I Approve

For whatever reason, I have started watching a group of new tv shows and the latest one is Breaking Bad. I've heard some very good things about this show and Bryan Cranston has won the Emmy for Lead Actor in a Drama for three strait years, which is every season the show has been on.
For those that haven't heard of it, Breaking Bad follows a chemistry teacher who, after finding out he has cancer with just years to live (at most), "wakes up" to the world and decides to use his knowledge to start making meth (along with a former student of his) to help pay for all the medical bills.
I'm just one episode into it and I can already see why Bryan Cranston has gotten so much praise for it. Huge step up from the idiot, goof father from Malcolm in the Middle and it's much deserved. I can't say that this show will be amazing every step of the way, but if this episode is any indication, I'm in for a fun ride. Not the show for everyone, but I'm on board.
I Approve.

NB of the (Last) Week

Fun winter weather stranded books from last week in Nevada and thanks to Thanksgiving, that pushed them into today, while books for this week are gonna be Thursday. But at least it's a cool, double dose. But I digress.

Ultimate Avengers 3 #4
This mini of the Ultimate Avengers finds them fighting vampires. Cuz nowhere is safe from vampires. And I hate 'em. Not a fan of Vampires unless Blade is fighting 'em. Which he is in this. Along with the Avengers. So I gave it a go. Fun story but nothing much happening that makes it worth buying vampires. Until this issue at least. I was sold from the first three pages in which we see a reoccurring a dream of Blade's involving the Twilight crap.
"Stella."
"Edgar."
"I know some people might think it's odd that a hundred-year-old vampire could fall for a sixteen-year-old girl. That I'd have a century of art and literature and life experience to discuss and all you'd have to talk about is that Ugly Betty Box-Set you've been meaning to get around to. But I love hearing how unfair your dad. How nobody understands you and how those bitches at the lunch table like totally drew you a death-stare yesterday. I know that we must never make love, but..."
"Stare at me, Edgar."
"Intensely?"
"As intensely as you dare."
And Vampire Hulk punching off the head of the lead vampire and taking over and feeding his blood to Captain America was cool too.

Brain Tunes

Don't even ask. I don't know why it popped into my head and I don't know why it won't leave. All I do know is that I was trying to "sing" it all night at work yesterday.

S**t You Don't Know - 15

The novelist Sir Walter Scott liked to break the ice at parties by introducing dinner guests to his novelty salt shaker, which was made from the fourth cervical vertebra of Charles I. The relic had been stolen by a surgeon during an autopsy on the royal corpse when Charles's long lost coffin was rediscovered at Windsor Castle in 1813. Scott kept it on the dinning table for thirty years until Queen Victoria got to hear about it. She was distinctly unamused and ordered that it be returned to St. George's chapel.

Parallax?

If you have read anything about the Green Lantern movie, there is a full synopsis out that says the main baddie is Parallax trying to "enslave" humanity. Well, a picture was "leaked" recently and has since been removed but here it is. I actually think it looks quite creepy and like it. Better lookie-loo before WB threatens to sue me for putting it up.

Clif-Notes: Unstoppable

I freely start out this post by saying how wrong I was about this movie. I didn't think it necessarily looked bad, just that it seemed like it would make for a boring two hours. I was wrong. This movie was pretty awesome. And for having nothing but a speeding train as your antagonist, it was pretty intense. I went with my mother and she said afterward that her jaw was hurting from all the clenching she was doing. Denzel Washington is hit and miss with me (love Man on Fire, hate Book of Eli) but this one was a definite hit. I would absolutely recommend this one. I'll even combine my two reviews and also give it my coveted Seal of Approval. So when it comes to Unstoppable:
I Approve.
(and on a side note, if you ever come into a movie a little late and there are only two people in the entire theater, don't side directly in front of them. It will probably piss them off and it will make you look like an asshole.)

Retraction

After not being able to get that Pornstar song outta my head, I got me a copy of the cd and gave it a whirl. I would now like to retract most things good that I said about this band. They had two songs that I liked. Just two. All the other ones were pu*sy pop-rock songs. Just like Nickleback. I should have seen this coming but I was just blinded by the one, awesome some. About pornstar dancing. Damn you pornstars! If not for you, I would have had not interest in this band to begin with!

Brain Tunes

I heard this song one the radio the other day (one of the few times I actually had the radio on) and this song came on. I actually really dig it and I haven't been able to get it out of my head since. I had no idea this is what they look like and I'm kinda glad cuz I would have never listened to this if I would have seen 'em first.
Anyway, here's Pornstar Dancing.
(and yes, that is Chad Kroeger of Nickleback in there. You apparently get to guest vocal when you "discover" the band...)

Clif-Notes: The Deathly Hallows part 1

I was able to watch the new Harry Potter last night and I actually want to read the book now so that I don't have to wait for the next movie. I didn't start out a Potter fan but each movie has made me like it more (even though they tend to be a little long) and this one definitely keeps that going. Much darker then the other ones and, surprisingly, the acting seems to get a little better too. There were some cool moments that probably would have looked good in 3D but being conversion, that's all speculation for meow. Not having read the book, I can't say things were "accurately portrayed" but I liked the cliffhanger ending and I liked what they did in this first part. My only real complaint is that it felt like this poster had it right and they mostly just ran around in forests but even that was well done.
Probably the best Potter film of the bunch, it's absolutely worth seeing. Not that everyone but Adam isn't already going to, but it's worth it.

NB of the Week

Green Lantern #59 (If Ken is reading this, stop. I spoil the issue)
It was a semi-emotional week in my comics and before Lantern, I thought I was gonna have to act all human with them. And Calling one of those moments my NB was gonna be weird.
First, in Superman #705, we have part four of Grounded which has Superman walking across the country in an attempt to reconnect with with humanity. In this issue, a little boy hears that Supes is heading their way in Chicago and hopes that he can help him and his mother with his abusive father. As the boy is thrown down the stairs after he tried to help his mother, he lays at the bottom with a final cry for help from Superman. After taking the father to the cops, he hands the little boy a phone number and says to call it every day for as long as he needs and if there's ever a day he doesn't hear from him, "There will be consequences." Pretty good issue and there's always a soft spot for kids in trouble in me, even though I like to force 'em to make my cloths.
Next, In Superior #2 (remember, it's pretty much the movie Big but with him getting super powers), Ollie and his best friend Jonah learn just what powers he not has and how far they can be stretched. Pretty awesome issue with a great couple of pages where he tries out his strength. He is trying to pull a bunch of train cars and when he doesn't think he can, we see all these flashes of the hardships he has had with MS and how hard life has been and yet how he has worked to overcome them, showing that he was strong before this and he will be strong after it too. It sounds cheesy when I say this aloud but it was a very well handled connection and one of the few "emotional" writings Mark Millar (to my knowledge) has done.
But onto the real NB. Flash confronts Hal about his teaming with Sinestro and Atrocitis as they are both murderers Hal tries to convince him of the greater good it has to be for but Barry isn't having any of it. As they argue, the Indigo Tribe arrives with both Black Hand (now one of their members) and the new host for their entity Proselyte. As Jordan argues that they have just brainwashed Black Hand, everyone is on edge and ready to fight when the "Mystery Midget" shows up with Parallax and it bonds with Barry Allen! Last page is a sweet Flash/Parallax shot. Even though we know this isn't going to last long, it was still pretty bad-ass. I love what Johns has done with the Lantern mytho and his great stories just keep coming every month. Easily one of the best books month in and month out.
(and on a little note, that is the variant cover to the issue so don't go looking for it cuz you won't find it around here)

In Brightest Day...

Here we have it. I actually still have my reservations about this movie, but I think this trailer makes it look much better then the pre-preview. Here ya go. Talk amongst.

Brain Tunes

I have had a song stuck in my head for the past couple of days and I can't get it out. I love the song but I haven't listened to it since the new All That Remains came out so I'm not sure why it popped in there. Here it is. Tell me I'm crazy.

A Pre-Preview Is Still A Preview

Apparently ET is showing a first look of Lantern footage on Tuesday and this is the commercial for that preview. But it's still pretty cool. Some of the CG looks shite but overall it still gets my NB moving...
(and just so we all know, the first trailer is suppose to be this week, in front of Harry Potter)

I Own Too Much S**t

Yes, I admit it. I own too much shit. I have shit in every corner. Shit to the left. Shit to the Right. Shit in the closet. Shit under the bed. Shit against the wall. Shit out in the middle of nowhere. I really don't even know where to begin in cleaning up after all this shit. Do I throw the shit away? Do I try to give the shit away? And what shit do I start with? All the little shit toys I've bought over the years? I have a shit ton of statues and mini busts that are just in a box. Or all the shitty sports and gaming and trading cards I've gathered over the years? Shitty video games I don't play anymore. Shit books that I may or may not have read (cuz my shit memory doesn't always remember). I gots me every kinda shit in almost every shitty way possible. Please let me know if you want to buy any of my shit off of me.... Shit.

The Comeback Kids

NBA season is a few weeks underway and I try my best to follow what I can. As a native to and relatives living in Utah, I (along with most everyone around here) follow the Jazz. Much as he's become an over-hyped cry-baby, losing Carlos Boozer seemed like a blow. They have no "big man" to compete with the likes of Pau Gasol (Lakers), Dwight Howard (Magic) or Garnett & O'Neil (Celtics) even with Boozer but without him, it's even worse, especially since the biggest guy they have is one of their better 3-point shooters and currently injured. The addition of Al Jefferson is still in the air as to if he will help or not but it's early.
Which brings me to why I'm actually writing about this. It may be early on, but the Jazz easily have the title of Comeback Kids. Currently second in their division, they sit with a record of 5-3, winning the last three. Which also set a new record. This is the first time in NBA history, since the shot clock, that a team has won three strait games where they trailed by at least 18 points! Against the Miami Heat on Tuesday, they scored 14 points in the final 28 seconds to send it into overtime where they won by 2! Not to mention their main center, Paul Milsap, scoring a career high 46 points, including 3 for 3 from behind the arc, 11 of those final 14 points and the game tying basket at the buzzer! A feat like this should not happen, let alone three times in a row but I think it really shows what kind of scrapers they really are and great of a team they can be. At least until they choke in the playoffs again.
But it should be a fun journey until that time.

NB of the Week

SPOILERS AHEAD. IF ANYBODY CARES...
Thanos Imperative #6
As stated on Monday, I was very much looking forward to this issue. I was expecting some big changes and some big surprises with how they were going to end it all but I never expected to be so sad. As nerdy as it is and as much as you can make fun of me for it, let me explain and talk about the issue.
As Thanos turned traitor on our Guardians and gave himself to Mar-Vell and the Cancerverse, the issue begins with Mar-Vell "killing" the Avatar of Death. As this happens, Nova finally arrives to the Cancerverse, freeing the others from the The Many-Angled Ones, who don't seem to care because once Thanos is dead, it won't matter. Only Mar-Vell didn't fully plan ahead. In "killing" Thanos, he has brought forth the regular universe's Death to the Cancerverse, where there is no Death. And with that, The Many-Angled Ones, Cancerverse Mar-Vell and his Revengers are destroyed, facing the death they should have met long ago. Along with their destruction, the Fault (the opening between the universes) begins to collapse in on itself. Back in the Cancerverse, as our heroes ready to teleport out, Thanos begins begging for his Mistress Death to kill him so that they can be together once more. And she just turns her back on him and leaves. Outraged, Thanos blames Star-Lord and vows to destroy everything and everyone until Death comes for him again. As a final stand against him and to keep him from leaving the Cancerverse, Nova and Star-Lord stay behind, much to the shock and disbelief of the other Guardians. We are left with them charging into another battle and these final words:
Nova: I remember you said to me once, you said "If death ever comes your way and won't let you pass, make sure you scream right back in his face."
Star-Lord: I said that?
Nova: You did.
Star-Lord: Rich, you really shouldn't trust anything I say. Most of the time, I just make stuff up."
Nova: I know. Let's just scream in his face anyway.
And with that, two of Marvel's coolest characters sacrificed themselves to keep Thanos from coming back. One of my favorite moments from this year out of any comics.
I know you guys won't really get it as much as I do, but that's because I've been following all these characters from the start. They became some of the best characters Marvel had out and some of the most humanized too. These two were the leaders of it all from Jump Street and it's very fitting, albeit very sad that they are the ones to go out fighting. I very much hope that Marvel can find a smart way to eventually bring them back but I say let them stay out for a while until Abnett and Lanning can find that way.
(and yes, in another two and a half hours, I will need to call my doctor)

Judge Ross? More Like Judge Bulls**t!

As I'm helping around the house (believe it or not), the tv was on and a court show I don't watch came on: America's Court with Judge Ross. I have no problem letting it play in the background but then the case takes a weird turn and made me pay more attention. A lady was suing another lady for running over her foot. That by itself is no big deal but the suing lady and her husband are also looking for compensation because he has a foot fetish and part of the reason he fell in love with her was that she could ball her foot up into a "fist" which is not impossible and he is unable to be easily aroused now.... And the judge gave them money for that! Dude isn't turned on by his wife's foot anymore and they get money for it. I call bullshit. Complete bullshit. His wife was hot (except for maybe a kinda bitchy looking face) and he can't get it to stand up for her because her foot is swollen and messed up. This court show is crap and I don't plan on coming back to it.

Massive NB Warning

As I sat around and fondled the internet with my knob and roller, I decided to gander at what comics are suppose to be out Wednesday and I was very pleased to see that Thanos Imperative #6 should be coming. This is the big finale to writers Abnett and Lanning's amazing cosmic run spanning over four years and more than 110 issues total! As sad as I am to see who dies and how it all comes to an end, I am also super stoked to see what happens. These writers (with the help of a few others over the years, including the great start to everything by Keith Giffen) have made me love characters that five years ago were considered shitty and detrimental to any book they were in. By far,these have been one of Marvel's top two or three series' over the years and it's a shame sales never picked up enough to keep them going.
Good bye Annihilation. Good bye Nova. Good bye Guardians of the Galaxy. Good bye Thanos Imperative. Hello Massive NB that shall follow you all for many, many hours. I may have to contact my physician.

Congratulations!

A big congratulations goes out to Aaron and wife Kim who welcomed their second daughter into the land of living yesterday morning. Olivia Jade Lee was born around 11:30, weighing 8 lbs even and 20 inches long (I do believe). I wish 'em the best with this new one and hope she turns out as good as their first one has. So far.

Spidey Updates

So some more news has been out there regarding the new, rebooted Spider-Man movie. Looks like joining Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone will be Martin Sheen and Sally Field as Uncle Ben and Aunt May. I wouldn't say they were my first picks but they could be pretty good. All-in-all, I think this movie is shaping up to have quite some potential and I'm getting a little more excited for it as the time keeps passing.
Also revealed is that there will not be a Mary Jane. Reports are saying that she's not even in the script, which is why Stone is Gwen Stacy and no MJ has been cast. I actually think I like this. If they're going reboot, start with how it should be. Give Gwen her proper due.
Or maybe they just realized that Kirsten Dunst was was too amazing and nobody could ever match her.....

I Approve

As I started watching Superman/Shazam: The Return of Black Adam, I was first and foremost surprised that it's only 23 minutes long. As I came looked it up, it turns out that this dvd release contains this new animated feature and the three previously released bonus features of The Spectre, Jonah Hex and Green Arrow which were available on the two-disc versions of the last three DC Direct animated releases. As much as it makes sense to me, it certainly feels like a rip-off to buy this dvd. Which I did not.
But back to the main "movie". I actually really liked it. It was mostly a Captain Marvel story and his origin with Billy Batson, but ya pretty much have to throw in Superman to make people notice. The animation was awesome with some really cool fighting and the story pretty to the point for the time allotted.
I haven't been a fan of the Superman duo releases DC has done, but I really liked this one. I say you should give it a shot and watch it.
I approve.

Clif-Notes: Due Date

About half way through watching Due Date I couldn't help but feel like this was all too familiar. Like I had already watched it. But that's how a lot of movies feel now-a-days. Not a whole lot of creativity going around but I can live with that as long as it's well done.
Due Date was well done but not amazing. By the end, I felt that I had seen most of the funny parts in the trailers and that I had hyped it up way too much in my mind. I was super excited to see what I was being told was one of the funniest movies of the year and I really only got a funny movie. I definitely laughed and it's definitely worth watching but it's not going to be the greatest thing that
Planes, Trains & Automobiles! That's what this movie is! Suddenly an image of Steve Martin and John Candy popped into my mind as the movie was drawing to a close. This was essentially a remake of PT&A. Still good and still worth seeing but John Hughes make it first.

S**t You Don't Know - 14

A man hid in a cave in Ohio for two days in 1999 to avoid a meteor. Sheriff's deputies found Lloyd Albright with his tent, a huge supply of dried food and sixteen guns. "He very sincerely thought that a meteor was going to hit the Atlantic and cause a tidal wave 200 ft. high," explained a police spokesman. Albright worked as a computer programmer at the Kennedy Space Center.

NB of the Week

Chaos War #3
Thanks to Amadeus Cho, Hercules has returned from the dead, more powerful then ever before and he comes with a message: The Chaos King is coming and he will destroy all of reality! Hercules gathers every hero he can to stop him, giving out a piece of his godpower to all so they may stand a chance. What he didn't count on though, was Mikaboshi (the Chaos King) having an army of fallen gods under his control, including Herc's brother Ares and father Zeus. It is with Zeus, though, that the NB first takes place (yes, there were multiple NBs this issue). As Zeus stands before the mighty Hercules, lightning bolt in hand, he says:
"Do not weep, my son. You have done all you could."
"You don't understand, father. I weep for what I have yet to do."
And with that, Hercules unleashed power Zeus never even saw coming. Not only freeing him from the control of Mikaboshi, Hercules also killed his father, as Zeus knew one of his children would do eventually, as he did his father. With his dying words, Zeus tells Hercules that he will need "every all-father of Earth" in order to defeat the Chaos King. Enraged, Hercules uses his new godpower to reveal the all-father's location only to find that Mikaboshi used him and Zeus for this very purpose. With access to them all, he can open to portals to all realms, thus destroying all of reality. And as if things didn't look bleak enough, we find out that the one who killed Hercules to begin with, is also helping Mikaboshi: Hercules' own sister, Athena!
This book is great. Over the last few years, Hercules has gone from Avenger c-lister to a force to be reckoned with in the Marvel Universe. This character and his books deserve much more recognition then what they've been getting and you can count me on board for whatever they plan on doing with him after this mini is over.

S**t You Don't Know - 13

King Edward VII owned a golf bag made from an elephant's penis. It was a birthday present given to him by the Indian Maharaja who had heard of the king's fondness for golf, big game hunting and adultery, but not necessarily in that order.

I Approve

AMC premiered The Walking Dead tonight after a long wait and a lot of talk. As a big fan of the comic, I think it's safe to say that most of us readers were extremely excited to see how it turns out. However, I was also very concerned. Once you start reading the comics, you quickly see that it's not a typical zombie story. This story is about the people still alive. About how to deal with the world you're in now that everything you had has been taken. As the back of the trades says "In a world ruled by the dead, we are forced to finally start living". My fear was that a television show would glamorize the look of the zombies more then anything.
And that fear was proven wrong.
This show was great. As a fan of the comics, I may be a bit biased but I don't care. It was fantastic. They nailed the feeling of the book even thought they stray from it a bit (they are going to follow the main plots but the journeys to and from will differ). I was quite liking it to start with but there was one scene that solidified it for me.
After waking up from a coma after being shot, Sheriff Rick Grimes stumbles into a world filled with the living dead. The first actual people he comes across are Morgan Jones and his son Duane. In the comic, that's about where it stops. They fill him in on what they can, he gives them some guns and ammunition from the station and they all go their own way. In the show, they bond a little more. Morgan has lost his wife to the "sickness" and she comes back to their house every now-and-then. As they part ways, we follow both as they try to be at their most human. Rick goes back to the park where he had earlier seen the top half of a zombie crawling along. He tracks her down, says "I'm sorry this happened to you" and shots her in the head, tears in his eyes. Morgan takes a gun and rustles the zombies outside, trying to get his wife out so that he can put her out of her misery. Unlike Rick though, he still only sees the face of his wife and can't do it. Switching between these two scenes really nailed it. That the writers know it's about the people desperately wanting to stay human in this world. Nailed and nailed.
If you missed the premiere, you missed out on some great stuff. Get online and watch it. I think AMC.com will have it up at some point soon but watch it somehow, somewhere.
I give this show a big thumbs up. Absolutely, I approve.