Here’s a new trailer for Tron Legacy, highlighting the disappearance of Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), the protagonist of the original Tron film. Flynn’s son Sam (Garrett Hedlund of Troy and Eragon fame) receives a clue as to his father’s whereabouts and goes in search of the man he hasn’t seen in 25 years. What awaits him is beyond anything he could have imagined.

I must admit, I wasn’t too sure about this film when it was announced. However, if the visual style and atmosphere of the trailer is anything to go by, Tron Legacy looks set to be one of the most impressive and epic sci-fi blockbusters of recent times. Looking like the kind of film done a disservice when viewed on a small screen, it may well be worth shelling out a few quid extra to see it in 3-D at an IMAX.

Here’s an interesting little teaser for a forthcoming zombie apocalypse animation called A.D., from writer Haylar Garcia and director Ben Hibon.

I’m a somewhat vocal critic of the zombie genre; appealing though it may be, the sheer volume of terrible films, movies and games featuring some form of the walking dead has led me to develop an involuntary shudder whenever anyone mentions a brand new title (or plain old re-hash) in the works.

That said, I like the animation and overall style of this clip, and would be interested to see some more. Director Hibon is responsible for the frankly rather excellent Codehunters, a post-apocalyptic sci-fi animated short released in 2006.

Source: BoingBoing.

For those not familiar with the story of The Losers, told originally in a five-part graphic novel series by the British partnership of writer Andy Diggle and artist Jock, this all-too-brief trailer should be able to bring you up to speed.

The eponymous Losers are five members of a special forces unit in the employ of the US government, who are one day betrayed and left for dead by their CIA handler. Out for revenge, they team up with the mysterious Aisha (portrayed here by Zoe Saldana), whose goals seem to align with their own.

The story is far from cut and dried, however, and there’s enough betrayal, intrigue and double-dealing to keep you guessing from start to finish.

Comparisons can be drawn between this film and the A-Team, which also sees a release this year. Still, anyone who enjoys their action movies with an intelligent plot, a dash of sly political wit and a broad cast of genuinely well-developed characters, you should definitely give this one a go.

The Losers is due to come out in April 2010.

Source: ComingSoon.net.

With the recent announcement on his blog, Neil Gaiman has confirmed that he is to marry his girlfriend of 8 months, Dresden Dolls lead singer Amanda Palmer.

There are those who might question why the pair feel the need to formalise their relationship. Others might raise their brow and mutter to themselves at the 16-year age gap between the two. Still more might consider a marriage after such a relatively short period of them being together.

To any and all of those people, I implore you: hush up and mind your own damn business.

The debate over the worth and validity of marriage is a prickly one, even in an age of supposed enlightenment and acceptance. Religion (or lack thereof) plays a pretty major part of the discussion, with some questioning why people who don’t follow a given religion would choose to have a religious service held in a place of worship, and others asking why anybody would want to get married at all. After all, marriage is expensive, divorce is rife and everyone’s heard the stories about how marriage and kids ruin your sex life and make you miserable, right?

There are those who even now could not get married even if they wanted to. Conversely, there are those who are forced into marriage against their will out of a twisted sense of duty and loyalty to their family. It’s no wonder the whole issue is so contentious, and why there seems to be no end to the debate in sight.

But honestly, people… what people do with their lives – whether that be dating within their gender, marrying their grandmother’s best friend, or chaining themselves to one another using matching nipple rings – is really only their business, and none of yours. Just because you subscribe to a religion, or don’t, or because something offends your morals or your sensibilities one way or the other, that gives you precisely zero call to interfere in the lives and lovelives of other consenting adults.

My good friend Mike gets married this year to his girlfriend of almost four years. They’re both affirmed atheists, yet they decided they wanted a church wedding before they would even start thinking about having kids. At first, this struck me as odd, but the moment I realised that it’s what would make them happy, any doubt left my mind. At that point you shouldn’t give it another thought. Life is short, and questioning or forbidding a couple from making an informed decision they have come to of their own free will is just another thing that’s stopping our species from evolving and moving on to the real problems in the world.

Not long after my dad died, I had a conversation with my mum about marriage, specifically asking her would she still have gotten married if she had the chance to do it over.

Her answer was no.

She told me that she and my dad would have stayed together even without the need to get married, and the only reason they did it in the first place is because of pressure from religious members of my mum’s family. It’s strange to think how far we’d have come along as a civilisation if more people lived in a manner that made them truly happy, rather than living as they felt they ought to.

I still haven’t decided whether I want to get married. The only reasons I can think of for myself to actually do it is for the financial benefits, or because I was seeing someone without UK citizenship and we both wanted dual nationality. If those are the best reasons I can think of, maybe it’s best I leave off the idea for the time being! Time and experience will tell, of course, but I have a feeling I’d have a hard time being in a relationship with someone who insisted that marriage was an inevitable part of being with that person.

Does that mean I think you shouldn’t get married? Of course not! Marriage may make you happier than you’ve ever been before, or it may ruin your life. The fact is, it’s your life to experience as you will, so to those who are doing what makes them joyful, I truly am pleased for you. For those who would rather control others and stop them living a fulfilling life, I hope soon you realise what it is that makes you happy, and embrace it.

ETA: Oops! Since I posted this, Mike and Laura have both pointed out that they’re not getting married in a church, as I mentioned above. Rather, it’ll be a civil ceremony held in some grounds that just happen to have a church on them! Admittedly most of the conversations I have with them are when either one or all of us are inebriated!

If you’re not especially smitten with fine art and architecture, you’d almost be forgiven for overlooking The Third & The Seventh.

At a whacking 10 minutes plus, you might think it a bit of an investment to sit through what is admittedly a very pretty montage of architectural shots overlaid with a gentle, haunting instrumental melody.

But what’s truly amazing about this piece is that it is the work of just one man, Alex Roman, and that it was created almost entirely using computer generated imagery. With very few exceptions, everything in the short film was skilfully crafted using Autodesk 3ds Max, V-Ray, Adobe After Effects and Adobe Premiere.

Source: The Third & The Seventh at Vimeo.

Well, here it is. The first proper look at both Whiplash and War Machine. I think it’s safe to say that Iron Man 2 will deliver more of the slick, explosion-heavy popcorn fodder that the original brought by the bucketload.

I just hope they don’t pull a Spider-Man 3 / Batman & Robin and leave most of the characters undeveloped. With so much genuine acting talent on display here, it would be a shame if Iron Man 2 didn’t kick the comic adaptation genre into a much-needed higher gear.

Well here it is, then. A brand new trailer for Tim Burton’s upcoming update of the old classic, and it looks – for lack of a better adjective – rather timburtony. The usual suspects are here – Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter – alongside a strong and suitably kooky cast including Crispin Glover, Alan Rickman and Stephen Fry.

Relative newcomer Mia Wasikowska plays the title role of Alice, who returns to Wonderland many years after her original adventure. She finds the place overrun by the army of the Red Queen (Bonham Carter) and the vile Jabberwock (Rickman).

The animated style of the film includes many characters wearing exaggerated masks of the actor providing their voice; none more obviously than the Red Queen, whose grossly oversized head compared to her diminutive frame gives the despot a somewhat ridiculous appearance to go along with her irritating manner.

I’m still not sure about this film. I mean, the trailer shows the full cast you might expect from any faithful revisit to Wonderland, and the cast is as exceptional as we’ve come to expect from your average Burton fare. But as recent experience has shown us, even a great premise and decent cast can leave you feeling short changed (Sweeney Todd, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory).

The film is out in March 2010.

Disney have released the first promotional poster for Tron Legacy, directed by newcomer Joseph Kosinski. The film stars Garrett Hedlund, mostly known for his supporting roles in films such as Troy and Eragon.

The main character is the son of the original Tron protagonist (Jeff Bridges reprising his role), who mysteriously disappears near the start of the sequel. This prompts a return to the cyber-world of the first movie, which has grown more spectacular – and dangerous – than ever before.

Tron Legacy will be released near the tail end of 2010.

Here’s a sneak peek at the forthcoming action-adventure game based on the Transformers franchise, which is due out at some point in 2010.

Annoyingly over-done camera ‘distortion’ aside, it looks pretty much as you’d expect from the never-ending series of CGI-heavy games, movies and television shows. To my knowledge, there’s never been a Transformers game worth playing, but with so much scope, backstory and potential for a great game you’d think they’d get it right eventually.

Let’s hope The War For Cybertron kicks some metal ass, instead of making us pine for the bloody Go-Bots.

Source: GiantBomb.

I’ll be honest: I was fully expecting Mickey Rourke’s Whiplash to skirt the wrong side of the ‘campy villain’ line in the forthcoming Iron Man 2. Previous images of his costume helped diminish my cynicism somewhat, and the above poster has completely blown it out of the water.

It’s stuff like this that helps me to remember that for every Animal Factory there is a Sin City, and for every Stormbreaker there is a The Wrestler. This film should, by rights, be an absolute blinder.

Source: Cinematical.