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Feast Your Eyes On THIS, Venture! The Monarch and Doctor Mrs. The Monarch Bobbleheads

By Maxim Pozderac (Subscribe to Maxim Pozderac's posts), Posted May 6th 2010 12:05PM
Filed under: DVDs, Movie News, News/Reactions, DVD News, Fan Picks, Sci-Fi



As we mentioned earlier in the year, toy company Bif Bang Pow!™ (in cooperation with EMCE Toys) has been working on a series of 8" Mego-styled action figures and 7" bobbleheads for the [adult swim] television series The Venture Bros. (as well as LOST, The Twilight Zone and Flash Gordon) . Prototypes of the six action figures were show at New York's Toy Fair 2010 in February, but this is our first look at the bobbleheads of The Monarch and Dr. Mrs. The Monarch.

The Mantis-Eye Experiment says the bobbling figures cost $12.99, are "brimming with attitude," and can be pre-ordered at Entertainment Earth along with The Venture Bros. action figures. Collectors take note: the Dr. Mrs. The Monarch bobblehead will be an Entertainment Earth exclusive.

While the bobbleheads and figures won't be released until August 2010, word is all the toys will be available at the San Diego Comic-Con in late July. Better start saving now.

Venture past the jump for more VB news!
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Game Over, Captain Hammer: It's Act III of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Game

By Maxim Pozderac (Subscribe to Maxim Pozderac's posts), Posted Apr 30th 2010 4:02PM
Filed under: Movie News, Fan Made, News/Reactions, Fan Movies, Sci-Fi



Quit rubbing your NES--the Game Genie has granted your wish! The third and final act of Doctor Octoroc's "theoretical Nintendo game" tribute to Joss Whedon's Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog is finished and online for your viewing pleasure! Since you've all seen Act I and Act II of this saga, I'm sure you've been waiting in anticipation to see whether or not Dr. Horrible will destroy Captain Hammer and win Penny's heart. Watch the entire Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Game (or just Act III) here in high-quality flash, or watch Act III in the embedded YouTube videos below.

For those curious about the genesis of the project and how Doctor Octoroc made the 8-bit homage, Doc Oct has posted an incredibly detailed Making-Of his website along with an informative Commentary where he discusses adapting the web serial into a video game format. Doc Oct's no singer though, so his commentary is text-only. Both of these outline the hard work Doc Oct put into animating this video and I salute him for making such an enjoyable fan creation.

Videos of the Sing-Along Game, the Sing-Along Blog, and more can be found after the jump.
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SciFi Squad Movie Club Discussion: 'Flight of the Navigator'

By Maxim Pozderac (Subscribe to Maxim Pozderac's posts), Posted Apr 20th 2010 6:45PM
Filed under: Features, Discussion Posts, Movies We Love, Sci-Fi

Welcome back to the SciFi Squad Movie Club, where I get to find out if any readers met my request of revisiting some simple, kid-friendly Sci-Fi with compliance. As you may remember, the assignment on Friday was to watch 1986's Flight of the Navigator. I hadn't seen this film in many years, and when I wrote last week's post I tried to do as little research as possible. Though I was surprised by how much of the film I remembered, I'd forgotten a lot of details over time.

For starters, I forgot all the adults in the movie! David's mom is the great Sci-Fi actress Veronica Cartwright (Alien, Invasion of the Body Snatchers), his dad's Cliff DeYoung (Shock Treatment) and Howard Hesseman (Rubin and Ed) plays the NASA nemesis Dr. Faraday (I think I just heard a sound of recognition as all the "LOST" fans realized that Michael Faraday has been referenced before) . All of them give solid performances and don't seem like they're doing some lowly kid film.

In fact, my memory of the film only focused on David as the Navigator riding along with MAX, but David doesn't board the ship until halfway through the film! The mind transfer that allows MAX to reclaim the star charts from David's head (and turns him into a Pee-Wee Herman-sounding goof) comes right before the third act. Up until that point, the film plays like a mystery (Where are David's parents? Why is he so young? Where has he been?), then more science-fiction elements are added (Oh no, NASA locks David up! What's the deal with that mysterious ship?) until David sneaks out of his room and onto the Trimaxian Drone Ship. Only then does the film introduce some broad comedy and adventure elements before the moderately suspenseful ending.

Follow me after the jump and I'll share some more thoughts.
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SciFi Squad Movie Club: 'Flight of the Navigator'

By Maxim Pozderac (Subscribe to Maxim Pozderac's posts), Posted Apr 16th 2010 7:15PM
Filed under: Features, Discussion Posts, Movies We Love, Sci-Fi
Hiya boys and girls! Today's Friday, which means it's time for another installment of the SciFi Squad Movie Club! For reasons I can't remember, I've decided to follow last week's The Adventures of Buckaroo Bonzai with another PG-rated '80s Sci-Fi flick: 1986's Flight of the Navigator. Though it hasn't amassed a sizable cult following like Buckaroo Bonzai, this live-action film from Walt Disney Pictures was a staple for me and many other children of the '80s and '90s. Though I haven't watched FOTN in years, I regard it as one of my favorite children's sci-fi films because I was (and continue to be) a big Paul "Pee-Wee Herman" Reubens fan and am always fond of any character named MAX.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. For those unfamiliar with Randal Kleiser's film, Joey Cramer (who we last saw in Runaway) plays young David Freeman, a typical kid in 1978 Florida. While in the forest, David falls and passes out. When he comes to, he's surprised to find that eight years have passed and he's in the strange, neon-colored world of 1986. He hasn't aged at all, but his parents have moved away, his little brother's now a gawky teen, and his favorite TV shows have been cancelled! Overjoyed to see their missing son, David's loving parents let NASA scientists lock David up like a common E.T. to experiment on him. Meanwhile, NASA recovers a silver, acorn-shaped spaceship that's crashed into some power lines. Thinking the ship might have some answers, David evades his female caretaker (a post-"Square Pegs" Sarah Jessica Parker) and sneaks aboard. Inside, he finds the Trimaxian Drone Ship's robotic pilot (dubbed "MAX" and voiced by Paul Reubens), whose job is to study intergalactic species for the planet Phaelon. Usually, MAX travels back in time to when he first kidnapped the specimen, but he thought humans couldn't survive the process so he left David in 1986. Not only that, but MAX downloaded all kinds of star charts and space maps onto David's brain (as a humorous experiment) and now needs him to be the ship's "navigator" and chart a course back to Phaelon. Will NASA let them escape from Earth? Will David be able to return to 1978? Or will he follow the adventure that's in every young boy's heart and journey with MAX into the stars? Well, rent the DVD and find out, then come back to discuss it with us here at SciFi Squad.

More information, questions and the trailer after the jump.
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Expansion Pack Released for Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Game: Act II Now Online!

By Maxim Pozderac (Subscribe to Maxim Pozderac's posts), Posted Apr 15th 2010 12:32PM
Filed under: DVDs, Movie News, Fan Made, News/Reactions, DVD News, Fan Movies, Sci-Fi


Well, that was fast.

Last week, Act I of a video game version of Joss Whedon's musical Internet sensation, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog was released online by 8-bit artist/musician Doctor Octoroc. He said Acts II and III would be coming soon, and he wasn't kidding. In the wee hours of the morning, the Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Game creator announced (via his blog and Twitter) the release of Act II of his 8-bit tribute. The ten minute second part can be viewed in high-quality Flash on his website and on YouTube.

If you're like me and love chip tune music, Doc Oct released the soundtrack for Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Game on his website for free download (though he'd appreciate a donation).

Embedded video and more after the jump!
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Sci-Fi Movie Poster of the Day: The Human Vapor

By Maxim Pozderac (Subscribe to Maxim Pozderac's posts), Posted Apr 11th 2010 7:15PM
Filed under: Features, Photo Galleries, Fan Picks, Sci-Fi


Though I haven't seen The Human Vapor (and since it's not on DVD, you probably haven't either), I want to now because this poster really sells the film. In fact, it oversells it. I've always loved how bombastic promotional materials were for pre-'70s films. Posters and trailers promised everything and rarely delivered. The Human Vapor is sold like a monster movie with a space element, though the titular character's as much a monster as the Invisible Man, and I'm pretty sure a gaseous mass isn't too beastly. To ensnare a wary female audience, The Human Vapor is infused with a bit of tragedy since he still "loves like a man." Basically, American distributor Brenco Pictures marketed this film with a kitchen sink approach that shouts, "Please don't realize this film is from Japan!"

That's right, The Human Vapor is the American release for Toho Studio's Gasu Ningen dai Ichigo [ガス人間第一号, The First Gas Person], and was made by Godzilla crew Ishirō Honda, Tomoyuki Tanaka and Eiji Tsuburaya. In the film, a librarian (Yoshio Tsuchiya) undergoes an experiment that enables him to turn into vapor. He uses these new powers to commit crimes to help his dancer girlfriend (Kaoru Yachigusa) with her comeback. Character-based tragedy ensues, along with a lots of quality special effects!

The film didn't do too well in US theaters and was apparently seen by most North American viewers on television during the '70s. Oddly enough, Yoshio Tsuchiya prefers the American cut of the film over the original Japanese version because it tells the story from his character's point-of-view (and possibly because he's dubbed by James Hong).

Finally, if you're one of those Sci-Fi surf rock fans who were wondering whether or not this is where the Outer Space (via Alabama)-based band Man...Or Astro-Man? got their name, the answer is yes.
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Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Game: Available Now at Your Local FuncoLand!

By Maxim Pozderac (Subscribe to Maxim Pozderac's posts), Posted Apr 7th 2010 3:18PM
Filed under: Movie News, Fan Made, News/Reactions, Fan Movies, Sci-Fi


Well, not really.

On Tuesday afternoon, the official Dr. Horrible Twitter account posted a link to a video game-styled recreation of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. 8-bit artist and musician Doctor Octoroc created the tribute in three parts and his eight and a half-minute interpretation of Act I is currently available on his website as a high-quality flash video and on YouTube. He's been working on the project since January and says he working on Acts II and III but doesn't know when they'll be finished.

If Joss Whedon ever releases a Dr. Horrible video game (and he should), Doc Oct's the first one he should call.

Watch the video after the jump.
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