Marvel Entertainment and Conan Properties International are excited to announce the iconic CONAN franchise will return to Marvel next year.

With over 650 issues from 1970 to 2000, Marvel brought fans the adventures of Conan The Barbarian, Conan the Adventurer, Conan the Savage and Savage Sword of Conan among other popular titles.

“From Barry Windsor-Smith to John Buscema to Neal Adams, a legendary line-up of amazing artists brought Conan to life in the pages of Marvel comics,” said C.B. Cebulski, editor-in-chief of Marvel. “It’s a legacy we’re now going to live up to with the talent we have lined up for the Cimmerian barbarian’s homecoming in early 2019. We’re excited!”

“We’re thrilled to be working with Marvel and look forward to the new adventures in store for Conan,” said Fredrik Malmberg, President of Conan Properties International. “As the most well-known and creative publisher in the industry, we think Marvel is a great fit for our stories.”

With this deal, Marvel will again bring new and thrilling stories for Conan fans around the world. Details on upcoming comic book titles, collections, reprints, and creative teams will be shared at a later date.

To find a comic shop near you, visit www.comicshoplocator.com

2017 was an amazing year from a variety of points of view. It has also been crap in other areas, but let’s just ignore them for a while and remember what was best about the year that has passed. And while we’re at it, let us abandon looking into the future for a while and take a look at last year from a “retro” point of view, like so many have before us. Here we go.

Under the costume

Image via Twitter

Heidi Klum wears many hats – she is a model, a TV personality, a businesswoman and an actress – but she didn’t strike us as a nostalgic person (and a 44-year-old, for that matter). But last year’s has been one of Heidi Klum’s greatest Halloween costumes – she went to the party dressed as the wolf creature from Michael Jackson’s world famous Thriller from 1983. The mother of four has not only dressed up and put on a completely concealing costume and makeup but has actually learned the dance moves to go with them.

Way to go, Heidi – you are indeed the queen of Halloween.

Stranger references

Image courtesy Netflix

Netflix’s “Stranger Things” was among the most popular examples of serialized content (TV show perhaps isn’t the best term to describe it) in 2017. The series, set in the 1980s, has charmed its audiences not only with its retro look and synthwave soundtrack but also with the many pop culture references hidden among its “lines” that made its older fans smile numerous times while binge-watching it.

Among others, the show made references to the science fiction comedy series ALF, featuring a cat-eating alien, Aliens by casting Paul Reiser in one of its more important secondary roles and featuring a man-eating monster that sheds its skin and grows, showing us endless corn fields (Children of the Corn), demonic possession (The Exorcist), taking the kids inside a set of dark and scary tunnels (IT) and for a walk on a long railroad track (Stand by Me), and referencing video games like Dig Dug and Dragon’s Lair quite often. And that’s without mentioning the retro fest of the Halloween episode.

Stranger Things Season 2 was a retro extravaganza – let’s hope its upcoming third season continues this tradition.

Nintendo Switch

Photo by othree

Nintendo has tried to consolidate its presence on the gaming market with Switch, its brand new portable console. It was a nice move, pretty successful as it was, but the retro spin on the console was the greatest news of them all. For those who didn’t hear yet, here’s the news: starting last September, Nintendo made a series of its classic games available for the Switch, starting with Super Mario Bros, and including titles like Balloon Fight, Ice Climber, Pinball, Clu Clu Land and Punch-Out, and probably a series of other classic Nintendo titles in 2018.

Retro games on the go? Bring them on!

Once again we ask our present and past contributors, as well as friends of the site, to weigh in on the successes and failures of 2017.

Stefan Blitz

editor-in-chief, Forces of Geek
Best Movies: Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing Missouri, The Big Sick, Get Out, Thor: Ragnarok, Gifted, Blade Runner 2049
Best TV Shows: Ozark, Twin Peaks: The Return, Riverdale, The Carmichael Show, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Lethal Weapon
Best Books (fiction): Dark Matter by Blake Crouch, Artemis by Andy Weir
Best Books (non-fiction): Are You In The House Alone?: A TV Movie Compendium 1964-1999 Edited by Amanda Reyes, Paperbacks From Hell by Grady Hendrix
Best Comic Books / Graphic Novels: Mister Miracle by Tom King and Mitch Gerards, Black Hammer and Sherlock Frankenstein by Jeff Lemire, Dean Ormston and David Rubin, Batman/Elmer Fudd by Tom King and
Lee Weeks, Batman: White Knight by Sean Murphy, X-Men: Grand Design by Ed Piskor
Best Blu-ray/DVD Release: Into The Night (Shout! Factory), Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, The Criterion Collection, Logan Noir
Most overrated thing about 2017? Fan entitlement.
Most underrated thing about 2017? Justice League. Audiences decided they didn’t like it without even setting foot in the theater.
Thing that you were most excited about in 2017? Letting go of Star Wars.  It was a huge part of my childhood.  Now I can leave it there, see a movie once a year and not have any emotional connection beyond it.
Thing that disappointed you most in 2017? The United States government; President Obama and Vice-President Biden moving on.
Thing that you’re most looking forward to in 2018? Good movies, good books, good tv, good comics, good friends and good health. And impeachment.

Atlee Greene

FOG! Contributor / thegreenescreen.net / @AtleeGreene
Best Movies: Logan, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, mother!, Get Out, Split, Wind River, Detroit
Best TV Shows: Stranger Things, Game of Thrones, 13 Reasons Why, The Handmaid’s Tale, Rick & Morty, Big Little Lies, Crisis on Earth-X.
Best Video Game: Injustice 2, Super Mario Odyssey, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
Best Comic Books / Graphic Novels: Saga, Mister Miracle, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Aliens: Dark Orbit, Batman, Moon Girl & Devil Dinosaur
Best Blu-ray/DVD Release: Logan w/ Black & White version of the film. Get Out, Wonder Woman, Baby Driver.
Most overrated thing about 2017? War for the Planet of the Apes
Thing that you were most excited about in 2017? The Last Jedi
Thing that disappointed you most in 2017? WWE Monday Night Raw, Marvel’s Secret Empire, Captain Phasma in The Last Jedi
Thing that you’re most looking forward to in 2018? Cloverfield: God Particle, Avengers: Infinity War, Black Panther, New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Wrestle Kingdom 12, Bumblebee, Wreck-It Ralph 2

Todd Sokolove

FOG! Contributor
Forces of Geek Presents Oh No They Didn’t! Podcast / ToddSokolove.com / @TSokolove
Best Movies: The Challenge, The Florida Project, Phantom Thread, A Ghost Story, Atomic Blonde, Get Out
Best TV Shows: American Gods, Twin Peaks: The Return, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Stranger Things 2, Riverdale, The Vietnam War
Best Books (non-fiction): Disappearing New York by Jeremiah Moss
Best Songs: “Mourning Sound” by Grizzly Bear, “Tangerine” by Beach Fossils, “A Fan’s Mail” by Thundercat, “Run For Cover” by The Killers, “Slip Away” by Perfume Genius
Best Albums: Colors by Beck, Dark Matter by Randy Newman, Everything Now by Arcade Fire, Hit The Light by Ten Fe, Prisoner by Ryan Adams
Best Blu-ray/DVD Release: Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, The Criterion Collection
Most Overrated Thing About 2017: Baby Driver
Most Underrated Thing About 2017: Atomic Blonde
Thing that you’re most looking forward to in 2018? Being a Los Angelean

Emma-Jane Corsan

FOG! Contributor
cheesemint.com /excusemewhileigeekout / @emmajanecorsan
Best Movies: Get Out, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri, The Big Sick, Your Name, Shin Godzilla, Logan
Best TV Shows: Boruto, Love Live! Sunshine!!, Star Trek: Discovery, Master Of None, The Handmaid’s Tale, Dragon Ball Super
Best Books (fiction): The Southern Reach trilogy (Annihilation, Authority, Acceptance) by Jeff VanderMeer. This trilogy wasn’t technically released in 2017 but I read all three this year.
Best Books (non-fiction): Cinemaps: An Atlas Of 35 Great Movies illustrated by Andrew DeGraff and written by A.D. Jameson
Best Video Game: Breath of the Wild, Assassin’s Creed: Origins, Doki Doki Literature Club, Purrfect Date, Mass Effect Andromeda, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
Best Songs: “Big For Your Boots” by Stormzy, “Desposito” by Luis Fonsi ft. Daddy Yankee, “Raise Your Flag” by Man With A Mission,
Best Albums: Gang Signs & Prayer by Stormzy, No Shape by Perfume Genius, Shikisai by Wagakki Band, The World’s On Fire by Man With A Mission (European edition), Ambitions by One Ok Rock
Best Comic Books / Graphic Novels: Saga by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples, Gintama by Hideaki Sorachi
Best Blu-ray/DVD Release: Your Name (I waited so long to see this!)
Most overrated thing about 2017? Baby Driver (Wright has huge issues when writing women and proved to me yet again that his recent work is style over substance).
Most underrated thing about 2017? The Netherlands crime rate hit such a low that many of their prisons were converted into accommodation for refugees and Iceland became the first country to enforce equal pay by law. News like this often gets overshadowed but it’s important to focus on positives when the world seems as though it’s on fire!
Thing that you were most excited about in 2017? Visiting Japan and my filmmaking company, Cheesemint Productions winning three film festival awards.
Thing that disappointed you most in 2017? My government, your president and the majority of men in Hollywood abusing their power.
Thing that you’re most looking forward to in 2018? Deadpool 2, Black Panther, Red Dead Redemption 2, Gintama Rumble and Jessica Jones series 2.

Bryan Lynch

Screenwriter/Author
Info about my book which you should please buy /  @brianlynch
Best Movies: Brigsby Bear, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Lady Bird, The Big Sick
Best TV Shows: The Good Place, Vice Principals, The Last Man on Earth, Nathan For You
Best Books (fiction): Toy Academy: Some Assembly Required by young upstart author Brian Lynch, Anything Bloom County that IDW released.
Best Video Game: Super Mario Odyssey
Best Comic Books / Graphic Novels: I Hate Fairyland, Saga, Action Comics/Superman
Best Blu-ray/DVD Release: A Fish Called Wanda
Most underrated thing about 2017? T2: Trainspotting was incredible. Better than the first one, better than most anything. It should be celebrated.
Thing that you were most excited about in 2017? The release of my book was pretty great. Also got to see Hamilton for the first time, that was as amazing as everyone is saying.
Thing that disappointed you most in 2017? Mostly real life stuff, horrible things involving our country. But hopefully things will improve in 2018?
Thing that you’re most looking forward to in 2018? Solo: A Star Wars Story, Infinity War, more The Good Place.

Gavin Hignight

Former FOG! Contributor / Mystic Cosmic Patrolman
gavinhignight.com / mysticcosmicpatrol.com / @gavinhignight
Best Movies:Get Out, Blade Runner 2049, Logan
Best TV Shows:Twin Peaks: The Return, Parts Unknown
Best Video Game:Friday The 13th
Best Songs: “Afro Blue” by Melanie De Biasio, “The Sound” by Noah Gundersen
Best Albums: Ramones 40th Anniversary Edition of Rocket To Russia
Best Blu-ray/DVD Release:Westworld Season One
Thing that you’re most looking forward to in 2018? Impeachment

George Khoury

Author / Pop Culture Historian
facebook.com/comicbookfever
Best Movies:Thor: Ragnarok, Wonder Woman
Best TV Shows:Mindhunter, Late Night with Seth Meyers, Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Best Books (fiction):Uncommon Type by Tom Hanks
Best Books (non-fiction):Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Issacson
Best Albums:Woodstock by Portugal the Man
Best Song: “Feel It Still” by Portugal
Best Comic Books / Graphic Novels:Swamp Thing Bronze Age Omnibus by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson and others.
Best Blu-ray/DVD Release:Wonder Woman and It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (Criterion)
Most overrated thing about 2017?Spider-Man: Homecoming; Star Wars: Last Jedi
Most underrated thing about 2017?Blade Runner: 2049
Thing that you were most excited about in 2017?Wonder Woman
Thing that disappointed you most in 2017?Flash television show and Alien: Resurrection.
Thing that you’re most looking forward to in 2018? Putting together this book I’ve been working on.

Shade Rupe

Author / Filmmaker / Actor
Best Movies:Good Time, Brawl in Cell Block 99, Logan, The Blackcoat’s Daughter, Phantom Thread, Daddy I Love You
Most overrated thing about 2017?Get Out, #metoo, anything mentioning Donald Trump in any way, anti or pro.
Most underrated thing about 2017? Legalization of weed
Thing that you were most excited about in 2017? Legalization of weed
Thing that disappointed you most in 2017? Liberals
Thing that you’re most looking forward to in 2018? Complete nuclear annihilation of America.

Joe Peacock

FOG! Contributor
marlowekana.com / joepeacock.com / @joethepeacock
Best Movies:Blade Runner 2049, The Shape of Water
Best TV Shows:Black Mirror, Ozark, Lastman
Best Books (fiction):Marlowe Kana Volumes 1-3!
Best Video Game:Cuphead, Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey
Best Songs: ”Look What You Made Me Do” by Taylor Swift, only because of the hyper insane anime voice remakes it spawned on YouTube
Best Albums:Damn by Kendrick Lamar, Awaken, My Love! By Childish Gambino, We Got It From Here by Tribe Caled Quest, Pacifisticuffs by Diablo Swing Orchestra, Last Forever by Westkust, Sterilize by Unsane, I Forsee The Dark Ahead, If I Stay Alive by Kilimanjaro DarkJazz Orchestra
Best Comic Books / Graphic Novels:The Only Living Boy by Ellis and Gallaher, also High Moon by the same team
Most overrated thing about 2017?Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Most underrated thing about 2017? Guy Feiri’s restaurant shutting down
Thing that you were most excited about in 2017?Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Thing that disappointed you most in 2017?Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Thing that you’re most looking forward to in 2018? The inevitable impeachment of Donald Trump

Matt Kennedy

Former FOG! Contributor
gallery30south.com / popsequentialism.com / @podseq
Best Movies: Blade Runner 2049, A Dark Song, mother!, Thor: Ragnarok, Split
Best TV Shows: Mindhunter, Billions, Wormwood, Feud: Betty & Joan, The Exorcist
Best Books: Art Record Covers by Francesco Spampinato, Guillermo del Toro At Home with Monsters, The Art of Tiki by Sven Kirsten, South of Pico: African American Artists in Los Angeles in the 1960s and 70s by Kellie Jones, Daido Moriyama: Record
Best Comics: Shade the Changing Girl by Cecil Castelluci & Marley Zarcona, Doom Patrol by Gerard Way & Nick Derington, Paper Girls by Brian K. Vaughn & Cliff Chiang, Black by Kwanza Osajyefo & Jamal Igle, The Third Remedy by Chester Brown
Best Songs: Rod Melancon – “Lights of Carencro”,  Metallica & Lady Gaga – “Moth Into Flame”, Harry Styles – “Sign of the Times”, Cigarettes After Sex – “K”., Ryan Adams – “Do You Still Me?”
Best Albums: Hans Zimmer & Benjamin Wallfisch – Blade Runner 2049 original score, Rod Melancon – Southern Gothic, The War on Drugs – A Deeper Understanding, Pallbearer – Heartless, David Bowie – A New Career in a New Town (1977 -1982)
Best Blu-ray/DVD Release: Daughters of the Dust (CMG), Private Vices, Public Virtues (Mondo Macabro), Beyond the Darkness (Severin), One Eyed Jacks (Arrow), Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (Criterion)
Most overrated thing about 2017?  Stranger Things, It, and most other manifestations of 80s nostalgia. And Greta Gerwig.
Most underrated thing about 2017? I’m Dying Up Here, The Toys We Love, Brawl in Cell Block 99, and many other manifestations of 70s nostalgia.
Thing that you were most excited about in 2017?  The #metoo movement, and the rising voice of the downtrodden.
Thing that disappointed you most in 2017?  The NYCC Marvel Retailer Panel as the epitome of everything that is wrong with comics and America.
Thing that you’re most looking forward to in 2018? The Chuck D art exhibition at Gallery 30 South

Produced by Tai Duncan, Paul Schiff
Written by John S. Newman, Christian Swegal
Directed by Babak Najafi
Starring Taraji P. Henson, Billy Brown,
Danny Glover, Neal McDonough,
Xander Berkeley, Rade Serbedzija,
Margaret Avery, Jahi Di’Allo Winston

Since Sony didn’t screen Proud Mary for critics (which usually means they think they have a bomb on their hands), some friends and I paid to see it at a Friday matinee.

The verdict: It’s not great, but it’s not terrible either. The movie unfortunately squanders the rich opportunity of Taraji P. Henson as a hitwoman, but you can see hints of the killer movie it could have been.

What marketing there was for the movie, which heavily featured ’70s-era graphics and R&B music, made it seem like this was going to be an updated blaxpoitation flick, a campy modern Foxy Brown.

Alas, the use of classic songs like “Proud Mary” and “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone” are far and few between, and so are the action sequences.

Henson makes a believable hitwoman with a hard-luck past, but the movie sells her short. I was hoping for at least a fun mix of violence and humor á la The Nice Guys, but Henson’s Mary spends more time worrying about what she’s done wrong than kicking ass. Once you realize this is not so much a movie about a badass hitwoman as it is a movie about a woman atoning for her past by adopting a child she orphaned, it’s not half-bad. But it’s not what I was hoping for.

Fortunately, Danny (Jahi Di’Allo Winston), the orphan in question, holds his own, and the scenes between him and Mary, in which continually tells him to “watch his mouth” as he casually swears, made me smile.

There are a million things to nitpick. What kind of hitwoman has her massive stash of guns stored behind a makeup mirror that you only need to brush aside to access? Where are the high-tech codes and safes? The irony is that she tells Danny that she’s in “security,” when, of course, she’s lousy at it. And when the bullet starts flying, Mary proves — conveniently enough — nearly bullet-proof.

Taking Danny under her wing sets a complicated chain of actions in motion, including a gang war between her “family,” led by Danny Glover, and a group of generic Russian villains. (Xander Berkeley sports a worse-than-Jennifer-Lawrence Russian accent as the creep who had Danny working for him as a drug runner.)

You could argue that this is a movie about overthrowing the patriarchy and anyone exploiting women and children. That’s a bit of a reach, but I admired the fierce mama bear Mary becomes. (Ripley, your “Get away from her, you BITCH” crown is still safe.)

I didn’t mind spending 88 minutes with Taraji, I just wish the movie had given her more to do.

The action sequences aren’t particularly memorable, despite being supervised by the same stunt man who did Deadpool. The movie ends up being fairly paint-by-numbers and disappointingly generic. But it’s hardly the disaster a “not screening for critics” decision implies.

Rating: 2.75 out of 5 

The inaugural Astronomicon pop culture convention will take place in just one month in the Metro Detroit area! Astronomicon is an all ages event promising fun for everyone, taking place on February 9-11, 2018 at the Wyndham Garden in Sterling Heights, MI (34911 Van Dyke). Each day will include a variety of activities, including cosplay and tattoo contests, a free play game room and tournaments, Q&A panels, a scavenger hunt, insane asylum photo ops – and best of all, the opportunity to have photos taken with special guest celebrities!

Recently, Astronomicon announced new special guests taking part in photo ops and signings, including Sons of Anarchy star Ryan Hurst (also known for roles in Remember the Titans, Bates Motel, Saving Private Ryan, and more), Bryan Johnson of AMC’s Comic Book Men, professional wrestling legends Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, former WCW Executive Producer and President Eric Bischoff, and renowned wrestling personality/podcast host Bruce Prichard.

Bryan Johnson says: “Though not typically associated with fright and dread (unless you’re my proctologist), I’ll be at Astronomicon on February 9-11 with fellow Comic Book Man, Ming Chen. Come watch the two of us fawn over such horror icons as Kane Hodder, Sid Haig and Bill Moseley. It’ll be cringeworthy.”

Previously announced special guests who will appear for photo ops and signings at Astronomicon include actors such as Jon Heder, star of Napoleon Dynamite and other major films, Shameless actress Laura Slade Wiggins, renowned horror icon Sid Haig (who will actually officiate a wedding onsite as Captain Spaulding on Saturday), Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, House of 1000’s Corpses and The Devil’s Rejects actor Bill Moseley, Friday the 13th film franchise legend Kane Hodder, Michael Myers-Halloween actor Tony Moran, and X-Men and Rob Zombie’s Halloween actor Tyler Mane. Additional pop culture personalities from various areas of fandom appearing at Astronomicon include Roy Knyrim of Syfy’s Monster Man, Tate Steinsiek and Rob Miller of Syfy’s Face Off (who will present his life size Groot, Rocket Racoon and Hulkbuster creations, with Hulkbuster making its very last convention appearance), Ming Chen of AMC’s Comic Book Men, Carla Harvey of massive metal band Butcher Babies, comic book writer Dirk Manning, Angry Video Game Nerd, The Game Chasers, Mr. Creepypasta, Pixel Dan, and tattoo model Caroline (who is scheduled as a guest judge of the tattoo contest) will also appear.

Of course, fans can also expect appearances by TWIZTID and Majik Ninja Entertainment artists Blaze Ya Dead Homie and G-Mo Skee, who will host a Super Smash Bros. tournament in the gaming area. Additional Majik Ninja artists appearing include The R.O.C., Boondox, and ABK.

As made evident by many of this week’s new additions, Astronomicon will be the hottest place to be for professional wrestling fans, because the day will be chock full of photo ops and signings with some of the greatest in the industry. Previously announced guests include professional wrestling champion and WWE live commentator/on-air personality Booker T, as well as professional wrestling legends Charles Wright, a.k.a. The Godfather/Papa Shango and Road Warrior Animal.

*Individual guest appearance, photo op and signing schedules will be announced in the next two weeks.

Astronomicon recently announced their lead sponsor, Home Depot of Sterling Heights, who will host a new DIY Kids Workshop at the convention. Attendees can bring their children aged 5-12 to this special hands-on building workshop, where they will learn to build projects ranging from bird houses, fire trucks and more. Projects built can be taken home afterward, and participants will receive a free certificate of achievement, a workshop apron, and a commemorative pin (while supplies last). 20-30 kits will be available and entry is first come first serve. Participants must be present at Astronomicon, as the event is included in the convention ticket. Learn more via www.astronomicon.com/homedepot.

More special guest stars from the music, wrestling, film and entertainment worlds are scheduled to be announced as Astronomicon approaches, so stay tuned – and check www.Astronomicon.com for individual guest schedules and other information.

TWIZTID will be signing very special Astronomicon variants of their brand new comic book, entitled Twiztid: Haunted High-Ons, written by the demented duo themselves and famed comic writer/Astronomicon guest Dirk Manning, and featuring illustration by renowned Italian artists Marianna Pescosta and Alessandro de Fornasari. The comic book is published by Source Point Press. In Twiztid: Haunted High-Ons, our duo have carved out a comfortable side-gig for themselves as fake ghost hunters… but what happens when a routine house call yields not only a ghost, but a killer demon to boot? Hijinks and horror, of course! Original variant comics are available to order here via Source Point Press.

For more information, visit:

astronomicon.com • majikninjaentertainment.com
twiztid.com • twiztidshop.com  

No self-respecting Steven Spielberg fan can fully appreciate the maestro’s finest cinematic popcorn confections without also charting his growth as an artist through his more serious adult-minded pictures. Yes—from Duel, Jaws, Close Encounters, and Raiders of the Lost Ark to The Sugarland Express, The Color Purple, Saving Private Ryan, and Schindler’s List; from Catch Me If You Can, A.I., War of the Worlds, and Empire of the Sun, to Hook, 1941, Tintin, and even The BFG; with War Horse, Munich, The Terminal, Amistad, Lincoln, Jurassic Park, Minority Report, and Always included in the mix too—Steven Spielberg is a veritable national treasure, among few directors whose name alone makes any movie he’s attached to a curiosity, if not a must-see.

Read that list again. It’s not even complete, as I didn’t mention his sequels, nor did I list the classic movies he’s produced. Even as a life-long fan, I’m astonished not only at the physical volume of Spielberg’s output, but also at the intellectual breadth of his body of work.

His latest film is the Nixon-era Pentagon Papers thriller The Post, a docu-drama throwback to a bygone era when TV news options numbered merely three, dogged reporters from rival newspapers vied for the same elusive hot scoops, and one vindictive and egomaniacal resident of the White House threatened with his abusive authority the very sanctity of the First Amendment.

While overseeing post production on his upcoming virtual reality adventure Ready Player One, director Steven Spielberg made the movie The Post in what seems like record time, feeling today’s climate of ugly and hostile political discourse, gender inequality, prefabricated news, and frightful demagogues in high command perfectly mirrors the social flavor and paranoia of the Nixon era depicted in the movie. Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks portray Washington Post publisher Katherine Graham and editor Ben Bradlee, respectively, and an impressive supporting cast populates the newsroom. Though The Post doesn’t quite equal the greatness and timelessness of some other enduring newspaper dramas, the devil is in the details and Spielberg’s film is replete with wonderful period props and minutiae.

There is a fine tradition of crackling newspaper movies, from madcap comedies to chilling conspiracy dramas. Usually there is some deep-rooted political corruption that our intrepid reporter hero (or heroes) most expose, typically at great personal and professional risk; sometimes the life of an innocent man wrongfully accused hangs precariously in the balance while a clock counts down to an inexorable deadline; always there is a news room rivalry and/or camaraderie that provides for juicy repartee, a “Stop! Hold the presses!” moment milked for all the suspense it’s worth, and then a montage of production while we peer deep inside the inner workings of the machinery rumbling in the bowels of the building while endless streams of paper feed into gargantuan printing presses stretched back as far as the eye can see.

Like the best of them, The Post gleefully piles on these tropes, paying homage to the classic newsroom pictures that revel in the indelible stain and strong stink of page and ink.

Counting down, here are my five favorites.
 

#5) The Paper (1994)

Director Ron Howard and star Michael Keaton reunite for their third collaboration on this all-star salute to the madcap newsroom comedies of yesteryear. The script flirts with cliché over the racially charged wrongfully-accused-man plot hinge, and then tilts towards lunacy when some prickly sexual tension in the workplace erupts into a full-fledged he/she fistfight alongside the roaring presses, but the movie nails several crucial elements of the storied genre to proudly earn its ink stains.

Notably, the comical and competitive—and frequently vulgar—repartee of the worker bees inhabiting its bustling newsroom is sharp and rapid fire, and the story’s ticking-clock motif lends the proceedings swift momentum. Having directed three back-to-back-to-back big-budget productions containing a vast array of visual effects, practical stunts, and far-flung shooting locations, Howard was no doubt seeking a smaller-scale, set-confined, actor-driven tale to cleanse the palate. With The Paper, Howard made his least assuming and most effortlessly entertaining trifle to date.

#4) Spotlight (2015)

The film documents the trajectory of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Boston Globe exposé on long-standing sexual abuse in the church. Not to diminish the impact of its subject matter, but by the time the film was released the sordidness of ongoing new revelations had become so commonplace the film didn’t carry with it the shock or urgency of, say, All the President’s Men, a newspaper film similarly based on high-seated corruption that made the leap from page to screen so expeditiously the country was still licking its post-Nixon/Watergate wounds when the picture premiered in 1976.

Looking back on 2015, cinema scholars might one day scratch their heads over Spotlight winning the Academy Award for Best Picture—much like the Oscar-winning Crash in 2005, it’s a repugnant snapshot of society and its failed institutions, but as a film it doesn’t quite match the flash of other celebrations of moviemaking old or new, Oscar-winning or otherwise, from Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane all the way up to David Fincher’s Zodiac and beyond.

#3) His Girl Friday (1940)

Howard Hawks directs this second adaptation of the Ben Hecht stage play “The Front Page,” with a feminine twist that provides for dynamic sexual tension—well, as dynamic as movies could get in 1940, anyway—between Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell.

The comical newspaper classic par excellence, it’s been reworked a dozen times since—sometimes as a newspaper tale, other times as a television newsroom drama or comedy, and most famously as another outright remake of The Front Page in 1974 that reunites Odd Couple and Fortune Cookie duo Jack Lemmon & Walter Matthau with Some Like it Hot and The Apartment director Billy Wilder and screenwriter I.A.L. Diamond.

#2) Zodiac (2007)

David Fincher’s crackling docu-chiller is a labyrinth of encyclopedic evidence and conjecture, with a sprawling script that is one part sardonic newsroom thriller, one part police investigative procedural, one part meticulously designed period piece, and one part creepy stalker flick. The true crime mystery’s lack of a concrete resolution is what makes this one so haunting.

#1) All the President’s Men (1976)

Led by the acting dream team of Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman as Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein—dubbed collectively as “Woodstein” by their editors on the newsroom floor, and co-authors of the nonfiction book on which the film is based—Alan J. Pakula’s film has all the trappings of the greatest newspaper dramas, with the look of the most paranoid conspiracy thrillers (thank cinematographer Gordon Willis here), and a powerhouse slow-burn script (adapted by William Goldman) that has our stalwart journalists following leads and connecting the dots of myriad clues gleaned from elusive sources while fighting the power of an unseen foe far greater and more far reaching than they realize.

Simply on filmmaking, screenwriting, and acting terms the movie earns its status as one of the best pictures of the 1970s, but what makes this film the granddaddy of all newspaper reporter dramas is the cold hard fact that the events and repercussions portrayed are true and based on the actual tale of the small Watergate robbery scoop that blew up into a sensational tale of White House chicanery and political abuse of power, ultimately leading to the scandalous downfall and resignation of then President Richard Nixon.

Four-time Emmy Award winner Seth MacFarlane creates a new sci-fi dramedy universe on the Fox Network with his new show, The Orville. MacFarlane plays Captain Ed Mercer, an officer in the Planetary Union in the 25th century who gathers a crew from the farthest reaches of the galaxy—his ex-wife included—to man the exploration vessel Orville and patrol the mysteries of deep space. Filled with alien species, exotic worlds, futuristic technology and awe-inspiring spaceships, this lavish companion to The Orville takes you behind the scenes through concept art, on-set photography and technical schematics to explore the show’s production design, costumes, makeup prosthetics and visual effects. This is the ultimate guide to this new space-faring epic adventure.

And we’re giving away three copies!

To enter, send an email with the subject header “THE ORVILLE” to geekcontest @ gmail dot com and answer the following question:

Which comedian voices Yaphit, a gelatinous creature aboard The Orville?

Please include your name, and address (U.S. 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 January 28th, 2018.

Goldie Vance Volume 3
Written by Hope Larsen, Jackie Ball
Illustrated by Noah Hayes
Created by Brittney Williams
Colored by Sarah Stern
ISBN-13: 978-1684150533
Published by BOOM! Box
Released 11/21/17 / $14.99

You may recall my recent review of the first two Goldie Vance graphic novel collections in which I proclaimed Goldie my new favorite person. That continues in Volume Three here, although not without a few caveats creeping in around the edges.

First a reminder that our plucky teenage heroine is a wannabe detective working at the hotel her dad manages in Florida.

Sort of Eloise meets Miami Vice. The series is set nebulously at some early 1960s point so as to avoid computers and other tech and allow Goldie to use her wits and her brain more as she Nancy Drews her way through life.

The strip is filled with rich characters, most of whom are largely ignored for this third installment. We do get a nicely rounded, life-changing portrayal of the series’ “bad girl,” Sugar Maple, and Goldie herself is still charmingly spot on but most everyone else we came to know and like from the earlier installments appears in glorified (or not so glorified) cameos.

The story this time out goes back to Goldie’s previously established love of fast cars. In order to get one for herself, she reluctantly agrees to help her longtime rival, Sugar, find out who has been sabotaging her race car.

What carries this installment is the lifelong frenemy relationship between Goldie and Sugar, with both characters actually showing moments of revelation and growth, although the denouement of the case and the plot seems a little too pat and a little too quick after the more leisurely pacing of the rest of the story.

That could be the fault of the writing, credited this time not to Eisner-winning Hope Larson as before but to Hope Larson and Jackie Ball.

Missing entirely this time out is the art of Brittney Williams. It was Williams’ art that created the perfect looks and atmosphere for the characters originally. Here we have instead, as stated on the cover, “fan-favorite artist Noah Hayes.” I’m not familiar with him at all so I don’t know what kind of art made him a fan favorite but honestly, here he seems to be trying to make his work look like the work of Brittney Williams.

And I don’t mind that for some reason. It gives this volume a continuity that would be otherwise lost. Hayes’ work here maintains the lighthearted style, the vague Manga inspiration, and most importantly the steady visual storytelling aspects of the earlier volumes.

Since my original review, it has been announced that Goldie Vance and crew are destined for an upcoming live action project so I’m sure we’ll be seeing new mysteries and adventures in book form, too, for some time to come.

It may not quite be up to its own high standards but…

Booksteve Recommends!

Everyone’s running around in these books this week.

So much good cardio! (Still counts if it’s in flashback, Nightwing).

Batwoman #11
Words – K. Perkins
Pictures – Scott Godlewski, John Rauch

Kate may have wrapped up a case last issue, but life continued in the meantime and her good friend, Julia Pennyworth, got herself kidnapped.

The only evidence (on her yacht in Egypt) is the signs of struggle, an old newspaper article on missing tourists, and a shard of pottery.

With some lab work and some legwork it’s apparent the darling little dolls of Professor Pyg are grabbing the vacationers.

Like the clay he is named from (fun fact readers: piggy banks get there moniker from the orange clay “pygg” they used to be made of) Pyg likes to re sculpt his victims.

Kate has precious little time to find her friend (and the other kidnappees) in any recognizable state.

A tense chase, and a tight one-and-done.

Green Lanterns #39
Words – Tim Seeley
Pictures – Ronan Cliquet, Hi-Fi

Who’s over the spoiled Regent’s daughter character? You’ll like this issue.

After throwing Jessica, Simon, and the Regent into pods with corpses, Liseth flew out to get good media coverage of her new look and a platform for her militaristically xenophobic messaging.

She says she wants her people not to suffer (while throwing energy blasts at the Molite refugees).

Jessica stops this with a large green “not” Kurt Cobain smacking her with his guitar (very satisfying).

It’s gonna take everyone working together to take down her OP butt, maybe even the people seeing what Liseth never intended – that the refugees are people just like them who deserve a chance to live.

Harley Quinn #35
Words – Frank Tieri
Pictures – Inaki Miranda, Jeremiah Skipper

In this week’s issue – Batwoman (but didn’t I just say she was in Egypt?)

As the cover promises, the bats inside are less Bat-family and more Man-Bat.

While Harley stews in her sad (I feel you dear) only emerging for a spot of anger or violence, a bat monster’s been seen on the boardwalk and Tony’s disappeared!

Harley wants to solve it alone but her “Scooby” gang of Harleys won’t take get lost for an answer.

They rope in Red Tool to tail her as they visit Langstrom in Arkham.

Between the two groups someone will find answers (if the answers don’t find them first!)

Justice League #37
Words – Priest
Pictures – Philippe Briones, Gabe Eltaeb

A backstory not that uncommon in a comic book universe.

Kids are around when a super powered battle happens, one of them gets their legs crushed with debris.

With the help of a best friend though he recovers and gets stronger, using the heroes as his inspiration.

Sometimes you take inspiration and create great novels, unfortunately this guy modeled his life more into fan fiction.

He trained like crazy, learned all he could about them and decided to “help out” by assassinating anyone who publicly threatens the JLA. (If you added powers he could be a more disturbed Deadpool, just think of that)

A little kidnapping, blowing up of innocent patrons in a dive bar, dressing up as his heroes to do his public crimes.

All because of twisted admiration.

Nightwing #37
Words – Sam Humphries
Pictures – Klaus Janson, Jamal Campbell, Alex Sinclair

Nightwing reflects on his first encounter with the Judge with someone who was there.

We see fallout from last issue’s dramatic event, the Feds have cut off gambling in Blüdhaven and the casinos are scrambling not to implode, it’s a logical result and refreshing to see in a comic.

Nightwing goes to see Lucy Weatherton, owner of the Lucky Lighthouse Casino but formerly the vigilante Baby Ruthless. She met (and backed up) Batman and Robin on their first jaunt into Blüdhaven, their first time fighting King Sturgeon (Guppy’s dad) and the Judge.

Robin was young and freshly traumatized. They stopped him from making Blüdhaven into a nuclear nightmare, but Nightwing won’t stop blaming himself for the Judge getting away.

Both sides see tonight (next issue) as the night for finally making everything right.

This team put greatly appreciated effort into separating the “present” story from the “flashback” visually, even giving the past a grittier 80’s brush inked flair.

Trinity #17
Words – James Robinson
Pictures – Patch Zircher, Gabe Eltaeb

The issue could have (very cornily) been called “No Place Like Home”.

Supes and Batman are helping Wondy with the (maybe hopeless) task of finding a doorway back to Themyscira, but for a friend a goose chase isn’t too much to ask.

And whaddaya know, in the middle of the ocean – a goose! (Actually a giant glowing whirlpool about to drag in a boat.) They save it but get plunked into a “savage land” of shipwrecks and angry lizard man natives.

Not the Amazonian retreat they were hoping for, and the two super powered beings have been handicapped.

But with a guide you’ll recognize if the word Skartaris rings any bells, maybe they’ll find their way home.

Wonder Woman Conan #5
Words – Gail Simone
Pictures – Aaron Lopresti, Matt Ryan, Wendy Broome, Tony Avina

This one’s filled with a lot.

The flashback concludes, young Conan searched tirelessly for days. When he could not find Yanna or her body he returned changed by the trial.

Back on Themyscira, the Amazons have gotten word their princess has been found! The Corvidae send them word (via crow) that they mock their efforts and laugh at their pain.

Conan and Diana race towards the Corvidae trap. They muse on their shared yearning for peace even as they don’t believe they will see it.

A team of Amazons teleport into Shamar and interrogate the Arena Master. But it was a Corvidae trap! (The reader knew he was their toady, so no surprise to us.)

Outside of Shamar (I suspect the Corvidae are just impatient) the sisters surprise Diana and Conan with presents. For Diana – her sisters all strung up for hanging on her golden lasso! For Conan – his dear Yanna’s life! All they have to do to save them is fight each other to the death!

One more issue to go!

Based on the based on the Marvel Comics by Chris Claremont and Bill Sienkiewicz and featuring a powerful, all-star cast — including DAN STEVENS, AUBREY PLAZA, JEAN SMART and RACHEL KELLER — “LEGION” follows the story of David Haller (STEVENS), a troubled young man who may be more than human. Diagnosed as schizophrenic as a child, David has been in and out of mental hospitals for years. Institutionalized once again, David spends his time with his chatterbox friend Lenny (PLAZA), a fellow patient whose life-long drug and alcohol addiction has done nothing to quell her boundless optimism that her luck is about to change.  But a startling encounter with a new patient (KELLER) forces David to confront the shocking possibility that the voices he hears and the visions he sees may actually be real. A haunted man, David escapes from the hospital and with the help of a nurturing but demanding therapist (SMART) and her team of specialists’ unconventional methods, David embarks on an extraordinary journey of self-discovery that leads to a new world of possibilities…and a new level of unexpected danger.

BLU-RAY AND DVD BONUS FEATURES INCLUDE:

• Deleted Scenes
• Fractured Reality: A Different Kind of Hero
• Featurettes
  • Uncanny Romance
  • Production Design
  • Powers
  • Make-Up (Making the Devil with the Yellow Eyes)
  • Visual Effects
  • Costume Design
  • Locations

Welcome back to Graphic Breakdown!

It’s a very good week to be reading comics! Here are a few titles from DC hitting stores today!

Batman #39
Written by Tom King
Illustrated by Joelle Jones

Tom King has done a nice job examining the Dark Knight’s relationships to other heroes in the DC universe.

By doing so, he has shown us new aspects of Batman that we have not seen before.

This is the latest chapter of the “Superfriends” storyline!

This issue focuses on Batman and Wonder Woman’s relationship. King shows us a new slant on it that I wasn’t expecting. He handles Wonder Woman quite well. It’s a a refreshing storyline overall.

The art is very good as well. Jones can draw Batman anytime as far I am concerned.

This was quite an excellent issue that I can recommend to readers.

RATING: A

 
Aquaman #32
Written by Dan Abnett
Illustrated by Riccardo Federici

This is part two of the storyline “The Crown Comes Down!”

Writer Dan Abnett has stepped up his game these last ten issues or so. There’s been some new artistic talents on the book, and Abnett has really been delivering some incredible stories for them to draw.

Aquaman has gotten his resistance against King Rath really going!

But then, there’s a wild card! There’s a new Kingpin of Crime! And his name is King Shark! Who’s side is he on? Find out here!

The art is very exciting to look at. They have really done a nice job over at DC giving this title a distinct visual look. I’ve been enjoying this very much.

Give it a read. You’ll enjoy it.

RATING: A-

 
Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II #3
Written by James Tynion IV
Illustrated by Freddie Williams III

This book is nothing but fun. You have to go into it and shut your brain off.

No, I mean REALLY shut your brain off.

Are you there yet?

Okay, let’s go!

Batman and the Turtles launch an attack against the dastardly Bane! Bane is weakened from not having any venom in the world of the Turtles!

But Baxter Stockman may have the solution for Bane’s woes. Can they defeat Bane before he gets his Venom?

The story by Tynion is a tad silly. But I just sat back and enjoyed myself. The art, as usual, is the real treat here. It’s wonderful and Williams should be a bigger star.

It’s a good time for sure with nothing much deeper.

RATING: B

 
Bombshells United #11
Written by Marguerite Bennett 
Illustrated by Mirka Andolfo

I really enjoy reading a comic book by Marguerite Bennett. She has a way of telling a story that is quite good. This is another fine issue. It’s very interesting overall and suspenseful.

The Bombshells are trapped in a maze in this issue.

They have to make their way through it before it collapses on them. They also have a secret that they can’t deal with until they are safe.

Can they do it?

Andolfo is a good artist. There is good figure drawing and composition in the art.

Overall, this is another fine issue to read and enjoy. Give it a shot and tell a friend!

RATING: B

 
Injustice 2 #18
Written by Tom Taylor
Illustrated by Xermanico

This issue was awesome!

It was well written and I was glued to the pages! That, and it’s Illustrated by a person named Xermanico!

What’s an Xermanico?

Find out here!

Batman is gathering an army to fight against Ra’s al Ghul. The catch is, he’s going to the Phantom Zone to gather them!

So, he needs to go to the abandoned Fortress of Solitude to go through the doorway. The problem is, the Fortress might not be as abandoned as he once thought!

The story is mighty fine.

And the art?

Well, Xermanico is a talent. The storytelling is great and I just loved it. I hope to see more from Xermanico!

Pick this up! It’s certainly excellent!

RATING: A-

 
Future Quest Presents #6
Written by Phil Hester
Illustrated by Steve Rude

Hey, if you put Steve “the Dude” Rude on a title, I’m buying it. And you should, too.

Rude is one of the best artists this industry has ever seen. His work is still stunning and unlike anything out there. This is no different.

This issue delves even deeper into the life of Birdman. It shows us a lot of previously unknown knowledge. It also shows us the creation of Birdman’s deadliest foe, Mentok the Mind-Taker! It’s not what you expect either.

I’m not a huge fan of Phil Hester the writer (I love his art) but he seems to have an affinity for these characters and it shows. It makes the story pleasurable to read.

Pick it up. It’s very good.

RATING: B+

 
Damage #1
Written by Robert Venditti
Illustrated by Tony S. Daniel

This is a comic based on the character that was introduced in the Metal book!

DC is getting new characters out there from that storyline and as a result we get this.

How is it?

I liked it! It’s a guy who causes Damage!

What’s not to like?

Ethan, the guy who becomes Damage, has no control of when the monster takes him over. He struggles daily not to become the beast and destroy everything in sight. Then, the monster inexplicably can get free one hour each day.

It’s up to Ethan to try to stop the Damage he may cause.

The story by Venditti is just basically a spin on the Hulk. But who cares! It’s fun! The art by Daniel is great! I can’t think of a better artist to draw monsters and destruction.

Pick it up if it’s your cup of tea. I liked it.

RATING: B+

 
Superman #39
Written by Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason
Illustrated by Barry Kitson

This is another really nice issue from co-writers Tomasi and Gleason. They have written a very simple issue that tugs at your heart strings. I didn’t mind at all and it was very well done.

In this issue, Superman visits a children’s cancer hospital. He decides to give the kids a day of wish fulfillment.

Therefore, he takes them to the Justice League’s Watchtower. He introduces them to the Justice League. He also does a few other things.

The story is a nice one and it isn’t overwrought. It also has a nice healthy dose of humor.

The art by Kitson is nicely done. Kitson is one of those artists that is always solid but you might take him for granted. He does nice work here again.

Pick this up. It’s another great issue in a fine run.

RATING: A-

 
Super Sons #12
Written by Peter J. Tomasi
Illustrated by Tyler Kirkham

The storyline “The Super Sons of Tomorrow” ends here!

It’s been a hell of a nice little crossover! This issue starts off with a nice cover image and continues a good story in the main book. This was well done.

Superboy and Robin have to come to terms from all the events that happened in this crossover. It was highly emotional for them.

They have to see how they are going to relate to the rest of the DC Universe now that it’s over.

And they also have to see how they are going to deal with each other.

The art by Kirkham is wonderful. I really dig how dynamic it was. This book has been picking up steam. It seems like they have created a starting point here for new readers.

You’d be well advised to jump aboard now.

RATING: B

Deception can be your deadliest enemy when Season 3 of “Fear the Walking Dead” – the companion series to the #1-rated cable series “The Walking Dead” – arrives on Blu-ray (plus Digital HD) and DVD March 13 from Lionsgate. As society collapses around them, the families must come together to survive the apocalypse and combat the deadly threats on all sides. Hailed as “the best full season so far” (Forbes), “Fear the Walking Dead” Season 3 stars Kim Dickens (Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, Gone Girl), Cliff Curtis (Risen, The Dark Horse), Frank Dillane (“Sense8,” Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince), and Alycia Debnam-Carey (Friend Request).

When “Fear the Walking Dead” returns for Season 3, our families are brought together in the vibrant and violent ecotone of the U.S.-Mexico border. With international lines done away with following the world’s end, our characters must attempt to rebuild not only society, but their families as well.

The home entertainment release of “Fear the Walking Dead” Season 3 features audio commentaries as well as deleted and extended scenes. “Fear the Walking Dead” Season 3 will be available on Blu-ray (plus Digital HD) and DVD for the suggested retail price of $44.99 and $39.98, respectively.

BLU-RAY / DVD SPECIAL FEATURES

• Audio Commentaries
• Deleted & Extended Scenes

For more details, visit Facebook.com/FearTWD

Image via Lionsgate

Happy New Year! It’s been a nice increment up in the calendar, right? Deadly blizzards, a volcano suddenly becoming active (and another showing scary signs of becoming so here in the United States), mudslides in California killing hundreds, fires burning out of control, tech companies brazenly using your information without your consent, a known liar and proven racist in the White House… Happy 2018, everyone.

There’s so many topics I could have chosen for the first Precursor to Dystopia of 2018. The one I settled on is one I actually intended as the very first.

I have a story to tell, but before I do, consider a few facts from the last few weeks of news:

• The United States Department of Homeland Security just hired Northrop Grumman to create a database storing the biometrics of 500 million people, the majority of which are United States citizens.
• The city of Detroit has started Project Green Light, which requires businesses to allow access for police whenever asked in exchange for “priority” protection.
• Hundreds of protesters at Donald Trump’s inauguration were put on trial en masse, because some protesters caused damage to city property. The proscecution is arguing that anyone within the vicinity during a riot (for which the term is very loosely defined) is complicit in any destruction caused by that riot, regardless if they participated or not.
• The vast majority of comments on the FCC’s website supporting the end of Net Neutrality were fake, posted by bots and attributed to customers of Comcast (some of whom were deceased at the time the comment was supposedly posted)
• In the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte used Facebook as a weapon as he used it to “crowdsource” softball questions before the election (using the numbers as proof of support), and then once elected, rounded up dissidents who posted to the social network, identified with opposing political parties, or otherwise seemed like troublemakers.
• New York City has enacted the Right To Know Act, making it required to record explicit consent for search. This seems safer. But it is full-time, required surveillance by every cop on the force on any citizen they encounter.
• In San Francisco, a “security bot” hired to keep homeless people away from corporate property was covered in feces and smashed.

I don’t think so. I think it’s a little simpler than that, actually. It all comes down to humans being humans.

I used to work out with a bunch of cops. Not just cops, SWAT cops. Hardcore action junkies for whom CrossFit was the way they stayed in shape for the real workout: kicking down doors and taking out bad guys.

One of them was undeniably the alpha superior head honcho. But here’s what’s funny- what you’re imagining this guy is like right now couldn’t be farther from the truth. If you don’t know or hang out with cops, you prob imagine a chest thumper with a need to knock heads and kick down doors.

No. Those guys were mostly laughed at by my buddies. They were all pretty calm and level headed guys and gals. And the big alpha was the most level headed even keeled of them all. He was an adrenaline junkies of the highest order but when it came to most, of not all, matters of civil discourse and policing, he was straight down the middle of it all.

Bunny Colvin from The Wire had the right idea — police the people, not the streets / Image via HBO

These guys have seen shit we can’t imagine unless we’ve either been on the other end or overseas at war. Either way, experience you clearly do not want because you’re not doing it (and I don’t blame you, I don’t either).

He told me something that opened my eyes. we were talking about Baltimore riots and I was shocked. He said police today have no idea how to actually police.

They sit in their radio cars and surf Facebook and Twitter until a dark skinned kid looks at them queer, or signal 20 hits the radio, then they storm in and reenact movies they loved as a kid, thinking that’s how it is. Isolation has ruined policing.

When he was in a patrol car, he’d walk the beat, know the hood, meet everyone. Policing then was prevention, not beatings and door kicking.

A few weeks ago, a SWAT team was called to the home of Andrew Finch, a father of two in a suburban Kansas house. There was a report of domestic disturbance. The caller responsible for the SWAT call claimed that the man was holding his family hostage, had covered the premises in gasoline, and was threatening to set the place on fire.

When the SWAT team arrived, Andrew went to the door to see what was going on. The moment he answered the door, he was greeted by dozens of officers training dozens of automatic weapons on his head, chest, and body. He flinched. An officer opened fire.

An innocent man was killed on his doorstep because someone got mad during a game of Call of Duty, hired a “Swatter” to harass the guy, and sent them to a fake address. A guy died because some internet troll was internet-trolling and haha, laughs all around. Yay.

I argue that death never would have occurred if even one of those police officers patrolled that neighborhood. Had even one of those officers gotten out of their cars and greeted the people on their beat, they would have had a face to attach to that name… Or any one of the neighbors. They would have had a chance to dialog at the very least and see that Andrew Finch was not, in fact, holding his family hostage. The itchy trigger finger of one officer under pressure might not have been as itchy, because his life wouldn’t have been spent holed up in a training facility in the middle of Kansas, day after day, bored out of his mind, training with his body and his weapon every single day just waiting for the moment to be a hero SWAT cop.

I argue that the proliferation of infinite choice via easily accessible always connected technology that stimulates our dopamine sensors nonstop is the major reason for our path to Dystopia – and the police are not immune. In fact they are the biggest part. News story after news story — fake and real — go through his Facebook feed just like they do ours. His Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other feeds are tailored to his tastes. There is no doubt in my mind that years have gone by where the only news he’s gotten comes filtered through Blue Lives Matter groups and police-centric blogs, where every single protest over the death of an innocent black man is seen as a protest against the police at large.

I argue, the same as my old CrossFit workout buddy argued — the guy who literally trained every SWAT cop in the tri-county area outside Atlanta where I lived — that policing from inside the car and through the monitor of the department-issued laptop is what lead to Andrew Finch’s death. The asshole who called in the SWAT-ting, the dipshit who hired that asshole… Both at fault, yes. But the guy who pulled the trigger — the cop responsible for Andrew Finch’s fatal gunshot wound — is ultimately the guy who murdered Andrew Finch.

And the answer to this, according to police budgets, the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, the CIA, the NSA, and many, many other enforcement agencies across the country? More tech. More surveillance. More access and control over our daily lives. Because hey, if they know what’s going on in your home before they’re called, they can be sure (or at least, ‘more sure’) that a crime is actually being committed.

The police are using drones to catch drones. Even the robots are using robots

The police state isn’t riot cops on the corner while masked, sign-holding citizens yell about injustice. That’s simply protest in America, and has been since the 50’s (where wrongful deaths were even more plentiful). The police state is a clear and total separation of law enforcement from the citizens it is hired to protect, with all the power going toward them to decide what is going on, who it is going on with, and how to deal with it.

That’s where we are now. And whose to blame for that? We are, of course. By engaging in bullshit arguments daily for dopamine response, we are full-on living in the “golden age” of free speech. As argued by Zeynep Tufekci this morning on Wired, the vast openness of speech via Twitter, Facebook, blogs, and so on has led to a two-pronged destruction of democracy: a rush to be the loudest and first on every microphone, and a silencing of any voice that disagrees with what the populace wants to hear.

This isn’t a precursor to dystopia. This is real, right now. It’s where we live and how we are living, day to day. What is the answer? Demanding accountability? More us-versus-them in a perpetual cycle of cops versus the citizens they are hired to protect? I’m not sure it’s an easy one to solve. But I am certain the very first step in the process starts with both sides getting to know more about each other some other way than behind their own personal screens.

Have a good week.

Joe Peacock is a writer and producer of the Screenland cyberculture documentary series on RedBull.TV,
and author of the Marlowe Kana cyberpunk novel series.

The intense story of betrayal and revenge, The Ballad of Lefty Brown, arrives on Blu-ray (plus Digital) and DVD February 13 from Lionsgate. Paying homage to classic westerns, the film stars Bill Pullman as cowboy Lefty Brown, who, after the gruesome murder of his partner, vows to find those responsible and avenge his friend’s death. The all-star cast also includes Oscar nominee Peter Fonda (Best Writing, Easy Rider, 1970; Best Actor, Ulee’s Gold, 1997), Golden Globe winner Kathy Baker (Best Television Actress – Drama Series, “Picket Fences,” 1994, 1995, 1996), and Jim Caviezel. The film premiered at the 2017 SXSW Film Festival to critical acclaim with Variety praising Pullman’s performance as one “that ranks with his career best.” Written and directed by Jared Moshé (Dead Man’s Burden), The Ballad of Lefty Brown Blu-ray and DVD will be available for the suggested retail price of $24.99 and $19.98.

Set in the vast, desolate plains of Montana, The Ballad of Lefty Brown is an ode to the traditional revenge western. When famed frontier lawman and Montana’s first elected senator Eddie Johnson (Fonda) is brutally murdered, his longtime sidekick and friend, Lefty Brown (Pullman), will stop at nothing to avenge his death

BLU-RAY/DVD SPECIAL FEATURES

• “Bringing the Truth to Myth: Inside the Characters of The Ballad of Lefty Brown” Featurette
• “Designing the Look of The Ballad of Lefty Brown” Featurette
• Audio Commentary with Director Jared Moshe and Actor Bill Pullman

Produced by Christopher Lemole, Tim Zajaros
Written and Directed by Brian Taylor
Starring Nicolas Cage, Selma Blair,
Anne Winters, Zackary Arthur, Olivia Crocicchia,
Brionne Davis, Samantha Lemole

An unexplained outbreak is causing parents to do the unthinkable: gleefully attempt to murder their own children. This premise separates Mom and Dad from other filicide flicks, such as The Omen or The Good Son, wherein the parent reluctantly wishes to kill their child because they are convinced they’re evil. Nope, these folks turn on a dime from being loving (or in some cases shitty but non-homicidal) parents to determined maniacs.

Cage and Blair play two such imperfect-but-loving parents who bemoan the lack of communication between them and their teenage daughter (a very good Winters). They still have a good relationship with their younger son, but for how long?

The fears of losing one’s youth and losing one’s child (whether figuratively or otherwise) are the themes here, and while examined superficially, they could have been scrutinized in far more depth here.

When I heard the premise of the film, I thought it sounded very interesting. When I heard it was with Nicolas Cage and Selma Blair, I became excited at the prospect of seeing these two scheming to slaughter their kids.

Well, be careful what you wish for, as Mom and Dad is just that for most of its running time: Cage and Blair scheming to kill their kids.  Nothing wrong with that, and in fact I liked Mom and Dad.  Blair is excellent and Cage, while uneven as usual lately, is mostly strong here and his awkward moments are made up for by his trademark “Cage-y” ones.

After some fun opening titles and the introduction of the family and their dysfunctions, Mom and Dad kicks into high gear fairly quickly and rarely lets up. This film qualifies as fast-paced, sick fun, with various parents killing their kids in over-the-top, nasty ways (the film is directed by Brian Taylor, one half of the directing team behind the bonkers Crank films) before settling in to becoming basically a siege thriller, with the kids hiding out in the basement as Cage and Blair try any way they can to either get themselves down there or force the kids out.

To reiterate, Mom and Dad is entertaining (this depends, of course, on your having the stomach for this premise), but while I got what I wanted, I realized I really wanted more. As mentioned earlier, there are thematic nods to getting old and having responsibilities and being jealous of your kids’ youth, but I wish the film had gone much further. I felt Larry Cohen’s It’s Alive covered the filicide angle with much more aplomb and was more affecting and disturbing (to be fair, it’s a very different premise with different intentions but there are similarities).

In fact, I was quite surprised that I rarely – if ever – found Mom and Dad to be disturbing at all.

Whether or not that’s a good or bad thing is up to the individual viewer (as is whether or not the film is actually disturbing), but while I certainly was hoping for a crazy, mean flick with an unhinged Cage going ballistic on his kids (and I mostly received that), I really thought it should have upped the ante with some vicious satire, brutally honest revelations about parenthood, and some actual emotional resonance.

But, you can’t have everything, and despite my greed for substance, I still would call Mom and Dad a success. If you dig nasty, fun horror flicks and especially if you like Cage or Blair, give Mom and Dad a whirl.

Mom and Dad is now in theaters, on VOD and Digital HD

Produced by Parisa Caviani, John J. Kelly,
Brad Johnson, Ben Rosenblatt
Executive Produced by
Mehrdad Elie, Octavia Spencer
Written and Directed by Eshom and Ian Nelms
Starring John Hawkes, Anthony Anderson,
Octavia Spencer, Clifton Collins, Jr.,
Michael Vartan, Daniel Sunjata,
Don Harvey, Jeremy Ratchford,
James Lafferty, Dale Dickey, Caity Lotz,
Stefanie Scott, Robert Forster

Except for not actually knowing whether anyone (including the antihero protagonist, indie stalwart John Hawkes) will make it out of the story alive, Small Town Crime by Ian and Eshom Nelms could easily be mistaken for a supersize cable TV crime noir pilot given its appropriately small-scale world-building and procedural structure (interspersed with occasional showdowns and shootouts to raise the stakes and goose the pacing).

Nowadays, of course, many actual TV shows feel downright cinematic thanks to big-screen tricks like special effects saturation, showboating offbeat POV shots, etc. — but the Nelms’ latest feature is more like an old school (if way bloodier) Rockford Files what with its straightforward plotting, arch tough guy dialogue, and enjoyable turns from a talented squad of character actors (though the all-star caliber of the ensemble and the gorgeous Utah landscape are impressive reminders of the project’s feature film pedigree).

Still, if it were a series pilot, a more appropriate title for the project would be Everybody Hates Mike, in reference to Hawkes’s alcoholic ex-cop, the kind of guy who’s universally despised by former colleagues (in the aftermath of a career-ending traffic stop gone tragically awry) and barely tolerated by even the dwindling number of people who somehow still care about him, like Kelly (co-executive producer Octavia Spencer), the sister in an adoptive family that saved him from the streets, or her sweet-natured husband (Anthony Anderson), a dive bar enthusiast who can barely keep up with Mike’s pedal-to-the-metal drinking.

Then, one bleary hungover morning while aimlessly tearing around in the broken down, souped-up black muscle car that serves as his office, home, and platonic vehicular soul mate, Mike spots a bloody young woman in a tattered fur coat half-dead on the side of the highway and latches onto the opportunity to identify and avenge her with the reckless zeal of an addict and the instincts of a natural-born investigator.

After printing up a handful of business cards, the reborn self-styled private eye quickly stumbles into a larger conspiracy while running afoul of an all-star rogue’s gallery featuring the likes of Clifton Collins, Jr., Robert Forster, and a fantastically menacing Jeremy Ratchford, each playing roles just interesting enough to make this above average B-movie worth a rental, stream, or matinee.  ‘Cause, sure:  Small Town Crime doesn’t exactly reinvent the pulp fiction wheel as it skids and screeches over well-trodden terrain.  And, yes, it treats its protagonist’s alcoholism more as a character quirk than as a serious thematic subject worthy of deeper, darker indie film exploration.  Yet given the relentless tide of contemporary A-list blockbusters featuring godlike beings threatening the universe with amorphous floods of CGI (to ever more yawn-inducing effect), it’s genuinely refreshing to see a well-constructed plot resolve itself with an unambiguously old-fashioned shootout where the life-and-death stakes are comparatively low but we actually care about the outcome.

Small Town Crime is now playing at Apple Cinemas and On Demand

Produced by Yoshiaki Nishimura
Screenplay by Riko Sakaguchi,
Hiromasa Yonebayashi
Based on The Little Broomstick by Mary Stewart
Directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi
English dub cast: Ruby Barnhill, Kate Winslet,
Jim Broadbent, Louis Ashbourne Serkis,
Teresa Gallagher, Ewen Bremner, Lynda Baron

A wonderfully inventive story of girl power that’s like a blend of Kiki’s Delivery Service, The Cat Returns and Harry Potter, Mary and The Witch’s Flower may not be on the level of anime classics like Spirited Away, but it’s a very promising debut for Studio Ponoc.

It’s from director Hiromasa Yonebayashi, who was the key animator on several Miyazki films, including Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle and who made his directing debut with When Marnie Was there.

His latest is a funny, eye-popping film with some terrific sequences, colorful characters, and an endearing heroine.

In this beautifully drawn tale, a young girl named Mary (voiced in the English version by The BFG‘s Ruby Barnhill) is bored silly when she has to move in with her sedate great-aunt Charlotte in a rural town. It’s a week before her new school starts and there’s absolutely nothing to do. And the first time she meets someone her own age, it’s a rude boy named Peter (Louis Ashbourne Serkis, son of Andy Serkis), who makes fun of her unruly red hair.

Things get very interesting when she follows a black cat — which appears to have turned into a gray cat — into the local woods. She soon realizes that there are, in fact, two cats, Tib and Gib, who are actually Peter’s cats. (That is, as the gardener tells her later, if cats can ever really belong to anyone.)

She also finds a glowing blue plant, the witch’s flower, which grants her magical powers. Like many classic children’s stories, the magic lasts only day, however.

That’s enough time for her (and her new familiar, black cat Tib) to be whisked away to a school for witches, where her temporary powers make her appear to be the most talented student they’ve ever met.

Since she can’t seem to do anything right in the real world, being hailed as a prodigy (and admired for her wild red hair) is the best thing that’s ever happened to Mary.

But there’s a dark side to the school and Mary finds that her one trip has set a chain of events in motion that require great heroism, loyalty and imagination to fix.

It’s hard not to evoke Harry Potter when creating a magic school, although the book this film is based on was written in 1971, long before anyone heard of J.K. Rowling. (Mary Stewart also wrote a Merlin trilogy and The Moon-Spinners, which became a 1964 Disney movie starring Hayley Mills.)

Mary’s attempts at broom riding and Tib’s constant comments (he doesn’t speak, although he always has a lot to say), provide much of the film’s humor, as does an amusing character voiced by Scottish actor Ewen Bremner.

Kate Winslet voices the school’s intimidating head mistress and Jim Broadbent is the eccentric professor with questionable ethics. Since Broadbent was also Horace Slughorn in the Harry Potter films, that can’t help but add to the Hogwarts connections.

The name of the witch’s school, by the way? Endor, surely inspired by the Biblical Witch of Endor. (And not anything George Lucas ever wrote.)

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Produced by Voila Chajkouskay
Executive produced by
Christian D. Bruun, Rafael Avigdor
Co-produced by Srdjan Sarenac,
Rustam Khairetdinov
Directed by Dmitrii Kalashnikov

Less of a “real” movie and more a collection of related YouTube clips, The Road Movie is nevertheless thoroughly entertaining.

Comprised entirely of footage obtained from dashcams in Russia, The Road Movie makes one thing abundantly clear: Russians sure do like to swear.

Whether genially relating an anecdote or screaming at fellow drivers, your average Russian citizen – based on the evidence gathered here, of course – loves to drop f-bombs and more with abandon.

Most of the footage, unsurprisingly, involves vehicle accidents. Some are amusing, as when a driver veers off course and ends up in a river (“Oh, now we are sailing.”) while others are jaw-dropping, shocking and outright terrifying (as when one motorist and his passenger drive through a roaring forest fire).

The varying reactions to these events run the gamut from rage to incredulity to indifference, but they are all extremely human.  There are times when we are dropped into the middle of a conversation and are treated to oddball non-sequiturs (I think my favorite being, “It’s not even stylish to wear a sombrero in the car!”), others when insane occurrences unfold to utter silence from the vehicles’ occupants.

I loathe the term “trigger warning” but be advised that some of these crashes are truly hair-raising, so if you’ve recently been in a car accident or if you have dystychiphobia (fear of car accidents; yes, I looked it up…), you may want to (sorry) steer clear of The Road Movie.

Still, I don’t want to make it appear that this is just an exploitation film; there are many beautiful moments and images in the film – a meteor crashing to Earth, the distorted images of faces shot through a rain-covered windshield, a bear running in front of a car illuminated by the headlights (this leads to my favorite exchange in the film, which had me giggling the rest of the day).

The film is also quite valuable as a very interesting travelogue. We travel POV-style through the countryside, through cities, various seasons, etc. It’s a great way to get a peek at Russia.

Also, The Road Movie is, wisely, brief in its running time.  At times the film reminded me of the indie classic Slacker, with its mosaic nature and constant shifting of character focus.

Also, like Slacker,, it ends at just the right time.

Warner Bros. Pictures’ and DC Entertainment’s epic action adventure “Justice League” is arriving in 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo Pack, Blu-Ray 3D Combo Pack, Blu-ray Combo Pack, DVD and Digital. Directed by Zack Snyder, the film stars the famed lineup of DC Super Heroes: Ben Affleck as Batman, Henry Cavill as Superman, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Ezra Miller as The Flash, Jason Momoa as Aquaman, and Ray Fisher as Cyborg.

Fueled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman’s selfless act, Bruce Wayne enlists the help of his newfound ally, Diana Prince, to face an even greater enemy.  Together, Batman and Wonder Woman work quickly to find and recruit a team of metahumans to stand against this newly awakened threat.  But despite the formation of this unprecedented league of heroes—Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg and The Flash—it may already be too late to save the planet from an assault of catastrophic proportions.

“Justice League” also stars Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Jeremy Irons as Alfred, Diane Lane as Martha Kent, Connie Nielsen as Hippolyta, and J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon.

The screenplay is by Chris Terrio and Joss Whedon, story by Chris Terrio & Zack Snyder, based on characters from DC, Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, Batman created by Bob Kane with Bill Finger.

The film’s producers are Charles Roven, Deborah Snyder, Jon Berg and Geoff Johns, with executive producers Jim Rowe, Ben Affleck, Wesley Coller, Curtis Kanemoto, Daniel S. Kaminsky and Chris Terrio.

The behind-the-scenes team includes director of photography Fabian Wagner (“Game of Thrones”), production designer Patrick Tatopoulos, editor David Brenner, Oscar-nominated costume designer Michael Wilkinson (“American Hustle”) and visual effects supervisor John “DJ” DesJardin; and Oscar-nominated editor Richard Pearson (“Kong: Skull Island,” “United 93”) and Oscar-winning editor Martin Walsh (“Wonder Woman,” “Chicago”).  The music is by Oscar-nominated composer Danny Elfman (“Milk,” “Men in Black”).

“Justice League” will be available on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo Pack for $44.95, Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack for $44.95, Blu-ray Combo Pack for $35.99 and DVD for $28.98. The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo Pack features an Ultra HD Blu-ray disc with the theatrical version in 4K HDR and a Blu-ray disc also featuring the theatrical version. The Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack features the theatrical version of the film in 3D high definition and high definition; the Blu-ray Combo Pack features the theatrical version of the film in high definition on Blu-ray; and the DVD features the theatrical version in standard definition. The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack and Blu-ray Combo Pack will include a digital version of the movie.  Fans can also own “Justice League” via purchase from digital retailers beginning February 13, 2018.

4K Ultra HD showcases 4K resolution with High Dynamic Range (HDR) and a wider color spectrum, offering consumers brighter, deeper, more lifelike colors for a home entertainment viewing experience like never before.

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray disc of “Justice League” will feature Dolby Vision HDR that dramatically expands the color palette and contrast range, and uses dynamic metadata to automatically optimize the picture for every screen, frame by frame.

Also, the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D discs of “Justice League” will feature a Dolby Atmos soundtrack remixed specifically for the home theater environment to place and move audio anywhere in the room, including overhead. To experience Dolby Atmos at home, a Dolby Atmos enabled AV receiver and additional speakers are required, or a Dolby Atmos enabled sound bar. Dolby Atmos soundtracks are also fully backward compatible with traditional audio configurations and legacy home entertainment equipment.

Additionally, all the special features, including interviews with filmmakers and featurettes, can be experienced in an entirely new, dynamic and immersive manner on tablets and mobile phones using the Warner Bros. Movies All Access App, available for both iOS and Android devices. When a Combo Pack is purchased and the digital movie is redeemed, or the digital movie is purchased from an UltraViolet retailer, the Warner Bros. Movies All Access App allows users to watch the movie and simultaneously experience synchronized content related to any scene simply by rotating their device. Synchronized content is presented on the same screen while the movie is playing, thus enabling users to quickly learn more about any scene, such as actor biographies, scene locations, fun trivia or image galleries. Also, users can share movie clips with friends on social media and experience other immersive content. The Movies All Access app is available for download on the iTunes App Store and Google Play Store.

“Justice League” will also be available on Movies Anywhere. Using the free Movies Anywhere app and website, consumers can access all their eligible movies by connecting their Movies Anywhere account with their participating digital retailer accounts.

BLU-RAY AND DVD ELEMENTS

“Justice League” 4k Ultra HD Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack contains the following special features:

• Road to Justice
  • Journey alongside DC comic creators as they explore over fifty years of the Justice League, from comic books to animated adventures to their cinematic debut.
• Heart of Justice
  • Discover the heart, soul and mind of the Justice League, as the cast and filmmakers share their admiration for DC’s iconic Trinity: Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman.

• Technology of the Justice League
  • From Batman’s arsenal to Cyborg’s alien tech, interface with the Justice League database to learn their most advanced secrets.

• Justice League: The New Heroes
  • Join Ray Fisher on a personal tour to meet the newest members of the Justice League: Aquaman, the Flash and Cyborg.

• The Return of Superman
  • Bonus scenes not seen in theaters

• Steppenwolf the Conqueror
  • Join actor Ciarán Hinds and the filmmakers as they reveal the story behind mankind’s ancient enemy and the Justice League’s greatest challenge.

• Scene Studies: Revisiting the Amazons
  • Take a closer look at the filmmaking process behind Justice League’s most visually exciting and action-packed sequences

• Scene Studies: Wonder Woman’s Rescue
  • Take a closer look at the filmmaking process behind Justice League’s most visually exciting and action-packed sequences

• Scene Studies: Heroes Park
  • Take a closer look at the filmmaking process behind Justice League’s most visually exciting and action-packed sequences

• Scene Studies: The Tunnel Battle
  • Take a closer look at the filmmaking process behind Justice League’s most visually exciting and action-packed sequences

• Suit Up: The Look of the League
  • Costume Designer Michael Wilkinson explores the innovation and artistry that goes into creating the costumes of DC’s iconic heroes.

“Justice League” Standard Definition DVD contains the following special features:

• Road to Justice
• Heart of Justice
• Technology of the Justice League
• Justice League: The New Heroes
• Steppenwolf the Conqueror
• Scene Studies: Revisiting the Amazons
• Scene Studies: Wonder Woman’s Rescue
• Scene Studies: Heroes Park
• Scene Studies: The Tunnel Battle
• Suit Up: The Look of the League

For more details visit Facebook.com/JusticeLeagueOfficial

In this powerful action-thriller, retired prizefighter Jimmy McCabe (Johnny Harris, RocknRolla) steps back into the ring decades after his stardom as a boxing teen have faded. Jimmy tries to regain his magic by training hard and fighting tough. But to earn real money, he must take part in a savage, unlicensed match that could end his career — and his life. Also starring Ian McShane (“American Gods”) and Ray Winstone (The Departed), Jawbone shows that our most brutal battles are with ourselves.

And we’re giving away two copies!

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

Ray Winstone made his cinematic debut in this 1979 film that also featured Sting?

Please include your name, and address (U.S. 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 4th, 2018.