Director Kevin Smith started a bit of a wildfire last night when his new horror movie, Red State, was set to be auctioned off at the Sundance Film Festival.

Instead of auctioning off the rights to the room full of buyers, Smith declared that he would be buying his own movie for $20, and self-distributing the movie himself. The decision and the way it played out was not looked upon with happy faces according to multiple reports, who say Smith wasted their time and made a mockery of what they do for a living.

Whether that’s the case or not, the reasoning behind Smith’s decision seems to be more of a statement. Instead of his movie — which went through many difficulties in getting made and looked like it might never even happen for a long while — being acquired by a studio and said studio spending millions on marketing it, Smith wanted to prove that he could do things his way without all the outlandish costs and still find success. [...]

Wizard Magazine, pop culture bastion for some, ad-filled sell-out to others, has officially closed up shop. Not much is known about the closure other than the staff was let go today, according to Bleeding Cool. Love it or hate there’s still something sad about the thought of not seeing it on the rack beside the comic books in the local shop.

Wizard plans to launch Wizard World in February 2011 as an all-new digital magazine that will “provide coverage of the world of comic books, toys and superheroes, and the personalities behind them,” according to a press release via Newsarama.

When the magazine launched in 1991 it was a must for fans of indie comics looking for reviews and information about their favorite titles and creators. In the 2000s, the magazine was retooled to be more mainstream friendly. Gone were the heavy fanboy articles and reviews in favor of more wide audience friendly news and previews. Many hardcore fans of the magazine will tell you that this was the era in which the magazine died [...]

Warner Bros. officially announced production of a 10-episode Mortal Kombat web series based on the Mortal Kombat: Rebirth fan-made movie trailer released months ago. (Embedded below for anyone who missed it.)

The series will be directed by Rebirth creator Kevin Tancharoen and have Michael Jai White returning to play General Jax Briggs. No other casting news has been announced at this time and production will start some time in February.

So, has Hollywood finally come to its senses and realized the potential in producing original content for the web? Unfortunately, the answer is no for now [...]

Mike of Spiked Math Comics has created a parody of TCG Magic: The Gathering that only a true science/math geek will understand [...]

Looks like The Big 4 metal tour will be making its way to the United States!

Who are The Big 4? Oh, only the greatest metal bands of all time — Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax — touring together on the same bill! Back in June, the thrash metal giants did a two-week stint in Europe, using footage from one of the shows for a DVD/Blu-ray release titled The Big Four: Live From Sofia, Bulgaria. At the time, it seemed that this would be a once-in-a-lifetime event, but now the tour plans to expand to other parts of Europe this Summer AND into the United States, too! [...]

The t-shirt deal of the day over at RIPT Apparel is the Helly Kitty-inspired zombie mash-up “Sanrio – The Zombie Resurrection.”

The tee, by artist Chad Tibbits, went on sale at RIPT today, Monday, January 24, 2011, at midnight CST, and will continue for 24 hours from then, and once it’s over, it will not be sold on the site anymore.

The design is a zombified version of the Sanrio superstar Hello Kitty holding the decapitated zombie head of the black cat Chococat, another Sanrio character [...]

The digital deal of the day is over at Amazon today is The Last Airbender, the film by M. Night Shyamalan, which is available for rental for only $.99.

This deal is valid only for today, Monday, January 24, 2011, until midnight PST. Once you activate the rental through Amazon’s Video On Demand service, you’ll have access to the movie for 48 hours. If you’re interested in purchasing the digital version, the cost is $9.99.

Also, if you’d like to own a physical copy of the movie, the Blu-ray Combo Pack is available for $27.99 while the DVD is $16.99.

Both the DVD and Blu-ray editions of The Last Airbender are part of Amazon’s “Buy This DVD and Watch it Instantly” program. That means with the purchase of either version, you will be able to watch the movie instantly through Amazon’s Video On Demand (see more details about this below). Basically, it’s like getting a free digital rental while you wait for your physical copy to arrive [...]

A couple of years ago, I made a post discussing how a 4th Matrix film was inevitable. When the post was initially published, it was met with some skepticism from Matrix fans. How could there be another movie if Neo is dead? Is Neo actually dead? Keanu Reeves, in a guest of honor speech at the London School of Performing Arts University, has finally clarified that there are indeed plans for more Matrix films.

It should come as no surprise that there are plans for a fourth and fifth Matrix movie. Besides the fact that combined with merchandising and home media sales the movies are money-makers, the development of the 3D filming tech adopted by James Cameron and the recent release of Tron: Legacy (sequel to a movie that was one of many influences on The Matrix) make it a prime time for the Wachowski Brothers to reignite their Matrix saga. In short, it’s good timing [...]

Long live rock, be it dead or alive…

While on a flight recently, I caught an airing of VH1 Rock Honors – The Who, a 2008 tribute concert to the British classic rock band that featured performances by Incubus, Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, Flaming Lips, Adam Sandler, and Tenacious D. The surviving members of The Who — singer Roger Daltrey and guitarist Pete Townshend — also performed their hits “Baba O’Riley,” “Who Are You,” “Behind Blue Eyes,” and “My Generation.”

The entire concert is actually online at VH1, and you can watch it all here below [...]

Disney has released three new images from Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, the upcoming fourth installment in the mega-successful film franchise.

Check out the new images here below, which feature Johnny Depp returning as Captain Jack Sparrow, along with Geoffrey Rush as Captain Barbossa. Also, this time around, there’s some new people on board: Penelope Cruz as Angelica, a woman from Sparrow’s past, and Ian McShane as her father, the feared Blackbeard.

The movie, which is directed by Rob Marshall, arrives in theaters on May 20, 2011 [...]

This summer will see the close of the Harry Potter film franchise with the eighth and final movie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, and word comes now that there will be a major change being made from the book.

There have been several changes from the books to the films, but all with Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling‘s approval, and this time around, the author has apparently given the thumbs up for this upcoming revision.

Continue reading below for information on this major change — and obviously, SPOILERS [...]

Disney has announced that Star Tours is coming back, and that the newly updated attraction will reopen May 20, 2011, at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in at the Disney World theme park in Orlando, Florida. Star Tours is a motion simulator attraction based on the Star Wars universe created by George Lucas. It was first launched at Disneyland in 1987 as a creative collaboration between Disney Imagineers and George Lucas with Industrial Light and Magic.

The new version, retitled Star Tours: The Adventures Continue, will be based on a story set between Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. Anthony Daniels, James Earl Jones, and Peter Mayhew reprise their roles as C-3PO, Darth Vader, and Chewbacca, respectively, for the attraction [...]

Artist Edvard Munch died 67 years ago today at the ripe old age of 80, leaving behind a legacy of some of the most famous — and stolen — artworks in history.

Yes, people love to steal the Norwegian’s famous paintings like The Scream, Madonna, and Vampire, all of which were robbed during Olympic Games. Actually several versions of The Scream, Munch’s most popular piece, have been snatched, but luckily eventually recovered.

Munch’s “Vampire” was stolen in 1988 during the Calgary Winter Olympics, another version of “The Scream” was taken from the National Gallery on the opening day of the Lillehammer Winter Games in 1994 and Sunday’s [August 2004] robbery was staged during the Athens Summer Games.

If you grew up in New Zealand and Australia during the 1980s, you would be familiar with a comic strip that was very popular for both Kiwis and Aussies, but never took off internationally: Murray Ball‘s Footrot Flats.

For those who don’t know, Footrot Flats was a comic strip that was written and drawn by Murray Ball that was published from 1975 to 1994. The strip followed the life of Wal Footrot and his dog (named “Dog”) on their farm. There was an abundance of other human and animal characters that were also central to the strip, and it followed the idiosyncrasies of these individuals, poking fun at our human faults.

This year is the 25th anniversary of the release of the Footrot Flats movie, a film release that was testament to how popular Footrot Flats was in New Zealand. The collected publications of the strips were selling in the millions at the time, and Footrot Flats eventually also became the basis for a stage musical and a theme park as well. The elements Murray Ball covered in the adventures of Dog totally resonated with youngsters (and adults) across Australasia, but more importantly became a staple aspect of New Zealand culture.

Be sure to continue on for much more and to see videos relating to Footrot Flats — one a music video and one from the animated movie [...]

Back in October, we reported that child actress MacKenzie Foy had been cast in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn to play Renesmee Cullen, the half-human, half-vamp love child of Edward Cullen and Bella Swan.

An image of Foy has been circulating online recently with the claim that it’s the first look at the 9-year-old actress in the role of Renesmee, but now Twilight Lexicon has proven this to be false. The photo (see it here at right) is actually from an old fashion shoot Foy did for Garnet Hill Clothing.

I’m not sure why an old photo would all of a sudden be uncovered and spread around as a new image from Breaking Dawn, but it appears everyone was convinced it was from the film because Foy appears to be sitting in the famous Meadow from the film franchise (check out Renesmee’s Mom and Dad rolling around in it in The Twilight Saga: Eclipse here below). Hey, maybe that’s how she got the gig to begin with […]

This column was set up to present some of the very best shows the lovely people at TV Land have created. This next installment is about a British sci-fi sitcom where almost everyone dies in the first episode. There have been many sci-fi shows, many, many comedy programs and some sci-fi sitcoms. But none are like this. None are set three million years into the future on a space ship where, unsurprisingly, all the crew are dead. All, except a lager-downing, curry-chomping, hopeless guitar-playing, unwashed lout who could possibly be the last human alive. Yes, Red Dwarf is one of The Greatest TV Shows Ever.

The mining ship Red Dwarf was hit by a catastrophic radiation leak deep in outer space which turned all human life forms into piles of dust. [...]

Dave3 and I are heading back now to Geeks of Doom headquarters in New York after having enjoyed a much-need vacation here in Orlando, FL, staying at the Disney World Resort and also spending a full day at Universal Studios Orlando. We got to go to Universal’s Wizarding World of Harry Potter, which was one of the highlights of the trip, so I’ll be doing a separate report on that in the future.

Thanks to all of you who entered our Disney World Postcard & Theme Park Prize Contest. The winners were chosen, and all 25 postcards sent from Disney World. Also, the item for the Grand Prize Winner was purchased and sent directly from the Disney World Resort, so lucky winner, expect your prize in about 10 days.

If you entered the Disney World Postcard & Theme Park Prize Contest, be sure to continue reading below to find out how you can win an extra prize!

The turnout for this contest was great and it was wonderful reading all of your entries, learning all about what you love about Disney. I tried my hardest to choose postcards that matched your Disney likes. While I could only select 25 people to send to, I truly wish I could have sent one to everyone who entered. I’m blessed to have such an awesome readership, and I hope all of you winners enjoy your postcard [...]

We have an edgy new clip from the upcoming Nicolas Cage actioner, Drive Angry 3D, where he plays an escapee from Hell determined to find the cult that killed his daughter and kidnapped her baby.

He teams with a waitress that just happens to own a ’69 Charger and is looking for her own redemption. They have three days to avenge the daughter and save the baby before Cage’s character has to go back to Hell. The plot sounds like grindhouse fun but the addition of the 3D detracts from a gritty fun feel that the film could have had. Along with Cage the film also stars Amber Heard, Billy Burke, and William Fichner.

Drive Angry comes to us courtesy of director Patrick Lussier, the man responsible for White Noise 2: The Light and Dracula III: Legacy, so not only do we have to be concerned about Nicolas Cage’s sliding career but also an unproven director. To be fair though, Lussier did direct the surprisingly entertaining (not good, but still entertaining) My Bloody Valentine remake. [...]

The Six Million Dollar Man
The Complete Season One
DVD
TimeLife

I recently had a chance to view the series The Six Million Dollar Man Season 1 on DVD. The classic show follows the adventures of former astronaut Colonel Steve Austin (Lee Majors), who was horribly injured after crashing an experimental airplane. Austin is rebuilt with bionic parts. He has a bionic arm, eye, and two bionic legs. He can run at incredible speeds, has superhuman strength in his bionic arm and can see over great distances.

Colonel Austin repays his debt to the people who built him by going on secret missions. I remember watching reruns of this show as a child and playing with my brother’s Steve Austin action figure. This DVD set brought back a lot of those memories. The Six Million Dollar Man was a fun, action-packed show. Some of the effects seem a little dated. There was a fight scene between Steve Austin and an alligator that looks hilarious now. However, the show still retains its charm [...]

David E. Kelley shopped a Wonder Woman pitch to the networks late last year only to get the proverbial door slammed in his face over and over again [read: Proposed ‘Wonder Woman’ TV Series Meets More Rejection]. So fans thought, rightfully so, that their dreams of seeing the heroine on the small screen were dashed, but the new NBC Entertainment president Bob Greenblatt has saved the day by picking up Kelley’s script.

Kelley’s upcoming series Harry’s Law and the support of the new President both helped NBC commit to the series and to the steep licensing fee. The series is described as a reinvention of the classic DC Comics comic book with Wonder Woman being a vigilante crime fighter, a successful corporate executive, and modern woman trying to balance all of the elements of her extraordinary life. This is familiar territory for Kelley who has had success in the past writing these modern woman types of stories with previous shows such as Ally McBeal and The Practice [...]