“Spartacus: Vengeance” will premiere on STARZ Friday, January 27^th at 10pm ET. Set those DVR’s or get ready for some bloodbaths because it’s almost here.

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Our scene opens with speared horsemen and a dual sworded Spartacus leading them down a trail, we get a graphic showing of his prowess for combat, the calculations in how he handles his surroundings and his toughness. As his allied team emerges from behind the rocks it becomes a ballet of brutal engagement with he and his followers carefully tackling the entire group. We see the numbers growing and Spartacus throwing himself into the front line to protect his men and destroy the odds, each strike and enemy taken down with sheer force. The intensity the show brings is just as strong as ever, the story though, has a new path to expand his world.

Visually it’s a series of struggle and drama, his men are battered and tired but willing and Spartacus is fighting with it all on the line, no injury is too much as he executes each opponent. The camera team showcases critical strikes and dominance in slow motion cuts from both sides in the heated exchange.

The scene sets the tempo for what Spartacus is up against, he has strength and courage but his power also rests in the loyalty and numbers of his team. We’re teased that Spartacus will take notice and become emotionally aware of the death that follows with such a campaign that he’s leading. Liam McIntyre feels passionate about the character development coming to the season and the potential for viewers.

Update: The Hollywood Reporter is linking the video publicly so we’ll pass it along too

Hey everyone, SDCC is slowly fading into the mist at this point and honestly it has taken a while to reach a point of editorial commentary. SDCC for the past 4 years has been pretty epic, watching it just boil over from a major event into a AAA showcase for the comic, movie, tv and gaming industries was awesome. What sucks is everything that came with it, SDCC exclusives are sought after by many and were a unique staple of the show. Now vendors come to the show or buy large volume to supply their stores at the con leaving low supply or excessive lines to regular consumers.

The crowds in the prior years were a bit friendlier as well, although of course last year there was the whole stabbing thing that went down. Striking that up to crazed fandom is probably the best I can do to class that one. This year not only was the floor packed but it was a shoving match from poor mannered folks to people that were shoving around in retaliation to the aggro behavior. Not cool at all and it really made for slow travel from end to end, for past visitors any extra time to that trek is a downer.

There are upsides of course and I’ll sprinkle one in right now, the quality of the cosplay and the endurance of the people taking part was superior in 2011. I loved watching the costumes around the show and seeing the creative poses and dedication to the public at large asking for shots. Lots of respect to those who made that venture, as a cosplay fan myself it’s never an easy task with heavy fabrics and shoes from hell. Many made it seem almost easy.

The dealer area seemed to show new life in 2011, while the Golden Age comics took an unexpected growth spurt the area as a whole had much more to offer for goods. Finding classic figures, new figures or even marked up show exclusives was easier than past years just due to sheer volume. Many retailers were also determined to run fire sales on old stock seen in previous years, watching some drop as much as 60-70% off had many buried in each booth to complete their collections or start new ones.

Personally, I found a good home with a few retailers, Comic Madness got me into the latest installment of Wolverine from Marvel. Hoping those turn out good. Also started on Secret Invasion finally with a huge variant pack I got for cheap. Although having 1-2 variants of each issue seems a bit odd now. Others made their impact as well, Top Cow and 2K Games actually set me up with a Darkness II limited Darkling statue from a Twitter event. For comic collectors, gamers and TV and movie enthusiasts there was a bit for everyone.

Now we go back to probably one of the most disappointing facets of SDCC 2011, the panel lines were probably the single most absurd thing on the planet. The waiting times were huge for everything, entering Ballroom 20 wasn’t something you just did, you planned extensively and camped that line for a glimpse of that room. Hall H was much the same with huge lines for major releases and determined fans sitting it out for days in line. The problem is, many of those who waited had no interest in those other panels they sat through. Waiting instead for special tickets or panels at the end of the day. The system used to work, it took roughly 1.5-2 hours to get inside but it happened. Some were waiting as long as 5 hours to see a panel and never got in.

The team at Comic-Con International has an issue to tackle with that situation, as it stands, very few will be able to see the panels they want to catch. I was fortunate to see Being Human and Community which rocked in the Indigo Ballroom. But only because blitzing in as early as possible to line was how it happened. Maybe it’s time to make lines for individual blocks of panels instead. As it stands there are a lot of campers who stomped good experiences for regular people who wanted to see their favorite panels again this year. Step it up for the fans and do something about the squatting because it let many people down.

The question of course, was SDCC worth attending? Yes, combine the downtown events with all the screenings and premieres and the show even if you can’t get into the main event is really a fun time. If you’re attending SDCC itself on top of all that, the event is more than most can handle, attending all the panels even when things were normal was impossible just because there’s so much to do. You can see some panels on your favorite shows, get signings in the exhibition hall from your favorite actors, animators or illustrators and more. It’s mind boggling for those attending their first year and rightfully so, the convention itself is gigantic and spills over to the surrounding area with goodies for all.

There is a party pooping issues though, No tablet support and the device list is a bit limited as of now.

If your phone is on this list, you are now able to drain your battery life even faster!

1. HTC Incredible with Android 2.2
2. HTC Nexus One with Android 2.2, 2.3
3. HTC Evo 4G with Android 2.2
4. HTC G2 with Android 2.2
5. Samsung Nexus S with Android 2.3

Although no official word to confirm, it is a safe bet that the list will expand in the near future.

Source:

http://blog.netflix.com/2011/05/normal-0-false-false-false-en-us-x-none.html

Hey guys just coming in with the first batch of pictures from the show this year, from toys to cosplay to just cool stuff. We’re checking out panels and more this year, come back nightly for gallery updates and any panel coverage we can crank out after a long day of travel to SD.

Enjoy!

Listed: Green Hornet Car, Gundam Models, Iron Man Suits, Rogue, Black Cat, White Phoenix, Dark Phoenix, Scarlet Witch, Michael Jackson, Batman Begins movie costume, Gargoyles figure, Toy Story Lego sculpture, Eva 01, Gurren Lagann, Avatar Mecha, Fox booth girls, Green Hornet booth girls, Mazinger Z, Batman Black and White, Storm Shadow, Snake Eyes, The Last Airbender figures, Thor Display at Marvel, One Piece, GI Joe figures

From July – August PBS stations will be airing Video Games Live as part of their special programming.  The CD and DVD/Blu-ray will also be available through November 1st 2010. The CD will feature 16 select tracks while the DVD and Blu-ray run over 3 hours of bonus material with extended segments and interviews.

For those doubting the rock power of VGL:

For those questioning the orchestra quality of VGL:

I’ll have a lot of things to say about the show this year, but I have exclusive rights to give to my main company first and then I can follow with our own editorials on here. In the meantime enjoy.

Today the folks at Hulu have come up with something new, something a bit refreshing even. The Hulu Desktop application for full screen dedicated access to their show archives in pretty high res for streaming free video.

http://www.hulu.com/labs/hulu-desktop

It’s still in development obviously and yes it did nuke my desktop when I tried it but it still looks pretty promising. One can only hope that they keep stepping it up as it comes along because it would be nice to switch from the AMD Live Explorer to Hulu with a quick alt+tab gesture.

For those looking to sleek down their system the app works pretty well outside of the random failures but the launch speed of the app seems to help to make up for it.