Fanboys Anonymous

On the January 2016 edition of the FA Movie Club podcast (episode #22), Fanboys Anonymous members give their thoughts on four films revolving around the theme of the winter season.

With the 88th Academy Awards fast approaching, the biggest topic going on right now is the argument that the Oscars are doing a poor job of representing non-white cultures. The hashtag #OscarsSoWhite is a response to the lack of recognition for black filmmakers, with some people boycotting the ceremony and others claiming that the only way around this would be to create special awards in the future for Best Black Actor and so forth.

I've already expressed my opinions on particular 2016 Oscars snubs and whether or not I believe this was just a coincidence or it was a conscious decision, so I won't be debating that here. Instead, it's the idea of adding more categories that's caught my attention. While I don't think a Best Black Actress award would be a good idea (simply put, I think that would widen the divide and promote less inclusion in the primary categories), I do have some ideas of what the Academy should possibly consider adding in the future.

Without further ado, here's a list of five categories I'd suggest be added to the Academy Awards.

1. Best Stuntwork

It's amazing to think that we have technical awards for Makeup and Hairstyling, Production Design and Costume Design, but nothing for stunts. There's some overlap when it comes to Best Visual Effects and even Best Actor/Actress, but not much that actually gives credit to the people responsible for setting things up properly to be filmed in the first place.

This isn't just "coolest stunt" by any means, either. A lot of hard work has to go into the creation of an action sequence. For instance, how are you going to set up the shot? Is it going to be shaky-cam or is it going to be more traditional? What choreography will actors have to learn? How can you properly design a series of timed explosions and falling scenery in a way where safety is a precaution, but innovativeness is a priority?

In 2015, an example comes to mind of a team that should be rewarded for their efforts. In Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation, Tom Cruise himself performed a stunt where he held onto the side of an airplane as it took off. He did this—not a stuntman—which means even more than normal, everything needed to be orchestrated with fine precision. Even if it were a stuntman, why should they be ignored when it comes to their contributions to film? They'll never get nominated for Best Actor because their goal is to blend seamlessly with the real actor they're doubling. That doesn't mean they had nothing to do with the success of the overall product, though.

It just seems odd that in an era where practical effects are praised over CGI and action movies dominate the marketplace, there isn't an award to give credit to the people who "wow" us.

2. Best Motion Capture Performance

Andy Serkis is all I should need to say to convince you that this is an award that needs to be added. For years, this man has been putting out amazing content that just stuns audiences. Whether it's his performance as Gollum in the Lord of the Rings series, his version of King Kong in the 2005 adaptation, the role of Caesar in the Planet of the Apes franchise or more, Serkis has proven that there's more to these roles than just slapping on a suit with a bunch of dots and dancing around in front of the camera.

Other people have done it and not done it anywhere near as well, and there should be a distinction for just who is able to put on the best performances with this type of acting and who isn't. Many people are quick to write off synthetic characters as not "true acting" because you don't see the face of the actor himself. In many ways, though, you do. Mark Ruffalo's face was incorporated into the CGI character build for The Hulk, and that technique has been used many other times in other films since then and beforehand. Would it not be acting if Ruffalo had put on heavy makeup and prosthetics as opposed to those elements being CGI?

3. Best Voiceover Performance

Here's where things get a bit messy. This is a category I could see not being necessary, as it could be incorporated somewhat into the Best Motion Capture Performance award, which would then have to be changed to something of a wider scope like Best Synthetic Performance.

However, there's also room for a distinction to be made. Motion capture is an entirely different animal from just voicing a character. In fact, there are times where the actor in the suit doesn't also provide the voice for the character. With Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, the Silver Surfer character was a composite of Doug Jones for the physical reference points, a CGI appearance from the people over at WETA and the voice of Laurence Fishburne. If that were to be Oscar-worthy (side note: it wasn't) then all three sides of the performance would need to be given the award. What if the first two were amazing but Fishburne's dialogue was atrocious? Why make the other two suffer? Conversely, what if Fishburne delivered an amazing performance but the CGI was terrible?

A mixture of the two makes sense, but a separation makes even more sense. Animated films are nothing new to the scene and every character in those movies that makes a sound needs someone to bring that performance to life. Critics were very receptive to Richard Kind's character Bing Bong in Pixar's Inside Out, which is a safe bet to win the Best Animated Feature Oscar in a few weeks. It takes a ton of talent to be able to have an inflection in your voice that will translate properly to the screen to show whatever emotion your character is feeling, particularly when you might not even have a clue what your character looks like yet! There's no frame of reference, no reliability on your eyes to tell the story, and possibly not even any other actors to perform your scenes with. You could be entrusted to carry the weight of the movie on the shoulders of your voice while you record your dialogue in a studio all by yourself—just you, the script, the microphone, a stool to sit on and a bottle of water.

4. Best Ensemble Cast

One actor's performance can really kill a scene if it's bad, but no actor—no matter how good they are—can save a movie if they're the only talent in the bunch. If an actor doesn't have the right people to play off, that hurts their chances of being viewed in a positive light. Even great actors can have poor chemistry with their counterparts, which takes away from their own performance. It's a symbiotic relationship that requires both ends of the spectrum pulling their weight.

Sometimes, no one actor stands out above the rest in a movie that is jam-packed with great performers in great roles. It's rare nowadays to see support for more than one actor in the same movie to get nominated for Best Actor/Actress or Best Supporting Actor/Actress because the production companies would rather hedge their bets. If two people are great, they'll try to separate them into the lead and supporting categories to win two Oscars instead of competing against each other and possibly canceling their votes out.

That's why there should be an award that gives credit to the overall ensemble cast, which should be accepted by the casting director of the film responsible for bringing them all together. Spotlight recently won the Critics' Choice Award for Best Ensemble Cast and there are others like The Hateful Eight and The Big Short that could give it a run for its money. It's a homogeneous production, and this would be a good means to pat all of the actors on their backs who don't get to take home one of the four individual prizes.

5. Best Studio

This one is a bit hard to nail down as far as what the specifics would be, but I think there's an argument to be made that studios need to be held accountable for their overall body of work. Of course, nothing negative comes out of producing bad films (outside of losing money if they don't perform well and hurting your credibility in the business) and there shouldn't be a public whipping for making horrible movies, but this would be an incentive to take things to a new level.

20th Century Fox, for example, had a few hits and a few misses in 2015. They've received accolades for The Martian and Bridge of Spies as well as The Revenant and more, but they've also churned out some real garbage like Fantastic Four and Hitman: Agent 47 and Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip. How does that stack up against something like Disney or Paramount? Where's the acknowledgement of Marvel for successfully revolutionizing the film industry with the "cinematic universe" approach to movie making and franchising?

Based on a criteria of things like the weight of the good films against the bad, the financial success they achieved, their functionality in the business and their advancements to the field, it would be nice to see the studios fight it out with each other to try to assert their dominance. Winning this sort of award would help their brand and make them seem like they're the go-to studio to get your film made, allowing them to broker better deals in the future. Since every company would want to win this, they would do their best to put out the highest quality work possible, and moviegoers would win out in the long run.

Those are just five of my suggestions of what awards I'd like to see added in the future, but what do you have in mind? Do you agree with the list above, or do you have reasons why you think this wouldn't work? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!

Apple issued a voluntary recall on Thursday for certain models of its wall plug adapter, citing the risk of electrical shock, the company said in a blog post. The faulty adapters were shipped with every Mac and certain iOS devices between 2003 and 2015 and were included in the Apple World Travel Adapter Kit.

According to Apple, the two-prong AC wall plug adapters that were designed for use in Continental Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Korea, Argentina, and Brazil may break, leaving the user at risk of electrical shock if touched. Twelve incidents have so far been reported worldwide.

"Customer safety is always Apple's top priority, and we have voluntarily decided to exchange affected wall plug adapters with a new, redesigned adapter, free of charge," Apple said, noting that wall adapters designed for the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, China, Hong Kong, and Japan were not affected. Apple USB power adapters are also not affected.

To identify whether your wall plug may be a hazard, an affected plug will have either four or five characters or no characters on inside slot where it attaches to the Apple power adapter. The redesigned adapters will have a three-letter regional code in its place (EUR, KOR, AUD, ARG, or BRA).

Though the chances of the adapters breaking are rare according to Apple, users are encouraged to exchange their potentially dangerous adapters at their local Apple Store or at an Authorized Apple Service Provider. The exchange program is free, though Apple is offering refunds to those that previously bought new adapters due to issues.

It's time to settle the score of some of the greatest battles never to happen in history! What would happen if a bear fought Popeye? How 'bout if Stephen Colbert went toe-to-toe with a mutated slice of pizza? Well the crew at The Dace Man Show are here to discuss the vast potential of such match-ups.

This episode Frank Ward faces off against Nicholas Andrew to debate whether 72 Virgins or Buddha would win a battle!



The Duel is brought to you by Skybound's SuperFight! You can purchase the starter deck and all expansions here: https://www.superfightgame.com/

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 your SuperFight! starter deck!—and check out what's going on here in the Dace-Sphere. See ya next time!


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We're smack dab in the middle of the 2016 midseason of television, which means now is when the buzz about cancellations and renewals picks up steady pace. The shows which were lucky enough to receive orders of 22 episodes per season are currently taking a break and while they're on hiatus, new shows are making their premieres to eat up the time slots. In the meantime, networks are crunching the numbers to figure out which programs are underperforming and which ones are worth bringing back next year.

Already, we've seen some shows kick the bucket and some seal deals for renewals. No matter how poor a show's ratings might be, there's always at least a small amount of fans who will be disappointed to see a show they like disappear, and with the way television has been changing over the past few years with Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu and other services picking up shows that other networks have dropped, fans are always looking for a second chance. Community was picked up by Yahoo! Screen last year, but not only did that not return, the platform itself is now defunct, and with no news of Hannibal making a return either, it proves that shows still mostly live or die by the networks.

That being said, which shows have been canned so far, but stand a chance to make a comeback? Which shows are in danger of being cancelled after this season and probably won't return? Let's take a look at some on the chopping block.

CBS Shows

Despite its detractors who absolutely hate it, The Big Bang Theory is already renewed for another season. That's the opposite of Mike & Molly, which went through so many changes over the past few years in regards to time slots and debuts that it's no surprise this will be its final season. Melissa McCarthy is becoming an even bigger star in the world of movies with Ghostbusters soon to only grow that to even higher levels. The show has probably run its course, so there's little incentive to return with such uncertainty of its scheduling.

TV By the Numbers, which is the standard tracking source for ratings, declares CSI: Cyber to be on its "sure bet to be cancelled by May 2016" list with some other likely candidates being The Good Wife and Hawaii Five-O. Looking at how poor those ratings are in comparison to other shows on the network, it would be no surprise to see them get dropped.

Although they state that Limitless isn't as safe as it once was, I can't imagine it not returning for a second season. The show does safe numbers and it's a perfect tone for the network, as it favors a mix between cop dramas and comedies. Just look at Scorpion as another example of a similar atmosphere which wasn't cut its first year, or the NCIS franchise which has two spin-offs to its name. I think if CBS was feeling bold and wanted to cut another show from the lineup, Code Black would get nixed before Limitless.

NBC Shows

Already renewed from NBC this year are Chicago PD, Chicago Fire, The Blacklist and Blindspot while we know that three shows are cancelled for sure. Those three shows are Truth Be Told, Heroes Reborn and The Player.

I know nothing about Truth Be Told, which makes sense considering its ratings. Even looking at pictures doesn't ring a bell, so I might not have seen previews for it, let alone the show itself.

Heroes Reborn was an example of a show that just annoys me. The original series had such an amazing build for its first season and then it went downhill, never fully recovering. This was promised as a means to pick up the story where we left off with a reboot to an extent, but most importantly rebuilding its former glory for the future. Instead, we got the same lazy writing as before, coupled with a ridiculous video game world premise. Many fans were underwhelmed and might even consider this to have not been worth the effort rather than letting sleeping dogs lie.

The Player was a show that I had watched a few episodes of, but I knew it was doomed. In fact, you can read an article I wrote in October stating that very thing. The premise of a consortium of wealthy businessmen seeking thrills by betting on crimes was very interesting, but the show just lacked the style (and the marketing) necessary to reach an audience. If you were a fan of The Player and you want to find another casino outlet, check out sites like Grizzly Gambling which offers free slots games. That way, you can be in on the action instead of just watching it, because you apparently can't watch it on NBC anymore anyway!

If NBC is feeling the itch to cleanse itself and start fresh, The Mysteries of Laura, Telenovela, Undateable, and possibly Grimm and Shades of Blue could be gone as well come next season.

CW Shows

Out of every network, it seems like The CW is the happiest with itself. Currently, nothing stands out as a potential release other than Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, but even that isn't listed as a guarantee and its numbers aren't too far off from Reign and Jane the Virgin. That might be more of a bad thing for the latter two than a good thing for Crazy Ex-Girlfriend if CW has some new ideas for shows to test out, but the ratings for the rest of the runs for those shows will play a big factor into CW's decision in May. If I were a betting man, I would say only the lowest goes away.

ABC Shows

Wicked City and Blood & Oil are gone, and joining them in the graveyard soon is likely going to be Galavant, Nashville, Castle and Agent Carter.

I've heard rumblings about Nashville and Castle not lasting another season for quite some time, so that comes to no surprise for me. However, Agent Carter is a little bit shocking, to an extent. Admittedly, the first season of that show wasn't something that I was super fond of and I think this current season is struggling to find a purpose for itself even more, but it's a Marvel property. I personally feel its outlived its usefulness and should be pushed aside to make room for the upcoming Marvel's Most Wanted, but even that show is something I'm not entirely supportive of. Damage Control seems far, far more interesting and I would rather keep Bobbi and Hunter on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. to keep that show going rather than spin them off into a separate show, but that's another discussion for another time. In the end, it would be justifiable to see Agent Carter go away, but it still would be a bit eye-opening to see something under the Marvel brand not succeed for the first time in years.

FOX Shows

While I can say so many positive things about Limitless, I can't say the same for Minority Report. Ironically, both shows are based on films where I felt the opposite about them. The Limitless movie was just okay, if not disappointing, while Minority Report is a great one I definitely recommend. The television shows couldn't be a clearer 180 degree switch, though, with Minority Report being cancelled months ago for just, well, being terrible.

Poor Second Chance doesn't look like it will be getting a second chance of its own, either. Just like with The Player, I figured a cancellation was coming right after watching the first episode. With its ratings being a 1.2 on the premiere and a 1.0 its second week as well as a move to Friday nights in the works, that just screams bad news. As stated before, there's no shortage of shows that deal with similar concepts to help differentiate it enough for it to stand out, nor is there really any star power or buzz on social media. The premise and the show itself was an interesting experiment that just didn't pan out.

Sleepy Hollow, Bordertown, Cooper Barrett's Guide to Surviving Life, The Grinder, Grandfathered, Bones and The Last Man on Earth are all hovering around that mark of cancellation as well. I know virtually nothing about any of them, except I do know that Bordertown looked absolutely terrible on the preview I saw, and it doesn't surprise me one bit to see it listed as a likely cut. Try harder to sell your show than just jokes about ugly people, foreign people, or ugly foreign people. Be funny instead. It worked for Brooklyn Nine-Nine for three seasons, and seemingly a fourth along the way.

There are so many shows that are still yet to make their way to our screens, including Uncle Buck, Rush Hour, and Emerald City just to name a few, with a new show like Lucifer seemingly doing just fine and dandy.

What shows are you disappointed to see get cancelled? Are there any shows coming soon that you're particularly excited to check out? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!

Hey, hey, hey, Dacetacular nation! Check out episode 136 of The Dace Man Show with hosts Chris "The Dace Man" Dace, Frank Ward, and Gibby!!

::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 Doucebag 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!


Follow on Facebook: Mega Powers Radio | Fanboys Anonymous | The Dace Man Show | Nerd Court | Sports Talk Weekly | Addicted to Anime

It's time to settle the score of some of the greatest battles never to happen in history! What would happen if a bear fought Popeye? How 'bout if Stephen Colbert went toe-to-toe with a mutated slice of pizza? Well the crew at The Dace Man Show are here to discuss the vast potential of such match-ups.

This episode The Dace Man faces off against Nicholas Andrew to debate whether a unicorn or a samurai would win a battle!



The Duel is brought to you by Skybound's SuperFight! You can purchase the starter deck and all expansions here: https://www.superfightgame.com/

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 your SuperFight! starter deck!—and check out what's going on here in the Dace-Sphere. See ya next time!


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

It's time to settle the score of some of the greatest battles never to happen in history! What would happen if a bear fought Popeye? How 'bout if Stephen Colbert went toe-to-toe with a mutated slice of pizza? Well the crew at The Dace Man Show are here to discuss the vast potential of such match-ups.

This episode The Dace Man faces off against Nicholas Andrew to debate whether Tribbles or Hydra would win a battle!



The Duel is brought to you by Skybound's SuperFight! You can purchase the starter deck and all expansions here: https://www.superfightgame.com/

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 your SuperFight! starter deck!—and check out what's going on here in the Dace-Sphere. See ya next time!


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

Batman: Bad Blood is the latest installment in the line of DC animated direct-to-video films that have been released over the past few years. Is it worth the watch or it is something that should be skipped?

Batman: Bad Blood—directed by Jay Oliva; written by J.M. DeMatteis (writer), Grant Morrison (comic book); starring Stuart Allan (Damian Wayne / Robin), Sean Maher (Dick Grayson / Nightwing), Morena Baccarin (Talia al Ghul), Steve Blum (Electrocutioner), Gaius Charles (Luke Fox / Batwing), James Garrett (Alfred Pennyworth), Travis Willingham (Heretic), Yvonne Strahovski (Kathy Kane / Batwoman) and Jason O'Mara (Bruce Wayne / Batman).

The first thing to do with these films is to establish what continuity they take place in. Some movies like Justice League: Gods and Monsters or Batman: Assault on Arkham are separate from one another and try to have as wide of a variety as possible. They're rather odd and they are very much hit or miss. Then there are the Batman Unlimited ones targeted towards kids and based off the Mattel action figure line. One look at those and you'll see an onslaught of characters thrown into random fight sequences for the sake of selling toys.

Thankfully, Batman: Bad Blood takes place in the same universe as the more serious films that are connected to one another, having started with Justice League: War and also including Son of Batman, Justice League: Throne of Atlantis, and Batman vs. Robin. This means the more modern story arcs are being told and the target audience is more teenagers and above than little kids, as evidenced by things like exploding heads and lesbian affairs. Yup, those two things are in this movie, although I won't spoil who does what.

What I will spoil, though, is that this story takes inspiration from Batman Incorporated, the Leviathan organization and other arcs following those connective threads. After the disappearance of Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson adopts the Batman persona and teams up with Damian Wayne to find out who is behind Bruce's supposed death and how to stop whatever their plan happens to be. Meanwhile, we're introduced to Batwing (Luke Fox, who must deal with the responsibility of following in the footsteps of his father, Lucius Fox) and Batwoman (Katherine Kane, who struggles to find a purpose to herself and a means to deal with the pain of loss)—two stories that feel a bit shoehorned in and don't have much time to breathe. I much rather would have preferred to see Batwoman and Batwing sit this one out to allow more time to be focused on Nightwing, as every story in this whole movie gets rushed. There just isn't enough enough time in just over an hour to set up all of the emotional stakes properly and flesh out a better story.

Then again, we're not watching these movies for Best Picture Oscar material, right? We watch them because they're easier-to-digest methods of reading comic books, and if you're a fan of the Batman series, you're bound to smile at all sorts of things in this movie. One of my favorite parts was seeing the inclusion of the C-list villains Firefly and Killer Moth, who happened to have pretty cool designs. Alfred gets a nice moment to show off how he's a bad ass, as Grayson puts it, which is a nice little scene that I appreciated as well. The characterization of nearly everybody is spot on, and these movies are giving me an even better appreciation for the Damian Wayne character. Plus, I've always thought Nightwing was massively underutilized, so more movies with him doing his thing gets a big thumbs up for me. I am curious, though, where Tim Drake and Jason Todd are in this universe, but their lack of inclusion here doesn't hurt the film.

The action is fun, the music isn't memorable but it does its job soundly (see what I did there?) and the overall tone of the film is what I was hoping it would be. Things in the Batman universe are always on the more sullen side, but there are jokes peppered throughout that break up the tension just enough to keep it from being too dour. The visuals are also something to commend, taking what I feel are the best character models from any animated superhero adaptation and not messing with the formula, only improving it. There are no weird body proportions with giant torsos or anything in this film as every character is muscular within reason.

Out of the films that have come out for this line, I definitely wouldn't rank this as my favorite, but I don't really have any fervent complaints about it, either. This is a perfectly adequate story for comic book fans to watch for an hour on a night when they're bored or something of the sort. If you're not a big fan of the Batman franchise, it likely won't strike much of a chord with you, so keep that in mind. If you are, however, I would definitely recommend it.

On the latest edition of the Movie Trailer Reactions podcast for Fanboys Anonymous, the panel breaks down their initial reaction and their overall thoughts about the latest trailer for Suicide Squad released earlier today.

Although this is the first official trailer released by Warner Bros. for the film, this is our second look at the movie after what went down with the San Diego Comic Con trailer in 2015. That was intended for just the crowd that that venue, but it was leaked online and Warner Bros. was essentially forced to put out the high quality version of it in response. That trailer received massive buzz and a wide variety of positive comments from the fan base, but does this trailer measure up?

Hosted by Tony Mango, the panel includes Caroline Oliveira and Mike Paden

Some topics we address:

• Bohemian Rhapsody = copying Guardians of the Galaxy?
• Will Smith is just Will Smith
• The look of The Joker and Harley Quinn
• No Ike Barinholtz? No Jim Parrack?
• Who is Scott Eastwood?
• What's going on with the monsters and the acid?
• and more!

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

A secret government agency recruits imprisoned supervillains to execute dangerous black ops missions in exchange for clemency.

Every year when the list of nominees for the Academy Awards is announced, it's always met with not only buzz about the best movies of the year, but also buzz about the films that were ignored in some fashion. In the past, we've had comic book fans upset that Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight wasn't given a Best Picture nomination, The Lego Movie not being nominated for Best Animated Feature, Jake Gyllenhaal for Nightcrawler and of course Ava DuVernay and David Oyelowo for Selma.

Sometimes, those criticisms are justified, and it just seems like the academy is filled with a bunch of out of touch, old white men who either have an agenda against a particular race, a particular genre of films, or whatever the case may be. Then again, there are those times where there are just way too many choices and only a few slots, and some great movies are going to miss out on being nominated. Often, people will complain if their preferences aren't nominated just because they liked that movie better and not because they think it's legitimately one of the best of the year.

All three of those possible reasons to take issue have been exhibited with the 88th Academy Awards, so let's take a look at some of the supposed snubs from the 2016 Oscars and break down just why they might not have been nominated.

Best Picture

More than any other award, the one that gets the most attention is Best Picture, and since everyone has their favorites, that naturally has the most amount of fuss surrounding it.

One of the biggest complaints is that Straight Outta Compton wasn't given enough credit, with a lot of people thinking it should have been in this category. At the moment, there are a lot of movies that I have yet to see, so I can't fully comment on the quality of them, but I do have to admit that Straight Outta Compton looked very interesting and I've heard really positive things about it. The same thing applies to Creed, which has even been met with a better reception (and an average 93.5% score on Rotten Tomatoes—amazing). Those two movies are receiving a lot of heat that they weren't nominated as they're predominantly African American and that there's a bias against those subject matters. I naturally can't speak to the voters themselves to assure everyone that they don't discriminate, but I would suggest people keep things in perspective and remember that Selma was nominated for Best Picture last year and 12 Years a Slave won the previous year and Beasts of the Southern Wild being nominated in 2012. More than the racial divide, I would think the bigger issue as to why these weren't nominated is the subject matter. Creed is a boxing film and the seventh in its franchise while Straight Outta Compton is about rappers. It's a chance the voters felt no real connection to those stories as they aren't as simple as some of the other nominees.

Some are complaining that Star Wars: The Force Awakens should have been nominated for Best Picture as well. As a fan of the movie and an even bigger fan of the franchise as a whole, I have to 100% disagree. It's a great addition to the series and it makes me excited for the future, but it's not Best Picture material. Monetary success is not a direct indicator to how good a movie is, or else we'd see nominations for Transformers: Age of Extinction, which was utter trash.

Inside Out is another that people are up in arms about. First off, I'd have to state that I'm not as big of a fan of that movie as many other people are, but even more than my personal preferences, I'd point out the Best Animated Feature category. This is essentially a cop-out to avoid nominating animated films in the regular Best Picture category (even though it's happened before with Toy Story 3) and it's just as good of an award in the grand scheme of things. At least you're not The Peanuts Movie or Minions which weren't even nominated for Best Animated Feature, right?

Best Director

The four biggest snubs I'm hearing about are Quentin Tarantino for The Hateful Eight, Ridley Scott for The Martian, Todd Haynes for Carol and Ryan Coogler for Creed.

Carol just strikes me as the type of film that has strong performances and a dramatic enough storyline to get noticed, but not something that requires as much directorial expertise as some of the other nominees. I would give more of a pass to Creed for breathing new life into a dead franchise, but isn't a big bulk of that just the screenplay and the performances as well?

The Martian definitely takes a step up as far as something I could see needing a steady hand at the wheel for director, and after a slew of bad films, Ridley Scott might have needed this vote of confidence. Perhaps the voters looked at this more as Matt Damon's performance holding up the film than anything else.

As far as Tarantino goes, I hate to say it, but I think this might be a vocal minority. The Hateful Eight hasn't been turning heads left and right. Even I, a Tarantino fan who considers Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction to be two of his top 10 favorite movies of all time, am waiting to see it later on.

Best Actor / Actress

Without a doubt, the man who most analysts are predicting will win Best Actor is Leonardo DiCaprio for The Revenant. Some are leaning more towards Eddie Redmayne for The Danish Girl while others are thinking it's a guarantee Matt Damon wins for The Martian or Michael Fassbender wins for Steve Jobs. Unfortunately for Bryan Cranston, I'm not hearing much buzz about him having a chance for Trumbo.

Cranston stands out as the nominee that most people would replace with another name. Is Johnny Depp the guy who should have gotten that spot with Black Mass? I watched the film, thought it was good enough to receive some nominations, and I would have been okay with Depp being rewarded for doing something different instead of playing another androgynous flamboyant character. I probably wouldn't have expected him to win, but it could have been nice to motivate him to do more films like this.

I can't speak for Michael B. Jordan in Creed (yet), but everything I've heard is that his performance is nowhere near as good as Sylvester Stallone's. That could have overshadowed him enough for voters to ignore him. If you want to talk about people stealing films, there's definitely more of a justification for Charlize Theron being nominated for Best Actress for Mad Max: Fury Road than Tom Hardy, considering how Furiosa was easily the biggest takeaway from the movie in pop culture. If Hardy were to be nominated, Legend would make more sense to me. Playing two characters at once should have given him an edge, right? Then again, it didn't work for Eddie Murphy all these years.

Will Smith is the standout to me for Concussion. That's another case where I've yet to see the film, but even on the trailers alone I felt as though he could have a nomination coming his way. I've heard great things and if those sentiments are correct, then I'm not surprised people think he should have taken Cranston's spot.

Miscellaneous Other Awards

Three people suggested for Best Supporting Actor are nine-year-old Jacob Tremblay (Room), Idris Elba (Beast of No Nation) and Michael Keaton (Spotlight). If Mark Ruffalo was given a nomination for the same film as Keaton, then the voters probably just thought he was better and didn't want to give two to the same film. With Elba, that film received no nominations and could be more out of spite for the Netflix platform than anything else. As far as Tremblay goes, until I see the movie, I can't say for sure, but it's just possible that his performance isn't good enough to put him in the running for an already stacked list.

Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth's song "See You Again" from Furious 7 has a ton of support from people wishing it were nominated for Best Original Song. Admittedly, this one does seem like an odd choice to leave out, especially considering how it's made significantly more impact in pop culture than any other song nominated. I have no idea about this snub...

With the screenplay awards, there's a mixed bag. Some think Amy Schumer should have been nominated for Trainwreck. Those people are ridiculous, I think. That movie is nothing special at all. As mentioned before, Quentin Tarantino's buzz for The Hateful Eight isn't loud enough to make me think a mistake was made in not nominating him. I do, however, think it's odd that Aaron Sorkin wasn't nominated for Steve Jobs, although if you look at the list, three of the five were nominated for Best Picture as well (if you count Inside Out for Best Animated Feature). If Steve Jobs were nominated for that award or Best Director, then I think it would have looked a bit more off.

I'm sure there are a ton of other films and the workers on those films that people feel should have been nominated in one way or another, and if you have any to add to the list, tell us! Should Ex Machina have been in the Best Picture race? Is Sicario being screwed over? Were you really hoping to see more attention given to Joy?

Leave your thoughts in the comments below and stay tuned for results on the 88th Academy Awards here at Fanboys Anonymous!

Hey, hey, hey, Dacetacular nation! Check out episode 135 of The Dace Man Show with hostsFrank Ward, Gibby, and Pattie McTitties!!

::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 Doucebag 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!


Follow on Facebook: Mega Powers Radio | Fanboys Anonymous | The Dace Man Show | Nerd Court | Sports Talk Weekly | Addicted to Anime

It's time to settle the score of some of the greatest battles never to happen in history! What would happen if a bear fought Popeye? How 'bout if Stephen Colbert went toe-to-toe with a mutated slice of pizza? Well the crew at The Dace Man Show are here to discuss the vast potential of such match-ups.

This episode The Dace Man faces off against Frank Ward to debate whether The Terminator or a Demon possessed car would win a battle!



The Duel is brought to you by Skybound's SuperFight! You can purchase the starter deck and all expansions here: https://www.superfightgame.com/

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 your SuperFight! starter deck!—and check out what's going on here in the Dace-Sphere. See ya next time!


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

Episode 24 of the Fanboys Anonymous Reviewpoint podcast reviews The Revenant.

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

Tim Curry, the man who brought the infamous fishnet-clad Frank-N-Furter to life in the Rocky Horror Picture Show 40 years ago, will be time-warping back for Fox's reboot of the classic Richard O'Brien musical, premiering later this year. Well, how 'bout that?

Curry, the Emmy Award–winning actor who originated the role in the 1973 London stage production and shortly after made his screen debut in the 1975 film version, will be joining the cast as the "Criminologist," a small narrative persona whom those familiar with late-night shadow cast performances mock for his lack of neck, thus creating an abundance of call backs.

The cult classic is the longest running film in history, strongly keeping its cultural phenomena alive in shadow casts throughout the world. The campy film, which plays homage to science fiction and B-rated horror of the 1930s through the 1970s, features deeper themes that includes gender and sexuality and has been reclaimed as a significant role in the LGBT community.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show centers upon newly engaged sweethearts Brad and Janet, who stumble upon Dr. Frank-N-Furter's castle after their car breaks down in the rain. They arrive on a rather special night, as the sexually ambiguous mad scientist holds his annual Transylvanian convention to showcase the birth of his newest creation: Rocky Horror, a tall man with blonde hair and a tan.

"I am very happy and excited to be part of this new event," Curry said in a statement.

Previously announced cast members include Laverne Cox (Orange is the New Black), who will be filling in Curry's iconic heels. Ryan McCartan (Heathers, the Musical) and Victoria Justice (Victorious) star as Brad and Janet, alongside Reeve Carney (Penny Dreadful) as Riff Raff; Staz Nair  (Game of Thrones) as Rocky; and Adam Lambert (Glee) as Eddie. The roles of Magenta, Columbia, and Dr. Everett Scott have yet to be revealed.

This will be the 69-year-old actor's first live-action appearance following a stroke in 2012 that caused him to require a wheelchair. Last year, Curry made a rare red-carpet appearance when he was honored with The Actors Fund Lifetime Achievement Award at the Tony Awards Viewing Party in Los Angeles.

The two-hour musical will be directed, choreographed, and produced by Kenny Ortega (High School Musical, Michael Jackson's This Is It) and will air this fall on Fox. Lou Adler, who was the executive producer in the original film, will claim the same role in the reboot.

Back in September, our Group Meeting podcast for that month was a breakdown of the television shows for the 2015–2016 season that we were excited about watching. On my part of that list was something called The Frankenstein Code, which didn't have a set premiere date at the time.

Eventually, I would go searching for this information and would find nothing. Why, you might ask? That's because the title of the show had changed to Lookinglass. Okay, whatever, maybe they had a rights issue that couldn't be cleared up or they decided that using the name Frankenstein in the title might turn off the audience in a way. Things happen.

Then, a few months later, I went looking to see if a premiere had been settled on, only to find out that the title of the show had changed again, this time to Second Chance. Funny, I would have thought "third."

Surprisingly, after all this insanity, I waded through the unknown to find out that Second Chance made its premiere on January 13th, so I was finally able to check it out. Is it worth getting into, or was this just a stalling tactic to prolong the release of an underwhelming show? Here are my thoughts on episode 1, entitled "A Suitable Donor" and the future of the series.

Premise / Storyline

Jimmy Pritchard (Philip Baker Hall) is a former sheriff who was forced out of the job after tampering with evidence in what he feels to have been a justifiable action to help keep the town safe. Why did he do it? What did he do, exactly? Those are left up to speculation as part of a mystery to be answered at a later time.

His son, Duval (Tim DeKay—also known as "that guy I always momentarily get mixed up with Nathan Fillion on par with how Elias Koteas and Christopher Meloni look alike as well") is an FBI agent whose partner is corrupt. When Jimmy stumbles upon Duval's partner being all bad guyish, Jimmy is killed.

Lucky for Jimmy, his body is taken by Otto Goodwin (Adhir Kalyan)—a genius with severe social problems who is experimenting with ways to cure his sister Mary (Dilshad Vadsaria) of cancer. They run a super mega successful corporation called Lookinglass (now you get where the title came from) and with their tech, they're able to bring Jimmy back to life in the body of his younger self, portrayed by Robert Kazinsky. By the end of the episode, we're left with some openendedness that implies that the series will consist of Young Jimmy helping Duval get rid of the corruption in the police force while also trying to repair his relationship with his son as well as his drunkard daughter Helen (Amanda Detmer), while Otto focuses on curing Mary rather than himself in the off-time that they aren't Young Jimmy's Alfred Pennyworth or Q, however you look at it.

Casting / Characters

For the most part, these are all perfectly fine. Robert Kazinsky comes off as TV lead material who is charming enough to be liked but has enough of an edge so you kind of associate him with being the "bad boy" antihero that people love so much. Basically, he's a jerk with a heart of gold. Philip Baker Hall is always great, so no complaints about Old Jimmy, that rascal.

Tim DeKay is somewhat of an opposition to Robert Kazinsky. On the surface, Jimmy is a crappier person than Duval, but behind the eyes of the viewer, Duval kind of comes off as less likable. That's a good thing if they're able to explore that some more, but it's a bad thing if Duval just becomes whiny or obnoxiously stubborn where no matter what, he continually reverts back to hating his dad.

Dilshad Vadsaria is gorgeous, and I don't know if that's making me like her character more than I normally would if she were played by someone ugly, which I'll admit is totally wrong, but it happens. That's why they cast beautiful people—sex sells. As beautiful as she is, she wasn't portrayed as "the sexy one" of the show, which goes to Nicky Whelan's character Bettina. She's a super hot prostitute and a very good one at that, it seems, so let's move on.

I could see the character of Mary Goodwin being a huge benefit to the show or something that becomes bothersome, depending on how they handle her. Right now, she comes off as "the responsible one" of the cast. She shows off that she's an astute businesswoman, but most of her decisions come down to saying what is right and what is wrong. Since they clearly don't want to show her off as "the intelligent one" (a position usurped by her brother, Otto) they need to make sure she goes more into the range of being the heart of the group rather than being a nagging shrew. I could love her for being the nicest and most caring of the bunch, or I could grow to just hate every time she opens her mouth if she's scolding people constantly and not doing much else.

Speaking of Otto, that character is annoying. Adhir Kalyan comes off to me as just phoning it in with his performance. I care more about Otto when other people are talking about him than when I'm seeing him on screen. That needs to change.

Kudos to Ciara Bravo for getting another show. I liked her on Red Band Society so I couldn't help but smile when I saw her pop up. It's always nice to see actors get more roles.

Amanda Detmer's Helen…pass. Derek Webster's Agent Strayburn…meh. Scott Menville's artificial intelligent program Arthur? Well, my reaction to that was basically "wait a minute, isn't that Robin from Teen Titans?" He's no HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey or even GERTY from Moon, but he'll do just fine.

Overall, I'm okay with this cast of characters we have in front of us, and it's just a matter of whether or not the writers have a solid enough plan of what to do with them going forward.

Future of the Series

Doomed. Sorry, but I can't be optimistic about this. I've seen way too many shows that I've enjoyed which seemed to have more buzz behind them get axed in their first season. If FlashForward and Forever and the aforementioned Red Band Society couldn't make it to a second season, why would I expect this one to be different? Even shows like Hannibal and Resurrection, which were able to come back, seemed to get preemptively killed off. In some instances, I have to imagine there just isn't support from someone at the top of the food chain that personally likes it, as they would be more than willing to bend the rules a bit for something that they genuinely love, but I don't see that happening here.

Second Chance had its network premiere on January 13th, but it was actually available on demand with a true debut of December 25th. I can't imagine many people tuning in Christmas day for it, but that probably did nothing but hurt this show's chances. The ratings for this first episode were rather low, scoring a 1.2. This is the second lowest of the network shows in that time slot, beating out only a rerun of CW's Arrow (which thankfully has gotten better this season than the last) and falling behind CBS's Criminal Minds (2.0), NBC's Law & Order: SVU (2.0) and ABC's Modern Family (2.6).

It probably doesn't help that the lead-in for Second Chance was American Idol of all things, either. Sure, that show was once a phenomenon, but it isn't anymore. This is the last season, so it's dying, giving off the impression that this just isn't a priority. A dead show that ran its course years ago and has a completely different target audience isn't going to help out a show that has had three title changes, little to no marketing, a previous release and is debuting on Wednesday night in the mid-season.

There's no chance this gets renewed, and seeing as how it's already had its episode order cut in October down to 11, I wouldn't even be surprised if it makes it to that number, sadly.

Watch or Skip?

That being said, I still would recommend it for people who are fans of the genre. It seems like it's an ambitious show that perhaps also just doesn't have enough ambition to stand out. If things were crazier, it could have been more divisive, which means that it could have never made it to the pilot stage to begin with or it could have been something that caught on better. The way it is now, it just seems like it plays it too safe to the point where everyone will view it as mediocre and unoriginal, so they'll write it off as not being worth their time. The choices made in regards to its debut and its marketing have effectively give it the gun that it will shoot itself with, but before the inevitable demise of this program, I'd suggest giving it a watch.

That is, of course, unless episode 2 is terrible, in which case Second Chance might not deserve a second chance.

What do you think of the show?

Are you going to be watching it, or are you passing?

Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!

2016 has started out with some very sad news. A few days ago, the world lost David Bowie. On January 14th, we lost beloved British actor Alan Rickman, who at 69 lost his battle with cancer.

The news came as a shock to his fans and fellow actors, who took to social media to mourn his passing.

Rickman as Harry Potter's Snape.

To no one's surprise, the Harry Potter family expressed their deep sadness.

There are no words to express how shocked and devastated I am to hear of Alan Rickman's death. He was a magnificent actor & a wonderful man.

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) January 14, 2016

Daniel Radcliffe posted on his Google Plus page an emotional statement, highlighting "how wonderful the British actor was despite what people might have assumed given his character's intimidating persona."

Emma Watson, aka Hermione, also posted heartfelt words on her Facebook page:

"I'm very sad to hear about Alan today. I feel so lucky to have worked and spent time with such a special man and actor. I'll really miss our conversations. RIP Alan. We love you."

Emma Thompson, Rickman's close friend and frequent collaborator (they worked together in Love Actually, three Harry Potter films, Sense and Sensibility and Judas Kiss) said in a statement that saying goodbye to the actor was "painful."

Alan was my friend and so this is hard to write because I have just kissed him goodbye. What I remember most in this moment of painful leave-taking is his humor, intelligence, wisdom and kindness. The intransigence which made him the great artist he was – his ineffable and cynical wit, the clarity with which he saw most things, including me, and the fact that he never spared me the view.

Rickman broke into Hollywood with his role as as the murderous German terror boss Hans Gruber opposite Bruce Willis in Die Hard. He quickly became known as one of the best "actor-villains" and went on to have over 60 film credits to his name, including the Sheriff of Nottingham in 1991's Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, for which he won a BAFTA award, and Judge Turpin opposite Johnny Depp in 2007's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

By Grabthar’s hammer…he will be missed.

What is your favorite Alan Rickman movie?

Let us know by leaving your comments below. 

It's time to settle the score of some of the greatest battles never to happen in history! What would happen if a bear fought Popeye? How 'bout if Stephen Colbert went toe-to-toe with a mutated slice of pizza? Well the crew at The Dace Man Show are here to discuss the vast potential of such match-ups.

This episode The Dace Man faces off against Frank Ward to debate whether Miley Cyrus or The Kardashians would win a battle!



The Duel is brought to you by Skybound's SuperFight! You can purchase the starter deck and all expansions here: https://www.superfightgame.com/

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 your SuperFight! starter deck!—and check out what's going on here in the Dace-Sphere. See ya next time!


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

Hey, hey, hey, Dacetacular nation! Check out episode 134 of The Dace Man Show with hosts Chris "The Dace Man" Dace, Frank Ward, and Gibby!!

::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 Doucebag 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!


Follow on Facebook: Mega Powers Radio | Fanboys Anonymous | The Dace Man Show | Nerd Court | Sports Talk Weekly | Addicted to Anime

On the latest edition of Minute Man Reviews hosted by Tony Mango, The Revenant 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 The Revenant!