Rumor: Harrison Ford Back as Han Solo

The scoop comes from Latino Review’s El Mayimbe, who says it’s a done deal, and while his sources can be solid, obviously it is not official in any way.  At this point, nothing official has come out about when Episode VII takes place or who the main characters will be.  I would imagine if the movie does take place when Han Solo and Luke Skywalker are old, they will probably not be the main characters.  They might have a similar role to Yoda’s in the other six movies.  It should be interesting to see what they come up and how things develop.

Dragon Ball Z E15: Dueling Piccolos

If you have not read my review for episode 14, you may do so here: Dragon Ball Z E14: Princess Snake

While Gohan studies and reminisces about better times with his parents, Piccolo is doing some reminiscing of his own.  Replaying the battle with Raditz in his head he splits himself into two for some serious training.  Piccolo has a lot of interesting powers that other characters on the show do not have.  It’s always cool to see him use them.

Gohan uses his high intelligence to make a sailboat which is able to travel on sand.  This will certainly help him make better time on his journey.  Unfortunately he is attacked by a giant bird.  He does manage to escape but his transportation is ruined.  Where is the flying nimbus when you need it?

After ending up on a beach, Gohan decides to find his way home.  Little does he know he is being stalked by a sabertooth tiger.  The tiger never presents any real danger to him though.  After a lot of travel Gohan eventually ends up where he started, on the beach.  He climbs a mountain to discover he is on a island.  Meanwhile, Chi-Chi’s Dad is attempting to get her to eat.

Piccolo keeps up his hard training against himself, trying to discover any weakness he may have.  Gohan trys a new method; he builds a boat but gets himself into trouble when he is out in the middle of the ocean and a storm hits.  Piccolo feels that Gohan is in danger and puts himself back together.  On Snake Way, Goku continues his journey.  Will he make it in time?

Dan Henderson vs Lyoto Machida Breakdown

Dan Henderson

Hendo is on a major win streak, defeating the likes of Fedor and Shogun.  He is also coming off of a 15 month layoff and an injury.  Being 42 years old has to catch up with him eventually as well (though he is loaded up on TRT).  Henderson has a great chin, unreal punching power and some pretty decent takedowns and scrambling ability.  He has been dropped in every fight he has had for the last couple of years but always manages to survive.  He has also benefited from people being willing to brawl with him.

Lyoto Machida

A true master of Karate.  Technical, fast, elusive.  Machida has some big wins in his career but he also has several losses lately.  He generally gets himself into trouble when he abandons his main style and gets overaggressive (Shogun II, Jones).  One of his few flaws is that he doesn’t always keep his back hand up, but from the Ryan Bader fight, it looks like he has been working on correcting that.  I wouldn’t say his chin is bad but he has shown he can be dropped if landed on solidly by someone with decent power.

The Fight

There are really only two ways I can see this going.  Either Machida is going to pick Henderon apart with his technical striking or Henderson will land a big bomb and put Machida out.  I think the first option is much more likely to happen.  Machida has a much more diverse game, he is hard to hit and he can take Henderson down if he wants too.  The longer the fight goes on the more chance Machida has to put Henderson away.  If it was a five round fight I think Machida would finish Henderson, but being only three rounds favors Dan more.

Dan Henderson has never been finished by strikes before, but neither had Rich Franklin, Rashad Evans, Thiago Silva or Ryan Bader; that didn’t stop Machida from doing it.  When Fedor stopped brawling and looked for a technical combo for the first time against Hendo, he dropped him right away.  I think Machida can do the same, and even put Hendo away early, if he is aggressive enough.  This should be Machida’s fight to lose, but so was the Rampage fight (which I thought Machida won).

If Machida wants to play it safe while also staying ahead on the judges score cards, he might want to trip Hendo to the mat and wear him out during the first round, then look for the finish in the second or third when Hendo gets more tired.  He can keep it on the feet and somply move around and dodge Dan’s attacks, but it could result in another Rampage type decision if the judges don’t think he did enough.

The Result

As long as Machida comes out smart, moves around like he normally does, protects his chin, mixes up his game and doesn’t brawl, I think he wins this.  I think it’s even possible he puts a frustrated Hendo away but it’s less likely than if it was a five round fight.  Don’t count Henderson completely out though, with the power of TRT backing him up and his H-bomb, he can win at anytime.  It’s hard to say what Henderson is going to look like after such a long layoff though.  I think it’s 70/30 Machida.

The Walking Dead Season 3 Episode 9: The Suicide King (Part 1)

If you have not read my last review, you may do so here: The Walking Dead Season 3 Episode 8: Made to Suffer (Part 2)

After roughly a three month break The Walking Dead returned to life tonight.  Overall it was a pretty solid episode, mixed things up a lot.  We pick up right where we left off, the Governor has captured Merle and Daryl and is holding them as prisoners.  Things don’t look good for the long lost brothers.  It gets even worse when the Governor tells them to fight to the death, the winner gets to live.  Merle seems to jump at the opportunity to prove himself and attacks Daryl, flooring him.

As the Governor’s men bring zombies into the arena, Merle tells Daryl to play along, it’s all part of his plan to escape.  Before Merle can even finish his thought Rick and his group burst on the scene and attack everyone.  In all of the chaos Merle and Daryl manage to escape.  Several of the Governor’s people are killed in the attack but he doesn’t seem too worried about.  The Governor wants war.  Before Rick and his crew even make it out of Woodbury they are already infighting about Merle coming with them.

As Rick’s group escapes they leave a big hole in the fence, allowing walkers to enter the town.  This should make things interesting!  Back at their vehicle, everyone is fighting with each other.  No one wants Merle coming back to the prison (except Daryl), Rick doesn’t trust Michonne and wants to get rid of her, things are out of control.  Merle starts running his mouth a little too much and Rick knocks him out with the butt of his gun.

Meanwhile at the prison, Hershel is cleaning up the new members of the prison.  They all talk about how everyone has been through such tough times lately.  They seem to be good people but Hershel lets them know that Rick has to clear them being able to stay at the prison.  Out in the woods everyone is still arguing about Merle and Michonne.  Daryl decides that if Merle can’t come back to the prison, he won’t either.  Merle and Daryl go off on their own and Rick tells Michonne that as soon as she is healed up she has to leave as well.

Rick doesn’t seem to be making very good choices here!  I know it’s on the fly but Michonne hasn’t done anything but help them and Merle, as bad as he is, will be needed when facing off against Woodbury.  Rick sees them as threats, and they might be to some degree, but at this point “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”.  They may all hate each other but they won’t have time to fight when getting ready for the Governor’s assault that will surely be coming!

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Synopsis

Columbia Pictures announced today that filming has begun on The Amazing Spider-Man™ 2 in New York. The film is the first in the history of the franchise that will be filmed entirely in New York City and New York State.

The sequel to last year’s critical and box office hit The Amazing Spider-Man, the film stars Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Shailene Woodley, Dane DeHaan, Colm Feore, Paul Giamatti, and Sally Field.

In The Amazing Spider-Man™ 2, for Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield), life is busy – between taking out the bad guys as Spider-Man and spending time with the person he loves, Gwen (Emma Stone), high school graduation can’t come quickly enough. Peter hasn’t forgotten about the promise he made to Gwen’s father to protect her by staying away – but that’s a promise he just can’t keep. Things will change for Peter when a new villain, Electro (Jamie Foxx), emerges, an old friend, Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan), returns, and Peter uncovers new clues about his past.

The film is directed by Marc Webb from a screenplay by Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci & Jeff Pinkner, with a previous draft by James Vanderbilt, and based on the Marvel Comic Book by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach are the producers.

The film’s key behind-the-scenes team includes director of photography Dan Mindel, production designer Mark Friedberg, editors Pietro Scalia and Elliot Graham, and costume designer Deborah L. Scott.

The latest chapter in the Spider-Man story is set for release in 3D on May 2, 2014.

Disney Confirms Stand-Alone Star Wars Films

Here is the official statement from Lucasfilm:

The Star Wars cinematic galaxy is about to experience a Big Bang. Lucasfilm is officially announcing new spinoff films that will expand the mythos and depths of the Star Wars universe in previously unexplored ways.

One of the standalone films will be written by Lawrence Kasdan, screenwriter of The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and co-writer of Return of the Jedi while the other will be penned by Simon Kinberg, writer of Sherlock Holmes and Mr. and Mrs. Smith. The movies will be separate from the upcoming Episodes VII, VIII, and IX, on which Kasdan and Kinberg are also consulting, and are expected to be released sometime after Episode VII. Each standalone film will focus on a specific character, and two spinoff films are currently confirmed.

In a call to investors, Bob Iger, chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company, revealed while the original focus was on the highly-anticipated sequel trilogy, the idea of spinoff films was bandied about early and the additional films are now becoming a reality. “We are in development of a few standalone films,” he said, “that are not part of the Star Wars saga…there are now creative entities working on developing scripts for what would be those standalone films.”

While I do love the Star Wars movies, I hope they don’t overdue it.  I guess it remains to be seen if this is a good idea or not.

Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods

IMAX Corporation and Toei Company Ltd. today announced that Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods will be digitally re-mastered into the immersive IMAX® format and released to IMAX® Digital theatres in Japan starting March 30 . The film marks the first-ever Japanese movie to be released in IMAX® as well as the first movie installment in Akira Toriyama’s iconic Dragon Ball franchise in 17 years.

Toriyama, highly influential in manga animation and known for his playful, influential storytelling and distinctive art style, has been involved with the development of the screenplay and the production for this latest feature. He has delivered a completely new original story that is focused on the period between the “Z” and “GT” Dragon Ball animated series – or, more specifically, between installments 517 and 518 of the Dragon Ball comic book series, filling the 10-year story lapse after Demon Boo is defeated.

“We’re proud to be partnering with a pioneering manga creator like Akira Toriyoma to release the latest installment of this beloved franchise and our first Japanese film in IMAX,” said Greg Foster , Chairman and President of IMAX Entertainment. “With its fast-paced battle sequences and stunning visuals, we believe Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods is an ideal fit for The IMAX Experience®.”

Man of Steel’s Performance to Determine Justice League’s Fate?

Warner Bros. Entertainment CEO Kevin Tsujihara and the president of Warner Bros. Pictures, Jeff Robinov, recently had some interesting quotes in Variety about the fate of the Justice League film.

“Further out, the studio’s planning a “Justice League” tentpole — encompassing DC Comics mainstays Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash and the Green Lantern — on the order of Marvel’s “The Avengers.” Will Beall is scripting but no director has been attached yet.
Stakes are high for “Man of Steel.” Other than Nolan’s Batpics, Warners has not been able to effectively exploit the DC library. Its 2011 “Green Lantern” underperformed, and a “Justice League” film wouldn’t likely be in theaters before 2015, as Warner’s top brass has indicated that they are awaiting the results of “Man of Steel,” which opens June 14, before moving further ahead.”

I think they should develop several successful characters like Marvel did before even thinking about moving forward with a Justice League movie.  What made the Avengers so big was that each of the individual characters in the film had had at least moderately successful movies of their own already.  DC hasn’t had any success yet, with the exception of Batman.  Without putting the work in, I can’t see Justice League being as big as The Avengers.