THE LIST: 5 Movies To Tide You Over Until GAME OF THRONES Season 3 Begins

February 27, 2013, 2:00 pm

≫ Next: MEET THE RHINELLA PROBOSCIDEA, Or, As I Like to Call Him, Kermit the Necrophiliac

≪ Previous: THE ARGO/HOME ALONE MASH-UP: Who Knew That The Iranians Care So Much About Kevin

$

0

0

I’m not ashamed to admit that I’ve been counting down the days to the premiere of HBO’s Game of Thrones since the clock struck midnight on January 1st. The cable adaptation of George RR Martin’s novels has earned huge ratings and a dedicated following, and fans have been patiently waiting for the next installment.

Well, we’ve gotten a little closer to a new season now that the first ‘real’ trailer for the new season has premiered.

And for fans who were already chomping at the bit, it had everything that fans of the show could hope for -- epic battles, dragons, royal intrigue and a healthy dose of magic.

But the bad news is that March 31st is still a while away and for some, withdrawal is reaching critical levels.

Which is why its time for the movies to come to the rescue! Part of what makes Thrones so compelling is it is a series that plays like a film, it’s big and it’s grand, and it’s got all the elements you expect from fantasy.

So listed after the jump are some films that feature some of our favourite things about Westeros, and hopefully will help pass the time until ‘Winter’ finally returns.


Read more »

---

MEET THE RHINELLA PROBOSCIDEA, Or, As I Like to Call Him, Kermit the Necrophiliac

February 27, 2013, 3:00 pm

≫ Next: Otaku Lounge: Examining the Anime Harem

≪ Previous: THE LIST: 5 Movies To Tide You Over Until GAME OF THRONES Season 3 Begins

$

0

0

The Rhinella proboscidea is a small Amazonian frog that has a particular predilection that the scientists who study such amphibians call “functional necrophilia”.

To put it in layman's terms "Humping the Eggs out of a Dead Female".

Grossed out yet?

No?

Well, here's a picture:
Read more »

Otaku Lounge: Examining the Anime Harem

February 27, 2013, 4:00 pm

≫ Next: Justified: "Outlaw" S4E408 (Review)

≪ Previous: MEET THE RHINELLA PROBOSCIDEA, Or, As I Like to Call Him, Kermit the Necrophiliac

$

0

0

A young and completely ordinary male who has previously been unlucky or ineffectual with the opposite sex suddenly becomes the focus of several lovely ladies.

Hilariously destructive love battles ensue, particularly if some (or all) of the women happen to be super-powered.

The sex never happens, although our main hero does gain a happy if somewhat dysfunctional family unit, and contents himself with accidental peek-shows and inadvertently crashing head-first into any number of cleavages. This is often accompanied by copious amounts of nose bleeds – code for ejaculation.

This is the abbreviated version of almost every harem series in existence, and despite attracting a good deal of negative attention over the years, these types of show have become such an integral part of anime that scarcely a season goes by without one or two new titles.

A quick summary for the uninitiated: in broad terms, harem anime can be defined as a genre characterised by a teenage male protagonist who, by some twist of fate, finds himself surrounded – and usually romantically desired by – at least three members of the opposite sex.

Read more »

Justified: "Outlaw" S4E408 (Review)

February 27, 2013, 5:00 pm

≫ Next: Cult: "In The Blood" S1E2 (Review)

≪ Previous: Otaku Lounge: Examining the Anime Harem

$

0

0

By Steve Ahlquist

Well, after last week's filler episode, where very little happened, in this episode everything happens.

Raylan heads to prison where he hopes to queer his father's deal for early release by approaching another prisoner who might know who Drew Thompson is. This other prisoner responds by staging an attack on Arlo, and though Arlo gives almost as good as he gets, he takes a pair of barber shears to the chest. Of course, the old bastard can't die right away, and over the course of the episode Raylan's daddy issues come to the fore at Arlo's death bed. Arlo's last words to his son are "Kiss my ass." Best dad ever. Then Arlo dies off screen, the next day.

Meanwhile, Boyd has been instructed to kill Frank Browning at the orders of the Harlan County business elite. Boyd offers Browning a counter deal, which the old man refuses.

Meanwhile meanwhile, Winn Duffy, under pressure from world's biggest mobster Theo Tonnin, pressures Boyd on his efforts to hunt down Drew Thompson. Boyd, seeing an opportunity, sends Theo's hitman after his enemies list. This pisses off Theo Tonin, but Boyd strikes a new deal, angling out Winn Duffy in the process. He also uses his newfound influence with Tonin to turn the tables on the Harlan County business elite, making him the de facto kingpin of Harlan County crime and a real mobster.
Read more »

Cult: "In The Blood" S1E2 (Review)

February 27, 2013, 6:00 pm

≫ Next: IF SOMEONE CAN SELL This Horrible Nic Cage/Crystal Pepsi Jean Jacket For $200, There's No Reason You Can't Follow Your Dreams To Fame and Fortune

≪ Previous: Justified: "Outlaw" S4E408 (Review)

$

0

0

By Steve Belgard

The ratings weren’t that great for last week’s premiere of Cult, so we pose a question - - suppose the CW cancels the show. Could they just get rid of “the show within the show” and just keep “the show,” or cancel the “show” and keep the “within the show”? This query is entirely possible in the paranormal TV world, I guess. Yeah, some people have too much time on their hands, and as we know, the mind is a terrible thing to waste.

The first episode had the catchphrase “Hey, these things just snap right off,” and although they just say it once in this episode, this week we get “Who is Steven Rae”? or “You’ll never get to Steven Rae” (the fake show’s creator). Steven Rae is actually the “nom de plume” of the actual show’s creator/writer Rockne S O’ Bannon.

In our alternate TV-reality, cops find a buried, tied up upside down corpse, and there’s a flashback from seven years ago of former “family” member turned cop Kelly buried and tied upside down (probably her initiation). Kelly tells her partner that Grimm is sending her a message with this corpse.
Read more »

IF SOMEONE CAN SELL This Horrible Nic Cage/Crystal Pepsi Jean Jacket For $200, There's No Reason You Can't Follow Your Dreams To Fame and Fortune

February 28, 2013, 9:00 am

≫ Next: Smallville: Random, Awesome and WTF?! – The Final Farewell

≪ Previous: Cult: "In The Blood" S1E2 (Review)

$

0

0

Being a writer is a lonely and brutal vocation. You spend most of your time in a room (or, in my case, a basement) writing stories into the wee hours of the morning that you hope will see the light of day in a magazine or between two hard, glossy covers that you did not publish yourself on CreateSpace. Your life is pretty much a joke to those who work a normal job that pays a living wage and, in tougher times, you are forced to take on work at places like gas stations or diners just to get some cash flowing so that you can eat stuff like turkey jerky and canned peaches to stay alive. 

And some days you wonder, "Is it worth it?"
Read more »

Smallville: Random, Awesome and WTF?! – The Final Farewell

February 28, 2013, 10:00 am

≫ Next: ANNIE EDISON AND DRACO MALFOY Perform A Cover of The White Stipes "We're Going to Be Friends"...Yeah, I'm A Bit Confused As Well

≪ Previous: IF SOMEONE CAN SELL This Horrible Nic Cage/Crystal Pepsi Jean Jacket For $200, There's No Reason You Can't Follow Your Dreams To Fame and Fortune

$

0

0

Wow.  I mean, really.  Wow.

Ten seasons, over 200 episodes, more than 150 hours of watching, and even longer spent writing and formatting and this grand experiment is over.

When I first started this column, I never expected it to get this far.  So let me explain where this all came from.

Gather around, kids, I’ve got a little tale to tell…

I’ve been a comic book fan forever.  Characters like the X-Men and Superman, especially, resonated with me growing up, and in no small way comic books were largely responsible for saving my life when I was at my lowest point.

So when Smallville was first advertised, I was psyched.  I tuned in for the very first episode…and I watched each and every episode—no matter how random, no matter how awesome, no matter how WTF?!—right up until the end.

It was the longest I’d ever watched a show from start to finish, eclipsing the nine seasons of X-Files, and when I turned off the television the evening of May 13, 2011, knowing I’d just seen the last new episode of my favorite series, it was a weird feeling.

Also, I was scared, because without the TV on, it was really dark.

So I did what any rational person refusing to let go of fictional characters would do—I popped in the first DVD of season one and decided to watch Smallville from the beginning.

And while I was doing it and reminiscing, I started making some observations and it struck me to write them down.  I got a good chuckle out of it and posted it on Facebook, and some friends implored me to write more.

Watch TV and crack jokes at the expense of Lana Lang?  Sign me up!

I wrote a few more and then my wonderful editor-in-chief here on FOG!—Stefan Blitz; and, dude, I’m totally calling you “Chief” now—suggested I run the reviews here instead of just on Facebook.  I’d already been writing a few columns here and decided, “Yeah.  Let’s do this.”

She was hotter than hot, but also like a magnet for my mockery.

On August 3, 2011, we debuted I Was a Teenage Meteor Freak (credit to the Chief for the name and column logo), more commonly known as Smallville: Random, Awesome and WTF?!, and I officially committed to seeing this through.  And, I’ll tell you, it was one of the most demanding writing assignments I’ve taken on since finishing my book, An American at the Crossroads.

And I know what you’re thinking—dude, you had to watch TV and come up with jokes, how hard could it possibly have been?  And you’re right, in the grand scheme of things, it wasn’t like working a chain gang in a Turkish prison—haven’t done that since at least the late 1990s—but it was just the enormity of it all: a 200+ episode task, an entry two and then three times a week, while trying to keep it fresh and funny, and finding the time in my schedule to get it all together.

There were times where I was so sick of writing about the show and I’d have to walk away for a few weeks at a stretch to recharge.

But I did it, and here we are, and I’m pleased with the end result.

I mean, really, how could I quit these two ladies?

Smallville wasn’t a perfect show.  At times it was amazing.  Seeing some of my favorite characters like Hawkman and Zatanna was a dream come true.  Granted, my dreams are less grandiose than most, but either way, I’ll take it.  At others it seemed like it had no idea what it wanted to be or do, and made my brain cry.  Anyone remember Lana speaking that gibberish French/Latin/Moron language when she was possessed by a witch?  Or when she lost an old guy—twice—at a retirement home?  Or pretty much anything she did?  Yeah.  I sure do.  She almost gave me a stroke.

No, it wasn’t perfect.  But it was a show that entertained me through the ups and downs and when I was out west in boot camp for the Secret Service, it was a distraction once a week.  When I was living alone in DC on a meager federal cop’s salary, 250 miles from my loved ones, it was the one constant before I met my wife.

And this column was very much a labor of love.

Best father/son duo this side of Walter and Peter on Fringe.

But, in the end, I couldn’t have done this without the readers—and Chief Blitz, of course.

This column wasn’t the most read on the site.  It wasn’t the most commented on, and it wasn’t the most popular.  But it had a loyal readership, and every so often, I’d get a nice email thanking me for the laughs, or praising me for going big and doing the whole series.

And that made it all worth it.

So thank you all.  I’m honored that you allowed me the chance to share the craziness in my head and my love for this show.  I’m touched at the support I’ve received throughout the last eighteen months. 

And I’m grateful I was given the opportunity to put this all together for FOG!

What do I do next?  Not another ten season show, that’s for damn sure!  But you’ll still see me here writing Danger Rooms and Theater of the Absurd, and I'm on Facebook and writing zany comic related nonsense in other places online, so you’re not getting rid of me that easily.

It’s been a great ride, ladies and gentlemen, and thanks again for accompanying me along the way.

I Was a Teenage Meteor Freak is now officially over, the random, the awesome, and the WTF?! of Smallville finally at rest.

And thank YOU, Smallville, for ten years of entertainment.

Editor's Note:
Great Caesar's Ghost!  Since Mr. Baserap will see this note for the first time once this final piece goes live, I wanted to thank him for his continued enthusiasm and dedication to doing this column. 
 

I've always wanted the site to be a venue for people who love pop culture to come together and share what they love and this column is a testament to that. 

Thank you, sir.  And thank you Smallville.  

Up, up and away,

SB

ANNIE EDISON AND DRACO MALFOY Perform A Cover of The White Stipes "We're Going to Be Friends"...Yeah, I'm A Bit Confused As Well

February 28, 2013, 11:00 am

≫ Next: PSYCH: "Santabarbaratown 2: Lethal Weapon 5 " S7E1 (review)

≪ Previous: Smallville: Random, Awesome and WTF?! – The Final Farewell

$

0

0

The F*ck?

In news that I had no idea could exist in this particular dimension, Alison Brie (Community) and her band(?) called Girls (Cyrina Fiallo and Julianna Guill) performed a cover of the White Stipes song We're Going to Be Friends at a Santa Monica club that included Tom Felton (Malfoy-Harry Potter) and some other guy no one gives a shit about, on guitar. 

Yeah, Malfoy and Annie are in a band together. 

Read more »

---

PSYCH: "Santabarbaratown 2: Lethal Weapon 5 " S7E1 (review)

February 28, 2013, 10:01 pm

≫ Next: View From The Brig(gs): Going Green, Heard it on the Radio, Oa Begins & More!

≪ Previous: ANNIE EDISON AND DRACO MALFOY Perform A Cover of The White Stipes "We're Going to Be Friends"...Yeah, I'm A Bit Confused As Well

$

0

0

By Morayo Sayles

Season 7 of Psych returned this week to answer the burning question: Does Henry Spencer (Corbin Bernsen) survive?

Last season ended on a cliffhanger, with Shawn (James Roday) partially solving a crime that involved dirty cops, some of who were Henry’s partners from the old days.

As Shawn comes to realize too late, Henry is taking a walk down memory lane with one of his old buddies, who slips and reveals that he’s been in on the crime. Henry is shot and in this season’s opener, Shawn races onto the scene too late to stop his father’s would-be killer, but soon enough to …

Wait for it – Allow the shooter to escape so he can save his father’s life!

Phew! Henry is saved – Now an emotionally compromised Shawn (thank you JJ Abrams for introducing that phrase into my lexicon), must solve the mystery behind his father’s shooting.

So here’s what happens, after getting his father to a hospital, Shawn blatantly ignores Juliet’s request that he stay away from the case, and returns to the home of Jerry Carp (Max Gail) with Gus (Dulé Hill) to get more information. Shawn’s mental state is clearly out of whack as he throws caution to the wind, and bricks through glass, to go through the home of his father’s shooter.

Read more »

View From The Brig(gs): Going Green, Heard it on the Radio, Oa Begins & More!

February 28, 2013, 12:00 pm

≫ Next: SLEEP WITH DATA, Or, At Least Cuddle With Him

≪ Previous: PSYCH: "Santabarbaratown 2: Lethal Weapon 5 " S7E1 (review)

$

0

0

Huge apologies to my esteemed editor and the viewing readership.

This week has me penning my piece from a 'flu-ridden deathbed, so I hope there's someone out there reading these things!

My non-column professional week had ended well, though.

Propped up in my chair like the eponymous corpse from "Weekend At Bernies", I had a marvelous hour-plus transatlantic videoconference casting session with a wonderful young actor, who I hope will be playing one of the handful of major roles in "Star Wars" producer Gary Kurtz and myself's upcoming World War II supernatural actioner, "PANZER 88".

It'd be wrong to mention names until the ink is dry, but this is someone you know (and like!) from a variety of big-name studio genre pictures.

Spending every day battling with talent agents is a debilitating process at best: they're supposed to be facilitators, but are often obstructions.

But when you've battled your way through the levels, and have defeated the Boss Agent, sometimes your reward is an inspiring and renewing conversation with someone who feels the same way about your project that you do, and is similarly-enthused to want to put something onscreen that will be quite remarkable.

Right! On to the goodies…

Read more »

SLEEP WITH DATA, Or, At Least Cuddle With Him

February 28, 2013, 1:00 pm

≫ Next: THE AMERICANS: "Comint" S1E5

≪ Previous: View From The Brig(gs): Going Green, Heard it on the Radio, Oa Begins & More!

$

0

0

While I find that I am growing tired of various Geek crafts (I mean how many fucking Tardis dress/purse/pillows do we need?) I do have a soft spot for those handcrafted items that are Star Trek-related and are comfy enough to rest my weary head upon.

And yep, this Data pillow from etsy seller Morondanga fits the bill nicely.

Made from cotton fabric and filling, and measuring 16" x 16", this android pillow is big enough to capture your sleep slobber while still giving you ample room to move your noggin away from the wet spot once you realize what you're napping on.

Now, if Data isn't your cup of Earl Grey tea, you could always get yourself a Worf pillow:
Read more »

THE AMERICANS: "Comint" S1E5

February 28, 2013, 9:02 pm

≫ Next: Back to the Drawing Board

≪ Previous: SLEEP WITH DATA, Or, At Least Cuddle With Him

$

0

0

By Morayo Sayles

This week on The Americans, The KGB espionage enterprise in D.C. wins one, loses one and wins one again.

Phillip (Matthew Rhys) and Elizabeth (Kerri Russell) Jennings’ relationship continues to grow stronger and more layered, while the future of Stan and Sandra (Sandra Misner) Beeman’s marriage looks bleaker than ever.

The episode kicks off with Elizabeth vetting out the status of one of the KGB’s oldest informants.

Adam Dorwin (Michael Countryman) manager of the Visiotech operations group in charge of the United States Nuclear Ballistics who recently lost his wife of 35 years (and 8 months as he reminds Elizabeth) is slipping down the lonely slide of depression. Elizabeth reports back to Claudia (Margo Martindale) that Adam is emotionally compromised and could crack under the pressure of his depression. “He needs his handler, face to face now, or we’re going to lose him” Elizabeth states flatly.

Read more »

Back to the Drawing Board

February 28, 2013, 2:00 pm

≫ Next: IS THE WORLD Ready For A New Wilhelm Scream?

≪ Previous: THE AMERICANS: "Comint" S1E5

$

0

0

I keep to myself a lot. Despite the appearance of knowing many people and being all up in the party scene, more times than not, I keep to myself.

I probably learned this from my parents. They count their friends on one hand, and houseguests were few and far between. And while I have grown to entertain company more often, it's still a select few, and an even more select few who visit multiple times.

But every once in a while, if someone hangs out long enough, I let them in on a little-known thing about me. I pull out my drawings.

I like to draw. A lot. It's one of my favorite hobbies. And, sadly, it's one that I've woefully neglected.

As they say, life gets in the way. Between working nearly 10 hours a day, an often-busy social life, husbandly duties to keep up with, and a pile of books and movies at my disposal, my drawing time has fallen off considerably.

Out of all those factors, moving in with my then-girlfriend, now my wife, has been among the biggest changes behind my lack of drawing.

For me, drawing never was much of a social hobby.


Read more »

IS THE WORLD Ready For A New Wilhelm Scream?

February 28, 2013, 3:00 pm

≫ Next: History of Science Fiction Cinema: From Mad Scientists to Modern Day Dinosaurs

≪ Previous: Back to the Drawing Board

$

0

0

Private Wilhelm, the namesake of the most famous scream ever

The Wilhelm scream (named after Private Wilhelm in the 1953 Western, The Charge at Feather River) and voiced by actor/sing Sheb Wooley, has appeared in so many movies that it has become something of an in-joke in the industry.

But perhaps now, since we have all grown accustomed to that famous scream, we are ready to introduce a new yelp that can be used instead.

Introducing the Goathelm!
Read more »

History of Science Fiction Cinema: From Mad Scientists to Modern Day Dinosaurs

February 28, 2013, 4:00 pm

≫ Next: Triple Shot: THE ANSWER #2, DOCTOR WHO: PRISONERS OF TIME #2 & DEATHMATCH #3

≪ Previous: IS THE WORLD Ready For A New Wilhelm Scream?

$

0

0

With the birth of cinema, came also, the birth of Science Fiction movies.

As I discussed in the opening chapter of this series, Parisian magician-turned-filmmaker, Georges Méliès gave birth to the genre.  Unfortunately, as groundbreaking as his magical cinema was, he still had no true feeling for the camera and what it could do.

His films were shot from one angle, and his camera rarely ever moved.  His films were great - no doubt - and the tricks he used were then unto unseen, but his films also had the problem of seeming stage bound.

Meanwhile, in America, or more specifically, in New Jersey, the early epicenter of American filmmaking (studios would not head West until 1909-1910, and would not truly establish a small town called Hollywood, as the movie mecca until at least 1915 or 1916), a man by the name of Thomas Edison was helping to create a new medium himself.

In the late 1890's and early 1900's, in his "Black Maria" movie studio, Edison, along with his assistant - the true creative force behind the Wizard of Menlo Park - W.K.L. Dickson, were making the kind of movies that not only sold tickets at all the Nickelodeons (actual movie theaters were still a few years down the road) but also broke ground for the great cinematic boom that would come soon after.

One of these movies, was a sixteen minute film called Frankenstein - the first film adaptation of Mary Shelley's iconic novel.  Thought traditionally as more horror than sci-fi, the story of a mad scientist who creates life from death, is surely a science fiction story if I ever hear one.  Granted, the film was cheap, and not really all that interesting - a far cry from what James Whale and Universal would do with it twenty-one years later - but it did help usher in a genre.



Read more »

---

Triple Shot: THE ANSWER #2, DOCTOR WHO: PRISONERS OF TIME #2 & DEATHMATCH #3

February 28, 2013, 5:00 pm

≫ Next: ARROW: "Dead to Rights" S1E16

≪ Previous: History of Science Fiction Cinema: From Mad Scientists to Modern Day Dinosaurs

$

0

0

This week’s Triple Shot has two superhero books (brand new characters at that, natch) and the latest issue of a 50th anniversary celebration of an obscure British television series.

Man, I love the smell of comics in the morning...

THE ANSWER! #2 (OF 4)
Writer: Dennis Hopeless
Artist: Mike Norton
Colorist: Mark Englert
Publication Date: February 27, 2013
Publisher: Dark Horse
Price: $3.99
UPC: 7 61568 22480 1 00211

My favorite punk band, Swingin’ Utters released a new song this week, “The Librarians are Hiding Something”.

We know it’s true, right. I mean why do we have to be quiet all the time?  Are we going to wake Cthulhu in there? 

Devin McKenzie has a secret in her library. She loves to stay up late playing computer quiz puzzle games. What Devin didn’t know was that those games were an aptitude test for a suspicious secret organization called the Brain Trust.

Our costumed hero, The Answer, is decked in all black with utility belt and merely an exclamation point on his mask.

At the end of issue #1, The Answer has rescued Devin, for now because all of her gaming has flipped an alarm and send bad guys after her. The Answer makes with the punching and rescuing as issue #2 opens up in a bus station in Cincinnati, a few cities away from her native Chicago.

The Brain Trust wins this round it seems because Devin is easily seduced into the cult of literati, and The Answer is drugged and locked down by Brain Trust for observation.

Lots to enjoy here with this book and if only four issues will make a fun trade for those that like their superheroes quippy like Deadpool and Spidey. Right now we know more of Devin, and she is smart so likely she can think her way out of any impending threat or trap. No origin or backstory provided for The Question himself but the dialog and jokes about spandex are hilarious.

You honestly can’t go wrong with the creative team. On art is Mike Norton (Battlepug, It Girl and The Atomics) and on the script is Marvel NOW! writer Dennis Hopeless (Avengers Academy, Cable and X-Force). This is super fun comics and we can appreciate Devin for the strong and smart female lead that she is.

DOCTOR WHO: PRISONERS OF TIME #2 (OF 12)
Writer: Scott and David Tipton
Artist: Lee Sullivan
Publisher:  IDW Publishing
Publication Date: February 27, 2013
Publisher: IDW
Price: $3.99
UPC:      82771400416800221

The 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who is here, and IDW celebrates with a limited series starring each Doctor in Doctor Who Prisoner of Time, Issue #2 out this week.

This book is a treat for Who fans, and offers a great introduction to the other Doctors.

Most of us perhaps grew up with Tom Baker episodes and reinvigorated our fandom with the 2005 series. This issue stars the second Doctor, Patrick Troughton, and two companions  Zoe and Jamie.

The trio Vworps into an intergalactic shopping mall, where one store sells various and sundry Police Boxes. Theirs being the only TARDIS, the ship is disguised among the merchandise as they explore the bazaar.

Suspecting illegal slave trade, by a species called Voraxx, the Doctor cruelly sets up Jamie as bait and the companion is captured. Zoe and The Doctor peruse bikes  in the shoppe, (one bike being a replica of the iconic penny farthing trike from The Prisoner, a cult BBC spy show on television the same time as the second Doctor's series).

The Voraxx beam away as Zoe and The Doctor follow them onto their Prisoner Slave ship. They spring Jamie and discover a pair of classic Who monsters - The Ice Warriors! (http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Ice_Warrior)

Lots of classic BBC action and a right tribute to the classic Doctors from brothers Scott and David Tipton (IDW Star Trek, Star Trek/Doctor Who: Assimilation).


DEATHMATCH #3
Writer:  Paul Jenkins
Artist:  Carlos Magno
Cover: Whilce Portacio
Price: $3.99
Publication Date: February 27, 2013
Publisher:  Boom! Studios

Looks like a new sub-genre of versus battle comics has arrived. Also shipped to stores this week was the more high profile Marvel NOW! Avengers Arena #5.

Both books are based on the Hunger Games/Battle Royale premise of pitting contestants and in both comic book cases, superheroes,against each other to the death in order to survive.

Paul Jenkins and Carlos Magno have set up their own comic book universe wherein there are a variety of heroes and anti-heroes who may have been fighting for years.

While the Avengers book is using Marvel properties, Jenkins created 32 new characters with  dossiers and faux 'first appearance' info featured at the back of each issue.

Vol. 1 of the trade paperback has been solicited from Boom! for April 17 at a bargain $9.99.

Onto the battle for this issue! Hater has preternatural sense of his surrounding and also PTSD from military service. He would be a match to The Punisher mixed with some of Daredevil and Wolverine's powers. Hater has been pitted by the unseen puppet masters against The Mutate. The Mutate is a beastly human with a catlike face. The Mutate is dedicated to worldwide peace, though proves here that he can follow his killer instincts when attacked.

A fun part of the book is the tournament bracket pages on the back right before four of the character dossiers. Each issue you can make your own bets as to where the tournament is headed.

Also in this issue are reveals of who or what is holding our new favorite heroes in the DEATHMATCH arena. Will the fedora-sporting Rat (think Watchmen’s Rorschach ... ‘HURM’) break the code of 'The Game'?

Keep on this one in issues, folks. The trade will be fun but the cliffhangers will kill ya.

ARROW: "Dead to Rights" S1E16

February 28, 2013, 9:03 pm

≫ Next: Contest! Win MUAY THAI WARRIOR on Blu-ray!

≪ Previous: Triple Shot: THE ANSWER #2, DOCTOR WHO: PRISONERS OF TIME #2 & DEATHMATCH #3

$

0

0

By PJ Hruschak

Boy, do parents really know how to mess with their kids' heads in DC's TV series

This week's issue, er, episode, of Arrow is more about action and secrets than real character development or plot progressions. Tommy Merlyn (Colin Donnell) gets in more lines this week than he has in, well, maybe ever and we spot a tiny nod to the comic series.

 There are also a pair of reveals which, although strategically weird both in terms of the story and the writing, prove surprising.

Green with Anger
As you can imagine from all the evil stares White offers, she will have to confront Hood (a.k.a Arrow, a.k.a Oliver Queen, Stephen Amell) at some point. Ultimately Moira's plan does not quite go as expected but she's at least put herself in a nice, strategic position.
 


Moira Queen's (Susanna Thompson) plan to have Malcolm Merlyn (John Barrowman) killed - which was the cliffhanger line last week - kicks into high gear this week. Her hired blondie assassin, China White (Kelly Hu) calls in some Chinese thugs and the marksman Deadshot (Michael Rowe, but not that one) to help out.

Read more »

Contest! Win MUAY THAI WARRIOR on Blu-ray!

February 28, 2013, 7:00 pm

≫ Next: PHANTOM (review)

≪ Previous: ARROW: "Dead to Rights" S1E16

$

0

0

Betrayed and left for dead by treacherous Japanese forces, ruthless samurai Yamada Nagamasa (Seigi Ozeki) is rescued to a remote Thai village and nursed back to health among the acolytes in the monastery. Working tirelessly to master the art of Muay Boran (Thai boxing), fearless and brutal Yamada is selected to become a royal bodyguard to King Naresuan The Great. His greatest challenge comes on the day he's forced to fight back against the elite Japanese warriors who left him behind.

And we're giving away three copies!


Read more »

PHANTOM (review)

March 1, 2013, 6:00 am

≫ Next: 21 AND OVER (review)

≪ Previous: Contest! Win MUAY THAI WARRIOR on Blu-ray!

$

0

0

Review by Caitlyn Thompson

Produced by John Watson, Julian Adams, Pen Densham

Written by Todd Robinson

Directed by Todd Robinson

Starring Ed Harris, David Duchovny, William Fichtner, 

Lance Henriksen, Johnathon Schaech, Julian Adams

Phantom was almost offensively awful. I couldn’t help but laugh out loud at the first throng of ominous bass tones.

There is no back-story; we don’t care about the initial mission conversation that is bland and unimportant. Sailors who have just come home have to leave again for a secret mission. Every one is upset. Boo f!#$ing hoo.

The movie is grossly predictable and unoriginal, a failed version of The Hunt for Red October. And the only Russian aspects featured in the film are the names. Do not be fooled by a recognizable cast consisting of Ed Harris, David Duchovny, and William Fichtner.

These actors were spewing a poor script in a cramped setting that was boring. The movie isn’t even laughably terrible. It was just bad.

Read more »

21 AND OVER (review)

March 1, 2013, 7:00 am

≫ Next: ARCHER: "Live and Let Dine" S4E7

≪ Previous: PHANTOM (review)

$

0

0

Review by Caitlyn Thompson

Produced by David Hoberman, Ryan Kavanaugh, Todd Lieberman

Written and Directed by Jon Lucas, Scott Moore

Starring Justin Chon, Miles Teller, Skylar Astin, Sarah Wright

Oh dear me. Lots of man butts.

21 and Over is an over the top depiction of bros being bros on a 21st birthday.

Casey and Miller surprise Jeff Chang on his birthday ready to take him out for a wild night on his special day. It was ridiculous, unrealistic, occasionally funny, but overall tasteless and tiresome. The initial sober scenes spew as many clichés as possible about being young once and living life large. I got it after the fifth analogy. Next chapter is drinking in a bar, yay beer! A pretty girl enters, too many shots are taken, a dart ends up in a cheek and boom onto the montage of a drunken bar escapade. After a bunch of screaming, throwing IDs at bouncers, peeing off of a bar, and a really unnecessary slow motion shot of Jeff Chang puking, the movie’s plot reveals itself – Casey and Miller don’t know where Jeff Chang lives and his dad is coming to get him in several hours for “the most important medical school interview of his life.”

Shenanigans ensue.

Read more »