After months of build-up and viral marketing, District 9 has finally been unleashed in theaters nationwide. We might never get to see Neill Blomkamp’s adaptation of Halo, but we might have gotten something even better in the end. You’ve already heard my thoughts on the film from Comic-Con, and it has been growing on me the more and more I think back to it. I plan to catch it at the movie theater a second time this weekend. But enough about me, what did you think? Can you believe they made this movie for only $30-$35 million? What did you think of the alien weaponry? What did you like? What didn’t you like? Please leave your thoughts in the comments below?

A father build this Star Wars themed bedroom for his soon, complete with a Y-Wing loft-style bed which hangs above. The bedroom is one of three in the 2,532 square foot Visalia California house, which is currently for sale for $346,900. Not much more information about the bedroom is included in the listing.

Cool Stuff is a daily feature of slashfilm.com. Know of any geekarific creations or cool products which should be featured on Cool Stuff?

If you’re at work, you might want to think twice before clicking over but Playboy magazine are publishing a comic strip adaptation of a scene from Inglourious Basterds and it’s also available on their website. Perhaps more safe would be checking out two preview pages at The Huffington Post, where I first caught wind of this amusing PR trick. According to them, the scene in question was “hand-picked and edited by Quentin Tarantino” – as well, of course, as coming straight from his screenplay and movie.

A little disappointing, perhaps, that the opening caption simply reads “Occupied France” and not “Once Upon a Time in Nazi Occupied France” as per the film. That title card is far from being an accident or just a twee novelty.

The artwork for the strip was done by R.M Guera and colored by Giulia Brasco who also collaborate on Vertigo comics’ Scalped. How amusing. I can almost imagine Tarantino hollering “And I want my (artwork done by the people who do) Scalped” with Lt. Raine’s deep southern drawl.

I’m not that convinced by this comic strip, I’m afraid. Not to throw any aspersions on the actual filmed scene, of course, it’s just that the adaptation is rather text heavy. This is not comics being pushed at all. A shame really, because Tarantino knows visual storytelling like nobody’s business and is clearly a genuine lover of comics too.

A Playboy tie-in is interesting. I remember that when I was younger and I had to start trying to find copies of Playboy in order to find interviews with filmmakers that I wanted to read (including a couple with Kubrick that were well worth the effort), I often felt a little coy, perhaps even embarrassed, when snooping around for copies in collectors’ shops and the like. I’ve no idea what the magazine is like now, but I’d imagine it’s still a moderately chaste stripe of “gentlemen’s magazine”. Do they still publish good interviews with filmmakers? Do all of the women still look ghoulishly rubberised and airbrushed?

Footage from Matthew Vaughn’s big screen adaptation of Mark Millar’s comic book Kick-Ass rocked San Diego Comic-Con International 2009, topping most top ten lists for the Con. We raved about the footage in a previous video blog. Distributors are interested, but the film is not yet sold. Who is interested?
Risky Biz reports that the talks are down to three studios: Lionsgate, Paramount and Universal. Paramount is definitely my favorite of the three. Universal distributed the big screen adaptation of Mark Millar’s Wanted, and likely would like to be in the Millar adaptation business. The film was independently funded because none of the studios wanted to tackle the story which fused ultra-violence with children (the be more specific, a 10 year old who chops bad guys in half). But now that the film is completed, and the buzz is high, the studios are fighting to win the comic book property.

“Studios interested in “Kick-Ass” see a Vaughn pickup, even at a price in the solid seven figures and with a significant P&A commitment, as a way to plug a franchise-level property into their slate with comparatively little financial risk or production headaches.”

Whichever studio wins, I assume the plan is to open the film in March 2010. The Zack Snyder 300/Watchmen slot could be a safe bet. But this is just speculation on my part.

Kick-Ass tells the story of (beware of possible comic book spoilers) “Dave Lizewski, a kid growing up in a rundown suburb of Americ. He isn’t a gamer, he isn’t a jock, he isn’t a mathlete, he’s just a regular kid. When he is not hanging out at the local comic store with his friends Todd and Marty, he is fantasising about his school teacher and Katie Deauxma, the class hottie. The only thing that is unusual about Dave is that about a year ago his Mother died. But somehow through this blend of normality, teenage angst and irritation at being continually mugged, Dave makes the decision to become a superhero’ KICK ASS! Dave’s first foray into being a Superhero results in him being stabbed and run over. When Dave recovers he realises he can’t walk away from being a hero, and when he successfully steps in on a mugging he brings himself to the attention of the US media and Frank D’Amico could this be the guy who knicked his coke? As Dave gets sucked into the dark world of vigilante crime fighting he gains a sidekick named ‘Red Mist’.”

Last Week on the Lost Viral: Human Giant comedian Paul Scheer made an appearance during the Q&A of the Lost Comic-Con panel, presenting Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse with a velvet painting and announcing his new website DamonCarltonAndAPolarBear.com. After Con, we recieved a very strange FEDEX’ed letter from Paul, declaring his decision to become the Picasso of Pop Art, and devote his life to making Lost-inspired paintings. Soon after we recieved a FEDEX’d letter from Ronie Midfew Arts, declaring that “Mr. Scheer is creating this LOST-inspired artwork without authorization.” A couple people in the comments figured out that Ronie Midfew Arts is actually an anagram for Widmore Fine Arts. Yes, as in Charles Widmore. And last time we heard from Paul, he had just received a photo of his Velvet Polar Bear Painting in a trash can at the Lost production offices. Paul wrote on his blog, “I know Damon and Carlton would never do this. They loved my painting. They must also be getting harassed by Ronie Midfew Arts. I’m going to find out the truth. I think it’s time I paid Damon and Carlton a visit!”

As expected, Paul crashed the Lost production office in an attempt to confront Lost showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse about his trashed velvet painting. The best part about it is that he video taped the entire thing (look out for easter eggs). For anyone who doubted that this wasn’t an official Lost viral, I think this will confirm it to be real, with brief appearances by Cuse and Lindelof. Scheer discovers possible clues while dumpster diving in the trash outside the Lost production offices, before he was discovered by the lot security. What did he discover? Information about the Season six premiere of Lost! Watch the video after the jump!