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Comic Book Movie Musings!

Justice-League

It has been awhile since I have posted because Mrs. Shmee gave birth to a little Shmee, but it feels good to start typing something up again.  I thought since I have been away so long I would do a little comic book movie round up of things I have found interesting while in a sleep deprived stupor!

X-Men: Days of Future Past is a Hit! (Now Fox is in a Pickle):

Fox was hoping that Days of Future Past was going to revive their X-Men franchise, and they were right.  Most of that success is because of the comic book movie understanding that director Bryan Singer brings to the table.  The problem is that Singer is now in the middle of a giant underage sex abuse lawsuit.  Singer has motioned to dismiss the suit, but if he is found guilty Fox is in trouble because they have pinned all their future superhero hopes on him and the universe he is setting up.  True Roman Polanski has proven creeps can work in Hollywood for a long time, but you had better believe Fox is hoping that this suit goes away, and that they are looking for a hot new young director for X-Men: Apocalypse just in case.  They say they are sticking with the director for now, but for how long?

Edgar Wright leaves Ant Man:

This is very sad news for me because when Marvel announced that the father of the hilarious Cornetto Trilogy was directing Ant Man, I was super excited.  Ant Man was looking to be the first truly funny Marvel movie, but it looks like Edgar Wright has left the project after Marvel decided to rewrite his script.  Knowing Marvel they want a certain feel to their movies, and they need the universe to hold together in specific ways.  Wright is kind of a free spirit, so something tells me those things caused friction.  I am still looking forward to Ant Man, mostly because Marvel is on an impressive streak, but this is an unfortunate loss, and I hope that Wright makes a funny movie soon to console me.

Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice: What is in a name?

So they named Batman Vs. Superman, and it is Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice.  Wow.  I didn’t think they could screw up the name, but they did.  If anything they just should have called this movie World’s Finest as a nod to the long running Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman team up, and everyone would have lost their minds, but no, with the “V.” they made it sound like a court case or something.  Though seeing Superman and Batman sanding before a judge arguing about damages sounds awesome!  Then there is the “Dawn of Justice” subtitle.  This just sounds like they are admitting to trying to doing too much with this movie.  It is like they didn’t learn anything from The Amazing Spider-Man 2.  If this movie manages to be under three hours long I will be shocked.  They still have two years to prove me wrong, but I have a bad feeling about this.  At least DC is making great TV shows!

Anything else interesting happen while I was away that you would like my thoughts on?  Drop me a line, and let me know!

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Let The Child Of Light Tell You A Story!

Child-of-Light

Child of Light was recently released by Ubisoft Montreal and published by their parent company Ubisoft.  It trades out the usual grim and gore of normal RPGs for a light and airy watercolor-esque world.  The game was too pretty for me to pass up, and I have enjoyed myself immensely.

The game starts off with a woman telling her child a story about a girl Aurora who become very ill and fell asleep, but when she awoke, she was in far away land.  She must free the land from the darkness that has gripped it, so she can return home, and be with her beloved father.  It will not be easy, but she will pick up friends along the way including a firefly by the name of Igniculus.

The story tries to rhyme the whole way through, but it is not successful.  I appreciate the effort, but I think they should have given up and just made the text more interesting.  While the story is sweet it is not overly gripping, but since they were going for a fairy tale story maybe that was on purpose.  Still it does its job and moves the game forward.

The game is a turn based RPG, with the slight twist of an added timing element, so if you finish an attack on a monster while it is gearing up for its attack, you cause it to loose its turn.  Likewise the monsters can do the same to your party.  Your firefly companion also gets in on the action.  If you have him hover over a monster, he slows it down, but if you have him hover over a member of your party, he heals that person.

There is a limited loot system.  There are the standard potions, health, magic, revive, and what-have-you.  Then there are oculi.  These are gems that you can add to your attacks or defense to change up your powers a bit.  Equip a ruby on your attack, and now you do fire damage.  Put it on your defense, and now you are guarded from fire.  You do your best to try and match your oculi to the type of creatures you are fighting for maximum advantage.  You can combine oculi to create stronger or varied bonuses.

Now for the moment of truth.  Is the game fun?  I think so, and I also found it quite relaxing which is a change from the norm.  It was nice to lean back and explore the world of Lemuria, and do battle with polite monsters that take their turn.  It is a shame the story didn’t pack more of a punch, and it is a little short at about ten hours, but for fifteen bucks that is quite alright.  It was a great change of pace for me, and I think it will be for you too.

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First Full Flash Trailer!

Heck with the teaser!  Here is the first full trailer and it looks great!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yj0l7iGKh8g

Sure it gives away the first full episode, but still it is a great setup, and it allows for all the Justice League to get in on the action!

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First Look At The Flash!

the-flash

Well since I have been posting all the other DC TV show promos why stop now?  The CW has released their first sneak peek of The Flash, and it is a very small peek at that, but here it is anyway.  Keep watching until the end:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnXsnR-2AvU

So there is not a lot to glean from all of that.  With the success of Arrow, I am guessing that they didn’t feel the need to give a lot away.  It still shows that it is an Arrow spinoff, and it at least looks like The Flash will have more of a sense of humor.  It is fine for the Green Arrow to be all sullen and gloomy because he is pretty much Batman, but The Flash is supposed to enjoy himself, and with his two lines it looks like that is the case.

I also noticed that his costume is not very form fitting.  It is actually pretty loose, which is quite the change from the comic books, and you would think it would be hard to run at supersonic speeds with loose fabric everywhere.  If once the show starts that is my only complaint, then it is no big deal.  We will see in October I guess.

The Flash is the most recognizable superhero DC is bringing to small screen (junior Batman not withstanding), so it will be important to get him right.  Nobody in the comic book world really cared if they screwed up the Green Arrow, but that will not be the case with The Flash.

The running special effects look fine for TV, but I don’t think a teaser is a place to fully judge them.  Still sizzling brings back comic book imagery, so that is nice.

It will be interesting to see how closely the two CW shows interact with one another.  Like if they are showing up in each other’s show once or twice a season, or not at all.  Whatever the case it is nice to DC building a media universe somewhere even if it is not in movies, and I am quite excited to see The Flash come to TV once again.

Update: Here is a taste of the humor The Flash should have:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSQ-h_2WGkw

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24 Is Back!

24-LIVE-ANOTHER-DAY

It was always just a matter of time before Fox’s hottest show returned.  I know everyone is old now, and it is all stuff we have seen before, but it is 24.  This is the show that really started the modern era of event TV, so it was just a matter of time until Fox threw a bunch of money at everyone, and started to rake in the viewers.

President Heller (William Devane) is in London to secure air-base rights for his anti-terrorism drone program, but most of the people in London hate the drones, so they are putting pressure on parliament to not renew the treaty.  Meanwhile the London office of CTU is tracking down a target that might threaten the President, and of course that target is Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland).  He is not a threat to the President, but he believes there is one, so he is trying to work his magic one more time.

Like I said this isn’t the most original plot ever.  On 24 the President’s life is always at stake, but it is still interesting, and the drones at least make it feel current.  I do hope they can change things up a bit as the series goes on.

The actors all know what they are doing.  They have been playing their parts for so long that they just are their characters.  There were rumors awhile ago that they were going to reboot the series, but without Kiefer Sutherland and Mary Lynn Rajskub (Chloe) there is no 24.

While 24 is no longer new and exciting, but it is still interesting and entertaining, and it is just good to see the gang back on TV for one more ride.  If you have never seen 24 before, you can probably catch up, but I would still start with the first couple of seasons since they are much more intense.