This week in Anime News we have a first look at the Japanese premier of Deadman Wonderland and an announcement of the upcoming release of Eden of the East‘s post-series film, The King of Eden.

First up: Deadman Wonderland.

This Spring in Japan has been full of the usual, extremely-long list of premiers that people have to really sift through to see what’s going to stand out. I’ve been going through the lists that some of my Japanese friends compiled (plus my own list) over the past couple of weeks to figure out what will be best to watch. My first must-see on the list was X Men, which is proving to get better each week, and next up is Deadman Wonderland.

After seeing the first episode, I can definitely say that someone is going to end up picking this up for US distribution. The show has got that successful balance of crazy and intriguing anime plot going on that is well received in both Japanese and international markets. My personal reception of this series is that its refusal to shy away from violence and gore, while actually conveying a deeper plot, will really make it stand out this year. It touches on themes of sci-fi, horror and suspense while providing us with an entertaining look into the supernatural, high-tech prison that is Deadman Wonderland. This fictional version of Tokyo’s future is dark and ominous!

Check out this great trailer from Kodokawa! – “Deadman Wonderland Promotion Trailer”

And now, for a review of episode one with some light spoilers (these spoilers are in all the advertising for the show so they’re not really spoilers. Feel free to read on.).

The story surrounds a boy named Ganta, who in the first few minutes of episode one sees his entire middle school class get annihilated by the “Red Man.” Before leaving the scene of his violent crime, the Red Man tosses the head of a decapitated classmate and turns to plant a large red shard in the center of Ganta’s chest. Since Ganta is the only one left alive in this horrific room of gore and debris, the police decide that all available evidence points to him as the culprit. A mysterious video showing Ganta’s “confession” of the crime also surfaces during his trial, but it is still unknown how this video came into being. (I sure do find it suspicious that Ganta’s defense lawyer in the trial seems to have some part in the operation of Deadman Wonderland, don’t you?)

After being sentenced to death, Ganta is taken to Deadman Wonderland – a privately owned amusement park that has been built up over what used to be a part of Tokyo (which was abandoned due to a devastating earthquake). In Deadman Wonderland, prisoners are sentenced to carry out their days entertaining guests in what appear to be insane-looking sideshows.  They are forced to wear taser-linked, GPS and RFID tagged collars around their necks. Prisoners can also be sentenced to death at any time by an injection of toxins through these collars. As for the owners of the prison – they’re obviously shady individuals and we are meant to be suspicious of them from the beginning. (This is no surprise. Anime writers usually don’t seem to care if you recognize right off who the villains are going to be.)

So far, I just can’t help but feel terrible for Ganta. He’s so grief-stricken over the loss of his friends, and to be blamed for their murder seems to be sending him over the deep end. There is an especially gripping scene in the courtroom where the father of Ganta’s late friend Mimi jumps over the benches and starts beating Ganta senseless – all while he pleads with him that he didn’t kill his friends. By the end of the episode, I feel like maybe Ganta is going to go on a power-hungry rampage to get revenge on the Red Man, but it’s not yet clear what direction they’re going to take for him to try to achieve this task. All we know is that he’s got a red shard in his chest that has given him some kind of special powers…and that will make this show very interesting in the episodes to come!

My overall review – I think this will turn out to be a good watch. The animation is crisp and looks great in HD, and the story does a good job of kicking in during the first episode. Fans of horror and thriller anime will want to make this a must-see for later 2011 when the show will undoubtedly get brought over.

We’ll be sure to let you know here on Big Shiny Robot as soon as we get word about the US distribution rights for Deadman Wonderland.

Next up: Eden of the East: The King of Eden.

I haven’t gotten a chance to watch The King of Eden yet because I’m just now finishing up the series (and I refuse to expose myself to the spoilers that will come from watching this movie), but I can tell you that, judging from what I’ve seen in the series, this film probably be awesome. Eden of the East has rapidly climbed my list of all-time anime favorites.

Check out this fantastic trailer from Funimation for the Complete Series:

“Nobilesse Oblige: I pray for you continuing service as a savior,” – is one of my favorite lines from the series. The concept behind the show – that a rich, anonymous individual can force 12 people to become “saviors of the world” or die by his hand – makes it one of the best series to come out in many years. Some people call it a Bourne Identity rip-off, but I say look a little closer and you’ll really enjoy this series. Look for my upcoming review of the Eden of the East series soon here on BSR.

Check out the new film, The King of Eden here on Funimation’s website. It hits shelves on April 24th.

You can watch the Eden of the East series on Netflix streaming and pick up the DVD or Blu-ray set over here through Funimation.

Stay tuned to BSR for all your Geek News and Anime Updates!

Fans will be happy to know that High School of the Dead is getting a complete collection (full series) release on June 28th. Sometimes I feel like they make us wait an unbelievably long time to see all the episodes of a series in one place, but this release only took a few months from its “volume run.” Like many other recent anime imports, it is shortening the release gap that happens between Japan and America (especially since it originally simulcast on the Anime Network while airing in Japan). Directed by Tetsuro Araki of Deathnote and Black Lagoon fame, and based on the original manga by Daisuke Sato, this anime has become fairly popular on the North American anime scene.

The story surrounds a group of high school students who manage to escape when a zombie apocalypse comes crashing through the gates of their Fujimi campus. In the first episode it is made very clear that what the characters refer to as “Them” are meant to be almost-Romero-like zombies (but, in comparison, these are too easy to kill and certainly not capable of giving me nightmares for a week like Dawn of the Dead). It’s also apparent that some of the teens who escape the initial outbreak are a lot more likely to survive this series than others. Now, since I don’t want to give any spoilers away, I’ll just say that I’m sure the writers did this on purpose so you’d be taking bets from moment one as to who’s actually going to last through all twelve episodes (like any zombie thriller).

I can only assume that the writers have included a lot of stereotypical, high-school-drama characters in hopes of making this show somewhat comical for anyone that’s watched a lot of teen drama anime. You’ve got a badass girl who was captain of her Kendo team, a military-fanboy otaku who manages to fashion himself a nail gun to fend off zombies, a fairly average guy and girl who are set up to be the “romantic couple” right from the start, and a wide array of other characters who seem almost too much like ones we’ve seen from other series. Oh, and I forgot to mention the school’s nurse…yet another over the top occasion of fan service in anime. Could they have possibly made her breasts any larger? I don’t think so. Fair warning to all you female watchers out there…there are A LOT of unnecessary panty shots in this show.

As for the horror and action, it’s pretty decent. This series features a few occasions where I wish the characters (especially the more annoying ones) would just stop talking and fight the zombies. After living in Tokyo for some time, I can tell you that a zombie apocalypse there would be pretty terrifying. Possession of firearms is illegal in Japan for those who do not possess a special license (certain hunters, police officers and National Defense Forces can carry certain firearms depending on their situation), and therefore very few people would be armed in the event of a zombie outbreak. (I for one think it would be way more entertaining to see zombies being fought with a variety of Japanese swords, but alas those are generally only found in museums nowadays.) This lack of available firearms makes any uprising’s survival-outlook to be pretty dismal at best. That being said, the series tries to take a stab at depicting zombie chaos in Japan.

Overall, I’d say give this one a watch if you enjoy anything zombie related, but don’t expect it to follow ” Romero zombie cannon” …it breaks the “rules” and I’m okay with that. Definitely give it a watch if you feel like you’ve seen too many high-school anime and need to see some of your favorite (or least favorite) character types fight off zombies! This show has a somewhat satisfying plot and makes for a good 12 episode run.

Check out High School of the Dead on the Anime Network and, if you like it, you can find the pre-order the Blu-Ray Complete Collection for $57.99 on Amazon (or elsewhere at List Price for $69.98).

Enjoy the following clip from Episode 3! (No spoilers contained.)

Disney has been incredibly prolific in their Blu-ray offerings in the last couple of months and each of them are worth your money, but each for drastically different reasons. The one reason unifying all of them is that they’re all entertaining films and more often than not, they’re good.

Bambi: Though Walt Disney was a renowned fighter of “Communism”, his films had some pretty radical messages by today’s standards and Bambi is no exception. (Fantasia, you’ll remember, had a pretty definitive statement of the truth of human evolution.) Bambi is a thoroughly stunning indictment of man’s encroachment into nature. Everything is idyllic and the animals are peaceful, happy, and adorable, until man enters the forest. He kills these cheery creatures indiscriminately and burns down the forest. It’s a pretty standard message of environmentalism and illustrates a fairly pointed opinion against hunting. And I loved every minute of it. I remember seeing Bambi as a kid, but I don’t remember any details of it, so seeing it on Blu-ray again was an eye opening experience. It was a very, very well animated film and in HD it was utterly breathtaking. Everything about it was so painterly and lovely, even the burning down of the forest. It wasn’t as much of a narrative as I expected it to be, much more of an animated vignette of nature with beautiful music and special effects, Bambi’s story is merely way of bringing the viewer through the seasons and to illustrate the destructive nature of man.

This is a classic film and there’s a reason for it and I would definitely consider

picking this up for your collection.

Tron and Tron: Legacy: Watching these films again was a joy, but I have to say, the original Tron film outmatches the sequel in just about every way. From story and heart to character and script, Tron was just head and shoulders a better film. The story certainly made more sense and there was this ambitious energy to it that made it perfect. The new film made little sense, though it was incredibly fun to look at. I’ve added both to my collection, but if you have to pick just one of these two to pick up, I’d go with the original. Aside from the fact that it’s hands down a better movie, it looks absolutely gorgeous on Blu-ray.

The Incredibles: Easily my favorite of the Pixar films, The Incredibles is out on Blu-ray tomorrow and is a bright and shining example of beautiful storytelling, brilliant filmmaking, and stunning animation. Wrap all of those things into a truly great, classic movie onto a Blu-ray and you’ve got one of the easiest excuses for dropping $25 in the galaxy. Everything about watching this film again on Blu-ray is a joy, particularly the characterizations and the music, both standout upon repeat viewings. That, and the style of the film, the cool 50s retro look in the beginning and the overstylized characters, it’s easy to fall in love with the visuals. But director Brad Bird takes the tried and true formula of a superhero family (much like The Fantastic Four) and knocks it up a notch on screen in a way that may never be replicated again. I could only ask for a Fantastic Four film half this good and I’d be completely satisfied.

This is one of those movies that you’d be foolish not to upgrade onto Blu-ray. I’ve said it over and over and over again that Pixar makes some of the best looking Blu-rays in the business and The Incredibles is no exception.

Disney has also been kind enough to give us a taste of some of the bonus features:

Tangled: Last on our list today is the newest animated release of the batch and I find that it’s really proving Disney’s return to form for the medium that brought them originally to greatness. You can read Scarlett’s more full review of the Blu-ray here, but I have to say that I enjoyed this movie quite a bit myself. My only complaint about this film is that it was in 3D animation instead of classic 2D animation. I don’t understand the fascination with 3D. I can understand Pixar clinging to it, but it’s frustrating that I can’t get my 2D hand drawn feature animation fix anywhere else. Having said that, Tangled is the epitome of a good story well told with a lot of tremendous elements to it that I really did enjoy more than most mid-list Disney movies. In particular, Ron Perlman’s appearance as The Stabbingtons.

If you have kids, this is definitely a movie that you’ll enjoy watching them if you missed it in the theatres. And you’ll probably find yourself watching it more than a few times.

That’s it for the recent Disney releases of note, and I have to say it’s a really solid batch. You’d not do much better than adding all of these to your collections. The picture quality on all of them is astounding, the movies are all range from watchable to fantastic.

I did have one issue with the Bambi disc, though. It was more than likely my Blu-ray player, but it took forever to load every time I tried playing it. And I’d have to eject it and put it back in over and over again. I have an older player, but the firmware is update. The loading time is probably my only complaint about Blu-ray as a whole.

If you had to pick one of these four, which one would you buy?

The website TV Shows on DVD has revealed that one of my most beloved cartoons from the 80’s will be coming to DVD.  That’s right . . . M.A.S.K. (Mobile Armored Strike Kommand) will soon be available to watch to your heart’s content.

Relive the adventures of Matt Trakker, his son Scott, and that goofy T-Bob as they’re joined by fellow M.A.S.K. members Bruce Sato, Hondo MacLean, Dusty Hayes, Gloria Baker, and all the rest of the mask-wearing gang.  The show followed their adventures as the members of the crime-fighting team used their powerful masks against the plotting agents of V.E.N.O.M. (Vicious Evil Network of Mayhem).  But that’s not all!  They also drove vehicles that could transform, and Trakker had a red Chevrolet Camaro that had gull-wing doors and turned into a jet plane.

The 65 episodes from Season 1 will be released, though there’s no word yet on the 10 episodes from the short-lived second season.

The cartoon’s opening sequence and theme song has long been a personal favorite of mine, with its lasers and explosions and never-ending action.  The song is catchy and energetic, and it has found its way into my personal MP3 collection once or twice.

I actually still have my old Manta toy around somewhere . . . it was the vehicle for V.E.N.O.M. agent Vanessa Warfield, and it’s a purple car.  I never could locate Gloria’s Shark, though.

Hopefully the DVD release will live up to my treasured memories of the show.

No release date has been provided.

On the heels of the release of All Star Superman this week, we’ve got the trailer for the next direct to video animated movie from DC.  Green Lantern: Emerald Knights will be similar to one of the previous animated movies, Batman: Gotham Knight,  in that it will be an anthology. It will have different stories featuring Lantern Corps members Sinestro, Abin Sur, Kilowog, Mogo, and Rori Dag. The Batman film was supposed to be set in the same continuity as Christopher Nolan’s “Bat” films, but I’m not sure if this one will follow that and be set in the same universe as the upcoming Green Lantern movie. The trailer does say that it is brought to us from the producers of the movie so take that as you will. The voice cast includes Henry Rollins as Kilowog, “Madmen’s” Elizabeth Moss as Arisa, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper as Bolphulga, and fan favorite Nathan Fillion as Hal Jordan. Set to release on June 7th of this year, Green Lantern: Emerald Knights will be available 10 days before the live action film hits theaters on the 17th of June.

Last year Redbox fell victim to the same deal that has plagued the Netflix DVD mailing service for a while now – they must wait 28 days after the DVD goes on sale before they can stock the title for rent in their kiosks. This deal hit Redbox pretty hard as reports are putting Redbox rental revenue down by as much as $50 million in fourth quarter of last year. So what’s a DVD rental service to do? Go online.

According to the LA Times, Redbox is positioning itself to offer an online video streaming service for a monthly subscription which will be a direct competitor to Netflix’s “Watch Instantly” service. Redbox also noted that they will launch this digital service with a partner, but didn’t name who that partner would be. There is some speculation that this secret partner could be Amazon.com – who just three weeks ago inadvertently started some excitement over the possibility that they too would be offering a streaming video subscription service. For some reason, Redbox and Amazon seem like an unlikely duo to be teaming up, but there are a few points that make sense. First, Netflix has pretty much cornered the online video streaming subscription market unchallenged, so they are going to be difficult to compete with and lure customers away from. Secondly, Redbox stated their subscription service would allow customers access to the kiosks for physical DVD’s as well – something that’s already set up. It would make sense for Amazon to perhaps look at this as a plus as they wouldn’t have to offer their own DVD mailing option to customers – a feature that despite all of the online streaming options available today, Netflix customers still enjoy to have.

It’s hard to say what exactly would be the best way for Redbox and Amazon to enter the online streaming service fray – together or apart – but it does definitely look like they both have some sort of plan up their sleeves and my guess we will find out a little later this year if our online video streaming subscription service options include “Netflix, Amazon, or Redbox”, or “Netflix or Amazon/Redbox”.

One last thought: How the hell is Blockbuster still around?!

If you haven’t been keeping up on all of DC’s animated straight-to-videos you are seriously missing out. The whole crew here at Big Shiny Robot! practically drools over each one. All-Star Superman, based on the excellent Grant Morrison comic, will be available on February 22nd. You can probably expect to see a Big Shiny Review! of the movie soon after, if not before.

As always, the art style for this new addition to the DC Animated library is amazing. Just look at that picture above. The composition of the shot is fantastic. If that doesn’t convince, just look at the emotion in Superman’s eyes in this one:

But the animation is just the tip of the iceberg. What always impresses me about these is the voice-acting. I expect All-Star Superman to be no different. The stellar cast includes James Denton (Superman), Christina Hendricks (Lois), and Anthony LaPaglia (Lex Luthor). And that’s just the stars, you also get Ed Asner as Perry White and Six Feet Under’s Frances Conroy as Ma Kent. Rounding out the ensemble are Matthew Gray Gubler (Criminal Minds), Linda Cardellini (ER), Arnold Vosloo (The Mummy), Catherine Cavadini (The Powerpuff Girls), Finola Hughes (General Hospital), Alexis Denisoff (Angel), Obba Babatunde (That Thing You Do!), Michael Gough (Batman) and John DiMaggio (Futurama). That’s some serious talent.

And who better to direct that talent than Andrea Romano, eight-time Emmy Award winner with the experience to make this great. She’s directed the first 10 animated films from DCU along with everything else you’ve ever thought was cool. Seriously. Batman: The Animated Series, Animaniacs, The Boondocks, and the Smurfs all had her involved in some way. Which is my long-winded way of saying you should read what she had to say at a recent Q&A about her experience with making All-Star Superman. It was a rather lengthy interview, so I’ll just post the coolest highlights:

Are there certain writers’ scripts you find easier to direct or get an instant feel?

There are several writers I’ve worked with over the years whose wordsI can recognize without even seeing a title page, like Stan Berkowitz, Alan Burnett, Bob Goodman and especially Dwayne McDuffie. And because I’ve worked with them for so long over so many different projects, and once they know I’m on a project, it’s almost as though they write for me – because they know exactly what information I need to know to give to the actors. So I love working with all those guys. Dwayne works so hard on being true to the source material, and yet translating it into something that can be acted. He’s really good at making that transition of honoring the material, but bringing the words off the page to make it actable and dramatically interesting.

You’ve directed your share of voices for Superman. How did James Denton rank in his first foray in animation?

Jamie was a voiceover virgin, or he hadn’t done much, but he was outstanding to work with…. He reminded me of Jensen Ackles…. Jamie was a really interesting choice – it can be difficult to cast some of these Superman films – and he brought some unique interpretations and sensitivities to the role. And that’s interesting for a director – to hear somebody else’s thoughts on what a man like Superman would sound like.

On Christina Hendricks as Lois Lane

It was cute because she was quite nervous coming in with no prior voiceover experience, but her acting instincts are so good, she has the ability to adjust to acting to a microphone as opposed to camera very quickly. I always give people positive feedback, but I was telling her “terrific job” and you’ll see the evidence when you see the piece…. I would use her again in a minute.

On Anthony LaPaglia

The actors I tend to bring in are people I’ve admired from afar and have been looking for a specific character for them – as with Anthony LaPaglia for Lex Luthor. He is such a versatile actor, and his dialect work is so good.

At one point in the LaPaglia session, he wasn’t understanding your direction no matter how many different ways you worded it – and Brcue [sic] Timm was able to communicate your direction with a simple drawing of Lex’s face. Has Bruce done that previously/often over your 20-plus years working together?

When Bruce did that for Anthony, I thought that was one of those great moments where a picture is actually worth ten thousand words. One of the things Bruce has done a million times before is, when someone comes in to play a role, he’ll draw the character right there on the spot. That almost always helps an actor establish a voice.

On the casting of the smaller roles

I think Matthew [Gray Gubler] is such a talent… He’s a perfect Jimmy Olsen – sweet, endearing, slightly nerdy. If I had a role for him in every project, I would always hire him.

Frances Conroy – first, let me say that she is not related to Kevin Conroy, which is kind of funny because they know each other very well, and they even went to Juilliard together. …when I heard she was doing voiceovers, I was so jealous somebody else got her before I did. …what she did with such few lines of dialogue was wonderful and exactly what I was hoping to get.

Alexis [Denisof] has such an interesting quality to his voice. I loved Dr. Quintum, he’s such an odd character, and the voice matches perfectly. I’m never 100 percent sure when doing the casting if I made the right decision. It’s not until it comes back in animation that we really know that it actually did work. Alexis as Dr. Quintum is definitely one of those circumstances that worked well.

Beyond the on-camera actors, you tend to appear to have the best times directing when you have a room full of full-time voiceover actors – like on this project with John DiMaggio, Kevin Michael Richardson, Robin Atkin Downes, Steve Blum, Fred Tatasciore, Michael Gough and so on. What’s that group session like?

Often when I cast my ensemble players for some of the secondary characters, and that is to say secondary characters by the number of lines they must perform, I treat it almost like a casting party. I want to put together people who enjoy being in a room together, that are going to bring something to the party, and that they’re somebody with whom I want to spend a few hours locked in a room together. Okay, sometimes it should be a padded room. I find that I get a core group of actors and I almost want to carry them with me to every different project I’m working on – the end credits of my films and series probably back that up. When I get the chance, I also like to cast those guys in major featured roles, like John DiMaggio as the Joker in Batman: Under the Red Hood. The thing about these actors is that they’re so versatile that I could assign three roles to each before they walked into the room, and I could change it when we walked into the room and they’d have no problem playing the other characters instead. It’s always fun to work with that group, but sometimes it is like being a kindergarten teacher with an over-crowded class.

Andrea Romano will be at the New York premiere on Valentine’s Day and the LA premiere on February 17th. All-Star Superman is available for preorder now and comes out February 22nd on DVD and Blu-Ray.

How many of us have wanted Nathan Fillion to be Green Lantern? I mean, Ryan Reynolds, sure, but according to a WB Animation press release, we’ll be getting a Fillion-Hal Jordan on June 7, just more than a week before we get the Ryan Reynolds live action version in theaters.

Even better, we have an amazing supporting voice cast: Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men, The West Wing), Henry Rollins as Kilowogg (YES!!!!!! Best choice since Dennis Haysbert did the voice on the Justice League cartoons), Arnold Vosloo (he was the mummy in The Mummy) as Abin Sur, and Jason Isaacs (Lucius Malfoy from Harry Potter) as Sinestro.  Are not these just spot on choices? I

Really, I thought the only thing wrong with Green Lantern: First Flight was Chris Meloni as Hal Jordan. Give me David Boreanaz any day from New Frontier.

Also, I like the look of the character designs, as seen in this promo image below, courtesy of MTV.

The cartoons that Nathan Fillion's and Elisabeth Moss's voices will inhabit

Speaking of, we have a strange geek diagram of everyone who played Hal Jordan emerging: Ryan Reynolds and Nathan Fillion both got their start on Two Guys, a Girl, and Pizza Place (still one of my favorite sitcoms of all time), Fillion and David Boreanaz both inhabited the Buffyverse, and somehow I’m sure Kevin Bacon fits in there.

So here’s the official press release from WB.  What do the rest of you robots think about this?  Are any of you as excited as I am?

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NATHAN FILLION, ELISABETH MOSS LEAD STELLAR VOICECAST FOR GREEN LANTERN: EMERALD KNIGHTS

ALL-NEW DC UNIVERSE ANIMATED ORIGINAL MOVIE COMING JUNE 7, 2011 FROM WARNER HOME VIDEO

BURBANK, CA, (February 8, 2011) – Primetime television stars Nathan Fillion (Castle) and Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men) lead a diverse array of performers as the voices behind Green Lantern: Emerald Knights, the next entry in the popular, ongoing series of DC Universe Animated Original Movies. Building up to the release of the highly anticipated live action film, Green Lantern, in theatres June 17, Green Lantern: Emerald Knights arrives on Blu-Ray™, DVD, On Demand and for Download June 7 from Warner Premiere, DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation.

Fillion provides the voice of the animated film’s central character Hal Jordan, the human Green Lantern assigned to Sector 2814 (which includes Earth). Fillion has starred in several primetime television series including Desperate Housewives, Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He has also developed a popular cult following as a pair of Joss Whedon’s heroic captains: Capt. Mal Reynolds in the space-western series Firefly and follow-up film, Serenity; and Captain Hammer in Whedon’s internet sensation Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. Fillion returns to the DC Universe after his successful turn as Steve Trevor in the animated film Wonder Woman, and has performed voice work on Justice League, Robot Chicken, The Venture Bros., and several Halo video games.

Moss gives voice to Arisia, a young recruit forced into her first mission on just her third day as a Green Lantern. Prior to starring as the ever-evolving Peggy Olson in AMC’s ground-breaking series Mad Men, Moss was featured on The West Wing, Invasion and Picket Fences. Moss has been active in voiceovers for animation with previous roles in Steven Spielberg Presents Animaniacs, Freakazoid! and It’s Spring Training, Charlie Brown!.

The voice cast for the animated Green Lantern: Emerald Knights also features actor/spoken word artist Henry Rollins (Sons of Anarchy, The Henry Rollins Show) as Kilowog, Jason Isaacs (the Harry Potter films) as Sinestro, legendary professional wrestler “Rowdy” Roddy Piper (They Live) as Bolphunga, Arnold Vosloo (The Mummy) as Abin Sur, Kelly Hu (The Vampire Diaries) as Laira and Wade Williams (Prison Break) as Deegan. Radio Hall of Fame commentator/talk show host Michael Jackson voices the esteemed Guardian, Ganthet.

Bruce Timm is executive producer of Green Lantern: Emerald Knights. Directors are Lauren Montgomery, Jay Oliva and Christopher Berkeley.

The full-length animated Green Lantern: Emerald Knights complements the Warner Bros. theatrical release of the highly anticipated live-action major motion picture, Green Lantern. Green Lantern: Emerald Knights will be distributed by Warner Home Video as a Blu-Ray™ Combo Pack and 2-Disc Special Edition DVD, as well as single disc DVD. The film will also be available On Demand and for Download.

Big Shiny Robot! has a weekly column in the Salt Lake City alt-weekly IN Magazine and every week we bring it to you on the site.

If you live in the greater Salt Lake area, you can pick up a copy of IN Magazine up from one of their ubiquitous newsstands, and we would highly suggest that you do.

You can read the online version of the story here.

This week, we tell you about The ForceCast’s method of celebrating the new year with the destruction of the first Death Star. You can check out their website here.

Click on the image below for a larger version of how it appears in print.

And so here we have a trailer for the Superman XXX Porn Parody.

I’m still not sure about these. The Batman one had great production values and what I saw of it was pretty fun. On the other hand, these guys are pretty clearly cashing in on the trademark and names of intellectual property. I mean, I guess they change as much as they have to in order to make it legal. And as much fun as they are, does that make it right?

I don’t know.

What do you guys think?