Kick it! The 2011 Sundance Film Festival kicks off on January 20th and one short film is already being called a “must-see.” Directed by Adam Yauch (MCA) of the Beastie Boys, Fight For Your Right Revisited is a look at the making of the classic video. That in itself would be awesome, but what’s really creating buzz for the short is the cast. Seth Rogen as Mike D, Elijah Wood as Ad-Rock, and Danny McBride as MCA. That’s them from left to right in the photo. John C. Reilly, Jack Black, and Will Ferrell also star, probably as party goers. Hell yes.

The short promises to look at what happens when “the party’s over.” That’s all the information Yauch has revealed so far, but the cast list alone is enough to get pumped about. I’m most excited about seeing Frodo in the mix. Seeing how he plays off of McBride and Reilly is going to be a treat. (via MovieFone)

Goddammit! Haven’t we learned anything. I was pretty sure that all this fucking around we’re doing with the Kinect is going to bring about the robot apocalypse. And now I’m getting more sure. The mad scientists over at the Hybrid Systems Lab at UC Berkeley have used the Kinect to construct an autonomous flying machine.

Kotaku:

Instead of being hooked up to an Xbox 360 to play games, Kinect is sending visual data to a Linux box onboard the mini-copter, letting the quadrotor fly autonomously, detect its own altitude and avoid obstacles. A back-up motion capture device provides other data–lateral and yaw–and provides a safety back up for altitude detection, should Kinect fail at some point.

It seems cool now, but when they’re used to fly over cities and drop nuclear caches, we’re going to be seriously displeased with these guys.

Hit the jump for the video of it flying. It’s amazing. And terrifying.

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Someone is going to a funeral! As Spider-Man begins shooting this week, the first set photos have dropped. Just what the fuck is going on here? Slashfilm speculates that Gwen is attending (spoilers, fools) the funeral of her father. Apparently Father Stacy   passes away in the comic books and implores Spidey to watch over Gwen. Guess he’s going to be pretty upset that its his webbing that snaps her damn neck in the funnies.

But also, why not Uncle Ben’s funeral? Who knows.

Hit the jump for the pictures.

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Hey! Is X-Men: First Class flying under your radar? Yeah, me too. I don’t think there’s going to be a middle ground with the flick. I appreciate the 1960’s vibe they’re taking, as well as the unique cast of characters. No Scott Summers? Ballsy. That said, the whole thing could backfire in an avalanche of suck.

Today some set photos dropped, featuring some impressive destruction and the inclusion of your favorite X-Vehicle.

Hit the jump for the crappy (in quality) pics. Yeah, I’m selling them hard.

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Merry Christmas!

Gavon Laessig brings my attention to clearly the best Christmas tree ornament. Ever. I can’t wait to construct my own and use it for the years that follow. It’ll make a nice festive holiday jumping off point for me to explain to Lil Caffeine Powered about how the internet broke us and now we’re all using tasers and nipple clamps to get off.

With all the news coming out today about Uncharted 3, it makes sense that Sony’s other top (previously) exclusive developer would drop some noise of their own on our asses. Insomniac Games released even more Resistance 3 screens. On Facebook. Well then, that’s a unique way to do it. Mark Zuckerberg just orgasmed at that use of his leviathan, while continuing to stare in that eerie ass way that he does.

Hit the jump for the new pictures.

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Oh hell yeah! We didn’t just get a reveal of Uncharted 3 today. We got a fucking teaser trailer. You know how BioWare and Rocksteady dropped teasers for their trailers that are being revealed at the Spike VGA? Naughty Dog is following suit. Ain’t nothing much to say.

Hit the jump for the fucking teaser for the Uncharted 3 trailer, dummy!

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Entertainment Weekly just blew the lid off of one of the most anticipated games, Uncharted 3. The game’s official title is Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, and it is totally going Indiana Jones and Lawrence of Arabia with Drake running around some fucking gorgeous sand dunes and shit.

Here, some details:

According to Naughty Dog’s creative director Amy Hennig, the theme of deception plays out in multiple ways throughout the threequel, from Drake doing the deceiving to Drake being deceived to some mysterious deception about Drake’s very identity. The story focuses on the hero’s relationship with his mentor and father figure, fan fave Victor “Sully” Sullivan, and has him searching for a legendary lost city that will ultimately take him to the Arabian Peninsula and the vast wasteland of the Rub’ al Khali Desert, also known as the Empty Quarter.

[cont]

Uncharted likes to keep one foot (or at least a toe) grounded in history (Nathan’s ancestor is the British pirate, explorer and Navy officer Sir Francis Drake) and the plot of Uncharted 3 draws more from Drake’s exploits as well as from the life of T.E. Lawrence – not from his militant days as the fabled “Lawrence of Arabia,” but rather the Brit’s early years as an archaeologist. The inspiration for the story, says Hennig, came from Naughty Dog’s desire to take on the challenge of conceiving and building out gameplay scenarios within a desert locale – “challenge,” because organic elements like water, fire and sand are technically difficult to credibly render with animation.

It’s a scientific fact that Uncharted 2 is the best game of the generation. Doing some tabulating with my abacus and some beaker work to conjure the true essence of knowledge into my brain stem, I have ascertained this. So I am beyond stoked for this title.

HIT THE JUMP FOR THE SCREENSHOTS OMFG

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David O’Russell’s Oscar contender The Fighter hits theaters tomorrow and Paramount Pictures is doing some pretty sweet promotions – for a good cause. The film tells the story of Micky Ward, a boxer from Lowell, Massachusetts, and his junkie half-brother/trainer, Dickie Ecklund. Early reviews are strongly positive and critics are saying the film focuses more on Ward’s conflicts outside of the ring. One critic said it was less “hokey” than Rocky but lacked the intensity of Raging Bull. Sounds good to me.

Paramount did an art show at Gallery 1988 with The Fighter as its inspiration. Now some of the pieces are for sale. There are three different art prints going for the affordable price of $10. For our high-net-worth readers, there are some hand painted boxing gloves that will set you back $400-$1,000. The ones pictured above are by Californian Graham Curran. I love pissed off looking bears, so I love those gloves.

All proceeds from the sale will go to Team Micky Ward Charities. So, buy me those gloves and feel good about it.

Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us.

That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.

Three decades ago today, Mark David Chapman shot and killed John Lennon in an attempt to actualize the wishes of Holden Caulfield. Thereon, December 8th became a somber day for anyone who appreciates music and hates shitty literary interpretations.

Unfortunately, this day became even more ominous six years ago as Dimebag Darrell was murdered onstage by a crazed fan. Slinging the axe for Pantera, Dimebag helped craft a brand of metal that held complete domination over the 1990s. While long-heralded heavy metal gods began experimenting with blues-riffs and mascara, Pantera maintained their dedication to savage thrashin’ and soulful groovin’. In fact,   they only became more aggressive – which is ridiculous, considering that they kicked off the decade with Cowboys from Hell.

What strikes me most about Dimebag’s playing is the originality and conviction. There is no mistaking a Dimebag Darrell riff, whether it’s one of the machine-gun facsimiles that punches you in the gut or one of the chunky stutter-steps that greets you at the party and convinces you to funnel a beer. His six-string prowess was, in a word, jaw-dropping.

Hit the jump to check out some of my favorite Dimebag moments.

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