This pwnage brought to you by Senator Kooche:

Jimmy Martin (from the Big Movie Mouth Off, which can be found on Big Shiny Robot! here) is a regular panelist on The GeekShow Podcast and arranged for a friend of his Jason B. James (his website is here) to take some photos of the Walking Dead set that no one has seen.  He lives in Atlanta and took some beautiful photos from right outside his front door.

We’ve posted a couple of them up here, but you’ll have to go to GeekShow’s website to see the rest.

The photographer, Jason, has also posted a few that are exclusive to his site, too, which you can see here.

These photos, added to the trailer we’ve seen, and the news that they’re already a go for a second season make me very comfortably excited for this endeavour.  The Walking Dead is one of my favorite comics, and easily one of the best I’ve ever read. (Check out Vol 1. here).  It looks like Robert Kirkman and Frank Darrabont are really doing something special.

The show premieres on Halloween night on AMC.

Be sure to visit Geek Show and Jason for more exclusive pictures of Walking Dead you won’t see anywhere else.  And be sure to give the Geek Show a listen.  It’s good times.  (On a side note, I was also asked to be on this weeks show to recount my Lucasfilm experience, so go listen to that one.)

Earlier this year MGM Studios was in the toilet. The same MGM studios that was set to produce The Hobbit and the next Bond film – so naturally, there has been a lot of questions and concern about when these anticipate projects would get going again finally.

Well, it looks like there is a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. The sale of MGM to Spyglass Entertainment seems to be moving forward at a steady pace, which means MGM can get back on it’s feet and start moving forward – so much so that potential start dates for these flagship films are being thrown around.

The Hobbit

We recently heard that MGM is fighting to have Martin Freeman play the lead role in the film by offering him a shooting schedule that would work around his other commitments. This idea, of course, makes no sense if MGM doesn’t have a planned production date yet, but it now appears that they may. The Bolton News caught up with Sir Ian McKellen about the film and not only did he confirm that he will be returning as Gandalf (there was some question after comments he made earlier this year), but has said that the aim is now to begin production this January.

Bond 23

. . . director Sam Mendes, who has been attached to Bond 23 since January, has taken himself out of the running for The Hunger Games due to his commitments to MGM. In the article, it’s stated that the next Bond film could get started as early as next summer.

Looks like good news all around, so hopefully these films will start moving forward at a more steady pace as soon as this stuff with MGM and Spyglass is finalized!

[Source: CinemaBlend]

As we get closer and closer to the season premiere of Clone Wars, I am going to be putting out interviews with the cast members that I did during Star Wars Celebration V. I will admit pretty freely, though, that these interviews were done without a proper microphone, and were before I saw the season premiere.

Had I seen it, I would have ask a lot more questions of Dee in particular because the season kick-off is really his show.

We talked about his voicing of Bossk and the fan reaction to him, his voicing of the Geonosian Queen in Season 2, how he makes his voices, other shows he’s on (particularly Phineas and Ferb), Star Wars video games, and of course, the season premiere.

One of my favorite moments is when he talked about his summer job during 1977… Dee has been a lifelong fan of Star Wars. “I saw it the day it opened and the day after it opened. I had my folks make me a jawa costume the Halloween after and then the next summer, when they released it in ’78, I was hired by the local movie theatre to wear my jawa costume and scare people as a jawa. I made jawa sounds and watched Star Wars all summer long. They paid me movie passes which is the perfect job.”

We also talked about the possibilities of what could happen with Rex and Ahsoka between now and Episode III.

Enjoy!

Our good friend Jeff “Jerk-Bot” Vice offered to review a couple of his favorite CDs from one of his favorite geek bands. So, without further ado, take it away Jerk-Bot:

KIRBY KRACKLE:

WHO THEY ARE:

— Jim Demonakos; Words and music
— Kyle Stevens: Words and music; vocals, guitar and bass

RELEASES:
— Self-titled debut, 2009, Kirby Krackle Music
— “E For Everyone,” 2010, Kirby Krackle Music

What you need to know about Kirby Krackle is this: You’re not likely to meet a nicer pair of guys working in either the comics or the music industry. When I met the duo at Comic-Con 2009, they practically forced a copy of their self-titled CD into my hands. They then also insisted on autographing it, as well as offering to get me (and guests) into a show they were performing that night. Mind you, that was after I had mentioned my various media outlets, but their nice-guy “routine” did not seem to be an act. Trust me on that.

What you also need to know: They’re huge dorks. Seattle-based musician Kyle Stevens loves his comics, video game, cartoons, films, sci-fi, what have you. So when he and longtime friend Jim Demonakos joined forces, musically, the results had to reflect their nerdy influences.

For example, the band’s name refers to visual “effects” in the artwork of beloved illustrator Jack “The King” Kirby. The song “Back to the Beginning” is told from the perspective of a player in the “Super Mario Karts” game. “One of the Guys” looks at what it’s like to be one Benjamin J. Grimm (aka The Thing, from Marvel Comics’ “Fantastic Four”). “Zombie Apocalypse” describes a “Shaun of the Dead”-like future. And “Dusty Cartridges & Long Boxes” is an all-too-familiar story for any nerds that have struggled with their relationships.

Not surprisingly, in only a couple of years Kirby Krackle has already exploded onto the comics and music scene. Performances at Comic-Con, as well as the Emerald City ComiCon, the annual event Demonakos founded and runs, were very well-received. (A few of these performances saw the duo accompanied by Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Joe Quesada. But don’t hold that against them, DC Comics fans!)

Adding to the coolness factor, both of Kirby Krackle’s CD releases — the 2009, self-titled debut, and 2010’s “E For Everyone” — feature cover and other artwork by comics creator Jim Mahfood. (T-shirt designs featuring the Mahfood designs regularly sell out at the Kirby Krackle merchandise site.)

Still, all the comics and entertainment industry connections can only carry you so far in your career. Luckily for Kirby Krackle, their
music delivers the goods in full. Both CDs are loaded with hook-filled pop/rock creations. My personal favorites are “Back to the Beginning,” “Marvelous Girls,” “Henchman,” “Great Lakes Avengers” and “On and On.” “>The latter, told from the perspective of Marvel Comics character Wolverine, inspired a well-made fan film that’s currently available on YouTube.

There’s also a fan-run campaign to get the Kirby Krackle tune “Ring Capacity” onto the soundtrack for the upcoming “Green Lantern” feature film. (The song is also available for download on the Rock Band Network, meaning fans can jam out to it on that popular game.)

But don’t take it from me. You can check out clips and full-length songs from both CDs on the Website and the myspace page. And a music video for “Zombie Apocalypse” features animation from “Deathklok: Metalocalypse” artists Damon O’Keefe and Daisy Church.

— Jeff “Jerk-bot” Vice

— www.kirbykracklemusic.com
— www.kylestevensmusic.com
— www.facebook.com/kirbykracklemusic
— www.myspace.com/kirbykracklemusic

Bruce Wayne is nothing without his billions of dollars of gadgets. Sure he could kick some ass in a fight but his ability to sneak up on people and pull a multitude of gadgets from his belt or call in his Bat-Jet are what really make him a super hero. And now he has inspired the United States Air Force to do the same. You see the USAF have created a Special Forces team known as Battlefield Air Targeting Man Aided kNowledge, which is a horrible name but they needed an acronym to say BATMAN because the Dark Knight was their inspiration for the next generation soldier.

When you think about the Special Forces you, the Big Shiny Robot reader, probably think Modern Warfare or something similar. While a lot of that comes from reality its not always true. Dropping a soldier off in the middle of nowhere and giving him a job to do isn’t exactly easy, they need to carry tons of gear (up to 160 pounds) and that gear needs batteries. So the USAF BATMAN program is trying to make themselves more like our hero so that they can be light, and have all kinds of awesome gadgets that make their job easier and faster.

The motto of the program is “Lighter, Smarter, Deadlier” which are all things you want in the modern soldier and more so in a Special Forces soldier who usually needs to be invisible but I think its slightly funny and ironic that they are trying to be deadlier (I know they have to be) when Batman is so adamant about not killing.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, you can read more about the gear they have developed and the program over at msnbc.com and sound off in the forum or comments on what you think of the military Batman.

I’m jealous. And it’s showing. Some of the big shots in the Ghostbusters fan community were cruising with MC Chris around New York City and got a police escort to Times Square.

Joining us in the Ecto-2K were the Denver Ghostbusters and rapper mc chris (and his assistant bothans!). We were ushered into Times Square and were immediately surrounded by hundreds of screaming fans. Check out the video for the ride up, and our debut on Times Square.

Via: GBfans.com

We attended the press conference at Star Wars Celebration V that Jon Stewart held. As soon as we get the good audio from this, we’ll upload the whole thing, but I figured everyone would want to see this.

Right after this press conference, we went to “The Main Event” where he interviewed Star Wars creator George Lucas.

You can read my original report about his press conference here.

One of the highlights of going to the Red Carpet premiere of Clone Wars was getting to talk to Seth Green and Matt Senreich about the new Star Wars TV show.

No one has been able to pin down what the show is going to be like, exactly, because there have been so many different conflicting reports, and this interview is going to just add to the muddle.  But we’ll get to that later.

According to Seth, “We’re hard at work on the show right now, full time.”

Matt explained that they’re doing all of the development and production up front and then they’ll be looking for distribution.  They won’t even begin looking for a distributor until the first season is finished, just like Clone Wars, and we shouldn’t expect to see any indication of what the show looks like or what it’s about (aside from what they told me) until after that process is completed.

When I asked them what the show is about, I got a flurry of responses:

Matt: “It’s a surreal experience.”

Seth: “It’s comedic.”

Matt: “It’s short form comedy,”

When I asked about the comments George Lucas made about it being like a Spongebob show, Matt gave a pretty interesting answer.  “That’s not entirely a false statement.  I mean, what kind of Spongebob are we talking about?  Are we talking about the 4 years olds who watch it because it’s goofy?  Or the college age kids who watch it because it’s hilarious?”

Seth chimed in saying, “The best analogy I think is that it’s Star Wars without the wars.”

“But that’s not entirely true, either,” Matt corrected him.

“How about this, then.  It’s the funniest television since Lucille Ball?”

“Could be.”

“Or maybe like…  Jon Stewart on steroids mixed with Dave Chapelle?”

“I can see that.”

Of all of the descriptions, I think the Jon Stewart mixed with Dave Chapelle is the most radically different we’ve heard the show described, but evokes the most stimulating thoughts in my brain.  Something that sort of has a tongue in cheek look at the universe, but parceled out in sketch comedy bits with a host.  Who knows until we see it, but they were pretty overwhelmed with excitement talking about it, and had a hard time keeping their mouths shut.

I then asked them about the look of the show, 2D or 3D, etc.  Seth provided a pretty straight answer to that question.  “It’s all CG, but it’s unlike any established Star Wars you’ve ever seen.  It has a look that’s completely on it’s own.  It’s not like the movies, it’s not like the other cartoons, it’s not like Clone Wars.  This is new.”

Scarlett RoBotica, who accompanied me, asked quite bluntly, “Is Yoda going to be on the show?”

To which they both froze.  Dumbfounded.

“Uhhh…” Seth said.

Matt closed his lips and made a motion like he was locking his mouth and throwing away the key.

It was then that a voice over my right shoulder said, “Don’t tell these guys anything.  And don’t listen to a word these guys say.”

It was George Lucas, who came over to heckle, with his son Jett.

At that point, I was a little dumbfounded and stopped taking notes, so I’m not exactly sure what was said, only that there was much joking around.   After that, we had to head into the theatre, but it was probably the most fun I’ve ever had having an interview get crashed.

I’m not sure how much of this information is actually new, but I do have to say that it’s great to get it all condensed and straight from the horses mouth.  And I would say it’s safe to say you shouldn’t expect many details to leak until the first season is finished and a distributor has stepped on board to pick it up.

I’ll report more on this as I find it out, though.

Be sure to read the rest of my report from the Season 3 of Clone Wars and it’s red carpet premiere.

I really hadn’t intended to attend the premiere of the third season of Clone Wars in San Francisco at the Presidio (which is home to Lucasarts and Industrial Light and Magic) and is home to the infamous “Yoda Statue”.  Hundreds of kids from the local boys and girls club were invited to the ranch along with the cast and crew of Clone Wars, as well as five or six members of the press.

Cartoon Network also had a crew on hand, filming the lead up for September 17th’s television premiere of the show.

James Arnold Taylor (Voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi) seemed to be hosting the countdown to the premiere.  He interviewed fellow castmates like Dee Bradley Baker (Voice of the Clones) below:

Dee was also inducted as an honorary member of the 501st, who had plenty of Clones on hand to present him with his plaque:

After that, I had a chance to talk with the major players.  First we talked to Ashley (which Big Shiny Robot! Reporter Scarlett RoBotica wrote up for us here.)

Ashley also spoke a bit about what she liked in Season 2 and what we can expect about Ahsoka getting into Season 3.  “It’s weird recording them and watching them finished.  When I saw the brain slugs episode, I squealed like a little girl.”

“As far as Season 3 goes, we’ll be seeing Ahsoka growing up in more ways than one, and that’s really all I can say about that.”

Next we got to talk to Cary Silver, producer of the Clone Wars.  Without even asking him a question, he blurted out confidently, “Season 3 is going to rock.”

When asked what was different about Season 3, he explained that “George Lucas is constantly raising the bar and we’re working on an established foundation of the best production team.  The show has really hit it’s rhythm.”

I then asked him what his favorite part of being apart of Clone Wars, he remarked, “I love being part of the Star Wars and working with Dave and George is incredible.”  He also described the fan reaction to tidbits of Season 3 at Celebration V “mindblowing.”

Next, I had a chance to talk to James, who was a joy to see and talk to, as always.

We talked a little about our mutual love for the newest character premiering in these two episodes, a Clone named number 99.  We both agreed that he was very “Gunga Din” and he went on to explain, “The greatest thing about this show is that George Lucas is educating kids in movies and mythology.

James had some interesting things to say about Ventress and the DVD of Season 3, but as far as I can tell after watching the episode was that he was referring to the censored shot that was excised at the behest of Cartoon Network.

Then James was attacked by Seth Green:

I then talked to Seth Green and Matt Senreich about their new Star Wars show until we were interrupted by none other than George Lucas who came over to heckle us all. (seriously.)  But that report will be up tomorrow.

After that, I had a chance to talk to Dave Filoni and he provided a few juicy tidbits about not only the premiere, but also about the show in general.

We talked about the inspiration for 99, and I asked if Gunga Din was a conscious draw, or if I was reading too deeply into it.  “Now that you say that, I can see it.  But it wasn’t specifically talked about.  And this all came from George, so it wouldn’t surprise me.  But 99 is such a great character and I loved what we did with his relationship with Heavy.  I would love to have drawn that relationship out even more, I’d give them their own 22 minutes if I could.”

One thing that I’ve been very curious about (and I know a number of you are, too) is the timeline of the episodes.  I asked if we’d ever get a chance to see that timeline.  “I have it, I know it.  It will get released eventually, but Season 3 is really all about cleaning up all these loose threads.  Like this premiere really fleshes out an episode from Season 1 and we have more like that.”

He also told me that it would be a safe assumption that episodes where Ahsoka is not preset is a good general indicator that it occurs before the events of the movie.

It was then time to go into the theatre.

This is the theatre where ILM shows dailies and other footage and I was told by Joel Aron, the CG Supervisor on Clone Wars, that the sound system and projection in the theatre is overseen by the former head roadie from Guns and Roses, and he likes his projection bulbs bright and his audio loud.

But before we get to the episode, I want to mention that Captain Rex introduced the film:

A member of the 501st in a flawless Captain Rex costume came out and pantomimed to Dee Bradley Baker, who was introducing the film for the kids in the audience with a wireless mic off-stage.  It got the kids pumped and then the episode began.

It’s a little hard to describe how both surreal and incredible it was to be sitting there, watching the season premiere of Clone Wars.  I had Joel Aron seated directly to my right.  (We chatted a bit afterwards.)  And I had George Lucas, his son Jett, Matt Senreich, and Dave Filoni directly behind me.  And we watched the episodes in the best theatre in the country, probably in the world.  The projection was sharp, bright, and clean, the sound was tremendous.  You don’t realize how well-mixed the audio on Clone Wars is until you see it in full surround sound.

I was also struck by how much better the show looks blown up on the big screen.  You can actually see the paint on the models, and brushstrokes.  I hadn’t really noticed them before.  This show is truly a work of art, and you don’t really appreciate that fully until you see it on the big screen.

After the episodes, it was time to go, but I was asked if I wanted to be introduced to George Lucas.

Of course I wanted to be introduced to George Lucas.

We shook hands and exchanged salutations and it was a pretty important experience for me.

Though I was probably blathering like an idiot, we talked about a few things.  I thanked him for introducing me to Kurosawa.  I thanked him for helping me name my son, which made him laugh.

I also asked him why I couldn’t head to the theatres on Saturday matinees to watch Clone Wars with my son.  “I don’t really know.  I mean, they’re designed to be theatrical.  And they’re modeled after the serials.  Maybe we’ll see.”

I explained to him how much of a better, richer experience it was, and my observations about the brushstrokes on the models.  “It’s supposed to.  This show is really supposed to look like painted, real life marionettes in front of painted backgrounds.  It’s really much more akin to something like the Thunderbirds than a traditional 3D show.”

After about 10 minutes of talking, we were interrupted by dozens of kids swarming for his autograph.

I said my goodbyes and left the Presidio in somewhat of a daze.

It was a fantastic night.  And as great as I thought Celebration V was, this trumps it ten fold.

Be sure to check back tomorrow for my interview with Seth Green and Matt Senreich about the new Star Wars TV show.