May 25th kicked off the start of the sophomore season for the anthology series Femme Fatales. When last season closed, we were treated to a two-part finale (Visions Part 1 and Part 2) that tied together several episodes, and also dropped some hints about the background of Lilith. As season 2 begins however, all of that stuff is put on the back burner as we start the cycle of new characters all over.
Continue reading Cinemax’s Femme Fatales: 201 – 16 Minutes of Fame
This is possibly the best news I’ve heard all week. Christina Applegate, who so famously portrayed ‘Veronica Corningstone’ in the first Anchorman film, has now been confirmed for the film’s sequel, which is still in its writing stages. The Up All Night star was confirmed to appear in the 2nd film by co-star David Koechner who’s been heavily pushing the film since the release of the teaser trailer.
Continue reading Christina Applegate Confirmed for “Anchorman 2”
Last years X-Men: First Class was a welcome entry into the X-Men film franchise, and of course, it’s going to get a sequel. Thankfully, the team behind the original, including Michael Fassbender, who played the brilliant Magneto, Jennifer Lawrence of newly found ‘Hunger Games’ fame, and Director Matthew Vaughn, who was also responsible for the kick ass, Kick-Ass, are all returning, given time for their respective schedules, to film the sequel in time for July 2014 release. James McAvoy is also confirmed as returning as Professor X, although there is no information at this time if he will be going bald. Details about the film itself are scarce, as it doesn’t even have a title yet, but it will focus on Magneto falling further down the spiral into super-villainry. All in all it’s still pretty early, and news about casting, new roles, further plot details and such are in the air, as it’ll likely be a year before any substantial updates are available.
What did the five fingers say to the face?
I especially look forward to the film, as First Class was the only film in the entire X-Men franchise that, in my opinion, carried any depth or genuine meaning with it, along with exciting, fun to watch action scenes that carried weight and gravitas behind them. The first two tried unsuccessfully to blend heady, talk heavy scenes into the film, but failed when it came to any kind of exhilarating fighting or action, and left us with a main character death in the second, that lacked emotional resonance, and ultimately ended up going nowhere interesting in the incredibly mediocre (but entertaining in a oh-man-this-is-bad way) third film. First Class finally showcased realistic uses of powers by characters who were refreshingly happy and willing to use them, because having powers would be amazing, and seeing characters unburdened by any sort of broody melodramatic guilt over the “responsibility” of their powers, was a breath of fresh air to see, especially in a genre where so many superheroes’ are so torn about having frickin’ SUPER POWERS.
So it goes without saying I’ll be looking forward to seeing some new X-Men action come July 18, 2014, because watching someone using mind powers gleefully is probably the best wish-fulfillment there is.
That’s right, folks. The original Green Lantern, Mr. Alan Scott, is coming out of his superhero closet. The original Green Lantern from the 1940s, Scott was revealed to be gay after kissing his boyfriend despite formerly being a husband and father of two children. He will be revealed as a gay man in next week’s issue of “Earth 2”, a reboot of the Alan Scott character that was ordered by DC comics as a part of their “New 52” initiative, which is “aimed at rejuvenating their characters”.
This is not the first time that James Robinson, the writer of “Earth 2”, has created a gay superhero. Back in the 1990s, he wrote the “Starman” comics for DC. Starman was an openly gay superhero that Robinson hoped would teach tolerance and acceptance to children who read his comics. Regarding the Alan Scott character, Robinson has this to say:
“I hope he’s a positive figure. If there’s some kind of kid out there who’s reading the comic and who’s worried about the person he is, maybe it will give him a positive sense of who he is. Or maybe a different kid will read it and decide I don’t need to bully some kind of kid in school…We should be preaching love and tolerance…that kind of negativity is stupid and outmoded.”
According to the New York Post:
“The character is different than the more modern Green Lantern, ladies’ man Hal Jordan, who stars in his own comics and is a member of an extraterrestrial police force called the Green Lantern Corps. Jordan’s also part of DC’s Justice League with Wonder Woman, Batman, Superman, the Flash and Aquaman.”
The newest issue of “Earth 2” is set to hit stands next Wednesday.
I have absolutely no idea why they’re doing this, but developers have been making announcements after announcements the week prior to E3. Konami went as far as to pre-record their E3 presentation instead of doing it live. Anyways, EA has finally announced Dead Space 3 and Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2012), confirming rumors from a while ago, as well as the leak that happened a couple of days back. Accompanying its announcement is a screenshot taken from the next Need for Speed game. Since I don’t play horror games (real life is scary enough as it is), I’ll just give you some of my insights on Need for Speed.
NFS is actually one of EA’s longest standing franchises (20 games since 1994). The first game was known as one of the most innovative games in the racing genre, bringing car handling to a whole different level. It is also one of the first racing games to bring in non-linear police chases combined with various tactics. However, in recent years, EA has released flop after flop – some of the more notorious ones being Undercover and The Run. As a matter of fact, it was Undercover that began the whole “two year developmental cycle”, which would alternate developers year by year, giving each developer more time to make the games while releasing one each year. This seemed to have worked with Hot Pursuit (2010), but not so much with The Run.
I grew up playing Need for Speed. I went as far back as to NFS 2. My personal favorite has always been High Stakes on the PS1. The graphics were just so stunning back then. Plus, playing as the police is just so much fun. Instead of ramming the suspects while killing them in the process and bearing a seven-figure lawsuit, the game actually requires the players to stop the suspects by, you know, making sure that they have nowhere left to go. You have to trap the suspect in order to make an arrest.
Porsche Unleashed also has one of the best looking visuals at the time. Hell, it still looks good today.
With a history going that far back, I am undoubtedly a Need for Speed junkie. You can’t imagine how excited I am when I first heard about the next entry to the franchise. Criterion Games, mostly known for the Burnout series and Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (2010), is behind Most Wanted. Based on the 2005 game of the same title, it is fair to assume that those insanely long, fun police chases will return. I am most intrigued by the storyline. Oh how much do I miss those insanely deep storylines (spoiler alert) and mind-blowing acting. They’re not bad, just misunderstood. OK, who am I kidding? They’re all turrible, but that’s also the reason why they’re so much fun.
The first Most Wanted was released on PSN recently. If you’re an XBOX 360 or PC owner, you can grab a physical copy of the game. Either case, I definitely recommend checking it out.
EA’s presentation will be live on Monday at 1pm PST. You can watch it live on GTTV. I will, once again, give you my impressions on the game then. And yes, I do know this is a tease to a tease. It’s still stupid.
Grizzly Bomb 