Posted by
Jeff Penner
- Sunday, May 4, 2014
Godzilla will smash his (or her?) way into theaters on May 16th, and more images and footage are being released leading up to the big day. How do they make a disaster film of this magnitude?
I like to joke that movies like this all follow a similar format: we get two hours of snippets of a monster but mostly just the destructive aftermath. This shows us the scope of the issue the characters will be dealing with in the final action sequences. The main decision we have to make afterward is whether or not it was worth sitting through the first couple of hours or not. Movies are only rewatchable when the entire film is entertaining.
I trust Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) enough to hold my attention to build some great human moments, but let's face it, I'm going to this movie to see a giant monster tear a city to shreds. I'd better get it. Judging by most of the promotional images for the film, I may end up sitting through two hours of this:
This new Godzilla series may have some competition in the genre with films like Pacific Rim, Super 8, and Cloverfield all considering sequels. The winning trophy will go to whichever series has the best lead characters and the best action sequences. The issue comes with balance. How do you justify a 2-hour fight scene that makes the kids squeal but gives the adults a headache? With these movies all having 2+-hour run times, there are much more opportunities to make this a reality.
A lot of work does go into these films, especially when you're stuck with quality actors reacting to tennis balls on a stick. Here is some behind-the-scenes footage of how the humans fare against the might of Godzilla:
Official synopsis of Godzilla:
In Summer 2014, the world’s most revered monster is reborn as Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures unleash the epic action adventure Godzilla. From visionary new director Gareth Edwards (Monsters) comes a powerful story of human courage and reconciliation in the face of titanic forces of nature, when the awe-inspiring Godzilla rises to restore balance as humanity stands defenseless. Gareth Edwards directs Godzilla, which stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kick-Ass), Oscar® nominee Ken Watanabe (The Last Samurai, Inception), Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy May Marlene), Oscar® winner Juliette Binoche (The English Patient, Cosmopolis), and Sally Hawkins (Blue Jasmine), with Oscar® nominee David Strathairn (Good Night, and Good Luck., The Bourne Legacy) and Bryan Cranston (Argo, TV’s Breaking Bad).
What are your expectations? Will this be a mindless popcorn flick or a heart-wrenching action thriller?
Posted by
Jeff Penner
- Saturday, May 3, 2014
Saturday, May 3rd is Free Comic Book Day (FCBD) at your local comic shops! FCBD is the comic book specialty market’s annual event where participating comic book shops across North America and around the world give away comic books absolutely free to anyone who comes into their shops. The event is held the first Saturday in May and is the perfect opportunity to introduce friends and family to the many worlds of wonder available at local comic book shops. From superheroes to slice-of-life to action/adventure and beyond, FCBD has a comic book for everyone!
FCBD will be celebrated at participating comic book specialty shops across the U.S., Canada, and worldwide! 2014 marks the biggest event yet, with 60 free comics available for new and devoted comics fans to discover while they also explore what other treasures their local comic shop has to offer.
On Saturday May 3rd, anyone who visits a participating comic shop will receive at least one or more of the designated FCBD comics for free. The Free Comic Book Day Committee picked a listing of Gold and Silver sponsors whose comic books include titles that are great for kids and adults. This year’s roster contains 60 free comics such as Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, DC’s The New 52: Futures End, Archie, Spongebob, Teen Titans Go!, The Simpsons, Hello Kitty, Transformers, Sonic, and many more for fans to discover! Complete descriptions of all 60 FCBD titles, along with four-to-six page previews, can be found online at www.freecomicbookday.com/comics.
What more incentive do you need? Well, there's plenty! Check out LeVar Burton of Star Trek: TNG fame urging you to make it so:
Comic shops will also host community events such as costume contests, drawings by guest artists, creator signings, raffles, door prizes, photos with costumed characters, and other community-building activities throughout the day. Every comic shop celebrates FCBD in its own unique way, and fans have an opportunity to see their local comic shop’s personality and thriving community of pop-culture enthusiasts on display.
“Free Comic Book Day gives new and devoted comic book, entertainment, and pop-culture fans the opportunity to get great titles for free, while participating in fun and interactive comic shop events,” said FCBD Spokesperson Jason Blanchard. “Comic shops plan their FCBD activities months in advance to give their community the best FCBD experience in order to bring together like-minded fans who love the same stories, TV shows, and movies, while being able to discover new stories that will entertain and enrich their lives.”
For more FBCD news and updates, go to the FCBD website at www.freecomicbookday.com.
For daily FCBD updates, become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/freecomicbook and follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/freecomicbook. Find a comic shop near you at www.freecomicbookday.com/StoreLocator and celebrate Free Comic Book Day on Saturday May 3rd, 2014!
Will you be using this day to introduce any new readers to the great world of comics?
Posted by
Unknown
- Friday, May 2, 2014
There has been yet another addition to the cast of the all new Fantastic Four movie in the form of Tim Blake Nelson, who will be playing villain Harvey Elder, also known by his alias "Mole Man," who is described as a bizarre-looking scientist who lives under the earth and absolutely detests humanity.
Nelson has had many roles in various big films over the years, including starring in Marvel's very own 2008 movie adaptation of The Incredible Hulk as Dr. Samuel Sterns, so he's certainly no stranger to playing a comic-book scientist.
However, his role in the reboot will be a rather small one, although The Hollywood Reporter recently noted: "Elder's appearance does set up the character to be the villain in future installments of the franchise."
 |
| How Mole Man appears in the comic books. |
The Fantastic Four reboot is set for release in June 2015.
Do you think Tim Blake Nelson will play the role of "Mole Man" well? Let us know!
Posted by
The Dace Man
- Thursday, May 1, 2014
Hey, hey, hey, Dacetacular Nation! Check out episode 45 of The Dace Man Show with hosts Dace, Gibby, Frank Ward, and Nikki Mills!
Join the Dace Man and crew this week as they break down the following:
::SPORTS NEWS::
- Current NHL playoff results
- Current MLB standings
- Current NBA playoff results
- Plus much, much more!!
::WEIRD NEWS WITH GIBBY::
- Time to get down and weird with Gib and, might I add, Bay
::FRANK'S CORNER::
- What will Frank da Tank have in store this week?
::CELEB NEWS::
- Bob Hoskins passed away
- Celeb birthdays from April 24th to April 30th
- Miley back on her feet
- George Clooney got engaged this week
- Paul Simon caught up in a domestic dispute
Plus the High Five: Top 5 People Who Shouldn't Twerk and The Douche Bag of The Week! All that and more, only on The Dace Man Show!
Listen live to The Dace Man Show every Wednesday at 8 p.m. EST on Mega Powers Radio.
Follow on Facebook: Mega Powers Radio | Fanboys Anonymous | The Dace Man Show | I Got Game Play | Geek Speak | Rose Colored Reviews | Sports Talk Weekly | Addicted to Anime
Posted by
Orion Petitclerc
Not only does this May mark the 30th Anniversary since the creation of Marvel's symbiotes, but it also marks another special, albeit bittersweet occasion. Ten years ago the first superhero MMORPG, City of Heroes, went live with an innovative character creation system and a bold direction. It rivaled its closest (and, surprisingly, younger) competition, World of Warcraft, and paved the way for both Champions Online and DC Universe Online, both of which still survive to this day.
The game's player community boomed with each new update as the worlds of Paragon City, the Rogue Isles (featured in City of Villains), and Praetoria (an in-between dimension in City of Heroes: Going Rogue) evolved and expanded. It even introduced the very first in-game player-created content system, Mission Architect, to the world of MMO games, which allowed players to create their very own missions and story arcs with premade or custom enemy and ally factions to publish and play with their friends and community.
Unfortunately, the golden age of City of Heroes came to an abrupt and sad end in 2012 when the game's publisher, NCsoft, shut down its servers permanently with little to no explanation as to why. Millions of players—myself included, a veteran since at least 2005—were suddenly displaced from their favorite superhero MMO. Many attempted to fill the void with its aforementioned descendants, but nothing can truly replace Paragon City and its heroes and villains. The City of Heroes player community, however, remained steadfast and took refuge on social websites such as the popular Titan Network.
The game's legacy lives on in its community and in two equally special efforts to relive the golden days. Missing Worlds Media's City of Titans and Plan Z Studios' Heroes and Villains are two player-run video game development projects currently in the preproduction stages of creating City of Heroes' spiritual successors. Once a joint operation under the Plan Z banner, a group of displaced players with little to no experience in developing video games banded together shortly after City of Heroes' demise with a dream of recreating our lost world. Plan Z suffered from a schism of ideas early on, creating the splinter team, Missing Worlds Media, and both have progressed with their projects since.
Last year, Missing Worlds Media was the first of the two studios to both organize a Kickstarter campaign for its project and successfully complete the campaign by accruing a whopping 211% of its initial goal of $320k. The outstanding amount of funds was then used to buy the necessary tools to put some serious elbow grease into the game they promised their backers—even receiving a generous upgrade to an Unreal Engine 4 license from Epic Games itself. Missing Worlds Media reports that it will complete its preproduction phase soon and has revealed a few screenshots and videos of its work with Unreal 4.
On the other side of the map, Plan Z has silently carried on with the production of Heroes and Villains, although it has yet to employ crowd funding as its sister studio has. Nevertheless, it proceeds to astound by regularly updating its community following with development progress on the game's integral systems and even wowed us with rendered screenshots of the character creator screen, zone concept art, and several in-game renderings of the Hanging Gardens of the Antiverse—which bear a striking and fond resemblance to the Shadow Shard of City of Heroes—in celebration of the belated game's tenth anniversary.
Although both projects are at different stages of production, City of Heroes will surely have two amazing, spectacular, astonishing spiritual successors not too far down the road, from which the glory days can once again be revisited in a new and exciting light. Missing Worlds Media and Plan Z aren't planning to fill City of Heroes' big shoes; they only boast two games that will take their inspiration far beyond what City of Heroes could have been and farther than what any other superhero MMO will ever reach.
Were you one of the many displaced heroes, villains, or rogues from the City of Heroes shutdown? Have you been following and supporting City of Titans and Heroes and Villains? How will you celebrate this bittersweet tenth anniversary? Share your memories and experiences in the comments section below.
"We can be heroes
Just for one day…" –David Bowie
Posted by
Mike Paden
- Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Sand & Snow is a Game of Thrones podcast covering all the weekly happenings in the world of Westeros and beyond! Hyle Snow is a film major who exclusively enjoys Game of Thrones through the HBO television series. Jade Sand is a science major who has also read all of the books in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire. Together they gather to discuss and review the latest episode while also comparing it with the books, with their own brand of insight and speculation.
Beware! This podcast is dark and full of spoilers! This show covers all the content up to and including the titled episode of Game of Thrones. It also discusses the details of the book series A Song of Ice and Fire up to the current part of the story that the show has reached. However, there will be no spoiling of anything in the future of the TV series or story within the books.
:: Season 4, Episode 3 ::
"Breaker of Chains"
Daenarys reaches the city of Meereen; The Hound offers Arya a lesson in how things are; Jamie shows his love for Cersei; and we discuss the rest of the fallout from the "Purple Wedding." Also, we get a new microphone!!
- Follow the
Sand & Snow Podcast -
