All posts by Stephen Sanchez

TV

Wolverine: The Anime – Episode 1 Review ‘Mariko’

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I know what you’re thinking: How can a Wolverine anime be any good, especially with the character now having a link to the Disney empire? But truth be told I was pretty impressed by this show’s first episode and hoped to be equally impressed the following ones. Sure they went the route of having the male lead looking very tall and willowy with almost feminine features in the face, but the amount of kick assery that Logan perpetrates in this episode and his manly voice pretty much erase any misgivings I had about his appearance.

Speed Lines? Check.

I suppose if you’re looking for short and hairy Logan then you should stop reading the review and not watch the show. The rest of you can rest assured though, he’s still a bad ass character and in one scene even beats up some stealth Ninjas whilst drinking a Canandian beer. I know that’s something my colleague Supa Scoot can appreciate.

Now, to the story. It starts off with Wolverine and Mariko Shingen on a sweet yacht being all lovey-dovey with one another in trademark anime fashion. Then, in the perfect way to ruin such a scene, a group of scuba mercenary-types with jet packs erupt from the water to open up with a hail of gunfire on the two lovebirds. Logan uses his body to shield Mariko and then sends her away as his healing factor kicks in to the max. I was a little disappointed to see that they went the movie route of Logan being able to heal himself instantly before our eyes in a matter of seconds. I think his power just works better and makes him a little less invincible when in takes him some time to heal. But for such a fast paced show I eventually accepted that it was for the best.

The next time we see Logan he is meeting with his friend Asano, who I’m to assume is some sort of lawman, whether he be SHIELD or INTERPOL. (He mentions Metro PD) I wouldn’t so much call it a meeting either as Logan rescues Asano from a group of stealth AIM soldiers. AIM of course stands for Advanced Idea Mechanics and they are curiously absent of their trademark bee keeper uniforms. Now they wear what look like fencing outfits…. anyways, moving on. This is the scene where Wolverine unleashes whilst catching his other can of beer at the end of the fight.

The story revolves around Wolverine’s gal pal Mariko having disappeared in between the opening and Asano informing Logan that he has found her being held by her crime boss father Yashida Shingen to marry another crime boss named Hideki who is the man in charge of Madripoor. Madripoor, in case you didn’t know is located near Japan and is a sovereign city-state made up by various criminal organizations. Think Tortuga from Pirates of the Carribean or something. (FYI Madripoor isn’t real) The plan is for Shingen and Hideki to join their forces with Mariko as the glue between their alliance. (yeah that sounded weird.) Logan obviously can’t pass on a chance to rescue Mariko from the marriage and at the same time help Asano and his colleagues. To avoid any confusion, this is not Yuriko the future Lady Deathstrike nor is it Yukio the female ninja. Logan and his Japanese women…

It looks like this will be an ongoing story in the series, so not every review will be such a summary but I thought it best to get everyone up to speed. The episode itself was extremely enjoyable to me. As I said I liked Logan despite his anime man look. He dispatched quite a few guys in true Wolverine fashion and they sure didn’t skimp out on the blood. The fight that Logan has at the end with a certain someone was extremely hardcore and I assure you if you’re an action fan and a Wolverine fan you won’t be disappointed.

The music including the opening title is excellent for the subject matter, it was getting me pretty pumped as Logan popped the claws and unleashed some fury. I should also point out that the show is only in Japanese with English subtitles at the moment on Animax, (G4 has supposedly broadcast an English dub, but I don’t get G4) but honestly I think that will turn out to be for the best. The voices are perfect so far and I see an English dub completely ruining it. If I hear anything even close to “You and all your base are belong to us” I will lose my shit Wolverine style. I will try it out once the show is on DVD dubbed in English but for the most part I am enjoying the Japanese version with subtitles.

I’m giving the first episode a four out of five Snikts for exceeding my expectations with the subject matter and Wolverine’s overall presentation character wise. I expected the animation to be exceptional and it truly was. Join me soon for the episode 2 review!

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Return of the Fantastic Four: Minus Johnny Storm?

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fantastic four banner

Nothing in comics stays gone for long, but it seems like the Future Foundation only got off the ground about six months ago. Because now Marvel has let us know through some more of their fabulous teasers that the Fantastic Four title will return. It makes you wonder if they would have originally have done this had DC not done the whole new number 1’s campaign. Check out the first teaser below: (thanks to IGN for the images)

So yeah, the first one was pretty generic, but I have to admit I was feeling a little nostalgic after seeing the old emblem again after so long. Most interesting about the second teaser is that the Fantastic Four is back, but with the same team members of Thing, Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Woman and Spiderman. They also have their white and black uniforms intact. Then again, in the second teaser their uniforms still have the Future Foundation insignia on them is it possible that the Fantastic Four will be made up of four new characters entirely? I doubt it but that would be interesting.

I for one am relieved that they didn’t bring Johnny Storm back yet. It would truly diminish the impact of his supposed death not that long ago, but I also wouldn’t be surprised if Marvel pulled some crap like that. But it looks like they didn’t so let’s all rejoice and wait and see what direction the reborn Fantastic Four goes.

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Out of the Schism Comes X-Men: Regenesis

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I am now on the fence about X-Men: Schism. The story is taking a terrible turn but I’m going to give it a chance and probably finish it just to see the outcome that will lead to the next X-story now titled Regenesis. Once Uncanny restarts there will be another number one title called Wolverine and the X-Men. Check out the Uncanny teaser, complete with team members only shown in silhouette for dramatic anticipation! Special thanks to IGN for the images!

Good lord where in the hell is Cyclops? If I have to see Emma Frost as the leader of a team of X-men I may have to gouge my eyes out. I’ve about had my fill of Frost, or as I like to call her, Slutty McSlutty-pants. It was cute when Grant Morrison made her a team member back in his X-men days but it’s kind of played out at this point. I was more comfortable with her as leader of the Hellions or Generation X, not a main X-men team. There were definitely rumors of Cyclops possibly being killed during Schism during the San Diego Comic Con, so could this teaser be a hint towards that? Man I hope not. I hate Cyke sometimes but don’t know how I would feel about him not leading the X-men.

Next is the Wolverine and the X-men teaser:

I gotta say I’m not a huge fan of how Wolverine looks in this teaser, but that’s how Bachalo usually draws him so I’d better get used to it if I’m going to read the title. Either way, I’m getting pretty antsy to read the third issue of Schism and see where it’s heading. Will Cyclops die? Will the Schism story get any worse? We’ll see soon enough, but that’s definitely not soon enough. In the meantime, how about everyone’s input on who’s on each team? I can definitely make out Magneto in the Uncanny teaser.

Movie News & Opinions

Resident Evil 5: ‘Retribution’ Casting Details (Updated)

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If anyone is still interested in the Resident Evil movie franchise, then you’ll already know that there will be a fifth installment that will release on September 14th of 2012. Now it is indeed confirmed that not only will Milla Jovovich rejoin the cast (of course), but also Ali Larter (via Ali Larter Daily) and Sienna Guillory will indeed reprise their roles as ‘Claire Redfield’ and ‘Jill Valentine’ once again. That should be pretty interesting based on how the last movie Afterlife ended.

*Technically, Larter is still rumored, but Guillory and Jovovich are confirmed.

 Also returning will be Jovovich’s husband and Director/Writer for Retribution, Paul W.S. Anderson. Now a lot of people think Paul W.S. Anderson is a terrible director and/or writer [Dr. Kronner – like me, I’m one of those people] and I can’t defend him by saying he’s great. But the guy definitely has a knack for making entertaining movies though. (Some might call that being mediocre) I enjoyed Death Race, Event Horizon, and the first Mortal Kombat movie when I was 11. Hell, I’ll even give him some credit for Soldier which was one of those ‘so bad it’s good’ films. Either way he can definitely keep delivering on Resident Evil movies which I honestly think have become stale by now. I couldn’t tell the difference between Afterlife and Extinction to tell you the truth and Retribution isn’t enough to get me to the theater. I’ll check it out on DVD but that’s about it.

Is there anything more awesome than a beautiful woman shooting a gun? Nope.

Also, there is no word on Wentworth Miller coming back as Chris Redfield respectively. It seems like there’s still time, but I don’t think the story will suffer much from his absence if he doesn’t return. And shut up, I know you’re laughing because I said “story” regarding a Resident Evil movie.

Picture from Pumpkinlub
SPORTS

WWE Releases: A Bunch of Losers

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I know this is going to break hearts aplenty, but the WWE has released some of your favorite wrestlers! Just kidding! But seriously they released a few wrestlers, but if you had these jokes up on your list of favorites then you have some major problems. WWE didn’t have a very good 2nd quarter so that must mean they made 20 billion instead of 30 billion. Those poor executives. So let’s get started.

Chris Masters

This guy was good for about two matches per year and then flexing his oiled up man tits repeatedly but other than that Chris Masters was under utilized like crazy. It had honestly been so long since he’d been relegated to being a member of the joke squad that I can’t remember him being a legit competitor ever. That’s a shame because the guy is clearly no slouch in the fitness area and when he did wrestle he showed a little promise. Apparently people like Daniel Bryan are just better than him… right.

David Hart Smith

I was never much impressed with David Smith. Other than him being the son of the British Bulldog he wasn’t very impressive except in the height area, but we all know that height doesn’t get you very far in the WWE unless you act like an undead guy or have hands the size of basketballs. (Big Show) I enjoyed him in Tag Team competition with Tyson Kid, but it seemed like the Raw writers didn’t want to have their reign continue very long. Either way, that picture with Pee Wee was probably his death knell, so good luck in your future endeavors Mr. Smith.

Vladamir Kozlov

Things went bad for Vlad when he started participating in Dance Offs and teaming up with Santino Morella, who is of course the biggest joke of all. Kozlov worked better as the crazy heel who wasn’t afraid of anyone and tore through the competition. I suppose a schtick like that can’t last forever though and I can’t say it’s surprising to see him slip into obscurity.

Melina

I guess it’s not a huge loss when a Diva goes, because lord knows the writers on both shows constantly let them fall by the wayside. But I guess if one had to go it might as well be Melina. Honestly I can’t say much about her. Her entrance music is atrocious, her demeanor is cheesy and her wrestling ability isn’t much to talk of. I know Kelly Kelly is just a pretty face, but that is one pretty face worth keeping around. So goodbye to Melina and her enormously fake boobs.

So that’s a wrap for the excess fat that was liposuction-ed out of the WWE for now. I know there are plenty of others that should have been canned, including scum like Daniel Bryan, Santino and the Miz. But I guess we’ll have to bear with them until the next culling of superstars.

TV

Entourage: Season 8, Episode 3 – “One Last Shot”

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The episodes keep picking up, especially in the Drama/Dice department. It’s probably best to start off with Turtle since he’s really the most useless character this season. He basically gets pushed out of the liquor business, relegated to just collecting a ton of money as a stockholder instead of doing all of the leg work with distribution. Turtle of course wants to work and ends up selling his and Vince’s stock so they can invest in opening a restaurant. And by the way Alex breaks up with Turtle. Moving on…

Hurr Durr Durr

The best part of the episode is the drama that happens with… Drama. I will take this opportunity to say that William Fichtner is one of the most underrated actors out there. He gets relatively small roles but nails them with precision everytime. His role as Phil on Entourage is no exception. After Drama and Dice try to overreach, Phil let’s Eric know that it’s not going to happen when Johnny Bananas hasn’t even premiered yet and basically says the whole thing is not happening unless the two lead voice actors fall in line. Eric and Drama go to see Dice who has fallen so far in his celebrity status that he refuses to let anyone else “f–k” him and won’t back down. In the end they move forward without Dice towards an uncertain future.

Ari is out and trying to get back into the dating game in an effort to forget about his troubles with Mrs. Ari Gold and finally makes it happen in the end. It was kind of a bummer to not see much happening with him and this is most definitely the least we’ve seen of Lloyd in a season. It seems like we’ll get a bit more as he dines with his new lady at Mrs. Ari’s new boyfriend’s restaurant.

Vince is moving forward with Johnny’s movie role, working with fellow NA member Carl Ertz, a douche you may remember the 2008 episode ‘Fantasy Island’. Everyone else disapproves of course, but Vince who is very forgiving since rehab wants to give Carl a chance. All does not go well as at the end of the episode Carl relapses and then kills himself leaving Vince and Turtle there at the scene. Next episode will show us what kind of spot this puts Vince in and I can’t wait.

I give the episode 4 out of 5 bears because it is really picking up speed now. With only five more episodes I think we’ll make it to a real proper send off for the boys!