Monthly Archives: March 2010

Hottie of the Day: Ursula Mayes

Posted on by Arleigh

Newest hottie of the day is the lovely Ursula Mayes and quite the smokin’ one she is.

Born in 1979 in South Korea to a Native-American/German father and a South Korean mother, Ursula moved around the world as an Army brat. She spent time growing up in South Korea, Puerto Rico and North Carolina before finally setting roots in Washington, D.C. Having grown up in a house with five other brothers Ms. Mayes’ young childhood leaned towards a certain tomboyishness. This could be seen even today as she likes to work and race her custom Nissan 240SX. This alone has made her a fan-favorite at import car tuning shows and events. This has also allowed her to become a famous import car model for the past five years or so. In addition to import car mags she has also modeled for fitness mags and done work in South Korean ad and media.

Ursula Mayes has gradually began branching out into TV and film. She might be remembered as one of the suitcase models for the NBC reality-gameshow, Deal or No Deal. While her roles in film and TV has been small and, at times, uncredited it won’t be long until something larger lands in her path. Until then her fans will continue to adore and worship her at shows and events.

Ghost in the Shell Live-Action Script On the Way

Posted on by Arleigh

This week we saw news that the potential live-action Battle Angel Alita was one-step closer to becoming reality as script collaborator Laeta Kalogridis was working on a draft for James Cameron. Now comes more news of another manga classic getting closer to getting it’s own live-action adaptation being made with her about to turn in a script in a few weeks. This classic manga is Ghos in the Shell.

Masamune Shirow’s Ghost in the Shell has always been one of those manga/anime works which has continued to gain fans despite all the new anime/manga properties churned out in the dozens every year in Japan. It, like Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira, has become one of the classics in the medium and plans to create a live-action version has been rumored and talked about for over a decade. With hollywood hungry for new properties and ideas to put on film they’ve suddenly turned to the Japanese manga and anime well for such ideas.

The rights to develop a live-action adaptation of GitS was acquired by Dreamworks a couple years ago with Steven Spielberg being the main engine to get the project up and running. In a couple weeks we’ll find out just how feasible this adaptation will be as the script by Laeta Kalogridis will be delivered to Dreamworks and Spielberg. If they like what they see of Kalogridis’ work then production can quickly begin as a planned 2011 release is still on the table. As a blowback to the success of Cameron’s Avatar, it looks like Dreamworks plans to have the film done in 3D right from the start and not something tacked on after production. If this is the case then Spielberg gets it when it comes to 3D and exactly how Cameron thinks 3D should be used.

I wonder if the oft-rumored and planned Akira live-action will get new traction and finally get made. That’s another anime/manga live-adaptation that will probably look great in 3D.

Source: Anime News Network

Halo Reach Multiplayer Trailer

Posted on by Arleigh

May 3, 2010 marks the day of Bungie’s Halo Reach multiplayer beta. This game marks the final Halo title from the guys at Bungie for the forseeable future. It looks like they plan to go out with quite the bang. The game reaches back to the time before the first game when Spartans were not down to one.

The multiplayer trailer shows the tried-and-true Halo multiplayer action fans of the series have come to know and love, but it also seem to have had some changes to it. There now seems to be more players allowed to play against each other with vehicles and large-scale fights looking to become a huge aspect of multiplayer. I particularly liked the one labeled INVASION.

With Infinity Ward’s Modern Warfare 2 dominating console multiplayer FPS action this upcoming release from Bungie may just be something to take back the FPS multiplayer crown back to the Halo camp. If the multiplayer comes out in final release relatively bug and glitch-free then I wouldn’t be surprised if it does become the top multiplayer game on Xbox LIVE once again.

HD Trailer: Halo Reach Multiplayer Trailer HD

Battle Angel possible next Cameron 3D-epic

Posted on by Arleigh

With the success of Avatar there’s an ongoing speculation as to what will be James Cameron’s follow-up project. This is a man whose last two films has made a combined 4.2billion dollars (unadjusted) worldwide in theater box-office. There’s already talk of him doing a sequel (or prequel) to Avatar with him as producer and someone else directing.  The one project which seems to be popping up again and gaining traction as Cameron’s next directing gig is the film adaptation of the classic manga title, Battle Angel Alita.

Jon Landau, producer of Cameron’s last two film’s, have spoken to MTV Splashpage about the possibility that Cameron will make the film adaptation of Battle Angel Alita as his next 3D-epic with script collaborator Laeta Kalogridis helping flesh out the screenplay. If the film does become the next Cameron gig then the script will concentrate on the early volumes of the nine-volume manga. A part of the series where the character of Alita has lost her memories and no idea of where she came from and who she really is. One aspect of using this part of the series’ as the core part of the script includes Alita’s time as a participant in the Motorball games. Motorball being a combination Rollerball and NASCAR but with cyborg participants. As the Youtube video of an example of how Motorball looks like it would definitely translate into an awesome sequence in Cameron’s hands and in 3D.

Everyone who has read about Avatar and it’s history knows by now that Cameron originally wanted to do this film adaptation of Battle Angel Alita as his follow-up to Titanic but decided against it when he realized the technilogy to properly do it wasn’t ready. Cameron opted for Avatar instead and used that film to develop and test the tech he needed for Alita. Now that his new film techniques and equipment have succeeded with flying colors there should really be no reason why Cameron should delay adapting Battle Angel Alita.

I, for one, think this manga and Cameron are perfect for each other. Strong female character, dynamic action story and one that needs a filmmaker at home in doing a huge film heavy on tech. Sounds like a Cameron film to me.

Source: MTV Splashpage

Aronofsky and Jolie looking to team up

Posted on by Arleigh

It appears that Darren Aronofsky and Angelina Jolie are being reported as having plans to work together in the near future. Aronofsky has just completed initial filming on his latest, Black Swan, and is now looking to try and adapt the Ron Rash novel, Serena, with Angelina Jolie in the title role.

The project will be using a script adapted from the novel by Chris Kyle (wrote several of Kathryn Bigelow’s past work). The story is set in Depression-era 1929 and involves husband and wife George and Serena Pemberton heading down to North Carolina from Boston to try and make their fortune in timber. The title character of Serena adapts wells to the backwoods country as well as any of the locals and timbermen and in pursuit of creating their timber empire pushes the husband into further acts of cruelty to realize their dream. It is a the height of their power and growing empire that Serena realizes she cannot bear children. This revelation causes her to set out on a plan to murder the son her husband had outside their marriage. The rest of the film becomes a struggle between Serena and the “son” and of betrayal as Serena begins to suspect her husband trying to portect and save his illegitimate family.

Serena looks to have some similar themes as Paul Anderson’s There Will Be Blood and with what could be a small budget despite the period piece setting, Aronofsky may have another classic in the works to add to his body of work. All of this hinges on Aronofsky and Jolie finding financing for the project. Here’s to hoping that their search is not too long and production begins soon enough that Jolie doesn’t back out to work on another film.

Source: THR