Coloud Marvel Punisher Headphones

Here at GeekTown, we obviously love gadgets. What we love even more though are gadgets with a geeky twist, so the new range of headphone from Coloud are really up there on the scale of geeky awesomeness!

Coloud have release 2 new ranges of headphones, one with a Star Wars flavour, and the other with Marvel comic motifs.

The pair of  i’ve been trialing for this review were the Punisher branded ones from the Marvel range, which I found particularly awesome due to the fact they have a large skull shaped Punisher logo on either side! Others in the Marvel range include Hulk, Iron Man, X-Men, and Wolverine. The Star Wars range include a Darth Vader, a generic Star Wars branded set, and a rebel alliance set.

Yes, they look geekily great, but being headphones, there is the rather import issue of whether they are any good. Thankfully, i can say that they do live upto the kick ass logos emblazed on the sides. I actually have a pretty decent pair of headphones I use in the office to block out noise when i’m coding, but i actually found the coloud one’s even more effective. They have a really decent sound quality too, and a good solid bass to them. Overall i was really pretty impressed!

RRP £34.99
UK Stockist: www.truffleshuffle.co.uk

More info on the Coloud range at www.coloud.com

Gwen and Captain Jack

With all the new faces on Doctor Who it was never entirely clear what would happen with it’s spin off show, Torchwood. However, the Beeb have announced today that Torchwood will be back, and it’s gonna be bigger then ever!

Dispite handing over the reins of Who to Stephen Moffat, Russell T Davies has retained his head writer/show-runner status on Torchwood, heading up a team of writers for the new series. One major change this time though is that the show won’t all be coming from Wales. Plans are afoot to give the show a more global look, with filming scheduled to take place in the US, and other locations around the world. John Barrowman and Eve Myles will be back as Captain Jack and Gwen, along with a new set of Torchwood recruits.

The new 10-episode series will be a co-production between BBC Cymru Wales, BBC Worldwide and US network ‘Starz Entertainment.’

DC Universe Online

SOE (Sony Online Entertainment) have confirmed the release date for their upcoming MMORPG ‘DC Universe Online‘, and it’s set fly/super-jump onto PS3 and PC in November 2010.

DC Universe Online allows players to build their own custom superheroes (or villain) inside the DC universe, to work along side (or against) DC’s heroes like Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman and many more. Gotham City and Metropolis are 2 confirmed locations, with many more places in DC’s world also being accessible.

As i’ve mentioned before on the blog, i’ve always been more a DC Comics fan than Marvel (who’s own MMO is stuck in development hell), so i’m so looking forward to this release. It’ll be interesting to see how (if at all) the game fits into DC continuity as, judging my the screenshots, it’ll be Bruce Wayne as Batman, rather than Dick Grayson (as it is in current continuity). DC are planning a 52 weekly comicbook called DC Universe: Legends to run along side the game.

For more information, see the DC Universe Online website.

Guillermo del Toro

Guillermo del Toro announced yesterday that he’s stepping down from directing the 2 movies based on JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit. This is all due mounting delays in filming because of the financial troubles at MGM – The Hobbit still isn’t even officially greenlit by MGM, despite the massive amount of pre-production work already done on it. Del Toro said it was  ‘the hardest decision of my life’ to leave the project after spending 2yrs living, breathing and designing Tolkien’s Middle Earth, but ‘the mounting pressures of conflicting schedules have overwhelmed the time slot originally allocated for the project.’ He went on to say ‘I remain an ally to it and its makers, present and future, and fully support a smooth transition to a new director’.

This is real shame. Guillermo del Toro has such a beautiful visual style, and was just the perfect person to take the reins after Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings. He isn’t totally walking away from the project just yet however, as he is still co-writing The Hobbit screenplays with Philippa Boyens, Fran Walsh and PJ for the next few months.

The Hobbit

So, that does leave the question, who is going to pick up the project? Well, the obvious answer is Peter Jackson himself. He has basically said there is no way he’s letting The Hobbit movie die, so if it comes to it, and it’s what needs to happen to get The Hobbit back on his hairy little feet, that’s what he’ll do.

Theonering.net has a number of other suggestions. Neil Blomkamp did an extraordinary job with the Jackson produced District 9. Jackson may think he could manage The Hobbit too, it’d just depend if the studio agrees. Other suggestions are Sam Raimi (don’t really see it, not after emo spidey), Alfonso Cuaron (not sure he’d want to get involved in another big fantasy franchise after Potter), Andrew Adamson (Narnia movies weren’t the smashes they were supposed to be, so i can’t see the studio trusting him with The Hobbit), or Steven Spielberg and James Cameron (Spielberg could be interesting, but i fear Cameron would just want to CGI everything…)

Out of them all, Jackson does seem like the most obvious choice to me.
Anyone else you’d like to see take over on The Hobbit?
Let’s have your suggestions!

Armored - On Blu-ray™ and DVD on May 31

Armored follows the story of Ty Hackett (Columbus Short – The Losers, Whiteout), an ex-Iraqi war vet trying to make a ends meet working as an armored van security guard, whilst also looking after his somewhat delinquent younger brother. His van crew consists of his godfather Mike Cochrone (Matt Dillon), Mike’s gun happy brother-in-law Baines (Laurence Fishburne), Quinn (Jean Reno), ex-con Palmer (Amaury Nolasco), and Dobbs (Skeet Ulrich).

Faced with the prospect of losing his house to the bank, and his brother to foster care, Hackett agrees to his godfather plan for him and the rest of the crew to fake a heist on their vehicle,  ripping off $42 million. Cochrone promises Hackett that since there are no actual ‘bad guys’, there’s no issues with anyone getting hurt, just the bank being out of pocket… But as in any good heist movie, things don’t really go according to plan…

The actions starts off pretty slow, with some incredibly clunky ‘basil exposition’ set ups, but once things start to go wrong for the crew, director Nimród Antal (soon to be bringing us ‘Predators’) kicks things up a few gears, and it turns into a far more interesting movie. With the introduction of Milo Ventimiglia’s officer Eckehart, thinks start to take a turn for the ‘Reservoir Dogs’… Antal also manages to include the requisite action movie car chase, albeit rather more entertainingly using armored trucks!

Columbus Short

Out of all the cast, it’s really Short that shines through. This is the first movie of his i’ve seen, and he clearly managed to hold his own against the 3 Hollywood veterans – Dillion, Fishburne and Reno. That’s not to say there was anything wrong with their roles either. Dillion – the Faustian godfather, Fishburne – the slightly unhinged brother-in-law, and Reno – the… um… quiet Frenchman… But it’s Short that comes across as the leading force in the film.

Armored is very much a B action movie, but I don’t see anything wrong with that. Yes, there are a few plot holes, and yes, it’s a bit slow to get going, but overall it’s a perfectly enjoyable and interesting Saturday night DVD movie.

Armored is out on Blu-ray™ and DVD on May 31 2010.

7/10 – Perfectly decent Saturday night action movie.

Life On Mars UK

If your missing your Friday night fix of the Gene genie, seesaw.com is offering the first episode of Life On Mars for free online today as part of their ‘Freeday’ promotion.

Always like to promote legit ways to watch stuff online, so hop over to seesaw.com and give them a go. There’s a pretty decent back catalogue of Channel 4, Five and BBC shows all free to view. There’s also some more premium content (like Life On Mars, or Desperate Housewives) which has a small fee, but overall it’s a pretty convenient system.

Life On Mars Episode 1