I’d like to say that this list is my list. That is I don’t pretend to be an all knowing source. I did not see every movie, or video game, or book that came out this year. This list is not meant to be comprehensive in that sense. Instead it is meant to reflect my experiences this year. What follows are the things that were the most important to me in 2012.

Then I’d like to say that I worked on a ton of shit this year. All the video content. All the podcasts, and reviews were fun. And I wrote a damn book. I mean wow. Now that stuff doesn’t belong on this list. This list is about what I enjoyed about what others have done.

Before we begin – honorable mentions to Fringe, The Hunger Games(maybe my soundtrack of the year), Being Human, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, and Hyperion.

Favorite Movie of the Year:

The Avengers

It’s hard to believe I was worried during the pre-release of the Avengers. The trailers just weren’t really doing it for me. But like I said I shouldn’t have been worried. I’d thoroughly enjoyed every Marvel produced movie yet and this one was being written and directed by Joss Whedon.

I think I was worried because of what this film would mean to me. In 2008 Iron Man came out in theaters. I saw the trailer and knew I had to see it. So I did and I loved it. Later that year I saw The Incredible Hulk with Edward Norton which is a great movie as well. When I saw Tony Stark show up at the end of The Hulk I knew something special was happening. I ran to the library and asked where I could find the Avengers books. I came out of the library with a smattering of volumes including a retelling of the Avengers origin story. Shortly after that I began my descent into full geekery. There’s more to the story but this is not the place for it.

Needless to say Marvel’s plan to create a series of films culminating in The Avengers is inadvertently what lead me to asking Tim if he wanted to make a website with me. Which is crazy for me to think because I can’t imagine my life going any other way. OK so all that aside: I don’t think I need to say that I loved the film. But I did. It was more than I could have hoped for. I also love it for just the ballsiness of it. I mean nothing like The Avengers has ever happened in cinema before. And I love that Joss Whedon is finally getting the widespread renown that he deserves. And I love that his success is not changing his projects, well it sorta is cause there’s that whole Avengers 2 thing, but he’s still writing comics, and webseries, and making independent stuff like Much Ado. Anyway even without all of the Avengers significance to me it would still be one of my favorite films of the year.

Favorite Video Game:

XCOM: Enemy Unknown

It’s a remake of an old 90′s strategy game about saving the world from an alien invasion. You play the role of the commander of XCOM – the multinational task force in charge of defending the planet. The game is split into two parts. In one hand you have a deep tactical turned based game in which all of your actions have meaningful consequences. On the other you have a broader strategy game about researching different techs, building different ad-ons to your base, shooting down UFOs and the like.

Both of the layers are a lot of fun but it is the way they mesh together that makes the game so special. Because you decided to help Africa because they were going to give you money instead of helping Egypt, now Egypt has left the program and you have less monthly funding to work with. Because of this, you now don’t have enough money later in the game to fully equip your soldiers and the sniper you’ve had with you your entire game dies, and death is permanent in this game. Every decision you make in the game has consequences, and that leads to intense heartbreak when you lose a valued member of your team, but it also leads to a huge sense of accomplishment because it is what you did ultimately that lead to your victory.

That sense of ownership, and personal investment is what makes XCOM despite its flaws an incredible game.

Best Surprise:

Cabin in the Woods

Best weapon ever.

Cabin in the Woods is “Best Surprise” because I really didn’t know what to expect when I sat down to watch it. And after I’d watched it – I was a bit exited. It is surprisingly funny, surprisingly horrifying, and surprisingly original. Those are three adjectives I never thought I’d use on a slasher film. If you haven’t seen Cabin yet do yourself a favor and watch it unspoiled.

Best Game that Came Out 2011 that I didn’t Get Around to Until 2012:

Saints Row: The Third

That’s right, there is a gang comprised only of luchadores!

If you’re thinking that calling the game Saints Row: The Third is ridiculous that’s because it is. But if you think the ridiculousness stops there you are dead wrong. Don’t let the marketing turn you off the game’s humor is far beyond what using a giant dildo as a weapon would lead you to believe. It’s constantly surprising and ridiculous in all the best ways. Whether you think it or not the game continually ups its ante until the final mission which had me literally buzzing in my chair.

It’s an open world game in the vein of Grand Theft Auto but whereas GTA4 took a turn for the serious I’m not sure there is a game more perfectly insane than Saints Row: The Third. The game has you diving out of airplanes then back into them, fighting inside of a virtual world in which your avatar is a toilet for a large portion, and teaming up with the mayor of the town Burt Reynolds to fight zombies. Do these things sound exiting? Then get and play Saints Row. Just make sure no one too sensitive is around.

Biggest Geek Fest:

Ready Player One

I’ve already reviewed the book, and my review still stands. It’s a great book, and it’s a unique book.  Just like everything else on this list Ready Player One was not just more of the same it was trying something new and in my opinion it succeeded. If you are a fan of the internet I can reasonably bet that you will be a fan of this book.

Best TV Show:

Breaking Bad

Watching 4 seasons of Breaking Bad in a few weeks seriously takes it out of you. I laughed the first few minutes I watched of Breaking Bad. Here was Bryan Cranston – you know Malcom in the Middles dad – driving through the desert in his underwear in a dirty motor home.

I quickly learned that not only did Bryan Cranston have some serious acting chops, but that Walter and Jessie’s meth cooking adventures together would be anything but funny. They would be twisted, dark, taxing, and more. Watching their unending descent into darker and bigger stations is some of the most gripping television I’ve ever seen. I can’t remember the last time I loved to hate characters as much as I do Mr. White and Pinkman.

Biggest Disappointment:

Dungeons and Dotes

Remember how I said this list wasn’t about what I did this year? Well I feel like this one was done TO me it hurt so bad. So there.

Dungeons and Dotes was awesome while it lasted. I’m sorry it ended the way it did but it has gone away. We’ll never know what happened to Palias What-Eva-Ya-Want or Rice but maybe one day it can be revived as something else.

I don’t have a lot else to say except that Dungeons and Dotes’ legacy will live on in our other projects. Heck Dungeons and Dotes is where the thumb thing came from in the Christmas Special.

Best Book:

Tigana

Ok so it didn’t come out on, or even around 2012 but that doesn’t stop it from being the best book I read all year. For the first hundred pages of this tale I wasn’t sure I was in. But I soon found myself in a full love affair with this book.

It’s characters are deep, its themes are important. It’s seriously a touching book. This is a book in which you will be torn over the ending.

Authors always talk of having sympathetic villains and how it’s very important, but never have I seen it done as well as I have in Tigana. That said there is a very 1 note villain but he’s almost more of a plot device than a character.

I love this book – and no it’s not just because the main character is named Devin… jeez.

Simultaneously the Best and Worst Movie:

Troll 2

Wait…that’s goblin backwards!

Troll 2. Ok there really isn’t much I can say about Troll 2 that hasn’t been said. It’s a god awful film made by a directer who couldn’t speak English with horrible special effects, the worst acting I’ve ever seen, and a script that I can’t imagine a human being working on…yet I love every minute of it.

My love is only compounded by the fact that my birthday part was troll 2 themed. That is the cake was covered in green frosting and we played pin the tail on the goblin. It was glorious.

For those of you on the fence this clip should tell you if Troll 2 is right for you:

The You’re Going to Joseph Gordon-Love-It Award:

Looper

I almost didn’t include this in favor of something else. But it does belong on this list. Looper is under appreciated in my opinion. It has its problems, some of the make up is weird looking and I think Bruce Willis’ section was a little rushed, however I think its one of the best treatments of time travel in this millenia.

When people complain about time travel problems in this film I don’t think their getting it. The dinner scene – my favorite scene in the film – is there specifically to tell the audience that time travel doesn’t make sense. The film is saying, “We know. Just go with us.” Yet even so Looper is one of the tightest time travel scripts around. I certainly never felt any glaring holes.

The Critical Backlash Award:

The Hobbit

The Hobbit is the film that has finally solidified what has long been standing mistrust of critics, or rather aggregate score sites like metacritic and rotten tomatoes. I believe in finding a few critics with similar taste as you and just shutting out the rest. The critics I follow loved this film, so I was and still am puzzled at the extreme backlash that the film has had.

Are there some scenes that could have been cut from the film? Yes. Did they have to artificially insert character arcs and motivations that don’t exist in the book? Yes.

But it works. Oh god it all worked. In my opinion the changes that Jackson and crew have made are for the better. My memory of the book is of a bunch of greedy dwarves looking for gold. Tolkien didn’t do a very good job humanizing his characters, but watching Thorin and company try and win control of their ancient home was a quest I could get behind.

It lacks the dark and driven mood of LOTR but it is foreboding where it needs to be. In short – no it’s not as good as LOTR – but it’s damn good, don’t listen to those critics.

I Already Gave Away this Award but Wanted it to be on the List:

Portal 2

Portal 2. Wheatley. GlaDOS. Cave Johnson.

Wow. Just wow. I only played the single player because Tim’s computer couldn’t handle the game unfortunately. But I think I’m safe in saying that I played the best part of Portal 2. Even after all the hype I didn’t think I would feel the same way about Portal 2 as I did about Portal 1.

There is something magical about these games. Their easily among the funniest games ever written, some of the most ingenious puzzle games ever invented, and the moods that are created are incredible.

Portal 2 takes everything that was great about Portal and improves upon it. Exactly what a sequel should do.

So there you have it. Agree? Disagree? Think I’m an idiot for leaving off your favorites(Batman anyone?)? Please let me know just how big of a screw up this list is(and therefor I and my entire existence) is in the comments below.

You’ve probably heard that Agent Coulson will be starring in the S.H.E.I.L.D TV show helmed by Joss Whedon and Jed Whedon. This was troubling news to me. Don’t get me wrong I love Phil as much as the next guy – his death was among the most emotional moments in Avengers.

Upon hearing the news I immediately asked the question any rational person would ask, why is Coulson alive?

The way in which they decide to treat Agent Coulson’s return will ultimate decide for better or worse the fate of the entire franchise Marvel has tried and succeeded at building over the past 6 years.

I love the fanbase he’s been able to amass for such a relatively small role.

Forget for a moment that ABC is betting on this show, probably giving it one of the largest budgets on network TV. Forget for a moment that every Marvel movie since Iron Man has been a big success. Forget for a moment that Joss is a god among men who created such wonderful characters as Mal, Wesley, and of course Buffy. Forget that TV is where Joss is most comfortable.

S.H.E.I.L.D. is too big to fail in a way. And it won’t. No matter what happens S.H.E.I.L.D. will be a success. There is no way in my mind that it can’t be. But it could mark the beginning of the end if Marvel isn’t careful.

Self contained and fun as shit? Yes please.

If you look back at comic reviews I have done in the past you will not see many if any super hero books at all. But I love superhero’s as much as the next guy who is willing to put the words geek in the name of their website. And I do read superhero comics(they do occupy a sizable majority of the medium after all), but I prefer smaller titles that aren’t connected to the universe at large – stuff like Invincible, Starman(90′s), Hellboy, Iron Fist and anything else that can remove itself from all the bullshit surrounding the big two(Marvel and DC).

That bullshit if you are not familiar include but are not limited to the following(I won’t even try to list all the shit that is messed up with the way they do things. There are more knowledgeable people to look to for that):

retcons, and character death.

Retcons are, or should be the bane of any sane person’s psyche. However in practice retcons are used more often than we would like to admit. They can be used well, for instance Buffy’s return from death can be viewed as a retcon as season five was going to be the last season. The difference between what Buffy did and what comics do is the care, and volume by which they dole out retcons like bandaids to fix boo-boo’s.

Buffy,

a) sparingly used retcons

b) did not use retcons flippantly and without cause. When Buffy came back in season 6 things were not all back to normal, Buffy was a changed person. Can anyone tell me that Batman is a changed character because of his death?

Professor X has died more times than I care to count. Seriously I started counting.

I hold that the reason comics are not a growing industry(besides marketing and an attached stigma) is the plain stupid way that they advertise character deaths MONTHS ahead of when it’s happening in a hope to boost sales, and the way that they continually kill off characters only to bring them back twelve months later.

I once heard someone say that there are only a few people sacred in the comic book world. Among them Uncle Ben. In other words there are only a few characters that the companies care enough about not to completely discredit by using them for marketing gimmicks and stupid events.

People dying aren’t the only examples of retcons in comic books but they’re certainly the most glaring. Of course that is up for debate as most hate One More Day, in which Peter Parker and Mary Jane become divorced, and his secret identity re-secrified… WITH MAGIC.

Enough about comic books though. My point here is that even the biggest comic fans agree the industry is royally fucked up.

So what does any of this have to do with Agent Coulson? Everything in fact.

If Agent Coulson comes back from the dead(or is a robot or something) Marvel is sealing its own fate. So far no characters have died and come back from said death in the marvel films.

If Phil is the first he will open up a floodgate. We might not see it immediately, but somewhere down the road they will kill a character and then a few movies down the road say, “whoops…can we bring that guy back? Ya the guy with the big purple hat.”

Then the films and by extension any more spin off TV shows/web series will have all of the same baggage as the comics. This is an eventuality I hope can be avoided.

Of course the other option is that  S.H.E.I.L.D. is a prequel. This is ultimately the best direction they can take, but at the same time it puts limitations on where the show can go. I’m not saying they couldn’t make it good, but I can’t help feeling that some great stories of a post-Avengers S.H.E.I.L.D. would be lost.

Either way they do it, and I’m not seeing a third option here, something is compromised.

Again I’m not doubting S.H.E.I.L.D. will be a great TV show.

No in fact I’m sure I will love it. I just wish I could be happy that I am able to see one of my favorite characters from one of my favorite films back on screen… However I can’t help but feel that Phil and his Captain America trading cards should have been left behind.

What is becoming an apparent theme in Hosoda’s work is his merging of a fantastic element in an otherwise normal setting. In Summer Wars we are presented with the world of Oz, a cyberworld in which everyone in the world interacts similarly to the Oasis in Ready Player One. It has become such a mainstay of the world that even the trafficking system is connected for some reason.

Enter our protagonist, Kenji who works with his friend doing work as a moderator in Oz. After we are introduced to the world he is asked to go with Natsuki Shinohara to a family gathering to celebrate her grandmothers 90th birthday. Natsuki doesn’t mention why she wants him to come along, and instead uses her popularity to win him over.

This is the American cover. LOOK AT THAT PLANE GUY!

Once there Kenji learns that he is supposed to be Natsuki’s boyfriend because she promised her grandmother that she would get to see her get a boyfriend. Then we are introduced to the large and colorful Shinohara family. I won’t go into all the characters because there are a ton, but most of them boil down to a few traits. That is one of the women you will know because she spends her time glued to her son’s baseball games on TV fretting over every play. Or the uncle who yells about the old samurai days of the Shinohara clan. It goes on. Suffice it to say the film does not suffer because the characters are rather 1 note. In fact it would only drag the film down to try and explore all of the characters.

That night Kenji, uncomfortable with what he has gotten himself into, can’t sleep and when he receives a  text with a number puzzle he decides to solve it. Because Kenji is a math wiz – one of the best in the country.

They are super exited to cast their American Idol votes!

When he wakes up in the morning Kenji finds his name on the news as the boy who hacked Oz. Scrambling for answers he goes to the only person in the house with a computer, who happens to be the world renown Oz player Kazuma. Together they start to figure out that Oz was hacked by some program and that it is controlling a bunch of users accounts, including Kenji’s.

We learn that the Shinohara family is connected to the virus, called Love Machine, because one of them, the outcast Wabusike, developed the program for the US army.

This is Oz. There’s some digital animation going on in Oz.

The virus was supposed to be a test however it gets out of control, becoming super powerful and creating chaos by controlling any technology it can. Kenji and the Shinohara family have to work together to stop Love Machine before he does too much damage.

Visually it has the same cartoonish flat, eye pleasing look as The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. And it gives Oz its own unique outline as if having rabbits and crazy airplane thingies wasn’t enough to tip you off that Oz is different.

The film brings up an important message in today’s technology driven world. That is we rely on it too much, because you never know when the system could all fall down.

These fight scenes remind me of the opening to the Digimon movie. Which is fine cause that was the best part of that movie.

The Bottom Line: Kids will love this film. It has some good action scenes, and enough laughs to keep kids entertained throughout. There was a few too many anime-isms for my taste, but the story was solid, with a geeky character as the lead. Some of the characters fall flat for me. As a whole the films team work and family themes work and even though I think kids will like it the best, I think adults will like this film as well. It is not a great film. But its good.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is a charming story in the vain of Groundhogs Day, in that the movie takes place over a few days, that are repeated again and again with different results.

Our hero Makato, who is effortlessly cute and charming, wakes up late on “nice day” and the rest of her day things go horribly wrong for her. Her day ends with her crashing headlong into a train as the breaks on her bike were dysfunctional. Luckily for her, she somehow gained the ability to “time leap”. She wakes up that morning again and is able to avoid all of the problems of her previous day.

The film goes on like that. Makato starts using her ability to time leap for pleasure and convenience. But as the film goes on she learns that her actions have consequences on those around her. Sounds like Groundhogs Day doesn’t it? Well it differs in that Makato is not “stuck”; all the time travel is from her own free will, and in that the primary setting is Makato’s high school. But like Groundhogs Day there are a lot of funny moments because of the time travel.

Time travel is the gimmick, but it is not the heart of this movie. The film is about Makato growing up. She must learn about others feelings, and her own. Makato’s two best friends are her constant companions, and the film spends a large amount of time exploring the ups and downs of their relationships. At its core you have a high school movie. But it is full of awesome moments, and relatable characters. In other words there aren’t wacky Japan-isms like jaws flung open or bloody noses. This is a good film for people who don’t usually watch anime.

She must literally leap with strong momentum to time travel.

Visually the film is very impressive. The animation is top notch, and the characters have clean memorable designs. The film is mostly traditional, but the time travel scenes are digitally animated.

The english version is great. It is one of the best dub’s I have seen(although not an expert), and the translation from what I could gather was the same for subtitles. Therefor I would recommend watching the english version.

The music deserves a special mention. It has a great score. It is mainly piano, although there are strings and another few instruments occasionally.  The music is jaunty when it needs to be, and haunting when it needs to be. Pitch perfect.

The Bottom Line: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is more than the sum of its parts. It has wonderful style. The characters are all great. It is just a fun movie. Personally I think it is a better film than Groundhogs Day and that it is a much watch if you are a fan of a fun time. And again if you are not an anime fan I think this would be a great place to get your feet wet. It’s very western in sensibility and the production values are great.

Me: like anyone from the batman movies right?

Them: with the possible exception of Michael Caine

Me: what? Why wouldn’t you include him. He is one of the most attractive men in the series! #notevenjoking

Them: Ummmmmm….no.

Me: Guess I’ll just have to make my own list then.

So here we are. Get Geek’s list of the hottest men around. There is a theme here, see if you can catch it! I will do my best to explain why these men are so attractive, but forgive me if I’m not super descriptive as I do not spend time studying the male figure for it’s intricacies.

I was in Titanic, bitches!

Martin Jarvis. Yep, he was in the Titanic, and the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. But just look at that silver hair. That jaw line. The way he wears his shirt all the way buttoned up. Definition of smokin’.

I’m Jim Paddock!

Jim Paddock. You may know him from The Prestige or like one episode of Lost, and one episode of Dollhouse. But you do know him. Everyone does, I’m sure. Cause how could you forget that face.

Dude I have no idea…

Someone need a navel criminal investigation solved?

David McCallum. You know him from NCIS, and if you are super old then The Man from U.N.C.L.E. And yes he is old, but he was a spry looking guy in his early days. He looks sort of like Aaron Eckhart but more boyish…

Cheer up mate, you made it on the list!

Surprisingly Still Alive

Efrem Zimbalist Jr. He was around before color TV – and he’s still around! Now if that tells you one thing, it is that Zimbalist has vigor if nothing else. As far as handsomness goes he looks similar to Chris Reeve. Straight jaw, confidant stand, the whole package(though you don’t want to see his package now days).

I’m FBI. You don’t need to see it on my badge, it’s all in the face.

Not Alive

Alan Napier. Listen I’m not condoning Necrophilia, but if you were going to go for it. Why not Alan Napier? His eyebrow – mustache – glasses combination is just fantastic and I’d be willing to bet that they were reasonably preserved. So if you’re into nibbling facial hair this could be the perfect opportunity for you.

I think there is a place where you can buy stand ups that look like this. Put it next to your door…or your bed.

Michael Gough. You may know him from such hits as The Diamond Brothers, or The Little Vampire. Again acting on your feelings towards Gough would result in necrophilia which I still do not condone. However I think it would be cool just to have him around to stare at people.

Look at dem brows!

The Man we need, not the Man we Deserve

Michael Caine. Dude is smoking! He’s in like every Nolan movie and he is Ebeneezer Muther****ing Scrooge. Not only is he one bad ass actor, he is so gorgeous it really can not be overstated. What is it about him that is so good looking? I don’t think it’s really for me to say. You have to find it in yourself. Only then will you understand.

Michael Caine will fuck you up man.

Did you discover the connection? Were you disappointed? Yes it’s a stupid and tenuous connection, but who would not have an 8-way(is that a thing?) with these seven men if given the chance in some alternate universe where they were all still alive/ not dying before our eyes? Looking for a more serious list of hot men? Please check out the Good Girls Gone Geek who know how to do this thing right.

This book is amazing. Pretty slow start, but then so was my last 5 star book. Once you’re about 70 pages in it gets good. Then it gets real good. Then it gets so good I wanted to tear my hair out because the characters were so complex, and the story so rich with themes and emotion.

As far as I know there is no plan to adapt Tigana into a film. That’s fine, but I think it would make a great film, or mini-series. So assuming there was to a movie of Tigana(uncomfortable sex scenes removed) who would I cast? Well first of all I will not be covering all the characters as their are more viewpoint characters than a George R.R. Martin Book up in here. But I will try to cover the characters who are most key and with the most “screen time”.

Second, I’m not the best at this so please feel free to tell me why I’m wrong and who should be playing these characters instead.

Finally before we begin I must mention this cast would probably be impossible due to the number of big stars. Oh well, what do I know.

Devin: First let me say it’s not as weird as you would think to read a book with your first name as the main characters. And this may be a let down but I’m going to say: go with an unknown. I couldn’t think of actors who would work in this setting and sing well. So just find someone we haven’t heard of. If you know someone who fits the bill let me know.

Ya that look.

Catriana: Amy Adams. Our female lead. She needs to be fierce and cute and red-headed. All of those things I saw in The Fighter. She might have to work at making sneering faces, but she could totally do it.

Alessan: Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Throw a beard on the guy, put him in some armor. Dude would be a great Alessan. He has the charisma, now they just have to teach him how to play pipes.

Beard: I know there’s some one perfect out there for Beard, I just can’t put my finger on it. Until then I guess Jeremy Renner will do. He’s a hot action star now, and we all know he’s pretty hot with a bow. Now I’m not going to cast teen Beard, but they’d have to do that too.

Sandre: I was looking for someone big, tough, and old. So as I’m watching Breaking Bad right now my mind immediately went to Jonathan Banks, who plays Mike on that show. Now Mike never makes jokes in Breaking Bad, but I think he could pull it off. And it’d be interesting to see that nose in the makeup.

Rovigo: Bryan Cranston. Oh! My Breaking Bad is showing. Cranston has shown that he can play sweet father in Malcolm in the Middle and to some extent in Breaking Bad(though he’s usually lying through his teeth to them). Basically I wanna see Cranston play a good guy in a drama for once.

Just dye that hair black.

Alais: Dakota Fanning. She’s still young, can still act like a mofo and would honestly really look the part.

Alberico: Our asshole of a villain would be played by Hugo Weaving. Slap some makeup on the guy. Maybe it’s trite to cast him as a villain, but whatever he’s good at it. Plus can’t you just picture is eyelid twitching!

Brandin: Micheal Fassbender. He showed us he could play a sympathetic villain in First Class which is exactly what Brandin is. Plus he’s got those looks.

Could not actually find a picture of her without a sexy face. Maybe that’s just her natural state.

Dianora: Charlize Theron. She’s freaking beautiful, and is around the right age. Dianora is my favorite character in the book, her tragedy is grande, and I think Theron could pull it off. And we’d get to see her swim in a loose dress. If that’s not worth making this movie then I don’t know what is.

So that’s it. Was I completely off the mark? Completely on? Please let me know who you would cast in the Tigana film in the comments to below.

Buffy comics will continue to spread

As far as the main Buffy and Angel comics go Joss will continue to oversee them and do the high level writing. This means he’s not actually writing the scripts.

Joss also said that Willow and Spike mini-series will be coming soon. He would also like to make more Fray comics. Now that’s news I can get behind. I loved Fray and after season 8 we see that she is very tied in with the Buffy verse.

A new batch of Firefly comics

Firefly comics will be coming as well. Read more about that at the Firefly panel breakdown. This time they won’t be flashbacks meaning we get to know that happens post-Serenity!

Much Ado About Nothing

He was wearing a Much Ado shirt at the event.

It’s black and white, shot in Joss’ house, and the post production is all finished. He hopes to get it to a small film festival some time. I doubt any film festival would turn down Whedon. It’s pretty crazy to me that after the Avengers Whedon is still making super small projects. If this doesn’t lay to rest fears that success will go to his head, I don’t know what will. Don’t forget Alexis Denisof is Benedick and Amy Acker is Beatrice. Plus like everyone else is a previous Whedon actor but come on Benedick and Beatrice are the best characters.

Oh and he wrote the score.

Dr. Horrible 2

They haven’t shot anything yet, but it is on its way.

In related news Whedon still wants to do a stage musical. Man imagine if he had done that Spiderman stage play. It probably wouldn’t have sucked.

Whedon is moving forward

A fan asked if he would be dusting off any old ideas now that he had pull with big executives. He said that he will instead be moving forward because he has no shortage of ideas to work with.

Advice for aspiring artists

“Make things. Make things. Make things yourself.” He says do what ever you have to do, just get it out there. The more product you make the better you get at it.

On writing villains that are relatable Whedon told us that there is in fact no difference between writing your hero and your villain. Everyone thinks that they are righteous you just have to keep that in mind as you write.

“No one is pure evil except for a couple of guys, no one is pure good except for me.”

Wastelanders

What do the man who created Firefly and the Dollhouse Epitaph episodes, and the man who created Transmetroplitan have in common? Well they both write comics but besides that they both write awesome post apocalypses/dystopias. So I can only think Wastelanders, the 5 part web series they are collaborating on is going to be freaking amazing. Seriously this might be my most anticipated Whedon project right now.

What is he most proud of?

“Hopefully something I haven’t written yet.”

We can only hope that too, however he did follow up saying that The Body is the best episode of TV that he’s ever written. He went on to say that the best pieces that he’s written are the ones that make him realize something. The ones where the characters teach him something. Those are his favorites.

Second Season of Firefly

No, don’t get your hopes up.

This is about what he would do IF there was one. He would move forward with the story after Serenity, as much as he loves Wash. “You have to move forward.”

Biggest Geek Moment

Whedon’s biggest Geekgasm was when he recieved an email from Joe Quesada with a list of the X-men he wanted for his run. As we all know Whedon is a huge X-men fan, and I think it was a dream of his since he was a kid to write X-men.

Here’s the entire panel if you want to watch the thing in its entirety.

Ages and ages ago, in the far off time of 2008, I watched a movie called The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I thought it was cool, but because I was only like 12 I had no idea that I was watching an absolute masterpiece. One that at the time of last week, I would watch again and have my life changed. Below, I will list all of the reasons The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is an amazing work of art.

The Film

First off, the movie was absolutely stunning. The Cinematography was beautiful and at no point did I feel like their was unnecesary or unusual dialogue. Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett were pros, especially given that they had to play characters far younger and older then themselves. The special effects/makeup were very believable and overall, it was a very well made movie.

Humor and Wit

In addition, there are plenty of moments of humor and wit, the kind that don’t necessarily define a movie as comedy, but make it a much better movie. Another cool feature is the addition of real world events. Many comparisons have been made between Benjamin Button and Forrest Gump, and because they are both movies showing the viewer through a persons life chronologically they both have lots of historical references that make the movie especially enjoyable for anyone who attended their U.S. History class.

Characters

In the movie, there is a slew of supporting characters and the two main ones. The two main characters are Benjamin Button and Daisy Fuller, who are portayed at many different points in their life, in the most realistic way I have ever seen in a movie. The characters aren’t just immediately in love like in some movies similar to this, they try to get together many times but because they’re not really adults yet it doesn’t work out.

Because at it’s heart Benjamin Button is a love story, the story mainly focuses on their relationship. However, it is lacking all of the unrealistic cliches that so many movies have. In addition to Benjamin and Daisy, the movie has characters such as Queenie, a woman who takes Benjamin in as a child and raises him despite his rare condition and gives him pearls of insightful advice throughout his life. Captain Mike, a captain who expresses his passion for art by tattooing himself, and who showed benjamin a lot of his life experiences. There’s also a snobby piano player, a crazy man struck by lightning 7 times, and so much more.

VanderSWAG

At any given point in time, I have a favorite funny movie, and a favorite thoughtful movie. At the moment my funny is Ferris Bueller’s Day Off* and My thoughtful is The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The reason being the uncontrollable amount of VanderSWAG I can feel the movie simply sweating. For the 99.999% of the population who don’t understand the concept of VanderSWAG, what I mean is that the movie has an absolute ton of qualities that make it something an english teacher would rave about. Symbolism, themes, messages, what more could you want!

I will not actually go into all of the literary devices, because I feel uncomfortable not letting you figure them out for yourself, but just know that if you are a reading major or even just a fan of reading, you will enjoy this movie.

So I have given my thoughts, give me yours! I want them! I have a collection of thoughts and it has some major gaps that I think you could help with. So comment this post, tweet @pedrofiliac (me) or @wegetgeek (Devin) or just send a rock through my window with yours opinions on a piece of paper wrapped around it.

*Save Ferris

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Gota say great premise. There’s a mole in the british spy division(or whatever) during the cold war and our retired spy has to investigate them to figure it out. Plus SO many good british actors, you got Gary Oldman, John Hurt, Colin Firth, and The Cumberbatch. So why then why did it have to be so dull? This movie loved showing us Oldman’s face for like minutes at a time. I couldn’t follow the plot really either. Maybe I was just tired, but I watched the whole movie waiting for that aha moment, but it never came. It just sort of ends like “Oh it was him. He’s the mole. Have a great night folks! badundundunda!” So why did so many people like this movie? It’s nothing but slow moving action a somewhat incoherent plot and add in the fact that I couldn’t tell if sometimes we were being shown something in the past or what the crap was going on. Fuck this movie.

Fuck a series of unfortunate events. It’s not funny, it’s not scary it doesn’t capture the greatness of the books(which I admit are not that great to begin with). So you make a movie, make Jim Carry the villain and expect anyone to take him seriously in that make up. They should have just told him to do his goofy shit because that would have worked better. Just to be clear this is not me saying this now. I haven’t watched this film in 6 or 7 years. That means when I was 10ish I knew this movie wasn’t good. Ok so let me back up. What makes this worse than the books?

Leme lay it down. The charm of the books lie in the increasingly weird shit(that they downplay in order for it to fit in a movie) that happens to the children and the bizarre, aware narration that Mr. Snicket himself brings to the table. Let me make this clear if you’ve only seen the movie OK: you know how that whole leech thing kinda was weird it gets WAY WEIRDER. And you get introduced to some truly memorable characters in the latter books. Then there’s the last book simply titled: The End(pretty good name if you ask me) that takes a really bizarre turn in tone, but one that I found myself enjoying immensely. This movie has none of that. Maybe it’s me, maybe if you were not familiar with the material you could watch this movie and forget it the next day but you know what screw you movie.

While were attacking movies based on books: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Now I remember liking the book but I always disliked this movie. And the more I think about the more I hate it. It’s really unfortunate too because it’s sandwiched between to really good movies. The triwizard turny takes pretty much the whole screen time leaving none for characters or smaller moments(ie not balls to the walls action) and it’s not a short movie you guys its 2 and 1/2 hours! There’s a reason that book is one of the longest cause Rowling knew she had to balance out all the action with some other stuff. But these movie makers didn’t. You know I think my other problem with it is that the story is pretty disconnected until the end from the whole Voldemort thing. I guess the third movie is as well, I find the difference being that the story about Black and Lupin and all that pretty interesting as opposed to the “I’m going to win a tournament thingy YAY”

It just seems a really stupid way to get Harry to his confrontation with Voldemort. And to be fair that confrontation isn’t bad yet it wilts when compared to the wizard battles in subsequent films it. But the entire film just left kind of a bad taste in my mouth.

Mr. Bean’s Holiday is Shite with a capital S when compared to the series. And it’s as simple as the fact that you can’t carry out a 90 minute film with your main character not talking. There are funny scenes to be fair but as a whole the movie just isn’t that funny and doesn’t hold anything in the way of story. It seems like they were trying to hard to capture what they had done years before, and the ending scene which has been described as “sweet” and “cute” doesn’t work. You can’t have your movie that’s been nothing but slapstick from a mute turn into a heartwarming sappy thing at the last minute. I’m sorry Mr. Bean, turns out you didn’t need a holiday you just needed to quit(as depressing as that sounds).

OK that’s enough movie bashing for now. Remember what you were taught here. Please comment with the movies that you hate and be sure to include why.

Not knowing too much about the comic, I think I’m safe in saying that this trailer is more action packed and awesome looking than any issue of Tintin. I don’t know about you guys but when I thin Tintin I don’t think must see movies. Yet with names like Steven Mofffat(Doctor Who), Edgar Wright(Shawn of the Dead, Scott Pilgrim, other awesome movies), Steven Spielberg(I think you know), and Peter Jackson(again you probably know) how could this not be the best movie in the known galaxy(I don’t know enough about alien cinema to say)?

Aliens vs. Predator

Writer: Randy Stradley
Penciller:Phill Norwood, Chris Warner
Inker:Karl Story, Robert Campanella, Phill Norwood
Colorist: INCOLOR
Letterer: Pat Brosseau
Editor: Randy Stradley
Publisher:Dark Horse
Cover Price: $19.95
Page Count: 150

Previously on AvP: Alien, Aliens and Predator. Go watch those movies if you haven’t. They aren’t necessary to enjoy this series but they are great movies. I also would recommend Predators. I honestly don’t know why it got so much crap. I thought it was pretty good.

The first chapter is really fun to read.  Randy Stradley really knows how to use text boxes in conjugation with his panels. The entire issue is a debate between two space truckers Tom and Scott. Its a debate between reliance on tech, how we live and society in the modern age.

All this is alongside the story of a Predator hunt. They harvest alien eggs and then release them on a world. It’s more than I was expecting for sure from an alien vs predator comic for sure. It’s just very well done.

The rest of book is more standard comics fare. Very well written though. The space farmers, uh space cows get infected with the alien eggs. Then when the predators come down there are more aliens then they were planning on, and its a fight just to survive.And of course us humans are right in the middle of it.

The artist changes a few times throughout the book but it didn’t bother me too much. It’s pretty consistent, and pretty well done throughout. The coloring did bother me a little though. Some of the colors didn’t seem to fit which seems to be a trend in old Dark Horse books.

It’s a fun read through, but aside from that first issue which was fantastic is pretty familiar stuff. Which in the end is probably good. The aliens formula worked, and with a few Predators in the mix it was different enough to be interesting.