Demotivational Poster: Principles
The question is how many of us actually do stand for our principles and how many of us only say that we do?
Demotivational Poster: Disney buys Marvel Comics
It’s only a matter of time.
Image from: Disney Avengers Assemble by ~Nanaki-angel23 on deviantART nanaki-angel23.deviantart.com enevitable
Demotivational Poster: Spiderman
Oh sure they cute and all in the commercials. But wait until one actually gets you alone.
Vulcan Stev Family Movie Review: Iron Man 2
Starring:
Robert Downey Jr. … Tony Stark
Don Cheadle … Lt. Col. James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes / War Machine
Scarlett Johansson … Natalie Rushman / Natasha Romanoff
Gwyneth Paltrow … Pepper Potts
Sam Rockwell … Justin Hammer
Mickey Rourke … Ivan Vanko
Samuel L. Jackson … Nick Fury
Clark Gregg … Agent Coulson
John Slattery … Howard Stark
Jon Favreau … Happy Hogan
Paul Bettany … Jarvis (voice)
Kate Mara … U.S. Marshal
Leslie Bibb … Christine Everhart
Garry Shandling … Senator Stern
Plot synopsis from IMDb: With the world now aware of his dual life as the armored superhero Iron Man, billionaire inventor Tony Stark faces pressure from the government, the press, and the public to share his technology with the military. Unwilling to let go of his invention, Stark, along with Pepper Potts, and James “Rhodey” Rhodes at his side, must forge new alliances – and confront powerful enemies.
2010 – Paramount Pictures/Marvel Studios – PG-13 – 124 min
VS: 1.8 pointed ears
This is one of the exceptions to the Hollywood rule that sequels suck and are usually nowhere near as good as the original. I think that Marvel keeping the rights to the Avengers franchise is probably one of the smarter moves to come out of Hollywood in quite some time. Keeping Samuel Jackson as Nick Fury was another good idea as well.
Why not a full two ears? I think the whole drunken Iron Man scene was a tad bit overdone. I’m not a hard-core Iron Man fan and I’ve only been following the Marvel mainstream Avengers since Spidey joined. So I cannot comment whether the writers followed cannon or not. I’ve never seen Tony Stark as a drunken idiot. Yes I know Stark has a drinking problem but endangering the lives of guests in his home?
The shot at the end of the movie has got me salivating for next year’s “Thor”
Pvt Black Spartan: 1.9 pointed ears
This movie picked up right were the last one left off. I didn’t rely too much on the previous movie either. Props to the writers and director for not putting too much “flashback” into the script. Samuel L. Jackson has the character of Nick Fury locked.
PIT #2: 2 pointed ears
This movie was awesome. War Machine rocked even though the role of Rhodey was recast. I found no faults with this movie at all.
PIT #3: 2 pointed ears
Taking Daddy to see this on his birthday was a treat. I like how the movie looks inside Tony’s head. I mean I like how Tony has problems and then he fights to m things better. I also liked the fact that there was no kissing in this movie (editor’s note: we did have to take a bathroom break so we may have missed that scene if there was one).
The drones rocked.
7.7 pointed ears out of 8. This is a worthy successor to the first. Marvel’s plan of a MEGA-franchise seems to be playing out very well. IM2 has set a relatively high bar for next year’s Thor and Captain America. My only worry at this point is that each succeeding director will attempt to “Top” Iron Man and leave the bar wa-a-y to high for 2012’s Avengers movie.
Free Comic Book Day May 2
My Favorite Local Gaming Store (FLGS), The Core in Cedar Falls, Iowa is a celebrating Free Comic Book Day on May 2 from 9:00 – 6:00. If I can get the Can Company shut down in time, I’ll be there. Make it a point to be there early because the best stuff goes fast.
While supplies last, The Core will have free issues of: Green Lantern, Batman, Star Wars, Transformers, Archie, Justice League, Simpsons, Sonic The Hedgehog, Avengers, Disney, and more. There will be age appropriate comics for all reading levels.
Mike Blanchard, the owner, wants to remind everyone to get there as early as possible for best selection. Mike also told me that WotC is sponsoring another D&D Day. This one is to promote the all new Monster Manual more details forthcoming.
Vulcan Stev Family Movie Review: Punisher War Zone
Starring:
Ray Stevenson … Frank Castle
Dominic West … Billy Russoti / Jigsaw
Doug Hutchison … Loony Bin Jim
Colin Salmon … Special Agent Paul Budiansky
Wayne Knight … Linus ‘Microchip’ Lieberman
Dash Mihok … Det. Martin Soap
Julie Benz … Angela Donatelli
Stephanie Janusauskas … Grace Donatelli
Mark Camacho … Pittsy
Romano Orzari … Nicky Donatelli
Synopsis from IMDb: Infamous vigilante, anti-hero Frank Castle (Ray Stevenson) is six years into his vengeance driven zeal as the Punisher when he brutally assaults a “beat the rap” party for notorious mob boss Gaitano Cesare. During the course of the massacre, he hideously disfigures overeager gangster Billy Russoti (Dominic West) and murders a mafia lackey who turns out to be an undercover FBI agent.
Distraught that he has now become the very evil he swore to battle, Castle is content to hang up his guns and quit the justice business for good. However, plans quickly change once he learns that Jigsaw has not only kidnapped the surviving wife and child of the dead federal agent but now has also freed his commited psychopathic brother, James (Doug Hutchison)…aka…”Loony Bin Jim.”
Reviewers: Vulcan Stev, PIT #1, PIT #2, PIT #3, Mrs. VS sat down to watch the movie with us but backed out after viewing the first scene.
VS – 1.1 pointed ears
Oh, I am so torn. Kudos to the producers for bringing back Frank Castle’s original backstory and origin. Kudos for bringing in Microchip. Kudos for bringing in Jigsaw. However, major disappointment in the use of language. The ‘F-bomb’ is used in this movie like punctuation. To me, that kind of gratuitous use of the word does not mirror society, but rather shows off weak writing skills.
Another problem I had with this flick, the violence was wa-a-ay too graphic. I understand that the Punisher is a ‘dark’ character. I understand that he ‘solves’ the problem of crime by killing off the criminals. But I wasn’t expecting a slasher film, I’ve seen less graphic killings in the Friday 13th series. The producers, went to great lengths to say how proud they were of the realistic details in the gore. After seeing the over-the-top violence of the Watchmen and then seeing this movie, I’m beginning to wonder if Hollywood is trying to mainstream violence.
PIT #1 – 1.5 pointed ears
This was a very accurate portrayal of the Punisher. However, the violence is way overboard. Dad called this a mainstream slasher flick. I’ve never seen a “slasher” film and asked Dad what he meant. When Dad described what I slasher flick was, I had to agree with him. I would not recommend this film for younger viewers. It earned it’s R rating. I was also put off by the language. I don’t need to hear the “f-word” used as punctuation.
PIT #2 – 1.25 pointed ears
This has all the makings of a great action movie. However the language and violence were way to excessive for my tastes. The Thomas Jayne Punisher movie was much better in terms of language and violence. I’ve never read the Punisher comics but I don’t need to see blood flying across the screen. I don’t need to hear the “f-word” in every single scene of a movie (don’t want to hear it at all but that’s pipe dream).
PIT #3 – 1 pointed ear.
The action in this film was great. There was NO kissing which was also nice. The gore used in the action scenes was too much. I don’t need to see blood flying all over the screen. Daddy apologized to me because he didn’t know that the gore was going to be so graphic. The language was bad. I think that the writer needs to have his keyboard’s mouth washed out with soap.
4.85 pointed ears out of 8 with an abstain from Mrs. VS
Overall this is a faithful adaptation of the Punisher character. This is NOT a family film. Not recommended for family viewing. Be forewarned the ‘F-bomb’ is liberally sprinkled throughout the picture.
Gaming in the Universe of… Superheroes
Rather than rewrite the intro for Superhero gaming every time the family reviews a superhero movie, I’m posting this article and will update the links accordingly.
Why re-invent the wheel? There are many good RPGs centering around Superheroes. TSR’s Marvel Super Hero game is available online as PDF, of course that’s not the Superman Universe, but heck they’re available for free. Hero Games’ Champions, the grandaddy of all super hero RPGs is still available. DC Heroes as published by Pulsar Games is a defunct game though the mechanics are used in their Blood of Heroes RPG. Pinnacle Entertainment’s Necessary Evil, although not a super HERO setting does provide the rules for adding Super Heroes to your Savage Worlds campaign. The current Super Hero RPG of choice appears to be Mutants and Masterminds, an in depth review of the game can be found at Greywulf’s Lair
The first thing we need to ask are you gaming in a generic super hero universe or one of the copyrighted ones? I have many fond memories of playing in a Champions campaign from my high school days (no I won’t say when just know that Reagan was President when I graduated). My GM for those days usually had Marvel and DC heroes pre-genned for folks just wanting to sit in on a game. Though they were super heroes by the names of Supreme, Arachno-Lad, Night Stalker (a Batman clone) and Amazon (this was long before the Amalgam Universe). How you play or allow your players to play will vary from hero to hero.
Superhero movie reviews currently in the database:
Batman Begins
Daredevil
The Dark Knight
The Incredible Hulk
Superman IV
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