No Wonder I Love This Guy So Much

I've been a fan of Neil DeGrasse Tyson for some time now. He's both super smart and cool as hell. Listening to him talk science is a joy. Now, thanks to this handy chart, I finally understand just how this man can possibly be as damned awesome as he is.

(Via Blastr)

Could The Next G.I. Joe Movie Actually Be Good?

Be still my heart. Is it possible? After the absolutely awful, unspeakably bad, horrible film that was the first G.I Joe movie, is it actually possible that its sequel might actually end up being the film I originally wanted all along? If this new trailer is at all indicative of what the rest of the film will be like, yes.

I'll be honest here, this trailer actually has me excited about the idea of a GI Joe movie again. After walking out of the last film, I wouldn't have imagined that was possible, but this trailer packs in a lot of great moments.

• Snake Eyes without creepy lips on his mask.
• Cobra Commander actually wearing his mask.
• The Rock looking bad ass in pretty much every frame he is in.
• Is that Jinx with the red blindfold fighting Snake Eyes?
• Cobra Rattlers blowing stuff up.
• No Marlon Wayans anywhere in sight.
• Stormshadow is back.
• No stupid mechanical body suits.
• Ninjas fighting on the side of a cliff.
• Cool exotic locales.
• Bruce Willis being as awesome as he always is.

And let's not forget my favorite moment.

• Cobra banners being dropped over the white house as a Cobra flag flies above it.

Hell yeah! This looks like it could be genuinely fun. It actually feels like a G.I. Joe story. Yeah, the heroes on the run thing was already done for the G.I. Joe renegades cartoon (and a bunch of other stories), but I liked that cartoon, so I'm ok with this. After the last film, anything is an improvement, right?

Oh, and to top this off, rumor has it that Sgt. Slaughter himself will also have a cameo in the film. Woohoo!!! Go Sarge!!!

I am a little sad to see no Baroness in the trailer too, but only because I love her character so much. Hopefully she'll be in the film somewhere. Regardless though, as a life-long G.I. Joe fan, I suddenly have my hopes up again for a Joe film that is worth a damn. Let's hope I'm not getting set up for more disappointment.

Pat's TV Reviews: The Avengers - Earth's Mightiest Heroes

I've said for a long time now that while Marvel Comics is without a doubt winning the live-action movie war against DC Comics, it simply cannot be argued that DC has been winning the Animated war. DC's dominance in the animated market was established way back in the early 90's with shows like the Batman Animated Series, the Superman animated series and the too-awesome-for-words Justice league series. Sure, Marvel had some success with the X-Men and Spider-man animated shows from the 90's, but I don't think anyone would argue that the quality of the storytelling of DC's shows has been much higher on average.

Then, in the first decade of the 2000's, DC continued to blaze animated trails with shows like Justice League Unlimited and some amazing straight to DVD animated movies featuring Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Superman and more. Meanwhile, Marvel hasn't managed to do a whole lot. Every now and then a piece of brilliance comes out from them like the Wolverine VS. animated movies and the Wolverine & The X-Men series, but these quality projects are few and far in between, and in the case of the latter they go unappreciated by fans and are cancelled after only one season.

Today, DC dominates the animated superhero field. However, Marvel isn't quite ready to call it a day just yet. Back in October 2010 they launched a brand new series called Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes. I know, you're probably saying to yourself, "2010? Why the hell are you writing about this now? This is not news!" Well, to that I'd say that you need to relax. I'm only a part time blogger and I'm also generally incredibly behind when it comes to what is on TV seeing as I don't have cable and must rely on Netflix and the internet for my entertainment needs. I'm doing the best I can here.

Anyways, yes, the series has been out for a while now. It's also been recently added to Netflix's Instant Play feature, which is how I finally managed to start watching it. I'll be honest here, I didn't have much hope for this show at first. Due to Marvel's animated track record, my expectations here were low indeed. To my much delighted surprise though, what I found was a high quality series that rivals anything that DC has ever put out.

Now, admittedly, there are some things that you have to get past. While the animated style of the show may not be as clean and as elegant as Bruce Timm's designs for the various DC shows, the character models here are rather lovely to watch once you get used to them a bit, simple though they may be. Also, I will readily admit that the show has possibly the worst theme song ever. Seriously, it's even worse than the theme from Star Trek: Enterprise, and that's really saying something.

Trust me though, just mute the sound during the opening credits. The show that comes after the credits is amazing!

First off, let me point out that this series was obviously designed to be very similar (if not identical) to the Marvel movie universe. Nick Fury is black, and the voice actor they got to play Tony Stark sounds amazingly like Robert Downey Jr. I don't see this as a bad thing though. With the build Marvel has been doing towards their giant live-action Avengers film, having an animated tie-in makes perfect sense to me. Don't worry though, this show isn't just some half assed money grab for name recognition. It easily could have been, but thankfully the team behind it worked hard to make it a great work on it's own two feet.

One of the biggest things I love about this show is that the team isn't already formed at the start of the first episode. In fact, the team doesn't form until around episode 5 or 6. This series takes it's time and devotes those first few episodes to fleshing out the characters and the backgrounds of each of the team members. Episode one focuses solely on Tony Stark, Episode two looks at Thor, Episode three is the Hulk, Episode four is Captain America, and so on. This investment of time into the characters showing how they operate individually pays off huge dividends later in the season as they have to learn to work together despite not always getting along.

That's a huge theme of the show, actually, looking at just what it means to be a team. Having to trust others you don't necessarily like comes up more than once. While Tony Stark is the de facto leader of the team, it is made clear on multiple occasions that his team doesn't entirely trust his motives and are prone to not following his orders when he issues them. It makes for some great dialogue and character building.

While each episode of the series is a solid stand-alone tale (exluding some specific two-part storylines), there is definitely a season long running story arc that is brewing behind the scenes which is building towards a huge climax at the end of the season. Each episode of the series ends with a Lost or True Blood style cliffhanger that furthers this arc and makes you want to watch the next episode right away. It would not be uncommon to watch multiple episodes in a row just so you can find out what happens next.

The pacing of this mega arc is what I liked best about the series. It added this extra level of importance to what was going on from episode to episode. While on the surface the Avengers are fighting the villain for that week's show, it's clear to the audience that someone behind the scenes in pulling the strings and is setting events into motion that the team has to try to stop. Slowly, over the course of the season the Avengers themselves catch on to this, and begin investigating what is really going on. Along the way, they face some of their greatest enemies and make some friends along the way.

One character who sadly doesn't get his own background episode in the beginning of the season, but who nonetheless plays a pivotal role in the show is Hawkeye. He doesn't even officially join the team until about halfway through the season, but even he is given a great background story of his own that plays out in the background of the season's first 12 episodes or so. By the time he joins the team, you understand who he is and why he has decided to join up even though that is quite counter to his personality type.

I'll be honest here, Hawkeye is my favorite character in the show. I never really understood why people liked him as I was growing up. He seemed so boring to me. He's an archer, big whooptie doo. So what? It wasn't until I read how Brian Michael Bendis wrote him in the Avengers Disassembled comics that I actually started to like him. The way Hawkeye is written into this show is just beautiful. He's the smart-ass snarky dick on the team who questions everything and everyone around him. He's the one who keeps the team members honest with themselves and others. He's also the one who gave me my single favorite scene in the entire first season. This scene, to be exact:

The first time I saw this, I was laughing so hard I had to pause the show and rewind it because I missed the whole next scene that came after it. Any show that can do that to me just shows how high the quality of the writing is.

Another thing I love about this show is all of the nods they make to other Marvel characters. One of the running things to keep a watch out for is whenever any random person is reading a newspaper. On the pages of those papers you will find references to people like The Punisher and even the Man-Thing. It's also not uncommon for the Avengers (especially Tony Stark and Hank Pym) to randomly name drop other heroes like Mr. Fantastic or the whole Fantastic Four team as they are talking to other characters. There are tons of mini cameos as well to look out for. The show is littered with these things which don't come off as forced at all, and which add to the whole feel that this show takes place within the larger Marvel Universe.

By the time you get to the climactic final battle at the end of Season One, you are not left disappointed at all. The battles are truly epic, the characters all learn things and experience some form of character growth, and there is even a huge cliffhanger that reveals a bit of what Season Two will have to offer. Can you say Secret Invasion?

By the time I finished the first season of the show, I can fully say that I think that Marvel has finally found what it takes to make a great animated TV series. They took the time to tell each character's back story. They didn't rush plot developments. For example, the build from Hank Pym first building Ultron to Ultron eventually turning evil is a background tale told over the season. It takes almost 20 episodes to get to where Ultron is a villain. That kind of story telling is what I love best about this show.

If you are a fan of comics and superheroes at all, you owe it to yourself to watch this series. It's the single best cartoon series that Marvel has ever created. Trust me, you won't be disappointed.

Final Grade: A+

The Best Damn Movie Poster You'll See All Month

The first official poster for the sequel to Sylvester Stallone's Expendables movie has been released, and it's nothing short of epic. For those of you who may not recall, The Expendables was Stallone's brainchild of an action film where just about every big action star ever teamed up in one movie.

This time around, the same huge cast from the first film is back, with some new additions. Rumor has it that Schwartzenegger's involvement this time around will be much more than just the cameo he had in the first film. Also being added to the cast, Jean Claude Can Damme and Chuck Norris.

That's right, you heard me. Chuck Fucking Norris!

This movie is already a masterpiece based on the poster alone, as far as I'm concerned.

Thanks to Geek-tastic contributor Matt Jeffrey for pointing this out to me.

The Doctor, The Witch And The Wardrobe

The official trailer for this year's Doctor Who Christmas Special has been released, and I only have three words to describe it.

Yes! Yes!! YES!!!

Oh man, I can't wait. I'm so excited. The Dr. Who Christmas Special's are always a blast, and this one doesn't look like it will be breaking that trend at all.

He's Just A Sweet Batvestite

This lovely image comes to us courtesy of Deviant Art user LJK08, who has crafted one of the most amusing (if admittedly the only) Batman/Rocky Horror Picture Show mashup that I have ever seen.

Normally, the thought of Batman parading around in women's lingerie is something I wouldn't normally agree with as it's so counter to the basic nature of the character, but he just looks so happy here I can't help but enjoy this. Also, Superman as Brad Majors is so absolutely perfect that it makes me laugh every time I look at him. Just seeing him standing there looking awkward and uncomfortable in his red undies makes me want to scream out, "My socks! I can't move my socks!!!"

Thanks go to my friend Carrie for pointing this one out to me.

Know Your Vampires

At this time of year, Vampires and other times of scary monsters are well known to roam our streets freely. Before you bravely go out into the cold dark night, make sure you know which vampires are which with the help of this handy chart, courtesy of Laughing Squid.

Remember, not all vampires are dangerous. Sure, some of them may want to drink your blood. They can't help it though. That's just the way they are. You can't fault them for that. Some of them are even friendly and want to help you learn your numbers or want to give you chocolate cereal. Be wary though, some vampires are sparkley douchebags who whine incessantly about life and love and how hard it is to get their hair to look that crappy. Avoid them at all costs.

If you'd like to see a bigger version of this lovely chart, just click here.

The Best Back To The Future Ending Ever!

Don't get me wrong, the first Back To The Future film is something I consider to be one of Hollywood's shining examples of a perfect film. Making it any better would be something I would normally consider to be impossible, that is until I saw the above video.

Well done random fan with a skill for editing and special effects. Well done indeed!

The First Avengers Trailer Has Been Assembled

Holy Crap!!! I did not expect to wake up this morning and see that the first official trailer for The Avengers has been released, but oh my god am I happy it was. There is so much pure 100% bonafide badassness going on in this trailer, I don't even know where to start.

Ok, I think I'll start with Captain America calling Tony out for being nothing but a man in a suit and Tony, in his usual manner, giving a very flippant response that is at the same time both dickish and totally awesome. Yeah, that's my favorite part I think. I'm so happy to see that this isn't going to be some superhero love fest film. There will be team tension as they are forced to work together for the first time. That's what will make or break this film in my opinion, the character interactions. If The Avengers is a two hour special effects spectacle with no character development of any kind, it will be total crap. However, if they take the time to actually make the characters interact as real people, they'll give the audience a reason to emotionally invest in the team. If that happens, this could easily become the best superhero film ever.

Side note, the fact that the trailer is set to the Nine Inch Nails song "We're In This Together" is just making me all giddy inside.

Now, I wouldn't be a proper nerd if I didn't have at least one small complaint about the trailer. I really wish Ed Norton was playing Bruce Banner. I'm sure once I see the film I'll be fine with Mark Ruffalo's performance, but I'm going to always dream of what could have been I'm sure. Just imagine how much cooler that scene between Tony Stark and Bruce Banner at the end of the trailer would have been if Robert Downey Jr. had been chatting with Ed Norton instead. Sigh.

Ok, enough with the negative. That's really only a minor complaint anyways. Otherwise, this trailer is blowing my god damned mind right now. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to spend my day watching this about a thousand more times.

Leonard Nimoy Has Retired From Attending Star Trek Conventions

This is truly sad news. Leonard Nimoy, the legendary actor who has portrayed the character of Spock for 45 years, has announced that he is retiring from the convention circuit. That's right folks, Spock has attended his final Star Trek convention.

I can't say I'm surprised by this. After all, Mr. Nimoy is now 80 years old. He couldn't be expected to continue attending Star Trek conventions until the day he died, right? At some point the man will want to just call it a day and go home. I can't blame him for wanting to retire. As is, he already retired from acting a few years back to focus more on his work with photography.

I'm just sad as a fan to see an end of an era coming. James Doohan and Deforest Kelley passed away years ago. William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy are both in their 80's now. The rest of the trek cast isn't far behind them. It's only a matter of time before they all retire from the convention circuit. Will that mark the end of Star Trek conventions? Absolutely not. So long as there are still fans, there will always be Star Trek conventions. Besides, there is still the casts of all of the other Trek shows that can appear as guests. It will just seem strange to me is all.

I started attending Star Trek conventions when I was in middle school and I have fond memories of getting to see Shatner and Nimoy on stage together chatting. I feel bad for newer trek fans who will never get to experience moments like that. Yes, Trek conventions will continue on, but it just won't be the same ever again.

Thank you Mr. Nimoy for all of the years you put into attending these conventions. Your appreciation of the fans is one of the many reasons you are loved all around the world. We will miss you.

(Via Blastr)

Everything Is A Remix

There are no 100% completely new ideas in Hollywood. We all know this. Every film is either inspired by or is an homage to something that came before it. In fact, this isn't even something that is particular to filmmaking. Every form of media, be it music, literature, etc. is inspired by those things that came before. Nothing in the world is created in a vacuum. Culture is omnipresent and every creator, filmmaker, writer and singer grows up immersed in it. We grow up watching films, reading books, listening to music and as we become adults and start to make our own pieces of work, that which we grew up loving inspires us to take those ideas and to twist them into new creations.

This video is an excellent example of that. The first Matrix movie was a groundbreaking moment in Science Fiction filmmaking and special effects work, but just like every movie, the men who created it are themselves fans of other films that have come before and these films inspired elements that were used to create something new. Are the basic ideas behind The Matrix original? No, of course not. But is The Matrix a rip off of other ideas? No. It's something new that was created by taking elements from several other works and combining them in an original, unique and creative way. This is the process by which all artists ever create art.

In this particular instance, it's just really cool to see how specific elements were used in the creation of one film to make something new out of something old.

The Coolest Beer I'll Never Get To Drink

As I've mentioned on Geek-tastic before, I'm a huge fan of professional wrestling and have been since I was a little kid. This love of wrestling isn't just for the WWE though. I'm a fan of wrestling in all of it's forms, including classic Mexican style Lucha Libre wrestling where the competitors wear masks and portray characters like El Santo or The Blue Demon, who can span across multiple generations of fans.

I'm sure you are also aware that I'm a pretty big fan of drinking (hence the Friday Happy Hour posts). So you can imagine how excited I got when I saw the above picture for the first time. A line of beers based on famous Luchadors? Yes please!!!

Unfortunately for me, the beers don't actually exist. This amazing idea is simply a graphic design project that was put together by a brilliant designer named Jose Guizar.

I created the concept, brand, and designed the identity and packaging for this premium Mexican craft beer. The brand's identity is inspired by the golden era of lucha in the 1950's, when movie heroes were not Superman or the X Men, but El Santo and his wingmen, fighting creepy monsters on a silver '52 Alfa Romeo with surf music in the background.

The variety of styles are named after fictional characters also inspired by the 50's lucha style; Black King (Imperial Stout), Blond Gomez (Lager) and The Vampire's Son (Red Ale).

If there are any beer making entrepreneurs out there, please contact Mr. Guizar ASAP and work with him to get this beer line made for real. I would definitely be a big fan, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who would want to drink these.

Thanks go to my good friend Robert Blumel for pointing this one out to me.

I Want To Go Drinking At This Bar

This commercial is the beginning of a new ad campaign for the Sony Playstation called Long Live Play, and I absolutely love it. This is easily the coolest video game commercial I've seen in years. Instead of just advertising one game, or the system itself, this new campaign focuses on us, the game players, and the many different kinds of adventures that we can have while playing video games. This is an ad for not just Sony games, but gaming itself as a genre.

It perfectly showcases some of these various possible adventures that a gamer can have by having a ton of popular game heroes hanging out at a bar drinking together and discussing their adventures. I don't know about you, but I'd love to belly up to a bar and have a drink with the likes of Solid Snake, Ezio Auditore, Kratos, Nathan Drake and many more. Where is this bar and how do I get there? That's what I want to know.

Well done Sony. Keep up the good work.

Some Thoughts On The New Avengers Entertainment Weekly Cover

The upcoming issue of Entertainment Weekly will feature the above cast shot of The Avengers on it's cover, as well as include some behind-the-scenes pics as well inside the magazine. No, I know a magazine cover like this is going to be photoshopped to hell, and this one certainly is no exception, but I couldn't help noticing a few things about the team thanks to this pic.

• Thor obviously has the hots for Black Widow, given the way he's eyeing her.
• Tony Stark looks like he's trying really, really hard to appear sober.
• Giving Scarlett Johansson that short, red hairdo has turned her from already super hot to "Girl of Pat's Dreams" status. Well done Avengers makeup and hair team!
• It's no wonder Black Widow has to point guns at both Thor's and Tony Stark's heads. That's probably the only way to get them to stop trying to put their hands on her.
• Cap looks determined and intense, as he should.
• Hawkeye looks appropriately self-assured and dickish.
• Bruce Banner is obviously a fan of Derek Zoolander, as he's giving us his most fierce Blue Steel!

The interior sneak peak picks are nothing too big, really. If you want to see them, you can find them all here. These are the two I liked the most though.

How many times have we seen a shot just like this on a comic book page? Cap and Tony standing near each other and working together on something. Seeing it in real life though is just giving me a major case of the Squees! Love it!!!

All I can really say here is . . . Mmmmmmmmmm. She can blow up my skyscraper anytime!

Happy 25th Birthday To Castlevania

Yesterday marked the 25th anniversary of the granddaddy of all horror video games, the original Castlevania for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Although, technically the game didn't come out on the NES until 1987, it was originally released in Japan on September 26th, 1986 for something called the Family Computer Disk System (FDS). The NES release was a port over from this release.

I can't be 100% honest here and say that I remember Castlevania totally fondly because the game was hard as hell. I've never actually managed to beat it and I remember spending hour upon frustrating hour dying over and over as a result of badly timed jumps or those damned little hunchback creatures.

Overall though, I really did love the game. For a kid whose favorite holiday is Halloween, Castlevania was like a dream come true. You got to play the brave adventurer Simon Belmonst as he made his way through a creepy gothic castle filled with ghosts, zombies, skeletons, flying medusa heads, giant vampire bats and more. Along the way you'd face some of the biggest monsters in all of horror including The Mummy, Frankenstein, Medusa and the man himself . . . Dracula!

It was the perfect game for 10 year old me. I can't even count the number of hours I spent playing that game as a kid. To this day I can still hum the game's soundtrack from memory. I'd even go so far as to say that it is very much responsible for making me even more of a fan of Halloween and monsters than I already was before.

Thank you for all the good times Castlevania! Hell, even the frustrating times were still fun deep down too. Happy Birthday!

Oh, and if you like that totally sweet art above from the original game, I've posted a bigger version of it to the Geek-tastic Flickr pool. It makes for a great desktop wallpaper.

Wow, Catwoman Actually Looks Like Catwoman

Oh thank god! Some behind-the-scenes set pics have been leaked from the still in-production Dark Knight Rises that show Anne Hathaway in her full Catwoman outfit, and guess what? She actually looks like Catwoman!!!

This is a vast improvement on the picture that was released earlier, where she didn't look in any way catlike at all. This time, not only is she wearing a black face mask, but she's actually wearing full on cat ears! The outfit is even reminiscent of the classic 60's Catwoman outfit worn by Julie Newmar, Lee Merriwether and Ertha Kitt. This makes me very happy.

From what I can gather, those cat ears of hers are actually those same goggles that she was wearing in the earlier picture that was released. That's just what they look like when they're pushed up onto her head. If that's the case, making the ears an actual functioning piece of tech that she uses as a burglar is pretty cool. I just wish that they would have released something more like this when they sent out the first official promo pic of her. That would have gotten the fanboys into much less of a hissy fit than what happened before.

(Via Ain't It Cool News)

8 Remakes & Reboots That Are Worth A Damn

Over the last few years, I've been hearing a lot of bitching and complaining from people everywhere about how all Hollywood is doing these days is remaking or rebooting old franchises, and how these new versions are never as good as the originals. While I certainly won't argue with the fact that Hollywood does indeed have the remake/reboot engine running at full throttle, I do feel like I should point out that not all remakes or reboots are bad things. In fact, sometimes these new versions are pretty damned awesome.

To that end, I would like to present 8 films here that are either remakes or reboots of something else, and which are all bonafide bad ass. Whether or not these films are as good, greater or worse than those that came before them is, of course, up to personal opinion, but all of these films have rather high rankings on Rotten Tomatoes, and are generally loved by the overall movie-going audience.

The next time someone complains to you about how horrible remakes or reboots are, be sure to tell them about these films.

8. Fright Night

Rotten Tomatoes Score = 75%

This is a fairly recent one, so if you haven't seen it yet, that's ok. You really should give it a try though. I wasn't originally planning on going to see it myself, but I went with some friends and was really surprised at just how good this was. Colin Farrell is an absolute blast to watch as the Vampire-next-door Jerry. Throughout the film you can seriously feel just how much fun he's having playing the role. Dr. Who fans should also take note because David Tenant is hilarious as a Midori-loving Vegas magician named Peter Vincent. For something that is a remake of a beloved 80's film, this new version stands on it's own as a great time. It's at times both funny and genuinely frightening and stays consistently entertaining from beginning to end.

7. Airplane!

Rotten Tomatoes Score = 98%

Did you honestly think that Hollywood's obsession with remakes was a recent phenomenon? Hardly. Remakes have been taking place since the dawn of the filmmaking industry. It's so prevalent, in fact, that sometimes a film pops up that's a remake of a film that's so old, no one even recognizes it as a remake. Such is the case with the comedy classic Airplane. It's actually a remake of a classic black & white film called Zero Hour. And more than that, it's almost a shot-for-shot of that film too. Don't believe me? Just watch the above video comparing the two.

6. Casino Royale

Rotten Tomatoes Score = 94%

Casino Royale is actually a double whammy. It is both a remake and a reboot. It's a remake of the 1967 original and is also a reboot of the James Bond franchise after the uber-popular Pierce Brosnan stepped down from his role as 007 after having played him in four films. This film took us back to Bond's origins, before he was even a Double 0 agent. He may not have had his license to kill just yet, but this new bond was tough as nails and won over fans around the world. Don't get me wrong, I still love Connery the best, but Daniel Craig is fighting with Brosnan as my second favorite bond, that's for sure.

5. The Thomas Crown Affair

Rotten Tomatoes Score = 71%

Speaking of Pierce Brosnan, he starred in the remake of the 1968 film and it's one of the most stylish films I've ever seen. This is an art theft caper for the ages, filled with nothing but class from beginning to end. And let's not forget Rene Russo in some of the steamiest sex scenes ever put to celluloid. I could watch this film a hundred times and still be entertained by it.

4. Dawn of the Dead

Rotten Tomatoes Score = 74%

Remaking a George Romero zombie film is not an easy task. Romero is the man who basically invented the genre of the zombie film and introduced it to popular culture. He's the godfather of zombie stories, yet somehow Zack Snyder manages to take his original story of a bunch of survivors holed up in a mall and turns it into a movie worthy of the name Dawn of the Dead. This movies has everything you want in a zombie story, blood, gore, sex, massive devastation and even zombie babies. The intro to the film alone, set to the music of Johnny Cash, makes this one a horror masterpiece.

3. Batman Begins

Rotten Tomatoes Score = 90%

You'd think that making a good Batman film would be an easy task, right? I mean, come on, it's Batman! He's one of the most popular comic book characters of all time. How could you screw that up? Well, I've got two words for you. Joel Schumacher. That man put out two of the worst comic book films of all time and managed to sully the name of the caped crusader so badly that he killed the successful movie franchise begun by Tim Burton in 1989. For eight solid years, there was no Batman to be seen in the summer movie lineup after the unforgivable travesty that is 1997's Batman & Robin was released. But then in 2005 Warner Brothers took a gamble on an artsy filmmaker named Christopher Nolan and the rebooted the whole franchise to Bruce Wayne's early days, before he'd even thought of becoming the Dark Knight. The result was one of the best, most realistic comic book movies ever made. Yes, it was even enough to make us forget about such things as nipples on the Bat-suit, for a little while at least.

2. Star Trek

Rotten Tomatoes Score = 94%

Star Trek is a pop culture phenomenon of unrivaled proportions. As a franchise, it recently celebrated it's 45th anniversary. During that time, it has spawned five live-action TV series, one animated TV series and more movies than you can shake a Tribble at. However, by the year 2005 the franchise was in decline. Overexposure and a few bad shows and films had made fans bored with the United Federation of Planet. The last of the running Star Trek shows was cancelled and further movies starring the Next Generation cast were cancelled due to low box office performance. It was a dark time for Trekkies everywhere. Then in 2009, a brand new Trek film was released in theaters. Paramount hired the nerd-favorite director JJ Abrams to helm it and tasked him with breathing new life into what was seen by many as an old and tired franchise. Breathe life into it he certainly did. 2009's Star Trek is an action packed, edge of your seat adventure that thrills with visual spectacle, but at which no point forgets that Star Trek is about the characters and their relationships to one another. This, to me, is the film by which all other franchise reboots should be compared to. It's the finest example of a reboot I've ever seen.

1. The Thing

Rotten Tomatoes Score = 80%

The Thing was originally a 1951 film titled The Thing From Another World. As with most 50's monster movie horror films, it's a bit heavy on the cheese factor. Is it fun? Sure. Is it scary? Not at all. Then comes along a guy named John Carpenter in 1982 who decides to remake this fun 50's B-film. The result is one of the greatest horror films of all time. I have never before and never since found another film that so masterfully displays the feelings of isolation that its characters are going through. One by one the unknown monster kills its victims and assumes their form, leaving the survivors to wonder which of their friends is actually their enemy in disguise. Everything about this film is brilliant. From the casting to the costumes to the sets to the bloody special effects, it's quite simply a perfect film.

The Coolest Wedding Rings Ever!

Just looking at these totally amazing wedding rings makes me all giddy inside. I want these so badly. Now if only I could find a woman who would love these rings as much as I do.

(Via Blastr)

Batman: Year One Clip Makes Me Happy

The next DC Animated feature scheduled to be released is an adaptation of the Batman: Year One storyline, in which we go back to Batman's early days where he is just starting out as a costumed crime fighter. Sadly, Kevin Conroy won't be voicing Bruce Wayne/Batman, but I guess he can't be the only guy to ever play Batman for as long as he's alive (although I wish he was).

Otherwise though, this clip makes me very happy. Keeping up with DC's long line of high quality animated films, Batman: Year One looks beautiful and I'm sure will be fun to watch as well. Now if only Warner Brothers was half as good with their live-action outings as they were with their animated ones, the world would be a better place.

Friday Happy Hour

I'll be honest here. Due to my age, my knowledge of the Pokemon franchise isn't all that great. Pokemon came out in 1996, when I was 18 years old. As a result, I just never got into it since it was geared towards younger kids. That doesn't mean I don't know anything about the franchise though. I know that it's a super popular series for geeks slightly younger than myself. I also know that the monsters go through evolutionary changes during their life cycle, becoming larger and more powerful forms of themselves.

To that effect, the wonderful folks over at Drunken Moogle have put together this amazing set of three drinks, named after the different stages of the Charzard pokemon. This leads me to the following question:

If the standard Pokemon catch phrase is "Gotta catch 'em all", would the catchphrase for Pokemon based drinks then be "Gotta drink 'em all"?

I think it really has to be at that point, right?

Ingredients:

Charmander

• 1 splash of grenadine
• 1 oz Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey
• .5 oz Bacardi 151

Directions for the Charmander shot: Pour a slash of grenadine into the bottom of a shot glass. Add the Fireball, then top with the Bacardi 151. Light it on fire, then extinguish before drinking.

Charmeleon

• 1 spash of grenadine,
• 1 splash of scotch
• 1 oz Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey
• Fill with ginger ale

Directions for the Charmeleon cocktail: Mix all the alcoholic ingredients and then pour over ice in a lowball glass. Top with ginger ale.

Charizard

• 2 oz Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey
• 2 splashes of grenadine
• 2 splash of scotch
• 1.5 ounces Bacardi 151
• Fill with ginger ale

Directions for the Charizard drink: Mix all of the alcoholic ingredients, pour into a highball glass and top with ginger ale. If you plan on lighting the Charizard on fire, add the Bacardi 151 last, after the ginger ale, on top of everything else. As always, be careful with flames and don’t try to drink flaming cocktails while still on fire! Fire burns people and stuff and faces.

If Charzard isn't your particular favorite Pokemon, Drunken Moogle also made drink recipes covering the different stages of Bulbasaur and Squirtle as well.

30 Years Of Mario Music In Under 20 Minutes

Youtube user Amanbow has done the whole world a true geek solid and created one of the most amazing video game music mashups of all time. In just under 20 minutes, Amanbow presents music from every Mario game that has been released over the last 30 years.

I'm not just talking the regular Super Mario series. No, I mean anything that had Mario's name on it, or in which Mario himself appeared. This list is thorough enough to include music from Donkey Kong, Dr. Mario, Mario Party, the Mario sports games, all of the Game Boy games and more.

If you're a fan of the Mario franchise at all, chances are you'll recognize most of the music contained in this video. And the animation isn't something to overlook either. This video is really entertaining. 18 minutes may be a long time to invest into a youtube video, but trust me, it's worth it.

The Ultimate Pirates Vs. Ninjas Battle

Deviant Art user OutlawInk has created what has to be the most epic Pirates vs. Ninjas fight scene that I've ever seen. It's so epic, in fact, that it includes a total of 80 different characters from various forms of popular culture. The pic above is far too small to view the full awesomeness of this piece of art. In order to view it properly, go HERE to see a high-res version of it.

OutlawInk was also kind enough to provide a key to their work. if you'd like to see just who is who in this epic battle, you can find the key here.

My thanks go to geek extraordinaire Mary Sturhann for pointing this out to me.

Pat's Book Reviews: Robopocalypse

I'm just going to go ahead and get the comparison out of the way first. Robopocalypse is the robot uprising version of World War Z. There's no way to deny that. It seems that Daniel H. Wilson is the Max Brooks of robots. Whereas Mr. Brooks wrote The Zombie Survival Guide, a handbook for surviving a zombie apocalypse, Mr. Wilson wrote How To Survive A Robot Uprising. Typically, this would annoy me about an author as I would just assume that Wilson is copying what Max Brooks does, but just inserts robots instead of zombies. I think the reason that I'm ok with Wilson doing what he does is because, as opposed to Brooks, Wilson has a Ph.D. in robotics, so he clearly loves what he's writing about as much as Brooks does.

As I said, Robopocalypse is very similar to World War Z in that it too is written in a post war manner by a surivor who is now recounting the war and it's highlight moments. Instead of having a UN inspector compiling a report for a counsel like what happens in World War Z, Robopocalypse's narrator is a common foot soldier named Cormac Wallace who stumbles upon a detailed data core shortly after humanity defeats the robot leader who started the war. This data core contains details on how the robot uprising started and follows key figures through the ensuing war that raged across the planet. The book is supposed to be the result of Cormac transcribing what he finds in the data core to paper.

What works best about this book is that unlike World War Z, this story focuses more specifically on a smaller cast of characters, which it follows from shortly before the outbreak of the war to it's completion (or their death along the way). Having a core cast that the reader could connect with and care about added to the emotional drama and tension of the story. When a character dies in Robopocalypse, it means something. That was something World War Z lacked in my opinion. Written as if it was a committee report, it was incapable of adding a deep, personal narrative.

What doesn't work for Robopocalypse is the pacing. It's far too quickly paced in my opinion and the story keeps jumping ahead by months at a time. The book is only 340 pages or so, but it could have easily been 500 or 600 pages and I would have been totally fine with that. The characters are interesting and different, the story has a lot of possibility and the period of the war and it's build up covers almost 4 years of time. As I was reading the book I kept wishing the author would slow down and take more time with certain things. As it was, the book is fun, but it flys by at a breakneck speed. As a result, it loses out on a lot of potential depth it could have had if it had just taken the time to move a little slower.

As for the uprising itself, I very much enjoyed how it all went down. The story is set in a slightly futuristic society where household robots are commonplace and all modern cars are either computer controlled or computer assisted. When Archos, the superintelligent A.I. that begins the uprising, is created he quickly subverts these machines and uses them against humanity. It's a mark of all true science fiction to be a stern warning about mankind's reliance upon technology, and that is a point that is brought home rather brutally in Robopocalypse as literally billions of people are killed by their service robots or are run over by their own cars. It's bloody as hell, but it's a fun read.

Overall, the book makes for a fun, quick read. It lacks the level of detail that Brooks brought to World War Z, but it makes up for that with a more human approach to the storytelling. Robopocalypse is certainly no masterpiece of literature, but it does have high value as being the literary equivalent of a cheesy popcorn action flick. No wonder Stephen Speilberg is in talks to direct a film adaptation of it. This story lends itself beautifully to a silver screen translation. I just wish the book was a little longer.

Final Grade: B-

Behold The Glory That Is White Luke Cage

Ok, I may be a little biased here, but as a skinny white guy who loves to quote 70's blaxploitation films, I can't help but find this fan film about a skinny white guy playing Luke Cage to be absolutely hilarious. Every time he utters a cliche 70's blaxploitation line like, "Sweet Christmas! Didn't someone tell you honkeys not to mess with the one and only Luke Cage?" I can't help but giggle.

Everything about this video is comic gold to me. The music is perfect, as is the costume and the tongue-in-cheek delivery of the dialog. I think I may have very well just gotten an idea on what my halloween costume might be this year.

Happy 45th Birthday Star Trek

45 years ago today (September 8th, 1966), NBC aired the very first episode of Star Trek and the world was first introduced to the combined awesomeness of James Tiberius Kirk and Mr. Spock.

In the almost half-century since that first airing, Star Trek has gone on to become a cornerstone of Sci-fi in popular culture. Without it, we wouldn't have things like Star Wars, BSG, Firefly or just about any other show about a bunch of people travelling through space. So join me tonight in raising a glass of Romulan Ale to the original crew of the USS Enterprise and their continuing mission to seek out new life and new civilizations. May they boldly go where no one has gone before for a long time to come!

UPDATE: To see a sweet timeline of the history of Star Trek, go here.

(Infographic via Space.com)

Classic Movie Monsters + Professional Wrestling = Monster Brawl (aka The Greatest Movie Ever)

I don't remember if I've ever said this before on Geek-tastic, but I'm a huge fan of professional wrestling. I've been watching the WWE ever since back when it was called the WWF and legends like Hulk Hogan and the Macho Man Randy Savage were fighting for the World Heavyweight Championship. I still watch it to this day and am a big fan of guys like CM Punk and Zack Ryder.

I'm also a huge fan of horror movies, especially those involving classic movie monsters like Frankenstein or The Mummy.

Why am I telling you this, you ask? Well, because something I never even dreamed of happening has somehow come into being. The world of professional wrestling has been merged with the world of horror movie monsters into a single product. That product? The movie Monster Brawl.

This is Monster Brawl's premise, according to the movie's website:

Set in the tradition of a Pay-Per-View main event, comes a grotesque and hilarious fight to the death featuring a cast of eight classic combatants in all. Along with their colorful managers, these Monsters compete in visceral bloody combat in the ring to determine the most powerful monster of all time.

Eight classic movie monsters fighting in a pro wrestling tournament to determine who is the most powerful monster ever?!?!?! Hell yeah!!! I can't wait to see this movie. Especially when your list of combatants are a cyclops, a witch, Swamp Thing, a werewolf, a campire a mummy, a zombie and the Frankenstein monster. The cast is pretty cool too. Dave Foley from The Kids In The Hall? Horror movie icon Lance Henrikson? Wrestling legend Kevin Nash and "The Mouth of The South" Jimmy Hart (one of the greatest wrestling managers of all time)?

Seriously, how did I not even hear about this film until today. Dear god I hope this is available on DVD in time for Halloween. If it is, I'll be doing a Halloween screening of this for me and my friends, no doubts about it. Just check out how bad ass this poster is.

Random Awesomeness

Thanks go to my friend Michael Saul for pointing this out to me.

(Via Imgur)

Of Comic Books And Reboots: My Rant On DC's New 52

A while back, DC Comics announced something rather amazing, which I haven't really covered here at Geek-tastic yet at all. They said that they would soon be rebooting their entire universe and relaunching all of their major titles starting with new #1 issues for all of them. They dubbed these brand new titles as The New 52. As you can imagine, this sent shockwaves through the fanboy community and in less time than it takes you to say "nerd rage", comic fans everywhere took to the internet and ranted and raved about how horrible a decision this was, and how dare DC wipe away nearly a century of continuity to try to win over new readers.

For more detailed information on the New 52 and all of the reboot details, you should check out DC's website where there is a ton of information to read and pretty comic art to enjoy.

As I said, I've stayed quiet on this topic since it was first announced, which as a nerd blogger is a rather strange thing to do. Here is one of the biggest comic book stories of the last few years, and I haven't devoted even a single word on my site to it until now. Why did I stay quiet on this topic, you ask? Well, to be quite honest I wasn't sure what to make of DC's reboot when I first heard about it, and I wanted more information before I began ranting and raving. I also had mixed feelings on the idea itself and I needed time to process those feelings before I could eloquently express my thoughts on DC's bold new direction. I've had the time I need though, and I've collected the additional information that I wanted. I've finally come up with something to say about this big reboot, and . . . well . . . it's probably not going to sit well with a lot of my fellow comic book fans out there. There's no real easy way to say this, so I might as well come out and say it. Here we go.

I am 100% behind DC Comics on this and think a full universe reboot is a wonderful idea.

Not only that, I think that this should have happened a long time ago, and I really hope that this works for them and that Marvel Comics will soon be following up with a full scale universe reboot of it's own. If you are wondering how I, a life-long comic book reader can willfully advocate for every DC comic book story I've ever read being undone, the answer to that is simple. In fact, it boils down to two basic points.

1. The Future

I want all you to think hard on a few questions I'm about to ask you. I want you to seriously think about these for a minute. When is the last time you walked into a comic book store and saw someone under the age of 15 in there buying comics? When is the last time you saw a kid in a park reading a comic? When was the last time you even heard of a kid you knew who had gotten into comics on their own, without their parents pushing it on them when they were younger?

I can't speak for everyone, but for me the answers to those questions are all the same. A long, long time ago. As a kid, I'll admit it, I got into comics because of my older brother. When and how he started reading comics, I'm not certain. I know my parents didn't read comics though. This was something that only we kids did. I remember going into the comic book store and seeing a bunch of other kids my age buying comics too. All of my friends read comics too. We'd spend hours upon hours discussing them at recess or at lunch. As I've gotten older, I've noticed that the average age of the people in the comic book stores has gotten oder with me. In fact, it's still people my age whom I mainly see when I go into a store to see what cool new stuff there is to buy. I'm 33 years old now, and to this day when I walk into a comic book store I see guys and gals that are in their late 20's to late 30's on the average. Every now and then I'll see a fan in their early 20's and some older fans in their 40's or higher, but generally it's people in my generation or the one before or right after it. I don't see kids in comic book stores anymore.

I know I'm not the only one who noticed this. DC Comics seems to have noticed it too. Their average reader age keeps climbing higher and higher, and there isn't a large group of younger readers who will replace them as we eventually get older and start dying off. It's freaking DC's management out, so they've decided to do something desperate to get kids reading comics. They are thinking in the extreme long term, say another 30 to 50 years out. Who will be reading comics then? How can a paper-based media compete for the attention of kids and adults who will be raised in a digital age where movies, music and even novels are all delivered to them digitally on demand? There are all huge questions that the folks in charge of the comics industry need to be asking themselves if they wish for their businesses to still be alive for generations to come.

Aside from the much discussed actual rebooting of the comics themselves is also the fact that DC Comics will be the first publisher to deliver comics digitally to mobile devices like the ipad on the same day that they are released in comic book stores. This is all part of making things more accessible to a wider, younger audience who are tech savvy, and who are much more likely to download comics to their tablet devices than they are to driving down to the local comic store and picking up books on a weekly basis. The word accessibility is really at the heart of what DC is trying to do here, which actually brings me to my next point.

2. Continuity Is A Killer

Many of today's biggest comic franchises have been running for so long, they are drowning under the weight of their own past stories. The folks who write the web comic Penny Arcade refer to it as "dreaded continuity" and it is making a large number of the comic industry's biggest titles completely inaccessible to new readers. I couldn't even imagine being a kid today and picking up an X-Men comic for the first time. I'd have no idea what the hell is going on, or who anyone is. The same goes for Spider-man and Batman. Today's comic stories are so convoluted and so dependent on knowing about what has come before that they are a turn off to little kids who only want to read about Spider-man punching this month's villain in the face and stopping their evil plan to rob a bank or destroy Manhattan or something like that.

This is all sort of related to the first point. An aging comic audience has demanded more adult, complex stories that matches their mental level. The problem is, these complex, convoluted stories are keeping kids away from trying out new titles. Do you know what originally got me reading X-men comics back in the day? A franchise reboot. How many of my fellow 30-something comic fans remember this?

That's the cover of X-Men #1, released in 1991 (when I was 13 years old). It was an attempt on Marvel's part at the time to make the Uncanny X-Men series and their characters more accessible to newer readers. You know what? It worked. Over the years I've spoken to a ton of people who cite this as their jumping on point for the X-series of books. While this didn't retcon past storylines, it didn't really focus on the past either. During this era, the X-Books focused on newer villains and new characters like Gambit and Cable to tell their stories. Retconning histories isn't a new phenomenon though. It, like everything else in comics, has been done before. Shall we recall a little event DC once did called Crisis on Infinite Earths?

Even Marvel has gotten into the reboot act on a large scale before where whole histories and continuities were thrown out the window. That's what the whole Marvel Ultimate universe was about. They started their big lines like Spider-Man, The Avengers and The X-Men over from scratch, with absolutely zero history or continuity whatsoever. And again, it worked beautifully. The Ultimate line was very successful for Marvel. The first Spider-man movie was even heavily influenced by the Ultimate Spider-man storyline, and the upcoming Avengers movie is heavily steeped in The Ultimates (aka the Ultimate name for The Avengers) stories.

Does this team look a little familiar to you?

What makes history deleting reboots like Marvel's Ultimate line work is that it allows for brand new stories that no one has ever seen before. It frees writers from having to fit their stories into established universes and allows them to play with characters and settings to create wholly new universes where both new readers can jump on and old readers can enjoy as different, new versions of the characters they know and love. I know that last statement is a bit of a stretch, as comic fans generally loathe change, but it does happen from time to time. Growing up, my favorite character has always been Spider-man. I'd read his books my whole life and when the new Ultimate Spider-man series came out I'll admit that I was very wary at first. Once I started reading it though, I began enjoying it even more than the regular series books. It was something new, something fresh, yet it was still something wholly Spider-man. It was a fun, lighthearted series at the start. Young teen aged Peter Parker didn't have the world on his shoulders like older, 20-something Peter did. This leads me to my third point.

3. Comics Are Just Too Damn Dark For Kids These Days

Comics have always had a bit of darkness to them. Even in the 50's, when Batman comics were awash in bright colors everywhere and campy-ness reigned supreme, The Joker was still a crazy killer. However, they didn't show blood as much and you didn't have Alan Moore style violence where he was shooting people in the face at point blank range with panels that showed the blood shooting out of the back of someone's head.

A lot of comics are just too damn dark these days. I don't have any kids myself, so maybe I'm a bit off base here, but I wouldn't go letting my 8 year old kids read today's Batman books without reading them myself first to see if they were ok. Going back to point #1 again, an aging comic audience has lead to more adult-centered books with graphic violence and stories. Comics seem to have forgotten that you can make things fun and interesting without going dark constantly. Look at the cartoon show Batman: The Brave and The Bold. The writers of that show have crafted something that simultaneously lighthearted and campy, yet still quintessentially Batman at its heart that even older fans can enjoy. Why isn't this being done more often in comics.

Don't misunderstand me here. I'm not pushing for adult comics to go away at all. As an adult comic book fan, I love having adult level superhero comics to read. All I'm saying is that there is room for both in the main Marvel and DC universes. DC started it originally with their Vertigo line and Marvel quickly followed suit with their Marvel Max lines. There's no reason for dark, gritty superhero stories to go away, I just wish that those stories didn't bleed over from their respective sub-lines to the main titles, which really should be aimed at attracting younger readers. We adult fans frequently forget that we were once kids too, and the reason we got into reading comics in the first place is because they catered to people our age at that time.

In the end, I think what DC is doing is ballsy, and I fully support them in what they are doing. If there is any one complaint I have about The New 52 though, it is this . . . .

They aren't going far enough.

In an attempt to please long time fans, DC is trying to walk a tightrope act where they are retconning some older stories, but not others. Some histories are being re-written, some aren't. This, to me, is them pussyfooting around and not fully doing what needs to be done. If you're going to do a full on hardcore universe reboot where you are wiping out all established continuity up to this point, you don't go half-assed about it. You man up and take the plunge. You go all out and wipe everything away at once. Have some big climactic story arc mini-series where something huge happens, and it reverts your entire universe (and I mean ENTIRE universe) back to square one!

That's what I would do if I was in charge of DC Comics right now. I'd revert everything back to the very beginning where you'd see new storylines such as:

• Superman #1 - A young, inexperienced, rural farmboy & reporter named Clark Kent walks into the Daily Planet for his first day on the job where he is introduced to and teamed up by his editor with a more veteran reporter named Lois Lane. His first story? Covering a large press conference for billionaire industrialist Lex Luthor who is showing off giant new military robots that he has developed for the US Government, which promptly go haywire and cause a mysterious new hero named Superman to appear and save the day for the very first time.

• Batman #1 - A brooding young Billionare named Bruce Wayne has just returned home to Gotham City for the first time after years of training abroad to make himself the ultimate crime fighting machine. Deciding that he needs to strike fear into the hearts of Gotham's criminal underworld (and to protect himself and those who know him), he puts on a mask and goes out into the night as Batman.

• Wonder Woman #1 - A beautiful young warrior named Diana is forced to leave her island home for the first time to help save it from being destroyed. Upon leaving the island, she learns of the outside world and its problems. Despite being forbidden to do so by her mother, she decides to stay in this new place because she feels that it is her duty to use her power to help those who need saved.

• Justice League #1 - After investigating the same case from their respective cities, Batman and Superman meet for the first time and are forced to work together. Along the way, they meet up with other heroes whose help they need to save the day. By the end of they day, they realize that some problems are too big for them to handle individually, so they decide to work together to help save the world.

See? It's not that hard to do. Just wipe the slate clean and start fresh. Will you piss off a ton of fan boys and girls? Yes, of course you will. Bitching is one of the favorite pass times of comic fans. No matter what you do, you'll be pissing someone off. However, will those same fans stay loyal to you so long as your new stories are great and you stay true to what makes your characters who they are? Yes, they will. And along the way you might even pick up some new readers to boot.

Finally, Something I can Be Genuinely Happy About

It's been a rough week, to be sure. What with George Lucas messing with the Star Wars films again (he has altered the films, I pray he won't alter them any further) and now Superman running around without his signature red underwear, it's been a hard week to be a geek.

Thank god then for this new Avengers promo art that was released yesterday by Marvel Studios. It's gorgeous. Just looking at it makes me happy, and you can even get a giant version to make this your brand new desktop Wallpaper by going here. It's definitely set as my wallpaper now. So happy!

Thank you Marvel for reminding me that not all superhero movies have god awful costuming choices. Sure, Hawkeye's costume could be a little better, but who really cares about him anyways, am I right?

Now the only thing I am waiting for is an actual cast photo that looks like this. Promo art is awesome and all, but I want an actual movie poster with this much awesomeness going on in it.

Yet More Stupid Superhero Costuming Decisions

A number of behind-the-scenes pictures have recently been released from the upcoming new Superman film titled Man of Steel. In these pictures, we've finally gotten a good, close up (and non photoshopped to hell) look at Henry Cavill as the last son of Krypton and . . . well . . . I'll be honest, I'm disappointed. Not horrified or saddened, just a little disappointed.

Seriously Warner Bros., how god damned hard is it to translate Superman's costume to the silver screen. It's the single most iconic superhero costume of all time. It's the archetype upon which generations of other heros' costumes have been based. Why do you feel the need to go and change it so much.

Superman's costume is really, really simple. Blue skintight suit, red cape, red boots, yellow belt and red underwear with a big ass "S" on the chest. Why is that simple recipe so impossible for you to do. No red underwear on the new suit? Seriously? Why? And what's that thing on the suit above his crotch? A belt buckle? He's not wearing a god damned belt!!! What purpose does that thing serve? And what's with the details around the wrists & that stripe thing going down his legs? Why is any of that there?

As I said though, these changes just disappoint me. They're not a deal breaker. And I'll be honest here. There are some things about this pic that I actually really like. For example, I really like how the top of the cape is set into the costume to sort of frame Henry Cavill's face. Speaking of his face (and hair), he actually looks good as Superman. I was worried about the hair in that first promo pic they released, but his hair in this set pic is a lot closer to the classic Superman look. I like it. Cavill also has the classic superhero cheek and bone structure. He looks like a classic hero, much like I feel Chris Evans did in Captain America.

Also, just look at the size of that guy. Sure, some of that may be the costume, but I'm willing to bet most of that muscle is Cavill himself. I must say I am really liking this trend of bulked up Actors like Chris Hemsworth (Thor) and the previously mentioned Chris Evans playing superheros. It's nice to see that not all heroes in films have to have costumes with rubber molded muscles built into them (I'm looking at you Dark Knight). If any roles in Hollywood should go to talented, well built actors or actresses, it's superhero roles. It just fits into the whole genre to have main characters with chiseled abs and gigantic pecs, shoulders and biceps.

Will this costume keep me from watching and enjoying the new Superman movie (assuming the story is good)? Absolutely not. Will I still wish during the entire film that Supes was running around with his red underwear proudly showing outside of his pants? You're damn right I will be.

F**k You George Lucas!!!

There have been rumors floating around for a while now that George Lucas would once again be making tweaks and changes to the Star Wars films as part of their upcoming release on Blu-ray. While this news certainly didn't surprise me, or anyone else for that matter, it did certainly fill me with dread. Just exactly what would Lucas be changing this time? Would these be small, positive changes like what he did with adding background details like windows on Cloud City that made it look bigger and cooler, or would we have yet another debacle of "Han shot first" proportions?

The initial details that came down were actually pretty positive. It was revealed that Lucas would be replacing the god awful muppet version of Yoda from Episode One with an all CG version that would match how he looks in episodes 2 and 3. Now, I'm not a fan of CG characters at all, but I was ok with this because it made sense to me from a cinematic standpoint to have a character keep a consistent appearance throughout all three films. And let's be honest here, that version of Yoda in Episode One looks really horrible. Good riddance to it.

Today though, more details have emerged and they aren't pretty. It looks like Lucas has once again decided to run hog wild with his changes and has gone in and played with things that didn't need to be changed. The biggest, most egregious mistake in my personal opinion is the video above of Darth Vader first quietly saying "No" as he watches the Emperor attack Luke with force lightning and then yelling "NOOOOOOOOOOOO" as he throws the Emperor down into the heart of the Death Star.

I apologize in advance here, but I'm about to lose my mind. Please discontinue reading if you have problems with foul language, cursing, or colorful expletives.

I'm serious here.

Ok, here we go...

FUCK YOU GEORGE LUCAS!!!!! Why in god's name would you mar one of the most pivotal moments in the entire Star Wars saga?!?!?! This addition adds absolutely nothing to the film. In fact, it greatly weakens the scene altogether. The fact that Vader didn't speak in this scene is exactly what made it so incredibly powerful in the first place. By his not speaking, the viewer is forced to watch his expressionless mask and wonder what is going through his mind as he is watching his own son being tortured to death before him. When he comes to his decision, his body language and the way he holds himself changes. Even with the mask on, you can clearly see the emotions that are running through Vader as he is forced to make a decision. That expressionless mask actually expresses the turmoil the character is going through. It's an incredibly poignant piece of Cinema. Having him now yell "NOOOOOOOO" as he picks up Emperor Palpatine just cheapens the whole thing. It takes away from the powerful imagery and makes the whole scene goofy.

This is Darth Vader's big moment. It's his turning point from main villain and scourge of the galaxy to a redeemed hero. This is what 6 fucking films have been building up to. This is the moment that Anakin Skywalker lives up to the prophecies and brings balance to the force by destroying the Dark Side . . . and you've totally fucking ruined it George Lucas. I say it again, Fuck You sir! You have completely lost what little remaining respect I had for you as a filmmaker. Yes, when you were younger you were great. You had a talent for storytelling and myth building. Now though, you're a hack who doesn't understand the importance of story structure and when to let the audience decide things for themselves.

Dear god, this makes Greedo shooting first look like a scene from Citizen Kane.

Even if that was the only pointless, stupid change Lucas had made, I would already be angry enough, but no, there's more. Much more. How about that scene in Episode IV where Obi-Wan scares off the sand people by yelling like a Krayt Dragon. Yep, that's been changed too.

What the fuck is that? That sounds so stupid! What was wrong with the original noise he made? Why did this have to be changed? WHY, I fucking ask you! WHY!?!?!?!

Oh, and remember when R2-D2 hides from the Jawas in that rocky canyon? Yep, that's been changed too.

Lucas took the time to have some poor ILM staff digitally insert rocks into this scene? Really? Why? His little hiding place was fine before! And just how the fuck did R2-D2 get into that tiny cave in the first place? Obviously, he's too big to have gotten in there on his own. So, tell me George, how did he get in there? HOW!?!?!?!

Ok, here's one more. This one is a bit more subtle, but is still fucking pointless. I'll let you see if you can figure out what it is.

Did you catch it? Wicket has eyelids now! That's right, Ewoks now blink. Oh god that's sort of creepy. Again, why was this necessary? Has George Lucas secretly been bothered for almost 3o years now that Ewoks didn't blink? Was he so bothered by it that he again ordered some poor ILM staffers to go in and digitally insert blinking eyelids onto every single Ewok in the film? Was there some public unrest for the last three decades that these lovable little fuzz balls couldn't close their eyes? WHY THE FUCK DID YOU DO THIS? It's so completely unnecessary.

I am SOOOOOOOOOOOO glad that I wasn't already planning on buying the Blu-Ray releases of these films. I feel bad for any other Star Wars fan who shells out the $90 these things are going to cost too.

Be warned fellow fans, these are not the films you're looking for!

Until the day that Lucas decides to release the original, untouched films on Blu-Ray, I will not even be considering these versions to exist. I'm sure there will be more changes too, but at this point I've lost all desire to talk about this anymore. I'm too depressed. Is it really that hard to give the fans what they want? Why can't George get it through his thick fucking skull that we don't want any of this? We don't want fancy little CG add ons. All we want are the films we grew up watching, untouched from any of this modern revisionist crap.

You'll have to excuse me. I'm going to go cry myself to sleep now.

Female Fighters In Sensible Armor

In the world of fantasy art, there is a long running joke about female warriors and chainmail bikinis. Most likely due to the fact that the vast majority of older fantasy art was drawn by men, it is entirely common (even to this day) to see epic fantasy art featuring an adventuring party all decked out in their gear where the male heroes are covered in plate mail, scale mail or leather armor and their female companion is decked out in a thong bikini made of either cloth (if she's a druid or mage) or chain mail (if she's a fighter class).

Is this sad and horribly sexist? Absolutely. That's why I am so glad to see a brand new Tumblr site called Women Fighters In Reasonable Armor. It's sole purpose is to highlight amazing fantasy art centered around female characters who are actually fitted out as a proper warrior should be. Page after page of the site shows off just how awesome these women fighters can be without having to dress them up in garments more befitting of belly dancers.

Will this make the stereotype jokes about the chainmail bikini go away? Probably not, but it's a great step in the right direction in my opinion of showcasing gender equality in fantasy art and literature.

How The Harry Potter Series Should Have Ended

I must say that I'm a fan of the folks over at HowItShouldHaveEnded.com. Nine times out of ten, their videos are spot on in pointing out obvious plot holes in films in fairly humorous ways. Whenever a new video of theirs comes out, I'm always down to check it out because they are pretty much guaranteed to make me chuckle at least a little. In fact, if they were to make a regular series of their reoccurring joke where Batman and Superman are sitting in a diner and talking about superhero stuff, I'd watch the hell out of that thing.

This month, they bring us a great video about how the Harry Potter book and film series should have ended. Once again, I can't help but agree with them. Professor Snape being totally bad ass and saving everyone? I'm totally down with that!

Friday Happy Hour

Another week has come and gone. It's Friday once again. It's time to get dressed up and go into the city to celebrate. Friday and Saturday nights are all about dinner, dancing and drinking (or as I like to call them, the 3D's). This week's Friday Happy Hour pays homage to that great fictional city where every weekend seems to bring new supervillain attacks or bank robberies. The city where only one man stands against the forces of darkness night after night. The Batman!

Ok, so he has sidekicks and other heroes to help him too on occasion. Robin, Nightwing, Batgirl, Batwoman, Oracle, Huntress, Spoiler, etc. Still though, deep down it's his city and he only lets them operate there.

Anyways, back to the drink. In true metropolitan style, I bring you a martini that is as black as the city after which it is named. I bring you . . .

The Gotham City Martini

Ingredients:

• 3 ounces Smirnoff Vodka
• 1/2 ounce Blackberry Brandy
• 1/2 ounce Black Sambuca
• 3 Blackberries for Garnish

Instructions:

Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled one-third full of ice. Shake ten to fifteen seconds. Strain into a well chilled martini glass. Add blackberries on a skewer for garnish.

(Via Intoxicologist)

The Greatest Sci-Fi Action Hero Of All Time

What happens when you cross two of the greatest sci-fi action heroes to ever grace the silver screen? Simple. You get the single greatest sci-fi action star this world has ever known. Han Sulu, smuggler and master swordsman! In my wildest dreams, somehow a movie about Han Sulu would be made, and it would become my favorite film of all time.

I only have two words for this . . . . Oh My!!!

(via SciFAnime)

Escape From City 17: Part 2 Is Finally Here!

Way back in 2009 I posted about an amazing Half Life fan film called Escape From City 17. It was a 4 minute or so short film which featured high production values, cool effects and was said to have been made for only $500. On top of that, the video ended with a preview of more to come.

Well, it's been two years, but it's finally here. Escape From City 17: Part 2 has been released, and it certainly does not disappoint. It's 14 minutes long, and it's glorious! This time the budget is said to be only $250.

I swear, between this and yesterday's Portal fan film, there is no reason for poor quality fan made films anymore. The bar has been set very high here folks! Personally, I'm just waiting for the day when some fan releases a full length live-action Legend of Zelda movie with Lord of the Rings quality special effects. It's bound to happen sooner or later, you know it is. I'm just hoping it's sooner.

Computer Geeks In Movies

As part of the promotional material for this year's New York International Latino Film Festival (NYILFF), ad agency Wing New York created a series of rather musing charts and graphs which highlight a number of well known movie cliches such as six round revolvers never needing reloading and the inability of the villain to ever actually hit the hero when they are shooting at them.

You can see the whole series here, but the graph you see above was easily my favorite of the set (for what should be obvious reasons). Oh those crazy movie computer geeks. They can topple invading alien armadas with nothing more than a macbook, but they can never manage to see to get those darned office printers to work correctly.

Super Awesome Portal Fan Film

The above short film is called Portal: No Escape, and it's by far the best piece of Portal related fan-made material I think I've ever seen. The production quality of this short is phenomenal. I would love to see a longer film made if it looked like this.

Even if you've never played Portal and don't know anything about the game or its universe, you should still watch this short film. It's an excellent piece of work and absolutely no knowledge about the game is required to enjoy it.

The bit at the end is perfect!

Which Option Will You Choose?

You are walking through the streets of Los Angeles when you come to a road crossing. On that road crossing you see the above sign. Which option will you choose. Make sure to take your time, weigh your options and choose carefully. One false move could result in a very unpleasant death.

Knowing the streets of LA like I do, I would go with option #4 personally.

(Via Dorkly)

Suicidal Astronauts

I, like many other science geeks I'm sure, was very saddened when the Space Shuttle program recently ended. As sad as I was though, it looks like I wasn't as hard hit by the loss of the program as these poor astronauts were.

The above photo is but one of many in a series called Suicidal Astronauts in which our hapless, faceless space exploring hero has decided to end his or her life after the recent ending of the shuttle program.

To see the whole series of pictures, go HERE.

Poor little astronauts. Cheer up! We'll be going back to space soon on gigantic rockets. President Barack Obama even recently pushed for manned missions to mars by the mid 2030's. The future of space exploration isn't done yet.

(Via Geekologie)

Doctor Who's Let's Go Kill Hitler Prequel

In the now immortal words of Doctor Who's River Song, "Spoilers"! So if you are a Doctor Who fan and are not caught up with what is going on and don't want to know DO NOT WATCH THIS VIDEO!

But if you are caught up and have not seen this video you should watch. It is a little over a minute and it is both funny and tragic all at the same time, as all us fans know Doctor Who can be.  And with a little under a week to go before the second half of Season 6 begins it is just what the Doctor ordered.

Nerds Doing Good! Zachary Levi vs. The SDCC 2011 Panels

Each year SDCC has grown by leaps and bounds. There are longer lines for everything, the floor is consistently packed and the ticket prices keep going up and up, not to mention it is getting harder to get a ticket. Having attended the con for the last18 years and seeing it grow, not always for the better, I become increasingly disheartened with the whole process. But, the one thing that has been nice to see over the last few years is how much the Gaslamp District has gotten into basically becoming an extension of SDCC. And it is nice to be able to find new, undiscovered gems. Happily, I found one of these gems this year.

About a year ago, Zachary Levi of NBC's Chuck fame started a website, TheNerdMachine.com, in order to bring nerds together to share news, talk about cool events, gadgets, etc., and provide a comfortable online forum for nerds to meet and converse. This year Levi, in conjunction with the website Break.com, decided to turn Jolt N' Joe's, a billiards bar located in Downtown San Diego, into NerdHQ.

They moved out all the pool tables to set up gaming consoles, a cool little schwag booth and a stage (that may have already been there, but it had been years since I had been actually in that bar so I couldn't say). But, the coolest thing that came out of NerdHQ was the series of panels held upstairs from the bar everyday during Comic Con. For $20 per ticket, you could attend a panel featuring the likes of people such as Felicia Day, Seth Green, Nathan Fillion, the rest of the cast of Firefly, Jared Padelecki and more. 

I know what you might be thinking. Why would I want to attend a paid panel when there are so many great free panels at SDCC? Well, for one, no lines and no having to get in line at 5am just to ensure you got a seat. You bought your ticket online and it was based on the order you bought your ticket in that you were assigned a seat. Second, the room only had room for around 200 seats, which means there really were no bad seats. And perhaps the best thing, that $20 you spent to be 10 feet or less away from the nerd of your choice without having to sit thorough countless other panels you didn't care about to ensure that you saw them, all went to benefit the charity, Operation Smile.

Unfortunately, I did not find out about this cool little venture until a good portion of the panels I would have like to have attended sold out. And a great many of them were during panels at the convention center that I had already planned to go see. I did get to see the panel of "The Geek Girl I would most like to be stranded on a desert island with", Felicia Day. That was one of the main highlights of my SDCC 2011 experience. I was less than 5 feet from her in an extremely intimate setting. And while I also saw Ms. Day on the Eureka panel the next day, it just didn't have the same magic the Nerd HQ panel held for me.

I am really hoping they make this a yearly thing. In addition to the panels, I heard they had some killer parties in the downstairs bar at night where you could hang out with Alan Tudyk and play video games with him or where you could schmooze with the likes of Wil Wheaton, Felicia Day, Zach Levi, Seth Green and many many more. At SDCC 2012, NerdHQ is probably going to be the place to be and I expect that this might be exactly where you will find me.