MONDAY MUSING

By @hmsbeefnuts

It happened a few weeks ago now, and which seems like ages. Millions of words have been written and spoken about it. Bitching, cheering, fear, hope, all seems to be in the mix when discussing the biggest news to hit the Geek community for, well, maybe ever. I am of course referring to Disney’s acquisition of George Lucas’ company, Lucasarts. It was about time that someone here at All Geek To Me wrote some thoughts on this huge story, so I elected myself to write it.

I don’t have a problem with Disney, in fact, I kind of love it, I think they do a great job with the franchises they control, from ones they created themselves, to the ones they have bought, such as The Muppets and of course Marvel Comics. They seem to show a great deal of respect for all of their individual fans and one just needs to look at The Avengers to see how Disney can treat a massive franchise, beloved of fans world wide, with a hands off attitude. Disney are obviously in the business of making loads of cash, and they don’t want to fuck up huge franchises like Star Wars, and Indiana Jones, in fact, a trip around Disneyland will reassure you that Disney is the exact place for these specific franchises. Star Tours and the Indiana Jones rides are some of my favourite attractions in Disney, you can tell they care about and realise the importance of these films and characters.

I’m sure that we can look forward to a Star Wars Land, or even a whole Star Wars Theme Park in the future, and I for one can’t wait. As for the movies, I look forward to Episodes VII, VIII, IX and all the future movies have the potential to be excellent. Of course, they ould be awful, but then without the direction of Lucas, Star Wars gets a chance to breathe. I don’t happen to hate the prequels, I think that Revenge of the Sith is the best Star Wars movie, but I don’t think you can deny that Lucas can not direct actors. He is however a great ideas man. Give new Star Wars movies to the likes of Brad Bird, Del Toro, Spielberg or Peter Jackson, and I can’t wait to see the results.

All in all this is a very exciting time for fans of Star Wars, and I’m sure we can look forward to more and more epic announcements from Disney in the coming months and years, I have but one request, no fucking Jar-Jar.

WEDNESDAY WHIMSY

By @hmsbeefnuts

Hello, welcome back. This week I am going to focus on books, comic books and the normal type. I don’t usually have a lot of time for reading, but recently, I have found myself reaching for a few books, and even finishing them! I know, how exciting. It is true, the majority of these books have been graphic novels, but still, they count, they definitely count. So without too much fuss, lets just get on with this blog shall we?

BATMAN THE BLACK MIRROR

This was the first time I had read a Batman story that didn’t involve Bruce Wayne, apart from the Knightfall saga. Dick Grayson is our Batman in this tale of serial murder, crime bosses, dead whales, villain auctions and sons gone bad. I would not want to spoil anything for you, it really is that good. At first I wasn’t sure if Batman would be as compelling without Bruce Wayne, but I needn’t have worried. Dick Grayson is a different kind of character, but no less compelling as the Dark Knight. His past as Robin, Nightwing and a police officer in Bludhaven all come in to play in some sublime story telling by Scott Snyder. In many ways this is the first comic since Batman: Year One that features the Gordon character in such a brilliant way. His story is just as compelling as Batman’s and sometimes even more so. This is one of the best Batman graphic novels I have ever read, and I really didn’t think I would be saying that about a Batman comic that didn’t have Bruce Wayne in it. I urge everyone with an interest in Batman to seek this out, it really is rather special.

OLD MAN LOGAN

In the world of the future, there are no heroes anymore. Most of them have died, and the few who are left aren’t in the hero business anymore. Logan AKA Wolverine, is older, has a family, and hasn’t popped his claws since the supervillains took over. He works a farm that is under the control of The Hulks, and he owes them a lot of rent money. When Clint Barton AKA Hawkeye comes to him with a proposition, Logan takes the seemingly easy job, so he can get the Hulks off his back. Basically a futuristic western, this has The Man With No Name flavour all over it. It is a fantastic tale, which I will not spoil here, that shows us the end of the Marvel heroes as we know them, and an adventure with Logan and Hawkeye. the first of which refuses to release his anger and claws, but you just know that at some point, someone is going to push him too far, he is Wolverine after all. I loved this book, and I would recommend it to anyone. As it doesn’t take place in comic continuity, you don’t need to know loads about the Marvel Universe but a basic knowledge will serve you well.

THE INFINITY GAUNTLET

As soon as I saw The Avengers (I refuse to call it Marvel’s Avengers Assemble), I knew I had to find out who that purple dude with a massive jaw line was. Well turns out he is Thanos, the Mad God, and this was the most recognisable Thanos book out there. Basic story is, after collecting all the Infinity Gems, and placing them in the Infinity Gauntlet, Thanos tries to impress his lady love Death. The gauntlet and gems give him ultimate power over everything and everyone in the universe and beyond, a power he uses to try to get the attention of the afore-mentioned Death. Of course this causes many problems for the heroes of Earth and beyond, so it’s time for a huge super hero smack down to stop Thanos before he destroys everything. This was my first proper taste of intergalactic Marvelness, and I have to say, it was pretty amazing. I love a good hero team up, and when all of Earths mightiest heroes team up with the galaxies strongest, fun is sure to be had. I will admit to not knowing a few of the characters back stories, but as I have been reading some classic Marvel recently, I knew most of the characters featured. I think that sometimes, diving in to a graphic novel fresh, can be a bit daunting, but it pays off often, and leads you on to discover more amazing adventures featuring characters you may never have thought about before. The Infinity Gauntlet is well worth checking out, particularly if you have an interest in the possible future direction of Marvel Phase Two movies.

That’s just about it for this week, I’ll see you again next week for more Whimsy of a Wednesday variety.

Wednesday Whimsy: My Latest Obsession

By @hmsbeefnuts

 

As a child, I was never into comics. Sure I knew who all the main guys were, from Captain America to Wonder Woman, I watched all the TV shows and cartoons, played with the toys, but I never really read comic books. As I grew a little older, I was introduced to Batman and Superman comics with Knightfall and The Death and Return of Superman, which I enjoyed, but I didn’t really have the ready cash to really get into comics in a big way. It wasn’t until after university that I really began to collect graphic novels, and my tastes were, shall we say, rather limited.

As a huge Batman fan, I delved into the most renowned adventures of the Caped Crusader, Year One, The Long Halloween, The Dark Knight Returns, loving them all I began to delve deeper, and right now, I have quite a large collection of Batman adventures, with a few stragglers here and there from Marvel or other properties. However, recently, things have changed, and my tastes have become far more eclectic. It started with a random visit to a budget book shop, where I found three Marvel Pocket Books. At first I dismissed them, but on closer inspection I realised that they were small page versions of the comic books, around half size, they reprint original runs of the most famous Marvel Characters. The shop had a Spider-Man and two Fantastic Four books, and the best thing was, they cost £1.99 each, make mine Marvel.

I devoured the first two Fantastic Four books which collected comic runs. It was interesting to read them in this way, as in normal graphic novels, the story is somewhat separated, but reading an extended run of the comics is very interesting. With the FF done, I reached for the Spider-Man one, The Night Captain Stacy Died, which was quite apt with the new movie coming out and everything. Out of comics, I turned to Amazon, and umm, well, lets just say, my credit card took another hit.

Searching on Amazon is very dangerous, they had around 20 more of these Pocket Books, including Spider-Man, Silver Surfer, X-Men, Iron Man, Captain America, Avengers, I was in hog heaven. I now have a very extended run of original Amazing Spider-Man comics to delve into, and all for under £4.00 each. The paper quality is good in these books, the covers nice, and although smaller than regular comics, it isn’t a disadvantage that they are, certainly not when one considers the price. However, these things often start small, but have a way of expanding a little out of control.

£3.99 is not very much money to spend on 6 + issues of a comic series, but £3.99’s add up, and even then I wasn’t finished. I had wanted to find out who the mysterious villain at the end of The Avengers movie was, was I added The Infinity Gauntlet to my basket, then Civil War, Platinum Avengers, a Wolverine novel, and a few Batman ones, just to prove I had never forgotten my first true love. Things were getting sillier. The comic podcasts I listened to had mentioned a Wolverine G.N. (graphic novel) called Old Man Logan, everyone raved about it, it was added to my basket. By this time, and remember, this was a virtual basket, the thing could barely contain the comic awesomeness contained within, I clicked buy, and thought, I’ll worry about the consequences later.

Now obviously, I haven’t even looked at some of the things Mr. Amazon sent me, but I am working my way through them. Currently I’m reading Captain America, and really loving it. It seems an odd time for someone to get heavily into comics, at the age of 31, but it feels right. The atmosphere is crackling with comic energy, the film world is obsessed, and to be honest, so am I. Recent Comic Con news hasn’t helped matters, it has just added petrol to a fire that was already burning way out of control.

But I think sometimes it does one good to indulge in a new obsession. It feels good, and doesn’t feel like I have wasted money, at least not yet. We can all geek out about stuff from time to time, at least I hope you can, you are reading this on a website called All Geek To Me. At the moment, I’m into all things comic book, and wouldn’t have it any other way.

As I type this, we are 3 days away from The Dark Knight Rises, and I am very excited to see how Chris Nolan has rounded off his trilogy. I’m sure it will be great, but until I finally get to see it Friday morning, I shall have to sate my desires by plunging into more and more comics. These things won’t read themselves you know. Till next Wednesday, so long folks.

WEDNESDAY WHIMSY

By @hmsbeefnuts

Hello Wednesday Fans, and welcome to another hastily put together blog about some geeky stuff that I did, or have thought about doing, in the last week. I have not had a great deal of time in recent weeks. Work has been pretty non stop, and I have had to go on a Paediatric First Aid Course two Saturdays in a row. Needless to say, no matter how essential First Aid is, doing it on your only day off fucking sucks, especially since Saturday is usually the day I get out to the cinema. However, I did manage a few cool things this week.

 

Friday night a friend (hey Lucy), and I caught Chernobyl Diaries after a bite to eat. I have to say we both enjoyed it quite a bit, for what it was. I imagine that a sequel will be on the way in the not too distant future, something I’m not averse to. It was cool to see the town that starred in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare on the big screen, and the film had an interesting premise.  It wasn’t a DVD or Blu-ray purchase, but it was enjoyable for the running time.

 Saturday I had a day of First Aid ahead of me, although by 3pm we had all passed the course. Straight home to put on Spider-Man on blu-ray, a great transfer which looked beautiful. Whilst watching the film, I began to feel the need to swing around New York City, very much in the style of a radioactive spider bitten teenager. As soon as the film finished I was back out, to my nearest Gamestation and had purchased the new Amazing Spider-Man game and 4,200 Microsoft points, because, Dawngaurd. Obviously must have been possessed by some sort of spending spirit, because I didn’t stop there. On to a cheap little book shop where I picked up Alan Partridge’s Auto biography, and three pocket sized graphic novels, two Fantastic Four Stan Lee and Jack Kirby classics, and a Spider-Man one. But I wasn’t done yet. I walked to WHSmiths, luckily only a few hundred yards away, in order to check out their graphic novel selection. Five minutes later, I was back at the car with two huge graphic novels, Wolverine and The Avengers. As I sat in the car looking over my rash group of purchases, I didn’t feel buyers remorse, but slight apprehension. I didn’t really need to add anything else to my reading queue, which is already getting very very long indeed.

 

I have to say I am enjoying The Amazing Spider-Man very much. It isn’t by any stretch of the imagination a great game, certainly not essential, but is a whole lot of fun. I can’t wait for the movie now, even though, early reports suggest that it may be more in-line with Spider-Man 3, rather than the excellent Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2. I’ve written about the dark nature of the trailers and the whole feel of the production, seemed to me like something might be off, but I’m not going to prejudge something. I hope it will be good. I am yet to play Dawnguard, but it is downloaded, ready to go, as soon as I get some serious time off.

 

I am still no further into A Storm of Swords, and I’m not sure why, I love A Song of Ice and Fire, but maybe I’m just not in the mood for it right now. I have however, been reading books on ‘real life’ monster hunting. I devoured Nick Redfern’s There’s Something In The Woods, and am currently stalking my way through Linda S. Godfrey’s Hunting The American Werewolf. Many rational people seem to be seeing something in the woods and rural areas of America, and I find it fascinating.

 

Finally, just another reminder that this month here at All Geek To Me, we are extremely excited for The Dark Knight Rises, as I’m sure you all are too. As such, starting ummm, yesterday I believe, Geeky Gem and I are going Batman and Knights in general crazy, with a little event (ha check out the hyperbole!) called Summer Knights. Batman is just about our favourite person around these parts, and so what better way to see him off on his last Nolanverse adventure, than to write lots and lots of articles all about him? Of course, as Batman is the Dark Knight, we thought we would extend the event (there’s that word again!) to include knights in general. Geeky Gem and I hope you will stick around for these articles/blogs etc. and hope you enjoy reading as much as we enjoyed writing them. Anyway, so much for this weeks less whimsical Wednesday Whimsy, I’ll catch you next week for some more, just have to think of something to write first.

AVENGERS DIS-ASSEMBLE : HOW DOES THE MARVEL UNIVERSE CARRY ON AFTER THE AVENGERS?

BY @hmsbeefnuts

You’ve see The Avengers by now, maybe more than once, I know I have. It was great, amazing, everything that it should have been and more. Quite simply, it was an unbelievable feat of planning and execution. Marvel deserve to be praised to Asguard for what they have accomplished. But their great success also creates problems, namely, in a universe where many superheroes exist, and have proven that they can work together, why wouldn’t they help each other all the time? Why would Ironman or Captain America ever have to face a threat on their own, now that they can call on an Avenger team mate to help them out? If Red Skull comes back to threaten the world, why wouldn’t Cap call in Tony Stark to lend a hand? It is a bit of a problem, but I think there are ways around it.

In the next few years we will be enjoying Thor 2, Ironman 3, Captain America 2 and perhaps, due to the fact he totally owned the Avengers, another Hulk film. All these films will, I imagine, lead up to an Avengers sequel, and if you stayed to see the post credits sequence from the first film, well, you know that shit is going to go down. I am by no means a Marvel expert, but I have loved these series of films, and here is my chance to discuss how I would like to see these films go in the future, and how I think the single hero problem can be resolved.

Ironman 3 is going to be the next Marvel film, and Ben Kingsley is rumoured to be playing the Mandarin. If this is so, it would pay off on the Ten Rings terrorist organisation from the original Ironman. Thor has already brought ‘magic’ into the Marvel Universe, and so at this point, The Mandarin and his magic rings are not too far fetched. If Tony faces off against the Mandarin, I think he could do with some advice, perhaps an expert in the magical arts could be sourced out, perhaps by SHIELD, one Dr. Steven Strange. An extended cameo from the Sorcerer Supreme would be all that is needed to introduce audiences to a wider universe. Also, out friend from the post credits sequence could also be involved in some way, using more earthly foes to find the weaknesses of Tony Stark. The film could end with Ironman triumphant, having made a new friend, but not defeating the hidden puppet master…

 

Captain America 2 could take place in the same time period as Ironman 3. This would cover the fact that these two Avengers, although facing global threats, do not seek help from each other, they have their own problems to deal with. Likewise, I would set Thor 2 and Hulk during the same period, with our mysterious enemy pulling the strings of the foes that each Avenger faces in their sequels. In Cap 2, I would include Hawkeye and Black Widow, at least in some of the movie. Captain America feels like he would work far more closely with SHEILD, perhaps against Baron Zemo, or a resurrected Red Skull and HYDRA. Whilst this is going on, and Stark is fighting Mandarin, Bruce Banner is in a Stark Industries R&D lab in Africa.

The sequel to the Hulk is most tricky of all, and I think that the Hulk works best when he has someone to play off with. Can I suggest Hank Pym, and his wife? Pym is of course Antman, but is also the Scientist Supreme and has many other powers and interesting facets apart from talking to ants. Pym and Banner could be working on nano-technology that will better help Banner to control, or perhaps, educate his savage alter ego. Whilst in Africa a mysterious energy source can be found in the hidden kingdom of Wakanda, introducing soon to be Avenger Black Panther. A power source that is pricking the interest of more than earthly forces. The Citauri can be at work in Wakanda laying the ground work for another, more successful invasion of Earth using the power source. Luckily Hulk, Pym and Black Panther are on hand to stop things. Nick Fury can show up in the end to inform Hulk et al that they are once again needed, as a messenger from Asguard bring grim news. Thor has had his own problems in Asguard.

Loki can take a break from big bad guy duties in Thor 2. I think that the mysterious Avengers puppet master could reveal himself fully in Thor 2, which would take place entirely off Earth, in Asguard and other worlds. The big bad, could attack Asguard, in revenge for Loki’s poor performance, and as he realises that the Asguardians are a dangerous foe that must be wiped out first. I would have Thor 2 end on a downer, with Asguard all but destroyed and the enemy triumphant, the Asguardian Royal family, and Thor’s friends taken in chains, and Thor managing to escape to Earth to warn SHEILD of the greater threat to Earth that is heading their way, referred to in the post credits sequence of Hulk.

Avengers 2 would then kick off with all our regular heroes assembling to face this intergalactic threat which has already defeated Asguard. Added to the roster Black Panther, Dr. Strange, Hank Pym and Wasp. Avengers 2 could end with the group infighting about a new Government act for the registration of Super humans. This would lead up to a third Avengers movie, which follows the events of the graphic novel Civil War. Now this is just one way that things could pan out, and I’m sure that it won’t be the right way. It would solve the single hero problem though, if all the heroes were otherwise engaged in separate battles. That’s my two cents worth, what do you think?

Avenging April: What All The Fuss Was About: Avengers Assessments

By @hmsbeefnuts

Thursday afternoon, April 26^th , I watched The Avengers, it was around 3 hours ago now that the film finished, and I’m still buzzing from the spectacle. Rest assured that The Avengers is very very good indeed. Everything that the previous 5 Marvel films promised, has been fulfilled by what is quite simply one of the most spectacular films that I have ever seen. Now I know I’m still buzzing from the film, a lot of what I type may be new film glaze, but I don’t think so. I will be seeing the film again on Saturday, this time in IMAX 3D, and I can’t wait, but we shall see if the aura of the Avengers will diminish the second time. I seriously doubt it.

I will not spoil plot points or secrets with you here, I think it’s only fair if you experience it all yourself, and there are plenty of reviews to read around the web anyway full of spoilers. Also, I’m not the kind of fan boy who wants to declare a winner of the summer, I’m not going to decry Amazing Spider-man, or The Dark Knight Rises. The Avengers may be the most spectacular film this summer, especially for comic fans, but I’m sure The Dark Knight is going to be equally as great, and Amazing Spider-man, well, here’s hoping. What I will say is, if you have ever enjoyed a Marvel film, then go and see this on the big screen, it needs to be seen big, and loud, do not wait for Blu-ray, DVD, or TV.

 

As my oldest mate and I sat in the cinema before hand, I was slightly apprehensive. Could this film live up to my incredibly high expectations? I needn’t have worried, Avengers delivered, and delivered big. If I can interject here with a point. This is the kind of film that is best enjoyed with your friends, or loved ones. Go see it in a big group, go see it with your childhood friend, go see it with your kids or little brother and sister. There are few things I enjoy more than seeing a brilliant film with a mate, a girlfriend, my Mum, or Dad, Avengers is that kind of film. It is a visual expression of childhood glee, it is every game you played in the playground, arguing over who would be Thor, or The Hulk. I can’t believe that Marvel and Joss Whedon pulled it off, something that should have been very hard, almost impossible.

All the heroes get their moment to shine, even those with out powers. Whedon pulls off the group dynamic perfectly. These heroes aren’t friends, they argue, they fight, but when it comes to the crunch, they pull together and kick some major bad guy ass. I don’t know what my favourite bit was, there were so many. Hulk and Thor, Hulk and Loki, Cap and Agent Coulson, any time Tony Stark is on screen. It would have been easy to turn this into Ironman 3, or the Tony Stark show, but it is not that at all.

The Hulk could be the star, certainly, I felt that he had many of the greatest moments. The BEST Hulk in anything ever, there simply has to be a Hulk sequel with this Hulk, he was awesome. The CGI was incredible, and suitably epic. I’m finding it very hard to talk about things without spoiling stuff, so I will try to not go on for too long. I can’t wait to see where the Marvel films go next, now that The Avengers are established, I can’t wait to see an Ironman 3, Thor 2, Cap 2 and Hulk 2 (3?), and a sequel to The Avengers. Marvel have done something incredible with these films, a fan boys wet dream. Right now I would say that this is my favourite Marvel film, overtaking Captain America, but a second, third and fourth viewing will confirm this. As for now, all I can say is that The Avengers is worth your money, worth your time and worth your attention. DC should be taking notes from Marvel. I want to see a Justice League movie that is this good. I want to see Batman, Green Lantern and Superman working together as well as Ironman, Cap and Hulk. With Nolan’s take on Batman coming to an end, and a reboot for the Bat franchise probably in the works, now is the time to lay the foundations of a Justice League team up movie. I liked Green Lantern, I have high hopes for Man of Steel, lets hope DC can do as good a job as Marvel, even though they seemingly have a harder task, with DC heroes being slightly harder to translate.

Writing this has made me want to go and see it again. I can’t wait until Saturday. The Summer is shaping up to be epic. The Avengers is a hard act to follow, but I can’t wait to see what Marvel has in store.

Avenging April: Avengers Movie Marathon Part 1

By @hmsbeefnuts

Avenging April keeps on Assembling here at All Geek To Me, we are close now, very close, and it is more than a little exciting. As a lead up to the big event on April 27^th, I have decided to go back, dip into my Blu-ray collection, and watch all of Marvels Avenger based films, in sequence; in order to drive me into fits of excitement and refresh my memories of said films. I chose to watch the films in the order they were released, Kicking off with Ironman, The Incredible Hulk, Ironman 2, Thor and last, but certainly not least Captain America. Before we start, I would like to say that I watched all of these movies theatrically, and I had not seen some of them since. I enjoyed all of them the first time I saw them, and I was looking forward to seeing if they held up.

I had originally wanted to watch all the films back to back, but having a life and the need to do other stuff prevented this. I think if you have the patience to watch all these films back to back, good luck to you, and perhaps if I had booked a few days off I could have done it, in the end, it took three sittings, not because I was bored or anything like that, but just because of time constraint. As such, I managed to watch Ironman and the Hulk in one sitting, Ironman 2, and then finally Thor and Captain America. I will say that all these films work wonderfully together, and that although incredibly ambitious, Marvel has pulled off an amazing feat of film making, lets hope that they can reach the next step, and knock The Avengers out of the park, surely they have done so? Right, on with the marathon…

IRONMAN

A great way to kick off the marathon. I love Ironman. Jon Favreau hit the mark with this one, and set up the Marvel universe at he same time. Ironman hasn’t aged at all, and in fact, stands up far better than its mish mash sequel, but more on that later. Tony Stark is a weapons manufacturer, who learns a harsh lesson when a terrorist group, The Ten Rings, kidnap him and force him to make a Stark Industries Jericho Missile. Oh, and during his abduction, he is almost fatally wounded, and left with shards of metal worming their way to his heart. A revolutionary Arc Reactor later, as well as a pretty cool metal suit of armour, decked out with flame throwers and rocket boosters, and Tony is on his way home, and to a very different life.

The sense of fun in this movie is palpable, the Stan Lee cameo, mistaken for Hugh Heffner at a party. Downey Jnr. Is a fantastic Stark, cocky, sure of himself, but very very likeable. When we actually get to see Ironman in his Mark III armour, its an exciting and breathtaking spectacle. Bad guy duties are well played by Jeff Bridges, as Ironmonger, and Tony’s partner. Supporting roles are well cast too, Fav’s as Happy Hogan, Gwyneth Paltrow in her best role in ages as Pepper Potts and Terrance Howard as James Rhodes, as well as a few Agents of Shield. The impressive thing is that even at this point, Marvel were building up to The Avengers, a project that must have seemed a long way off at the time.

Ironman is one of the strongest superhero films, and at this point, one of my favourites. The Blu-ray pops off the screen and I very much enjoyed watching it again after quite some time. The film flies by, and what is after the credits? Oh. Hello Nick Fury, what?!? I remember watching that moment for the first time, mind blowing. I literally can not wait for April 27^th right now. Anyway, enthusiasm is high, time to change discs…

THE INCREDIBLE HULK

Of course Marvel did try to make a Hulk film before this one, and it was absolute shit. Hulk dogs? Ergh. The Incredible Hulk is a far better film, and even though I’m no fan of Ed Norton, or Liv Tyler, this part sequel, part re-boot is a fun ride. The Stan Lee Cameo? A man who drinks some soda infused with Bruce Banners blood, leading to an unfortunate Gamma related incident, genius. The film kicks off with a credits sequence explaining how Bruce became the Hulk, basically a quick rehash of some events from the first film, and perfectly acceptable. The film proper kicks off with Bruce Banner on the run in a favela in Brazil. He is trying to find a cure, and working in a bottling plant. He is also trying to control his heart rate, and thus, stop the Hulk from appearing. The gamma incident mentioned above leads General Thunderbolt Ross to his location, and sends a crack team, including soldier of fortune Emile Blonsky after Banner. A chase through the favela, a few anger making incidents, and Blonsky gets a good look at Banner alternative form.

Blonsky gets General Ross to inject him with a ‘super soldier serum’, which hasn’t been used for a very long time, wonder where they got that from? Round two ends with Blonsky near death, but by the end of the film, a dose of Gamma makes Blonsky a far more powerful opponent.

 

Hulk is a bit of a change of pace. At its heart, it is a sad story of a man who can not control his destiny, can’t be with the woman he loves, can’t live a normal life. Thankfully the meat of the film has quite a lot to do with Hulk smashing stuff, and I thought the effects held up very well. This adds to the Marvel universe by having Tony Stark meet with General Ross at the end of the film, to talk about some sort of super team thing, I wonder what he could mean? We also learn that by the end of the film, Bruce has learned to control the Hulk, and can seemingly change whenever he wants, Might come in handy if an alien force invades New York, or something.

It is also worth noting that on the Thor Blu-ray there is a Marvel One Shot, called The Consultant. A meeting between Agent Coulson and another Shield Agent, discussing an directive from above about perhaps trying to enlist Blonsky, or at least his new form, to join The Avenger Initiative. However, it seems they aren’t too keen for him to join, they decide that they need to send The Consultant to talk to General Ross, as he is rude, cocky and will not be listened too. Of course they are talking about Tony Stark, and this is why he turns up at the end of The Incredible Hulk. There plan seems to work, and Blonsky remains under lock and key, I’m sure they will be able to find some other hulking green monster to join their team. I like what Marvel did here, just filled in a little bit of story, the One Shots are a fun little extra. This one also seems to suggest that the event of the Hulk take place concurrently with certain events that occur in New Mexico, interesting.

IRONMAN 2

A days break and we reconvene for Marvel’s first major sequel. Ironman 2 is a bit of a mess to be honest. Thanks mainly to the fact the script wasn’t fully written during filming, however, that’s not to say the film isn’t very good, it is, it just doesn’t quite reach the heights of Ironman. Right, Stan Lee Cameo, this time he is introduced to Tony as Larry King, a nice little nod to the first films cameo. This time, Stark is established as Ironman now, and is responsible for a long period of world peace, however, not all is going well. The government want his suits, the arc reactor is slowly killing him, and the son of a former partner of his father, Howard Stark, has developed his own arc reactor, and has a vendetta against Tony. I fight at the Monaco Grand Prix, goes Tony’s way, however, it also puts our new big bad in contact with another arms manufacturer, Justin Hammer, which will no doubt cause trouble for the Invincible Ironman.

Tony also loses one of his suits in a fight with his best mate James Rhodes, soon to be War Machine. Pepper Potts is now CEO of Stark Enterprises, giving Tony time to work on a new arc reactor, that will not kill him. Oh did I mention Nick Fury is more prominent in the sequel, a scene at a doughnut shop is particularly good. Stark Enterprises also has a new employee who may become more important later. Natasha Romanov, AKA, Black Widow is moonlighting as an assistant, and also kick a fair amount of ass, and looking absolutely beautiful whilst she does it. Ironman 2 has a lot going on, perhaps too much, but it does come to a satisfying conclusion.

Once again, Ironman is left to face a group of Hammer Drones, and a very pissed off Whiplash, thankfully, War Machine is with him to lend a hand. Ironman 2 isn’t as confident as it’s prequel, but it is still a lot of fun and very exciting. What Ironman 2 does best is strengthen the Marvel Universe, this is very much a set up film for The Avengers, with nice little nods to Captain America, a few members of the Avengers that won’t appear in the film, and most importantly, in the post credits sequence, Agent Coulson makes his way to New Mexico, and finds an item that might be of use to a certain Norse God. Probably the worst of the Marvel films, although I still enjoyed it immensely, Ironman 2 works better as a tease for what is to come…

So that’s it for part 1 of my Avengers Movie Marathon. Join me later in the week for Part 2, where we will be watching Thor and Captain America.

Unsung Geek Heroes

By Hmsbeefnuts

Now we all know who Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson and James Cameron are. Likewise, we have all heard of Christian Bale, Harrison Ford and Jason Statham. Over the years, these people have provided us geeks with hundreds of hours of quality geek entertainment, and as a result, they are rightly rewarded with being known by the general populace, and of course, huge pay cheques. However, the films they are in are usually special effect extravaganzas, or based on characters that have a long standing in the geek community.

 In many cases, the thing you most like about a film etc, has been the work of a team of people who have worked for months and years on making the film/game look as good as it does, or working on the character, or even acting in the film, but being under heavy make up or CGI. Here I will discuss my personal unsung heroes, and even as I do so, I realise that thousands of people are being left out, so next time you enjoy a film etc., stay for the credits, and look at how many people were involved in making that film, game, or TV show.

Shigeru Miyamoto

 

If I told you that one man practically saved video games at a time when people thought they would be a passing fad, and helped turn them in to a world wide phenomenon that makes more money per year than Hollywood, you would be confused that most people don’t know his name. The fact that this man invented Mario, a character more well known globally than Mickey Mouse, but not only Mario, but The Legend of Zelda, and had a hand in Metroid, Poke’mon, Star Fox, Pikmin, Pilot Wings, F-Zero, Donkey Kong and a hundred more, is testament both to his creative talent, and the shame that the world should bare for not erecting a colossal statue to the man. Miyamoto is the dictionary definition of legend. He has given more children more hours of fun than any man on this planet, and lets be honest, more than a few adults too.

 

The Super Mario games alone would be enough to secure this man legendary status, but when added to his other accomplishments, especially The Legend of Zelda, have produced what many people agree are the greatest video games ever created. My personal favourite of his games include, The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past, Super Mario Brothers, Super Mario 64, Ocarina of Time, Super Mario World, and Star Fox 64, (Lylat Wars in the UK). The figure head of Nintendo, every time Miyamato appears at a press conference or trade show fun and hijinks are sure to follow. Please people, remember the name, he may not have had anything physical to do with Call of Duty or Halo, but in his own way, it is because of the trail blazing role he played as the creator of the modern video game, that video games were such a large part of all our childhoods. I challenge you not to smile whilst playing Mario or Zelda, or when beating a friend at Mario Kart Battle Mode.

Jack Pierce

 

Universal Horror make up master, and creator of the iconic looks of many of our beloved movie monsters. Ask a child to describe Frankenstein, Dracula or the wolfman, and inevitably they will describe a creature incredibly similar to Jack Pierces’ work. This guy is such a legend that other people on this list think he is legend, yeah he’s that good. Working in the early days of film, Pierce had to use all his gifts to create these wonderful effects. The Wolfman for example must have taken hours each day to apply to actor Lon Chaney Jnr. Each yack hair glued individually and painstakingly to the actors face, it’s no wonder that the two argued frequently.

 

The Frankenstein monster make up is now the established look of the monster, in reality an eerie green, in black and white, the fearsome creature, with it’s scars, square head and electric nodes on his neck (not bolts as is commonly assumed) the creature is a marvellous combination of actor and make up. Now I understand that the technicalities of the make up technician probably do not interest the average man, or woman on the street, but in my mind, Pierces’ make up kit should be placed in a museum and treated with as high esteem as any Renaissance era scrawling.

Richard Taylor

 

I don’t know if you have watched the special features on the Lord of the Rings Extended Edition DVD’s or Blu-rays, but you should. If you have, you can’t have failed to notice the squeaky voiced bespectacled geek genius that is Richard Taylor. Creative powerhouse of the greatest effects company working today, WETA Workshop, this Kiwi man marvel has, with Peter Jackson, and hundreds of their underlings, created the impossible. LOTR was a book that most people assumed would be un-filmable, and whilst it is due to Jacksons tight direction and vision that the film was completed, it was thanks to Taylor and the fine people at WETA that the film looked so damn good, authentic and lived in, every prop, miniature, creature and weapon were created from scratch with loving care and attention to detail. It all looks so good because it all makes sense, items have a common inception and a story behind them, really watch the documentaries on the DVD’s, it’s like a few years in film school, but far more entertaining.

 

Taylor has also been heavily involved in King Kong, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and Avatar, films that I think you will agree were stunning, at least visually, and in my opinion, stunning all round. Taylor is a major reason that WETA is now seen as the premier effects company in the world, and when you look at their innovations in the world of mo-cap, or their stunning work with their so called bigatures and their pioneering mass army programme MASSIVE, Taylor has helped shape the modern cinematic experience, and from humble beginnings, working in a shed on Jacksons early films Braindead, Meet The Feebles and Bad Taste. The guy deserves a haka.

Stan Lee

You might think that Stan Lee gets enough recognition for his work on Marvel comics, after all he has a cameo in basically every marvel film there has ever been, and I can understand this, but we have to remember people, we are geeks. We delight in the now standard Stan Lee cameo, whether being saved from an automotive death by a young Matt Murdoch, being confused for Hugh Heffner by Tony Stark, drinking a bottle of soft drink infused with Bruce Banners’ blood or trying to move Moljnir with a pick up truck, Stan Lee it would seem gets enough geek recognition. But I wonder, does the average person who just goes to see these films know who the hell the crazy old man is in these films? Well they should, for this man has had a hand in more modern myths than almost any other, the man deserves an Oscar for most important cameo in superhero films for a man who actually created the character, except that he would be the only nominee, and would win every year.

 

Stan the Man has had a hand in Spider-man, The X Men, Thor, Iron Man, The Hulk, The Avengers, Daredevil and many many more characters, the guy is Marvel. OK so in recent years, his creative output has been, well, not so good Stripperella anyone? But the guy deserves a break, and should get one. So the next time your in a Cinema, or at home with friends watching a Marvel movie, and Stan Lee shows up, cheer, and whisper (at the cinema) or shout (if at home) the name of the great man, and spread the word, Excelsior!!

Andy Serkis

The worlds most underrated actor in my opinion, Andy Serkis has given birth to some of modern cinemas most remarkable characters. Caesar the chimpanzee from the latest instalment of the Planet of the Apes franchise will no doubt be over looked come awards season, but the performance, mo-capped by Serkis and WETA, is outstanding. The subtlety of Serkis’ work helps create a living breathing character that holds his own with the human characters. Serkis himself has described the mo-cap process as basically digital make up, the actor is still very much acting, and emoting, but instead of make up, a CG character mirrors the actors motions and emotions. His work as Kong in King Kong was again a work of genius. Playing the character as very much a gorilla, not some monster, Kong exhibited a wide range of emotions and character traits, and it is a cold heart indeed who does not shed a tear when the big ape hits the pavement, after that horrendous fall.

 

It is however, Serkis’ work as Gollum, the evil Hobbit ring bearer in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, that will always be his master work. Quite simply CG characters could be described as living in B.G. (Before Gollum) and A.G. (Anno Gollumai). B.G. Characters, hello Jar Jar Binks, are quite simply, the Homo Erectus cousins to Gollums Homo Sapien. The performance on Serkis is infused in every asset of Gollum, not just the voice. Gollum was one of the most complicated characters put on screen in the last few years, and thanks to Serkis, was 100% believable. Deserving of numerous Oscar credits, Serkis’ work in the advancement of acting is unparalleled.

Rick Baker

 

Our second make up man on the list, and another veteran of the mighty werewolf. Baker is a master of his craft. His practical special effects and make ups are really unrivalled in the cinematic world. He has worked on Hellboy, The Howling, An American Werewolf in London and even Cursed!! But every genius has the odd misstep. His work on the werewolf transformation in An American Werewolf in London alone is worthy of his inclusion in any list of geek heroes. The scene is an amazing example of what practical effects can achieve, worth watching on its own even if you have no desire to watch the movie, you should though its really good. His work on other werewolf movies is equally as good, and this guy has worked on a fair few in his time.

 

The variety in his work shows the man’s range and depth. The werewolves of The Howling, are very different to the American werewolf, which in turn is very different to my favourite make up/effect of his, in the remake of The Wolfman. This film got a lot of hate, but I loved it, and most of all, I loved the design of The Wolfman. Big, hairy, be-fanged and be-clawed, a killing machine and a superb movie monster. I know he got stiffed during the filming as he had designed a practical transformation that by all accounts was going to outmatch the one in American Werewolf, and it is a shame that the film makers decided to go with CGI effects in the end, but never the less, his work in the movie is still outstanding. A master of a sadly slowly disappearing art, the practical effect is being steam rolled by the CGI effect, and people of Hollywood, I implore you, there is room for both!

So there we have it, a small selection of people who need more recognition for the amazing work they do, or have done, in the geek realm. Of course, I would also like the thank all the stunt men, fight choreographers, design teams, sfx teams, writers, best boys, camera operators, concept designers, weapon specialists, miniature departments, practical effects teams….