MOVIE REVIEWS, MOVIES, SUPERHEROES

Anti-Review: Catwoman

Pouncing straight off the pages of DC is comic book history’s most popular and sexy burglar. Catwoman revolutionized the game by playing both a foil and a love interest to DC’s most overrated character, Batman.

MOVIES, MOVIE REVIEWS, SUPERHEROES

Anti-Review: Spider-Man Homecoming

To say that Spider-Man: Homecoming is a great movie would, indeed, be a statement. It’d be an inaccurate statement but a statement it would remain.

HORROR, MOVIES

"IT": The First Full Trailer

by Matt Spaulding

The first full trailer for new adaptation of Stephen King's classic novel, It, arrived today and it's jammed packed with terror!

Much like in the first teaser, in this trailer we're given a glimpse of the Losers Club: Ben, Beverly, Bill, Eddie, Mike, Stan and Richie as well as Georgie, the catalyst for the Losers' fight against Pennywise. And, of course, Pennywise himself is pretty heavily featured, being the main monster of the movie.

Other story elements introduced in this trailer are Patrick Hockstetter, a bully who falls prey to It, as well as a very quick flash of Henry Bowers and his notorious switch-blade knife. We also get plenty of terror as Pennywise pops out a few times, a very dead Georgie chants "you'll float, too" and flashes of creatures and blood fly across the screen.

And while this trailer is very promising, I still have a few reservations going into this flick. I have read the novel several times, and will probably listen to it all the way through again before the film comes out. It's one of my favorite novels of all time, if not my number one favorite. It is a fantastic horror novel in which very little of the horror comes from the monster. The real horror of It is very deep: it's the horror of losing childhood innocence, of child abuse, of spousal abuse,  of growing old, of racism, of forgetting. It's a novel that affects me deeply on an emotional level and I'm a bit nervous that a lot of the true horror of It will be lost in the jumps scares and blood this trailer promises. But, then again, the true horror of It is pretty hard to convey in a trailer, so it just might be there after all.

Check it out for yourself below and go see It in theaters on September 8th!

CON LIFE

SDCC 2017 / Day 3 Wrap-Up

Another Comic-Con day and more Comic-Con news! And boy what a day. There are a fair amount of trailers to post so I'll try not to blather on too much.

HORROR, MISC.

RIP to the Zombie Godfather

I write this with a heavy heart since I just found out that George A. Romero has passed away.
It is hard to be a fan of horror and not give a huge amount of tribute to Night of the Living Dead. The year it came out (1968), it shined against competitive films like 2001: A Space Odyssey, Planet of the Apes and Rosemary’s Baby. Black and white film was not too old at that time, but the way the movie was captured set a creepy nostalgia to the chills you felt. And it was zombies. Romero will always be the Godfather of Zombie films.

CON LIFE

SDCC 2017/ Day 1 & 2 Wrap-Up

So much takes place during San Diego Comic-Con that we may miss a few things. Here's just a sampling of the things we found out during the first two days of SDCC 2017!

MOVIES, MOVIE REVIEWS, SUPERHEROES

Anti-Review: Captain America: Civil War

Well, when it rains it pours and Marvel Studios continues its streak of duds with Captain America: Civil War.

MOVIES, MOVIE REVIEWS, SUPERHEROES

Anti-Review: Fant4stic

In 2005, film studio 20th Century Fox and rock star filmmaker Tim Story introduced the movie going audience to the Fantastic Four.

GAMES, MISC.

Nintendo Gets Super Nostalgic!

Nintendo has announced the SNES Classic is coming this Fall and Randy will break it down for you!

RING SIDE GEEKS

The 27th Edition of the G1 Climax

It’s summertime and for fans of New Japan Pro-Wrestling that can only mean one thing.. It’s almost time for the G1 Climax!

HORROR, MOVIES

The "Dark Universe" And How It Should Be Done

We now live in an age where most film franchises are trying to build universes within their films. We already know of the comic based ones like Marvel Cinematic Universe and DC Expanded Universe, and there is even ones connecting the 21 Jump Street films to the Men In Black franchise. Yeah, that's a thing to keep an eye out for...I guess.

MOVIES, SUPERHEROES

Jessica Chastain In Talks for X-Men: Dark Phoenix

Fans of the X-Men rejoice! Not only have we gotten news about possible casting of the next X-Men film's main antagonist, but the main cast of X-Men: Apocalypse are set to return as well. Jessica Chastain is currently in talks to portray Lilandra, the empress of the Shi'ar Empire who are searching for the Phoenix force in order to destroy it.

MOVIES, SUPERHEROES

Black Panther Looks...Awesome!

Chadwick Boseman’s portrayal of T’Challa aka Black Panther was a highlight of Captain America: Civil War. It was a great introduction for the character’s previously announced solo film. Now Marvel has seen fit to start shoveling some coal on the Black Panther hype train by dropping a surprise poster and teaser trailer this weekend. I got a chance to check out the trailer, then I checked it out again, then one more time for good measure...then about 17 more times. So what did I think about it?

MISC., SUPERHEROES

My First Batman: Saying Goodbye to Adam West

I have loved Batman my whole life. There are pictures of me as a small child dressed in Batman PJs, I played with tons of Batman toys. As an adult, I have a bat-symbol on my wedding ring and frequently wear Batman t-shirts. My love of the character is a defining characteristic, something anyone who knows me will list in a "top ten facts about Matt" list. And all that started with Adam West.

HORROR, MOVIES, MOVIE REVIEWS

Review: Alien: Covenant

Let me preface this review by saying“I liked this movie!” It has plot holes big enough to drive a truck through, but it also has all of the Alien franchise classics

MOVIES, MOVIE REVIEWS

Review: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales

Six years ago we endured the fourth installment of the acclaimed Disney franchise, and most viewers felt like it was a black spot on the series’ record. Honestly, I enjoyed At World’s End even with its latent inconsistencies and renewed focus on Johnny Depp’s outlandish performance. I am a huge fan, not only of the Pirates franchise, but of the original Disneyland ride as well as general pirate lore and imagery, so this may have allowed the film to get away with more indiscretions in my eyes than most others. However, I understood the outcry and the negative response the film received even if I didn’t join in on the hangings. But, now with Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, I’m disinclined to acquiesce requests for the franchise’s demise. Fair Warning: There be spoilers ahead. You may not survive to pass this way again and these be the last friendly words you hear…

GAMES

Hyrule Hierarchy: Ranking The Legend of Zelda Games

One man's opinions of how he'd rank the top 15 Legend of Zelda games. Randy explains his order and why each game has it's particular place among the fifteen.

SUPERHEROES

Thoughts On Wonder Woman And The Impact It Had On Me

No, this is not a review. I don’t know what it is, honestly. I just can’t get the movie out of my head and I need to write about it. I have been apprehensive about Wonder Woman for many reasons. My disappointment in the previous films just...as films. The lack of consideration put into the characters of Superman and Batman (the flagship DC heroes). Not to mention the bleak world these characters have inhabited. The films have been placed in the wrong hands. And I mean hands plural because there are so many of them trying to shape these films and all with different ideas/agendas that clash far too often. So I feel justified in admitting my trepidation.