninvested in the actual quest. Despite what some may believe, level grinding and stat-rolling does not constitute a quest.