The Lost Skeleton Returns Again!

Now here's a movie trailer release I can get behind: not one, but five teaser trailers for the sequel to The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra -- The Lost Skeleton Returns Again! If ever there were a film worthy of a sequel franchise, I believe this is the one. I especially love the bit with the aliens bickering about wasting time.

Check out all five trailers right now.

The horror: Watchmen movie trailer surfaces.

Don't get me wrong, I think this looks great. I'm a Watchmen fan from way back. But there's a world of difference between making a music video that recreates scenes from the graphic novel and making a convincing movie out of some pretty epic source material.

Watchmen is an intensely cerebral comic book largely about comic books. What kind of movie do you make out of that? I'm guessing it will be escapist garbage, but I'll reserve judgment until I see the final product. Nice eye candy, though.

Who watches the Watchmen trailer?

YouTube Friday - Retarded Policeman #13

It's been a while since I've linked to an episode of Retarded Policeman, but it's just as hilarious as ever. If you like this episode, be sure to give it a bump on Digg.

Culture. Morality. Patriotism.

A Muppet video made specifically for the Internet. Nice to see that someone in Henson-land is in charge of keeping the weirdness alive -- and taking their job seriously. Watch it all the way to the end.

Viva CineVegas.

It's been quiet around here, you say? That's because I've only had time to shoot off short entries for the other blog, Film Festival Secrets, regarding CineVegas. I've been in Sin City for the last six days and now it's time to go home, hopefully to return to a more regular posting schedule here. See you after the plane ride.

Pipeline Posse

Cool little surfing doc "pod" from Current TV.

Apple announces 3G iPhone and "Mobile Me" service

Via MacRumors:

The heavily rumored 3G iPhone was announced today during Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference Keynote.

Features
- 3G-capable. 2.8 times faster than EDGE.
- GPS built-in
- Thinner
- Better battery life - 300 hours of standby, 2G talk-time 10 hours (as opposed to 5), 5 hours of 3G talk-time (competition is 3 hour 3G talk time), 5 to 6 hours of high-speed browsing, 7 hours of video, 24 hours of audio.
- flush headphone jack

Pricing and Availability
The iPhone 3G will be available July 11th in 22 countries for $199 for 8 GB and $299 for 16 GB. The 16 GB model also comes in white.

Apple also announced "Mobile Me," which they're billing as "[Microsoft] Exchange for the rest of us." Basically, it's real-time sync of your personal data (contacts, calendar entries, etc) across your phone, laptop, etc.

With a price point of just $200, the only real stumbling block to getting an iPhone (other than the goofy "I like hard buttons" complaint) would be that you don't want to be beholden to AT&T.

See more at Apple's web site.

'Torchwood' cut down for third season?

Despite bringing in some of BBC's best ratings in 2008, Doctor Who spinoff Torchwood will receive an abbreviated series for its third year. From Digital Spy:

Executive producer Julie Gardner told TV Guide: "We've decided to do a five-part mini-series, one big story that will run during one week. I wanted to make a really big noise about the show."

Gardner, who confirmed that John Barrowman will be back as Captain Jack, remained coy about any additions to the cast following the death of two regular characters in the second season finale. However, she said that fans of the show "will be pleased with the casting."

Read the full story at Digital Spy.

Update: two other quick bits of Doctor Who news - Steven Moffat (the series' best writer currently working) to take over as showrunner in 2010, and David Tennant dates his "daughter" -- who is also Peter Davison's real daughter. Holy incestuous paradoxes Batman!

Pssssst! You hear that?

You hear that distant rumbling?

That's the sound of the internet going insane as another Apple product announcement keynote speech approaches. The 2008 Apple World Wide Developer's Conference starts tomorrow and rumors of next-generation iPhones with video chat and faster data connections are flying furiously. Personally I'm just looking forward to the new applications that will be available now that Apple has opened the iPhone to 3rd-party software development.

Can't be in San Francisco with the other Mac faithful for the speech? Now there's an official podcast from Apple that will automatically download the keynote videos for you after the fact.