Fans of the legendary rock band Iron Maiden will have something to smile about today with word of a new documentary entitled Iron Maiden: Flight 666. The documentary will give a very intimate look behind the scenes as the band embarks on the first leg of their Somewhere Back In Time tour, which spanned 23 shows and 13 countries in 45 days.

The film was made by Scot McFadyen and Sam Dunn from Banger Produstions, who are known for other acclaimed music-based films such as Metal, A Headbangers Journey and recently Global Metal.

April 21, 2009 will be known as Iron Maiden Day in honor of the band and as the film is released in select theaters and shown on digital screens simultaneously around the world.

Check out a detailed description of the documentary on the other side.

Shot in High Definition and with superb 5.1 surround sound, mixed by the bands producer Kevin ‘Caveman’ Shirley, FLIGHT 666 brings to the screen all the drama, excitement and hysteria that followed the band around the world every time ‘Ed Force One’ touched down in a new country. [...]

If you haven’t seen or heard anything about the movie 9 yet, you are indeed in for a little treat. The movie is interestingly from Focus Features and is the newest computer animated film to come along and it really looks like it could be a pretty incredible animated adventure in a world dominated by Pixar.

9 is based on the short movie of the same name by Shane Acker (who returns to direct the feature as well) and is co-produced by super-duo Tim Burton (Corpse Bride) and Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted) and it is written by Pamela Pettler (Corpse Bride, Monster House). It stars Elijah Wood, John C. Reilly, Jennifer Connelly, Martin Landau, Christopher Plummer, and Crispin Glover. The music will be done by none other than Danny Elfman and the movie will be fittingly released on 9-9-09. Be sure to visit the official 9 website here.

Here is the synopsis for the movie:

When 9 (The Lord of the Ring’s Elijah Wood) first comes to life, he finds himself in a post-apocalyptic world. All humans are gone, and it is only by chance that he discovers a small community of others like him taking refuge from fearsome machines that roam the earth intent on their extinction. [...]

One movie that isn’t very far along but is on a lot of people’s movie-radar is Paul. The only thing we’ve really know about Paul so far, is that the movie will include one of the best on-screen duos working today, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz), but that this movie will not be directed by their normal captain Edgar Wright (though he will be executive producing), but by Superbad and Adventureland director Greg Motolla.

What we do know about the movie is that it sounds like one of those perfect geek fests in which two slackers head to Area 51 after Comic Con and find themselves an alien who needs their help to get home. With that everyone is sold, nothing else needs to be heard, but now we’re learning a lot more about what’s going into the project.

On a podcast from Sundance, Mottola discussed the technical issues going into this movie: [...]

Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas had a little chat with iF Magazine about where things stood on a possible movie version of the popular show starring Kristen Bell.

As it turns out, his latest show Cupid (on it’s second TV run) isn’t going the best, being brought down from thirteen episodes to eight of them. Because of this, he’s been able to do a lot of work on a script for Veronica Mars and even locate some fat cash for the project.

Mr. Thomas explained:

That means I have time to write the VERONICA MARS movie, but my writing the movie is half the battle. Someone else has to pay for it. Joel Silver does have a certain pile of money. He called on me saying ‘Can we do this now?’ Kristen wants to do it. Joel wants to do it and I want to do it. For me, that’s the next project.

I’m not someone who’s familiar with Veronica Mars, so I’m not sure how happy or pissed this will make it’s surely loyal fans [...]

If you can’t get near a television right now, fear not — you can watch the 2009 Presidential inauguration of Barack Obama right now online.

Obviously, this is a wonderfully glorious historic moment for the United States of America, so be sure to watch it here below — or directly at Hulu or at Joost, the latter has a live chat you can participate in.

The official theme for the 2009 inauguration is “Renewing America’s Promise,” a vision that underscores the President-elect and Vice President-elect’s commitment to restoring opportunity and possibility for all and re-establishing America’s standing as a beacon of hope around the world.

Here’s the schedule of events, which are well underway, but I’m sure all of this will be available for replay afterward [...]

The web has been a bit of a buzz recently as a gigantic pile of images from the new movie Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has shown up on a Japanese HP site.

No one really knows where they came from but are screenshots from some sort of Japanese trailer or TV spot; most of them are very much blurry and not of good quality at all. To me it looks like someone basically just screen capped a trailer, shot-by-shot, and didn’t really “stop” the video in good spots.

Amusingly, the site is requesting that no one download “their” images, but considering that it does look like they pretty much ripped ‘em off from a trailer, there’s one above to check out and you can follow the link to Potter Mania see the rest of them.

Personally, I don’t really see anything that we haven’t seen before, but it might be there if you look harder than I did. There’s a hell of a lot of pictures there to run through, and the site is slow to load, so good luck [...]

Longtime readers probably already know this, but we here at Geeks of Doom are huge fans of both Neil Gaiman‘s and Henry Selick‘s work. We’ve read all the books, seen all the movies, and geek out every chance we get while having discussions about them all. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve seen The Nightmare Before Christmas or reread American Gods, but needless to say the answer is A LOT. Don’t worry, we’ve got a point here…

Thanks to the awesome people at Focus Features and Laika, we’ve been given the super-cool opportunity to give away some exclusive games and gear from Coraline, Henry Selick’s upcoming stop-motion animated 3-D movie based on the awesome Neil Gaiman book, and whoa are we super excited! Man, we love running this site.

Anyhooo… go ahead and enter for the chance to be one of six lucky winners, and check out the movie trailer, stills, and poster images and info about Coraline below the entry form (as well as the images of the prizing). Weeeeee!

Three (3) Grand Prize winners will receive:

• One (1) Coraline Video Game (Wii or PS2 [formats TBA])
• One (1) Coraline Book
• One (1) Coraline Button Key
• One (1) Coraline Movie Tie-in Book
• One (1) Coraline Button set
• One (1) Coraline Pen
• One (1) Coraline T-shirt
• One (1) Coraline Alphabet Collector Cards
• One (1) Coraline Bookmark

Three (3) First Prize winners will each receive:

• One (1) Coraline Movie Tie-in Book
• One (1) Coraline Button set
• One (1) Coraline Pen
• One (1) Coraline T-shirt
• One (1) Coraline Alphabet Collector Cards
• One (1) Coraline Bookmark

TO ENTER: Fill out the form HERE and submit.

RULES: One entry per person. All entries must be in by Friday, February 27, 2009 at 9pm EST [...]

Today marks the 200th birthday of writer Edgar Allan Poe, most famous for his tales of the horror and suspense such as The Raven, The Black Cat, and The Tell-Tale Heart. In celebration, the United States Postal Service released this week a 42-cent First-Class commemorative postage stamp of the 19th century master of macabre, which was dedicated at the Library of Virginia in Richmond.

The stamp is on sale right now at the Postal Store Web site at www.usps.com/shop or by calling 800-STAMP-24. (I know I’m definitely getting some of these stamps!)

The American writer and poet has gone on to influence countless writers and artists of all genres since his death in 1849 at the age of 40. Poe is said to have inspired the likes of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (creator of fiction’s great detective Sherlock Holmes), Dostoyevsky, Jules Vernes, and English Poet Laureate Alfred, Lord Tennyson, as well as composer Claude Debussy and Impressionists artists of the time, amongst many creators of today’s pop culture [...]

Actor J.K. Simmons spoke to MTV at Sundance about where Spider-Man 4 currently stands and whether we’d see J. Jonah Jameson involved in the story again.

The actor confirmed that he had spoken to director Sam Raimi at a Christmas party and that they were going to begin filming the movie in 2010 sometime. While this sounds fantastic, Sam Raimi — as well as Tobey Mcguire and Kirsten Dunst — have yet to officially sign on to the project; though all are expected to be up for a return now that a decent enough amount of time has passed by.

When asked about the character J. Jonah Jameson and if he would like to see more of him the next movie, J.K. Simmons responded:

“We’ve definitely brainstormed ideas for Triple-J, but I have no desire to make Triple-J more of the focus of those movies. The amount that I did in 1, 2 and 3, is just exactly right. Like be the wolf. Come in, blow in, do a week, blow out, be the comic relief, and hit the road. And let Tobey and everybody else do the[...]

It’s been well over a decade since 1998′s Strangeland, but Twisted Singer Dee Snider is ready to make his glorious return as Captain Howdy in a new sequel titled Strangeland: Disciple.

The original movie delved into the extremely bright and sunshiny world of Internet predators, with Captain Howdy luring people to his home, where he basically tortured them in ritualistic fashion for his own enjoyment. Think lots of piercings and tattoos and people hanging from meat hooks and all kinds of icky stuff like that.

No word on what the sequels storyline will be, but it appears that it will deal with the underground world of body modifications and fetishes — which means lots and lots of Captain Howdy-type folk! Also exciting for fans of the original is the fact that Freddy Krueger himself, Robert England will reprise his role from the first movie.

To push the boundary a bit, it seems the movie is already maneuvering toward an NC-17 rating. Dee Snider explained why this likely is [...]

Not too long ago, we shared a preview of what to look for in 2009 (see A Taste Of What The ’09 Movie Slate Has In Store). Although we are now a good little chunk into the big 2009, that doesn’t mean that it’s too late for more preview goodness, so when the opportunity presented its self we couldn’t help but do it again. Now the LA Times has their own collection of 2009 preview images, so naturally, we’ve found the newer and more exciting ones to share with you.

Because we used it in the first preview, I’ve included the brand new Where the Wild Things Are image as our main image, so be sure to check that one out as well!

Star Trek — May 8, 2009
Definitely one of the most anticipated movies of 2009. Lifelong fans and movie fans alike have been and are salivating in anticipation of this brand new Star Trek adventure from J.J. Abrams. The movie will show us the earlier days of all the favorite characters from the previous shows and movies [...]

Two new videos have surfaced for Coraline on YouTube. One is a short Web spot and the other is a new HD trailer.

Coraline tells the tale of a little girl named Coraline, who discovers a type of portal to a parallel world. The world is very much like her own, but everything is much more happy and fun and her parents seem to be extra nice. Unfortunately, her parents also have black buttons for eyes, which seems to be a kind of prerequisite to living in that world — one which Coraline must adhere to in order to stay there. This starts the discovery of this seemingly great new world’s deep, dark secrets.

The Web spot is just a very short new clip to take a peek at. It doesn’t show a whole lot, but it’s well-worth watching if you’re a fan of stop-motion. The new HD trailer is probably the best trailer released yet: it gives a good idea of the story and an even better look at the world that’s been created here [...]

There’s been a little panic lately after it was announced that Gavin Hood‘s X-Men Origins: Wolverine would be heading into some re-shoots. Usually, when a movie goes in for re-shoots, it’s an instant death sentence. It means that things weren’t done right and that they need to be fixed. In turn, this usually means that the film wont run smoothly and that the tone will be completely off. For the most part, it usually comes down to where the re-shoots occur. If you’re going in to re-shoot your ending, this is the death sentence — but if you’re just cleaning up a bit, then it can go either way. The last best example that comes to mind would be I Am Legend, which if you’ll recall, went in to re-shoot it’s ending only a few months before the movie’s release. We all know how that turned out.

In the case of Wolverine, Hugh Jackman himself made a point of setting the record straight by contacting Aint It Cool News and re-assuring everyone that all is well and that these re-shoots do not by any means mean bad omens for the movie, currently set for a May 1, 2009 release.

My Bloody Valentine
Special Edition (1981)
Directed by George Mihalka
Starring Neil Affleck, Cynthia Dale, Don Francks, Lori Hallier, Patricia Hamilton
Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Release Date: January 13, 2009

Slasher movies have always been an acquired taste, but ever since I was a kid they’ve been one of my secret guilty pleasures. When I was 10 years old I first saw the original Friday the 13th late one Saturday night on a local horror movie show called “Dr. Gruesome’s Movie Morgue.” I saw a lot of the classics of the era courtesy of the good doctor, a goofy mad scientist with horn-rimmed glasses and a white mop head for a wig and his hunchbacked assistant Skeeter who wore an eyepatch and a clown wig. Once my family got cable I graduated from Dr. Gruesome (although I occasionally visited) to the USA Network’s Friday and Saturday night wee hour schlock parade USA Up All Night with alternating hosts Rhonda Shear and Gilbert Gottfried. That’s where my exposure to the vintage hack-and-slash epics of the 1970s and 1980s reached unparalleled heights with non-stop viewings of countless Friday the 13th and Halloween sequels and many others. But one that always stood out from the typical blood-drenched teen horror fare with its mature characters, dark and gritty atmosphere, and relentless murder sequences was 1981′s My Bloody Valentine, a damn fine slasher flick from the sub-genre’s heyday.

Filmed, edited, and released in an absurdly brief timeframe of six months (which these days is the average gestation period for a Friedberg/Seltzer piece of shit parody flick), the movie was put together on the basis of a crude outline titled “The Secret” and the producers having chosen Valentine’s Day to capitalize on the growing trend of holiday-themed horror movies [...]

Recently there was a big auction among studios for the rights to the sci-fi series from Isaac Asimov, Foundation. The auction was won by Columbia Pictures to the tune of six figures and with Roland Emmerich in place to direct.

No word on how many movies are scheduled yet, but it looks like it could have the potential of being a trilogy based upon the main stories of Foundation, Foundation and Empire, and Second Foundation. There are many other books in the large series, so there could be plenty of movies with the right kind of success. One of the books included in the series is I, Robot, which of course we’ve already seen hit the screen.

Below is the description of the series by way of Wiki.

The premise of the series is that mathematician Hari Seldon spent his life developing a branch of mathematics known as psychohistory, a concept devised by Asimov and his editor John W. Campbell. Using the law of mass action, it can predict the future, but only on a large scale; it is error-prone on a small scale […]

Variety looks to have all of the dirty details from the Watchmen trial situated and divided up amongst the two sides, Fox and Warner Bros.

First, and most importantly, it seems Warner Bros. has escaped with their movie still belonging to them — meaning the Fox logo wont show up in the opening and taint the WB property. After that, it looks like the lump starting sum paid to Fox was between $5 Million and $10 Million as well as a $1.4 Million fee to cover the cash Fox had put into the property over the years. Also, another multiple millions of money for legal fees Fox had to pay.

After the main lump payment that’s set, it goes into the percentages, which will likely be a decent paycheck for Fox. It looks like they will get a 5% to 8.5% take which is mainly based of the overall, worldwide gross.

Lastly, Fox will have some claim on any sequels or spinoffs that emerge from Watchmen, but that happening seems very unlikely to happen considering the precious nature of the source material [...]

Let’s get this out of the way upfront — Eagle Eye isn’t a bad movie. I’ve seen it listed on more than a few “Worst of 2008” lists, and I just don’t agree with that assessment. Trust me, there’s much worse floating around out there.

What it is is a middle of the road “Big Brother” paranoia thriller with serviceable acting and a bunch of rather fun set pieces and action sequences. That’s it; nothing more, nothing less. Where it suffers is in its woefully late-to-the-ball timing. If this flick had been released 15 to 20 years ago, it would have worked a lot better.

The film hinges on the audience being pulled into the paranoid realization that we can be watched, tracked, contacted, and controlled at all time due to the alarming amount of technology we allow into our daily lives. The problem is, as a society, we already know that. Who out there under the age of 60 isn’t well aware that much of our lives are out on the internet for the taking? I’m guessing not many… So without being able to build that paranoia in the audience, the “thriller” part of this thriller just doesn’t work [...]

Thank the gods!

The new Season 4 episode of Battlestar Galactica that aired last night — and that I missed because 1) I was flying into Orlando and 2) even though I raced to my hotel with 1 minute to spare before the episode started, it turns out my hotel does not have the SCI FI Channel, drats! — is now online legally and for free for those of us in the United States.

Watch the Episode 4.13, “Sometimes A Great Notion,” right here below!

I’ve had to avoid spoilers since 11pm last night, because from what I understand, the fifth Cylon is finally revealed. I frakking hope so, because we’ve been in suspense for just too damn long [...]

Recently it was reported that both Sam Rockwell and Mickey Rourke were in talks to star as villains in Iron Man 2, but no one seemed to know exactly who was playing who.

Now Sam Rockwell himself has confirmed his role as being that of Justin Hammer, a rival business man who takes over in the weapons industry after Tony Stark stops making them.

Rockwell also confirmed that he was originally being considered by director Jon Favreau for the role of Tony Stark, but they eventually went with Robert Downey Jr. instead, so when they called with an offer for this role, he jumped at it.

Initially I assumed this wouldn’t be the role that Rockwell was playing because from what I could see, the character looked to be quite older. In fact, it seems many people wanted James Woods for the part, which would probably be a more fitting choice here. Aside from age, though, this is definitely something to be excited about. As far as I’m concerned, Sam Rockwell always brings something special to a movie he’s in, whether the role is big or small — he just has that little something extra. He’s also played his fair share of villains — a psychotic nut job in The Green Mile or the more calculated evil genius-type in Charlie’s Angels — he does know the dance [...]

President and Chief Executive Officer of CBS Films, Amy Baer has officially announced that Harrison Ford and Brendan Fraser will star in the first project being produced through CBS Films, currently being referred to as The Untitled Crowley Project.

Robert Nelson Jacobs (Chocolat) wrote the script and the movie will be directed by Tom Vaughan (What Happens in Vegas). The movie is based on a Wall Street Journal article that eventually became a book by Geeta Anand called The Cure.

Below is a description of the project:

In this moving drama, Fraser plays a father who recruits the help of a reluctant maverick scientist (Ford), forging an unlikely friendship in a race against time to solve the scientific mystery that could save his family. The film is inspired by the true story of John Crowley, a man who moved mountains to build a company that could rescue his children only to face the impossible choice of putting family first or the work that might spare them.