Shmee.Me

July 2, 2014July 2, 2014

Starting Arrow Season 2!

I quite liked the first season of Arrow, and I am now starting to watch the second. The second season is building on the events of the first, and it is continuing its transition from the standard CW teen romance show in to a full fledged superhero TV show. Though I was disappointed in the first episode. It was very un-Green Arrow like to run away sulk, but once he is back in Starling City (I hope they change that to Star City it was pointless to rename it), he gets back to being the best Batman rip-off around.

It is one of my favorite shows on TV, and it gives me high hopes for all of the other DC properties hitting the small screen this October. If they can manage to make a good Justice League on TV, I would be a very happy geek!

July 1, 2014July 14, 2015

Transformers 4 Proves That Pandering To Geeks Is Pointless!

If you ask most people that consider themselves to be somewhat of a nerd, they will tell you how awful the Transformers movies are, but despite that they continue to gross about a $1 billion worldwide each. With Transformers: Age of Extinction earning over $300 million in its first weekend it should get close to that number as well. That is not counting DVD and Toy sales. These movies are massive business.

That being said, every time a movie studio is developing a new movie based on a comic book or some other geeky property, geeks will line up to tell everyone that will listen that they will not support it if it is not true to the source material, or that if it is they will see it like fifty times. They will point to the success of Disney’s Marvel movies as proof of their importance, but they are sadly mistaken. If having geek approval insures success then Dredd would have been a blockbuster. It sadly was not, and it struggled to even break even.

Disney’s Marvel movies do well due to great marketing, and a producer (Kevin Feige) who makes sure that they keep up a certain level of quality. The Marvel movies are built with laser focus on how to be profitable and successful. If that meant ticking off the fans, you had better believe they would do that, but luckily that is not the case, and we all get to be happy.

Transformers is also laser focused, but what it is focused on has nothing to do with the Transformers we came to know and love throughout our childhood. It knows its target audience so well that it can get the worst reviews in the world, and have Transformers fans scream about how pathetic they are, but they will still earn money. Lots of it. Worse, those fans that complain about how bad the movie is will go and see it anyway to confirm that the movie was not up to their standards.

All people like to think that they are important, and that they have influence over the things that they love, but unfortunately in this case we geeks don’t account for that much cash. When it comes to blockbusters, cash is king.

June 27, 2014June 27, 2014

NEW PACIFIC RIM IN 2017!!!!!

Well I didn’t see that coming! Though I did tell you this movie made money. Yesterday via YouTube Guillermo del Toro announced that he is creating a Pacific Rim cartoon, more comic books, and most importantly a movie that will come out in 2017!

This was my favorite movie from last year, so to have so much more Pacific Rim stuff coming out is incredibly exciting for me. It is just a shame that we have to wait for three more years. Maybe after this we will get that Pacific Rim vs. Godzilla movie they were talking about (crosses all fingers and toes)? I have included the very happy video below.

June 26, 2014June 26, 2014

Having Fun With Saints Row: The Third!

This game came out three years ago, so I am not going to do a full review of it, but since it is one of the games I am playing right now (thanks to Microsoft giving it to me for free), I thought I would give you my impressions.

The people over at Volition software have done themselves proud. They took all the fun parts of the GTA series and made them more fun. The driving is faster and crazier, the shooting is hectic and over the top, the hand to hand combat is actually enjoyable, and the set-piece mission are bananas. It is like they sat down with my thirteen year old self and asked him what he would want out of a game, and then they made it.

I guess the story picks up after the first two games (I only played the demo of the first one), and now The 3rd Street Saints have gone from street gang to media empire, but new gangs are trying to bring them down. It is not that exciting, but it gives them a frame to design their wacky missions around. Really it boils down to giving you new people to shoot, and a new city to explore.

Still as much fun as I have had playing this game there are some things I don’t like: The city doesn’t feel alive. It is big and open and lets you play around, but it doesn’t have that lived in feel. Also the dialog and the jokes can get a little too puerile for me sometimes, and the game can get a bit repetitive between the big set-piece missions.

Even with those complaints the game accomplishes what every game should strive for, it is fun. It makes me want to play more, so I can have a good time and laugh a little. Sure if I was still thirteen I would probably enjoy it even more, but the difference between thirteen and thirty isn’t as big as the you would think. I will be watching for a good deal on Saints Row IV.

June 25, 2014June 25, 2014

Shmee Picks Dr. Strange!

It has been awhile since I have cast a movie, so I decided to help Marvel out by picking Dr. Strange. According to people in the know, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hardy, and Jared Leto are the front runners for this film, and they are good choices, but I thought I would give them some more options! Here they are in reverse order:

5: Jon Hamm

Jon Hamm is fit, and he is funny. Have him grow out his hair a little bit, and he would look the part. He has never done anything action oriented, but Dr. Strange really only needs to be able to concentrate well. I tried to make Hamm Batman at one point, but Dr. Strange is still a good role for him.

4: Aidan Gillen

Aidan Gillen makes my skin crawl, but that is because he is such a talented actor, and he brings to life the slimy Littlefinger on Game of Thrones so perfectly. As you can see above he looks great in a beard, and I think that he that he would fit in well with the rest of the Avengers.

3: Joe Manganiello

If Jon Hamm is fit, Joe Manganiello makes him look like a weakling. This guy was made to be an action hero, and he looks like Dr. Strange to boot! This is the perfect role for this guy now that True Blood is over.

2: Viggo Mortensen

Viggo was made to play strange dudes, so why not play a dude with “Strange” in the title? It is time Viggo came back to the mainstream, and there is nothing more mainstream than the Avengers. If anyone can bring magic to the Marvel Movie Universe it is Viggo Mortensen!

1: Kit Harington

I know it is another Game of Throne actor, and he is a little young, but I think he would be a perfect fit for the movie version of Dr. Strange. For one, he is young, so they could lock him in for a few quite a few movies, and he is how Zoolander says “So hot right now”! Since he is already on a fantasy show, why not have him bring fantasy to the Marvel Movie Universe?

There are my top five picks. Who would you like to see play the Master Magician?