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Seth MacFarlane moves from behind the camera and doing voice work, to being the star of his own film. Here he plays a lonesome dude in the old west that wants nothing more than to not be living in the old west (anachronistically, of course). Spurned by his former gal (Amanda Seyfried) for his lily-livered ways, he has nothing to do but to complain to his only friends in town (Giovanni Ribisi and Sarah Silverman)…until Charlize Theron shows up and teaches him how to be a man. If she’s the teacher, we’d like to know how to sign up for that course…

Chris, JC and Beau take a look at Seth’s attempt to make his own Blazing Saddles and we’ll let you know whether it’s a eureka strike or a pile of horse droppings.

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Following the recent trend in fiction of humanizing the monster, Disney has begun applying this formula to their own licensed properties, beginning with Sleeping Beauty. In this live action re-telling of the fairy tale, the evil witch Maleficent, played here by the sharp cheek-boned Angelina Jolie, is the protagonist; misunderstood, abused, and full of understandable venom against her abuser (Sharlto Copley). She’s SO mad, that in a fit of pique, she curses his daughter, yada yada yada. Only in this version, later she feels just terrible about it. What we’ve got here is a fairy tale for little girls where the female characters are front and center. But where does that leave our team of intrepid Unusual Suspects?

Chris, Brian, Beau and JC find themselves falling on different sides in this review of Maleficent. Let their bickering cast a magical spell over you…

What is it about an upcoming trip that brings everyone out of the woodwork with their awesome travel advice? I’m told the same thing happens when you’re planning a wedding or expecting a baby, but who has time for that stuff when there’s a World Cup around the corner?!

In case any of you are also planning a trip to Brazil in the next few weeks, here are my 10 favorite pieces of (largely unsolicited) World Cup advice. Some came from friends/coworkers and some came from more official sources, but I assure you it’s unfortunately all true.

1) “You’re going to Brazil in June? Isn’t it going to be super hot?” Umm, probably? I don’t know. I’ve mentioned before that I’m terrible at time zones, so you can probably imagine how useless I am at hemispheres. However I do have access to Wikipedia and have a weather app on my phone. Also, newsflash, it’s hot in Indiana in June too.

2) “If you’re being mugged, don’t scream.” This little gem actually came from Brazilian officials. Apparently you’re less likely to get murdered if you don’t draw attention to the fact that you’re being robbed. Now, having never been mugged, I don’t exactly know what my reaction would be. But I can pretty much assure you I won’t have any control over it. So no promises.

3) “Make sure to bring condoms purchased in the US.” I will say, the girl in the picture that accompanied this particular story did look VERY regretful. So I’ll call this one good advice.

4) “You should just skip it, the US is going to lose.” First, yes we have a terrible draw, but we’re better than people seem to think and I have faith. Second, if I avoided all sporting events my team didn’t have a chance to win, well let’s just say I would have had a lot more free Saturday afternoons in college. (Go Boilers!) Finally, 31 teams are going to “lose” so did you call all of their fans too?

5) “Don’t drink the water!” Ah the old classic. Don’t worry, I’m told they have beer in Brazil. Good to go.

6) “Don’t tell anyone you’re an American.” I think maybe the American flag I’ll be wearing as a cape might give me away. Though the jersey I’ll be wearing does look a whole lot like the French flag, so maybe that will confuse them?

*To be fair on this one I usually don’t volunteer this information when travelling, but this is a little bit different. It’s hard to hide your nationality when the words to one of the songs you’ll be singing are literally “U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A!”

7) “Don’t use credit cards.” “Don’t use ATMs.” “Don’t carry cash.” Yep I’ve heard all three. I don’t know a ton about the Brazilian economy, but I assume I’m going to have to pay for things. So if anyone has any other ideas I’m open to suggestions.

8) “Make sure you get enough sleep!” Hahahahaha.

9) “Make sure you see the big Jesus!” Well I would love to see Christ the Redeemer. The problem is it’s in Rio. The US plays its group stage games in northern Brazil. Brazil is MASSIVE. I’m not going to deal with the nightmare that is domestic travel in Brazil to see a statue, even a really cool one.

grande_carte_bresil_ville_fleuves_echelle_relief_pays_voisins — *Consult one of these before doling out sightseeing advice.*

10) This one is my personal favorite. “Make sure you learn Spanish. They’ll like you more if you speak their language.” I would love to learn Spanish, I’m just not sure how helpful it would be on this particular trip since they speak Portuguese in Brazil. Also, this advice came 3 days ago. Considering I’ve been trying to learn French for 15 years and can barely order dinner, I’d say the ship has sailed on learning a language by mid June.

Now if anyone out there has been to a World Cup, or to Natal in northern Brazil, I really would appreciate any helpful advice you have. And don’t worry, we already have a map to the World’s Largest Cashew Tree, so we’re all set on that.

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Two reviewers, one sentence. Locked up in a livingroom gulag and forced to watch all Blu-ray and DVD releases for the good of the public. Sure, sometimes there are perks. Sometimes their house arrest creates the adequate time to enjoy Orange is the New Black Season 1 and Lone Survivor starring Marky Mark(sman).

But there is a dark side to this media-consuming incarceration. Sometimes they serve hard time cleaning the floors of Vampire Academy or breaking rocks along the slopes of Pompeii. It’s also a good thing they have so much time to kill so they can waste it watching Three Days to Kill.

Still, prison hasn’t hardened these cons. Despite this week’s gauntlet of unfortunates, they still offer giveaway copies of the thoroughly entertaining Grand Piano.

Learn from Chris and Brian’s mistakes, may their viewing habits scare you straight.

Please do consider using our links below to make all your Amazon purchases! Much appreciated.

How To Win This Week’s Giveaway:

1.) Follow @OneOfUsNet on Twitter

2.) Tweet at us with your oddest/silliest twist on the Speed formula. (Ex: You must eat 200 taquitos in an hour or you explode)

3.) Add #GrandPianoGiveaway

4.) We’ll select our favorite and contact that winner via Twitter (open to U.S. Residents only)

Follow Digital Noise on Twitter and make sure to review us on iTunes.

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The Resistance is one of the best games of all time. Played in only 30 minutes, it’s a game of bluffing and lying and accusations. It’s a game of cold, hard deduction, where players work together to find the spies in their midst while those very spies attempt to hide themselves by any means possible. There is a great deal of screaming involved.

In this very special episode of the Die Cast, Jacob and Daniel call in their banners and join Brian Salisbury, Toni Salisbury, Luke Mullen and Paul Gandersman for a few games of The Resistance: Avalon, the medieval themed sequel to the original sci-fi themed The Resistance. If you listen closely, you can hear their friendships end.

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Welcome to the “World of UScast” where Oneofus.net features teams of our podcasters located all over the world. Today’s feature comes from Tokyo; it’s the second episode of “Wayward Podcast”!
On this episode, Toshi and Sarah do some free-flow conversation while exploring the drawbacks of recording in a karaoke store as they are interrupted by a singer next door who seems to have an affinity to a certain popular song…
Rather than have endless Supernatural talk scattershot throughout the recording, we’ve decided to devote an entire section to it in order to save people the pain of having us spoil everything about the latest episodes. Supernatural talk begins at 40:03

Notes:Technical difficulties occurred at around the 29:35 mark. Sorry about that.
This episode contains spoilers to The Lego Movie, Inception, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and of course, Supernatural.

As many people are aware, Gareth Edwards (Monsters, Godzilla) has been handed the momentous task of helming the first of multiple planned stand-alone Star Wars movies. With screenplay duties handed to Gary Whitta (The Book of Eli, After Earth), the film is due out December 16, 2016.

There has been no announcement what the film will be about, but there is strong speculation that this spin-off could focus on the legendary bounty hunter and fan-favorite character, Boba Fett. Again, this is just a rumor, but the mysterious hunter has long been mentioned as a possible candidate for a stand-alone movie.

Even with all this excitement, the question still needs to be asked: Is Edwards right for the project? While Godzilla has assuredly been a huge box office success, it has generated a mixed reaction from audiences. While critics have praised Bryan Cranston’s performance and the special effects, the movie has been criticized for its pacing and wooden characters. Could this be repeated in Edward’s Star Wars spin-off? It’s probably way too early to make such a declarative statement, but the concern is fair. The director’s strengths and weaknesses should be properly assessed before any predictions are made.

As audiences have seen with Edwards’ Monsters and Godzilla, the young British director has a love and appreciation for creature design. Seeing him apply that same passion to Star Wars could potentially lead to visually stunning results. I would personally love to see Edwards incorporate classic Star Wars monsters like the Rancor, Krayt Dragon or Wampa into his spin-off film. While I wouldn’t turn the film into a monster movie, it would still be a cool nod to Edwards’ roots as a filmmaker.

While we don’t know what level of involvement Edwards had over the Godzilla screenplay, it’s safe to say that a tighter script could have provided the movie with a stronger second act and a more interesting human protagonist. That’s why it is so important that Edwards has a talented script writer to lean on. Enter Gary Whitta, who is currently writing the screenplay for the spin-off.

Outside of his work on The Book of Eli and After Earth, Whitta is probably best known for being the head writer for Telltale Games’ The Walking Dead. The critically acclaimed episodic video game series won numerous awards in 2012 and was praised for its rich cast of charaters and heart wrenching story. Whitta was credited by many fans of Robert Kirkman’s zombie epic of presenting a story with characters that players could relate to and care about in the game. Many people believe that Telltale’s game not only has superior writing and character development than the AMC television series, but that is actually expanded the universe of Kirkman’s comic. If Whitta can deliver a script with the same amount of depth and characterization as The Walking Dead, then this project is already off to a great start.

I think Edwards is a great choice to helm a Star Wars film, as long as he has a strong script to work from. Relying on his strengths as a visual filmmaker, while listening to the advice and direction of others who know how to tell an interesting story could lead to a great starting point for future stand-alone Star Wars films. Addtionally, Whitta seems more than prepared for work involved with this project:

“From the moment I first saw the original movie as a wide-eyed kid, Star Wars has been the single most profound inspiration to my imagination and to my career as a writer. It is deeply special to me,so to be given the opportunity to contribute to its ongoing legacy, especially in collaboration with a film-maker as talented as Gareth, is literally a dream come true. I’m still pinching myself.”

What about you reader? Are Gareth Edwards and Gary Whitta the right to team to tackle a Star Wars spin-off? What spin-off films do you want to see? Let us know in the comments below!

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The gentlefolk take a break from the usual structure this week. With all the recent cancellations and early endings of shows, it seemed prudent to take the bulk of an episode to look at these, talk about some of the great shows that ended too soon in the past, and discuss the whys and wherefores of why it happens.

It’s not always just low ratings, I hate to tell ya.

We’ve finally done it! After weeks of fan voting, and after a long absence to recover from the mental wounds of R.I.P.D., here now is the Watch a Movie with Us commentary for the #1 worst film of 2013 as voted on by you, the nation of Us: A Good Day to Die Hard. In honor of Memorial Day, let us never forget…how much better this franchise used to be.

As it turns out, there is never a good time to revisit Die Hard 5, but we hope this irreverent running commentary softens the blow a bit. How are we rewarding you for suffering through AGDTDH? Well first of all, we’ve brought in the one and only Jeff from RageSelect.com, a man who loves Die Hard but has never seen this abomination. Suffice to say, Jeff’s trademark rage was aptly stirred by what he beheld.

If you’re a Time Lord subscriber or above, you can download this commentary track right here.

It was reported last Friday that Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) has stepped down as director for Ant-Man. While Marvel Studios has released a statement explaining that the parting between them and the director was “amicable,” Wright has only claimed that he left the project due to “differences in their vision for the film.”

Marvel has since stated that it has already found another director to helm the project, but it’s still fun to speculate as to who it might possibly be. This is a great opportunity to cast a “dream director” for one of Marvel’s most daring big-screen projects. Let’s take a look at some of the possible candidates that could helm a live-action adaptation based on The Irredeemable Ant-Man.

—

Phil Lord and Christopher Miller

If there is one directing-duo that understands action and comedy, it is Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. Creating a career of doing the impossible, Lord and Miller have made hit after hit. First coming to public attention with the animated film Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and continuing their success into live-action with their 21 Jump Street remake, Lord and Miller have made quite the impression on audiences of all ages.

Recently coming off of their critically and commercially successful Lego Movie, the two are probably the most sought after comedic filmmakers working right now. Since Marvel’s Ant-Man is said to be a comedic-heist film, it makes sense for Lord and Miller to helm the project. They know how to present action and plenty of comedy while telling an entertaining story. As they have proven in the past, they know how to take a script that no one thought would work and turn it into of the best films of the year. It’d be great to see them do it again with Ant-Man.

Drew Goddard

There’s no question that Marvel’s golden boy right now is Joss Whedon. Can you blame them? He’s made them a lot of money. That’s why it wouldn’t be surprising at all if they get a director who has a long history with Whedon. Enter Drew Goddard, one of Whedon’s former writing partners on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel.

Goddard’s Cabin in the Woods is his only current directing credit, but it has attained a revered cult status among horror and comedy fans. That one film is one hell of a resume. Blending plenty of carnage, gore and some great comedy bits, Cabin in the Woods proves that Goddard can handle a geek property with love and respect.

While Goddard is focusing his attention on writing and directing Sony’s upcoming Spider-Man spinoff Sinister Six, it’s possible he might be lured away to work on Marvel’s Ant-Man. There hasn’t been a set release date for the spin-off and a third film in Sony’s reboot of the Spider-Man series seems more than likely to happen first. It’s possible he could drop out of Sinister Six in much the same as he did as showrunner for Marvel’s Daredevil television series.

Joe Cornish

If Marvel wants to replace the man, but not the style, then Joe Cornish is probably their best bet. Cornish has been a frequent writing partner of Wright and he’s been involved in multiple projects, including Steven Spielberg’s The Adventures of Tintin.

Outside of writing, Cornish has directed only one movie, but it’s one that has left a significant impression on many critics and audiences. Cornish’s Attack the Block was one of the most underrated films of 2011. Perfectly blending science-fiction, horror and comedy, Attack the Block told a story steeped in social commentary about ethnic and class barriers. Even with only one film under his belt, Cornish is more than qualified to bring one of Marvel’s characters to the silver screen.

Cornish taking over as director is perhaps the most unlikely out of any possible candidates. After all, he did co-write the Ant-Man screenplay with Wright. His vision of the film will most likely reflect the vision of the former Ant-Man director’s. Still, a nice big fat check from Marvel could change anyone’s mind.

Matthew Vaughn

I think you get a nickel every time you mention how Matthew Vaughn should direct a comic book movie. There’s a reason why though. Writing and directing such films as X-Men: First Class and Kick-Ass has earned Vaughn a level of respect from comic book readers. All of his superhero films have a degree of comedy to them. Seeing him take over as director for a Marvel film that is more of a comedy than anything else does make sense.

X-Men: First Class and Kick-Ass, while awkward at times, did deliver enough entertainment to generate Vaughn a certain amount of goodwill to be mentioned on the shortlist of directors for comic books films. Having wrapped up production for Kingsman: The Secret Service, a Matthew Vaughn directed Ant-Man is a realistic possibility. Hey, I found a nickel!

Rian Johnson

Rian Johnson is definitely an oddball choice to direct a film about a guy who has the power to shrink to the size of an insect, but hear me out. Johnson has a love and appreciation for genre filmmaking. Looking at his body of work proves that. With films like Brick, The Brothers Bloom, and Looper, he is able to blend multiple genres together. Did anyone think a crime noire set in a high school could be so damn good to watch? I think he could easily do that with Ant-Man. A comedic heist film about a man with super powers sounds exactly like the type of genre mixing Johnson is so fond of doing.

Even though Johnson’s previous films have all been much more serious in tone, they’ve all had their fair share of black humor. Giving him the chance to direct a superhero movie that combines multiple elements from other genres could potentially lead to Marvel’s most original film.

—

What about you reader? Any directors that you want to take over the project? Let us know in the comments below.

Movie Review: ‘A Million Ways to Die in the West’

Movie Review: ‘Maleficent’

Ash & Fern: Everyone’s a Travel Expert

Digital Noise Episode 45: Pompeii and Other Disasters

How To Win This Week’s Giveaway:

1.) Follow @OneOfUsNet on Twitter

2.) Tweet at us with your oddest/silliest twist on the Speed formula. (Ex: You must eat 200 taquitos in an hour or you explode)

3.) Add #GrandPianoGiveaway

4.) We’ll select our favorite and contact that winner via Twitter (open to U.S. Residents only)

Follow Digital Noise on Twitter and make sure to review us on iTunes.

The Die Cast: A Piece of the Resistance

World of UScast: Wayward Podcast Ep 2: “Let it Go, Lady”

Gareth Edwards Is Heading to a Galaxy Far, Far Away

The Original Gentlemen: Cancelled Too Soon

Watch a Movie with Us: ‘Good Day to Die Hard’

‘Ant-Man’: Who Could Replace Edgar Wright?