MTV is looking for geeks!

The music channel is putting together a reality show called LAST PICKS, in which unpopular kids finally get a chance to be the heroes at their school with the help of a geek “A-Team,” experts in such areas of sci-fi, math, and computers.

Axial Entertainment, which is producing the pilot, is currently casting the show, which will begin shooting in December.

Here’s what they are looking for:

“Geek A-Team (at least five people): males and females, 18-24, who will help give the unpopular kids a day in the sun. Must be geek experts, must have a geeky look, an area of geek expertise, and the ability to interact with high schoolers comfortably. Looking for real-life Napoleon Dynamites who live on the East Coast within a reasonable distance from New York.

“Send pix and a statement describing what type of geek you are (sci-fi, theater, math, band, computer, weird, etc.) to casting@axialentertainment.com or mail to: David Garfield, Axial Entertainment, 770 Broadway, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10003. This is a paid gig.”

Producers are also looking for the following: “high schoolers, aged 16 or up, who aren’t exactly the kings or queens of popularity. If you feel left out of the popular crowd, and have spent your whole life as an outsider, then we are looking for you. Always wanted to be prom queen? Always the last picked in gym? Want to be class president, but no one even knows who you are? You are the person we’re looking for.

“Please email us and tell us a little about yourself (age, interests, hobbies, friends), your school and your town. Are there people at the school who pick on you? Also tell us what your status is in your school, why you think you qualify as someone who is ‘last picked’ and why you think you deserve a chance at beating the popular kids at their own game. Of particular interest — tell us if there are any upcoming events that you feel excluded from and want to be a part of (proms, homecomings, big games, school elections, etc.) If possible, please supply a photo as well. Please send emails to casting@axialentertainment.com.”

• Alan Moore is coming to Springfield! The LOST GIRLS writer will appear with Homer, Bart, and the gang in an upcoming episode of THE SIMPSONS. Moore, who recorded his lines last month for the episode titled “Husbands and Knives,” will feature in a sub-plot where he makes a public appearance at a new comic book store that’s in direct competition with Android’s Dungeon, the shop owned by Comic Book Guy. [Link]
• The release date for STARDUST, the movie adaptation of the Neil Gaiman novel, was moved from March 2007 to July 2007. Gaiman announced on his blog that Paramount Pictures decided to move the release date after studio heads viewed a rough cut of the film and thought it was strong enough to be a “summer tentpole” movie. [Link]
• Morgan Freeman is in final talks to star in WANTED, based on the graphic novel series by Mark Millar. [Link]
• Hugh Jackman will produce and star in THE AMATEUR, a film adaptation of the Robert Littell spy novel. [Link]
• Eva Mendes has been cast as Roxanne in the upcoming GHOST RIDER film. [Link]
• Matt Lanter has been cast in the lead role in WAR GAMES 2: THE DEAD CODE, the upcoming sequel to the 1983 film starring Matthew Broderick. [Link].
• Lena Headey (BROTHERS GRIMM) has landed the title role in THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES, the Fox pilot based on the TERMINATOR films. [Link]
• The NBC drama STUDIO 60 has received a “back nine” order, which means the series will complete a full 22 episodes for its first season. [Link]

1. 300
by Frank Miller

2. Immortal Rain 7
by Kaori Ozaki

3. Lost Girls Collected
by Alan Moore

4. Fullmetal Alchemist, Volume 10
by Hiromu Arakawa

5. Theories of Everything: Selected, Collected, and Health-Inspected Cartoons, 1978-2006
by Roz Chast

6. The Complete Calvin and Hobbes
by Bill Watterson

7. The Absolute Sandman, Vol. 1
by Neil Gaiman

8. The Halo Graphic Novel
by Lee Hammock

9.Samurai Deeper Kyo, Volume 20
by Kamijyo Akimine

10. Fushigi Yugi: Genbu Kaiden, Volume 5
by Yuu Watase

Source: Amazon, Barnes and Noble (11/9/06)

The full-length trailer for SPIDER-MAN 3 debuts today at 10 pm (E.T.) across CBS and Viacom-owned platforms.

A total of 14 online destinations from Viacom’s networks are supporting the airing of the trailer, including AddictingGames.com, AddictingClips.com, BET.com, MTV.com, IFILM.com, Nick.com, ComedyCentral.com, GameTrailers.com, LOGOonline.com, Neopets.com, SpikeTV.com, The-N.com, VH1.com, and Xfire.com.

The new trailer will also air on BET, CBS, Comedy Central, Logo, MTV, MTV2, Spike TV, and VH1 television stations, with each network supporting the event with custom promotions both on-air and online.

Immediately following the television premiere of the two-and-a-half-minute trailer, a high-definition version of the trailer will be available exclusively on MTV Networks’ IFILM.com.

In SPIDER-MAN 3, Peter Parker has finally managed to strike a balance between his devotion to Mary Jane and his duties as a superhero. As Spider-Man basks in the public’s adulation for his accomplishments, Peter becomes overconfident and starts to neglect the people who care about him most. His newfound self-assuredness is jeopardized when he faces the battle of his life against two of the most feared villains ever, Sandman and Venom, whose unparalleled power and thirst for retribution threaten Peter and everyone he loves.

Columbia Pictures’ SPIDER-MAN 3 is directed by Sam Raimi and stars Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker/Spider-Man and Kirstin Dunst as Mary Jane Watson. The movie also features Bryce Dallas Howard as Gwen Stacy, Thomas Haden Church as Flint Marko/Sandman, and Topher Grace as Eddie Brock/Venom.

SPIDER-MAN 3 kicks off the summer blockbuster season on May 4, 2007.

There have been countless STAR WARS games over the years. My first was STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK on the granddaddy of all video game consoles, the venerable Atari 2600, in 1982. Needless to say, most contemporary gamers weren’t even born when that game was released. But not to worry, there have been close to 100 Star Wars games since then “” plenty to go around for every generation of gamers.

It comes as quite a surprise, then, that two of the very best Star Wars games I have ever played would be LucasArts’ LEGO STAR WARS series by developer Traveller’s Tales. When the first game was announced a couple of years ago, there was no reason, based on the developer’s past games, to think this would be anything but yet another lame attempt to cash in on the Star Wars brand. Traveller’s Tales is responsible for some pretty mediocre games, many of them cheap movie tie-ins for Pixar productions like FINDING NEMO, A BUG’S LIFE, and TOY STORY, as well as THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA and, of all things, Bram Stoker‘s DRACULA. Their Star Wars series began last year with LEGO STAR WARS, based on the crapilicious prequel trilogy. Before it was released, this game appeared to be a silly gimmick for kids, more a marketing device for Lego than a serious game. Indeed, it was even rated E (Everyone), the gaming equivalent of the G rating for movies. So it came as quite a surprise to most post-tween gamers that, however kid-friendly the game might have been, it was the most satisfying and downright fun Star Wars game in years. Considering the cachet Star Wars has with most gamers, once the word got out how much fun it was, it became one of the bestselling video games of 2005.

It was inevitable, then, that Traveller’s Tales would immediately set to work on a sequel, this one based on the original trilogy. LEGO STAR WARS II (Xbox 360) takes you through the entire original trilogy, covering all of the most important events of those beloved films. You start aboard Princess Leia’s blockade runner, fighting side-by-side with those iconic Rebel troops in their pointlessly aerodynamic helmets, and end with the not-so-iconic Ewok “Yub-Nub” song. Most events are as faithfully recreated as possible given the inherent limitations of a video game based on Legos. Even more remarkable is that the developers were able to retell these stories with absolutely no dialogue, even in the hilarious cutscenes “” the characters communicate via gestures and mumbles. However, most of us know the dialogue and voices so well that it actually makes the game feel more authentic by allowing us to fill in the blanks. We don’t need soundalike actors regurgitating these lines, we know them by heart already.

The game itself is a third-person action game that takes place in a mostly Lego environment populated by Lego characters. But don’t let the blocky nature of Legos fool you, this game looks great, even if everything is made out of”¦well, blocks. Their animation is smooth and they look great in action. I played the Xbox 360 version and noticed a few nice graphical touches “” the particularly nice surface reflections, for instance. The 360 version also uses variable focus so that objects that are too close to the camera appear fuzzy.

The action is pretty straightforward. When using a blaster, you only have to aim in the general direction of an enemy and the auto-aim feature will lock onto them. The same is true of lightsaber combat, but this is unfortunately one of the weaker elements of the game because you can miss an enemy standing right in front of you if you are standing at slightly the wrong angle in relation to that enemy. A manual lock-on feature would have made combat much more satisfying. There are also vehicle sections that, while sometimes fun, suffer from overly sensitive controls, which make it difficult to control your vehicle. Ultimately, though, combat is quite easy because there is very little death penalty “” it doesn’t matter how often you die, you just respawn in the same spot and keep going. You do lose about 1,000 points for each death, so if you are playing in order to collect as much as you can, you’ll want to avoid this death tax.

Combat is not the only gameplay mechanic of LSW II, though; it’s just as much a platforming and puzzle-solving game. The puzzle-solving aspect really comes to the fore in Free Play mode. In Story Mode, characters are selected for you based on which characters are involved in that part of the story. Free Play is unlocked when you complete a level, or chapter, in Story Mode, and it allows you to select the characters to use when replaying the chapter. You get to bring eight characters along in Free Play mode. Only two of them appear on the screen at a time, but you can cycle through the rest when necessary. This is where the puzzle-solving comes in, because there are tasks that can only be accomplished by certain character classes. For instance, there are small hatch doors that can only be entered by short characters like Ewoks or Jawas; raised platforms that can only be reached by characters with grapple hooks; objects that can only be manipulated by Light or Dark Force powers, etc. There are also doors that can only be opened by certain classes, such as bounty hunters or stormtroopers. In fact, most items can only be collected by using combinations of characters in Free Play mode, giving the game a tremendous amount of replayability once you’ve finished Story Mode.

There is a very strong collection aspect to the game, which also adds to its replayability. The primary collectible is the single-pronged “stud,” which is sort of like the quark of the Lego universe. These studs come in different colors, each representing a different value. Most studs come from destroying objects, and there is no dearth of objects to destroy because much of the environment is destructible. This leads to wanton shooting with blasters and slashing with lightsabers “” every box, wall panel, and doo-dad. Studs stream out of exploding objects, bouncing and scattering across the floor for you to pick up. This effect shows off the 360 version’s reflective surfaces quite well as you can see reflections of the studs bouncing on the floor. As you run over them, the studs fly up to your score at the top of the screen, making a satisfying coin sound as they are added to your score. I’m not usually much of a collector in games, but there’s something about the way collecting is presented here that really appealed to me.

Studs can be used as currency in the Mos Eisley Cantina, which serves as the hub of the game. It is in the Cantina that you access each chapter of the game. At the bar you can purchase items, enter cheat codes, unlock special abilities, and watch unlocked cutscenes. (Unlike in most games, the cutscenes in LSW II are so funny that you will want to watch them again.) Some of the items and abilities you can purchase don’t enhance gameplay, but are worth purchasing simply for a laugh. My favorite is the disguise, which puts a Groucho Marx mask on all of your characters. In one chapter, I turned disguise on as I was riding a Bantha on Tatooine, and even the Bantha had an enormous mask on. Yes, this is an extremely silly game.

There are other things to collect, as well. The most useful are the minikits, of which there are ten in each chapter. When you have collected all of the minikits in a chapter, they combine into a vehicle which can then be used in a bonus level. These bonus levels are simple timed collection missions, in which you fly around trying to collect one million studs as quickly as possible. You can replay these missions as often as you like to beat your time.

Needless to say, Legos feature prominently in not only the art direction but the gameplay, as well. Stacks of Legos are scattered throughout the game that can be assembled into useful objects, like grapple platforms that enable certain characters to reach otherwise inaccessible spots. You can sometimes find these stacks by destroying objects “” yet another reason to destroy everything in sight. There is also a character creation feature that allows you to mix-and-match pieces of different characters to assemble a unique character, which can then be used in Free Play mode. The abilities of these created characters depends on what weapon you equip them with: A blue lightsaber gives it Light Force powers; a red lightsaber gives it Dark Force powers; a blaster gives it a grapple hook, etc. As you can imagine, you can create some pretty ridiculous characters using this very fun feature.

LSW II is packed with humorous items, characters, and animations. It has a tremendous amount of replayability, with dozens of items, characters, and bonus levels to unlock. There is also a co-op mode so you can play with a friend on the same console (sadly, there is no online co-op). This game is easy to recommend to any gamer, of any age, whether they be Star Wars fans, Lego aficionados, or fans of puzzle or platform games. This is a great-looking and consistently hilarious ride through one of the seminal stories of our geek generation.