‘Game of Thrones’ Spoiler Free Updates: I’ll Drink to That!

We are all going to have to wait until the end of March before HBO’s Game of Thrones season three make it’s way into your living room but we don’t have to wait that long to open our early GoT Christmas gifts.

First up we get a nice little interview on the Jimmy Kimmel show from everybody’s favorite stormborn, Daenerys Targaryen ie. Emilia Clarke. It wasn’t surprising to learn that Emilia is really a brunette with a British accent, but it is truly impressive that they manage to get those long platinum locks to look so natural by using a wig. Altogether the interview isn’t that compelling, but she does reveal to those who haven’t read the series that Danny gets a little bad ass in season three which is an understatement by a long shot. Think Marcellus Wallace in Pulp Fiction except times really are Medieval (sort of).

Secondly we get some more non-spoiler type news about the upcoming season from EW.com, namely that the third seasons episodes will be slightly longer, including an extra long season finale. This will make the GoT 10-episode season seem more like an 11-episode season as far as actual screen time is concerned. It also seems that the episodes will be getting a more thorough treatment if you read into another comment from the aforementioned article. The article alludes to the fact that the writers are dealing with roughly the first half of A Storm of Swords which would be a change from the first two season that pretty much ended at the same place as the books. This actually make perfect sense as there is a great cliff hanger about 2/3 of the way through Storms and for those of you who thought the end of season one was surprising… you ain’t seen nothing yet!

What I’m most excited for believe it or not, other than the actual season, is the release of the GoT “Iron Throne” beer! What makes this especially exciting is that this isn’t some money-grabbing, HBO-promoting, fan-abusing beer release (OK maybe a little) because Ommegang, as beer lovers out there know, is a legit craft brewery who make a quality product. The beer is set to be released in March, just in time to crack one open as you sit back and watch the season three opening episode, so I guess there will be some cross promoting after all.

game-of-thrones-beer

Star Trek Into Darkness: New Trailer & More Mystery Surrounding Cumberbatch

There’s been rampant speculation about Benedict Cumberbatch’s villain from Star Trek Into Darkness lately. Enough to drive a lot of people mad with the myriad theories, guesses, rudimentary evidences and inferences taken from brief shots from the teaser trailer released last week. Well it’s time to add fuel to that nerdy fire, because the first full teaser trailer for Star Trek Into Darkness has debuted, and it does more or less what the first teaser did, while playing up the villain aspect of the story more.

Is it just me, or does that first part with Captain Pike admonishing/warning Kirk come off like a bit… Superman-ly? It sounds very similar to the old Superman Returns teaser, with Jor-El narrating to Superman about who he could become and the worth he had and whatnot.

Of course they’re expressing opposite ideologies, one is a warning, and the other is an encouragement, but the intonation and cadence, along with the specific words said is similar. Moreover it seems to be really driving home the idea that Kirk has made some mistake, overlooked some detail, and it’s coming back to bite him in the ass via this new villain.

Which brings us to just who the villain is, anyway? I’ve previously speculated that I think it’s a double bluff for Gary Mitchell, and the teaser was there to make us think it’s Khan. Then again there’s been lots of what I’ll call misinformation and rumors spreading to keep us all guessing. That’s JJ Abram’s schtick really, and to be fair it works for him. A good example of this “misinformation” is the recent press blurb that identified Benedict Cumberbatch’s character as somebody named “John Harrison”. Researching that name leads yet another connection to Khan, as he was apparently a crew member who nearly suffocated when Khan took over the Enterprise in the TOS episode Space Seed. It seems to me like things are pointing more and more to it being Khan, which again lends credence to my theory about the whole thing being a big double bluff to hide Gary Mitchell. It really makes the whole thing confusing, and the reports of it being Gary Mitchell, or John Harrison, Or Khan, or some other new villain all contradict each other. The maddening thing is they could all be true in one way or another, depending on how the movie turns out. With the new timeline, all old things can be made new again, and who knows if it’s going to be a new character entirely, or perhaps some strange amalgamation character, and now Khan has Gary Mitchell-God Powers and goes by John Harrison.

Cumberbatch in Star Trek

In fact, I’m hedging my bets on that one. So far all we know for sure is that the character or Carol Marcus is in the film, who we know ends up being Kirk’s love interest, ends up having his kid, and of course, creates the Genesis Device, which was the big macguffin of which all of Star Trek 2: Wrath Of Khan was based. Aside from that though, we know Cumberbatch is a villain, and he’s pissed. Isn’t that all we need at the end of the day really?

That and an angry Khan with Gary Mitchell-God Powers. That sounds pretty awesome.

Comic Rack: DC vs. Shuster, Snyder Leaves ‘Swamp Thing’, & Marvel Outsells DC

Welcome to Comic Rack! My pick of the top five comic news stories in no particular order…

The Superman/DC/Shuster Legal Battle Continues

For those who don’t know, basically DC has said that Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel gave up their rights to reclaim their half of the rights to Superman, and the Shuster estate has fought against that argument for a long time. As far as I can understand, the Shuster estate is appealing against a recent judgement made by a federal judge, who ruled they officially gave up their rights in an agreement made in 1992. It’s a little bogged down by legalese, and the complicated nature of who deserves what rights is what makes it even harder. I think it’s mostly a case of DC as a publisher trying to split hairs over what is or isn’t owed, and while I don’t know all the details, I’m sure the Shuster estate has a valid argument. All I know is I wish this whole court thing would get settled definitively, once and for all, either way. Then we could look back and judge the facts. I’m sure somebody more knowledgable than I could make a great argument for either side, but for now it’s a little sad to see yet another legal dispute in the comics world be dragged on further than it ever should have.

comic-rack-jerry-siegel-and-joseph-shuster

Find out more here.

Image Dips Into Time Travel Again with Comeback

I’m a sucker for time travel stories. They’re practically my favorite genre of Sci-Fi stories, if it could even be called a genre. It’s a storytelling trope that’s always captivated me, and hearing about a new miniseries involving time travel certainly captured my interest. In particular this one is by Ed Brisson, who up until now has only been a letterer, but is taking a step into the fray as a writer. His book, called Comeback, is about a time traveling agency called Reconnect, that provides a very special service. For a hefty price, they’ll go back in time and save somebody you loved/cared about/whoever from dying. As with all time travel stories, the price paid for manipulating the space time continuum is more than just monetary, and can result in lots of bad things happening if things should go wrong. Of course the whole thing is very illegal, and there are certain physical repercussions for traveling in time. The book is sold out at the distribution level, so getting a copy of #1, which is currently out, may be hard for the time being, but that’s why digital comics and back issue hunting exist.

 

comic-rack-image-comics-comeback

A great interview going into more detail with writer Ed Brisson is here.

A Quick Look at BOOM’s Hellraiser: The Road Below

I’ve been a big fan of Hellraiser for a long time, pretty much ever since I saw the first one as a young lad. Since then that franchise has always held a place in my heart near and dear to me, which is why I was taken by such surprise to see that there was still a Hellraiser comic series going on today. Furthermore, that it’s multiple issues in! I guess keeping up with all the hoopla from the big two, you’ll always have certain titles fall by the wayside, even ones that are based on a franchise you’ve long loved. While I haven’t read a Hellraiser book in years, the comic itself looks pretty interesting from the preview shown. It’s not written or drawn by any big names I recognize, but it deals with Kirsty Cotton dealing with a war between evil forces, and there even seems to be some mention of a Cenobite Queen? Whaaaat? Man, if you’re a Hellraiser fan who is intrigued, (like me), this preview may sell you on picking up this book, and finding it’s older issues to catch up.

comic-rack-hellraiser-the-road-below

Find out more here.

Snyder Wrapping Up His Run On Swamp Thing with #18

If you haven’t been reading Swamp Thing, you owe it to yourself to go and pick up every issue you can find and catch up, along with Animal Man. They’re probably the two best books to come out of the New 52, and Scott Snyder has proven himself to be an incredible writer who can tell amazing stories. Swamp Thing is one of those characters who is criminally underrated, and Snyder has managed to take everything about him and do things with his character that haven’t been done since Alan Moore had his seminal run. Hearing Snyder was leaving the book was certainly saddening, but it’s going to be interesting to see his take on Superman, and for me personally, it’s a trade off I’d make every single time. While we still don’t know who is gonna fill in for Snyder and Swamp Thing artist Yanick Paquette, but whoever they are they’ve got big shoes to fill. I can’t recommend Swamp Thing enough to people, and every time people look at me like I’m crazy, but then come back next week telling me how wrong they were about it, I just tell them don’t thank me; thank Scott Snyder.

comic-rack-scott-snyder-swamp-thing

Find out more here.

DC Discusses Marvel’s Direct Market Sales

DC and Marvel. Two companies that pretty much define and are synonymous with comics for the general public, but for most comics fans they couldn’t be more different than peanut butter and toothpaste. One thing the two companies, and endless fanboys keep track of, is sales. Recently with Marvel NOW!, Marvel’s been taking the top spot, but that doesn’t mean that DC is doing too shabby either. DC is staying strong, and their books are selling pretty consistently. While it’s interesting to watch DC talk about their marketing strategies, and to formulate your own opinions about what they could be doing better, or are doing just fine, one can’t help but think if all of the competition is a good thing. It’s brought the best out of both Marvel and DC, and we’ve gotten some great books on both sides. As long as they’re both not in a creative lull, the books are selling well, and comics fans are getting great stories, it’s really a win-win for everyone. Comics are more popular now than they’ve been in a long time, and while DC is currently playing catch up over in Hollywood, I have no doubts they’ll be leading the way when it comes to the printed page.

comic-rack-marvel-vs-dc

Find out more here.

That’s all for this week’s edition! We’ll see you next time at the Comic Rack!

Warm Bodies: Trailer for Horror-Comedy Shakes Up The Zombie Genre

Scheduled for a February 2013 release is a movie called Warm Bodies, starring Nicholas Hoult and Teresa Palmer. First glance at the synopsis it seems to be little more than a zombie version of Twilight. Here is the plot overview from IMDB:

After a zombie becomes involved with the girlfriend of one of his victims, their romance sets in motion a sequence of events that might transform the entire lifeless world.

This is not the most ground breaking of plots, and the thought of yet another franchise like Twilight was not something I would be looking forward to at all.

Then the trailers came online and I had to reassess my view.

The film looks fantastic. There is an element of the zombie movie Wasting Away in here. In that movie the zombies could talk to themselves and be understood by other zombies, but humans just heard them as zombies. Here there seems to be some interaction between zombies just bouncing about the place which should be fun. There is also an element of Zombieland in there too, with the inner monologue of the zombie adding a new and exciting element. It seems quite funny with some nice comedic scenes (the zombie doing his monologue then getting lost while doing it springs to mind). I really like the fact that even the zombies have something they are scared of, these uber zombies who will eat anything.

All this adds up to quite a quirky looking film, which hopefully will add some new blood into the zombie genre instead of the standard brain eating creatures. If that does not sell you on the movie, then this should make you take note, you have Rob Corddry (Hot Tub Time Machine) as a zombie and John Malkovich (Red) as a zombie hunter! What a winning combination.

Warm Bodies zombie

Weekly New Release Report – 12/18/12

We got a bit of a big week this week because Christmas is coming up in just one week and we have tons of releases to cover. We get our Tuesday releases, then our Wednesday movie releases, then on Friday, ANOTHER set of new releases to hit up with some MORE movies! I’m honestly this excited because this is also the week I chose to go Christmas shopping because I like to procrastinate. The fact that there are a lot of good deals out there and a lot of the good DVDs are coming out means I’ll be out there in force. Plus, once I get sick of hanging out with giant groups of people, I can just go relax in the movie theater and catch a new release. With that, let’s go have a gander to see what’s coming out and get everyone prepared.

http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?rt=tf_cw&ServiceVersion=20070822&MarketPlace=US&ID=V20070822%2FUS%2Fgrizbomb-20%2F8010%2Ffbaf91b1-bc81-42e3-9c16-61559c7a5f5b&Operation=GetDisplayTemplate

Amazon.com WidgetsDVD/Blu-Ray Movies:

anna kendrick new releaseFirst let’s go over the major releases for Tuesday, December 18th. We have Pitch Perfect, which has garnered lots of positive reviews and admittedly I’m curious about. It helps that I’m in love with Anna Kendrick.

There is also the reboot of the Total Recall, which I reviewed as not bad, which carries an alternate ending and director’s cut as well. I’ll assume the director’s cut has more f-bombs and more three-boobed people because that’s what these “cuts” usually mean. We also get Clint Eastwood’s Trouble With the Curve to see how long he can scowl at Justin Timberlake and Amy Adams.

As for the major releases coming out on Friday December 21st, let’s not forget Resident Evil: Retribution. There’s also the Joseph Gordon-Levitt flick Premium Rush. As for television, the previous seasons of Californication and Shameless are out so everyone can catch up before the new seasons start up next month.

Pitch Perfect

Total Recall (2012)

Trouble With the Curve

Resident Evil: Retribution

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days

Premium Rush

Killer Joe

Shameless: The Complete Second Season

Californication: The Fifth Season

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles / Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze / Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Turtles in Time (Triple Feature) [Blu-ray]

Out in Theaters:

On Wednesday December 19th, we get The Guilt Trip with Seth Rogen and Barbra Streisand. I don’t think it’ll do too well but I like the writer (Dan Fogelman, Crazy, Stupid, Love and Tangled) and it gave me an idea for a review that will hopefully be up by the end of the week. We also get the re-release of Monsters Inc. in 3D for the kiddies. Finding Nemo didn’t do well for the re-release, but we’ll see with the holiday season coming up and kids getting out of school how it goes. Also in New York and Los Angeles, we get the first screenings of Zero Dark Thirty for those lucky enough to check it out.

As for the movies coming out Friday December 21st, Tom Cruise’s Jack Reacher movie comes out. A lot of people have been complaining about how he doesn’t look the part of a 6’5” enforcer but we shall see. We also get This is 40, the new Judd Apatow release, going wide that day as well. Also for those that have seen Cirque Du Soleil, you get a 3D movie experience on-screen with Cirque Du Soleil: Worlds Away arriving in theaters for your consumption. Also of note, if you’re lucky to be in the LA or NY market, you get The Impossible with Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor, which is something of a must see on my list.

With that, everyone have a Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday shopping from us here at the New Release Report. Good luck in those lines or if you’re lazy like me, there’s still time to ship stuff from Amazon. That’s why the links are above to help you out without having to leave your chair and face the weird people out in the malls.

Pinterest: Last Minute Gift Ideas for the Geek in your Life

Well the last night of Hanukkah has passed us by and Christmas is coming up shortly, so if you haven’t bought your friends and family gifts yet, then join the club! We here at Grizzly Bomb recognize that there are those who wait until the last possible minute to buy gifts so we’ve compiled another list of gift ideas, ones that you might be able to throw together from things already in your house. Good luck!

Continue reading Pinterest: Last Minute Gift Ideas for the Geek in your Life