The Warrior’s Way is a hyper-surrealistic ride that is part Kung Fu Hustle, part Ninja Scroll and part Lone Wolf & Cub. I hadn’t quite made up my mind about the film when I sat down to view it. On one hand the film promised cowboys versus ninjas but on the other hand the trailer seemed like the film might be trying to take the insane premise a little too seriously to truly be enjoyed. But in a rare instance the trailer was wrong, but for once in a good way.

The film never decides it is going to take itself too seriously, and also has heart, which is a painfully hard thing to do with films that deal in the lone swordsman genre, where the crux is looking angsty and cutting up as many people as humanly possible. The film has some great slice and dice moments, as well as a lighter side.

The film is the story of the world’s greatest swordsman (and how he comes upon that title is a bit that yelled Scott Pilgrim to me) who is about to achieve his clan’s goal of eradicating their rival clan once and for all; only the final member is a baby girl. In a scene that set and really changed the tone of the film, this life long killer decides to hang up the sword “for a new life” and takes the child and goes on the run.

He makes his new home in a small troubled town in the middle of the desert populated by kind hearted circus folk and learns to how to create instead of simply killing. Of course his past finds him, and you get plenty of cowboy verses ninja action, but that isn’t all this film has to offer. The film manages somehow to take characters that even in their own country have turned into simple stereotypes and make them simply more than cardboard genre cutouts. The film also manages to make you laugh as well and even manages to throw in a love interest as well.

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Guest Post By Jared I. Greene

A well known torrent site – www.suprnova.org – recently decided to leave the torrent business and move to something less controversial. Suprnova.org owner Andrej Preston plans to completely change the direction of the content while keeping the same name. Preston has always loved entertainment, but recently decided that he no longer wanted to consume media, but also create it. Thus, his decision to change Suprnova.org to a TV website hosting original, reality-based short shows that are 1-7 minutes long.

The power of instant feedback in the internet drives the website, users will have the ability to make requests and comments on the show, what they’d like to see and what they wouldn’t. Preston says, “I want the content to be user inspired. I want all the shows to also be created in a way where people are encouraged to say how they feel about something and instead of just watching the show, participate in a discuss(ion) that goes on way after they have seen an ‘episode’.” Shows will give viewers a dependable, continuous source of entertainment, rather than random video clips (virals anyone?)

He says, “The goal is also to get community involved and be able to participate in forum like discussions based on the episode that they just saw” which will give viewers an interactive experience with the shows unseen with television, “I want the content to be user inspired.”

I know what you’re thinking now, a website that allows its users to request videos and comment on them, sounds like Youtube or Dailymotion to me. The new Suprnova.org, will not be “anything goes” as Preston points out, “It is intended for shows which are released weekly and people know what they will get instead of watching a brand new clip of a double rainbow (if you know what I mean).”

There are four videos currently in production, the website is planned to launch some time in January 2011.

Also, be sure to note that www.suprnova.com still exists, but it is clone scam site, it does not offer torrents; it just steals your money, and is in no way affiliated with suprnova.org, despite the fact that it looks identical to the old layout of suprnova.org. Don’t be fooled!

Alison Haislip is one of today’s coolest gamer chicks, and she happens to be locally grown… well, close to locally, anyway. I had a chance to ask this Attack of the Show! co-host some questions. Read on to find out about her experiences as the co-host for American Ninja Warrior, some interesting facts about the Japanese crepe trend, what her favorite games are, and how little I actually know about the geography of New Jersey.

I understand that you’ve just returned from Mount Midoriyama in Japan, where you were filming the second American Ninja Warrior. Can you tell me about that?

This past trip marks my 3rd trek to the Land of the Rising Sun, and every time I go back there, I’m more and more impressed by what I see at Mt. Midoriyama. I don’t think many people realize that the entire competition is run in one day! It starts around 9:30am and depending on how far competitors get, it could last until 4:00 or 5:00 IN THE MORNING. While I can’t say how our American Ninjas did this time around, I can say we had a late night. American Ninja Warrior starts airing December 8th, so you’ll have to tune in to see why! I promise our viewers won’t be disappointed.

How did you become the co-host of American Ninja Warrior?

G4 asked me if I wanted to do it, and I said ‘Hells yes!’ Last season, I hosted with G4’s very own Blair Herter, and this year, I’m hosting with Sports Soup’s Matt Iseman and MMA commentator for Bellator’s Jimmy Smith. All these guys have been a dream to work with, which makes the show that much better. But beyond the hosts, it’s really the competitors that make this show. It’s one of the few game shows out there where people come to compete not for any prize (although there’s a HUGE one of $250,000 being offered this season to anyone conquers Mt. Midoriyama), but for the shear opportunity to get to say you did it. To say you ran the actual Ninja Warrior course in Japan. And because of that, the athletes who turn up for this show are the most focused, ego-free people you’ll ever meet. And THAT is really the joy of hosting this show. Although the free trip to Japan doesn’t hurt either.

Did you get a chance to do anything fun in Japan? If so, please elaborate!

It was a super quick trip this time around, but I did get the chance to do some serious shopping and get a crepe. Many people ask me why on earth you would get a crepe in Japan. Well, much like we’re going through a ‘self-serve frozen yogurt’ craze here in the States, Japan is having a ‘crepe’ craze. There are crepe stands that offer over 80 different kinds of crepes. They’re wrapped up like large ice cream cones, so you can eat them while you walk, and you can get everything in them from ice cream, fruit, graham crackers, and even a piece of cheesecake to tuna and lettuce. They make them fresh on the spot and they are delicious, so people need to stop knocking my Japanese crepe cravings.

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Right after finished graduate school at Arcadia University, the college that brought me to Philadelphia in the first place, I wrapped up my first novel… a quirky romantic comedy called Textual Healing. It began as a project my senior year of undergrad, and was finished my second year living in Philadelphia.

I spent a while shopping the book around and working with an agent, and in the end, opted to go indie. Over the past month or so, I’ve been releasing the book as a free, downloadable podiobook… and the book finally hit Amazon and Barnes & Noble earlier last week. It’s an exciting time for me, and I’d love to see some of you Geekadelphia readers at the novel’s release bash this Friday. And it shouldn’t surprise you that the celebration… is at Tattooed Mom.

Along with the usual drink specials, I’ll be selling copies of the book for the same amount it costs me to buy them from my publisher. Some musicians that have been writing songs inspired by the book (Jay and Peter) will be performing acoustic sets in the back room of T-Moms upstairs, and my pal Christine Eriksen is making cupcakes based on a section of the book involving Pop Tarts. Mm!

So come and have some fun. With over 100 people RSVP’d on the Facebook event page, this is going to be one hell of a release bash. Thanks for your support, Geeks.

Textual Healing Release Bash @ Tattooed Mom
Friday, December 10th @ 8PM
[ Facebook Event Page ]

Textual Healing on Amazon [ Here ]

Recently, a reader introduced me to the joys of Living In 8-Bits, an online web series produced by South Jersey production company Mixed Nuts.

I… I really don’t know what else to say, save for WATCH THIS. Hilarious, and I’m absolutely loving this series. Catch up on the various episodes, and make sure you watch the Paperboy one I’ve embedded above. It’s by far my favorite.

Living in 8-Bits
www.livingin8bits.com

Philadelphia’s Autumn Society have one last show in store for you this year, just in time for the holidays. Entitled PLAYTIME!, this is the Autumn Society’s first charity art show. The group will display art inspired by their favorite toys.

But why PLAYTIME? Why art inspired by toys? Here’s the art collective’s thoughts on the project.

Toys bring children joy, spark imaginations and inspire creativity. Help others in the Philadelphia area so that less fortunate children can still have the joy of a new toy this holiday season. What was your first toy? Your favorite? What amazing adventures did you go on with your action figures? What distant planets did you explore with your spaceship?

The Autumn Society will have a donation box on site for new, unwrapped toys for Philadelphia’s Toys for Tots chapter at Brave New Worlds’ storefront gallery. Along with toy donations, a portion of art proceeds will go towards Toys for Tots nationally.

PLAYTIME
Opening Reception December 3, 2010 6-9pm
Brave New Worlds Comics

The future is finally here. First theorized and demonstrated famous inventor, Nikola Tesla in the early 20th Century, wireless energy transfer finally has a practical, commercial application operating under a universal standard, “Qi” (pronounced chee).

Utilizing inductive charging, a sub-section of wireless energy transfer, Energizer has launched the first charger based on a new universal standard developed by the Wireless Power Consortium (Yes, there’s an actual consortium surrounding wireless power technology). The premise behind the conveniently-named Inductive Charger is as simple as the standard. Charge your low power (<5w) devices cord-free by simply setting it on the surface power station pad, which is connected to your AC wall outlet.

Right now, Energizer offers a sleeve for the iPhone 3G/3GS and BlackBerry Curve 8900 door-replacement that allow compatibility with the Inductive Charger. There’s a whole slew of devices being developed for the Qi standard (mobile phones, cameras, MP3 players). As a person with a severe gadget problem, I’m looking forward to reducing the fuss and clutter of wires and cables.

More information: www.energizer.com/inductive.

PS, check out this silly video featuring Hans, an omniscient floating talking head praising the advancements of future-is-now technology, such as this impressive Qi charger from Energizer.

Disclosure: Geekadelphia was not compensated for the content that appears in this post.
We were sent a free sample of the product, the Energizer Qi inductive Charger.

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of LG. All opinions are 100% mine.

LG Electronics is celebrating a big first… they’ve launched their very first Windows Phone 7 device, the appropriately named LG Optimus 7. It’s a new smartphone chock full of features that uses Microsoft’s newest operating system. Engadget covered the sweet little device back in October, and thanks to our friends at Social Spark and LG, we’ve caught wind of the gadget.

The phone does a lot of the usual smartphone-ish things, the sort of sweet extras us geeks have come to expect from modern mobile devices. The ability to shoot video, take high quality photos, listen to music, and a voice-to-text feature that does exactly what it sounds like… transfers your voice into text for MMS, Facebook, Twitter, and email updates.

But the phone isn’t without unique features. ScanSearch, a program that allows users to access real-time information about shopping, dining, entertainment, etc. comes installed on the phone. Oh, and the LG Optimus 7 has 720P HD video resolution, and can access Xbox Live services. Scope out your favorite games in the Marketplace? Awesome.

The camera also has 16GB of internal memory and a decent 5MP camera. I’ve put a few stock images of the phone up above, have a look, and make sure you scope out this insanely clever commercial that Microsoft whipped up for the phone.

Enjoy.

Note: All proceeds from this sponsored post are going towards Philadelphia’s first all-ages, non-profit literacy journal, The Apiary.

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