Let me start by saying I’m a fan of Christopher Nolan… even Insomnia (which according to a few, isn’t his best) is a film I can get behind.
As far as storytelling goes- I believe he really knows what he’s doing… but as far as storytellers go- he really doesn’t like telling ’stories’! When it comes to leaks, sneaks and spoilers- Nolan and his crews are notorious for not giving ANYthing away. When we as fans want our whistles whetted- we usually have to wait for the movie to come out. So when Swank sent me the link to this article I was unduly excited to find out what I might find out about his up and coming projects!
Turns out- when I read the recent LA Times article interviewing Christopher Nolan himself, it was the same old story- nothing new- but somehow it still instilled me with a deep seeded excitement for ALL THREE of Nolan’s up and coming projects: Inception, Superman and DK3
If you’ve read any of my movie trailer articles you know that I do not like reading up on or researching any films… and try to keep myself implicitly separated fromthe stories that I’m most excited about- this is done in order to keep me pleasantly surprised… Anyway- Its a rare thing for me to read articles like this and all I can say is that I’m glad this was the one I chose to do so… Nothing was given away! For example, this single paragraph about Inception:
Leonardo DiCaprio is a dream thief of sorts in what may be Hollywood’s first metaphysical heist film. The movie is the most complicated undertaking of Nolan’s career — it was shot in six countries and tells a tale that flips between reality and three levels of dream-time —
I mean- that’s all I’ve heard about this movie besides the few trailers I’ve seen and now I’ll most definitely be in mid row at the theatre scarfing popcorn at midnight opening day- if they allow it. As for the next Batman… its when the article talks about how Nolan and his brother would approach the new Superman that got me stoked for both pieces…it is also the only thing in the entire post that could be considered new information:
“A lot of people have approached Superman in a lot of different ways. I only know the way that has worked for us that’s what I know how to do,” Nolan said, emphasizing the idea that Batman exists in a world where he is the only superhero and a similar approach to the Man of Steel would assure the integrity needed for the film. “Each serves to the internal logic of the story. They have nothing to do with each other.”
So- if you are looking for some actual new information or some kind of leaked tidbit of spoilerage- than you’re completely out of luck… this has nothing. But as far as diving a little (very little) deeper into the thought process of Christopher Nolan, I think it offers some interesting insight- if you feel like interpreting and having a guess at what it all means.
As the post says, Nolan…
…sees no value in revealing all of his tricks before the curtain goes up.
If anything- this has made my brain start stewing on a Christopher Nolan Batman/Superman movie… could you imagine!? Read the article and tell me if any of you gleened anything I might have missed…
The Force Unleashed was one of the most revolutionary and groundbreaking games in the Star Wars franchise. It was fun and brutal, the gameplay was immersive (at least on the Wii), the story was incredibly enlightening and it cast a new light on Vader during the Dark Times.
It is the last Star Wars property that would deserve a Lego game, but it did deserve this Lego animation.
This is one of the most capably put together Star Wars animations I’ve seen in a while and it had a pretty intense kinetic energy that I enjoyed.
It actually seems like the first ten years of this new millenium have been absolute heaven for all of nerds and geeks out there. Whether you are into comics, superheroes, movies, books, television, or music something awesome has happened in the last decade that has just made you absolutely exstatic. As much as we would like to give you a “Best Nerd Stuff of the Decade” list it would just take too long – that, and we are a group of surprisingly lazy robots.
Instead, a few of us bots have compiled an extremely abbreviated list of what we consider to be our favorite “nerd goings ons” of 2009. Of course, this is just simply our opinions and events that stuck out to us over the last year in the world of comics, television, movies, etc. Sound off in the comments section and let us know what YOUR favorite nerd thing/event of 2009 was!
Zombietron
Borderlands – This was a huge sleeper hit of 2009 in video games.
Batman Arkham Asylum – Best. Batman game. Ever.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 – Does this really need an explanation?
Proletariatron
Scott Pilgrim Vol. 5 – Simply put, the best book/graphic novel of 2009.
Better off Ted – Best new sitcom of 2009. Funny, smart, and only 30 min.
Swank-mo-tron
Cad Bane – This has been perhaps one of the most interesting and amazing contributions to both the nerd world and the Star Wars universe.
JJ Abrams’ Star Trek – The new movie has helped introduce an entirely new generation to the world of Star Trek and did it in perhaps the most entertaining way possible.
Avatar – I haven’t seen it yet, but the process of HOW they made the movie will change the way movies of this size and spectacle will be made forever.
Dr. Simulcast
“Cheap Geek” – Bad economy makes for good geek times! Why? Because companies that cater to a nerd crowd recognize that they pay for what they can afford in really hard times. Even the most hardcore collectors, when left with ten bucks to buy a comic or ramen noodles, will buy the ramen to stay alive and read old issues. A lot of items went down in price this year, and we’re not just talking average DVD sales. Two of the most prominent of the year… The Playstation 3 (once originally priced at $700), now just $299. Where most stand-alone BluRay players are around $250, an extra fifty bucks gets you a top line game system with it. So what if there’s no clock on the front? And the second… the standard iPhone becoming just $99. Originally priced at $300 just last year (before the bug fixes), you now have a multi-purpose phone with thousands of free applications ready for download at an affordable price. Other objects that went down in price from January to now… flat screen televisions, the Wii and 360 (although minor), graphic novels, storage devices and media players.
“Gooferine” – I’ll keep this one simple. Make all the horrible jokes that you want, Disney buying Marvel was probably one of the best decisions the company could have made, and in turn will probably benefit Marvel as a whole more than vice versa. My only case in point… Marvel’s 90’s cartoons. Finding an audience after the animated Batman series became big, Marvel went all out and made several series into cartoons. X-Men, Spiderman, The Hulk, Iron Man, Silver Surfer… and they were somewhat ideal… but the quality lacked. If you think I’m full of shit, please, do me a favor, click pause on this podcast and go sit through an episode from any of those series in full, and then come back and tell me it was golden. Many were thrown together in haste, chopping up footage and using every animation trick in the book to stretch a 1960’s ten minute read into twenty-two minute 1990’s update. Now for a brief moment, Family Guy joke aside, picture the Disney animation department doing the work instead of Saban. How good would that old X-Men series be? Forget the films and the merch and everything else Disney probably bought them for. I believe a new dawn is on the horizon for Marvel and animation, where an actual effort will be put behind the content. …Now if only Marvel could hire some good writers to adapt the stories for television without pulling random material out of a hat. (I’m looking at you Wolverine & The X-Men)
“The Great Internet Crash” – While not viewed so much as geeky on the surface, delve deeper into these two subjects and you’ll find greater value for the tech savvy. The death of Michael Jackson and the Iranian Riots. The internet, while a valuable tool for millions, has been viewed more as a “play thing” over the years (insert porn joke here) than a mainstream source of information. One look at a Wikipedia article can tell you that. But over the summer two events changed MANY opinions. Jackson’s death, started as a simple text message, brought many search engines to a screeching halt within hours and forced many providers look at how they not only delegate service but examine what improvements the US (and the world in general) needs going into the future. While Iran’s election and subsequent revolution was documented in full… on Twitter. With updates and information coming in faster than some news organizations could keep up with, and continued to provide info long after many news crews were threatened with being shot if they didn’t shut down their reporting. While much more could be said on these subjects, in the ideal of keeping it short and sweet we’ll leave it at this. I believe its fair to say that 2009 was the year that the internet finally grew up, came into its own as a major source of information, and officially became a necessity as opposed to a commodity.
Botasaurus
Zombieland – Because life with zombies is epic. Woody Allen killed it and Bill Murray is hilarious.
Ontario Math Scholars – Writing a mathematical thesis on the chances of the world surviving a zombie apocolypse using older zombies that are slow, not the new super zombies.
Jim and Pam Get Married – I’m a girl and I was waiting for it for what seems like forever.
Dexter Season 4 – Holy cow!!! That was so freaking amazing. Quite possibly the best season yet.
Kill-tacular-Tron
Ghostbusters – Ghostbusters merchandise, Ghostbusters anniversary, Ghostbusters videogame, Ghostbuster 3 movie news! It was a great year to be a fan of Ghostbusters!
Netflix on Xbox 360 – A great addidtion to the Xbox 360 dashboard. Sign up and stream TV shows and movies straight to your TV via your gaming console!
Saberforge Lightsabers – Best lightsaber replicas! You can actually hit stuff with them and they don’t break!
Arse-bot
LOST Season 5 – This show has been absolutely addictive and this was a great season leading up to the finale season.
DC Feature Length Animated Movies – DC release two really solid feature length animated movies in 2009, Green Lantern: First Flight and Batman/Superman: Public Enemies. Both of these feature Bruce Timm involved to some degree and are great animated flicks to check out.
(500) Days of Summer / UP – My two favorite movies of 2009. Joseph Gordon Levitt and the cast of (500) Days of Summer execute a great script and story perfectly and Pixar does it again with another amazing entry to their library of films with UP.
Budgetron
70 Minute Phantom Menace review – Your heart knew the Phantom Menace sucked as soon as the “new car smell” wore out and you were left with nothing but a 3 year wait for Attack of the Clones, but you never knew exactly why you hated it so much. Well, don’t worry, you’re about to give your brain a blow-by-blow of why your heart was right about the Phantom Menace. You may be thinking, “Yeah, it might be fun, but 70 minutes?”, yeah, I thought that too…but if you’re any kind of Star Wars fan, this uber fan’s review of the film is a thoroughly entertaining and insightful MUST WATCH.
Swank-mo-tron’s Reaction to the 70 Minute Phantom Menace – And as much as I loved the 70 minute review of Phantom Menace, nothing, and I mean NOTHING, could have prepared me for the level of seething hatred Swank-mo-tron had for the creator of said review. Without even WATCHING the review, Swank furiously hit the internets with a purpose; oh yes, he was going to take the whole internet to task with an eye single to the glory of George. You would have thought the murderer of his children was getting set free, but no…someone just made fun of Star Wars. It was great.
There’s our list for 2009! Tell us what your favorite Nerd/Geek thing/event of 2009 was in the comments section below!
Also, be sure to check out our December Big Shiny Podcast where we break down some nerd news from December and highlight some of the items from our “Best Nerd Stuff of 2009″ list!
I am kind of thinking these “clues” aren’t going to lead to any huge reveal or anything… but we will just have to wait and see! Any ideas what these may mean?
If you haven’t checked out Big Shiny Robot’s Holiday Gift Guide, you should! It’s a pretty comprehensive list of some great ideas for the nerd guy/gal in your house!
To coincide with that list, we have put together some “staff picks” (if you will) in a brief, 5 minute, Holiday Gift Guide Podcast! Take a listen and be sure to check out our full-length November Big Shiny Podcast coming later this week!
Using an iPhone, some programming, and some sort of sensor chip I know nothing about, NASA scientists have created what could argueably be considered the first “real Tricorder” from Star Trek lore – for lack of a better description.
The device Li developed is about the size of a postage stamp and is designed to be plugged in to an iPhone [and use an application] to collect, process and transmit sensor data. The new device is able to detect and identify low concentrations of airborne ammonia, chlorine gas and methane. The device senses chemicals in the air using a “sample jet” and a multiple-channel silicon-based sensing chip, which consists of 16 nanosensors, and sends detection data to another phone or a computer via telephone communication network or Wi-Fi.
While some robots out there find this to be “Meh.” news, I think it’s pretty cool. Not necessarily because a hand-held device can do this, but because it’s pretty fascinating how real life mimics -or in some cases, surpasses- what is supposed to be “the future” in shows like Star Trek.
Now, I will be REALLY impressed when they come up with a replicator application for my iPhone that will make me a damn sandwich anytime I want one.
You can check out the full article over at NASA.gov!
The Mrs. was out with friends the other night and returned home with the coolest energy drinks I’ve ever seen. Thought I’d share em with everybody, she purchased them at Hastings, which I didn’t even know existed in our great state.
IGN has posted the four new character posters from the upcoming Kick-Ass movie set to open on April 16 from Lionsgate Studios! You can check out all four of the posters by clicking the picture below!
In the world of Kick-Ass, superheroes only exist in comic books. That is, until high-school student Dave Lizewski puts on a costume and takes to patrolling the streets at night to right the wrongs that no one else can. So it is in Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr.’s hugely popular comic series, which will soon be a Lionsgate film starring Nicolas Cage, Aaron Johnson and Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and directed by Layer Cake’s Matthew Vaughn.
Earthworm Jim fans (who’s not an Earthworm Jim fan?!) rejoice! A remake of the classic video game has made its way to the iPhone and iPod Touch [$4.99 - iTunes link]! You can check out the game footage above and download it now if it tickles your fancy!
It is, sadly, the end of festivities at Anime Banzai. Fan-made AMVs, flying hug-tackles, and some of the greatest, and scariest, cosplays this side of the Valley.
Cloud and Zack from Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core.
High speed dancing conga lines make the way through main floor of the Sheraton, the always gracious host of the convention. Banzai is an event like no other. As always, there’s no reason anyone slightly nerdy shouldn’t go next year. It’s really an educational experience for people who may have no idea about the culture of anime. Sit in some of the viewing rooms, take in some shows. Or just head into the main floor and mingle with some generally friendly people. A big thanks to the staff and coordinators who made this weekend possible, and I can’t wait to get there next year. For now, let’s get some pictures. (These were taken with a cell… so bear with me.)
Let me start by saying I’m a fan of Christopher Nolan… even Insomnia (which according to a few, isn’t his best) is a film I can get behind.
