Weekend Wrap-Up…March 2, 2014

Here comes some news in a half-shell! The new TMNT movie trailer will debut in the previews for Captain America: Winter Soldier – one more reason to get geeked for Cap. The TMNT movie has been under a lot of scrutiny (the whole Michael Bay alien thing), so this will be it’s time to shine.

Cowabunga! Co-creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird are reuniting for a 30th anniversary issue of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. This doesn’t seem to be a one-time thing, as they and the voice actors from the original TMNT cartoon will be making appearances on the Nickelodeon series.

Sarah Michelle Gellar was the top hit on Yahoo! this morning, and for good reason. After years of fan debate, Buffy herself has finally answered the age-old question: Angel or Spike?

Better Call Jesse Pinkman? Not quite, but Breaking Bad‘s Aaron Paul has been rumored to be making appearances on the straight-to-Netflix series, Better Call Saul, released this November.

The Pokémon series that raised a generation in the 90s is now streaming via Netflix. Now you can Catch Em All at your own pace!

Barry Allen’s Flash costume has been revealed – at least the mask has, anyway. CW has done such an extraordinary job with Arrow that a Flash series has got to be worth watching.

In preparation of the film, a mobile game based off the X-Men: Days of Future Past will be released in May. They’re really milking this story-line, but it looks to be a fun play-through.

The DC MMORPG Infinite Crisis will be getting comic book and collectible tie-ins. We’re particular fans of Pajama Party Harley – sounds festive!

Telltale’s story-driven The Walking Dead  game releases its next installment (Season Two: Episode Two) on Tuesday, March 4th. Clementine isn’t the same innocent girl she was in the First Season and we’re excited for more gory glory.

DC is prepping it’s next full-scale event – oh God, here we go again – and it’s called Futures End. Equipped with 3D holographic covers and the whole shebang, I’m skeptical of any of the “events” DC and Marvel push, but the concept of all our heroes in the futures is enticing enough to give a few of them a look.

With the release of the various X-Files Conspiracy books (Ghostbusters, Transformers, TMNT), IDW Comics is looking for collaborating on a grand scale. The Super Secret Crisis War (a bastardization of DC and Marvel events) will include a slew of Cartoon Network characters (Powerpuff Girls, Samurai Jack, Dexter, Ben 10 and Ed, Edd & Eddy) taking on all the villains from their respective series. We’re sold, but… where is Johnny Bravo?

The 86th Academy Awards have begun. We’ll be checking up on it in between commercials of The Walking Dead. Check out our past TWD reviews here, and see how we weighed in with our Oscar picks tomorrow.

Written by Sherif Elkhatib

Weekend Wrap-up… January 19, 2014

With the expansion of Hush Comics, we have decided to give bi-weekly news updates.  Anything we find news-worthy will be posted here every Wednesday and Sunday.  Have anything to add?  Post it in the comments!

So far this week…

Let’s go ahead and start with some pretty awesome local news; Peyton Manning has led the Denver Broncos to Super Bowl XLVIII, where they will face off with the Seattle Seahawks. Catch a recap of the game here.

The Oscar nominations for 2014 are out. Some of our movies got screwed, others got praised. Check the list out here and tell us how pissed about them you are. Note: Tom Hanks, Monsters University and Fruitvale Station all deserved some love.

DC’s Batman Eternal, a weekly release in honor of Batman’s 75th Anniversary, will see the return of a sorely missed Stephanie Brown (beloved, blonde, Batgirl), who is yet to make a New 52 debut. Get an exclusive preview of the first four issues here.

Don’t Look Back! The mid-season premiere for Season 4 of The Walking Dead is out. We have tons of predictions where our wayward travels will go after the fallout of the mid-season finale. Check it out here.

The sequel to Man of Steel, tentatively named Batman vs. Superman, has been delayed until May 6, 2016, where it will go against an “untitled Marvel movie” in the box office. Power play or tactical retreat? Check out the details here.

If you’re not excited for The Amazing Spider-Man 2, you might have to check your nerd pulse. Here’s a couple posters to ogle at while you wait for the May 2nd release date, courtesy of Sony Pictures.

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As Forever Evil wraps up in the DC Comics world, we see the induction of Lex Luthor into the Justice League, coining the term Injustice League, a callback to the late 1980’s team. Along those lines, the original Blue Beetle, Ted Kord, makes his New 52 debut. Check out a very vague preview here.

Don’t everybody jump at once, but the main role in a 1984-inspired movie called Equals has been awarded to Kristen Stewart after Jennifer Lawrence passed on it. If you’re as skeptical as we are, maybe this article can persuade you to think that it will be okay… just like everybody else.

Apparently Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill are best buds now, because they are now in talks, with rapper Q-Tip, to produce a television drama based on the 90’s Native Tongues movement. Native Tongues is a collection of progressive Hip-Hop artists. There’s not a lot of information on it, but here is a link with a bit more detail. I personally can’t wait for more news on this, so we will keep you in the loop as things progress.

Don’t think SHOWTIME ruined Dexter quite enough? Well there’s rumor of a possible “spin-off,” but only if it stars Michael C. Hall, Dexter himself. You never know; it couldn’t possibly be worse than the finale. Find out more here.

HALO nerds can finally escape Siri and her limited functionality for Cortana, the sexy blue-skinned AI from the games. Beginning in April, all new Microsoft Lumia phones will comes equipped with this new voice assistant. Read this article and you’ll be well on your way to becoming the next Jaoquin Phoenix (from Her).

I’m starting to get the vibe that Scott Synder is just a creepy dude – and that’s okay. The writer of Batman, The Wake and American Vampire is penning a new horror series titled Wytches. Find out more about this series, debuting later this year with image Comics. If you’re interested, peep this exclusive interview Synder had with Hero Complex.

Bad-ass women will have something to cheer for, as Peggy Carter from Captain America: The First Avenger is getting her own television series. Talks have progressed, and writers have already been brought on (bonus points for hiring Whedon-verse writers!). The series will follow Carter as she rises through the ranks after the events of First Avenger. Here are some more details.

The creative team behind Batman, Incorporated, Chris Burnham (artist) and Grant Morrison (writer), are back in an image Comics horror book titled Nameless. Not a whole lot of detail has been released, but both Burnham and Morrison have admitted that the series gives them the “heebie-jeebies.” Image Comics sure is bringing the pain with horror series!

What a way to wrap up the week. Check back in with us Wednesday for more news bytes!

written by Sherif Elkhatib

So Far This Week… January 15, 2014

With the expansion of Hush Comics, we have decided to give bi-weekly news updates.  Anything we find news-worthy will be posted here every Wednesday and Sunday.  Have anything to add?  Post it in the comments!

So far this week…

The Golden Globes happened.  American Hustle and Breaking Bad won, and thats all that really matters.  Check out the full list of winners here.

Peter Parker will finally be back in the Amazing Spider-Man re-launch.  Read more here.

The Razzie nominations have been announced.  Ouch.  Get the gist here.

The CW is going to air a Labyrinth mini-series.  80’s babies rejoice!  Read about that here.

Arrow, Chozen and Archer all premiered this week.  Haven’t seen them?  Well, we don’t have a link for that.  But you should set up your DVR.  Seriously.

Under the Dome has a premiere date for the summer.  Check out the info here.

Wally West makes his return in The Flash Annual #3.  Excited?  Not excited?  Don’t know who Wally West is?  Brush up here.

The Batman TV series from the 1960’s is coming to DVD.  Read about it here, then get ready to binge watch onomatopoeias.

Comic-Con International announced 20 more guests today including Jim Fucking Lee.  Read about the others here.

There is gonna be a Magic: The Gathering film.  Nerds of them all rejoice.  Read about it over here.

Michael Douglas is now playing Ant-Man.  Is Rudd out?  Find out here.

Baron Wolfgang von Strucker will be in The Avengers: Age of Ultron.  Don’t know who that is?  Read about it here.

Fox is going to do a television series called Gotham based on the younger years of Bruce Wayne.  Interested?  Check out more here.

The Last of Us DLC gets a release date.  Find out when here.

There is going to be a Veronica Mars web series.  Lots of shows from 10 years ago are getting love lately.  This is good news for mid-twenty somethings everywhere.  Read the details here.

NBC greenlit a Constantine pilot.  Don’t remember the flick from 2005?  Jog your memory here.

X-Men‘s Nightcrawler is getting his own comic series due out in April.  Check out some rough sketches here.

Marvel Knights: Wolverine vs. Sabretooth released yesterday.  Order your copy here.

 

Wow!  That about sums it up, for now.  It’s only Wednesday and the nerd world is a-boomin’!  Check back on Sunday to get a new round-up!

written by Adrian Puryear

 

 

World War Z Review

Movie Review – World War Z

Genre – Horror/Sci-Fi
Director – Marc Forster (Monster’s Ball, Quantum of Solace)
Cast – Brad Pitt, others
Alluring element – A film adaptation of one of the best sci-fi/thriller books ever
Check it out if you liked – World War Z by Max Brooks, The Walking Dead, I Am Legend

SCORECARD (each category ranked on a 10-point scale):
Plot – 8
Acting – 9
Representation of Genre – 9
Cinematography – 8
Effects/Environment – 7
Captivity – 8
Logical consistency – 8
Originality/Creativity – 7
Soundtrack/Music – 9
Overall awesomeness – 9

After a long-delayed release, the film adaptation of Max Brook’s award winning book, World War Z, finally managed to infect theaters June 21st. The rights to make the movie were initially won by Pitt’s production company, Plan B, in a bidding war between Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio in 2007, but the production of the film was caught up on a multitude of issues including five different screenwriters and going $50M over budget (the budget for this film was almost as high as Man of Steel‘s). Perhaps the most absurd hang-up was when Hungarian police confiscated “weapons [that] included hand guns, machine guns, high-precision sniper rifles, hand grenades and a large quantity of high-caliber ammunition” due to a miscommunication with Customs. Even through all the drama off-camera, the Pitt crew were able to put together a thrilling film that has you on the edge of your seat for the entire ride.

My first concern when seeing the full preview trailer for the film was that it is nothing like the book. One of my favorite novels of all time, Max Brooks’ World War Z is a collection of short stories that explain, piece by piece, how the war against the zombies began and ended (I won’t go into too much detail; I will post a book review soon). The movie, however, was very linear, as it followed our main character, Gerry Lane (played by Brad Pitt), as he searches the world for the origin and cure of the zombie disease. I originally imagined World War Z would take the form of a TV miniseries, with each episode giving the opportunity for the complete story to be told in great detail. A film medium doesn’t really allow for that deep exploration that does the book justice. I hate to turn into one of those people who criticizes movie adaptations from books as being not as good as the original material, so I will try my darnedest to keep my thoughts about how it compared to the book to a minimum and just focus on the movie.

This is Detroit, before the War.

That being said, World War Z is terrifying. The zombies remind me very much of the infected in I Am Legend, with rigid movement and exaggerated facial tweaks, as well as a penchant to move like stampeding wildebeest. This throws all zombie logic out the window. Watching The Walking Dead religiously gives me an inkling of hope that, if forced with the pending zombie apocalypse, I could maybe survive. I could hole up in the West Georgia Correctional Facility, and clear it out with my buddies in phalanx. Things might not be that bad. Well, after watching ten minutes of World War Z, that idealistic mindset was sent crashing and burning to the ground. With the commencement of the apocalypse, you can truly sympathize with the characters stuck in the middle of it. There is a prominent sense of panic that is maintained for the entirety of the film. Perhaps the most impressive feat was that this was all done while boasting a PG-13 rating; there is limited blood and hardly any gore. While it probably could have benefited from more graphic biting/turning scenes, World War Z makes a strong case for “less is more.”

Brad Pitt takes up a majority of the screen time, but he’s not the only character that makes an impact. Everybody that he and his family interact with has fear and distrust in their eyes. Above all, they all panic quite realistically and do very stupid things when faced with mortality. It’s a breath of fresh air in a genre that forces everybody into cliche big speeches before being killed off in dramatic and allegorical fashion (“A FUCKIN SHARK ATE ME!” – Samuel L Jackson from Deep Blue Sea). All characters are believable in their actions, letting the film scare you instead of letting the characters telling you what to be afraid of. Conversely, the zombies were heavily CGI’d. I would have liked to see more make-up and less computer animation. While the incredibly freaky speed and power of the zombies makes them scarier, it takes away from the realism of the environment in World War Z that makes it so daunting. The pace of the film is very fitting. Lane travels around the world in search of the origin of the disease, and a possible cure for it. From New Jersey to South Korea to Israel, you never feel like you get a moment to catch your breath. By the time the film had reached its climax, I was certain we were only half-way through. It was stimulating throughout and ended on a fairly high note, which is refreshing for a movie set during the end of the world.

So remember when I talked about not trying to compare it to the book earlier? I totally lied. Max Brooks’ masterful novel left the writers so much room to build on. Perhaps the best part of the book to me was the systematic deconstruction of the human way of life. From the military to politics to neighborhood watch, the novel gave a very realistic and frightening portrayal of what it would look like if our fragile reality was blown to hell. I personally feel like the movie suffered from streamlining everything to show Lane’s adventure instead of choosing a more varied approach. That’s not to say that all was lost in translation. The reference in Israel to the “Tenth Man,” the North Korean solution and the referral to zombies by American soldiers as “Zeke” were well-placed tributes to the book. There are also subtle nods to The Walking Dead when Pitt’s character offers a Dale-like solution to prevent the spread of immediate bites, as well as a few additional Easter Eggs I challenge you to find. A lot of references allude to stories in the book, but they’re often left hanging on the tip of Z‘s tongue. Really, though, you can’t get away with calling this a World War Z movie without the Lobo, without Yonkers, and without the rest of the bat-shit craziness that the world comes to once they hear the fat lady sing.

When it comes down to it, World War Z offers the latest and greatest zombie action flick since 28 Days Later (I know, not technically a zombie movie; get off my back!). It will keep you in your seat from start to finish, and it feels like a genuine attempt at showing how screwed and unprepared everybody is for a full-scale rise of the dead. A lot of the soul of the book was lost in the translation of having one protagonist. But what Z lacks in range, it makes up for in gruesome sincerity. The human condition is documented well amongst the CGI’d swarms of zombies. I would recommend that you lurk your way to theaters to see this film if you are a fan of zombie movies, thrillers or Brad Pitt.

Hey girl, you should run.

Written by Sherif Elkhatib