Verizon & T-Mobile introduce new tiered data plans to compete with AT&T’s offerings

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Remember back in June AT&T marked the beginning of the end for “unlimited” data plans for cell phone users?  Well direct competitors Verizon and T-Mobile recently jumped onto the tiered data plan bandwagon, so let’s have a look-see.  Unlike like AT&T’s data-capped plan that forces new subscribers to choose between 200MB and 2GB options, Big Red and T-Mobile are keeping the unlimited $30 smartphone 3G data plans (for now).  What’s changed is the addition of cheaper options for less data-heavy users.  The breakdown is fairly simple.  VZ subscribers can now choose from the $30 unlimited option and a new $15 150MB/month option with $0.10 per MB overage.  T-Mobile subscribers can go unlimited for $30 or pay $15 for 200MB/month.  You can pick up the latter option for only $10/month for “a limited time” if you sign a new 2-year contract with it.  And that’s about it.  What’s interesting here is that VZ and T-Mobile have decided to keep the unlimited option, while AT&T has eliminated it for new customers (if you had it before the changes AT&T let you grandfather it).  I’m oh-so curious to follow the journey of the unlimited data plan; with such a big push toward tiered data plans, it’s starting to seem like carriers are moving away from it.  Will it survive in a 4G world?

[Via Engadget, here & here]

Trailer: Kid Cudi – MOTM2: The Legend of Mr. Rager

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Cudder is continuing the cinematic theme with the release of his sophomore album.  Just like he did with the first Man on the Moon album, Kid Cudi has put together a short trailer to promote his music (that is organized by scene, mind you).  There really isn’t much to it, unfortunately.  There’s some shreaking and nicely cut shots, and now we know where those posters originate from.  Look after the break for 3 “deluxe” trailers; they are 30 second spots from the DVD documentary “Journey of Mr. Rager”  Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager drops November 9.  Preorder now.

[Via DatNewCudi] Continue reading Trailer: Kid Cudi — MOTM2: The Legend of Mr. Rager →

G.O.O.D. Friday: Kanye West – “The Joy” (Featuring Pete Rock, Jay-Z, Charlie Wilson, Curtis Mayfield & Kid Cudi)

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G.O.O.D. Friday, ya’ll.  This past week’s joint features Jay-Z, Charlie Wilson, Kid Cudi, and newcomers Pete Rock and the late, great Curtis Mayfield (his 1970s hit “The Makings Of You” gets sampled).  Also sampled is Syl Johnson’s “Different Strokes”.  Preview and download below.  Again, the cover art does contain nudity so hop after the break if you want the uncensored image.

Download: Kanye West – “The Joy” (Featuring Pete Rock, Jay-Z, Charlie Wilson, Curtis Mayfield & Kid Cudi)

[audio: Kanye West – The Joy.mp3]

[Via KWBlog]

TV Reminder: ‘The Walking Dead’ premieres tonight! [Update: the ratings are in…]

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After many years of anticipation, tonight zombies will invade our living rooms like never before.  The Walking Dead, a comic book series created by Robert Kirkman and adapted for television by Frank Darabont, follows a group of survivors dealing with a world overrun by zombies.  The collaboration between Kirkman, Darabont, producer Gale Anne Hurd, and makeup effects artist Greg Nicotero promises to result in a frightening drama about the human psyche featuring the best looking and most convincing zombies made for television.  The 6-episode season one arc begins tonight at 10PM on AMC.  The series premiere runs an hour and a half in length, so set your DVRs accordingly.  And if you plan on celebrating Halloween night outside the home, don’t forget to record it!  Happy Halloween!

Look in the gallery below for character profiles and spooky stills from the premiere.

Update: The Walking Dead premiere was a record-smashing success!  The 10PM showing attracted 5.3 million viewers–the largest audience for an AMC original series ever.  Want another record-breaking stat?  In the 18-49 demo, the show netted 3.6 million viewers making it the highest rated cable series debut in 2010.  The adults 25-54 and 18-34 demos netted 3.1 million and 2.1 million viewers, respectively.  AMC aired the premiere two more time during the night (at 11PM and again at 1AM), so if you take those showings into account, the premiere garnered a grand total of 8.1 million viewers.  Says Charlie Collier, AMC president: “It’s a good day to be dead.  We are so proud of this series, its depth of storytelling and the remarkable talent attached.  As the network dedicated to bringing viewers the best stories on television, we are so pleased to have the opportunity with The Walking Dead to raise the bar within this popular genre and continue our commitment to being the home of premium television on basic cable.”  So Mr. Collier, how about renewing this flipping success for a second season, hm?

[Images via IGN; Deadline; EW]


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TRON NIGHT summary & impressions

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On October 28 Tron fans were treated to an early glimpse into the upcoming Disney movie Tron: Legacy.  Across the world select IMAX 3D theatres hosted TRON NIGHT, “a free exclusive 20+ minute sneak peek” of the movie.  I attended the special screening tonight, and here is a summary interjected with my impressions.

When I got to the theatre about an hour before the 7PM screening, there was already a small line forming.  While movie-goers waited on line we were handed Tron swag including promotional material about the size of a postcard; one is an image of Daft Punk in costume promoting the upcoming Tron soundtrack and the other is an image of a Tron program character and on the other side a promotion for an Asus laptop (they sponsored the event).  We were also required to check-in and wear a bracelet with the TRON NIGHT logo on it.  Don’t think I’ll be taking that off any time soon.  Before entering the IMAX 3D theatre, we were forced to leave our cell phones behind (for obvious reasons) and a security officer quickly scanned our bodies with a wand to make sure we weren’t harboring any electronic devices.  Crazy, right?  After receiving a pair of 3D glasses, we entered the theatre and took our (perfect!) seats.

A minute before showtime the event coordinator welcomed everyone to the screening and implored us to share our excitement for Tron: Legacy with friends and on the Internet (what do you think I’m doing right now?).  The lights went dim and we were presented with a brief message from the movie’s director Joseph Kosinski.  In a typed note, he told us that the scenes we were about to see take place in the first half of the movie and that it is OK to wear the 3D glasses during the 2D scenes.  Just in case you are not aware of this, the “real world” scenes were shot in 2D and the “Tron universe” scenes are in 3D.  After this brief introduction the sneak preview started right away (that’s right–no trailers).  The 23 minutes of (not entirely) never-before-seen footage was split into five scenes.  I will detail them as best I can below.

Scene 20: Sam’s Garage– This first scene was set in the “real world”, so it was shot in 2D but still looked brilliant with 3D glasses on (as the director promised it would).  The scene takes place in Sam Flynn’s (Garrett Hedlund) garage.  You’d recognize this scene from the trailer.  In it Sam and Alan Bradley (Bruce Boxleitner) engage in conversation and Alan tells Sam that he received a page from Flynn’s arcade.  Alan: “These are the keys to the arcade.  I haven’t gone over there yet.  I thought you should be the one.”  Sam: “Alan, you’re acting like I’m gonna find him sitting there working.  Just, ‘hey kiddo, lost track of time.'”  These lines are in the trailer, you’re starting to remember now.

This next part is included in Scene 20, but it sure felt like an entirely new setting as it took place elsewhere.  It cuts from Sam’s garage to the vacant and dusty Flynn’s Arcade.  Sam decided to take Alan’s advice and check out where the mysterious page could have come from.  Sam finds the circuit breaker and turns on the building’s power.  All of the arcade games light up and make so much noise.  On top of this Jouney’s “Separate Ways” plays loudly from the arcade’s sound system.  Sam looks at the dusty old Tron arcade machine and decides to play a round.  He inserts a quarter but it falls to the ground.  He is curious about a precise crack in the floor and manages to move the Tron machine to reveal a hidden passageway behind it.  Inside he finds a door with a key occupied in its hole and he enters a room.  It appears to be his father’s secret office where he stored a certain computer.  Sam looks around the room and we are shown images of a young Sam with his now-missing father and a blueprint labeled “Grid.”  Sam sits down at the touchscreen computer desk, wipes a thick layer of dust off it, and it turns on from standby mode.  He begins to type away but has no luck accessing the system since he doesn’t know the login information.  “Let’s try the back door,” he whispers to himself.  All of a sudden, a large laser projector-like machine turns on behind him.  It emits this whirring sound and suddenly a bright white light flashes and the scene ends. Continue reading TRON NIGHT summary & impressions →

Look! It’s Chris Evans dressed as Cap!

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Marvel has decided it’s time to move past the concept image stage and onto the real thing.  The latest issue of Entertainment Weekly features Chris Evans donning the red, white, and blue Captain America suit and holding the shield.  Yeah, I like what I see.  Too bad he’s not wearing the super cool helmet.  That reveal will likely come as we get closer to the theatrical release of Captain America: The First Avenger.  It opens nationwide July 22, 2011.  And there’s more where this came from.  Look in the gallery below to see more stills of Evans as Cap, as well as a glimpse of Hugo Weaving as the Red Skull.  EW, keep ’em coming.

[Via EW; CBM]

Time traveling woman using cell phone in 1928 Chaplin film?

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George Clarke, an Irish filmmaker and avid Charlie Chaplin fan, believes he has spotted a woman in Chaplin’s The Circus (1928) walking across an otherwise normal scene using a cell phone.  Clarke says that he has studied this film and the scene in particular (a DVD extra) for over a year; neither he nor “over 100” of his aquaintances have been able to provide an explanation for the woman’s actions.  In the video you can clearly see our subject walking past Grauman’s Chinese Theatre with her hand to her ear and she’s talking.  Conspiracy theorists are having a field day with this viral hit, and I’m sitting here trying to wrap my head around it.  Mainstream news, per usual, is doing its best to find reasons against such an unruly theory as time travel.  Some think that the woman is simply humming to herself and itching the side of her face.  That’s a long itch!

Go on and hop after the break to watch the scene and decide for yourself.  And you can add this to our ongoing collection of time travelers.

[Via Mashable] Continue reading Time traveling woman using cell phone in 1928 Chaplin film? →

James Cameron signs on for ‘Avatar 2’ & ‘3’ through the year 2015

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The highest grossing film of all time is getting the sequel and three-quel treatment within the next five years.  Today Twentieth Century Fox announced that visionary director James Cameron will take on Avatar 2 & 3 as his next two films.  Cameron will begin writing the script for the sequel “early next year” and production will begin “later in 2011.”  He may shoot the films back-to-back, but he will not make this decision until both scripts are finalized.  The sequel is targeted for a December 2014 release, and the third film will follow one year later in 2015.

Though Cameron was looking forward to shooting Cleopatra with Angelina Jolie in 2012, he is very excited to get the opportunity to plunge back into Pandora and consume himself with its inhabitants over the next five years.  “It is a rare and remarkable opportunity when a filmmaker gets to build a fantasy world, and watch it grow, with the resources and partnership of a global media company. AVATAR was conceived as an epic work of fantasy – a world that audiences could visit, across all media platforms, and this moment marks the launch of the next phase of that world. With two new films on the drawing boards, my company and I are embarking on an epic journey with our partners at Twentieth Century Fox. Our goal is to meet and exceed the global audience’s expectations for the richness of AVATAR’s visual world and the power of the storytelling. In the second and third films, which will be self contained stories that also fulfill a greater story arc, we will not back off the throttle of AVATAR’s visual and emotional horsepower, and will continue to explore its themes and characters, which touched the hearts of audiences in all cultures around the world. I’m looking forward to returning to Pandora, a world where our imaginations can run wild.”

[Via Deadline]

The next Batman movie is called…

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The Dark Knight Rises.  Got a nice ring to it, yeah?  In an interview with the LA Times, director Christopher Nolan revealed the film’s title and also checked off a potential (and oft-rumored) villain.  “It won’t be the Riddler,” he said.  So let the speculation continue!  In addition, Nolan was happy to report that Warner Bros. is on board with his anti-3D proposal to release the next Batman using HD and IMAX cameras only.  The followup to The Dark Knight is expected to hit theatres in 2012.

[Via LATimes]

This music video was made with 700,000 Lite-Brite pegs in stop motion

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Never heard of David Crowder Band?  That’s fine because the most interesting part of their new music video “SMS (Shine)” are the visuals.

The video portraying a love story made completely of LITE-BRITE pegs was done solely by hand. Even details such as the piano playing in the background and the monkeys beating a drum in perfect time was done free of digital affects and computer animation. It took 2,150 man hours, 1,200 LITE-BRITE images, 83 friends and 148 pizzas to complete the video.

Yeah.  Enjoy!

[Via Engadget]

Dean Kamen’s Luke prosthetic arm in action

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You remember Dean Kamen and his advanced prosthetic arm codenamed Luke, don’t you?  After shopping it around on The Colbert Report, Kamen brought his impressive prosthetic to the grocery store, and this time it was attached to Jerry, a Vietnam veteran who lost his arm in battle.  Look at the level of sophistication and precise movements this artificial limb can perform.  It really is quite extraordinary and I’m excited to see where this moves beyond the testing stages.

[Via BoingBoing]