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Studio Ghibli fans are both anticipating and dreading the company’s next film, The Wind Rises, because it is the last movie directed by the illustrious Hayao Miyazaki before his retirement. While The Wind Rises has been received incredibly well in Japan and the film’s trailer has captivated the West, Ghibli is not resting on the laurels of Miyazaki’s farewell masterpiece. The studio has released details about its first film in the post-Miyazaki era, When Marnie Was There.

An adaptation of a children’s book written by Joan G. Robinson, When Marnie Was There will be directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi. Yonebayashi has previously served as a key animator on several Studio Ghibli projects, such as Ponyo, Howl’s Moving Castle, and Spirited Away. His talents are not limited to animation, however. Yonebayashi was the director of The Secret World of Arrietty, the film that holds the title of Studio Ghibli’s most-successful non-Miyazaki film with a gross of $89 million.

When Marnie Was There will serve as an important test for Studio Ghibli. Not only will Miyazaki be absent from the director’s chair, it appears that he will not be involved with the film in any way whatsoever. Still, he has left Ghibli and Yonebayashi with a vetted and experienced team for the movie. Keiko Niwa and Masashi Ando, two writers who have worked closely with Miyazaki on several projects, will be writing the script with Yonebayashi. While the legend himself will not be present, his presence will certainly be felt throughout the duration of the project.

An important indicator of a person’s legacy is how well his or her life’s work functions without the key individual at the helm. The questions about how Studio Ghibli will fare after The Wind Rises are the same questions we heard when Bill Gates moved on to philanthropy and when Steve Jobs died. Fortunately for Studio Ghibli, Miyazaki set up the company for success, even in his absence. He has developed a capable and talented crew to carry on his work and When Marnie Was There is their first chance to show skeptics what they can do. Yonebayashi has proven himself once as a director and he is working with two writers who understand why people all over the globe adore Studio Ghibli’s work. I have no doubt that When Marnie Was There will be the first of many successful movies in the post-Miyazaki era.

Do you have any concerns about a Studio Ghibli without Hayao Miyazaki? How can Hiromasa Yonebayashi distinguish himself from Miyazaki while retaining the quality of previous Ghibli films? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Via Variety

WELCOME TO EPISODE 12 OF THE INTERN-NET SHOW, WITH YOUR HOST CHRIS HARRISON.

THERE IS A VAST POOL OF EXCITING NEWS EVERY WEEK, AND IN OUR EFFORT TO BRING YOU BRAND NEW, ENGAGING CONTENT JOIN US IN A DISCUSSION ABOUT FILM, TV, COMIC BOOKS AND ANYTHING ELSE THAT GETS US TALKING. GOT SOMETHING TO SAY? THIS IS THE PLACE TO DO IT!

THIS WEEK, CHRIS DISCUSSES THE PASSING OF PETER O’TOOLE, SARAH CONNOR CASTING, SPIDERMAN SPIN OFFS AND IN A BRAND NEW SEGMENT ENTITLED “TEATIME TOPCS” CHRIS TAKES A LOOK AT THE MISERABLE VGX AWARDS.

MOST IMPORTANTLY, THIS SHOW IS ALL ABOUT YOU. GET INVOLVED IN THE DISCUSSION, TELL US WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT THESE STORIES AND IF THERE’S A STORY YOU WANT TO CREATE CONVERSATION ABOUT THEN THROW A QUESTION MY WAY EITHER ON TWITTER OR RIGHT HERE EACH WEEK. WE’RE WORKING ON MAKING THE SHOW EVEN BETTER SO DO MAKE ANY SUGGESTIONS YOU HAVE BELOW!

TELL YOUR FRIENDS TO JOIN THE INTERN-NET!

I have to say, One of Us has been pretty helpful to all you late shoppers. The Digital Noise Boys have put out two comprehensive guides full of suggestions of gifts you can give to the geek in your life. However, if you’re trying to avoid giving your loved ones boxed sets and Blu-Rays, it can be helpful to hear about what other types of nerd presents are prized among this community.

Thankfully for you, a few members of the INTERN-Net crew have volunteered to serve as your reference points. When we asked our team what they’d like to find under the tree this year, they has some interesting ideas (joke’s on them, because we’re just going to give them ornately wrapped boxes with nothing inside). We had to ask them to separate their wishes into real and fantastical gifts, so some of these gifts may be a bit out there. What does the INTERN-Net want this holiday season? I’ll start!

Regular Gift: Scorpion Jacket from Drive

Look, I get it. I can spend hours in front of the mirror using every beauty product imaginable, and I’m just not going to look like Ryan Gosling. It’s been rough, but I’ve come to terms with it. While his physical features may be unattainable, a replica of the jacket he wore in Drive is a scant $200+ dollars away from me. With this thing on, I’d feel like a real action hero as I cruised through the suburbs at 25 miles per hour in my clunky old Nissan. It’s all about attitude, guys.

Geektastic Gift: Fully-functional Iron Man armor

The story of Iron Man proves that anyone, even an alcoholic with limited combat experience, can save the world multiple times as long as the right equipment is accessible. I’d like to imagine that I would be as selfless as Tony Stark (at his best) and help the down-trodden if I was fortunate enough to possess the Iron Man armor. Of course, I’d probably just use it to fly around to exotic locations and fry buffalo wings with the repulsors. Don’t think of me as a hero.

Angelo Elauria

Regular Gift: Gandalf’s Pipe

I don’t smoke. Nor do I plan on smoking if I ever get this pipe. I just want to hold it in my hand, and stick it in my mouth to look cool. Sure, I can do that with any other kind of pipe, but why not use the pipe of the GOD DAMN WHITE WIZARD? That way, during arguments, I can just laugh, pull out this pipe, and belittle my friend and say, “Oh my, you really are nothing but a fool of a took.”

Geektastic Gift: A Real Portal Gun

There is so many possibilities to be had with my portal gun. I could leave a main portal at my house, so when I go out to travel somewhere, I can just port back home whenever I’m done. This cuts my travelling expenses in half! I could also think of some devious pranks to pull on my friends. I’m also pretty lazy, so I can just port miscellaneous items from around the house, just so I can reach them from the comfort of my couch. But mainly, I just want to play patty cake with myself.

Mason Daniel
Ah, yes — I finally have an excuse to proclaim my desire for Christmas gifts, both tangible and fantastical, without feeling like a jerk! Thanks, OOU!!

Regular Gift: Perfect Miles Davis Collection

Not sure if this counts as a bona fide geek item, but it’s at least in the realm of music geekery. My choice for an actual gift would be the Perfect Miles Davis Collection box set, which is comprised of twenty (!!!) of the jazz maestro’s albums, including his masterpieces Kind of Blue, Bitches Brew and A Tribute to Jack Johnson, among others. Davis was one of the first musicians I got into in my recent deep-sea dive of new music, and it would be awesome if I had a large portion of his work within my physical reach. I haven’t listened to all of these albums, but it’d sure be a sweet catch if I managed to get this set in all of its sexily packaged glory.

Geektastic Gift: General Zod’s armor

If I’m going to pick something out of the realm of possibility for a gift, then I’m going to betray my ambivalence for flashy accessories. Having said that, I would kill to have General Zod’s armor from Man of Steel. Once I saw the production stills and clips of Michael Shannon in it, I knew that this version of Zod was already an instant badass. Although I’m no Kryptonian, just to walk around in that thing out in public would truly make me feel as powerful an extra-terrestrial warlord, if only for a brief moment. I was even a smidge disappointed that Zod didn’t keep the cape on for most of the movie — that’s how attached I was to how frickin’ cool it looked. A bit superficial, I know. But isn’t that what comes with an imaginary gift? Hope everyone has a happy and safe holiday!

Caitlin Turner

Regular Gift: Steam and Amazon gift cards

Christmas is coming up again and I know what I want in my stocking, though I doubt I’m on Santa’s nice list. Still I’m hoping to see loads of Steam and Amazon gift cards with my name on them. Steam’s annual Christmas sale is coming up and as everyone knows, Steam’s sales are brutal on the wallet. Not to mention there are several things I’d like off Amazon. The deals simply call my name. So gift cards from either of those places would be very welcome.

Geektastic Gift: Geek Library

As for a more fantastical gift, that’s a tricky one. If I could have anything I guess it would be a library. Not just of books though but also of video games, comics, movies, TV shows, manga, and anime. Basically, imagine the library from Beauty and the Beast filled to the brim with stuff that would send my little geek heart a flutter. Plus it would solve that pesky problem of where to store everything.

John Eckes

Regular Gift: MacLeod Katana

I’m a pretty simple guy at heart. A tasty cold beer and the warm company of loved ones is all I ever really hope for come Christmas, but you don’t want to hear that shit! You want to hear what cool stuff I would like to get! If someone really got creative and had some cash to throw around they could get me matching Connor and Duncan MacLeod katana. Not the cheap crap mind you, high-end hand-forged tools of death only. Oh, add in some intensive lessons of course because what’s the point of having these babies if I don’t get to chop the crap out of something?

Geektastic Gift: Unca Scrooge’s Gold

If we’re leaving the realm of reality, I want Scrooge McDuck’s money bin and the three cubic acres of money held within. I don’t care if that makes me a greedy bastard or not, that’s what I want. With that kind of cash I could make pretty much any dream I wanted a reality. Unlike Scrooge I might even be inclined to give some away to charities and other worthy causes in the world and invest in industries I felt would help build a better tomorrow, and turn a profit of course. So there you go, one money bin please!

Chris Harrison

Damn. Those are some damn good choices that have come before me. But I’ll give it a go.

Regular Gift: Playstation 3

Shiny new consoles are great, but I can’t ultimately see the point of purchasing either one yet. I used to be a massive gamer, but that seems to have fell by the wayside quite a lot the past year or two. I think some of that has to do with how exhausted I’ve become with Microsoft and their once fantastic 360. Now, I’m forever disappointed by decisions, or entirely underwhelmed by programs such as games for gold. I want to regain my interest, and I want to get a Playstation 3 to ignite that spark once more and access some fantastic games that I missed this generation.

Geektastic Gift: A real life TARDIS

Editor’s Note: This is actually Chris Harrison at a mere 18 years of age

This one may not be surprising. I’d love a TARDIS, not only to travel around space and time at my own leisure but let’s be honest, to be pretty damn impressive to the ladies. I’d have a few good companions I tell ya!

I love the idea of customising my own theme and making it my own. I’d probably do more relaxing in it than the Doctor does though, there would definitely be the aforementioned PS3 attached to the console. Perhaps a cinema in there too? Stream movies from every time. Oh yeah, and maybe kill Hitler.

—

Well, hopefully some of these ideas give you a jumping off point if you need help picking a gift for the geek you love. Probably not, but hey, we tried.

Of course, we would love it if you used One of Us’ Amazon links to any and all of your online purchases. That way, some of the money you spend comes back to the site and helps us grow. Thank you for your support and happy holidays from One of Us!

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Blue Christmas.

A greater expression for regret has never been coined.

And yet, without fail, a team of tirelessly drinking young(ish) men and women gather each year and find themselves indulging in heroic quantities of booze, expressing themselves on microphones for hours on end without any rules or inhibitions, and possessing afterwards memories only of a stunning headache and the faint feeling that they’ve probably said a few things they never would have otherwise.

This is Blue Christmas.

Year after year.

But this year, something had changed. This year, it wasn’t the old Blue Christmas. It was the first episode of oneofus.net‘s periodic show “The Gathering” that brings together all the various talent from across the website and puts them together at one event. It was also the first time we recorded one of these live. I’m sure once I’ve read the comments from people who’ve listened to the whole thing I’ll discover what a horrible idea that actually was.

Regardless, for posterity, here’s the saved recording of the whole boozy affair. It’s not meant to be professional, inoffensive, or perhaps even listenable; it simply is what it is.

The sound quality on the first part will differ from the rest and it will improve. That’s just the final warning before you enter the world of these ruffians. Good luck.

After a very heavily criticized fourth season, Community is set to return on January 2nd of next year with its original showrunner Dan Harmon back in control of the program. Now that we’re only three weeks away from its premiere, there’s a trailer showing us what’s in store for Greendale and our beloved study group. So, arm those paintball guns and get ready to “POP POP” cause Community‘s coming back, baby! Following his graduation from Greendale at the end of last season, Jeff Winger (Joel McHale) tries to start up his own legal practice instead of going back to the one that got him disbarred in the first place. Unfortunately, it seems as if his best laid plans resulted in miserable failure and he is forced to go back to the community college he just left to take up a teaching job. From there, the general bizarre chaos of Greendale continues, complete with ass crack bandits, post apocalyptic cults and Ben Chang’s (Ken Jeong) implied bodily fluids. Watch the trailer below;

Community is one of my favorite shows on television. Sure, its had its rough patches (and most of them were in season 4), but that still doesn’t dampen the excitement of seeing all of our favorite Greendale students return, including the study group, Starburns, Magnitude and even Leonard. Looking at the trailer, there seems to obviously be plenty of the outlandish pop culture related plot lines we love about the show, with my personal favorite being Starburns in the underwear outfit from the Sean Connery sci-fi cult vehicle Zardoz. There’s even a few hints at the emotional character arcs that made the show have its stain power beyond the pop culture references with Jeff’s acceptance of his failures.

The self-aware nature of the show even has its time to shine with Troy’s Zach Braff joke, in reference to Donald Glover’s own announcement that he’ll be leaving Community five episodes into this upcoming season. That is one of my biggest curiosities of this fifth season. Troy as character was integral to how the series functioned, particularly in terms of his friendship with Abed. I’m both saddened by that fact that a talent as proficient as Glover is leaving and excited by how Harmon will weave this unfortunate news into a compelling arc for everyone on the show, though particularly for Abed. Speaking of character arcs, Jeff’s is the one that gives me a bit of worry. Sure, exploring Jeff’s failure after trying to set up his own law practice has great potential, but turning him into a teacher at Greendale seems a bit too obvious and familiar a concept to go for, especially with a unique creative force like Dan Harmon back at the helm. Then again, if it allows us to have Jeff spend time with staff members like John Oliver and Jonathan Banks, I’m cool with it.

So, what do you all think the trailer? How will Troy be phased out? Can Jeff get back on his feet? Will there be any mention of elephant in the room that is Pierece Hawthorne? Voice your thoughts in the comments below!

By now, you might have heard that there is a Terminator reboot in the works. The new film is to be titled Terminator: Genesis, Alan Taylor (of Game of Thrones and Thor: The Dark World fame) is directing and Emilia Clarke (also from Game of Thrones) has been cast in the role of Sarah Connor. Alongside all of this news, it has been reported that actor Jason Clarke is in talks to play resistance leader John Connor in the new movie.

Those who recognize Clarke may recall his roles in recent films such as Zero Dark Thirty, Lawless, The Great Gatsby and White House Down. Each of those movies differs drastically from the others, so it can be assumed that Clarke has some width of range as an actor. From my perspective I think Clarke is a great choice. He’s not really a box office draw to be sure, but he’s got an intensity that I think will be great for the role, more so than Bale was able to give to the character in Terminator: Salvation.

So it seems that Terminator: Genesis is taking some pretty interesting strides since its existence was confirmed. A healthy dose of Game of Thrones talent and possibly adding a pretty great actor in the John Connor role and this project suddenly becomes interesting as opposed to dreadful. Surely there will be fans out there that disagree and don’t even want to see another sequel let alone a reboot. I too am sort of in that camp, but I’m kind of liking everything coming out about the film so far.

What are your thoughts on the possible casting of Jason Clarke? Do you want to see a Terminator reboot? Any suggestions on who you would’ve liked to play John Connor? Tell us what you think in the comments!

Via: Deadline

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Welcome back to All I Want for Geekmas, OneOfUsNet’s holiday gift guide series brought to you by Digital Noise.

For this latest holiday media feast, we bring you the epic main course of the year’s best Blu-ray releases of blockbuster movies. However, first we will tempt and tease your palate with an appetizer of our favorite documentaries to hit home release in 2013. Remember, these films were not necessarily released in theaters this year, but they did become available for purchase on DVD or Blu-ray in 2013.

Joining us at the table is young William Goss from Film.Com and Empire Magazine. A fantastic writer and wickedly funny guy whom you should all be reading, by the way. Really in-depth discussion, lots of geekgasming, and a decadent garnish of terrible puns that you will find hard to swallow.

Remember, all the links below go directly to Amazon and getting there from here supports the site no matter what you buy.

The Documentaries…

The Blockbusters…

When I started this gig, I never thought I’d be covering anything local. The state of North Dakota doesn’t come up often in national news, let alone Grand Forks, the city in which I reside. All that changed due the actions of one man, Christopher McComas. An IT guy from a West Virginian school (Marshall University), McComas got the screwball idea to submit a rather unusual application for head coach for the University of North Dakota’s football team when he learned of the position’s availability via Twitter.

Here is the letter McComas sent to Brian Faison, UND’s athletic director:

“Mr. Faison,

I would like to express to you my interest in your now open position for head coach of football at the University of North Dakota

Currently, I work in IT at a college in West Virginia, but I have many years of experience with football, starting with attending my first Marshall University football game when I was 3 years old. In the past 30 years I’ve only missed a handful of Marshall’s home games, attended many road games, and all of their bowl games.

All the while I played various football games including Madden on Sega Genesis where I completely dominated with the Bills and Thurman Thomas. Seriously, was he a beast on the game or was he a beast because I was a football genius controlling him? I then moved on to a Playstation gaming system and purchased NCAA Football every year and put together several programs that completely dominated the recruiting scene and college football winning several national titles with Marshall University. I took them from a decent Mid-American Conference School on the game to a perennial national power that makes Nick Saban look like a chump. One year my third string quarterback left school early to enter the NFL Draft, he was a first round pick. Boom.

My football philosophy is basically an attacking one. We’re going to give AIR RAID a whole new definition. Theoretically how many times do you think a team can pass in a game? Challenge accepted. We’re going 5 wide, chucking the pigskin all over the place. Never punt. Onside every time. Chip Kelly will be calling me to learn my offense. We will put on an exciting brand of football, we will pack them into the Alerus Center night in and night out, go ahead and blow the roof off the place and add about 35,000 seats to that place.

I would love to speak with you further regarding this opening and what I can bring to UND, putting UND back on the national map and making NDSU our (b****).

Attached to this email you will find a PowerPoint with more information.

Thanks,

Christopher McComas

PS – I prefer Coke to Pepsi, so go ahead and fill the fridge up in the head coach’s office with Coke.”

Christopher McComas

McComas’s pitch did go on to include a PowerPoint presentation (which you can view in its entirety here) and other bits of foolishness. Part of the charm here is the actual amount of effort it must have taken to put this thing together. If he would have slap-dashed this together, it wouldn’t have been given a second glance.

Now UND is more than the local college, it is also my alma mater and the oldest institution of higher learning in the state. It is the very reason I now call the city of Grand Forks my home. Long story short, UND is a place of respect where I’m from, but funny is funny and McComas scored a touchdown with a two point conversion with this one!

The hometown reaction has been one of mostly general bemusement about the whole thing. I’m just glad McComas went after our football program instead our hockey team, (one of the best in the country by the way, not that I care about sports much) as that may well have had angry North Dakotans calling for his head. I personally think we should invite Mr. McComas up to Grand Forks for one big citywide bash to show we aren’t without a sense of humor and can take a joke. We’ve reacted badly to jokes at our expense before, only to look like bigger fools and be mocked more. I personally will go as far as to say if McComas does come up and we do meet, I’ll buy him a beer. What more could you ask than that?

Which teams do you think should also receive Chris McComas’ resume? What jobs are you “qualified” for, based on your geeky passions? Let us know in the comments!

Via the Grand Forks Herald

The holidays are a time for giving, and showing your appreciation for those who are important to you. This year gave birth to OneOfUs.Net and its growth and success is entirely thanks to you, our fantastic readers and listeners. Therefore, we thought we’d give back.

Dawn we now our Mondo giveaway!

That’s right, we’re giving away one of the limited edition Mondo Dawn of the Dead posters by artist Jeff Proctor. It may seem odd to give away a poster for such a violent horror film at Christmas time, but we found it entirely fitting considering the current madness unfolding at any given shopping mall. Romero was right!!! Plus, you know…Dawn of the Dead!!!

Take a look…

HOW CAN YOU WIN?!

Even though Christmas is coming up, we’ve set up an Easter Egg hunt!

Hidden somewhere within the site is a link that will reveal a code word for the giveaway. Once you find it, send a Twitter DM to @oneofusnet (make sure you’re following us) with that code word. We will select a winner at random from the pool of those who sent us the correct code word.

WARNING: DO NOT SHARE THE CODE WORD WITH ANYONE!!!

Not only will we disqualify your entry if we see you posting the code word in the comments or on social media, but also keep in mind that the fewer people who find the word, the more likely it is that you will win.

Winner will be announced Christmas Day!

Good luck, and Happy Holi-Dead!

2012’s 21 Jump Street was a big surprise, both as a big financial hit for the studio and as a genuinely uproarious comedy. It managed to subvert the expectations of the usual reboot trend with plenty of meta humor that the film’s directors Phil Lord & Chris Miller (Clone High, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs) expertly delivered and showed off the previously untapped comedic chops of Channing Tatum. Now it seems like Tatum and Jonah Hill are coming back to kick some ass undercover in the most creatively-titled sequel ever, 22 Jump Street.

After stopping a drug ring in a high school during the first film, police officers Morton Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Greg Jenko (Channing Tatum) are assigned another bust. This time though, the two will have to pose as college students and attempt to join the fraternity that sparked the drug ring. Friendships will be tested, parties will be had, and their lives will be changed forever… so they’ll pretty much get the usual college experience. View the trailer below:

As a fan of the first film, I’m a bit worried based on this trailer. The opening bit with the return of Nick Offerman’s deputy character is clearly a call back to his brilliant line from the first film that showed the self aware nature 21 Jump Street was going for right from the start. However, the way it’s integrated here feels like a retread of what happened before. The same goes from many of the gags and story hints that pop up in the trailer, such as Jonah Hill buddying up with the art crowd while undercover and the wild partying in which he and Tatum participate. Based on their previous work, I still do have confidence that Phil Lord and Chris Miller will put their usual creative voices into the film and come up with new & fun situations for these characters to go through, but this initial trailer doesn’t totally sell it. Then again, I was also quite dubious that the first film would even be watchable based on some of those trailers and I was pleasantly proved wrong.

Now, there is some fun stuff about the trailer. Despite some retreading, it’s still clear that Tatum and Hill have that same chemistry from the original intact. This especially comes through in the “shut the fuck up” scene, where the two of them show that they are still on the same relative wavelength, like any good friends would be. Perhaps that chemistry will lead to different character dynamics that this trailer isn’t quite selling, but only time will tell. Plus, it’s nice to see Ice Cube, Rob Riggle and Dave Franco return. Riggle’s bit in particular had me in stitches and gave the trailer a satisfying joke to end on.

But how did you all feel? Does this look like a genuinely fun continuation of the original film or will the same jokes be recycled? Post your thoughts in the comments below.

Via YouTube

Post-Miyazaki, Studio Ghibli Forges Ahead With ‘Marnie’

The INTERN-net Show #12: VGXtra failure!