I'm doing some cleanup on my computer. Sorting things into folders, keeping pictures together, you know, the usual. While this is going on, I had some random news updates to share with you all, in case these slipped you by.
-Chris Jericho is going to be on the next Dancing With The Stars.
-Lil' Jon is going to be on the next Celebrity Apprentice
-Micheal Rosenbaum is going to play Lex Luthor in the series finale of Smallville
-The US Government has ACCIDENTALLY secured steps toward Net Neutrality for everyone, while writing up the terms for Comcast buying NBC-Universal. Basically - Comcast is not allowed to block Netflix on its pipes, and it must agree to license NBC content to third parties like iTunes even if they are competitors. This will be the most concrete rule ever put into US legislation that says ISPs can't configure their networks so that their own content runs fine while content from competitors is kept running jittery and laggy.
-I've got my 3DS pre-ordered. Do you? When I get it, expect pictures and reviews of whatever I can get my hands on, right here - same Bat-time, same Bat-channel.
-On a related note, if you have any Pokemon games and would like to help me catch 'em all, please let me know. I'm getting Pokemon White very soon.
-Australia has BANNED the new Mortal Kombat game, because their rating system is completely insane. They have no ratings above what we would call 14A, for video games. Which means anything we get that is rated 'M for Mature' (17+), has to be either toned down to make it suitable for 14 year olds, or it can't be sold. What a strange land down under...
-Christian Bale and Natalie Portman are now Oscar winners.
-I haven't been on World of Warcraft in a while, I don't really know why other than the fact that the rest of life seems more interesting right now. I feel kind of bad about it, but at the same time, I have no idea when I will play again.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Random pic of the week #2
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Upcoming comic book movies
Mike and I have been talking a lot about the new batch of comic book movies coming out this year. I still don't know which one I'm looking forward to the most, but I hope by the end of writing today that I'll come to a conclusion.
The movies I'm talking about are 2011's Captain America: The First Avenger, Thor, and The Green Lantern.
By looking at the directors of each, maybe something will jump out at me as proof of the merits of each film.
Captain America: Directed by Joe Johnston. A former Oscar winner for the visual effects on Raiders Of The Lost Ark, he has directed some decent-to-terrible movies in the past. None really stand out as great cinema classics, although some of his films have a special place in the hearts of 90's kids.
His past movies include:
The movies I'm talking about are 2011's Captain America: The First Avenger, Thor, and The Green Lantern.
By looking at the directors of each, maybe something will jump out at me as proof of the merits of each film.
Captain America: Directed by Joe Johnston. A former Oscar winner for the visual effects on Raiders Of The Lost Ark, he has directed some decent-to-terrible movies in the past. None really stand out as great cinema classics, although some of his films have a special place in the hearts of 90's kids.
His past movies include:
- Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
- Jumanji
- The Pagemaster
- The Rocketeer
- Jurassic Park 3
- October Sky
- Hidalgo
- The Wolfman
Now, looking at this list, it would be easy to assume he will do a great job with Captain America. After all, Captain America is a movie based on a comic book, which already puts kids and teens in the target audience. But this Captain America movie is based in World War 2, and so ideally it would be a war story first, and a kids superhero story second or third.
Thor: Directed by Professor Lockhart. Or is it Dr. Frankenstein? Ladies and gentlemen, presenting Kenneth Branagh!
Known more as an actor than a director, Branagh is a master at classic Shakesperean stories. He is best known in Europe for his work in stage theatre, but his knack for casting himself in the lead in movies he directs makes it a surprise that he isn't strapping on the winged helmet and hammer for Thor.
His past movies include:
- Henry V
- Much Ado About Nothing
- Frankenstein
- Hamlet
- As You Like It
See the pattern? Thor, being very close in tone to other ancient stories, seems to be a good fit. The movie is about a Norse god's fall from Asgard, and his journey of redemption for his father's love, and fighting against his evil brother. Sounds like Shakespeare to me! My main concern is that Thor is also part of the larger Marvel family of movies, like Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, and Captain America. So this will be Branagh's first attempt at a real summer blockbuster kind of action movie. I'm sure I'll like it if the movie is all character examination in vaguely European accents, but I also want to see great fight scenes of the God of Thunder kicking ass with his legendary hammer, Mjolnir!
Green Lantern: Directed by Martin Campbell. Now, this is a guy that knows his action movies. He has directed not only some great ones, but ones that launched careers of the actors involved. Maybe he can do the same for Ryan Reynolds, who always seems to be on the cusp of real fame. The problem is, for every great movie he does, he also has a flop.
His previous movies include:
- Goldeneye (yes, that Goldeneye)
- The Mask of Zorro (and its forgotten sequel The Legend of Zorro)
- Casino Royale (yes, that Casino Royale)
- Vertical Limit (the movie with a familiar title but no one seems to remember why)
- Edge of Darkness (that 2010 Mel Gibson movie no one watched)
So, the problem here is, will he bring his 'A' game? Or his 'Legend of Zorro' game? Green Lantern IS supposed to be a fun action movie full of technology (like a Bond movie) and attractive male leads (although most women seem to agree Reynolds is no Antonio Banderas). But this is NOT a Bond movie OR a swashbuckling period piece. This is SUPPOSED to be a sci-fi space cop movie full of aliens. It seems like a better fit for the director of Men In Black or Titan A.E.! But from the trailer, it DOES look like it hits the right tone, and this IS the first DC Comics movie since The Dark Knight, so I'm cautiously optimistic that everyone will be trying their best on this one.
So, in the end, I think Thor is actually going to turn out the best. I have full faith in Kenneth Branagh to give the characters as much focus as the the story deserves, and while I'm a bit worried about him handling big CGI-filled blockbuster style action, the trailers showing the big metal destroyer robot, and some of the Asgardian creatures, gives me some reassurance.
All three movies look like they could be great, but I'm officially the most excited for Thor.
And also 2012's Amazing Spider-Man ;)
Monday, February 21, 2011
Those poor poor bad guys!
I feel sorry for bad guys sometimes. I mean, Bowser has to provide for 7 kids in a single-parent home, and the only income he has is ransom money for kidnapping Peach. And those Mushroom Kingdom bigwigs never pay! Just because Mario got into the trades at a young age and makes a decent living for himself, doesn't give him the right to trash Bowser's dungeons and throw his kids into lava. That's barbaric.
It seems many authors are also identifying with the bad guy these days.
I'm sure most of you remember the Wicked series of books, which became a hit Broadway show. It turns the evil Wicked Witch of the West from Oz, into a flawed but sympathetic character full of hopes and dreams. And it seems like the Wicked Witch isn't the only villain we have been unfairly treating, my pretties.
A new movie is in development, called "Oz The Great And Terrible", starring James Franco as a young Wizard of Oz. The original is known as a jerk and a coward - forcing Dorothy and company to travel all the way to the Emerald City just to refuse their wishes. It was revealed that the Wizard had no powers at all, and was lying to the entire world of Oz for YEARS. But now, we get to find out why we should not only forgive the Wiz (actually, "The Wiz" is unforgivable!), but hail him as the hero he was all along!
There's a new book out from Russia called "The Last Ringbearer" that re-tells the story of The Lord of the Rings from the unexplored perspective of Mordor and their great leader Sauron. A translation into English of this um, novel novel, is available as a free download HERE, for those who wish to read it.
So, once again, it is time to feel sorry for those we once hated. Like the Wicked Witch, the misguided Wizard of Oz, Smallville's Lex Luthor, and Spider-Man's Venom, it is time to embrace Sauron as a true victim of injustice, and reward him for his undying heroism!
What other villains have gotten a bad rap? Commence commenting!
From the article linked above:
"In Yeskov's retelling, the wizard Gandalf is a war-monger intent on crushing the scientific and technological initiative of Mordor and its southern allies because science "destroys the harmony of the world and dries up the souls of men!" He's in cahoots with the elves, who aim to become "masters of the world," and turn Middle-earth into a "bad copy" of their magical homeland across the sea. Aragorn is depicted as a ruthless Machiavellian schemer who is ultimately the puppet of his wife, the elf Arwen. Barad-dur, also known as the Dark Tower and Sauron's citadel, is, by contrast, described as "that amazing city of alchemists and poets, mechanics and astronomers, philosophers and physicians, the heart of the only civilization in Middle-earth to bet on rational knowledge and bravely pitch its barely adolescent technology against ancient magic."
It seems many authors are also identifying with the bad guy these days.
I'm sure most of you remember the Wicked series of books, which became a hit Broadway show. It turns the evil Wicked Witch of the West from Oz, into a flawed but sympathetic character full of hopes and dreams. And it seems like the Wicked Witch isn't the only villain we have been unfairly treating, my pretties.
A new movie is in development, called "Oz The Great And Terrible", starring James Franco as a young Wizard of Oz. The original is known as a jerk and a coward - forcing Dorothy and company to travel all the way to the Emerald City just to refuse their wishes. It was revealed that the Wizard had no powers at all, and was lying to the entire world of Oz for YEARS. But now, we get to find out why we should not only forgive the Wiz (actually, "The Wiz" is unforgivable!), but hail him as the hero he was all along!
There's a new book out from Russia called "The Last Ringbearer" that re-tells the story of The Lord of the Rings from the unexplored perspective of Mordor and their great leader Sauron. A translation into English of this um, novel novel, is available as a free download HERE, for those who wish to read it.
So, once again, it is time to feel sorry for those we once hated. Like the Wicked Witch, the misguided Wizard of Oz, Smallville's Lex Luthor, and Spider-Man's Venom, it is time to embrace Sauron as a true victim of injustice, and reward him for his undying heroism!
What other villains have gotten a bad rap? Commence commenting!
From the article linked above:
"In Yeskov's retelling, the wizard Gandalf is a war-monger intent on crushing the scientific and technological initiative of Mordor and its southern allies because science "destroys the harmony of the world and dries up the souls of men!" He's in cahoots with the elves, who aim to become "masters of the world," and turn Middle-earth into a "bad copy" of their magical homeland across the sea. Aragorn is depicted as a ruthless Machiavellian schemer who is ultimately the puppet of his wife, the elf Arwen. Barad-dur, also known as the Dark Tower and Sauron's citadel, is, by contrast, described as "that amazing city of alchemists and poets, mechanics and astronomers, philosophers and physicians, the heart of the only civilization in Middle-earth to bet on rational knowledge and bravely pitch its barely adolescent technology against ancient magic."
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Update - WWE Elimination Chamber results
So, I was right for some, and wrong for others.
Match 1: Alberto Del Rio vs. Kofi Kingston
It WASN'T a title match for the Intercontinental Championship like I thought. Just a normal match. Alberto won. 3 Stars.
Match 2: Elimination Chamber for the World Heavyweight Championship
Edge retained after surviving all 5 other men. Big Show came in to replace Dolph Ziggler. Also - Teddy Long re-hired Kelly Kelly, which I'm sure made Drew McIntyre happy. Rey Mysterio had most of the highlights, but Drew McIntyre had the hardest hits, throwing people through the glass left and right. 4 Stars.
Match 3: Tag Championship Match, Santino/Koslov vs. Slater/Gabriel
We have new tag champs! The Corre members are now 2-time tag champions after a pretty decent match. Ezekial Jackson from the Corre helped run interference from outside. 3 Stars.
Match 4: WWE Championship match, The Miz vs. Jerry 'The King' Lawler
Lawler did much better than I thought a guy his age could go, but lost to Miz even after Alex Riley was banned from ringside. Micheal Cole got Miz thrown into him by The King, and his reactions were great even without a headset. 2 Stars.
Match 5: Number One Contender match for RAW's Elimination Chamber
As I predicted, Cena won, Orton was mostly concerned with Punk, and Morrison was AWESOME. Sheamus and Morrison spent most of the match on each other, but Morrison came out on top between the two of them. CM Punk got stuck in a malfunctioning pod, and while stuck, Orton beat the heck out of him leading to an immediate RKO and Punk being eliminated first, but the RAW GM said that wasn't fair and let Punk go back in his pod. Later on, CM Punk came out again and this time finished Orton off. Final 3 were Cena, Morrison, and Punk. Morrison was great but hurt his knee quite a bit doing some great aerial maneuvers, and Punk finished him off, just before being caught by Cena's Attitude Adjustment for the win. 5 Stars.
Overall, a solid 4 Star event. Can't wait for Mania.
Match 1: Alberto Del Rio vs. Kofi Kingston
It WASN'T a title match for the Intercontinental Championship like I thought. Just a normal match. Alberto won. 3 Stars.
Match 2: Elimination Chamber for the World Heavyweight Championship
Edge retained after surviving all 5 other men. Big Show came in to replace Dolph Ziggler. Also - Teddy Long re-hired Kelly Kelly, which I'm sure made Drew McIntyre happy. Rey Mysterio had most of the highlights, but Drew McIntyre had the hardest hits, throwing people through the glass left and right. 4 Stars.
Match 3: Tag Championship Match, Santino/Koslov vs. Slater/Gabriel
We have new tag champs! The Corre members are now 2-time tag champions after a pretty decent match. Ezekial Jackson from the Corre helped run interference from outside. 3 Stars.
Match 4: WWE Championship match, The Miz vs. Jerry 'The King' Lawler
Lawler did much better than I thought a guy his age could go, but lost to Miz even after Alex Riley was banned from ringside. Micheal Cole got Miz thrown into him by The King, and his reactions were great even without a headset. 2 Stars.
Match 5: Number One Contender match for RAW's Elimination Chamber
As I predicted, Cena won, Orton was mostly concerned with Punk, and Morrison was AWESOME. Sheamus and Morrison spent most of the match on each other, but Morrison came out on top between the two of them. CM Punk got stuck in a malfunctioning pod, and while stuck, Orton beat the heck out of him leading to an immediate RKO and Punk being eliminated first, but the RAW GM said that wasn't fair and let Punk go back in his pod. Later on, CM Punk came out again and this time finished Orton off. Final 3 were Cena, Morrison, and Punk. Morrison was great but hurt his knee quite a bit doing some great aerial maneuvers, and Punk finished him off, just before being caught by Cena's Attitude Adjustment for the win. 5 Stars.
Overall, a solid 4 Star event. Can't wait for Mania.
WWE Elimination Chamber Preview
As some of you may know, I watch pro wrestling, specifically the WWE. Tonight is the last pay-per-view before WRESTLEMANIA!
WWE Presents: Elimination Chamber 2011
Matches announced:
WWE Presents: Elimination Chamber 2011
Matches announced:
- WWE Tag Team Championship match
- Tag Champions Santino Marella (the funny Italian guy) and Vladimir Koslov (the big mean Russian guy)
vs. - two members of The Corre, Heath Slater (the guy who looks like Wendy from the restaurant) and Justin Gabriel (the high flying South African guy who is too attractive to be a badguy
My prediction: The Corre has been trying to dominate Smackdown recently, and Slater/Gabriel are former tag champs from 2010 when they were part of the old Nexus group. I think the Corre is going to get some gold here. - Intercontinental Championship match
- Champion Kofi Kingston (the used-to-be-Jamaican-but-now-is-from-Africa guy)
vs. - Royal Rumble winner Alberto Del Rio (the guy with his own Spanish ring announcer)
My prediction: It's been a decent feud, but Del Rio is on his way to a World Championship match at Wrestlemania in April, so I don't think he will win this one. - WWE Championship match
- WWE Champion The Miz (the former Real World star who says he is AWESOME guy)
vs. - Jerry 'The King' Lawler (the retired wrestler who works as a colour commentator on RAW guy who is back for 'one more run' at a championship he never got a chance to win before)
My prediction: The star of this match will actually be the other announcer for RAW, Micheal Cole. He is a big fan of The Miz, and has costed Lawler the championship before. Lawler has never won the WWE title, but also he has never had a match at Wrestlemania. I see Miz winning thanks to Cole, and leading to Lawler vs. Cole in a battle of announcers at Mania. - World Heavyweight Championship match - inside the ELIMINATION CHAMBER
- World Heavyweight Champion EDGE (the Canadian Rated-R Superstar guy)
vs - Kane (the brother of the Undertaker guy), Rey Mysterio (the Mexican masked luchador guy), Wade Barrett (the leader of The Corre even though he says there's no leader guy), Drew McIntyre (the Scottish guy in a ponytail who has a crush on Kelly Kelly), and one unannounced 6th man (which used to be Dolph Ziggler before Ziggles won the Championship for a whole hour before losing it back to Edge and being fired by Smackdown GM Teddy Long)
My prediction: Edge will keep his 11th World Championship, leading to Edge vs. Alberto Del Rio at Wrestlemania. Dolph may return in a surprise way to fill that 6th spot, but if anyone other than Dolph gets that spot, that person will have the best shot at winning other than Edge. - Number One Contender's Match - inside the ELIMINATION CHAMBER
- John Cena (your girlfriend's favourite wrestler guy)
vs. - John Morrison (also your girlfriend's favourite wrestler guy who can literally grate cheese with his abs), R-Truth (the guy who raps his own entrance music but isn't John Cena), Randy Orton (also your girlfriend's favourite wrestler guy who is more badass than all the guys who have played Batman combined), Sheamus (the extremely pale Irish Celtic Warrior guy), and CM Punk (the straight-edge leader of the Nexus guy who is basically a cult leader that eats tofu instead of animal hearts in his rituals)
My prediction: The winner gets to fight the WWE Champion (currently The Miz) in the main event of Wrestlemania. I see this going to John Cena, because Cena has not won a single match yet in 2011 and he is due for one. Also, I think Randy Orton is more concerned with destroying CM Punk and the Nexus than worrying about the championship, R-Truth isn't good enough, John Morrison already had a title shot at the Miz and lost even though he is awesome, and Sheamus is so pale the cameras at Wrestlemania wouldn't be able to pick him up.
So there you have it - tonight's show starts at 8pm on pay-per-view or at the movie theatre, and it will lead us right into Wrestlemania on April 3rd.
Oh and by the way - THE ROCK is back :)
Oh and by the way - THE ROCK is back :)
Random Picture Of The week!
For those that want something to talk about, I'm going to upload a random picture from my computer every week. Here you go:
Welcome to Embassy's Embassy!
I'm going to be talking quite a bit about things that are important to me. I am going to try my very best to be entertaining while I do it.
If you like music, video games, books, comics, television shows, current events, Canada, food, girls, guys, sports, fake sports, board games, poker, nerdcore rap, movies, philosophy, dancing, travelling, pictures, the area of Ontario that I live, Pokemon, computers, being human, or if you just want to relax and play some Tetris on my sidebar, this is DEFINITELY the place for you!
Bookmark me, follow me, Tweet about me! Love me! Or don't. Haters gonna hate.
This is my first post. Join me on my journey to get rid of all the excess thoughts in my head. This is a safe place. This is a place to talk about whatever we want. I won't judge you if you don't judge me!
Welcome to the Embassy.
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