Back before Tim Miller was directing his record-breaking smash hit Deadpool, he was one of the guiding forces behind developing the animated adaptation of Eric Powell’s comic series The Goon.
David Fincher signed on to produce the film in 2008 , working off a script from Powell himself, and recruited Miller to co-direct the project along with Jeff Fowler. The effort eventually culminated with a trailer length release of some test footage in 2012, not unlike the video that gained a large enough viral following to get Deadpool off the ground. However, unlike what happened with Deadpool, that was the last anyone heard about the project.
Rejoice, MSTies! Mystery Science Theater 3000 has surpassed its initial funding goal on Kickstarter to bring back the show!
Many of you already know that Joel Hodgson, the original human host of the show, has launched a Kickstarter campaign to produce an initial offering of at least 3 pilot episodes of a revamped version of the show to shop around to potential producers/distributors. As of November 16th, they have hit their minimum funding goal of 2 million dollars to produce the first 3 episodes! The Kickstarter will still be up and running until December 12th, in hopes of producing even more episodes in this initial run, with an ultimate goal of 5.5 million to produce a full 12 episode season.
The interstellar alien hunter race known as Predators have taken on many adversaries. From fellow alien creatures like the Xenomorph, to commando leader Dutch and former Lethal Weapon star Danny Glover (AKA Lieutenant Mike Harrigan), they have covered the globe in their hunt for the perfect competition. Now we get to see how they fare in our past with this new fan funded short feature Predator: Dark Ages
Jason Voorhees and the Friday the 13th films are a staple of the horror film genre, and the Halloween season alike. On October 13, Gun Media announced that the mass murderer will be getting his own video game, allowing you to take control of the psychotic slasher to terrorize your friends. They also announced a Kickstarter campaign to help finish funding the development of the game. Check out the announcement trailer:
We already took a close look at the video game throwback project known as Summer Camp. The survival horror field is getting healthier and healthier with independent projects and even some AAA-developed franchise entries. PC gamers should keep their eyes focused on a Kickstarter-funded horror game that features 5 vs. 1 gameplay – Last Year.
Last Year puts you next to four other allies as you contend with a murderous maniac that’s also controlled by another human player. Their name? Simple – THE KILLER! As for the characters you and your online friends will be using, they’ll come in the form of stereotypical high schoolers. The environments featured in this currently-in-production project harkens back to classic horror film locations, such as East Side High and Camp Silver Lake. The Killer has to reach the win goal by killing all five characters, while the 5 co-op players have to escape by driving away in a truck. Of course, it won’t be that easy since you have to finish off a bunch of goals before you safely drive away.
Some of the vile weaponry that The Killer has access to includes a Chainsaw, Axe, Machete, Spiked Bat, Harpoon and several unannounced melee items. The 5 survivors spawn onto the map with no items to speak of, but random tools can be found around the map over time. The Killer can utilize Predator Mode, which makes him faster and 10x more lethal. The survivors can phone in the police and even have the 1st player killed respawn as a responding officer. However, The Killer can cut the phone line and take away that option in a hurry…
Check out the description below on the 5 character classes that are open to players:
Amber – Scout: Can spot the Killer and display his position on the map for other players to see. Can also spot supplies on the map easier than the rest including flashlights and weapons. Weak against attacks from the Killer.
Chad – Assault: Offers protection to the other players and can melee attack/stun the Killer, giving the other survivors a chance to escape. Strong to withstand attacks from the Killer.
Nick – Technician: Fixes phone lines, generators, picks locks, hot wires vehicles, and anything else that needs to be repaired. He has a pet rat named Rasmus that you can play as. As Rasmus you can travel through small passages to unlock doors from the other side and provide spy-cam style intel on where the Killer is. Very weak against attacks from the Killer.
Sam – Medic: Heals wounded players to full health.
Troy – Support: Also offers protection and can also place traps for the killer which deals damage and slows him down. Can melee attack/stun the Killer same way as Chad.
This game sounds pretty enticing and we’re getting some heavy Left 4 Dead vibes from it. If you’re looking to aid the developer (James Matthew Wearing), hit up the Kickstarter link below and offer up some support.
Warner Bros. and DC Comics have given fans a look into the future of their slate of superhero blockbusters. Sadly though, none of the mystical members of the DC Comics universe were mentioned as part of those announcements. But now, movie writer/director Theo Brown is looking to rectify this by producing his own fan film take on everyone’s favorite magician Zatanna Zatara. A regular ally of Batman and member of the Justice League Dark, she is one of DC’s most popular female characters.
The project’s Kickstarter page has a final funding goal of $36,000 that must be reached by November 15, 2014. For those financial supporters who throw a few bucks into this superhero origin story, you can expect to receive some awesome perks. Everything from a shout out on the film’s Twitter page to an exclusive hangout session on the set of the film, perhaps with Shannon Hollander, the actress set to play the famous magician.
Theo Brown made sure to explain his passion as a filmmaker and his unbridled appreciation for Zatanna’s backstory:
“I’m a filmmaker by trade and a comic book fan since birth. My two huge passions in life combined in making Zatanna. I also wrote the script for Zatanna, so I want to be sure that this project is the best that it can possibly be. I’m super excited about this project and the opportunity to give one of my favorite characters her chance to shine! While Zatanna is my first comic book film, I’ve been working on movies for the past seven years. As both a writer and a director, I love getting to dive into a character’s world and craft a story out of it. Professionally, I’ve worked with a range of companies, from filming a documentary in India with a NGO to working with NASA with their recruitment team to being on set for various TV commercials. With my own personal projects, I’ve had some films screen in film festivals across the country. I know the process of film production and can promise the utmost professional ability, transparency, and dependency.”
Zatanna has been featured in several DC TV shows and animated series such as Smallville, Young Justice and Batman: The Animated Series. It’s about time she got to dole out her backwards magic in a solo film endeavor. Let’s hope that Justice League Dark film actually happens…
When most people think of MMO’s they think of either the dark reaches of space or some fantasy inspired landscape. NCSoft had a different vision back in 2004 when they released a game called City of Heroes. With this MMO you could create the hero you wanted and go out and battle the forces of crime. To the fans dismay however the game was shut down in 2012 as they looked elsewhere to fight evil. Missing Worlds Media have heard the cries of the fans and have launched a new project on Kickstarter entitled City of Titans.
This ambitious new MMO will allow players to create a hero or villain to step out onto the streets. As with other MMO’s there is going to be a deep customization system when it comes to choosing powers and appearance. However, you can also customize your powers as well (example: you can arc lightning from a wand, your hands or even a fantastic looking gun.) But that’s not all as there are going to be tools available for the players to make their own stories. Then you can take these stories and share them with other players in the game. When you purchase City of Titans you will be buying the game and be given 3 months of a VIP subscription. After those 3 months are done you can still play for free and there will be a cash shop in-game as well.
They want to raise $320,000 to cover the costs of the project and right now they may reach their goal in just a few days. And some of the rewards you can get for pledging range from a simple thank you to a digital copy of the game to designing a costume to your specs and joining Missing Worlds at the debut party during ‘a major convention’.
With KickStarter really coming into its own in the last few years, it seems any creative talent now has the chance to show the fans what they want to see. But with so many projects out there it can be tricky to actually pick one to worth fund, hell you cannot funding. So what makes this new hopefully ongoing series called The Vigilante Diaries different from any other project out there? Well it has Jason Mewes in it for a start! The lovable, cartoon faced simpleton we love from the View Askewniverse is back, and this time he is running the show playing Mike Hanover, a film maker who ends up meeting and videotaping the vigilante of the title while he does what he does best. This mostly consists of killing lots of bad guys. Below is the synopsis from the official funding page.
[box_light]“Welcome—Just being here, you are a part of something new, something never before done on the internet (as far as we can tell.) We had a vision to create a series that breaks rules and pushes the limits of where an online series can go. Vigilante Diaries was born out of our combined frustration with the model of compromising creative due to the restrictions of third parties—advertisers and networks—instead of what matters, the audience.
This is a chance to prove that an audience can actually sustain a series without worrying about whether it was brand-safe or appealed to a specific advertising demographic. It’s about taking control of what entertainment you want to see made, not just accepting what studios think you want.
Vigilante Diaries is a high energy, fast-paced ride into the dark world of vigilante justice, following a pair of vigilantes who take justice into their own hands. Mike Hanover (Jason Mewes) is our storyteller bringing us right into the action through his documentary cameras mounted right in the middle of the carnage that ensues. It’s in many ways like a live-action first-person shooter game but with a gripping story that is just beginning to unfold.” [/box_light]
Now plans are one thing, but does this series actually deliver in the goods department? I am happy to inform you that it does. The first episode has been kindly uploaded onto YouTube (which you can watch below) thanks to Jason and the entire team behind the project. At 10 minutes long we really only get a taste of what this show could offer, and it’s certainly not dull. The story line itself plays out like a modern-day A-Team in a way. The end credits list the team as ‘current whereabouts unknown’ and the story jumps from one drug bust to another at a fast pace. The Vigilante himself, and his partner are great fun. Anti heroes from the Clint Eastwood school of acting, only speaking when they have to, instead letting their actions do the talking.
As far as influences, to say there is a hint of ‘The Punisher’ in all of this would not be untrue. Jason Mewes ‘Mike’ plays a more hyperactive version of Frank Castle’s ex associate Microchip (only with more swearing and comedic gestures). It seems that if The Vigilante ever met Castle they would probably get along, you know, as much as Frank can get along with anyone.
While the font seems to have been inspired by Sin City, this is nothing like that movie. Style-wise it reminded me of the Gerald Butler movie Gamer as the episode is mixed between first person POV, over the shoulder shaky cam shots and static camera shots. It gives the episode a very kinetic and fast paced feel, but be warned – anyone that suffers from motion sickness may need to watch this in small bursts as it is not kind on your senses! The main driving force behind this is Jason himself who manages to juggle his unique brand of humor, and progresses the plot lines at the same time. He is a lot of fun to watch with his hyper active nature only calming down slightly when he thinks he is going to die. The idea of the Vigilante really not liking Mike either makes for fun viewing, and if this ever does get off the ground as a series, that relationship will be fun to watch.
So this is where you folks at home come in. If you watched the first episode and liked what you saw then hop over to Chill.com and help sponsor this series so they can get more episodes produced. If you donate you get the first 2 episodes as downloadable content, so that’s 20 minutes of Jason Mewes in action. Here is hoping that we get to see more of this gruesome threesome and their extended family very soon.
So a lot has happened since the Veronica Mars Kickstarter became the Kickstarter poster child. If you aren’t a backer (who isn’t a backer?) and you haven’t been paying attention to Veronica Mars movie updates then you have missed a lot because things are moving along at a rapid pace for our crime solving friend.
So many people are coming back. So, so many. This is probably the most exciting part about a project like this because of course the fans want to see everyone in the show involved in the movie and so far it seems like we are getting our wish.
Ryan Hansen, Martin Starr, and Ken Marino
One of these things is not like the other… we’ve got Ryan Hansen who was Dick Casablancas and Ken Marino of course as no one’s favorite PI, Vinnie Van Lowe. But what of Martin Starr? Was he one of the many actors who had small parts on the original run only to go on to bigger careers? Nope. Actually he’s coming on as a new character, Lou ‘Cobb’ Cobbler, a classmate of Veronica and Co’s. As a huge fan of Party Down this little reunion of Kyle, Roman, and Ron makes me downright giddy.
One of the fun parts of being a backer of this particular Kickstarter has been the ‘reactions’ posted of various actors as part of their casting announcement. I think we can all agree that the Vinnie Van Lowe Blow movie would be something worth watching, hopefully he’s able to get a hold of that Kickstarter guy to give him some money. As for Ryan Hansen? Well I’ve watched the video four times today and I’m not the least bit ashamed about it.
Krysten Ritter and Tina Majorino
AAAHHHH!!!! It’s Gia and Mac! Tina Majorino had to be in this, it wasn’t even up for debate in my head, but I was a bit surprised to see Krysten Ritter back as Gia Goodman. Pleasantly surprised, for sure, just surprised. Given that Cindy ‘Mac’ Mackenzie was one of my favorite characters of the series, I am so excited to see Majorino making an appearance.
Gia and Mac are in pretty good company when it comes to those returning to Neptune. Jonathan Chesner will be back as everyone’s favorite pot-head, Corny. Kevin Sheridan will be seeing what trouble petty thief and drug dealer, Sean Freidrich can get into. Remember Dick’s bitchy ex-girlfriend Madison Sinclair? Well Amanda Noret will be bringing her back to life. The sheriff’s department is very well represented already with not only Brandon Hillock back as Deputy Sacks, but Max Greenfield (The New Girl) has confirmed that he will be returning as the lovable Deputy Leo!
Percy Daggs III, Francis Capra, and Chris Lowell
It would be impossible to have a Veronica Mars movie without these three actors. Francis Capra as the biker gang/jailbird/friend of Veronica, Eli ‘Weevil’ Navarro. Percy Daggs III as Veronica’s best friend Wallace Fennell and of course his Hearst College roommate, Chris Lowell as Stosh ‘Piz’ Piznarski. You have to give Ms. Mars credit because she sure knew how to get just adorable guys to hang around her, even if they were the leader of a biker gang.
Speaking of Piz… what is this?!? Surely, surely, surely Veronica and Piz don’t end up together. I mean come on. Where’s the pictures of Veronica and Logan walking around holding hands? The people behind the Veronica Mars movie twitter account have tried to put people’s minds at ease by saying we shouldn’t judge until we see the movie but it’s just so damn difficult when you see things like this.
As a LoVe shipper from way back, I can’t even deal with this possibility. So I’m choosing to ignore it for now. Trying to keep an open mind here. I know what will put my mind at ease…
Oh Keith Mars, you might be the best TV dad ever and Enrico Colantoni is just perfect.
That’s a lot of people confirmed so far! Apparently there are more cast announcements to be made but I can’t imagine who else they could fit in one movie. Even Justin Long has been announced as having a role in the film. I’m imagining everyone in Hollywood just showing up to this huge high school reunion party scene and they’ll all have one line. Filming is underway so once we see that all the big names are flocking to one Los Angeles location, then we’ll know my theory is correct. For now, we’ll just have to enjoy the first “official” photograph from the set.
We here at Grizzly Bomb love a good horror flick and I have just heard news of a great creature feature raising funds on Kick Starter called Harbinger Down. Straight from the Kick Starter page here is the films plot.
A group of grad students have booked passage on the fishing trawler Harbinger to study the effects of global warming on a pod of Orcas in the Bering Sea. When the ship’s crew dredges up a recently thawed piece of old Soviet space wreckage, things get downright deadly. It seems that the Russians experimented with tardigrades, tiny resilient animals able to withstand the extremes of space radiation. The creatures survived, but not without mutation.
Now the crew is exposed to aggressively mutating organisms. And after being locked in ice for 3 decades, the creatures aren’t about to give up the warmth of human companionship.
Or for more information on the plot and tone of the movie you can watch these videos below with Alec Gillis talking about the Kick Starter project.
The really great thing about this project is the talent behind it. Lance Henriksen is on board and even though he has appeared in some utter tripe he is also one of the most versatile actors out there and is always entertaining in whatever he puts his hand to. Tom Woodruff Jr. you may not recognize but he is co-founder of ADI (amalgamated Dynamics INC) the company working on the movie. They have won academy awards and have done work on such classics as Alien vs. Predator, The Thing, Tremors, Pumpkinhead, Spider-Man and The Santa Clause 2…………Yeah so mostly amazing movies! Seriously if you do not know what these guys and gals do then check out there YouTube channel here. But Tom is also one of the most well-known suit performers and you will have seen his work on stuff like Aliens, Pumpkinhead and The MonsterSquad. The main force behind this project is Alec Gillis who has worked with top directors like James Cameron, Ridley Scott, Neil Blomkamp and many more as well as contributing the effects he has also done second unit work and TV work. There are so many more professionals working on this movie that I do not have the space to list them but this film will be packed with some of the best workers in the film industry today.
The thing that interested me about the project was the fact that it is only going to be using practical animatronics and make up effects for the monsters. None of this slightly dodgy CGI effects, this is going to be an old school affair. Many comparisons to The Thing are going to be drawn here (mutating organisms that like warmth, a crew stuck in the middle of nowhere, etc) but is that really a bad thing? The remake/prequel to the original thing was a bit of a wash out because of its reliance on obvious CGI and not prosthetics. It is about time we had an old-fashioned creature movie and I for one cannot wait. Look at some of the sketch designs to see some of the awesome stuff they have planned for the project, some of which has a H.P.Lovecraft feel to it.
If you enjoy what you have seen here then there is still time to contribute to the project through the Kick Starter link . It ends on Friday June the 7th at 1.45pm EDT so if you love the movies of the 80s where monsters felt real and not clunky CGI creation and you want to donate then now is the time. If this has not won you over then maybe you should listen to Lance himself tell you about his passion for the project. Fingers crossed this project gets off the ground because it looks incredible.
Grizzly Bomb 