Howdy howdy! This here is a good ol’ fashioned TV News Roundup where we the good folk of Grizzly Bomb scour the big bad internets machine on the look-out for the news you need and gosh darn just want.
And that’s about as far as I’m taking that.
Hokey fake cowboy talk aside, this really is a TV News Roundup where we’ll scour the latest TV news and compile it for you in one easy to read place, no need to wade through countless photos of a Kardashian or Justin Bieber here!
Welcome to Webcomic Wednesday, in which we embark on an epic quest for comics available in the mystical land of “online,” just in time for the Geek Sabbath (a.k.a. New Comics Day).
Hicksville.com is always host to whatever New Zealand-based creator Dylan Horrocks is up to — his books include Hicksville, and the site also hosts several online comics (American Dream, for one). It’s always a fine time to see what’s on Horrocks’ mind or drafting table.
The Wolverine is coming and we have got a bevy of information and pics for you to take a look at. The main reason for all this the first trailer is being released on Wednesday and we wanted a place where you can get all of the content online and get all updates to be ready for Wednesday. We have oh so many images from the film, both leaked and released. We got posters and banners, all the latest news and cast information and we hope you all keep an eye out here Wednesday because we’ll have the trailer on our page ready for consumption. We know we got a while until The Wolverine hits theaters on July 26th (in 3D as well mind you) so let’s drop some knowledge and get you guys situated.
The Wolverine Plot
Official Synopsis:
Based on the celebrated comic book arc, this epic action-adventure takes Wolverine, the most iconic character of the X-Men universe, to modern day Japan. Out of his depth in an unknown world he faces his ultimate nemesis in a life-or-death battle that will leave him forever changed. Vulnerable for the first time and pushed to his physical and emotional limits, he confronts not only lethal samurai steel but also his inner struggle against his own immortality, emerging more powerful than we have ever seen him before.
Wolverine Comic:
The celebrated comic book arc mentioned is the comic Wolverine released in 1982 and covers a large period of Wolverine’s origins and his Weapon X days. In the comic, Wolverine’s love Mariko Yashida wound up getting an arranged marriage set up by her father Lord Shingen. Logan travels to Japan to rescue her and troubles ensue with Samurai getting gutted by some Adamantium claws. We will not go much further as not to spoil the plot of the film. However, we are not sure how closely the film will follow this story line. For example, the film story is set after the events of the third X-Men film but the comics have no specific timeline with the rest of the X-Men. The comic is great and the story arc only has 4 issues so if you feel like getting ahead of the curve, pick it up and enjoy.
The Cast of The Wolverine
Wolverine
Hugh Jackman plays Logan/Wolverine: A mutant and member of the X-Men. I don’t feel I need to explain this character too much. In the film, Logan leaves the X-Men to find himself and get away from the devastating losses that took place in X-Men: The Last Stand. On his journey, he falls in love with a woman Mariko Yashida, although she is to be married off by her father. Logan feels he must do something and naturally gets into a middle of a gang war where probably chaos ensues.
Bloody Claws! Rated R
Lord Shingen
Hiroyuki Sanada stars as Shingen Yashida, a character created by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller, who is a Yakuza crime boss and antagonist to Wolverine. Lord Shingen will be one of the main villains in this film as a father to both Silver Samurai and Logan’s love interest that figures into Wolverine’s conflicts. Lord Shingen arranges his daughter Mariko Yashida to marry another crime boss to settle debts.
Shingen
Mariko Yashida
Tao Okamoto plays Mariko Yashida, the daughter of Shingen and one-time fiancee to Wolverine. K.I.S.S.I.N.G. as Logan’s love interest in this film Mariko is the main cause for conflict within the story. Logan falls in love with her but her father arranges a marriage to honor his clans’ debt. Logan goes to rescue her from an abusive husband but the clans obviously don’t like this and violence ensues. This plot could be way off but it is the basic layout of the comic arc the film is based off so I would be surprised if it wasn’t close to this.
Mariko
Yukio
Rila Fukushima stars as Yukio, one of the deadliest assassins in Shingen’s clan. We think she will be an amazing character to watch out for. In the comics, she is a heroine but is described here almost on the other side. Yukio is an occasional thief by profession, as well as a ronin, a masterless samurai. Yukio has been portrayed as a free spirit with an almost careless disregard for personal danger. While she is highly skilled in the martial arts, Yukio is not a mutant and possesses no super powers. Unless being a badass is a mutant power.
Yukio
The Silver Samurai
Will Yun Lee plays Kenuichio Harada, more commonly known as the Silver Samurai, who possesses an electrified suit of samurai armor and is the illegitimate son of the crime lord Shingen. The first Silver Samurai was a mutant with the ability to generate a tachyon field (some kind of heat energy), with which he can surround anything. He commonly used this power on his sword, enabling it to cut through nearly anything, except adamantium, hence the fun with Wolverine. From what we have gathered, the Silver Samurai will be working for the crime boss Shingen Yashida as a bodyguard. In the comics, he has worked for Viper so speaking of…
Silver Samurai
Viper
Svetlana Khodchenkova plays Viper, a one-time peer of Wolverine’s as well as an enemy. Viper, also known as Madame Hydra, should be an interesting character to watch. She was not in the comic arc but she does have affiliations with both the Silver Samurai and Wolverine in other comics. She is certainly a villain but it remains to be seen how she fits into this film. Not sure how I feel about the costume though, it doesn’t really look anything like the original other than the color.
Viper
Teaser
Below is a short GIF released by director James Mangold to give a small teaser to the trailer. It looks very interesting and I am certainly pumped to see the trailer. Are you teased?
Just thought I would devote a part of this round up to point out how to make a good poster and how to make a terrible poster. Below is a great example of a trailer for this film, its got that brilliant hand drawn Japanese style painting which makes Wolverine look cool and strong whilst showing off the claws.
Next however is one of the worst posters I have ever seen for large budget film. It’s just awful! I have seen better Photoshop jobs from my 7 year old cousins (spoiler alert: they’re not good). What is this! Loads of Ninjas with quick cut and paste of an angry Wolverine. To be honest, I am not even sure Ninjas are involved in this story as the main opposition is from Samurai clans. Please look and laugh.
With that, we’ll leave you with a bunch of production stills from the set as well as other photos we have gathered. And how about a 20 second trailer tease too? Hopefully this piques your interest and gets you excited for Wednesday when we finally get to see The Wolverine in action!
Prey was an interesting episode. Andrea has become quite an annoying character this season. She has put blinders on and changed before our eyes from total badass to ignorant hussie. In this episode, Andrea begins to redeem herself. When Milton explains the plan that the Governor has to eliminate Rick and his group and shows her his torture chamber, Andrea says that she has to kill him. I didn’t like the transition to wide-eyes Governor groupie to professing murderous intentions. It was very abrupt… like a light bulb went off in her head, like “OH! That must be what everyone kept trying to tell me.” Moron.
Anyway, she’s back in my good graces after this episode. Almost the entire thing was shown from the eyes of Andrea, following her through her escape from Woodbury and over to the prison. The cat and mouse game between the Governor and Andrea was pretty suspenseful. First, through that abandoned warehouse or factory, and then on the path to the prison. Andrea leaves the Governor for dead in a swarm of walkers coming towards him, and yet he gets out scratch-free. Just as Andrea pulls up to the prison and begins waving to Rick, who only catches something moving out of his peripherals, the Governor tackles her to the ground so that no one can see it is her. He takes her back and straps her into a chair in his little torture dungeon.
I hate that the Governor is still alive. Not because he’s a douchebag… because he truly is… but because he is always in situations where logically he should be killed. It is unrealistic that so many times, he can stand in the crossfire of a battle smirking and not be hit. Overall, I really liked this episode. It was hard to keep my focus on it at first because I was sure Andrea would find a way to be obnoxious again, but she held it together. I really loved the excitement of the chase!
3.15 – “This Sorrowful Life”
I feel it necessary to begin this with the fact that I believe both Norman Reedus and Michael Rooker should have piles of awards for their perfect performances as the Dixon brothers. They are two incredible actors. Moving forward… this episode begins with Rick having a discussion with Hershel and Daryl about giving Michonne to the Governor. When Rick goes to talk to Merle about doing some of the dirty work, Merle explains to Rick that the Governor is not going to kill the katana-swinging hard ass, he is going to “do things to her”.
Rick decides that they cannot go through with giving Michonne over to the Governor, and has a very heartwarming group discussion about how they are all the greater good, and they need to protect each other. It was sweet. Preceding this talk, Glenn proposed to Maggie, who of course said yes. This was one of the sweeter moments of the show. It is rare that you get a love story in a situation such as this one, even if the ring came from the finger of a lady walker.
While clearing out a part of the prison, Merle knocks out Michonne and puts a bag over her head, then takes her away from the prison. Of course Rick and the crew thought he was taking her to the Governor, so Daryl went to find them. Of course, Merle had bigger plans. You know… when he was coming back for season 3, I knew there’d be some big reason, I just wasn’t sure whether it would be positive or negative. He lets Michonne out of the car and says there’s something he needs to do on his own.
After this, the eldest Dixon brother has himself some liquor and blares the stereo in a vehicle, attracting a large hoard of walkers. He continues this until the dozens of undead arrive with him at meeting place.
Merle ducks into a building and through the window, begins shooting our some of the guards protecting the walls of the town. He has the Governor in his sights, and right at the last second, a guard steps in front of him, getting immediately killed, but protecting the Governor from harm.
When the Governor attacks Merle, he bites off two of his fingers from his good hand! The Governor is such a charming man [Ed. – *shakes head*] that it is just incredible to get little reminders of what he is capable of… like biting fingers off of another human being. He shoots Merle, but of course not in the head. Daryl arrives to Woodbury and who is there to greet him but his big brother feasting on the deceased. Daryl, either viciously or mercifully, stabs zombie Merle in the head several times.
Next week is the season 3 finale of The Walking Dead. I cannot stress enough how excited I am to see that episode. These last two episodes are clearly leading up to something huge. I have loved this show since episode one, but this season has brought so much depth to the characters we thought we knew already, it might just be my favorite season so far.
Even though the powers that be over at ABC moved Happy Endings to the death march that is Friday nights, they want you, the viewing public, to know that if it gets cancelled, it is your fault. In a move that is somewhat reminiscent of Fox’s “Get Arrested” campaign way back in 2005 (it does not seem like it was that long ago), ABC has gone the “save Happy Endings” route with the newest promo for the March 29th return of the sitcom.
VIDEO REMOVED BY YOUTUBE
Let’s be clear, I hate this move. I hate it for many reasons.
One – it really doesn’t matter if I tune in on Friday nights to watch Happy Endings because I am not a Nielsen viewer. I don’t know any Nielsen viewers. So telling me that my watching the fun gang of friends on Friday night will save the show? Incorrect.
Two – They have no intention of keeping Happy Endings around. If you want a show to survive, you don’t follow the “NBC’s foolproof plan to cancel Community” method of scheduling. Newsflash, people don’t watch a lot of TV on Friday nights. They certainly aren’t tuning in to catch a sitcom they might have just heard of for the first time when they saw this promo.
Three – I’d place good money that ABC will base their decision on overnight numbers from this one episode. Again, this is only based on Nielsen viewers on a Friday night. Digital and DVR numbers are not incorporated into the overnight returns so all those people who decided to just DVR the episode and watch it later in the week, they will have no effect which basically means this promo is pointless. Surprise, surprise.
Four, and finally – Is Celebrity Wife Swap really more important than Happy Endings? Really? If ABC was so concerned with the show sticking around, why on earth would they put yet another stupid reality show in a spot where it might have had even the slightest chance of catching viewers?
The whole things just reeks of corporate ridiculousness and in the end, it’s the fans of the show that will end up disappointed.
Why would ABC deny the world of 23 episodes a year featuring this woman? Why? Not only is Eliza Coupe gorgeous and funny but seriously her on-screen marriage with Damon Wayans Jr. is one of my favorite TV marriages in many years. They are hysterical! Jane and Brad are one of the biggest reasons to love this show. [Editor’s Note – Realizing I may never have another opportunity to bring this up, I just have to say Jane Kerkovich-Williams (Eliza Coupe) has the sexiest legs on television. Wow, I feel better now.]
It’s also a bit more agonizing to know we are watching the last episodes of the show when they are bringing in a third sister! Jane and Alex and crazy enough but can you imagine a sister who is apparently even more “Jane” than Jane? Not only that but it’s ADA Cabot/Mrs. Bobby Flay/Liz Lemon’s lesbian love interest herself, Stephanie March. Le sigh, I’d love it if she had a chance to return as a regular to a show, and can see her fitting perfectly with Jane, Alex, and the rest of their friends and by “fit perfectly” I mean “annoy the crap out of and we get to see Max’s reaction to her and it would be awesome.” (Speaking of Max, it looks like he’s getting a new love interest!
Between March as the third sister, Michael McKean as Dave’s dad, and Megan Mullaly and Andy Richter as Penny’s parents, the extended families of the Happy Endings family is so awesome its seems almost a crime to cancel. I guess all that’s left is to just enjoy the remaining episodes and pray that Nielsen viewers don’t have much of a social life on Friday nights.
Might as well enjoy some pictures of our favorite friends and their hijinks over the last couple years to try to soothe the pain.
April 7th marks the return of the one of television’s greatest shows of all time, and the move from the awesomely classic aesthetic of the early 1960s to the gaudy and unpleasant aesthetic of the late 60s and early 70s. That change will be evident in some of the photos below. Before we get to that though, let’s talk about what we’ve got to expect story wise coming up…
Grizzly Bomb 