Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart returning for ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’

Bryan Singer announced today on twitter that both Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart will be reprising their roles as Magneto and Professor X, respectively.  Many of the cast members from X-Men: First Class will also be returning.  This is possible because the Days of Future Past storyline takes places over different time periods.

Thrilled to announce @ianmckellen118 & @SirPatStew are joining the cast of #XMEN #DaysOfFuturePast #magneto #professorX More to come…

Marvel Studios Producer on Iron Man 3

Marvel Studios producer Kevin Feige recently spoke about the direction of Iron Man 3:

“It’s not a serious movie, but we seriously dig into exploring more of Tony. The trick is just trying to make great movies. We try to make them all great, all different and all fresh. What you’ll see in Iron Man 3 is some very unique directions that were taken.”

Director Shane Black also commented:

“We’re not aiming for bigger, necessarily. We’re aiming for different and fresh and new. It’s all about capturing that lightning-in-a-bottle feel, about trying to get as much into this as we can. We’re looking to get a ton of thrills into a short space, to make a nice little stew for you.”

Robert Downey Jr. also weighs in:

“You can dissect why [The Avengers] was the right movie with the right people and the right director at the time. But we feel the same way about Iron Man 3 now.”

Star Trek Into Darkness Synopsis

A new synopsis has been released by Paramount Pictures for the J.J. Abrams-directed “Star Trek Into Darkness” opening May 17th 2013.

When the crew of the Enterprise is called back home, they find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization has detonated the fleet and everything it stands for, leaving our world in a state of crisis.
With a personal score to settle, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one man weapon of mass destruction.
As our heroes are propelled into an epic chess game of life and death, love will be challenged, friendships will be torn apart, and sacrifices must be made for the only family Kirk has left: his crew.

The Walking Dead Season 3 Episode 6: Hounded

If you have not read my last review, you may do so here:  The Walking Dead Season 3 Episode 5: Say the Word (Part 2)

Michonne was obviously right about the Governor.  He has sent Merle and several of his men after Michonne.  She knew they would be coming and left a message for them…walker body parts cleverly spelling out “Go Back”.  Of course, with this being Merle we are talking about, he doesn’t listen.  While he is boasting about all of his firepower and manpower, Michonne drops out of the trees and kills two of the men quickly.  As Michonne runs away to make another attack later, she is shot in the leg by Merle.

Risk is talking to a woman on the phone who says she has a safe place.  Rick wants to go there but the woman won’t tell him where it is.  She says she has to keep it a secret but will call back in two hours after talking to her group.  Rick goes to check on Carl.  Everyone has been busy clearing out sections of the prison and making plans for supply runs.

Merle tells his partner that they need to destroy the brains of their fallen comrades.  They never let one of their own turn.  After some whining over it, his inexperienced partner agrees and they take care of business.  Andrea talks with the Governor about how she disagrees with the gladiatorial games held by the town of Woodbury.  She thinks the world is brutal enough.  She also wants to give back and offers to help guard the wall.

Rick receives another phone call.  This time there is a man on the phone.  The man asks Rick if he has killed anyone and if so, how many?  Rick explains that things have happened and he has had to kill, out of self-defense.  He only killed to protect the group.  The man asks how Rick’s wife died.  Rick wants to know how the man knew he had a wife but he explains that Rick mentioned having children.  Rick doesn’t want to talk about how Lori died and the man hangs up on him.

Andrea sits on the wall with a girl who is going to teach her how to use a bow.  After exchanging some personal history, they spot a walker.  The girl fires some arrows but misses twice.  She seems nervous, I’m not sure how often she actually does this.  Andrea jumps off of the wall and kills the walker with a knife to the head.  The girl chews her out and says this isn’t a game.  One of the rules of guard duty is to never jump over the wall and put yourself in harm’s way.  Andrea can’t even do things right working for the bad guys!

Mark Hunt – All or Nothing – Part 1

The Walking Dead Season 3 Episode 5: Say the Word (Part 2)

If you have not read the first part of this review, you may do so here:  The Walking Dead Season 3 Episode 5: Say the Word

Merle and his gang drive out to the middle of no where.  They have a pit dug there, this is how they capture walkers.  After messing with the Doctor some they grab one of the walkers and pull out one of his teeth.  The more we learn about this group from Woodbury, the worse we learn they are.  Daryl and Maggie explore a house and find some baby formula…along with a possum for dinner.

Michonne and Andrea start to leave Woodbury when Merle stops them.  After a slight conflict Merle allows them to leave the gates.  Michonne thinks they set this up, she knows they wouldn’t be allowed to leave normally.  Andrea thinks it’s more proof of Michonne being paranoid.  Michonne leaves, without Andrea.  The Governor talks with Andrea and offers her a drink.  Andrea once again blows off the only person to really care about her in order to be mentored by the season’s villain.  I hope she ends up as walker food soon!

Daryl and Maggie return to the prison.  They give the baby her formula and then everyone starts to talk about what her name should be.  Carl starts naming off all of the female characters who have died off.  Rick finds where Lori died.  After examining the area he discovers a walker with a very full stomach.  This walker is so full he can’t even stand up anymore.

They must be suggesting this walker ate Lori, all of her, bones and all.  This doesn’t make any sense as even T-Dog’s body wasn’t completely gone and he had multiple walkers eating him.  Rick shoots the walker in the head and then starts stabbing him in the stomach multiple times.  With the way this season has been going so far I still have to wonder if walker Lori is going to show up sometime.

Back at Woodbury, we finally see what the big event is.  The Governor holds Gladiator fights between his men (it’s voluntary) while zombies are chained up all around them.  After Andrea is repulsed by this and starts to leave the Governor fills her in that it’s all for show.  They have removed all of the zombies teeth.  Everyone in Woodbury is there, loving what they see.  Merle wins his fight.

We see Daryl leave a flower at Carol’s grave.  They still haven’t shown for sure that she died and they never found a body, so I don’t know why they dug a grave.  We end on Rick sitting in the prison alone.  He hears a phone ringing and answers…..

The Walking Dead Season 3 Episode 5: Say the Word

If you have not read my last review, you may do so here: The Walking Dead Season 3 E4: Killer Within (Part 3)

We open on Woodbury.  Everyone is having cold drinks and taking a day to relax before the big festivities later that night.  In the Governor’s apartment we see him brushing the hair of a little girl and some of it tears off of her head.  Okay, we knew the Governor was evil and willing to kill innocent people to get supplies, but the guy is completely insane.  He has his zombie daughter restrained so he can take care of her and pretend she is still alive!

Rick is in a stat of shock after finding out that Lori has died.  He picks up an axe and goes into the prison by himself destroying walkers (Doom style).  Daryl and Maggie make a run into town for baby formula.  While The Governor makes a speech about the success of their town, Michonne breaks into his apartment and takes back her sword.  She hears a noise coming from behind a door and starts to break in when she hears someone coming.  It’s The Governor, Merle and the Doctor.  The Doctor is upset about all of the energy usage because he is running some kind of experiment.

We find out Michonne had managed to escape out of the window before anyone had known she was there.  She finds an area where walkers are locked up behind a fence.  She lets them out and slaughters them all.  Someone who was feeding the walkers walks in just as she finishes.  The Governor has a one on one talk with Michonne, attempting to recruit her.  She lets him know she does trust him (but she doesn’t exactly have her facts straight).  When The Governor lowers his guard for a split second Michonne gets the drop on him and takes her sword back.  She leaves and he doesn’t send anyone after her.

Glenn is digging graves for everyone they lost when Oscar and Axel come by to see if they can help.  Glenn lets them dig the other graves while he talks to Hershel about the people they lost.  The Governor calls in Andrea and manipulates her into talking to Michonne for him.  Andrea is as stupid and reckless as always.  She doesn’t listen to anything Michonne tells her about Woodbury being dangerous.  One would think by now that Andrea should know, whoever she thinks is good, whatever she thinks is the right thing….DO THE OPPOSITE!

Glenn walks through the prison attempting to locate Rick.  Rick is just standing there, covered in blood.  Glenn talks to him but Rick doesn’t respond at all.  Glenn makes his way over to Rick and lays a hand on him gently.  BIG MISTAKE!  Crazy Rick slams Glenn up against the wall and then throws him to the side without saying a word.  He then continues on down the hallway to butcher more walkers.  Alright, well Rick has completely snapped at this point!

The Walking Dead Season 3 E4: Killer Within (Part 3)

If you have not read the second part of this review, you may do so here:  The Walking Dead Season 3 E4: Killer Within (Part 2)

Rick manages to shut the generators down but is immediately attacked by Andrew.  Andrew is the prisoner from a couple of episodes ago that Rick chased outside.  We last saw Andrew surrounded by walkers and heard him screwing so we assumed he died, apparently he managed to escape and has been running around the prison by himself all this time.  I’m not a big fan of this plot line as it seems pretty far fetched and also opens the door for everyone still being alive unless you literally see them die with your own eyes.

After a scuffle between Rick and Andrew, Oscar ends up with Rick’s gun.  He has the option to shoot either one of them, this is his chance to decide who’s side he is really on.  Oscar shoots and kills Andrew.  Elsewhere in the prison, Maggie had to cut Lori open to save the baby.  Lori gives a speech to Carl about doing what is right in life.  She doesn’t want him making all the wrong choices like she did.

Spoiler alert…

Lori dies delivering her baby.  Maggie and Carl both know that Lori will turn into a walker after some time so (off screen) Carl shoots Lori in the brain.  Like with Andrew, since this wasn’t actually shown, I have to wonder if Carl really did what he was supposed to here?  Are we going to be confronted with a zombie Lori in a few episodes?  I guess we will have to wait and find out.

Most everyone meets up in the prison.  They find T-Dog’s dead body.  After going outside to see if everyone made it back and meeting up with Hershel and Beth they hear a baby crying.  Rick sees the baby but not Lori.  He looks at Carl and knows that Lori is dead.  In a moment of pure grief, Rick collapses on the ground crying.  Rick seemed to have taken Lori’s death harder than Carl did, perhaps because Carl is already so hardened from the life he has been living.

This was a pretty crazy episode.  Three new characters have been added to the group and we lost (at least) two characters that had been there from the beginning.  We still don’t know what happened to Carol.  This seemed more like a mid season finale or a season finale, not just a random episode.  At least it does break up the formula, so we now know it’s possible to lose important characters at anytime.  It will be interesting to see how Rick deals with Lori being dead and how adding a baby to the group will change things.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Starts Filming in February

Andrew Garfield (Spider-man) on where he wants the sequel to go:

“I feel really excited, I feel like we got over a hump with our first one.  We had to reinstate the character, and we had to reinvigorate an audience to the character. And I hope to bring more of this theme—the theme of the orphan. I wanna keep exploring that theme of being fatherless, being motherless, searching for purpose and finding a purpose within himself, being a self-made man, I guess.”

I haven’t been very fond of a lot of the casting news from this movie but I’m sure the director knows what he is doing.  Hopefully it will all turn out well.

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First Look: Malekith on the Set of Thor: The Dark World

To read more about Malekith, click here: THOR: THE DARK WORLD Villain is Malekith The Accursed

Tom Hiddleston (Loki) on pressure of doing a sequel following The Avengers:

“It’s mostly self-applied pressure actually. I remember Chris [Hemsworth] and I saying over the summer when Avengers came out, where do we go now? Going into this one we were – very flatteringly – involved in big creative conversations about tone, and story. Thor and Loki are these two characters that people know and love and understand – so we have to take this in the right direction. You want to do something new – you don’t want to re-heat the same recipe in the microwave, you want to cook up something different and exciting – but you don’t want to lose the things that worked the first time. So we’re our own slave drivers, in a way. Complacency is the enemy. But that’s exciting and it’s going well. I have never seen a group of actors or a crew work harder.”

On Loki getting smashed by the Hulk:

“Yeah! [laughs]  He’s certainly eaten humble pie. The springboard for us in the second Thor film is at the end of Avengers you see Thor and Loki beamed up back to Asgard. The first question that we all asked was ‘what happens next? What does Odin have to say about the events of Avengers?’ ‘What’s Jane Foster been up to while she wasn’t involved?’ It’s really exciting, actually. We’re literally half way through – we started at the start of August and we should be finished by Christmas. It’s going beautifully.”

The Walking Dead Season 3 E4: Killer Within (Part 2)

If you have not read the first part of this review, you may do so here:  The Walking Dead Season 3 E4: Killer Within (Part 1)

Andrea and Merle have a talk.  She gives him a map showing where the farmhouse (or what’s left of it) is located.  Even though they never got along before (who did get along with Merle anyway?!), Andrea knows what it’s like to lose family.  On that level at least, she relates to Merle.  She asks Merle if the Governor is a good man and he says yes.  She knows what kind of guy Merle is, I’m not sure why she would take his word on anything.

Back at the prison, Rick and the rest regroup.  After finding out who is missing, they check the fences and discover the chain has been broken with an ax.  This was no accident.  Someone is trying to get them killed.  Rick immediately looks to Axel and Oscar.  He is about to deal with them when the prison alarm system starts going off.  This immediately attracts walks from outside the prison.  Oscar says he knows where the alarm can be turned off at.

We catch of glimpse of T-Dog and Carol in the prison.  They are still trying to get to a safe place.  Lori also goes into labor while running from some walkers.  Talk about bad timing!  Having a baby is bad enough, having a baby while running from walkers is crazy.  Merle talks to the Governor about leaving to find Daryl but the Governor doesn’t think it’s a good idea.  Merle doesn’t seem very happy about this decision.  It will be interesting to see if they are setting up a conflict between them that could end with Merle saving the others from the Governor down the line.

Rick and everyone else split up into small groups to find the generator and shut it down.  The longer the alarm is on, the more walkers it attracts.  Lori starts to have the baby but something is wrong, she is bleeding heavily.  T-Dog, who is going to turn into a walker anyway, gives his life to save Carol.  T-Dog is brutally eaten by walkers but Carol does manage to escape.  T-Dog never did a whole lot in the show but at least he went out a hero.

Andrea speaks with the Governor over some drinks.  They talk about life and how things have changed, how they are the same.  He says he lost his daughter and reveals his real name, Philip.  The Governor says she is always welcome in Woodbury if she wants to return.  Andrea talks to Michonne, she wants to stay in Woodbury longer, give it a chance.  Andrea should realize by now that she is an idiot and all of her decisions are terrible.  I don’t know why she never learns.

Dragon Ball Z E14: Princess Snake

If you have not read my review for episode 13, you may do so here: Dragon Ball Z E13: Goz and Mez

This is pretty much a goofy filler episode.  Still powered by the fruit he stole in the last episode, Goku has already made it back to where he fell off of snake way.  Past that point he finds a building that sucks him into it.  Goku gets confused and assumes Princess Snake is actually King Kai…no one ever said Goku was a rocket scientist!

Princess Snake mostly wastes Goku’s time by teaching him how to dance and fixing him dinner.  Everything she does, from giving him a bath to the dinner was a trick (they put a sleeping agent in his food).  Princess Snake actually wants to eat Goku.  Every time Goku attempts to leave, Princess Snake talks him into staying a while longer.  While sleeping, Goku has a dream about the Saiyans arriving without him there to save everyone.

Goku wakes up to find out that Princess Snakes palace is all an illusion and he is actually in a snake’s belly.  He manages to escape but the snake chases him.  Using his maneuverability, Goku tricks the snake into being tied into a knot.  Goku gets back on his path, traveling snake way.  So far, three months have passed.  While all of this was going on, back on earth, Gohan saw Piccolo training and everyone else arrived at Kami’s lookout.

The Walking Dead Season 3 E4: Killer Within (Part 1)

If you have not read my review of the last episode, you may do so here:  The Walking Dead Season 3 E3: Walk With Me (Part 2)

We open on a mysterious person in the prison, breaking the chains on the fence and leaving pieces of animal meat around to lure zombies into the secured areas.  Rick and the survivors are moving vehicles when they see Axel and Oscar (the two prisoners they let have a cell block) come into the area Rick told them to stay out of.  They plead to be let into group.  They claim they aren’t like the other prisoners were and would be a benefit to them.

After locking the prisoners up temporarily, Rick and the others talk over what they should do.  No one trusts these guys or wants to give them a chance, except T-Dog.  Rick tells everyone a story about some guy who murdered his girlfriend and got off after pretending to be sorry for it, then he turned around and murdered another girl two weeks later.  Rick and the others (except T-Dog) decide the prisoners need to go.

At Woodbury, Michonne is searching the vehicles from the soldiers the Governor killed.  She finds fresh blood on it and bullet holes.  She questions the Governor but he comes up with lies for everything.  Michonne obviously knows something is up.  The Governor trys to talk her into staying, saying they could use a good soldier like her in town.  She wants no part of it though.  I wonder how long it will be before the Governor gets tired of her rejection and his true self comes out?

Back at the prison, Rick says they will give the prisoners a weeks worth of food and T-Dog continues to debate about this decision.  Axel attempts to talk to Daryl but he has none of it and rides off on his motorcycle.  Inside, Lori and Beth bring some crutches to Hershel as he attempts to stand up for the first time in his current situation.  Michonne talks with Andrea about leaving Woodbury but she doesn’t want to leave.  Rick wants the bodies in the prison moved outside the fence and burned so they don’t have to plant crops in walker rotted soil.

Hershel comes outside for a walk.  Everyone is in different sections of the prison but they can all see each other.  They all stop and look at each other, feeling secure and relaxed for the first time since they got there.  That feeling doesn’t last long.  Carl turns around to see several walkers coming at them.  Unfortunately, most of the people in that section are the weakest ones.  Hershel and Beth lock themselves behind a gate, everyone else runs to find a place to hide.

Spoiler warning….

T-Dog rushes over to the gate that had been opened and puts a new chain on it to stop more walkers from coming in.  While he is doing this a walker comes up from behind and bites him on the shoulder.  Not one to give up, he finishes chaining the gate together,then turns around and kills the walker.  He then runs into the building that Carol had just went in.  Looks like we have seen the end of T-Dog, which is unfortunate as he never really did a whole lot during the show.

Cung Le vs. Brian Warren

This is Cung Le’s second fight. He used several of the same techniques already covered in the first video which you can find here Cung Le vs. Mike Altman.  I won’t rewrite those but I will add the new techniques.

Southpaw vs Orthodox Stance
1.  Overhook Hip Throw
2.  Knee from the Thai Clinch
3.  Right Hook/Left Straight/Right Uppercut/Left Straight
4.  Elbow from the Thai Clinch
5.  Right Hook/Left Straight to the Body/Right Hook/Right Uppercut
6.  Left Straight/Jab/Right Hook
7.  (Orthodox) Right Spinning Back Kick to the Body
8.  Right Hook/Left Straight/Right Hook/Left Straight/Right Hook

George Lucas Talks Star Wars: Episode VII in a New Video

What do you think about these new movies?  Good idea or bad?

The Walking Dead Season 3 E3: Walk With Me (Part 2)

If you have not read the first part of this review, you may do so here: The Walking Dead Season 3 E3: Walk With Me (Part 1)

The Governor questions the pilot of the helicopter that crashed.  He was the only survivor.  Through analysis of the two walkers who were with Michonne, the Governor and his men figure out the walkers were used for camouflage and they do starve, but very slowly.  It’s interesting to see them studying the walkers, perhaps even looking for a cure?

Andrea and Michonne have breakfast with the Governor.  Conversation includes everyone’s roles in the town and daily operations.  In Woodbury, people have jobs, school, and most importantly, hope.  The people of this town are building a real life, not just living in constant fear every second of everyday.

Andrea and Michonne talk outside.  Michonne doesn’t trust the Governor.  Andrea wants a couple more days to check things out.  This town seems like too good of a deal to pass up so it’s worth a shot.  The safety and security of Woodbury is something the survivors aren’t going to find in too many other places.  Andrea tells Michonne she has been with her for months but knows next to nothing about her.

Elsewhere we see a group of military men out in an open space.  A car drives up to them and the Governor steps out, tells them he found their helicopter pilot.  He was just lowering their guard through conversation; it’s a trap!  The Governor has men surrounding them and they open fire, killing all of the soldiers.  This is how the Governor has so many supplies and weapons, he kills innocent people and takes them.

Back at Woodbury, the Governor gives a speech and lies to the people, saying walkers got to the soldiers first, but their sacrifice would keep them safe.  At least we know it’s not the entire town that’s bad, just the Governor and some of his men.  Andrea asks the Governor his real name but he says he never tells that.  Back in his room, drinking and looking at a picture of his family, he opens a secret area filled with the heads of zombies (at least some of them are still alive).  Okay, so at this point we know the Governor is completely nuts.

Cung Le vs. Mike Altman (Cung Le’s 1st MMA Fight – With Breakdown of Techniques)

In honor of Cung Le’s win this weekend I am going to do a breakdown all of his fights over the next few weeks. Cung Le has a very interesting style, very unique for MMA and traditional marital arts (because of his takedowns and takedown defense). Cung Le really is the best of several martial arts. If you are interested in learning his style, he does have an older video series out you can purchase, but more recently he released a book called San Shou: The Complete Fighting System (I will review this book as well).

On top of studying his instructional videos and books, I would recommend watching his fights and writing down his combinations and techniques, then drilling them constantly.  The techniques he used in this fight are as follows (South paw stance vs Orthodox stance):
1.  Side Kick to the Knee
2.  Rear Roundhouse Kick to the Body
3.  Rear Roundhouse Kick to the Head
4.  Snapping Front Kick to the Head
5.  Read Roundhouse Kick to Inside of Leg
6.  Lead Low Kick to Outside of Leg
7.  Lead Sidekick to the Body
8.  Right Hook
9.  Lead Roundhouse Kick to Body/ Jab
10.  Rear High Kick to Lead High Kick
11.  (Step Left Leg Forward) to Right Spinning Back Kick to Body
12.  Knee Pick Takedown to Left Hook
13.  (Orthodox Stance) Step Right Leg Forward to Left Spin Kick to the Head
14.  (Orthodox Stance) Jab to Right Spinning Back Kick to the Head
15.  Left Straight to the Body/ Lead High Kick
16.  Left Straight/ Right Hook
17.  Jab/Cross (step Forward While Throwing Cross) Right Spinning Back Kick to Body/ Right Hook/Right Hook

The Walking Dead Season 3 E3: Walk With Me (Part 1)

If you have not read my review of episode two, you may do so here: The Walking Dead Season 3 E2: Sick (Part 2)

This episode has an interesting beginning.  We see a military helicopter under attack (or simply damaged).  It goes down and crashes.  Andrea and Michonne witness the crash and go to check it out.  While at the crash site, some vehicles show up.  A group of men check out the wreckage and take out some walkers while they are at it.  The men hear the noise coming from Michonne’s walkers so she cuts their heads off.

As the men start to leave, someone walks up behind Andrea and Michonne.  It’s Merle!  He hasn’t been seen since the first season (except for in a hallucination), no one even knew if he was alive or not.  It looks like the reunion might be cut short as there is a walker coming up behind him.  The camera zooms out to reveal that he stabbed it in the head with his knife hand.  Looks like he found a way to make his arm useful after losing his hand.  Andrea passes out.

We catch a glimpse of Andrea in a vehicle, in and out of consciousness.  We also catch glimpses of Merle, a city, armed guards.  Wherever she is, they treat her with medicine and nurse her back to good health.  Merle tells her how the city people found him and in return Andrea explains what became of everyone in the group.  Merle is fishing for a “thank you” for the shelter and medicine.  When Andrea doesn’t catch on he start to get angry and aggressive.

Andrea thanks Merle, which calms him down.  Merle then goes and talks to the Governor about something but we can’t hear it.  Though everyone here seems to be helping these total strangers, something doesn’t feel right.  Plus they did take Merle in as a permanent member of the town, so their morals are probably questionable at best.  The Governor speaks with Andrea and Michonne, he says they are free to leave in the morning if they wish.  They aren’t prisoners, merely guests.  Somehow, I don’t believe that.

The Governor shows Andrea and Michonne around the town of Woodbury.  The city is gated, protected by armed men at all times.  We find out there are over 70 people in town.  This society works because the Governor has strict rules and everyone obeys them.  No one is allowed out after dark, noise has to be kept down.  In a world like this one would have to have strict rules in order to survive.  One person doing something stupid could get everyone killed.

It will be interesting to see how this town really functions from day to day when they aren’t trying to impress guests.  I would also like to know what happens if someone does disobey the Governor.

Full Metal Alchemist E4: A Forger’s Love

If you have not read my review of episode 3, you may do so here: Full Metal Alchemist E3: Mother…

We open on Ed and Al burning down their house and boarding a train, to begin the journey of becoming a state alchemist.  Winry and her grandma didn’t want them to go but they didn’t listen.  These boys are focused on getting their bodies back.  They managed to stop a mugger and are then told about a town where the dead come back to life.  This news is particularly interesting to them for obvious reasons.

Our heroes find out about a man who might be able to perform human transmutations.  On their way to find him they get beat up by some kids, due to them not being used to their new bodies yet.  After finding Majhal, he tells them not to mess with human alchemy.  He also states that he knows their father.

One of the little kids from earlier had a sister who was killed by a ghost.  She attempts to run away but Ed and Al manage to stop her in her tracks using alchemy.  She tells them about her dead sister.  Majhal tells the story of the “ghost”, she died falling off of a cliff.  Majhal is able to stop the ghost.

Back at Majhal’s house, Ed hears a noise.  It’s the same noise that the ghost was making.  Ed and Al discover his secret.  Majhal has been making dolls into life by using the souls of girls he has killed.  He is trying to bring his long lost love back to life.  She supposedly died when she fell off of a cliff.

In reality, Karin (his lost love) had merely lost her memory in the accident.  For twenty years she didn’t know who she was but her memory later returned.  Majhal refuses to believe her.  He refuses to believe this wrinkled woman could be his beautiful Karin.  Majhal fights Ed and ends up passing away.  During his death he looks past the real Karin, to his dolls, who have the beauty of youth.  He loves his fantasy more than the real thing.

Mission: Impossible 3

The Mission Impossible movies have always been interesting in that each film has a completely different feel to it.  While all of the movies take place in the same universe, the directors have been free to interject their own unique style to each one.  The thought is interesting but I haven’t always been a fan of the execution (Mission Impossible 2).  Mission Impossible 3 brings us a movie from the mind of J.J. Abrams, who I think is a bit overrated, but makes interesting enough movies.

I’m not going to give anything major away since there are a lot of twists and turns in the film and I don’t want to spoil any of them.  Mission Impossible 3 is a fairly standard action movie, it’s not great but it isn’t terrible either.  It’s mostly just a movie to watch if you have nothing else to do and want to kill some time.  You won’t be spending the hours after it is over on pondering about the movie or anything deep.  I will say it got better as it went on.

If you are looking for action scenes, martial arts, guns, stunts, etc. check it out, it’s worth watching.  As far as where this one ranks among the others ones, I like the first one the best, then this one and lastly the second one (I haven’t seen the 4th one yet but it is supposed to be very good).

Cung Le vs Rich Franklin

Cung Le (8-2) vs Rich Franklin (29-6)

Cung Le:  Cung Le is the former Strikeforce middleweight champ.  Coming from San Shou, a kickboxing style that allows takedowns and throws, Cung Le has a very unique background than most MMA fighters these days.  Having gone undefeated in kickboxing and moving to MMA later in his career (he is almost 41), Cung Le has only really ever been a part time mixed martial artist.  He often takes off well over a year in between fights due to his movie schedule.

Don’t let any of this fool you though, Cung Le is a very dangerous fighter and one you have to prepare especially for.  No one walks into a fight with him without studying his game in great detail.  Armed with deadly kicks and tricky combos, one wrong move by his opponent and it’s game over.  Cung also has great takedowns and takedown defense.  He has only lost two MMA fights in his whole career, both to guys known for hitting hard and both after he had gassed out (both fights were taken after he had been out of the ring for well over a year as well).

Rich Franklin:  Rich Franklin is the former ufc middleweight champ.  Armed with his excellent conditioning, Rich has defeated many fighters no one thought he had a chance against.  Though he can fight on the ground, his bread and butter is his stand up game.  He isn’t known for being a power puncher but he does own some KO’s on his record.  He usually manages to avoid his opponents onslaught while striking back, taking over the fight more and more as it goes on.

There is no doubt Rich has faced off against the much tougher competition in his MMA career having faced Dan Henderson, Wanderlei Silva x 2, Anderson Silva x 2, Chuck Liddell, etc.  When it comes to experience, Rich has it.  Cung Le has fought some tough guys also, just not as often or as many as Rich.

The Fight:  Both Cung Le and Rich Franklin have been alternating wins and losses lately, both are also due for a loss if their standard pattern keeps up.  I think Cung Le is the superior stand up fighter, I also think he has better wrestling.  Rich Franklin is the bigger fighter (having recently been fighting at light heavyweight) and he for sure has the better cardio.  I think the level of conditioning could decide this fight.

If the fight ends in the first two rounds, I think it’s from Cung Le finishing Rich with some devastating kick to the body, head, arm, you name it.  After the first two rounds I just see Rich Franklin taking over more and more.  Both guys have the ability to finish this but it really just depends on how they show up.  This is Rich’s first fight back at 185lbs in a while so it will be interesting to see how he handles the weight cut.  This is also the first time in a while that Cung Le has not taken a really long layoff in between fights.

Result:  Cung Le by KO in rounds 1 or 2 or Rich Franklin by TKO stoppage in the later rounds.  It should be an excellent fight and I am looking forward to it!

The Walking Dead Season 3 E2: Sick (Part 2)

If you have not read part 1, you may do so here: The Walking Dead Season 3 E2: Sick (Part 1)

The prisoners end up being idiots.  They completely ignore everything Rick had told them and just rush the walkers.  Not only do they waste tons of energy attacking them to the body and blindly rushing in, they also break formation, leaving them all vulnerable.  At least Rick may not have to kill these guys, they will get themselves killed at this rate.  Back in his cell, Hershel is still out.  Carl went off on his own and gathered much needed medical supplies, even though it just got him in trouble with his mom.

Rick and the gang are still out killing zombies.  He once again tells them you have to destroy the brain and they have to stay in a tight formation, no more prison riot crap.  Everyone does much better this time, except for “Tiny” who runs off by himself and gets bit by a walker.  They tell him there is nothing they can do, he will turn into a walker now.  While everyone is debating on how to deal with this situation, the leader of the prison gang murders Tiny.  There is no way they can be safe with this guy around, he just killed someone he lived with for 10 months without any concern.

While walking through the hallway, Rick and Daryl talk about having to kill the prisoner’s leader if he makes one wrong move.  They come to the next section of the prison and Rick tells their leader to open one of the doors so they can funnel the zombies through and take them out.  He opens both doors anyway, creating total chaos.  During the fight with the zombies, the prisoner’s leader not only takes a swing at Rick with his knife (while also swinging at a walker) but he pushes a walker on Rick as well.  Daryl kills the walker and helps Rick up, giving him a nod.

The prisoner’s leader makes an excuse, though it’s obvious he meant to do it.  Rick takes his machete and slams it down on his head, killing him instantly.  Rick doesn’t play around anymore.  The other prisoner who worked with the one who just died comes at Rick but he stops him with a sidekick.  He runs off but Rick chases him down.  The prisoner makes it outside but the area is filled with zombies.  Rick shuts the gate on him and tells him that he better run.  Rick walks away and all we hear are screams.

Rick goes back to where he left everyone else at and decides to kill the remaining two prisoners, but one of them begs for his life.  He says he isn’t like those other guys.  Rick has mercy and takes them to their own cell block, where they can live in safety.  Meanwhile, Lori saves Hershel’s life giving him CPR.  Rick and the rest come back and find Hershel waking up.  It looks like Hershel is going to make it.

The episode ends with Carol practicing a C section on a walker while Rick and Lori have talk.  Rick says he doesn’t think Lori is a bad Mother (but he didn’t say she was a good wife).  Lori makes a joke about hiring a lawyer and getting a divorce.  Rick is starting to get to a point to where he can forgive her it seems.  He puts his hand on her shoulder and says everyone is grateful for what she did (saving Hershel), then walks off without looking at her.  Lori puts her head on her own shoulder, touching where Rick had touched her.  It was a very small moment but apparently it’s the most he has given her in a long time.

Full Metal Alchemist E3: Mother…

If you have not read my review of episode 2, you may do so here: Full Metal Alchemist E2: Body of the Sanctioned (Part 2)

Ed and Al are at the library talking about Cornello’s fake philosopher’s stone.  Al finds an introduction to alchemy book which leads to a flash back of them first using alchemy to make Winry a doll.  The process terrifies her.  It’s explained to Winry that Ed and Al were just trying to do something nice for her and everything is okay.  Outside, the boys talk to their Mother, who is curious as to when their Father taught them alchemy.  They said they didn’t learn it from him, but from a book.  It’s amazing they can understand it at their age.

Ed and Al retrace their journey of learning alchemy.  Competing with each other and trying to impress their Mother.  They head over to Winry’s home, only to find her crying.  Her parents have been killed.  Ed starts talking about human transmutation, trying to bring someone back to life but he is shut down quickly as it is a forbidden form of alchemy.  Ed and Al head home and hug their Mother while crying (thinking about the possibility of losing her).

Sometime later, Ed and Al are running and playing.  They come home and find their Mother collapsed on the floor.  The Doctor says this isn’t something new, she had been sick for a long time and had just hiding it from them.  They talk to her while she is in bed and she dies in front of them.  They come to realize that the reason their alchemy always made her smile was because it reminded her of their Father.  They find a stack of letters from their Father from various locations and decide if they send something to each place, someone will get the information to him and he will come home.

After studying their Father’s notes and hiring a teacher, Ed and Al try to perform a human transmutation to bring their Mother back to life.  Something goes terribly wrong and Al’s body is destroyed after being pulled into some sort of gateway with black hands coming out of it.  Ed loses both his arm and his leg during the process but did manage to attach Al’s soul to a suit of armor.  Al carries Ed’s severely damaged body to Winry’s home to try and save his life. Colonel Mustang shows up (following the letter to their Father) because he knows how talented these boys are and wants them in the military.

Ed decides to meet with Mustang and try to join the military, because of their funding and access to research no one else has.  Winry attaches Ed’s automail, which is a very painful process.  Ed and Al decide to do some martial arts training to test out their new bodies and see what they can do.  While training, Ed says he wants to return them to their original bodies.  That is now his goal in life.  Before leaving to start their new journey, the boys burn down their old home and with it, the painful memories of their past.

The Walking Dead Season 3 E2: Sick (Part 1)

If you have not read my review for the last episode, you may do so here: The Walking Dead Season 3 E1: Seed (Part 2)

This episode begins exactly where the last one ended.  Hershel’s leg has just been chopped off and the prisoners have been spotted.  Rick and the gang really don’t even have time to deal with the prisoners because they are still trying to save Hershel’s life.  After a very brief standoff, they open the door and kill the walker on the other side, rolling Hershel out on a table.  It will be interesting to see how these prisoners come into play.  They are obviously criminals or they wouldn’t be there in the first place, but can they help the group or are they just another enemy?

As our survivors make their way through the dark prison hallways, they take out some walkers and then hear something coming up from behind them.  The prisoners have left their room and are following them.  Still trying to save Hershel, they get him back to C block while Daryl stays outside of the block to confront the prisoners.  Hershel is bleeding badly and they are doing everything they can to stop the bleeding.

Outside the cell block, things are not going well between Daryl and the prisoners.  T-Dog also shows up for backup.  The prisoners have no idea what is going on.  They don’t know the world as they knew it has ended.  Everything is explained to them but the leader of the prisoners wants the prison for himself.  After taking them outside to show them what they said about the walkers is true they come to an agreement.

Things are tense but in exchange for half of the food the prisoners have, Rick and his gang will help the prisoners clear out a cell block for themselves. With how standoffish this prisoner leader is, it doesn’t sound like this will go well at all.  The guy reaches for his gun every time voices are raised.  Rick isn’t playing around anymore though, he tells him straight out, if he sees him out in the courtyard, anywhere near his people, he will kill him.

The small amount of food the prisoners have ends up being a very large amount of food.  The prisoners try to change the deal and just give them a little bit of food but Rick isn’t having any of it.  Rick tells them again, the deal is for half the food.  Back at C block the women continue to work on Hershel.  Maggie doesn’t think he will make it but Glenn comforts her.  Rick and T-Dog brings some food back to C block and tells Glenn to take his handcuffs and cuff Hershel (he is stable, but if he dies he will become a walker).

Rick talks to Lori about the situation.  He says this deal with the prisoners may not work, and if it doesn’t he will have to kill them.  Lori agrees but Rick says this is what she did last time (referring to what happened with Shane).  Lori admits she is a bad wife and mother but tells Rick to do what he has to in order to keep the group safe.  Rick gives close combat weapons to the prisoners and explains that guns make too much loud noise, which attracts the walkers .  He also explains that you have to take out their brains if you want to kill them.

Maggie wants to talk to Hershel alone.  She tells him he doesn’t have to fight anymore, that they will be okay.  Hershel isn’t awake but she doesn’t know if she will ever be able to talk to him again, so this might be her only chance to thank him for all he has done.

Full Metal Alchemist E2: Body of the Sanctioned (Part 2)

If you have not read the first part of this review, you may do so here: Full Metal Alchemist E2: Body of the Sanctioned (Part 1)

When we left off, Al had just saved Rose from Cornello’s monster.  Al tells Rose a little bit about alchemy and she asks him about his mother.  With his mother being a sensitive topic for obvious reasons, he changes the subject without answering.  Elsewhere, Al is still chained up.  He gets Cornello to admit he is a fake.  Cornello starts bragging but isn’t aware that Al and Ed set up a recorder.  Everything Cornello just said has been broadcast to the entire town.

Cornello attempts to fight Ed but ends up running away.  Outside all of the town’s people have shown up, confused and angry over what they have just heard.  Has Cornello really been playing them for fools this whole time?  They want answers and they want them now!  Cornello, being quick on his feet, makes up a lie.  He says that they faked his voice and to prove what he says is true, he brings the statues from earlier alive again.

Not one to be outdone, Ed brings the sun god statue to life in front of everyone.  Cornello collapses and we find out his philosopher’s stone is a fake.  The stone shatters before their very eyes.  Rose is angry because Ed crushed her/the town’s illusions.  Even if it was all a lie, at least Cornello gave them hope, according to Rose.  Ed tells her to go off on her own, she doesn’t have to stay in this town.

Cornello speaks to the mysterious woman again, who is named Lust.  Her partner, Gluttony, eats Cornello after she reveals this town is just a trap to lure in alchemists.  Still wanting to keep the game going, another partner, Envy, will take the form of Cornello and continue his work.  Al tells Rose not to make the same mistakes him and Ed made and gives her a little bit of their back story.

The Wolverine: NOT a Prequel

This is some interesting news.  I had just assumed it took place many years ago. More importantly than when it takes place, I just want it to be good.  About half of the X-Men movies have been next to unwatchable, it would be nice to see a good one.

“Where this film sits in the universe of the films is after them all, Jean Grey is gone, most of the X-Men are disbanded or gone, so there’s a tremendous sense of isolation for him.”

“That’s something that for me was very important, that I land in a very specific place in his timeline, I wanted to be able to tell the story without the burden of handing it off to a film that already exists and having to conform to it. The ideas of immortality reign very heavily in this story and the burden of immortality weighs heavily on Logan. For me that’s such an interesting part of Logan’s character that is nearly impossible to explore if you have a kind of league or team movie.” – director James Mangold

Marc Webb on Jamie Foxx, Electro and The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Some interesting casting news from The Amazing Spider-man 2.  It looks like Jamie Foxx with be playing the villain Electro.  With the choice of villains in this new Spider-man series, it has taken a much more science fiction type feel than the previous Spider-man series.  I’m not so sure about Jamie Foxx being Electro but you never know, he might do a good job.  I’m sure the character will be very different than the yellow and green spandex version from the comics.

“I think Jamie Foxx is electrifying!  I think Jamie Foxx is one of the best actors around today. He’s such a great character actor and he’s a really brilliant guy. I would love to work with him and you’ll be hearing more on that shortly, I’m sure.”

“I like Electro, I’m fascinated by Norman Osborn and the different inflections of him. And Harry. Mary Jane and Gwen are always interesting to me.”

“What makes villains interesting to me is what they bring out in Peter, What challenges they provide for him. What’s great about Marvel and other comics is that often there’s a pre-existing relationship… It’s not just about the physical conflict he has, but the emotional ones as well.”

“What’s exciting about moving forward is that, in the first movie, I had to still honor some of the important elements of the origin story, But I also wanted to redefine the context of it because I’m building a different universe than what we’ve seen before. A lot of the nuance is quite different. Now, as we’re approaching the sequel, it’s really exciting because I feel quite liberated. I have a universe that’s my own. I don’t have an obligation to the origin story. It’s pretty fun and exciting and I can dig deeper into the parents.” -Marc Webb

The Walking Dead Season 3 E1: Seed (Part 2)

If you have not read the first part of this review, you may do so here: The Walking Dead Season 3 E1: Seed (Part 1)

Rick wants to clear the prison in the morning.  Since the prison looks like it fell early, it could be a gold mine.  Weapons, food, medicine, anything could be in there.  Due to limited ammo (and noise) they will have to do it hand to hand.  The risk is worth it, especially since the prison is divided up into sections.  They already have a safe area so they can just continue to spread out from there.

Lori attempts to talk Rick out of trying to take the prison so soon.  Everyone is tired and finally feels relatively safe, she wants to put this off for a few days but Rick shuts her down quickly.  They are obviously having some problems in their relationship but Rick doesn’t want to deal with them right now.  He says he is doing things right now (to protect her and everyone else), that should be enough.

We meet Andrea and Michonne again.  Nothing much happens except Michonne kills some walkers.  Back at the prison the survivors move in to take the prison using close combat weapons and tactics.  This is smart, everyone is fighting as a group, not just running around randomly.  They run into some interesting zombies here, wearing body armor, which makes them very hard to kill…it also makes me wonder how they got bit in the first place.

Rick wants to make sure there are no blind spots, they can’t risk a zombie attack.  Rick says they need to go into the prison and clear it.  During this process they find some keys to one of the prison blocks on a dead guard.  After clearing the block, they now have a very safe place.  It’s sectioned off, so not only do they have cells but there is a large cell door blocking off that entire section.  This is about as safe from walkers as you can get.

We cut back to Andrea and Michonne again.  They are hiding in some building and all we find out about them is that Andrea is apparently very sick.  Lori wants to talk to Hershel alone.  She is worried about the baby dying and becoming a walker inside of her, or her dying during child birth and attacking everyone.  Hershel tells her not to think like that, then she mentions what is really stressing her out.  Carl won’t talk to her and Rick hates her.  Hershel just says they will get over it in time.

Several of the group members move to clear more of the prison, while the rest are safe in C block (the area they cleared out).  After running into some walkers they get separated from each other.  While Hershel is looking for the others he steps over a zombie he thinks is dead and it bites his leg.  The others find him and act quickly to move him to a relatively safe place and chop his leg off (to keep the virus from spreading).  This is a brutal scene and actually happened in the comic books as well, except to Dale, not Hershel.  After cutting off Hershel’s leg, everyone looks up to see some prisoners in the room with them.

This certainly makes things interesting.  Will Hershel live or die?  Who are these prisoners?  Are they friends or new enemies?

Full Metal Alchemist E2: Body of the Sanctioned (Part 1)

If you have not read my review for episode 1, you may do so here: Full Metal Alchemist E1: Those Who Challenge the Sun (Part 2)

Cornello mocks Ed and Al for their failure to bring back their Mother.  This is a pretty heartless guy!  Ed and Al only want the philosopher’s stone to fix their bodies, not to perform another human transmutation.  Using alchemy, Cornello creates a gun and fires on Ed, who is able to defend himself by creating a wall just in the nick of time.  Ed may be stronger than Cornello thought, so he orders the town’s people to attack our heroes.

While this is going on, Cornello takes Rose to see her boyfriend (Cornello has been raising him from the dead).  Her boyfriend is behind a curtain but it sounds like him.  The strange thing is, there are feathers everywhere surrounding the bed.  Cornello promises that his body will be ready soon.

Ed and Al get beat up by some living statues, another miracle from Cornello.  They wake up back at Cornello’s, in prison.  Rose brings Ed some food.  Later that night, Cornello is having a nightmare.  He dreams about a giant snake and wakes up to find the mysterious woman from earlier in his room.  Whoever this woman is, she obviously knows more about all of this than anyone else.

Rose sneaks back into her boyfriend’s room, just wanting to see him again.  The curtain blows back to reveal a giant parrot, made from many other birds.  It was only mimicking her boyfriend’s voice.  Cornello is one sick man!  It makes one wonder what his plan was, because obviously he would have to show her eventually.  Was he going to try and make it’s body look human too?  Who knows?

Cornello catches Rose and says she has betrayed him.  He traps her in the room for the giant parrot to kill.  Luckily for Rose, Al shows up and saves her from Cornello’s twisted creations.  This one was of the most crazy scenes I have ever seen in anything.  Cornello has some power, no doubt, but he is twisted and obviously not concerned with hurting others.  How is he able to combine these animals?  Perhaps we will find out in the next review!

The Walking Dead Season 3 E1: Seed (Part 1)

If you have not read my review of the season 2 finale, you may do so here: The Walking Dead Season 2 E13: Beside The Dying Fire

Here we go, season 3!  This season starts with a bang.  We find our survivors, looking older and more hardened.  They break into a house and take out several walkers.  Lori comes through the door looking very pregnant, so some major time has passed since season 2 ended.  They are raiding the house for supplies when Carl comes across some dog food.  Rick sees it and throws it.  He is upset at how they are living and what they have become.

T-Dog is keeping watch and spots several zombies outside heading towards the house.  The group heads out to their vehicles and make a clean getaway.  They are apparently trying to avoid situations like at the farm.  We find out they have been living like this for all of winter and have been mapping the movements of the herds to avoid them.  There is a chance some of the herds will run into each other making it difficult to travel to certain areas.

I like how this season is going so far.  Skipping some time is a cool idea, as is making them more battle hardened and using strategy to get things done.  Carl is even useful now, taking out several walkers all by himself without thinking twice about it.  This group has pulled together under Rick’s leadership and are better for it.  Their goal is to find a permanent place to stay and build a real life, not always running and being afraid.

As luck would have it, when Daryl and Rick go hunting, they discover a prison (seen at the end of season 2).  It has multiple layers of fencing, gates, walls, watchtowers, it’s perfect.  The only problem is it’s filled with walkers at every level.  They figure the prison must have fallen early, as the walkers all seem to be prisoners and police.  They have been trapped in there the whole time.

Rick decides to cut through the first fence (wiring it back shut).  He has to travel to the second area and lock the gate, giving them at least one safe section to stay in.  He runs his way through the walkers in the courtyard and closes the gate while the rest of the survivors shoot the walkers and help keep Rick safe.  They manage to clear the zombies out.  For the first time since the farm they now have a safe place to stay, they can even plant crops in this area so they have food.

Fedor: Undisputed King of MMA Review (Part 2)

If you have not read Part 1 of my book review, you may do so here: Fedor: Undisputed King of MMA Review (Part 1)

Picking up where we left off from the clinch, we now move to takedowns and throws.  These are different than wrestling based takedowns most wrestlers are used too.  Fedor is a master of Judo and Sambo.  He shows lots of throws in his book but he also mentions how to set them up with other throws or strikes.  When you combo some of these together it makes them that much harder to stop.  Another good thing about most of these takedowns is that you are left in an advantageous position.  You don’t have to follow someone down to the ground where you can be submitted.  These takedowns usually leave you standing over you opponent, free to reign down strikes.

Next we come to the ground game.  Fedor covers most of the main positions and how to escape them.  Like with the throws, he strings moves together, so if one fails you can immediately move to the next.  This method greatly increases your chance of success.  This is not a grappling only section, he will show you how to pass a guard using strikes to set up a guard pass.

I’ve read a lot of material on MMA, Jiu-jitsu and so on, and these moves are pretty simple yet very effective.  If someone would take the time to drill and perfect all of these techniques and never learned anything else, they would still be a very dangerous and well rounded fighter.  Something else interesting about many of these techniques are that they come from Sambo/Judo instead of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu or wrestling, so many people may not be used to these particular variations.  You might be able to take people at your martial art gym by surprise with some of these.

I highly recommend this book.  You will learn all sorts of interesting variations of moves you have probably never seen, get some philosophy behind why he does things a certain way, and will learn how to string techniques together.  The only real thing missing from this book is some coverage of how Fedor actually trains.  There is no mention of how much he runs, lifts weights, spars, etc.  A conditioning section would have been nice but perhaps we will see some of that in the future.

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs Fabricio Werdum II Announced

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (34-7-1) and Fabricio Werdum (16-5-1) will square off for a second time after coaching the next season of the Ultimate Fighter Brazil.  They last met in Pride in 2006, where Big Nog won a decision over Werdum.  Back then Werdum didn’t have very good stand up and Big Nog tore him up on the feet during the first round, knocking him down multiple times.

This time around I think things will look very different.  Both fighters are close in age, but Big Nog has a lot of mileage on him.  He has been finished several times, had multiple serious illnesses/injuries and just looks slower and older.  Werdum on the other hand looks better now than he ever has.  His stand up has improved dramatically over the years and his ground game has always been amazing.  I think Werdum can put Nog away this time, at worst he wins a decision and avenges his loss.  Nog’s only real chance is if he just lands some great punch and puts Werdum away.

Star Wars Episode 7 Coming in 2015

Disney has bought Lucasfilm for slightly over $4 billion and has announced plans for Star Wars Episode VII (and more films after that).  No word has yet been given on how long after Episode VI this movie will take place or if any of the previous characters will be returning.

I didn’t see this coming.  I didn’t think Lucas would part with his film studio or hand over Star Wars to anyone else since he is known for being such a control freak.  It will be interesting to see when this takes place, who is in it, who is writing it and who is directing it.  If they take it in the right direction, we could end up with some great movies, if not, at least they probably won’t be worse than the prequels.

The Walking Dead Season 2 E13: Beside The Dying Fire

If you have not read my review for episode 12, you may do so here: The Walking Dead Season 2 E12: Better Angels (Part 2)

We open on a group of zombies who start following a helicopter flying overhead.  The group grows larger and larger as time passes.  We come to find out that this group of zombies is the same group we saw at the end of the last episode, the ones on their way to attack the farm.  Daryl is talking to the group and tells them that Shane was with Randall, not tracking him as he had claimed.

Carl asks Rick what happened (with Shane), when Rick is about to answer they see the zombies heading their way!  Not having time to make it back to the house for shelter, they decide to lure the walkers into the barn…and set it on fire to take some of them out.  Everyone in the house arms up and gets into the vehicles.  With their firepower and speed they drive around taking out as many walkers as possible.  It’s good to see them taking the action to the walkers for once and not just being defensive.

We finally get to see Jimmy, the guy who is always just in the background and never really says or does anything.  We soon find out why.  He brings the RV by to pick up Rick and Carl, only to have the door pushed in and get eaten by walkers.  It’s a good thing they never brought this guy along on the missions, he can’t even stay alive for two minutes when he has to do something!  Hershel on the other hand manages to kill about a million zombies all by himself, this is a man you do want with you!

Most of the important characters escape the farm but in the process are separated from each other.  Each group makes the decision to try and meet up with everyone else.  They all decide the highway is the place to go to find everyone else.  Rick and Hershel are there first and make the decision that the highway just isn’t safe anymore.  Just as they are about to leave, everyone else shows up.  After figuring out who is missing or dead, they leave to find a safe place to stay.

Andrea is running in the woods, still trying to escape from the walkers.  She manages to kill a few of them before being about ready to give up.  Just then, a mysterious figure with a sword saves her.  Looks like we have a new character for season 3 (that comic book fans will recognize).  Back on the road, Rick’s vehicle runs out of gas, they are going to have to find a permanent safe place.  They are tired of running and always being afraid.

After they have stopped a found a place for the night, Daryl mentions Randall to the group.  He says that Shane killed him and he has no idea how he could have turned into a walker.  Rick tells them that they are all infected!  Jenner had told him at the season 1 finale.  The group is angry and feeling hopeless, because Rick didn’t tell them, and what it means.  Jenner was crazy, there was no way Rick could have known if what he was saying was true or not, so Rick probably did the right thing.

Rick and Lori have a private talk, he tells her that he killed Shane.  She backs off away from him and is angry.  Lori makes no sense at all.  One minute she is trying to talk Rick into killing Shane, then when he does in self-defense, she is angry.  I wish she would hurry up and become walker food.  Rick gets tired of everyone’s crap and takes charge.  He declares it is his group and if they stay, they will do things his way.  He says he killed his best friend for these people.  Looks like Rick won’t be taking anymore crap in season 3!