Going a bit against the grain when it comes to piracy discussions, Reid Rosefelt over at the Speedcine blog makes an interesting case why Wolverine’s unprecedented leak may have actually helped the film. Rosefelt compares the film’s $85 million opening weekend gross against other major release openings throughout 2009, and shows that it actually doesn’t stack up too badly.
FBI Finally Make An Arrest in the Wolverine Piracy Case
Posted on Wednesday, December 16th, 2009 by Brendon Connelly
The pre-release leak of an unfinished workprint copy of Wolverine, Fox’s prime summer blockbuster hopeful, was easily the most high profile piracy case to date. I guess we’ll never know quite what effect this crime really had on the box office takings, though some have even speculated that the resulting publicity actually helped the movie’s performance. I’m not one of those people, however.
Estimates have claimed that some 4.1 million people saw the film between the April leak and May opening of the film and I find it hard to believe those sorts of numbers couldn’t have cost Fox a significant sum of money.
The man accused of copyright infringement by the FBI was arrested in the early hours of Wednesday morning in the Bronx, New York. Gilberto Sanchez had apparently uploaded the film to the Megaupload file sharing service under one of his aliases. Of course, the next question is, how did he get a copy of the film to upload in the first place?
Video Interview: Gavin Hood and Len Wein Talk Wolverine and the Benefits of Blu-Ray
Posted on Wednesday, October 14th, 2009 by Brendon Connelly
Just ahead of the DVD and Blu-ray release of Gavin Hood’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine in “the rest of the World”, here’s a couple of video interviews I carried out with Hood and Wolverine’s original creator Len Wein. They’re short, but sweet, and Hood’s comments in particular brought a smile to my face. I like him a great deal.
This Week in DVD & Blu-ray: X-Men Origins: Wolverine, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (Season 4), and More
Posted on Tuesday, September 15th, 2009 by Adam Quigley
This Week in DVD & Blu-ray is a column that compiles all the latest info regarding new DVD and Blu-ray releases, sales, and exclusive deals from stores including Target, Best Buy and Fry’s.
Please don’t take the commentary on the movies and TV shows too seriously, as they’re meant not to be reviews but rather previews that include the general thoughts and ramblings of a twice-committed DVD addict. The categories represent solely the author’s intentions towards the films at hand, and are in no way meant to be a reflection on what he thinks other people should rent or buy. So if he ends up putting a movie you like in the “Skip it” section without having seen it, please keep in mind that the time you could spend leaving a spiteful but ultimately futile comment could instead be used for more pleasant things in life. Like buying DVDs.
IT’S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA (SEASON 4)
There’s no getting around it: this was easily the show’s most hit-or-miss season thus far. With episodes like “Who Pooped the Bed?”, the joke behind which is already summed up by the title and never extends beyond that for the entire duration, and “The Gang Cracks the Liberty Bell”, which takes place in the 1700’s and is exactly as tired a sitcom premise as it seems, this is the first time where I’ve disliked some of the series’ episodes enough that I literally have zero interest in revisiting them. It’s odd then, that this season also features a number of the show’s best episodes. “The Nightman Cometh”, in which Charlie extends his Nightman song into a full-fledged rock opera, is just as hilarious as the musical number that inspired it. “The Gang Solves the Gas Crisis” features one of the most hilarious moments of television I’ve ever seen, with a cowboy-hat wearing Charlie yelling “Wildcard, bitches!” and leaping out the back of a van. The real winner though is this season’s two-parter, “Mac & Charlie Die”, which might just be the best thing that’s come out of the show to date. It’s worth noting that both this episode and “The Nightman Cometh” were scripted solely by the show’s original creators: Charlie Day, Rob McElhenney, and Glenn Howerton (who, for those few who don’t know, are also the show’s three male leads). The weak episodes, meanwhile, were scripted primarily by the show’s more recently introduced writers, who came on board at the start of Season 3. I doubt the decline in quality since then is just a coincidence. Regardless, even with a slightly weaker season overall, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia remains one of the funniest shows on TV, and I feel no hesitance in adding this latest DVD set to my collection.
Blu-ray? No.
Notable Extras: The Nightman Cometh Live!, Dennis Reynolds: An Erotic Life, and a blooper reel.
| BEST DVD PRICE | ||
|---|---|---|
| Target | Best Buy | Fry’s |
| $26.99 | $24.99 | N/A |
| Amazon – $25.99 | ||
/Filmcast Ep. 63 - District 9 (GUEST: Fanboys Director Kyle Newman)
Posted on Tuesday, August 18th, 2009 by David Chen
In this week’s /Filmcast, Dave Chen, Devindra Hardawar and Adam Quigley get flummoxed by Bryan Singer’s decision to reboot Battlestar Galactica, discuss some recent Avatar news, assess the greatness of Ponyo, and try to make sense of some fascinating Superman IP law. Special guest Kyle Newman, the director of Fanboys and the upcoming Emo Boy, joins us for this episode. Also, a surprise visitor drops by to tell us her thoughts on District 9.
You can always e-mail us at slashfilmcast(AT)gmail(DOT)com, or call and leave a voicemail at 781-583-1993. Join us next Monday at 9 PM EST / 6 PM PST at Slashfilm’s live page as we review Inglourious Basterds.
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Teasers for Wolverine and Iron Man Anime from Madhouse
Posted on Wednesday, July 29th, 2009 by Devindra Hardawar
About a year ago, we reported that Marvel had tapped the famous animation studio Madhouse to create four anime series for release in 2010, the first two of which would be based on Wolverine and Iron Man. The anime projects will be written by renowned writer Warren Ellis, who most recently wrote the kick-ass G.I. Joe: Resolute web shorts. Now that we’re getting so close to the release dates we can finally catch a glimpse of these projects in action, and they certainly look interesting.
Twitch has dug up the teasers on Youtube, which you can find embedded after the break.
Did Rupert Murdoch Leak Wolverine? Or Was It The Scientologists?
Posted on Monday, June 15th, 2009 by Russ Fischer
This story is too great not to post. According to an ‘unlawful termination’ suit that the lawyer for fired Fox columnist Roger Friedman will file in New York this week, the Wolverine leak can actually be traced back to News Corp. head Rupert Murdoch. Martin Garbus, Friedman’s lawyer, claims that Murdoch requested a DVD copy of the film, and “apparently, someone made another copy for themselves.” No shit? I’m still siding with Devin at CHUD, who explained how a post-production leak was probably the hole from which Wolverine wriggled onto the internet. But everyone hates Murdoch, so why not pin this on him, too. That’s not even the whole of the lawsuit, which claims that Friedman’s firing was actually the result of…whisper it…Scientologists! I told you this was great. More after the jump. Read More »
/Filmcast Ep. 49 - X-Men Origins: Wolverine (GUESTS: Elisabeth Rappe from Cinematical, Neha Tiwari from DL.TV)
Posted on Tuesday, May 5th, 2009 by David Chen
In this episode of the /Filmcast, David Chen, Devindra Hardawar and Adam Quigley marvel at the new trailer for District 9, discuss the new batch of remakes that Hollywood is mulling over this week, reflect on the relative hopelessness of Eclipse, and spend 55 minutes conducting a review/therapy session over the fate of X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Special guests Elisabeth Rappe from Cinematical and Neha Tiwari from DL.TV join us.
You can always e-mail us at slashfilmcast(AT)gmail(DOT)com, or call and leave a voicemail at 781-583-1993. Join us next week as we review Star Trek (Date and time TBA).
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VOTD: Why Buying Wolverine’s Mutant Powers Might Be a Bad Idea
Posted on Monday, May 4th, 2009 by Peter Sciretta
If you could buy Mutant Powers, which powers would you choose? Greg and Lou have saved up for years to buy the powers of Wolverine. Problem is, Wolverine actually has two different mutant powers, and Greg and Lou have only saved up enough money for one ability. Watch the video below, and stick with it, it gets good about a minute and a half in. Thanks to Dan E for the tip.
/Filmcast Ep. 48 - State of Play (GUESTS: Tyler Smith and David Bax from Battleship Pretension)
Posted on Tuesday, April 28th, 2009 by David Chen
In this episode of the /Filmcast, David Chen, Devindra Hardawar and Adam Quigley weigh the stupidity of Fox’s multiple Wolverine endings, speculate on David Slade’s capacity to direct Eclipse, and grow ever more dubious of McG’s credibility. Special guests Tyler Smith and David Bax join us from the Battleship Pretension podcast.
You can always e-mail us at slashfilmcast(AT)gmail(DOT)com, or call and leave a voicemail at 781-583-1993. Join us next MONDAY night at Slashfilm’s live page at 9 PM EST / 6 PM PST as we review X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
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