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'Ghost in the Shell' is more cyberposeur than cyberpunk
Spoilers ahead for the Ghost in the Shell anime and US remake. The original Ghost in the Shell anime feature is a cultural landmark. It was a neo-noir story set in a startlingly fresh vision of a connected world, and it was particularly timely in 1995 since the internet was just finding its legs in the real world. The film's lead was a badass cyborg woman privy to bouts of existentialism. And, like the best cyberpunk science fiction, Ghost in the Shell (and its original manga) asked deep questions about our relationship with technology. There was little chance a Hollywood remake could successfully grasp what was special about its source material. And, unfortunately, the Scarlett Johansson vehicle is just as disappointing as we expected. It completely misses the point of cyberpunk.
Watch the first live-action 'Ghost in the Shell' trailer
Want to see how Hollywood takes on Ghost in the Shell outside of a handful of tiny video clips? You just got your chance. Paramount has released a full-length trailer for its spin on the anime/manga classic, and it's at least interesting -- if not necessarily what purists would want. It's visually stunning, with more than a few moments that will remind you of at least the 1995 animated movie. It's mainly the casting and unanswered questions that might leave you on the fence ahead of the movie's March 31st, 2017 launch date.
'Ghost in the Shell' teasers offer a glitchy look at the Major
We're still not sure if Scarlett Johansson is the best choice to play Major Motoko Kusanagi, but our first look at the upcoming Ghost in the Shell live-action flick is here. Separated into five brief teaser trailers that aired during tonight's Mr. Robot season finale, they're just enough to get a taste of what the movie looks like without giving any plot points away. They're so brief that it's tough to judge if the movie properly captures the environment of the manga and anime series, but there will surely be plenty of previews available before the flick hits theaters on March 31, 2017.
Joaquin Phoenix finds real love with artificial intelligence in Spike Jonze's 'Her' (video)
When sci fi narratives explore artificial intelligence approaching a human level of sentience, they tend to focus on the negative (Skynet, anyone?). Not so with Spike Jonze's new movie Her, a melancholy examination of what it means to be human in an increasingly inhuman world. The film stars Joaquin Phoenix as a social recluse who finds a friend in his smartphone's Siri-inspired assistant, Samantha (voiced by Scarlett Johansson). The relationship blossoms in a way that manages to be both heartfelt and deeply unsettling, and Jonze's take on a sort of technological animism feels pretty culturally resonant. Her is set for a November release, and you can watch the trailer after the break.
Reader UI of the Week: Raiding without the clutter
Each week, WoW Insider and Mathew McCurley bring you a fresh look at reader-submitted UIs as well as Addon Spotlight, which spotlights the latest user interface addons. Have a screenshot of your own UI that you'd like to submit? Send your screenshots along with info on what mods you're using to readerui@wowinsider.com, and follow Mathew on Twitter. One of the more common criticisms that commenters and players make about most user interfaces they see anywhere, this column included, is that interfaces that are made for raiding never show their true colors. Raiding players have a huge amount of clutter on their screen, from timer bars and boss health frames to cooldown notifiers and a bunch of meters. Well, not all raiding user interfaces are cluttered messes, and it's actually easier than you think to contain the cacophony of interface elements. Our featured UI this week was crafted by Scalions, a raiding rogue on the Stormrage server. His UI takes all of the cluttered, messy aspects of the common raider's user interface and works with those pieces to add them to the whole, rather than tacking them on as an afterthought. Let's talk raid UI elements!
Michael Bay's The Island is finally coming to Blu-ray in the U.S. June 21st
More than five years after we suggested the upscaled DVD (ah, the old days) for your HDTV viewing pleasure Paramount has finally seen fit to schedule The Island for release on Blu-ray in the United States on June 21st. The treatment of this release is basic at best, with 1080p video with 5.1 DTS-HD MA soundtrack and extras ported over from the DVD in standard definition. However, after being released in Europe and sitting in limbo for years we're just glad this action thriller starring Ewan McGregor, Scarlett Johansson, Steve Buscemi and Djimon Hounsou is coming out at all. Plus, it's directed by Michael Bay so for those who haven't seen it there is at least some assurance things will blow up real good. The original trailer and more details are after the break.
HDTV Listings for April 1, 2006
What we're watching: Final Four time, and still George Mason's run continues. Can they get to the final game? We'll find out tonight at 6 on CBS. If you can possibly tear yourself away from some of the best hoops action in history, Jeremy Piven's Journey of a Lifetime seems very interesting as the Entourage star takes a trip through India, first of a two parter and debuting tonight on Discovery-HD.After our April Fools joke earlier, we'll be perfectly honest, we are watching the Saturday Night Live repeat in high definition tonight because Scarlett Johansson is incredibly hot. Our traditional high-def listings continue below
