Scum of The Week – The L.A. Lakers

So the Lakers have done it… they were swept out of the Western Conference Semi-finals of the NBA Playoffs by the Dallas Mavericks. Needless to say everyone on that Lakers team should be ashamed of themselves. The final score was 122-86, so that qualifies as an old fashioned prison pounding, not to mention Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom were both ejected for playing like dirty turd sniffers. Odom decided to basically give Dirk Nowitzki a nice hard shouldering and Bynum thought it a good idea to forearm J.J. Barea in the ribs in mid lay-up. True scum!

Classy move Bynum

And this is not even mentioning the “Great” Kobe Bryant having a rather lackluster game. 17 points? 1 assist? Holy dog shit Kobe! So much for all of those Jordan comparisons, so much for the three-peat, so much for Phil Jackson’s last season of coaching. It turns out the guy should have just retired on a high note last year instead of this epic embarrassment!

Bottom line: These guys didn’t play like last year’s NBA Champions, they played like a bunch of sore losers who were swept out of the playoffs… which they were. But most of all, they played like SCUM!

Laker fans please comment below.

AMC’s ‘The Killing’: Episode 7 – “Vengeance”

If you’re behind, maybe read these first:
–  AMC’s ‘The Killing’: Episodes 1 to 5 – Suspect List
– AMC’s ‘The Killing’: Episode 6 – “What You Have Left”

The Killing Sunday night’s episode of The Killing started off strong, so let’s get right to it… We start off with where we stopped last week. Detective Linden pounding on Bennett’s door while he is trapped in Stan Larsen’s car. After it appeared unlikely, Amber Ahmed finally comes to the door and lets in Linden. She does this about the same time Holder is questioning Mrs. Larsen about Stan’s whereabouts. Neither interview goes well. Bennett’s life is spared only by Stan’s self-control and a promise he made 18 years earlier. Bennett’s wife seems to have been eliminated from the suspect pool, and Holder got himself kicked out of the Larsen house.

Linden then, as expected, misses her flight. You know, the one she guaranteed she would be on. In the wake of Rosie’s funeral everyone is having a terrible day, including Councilman Richmond. His refusal to abandon and publicly condemn Bennett Amhed has giving the Mayor enough ammunition to publicly attack him for “supporting a murderer”.

The KillingThe Mayor’s attacks hit home with the bigots and racists, that’s an important demographic – they vote. Richmond’s campaign seems to be forever doomed, though I seem to think that once Bennett’s innocence is proven it will only strengthen his cause. This however, at least to me, is the most interesting aspect of the show. After all, I don’t care about Linden leaving – cause she won’t. And Holder’s ‘is he/isn’t he’ a drug user aspect seems a little forced, and I believe he will yet prove himself an asset. So until Stan Larsen actually kills someone to avenge his daughter, I’ll turn my focus to the election and Richmond’s self-destructive actions. I mean, doesn’t he know politicians are supposed to be morally corrupt? We get to see a little more of Richmond’s background here as he visits the mother of his dead wife, killed by a drunk driver. He does so just before her daughter’s killer is released from prison.

So the episode closes with 2 events: The first is the Mayor using the City Council against Richmond to kill his basketball program, effectively removing Bennett from the payroll. The second, and significantly more substantial event has to do with our beloved pair of Detectives. After visiting a mosque to follow-up a lead, they are mysteriously slipped an address. Upon arriving at said address they break in only to be met by an FBI swat team. Maybe this has introduced a new motive for Rosie’s murder…

Overall the episode wasn’t great, just a lot of set up, but it looks to be headed in the right direction…I give it 3 Bears.

Review: HBO’s Game of Thrones, Episode 4 – ‘Cripples, Bastards and Broken Things’

Our episode this week opens up at Winterfell, with Bran having what some readers of the books call a ‘Raven Dream’. There’ll be more on those later in the series. Bran awakens to be brought before his brother Robb, who is now acting Lord of Winterfell while Ned is in King’s Landing. Robb is in fact speaking with Tyrion Lannister, recently returned from the Wall. He notices how cold Robb is acting towards Lannister, but is still very kind to Bran, giving him schematics on how to construct a proper saddle for someone without the use of their legs. The scene at Winterfell was very well done as the actors are now very comfortable in their roles. Peter Dinklage in particular is Tyrion personified for me. It’s like the character jumped off the pages of the book into an HBO show and I’m sure many book fans will agree.

Continue reading Review: HBO’s Game of Thrones, Episode 4 – ‘Cripples, Bastards and Broken Things’

Marvel Comics: Ultimate Universe Reborn…Again!

Fans of Marvel’s Ultimate line will in no way be surprised to hear that once again, a new creative team will be taking the reins of the line and completely changing the status quo. It happened before when Jeph Loeb took over and brought about the insane Ultimatum series, which had wide sweeping effects across the whole universe. Basically, every character you really liked ended up dying horribly tragic deaths.

So we were then given Ultimate Comics, a fresh take on what was left of the Ultimates Universe, but it was bogged down with poor shipping schedules and unconnected storylines. So now it has been announced that the new creators Jonathan Hickman and Nick Spencer are coming in to turn the Ultimate U. into a more cohesive involved universe, promising at least monthly shipping and another batch of wide sweeping chances to kick off after the “Death of Spider-Man” storyline currently running in Brian Michael BendisUltimate Spider-Man.

Over the last week they have revealed 4 books that will be released under the new Ultimate Comics Reborn initiative, so keep reading to see if your favorites make the cut.

Continue reading Marvel Comics: Ultimate Universe Reborn…Again!