INSULINFUNK

Lupe Fiasco = Percival Fats?

Wesley Johnson — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 20:06:09 +0000

Rumors are currently being bandied about that Chicago-based rapper Lupe Fiasco is fronting a British indie-rock band called Japanese Cartoon. The band has denied this via a recently posted MySpace Bulletin but does admit that he “finances” the band. They claim their frontman is actually a “bloke” named Percival Fats.

Lupe did ponder retiring from tha’ game in an interview conducted with MTV News earlier this year. In the Q&A, he mentioned his next album, lupE.N.D., would take around two years to finish which apparently exhausted him. Could Japanese Cartoon be a new creative outlet for Mr. Fiasco? Listen to their joints and decide for yourself!

(source)

Marc Silvestri Covers Astonishing Tales #1

Wesley Johnson — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 19:08:17 +0000

Marvel's Astonishing Tales #1 features "Iron Man, Wolverine, Punisher and the New Mutants along with fan favorite creators C.B Cebulski (X-Infernus), Jonathan Hickman (Secret Warriors), Kenneth Roquefort and more!" It will also be available with a Marc Silvestri variant cover which may be seen in all its glory below the jump. Continue reading Marc Silvestri's Astonishing Tales #1 Cover

Dr. Horrible’s Commentary! The Musical

Wesley Johnson — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 17:45:38 +0000

As all geeks know, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-long Blog finally released to DVD last month. Those still debating whether or not to purchase it may want to glance at the official Doctor Horrible site as they’ve posted the lyrics from Commentary! The Musical, possibly the greatest DVD extra ever. In case the title doesn’t give it away, it’s an actual musical commentary for the feature that both cast and crew participate in.

Buy Doctor Horrible’s Sing-a-long Blog on Amazon.com

(source)

Who Will Be The Doctor’s Next Companion?

Wesley Johnson — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 14:05:38 +0000

As we mentioned on Saturday, David Tennant’s Doctor will regenerate into the little-known Matt Smith in a Doctor Who special set to air later this year. He will step into the role full time with the series resumes in 2010. This, of course, sparked outrage amongst many longtime fans of the program. Complaints of his age, lack of experience, and even his neck length have all surfaced on various message boards. Pathetic, no?

The BBC is now searching for a companion for the next Doctor. Kelly Brook, Rachel Stevens, and singer Lily Allen have all been mentioned as persons of interest. The later two are both singers which is no surprise. If you’ll remember, Billie Piper (aka Rose Tyler) also spent some time behind he mic performing... Continue reading Who Will Be The Doctor’s Next Companion?

Listen to Andrew Bird’s Noble Beast

Wesley Johnson — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 13:48:45 +0000

NPR is hosting an exclusive first listen of Andrew Bird’s forthcoming Noble Beast. The album will be available for purchase on January 20 from Fat Possum Records.

(source)

Footage from Park Chan-wook’s Thirst

Rob Smith — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 22:14:15 +0000

South Korean director Park Chan-wook (Oldboy, Lady Vengeance) premiered some footage from his next film, Thirst, a vampire love story, on Korean television. There is no audio to go along with it, but it doesn’t matter since there are no subtitles either.

New How I Became the Bomb EP

Rob Smith — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 20:49:16 +0000

Murfreesboro’s How I Became the Bomb have released the second EP of their 4 EP project, called Volume II: Foremost Sentinel. All four will eventually be collected, with other stuff, into a bigger release that they’re calling an Annual, in an apparent ode to yearly comics, by the end of the 2009.

The release dates are as follows:

Vol. 1 Who Dares Wins – November 5, 2008 (Guy Fawkes Day)
Vol. 2 Foremost Sentinel – January 1, 2009 (New Years Day)
Vol. 3 They Can What It Seems They Cannot – March 15, 2009 (Ides of March)
Vol. 4 Through Adversity to the Stars – June 6, 2009 (D-Day)

The best part? They’re all free.

Matt Smith is the Next Doctor

Wesley Johnson — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 20:36:47 +0000

Matt Smith, best known for his work in BBC’s Party Animals, has been officially named as David Tennant’s replacement in Doctor Who. At 26, he’s the youngest actor to take on the role.

“I’m flabbergasted. I haven’t slept really,” Smith said of his casting. “[Doctor Who] is an iconic part of our culture, and now I’m taking that on. It’s nerve wracking. Exciting. Exciting.”

Tennant will appear in four more hour-long specials. At the end of the last, he will, of course, regenerate into Smith. The next full season of the series will begin in 2010.

(source)

Can a Game be “So Bad It’s Good”?

Clayton Ashley — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 00:06:17 +0000

That frightening figure you see above is my character in the unabashed GTA rip-off Saints Row 2. Not only is that thing freakishly thin to the point of being emaciated, but due to Saints Row 2’s voice customization, it also speaks with the voice of a young, snappy, and totally fresh “gansta” girl. The effect is extraordinarily unsettling during the fully voice acted and animated cut scenes, often to the point of utter hilarity. The rest of the game is essentially the lowbrow, boorish, inbred cousin of the GTA series, drenched in an absurd amount of urban gangstaism and excrement related missions. My enjoyment from this game came mainly from its juvenile sensibility; most every other part is just a sub par version of what’s available in Grand Theft Auto 4. This experience begs the question: can a videogame be “so bad it’s good” in the same way a movie can?

The central problem to a game being so bad it’s good is that most terrible but entertaining movies are unintentionally so. The obstacle any “so bad it’s good” game has to overcome is that most bad games are… bad. Specifically, bad games often control poorly, look terrible, and may be so glitchy as to be literally unplayable. Saints Row 2 suffers from poor frame rates at certain points and that isn’t entertaining, it’s annoying. Even those parts that are over the top are purposely done that way, a style chosen by the games designers. Truly unintended entertainment would be more like the terribly glitchy release of Grand Theft Auto on PC, the awful voice work in Resident Evil, or my experience with the Frontlines: Fuel of War demo, which was a series of hilarious errors.

The first odd occurrence in Frontlines happened when I decided to take cover behind a car, which choose to simply disappear; perhaps the game was encouraging me out of cover, a sort of bait and switch Pavlovian training exercise. Next, when I found myself in a small building looking for some health I turned a corner and found myself face to face with an enemy soldier. I smashed every button on the controller hoping for a melee and when I happened to find it and smack the man in the face with my gun, he went flying 20 feet across the room. Finally, when I was lucky enough to find myself a tank, I mistakenly backed myself right off a cliff. Strangely my giant metal tank rolled and bounced down the hill like a basketball. Perhaps had I actually paid for this game, I wouldn’t have been so entertained and instead rather peeved at my glitchy purchase. For my experience though it was one of the funnier games I’ve played.

Can anyone else think of some games that are so bad their good?

Reunited Blur MAY Play Coachella

Wesley Johnson — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 20:40:29 +0000

A while back we mentioned that the original line-up of Blur would reunite and play one date in the UK. Now, it looks like the one date could extend to two as the group is reportedly considering playing this year’s Coachella Festival. “Coachella is huge and Blur know it’d bring them back with a bang,” an unammed source tells The Mirror. No mention of the source’s credibility is made.

(source)