So I’m convinced that M. Night Shyamalan is now directing the marketing and announcements for Ridley Scott‘s upcoming movie, Robin Hood — formerly known as Nottingham.

First we heard about the movie and that it starred Russell Crowe as the Sheriff of Nottingham. Then we heard various names who may be playing Robin Hood. Then, shockingly, we heard that Crowe was Nottingham AND Robin Hood… our minds blew. Now comes word that Nottingham doesn’t even really have that big a role, Crowe will just play Robin Hood, and that the movie will actually just go with the same old standby title, Robin Hood.

Ridley Scott spoke to MTV and explained the confusion…

[Crowe as both Robin and the Sheriff of Nottingham] was an idea so far back, way back when at the time I had this proposed to me, and I read it and thought, ‘I don’t really know what it does for it, but it’s alright’. It is better to simply have the evolution of a character called Robin Hood, who will come out of a point in the Crusades which is the end. [...]

Thank the Gods! It’s being reported that horribly unfitting director Brett Ratner has decided to shelve his adaptation of the fantastic video game God of War.

This project was one of the seemingly infinite amount of projects that Ratner was lining up. More importantly, it was the worst match to what Brett Ratner has evolved into, making it a horrible thing for fans to see happening.

It turns out that Ratner will instead make another movie his next project. Not shocking at all, it’s not the Hugh Hefner biopic, it’s not Conan, and it’s not Beverly Hills Cop 4 — though it does include Eddie Murphy. The movie is called Trump Heist, and it pairs Murphy with Chris Tucker as a couple janitors who plan a heist on the Trump Towers. This, sounds much more up Ratner’s alley.

The big question now is: how much control over God of War does Ratner have? Does his shelving it make it dead as dead can be, or is there hope that it will be taken and produced elsewhere and with a more talented, preferably visionary director? [...]

In conjunction with today’s release of the unrated director’s cut of The Midnight Meat Train on DVD and Blu-ray, we here at Geeks of Doom have some cool prizes to giveaway to one (1) lucky reader!

One (1) winner will receive:

– (1) The Midnight Meat Train on DVD signed by legendary horror master Clive Barker
– (1) The Midnight Meat Train theatrical poster (courtesy of FEARnet)

The Midnight Meat Train is based on the popular short story from Clive Barker’s classic Books of Blood collection. For more information about the film, as well as some FEARnet exclusives, see the About section.

TO ENTER: Fill out the form HERE and submit. Entry form is here after the jump.

RULES: One entry per person. All entries must be in by Tuesday, February 24, 2009 at 9pm EST. This contest is only open to residents of the United States. No international entries will be accepted. Void where prohibited. Winners will be chosen randomly from valid entries and will be notified by email [...]

As you’ll recall, it was reported recently that the classic novel Pride and Prejudice was being re-mashed into a novel called Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. The novel supposedly uses a perfect setup from author Jane Austen, and works the zombie storyline into 85% of the original text.

Well, as studios vie for the rights to make that one into a movie, Elton John‘s Rocket Pictures is skipping that sissy book stuff and jumping right into their own Pride and Prejudice mash-up movie, called Pride and Predator.

Apparently, the movie will take the fancy, well-groomed and proper world of Pride and Prejudice and, instead of zombies, it will showcase the arrival of an alien spaceship which crashes into this completely unfamiliar world. The alien then proceeds to begin slaughtering all of these well-groomed folks. That’s about all that is known so far.

Seriously, I can’t make this stuff up [...]

Ever had an idea for a sweet robot? Ever wished Skynet was real? Well, here, you can fantasize away.

A new viral website has come around and it’s built to be the official website for Skynet, the corporation behind creating the deadly robots responsible for Judgment Day in the Terminator movies, including the upcoming Terminator Salvation.

The website looks like your basic, professional company website where you can go and read about who they are and what they do. One cool feature is the ability to submit ideas for robot designs. Another feature is that you can join Skynet — they ask a bunch of questions and send you a confirmation e-mail, but I’m not completely sure what happens after that yet. I’m still waiting for my first e-mail. Likely just some sort of newsletter, but I’m honored to be a member of Skynet.

Click over for info on submitting your ideas.

I can’t say I know if the best ideas submitted will only be featured on the website, or maybe the baddest ass ones submitted will be thrown into the “concept art” pile for the next two Terminator movies, but hell, if you have some ideas, have at it [...]

The new teaser trailer for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen has debuted online. This is coming off the very explosive (literally) Super Bowl TV spot, and already, they’ve one-upped themselves.

The teaser starts off showing a bunch of fireballs of debris raining down through buildings and even tearing apart a massive aircraft carrier. Then we see that this debris is actually a horde of angry bots who are obviously on some sorta mission. This sets in motion a collection of shots of screaming, scared faces, and some big f’n robots wreaking havoc — including the gigantic bot at the end, throwing around Optimus Prime like a kid playing with his Transformers. (See what I did there? Gold Sticker for me)

One very interesting thing that I noticed about the trailer is that it’s surprisingly dark for the type of movie it is. We’re used to director Michael Bay selling his movies based on huge explosions and car chases, which are obviously going on full-force here — but there’s also usually a hint of that panicky, “I think we’re going to die” humor that’s always used plentifully in Bay’s movies [...]

Secret Diary of a Call Girl Season 1
Starring Billie Piper, Iddo Goldberg
Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Release Date: January 6, 2009

If you’re a dedicated geek with a penchant for overseas sci-fi, then you’re more than familiar with Billie Piper, the one-time U.K. pop singer who co-starred in the BBC’s relaunching of Doctor Who. If that’s the case, do away with your image of Piper as a flirty, adventurous companion to the Doctor and get ready for Piper as a flirty, adventurous, companion to anyone who can afford her.

As the lead in Showtime’s Secret Diary of a Call Girl, Piper plays Hannah, your average well-to-do London girl whose nights working as a “legal secretary” conceal a seedier truth: she’s a high-class, high-priced hooker named Belle. But that’s not much of a secret considering the title. In fact, the eight short episodes (about 23 minutes each) that comprise this first season collection are less about secrets than they are stand-alone sex stories centered around Hannah’s less-than-shocking confessions. Each of the episodes is fairly formulaic: Hannah talks to friend Ben on the phone, Hannah has a client situation that’s outside the norm, Hannah realizes why things are hard for her, Hannah has sex, Ben and Hannah argue and/or make-up, and Hannah puts something in her mouth (at some point).

So if you’re looking forward to a tawdry, documentary-style look at the life of a London sex worker, this is not it (unless you think that Hannah’s confession that she uses lubricant and male prostitutes use Viagra is ground-breaking) [...]

Frisky Dingo Season 2
Created by Adam Reed, Matt Thompson
Starring Marsha Crenshaw, Stuart Culpepper, Mr. Ford, Killer Mike, Kate Miller
Warner Home Video
Release Date: January 6, 2009

Fans of Adult Swim’s Frisky Dingo should be happy to know that the second season of the series is now out on DVD. Created by Adam Reed and Matt Thompson, who also created Adult Swim hit SeaLab 2021,the series focuses on supervillain Killface and his encounters with his arch enemy Xander Crews aka Awesome X.

When we last left Killface in Season One, his death ray, the Annihilatrix, was activated and Earth looked like it was doomed. Lucky for us, the Annihilatrix was a dud. It stopped working 5 minutes into its launch sequence but not before it pushes the Earth inches away from the Sun, effectively saving us from global warming. Killface is unexpectedly viewed as a hero, so what does one do when they have so much of the public in their favor? Why, you run for President of course.

A cross between Arrested Development and The Office, this totally irrelevant, and at times in poor taste, adult-oriented cartoon is pretty funny and I really enjoyed it. If you are a fan of Sealab 2021 like I am, you will definitely like this cartoon [...]

With the Oscars exactly one week away, people are starting to look at all of the nominees and make their professional picks. Most people who pick have seen most, if not all of the nominated films; some people pick just for fun, even if they haven’t gotten the chance to see the nominees (such as myself – yay me!); and some folks just have a fail-proof formula for figuring out the winners, even without a clue in the world as to how good they are.

Take for example, the host of the popular political comedy show The Colbert Report, Stephen Colbert. He’s well-known as the former correspondent to The Daily Show who branched off with his own popular show and for his very strong personality and hilarious outbursts on just about every hot topic going on. Mr. Colbert is one of those who have figured out his own little formula to identifying those who will take home the highly-coveted top prizes at The Academy Awards each year. He calls his formula, The DaColbert Code [...]

The Express Blu-ray Edition
Directed by Gary Fleder
Starring Dennis Quaid, Rob Brown, Charles S. Dutton
Universal Home Entertainment
Release date: January 20, 2009

The Express, now out on Blu ray DVD, is an emotional sports movie in the vein of Miracle and Brian’s Song. The film, based on the book by Robert Gallagher, tells the story of Ernie Davis, the first ever black football player to win the Heisman Trophy. Chronicling his life from his humble beginnings growing up in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, to his amazing college football career at Syracuse University, Ernie seemed destined to follow the footsteps of his mentor, football great Jim Brown but life had another game plan. In the very same year that he was drafted into the NFL, Davis died of Leukemia at the young age of 23.

Written by Charles Leavitt, the movie gets your adrenaline pumping but also tugs at your heart strings. The football scenes are pretty dynamic and are very entertaining to watch. Under the direction of Gary Fleder, the football scenes were fast paced, packed a punch, and were not overtly stylized like a lot of the newer sports movies. You feel every tackle and every touchdown. While the football scenes were fun, it was the quieter moments of the film that drew me in. Rob Brown plays Ernie Davis with a quiet confidence that many felt was the calling card of Davis. Brown is far from perfect as the lead but he shows real promise as a future leading man. He more than holds his own when sharing the screen with Dennis Quaid, who puts on a great performance as Syracuse coach Ben Schwartzwalder. Both actors play off the father-son dynamic rather well [...]

This Tuesday, Concord Records will release individually the soundtracks to the original three Indiana Jones films: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade — and we here at Geeks of Doom have copies to give away to one lucky reader!

One (1) winner will receive:

– (1) Raiders of the Lost Ark soundtrack CD
– (1) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom soundtrack CD
– (1) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade soundtrack CD

To read more about the prizing, see the About section for details, plus audio, and video clips.

TO ENTER: Fill out the form HERE and submit.

RULES: One entry per person. All entries must be in by Saturday, February 21, 2009 at 9pm EST. This contest is only open to residents of the United States. No international entries will be accepted. Void where prohibited. Winners will be chosen randomly from valid entries and will be notified by email [...]

Friday the 13th, the latest horror classic to get the Platinum Dunes treatment, is not just a remake but also a reboot and in several ways a re-imagining. Directed by Marcus Nispel, the same dude who helmed the unnecessary 2003 remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the latest installment in the kill-tastic adventures of Jason Voorhees takes some of the most memorable elements of the first four movies and remixes them while bringing a few fresh ideas of its own to the table. Best of all, it brings Jason back to where he truly belong, stalking horny teenagers in the woods surrounding Camp Crystal Lake. After all, when the guy’s been killed more times than Rasputin, traveled the universe from New York City to deep space, and battled fellow franchise slasher Freddy Krueger, what else can he do?

I’ve been a fan of the series for years and I have to say that each Friday movie has always been addictive viewing for me. Ever since I watched the original on the local horror movie show “Dr. Gruesome’s Movie Morgue” when I was nine years old I rarely pass up an opportunity to watch Jason strap on his facial armor and go kill crazy on some dumbass campers. The movies are tons of fun for the undiscriminating horror fan. Some are more violent and gory than others but in a way the Friday series has always been pretty nihilistic. We can be assured that most of the characters in each movie will be dead as fried chicken by the final frames and as fans we can’t help but get a deranged charge from that. This is pure Grand Guignol theater gone mainstream, and like any addiction we just can’t get enough [...]

New York Comic Con 2009 has come and gone already, hard to believe it went by so fast. The Geeks of Doom were out in full force, the first time we had a serious posse, so we hope you enjoyed all the convention coverage.

I had the chance to talk with the creative teams for DC Universe Online and the folks in the know at Marvel’s digital comic initiative, as well as to all my favorite small and indie comic book publishers. I also got to play some alpha and beta game demos, and fill my schwag bags with a metric ton of coolness. We’re gonna set up a contest to give away a large portion of the neat stuff we pick up on the floor, so if you’re a comic and gaming fan keep an eye out for that; plus Empress Eve is putting together a list of favorite books snagged at the Con.

Here’s a small taste of the Awesome I encountered on the show floor. Geeks of Doom loves Con attendees [...]

The latest Doom Delivery sure does live up to the name, as it’s an invitation to a Valentine’s Day dance which will surely lead me to my doom. It arrived via FedEx (not so doomy) and was very lightweight, so I couldn’t imagine what was in it. I opened it to find an artificial black rose (which I dig) and a small card with a drawn red heart on it that read…

YOU’RE INVITED!

WHAT: THE ANNUAL VALENTINE’S DAY DANCE
WHERE: VALENTINE BLUFFS
HOSTED BY: HARRY WARDEN

Uh-oh! As soon as I saw the name of the host, I knew that this was no innocuous Valentine’s Day dance! I knew this was a test! On the other side of the card was the message “Happy Anti-Valentine’s Day From Lionsgate” with an image of their recently released special edition DVD of the 1981 horror flick My Bloody Valentine.

In My Bloody Valentine, the miner Harry Warden was the sole survivor of a cave-in on Valentine’s Day at the Hanniger Mines in Valentine’s Bluffs [...]

As you’ve heard, a direct-to-DVD animated movie based on the comic within Watchmen, Tales of the Black Freighter, is being released. As if that wasn’t enough to make Watchmen fans rush out to buy it, the studio has released a small trailer of the movie for you all to adore.

Not much is said in the trailer (though it is cool to hear Gerard Butler when he does speak), but they show a lot of the memorable bits from the comic — stormy waters, a corpse raft, and even the shark.

Also to be included on the DVD will be Hollis Mason’s Under the Hood, which will be a kind of documentary-style live-action/CGI look at The Minutemen. It’s based on the other content within Watchmen, the various documents you read at the end of each chapter.

Yet another extra will be a look at The Green Lantern, but no one is quite sure what that means yet.

Click over to check out the trailer! [...]

Marvel said they will begin selling digital “In-Motion” comic books through iTunes later this month, according to Marvel’s Digital Media Division, which announced the debut of their Motion Comics products at the New York Comic Con last weekend.

The “Motion” Comics will feature animated “smart” panels and spoken dialog — not to be confused with Digital Comics of classic stories in print, which is a separate product available exclusively through Marvel.com’s Digital Comic Subscription service.

Assuming Motion Comics are sold as TV shows or movies, this clarification actually makes more sense since iTunes does not have a category for documents. However, if Marvel ever decided to open up sales of their digital comics, such a category would be necessary.

While a pricing structure for the Motion Comics hasn’t been released, Marvel does plan to sell the product though multiple online vendors — meaning Motion Comics would not be exclusive to iTunes, according to Marvel’s Digital Marketing and Sales Department [...]

Valentine’s Day as a geek can typically be described in one of the following ways: 1) A second Christmas in which both people get a present that can only be found inside the pages of a Previews catalog or 2) A somewhat to extremely lonely night of rereading Twilight* for the umpteenth time.

SoulGeek aims to eliminate fanboy (or fangirl) loneliness by offering a dating site specifically tailored for geeks, according to founder Dino Andrade, who started the network after discovering how difficult it was to meet people in his own experiences.

As a seasoned voice actor of many cartoons and video games, it was only natural that Andrade would fall in love with Mary Kay Bergman, famously known for creating and performing all the original female roles on South Park (including the Blame Canada song!!). When she tragically passed away in November of 1999, the two had been married for over a decade.

It took years to recover from the loss, but eventually he decided to get back on the saddle, according to Andrade, who said the most difficult part about it was being a geek [...]

John Malkovich has joined the upcoming adaptation of the graphic novel Jonah Hex. He joins Josh Brolin, who will be playing the title character.

The story revolves around a bounty hunter who was a Confederate soldier from the Civil War, named Jonah Hex. His face is horribly disfigured on one side. In terms of the storyline that will be used for the feature motion picture, there are no details to date.

John Malkovich will be playing Quentin Turnbull, who’s also known as the “man with the eagle-topped cane.” Turnbull’s son was friends with Jonah Hex in the war, but when Union soldiers captured Hex and he refused to give up the location of his fellow men, the Union soldiers found out anyway and slaughtered most of them, including Turnbull’s son, Jeb. They pinned the murdered men on Jonah, saying he was traitor, and this is what set the man with the eagle-topped cane after Hex — revenge.

The movie will be directed by Horton Hears A Who! helmer, Jimmy Hayward. The script is written by Brian Taylor and Mark Neveldine, who wrote both Crank movies together as well as Pathology. [...]

Well, here’s an interesting little slice of pie for all of you kids. A new teaser trailer has surfaced, and it’s for a movie that’s called The People vs. George Lucas .

Basically what we have here is a documentary that talks to a wide array of people. These people stand on two sides of a sharp line — on one side, stands the people who love and will always love Mr. George Lucas; on the other side, stands the people who hate him with a refined passion. Some of the people who hate him seem to have loved him at one point, but have been so severely let down by the newest three Star Wars movies that they developed this hatred. Other people on this negative side of the line seem to see how much making money and being an evil marketing genius means to Georgie over concentrating on the quality and quantity of all these films people so desperately want, or NEED, to see, and that is what causes the hate. Then there’s surely the people who fit under all of these descriptions [...]

Christopher Nolan will direct Inception from an original script that he wrote. As we saw after Batman Begins, it seems to be Nolan’s style to do something a little different in between; last time it was The Prestige and this time he’ll follow-up The Dark Knight with this new original project, which is being described as “…a contemporary sci-fi actioner set within the architecture of the mind.”

This movie will be through Warner Brothers, which makes plenty of sense considering how many countless millions and billions he’s brought to them through various projects, including both Batman movies, The Prestige, and Insomnia.

Everyone is itching for the sequel to The Dark Knight and the third movie in the franchise, but we have to keep in mind that there were three years between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, so let Mr. Nolan do his thing and we’ll just have to wait patiently for him to hopefully construct the next great Batman flick [...]