Today's Daily Dose of Awesome comes from Russian illustrator Kostenko Maxim. His artwork, which parodies both Superman and Spiderman, has something to do with Storymaster Soundproof Windows. The basic idea is that the windows are so good both heroes can't hear the chaos outside, even with Spiderman's spidey sense, and go about their daily lives while the city behind them gets destroyed by huge monsters. Hilarious stuff that combines a great idea, even if it is an ad, with some superb artwork that has crisp colors and beautiful designs.

On a personal note the Spiderman one is my favorite cause, ya know, he's on the toilet and it's just funnier. Although seeing Superman rugged up with his teddy is pretty good too.

Ask many gamers what is the best cast crossover in a game of all time is, chances are you will hear ‘Marvel v Capcom 2; New Age of Heroes’ more than once. Having been released initially in 2002 on PS2, Xbox and Dreamcast in 2000. It was so popular a re-release on Xbox Live Marketplace and Playstation Network occurred in 2009, featuring the classic arcade icon in all its glory. Nearly a decade after MvC2, Capcom and Marvel Games have announced that one of the most epic crossovers will continue in 2011!

Marvel v Capcom 3; The Fate of Two Worlds, is still a work in progress with Capcom. Poster art and even a trailer has been released depicting six characters in Comic book sketch design, which Capcom states will be the in game style. The full 3D of the trailer, is stated also to be in-game footage, but rather it is assumed to be a cinematic at work. Still the game is a work in progress, so many upgrades and changes will most likely occur, and more of the 30 apparent characters will be announced.

Firstly the trailer, depicts 6 of the characters that will be appearing in MvC3 in kickass battles. After sweeping through a cityscape we are treated to seeing Street Fighter’s Ryu in a city top fight against XMen’s Wolverine. CLASSIC. Next, we see an aerial fight between Nightstalker’s Morrigan and Iron Man. AWESOME. Finally, we see the Hulk fling a shadowed figure with a rooftop. It turns out this figure is Resident Evil’s, Chris Redfield. *DROOL.

This 1:17 length trailer makes the game look promising, even at this early stage. So, we can safely assume, that while there will be returning characters from previous games, but also some new comers to the MvC universe with characters like Deadpool, Captain America, Thor and Daredevil all rumored to be in the mix.

Secondly the artwork, shows the 6 characters from the trailer in their 2D comic book styles. The designs are pretty detailed, while maintaining the originality of the characters, especially for the Marvel lot. While the game is apparently going to be 2D art, a part of me wishes to see a 3D art style similar to Street Fighter 4 – which trailer Ryu strongly resembles. In other art works, the six-featured characters stand in front of many silhouettes. The rumors mentioned above are based on these silhouttes as some of these are clear enough to make some safe guesses about who will be also appearing, like Felicity from Darkstalkers, and Captain America. Other figures, aren’t as clear, but resemble artworks from recognizable characters, being Deadpool and Dead Rising’s, Frank West. While no official announcement has been made regarding these extra characters, one can guess and does beg the question, how sweet would it be having Frank West duking it out with Captain America? He covered wars you know?

Marvel v Capcom 3; Fate of Two Worlds, is slated for a 2011 release by Capcom, so many more updates, trailers and announcements are to come. This game is gonna get lots of news and interest when it is released, so in the mean time you can play MvC 2. Personally, I want to know who the other characters are. Who will return from MvC 2? Who will be the newcomers alongside Chris Redfield? An epic game that everyone should watch.

Seriously just read that title, Hobo With a Shotgun. How does that not sound cool to you? And throw in Rutger freaking Hauer, The Hitcher himself and this movie sounds like it could be a hell of a lot of fun and awesome.

The project came about as a result of a competition in 2007 that coincided with the release of the Grindhouse double feature. The competition called for fans to submit a fake trailer for a Grindhouse style film that would screen before the movie. Nova Scotia filmmakers Jason Eisener, John Davies, and Rob Cotterill won the competition, which starred David Brunt in the titular hobo role. Ever since it debuted their was talk of the trailer being made into a feature length film and after watching it, you'll see why.

Now Ain't it Cool News have the scoop that filming is about to start on Monday and that Rutger Hauer will be replacing David Brunt as the hobo. Hauer is the perfect choice to replace Brunt. In his old age he has developed a rather grizzled look with frayed hair that is perfect for the role while I'm sure he'll easily be able to replicate and possibly even improve the menacing, gravely voice of the hobo from the trailer. Plus he has a track record of playing menacing almost deranged character similar to the hobo. Brunt will reportedly still have a role in the film, this time he'll have a role as a cop and, based on the trailer, he is probably going to be corrupt and on the receiving end of some sweet hobo justice.

Watch the trailer, bask in its awesomeness and just imagine how good Brunt's already memorable hobo role will be when Hauer takes over. Also lets wonder how this trailer, which features lots of violence and vague plot details, will come together as a full feature film. I hope it captures the same feel and has at least a mildly workable and watchable story.

 

Recently, Konami announced and released an in game trailer for their new Saw game. As many probably already know, Konami are the masterminds behind the Silent Hill franchise, and after brilliant works like Silent Hill 2, and the surprisingly adequate Shattered Memories, it shows that they know what a Saw game should entail. With the 2009 release of the first Saw game, Konami didn’t overly disappoint. Being a fan of the film franchise Konami’s adaptation of the Saw universe, with help from the original creators James Wan and Leigh Whannel, added some more content to the world of Jigsaw.

Now while the first Saw game wasn’t perfect, it held it’s own and produced a fan service for the films. Focusing on a major character from the original film, introducing some familiar faces, all while placing new and old Saw traps into the mix that involved puzzle solving on varying, and eventually repetitive scales. It was a good game, that didn’t really divulge anything new to the overall plot, like the whereabouts of Dr Gordon. A cosy fill-in between the first and second movies with extras for the fans. But enough of that, I digress…

Saw 2 – I’m getting confused between the films and game so it’ll be 2.5 from now on – really came out of left field for many, as the first game didn’t really call for a sequel. Screenshots, and the initial trailer, show more of the same of what we saw in the first game, just prettied up and made clearer with improved graphics, which seems slightly odd seeing that Saw is a dark gritty realm and shouldn’t be overly shiny. Konami, hasn’t revealed a lot from their first bunch of media releases, but all signs point to uncertainty.

2.5, according to Konami, has the player in the shoes of Michael Tapp, the estranged son of Detective David Tapp from the first game and film, trying to find out what caused his father’s death. Clearly he must have gotten a bit obsessed about it as he has fallen into a game of Jigsaw’s. The game will apparently traverse numerous locations – similar to Saw 4 – and feature new combat, and new traps. The trailer does show that our ‘hero’ is in the Venus Fly Trap seen in Saw 2, and like the film, the key is under his eye, like the film…sensing a pattern...and if it’s like the first game, it’ll open up the gameplay, like the film…yes definitely a pattern…

While most of this is speculation, initial readings point in the direction of real ‘meh’ material. Most likely, this will be another fan service release, and hopefully isn’t another serving of the first game. Konami believes it should be released around Halloween-ish, but will probably be a Christmas release. Saw 2.5 or “Saw 2 the film with some of Saw 4 and other stuff duct taped to it”, is one for the Saw fans to watch, but not get overly hyped about, to avoid confusion and disappointment.

It will be available on PS3, Xbox360 and PC Download upon release. At such time I will play and review this again with all the pieces together…hehehe puzzle pun.

I loved Kick-Ass. I thought it was a brilliant film that was strongly supported by an equally brilliant soundtrack. The songs worked perfectly to help set the mood for certain scenes and at times it was the song that really gave a scene that extra meaning or emphasis. In my opinion one of the best instances of this was the Big Daddy warehouse scene. Now I won't go into any real detail about the scene but it was certainly my favorite and that was largely due to the song that played in the background. That song was 'In the House In a Heartbeat' by John Murphy. Unfortunately the song does not appear on the soundtrack so I can't relive the awesomeness that was the warehouse scene in my mind right? Wrong! Good old YouTube comes to the rescue as the song has already featured in 28 Weeks Later and has been posted on YouTube for fans to enjoy. Here it is so you too can enjoy it!

Everybody loves posters right? They are pretty cool , I mean they cover up holes in your walls and where you accidentally spilled that food that time. What makes a poster even better is when it has something really cool on it like, say, retro 80's arcade games that have been redone to look like wartime propaganda posters. Artist Steve Thomas has just finished unveiling his Arcade Game Propaganda series which includes posters based on games Donkey Kong, Frogger, Tron, Galaga, Joust and Dig Dug. The series is exceptionally cool and the best thing is, you can actually buy the posters and T-shirts with the posters on them.

Check out Steve's site here or if you'd like to buy one then head on over to zazzle. While you're there you can also check out some Star Wars posters that have been modeled on old beverage ads. Seriously, I think I'm in love with this guy. Oh, for the record, I think the Joust poster is my favorite it's just the perfect vision of classic propaganda in my book.

Bioware keeps the DLC coming for its arguable candidate for ‘Game of the Year’ with another character, achievement and other stuff.

‘Kasumi’s Lost Memory’ is an expansion pack that brings a slightly different element to the Mass Effect 2 experience. Kasumi herself is an infiltrator class squad mate, using the tactical cloak ability in a slightly different ninja backstab action. Available from the get go like the Zaeed DLC, players venture to the Citadel for the recruitment as they make Shepherd look stupid talking to an advertisement.


The unique mission in this new DLC, brings a few new elements to the table, focusing on infiltration techniques, that a master thief like Kasumi would use in a heist. Ultimately the aim to gain loyalty is to retrieve valuable information to Kasumi in a vault heist. Kasumi’s loyalty mission, is different from other missions in a variety of ways. Firstly, unlike every other mission in ME2, players only have Shepherd and Kasumi to work with, making things slightly harder during combat sequences. Secondly, the entire mission has an Ocean’s 11 feel to it, with classy environments, and Shepherd’s new casual suit outfit. Even our old friend Saren makes an appearance.

Kasumi, like Zaeed, has restricted dialogue while on the Normandy, but is fully integrated into the plot and conversations of Mass Effect 2. As is the new SMG the ‘Locust’, giving more firepower in reasonable clip sizes in combat. In relation to dialogue, there are a few more cultural references – Planet of the Apes and even Michelangelo’s David – and comments towards Ramen and Japanese… weirdness (I am Japanese so it was even funnier).

'Kasumi’s Lost Memory' is an emotional sub-plot to Mass Effect 2, bringing a variety of elements to the existing game play. For players that enjoy the numerous random conversations between different squad members, who simply love the Mass Effect experience, or who are simply achievement whores, ‘Kasumi’s Lost Memory’ is an enjoyable play-through.

With Mass Effect 3 already confirmed to be in the works, how much more DLC will Bioware throw out at us, and how many will be priced and how many will be free? Hopefully more of the latter - woot for stingyness! ‘Kasumi’s Lost Memory’ is available on Xbox Live Marketplace for 560 Microsoft Points.

Sean Sneddon

As any self respecting geek knows Harry Knowles is the founder of Ain't It Cool News. As any self respecting movie fan knows Roger Ebert is one of the better movie critics out there. The two are quite good friends but Knowles has taken a certain offense (?) to Ebert's latest review, Kick-Ass.

Ebert gives the film one star and two thumbs down and believes that the dark territory the film flirted with made him sad. Throughout his review, which actually isn't that great to read and gives away the ending (what the fuck), Ebert admits that he just doesn't get it and can't get over the character of Hit Girl and her extreme violence. He even makes the expected video game reference when talking about the carnage. Knowles, in his rebuttal, seeks to address the points made in Ebert's review and even attempt to enlighten him on the film, and societies modern children.

Really was this needed? Sure Knowles and Ebert are both highly respected and their word is taken as gospel by some but it's just an opinion. If Ebert wants to sit there and feel offended or morally sick after seeing Kick-Ass well, then, that's his decision. Ebert states that he isn't really apart of the crowd that would 'get' this film and he is, in fact, old and grew up with different standards and ideals. There is no reason to debate his view. It's not like he's saying this movie shouldn't be shown or seen by anyone. He just didn't like it. Admittedly he does get a little preachy about 6 year olds seeing the film when it's out on DVD but this is just his opinion.

Click here to check out Ebert's spoiler-rific review and here to read Knowles rebuttal.

Edge Magazine has what it believes are the latest gameplay details for Gears of War 3 from a trusted source. The game is set to debut sometime this week or next week so hopefully we won't have to wait long to see if Edge were right.

Edge reports that Epic Games are planning on 'evolving' the combat in their new title by introducing new enemies like a Locust with tentacle-like appendages, that can reach around cover, while giving the COGS of Delta squad some new weapons as well, namely an explosive device that can travel underground, boom.

The developer will also introduce mech suits which the COGS can use for protection and devestation. Finally Edge are reporting that the game will feature new environments and locations. For instance they have been told that there will be underwater locations in the next title.

All of the above gameplay details will reportedly affect both the singleplayer and multiplayer game modes.

The game is yet to be officially announced. Cliff Bleszinski is planning on announcing a game on the Jimmy Fallon show and many believe that Gears of War 3 could be the title he chooses.

While I like the changes the underground explosives and tentacles will make to gameplay, sometimes you can just sit in cover for ages, I'm not that excited for the mech suits, yet. I know tt's just Epic trying to make their game, well more epic and a little bit different but a lot of games use mech suits of some description so they'll need to be done really well and utilized well to impress me. Then again they are freaking mech suits. I hope these are just a few of the changes Epic will be implementing on the Gears series as it is one of my favorite shooters. 

An early piece of concept art from the new Riddick film has hit the net today. The piece is the first frame of a 2D Motion Choreography and has the tag "The Furian...left for dead". The image is fairly cool with Riddick emerging/struggling in the sand while a jackal type dog circles him eagerly.
The new Riddick film is once again set to star Vin Diesel, be directed by David Twohy and will come out in 2012. 
 

Kick-Ass that comic book movie that's not quite a comic book movie came out today. You know the one, it's the one that family groups are terrified of because an 11 year old slices and dices mobsters, the one that stars a hero with no powers and the one that features Nicolas Cage with a moustache. It's the film that has been endowed with the one liner "Kick-Ass really kicks ass" by so many reviews but really, they are right. This movie is all kinds of awesome and kicks all kinds of ass.

What it's all about: The film is based off Mark Millar's comic book series of the same name. I never read the series but trust me, I'll be one of those fanboys who will go out, buy the series and wish he'd heard of it before the movie. Layer Cake director Mathew Vaughn helms this one with that guy from Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging (Aaron Johnson) starring as the titular hero Kick-Ass. Kick-Ass, the alter ego of geeky kid Dave Lizewski, is born out of Dave's desire to help people. He wonders why no one has ever tried to be a super hero in real life and after what is not a lot of convincing he dons a costume and mask. His exploits soon garner him the attention of the news, the public and YouTube as he becomes an overnight phenomenon. That's also enough to attract the interest of fellow super heroes/vigilantes Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage) and Hit-Girl (Chloe Moretz). All roads end up leading towards local mob boss Frank D'Amico (Mark Strong) and his son Chris D'Amico (Christopher Mintz-Plasse).

What it did well: As I said I haven't read the comic book so I can't tell how well it adapted it but, overall, this film did a lot of things well. I won't go in to too much detail because I don't want to spoil things for you but the action was brilliant. It was brutal and varied and I liked the way Kick-Ass responded, with absolute shock and fear, to witnessing Kit-Girl carve up some guys for the first time. Every time I saw a new violent scene it felt fresh and different from the last which is always a good thing.

The acting was solid across the board while the dialogue was hilarious yet thoughtful when it needed to be. Strong was his usual evil self, Mintz-Plasse was awkward and almost ignored like his usual self, Moretz pulled off a creepy mix between cold blooded killer and sweet little girl who likes butterfly knives and chocolate sundaes and Johnson also pulled off the awkward, stuttering loser act who is actually not that bad quite well. The film also had some great lines like "Is that a bazooka? Yeah. Okay" and "It's okay everything's fine (picks up bazooka). Everything's fine? Your holding a fucking bazooka."

The pacing was good, the soundtrack well suited to the film and the story was more interesting and full of a few twists I didn't expect. It's more than just a guy becoming a super hero. It's about wanting to be acknowledged and noticed and trying to somehow fit in. I won't detail the story very much so you can experience it for yourself but I will say that the comedy in the film really makes the serious, dramatic scenes standout and feel like they have some serious weight and emotion behind them.

In the end Vaughn has managed to put together a very entertaining film that will certainly live long in the memory. Speaking of living long in the memory Hit-Girl was everything I expected from the hype. She was a whirlwind of guns and knives who just kicked so much ass it wasn't funny (okay really it was). The relationship between her and her father was an interesting one and you could almost see the reason behind their actions when you know their back story.

While Kick-Ass isn't your ordinary super hero film it certainly has enough elements from super hero films to make it more than just senseless violence. The character seriously considers the ramifications of what he is doing when he finally has someone to care for. He realizes why super heroes have such a hard time of things when they have someone to care about, someone who might miss them. It also asks several moral questions about the death of the community and the willingness of people to help and look out for each other. Johnson does a good job of channeling the inner turmoil of Kick-Ass and Dave. He slowly begins to realize that he could die doing what he is doing and questions whether helping the people he has helped is worth dieing for. The film also manages to make several humorous comments on popular culture and comic books that shows a great awareness of the type of stuff the people who see the movie will be interested in.

What it didn't: I only had a few issues with the film which were fairly minor. I found, at times, the sound editing to be a little dodgy, either that or it was the cinema I saw it in (quite likely). There were times when I couldn't really understand Big Daddy or Frank and Chris D'Amico so I missed some of their dialogue and had to assume some things for myself. I've noticed this happening in a few films lately, like Alice in Wonderland.

Also the special effects in two scenes didn't seem quite right to me. The scene were (spoilers from here) Hit-Girl is using the night vision goggles and the scene is like a first person shooter didn't seem right to me. The gun and the hand seemed too skinny and small compared to what they should be like in real life and, considering she's a little girl, the height of the camera and the gun didn't quite seem right. I'm glad that point of view was only used a little bit as it was starting to remind me of Doom. The other scene were the special effects didn't seem up to scratch was the jetpack scene towards the very end. The scene just looked a little bit too fake and superimposed.

The final thing that didn't work for me was the scene were you find out why Big Daddy and Hit-Girl have a beef with Frank D'Amico. The actual way they told it, through a comic Big Daddy was writing, was very cool but the fact that the cop, and former partner of Big Daddy, just happens to swing by one day was a little random. It just seemed a little out of place and the explanation that he is a cop and therefore capable of awesome detective work seemed weak and the whole scene felt like a weak plot device. I would have preferred maybe Kick-Ass, when he reaches the safehouse with Hit-Girl, to find out why she still wants to kill D'Amico then. Also the cop seemed to break into that safe house really easily. Wasn't there a keypad to get in? How could he use a standard lock pick? Maybe I don't know enough about locks and security as I should. 


Memorable Moment: There are really quite a few memorable scenes, pretty much all involving violence, and a scene involving Hit-Girl may be an obvious choice (shotgun epic fail was just hilarious) but I'm going to go for the bear cam scene with Big Daddy. I thought the song chosen to accompany the scene was perfect as it really helped set the mood and the feel for the scene. Also Daddy was a man on a mission, and a deadly one at that. It was really our only example of Big Daddy kicking ass and he certainly didn't disappoint.

What it all means: In my book Kick-Ass lives up to all the hype it generated. Vaughn has created one thoroughly entertaining film in Kick-Ass that delivers laughs, action and a good story with good characters. It really is quite close to being the perfect package and is a super hero film that will certainly change your view of super hero films.

8.5 out of 10

Yes that's right, you read the title correctly. The latest trailer from High Moon Studios shows off the fact that you can customise your Transformer, to an extent, in their upcoming game War For Cybertron. The trailer shows the ability to choose your weapons, abilities and upgrades as well as the color scheme of your Transformer. Fans shouldn't get too excited though, the vehicle your Transformer transforms into seems tied to its class.

Those classes are Soldier, Scout, Scientist and Leader. Each has a unique ability like invisibility, healing and hover. Each class then has it's own kill streaks. That's right kill streaks are coming to Transformers. The Soldier has three kill streaks at 3, 5 and 7 kills. They are Ammo Matrix (refills your teams ammo), Electromagnetic Pulse (jams enemy abilities for a period of time) and Omega Missile (a guided missile capable of mass destruction). The Scientist has kill streaks including Health Matrix (teammates receive health for every kill), Overshield Matrix (teammates receive an overshield) and Nucleon Shock Cannon (spawns a usable rocket turret). The Scout has kill streaks including Orbital Beacon (displays enemy location), Energon Recharger (health recharges consistently for a period of time) and Orbital Beacon 2.0 (causes a level wide EMP blast and tags all enemies with a target marker). Finally the Leader class has kill streaks including Intercooler (ability recharge time is decreased), P.O.K.E 2.0 (melee attack that causes enemies to explode) and Thermomine Respawner (spawns a trail of Thermomines).



The trailer certainly makes the multiplayer look fun and frenetic. Having a whole bunch of people transforming on the fly, jumping in an out of battles certainly sounds awesome and epic as long as the servers don't suffer from too much lag. The kill streaks also seem quite well balanced and I'm kind of glad you are limited to only three for each.

The game is seriously shaping up to be one of my most anticipated games. Every bit of footage I see impresses me and makes the possibility of a good Transformers game seem that much closer. The wait is almost over as the game is set for release on the 22nd of June 2010.

The title of the article is "Captain America is Thinking About Having Some Sex". Really, that's what you decided to call your article E Online? Smooth. The title is meant to be a witty play on words as the article refers to actress Alice Eve, who has a role in the upcoming Sex and the City 2, becoming the front-runner to play Peggy Carter in Joe Johnston's The First Avenger.

The E Online article reports this:

Also up for the Peggy Carter part is fellow Brit Hayley Atwell, 28. I'm told both actresses are screen-testing for the second time for the coveted role tomorrow in London. I also hear that Keira Knightley is no longer in the running.

So it looks like we are down to two, as far as I'm aware, relative unknowns for the role of Peggy Carter. Atwell is a new addition to the list as far as I'm aware. I've heard even less about her than I have about Eve.

With Knightley supposedly out of the running it looks like the execs could pretty much toss a coin between Atwell and Eve. I'd tip Eve to get the nod because she's in the public eye at the moment with She's Out of My League and Sex and the City 2. She'll be someone audiences can go "oh yea I've seen her before" to.  Tell ya what though, Atwell seems to have a bit of mixture of Rhona Mitra and Catherine Zeta Jones in her looks.

I reported a rumor from Latino Review the other day that movie god Harrison Ford might be joining Jon Favreau's new film Cowboys & Aliens. Today that rumor has been confirmed.

Director Jon Favreau confirmed the rumor himself on Twitter this morning. He posted this update:

"Please stop asking if Harrison Ford is in Cowboys & Aliens. Okay? He is. Please don't tell anybody."

This makes me super excited for a movie I know nothing about apart from the fact it has cowboys, Native Americans, aliens and Daniel Craig in it.  I've read through a decent part of the comic which can be found online here and apart from Zeke there are two other main male characters so far, the Father and Mayor Cross. I would quite like to see Ford play the lieing, cheating, seedy Mayor Cross. Other than that I have no idea who he could be. Hopefully we'll find out soon.

Production on the Martin Campbell directed film started several weeks ago and a few shots have hit the web but nothing as interesting as what was sent to CBM. A Mandeville local (the location of the shoot in LA) took the photo and sent it to CBM.

The image is believed to be an alien spaceship and that would lead one to believe that it is the spaceship of Lantern Abin Sur. Sur, who will be played by Temuera Morrison, crash lands on Earth and is integral in the story of Ryan Reynolds Hal Jordan becoming a Green Lantern. No one as yet can confirm whether the ship shown is Sur's but it would be a fairly safe bet.

In another bit of Green Lantern news Mark Strong, who is set to play Sinestro, spoke to USA Weekend about his role in the film. Strong had this to say:

"For anybody who's familiar with the Green Lantern and the origin story, the film closely follows the early comics," Strong said. "Sinestro starts out as Hal Jordan's mentor, slightly suspicious and not sure of him because obviously Hal is the first human being who's made into a Green Lantern. He's certainly very strict and certainly unsure of the wisdom of Hal becoming a Green Lantern."

Strong added that "[Sinestro] is a military guy but isn't immediately bad. It's the kind of person he is that lends himself to becoming bad over the course of the comics being written, but initially he's quite a heroic figure."

Strong doesn't really shed any new light on the character and the direction the film seems to be going, in terms of story. Instead Strong's comments seem to confirm something director Martin Campbell said back in January.  At that time Campbell said fans may be getting ahead of themselves in thinking Sinestro will immediately be the bad guy and they should remember that he was a Lantern who went bad. Campbell didn't exactly say this was the way they were going, he just said fans should keep it in mind.

So there's a few updates on Martin Campbell's epic comic book movie Green Lantern which is in production at the moment.

A new extended trailer for IO Interactive's upcoming game Kane & Lynch 2 Dog Days has hit YouTube and it supposedly has 20 seconds of extra footage. It's the same trailer that was released a few weeks with a few new scenes, as far I could tell, tacked on at the end and 10 seconds of black screen with Kane & Lynch 2 plastered over it.

The trailer still contains lots of guns, blood, swearing and general chaos along with that shaky, raw YouTube style which IO hopes will get the sequel a better score than it's predecessor. The general vibe of the trailer is very similar to the original that I can't pick out the new scenes off the top of my head. It still makes the game look rather interesting and worth a look when some solid gameplay footage comes out.

Back with another look at what's coming out this week in movies, video games and comic books.

Film
Date Night- Stars Steve Carrell and Tina Fey star in this romantic comedy with a bit of a twist. They play a married couple who try to inject a bit of romance into their lives by going out on a date night. A case of mistaken identity turns the night into something a little bit more thrilling and dangerous than a romantic dinner. Features a huge supporting cast like Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis and Ray Liotta.  71% on Rotten Tomatoes from 7 reviews

Kick-Ass (AUS release)- Stars Aaron Johnson, Nicolas Cage, Chloe Moertz, Mark Strong and Chris-Mintz Plasse. Based on a comic by Mark Millar it's the super hero film that's not like any other super hero film. It's crude, violent, sexed up and completely super power free. Johnson plays the titular hero Kick-Ass, a comic obsessed teen who becomes a masked vigilante. He meets fellow vigilantes like Big Daddy (Cage) and his eleven year old daughter Hit-Girl (Moertz) along the way to riding the streets of crime. Watch out for Hit-Girl to be the new love of fan boys everywhere and the poster child for family rights groups everywhere. 88% on Rotten Tomatoes from 41 reviews.

The Square (Limited US release)- Stars Joel Edgerton, David Roberts and Claire Van der Boom. An Aussie film that came out in 2008 and directed by Nash Edgerton that's managed to score distribution in the States. It's a crime thriller that has drawn Coen Brothers comparisons as it follows a businessman (Roberts) as he tries to run off with his mistress (Van der Boom) who has taken her criminal husbands money. Unfortunately things aren't easy as they seem and the two quickly find themselves in way over their heads. 93% on Rotten Tomatoes from 15 reviews.  

Video Games
Lead and Gold: Gangs of the Wild West (Xbox Live, PlayStation Network, PC)- The online third person shooter from Fat Shark Studios has been receiving considerable buzz and praise from the media. The game takes the sort of classed based online gameplay of games like Modern Warfare 2 and transplants it in a third person, Western world. The game is more than just that as it has striking visuals, fun gameplay and a good price point.

Comics
Batman and Robin Vol 1: Batman Reborn HC- Written by Grant Morrison. The series that got rave reviews from IGN and Ain't it Cool News is collected in a hardcover graphic novel. Read about how a new Batman & Robin team, complete with flying Batmobile, deal with a group of villains called the Circus of Strange and investigate the Domino Killer.
 

Captain America/Black Panther- Flags of Our Father #1- Written by Chris Ungar. Ever wonder how Captain America, the embodiment of America, and Black Panther, the embodiment of Wakanda, two of the Marvel Universes biggest heroes met? Well now you can as Ungar tells the story of how the two met amidst the backdrop of World War II. Look out for Nick Fury, the Howling Commandoes and some of the Marvel Universes nastiest Nazis.


World War Hulks #1- Written by Jeff Parker, Scott Reed, Paul Tobin and Harrison Wilcox. The story of the Hulks continues in this giant-sized story where gamma-irradiated characters like A-Bomb, Cosmic Hulk, Red She-Hulk Doc Samson and even Deadpool find themselves in the spotlight after the Fall of the Hulks special. All will have their stories told as the series builds up to one of the biggest conspiracies in the Marvel Universe. Lets just hope the series is big enough to contain all these characters.


The Shield #1- Written by Jonathan Hickman. This new series looks at the very first agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. That's right, modern day heroes like Iron Man and Captain America weren't the first ones. Leonardo Da Vinci, Galileo and other geniuses throughout history were S.H.I.E.L.D agents, even defeating Galactus in their time. Find out how their adventures are affecting Nick Fury and the modern day version. Insane story guaranteed.


Star Wars Purge: Hidden Blade (One-shot)- Written by Haden Blackman. Read about everyone's favorite villain Darth Vader as he continues his hunt for the remaining Jedi after the aftermath of Order 66. This one-shot sees Vader on a remote Imperial world that is having trouble with the natives. Just when Vader starts to feel tired with the task a Jedi Master and his Padawan show themselves and allow Vader to hunt his favorite game of all.

This is probably some of the most concrete news we've had about Treyarch's upcoming Call of Duty game. Site Call of Duty Vietnam has combed through the Treyarch forums to find posts made by the developers themselves. They stress that some of this may just be personal opinion, it has mainly come from Multiplayer Design Director David Vonderhaar, but in all likely hood it could point to how the game is starting to come together.

Here's the list CoD Vietnam have compiled of some of Vonderhaar's posts on the forums:

• While they’ve tried having custom killstreaks for each class, that seemed to complicate the ‘purity and speed’ of Create a Class.
• Consequently, it’s fair to assume that customizable killstreaks are all but confirmed.
• At this stage in development, killstreaks stack and carry over if you die, but do not contribute to further killstreaks (hence eliminating the ‘camping for killstreaks’ problem of Modern Warfare 2).
• Treyarch are not fans of Commando, the extended melee range perk in Modern Warfare 2, and it is unlikely to return.
• They’ve tried a ‘manned’ version of the Sentry Gun killstreak, but weren’t fans.
• We may well see a return to pistols as the only available sidearm, or perhaps a choice between pistols and launchers. Vahn and many of the team are not fans of shotguns and machine pistols as secondary weapons – it gives a player ‘too much firepower’.
• The knife may well become a secondary weapon – although Vahn didn’t want to say too much.
• Finally, don’t expect the nuke to return as a killstreak. Vahn says they are not fans of a game-ending killstreak.

So it looks like custom killstreaks will return but with some modifications to the system Infinity Ward introduced in Modern Warfare 2. The fan response to the CoD Vietnam post seems to be rather positive. The nuke and commando perk irritate many an avid Call of Duty fan due to their overpowered nature and the nuke holds an especially hated place in many a fans hearts for it's changes to online play. Many fans have irritably posted about the game degrading into a camping war where everyone is too scared to engage in open combat because they don't want to lose their killstreak. The fact that Treyarch are listening to what their fans are saying is certainly going to win them some brownie points.

I think having the knife as a secondary weapon is taking things a little bit too far but I do agree that pistols should be the only available sidearm. When that is the case players need to be far more careful when choosing their loadouts, instead of going for the setup that gives them the most ammunition.

Still no word on the rest of the game but these early indicators of where the multiplayer may be headed are good. Treyarch's work on the series is often overlooked and overshadowed by Infinity Ward but maybe this will be the time when Treyarch can go 'hey, we managed to get that right'.