Thursday, May 31, 2007

GUITAR HERO EMBARASSES ALL ASIANS

GUITAR HERO / EXPERT LEVEL / RUSH'S YYZ
"What's up, internet?! Alot of people have asked me about the chains. The reason I have them on is my soul is so blisteringly fast that if i didn't keep them tied down somehow I might impregnate women by sheer proximity."

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*thanks, Jason!

MANDALORIANS DOTH COMETH

Yep, it was bound to happen.... Hasbro is set to start making MANDALORIAN figures. The first one is LLATS WARD, who I've never heard of before (must be a novel or comic character). From what I found, he "was one such mercenary, hand-picked by Jango Fett to train his clones on the rainy ocean world of Kamino. Everything in the life of Llats revolves around battle and war. He has studied and memorized the campaigns of all the great Mandalorian leaders of the past, and uses these as lessons to enhance the clone troopers' fighting skills."
Blah blah blah. Oh well, if the Mandalorian figs look cool, I may get some. But fuck if I'm going to read their lame bios.
Look for more information to be announced at this year's San Diego Comic Con!

CHOCOLATE HAN SOLO

Finally! How to make a chocolate Han Solo in Carbonite bar!
Click HERE, ya scoundrels!!!

BOY KILLS FOREST GOD

You've All probably seen this before, but due to popular demand, I'm posting about it. Little 11 year old Jamison Stone has killed a Forest Pig God in Alabama. Thankfully, in Alabama, there's not age requirement for hunting and using firearms. Lil Jamison has been hunting since he was 5, when he shot his first deer. The god weighed 1,051 pounds and measured 9-feet-4 from the tip of its snout to the base of its tail. Personally, I would have left it alive... taken some pictures... but something like that, you simply don't kill in my book; Forest God!! Nice work, God Killer.

It reminds me of OKKOTONUSHI, the Pig Forest God in Princess Mononoke.
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*thanks, Jason - for the Mononoke reminder!

HARRY POTTER THEME PARK

Bloody Hell! Potter geeks rejoice because in a few years you're going to have your own Harry Potter Them Park.... sort of. In 2009, Universal Stuidos in Orlando, FL will open up The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, a theme park within a theme park! Visitors can stroll about Hogsmeade and the Forbidden Forest and explore Hogwarts castle. "The plans I've seen look incredibly exciting, and I don't think fans of the books or films will be disappointed," Rowling said. Stuart Craig, production designer on the Harry Potter movies, is leading the creative design on the park to ensure it remains true to the look and feel of the films. Sounds pretty awesome to me! Road trip!

RAD MACH-5 (I WANT ONE)

Dig the MACH-5 in the upcoming live action movie of SPEED RACER directed by the Wachowski Bros! Yay for sticking with the source material!

CLASSICAL ALIEN PIC

Thanks, Jen!!

ODIN, THE WHITE TIGER, RULEZ

AWESOME!!!

And his name is "ODIN" - double Awesome!
"Odin was hand-raised at the zoo. And after he was weaned, his British trainer Lee Munro discovered his remarkable skill: when a lump of meat was thrown into a pool of water, Odin would happily dive in after it. Odin can now be observed in action, at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom Zoo in Vallejo, near San Francisco, in a large pool with glass walls has been constructed at the zoo to allow visitors to watch him gliding through the water with all the grace of a polar bear.... A century ago there were about 100,000 tigers in the wild. Now there are just 2,500 adults, with the Bengal variety almost extinct. Within our lifetimes, zoos might be the only places left to see these animals alive."

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*thanks, HH!

GUITAR HERO ENCORE: 80s ROCK !

YAY!
GUITAR HERO ENCORE: ROCK THE 80s will be coming out soon on the PS2!! So far, songs officially released to the Press are:

Quiet Riot - "Bang Your Head (Metal Health)"
Asia - "Heat of the Moment"
Dio - "Holy Diver"
Flock of Seagulls - "I Ran (So Far Away)" (Master Track)
Twisted Sister - "I Wanna Rock" (Master Track)
Bow Wow Wow - "I Want Candy"
Ratt - "Round and Round"
Skid Row - "18 and Life"
Faster Pussycat - "Bathroom Wall"
Billy Squier - "Lonely is the Night"
Poison - "Nothing But A Good Time"
Extreme - "Play With Me"
Eddie Money - "Shaken"
Police - "Synchronicity II"
Note that "I Ran" and "I Wanna Rock" are the original recordings while the other tracks are "As Made Famous By", or covers in other words.

GUITAR HERO III will be coming out soon, too!
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*thanks, Melchy!
**thanks, SpaceJase - for the clarification that GHIII WIILL INDEED be available for the PS2!

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

RENATO GUEDES' SUPERGIRL

August 1st sees a new creative team on DC's SUPERGIRL comic with Supergirl #20; written by Tony Bedard with art by RENATO GUEDES. Here's some character studies of Kara. I think they rock! Its nice to see the character brought down to earth abit and away from the ridiculous look she had before; teenage trailer trash stripper for guys with young girl fetishes. I plan on checking out the book when they come on board. Until then, click on the below image to enlarge and dig his sketches!

ALIEN TATTOOS OF THE DAY

These were only available in Thumbnail form, so I'm grouping 3 Tats together. The two Warrior ones look like they're from the same artwork (kinda), but I can't place the source... although they look familiar, meaning I think they are from another source of artwork. At first I was thinking the one on the left was from Sam Keith's "Earth War" comic series, but the more I looked at it, I realized it isn't his style. The one on the right... perhaps from the first ALIENS VS PREDATOR comic series from Dark Horse(??)... which, btw, was awesome and the movie should have been an adaptation of that.

INTERNATIONAL TRANSFORMERS POSTER

Neat!

COOL CELEB SIGHTING: BUD BUNDY

I see celebrities around town all the time, but rarely do I see one where I want to post about it! Last night we ran into David Faustino, aka BUD BUNDY!!! Awesome!!!!

Um, yeah, that is all.
Post done.

NEPTUNE COMICS ROCKS ! !

LISA and her store NEPTUNE COMICS are the absolute best!
A few weeks ago my local comic shop sold out of OMEGA FLIGHT #1 (as did all the other shops in LA). Well, Lisa flew in to save the day! Not only did she hook me up with my own copy, but she extended her awesomeness to my local shop and gave them a dozen copies at half price! See, that's what I'm talking about - a community of comic lovers helping each other out! So please let me know if there's anything I can do to help you out, Lisa!

Thank you very very much, Lisa!
YOU ROCK!!!!!

Go buy something from Lisa now HERE!

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

OPTIMUS PILLOW

Holy Cybertron!!
This Optimus Prime PILLOW actually transforms!!
Retail Price: $10, which means we're all buying one!

If only his chest opened up and stored an Autobot Matrix flashlight.
(source)
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*thanks, SheilaD!!

PLATINUM GUNDAM (HEY THAT KINDA RHYMES!)

Whoa...
this is a Gundam figure made entirely out of PLATINUM
and worth $41,468!!!
I thought this was really really stupid
......until I imagined a Platinum ALIEN figure.
Now all I can think about is having a platinum Alien figure.....
platinum Alien figure.....platinum Alien figure.....platinum Alien figure.....

UNITED ARABS EMIRATES BUILD DEATH STAR

This is the proposed Ras al Khaimah Convention and Exhibition Centre in the UAE. Designed by Rem Koolhaas and Reinier de Graaf as part of their collaboration with OMA, the sphere holds a convention centre, hotel rooms, apartments, offices and retail space. Fear will keep the local systems in line. Fear of this battlestation!

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*thanks, Maker!

ALIEN TATTOO OF THE DAY

Tattoo/Possible Source comparison:
Cool Tat. Not sure of the source (if any) but I immediately thought back to JOHN BOLTON'S painting on the back cover to the ALIENS: EARTH WAR collected trade by Dark Horse Comics.

HEEERE'S BRITNEY ! !



Darth Spears

STAR WARS FAMILY GUY

Sweet! The first episode of Family Guy's 5th Season (sept) will be an hour-long retelling of STAR WARS (A New Hope) played by the Family Guy cast! Peter/Han, Lois/Leia, Stewie/Vader, Brian/Chewie, Chris/Luke, Cleveland & Quagmire/TheDroids, Herbert(creepy old white guy)/ObiWan, etc.

Previous Star Wars spoofs on Family Guy

DEVASTATOR

Dig this cool custom DEVASTATOR pic by Javeta!


Click on the image to enlarge!





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*thanks, Eric!

HOLLYWOOD PUTS PRESSURE ON VFX SHOPS

"Visual effects houses are worried about the increasing demand for more product, at higher quality [in less time].... One producer, according to a story making the rounds of vfx shops, is reported to have said, "If I don't put a visual effects shop out of business (on my movie), I'm not doing my job."

There's a great article in Variety which spotlights the intense pressure Hollywood Studios puts on Visual FX companies.
Click HERE to read (please do) or at Variety's site.

RAMBO IV TEASER


Lots of gore. Some guy running around in a Rambo costume saving Christian Missionaries. Where's Van Damme? This is his kind of movie. Damn them for making this movie. And damn Me for going to see it, which I will. My weakness makes me ill.

Go rent FIRST BLOOD - it's awesome!!!!

TRANSFORMERS POSTERS

Here are 3 new TRANSFORMERS posters exploding with excitement.
(you know you want to pinch Prime's cheeks)

FINAL JOKER *YAWN*

So apparently this is what Heath Ledger's JOKER is going to look like. Bah. The "smile" is boring, unimaginitive and about as creepy as the old cat lady at my supermarket on too many meds who can't do her makup properly anymore. I would have much preferred going with something more like in Pan's Labyrinth when the Captain gets his mouth slit open into a gruesome smile, but on both sides.

BACK FROM VACATION ! ! !

WHO MISSED ME?!
(I'm not posting until someone tearfully confesses!)

Friday, May 25, 2007

ALIEN TURNS 28 ! ! !

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ALIEN!!!!May 25, 1979 - ALIEN debuts theatrically.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

JIMSMASH CASTING COUCH: NICK FURY

David Hasslehoff has portrayed him (ugh) and Marvel is currently portraying him as Samuel L. Jackson in the Ultimate Universe (ugh).... I say cast KURT RUSSELL. He has the gruff, meat-n-potatoes, ole warhorse aura about him that would work. Plus, if you look at the cover to the trade NICK FURY VS S.H.I.E.L.D.... come on: Kurt Russell!

Previous JimSmash Casting Couch:
*
Deadpool
* Cobra Commander
Quasi-Casting Couch:
* Obi-Wan Kenobi - Age 45

Friday, May 11, 2007

JIMSMASH VACATION - BACK IN 2 WEEKS

Sorry Folks!
JIMSMASH will be INACTIVE
for the next 2 weeks
as I rebuild me brain and health.


I may try and post here or there....
JIMSMASH will return to its normal awesomeness MAY 28th!
Mark your calendars!

CONGRATS TO "OTTER"

WHO'S GETTING MARRIED
SATURDAY MAY 12TH!!!!

BAMBI II DVD DISPLAY

Ha! Nice, someone stocked the SAW II dvd stand with BAMBI II dvds.
Funny.

SPIDER-MAN 3 REVIEW

We saw Spiderman 3 last night. Before I get into the review, there's a few disclaimers I feel I must say so you know where I'm coming from on this review....

I love Spiderman comics. He's awesome. I wasn't a big fan of the first two movies. They were well above average for a comic book movie, but overall I thought they were eh. The first half of 1 was outstanding, then floundered once the Green Goblin in his power ranger suit showed up. Part 2 was hit or miss throughout (Doc Ock's tentacles were cool). This is merely a version and Raimi's vision and interpretation of the Mythos. So check the comic knowledge at the door and remember its all taking place within the Raimiverse. I had heard nothing but horror stories about Spidey3 so I went in expecting Ghost Rider or Catwoman level of poop. Thankfully, it much better than those, so I quite enjoyed myself. But make no mistake from what I'm about to say, this is not a good movie. But it has enough funness to enjoy it.... simply go in with the lowest of low expectations and enjoy the good moments when you see em.

And now the review..... (and yes, I'm aware most people will disagree with me on this)

THE GOOD:
The action is awesome! We finally get to see how cool Spiderman is in action with his abilities. And Raimi ups the "larger than life" action scenarios that should be in all comic book movies. Harry's story is well done and the strongest of the storylines. I didn't even mind the Sports Chalet costume... it fit with where he was as a character in this movie version. Sandman is great, too. Church totally looks and acts the part. The birth of Sandman was a highlight for me. And within the movie series, I didn't mind his new retconned connection to Uncle Ben. Topher does a great job as an altered version of Brock and has a great birth of Venom scene. The symbiote animation rocks and overall I thought the guys at Sony did a great job with FX. Sure, alot of it looks rubbery or cg, but the STORYTELLING its serving its purpose for was outstanding. There are some scenes that I have never seen in a movie before. Did it look real? No, but it was a new way of storytelling and it was refreshing. With movies like these, you kind of have to imagine that the whole movie is CG. You don't watch Shrek 3 (out today, go see and support Jason) and harp on how the whole movie looks CG, do you? Go with it, it will make your movie experience better.

OVERALL:
The story is blah and overstretched, but the action makes the movie. This third movie is all about having fun. You know the characters and world and I just wanted to see fun comic book stuff. Spidey 3 is probably the most COMIC like movie of the three, and that's what I wanted. Remove several horrid scenes (listed below... and probably a few I forgot) and its a fun movie. I liked it.... but then again, I went in with the lowest of low expectations. Edit all three into one 3 hour movie, I say.

SPOILERS BELOW:
THE BAD:
Ok, so there's about 5 large chunks that need to be removed and forgotten. Then about another 5-10 small bits. Because you asked, here they are:

BIG CHUNKS:
1) The loooong, boring, stupid singing scene with MJ in the play. Like I said, it was boring and she can't sing.

2) The looooong boring Aunt May story of how Uncle Ben (who apparently looked good in a swimsuit) proposed to him. It was like watching a drawn out Retirement Medicaid commercial.

3) Emo Parker - just have his hair messy and in his face when he's bad. Him stopping in front of a mirror and purposefully making his hair looked emo was painful. Then they kept going with it.

4) Weave the Symbiote into the story a bit better. The meteorite lands right next to Peter and jumps onto his bike? If they had just had it land in the beginning and show it seeking out a strong host, being drawn to Peter in the city and eventually finding him, it would have sealed the deal.

5) Peter's Saturday Night Fever Strut scene.... throwing the guns at women and dancing in doorways.

6) The Jazz Bar dance scene. I get why, but it hurt the film.


SMALL CHUNKS:
1) Gwen Stacy? Why? She serves no purpose. Its a shame because Howard makes a fantastic Gwen (even tho the movie series kind of swaps Gwen and MJ's characters).

2) Harry's butler. Um, where did this guy come from? If he had had a presence in the first two, ok. Maybe Raimi should shoot some xtra scenes and insert him into those for the Trilogy dvd set. Because otherwise suddenly we have this character moving the plot along and it feels very awkward and forced.

3) The Spidey in front of the giant CG American Flag. Come on! Spidey's a hero for all, not a flag waver. He's never been that so remove it; it pulled me out of the film and I groaned out loud.

4) Please stop with all the constant mask removal scenes.

5) Too many villains. I liked both in the film and they worked well together (both fluid creatures), but the story suffered because of it. I'd like to see them again in future outings, even if briefly (mainly Sandman). Venom is barely in the film.

6) Someone make Dunst eat a hamburger. While she was much better in this movie, she was so thin and sickly looking it grossed me out too often.

Like I said, remove these 12 things and the movie greatly greatly improves. Seriously, when those moments appear, just ignore them.

Thursday, May 10, 2007

DARTH SPEARS

FAMILY GUY VS STREET FIGHTER


Watch the first fight, then skip to the end....
unless you want to basically watch the same fight 3 times.
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*This post dedicated to Jason.

CLASSY

Classy billboard by classy lawyers.
I read that community outcry got the billboard taken down.
Maybe Marvel can use the pictures.
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Speaking of classy...
Random find: Ron Burgandy in Iraq!

ALIEN TATTOO OF THE DAY

Sweet! This one looks like its taken from Giger's unused (yet swiped idea) design for the "Dog Alien" in ALIEN 3.

JAPANESE SPIDERMAN TRANSFORMATION

TRANSFORMERS FULL BODY PICS


More full body big pics of the Transformers HERE.



Or, see at the source at MBay's blog.

STAR WARS LEGACY

Speaking of STAR WARS.....
The History Channel is going to be airing a new 2 hour special called "STAR WARS: THE LEGACY REVEALED", in which they basically ask "Why do people freak out over this stuff?!". It's chock full of interviews and stuff. Look for it at May 28, 9pm ET/PT.

MORE STAR WARS CRAP

In addition to the upcoming "CLONE WARS" 3D Animated Series and a live-action TV series, Lucas has revealed he is also planning TWO new Made-For-TV Star Wars MOVIES. As a huge Star Wars fan, I would like to say I could give a shit. I am beginning to think Lucas' main goal in life now is to completely ruin the Star Wars Mythos. No more, Lucas. I beg you. Stop ruining the originals with various special editions. Stop making shitty prequels. Stop making tv shows. Stop ruining something I used to love. Just fucking stop.

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

BEWARE OF TURTLE


Apparently this turtle defends the garden it lives in from invading cats.
If I wasn't so opposed to messing with Animals, I'd say they should paint the turtle's shell with war paint.

CUSTOM ALIEN CAR

I really appreciate the effort, but I'm just not one of those people who love that "Boardwalk Airbrush" style. But kudos for making your car look like this! I'm afraid its getting to the point in my life where, if I had the money to splurge, I think I would customize my own car with ALIEN imagery. Yep. I scare myself sometimes.

The other side of the car and hood has Predator images.... its actually an AVP car. But fuck that noise.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME, MARVEL?

Saw this over at Lisa's cool blog. Marvel and Sideshow Collectibles have teamed up once again to turn a beloved character, this time MJ Watson, into a cheap pathetic spank tool for adolescent boys and very lonely men with women issues. But hey, atleast MJ doesn't have udder-boobs. This will go nicely with the White Queen maquette. And fanboys wonder why women think they're creepy. This does not help the Comic Industry, Marvel.

FUN GALACTUS PIC

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*thanks, Maker!

LA FIRES

Here are some pics of the LA fires going on in Griffith Park. I think there's a cover up going on here.... why else would they also be spraying Red Dust? You know, the red dust that's lethal to Visitors... the lizard alien people.... from V.... hello, is this thing on?

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

ALIEN TATTOO OF THE DAY

Nipple!!! Anyway, this tattoo is clearly freehanded designed. When I first saw it, it looked familiar but I couldn't put my finger on it. About 2minutes later it popped into my head - it looks somewhat similar to the image used for the ALIEN SAGA dvd release several years ago. The image used for the dvd packaging was an unused pic of Stan Winston's Alien suit from ALIENS. The cover is cropped, but the poster for the release showed the full alien, pretty much in the pose in the Tat (trust me) - its a pretty awesome poster and I have it framed, heh. So yeah, I'm thinking that image was the source of inspiration for the Tat. Why they didn't go for the full effect and instead go with the crappy faux-Giger work is beyond me.

UPDATE: I just realized that same Alien image was also used for the Director's Cut dvd of AVP (pic below). Funny that they use STAN WINSTON's Alien (from ALIENS) to sell this movie, instead of using the actual Alien featured in AVP. Anyway, that image better shows the alien's hips and legs to better compare to the tattoo pose.