Are you excited about Ender’s Game? I sure am. Here’s an image from EW of Sir Ben Kingsley as Mazer Rackham.

If you haven’t seen Looper, you should.  Check out this video of JGL.  It’s pretty slick.

Dita x Flaunt x Joseph Gordon Levitt from The Confluence on Vimeo.

I went to a Gears of War: Judgement panel at Dragon*Con.  The Gears team shared and showed a few things.  They showed the trailer for the game and talked about some behind the scenes development things.  They also shared some stuff about the Competitive modes.  There is Over Run which pits COG agains Locust.  It’s going to be turn based where one team starts as COG and has to defend against the other team as Locust trying to destroy a generator.  After the first round, you switch sides.  The winner is whoever destroys the generator the fastest.

The new mode they debuted was the Free-For-All.  They showed a trailer for the Free-For-All and it looks fabulous.  It pits COG soldier against COG soldier. They said that the fans wanted and they got it.  They also talked about  and showed stuff from the new maps.  Maps will have environments that affect the players as well as having secret passages and and doors so you’ll always have to watch your back.  There is going to be opportunity to level up your character and weapons and unlock gear.

Fans of the Gears series and it’s multiplayer are going to be very happy.

EDIT: They also said they changed the button layout, but that players that have been demoing the game haven’t really noticed and say that they like it better.  I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Lost, G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra) has been cast as Kurse/Algrim the Strong, one of Thor’s most powerful foes in Thor: The Dark World.  This casting is a good sign.  He’s a strong actor and can be quite intimidating for those of you, like me, who remember him as Mr. Ecko in Lost (my favorite character from the show).  Thor 2 is set to premier November 8, 2013.

This looks good.  I haven’t played a single Lego game ever, even though everyone tells me that they are great.  I’m a sucker for anything dealing with Lord of the Rings, so I’ll probably rent this and check it out.

It’s been a while since my last review but I had a few things I wanted to say about this movie. Let me start by saying that I really enjoyed it and thought it was a good movie. Anne Hathaway was excellent as Selina Kyle and could have had more time on screen. Tom Hardy’s performance as Bane was superb. As a matter of fact all the actin performances were great. Though it was funny how Michael Caine would cry and walk off at the end of every scene, but he was still great. The writing was good and Nolan’s direction was again outstanding. I thought the affects were good and I do like the use of more practical affects over CGI.
He problems I have with the film are few but annoying none the less. I re-watched Batman Begins and for the life of me I can’t understand what the hell Cristian Bale is doing with his voice as Batman now. Someone should have told him to go back to how it was then. I would have liked to see more of Talia as the big bad and wished that her apparent demise could have been more dramatic. And finally I like it when Batman out maneuvers his opponents with strategy and not brute force. I thought they were serif that up with his conversation with Alfred when he was telling Bruce that he can’t keep going as Batman the way he is. I thought this would show a change in his strategy but it didn’t.

I still recommend that everyone see this movie. Just don’t expect it to be better than the Dark Knight Returns.

Battlefield 3 was released on October 25, 2011 to much pomp and circumstance. The game is a first-person shooter and direct sequel to Battlefield 2. It is the 11th game in the Battlefield franchise, which has its beginnings on the PC.

The developer, EA Digital Illusions CE, called DICE, used the new Frostbite 2 game engine. Visit the game’s official site for more information about the game engine. It features a single player campaign, co-op, and online multiplayer. This review covers the single player campaign.

You play as several different characters throughout the campaign.  Staff Sergeant Henry Blackburn is the main playable character.  The vast majority of missions are played with Blackburn. You also take a turn as Russian agent Dmitri “Dima” Mayakovsky for two missions.

For the vehicle missions, you play as Jonathan “Anvil” Miller and  Lieutenant Jennifer “Wedge” Hawkins.  Miller is a Marine assigned to the 1st Marine Tank Battalion.  Hawkins is the first female playable character in the Battlefield series of games and the weapons specialists officer during the Tehran airport mission and engaging the People’s Liberation and Resistance fighters.

The single player campaign begins with the interrogation of Blackburn in New York City concerning some missing Russian tactical nuclear bombs, commonly known as “suitcase nukes.”  You play as Blackburn as he recounts his missions in Iraq hunting down high ranking members of the PLR, which he claimed led to his team’s  discovery of a bunker containing one tactical nuclear device controlled by the leader of the PLR. Subsequent missions with Blackburn and his unit deal with the investigation in the location of two missing nukes that were not in the bunker.

The entire single player campaign can take about 6-8 hours, depending on the difficulty level.  Though the campaign is not long, it is not short on action and variety.  The missions range from piloting a tank in a desert operation against PLR forces, to a dogfight in over Iraq against PLR fighters, to sniper support of a Marine squad as it hunts down a high value target.  The missions were varied enough to keep me interested throughout the entire game.

One issue with the gameplay is that it does not give you the opportunity to explore, and there are no rewards for exploring buildings or locations. There were times when I ventured into an empty room or in dark corners hoping to find some special weapon or cache of grenades or maybe some intel that would be important to the story, but no such luck.   The action moves you forward constantly.  However, the game’s strengths are its presentation and design.

The graphics in the game are spectacular.  There are times during the air and tank missions where the game looked extremely realistic. The sound design and music added to the depth and feel of the game. The character models at times could be glitchy, and sometimes the characters’ skin would not resolve properly. Also, occasionally the vocals and character model’s lips would not be in sync, which is disappointing because the voice acting was solid.  The lack of expression on the faces of the character models when they were emoting could be unnerving at times.

Combat was also designed well. NPCs were not just distraction and cannon fodder for the enemy A.I. You weren’t left to lead the charge all the time or take out every enemy on your own. The enemy A.I. was smart enough to try and outflank you or charge and melee you if you got close enough.

The controls were okay. The only time I had an issue with the controls was during the Tank missions. I do not imagine that piloting a tank would be the easiest thing in the world; however, my frustrations with steering caused me to toss my controller several times. Sometimes the tank would not respond and other times turning was just sluggish beyond tolerance.

The designers took enough time to make each weapon sound and feel different. From my experience with first-person shooters, shotguns are powerful but useless in fast-pace action games such as this, but the shotguns in this game were excellent, even at range.

Overall, the game is beautiful to look at and the single player campaign is fun to play. There are times when you just want to take a moment and admire the craftsmanship taken in the design. Even though the campaign takes 6-8 hours, it’s well worth it.

It’s easy to tell that the single player campaign was not the focus of this release considering it is on the second disc and the first disc has the multiplayer features and games. To me, the appeal of playing the single player campaign is being involved in multiple aspects of an overall battle, and seeing how all the parts of the battle are connected. I think that has always been the appeal of the campaign in previous games and is continued in this one.

If it’s a great, immersive, and dynamic single-player campaign you seek, don’t spend your money on this game.

Battlefield 3 is rated M (Mature) by ESRB for blood, intense violence, and strong language. This game can also be found on: PC  and PlayStation 3.

Read more: http://blogcritics.org/gaming/article/xbox-360-review-battlefield-3/page-3/#ixzz1d5L0oaXv

The video game industry is becoming a group of money hungry capitalists. Why has this become an issue for me? Recently, I played Battlefield 3. Before I purchase games, I like to rent them from Gamefly to test them out. If I’m going to pay $59.99 for a game, I like to try it first. Battlefield 3’s single player campaign is okay, but it isn’t the best experience in the world and isn’t worth spending the money. However, Battlefield 3‘s achievement, from what I gather in the online community and from DICE and EA Games, is that the online multiplayer is top of the line and a wonder to behold.

I fire up the game on my Xbox 360 and prepare myself for some multiplayer action. Imagine my surprise when I was prompted by the game to enter my online passcode. What? I figured there must be some mistake, so I read the fine print. In order to enjoy the online multiplayer experience of Battlefield 3, you have to have a one-time use online passcode that comes with each new copy of the game. If you don’t have a new copy, you have to pony up 800 Microsoft Points, which is about $10. I see this as a money grab by EA.

The people affected by this are those who either purchased the game used or rented it. Both are huge markets. It means that in addition to paying for the Xbox Live Gold membership to Microsoft to play online, i’d have to pay an additional $10 dollars to play Battlefield 3 online. Seriously? I’m renting the game to know if I’m going to buy it or not and my purchasing decision rests on the idea that I get to try it out online first. I’m sure I’m not the only person. To me, that means that EA is leaving money on the table. What would you rather have: $59.99 from me or $10 dollars? According to their own marketing, they could easily get the $59.99 once I play multiplayer on-line. Too bad, I was looking forward to spending my money on a new game. Guess I’ll wait for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.

I was not going to watch this because I’m not really into horror but I decided to give it a look.   Four episodes later, I’m still watching.  Something about the show is compelling.  Watching the characters deal with what’s going on in the house draws me in.  The show follows the Harmons as they have made their move from Boston to the Los Angeles to get a fresh start after a miscarriage and Dr. Ben Harmon’s extramarital affair with a student.  The house they purchased is known locally as the “Murder House” because of all the murders that have occurred there since it has been standing.

As the weeks go by, you start to figure out who is real and who isn’t really there.  It’s interesting that the maid Moira looks like an old lady to women, but to men she’s a hot young number who can’t keep her hands off Dr. Harmon.  Dr. Harmon is treating a young man who seems to be a part of the house, but Dr. Harmon thinks he’s an actual patient.  Ben and Vivien’s daughter Violet has bonded with the young man, Tate Langdon who isn’t all that nice a person.

If you like horror stories you’ll like this show.  The subject matter in the show creeps me out just a bit.  That’s why I watch it during the day time.  Not that I’m scared, I just hate having bad dreams.

“Once Upon a Time” is a new show that premiered on ABC on Sunday night.  The show follows bail bondsman Emma Swan as she comes to a town called Storybrooke to bring the son, Henry,  that she gave up for adoption back to his adoptive family.  According to Henry, the book of fairytales that he’s carrying around actually happend and the evil Queen cursed them all to forever live in Storybrooke as regular people.  We learn that Emma Swan is the daughter of Snow White, now a teacher Mary Margaret Blanchard, played by Ginnifer Goodwin, is the only hope from freeing the characters from Storybrooke.

I thought the show was fairly entertaining and thought that some of the performances are great.  Robert Carlyle as Rumplestiltskin and Tony Amendola as Gepetto are the highlights of the cast.  The writers would do well to keep them as involved in the story as possible.  The effects were good and I like how they flashback to before the curse and to the present time.  The only problem I think this show will have is that I don’t think it’s going to garner the ratings numbers that it will need to survive on ABC.  It’s a shame because on a channel like Syfy or USA or even a comparable show on the BBC would do well.  But a big network like ABC is going to demand to big a number.  Sunday night is a good night for the show especially since it might be able to pull some of the Desperate Housewives viewers.

I think the show is worth a look even if you aren’t into fantasy.

SOUL MAN™ Teaser 2 Guillaume Ivernel (Blacklight Movies) from Blacklight Movies on Vimeo.

SOUL MAN™ Teaser 2 Guillaume Ivernel (Blacklight Movies) from Blacklight Movies on Vimeo.

Last night, Fox premiered yet another science fiction show, Terra Nova.  The show has a lot going for it; the main thing is that it’s produced by Stephen Spielberg. (side note: Brannon Braga is also a producer and show runner, and I won’t count this against it)  The show starts out in 2149.  Earth is dying due to pollution and overpopulation.  Fortunately, scientist discover a rift in time leading to an alternate Earth timeline 85 million years in the past.  So, we decided to save humanity by sending qualifying humans through the rift to resettle in Terra Nova.

I can tell the producers put emphasis on the production value of the show.  There aren’t any standout stars so you know salaries are low.  Stephen Lang might be the biggest star, but he is basically reprising his fantastic character from Avatar, with a few tweaks.  I’m not going to compare the show to Avatar, because that’s not what this show is.  The set is gorgeous and the effects are nice.  What bothers me most is that they decided not to use well known dinosaurs.  Apparently, they thought it’d be more interesting to create dinosaurs “that might have existed” as opposed to ones that we know, especially due to Mr. Spielberg’s Jurassic Park movies.  I know I wasn’t the only one thinking, “I’ve never heard of that dinosaur.”  It took a little will power to not get on the internet to look up these “new” dinosaurs.

For a premiere show, I thought the story was well done.  Luckily, they did explain that it was a separate reality from the future they left, which easily dismissed the complaints that people like me who overly criticize time travel in movies and T.V. shows in a couple of lines.  A couple of the reveals in the show, which I’m not going to spoil here, were obvious and I wish that they weren’t.   My hope is that this show doesn’t turn into Lost where more questions are raised than answered, or The Event where questions are asked and answered every episode, but the story never gets developed beyond the first episode.

All in all, the show was good and worth tuning in next week.  We’ll see if it has longevity.

 

Every since I got the Xbox 360 up and running, I’ve been playing the heck out of video games.  Mainly, I’ve been playing Mass Effect 2.  Deus Ex: Human Revolution is the only game I’ve played that I felt like I needed to write a review.  I’m not fan of pure RPGs but Human Revolution isn’t a pure RPG in my opinion.

You play Adam Jensen head of security for Serif Industries.  Serif is a company that provides augmentations to individuals. There’s an explosion and your girlfriend and her research team are killed and you’re left for dead.  You awaken and because of the extensive damage you suffered Serif has decided to give you augmentations to fix the physical damage.  After you get back to work, your goal in the game is to find out who was behind the attack and who killed your girlfriend.

As a player you can decide what type of character Jensen will be.  It isn’t as simple as choosing a class in most RPGs, but there are basically 3 types of play.  You can be a Hacker, Stealth player, or you can blast your way through the game like an FPS.  The best thing about this is that it lends itself to tons of replay value, which is always good for games.  You don’t have to commit to anyone of these since I found myself doing a combination of Hacker and Stealth.  It’s important to at least think about it because you upgrade you augmentations using Praxis points.  I’ll just say that you should get the Icarus landing upgrade quickly because any fall from any height will apparently kill you.

I like the openess of the game.  The augmentation system is realatively easy to understand and not that complicated, especially if you decide early how you want to play the game.  The game rewards you for exploration.  You can avoid conflicts and get through an entire area without ever having to put someone down.  The graphics were good, and the voiceacting was passable…..except Letitia the Trash Lady.  Just watch for yourself.

The only major problem  deals with the boss fights.  The game gives you a lot of opportunities to avoid conflict either by stealth or talking someone down.  But then the developers put you in a locked room with a boss that you can’t reason with or conversate with.  I thought that this would have been a perfect opportunity to show off the games’ Social Enhancement augemtation.  It would have bneen cool to be able to at least have the chance to talk your way out of the fight.  Players who chose to go either the stealth path or hacker path of augmentations will find all the boss fights difficult since you will be outgunned.  One thing I did, which I don’t know if the developers thought of this, is that I would take hacked turretts with me whenever I could and put them in a room with enemies and let the turrent take them out.  I even took a turret into the next to last boss fight and being outgunned was no longer a problem.  That’s another great thing about the game; it rewards you for thinging outside of the box.

Except for the boss fights, Deus Ex Human Revolution is a great game with stunning visuals.  The gameplay is nice and the artwork is good.  If you have the chance to play this game you should.  I would even recommend it as a purchase.

 

Powered by Qumana

Well, I try not to get in the habit of posting pics from other sites, but I will post one from the set of Man of Steel. You can go over to Blastr and Superherohype to see the rest.

Henry Cavill as Superman

It’s hard to tell what the costume really looks like.  But I can at least tell it isn’t going to look like Michelle Pfeiffer or Halle Berry’s costumes.  If anything, she looks like she might be more like Julie Newmar’s Catwoman, which isn’t bad either.  However, there isn’t much to go on.

EW (Entertainment Weekly’s internet site) has exclusive information that Lawrence Fishburne has been cast in the role of Perry White, Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Planet in the Superman reboot: The Man of Steel, produced by Christopher Nolan (Batman Begins, Inception) and directed by Zach Snyder (300, Watchmen).   My first thought: Here we go again.

I don’t have a problem with stunt casting.  At first glance, it  seems that Man of Steel is going to suffer the fate of a movie propped up by stunt casting.  However, due to the sheer number of big names, I don’t think stunt casting is an issue.  Casting Lawrence Fishburne as Perry White isn’t as odd as one might think.  Michael Clark Duncan as the Kingpin and Angelina Jolie as The Fox were not bad choices at all and didn’t change anything about the spirit of the source material.  

Once again, this is not going to rant about replacing black characters with white actors/actresses, or vice versa.  There seems to already be a rumbling among fanboys about changing Perry White’s race.  I believe that if race is not an essential part of the character, then the race of the actor isn’t important.  For example, casting Morgan Freeman as Magneto would not work since an essential trait of Magneto is his experience as a Jew and his treatment by Nazis.   The outrage over Idris Elba as Heimdall in Thor was ridiculous.  Heimdall is a being from another plane of existence where one’s skin color was way less important than one’s race (Frost Giant, Elf, Dark Elf, Dwarf, etc.)  I don’t know of any extra dimensional being who could be cast as Heimdall or Thor, so where’s the outrage of casting mere mortals in those roles. .  Is there something like that preventing a black actor from being cast as Perry White?  Do we know anything about Perry White other than that he’s a career newsman? (excluding fanboys who know everything).  Of course this is going to bother "purist" and fanboys because they live in a state of misery and unhappiness because nothing ever pleases them.

I think this is a good move by Nolan and the Studio.  What’s going to set this Superman movie apart from all the previous ones?  They dropped Superman from the title and taken some bold moves with casting.  All in all, I think that the movie is headed in a good direction regardless of how the end product turns out.  That’s my 2 pennies.

Andrew Garfield (The Social Network) stars as Peter Parker in the reboot of the Spiderman franchise in The Amazing Spider-Man.  I think this might be better than the 2002 Spider-Man.  Check it out:

The Thing is a prequel to the 1982 John Carpenter classic horror movie The Thing, which starred Kurt Russell, Wilfred Brimley, and Keith David.  John Carpenter’s movie is a classic, but it is also a remake of 1951′s The Thing from Another Planet.

The mood in the trailer makes me think of Whiteout (2009) which starred Kate Beckinsale.  I thought that was a good movie.  Check it out:

Alphas stars Malik Yoba, David Strathairn, Ryan Cartwright, and Azita Ghanizada.

Azita Ghanizada

Harry Lennix (Five Heartbeats, Matrix Reloaded, Matrix Revolutions, Dollhouse) has signed on the the cast of director Zach Snyder’s Man of Steel.  He joins fellow Henry Cavill, Russell Crowe, Diane Lane, Kevin Costner, Julia Ormond, and Christopher Meloni in an absolutely star studded cast.  He’s cast as a high ranking military officer name d General Swanwick.

I like d him in both Matrix movies as Commander Lock (AKA Deadbolt) and he was a bright spot in the much maligned Dollhouse.

Man of Steel is produced by Christopher Nolan (Memento, Batman Returns, Dark Knight, Inception) and is scheduled for a December 2012 release date.

Batwing  #1, starring the first ever black character to don the mantle as the Batman of Africa

Static Shock # 1

During the G4 coverage of E3, G4 has been touting that Marvel anime is coming to G4 this fall.  One of the titles is Blade. 

He must really want the role if he is going to shoot mock trailers.

On the hills of the premiere of Marvel Entertainment’s Thor, starring Chris Helmsworth, Idris Elba was asked at a press conference if there were any other Marvel characters he was interested in playing.  He said that he would be interested in Luke Cage.  Currently, he’s playing Heimdall in Thor.  This puts him in direct competition with Isaiah Mustafa who also expressed interest in playing Power Man.  Previous rumors had Tyrese Gibson in the role if the movie was to be directed by John Singleton.

I like Elba and think he’s a brilliant actor.  He was great as Stringer Bell in The Wire, and even better as DCI John Luther.  He was also going to takeover for Morgan Freeman as Alex Cross, but that role is now being played by Tyler Perry.  I’m not going to get my hopes up for Idris as Luke Cage.  I think he might be a little old, and though he has the acting ability, I don’t think he could physically handle the role.

I’ve always thought Tyrese Gibson would be a good choice.  We’ve posted a bunch of stuff about a Luke Cage movie and potential actors for the role over the last few years.  For example, John Singleton talked about casting Tyrese Gibson or Chiwetel Ejiofor.  I’ve even posted a list of possibles here, including Michael Jai White, Morris Chestnut, and Taye Diggs.  Personally, I would like to see what Isaiah Mustafa could do.  I know his acting is unproven, but I think it would be good to see someone new who doesn’t have any history of portraying an iconic hero already.

Idris Elba can be seen in Thor starting May 6.  Isaiah Mustafa can sometimes be seen on Chuck, Mondays at 8:00 on NBC.

What’s wrong with this image?

In some self-important or self-aggrandizing move, Marvel has decided to create some story line involving Black Panther and immigration.  First off, it is 2011 and why is Marvel doing a story line about immigration?  I suspect this is some justification for trying to finish cutting T’Challa off from Wakanda.  First, they replace him with his sister and put him in the Fantastic Four, only to have him return to Wakanda and destroy it’s most valuable resource and source of Wakanda’s independence, strength, technology, and wealth by rendering Vibranium useless.  Now, he has taking over guardianship of Hell’s Kitchen from Daredevil.  I don’t read Daredevil, but isn’t it odd that the Black Panther, T’challa the King of Wakanda, and a religious figure in an independent country would become the guardian of a relatively small neighborhood in New York City?  The math doesn’t add up.

I read something somewhere that was really good, and I can’t take credit for it that sums it all up.

“The Black Panther habit is a religious/cultural symbol of Wakanda and as such, should not have emblems associated with another nation’s identity emblazoned all over it.  I doubt fans of Captain America would be too pleased if the same was done to the good Captain’s outfit; so why do Marvel seem to think it acceptable to frak with T’Challa’s garb in this manner?” (Majestik, CBRS Forums)

‘Nuff said.

Check out Superhero Hype for an Exclusive interview with the Old Spice dude, Isaiah Mustafa.  He talks about Marvel and the possibility of him being cast as Luke Cage, Power Man.

Click HERE for the entire interview.

Sunday night, the highly anticipated fantasy series Game of Thrones premiered on HBO.  I thought the show was great.  The acting was excellent as were  the sets.  The actors all played their roles close to the characterizations of the novels.  The ages may be off a bit.  For example, Eddard Stark, played by Sean Bean, should be in his mid-thirties.  All is forgiven because Sean Bean is fantastic as Eddard Stark.  Peter Dinklage as Tyrion was cast brilliantly. 

The little bit of CGI didn’t bother me because there probably aren’t that many walls covered in ice that they could have used for the film.  I was concerned that the incest scenes would make me uncomfortable.  However, I didn’t feel anymore uncomfortable than when I read the book.  Indeed, this is one of the few fantasy series that I’ve actually read and had hoped would get the Lord of the Rings treatment, but a television series is just as good.  The story elements they used for this first episode were so well done that I didn’t notice any of the elements that they left out.

All in all, I thought the show was fantastic and it pleases me that HBO has already decided to do a second season.  If you aren’t watching, I suggest you do so.

Update: This Xbox no longer lives.  Five months after bringing it back, the reborn Xbox will not go beyond an E73 or E74 screen.  Which means the components have overheated to the point of being physically damaged.  I think it’s my fault because normally when I play it, I take it out of its hiding place except for the last time I played it.  Usually, many of these things overheat when operated and placed in enclosed or poorly ventilated areas.  I failed to follow conventional wisdom and for the sake of convenience left it in such a state.  Thus, it overheated.  Lesson learned.

Normally, all the items we post here are about sci-fi or fantasy in movies or  television, or comics. Rarely do we post anything about gaming. Not that we have anything against it, our contributors here own or have access to all the gaming consoles and platforms. We just don’t really cover gaming all that much.
A while ago, a friend of mine had an Xbox 360 that suffered the Red Ring of Death. For those that don’t know, that’s when the usually green glowing lights on the front LED panel of the Xbox change to red. It means that your Xbox isn’t working any more for any number of reasons. There are different reasons based on the number of lights. This Xbox had 3 red lights in the circle of LEDs. That is supposed to mean that there is either a power failure or some other hard ware failure. Microsoft apparently repairs red ring of death Xboxes if you are within a two year warranty period. Well, he’s had that particular Xbox for over 3 years and on top of that it’s a refurbished one.

My next door neighbor mentioned in passing that there were websites that tell you how to repair a red ring of death if you are outside of the warranty period and don’t want to spend the 99.99 plus shipping to have Microsoft fix it. I figured this might be something worth checking out. So, I got the Xbox before it was tossed out (my friend purchased another Xbox). And I looked up several websites to see which one would be easy to follow and do the least damage if I got it wrong, but hey, there wasn’t really anything to lose.

Now mind you, I have done something like this before. My PS2 stopped working, so I took it apart and fiddled around with the inside a little bit, and it started working again. Also, the glass screen on my PSP splintered and I ordered a replacement part and fixed it myself. My Desktop PC wasn’t functioning and I took it apart and put new thermal paste on they CPU. Little did I know, that the two skills, dismantling a PS2 and removing the heat syncs from a mother board would be exactly what I needed to fix the Xbox.

I settled on the instructions on Instructables.com, Fix the Red Ring of Death. After a week and one trip to Home Depot (and my 2 year old’s enthusiastic assistance), I put the Xbox back together and booted it up. To my surprise it worked. I popped in a game and had no problems. It’s been two weeks now, and still no after effects from my repair or any indications that the RROD might come back.

For a long time I have been debating if I wanted to get a PS3 or an Xbox. I guess the decision was made for me. I guess I’ll throw a couple of dollars my friend’s way.

All-Star Superman is the 10th movie in the DC Universe Animated Original Movies line. It’s based on a 12-issue series of the same name written by comic book fanboy favorite Grant Morrison. The previous movies include, Superman: Doomsday, Batman: Gotham Knight, Green Lantern: First Flight, Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, and Batman: Under the Red Hood.  Basically, the story is about Superman’s impending death due to some maneuvering by Lex Luthor and how Superman/Clark Kent is dealing with it.  Sounds like that could be a potentially great story.

Let me start by saying that of the previous 9 releases, I liked each and every one of them. They were all animated well and the voice acting was great. For some reason, this movie was a miss for me. It might be that I don’t like the story, because I didn’t like the series it was based on. However, I think it’s more than that. The animation was fine, but I’ve seen better. The voice acting was okay, but it could have been better. Edward Asner as Perry White and Anthony LaPaglia as Lex Luthor were great, but it seems as if everyone else was either phoning it in or half-asleep. Maybe there wasn’t as much enthusiasm from the production team for this movie as it has been for the previous ones. It seems that this might be a theme of DC Comics. Start great with something and once fans get interested and excited about it, don’t work as hard on it anymore because fanboys will still buy it. I’m not saying it’s bad, it’s just not as good as the other movies have been.

DC has been getting a lot of props for these animated movies. They do them so much better than Marvel, but this movie shows there might be a few kinks in DC’s armor. If you’re a die hard DC fan or Superman fan, you’ll probably love this movie. Most people should just skip it.

ABC News reported that D.C. Comics has announced that Dwayne McDuffie has died. Time and place of his death are not yet known. He was a co-founder and creator of Milestone and the popular character Static. He was also a prolific comic and animation writer. He was an inspiration to all comic book fans and aspiring writers and creators.

According to Heat Vision, Marvel Studios has put Black Panther into production.  Mark Bailey has been hired to write the script about the King of Wakanda, T’Challa.  Kevin Feige will produce.

Now, I’m not expert, but this is an weird choice to me.  Bailey has been writing and working on documentaries (Pandemic: Fighting AIDS, Ghost of Abu Ghraib).    I’ll be fair.  I’m all for giving new talent a chance, and maybe he’s as big a Black Panther fan as I am; Marvel Studios has done very well at their in house productions (Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Incredible Hulk)  So, I’ll give them some leeway.  Casting will be the key, and I hope they don’t choose Michael Jai White.

Every week I subject myself to the mental and psychological torture that is Stargate Universe. How is it torture you might ask? Well, for one, I’m still waiting on the writers to do something original. I know that from the beginning that there were going to be comparisons to other shows, but our hope was that they would give us at least a fresh take. I’m still waiting. The show is now a mash up of Star Trek 5 The Final Frontier, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: DS9, and various other space faring television shows. Sci-fi fans are used to shows and movies borrowing, sometimes heavily, from other shows and movies. However, SGU seems to have taken this to a whole new level. Every week’s show echoes some other plot from another show or movie. My issue as far as this goes is that the writers don’t seem to take the care to at least change it up a little or add their own take on an story idea. But this isn’t a rant article. I’m going to explain why I’m still watching it despite all it’s problems.

1. I am a huge Stargate Fan. I’ve watched every episode of every series including the movies since SG1 started on Showtime before it was picked up by the then Si-Fi Channel. I love the mythology of the franchise and how they worked in Earth’s mythology. Since I have all that time invested in the franchise, I can’t find any reason to stop now no matter how redundant or bad it gets.

2. There aren’t any new shows taking place in space currently airing on television. I really like sci-fi and I’m not going to avoid the show, since it is a story about a group of people on a ship in space going somewhere. They give us aliens, space battles, and exotic planets, everything you expect from a show like this one.

3. The characters are interesting in one way or another. Col. Young is the guy you hate to hate. He seems to have every good intention, but just seems to bungle along the way. He has the air of a person who knows he doesn’t know what he’s doing and is relying on the chain of command and military might to maintain so semblance of order. Dr. Rush is the guy you hate to love. He is the only one who has common sense, but is sometimes blinded or misguided, by his own agenda. Eli….I can do without. One recent episode has Dr. Rush trying to get Eli to get it together and live up to his potential, but Eli still looks and acts like he should be somewhere playing first person shooters. How else would you explain his infatuation with the kinos? A way for him to participate in the action, without actually being there. Master Sergeant Greer is the best character. To me he is the one character who has true reactions to every situation. And it’s always good to have a character that states the obvious whether it’s good or bad.

4. The set design and effects are pretty. There is a lot of production quality put

into this show. Having the majority of show filmed on one set is probably why the production quality on the effects is so high. I really enjoy watching the show every week.  There are all the little details in the set that are quite appealing.  The effects are definitely first rate for a weekly sci-fi show.

I am not under any illusion that this show may not be cancelled. There is a possibility. I would hope not cause that would be the end of space shows on television. I do hope that the story line moves forward, right now the writers seem to be content to be stuck in regurgitating old story ideas. Let’s move the show forward and make some progress.

Michael Beach – October 30th, 1963 (Stargate: Atlantis, Justice League, The Abyss)

I like the way they try bring back another War Machine title without calling it War Machine.     It does tend to reinforce the fact the character is a Iron man spinoff.    James Rhodes depending on the writer waivers from being just a different guy in the Iron Man armor ( the substitute teacher) to a very complex character (War Machine – Volume 1: Iron Heart (War Machine (Marvel).    That seems to be the problem the character development  disappears  each change in writer or title.    They always reset to “the other guy in the armor” or in another example “the other guy with the ring” aka “John Stewart” who suffers from the same problem.     The problem with constantly starting over is you never get anywhere.   Maybe this time we will get some lasting  character development

Source: Newsarama

“When I was a kid, Rhodey was Iron Man,” Spencer said, referring to the character’s two stints filling in for Tony Stark. “I had always viewed the character as a little bit more of a lead than maybe a lot of other people do.”

Spencer’s prepared to not only defend Rhodey’s place in the Marvel Universe, but also the character’s personality. Instead of seeing him as just Iron Man’s by-the-books buddy, Spencer’s clearly given thought to what makes Rhodes an interesting character on his own.

“Jim is a straight-laced, down-to-Earth, keep a low profile, business is business, kind of guy,” Spencer said. “He’s not a guy who cracks a lot of jokes on a day-to-day basis. He’s not a guy who deals with a whole lot of personal angst in a very loud way.

“In that sense he can be hard to get a handle on for some people. One of the things we’re going to be dealing with here is why he is like that, and why he feels like that’s what he needs to be.”

All of those qualities make Rhodes essentially the opposite of Stark — which is, yep, exactly why Spencer thinks their friendship works.

“Creative geniuses love stable, down-to-Earth people because that’s what they’re not,” Spencer said. “If you look at Rhodey, and you look at Pepper [Potts], that’s what they are. They are pragmatic, realistic, rational people in a way that Tony can never be.”

For Spencer, making readers care about a traditionally low-key character lke Rhodes is a “fun challenge,” one that — though it pained him to admit it — reminds him of a ’90-s chick-lit classic.

“This is a horrible comparison, but this is the Bridget Jones conflict,” Spencer said. “When you meet two people at the same time, and one is outgoing and friendly and funny and has great stories and talks your ear off, and the other person just sits there very quietly, you’re going to immediately walk away with the stronger impression of the one that was so much more charming and more outgoing. That doesn’t tell you anything about how they are as a person.

“At the end of the day, you might want to spend more time with the loud, boisterous type, but when the chips are really down, and you really need somebody to count on, you would want the other guy. And that’s who Jim is.”

Bill Nunn – Oct 20th, 1953  (Spider-Man, Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh, Def by Temptation)

STEEL #1
Written by STEVE LYONS
Art by SEAN CHEN
Cover by ALEX GARNER

John Henry Irons is a normal human being who managed to overcome all odds and become a hero who Superman considers a peer and colleague. What kind of determination drives a man to reach such heights? Find out here as a battered and bruised Steel defiantly stands as the only thing between Metallo and the destruction of Metropolis! Doctor Who novelist Steve Lyons and artist Sean Chen (ACTION COMICS, SALVATION RUN) deliver a story that shows why Steel is a true DC Universe icon!

ONE-SHOT • On sale JANUARY 5 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

The fury of Black Dynamite is legendary and will not be confined to just one or even two feeble mediums! Following recent news that the blaxploitation parody would make the jump from film to comics (courtesy of Ape Entertainment), it was revealed Thursday that a new Black Dynamite animated series is in the works for Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim.

The story of an ex-CIA agent with vengeance in his heart and uncommonly good luck with women, “Black Dynamite” premiered in limited release in 2009, became an instant success with critics, and has since become a beloved cult home video. Based on the Michael Jai White film, the animated “Black Dynamite” will be Executive Produced by “The Boondocks’” Carl Jones and star much of the live-action film cast in voice-over roles, including White, Tommy Davidson, Kym Whitley, Byron Minns, Clifton Powell and JB Smoove.

Released in 2009, and already a cult smash, Black Dynamite is about to receive the comic book treatment from the folks at Ars Nova and Ape Entertainment. Set to appear in the one-shot, Black Dynamite: Slave Island, everyone’s favorite blaxploitation sensation will bring his kung-fu skills to the sequential page as he seeks to put an end to a mysterious island… where slavery still exists.“Fans of the film will feel right at home with the comic,” states Ape Entertainment founder and co-publisher Brent E. Erwin. “It has all of the elements that made the movie a cultural phenomenon, and Black Dynamite himself is still as much of a bad dude on the page as he is on the screen.”Directed by Scott Sanders, the film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2009 and stars Michael Jai White as Black Dynamite, a gun-toting, nunchuck-wielding, ladies man willing to fight all the way from the blood-soaked city streets to the hallowed halls of the Honky House.“Although written for film, Black Dynamite was always meant to move beyond the camera,” continues Sanders. “As a medium, comic books seemed like such a logical step in Black Dynamite’s development as a character, and what better way to start than having him bring down the infamous Slave Island.”Black Dynamite: Slave Island is based on a story by Michael Jai White, Byron Minns and Scott Sanders. Written by Brian Ash with pencils by Jun Lofamia, the 48-page one-shot is due in stores in early 2011.

]]> http://blackgeekdom.com/blog/2010/10/01/animated-black-dynamite-coming-to-adult-swim-black-dynamite-comic/feed/ 1 http://blackgeekdom.com/blog/2010/09/30/birthdays-sept-26-oct-2nd/ http://blackgeekdom.com/blog/2010/09/30/birthdays-sept-26-oct-2nd/#comments Thu, 30 Sep 2010 17:16:19 +0000 Lobo http://blackgeekdom.com/blog/?p=2599 Avery Brooks  10-2-48 (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)

“Despite notable efforts from many in the industry, comics and graphic novels continue to be repeatedly mislabeled as just another children’s book category,” said Warren Pawlowski, online publishing manager for Simba Information and an analyst within the company’s Trade Books Group. “With nearly a quarter of the comic reading audience beyond the age of retirement, there is a misconception that needs to be corrected.”

I always wondered why the ads in comics are still aimed at kids.   They average comic reader is around 28 years old, but the  ads are for yogurt,  breakfast cereal or toys.     The industry is messed up.

As far as origin stories go for superheroes, it was pretty straight forward. Weird lights in water caused random mutations in family. Sounds an awful lot like the Fantastic Four. A family on a space ship zapped with weird lights which caused random mutations. The writers get no points for originality. I’m sure the source of the mutations, yes I’m calling them mutations (what else could they be), will be a source for future story lines and is probably going to be explained at some point.
I didn’t care for the therapy like session as an introduction to the story. It would have been better as just voice overs. Voice overs are tried and true, and couple’s therapy as a story telling device is a gimmick.

They choose five of the basic superheroes/villains to showcase: the Superman (minus the flying), the Speedster, The Mindreader, The Genius, and The Teleporter. And the obvious Master Villain is, of course, the boss of one of our heroes. When the bank robber was revealed to also have a power and saying, "you don’t think you’re the only one" to Jim Powell, I was surprised. I guess I wasn’t expecting super villains so soon. As we all know, a great superhero is defined by his or her nemesis, so I hope that whoever becomes the main antagonist, which will probably be Stephen Collins, will be a bad ass.

I liked that ABC spared no expense with the effects. Also, I’m glad a network is doing a light hearted drama. Shows with dark themes are getting old and tired.  It has been a while since there has been a good show that has action, drama and some family fun.  I enjoyed the episode.  The dialogue could be better, but that’s to be expected as the writers begin to explore the characters and the actors grow into their roles. 

Despite the obvious comparisons to other superheroes and shows of that ilk, I think this show has potential. The writers have a lot of angles they can work, the main one being how the powers affect family dynamics. I hope this show stays around.

I’ll reserve my rating for a couple of more episodes; if the show lasts that long.

Undercovers premiered with solid ratings numbers. However, solid ratings numbers for a season premiere of a new show doesn’t mean much. A writer’s strike isn’t going to kill this show like Bionic Woman, which premiered with a high ratings number as well.  Let me get the bad things out of the way.

The plot line was thin for a J.J. Abrams show.  It is hard to believe that this show came from the same person who brought us Lost, Alias, and Fringe.  He somehow managed to pull the things that people liked about the soapy Felicity and tried to insert it into Alias.  Those episodes of Alias were the worts ones where he had Sydney channeling Felicity.  Here, he takes it to another level creating a Felicity styled Alias..  He tries to capture us with an opening action sequence, but it doesn’t even involve the lead characters.  If I remember correctly, Alias began with an action sequence and a ragged Sydney Bristow walking into C.I.A. headquarters.  That may not be how it began exactly, but it was a sequence that stuck with you and hooked me into the show.  Our introduction to the lead characters in Undercovers was a catering discussion.  The setup action sequence was wasted.

Action sequences abound, but it doesn’t make up for the weak plot.  So, the C.I.A. needs to bring them back into the fold by finding a missing agent, who may or may not be selling secrets.  And we follow the Blooms, as they globe trot (but yet still manage their catering business) tracking down leads.  They went through each “locale” at a dizzying pace.  I barely had time register what was happening.  Only in the end did I realize that not only had the agent they were looking for had been undercover for 5 years, but that he somehow stole some DOD (Department of Defense) documents and was planning to kill the main bad guy by setting up a sale of those documents.  I don’t even know why he wanted the guy dead and why the agent went rogue.

What did I like about the show?  The production value was high.  I am sure they didn’t actually film in all the foreign locations, but they tried really hard to make it look like it.  I think Boris and Gugu have great chemistry and they look good together.  I like the little moments they have when you are reminded that they are married.  They were believable as a couple who had never worked together as spies before, so the viewer got an insight into the growing pains they are going to have as they explore this new aspect of their relationship.  Finally, there isn’t anything that I haven’t like Gerald McRaney in.

To sum it all up: I like the show and it’s potential.  There are some kinks that the writers need to work out.  I think the second episode will tell us a lot more about how the show is going to play.  NBC isn’t known for sticking with shows that underperform, so let’s hope the ratings stay solid.

Undercovers and Nikita

I put these two shows together because they are sort of in the same genre. Undercovers is about a married couple and former C.I.A. spys (Boris Kodjoe and Gugu Mbatha-Raw) who are pulled from their catering business back into the espionage trade. My interest in this movie doesn’t revolve around the fact that they are spies because I have had just about enough of spy shows, (Alias, Burn Notice, Rubicon, Covert Affairs). The fact that this is a prime time show on a major Network which has two people of color in the lead roles is the reason I am going to watch it. Hopefully, since this a J.J. Abrams production, the show will have good story lines. The only thing that worries me is that J.J. Abrams has said that he wanted to have fun energy and be a bit more comedic. I don’t know how a funny hour long spy show will play in primetime on NBC.

Nikita is sort of a follow-up to the French film Nikita and its remake Point of No Return (and the series La Femme Nikita). Nikita having now escaped the Division, the organization that turned her into a ruthless assassin, has come back to help others like her to also escape and to bring the Division down. The show stars Maggie Q (Mission Impossible III), Shane West (E.R., Echelon Conspiracy) and Xander Berkley (24: Day 2). Maggie Q looks good in this role and its great to see her finally get a chance to show off her talents that made her a star in Asia.  If the first episode is any indication, then the CW has a pretty good show to possibly pick up the slack when Smallville and Supernatural leave the airways.

The Event

The Event stars Blair Underwood (L.A. Law, Set It Off), Laura Innes (E.R., Deep Impact), and Jason Ritter (Joan of Arcadia).  There isn’t much to say about this show other than it stricks the same vein as Lost.  The mystery surrounding the show is going to make this show good.  I like the fact that Blair Underwood is playing President of the United States.  You can always count on him to give a good performance.

Hawaii Five-0

Hawaii Five-0 is a remake of the classic 60s/70s TV show of the same name that starred Jack Lord.  The remake stars Alex O’Loughlin (The Back Up Plan, Midnight), Scott Caan (Oceans 11-13), Daniel Dae Kim (Lost) and Grace Park (Battlestar Galactica).  I wasn’t a hug fan of the original TV series but my father was.  Networks have done a great job of bringing back classic series and making them modern in recent years, so that’s reason enough to give this show a try.  It helps that it’s a pretty good looking cast, too.

No Ordinary Family

Superheroes in primetime and on network television.  I am so there.  Who cares if it looks like The Incredibles or the Fantastic Four.  The promos look like fun and the show looks hilarious.  Definitely a must see.

Here’s a promo for the final season of Smallville.  Hate to see the show leave the air, but I think its time.  I do believe there are 2 or 3 seasons that were entirely unnecessary, but we fans endured.  Season 9 was a stellar season and this promo promises that season 10 will be just as good.

Source: CBR

The answer to who will be the new Man Without Fear was answered this afternoon on G4′s Attack of the Show: “Fresh Ink” host Blair Butler announced that Marvel’s Daredevil will end in November with Issue 512 — of course, we already knew that — to be replaced with Black Panther: The Man Without Fear.

The title, which picks up in December with Issue 513, spins out of the “Shadowland” event, and finds Black Panther as the new guardian of Hell’s Kitchen, “living outside of his kingdom and rebuilding his life” without the aid of advanced Wakandan technology.

Black Panther is written by award-winning novelist David Liss, who penned last year’s Daring Mystery Comics 70th Anniversary Special for Marvel, and penciled by Francesco Francavilla (Zorro), who drew those “Man Without Fear” teasers.

Daredevil returned to its original numbering a year ago with Issue 500. The continuation of that numbering under the new name, a la Incredible Hercules, suggests we’ll see a return to plain ol’ Daredevil before toolong. Meanwhile, the four-issue Daredevil: Reborn, by Andy Diggle and Davide Gianfelice, will launch in January.

We already know Daredevil is coming back in January so how long will this really last.    So T’challa  has destroyed the Wakanda economy ( ok he didn’t have much of a choice)  and left left his younger sister to fix it.    So he can protect Hell’s Kitchen….. .    The writing has to be off the chain to get me to buy this change of venue.

[flickr album=72157624772213807 num=30 size=Thumbnail]

[flickr album=72157624896443974 num=30 size=Thumbnail]

As much as I love my American Sci-Fi TV shows, Star Trek, Star Wars, Stargate, Smallville, Eureka, and Warehouse 13, the panel that I geeked out the most at was the R2 Units panel in the Robotics Track. On Friday, I saw a guy controlling an R2D2. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen an R2 Unit at Dragon*Con. But what made me stop was the fact that he actually had the Princess Leia "Help me Obi-Wan, you’re my only hope." projection being displayed on the wall from the R2 Unit. That piqued my interest. Then I saw that on Sunday there was going to be a panel about R2 Units. I decided to go because I thought it would be cool.

The panel had 5 guys who were part of the R2 Builders Group. Three of them brought their R2 Units. I was impressed. They talked about the process of building your own unit from scratch. I didn’t realize that there was so much involved. It isn’t like you can call a company up and say, "Hey, I want to order a working remote control R2D2." You actually have to build it yourself. Of course they talked about how the community of R2 Builders help each other buy providing plans, parts, advise, and there own experiences with putting one of these things together. You can make one out of aluminum, wood, resin, plastic or any combination of the above. It can be just a room piece, or one that’s fully operational with actual R2 sounds and blinking lights. I took one look at those things and thought I could do that, but at the end of the panel I was not so sure.

These guys put a lot of time and effort into building their R2 Units. As a matter of fact, one question asked during the Q & A was what was the hardest thing to get or acquire to make the droids. The response went something like this: Getting my wife to support this hobby. Seriously, it sounded like it could cost anywhere from $500 to $40,000 to build one of these things. These guys are the geekiest of geeks.

Who wouldn’t want one of these things. I couldn’t think of anything cooler to have, especially when going to a Sci-Fi/Fantasy convention like Dragon*Con.

If you’re interested you can find more information at www.astromech.net or click here for the Astromech Yahoo! group

Persons Unknown followed the story of seven people who were abducted and placed in a seemingly abandoned town in the middle of nowhere. They wake up in a hotel with no knowledge of how or why they are there. The hotel, the streets of the town, and the other buildings are all filled with cameras and microphones. During the first few weeks of their captivity, they are subjected to psychological and physical stresses (torture). They also try to escape several times without success since the town is surrounded by some sort of impassable microwave energy wall. Once, they actually make it through the wall only for all of them to pass out, possibly due to an implant, and awaken back in the town.

The secondary plot follows Mark Renbe, a journalist and the ex-husband of one of the abductees, Janet Cooper. Renbe is attempting to find Janet to not only investigate the unusual circumstances of her disappearance but to also reunite her with their daughter, Megan. Another subplot involves Joe Tucker who at first seems to be an abductee like the other six people but is later revealed to be an agent of “The Program,” those responsible for the abductions and what is going on in the town.

Now that I’ve explained the important plot details, let me explain why I think the show failed in the end. Initially, the show was advertised as a mini-series event and that “All will be answered” at the end of the summer. The only thing that the show didn’t do was to provide answers, or at least the answers for which I wanted answers. 1) How did they decide who to abduct? 2) What is the purpose of “The Program? It has to be more than just finding individuals who show great promise. 3) What is The Program? 4) What’s going to happen to Kate Damatto and Ambassador Fairchild? Those are just a few of the questions that I have. These questions wouldn’t be so bad if I knew that there was going to be another season.

I will commend the writers for creating a show with an original premise. The series finally was a well written episode, if they were setting up more seasons. Am I supposed to just assume that The Program continues on? Why not go out with a bang and have the characters that we (the audience) grew to care about escape and somehow expose The Program, or find a way back to their lives, or even make new lives, instead of being stuck in a loop. Usually, when a series or mini-series comes to an end, there is closure. Fans of this show, however few there may be, won’t have any closure. The conspiracy continues and the plight of our characters isn’t changed. It would be like Battlestar Galactica ending after Crossroads Part 2 with the revelation of who the hidden cylons are. Or it would be like Lost ending after the fifth season finale The Incident when Ben kills Jacob, Ilana opens the metal crate to reveal Locke’s body, and Juliet smashes the nuclear core and detonates the bomb. You can’t end a series that you know is coming to an end with a cliff hanger and not expect people to be a little perturbed.

Maybe it was a case of the writers not knowing how to end the show, but that’s ridiculous. You knew going in that it was going to end. There really isn’t any excuse. I might have been happy with just showing Joe and Mark in a new town starting the cycle over again, but you also show me our original abductees (minus Joe) in a hotel built into a ship out at sea in the middle of nowhere (incidentally the ship is named Almas Perdidias which translates into Lost Souls). They are then told “Welcome to Level 2,” by a now sinister looking Night Manager. What the hell is Level 2? Why didn’t they just scrap this group like the normally would do? If The Program is trying something new, what exactly are they trying? The writers seem to have no problem with raising even more questions.

Maybe I’m being too hard and literal. I actually did like the show, and if there were going to be more seasons, I would watch. But the ending bothered me. I dislike false closure on my TV shows. Maybe this’ll spawn comic books or webisodes, or even some decent fan fiction. One can only hope.

Lawrence Hilton- Jacobs September 4th 1953  ( “Alien Nation”)

Beyonce Knowles  -  September 4th 1981  (“Austin Powers in Goldmember“)

Source: USA Weekend

Idris Elba who is most known for his role as Stringer Bell in The Wire is currently starring in Takers, a heist film opening this weekend.  He talked about Takers and Thor in USA Weekend.   Here is an excerpt from that interview:

You just finished your stint filming Thor as the Asgardian warrior Heimdall. How was that?
It was dope. It was an interesting genre of film to make. I had never done comic book stuff, so that was really great.

What was the coolest part?
Just the bigness of the show. It’s so epic, these huge sets were just amazing to look at. And they really pat attention to detail. When you read the comics, you see all the drawings, and to actually see them in real life, it’s like, “Whoa!”

Do you see yourself doing another superhero character or are you good with the crime dramas?
I have a deal with the Marvel Studios team, a four-picture commitment. I’m sure I’ll be back in something cool.

Looks like he’s going to be in more Marvel Entertainment films, but he didn’t spill the beans, or he may not know yet, about what role or roles Marvel has in store for him.  I know that many people like the idea of him playing T’Challa, the Black Panther.  He certainly has the gravitas and the acting chops to pull it off.  Read the rest of the interview here.

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje – August 22 1967  (“Lost”, The Mummy Returns, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra )

J. August Richards –  August 28th, 1973  (“Angel”)

Sherlock is a modern day version of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes.  The show is brilliant.  I love the production quality of the show.  So far, each of the first three episodes have been 90 minutes long and that’s great. There is more time to watch Sherlock work through a case and still have time to explain how he comes up with much of his conclusions.  I also love how they display the information that comes through on mobile phones like text messages, caller IDs and web searches on the television screen.

The great thing about this show is how Sherlock (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) is really a modern day version of the sleuth.  Of course he chronicles his exploits in a blog and possess an iPhone. from which he deftly sends text messages and does internet searches for information that isn’t readily available in that big brain of his.

To me, the true gem of the show is Martin Freeman as Dr. John Watson.  Like many of the Dr. Watsons before him, he is a perfect complement to the self-described “high functioning sociopath”.  He’s a marksman and former soldier, and a medical doctor.  He’s proving himself to be down right dependable, a trait common in all versions of the character.  We also get to meet the devious and manipulative Moriarty.  I haven’t decided if I like this version of Moriarty.  He seems more like the Joker than the Kingpin, not that the Joker isn’t brilliant, but he is crazy.  However, I’m not entirely convinced that the man we saw as Moriarty might be him at all.  Sherlock might or might not be in your local listings, but you should watch it if you can.

UPDATE:  BBC announced that Sherlock would get a second season in the fall of 2011.  Man, that’s a long time to wait for a good show.

Haven

Haven is loosely based on Stephen King’s “The Colorado Kid”.  The first season is trucking right along on SyFy.  I can’t say that I am a fan of the show even though I’ve watched every episode.  The show is like Eureka with a supernatural twist.  Unfortunately, it’s not the only show that fits that description that started this summer (see The Gates).  I don’t think there is any chemistry between the 3 leads and that’s why the show isn’t pulling me in.  I keep watching each week thinking something is going to kick in but it hasn’t.  I can tell where the show is going, and the writers aren’t really giving me anything that would make me want to keep watching.  The long arc has something to do with the main character Audrey Parker trying to find out about a woman in an old newspaper article from Haven that looks just like her, who could be her mother.  However, we haven’t been given a whole lot to go on as far this storyline goes.  If you aren’t watching it you aren’t missing anything.  There are no main characters of color on this show.

Persons Unknown

I like this show.  If you haven’t been watching it don’t start now, you pretty much have to start from the beginning.  It’s much better than AMC’s remake of The Prisoner.  A group of people were kidnapped by a group known simply as The Organization, and dropped into a town that they cannot leave.  The actors in the cast are all believable and they all have good chemistry together.  There aren’t any big names in the cast, so that probably helps.  The secondary arc follows one of the persons uknown’s ex-husband journalist who’s trying to find her for the sake of their daughter.  The show is like a dark version of CBS’s Big Brother (a guilty pleasure of mine) which is probably why I like it.

The producers promise that all questions will be answered at the end of the series.  I like the idea of having a series with a definite ending.  I kinda felt that this is how Lost should have been (no nasty emails please).  It is apparent that this show couldn’t go longer than 13 episodes or even more than one season.  For some reason, this show makes me miss Defying Gravity.

Again, don’t watch Persons Unknown now if you haven’t been watching it all season.  NBC moved the show to Saturday night which means they have given up on it and are just trying to get rid of it, but to tell you the truth, how many episodes of Dateline NBC can one watch in a week?  Hulu and NBC have a few episodes, but not all of them.  I don’t understand why the network did that, but there are probably other ways to find all the episodes online. Chadwick Boseman (Lincoln Heights) and Kandyse McClure (BSG) both star as Persons Unknown.

Souce: Movieweb

Saw some of this footage already during ABC Family’s Harry Potter weekend  several weeks ago.  But its cool to see it again.  There is a 30 second Ad pre-roll before the video starts.

Check out this new trailer from a movie I know nothing about.  I like the image, I like the title, and I like the trailer. The synopsis from the official site:  In the sci-fi thriller Skyline, strange lights descend on the city of Los Angeles, drawing people outside like moths to a flame where an extraterrestrial force threatens to swallow the entire human population off the face of the Earth.

Due in theaters 11-12-10, the movie stars Eric Balfour (Haven, 24), David Zayas (Dexter), Donald Faison (Scrubs), and Brittany Daniel (The Game).

Maybe, we are waiting on some writer to write the defeinitive Blade story something along the lines of Frank Millers run on Daredevil.   It’s my understanding that Daredevil was on the chopping block before Miller saved it. Maybe that’s what Blade needs that one great story to get things going. While you are waiting on that to happen you probably need to check out Ultimate Comics Avengers 3 #1 (of 6) and X-Men #2.

I’m not going to make some smart ass comment about how this looks like a Pelham 1-2-3 Part 2.  But the movie does have three really good reasons to check it out, Denzel Washington, Chris Pine and Rosario Dawson.  I don’t know what’s up with Denzel and Trains.  I am also excited about seeing Denzel hook up with Tony Scott since they teamed up Crimson Tide, one of my all time favorite movies. (They also teamed up for Man on Fire, but that movie was just okay.)  So I’m hoping that this is more like Crimson Tide than Man on Fire.  The trailer does look pretty intense.  Thanks Flickcast for the heads up.

Make no mistake, Thor is one of my favorite comic book characters and mythological figures.  But once again, Marvel delivers another book that shows the complexity of Thor’s character.  He’s not just a brute powerhouse and this issue highlights that.  It also illustrates the rocky relationship that he has with Odin.  This book isn’t the first one-shot I’ve recommended.  Previously, Thor Ages of Thunder was a pick of the week.  Rage of Thor is actually a better, more emotional book.  Check it out.

At Comic-Con International, LeVar Burton spoke about his Dark Horse release Con-CERNed.

Source: ComingSoon.Net

This was presented at Comic Con before the Marvel panel featuring the stars of the film.

Malik Yoba who starred as Ted Shaw in ABC’s Defying Gravity has signed on to SyFy’s new show titled Alphas.

From SyFy’s announcement: Alphas follows a team of ordinary citizens whose brain anomalies imbue them with extraordinary mental and physical abilities. Taking the law into their own hands, the unlikely team, led by Dr. Lee Rosen (David Strathairn) investigates cases that suggest other Alpha activity to uncover what the CIA, FBI and Pentagon have not been able or willing to solve. These gifted individuals must balance their quirky personalities and disparate backgrounds with their not always visible powers as they work to solve crimes, stop the ticking time bomb and catch the enemy.

I will probably watch the show even though it reads like several other shows and comics that I’ve seen or read before.  I won’t pass judgment on a show without having seen it, but let’s just say I’m a bit suspect about where the show might be going.  SyFy isn’t known for cancelling underperforming shows without giving them a full season to get an audience, so at least it won’t be cancelled the way ABC cancelled Defying Gravity.  I liked Defying Gravity and thought the show had potential.  I even liked Yoba’s portrayal of Ted Shaw.  SyFy has launched some great shows over the last couple of years, Eureka, Warehouse 13, Sanctuary, to name a few.  Maybe they’ll keep up the good track record.

In stores today, Batman: Under the Red Hood is one of the darker stories in the DC universe.  As everyone knows (so it’s not a spoiler) that the Joker killed Robin, Jason Todd, because of a telephone poll done by DC in 1988.  Subsequently, Jason Todd was “resurrected” in the DC universe.  This movie is the animated version of that story.

Bruce Greenwood (Captain Pike in Star Trek) voices Bruce Wayne/Batman instead of Kevin Conroy, the voice that we all know and love.  Greenwood does a fabulous job.  Neil Patrick Harris voices Dick Grayson/Nightwing and Jensen Ackles (Supernatural) voices the Red Hood/Jason Todd.  Both of them were also very good.  I missed Mark Hamill as the Joker but John DiMaggio did well enough.

The story is not unfamiliar to fans of Batman.  I thought they may have glossed over Jason’s resurrection a little fast in order to put in more action sequences.  I would have thought more interaction between him an Ra’s al Ghul would have made for a great subplot.  I really liked the team up with Batman and Nightwing, and how the writers were able to show how it differed from when Batman and Red Hood teamed up.

The animation to me was not as good as DC’s previous animated films, but the story made up for that.  I say see it and enjoy.  Just a reminder, it has graphic violence even for DC animation; it is rated PG-13. (It really is PG-13 and would probably be an R if it were live action.)

Souce: Hitfix

UPDATE: According to Hitfix, Eva Longoria would love to be a superhero, but she says she won’t be Janet Van Dyne, the Wasp, in an Ant-Man or Avengers movie.  She confirmed that she had discussions with Marvel about a movie, but wouldn’t give details.

I still think she’d make a great Wasp or even Scarlett Witch.  She can’t be Black Widow since Scarlett Johansson has taken that role in Iron Man 2.

Previous Post: Eva Longoria Up for Wasp?

Saw this rumor a couple of weeks ago, and was waiting for some confirmation.  It  was reported that Eva was photographed leaving Marvel’s L.A. office clutching what appeared to be some Avenger comic books.  It was later reported that she was in talks to take the role of Janet Van Dyne, the Wasp, in an upcoming Marvel Movie (Iron Man 2 or Captain America: The First Avenger or The Avengers).  The thing is that this came out a couple of weeks ago, and then everything went silent.  It was reported as  both fact and rumor.  We’ll I think she would do well in any role that they shoved her in, the Wasp, Black Widow, Scarlett Witch.  I just assume that they are going to go for the hot factor regardless of the role.  Unlike the X-Movies where everyone, except Raven, was completely covered from head to toe.

.  Would she make a good Black Widow?  Possibly.

Would she make a good Scarlet Witch?  Maybe.

She pretty much would be worth the price of admission for anything they want her to be in a superhero movie.