Category: DC

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My Top Five Movies For 2017!

2017 looks to be a great year for movies, and I hope that everything pans out.  It was hard to narrow it down to five, though if you know me this list will not be too surprising, so here we go!

5: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

This first one was so amazing how could I not be excited for number 2!  Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 will be a must see event.  The only reason it ranks fifth is the strength of the rest of the list, not any doubts I have in this film.

4: Logan

Ugg this trailer makes me cry every time.  It looks like Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart are going out on a high note!  Also it will be fun to see how they fit Deadpool in to this film.  Logan is the Wolverine movie we have been waiting for.

3: Wonder Woman

We have been waiting for years for Wonder Woman to get her first solo film, and in 2017 it finally happens!  The time is right for a female led superhero film, and Warner Brothers needs this movie to be a critical and financial success, so they pulled out all the stops.  I can’t wait to see how it turned out.

2: Star Wars Episode 8

After two massive successes in a row, how could I not be excited for the next main line Star Wars film?  I will be in a seat day one for this film, and judging by the box office returns of the last two Star Wars movies, so will you.

1: Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets

The Fifth Element is one of my favorite films of all time, so I will not miss Luc Besson’s return to over the top Sci-Fi.  I know that it may be a surprising pick for number 1, but I am supper jazzed for this movie.  I want to watch it right now!

Honorable Mention: Lego Batman is the best Batman!

That is my list for next year, what are you guys looking forward to seeing?

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Shmee’s Top Five Games Of 2016!

I got to play a lot of video games this year, and for the most part they were good.  All the ones I played but didn’t like, generally I didn’t pay for, so that was nice.  This list was harder to make than my movie list because the game selection was so good this year, but enough of my rambling, to the games!

5: Overwatch

I wanted to hate this game.  They charged $60 for a multiplayer only shooter, but I don’t hate it.  I love it, and if my friends played it more so would I.  Yes Overwatch is pretty much just Team Fortress 3, but since Valve didn’t make Team Fortress 3 then I am happy that Blizzard did!  With Blizzard’s signature polish.

4: Hyper Light Drifter

My brother told me to back this game, and I am glad that he did.  It is a fantastic throwback.  Hyper Light Drifter plays like you remember Super Nintendo games playing, so in other words it is better than they ever were.  It is a little on the hard side, but never frustratingly so.

3: Titanfall 2

I don’t love all the changes they made to Titanfall 2’s multiplayer, but the single player they added was pitch perfect.  I never play single player campaigns twice, but I am jonesing to get back in to Titanfall 2’s.  It is great from beginning to end.

2: Forza Horizon 3

Forza Horizon 3 is my favorite racing game of all time.  I never thought any game could be better than Project Gotham 2, but Forza Horizon 3 is, and by a wide margin.  If you have a PC or an Xbox One you need to get Forza Horizon 3.  It is the realization of the open world racer that studios have been trying to make for years.  I am not sure how they will make a better Forza Horizon, but I hope they do.

1: Hitman

I thought 47 was a goner after Absolution, but Hitman brought him back with style.  This is the best Hitman game that has ever been made, and you should buy it post-haste.  You feel stealthy and lethal in just the right ways, and every mission seems to get better.  I cannot wait for season 2!

My Honorable Mentions go to Batman: The Telltale Series and Pokémon Go.  Batman: The Telltale Series is the Bruce Wayne simulator I never knew I wanted.  I hope I don’t have to wait as long for season 2 as I have been waiting for season 2 of A Wolf Among Us.  Pokémon Go is light on actual gameplay, but it merges the real world with the video game world in a way that has not been tried before.

This has been a great year for games, and it is also the year that I got back in to first person shooters.  I thought my FPS days were behind me, and that I would be playing only RPGs from here on out.  I was wrong, and I am glad that I was.  What were you top games of 2016?

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Shmee’s Top Five Movies Of 2016!

It is that time of year when things are slow, so people just start reposting stuff, but in list form, and who am I to break with tradition?  Here are the top five films I watched in theaters this year in reverse order!

5: Captain America: Civil War

The main line Marvel movies are starting to get a little crowded, but there were some unforgettable moments in Captain America: Civil War.  Spider-Man, the airport brawl, and the final Cap v Iron Man fight.  Well actual those are the only three things that I can remember, but they were pretty rad.

4: Doctor Strange

Doctor Strange borrowed pretty heavily from Iron Man, but luckily for us Iron Man is pretty great movie, so Iron Man starring Benedict Cumberbatch is still more than worth watching.  Plus it has one of the best endings ever for a superhero movie, and the world of magic opens all sorts of exciting possibilities for future Marvel films.

3: Star Trek Beyond

I am not sure anyone knew what to think when the Fast and Furious guy, Justin Lin, took over Star Trek from J.J. Abrams, but it turns out that he is a life long Trekkie who knew just what the series needed: Make a movie about the unknown, and then let the talented cast play off of one another.  It was great.  It is a shame that audiences didn’t show up to support this film, so the fourth NuTrek movie is in doubt.  I would love to see what Pegg and Lin have in store for us for their next outing.

2: Deadpool

So Fox went and finally did it, they brought the Merc with the Mouth to the big screen, and he did not disappoint.  He was crude, loud and funny, and he showed that Disney isn’t the only company that can make a proper superhero flick.  Ryan Reynolds I am sorry I doubted you.  Mostly.

1: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Another year, another great Star Wars movie.  I could get used to this.  Rogue One wasn’t as slick or as well plotted as Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but it pulled the Star Wars Universe together in ways that other films never had.  It gave Star Wars its grit back, and it did it all without one Jedi.  If I were Disney I would skip the Han Solo movie and do more movies with new characters like Rogue One.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them deserves an honorable mention for showing us that there is more to the Wizarding World than The Boy Who Lived, but the next movie will need to focus more on the story at hand.

2016’s movies did not end up as good as 2015’s, but they were still consistently enjoyable.  I wish one of DC’s movies could have ended up on this list, but they still have a ways to go in the quality department.  Maybe with Wonder Woman coming out next year that will change.  I hope so.  What were you top movies from 2016?

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2016 Is The Year That Expanded Universes Came In To Their Own!

Ever since Marvel showed that audiences will buy in to Expanded Universes, movie studios have been rushing to cash in, and in 2016 we finally saw it happen.

We got not one, but two DC movies in the same universe (Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad), and while they were critical failures, they still brought in a combined $1.5 Billion.  Warner Brothers was also able to kick start the Harry Potter Universe films by successfully opening Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.  It may not have been as big as they were hoping for, but it will bring in north of $750 Million off of a $180 Million budget, and that is a return on investment studio heads will make every day of the week.

Meanwhile we are in the middle of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story‘s run, and it has already cashed in almost $400 Million, so it should get to about $1 Billion.  Not bad for a movie that isn’t about a Skywalker.  Sure there is one in it, but this is not Darth Vader’s story.  Between the Marvel Universe and the Star Wars Universe, Disney may not be the House of Mouse anymore, but the Universe of Movie Universes.

After 2016 I am pretty sure every blockbuster being made will somehow link to another movie in some way.  The links may be small like Fantastic Beasts, the fictional writer of one of Harry’s text books, or more substantial like Rogue One, the events leading directly in to A New Hope, but they will be there.  I can’t wait for the Jurassic World Raptor Team solo film.  I am sure it will be filled with intrigue.  In all seriousness though I hope the Expanded Universe films they are making are at least in a universe worth exploring.  The Hasbro Expanded Universe they are working on sounds like nightmare fuel, but hey at least we are getting that M.A.S.K movie! (said no one ever)

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DC Is Sticking With Ayer For Gotham City Sirens!

Suicide Squad made tons of money despite its awful reviews, so it is not surprising that it is getting a spinoff featuring Harley Quinn and her villainous besties, Gotham City Sirens.  What is surprising is that they are keeping on David Ayer to do the film.  Usually in this kind of situation were the movie made money, but that fans were not pleased they axe the director to appease everyone.

I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised given that after the fallout of Batman v Superman DC/Warner Bros stuck with Zack Snyder for Justice League, but considering the studio head reshuffle, you would expect story/director changes to be happening all over the place.  I guess they just decided that in order to keep everything on track they need to stay with what they got, and then try to have Geoff Johns retool and try to get the scripts where they need to be.   I am hoping this strategy works out because I love the DC Universe, and would love for the movies being made to be actually good instead of okay.

Regardless, it looks like I will have to cast a new Catwoman and Poison Ivy.  That is an exciting prospect.  Also it sounds like the Deadshot movie announcement is incoming, so that should be fun.