Yearly Archives: 2012

TV

Spartacus Season 2: Vengeance – Episode 3 “The Greater Good”

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This was by far the best episode of the season yet, and that is pretty good for only the third episode. It would seem that Lucretia unleashing that little bit of information about Gannicus and Oenomaus’ wife Melitta happened a lot sooner than I thought, as she and Ashur worked towards gaining the location and intent of Spartacus and the other escaped slaves. I thought that Oenomaus was one of the more intriguing characters of the series, but he really doesn’t compare to the likes of Ashur.

“I call this one THE HELICOPTER!”

Ashur personifies the concept of scheming and treachery. Having said that, his loyalty is somewhat steadfast as long as the person employing him treats him well. It has already been shown that he is still loyal to Lucretia, though whether that is pure or simply a means to get revenge against Spartacus and the others remains to be seen. I don’t see him ever actually being true to the likes of Glaber. You have to wonder what Ashur’s driving force is, because it’s not likely he could rise much higher than someone’s lackey being a freed Syrian slave in Rome. Either way, he is a brilliant villain for the series and has made plenty of enemies of people who could really beat the living crap out of him. (Oenomaus and Crixus in particular.)

A statue that bleeds…

Oenomaus seems to be a broken man at this point after learning of Melitta doing the nasty with Gannicus, and bringing the poisoned wine to drink with him just before it. I would think even though he may want to see Gannicus dead, he may care a little less for long dead Quintus, and still alive Lucretia as well, especially if he finds out that Lucretia is responsible for Titus dying.

There have been some interesting developments indeed going down for the renegade slaves as well. After freeing another group of slaves being transported, Agron and Nasir interrogate one of the surviving Romans and gaining some information about Naevia, which isn’t good. After Crixus finds out that she is supposedly dead he goes into flip out mode and then mopes around quite a bit. It was actually pretty sad to see Crixus react to Naevia’s death, but as the episode wore on you could tell by the way Nasir was acting that something was amiss and when it was revealed you know things wouldn’t be good for anyone who pissed off Crixus.

Crixus LOVES Sinéad O’Connor’s “Nothing Compares 2 U”

Finally the truth comes out when Nasir admits that Agron lied about Naevia’s death because he didn’t think it was right that they were risking everyone to save one person. And so Spartacus, Crixus and Nasir strike off with a small group for the mines where Naevia is being held and Agron leads the others to Mount Vesuviusto make camp. I always liked Agron, but I was kind of disappointed to see him screw up the harmony of the group with his lies. It was good to see Nasir as such a valuable member of the group, offering to assist them at the mines, and a bit weird to think of him and Agron as…*gulp*… a couple. Of anything by the end of this episode, the comradarie seen between Crixus and Spartacus was a welcome sight, though by the looks of the ending it may have been cut short.

“Swear to God, it was THIS big”

It would seem Claudius Glaber is finally being useful without having to rely on Verinius and Seppius as he heeds Ashur and Lucretia’s advice to seek out Spartacus and the others at the mines. The scene where it alternated between the fights at the Capua arena and the slaves escaping the mine with Naevia was very well done, both musically and visually. My biggest question at this point is what in the hell will become of Crixus? I really am starting to like the big oaf. And can I just add that I absolutely cannot stand Seppius’ sister Seppia? If actress Hanna Mangan Lawrence was going for ditzy and annoying noble Roman girl then she nailed that right on the head, and is a great actress for making me despise the character after only briefly seeing her in three episodes. I give the episode 5 out of 5 grizzlies, because it was perfect. It kept me on the edge of my seat with the interrogation of Oenomaus and the rescue of Naevia the entire time and left us with an excellent cliffhanger ending. Not to mention there was plenty of action to sustain us barbaric male viewers.

“Yup, hand in the air, I was totally paying attention.”
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Dark Horse Review – Knights of the Old Republic: War #2

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Another issue, another planet! Zayne Carrick is reluctantly helping to fight a war on the planet Halthor, but this time it’s for the Mandalorians! After being captured last issue with Captain Morvis, Zayne and his not so close friend find themselves on the front line with the only other choice being imprisoned as a slave for the Mandalorians. I think Zayne said it best himself that it’s pretty unusual for someone to help invade two planets in one week for two different armies.

The issue was a little bit light on the action once the beginning battle was over. We are introduced to the Devaronian Mandalorian whose child Zayne saved in the last issue. This issue kind of shows you how the Mandalorians operate during the war if you’re not too familiar with them. First off, Mandalorians take prisoners either to make them work as slaves or to fight for them in battle. This leads to the fact that Mandalorians are not just humans, but a mixture of many species. Being Mandalorian is not only based on race but more on the culture itself. Not to mention that was is their way of life. You come to see that the Devaronian that Zayne helped last issue, Ko Sornell, has her entire family in the war zone with her including husband, son and infant. Crazy bunch of buggers.

Nothing was more interesting than the concept of Jedi Knights siding with the Mandalorians in the war. I thought Dorjander Kace was pretty cool in the last issue but he kind of lost some credibility at the end of the last issue when he revealed that he and his Jedi followers were “Mandalorian Knights”. They all wield the same yellow-orange bladed lightsaber which reminds me of the Imperial Knights from the Legacy Era comics where certain Jedi follow the will of the force as guided by the will of the Emperor. This is the same concept except I’m not sure exactly what kind of code these Mandalorian Knights follow. Dorjander Kace explains that he and his Jedi joined the Mandalorians to balance the fact that the Jedi were entering the war against the Mandalorians. This idea kind of gives me a newfound respect for Dorjander Kace, even though I can only see him falling to the Dark Side eventually while fighting for such a brutal army. He is simply arguing as the Jedi council did against the Jedi entering into the war against the Mandalorians and he believes that the Jedi shouldn’t be fighting a war for a “corrupt” Republic. And after Revan and his Jedi joined in the war, Dorjander is just trying to balance things out. He almost reminds me of Dooku during the Clone Wars and it almost seems like this war is something the Jedi did not learn from and is repeated during that war. Only time will tell if Dorjander’s intentions are pure.

I give the issue 4 out of 5 grizzlies. It just about followed the same pace as the first with a battle at the beginning, story in the middle and a cliffhanger at the end, but I’m completely fine with that. Zayne is going to have his hands full with Dorjander revealing that there is to be a mass invasion of Phaeda, his home planet and where his family and “girlfriend” live. Is his girlfriend Jarael and does that mean we may get to see her in the upcoming issue? I sure hope so.

And on an artistic note, I’m really starting to take a liking to Andrea Mutti’s pencils in the series thus far. Her art has the right tone for this storyline with her gritty feel and attention to detail. I hope she stays on board at least for this first story arc and I wouldn’t complain if she stayed on after either. Stayed tuned for issue 3!

Movie News & Opinions

George Lucas Claims That Han Solo Never Shot First! COME ON!

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‘Whether or not Han Solo shot first’ is one of the biggest debates ever. It’s somewhere akin to the health care issue in the United States or whether global warming exists or not. You have Star Wars geeks of all creeds and color going at it back and forth about whether or not Han was a hero by not shooting first, or if he was a cold blooded killer for being shooter numero uno.

Personally, I always felt that Han definitely shot first when I was a youngling, and justifiably so. I think it qualifies as self defense when some scumbag Rodian has a gun pointed right at you and is gloating about taking away your starship and/or turning you over to a disgusting, oversized slug gangster. To tell you the truth I never actually thought twice about the whole situation.

Then came the special edition releases of the Star Wars trilogy and the modified scene where Han looks like he had a slight seizure to dodge a blaster bolt that harmlessly hits against the wall. I remember being in middle school and thinking not much of it, but after watching the movie about 80 more times it sort of started to bug me about why they did that, and why it looked so terrible. It was something that many fans including myself had hoped would disappear once all six Star Wars movies were released on Blu-Ray, but it was to no avail. George Lucas, creator of the Star Wars franchise claimed time and again that he added the scene because he didn’t want Han to look like some cold blooded killer. But if that was the case then why have the scene be so shoddy in the first place? Why not just fix this shit in the 70’s so we don’t have to waste our geek time debating it now?

Since then, there has been a recent development. This one is coming straight from the source. The Maker and flannel bearer himself George Lucas has recently had this say to the whole Han-Greedo debacle (IGN):

[quote]In a chat with The Hollywood Reporter (via /Film), Lucas said, “The controversy over who shot first, Greedo or Han Solo, in Episode IV, what I did was try to clean up the confusion, but obviously it upset people because they wanted Solo [who seemed to be the one who shot first in the original] to be a cold-blooded killer, but he actually isn’t. It had been done in all close-ups and it was confusing about who did what to whom. I put a little wider shot in there that made it clear that Greedo is the one who shot first, but everyone wanted to think that Han shot first, because they wanted to think that he actually just gunned him down.” [/quote]

Oh yes George. We, the violent masses want nothing more than for our beloved Han Solo to be a murdering psychopath who just guns down every Rodian he sees. Really? I don’t think that anyone was upset due to the fact that Lucas’ terrible wide shot proved that Greedo shot first, I think they’re mad because you did such a crap job about it in the special editions. Lucas should have either left the whole thing up to interpretation or done a better job way back when. And yeah, I guess Han should be looking at keeping his image clean without any bar room murder, despite the fact that he’s already a f–kin’ smuggler and self-proclaimed scoundrel. (He did like the sound of that.) Either way I guess it doesn’t matter because Lucas will leave things that way that he wants. So that means all of the Star Wars geeks will remain looking like idiots as they argue over which guy shot first. Seriously say those last four words again, it doesn’t sound good at all.

MOVIES

Grizzly Review: The Vow

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Sometimes as a guy, you just have to bite the bullet. This could mean a lot of things, like buying your girlfriend tampons at the store or having to sit through two whole episodes of Glee. This weekend I had to bite the bullet in the form of watching “The Vow” starring Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams. The movie has just hit the American cinema this weekend, just in time for that dreaded Valentines Day thing. And I am surprised to even see myself typing this, but the movie was actually not that bad and even a little enjoyable. As far as romances go, it was pretty decent and stuck to that same formula that most of them due with a slight twist at the end.

Continue reading Grizzly Review: The Vow →

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The Return of Smallville… Via Comic Book!

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Smallville may be over, but DC Comics is giving the loyal fans of the loosely based Superman show a little somethin’ somethin’ in the form of a Smallville comic book! According to IGN, the comic will be released in small parts throughout April digitally and then in a full comic book in May. And for those of you who initially worried like I did that it would take place in between all of the Smallville episodes, have no fear. The comic will take place after the show ended and after Clark finally donned the Super suit!

“Six months after Clark Kent donned the cape and took to the skies to save Earth from Apokolips… enter Season 11!” explains Miller. “New allies abound! New enemies afoot! And old friends return where they’re least expected! Pere and colorist Chris Beckett have done a fantastic job of capturing the look of the show and the players, and Gary and Cat are knocking it out of the park on covers. I couldn’t be more excited to help give seasoned viewers and new readers an all-access pass to Clark’s first year in the cape.” 

The announcement confirmed that alongside Clark will be show regulars Oliver Queen, Chloe Sullivan, Lois Lane, and even Lex Luthor. 

I guess if I have to see Michael Rosenbaum Lex Luthor in comic book form then that will suffice. But really, I can’t wait to see what they do with new villains from the Superman world and possibly even bringing back old ones. I for sure was not overly impressed with the fight against Doomsday because it was like watching a Mike Tyson fight on pay per view. But in comics as with animation, they can pretty much do whatever they want.

I’ll be very interested to see how everything has played out since the show has ended. How is Lex after his memory of knowing Clark was pretty much erased? What about the other twenty people who know Clark’s secret identity and didn’t have a memory wipe? I’m ready and waiting for this comic to come out in the next couple of months because Smallville is like Star Wars to me; I don’t want it to end even though it’s not quite what it used to be. Though this comic does have some potential to be pretty damned good. It will almost be like an Elseworlds comic or Superman: Earth One. What about the rest of the Smallville faithful? Good news or should Smallville just die a natural death? Let it be known in the comment section below!

MOVIES

Grizzly Review: Star Wars – The Phantom Menace 3D

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So I was very excited to see Star Wars: Episode 1 in the theater for it’s re-release in 3D. Not because of the 3D, because I think 3D is the worst fad since parachute pants, but I wanted to see it because….well it’s Star Wars and I’m a huge Star Wars geek. And even though I knew what I was in store for with the terrible Jar Jar Binks jokes and horrible performance by Jake Lloyd as Anakin Skywalker, I was paying that admission price to at least watch the pod race scene and the Darth Maul v.s. Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon.

Phantom Menace 3d

Aside from mediocre acting from everyone except Liam Neeson and sometimes Ewan McGregor, the movie suffers from the same problems that it did almost 13 years back. The pacing was just God awful. You get a little bit of action and then some terribly long wandering around Tatooine and then an albeit cool yet ultimately too long pod racing sequence. After the pod race and short Qui-Gon/Maul skirmish we are treated to yet another extended lull in the story to deal with politics before the last twenty minutes of action finale. The political aspect is necessary to set Palpatine up as Supreme Chancellor, but one might wonder why Lucas didn’t just start the saga with Palpatine already as Supreme Chancellor. And while the political scenes are intriguing and moderately well done to a first time viewer, those who have seen the movie numerous times aren’t very enamored by them. I kept fighting the urge to go take a pee break during the senate scene because I didn’t want to miss the Jedi Council scenes with non-puppet Yoda.

YOU CREEP EVERYONE OUT, PUPPET YODA!

I’m kind of interested to see how the Phantom Menace re-release does in the box office after it’s historic $933 million dollar worldwide gross back in 1999. I’m also wondering just how people nowadays who haven’t seen it would react to the mediocre acting and Jar Jar hijinx, because I think we can all agree that there are blockbuster hits out there with far worst acting and way stupider shit that Jar Jar Binks plaguing our movie screens. (Twilight anyone?) After watching the movie in theatres again I recall feeling a little bit bored with the segments in between the action sequences, but I overall was glad that I went because of the nostalgic feel I get and watching the epic lightsaber fight at the end. And I also now have a sweet pair of Darth Maul 3D glasses to wear anytime I want. I give the re-release a 2 out of 5 grizzlies. Definitely one point off for the 3D fail aspect of the movie, but at least the experience didn’t suck anymore than it did thirteen years ago.