Welcome to another week of the daily edition of CobWEBs, the flagship podcast of The Cynical Bastards!
For those who don’t remember from the other episodes, this is a new format for the show as we are going to try giving you daily bite sized chunks of our patented brand of cynicism over everything in the tech universe. The show will have a rotating host schedule between Steven Hodson, Mark ‘Rizzn’ Hopkins and myself. You’ll always get two of us, you just never know which two!
Steven Hodson and I take on tonight’s duties and have a look at a post over at The Next Web by Ayelet Noff that opens with the line, “These days we live in an era of a historian’s wet dream. We are consistently recording history through all our social tools.” After Steven and I finish puking, we analyze all of the problems with this concept.
It seems Joss Whedon already has some ideas of what to do with his time since Dollhouse got cancelled.
The Buffy, the Vampire Slayer season 8 comic books have been running for quite some time now, and it appears that they will be brought to life in a manner of speaking. It seems that a casting call has gone out for voices to turn the season 8 comic books into motion comics online.
According to an article on Sci-Fi Wire, it sounds a bit like we will see a mix of events from the comic as well as some events that happened “off screen”. Some of the characters they are casting for are not included in the comic book, such as the “Slug Queen”.
Friday, Nov. 13, 2009, 3:15 PM Pacific BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER (MOTION COMIC) Webisodes NON-UNION
Casting Director: Jeff Shuter
Interview Dates: Next week (w/o 11/16)
Shoot/Start Date: TBD
Pay Rate: Pay Provided (various for each character)
Location: Los Angeles
SUBMIT ELECTRONICALLY IMMEDIATELY
PLEASE SEND VOICE OVER LINKS/ REELS (IF POSSIBLE)
NOTE: ALSO INCLUDE PERFORMANCE VIDEOS OR ACTOR SLATES IF AVAILABLE. DO NOT SEND DEMO TAPES.
[ FAITH (V.O.) ]
Co-Star / Female / Caucasian / 20 – 25 years
Description: MAXX INITIATIVE is now casting voice over talent for the Buffy the Vampire Motion Comic, upcoming web series. Seeking the role of FAITH – female, early 20′s, a slayer, displays a much darker, dangerously, fun-seeking, approach to both slaying and murder, she is the dark side of a slayer’s personality. Voice to match Eliza Dushku. Send voiceover links/ reels (if possible). Pay provided. Nonunion.
[ KENNEDY (V.O.) ]
Supporting / Female / Caucasian / 20 – 25 years
Description: MAXX INITIATIVE is now casting voice over talent for the Buffy the Vampire Motion Comic, upcoming web series. Seeking the role of KENNEDY – Female, caucasian, early 20s. A newly made slayer, Kennedy is also Willow’s girlfriend. She’s an out lesbian with an assertive personality. Voice to match Lyari Limon. Send voiceover links/ reels (if possible) Pay provided. Nonunion.
[ LIEUTENANT MOLTER (V.O.) ]
Supporting / Female / African American / 30 – 35 years
Description: MAXX INITIATIVE is now casting voice over talent for the Buffy the Vampire Motion Comic, upcoming web series. Seeking the role of LIEUTENANT MOLTER – Female, African American, early 30s. A lieutenant in the US Air Force – ally of the villain Twilight. Send voiceover links/ reels (if possible) Pay provided. Nonunion.
[ DANIEL CRAIG (V.O.) ]
Guest-Star / Male / Caucasian / 30 – 40 years
Description: MAXX INITIATIVE is now casting voice over talent for the Buffy the Vampire Motion Comic, upcoming web series. Seeking the role of actor DANIEL CRAIG – Male, caucasian, mid 30s. Voice to match actor Daniel Craig. Send voiceover links/ reels (if possible) Pay provided. Nonunion.
[ RODEN (V.O.) ]
Supporting / Male / Caucasian / 30 – 40 years
Description: MAXX INITIATIVE is now casting voice over talent for the Buffy the Vampire Motion Comic, upcoming web series. Seeking the role of RODEN – Male, caucasian, 30s. An Irish human warlock and the tutor of Lady Genevieve Savidge, one of the new slayers, manipulating her into becoming an assassin of slayers. He was also a servant of Twilight, who convinced Roden to serve him in exchange for surviving the coming purge. However, Roden ignored that Twilight did not intend them to survive, but that they would merely thin out the number of Twilight’s enemies. Send voiceover links/ reels (if possible) Pay provided. Nonunion.
[ LADY GENEVIEVE (V.O.) ]
Supporting / Female / Caucasian / 25 – 30 years
Description: MAXX INITIATIVE is now casting voice over talent for the Buffy the Vampire Motion Comic, upcoming web series. Seeking the role of LADY GENEVIEVE – Female, caucasian, British, late 20s. With Roden, she hunts and kills other slayers as part of his ‘Training’ her. However, she and faith find they share a lot in common; both as slayers and as troubled young women enticed by evil, despite their drastically different background. Send voiceover links/ reels (if possible) Pay provided. Nonunion.
[ ROBIN WOOD (V.O.) ]
Supporting / Male / African American / 30 – 35 years
Description: MAXX INITIATIVE is now casting voice over talent for the Buffy the Vampire Motion Comic, upcoming web series. Seeking the role of ROBIN WOOD – Male, African American, early 30s. Robin is in charge of a squad of slayers, and is shown to be working at the Hellmouth in Cleveland. In his one-panel appearance he calls Faith to tell her of a family that was recently attacked by vamps. Faith refers to him as ‘The ex’ implying the couple has ended their relationship since ‘Chosen.’ Voice match to D.B. Woodside. Send voiceover links/ reels (if possible) Pay provided. Nonunion.
[ SEPHRILLIAN (V.O.) ]
Supporting / Male / All Ethnicities / 30 – 40 years
Description: MAXX INITIATIVE is now casting voice over talent for the Buffy the Vampire Motion Comic, upcoming web series. Seeking the role of SEPHRILLIAN – Male, demon. A demon who walked in the realities of humans and the old ones, making him ‘Tichajt: – one of the demon elite. He resides in a domain between realities kept in stasis by Robin, a minder. Send voiceover links/ reels (if possible) Pay provided. Nonunion.
[ FAERIE (V.O.) ]
Supporting / Female / All Ethnicities / 20 – 30 years
Description: MAXX INITIATIVE is now casting voice over talent for the Buffy the Vampire Motion Comic, upcoming web series. Seeking the role of FAERIE – Female, faerie creature. She is a pixie fairy, helping one of the Buffy decoys. Send voiceover links/ reels (if possible) Pay provided. Nonunion.
[ ROBIN (V.O.) ]
Supporting / Female / Caucasian / 20 – 25 years
Description: MAXX INITIATIVE is now casting voice over talent for the Buffy the Vampire Motion Comic, upcoming web series. Seeking the role of ROBIN – Female, caucasian, early 20s. The minder of Sephrillian’s reality field, chosen to watch over a small house which serves as a mask to Sephrillian’s domain. Send voiceover links/ reels (if possible) Pay provided. Nonunion.
[ RONA (V.O.) ]
Supporting / Female / African American / 20 – 25 years
Description: MAXX INITIATIVE is now casting voice over talent for the Buffy the Vampire Motion Comic, upcoming web series. Seeking the role of RONA – Female, African American, early 20s. Rona is a new slayer, working as a squad leader. Send voiceover links/ reels (if possible) Pay provided. Nonunion.
[ SLUG QUEEN (V.O.) ]
Supporting / Female / Caucasian / 40 – 50 years
Description: MAXX INITIATIVE is now casting voice over talent for the Buffy the Vampire Motion Comic, upcoming web series. Seeking the role of SLUG QUEEN – Female, slug queen, 40-50s. The oldest survivor of the Slug Clan, the Slug Queen rules the underground Slug resistance against the force of Yamanh. Send voiceover links/ reels (if possible) Pay provided. Nonunion.
[ TWILIGHT (V.O.) ]
Supporting / Male / Caucasian / 30 – 40 years
Description: MAXX INITIATIVE is now casting voice over talent for the Buffy the Vampire Motion Comic, upcoming web series. Seeking the role of TWILIGHT – Male, a villain with superhuman strengths, such as flying. Twilight is the leader of an Initiative-like group that shares his name. He views the expanded ranks of Slayers as a threat to humanity no better than an army of demons, and plans to bring about an end of magic, both good and evil. Send voiceover links/ reels (if possible) and Pay provided. Nonunion
One of the most interesting things is the speed with which this appears to be coming together. This casting call went out on Friday the 13th and it indicates recording is to begin this week, minus the 16th. There is no indication of when these will hit the Web, but if they are moving this fast, I would imagine it isn’t too far off in the future.
Apparently I am in the completely wrong blogging game.
Technology is something I am passionate about, and while I love writing about it, it isn’t exactly making me rich. There is also an illusion that tech bloggers get piles of free products to review, but I can tell you with all honesty that I have received exactly three review units in the nearly three years I have been doing this, and one of those came to me after I wrote about the product and hadn’t even asked for it. The company just appreciated my favorable comments about the product.
If you aren’t familiar with the term, mommy bloggers are commonly considered to be stay at home moms that have taken up blogging as a way to share their views and share tips with one another. Well, they have been elevated by marketers to a level where they think these are the ultimate online influencers of key demographics, and have in turn begun to lavish them with gifts, trips and perks to try to sway them to their side.
While there have been many stories on this subject, the Los Angeles Times had a very frank, and honestly disturbing, look into just how much companies are giving these people to win them over. The article by P.J. Huffstutter and Jerry Hirsch will more than likely be decried by the rather … “outspoken” mommy blogger community as being one-sided and unfair to them, but facts are facts, and these little trips they go on are fairly well-known.
There are tales of how these people get flown to lavish events, meet celebrities, get put up in posh hotels, have steaks sent to their houses to feed their families while they are gone, dine with executives and so on, all in the hopes that they will write positive things. And while some of these bloggers do disclose that these things happen, others don’t, and that is where the problem comes in.
The most disturbing portion of the article to me was the following section:
“They handle the family budget,” said Amanda Vega, an industry consultant who specializes in social media and public relations. “People read them and believe them, because they’re easy to identify with.”
They also rarely are critical. Christine Young, owner of the From Dates to Diapers blog, has a closet full of free baby products she never liked. She hasn’t mentioned them in her blog.
They’re still there, sitting on the shelves, waiting to be donated.
“My business is not to bash companies,” said Young, 32, who lives in the Sacramento area. “My business is to create buzz for the products and services we enjoy.”
Do you see the problem between these two sections? The marketers know they are “trusted”, but how can readers really trust bloggers who only write positive things? Ms. Young’s comment of “My business is to create buzz for the products and services we enjoy” basically translates into “Hi, I’m a product whore, and to continue to get these products I promise to never, ever say anything bad about your products … can you send me some steaks?”
If you are going to do nothing but write high praises about all the stuff you have gotten for free don’t call yourself a blogger of any kind – you’re a shill. Period.
So what is it Mommy Bloggers? Are you being honest with your readers, or are you nothing but shameless shills?
There is going to be a movie based around the board games of Monopoly and Risk … why?
The rumors of the Monopoly movie have been circulating for some time now, and then came the news that Sir Ridley Scott, director of such films as Alien, Blade Runner and Gladiator, was attached to direct. Well, thanks to an article in this week’s Los Angeles Times, things have progressed even further, and we now know the basic plot of the film.
In an interview with Frank Beddor, producer on such films as Something About Mary, he revealed the plot that actually lured the famous director to the project:
“I created a comedic, lovable loser who lives in Manhattan and works at a real estate company and he’s not very good at his job but he’s great at playing Monopoly. And the world record for playing is 70 straight days – over 1,600 hours – and he wanted to try to convince his friends to help him break that world record. They think he is crazy. They kid him about this girl and they’re playing the game and there’s this big fight. And he’s holding a Chance card and after they’ve left he says, ‘Damn, I wanted to use that Chance card,’ and he throws it down. He falls asleep and then he wakes up in the morning and he’s holding the Chance card, and he thinks, ‘That’s odd.’”
[...]
“He’s all groggy and he goes down to buy some coffee and he reaches into his pocket and all he has is Monopoly money. All this Monopoly money pours out. He’s confused and embarrassed and the girl reaches across the counter and says, ‘That’s OK.’ And she gives him change in Monopoly money. He walks outside and he’s in this very vibrant place, Monopoly City, and he’s just come out of a Chance Shop. As it goes on, he takes on the evil Parker Brothers in the game of Monolopy. He has to defeat them. It tries to incorporate all the iconic imageries — a sports car pulls up, there’s someone on a horse, someone pushing a wheelbarrow — and rich Uncle Pennybags, you’re going to see him as the maître d’ at the restaurant and he’s the buggy driver and the local eccentric and the doorman at the opera. There’s all these sight gags.”
This sounds absolutely dreadful. Never mind the plot has been used too many times to count – Super Mario Brothers, Jumanji and Zathura: A Space Adventure immediately spring to mind to name just a few — and so this sounds like it brings absolutely nothing original along with it.
To top all of this off, there is also talk now of Risk being turned into a movie. I’ll just let the press release about the project explain it:
Sony Pictures Entertainment has acquired from Hasbro, Inc. the motion picture rights to produce RISK, the classic board game brand of world conquest, it was announced today by Doug Belgrad and Matt Tolmach, presidents of Columbia Pictures. The film will be produced and developed by Hasbro’s Brian Goldner and Bennett Schneir and Overbrook Entertainment’s James Lassiter.
Commenting on the announcement Belgrad said, “Hasbro has already seen tremendous success with Transformers and G.I. Joe and audiences have shown a great desire for films that bring to life everything that has made these franchise properties stand the test of time. The strategic thinking and the tactical gambles that players must take in the game are what make RISK a classic, thoroughly engaging game. Those elements translated into an action-packed, thrilling story are what will make this a uniquely exciting movie.”
Lassiter added “We are excited to be working with Hasbro and Columbia Pictures on bringing such a beloved and well-known game to life on the big screen. We have two television projects currently in development with Hasbro Studios and look forward to this collaboration.”
“We are thrilled to be working with tremendous partners like Sony Pictures and Overbrook Entertainment on RISK,” said Brian Goldner, President and CEO of Hasbro, Inc. “Like so many of Hasbro’s brands, RISK resonates with consumers of multiple generations around the world. We can’t wait to re-imagine this brand into a motion picture.”
The game was invented in 1957 by French filmmaker Albert Lamorisse as La Conquete du Monde (The Conquest of the World). Two years later, Parker Brothers published the game in the U.S. as RISK. According to Hasbro, RISK was a groundbreaking game, the first board game to offer nonlinear movement. In the game, players compete on a map of the world, amassing armies and attempting world domination, or, as its rules put it, to “occupy every territory on the board and in so doing, eliminate all other players.” The game has sold millions of copies and spawned several variations, with settings ranging from movie properties to various periods from world history to the moon.
How in the world are they going to turn this into anything more than a war movie? If they add any aspects of the game (colored uniforms to represent the various colors in the game? ew) it will just come off as looking goofy. And if they don’t add aspects of the game then why did they even bother licensing the name of the game?
There is also talk of games based on Ouija and Battleship and I am more convinced than ever that Hollywood has completely run out of anything close to resembling an original idea.
Now, all this being said, I am actually a fan of the film version of Clue. It was turned into a comedy in 1985, and it had a stellar comedic cast including the likes of Madeline Kahn, Tim Curry and Michael McKean. If you’ve never seen it, I highly recommend it for just a fun little watch with absolutely no depth to it.
So who knows, I could be wrong, but Clue was primed for comedy with all of the ludicrous character names in the game. The other ones I’ve listed? Not so much.
What say you? Will you go and see any of this slew of board game movies?
- I lost a pair of glasses to the tiny terror tonight …
- Modern Warfare 2 has its moments.
- There is no such thing as a social media “expert” … get over it.
Here’s
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Welcome to another week of the daily edition of CobWEBs, the flagship podcast of The Cynical Bastards!
For those who don’t remember from the other episodes, this is a new format for the show as we are going to try giving you daily bite sized chunks of our patented brand of cynicism over everything in the tech universe. The show will have a rotating host schedule between Steven Hodson, Mark ‘Rizzn’ Hopkins and myself. You’ll always get two of us, you just never know which two!
Steven Hodson and Mark ‘Rizzn’ Hopkins take on tonight’s duties and have quite the discussion about Google purchasing Gizmo5, the future of PayPal as a universal identification system and end the show with a discussion on how Twitter has “stalled” out numbers wise. Kinda sorry I wasn’t on this episode, some great discussions.
Clash of the Titans, the classic of 1980′s action/adventure films is getting a remake with modern day special effects.
In 1981, Clash of the Titans hit the theaters, and it was pretty much the event film of the year. From the stellar cast which included the likes of Sir Laurence Olivier, Maggie Smith, Ursula Andress, Burgess Meredith and more, to the fully realized mythic creatures, I doubt there was a boy in grade school who didn’t rush to the theater to see it.
I was 9-years-old when I first saw it, and I remember being blown away by the creature special effects. Sure they were a bit jumpy, but even then I was aware of stop motion animation, and I knew how much work each movement of the creatures was. This was where I really fell in love with special effects, and especially with the work of Ray Harryhausen.
Mr. Harryhausen was the undisputed king of stop motion during its hey day, and Clash of the Titans was like his magnum opus. From dealing with Pegasus to the Kraken, everything in the film was an amazing piece of work. This isn’t to say he didn’t have other amazing works (the Sinbad movies, Jason and the Argonauts and so on), but you could tell he poured his soul into this movie.
Now, as with everything in Hollywood, it’s being remade. While I normally freak out about remakes, this one isn’t bothering me that much. The original was a special effects showcase with a decent story, so there isn’t any reason why this one can’t do the same with some 9-year-old out there and ignite their love affair with film. Sure stop motion is pretty much a dead art form, but you never know if the next CGI whiz isn’t sitting out there.
Here is the just released teaser trailer for the new film:
And just for fun, the trailer for the 1981 original:
With the news that Dollhouse has been cancelled, show creator Joss Whedon is examining his options, and at least one of those includes binge drinking.
In a comment on the Joss Whedon fansite Whedonesque, Mr. Whedon came to share the news of the show’s cancellation, but discovered he had been beaten to the punch.
Hmm. Apparently my news is not news.
I don’t have a lot to say. I’m extremely proud of the people I’ve worked with: my star, my staff, my cast, my crew. I feel the show is getting better pretty much every week, and I think you’ll agree in the coming months. I’m grateful that we got to put it on, and then come back and put it on again.
I’m off to pursue internet ventures/binge drinking. Possibly that relaxation thing I’ve read so much about. By the time the last episode airs, you’ll know what my next project is. But for now there’s a lot of work still to be done, and disappointment to bear.
Thank you all for your support, your patience, your excellent adverts. See you again. -j.
Hopefully this may mean he has the opportunity now to do a follow-up to the popular Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog which was a Web only series.
Mr. Whedon has said in previous interviews that he imagined that Dollhouse would be his last foray into television, and he was more interested in pursuing ventures on the Internet and films. Considering what happened with Firefly and Dollhouse, and some hiccups with his biggest success Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, I can’t say as I really blame him.
Welcome to another week of the daily edition of CobWEBs, the flagship podcast of The Cynical Bastards!
For those who don’t remember from the other episodes, this is a new format for the show as we are going to try giving you daily bite sized chunks of our patented brand of cynicism over everything in the tech universe. The show will have a rotating host schedule between Steven Hodson, Mark ‘Rizzn’ Hopkins and myself. You’ll always get two of us, you just never know which two!
Steven Hodson and I spend the episode discussing Twitter (this is what happens when you don’t send in your bribes to keep us from discussing it). What is going on with ReTweeting, how the protocol should be released to the wild and how I will probably be seen as either an ignorant fool or a visionary when I predict Twitter won’t be around in 20 years … yeah, you heard me. Also, what has happened to the “social” portion of “social media”?
The writing was pretty much on the wall. During the first season the show averaged around 4.7 million viewers, and at that number it barely made it to a second season. With the debut of season 2, the show has been hovering around 3 million viewers which is a number that just about any show would receiive the ax.
While I enjoyed the show, I’m just not that surprised. I’ve gone into my reasons numerous times before, but it just didn’t seem as much of a well thought out storyline as Mr. Whedon’s previous shows. You could tell it was going somewhere, you just had no clue where that was.
Overall, I’m afraid a lot of the blame has to be laid at Eliza Dushku’s feet. While she is a capable actress, I was just never sold on her as the lead. Some people just aren’t meant to be the lead in projects, and I have a feeling she is one of those.
Welcome to another week of the daily edition of CobWEBs, the flagship podcast of The Cynical Bastards!
For those who don’t remember from the other episodes, this is a new format for the show as we are going to try giving you daily bite sized chunks of our patented brand of cynicism over everything in the tech universe. The show will have a rotating host schedule between Steven Hodson, Mark ‘Rizzn’ Hopkins and myself. You’ll always get two of us, you just never know which two!
Mark ‘Rizzn’ Hopkins and Steven Hodson handle tonight’s discussion of Google’s new programming language named “Go”, and then somehow find a way to jump over to talking about LinkedIn and Twitter now sharing status messages. Somehow I’m glad I missed being on this one …
It seems Joss Whedon already has some ideas of what to do with his time since 
Apparently I am in the completely wrong blogging game.
A whopping 40 articles this week … just too much breaking news this week in the technology realm.
There is going to be a movie based around the board games of Monopoly and Risk … why?
To top all of this off, there is also talk now of Risk being turned into a movie. I’ll just let the press release about the project explain it:
Scattercast is 69 … and I am wearing old glasses.
Clash of the Titans, the classic of 1980′s action/adventure films is getting a remake with modern day special effects.
With the news that 
It seems that it is time to put the Dolls away for good.
