Last night I schlepped over to Mama’s Place Studio in Astoria, Queens and guest hosted the weekly New York Cine Podcast. My co-hosts, Tom Seymour and Dave Leute, discussed the recent hacking at Sony Pictures, the new Star Wars and Terminator series trailers, and a whole bunch of other media and culture issues. I even introduced them to the Continue reading “New York Cine Radio: Sony and the Star Wars trailer”
Super Power Beat Down: Batman vs Darth Vader
I am probably the world’s biggest Batman fan so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I didn’t agree with the outcome of the most recent Super Power Beat Down fan film pitting the Dark Knight against the Dark Lord of the Sith. However one of the things that really ticked me off was how good the production was for the film. I was visually stunning. It was probably the best fan-film I have seen since Batman: Deadend.
One of the problems that I had with the video is that Bats had plans to the Death Star and the location of a lightsaber, but didn’t come up with a contingency plan on how to disrupt Vader’s force abilities. Keep in mind that this is a man so paranoid that during the JLA: Tower of Babel (or Justice League: Doom movie) storyline Batman developed contingency for neutralizing his closest allies in the Justice League. In the Vader scenario, Continue reading “Super Power Beat Down: Batman vs Darth Vader”
I love Christmas!
Ever since I was a little kid Christmas has been my favorite holiday by far. All of my family members have known this for years. I guess when all is said and done, I just love getting presents, and this Christmas I got some pretty cool stuff. The hat shown in the above picture is from the official Indiana Jones collector series. I also got the Obi Wan Kenobi lightsaber to finish out my Star Wars Ultimate FX saber collection. I already had the Darth Vader, Anakin Skywalker, Luke Skywalker, Darth Maul and Qui-Gon Jinn models but I was missing Obi Wan’s saber. The Obi Wan model finishes out my Ultimate FX saber collection for now. I am still hoping that they make a Mace Windu saber.
As for the rest of my presents, my Continue reading “I love Christmas!”
New York Cine Radio – The Halloween Podcast
Tom Seymour and the rest of the guys over at New York Cine Radio asked me to Skype in for their Halloween podcast special and do a small comic book and nerd culture segment. It was a new idea that they wanted to try out and the group thought that I would be the perfect person for the job.
I talked a little about the new Batman: Arkham Origins video game as well as some of the Continue reading “New York Cine Radio – The Halloween Podcast”
Arkham Origins is gonna be sick!!!
After months of waiting Batman: Arkham Origins dropped tonight. The new Arkham is the followup to the wildly popular Batman inspired video games Arkham Asylum and Arkham City. I just picked up my copy from GameStop. There was a surprisingly small line for the game. It was nothing as crazy as the launch for Grand Theft Auto V, which made me happy and a little sad. I snagged the collector’s edition, and the season pass that has all of the character skins and downloadable content. I never usually get all the extras but this game is gonna be sick. I thought about
Open letter to Ben Affleck, or please shut up Matt Damon
Matt Damon was recently asked about his take on the Ben Affleck as Batman controversy. Damon, who is a long time friend of Affleck, stated that “Bruce Wayne is the more challenging part of the role, and Ben will be great at that”. He then went on to say that “Batman just sits there with his cowl over his head and whispers in a kinda gruff voice at people. Now I understand Matt Damon is just looking out for his boy, but the comments he made about how Batman isn’t a complex character came off as being more than a little ignorant and dismissive of the genre. In fact he only hurts Ben case by reinforcing a commonly held belief that Affleck doesn’t really take preparation for his roles seriously. I am hoping that Affleck does not share Damon’s feeling on Batman/Bruce Wayne or we could be in store for another Daredevil.
The studio isn’t going to back down so we are probably stuck with Affleck. So if I was to give Ben any advice it would be this; Continue reading “Open letter to Ben Affleck, or please shut up Matt Damon”
Affleck is Batman??? What da…….
The news was just released that Warner Brothers has chosen Ben Affleck to be the new Batman in the next DC Comics inspired movie. I am crushed by this news. Seriously. I try to stay relatively informed on important issues of the day like the NSA revelations, the deficit, the Middle East, stop and frisk, and anything to do with improving the educational system. All the I ask for is a small bone every now and then. Can a brother just look forward enjoying a frivolous movie about a childhood comic book hero without Ben Affleck and his massive cranium mucking up the works? No really, look at his head sometime. It is enormous. My only hope is that they will have to recast the part because they couldn’t find a cowl large enough to slide over that freakish mellon.
I have been a comic book Continue reading “Affleck is Batman??? What da…….”
I do crazy stuff when I get bored.
The fourth of July is kind of boring this year with the wife and kids away at summer camp. Still, I shouldn’t complain too much since I am a married man at home without the family for a couple of days. The little things like having the TV and bathroom all to myself are pure bliss. However the house is too quiet and I am trying to keep from going stir crazy.
Right now I am deciding on whether to go to the movies or wait around for my boy Adesola to come over and hang out like we used to do back in high school. Or at least I am hoping he rolls through and brings a brother something to eat. HE KNOWS I CAN’T COOK AND AIN’T GOT NO DAMN FOOD IN ‘DA HOUSE!
I spent the morning sleeping late and watching cartoons. I spent the afternoon at the dojo, sweating profusely and getting punched in the head. The early evening was spent putting together this killer Batman costume I have been making for Comic Con this year. I have some of the main pieces such as the utility belt, the gauntlets, and the boots. However I am still searching for a good cowl.
As always with making one of these suits you have to decide to either go with the old school skintight spandex or the more modern armored batsuit. Unless I am in much better shape by the time Comic Con and Halloween roll around I am leaning towards the modern look. It is more forgiving than the spandex. I don’t want to go out and get called “Fatman”.
New York Cine – Man of Steel Podcast
Last night I headed out to the land called Astoria to sit down with the guys from New York Cine and talk to them about my perceptions on the new Superman film, Man of Steel. This was my forth time on the show but my first time with them live in the studio. I usually Skype in for the interviews, but this gave me a chance to meet all the guys in person. I always have a great time with them on these podcasts because they are true film and pop culture nerds like me. Anyway, it was a pretty good discussion. So check out the podcast below.
Up…up… and take it away!
The family and I just got back from the 12:45am showing of Man of Steel. Of all of the summer movies, this is the movie I have most wanted to see. This was especially true after the new Star Trek turned out to be such a disappointment. But while Man of Steel wasn’t perfect, and I had major issues with a number of the plot lines, I did enjoy the film.
However I now fully understand why some of critics hated it while others loved it. Let’s just say that I have a mixed opinion on the film. Without saying too much and spoiling it for those that haven’t seen it yet, this movie is reminiscent of how I personally view religion. At times it makes some really good points and offers you a strong guide for viewing the world, and then, at other times it goes totally off the rails and leaves you shaking your head and saying “that makes no damn sense”. Now before you go writing me off as a typical liberal professor, let me state my point with more clarity. If you don’t want to hear any spoilers I suggest that you stop here. Otherwise let’s get to the meat of the story………… Continue reading “Up…up… and take it away!”