Marvels’ The Avengers is taking the world by storm and seeing the iconic characters we all know and love together on screen for the first time is a genuine thrill. Obvious changes were made to each hero, especially in the costume department, and the most extreme difference between the comic book and the film is the appearance of Hawkeye. The creators of the movie decided to base their version on the Ultimate Hawkeye, which meant the classic costume worn by Clint Barton would continue to exist only on ink and paper. Luckily, Kotobukiya has a new statue in production that captures the original vision that Stan Lee and Don Heck had when they created the character back in 1964.

This product, which features the arrow-slinging superhero in his traditional dark blue and purple costume, is part of the Fine Art Statue line and stands nearly 13 inches tall (in 1/6 scale).

Sculpted by Erick Sosa, Hawkeye stands triumphantly on a rocky terrain base that matches those on the previously released Classic Avengers statues of Thor, Captain America and Iron Man so that they can be displayed together.

One interesting detail has been added to the base of this piece, as the severed arm and head of perennial Avengers’ nemesis Ultron are displayed near Hawkeye’s feet. The arrow through Ultron’s eye is a nice little bonus that proves what a deadly marksman Hawkeye truly is.

This sculpture has the same level of exquisite detail that Kotobukiya is known for and would make an excellent addition to the collection of any avid Avengers fan.

Hawkeye Classic Avengers will be available in November 2012 for the suggested retail price of $209.00 (USD).

“Title shots are earned, not given,”

“In “Bellator: MMA Onslaught” gamers can customize their own fighter’s look and fighting style to battle the way they want, whether it be Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Kickboxing or other styles. The game also shares tips directly from Bellator fighters through exclusive video content as players continue to level-up and gain experience points, allowing them to learn MMA skills in a fun and engaging way. For bragging rights, players who gain the most wins and XP will top the “Onslaught Leader Boards” online and can have the opportunity to be recognized in upcoming Bellator fights live on-air during broadcast episodes.

To earn the right to call themselves a “Bellator: MMA Onslaught” champion, current MMA fans, and even those new to the sport, can play the game online and locally against one another. Players fighting online can go head-to-head against other competitors in random or ranked fights to determine who rules the digital cage. The more wins a player earns through the ranked online fights, the closer they are to gaining XP and topping the Bellator “Onslaught Leader Boards” for the chance to be immortalized in upcoming Bellator fights live on-air.

Locally, players can compete in different gameplay modes including “Super Fight” mode, where gamers can create their own fighter or pick one of Bellator’s established elite to play against a friend or CPU; “Tournament” mode, where gamers can go up against eight of the toughest Bellator fighters in a single elimination tournament inspired by Bellator’s Tournaments and “Path To Glory” mode, the career option in which players gain XP to level up their fighter though winning various fights and tournaments. ”

Dan Yang, General Manager at 345 Games said “It was imperative that we create a mixed martial arts game accessible to all types of players not just the hard core MMA fan, Fortunately, with ‘Bellator: MMA Onslaught,’ the player doesn’t need a doctorate in gaming or MMA to enjoy the non-stop action and excitement of the game.”

Bellator: MMA Onslaught currently has no release date.

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Today Rocksteady released the full trailer for there latest DLC and it looks spectacular!

A Few Weeks ago we showed the trailer for the release of Batman Arkham City Game of the Year Edition. Along with that trailer was a teaser and some screenshots of the newest and “final” DLC expansion for the game entitled Harley Quinn’s Revenge. Today Rocksteady released the full trailer which gives us a much more in depth look at this latest expansion.

!SPOILER ALERT! for anyone who has not finished the game this trailer does spoil parts of the story.

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I’ve complained about the crap job Photoshop posters for films in the last few years.  I miss the era of the art poster.. sigh.  But the thing with the Photoshop poster is that they don’t try.  All they do is take a few promo photos and slap them together.  Have you seen how shitty every romantic comedy poster is?  THEY’RE ALL THE SAME!  Pretty girl who cant find love and her dopey love interest smiling but not looking at  each other. What dose that tell you about the film???

But I digress.

This Prometheus poster, from Malaysia, actually feels like the artwork poster of old.  Sure it might spoil a few things, but come on people, it’s a MAJOR release film, you’re not going to be able to go into it completely cold like some little indie film you’ve never heard.  Gave upon it, and enjoy it.

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Not so far in the future!

After nearly 6 years of maybe answers from everyone involved in the first Sin City film is finally going to roll on the sequel.  And now, we know when we’ll get to see this next chapter in the famed Sin City saga.

October 4th, 2013

Read the Dimension Films press release on the matter below!

FRANK MILLER’S SIN CITY: A DAME TO KILL FOR IN THEATERS NATIONWIDE ON OCTOBER 4, 2013

ORIGINAL CAST MEMBERS MICKEY ROURKE AND JESSICA ALBA RETURN FOR THE HIGHLY ANTICIPATED SEQUEL

New York, NY (14 May 2012) — Dimension Films announced today that the highly anticipated sequel FRANK MILLER’S SIN CITY: A DAME TO KILL FOR will open nationwide on October 4, 2013. Casting is underway, with original cast members returning to work with directors Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller, from their script co-written by Academy Award® winner William Monahan . Academy Award® nominee Mickey Rourke and Jessica Alba are already confirmed to return.

The script and details of the film’s story are being kept tightly under wraps. The remaining cast will be announced shortly with some huge names expected to fill the roles of Sin City’s newest characters yet to be seen on the big screen.

The original SIN CITY broke new ground with its iconic stylish look and grossed over $160 million worldwide. FRANK MILLER’S SIN CITY: A DAME TO KILL FOR will not only bring fans back to the world that Rodriguez and Miller created, but will also add a new dimension by bringing their unique visual style to life in 3D.

The film will be released by Dimension Films in the US and Canada, and produced by Quick Draw Productions, AR Films, Miramax and Solipsist.

Aldamisa International’s C.O.O. Jere Hausfater and President of International Sales and Distribution Nadine de Barros and will oversee international sales for this project at the Cannes Film Festival.

The film is expected to begin production this summer at Robert Rodriguez’s Troublemaker Studios in Austin, Texas.

About The Weinstein Company and Dimension Films The Weinstein Company (TWC) is a multimedia production and distribution company launched in October 2005 by Bob and Harvey Weinstein, the brothers who founded Miramax Films in 1979. TWC also encompasses Dimension Films, the genre label founded in 1993 by Bob Weinstein, which has released such popular franchises as SCREAM, SPY KIDS and SCARY MOVIE. Together TWC and Dimension Films have released a broad range of mainstream, genre and specialty films that have been commercial and critical successes. TWC releases took home eight 2012 Academy Awards®, the most wins in the studio’s history. The tally included Best Picture for Michel Hazanavicius’s THE ARTIST and Best Documentary Feature for TJ Martin and Dan Lindsay’s UNDEFEATED. THE ARTIST brought TWC its second consecutive Best Picture statuette following the 2011 win for Tom Hooper’s THE KING’S SPEECH.

Since 2005, TWC and Dimension Films have released such films as GRINDHOUSE; I’M NOT THERE; THE GREAT DEBATERS; VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA; THE READER; THE ROAD; HALLOWEEN; THE PAT TILLMAN STORY; PIRANHA 3D; INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS; A SINGLE MAN; BLUE VALENTINE; THE COMPANY MEN; MIRAL; SCRE4M; SUBMARINE; DIRTY GIRL; APOLLO 18; OUR IDIOT BROTHER; I DON’T KNOW HOW SHE DOES IT; SARAH’S KEY; SPY KIDS: ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD IN 4D; MY WEEK WITH MARILYN; and THE IRON LADY. Currently in release are THE ARTIST; CORIOLANUS; W.E.; UNDEFEATED; and BULLY. Upcoming releases include THE INTOUCHABLES and PIRANHA 3DD. Recently wrapped was SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK, and currently in production is DJANGO UNCHAINED.

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The fifth season of True Blood premieres June 10th on HBO.

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Can it recapture the glory of the original?

Taken was a film I kinda stumbled upon.  I got a copy after it was released in Europe and had little to no idea what it was about other than Liam Neeson was in it, and Luc Besson wrote and directed it.  What I got that faithful night was 90 minutes of Liam Neeson kicking my ass in my living room.  I feel madly in love with Taken for being one of the best straight out B style action films of our generation.  It makes no qualms about what it is, and all it asks is you hang on for the ride.  When Neeson makes the “speech” to the bastard that took his daughter, I saw that with out knowing it was coming, and I was hooked.

Since the film made about $200 million worldwide on a very modest budget, of course their was going to be another Taken.  EW has released the first photos from the film, and talked with Neeson about the film.  He gives away the basis of the film, which you can read below.

“The action is supposed to take place about a year or a year and a half after the first story. It’s a very clever sequel with the usual thrills and spills, but the ante is upped quite a bit in this one.” … “I’ve taken a job over in Istanbul looking after a sheik who is there, and afterward I discover that my wife’s going through a very bad time with her new husband. So I suggest she and my daughter come over for a few days and hang out with me in this amazing city. And then… [laughs] all this s—t happens, of course.” … “I’m taken — let’s put it that way. They kidnap him to humiliate him, torture him, and ultimately bring him back to the village in Albania where the boys from the original film came from. With the help of my daughter… she wants to help me escape from where these bad guys have me.”

Ok, that on paper sound really stupid if you know the first film.  His daughter was pretty incompetent, so how in the hell is she suppose to save her bad mother fucker of a father?  From what I’ve read about the footage shown at CinemaCon, director Oliver Megaton (who directed the Besson writen/proudced Transporter 3) gets it to work.  Apparently, Maggie Grace doesn’t become an ass-kicker like her dad, so she’s working off what she knows.  Which isn’t much.

Hey, I’m going to see it either way.  If it sucks, I still have the first film nicely tucked away on my DVD shelf to enjoy.

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It’s chop full of hunky beefiness!

CW announced at their up fronts last week that they have picked the the Green Arrow based show, Arrow, for a season.  The network has been trying desperately to find a replacement for the decommissioned Smallville.  Something like Green Arrow, that’s far more down to Earth than a superhuman running around with powers seemed like the way to go.

To hype Arrow, which will air on Wednesdays this fall, CW has released this first clip showing off a very cut and hunky Stephen Amell doing some training that has no practical effect in the real world, to become the defender of his city.

I’ll admit, it looks a little better than I gave it credit for.  But, lets go with the wait and see if this is really the next Smallville, or the next Birds of Prey.

After a violent shipwreck, billionaire playboy Oliver Queen was missing and presumed dead for five years before being discovered alive on a remote island in the Pacific. When he returns home to Starling City, his devoted mother Moira, much-beloved sister Thea, and best friend Tommy welcome him home, but they sense Oliver has been changed by his ordeal on the island. While Oliver hides the truth about the man he’s become, he desperately wants to make amends for the actions he took as the boy he was. Most particularly, he seeks reconciliation with his former girlfriend, Laurel Lance. As Oliver reconnects with those closest to him, he secretly creates the persona of Arrow – a vigilante – to right the wrongs of his family, fight the ills of society, and restore Starling City to its former glory. By day, Oliver plays the role of a wealthy, carefree and careless philanderer he used to be – flanked by his devoted chauffeur/bodyguard, John Diggle – while carefully concealing the secret identity he turns to under cover of darkness. However, Laurel’s father, Detective Quentin Lance, is determined to arrest the vigilante operating in his city. Meanwhile, Oliver’s own mother, Moira, knows much more about the deadly shipwreck than she has let on – and is more ruthless than he could ever imagine. The series stars Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen, Colin Donnell as Tommy, Katie Cassidy as Laurel Lance, David Ramsey as John Diggle, Willa Holland as Thea Queen, with Susanna Thompson as Moira Queen and Paul Blackthorne as Detective Quentin Lance. Based on characters appearing in comic books and graphic novels published by DC Comics, ARROW is from Bonanza Productions Inc. in association with Berlanti Productions and Warner Bros. Television, with executive producers Greg Berlanti (“Green Lantern,” “Brothers & Sisters”), Marc Guggenheim (“FlashForward,” “Eli Stone”), Andrew Kreisberg (“Warehouse 13,” THE VAMPIRE DIARIES) and David Nutter (“Smallville,” SUPERNATURAL, “Game of Thrones”). Melissa Kellner Berman (“Eli Stone,” “Dirty Sexy Money”) is co-executive producer. The pilot was directed by David Nutter from a teleplay by Andrew Kreisberg & Marc Guggenheim, story by Greg Berlanti & Marc Guggenheim.

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To celebrate issue 100!

One of the GOOD things about Comic Con recently has been the use of space outside.  In the last, oh, three years now, the studios and other pretty much non comic companies have started taking up space outside of Gaslamp and the adjacent area to pimp their wears to not the just Con goers, but the general public as well. From Scott Pilgrim, to Capcom, everyone seems to be trying to do something bigger and better every year.

I think The Walking Dead just won.

During this year’s Con, Petco Park is being turned into a Walking Dead Escape.  A massive interactive “maze” if you will, were you participate and pretty much role play that you’re in The Walking Dead.    Sounds cool, and I don’t even watch the damn show!

Few bits though.  It’s going to cost you.  Want to escape from the Walking Dead, you’re going to have to pay up.  Right now, it’s $70 to participate.  But you get a variant Walking Dead 100 with the purchase.  (Expect copies of those to sell high)  But from the sound of it, this isn’t some shitty maze like at Knott’s Berry Farm during Halloween.  No, it gets more complex than that.  Apparently, you can be attacked by a zombie, be bitten, and BECOME A DAMN ZOMBIE!  Holy crap!  If you want to skip the formalities, you can pay to be a zombie from the get go!  The downside, you want to watch, you got to pay up as well.  Which I think is kinda bullshit, but hey, capitalism is the backbone of our nation.

Going to be in San Diego for Comic Con, then you can head here to sign up and get in on the action.

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They teased the hell out of us on April Fools Day. It was fun, but it was a bit of a dick move on Adult Swim‘s part to catch us off guard like that for a one night only update of Toonami.  An evening filled with Dragonball Z, Cowboy Bebop, Big O and more. Oh the glory.  Dick move though. But sometimes, good things come out of dick moves.  On the Adult Swim Twitter not more than an hour ago, this was tweeted:

Yes.  We the people pulled a mob rule move, and Cartoon Network/Adult Swim listened.  Toonami is back.   Right now, all the tweet says is 5/26/12, which is a week from Saturday. So we’ll apparently know very soon what’s in store for us.  But for right now, HOT DAMN!

Update:  Adult Swim announced their upcoming programming block in a press release, and Toonami was included.  Here’s their blurb:

· TOONAMI – Beginning Saturday, May 26, Adult Swim brings back Toonami, the network’s popular block of anime programming. Airing weekly from midnight to 6 a.m. (ET/PT), in addition to the return of previous series featured in Toonami, Adult Swim is also developing new original anime programming for fans.

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