Please to enjoy, Vince and Lucas’s conversation with Warren Ellis from within his hotel room at Wizard World Chicago. He talks FreakAngels, other Avatar work, his Internet presence, and how he feels about being back with the X-Men. Every time this man opens his mouth, gold spills out. Hit play and catch some for yourself!
This week, the Florida Bar has requested anti-video game attorney Jack Thompson’s disbarment, finding him guilty of 27 counts of misconduct. Mr. Thompson prepared a written objection to the ruling and requested to read it aloud to Judge Dava Tunis and the courtroom, but was sagely blocked from doing so. When silenced, Mr. Thompson stormed directly out of the courtroom, appearing quite enraged. Our ace Shotgun Reviews photographers were on the scene and were fortunate enough to snag a shot of Mr. Thompson as he was leaving the courthouse.
Survey says, probably not. Looking at the numbers, the inaugural release from Marvel Studios really brought home the bacon. Domestically, Iron Man pulled in a whopping $102 million in gross returns this weekend, giving it one of the 10 best opening weekends of all time (boxofficemojo.com). That’s quite a feat, considering that this was one of the first comic book film adaptations that didn’t feature a villain of prominence.
Many industry pundits theorized that the release of the latest installment in Rockstar Games’ ragingly successful and undeniably controversial Grand Theft Auto series would have cannibalized sales from the movie. While there is no doubt that the game has been selling quite well, that was to be expected. Iron Man arrived with very little fanfare. How many movie posters or billboards did you see before its launch? In comparison, GTA IV posters could be found all around Chicago, along with a host of billboards and TV ads.
Industry experts are theorizing that GTA IV might stand to earn $450 million in sales this year, but let’s stack that up against where Iron Man is likely to land by year’s end. Even if it fares only moderately well, say along the lines of Bruce Almighty. That means Iron Man would pull in over $480 million during its theatrical run. But to be fair, I’m guessing that this fantastic film will fare even better, probably more along the lines of Shrek 2 and Spider Man 3, somewhere around $800 million.
What do you have to say to that, Niko?
Is it possible that Mr. Jack Thompson, the nemesis of gamers around the world, has found means to finally bring the games industry down?
He sent this image to GamePolitics in an email with the subject line: Evidence.
What’s he trying to “prove?” Well, that one’s just too easy.
It’s early Saturday morning. You’ve just poured yourself a heaping bowl of Boo Berry cereal and are getting ready to settle in for the highlight of your week: Saturday morning cartoons! Flipping to ABC, you are treated to one of your favorite opening theme songs, featuring four men who made a living “exterminating” previously-exterminated humans.
In this inaugural edition of Saturday Flashback, we’ll take a look at what made The Real Ghostbusters so alluring. And no, it wasn’t just Ray Parker Jr.’s incredibly infectious groove.
Ahoy! Shots in the Dark IS the official podcast of Shotgun Reviews, so we thought we’d hit you up with an all review episode (after the Gatling Geek news segment, of course). We went a little outside the box, though. First, Janelle reviews The Sims 2: Freetime, the likely final expansion pack to The Sims 2, and even gives you a sneak peak of The Sims 3, due out next year. Then we take a deep look at the first 7 “episodes” of Warren Ellis and Paul Duffield’s FreakAngels; the completely free webcomic. Head over, take a listen, subscribe through any and all podcasting services, and be a better human being. Or Warren Ellis will send the arse eels. It’s your choice.
We held off on an individual spotlight for a bit so we could bring you a HUGE spotlight: it’s the Shots in the Dark team! In the shot above, pictured clockwise from left, are Vince, Janelle, Imoticon, Lucas and Michael Madsen. Yes, the REAL Michael Madsen. The Shots in the Dark crew doesn’t mess around. Read on to meet Lucas, Janelle, Vince, The Viceroy, Imoticon, and John after the jump, or watch the latest episode right now!
Name: Lucas Siegel
Shots in the Dark team position: Co-Producer, Booking
Specialty: Comics, tech, anime, random knowledge
Things I do: Newsarama.com, ShotgunReviews.com, Truman College Newspaper Arts and Entertainment Editor, Generally kick-ass, Get linked to by Rolling Stone
Interests: Comics, video games, writing (creative and journalism), all the geeky stuff we talk about on the show, Da Bears, making fun of Vince, trolling/giving negative karma to JB on our forums (found at shotgunreviews.com/shots/forum)
Name: Janelle Siegel
Shots in the Dark team position: co-host/token girl
Specialty: smart assery, comics, saying “your mom” at inconvenient moments, video games (The Sims 2 in particular), manga, and using my boobs to get my way.
Things I do: copy-edit Newsarama (can I say that? I think you know the link but might want to clear with Matt), Shotgun Vlog (http://www.youtube.com/user/SitDShow), write for Shotgun, and co-host SitD. To pay the bills: office administrator for fashion designer Andria Lieu - website still in development.
Interests: Your mom. Ha. Seriously: comics (love Fables, X-Men, Birds of Prey, and Suburban Glamour), manga (Fruits Basket, Ouran High School Host Club, Nana, Vampire Knight), video games (The Sims 2, Final Fantasy 2/4-8, SSX, Burnout, Smash Bros.), books (favorite authors include Stephen King, L.M. Montgomery, and John Irving), my husband, animals (especially our cats Monkey and Chicken!), TV (favorite show ever = Veronica Mars, favorite show currently on TV = Lost), movies (Empire Records, Gone With The Wind, and Lost in Translation), music (I <3 U2), and editing (I hates the bad grammars).
Name: Vince Scalabrino
Shots in the Dark position: Co-Producer, Marketing
Specialty: Retro video games, Non super-hero comics and pop culture obscura: Dr. Who, 80’s animation, vintage computer tech and games, robots, etc.
Things I do: Digital marketing (www.icrossing.com), voiceover acting (www.voiceofvince.com - Coming soon!), audio and video production (www.shotgunreviews.com/shots), writing (Right here on www.shotgunreviews.com).
Interests: See specialties. Vince is also a casual harmonica player, snowboarder and unabashed Karaoke lover. He blogs on very rare occasions @ vscalabri.livejournal.com. There are rumors he is also in the early stages of development of his very first novel.
Little Known Fact: Vince once got up in front of 500-some Motorola employees and their former CEO, Ed Zander, and sang 12 bars of Cole Porter’s “Night and Day”, in the style of Ol’ Blue Eyes. In case you were wondering, he no longer works at Motorola.
Name: The Viceroy
Shots in the Dark team position: Co-Founder, on-air talent, and random odds & ends support
Specialty: Video Games, Tabletop & Board Games, Collectible Card Games, random facts of nostalgia (Like Vince only more extensive & random!), as well as general geek-ese and geek-isms. Oh, and making everyone wonder who is the man behind the mask…
Things I do: Senior System Designer at an unnamed “super secret” video game company, part-time entertainer at Chicago Bulls basketball games, and Voice Overs if he ever has the time (demo tape is just about done!), typically speaks of himself in the third person
Interests: See Specialties & Professional sections above. In addition to those, The Viceroy also has an analyst streak in him and follows most of the Chicago pro teams (Bears, Bulls, Cubs). The Viceroy also dabbles with building with LEGO and has a fond appreciation Cartoons & Animation. The Viceroy would like to write again at some point as well…
Little Known Fact: The Viceroy could have been one of the ‘contestants’ on the TV Show “The Pickup Artists”, but decided against it.
Name: Imoticon AKA Steve Scalabrino
Shots in the Dark team position: On-Air Talent
Specialties: Movies, TV, Games (FPS,Action,Fantasy)
Things I do: Acting (stage, print and TV), retail gigs to cover the gaps (Starbucks and the like).
Interests: Airsoft, Movies/TV, All things of 80’s, good sushi restaurants, know any?
Name: Halcylon AKA John Stvan
Shots in the Dark Team position: Graphic Designer / Cinematography Lead, On-Air Talent
Specialties: Halo, Halo 2, Halo 3, Call of Duty Series (Any First Person Shooter, really), Star Wars (Movie and Book form), Graphic Art, Digital Art
Things I do: Graphic design (www.gravityforcegraphics.com), Video producing/ editing (www.shotgunreviews.com/shots), Bungie.net user/abuser (Halcylon’s Profile).
Interests: See Specialties. Anything involving the color blue (It’s the only color I can truly see well). I have read almost every book available regarding String Theory, partake in skiing in Colorado and have acted in plays and movies since high school (almost a decade of work in all). I have a fuzzy kitty named Sierra who is a dog in disguise (she barks and plays fetch). In case you didn’t already guess, I enjoy long drawn out conversations regarding anything to do with myself. =)
The Latest and Greatest Shots in the Dark Episode!
From the desk of our podcast:
Alas, our favorite comic has come to a close. Of course, we’re talking about Brian K. Vaughn’s masterpiece, Y: The Last Man. Over the past 6 years, we’ve laughed, cried and perhaps even screamed aloud in public. We’ve followed closely the journey of Yorick Brown, the last man on Earth, as he searched for love and the meaning of life. We’ve dedicated this very special episode of Shots in the Dark to discussion of Y, beginning with a Y: The Last Man-themed Gatling Geek and a review of the series’ finale, Issue 60.
If you haven’t yet had the pleasure to enjoy this amazing work of art, fear not! We were very careful to keep the show almost completely spoiler-free. So take a listen and when you’re done, be sure to click on over to our forums to tell us what YOU think.
Also, check out Dialectic, our featured band of the week, with lead singer Ying-sun. Get it? Y name? Perfect!
Wait, what? You haven’t been to the All-new All-Different Shots in the Dark Forums yet? That’s alright, I’ll wait. Check it out. You back yet? Great! As you can see, we relaunched with an all new #1, with 9 variant covers that link up to show a picture of a middle finger pointed at anyone you want. That’s all a lie, of course, but hey, I’m trying to be overtly satirical here! Shots in the Dark, Shotgun Reviews’ internet radio show, is already bringing you the best conversation about geek/pop culture out there. Now, we want you to get in on the conversation. We have a super-speedy forum set up, and we’ve invited some of our friends along for the ride. First, we have Jim Beard and Co’s Super-Articulate! They put out a great regular column on Newsarama about the ins and outs of the action figure industry, and now, between columns, you can get more insight from them on their forum hosted by Shots in the Dark!
We’re also VERY pleased to announce that Raven Gregory, EIC of Zenescope and writer of such fine comics as Return to Wonderland, The Gift, and Se7en, is our first creator to have his very own forum at our site. So come by and show Raven that Shotgun readers are the best sycophants in the comic industry!So, whether you’re looking to chat with radio hosts, columnists, or creators (more on that to come, btw), or if you’re just looking for a douchebag-free zone of the internet where you can talk about your geek/pop culture, head on over to Shots in the Dark’s all new forum.P.S. Don’t forget to check out our latest episode, and all the back episodes. Our latest episodetackled everyone’s favorite comic topic, One More Day, and we’ll have a new episode this week explaining the ins and outs of Intellectual Property. All that, plus all the news you need from MacWorld Expo and from all around the geeky globe.
At long last, the Bad Robot (JJ Abrams) delivers a film that has had quite an interesting bit of promotion, or should I say, commotion, around it. First, there was the hoopla at Comic-Con 2007. Then we saw a smattering of viral marketing websites. Slusho!, anyone? How about some fun with photos? The big question is, of course, does Cloverfield live up to all of the viral and “alternative” hype? I’d say probably, but with some caveats. This is definitely not a film for everyone. Some of us might find it a bit hard to suffer through. But there are certainly some folk, like myself, who will find it refreshing and immersive. However, if you are prone to motion sickness, seizures or regularly suffer from eye fatigue, DO NOT SEE THIS FILM! Well, I suppose you could, but you may want to bring a Dramamine or barf bag to the theater, just in case.
If you don’t think you suffer from any of the aforementioned maladies, then stop reading this review and get yourself to the nearest theater, ASAP, and see this film.
WARNING: SPOILER ALERT! Stop reading now if you plan to see Cloverfield! (more…)
For those of you who are unaware, Shots in the Dark is the official podcast of Shotgun Reviews. Its hosted by regular Shotgun contributors Lucas Siegel, Janelle Siegel and Vince Scalabrino. They’re joined by Imoticon, JB, and The Viceroy, expert gamers and a professional video game designer. These heavily opinionated folks dissect and occasionally eviscerate pop culture with the same tongue-in-cheek cynicism you’ve come to know and love here at Shotgun.
In their most recent episode, the Shots in the Dark crew reviews Talisman: The Board Game, coupled with a lively round table discussion of the most controversial Marvel arc of the 21st century, Spider Man’s One More Day. And if you’re into video games at all, you’d be interested to hear the exclusive cheat for Rock Band that the crew discovered. Curious? Head on over and give them a listen. Or just click on the big, blue, appropriately-named button above and get your fix.
Last month, I posted the first of two parts of my journey in search of the set of Lost on the island of O’ahu. After much suspense and procrastination, I have at last deemed it time to finish off the job. Today, I will share what is undoubtedly the “creamy filling” of this little Oreo. So pour yourself a nice glass of milk and get ready. It’s time to get Lost.
As many of you are aware, one of the greatest shows on television has decided to push its fourth season’s start date to the very end of January 2008. For those of us entranced by Lost’s delightfully complex storylines and enigmatic mysteries, that’s a helluva long time to wait. In the meanwhile, we’re supposed to get by on little snippets of video that create more questions then answers. Fear not, disillusioned fans. I have for you all a story about our long-delayed show that’s filled with adventure, excitement, mystery and a couple of radical surfer dudes.
Our story begins some 3000 miles off the coast of California, on a little island known as O’ahu. When my fiancé and I booked our trip to the island paradise of O’ahu, we joked about running into Matthew Fox or Terry O’quinn whilst sipping Mai Tai’s on Wakiki Beach. Of course, that didn’t happen. But it got us thinking. What if we could find one of the locations they film the show? We knew that they filmed it on the island and the island isn’t that big. So on our second day there, we decided that after an early morning trip to the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor and a hike up Diamond Head, we’d head out on a trek to “get Lost”. And that we definitely did, but not nearly in the way we originally intended.
