Mongo Nation

Mysterious cover art surfaces.

These five Inglorious Basterds comic book covers, made up to look like throwback Jack Kirby style action/adventure books, have been making the rounds on the Internet over the past few days. It isn’t clear whether or not these will be the covers for an actual printed comic book, or just posters/promotional items for the upcoming DVD release. All I can tell you for certain is that they are awesome.

Quentin Tarantino has built a career off of a stylistic presentation of cultish nostalgia, and this artwork is another good example of that. Had I seen these prior to seeing the film, I would have assumed that they were from some obscure Sgt. Rock or Nick Fury spin-off that I’d somehow overlooked. The authenticity of detail is impressive. Check out the five covers right here:

Read the rest of this entry →

Our bets are on… HUSH!

By Jeremy Azevedo

Batman is known for his vast army of memorable super-villains, second maybe only to Spider-Man or the X-Men in terms of recognizable faces. Consequently, it shouldn’t be terribly difficult to find one that will work for Batman 3.

However, having seen the first two movies that came out under the watchful eye of Christopher Nolan, I think that we can all agree that, while many of Batman’s famous adversaries certainly are colorful, very few are actually appropriate for the film’s darkly realistic style and tone. Clearly, there will be no Penguin and/or Mr. Freeze in this film.

Nope.

Obviously, this poses a major problem to the filmmakers, especially when trying to follow up Heath Ledger’s amazing performance as The Joker. Which of his many villains could conceivably exist in real life, and have the potential to deeply impact Batman as a character, rather than simply providing a minor roadblock in his nightly crime fighting routine? We’ve gone over the roster 100 times and the one name that keeps coming up is Hush.

Now I know that many of you are thinking that there are maybe a dozen or so Batman Villains that are better known than Hush, and I’m not debating that fact in the slightest. But when you look closely at a lot of these characters, you’ll see that most of them are either ridiculous (like the aforementioned Penguin) or have little potential for emotional conflict with the Batman. Catwoman is one that a lot of people are talking about, but she wouldn’t really work for a number of reasons. For starters, she’s merely a cat burglar. There is nothing about her character or motivation that could make for a truly compelling story, especially when you consider that she has virtually nothing in common with Two Face, who is likely to make a re-appearance in the third movie. Read the rest of this entry →

Roger Daltrey to fill in for Robert Plant!

It’s finally happening: Spokesmen for Led Zeppelin confirmed today that the band will be re-uniting for a billion dollar Euorpean tour, with Roger Daltrey filling in for Robert Plant! Jimmy Page was quoted as saying:

“You know, it’s just too bad that Robert (Plant) would rather go dicking around with that Alison Krauss character, winning “mercy” Grammys, than tour with the greatest rock band that ever existed. I gotta tell you, his priorities are a little strange.”

Following this, John Paul Jones referred to Krauss as “Yoko”.

When asked how he felt about stepping into Plant’s shoes, Roger Daltrey expressed confidence:

“I may have to grow my hair out a little, haha, but other than that there isn’t anything he can do that I can’t. I’ve always been a big fan of the Zep, I know all the songs, and I feel like I’m certainly up to the task.”

Robert Plant has been quoted as saying that anyone buying tickets to see Led Zeppelin without Robert Plant would be buying “bogus tickets”.

“I think he’s just being childish now, making comments like that”, Said Jason Bonham (son of the late John Bonham). “If he wants to make corny bluegrass music because he equates that to “growing as an artist”, well, that’s fine. But don’t knock us for giving people what they really want.”

When asked why the tour would be exclusive to Europe, Page responded: “Because we don’t think that… given the current economic situation over there, that Americans would be able to afford tickets!” He then continued, “No but seriously, we began as an English band, so it seems fitting that we start there and see where we end up. But I wouldn’t rule out an extended or later tour of the Americas, Japan, really everywhere else.”

What do you think? Is it right for Led Zeppelin to go on without Plant? Is Daltrey a suitable replacement? Is it too soon for American economy jokes from outside parties? You tell us!

We have all the details on the upcoming Thor movie!

The veil of mystery surrounding Marvel’s “Thor” movie has been lifted, and some plot details have surfaced along with a tentative casting list, of course things are subject to chane before the 2011 release date, but here’s what we know so far:

Kenneth Branagh is set to direct and as Odin, the king of the Asgardian gods and Thor’s father. Much of the film will take place in Asgard, but surprisingly, a great deal of it will also take place on Earth. The movie is planned as an origin story, and as most Thor fans know, the modern Thor as we know him began as a mortal, mild mannered medical student known as Donald Blake. In the original story, Thor was sent to Midgard (Earth) by Odin to learn humility, and not until he had proven himself worthy would he be able to lift the enchanted hammer “Mjolinir” and transform back into his immortal self.

Remarkably, Donald Blake will be played by Donald Sutherland’s real-life son, Kiefer Sutherland. When Blake eventually makes the transformation to Thor, he will then be played by Alexander Skarsgard,. Skarsgard seems like an excellent choice given that he pretty much looks and sounds exactly like Thor to begin with. This may sound strange but remember, Thor and Blake are actually two totally separate people (not at all like Superman/Clark Kent).

Much of the earlier part of the film will take place on Earth, in which fellow Asgardians Sif (Natalie Portman) and Balder (Josh Hartnett) are posing as mortals to watch over Thor in his vulnerable state. When Loki (played by Jamie Kennedy) gets wind of Thor’s banishment, he sends Enchantress (Marley Shelton) and Executioner (Jason Statham) to take him out. In their failure to do so, the two unwittingly unlock the godly powers within him. Following is an all out war between the two displaced brothers that threatens to destroy Midgard (again, Earth) in the process.

Loki responds to Thor’s awakening by attempting to trigger “Ragnarock”, the end of Asgard, and the destruction of all the gods within. Of course this attracts the attention of S.H.I.E.L.D., who intervene on Thor’s behalf at a crucial moment, setting up for the forthcoming “Avengers” movie. I’m not sure how well this well all work out, bouncing around between Earth and Asgard as much as it seems like they’re doing. Sounds a little bit like that shitty old He-Man movie from the 80s to me. I hope I’m wrong though, because if done right, this could be one of the best action pictures of 2011.

Check out pics of the full cast below:

Thor - Alexander Skarsgard

Odin – Donald Sutherland Read the rest of this entry →

Capcom shoryukens the rumors once and for all..?

By Jeremy Azevedo

Any Street Fighter fan worth his or her weight in hadoukens should remember the classic 1992 EGM prank about unlocking Ryu and Ken’s legendary master “Sheng Long” in Street Fighter 2…

While it turned out to be an April Fool’s joke, gamers have (for some unknowable reason) never been able to banish Sheng Long from their imaginations.

The original prank in all it’s nerd-busting glory:

Now we have word that Sheng Long will finally make an appearance as a secret playable character in Street Fighter 4! Is this some kind of Japanese “September Fool’s” prank or the ultimate fan service? We have uncovered some official looking art, as well as received this suspiciously mischievious comment from SFIV Project manager, Natsumi Shiozawa:

Hello everyone!
Its been so busy here lately, I’m beginning to become a bit absent-minded here.

Today, I am glad to introduce you to a Hidden Character in Street Fighter IV.
Actually, I wish I could formally announce this information, but I can’t show that much yet so this will have to suffice… sorry!

Feast your eyes on this!
This is one Street Fighter IV’s Secret, Unlock-able Characters, Sheng Long!

Though… it’s been blacked-out and a little hard to see.
(I’m the one who blacked it out.)

(Cont’d)

Basically, you can see his long hair tied-up, his bulging muscles, and what he’s wearing. You get the idea.
Looks pretty strong, huh?
He should be! After all, Sheng Long is Ryu’s…
You’ll have to wait until an official character announcement is made for more information.

However, since this I did post this with the title “Secret Unlock-able Characters”, I couldn’t post this without telling you guys something.
For now, I’ll give you a hint on the whole “secret unlock-able” part.

1. Select Ryu as your character.
2. Win every round with a perfect until the last boss fight.
3. During the boss fight, perform a Shoryuken…

Oops, I’ve said too much!

Those who are quick to catch on should be able to do this no problem.
However, since the legendary character Sheng Long is about to come out, I won’t get away with this that easily…
But, this isn’t the game’s only secret though.

From the beginning, Sheng-Long hasn’t been the only planned secret character.
As I wrote the other day, the release is approaching its final stretch and I will be bringing you as much new information that I can.
What?! There’s going to be a special update?!

Don’t miss it!

Hmmm… Seems a bit fishy…

The image above is supposedly a leaked screenshot of Sheng Long, even though any idiot can see it is just a sloppy re-coloring of Ryu by some junior-level photoshooper…

So what do you think? Is this for real or have we been duped again? As awesome as this would be, my own personal bullshit meter is leaning hard toward the latter…