Gary Oldman Quits Star Wars Sequel. As was widely reported, Gary Oldman was set to be the voice of General Grievous, a half-robot, half-alien in Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith, that is said to have been the end of many Jedi. Yet word came out this week that Oldman has quit, because the film was made outside of the rules of the Screen Actor's Guild. A spokesperson for Oldman put it this way: "Gary was excited and looking forward to working on the film. The snag is that the movie is being made without members of the Screen Actor's Guild. It means Gary would have been working illegally overseas. Out of respect and solidarity with the other members, he could not and would not consider violating the rules of his union."

Locklear's S-Word Faux Pas. People watching Live With Regis & Kelly last Monday were treated to three interesting parts of the show. One was Heather Locklear, promoting the series premiere of her new NBC drama, LAX. The second was when she actually flubbed the name of her own husband of 10 years, Richie Sambora. The third was when she proceeded this mistake by shouting, "S--t!!!" The error --the first one-- occurred when Regis himself erred by saying she was married to Jon Bon Jovi, whom Sambora has been in a band with since the 1980's. Locklear then gave a family anecdote where she referred to a bed in her house belonging to her and "Jon," leading to laughs from the audience. When Locklear uttered the infamous s-word after discovering her little mistake, Kelly Ripa eased her worries by saying, "We can probably bleep that out." Fortunately for the show --which could've been fined for the outburst-- Kelly was right; the show's censors quickly edited the show from the actual broadcast. 

Sky Captain's Bold Filmmaking Tactic. Among the most interesting aspects of this week's biggest movie release, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, is how almost all of it doesn't exist. Aside from the live actors themselves, everything else was done in front of blue screen, aside from a few stage props, meaning that everything you see is a piece of pure imagination. The imaginative filmmaking approach has received many accolades from critics, with Roger Ebert even giving it his highest rating, of four out of four stars. Says Ebert: "It's like a film that escaped from the imagination directly onto the screen, without having to pass through reality along the way." However, some critics who insist that a movie is all about storytelling, insist that this otherwise visually stunning film has no story to tell. These latter critics seem to be in the minority: 71 percent of the critics surveyed by Rotten Tomatoes' web site liked the film, which, given the track record of such action-savvy FX films in the past, is actually quite high.

Was The Apprentice's Concept Ripped Off? Mark Bethea, a Los Angeles businessman, claims to have been the originator of the idea for NBC's surprising hit, The Apprentice. The series is made by Mark Burnett --the same source of CBS' Survivor series-- and involves Donald Trump challenging various young big-business hopefuls to become the head of one of his many projects. Yet Bethea is suing Mark Burnett Productions, claiming that he tried to pitch the idea of the series to them three years ago, and they stole the idea. This lawsuit may have more grounds than merely he said/he said, however, with Friday's Los Angeles Times reporting that Bethea did in fact register such an idea for a series with the Writers Guild of America as early as 2000 --four years before the series premiered-- with the intended title "C.E.O." Bethea is also said to suggest in his show concept that Trump should be in it.

Star Wars on DVD next week. As if you needed to be told: Star Wars, the original trilogy will be on store shelves this Tuesday. Many early bird reviews make it sound like the must-have DVD set of the year, as if fans didn't know that already. What's more; the DVDs have each been "tweaked" with a refined picture quality, great audio and even a few altered scenes, which should make seeing the films again even more intriguing. Of particular note to those of us at Techtite.com is how the Emperor's hologram scene in Empire Strikes Back has been completely revised to include the actor who plays him in all later films (the vision of the Emperor, until now, was actually a composite image of an old woman and a monkey. As Yoda would say: I kid you not!). A full review of the DVD --as if you need one-- will be on Techtite.com's DVD page when the DVD set hits store shelves, Tuesday next week.

Martha Stewart Wants Jail Time "Now". Martha Stewart said on Wednesday this week, that she asked a federal judge to begin her jail time now. Stewart was sentenced to five months for conspiracy, making false statements and obstruction of justice, in a highly publicized insider trading scandal. Apparently, Martha's appeals --or so one must assume-- are not going very well, with her TV show on hold until her sentence is completed. As one tongue-in-cheek message board poster put it, "This may be the first time anyone found guilty for a crime was allowed to declare exactly when their jail sentence would commence."

Many Italian-Americans Want "Shark Tale" to Sink. We've all seen the trailers, and if you ask all of us here at Techtite.com; Shark's Tale looks pretty dumb. The film portrays a story as if there is a shark "underworld" of sorts, with voices provided by Robert DeNiro, as well as many cast members of The Sopranos. Yet many Italian-Americans are unamused at the stereotyping in the film, which casts its Italian-American voice actors as part of a shark "mafia," with DeNiro playing their boss, "Don Lino." Laurence Auriana, president of The Columbus Citizens Foundation, said that "It is startling that this entertainment should come from DreamWorks, one of whose principals, Steven Spielberg , has been an outspoken opponent of stereotyping and discrimination." The Foundation also released a public statement, declaring that the film uses "unprecedented use of ethnic stereotypes to characterize villains." Some people may wonder if all this attempt to derail the film is for naught, however: it's intended release date is November 5th, on the same day Disney's animation giant Pixar releases their next inevitable box office smash, The Incredibles.

Eisner Still Leaves Dissidents Unamused. Michael Eisner made news last week when he confessed that he is indeed planning to step down as chief executive of the Disney corporation...in 2006. This isn't good news to dissidents of Eisner's performance, however, not only because it's two years away, but because as they put it, the move will only be six of one, half a dozen of the other. Both Roy E. Disney and Stanley Gold, whose desire for a better managed Disney Corporation can be read at the web site Save Disney, wrote an open letter to the Disney board, calling Eisner's announcement "mere window dressing." The move, claim Gold and Disney, is actually just a way for Eisner to hand the torch over to "his obedient lieutenant Bob Iger," meaning that a company now run by Eisner and Iger would be run by Iger and Eisner. The pair also stated that unless the current board of directors replaces Eisner, they plan to nominate new directors as of the company's board meeting in March.

Will Star Wars E3's Script Beat the Film? Mark April 2nd, 2005 on your calendars, Star Wars fans; it's the planned release date for the book, The Art of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. However, what makes this all the more interesting, as reported by The Force.net, is that these art books always include the original script for the film. That places the entire script of this last Star Wars movie, spoilers and all, in everyone's hands no less than a month and a half before the film even hits theaters. The move is seen as a marketing ploy to best publicize what will be the last Star Wars film ever made (or so George Lucas insists). The plan is apparently so that when May 19th rolls around, we're all thinking about nothing but Star Wars. For many fans, that's not going to be hard.

Nudity Invades Video Games. You'd think nudity in games would be unlikely these days, especially after the commotion last year involving the bike game, BMX XXX (which, due to some scenes where the girls bike riders lose their shirts, was pulled from the shelves at Wal-Mart). Yet nudity seems to be a major issue in gaming this week, more than ever before. At the start of the month, Both X-Box and Playstation-2 were offered an admittedly uninspired yet still thoroughly nude interactive game show, The Guy Game. Then just last week, no less than four video game heroines are shown in a mock "pictorial" in Playboy magazine, posing completely topless (including cult favorite Bloodrayne, shown here...censored, of course). Then this week, The Sims 2 was released in stores, complete with "DNA" simulation that allows a simulated couple in the game to have children born with their unique character traits. In mere weeks come the two creams of the crop: Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude, along with a simulation game called quite simply Playboy Mansion. "Games should simply be fun," responded one message board patron to the ongoing nudity in the gaming community, "that said, The Guy Game is total garbage. The New Leisure Suit Larry game looks like it could be hilarious though. Neither game will or won't sell because of nudity. It's all in the fun of the game." 

Matrix Online Delayed to 2005. Sega and Warner Brothers Entertainment announced this week that the highly anticipated Matrix Online will not be released in November 2004 as planned, but instead is now scheduled for January 18th, 2005. Pre-orders are to be offered as early as next week, however, allowing diehard gamers to participate in the game's closed beta around the time of the game's originally planned release (November 18th, 2004). Participants in this beta will also get the final game three days before it goes public, as well as a special "hyper jump" effect within the game.

Arcade Treasures 2 In October. All three current video game systems will enjoy a sequel to the classic arcade game collection, Midway Arcade Treasures. The second installment will be priced at a mere $20, and will include the following Midway hits: APB, Arch Rivals, Championship Sprint, Cyberball 2072, Gauntlet 2, Hard Drivin', Kozmik Kroozr', Mortal Kombat 3, Mortal Kombat II, NARC, Pit Fighter, Primal Rage, Rampage World Tour, Spy Hunter 2, Timber, Total Carnage, Wacko, Wizard of Wor, Xenophobe, and Xybots. The planned release for Midway Arcade Treasures 2 is on or around October 11th.

Larry's Magna Cum Laude Goes Gold. Vivendi Universal games announced this week that the highly anticipated sequel to the classic Sierra game series, Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude, has gone gold for all intended gaming platforms: PC, X-Box, and Playstation-2. This means the game will be available on all three systems, as planned, on October 5th. Many online game sites have commented on how funny the game looks, though even more have commented on how much of a departure the game will be from the original storyline. The original game designer for all 8 prior Larry games, Al Lowe, was not consulted for this game. In addition, the game will not involve the middle-aged Larry Laffer, but rather his nephew, Larry Lovage, a college senior. Gamers will help Lovage try to win a dating contest on his college campus. More news when the game hits store shelves. 

20 X-Box Owners Play Halo 2 Early. Microsoft this week announced a sweepstakes for its X-Box Live Subscribers. To qualify, you must have a valid X-Box Live account on or before October 15th, with the sweepstakes held a week later. Winners will be given a three day and two night trip to Bungee's studios in Redmond, Washington, where they will get to play Halo 2's multiplayer game. They will also get a tour of the studios, as well as round trip air travel, hotel accommodations, and meals. The contest will only have 20 winners, but don't fret; this is as good of a sign as any that the game is on schedule for release November 9th to all game stores nationwide.

On GBA, Finding Nemo Continues. Game Boy Advance players can enjoy Finding Nemo: The Continuing Adventures as of this week. The storyline picks up where the movie left off, where the inhabitants of a dentist's fish tank have recently escaped. It is up to you to help Nemo, Marlin, Dory, and their friends to bring these escaped fish to their new homes in the ocean. Sounds like a cute game sequel idea.

Doom Movie News. It seems that the release of Doom 3 has thrust forward plans for a movie based on the game series. So far, the film has an apparent lead for the movie, Karl Urban (most recently seen as the assassin in The Bourne Supremacy), and a director, Andrzej Bartkowiak. Production for the film is scheduled to begin in October, with the film's planned release next year on August 5th; one year after this year's release of Doom 3.

Worst Game of the Year...or Actually Good? If a game gets one star at three game review sites, and 7 or higher at three others, it must be The Guy Game. The game really got low marks at the game review sites for Gamespy, 1up, and XBox Addict. However, Team X-Box gave it 7.3 out of 10, while PGNx Media gave it 8 out of 10, with the well known IGN giving it 7.7 out of 10. Who's right? We'll only quote the defense and offense of the game from the strongest of the above review sources. IGN's positive review, even at a startling high 7.7 out of 10, can only conclude by saying, "The way I look at The Guy Game is this: It may be tasteless, but...it's fun tastelessness." Meanwhile, Gamespy's one-out-of-five review concludes with this piece of offense against the defensive: "...''But it's a great drunken party game!' some will scream. I'm sorry, but it's far too complicated and asinine for intoxicated people to grasp...People who want nudity will buy nudity that doesn't make you jump through hoops to get to it." Not to be outdone, Techtite.com's X-Box and Playstaion sections will have a review as well, by next week.

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