Programmers create scale model of Middle Earth, invite you to stay forever

Until now, those wanting to visit J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth had to settle for flying to New Zealand, buying a horse, and riding o'er the verdant hills while Howard Shore's soundtrack blasted in their ears- or reading the books and using their imaginations. Whatever works. Luckily, a group called the Middle Earth Digital Elevation Model Project (MeDEM for short) is working to close the gap. The MeDEM team has modeled the entirety of Tolkien's fantasy world using the Outerra engine, a tool used to create detailed digital landscapes with minimal amounts of data, which in this case consists of descriptions of Middle Earth's topography taken from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings books. When inside the model, users can zoom out and view Middle Earth from on high, walk around the barren plains of Mordor up close, and anything in between.

The build of Middle Earth currently on display is incomplete- there aren't yet any buildings in place, for example- but the MeDEM team plans to add detail to the model as time goes on, including "rivers, vegetation, buildings, roads, [and] even subterranean features." Eventually, the model could allow users to explore Middle Earth from the tops of the Misty Mountains all the way down to the depths of Moria. Just don't delve too greedily or too deep- you know what the Dwarves awoke down there.

Download the (free) Outerra engine tech demo and current build of Middle Earth here, and watch a video from inside the model below.

Showtime pits William H. Macy against the Super Bowl

On this coming Sunday, the Denver Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks will face off in the Super Bowl, a reliably popular athletic contest that in its last iteration was watched by an estimated 108.4 million viewers. In the face of what is expected to be, barring a series of impossible events, another widely viewed Bowl, most networks have decided to get the Hell out of the way. HBO, for example, has opted to move new episodes of its comedies Girls and Looking to Saturday rather than get crushed underfoot of the biggest television event of the year. Showtime, on the other hand, has announced that it will air original episodes of its shows Shameless, House of Lies, and Episodes opposite the Super Bowl, proving there is still a place for brazen foolhardiness in the television business.

Showtime executive Kim Lemon explained the decision: “We’ve looked at the competitive landscape, and we have an opportunity to be one of the few scripted alternatives on Super Bowl Sunday." The network will join PBS, which will air original episodes of Sherlock and Downton Abbey this Sunday, in taking a stand for the fans who will probably just DVR the shows to watch later anyway.

And here's what The Shining looks like without Delbert Grady

Last week, special effects artist Richard Trammell digitally removed Tyler Durden from a scene in Fight Club, laying bare the madness of Edward Norton's Narrator and giving people a reason to slack off on their jobs for another minute-and-a-half. For his follow-up, Trammell has scrubbed Overlook Hotel caretaker/axe murderer Delbert Grady from the bathroom scene in The Shining, although he left Grady's dialogue intact because the character's existence is "a bit murkier" than Durden's. The editing brings more creepy to an already creepy scene, and makes Jack Nicholson's character look even more cuckoo's nest nuts than before.

Trammell, who has quickly cornered the market on editing movie scenes to make crazy characters seem even crazier, has indicated he wants to give this treatment to more films, so by this time next week we may see his edit of A Beautiful Mind with half the cast removed.


The Shining minus Delbert Grady from Richard Trammell on Vimeo.

Here's what Game of Thrones would look like if it were set during World War II

If you were worried we would let you go two straight days without some nifty Game of Thrones fan art, you can relax. These images come courtesy of designer Olivia Desianti and answer the question on almost no Game of Thrones fan's mind as they look forward to the Season 4 premiere: if the clashing factions fighting for control of Westeros' Iron Throne fought on opposite sides during World War II, what would their propaganda posters look like? Desianti uses bold lines and saturated colors to ape the style of the day, and whether you're Team Lannister, Team Targaryen, or Team Arya With a Sword, everyone can agree that she makes a mean fake poster. Feel free to declare your allegiance by patronizing Desianti's Etsy page.

New Maleficent trailer really hopes you remember and love Sleeping Beauty

Earlier this week, Disney released a new trailer for Maleficent, the latest in the company's ongoing attempt to remake their animated catalogue with more expensive people in the lead roles. Their strategy for this trailer is to remind you that Sleeping Beauty was a movie, that you liked it, and that it will be the same this time. They achieve this by splicing in bits from the animated original alongside the corresponding scenes from this live-action version, which works okay until you remember that Imelda Staunton, who plays good fairy Knotgrass, is not that small and cannot fly. Disney has promised that the movie will explore the betrayals that turned the title villain's "pure heart to stone." There's still isn't much to suggest what those betrayals involve, but Angelina Jolie continues to look suitably imposing in the lead role, smirking, scowling, and tittering maniacally in great big billowy gowns it's assumed she'll have the grace not to trip over when the movie opens on May 30th. Watch the trailer below.

Watch the special effects reel for SFX extravaganza The Wolf of Wall Street

There are certain movies and television shows people watch knowing full well that much of what's on screen has been added afterwards. Until genetic engineering allows us to create dragons and sea monsters for less money than it takes to model them in Maya, this is just the way things are. But special effects are increasingly cropping up in movies you wouldn't have thought needed them.

Take Martin Scorcese's debauched take on the American financial industry, The Wolf of Wall Street. The studio responsible for the SFX in the film, Brainstorm Digital, has released a reel breaking down the special effects shots. Some of them are shots you probably could have guessed were worked over, like the one involving a lion walking through main character Jordan Belfort's office. But others, like one where the folks at Brainstorm switched out the facade of a London townhouse, come as a surprise. It's just another step toward a glorious time when even over-the-shoulder shots in romantic comedies will be the results of months of green screen work. Watch the reel below.

Brainstorm Digital also did post-production work for such special effects bonanzas as Frost/Nixon, Julie and Julia, and the FX sitcom Louie.

Team behind FX's Archer to release country music album, complete with cover of "Danger Zone"

This past Monday, the reliably bonkers FX comedy Archer kicked off its fifth season with an excellent episode that set up the criminally incompetent spies at ISIS with a new gig as actual criminals. Buried within the gargantuan pile of jokes was a bit about how ISIS secretary/arson enthusiast Cheryl Tunt planned to become a country singer- she even sang a country tune over the episode's closing minutes. People watching at home could be forgiven for thinking it was a throwaway gag, but not only will Cheryl's country career be an ongoing story arc, FX will be releasing a 12-track digital album of original Cherlene songs on February 17.

The album, tastefully titled "Cherlene," will feature songs with Cheryl-ish titles like "It's All About Me," "I'll Burn it Down," and "Gypsy Woman." In a nod to one of the series' many, many recurring jokes, it will also feature a cover of Kenny Loggins' "Danger Zone," with Loggins himself joining Cherlene for a duet on one of Sterling Archer's favorite tunes. All of the tracks were produced by Kevn Kinney, frontman for the Southern rock back Drivin' N' Cryin', with country singer Jessy Lynn Martens providing the singing voice for Cherlene. The whole project is nicely ambitious and bodes well for the show's fifth season. If the Archer team cares enough to put this much thought into a side project, imagine how hard they must have worked on the actual episodes of television.