Angry Web

Which is based on the upcoming movie…which is based on the cartoon…which is based on the action figures…

Where has originality gone in the media?

Special ops mercenary Solid Snake eats it. So does federal agent Jack Bauer. Just what exactly is this sacred supplement that fuels these legendary heroes? We at AW have managed to get a hold of one of these CalorieMates straight from Tokyo and have unveiled the shortbread-like cookie below:

Manufactured by Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., CalorieMate is a Japanese brand of energy-supplement foods available in block, jelly, and liquid form. CalorieMate Block comes in cheese, cheesecake, chocolate, fruit, vegetable, and potato; CalorieMate Jelly comes in Apple; and CalorieMate Can comes in corn soup, café au lait, coffee, and cocoa.

So what is Snake’s CalorieMate of choice? CalorieMate Block – chocolate. Apparently, this one is known to fully restore one’s stamina bar when consumed. As for Agent Bauer, he’ll eat anything on the job as long as it sports the name CalorieMate. While the following commercials were released a few years ago, I’m sure many of you have yet to see them.

An “epic frozen moment in time” video inspired by the Joker hit the net yesterday and a it’s a great scene to watch unfold. It’s part of the “Carousel Campaign” and you can check out a hi-def version of it here:

For fans of Nine Inch Nails, the wait for the official iPhone application is over. I’ve had a chance to play with this app and, for what it is, it’s a great way to not only get up to date information on all the latest happenings and tour info, but is a great way to connect with other fans.

The home page will allow you to log in with your nin.com username and password and pick up the tour schedule and any current news. Once you have done that, below you will have an option to explore features like media, a mobile forum and even a Twitter-esque messaging feature that will allow you to connect to fans that are in your area. The media section has playlists that will stream music, play video and even provide you with downloadable iPhone wallpapers.

This application is a nice hybrid of artist information and social networking. It is a must have for NIN fans and, like Trent’s latest albums, can be downloaded free of charge.

With the tremendous amount of backlash that the leaked work print of “Wolverine” has received, Twentieth Century Fox decided to scrap the Gavin Hood-directed footage and go back to the drawing board. The reasons behind the project’s failure was plain and simple – too many characters they could handle, inconsistency with the source material, way too dark in tone, and just not enough comic relief. Here’s the final cut, which I think you’ll agree is far better than the work print:

THE LOST SYMBOL.

…not “The Solomon Key” as we had all long anticipated.  With almost 5 years of delays, a soaring amount of hype that followed shortly after The Da Vinci Code’s epidemic popularity, and the multitude of speculative books assuming “The Solomon Key” as the book’s title, it really does come as little surprise that author Dan Brown has simply retitled the work.  Despite the lack of details concerning the book’s storyline, we do know that Brown has spent an awful lot of time researching Washington D.C.’s Masonic temples and that the author is very much obsessed with the Freemasons.

The 3rd in a series of conspiracy thriller novels following Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon, The Lost Symbol will be published by Doubleday in the U.S. and Canada on September 15th, 2009.  5 million copies are scheduled to be printed.  This was announced today by Sonny Mehta, Chairman and Editor in Chief of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.  Mehta commented with the following:

This is a great day for readers and booksellers.  The Lost Symbol is a brilliant and compelling thriller. Dan Brown’s prodigious talent for storytelling, infused with history, codes and intrigue, is on full display in this new book. This is one of the most anticipated publications in recent history, and it was well worth the wait.

Jason Kaufman, who is Vice President and Executive Editor at Doubleday as well as Brown’s longtime editor, said:

Nothing ever is as it first appears in a Dan Brown novel. This book’s narrative takes place in a twelve-hour period, and from the first page, Dan’s readers will feel the thrill of discovery as they follow Robert Langdon through a masterful and unexpected new landscape. The Lost Symbol is full of surprises.

Brown added:

This novel has been a strange and wonderful journey.  Weaving five years of research into the story’s twelve-hour timeframe was an exhilarating challenge. Robert Langdon’s life clearly moves a lot faster than mine.

Columbia Pictures is also moving forward with The Lost Symbol, which will be the third film in the series.  Ron Howard and Tom Hanks are expected to return.

Angels & Demons, the second installment, hits theaters May 15th.

That’s right, for the week of April 24, Hugh Jackman will be gracing the cover of EW leading into the opening day of “X-Men Origins”.