A lot of actors and actresses get pigeon-holed into certain roles after a while, and after the Twilight movies Ashley Greene is pretty much known as ‘the girl from Twilight’. Whether that’s fair or not, considering it was a popular franchise that has grossed hundreds of millions of dollars with each movie, it tends to overshadow her other roles in The Apparition or even a stint on ABC’s ill-fated Pan Am. With her newest role, she seems to want to shake that and prove she can pull off the villain. First evidence? Try Random‘s first promotional picture below, provided from Entertainment Weekly:
This isn’t the Ashley Greene America knows, that’s for sure. In Random, she plays Violet, who is the leader of a group of outcasts that terrorize a college student that is alone on campus during Thanksgiving break. The movie also stars Lucas Till, most recently Havok from X-Men: First Class and Haley Bennett of The Hole and The Haunting of Molly Hartley. Not much is known other than what we have from EW, but Greene made it known that she wanted to inhabit this role, even to the point of pulling a Rooney Mara a la The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and wanting to get the piercings for real. That didn’t happen, but she still managed to research her new role intensely to make sure she brings the right character alive to the screen. She’s definitely got the creepy, emo, goth vibe down so she’s looking on her way when this horror thriller movie comes out later this year.
Naturally, in case you forgot, she does not look like this normally. She did a Sobe ad a few years ago. In body paint. You’re welcome.
With the PlayStation 4 and Xbox 720 almost certainly hitting stores by 2014 and a whopping seven years since the beginning of this console generation, you’d expect Microsoft and Sony to be limping toward the finish line, cranking out shovelware to pad time until their flashier, youthful replacements can take their place. However, 2013 is looking like a banner year for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 consoles, despite the fact that if they were people, the 360 and PS3 would be playing bridge at the community center and forgetting the names of their grandchildren. Against all odds, developers are squeezing amazing potential out of these old machines, doing things we didn’t think were possible with current technology. We’ve only hit mid-February and already been treated this year with games like DmC: Devil May Cry, Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch and Dead Space 3, but there is a lot more in store for 2013. We at Grizzly Bomb can’t believe the wealth of upcoming games that are rounding out this almost decade-long run, so here is our list of our most anticipated games for 2013.
Bioshock is often brought up in cases supporting the argument that video games are art. Irrational Games struck gold when they created Rapture, a sorrowful undersea dystopia which succumbed to the hubris of modern science. But the game reached beyond the scope of the world it inhabited, turning gaming conventions on their head to make a pointed commentary on the role of the player in a video game. How much control do you really have in a game, and how easily do you do what you’re told? Nothing had ever challenged us in such a way on this large a scale before. It opened the door for future titles to take their subject matter more seriously and ask even more questions about why we play games. Bioshock Infinite is Irrational Games’s spiritual successor to the first game, replacing the ocean floor with open skies.
As former Pinkerton agent Booker DeWitt, the player is tasked with rescuing a girl named Elizabeth, who has been held captive in Columbia for twelve years. The floating city features its own unique set of aesthetics and steampunk mechanisms, but it is certainly loosely tied to the world of Rapture. The combat seems to be made up of the same general format; vigors replace tonics and a giant eagle-like creature replaces the Big Daddies, but at the end of the day you still have a gun in the right hand and a magic power in the left. Not that that’s a bad thing – if Infinite can capture half the rich atmosphere and frantic gameplay of the previous games it will be leagues ahead of many shooters. Yet the focal point for me rests on the AI partner Elizabeth, who seems more interesting than the NPC companions we’ve come across before. Irrational is quick to mention that she is far from the silent, robotic and frankly useless tagalongs seen in previous games, and everything we’ve seen in demos supports that. Bioshock Infinite just may be the start of smarter, more capable and satisfying AI.
I remember watching an interview with Deadpool: The Game lead designer Terry Spier in October of 2012 and thinking they just might have the savvy to pull this off. He was quoted as saying it will have “Everything you could want in a Deadpool game.” Considering he’s one of the most intriguing comic book anti-heroes, there is a lot to be said about that statement.
Deadpool: The Game will be a 3rd-person action brawler to include the use of Deadpool’s extensive arsenal. It will be a unique adventure not tied to any previous story line, but rather will be mission based. Spier truly believes they have nailed his personality. That being said, the game should fully deliver the fourth-wall breaking Merc with a mouth that we all love.
Could anyone else go for a chimichanga?
Release date: Unspecified
The Last of Us
Daniel Woizinski
Uncharted is one of the most lauded and beloved series of the past decade, but even before that Naughty Dog was making waves with games like Crash Bandicoot and Jak and Daxter. While the majority of successful games have gone the open-world route and allowed the player to enjoy a build-your-own-adventure playstyle, the studio has been fine-tuning the linear single-player campaign to near perfection. The Last of Us looks to be taking that even further with another third-person action game a la Uncharted, only this time there’s a dedicated focus on emotion, character and story. Joel and Ellie are two survivors trying to find the coast in a wasteland of roving bandits and infected horrors. The violence is brutal, the landscape overgrown, the characters desperate. This is Cormac McCarthy’s The Road with a controller.
I haven’t felt the kind of excitement I have for The Last of Usin an extremely long time. The Uncharted series, particularly Drake’s Deception, achieved an almost effortless sense of character and atmosphere. Its cinematic moments are some of the most breathtaking scenes I’ve come across in all the games I’ve played. All of this is despite the fact that, at its core, the story is fairly hollow and the gameplay is far from special. From everything I’ve seen, The Last of Us looks like it will boast all the same qualities that made Nathan Drake one the most iconic characters in video games, and ground it all on something thrilling, emotional and satisfying.
What you’re reading is a bunch of games that bring excitement and/or nostalgia to the staffers here at Grizzly Bomb. Video games have come a long way in terms of storytelling and the immersion the gamer has into the new world. Grand Theft Auto III led the way into the non-linear world where you can do as you please and interact with the objects in your environment to aid in whatever you chose to do in the world of Liberty City. Ubisoft, the people behind the Assassin’s Creed series, have helped usher in a revolution in gaming in terms of the control and open world environments. It looks like they are about to up the stakes and expectations in the video game world one more time with Watch Dogs.
I remember watching the 2012 E3 trailer for this game and being blown away. Then I watched the gameplay demo, that I have embedded below, and it completely blows my mind. The idea of ‘Big Brother’ has been along for awhile but never been totally explored in the video game world. At least not in a world where you can play ‘Big Brother’. In this game, as you navigate a beautiful rendering of Chicago, you control all the electronic devices in your area and in the demo, you can hack or control the electronic airwaves. So walking by someone, you can see what their income is, whether they’ve been charged in a crime, or even see if they carry a disease unknown to the public around them. It’s a scary proposition that someone could view this information off of your ‘digital shadow’. Basically, the world is run by a supercomputer that processes all the information in order to safe guard against any attacks and keep things regulated in the world. However, if someone were to gain control of that access, imagine what they could do with that information. I honestly cannot do the game justice explaining it in two paragraphs. Just watch the gameplay trailer below and be amazed. You can thank me later.
Release Date: Unspecified
Grand Theft Auto V
Daniel Woizinski
Rockstar Games is a studio with an almost immaculate track record of late. They’ve had major success with their smaller titles (size is relative here) like Max Payne and L.A. Noire but they are revered and highly esteemed for their work on their flagship series, Grand Theft Auto. GTA V is taking fans back to Los Santos for the first time since San Andreas, and much like they had done with Liberty City in GTA IV, the tri-city area has been redesigned from the ground up. We don’t know all that much about the game’s story but we can expect more of the violence, gunfire and criminal activity that has made the series a favorite target for the mainstream media.
There aren’t many companies I trust as implicitly to deliver a satisfying experience as Rockstar Games. They just make good content. It’s easy in the years between titles to forget that there is more to the Grand Theft Auto series than indulgent sex and violence. The truth is, the sandbox of GTA is great for so much more than that. Racing, hunting hidden items, finding secrets…hell, even walking down the street in Rockstar’s cities is always full of surprising, entertaining moments. It’s also worth mentioning that Grand Theft Auto is one of the best satires of American culture out there today. But what makes me most excited for GTA V is the fact that this will be the first game in the series to come out since Red Dead Redemption, a game that introduced plenty of new innovations to the 3rd person sandbox, and quickly became one of my favorite games. If they implement any of the same ideas into the new Grand Theft Auto, it should be a fantastic next chapter in the series.
Last week marked the return of AMC’s The Walking Dead from their mid-season hiatus. It focused mainly on Rick’s return to the prison and him losing his shit. Well, that continued this week with Rick is still long gone mentally and seeing hallucinations of his dead wife. When we start, Rick goes out beyond the gate of the prison to stand with Lori. His mental break has been rather public and here, again, he makes no attempt to hide it…
The governor wants Andrea to take over Woodbury. Now, I would love nothing more than to see a good old-fashioned Andrea fight between her and the Gov. She never used to even trust the people in her own group! All of a sudden she is this trusting, obedient lady. I am not yet over that. The Governor then goes to Milton and tells him to keep tabs on Andrea. How that works, I’m not sure. I could snap Milton in half. And his poker face is laughable. My hope is that Andrea is going to come to her senses when she realizes that her friends are in trouble. OR better yet, when she realizes Michonne is with her friends, alive, and they are all in trouble.
MEANWHILE. BACK AT THE PRISON: Michonne actually has something to add about Glenn’s plan. Oh yes… he has a plan. He wants to go to Woodbury with Michonne and make a stand for the group’s sake. As I mentioned in last week’s review, Glenn should take over the group. Oh wait! That is currently happening! The group needs to find out how the walkers are getting into the tombs, and Maggie is lying in bed. She is unwilling to speak to Glenn… not exactly sure why. I guess she is upset that Glenn is upset about what happened to her, but I have no idea why that is pissing her off. The man with the awesome mustache, Axel, is pretty keen on Carol. I wonder if Daryl will come back all jealous! “That’s my mousey, scrawny she-man!”
The good man in Daryl goes to help a few stranded folks, of course against Merle’s wishes. Daryl crushing the walker’s head by shutting the trunk on it… just the most atrocious thing I have ever seen. Outstandingly grotesque.
Daryl turns his weapon on Merle, who was trying to take from the mother and baby they just saved. I mean… that man is putrid. Daryl and Merle get into a spat, which actually leads to a bit of back story between the two. Daryl says to Merle “You lost your hand ‘cause you’re a simple-minded piece of shit.” It then comes to light that the brothers Dixon were abused as children by their father, Merle left, leaving Daryl to continued abuse, which resulted in scars all over his back. So when Daryl had to walk away and was saying that Merle was the one leaving him… again… Merle seemingly realized who he needed to be, which is a good brother to the only family he has left.
While Glenn is gone looking for the breach, Rick claims to Hershel that he’s got “stuff” outside the prison gates, and that he needs to stay there. He explains to Hershel that he saw Lori and she was on the phone earlier, along with Shane, and the rest of the group that had been killed. He explains that there must be a reason and although it does not make sense now, it will in time so he refuses to come back inside the prison.
During a tender moment between Carol and Axel, a bullet rips through Axel’s head and so begins the Governor’s attack on the prison.
The Governor’s crew smashes an armored truck full of walkers through the gates and onto the prison grounds and released its contents. While Glenn extracts Hershel, we get to see not only Michonne swinging her Katana, but Daryl and Merle’s arrival just in time to save Rick as well. This all out assault resulted in only one death from our prison group – Axel, who then acted as a human shield to keep Carol alive during the firefight. The Governor also suffered only one casualty when Maggie picked off the sniper who somehow got into the guard tower.
This episode was much better than last week’s, in my opinion. I love the development of characters that have been around since the beginning, like how we are just finding out about Merle and Daryl’s past. The action in this episode was a big part of what was missing from last week. There was the scene between the Dixon brothers resulting in Daryl turning a weapon on his brother. It was very exciting! And then, of course, the end of the episode, when the whole group had to grab a gun and try to stay alive. Honestly, when Daryl showed up just as Rick was about to become zombie chow, my heart skipped a beat! And then, Michonne’s beautiful Katana work made me cheer out loud. This was a great episode. I was still slightly annoyed with the Woodbury situation, making Milton look important and Andrea unlikable, but I have a feeling that will change.
Overall, I would give this episode a 4/5. This may be generous because the last episode disappointed me so much, but I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
After the “let’s just get through this” host that was Justin Bieber, I was really looking forward to this week’s SNL with Christoph Waltz. There’s just something about real actors coming to do the show that makes it worth sitting through the teen idols. Waltz did not disappoint, at all.
Credit to: bloggymoynihan
The cold open was quite strong. I thought they were going to stick with a political open but I was pleasantly surprised when instead the show opened with Jason Sudeikis and Cecily Strong as cruise directors for the ill-fated Carnival Triumph. Unlike last episode’s Super Bowl cold open, the cruise directors were well paced, the rest of the cruise staff was quick and funny, and the jokes were good; sad that this is out of the norm, but it was and it was good. However Ms. Strong, as a daughter of the great city of Mobile, Alabama, it is pronounced “mo-beal” not “mo-bile”. Come on, we are always a little sensitive this time of year, given how no one ever remembers that we were the ones that brought Mardi Gras to America but to not even know how to pronounce our fair city’s name? Well that’s just rude.
As for the monologue, that made me nervous. Here was a great cold open only to have a visibly nervous Christoph Waltz come out and sing. How many musical monologues does that bring us up to for the season? Way too many. I feared that his nervousness would make the rest of the show laborious but thankfully, it was short-lived. Actually you could tell Waltz was battling nerves in many of the sketches but he did a great job despite it.
Credit to: waltzs
“What Have You Become” has the distinction of probably being my new favorite game show sketch. I would hope that it’d become a recurring sketch but it would be difficult to have the same payoff as the question being turned on the host so I’ll just have to re-watch this one numerous times. Christoph Waltz talking about his overbearing mother making him go to “game show school” was obviously the highlight but almost as good was Aidy Bryant having the chance to say anything about herself and choosing mediocre knitting. Well, mediocre knitting and her bitch of a daughter.
In the first of two pre-recorded bits, Waltz played the retired Pope Benedict. I’m not a retiring pontiff but I was seconds away from setting up a meeting with my local “Papal Securities” office. Something about Jason Sudeikis in a pair of glasses makes me want fork over money.
While I enjoyed seeing Nasim Pedrard getting her own character, Tippy just didn’t do it for me. I respect that it’s difficult to get out of the shadow of a personality such as Kristin Wiig but it’s probably not wise to try to use a character that she would certainly excel at, as a vehicle. That being said, perhaps if it’s a recurring character Nasim can make it her own and work her way out of that shadow. Best of luck. http://www.nbc.com/assets/video/xnxx-92/widget/widget.html?vid=n32896
The best part of the night was the second pre-recorded sketch, this time a movie trailer for the newest Quentin Tarantino film, Djesus Uncrossed. I am a huge SNL fan and usually laugh pretty heartily at various sketches, but I have not laughed as hard at something in quite some time that I did to this trailer. It was perfect. Anyone who has seen even half a Tarantino film recognized his style immediately, that style being very bloody, and often involving swords. Christoph Waltz was perfect as the freshly resurrected Djesus who sets out to take his revenge on the Romans. If there were any doubts about Taran Killam’s ability to impersonate Brad Pitt, they were put to rest as he did a great job and now I can’t even see the word “Roman” without pronouncing it as “R0-Mans”.
Credit to: wilderthanbilly
If the sketch itself wasn’t entertaining, the backlash certainly has been. Long story short, people are losing their shit. It has certainly kept my attention this morning and has been quite educational. Apparently if you thought the bit was funny you are either a god-less heathen, atheist, or a “libretard”. Oh and you are most certainly going to hell. I imagine the FCC is fielding their fair share of complaints this morning, and if this compilation of SNL complaints through the years is any indication, they probably make for fun reading. Good times.
By the time the CD commercial came up for the JaMarcus Brothers, the show was on a roll unlike one I’ve seen all year. You could tell that everyone in the cast knew it as well. JaMarcus Brothers was probably one of the funniest “Time Life Music” bits they’ve had in a while, thanks to Waltz as the adopted white virgin. Hysterical.
I’m a huge fan of Alabama Shakes so no surprise that I really enjoyed their two pieces of the night. Brittany Howard is amazing, and I’ve decided that I would like her to follow me around and sing-narrate my life.
Much in line with the rest of the night, Weekend Update was fantastic. No surprise to anyone, Marco Rubio (Taran Killam) made an appearance with his infamous thirst and dedication to maintaining eye contact with the camera. I wouldn’t have pictured Rubio as one to take on a YouTube meme such as the “cinnamon challenge” so you learn something new everyday. I’m waiting for his “Harlem Shake” video to hit the internet.
Credit to: stupidf***questions
Kate McKinnon continues her campaign for full cast member status and this week, it came behind the Weekend Update desk. I don’t know if she’s writing these characters herself, or someone is writing for her, but whoever it is, they are hitting it out of the park. Ann Romney and Cecilia Gimenez were both great but they pale in comparison to the Russian woman hoping the meteor was there to turn her into dust so she could be eaten by a goat and finally warm. So good.
Credit to: 3swallows
If I had to choose to low point of the night? For me it’d be the return of Regine. The only plus to Fred Armisen’s crotch flashing drag sketch is watching the other cast members trying to keep it together. Of course when Bill Hader is involved, there’s not much chance of him keeping a straight face, and this week was no different.
Fox and Friends may seem tired, but it still makes me laugh, no doubt thanks to Bobby Moynihan and his absolutely ridiculous character. He certainly has a talent when it comes to making the dim bulb, Brian Kilmeade, very entertaining to watch. I think we can all agree that it’s about time they start crediting the fourth host of the Fox morning show, Vanessa Bayer’s rack. Woowee she had the girls out for a walk this week!
I probably shouldn’t have enjoyed the “Secret Valentine Admirer” sketch as much as I did. Awkward Christoph Waltz certainly is adorable and the payoff with Keenan Thompson’s reaction to a second “valentine” was great.
Overall? Easily the best episode of the season, if not the best of recent seasons. Even though there are plenty of people pissing and moaning that they are no longer watching the show due to the whole Djesus thing, there were enough of us who loved it that hopefully NBC won’t see any substantial blow-back. It was nice to see the writers taking a step back onto the unsafe and daring ledge, a refreshing change of pace from the somewhat predictable and pedantic.
Next week is a rerun, likely due to the Oscars on Sunday night, but they return on March 2nd with what looks to be a promising episode with host Kevin Hart and musical guest Macklemore and Ryan Lewis.
If you are a Diggle, Felicity, and island fan than The Odyssey was for you! I am that person and I was in heaven.
This week picked right where we left off last week, with Arrow telling Moira about how she had failed Starling City. If that wasn’t shocking enough, Moira, after pleading in the name of Oliver and Thea, goes off and shoots Oliver! Granted she didn’t know it was Oliver but still, she shot her own kid. Of course Ollie gets out of there and the camera pans to the pool of blood he left. I’ve watched enough crime shows to know this was a problem.
Credit to: itseverdeen
In a very heads up play, Oliver finds his way into Felicity’s car, instructing her to the Arrowcave instead of the hospital. Finally! It’s about time that Felicity is told the truth, although I will miss the incredibly stupid cover stories Oliver came up with. The rest of the episode was basically Diggle and Felicity trying to keep Oliver alive. Another reason to keep Diggle around? Apparently he can dig (hehe) bullets out of bodies. He may not be so great with fritzy defibrillators, but that’s why Felicity “I’ve been fixing computers since I was 7” Smoak is there. They made a pretty good team and Oliver lives to see another day. However, I do have to call bullshit on Diggle’s proclamation that Oliver’s injury was a “Zone II wound” as a simple Google search classifies Zone II as part of the neck and that was clearly a shoulder shot. Come on Diggle, get it right man.
The majority of the episode was flashbacks to the island. Last week we met Slade Wilson and learned that the guy in the mask back at Fyers’ camp was obviously not Deathstroke, because Slade Wilson is Deathstroke and there he is helping Oliver escape. Come to find out this week that not only is the masked man not Deathstroke, but rather that’s Billy (William) Wintergreen. I don’t know why I didn’t even think of him last week, but I didn’t so I was surprised when Slade said his name.
Now I know that Arrow hasn’t really been all that concerned with canon, but this whole thing with Deathstroke is really convoluted. Wilson and Wintergreen were friends. At times they took on a mentor/student role. Wintergreen was Wilson’s best man when he got married. In the end Deathstroke/Wilson does end up killing Wintergreen, but that’s only because his son, well the spirit of his son, has taken over his body. It wasn’t actually Deathstroke himself, rather his son, Jericho. Wilson even mentioned his son to Oliver when he said that Wintergreen was his son’s godfather. So the idea that Wilson killed Wintergreen himself is a little bit of an annoyance, but then again the show is set in Starling City and Oliver Queen’s mother is a major character so really this is just another in a long list of taken liberties.
Obviously the focus of the island was the attempted escape by Wilson and Oliver. Before they could do that though, Oliver needed to become a somewhat trained soldier-like individual. Hence the training montage with him and Wilson. Of course Oliver, being from a very privileged and not very hands-on background, doesn’t do so hot with that. The best part of the episode came when after watching Oliver struggle to start a fire for hours, Wilson pulls out a lighter. Of course this is a family show so Oliver didn’t take all that newly learned hand to hand combat skills and beat the crap out of Wilson, instead he just laughed it off. It’s official, Oliver is a better person than I.
Credit to: waspftw
So far on the island we’ve seen Oliver grow a little from the elitist douchebag to a somewhat more humble man, but this episode really brought his selfishness to the spotlight. He’s made it no secret that up until now he’s thought pretty much only of Oliver, so you’d think that when Wilson is telling him that you have to live for yourself, he’d be on board. However, instead of ditching Yao Fei to grab his assured seat on the plane out, Oliver heads out to try to get Fei to go with them. One has to wonder why instead of running through the jungle he didn’t just take one of the dozen Jeeps sitting there, but hey he went back and that’s all that matters. Of course Fyers was waiting for him and had Wintergreen attempt to execute him which ends up with Wintergreen’s death but the real revelation in all this is…
SHADO!!!!!
I fear we’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg when it comes to poetic license on storylines, because I have a feeling there is no way we are going to see the comic’s version of Shado and Oliver’s relationship, but still it should be fun to see what happens. I can not tell you how happy I am that they had her as part of the island because as I said here, I was really quite concerned that she was just going to be some throwaway paralegal or something. I’ll admit that I have zero idea as to how they are going to continue the island story, but at least we don’t have to wonder (for now) how it is that Slade Wilson and Oliver Queen ended up on a plane together with there being no mention of Wilson being rescued.
After all the island excitement, we returned to the Arrowcave and what the what?!?! Oliver has the same tattoo as Shado! The intrigue, it is strong.
Of course we couldn’t go an entire episode without Thea so she made an appearance, thankfully it was short. Annoying, but short. Oliver declares his mother off-limits to the Arrowcrew, and we finish up another visit to Starling City.
This was a great episode. Probably my favorite so far of the season as I love the island. It’s not that I don’t enjoy modern-day Starling City but I’ve really liked how they have told the island story so far and this episode was no different. Had there not been the wide injustices done to the Wintergreen/Wilson story, it might have been a 4.5 but going to have to stick with four out of five.
Not only was it a great episode this week, but there was good news as well. Arrow has been renewed for a second season! It comes as a surprise to no one, given how strong the ratings have been, but it’s always nice to have that renewal become official. Not only that, but apparently the powers that be have seen the fan’s reactions to our favorite IT girl because it was announced that Felicity Smoak will be bumped up to a main character next season. No doubt there are ‘Felicity and Oliver’ shippers who are just beside themselves with this news.
On July 15, 1988, 20th Century Fox released the newest movie from Predator director John McTiernan. It was the story of a Christmas party gone wrong, and featured a script that had already been turned down by nearly every A-list action star in Hollywood. So the studio settled for TV actor and co-star of the ABC show Moonlighting, Bruce Willis. The movie was titled Die Hard and it went on to become one of the highest-grossing films of the year, catapulting Willis into stardom and becoming the greatest action movie ever made.
On February 13, 2013, 20th Century Fox released the newest movie from Max Payne director John Moore. It was the story of a father-son relationship gone awry and featured a script that had been shown to only one A-list action star in Hollywood: Bruce Willis. The movie was titled A Good Day to Die Hard and it has now tarnished the franchise spawned from the greatest action movie ever made.
Deathstroke/Wilson does end up killing Wintergreen, but that’s only because his son, well the spirit of his son, has taken over his body. It wasn’t actually Deathstroke himself, rather his son, 
Grizzly Bomb 