All posts by Stephen Sanchez

TV

Game of Thrones: The King Beyond the Wall is Cast

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Well folks, winter is coming, and that means that Game of Thrones will be filming and returning to HBO before you know it. After having cast most of the minor characters thus far, the one I’ve most been wondering about has also finally been cast. I speak of none other than Mance Rayder, the self proclaimed King Beyond the Wall. Mance is a deserter from the Night’s Watch (who kept his head) who went to live with the Free Folk (Wildlings) North of the wall and has now unified them as one… something Lord Commander Mormont and the other brothers of the Night’s Watch have a bit of a problem with.

The character of Mance Rayder to me was a very charismatic one in the third novel of the Song of Ice and Fire. And even though I pictured him being a bit younger than Lord Commander Mormont or Quorin Halfhand, I’m liking the selection of actor they picked to portray the Wildling king. That actor is none other than Ciarán Hinds, star of HBO’s Rome where he played Julius Caesar and many other movies including’;Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Ghost Rider: Spirits of Vengeance and John Carter.

Hinds playing the role of Julius Caesar on HBO’s Rome

Hinds is definitely no light weight and if he can portray Julius Caesar in a TV show then he should have no problem playing the man leading the Wildlings. As I said I didn’t picture Hinds as Mance but he’ll definitely have the presence to do things right. A lot of things have occurred on the show that were slightly different than what I imagined from the book, but for the most part I’ve loved them. I  can’t imagine if they’d left the Battle of Black Water Bay occurring in the day time, it just wouldn’t have looked as epic.

On top of the other casting selections made during Comic Con, it looks as if the cast is pretty much rounded out… at least for the first half of book three. It looks as if they may be breaking the third book up into two seasons since there are still notable characters missing. Diana Rigg has been cast to play Lady Olenna Tyrell, also known ominously as “The Queen of Thorns” in what is one of the more interesting characters in the series. Although she has been cast, the role of Mace Tyrell, the patriach of House Tyrell has not been cast yet.

The soon to be ‘Queen of Thorns’

Other roles that have been cast include Jojen and Meera Reed, Brynden “The Black Fish” Tully, Edmure Tully, Orell, Missandei, Shireen Baratheon, Selyse Baratheon, Beric Dondarrion, Thoros of Myr, Tormund Giantsbane, Qyburn and Anguy. None of the roles I just mentioned are particularly big roles, but alot of the characters are pretty bad ass and I think everyone will enjoy their screen time when it occurs. A lot of us novel readers will notice that a handful of the characters were noticeably absent from season 2 including Edmure Tully and Brynden Tully. Whether this was due to pacing and time constraints who knows, but I’m sure they’ll fit everyone in somehow in the coming season. For a complete list of new cast members, check out this link at Entertainment Weekly and stay tuned for more casting in Game of Thrones season 3!

Movie News & Opinions

Daredevil Movie Rights to Revert Back to Marvel Studios

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So remember all of the hullabaloo the other day about Fox giving up Daredevil or possibly some Fantastic Four characters? (If not, then read the article HERE.) Well Fox made their move and it was to simply…. Do nothing with Daredevil. Deadline, Variety and IGN have all reported that Fox fully intends to do nothing with a Daredevil movie by the October 10th deadline. Apparently they don’t feel that Daredevil is necessary when they have the full stable of X-men characters and the Fantastic Four. I have to say it at least seems like Fox is now heading in the right direction since X-men: First Class was released. Now it even seems like they may be having the good ole’ canucklehead set down the right path in the upcoming The Wolverine. Hugh Jackman has been out promoting the film as a standalone story, completely separate from Wolverine: Origins. Hey, if Logan can have amnesia and forget the horrible events of the first movie then we sure as hell can… and will if I have anything to say about it.

I’m definitely glad that Daredevil is heading back to the care of Marvel Studios. They’ve been producing hits left and right with their characters since the first Iron Man movie came out and have a lot of faith that they’ll continue the tradition with the Man Without Fear. There is no word as of yet whether or not Joe Carnahan will still get a shot at directing the movie, but I would imagine that Marvel has it’s own ideas about who they’ll want to use. Personally I think that Carnahan had the right vision for Daredevil, wanting the movie to be in the vein of a 70’s crime thriller and I hope they at least sit down and talk with the guy.

Another interesting tidbit would be that Fox retains the rights to the character Elektra who, let’s face it, plays a pretty big part in the comic world of Daredevil. I’m thinking they can either have a renamed character similar to her in the movie (or future movies) or use another dangerous femme fatale who has spent a lot of time with Matt Murdock in the superhero world and the bedroom; Black Widow. As you may or may not know, in the comic books the pair dated at one point and I think it could be perfect for a movie crossover for the two characters. Hell, Daredevil was more recently on an Avengers team in the comic world so it may not be out of the realm of possibility to have him in the Avengers 2. It probably wouldn’t happen, but unlike Fox, Marvel now has all of the time in the world to make their Daredevil movie. And this true believer has all of the confidence in the world that they can do it right.

GAMING

Star Wars: You Have Reached Level 1313

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A new trailer for Star Wars 1313 has come out and it just makes me more and more excited… and angry because there is still no release date for the game! I would imagine It will hit store shelves sometime next year (Spring hopefully, though Christmas would be ideal for sales.) the way they are promoting it and how finished the game appears to be. The graphics are simply stunning and smooth and this time around won’t be your typical Star Wars game. Normally you are able to play as a Jedi and do all sorts of awesome shit with your lightsaber, in an unusually overpowered Jedi way as evidenced below:

However, the minimal information that we have to go on for 1313 is that it takes place in the deep underworld of Coruscant, the lawless abyss known as level 1313, hence the title of the game. And in the game instead of playing as a Jedi or Sith apprentice, you’ll be stepping into the shoes of a bounty hunter on the hunt to take down a criminal conspiracy. The criminals? We don’t know. The conspiracy? We don’t know. Although we do know that as this bounty hunter there will be an ass load of weaponry to use. The game has also been described to have cover based gameplay, platform gameplay and playable cinematic gameplay. I can only envision the cover based gameplay being a lot like our good friend Mass Effect, and upon watching gameplay footage of 1313 it sure the hell looks like Mass Effect, which is awesome. As much as I like Mass Effect the Star Wars galaxy is a far bigger place with a lot of avenues to explore. Listen to me thinking sequel already. But seriously watch the newest trailer below. I’m all for a sequel already:

The playable cinematic gameplay I would imagine is akin to something like Resident Evil 4 or parts of the Force Unleashed games. Maybe by now they’ve found more innovative ways to do things instead of quick button tapping and button combinations. Check out some direct gameplay below:

Personally I hope that Black Sun is involved somehow in this “criminal conspiracy”. They seem to be the mainstay criminal organization in the Star Wars universe aside from the Hutt Cartels. But then again, we don’t even know which era this will be in. Looking at some of the ship designs I’m betting it will be in the Dark Times era between episodes 3 and 4, which is a time period I love. There’s something about the dark and dangerous storylines in the Star Wars universe where the Empire is always a looming cloud and Jedi, smugglers and rebels alike are constantly on the run from them. The mood of that era does seem to fit perfectly with the supposed gritty and adult themed feel that the game will be sporting.

Hopefully more will be revealed soon as time progresses. (Like a damned release date!) I can’t get enough of the locales of Coruscant, particularly the less savory parts. Whether it is in the comics, movies,  games or books, the Coruscant’s underbelly is a diverse yet dangerous place. The best writing and descriptions of Coruscant are done by author Michael Reaves not only in the excellent Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter, but also in the equally awesome Coruscant Nights trilogy that takes place soon after Order 66 and the end of the Clone Wars. I don’t expect any of the locations used by Reaves to be in the game but I’m eagerly anticipating whether or not they give Coruscant the same life that Mr. Reaves was able to convey in his novels.

MOVIES

Grizzly Review: The Campaign

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Enter The Campaign: Cam Brady, a strange mixture of both George W. Bush and Bill Clinton is a congressman running for another term, this time completely unopposed. That is until political nobody Marty Huggins enters the race at the behest of his retired, politician father (Brian Cox) and his former campaign contributors. (Both played by a terribly underutilized Dan Aykroyd and John Lithgow.)  As shown throughout the trailer for this political satire, a vicious match of mud slinging ensues which honestly just gets tired by about the middle of the movie.

The Campaign suffers from two things: Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis exhibiting their same old schtick, and the majority of the laughs being shown in the trailer I mentioned above. I’m not saying that there weren’t funny parts in the movie, but they were so few and far between that I had trouble not checking the time on my cell phone, and that‘s knowing that other moviegoers hate lit cell phone screens in the theater. I almost felt like people in the theater were cautiously laughing at certain scenes just so it wouldn’t make the movie seem so terrible.

A movie with a comedic cast of this caliber should have had me throwing up from laughter. Ferrell and Galifianakis should make that a guarantee, but when their shenanigans aren’t enough shouldn’t Jason Sudekis, Dan Aykroyd and John Lithgow somehow be able to pull us though? Shockingly enough, extra laughs were secured with me by Dylan McDermott who stole the scene every time he appeared on-screen. His dochebaggery as the smooth, relentless campaign manager to Marty Huggins was a welcome addition to the movie from an actor I had no idea could make me laugh the few times I did. Hopefully he’s in a few more roles like this in the coming years. He could be the next Channing Tatum in terms of how I went from absolutely hating C-Tates to actually liking him after 21 Jump Street. But that still doesn’t mean I went and saw Magic Mike.

Overall this movie serves a way to point out how corrupt politics is and how stupid a select two portions of the American population are ideologically. The only thing is, I don’t think that the audience needed a movie to tell us all of these things. And if the studio felt like they needed to then they could have done it in a funnier way. I had a much better time and more laughs watching a walking, talking, pot smoking teddy bear this year for God’s sake! 2 out of 5 Grizzlies is what I say! That dog WON’T hunt Monseigneur!

Be sure to check out our 2 A.M. Text Review of The Campaign also! 

Movie News & Opinions

It’s happening… ALF The Movie

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Remember when we were talking about ALF voice and creator Paul Fusco pitching the idea for an ALF movie to the studios back in May? Well then it’s good news for you if you grew up in the 80’s or resided on the planet Melmac! Gordon Shumway or ALF as his illegal alien harboring human friends like to call him, is getting a movie. This is not a big surprise considering the success of such movies as Alvin and the Chipmunks and The Smurfs. Granted, those were cartoons turned into movies but the idea is basically the same with the approach of using CGI technology to make something mediocre from the 80’s into a modern day cash machine. So expect an extra long episode of ALF with more of a budget.

Even as a kid I thought the show was a little silly and now looking back I can’t believe I ever used to watch it. For those of youngsters not familiar with ALF, the show followed alien Gordon Shumway after he crash landed in the suburbs of America. Actually he landed in the trash pile of the Tanner family who (reluctantly at first) take Gordon in and proceed over the course of the show to hide him from neighbors and government officials alike. And they call him ALF instead of Gordon because it stands for Alien Life Form as the elder Tanner points out. Seriously, this crap was sitcom gold back then.

I would say it will be interesting to see which route they go with the movie, but seeing as how it’s the same producer as The Smurfs I’ m sure it will be all sorts of family friendly. Having so recently watched Ted in theaters, one can only dream of the hilarity that would ensue if ALF was as foul mouthed and drug induced as that cuddly teddy bear. No talks of release dates or actors/actresses but we’ll be sure to keep you posted!

Take this as you will…
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Know Your Sith! Week One: Darth Kruhl

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I’m proud to bring everyone a new weekly post that I prefer to call “Know Your Sith”.  And yes that is a play on the words ‘know your shit’. Just like Sith Happens and Sith-head. Basically we will feature a new Sith Lord every week and a brief bio including their claim to fame and some pivotal moments for them in the Star Wars universe. And just so everyone knows, we won’t be covering well known Sith Lords such as Darth Vader, Darth Sidious and Darth Tyranus. This is a chance for the Star Wars fans out there to have a little back story on Sith Lords from some of the expanded universe work out there including comics, games and novels.

At one point George Lucas issued an edict to the expanded universe writers and figure heads: No Sith and No Galaxy Spanning Wars. Also I think he said no more Wookie Jedi, which is a damn shame. But once the New Jedi Order series started the whole galaxy spanning war thing sort of went out the window. With the completion of the NJO series the no Sith rule also went out the window and now we have Old Republic Sith, post NJO Sith and Legacy era Sith. To the layman, those are several of the different time eras in the Star Wars expanded universe.

And now for this week’s Sith Lord:

DARTH KRUHL

“A Sith has many ways to kill.”

Race: Human (Home Planet Unknown)

Claim to fame: Almost took out the Emperor Roan Fel

Moment of Shame: Dying by blaster bolt. I mean seriously, you’re a Sith.

Sith Affiliation: The Order of the One Sith

Darth Kruhl definitely didn’t have much face time, but definitely made an impact and proved that he was pretty bad ass. Showing up in the widely loved Legacy comic line written John Ostrander, Darth Kruhl was one of the One Sith Order’s best assassins and intelligence operatives. We were able to watch him single handedly manipulate and ultimately bind the planet of Munto Codru to the will of his Sith Emperor, Darth Krayt, but it is Kruhl’s assignment following that which makes him stand out.

Darth Kruhl is charged with assassinating the exiled Emperor Roan Fel who at this point is the second most powerful being in the galaxy behind Darth Krayt. (Politically, not in terms of force use, though Fel was definitely no push over) After infiltrating the heavily fortified Imperial capital of Bastion Kruhl finds Fel meditating in his garden when he springs to attack. Unfortunately Fel was waiting for such an assassin. Kruhl fights valiantly, nearly killing the Emperor at one point, even without a lightsaber. But Fel finally gains the upper hand finishing Kruhl off with a blaster bolt to the guts.

The fight itself was one of the best in the Legacy comics, like a fight between two lone samurai in a bamboo thicket. Many of the fights in Legacy involve groups of force users and tons of limbs and heads flying to and fro, but this one felt more personal and the stakes were quite high. Kruhl more than likely would have never left the planet alive after killing Roan Fel but would have been regarded very highly by his Sith bretheren for sacrificing himself to eliminate Darth Krayt’s competition to the throne. Even failing in his mission I have to say… that Sith had balls.

Stay tuned next week for another installment of Know Your Sith!