DC announces the first cancellations of their “DC52″ line.

DC Comics get a new logo.

“Smallville’s” Erica Durance as Wonder Woman in recent episode of NBC’s “Harry’s Law”.

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Hi Geeks, Hayley here.

John Pavlich and I recently recorded a commentary for his Sofadogs website for the unfortunate thriller I Still Know What You Did Last Summer. Unlike our commentary for the original movie a few months ago, this time John and I were perfectly synced up. Just like the first time round, we had a great discussion and would love you guys to check it out. Pop in your DVD or Blu-Ray and listen as we discuss the fun, flaws and failings of this dubious sequel!

Listen here.

Subject: I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998)

Observers: John Pavlich, Hayley White

Record Date: September 05, 2011, 01:06 AM

Plot Summary: Haunted by her past, Julie James (Jennifer Love Hewitt) tries to vacation with her friends in the Bahamas, only to find The Fisherman is back in her life and going to great lengths to bring her a living nightmare.

Note: Now that October has begun, the Sofa Dogs podcast can officially kick off another celebration of the Halloween season, all month long! Just as with the previous film, Hayley White joins me for the sequel as we scratch our heads and groan disapprovingly at this odd little mix of attractive cinematography, unintentional laughs, ridiculous storyline, earnest performances and surprisingly genuine laughs! There are five Sundays this month, so we’re starting with something light in the Horror genre. Remember to listen for the preemptive countdown before starting the movie on your DVD.

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SuperGeeks #24

Speak out With Your Geek Out–A Nationwide Geek Pride Event

• Check out the Facebook page HERE
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Comics Reviews

• Flashpoint #5—The end of the DC Universe
  
• Detective Comics #1—A truly twisted tale of Batman and the Joker

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Guest Listener steveyschoice

• Action Comics #1–A tale of Superman in the early days.

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Scott Carelli

• Animal Man #1–One of the new mature themed DC 52 issues.
• Batgirl #1—Barbara Gordan triumphantly returns in the purple suit!!
• Detective Comics #1 —Scott’s take on this dark story
• Swamp Thing #1—Big Green returns for this DC Dark mature title

The transcript is separated into two parts to make it easier to digest since the discussion ran at about 50 minutes of recorded dialogue back and forth. Please enjoy and feel free to leave any comments below.

Hayley: So we’re going to get stuck into today’s discussion. This week instead of going thru the normal episode commentary we’re just gonna have just a quick synopsis and then just discuss things ‘cause there’s probably lots to discuss and its easier rather than just going thru the whole episode, so sorry if you were expecting that but we’re not going to do that this episode.

So the plot synopsis for this episode, thanks to the lovely Wikipedia, the font of all knowledge, says:

“Ted, having given up his previous date with his supposedly perfect match (which is what happened last episode), has decided to pursue Robin yet again. Barney (acting on behalf of the Universe) slaps Ted, telling him it’s a bad idea. Ted tells them that he will try only one more time, and if it does not work out, he will accept that it is not meant to be. He then surprises her in her apartment with candy, flowers, and a group of musicians with blue instruments (in reference to the Blue French horn he stole for her on their first date). Robin, while surprised, cannot give Ted a definite answer, especially after he learned that Robin’s company camping trip is back on and Sandy Rivers is trying to date her now that he is moving on to CNN. Ted finally accuses Robin of ignoring her true feelings and urges her to “touch the ground”, but it fails to win her over. Ted walks out frustrated, but breaks his promise by trying to get Robin again by doing a rain dance. After he convinces a girl Barney hooked up with twice to help him (as she has a Ph.D. in Native American studies), Ted tries to do a rain dance, which ultimately proves successful, and he then goes over to Robin’s. Ted yells up to her from the street, telling her to come down (alluding to his previous demands for her to “touch the ground”), and the two finally become a couple.

“While Ted is finally finding success, Marshall is encountering the opposite. After having learned about Lily’s acceptance into an art fellowship in San Francisco, he begins to worry that their relationship is in danger. Marshall and Lily argue almost non-stop as to what will happen and Lily reveals that, despite having promised herself she would not go, she actually wants to, even though the wedding is only weeks away. Due to the length of their arguments, Marshall and Lily have developed a “pause function”, allowing them to temporarily drop the argument to do something else. As the argument reaches a head, Lily tries to pause the argument but Marshall refuses, which leads to the two having sex.

“As Ted heads back in a cab from Robin’s apartment, Future Ted tells his kids that although New York looked the same, in one night everything had changed. Ted’s high spirits quickly dampen when he finds Marshall sitting on the steps of the apartment complex in the rain, with Lily having gone to San Francisco and called off the engagement. Ted comforts him, knowing that Marshall has lost the only girl he had ever loved.”

So John, what did you think of this episode as a whole?

John: Well first off, I have to say that’s a pretty good synopsis of the entire episode even though we’re not going thru a sort of running commentary, I think that summed everything up.

Hayley: Pretty much. Like I was reading it before and I was thinking ‘that hits all the beats’. I don’t think there’s anything they really left out.

John: No, they really didn’t miss anything.

Hayley: No, no. There was a rating system down the bottom. There’s an option where you can say how well-written it was and it’s five star as far as I’m concerned. So anyway…

John: On the whole this is one of my favourite episodes of the series overall so far which is why I wanted to come on here and talk about it. Really for me, it does a great job of moving deftly between comedy and drama that a lot of shows don’t do this well, especially within a 30 minute and 20 minute sort of sitcom genre as this show is. I also and, it was really kind of that end moment where they had the Bloc Party song playing in the background that for me really cemented that show as something special. I had been watching it sort of casually the first season as it was going on and I was thinking ‘Yeah, this is cute, you know this is fun”. But really when I got to that end it was like wow, I really like that they did sort of take the time to deal with really serious important issues, it’s not just you know, with wacky fun and games all the time with no consequences. It kind of reminds me a little of what Friends did back in its day. It was around for like ten years. And like that’s the only kind of show that I can sort of compare this to. They’re both set in New York and they both have an ensemble cast that you love that go thru an awful lot and it’s not just wacky pratfalls and slapstick, although there is some of that here.

Hayley: (laughs) Lots of slapping in this one!

John: Yeah, yeah! And the other thing I also like… I had forgotten how early they started building their mythology. You have the slapping and in the previous episode you had the thing with showing someone pictures of, when someone picks up a glass to drink from it, then gets shown a picture of ‘No apparently I did something horrible to that glass so you can’t drink out of it’. And I hadn’t realised that they started that kind of stuff this early and sometimes they would carry that stuff sometimes seasons ahead. Sometimes we’ll get a call back to it, way later and I think that’s something How I Met Your Mother does all on its own. I can’t think of anything else to compare it to in that regard.

Hayley: I definitely agree. I keep thinking I want to write this article about how How I Met Your Mother is the new Friends and just all the dynamics so I think you definitely hit that on the head. I was reading an article the other day with the series creators and they were talking about how they were kind of the Lost of sitcoms where they take things and run with it three seasons later and you go, ‘Oh yeah. That was that episode where this happened’ and it’s very well done and they obviously have great continuity and know their characters inside out and to know where they’re going with the story and being able to just pull those tiny little threads and draw it back. As you say, this season has just been ripe with all that stuff that as we get further into the show is just really really going to open up and draw on things that they’ve laid here in this first season. You really don’t realise just how much mythology and things they’re really laying the groundwork for and just how well built up it is. I mean, in, as you say twenty five, thirty minutes, so much happens. Like, we have so much happen just in the first four minutes. We’ve got Ted talking to that gang, and then we cut in quickly to Robin and then back to them and then back to Robin. It cuts so quickly and so much happens that I just think that they’re so brilliant. I love this show. So that’s just me.

So, we’ll start with probably the lesser…what did you think of what was going on with Barney in this episode?

John: You mean in relation to his relationship with the girl that he had hooked up with?

Hayley: Yep.

John: I actually thought it was funny that they…cause I think this is actually the first time, and one of the only times, that we get one of Barney’s conquests sort of come back, and naturally she’s angry at him for you know, hooking up with her twice. And apparently he also hit on her mother. But I like that their relationship is not so far gone (chuckles) that apparently they end up hooking up again by the episode end and just immediately jumping each other and making out at the bar. The other thing that made me happy was that that character was played by Amy Acker.

Hayley: Yay! Yeah, Amy Acker, she’s gorgeous.

John: Yeah from Dollhouse and as well Angel. A Joss Whedon staple. You know, those show creators for How I Met Your Mother, they’re huge Buffy fans so in order to get Alyson Hannigan, Amy Acker and Alexis Denisof, who plays Sandy Rivers, all in an episode together I think is pretty awesome. And you know, also now, although not at this time, we have now Neil Patrick Harris is added to that list and we get sort of Joss Whedon…

Hayley: Whedonites.

John: Yeah. You know, they have that. I think also, Cobie Smulders is in The Avengers so there you go.

Hayley: Yes. Yeah, we’re racking them up.

John: Anytime any of those actors show up on a show like this it makes me happy, because it also gives them a chance to do that sitcom flavour of comedy. Cause, Amy Acker, I think I’d actually like to see that character show up again cause we don’t know if, like okay, did they just hook up again that one time and they just did that as a fun joke or did they…at least not at this point, they’ve never brought that character back and I’d like to see them do so.

Hayley: Yeah. She’s really sweet. I love Amy Acker so I completely agree. It’s fun having all those Buffy characters show up. I’m a big Buffy fan, I mean my username on the site is Aussie Slayerette so you know, right there, that’s a given. So I really love that in this episode. I actually realised when I watched it again that this is another time where we do see Sandy Rivers, Alexis Denisof, which I think I mentioned either last week or previous week’s that that was the final time but this is actually the final time for this season.  And I think he was really cute in that role that he plays it so well and we get to see a slightly different side of him where he’s being a bit sincere and not just the cocky sort of guy so that was really cool to see as well. Love the Joss Whedon people!

John: Yeah, you kind of find out in this episode he’s not a complete snake. He’s sort of crass and overly cocky but he’s also kind of a nice guy. He tells Robin, ‘No, I genuinely like you’ and he also goes out of his way to make sure that she gets his job that he leaves for CNN. And he didn’t have to do that. He would have gained nothing from doing that especially if he were leaving. I think that’s really cool.

Hayley: And I love the banter that they have onscreen where they’re just like, ‘Oh, you better take a rain check’ and they do the tv reporter thing which I thought was really cute. They had a nice little rhythm there.  And you guys will notice that the weatherman there which they call ‘Lou’ is actually the same guy who did ‘Vampire Lou’ in the previous episode with the award show a couple of episodes ago.

John: Oh yeah!

Hayley: Yeah, it’s the same guy. Like ‘Oh, it’s you’. Which I only worked out from listening to the cast commentary for this episode so I can’t say I’m that good. (Laughs) I was told. From the cast.

John: Well I had completely forgotten about it so that’s a new one on me.

Hayley: So that’s a little fun fact for that aspect.  So just still on Barney, what did you think of him on his relationship with Ted in this episode?

John: I think it was interesting that Barney was actually the voice of reason for Ted.

Hayley: Yeah, that’s a great line.

John: And he even says, you know ‘You’re making me the voice of reason and I don’t like it’. It’s interesting considering, especially concerning Ted confidence over his efforts to win the girl, usually Barney would be all for that and would be going out of his way to help him.

Hayley: Oh yeah. That completely. And it’s such a crazy scheme really and Barney’s all about the crazy schemes so it’s interesting to see him not jumping on the band wagon with that one.

John: Even if it was just to laugh at Ted, but no, this is the one instance where he really asserts himself as Ted’s best friend as he likes to call himself. And he says, ‘No. I think what you’re doing is awful and I think you should stop it’. I think that says a lot about Barney, about he’s approaching this because normally he would just be like, ‘Yeah. Totally do it.’ Either be like ‘I’m gonna help you achieve your goal’ or ‘I’m gonna be sitting in the background laughing at you’ when at one point, when Ted is doing his rain dance he does kind of go…he’s looking at his watching and he goes ‘Funny. Still funny. Funny. And now it’s just sad.’ But he does stay up there with Ted the whole time.

Hayley: He does, yeah, even after Penelope’s gone.

John: Yeah, she leaves.

Hayley: Yeah, and he still supports him. I think I’ve said this before on the show, I think Barney does have that depth to him that we do get to see in these shining moments where he does care about his friends, he does genuinely want the best for them and if he sees them doing something which is not going to get them there he does he will do what he can to correct them back onto what he thinks is a better path by in this episode, by telling Ted that it’s a silly idea and stuff. That the Universe is going to slap him and stuff. And I think too, on another note, this kind of plays into Barney’s thing too where he doesn’t like committed relationships, like he’s always going on at Marshall and Lily for getting married and stuff. And I think really in this instance he tries to get Ted to back down because, I mean, he’s always gun-ho for Ted to just hook up with someone for the fun of it, but when it’s something actually serious he doesn’t want to go there. Maybe that’s part of his motivation there as well. He wants Ted to stay single like him and enjoy that sort of lifestyle rather than lose his best friend to a committed relationship perhaps.

John: Definitely. I think that’s a lot of what Barney does and says. And I think also that one of the reasons why Barney in that regard doesn’t want to lose Ted is that he feels like he wants Ted to be his sort of partner in his pursuit of having these one night stands with these women. It’s interest because Barney, as we’ll learn later, is a very lonely character and not for the reasons you might think. It’s not necessarily just because of all these women that he goes thru as if they were tissue paper. It runs a lot deeper than that. There’s a lot of different layers to it. So I like…I think it’s interesting that…he’s not necessarily wrong that it’s crazy to keep going after Robin like this but there is also that aspect where he doesn’t want to see all his friends go off and have relationships and get married because he feels like they’re just going to forget about him and abandon him and he’s just going to be alone again.

Hayley: Definitely. All right. So moving from Barney, aside from the whole Ted/Robin stuff, the biggest stuff in this episode is what’s going on with Marshall and Lily. So we have the phone call from last week’s episode about the art fellowship that Lily was trying to get into and she got it, so we kind of have the fallout from that decision in this episode. What did you think of Lily’s decision and all that?

John: On the one hand I have sympathy for Lily and what she’s going thru in term of , you know, sometimes you can get married too young and it’s not that you don’t love the person that you’re with it that you feel like there’s so much stuff you need to get out of your system first before you settle down. My feeling was always just, why can’t they still be engaged and push the wedding back a little. They hadn’t set a date yet…

Hayley: No they had, because they had that dream place booked which was what pulled it forward in the first place.

John: Oh, that’s right. So yeah, I almost feel like man, you know it’s gonna be a little bit crazy and tough but support your wife like, ‘I know I think that’s awesome and you should totally go for it and I’m gonna come with you. We’ll be together on this and I’ll be there to share in this experience that you’re probably gonna have to support you and everything’. I feel like they’re making this bigger than it needs to be and into an argument which it shouldn’t be. But I also understand why Lily was doing it but it’s also unfortunate that she couldn’t just go to Marshall and talk about it with him.

Hayley: And I think that’s the stuff that Marshall is struggling with. He says, ‘I want to support this, I do, but it just feels like you’re gonna have this experience and it’s gonna change you and you’re not going to want to be with me anymore’. I think you’re right. Probably if this was a bit more real world they would have a fight and then discuss it and maybe try and make it work. It’s only for a couple of months really and if they’ve been together for like ten years at this point then really a couple of months should not shake them that much.

John: Right. I think that’s the other too is if he’s not going to go with her, if there’s a reason why he can’t or something, then with technology and communication being what it is today, I mean, for example, you’re in Australia and I’m not and we’re practically a day apart in time and we’re carrying on a conversation right now talking about this show and how much we love it. So there’s ways around this stuff even though Lily is in one part of the world and Marshall is in another, they can still interact with each other, keep in touch.

Hayley: And it’s the same country. Telephones work in the same country.

John: Exactly. The other things too, I think to remember, is that both Lily and Marshall are young. And the thing that’s there but clearly doesn’t get addressed is that Marshall feels…he’s feeling insecure. He’s having some self esteem issues about how strong their relationship is. He’s worried that he’s…if they’re separated she’ll see grass greener on the other side and not want to come back to him. He feels that he’s not enough for her.

Hayley: Completely.

John: He takes it personal for her to decide that she wants to go off and do this.

Hayley: And I think too that, which is quite warranted, the fact that she did keep it from him must hurt a lot.

John: Yeah. The fight would not have been as severe and it might not have even happened at all if she would have actually approached this situation calmly. If she’d have just come to him, like initially. The fact that she tried to hide it from him kind of raised a red flag, like ‘Why did you need to keep this from me? What does that mean for our relationship?’

Hayley: I think you can even, even from the word go and the answering machine message plays you see Marshall look at her and the look he has on his face and even just his tone of voice when he’s all ‘What do you mean art fellowship?’ and Lily’s all shocked and upset. And I think just that tiny little bit he just played so well, he’s so in the character and you can see the insecurity on his face that he’s trying to maintain his cool but he’s clearly upset by what he’s just heard and he wants an explanation because he’s been blind sighted by it.

John: Especially considering they’ve been together for so long and so they share everything so it’s really got to mess with his head when he gets something big like this on an answering machine and it’s not…he’s not aware of it, it doesn’t involve him at all so he’s really been blind sighted by it all. Like ‘I can’t even trust my soon-to-be wife to be open and honest with me’.

Hayley: Yeah. Poor Marshall. Poor Lily.

John: Yeah. I have sympathy for Lily but Marshall is the one I feel the worst for.

Hayley: Totally. She’s clearly done the wrong thing and should have spoken to him and then she just decides to bolt in the end really, and walk out on the relationship so that’s pretty crummy. I can just hear Thomas/ChronoFett just crying in this episode because of all this happening, Hi there to Thomas, but yeah. All right. So we’ve got Marshall and Lily in disarray. I love the pause function they have on their fights. I thought that was cute.

John: Yeah. Cause you at it and you think, ‘You know what? I’d really like to use that in my next relationship’. You also see it not working like when they both start breaking down in the seafood restaurant. Even butter sauce can’t save this moment.

Hayley: Yep. And they’re clapping and crying.

John: Yeah, with the Happy Birthday thing. Yeah. And it’s also kind of like a young, childish thing where they can go, ‘Yeah we’ll just pause this like a video game’. Where like, no you really, you have to deal with it. Only then, when you’ve dealt with it and hopefully had a happy resolution to that incident, only then can you go ‘Okay let’s go out and enjoy ourselves publicly in a seafood restaurant’ and enjoy butter sauce. You can’t really just stick a pin in this and then go have fun.

Hayley: (Laughs) Yeah, exactly right. And they even do it around their friends and stuff. There’s a bit where the gang leave them alone at the bar and then they un-pause and keep going on with their fight and stuff. I think it adds…something this show does well, as you said before, it cuts between drama and comedy and we’ve had all this seriousness that’s between them that sort of makes you feel uncomfortable because you do love these characters and you don’t like seeing them go thru this stuff so they throw in this little light bit to divert you from the seriousness but also to get deeper into what’s really happening so I thought that that was a really great thing that the writer’s threw in there.

John: Right. I do also like that they use the pause function, when they’re around their friends, to sort of couch it and say ‘Ok, this is about us and we’re not going to drag our friends into it’ and they take the time to go ‘Hmm maybe there is something our friends are going thru that we can take the time to help them with so we’re not going to make this about us right now’. It’s interesting how in the previous episode Lily kind of dragged Ted into everything that was going on with her and that, again like I was saying, building the mythology, that I forgot they set up some of these things this early. She will end up doing that later where instead of talking to Marshall she specifically contacts Ted and has him meet her somewhere. That comes later in the series, and I think that’s really interesting.

Hayley: Yeah, definitely. And the three of them definitely have an interesting and perhaps a little unhealthy family dynamic. I mean there’s three of them essentially in that relationship and it’s not always for the betterment of those three people. Ted gets pulled in. Brief spoilers. There’s an episode ahead next season I think, where Marshall and Lily have just come to some sort of an agreement and Ted’s gone somewhere and he comes back and they’re hugging him very smotheringly because they’re like ‘Don’t ever leave us again’ and stuff. Bit of an unhealthy relationship between the three of them, I think it’s sort of now, moving past that, we’ll see a little bit of that divulging and having the three of them broken up and Ted being forced ultimately to take a side between the two of them.

Stay tuned for Part Two of the transcript where Hayley and John discuss the characters Ted and Robin in depth. Coming very soon!

Ever since Mad Men put them on the map, AMC has seen one of the quickest rises in television history. Less than four years after their flagship show’s premiere, the network has become one of the most oft-discussed and go-to places for compelling cable television, elevating basic cable as a sub-medium of television like HBO did with premium cable when that channel came on the scene with original programming in the mid-90s. AMC followed up this success a few months later with the runaway hit that is Breaking Bad (which, if you ask me, is an even better show), which is about as far away from a sophomore slump as you can get.

In just three short years, both Mad Men and Breaking Bad have received seemingly limitless critical acclaim and award recognition for their respective compelling dramas and creative teams. Throw in the  massive ratings homerun that is The Walking Dead and you can pretty much call AMC one of the most successful channels on television right now.

And yet, recent developments make me ask: what the hell?

First there was the cancellation of Rubicon, with AMC refusing to give the “compelling drama” a further pickup and thusly not letting them continue the long-form story they clearly had to tell. Then there was The Killing, which started off with a promising pilot, got picked up, and then aired one of the most polarizing finales of all time, which (amongst other things) has been called “The Worst Season Finale of All Time“. Then there was the news that Frank Darabont has “stepped down” as showrunner of The Walking Dead, despite writing and directing one of the strongest pilots I’ve ever seen and helming an incredibly successful first season. And now there’s news that AMC is having trouble negotiating the forthcoming end of Breaking Bad with Sony.

As I’ve stated previously, AMC is at the foreground of every critic’s watch list. More than even HBO, people are dying to know what AMC’s going to do next. Up until The Killing, they’ve had nothing but hits (just don’t mention The Prisoner), but has The Killing hurt AMC?

As an up-and-coming screenwriter, I often feel I don’t write enough. For me, it’s all about drive and having a deadline and some people to make sure I stay on track. Like a support system. Like NaNoWriMo. Or Script Frenzy.

But sometimes I feel bereft of ideas or lacking in that support unit, and NaNoWriMo and Script Frenzy are both only two months out of the year. So… what if we did something different? Something every couple months that only goes for ten days, but demands bunches of creativity and generating tons of content.

The idea I’ve come up with, my friends, is “10 in 10″.

Here’s how it works. You have ten days to write the first draft of ten short films. And by short films, I mean micro-films. Minimum three pages, but no maximum to speak of. Personally, I’d shoot for 3-7 pages per day, but there is no maximum. Just tell a full story. You write one a day (or more if you fall behind), and at the end of those ten days you’ll hopefully have yourself some cool writing, maybe something that you can shoot with your friends or something that you can expand upon later and turn into a longer short film or even a film. Much like NaNoWriMo, the point is just to keep moving forward and to not look back.

Now because it’s so free-wheeling and it doesn’t really matter what you do (and honestly, if that sounds cool and you already have your ten ideas, Great! Know we start August 1st and follow the #10in10 hashtag on Twitter; see you out there!), I’ve designed two major constraints (genre and form) that I plan on following over the course of this 10 day, 10 script sprint.

The first I’ll mention (because it’s briefer) is a form constraint: Specifically, that of your ten screenplays, at least four of them need to be completely silent. This comes from my own personal desire to get back to basics and tell a story from a completely visual perspective without relying on dialogue as a crutch to just reach your three-page count for the day. Think of Wall-E and how much more effective that movie is without relying on dialogue and by telling the story visually. Additionally, these can be for any day you choose (again, free-wheeling) and for as many as you want, but if you choose the constraint then by the end AT LEAST four should be silent.

The second is a genre constraint. Because you’re writing ten scripts, you should be free to dabble in whatever genre you want, flitting from genre to genre so you can expand your horizons. Here’s the list of genres I’ve chosen in the order in which I plan to write them. Feel free to do yours in any order (if you choose to do this constraint) or to apply the silent constraint to any one of them.

1) Action
2) Romance/Romantic Comedy
3) Horror
4) Adventure
5) Thriller
6) Sci-fi
7) Western
8) Fantasy
9) Crime
10) “Slice of Life” (which would be something simple, like people around a kitchen table talking about family issues or something.)

I’m not sure which scripts I want to do silently, but I encourage you to pick ones that you’d think would be challenging or even impossible. You’d be amazed what you can do with just words on a page and no dialogue if given the opportunity, especially in a genre setting.

So yeah. Those are the rules and the little project we’re doing. There’s no need to pre-plan or outline or come up with tons of ideas. Treat each day like a rough sketch of something you want to talk about that day, like Micro-NaNoWriMo, but for screenplays/short stories.

Them’s the rules, and make sure you’re following me on Twitter (@GungaDin) or the hashtag #10in10 for more details and to see how everyone else is doing in the thing. Feel free to start a discussion thread in the comments here with updates on how you’re feeling or what writer’s block you might be having. If there’s enough demand we could do daily posts or whatever to make sure you stay on track. Whatever works. I am flexible.

Wheels up on August 1st! See you out there!

But there’s still a treasure trove of villains and ideas that have appeared on the Classic series who could use an appearance on the current iteration of Doctor Who. It’s a hot topic for discussion, but here’s a few Villains who I feel have untapped potential that our favourite sci-fi show can (and should) exploit.

5) The Black Guardian: The nefarious antithesis to The White Guardian, The Black Guardian is still bitter that The Doctor foiled his plan to reboot the universe by assembling and using The Key to Time. Eventually he devolved into turning potential companions against The Doctor, dressing like a drag queen, and murdering birds so he could use them as hats.

The Black Guardian is one of those villains The Doctor could never defeat without outthinking him. As a Transcendental Being and the manifestation of all darkness and chaos in the universe, his power is seemingly limitless, spanning all of time and space. If used properly, The Black Guardian could literally rain hell upon The Doctor, and how our noble hero would get out of that is anyone’s guess. Because of his behind-the-scenes manipulation of people and events, this Guardian would make an excellent foil to Matt Smith’s Doctor, giving him a dose of his own medicine with a flair for manipulation and scheming.

4) Zygons: Zygons are shape-changing beings The Doctor once encountered in a UNIT adventure back in the 70s (or was it the 80s?). Looking like they’re made of giant, squishy coral, they’re most famous for using the Loch Ness Monster (which they called a Skaracen) against The Doctor. Additionally, Zygons could use their abilities to manipulate events or invade on a massive scale, abducting and impersonating important people (like my dog) and using them to cozy Earth into a vulnerable situation, ripe for invasion.

Suddenly, the world could turn into a giant pointing fingers game like that time the Founders infiltrated Starfleet or there were only 12 Cylon models. What is the Zygon plan? How will they accomplish it? Who is a Zygon and who isn’t? The answer, really, is that the Zygon is that sandwich you just ate for lunch. And now it is inside of you. And now you are screwed.

3) Omega: One of the founding members of Time Lord society, Omega was Rassilon’s bro in the days leading up to the Gallifreyans transcending into Time Lords. Rassilon (who didn’t have the stones to just break off the bromance with typical words) tricked Omega into sacrificing himself for the Time Lord cause by trapping him in a black hole so they could harness its power to fuel the Eye of Harmony. Suddenly stranded in the backwards upside down quarry of that black hole, Omega used his will to bend reality to suit his needs, going so far as to will his form into being despite the fact that he had been obliterated.

Watching The Doctor go up against Time Lords is always terribly exciting, more so even if the Time Lord in question happened to be an extremely powerful, strong-willed founder of the entire society, then that makes it even more exciting and dramatic. The Doctor having to outthink and out-will one of the greatest and strongest Time Lords who ever lived is a totally awesome and compelling thing. Also, if you ask me Omega really needs a better story cuz his last appearance? Totally pathetic.

2) The Ice Warriors: Created and only ever written on television by Brian Hayles, The Ice Warriors are the somewhat-legendary Lizard Warriors from Mars. Seven to eight feet in height, they are in desperate need of an update in just about every sense of the word. Their original design is totally sixties and totally ridiculous (they look like turtles), and their weakness (heat) is the only way they’re EVER defeated. Ever. Every time they show up, you always beat them by just making the room really hot, so one good Care Bear quality hug would take them right out.

The Ice Warriors are [in theory] my favourite villains. I imagine them with long, dripping tongues, wearing armor, carrying halberds, and attempting to conquer the solar system. Seven foot dragons on legs marching in rank and file and snarling and stuff. That’s awesome. Let’s make that happen. If only the Silurians weren’t basically the ideal Ice Warrior design…

1) The Meddling Monk: For my money, The Meddling Monk is the coups de grace of all the Classic series villains. The first other Time Lord ever introduced in the series, The Monk’s initial plan was to screw with time to better shape it to his vision. Despite acting as a true Lord of Time in every sense of the word, The Doctor foiled his plan and The Monk swore revenge.

In his televised appearances, The Monk was portrayed by Peter Butterworth, and while I really do like Butterworth as an actor, his portrayal of the character was less than serious and a little too jokey for my tastes. While The Master was originally conceived as Moriarty to The Doctor’s Sherlock Holmes, The Master rarely felt like a true antithesis character. His goals were usually unclear or cardboard (either he wants to take over the universe or kill The Doctor; very boring) and he degenerated to being just a simple, typical archnemesis when really his whole thing shoulda been more antithesisy.

Playing The Monk totally straight, as a guy who just manipulates time simply in the hope of “making it better” or tweaking it so it matches “the greater good” is a fantastic position in which the Doctor Who team could put The Doctor. Nevermind that it’s a great position in which to put The Doctor, you also give the character of The Monk a clear, defined goal and a very specific character (he has a god complex).

Most recently, he appeared in the final season of Paul McGann’s Big Finish 8^th Doctor Adventures to tremendous effect, functioning as a wonderful foil for The Doctor and bringing in tons of drama and excitement to the proceedings. If you’re interested in hearing some fantastic use of The Monk, check them out (specifically the stuff starting with Sheridan Smith as Lucie Miller, because that whole season is the culmination of the previous three years).

Honorable Mention: Morgaine and her Space Knights: Appearing in “Battlefield”, Morgaine is an transdimensional witch who (along with her son Mordred) led a team of space knights in a quest to bring down Arthur and his kingship. That’s right. She’s Morgan LeFay from Arthurian Legend, but from an alternate universe and a world in which she defeated Arthur and his knights once and for all. And The Doctor was there. And he was Merlin.

And that’s awesome. Doctor Who explored Arthurian legend and did a badass story with it. But not only that! The events of “Battlefield” were the results of the aftermath to The Doctor’s REAL first fight with Morgaine (which The Doctor hadn’t yet experienced) in which The Doctor semi-defeated her but lost Arthur in the process. And while there was a small little mini-story that claimed to be the sequel in question (or whatever), I could hardly call that canon (despite the 8^th Doctor’s presence). No, bring them back. Make it a big, giant, exciting Medievalish war. And that mythic legend stuff of The-Doctor-as-Merlin bleeds right into Moffat’s fascination with The Doctor as an icon. Which is awesome. The Doctor as Merlin? Let’s bring that back!

Those are just some of the ideas I have. (I woulda mentioned The Valeyard, but that’s a whole different topic to discuss). What are some villains who haven’t returned who you think would make an awesome return in Nu-Who?

I’m a pretty big sci-fi tv buff.  But I’m also pretty critical of what I watch.  I won’t just watch any old thing cuz I’m bored, you need get me invested with a good plot and strong character work, or I’ll stop watching.  So when I first heard about TNT’s new series Falling Skies, I was interested, but wary.

Sure, the trailer looked good, but that’s the job of a trailer, to make things look good.  The show seemed right up my alley (alien invasion, human resistance/survival in a post-apocalyptic world) but it could really go either way.

So when my parents and younger brother made a big deal about sitting down to watch the premiere last week, I decided to pass.  I tend not to trust my family’s judgment on most things television, since they’re the sort of people who choose to watch The Biggest Loser instead of catching up on Doctor Who with me.  But I digress.

Then I started hearing good things about the premiere cropping up on the internet, and when Damon Lindelof tweeted about it, that sold me (because I’ll follow that guy everywhere, including what he’s watching on television apparently. I’m easy).  I had to watch this show.

And now here I am, reviewing for you guys.  So how did it hold up?  And is it worth tuning in? (Slight SPOILERS…)

The thing I’m most struck by when it comes to Falling Skies is how much potential it has.  The pilot does what it’s supposed to, introducing the world, characters, and the overall goal of the series, but it’s not overly remarkable in the way it does those things.  In fact, the two episodes that premiered last Sunday felt rather familiar.

I’ve seen some criticism of the show from people saying it’s basically The Walking Dead but with aliens instead of zombies.  And while there are differences… at this point, they’re not wrong.  I’ve seen these plot scenarios before, and I’ve seen them done better.  But I’m sticking with this show, because I honestly think there is a ton of potential for awesome.

The pilot episode opens with a voice over of a child (Tom’s youngest son Matt, as we soon discover) explaining essentially what happened during and immediately after the invasion of the spider-like “Skitters” (I really dig the design of these aliens, they remind me of the one from Super 8).  And then we’re thrust into some action and explosions, witnessing human resistance fighters we don’t yet care about retreating from said aliens and “Mechs,” the sizeable robots engineered by the aliens as weapons to use in overtaking the earth (they’re like giant clunky Cylons, really).

I wasn’t a fan of this hook or the giant exposition info dump we get in the first ten to fifteen minutes of the episode.  Even when they got into introducing the characters and their situation, it was still hard for me to keep track of everyone as well as focus on the situation at hand and the possible subtleties that might be going on between the characters and the way they interacted with each other (I’m sure I’d benefit from a rewatch at some point).  It was a lot to juggle, which I think was an ambitious choice that didn’t exactly pan out too well.

But opening issues aside, by the time this episode really got started and our main character(s) headed off on their reconnaissance mission, I was into it.  And by the time some most perilous danger befell them, I was hooked (if you’re able to make me say “oh sh*t!” out loud while watching, we’re generally in a good place.  I’m invested).

So far, one of my big complaints about this show is the characters—or, rather, the lack of development.  I feel like the only one I really have a handle on so far is Tom Mason (the main character, played by Noah Wyle, who is quite good).  Even then, though, that’s pretty tenuous.  I like that his background is in education, and not in the military or the police or anything where he’s accustomed to using a weapon and being all militarized.  It’s an interesting choice, and I like that he’s not in his element, but the show doesn’t really give us much of a chance to see that so far.  We get a lot of people talking about how he’s just a history professor, but it seems to me he’s good in a fight and he’s a good leader.

This discrepancy/telling-not-showing arises because we start en media res several months into the occupation of earth, which I like because it just tosses us into the situation and forces us to kinda think and go with it, learning things along the way as we see these characters interact.  But the flip side of this is it’s alienating (pardon the pun) and detrimental to the development of the character.  Instead of learning about the world and being introduced to the ancillary characters with our lead; instead of witnessing the journey and metamorphosis of this history professor into the second-in-command of this group of resistance fighters calling themselves the 2^nd Massachusetts, we’re tossed in and expected to learn and catch up to the status quo as it has been for a while now.  That leaves me very little to connect emotionally with these characters at the start.

And while they give Tom an emotional arc and a goal to push towards as the season progresses (the rescuing of his son Ben from the Skitters), the other characters are sorely lacking.  Watching these first two episodes, they’ve been focusing pretty much on Tom for the most part, but I get the feeling that this show can/may turn into straight ensemble really quickly, which is an issue if we can’t get invested in the other characters and better understand and root for them.  Sure, Hal wants to get his brother back, but what else is driving him?  And what about Doctor Glass?  What about Karen, and all the other people I’m supposed to be caring about but can’t for the life of me remember their names (which just tells you how far they have to go)?

I’m especially interested in how they choose to develop and portray the various female characters on the show.  I like that they have a badass, gun-toting blonde on a motorbike, but I want to see her as a complete person and not just a badass, gun-toting blonde.  Round out Karen’s character.  Develop her.  Give her actiony things to do, don’t just relegate that to the guys.  (They get a little further in this respect with the introduction of Maggie in the second episode, but she looks really similar to Karen, which is a casting choice I question.  Hopefully they do something with this in the future?)

I could keep going, but I’m going to cut myself short, because ultimately, I really want you guys to watch this show.  I know I’ve been going on about my problems with it, but Falling Skies proved to be quite enjoyable and interesting overall.  It’s an ambitious series with an abundance of characters to work with and (hopefully) develop, and a lot of potential to explore not only the post-apocalyptic world it’s introduced us to, but also issues that face us in the everyday mundanity of real life (which is what the best science fiction tends to do).

While not without its flaws, Falling Skies has a lot going for it, and I know I’ll be tuning in week to week from now on.  Hopefully you decide to join the ranks of the 2^nd Massachusetts as well.

(Falling Skies airs on TNT every Sunday at 10 pm.)

I’ve been a Marvel fan for the past six and a half years, going all the way back to Bendis’s New Avengers #1. At the time, I never in a million years thought I could pick up a Marvel book, but hey. I got hooked and I’ve been reading your comics in mass opiate quantities ever since.

But I’m going to have to quit you.

I know times are tight and tensions are running high. I know the comics market is shrinking. Individual issue sales are down and decreasing across the board. Having giant movie blockbusters every summer doesn’t seem to be affecting monthly issue sales too much (especially in terms of people coming into the stores). Both you and DC are having a hard time, but that’s okay for you because you guys are the bigger, stronger company at the moment. Your books are dripping with talent and creativity and it’s showing in the numbers.

But I don’t know why you insist on continuing this petty rivalry even in the face of adversity.

I’m all for rivalries. Competition makes the world go round. But when your brand of competition comes out on Twitter and in interviews as jabs and digs, you guys come off sounding petty and immature. Take the September Previews catalog, for instance. You thought it best to take a swipe at DC by advertising your solicitations with tags like  “Uncanny X-Men: Still #543!” or “New Avengers: Still #16!” in some attempt to make yourselves look good in the wake of DC’s complete #1 relaunchment in September. Nevermind the fact that Uncanny X-Men is canceled and rebooting after issue #544 (October’s issue) or that New Avengers just relaunched 16 issues ago (I remember, I was there). Anything to show that you guys are the bigger guy.

And as if that’s not bad enough, you have someone like C.B. Cebulski, a talent scout and widely known, high profile, upper echelon, Senior Vice President at your company, coming out and SLAMMING DC over Twitter for its most recent Green Lantern film by saying:

“Man, DC just loves the number 52, huh? They even used it in their weekend GL movie grosses. Good thing we like bigger numbers at @Marvel!”

I can’t help but get a little offended at the sheer unprofessionalism of his comment. Granted, Cebulski later said it was a “nice little jab” and he was just “poking fun at the competition,” but that doesn’t really sound so much it’s “all in good fun” as much as it is pointing and laughing at someone and using that to brag about one’s own awesomeness. It’s petty, it’s cheap, and it’s kicking the competition when it’s down. Was Green Lantern perfect? Hell no. I’m the first to admit that. But does that mean one of your top guys has to backhand the competition on a bad day?

And fine, maybe that’s just Cebulski talking off the cuff (if Twitter could be considered off the record, which it isn’t), but I don’t really see him apologizing or thinking he did anything wrong. Nor do I see anyone at Marvel saying “the views of Mr. Cebulski are just Mr. Cebulski’s, not necessarily those of Marvel.” No. You must have heard it. Your company’s Twitter account follows him. He got plenty of @replies. He even spent some time firing back a few self-righteous responses. Surely it must be on your radar. Saying nothing tells me that either you’re ignorant of your employee’s actions in the public sector (which in the modern internet age is hard to believe, especially given his high profile) OR that you endorse this rhetoric and behavior (which is unprofessional and immature, to say the least). Given what I know about you as a company, I’m almost certain it’s the latter.

The worst part of all this? This is par for the course. This ritualistic DC bashing is the sort of thing we see from your people all the time at Con panels and on Twitter. When it’s mean-spirited and personal, that’s not you being the cute rival, it’s roasting the competition simply to be a giant dick about it. This isn’t a roast. It’s a place where I expect some modicum of decency in the public sector. Behind closed doors, misbehave, berate, and bash as much as you want, fine. I can’t stop you. But there’s no need to alienate potential fans who like both major comics companies in favor of making the die-hard Marvel Zombies go “Heh heh, yeah. Fuck those guys.”

And if that’s your goal, to make the Die-Hard Marvel Zombie happy, then fine. I guess that’s your prerogative. But I have to ask, do you actually care about the Die-Hard Marvel Zombie?

I ask because at the time of this writing I’m just hours away from finding out what happens at the end of Ultimate Spider-man #160, the purported (but not really because you’re re-launching in September with a new #1, but I’m not here to bitch about that) final (again!) issue of Ultimate Spider-man, despite the fact that the issue won’t be coming out for another couple of days. I know this because Bendis was talking it up on Twitter this afternoon, bragging about how he got off the phone with the AP and USA Today and who knows who else so your company could tout and spoil the ending for Ultimate Spider-man so you can get as many people as you possibly can into the stores come Wednesday.

Fine. That’s business, I suppose. I mean, it worked for Captain America a few years back. And in Bendis’s own words, this is about getting the fans you don’t have, not about keeping the ones you do.

And I get that. You want the sexy chick across the bar, not the one who’s in your lap. But isn’t that basically saying existing Marvel fans don’t matter as much as potential Marvel fans? Isn’t that just kicking your existing base because you know you’ll get away with it?

You’re damn right it is. Because you know as well as I do that your fans aren’t going anywhere. You have enough fans that will stick around regardless of your behavior, fans you guilt into buying more comics so you can keep the existing ones alive, fans who will stick around despite you increasing prices on your books to $3.99 “because you can.” I know, because I’m one of them. Or, I used to be.

So when I hear about you guys doing this, I get outraged. I get livid. I’ve been buying and reading Ultimate Spider-man nonstop for the past eighty issues (that’s double-dipping single issues and trades) despite going through three years of high school and four years of college. And now, on the eve of this long, long story getting to one of its fantastic turning points, you’re going to kick me (a loyal customer) in favor of the hundred or so (max) people who are going to pick up the FINAL issue of your not-in-real-continuity Spider-man and then never pick up a comic again?

And you’re going to get away with this, Marvel. I know because C.B. Cebulski is not going to apologize (nor are you going to pretend to attempt to make him). I know because the people his comments are going to enrage won’t stop reading comics. I know because people are still reading Fantastic Four (even if it’s not called that). I know because this “revealing the ending before it happens” bullshit has become “something we as comics fans just have to live with” because “this is our reality.”

But not for me. I refuse to continue to put up with your bullshit. I refuse to ignore or put up with your immaturity. I refuse to have you spoil the stories I’m reading. I refuse to stand silently by while you kick your base to make a quick buck.

And it’s because of this, Marvel, that I have to quit you. I’ve been a loyal reader for six and a half years. I’ve bled THOUSANDS of dollars into your books since then. I’ve gotten tons of my friends into comics (not just yours, but yours too). I love your properties, I love your stories, I love your comics. I’ve loved, cried, and laughed at your books since becoming a Marvel fan.

But no more. I can’t handle your attitude and I can’t handle the way you treat a fan like me. How dare I decide to support DC’s failed movie so we can get more non-Batman-or-Superman DC movies? How dare I support non-spoiled stories (Super 8 only made $40 million its first weekend. What must C.B. Cebulski think of that)? How dare I demand maturity from a company owned by Disney, who would NEVER allow such discourse from executives or VPs in “more respected media” like film or television?

I think of it differently. More like how dare I continually support your company in the face of all this? I can’t. Maybe if you guys acted with a bit more professionalism, you could help make this medium look a bit more grown up. I’m done fighting against being viewed as immature while your company perpetuates just that mentality.

But that’s okay, guys. I’m sure your massive-and-ever-expanding-and-growing comic fanbase will keep you guys afloat. There’s plenty of fans to keep kicking around while you try to bring in more so you can do just that.

I’m sure I won’t be missed at all.

Sincerely,

Matt Smith

So yeah…this is actually happening. Stan Lee and Arnold Schwarzenegger are working on an animated Governator television series as well as a comic book! After watching this trailer/test footage looking video I can’t help but express complete astonishment. It’s really one of those things you have to experience for yourself.

Play Along: How many summer blockbuster movie references are there? I counted Iron Man, Transformers, Terminator, The Dark Knight, and The Matrix

-Reid Ackerman

After much speculation the role of Superman’s love interest and co-worker Lois Lane has been cast! Amy Adams who has appeared in The Figher, Enchanted, and much more has won the role! The film will be directed by Zack Snyder and is set for a December 2012 release. Does she have what it takes to play our Lois? Could this be the best Lois yet? Discuss!

-Reid Ackerman

We’ve all been speculating for a while that Joseph Gordon-Levitt would play a role in the The Dark Knight Rises. First, he was rumored to take over as The Joker, then it seemed everybody was tapping him for The Riddler, and today it was confirmed that he will indeed be playing Alberto Falcone. This character plays an extremely crucial role in the the Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale mini series Batman: The Long Halloween. If you want to know more about the character, this is the book you should check out.

In addition to Levitt, Juno Temple (Year One) has been cast in Dark Knight Rises as a “Street smart Gotham girl”. I have no idea where to begin on speculation for this role. any ideas?

UPDATE: ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY IS NOW CLAIMING THAT “A SOURCE CLOSE TO THE SITUATION” IS SAYING THE NEWS THAT “GORDON-LEVITT WILL PLAY ALBERTO FALCONE IS INCORRECT.” IF YOU WERE EXCITED FOR A MORE THE LONG HALLOWEEN TYPE STORY, IT MIGHT NOT HAPPEN.

]]> http://www.geekshow.us/content/articles/joseph-gordon-levitt-and-juno-temple-confirmed-for-dark-knight-rises/feed/ 2 http://www.geekshow.us/content/articles/first-photo-of-adrianne-palicki-in-wonder-woman-costume/ http://www.geekshow.us/content/articles/first-photo-of-adrianne-palicki-in-wonder-woman-costume/#comments Fri, 18 Mar 2011 23:35:12 +0000 ocdavenger http://www.geekshow.us/?p=7787 Our first official look at David E. Kelley’s Wonder Woman series!

So this is our first official look at the David E. Kelley’s live-action Wonder Woman television series being made for NBC. Judging by the photo I assume that the studio just wanted to get the photo out before anyone could snag a crappy quality set photo (a la The Amazing Spider-Man). There doesn’t seem to be a lot going for it and if anything I would mistake it for a Halloween costume model. Everything in the suit looks a little too plastic and fake for me. If anything my excitement (which wasn’t much) hasn’t changed. I’d like to get a look at trailer though and see the costume in action as well as the narrative.

What do you think?

When I first heard that Academy Award nominated director Darren Aronofsky would be directing the new Wolverine movie (now titled “The Wolverine”) I was both excited and puzzled at the same time. I didn’t understand why his next film would be a follow up to a movie that critically, was not very successful. Did he have a take on the character that no one had expressed yet? Was he a fan of the failed samurai stories? I guess we’ll never know because as of this morning Aronofsky has left the project. In a press statement he said:

“As I talked more about the film with my collaborators at Fox, who have been totally supportive throughout my work on the movie, it became clear that the production ofThe Wolverine would keep me out of the country for almost a year. I was not comfortable being away from my family for that length of time. I am sad that I won’t be able to see the project through, asit is a terrific script and I was very much looking forward to working with my friend, Hugh Jackman, again.”

Who’s your next choice for director?

-Reid Ackerman

A few days it was reported that Sandman, a comic book series by Neil Gaiman was being put on hold from becoming a television sereis. The series was supposedly being developed by Supernatural showrunner (Seasons 1-5) Eric Kripke. T’was a sad day or glorious day depending on your take of the adaptation. Cut to Geoff Johns, comic scribe and the Chief Creative Officer at DC Comics recently tweeting “Correction to world: The Sandman is AWAKE! :) Psyched to be working with @neilhimself on developing one of the greatest series ever!”, and “Sandman in any form – comics to live action – doesn’t work without @neilhimself #sandman“. Kripke’s involvement is still up in the air, however with Johns and Gaiman’s involvement I think we’re looking at some quality television here. While Sandman series is one of those series I’ve been really meaning to read, but just haven’t had the time yet, the promise of a television series gets me excited.

Anyone read Sandman? Is this a bad idea? Who would you cast?

-Reid Ackerman

Stumbling through the local comics news today I discovered an abundance of sketches by Skottie Young and Scott Morse. These drawings are translations of memorable Harry Potter characters and scenes from the movies and books. Skottie Young has gained recent fame from his beautifully and creatively illustrated The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and Scott Morse has done many graphic novels for Oni Press. These designs seem to blend and take bits and pieces from the movies, but also have their own style. Could these open the door for a Harry Potter comic?

What writer do you think would suit this art? A different artist you’d want? What would you like out of a Harry Potter comic?

Head over to http://www.skottiescott.com for more!

Skottie Young’s Mad Eye Moodie

Scott Morse’s Remus Lupin in Werewolf form

Skottie Young’s Sirius Black

-Reid Ackerman

Full list of topics after the jump!

• A quick rundown of the geekier aspects of our vacation
• Listener responses to last episodes question about geeky vacations
• Catching up on the latest eBook controversy, this time over Harper Collins’ new library ebook policy
• Mostly spoiler-free review of The Adjustment Bureau

And then the big topic – sex and nudity. When does it contribute to the story? Why do they affect the ratings differently than violence? Is it different when it’s an animated game vs. a movie with real actors? What about when it’s female nudity vs. male nudity?

As always, we’d love to hear your thoughts, either in a comment here, or at our new official e-mail address CoupleOfGeeks AT geekshow DOT us!

5. Fables

The first trade of the by Bill Willingham instantly hooks you on a common CSI seeming murder investigation of Rose Red. The series features all of our beloved storybook characters…seen in a completely different light. The Big Bad Wolf has become a chain-smoking detective, and after being exiled from their world, these fable characters must live amongst us and try to blend in. This comic at one point was in the market to become a ABC television series, however I haven’t heard anything on it being developed in the last few years. For ABC I don’t know if it could have the harsher elements that Willingham portrays in the book and is vital to the story. HBO is the place for it.

4. Irredeemable

With the exception of The Walking Dead, Irredeemable is one of the darkest comics I’ve read in while. Mark Waid, who’s spent a great deal of time in the superhero world, writing everything from The Flash to Captain America, scribes this melancholy tale. Irredeemable is the story of The Plutonian, a Superman type hero, who goes rouge and destroys the city he’s protected for so long. Why would this work as a TV series? The first trade seems to follow the supporting heroes who worked alongside The Plutonian during their crime fighting days. Each episode might be able to center around one of these characters and their relationship with the fallen hero. Another aspect that could be woven well in the television show is the questions you encounter when reading it. Why did he turn?  What is his origin? All these are potential plot points for a television series.

3. Jonah Hex

Jonah Hex really could be the next big period drama for HBO. In comics Hex generally lends itself to a one-and-done type of format. So far pretty much every issue of the new Jonah Hex run written by Jimmy Palmiotti allows the reader to easily access a story that doesn’t get bogged down by continuity. Hex as an HBO series could be spellbinding as it’s a gritty and sometimes heart wrenching tale includes very dark elements. A few subplot characters in each season and an over-arching story coupled with the accessibility could make Hex a frontrunner.

2. Gotham Central

This series could just be your typical crime drama (a la Law and Order and CSI), but ads a twist to it. What if these cops had to take down the arguably fiercest rouges in the DC Universe. Gotham Central gives readers a look on what would happen if real world police had larger than life crime. This series would allow for everything that viewers love about the crime drama harmoniously tied in with the DC Universe. Batman’s rouges cameos could be endless, not to mention a possible appearance by the Caped Crusader himself.

1. Y: The Last Man

Y: The Last Man possibly fueled my desire to read more books that didn’t involve the capes, cowls, and muscles. This series is centered around a plague that kills all the men off the earth, except for one, Yorick Brown. After the plague hits, Yorick, incognito, sets off with his partners trying to find why he’s still alive. The Brian K. Vaughn scribed series has the most character evolution of any comic I have ever read. The changes throughout the series would allow for an engaging television run. Filled with shocking season finale like moments, Y: The Last Man needs a series.

Am I wrong? What are you’re top 5? Discuss Below!!!!!

-Reid Ackerman

The Origin

Joss Whedon is one of the most notorious names in fandom with his collection of unforgettable characters, witty dialogue, and extreme character development. His Buffy The Vampire Slayer television series put a footprint in television history and defined a generation of geekdom. Whedon has always been known for writing strong woman characters, in fact, Buffy could be considered one of the most empowering female characters in popular media. It would seem only logical to have him direct the feature film of one of the most iconic woman characters in the DC Universe (if not the entire comics universe), Wonder Woman.

Beginnings and Endings

As Whedon was finishing up Serenity, the follow up film to his space western television series Firefly, it was announced by Warner Brothers that he would be writing and directing a film based on Wonder Woman. For two years Whedon was hard at work writing the script for the film and he wasn’t getting the best of feedback. When he would bring his script to the studio they would claim that really wasn’t what they were looking for and he would go rewrite it. He and the studio also seemed to see two very different films. In February of 2007 Whedon announced  that he was no longer involved with the project.

Later in an interview with Maxim, Joss argued that DC Characters with the exception of Batman, seemed very removed from humanity, and when they were created, they were creating gods. Could this somehow be related to his Wonder Woman project? This comment could really be taken in a couple of ways. The first could be that he might have been trying to ground Wonder Woman and not have the film feel overly fantastical. Another reason for this comment could be the frustration that resulted in trying to actually create a movie out of this god-like character that would resonate with an audience.

What We Know

Unlike Kevin Smith’s script for Tim Burton’s Superman Lives, none of the writing was ever leaked for the film. The little bit we know is that Whedon stated that his Wonder Woman was somewhat reminiscent of Angelina Jolie claiming “She spends a lot of time flying around. She works in a lot of different countries. She’s very global. And she’s appalled by the way people treat each other.” He has also claimed that the bracelets would be in the film and the Steve Trevor relationship would be explored.

In 2010, concept artwork from the film was leaked on what Wonder Woman might have looked like. The costume remained more or less reminiscent to the original design of the character with a few changes here and there. For one, they ditched the swimsuit bottoms and traded it in for pants and a skirt. The addition of pants is an idea which DC Comics recently implemented into the Wonder Woman books. In one of the concepts our lasso wielding heroine seems to be sporting a black trench coat. While this is just concept art without a script we still have no idea whether Wonder Woman would’ve appeared in one of these costumes or multiple of them.

How This Could Have Changed the Game

This Wonder Woman film not getting made was a huge turning point in DC films. When the movie was announced by Warner Brothers it was on the eve of their revival of Batman in Batman Begins. Before their Batman blockbusters DC really didn’t have much as far as movies go. The fan resented Halle Berry Catwoman had been released a year prior in 2004, and before that in 1997 Batman and Robin and Steel came out. Having a quality name that is so beloved by fanboys couldn’t have been a better move for DC movies.

What would a Wonder Woman movie mean for the entire DC Universe films. If the Wonder Woman movie was a success could we have gotten a Justice League movie sooner? It’s entirely possible. It seemed Warner Bros. was trying to reboot the big three characters of DC, Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman.

George Miller’s cancelled Justice League: Mortal in 2007 was slated to come out, but with an entirely fresh cast not involved in any previous films. With Joss’ Wonder Woman could we have gotten a JLA film with Christian Bale, Brandon Routh, and the uncast Wonder Woman? Would Chris Nolan have been open to the idea?

A Wonder Woman movie this early could have possibly unlocked the doors for DC Comics ushering in a Flash and Green Lantern movie even earlier. It seems though that Whedon has moved onto another universe where he’ll be directing…well…everyone!

Would you have liked to see this? What did you think of the costume? What would you have liked from the story? Discuss!

-Reid Ackerman

Top 5: Movies To Watch on Valentine’s Day

5. 50 First Dates

The second collaboration by Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler explores how far one man will go for the girl of his dreams to remember she loves him. Sandler and Barrymore make an adorable, and most importantly believable couple as Dr. Henry Roth and Lucy Whitmore. Sandler, who seems better known for his rough edged characters (Happy Gilmore, Billy Maddison) plays a guy who you just keep rooting for. All the supporting characters, with a special shout out to Sean Astin, are absolutely hilarious and tend to steal the scene when they are on-screen.

The scene that won me over: The last scene in the movie should have you in tears…

4. The Proposal

One of my favorite romantic comedies in recent years involves Andrew (Ryan Reynolds) pretending to be engaged to Margaret (Sandra Bullock) so she can keep her American visa. This comedy features a laugh-out-loud role from Oscar Nunez and other supporting characters. This is a recent romantic comedy that girls will love, and your guy won’t mind either.

The scene that won me over: “Relax”…that’s all I have to say.

3. 10 Things I Hate About You

This contemporary version of Taming of the Shrew has to take the cake for my favorite high school comedy of all time. The plot involves Cameron (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) trying to win the heart of Bianca (Larisa Olenik), but in order to get that he has to convince Patrick (Heath Ledger) to date her sister Kat (Julia Stiles). This movie works on so many levels and captures all the romance experienced in high school.

The scene that one me over: Heath Ledger’s rendition of “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” is absolutely awesome.

2. Wall-E

An animated movie exterior, with a deep and beautiful tale about falling in love on the interior. Wall-E is the story of a robot who falls in EVE, a female automaton who’s come to explore the planet our hero WALL-E works on. This film works better than most movies we see about relationships this day. Somehow, through these bionic characters, Pixar was able to capture the emotion we all feel during our exploration of love. Give Wall-E a chance on your significant other for a Valentine’s Day nighttime flick.

The scene that won me over: The space dance through between Wall-E and Eve.

1. Beauty and the Beast

You can’t have a list without the 1991 Academy Award winning film that won the hearts of audience’s everywhere, Beauty and the Beast, the disney version of the french film La Belle et la Bête is a tale of a love that never was supposed to happen. It explores the classic themes of looking on what’s on the inside and beauty being in the eye of the beholder. Beauty and the Beast is a timeless tale which still wins the hearts of audiences everywhere.

The scene that won me over: It has to be the ballroom dance sequence, still get chills when I watch it.

Those are my picks. Am I totally wrong? What are your top picks and why?

- Reid Ackerman

]]> http://www.geekshow.us/content/articles/top-5-movies-you-can-watch-with-your-significant-other-on-valentine%e2%80%99s-day/feed/ 0 http://www.geekshow.us/content/articles/super-bowl-trailers/ http://www.geekshow.us/content/articles/super-bowl-trailers/#comments Mon, 07 Feb 2011 02:05:45 +0000 Scott http://www.geekshow.us/?p=7406 Here’s a handful of trailers from the Super Bowl in case you missed them, or want to watch them again.

COWBOYS & ALIENS

THOR

TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER

SUPER 8

THOR

Paramount Pictures and Marvel Entertainment present the epic adventure, Thor, which spans the Marvel Universe from present day Earth to the realm of Asgard. At the center of the story is the mighty Thor (Chris Hemsworth), a powerful but arrogant warrior whose reckless actions reignite an ancient war. Thor is cast down to Earth by his father Odin (Anthony Hopkins) and is forced to live among humans. A beautiful, young scientist, Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), has a profound effect on Thor, as she ultimately becomes his first love. It’s while here on Earth that Thor learns what it takes to be a true hero when the most dangerous villain of his world sends the darkest forces of Asgard to invade Earth.

I AM NUMBER FOUR

Three are dead. Who is Number Four? D.J. Caruso (”Eagle Eye”) helms an action-packed thriller about an extraordinary teen, John Smith (Alex Pettyfer), who is a fugitive on the run from ruthless enemies sent to destroy him. Changing his identity, moving from town to town with his guardian Henri, John is always the new kid with no ties to his past. In the small Ohio town he now calls home, John encounters unexpected, life-changing events—his first love (Dianna Agron), powerful new abilities and a connection to the others who share his incredible destiny.

THE BEAVER

Plagued by his own demons, Walter Black was once a successful toy executive and family man who now suffers from depression. No matter what he tries, Walter can’t seem to get himself back on track… until a beaver hand puppet enters his life.

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RIO

Set in the magnificent city of Rio de Janeiro and the lush rainforest of Brazil, Rio centers on Blu, a rare macaw who thinks he is the last of his kind. When Blu discovers there’s another — and that she’s a she — he leaves the comforts of his cage in small town Minnesota and heads to Rio. But it’s far from love at first sight between the domesticated and flight-challenged Blu and the fiercely independent, high-flying female, Jewel. Unexpectedly thrown together, they embark on an adventure of a lifetime, where they learn about friendship, love, courage, and being open to life’s many wonders. Rio brings together a menagerie of vivid characters, a heart-warming story, colorful backdrops, energizing Latin and contemporary music, and family-friendly song and dance.

TRANSFORMERS: THE DARK OF THE MOON

The Autobots and Decepticons become involved in a perilous space race between the U.S. and Russia, and once again human Sam Witwicky has to come to the aid of his robot friends. There’s new characters too, including a new villain in the form of Shockwave, who rules Cybertron while the Autobots and Decepticons battle it out on Earth.

REAL STEEL

A gritty, white-knuckle, action ride set in the near-future, where the sport of boxing has gone hi-tech, Real Steel stars Hugh Jackman as Charlie Kenton, a washed-up fighter who lost his chance at a title when 2000-pound, 8-foot-tall steel robots took over the ring. Now nothing but a small-time promoter, Charlie earns just enough money piecing together low-end bots from scrap metal to get from one underground boxing venue to the next. When Charlie hits rock bottom, he reluctantly teams up with his estranged son Max (Dakota Goyo) to build and train a championship contender. As the stakes in the brutal, no-holds-barred arena are raised, Charlie and Max, against all odds, get one last shot at a comeback.

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES

In this action-packed tale of truth, betrayal, youth and demise, Captain Jack Sparrow crosses paths with a woman from his past (Penelope Cruz), and he’s not sure if it’s love–or if she’s a ruthless con artist who’s using him to find the fabled Fountain of Youth. When she forces him aboard the Queen Anne’s Revenge, the ship of the formidable pirate Blackbeard (Ian McShane), Jack finds himself on an unexpected adventure in which he doesn’t know who to fear more: Blackbeard or the woman from his past.

RANGO

A chameleon that aspires to be a swashbuckling hero finds himself in a Western town plagued by bandits and is forced to literally play the role in order to protect it

TAKE ME HOME TONIGHT

As the summer of 1988 winds down, three friends on the verge of adulthood attend an out-of-control party in celebration of their last night of unbridled youth.

]]> http://www.geekshow.us/content/articles/trailergeek-december-20-2010/feed/ 8 http://www.geekshow.us/content/articles/dc-universe-online-early-review/ http://www.geekshow.us/content/articles/dc-universe-online-early-review/#comments Wed, 01 Dec 2010 16:55:03 +0000 Scott http://www.geekshow.us/?p=7231 A listener had a chance to check out the beta for Sony’s DC Comics based MMORPG and took the time to let us know what they thought of it. Read their extensive review after the break.

Considering they’re breaking their NDA to tell us anything about the game our source must remain confidential, but thanks to them for their review anyway! Here’s what they thought:

Alright first off I’ll take you through the character creation fine
points of the game, some is a little disappointing but for the most
part I’d put it more then City of Heroes, less then champions online.
I’ll explain, first step is your server, we have a choice between two
PvE servers and a PVP. After this step you get the cinematic trailer
they release a while ago, after the battle is over and it cuts to Lex
talking to sups, bats, and wonder woman. He releases the “exobytes” he
stole from Braniac that he had gathered from all the fallen heroes in
the future. Now on to the character creation portion of our story lol.
Male or female, for this i’m going to go male, no differences except
in looks of course. From here we get Large, Medium, and Small, body
type. Large would be normal Bane before Juicing up, still huge and
bulky but not outrageous, medium is every Joe shmo super hero and
villain, and small is Robin size. After you pick your size you get a
choice, Custom designed, or Inspired by, if you pick inspired by you
get a choice of Batman, Superman, Catwoman, Lex Luthor, The Joker, The
Flash, Wonder Woman, Deathstroke, Bane, Circe,Beast Boy, Mister
Freeze, Green Arrow, Steel, or Martian Manhunter. This is your costume
design, and your allegiance step if you don’t change it in your
character sheet before you finish. For fun i’ll list off the the
custom steps

Step 1
Hero or Villain

Step 2
Personality;
Comical
Flirty
Powerful
Primal
Serious

Step 3
Mentor(the guy giving you alot of your orders and steering the
direction of your gameplay.
Hero Side
Batman
Superman
Wonder Woman
Villain Side
The Joker
Lex Luthor
Circe

Step 4
You select your Power
Fire
Gadgets
Ice
Mental
Nature
Sorcery

Step 5
Movement Type
Flight
Acrobatics
Super-Speed

Step 6
Pick your Weapon
Bow
Brawling
Dual Pistols
Dual Wield
Hand Blast
Martial Arts
One-Handed
Rifle
Staff
Two Handed

After this your brought to your summary step(Final Character sheet
where can change anything,including you costume design, I won’t list
everything about the costumes because there is a lot to choose from,
I’ll say the categories you can change, Helmet, Face, Emblem, Shirt,
Back Slot, Hands,Waist,Pants, Feet. Once you are Happy click next on
your character sheet and put your name in and hit Start.
You start out disoriented on a Braniac Hive ship, if your a
Hero, Oracle will begin talking you through who has to happen to get
you off the ship, if your a villain, its Calculator. I won’t ruin
anything more about this part, other then tell you its basically your
training area where you learn basic controls.
Once off the hive ship, once again if a Hero, you end up in a
police station, and if your a Villain, a night club. You get your
missions from your mentor busting in over your coms, or from
Oracle/Calculator, or any other random hero or villain that decides
they need you and some point. You’ll either pick some up like quests
in any other MMO, exclamation point over a head, or the mission will
come in over the coms.
As you level you get Power Points, or you will get Skill
Points. Power points go toward that power you picked, so I’ll give you
the break down of the Sorcery tree because its what I have in front of
me at the moment, I’m not going to describe every little power, I’ll
just say think Diablo 2 still tree, or World of Warcraft, or basically
any RPG with a tree system. For Sorcery there is a Destiny Tree and a
summoning tree, and the destiny tree is more spells oriented, where
the summoning three is more geared toward a few pets that follow you
around, one that is a damage dealer and one you can tell to heal you,
but both you have to tell what to do all the time, as far as I can
tell there is no automatic. At level 9 or 10, can’t remember you get
your upgrade to your movement type, I’ve only tried Flight and
Super-speed, not sure on the Acrobatics, basically for your movement
speed you push F on the keyboard for it to be turned on, and then when
you want your locked “supermovment” you hold number lock,(all keys can
be remapped). its basically just your main movement power only you
triple the speed. My favorite thing to do with super speed, and
unfortunetly might be a bug, is to run up a large building and just as
im about to crest the top, jump, and all the forward upward momentum
gets channeled into the jump and you end up jumping what feels like a
2 or 3 blocks. Also at level 9 or 10 you get access to the Iconic
Powers tree, Heat Vision, and “Non-Venom growth”, and batterang, to
name a few.
On to skill points, these get put into your Weapon tree or your
Movement tree. Your weapons tree are basically the combos you can
preform through combinations of mouse clicks and mouse button holds.
Your movement tree consists of things like tornado if your a
speedster, where you pull your enemies to you grounding them
temporarily.
On to the Gear gathered in game. You will get equipment it will
be better but look ridiculous on you, unlike other games this is not a
problem because of two things, one you can say no I don’t want this to
change the way I look and two because you have the ability to go back
over all the different styles of looks on everything and mix and match
how ever you please. This in my opinion is awesome.
PvP, in open world is just like free pvp in any other game. If
you are on a PvP server, and you see somebody this opposite you, Hero
vs Villain you can hit him and he can hit you, and if you are level 8
and he is level 30 it is going to hurt…
The arenas are a blast, I’ve done a 5 man on Gorilla Island, it
was a blast. I haven’t been able to do to many of the PVP things
because there is never anyone on when I am on.

These are the basics I can think of got any questions that might make
it easier for me then writing a book like I just did, and sorry for
grammer/spelling slash horrible writing, just got off a 9 hour shift
and about to crash.
All and all my verdict on the game is I’m having a blast, I’ve played
through to level 20 on a hero and now I’m at level 18 on my villain.
It is way more fun then Champions Online was to me.

DC Universe Online will be released in 2011.

Yogi Bear

Everyone’s favorite pic-a-nic basket-stealing bear comes to the big screen in Yogi Bear. Jellystone Park has been losing business, so greedy Mayor Brown decides to shut it down and sell the land. That means families will no longer be able to experience the natural beauty of the outdoors — and, even worse, Yogi and Boo Boo will be tossed out of the only home they’ve ever known. Faced with his biggest challenge ever, Yogi must prove that he really is “smarter than the average bear” as he and Boo Boo join forces with their old nemesis Ranger Smith to find a way to save Jellystone Park from closing forever.

My Soul To Take

In the sleepy town of Riverton, legend tells of a serial killer who swore he would return to murder the seven children born the night he died. Now, 16 years later, people are disappearing again. Has the psychopath been reincarnated as one of the seven teens, or did he survive the night he was left for dead? Only one of the kids knows the answer…

Black Swan

From director Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan follows the story of Nina (Portman), a ballerina in a New York City ballet company whose life, like all those in her profession, is completely consumed with dance. When artistic director Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel) decides to replace prima ballerina Beth MacIntyre (Winona Ryder) for the opening production of their new season, Swan Lake, Nina is his first choice. But Nina has competition: a new dancer, Lily (Kunis), who impresses Leroy as well.As the two young dancers expand their rivalry into a twisted friendship, Nina begins to get more in touch with her dark side with a recklessness that threatens to destroy her.

Love and Other Drugs

Hathaway portrays Maggie, an alluring free spirit who won’t let anyone – or anything – tie her down. But she meets her match in Jamie (Gyllenhaal), whose relentless and nearly infallible charm serve him well with the ladies and in the cutthroat world of pharmaceutical sales. Maggie and Jamie’s evolving relationship takes them both by surprise, as they find themselves under the influence of the ultimate drug: love.

How Do You Know

From director James L. Brooks, How Do You Know is a romantic comedy centered on the love triangle between professional softball player Lisa Jorgenson (Reese Witherspoon), a corporate executive (Paul Rudd), and a major-league pitcher (Owen Wilson).

So I decided that this year I wanted to watch thru some of my TV on DVD collection, as I’ve gotten to the stage where I have several but have watched few. Something that’s been on that list for a while has been The OC. While I did watch the show all the way thru of its initial run, I’ve been wanting to return to it for some time, especially since there were a few episodes there in the last season that I missed.

Watching the show now in my mid-twenties as opposed to my late teens, it’s a very different experience. Maybe I’m wrong and it’s simply the fact that I watched all 27 episodes (huge season!) back-to-back so quickly but I couldn’t get over the whopping amount of storylines that were covered, just in the first season alone. My blurry teenage memory of it all recalls such storylines as the Seth/Summer/Anna triangle and the Oliver debacle as such epic sagas, when in reality they only lasted a handful of episodes.

Another thing that I remembered every little smile and gesture the characters made, especially the teenagers, as being so significant and meaningful to both them and to me as I watched. On second viewing, I found I glossed over a lot of these subtleties at least towards the start of the season anyway.

This leaves me to wonder is it just a teenage thing and my own perception of stuff where every little detail can have such a huge impact on events, or a case of the writing not being as thought out to start with since it was a new show and finding its stride? I guess maybe a mixture of both.

But despite these minor foibles, I greatly enjoyed re-exploring this TV gem. How could I not love all these delightfully complex characters, each of which are far from perfect but lovable in their own ways.

First we have Ryan Atwood, the wife-beater wearing tough guy from the wrong side of the tracks. Facing a long stint in juvie after he and his brother stole a car, it’s up to Ryan’s legal aid attorney to get him off. Enter the compassionate Sandy Cohen, who of course, does just that.

After some hiccoughs from Ryan’s mother kicking him out and then abandoning him, he goes to stay with Sandy and his family until a better solution can arise. But all is not cocktails and bagels in Newport Beach. Ryan is far from Chino, Dorothy, and he’s gotta learn to adapt fast.

Kirsten Cohen, Sandy’s beautiful and powerful wife, is hesitant of Ryan. While not without sympathy for his circumstances, she is fearful of the impact he could have on her family. Son, Seth Cohen, the geeky loner trapped in the socialite community he hates, is however, delighted to finally have someone to talk to who doesn’t judge him and upon whom he can unleash all his comical idiosyncrasies and neuroses.

Ryan tries his best to fit in with the new order of things but it’s hard. He befriends the girl next door only to piss off her boyfriend who is captain of the water polo team; gets into fist fights (dragging Seth in too); burns down a model home and lands himself back in juvie, all in the first few episodes.

Rushing to his defence again, Sandy does everything he can to help the troubled teen, but it is Kirsten who unexpectedly opens her heart and her home to give Ryan the second chance he so desperately needs to start again. This of course after witnessing just how terrible his current life course is and the depths that it would inevitably take him to.

Over the course of the season the characters go a long way, as I said before. Perhaps none of them go as thru quite as much as popular girl turned social outcast, Marissa Cooper. In season one alone she has to go thru her parents’ divorce; moves houses; loses her virginity; gets cheated on by her boyfriend; overdoses on painkillers; gets sent to therapy; faces rejection; is the object of infatuation of a mentally unstable teen; gets threatened with a gun; has to deal with her parents moving on and dating again; her ex-boyfriend has a series of romantic trysts with her mother; she runs away from home; her mother remarries; she gets rejected again and finally turns to alcoholism to numb her pain. And I’m sure I’ve forgotten other things that happened to her in there as well. But seriously, yikes! How much can one girl take? While enjoyable I found some of this stuff annoying to a degree for the lack of realism. Any one of those events would impact a teen majorly but to have them all happen like they did, well, alcohol ain’t gonna do much for you honey, except cause more problems. But of course that’s the idea.

Aside from Marissa and Ryan and all there dramas, what I really loved watching were the storylines involving Seth, Summer and Anna. Oh I love Anna! The down point of the season for me was definitely when her character left; even though I knew it was necessary.

The chemistry between all three of those actors was incredible, no matter how you paired them, even the two girls when they were having their brief truce. Ultimately though, you can’t beat the delight of the Seth/Summer relationship unfolding IMO. My favourite parts include the trip to Tijuana, Summer kissing Seth and realising “I like Seth Cohen”, the Wonder Woman moment, the coffee cart declaration and all the Captain Oats/Princess Sparkles bits.

Finally I want to make mention of the relationships between the adults. Like their teenage children, the adults of The OC are just as likely to land themselves in all sorts of trouble, but of course the scale is much bigger. Lovers’ quarrels, secret trysts, embezzlement, blackmail (emotional and otherwise), lawsuits, business ventures, affairs, weddings and divorces are but a few of their exploits.

Thru all of that though I think the adults are in better shape by the end of the season than the kids. I really like the dynamic between Sandy and Kirsten. Often playful and sometimes explosive and tense, in the end they love each other very much and are very passionate towards one another. Indeed, their relationship is a fairly solid anchor for the rest of the characters around them, particularly Julie and Jimmy.

There are so many other things I could mention about The OC because it is just so epic. I still can’t get over that it was able to run a whopping 27 episodes in its first season. This is phenomenal. I love the music and the humorous moments as well as the costuming. Again, Anna is my favourite for best dressed character.

If you never saw this show during its television run and you love drama then The OC has it in spades and I highly recommend it. Think Dawson’s Creek meets Gossip Girl and that’s kind of the feel that this show has.

So what are you waiting for? Put The OC season one down on your Chrismukkah wish list right now, pour your glass of wine, don your wife-beater and spread the cream cheese on your bagel!

Next Week: Series 5 Wrap-up Special!!

Jonah Hex

Jonah Hex is a scarred drifter and bounty hunter of last resort, a tough and stoic gunslinger who can track down anyone… and anything. Having survived death, Jonah’s violent history is steeped in myth and legend, and has left him with one foot in the natural world and one on the “other side.” His only human connection is with Lila, whose life in a brothel has left her with scars of her own. Jonah’s past is about to catch up with him when the U.S. military makes him an offer he can’t refuse: in exchange for his freedom from the warrants on his head, he must track down and stop the dangerous terrorist Quentin Turnbull. But Turnbull, who is gathering an army and preparing to unleash Hell, is also Jonah’s oldest enemy and will stop at nothing until Jonah is dead.

Buried

But when he wakes up 6 feet underground with no idea of who put him there or why, life for the truck driver and family man instantly becomes a hellish struggle for survival. Buried with only a cell phone and a lighter, his contact with the outside world and ability to piece together clues that could help him discover his location are maddeningly limited. Poor reception, a rapidly draining battery, and a dwindling oxygen supply become his worst enemies in a tightly confined race against time – fighting panic, despair and delirium, Paul has only 90 minutes to be rescued before his worst nightmare comes true.

Inception

Acclaimed filmmaker Christopher Nolan directs an international cast in an original sci-fi actioner that travels around the globe and into the intimate and infinite world of dreams. Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a skilled thief, the absolute best in the dangerous art of extraction, stealing valuable secrets from deep within the subconscious during the dream state, when the mind is at its most vulnerable. Cobb’s rare ability has made him a coveted player in this treacherous new world of corporate espionage, but it has also made him an international fugitive and cost him everything he has ever loved. Now Cobb is being offered a chance at redemption. One last job could give him his life back but only if he can accomplish the impossible—inception. Instead of the perfect heist, Cobb and his team of specialists have to pull off the reverse: their task is not to steal an idea but to plant one. If they succeed, it could be the perfect crime. But no amount of careful planning or expertise can prepare the team for the dangerous enemy that seems to predict their every move. An enemy that only Cobb could have seen coming. This summer, your mind is the scene of the crime.

Super 8

Teaser trailer for Super 8. Directed by J.J. Abrams, film is a secret collaboration between him and Steven Spielberg.

Easy A

After a little white lie about losing her virginity gets out, a clean cut high school girl (Emma Stone) sees her life paralleling Hester Prynne’s in “The Scarlet Letter,” which she is currently studying in school – until she decides to use the rumor mill to advance her social and financial standing.

Megamind

Megamind is the most brilliant supervillain the world has ever known. And the least successful. Over the years, he has tried to conquer Metro City in every imaginable way. Each attempt, a colossal failure thanks to the caped superhero known as ‘Metro Man,’ an invincible hero until the day Megamind actually kills him in the throes of one of his botched evil plans. Suddenly, Megamind has no purpose. A supervillain without a superhero. He realizes that achieving his life’s ambition is the worst thing that ever happened to him. Megamind decides that the only way out of his rut is to create a new hero opponent called ‘Titan,’ who promises to be bigger, better and stronger than Metro Man ever was. Pretty quickly Titan starts to think it’s much more fun to be a villain than a good guy. Except Titan doesn’t just want to rule the world, he wants to destroy it. Now, Megamind must decide: can he defeat his own diabolical creation? Can the world’s smartest man make the smart decision for once? Can the evil genius become the unlikely hero of his own story?

By Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver

Writer Geoff Johns and superstar artist Ethan Van Sciver, the team behind the blockbuster GREEN LANTERN: REBIRTH, create an explosive, jaw-dropping epic that reintroduces Barry Allen as The Flash in this hardcover collecting the fast-paced 6-issue miniseries. But how will this greatest of all Flashes find his place in the twenty-first century?

From In Stock Trades:

SRP: $19.99
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Please remember, this is just for fun. I’m not saying Hollywood should even think about doing a Doctor Who remake, but odds are that’s exactly what they’re doing (we all know how terribly original they’ve been as of late). So, I thought I might give you guys my top 5 choices for the role of The Doctor, if there would ever be an American series considered. Also, I have purposely chosen only American actors just to give myself more of a challenge. I’m also working under the assumption that the remake would be another television series, not a movie franchise. That would be a whole other list…

Here we go:

5. Neil Patrick Harris

(How I Met Your Mother, Doctor Horrible)

Harris definitely has the charisma needed, but it would also be a very different kind of role for him. I have faith he could pull it off, but that’s mostly why he isn’t higher on the list.

4. Adam Brody

(The OC, Cop Out)

I love Adam Brody. I think he’s a highly underrated and underused actor. I know he seems to be focusing on a film career, but I’d rather see him take the lead in a television series. With Doctor Who, it could be a chance for him to flex his dramatic muscles, but also get to be fun and sarcastic as he’d like. I think he could do a lot in the role.

3. Zach Galifianakis

(Tru Calling, The Hangover)

Bet you didn’t see this coming did you? He might not look the part currently, but shave that beard and I mean… look at him! Plus, if you saw him in Tru Calling (all 7 of you…) you know that he’s not always the insane hobo type that he played in The Hangover. But, if you were to combine the characters he played in those projects and he looked like he did in that picture, we’d have ourselves one hell of a Doctor. Plus? He’s ginger!!

2. Jeremy Davies

(Lost)

Another bearded actor to get my clean-shaven vote. As Daniel Faraday on Lost, Davies kills it. He became one of my favorite characters of the series in less than a handful of episodes. He’s quirky enough and we know he can play a mad scientist. He’s extremely likable, too. I think we’d have our man if it wasn’t for one final actor…

1. Alan Tudyk

(Firefly, Dollhouse)

I’m a big fan of this. He’s everything I’d want in an American Doctor. He can play quirky. He can play serious. He can be funny, sarcastic, determined, intelligent, and everything in between. He’s a phenomenal actor and if this project ever happens, he needs to be the one driving the TARDIS.

• Glee returns this Tuesday. Doctor Who airs on BBC America this Saturday
• Brandon Routhe cast in unknown role and Andrew Lincoln cast as Rick Grimes in The Walking Dead
• Rex Is Not Your Lawyer pilot cast changes hints at Fall pick up for NBC
• Conan O’Brien’s new late night to air on TBS this fall

• Logan Lerman is rumored to be 100% locked as Peter Parker in the Spider-Man reboot. Sony denies again
• Writers of the upcoming Predators movie hired to write a new Masters of the Universe movie
• Green Lantern’s suit is computer generated
• Disney is going all out for Tron. TV series, Light Cycles at theme parks, and work has started on a new sequel
• Jon Favreau to direct “Cowboys and Aliens” for release next summer. Starring Harrison Ford, Daniel Craig, and Olivia Wilde

• Four free Doctor Who adventure games from BBC will be a part of the new season
• Former Infinity Ward leaders will found new company: Respawn Entertainment backed by EA
• The secondary motion controller for Sony will now be called the Navigation Controller
• Gears of War 3 to be announced soon. Adds underwater gameplay and mechs
• Dead Rising 2 to feature co-op and multiple save slots

• Palm is putting itself up for sale

Geek Jerk Reaction: Death at a Funeral & Kick-Ass