Fullmetal Alchemist Episode 6: The Alchemy Exam

If you have not read my last review, you may do so here:  Fullmetal Alchemist Episode 5: The Man with the Mechanical Arm

Ed brags about being able to pass the state alchemist exam.  Colonel Mustang sends Ed and Al to stay with the sowing life alchemist, Mr. Tucker.  Mr. Tucker apparently used alchemy to create a chimera that can speak, which is supposed to be impossible.  To help Ed and Al study for his exam, Tucker shows them his library full of alchemy books.  This is an amazing sight to the boys who want to learn as much as possible.

The boys gets started in their studies right away.  One of the advantages of becoming a state alchemist is that Ed and Al will have access to many more books in the military library.  After the boys play with Tucker’s daughter we find out that it is Edward’s birthday.  Hughes throws him surprise party that ends up being more of a surprise than anyone expected!

Hughes’ wife goes into labor!  Ed uses alchemy without a circle while taking care of Hughes’ wife.  This isn’t supposed to be possible.  After some time, the Doctor finally arrives and the baby is born.  Ed and Al talk about their Mom and Al becomes sad because he isn’t human anymore.  Even though he doesn’t have a human body, Al still has human emotions.

The boys pass the written part of the exam.  Everything seems to be going well when Colonel Mustang gives the boys some bad news.  Al has to drop out of the exam so the military doesn’t find out the truth about him and his past.  Ed comforts him by saying that only one of them needs to be in the military and have access to the library.  Ed moves on without Al and takes the second part of the exam, an interview.

Ed passes the interview as well and moves on to the final test.  The final test is all of the candidates who are left using their alchemy out in the open.  Something goes wrong during this and Ed ends up saving several of the other alchemists who’s projects went haywire.  It was noticed that Ed did this without the use of a circle, which was all the military needed to see in order to pass Ed with flying colors.

Thor vs Captain Marvel

Hey guys, you can check out some of the previous battles I have broken down here:
Iron Man vs Steel
Hulk vs Doomsday
Superman vs Goku

Thor:  God of Thunder, member of The Avengers, owner of the mystical hammer Mjolnir.  Thor is far beyond most superheroes in terms of power and strength.  Thor also has a bad temper and is arrogant.  While his temper can help him in battle, it can also lead him into making some unwise decisions that can put him in over his head from time to time.  Thor has varied a bit in the comics over the years, but at one point in time his secret identity was Donald Blake.  Blake carried a cane which was able to turn him into Thor when he slammed it on the ground.

Captain Marvel:  Similar to the Donald Blake version of Thor, Captain Marvel’s secret identity is Billy Batson.  He is a regular human child, but when he says the name Shazam he is transformed into Captain Marvel.  As Captain Marvel he has multiple abilities, like the strength of Hercules, the wisdom of Solomon, etc.  Captain Marvel is so powerful that he has even taken on Superman in the past and more than held his own.

The Fight:  This should be a tough fight for both of these characters.  Expect lots of lightening, hard punches and destruction to their surroundings.  Thor’s has the advantage of his hammer and his ability to control lightening.  Both are powerful weapons in battle.  Captain Marvel isn’t defenseless though, he also has access to a magical lightening bolt when he says “Shazam!”.  He also has the speed of Mercury and several other god-like abilities.  This is Captain Marvel’s biggest advantage, having the top attributes of six different god level beings.

The Winner:  This is a tough one to call.  At distance, Thor has the advantage because of his hammer.  Up close, Captain Marvel has several more high level abilities than Thor.  Thor has the advantage in experience but Captain Marvel is faster and can take a pounding.  Because of his highly diverse skill set, I am going with Captain Marvel in an extremely tough, close fight.

Jackie Chan Joins ‘Expendables 3′

“Sly had invited me to be in [The] Expendables 2 but I was too busy filming CZ12 and couldn’t make a commitment to the film, but he did extend his invitation to the third movie, which I agreed on the condition that I will be appearing as more than just a minor role with a few scenes.”

I seem to remember reading Jackie Chan just said he was retiring from action movies last week?  I guess he changed his mind, or perhaps he won’t be doing any dangerous stunts anymore is what he meant.  Either way, interesting addition to the Expendables franchise and one I didn’t see coming.

Aleksander Emelianenko Retires From MMA

Fedor’s brother, Aleksander Emelianenko, has announced his retirement from MMA:

Dear fans,
I want to thank you for your support, for having supported me in spite of all that they say about me. Unfortunately, I will not be able to perform in the ring because of health problems caused by old injuries. Of course, as an athlete it’s a hard time. I am grateful to my fans and partners for their support, for believing in me, and I am grateful to my detractors. Your attitude always made me move forward and achieve new things. I realise now I was hit by a barrage of accusations and criticisms, not directly related to my job. Unfortunately, there will always be people who want you in bad situations to score points. I don’t want to comment on anything, explain or justify. Each of us in life does good and does bad – that is our nature. I think I did a lot for the sport and I hope my example has drawn a lot of young people to the gym. Otherwise, God will judge us all, in time. Now I want to give the publicity away. I want to take care of my health, my family, which I lost, and my daughter, who I love very much. Perhaps I will see you again. Thank you! Be well and believe in God!
Your AE

Fullmetal Alchemist Episode 5: The Man with the Mechanical Arm

If you have not read my last review, you may do so here: Fullmetal Alchemist E4: A Forger’s Love

Edward is nervous as he calls Colonel Mustang.  Mustang tells him to take the earlier train into the city which forces Ed and Al to have to rush to make it.  It’s merely a test from Mustang.  After a misunderstanding with a child and being introduced to a few military people, terrorists take over the train.  The terrorists want their leader freed in exchange for letting the people on the train go.

Not being ones to stand by and do nothing, Ed and Al take out a couple of the terrorists but everyone else on the train thinks they should have just cooperated with them.  Well that’s gratitude for you, huh?  Ed heads to the top of the train while Al clears through it on the inside.  Both meet up with members of the military.  Edward takes out several of the terrorists.

Ed uses his alchemy to create a pipe going through a door the terrorists are using to protect themselves.  After the terrorists refuse to give up Ed floods the cabin with water using the pipe he created.  Only their leader, the man with the mechanical arm, is left.  Ed fights the man one on one, this is when Ed finds out this man also has an automail arm.  The terrorist says he used to work for the military as well but was kicked out when he received his mechanical arm.

Ed explains that they had completely different reasons for getting their automail arms.  Ed smashes the man’s mechanical arm and Al knocked him out.  At the train station, the terrorist escapes his confinement and attacks Colonel Mustang, only to be set on fire by him.  Mutang is the fire alchemist.  He didn’t kill the man, he only burned his skin a little.  We come to find out Mustang set this whole thing up for Ed and Al so they could be heroes and be able to take the military alchemy test.

Jamie Foxx on Electro Costume

“It won’t be green and yellow. It will be a different color. They (the producers) want something for the future. They want to have it more grounded and not as comic bookie, so it won’t be green and yellow. They want to try new things, like a liquid rubber and things like that, and there are all these bolts and stuff in my arms when they are hanging me upside down and trying to figure out what happen. How did he become this way? So, it will be some new stuff.  In the script, this villain is the first time it’s be written well. Andrew Garfield and Marc Webb both commented on how great the script is, so it should be an exciting time.”

If any villain needs a costume change before heading to the big screen, it’s Electro.  His suit is cheesy even for comic books.  It will be interesting to see what they come up with, it’s hard to end up with something worse.  But more so than Electro’s costume, I am worried there are going to end up being way too many characters in this film.  Hopefully they find a way to balance them all.

Joseph Kosinski on TRON 3

Joseph Kosinski, who directed Tron: Legacy, recently spoke about the third movie which now seems to be going forward.

“We’ve got an idea for the next movie that’s really exciting to me.  I mean, obviously, the only reason to go back would be if we could do something spectacular and really push the ideas forward that we had established in ‘Legacy.’ We have an idea and an approach and a way into it that I’m really excited about, and now it’s about execution on the level of the script. So working hard on that in the background, and hopefully that’ll all come together.”
“It’s still the same plan in that ‘Tron 3′ would deliver on the promises set up at the end of ‘Legacy’ in different ways. You look at what happened in the closing scenes of ‘Legacy’; I think it sets a clear direction for what could happen in the next chapter.”

Jonathan Nolan on Justice League and Batman

Jonathan Nolan (writer of The Dark Knight Trilogy and Man of Steel) recently spoke with Empire Magazine.  Here are some of the more interesting questions posed to him:

We have to ask about the Robin gag at the end. We’d always wondered how possible it would be to make that character work in this version of the Batman universe, and this has to have been the only way.


It is a little hard to imagine Robin working in that universe, so the idea had to be limited to that gag at the end. But Joe’s character is very important to the story. In any movie you need a character looking at proceedings the way you see them, and Joe’s character is that character for this film. One of my favourite scenes is when John tells Bruce how he knew he was Batman. It’s like that scene in The Prestige where the little kid sees through Christian’s trick. Little kids, they don’t have any illusions, they just see the truth of the situation. I feel there’s a kind of spiritual connection between the two movies there.

There are of course many other Batman characters that it would have been hard to imagine in these movies…


Yeah, like Clayface or, indeed, The Penguin. Part of what’s compelling about Chris’s take is the naturalism of it and I think that’s one of the things I loved about the Frank Miller comic books was that they were sort of urban, gritty vigilante stories first and formost. So everything had to stick within that universe. It’s hard to imagine [in these movies] any of the rogue’s gallery characters who have sort of a more supernatural or science-fiction bent to them. And I think that’s one of the aspects of Batman which are fascinating: in 70 years, the character has been sort of fully laundered. Because of writers and artists having every month coming up with a different story to tell with this character, there are often different genre aspects to it. You have your science-fictions, you’ve had fantasy elements along the way, horror, camp comedy… I mean there are so many different versions.

Are you curious about the plans for the Justice League movie, and seeing Batman in that very different context?


I’m incredibly excited. I was a big Batman fan when I was a kid. In fact he was the only comic-book character I really liked. I went through a brief spell where I was reading Captain Britain, because I was an English kid living in the States, and Wolverine for 30 seconds, Spider-Man too, but really Batman was the one. And I love that there are different versions of the character. I love that in the context of The Justice League, he’s kind of the black sheep of that family.

Speaking of supergroups, did you see Avengers?


I did. To me Joss Whedon is a god, I’m just a huge fan of his work, I love his work on TV. And I thought The Avengers was just an incredible achievement.

Garrett Hedlund Back For ‘Tron 3′

When asked about Tron 3 Gerrett Hedlund said:

“Are we gonna break this now?  Disney’s very excited.  That’s about that. You know, yeah, I’m very excited, Disney’s very excited.”

It will be interesting to see where they take the story in Tron 3.

Benedict Cumberbatch Is Not Khan In Star Trek Into Darkness

“I play a character called John and not that other name.It’s interesting. Speculation is speculation and that’s all fun.

“I play John Harrison who’s a terrorist and an extraordinary character in his own right. He’s somebody who is not your two-dimensional cookie cutter villain. He’s got an extraordinary purpose, and I hope that at one point or other in the film you might even sympathize with the reasons he’s doing what he’s doing — not necessarily the means and the destruction he causes. But it was a great ride, not just because he’s the bad guy and the antagonist but also because he has a purpose and it’s hard not to see his point of view at certain points.”

Not really sure where the whole Khan thing came from besides the one scene that resembles when Spock died in the international trailer.  This character looks nothing like Khan.

Alan Cumming Back as Nightcrawler?

If he has his way that will be the case in X-Men: Days of Future Past.  I liked his character in X-Men 2 so I wouldn’t mind seeing him return, though I seem to remember reading about there being a lot of fights between him and Director Bryan Singer on the set so I doubt it will happen.

“I haven’t gotten the call. Someone told me that Nightcrawler doesn’t appear in the story but I don’t know, I think they would have called by now. It was funny that film because I really like it and everyone really responded to Nightcrawler and enough time has elapsed that I would like to go back to it. Although then when I did that film it was sort of the start of this spate of superhero and comic books made into films so it felt a little more special then it does now. X2 was a really great film, not just as a comic book film. I think it’s one of the films I’d been in that I think of as really good.”

Martin Sheen Returns as Uncle Ben in The Amazing Spider-Man 2

“Well they called me back, I don’t know what the part’s going to be but I’m going to be Uncle Ben once again in Spider-Man next year. We shoot in February.” -Martin Sheen


Giving Uncle Ben some more screen time is a good idea.  They can always just have some flash back scenes with him to develop the character more and show why he was so important to Peter Parker.  I just hope they don’t pull a Spider-man 3 type of thing and involve Uncle Ben in Electro’s origin.

Samuel L. Jackson on Star Wars VII

“I’m not surprised but totally geeked by the idea of there being more ‘Star Wars’.  It’s like, okay, Obi-Wan was dead when episode four started, so maybe everyone thinks I’m dead and we’ll find out what happened to Mace Windu.”

On wanting to come back to the franchise:  “I can come back as one-armed or a one-handed Jedi that’s still around that didn’t actually die, I could do that or be a ghost hologram. I don’t care!  I just want to stay associated with the franchise. Not that I won’t, because I’ve been in three of them.”

On why he loves Star Wars:  “I just always loved it. I always loved the idea of it, that there’s this whole civilization out there somewhere else that’s just as much fun and different and diverse and wild as we are.”

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Anne Hathaway on a Catwoman Spin-Off

“No one’s talked to me about it, I would love it. I actually, it’s so embarrassing, I was at a press Q & A thing the other night for a screening of ‘The Dark Knight,’ and the moderator asked me, ‘So what was it like to say goodbye to the character?’ And I burst into tears, because I miss her. It just makes me cry. I miss her. I love Selena so much and I love her presence in my life and getting to… I’m crying again. So assuming there was enough Kleenex in the world, I would love to do a spin-off.”

I have to say, I hope they do not do this.  I would like Christopher Nolan’s Batman universe to be left alone.  They already wrapped up both Batman and Catwoman’s story at the end of The Dark Knight Rises.  Nothing else needs to be said.  Not to mention Catwoman was the only thing I didn’t really like about the film.

Jamie Foxx on Electro in The Amazing Spider-Man 2

It’s not much information but here it is:

“[He's a] genius electrician-type person, and he gets the short end of the stick from the whole world… [T]he next thing you know, he turns it on.”

Hopefully he will prove me wrong but I still can’t really get behind Foxx as Electro.  Electro himself needs a lot of changes made to be able to adapt him to the big scene because he is pretty lame so maybe they will come up with something worthwhile.

Fantastic Four Reboot Release Date

If you are not tired of reboots I have some good news for you.  Twentieth Century Fox Film has set a March 6, 2015 release date for director Josh Trank’s Fantastic Four reboot.  Josh Trank directed the movie Chronicle.  Michael Green and Jeremy Slater wrote the script for the reboot.

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Bryan Singer’s Surprise X-Men Announcement

Looks like we weren’t the only ones who were surprised when Bryan Singer announced Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen would be returning for Days of Future Past!

“Bryan let the cat out of the bag on Twitter and it included announcing that Sir Ian and myself were going to be in this movie. We are, you know, under contractual oath with 20th Century Fox to say nothing about any prospective X-Men movie including the old team. I use “old” advisedly. So it’s a kind of awkward position, because lovely Bryan Singer just blurted it all out there. For me the big thrill is knowing that Bryan Singer is attached to this movie, because not only is he a brilliant director, but also I adore him and hope that it might be true and that we do work together at some point in the future. But I’m not being coy. I know nothing about this project. And I’m hoping that might change in the future.”

“I don’t know that we’re doing it. I have not signed a contract yet. I know there is a project in development, but we have no dates. No detailed casting. Thrilled to hear that my dear friend and colleague Ian McKellen is on board, but I’m sorry, you know, you need to understand, I’m not being cute. I know nothing.”

Ian McKellen experienced the same: “I mean they talked to me about it and I said, ‘Wouldn’t it be fun if it happened’, and I didn’t hear any more, and then suddenly Bryan Singer tweets his friends and says, ‘I’m gonna make X-Men with Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen’, so that’s how I learned that I got the job!”

The Walking Dead Season 3 Episode 8: Made to Suffer (Part 2)

If you have not read the first part of this review, you may do so here:  The Walking Dead Season 3 Episode 8: Made to Suffer

Merle and some of his men come through the door to take Glenn and Maggie to the pits where they will be killed by zombies.  Things are not as easy as they expect though and Maggie jams a zombie bone through one of their necks.  Merle is about to finish off Glenn when Maggie points a gun at him.  Tides change quickly though as Merle’s men get the drop on Maggie.  Just when Glenn and Maggie are about to be executed Rick and his team bust in (they had heard all the noise from the fight) and save them both.

Through the man who was knocked out earlier, the Governor finds out what is going on.  He tells the town’s people everything is okay but with his close group he says they are under attack.  Rick and everyone else makes it to a building where they can game plan.  They don’t notice at first that Michonne stayed outside.  Glenn tells Daryl that Merle was the one who tortured him.  Daryl wants to find Merle but Rick says that he needs him in case they run into the Governor and his men.

Next we get a huge action scene.  It’s a shootout between the Governor’s men and Rick’s group.  During the gunfight the survivors lose Oscar but the Governor looks like he came out worse.  Several of his men went down.  In a cool little cameo, Rick looks up and sees Shane walking towards him.  He shoots him and checks the body, it’s not Shane.  It will be interesting to see if the imaginary version of Shane keeps showing up in the future or if it was a one time thing.

While talking about how much formula they have left, Carl hears a woman screaming.  He goes through the prison by himself and finds Tyreese and his group fighting walkers.  He leads them to safety but they still have to deal with their group member who was bit earlier.  Michonne has been waiting at the Governor’s apartment.  She hears a noise and finds Penny chained up in the weird room with all of the zombie heads in fish tanks.  She doesn’t know Penny is a zombie when she unhooks her chain.

After Michonne removes Penny’s hood and sees what she is, Michonne readies her sword.  The Governor walks in and pleads with Michonne not to hurt Penny.  He even drops his gun.  The Governor really is insane.  He is acting like his daughter is still alive and is even willing to give up his life for her.  Can you imagine this guy being your leader?  Who knows what kind of crazy decisions he has made in the past in an attempt to protect his zombie daughter.

Christopher Nolan on Man of Steel and Justice League

Christopher Nolan recently talked about the if there are similarities between his Batman films and the Superman reboot.

“Well, somewhat, but I wouldn’t want people to think we’re doing for Superman what we did for Batman.
“It’s very much Zack’s film and I think people are going to love what he’s done. I think it’s really remarkable to take on that character. Superman is a completely different character than Batman. So you can’t in anyway use the same template. But David Goyer had this, I thought, brilliant way to make Superman relatable and relevant for his audience. Zack has built on that and I think it’s incredible what he’s putting together. He’s got a lot of finishing to do on that. Superman is the biggest comic book character of them all and he needs the biggest possible movie version which is what Zack’s doing. It’s really something.”

When asked about a Justice League film and if he could take on a Joss Whedon like role: 

“Well, as I’ve said, and I’ll say definitively again, I am done with the Batman films, the trilogy is completed. It ended in the manner we had envisioned.”

Signs of Life for Terminator 5

Producer David Ellison has joined on for the next Terminator film.  Through his Skydance Film company, and partnership with Paramount Pictures, David Ellison has been involved with projects like Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Jack Reacher, Star Trek Into Darkness and G.I. Joe: Retaliation.  It will be interesting to see if he will attempt to reboot the franchise or if they will simply continue on where the other films left off.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is also doing action movies again.  Bringing him back for the iconic role could be just the boost the franchise needs to get people interested again.  How do you think the series should proceed?  If it should at all.  Terminator 5, Reboot?  Let me know in the comments.

The Walking Dead Season 3 Episode 8: Made to Suffer

If you have not read my last review, you may do so here:  The Walking Dead Season 3 Episode 7: When the Dead Come Knocking (Part 2)

Here we are, the mid season finale.  Last year at this time we had the really big surpirse of finding out Sophia had been dead all along.  It will be interesting to see what they come up with this year.  We have already had a lot of main character die this season so they may not go that route this time.

We open on a new group of survivors.  One is them is a man named Tyreese (who also appears in the comic books).  They are running from some walkers when one of them is bitten on the arm.  They come upon a broken down gate leading to a building with a smashed wall; it’s the prison.  We aren’t filled in on what happened but apparently the back of the prison has been exposed for some time.  This explains how some random, non-prison related walkers had been in the prison before Rick cleared it.

After a brief scene between the Governor and Andrea we get another reminder of just how crazy the Governor really is.  He lets his daughter Penny out again in another attempt to see if she can remember her past life.  It doesn’t work and she is just a raving mad zombie as always.  The Governor takes a huge risk with her every time he wants to play daddy.  One bite and he will be joining her.  I’m also not sure how Andrea never hears Penny moving around since she is locked up in the next room and Andrea is always there.

Glenn and Maggie are still being held in the same room as before.  After Glenn confirms that the Governor didn’t do anything to Maggie he comes up with a plan.  The walker he killed in the last episode is still laying there so he rips it’s arm off and makes weapons out of it’s bones.  Not a bad idea, now he and Maggie are armed and have a fighting chance against whomever (or whatever) walks through that door next.

Rick and his raid party sneak into Woodbury while we find out that the Governor doesn’t even want the prison.  The people of Woodbury like it there because it feels like their previous life.  Living in a prison would be out of place.  The Governor just wants to kill Rick’s group because he doesn’t want anyone else to have it apparently.  Merle makes it clear to the Governor that nothing happens to Daryl.

Unfortunately for a random member of Woodbury, he sees Rick and his group moving through a window and checks it out.  After being questioned (and knowing nothing) they knocked him out and leave him.  Back at the prison Axel starts to hit on Beth.  He has been locked up for a long time.  Carol takes him to the side and talks with him about it.  Axel thought Carol was a lesbian because of her short hair.  She quickly tells him she isn’t interested in him though.

The Walking Dead Season 3 Episode 7: When the Dead Come Knocking (Part 2)

If you have not read the first part of this review, you may do so here:  The Walking Dead Season 3 Episode 7: When the Dead Come Knocking

The survivors put together a group to raid Woodbury and get their people back.  Most of the weaker members stay behind at the prison.  Before leaving, Rick has a talk with Carl about what he had to do to his mom and Carl also names his sister Judith, after his third grade teacher.  The Governor takes Andrea to see the Doctor and a man named Mr. Coleman.  The Doctor is running an experiment to see if he can get walkers to remember their old lives (Mr. Coleman is on his deathbed and volunteered for this).

Merle brings a walker into the room with Glenn (who is beat up and taped to a chair) and lets it go.  Glenn manages to break the chair against the wall and uses the wood to stab the walker in the head.  Merle was right about one thing, Glenn is tough!  The Doctor and Andrea continue to wait for Mr. Coleman to die.  While waiting they talk.  The Doctor has lived a very sheltered life, in the past and now.  He has never seen anyone turn into a walker.

In a really creepy and intense scene, the Governor interrogates Maggie.  He makes her take her top off and pushes her down on a table.  If you have read the comics and know what happened to Michonne, things could have gone a lot worse.  The Governor doesn’t do anything to Maggie, he was just trying to get her to crack apparently.  Outside of Woodbury, Rick and his gang park their car so they can sneak up on the unsuspecting town.  They run into a lot of walkers but are not able to kill them all.

Rick and his group find a building.  They go inside and block the door to buy some time.  In a scene that doesn’t make a lot of sense, there is a man living in the building by himself.  This man pulls a gun on Rick and seems to think he can call the police.  How this crazy/drugged up guy could survive out in the middle of walker territory all this time, I have no idea.  Not to mention he is also living close to Woodbury.  They probably would have found him by now.  The man tries to open the front door so Michonne kills him.  Since he is already dead anyway, they throw him out the front door while everyone escapes through the backdoor.

The Doctor’s experiment fails and he is almost bitten by the zombie version of Mr. Coleman, but Andrea saves him.  Glenn and Maggie are reunited but things are not looking good for them.  Maggie gives up where the camp is to save Glenn, making Glenn’s previous sacrifice worthless.  Rick and the gang sneak up on Woodbury and start planning on how they are going to get in.  Andrea reports back to the Governor about the failed experiment.  He doesn’t seem very happy that it didn’t work.  It looks like he is probably trying to figure out a way to make his daughter remember who she was.

The Walking Dead Season 3 Episode 7: When the Dead Come Knocking

If you have not read my last review, you may do so here:  The Walking Dead Season 3 Episode 6: Hounded (Part 2)

Merle interrogates Glenn.  He wants to know where his brother Daryl is and where their camp is located.  Merle brings up the past (losing his hand), mocks T-Dog’s death and tortures Glenn to get the information he wants.  Maggie is in the next room and can hear everything that is going on.  Glenn remains tough through it all and even manages to break Merle’s nose (which just makes Merle even more angry).

Rick moves towards the prison gate and seems stunned by what he sees.  Michonne is at the gate, standing in the middle of several walkers, with a basket of supplies in hand.  They still can’t smell her due to the zombie guts that covered her in the last episode.  She touches her leg, where she was shot and puts her hand back on the fence.  The smell of her blood attracts the walker next to her.  She is attacked by tons of them but manages to fight them off for a while.  Due to the gun shot wound and loss of blood she passes out during the middle of the fight.

Rick and Carl take out the walkers closest to the gate.  They bring Michonne inside and lay her down in a safe part of the prison.  She doesn’t like when they take her sword from her or leave her locked in a room, but she has little choice in the matter.  Rick doesn’t know anything about her or if she is dangerous but he does say they will clean up her wound for her.  Daryl gets Rick and shows him Carol is still alive, they found her.  I thought this scene was a little weird as Rick and Carol had never really interacted much, besides Carol not trusting Rick at the end of season 2.  This scene makes it out like they are best friends.

After a brief scene where the Governor asks Andrea to do something for him (we don’t hear what) we cut back to the prison.  Michonne witnesses the reunion of Rick and Carol and sees that they have a baby at the prison.  Rick questions Michonne to see why she was carrying formula and how she knew where the prison was.  She tells Rick about seeing Glenn and Maggie get kidnapped and fills him in on Woodbury and the Governor.  She wants to sneak back in to rescue them.

We cut back to Merle telling Glenn how he is tougher than he thought.  Glenn is beaten up pretty badly at this point.  Glenn attempts to bluff Merle into thinking their forces are larger then his.  It may have worked except he mentioned Andrea being at the camp.  Since Andrea has been living in Woodbury, Merle knows Glenn is lying.  Back at the prison, Hershel stitches up Michonne while Carl stands guard.  Michonne thanks Hershel for helping her.

New Star Wars Trilogy: Directors for Episodes 7, 8, 9

From sources at the website Deadline: “I’ve also heard Jon Favreau is panting after this job, and even that David Fincher, who apparently worked for Lucas’s ILM in a menial job as a teen, might be game for one of these new films. Unfortunately, we are getting nothing out of Lucas Land on what they call speculation. I broke a story recently that Lawrence Kasdan and Simon Kinberg will write future Star Wars installments, most likely the second and third installments of the new trilogy, I’d heard. Lucas, through Disney, denied every speck of this, but I ran it anyway. They won’t comment or clarify these things because they want to announce it themselves on their own Twitter or website or whatever they’ve got.”

I think whatever director(s) end up getting the job, the studio just needs to make sure to keep the films somewhat consistent.  Every director has their own unique style but these are Star Wars films and need to be that first and foremost.  These films need to feel like Star Wars films.  Even George Lucas didn’t get this right with his new trilogy.  Throwing in characters like Jar Jar Binks (and later dropping C-3PO to his level) was just completely out of place and distracting.  Even the battle droids were given overly goofy voices for some reason.

Jon Favreau:  He could be an interesting choice.  With his past experience doing the Iron Man movies he obvious knows how to handle action scenes, a big budget and to some degree, multiple characters.  He does like to put a large amount of humor in his films, sometimes overly silly humor.  If he can be kept in check and not stray too much from the feel of the other Star Wars movies (or at least the original trilogy) I think he COULD do a good job directing one of the new movies.

David Fincher:  I seem to remember Fincher being interested in doing one of the films from the last trilogy, but Lucas ended up directing all of them (unfortunately).  Though his style is usually very dark, violent and sometimes overly sexual for no reason; if kept in check he could handle one of the darker films where everything goes wrong, like The Empire Strikes Back.  He seems to be a fan of Star Wars, so hopefully he could put his own agenda to the side and stay in line with the feel of Star Wars.  I don’t know if he is the best choice, but it would be interesting to see what he could do with one of these movies.

The Walking Dead Video Game with Norman Reedus & Michael Rooker

The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct will be available in 2013 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.  Of course we will have to wait and see what the game play looks like but having Norman Reedus and Michael Rooker voicing their characters of Daryl and Merle is a good start.  From the teaser it looks like the game is a prequel that will perhaps lead up to how Daryl and Merle made it to Atlanta in the first place.

This type of game (if done correctly) opens up a world of possibilities.  Games could be made based on the back stories of every popular character on the show, or even a mix of different characters showing how they got to where we first saw them.  Most of the characters on the show, with the exception of Rick, haven’t really had much of their back story given at this point so the sky is the limit.  Daryl and Merle are such popular characters, with shady pasts, so a game about them could work even if it starts before the zombie outbreak.
 

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New TV Spot for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Highlander Reboot Drops Director + Why Ryan Reynolds Should Not Be Hired!

Director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (28 Weeks Later) has been dropped from the Highlander reboot due to creative differences between the studio and himself.  In even more disturbing news, Ryan Reynolds has been hired to play the lead in the film, immortal Connor MacLeod.

Why movie studio keep hiring Ryan Reynolds for the lead in comic book/superhero related parts I have no idea.  His movies generally flop and are panned by the critics.  His acting range consists of playing himself in every role, regardless of what the character is supposed to be like in the source material.  It’s like the studios are trying to make a bad movie from the start.

Let’s take a look at his history in comic book related films:

Blade: Trinity – 26% on Rotten Tomatoes

X-Men Origins: Wolverine – 36% on Rotten Tomatoes

Green Lantern – 26% on Rotten Tomatoes

All of these movies not only received low ratings from the critics and fans, they are also the movies that killed their respective franchises (with the exception of X-Men where they went back and pretended like X-men 3 and Wolverine never happen).  Think about the Ryan Reynolds version of Jal Jordan, now put him in a trench coat and give him a sword….is that really who you want to see as Connor MacLeod?!

Want to Own the Original 1966 Batmobile?

If you want to own a piece of television (or Batman) history, the original 1966 Batmobile is going up for auction!  Here is the press release:

Barrett-Jackson, the World’s Greatest Collector Car Auctions™, announced today that it will offer one of the most recognized and popular pieces of entertainment history worldwide, at its 42nd annual Scottsdale auction in January – the only 1955 Lincoln Futura concept car which was heavily modified by legendary customizer George Barris to become the original 1966 Batmobile in the live action TV series Batman, as well as the movie adaptation, starring Adam West. The car will cross the block alongside Barrett-Jackson’s 5000 Series on Saturday, January 19th from 5:00pm – 9:00pm.

Still as striking as when it first came out of the paint shop, the original Batmobile has been a part of Barris’ personal collection since he first bought it from the Ford Motor Company for a dollar in 1965. Barrett-Jackson’s Scottsdale auction will mark the first time the car has gone up for sale since then.

 In late 1965, 20th Century Fox Television and William Dozier’s Greenway Productions contacted Barris and asked him to produce a Batmobile for the upcoming TV series. With only 15 days and $15,000 budget to build a Batmobile, Barris decided to transform the Lincoln Futura concept car into what is now widely recognized as the original and iconic crime-fighting vehicle.

“The 1966 Batmobile by George Barris is one of the most famous Hollywood cars in history and it has become a true icon that has been carried from generation to generation of Batmobiles to follow,” said Craig Jackson, Chairman and CEO of Barrett-Jackson. “This vehicle not only marks the significant Bat logo that sits on the middle of its door, but a time in television history where they defied the odds of making a car the real star of the show. It revolutionized an entire industry that followed in its footsteps and we couldn’t be prouder to have it cross our block in Scottsdale as it goes up for sale for the very first time.”

The car features a 390-in 1956 Lincoln V-8 engine and a B&M Hydro Automatic transmission. Gadgets include a nose-mounted aluminum Cable Cutter Blade, Bat Ray Projector, Anti-Theft Device, Detect-a-scope, Batscope, Bat Eye Switch, Antenna Activator, Police Band Cut-In Switch, Automatic Tire Inflation Device, Remote Batcomputer, the Batphone, Emergency Bat Turn Lever, Anti-Fire Activator, Bat Smoke, Bat Photoscope, and many other Bat gadgets. If needed, the Batmobile was capable of a quick 180° “bat-turn” thanks to two rear-mounted ten-foot Deist parachutes.

The car is also exclusively featured in Christopher Nolan’s Batmobile Documentary, which can be viewed as a bonus feature on The Dark Knight Rises DVD. It will go up for auction along with memorabilia and documentation from Barris’ personal archives.

The Walking Dead Season 3 Episode 6: Hounded (Part 2)

If you have not read the first part of this review, you may do so here:  The Walking Dead Season 3 Episode 6: Hounded

Hershel has a talk with Rick about Lori.  He tells him that she was sorry for what she had done.  In return, Rick tells Hershel about the phone calls he had received.  Hershel picks up the phone but there is no dial tone.  I’m sure Hershel is questioning Rick’s sanity at the moment. I wonder if Hershel will tell the others or if he will keep this information to himself?

Merle continues to search for Michonne without much luck.  She comes out of no where again and cuts Merle’s partner.  During the battle a small group of walkers show up.  Everyone manages to defeat the walkers but Michonne has escaped again.  During the fight some walker guts spilled on Michonne.  Back at the prison, Daryl has a talk with Carl about losing his mom.  They continue to clear out a section of the prison.

The Governor calls Andrea into his apartment to talk to her about jumping over the wall.  It’s against the rules and he says they do not need her guarding the wall.  For once in her life she doesn’t argue back, she just accepts it.  Andrea admits that she did enjoy the fights.  The Governor says he knew that she did (because she didn’t leave) and that he also knows she likes him.  Merle tells the only person left alive in his group that it’s time to head back to base.  He says they will just tell the Governor they killed Michonne.  After a brief argument over what to do, Merle shoots him in the head.

Michonne discovers that the walker guts that spilled on her from earlier mask her sent.  The zombies can’t tell she is a human and will walk right past her.  Rick receives another phone call but realizes that the person on the phone says his name.  The problem with that is Rick had never told anyone his name during their conversations.  At this point Rick understands that this is all happening in his head.

Michonne stumbles upon Glenn and Maggie while they are gathering supplies.  She doesn’t know who they are so she watches them for a moment to try and figure out what kind of people they are.  Unfortunately for everyone, Merle comes around the corner.  He manages to capture Maggie and forces Glenn to drive them to Woodbury.  At Woodbury the Governor talks to Andrea about his past.  Apparently in his old life he was a nobody.  Andrea once again fall for the villain of the season.  I’m hoping she becomes a walkers chew toy pretty soon!

Daryl kills a walker and discovers that it has Carol’s knife stuck in it’s face.  Merle reports back to the Governor, lies about the whole situation, and tells him he killed Michonne.  It should be interesting to see how this all turns out down the line.  To change the subject, Merle also tells the Governor about his prisoners.  Rick heads back to where everyone else is and holds his baby, Daryl finds Carol hiding in a room and Michonne shows up at the prison gate.

Ian McKellen on X-Men: Days of Future Past

“What a gas!  I mean, Patrick Stewart and I have been have just been playing “Waiting for Godot” throughout England and in the West End of London. So, we’ve stayed in touch. We can’t believe it [laughs]. I thought these were Fassbender and McAvoy’s parts, but — no, no — we’re back. We’ll give them a run for their money. I mean, I haven’t read the script, so I don’t know how much we’ve got to do. But, to be back in that world, and for Bryan to be doing it — with all the success he’s had in the meantime — it’s wonderful. Wonderful.”


McKellen on Michael Fassbender (Magneto in X-Men: First Class): “I thought he was exactly that: first class. Excellent… I thought he was better than me. But, we weren’t quite playing the same character because he was so much younger than me.”

Hugh Jackman in X-Men: Days of Future Past?

Reports are that Hugh Jackman is up to reprise his role as Wolverine again the X-men: Days of Future Past.  Wolverine was a prominent character in the comic book storyline this film is based on which takes place in an alternate universe where mutants are hunted down by giant robots called Sentinels after the Brotherhood killed an important Senator.

Do you think adding Wolverine to this movie is a step in the right direction or the wrong way to go?  He has dominated most of the other X-Men films and has his own movie series as well.  Though it would be more faithful to the comics with him, it would give other characters a chance to shine more without him.

Iron Man vs Steel

If you have not read any of my previous “VS” articles, you will find more here:
Hulk vs Doomsday
Batman vs Daredevil

When you think of a genius in robotics who just so happens to love pounding bad guys into the ground with his armored plated fists, no one comes to mind more than….Well both Iron Man and Steel, depending on if you are talking about the Marvel or DC Universe.

Steel:  When John Henry Irons was saved by Superman, he decided to devout his life to being like Superman.  He wanted to “live a life worth saving” as Superman had told him.  When the genuine article died at the hands of Doomsday, several new Supermen showed up in Metropolis, one of them being Steel.  With the power of flight, enhanced strength, and a giant steel hammer, Steel can handle himself against the best of them.

Iron Man:  Tony Stark is very different from John Henry Irons.  Tony Stark is a rich playboy with an ego problem.  Though he becomes a better person as time goes on, and learns to fight for the right reasons, he certainly has his share of demons to deal with.  Iron Man has had many different suits of armor, sometimes built specifically to handle a certain situation.  He has most of the same abilities as Steel, just with a bigger arsenal.

The Fight:  As I mentioned before, Tony Stark has the bigger arsenal of weapons.  This gives him a distinct advantage against Steel.  His armor also makes him stronger than Steel.  In many ways, Steel is just a poor man’s Iron Man.  He isn’t weak by any means, he just isn’t on Iron Man’s level.  Considering Steel comes from the Superman universe, this is odd, but it’s how it is.

It would be a tough fought battle, both guys would give it their all, but in the end Iron Man comes out with the victory.  Iron Man is just too strong, smart and durable for Steel to finish off.  Both of these guys can hang with the heavy hitters, Iron Man just hits a little harder and has more experience.  He also has longer range weapons that pack more of a pop.  The only way Steel could win was if he ran into Iron Man on a day where he was struggling with alcohol or something of that nature.

The Winner:  Iron Man