To coincide with the release of his new adventure comedy, Land of the Lost, Will Ferrell went out to the mountains of Sweden for two days with host Bear Grylls for a special episode of Man vs. Wild.

The adventure included rappelling down a frozen waterfall, making their own snowshoes, and even the show’s infamous hunt for any potential food source — which supposedly includes the eyeballs of a fallen deer.

While not exactly an environment you would imagine Ferrell being in, he called the experience the “thrill of a lifetime.”

Land of the Lost follows an unappreciated paleontologist named Dr. Rick Marshall who, along with his assistant and a not-so-bright tour guide, are inexplicably transported through time to a fantastical land full of dinosaurs and many other creatures, including the monkey people known as Pakuni and lizard-like beings known as Sleestaks.

The movie stars Ferrell as Marshall, Anna Friel as his assistant, and Danny McBride as the tour guide. [...]

Quentin Tarantino was a guest on American Idol last night. I’m not sure what he was doing there or how he helped, but he was there for their movie night where contestants likely slaughtered movie songs.

During the broadcast, Fox aired a special TV spot for Tarantino’s ultra-violent WWII Nazi-slaughter movie: Inglourious Basterds. Word is, the clip was cut off because that kind of sloppiness seems to be happening a lot with Idol lately. Thankfully, Film School Rejects found the full clip so that it can now be watched without worry.

I assume the clip was shown because of Quentin’s involvement with the show, but man, talk about the very worst demographic to be showing the spot to. I can’t even tell you how much I would have payed to get a peek at some of the soccer-mom reactions that took place. Priceless moments, folks… priceless.

Click over to the other side to get your peek at the video. [...]

The story isn’t 100% clear yet, but apparently some lucky chap got their hands on the demo for long-coming Final Fantasy XIII. The user streamed themselves playing the demo on Justin.TV for as long as he could, and a decent amount of demo footage is now all over the Inter-webs.

Personally, I’ve never liked the Final Fantasy games. It could just be ignorance on my part, but the idea of players actually taking turns trying to kill each other instead of just having at it…well, that just pissed me off thinking about it. One thing no one — including myself — can deny, is how amazing the games have been visually. Final Fantasy games have always set the bar for graphics, visuals, and landscapes at unbelievably high levels, and this one doesn’t look to have walked away from those standards. Coming from me, a non-fan, trust me when I say, this game looks really beautiful.

I have no idea how long these videos will stay available to watch, so jump at it immediately. I’ve included a much higher quality version video which shows a few minutes of pre-game movie footage, as well as the first two or so minutes of the demo. [...]

Three new Star Trek dossier on now online at the film’s official site.

You can see all three here below; they include one each for Spock (Zachary Quinto), Starfleet Academy, and the United Federation of Planets.

Most interesting of the three, of course, is the one for Spock. We learn that he has the rank of Commander at Starfleet Academy, where he is the instructor, and that he’s real good at chess, and a few more tidbits. Check out all three new dossiers for more facts [...]

Celebrated author of such books as The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, and The Yiddish Policemen’s Union,Michael Chabon has been hired to help polish up the script for Andrew Stanton‘s John Carter of Mars movie.

The news had been hinted at recently in a Deadline Hollywood report on Chabon’s change of agents, where it listing his partially-used draft of Spider-Man 2 and John Carter as the writer’s works.

Chabon offered up the confirmation via The Amazing Website of Kavalier & Clay:

John Carter of Mars will take the classic science fiction hero and create a new story around him. The character was created by Edgar Rice Burroughs and first used in 1912′s Under the Moons of Mars and has been used in many different ways and has seen many different adventures since then. [...]

Our always awesome friends at Titan Books shipped off a wonderful box of Monsters vs. Aliens comics for us to share with our readers. We have five copies of the official graphic novel adaptation to give to a handful of lucky GoD readers.

Five (5) winners will each receive:

One (1) Monsters Vs. Aliens: The Official Movie Adaptation

About

Susan Murphy is having a bad wedding day. After being struck by a rock from space, she mysteriously grows to become the 49-feet-11-inches tall Ginormica. However, Susan’s not the only monster — as a secret government compound full of them can attest! And when a malicious alien robot named Gallaxhar lands on Earth, General W.R. Monger must send a motley crew into action to save the world! This is the official graphic novel adaptation of the movie that features the voice talents of Reese Witherspoon, Kiefer Sutherland, Hugh Laurie and Seth Rogen! [...]

A sixth TV spot for Star Trek is now online.

Watch the new video here below.

This new TV spot, titled “Going Down,” has the tagline “This is not your father’s Star Trek,” which I get is trying to distinguished this reboot as one for a new generation, but it’s kinda sexist, no?

Anyhow, “Going Down” only has a few quick new bits of footage, with the rest being footage we’ve seen before and some extended scenes [...]

Slumdog Millionaire
Blu-ray Edition
Directed by Danny Boyle
Starring Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Anil Kapoor, Saurabh Shukla, Rajendranath Zutshi
Fox Home Entertainment
Release date: March 31, 2009

Life and times are tough right now, well, at least for some. Director Danny Boyle realizes this and appoints himself commander in chief as he ventures out to satisfy and revitalize the crippled and worn hearts of America. Recent years past have seen the likes of violent films with no redeeming qualities and they were received with awards (The Departed and No Country for Old Men). Kudos to the Academy for singling out this crowd-pleaser that was head-and-shoulders above the frail and weightless competition, the eight academy awards it walked away with, including Best Picture, are rightfully earned.

Though the film takes place in both old India and new, Bombay and Mumbai, there’s no questioning Boyle’s film is something of an international phenomenon. Not complacent with fixing the hearts of Americans, he creates a film that wants to embrace the entire world. When a film finds itself with a beating heart, like Slumdog Millionaire does, there isn’t any questioning involving its emotional magnificence.

Surviving what the slums of India heaves, hatred, poverty, and desperation, is human hope, doing its best to prevail against forces that don’t want individuals to succeed [...]

Word spread like wildfire recently when actor Terry Crews (The Longest Yard, Idiocracy) apparently confirmed that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger would be making some kind of appearance in Terminator Salvation (Read Here). But while everyone is antsy to find out what the deal is, the story never seemed to sound legit, and these reservations are now confirmed by the movie’s director: McG.

McG spoke with MTV about the situation and cut it off at the neck — basically just saying that at this moment, “The jury is still out.” The director did go ahead and reaffirm the importance of Schwarzenegger’s T-800 in the movie and that it will be heavily featured with or without the iconic action star-turned-politician’s involvement. If this is the case, it’s expected that the eerily-similar looking body-double Roland Kickinger will hold the brunt of the T-800.

McG went on to give an interesting explanation of the development of the T-800. This may even more-so support the exclusion of Arnold and legitimize the use of Kickinger’s slightly different look. Keep in mind, this movie is set to be released in just a little over a month on May 21, 2009. [...]

A sweet new collection of seven images from J.J. Abrams‘ much-anticipated Star Trek revival have been released. You’ll find some character close-ups, some crazy action, and all-in-all just another group of peeks that will have you itching for the movie to finally come out.

In case you’ve just awoken from a coma, recovered from amnesia, or recently moved here from a secluded rain forest tribal community, here’s a little Star Trek catch-up. The movie will start at the very beginning and show us how some of the most memorable names in the Trek mythology came to cross paths as the legendary crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise.

Click on over to the other side to check out all of the images.

Star Trek stars Chris Pine as Captain James Kirk; Zachary Quinto as Spock; Simon Pegg as Scotty; Zoe Saldana as Uhura; John Cho as Sulu; Karl Urban as McCoy; Anton Yelchin as Chekov; and Eric Bana as Nero.

The movie is directed by J.J. Abrams with the script written by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. It will finally be released on May 8, 2009. [...]

Sci-Fi Wire spoke to Faran Tahir — the man who played Raza in the first Iron Man movie — exclusively about his possible inclusion in future chapters of the franchise. The information that he offered was pretty interesting and suggested that maybe…just maybe, his character from the first movie was set up to take on the role of legendary Iron Man villain — Mandarin.

Tahir’s Raza character was the main man when it came to Tony Stark’s (Robert Downey Jr.) captivity. The group that he was leading is part of the infamous Ten Rings organization, which is run by Mandarin. Also worth note from the movie is how Raza references Ghenghis Kahn — an ancestor of Mandarin’s — as well as plays around with a gold ring which held a red stone, as rings are where Mandarin’s powers came from.

Here’s what Mr. Tahir thinks about the whole thing:

We’re still talking about it. It hasn’t been finalized yet, so we’ll see. The character didn’t die in the first one, and it is part of a larger story. Iron Man’s biggest nemesis is Mandarin, and my character is the only reference to Mandarin. So we’re still trying to figure out how it’s going to fit. The things to consider, I think, are that if it is a bigger story, how much of it is exposed [and] when. [...]

Earlier this week, the official site was launched for the Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World film, directed by Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead).

Now, the Hot Fuzz directed has posted the first video blog from the set of Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World. Watch this welcome video here below!

The film, based on the comic by Bryan Lee O’Malley, stars Superbad‘s Michael Cera as the title character, while Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Death Proof) plays his lady love with seven evil ex-boyfriends he has to fight. Chris Evans (Fantastic Four), Brandon Routh (Superman Returns) and Brie Larson (United States of Tara) also star [...]

The latest name to be cast in Ridley Scott‘s new Robin Hood movie is William Hurt (The Village, A History of Violence).

Hurt will be playing the Earl of Pembroke, William Marshall — a man who served the likes of Henry II, Richard the Lionheart, John, and Henry III. He eventually became one of the most powerful men in Europe and also was one of the very best jousters around. He was once even called the “greatest knight that ever lived” by Archbishop of Canterbury, Stephen Langton.

This particular version of the tale is expected to the characters as we know them, but show them and their story as historically accurate and while in a historically accurate setting. This is why Hurt is being cast ias a man who actually lived. The story is expected to follow Robin as an archer in the armies of Richard Coeur de Lion while the power-tripping French wreak havoc on everyone. [...]

Just a few days ago, it was reported that in H2, Rob Zombie‘s upcoming sequel to his Halloween reboot, serial killer Michael Myers would spend about 70 percent of the film without a mask (see Wait, What? Michael Myers To Be Without Mask For Most Of ‘H2′?).

Now, the director has posted on his MySpace blog the first official look at Tyler Mane as Michael Myers wearing the iconic William Shatner mask that the killer is best known for from the original Halloween franchise. (See image at right, click for larger full view.)

Well, after 35 days of snow, freezing rain, fire ants, mud and blood we are done! The cast and crew kick ass beyond ass to bring you the most demented Halloween ever! In less than five months Michael will be back in your face! And speaking of face… here is your first glimpse of one of the many faces Michael 2009. [...]

Cinematical is reporting that the rumored Spider-Man spinoff of the Venom character (Read: Sony Doing A ‘Spider-Man’ Venom Spinoff?) is now officially being developed by Sony Pictures.

Above and beyond the announcement that Sony is now officially developing the movie — the studio has also hired screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick to put a script together. Reese did some work on Monsters Inc. and both Reese and Wenick recently wrote the script for Zombieland.

Cinematical’s Scott Weinberg spoke to the writing duo and had this to say about their being hired:

Based only on the half-hour I spent talking movies with the screenwriters, I can say that IF there has to be a Venom movie, then these are the guys who can pull it off. They seem to understand the practical (studio) side of the project, the professional (screenwriter) perspective, and (best of all) the enthusiasm needed to make the movie cooool. They couldn’t divulge ANY tidbits at all, sorry! But at this early point, I’m feeling a bit more optimistic about Venom. [...]

It’s easy for me to write about the things that I love. If I’m really passionate about something, I can go on and on about them for some length of time. Well, I love The Venture Brothers. The show is hands down the funniest show currently on TV, and I have never been happier to receive an assignment from my masters of Doom than this one. I have been watching this disc more or less non-stop for the last week, and I don’t see myself stopping anytime soon. If you read this sight, if you like comics, or sci-fi movies, or music, or old cartoons, or laughing in general, you should be watching this show.

To give a basic premise of the show is to do it discredit, since they do a lot of different things with each episode, but the basic plot is this: Dr. Thaddeus “Rusty” Venture has two sons named Dean and Hank, and a bodyguard named Brock Samson, and they go around having adventures, mostly involving Dr. Ventures arch enemy, the Monarch. However, every family has problems, and this family is no different: Dr. Venture is a pill-popping failure, Hank and Dean have an annoying habit of dying all the time which doesn’t agree with their lifestyle, and Brock hasn’t met anyone he wouldn’t like to kill. The easiest way to describe the show is to imagine if Jonny Quest was mixed with Marvel Comics, and a few drops of G.I. Joe, drop them in a blender, add some cocaine, smash the blender with a hammer, and throw the results against the wall to see what sticks. That’s the best way that I can describe it, and that doesn’t really begin to scratch the surface.

Season 3 of the Venture Brothers is different from the first two in that it really goes into the histories of many of the characters, yet still introduces us to new and hilarious characters. Let’s do an episode by episode breakdown. That sounds like fun [...]

When I woke up this morning I groggily checked my Google Reader feeds while sipping on my nice cup of tea… then promptly choked on it when I read that this morning, Gametrailers landed the first official gameplay video of Bioshock 2… and it is a beautiful sight to behold.

Bioshock is one of my all-time favourite games (the “spiritual successor” to cult classic System Shock 2), and is quite possibly one of the best games released in the last five years. It remains one of the Xbox 360′s highest-rated games to date, behind only The Orange Box, and GTA IV… so when 2K games announced a sequel, I was on the same level of giddiness as when I heard about Deus Ex 3.

Anyway enough of my ramblings, take a gander at the gameplay video and check out the big sister… she’s badass! [...]

Today’s MP3 album deal of the day over at Amazon is Van Halen‘s Van Halen II for only $2.99 and allow me to stress that if you do not have this album, it is well worth this low price so grab it today while it’s on sale!

Here’s where I justify the cost: MP3 songs are typically 99 cents, therefore for Van Halen II to be worth the price, you need at least 3 songs worth having: “Somebody Get Me A Doctor,” “DOA,” and “Beautiful Girls” — BAM! Yeah, I go right for the heavy stuff, but there’s plenty of lighter tracks on the album like “Dance The Night Away,” “Women In Love,” and the cover song “You’re No Good” (which was a hit for Linda Ronstadt in the 1970s).

Still need convincing to shell out $3 of your hard-earned money? Umm, it’s David Lee Roth era VAN HALEN! It’s guitar virtuoso Eddie Van Halen shredding it up in 1975 — plus, check out his 1-minute classical guitar solo “Spanish Fly”! [...]

The trailer for Todd Phillips‘ (Old School, Road Trip) The Hangover isn’t really new to the world; a couple of weeks back the first trailer debuted, and then a second trailer showed up not too long after that.

Since the trailer was released, people have been raving about how funny the movie looks. Unfortunately, for some reason, I never got around to watching the thing, even while completely aware of the praise it was getting. But even though late, just in case everyone hasn’t seen it yet, the trailer is here now to enjoy.

The Hangover follows a formula we’ve seen before: a group of friends go off to Vegas for a big bachelor party bash. When they wake up the next day, everything is so incredibly messed up, they need to retrace their steps and figure out what happened. It looks a lot like a much more well-done, much less stupid version of Dude, Where’s My Car.

The movie stars Bradley Cooper (Wedding Crashers), Zach Galifianakis (Out Cold), Justin Bartha (National Treasure), Ed Helms (The Office), Heather Graham (Boogie Nights), Ken Jeong (Role Models), and Jeffrey Tambor (Arrested Development). [...]

It’s been a while since we’ve heard anything on Greek mythology movie front, but two big-time casting announcements have been made with Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes joining the cast of Louis Leterrier‘s upcoming take on Clash of the Titans. Fiennes is still in the negotiation stages of the deal.

In the movie, the pair of actors will be taking on the top two gods of Greek mythology — one on the good side, and one on the evil. Liam Neeson will be taking on the role of the God of Thunder, Zeus; while Ralph Fiennes will use his skills as a creepy-ass baddie to embrace the God of the Underworld, Hades. The two larger-than-life beings are also siblings, with Hades on a destructive course toward trying to over-take his brother and rule all of Mt. Olympus.

Also starring in the movie is Sam Worthington (Terminator Salvation, Avatar) as son of Zeus, Perseus; Mads Mikkelsen (Casino Royale, King Arthur) as Draco; Gemma Arterton (Prince of Persia, Quantum of Solace) as Io; and Alexa Davalos (Defiance, The Mist) as Andromeda. [...]