Fanboys Anonymous

There are a lot of independent short films on the internet, but not many of this quality and intensity.

This short film is about a mysterious super powered vigilante who is taking the law into his own hands.

Written, produced, directed, and financed by Marcus Alqueres (www.twitter.com/marcusalqueres).

This is a MUST see. Enjoy!

Episode 10 of the monthly Fanboys Anonymous roundtable discussion meeting podcast revolves around the question "Who is Your Favorite Superhero?"

Each member of the panel gets to pick three choices: one from Marvel, one from DC, and one from "everyone else" including Image, Dark Horse, Top Cow, Red 5, and more.

Hosted by Tony Mango, the panel includes Michael Burhan, Chris Dace, Nikki Mills, Jeff Penner, Travis Goss, Shaun Walker, and Chris Locs.

Some topics we address:

• Which incarnation of that character?
• Why that character over all the others?
• Was your choice influenced by what you grew up with as a kid or just what you experience now as an adult?

You can watch the podcast below. Make sure to subscribe!

Want to know what happened the past few days in nerd culture? WEEK IN GEEK is your quick fix to catch up with the rest of the fanboys out there.

This is a work in progress, so if you have any suggestions as far as formatting, content to cover, or anything else, feel free to send us some feedback on our contact form.

MOVIES

Mark Wahlberg has stated that he'd like to take over as Iron Man when Robert Downey Jr. steps away from the role.

My take: Wahlberg serves his purpose very well in movies and certainly has star power that could be utilized, but they could go with someone better, I think.

The release date for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has been pushed back to August 8, 2014.

My take: If that's what they think will make them more money and it gives them more time to fix problems, go ahead. Better to wait a little while longer and have a better product than to fail. The issue? It starts a week after Guardians of the Galaxy, and if that ends up being a hit, you're fucked TMNT.

Ewan McGregor could return as Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars sequel trilogy as well as spinoff films.

My take: AWESOME! This was one of the things I was really looking forward to seeing. I think Ewan was fantastic and I'd love to see more from him.

Elizabeth Olsen could be cast as Scarlet Witch in Avengers: Age of Ultron.

My take: I still don't like the idea of her and Quicksilver being in the movie, but sure, why not go with someone like Elizabeth Olsen? I'd rather her than the other rumors I've seen. If she is appearing in Godzilla opposite Aaron Taylor-Johnson and he ends up playing Quicksilver as well, maybe that will help them be comfortable with each other enough to have some good chemistry together on screen as brother and sister.

VIDEO GAMES

The PS4 will launch in the US and Canada on November 15th, 2013 and in Europe on November 29th, 2013.

My take: There you go, for everyone who wants to pre-order and set their budget around it..

COMIC BOOKS

The Sinister Six will face off against the Masters of Evil in Superior Spider-Man, led by Dock Ock's version of Spidey himself.

My take: Cool idea for a one-shot thing, but this whole "Doc Ock is Spider-Man" stuff is ridiculous. It's equally ridiculous that Peter Parker has been killed off in both 616 and Ultimate universes. DC and Marvel have to stop going to the death well so often. Since when could you not just write interesting stories about Peter Parker and other characters? Considering how they've stood the test of time, that must mean that they're interesting enough for it, right?.

HOLLYWOOD CELEBRITIES

Someone broke into Famke Janssen's home and put a children's book, "The Lonely Doll", on her bed.

My take: Creepy. As. Fuck. Hopefully they catch the person behind it and she's in no danger.


THE ARTS

"Everyday Objects Made Unusable by Giuseppe Colarusso" has been going around recently. This artist takes the functionality of objects and completely ruins them or switches them up in his portfolio titled Improbabilita ("Improbability"). Check it out here.

My take: Interesting stuff. Very cool. I particularly like the melting ice cube candle .

Another week, another outstanding hour of television on AMC, with an episode of Breaking Bad that kept the plot moving very nicely. One of the things I love about this show is that even the less action-packed episodes are often just as interesting and exciting to watch as the bloodbaths (even though this one featured an off screen bloodbath, but more on that later).

Channeling Scrooge McDuck

Actor Lee Thompson Young, who fanboys might recognize as Victor Stone / Cyborg from Smallville, Al Gough from FlashForward, Derek from Scrubs or from his latest role as Detective Barry Frost from Rizzoli & Isles has apparently committed suicide and passed away.

Sources say Young's body was discovered with a self-inflicted gunshot wound after staff from Rizzoli & Isles called the police to check up on him when he didn't show up for work.

Young was 29.

Obviously, it's a shame when this happens to anyone, but it's made even worse when you realize just how bright of a future this guy had ahead of him. Fans of FlashForward might remember that his character's exit on the show is now an even more uncomfortable situation.

Hopefully, he's at peace now, and Fanboys Anonymous would like to extend their condolences to all of his friends and family.

Episode 38 of the I Got Gameplay podcast is now online. On this episode, Michael Burhan, Travis Goss, Shaun Walker,  and Chris "The Dace Man" Dace discuss villains in gaming and why people find villains so appealing. The gang also breaks down Game Readers Top 100 Villains in Gaming.

You can check out the episode by clicking on the following links:

Lybsin: http://adf.ly/IwSX3

iTunes: http://adf.ly/IwSaK

Stitcher: http://adf.ly/IwSd0

Blog Talk Radio: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/megapowersradio/2013/08/18/i-got-gameplay

If you'd like to join the discussion, like us on Facebook and comment on our page here: http://adf.ly/IwSfZ

You can also subscribe to the podcast's YouTube channel at http://adf.ly/IwShu

The Killing Joke has long been one of the most influential and popular stories to the Batman saga. Written by Alan Moore and drawn by Brian Bolland/John Higgins, it was a one-shot that has surpassed its solo concept and instead, spawned much more story out of it than originally intended. It is responsible for the foundation of many core concepts of the Batman story...but was it supposed to, instead, be the end?

On this week's Fatman on Batman podcast (which I highly recommend subscribing to as they've had fantastic episodes in the past with Paul Dini and Mark Hamill amongst others), Kevin Smith talks to Grant Morrison about his favorite Batman stories. When The Killing Joke comes up, Morrison blows us all out of the water with his interpretation.

"No one gets the end, cause Batman kills The Joker."

....WHAT??

"That's why it's called The Killing Joke. The Joker tells the Killing Joke at the end, Batman reaches out and breaks his neck and that's why the laughter stops and then the light goes out, cause that was the last chance at crossing that bridge."

........WHAAAAAAAAAAAT???????

As a refresher for those who haven't read it in a while, The Killing Joke tells the story of The Joker's origins as a former chemical engineer who quits his job to become a stand-up comedian and fails miserably at it. To support his pregnant wife, Jeannie, he is coaxed into aiding two criminals in an attempted robbery of the card company adjacent to his chemical plant. He tries to back out when his wife dies, but the criminals force him into it, making him don the Red Hood mask (which they give to the inside accomplice of their crimes to make him seem like the ringleader). In the process of Batman's foiling the crime, he falls into the vat of acid, bleaching his skin, dying his hair, and going insane...become the Joker we all know today.

Joker then tries to illustrate his point that "one bad day" is all it takes for someone to go nuts like he did. After all, it must have happened to Batman to turn him into what he is. He shoots Barbara Gordon, paralyzing her, and tries to put the same stress on Commissioner Gordon to make him snap...but he fails.

At the end, Batman and Joker have a nice, long chat about this game of chess they play with one another. Batman expresses his concerns that this is going to continue until one or both of them are dead, but urges that it doesn't HAVE to end that way. This can just simply end, right now, without more bloodshed.

It is then, when we see one of the only glimpses into Joker's mind that shows that there may be more to him than just the psychopath lunatic mass murderer—that he might have a soul.


This leads to the end of the story, that everyone is now analyzing with a finer-toothed comb than before, thanks to Grant Morrison:


To Morrison, these panels depict Batman strangling The Joker (seen in panels 5 and 6). The laughter abruptly ends, because The Joker has been murdered. Then, the light goes out, because that symbolizes the last chance opportunity having passed, as referenced in the joke itself.

As big of a fan of The Killing Joke as I am, I've never once thought of this interpretation of the ending. Rather, I've always thought that this was a validation of the continuing nature of the story.

In my mind, I originally figured this was just Batman grabbing The Joker and either knocking him out or dragging him away into custody as we always see him do. The rain washes away the mud because it's a time passage. Once Joker is apprehended, the police don't simply pack up and leave. As with any crime scene, people are around for a while afterward. Evidence is taken, the wounded are cared for, etc. This time passage illustrates that everything just moves along as it always does. Batman and Joker are deadlocked into this fight and always will be. Everyone else is just in the crossfire. When the two of them are gone, the laughter stops and nature is allowed to run its course.

Now, on the other hand, I'm second-guessing myself.

Alan Moore is nuts and totally would do something fatalist like writing "the last Batman/Joker story" that ends with Batman breaking his moral code and just killing him. After all, look at V for Vendetta, Watchmen, etc. The heroes are murderers that try to justify doing the same thing that their villains do. This has always been my aversion to those stories, as on a personal level, I just don't think that there's any validation or celebration in such a pessimistic point of view in life. It makes for good stories, but it's just something that doesn't sit right with me. This applies tenfold when it comes to Batman.

Batman does not kill. He's not the hypocritical Rorschach, who speaks ill of killers and is just as bad if not worse than they are. "Never compromise" your ideals about how people shouldn't kill each other, except, you know, when you want to kill those killers. Batman should always be that ONE example of someone who, no matter what, absolutely will not ever kill someone.

Could he be indirectly responsible for a death or even directly through some sort of accident or something? Sure. Batman could give villains the tools to kill themselves, but he should deep down still always hope for rehabilitation instead, and he should never decide to take a life, even Joker's.

People always argue that The Joker is the one exception to the rule. It's discussed by Jason Todd when he returns from the death. "I'm not talking about killing Penguin or Scarecrow or Dent. I'm talking about HIM. Just HIM."

But still, Batman says no.

Batman almost kills Alexander Luthor when he fears that Dick Grayson has been killed. He even gets pushed to the limit of holding a gun to his head—but still, Batman stops himself.

The argument is made all the time that Joker and Batman depend on one another and they are two sides of the same coin. "We're not so different, you and I" is the trope that comes to mind. In the Emperor Joker story, we see that even with the powers of a god, Joker continually kills Batman and brings him back to life, because he prefers to have Batman around. Then, he undoes reality, as someone like himself should not exist. Joker even has a soft spot for Harley Quinn and places her amongst the stars. Nice guy.

If that's the case, Batman should never kill Joker, either. He could secretly hope that Joker dies without getting the blood on his hands at the moments that he's weak, but he should always strive for a rehabilitation of Joker instead. What Batman wants is for Joker to give it all up and turn into a good person again. This would justify Batman's entire existence as it means that there is an endgame. If Joker can turn good, there is hope that humanity can reach a point where no evil exists and no kid's parents will be gunned down in front of him.

As parts of this were made canon and Joker was not dead in those stories that followed, you can argue that he obviously did not die. But if you maintain this as a standalone story, then I can see in Alan Moore's mind, Batman more than likely does kill The Joker and that is it. Life sucks, good never really triumphs in the war of idealism, typical Alan Moore.

Still, he has left some ambiguity to this, as Grant Morrison states. The panels never directly depict a kill, nor does anyone outright state that it happened. Richard Starkings, who was the letterer for the comic, claims that Batman is laughing so hard that he leans on Joker for support and that's it.

If you feel that the death angle flies directly in opposition of what the character stands for, makes no sense, and therefore you're looking for a way to have your cake and eat it, too....but you're also not a fan of my original interpretation that it symbolizes the never-ending struggle between the two...then I submit to you this alternative:

As a finale, we've seen before in The Dark Knight Returns that Batman breaks Joker's neck and paralyzes him. It puts an end to him, but it's just at the limit where he doesn't actually kill him. Whether Joker finishes the act or not is unseen and it doesn't matter.

What do you personally think about all this? Does Batman kill Joker at the end of The Killing Joke or does something else happen?


By the way, please support Fatman on Batman. Such a great podcast deserves all the adulation. Subscribe via iTunes or check the link above to go to the site directly.

Check out episode 8 of The Dace Man Show with regulars Mike Paden Michael Burhan and Brian Gibson! Also call-in guests Jeff Coop and Frank Cline!

Join The Dace Man this week as he tackles:

Sports News

• If Major League Baseball does not completely recant their accusations against A-Rod he plans on suing.
• Former NFL superstar and Philadelphia Eagle Hugh Douglas has just been FIRED from his gig on an ESPN show in the wake of reports he called his co-host an "Uncle Tom."
• The Philadelphia 76ers have hired Spurs assistant Brett Brown to replace Doug Collins, who resigned in April
• Nadal smashed the number 1 seat in the face….Sorry Brah

Weird World News With Gibby!

Celeb News This Week:

• Soulja Boy was kicked off a flight for acting like an ass.
• Paula Dean won here case against Lisa Jackson about the whole racism incident. Too Little to Late
• Leah Remini called the Police on the head Scientologists for a missing persons report.
• Oprah was turned away from buying an expensive purse screams Racism.
• Gaga Nude….told ya she wasn’t a dude.

The Off the wall Topic: Late night Show Shake up. Jimmy Fallon to Replace Leno, Myers to replace Fallon, Is Dave leaving anytime soon and John Oliver temporarily replaced Jon Stewart. What will the landscape of Late night look like 2014 and beyond. What makes a good Talk Show host and who is the greatest of all time?

Also the fan favorite segments: the High Five (Movie Franchises) and the Douchebag of the Week
Step into the Crazy Train with Chris "The Dace Man" Dace this week on The Dace Man show....queue the Final Countdown!!!

Check out The Dace Man Show live every Wednesday at 8pm EST on Mega Powers Radio. As well as all archived episodes!

Kick-Ass 2, directed by Jeff Wadlow, written by Mark Millar, John Romita Jr. and Jeff Wadlow, starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kick-Ass), Chloë Grace Moretz (Hit-Girl), Christopher Mintz-Plasse (The Mother Fucker), Morris Chestnut (Detective Marcus Williams), Donald Faison (Dr. Gravity), John Leguizamo (Javier), Clark Duke (Marty/Battle Guy), Lindy Booth (Night Bitch) and Jim Carrey (Colonel Stars and Stripes).

Not sure about whether or not you should see the sequel to the surprise hit, Kick-Ass? Well TL;DR = it kicked ass. But why stop there? Don't you want to know why this movie excels instead of falling into the trap that so many sequels do, wherein its nothing like the original and it just flat out sucks? It's time for another REVIEWPOINT as we break down the film's hits and misses.

As always, let's start with the bad news first.

*Also take note that I have not yet read the comics that this was based on, so if my knowledge of something from that is skewed, please let me know in the comments below!


1. KATIE DEAUXMA

Dave's girlfriend from the first film, which was a pretty big plot point, is written off with roughly three lines of dialogue in the whole film. As fellow Fanboy Sam and I were discussing after the film concluded, it seemed as though they just wanted her out of the way. It just felt like a bit of a quick "yeah yeah and now you don't have to worry about her anymore" thing.

[Quite honestly, I'm at a loss at the moment to think of a second bad thing about the movie.] 


1. NEW DIRECTOR, SAME FEEL

One of the biggest worries I had going into this movie was that it would fall victim to the curse where a new director tries to put his own spin on something and in turn, goes against what everyone loved in the first place. Sometimes, people think they can rewrite entire elements of plot (like the idiots that thought it would be a good idea to kill off John Connor in a Terminator film) or they try too hard with style choices that derail the commonplace groundwork and look like they had no idea what film they were directing (cough*Quantum of Solace*cough). This film ABSOLUTELY stays true to the first one. Jeff Wadlow deserves a ton of credit for being able to make it seem as though it was directed by Matthew Vaughn. If you didn't know it wasn't the same director, you wouldn't have any idea.

2. THE MUSIC

Keeping in line with that theme of having the same feel, the music was right on target. Not only did we see reprisals of themes from the first film return at the right times, but they also kept the lighthearted outsourced music tone with their choices of songs in particular scenes.

3. NO OVERKILL - PUN NOT INTENDED

Sometimes, movies like this take an idea that worked the first time around and give the audience so much of it that it becomes nauseating. Hit-Girl being a young girl that cursed resonated with fans before, so they ran the risk of making every scene consist of her simply spitting out curse words 24/7. Thankfully, they didn't. They kept it just at the right level that they should have. The same goes for the action. Is there a lot of blood and ridiculous deaths like before? Yes. But there's no more than there was in the first film. In this world, this is how things operate, and the continuity was not broken one way or the other.

4. THE ROMANCE

I thought at first that the idea of a Hit-Girl + Kick-Ass combination would be weird and skeevy, but does anyone else agree with me that it felt really natural here? Well done, guys. Well done.

5. LIGHTHEARTED BUT WITH CONSEQUENCES

This is a FUN movie, first and foremost, but as the first did (how many times can I repeat that?), it illustrated that it could have serious points as well. Despite all the humor, the drama completely works. Good guys do in fact die. Bad guys get their comeuppance. People laugh when people are killed, but the punches to our heroes feel real.

6. THE NEW CAST, FOR THE MOST PART

Colonel Stars and Stripes was a great replacement for Big Daddy, filling the same kind of role but in a different way. Who didn't laugh with the "fear Dr. Gravity!!!!" scene? Although none of the other characters are as high on the list as those two, Mother Russia and Night Bitch certainly added something to the film that would have been missing.


Kick-Ass 2 is just as good if not better than the first one, which is very rare for a sequel. Would they be putting it in the same leagues as The Godfather Part 2, The Empire Strikes Back, Terminator 2, and The Dark Knight? I sure hope so, because to me, this was DEFINITELY one of the best sequels I've ever seen. In fact, I think people should really take a long, hard look at this film and study it in the future. It's a perfect example of just how you take a film and redo what everyone loves without repeating yourself, do something different but not just for the sake of it, and how a new director can come on board and NOT have to mess everything up by "putting his own spin on things".

Would I recommend it? 100%, without a doubt. If you like the first movie, you'll like this one. If you hated the first film, then you might as well skip it, because it's the same thing.

If you want to check out some more recent Reviewpoint articles: White House Down | The Lone Ranger | Man of Steel | Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox | The Wolverine | Turbo

Rumor has it that Christian Bale has been offered $50 million to reprise his role as Bruce Wayne / Batman for 20 minutes in the sequel to Man of Steel.

This comes from a new e-book titled "Beyond Batman: The Unauthorized True Story of Christian Bale and His Dark Knight Dilemma" by Vince Russel. Wrestling fans might be interested to know that he also wrote an unauthorized biography of CM Punk (aka Phil Brooks).

Here are the sections that are getting people riled up, via The Press Association:

"Why would Christian Bale walk away from what is certainly going to be either the first or second highest grossing movie in the history of cinema?

"He could probably make 50 million dollars for being in the movie 20 minutes. And it would be worth every penny to the studio."

"Sources close to Christian Bale have reportedly begun expressing their suspicions that Bale now views the Batman films in the same light that Robert Downey Jr views the Iron Man films."

We all know that Warner views Bale as Batman at this point and someone that the company can rely on in terms of being a bankable star. But if this is actually true, it may be a bad idea for Warner Bros and the Justice League movie as a whole. Bale could literally hold up production, asking for more money than before. I would rather see them invest in another actor and use the movie as a way to relaunch the character. That way, the Nolan movies can be seen as something more of an Elseworlds story, instead.

Do you agree or disagree?

Leave a comment below and remember to stay tuned to Fanboys Anonymous for more DC movie news!

A Collector's Edition for the upcoming video game Batman: Arkham Origins will be priced at $119.99 and available on the PS3 and Xbox 360. Just what does it include?

• Exclusive Arkham Origins highly detailed premium statue featuring LED effects produced by TriForce (Height: 9", Depth: 11.5", Width: 13").
• 80-page, full-color hardcover art book measuring approx. 7.5" x 10.75" x .5"
• 2 key pieces of evidence taken directly from the Gotham City Police Department crime lab
• Batman Wanted Poster
• Batwing Prototype Schematic
• Anarky logo stencil
• Glow-In-The-Dark map of Gotham City
• Wayne Family Photo
• Assassin's Intel Dossier, including files on the 8 assassins, as well as Black Mask's contract
• 1st Appearance Batman Skin: Look just like Batman did during his first appearance in Detective Comics #27, released in 1939.
• Deathstroke Challenge Pack – Unlock the ability to play as one of the world's deadliest assassins! Usable throughout all the Arkham Origins Challenge maps. Also includes two bonus challenge maps and two bonus Deathstroke Skins.
• Bonus (not available in Australia / New Zealand): Necessary Evil: Super-Villains of DC Comics– This new feature-length documentary from Warner Bros Home Entertainment focuses on DC Comics' most terrifying villains. Legendary actor Christopher Lee narrates the film.
• The PS3 edition will also include the Knightfall pack as an exclusive piece of content

Are you going to be picking up the game? Let us know in the comments below!

Stephenie Meyer, the author of the super popular Twilight books, has apparently decided to abandon Team Edward and Team Jacob and become a part of Team Anti-Twilight.

The series has been a source of ridicule for everyone who isn't a huge fan of it for some time now and despite it being done and over with, people are still ranting and raving about it. Many of us are tired of hearing about the series and Meyer agrees.

When asked by Variety about the potential of writing any more installments of books for the Twilight saga, Meyer replied, "I get further away every day. I am so over it. For me, it's not a happy place to be."

Almost as a direct shot at the franchise, she also stated that if she were to ever write anything about Twilight again: "What I would probably do is three paragraphs on my blog saying which of the characters died".

OUCH.

While I've joked about Twilight and will in the future, despite having never seen the movies (and yes, that does put me at a spot where I shouldn't necessarily take shots), as a writer myself, this type of story bothers me. No matter what the situation, it's a shame to see a writer end up having a distaste for their own work. Granted, the criticism is aimed more towards the film adaptations and the pop culture fascination with the series rather than her actual novels, it still has tainted something that she worked hard on.

When you write in any serious fashion, it's a marriage, and when you see something like this happen, it's almost as if it's a divorce. Hopefully, Meyer can distance herself enough that down the line, there isn't as much resentful attitude towards what she should be extremely proud of. Make fun of it all you want, but it's made a ton of people a ton of money because in turn, a ton of people have loved it, and 99% of us would gladly trade places with her even if we criticize the material itself.

Kudos to the cover art people, cause those are awesome

Disney's upcoming film Maleficent starring Angelina Jolie (seriously, how much more perfect could you get casting that?) now has an official synopsis that has been released from the D23 Expo:

"Maleficent" is the untold story of Disney's most iconic villain from the 1959 classic "Sleeping Beauty." A beautiful, pure-hearted young woman, Maleficent has an idyllic life growing up in a peaceable forest kingdom, until one day when an invading army threatens the harmony of the land. Maleficent rises to be the land's fiercest protector, but she ultimately suffers a ruthless betrayal—an act that begins to turn her pure heart to stone. Bent on revenge, Maleficent faces an epic battle with the invading king's successor and, as a result, places a curse upon his newborn infant Aurora. As the child grows, Maleficent realizes that Aurora holds the key to peace in the kingdom—and perhaps to Maleficent's true happiness as well.

Sounds pretty interesting, even for someone like myself who isn't the biggest fan of Sleeping Beauty. I'm sure the Disney aficionados out there will go nuts for it, so what do you guys think?

Episode 37 of the I Got Gameplay podcast is now online. On this episode, Miguel Leon, Drew White, Mike Paden and Travis Goss discuss games that bombed. Which games had fans salivating at the thought of them getting made, but left us fuming with disappointment?

You can check out the episode by clicking on the following links:

Lybsin: http://adf.ly/IwSX3

iTunes: http://adf.ly/IwSaK

Stitcher: http://adf.ly/IwSd0

Blog Talk Radio: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/megapowersradio/2013/08/11/i-got-gameplay

If you'd like to join the discussion, like us on Facebook and comment on our page here: http://adf.ly/IwSfZ

You can also subscribe to the podcast's YouTube channel at http://adf.ly/IwShu

Want to know what happened the past few days in nerd culture? WEEK IN GEEK is your quick fix to catch up with the rest of the fanboys out there.

This is a work in progress, so if you have any suggestions as far as formatting, content to cover, or anything else, feel free to send us some feedback on our contact form.

MOVIES

Mark Strong is teasing that he could possibly be Lex Luthor in the Superman/Batman film. Bryan Cranston has also expressed interest in the role.

My take: I don't hate the idea of Strong as much as the rumors of the older Batman (which, seriously, PLEASE don't go that route)...but I still would rather see someone a little fresher in the role. Strong would do a great job, but does anyone else feel like if they pick him, they've just done it because of his role in Kick-Ass, possibly to fulfill a contractual obligation with Green Lantern, and because they see his name all over fan casts that are unimaginative? Frankly, I'd go with someone who is known more for being a good guy on shows and movies rather than villainous, just so we can play up the idea that Luthor is charismatic and the public accepts him. With Cranston, I think he's too old and he'd be a much better fit for Commissioner Gordon.

Could Jim Carrey have a role in Amazing Spider-Man 2? He was spotted on the set.

My take: I doubt it. Actors visit friends. It happens. The same applies to Armie Hammer being at the Captain America set where people are suspecting that he is playing Hank Pym. Amazing Spider-Man has enough going for it right now and who would Jim Carrey really play, anyway? Hydro-Man? Carnage? Big Wheel?

Ian McDiarmid may return in Star Wars: Episode VII as Emperor Palpatine.

My take: Noooooooooooo! (and that was not in the stupid Darth Vader voice). Palpatine died. Let him be. If he returns in any fashion, it should be a nightmare that Luke has or something.

DC's animated film branch might be making an Aquaman film in the future.

My take: While I've never been the biggest fan of the character, I do think they can find a way to make a decent film about him. He has some interesting aspects to him.

VIDEO GAMES

Atlus's parent company Index Corporation is up for sale and it seems as though Nintendo may buy it.

My take: I personally know nothing about this stuff as I'm nowhere near as qualified to talk about gaming stuff as the other fanboys. I assume anything that Nintendo can get their hands on will be better in the long run for them, though. What do you guys think?

TMNT: Out of the Shadows has a developer demo that is a full 25 minutes long for people interested in checking out the video game.

My take: Looks cool.


COMIC BOOKS

Sales of The Dark Knight Returns have gained a major boost since the announcement of it being an inspiration source for the upcoming Batman vs. Superman movie.

My take: Understandable, and that's cool. The only problem I have with it is that I hope it doesn't make DC think that they should go with the older Batman idea, as that's just stupid in my mind.

HOLLYWOOD CELEBRITIES

Hugh Jackman might have been offered $100 million to reprise the Wolverine character for four more films, but is supposedly not the biggest fan of long-term deals and has some thinking to do.

My take: I would love it if he continued to play the character, and if he gets a huge pay day out of it, even better. The guy deserves it. His work is fantastic and he's got a very humble and dedicated mindset that should be rewarded. Too many other actors bitch and complain all the time and I never hear that from Jackman.

Watch out for this segment each and every Wednesday. We'll see you next week!

One of my favorite channels on YouTube is CinemaSins, which is famous for its "everything wrong with (insert movie)" videos that are just always fantastic.

Their latest one takes a look at Kick-Ass in preparation for its sequel. For those that are interested, I will have a review of the film up as soon as possible after I check it out once it is released.

Until then, check out the video below to see Everything Wrong with Kick-Ass in 7 Minutes or Less:

Back when I was in middle school and high school, everyone had an AOL screen name and used the AIM instant messaging service. Your screen name was an identifier of what you liked and how funny or interesting you could be. The number of friends on your buddy list showed how popular you were and your placement on those buddy lists meant how well you were liked by that particular person. Literally everyone who was around the age of a teenager and even older used AIM.

But nothing lasts forever, and AIM seems to have died out the way Xanga and MySpace did before it.

While MySpace killed Xanga and Facebook killed MySpace, what exactly happened to AOL's extremely popular instant messenger, considering it had virtually no legitimate competition? It certainly isn't Trillian or any of the other chat services out there. Why isn't anyone using it anymore?

There are two things to blame: Facebook and cell phones.

With the combination of AIM and MySpace, both had a separate function. MySpace had its bulletins, comments and inbox, but it was much harder to carry on a real-time conversation with someone through this. How many times do you really feel like reloading your page? AIM was the solution to that as it allowed you to just flat out talk to people as if you were in the same room. None of the wait for emails, all of the privacy of the normal inbox without having to go through and delete messages later on.

Facebook's notification system for wall posts, combined with its real-time chat for inbox messages puts a huge damper on that. Now, you don't need two different things to accomplish the same task. Cell phones were not abundant at the time that AIM was popular and they certainly couldn't do much more than simply acting as phones, unlike today.

In comparison to that time frame, you can hardly find someone who uses AIM, but its difficult to find someone who doesn't have text messaging on their phones—even older people, who weren't using AIM before. If you couple that with how Facebook's notifications can be sent directly to your phone, you've gotten rid of every single purpose for AIM.

That is the problem that AIM is unable to get around. They have no purpose anymore. Trillian (and to a lesser extent, AIM) has tried to incorporate other services into their notification system such as Twitter feeds, Facebook updates, LinkedIn and Skype. But considering how the big guns are already covered with cell phone text messages and Facebook itself and those other services are a lot easier to use on the actual websites rather than AIM, this doesn't make much of a difference.

It doesn't help, either, that AIM seems to have a lot of problems and has developed uglier interfaces over time. I, for one, still use an old version of AIM for this reason and if it weren't for the ability to use Facebook chat within the program as well as my preference for this particular interface instead of the Facebook one, I would have stopped a long time ago. I'm obviously not using it because all of my friends are...it's a ghost town.

Do you still use AIM, Trillian, Yahoo Messenger or any of these other old programs? Why or why not?

News for Arrow's season 2 just keeps rolling along and two of the new characters that have been announced are Jean Loring and Metamorpho (to an extent).

This concept art of a Metamorpho Chemical van obviously points to the likely inclusion of Rex Mason—the man who will eventually become Metamorpho.

While the TV series has operated under a rule of "no super powers" so far, they have already announced that Barry Allen will be on this season as well and have hinted that he will become the Flash. This obviously means super powers WILL be included if they go that route, so I wouldn't be too surprised if Rex Mason flat out does become Metamorpho through some sort of accident. However, that's not set in stone, and they could just as easily make this a simple story of a chemical company's embezzlement and such where Rex Mason is somehow involved.

Jean Loring (to be played by Teryl Rothery) is a more grounded example of an inclusion to the cast. She is an attorney who will undoubtedly be working in some capacity with Laurel Lance, but has also been described as the legal counsel to Moira Queen (which makes sense considering her predicament she was left off in). I never caught it at the time, but apparently there was a reference to "Ray and Jean" last season. For those who don't know, Jean Loring in the comics has a relationship with Dr. Ray Palmer, aka The Atom.

Once again, this does not mean that The Atom will be in the show with his shrinking powers, nor that Ray Palmer will even make an appearance at all, but it does lead to some substantial possibilities. Considering Jean Loring's history in the comics of having a mental breakdown, murdering Sue Dibny (Elongated Man's wife) and kidnapping herself in an attempt to make Ray come to her aid, it seems pretty plausible in this type of a show that she could end up doing something villainous like this as well.

If that's the case and Ray Palmer does show up, might he be the rumored love interest for Felicity Smoak? Or will that be Barry Allen himself? Or perhaps that's going to be Ed Rockwell (Ed Raymond, father of one-half of Firestorm)?

What do you think of these new additions to the cast? What characters would you like to see be included into the show? Personally, I'd love to see Mr. Terrific, maybe Lady Shiva, Electrocutioner, Arrowette, Cheshire, etc.

UPDATE: Bex Taylor-Klaus will play the character of Sin from the comics as well. They're really adding a ton of characters, which is awesome!

What's up everyone? Ronnie Brown here and I'm planning to talk about the final eight episodes of Breaking Bad after each one airs. SPOILER ALERT if you haven't seen the most recent episode yet.

Here it is: after an agonizing 11 month wait following last year's cliffhanger, Breaking Bad's endgame is upon us. And thankfully the show is wasting no time in moving the story forward.

Image grabbed from Tumblr

The teaser scene was excellent, picking up where the teaser scene in the season 5 premiere left off. We got a nice glimpse into the future, and as the first image shows, Heisenberg's identity is fully out there. Walt broke into his long abandoned house to retrieve the vial of ricin he had hidden in the bedroom. Between that vial and the gun hidden in the trunk, clearly Walt is clearly preparing for something huge.

Hank: "I don't know who you are. I don't even know who I'm talking to."

Walt: "If that's true, if you don't know who I am, then maybe your best course would be to tread lightly." 

Hello there! Welcome to my new rant [caution: contains bad language] on why EA should pull their heads out of each others arseholes and make Need for Speed Underground 3.

Last Thursday, I came across a download link on YouTube and I thought to myself "do I risk it...it could be a virus", but then I thought "hey, that's what my virus protection software is for", so I downloaded the greatest car game ever made in my opinion—Need for Speed Underground 2 (from here on out, referred to as NFSU2 for short).

In E3 of 2012, EA teased about releasing a game close to the developers hearts. My mate and I thought it was NFSU3, but sadly it was Most Wanted. We look at each other, puzzled, and said "fuck this shit" and refused to watch the rest of the conference or buy it. I don't know why they are refusing to develop NFSU3 and whose bright idea it was to make Most Wanted. It sucked back in the day and what I've seen from my brother playing it, it still sucks today.

This past week has flown by and I have ranked up to nearly 27 hours on NFSU2. It has been since 2003 since we last saw the Underground series. Sure, there have been some good NFS games like Undercover and Shift 1 & 2, but we've had ones that have sucked like Hot Pursuit and The Run (and most recently, Most Wanted). The new Need for Speed game, "Need for Speed Rivals", will probably suck, too. What the fuck is this bullshit? For God's sake, either release Underground 3, let the series die, or rename it Burnout.

I'm not the only person with these complaints. It's a fan favourite on all the gaming forums I go on, with everyone else screaming for Underground 3 as well. EA...we're begging you...please develop this game. I refuse to buy any more Need for Speed games until you do.


If you agree with me or if you want to defend these shitty games in this franchise, please do in the comments below or start your engines and race over to twitter @shaughnessy2k37 where you can race to the finish line and leave me a tweet.