SNN Core

Dungeons & Dragons on Microsoft Surface

Nick — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 17:35:50 +0000

This stuff is total nerd pr0n for the D&D community. Not only does this make stunning use of new technology, but it evolves the whole “pen and paper” gameplay quality of standard roleplaying games and creates a complete digital facsimile of the entire mechanic, from rolling the dice to marking stats on a character sheet. With technology becoming used in this manner, pen and paper RP is going the way of the newspaper. Of course, there will always be those few who prefer the paper medium, but it is very obvious that electronic entertainment is taking over and becoming the new standard.

[on engadget]

Sleep in a Dead Tauntaun

Nick — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 18:02:02 +0000

In the sub-zero wasteland of the planet Hoth, only the strong survive… and of course those lucky Jedi protected by the thick skin of a Tauntaun.

Relive the greatest movie in Star Wars history by pretend-slaughtering your own Tauntaun and crawling inside of its steaming remains! This high-quality sleeping bag has been constructed to look just like furry mounts from the ice planet Hoth, as used by Han Solo and Luke Skywalker in The Empire Strikes Back. The best part: no intestinal stink!

Some of the product features:

Classic Star Wars sleeping bag simulates the warmth of a Tauntaun carcass
Built-in embroidered Tauntaun head pillow
Plush Lightsaber zipper pull
Great for playing pretend “Save Luke from the Wampa” games
Teach your children about the best Star Wars movie ever
Fully Licensed Lucasfilm™ Collectable
Enough room for adults, plenty of space for kids
100% Polyester construction, Machine washable
Bag Dimensions - 33″ x 67″ (not including head pillow or legs)

First Look: Iron Man 2

Nick — Fri, 01 May 2009 06:24:34 +0000

It’s a great week for entertainment news so far, including today’s catch which happens to be the first official photo from the set of Iron Man 2! Director Jon Favreau made the announcement just yesterday on Twitter that he had approved the photo for release by USA Today, and today the photo made its debut. It depicts Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark with four different models of the Iron Man armor in the background: the Mark I, II, and III from the original film, and a fourth (Mark IV?), most likely an updated version of the armor that the character has since upgraded to.

Iron Man was one of last summer’s blockbusters, as well as one of two films, along with The Incredible Hulk, that marked the debut of Marvel Studios as an independent film studio. The company had previously worked with other film studios on Marvel Comics film adaptations, including 20th Century Fox, Columbia, and Lionsgate, but as of 2008 the entity established a name for itself and funded its own properties, a move that allowed them to retain full creative control and not have to submit to the changes and demands of outside producers. That’s not to say that the studio didn’t suffer any economic side effects, as documented by the nigh loss of big name actors Sam Jackson and Mickey Rourke for Iron Man 2 due to insufficient offers of compensation.

New G.I. Joe Trailer

Nick — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 22:08:48 +0000

Update: Here is a new version of the trailer sans French subtitles from MySpace Movies. Personally, I don’t think it’s nearly as bad looking as the critics are making it out to be!

Here is the latest trailer for the upcoming Stephen Sommers-directed G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra. It’s subtitled in French, but that doesn’t impede the video too much. I’m personally looking forward to this, because I was a child of the ’80’s so this feels a bit nostalgic, but it still feels like something fresh and new. I’m not expecting anything special, but I still think it’ll be a fun ride, judging by the trailer. When we get a subtitle-free version we’ll post it up here.

[ via Allocine.fr ]

Wolverine News Conference Interview

Nick — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 17:29:47 +0000

This Saturday, X-Men Origins: Wolverine stars Hugh Jackman and Liev Schreiber along with director Gavin Hood were on hand for a news conference in Los Angeles to answer questions about the upcoming flick, which hits theaters this Friday. Hugh and Liev talked about the grueling physical demands of an action-oriented shoot while Gavin discussed the restrictions of directing an actor submerged underwater. View a partial transcription after the jump.

What were your most vivid memories of shooting?

Schreiber: Early on we were shooting the first big fight sequence with Hugh and I, which was outside of the bar. Hugh and I had rehearsed day and night for this, and I’ll admit, I’ll be candid here, I wasn’t sure that physically I was up to this role. Now I know that I am, but initially I was a little concerned. I’m sorry to say this in public, but Hugh and I being the elder statesmen of this cast, I think we were both rightfully concerned that we wouldn’t be able to pull off the fight that the stunt guys had shown us. Sure, we’d been lifting weights and we looked large, but what they were asking for was truly impossible, and I just remember the third night, after shooting until six in the morning every night, looking over at Hugh, and the two of us were just so smashed up by this fight and desperate to improve but desperate to impress our small sons at home, and they said, “Would you guys like to do one more?” I remember looking across at Hugh, praying that he would say, “I’m tired. I want to go home and go to bed.” And he said, “Nah. I feel great!”

Jackman: The biggest lie of my life.

Schreiber: I looked across and said, “Yeah, no, I feel great.” I looked at Hugh, and they said, “One more?” And he said, “I could do two more.” He looked at me, and I said, “Yeah, I could probably do three or four more.” That was my sole motivation for the rest of this entire thing.

How about for you, Gavin?

Hood: For me, it was trying to figure out how to direct Hugh Jackman when he was under water and wouldn’t listen or couldn’t listen to a single thing I said. This tank right behind us is the real tank from the movie; I’m going to take it home, it’s going in my bathroom. You can imagine being in this tank, and you’ll remember from the movie that Hugh is submerged in this tank, and he goes through a range of emotions, to put it bluntly.

He enters the tank fairly nervous but calm, he sees spinning needles coming down to enter his body, he then goes through this period of escalation where his heart rate is going crazy and is starting to think he’ll freak out, and then he dies, he’s got to be dead. There’s a lot he’s got to remember as we’re going along. Now you’re dead, and then of course you hear someone saying they might erase your memory, and when they say “erase your memory,” you kind of start coming around, and then you snap out of this tank, and you come roaring up and you are the Wolverine that everybody’s wanted to see. It’s the best shot in the movie: Rah! Hugh Jackman.

So how are we going to do this? Because he can’t hear a thing I’m saying. So we experiment with this underwater speaker that the guys assure me is going to work, and I’m speaking through it going, “Hey you,” and I’m sure he’s [hearing] “bluh bluh.” This is a total disaster, and he can’t just do it himself, unfortunately, even though we’ve sort of figured out the steps, because the cameras are moving, and they’ve got to arrive at the place with the close-up of his ear, and now they’re backing off, and so on.

So we developed a very advanced technique for this scene where I rolled up my sleeves, stuck my hand in the tank, held on to his big toe and explained to him that one grab of the toe is when the procedure begins. Two grabs of the toe, [it's] escalating, and by the time I get down to the baby toe, and I’m going to yank that thing, and that’s when you come roaring out of the tank. And then he would screw it up! I’d be on toe three, and he’d think it was toe two, and he would come roaring out of the tank. How long do you want to stay under the water for?

Jackman: That shot of me coming out of the tank is actually me responding to the two dislocated toes on my right foot.

Clash of the Titans Remake Begins Filming

Nick — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 08:00:11 +0000

Principal photography began Monday on the upcoming remake of the 1981 classic Clash of the Titans for Warner Bros and Legendary Pictures, starring actors Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes. Helming the film is French director Louis Leterrier, known for such films as Unleashed (aka Danny the Dog), Transporter 2 and last summer’s The Incredible Hulk.

The film revolves around the character of Perseus, played by Worthington, a hero of both mortal and godly parentage. Neeson takes up the role of Zeus, king of the gods, while Fiennes portrays Hades, god of the underworld (not a far stretch from his portrayal of Voldemort in the Harry Potter films). Supporting characters in the film include Io (Gemma Arterton), Draco (Mads Mikkelsen), Acrisius (Jason Flemyng), and Andromeda (Alexa Davalos).

Transformers II Footage

Nick — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 07:19:34 +0000

Here is some new footage from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen from Michael Bay’s official site. It was also shown at the ShoWest film convention where Bay was honored with the Vanguard Award for Excellence in Filmmaking. Transformers hits theaters Friday, June 24th.

The Latest from Moby

Nick — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 03:10:53 +0000

Moby - Shot in the Back of the Head from Mute Records.

Moby popped up the other day to announce his new album, to be released this summer. Titled “Wait for Me”, the album will hit shelves on June 30th and will feature his latest single, “Shot in the Back of the Head”, the video for which (above), directed by David Lynch, is now available online. The single is also available for download on Moby’s official site.

Moby and Lynch discuss their collaboration on the video on the David Lynch Foundation Television website. Moby also marked the new album announcement by starting a Twitter account. You can follow him as @thelittleidiot.

[ Moby Official ]

New Battery Uses Viral Energy

Nick — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 08:59:21 +0000

Batteries, as we know them, have always used a form of non-organic chemical energy, such as lead-acid and nickel-cadmium, in order to power our electronic devices. That is going to change once the scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T) unveil their new power source, a battery containing biological matter, a virus dubbed M13. The virus acts as a “biological scaffolding” in order to support a lithium-ion system within the battery.

M13 is a bacteriophage, a virus that normally only affects bacteria, and thus has no effect on human cells. Before the virus is integrated into the battery, it is modified through the alteration of two of its genes. One gene causes the outer layer of proteins to become embedded with bits of iron phosphate “like tiny fists all along the length of the virus,” says Angela Belcher, professor of materials science and biological engineering at M.I.T. The alteration of the second gene allows the tubelike body of the virus to bond with a network of carbon nanotubes that connects with millions of M13 molecules, thus allowing the conduction of electricity.

Jupiter’s Shrinking Storm

Nick — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 08:05:01 +0000

Astronomers have discovered that the single most recognizable characteristic about Jupiter, it’s Great Red Spot, is slowly shrinking. Over the course of a ten year study, observers noticed that the storm, roughly equivalent to the width of three Earths side by side, shrank about a kilometer a day (that’s 0.6 miles) from 1996 to 2006, for a total loss of 15 percent of its diameter. Currently the storm is roughly the shape of an eye, but it is expected to shrink down to a perfect circle by 2040.