It’s just a teaser—in the grandest sense of the word—but the new trailer for next year’s The Avengers movie has dropped. Perhaps the biggest highlight is the glimpse of this Hulk iteration. It’s too quick to make judgment but it certainly looks promising.

The whole Joss Whedon-directed film has a ton of promise, actually. These are all heroes we’ve come to know on the big screen in recent years. Rather than spending one-third of the film with exposition and origin stories, we can expect fistful after fistful of action.

Who wants to get in line now for the May 4 opening?

(Unintended hilarity for your third or fourth viewing of the trailer: at the 0:50 mark, pretend that’s a Scarlett Johansson fart leading to the explosion.)

When I was growing up there were a few movies that I used to rent all the time from the video store. I (read: my parents) never bought them. They were like old standbys; always there when I needed them, ready for me to take their little dangly cardboard tags off the hooks and up to the counter in exchange for a VHS tape in clear-plastic and a “Be Kind Rewind” sticker.

Captain America was one of those movies for me growing up. I wasn’t crazy about comic books per se, but I loved Superheroes, as most kids do. Obviously, I watched plenty of cartoons, but in a time where live-action Superhero movies were rare you had to take what you could get. Besides, you could only watch the Batman and Superman movies so many times.

Because it went direct to video, seeing the 1990 Captain America movie at the video store for the first time was a surprise. Where did this movie come from? Who is this man dressed as Captain America? Why is the Red Skull Italian? In those days there was only one way to find out, and that was to rent the video.
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If you’re like us, you’re so upset about George Lucas tampering with his classic films that you don’t even want to buy the new Blu-ray set. As much as I’d love to watch the new bonus features, the thought of shelling out $80 and not even getting the versions of the films that I love drives me crazy.

Luckily for my fellow disgruntled Star Wars fans, there are a lot of amazing Blu-rays available to fill that void, some already available and some coming very soon. Here are a few.

Citizen Kane

Whether or not you agree with the masses that Citizen Kane is the best movie ever made or not, you can’t ignore it’s cultural and historical significance (Hey, just like Star Wars!). Admittedly, I’ve only watched it all the way through once, and it was years ago. I’ve had it sitting on my media center for over a year in not-so-glorious SD resolution, and now that I own this impressive Blu-ray set I’m glad I’ve waited to watch it again. The box itself is gorgeous and holds a lot of goodies, and the movie has been upgraded with a 4K scan. There are tons of bonus features, but the best part is the price.

$40 on Amazon
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Lets face it; fan films usually suck. With a few exceptions, most fan films are a mediocre mix of bad acting, bad writing, and decent costumes/effects. If you listened to Bubble Pipe Theater: Episode 3, you heard us mention a promising-looking Casey Jones fan film. Well, what once was but a trailer is now a full-fledged short film, and it’s available to stream online.

Oh, and it’s surprisingly decent. The acting, cinematography, and fight choreography are on par with some television level stuff that gets released these days. It’s got an original score by Zain Effendi, which is better than I would have guessed a TMNT fan film would have.

Casey is played by Hilarion Banks, and is a bit more violent than he was in the original TMNT movie. The choreography never crosses over into the kids-playing-in-the-back-yard style that most fan films I’ve seen have, and if you’ve seen the trailer you know that the film doesn’t just feature the masked vigilante.

Rather than put Casey against Raphael like most other incarnations of the story, the filmmakers decided to introduce him to Michelangelo first. This is probably because they were fortunate enough to land Robbie Rist to lend his voice. Robbie played Mikey in all three original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle films, and is the definitive version of the character, to me at least.

The turtle costume suffices in the dark alley setting they filmed in, and definitely looks better than the costumes in Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation.

Overall, the film plays like a nostalgic cross between the orignal film and the ’80s cartoon series. April is there, wearing her signature yellow jumpsuit, but the tone is much darker and more violent. The banter between Casey and Mikey is convincing, as is the whole film, which may be the best compliment a fan film can receive.

Just in case, I’ve got another one. I don’t see how a live-action TMNT movie that involves Michael Bay in any form could ever be better than this Casey Jones fan film.

Check out their website, which is a little annoying and 100% Flash, but maybe someday we’ll get a HD download option. Great work guys!

Via Ninja Pizza

It’s Star Wars on Blu-ray week! The folks at Wal-mart and Lucasfilm have something additional to spend your money on this Friday when all six Star Wars movies debut on Blu-ray. Exclusively at the discount retailer, you can pick up Lego Star Wars: The Padawan Menace on DVD/Blu-ray combo pack.

The cute 22-minute animated short originally aired on Cartoon Network this July. The Clone Wars-era story stars a special mystery character who is finally revealed at the end. The Blu-ray set includes an exclusive Lego mini figure of that special character.

For less than $20 it seems like a great deal but consider this. That mystery character who’s identified in surprising fashion at the end of the show is named right there on the front cover. Yes, the twist ending of this animated short is revealed by simply reading the front of the box.

It’s kinda like buying the new Citizen Kane Blu-ray edition with a special “Rosebud Sled” toy inside. You read that correctly. I just compared Lego Star Wars and Citizen Kane — and spoiled the mystery of 1941 film in the same sentence. Keeping it in the Star Wars universe, this gaffe is like having a special “Father’s Day” edition of The Empire Strikes Back. No potential spoilers there!

Of course I’m joking around with these analogies but I think the Lucasfilm marketers should consider their young fans when designing the cover art for their releases.

If you want the secret spoiled for you, just head over to Walmart.com for an up-close look.