Wondercon Toy Highlights

We were unaware that Wondercon was kicking off this weekend, but thanks to a reminder from a friend we headed over there in a hurry to see what the fuss was about this year.  We wandered the massive showfloor and aside from some Green Lantern/Thor announcements, there was nothing terribly earth shattering to report about. We put together a small video showcasing the toys that stood out from the crowd to see what you missed.

We encountered a bunch of cool artists, bought a few comics and gawked at the massive range of merchandise that exhibitors had on display.  One of the coolest booths was a retro fueled adventure called MattyCollector.com, which came off as a really cool initiative by Mattel to appeal to people who grew up in the eighties/early nineties with an extensive line of upscale figurines based off loved franchises from back in the day.

Their Ghostbuster and Masters Of The Universe lines brought back a ton of memories, with the quality of the new figurines blowing me away. The giant display for Green Lantern merchandise was also pretty impressive, showcasing a huge variety of figurines for the movie and from the past. On the Japanese end, the coolest things we saw was a Megaman figurine and a line of possible Revoltech knockoffs by Bandai for their Evangelion series. It was a fun, but overly crowded day over at Wondercon.

Green Lantern Wondercon Footage/Poster

In Brightest Day
In Blackest Night
The Green Lantern Footage
Will blow your mind.

Check out the new poster, unveiled at Wondercon this year. But in the Green Lantern panel, they also showed a large amount of new footage, compiled into a trailer. The trailer is available in it's true high-def glory after the jump. If you didn't like the trailer released last year, and had ANY type of fear towards this release......watch the new trailer. I'm still experiencing chills.

Friday.......IN HELL.

I won't insult Rebecca Black. For one thing, she's 13, and secretly I kinda like the song (BUT DON'T TELL ANYONE). But this version? It needed to be posted.

Nine Inch Nails teaming up with the Prodigy for the sound track for a David Lynch/David Cronenberg/Steven King collaboration terrifying. This video will haunt me in my sleep. If I can sleep after watching this.

Doctor Who: Season 6 Trailer

Hey! Right now I'm London, checking out the Doctor Who Experience in London. I'll have more on that when I get back, but for now you can watch the High Def trailer for the brand new Doctor Who series! It's a real freeze-frame trailer, so many things will be revealed.

Here's an official press release of the series:

The Doctor returns, alongside newly weds Amy and Rory, to face monsters and mysteries and adventures all across time and space, in a thrilling new series of Doctor Who. 

Together they’ll find themselves in sixties America, battling the invasion the world forgot, then journey on the high seas of 1696 aboard a pirate ship, to solve the mystery of the Siren. In a bubble universe at the very edge of reality, the Doctor will meet an old friend with a new face, and in a monastery on a remote island in the near future, an industrial accident will take on a terrible human shape. And waiting for them, at the end of all this, is the battle of Demon’s Run, and the Doctor’s darkest hour. Can even the truth about River Song save the Time Lord’s soul? 

Only two things are certain. Silence will fall. And a good man is going to die…

Season 6 of Doctor Who will air the same day in America (BBC America), Canada (Space) and UK (BBC One): April 23rd.

Thursday

I appreciated Matthias Hoegg's take on the future, a direction I could definitely see us headed in.  The short focuses on showing parallels, with a certain emphasis on ourselves being enslaved by technology.  Working in a computer centric field, I always find myself staring outside my office window to the beautiful world outside..Until the sun hits my computer screen that is.  I think people can relate to that.

Its beautifully animated and full of memorable imagery.  The usage of a minimal visual style helps amplify the message just that little bit more. Shorts like this appeal to my restless soul, always wanting to travel and see new things. If there's one thing I grow to hate over time, its that daily grind and repetition.

A New Awful Tattoo Challenger Appears!

Something tells me that what she claims just isn't true.

Robot Dubstep

Mike Diva delivers yet another fun exercise in editing with some other Youtube 'star' of sorts. Considering how much dubstep we've covered as of late, my only niggle with the video is that the music really isn't dubstep.  Woops. 

Ninjasplosion

Ninjas, scantily clad women, digital Oni, gratuitous crow action.  Whats not to love? (Via)

Insert Another Dubstep Joke Here

While Dubkips are certainly entertaining, this might be the final nail in the coffin for dubstep jokes. The bass-driven electronic music is great for loud nights, but I'm starting to sense a lack of distinction between dubstep artists. It's definitely become a fad as of recent, but unfortunately it seems the genre doesn't have anywhere to go other than mass amounts of popculture references. Maybe someone will come along and redefine dubstep, but as of now I don't expect anything more than the public interest to start dwindling. 
I have still watched this video at least ten times.

The 80's In 4 Minutes

Here's a fun music video to end the week on! Now granted, the cover by Atomic Tom isn't the greatest, so go ahead and just mute the video and play the original in the background instead. This video is a great compilation of your favorite 80's movies and icons. It stars Topher Grace, Anna Ferris and Dan Fogler (not to mention some terrific cameos) as they do the Be Kind Rewind schtick, only with a significantly higher costume budget.

A lot of the 80's references are pretty straight forward, but pay attention to the crowd, and see if you can spot any hidden easter eggs! I loved this video, I couldn't stop smiling. Best of all, everyone who was involved seemed to be having a blast, so salvo!

(via booooooom!)

Machine Gun Cop

Creating a film is hard. Creating a mock trailer that looks this good is even harder. Especially when you know this film will never be released.

This trailer, created for the Hobo With A Shotgun Trailer Contest has captured the true essence of the genre. And is pretty kick-ass. I would watch this film.

Hobo With A Shotgun will be released on March 25th in Canada and May 6th in the USA

Words

This is a brilliantly constructed montage of loosely-related vignettes, centered around the beauty of wordplay. Watch it all the way through, and take in the imagery; then a second time and try to put words to what you're seeing. You'll be surprised to discover that this isn't all just a random collage, but an intricately crafted visual poem. (As an added bonus, check it out with YouTube's 1911 filter, which I love!)

The video above is brought to you by the fine folks of Radiolab.

Did You Order One Pokeball?

Not to be outdone by my fellow Awesome-Robo compatriot, I decided to order a pizza fashioned after -- what else -- a pokeball. Gaze upon it and drool in delicious awe!

If you guys are feeling particularly creative, request something zany the next time you order pizza. If you're lucky, the teenagers working the pizza joint will be huge stoners and comply with your every whim. Send us the results!

Youtube's April Fools Launches A Tad Early

Seems like Youtube has unrolled their pretty funny 1911 April Fools theme out, featuring the top 5 viral hits of 1911. Familiar takes on recent memes ensue. Play him off, Flugelhorn Feline!

Toronto Is Prepared

Canada has already taken steps in order to combat the inevitable virus that will turn the masses into hordes of the walking dead.  Better safe than sorry, no?

IGN Presents Nitty, Gritty Harry Potter Series

Put down the dorky Lego games and the children books because Potter is getting gritty and dark, and he isn't going to play by the rules.

In true IGN tradition, they have released a trailer that required massive amounts of work for something that that will never be released. It's an April Fools, but one that I would totally watch.