Category: Media

Weekend Box Office- March 14-16, 2014

Poor Jesse. Without Walter everything is falling apart.

Need For Speed was expected to finish first this past weekend, but had to settle for a disappointing third place with $17.8 million. A new Fast & Furious franchise this is not.

300: Rise of an Empire held strong in its second weekend even though it lost its top spot to Mr. Peabody & Sherman. The CGI dog and kid combo brought in $21.2 million.

Veronica Mars cracked the top ten with $2 million playing in under 400 theaters. Nice job, marshmallows.

1. Mr. Peabody & Sherman- $21.2 million/ $63.2 million

2. 300: Rise of an Empire- $19.1/ $78.3

3. Need For Speed- $17.8/ $17.8

4. Non-Stop- $10.6/ $68.8

5. The Single Moms Club- $8.3/ $8.3

6. The LEGO Movie- $7.7/ $236.9

7. Son of God- $5.4/ $50.9

8. The Grand Budapest Hotel- $3.6/ $4.8

9. Frozen- $2.1/ $396.4

10. Veronica Mars- $2.0/ $2.0

March 17, 2014
This One Time, On The Internet- March 14, 2014

Here are the quick hits from the world of movies, TV, games, K-Mart locations, laserdisc collections, whatever catches our fancy.

Movies

Avengers: Age of Ultron

Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige says we can look forward to Hawkeye and Hulk having larger roles in the sequel. This pleases me.

“Part of the fun of Age of Ultron was saying, you’ve seen another Iron Man adventure before, you see another Thor adventure and another Cap adventure, but we haven’t seen the Green Goliath again. So that was important in the characters you haven’t seen – Hulk being one of them and Hawkeye being one of them – Ultron will make up for it. They have very big parts in Age of Ultron.”

Pan

In the long, successful tradition of actors playing characters of different ethnicity, like Johnny Depp in The Lone Ranger or Al Jolson in The Jazz Singer, Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) has been cast as Tiger Lily in 2015’s Pan. This movie sounds like a scene out of Dragon Tattoo…very uncomfortable to sit through.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Sebastian Stan has revealed that he has a nine picture deal with Marvel Studios. Get ready for Winter Soldier to be around for a long time.

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Watching Arnold crush things with a tank is somehow deeply satisfying. He is doing it for charity as well, so no shame in helping out.

Games

Titanfall

Amazon raised Prime prices this week and now they have been caught deleting low scores for Titanfall by NeoGAF. Ruh Roh, Shaggy.

Valve

Check out the redesigned Steam controller which still looks weird as hell, but now with A,B,X and Y buttons.

Street Fighter

Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist, an original web series, will debut on Machinima. It can’t be any worse than the last two movies…can it? At least the video has no Van Damme or Kristin Kreuk although it looks like the grand master is wearing one hell of an anal bead necklace.

http://youtu.be/GYjIT-HALrY

Books

Harry Potter

JK Rowling has released a new 2,400 word piece called History of the Quidditch World Cup. It is free and can be read on Pottermore.

March 14, 2014
Captain America 3 To Open Against Batman Vs. Superman

Photo courtesy comicvine.com

When it was announced that Batman vs. Superman had been delayed to May 6, 2016 we knew that was a date that Marvel had already staked out for an unknown film. Through the power of the internet we now know that it will be Captain America who gets to honor to take on DC’s two mightiest heroes.

While superhero battles are great in the comics, it sucks for movie fans. Now, your uber-fans are going to see both in the same weekend, but with theater trips costing your first-born son these days, there will have to be a choice made for most. I hope that one studio backs off and changes dates because both of these movies are large enough that they need to have their own weekend in the spotlight.

If I had to play the guessing game as to who would flinch first, it would be Marvel. Captain America is a big property, of this there is no doubt, yet, he is not on the same level as Iron Man or Avengers (at least in the Marvel cinematic universe).

If these two movies do open against each other I would have to give the edge to Batman and Superman. This will be the third Cap film up against the two biggest comic characters in history. Even with all the bitching about Batfleck (even though I think he will own it), there will be a curiosity by moviegoers to see how the first movie team-up goes with the Man of Steel and the Dark Knight.

If both movies open on the same weekend which one will you be seeing first?

March 14, 2014
Pete Holmes Is Ready For Some “Fun In The Chun”

Pete Holmes has already taken Ryu to task about the new standards and practices for Street Fighter, now he has to do the same for Chun-Li.

Let’s just all accept that growing up playing Street Fighter we did not always pick Chun-Li because of her fighting skills, but because of her short skirt, long legs and her need to do many split-legged attacks.

God, that Street Fighter movie was straight from the devil’s taint. Sorry, random thought.

March 13, 2014
This One Time, On The Internet- March 12, 2014

Here are the quick hits from the world of movies, TV, video games, air fresheners, bowling shoes, whatever catches our fancy.

Movies

Fletch

Jason Sudeikis is in talks to take over the role of Irwin M. Fletcher in Warner’s reboot of the Fletch franchise. Chevy Chase played the role twice (perfectly) in Fletch and Fletch Lives. Go back and watch them and realize that Sudeikis will own this role.

Fantastic Four

It seems the hunt for Doctor Doom has been narrowed to four actors. They are Toby Kebbell, Sam Riley, Eddie Redmayne and Domhnall Gleeson. Never heard of them? Good. I think more unknowns should get some of these comic roles going around.

The LEGO Movie

Chris McKay has been picked to direct The LEGO Movie 2. Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the directors of the first movie, will return as producers. McKay has directed Adult Swim shows Moral Oral and Robot Chicken. Let’s get Seth Green involved and everything will be awesome.

Transformers: Age of Extinction

A new IMAX poster has just been released for the robots in disguise. You could take off the Tranformers graphic and put Titanfall on it and it would work.

TV

iZombie

Rose McIver has been cast as Liv, the lead character in The CW’s show based on the DC/Vertigo comic. Gwen is the character’s name in the comic so who knows about the name change. I read Volume 1 of the comic a couple of years ago and found it entertaining. It does lend itself well to a TV show.

The Big Bang Theory

Sheldon, Penny, Leonard and the rest of the gang will be around for at least a decade. CBS has renewed The Big Bang Theory for three more seasons taking it through season ten. I will never complain about more Bernadette.

Video Games

Mario

Mario will be invading Happy Meals at McDonald’s in March and April. For those adults (me) that will be buying them, just remember they have double hamburger meals with them for us fatties. I got fat off of regular Happy Meals, I shudder to think how much larger I would be if I could have gotten double hamburgers in them when I was a kid.

March 12, 2014
Is The Honest Trailer For Frozen Better Than The Movie?

Full disclosure: I have not seen Frozen yet. Now don’t go getting your iced over panties in a bunch, I fully intend to, but I think watching the Honest Trailer before the movie was a mistake.

A wonderful mistake.

It will definitely affect the way I watch the movie now. Though, with someone as jaded as me, this is probably a good thing.

March 12, 2014
Fox’s Gotham Gets A Logo, Lengthy Synopsis

That above is the official logo for Fox’s new series Gotham, the series that focuses on a young Jim Gordon as he tries to be a good cop in a corrupt town that will birth one of the greatest heroes ever.

Don’t think me crazy, but I wish this show was actually airing on The CW because it would get a fair shake. I think we all know that Fox is known for their penchant to cancel shows that might thrive on other networks. Let’s hope Gotham is good as it promises to be and shows it in the ratings.

Here is the synopsis for the show. It is wordy.

Everyone knows the name Commissioner Gordon. He is one of the crime world’s greatest foes, a man whose reputation is synonymous with law and order. But what is known of Gordon’s story and his rise from rookie detective to Police Commissioner? What did it take to navigate the multiple layers of corruption that secretly ruled Gotham City, the spawning ground of the world’s most iconic villains? And what circumstances created them – the larger-than-life personas who would become Catwoman, The Penguin, The Riddler, Two-Face and The Joker?

“Gotham” is an origin story of the great DC Comics super villains and vigilantes, revealing an entirely new chapter that has never been told. From executive producer/writer Bruno Heller (“The Mentalist,” “Rome”), “Gotham” follows one cop’s rise through a dangerously corrupt city teetering on the edge of evil and chronicles the birth of one of the most popular super heroes of our time.
Growing up in Gotham City’s surrounding suburbs, James Gordon (Ben McKenzie, “Southland,” “The O.C.”) romanticized the city as a glamorous and exciting metropolis where his late father once served as a successful district attorney. Now, two weeks into his new job as a Gotham City detective and engaged to his beloved fiancée, Barbara Kean (Erin Richards, Open Grave, “Breaking In”), Gordon is living his dream – even as he hopes to restore the city back to the pure version he remembers it was as a kid.
Brave, honest and ready to prove himself, the newly-minted detective is partnered with the brash, but shrewd police legend Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue, “Sons of Anarchy,” “Terriers,” “Vikings,” “Copper”), as the two stumble upon the city’s highest-profile case ever: the murder of local billionaires Thomas and Martha Wayne. At the scene of the crime, Gordon meets the sole survivor: the Waynes’ hauntingly intense 12-year-old son, Bruce (David Mazouz, “Touch”), toward whom the young detective feels an inexplicable kinship. Moved by the boy’s profound loss, Gordon vows to catch the killer.
As he navigates the often-underhanded politics of Gotham’s criminal justice system, Gordon will confront imposing gang boss Fish Mooney (Jada Pinkett Smith, The Matrix films, “HawthoRNe,” Collateral), and many of the characters who will become some of fiction’s most renowned, enduring villains, including a teenaged Selina Kyle/the future Catwoman (acting newcomer Camren Bicondova) and Oswald Cobblepot/The Penguin (Robin Lord Taylor, “The Walking Dead,” Another Earth).
Although the crime drama will follow Gordon’s turbulent and singular rise through the Gotham City police department, led by Police Captain Sarah Essen (Zabryna Guevara, “Burn Notice”), it also will focus on the unlikely friendship Gordon forms with the young heir to the Wayne fortune, who is being raised by his unflappable butler, Alfred (Sean Pertwee, “Camelot,” “Elementary”). It is a friendship that will last them all of their lives, playing a crucial role in helping the young boy eventually become the crusader he’s destined to be.
“Gotham” is based upon characters published by DC Comics and is produced by Warner Bros. Television. Heller wrote the pilot, which will be directed and executive-produced by Emmy Award nominee Danny Cannon (the “CSI” series, “Nikita”).

March 12, 2014
First Look At The CW’s Flash Costume

The first image of a fully-costumed Flash has just been released by The CW. Grant Gustin is playing Barry Allen who was introduced earlier this season on Arrow.

The costume was designed by Oscar winner Colleen Atwood who has worked on Memoirs of a Geisha, Chicago and Alice in Wonderland.

All I can say is that she did a damn fine job and ramps up my excitement for the series.

March 11, 2014
Fat Guy In A Little Singlet- Raw Recap, March 10, 2014

SWEET BABY BEARDED JESUS, THEY DID IT.

WWE took a hold of the Daniel Bryan train and pointed that son of a bitch right at the main event of WrestleMania.

With Mania being only four weeks away, I am sure I was not the only one thinking that Bryan would be facing HHH and they would stick to their guns and have Orton and Batista get booed out of the building.

Someone realized that by staying the course, WrestleMania would have been the biggest shit taken on New Orleans since Katrina. Whoever that someone is…thank you. If you will email me and tell me who you are I will buy you a very nice seafood dinner.

Of course, the WWE could have been trolling us the entire time and they are doing Chris Cooper’s maniacal laugh from The Muppets at what fools all of us “internet” fans are. I could not give less of a shit. We got what we wanted for WrestleMania.

Now don’t think I am saying Bryan is automatically winning the title. I could see Batista winning just as easily, setting him up as the main heel of the company. But this is also not a normal WrestleMania either. It is WrestleMania 30. It is like a big anniversary for your parents and you want it to end with them hugging and kissing while the family “awes”, not with your mother calling your dad a drunken loser and your dad saying he bang his secretary ten years ago.

We also officially got Cena vs. Wyatt set for Mania last night. Now we just play the waiting game of Wyatt bitch slapping Cena for four weeks on the mic then have Cena overcome all the odds…blah, blah, blah. Same shit, different decade.

This could be a star-making, career-defining moment if they let Wyatt go over, but I think we all know better than that. It is like going to the dog track and betting all of your money on a chihuahua when he is racing against Clifford the Big Red Dog and getting pissed when he loses.

The Undertaker graced us with his nine minute entrance and thirty second promo. It’s all cool, cause Uncle Paul was there to carry the load. I loved how he compared Taker’s streak against the other greats who have come nowhere close. Whenever I hear Heyman on the mic selling the hell out of a match between a guy that only wrestles once a year and another guy who is not even there, it makes me wonder how much better the past five years could have been if he had been with the WWE full-time.

Hell, he probably could have gotten Ryback a world title if he had been his voice the entire time. As frightening as that sounds, that’s how good Heyman is.

The rest of Raw was used for a slow burn of feuds we hope pay off at Mania. The Shield had another great match with The Rhodes Brothers, who took time away from playing with WWE Lego’s in the back to give The Shield their win back from last year. With only four weeks left, they are going to have to start making that crack they keep talking about into a full-blown explosion.

Unless…they have decided to keep The Shield together past WrestleMania, which is juuuust fine with me.

BROTHER, BROTHER! WWE UNIVERSE! WWE NETWORK! CHRIS LEMMON! BROTHER!

OK, I do like the idea of the Andre the Giant Memorial 30-Man Battle Royal. It gets a lot of guys who would be in the back eating catering on the card and pays respect to the legacy of Andre. Anyone else thinking a Big Show win?

Sheamus and Christian wrestled…again…again. I applaud these two for working hard the past few weeks even when no one in the crowd seemed to care. That wasn’t the case last night. Their Memphis Street Fight was damn fun to watch. Christian went a little 12 Years a Slave on Sheamus’ back with that kendo stick. Doesn’t help he is basically a six foot five inch bottle of Elmer’s glue either.

How about that Brogue Kick through the bass drum?

If you did not watch the match last night, that sentence made it sound like I just jumbled words together like the little magnets on the refrigerator.

Once again, Cesaro has become an afterthought on Raw after his match with Cena last month. Seems like I predicted that would happen, but I won’t get a dickish and say it…wait.

He and Swagger are headed for splitsville and will be lucky to have a match against each other on the Mania card. I swear they better not pre-show Cesaro. You did so much right last night WWE. Don’t cock it up.

Here is the updated card for WrestleMania 30 after last night:

Randy Orton vs. Batista vs. (Daniel Bryan?) for the WWE World Heavyweight Title

John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt

The Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar

HHH vs. Daniel Bryan (if Bryan wins he is in the main event)

Andre the Giant Memorial 30-Man Battle Royal

Till next week!

If Helen Mirren twerking did not make your day, I can’t help you.

March 11, 2014
This One Time, On The Internet- March 10, 2014

Here are some quick hits in the world of movies, TV, games, Halloween costumes, French-Canadian affairs, whatever catches our fancy.

Movies

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

If you love Paul Giamatti, don’t expect too much of him in the next Spider-Man releasing next month. Director Marc Webb has said that Rhino will only appear in the sequel for four minutes. His character is in the planned third movie also so just watch Sideways a lot until it comes out in 2016.

TV

Cosmos

Want to see why we need more programs like Cosmos on the air? Take a look at this.

Game of Thrones

Here is a new trailer for the new season of Game of Thrones which returns April 6th. Plan your parties accordingly.

http://youtu.be/xIASaUUwklk

Constantine

Will Constantine be a smoker on his new show? Writer and producer, David S. Goyer, gives an “answer”:

“That’s a tricky one on network TV. We’re negotiating right now. He will have his signature trench coat and skinny tie. I would say that the show clings more closely to the source material than the film did. Even though the film was interesting.”

Tricky my ass. That is one of the character’s main crutches. That would be like the CW pitching Arrow and saying he only shoots Nerf arrows at enemies because real ones hurt.

The Talking Dead

CM Punk will be making his first public appearance since leaving WWE in January on this Sunday’s The Talking Dead. He was announced using his real name, Phil Brooks, on last night’s episode.

Games

Gone Home

The popular PC game will be making its way to consoles in 2014. This excites me almost as much as Titanfall tomorrow. That is saying something.

Titanfall

The game will run at 792p resolution when it launches tomorrow. If this concerns you, go crawl in a hole and stay there. Absolutely zero fucks should be given if the game is fun.

March 10, 2014