The Return of ‘Mad Men’: Season 5

For those of you who have been pining for the most boringly interesting show on television to return, and I say that as a fan, your wait is almost over.

Don, Peggy, Roger and especially Joan will be back when Mad Men finally debuts its first episode of season five March 25th on AMC.

The poster announcing the return has been creating some online controversy because of its likeness to some chilling images from 9/11, but anyone who’s upset about this is late to the party because Mad Men has been using the falling man graphic since it’s debut in 2007. This is simply a bit of Don Draper magic, capturing the viewer as simply and as powerfully as possible. It will be a relief to see the Mad Men characters back in their familiar swarthy Manhattanite atmospheres instead of popping up in various television shows and movies.

Continue reading The Return of ‘Mad Men’: Season 5

First Look At Riddick

The first picture of Vin Diesel as Riddick is out and yup he looks about the same as he did in the last two movies. Goggles, check! Black tank top, check! Shaved head, check! Ok Mr. Diesel, you’re all set to play Riddick again.

More news from the Underverse! 

In addition to the lovely Katee Sackhoff joining the cast of the next Riddick film

med_katee-sackhoff-sexy-1

We also have two more cast members to report on, Jordi Molla and Nolan Funk.

Jordi Molla, will be playing the main villain. He is a very popular Spanish actor and you may remember him from his roles in Colombiana, Blow, and Bad Boys 2.

Nolan Funk on the other hand is not very memorable at all. He will be playing the role of annoying teenage sidekick to Riddick. He is best known for his role in Spectacular! A Nickelodeon musical tv-movie and his role as Captured X-Kid in X-Men 2.

Rumors are that the movies title will be The Chronicles of Riddick: Dead Man Stalking, but that hasn’t been made official as of yet.

That’s all for now, but keep checking back for more Riddick News!

Cormac McCarthy’s First Screenplay Gets Sold

Cormac McCarthy is a Pulitzer prize-winning author whose work has earned him a place as one of the most well-respected American writers in the world today. And while the quality of his writing has spilled over into Hollywood, where two of his novels (‘The Road’ and ‘No Country For Old Men’) have been adapted into critically acclaimed films, McCarthy himself has never tried his hand at writing a movie. Deadline reports that McCarthy’s first ever spec-script, The Counselor, is about to change that. The new screenplay is not only his first screenwriting endeavor, it’s also his first original story to go to the silver-screen. The script has been picked up by the same team of producers who backed The Road.

Deadline’s description of The Counselor:

Continue reading Cormac McCarthy’s First Screenplay Gets Sold

NFL Playoff Preview: Conference Championships

Ravens (13-4) at Patriots (14-3): 3:00 ET on CBS

The last time these two teams met in the playoffs (2009-10) the Patriots lost the game before it really even started. The Ravens came out hungry and utterly dominated the Pats in the first quarter scoring on their first play from scrimmage a 83-yard touchdown from Ray Rice. It was an absurdly lopsided game in which Joe Flacco threw only 10 passes and the Ravens rushed 42 times for 221 yards. Bill Belichick and the Patriots that remain from that season assuredly have that game burned into their memory and likely have seen all too much of that game tape in the study rooms this week. The keys to success for both teams are still very relevant from then to now.

The Ravens need to start strong and use their defense to throw Tom Brady and the Patriots off their game hopefully creating turnovers. They will also need to establish a strong running game in order to bring more balance to their pass attack. Joe Flacco has a much improved receiving core between Anquan Boldin, Lee Evans and speedster Torrey Smith. Conversely the Patriots need to control the Ravens run game, limit their turnovers and make Joe Flacco and his mustache beat them.

The Patriots are really a puzzling team. They finally got the playoff monkey off their back by dominating the Broncos for their first playoff win since losing Superbowl XLII. Let’s be honest though, the Broncos are not a good team and if you look at the Patriots schedule it’s been a long time since they played any really good teams.Since their bye week they lost to the Steelers and Giants (2 good teams) and then beat the Jets, Chiefs, Vickless Eagles, Colts, Skins, Bronocs, Dolphins and Bills. Not a lot of good competition in there.

Continue reading NFL Playoff Preview: Conference Championships

WWE Updates: Jericho, Ziggler, and Brodus Clay!

Happy New Year, from one pro wrestling fan to many others! It’s been a while since I have written a WWE article, and a lot has happened since that time, so I want to give some updates and reactions on recent events in the world of pro wrestling. From returns, resurgences, to up and coming superstars, we’ve had a lot happen over the last four months so let’s get to it!

Now, am I the only person who couldn’t care less about Chris Jericho? I care about Jericho like I care about Christian – I don’t. He has never been entertaining on a mic or in a ring, and not once in his meaningless career can I recall him being incorporated into a storyline that I thought was even remotely entertaining. So with that being said, my question is why three weeks in a row do we see this  over-rated , no talent ass clown come out to the ring, and not say a single word?

Here’s the deal, last year right around this time, every WWE fan was glued to their tv when the Undertaker made his silent return. He came to the ring, and was greeted by Triple H, and not a single word was said, just a foreshadowing stare from both men up at the Wrestle-mania 27 sign. The crazy thing about this whole scene was that it was entertaining because both men have, over the course of their careers, captured the attention of every fan. Chris Jericho has not done this, and after weeks of ridiculous promo videos for the return of a mysterious superstar, seeing Chris Jericho come out as the mystery man was, in my opinion one big fat disappointment. I just wanted to get that out of the way.

Now, let’s move onto more important topics. In less than three months Wrestlemania is going down in Miami Florida, and we will see John Cena vs. The Rock, which may possibly be the most hyped match in WWE history. I feel it necessary for a self-proclaimed pro-wrestling expert such as myself to put in my two cents on this match, so here it goes.


I like the idea, exactly ten years ago we saw another generation vs. generation match between The Rock and Hulk Hogan. This time the Rock is being looked at as the elder and John Cena representing the “new” or “current” generation. My one complaint (and I seem to be full of them so far in this article) is that I don’t think they have properly built John Cena’s character over the last year to make this match what fans want to see. Fans want a hero vs. hero match, arguably the two best superstars ever facing off at the biggest event of the year. What I expected them to do with Cena’s character over the past year is build him up as this unstoppable force who could tear through anybody anytime, kind of like they did five years ago with him. Instead they’ve almost shown him getting weaker, which leads me to my prediction for Wrestlemania.

There are two scenarios I can see happening, the first of which may be a bit redundant if you take into consideration the Rock/Hogan storyline from Wrestlemania 18. In scenario one, John Cena will lose at Wrestlemania, and after being booed heavily by the crowd (most of which too young to even remember the rock for anything more than his crappy Disney movies) Cena will turn heel. I have been annoyed for years at speculation of John Cena turning heel, but I think at this point, it may be the only logical conclusion. In scenario two, John Cena will win the match, and he and the Rock will let bygones be bygones and because the Rock approves of John Cena now, the crowd will return to the side of Cena. As I said, I hope that for the sake of redundancy, we don’t see John Cena turn heel, but I have no idea what the writers will try to do with this story line.

One wrestler I am continually impressed with is Dolph Ziggler. I have said since I began writing on this website that I really think that he has the ability to sell tickets to shows, and really be a main draw on the card. In two weeks, Dolph Ziggler is scheduled to face CM Punk at the Royal Rumble Pay-Per-View for the WWE title, and I think it’s about damn time we see him in a title match.

For too long, the WWE has been trying to push lame ass wrestlers like “the Miz” and “Alberto Del Rio,” while guys like Dolph Ziggler and Zack Ryder have sat the bench and wrestled in mid-card piss break matches. Even with Johnny Ace as the special guest referee, I don’t see Ziggler taking the title. CM Punk is drawing the viewers and at this point there is no reason to change the title to someone like Ziggler. Although I don’t see Ziggler taking the title, it wouldn’t shock me either. The WWE has got to start pushing some new headliners, and as I have harped on, I believe Ziggler has the in ring ability to be one of them. With a little bit of a character change I can see him being a wrestler that fans look forward to watching.

Up until December I was asking myself the same question that every other wrestling fan was asking themself; what can Smackdown do to make its show even more uninteresting?? However, at the TLC pay-per-view we got our answer, make Daniel Bryan the heavyweight champion! I mean the champion is supposed to be the main draw on your show, and who worse to attempt to draw viewers than somebody whose character and fan base are both completely non-existent! I really think at this point they need to completely merge the two brands and have only one champion. Have all wrestlers fighting for one championship, instead of one brand having the real title, and the other the boring one.

 One wrestler who has gotten me relatively excited over the past couple of months is Kane! With the resurgence of the “masked-monster from Hell,” Kane, the WWE has shown a shred of signs of itself from the attitude era. Even with TVPG restrictions, I have been impressed with what they have so far done with Kane’s character. My only hope is that they continue to evolve his character and push the envelope with what he does as an entertainer, and not just run the same ideas into the ground with him. I have faith that his character will provide another dimension to Raw, and another storyline that fans look forward to seeing the progression of week to week.

The last topic I want to touch on is Brodus Clay! Actually I don’t want to talk about Brodus, I don’t believe talking is necessary, just take a look at Mr. Funkasauris himself….

I want to thank the WWE writers personally for not having Brodus Clay debut as just another big wrestler who beats up other men in tights, and giving this hunk of love some character!

That is my rant, I will be back in a few months, post Wrestlemania to do more updates, and shove more of my opinions into all of your faces. Happy New Year again!

A Breakdown of SOPA and PIPA: What It Means For All Of Us…with Videos

It’s safe to assume that by now you’ve heard about SOPA, PIPA, or the Wikipedia-led internet blackout that took place today. However, it may be unclear exactly what SOPA and PIPA are designed to do, and how their passing might affect the internet community. In the interest of remedying that, we’ve pulled together some of the best, most informative explanations of what SOPA means to us.

[I want to be clear: Grizzly Bomb is an opinion-based site. While we report often on entertainment news, this is a platform for our staff to share our thoughts and reactions to the content we are passionate about. We are opposed to SOPA, and while we encourage neutral publications to remain unbiased and respect their reasons for doing so, Grizzly Bomb does not intend to imply neutrality. This is our perspective, nothing more or less.]

What is SOPA/PIPA?

From Wikipedia:

The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), also known as House Bill 3261 or H.R. 3261, is a bill that was introduced in the United States House of Representatives on October 26, 2011, by House Judiciary Committee Chair Representative Lamar S. Smith (R-TX) and a bipartisan group of 12 initial co-sponsors. The bill, if made law, would expand the ability of U.S. law enforcement and copyright holders to fight online trafficking in copyrighted intellectual property and counterfeit goods. Presented to the House Judiciary Committee, it builds on the similar PRO-IP Act of 2008 and the corresponding Senate bill, the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA).

The originally proposed bill would allow the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as copyright holders, to seek court orders against websites accused of enabling or facilitating copyright infringement. Depending on who makes the request, the court order could include barring online advertising networks and payment facilitators from doing business with the allegedly infringing website, barring search engines from linking to such sites, and requiring Internet service providers to block access to such sites. The bill would make unauthorized streaming of copyrighted content a crime, with a maximum penalty of five years in prison for ten such infringements within six months. The bill also gives immunity to Internet services that voluntarily take action against websites dedicated to infringement, while making liable for damages any copyright holder who knowingly misrepresents that a website is dedicated to infringement.

In layman’s terms, SOPA and PIPA are the latest attempt by legislators to provide the U.S. Department of Justice and copyright holders with unprecedented freedom to pursue legal action against websites illegally sharing copyrighted intellectual property. It would considerably increase the repercussions of infringing on copyright, in- or outside the United States.

Some of SOPA’s supporters include (From Wikipedia):

  • The Motion Picture Association of America
  • The Recording Industry Association of America
  • Viacom
  • Nike
  • L’Oréal
  • The Entertainment Software Association

The Effects of a passed SOPA Bill

The bill’s main goal is to take down the rampant pirating and streaming of content like films, television and music, which honestly is a totally valid demand. As convenient and enjoyable as easy, free access to your favorite content may be, it is childish and ridiculous to ignore the fact that this is the property of companies like the MPAA or the RIAA. Whether piracy is, by definition, theft or not is besides the point.

The issue of removing and penalizing sites engaged in piracy and streaming is not the one that most of us against the bill take issue with. The problem with SOPA is that the language it uses to describe protected intellectual property is so vague that it threatens to censor perfectly legal use of copyrighted material as well. On top of that, many are quick to remember that similar copyright laws are already in place, and haven’t managed to stifle infringements in the past. The fear is that SOPA may not only prosecute perfectly legal content-sharers, but end up failing at its intended goal to take down the actual offenders. Youtube user Total Halibut explains it clearly below:

About halfway into Total Halibut’s video, he delves into the more sinister ways big businesses could exploit SOPA for their own gains. On the same topic, Jeepers Media made this video that suggests an even more sickening manipulation by SOPA supporters. Try to cope with the guy’s grating voice, because it’s important to hear what he has to say:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJIuYgIvKsc

Here’s a concise summary of how PIPA could unfairly control and oppress the internet and its users, via Vimeo user Fight for the Future:

And probably the most comprehensive of them all, here’s a TED Talk from Clay Shirky:

For gamers – Any of you who follow the video game industry know that E3 is the biggest event for games. As well as serving as one of the biggest conventions out there, it features most of the industry’s biggest reveals, announcements and early demos every year. As you can imagine, for many publishers, developers, journalists and fans, E3 is the most important part of the year. However E3 is run by the ESA, which you may recognize as one of the supporters of SOPA, mentioned above. Many people from various ends of the games industry feel betrayed by their support of the bill, as indie games, journalists and others rely on a free internet in order to operate. If you have a stake in the video game industry in any way, as a consumer or otherwise, it’s important you see this video from Screw Attack:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp8S8eJkMW8

While a majority of the entertainment industry is invested in seeing SOPA pass, it’s important to know that almost every internet business on record has opposed it. These are the people who understand the internet, who actually know how it functions and rely on it operating legally in order to make a profit; not as an additional stream of revenue. These are some of the companies who vocally oppose the bills (Also from Wikipedia):

  • Google
  • Yahoo!
  • YouTube
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Mozilla Corporation
  • Reddit
  • the Wikimedia Foundation

Not to mention, the Obama administration stated its disapproval of SOPA and PIPA, asking “all sides to work together to pass sound legislation this year that provides prosecutors and rights holders new legal tools to combat online piracy originating beyond U.S. borders while staying true to the principles outlined above in this response.”

What To Do About It

Discussion of SOPA is on pause for the time being, but is slated to resume debate in February. Meanwhile, PIPA is scheduled to go to a vote on January 24th.

If you disagree with the implications of SOPA and PIPA being passed, please check out these petitions and make yourself heard:

SOPAStrike.com

FightfortheFuture.org

Change.org

https://grizzlybomb.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/billtext-protectipact.pdf