Disney buys Lucasfilm (and ILM and Skywalker Sound)

Disney buys Lucasfilm (and ILM and Skywalker Sound)

Really? I didn't see this coming. From Wired, ((In a move sure to shock fans of the Mouse House and George Lucas, the Walt Disney Company said Tuesday it has agreed to acquire Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion in cash and stock. The company also announced that it is prepping Star Wars: Episode 7 for release in 2015.))

Why does it look like Lucas just sold his soul to the Devil?  (or Lucas:  "Now, I will never get to make that Willow 2 movie or Howard the Duck 2.")

While this is a total shock to me, it actually makes sense too. Lucas owned Pixar way back when it was a small FX company that did the FX shots for Genesis Planet computer stuff in Star Trek II.  It was sort of branch of ILM. Lucas sold it to Steve Jobs and Jobs sold it to Disney.  Now Disney owns Pixar and ILM.  And, they own all of Marvel Comics too.  Now that they own ILM, other studios have to pay ILM for their work. 

This is a shock because Lucas seemed to really be invested in ILM.  And, now he just gave it up.  Sure it was over 4 billion, but Lucas always felt he needed to make his own movies without studio interference, now he’s given it up to one of the biggest studios.  I guess Lucas was ready to walk away from it all.  Keep in mind that Star Wars is still a strong franchise.  The videogames still sell well and the TV show is amazing creatively. 

I remember reading that he was done with the Star Wars franchise, but this is taking it too far. Granted, Disney does have hands off approach when it comes to its other companies. And, this is NOT Fox he's selling his companies to. Disney has some deep pockets and it might help bring some good talent to the franchises under Disney's rule.

From EW Insider,((Veteran producer Kathleen Kennedy, who recently became co-chairman of Lucasfilm, will become the studio’s president, reporting to Disney studios chairman Alan Horn. She will executive produce the future Star Wars films, with Lucas serving as a creative consultant. In a video released by Disney (and embedded below), Lucas says he and Kennedy have already been working on future Star Wars films with unspecified writers.))

Basically, Lucas will be taking a backseat to the new SW movies. I hope. When he isn't involved as much, we get Empire Strikes Back, Clone Wars and the Old Republic VGs. When he does interfere, we get IJ4. And, it's probably a good idea for Lucas to take up charity work.

But, you have to give Disney credit for dropping the bombshell that they're making another Star Wars movie.

Now, does this mean Jar-Jar will be in the next Kingdom Hearts movie?

Sora, Messa going to help you.  Okay-Day?  

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Shirtless “hipster” wonders the football field

Shirtless “hipster” wonders the field

That tackle was amazing from the father.

I have so many questions...

Why did this happen and why did it take forever for the cop to get there?

Also, can we stop with the damn cowbell?

Why was he shirtless? Did a giant moth eat his shirt before reached the field?

Why did he not have underwear on? It seems a bit cold there.

How did he get his belt in that manner?

Was this a dare?

His expression after being handcuffed and tackled was priceless.  "Did I just get f'ed up?" 

You do realize that the man was sort of naked when you tackled him? You just got a face full of fresh man-ass. And, the man was free-balling it.

By the way, the guy that sacked the hipster dude was an off-duty cop. From Sacramento CBS, ((Also at the game was off-duty Placer County Sheriff’s Lt. Troy Minton-Sander. His son, Stone, plays for the Placer Hillmen and Minton-Sander was taking pictures for the team.))

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Bob Ross Google picture

Bob Ross Google picture

Google is honoring this dude with a sweet drawing of him on their main page. He was born on this day (the 29^th of October).

Someone mentioned his name and I had totally forgotten this “Happy Tree” guy. I used to watch this show all the time as he turned an empty canvas into a landscape. I mean his stuff was truly amazing to look at after the end product. Given time, things can turn into art. I really dug his show.

By the way, I remember when The Boondocks played tribute to Ross in one of my favorite episodes.

I love the ending portion of the episode with the last painting.   

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Random Things

Random Things

~They've released the Main Theme for The Hobbit. You can listen to it right here. I like the theme. It has shades of the Fellowship theme and it even has the “the ring” theme. It also has the Hobbit theme too for good measure. Think of the Main Theme as a sampler. By the way, Howard Shore is back composing the music for the movie. Peter Jackson and Shore had a major falling out during the King Kong scoring and Shore's score was dropped by Jackson. Shore worked on the score for three months, and his replacement, James Newton Howard, had mere weeks to complete his version of the score. I found that to be disturbing, like if Williams left Lucas. They patched things up for the Hobbit. You can't do a Middle Earth score without Shore.

~Mass Effect 1: I've been watching a Let's Play of the first game in the series. I have to say I am really loving the game a lot. It feels like a cross between B5 and Trek. Speaking of Star Trek, there was a Star Trek III reference slipped in there. I caught it and laughed.  "Yes! Exhilirating, isn't it?" I was like, “Wow, did they just say a Trek line?” Also, I like that the Let's Play guy is going the Paragon route. It just seems right to me.

~Star Ocean 2: I've been replaying this RPG this weekend. While it doesn't hold up to some of the better PS1 era games, it is still a fun game. I already know of one of the big shockers in game, so it kind of defeats the shock of that moment, which I haven't got to yet. It reminds me of the that shocking moment in MGS2 when you switch characters.

~Want to learn how to play Gangnam Style on piano? Here you go.  

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Thriller Halloween Light Show

Thriller Halloween Light Show (Same people that did the other one)

It doesn't hurt that I LOVE this song.

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Clerk Kent quits the newspaper...becomes a blogger?

Clerk Kent quits the newspaper...becomes a blogger?

Within the New 52 DC universe, the new Clerk Kent (Superman) is fed up with the newspaper business and quits his job.

From CNN, ((In the comic book series' latest issue, which went on sale Wednesday, an outraged Clark Kent quits his job at The Daily Planet after his boss berates him.))

Truth be told, newspapers were considered cutting edge for the time that they created Superman, but the Internet has pretty much destroyed old-school Newspapers. People read their newspapers through their phones and desktops.

And, original universe Peter Parker also found himself getting shit-canned too. And, the old Ultimate Spiderman Parker didn't work for the Newspaper either.

From CNN.com, ((In an interview with USA Today this week, writer Scott Lobdell said Kent is much more likely to start his own blog than he is to search for new work in the news business.))

Great, now I have to compete with freaking Superman as a blogger. Who can beat a superhero that knows Batman personally?  

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Probing Uranus: Mass Effect 2 joke...

Probing Uranus: Mass Effect 2 joke...

Yes, it is a cheap joke, but damn funny too. Love that the AI has a sarctic voice when saying, “Really, Commander? Probing your Uranus.”

Bonus...

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Halloween Gangnam Style!

Halloween Gangnam Style!

Yes, this put a smile on my face. I generally hate Halloween, but this was a treat. I liked seeing the other faces pop up. Well done to the person that made this one.

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Random Stuff

Random Stuff

~Butterfly Effect 2 review on That Guy With the Glasses: Well, at least there isn't any Ashton Kutcheracting in the sequel. While I liked the first movie, Kutcher's acting is always bad and nearly takes away from the interesting concept. Kutcher has not talent other than marrying old actresses that I had a crust on on. Screw you, Kutcher. This falls under the sequels that have very little to do with first movie character-wise, but carries over the concept.

~ “A bitch is a female dog.”: While riding my bike through a really rough part of the city, I came across an amusing encounter between an older woman and a group of kids. On one side of the street a group of young kids were shouting at an older woman. One kid shouted, “A bitch is a female dog.” He was shouting it to the older woman. “Say bitch again. Say it again, ”  replied the older woman.  Was the kid calling her a bitch? Or was he trying to explain the definition of a female dog? It was just unusual but funny.

~Dexter is great this season: While I hated the season before, but they've really done some amazing things this season. I mean the writing is really good. His sister is fully aware of his double life now. And, I love the new drug lord character by Ray Stevenson. This season handles the various stories much better than the last season. And, I love how they twist and turn into each other. And, the other cast members have a bigger role this season. However, did they really need to kill off the black guy...again?

~Atlas Shrugged Part 2: Did you know that the second part of the Ayn Rand-based story is in theaters? The first one didn't make any money, but part 2 had a worst showing than the first one. What is funny is that they pretty much replaced the entire cast from the first movie. And, it has a 5% on RT, ouch. The first movie has a 11%. Not to be confused with Cloud Atlas.

~I encountered an old school Baby on Board sign in the back of mini-van.  Yeah, thanks for Warningme about your stupid baby with your stupid sign. I truly hated these signs way back in the day (80s).  Shouldn't it be Everyone on Board?  I love when people want to warn you about their children.  And you can throw in the Garfield signs in there too.  

 

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Iron Man 3 trailer

Iron Man 3 trailer

Okay, call me interested.  While I don’t like the voiceover from the new villain, I like seeing the images from the new movie.  It appears Tony is a different person after the events from The Avengers.   From NJ.com, ((We see Stark's (Robert Downey Jr.) armored suits explode and missiles hit his palatial estate. ))

That scene with suits being blown up is a cool moment. Why are the suits being destroyed?

So, Tony has one suit now. That's pretty cool. While I am still not sold on Ben Kingsley as “The Mandarin, I'll go with it.  And, it should be known that Shane Black is writing and directing this entry.  Black is a skillful guy, so look for this story to be darker than the last two movies.  Plus, this feels like the movie that IM2 wanted to be. 

Side note: Director of IM 1-2 Jon Favreau, will be back as Tony’s man Happy.

 Ben Kingsley has done a lot of shit over the years.  

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 Really cool picture.  The Red white and blue color suit is War Machine.  He might go back a different name though.  

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Big Tex Burns up

Big Tex is fried...

Well, they do things a little differently in Texas right? Big Tex had been up for about 60 years for each State Fair in Texas. I guess you could call this his swan song. There is certainly history being burned up.  But, I have a feeling Big Tex will be back.  

Heck, Big Tex even met the X-Men! He even helped the team out defeating Magneto.

From The Six Million Dollar Man, ((Oscar Goldman: Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to build the world's first bionic man. Steve Austin will be that man. Better than he was before. Better, stronger, faster.))

 Some say he was a little hot under the collar...

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Now this is downright creepy. 

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Nytol will help you get your ZZZ...

Nytol will help you get your ZZZ...

I was talking to a co-worker and I was mentioning that I have a problem with sleeping. Then, I randomly sung the song, “Nytol will help you get your ZZZ.” I looked over to her hoping that she got the reference. She did.

I always loved how the N's roll over to turn into Zs.   

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Fan attacks

Aaron Cawley: Taking it too far...

Yeah, that was a low blow and a wussy punch/shove.

There are two things worth noting about this asshat. One, he was already banned from the games back when he was 16 and kept getting caught trying to get back in. Two, you have to check out his Facebook page and see all the insults being hurled his way. It is rather refreshing. I am actually surprised his lawyers hasn't forced him to remove his FB page.

Then again, I guess he's enjoying all the bad press because he's updating his FB a great deal.   

Sleeping on the job, eh?

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Dr. Crusher Vs. Replicator

Dr. Crusher Vs. Replicator

I love the editing in this clip. It certainly made me laugh. “The food slot is functioning properly.”

It reminds me of this clip. Trolling Vader rules...

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Freefall from space: F’ing amazing

Freefall from space: F’ing amazing

The project is called the Red Bull Stratos with the skydiver Felix Baumgartnerbasically going into space and jumping down to Earth.  When you can actually see the curve of the planet, you in space.  It took him about ten minutes to reach the ground.  Yet, it took him 2 hours to reach that point in the sky. 

This is truly an amazing feat and shows the best of mankind. And, I love the fact Red Bull sponsored the event.

 This reminds me of the Space diving stuff in the Star Trek Films. Star Trek Generations was supposed to open with Captain Kirk doing a space dive to Earth, but it was deleted. Here's the scene...

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Super Mario 2 vs. Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic

Super Mario 2 vs. Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic

Super Mario 2: I remember playing this game back in the day and remembering how different the game was to the original game. You could smash creatures but throw them. I felt it was in the wrong direction. I just hated this game. I couldn't finish, but I have to give Nintendo credit for trying something completely different from the first game.

Come to find out, Mario 2 for North America was actually a repainted game called  Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic. They replaced the main character with Mario characters. Nintendo thought the Japanese version was too hard for NA gamers.

As you can see, the game looks nearly identical to the NA Mario 2 game with the movie almost sounding the same. From the Wiki page, ((Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic is a platforming game that follows a family of four, each with different abilities, on a quest to rescue kidnapped kids in a fantasy world. The title was a license cooperation between Nintendo and Fuji Television to promote the broadcaster's Yume Kōjō '87 event, which showcased several of their latest TV shows and other products at the time. The game features the mascots of the Yume Kōjō festival – a family consisting of siblings Imajin and Lina and their parents, Papa and Mama – as protagonists. The rest of the characters, including the main villain, Mamu, are creations by Nintendo for the game. Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic takes place within a book with an Arabian setting. All four characters are playable, and the game is not fully completed until the player clears all levels with each protagonist. In the American version of Super Mario Bros. 2, Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool, and Toad were built on Imajin, Mama, Lina, and Papa's models, respectively, marking the first time that Mario and Luigi had noticeably different heights.[5]Because Tanabe's original prototype already contained Mario-like features, Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic naturally features many elements from the Mario universe, such as Starmen, coin and jumping sound effects, POW blocks and warp zones. ))

This different version of Super Mario Brother 2 was a hit here, despite some outcry from fans, was released in Japan as Super Mario Brothers USA. We ended up getting the original version of Super Mario 2 in the form of Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels.

Now,the New Super Mario 2 game is more like the original game than the Mario 2 game. The game looks good.

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Gilbert Gottfried does Andrew Dice Clay

Gilbert Gottfried does Andrew Dice Clay

I actually remembered when he did this act way back in the day.   I actually remember this clip.  He does a spot on Dice I think.  Hickory Dickory Dock...

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Give me my F'ing phone!

Give me my F'ing phone!

You're in the wrong relationship, bro...

Why did she turn into a 14 year old? And, why was he crying?  

Now, is this real?  It seems this guy has a streaming channel and forgot to turn off his camera.  
You can watch the full video on his profile page and he still has it up.  

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Yep, THIS is the kind of guy I want coaching my kids...

Yep, THIS is the kind of guy I want coaching my kids...

Wow, can you set aside the Thug-ness just for a bit?

From Opposing Views.com, ((The West Park Saints were playing the Miramar Patriots at Mctyre Park, when Keigans called an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Robinson, reports HuffingtonPost.com))

Well, to be fair, it wasn't a uppercut like that bus driver preformed on that girl, but still. And, is it just me or was that referee a little bit to spherical. Now matter how you feel, you can't hit an official. Someone just give him a hamburger and he'd be all right.

Here's the best part. From Opposing Views, ((Robinson reportedly has criminal record, which includes aggravated assault, assault with a firearm and cocaine distribution, according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel.))

Yep, this is the type of guy I want around my kids.

And, because of his stupid actions, the Youth Program for these kids is gone for the moment. Being in a mentor position, you can't behave this way in front of kids. You're freaking 43 years old.

  I love the neck tattoo   

 I think the guy was merely giving the Ref a mind-meld.  Dion: "My mind to your mind.  If you let me win, I'll give you a pizza." 

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Given the position of everyone, this looks very awkward   

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Dane Cook's Sitcom canceled before it even airs! (Next Caller)

Dane Cook's Sitcom canceled before it even airs! (Next Caller)

 From Gawker.com, ((NBC announced last Friday that it had canceled its midseason Dane Cook vehicleNext Caller before airing a single episode.))

Even Emily's Reasons Why Not lasted one episode and Work It lasted two episodes, but this got shit canned before it even aired. How does that happen? The fact the network didn't even bother to air the episodes means something was really wrong with the show. Was Cook's ego too big for even NBC?

I've never been a fan of Mr. Cook, so this just amusing me to no end. I've always felt he was a bit too smug for my taste. And, he almost ruined the movie Mr. Brooksfor me.

So what was the premise that didn't work for NBC? From Wiki, ((A very unlikely pair of satellite radio disc jockeys are forced to share the microphone for a relationship call-in show in New York City. Cam (Dane Cook) is crude, egotistical, and unwilling to share the spotlight, while Stella (Collette Wolfe) is a perky feminist who has just moved over from NPR.))

The videos below will probably be removed in a few days, but here you go.

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Worst Video Game? (The Sniper 2)

Worst Video Game? (The Sniper 2)

Not to be confused with Sniper 2 with Tom Berenger. The voice acting is horrid and I mean “The Room” horrid.

This “video game” is called The Sniper 2.  Holy crap, this is a bad game. 

-The Black Guy ™ suggested the Chicken Special.  Really? 

-Why is the voice actor for the guy voicing him as if he’s in his 40s, but the character model looks to be in his 20s. 

-Yes, he looked through his sunglasses. 

-“Hey it’s that guy again.”

-The character models look pre-PS1, but this game was released on PS2. It looks like someone designed the game for the PS1 and made a poor attempt at upgrading the game to PS2. You can clearly see PS2 launch games with better graphics than these.

 Check out more videos of this bad VG

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The Thing (2011)

The Thing (2011)

Keep in mind that this movie is a direct prequel to the Carpenter film of the same name.  While it doesn’t hold a candle to the Carpenter film, it is a good companion piece to the older movie.  It even answers a lot of questions about certain plot points in the older film.  While it doesn’t have the same level of paranoia and dread as the movie, its heart is in the right place.  In reality, this prequel is closer to the source material than actually the Carpenter film.  So, they sort of merge the Carpenter universe with the novella Who Goes There?. 

Basically, this is the story of what happened to the first outpost owned by the Norwegians in the first movie.  We get to completely see the story unfold from this outpost’s POV.  The alien ship and alien is discovered and so on. 

While the paranoia aspect isn’t as strong, the movie is very violent and a hard R.  I have to give credit to the movie for that.  In this story, the Thing is more mean and violent.  And, there is some evidence that there are two Things out there.  But, if you watched the Carpenter movie, you know what I am talking about.  And, this movie leads directly into the Carpenter movie fairly nicely.  Actually, this movie ends as the first movie begins literally. 

There are echoes and homage to the Carpenter movie such as the “testing” scene, which is almost a stylistic echo of the earlier movie.  Plus, the guys are carrying around blowtorches. 

Now the biggest flaw in the movie is there are some cheap CGI effects that distract from the feel of the movie.  Most of them are good, but certain creature effects just look cheap.  They look almost PS2 looking in some shots.  Some of the acting from the minor characters was a bit bland. 

Marco Beltrami does a great job with the score.  It truly feels like a nice follow up to the Ennio Morricone score from the 80s version.  You actually get to hear the main theme from Ennio in the movie. 

I really found myself enjoying the movie more than I thought I would.  While no one bothered to watch the movie in the theater, and it turned into a box office failure, I still think people need to check it out and make their own decisions and opinions.  Was this prequel was necessary?  Nope, but it was still an interesting reveal into what happened in the other outpost.  The homage and echoes to the Carpenter movie make this a fun watch even if it isn’t as strong as that one. 

Grade: B

 Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje:  “Damn, a mother-f’ing Smoke Monster killed me.  Can you believe it?”  

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 Drilling into an sleeping 2K-old alien might just piss it off. 

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Kill it with FIRE!

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The Shining: The “Shone” Whisper

The Shining: The “Shone” Whisper

I really love the Shining, but every time I read and watch new theories about this movie, it makes it even better.

The Shone whispers are only in the early portion of the film most when there are two people with Shining abilities. “Shone” is past tense for “shine”. From Dictionary.reference.com, ((verb

a simple past tense and past participle of shine.))

The Shine scene (Ice Cream Scene)

Listen carefully to this scene below and you can hear someone whispering “Shone”. And, if you listen very carefully, you can really hear people whispering throughout the entire scene. They sound like ghosts almost.

Very creepy and very cool. Now, go back to earlier scenes and listen for the Shone whispers.

I guess you can theorize that something was “shining” the various characters.  

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