J.J Abrams' Bad Robot has released a new iPhone App that lets users add awesome effects to their movies.

While it is free, it only comes with two effects that include Missile Attack and Car Smash. There are also separate effects packages that include two effects each that cost a buck.

It's a very simple app, all you do is fire it up, choose an effect, shoot some footage and select when you want the effect to start. It takes a few seconds to process the footage and then you have an awesome clip you can use in iMovie and be the next J.J Abrams. Or maybe it's more Michael Bay

Each effect looks really good and comes with nice sound, it's fun to play around with, see some samples after the break.



The extra packs for a dollar are Chopper Down/Tornado and Air Strike/Firefight. There are also more promised to be coming soon.

Schwarzenegger is coming back to movies and he will be starring in Black Sands.

According to TheArnoldFans.com, the legendary actor will soon be in Belen, New Mexico to start production on the new project. After finishing up work on his current project Last Stand he will be returning to the desert on April 1st.

In Dark Sands, Schwarzenegger will play the role of an immortal or as he puts it "I'm a kind of angel." Sadly he also noted that he "can not currently say more about this film."

The action sci-fi/fantasy will be directed by Scott Waugh and Mike McCoy. As of right now, this is Schwarzenegger's only acting commitment. In the movie he will "raging war against weapons dealers as an immortal instrument of death." ArnoldFans calls it a cross between Constantine and Commando.

Precious director Lee Daniels returns with The Paperboy based on the book by Pete Dexter. Starring Matthew McConaughey, Zac Efron, John Cusack and Nicole Kidman

The film follows Ward James(McConaughey), a journalist, and his brother Jack (Efron), as they investigate the possible wrongful conviction of a death row inmate (Cusack). Jack winds up falling for the convict's love interest (Kidman).

Some people on the internet are quite talented. Take a look at this trailer for the film Alien that's done in the style of the new movie Prometheus.

To be fair the new Prometheus trailer actually takes a few notes from the original Alien trailer. Things like the evolving text to reveal the title and the screamy sounds that are used in the soundtrack. It makes sense since they are related. Watch the other trailers after the jump.

This trailer for John Carter is for Japan and comes with a special message straight from the director.

Andrew Stanton gives some notes about the movie and what it will be like for the potential Japanese audience. His film, based on the stories of Edgar Rice Burroughs, show a world on mars with strange beasts and aliens and I'm sure you've already seen the trailer before.

Take a look at this new stuff right after the break and listen to Stanton's introduction. I don't know about you guys but I think this might actually be an OK movie. What do you think?

NBC may have passed on BSG reunion 17th Precinct from Ron Moore, but now you can watch the entire pilot right here.

The supernatural police procedural happens in a similar looking San Francisco with some key differences that you will see. Starring Jamie Bamber and Tricia Helfer, this is what NBC passed on to get shows like Grimm, Smash, and Awake.

They also decided to pick up the now-cancelled shows Prime Suspect and The Playboy Club. Watch it after the break.

I think it’s safe to say that comic book fans have been treated to quite the year.

Great writing, awesome artwork, Earth shattering events, the growth of digital distribution, elevated comic book sales and a new universe have paved the way to infinity and beyond.

The questions you have to ask yourself is: what were the best events in Comics?



Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man 

Before I even talk about the character, I want to mention the creative team by name. The combined effort of Brian Michael Bendis, Sara Pichelli, Justin Ponsor, Cory Peiti and Kaare Andrews have created a comic that looks absolutely beautiful, stunning and is intriguing to read. Some did not like the idea of an ethnic wall-crawler while others embraced it. Miles Morales is the epitome of a kid you want to cheer for and be successful. His story is as genuine as can be and the creative team is in sync like no other in the industry today. I can’t wait to see what is on the horizon.

Death and Return of the Human Torch


Johnny Storm “died” in the Negative Zone, only to be brought back to life at the end of the year when he was revived by the Annihilus when nanites were injected in his body. The loss of Storm brought about the Future Foundation written by Jonathan Hickman and art produced by Steve Epting. The group gained a new white wardrobe, a new member in Spider-Man and was one of Marvel’s best selling books of the year.

Fear Itself


Marvel’s big crossover event of 2011 kept virtually every hero in the Marvel universe on their toes. The series missed the mark on some occasions and hit the mark on others. Hammers fall from the sky and select the most powerful heroes and villains to wield them while doing the bidding of the Worthy. Bucky is killed...again, while the Serpent snaps Captain America’s shield in half like a tooth pick, Tony Stark produces some Asgardian weaponry to fight back, and Thor kills the Serpent at the cost of his life.

X-Men Schism


The stress and conflict of two different ideologies are brought to the forefront as Cyclops and Wolverine are at a crossroads. They have had their differences before but nothing like what transpired in this series. The clock is running out on the mutant race and Cyclops feels all mutants, no matter their age, need to stick together to ensure their survival while Wolverine feels the younger mutants should not be treated as soldiers because he knows a soldier's life is not meant for children. They come to blows as result of a Jean Grey low blow, and now the X-Men are split into two separate teams. Jason Aaron provided an excellent script which did a great job of exploring the underlining issue at hand with mutants in society.

Action Comics #900


With all the fun revolving around the New 52, I think everyone forgot that things did occur that now don’t matter. Superman made headlines world wide when he decided to renounce his U.S. citizenship, an alien himself, Superman felt he could accomplish more as a symbol of truth and justice for the world and not just the American way. The world is more connected than ever before and thus, smaller than ever. DC felt he needs to stand for something more instead of just representing one perspective. Whether you prefer your Man of Steel to be American as apple pie or as global as Soccer, everyone was talking.

Spider-Island


A virus that gave the citizens of New York spider abilities and eventually turned them into actual giant spiders taught Peter Parker a valuable lesson. Peter felt dejected because he no longer felt special since every Tom, Dick and Harry could do what he does. Over the course of events leading to the finale where Kaine killed the Spider-Queen, Peter learned that it is not his powers that make him a hero but who he is inside as a person. Jonah Jameson became the very thing he hates, Carlie discovered Peter’s secret and ended their relationship, Eddie Brock became the hero of Spider-Island, and The Scarlett Spider will make his re-introduction in the New Year.

Flashpoint


DC Comics announced their summer cross-over story arc with the tag line “Everything will change in a Flash”. Boy, they were not kidding! Everything changed after the events that took place in an altered timeline where the Atlanteans and the Amazons are at war with each other. Bruce Wayne’s death caused Thomas Wayne to become the Dark Knight while Martha Wayne went insane and became the Joker and Reverse Flash revealed that it was Barry Allen who is responsible for the distorted timeline when he traveled back in time to stop the murder of his mother. A heavy hearted Flash enters the timeline to make things right which means his mother will die and in the process he sees three different universes DC, Wildstorm and Vertigo and is informed by a hooded woman that the world was split into three separate worlds to weaken them from a grave threat.

The New 52


Controversy creates cash and the DC Comics reboot has proven thus far that rewritten continuities, new characters and re-introductions is generating nothing but $$$$ as comic book interest is at an all time high. Wildstorm and Vertigo became a part of the DCU and all of the characters are younger. The Justice League has been the highest selling comic book for three months in a row, no one can make any sense of Batman continuity, Oliver Queen is the new Steve Jobs, Superman prefers jeans, Sinestro is once again a Green Lantern, Animal Man #1 was the critically acclaimed best of the first issue releases, Batwoman produced some of the most stunning artwork in the game today and Geoff Johns made Aquaman cool again.


There were a lot of other things that made 2011 a fun year for comic books.

Batman Incorporated may have started in late 2010 but the series gained traction in 2011 and ended with a bang as Leviathan Strikes set the stage for the series return in 2012. Greg Rucka and Mark Waid deserve a big thank you for making Daredevil and Punisher fun again, Locke and Key’s Clockworks revealed more about the Omega Key and continued to produce a consistently great series, Kevin Eastman showed us the real Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Archie met KISS, Wolverine crawled inside a dragon and used him as a disguise to break into Jade Claw’s palace and bought the fire breather a beer after they kicked some serious ass, Jonathan Hickman’s The Red Wing was a surprise hit and Scott Snyder can write one hell of a Batman book. The silver screen treated us to X-Men: First Class, Thor, Captain America, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, The Green Hornet, Sucker Punch and a atrocious movie featuring some guy named Hal Jordan.

We gained a lot in 2011 but we also lost a lot as well.

Long time comic fans lost the continuity and stories of the old DC Universe they grew up with and loved while the industry lost several of its most talented creators as Dwayne McDuffie, Gene Colan, Catherine Jeffery Jones, Eduardo Barreto, Mick Anglo, Jerry Robinson and Joe Simon passed away. Their work was and will continue to be enjoyed by millions all over the world as their influence and creativity will never be forgotten.

Thank for all for reading this column and supporting Forces of Geek over the past year and I wish you all a safe and happy New Year.

Viva Comics!

Anne Hathaway is talking about the Caped Crusader's latest adventure The Dark Knight Rises and what her character Selina Kyle, or Catwoman, has to do with it all.

In an interview with The L.A. Times, Hathaway talked about working with director Christopher Nolan, the costume, and her old timey inspiration behind how to play the role. There is a scene given that has some spoilers in it, so hit the jump to keep reading.

Gotham City is a war zone. A ruthless madman named Bane has ripped away any sense of security and the citizens, haggard and clutching suitcases with refugee anxiety, sit behind barbed wire waiting to see what will blow up next. A hooded prisoner is dragged in – it’s Bruce Wayne, one of Gotham’s most famous faces – but the eyes of the crowd go instead to the woman in black standing at the top of the staircase.

“Sorry to spoil things, boys, but Bane needs these guys himself,” says sultry Selina Kyle, played here by actress Anne Hathaway, navigating the steps with stiletto heels that, on closer inspection, turn out to have serrated edges capable of leaving nasty claw marks in a fight. She also wears high-tech goggles that, when not in use, flip up and resemble feline ears.

With Nolan's final Batman movies comes a lot of anticipation to see what he has done to wrap it all up. As Hathaway notes “everything has a purpose, nothing is in place for fantasy’s sake, and that’s the case with everything in Christopher Nolan’s Gotham City.”

“Gotham City is full of grace,” Hathaway said. “You look at Heath’s performance as the Joker, there was a lot of madness there but there was also a grace and he had a code there. There’s a lot of belief and codes of behavior in Gotham and my character has one, too. A lot of the way she moves and interacts with people is informed by her worldview. Chris has given us all such complex, defined, sophisticated worldviews that it’s just a matter of doing your homework and getting underneath the character’s skin.”

Catwoman is at the top of the list of characters associated with Batman, she came into the comics in the 1940s as a villain that was more of a thief that cared only about money rather than the crazier killer type villains. Batman and Catwoman have a very strange relationship that has gone every single way over the many years.

Hathaway said, “I really got into the comics after I was cast and I like that when she made her first appearance she meets Bruce Wayne and says ‘Let go of me or I’ll claw your eyes out,’ and he says, ‘Careful, claws in or papa spank,’ So I’m glad we’ve come a long way since then. I’m not saying anything against Bob Kane, though.”

Kane said once that much of the character of Catwoman was inspired by movie star Hedy Lamarr. After hearing that Hathaway started studying the film star and noticed many things about the actor.

“I know this sounds odd, but her breathing is extraordinary,” Hathaway said. “She takes these long, deep, languid breaths and exhales slowly. There’s a shot of her in [the 1933 film] ‘Ecstasy’ exhaling a cigarette and I took probably five breaths during her one exhale. So I started working on my breathing a lot.”

Catwoman is a character that has showed up in multiple Batman movies, TV shows, and videogames. While some are better than other, and we wont talk about the self-title film around here, Hathaway is trying to create and define a new character for the Nolan timeline.

“What’s come before doesn’t limit or even affect this new version,” Hathaway said. “It doesn’t affect me because each Catwoman – and this is true in the comics as well – she is defined by the context of the Gotham City created around her. Catwoman is so influenced by Gotham and whoever is creating Gotham at the time. Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman was informed by Tim Burton’s Gotham and Eartha Kitt was informed by Adam West’s Gotham. You have to live in whatever the reality of the world is and whatever Gotham is.”

Why You No Believe?

Yesterday FOG posted about the death of Tarzan sidekick Cheetah who, according to the Suncoast Primate Sanctuary where he had lived since the 1960s, died at the age of 80 from kidney failure.

Unfortunately for anyone who thought that the story was an interesting tidbit about an animal actor from the 1930s who retired to Florida and lived the life of a stereotypical old person, they are now going to have to spend the next few days being media-blasted by claims that "Cheetah" was a fake and that there is no way a chimpanzee can live to be 80 years-old.

With no way to prove the actual identity of "Cheetah" (the Sanctuary claims that a fire in 1995 destroyed documentation on various chimps) the accusations are becoming quite nasty and it won't belong before lawsuits are being filed.

But here's my question to the people involved: Does it really matter?



Okay so maybe an 80 year-old chimp isn't something that happens all the time (some scientific data shows that a chimp in the wild can reach the age of 40 to 50 years while a chimp living in captivity can live to be 60) but seeing that the life expectancy for a human being (dependent upon where they live) hovers between 70-78 years and we know that there are people who can  live 20+ years beyond that, there's always a chance that a chimpanzee living in captivity could very well live longer than the average age.

So maybe it is Cheetah and maybe it's just a chimp named Cheetah, who cares.

Perhaps we should move on to something a little more relevant to the world...like how I can't look at Bruce Jenner anymore without seeing the face of a 60 year-old woman.

(shudder)

Source: The Hollywood reporter

The Awesome
The WTF?!

“This crap never happens on Scrubs or The Middle…”

My favorite part of the Oscars is the "Dead Movie People" part where you can judge a person's likability by how many Hollywood people clap when their head shot is projected on the screen while John Williams-type orchestra music plays in the background.

It's morbid I know, but part of me enjoys seeing it because I'd like to think that my death would bring a huge round of applause (but probably for different reasons other than honoring my memory) one day.

And in that same vein of remembrance, TV.com has put together a video of all the television shows that humanity has lost this year due to bad ratings or a simple lack of vision from a TV exec.

I will admit that I almost cried during some of the show montage because I'm a sap, but I will reserve most of my tears when the bastards cancel Community.

Video after the break.




Source: Vulture

More What Would Archer Do? after the jump!

Every year should end with something as awesome as Star Trek figures getting their groove on.

May the end of your 2011 be as sweet.

See you in 2012.

One of the things that I have on my Bucket List is to watch Great White Sharks swim around the coast of South Africa while I am ensconced safely in a cage underwater.

If I was a braver person, I would even try to swim with them before they ripped my head off.

But let's move on to the following video from  National Geographic (or as they are known by their hipper name: NatGeo) showing one of my beloved Great Whites getting murdered by a Killer Whale during a thrill kill.

The asshole whale was playing for a crowd of whale-watchers when the Great White was just passing through, not bothering anyone, and then WHAM! it was destroyed by Orca and devoured.

Oh sure, it was great for the witnesses to see but who is going to explain natural selection to the wife of the Great White who is now going to have to get a second job just to support the family?

Whale on shark violence is getting out of hand people and justice must be handed out!

(I think I miss Law & Order a bit too much)

Anyway, the video of the evil whale is after the break.

And so, it's time to bust out a new calendar and reflect back on the year that was in pop culture.

We reached out and asked FOG!'s contributors past, present and future and a few dear friends what made the year quite so memorable for them.

And so, it's time to bust out a new calendar and reflect back on the year that was in pop culture.

We reached out and asked FOG!'s contributors past, present and future and a few dear friends what made the year quite so memorable for them.


Stefan Blitz
Editor-in-Chief, FOG!








Best Movies: Drive, Win Win, Source Code, Limitless, The Descendants, Captain America, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, X-Men: First Class, Moneyball, Cedar Rapids, Drive Angry, Attack The Block, Hanna, Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol, Hugo, The Muppets, Green Hornet, Fast Five
Best TV Shows: Homeland, The Walking Dead, Fringe, Community, Batman: The Brave & The Bold, Louie, Justified, Modern Family, Dexter, Luther, Strike Back and I still haven't watched American Horror Story, Game of Thrones or Boardwalk Empire.
Best Books (fiction): The President's Vampire by Christopher Farnsworth, Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Best Books (non-fiction): Black and Blue: the Redd Foxx Story by Michael Starr, I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution by Craig Marks and Rob Tannenbaum, The Extraordinary Catalog of Peculiar Inventions: The Curious World of the Demoulin Brothers and Their Fraternal Lodge Prank Machines by Julia Suits, Mail-Order Mysteries: Real Stuff from Old Comic Book Ads! by Kirk Demarais
Best Video Game: Words With Friends
Best Song: Martin Solveig  "Hello" (feat. Dragonette)
Best Album: Adelle 21
Best Comic Books / Graphic Novels: Batman, Inc., Action Comics, Batman (new 52), Ultimate Comics Spider-Man, Wolverine And The X-Men, Swamp Thing, Animal Man, Witch Doctor, Daredevil, Thor by Walter Simonson Omnibus by Walter Simonson, X-Statix Omnibus by Peter Milligan, Michael Allred and Others, Batman: The Black Glove by Scott Snyder, Jock and Francisco Francavilla
Best Blu-ray/DVD Release: Complete Star Wars Saga out of obligation; Blow Out Criterion out of pure magic
Thing that disappointed you most in 2011? Losing my Dad in February. 
Thing that you're most looking forward to in 2012?  Looking forward to a better year, starting with lots of forthcoming FOG! announcements including FOG! Publishing's official launch, and continuing to evolve the site and work with some of the smartest, funniest writers in the world.  Plus the releases of Prometheus, Dark Knight Rises, Amazing Spider-Man, The Avengers, and Django Unchained.  Also, it looks like Katy Perry is single and an emotional wreck.  As am I.  Call me.



Elizabeth Young
FOG! Managing Editor/columnist







Best Movies: It's a weird combination but the two flicks I had no intention of enjoying blew me away: Bridesmaids and Hannah. Easily the best movies of the year.
Best TV Show: Community, hands down.
Best Book (fiction): Mrs. Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
Best Book (non-fiction): Zeitoun by Dave Eggers
Best Video Games: Portal 2, Uncharted 3, Batman: Arkham City
Best Song: I Wanna Meet Dave Grohl – Wavves
Best Album: Join Us – They Might Be Giants
Thing that excited you most in 2011? That I survived another year without alcohol poisoning.
Thing that disappointed you most in 2011? That Ryan Gosling didn't take me up on my offer of "having a good time"
Thing that you're most looking forward to in 2012?: My first book, The Blank Generation, will be released in January as an Indie Author title. Buy it bitches...oh, and the next installment of Wet Moon Vol. 6 by Ross Campbell



Brendan O'Connell
FOG! Media News Editor







Best Movies: Hugo, The Muppets, Rango, Paul, Bridesmaids, The Adventures of Tintin, 50/50, Moneyball, Drive, Attack the Block
Best TV Shows: Game of Thrones, Justified, Community, Parks & Recreation, Portlandia, Archer, Louie, The Walking Dead, Breaking Bad
Best Video Games: Batman: Arkham City, Forza 4, Portal 2, Skyrim, Bulletstorm, Minecraft, Assassin's Creed:Brotherhood
Best Comic Book(s)/Graphic Novel(s): Daytripper, Scalped, Habibi, Death of Spiderman / Ultimate Comics Spider-Man, Batwoman, Batwing, Batman Inc., The Sixth Gun, Nemesis, Swamp Thing, Animal Man


Andrez Bergen
FOG! Columnist / Author / Musician / Blogger







Best Movies: Captain America, The Tree of Life, A Dangerous Method, Drawer Hobs
Best TV Shows: The Mentalist, Japanese anime Un-Go (Studio Bones)
Best Books (fiction): Guy Salvidge's Yellowcake Springs: A Novel, and (I have to add this, sorry!), Tobacco-Stained Mountain Goat
Best Book (non-fiction): David Sirota's Back to Our Future
Best Video Game: Batman: Arkham City 
Best Song: Ground Loop Ampersand (Lucy remix), Aux 88 Electric Underground, Cristian Vogel Black Box
Best Album: Nux Vomica Saturnalia et Sigillaricia
Best Comic Book/Graphic Novel: Scott Campbell's Amazing Everything: the Art of Scott C 
Best Blu-ray/DVD Release: The British Film Institute's re-release of Herbert G. Ponting's The Great White Silence, and Mamoru Hosoda's anime feature Summer Wars finally getting a release in the English-speaking world.
Biggest Pop Culture Story of 2011? Alec Baldwin's shenanigans on that American Airlines flight. Oh, and Ridley Scott announcing he'd do another Blade Runner picture.
Thing that excited you most in 2011? Self-indulgently speaking, the publication of my first novel, Tobacco-Stained Mountain Goat, in April Of course!
Thing that disappointed you most in 2011? The March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, the ongoing nuclear fiasco at Fukushima Daiichi, and the Japanese government's response to same.
Thing that you're most looking forward to in 2012?   (fingers crossed) my next novel, One Hundred Years of Vicissitude and The Avengers movie - of course!




Savatore C. Cuccinotta
FOG! Columnist







Best Movies: Trollhunter, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II
Best TV Shows: Tiger & Bunny (Anime, released Streaming in the US), Puella Magi Madoka Magica (US release next year on DVD)
Best Books (fiction): Ghost Story (Book 13 of the Dresden Files)
Best Comic Book/Graphic Novel: Mahou Sensei Negima vol 29-32; Claymore vol. 17-19; Hellboy Vol. 11 (The Bride of Hell & Others); Batgirl vol.3 (18-24); Spider-Island; Avengers Academy; Dungeons & Dragons (as written by John Rogers, IDW Publishing)



Ben Everhart
Screenwriter







Best Movies: Hanna, Contagion, Drive, Super 8, Tinker,Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Columbiana
Best TV Shows: American Horror Story, The Walking Dead, Fringe, Family Guy, Workaholics
Best Book (fiction): Robopocalypse
Best Books (non-fiction): Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
Biggest Pop Culture Story of 2011? Occupy Wall Street and the rise of Anonymous
Thing that excited you most in 2011? Occupy Wall Street
Thing that disappointed you most in 2011? Steven Spielberg seems out of touch with his audience
Thing that you're most looking forward to in 2012? The Dark Knight Rises, The Bourne Legacy, The Hobbit



B.S. Walker
FOG! Columnist / Screenwriter







Best Movies: Drive, Win Win, Midnight in Paris, The Descendants, X-Men First Class, The Guard, Moneyball, Source Code, Thor, Rise of the Planet of the Apes


Yuri Lowenthal
Actor / Executive Producer, Co-Star Shelf Life







Best Movies: Attack The Block, Drive, Tintin, Fast Five
Best TV Shows: Misfits, Dexter
Best Video Game: Saints Row: The Third
Best Song: "Everyone Should Know", by Young Beautiful In A Hurry
Best Album: Young Beautiful In A Hurry
Biggest Pop Culture Story of 2011? Ashley Miller & Zack Stenz writing BOTH of the best Comic Book movies this year (besides Captain America-- and now that I mention it, the fact that we had so many comic book-based summer tentpole movies in 2011 at all)
Thing that excited you most in 2011? When Felicia Day rose from the geek world to become a media mogul
Thing that disappointed you most in 2011? The death of Dwayne McDuffie
Thing that you're most looking forward to in 2012? Chronicle, new episodes of BBC's Sherlock 




Charles J. Baserap
FOG! Columnist







Best Movies: X-Men: First Class: This was X-Men done right. Sure, it was almost nothing like the source material, but had a solid story, great characters and action, and was the most fun at the theaters this year; Thor: Humor, effects, and action made this one of the best Marvel movies to date; Captain America: The patriot in me has been waiting for this one and it didn't disappoint, and the teaser for Avengers almost made me light up a cigarette when it was done.
Best TV Shows: Supernatural –The best show on television keeps getting better and taking risks and raising the bar; Fringe – Science and parallel worlds have rarely been this fun!; Smallville – It's over, but not forgotten.
Best Album: Dream Theater - A Dramatic Turn of Events: My favorite band for nearly 2 decades just keeps churning out the quality. Petrucci forever!
Best Comic Book/Graphic Novel: Scott Snyder's Detective Comics, Batman, and Swamp Thing- Right now, the dude is writing pure gold; Jason Aaron's Wolverine- Darkness, humor, action and adventure all rolled into one little 22 page funny book; Rick Remender's Uncanny X-Force – The Dark Angel Saga is a modern day Dark Phoenix Saga, no joke.
Best Blu-ray/DVD Release: Smallville Complete Series- Enjoy the story from the start at last!; X-Men:First Class- I've watched it four times at least already.
Biggest Pop Culture Story of 2011?  Twitter and other social media were instrumental in the Arab Spring, for better or for worse, helping to reshape the Middle East, again for better or worse.
Thing that excited you most in 2011? Getting fan email about my Danger Rooms column on FOG!; Comic book movies up the wazoo debuting in the movies; My daughter, Anastasia, getting more into comics than I could have ever hoped or dreamed.
Thing that disappointed you most in 2011?  DC and Marvel thinking the only way to gain readers was by resorting to short term gimmicks at the expense of continuity and long term fans; Borders going out of business and causing me to cancel the second leg of my book tour.
Thing that you're most looking forward to in 2012? Retooling my options and formulating a new strategy to market my book, An American at the Crossroads, including meeting with various Congress members; Getting to work on a follow up to An American at the Crossroads, focusing on intelligence failures and successes in the Middle East, and a series of essays on the Israel-Palestine situation; Avengers vs. X-Men - I'm a sucker for a big event pitting my favorite teams against one another; The Avengers Movie- I cannot wait. 'Nuff said!



Seth Levi
FOG! Columnist








Best TV Show: Breaking Bad. Hyperbole aside, the final episode this season left me breathless. After the credits rolled I sat in silence for a few minutes still absorbing everything that happened.
Best Book (non-fiction): In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin. As usual, Erik Larson makes history so entertaining you'd think it's fiction.
Best Album: Tito Puente Masterworks Live!!! Yes, the album title really has three exclamation marks and they are well deserved.
Best Blu-ray/DVD Release: Star Wars;  Greedo still shoots first, but Lucas did an excellent job bringing Star Wars and Empire to Blu-ray. I haven't warmed up to the prequels, but the surround sound tracks are among the best on disc.
Thing that you're most looking forward to in 2012? New HBO shows that include Luck -- race horses and Dustin Hoffman -- and Newsroom, Sorkin's show about a cable newsroom which will star Sam Waterston. On paper it sounds like HBO has finally found successors to The Sopranos and The Wire


Craig Yoe
Comic's Renaissance Man







Best Book: The Weird World of Eerie Publications: Comic Gore That Warped Millions of Young Minds by Mike Howlett


Tara Platt
Actress /  Executive Producer, Co-Star Shelf Life







Best Movie: Bunraku
Best Books (fiction): Hunger Games trilogy
Best Books (non-fiction): Pigs Eat Wolves
Best Video Games: Saints Row:The Third
Best Blu-ray/DVD Release: Warrior's Way
Thing that excited you most in 2011? the release of our web series Shelf Life.
Thing that disappointed you most in 2011? That Shelf Life hasn't gotten the hits I think it deserves!
Thing that you're most looking forward to in 2012? Getting into production on our next feature film!




Benjamin Shahrabani
Screenwriter / Co-publisher Com.x








Best Movies: The Descendants, Drive, Bridesmaids, Take Shelter, Beginners, Midnight in Paris 
Best TV Shows: Boardwalk Empire, Dexter, Breaking Bad, Big Bang Theory
Best Books (fiction): I don't think I bought any 'new' fiction books in 2011. Could it be?
Best Books (non-fiction): Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson, Son of Hamas by Mosab Yousef
Best Video Game: Pong
Best Album: Video Games by Lana Del Rey
Best Comic Book/Graphic Novel: Paying for It by Chester Brown, Seeds by Ross Mackintosh
Best Blu-ray/DVD Release: I didn't buy any DVD's this year!
Biggest Pop Culture Story of 2011? Two Presidential candidates wear magic underwear.
Thing that disappointed you most in 2011? Let's not go there! ;-(
Thing that you're most looking forward to in 2012? Release of my movie, One in the Chamber, starring Cuba Gooding Jr., and Dolph Lundgren…and some brand spankin' new OGN's from my company Com.x



Jon Sloan 
Com.x Managing Director








Best Movies: Limitless was the standout for me. Clever story, fantastic cinematography; Captain America, 13 Assassins, Thor, Unknown, Source Code, The Adjustment Bureau 
Best TV Show: Misfits 
Best Book (fiction): Death of Kings by Bernard Cornwell
Best Book (non-fiction): The Secrets of House Music Production 
Best Video Games: In order of enjoyment for me: Skyrim, Batman: Arkham City, Portal 2, Uncharted 3, Deus Ex, Human Revolution, Dead Space 2, Crysis 2
Best Song: Oxygen by Moguai, Blind Faith by Chase and Status, Melted Sky by Sunnery James and Ryan Marciano, Metrum by Fedde le Grand, Bullet by Michael Woods
Best Album: Lyve from Beta by Moguai Conducted by Marcel Dettmann
Best Comic Book/Graphic Novel: Batman: Noel 
Best Blu-ray/DVD Release: Thor 
Thing that excited you most in 2011? Getting tracks signed to different labels.
Thing that disappointed you most in 2011? Not being as good as I want to be at music production
Thing that you're most looking forward to in 2012? The end of the world



Jim Zub
Creator of Makeshift Miracle  / Co-creator of Skullkickers  







Best Movies: I didn't see many movies this year, but two stood out. The Muppets - Pretty much perfect from start to finish, a wonderful balance of joy, entertainment and nostalgia all wrapped up together. X-Men: First Class - I went in with no expectations and walked out pretty impressed at how much ground they covered and the character moments they crafted.
Best TV Shows: I didn't watch much TV this year, but two stood out. The Walking Dead – Different from the comics, but never so far out that it feels off-point. Engaging, emotional and intense. Game of Thrones – It started a bit slow but by the time I was a couple episodes in it was unbelievably gripping and atmospheric.
Best Video Games: World of Tanks is a perfect balance of old school shooter with strategy and depth. It's also free. Batman: Arkham City builds on the perfect playability of Arkham Asylum in every way with a bigger story, larger world and more variety. It's everything you want a gaming sequel to be.
Best Comic Books /Graphic Novels: Locke & Key is continually top notch with top notch artwork and an incredibly compelling cast of characters. Atomic Robo hits the sweet spot of action and comedy every time. I'm jealous of how effortless they make it look.
Thing that excited you most in 2011? A resurgence of interest in original ideas and creator-owned comics.
Thing that disappointed you most in 2011? Knock-off concepts smashing famous literature/historical figures together with trendy whatever. The whole mash-up meme bull$#%@ thing. Let it go already. Stop piggybacking on someone else's material. Make your own.
Thing that you're most looking forward to in 2012? I'm curious to see if the whole digital comic/e-publishing thing shakes itself out in 2012. 2011 seemed transitional, rather than transformative, and it will be neat to see where it heads from here for comics and book publishing as a whole. 




Ellen Waddell 
Upcoming FOG! Columnist / Bassist, Los Campesinos! / Writer








Best Movies: The Deep Blue Sea, Drive, Midnight in Paris, Bridesmaids, The Tree of Life, The Adjustment Bureau, A Life in the Day, Worlds Greatest Dad, Submarine, Animal Kingdom 
Thing that excited you most in 2011? X-Men: First Class & Jane Eyre
Thing that disappointed you most in 2011? X-Men: First Class & Jane Eyre
Thing that you're most looking forward to in 2012? The Avengers


Emma-Jane Corsan
FOG! Columnist /  Co-creator/Actress, Unlocked







Best Movies: Attack The Block, 50/50, Captain America: The First Avenger, X-Men: First Class, Hugo
Best TV Shows: Luther, Misfits, Game Of Thrones, Walking Dead, Castle, 30 Rock, Adventure Time, Community
Best Books (fiction): The Night Circus (Erin Morgenstern), Go The F*** To Sleep (Adam Mansbach) - children's audio book read by Samuel L. Jackson
Best Books (non-fiction): Steve Jobs biography - Walter Isaacson
Best Video Games: Skyrim, Portal 2, Batman: Arkham City, L.A. Noire
Best Album:  Let England Shake (PJ Harvey), How To Destroy Angels E.P. (How To Destroy Angels), Tron: Legacy Original Soundtrack (Daft Punk), The Social Network Original Soundtrack - Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
Best Comic Books / Graphic Novels: Action Comics #1 [New 52] (Grant Morrisson), Evelyn Evelyn (Amanda Palmer)
Best Blu-ray/DVD Releases: Attack The Block, Black Swan, X-Men: First Class, Captain America, Luther (series 2), Thor, Toy Story 3
Biggest Pop Culture Story of 2011? Steve Jobs' death.
Thing that excited you most in 2011? The DC New 52.
Thing that disappointed you most in 2011? Green Lantern movie, Conan The Barbarian remake, Community being cancelled.
Thing that you're most looking forward to in 2012? The Avengers Movie!  Series 2 of Unlocked will be happening next year!



DJ Crystal Clear
FOG! Columnist / DJ / Singer / First Lady of Cool








Biggest Pop Culture Story of 2011? The Kardashians! Who does Ryan Seacrest think he is, creating a Kardashian Kartel over there at E!?What will Bruce Jenner's face turn into next year? Where will Kim find another Black guy to date? When will their hypnosis on the general public wear off? Why do people care about them? How is it that nobody calls out the mother for basically being a really big Pimp?
Best TV Shows: Community (and I just heard that NBC just put the kibosh on this really great show. STAY CLASSY NBC!), Watch What Happens, Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, The Cleveland Show
Best Music You've Never Heard: Here is some stuff by great musicians that you've probably never heard of, but should have. You're welcome! XENIA RUBINOS - Her music is funky, quirky, and awesome! Her record Magic Trix won't be for sale until Jan. 16. But til then folks can preview the single, "Hair Receeding" at soundcloud!  PAUL BERTOLINO - He's the drummer of the band Persephone's Bees, and an AMAZING singer, songwriter, musician who is influenced by the Beatles and other great Pop Artists from the good old days WHEN MUSIC WAS ON VINYL! If you love awesome harmonies and beautifully layered tracks, Paul is your guy!  SCOTT STEIN - I've performed with this guy a few times, he's a great keyboard player and song writer. Dig this... Scott Stein & his Well Groomed Orchestra!  JIM CANFIELD is in the band called Bleeding, Sweating, and Crying. What do they sound like? You do the math. Their 2nd cd is coming out in the new year - watch here for downloads.  The new cd is called "It Crawled Into My Heart, Laid Eggs, And Died" you can also check them out on Facebook.  PATRICK FERGUSON is in the band Easter Island. They have a new record coming out in about 60 days! Check out their YouTube channel here!   My friend Chris plays bass for this guy – ANTHONY FALLACARO! And last, but not least - here's the way groovy PHILO T. PHUZZWORTH who plays with JERI AND THE JEEPSTERS





Atlee Greene
FOG! Columnist / Wrestler







Best Movies: Captain America, X-Men: First Class, Transformers: The Dark of the Moon, Super 8, Another Earth, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, The Devils Double
Best TV Shows: Boardwalk Empire, The Walking Dead, Modern Family, American Horror Story 
Best Video Games: Batman: Arkham City, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Gears of War 3, Skyrim, LA Noire 
Best Album: Jay-Z and Kanye West, Watch the Throne 
Best Comic Books / Graphic Novels: Wolverine, Ultimate Spider-Man, Batman Incorporated, Secret Six: Cats in the Cradle, Batman: The Black Mirror 
Biggest Pop Culture Story of 2011? The passing of Steve Jobs.
Thing that excited you most in 2011? The DC Universe Reboot
Thing that disappointed you most in 2011? The Green Lantern movie
Thing that you're most looking forward to in 2012? I'm going to do more stuff with my blog Midnight Logic, Ia m wrestling for NWA Liberty States on 1/28 in Peabody MA and my wrestling promotion (ECHO) will hold its first TV in Woonsocket, RI on 1/8/12.  Also, Avengers vs. X-Men, The Hunger Games, The Dark Knight Rises, The Rock vs. John Cena @ Wrestlemania 28, Darth Maul's return on Star Wars: The Clone Wars, James Luceno's Star Wars: Darth Plagueis, The Avengers, The Hobbit, The Amazing Spider-Man



Dean Galanis
Entertainment Industry Renaissance Man







Best Movies: I still haven't seen a lot of the ostensibly great films of 2011 (War Horse, Hugo, Mysteries of Libson, etc.), but of those I've seen, here are my favorites, in no particular order:  
Rubber: The first film this year to genuinely surprise me. You either go with it from Scene One or you don't; I did wholeheartedly. 
The Troll Hunter: The best example of the "found footage" horror film subgenre in quite awhile, it's also rather funny, 
Terri: While this screams "Quirky Indie" in every frame, this is not a bad thing, as it's so well-made and affecting. 
Rise of The Planet of The Apes: Extremely flawed, but also extremely involving and gripping. And it wins for Best Gasp-Inducing Moment in a film this year, hands down. 
Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol: An absolute joy. Seriously. Smart, witty, exciting as hell. The Dubai sequence is an instant classic.
Best TV Shows:  Only one for me: American Horror Story. Oh, wait --- does the BBC Sherlock Holmes count...?
Best Video Game: Ummm.....Pac Man?
Best Song: I know everyone probably hates it by now, but I still just LOVE that Foster The People song Pumped Up Kicks. Insanely catchy and fun.
Thing that disappointed you most in 2011?  Well, it's not like I was DYING to see it, but after hearing all the accolades, I finally came around to wanting to sit through Bridesmaids.  Um...what the hell?! Amateurish, sluggish as all hell, laughless (okay, I laughed a SINGLE TIME), and truly just mediocre. I didn't HATE it -- I kinda liked the scene near the end with Kristen Wiig re-bonding with Maya Rudolph in her bedroom. But that's about it. I'm aware I sound like the cranky old man bitching about "today's comedy", but I truly don't understand why this movie is considered a high point in comedy. Lackluster poop.
Thing that you're most looking forward to in 2012?  Well, I'm one of the few people on Earth (and perhaps the ONLY one on this site) who could give a crap about the new Dark Knight movie, as the last two were incredibly dull. And Christopher Nolan gets my vote for most overrated filmmaker EVER (or maybe Terence Malick, it's hard...to...I....zzzzzzzzzzzz.....)  And that Hunger Games trailer? What the hell?! I haven't read the books, but the set design/costumes/make-up suggest a lousy high school redux of Repo! The Genetic Opera. I'm honestly sure there's a point to that cheese, but as a newbie, I want to avoid this film like the plague.  I've been VERY excited about Cabin in the Woods for years now...til I saw the trailer. Looks...I just don't know. I'm still excited, though....as I am for the other Joss Whedon project next year, The Avengers. But again....trailer....a bit underwhelming.



Agent Frankie
Upcoming FOG! Columnist / Architect of Upcoming RPG, Wild







Best Movies: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger 
Best TV Shows: Game of Thrones, American Horror Story, The Fades
Best Book (fiction): John Dies at the End 
Best Book (non-fiction): Harry Potter: From Page to Screen 
Best Video Game: LA Noire 
Best Album: Sucker Punch Soundtrack
Best Comic Book/Graphic Novel: Morning Glories 
Biggest Pop Culture Story of 2011? John Dies at the End becoming a film!
Thing that disappointed you most in 2011? Sucker Punch
Thing that you're most looking forward to in 2012? GTAV, The Avengers (Movie), The Hobbit




Tani Marole
Screenwriter 








Best Movies: Tree of Life, Drive, Moneyball, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, X-Men First Class
Best TV Shows: Community, Game of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire, and the greatest of them all -- Real Housewives of Atlanta :)
Best Song: "Niggas in Paris" by Jay-Z & Kanye West, "We Found Love" by Rhianna
Best Album: Watch The Throne by Jay-Z & Kanye West
Best Blu-ray: Tree of Life...hands down!
Biggest Pop Culture Story: Charlie Sheen...#winning
Most Excited in 2011: 'Experiencing' Drive with a polarized movie audience and watching The Dark Knight Rises Prologue in IMAX
Most Disappointed in 2011: The overall lack of quality in pop culture and life... Time to step it up
Most Looking Forward to in 2012: The Dark Knight Rises, Prometheus, The Avengers, and my feature film debut



David Bitterbaum
Upcoming FOG! Columnist







Best Comics of 2011:
10. X-Factor: Peter David continues to write a solid series constantly. It may dip at some points in enjoyment, but always comes roaring back. X-Factor can always be relied upon to be a comic you want to read.
9. Daredevil: Mark Waid, Paolo Rivera and Marcos Martin took a comic that was flailing about for some quality after sinking into nonsense plots about demon possession and made it just plain fun again. With awesome art by Rivera and Martin, to boot!
8. Big Questions: Anders Nilsen collects his entire run of the comic titled Big Questions in this book and boy is it a saga. It's a strange existential-type tale in some ways, that can be funny, sad, and alarming. It's just plain interesting.
7. Uncanny X-Force: With just the right mixture of melancholy and hope, darkness and humor, violence and more violence, this comic was a real hoot thanks to writer Rick Remender and art from a variety of talented individuals such as the incredible Jerome Opena.
6. Men Of War: It was a DC comic I thought I would hate, but oddly enough this comic mixing soldiers who have to deal with the fact they live in a world of superheroes is really, really, great. Plus it is kind off-the-wall and surreal at times. I can't believe so many people are missing this.
5. Vengeance: Joe Casey and Nick Dragotta have something really special here--a mainstream comic that reads as if it were an Independent comic on the basis of how it has such fresh ideas and takes on characters. You know Marvel is probably going to have to just undo everything awesome Casey accomplishes here with his plot--and which Dragotta illustrates so wonderfully.
4. Daken: Dark Wolverine: A comic I loved got canceled, it happens so often. This really hurt though, because Rob Williams came in and started writing Wolverine's son so well it just blew my mind. I'll enjoy the time I have left with it immensely.
3. T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents: I'm talking about the pre-new 52-re-launch comic and not the current mini-series even though that one is pretty promising. And yes, some of these came out in 2010, but most of the 10 issues were in 2011 and quite great, with more than half being incredible and the rest being strong. Nick Spencer may have signed an exclusive contract with Marvel Comics but thank whoever I need to thank they let him keep working at DC for at least this comic and its new current mini-series.
2. The Flashpoint Batman Mini-Series: It was 3 issues of amazing story-telling and crazy-good art from Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso, the guys who brought you the comic 100 Bullets. Even if you didn't like Flashpoint this is just superb with its take on an older Batman. Plus the twists are ones that make you say, "Why haven't they done this before in a Batman comic?"
1. Osborn Mini-Series: Yes, the first issue came out at the end of 2010, but most of it was in 2011 and this didn't get sublime until around the second issue when the dialogue and art came together in a way that showed writer Kelly Sue Deconnick and artist Emma Rios were fresh talents worth paying attention too.
Biggest Pop Culture Story of 2011? As much as I hate to say it, for a good 2 months or so the United States had its eyes glued to Charlie Sheen. However, if we are talking the biggest pop-culture story for the world and not just the U.S. it has to be the royal wedding.
Thing that excited me most in 2011? It's a truly geeky answer, DC Comics doing their big re-launch. My biggest disappointment in 2011? Probably my disappointment in humanity for investing so much attention in the Casey Anthony trial when there was so much else happening in the world of far greater importance than some trial.
What do I look forward to most in 2012? Laughing at people who are convinced the world is going to end due to a misinterpretation of the Mayan calendar. That, or screaming for my life in the tiny chance the world does end somehow.



Bailee Desrocher
Former FOG! Columnist / Actor/Comedienne / Cartoonist







Disclaimer: I’m not an expert. I’m a fanboy, just like the rest of you dum dums.

Best Movie: TIE. I dug Bridesmaids. Women the world over rallied to see that movie, as if the fate of females in film depended on it. I don’t think it was as serious as all that, but it was a fun time and it killed at the box office. LURVED X-Men: First Class pretty hard. Maybe I’m just crushing on Rose Byrne. Whatever, see following category.
Best Way To Spend $80: X-Men logo tattoo. Doy. Saw First Class, loved it, such a fan anyway, started tooling around with an idea for a tat. 6 months later – BAM! Emblazoned forever on my skin. Studio City Tattoo is pretty much great. You get a piece of pirate gold with every tattoo that gives you $5 off your next ink session. CUTE.
Best TV Show: Mythbusters. THAT’S FOR PAUL GOEBEL AND NO ONE ELSE!
Best Comic: Deadpool Max Fo’ Lyfe! THAT’S FOR DAVID LAPHAM AND KYLE BAKER AND NO ONE ELSE!
Best Cosmetics: I’m in love with Cinema Secrets powder foundation – nice application, good coverage, SPF, recommended by the medical profession. Oh, and cosplayers take heed! ELF makes some badass cream eyeshadow that doesn’t slide. $3 a pop. WORTH IT.
Best Hair Salon: Hey man, this is about your obsessions and I’m way into my awesome hair. Frenchy’s in Burbank is AMAZEBALLS. Been there for almost 5 years, and have had lots of stylists, all of which are great. I recommend Ashley for cuts & color, Heather for waxing of all kinds. Reasonably priced, geek friendly.
Best Thingy of 2011: Womanthology. The finished book is going to be gorgeous. I was lucky enough to be able to contribute to the digital Holiday edition. If you don’t know what Womanthology is go check it out here and be astounded.
Best Blu-Ray Release: Jurassic Park! Wha - why is this even a category? OBVIOUS.
Best Jurassic Park Tribute Art: The JP Show! The prints avail for purchase from the show are so cool! Go to there! See them! They’re awesome! If you don’t like it, you’re just a six foot turkey to me.



Clay N. Ferno
Upcoming FOG! Columnist/ Co-Host, LeaguePodcast / Contributor DigBoston







The Ten Best Comic Books Read in 2011:
1. G.I. Joe Cobra #12
2. Justice League #1
3. Daredevil #1
4. Batman #1
5. Amazing Spider-Man #670
6. Star Trek #1
7. Batgirl #1
8. Morning Glories #11
9. Iron Man 2.0 #1
10. Tiny Titans #42



Daniel Dockery
Upcoming FOG! Columnist







Best Movies: I Saw The Devil, Super, Win Win  
Best TV Shows: Boardwalk Empire, Eastbound and Down, The Walking Dead
Best Book (non-fiction): Patton Oswalt's Zombie Spaceship Wasteland  
Best Video Games: Batman: Arkham City, Dead Space 2  
Best Song: Jay-Z & Kanye West - Niggas In Paris
Best Album: Race Wars (mc chris)
Best Comic Book/Graphic Novels: Sweet Tooth, New 52 Batman, American Vampire
Best Blu-ray/DVD Release: Hatchet 2



Michelle Garrison
Upcoming FOG! Columnist







Best Movies: I felt like 2011 lacked any really wowza movies, but I feel that Captain America and X-Men First Class were at least fun and had nothing too silly about them.
Best TV Shows: This was a great year for TV, though! Boardwalk Empire, Game of Thrones, Louie   Best Video Games: Portal 2, Rage, Skyrim  Best
Comic Book/Graphic Novels: Snyder, Jock, and Frankavilla's run on Detective Comics, Remender's Uncanny X-Force, Batwoman by J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman, Swamp Thing by Scott Snyder, art by Yanick Paquette,  Animal Man by Jeff Lemire and Travel Foreman,  Jonathan Hickman's run of Fantastic Four and FF
Thing that excited you most in 2011? The Occupy Movement, and all the Arab Spring revolutions
Thing that disappointed you most in 2011? That Rupert Murdoch can be embroiled in a huge phone hacking scandal, yet still be the Lord of American Media
Thing that you're most looking forward to in 2012? If Diablo III actually comes out! More Game of Thrones! The Dark Knight Rises!  


Kurt Jansson
Geek T-shirt Proprietor Kurt's Shirts  /  Co-Creator of Upcoming Web Comic Damn Nation







Best Movies:  I'd have to say I enjoyed Captain America: The First Avenger the most, although I know a lot of comic enthusiast had issues with it. It was my introduction to the character and his background (wasn't a big comic book kid) and besides the somewhat awkward scenes of the scrawny, bare chested body double Steve Rogers I loved the visual representation and aesthetics of the movie. 
Best TV Shows: Breaking Bad. Hands down. Especially Season 4. Superb writing worthy of the time spent on character/story building, not to mention performances that were (obviously) award winning. Bitter sweet that next season will be the last. This show alone could be the answer for my "Best Of..." anything!  Boardwalk Empire and The Walking Dead would be second and third. Gotta love gangsters and zombies.
Best Book: My good friends C.J. Kaplan and Mitch Blum released their satirical Jews Clues: You're Doing It All Wrong this year. (The following is from Amazon.com) "Filled with nearly 300 Clues (smart-ass aphorisms touching on multiple subjects), over 100 Chai-Kus (Jewish-themed Haikus) and 16 humorous essays"... funny and affordable, I think it's great... besides, they're friends of mine!
Best Video Games: Not much of a gamer, but I found that I can't put down Super Mario for Wii. I guess the best will always be the best!
Best Song: I have an eclectic taste in music, but at the root I'm a rock guy. That being said I will say that 2 songs caught my attention, 1) Paradise City - by: Slash Featuring Cypress Hill and Fergie (from the Black Eyed Peas): What a cool, modern twist on a song I already loved and WOW does Fergie give Axl a run for his money! Maybe she should re-record Chinese Democracy for Axl so it can actually make some money!  ...and 2) Lady GaGa's "unplugged" version of Edge Of Glory performed on The Howard Stern Show: I wasn't a fan until I heard this song (specific version), and I wouldn't say I'm exactly a fan now either, but boy has she earned my respect as an artist an musician. I had thought she was all about being the flavor of the week, and she might be, but she can back up her wanna-be Bowie-Madonna-Gwar visions with talent!
Best Album: I can't think of an album that came out in 2011 that's worthy of being named best. I went and checked all of the lists on what came out in 2011 and frankly, I didn't know most of it. I'm just not "hip" anymore I guess. I still listen to a lot of the older stuff or more obscure bands.  My very good friend's band, The Ducky Boys, although being released in January, recorded their latest album Chasing The Ghost throughout 2011 and is awesome (I sat in on some mixing and heard various tracks). If you like "Boston Punk" or just plain ole driving catchy rock music, definitely check them out!
Best Blu-ray/DVD Release: Ok, I'm just going to say the Star Wars box set ONLY because finally our beloved will be in Blu-ray format... but, are they are beloved still? Depends on who you talk to. As far as I'm concerned, no... putting out altered, seconded-guessed, compromised and bastardized versions of my favorite movies in an HD format is like trying to give me a glass of "New Coke"... but now in a Champagne glass.  It IS still, however Star Wars regardless, so I guess that's something.
Biggest Pop Culture Story of 2011? The Honey Badger. Yes, definitely the Honey Badger.
Thing that excited you most in 2011? That's tough. Not much excites me to the point of remembering it at the end of the year. I was excited about seeing Super 8 until I saw it. I was excited to learn about The Dark Knight Rises and all of the footage/shots and banter that is still going on about it, the Bane pics, The Gotham Rogues, etc. It will be interesting to see how much of this stuff plays out and how.  I guess all in all, I was MOST excited about putting together my screen accurate, hand-made Tusken Raider and Jawa costumes for my daughter and myself for Halloween. Bam!
Thing that disappointed you most in 2011? (See my answer for "Best Blu-ray/DVD Release") 
Thing that you're most looking forward to in 2012? The grand finale to Breaking Bad, Season 5. It will have been a long, torturous wait when it starts back up and although I'm sad it will be over, I am giddy with excitement over how Vince and the gang will entertain us all. There's a ton of loose ends hanging and I know Vince got himself a big 'ole knot tying merit badge so, look out!  Also very interested in The Dark Knight Rises.   

Shade Rupe
Author Dark Stars Rising / Filmmaker







Best Movies: The Turin Horse, Drive, Midnight in Paris, Kill List, We Need to Talk about Kevin, Melancholia
Best Blu-ray/DVD Release: Intruder, The Exterminator  
Thing that excited you most in 2011? Meeting Bela Tarr, Walter Hill, and Frank Marshall.
Thing that disappointed you most in 2011? Almost anything coming out of Hollywood.
Thing that you're most looking forward to in 2012?  The Bela Tarr retrospective at Lincoln Center.

Todd Sokolove
FOG! Columnist, Co-Host Beware of The Babylon Podcast





 

Best Movies: The Artist, Tree of Life, Young Adult, Insidious
Best TV: American Horror Story, The Walking Dead
Best Books (fiction): Zone One by Colson Whitehead
Best Books (non-fiction): Shock Value by Jason Zinoman
Best Video Games: Words With Friends of Duty 3
Best Song: Need You Now by Cut Copy
Best Album: The King of Limbs by Radiohead
Best Comic Book/Graphic Novel: Detective Comics (The New 52)
Best Blu-ray/DVD Release: The Killing Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection
Biggest Pop Culture Story of 2011? Charlie Sheen, Charlie Sheen, Charlie Sheen
Thing that excited you most in 2011? Scorsese's Hugo in 3D.
Thing that disappointed you most in 2011? Badly converted 3D movies.
Thing that you're most looking forward to in 2012? The death of 3D movies.


Matt Bergin
Former FOG! Columnist, Founder Comics Cure







Best Movies: Attack the Block and Rise of the Planet of the Apes were an amazing double feature of unexpected geek-sating fun. Attack the Block was just a cool little riff on a toybox of cliches, shaken, beaten, and dumped out in a South London project. It's an alien-based Monster Squad with f-bombs and skull smashing. Planet of the Apes was the ultimate payoff of lowered expectations. NOBODY I know thought this movie would be good. I don't think anyone thought it even needed to be made. But wouldn't you know, the story of a displaced hero's evolution from monkey to master was exciting and emotionally charged.  Honorable geek mention goes to Drive, in which Ryan Gossling brooded his way through the closest thing you're ever going to get to a live-action Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.
Best TV Shows: Every week we watch as this family of desperate and disconnected characters, their souls trapped within the confines of an earthly prison, struggled for unity while spiraling into darkness and depravity, madness threatening -- no promising -- to overtake them in every installment, and often succeeding, only to reveal that the spiral twirled ever downward. Obviously, I'm talking about Community! (American Horror Story was pretty cool, too, but surely it is Greendale that exists in the darkest timeline.) Paintball hooked me, but Advanced Dungeons & Dragons made me fall in love. Here's hoping for six seasons and a movie! Secret geek bonus: Show creator Dan Harmon used to be a creative partner of Rob Schrab. The pair founded the experimental comedy website Channel 101 -- an obvious inspiration for the wildly popular Funny Or Die and progenitor to much of the current web-based comedy landscape, and Harmon wrote some of the inventively insane cult comic Scud: The Disposable Assassin with Schrab, before the duo split for other ventures.  Watch Community: Advanced Dungeons & Dragons on HULU.
Best Books (fiction): A Dance With Dragons was the hands-down best work of written fiction that I read this year--and not just because it took me most of the year to read it!. And, frankly, as the latest installment in the Song of Ice and Fire series, the tome serves as one more (massive) chapter in what has been my personal favorite written series ever. Tolkien's 'Rings' trilogy is an amazingly magical, transportive series of books, and of the seven Stephen King Dark Tower novels to date, most of them blew my mind, and the series as a whole was so inspiringly meta and clinging that I don't expect to ever truly shake it from my mind; but only George RR Martins's epic A Song of Ice and Fire has achieved those things AND satisfied all remaining of my most base and noble literary cravings so fully. Honorable geek mention: I haven't read Ernest Cline's Ready Player One, but I've heard from a few friends who know better--including Best Book of 2012 hopeful, Myke Cole--that it is required geek reading.
Best Books (non-fiction): The Magic of Reality, written by Richard Dawkins and illustrated by Dave McKean, was an enlightening little impulse buy that I picked up at my local comic shop one Wednesday in the Fall. It reads like a grade school text book for adults. Complicated subjects like the evolution of all life on earth from a single source organism are presented in such an accessibly conversational manner that even your most devout creationist friends would have a hard time refuting them.
Best Comic Books: I'm a Big 2 superhero guy. Marvel and DC are the reasons I got into comics and they are the primary reasons I continue to follow the new releases every Wednesday. Trades are great. Hot indy finds are always welcome. I really got into Locke & Key this year, and so far, The Strange Talent of Luther Strode has been engrossing (emphasis on the gross). But I love a good serialized superhero comic book. I love reading Matt Fraction's reconstruction of Tony Stark, and Bendis's take on the various teams of Avengers (Dark included). I like the concept of DC's nu52 and have enjoyed the re-nu-ed interest it sparked in me toward their entire universe. But...come on. If you are a serialized super fan like me, you've got to give it up to Dan Slott on ASM. Slott's Amazing Spider-Man is a consistent pleasure to read, and his rotating league of artists (Marcos Martin!) bring such...well, artistry and sophistication to what by all rights should be a boring, dead-in-the-water comic that long outlived it's worth. But it hasn't. It is a smart and stylish mix of nostalgia and freshness every issue.
Biggest Pop Culture Story of 2011: Geek cinema getting Wiki Leaks-fever. Pirated footage and photos became the new approach to marketing comic book movies, while closed sets were so passe. As a fan who gets excited rather than turned away by spoilers, I've found this new paradigm to be great fun, and with regard to the various super flicks I've been able to get extra-sneaky peaks at during production (see The Dark Knight Rises, The Avengers, Superman, etc), my buzz dial is at 11.
Thing that disappointed you most in 2011? Politics...as usual. I'm also displeased with the apparent sweeping embrace of digital comics over paper and the push to day-and-date downloadable comics, which is inevitably going to kill brick and mortar comic shops (and my active interest in new books) dead. I'm also disappointed IDW Publishing passed on reading my pitch for their ongoing Ghostbusters comic book, in which I paired the GBs with a non-infringing iteration of Scooby Doo and Mystery Inc.
Thing that you're most looking forward to in 2012? Dwarves! From The Hobbit to dueling Snow White movies to Peter Dinklage's lit-to-life Tyrion Lannister in Game of Thrones season 2, little people are going to have a big 2012.



Mike Calahan
Flim-Flam Man, Former and Returning FOG! Columnist







Best Movies: Rango, Super 8, Bridesmaids, Crazy, Stupid, Love   
Best TV Shows: Boardwalk Empire, Dexter, Modern Family, Parks and Recreation, It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, The Daily Show, Colbert Report
Best Books (non-fiction):  Animals Behaving Badly by Linda Lombardi, Bossypants by Tina Fey,  5 Very Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin in the Mouth (And Other Useful Guides) by The Oatmeal
Best Video Games: Does televising myself playing checkers count?
Best Comic Book / Graphic Novel: Terminals
Biggest Pop Culture Story of 2011? Rebecca Black
Thing that excited you most in 2011? - OWS altering the national dialogue about income inequality. Fat Cat editors like Stefan Blitz have had too much of the wealth for far too long!
Thing that disappointed you most in 2011?  Our absurd, bi-partisan political system. It's a joke.
Thing that you're most looking forward to in 2012? Mad Men returning. Also, seeing egg on the faces of those high and mighty, doomsday-predicting Mayans.



Bill Machon
FOG! Columnist







Best Movies: Attack The Block, Take Shelter, Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows - Part 2  
Best TV Shows: Breaking Bad, Eureka, American Horror Story, Warehouse 13, Clone Wars, Storage Wars  
Best Book (non-fiction): Supergods by Grant Morrison
Best Podcasts: The Gamma Quadrant, Vergecast, Coincidence Control Network  
Best Albums: Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, Radiohead - King of Limbs, Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
Best Gadget: iPad 2
Best Websites: Forces of Geek (duh), Reality Sandwich (disclaimer: I am a contributor), The Verge  
Best Blu-ray/DVD Release: Primal Scream - Screamadelica “Classic Albums” documentary
Viral video: “E.J.” owning the DS9 category on Jeopardy
Biggest pop culture story: The death of Steve Jobs  
Thing that excited you most in 2011? Scoring tickets for the first Stone Roses reunion concert in the UK next year
Thing that disappointed you most in 2011? Eureka cancellation
Most looking forward to in 2012: Stone Roses reunion, iPad 3, iPhone 5, Mayan Apocalypse


Brook Durham
Screenwriter Syfy's Mammoth, Red: Werewolf Hunter, Merlin and the Book of Beasts







Best Movies: Drive, We Bought A Zoo, Captain America, The Help, X-Men: First Class, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Crazy, Stupid, Love, Limitless, The Lincoln Lawyer, Source Code, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol  
Best TV Shows: Raising Hope, House, Fringe, The Good Wife, The Mentalist, Game of Thrones, Modern Family, Suburgatory, Supernatural


John Rovnak 
Writer/editor of Panel To Panel: Exploring Words & Pictures







Best Movie: Rise of The Planet of The Apes
Best TV Show: The Walking Dead
Best Books (non-fiction): The Seven Spiritual Laws of Superheroes by Deepak Chopra with Gotham Chopra, Teen Angels & New Mutants by Stephen R. Bissette, Archie: A Celebration of America's Favorite Teenagers by Craig Yoe
Best Comic Book(s) / Graphic Novel(s): Daybreak by Brian Ralph, The Fracture of the Universal Boy by Michael Zulli, Glamourpuss by Dave Sim, Gnatrat Lives! by Mark Martin, Swamp Thing by Scott Snyder and Yanick Paquette, Dark Horse Presents, Mome 
Best Web Comic: Contains Traces Of by Steve Murphy
Best Blu-ray/DVD Release: Crumb (Criterion Collection)
Thing that excited you most in 2011? The completion and release of Panel To Panel: Exploring Words & Pictures
Thing that disappointed you most in 2011? DC's New 52
Thing that you're most looking forward to in 2012? The return of Howard Chaykin's Black Kiss, Will Eisner's The Spirit Artist's Edition from IDW, Future volumes of Marvel's Premiere Classics hardcovers


Emma Bates
Former FOG! Columnist / actress (Ursula in Joss Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing)







Best Movies: Tucker and Dale vs Evil, The Artist
Best TV Shows: Homeland, Louie
Best Books (fiction):  The Pale King by David Foster Wallace
Best Books (non-fiction): The Magic of Reality: How We Know What's Really True by Richard Dawkins
Best Video Game: L.A. Noire
Best Song: Super Bass (especially as sung by young girls from England)
Best Album:  Adele's 21 and Bon Iver
Best Comic Book/Graphic Novel: Mark Kalesniko’s Freeway
Best Blu-ray/DVD Release: Who still buys DVD's?!
Biggest Pop Culture Story of 2011? Wikileaks and Occupy Wall Street
Thing that excited you most in 2011? Getting engaged!
Thing that disappointed you most in 2011? I was really sad about the death of Christopher Hitchens
Thing that you're most looking forward to in 2012? The release of Much Ado About Nothing by Joss Whedon

In stores this week from Image Comics, writer Ron Marz and artist Stjepan Sejic!

THE DECISION! It all comes down to this! The Survivor's plan has come to fruition. All thirteen Artifacts and their bearers are in their fated place. The stakes are simple - the very fate of the Top Cow Universe. And the only question that remains is, will either Jackie Estacado or Sara Pezzini doom the world as Tom Judge predicted? Legendary special guest artist DALE KEOWN (THE DARKNESS/PITT, Hulk) joins Top Cow Universe architect RON MARZ to bring fans an event conclusion they will never forget! PLUS: Each issue will also feature an Artifacts: Origin story written by RON MARZ and drawn by a guest superstar artist.

If you are looking to take your business to heights you've only ever dreamed about, you might want to take a gander at John St. advertising firm.

One whiff of the kitty dander hanging around in the air and you'll see profits in the millions.

Trust me.

In stores this week from Image Comics, writer S Steven Struble and artist Sina Grace!

"IN A WORLD OF GHOSTS"
The Li'l Depressed Boy has weathered many storms while on the road with Drew Blood, and returns home only to find Jazz waiting on his front stoop. How will LDB react to the return of the girl who broke his heart" Also: why is the lock on his door broken" Featuring a cover by the impossibly dreamy PHONOGRAM artist JAMIE MCKELVIE.

Two new images have been released for Sony's upcoming Spider-Man reboot The Amazing Spider-Man.

In one of the images we see Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) sporting a Ramones t-shirt and the other photo is of Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) under an umbrella.

Still no image of The Lizard though, so these two new looks at the film will have to tide you over for the time being.

The Amazing Spider-Man stars Andrew Garfiled as Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy, Rhys Ifans as Dr. Curt Conners/The Lizard, Dennis Leary as Captain George Stacy, Martin Sheen as Ben Parker, Sally Field as May Parker, Irrfan Khas as Nels Van Adder/Proto-Goblin, Campbell Scott as Richard Parker, and Embeth Davidtz as Mary Parker.

The Amazing Spider-Man will swing into theaters on July 3.

Check out both images after the break.