The perfect companion to LEGO® Batman’s first solo movie, The LEGO Batman Movie: The Essential Guide showcases the full range of exciting LEGO Batman sets and minifigures that will be released to tie in with the film’s release. Heroes, villains, vehicles, and locations are all explored in classic DK style, with lively and informative nonfiction text to annotate and expand upon lavish reference images of LEGO Batman sets and scenes from the movie.

And thanks to our friends at DK Publishing, here’s a sneak peek at the book!

All images ©2017 WBEI & DC Comics. ©2017 The LEGO Group

FYI, Looks pretty awesome, doesn’t it?

We’re giving away 2 copies to FOG! readers!

To enter, please send an email with the subject header “BATMAN LEGO” to geekcontest @ gmail dot com and answer the following:

The LEGO Batman and Robin, Will Arnett and Michael Cera
previously co-starred on this cult television series?

Please include your name and address (U.S. Residents only. You must be 18 years old).

Only one entry per person and a winner will be chosen at random.

Contest ends at 11:59 PM EST on February 13th, 2016.

There is no real theme this Pilot Error other than what should have been cool ideas being completely bungled.

Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman was a 2011 trainwreck of a pilot that got just about everything it could have wrong with the Wonder Woman character.

Created by David E Kelley (who had been on a kind of major downswing in the last few years after Boston Legal ended) and starring Adrianne Palicki as the titled Woman of Wonder. Kelley wanted to do something different with super-heroes and well he failed… hard.

It seems that somewhere along the line Kelley decided that Wonder Woman is really a female Batman. This Wonder Woman runs a billion dollar company named after her (Themyscira Industries), brutally tortures criminals for information, illegally takes blood and DNA samples, threatens the police and wantonly kills like the recent Snyder version of Batman. None of these are traits of Wonder Woman (I guess unless Frank Miller writes her). The only real twist is that Wonder Woman is the public persona while Diana Prince is who she retreats into when she needs to be alone. The media knows who Wonder Woman (Diana Themyscira) is and she goes to movie premieres and whatnot, while Diana Prince lives alone with her cat in a tiny apartment. The only kind of clever thing in this is that with Wonder Woman being a public persona there are in universe comic books, action figures and cartoons which poke fun at real life super-hero merchandising.

The plot is about how Elizabeth Hurley (!) is an evil CEO making a performance enhancing drug that kills you if you use it to much. Wonder Woman is determined to stop her. That’s it. Other than some character stuff that is the entire plot.

This pilot was quite poorly written, especially from such an amazing writer as Kelley, and even more poorly produced. The version that is out there is a workprint with no wire removal and things that were (hopefully) meant to be cleaned up later but even in this state the fights are bland and lifeless, the camera will not stop moving in action scenes and the entire production is made on obvious sets (or simply fake looking locations). Hell, at one point onscreen text in the workprint comes up reading “Pants to be darkened later”. Really? You had to CG the color of her damn pants? How inept was this production?

Palicki is fine as WW but nothing special… she seems a bit awkward in some scenes but overall not bad. The script does her NO favors though.

This pilot was never released (but as always happens eventually leaked out) and you can see just why Warner Bothers wanted nothing to do with this. Hell, they pulled the plug before it was even done. That says something right there.

Clerks

Clerks. We all loved Kevin Smith’s 1994 debut feature about foul mouthed clerks obsessed with pop culture. It was a perfect exemplar of the 1994 zeitgeist… so of course it was whored out to be a lame laughless sitcom.

Now, Smith had nothing whatsoever to do with this. In fact he fought long and hard to keep anyone from ever seeing it but yes, it eventually leaked out and yeah, it’s as bad as you think it is.

Andrew Lowery is Dante Hicks, Jim Breuer is Randal Graves and Noelle Parker is Veronica. Those are all the characters from the movie in this and it might just be divine intervention (or lawyers) that keep Jay and Silent Bob away.

This is complete sitcom drivel. The jokes are lame and uninspired, the performances are painful (some good actors are in this and they just can not rise above the material) and the humor is 7pm safe. What was it that set Clerks (the movie) apart and made it so successful? A witty script, great wordplay and good solid performances from non-actors. The exact opposite of what is on display here.

The clerks get a new buddy (Todd) and Dante is being pressured into going to college and leaving behind his slave wage job. Randal calls him a sellout to the man and in the end Dante decides that he must be who he is… a clerk.

Now, imagine that for 23 minutes with nothing funny happening, cardboard characters and canned laughter. Directed in complete workman like fashion by Michael Lessac, a TV sitcom hack since the early 80’s. Smith was wise to not have his name on this abomination but the shame that he sold it to ABC at all will forever stain his legacy… even more than Yoga Hosers.

Shangri-La Plaza

I don’t even know how to adequately describe this…

So in 1989 CBS tasked Nick Castle (The Last Starfighter and the original guy to play Michael Myers in Halloween) with creating a musical sitcom. For some reason they thought this might be a hit combination.

Musicals are hard to do even under the best of conditions but when you are attempting to make a sitcom with not just musical interludes but where the singing IS the dialog… it is downright impossible and Shangri-La Plaza exemplifies this.

There is no real plot, it’s simple vignettes with the various businesses at the titled Shangri-La Plaza and how they interact with one another. The barest plot could be that widower Amy is inheriting the Plaza’s donut shop and the brothers at the auto repair shop (The Bondo Brothers, how clever) each want to date her. They all break out into song at some point and Amy’s young daughter gets into a rap battle with local hooligans (it was 1989 after all).

The songs are just all kinds of wrong. They have no rhyme or reason… characters will be speaking and then break into song for no reason at all and then go back to speaking… kind of musical Tourettes.

The show has a good cast to it… but the issue is that none of them could sing and for some ungodly reason Castle insisted on live singing. So here you have (completely untrained and a few VERY off key) Terrence Mann, Jeff Yagher, Melora Hardin, Allison Mack and Chris Sarandon attempting to sing (I don’t think Sarandon does though… mercifully).

Two oddly positive things about this though. Look at all the cool 1989 video boxes in the video store scene and that theme song… just TRY to get that out of your head. It sticks there.

Final Curtain

Edward D Wood Jr is considered the worst director of all time (bullshit, has anyone who ever said this watched a Brett Ratner film)? Did you know he tired to work in television too?

The Final Curtain was his 1957 attempt at horror TV and by god it is pure Ed Wood. If there was a sequence with a dancing girl in a monster mask it would have hit all of his tropes. Stock footage, pseudo-ponderous narration, random cutaways…

Very little is known about the production of this pilot other than it was made for a potential series called “Portraits of Terror” and was considered lost until just a few years ago. Ed Wood attempted to work in Television a few times in his life and most of those pilots are still lost as well so it’s kind of astounding that this exists at all. That all said this is what you expect. It’s pretty bad.

Shot in an empty theater at night a ghost is trapped there as he is tormented by a “vampire”. That’s it.

Shot without live sound and with no dialog (all speech is voice over) this was obviously so low budget I would argue it was no budget. For one thing this is tedious as hell. NOTHING HAPPENS in this pilot. NOTHING. Just shots of various parts of the theater with narration over them and occasionally one of the 2 actors walks through the frame as Dudley Manlove narrates about nothing at all.

Dudley Manlove by the way is Eros from Plan 9 From Outer Space (“Your stupid minds… stupid, stupid”) and uses that tone here.

It’s good that this was discovered but damn it… there is no doubting why it was lost in the first place.

Comet TV has all the spine tingling beasts you can sink your teeth into this February! From the classic adolescent werewolf trials and tribulations of Teen Wolf to the outer world invasion of Species, they have them all. There’s Empire of the Ants, Strange Invaders and how can we forget The Vampires on Bikini Beach? Classic Sci-fi and horror for beasts of all ages!

YOU DON’T NEED A SUBSCRIPTION TO WATCH THESE GREAT MOVIES… THEY’RE AIRING FOR FREE ON COMET!

• After Midnight (1989)
• Alienator (1988)
• America 3000 (1986)
• Amityville 3-D (1983)
• Amityville II: The Possession
• The Conqueror Worm (1968)
• Curse of the Swamp Creature (1966)
• Empire of the Ants (1977)
• The Faculty (1998)
• The Haunted Place (1963)
• Howling II: Your Sister is a Werewolf (1985)
• Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988)
• Lady in White (1988)
• The Land that Time Forgot (1975)
• Meteor Man (1993)
• The Minotaur
• Mom (1990)
• Monkey Shines: An Experiment in Fear (1988)
• Night Visitor (1989)
• The People that Time Forgot (1977)
• Phantom From 10,000 Leagues (1956)
• Real Men (1987)
• Retaliator (1986)
• Return of Count Yorga (1971)
• Rollerball (2002)
• She (EPIC) (1985)
• Species (1995)
• Species II (1998)
• Species III (2004)
• Strange Invaders (1983)
• Superbeast (1972)
• Teaching Mrs. Tingle (1999)
• Teen Wolf (1985)
• Teen Wolf Too (1987)
• Vampires on Bikini Beach (1988)

FOR A COMPLETE SCHEDULE INCLUDING TV SERIES AIRING, VISIT CometTV.com/schedule

And on Sunday, February 5th, at 10 AM/9 CENTRAL tune in for a Mystery Science 3000 Marathon.  Featuring classic MST3K episodes to drone out the din of Super Bowl Sunday, with a macho
man and his robots who just don’t like football!

For more information visit www.CometTV.com

Welcome to Graphic Breakdown!

Today, we are going to review some damn fine funny books. Here we go!

 
Will Eisner’s The Spirit: Corpsemaker #1
Written and Illustrated by Francesco Francavilla
Published by Dynamite Entertainment

A few years ago, legendary comic book creator Darwyn Cooke did a stint on The Spirit. And it was awesome. It’s tough to be an artist and be compared to Will Eisner on this character.

There never will be anyone better. Cooke didn’t embarrass himself. and neither does Francavilla. This is a hell of a start to a series.

A series of unexpected disappearances and deaths hit Central City.

Initially, these cases seem purely unrelated: no apparent connection between the victims makes it easy for the police to just file them as runaways or natural deaths.

But when someone close to Ebony White disappears, The Spirit is on the case!

This is some great work. Francavilla is at the top of his game in the art. His writing has taken a significant leap forward as well for his previous work. There is passion and love on every page and I cannot recommend this enough! This could very well be the start of a classic run on a classic character!

RATING: A

 
Moon Knight #11 
Written by Jeff Lenore
Illustrated by Greg Smallwood
Published by Marvel Comics

Another great Moon Knight story behind here!

Seriously folks, if you haven’t read this one you’re missing out. The stories are as compelling as they can be and this may be the best run on Moon Knight since the 1980’s.

The asylum wasn’t the first institution Marc Spector escaped, or the first that rejected him. Is Moon Knight stronger alone, or more vulnerable?

Trapped outside of reality, his survival depends on answers in his past!

The story by Lenore is top notch.

He can write this character like none other. Greg Smallwood is doing the work of his career too. It is strong, inspired, and just wonderful.

Pick up this book and the entire run thus far. It makes for some incredible comic book reading.

RATING: A

 
Death of Hawkman #5 
Written by Marc Andreyko
Illustrated by Aaron Lopresti
Published by DC Comics

So this is another sadly disappointing issue on this title.

Hawkman can be so good if done right…yet here he just isn’t.

Bring Tim Truman back! John Ostrander! Anybody! This is a book that is lacking a strong creative team and vision.

As Despero’s insane scheme nears fruition, the casualties rise for both Rann and Thanagar—and to the mind-controlled survivors, only two men are to blame!

But Hawkman and Adam Strange are not only intergalactic outlaws—they are perhaps the only two beings in the galaxy who can stop Despero and his army!

But first, these two heroes must overcome insurmountable odds to save themselves and the populations of three planets as their mighty forces, led by Hawkwoman, come to exact vengeance upon them.

The writing is rather dull and the art compliments it. Both of these creators are capable of much better work. This series finishes up next month.

Let’s hope there is a stronger Hawkman title down the line.

RATING: D+

 
Generation Zero: We Are The Future TPB 
Written by Fred Van Lente
Illustrated by Francis Portela
Published by Valiant Entertainment

Fred Van Lente is a hell of a writer.

Watching him work on this title, you have to admire him. This is a fresh take on comic books. It’s funny, well written, and just plain awesome.

Years ago, the children of the experimental strike team known as Generation Zero were taken from their families by Project Rising Spirit, a private weapons contractor, and raised to be psychic soldiers. After years of taking orders, they have fought for and won their freedom.

Now, the world’s most wanted teenagers have pledged to protect each other tooth and claw, while using their extraordinary abilities to right wrongs for a generation without a future… To fight for kids, just like them.

One of those kids is Keisha Sherman, whose boyfriend just turned up dead after a suspicious car crash in Rook, Michigan – a newly booming tech town that sprang from rags to super-riches seemingly overnight. When Keisha makes a desperate plea into her webcam, the local high school suddenly finds itself with several unusual new students…

But as word of Generation Zero’s presence spreads rapidly through the halls, this volatile band of teenage upstarts is about to discover that they’re far from the most extraordinary thing lurking behind Rook’s stainless-steel facade.

The story is strong and the art is great. Pick up this trade for only ten bucks. It’s a bargain and there are tons of awesome things happening in it. Give it a read then give it to a friend.

RATING: A

Season 3 of Silicon Valley, the hit HBO series that “…nails both palpable tension and biting humor” (Entertainment Weekly), is set to make its Home Entertainment debut this spring. Season 3 of the series was its most-nominated season to date, garnering 11 Emmy nominations including Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (Thomas Middleditch). Boasting a 100% “Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Silicon Valley: The Complete Third Season, will be available on Blu-ray and DVD (both with a free digital download copy) on April 11, 2017, featuring all ten Season 3 episodes and hilarious deleted scenes.

​From Mike Judge and Alec Berg comes a new season of the Emmy-nominated comedy that takes viewers inside Silicon Valley’s high-tech gold rush: a land of big ideas and bigger egos. After last season’s shocking ending, which found Pied Piper celebrating legal victory just as Richard (Thomas Middleditch) was ousted as CEO, Season 3 picks up where we left off, with Richard offered the diminished role of CTO and the rest of his team – Erlich (T.J. Miller), Jared (Zach Woods), Dinesh (Kumail Nanjiani) and Gilfoyle (Martin Starr) – facing the question of just how far their loyalty extends. With a new no-nonsense CEO hell-bent on transforming everything from Pied Piper’s offices to its business agenda, the guys must find a way to triumph in the war of Art vs. Commerce, maneuvering the many competing interests along the way.

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Kino Lorber proudly announces the releases of four Buster Keaton comedy classics, THE GENERAL, THREE AGES, STEAMBOAT BILL, JR. and COLLEGE, each mastered from new 2K restorations by Lobster Films. The films will be released as 2-disc, double-feature sets (THE GENERAL/THREE AGES and STEAMBOAT BILL, JR./COLLEGE), each packed with an array of special features such as audio commentary, introductions to the films, and special short subjects.

THE GENERAL/THREE AGES streets on February 7, 2017 on Blu-ray and DVD, with a SRP of $29.95 for the Blu-ray, and $24.95 for the DVD.

Considered by many to be Keaton’s masterpiece, THE GENERAL tells the story of an engineer who bravely journeys behind enemy lines during the Civil War to recapture his stolen locomotive. Filled with breathtaking physical comedy, expertly-staged chases, and an astonishing sense of historical authenticity, THE GENERAL remains not just one of the finest of all silent comedies, but one of the finest of all films, from any era.

This edition features a choice of two orchestral music scores: one by Robert Israel, the other by Joe Hisaishi. Special features include audio commentary by film historians Michael Schlesinger and Stan Taffel, filmed introductions by Orson Welles and Gloria Swanson, and “Return of The General”, a vintage short film on the restoration of the legendary locomotive.

THREE AGES is Keaton’s first feature-length comedy, structured as a parody of D.W. Griffith’s Intolerance, with the story of a hapless young man’s quest for love taking place in three distinct historical settings (the Stone Age, Ancient Rome, and a modern city). This edition includes a choice of two scores, one by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra, and the other by Robert Israel. Special features include rare television appearances by Buster Keaton, including a vintage Alka-Seltzer commercial and a Candid Camera segment, plus Man’s Genesis (1912), a D.W. Griffith short parodied in THREE AGES.

STEAMBOAT BILL, JR./COLLEGE streets on February 21 on Blu-ray and DVD, with a SRP of $29.95 for the Blu-ray, and $24.95 for the DVD.

STEAMBOAT BILL, JR. was Keaton’s last independently-produced silent comedy, and also one of his best. He plays the effete son of a tough riverboat captain (Ernest Torrence) who struggles to earn his father’s respect, as well as the love of the daughter (Marion Byron) of a rival riverboat captain. The film is best remembered for its climactic cyclone sequence, which features one of Keaton’s most impressive stunts.

This edition features a choice of orchestral score by Timothy Brock and organ score by Lee Erwin, audio commentary by film historians Michael Schlesinger and Stan Taffel, an introduction by film preservationist Serge Bromberg, and a vintage Alka-Seltzer commercial starring Buster Keaton.

COLLEGE stars Keaton as a bookish student who attempts to win the heart of the girl he loves by proving his athletic prowess. This edition features a choice of music by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra and an organ score by John Muri, plus audio commentary by Rob Farr, a tour of the filming locations, by John Bengtson, author of Silent Echoes, an introduction by Serge Bromberg, a filmed introduction by Lillian Gish, Run, Girl, Run, a 1928 collegiate comedy starring Carole Lombard, and the industrial short The Scribe (1966), Keaton’s final on-screen performance.

Welcome to a new feature that will profile some of the latest recommended reads.

Here are a few recent books worth checking out:

Gotham: Dawn of Darkness

By Jason Starr

A break-in at Wayne Manor. The death of a masked intruder. Amid the seething crime and corruption of Gotham City, Thomas Wayne fights to protect his family and his company from forces unknown.

While detective Harvey Bullock investigates the incident as a simple burglary, Wayne discovers that the threat may come from his own dark past. Peeling back layer upon layer of secrets, this is the official prequel to the hit television series. 

I’ve enjoyed Jason Starr’s writing in comics and I’ve read a few of his novels (I especially enjoyed his werewolf novel, The Pack), so I was pretty happy to check out his contributions to the Batman mythos.

The problem with this book inherently is it’s without the intended protagonist of Gotham the series, Jim Gordon. It’s a prequel to a prequel.

It does, however, confirm my belief that Thomas and Martha Wayne should have been established in the series before their murder.  Not only would that have established a stronger connection to the characters with the audience, but would also intensify the drama, already knowing their doomed fate.

Regardless, Dawn of Darkness was a fun read and I look forward to future volumes to illuminate other hidden corners and untold tales of the television series’ universe.

Fort Solitude (DC Comics: Secret Hero Society #2)

By Derek Fridolfs and Dustin Nguyen

Clark Kent is thrilled when he receives an invite to a spring break academic retreat. After taking down the villains of Ducard Academy the previous year, going back to life on the farm was a bit dull. Better yet, his friends Bruce and Diana have been invited there, too! What better way to spend spring break than with old friends (Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn) and new ones like Arthur Curry (Aquaman), Barry Allen (the Flash), and Vic Stone (Cyborg)?

When Clark arrives at Camp Evergreen he makes new friends, reconnects with old ones, and nothing seems weird at all!

Well, that is until kids start disappearing… One by one… Plus, there’s a lake monster, bigfoot has been spotted, there are reports of a boogeyman, and there may or may not be a UFO crashed into the lake.

Clark, Bruce, and Diana will have to re-assemble the Junior Detective — er, Criminal Investigation Unit — in an all-new, supernatural adventure!

A completely charming series of illustrated novels do a far better job capturing the spirit of these iconic characters than the comic books seem to do these days.  Moving the action (and ages) to a tween universe, the Super Hero Society focus’ on the exploits of a Junior Justice League.  There isn’t much in terms of a well thought out mystery (Bruce Wayne’s skills aren’t much more impressive than Encyclopedia Brown’s), although the series has lots of great character moments and humor (with a generous number of references to DC Universe mythology).  Perfect for young superhero fans who love Batman and Superman, and for the parents who don’t think they’re kids should watch Batman V Superman.

Valentine’s Day is less than two weeks away and there’s still plenty of time to find the perfect gift for the sweetie in your life.

And when it comes to cool and unique gifts there’s no better place to recommend than our friends at Retro-a-go-go!

Here are some gift suggestions for the gal or fella in your life!

For Her

Monsterama Fashion Scarf

Monsters aren’t just for Halloween, they’re for anytime you want to step-out with style, be creepy or spooky or altogether ooky. These bold faves really pop — they’ll goth-up your look and make people stop. Pairs great with black or stripes, or primary colors, get ready to fly cause here comes the feller’s!

This Monsterama Fashion Scarf measures 61″L x 16.5″W. Each Feel Good Scarf weighs 3.3 oz, and is 100% polyester. Made of smooth and flowing Georgette fabric. It’s delightfully sheer and lightweight, made in a dull-finished crêpe like fabric named after the early 20th century French Dressmaker Georgette de la Plante. Its details and perfect size puts this scarf over the top and makes this scarf truly luscious to wear. Each scarf is custom made to order. Made in the U.S.A.

Black Cherries Compact Mirror

Cherries with heart highlights add something extra sweet to this special and convenient compact. This accessory is ready for the picking and so are you!

Iron, round compact, chrome plated 2.75″ diameter by 1/2″ thick. Easy and secure push button open and close. For your convenience, contains a mirror on one side, and a magnifying mirror on the other. Cute added detail of die stamped tiny hearts on the back.

Saddle Up Pardner! Cigarette Case

Saddle Up Pardner! A classic 30’s pin-up with the just the right kind of western flare.

Some other interesting and additional details you may be interested in: Your case will comfortably hold 9 credit cards or i.d. cards, or 20 of your business cards. For those of us who enjoy a smoke, it holds a half pack of your favorite brand. The gentle, but effective, swing arm will secure your important items with just the right bit of strength to keep your goodies in their place.

In real Retro-a-go-go! style, each artful image is coated in hand-poured clear resin for a shiny glass-like finish.

For Him

Night of the Tiki Men’s Tie

Poison Flask

For more details and other amazing gift ideas visit RetroaGoGo.com

Master stuntman Brian Ho (X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST) stars in this action-packed thriller as undercover cop Billy Tong, who infiltrates the inner circle of a powerful gang in order to prove his loyalty to its leader (Don Lew, stunt performer in STAR TREK BEYOND). Venturing deeper and deeper into Vancouver’s seedy underbelly, Billy must maintain his cover if he wants to crack a high-stakes case involving those with dangerous connections to the Triad—at the risk of losing his own identity and his old life in the process.

And we’re giving away three copies on Blu-ray!

To enter, please send an email with the subject header “Beyond Redemption” to geekcontest @ gmail dot com and answer the following:

Beyond Redemption co-stars Derek Lowe and Tong Lung both appeared in this 2000 film starring Jet Li?

Please include your name and address (U.S. Residents only. You must be 18 years old).

Only one entry per person and a winner will be chosen at random.

Contest ends at 11:59 PM EST on February 20th, 2016.

Nocturnal Animals

In the haunting romantic thriller of shocking intimacy and gripping tension from acclaimed writer/director Tom Ford (A Single Man), Susan (Amy Adams) is in an unfulfilling second marriage when she receives a package containing a manuscript from her ex-husband, Edward (Jake Gyllenhaal). Moved by Edward’s writing, Susan cannot help but reminisce over the most private moments from her own love story with the author. Trying to look within herself and beyond the glossy surface of the life and career that she has made, Susan increasingly interprets the book as a tale of revenge, a tale that forces her to re-evaluate the choices that she has made, and re-awakens a love that she feared was lost – as the story builds to a reckoning that will define both the novel’s hero and her own.

Nocturnal Animals also stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Michael Shannon, Isla Fisher, Karl Glusman, Armie Hammer, Laura Linney, Andrea Riseborough, and Michael Sheen.

Trespass Against Us

Trespass Against Us is set across three generations of the Cutler family who live as outlaws in their own anarchic corner of a rich countryside. Chad Cutler (Michael Fassbender) is heir apparent to his bruising criminal father, Colby (Brendan Gleeson) and has been groomed to spend his life hunting, thieving and tormenting the police. But with his own son, Tyson (Georgie Smith) coming of age, Chad soon finds himself locked in a battle with his father for the future of his young family. When Colby learns of Chad’s dreams for another life he sets out to tie his son and grandson into the archaic order that has bound the Cutler family for generations. He engineers a spectacular piece of criminal business involving a heist, a high-speed car chase and a manhunt, which leaves Chad bruised and bloodied and with his very freedom at stake.

Manchester By The Sea

Casey Affleck heads a powerhouse cast in this acclaimed and deeply moving film from award-winning writer-director Kenneth Lonergan. After a solitary Boston janitor (Affleck) unexpectedly becomes the sole guardian of his 16-year-old nephew, he must come to terms with a past that separated him from his wife (Michelle Williams) and his hometown, as uncle and nephew unite for an unforgettable journey of love, community, sacrifice, and hope. Kyle Chandler, Gretchen Moll, and Lucas Hedges also star in the film.

Hacksaw Ridge

Hacksaw Ridge is the extraordinary true story of Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield) who, in Okinawa during the bloodiest battle of WWII, saved 75 men without firing or carrying a gun. He was the only American soldier in WWII to fight on the front lines without a weapon, as he believed that while the war was justified, killing was nevertheless wrong. As an army medic, he single-handedly evacuated the wounded from behind enemy lines, braved fire while tending to soldiers, was wounded by a grenade, and hit by snipers. Doss was the first conscientious objector to ever earn the Congressional Medal of Honor.

From director Mel Gibson, Hacksaw Ridge also stars Sam Worthington, Luke Bracey, Teresa Palmer, Hugo Weaving, Rachel Griffiths, and Vince Vaughn.

The 9th Life of Louis Drax

After surviving eight near-death accidents throughout his unlucky life, Louis Drax (Aiden Longworth) plunges off a steep cliff on his ninth birthday. While police investigate the cause of Louis’s near-fatal fall and the whereabouts of his violent father, Peter (Aaron Paul), acclaimed neurologist Dr. Allan Pascal (Jamie Dornan) uses unorthodox techniques to try to tap into the boy’s unconscious mind and reveal the truth about the events that led to his condition. But as he’s drawn deeper and deeper into the mystery of Louis’s seeming ability to cheat death, the doctor finds himself falling for Louis’s mother, Natalie (Sarah Gadon). As new clues emerge in the case, a shocking revelation changes the fates of Louis Drax and everyone around him.

FOG!: How would you describe your new book, The Rising?

Jon Land: Ah, such an easy question, right? I wish I had as simple an answer. This book is so many things, it’s difficult to categorize. It features a pair of brave high school seniors, Alex Chin and Samantha Dixon, who find themselves battling a potential alien invasion. This as they learn that Alex himself is an alien who was brought here eighteen years earlier as the only hope the Earth has to survive.

So The Rising is, technically, science fiction. But it’s also an action thriller, a mystery, and a romance. I think the trend in popular fiction today is to avoid labels in favor of genre bending, which suits this book just!

Heather Graham: I think the lines between genres are so blurred these days, The Rising being a prime example of that. If the reader is emotionally vested in the characters, and those characters are in some kind of peril, then by nature that’s a thriller, however else you choose to classify it. I just don’t like splitting hairs between so-called genres, because everybody’s got their own definition of what separates one from another.

What was the genesis of your collaboration?

Heather: I think that Bob Gleason’s (our editor’s) love for NASA was the spark that seemed to set us both on fire. I loved our opportunities to be at the Goddard Space Center. It was amazing. And, like all amazing things, it made our imaginations take flight. Strange, I have five children, grown now, but I so clearly remember going through the high school years with them—and with their five very different personalities. Teenage angst is difficult enough—accepting what has happened in the middle of what should have been a fantastic year for both Alex and Sam was a fascinating concept with which to work!

Jon: That’s absolutely right. A true stroke of fortune was the fact that Tor Books had partnered with NASA on a series of science-themed books aimed at educating kids on what NASA is all about and stimulate their interest in science. Since we’d wanted to work together on something for a while, this seemed like the absolute perfect fit, but it also required that we make our story fit certain parameters that helped define our mission statement and got us off to a real running start.

Both of you have long bibliographies, but for both of you this is your first foray into science fiction and young adult literature.  Were there different muscles that you flexed when writing this book and do you think the collaborative nature make this an easier departure from your more comfortable genres?

Jon: Neither of us had ever focused on young adults and we’d never written science fiction. So I’d say we were delighted by how new and fresh that felt. We were both smart and fortunate enough to work together on an approach and a genre neither of us ever tried before. So I think that alone made the process much more comfortable from the get-go and, yes, made the departure an easy one from what we’re more comfortable with.

Heather: We passed everything back and forth, as opposed to penning individual chapters. And there was a lot verbal back and forth too, discussion as opposed to argument. We were both very open-minded and respected each other’s strengths. Since I’d never collaborated on something this big before, it was a godsend learning how to let go and trust Jon when it sometimes came down to final checks and proofs. He’s actually way better than I am most of the time! Because we are usually working alone, we expect that we’ll always have a last look. Sometimes, it was super nice to think, wow, I don’t have to worry—I know that Jon has that, my back, our backs! And I told him right from the beginning that the scientific stuff and action scenes were all his!

Were there any particular influences when writing The Rising? 

Heather: There are often fine lines between horror, thriller, sci-fi, and much more. I spent my life as a huge fan of Richard Matheson and his work covered everything from straight drama to horror to sci-fi—a major example, of that, of course, being I am Legend.  Also, Asimov—I was terrified as a child by the first story of his I read in a Reader’s Digest Treasury for Young Readers book! (laughing)

Really—did mummies come from alien technology? In all of these stories, though, the constant was that men and women were getting through life with very human emotion and behavior. There’s the old saying—no one can change other actions, they can only control their re-actions. That’s the core in our story—and we like to believe that Alex and Sam will be human, but the kind of humans who will rise not just to save themselves, but come to realize that what is happening doesn’t just touch their lives, but the world around them.

Jon: Confession time! I haven’t actually read a lot of science fiction, other than Ray Bradbury and Robert Heinlein. I think the review of The Rising I enjoyed reading the most was from Booklist, which compared it to Stranger in a Strange Land and said something like, at its heart the book is a 1950s retro, sci-fi mash-up. I got a smile on that because I think my primary influences were movies from era I actually grew up with, both of the cheesy and classic variety. Movies like Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Them, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Earth vs. the Flying Saucers. At its heart, I think The Rising is a throwback to that tradition. And I also think the best of those films served as metaphors for something bigger, a message hidden to varying degrees inside the story.

If you were going to a desert island and could bring the complete works of any five authors, who would you bring?

Jon: Gotta go with Stephen King, Robert Ludlum (just the first 10 or so, though!), Lee Child, James Lee Burke and Carl Hiaasen (for laughs!). Then I’d let a coconut hit me in the head, so I’d get amnesia and feel like I was reading them all for the first time.

Heather: Not fair. I need way more! Poe, Dickens – those are givens. Then I couldn’t choose. A favorite work ever is Killer Angels by Shaara. Also, The Devil in the White City. Then there is Lovecraft. Then my friends who write mystery, oh, and sci-fi. And romance. More suspense and thriller . . . .

(laughing) Couldn’t choose. Have to hope I’m never stranded on an island.

What do you have coming up?

Heather: At the end of March, Perfect Obsession, a second book in the Finnegan’s on Broadway series featuring FBI man Craig Frasier and criminal psychologist—and part owner of the family pub!—Kieran Finnegan.

In summer, there will be three more books in the Krewe of Hunter Series, starting with Dying Breath late May and Dark Rites late July. Happy to say that one good thing about being around a while is that there will also be some reprints out there – so, of course, I do advise readers to make sure they don’t buy a book twice. Unless they want to! Then, hey, wow, great, thank you!

Jon: I’ve got yet another departure coming up in August with Dark Light, a kind of hybrid action-thriller horror story that stages the penultimate battle between good and evil.

December brings the return of Texas Ranger Caitlin Strong in Strong To The Bone, and then the sequel to The Rising with Heather, Blood Moon, in January. Yup, I’ve been busy!

The Rising is now available in print, digital and audio formats.

Visit theoriginalheathergraham.com and follow at @heathergraham
Visit jonlandbooks.com and follow at @jondland

Produced by Alexandra Byer
Written and Directed by Tim Sutton
Starring Aaron Purvis, Rosie Rodriguez, Karina Macias, Robert Jumper, Anna Rose Hopkins

This review contains spoilers!

The 2012 mass shooting during an Aurora movie screening of The Dark Knight Rises still resonates with America.

Certainly, it made quite an impression on me, as I spent the next five years studying the unsettling intersections between violent crime, pop-culture and the media in the United States. I even wrote a “true crime” comic based on the Dark Knight massacre, and studied the background of its perpetrator, James Holmes.

So obviously, I was very interested in viewing Dark Night, the new movie by Tim Sutton that is not so much about the shooting as completely immersed in its wake.

The film follows the lives of several aimless young residents of a Florida suburb, as their lives slowly tick down to a screening of…Dark Night (more on that bit of a meta twist later).

The plot is reminiscent of the recent Sandy Hook Promise PSA “Evan”, in which we are asked to figure out which character will eventually become the murderer—and here we have many people to choose from.

Stylistically, the most obvious comparison I can make to Dark Night is 2003’s Elephant by Gus Van Sant, which features similar hazy vignettes of everyday life counting down to a Columbine-like event.

Like Elephant, Dark Night showcases a series of highly-saturated cinéma-vérité moments that are at once intimate and painfully isolated. But Sutton adds an extra dose of creepiness (as in the scene where the killer’s gun casually pokes through a window during a music lesson), as well as a number of really effective jump-scares that rely heavily on sudden changes in volume.

But perhaps a more apt comparison would be with the 1968 Peter Bogdanovich movie Targets, which also leads up to a violent confrontation at a movie theatre. Targets specifically references pop-culture as well, questioning whether horror movies still have relevance in a world full of real monsters. That question could be extended to the realm of superheroes as well. “Where is Batman when you need him?” And if heroes like Batman can’t protect us from the horror that make headlines—why do we need him?

When you study cases like the Dark Knight shootings, Columbine, Sandy Hook, etc., there is the constant refrain of “WHY WHY WHY WHY” that reverberates. You want to figure out how this all happened as to prevent such tragedies in the future. A common suggestion is tougher gun control laws, but to me that’s just a “speed bump.” Ditto for blaming it all on video games. There is a larger malaise going on in America, and that’s what Dark Night is about.

Having very recently come back from a week at a Florida suburb, I can vouch for the authenticity of Dark Night’s locale and its mood. As is probably the case with many suburbs in the United States, Florida is paradoxically bursting with this incredible breathtaking wealth of nature & at the same time bogged down with all the banality and “convenience” of modern life. It is this very tension between these two extremes that is at the heart of Dark Night and its hypothesis as to why mass killers like Holmes eventually snap.

Since the U.S. presidential race last year, there’s been a lot of talk in the media about a certain cartoon frog—but what did this frog really represent? I would offer he represented what was long lying under the murky “water,” seething and waiting and unaddressed by modern society—much in the same way the aquatic demons of H.P. Lovecraft did in his novels. Dark Night focuses on exactly that type of suppressed, primal, and potentially chaotic element, one of its metaphors being a pet turtle that one of the lead characters plays with and eventually sets free by the end of the film.

It is the owner of the turtle—a Millennial with a shaved head & Freddy Krueger sweater who looks like a cross between Lee Harvey Oswald and that kid from Bates Motel—who most eloquently sums it all up:

“The environment is not a person. It is not a human with a brain trying to resonate its ideas throughout the universe. Nature is true, nature is real. Humans are not real, humans are ethereal. Humans think they’re real and it’s all a bunch of bullshit.”

Almost everybody in this movie lives in a realm of barely-controlled rage, a realm completely cut off from their own nature while at the same time completely surrounded by nature. Who the shooter ends up being is not really the point—the point is that any one of those characters could have been the killer, because they are so radically cut off from both the world and their own selves.

And that, to me, is the meaning behind the “mascot” or meme of Dark Night, which is a simple drawing of a face with an extra circle above and between its eyes. That circle could be the “third eye” of spiritual thought, denoting a deeper knowledge of Self and World—or it could represent a bullet in the head.

The fact that the film everybody waits to see IS Dark Night—the expressionless face of its meme on the poster rather than the “Batman” type character we were expecting—is sort of a jarring way to wind the film down, nudging us out of the plot and into a liminal state between reality and fantasy.

But it is the very end, denying us the visuals and sounds of that impending massacre, that is the most gut-punching. The tension that Sutton spent almost 80 minutes delicately ratcheting up never gets released, the viewer now viscerally experiencing the frustrated malaise of the movie’s characters.

Dark Night is a timely and disturbing film that presents a unique perspective on the question of violence in America. How do we prevent the next mass shooting? How do we deal with aspects of a youth culture focused on division, hatred, and chaos? The guns, the games, and the memes may all be merely symptoms of a larger issue. Dark Night suggests we start by peering under the surface.

Another Super Bowl has come and gone, the season is over, and football fans will need something to ease their withdrawal until next fall.

There are more films about football (professional, college, and high-school) than you probably realize, even if some of these movies deal obliquely with the sport.

Very few football movies can be considered true classics, but if we just discussed the A-team this would be a pretty short list, so here are some recommendations for pigskin-themed movie nights that should satisfy your off-season gridiron lust.

Professional Football/NFL

Any Given Sunday (1999)

Oliver Stone’s sprawling, gritty tale of pro football exists in its own fictitious world, with the fake team names detracting from the suspension of disbelief. Even without the endorsement or cooperation of the real NFL, the intense game footage makes for the most action-packed and bone-crunching gridiron epic ever made.

North Dallas Forty (1979)

Very few movies about pro ball actually use the names of real-life teams. This is one of ’em. Nick Nolte stars as a Dallas Cowboy in this biting satire of the NFL.

Heaven Can Wait (1978)

Though not a football movie per se, the then-Los Angeles Rams figure prominently in the story when their star quarterback (Warren Beatty) is prematurely taken to the afterlife and reincarnated.

Invincible (2006)

Mark Wahlberg stars in this true story of Philadelphia Eagle Vince Papale.

The Last Boy Scout (1991)

Tony Scott’s action/detective potboiler deals with political graft, sports gambling and doped up football players. Unsurprisingly, the film is not endorsed by the NFL and is therefore set in a fictitious parallel world of pro ball.

The Replacements (2000)

Set amid a players’ strike, Gene Hackman coaches a team of scabs lead by Keanu Reeves in this gridiron comedy from the director of Pretty in Pink.

College Division

Rudy (1993)

From the director of Hoosiers comes another equally inspirational true-life sports drama, about a determined pipsqueak (Sean Astin) who dreams of playing football for Notre Dame.

The Program (1993)

James Caan stars as the coach of a college football team, and the film deals with their trials and tribulations, from grades and girls to substance abuse and ludicrous hazing/camaraderie rituals. The bit where teammates one-up each other by laying between opposing traffic lanes was copycatted by a few unfortunate real-life idiots, prompting Disney to pull the film from theaters in order to excise the scene. That footage has not been seen since, not even on DVD as an extra.

We Are Marshall (2006)

Somber but uplifting tale of the aftermath of Marshall University’s football program following a 1970 plane crash that killed the entire team. Matthew McConaughey stars.

Necessary Roughness (1991)

Innocuous though unremarkable college football comedy starring Scott Bakula, Hector Elizondo, Robbert Loggia, Jason Bateman, Sinbad, and Rob Schneider. A scandal has resulted in the suspension of the Texas State University Armadillos, and the football program struggles to endure after assembling a ragtag gaggle of non-scholarship misfits from the student body.

High School Division

Varsity Blues (1999)

Texas high school football by way of Dawson’s Creek, starring James Van Der Beek and Paul Walker.

Friday Night Lights (2004)

Billy Bob Thornton stars in Peter Berg’s tale of Texas high school football, which launched the popular television series.

All the Right Moves (1983)

Released after Risky Business but way before Top Gun made him a superstar, Tom Cruise stars in this little drama about a gifted high school student and football player who dreams of escaping from his poor coal mining town via a football scholarship, but runs afoul of his tough coach (Craig T. Nelson).

Remember the Titans (2000)

Set in 1971, Denzel Washington coaches a high school football team at a newly desegregated school. The movie tackles racial tension and acquired prejudice without ever seeming heavy handed, and is surprisingly poignant and devoid of cliché. Even without its heartbreaking real-life coda, the film is often cited as the very best football movie ever made.

It’s been 50 years since we saw Samurai Jack and time has not been kind to him. Aku has destroyed every time portal and Jack has stopped aging, a side effect of time travel. It seems he is cursed to just roam the land for all eternity.

Samurai Jack premieres Saturday, March 11th at 11pm ET/PT on Adult Swim.

A hard-boiled detective. A brutal murder.  And a six-foot-tall imaginary panther.

What if Calvin & Hobbes grew up in Sin City? Writer David Pepose hopes to answer that very question in his upcoming dark four-issue crime thriller from Action Lab Entertainment’s Danger Zone imprint, Spencer & Locke.

llustrated by Jorge Santiago, Jr., Spencer & Locke follows Detective Locke, who returns to the scene of his horrific upbringing when his grade-school sweetheart, Sophie Jenkins, is found dead in a lonesome back alley. But when Locke’s investigation dredges up menacing figures from his traumatic past, there’s only one person he can trust to help him close the case — his childhood imaginary panther, Spencer.

David took some time to discuss the book, it’s genesis and the book’s influences.

* * * * *

FOG!: On it’s surface, Spencer & Locke is “Calvin and Hobbes” Meets “Sin City”, but after reading the first issue, it’s much more than that. What was the genesis of the project?

David Pepose: First off, thank you so much for saying that! Spencer & Locke is a story about Locke, a hard-boiled cop who returns to the scene of his harrowing upbringing to investigate the murder of his childhood sweetheart — and the only friend he can trust is a talking imaginary panther named Spencer. And like you’ve said, so much of our story comes from this high concept of “what if Calvin and Hobbes grew up in Sin City?”

But our story is also more than just the sum of our inspirations — this gritty noir black comedy is also full of action, suspense, and also an examination of trauma, depression and mental illness. Artist Jorge Santiago, Jr. and I wanted to create a book that used as many different sequential art storytelling tricks as possible, and once I had this idea of mashing up the aesthetics of two of comics’ greatest cartoonists, it was really heartening to discover we had a much deeper story on our hands.

Were there any concerns with the high concept pitch being based on two iconic comic properties? You draw from both, but it’s very much it’s own thing. With both inimitable influences in the background, were there any challenges in the book having it’s own voice?

It’s funny, because I do remember showing our written pitch to one publisher, who said it was “the best pitch I’ll never publish.” So I think there was definitely some skepticism about whether we could pull off the concept! But Action Lab immediately believed in us, and I think that really inspired Jorge and I to bring out A-game on every page.

For me as a writer, I actually found the juxtaposition of this dark crime story alongside this deceptively cute (but occasionally even more horrific) childhood story actually balanced each other nicely — if we ever were in danger if getting too depressing and too bleak, we’d be able to inject in flashbacks or this buddy-cop banter between Spencer and Locke to lighten up the mood, and whenever I was feeling stuck in terms of adding some flair to our action, I found adding that sort of Frank Miller poetic violence to the Calvin and Hobbes iconography really yielded something special.

Ultimately, getting into our characters’ heads and learning their voices was the most fun part of this project, but drawing from Watterson and Miller was kind of like being able to play one parent against the other — if Mom isn’t giving me what I want, I’ll just turn around and try my luck asking Dad for the same thing!

How did you hook up with artist Jorge Santiago, Jr.? What do you think he brings to the project?

I felt it was really important to work with someone who was as young and hungry for their first published work as I was, and with that in mind, I found myself looking through portfolios from graduates of schools like the Savannah College of Art and Design. I was just immediately struck not just by how talented Jorge was — his art reminded me a lot of Becky Cloonan’s style, just very fluid and clean and expressive — but he was also clearly passionate about the process and craft of making comics.

And Jorge’s thoughtfulness really came through in our designs, our action sequences, even the subtle shift in styles between our modern-day scenes and our flashbacks revealing Spencer and Locke’s rough-and-tumble past. He’s an extremely talented and versatile artist — he can make a dialogue scene in a car look just as engaging as a hard-hitting action sequence, and due to the structure of Spencer & Locke‘s plot, each issue has its own unique visuals that Jorge knocks out of the park. It was really important to us that each issue stand on its own and have something cool to offer, and so much of that rests on Jorge and our colorist Jasen Smith’s ability to sell it.

Calvin and Hobbes had a very limited supporting cast. Are there other homages from other strips going to show up?

That’s a great question, to which I wish I had a better answer! All I can say is… not yet.

But the plus side is, there is actually a really rich mythology and iconography that Calvin and Hobbes had that we’ve been able to draw inspiration from, showing how Locke will be tested physically, emotionally, and psychologically. Our series is all about having to confront the scars and demons of one’s own past — no man is an island, as they say, and Locke’s upbringing didn’t take place in a vacuum.

Now that Spencer and Locke are back in the old neighborhood, there are plenty of old friends and foes waiting to come out of the woodwork.

But if there’s a demand for more Spencer & Locke and people pre-order the book, well, let’s just say there’s a wider world for these characters to play in, and I already know exactly where they’d wind up. So readers, call your local comics shop, and help me help you!

In addition to Watterson and Miller, who or what else is an influence on your work?

While Bill Watterson and Frank Miller were the biggest influences on Spencer & Locke, I’ve been really fortunate to learn from a lot of great writers, some of whom were kind enough to impart their wisdom first-hand. Dan Slott’s knack for characterization. I learned a ton from Greg Pak about theme and structure when I did an interview with him years ago. I did an interview with Nick Spencer that taught me a ton about subverting reader expectation.

And then there’s just stuff I’ve learned second-hand by writing about comics for years, by following writers like Grant Morrison, Geoff Johns, Devin Grayson. And I’d be committing a great disservice if I didn’t give a tremendous shout-out to Ed Brubaker, whose work on Criminal was the secret third godfather for all things Spencer & Locke.

And then there’s also tons of movies, comics, TV shows that influenced this book — movies like Memento, Fight Club, Pulp Fiction, shows like True Detective and House, comics like Tradd Moore’s Ghost Rider, ‘90s Batman, old-school Wolverine. It’s funny, because the more I answer this question, the more influences become apparent to me!

What are you currently geeking out over?

Oh man, there’s lots to geek out about right now! In terms of comics, I’m really digging Champions, Dennis Hopeless’s work on All-New X-Men and Spider-Woman, Detective Comics, All-Star Batman, Southern Bastards, God Country… on the TV side, I just finished the season finales for Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and The Good Place, both of which were spectacular, and I never miss an episode of The Flash. (And This Is Us, which let me tell you, is such a great, heartfelt show.) In terms of movies, I’m really excited for Lego Batman and Logan to come out. But the thing I’m geeking out the most over is just waiting for April 26, when Spencer & Locke #1 hits comics stores nationwide!

Spencer & Locke #1 (FEB171047) is now available for Pre-Order
Variant Covers also available (FEB171048 and FEB171049)

“Hello Bud At Aintree” (CC BY 2.0) by Paolo Camera

The greatest racing event of the year is just around the corner. That’s right, the Grand National 2017 takes place on April 8th and it is estimated that a quarter of adults in the UK will bet on the epic contest. That just goes to show how involved people get with this annual race meeting, and if you are one of the excited ones there are a few ways you can get in the mood before it all starts. Here are some essential equestrian apps to download in the weeks running up to the magnificent occasion.

My Horse

For those who always dreamt of owning a horse but didn’t have the time or money to fund such an extravagant venture, you can now simulate the experience from your smartphone or tablet. The My Horse app allows you to groom, feed, and treat your horse, and build a close-knit bond with the majestic animal. You can take photos of it roaming around the paddock, and share the experience with friends. If you keep your horse well-fed and trained it may even reach the World Championships.

Who knows, this could be the stepping stone to actually having your own horse in real life and getting it ready to compete at Aintree.

Horse Park Tycoon

Instead of having to make do with one horse, in Horse Park Tycoon you can take care of a whole park with over 40 different breeds. The aim is to attract friends and visitors from all over the world to come and see the array of horses you have to offer. In addition to that, you can decorate the paddock with flowers and other attractive visuals, and hire staff to work for you.

Building facilities will attract more customers and you will eventually get a popularity rating. You can also take part in horse races to win prizes. This app has been well received, with a 4/5 star rating on the Google Play Store. One user even went as far as to say: “So good I don’t even have the words to describe it :-P.”

Horse Races Now

The horse racing games are all well and good, but when the Aintree festival rolls around you’ll need an app that keeps you up to date with all the most important goings on in the world of racing.

The Horse Races Now app is like “having a racing program in the palm of your hand.” It provides racing news, wagering tips, entries, results, as well as alerting users about changes. Horse racing fanatics can watch live streams of races from their phones, as well as replays. This app could be exceptionally useful during the Grand National and other events in the racing calendar.

Download one or all of these apps now to start giving yourself that Grand National buzz. Or if these don’t take your fancy why not check out Giddy App, Horse Wallpaper, or My Horse HD? The list of amazing horse-related apps goes on.

The Guardians of the Galaxy made their first appearance in the pages of Marvel Super-Heroes back in 1969, and while the team’s lineup has changed significantly over the years, their popularity with fans only continues to grow.

Guardians of the Galaxy: Creating Marvel’s Spacefaring Super Heroes delves into the creation and evolution of the Guardians through exclusive interviews with the writers and artists who have brought them to life. Filled with incredible art from nearly fifty years of comics, this deluxe art book reveals the secrets behind the genesis of fan-favorite characters like Star-Lord, Drax the Destroyer, Gamora, Rocket Raccoon, and Groot.

Complete with a specially commissioned cover illustration by artist Dale Keown, this comprehensive collection takes fans on a dynamic journey into the creation of the greatest art from five decades of Guardians of the Galaxy comics.

Hey there, hi there, ho there, Disney fans and vinyl collectors. Walt Disney Records has released a must-have 10” collectors picture disc in limited quantities.

Celebrating Walt Disney Record’s 60th anniversary, they’ve pressed 3,500 copies of a Mouseketeer staple–the “Mickey Mouse March” accompanied by the club’s “Alma Mater” on side B. It comes with retro, original MMC logo and the nostalgic Disneyland Records seal of authenticity.

The two original tracks on the album debuted with the October 5th, 1955 debut of ABC’s popular series. That series, which aired intermittently from 1955 to 1996, introduced “the leader of the club who’s made for you and me” in sing-along style in each episode. This original version of the march was composed by lead Mouseketeer Jimmie Dodd and arranged by Buddy Baker (composer of some of my favorite Disney feature film scores including The Apple Dumpling Gang, The Shaggy D.A. and The Fox and the Hound). Adding to the authenticity of the release, the vinyl is presented in its original monophonic sound.

You could say I have a deep seeded emotional connection between music and “the mouse.” My first record player was a portable Mickey “concert hall” briefcase-style number in which his outstretched arm contained a probably disc-wrecking stylus.

I took that thing everywhere, including outdoors, unfortunately to the demise of many albums.

I’m still a big physical music release collector, mostly of vinyl, and I’ve since then upgraded my turntable and its corresponding hardware in search of the ultimate sound that only it can provide. I’m also, of course, still a big fanatic of retro Disneyland Records and Walt Disney Records rereleases.

Listening to this album brings me right back to 1977, in which my 5 year old self was fully entranced by the “All New Mickey Mouse Club.” That version of the series had this funkier, disco take on the march, which I repeatedly played off the Disneyland Records soundtrack to the show non-stop. It still helped firmly establish me as a member of the club. I still know every word, and every note…

The B-side of this release is the “Mickey Mouse Club Alma Mater” which always bummed me out, as it signalled the “time to say goodbye to all our company.” Actually, even though Jimmie and the Mousketeer gang promised they’d “M-I-C, see you real soon,” it was never soon enough.  Thankfully there’s side A to pick you right back up.

You can find The Mickey Mouse Club 10” Picture Disc exclusively at Disney Music Emporium. The DME has additional vinyl releases for sale, many of them exclusive, including the classic re-release of “A Day at Disneyland,” new picture-disc editions of animated feature scores, and of course my personal all-time fave “Chilling, Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House.” Be sure to also check out Walt Disney Record’s outstanding “Legacy Collection” CD releases as well, any of which I’ve reviewed previously on Forces Of Geek. Those definitive editions are must-haves for the series soundtrack collector.

And thanks to our friends at Walt Disney Records, we’re giving away a copy of the picture disc to a Forces of Geek reader!

To enter, please send an email with the subject header “Mickey Mouse” to geekcontest @ gmail dot com and answer the following:

The Mickey Mouse Club featured a different theme each day of the week.  What was the theme on Thursdays?

Please include your name and address (U.S. Residents only. You must be 18 years old).

Only one entry per person and a winner will be chosen at random.

Contest ends at 11:59 PM EST on February 19th, 2016.

Party like your job depends on it when the “hilarious” (Neil Genzlinger, New York Times) and “raucous” (Frank Lovece, Film Journal) OFFICE CHRISTMAS PARTY arrives in a new unrated cut on Blu-ray Combo Pack April 4, 2017 from Paramount Home Media Distribution.  Get the unrated version two weeks early on Digital HD March 21.

When an overbearing CEO (Jennifer Aniston) decides to close her hard-partying brother’s failing branch, he (T.J. Miller) and his fired up co-workers (Jason Bateman, Olivia Munn, Kate McKinnon) decide to throw an epic office party to land a big shot client and save everyone’s jobs.  Fueled by booze and bad decisions, things quickly spiral out-of-control in one of the craziest nights of their lives.

OFFICE CHRISTMAS PARTY features an incredible supporting cast of comedic talent including Rob Corddry (Hot Tub Time Machine), Jillian Bell (Fist Fight), Vanessa Bayer (“Saturday Night Live”), Fortune Feimster (“The Mindy Project”) and Courtney B. Vance (“The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story”).

The OFFICE CHRISTMAS PARTY Blu-ray Combo Pack features both the theatrical and unrated version of the film, which includes outrageous footage not seen in theaters.  In addition, the Blu-ray Combo Pack boasts hilarious outtakes, deleted and extended scenes, commentary by directors Josh Gordon and Will Speck and more.

OFFICE CHRISTMAS PARTY Blu-ray Combo Pack

The combo pack includes access to a Digital HD copy of the film as well as the following:

Blu-ray

• Unrated Version in high definition
• Theatrical Version in high definition
• Bonus Content:
  • Commentary by directors Josh Gordon & Will Speck
  • Throwing an Office Christmas Party
  • Outtakes
  • Deleted & Extended Scenes

DVD

• Theatrical Version in standard definition

OfficeChristmasParty.com

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Produced by Alan Burnett, James Tucker
Screenplay by Ernie Altbacker
Story by Ernie Altbacker, J. M. DeMatteis
Based on Justice League Dark
by Peter Milligan and Mikel Janin
Directed by Jay Oliva
Starring Matt Ryan, Jason O’Mara,
Camilla Luddington, Nicholas Turturro,
Ray Chase, Enrico Colantoni, Roger Cross,
Jeremy Davies, Alfred Molina

With Doctor Strange bringing the Marvel Cinematic Universe into the realm of sorcery and magic, Warner Bros. Animation does the same with their latest direct to home video offering through DC Comics, Justice League Dark.

DC animated films have been able to hit a lot of notes that their live action counterparts have missed. Of course, the bigger the budget, the larger the amount of creative red tape that will wrap itself around a project such as David Ayer’s Suicide Squad.

Justice League Dark makes great use of its sixty minute run time in setting up the story, introducing the characters and establishing their motivations to get the viewer invested in when the team finally comes together in the climatic showdown. It’s a formulaic approach to storytelling with the key elements executed to their desired result as the film opens with random acts of murder that end up being not so random. The mystical element to these atrocities calls for a different solution outside of Superman and company.

Enter John Constantine, who is quickly sought out by Batman, Zatanna and Deadman to investigate the mystic anomalies occurring around the globe. When you think of Constantine, Matt Ryan immediately comes to mind. His portrayal of the supernatural detective has earned a great deal of praise that has brought him back to the role through multiple platforms. Ryan’s voice acting served the story well here and carried a gravitas in the same vein of Mark Hamill’s Joker or Kevin Conroy’s Batman.

Speaking of Batman, his inclusion in this film has been met with a lot of eye-rolling from those who cherish the source material. The Dark Knight wasn’t a member of the Justice League Dark in the comics. And why would you need a non-powered detective when you already have a magical one in Constantine? It’s obvious that Batman is a promotional vehicle used, which is why he’s front and center on the Blu-ray cover.

I’m happy to report that Batman is a marketing version of a Trojan horse this time around. Batman serves as the bridge to the characters that mainstream audiences might not be familiar with. Once the mission is established, Batman hangs back, helps when needed, and cracks a joke or two while serving as a reminder that this is not a job for “capes and tights.” This prevents his inclusion from being a bait and switch, which benefits the film as Constantine, Zatanna and Deadman are given plenty of room to work.

Jay Oliva, who has directed several DC animated films delivers some exciting action and an entertaining narrative with intriguing twists and turns. Blood, guts and curse words are all wrapped up in a violence-filled package that is worthy of the R-rating that the film is marketed on. There are no sexual suggestive themes or bloodbaths for the sake of shock and awe. All of the gory moments fit the context of the story. There are a lot of moving pieces that are not hard to follow, but still, there is much to absorb.

Besides the story, there were some fun moments such as Deadman sarcastically pointing out the obvious, Batman using a defibrillator to take out a shit-demon, a poker game where both parties cheated, and Swamp Thing. Man, I wanted more Swamp Thing. He looked glorious with great attention to detail with his towering leafy green presence.

Ascetically, the animation doesn’t stand out. It’s not bad, but despite the enjoyable action set pieces, there were no moments that will make you stand up and marvel over the imagery on-screen. There were also a few background blunders with one, in particular, showing Superman standing behind Constantine, only to see that the Man of Steel is nowhere in sight once the shot goes wide. It was annoying because it made me feel as if I missed something.

Gods, Spellcasting, magical stones, a bit of Merlin, and some Batarangs make for an animated DC Comics adventure that is fun to watch but not necessarily worth rushing out to see or buy on release day. Those who came to see Batman save the day might be disappointed if they are not intrigued by the likes of Constantine and Zatanna. Justice League Dark does offer a better than average viewing experience that entertains on many levels while providing a worthwhile introduction to the House of Mystery and its residents.

Justice League Dark is now available on Digital HD, Blu-ray Deluxe Giftset, Blu-ray Combo Pack and DVD.