Jake Gyllenhaal has signed on to play the first rock star of the NFL Joe Namath.  The project is being developed by Universal, but won’t move forward until after the writer’s strike.  No director is attached yet, but the movie, which has secured the approval of the football Hall-of-Famer, will be penned by David Hollander.

The pic will tell the story of how the golden-armed kid from Beaver Falls, Pa., became Broadway Joe, the New York Jets quarterback who became a ’60s cultural figure.

After backing up his guarantee that the Jets would beat the heavily favored Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III, Namath put the AFL on equal footing with the NFL, paved the way to a merger and helped establish football as a TV sport. He accomplished all of this on knees so bad that draft board doctors refused to send him to Vietnam for fear that they would give out on the battlefield.

So what do you think?  Think Jakey boy can pull off Joe Namath?  He sure looks the part and this will certainly help him shed the remnants of any lingering Brokeback jokes.   The best part of this, is that now everytime we mention this movie we have an excuse to show this clip:

Madcap mayhem, that is how I would describe the gameplay in Valve’s Team Fortress 2, now available on the PC and Xbox 360 as part of The Orange Box, or by itself for download over Steam, Valve’s large digital distribution network for the PC.

Team Fortress 2 is an online, multi-player only, first-person shooter. Like most games of this nature, the action could be described as “chasing around dudes with guns, and shooting them.” However, such a phrase could not even begin to portray the real game here. No, there are a large number of things that set Team Fortress 2 apart from the rest of the FPS pack.

To begin with, this game is, as the name implies, all about teams. Many games of this nature boil down to solo frag-fests. You may be divided up into two groups labeled as “teams,” but for the most part it is every man for his own kill count, and co-operatve strategy be damned. Not so in Team Fortress 2. The game types presented here makes teamwork essential. Capture the Flag and Control Points both make territorial control of the maps paramount. Additionally, the interesting and dynamic interplay between the game’s character types make communication between team members a prerequisite to success, which brings us to our next point.

Most shooters toss everyone into the game on an equal footing, usually carrying around some pea-shooter and looking for a better gun to upgrade to. TF2, however, differentiates each player from the get-go, by having players choose as one of nine unique character classes, loosely grouped into three groups: offensive classes Scout, Soldier, and Pyro; defensive classes Demoman, Heavy Weapons Guy, and Engineer; and support classes Medic, Sniper, and Spy.

Each class has its signature primary weapon (the Pyro’s flamethrower, the Solder’s bazooka, the Heavy’s Gatling gun) and one to three additional sub-weapons, usually something like a pistol, shotgun, melee weapon, or class-specific items and abilities such as the Engineer’s tools used to build sentry turrets, the Spy’s kit of disguises, and the Medic’s health gun. Accordingly, each class has several roles to play and niches to fill in the game.

Check out the trailer and then take the jump to find out more.

MORE »

The nominees for this year’s Independent Spirit Awards have been anounced, which means we’re kicking off the movie awards season now.  Makes our head’s spin just trying to keep up with all the awards given out.  The award elves are probably not very happy right now.

This year Todd Hayne’s Dylan biopic, I’m Not There, was showered with the love, as was ex-stripper turned writer Diablo Cody’s (I just love writing that line for some reason) flick Juno.  Actually, Juno was directed by Jason Reitman and written by Cody, but saying Ivan Reitman’s son isn’t nearly as fun for us.

Many of these movies are already on DVD, so get out there and get watchin’!  If they aren’t on DVD, then there’s a good chance some of these flicks will be hitting the theaters soon.  Even if it is just your local art house.

The awards show will be on IFC, Sat., February 23.  List of nominations after the jump.  Good year for indie’s even if indie stalwart Ed Burns doesn’t think so. MORE »

These were posted to the IMBD boards and no doubt many of you have already seen them as this was the big news story of the day.  I think it goes without saying that Harrison Ford is still one bad mutha… He looks good for 60 or 70.  As for Shia LaBeef?  I’m not sure he holds a candle to Mr. Ford, but knowing that he has awesome slicked back hair makes us chuckle for some reason.  Internally, because laughing out loud would just be cruel.

Goes to Michael Crook… I could probably go on about the tastelessness of his post about a teen car accident, which left two teens dead.  It’s pretty insensitive.  But read the post and let this guy know how pathetic of a post he just wrote.  Anyway, I can feel my blood pressure rising just reading his article on such an tragic event.

Former Attorney General and former late-night joke fodder, Janet Reno has put together a three disc compendium of American music featuring the likes of The Black Crowes, Devendra Banhart, John “Cougar” Mellencamp and Martha Wainwright.

The box set features 50 songs, all reinterpreted by various artists, of classic Americana like “Dixie’s Land” and “The Times They Are A Changin.’”

I think they can learn more about their country, I think they can be inspired by what they hear, from some of these songs. They can remember when they are facing adversity that people were able to overcome terrible situations in their life and in the history of our country. When you think about it, the Depression, which this project talks about in clear detail, was such a dark cloud over this nation. I remember my mother’s stories of the Depression. If my mother could carry a tune she would have composed one of these songs that talks about the Depression, because it was so much a part of her life. And then to come out of the Depression into World War II, into the greatest war we have ever had, and to face the challenge of the atomic bomb, ever present after that war, gives us a sense of the challenge we face. But it’s also there to say, “Look, we did it, we can overcome, we can get past this time in our history.

Not too shabby.

Love the holidays but hate the music?  Well fear not, because WOXY is streaming a very cool holiday mixer for you featuring the likes of The Pogues, Reverend Horton Heat, Sufjan Stevens, etc.  It’s a very eclectiv mix, but you won’t see any Burl Ives or Bing Crosby for miles around.

Probably a nice compromise for your return home, if you can get Grandma to dig on it.

I’m just blown away by the attention to detail that director Zack Snyder has put into the set for his alternate Cold War-esque New York City. Snyder posted some photos and info on the Watchmen’s official site and it just boggles the mind, but also gives geeks a real understanding of why Snyder got the job of developing a seemingly undevelopable project.

It looks like NYC circa 1985 doesn’t it?

Snyder says of the Vancouver, B.C. constructed set, “In addition, the backlot needs to function as many different parts of the city, countless store fronts, street corners, alleys, etc. So, with that in mind, we set out to build own own custom backlot here in Vancouver, BC. In my opinion, the results speak for themselves.”

So what exactly does that set include?  Well, here’s a rundown for ya:

• 5,800 feet of neon requiring 24,000 watts of power
• 100 unique and custom-designed graphics created for the various storefronts
• 5,000 square feet of custom posters
• Street had to work for 1938, 1945, 1953, 1957, 1964, 1974, 1975, 1977, and 1985
• 1,040 feet of 1:1 scale New York streets
• 98,400 square feet of exterior scenery
• 12,500 square feet of interior scenery
• Building heights range from 23′9″ to 42′6″
• 10,325 16-foot 2×4s
• 3,600 sheets of OSB (plywood-like construction material)
• 384,000 square feet of foam brick
• 200,000 nails
• 3,500 tubes of construction adhesive
• 160,000 lbs. of steel I-beams support the facades
• 300 cubic meters of concrete
• 6,000 square feet of glass
• 4,800 square feet of plexiglass
• 20,000 donuts were consumed by the construction crew
• 20,000 gallons of water and 3,000 gallons of Gatorade was drunk by the crew

Via: Slashfilm.  See all the rest of the photos after the jump.  MORE »

I guess the title says it all.  Pretty much everyone everywhere was reading Harry Potter 7, in terms of cultural events this was probably the biggest event of the year.

And it was also the only book on the NY Times list of 100 notable books that I managed to read.  Yes, I know, I’m pathetic.

Brooklyn Vegan has a roundup of this year’s snazzy videos.  Not sure I have much of an opinion as the music video seems to be post fodder, very rarely do we see one that gets us totally excited.

Though we have to say, anytime you can use the Muppets effectively like Escort, well you are A-Okay in our book sir.

Escort - All Through the Night

UPDATE: JOBLO has the full version of the picture, which is in fact the next cover of Empire Magazine.

Wow! Talk about another great The Dark Knight slow reveal. Somehow, well, probably because the next issue is gonna be a big bat themed one or something, but anyway Empire Magazine has gotten Chris Nolan to give a huge scoop.

Using a deck of slowly burning playing cards, the Dark Clown Prince is slowly being revealed. So far you can only make out his shoes, multi-colored socks and make the assumption he’s sitting in a jail cell. It looks like the photo very well could be a magazine cover or a one-sheet poster, but once the full image is revealed we’ll get that up for you.

For now you’ll just have to settle for those socks. And the tantalizing slow burn of yet another wonderful promotional tool. We should be getting that trailer any week now.

With the holiday and all, we’re a little late in getting this one up. Also be sure to look for our in-depth look at Team Fortress 2 coming up midweek. Without further ado, and as always look both ways before connecting to the server, this week’s new gaming releases.

Two of the biggest games of the year are out this week! I hope your wallet is still holding up after this record season for amazing games…

Rock Band (PS3, Xbox 360) – Live out your rock and roll fantasies with this beast of a package. Rock Band has more than 50 rock songs from the 70s onward, including such greats as Metallica, Iron Maiden, Nirvana, Radiohead, Weezer, Soundgarden, Black Sabbath, and more. This package includes the Fender Stratocaster guitar controller, an awesome drum kit (4 pads and a pedal, with real wooden sticks), and a mic for your faux band’s vocalist. Developer Harmonix is also promising weekly updates to the game in the form of downloadable songs, several of which are already live, and full albums in the future! The first of these planned is supposed to be The Who’s Next.

Mass Effect (Xbox 360) – A long time ago, on a PC or Xbox far away, there was a little game dubbed “KOTOR” because of it’s insanely unwieldy title. That game went down in history as one of the greatest RPGs ever, and now it creators, BioWare, are back in the RPG arena with Mass Effect, the first of a planned space opera trilogy (no relation to Star Wars this time). Many fans have been waiting with baited breath over the past two years for this game to finally come out and take them away to another world, one of branching dialog trees and morally ambiguous lead characters who get to make decisions about what planets to defend from annihilation, and which to leave to their fate.

Final Fantasy XI: Wings of the Goddes (PS2, Xbox 360) – the long-running MMORPG from the company most famous for it’s non-MMO RPGs gets it’s fourth expansion this week. Two new character classes are introduced, along with bunch of new zones and a host of new mobs to xp on. Better gear than the Tu’lia Shijin drop? Ha ha, fat chance.

Geometry Wars Galaxies (Wii, DS) – The Xbox Live Arcade classic-from-two-years-ago has gone full-blown, and gotten released on a couple of Nintendo systems this week. If the original is any indication, these will be action-packed, and addictive as can be.

Trauma Center: New Blood (Wii) - Wannabe rockers got theirs this week, and now so do wannabe doctors. This is a follow up to the popular Trauma Center titles already available for the Wii and DS. The word on the street is that this one is quite a bit more challenging.

Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings (DS) – A sequel to Final Fantasy XII, not called Final Fantasy XIII? What, you say? These things are quite run-of-the-mill in the bizarro plane from which Squre Enix makes their game naming decisions, I can quite assure you. In addition to the zany title, this game got transmogrified from a full-on Japanese style console RPG, into a miniature real-time strategy game for the DS. It even features a pretty good 3D graphics engine. Worth a look.

Wii Zapper with Link’s Crossbow Training (Wii) – The Wii gets a wiimote-into-lightgun-plastic-mold peripheral this week, to go along with the rash of Wii lightgun games coming out lately. The real draw here, though, is the game that comes with it. Link, from Legend of Zelda fame, stars in this modern-day parallel of the ancient Duck Hunt. The whole package will run $20, which is not too bad for something of this nature.