Archive: December 2010 (261-270 of 304)

Dec 3 2010 06:42 PM ET

Cutest marketing tactic ever: Mozilla Firefox streams round-the-clock videos of baby firefoxes

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red-panda-firefoxImage Credit: Stan Osolinski/Getty ImagesMozilla Firefox finally wants you to know that firefoxes actually do exist  — they’re red pandas — and have come up with the cutest way to show off the inspiration behind their mascot… while getting you to download a software upgrade.

Head over to FirefoxLive.org, and you can view a 24-hour stream of the red panda cubs, along with their parents and aunt, going about their days at the Knoxville Zoo in Knoxville, Tenn. The frolic cam is the most entertaining, but if the cubs begin looking bored, there’s a solution: You can to download the latest Mozilla Firefox update. If enough people download the upgrade, the firefoxes get a jungle gym for playtime. How cute would that be?

After you’ve downloaded the upgrade, you can click around the site, learning about the endangered species and how to support both the Knoxville Zoo and red pandas in the wild, through an Adopt a Panda program in Nepal and India. You can even follow the action on Twitter at the @cubcaretaker handle. Warm fuzzies for your Friday afternoon! I wonder how PopWatch can adopt an animal mascot, and which one we should choose.

Have you visited the firefox-cams yet, PopWatchers? Do you think they’re cuter than the puppy cams I’ve grown so used to?

Dec 3 2010 06:28 PM ET

'Spider-Man': Campbell Scott as Peter Parker's dad?

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Campbell-ScottImage Credit: D. Dipasupil/Getty ImagesThe 2012 Spider-Man reboot is just about to start filming, and The Hollywood Reporter has some information on the supporting cast. Most notable: Campbell Scott (from Damages and the misanthropic classic Roger Dodger) has apparently signed on for the role of Peter Parker’s father, while Julianne Nicholson (Criminal Intent!) is still in talks to play Mama Parker. It’s unclear how big the roles would be, but just the fact that Peter’s parents are appearing in the movie at all is interesting. In the original comics canon, Peter’s parents were secret agents; In the alternate-reality Ultimate canon, Daddy Parker was a scientist responsible for the creation of Venom — possibly a clue to a future villain?

Speaking of villains, the Reporter also notes Irrfan Khan (the interrogator in Slumdog Millionaire) is still in talks to play “Van Atter.” That might be a reference to “Nels Van Adder,” an extraordinarily minor character who appeared in a single issue of Spider-Man as a villain called the Proto-Goblin. I can just barely remember that issue. It was from Marvel’s “Flashback” month, when every Marvel comic was numbered “-1″…including Untold Tales of Spider-Man, which featured a very special issue about PETER PARKER’S PARENTS. (Since every plot point for the new Spider-Man is apparently being drawn from “Flashback” month, look forward to a Flash Thompson subplot about child abuse and an exciting sequence where Peter and Uncle Ben fight classic comic monsters.)

PopWatchers, excited/intrigued by this news? Do you like how this new Spider-Man is shaping up?

Darren on Twitter: @EWDarrenFranich

Dec 3 2010 05:33 PM ET

'Mega Shark Versus Crocosaurus' trailer: Steve Urkel fights monster-sized awesomeness

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Filed under: Television and tagged: , , , ,

You know, I always thought there were some plot holes in Mega Shark Versus Giant Octopus. Though, clearly, the physics behind a giant shark jumping up in the air to take a bite out of a 747 are 100 percent solid, I always had a hard time believing that the two battling creatures (SPOILER ALERT) truly fought to the death at the TV movie’s conclusion. Or, if they did, that they couldn’t be roused back to life by the sweet, magical sound of star Deborah Gibson’s “Foolish Beat.” Well, it looks like I was right to be skeptical! Because Mega Shark — otherwise known as Megaladon (Mega Shark is his Kabbalah name) — is back, and this time he’s fighting Crocosaurus. (Just like soap opera characters, Syfy’s monstrous creatures will always come back from the dead, no matter how much they look like a Coach bag.) This time around, Syfy has chosen Jaleel White, a.k.a. Steve Urkel, as its wow-I-haven’t-seen-him/her-since-Vh1′s-I-Love-The…-series star. (See the trailer embedded after the jump.) Obviously, he was cast just so he could defeat both Mega Shark and Crocosaurus, and then ask, “Did I do that?” Fade to back. The End. READ FULL STORY »

Dec 3 2010 05:30 PM ET

'Back to the Future: The Game' trailer features Christopher Lloyd, Huey Lewis, and a soundalike for young Michael J. Fox

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Filed under: Videogames and tagged:

I love pretty much everything Back to the Future-related. I’ve lost a lot of friends over my devout belief that Back to the Future III (aka, “The Western”) is an overlooked classic, and I have fond memories of the Back to the Future cartoon that starred Doc’s awful children, Jules and Verne. So part of my can barely handle this new game trailer for the upcoming Back to the Future videogame, which lovingly recreates the look of the movies (right down to Marty’s red vest) and features the voice of Christopher Freaking Lloyd, returning to his iconic role as Doc Brown. Unfortunately, Michael J. Fox wasn’t on hand to offer his voice, although at least in the preview, replacement A.J. LoCascio gives pretty good McFly. Check out the video:  READ FULL STORY »

Dec 3 2010 05:11 PM ET

Excess Hollywood: 'My Girl' star Anna Chlumsky elected to 'Veep'

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Filed under: Movies, News, Television, TV and tagged: , , , ,
  • My Girl star Anna Chlumsky will co-star with Julia Louis-Dreyfus in HBO’s Veep pilot. The actress is set to play Louis-Dreyfus’ insecure chief-of-staff. Insecure, because she remembers what happened the last time she thought she had someone’s back. (Sorry.) [Deadline]
  • Ryan Phillippe has joined the cast of Set Up, which centers on a group of friends that find themselves in the middle of a diamond heist. And cast in Set Up: Step Up star Jenna Dewan Tatum, who apparently uses an old Boggle sheet to choose her projects. [Variety]
  • The producers for The House of Blue Leaves confirm that Jennifer Jason Leigh is set to star alongside Ben Stiller and Edie Falco in the Broadway show. (Previews begin April 4; the show opens April 25.) She will play Stiller’s character’s mistress, named Bunny Flingus.
  • Disney XD had ordered Pack of Wolves, a comedy about three boys — Edison, Darwin, and Albert Oppenheimer — raised by their single dad, who happens to be a genius professor. Bazinga? [Deadline]
Dec 3 2010 04:45 PM ET

'Glee': Ryan Murphy says characters will graduate by 2012, but should any of them stick around?

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Filed under: Glee, Television, TV and tagged: , , ,

GLEE-The-College-YearsWith all the rehearsing for Sectionals and frequent trips to Breadstix, it’s easy to forget that the kids of McKinley High School are actually students, who should be graduating in a couple years (well, in Brittany’s case, that date is TBD). Ryan Murphy has begun to address Glee‘s future by revealing plans to routinely add new students to the mix (what is this, Menudo?), rather than prolong current characters’ high school existence. “Every year we’re going to populate a new group,” Murphy told Australia’s Herald Sun. “There’s nothing more depressing than a high schooler with a bald spot.”

True, rival group The Hipsters didn’t exactly give an inspired performance on Tuesday night, but can you imagine Glee without its current stars? READ FULL STORY »

Dec 3 2010 04:15 PM ET

'Disney Epic Mickey': Are licensed videogames doomed to well-produced mediocrity?

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I’m now several hours deep into Disney Epic Mickey, the dark-but-not-too-dark fantasy adventure which sends Disney’s icon on a journey through the Waste Land, armed only with a paintbrush. The game is an enjoyable diversion. It features enough contemporary videogame tropes — a “good”/”evil” choice system, motion-control gameplay, a reward system for exploring every nook and cranny of the game’s landscape — to keep you interested. I imagine that a casual gamer would enjoy the game a little for about five hours, and a five-year-old would absolutely love the game for about two hours. For the rest of us, the question becomes: Is this the best we can hope for out of licensed videogames?

The bargain bins at GameStop are littered with movie/TV-to-game adaptations like Clash of the Titans and (gag) 24: The Game. You can blame plenty of these games on a lack of development time or a simple dearth of creativity. (It’s hard to imagine a world where 24 wasn’t going to turn out terrible: Remember the “torture” mini-game?) But there are just as many licensed videogames that come primed with plenty of high expectations. Disney Epic Mickey comes from Warren Spector, the iconic game designer behind Deus Ex and Thief: Deadly Shadows. It’s a purposeful character reboot: You could argue it’s the first time Disney has allowed Mickey to be interesting (or at least not creepily bland) in two generations. It’s lovingly steeped in Disney arcana — some levels actually take the form of old Disney shorts like Steamboat Willie and Mickey and the Beanstalk. READ FULL STORY »

Dec 3 2010 03:33 PM ET

James Franco on 'Kimmel': '127 Hours' actor talks Oscar hosting gig -- and the one job he didn't get (hint: Team Edward v. Team Jacob v. Team Franco?)

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Filed under: Movies, Television, TV and tagged: , , , ,

James Franco — soon-to-be Dr. Franco (“for the signatures,” of course, according to the actor) — appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! last night to chat school, 127 Hours, and his upcoming surprise stint hosting the Oscars. So how did his latest resumé builder come about? “I never thought I would do it,” said Franco, who is pals with ceremony producer Bruce Cohen, who produced Milk. “About two weeks ago he called up and said, ‘I got it. I got it. I know what I want you to do … I want you to host.’ That was a shock. And at first my immediate reaction was like, well, no. I mean, I can’t! But then I thought, well, of course I have to do it. It’s kind of a once-in-a-lifetime thing.”

According to Franco, the timing was everything as well. Not only does the ceremony not conflict with the actor’s finals at Yale, but the 32-year-old Franco thinks his youth will only serve as a benefit. “I think it’s better to do when I’m young,” he said. “It’s not like it’s publicity or a push for my career, or like, get people to remember me after I’ve like faded away or something like that … It’s really for the experience.” (Hey, if there’s anything we know about TV actor/film actor/soap opera actor/student/teacher Franco, it’s that he likes new experiences.) Aside from discussing his possible nomination — he thinks hosting while nominated will “be taking the pressure off” — Franco also admitted that he has yet to even meet co-host Anne Hathaway. But never fear, the two have texted: “We’re text message buddies. We have good text chemistry.” Watch the four-part interview after the jump.

Bonus fun fact: Franco told Kimmel that he had asked former Oscar producer Bill Condon if he could appear in the The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, which Condon is directing. Condon’s answer? “He turned me down.” Well, that bites. READ FULL STORY »

Dec 3 2010 01:01 PM ET

'24' marathon for money: How long could you last?

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24Image Credit: Ray Mickshaw/FoxHow much 24 can you handle at once? My personal record stands at about 11 hours — I watched the last two-thirds of season 3 in one sitting. (After Nina and the Evil British Dude arrived, and everyone forgot about the Mexican druglord brothers, things got awesome.) But that’s nothing compared to the marathon championship taking place right now in Hollywood: As the LA Times reports, 100 participants were put inside a glass box yesterday, and they’re currently competing to see who can last the longest watching the complete, 8-season, roughly 150-hour run of 24. The fan who lasts the longest will win $10,000, and will also experience the pleasure of hearing Jack Bauer say “Dammit!” and “Wheeeeeere!?!?!?!” an estimated 5 million times.

Now, preparing for a 24 marathon takes a lot of mental toughness. Seasons vary wildly in quality. Watching an entire season all at once forces you to grapple with logical flaws that naturally accrue over a sustained 24-episode narrative. (See: Season 4, where the terrorists kidnap the Secretary of Defense so they can cause a nuclear meltdown to distract the Air Force long enough to shoot a missile at Air Force One, which is just a distraction for firing a nuclear missile. Also, China.) READ FULL STORY »

Dec 3 2010 12:39 PM ET

'I Love You Phillip Morris' but we hate you Ace Ventura: PopWatch Rewind looks back on Jim Carrey's career

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ace-ventura-posterIn I Love You Phillip Morris, Jim Carrey plays a devout Christian police officer who discovers his true calling as a high-living gay man, a prison-escaping con artist, and the obsessed paramour of Ewan McGregor. It’s an unhinged performance… but Carrey has been  specializing in unhinged, semi-psychotic characters for almost two decades now. (Remember Bob Jackson, Karate Instructor?) We decided to honor (and deconstruct) the star by looking back at the role that made him famous. Return with us, readers, to a time before the $20 million paycheck, before the zeitgeist-defining pratfalls, before the “serious” roles that worked (The Truman Show, Eternal Sunshine of  the Spotless Mind) and the ones that didn’t (The Majestic, The  Number 23.) And please, help us to ponder an unthinkable question: Just  how freakin’ bad is Ace Ventura: Pet Detective?

Keith Staskiewicz: Alrighty then!

Darren Franich: This was Jim Carrey’s first big hit, the movie that catapulted him to superstardom and set him up for a ridiculously big year – first Ace Ventura, then The Mask, then Dumb & Dumber — and very shortly, he was breaking all salary records by earning $20 million per movie. And yet, his kingdom was built on a throne of lies! Because, man, oh man, Ace Ventura is terrible. I remember thinking this movie was the funniest thing ever when it came out. Now, I’m at a loss to find any redeeming quality whatsoever. READ FULL STORY »

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