Comedy Website to Produce Parody Movie About Late Apple Head

Actor Justin Long, well known for starring in several films as well as "Get a Mac" commercials, will be playing Steve Jobs in an upcoming parody movie from comedy website Funny or Die.

The website is creating a 60 - 75 minute movie named iSteve, which will be released online on April 15. Director Ryan Perez told the New York Times in an interview that the movie will not be based off extensive research and is meant to be very silly while looking at his whole life. Long has had a substantial relationship with Apple as he starred in the Mac-versus-PC TV ads for several years up until the end of the campaign in 2010.

This is not the first film about Jobs and his life. Jobs is an upcomming independent film starring actor Ashton Kutcher, with the release date being delayed, and Sony Pictures is also working on an adaptation of Walter Isaacson's authorized biography on Jobs. Funny or Die has featured several parody movies about Jobs, including one envisioning if Hollywood made a Jason Statham-style action movie about Jobs' life.

'Veronica Mars' Kickstarter Achieves Massive Fundraising

Fans of the TV show Veronica Mars will be happy to know that the Kickstarter project to bring the show to the big screen as a feature film has become the fastest project to reach the $1 million mark.

The project beats out others such as Pebble watch and the OUYA console along with the role-playing game Torment. Veronica Mars only took a little over four hours to reach $1 million, which is quite impressive for a show that never had that good of ratings and is only available to watch on TheWB.com. The show itself fits perfectly as a Kickstarter campaign, as the show has a cult following that was clearly more than willing to donate money and spread the word of this opportunity. This has obviously been made much easier thanks to Twitter and Facebook, where as before fans of the show relied on discussion forums and fan sites to raise money.

It has been confirmed that the project reached the $2 million goal in under ten hours, with fans still donating money by the minute.

Movie Retrospective - Scooby Doo (2002)

If you were to ask me what my favorite cartoon of all time, Scooby Doo would probably be my answer. Growing up on Cartoon Network, I would watch the countless reruns of the talking dog and his adventures in solving mysteries every day. It remains to this day as one of the most popular and successful animated series to date, inspiring multiple spinoff shows and movies, so it only seems logical that a live action feature film be produced. When I first saw this film I absolutely loved it. Ten years later, nostalgia convinced me to watch it again to see how it held up after all this time.

In short: this movie is bad, really bad. I still can't wrap my head around why I liked it so much as a kid. There is so much wrong with this film that I almost feel ashamed that I watched it. Then again, I was naive and thought lots of bad movies were good at the time. Is it as horrible as people say it is? It's pretty close, but surprisingly there are some good aspects about.

For starters, Shaggy and Scooby are very well portrayed. Matt Lillard was the perfect choice for Shaggy and Neil Fanning does a great job of getting the voice down for Scooby. The chemistry between the two of them is also handled very well; it's clear that these two are best friends and the movie does a great job of showing that. Velma is also done very well, maintaining her book smart personality paired with a science geek charm, although Linda Cardellini may have sounded a bit too nasal at times. Unfortunately, Fred and Daphne are not so great as they feel completely out of character in moments. Granted, they didn't have that much personality in the original show, so it's understandable to try and make them more interesting, but they come off as egotistical and full of himself in Fred's case and overly annoying in Daphne's.

Even though Fred and Daphne are not entirely too likable, there are some great moments with them as well as the rest of the main cast where they poke fun at their roles in the original show. Bringing up things such as exactly how they always get lured into a spooky location and how Fred always chooses Daphne first when splitting the group up provide some nice nostalgic context for those who grew up with the show. It's a shame that these are not used more often in place of the humor that is used, but it's still nice to see them when they appear.

Finally, the set pieces and location designs are done very well. When the gang goes to the abandoned dark ride castle, it really gives off an ominous, threatening and creepy vibe. That scene alone is in my personal opinion the best scene in the movie because it is at that moment that the movie feels most like the original cartoon. There's also a lot of creativity throughout the island itself, which is a welcome sight to see.

Unfortunately, that's just about it for the good in this movie, and it's not enough to overshadow what is wrong with the film. The humor contains pop culture references and flatulence jokes used to please today's generation of kids. I have nothing wrong with this convention if used in an original film, but to put in a scene where Shaggy and Scooby have a belching and farting contest, a scene I absolutely detested, just seems wrong. Also, do most kids even know who Pamela Anderson is? I found her cameo in the beginning particularly confusing. Most of the bad humor can be credited to the poor writing. The dialogue is absolutely terrible. I can only imagine how idiotic Freddie Prinze Jr. must have felt when he said "dorky chicks like you turn me on" to Velma. It seems scary, but you could probably find better written dialogue in a Scooby Doo fan fiction.

The plot itself is kind of interesting, but it's not executed well at all. The gang, minus Shaggy and Scooby, doesn't have any many legitimate reasoning for separating, save for Daphne hating the damsel in distress routine, and this even gets pushed aside because they reunite literally ten minutes after. Then they claim they're going to solve the mystery individual only to reunite again ten minutes later to work together. It would have made more sense for them to remain separated for a longer period of time only to then realize how much they need each other and reconcile towards the end. The film tries that but it doesn't come through in the end.

Ultimately, the main thing wrong with the film is that it doesn't really feel like a Scooby Doo film. The tone is all over the place, going for overly comedic with only having few genuinely creepy moments. The original show blended the comedic and spooky aspects perfectly, but the film is so concerned with being "hip and cool" that anything genuinely creepy is lost. The interactions between some of the characters doesn't feel natural and the mystery itself doesn't seem so compelling. The Mystery Machine only appears twice for maybe a total of ten minutes, which is understandable because of where the story takes place but still really disappointing. On top of that, without spoiling anything, the main villain is laughably terrible, as if the writers just got really lazy and decided to throw it in out of nowhere.

There are so many other things that are wrong with this film, in which case I might make a video to better portray my opinion of it, but overall the film just doesn't work. There are so many good ideas here that are just executed poorly, and the film suffers for the need to modernize a timeless character. If you are looking to feed your nostalgia for Scooby Doo, just watch the cartoon and avoid this film at all costs.

Movie Review - Die Hard 5

"Die Hard" remains to this day as one of my top ten favorite action films, and it's no surprise why. The story is compelling, the characters are memorable and the action and suspense are top notch. The franchise has solidified Bruce Willis as one of cinema's best action stars along with creating the iconic character John McClane, the New York City cop that always seems to find trouble in the wrong places.  After twenty five years, a fifth entry in the franchise titled "A Good Day to Die Hard," or "Die Hard 5" as many refer it as, has been released in a time where previous action stars such as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone are looking to make a comeback. Does this film deliver the high-octane action and suspense the franchise is well known for, or does it reek of age and beg for the franchise to end.

After viewing the film, I can say that while "Die Hard 5" is a great action film, it is unfortunately a very underwhelming "Die Hard" film. What do I mean by this? The film is a great action film without a doubt, but it lacks the charm that is present in the previous films.

One factor that contributes to this charm is the villains. All of the villains in the franchise have so far been memorable in both their ultimate goals and their personalities. In every film, I could pick them out as individuals rather than another nameless enemy. Unfortunately, the villains in "Die Hard 5" are not that memorable. Their end goals are not entirely original and they have no personality to them at all. Now some will argue that Thomas Gabriel had this problem in the previous film, but I argue that he had the most original end goal. He wasn't trying to destroy the world or steal money or anything. He was simply trying to make a point, his point, and he would stop at nothing to see it done. I just didn't get that from this film.

Another problem I had with the film is, sadly, McClane doesn't feel like McClane. That's not to say that Willis pulls a poor performance, as he easily shines in his iconic role, I almost didn't recognize him as the "policeman hero who saved the Nakatomi hostages." This McClane seems more focused on mending his broken relationship with his son, which takes up the majority of the film and even hurts scenes that were otherwise intense action moments. Even more disappointing, McClane doesn't try to foil the villain's plans by calling them and cursing them out, a scene I always loved in the previous films, especially in the first film. This could be because for the first time, he doesn't have as much information about this villain or a means to communicate with them, where in the past films he always had radio communication with them.

Finally, there is the iconic catchphrase, "Yippe-ki-yay, mother******." Thankfully, the line is not edited out like in the previous film (although the full line is present in the unrated version of the film). The problem though is the delivery felt really off. In the past movies, the line is spoken directly before McClane dramatically kills the villain, or in the case of "Die Hard with a Vengeance directly after. However, in "Die Hard 5," McClane says the line in the middle of the last fight rather than before the final kill. This may be more of a nitpick, but it didn't have the same badass feel that it had in the previous films, and in the end it only felt mildly satisfying to hear it.

All of that aside, there are still things to like about the film. As said before, Willis proves he is still worthy of his action icon status. The film delivers enough eye popping explosions, shootouts and car chases to please any action fan, although there is a surprising lack of hand-to-hand combat. There are also some welcome nods to the first film, and newcomers don't have to have seen all of the previous films to follow the plot. While the writing is very cheesy, there are moments in the dialogue that do bring out the McClane fans have grown to know and love, despite there being so few.

In the end, while this is not a great entry in the "Die Hard" franchise, I was still satisfied when I left the theater. Fans of the previous films may be disappointed with this latest installment, but there is enough for any fan of action films or Bruce Willis to warrant a theatrical viewing. Also, it was a great way for a single guy to spend Valentine's Day.

Movie Trailers to Air During Super Bowl 2013

Each year the Super Bowl is arguably the most watched event on television. On average, 80 to 90 million people tune in to the game at any point, regardless of whether or not they watch the entire game. Whether it be the halftime entertainment or the highly popular advertisements, there is always something for any viewer, whether one is a fan of football or not. One aspect of the Super Bowl that did not really take off until the 1990's was the advertisement of movies. What started with TV spots for movies such as "Armageddon," "Lost in Space," and "The Mask of Zorro" has now become an iconic moment for upcoming blockbusters to make their first mark on audiences. Last year we saw hits such as "The Avengers" and "The Hunger Games" receive widespread attention thanks to the advertisements at the Super Bowl, and now the movies to premiere this year have been officially announced.

As of now, the following movies have been confirmed to air trailers for during the Super Bowl:

Iron Man 3

The Lone Ranger

Oz The Great and Powerful

The Fast and the Furious 6

World War Z

Star Trek Into Darkness

Tom Cruise's upcoming sci-fi film "Oblivion" was originally confirmed to run a preview, but now it is unclear as to whether or not it will. It is interesting to see that "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" has not been announced to premiere considering it releases in November. Another highly anticipated film that is rumored to premiere is "The Wolverine," after the trailer was pulled from the selection before "The Hobbit." It is possible that there are more movies that were not announced but will premiere as a surprise. Whatever the case may be, audiences everywhere will tune in to the Super Bowl for more than just football.

Movie Retrospective - Mortal Kombat (1995)

I'm not ashamed to say it, but I love the Mortal Kombat franchise. I have loved it ever since I was a kid, and it played a major part as my inspiration for wanting to learn martial arts. Of course, at the age of five my obsession came from how cool the characters looked, in particular the ninjas Scorpion (shown above) and Sub-Zero. Even though technically I should not have been allowed to view what many consider to be one of the most violent franchises in gaming, I still could not get enough of it. So you can imagine my uncontrollable excitement when I first learned that a film adaptation of Mortal Kombat was produced. Granted, I did not learn of the existence of the film until I was nine, but regardless I could not wait to see it.

I first saw it on TV one New Year's Eve, and it was at the time my favorite movie. Everything fit my at the time naive perceptions of the game. The action was great, the characters all looked cool and the story was fun. When I eventually received the movie on VHS one Christmas, I could not stop watching it, losing count all together at around sixty. Then, as time passed, I stopped watching it and moved on to bigger and better action films, and for a long time I left the VHS sitting in the closet until it was put in a box with all the other VHS tapes and stored in the attic.

It wasn't until 2011, the release of the latest game Mortal Kombat, that peaked my interest back in the franchise. After playing the game, I realized that I had not seen the movie in so long and decided it would be nice to indulge my nostalgia. Fast forward to March of 2012 and I found a copy of the film on Blu-Ray and purchased it without hesitation. As I inserted the disc into my PlayStation 3, the first question I asked myself was what I would think of it. Would I still find that feeling of excitement and joy I experienced watching it over and over again as a kid? Would I look at it with complete disgust that something so ridiculous actually entertained me?

The answer to this question: a little bit of both. When I watched it again after a long period of time, I found myself noticing a lot of things that I never thought of in the first place because I was too young to even care. For starters, some of the special effects are plain awful. Two in particular come to mind: Scorpion's "spear" and Reptile's reptilian form. I'm sure at the time these were incredible for early CGI animation, but in today's standards it's painfully obvious how terrible they look. Are they as bad as in Mortal Kombat Annihilation? Not really, but that's for another entry. At the same time, the some of the other effects are not that bad. I found Sub-Zero's ice attacks generally good and Raiden's electricity still looked cool too. The best effect of the movie in my opinion is Goro. In an age where such a character would be depicted in CGI, it is nice to see animatronics done relatively well. Overall, aside from a couple noticeable standouts, the movie is still appealing to look at.

What really stood out to me was the acting, and it really shows how campy this film is meant to be. I appreciate that the actors all seemed like they were having fun with their roles, in particular Christopher Lambart as Raiden and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as Shang Tsung, because it made the film more enjoyable to watch. Granted, the writing is pretty bad here, with a lot of failed punchlines delivered by Linden Ashby as Johnny Cage, but it did not really matter so much because you knew none of the actors were really taking this film too seriously (at least that was how I saw it). Interesting to note that originally Cameron Diaz was cast to play Sonya Blade, but after she injured herself while training Bridgette Wilson took her place. I do not know if this ended up being for the better or worse, but after seeing Diaz handle action relatively well in Charlie's Angels, it always makes me wonder how it would have turned out. I was also very interested to find out that Trevor Goddard's portrayal of Kano was well received by the Ed Boon, the creator of the franchise, that he changed Kano's nationality to match that of the film's.

Of course, I was not watching Mortal Kombat for the acting or special effects. I was watching for what inspired me to take martial arts in the first place, the fighting. Almost twenty years has passed since the release of the film, and I have to say it still delivers on the action. The fights are well choreographed and fast paced. The best part of these fights was you could clearly see everything that was happening because there was no shaky camera editing that has plagued action films these days. They are not by any means the best fights, but they are still very entertaining.

Apart from the action, Mortal Kombat accomplishes what many adaptations off of games fail to do: it stays true to the source material. Some may argue against that due to the inclusion of Kitana and Reptile, two characters who did not enter the franchise until the second game, but the story itself follows exactly how the first game plays out. Every character also looks and acts just like how their respective character would in the game. The back stories were also the way they should be, minus a couple minor changes, which is important because if the characters are not faithful to the source material, then the film has already failed.

Unfortunately, as most people have rightfully pointed out, the film lacked the one thing that really put the franchise on the map: the blood and gore. I knew the violence was going to be toned down a bit because of the PG-13 rating, but to have no blood or gore at all was highly disappointing (and I do not count the incredibly fake looking blood when Scorpion was killed). On top of that, fatalities, a feature that I particularly enjoy about the franchise, were almost nonexistent. I was very surprised that I did not pick that out when I first watched the film as a kid, but now it is the one thing holding it back from being great.

In the end, Mortal Kombat is not exactly the same film that I enjoyed watching over and over again as a kid. The sub-par special effects, lazy writing and lack of genuine blood and gore keep the film from being the perfect adaptation. At the same time, the fun, campy acting, nearly spot on connection to the original game and the fast paced action make this a very enjoyable film and in my opinion the best film adapted off a video game. If you are a fan of the franchise and have not seen it yet, I highly recommend checking this one out. Do yourself a favor though and skip Annihilation.