Good Charlotte teamed with Funny or Die to turn their new music video into a nostalgic hit. “Last Night,” a cut off their latest record Cardiology, was filmed on the Family Double Dare set and features the Nickelodeon game show’s host Marc Summers. I really miss all those wacky and messy competitions; let’s hope that Nick has plans to re-air some of the classic episodes later this fall.
[Via EW]
After dropping two teasers on us (the one from way back in May and the 30-second Super Bowl spot), Paramount opened the crack a bit more today providing us with a full-blown theatrical trailer for Super 8, the shrouded-in-mystery sci-fi Spielberg homage from writer/director J.J. Abrams and producer Steven Spielberg. The studio even let loose a synopsis!
“In the summer of 1979, a group of friends in a small Ohio town witness a catastrophic train crash while making a super 8 movie and soon suspect that it was not an accident. Shortly after, unusual disappearances and inexplicable events begin to take place in town, and the local Deputy tries to uncover the truth — something more terrifying than any of them could have imagined.”
That pretty much sums up what’s going on in this new trailer. Looks like we can expect a character-driven story with phenomenal visuals and a mystery (alien invasion?) hanging over our heads. Can’t wait. Super 8, starring Kyle Chandler, Elle Fanning, Joel Courtney, Gabriel Basso, Noah Emmerich, Ron Eldard, Riley Griffiths, Ryan Lee and Zach Mills, opens June 10 in standard and IMAX theatres.
Look after the break to see the official movie poster.
[Thanks, Andrew F.] Continue reading Trailer: Super 8 (plus synopsis)
Neil Patrick Harris, Hank Azaria, and Glee‘s Jayma Mays star alongside the little blue guys in this new trailer for Sony’s upcoming 3D flick The Smurfs. Voice actors include Jonathan Winters as Papa Smurf, Katy Perry as Smurfette, Alan Cumming as Gutsy Smurf, George Lopez as Grouchy Smurf, Gary Basaraba as Hefty Smurf, Anton Yelchin as Clumsy Smurf, Fred Armisen as Brainy Smurf, John Oliver as Vanity Smurf, Paul Reubens as Jokey Smurf, Kenan Thompson as Greedy Smurf, B. J. Novak as Baker Smurf, Jeff Foxworthy as Handy Smurf, and Wolfgang Puck as Chef Smurf.
The Smurfs opens wide August 3.
After an extended three month hiatus, NBC’s sci-fi drama The Event returns to the airwaves tonight. After a promising start (remember–what happened to that plane?!), the mysteries started piling on top of each other with no cohesive plot thread tying them together and this resulted in contrived, lackluster plotlines that failed to challenge the viewer intellectually (or in any way for that matter). Save for the handful of character-driven episodes the first half of the season was dominated by run-of-the-mill action sequences, cheesy dialogue, and lots of running (Sean and Leila need more to do!). As the show’s creativity lost its touch early on, viewers dropped in significant numbers. The long hiatus provided the show’s creators plenty of time to retool things; I have faith that the show can transform itself from a rollercoaster of good-decent-filler episodes into a reliable mystery drama that’ll make me want to tune in every week. But first things first–they’ve got to tell us what the event IS! Perhaps episode 15 will provide some answers.
The Event returns tonight at 9PM on NBC. It’s a 2 hour, erm, event, so set your DVRs accordingly. Check out photos from “And Then There Were More” and “Inostranka” in the gallery below. Beware of minor spoilers. Need a refresher? Jump after the break to watch a brief recap.
Update: To the surprise of no one The Event returned not with a bang but as a bust. Though the two-hour return was (for the most part) fast-paced with some fun action segments, the writing is still poor and the story is, well, uneventful. The ratings agree: the show drew a 1.4/4 in the 18-49 demo and 5.2 million total viewers. That’s down 26% from its last original airing back on November 29. If these numbers don’t start to steadily increase and stabilize between now and April, you can kiss this thrill-less sci-fi thriller goodbye.
Continue reading TV Reminder: ‘The Event’ returns tonight on NBC [Update: Low ratings]
On Wednesday Apple revealed the next generation iPad. The iPad 2 is very much an evolutionary iterative device. It is faster, lighter, and thinner than its predecessor, packs back and front-facing cameras, and comes preloaded with a new version of iOS. Take my hand and let’s discover everything that makes iPad 2 the next extraordinary tablet, or as Steve Jobs calls it the “third blockbuster post-PC product” joining the iPod and iPhone.
Specs are important to you, hm? Then let’s start there. iPad 2 is faster. It features Apple’s new 1GHz dual-core A5 processor that is up to 2X faster than the A4; it boasts up to 9X faster graphics and somehow still maintains the same low power as the A4. Battery life remains the same at 10 hours with over a month of standby. iPad 2 is lighter and thinner. It is a mere 8.8mm thick, that’s 33% thinner than the original iPad (13.4mm). In fact, it is even thinner than iPhone 4 (9.3mm). It also lost some weight dropping from 1.5 to 1.3 pounds. On the front you’ll find a VGA camera that takes pictures and records video at 30fps; the camera around back shoots video in 720p HD also at 30fps and can do 5x digital zoom. The built-in gyroscope will assist the device in locating itself in space and orientation; higher precision in gaming will result. Last, Apple has hooked up with AT&T and Verizon to bring 3G data to the tablet.
iPad 2 is coming sooner than you think. It will be made available for purchasing March 11 in two color options: black and white (thankfully the latter ships “from day one”, teehee). Pricing remains the same, too; iPad 2 will come in various capacities (16, 32, 64GB) and models (WiFi, WiFi + 3G) starting at $499. After releasing on the 11th in the U.S., the new iPad will make its way to an additional 26 countries (including Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, and the UK) on March 25.
Learn all about iPad 2’s accessories, iOS 4.3, and new apps after the break. Continue reading iPad 2 coming March 11: faster, lighter, thinner w/ iOS 4.3 & cameras
From writer/director James Gunn (Slither) comes Super, a story that centers on an everyday guy (The Office‘s Rainn Wilson) who transforms himself into a superhero named the Crimson Bolt after his wife (Liv Tyler) falls under the influence of a ruthless drug dealer (Kevin Bacon). Ellen Page (who acted alongside Wilson in Juno) plays his sidekick Boltie and together they fight against local crime. Nathan Fillion also plays a masked crusader. Instead of me trying to force a plot synopsis on you, simply mash play and fall in love with the trailer above. Super performed well when it premiered at the Toronto Film Festival last year (IFC Films picked it up for distribution), and anticipation is ramping up for its U.S. theatrical release that is April 1.
Hurley is coming to Fringe! Jorge Garcia is Island-hopping from Lost to Alcatraz, and somewhere in-between he has managed to find time to land a guest role in an upcoming episode of Fringe. (These are all shows from mastermind J.J. Abrams, mind you.) According to EW, he will play a Massive Dynamic employee. Beyond that, you’ll have to watch next week’s episode “Os” to find out how he fits into the puzzle. But just look at the still sitting above–Hurley and Walter deep in conversation! Who knew such worlds would one day collide?
Frothing at the mouth for more? Again, that’s it for the Hurley scoop; but jump after the break to watch a brand new promo spot produced by FOX for the greatest sci-fi show out there. It succinctly tells the tale of the parallel universes and subtly hints at the impending war that’s coming.
Fringe airs Fridays at 9PM on FOX.
[Via EW] Continue reading Jorge Garcia to guest star on ‘Fringe’
Everybody loves Sara Bareilles. Why? Because she’s brilliantly talented, has a wonderful voice, and she happens to be super cute. However, if you think you’ll be watching her perform in this followup music video to her first Kaleidoscope Heart single “King of Anything” you’re sorely mistaken. Though she does make a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it appearance at the very end of the clip, the video for “Uncharted” stars countless celebrities mouthing the words to the catchy tune. You’ll spot (Professor) Ben Folds, Josh Groban, Pharrell Williams, Maroon 5’s Adam Levine, OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder, and YouTube lip-syncing sensation Keenan Cahill, among many others. Go on, mash play and sing along!
Somehow, someway Lady Gaga manages to top herself when it comes to making music videos. As you would expect, this seven minute tale wraps together the lead single off her second album and a story about rebirth including the opening “Manifesto of Mother Monster” backed by Bernard Herrmann’s Vertigo theme. It gets weird when Gaga starts giving birth to slimy versions of herself, but things start to stabilize when the catchy track begins to play about two-and-a-half minutes in. Grab some popcorn, turn up the volume, and enjoy Mother Monster’s latest and greatest. And FYI–she’s planning to release a second video featuring an acoustic version of the song.
The Wolfpack is back. Ed Helms sports a Mike Tyson style face tattoo, Zach Galifianakis’ head is shaved, Justin Bartha is missing, and Bradley Cooper is Bradley Cooper in this teaser trailer for the much anticipated sequel to Todd Phillips’ The Hangover. Baby Carlos is also MIA, but in his place is a tiny monkey who joins the misguided gang on their next journey based in Bangkok. The teaser is exactly that–it doesn’t really provide any details about the film’s plotline. But it’s worth a watch anyway because it’s great to see the guys back together again. I’ve got a good feeling the sequel will live up to its predecessor when it releases May 26.
Google has put together this fascinating look at the growth of Android between October 2008 and January 2011. Spots around the world light up when an Android-powered smartphones get activated. It’s fun to watch significant spikes light up the map when specific phones released into the market. See how the launch of Motorola’s Droid and others affected the growth of Google’s open-source platform in the visualization embedded above.
[Via AndroidCentral]
Dre’s latest music video plays out more like short film, really. The seven-and-a-half-minute video for “I Need a Doctor,” directed by filmmaker Allen Hughes, takes us on a journey through Dre’s career using inserted pictures and video from his past. In the present Dre remains alive on life support as Eminem thanks him for his support over the years. Em raps, “You picked me up, breathed new life in me, I owe my life to you.” A ghostly Skylar Grey sings the hook. Notice all the HP product placement? How could you not. The recently announced Pre 3 and TouchPad make Touch-to-Share magic at the 4:20 mark (how ironic for the man who produced The Chronic).