That Ultra Freaky Doug Jones Puppet In Gehenna!

There’s a cool little indie horror flick wrappin’ up production right now called Gehenna and from what’s been revealed thus far it’s looking like it’s going to be quite a spectacle! Directed by effects wizard/master sculptor Hiroshi Katagiri who’s worked on movies like Pacific Rim, Looper & The Hunger Games comes this full on practical fx driven horror flick.

Also add Doug Jones into the mix as one of creepy creatures and  you’ve can bet that you’re in for something special. The movie was successfully fund via Kickstarter and thus far this is all we’ve got in way of a plot synopsis:

                                                                                                    Doug Jones masters his personal puppet!

“A group visits Saipan to search for locations for their company’s newest resort. As they find what they think is the perfect spot, they discover a hidden bunker on the property which they decide to explore. However, they soon find out that curiosity can kill.

As each member faces their most private secrets and the secrets of the bunker itself, the results lead to a most shocking conclusion. …”

Keep your eyes peeled on this one as it looks like it’s going to be pretty awesome and follow it on Facebook here!

Comic Book Cover of the Week: Adventure the Dungeons with Peter Hsu!

Back in 1986 a cool little series came out from Aricel / Adventure Comics for those D&D nerds called The Adventurers! It was a great comic book jam packed with swords, sorcery, monsters galore and yeah…ninjas. My brother collected this series and though I was a Marvel & DC kid at the time I’d often sneak his much more daring and graphic indie comics any chance he’d leave the house. It was interesting as a kid learning that there indeed was more out there than the “big two”. This rad cover is from the first issue of The Adventurers by Peter Hsu and make no mistake each issue had incredible painted covers. I’m going to have to dig these out again cuz I’m feeling the need for some serious adventures lately!

 

Five Classic Villains For Netflix’s Daredevil & The Defenders!

I haven’t quite made it through the entire season two of Netflix’s Daredevil yet but I’m slowly chipping away. So far so good though, I dig the first season more but this one’s still a good time. One thing I’m hoping for is an appearance by one of Daredevil’s classic villains. Some of them clearly might not work with the show’s more serious tone, say like Stilt Man or Mister Fear might not feel right on the Netflix show which is much more grounded in reality than the Marvel movie universe. However this show is in need of more real villains. So here are five villains I think would be perfect for the show and The upcoming Defenders series (I left out Bullseye because of course we all know he’d be on the list automatically) :

TOMBSTONE:

This guy would be perfect for the show’s more serious street level tone. If they could bring the sinister albino giant to life on screen I think it’d be quite a spectacle. I think of a classic battle much like the incredible Bruce Lee Game of Death sequence with Kareem Abdul Jabbar.

 

Tombstone has a past with Hell’s Kitchen in the comic books and he’d make for the perfect bad guy in season three!

TYPHOID MARY:

We all know that Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock gets involved with pretty much every and any beautiful woman on screen. It makes me feel a bit bad for Foggy, but whatever I guess Matt’s just too sexy for his own good somehow which leads me to Typhoid Mary. Continue reading →

Badger #2 Brings Back The Crazy!

The Badger has definitely returned to form in the latest second issue from Devil’s Due / 1First Comics! It’s always nice to read a solid debut these days but it means a lot when the second issue in many cases is better than the first and this is the case in the latest reboot of the legendary Badger series from creator Mike Baron. You can read my review of issue #1 right here.

Anyway the second issue brings back a more familiar feel to the cult 80’s indie icon. We’re really seeing more of a modern retelling of the origin story of Norbert Sykes, which is thus far packed with the perfect amount of that familiar Baron style of quirky comedy and a degree of realism that make this comic thus far one of my favorite recent monthly titles. I  actually think the current writers of Deadpool could learn a thing or two from Baron’s tasty recipe on this title.

So what do we get this issue? Well Norbert and his buddy Ham are mysteriously released from the mental ward, partly due to Ham’s “magical” abilities as an ancient druid. Ham also purchases an old castle on the outskirts of Madison Wisconsin where the two of them plan to live. Ham however reveals he’s got a a serious problem with a powerful wizard rival none other than Russia’s Vladimir Putin. Or could Ham just be batshit cray?!

Well things get worse when a Russian enforcer breaks into the castle ready to kill, good thing Norbert Sykes has got multiple personalities, one of which is the Kung Fu ass kicker The Badger! Lastly we get a glimpse of Putin himself as he and his crew of scientists are thawing out a prehistoric mammoth in a glacier. Yeah it’s crazy shit and also a ton of fun.

I’m really happy this character is being given a chance in 2016, so far the series has great potential, I’m not a huge fan of the artwork in issue two, I personally think Badger deserves better. It looked a bit rushed, I wish they could land someone like Paul Pope or old schooler Mike Zeck as a regular on the series. Aside from that I totally dig it as a whole and will definitely be back for issue #2. Ask your local shop to carry Badger as I don’t think this series is getting enough attention!  

 

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – A Boring, Emo Version of The Super Friends…

Well a couple nights ago I decided to check out Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and went in with a totally open mind. I had to briefly put my thoughts out there on this one and so sorry to say I just wasn’t feeling it. At all. It started out ok but with every minute it just became more of a disjointed, confusing mess. Some movies are messy and fun, but Dawn of Justice was just a flat out bore. Ben Affleck was a sufficient Bruce Wayne and Cavill of course was decent as Supes again but wow, this movie’s story felt like it was written by an eight year old and pace was that of a stoned three legged tortoise. Filled with plot holes galore, bad “gritty” grey filtering, fake ass CG, terrible dialogue, over stylized “emotional” imagery and one absolutely absurd ass villain. 

Yep this movie does have the worst Lex Luthor ever. Jesse Eisenberg was just absolutely terrible as one of the most iconic comic book villains of all time. This whiny, “I’m so totally crazy”, bratty, twenty something, Jolly Rancher eating Luthor was about as menacing as The Purple Pie Man from Strawberry Shortcake. His whole ridiculous, overplayed act took a huge dump on the legendary villain. Snyder’s clearly trying to make Luthor more relatable and cool to Millenials when he should have based the villain on an asshole like Donald Trump. I don’t care how much money this movie makes, it just totally sucks. It’s one giant, bloated set up for a slew of DC movies that are desperately trying to mimic Marvel’s recipe for success.

Unlike most of the Marvel this movies this has zero heart and it’s just no fun at all. It felt like a script lifted from an old Super Friends cartoon from the 1970’s but with Zack Snyder adding a mega douchey, “super gritty”, emo, “hip” spin on it. It also felt like it suffered from a serious case of bad editing? I guess Wonder Woman was pretty cool(she actually was the best thing about this mess), although kinda just crammed into the movie for the hell of it and Doomsday…ughh….why? Way to ruin that character too. Don’t get me started.

Ok so the movie was one time viewing for me, not in a good way, like you don’t need to see it again because of a crazy plot twist but in a way that I’d never waste two plus hours of my life again with something so damn uninspiring ever again. I’m also pretty sure I don’t really need to see another Zack Snyder movie for as long as I live….I’m officially over it.  

Finally Bernie Sanders & Donald Trump Debate!!

I’ve been watching pretty much all the presidential debates that I can stomach this election year but none of them are even close to being as enjoyable as James Adomian’s & Anthony Atamanuik’s incredible comedy tour of Bernie Sanders vs Donald Trump Presidential Debate which is on the road right now!

These guys nail these candidates better than Larry David or anything SNL has tried to put out there by a mile. So while I previously have watched little snippets Youtube but now Comedy Central feature a full debate by these two awesome comedians in full character! Check this out it’s pretty incredible!!

And recently it’s been reported that Jesse “The Body” Ventura “might be” entering the Presidential ring as a Libertarian candidate! Well good thing James Adomian has already nailed his impersonation to a T as well for the election year!

 

 

Comic Book Cover of the Week: The HULK Goes Berserk?!

I can’t begin to tell you just how much I love this particular comic book cover and how much as a child I loved this particular issue of ‘What If?’!! It really make sense as we get one of the greatest comic book artists ever responsible for this masterpiece, Bill Sienkiewicz doing an unforgettable rendition of the jade giant on issue #45. ‘What If?’ was an incredibly fun comic book back in the classic Marvel days and this issue from 1984 was one as a kid I carried with me everywhere. This one retells the classic origin story but in this reality Banner fails to save Rick Jones from the gamma blast and while Rick doesn’t die the Army ends up killing him-Sending the Hulk into a crazy rage. The Hulk freaks out and takes down the Fantastic Four and Iron Man killing several them in the process. It’s a great, surprisingly violent issue and in the end The Hulk’s rage costs him his own life. Anyway this cover will always remain one of my faves, Sienkiewicz never fails when doing comic book covers, with the pencil and ink in his hands you always knew you were going to get something truly special!

The Scoop Behind the Greatest Spider-Man Fan Film of All Time!

Fan films are all the rage these days especially with the popularity of Youtube making it possible for anyone to get their content out there. Well back in 1992 a movie was made that’s just over 45 minutes long that many call the greatest fan film of all time: The Green Goblin’s Last Stand. The movie was made by mega fan Dan Poole who recreated the legendary Spider-Man story “The Night Gwen Stacy Died”.

He financed the film for around 400 bucks and did all the stunt work himself at times swinging above buildings on a rope with no safety net. Now That’s dedication! Also this fan film has a pretty creepy rendition of the Green Goblin, the absurd looking costume only adds the insanity of the character. However I’ve never been a fan of any of the big screen renditions of the Goblin. Anyway I discovered this cool making of video on Youtube that gives the full scoop on this now cult comic book flick. Pretty awesome stuff and considering it was 1992 it makes it all that much more badass! Check it out!

Here’s the full movie just in case you’ve never seen it! It’s a ton of fun and totally D.I.Y.!!

 

 

 

Battle of the Insults: Skeletor vs. Donald Trump vs. Cobra Commander!!

When it comes to insulting & ridiculing people no one can do it better than Republican frontrunner Donald Trump and Masters of the Universe’s own ultimate asshole Skeletor!

Both are highly amusing yet incredibly idiotic, pop culture villains who will take any given chance to hurl an insult at their naysayers! So let’s pit these two jackasses against each other in a battle of insults to see just who’s got the most ridiculous cheap shots. Both of these guys have a lot in common in especially in the way they take pride in ridiculing anyone and everyone who gets in their way!

Check this out as first up we have Skeletor!

…..and of course Mr. Big Mouth himself The Donald!!

This is just Part 1 so if you want some more Trump at his finest check out part two!

Oh and I think Cobra Commander could join these two for the fun as well! If only Trump could pick one of these guys as his running mate now that’d be entertainment!! 

 

 

Are You Ready For The Side Effects of ‘The Master Cleanse’?!

Here’s a cool trailer for a movie that looks and sounds like a truly unique cinematic experience. The Master Cleanse is a movie based on a spiritual retreat that goes completely bonkers as this particular cleaning of the body brings out more than some nasty toxins and some negative karma!

Yeah when you think of a master cleanse you normally think of some crazy fast where you might only drink juices for a a couple weeks or head out to a wacky woo retreat but this new flick making the rounds at SXSW shows that dedicating yourself to something like that can be a lot more menacing. Most of the movie’s plot is shrouded in secrecy but we’ve got a cool clip to tide us over until it’s released in theaters and online. The flick stars Johnny Galecki whom I associate most with ‘Roseanne’ but most today recognize from The Big Bang Theory. The movie’s getting a bit of a buzz at the moment and is supposed to have some cool ass creature fx and a generally perplexing plot calling in comparisons to early Cronenberg movies but with more of a comedic vibe. Anyway if you haven’t heard of this one check out this clip as a official trailer has not yet been released!