Flash vs Arrow/The Brave and the Bold

Epic Crossover

So, this happened this week.  I have to admit that I came into the two episodes with a lot of apprehension.  Flash has been amazing, one of my favorite shows of the year at this point, but Arrow has been disappointing.  I didn't even finish "Draw Back Your Bow" (the episode previous to The Brave and the Bold) and I read some of the reviews online and they weren't favorable.  Needless to say I was expecting Arrow to drag down the greatness of Flash and create kind of a muddy mess.

  Well, I was wrong.  I actually quite enjoyed this block of television.  Probably top three or five Flash episodes and, I'd say, the best Arrow episode of the season.  There is no doubt they take some heavy handed jabs at a couple of subjects they have no business taking, namely the very thin theme of torture, but overall it's the best of both worlds.
 
Starting out I was ready to hate but when that Arrow-esque music sting hit with it's own Flash score twist I totally popped.  Follow that by the Arrow tinged opening credits and I was all in.  I also popped thinking that we were seeing the debut of Psycho Pirate but it turned out to be jabroni scrub Prism.  Eh, I'll let that one go.  The Flash side of this is it's usual light hearted, colorful fare with a couple drops of Arrow darkness to grunge it up.  Seeing angry Barry was great as Grant Gustin proved he can be truly intimidating as a heavy.  The Arrow/Flash conflicts were great showing Ollie's ability to think faster than Barry can move and keeping the duo on pretty even footing.  The final conflict between Ollie and Barry was a really solid fight, not only a top tier TV fight but something that could go up on the big screen.  Obviously not as a main event but a page 20 action beat definitely.  The episode is solid just not as "meaty" as The Brave and the Bold, but it's fun and engaging.

"Little Girls Make Better Superheroes Than You" An Art Project That Gives Little Girls Creative Control"

Something cool I came across on Memebase:

Cheezburger

and

the original blog

Ladies and Gentleman, We Have Our Ant-Man

Paul Rudd is Ant-Man.

Courtesy 

  I was going to write a whole big thing about this, which is why I'm late to the party, I sat on it hoping inspiration would hit me.  There just isn't much to say beyond how awesome it is.  I think the movie will be great, I would have like to see Simon Pegg but I think both those actors can play socially/romantically awkward people.  There will have to be a plot with Janet Van Dyne and Rudd can to do hopeless romantic in over his head (wife beater Pym can go fuck himself but I think Rudd could go there if the plot required it).
  The biggest thing I'm looking forward to is Rudd playing off Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark and Mark Ruffalo's Bruce Banner in Avengers 2 or 3 (it would be cool if they threw him into 2 as the lead up to his own movie).  The interplay between Tony and Bruce was great in Avengers so adding Rudd to the mix, I think, will make something even more special.  I, for one, am really looking forward to it.

Fan Film Friday: Tell Gordon Hello (also state of Fan Film Friday address)

  I originally thought fan films would be really easy to come by but it has turned out that they are a little thin on the ground.  Also in trying to keep with me "stay positive" vibe it doesn't really leave me a whole lot to watch, as I have discovered.

This however is awesome.  I got nothing negative to say about this.  It's just fucking awesome.

But I think from here on out Fan Film Friday is going to be a "when it feels right" kind of "regular" posting and since I only post awesome stuff I'll probably stop commenting on it as well.  It will become sort of like what Cosplay Wednesday has become where my words won't get in the way of the awesome, I'll just present it without comment so you can enjoy because I can only really say "This is good, it's acted well, it's shot well, the sound is good, etc" before it get's incredibly boring and redundant for everyone involved.

You will enjoy this though.

Fan Film Friday: Truth in Journalism

This video is much in the same vein as #dirtylaundry,  a short film with somewhat of a budget about a character but not overtly about a character.  It takes a bit to get started but is well worth your time.  I won't spoil anything for you, check it out.  Also stay tuned all the way to the end as there's a stinger with a cameo that really sells the video in my opinion.

Folding Ideas: The People vs Clark Kent

Came across this.  Folding Ideas is a web series I check in on occasionally, they don't really update enough to make it worth looking at every week but every couple of weeks/months I check in.  Last night I found this.  I think it's actually quite interesting but I don't know if I agree.  I think ultimately it's looking in the wrong places and finding things that don't really exist or are not intended.  But it's still very interesting and worth looking at.

Fan Film Friday 7-19-13: Punisher: Dead of Night

Another Punisher short.  Well done for the most part.  I think the reason so many people are wearing masks, including the Punisher, is because it's a very small cast and they all had to pull double duty.  Other than that a good outing.

Fan Film Friday 7-12-13: Gambit vs. Nightwing

It looks like Machinima contracted this from the great people at Bat in the Sun so it has a budget behind it and some shilling at the end that's a bit annoying but past that it's a nice little battle.

5 Ways Superman Is Shockingly Realistic According to Science

  Being the first one of the whole lot, Superman is the template to every superhero that exists ... meaning that he's also the one to blame for ridiculous tropes like wearing the underpants on the outside or having an insultingly transparent secret identity. However, there are parts of Superman's character that may seem random or even stupid to you, but offer surprising benefits, according to science. So if you aspire to superheroism, pay attention ...

Read more: http://www.cracked.com/article_20107_5-ways-superman-shockingly-realistic-according-to-science.html#ixzz2YIHfgecH

Fan Film Friday 6-28-13: A Shitload of Bee's

Not really a fan film exactly but still somewhat superhero related and being funny helps.

Fan Film Friday: Grayson: Earth One

A great pilot.  Check it out.  They also have an indiegogo thing going on so if you can please support it.

Fan Film Friday 5/24/13

  Sorry I've been so lax on Fan Film Friday.  I quite frankly forgot I DID Fan Film Friday's.  Then I did remember but was too lazy.  Now I remember and I'm not being lazy so hopefully more 3F.

  This week is special because I helped fund this one through "indiegogo".  It came to my attention via a friend so I sent something like $20-$50 it's way.  I don't really remember how much but I probably helped pay for half of someone's lunch on one day of shooting.  In retrospect I should have advertised it here.  I'm just realizing that now.  I don't typically think of this place in that way besides the Venn Diagram of "awesome people who would support this" and "awesome people who come here" would just be concentric circles with the former being much larger than the latter so I don't really know how much extra attention I would have generated.

  All in all I'm pretty happy with my donation.  I don't really throw money around, believe it or not, so when I do spend money it's for something I actually want to give money to and am excited about.

I was pretty excited about seeing this project happen, the test shots they showed for the project looked promising so I thought I'd help out.  I like who they picked for Superman and Wonder Woman and I like that Superman has a slight drawl.  Both Superman and Wonder Woman (Danny Kelly and Margie Cox) are costumed excellently and in shape ready to work.  Which I always appreciate.  All in all it's a great trailer for the shoe string it was shot on.  I think they did an excellent job all things considered so check it out.

Arrow season finale "Sacrifice"

  The series finale of Arrow aired this week and I just got around to watching it on Hulu+.  I want to talk about the episode but also the series as I've become quite a fan of it as it progressed.

  The episode itself was great.  Both the main story and the island flashback had satisfying conclusions while still leaving things wide open for season two.  We got to see a complete arc in both cases that set up future events.  At this point we know the fate of "The Undertaking", we know what happened to The Dark Archer, we're in good spots with the characters relationships (with one tragic turn creating possible friction for the next season).  We have the start of possible another vigilante or even a pair of vigilantes.  Thea goes after Roy in the Glades and when Roy saves someone from being robbed he is confronted by a gun wielding thug who is thwarted by a thrown bottle from Thea.  When Roy asks how she did it she responds "I must have wicked aim.".  Awesome.  On the B side, in the island flashback, we see a conclusion to what the mercenary group was doing there.  We see what their plan was, we seen them thwarted and we end on Ollie's first well shot arrow.  Of course the episode ends on a cliffhanger which is what this series is best at.  I can't wait for season two.

C2E2 2013: A Convention Experience From Someone Who Has Been Away For Awhile

One of the many welcome banners

   Last weekend I managed to con my way in to C2E2 by which I, of course, mean I managed to get a job at the convention center and was able to enjoy the main convention floor for free.  I worked Saturday and Sunday over 12 hours across both days but I was able to find time to walk around the floor and take in the whole experience and what an experience it was.

Toy Review: Iron Man 2 Undercover Assault

Overview:  Originally this pack was announced at SDCC 2010.  It was supposed to come in at the very end of the Iron Man 2 toy lines life.  They showed images of it and promised it would come out as a Target exclusive (hence the "Only At Target" image).  Then it was quietly cancelled.  It was cancelled so quietly that no one seemed to know that it was cancelled.  I went to Target on a weekly basis looking for this and I went to a lot of different Targets in my area all in the search of this item.  Mostly because I wanted a decent Black Widow (which is something I'm still looking for).  But it persisted in not showing up anywhere and the forums were no help.

  Going by One Per Case a bunch showed up on eBay in May of 2012, which I totally missed out on.  The War Machines were prolific on eBay, you can buy 5 of them for like $20 but there was nothing else out there.  Then finally I read this announcement and found out that the packs actually made it to retail in the UK.  Although it tells you the ACTUAL retail price which makes paying the outrageous prices on eBay THAT much harder to swallow.  But I was able to get it for the cheapest price I saw it for from a nice Irish person who was very nice to do business with.  So now I actually have it and it's okay.  I'm really glad I got it but after everything is said and done I'm probably only going to use the Stark head and kit bash a Tony Stark out of a Professor X.

The front of the box.  I like the mechanical hands holding the helmets.  I took all these pictures in a hurry in my living room.  I have to do a better job at the pictures but I'm usually in a hurry and I don't have the best lighting which is why very few of them turn out well.

Toy Review: Indiana Jones SDCC "Lost Wave"

Overview:  All I really wanted was the Toht and German Mechanic figures.  I had a chance to get both of them, for about $70 and $50 a piece, respectively, months before but I passed hoping to find them at a more reasonable price.  Those months went by and nothing popped up on eBay that wasn't the old Kenner figures.  Then finally my eBay notifier hit on several full sets available.  The price for this, because it was damaged packaging, was the lowest of the several sets that popped up and it was only a little more than what I would have spent to get just Toht and German Mechanic.  Of course shortly after I bought it a bunch of individual figures showed but the prices weren't any different than before so I wouldn't have saved all that much money had I waited literally 12 hours.  Ultimately I'm pretty happy with it.  The figures themselves have the same amount of articulation as your average Star Wars figure, good upper body (ball jointed shoulders and elbows and some wrists plus a swivel at the waist) but a pretty immobile lower body (H joint at the pelvis and a basic knee joint).  The Marion paint deco is a little off but I'm happy with the two figures that I really wanted, the rest went into the fodder box.

The outside box, the comic con sticker in the lower left hand corner.

Toy Review: Super Helicarrier

Overview:  I became a member of the Hasbro club pretty much exclusively for this and the Masters of Evil team pack (I ended up also buying the team pack through eBay so I have two team packs sort of by accident).  I kind of waffled back and forth on if I really wanted to buy it but when they went up on the Hasbro website for an actually reasonable retail price, and the not the insane scalper eBay price, I just decided to go for it.

  From the moment I saw it I immediately thought it was the USS Flagg for the current generation of kids.  I never had the USS Flagg but I knew someone who did and they were the popular kid at school.  Everyone wanted that thing but very few parents could afford it.  My parents didn't let me play with/buy me military toys so I was lucky to have the 6 or 7 Joe's I managed to scam from my friends or get from my aunt (who either didn't know or didn't care about my parents no military rule).  So I would go to this friends house another friend would bring their Terrodrome and we would all huddle around our respective sides and play sometimes in the sandbox and sometimes in the basement.  So this is sort of my chasing the USS Flagg and I wanted it mostly for that reason.  It's not as robust as the USS Flagg so it's not anywhere near a substitute but, let's face it, they ain't going to make anything like the Flagg ever again so this is as close as it's going to get.  All in all a good purchase, it's a little flimsy at the joints where the sections connect but when it's on a solid surface it doesn't really matter.  It makes a great resting place for my Costco exclusive Quinjet.

The outside box.  I immediately saw it at the FedEx place holding it for me and I got a little giddy.

Friday's with Blinky: Blue Beetle PSA

  This week is a quickie.  This weeks has been busy at work and I'm dealing with health stuff but this year my goal is to not miss a feature or at least miss as few as possible.  So this week is the result of a compromise, I picked something short.

  But, just like I say to the ladies, don't let it's length fool you, it's just as good as something longer and will still leave you satisfied.

  This week I picked something from Blinky500 to show support for the Deadpool Webseries as well as the Save One to Save Many campaign.  So we get one of my most favorite teams ever in Blue and Gold (Blue Beetle and Booster Gold) giving a PSA about smoking.  I can't really find who's playing Booster but Beetle is played by Chris .R. Notarile and they both do a great job.  Even though it's just over a minute long they have great back and forth, the script is good and you get a couple of great character moments.  Even the kids do a pretty decent job with their thick Jersey accents.  I don't have much to say about this because it is so short other than this is why we need fan films.  This is made by a person who is passionate about the characters, comics and film making and that is obvious in everything done by Blinky.  This takes characters that will never see the light of day in pretty much anything other than the comics and puts them on a bigger stage and does it very well in the process.

Ben does carry a crap ton of web fluid...

link

I found this awesome Tumbler:

Texts from Superheroes

Check it out because they are all hilarious.

Fan Film Friday bonus: Avenger's Luke Cage

  Since you can't have Iron Fist without Power Man and since you can't have the bad without the good here's the opposite of the Iron Fist feature.  A brief fan trailer that showcases Eric Thomas Wilson as Luke Cage.  Well shot, well acted, the effects are good the guy playing Cage looks, talks and acts the part.  There's even a Sweet Christmas.  Why couldn't they turn this into an 8 minute film?  Hell, why couldn't they turn this into a feature film.