First Clip From Shrek Forever After

DreamWorks Animation has released the first full clip from Shrek Forever After, opening in 3D, 2D and IMAX 3D theaters on May 21st. Directed by Mike Mitchell, the fourth installment features the voices of Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy, Antonio Banderas, Jon Hamm, Kathy Griffin and Kristen Schaal.

In the film, Shrek has lost his roar. It used to send villagers running away in terror. Now they run to him and ask him to sign their pitchforks and torches. To regain his ogre mojo, he strikes a deal with Rumpelstiltskin. The pact goes awry and Shrek must confront what life would be like in Far Far Away if he had never existed. That translates into Donkey being forced into cart-pulling duty, fat and lazy Puss in Boots trading his sword for a pink bow and the underhanded Rumpelstiltskin ruling the kingdom.

HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm Will Be Back For An 8th Season

HBO announced today that it has renewed Curb Your Enthusiasm for an eighth season. Production on the next 10 episodes will begin this summer in Los Angeles and New York; the comedy will return to the schedule sometime in 2011.

“After much soul searching — and by the way, it was nowhere to be found — I have decided to do another season of Curb,” said Larry David in a statement. “I look forward to the end of shooting, when I can once again resume the hunt for my elusive soul. I know it’s here somewhere or perhaps in the rugged mountainous regions of Pakistan.”

The single-camera series also stars Cheryl Hines as David’s wife Cheryl, Jeff Garlin as David’s manager Jeff and Susie Essman as Jeff’s wife Susie. After 70 episodes, Curb is HBO’s longest-running scripted series.

The Voice Activated R2-D2

This motorized replica of the headstrong little “droid” from the iconic Star Wars films ($200) responds to voice commands, navigates rooms and hallways, and makes any home feel like it has been transported to a galaxy far, far away. R2 obeys more than 40 voice commands (“Turn around!,” “Move forward two units!”) and he plays games like tag, using an infrared sensor to search for people in a room. His sensor helps him follow behind you, or it can be set to detect motion, turning R2 into a room sentry that sounds an alarm when a secured area is invaded. R2′s lights, swiveling dome top, and distinctive happy and sad sounds faithfully mimic the real thing, right down to his occasional “bad mood.” (A simple command of, “R2, behave yourself!” snaps him out of it.) R2 can also replay sounds and dialog from Star Wars movies, answer yes-or-no questions, and dance while playing the famed cantina music. Requires four AA batteries and four D batteries. Minor assembly required. Ages 8 and up. 15″ H x 7 1/2″ W x 10 1/2″ L. (6 lbs.)

THE FIRE WIRE’s Picks of the Week

Here are my entertainment picks of the week.  You can click on the images for more ordering information.

DVD Pick: Avatar

The biggest movie of all time is finally headed to your living room. Twentieth Century Fox will release Avatar on DVD and Blu-Ray on April 22 — Earth Day.

 

Adult Book Pick: Sarah Silverman – The Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption, and Pee

From the outrageously filthy and oddly innocent comedienne Sarah Silverman comes a memoir—her first book—that is at once shockingly personal, surprisingly poignant, and still pee-in-your-pants funny.

Children’s Book Pick: The Clock Without a Face by Gus Twintig

McSweeney’s is proud to announce the publication of The Clock Without a Face, a rollicking whodunit housed in a pentagonal biblioarchitectural art explosion wrapped in a real-life treasure hunt: twelve emeralds, sleeping in twelve holes across the country, waiting to be claimed by whoever gets to them first. You read the book, study the clues and crack the case.

eBook Pick: Blockade Billy by Stephen King

Stephen King has arranged for several electronic editions of his unexpected surprise baseball novella to go on sale today. You can read more about them at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

CD Pick: Glee: The Music, The Power of Madonna

The Power of Madonna marks the next official chapter in the Glee music songbook. This much talked about and highly anticipated mini-album features the cast of Glee’s distinctive and unique take on such Madonna classics as “Like A Virgin,” “Express Yourself,” “Vogue,” “Like A Prayer,” and more.

Movie Pick: Kick-Ass

The film tells the story of teenage Dave Lizewski who sets out to become a real life superhero only to get caught up in a bigger fight. He meets Big Daddy, a former cop who, in his quest to bring down an evil drug lord, Frank D’Amico, has trained his eleven-year-old daughter to be the ruthless vigilante Hit-Girl.

Comic Book Pick: Absolute Green Lantern Rebirth Hardcover

Hal Jordan was the greatest Green Lantern of them all, until his shocking fall from grace. Now witness his awe-inspiring redemption at the hands of writer Geoff Johns and artist Ethan Van Sciver! This amazing Absolute Edition collects the best-selling miniseries that relaunched one of DC Comics’ greatest heroes and is the first part of a trilogy that spans THE SINESTRO COPRS WAR and BLACKEST NIGHT! This deluxe slipcased volume also includes Johns’s original series proposal, the full script to issue #1, sketches from Van Sciver, and the breathtaking story “Flight” illustrated by acclaimed artist Darwyn Cooke.

Cool Gadget Pick: Sony W250 Waterproof Walkman

The Sony W250 Waterproof Walkman ($60) is a pill-shaped water resistant MP3 player available with a 2GB capacity and offers built-in 13.5mm EX in-ear headphones, MP3, WMA, and AAC playback, up to 11 hours of battery life, an included charging/docking stand and water resistance to keep your music going at the gym, in the rain, or even in the shower.

Video Game Pick: Monster Hunter Tri

Monster Hunter Tri is set in an immense, sublime land where humans and monsters co-exist. Play the role of an up-and-coming hunter who must complete various quests to achieve glory and help the residents of the village survive. Track monsters, set traps and capture or slay a variety of majestic beasts. Collect monster horns, scales and bones to create a huge variety of weapons and armor.

TV Pick: Modern Family

The half-hour series, which was created by Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan, is one of the most consistently funny programs on TV. The mockumentary follows the families of Jay Pritchett (Ed O’Neill), his daughter Claire Dunphy (Julie Bowen), and his son Mitchell Pritchett (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) who live in Los Angeles. Claire is a homemaker mom in a traditional family, married to Phil Dunphy (Ty Burrell); they have three children. Jay is married to a much younger Colombian woman, Gloria (Sofía Vergara), and is helping her raise her pre-teen son. Mitchell and his partner Cameron (Eric Stonestreet) have adopted a Vietnamese baby, Lily.

Set your Tivo for ABC on Wednesday night at 9PM.

iPhone App Pick: Marvel Comics App

Introducing the Marvel Comics app, a revolutionary new way to experience the Marvel Universe on your iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, featuring the world’s most popular super heroes! Download hundreds of comic books featuring your favorite characters -— including Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Spider-Man, Wolverine and more — on your mobile device with the touch of a button. You’ll experience Marvel’s greatest series and stories like never before, with your choice of guided view (an animated, panel-by-panel path through the comic), or by using regular device controls to zoom and pan your way through pages of sizzling story and amazing artwork!

Each of your downloads can be protected and backed up when you use your Marvel.Com account, meaning the next time you lose or upgrade your device you’ll find your comics waiting to be read again!

Take the Marvel Universe with you anytime & anywhere!

Apple’s iPad 3G Will Be Available On April 30th

Apple announced retail availability of the iPad 3G for Friday, April 30th at 5:00 pm.

The iPad 3G includes Wi-Fi but also allows you to join AT&T’s data network on an at-will basis. Rather than being locked to a 2-year contract, iPad 3G users can purchase a month of data at a time. Two plans are available: 250MB will cost $15/month and the unlimited plan is prices at $30/month.

LOST “The Last Recruit” Sneak Peeks

Tonight’s episode of LOST is entitled “The Last Recruit” in which alliances are forged and broken as the Locke and Jack camps merge.

Sarah Silverman Talks To Vanity Fair About Her New Book

Sarah Silverman takes on book publishing when she makes her literary debut today with The Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption, and Pee, which is published by HarperCollins.

In addition to a foreword and an afterword, Silverman’s book contains what may be the first “midword” in publishing history. That she spends a nice chunk of that section biting the hand that edited her will probably make her a literary hero among downtrodden and emasculated writers. But what’s most surprising about Silverman’s book is that it doesn’t just go for laughs. Instead of a series of comic passages held together with crazy glue, she deftly mixes the spit-take funny stuff with an unsentimental but enlightened look back at her not-so-charmed life and career. The book’s title is a reference to the chronic enuresis that plagued Silverman into her teens, but Silverman also writes about dealing with severe depression and, as a result, a seriously misprescribed Xanax regimen. And though she professes to not enjoy deconstructing comedy, Silverman is quite good, both in her writing and our conversation below, at analyzing controversial moments in her comedy career, such as time in 2001 when she used the word “Chink” in a joke about racism on Conan O’Brien’s show—as she writes in her book, a last-minute substitute when she was told that her original word choice, “nigger,” would not fly on network TV—and incurred the wrath of Asian Americans who misinterpreted the joke. Fans who appreciate Silverman’s love of poo and penis jokes won’t be disappointed either—she’s even included a rather bizarre photo of the genitalia of one of her writers. The Bedwetter is a one-stop guide to understanding Silverman.

The comic discusses the book with Vanity Fair HERE.

Season 4 of Mad Men Will Start on July 25th

Season four of “Mad Men” will premier on Sunday, July 25th, at 10 p.m., answering fans’ burning questions from last season’s cliffhanger finale. With the disbanding of Sterling Cooper and splitting up of the Drapers, the upcoming show will play like a whole new pilot for the show, re-setting the drama.

Cover Art To The Deluxe Edition of Stephen King’s Riding The Bullet

Here is the cover art to the Lonely Road Books deluxe special edition of Stephen King’s Riding The Bullet which will be published this summer. The 3 different editions are as follows:

A Slipcased Gift Edition limited to 3,000 copies (unsigned) for $75.

A Traycased Limited Edition signed by Mick Garris and Bernie Wrightson limited to 500 copies for $250. (This edition has sold out)

A Traycased Lettered Edition signed by King, Wrightson, and Garris limited to 52 copies for $750. (This edition has sold out)

This oversized collectible hardcover will feature the complete text of King’s original novella and Garris’s screenplay, plus exclusive artwork by Bernie Wrightson (Movie Art) and Alan M. Clark (cover and interiors). Also included will be storyboards, photos from the set, production notes, hand-corrected script pages, and more from the “Director’s Notebook” kept during the movie’s production.  You can order the book HERE.

This special double styled book allows you to start with King’s original novella and then flip the book over and read the original script by Mick Garris which explains the unique cover design.

Disney Pook-a-Looz

Disney recently released a new stylized plush line called the Pook-a-Looz ($12.50). The 12” tall fleece plush dolls are available in the following 20 characters: Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Pluto, Goofy, Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger, Piglet, Queen of Hearts, Mad Hatter, Cheshire Cat, Alice in Wonderland, Buzz Lightyear, Woody, Peter Pan, Tinker Bell, Snow White, Dopey and Grumpy.

Pick them up now at Disney Stores, Disney Parks and  Toys “R” Us as they are sure to be Disney’s hottest new collectable.

Size 10 Apple Store

Here is a custom built Apple store made from a shoebox and a long weekend. One iPhone is the Genius Bar display and another is the glowing Apple logo.

Downloadable kits for an old movie theater and drive-in versions are available at www.personalmovietheater.com.

Is This The Upcoming Apple iPhone 4G?

The technophiles are eagerly expecting a new iPhone to be released this summer. What fantastic features and exciting upgrades will be found in the new phone?  The world will just have to wait or will they?  Apparently a prototype Apple 4G iPhone was found in a bar in Redwood City and was camouflaged to look just like an iPhone 3GS.

Gizmodo has posted a video and description of the desirable device HERE. Some of the new features are a front facing video chat camera, an improved rear camera with flash, split buttons for volume, an aluminum border, a larger battery and a squared off design.

The technology review website goes into great detail verifying that this is the real deal.

2010 Season Finales

When are your favorite shows bidding you adieu for the summer? Mark your calendar, HERE is Fancast’s alphabetized list of season finale dates for spring 2010.

The Plantronics Savi Office: Over the Ear Headset

The Plantronics Savi Office: Over the Ear Headset ($379.95) seamlessly integrates desk phones, PC softphones, and PC audio all into one sleek device.

The over the ear design is both extremely comfortable and lightweight.  It is easy to forget that you are even wearing a headset.  The headset comes with a wide array of customizable ear buds in varying sizes, both with padding or with soft gel to choose from.

The sound quality is crystal clear. The headset has a built in noise-canceling microphone, digital sound processing, and wideband PC audio support for exceptional clarity. It also has an energy-efficient approach to power usage and provides longer battery life with an adaptive power system.

A unique feature of the device is that it accepts up to 4 headsets paired with 1 base unit, making conference calling very accessible. The headset system has a lengthy 350 foot interference-free wireless range.

The Savi Office comes equipped with Integrated PerSono Suite software for one-touch call answer/end with supported softphones and wide range of customization features.

The Savi office bridges the gap by creating unified communication. It is an all-in-one communication solution. (Written by Meredith Fire-Hess)

AC/DC Releasing Soundtrack to Iron Man 2 On April 19th

AC/DC will power the Iron Man 2 soundtrack with 15 songs to be featured in the movie. This will be the first time since Stephen King`s `Maximum Overdrive` that AC/DC has licensed their music to a movie.

Songs from the album range from 1976 up until the recent 2008 ‘Black Ice’ album and will include songs featuring both AC/DC’s second singer Bon Scott and current lungs Brian Johnson.

A video for the key song, ‘Shoot To Trill’ from the 1980 Back In Black album was shot last month in Buenos Aires.

The album will be released as a deluxe CD/DVD package as well as a 2 disc vinyl set.

The deal was struck between Marvel Pictures and Sony. Jon Favreau’s vision and passion for AC/DC’s music blend seamlessly into this incredible film” said Steve Barnett, co-chairman of Columbia Records. “The music really underscores the high energy and excitement of the film.”

“Music is an integral part of the Tony Stark and Iron Man experience, and we are pleased that Columbia and AC/DC are taking part in the franchise’s phenomenon. Through this relationship, the band is delivering fans supercharged Iron Man branded music through all our combined consumer touch points, from the movie to retail outlets and even virally with the debut of the new video,” said Tim Connors, Chief Operating Officer, Marvel Studios.

“Iron Man 2’ stars Robert Downey Jr. and features Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Scarlett Johansson, Sam Rockwell, Mickey Rourke and Samuel L. Jackson.

The soundtrack will be released on April 19th.

The tracklisting is:

Shoot to Thrill
Rock ‘N’ Roll Damnation
Guns for Hire
Cold Hearted Man
Back in Black
Thunderstruck
If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It)
Evil Walks
T.N.T.
Hell Ain’t a Bad Place to Be
Have a Drink on Me
The Razor’s Edge
Let There Be Rock
War Machine
Highway to Hell

Modernist Mutants and Minimalist Marvels By Rogan Josh

RoganJosh is an artist and musician living in New York City. He finds inspiration in all sorts of things from comics, design blogs, science shows, found objects, current events, The Shins, saucy people, and omelets.

The artist’s ModHero.com series takes iconic superheroes and breaks the characters down to their iconic essence. These fabulous minimal but instantly recognizable images are printed on 13 x 19 heavyweight glossy paper with archival ink.

All of Rogan’s ModHero art can be found on Etsy for under $20.

Mark Khaisman Tapeworks

Mixed media artist Mark Khaisman layers translucent packing tape on Plexiglas panels to create images that have the shadow and depth of large scale paintings. “My Tape Art is a conversation with light,” he explains. “I started it like a traditional stained glass artist, but with tape I found I could continue my conversation with light, but in a more expedient manner.”

Each piece takes Khaisman about a week to complete; he draws from his training as an architect to create a plan, but then allows the tape to guide his course.

LCD Write Your Own Message Card

Create your own personalized cards with these super minimal LCD de-bossed cards ($18.00 for a set of 5). Great for any occasion, there is a handy alphabet sticker guide so there’s no guess work, just lots of coloring in fun! These cards are designed by Yellow Owl Workshop in San Francisco, who specialize in creating expertly crafted paper goods. They are a limited edition and made from 100% PCW recycled paper. They come with a custom envelope and measure 7 x 4 inches.

Meet PUMA’s Clever Little Bag: The Smartest Shoebox Ever

PUMA recently introduced cutting-edge sustainable packaging that will reduce the paper used for shoeboxes by 65% and carbon emissions by 10,000 tons per year. PUMA partnered with designer Yves Béhar, of San Francisco based fuseproject, to rethink the way the millions of pairs of shoes that it sells each year are packaged — less packaging means fewer raw materials, less use of water and energy to produce, and less weight to ship and to be disposed of.

Béhar designed a “Clever Little Bag” to replace the cardboard shoebox with a re-usable shoe bag, that protects each pair of shoes from damage from the point it leaves the factory until the consumer takes it home — thus generating savings on the production side due to less material used, reducing weight during transport and eliminating the need for extra plastic carrier bags. As a result of the 65% paper reduction through the “Clever Little Bag” concept PUMA will reduce water, energy and diesel consumption on the manufacturing level by more than 60% per year.

By switching out current plastic and paper shopping bags in PUMA stores and replacing them with sustainable biodegradable bags the sportlifestyle company is looking to save another 192 tons of plastic and 293 tons of paper annually.

The retail launch of the new packaging and distribution system is planned for the second half of 2011.

Robert Rodriguez’s Machete To Be Released On September 6th

20th Century Fox has set a September 3rd release date for Robert Rodriguez and Ethan Maniquis’ Machete, starring Danny Trejo, Jessica Alba, Robert De Niro, Michelle Rodriguez, Lindsay Lohan, Cheech Marin, Jeff Fahey, Don Johnson and Steven Seagal. Labor Day falls on Monday, Sept. 6th, which gives the movie a four-day opening weekend.

Machete is based on the “fake” trailer in Robert Rodriguez’s 2007 Grindhouse. The feature version of the trailer finds Machete (Trejo) a renegade former Mexican Federale, roaming the streets of Texas after a shakedown from drug lord Torrez (Seagal). Reluctantly, Machete takes an offer from spin doctor Benz (Fahey) to assassinate McLaughlin (De Niro) a corrupt Senator. Double crossed and on the run Machete braves the odds with the help of Luz (Michelle Rodriguez), a saucy taco slinger, Padre (Marin) his “holy” brother, and April (Lohan) a socialite with a penchant for guns. All while being tracked by Sartana (Alba), a sexy ICE agent with a special interest in the blade slinger.

LOST 6th And Final Season & Complete Set DVD’s Due On August 24th

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment has announced DVD ($79.99) and Blu-ray ($94.99) releases of Lost: The Complete Sixth and Final Season for the 24th August. Extras will include audio commentaries, original scripted content that goes deeper into some of the stories, deleted scenes, bloopers, featurettes (“Lost: On Location”, “Crafting a Final Season”), and more.

Also available from the 24th August will be Lost: The Complete Collection which will retail at $234.99 and $319.99 on DVD and Blu-ray respectively. This will include every episode of the series, along with a full disc of bonus features exclusive to the complete collection.

The New Trailer for Grown Ups

Columbia Pictures has debuted the new trailer online for Grown Ups, starring Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, Rob Schneider, David Spade, Salma Hayek, Maria Bello and Maya Rudolph.

The Dennis Dugan-directed comedy, opening June 25, is about five friends and former teammates who reunite years later to honor the passing of their childhood basketball coach. With their wives and kids in tow, they spend the Fourth of July holiday weekend together at the lake house where they celebrated their championship years earlier. Picking up where they left off, they discover why growing older doesn’t mean growing up.

Banksy Invades Los Angeles

Rumor has it that the mysterious street artist Banksy is in Los Angeles as his new film, Exit Through the Gift Shop was released here this week. The artist is celebrating by making some mysterious street art in the City of Angels.

Exit Through the Gift Shop is a fascinating and entertaining glimpse into the world of high-level and socially conscious graffiti artists.

There is no directorial credit on the film, but many believe that it was made by Banksy, a British graffiti artist who is internationally famous but has never been seen publicly, his real name unknown.

The film starts out as a documentary about internationally renowned graffiti artists, including Shepard Fairey in the United States (his Barack Obama portrait became an iconic image of the president’s campaign), Invader in France, and Banksy, whose illegal art has turned heads from the Palestinian segregation wall on the Left Bank to Disneyland. The footage was apparently gathered by a Los Angeles-based French videographer (and cousin of Invader) named Thierry Guetta, who spent a decade documenting the street-artist movement.

But then the documentary changes. Banksy encourages Guetta to become an artist himself, and so he does – becoming a monstrous creation known as Mr. Brainwash, introduced by a big-budget, splashy L.A. exhibition on a scale that would take most artists years to achieve.

And yet, many believe that Mr. Brainwash is himself an invention and that Guetta is really Banksy. If so, the joke’s on us.

You can watch a 5 minute preview of the film below and the movie is opening in select cities (including LA) HERE.

Winscape: Because Waking Up In The Same Place Every Morning Is Boring

If you look out your window and don’t like what you see and you happen to have around $2,500 to spare, then Winscape just might be the solution.

Press a button on your remote and you are peering out at the Golden Gate Bridge or perhaps you would prefer to gaze at a serene underwater scene complete with moving fish?

The installation requires two 46-inch Full HD plasma HDTV’s with window facades in front of them. An iPhone controller, a wearable tracking device and some powerful software work in concert to create the on-screen virtual image that follows the viewer around as if they are looking out a real window. If the viewer steps to the left then more of the vista previously hidden by the frame appears and if they step closer, everything gets bigger.

Yes it looks like a DIY project not designed for the novice but the end result is astounding! See how the original was created here:

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American Idol Season 9 CD Track Listing & Cover Art Revealed

The Season 9 American Idol compilation CD is scheduled to be released on May 11th and you can pre-order the disc at americanidolmusic.com for $11.99.

The track listing is as follows:

1. Lee Dewyze – “Treat Her Like a Lady”

2. Andrew Garcia – “Forever”

3. Siobhan Magnus – “Paint It Black”

4. Crystal Bowersox – “Me and Bobby McGee”

5. Casey James – “Jealous Guy”

6. Aaron Kelly – “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing”

7. Michael Lynche – “Ready For Love”

8. Tim Urban – “Under My Thumb”

9. Didi Benami – “Play With Fire”

10. Katie Stevens – “Let It Be”