This week’s ZombieZine has something we didn’t manage to fit in last week: actual zombies…well, in a comic. It’s been a pretty busy week for news too, with the Academy Award nominees, the launch of this year’s JDIFF and even some new gaming hardware (second week in a row…this is becoming a habit!)
The King’s Speech & True Grit Lead Nominees For The 83rd Academy Awards
There were no real surprises when the nominations for the 83rd Academy Awards (or Oscars, to you and me) were announced on Tuesday. The King’s Speech is top of the class with 12 nods (including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress and Best Original Screenplay.) Next on the list is True Grit with ten nominations, and Inception and The Social Network both have eight each.
Also getting some significant love are Jennifer Lawrence for Winter’s Bone (she’ll soon be seen as Mystique in X-Men: First Class), Danny Boyle’s 127 Hours (along with lead James Franco), The Kids Are All Right (alongside a Best Supporting Actor nomination for upcoming Avengers actor Mark Ruffalo) and Toy Story 3 (which has been nominated for both Best Animated Feature and Best Picture.) The awards ceremony will be held on February 27th, with the aforementioned James Franco and the Selina-Kyle-shaped Anne Hathaway hosting.
Sony Announces New Handheld Console
There have been rumours about a successor to the Sony PSP range for at least a year, if not longer. Now, Sony have quashed those rumours…but still announced a new handheld console. In fact, it’s a Next Generation Portable, or code-named to be the NGP.
So yes, all those other reports you’ve been reading on sites that there was a PSP2…well, they’re wrong, because Sony have made every effort to inform us that this is a totally new product (however it might look.) The specs include a multi-touch screen at the front (and an interesting multi-touch pad on the rear), front and rear cameras, six-axis motion sensing, built-in 3G and bluetooth, and the usual smattering of buttons and analogue sticks.
The games and console memory will be on small flash-based cards that Sony hope will provide an ever-expanding memory system as required, along with a new product called Near, which will pick up on nearby players and friends. The NGP is expected to launch before the end of 2011.
On top of all this, Sony had another big announcement: the PlayStation Suite coming to Android phones and tablets, which will allow users to access PlayStation classics on their Android device.
Zombies Are Taking Over My Comics
If there’s one thing that’s cool about the internet, it’s discovering new stuff: when that stuff just happens to be a webcomic about a zombie apocalypse…well, that’s cool, isn’t it?
Zomblicity is a new web-comic written by Robin Sandiford with art by Farcreazy Fahad which is currently on the second issue of its first volume (which is expected to run to a total of nine issues.) Zombie comics come and go, but Zomblicity promises something a little bit different: what if there were two worlds, one in which lead character Curtis Madsen were attacked by a zombie on his way into work…and one where he wakes up 33 minutes later! Robin has described the series as
a ‘Sliding Doors’ with Zombies if you like (although it’s much more than that..I promise)…and [issue 3] will be much more action/gore based fun…This is where the fun really starts!!!
The first two issues are already available online at Zomblicity.co.uk, so go and check it out and give these guys some support!
Jameson Dublin Internation Film Festival 2011
Every year, the JDIFF brings some pretty amazing films and events to Dublin, and with this year’s festival taking place February 17th -27th, Dublin will once again be wrapped up in the glitz, glamour and bright lights of Hollywood. While the films always take pride of place, we can’t help but notice some of the big names who’ll be around with films this year, including Martin Sheen, Emilio Estevez, Richard Ayoade and Harry Shearer, to name but a few.
We’re especially interested by some of the horror offerings at this year’s JDIFF including Spanish horror Julia’s Eyes, vampire chiller Stake Town and a special “interactive” screening of William Castle’s The Tingler starring Vincent Price. More details can be found at the official JDIFF site, where tickets are on sale now.
Duke Nukem Forever…And Ever…And Ever
We’ll believe this one when we see it in stores, but Duke Nukem Forever finally has a release date of May 2011.
Supposedly.
Fantastically Four No More
We’re not going to spoil things like some other sites by telling you exactly what happened in this week’s Fantastic Four #587, but it culminated in the death of one of superhero-dom’s first family. The story has had a long lead-up since current writer Jonathan Hickman started his run with issue 570, and if we’re to believe the various interviews, it’s a death that won’t be reversed any time soon.
However, some of the real story is derived not from who died in the issue, but the fact that the comic went on sale on Tuesday (rather than the traditional date of Wednesday) which led to various news sources running with a lead story spoiling the character’s death and circumstances in their headlines: after Captain America and The Sentry, it appears that Marvel comics just can’t keep their big death-blows under wraps, whether it’s intentional or not.
Should you feel the need to know exactly what happens, you can pick up Fantastic Four #587 in stores now (or check any news feeds that you haven’t seen since Tuesday.)
Released This Week: In Cinemas
- Hereafter
- Tangled
- Biutiful
- The Mechanic
Released This Week: Games
- Dead Space 2
