Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

What can I say about Scott Pilgrim vs. The World?  It is certainly a unique  movie experience.  I had no idea what to expect when I first started watching it.  It’s like a comic book/video game brought to life.  Probably the most funny aspect of the whole thing is none of it is even explained.  Scott continually lands all of these beautiful women (even though he is extremely dorky) and battles several super powered bad guys with his own super powers.  None of this seems overly shocking to anyone around him.  Apparently in this universe it’s just how things work.

The basic plot revolves around Scott Pilgrim seeing the girl of his dreams and finding out he has to fight all of her evil exes in order to be able to date him.  If you like a traditional movie, this is probably not the film for you.  Scott Pilgrim vs. The World isn’t a masterpiece or anything but it is a funny movie and worth a watch if you want to see something different.

On a more serious note Scott Pilgrim is a little hard to root for as a character because he cheats on his innocent girlfriend in order to win over the girl of his dreams…literally, she is in his dreams.  The thing is, there is no real reason why he should be interested in this girl, he simply thinks she is more attractive than his current girlfriend.  Perhaps it would have been more effective if his original girlfriend was someone who mistreated him and the new girl was nice to him.  The way it is in the film, the original girlfriend seems like the much better person.

None of this takes away from the film really, perhaps it just shows how shallow the current dating game can be.  They do deal with the character flaws in Scott a little bit, but in an unsatisfying way.  I thought they were going to correct things but in the end they almost immediately switched back to the wrong choice.  *After watching the alternate scenes on the Blu-Ray, they did actually film the ending I thought they should have went with.

The oddballness of being a living comic book/video game is really where this movie finds it’s stride.  The only real problem is after seeing several battles, it became slightly repetitive.  A running time of an hour and a half would have been enough to get the desired effect without dragging on.  I’m not really sure what the point or moral of this movie is, maybe there isn’t one, but it is an enjoyable experience and made me laugh.

I give this movie 3 out of 4 stars.

Andrei Arlovski vs Tim Sylvia 4 Breakdown

Andrei Arlovski (17-9) vs Tim Sylvia (31-7) is an interesting match up to anyone who has been following MMA for more than the last three or four years.  They are two of the top heavyweights the UFC has ever had, and even though they are not at their peaks anymore, they can still be dangerous to anyone.  I really like what ONE FC is doing in Asia.

These fighters have met three times in the past.  The first match easily went to Arlovski when he floored Sylvia and finished him with a leglock.  The second fight looked exactly like the first one, except after dropping Sylvia, Arlovski rushed in to finish with strikes and got caught while being sloppy.  Both of those fights were over very quickly.  The third match went to a decision in a fight that was pretty boring from what I remember.  Neither guy wanted to lose the rubber match and fought very safe.  Sylvia ended up winning the decision (but I remember thinking Arlovski should have won).

This forth fight finds them both in a very different place.  Arlovski has put together a couple of wins, after losing four in a row (all to top heavyweights) and Sylvia has won his last three.  It’s a little hard to tell where they are at right now because their competition hasn’t been the best lately.  Sylvia got KO’d by a couple of guys he should have easily beat and Arlovski has been lacking aggression in his last few fights.

Regardless of Sylvia being 2-1 against Arlovski, I feel Arlovski is the superior fighter.  Arlovski has better stand up and submissions.  His biggest problem is that he doesn’t always defend himself well and his chin is average in a division of hard hitters.  This could be another quick fight if they both come out to make a statement, or a slow fight if they come out not to lose like in the third fight.

I am hoping for an exciting match up and I think that if Arlovski comes out and fights smart he wins this fairly convincingly.  If Arlovski still hasn’t fixed his defense and gets sloppy Sylvia could catch him or if Arlovski comes out and isn’t aggressive at all like in his last couple of fights, Sylvia could use his range to win a decision.  The other thing to take into account is ONE FC uses rules very similar to Pride rules.  If One of these guys drops the other one, I believe they are allowed to use knees or kicks to a grounded opponent.

The Walking Dead E6: TS-19

If you have not read my review for episode 5, you may do so here:  http://cinemakingdom.com/?p=282

This episode had a really cool intro.  It shows why Shane left Rick behind at the hospital after Rick was shot in the first episode.  I won’t go into all of the details but it is nice to see what happened, and it makes what is happening between them now even more tragic.

After that intro, we cut back to the present where Jenner has opened the doors for the survivors.  The price for coming in is a blood test, no one refuses the offer.  Inside our survivors find food, shelter and perhaps most importantly, complete safety from the walkers.  After some celebrating they ask Jenner where everyone else is and what caused the outbreak?  None of the answers are very encouraging.

Apparently everyone in the CDC either left to go be with their families or they committed suicide.  Jenner doesn’t know what caused the outbreak or how to stop it, but he does show everyone a video of what happens to a body when it dies and is reanimated into a walker.  We later find out that this video is of his wife.  We also find out that when the fuel runs out, which happens in an hour, the building will be decontaminated…the air will be set on fire and everyone will die.  Jenner types in a code and seals the doors to the room they are in.

Shane doesn’t take this news very well and starts going nuts (he also went crazy earlier in the episode when he was drunk and tried to rape Lori).  Rick finally talks Jenner into opening the doors he had sealed (though Jenner has no control over the main doors).  Two of the group members decide to stay behind and die because it will be easier than facing the world overran by walkers again.  Dale tells Andrea (one of the two staying behind) that if she is staying he is as well.

Topside, everyone is trying to find a way out of the CDC.  The glass walls can withstand the force of blunt weapons and even bullets.  It seems like all is lost when Carol gives Rick the grenade he had picked up inside of the tank in the first and second episodes.  Rick uses the grenade and it works, blowing out one panel of glass.  They make it to the vehicles when they see Dale and Andrea coming out of the building.  The CDC explodes and our survivors drive off into the unknown.

This is the last episode of the season.  It was a good season overall and a creative show.  Even though it takes place in a zombie apocalypse, it’s actually a show about the characters, not the zombies.  I look forward to reviewing season 2.

I give this episode 3 out of 4 stars

Gracie Breakdown: Breaking the Lock Down 101

I love all of the videos from these guys!

Rulon Gardner Admits He Turned Down Big Bucks to Fight Fedor

It would have been cool to see Fedor fight Rulon Gardner, both are such respectful honorable guys. Fedor has already beat several Olympic medal winners, it would have been interesting. People think the purses from the UFC are big, the UFC is small time, even now. Pride offered Rulon Gardner 1 million to fight Fedor almost a decade ago.

The Walking Dead E5: Wildfire

If you have not read my review of episode 4, you may do so here:  http://cinemakingdom.com/?p=233

This episode begins with Rick trying to contact Morgan on his walkie-talkie, with no luck.  The camp must now deal with the aftermath of the walker attack.  The bodies of the dead are being destroyed so they can’t come back as walkers.  Andrea quietly sits with her sister Amy, who will turn into a walker at any minute, understandably making the group pretty nervous.  Rick attempts to talk to her but Andrea pulls a gun on him.  After talking to her sister’s body (which is now reanimating) Andrea finally shoots her sister in the head, killing the walker version of Amy.

We come to find out that Jim has been hiding the fact that he was bitten by a walker during the attack.  This sets off a conflict as Daryl wants to kill Jim now before he turns.  Shane and Rick are also having it out as Shane blames Rick for leaving the camp with half of the men, leaving the camp vulnerable, as he had warned Rick of before they left.  Both Rick and Shane are trying to get Lori to take their side, but she simply states they were both half right in their decision.  Jim is put into the RV for now while Rick and Shane go to do a sweep of the area.

Rick and Shane continue to argue over what is best for the group when they hear a noise out in the woods.  This is where we see that Shane is not the friend he once was.  He points his gun at Rick while Rick is off checking out the noise.  Shane decides not to shoot but when he puts the gun down Dale is standing there, he saw what Shane was thinking about doing.  Shane trys to play it off but Dale knows the truth.

The group decides to move on, some will attempt to make it to the CDC, while others are going their own way.  During the journey to the CDC Dale’s RV breaks down.  Inside of the RV Jim is getting worse and worse.  Jim decides it’s best for him to just stay where he is, he is ready to die and be with his family so the group respects his wishes and leaves him behind, close to the road.

Next we see some scenes with a new character, filming himself on video.  His name is Jenner and he appears to be a scientist working on a cure for the zombie outbreak.  Unfortunately he knocks over some of the chemicals he is working with and the building itself destroys everything in the room during decontamination.  Jenner mentions on the video that those were fresh samples he had, not old decayed flesh.

Rick and the gang arrive at their destination and things do not appear to be good.  There are dead bodies everywhere and no one is answering them at the CDC.  We find out that Jenner is actually inside the CDC and after some internal debate, he opens the secured doors so the survivors can enter.

This was a pretty good episode.  We deal with some emotional things between Andrea and her sister, ethical debates on how people who have not turned yet should be treated and we now know there are going to be major problems between Rick and Shane (even if Rick doesn’t know it yet).  Some old character have left the show, but a new interesting and mysterious character has entered.  Will he hold any answers for the survivors or us?  Perhaps we will find out on the next episode.

3 out of 4 stars

Eragon

Eragon is a film with an all star cast (John Malkovich, Jeremy Irons) as the supporting cast and an unknown as the main hero. I generally like this approach due to the audience not having any knowledge or connection to the main actor in the film.  It does away with any baggage a well known actor brings to a project.  It leaves the audience free to associate that actor as their character and nothing more (as Christopher Reeves WAS Superman when that movie first opened).

Taking place in a Lord of the Rings type fantasy world, where Dragon Riders (humans who are bonded to a Dragon and receive magical powers because of this bond) were once the saviors of mankind, but are now merely thought to be a myth.  Eragon (a humble teenager who works on his poor uncle’s farm) just so happens to be a Dragon Rider, as he finds out after a large “stone” he discovered hatches.

The evil King (Malkovich) finds out about there being a new Dragon Rider in existence and sends out his henchmen to kill him (since Dragon Riders are the only threat to his him).  Luckily, Eragon is not alone.  A sort of strange old hermit (Jeremy Irons) seems to know a lot about Dragon Riders and after some pleading, fills Eragon in on all of his knowledge.

In the end, the King’s #1 henchman is defeated, but things are not resolved.  Eragon was supposed to be the first chapter in the Inheritance trilogy, but the film didn’t do well enough to warrant a sequel, so things will never be wrapped up completely.  It’s the familiar story of a farm boy who ends up saving the day after being trained by a wise old man.

I think children would like this movie, because of the Dragons and fantasy element to it.  Fans of the Lord of the Rings trilogy might also enjoy it (though it is no where near Lord of the Rings quality in terms of characters or story).  It’s an okay watch, filled with fantasy and adventure.

I give this movie 1.5 out of 4 stars.

Tim Sylvia on Arlovski and 3 Fight Deal with One FC

I’m not sure why Tim Sylvia is so obsessed with getting back in the UFC. If these fighters would realize that they are what’s important, not the organization. Just go out, fight and win and constantly improve. In boxing you don’t go to see Don King promotions, you go to see Mike Tyson or Roy Jones Jr. MMA are just so brainwashed these days they go to see a promotion half the time.

If Frank Mir hadn’t of worked out for Daniel Cormier, at least Sylvia would have been a name guy for him to fight, even if he is past his prime.

Dragon Ball Z Ep 8: Gohan Goes Bananas!

Considering the Saiyans are on their way to destroy the earth and will arrive in one year, one would think it would be time to start the serious training.  But no, this episode is mostly filling in characters on plot (which the audience already knows) and is played for comic relief.

Gohan is still out in the wilderness with Piccolo keeping an eye on him.  Krillin is still dodging having to tell Chi-Chi that her husband is dead and her son has been taken by Piccolo, and Goku is still traveling Snake Way.

Bulma does manage to get the Saiyan’s scouter working and to make sure it’s reading correctly, she takes the power levels of Krillin, Master Roshi and Turtle.  We find out Krillin is the most powerful of the bunch and Master Roshi is disappointed to find out how weak he has become with his old age.

The biggest event taking place in this episode is that Gohan sees the full moon, which turns him into a giant ape.  As from the title of this episode, Gohan in ape form is a big problem!  He starts destroying everything in site and Piccolo has to come up with a quick plan to stop him or there won’t be an earth left to defend.  Piccolo remembers what Raditz says about needing the moon to transform so Piccolo blows it up, reverting Gohan back to his normal form.

This is an okay episode with a few funny moments, it seemed more like a review to catch people up more than anything.  2 out of 4 stars.

ELO MMA Heavyweight Rankings

Top 10 (The number beside their names is how many points they currently have)


1. Fedor Emelianenko  2149

2. Junior dos Santos  2143

3. Alistair Overeem  2097

4. Josh Barnett  2076

5. Fabricio Werdum  2074

6. Daniel Cormier  2067

7. Cain Velasquez  2046

8. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira  2001

9. Frank Mir  1982

10. Antonio Silva  1971

Why use ELO MMA Rankings? http://cinemakingdom.com/?p=256

ELO MMA Rankings

It’s hard to find good rankings in MMA these days.  Most Rankings come from websites catering to the UFC out of fear they will lose their press credentials…which is hardly a bias free system.  Some rankings, like those on sherdog, are so bad, it’s just a random collection of whatever the sherdog staff wants with almost no basis in reality or what a fighter has actually done to earn a rank.

These types of popularity contests are how you end up with Brock Lesnar (who was 3-1 at the time) becoming the #1 Heavyweight or Matt Serra going from being a Lightweight to passing everyone at Welterweight and becoming #1 there for beating Georges St. Pierre.  While beating GSP should count for a lot, it doesn’t make all of the years of hard work for all other Welterweights just disappear.  These types of systems are completely worthless and should be ignored.

One very good system (and it is actually a system, not just people’s random baseless opinions being thrown out there) are the ELO Rankings.  The ELO Ranking system was created by Arpad Elo and is used by virtually every major sport or game, including:  Chess, association football, American college football, basketball, and Major League Baseball.  It’s a mathematical system that takes human bias out of the equation altogether.  All that matter is what you have actually accomplished, not hype.

You can read more about the ELO System here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ELO_ranking

Luckily for MMA fans, there is a website that keeps up with ELO MMA Rankings.  The only real problem with this site is it’s one guy running it so sometimes it isn’t updated often enough.  Fighters also tend to change weight classes a lot, and if the site isn’t up to date in certain areas, a fighter might be listed in the wrong weight class.  None of these problems come from the ELO Ranking system, it’s simply a lack of time from the site manager.  He does a great job, it’s just a lot to keep up with.

If you follow MMA, these are the rankings you should use.  I haven’t found any other ones that actually matter.  http://www.mma-elo.com/

I will be posting ELO MMA Rankings from now on (but I will correct them when a fighter is in the wrong weight class).

UFC 151 Canceled

UFC 151 has been canceled. Pretty crazy news considering the UFC has never canceled a show before and then just completely skipped that numbered event altogether.  Zuffa has said this will be a "lost show" and they will move on to UFC 152 next time (probably because they would have to change all the commercials and posters for several events).  They tried to save the event by giving Jon Jones a fight against Chael Sonnen but Jones turned it down.  He later accepted a fight against Vitor Belfort on a different card.

Dana White blamed the cancellation on Jones and Jones' coach, Greg Jackson, who advised him that accepting the fight with Sonnen would be the "biggest mistake of [his] entire career."  The biggest problem with the canceled event, and one Sonnen called Jones out on, was that now all of the other fighters on that card trained for nothing.  All of their fights will have to be rescheduled and they will miss out on their paycheck the lower level guys need to survive.  I think Jones should have stepped up and fought Sonnen to save the card.

The Walking Dead E4: Vatos

If you have not read my review of episode 3 you can do so here:  http://cinemakingdom.com/?p=212

The two main stories happening in this episode are 1. Rick and his crew out in the streets of Atlanta, trying to locate Merle and 2.  The Camp where Jim is freaking out and digging holes because of a dream he can’t remember.

Merle is a tough guy, as his brother Daryl tells us multiple times.  It appears to be true.  Merle not only sawed off his own hand to escape the handcuffs, he used an oven he found in the building to cauterize his wound so he wouldn’t bleed out.  During the search for Merle, Glenn gets kidnapped by what appears to be a street gang.  There is a bunch of drama that comes out of that situation but in the end it all works out and Glenn is set free.  The bad news is that Merle stole their truck so they have to walk back to camp.

At camp, Jim is freaking everyone out because he has been out digging holes for hours and won’t stop.  The camp confronts him and Shane has to tackle Jim when he turns violent.  For his own safety (and everyone else’s) they tie Jim to a tree until he calms down.  They eventually let him free and everyone sits down to have a fish fry.  Just when we finally think there is a moment of peace and forget for a moment what kind of world these people are living in, both Carol’s husband and Amy (the sister of Angela) are attacked by walkers.

The walkers come out of nowhere and we are reminded how dangerous they can be in groups.  Many nameless camp members are killed off.  Luckily Rick and the gang show up just after the walker attacked started and use the guns they had recovered to finish off the rest of the zombies.  When seeing all of the dead bodies everywhere Jim remembers his dream and why he dug the holes….

This was an okay episode.  The beginning when they were searching for Merle was good, the middle I didn’t care for as much.  These guys come across as gang members and act like criminals, only to end up being a group caring for old people at a retirement home just doesn’t seem that believable to me.  The last 10 minutes when the zombies attacked really saved this episode in my opinion.  Killing off two of the camp members we are a little familiar with and a bunch of random ones sends a shock and reminds us this can happen at anytime, so always be ready.

I give this episode 2.5 out of 4 stars.

UFC on Fox 5 is Stacked!

The UFC on Fox 5 is a stacked card.  So far the UFC on Fox 5 has added Ben Henderson vs Nate Diaz for the Lightweight title, ‘Shogun’ Rua vs Alexander Gustafsson for a Light Heavyweight title eliminator, and BJ Penn returns to face Roy MacDonald at 170lbs.  This card looks better than any PPV I can think of for a long time.

One FC 6 to Feature Shinya Aoki & 3 Title Fights on Oct. 6

It will be interesting to see which titles are on the line and who is fighting in those fights. ONE FC is doing some great things, can’t wait! Arlovski Vs Sylvia IV is coming up at the end of the month as well.

The Walking Dead E3: Tell It To The Frogs

 If you have not read my review for episode 2, you can find it here: http://cinemakingdom.com/?p=199
Episode 3 opens with Merle, still handcuffed to some pipes, talking to himself. He is all over the map during this speech to himself and even (for a very short time) admits he was wrong in how he has lived. Back at the camp we see a glimpse of the bond between Shane and Carl that has developed since the zombie attacks started. Lori is happy to let Shane play the father figure to Carl.

Because of all of the noise Merle is making, the walkers hear him and try to get to the roof top but the chain on the door keeps them away...for now. At the camp a loud noise is heard and we come to find out it is Glenn, still driving his car with the alarm booming. His excitement ends pretty quickly when the rest of the camp is angry about him potentially bringing every walker in Atlanta to their camp because of the noise, which they quickly shut off.

The rest of the scavengers are right behind Glenn arriving at the campsite. Everyone is happy to be reunited with their loved ones....especially when Lori and Carl see that Rick is the "new guy" they picked up. Families are reunited and everyone in the camp is thrilled, except for Shane. Rick being back means the end of his relationship with Lori. We will have to see how this one plays out.

After a brief encounter with a walker in camp, Daryl shows up after a hunting trip to learn what happened to his brother Merle. He is not happy. Rick puts together a plan to go back into the city to save Merle, which most people do not agree with since Merle is almost as much of a danger to everyone as the walkers. Shane says it will leave the camp unprotected with most of the men going back into the city. It's not as simple as that though, Rick also wants to get the bag of guns he dropped. Having those guns would make the camp more secure if they can get them back. After some debate they decide to go.

While the other are off to the city, a couple of conflicts arise in the camp. Lori is mad at Shane because she thinks he purposely left Rick to die. Ed (one of the camp members) starts running his mouth and hits his wife Carol in front of everyone. Due to Shane being upset about the situation with Lori, he takes it out on Ed and beat him half to death (Shane and Ed also had a conflict earlier in the episode). Back in the city, they find Merle....or at least his hand he had sawed off in order to escape the zombies at the door trying to get to him.

This episode puts the show back on the right track. It's full of some moments of happiness, even though the reality is they are still living in a world where it could all end in a second, but these small moments are all they have to cling on to. I'm not really sure why Merle had to cut off his own hand, he should have tried to cut through the handcuffs. The zombies obviously didn't get through the door since it was still locked when everyone arrived to save him. Perhaps handcuffs are way to tough to saw through with the tools Merle had, not sure about that one.

Conflicts have started to tear apart at the unity of our camp. As tough as it is to deal with walkers, it's even worse when you can't even trust your own group members. If everyone doesn't start putting aside their differences and focus on surviving, they are not going to last long. They really need to find somewhere new to camp or set up some kind of security. Being out in the open woods with only a tent to protect them is not going to work if even a handful of walkers show up.

I give this episode 3 out of 4 stars.

Early Report: UFC 150 at a Dismal 190,000 Pay-Per-View Buys

 

"After the show, White also noted that they were expecting to take a hit on PPV. He received word that DirecTV went down all night so people with that provider were unable to purchase the show. Since he was at the show, he was probably only getting sketchy details. I was able to get the show on DirecTV with no problem. But there was an issue. Apparently if you automatically ordered through your remote in much of the country, there was no issue. However, if you tried to order by phone or by computer, there was a problem with the system that made it impossible, although the issue was apparently fixed in time for the replay show. We received a lot of feedback from DirecTV subscribers, split almost 50-50 between those who were able to see the show, and those who couldn't, and many wanted to see it and gave up, not buying the replay. It was significant enough that it cost them a fairly significant number of buys that they would have gotten. But probably not enough to change it from a low number to even close to an average number.  

Very early numbers indicate about 190,000 North American buys (this is not a direct buy number or even a strong estimate but just a very preliminary figure). While nobody going in expected big numbers, that would still be below most expectations. As we always say, there is significant potential margin of error this early, but suffice to say this show probably did not do well. We'll have a better read on this in two weeks. But other indicators were down. Google searches, which usually have a decent correlation to where buys are usually not far from double searches, fell from 1 million for UFC 148 (which makes that correlation look bad but half of those were searches related to watching Anderson Silva shoulder Chael Sonnen at the weigh-ins, and for the show itself it was 500,000, which comes close enough to the correlation) and 100,000 for UFC 149 while this show was just over 50,000. But that shows DirecTV issues or not, the interest level in this show was well below normal." -Dave Meltzer

These numbers are terrible. MMA seems to have been slowing down for a while now, partially do to all of the watered down cards I am sure. You can't charge people the kind of prices they charge for a PPV if there aren't any fights on it anyone cares about. Henderson vs Edgar II was a rematch no one wanted to see on a card that wasn't very strong. Oddly enough, the UFC on Fox cards are have been way more stacked than the PPVs lately and it looks like that trend is going to continue.

I think the UFC needs to put on less cards. They simply don't have the star power to carry all of the cards they are trying to put on so you end up with tons of events no one cares about. They also need to start building up new stars. Right now they have been getting by on old Pride/UFC legends, and guys from Strikeforce and the WEC. Zuffa bought up all of the promotions with name guys for the most part so from now on they are going to have to build star power themselves.

THOR: THE DARK WORLD Villain is Malekith The Accursed

Christopher Eccleston has been cast as Malekith The Accursed in the upcoming sequel to Thor. Eccleston is best known for playing Doctor Who and the invisible man Claude in season 1 of Heroes. The Villain Malekith The Accursed is the leader of the Dark Elves of Svartalfheim, one of the 9 sacred races connected by the World Tree Yggdrassil. I think Malekith is an interesting choice for a villain, and one most people will not be that familiar with....so people probably wouldn't complain to much if they change his basic outfit and make him more menacing.

The Walking Dead E2: Guts

If you have not read the review for Episode 1, it can be found here:  

Part 1: http://cinemakingdom.com/?p=158

Part 2: http://cinemakingdom.com/?p=175  

Here we are, episode 2 of The Walking Dead. After a fantastic first episode where we learned about what is going on through the eyes of our hero Rick, we pick up right where we left off in "Guts". I have to say, this episode was a big let down after the pilot. It's not horrible, but it's not great either.  

Most of the episode is about Rick and the group of scavengers he meets trying to escape the city that is over run by walkers. We meet Glenn, who was the one talking to Rick inside of the tank, and Merle, who racist on a power trip who has a run in with Rick that doesn't go well for him. I'm not going to ruin everything that happens in this episode but I will cover some of the things I didn't like about it.  

When coming up with a way to escape, our group determines one of the ways zombies know who to attack is by their smell. How they figured this out I have no idea. The first episode never showed zombies sniffing anyone out like they were doing in this one. Our heroes smear zombie guts all over their clothes so they can walk by zombies undetected. Some of the zombies seemed to notice something wasn't right about them but then went on about their business of walking around aimlessly.  

This just seemed like kind of a silly plot to me. When some rain came down was washed a small portion of guts off of Rick and Glenn's clothes, zombies several feet away started attacking them. Apparently dying and becoming a zombie gives you a super sense of smell because a regular person wouldn't be able to sniff out that distinction at that distance. I would have rather of just seen everyone fight their way through the zombies to escape.  

We do learn that Lori, Carl and Shane are part of the camp that Glenn and everyone else came from. Rick is close to finding his family.....and finding out Lori is now with Shane. It looks like there are going to be fireworks when Rick makes it back to camp.  

I give this episode 2 out of 4 stars.

MMA Manager Ed Soares Named President of Resurrection Fighting Alliance

Ed Soares, manager of such fighters as Anderson Silva and Lyoto Machida has a new job.  Soares is now President of the MMA promotion Resurrection Fighting Alliance.  It will be interesting if this will cause any kind of conflict with the UFC, where Soares' most popular fighters reside.  Dana White has been known to be very vindictive and if he sees Soares as a revival promoter things could become very interesting in the world of MMA.

The Expendables 3 Looking to Add Nic Cage, Clint Eastwood and Harrison Ford

“We’ve approached Clint Eastwood to be one of the guys, we’ve got a character in mind for him. We’re talking to Harrison Ford. [And we want] Wesley Snipes when he comes back from prison. I’ll give you one more name, we’ve got Nicolas Cage to play [one of the characters].” -Avi Lerner (Expendables producer)

I don’t know if all of these actors will work out but those are some pretty good additions to the franchise, especially Harrison Ford and Clint Eastwood.  Now if they could only get Sean Connery to come out of retirement!

I love seeing all of the old action stars back, and together on the big screen.

Hugh Jackman: “The Wolverine Will Be A Standalone Film”

Some interesting news from the X-men world. The new Wolverine movie is not a direct sequel to X-Men Origins: Wolverine. I kind of like the idea of the X-Men movies not really needing to be connected. X-Men comics have been around for so long and there are so many stories you can convert to film from the series, why be bogged down by something a director in the past has done?  

Ignoring past, not very popular, films in a franchise has been done before. X-Men: First Class took this approach when it completely ignored the events of X-Men 3 and Superman Returns did the same with Superman 3 & 4. Of course, it would be nice if everyone of these projects was simply done well in the first place, so future directors wouldn't have to ignore them, but it's also interesting to see each director put their own unique spin on things.  

Mr. Wolverine himself, Hugh Jackson, had a few things to say about the new film:  

"We've deliberately not called it Wolverine 2 because we want it to be placed and feel like a standalone picture," Jackman said. "With an all-new cast and setting it in Japan, it's going to give us a whole new visual aesthetic." 

"The approach to character means we won't be overloaded with mutants and teams and the like, so it'll be more character-based. I think in many ways it will feel like a completely different X-Men film."  

I do like a less cluttered movie. Having lots of characters works better in a comic book because there are so many issues (and many characters get their own spin off comics) that we really get to know each character. In a movie, you only get around 2 hours so it's hard to really build 5 or more character up in that time. Typically they end up focusing on one character the most and ignoring the rest (like Cyclops in the original X-Men movies).

No John Williams’ Superman Theme for Man of Steel

 
"We decided to act as if no Superman film had been made - even though we love the films that have been made. We had to say this is a Superman movie for the first time and you can't then go 'Oh, now let's steal a little music. So, yes it's awesome music but Hans Zimmer is going to do something awesome."  

"We have great respect for the canon. I would say it is a clashing of stories and ideas. Superman is the king-daddy of all superheroes - to make him work is a big deal. The big challenge is if you can make people feel 'What would you do if you were Superman?' That's what we went out to do as far as we could. Superman's always been this kind of big blue boy-scout up on a throne that nobody can really touch, so we tried to make him relatable." -Zack Snyder  

 I think it's a good idea to just ignore the other movies and start over from scratch the way Batman Begins did. With Christopher Nolan and his writing team, combined with Zack Snyder's visual flare, I think this movie can be really good. I love the old Superman movies (well the first two anyway) but it's time for something new. I prefer a less campy version. Something that takes itself seriously like Nolan's Batman movies or The Amazing Spider-man. From the trailer, it looks like that is what we are going to get!

The Walking Dead E1: Days Gone Bye (Part 2)

If you have not read Part 1, you can do so here: http://cinemakingdom.com/?p=158

Part 2 picks up right where part 1 ends. Rick and Morgan talk after dinner, about Rick's son Carl and if he is a criminal or not (because of the gunshot). Their conversation is interrupted by a car alarm going off which startles Duane. Morgan says that this has happened before, when a walker bumped into one of the cars.  

As they look out the window, we see a female walker go by which upsets Duane. We find out that Morgan's wife had turned into a walker and he couldn't make himself put her down. Morgan mentions that before someone becomes a walker they develop a very high fever. The next morning they go outside and Morgan teaches Rick all the rules of zombie killing. Walkers are dead, so no need to feel bad about killing them...which can only be done by destroying their brain.  

 Back at Rick's house he notices Lori and Carl packed some clothes and took the family pictures, which means they were alive when they left. Our gang heads over to the Police station for some hot showers and supplies. Morgan had told Rick about a safe zone in Atlanta that had been broadcast on the airwaves. No one knows if it is still around but it's the only chance Rick has to find his family and get to permanent safety.  

 Our heroes part ways. Both having some touching scenes after their separation I won't spoil. Rick makes his way to Atlanta, trying to contact anyone who will answer on his radio. Though Rick doesn't know it, someone did hear him. We get a glimpse of a camp out in the woods. Lori, Carl and Shane are all there along with some other unknown people. They try to answer Rick but the signal doesn't go through (they don't know it's Rick). We find out that Shane and Lori are now involved romantically, which we know will be an issue in future episodes.  

Rick runs out of gas and finds a horse he uses to finish his journey to Atlanta. Atlanta appears to be completely deserted, until he sees a helicopter fly over....and a street full of hundreds of walkers! Rick gets knocked off of his horse and attempts to make his escape while a large amount of walkers are eating his former horse. Crawling under a tank that is completely surrounded, he sees no other option but to end it all. At the last second he sees the bottom of the tank is open and he climbs in it, shutting the door. After one last surprise inside of the tank, we hear a voice over the radio talking to Rick. Someone not only is around, but he saw Rick go into the tank.  

This was a great episode. It set up a lot of plot lines, had touching moments and some scary moments. From this episode we already know "The Walking Dead" is going to be a great show and bring a cinematic feel to the small screen. All of the basics about zombies were explained, except for how all of this happened and we have a hero to root for and discover things with. I give this episode 4 out of 4 stars.

The Walking Dead E1: Days Gone Bye (Part 1)

Hey guys, in honor of the third season of "The Walking Dead" starting back up pretty soon I have decided to review the first two seasons. It will be a nice refresher leading into the third season (which I will also review). The Walking Dead feels much more like a feature film than a tv show. Shows like this really take television to the next level and proves cinema quality entertainment can exist on tv. The pilot episode is an extra length episode so I am going to divide the review for it up into two parts.

This episode opens on a police car parking and an Officer getting out of his vehicle. Everything around him is destroyed and we have no clue what is going on. I won't spoil everything but this episode lays the foundation of how the show will be, nothing is off limits, no one is safe. After this particularly shocking scene, we cut to a flash back of when things were still normal. We learn about Rick and Shane, two of the main characters in the series. We find out Shane is an alpha male type and Rick has problems at home with his wife who is angry for some reason.

 All of a sudden Rick and Shane get a call on their police radio and race off to stop some criminals in a high speed chase. After some action and a shoot out, it looks like everyone is in the clear when one of the criminals no one saw shoots Rick and he goes unconscious. We then get flashes of Shane talking to him in a hospital room and leaving some flowers beside his bed. He finally starts to respond to Shane only to look over at the flowers and see that they have died. It has actually been some time since Shane was in his room.

Confused, Rick gets up, barely able to move from being in bed for so long, and starts to explore the hospital. Something is very wrong. Everything is smashed up, most of the lights are out, dead bodies and blood are everywhere. Rick reaches a set of doors that are chained together with words painted on them, warning him not to open the doors, the dead are inside. Confused, he hears strange noises coming from the doors and boney looking hands come through the tight space. Rick leaves the hospital only to find that things outside are even worse. Bodies are bagged up along the road, there are no living people in sight. He has no idea what is happening.

Ricks comes across what looks like a a makeshift army base, with no soldiers around. As Rick makes his way back to his home, coming across a zombie (the first one we fully see during the flashback) that has been ripped in half it appears, he finds his home just as abandoned as everywhere else. He struggles with denial, even trying to wake himself up as if he were in a nightmare. Not knowing what to do and being extremely weak from from his gunshot wound, Rick sits down on some steps only to see someone in the distance. It's an actual human being (or so he thinks), walking around out in the street. Rick calls to the man as someone walks up behind him and hits him in the face with a shovel. This has not been his day!

Before Rick passes out from the blow to his head, he sees someone shoot the man he was waving to on the street. Rick wakes up tied to a bed. There is a man and his son there (Morgan and Duane Jones), asking him about his wound. After figuring out it was a gunshot wound they all sit down and have some food as Morgan explains to Rick what is going on. Rick finds out that "Walkers", as Morgan calls them, are dead people who have returned to life....and they just happen to like munching down on the living!

End of Part 1

The Green Lantern vs The Silver Surfer

Welcome to my second article in the “VS” series.  If you have not read my first one (Superman vs Goku) you can check it out here:  http://cinemakingdom.com/?p=67

Green Lantern:  The Green Lantern isn’t just one person, it’s actually a job title for his position as a cosmic police officer of sorts.  While there have been many Green Lanterns, we are going to focus on the most classic version of Green Lantern, Hal Jordan.  Hal was given a power ring by the Guardians which grants him all kinds of powers and abilities, including:  Flight, Super Strength, Energy Projection, Light Constructs,  Phasing and much more.  Green Lantern’s power is limited only by his imagination….and the need to charge his ring’s battery every so often because it runs out of energy.

Silver Surfer:  Norrin Radd was just a regular man (though Norrin is not from Earth) who had an encounter with a being a Cosmic being named Galatus.  In order to save his people he agreed to become Galatus’ Herold and lead Galatus to planets to feed on that had no life forms on it.  Norrin Radd was altered from his very core and remade into a new being:  The Silver Surfer.  Like the Green Lantern, The Surfer can manipulate energy and has a wide range of abilities.  The Surfer can do anything Green Lantern can do except for creating light constructs.  The Silver Surfer doesn’t need to eat or breathe and travels on a surf board that he controls and can use as a weapon.

The Fight:  As mentioned, both of these characters are similar in a lot of ways and share basically the same power set.  The main difference between them is that Hal Jordan manipulates energy that comes from will power by using his ring, The Surfer manipulates cosmic energy by using his own body.  While Green Lantern has limits; how strong his will power is, the life of his ring’s battery, still being a human, the Silver Surfer has no limits.  The Surfer doesn’t need to eat, breathe, rest, his entire molecular structure has been changed.  If Hal Jordan doesn’t have his energy shield up, he can be killed like an ordinary man, the Surfer is nigh invulnerable.

All in all, anything Green Lantern can do, the Silver Surfer can do bigger and better.  He simply has more power and in greater amounts.  Throw in the fact that he doesn’t have limitations that humans have, or a limited supply of energy and this battle has to go to the Silver Surfer.  The only advantage Hal Jordan really has on the Surfer is that he can call for back up from about a million other Lanterns, but considering the Surfer can travel at the speed of light, he would be long gone to celebrate his victory before any of the arrived.

The Winner: The Silver Surfer

Brock Lesnar Punches WWE Star Backstage

According to a popular Pro-Wrestling Blog

“Lesnar left the building after getting into a physical altercation with fellow WWE superstar, Ryan Reeves, known in ring as Ryback.


Not much information is being let out, but the source says Lesnar was in the arena early to rehearse a major angle with SummerSlam opponent Triple H. Before things even began, Reeves, who was also in the building, got into a heated argument with Lesnar. It is uncertain what the argument was about.


Reeves put his hands on Lesnar, though the source tells us that people who witnessed it said Reeves was going to apologize. Lesnar shoved Reeves back and a shoving match ensued. Lesnar threw Reeves to the floor and hit him in the face three times before being pulled off.


Reeves suffered a laceration above his left eyebrow which is required stitches. “Ryback” will not be competing tonight as he was originally planned. Lesnar left the building immediately, and all efforts to reach him have failed.”

Sounds like it’s time to set up a match in the UFC lol.

Hugh Jackson on the Set of ‘The Wolverine’

Here is the first picture of Hugh Jackson on the set of ‘The Wolverine’, which started filming this week.  This is a totally different look than we have seen before for Wolverine.  With the Comic Book movies lately the bar has been set very high.  I can only hope this movie is better than ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’.

Godaddy.com

Looking for a great deal on domain names?  Make sure you check out all of these great Godaddy Promo Codes to save big!  Check out all of the following offers below using Godaddy Coupon Codes to get a great bargain! 
Register .Com domains for 7.99$
Save 10% off your order-no minumum-
Save 20% off hosting orders
Save 5$ off your order 30$ or more
Save 10$ off your order 50$ or more
Save 15% off your order 75$ or more

Web Hosting from just $1.99 per month for 3 months! Plus, GoDaddy now offers unlimited bandwidth on all hosting plans!

If you are looking for fantastic deals on domain names, you won't find a better offer than using Godaddy Coupons at Godaddy.com for all of your domain name needs!

UFC on Fox 4: Shogun Rua vs Brandon Vera

Here we are, just one day away from UFC on Fox 4.  I already broke down the co-main event (which should have been the main event) between Machida and Bader here:  http://cinemakingdom.com/?p=182

Shogun Rua

Shogun is without a doubt one of the greatest LHWs of all time.  He is also very inconsistent lately.  Going only 4-4 in his last 8, he sometimes shows up looking like a killer who can outstrike anyone and at other times comes in out of shape, losing to guys he is far superior to.  Granted, most of those losses were after knee surgeries (he has blown out his ACL 3 times) where he had a long time off.  With all of his knee problems he is lucky to be fighting at all.

Since the knee problems Shogun has still shown off his fantastic striking skills a few times but it seems like whenever he has to go to the ground he tends to gas out fairly quickly.  I am guessing he probably can’t roll as well as he used to due to the injuries.  He also tends to fight down to his opponents level.  When he fights someone great like Machida (Shogun is still the only guy to ever outstrike Machida) he comes in with a great game plan and fights smart.  When he fights someone like Mark Coleman or Forrest Griffin he comes in and just fights sloppy and slugs it out.  He recently replaced his manager as well so who knows how he will show up.  If Shogun comes in top form expect this to be a short night, if he comes out sloppy, who knows.

Brandon Vera
What can I say about Brandon Vera?  He came on the scene and started destroying heavyweights in the UFC (his rise was very much like Jon Jones’ actually), including Frank Mir (which only took him 1 minute).  Then he had a contract dispute and had a long time off and has never been the same since he came back.  I don’t know what changed during that time off, but that killer he once was died somewhere along the way.  Vera then dropped to 205lbs.

Being a smaller heavyweight, if was argued he would be better at 205lbs but he has never looked spectacular there.  Some guys just perform worse when they cut weight, I think Vera is better at HW.  Going 4-3 (1 NC) at light heavyweight since his debut in 2008, he has never beat anyone of note really.  The thing is, he is a skilled stand up fighter and he has some pretty good takedowns as well.  He just never seems to be able to put it all together anymore.

Final Thoughts

Shogun should win this fight but if he shows up sloppy and out of shape and Vera shows up like he used to we could see an upset.  I think Vera should try to mix things up and go for some takedowns to keep Shogun guessing and try to tire him out.  If Shogun shows up as the killer he most of the time, I think he puts Vera away sometime in the first 2 rounds.  Shogun is capable of taking people down as well but in this case I don’t think he has to in order to win but mixing in some takedowns mixed with his brutal Ground & Pound wouldn’t be such a bad idea.

ONE FC: Tim Sylvia vs Andrei Arlovski 4

Some interesting news from ONE FC today.  It appears Tim Sylvia has signed to face Andrei Arlovski for a 4th match between the former UFC Heavyweight champs.  This fight goes down on August 31st.  Who are you picking in this one?

‘X-Men First Class 2: Days of Future Past’

Some big news in the X-Men universe today! The official title for ‘X-Men First Class 2′ is ‘Days of Future Past’. Now if you don’t follow the comic books (it’s an older story from 1981), or haven’t seen the cartoon version from the 90s, ‘Days of Future Past’ takes place in an alternate future where mutants are rounded up and put into internment camps. It heavy features both Wolverine and The Sentinels (giant robots created by the Government to hunt down mutants briefly seen at the beginning of X-Men 3).

Considering this story involves time travel as well it’s a pretty big change for the X-Men movie universe. It will be interesting to see how close the movie version is to the comic version.

USC UCLA Washington Huskies Tickets

Guys, are you looking for a great deal on ucla bruins mens basketball tickets, usc trojans mens basketball tickets or washington huskies mens basketball tickets?  If so, Ticketamerica.com is the place for you! Nobody beats the great deals from Ticketamerica.com!

Check out Ticketamerica.com today for these and other great ticket prices!



*This is a sponsored post.

UFC on Fox 4: Lyoto Machida vs Ryan Bader

Alright guys, the UFC on Fox 4 is coming up this weekend.  Oddly enough, this card is way better than the last UFC PPV event, and it's free!  In the co-main event we have Lyoto Machida vs Ryan Bader.

Lyoto Machida

Lyoto Machida is coming in off of a loss against champ Jon Jones (which he looked fantastic in until the end) and hasn't fought in 8 months.  His inactivity isn't Machida's fault as he had been trying to get a big name fight, it's just everyone else was injured or tied up with another opponent already.  Machida is going through the toughest time of his career currently, going only 1-3 in his last 4, but all of his losses were to top 5 opponents and some of the greatest LHWs of all time.

It will be interesting to see how Machida performs after such a long layoff.  He is also getting older, turning 34 this past may.  Is Machida past his prime or has he just made a some mistakes in his last few fights that cost him?  We shall see.  I personally think he is still one of the best LHWs in the division and he tends to be a nightmare match up for wrestlers and brawlers.

Ryan Bader

Going 2-2 in his last 4, Bader is coming in off a win against Rampage Jackson.  This sounds pretty good as Rampage is one of the best LHWs ever, but he also came in with an injury and way over weight for the first time in his career.  It was pretty obviously this win was more about Rampage being out of shape than Bader being the superior fighter so it's hard to take much from it.  Bader is also the only win on Tito's record in the last 6 years (since Tito beat up Ken Shamrock a couple of times back in 06).

I've never been very impressed with Ryan Bader.  He is basically the typical MMA fighter these days, a big strong wrestler who wings right hands.  I'm not saying he is a terrible fighter, I just don't think he is that exceptional (for a top 10 LHW).  All he brings to the table is a double leg takedown (which is useless against southpaw Machida), lay & pray, and a big right hand.  I think he is sort of a poor man's Rashad Evans and we all saw how that fight against Machida turned out.

Final Thoughts

I think Machida (unless he just shows up totally off of his game or gets some fluke injury) is just a nightmare match up for Ryan Bader.  How the fight plays out just depends on if Machida is conservative in this fight or attempts to make a statement.  I think he can put Bader away quickly if he gets in there (like against Rampage in the 3rd round) but he may be content to avoid any risks and fight Bader similar to how he fought Tito.