The first official trailer for Robert Rodriguez‘s grindhouse flick Machete has safely landed on the internet. The movie was born from Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino’s dual-effort, Grindhouse, where Machete made a cameo as one of the many faux trailers used to set the tone as an old school double feature.

The movie is co-directed by Rodriguez and Ethan Maniquis, and tells the story of a Mexican Federale gun (or blade)-for-hire who’s brought in to do a job that turns out to be a major setup. Eventually he recovers and sets off for bloody revenge. What more do you need than that, really?

Continue on over to check out the trailer now.

The likely cult-classic-in-the-making stars Danny Trejo as Machete, and he’s joined by a great supporting cast that includes Robert De Niro, Jessica Alba, Steven Seagal, Michelle Rodriguez, Cheech Marin, Jeff Fahey, Lindsay Lohan, and Don Johnson.

And is it just me, or does the trailer say “introducing Don Johnson”? Has he been gone that long already?

Machete will open fire on theaters this September 3, 2010. [...]

Digital Spy is reporting that Batman 3, the sequel to The Dark Knight, will start filming in April 2011.

They got this juicy bit of news while talking to Sir Michael Caine about his new film Inception, directed by Christopher Nolan. Check the video below to see the scoop for yourself. Caine plays Alfred the butler in the current Nolan-directed Batman movies.

So if they are planning to begin shooting in less than a year, one can only assume that most of the details related to the film are finalized, or close to it.

Back in May, Warner Bros revealed that the third Batman movie would be released on July 20, 2012.

Let’s bust out the theories. Who’s going to be the villain? Who will play them? Will the Batman voice get any better than the last movie? (God I hope so!) Hit up the comments with what you think we’ll see, or what you hope we’ll see [...]

Some pictures from the set of Joel Coen and Ethan Coen‘s upcoming western, True Grit, have found their way onto the internet.

These images, taken from across the street of where filming was taking place, focus mainly on recent Oscar winner Jeff Bridges. Bridges is of course taking on the role of Rooster Cogburn, which is the character made famous by the legendary John Wayne in the 1969 film. This new movie will not be a remake of that film, but it will actually be a new adaptation of the classic 1968 Charles Portis novel of the same name.

Not too much is going on in the pictures, but it’s cool to see Bridges as Rooster Cogburn, eye patch and all. You can also catch a peek at young Hailee Steinfeld, who plays the lead role of Mattie Ross. Be sure to click on over to the other side to check them out now, and head here for more set pics. [...]

Comic book fans will be surprised this October with the release of Action Comics #894.

The issue will have a guest appearance by the character Death from Neil Gaiman‘s beloved Vertigo comic book series Sandman.

According to DC Comics, Action Comics writer Paul Cornell thought of the idea himself to bring Death into the issue and then got approval by Gaiman, who he said has been supportive of bringing Death and Lex Luthor face to face. This big move is part of a huge story arc for Action Comics where Lex Luthor will not only go against people he is used to, but other characters he has never met before.

DC had very limited information about the storyline, but they did reassure that way they use Death “will be true to the spirit of what has gone before.” [...]

You might recall last month that Mondo, the Alamo Drafthouse’s collectible art boutique, offered up a poster based on the Star Trek episode Space Seed, which sold out in a little over an hour.

On sale today at the store is a new poster called Raider, which is based on the Tusken Raiders from Star Wars.

The limited edition poster, created by artist Dave Kinsey, is the second in Mondo’s Star Wars series and is a high quality screen print, with each one hand-numbered by the artist.

Of his memories of Star Wars, Kinsey said, “When I first saw Star Wars as a kid, I remember being intrigued by the Tusken Raider’s mystique and anonymity.” [...]

We’ve all played Super Mario Bros. on the Nintendo Entertainment System, correct? If you have not, you should — these video game thingies are going to be huge someday. Anyway, someone decided to take Mario and his world to a whole new level with this great new video.

The idea is simple: take Super Mario Bros. and project it on some concrete and along a street. Why not?! Not only that, but it starts at the very beginning of the game and hauls ass straight through to the end using all of the super-secret tricks and transporting tube portals you have at your disposal. As the game plays out, someone with a camera walks along with the game, capturing the 8-Bit phenomena as it unfolds. Obviously the game was actually thrown into the footage after the fact, but you get the idea. Play along, damnit!

Eat your favorite mushroom (no, not that one…children) or flower or immortality star and flicker-skip to the other side to watch the video! [...]

The FREE MP3 song download of the day over at Amazon is Dio‘s Stand Up And Shout (Live).

Click the link to the song, then click on the “Get MP3″ button on the top right corner of the product page and it will download the song for NO charge.

The free download is only for today until midnight PST, so grab it right now!

The song comes from Dio’s Holy Diver Live and the MP3 version of the entire double-live album is also on sale right now for only $7.99 [...]

The Little Mermaid is one of the best animated features that Walt Disney has made. What many may not know is that the tale didn’t begin there; the tale began in the brain of one of history’s greatest authors of children’s stories: Hans Christian Andersen. The Danish writer created The Little Mermaid in 1836, and has since been adapted many times including the classic Disney film.

Now comes word that a brand new movie based on the story is being developed as a new live-action feature film. The film is being developed by director Joe Wright, whose father founded The Little Angel Theatre Company, which also happens to have a Little Mermaid production using puppets that inspired screenwriter Abi Morgan to pen the adaption.

The Little Mermaid tells the story of a young mermaid who lives in an underwater utopia and is the daughter to said utopia’s king. Though she has a good life, when the mermaid falls in love with a human prince, she decides that it is her destiny to also become human so that she can be with the prince. [...]

Gamers have been in an uproar ever since Blizzard, developer of popular MMORPG World of Warcraft and the upcoming Starcraft II, decided to switch their forums over to a Real-ID system, which forces players to be identified by both their first and last name when they comment.

Most gamers argue that this switch is unnecessary and invites unintended invasion of privacy to the user if they chose to participate in forum discussion — and I’m hard pressed to agree. [NOTE: Having retired my pen name TechGOnzo almost a year ago, World of Warcraft is pretty much the only place I don't use my real name on the Internet. The thought that immature gamer-rage comments could theoretically pop up in Google results when people search for me just never seemed all that appealing.]

At least one irate gamer is retaliating against the Real-ID change by publishing the personal information of Robert Kotick, CEO of Activision, of which Blizzard is a part [...]

There’s been a lot of controversy lately surrounding the new costume design for Wonder Woman, with many feeling that giving the iconic superhero pants really misses the mark.

Shawna Trpcic , a costume designer who worked on Joss Whedon shows like Firefly, Angel, Dr. Horrible’s Sing A-Long Blog, and Dollhouse, revealed designs for the superhero that she created for live-action Wonder Woman movie that Whedon was linked to in 2005, before leaving the project in 2007.

Trpcic took it upon herself to post four sketches of her costume designs for that Wonder Woman project to her Twitter account.

Her designs aren’t really similar to those of Jim Lee, who did the recent redesign for DC Comics, except for the part that people seem to be the most upset about — pants! Check out the images here below and let us know if you like Trpcic’s designs better than what we are getting now [...]

Believe it or not, there once was a time when geeky conventions were considered, well, geeky — this was back when “geeky” meant “total nerd” and if you attended these conventions, no one thought you were cool.

Some of the biggest conventions back in the day were for Star Trek, and when Trek stars William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy made an appearance, it was a major deal. I mean, this is Kirk and Spock we’re talking about!

An old video of the two actors from one of these contentions is making the rounds online, and since I’m obsessed with Star Trek and happen to love Shatner and Nimoy beyond belief, I thought I’d share it here.

Check it out here below.

In the video, Nimoy tells the story of how Shatner stole his bicycle while they were at the studio filming Star Trek. I seem to remember this same story told in one of their autobiographies, I can’t recall which one (I think it was I Am Spock, but I’m not sure). While Shatner’s Trek co-stars have in the past complained about having to work with him, Nimoy has always been his close friend, so watching them bantering during this story is genuine and is a really cool throwback [...]

If you were an adolescent in the 1990s, you surely remember giggling along to an episode or two of Mike Judge‘s beloved celebration of idiocy, Beavis and Butt-Head. Since the last episode aired in 1997, a loyal cult following has remained behind the show — proving just how relevant something so silly could become — leading many to wonder if and when new episodes would be made.

According to REVIEWniverse (via Collider), an anonymous source has revealed that Mike Judge is working on 30 brand new episode outlines right now. As with all “anonymous sources,” this has to be marked as a rumor. But if true, it would be very exciting for fans of the show.

The source also clarifies that there is currently no deal with MTV to actually bring back the show, but that doesn’t mean Judge wouldn’t be getting a season’s worth of episodes prepared for production just in case. When you think about it, a revival would definitely make a lot of sense right now. [...]

The Book Of Eli
Blu-ray | DVD | VOD
Directed by the Hughes Brothers
Starring Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman, Mila Kunis, Jennifer Beals
Warner Bros Home Entertainment
Release date: June 15, 2010

Are you looking for a trek across the post apocalyptic wasteland of our future? How about a trek to bring the word of God back to the people and into the right hands? If you are, than The Book of Eli is definitely for you. That’s right you heard me correctly, post apocalyptic trek across the wasteland of the future and to top it off it is led by America’s best friend, Denzel Washington.

While this may not be appealing to everyone and I definitely can see where this may not be everyone’s cup of tea, I have to say that I definitely enjoyed this premise. We meet Eli (Washington) 30 years after a war has left the Earth a barren landscape, bringing out the worst in its human survivors. Eli is traveling on foot, to where we don’t know at first. He seems a simple man with a simple quest, until you see him in action — it will surprise you. Eventually, he comes to a functioning town run by Carnegie (Gary Oldman), a man obsessed with finding a special book he believes will give him more control over the masses than he already has [...]

This is a topic that has been itching at me for a decent amount of time now, but I’ve tried to store it away and forget about it. This, as we all know, is not very healthy. So with that, it’s time to vent off about this progressively glaring situation and allow all of you a place to sound off.

For those of you who are unaware, a disturbing trend has become the norm when picking up a brand new video game. Imagine waiting one, two, maybe three years for an exciting new game or massive sequel, and when we finally get it in our hands it’s like Christmas morning. Now imagine gently placing your new game into your console, firing it up, and preparing to set off on a new adventure…only to discover that you can’t read the words on the screen. This is what has been going on more often than anyone has the stomach to handle.

In these many titles the text is so small, that reading them comfortable is impossible. The words aren’t completely illegible as many claim, but in order to read, you have to be fairly close and sometimes can find yourself staring blankly at a word, trying to figure out what it is (Click image just once for basic idea of what the font is like to read for me personally). [...]

When DC Comics announced Wonder Woman was getting re-imagined for the 21st century, I immediately went on the defensive. The character is an icon now in the same way that Superman is. Her costume, regardless of how unpractical it may be, is also iconic, which is something you don’t dare change no matter how badly it defies conventional design theory (just ask Google about their own logo). But the thing I felt like invoking the most was “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

Despite the inevitable fan backlash, DC editorial is going forward with their plans to “update” Wonder Woman. They’ve hired the talented J. Michael Straczynski as regular scribe who’ll kick off the new storyline that gives our heroine a new origin due to the gods changing history. Diana has now grown up in a modern society and barely remembers the former life. She has all the same powers and abilities as well as a new “modernized” costume designed by co-publisher (not to mention legendary artist) Jim Lee.

While combining the talents of top industry creators for a revamp is usually a formula for success, the “new” Wonder Woman fails before I even gaze upon the first page.

Here’s why…

The Gold Box spotlight deal of the day over at Amazon today is Flight of the Conchords: The Complete First and Second Seasons w/CD for only $26.99 (that’s 55% off the list price of $59.72).

That’s two complete seasons on DVD of the television series Flight of the Conchords, starring the New Zealand musical-comedy duo of Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie, along with their 2007 CD The Distant Future.

Note, this deal is for today only until midnight PST while supplies last [...]

Jen Abrams, Eve Conte, and Justin Vactor host this angst-ridden episode to talk about the trailers for Harry Potter and Let Me In; movie box office numbers, mini reviews of recent viewings, and a review of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, finished off with an insightful discussion of who’s better for Bella, Edward or Jacob? The sparks fly on the first episode of Flix of Doom!

Listen now!

Episode Guide is here below [...]

Aside from all of the troubles surrounding The Hobbit, the other franchise being affected by all of the issues that MGM has been going through is the James Bond franchise.

Back in April, we were informed that production on James Bond 23 was being put on hold indefinitely until issues surrounding the studio could be remedied. Now that indefiniteness is looking a little more infinite. According to AICN, the new James Bond is not on hold anymore, but now looks like the production has been completely killed off.

This would be devastating to fans of the franchise because it was shaping up to have all kinds of potential. Star Daniel Craig was set to return, a new and intriguing director in Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Road to Perdition) was locked in, and a solid writer in Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon). With the news that the project is dead in the water, all of them will move on to other films that they have lined up. [...]

One of the best musical composers working today, Michael Giacchino, has announced that he will be handling the score for Matt Reeves‘ horror remake, Let Me In. Giacchino made the announcement on his official website.

The movie is a remake of popular Swedish vampire film Let the Right One In, and stars Chloe Moretz as a centuries old vampire who forms a close bond with a young boy (Kodi Smit-McPhee), and Richard Jenkins.

The original is so popular that a remake has sounded like a terrible idea from the start. As time goes on, however, Let Me In has looked better and better right up to the release of the first teaser trailer, which you can see at the bottom of this post if you missed it.

The hiring of Michael Giacchino is the latest thing to spark excitement in the project. The composer started out mainly in video games, scoring the very first titles in the popular Medal of Honor (remember that one on your original PlayStation with blank-faced Nazis?! Classic!) and Call of Duty, as well as J.J. Abrams’ Alias. [...]

Demo #5 (of 6)
Written by: Brian Wood
Art & Cover by: Becky Cloonan
Letters by: Jared K. Fletcher
Vertigo
Price: $2.99
Release Date: June 3, 2010

Brian Wood is a master at characterization. I don’t know what it is about him, but he seems to be able to capture the essence of a character in one issue where it takes many others entire trades to accomplish the same. This is best seen in his series Demo and is definitely captured in the latest issue titled “Stranded.” Not only is the characterization spot-on in this issue, but it also gives the main character a power that I love: time travel.

The story covers Elisabeth, who is very different and alone for more than one reason. As I mentioned before, she has the power to time travel, but the other reason is a little more real to life. Elisabeth’s problem caused her to have problems with her father and leads her to make decisions she regrets later in life, but that’s okay because she has decided to change all of that using her power [...]