Fanboys Anonymous

Episode 31 of the Fanboys Anonymous Reviewpoint podcast reviews the latest entry in the film series documenting that pesky mutant problem: X-Men: Apocalypse.

You can check out the podcast below on YouTube, iTunes, and Stitcher. Make sure to subscribe!

Since the dawn of civilization, he was worshiped as a god. Apocalypse, the first and most powerful mutant from Marvel’s X-Men universe, amassed the powers of many other mutants, becoming immortal and invincible. Upon awakening after thousands of years, he is disillusioned with the world as he finds it and recruits a team of powerful mutants, including a disheartened Magneto (Michael Fassbender), to cleanse mankind and create a new world order, over which he will reign. As the fate of the Earth hangs in the balance, Raven (Jennifer Lawrence) with the help of Professor X (James McAvoy) must lead a team of young X-Men to stop their greatest nemesis and save mankind from complete destruction.

On the latest edition of Minute Man Reviews hosted by Tony Mango, X-Men: Apocalypse is given a full review in under 60 seconds.

Check out the video below and be sure to subscribe and leave your comments on what you thought of X-Men: Apocalypse!

With the upcoming release of X-Men: Apocalypse approaching soon on May 27th, Fanboys Anonymous is providing you with another edition of the FanTracks podcast, this time for the "Rogue Cut" of X-Men: Days of Future Past.

For copyright reasons, we cannot provide the movie itself, but if you sync up the video of the movie with our commentary, you can listen to our thoughts on the film as we crack some jokes, expose some plot holes and so on.

After a short introduction, you will be told when to sync up your copy of the film so you can follow along with our commentary. Follow the links below to listen to the podcast on either YouTube, iTunes, or Stitcher. Make sure to subscribe!

What do we know for sure will happen with Spider-Man: Homecoming? Tony Stark will make an appearance, Vulture is the rumored villain, and Tom Holland and Marisa Tomei will return as Peter Parker and Aunt May.

That's not much to go on, but that shouldn't stop us from speculating on some plot elements, right?

After watching Captain America: Civil War, I have been mulling over a few ideas that stood out to me:

The Sokovia Accords and the "Menace"

We never saw Spider-Man sign the necessary papers to make him an official government operative. This seems like a gross oversight and completely against what Tony Stark was hoping to achieve, particularly since he had such a bad reaction to finding out that a young kid had died from the actions of Ultron. Why would he recruit another kid, put him in danger, and let him stay off the government list?

Well, we saw that Peter looks up to both Stark and Captain America. The latter is rumored to also have an appearance in the movie, so what if Spider-Man is playing both sides, in a way? What if he's not signing up for the government, and Stark is protecting him from this responsibility because he's under 18 and Stark kind of sees more of Cap's side now?

One person who would have a problem with this is J. Jonah Jameson, who would be quick to refer to Spider-Man in typical form as a menace and a vigilante who works outside of the law in the wrong way and so on and so forth.

Stark Industries vs. Oscorp

Tony Stark should also have an influence on the plot when it comes to the tech world that Spider-Man frequently battles. Of course, Oscorp needs to be at the center of the conflict, and I think that company works best as an alternative to Stark Industries. I can definitely see a scenario where Norman Osborn has taken over a lot of the military contracts that Stark no longer is interested in, but he also wants to focus more on biological manipulation rather than trying to build more suits. Iron Man already corners the market on the armored concept, right? The Vulture suit could be based somewhat off Stark's designs, but Osborn could be against putting too many resources into another suit. Basically, this puts Osborn between Adrian Toombs and Spider-Man, all the while getting closer to unlocking the secrets within Peter's DNA.

The Supporting Cast of Characters

I do in fact think that the homecoming dance will play a part in the story, and it's not just thrown into the title to be cutesy about coming back home to Marvel control. Since high school should be involved, I'm really hoping to see Peter's classmates fleshed out quite a bit. His best friend needs to be Harry Osborn, and I'd love for Charlie Rowe to be cast in that role. Flash Thompson and Kenny "Kong" McFarlane would be great bullies. Give me Randy Robertson dating Glory Grant (his date for the homecoming dance) as well as some Liz Allan. Maybe Peter has a few options for the dance that include not just Mary Jane and Gwen Stacy but also Carlie Cooper and Indira Daimonji? What if Harry is dating Lily Hollister? That would be pretty sweet, I think. There are so many background classmates who could have cameos that would be great; for example Flash could be picking on a couple of fat kids who are Angelina Brancale and Arnie Gunderson.

No More Hope for Certain Opportunities

For a long while, I had a few ideas that I thought could really be neat, but I no longer think there's any chance that they'll be happening. The biggest of these was that Kraven would be the primary villain, with Scorpion serving as the secondary one. Kraven could approach Peter as a father figure and want to train him, giving the audience a chance to learn about his backstory (through Peter trusting Kraven and telling him about Uncle Ben and how he got his powers) while also allowing Peter to gain more control over his abilities. Kraven could be on the hunt for "the ultimate game," Scorpion, who is created through Oscorp using the same science connected to Peter. Also, Kraven could be seeking the Oz formula for himself and would somewhat hunt Spider-Man as well, because they would have conflicting ideologies with regard to how to handle Scorpion. Peter doesn't kill and Kraven exclusively does.

Another hope that's been dashed is the possibility that Kingpin will crossover in some fashion as Peter searches for the man who killed Uncle Ben, who could end up being an associate of Wilson Fisk's past (or present). Admittedly, I really just wanted to see the TV shows appear in some fashion in the movies, and since Daredevil and Spider-Man have worked together so much in the past, that would have been a great opportunity that I think is going to be completely missed.

What do you think will end up going down with Spider-Man: Homecoming? Are you excited for the reboot now that we've had our first taste of Tom Holland as Peter Parker, or are you nervous that even Marvel can't bring the character back on track? Tell us your ideas and predictions in the comments below!

On the latest edition of the Movie Trailer Reactions podcast for Fanboys Anonymous, host Tony Mango gives his live response and overall thoughts about the latest trailer for Ghostbusters released earlier today. Make sure to subscribe and tell us in the comments what you think of the trailer!

A paranormal researcher (Melissa McCarthy), a physicist (Kristen Wiig), a nuclear engineer (Kate McKinnon), and a subway worker (Leslie Jones) try to rid New York of ghosts that can possess humans.

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After having some time to digest Captain America: Civil War, I found myself specifically wanting the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) to head in a few directions after Phase 3 concludes with Avengers: Infinity War. The second part of that film is still a few years away, so there's plenty of time for curve balls to be thrown with the movies that are set to come out next year and so forth, but I think I have a pretty decent idea of where things will end up. The only question is where things will branch off afterward with Phase 4, as we're left completely in the dark regarding which films are on the schedule and so forth.

Allow me to think out loud and pitch some ideas of what I'd like to see going forward with the MCU. Keep in mind that this is all speculation and some fan fiction rather than any kind of factual news reporting, so if you have any other ideas in mind, pitch them in the comments below!

Sokovia Accords Fallout

Since Anthony and Joe Russo said they would be changing Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 and Part 2 to new title(s), I think one of those that is pretty obvious is Secret Avengers, where Captain America will lead his separate squad as an underground force of justice while Tony Stark heads up the other branch. This schism will allow for Thanos to take control much more easily until our factions rejoin and save the day.

The Sokovia Accords won't be entirely eradicated, but I'm sure there will still be supporters. One person in particular who I feel is going to remain on that side is General Ross. It seems far too coincidental to me that they would use his character to represent this initiative and put them in a position in the film as the antagonists (so to speak) while he's taken part in something similar in the past.

The Thunderbolts

Disney still doesn't have full control over the rights to distribute a standalone Hulk film, which is part of the reason why he's tagging up with Thor and hasn't had a movie like The Indestructible Hulk or something. How do they get around this? Pair him up with Ross and the Thunderbolts.

One of the only villains left who can battle Hulk is Red Hulk (Ross), and this movie can introduce/reintroduce a couple other characters as well. We haven't seen Betty Ross in a while, She-Hulk can be on Hulk's side along with Rick Jones, and some adversaries could be a returning Abomination as well as Zzzax and The Leader as well as a series of Hulkbusters. Maybe Skaar makes an appearance following Thor: Ragnarok if it resembles Planet Hulk in enough capacity? 

The Mighty Thor

It would seem like an odd universe if Thor just stopped having adventures after dealing with Thanos, right? Chris Hemsworth can't seem to get his acting career to thrive outside of Marvel, so he probably won't be itching to leave as much as some other folk.

We're already seeing a distancing from Jane Foster with Natalie Portman not returning for Thor: Ragnarok, so why not go with Sif as the love interest going forward and do a story where those two team up against Amora the Enchantress and Skurge the Executioner? Since there's also a concerned effort to take the series away from hinging on Earth too much, let's spend some time in Muspelheim dealing with Surtur, or go to Nornheim so Thor can fight Ulik the troll. If he comes back to Earth, he can fight The Wrecking Crew as supporting characters to another villain. Balder needs to make an appearance, for sure, but if we're sticking with villains, the Dark Gods seem like guaranteed foes whom Thor would need to deal with as the new king (assuming Odin kicks the bucket either from Loki or Thanos.)

Otherworldly Expansion

On the topic of traveling to other planets and realms, we have so many options of other things we can tackle.

The Secret Invasion is, of course, one of the biggest overall arcs that could be told for Phase 4 or 5, provided Disney gets the rights to the Fantastic 4 characters. If that's the case, I think we'll see the Fantastic 4 themselves used as a framing device for exploration. After all, that's what their series pretty much consisted of back in the day. They consistently discovered new uncharted areas and introduced more and more characters.

This includes Silver Surfer and Galactus, the Inhumans, and even the possibility that they work for S.W.O.R.D. when they travel in space and get their powers to begin with. We've yet to see Dr. Doom in any movies deal with anything in the mystic arts, but with Doctor Strange in the universe, there's plenty of room for crossover there, and so many worlds can be opened if you tap into that side of the MCU.

Perhaps most importantly, this would mean Kang the Conqueror could be utilized as a primary villain. In my mind, it would be killer if the end of Avengers: Infinity War is a tease that Kang is looking back into the past to see that the results from saving the universe had some other kind of an effect that he wants to alter in some way.

Another aspect of taking things off Earth is with Captain Marvel. At some point, there will just be too many characters to keep having their own films, and I don't think we'll have Captain Marvel 2 and Captain Marvel 3 focusing entirely on Carol Danvers. This is not because it's a female-driven entity, but more so because her character doesn't work as well on her own. She doesn't have a long rogues gallery, and she's more of a supporting player in other series. To counteract that, I think we'll see her in a Nova Corps movie, working with that cast of characters.

Sequels and Spinoffs and So On

Some characters can continue with another movie or more, and I think a lot of where Marvel goes depends on how they want to utilize them. Supposedly, they do in fact want to do a Black Widow solo film, but what would the story be? Does she have her own film, but it still involves Hawkeye? Maybe they can explore a romance between the two if his family gets killed (sorry Clint), or Natasha will shack up with Bucky Barnes when they thaw out The Winter Soldier and restore his memories.

I don't think we'll get a Serpent Society film about Captain America, but we could definitely get a return of Red Skull as well as a film about current politics with Flag Smasher as the villain, even if Cap takes up more of a leadership role and doesn't do his own thing as much. For that matter, what if Tony Stark is the new head of S.H.I.E.L.D. to replace a dead Nick Fury—as I'm convinced that he's going to be the sacrificial lamb of Infinity War—meaning we have a culmination of his character from an outsider to his role in Civil War being expanded. He did take on this job in the comics, so maybe he has to suit back up to fight the real Mandarin and the Ten Rings organization.

There's definitely going to be more than one Spider-Man film. Rest assured. That series isn't going to just be Spider-Man: Homecoming and then guest spots in other movies. Obviously, we will get a third Guardians of the Galaxy movie and possibly more sequels to Black Panther and Doctor Strange, but I also wouldn't be shocked if T'challa only gets one standalone film.

The Missing Players

It will be weird if we go all the way through Phase 4 and we don't see Namor, Sentry, Amadeus Cho, and MODOK, just to name a few. I also would be looking out for some kind of a shared series in the style of The Defenders on Netflix that deals with the darker stuff like Blade, Morbius, Ghost Rider, and maybe Moon Knight, although I'm still holding out a little hope that they will just tie into Daredevil with Elektra and The Hand already as is.

One Thing is For Sure…

All of the above could be true, or none of it can come to pass, but if there's one thing that I can bet money on, it's that we will not see the X-Men crossing over. That series has too much of a foothold as its own separate universe, and Fox isn't going to be giving up the rights anywhere near as easily as they would be willing to part with the Fantastic 4 characters.

I'm still 100% convinced that the Infinity Gauntlet will somehow be used to make changes to the continuity, allowing for recasting and some retconning to a certain extent, but clearly there won't be a hard reboot where they get rid of all the actors and such while allowing room to include the mutants. It's too soon, with Phase 3 ending in 2019 and Fox talking about having lots of X-Men films on the horizon.

No matter what happens, though, I'm excited for the future. Although there have been some missteps along the way, the MCU has been a massive success and nearly everything just keeps getting cooler and cooler, so whatever Phase 4 and onward has in store for us, I'm sure Disney will be getting my money.

What would you like to see be planned out, though? Let us know in the comments below!

On the latest edition of the Fanboys Anonymous Reviewpoint podcast, host Tony Mango recaps and reviews the hits and misses from season 3 of the Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. television series.

You can check out the podcast below on YouTube, iTunes, and Stitcher. Make sure to subscribe and leave your comments telling us what you thought of this season!

Welcome to the fourth edition of Fanboys Fix It, where instead of just complaining about what we don't like about something, we try to figure out how we can make it better. The previous three editions have been movies that were packed with flaws, the second of which was X-Men Origins: Wolverine. While that film goes down in history as one of the most problematic, the target for this edition is responsible for ushering in the initial beginning of the superhero craze in an era where nobody would touch the subject. With the upcoming release of X-Men: Apocalypse, it seemed fitting to go back in time to talk about Bryan Singer's premiere crack at the franchise with the 2000 film X-Men.

Upon rewatching this for the first time in years, I actually found myself liking it more than ever. In fact, there aren't a lot of things to complain about. Fundamentally, this is a pretty solid movie, but there are still some things that can be improved upon.

Here is a list of what I feel are the errors of the film, and how I would have fixed them if I had been on the creative team in some fashion.

Core Problem #1: Toad

What a stupid character. Out of all the villains to choose from, why was he the fourth member of The Brotherhood? Magneto, Mystique and Sabretooth are all classics, but Toad?? Obviously, the next best choice was Juggernaut, but even someone like Avalanche would have made more sense. For that matter, why has Avalanche still not been in a movie after 9 of these being made?

Getting rid of Toad also gets rid of one of the most ridiculous things in the movie: Storm's dialogue about toads being struck by lightning. It's an awful line that people make fun of all the time.

Ray Park is cool and all, having brought Darth Maul to life in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, but Toad just felt like a studio executive's note rather than something for the story. "Hey, this martial artist did some cool pole stuff on that movie, so why not have a character do the same thing here? Maybe he can be like, a frog guy too?"

Core Problem #2: Fight Choreography

This is something that would improve as the series went on, but it's terrible in the first entry. There are far too many moments where people are being thrown across a room in ridiculous fashion that I've seriously lost count at how many times it happens in the movie. Once or twice is okay, but only when the context fits it, too. For example, when Magneto launches Wolverine, it's because he has control over the metal in his body. That makes sense. Why, on the other hand, does Sabretooth fly backward when struck by lightning, or do people get kicked or punched and just sort of flip around?

That type of choreography is unrealistic to a point where audiences laugh at it and scoff at the idea that it's supposed to be believable, as it clearly is amped up to a level that's supposed to make you feel it's over the top and more like a comic book. Nowadays, the superhero film genre is succeeding because it's being treated in a more earnest fashion as if things were real, rather than trying to stylize it to give you the feel of watching a more campy comic book cinematic experience.

Core Problem #3: Missing Characters

There's only a limited amount of space in this movie, so the number of characters needed to be cut down to just a few in comparison to the vast amount from the comics. I understand fully well that there may not have been any room for some more characters to be added to the mix, but it was still disappointing going to the theaters to see this and not come across a few of my favorites from when I was a kid, watching the animated series.

For example, it floored me that Beast wasn't involved. In retrospect, I can look at the decision to keep him out and replace some of his character aspects with Jean Grey, making her a doctor to give her something more to do in the script, as a good call. However, part of me was just sad that Hank McCoy wasn't a big part of the school like he should have been. Later films would retcon this, and I'm happy about that.

How cool would it have been, though, to see Forge working in the garage on Cyclops' car for a split second or something like that?

Core Problem #4: The Costumes

Again, this was a different era for film, so I can forgive them to a degree. The uniforms in this movie never looked bad to me, but they still got under a lot of peoples' skin for not being more reminiscent of the comics. I think there could have been a way to incorporate more of the designs from the comic book counterparts while still maintaining a level of realism with the leather outfits. Later movies would try to do this, and I don't see why that couldn't have been done from the start. Magneto's look, for example, is close enough that people didn't really complain, and you buy it being something that he could actually be wearing. I'm not expecting yellow spandex, but maybe some yellow and blue piping on the leather outfits could have gone a long way.

Miscellaneous Extra Flaws & Nitpicking

Basically, those big problems above are the things that would have saved these movies and made them better as a whole, but there are smaller things that could have been changed as well. I'm obviously not going to nitpick every little detail, but a few things that stand out to me are as follows:

1. Storm's Accent – Either do it, or don't. Halle Berry fluctuates throughout the movie and it's terrible when she does it, so she should have either had a better dialect coach or the first time she tried it, they should have realized it wouldn't work and kept her natural speaking voice like they did in future movies.
2. Mr. Guyrich Has Been Dead for Some Time – Why? He was such an important figurehead of the anti-mutant agenda and could have been used in future movies! Mistake.
3. Rogue Casting – While I don't think this severely hurts the film, I do think someone else could have fit the role of Rogue better than Anna Paquin. I love the idea that Christina Ricci almost had the part, and I think she could have killed it.

Well, there you have it—some insight into how I would have changed things in hindsight if Marvel and Fox magically gave me the ability to do so. Thankfully, despite the bumps in the road along the way, the overall grand picture of the franchise has been a positive one, and I'm hoping this continues with X-Men: Apocalypse on May 27th.

Whatever's got Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking worried about a Terminator-style rampage suggests that the sci-fi future we once saw on the silver screen is beginning to become reality. Musk recently made a donation of $10 million to the Future of Life Institute, in hopes that the potential risks of artificial intelligence will be controlled. Without even mentioning the possibility of time-travel, how close are we to seeing cyborgs roaming the streets? Closer than you might think. But let's focus on the present. Right now we already have a whole range of exciting developments across artificial intelligence, robotics and tech in general that seem to be making the sci-fi films of the past come true. On top of that, it looks like someone's invented an actual hoverboard.

The Power of Love  Electric Ducted Fans

Zapata Racing claims to have invented a real, fully functional hoverboard. Unlike the one Marty McFly glides around on in Back to The Future, this version looks less like a skateboard and more like something out of the original Star Wars trilogy. They say it's not ready for production quite yet, but videos released on Facebook look promising. More promising still is the ArcaBoard, an oblong, fan-assisted floating board, harnessing 272 horsepower created by Romanian aerospace company Arca. Though it can only reach speeds of 20mph, the next ten years could see all of us gliding along to the sound of Huey Lewis and the News Track "The Power of Love," though hopefully not wearing an 80's shell suit.

To Self-Drive and Beyond

The film history of driverless cars has been more (self-fulfilling) prophecy than fantasy, as Google continues to fine tune its version. We've seen this kind of smart transport in so many films, most notably '90s cult classic Demolition Man. Sandra Bullock's Lieutenant Huxley drives a car with a self-driving mode which can be overridden, amazingly reflecting the offerings from Tesla and Nissan currently in development. In fact, Nissan aims to have a fully autonomous car on the market by 2020, racking up the equivalent of 80 years of research. What are we looking at here? By 2018, Nissan hope to send out cars that can change lanes autonomously. Elon Musk's Tesla, hopefully avoiding any Terminator-style situations, aims to introduce fully automated cars by 2018. In the immediate future is Summon technology, where you can call your car from within a range of 3 miles. Accio car? So not only could we see one kind of autonomous car on the highways, but several different kinds in city streets, as seen in Minority Report. Who knows what this means for the movie car chases of the future?


Metropolis Hold'em

How long would it take to play a billion billion hands of poker? Cepheus, a poker-playing AI developed by a team at the University of Alberta, took just 2 months. By now Cepheus is unbeatable, and plays poker at a superhuman level. Then there's AlphaGo, a Google DeepMind program that plays the ancient game Go at a similar level, and has beaten the human world champion. There's a gap between a game-playing program and the manipulative HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey, and the decisions HAL makes are based on its own, sinister internal logic. AlphaGo makes decisions based on its initial training of 30 million Go moves, and a process of reinforcement learning. Cepheus plays a game that involves bluffing and anticipating other players' moves, which sounds pretty impressive. It's maybe a bit soon to panic about a computer taking over the world though, Cepheus has its limitations. The distinction between Limit and No-limit Hold'em is important here. Of the two most popular Hold'em variations out there, Cepheus has mastered arguably the less "human" kind -  Limit Hold'em. The amount a player can bet per hand in this version is predetermined, leaving Cepheus with a series of specific rules that its opponent must also adhere to. No Limit Hold'em sounds like a job for HAL, or supercomputer V.I.K.I from I, Robot; it's all about taking chances, betting all your chips if you think you'll win the hand, using your instinct as well as your intellect and understanding of the rules. We have yet to invent an AI that can manage that.

I, Receptionist

So we're still a little far from dystopic supercomputer domination. However, artificial intelligence with a human face is already a reality. Meet Nadine, the receptionist robot. If you greet her, she will respond. She is what they call "a social robot." She was developed by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore to communicate effectively with people, chat and remember faces. Though her software is closer to Apple's Siri than the complex learning processes Cepheus and AlphaGo use, she is literally the face of robotics today. NTU's aim is for Nadine and her fellow "social robots" to be used in care homes and hospitals to make a new, robotic workforce. Sound familiar? In I, Robot, the famous 3 Laws of Robotics of Isaak Asimov were broken. Let's hope that future Nadines keep them in mind.


So we've all thought about which sci-fi films might actually turn into reality – cool points for you if that film was Blade Runner. But no matter what futuristic vision sparks our imagination, what if tomorrow you went to the supermarket and the check-out girl was a super-sophisticated AI, or on the way a black cat went past you, and then another that was just like it? There's no doubt we're pretty comfortable with our day to day technology. How soon will we make the leap from apps that control our central heating to a full-on HAL situation? And was it the same cat?

On the latest edition of the Movie Trailer Reactions podcast for Fanboys Anonymous, host Tony Mango gives his live response and overall thoughts about the first trailer for Assassin's Creed released earlier today. Make sure to subscribe and tell us in the comments what you think of the trailer!

Callum Lynch (Michael Fassbender), a descendant of the mysterious secret society the Assassins, must use his deadly skills to battle the powerful Templar organization.

The next Supply Pod's theme is Space Exploration as part of a promotional tie-in with Phoenix Comicon, so if you're interested, use that promo code and sign up for either a 1-month ($39.99 per pod), 3-month ($38.99 per pod), or 6-month subscription ($36.99 per pod + a free gift card) plus $7.99 shipping and handling.

Episode 29 of the Fanboys Anonymous Reviewpoint podcast reviews Captain America: Civil War.

You can check out the podcast below on YouTube, iTunes, and Stitcher. Make sure to subscribe!

Hello, Dacetacular Nation! Chris Bompadre reporting live from my den of squallor AKA my home office. Today I bring you a review of the PAX East game Block'Hood.

The game was developed by Plethora-Project and was released on Steam March 10th, 2016. Block'Hood lets you build your own block-based neighborhood while requiring you to carefully manage and cultivate resources. It does require some thinking, but I know you can handle it! Check out my review below.


As always, check back regularly to see what Chris "The Bompadre Man" Bompadre is looking at(and no, not just my neighbors), as well as all of the other bloggers here at Fanboys Anonymous. Until next time, for the few, for the proud, and for the Dacetacular!

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Welcome to the latest edition of Making the Grade—a review format segment here on Fanboys Anonymous where we break down the five major components of something and give it a score based on the standard report card lineup: A, B, C, D, and F for a total failure.

The next report card is for the latest installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) entitled Captain America: Civil War.

Captain America: Civil War—directed by Anthony Russo and John Russo; written by Christopher Markus (screenplay), Stephen McFeely (screenplay), Mark Millar (comic book), Joe Simon (characters) and Jack Kirby (characters); starring Chris Evans (Steve Rogers / Captain America), Robert Downey Jr. (Tony Stark / Iron Man), Scarlett Johansson (Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow), Anthony Mackie (Sam Wilson / Falcon), Sebastian Stan (Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier), Jeremy Renner (Clint Barton / Hawkeye), Elizabeth Olsen (Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch), Paul Bettany (Vision), Emily VanCamp (Sharon Carter / Agent 13), Paul Rudd (Scott Lang / Ant-Man), Tom Holland (Peter Parker / Spider-Man), Martin Freeman, Chadwick Boseman (T'Challa / Black Panther), Don Cheadle (James Rhodes / War Machine), Daniel Bruhl (Baron Zemo), Frank Grillo (Brock Rumlow / Crossbones), Marisa Tomei (Aunt May) and William Hurt (General Ross).

STORY: B–

Admittedly, this is a little thin. The concept itself isn't bad by any means, and it makes perfect sense for this to be the logical next step, but it also makes the movie feel more like it's a means to bridge the gap between Age of Ultron and the future films rather than its own entity. Basically, the film boils down to 50% the culmination of things that were set up before and 50% setting up new things for the movies coming down the pipeline. That's all well and good, but if you strip those other movies away, this film basically comes down to a couple of chase sequences to capture Bucky, with less of the gravitas that Captain America: The Winter Soldier had. That, to me, is still the best film of the MCU. This story, on the other hand, is something that feels straight out of a comic. It was still super fun to watch it unfold, but I have to dock them a little bit for how basic it was.

CHARACTERS/ACTING: A+

Every character is as close to their comic book counterpart as they can possibly get while maintaining the differences that were created for the films. There isn't a lot to say if you've seen the other movies, because this shouldn't be a surprise to you, and you should know who these characters are by now, outside of some of the new ones.

Black Panther kicks ass. I was never a big fan of T'Challa all that much, considering him more of a cursory supporting character along the lines of Ant-Man and the other secondary heroes, but I'm definitely sold on him going forward. I don't like Tom Holland's Spider-Man as much as Andrew Garfield's, but I'm curious to see where they take this, and I think the end result will be good for sure. By the way, how hot is Marisa Tomei? Come on!

You've got to love seeing just the sheer number of characters in this. The universe is huge, and yet we still had room for Redwing! Disappointed in no Maria Hill or Nick Fury, though.

VISUALS (FX, MAKEUP, COSTUMES, SETS): B–

No complaints here. It's not going to beat out The Jungle Book at the Academy Awards, but the movie looks realistic in all the same ways we're accustomed with these films.

MUSIC & SOUND: C+

Nothing stands out all that much, but that also means nothing stood out in a bad way. I'll have to go back and listen to the score, although I didn't catch anything sounding as good as what Henry Jackman did in the previous installment.

TONE (ACTION, ROMANCE, COMEDY): A

ACTION: That airport scene was pretty damn sweet, wasn't it?

COMEDY: Marvel knows how to put jokes in their films without getting too jokey. No surprises in the good execution on this.

ROMANCE: Pepper Potts being written out of the movie was lame, and Sharon Carter being pushed aside was disappointing as well. The biggest romance was between Bucky and Cap, oddly enough, but it was cool to see Vision and Scarlet Witch start getting a little closer.

FINAL GRADE: B+

Very much in the same vein as Iron Man 2, this movie had a ton of heavy lifting that it needed to take care of, so if I can forgive Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice for similar flaws, I have to do the same here. Both movies are comparable in many ways, but the difference maker between the two is how Marvel's earned the right to have a setup movie now and again whereas DC is only in this boat because they're rushing. Also, Marvel films are just more entertaining overall because they're not so dour, and they do better service to the source material while still changing things up to fit their goals rather than altering things just for the sake of it. There are problems with this movie, and I think it's getting a little too much praise for what it's worth, but I can't dislike something like this just for feeling a bit thin on the story.

On the latest edition of Minute Man Reviews hosted by Tony Mango, the next installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Captain America: Civil War is given a full review in under 60 seconds.

Check out the video below and be sure to subscribe and leave your comments on what you thought of Captain America: Civil War!

To commemorate Star Wars Day (May the 4th), we've created a few more designs for our TeePublic store!

Here is our current lineup of Star Wars-inspired merchandise:

TR-8R Strikes Back (White)

TR-8R Strikes Back (Black)

Aurebesh: Basic Bitch

Aurebesh: This Shirt is So Basic

Fanboys Anonymous Logo (Star Wars Version)

Ben!

You Need a Teacher! I Can Show You the Ways of The Force!

Aurebesh Basic: I've Got a Bad Feeling About This

All shirts come in a variety of colors to choose from as well as different styles including standard tees, tanks, long sleeves, baseball tees, kids, crewnecks, hoodies and even cell phone cases and simple prints of our designs.

Go ahead and browse our shop over at TeePublic to check out all of our other designs as well and help support Fanboys Anonymous!

What is up Dacetacular Nation? Chris "The Dace Man" Dace here bringing you the promised and much-anticipated gameplay footage from PAX East!

In this review, Gibby will be playing the game Forced Showdown. The game was developed and published by Betadwarf and hit Steam on January 16, 2015. Described by the developers as "rogue-like with deck-building that combines hardcore action skills with the player's ability to build decks that suits their individual play style, their champion and the challenge that they face," this game brings all the fun of a card game as well as arena battling.

Check out some of the gameplay below!


As always, check back regularly to see what Chris "The Dace Man" Dace is looking at (and no, not just porn), as well as all of the other bloggers here at Fanboys Anonymous. Remember, keyboard warriors: leave your feedback! Until the next time, for the few, the proud, and, of course,the Dacetacular, grab a beer—and in this case a friend you're cool with losing—and check out what's going on here in the Dace-Sphere. See ya next time!


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Hey, hey, hey, Dacetacular nation! Check out episode 150 of The Dace Man Show with hosts The Dace Man, Frank Ward, Gibby, Chris Bompadre and Travis Goss!!

::SPORTS NEWS::

• The NHL, MLB, NFL, and our favorite: curling!

::WEIRD NEWS WITH GIBBY::

•  Gibby brings the class to the show with weird things going on in the world!

::FRANK'S CORNER::

• Frank-tastic facts for your everyday life

::CELEB NEWS::

• Dace is back, and he's packing a punch since he's on some diet pills and Red Bull. Get ready Hollywood!

Plus the occasional game of Who Said It, the crowning of The Douchebag of The Week, and much, much more, only on The Dace Man Show.



As always, check back regularly to see what Chris "The Dace Man" Dace is looking at (and no, not just porn), as well as all of the other bloggers here at Fanboys Anonymous. Remember, keyboard warriors: leave your feedback! Until the next time, for the few, the proud, and, of course,the Dacetacular, grab a beer—and in this case a comfy seat in front of your computer—and check out what's going on here in the Dace-Sphere. See ya next time!


Like us on Facebook: The Dace Man Show | Mega Powers Radio | Fanboys Anonymous 

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Subscribe on Twitch: Dace Man and Friends 

Subscribe on YouTube: The Dace Man Show | Mega Powers Radio | Fanboys Anonymous

With the upcoming release of Captain America: Civil War, Fanboys Anonymous is partnering up with TV Store Online to hold another contest giveaway where you can win a free Captain America shield just for showing your support for our website!

When Captain America throws his mighty shield, all those who chose to oppose his shield must yield! The most iconic weapon in comics history is featured here made out of a hard, durable plastic.

Hard Plastic
Officially Licensed
24 inch diameter

Be sure to check out other Captain America merchandise while you're over at TV Store Online as well.

HOW TO WIN

1) Share the Facebook contest post

2) Retweet the Twitter contest post

Retweet this for a chance to win a free Captain America shield in our latest contest giveaway! https://t.co/BFJadCFYoq

— Fanboys Anonymous (@FanboysAnon) May 2, 2016

3) Share this link throughout the geek community (post a comment below linking to the forum, message board, subreddit, or website's page that you shared it to show proof of this)

You must be following at least one of the following accounts — but you earn multiple chances to win by following each one of them.

Like the Fanboys Anonymous Facebook page
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The more points you earn, the more chances you have to win! The winner will be chosen in a random draw and contacted through their social media account.

DISCLAIMER: The prize(s) that may be awarded to the eligible winner are not transferable, redeemable for cash or exchangeable for any other prize unless otherwise indicated. If said prize is not available, an alternative option may be presented. If the winner has not redeemed his or her prize in 7 days, a new winner will be chosen. Only one point is awarded per account subscription. Eligible winners must be from USA. No members of the Fanboys Anonymous team are eligible to win.

Welcome to another edition of 6 Flicks Picks, wherein I list all of the upcoming films scheduled to be released in the United States for the month that is about to begin and break down which ones I'll be watching in theaters, which I'll wait to rent at home, and which I'll be skipping out on entirely. After going through the list, I'll choose which six films stand out to me as the ones I want to see the most, even if there are more or fewer than six that interest me.

Note: The list below is based primarily off the expanded nationwide USA release dates on IMDB as well as some other random outlets if possible, so some information may be different. If I am missing some of the limited releases or the dates conflict in some fashion, please let me know in the comments below and any adjustments and corrections will be made!

Without further ado, another new month means another new set of films, so what's coming soon to theaters in May 2016?

Captain America: Civil War

Synopsis: Political interference in the Avengers' activities causes a rift between former allies Captain America and Iron Man.

Will I watch? = Yes

A Bigger Splash

Synopsis: The vacation of a famous rock star and a filmmaker is disrupted by the unexpected visit of an old friend and his daughter.

Will I watch? = No

Elstree 1976

Synopsis: Actors and extras reminisce about their time on the set of Star Wars and how making the film affected their lives

Will I watch? = Yes

Pelé: Birth of a Legend

Synopsis: Pele's meteoric rise from the slums of Sao Paulo to leading to Brazil to its first World Cup victory at the age of 17 is chronicled in this biographical drama.

Will I watch? = No

Band of Outsiders

Synopsis: Two crooks with a fondness for old Hollywood B-movies convince a languages student to help them commit a robbery.

Will I watch? = No

Dark Horse

Synopsis: An inspirational true story of a group of friends from a working men's club who decide to take on the elite 'sport of kings' and breed themselves a racehorse

Will I watch? = No

Being Charlie

Synopsis: Charlie is a troublesome 18-year-old who breaks out of a youth drug treatment clinic, but when he returns home to Los Angeles, he's given an intervention by his parents and forced to go to an adult rehab. There, he meets a beautiful but troubled girl, Eva, and is forced to battle with drugs, elusive love and divided parents.

Will I watch? = No


Money Monster

Synopsis: In the real-time, high stakes thriller Money Monster, financial TV host Lee Gates (George Clooney) and his producer Patty (Julia Roberts) are put in an extreme situation when an irate investor (Jack O'Connell) takes over their studio.

Will I watch? = Yes

The Darkness

Synopsis: A family returns from a Grand Canyon vacation with a supernatural presence in tow.

Will I watch? = No

Love & Friendship

Synopsis: Lady Susan Vernon takes up temporary residence at her in-laws' estate and, while there, is determined to be a matchmaker for her daughter Frederica -- and herself too, naturally.

Will I watch? = No

The Lobster

Synopsis: In a dystopian near future, single people, according to the laws of The City, are taken to The Hotel, where they are obliged to find a romantic partner in 45 days or are transformed into beasts and sent off into The Woods.

Will I watch? = Maybe

High-Rise

Synopsis: Life for the residents of a tower block begins to run out of control.

Will I watch? = Yes

Last Days in the Desert

Synopsis: An imagined chapter from Jesus' forty days of fasting and praying in the desert. On his way out of the wilderness, Jesus struggles with the Devil over the fate of a family in crisis.

Will I watch? = No

Search Party

Synopsis: A pair of friends embark on a mission to reunite their pal with the woman he was going to marry.

Will I watch? = No

Dheepan

Synopsis: Dheepan is a Sri Lankan Tamil warrior who flees to France and ends up working as a caretaker outside Paris.

Will I watch? = No

Kill Zone 2

Synopsis: Undercover cop Kit (Wu Jing) becomes a junkie in order to catch Mr Hung (Louis Koo), the mastermind behind a crime syndicate. When the operation goes sour and Kit blows his cover, his supervisor and uncle Wah (Simon Yam) decides to terminate the operation. When Kit disappears without a trace, Wah defies the order from his commanding officer and tracks Kit to a prison in Thailand. Thai Police officer Chai (Tony Jaa) becomes a prison guard in order to raise money for his daughter who has leukemia. He's assigned to keep an eye on Kit. Even though Chai and Kit are in opposing positions and they don't speak a common language, Kit turns out to be a suitable bone marrow donor who can save Chai's daughter. While Chai is determined to keep Kit alive, the warden Ko (Zhang Jin) wants him dead to ensure the smooth operation of the prison, which is the front for Mr Hung's organ trafficking business. Mr Hung shows up in Thailand so he can use his younger brother's (Jun Kung) heart in a heart transplant to save his own life. The stage is set for a showdown...

Will I watch? = No (way to oversell on the pitch)

Sunset Song

Synopsis: The daughter of a Scottish farmer comes of age in the early 1900s.

Will I watch? = No

What We Become

Synopsis: A family of four is quarantined in their home as a virulent strand of the flu spreads into town and they are forced to the extreme to escape alive.

Will I watch? = No


Angry Birds

Synopsis: Find out why the birds are so angry. When an island populated by happy, flightless birds is visited by mysterious green piggies, it's up to three unlikely outcasts—Red, Chuck, and Bomb—to figure out what the pigs are up to.

Will I watch? = Maybe

Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising

Synopsis: After a sorority moves in next door that is even more debaucherous than the fraternity before it, Mac and Kelly have to ask for help from their former enemy, Teddy.

Will I watch? = Yes

The Nice Guys

Synopsis: Private eyes investigate the apparent suicide of a fading porn star in 1970s Los Angeles and uncover a conspiracy.

Will I watch? = Maybe

Weiner

Synopsis: An examination of disgraced New York Congressman Anthony Weiner's mayoral campaign and the landscape of today's political landscape.

Will I watch? = No

Ma ma

Synopsis: In the aftermath of a tragedy a woman, Magda, reacts with a surge of newfound life that engulfs her circle of family and friends.

Will I watch? = No

Holy Hell

Synopsis: An inside look at a West Hollywood cult formed by a charismatic teacher in the 1980s that eventually imploded.

Will I watch? = Maybe, but doubtful


X-Men: Apocalypse

Synopsis: With the emergence of the world's first mutant, Apocalypse, the X-Men must unite to defeat his extinction level plan.

Will I watch? = Yes

Alice Through the Looking Glass

Synopsis: Alice returns to the whimsical world of Wonderland and travels back in time to save the Mad Hatter.

Will I watch? = No

Chevalier

Synopsis: In the middle of the Aegean Sea, six men on a fishing trip on a luxury yacht decide to play a game. During this game, things will be compared. Things will be measured. Songs will be butchered, and blood will be tested. Friends will become rivals and rivals will become hungry. But at the end of the journey, when the game is over, the man who wins will be the best man. And he will wear on his smallest finger the victory ring: the Chevalier.

Will I watch? = No

As I AM: The Life and Times of DJ AM

Synopsis: A retrospective look at the life and work of influential electronic music DJ, Adam Goldstein, known as DJ AM.

Will I watch? = No


Which films make the cut? Well, this is an easy month. With so few choices to make and pretty much every film being either on my list that I would want to see in 2016 or something I wouldn't mind seeing, it's a shame more months don't have a better selection like this!

Honorable Mentions: I'm sure at some point, I'll be watching The Nice Guys, Money Monster and The Lobster as they all seem interesting in various ways. I don't like quirkiness as a lovable factor for films (see: why I don't like Wes Anderson films) but The Lobster has an intriguing premise, The Nice Guys has a lot of buzz behind it where I'm not as worried about people liking it just because it's set in a different time period. Money Monster in general just sounds good, but it also sounds like it doesn't need to be seen with an audience.

6. Angry Birds — In theory, I hate the idea of this movie, but after watching the trailer, I found it a lot more charming than I thought I would. I'm pleasantly surprised that they were able to get me to turn around and consider seeing it, and I'm sure I'll be checking it out in some fashion down the line.

5. Elstree 1976 — It's about Star Wars. Sold. Bring on Rogue One and Episode VIII already!

4. Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising — The first film was funny, and this one looks interesting as well. At the very least, they've added a multitude of good looking women to it, so if I'm in store for laughs and eye candy, what's to complain about?

3. High-Rise — This movie was recommended to me by a friend several months ago, and I was worried it wouldn't get a United States release. Now that it will be, I'm pumped to watch it, as the story matches up with my favorite type of thriller film: one where the tension is about the unknown rather than constantly having to be in a perilous situation. For example, I enjoy watching a movie like Ex Machina or Shutter Island or even Mulholland Dr. (even though I still don't understand what the hell went on in that film) more than Gravity where every scene is just "I hope she doesn't die!" Very curious about what this movie has to offer and Tom Hiddleston is great, so I'm all-in.

2. X-Men: Apocalypse — After X-Men: Days of Future Past, I'm excited for this movie even though there are elements that I'm a bit anxious about, such as the look of Apocalypse and some casting decisions (namely Sophie Turner). This is an opening night viewing for sure.

1. Captain America: Civil War — I bought tickets for this in April. More than almost any other movie in 2016, I'm so hyped for this. Reviews have been extremely positive, too, which only helps. #TeamCap.