An unseasonably early snow storm in the upper northeast put a damped on the box office this weekend, but that couldn’t keep the first spin off film from the Shrek series from scoring a nice chunk of change.

Snow in the northeast kept the box office receipts a bit lower than expected this weekend, but Puss in Boots, the first spin off film from the Shrek series still brought in around $33 million this weekend.

Falling to second place with a 64% slide was Paranormal Activity 3 with $19 million.  This brings its domestic total to $81 million, and considering the $5 million dollar budget, I would hazard to guess we can expect a Paranormal Activity 4 in our futures.

The new Justin Timberlake action vehicle In Time came in third with a pretty soft $12 million.  Not too surprising to be honest, the trailers read much more as a home viewing experience to me than a must see in the theaters.

Footloose feel to fourth place with $5.5 million bringing its cumulative total to $38.5 million. Off of a $24 million budget this film is still clearly in the red, and it isn’t looking too good for making it to the black during its theatrical run.

Rounding out the top five was the new Johnny Depp film, The Rum Diary, once again proving that not everything he touches turns to gold.

This week sees everything going heavy on comedy with the release of A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas and Tower Heist.

With absolutely no new ideas coming out of the Hollywood Studios, it was only a matter of time until someone got around to remaking the 1966 Sci-Fi schlock classic, Fantastic Voyage.

Apparently James Cameron is picking up where Roland Emmerich left off with a failed attempt at remaking Fantastic Voyage.  Currently in development, Cameron doesn’t plan to direct the new take on the story of a group of scientists who are shrunk to microscopic size and then injected into a patient’s body to perform a sensitive surgery.  According to Deadline, Shawn Levy who just directed Real Steel will be taking on the directions chores for this reimagined version of the story that will see a doctor who is injected into his estranged wife’s body to save her life.  Yep … it’s a love story.

What disturbs me most about this news was the following passage from the source article:

Of course, with the massive advances in filmmaking technology in the 45 years since Richard Fleischer’s version, Fantastic Voyage is truly ripe for a reboot.

… Why?  Just because special effects have advanced that somehow justifies yet another reboot to a movie that simply doesn’t need to happen?  How about we get off of the reboot wagon and get back to making something, anything that is the least bit original?  I know, there I go with that radical thinking of mine again.  How dare I.

I’m just waiting for the truly atrocious reboots to start popping up.  Aren’t we due for a new version fo Back to the Future?

While Driving to Kansas City today I decided to stop by the Walt Disney Hometown Museum in Marceline, MO. I’ve driven past this town a thousand times, but I’ve always been in too big of a hurry to stop in and take a look. Well, today I decided to build in some time into my schedule to stop by, And it was well worth it.

While the museum itself is interesting, and well worth the $5 admittance fee, what really grabbed me even more was a stop by Walt Disney’s Dreaming Tree.  (Click any of the mages for a larger view)

I had heard about this tree over the years here and there, but I didn’t realize it was still standing.  This was the tree that Walt would sit under with his younger sister while he would draw as a boy, and even after leaving the town early on in life, he would always stop by the tree on his subsequent visits over the years.  Sadly it was struck by lightning a few years ago and it on its way to totally dying off.  While the land is no longer owned by the Disney family, the owners of the property are gracious enough to allow people to come on to their property for free and see it and the barn that inspired Walt as well.

I’ve always been fascinated with what inspires people such as Walt Disney, and it almost always ends up being something simple such as a tree. Imagine you’re a kid in the early 1900′s, living on a farm that isn’t doing that well financially and you are charged with entertaining your younger sister. You don’t have the distractions of today, and all you have is your imagination. Of course it is going to inspire ou to think of things on your own, and we all know where they got Mr. Disney in this world.

As I mentioned, the tree is dying, but luckily the Disney family is in possession of saplings from the tree as there had been ones planted at both Disneyland and Disney World. When they heard that the tree was dying, they offered to plant one of the saplings near the spot so that there could still be something there to inspire others.

And it was only fitting that a part of the parks came along with it.

While it is doubtful that Son of Dreaming Tree will ever inspire anyone as much as the original did, it seems very fitting that its legacy shall live on in the same spot. Could it possibly spawn another Walt Disney? Doubtful, but wouldn’t it be a shame if there wasn’t a tree there just in case?

If you ever find yourself near Marceline, take the time to check out the museum, but definitely take a moment to visit the farm.

It’s episode #166 and Scattercast is only focusing on on one subject this week!

Still working on the file format issue, but the new episode is up on iTunes.

Lots of tech talk this week, so enjoy!

subscribe to Scattercast via iTunes.

Last year I wrote about how expensive it was getting in shape, but I was probably in the best shape of my life.

… and then everything that could go wrong, went wrong.

After recovering from a muscle injury while weight lifting, the gym I belonged to ended up having every single treadmill die for various reasons.  This lead to a ton of issues with getting in my cardio, but I kept trying.

Then January rolled in, and work became a rocketsled ride that started making it difficult to get to the gym. Come May, an Anytime Fitness opened in town, and after checking it out I switched gyms.

Now, mind you, I said I switched in May, and in June my town was rocked by a “straight line wind.”  It blew out the front windows of my new gym and water damaged all of the cardio equipment: Bikes, treadmills, elliptical machines and everything else.  It took over two months for them to get them replaced, and I lost even more time to a proper workout.

Treadmills came in, all seemed good … and then I got really sick and missed three weeks at the gym.

In short, I’ve put back on some of the weight I fought so hard to take off because all I do at work is sit, and then I had no access to the gym equipment I needed.  Essentially I am having to start all over, and I have no clue why it feels like it’s harder than it was the first time.  I think it’s a combination of the anger at everything that went wrong that was outside of my control (no, I couldn’t walk outside, remember I have really bad allergies, hence why I pay for gyms).

So, here I am again, starting all over.  I still weigh far less than I did when I started the first time, but the weight that I’ve put back on makes me less than happy, but here’s hoping it’ll be easier to take off than the first time.

AMC has decided only two episodes into the second season that the ratings have been strong enough to go ahead and green light a third season of The Walking Dead.

Seeing that the second season premiere set records for a cable premiere, it isn’t too surprising that a third season of the zombie series.  While there was a slight drop off in the numbers for the second episode of the season, it was still high and enough to make AMC decide that they were committed to the project.

Having only skimmed the first two episodes so far, I can’t say I’m seeing a whole lot of improvement over the complaints I had with the first season, but we’ll see if they can ever get this show where.

Expect the third season around this time next year.

What do you do when you wrap filming on the most anticipated movie of 2012, but you haven’t yet finished post-production on it? Shoot another movie … in 12 days.

Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, has been busy working on The Avengers for Marvel, but it appears he had enough time off to do some work on a pet project of his own.  It would seem he snuck off for a few days with a few of his old crew from various TV shows and shot a contemporary retelling of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing.

Apparently this is the first project out of a new venture Whedon has formed a new studio called Bellwether Films with someone named Kai Cole.  They are referring to it as a “micro-studio” that will focus on making smaller productions.  Judging by the fact that no one knew this was filming, and it shot in only 12 days, that seems to definitely qualify as “micro” to me.

The cast has some very familiar names amongst them, and also appears to have very much kept it in the family with only one actor he had not worked with previously.

• Amy Acker is Beatrice (she played “Fred” in Angel)
• Alexis Denisof is Benedick (He played Wesley in Buffy and Angel)
• Nathan Fillion is Dogberry (He appeared as “Caleb” in Buffy, “Capt. Mal” in Firefly and “Hammer” in Dr. Horrible)
• Clark Gregg is Leonato (he appears in The Avengers as Agent Phil Coulson)
• Fran Kranz is Claudio (he appeared in Cabin in the Woods)
• Reed Diamong is Don Pedro

It is known amongst Whedon fans that he has a tendency to gather his actors at his house on Sundays for dramatic readings, including the works of Shakespeare, so it wouldn’t be surprising to hear that this was born out of that.

Right now it is planned that the film will hit the festival circuit next year.

While it is certainly an intriguing concept, and something I’d love to see, I’d love to know how he got away from his duites in The Avengers to do it.

[Thanks to Jo for the tip]

Apparently the movie going audience hasn’t yet tired of the “found footage” horror film genre as the third film in the Paranormal Activity series set records for an October opening.

Paranormal Activity 3 scared up $54 million in its opening weekend to set a record for the biggest opening ever for October and the largest premiere for the series.  However, not all was rosy as nearly 49% of that came in on Friday, but considering the film only cost $5 million to make, it’s highly doubtful anyone is going to be horribly upset about how the money came in.

Coming in second was Real Steel with a 30.5% decline to $11.3 million.  That brings its domestic total to $67.2 million, but with no data released yet on its budget it’s difficult to judge how it’s doing.

Third place saw Footloose slide a respectable 30.3% in its second weekend to bring in $10.85 million. It’s not exactly burning up the box office, but it is holding its own for sure.

Swasbuckling its way into a disappointing fourth place opening, the 318th version of The Three Musketeers brought in a disappointing $8.8 million. It’s doubtful this is the amount the studio was hoping for in its opening weekend.

The Ides of March fell to fifth place to bring in $4.9 million.

Opening next week will In Time, Puss in Boots, The Rum Diary and Anonymous.

I Don’t Know How She Does It? $8,000 this weekend bringing its domestic total to $9.594 million off a $24 million budget. Here’s a funny moment for you, Captain America, which was released in July and comes out on home video this week, brought in another $165,000.

Yep, Battlestar Galactica is making its way to the theaters. Before you get too excited, it’s based off the original 1970′s version and not the far superior reboot.

Rumors have circulated for some time that Glen A. Larson, the creator of the original TV series, has been trying to get a movie together that follows the mythos of that version.  As opposed to the rumors that have floated around for some time, this time it looks like it’s really happening.

Bryan Singer, who directed the first two X-Men movies and Superman Returns, has signed on to direct, and this will be his next project after he finishes Jack, the Giant Killer.  The latest addition is to the production is John Orloff, an Emmy nominated writer for Band of Brothers and penned the upcoming Anonymous about the works of Shakespeare, as the script writer.

Speaking to Deadline, Orloff said, “I have wanted to write this movie since I was 12-years-old, and built a Galactica model from scratch out of balsa wood, cardboard, old model parts and LEDs,” Orloff said. “I love BSG, and I would pass on the job rather than frak it up.”

While it’s always nice to see someone live out their childhood dream, the original series was incredibly weak when it came to its underlying story.  ”Robots bad, humans good … stock footage space fights!”  Yes, you ended up caring for some of the characters, but overall it was very simplistic and it was amazing the reboot ended up being as good as it was, but to go back to the original?  I have a really, really bad feeling about this.

A total of 35 this week.

FunJug.com

• Mountain Biker gets taken out by BUCK
• Super Bass By Sophia Grace Brownlee
• Family Feud – Don’t Swallow?
• Dog Plays Fetch With Himself
• Saturday Shorts: The Gossip

SeanPAune.com

• Charlie’s Angels Heads to Heaven
• Real Steel Knocks Out the Remakes to Stay on Top
• Hasbro Approaches Michael Bay About Transformers 4
• Transformers 4 & 5 May Shoot Back-to-Back
• Sherlock Holmes 2 Second Trailer Plays Up the Plot
• Scattercast Episode #165: A Ramblin’
• The Punisher Gets a Pilot for a TV Series at Fox

TechnoBuffalo.com

• Samsung Suing to Block iPhone 4S Sales in Australia and Japan
• Ice Cream Sandwich: Are You Excited? (poll)
• Does the Lack of Ice Cream Sandwich on the Droid RAZR Disappoint You? (poll)
• Analysts Make Their Predictions for Apple’s Q4 Earnings
• Apple Sets New Sales Records for Macs and iPads in the Fourth Quarter (UPDATED)
• Ask the Buffalo: October 18th Edition
• Galaxy Nexus Officially Unwraps its Ice Cream Sandwich
• Google Introduces Face Unlock for Android Ice Cream Sandwich
• Android Beam Lets You Quickly Share Your Information via NFC
• iPhone 4S vs. Galaxy Nexus Spec Shootout
• HTC EVO Design 4G Coming to Sprint Oct. 23 for $99.99
• Steve Ballmer Thinks You Need to be a Scientist to Use Android
• Apple Says Farewell to Steve Jobs with Memorial Service
• Amazon Prime Goes High Class with Content from PBS
• Samsung Focus S and Flash Finally Get Pictured for AT&T
• Motorola Admiral Coming to Sprint October 23 for $99.99
• Porsche Designed BlackBerry Looks Set to Get Official Next Week
• Gmail Appears to be Getting a Redesign (video)
• Sprint Ending Unlimited Data for Mobile Hotspots; Phones Next?
• Steve Jobs Biography: “I’m going to destroy Android”
• Angry Birds Seasons Gets “Ham’O’Ween” Update with a New Bird
• Minecraft: The TechnoBuffalo Server Continues to Grow

After three films that disappointed at the box office, Marvel is going to try bringing the Punisher to the small screen.

Three Punisher films never quite worked out (1989, 2004 and 2008), the media rights to the character finally reverted to Marvel in 2010, but nothing has been discussed as being in development until this week.  According to Deadline, Ed Bernero, creator of the critically acclaimed Third Watch, is working with ABC Studios on developing a television series based around the iconic character.  Fox has optioned it for a pilot with a penalty clause should it never air.

According to the reports, the summary of the series is as follows:

Frank Castle, a rising star detective with the New York Police Department who moonlights as the vigilante Punisher, seeking justice for those the system has failed.

There is so much wrong with that synopsis that I don’t even know where to begin.

The Punisher first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #129 published in 1974.  Since his creation, and through numerous reboots, one thing that has remained constant is that Frank Castle became the Punisher after seeing his family killed by criminals.  At no point has he been an active duty officer on a police officer by day and a vigilante by night.  He has always been a vigilante through and through with a strict code of ethics.  While I have enjoyed some Bernero’s work over the years, he has starting off on such poor footing here that I can’t even give this series a chance.  I could even deal with the idea of this being yet another procedural series, it sounds like they are going to tear out the core of this character completely for no good reason.

Also at issue is the fact that this will be on network television.  The Punisher is, by his very nature, a killer.  He shoots his enemies, he blows them up and he’ll even run them over, but on network TV?  True, Fox was the home of 24 which has a huge body count, but somehow I don’t see them getting away as easily with this due to the nature of the story.

This project has disaster written all over it to me, but we’ll just have to wait and see what comes out of it.

It’s episode #165 and Scattercast is all over the place … as usual.

First off, new file format is not working well with the site, but I will insert it as soon as I can.  it is up on iTunes however.

Lots of tech talk this week, so enjoy!

subscribe to Scattercast via iTunes.