So Far this Week… February 12, 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 bi-weekly.  Have anything to add?  Post it in the comments!

R.I.P., Shirley Temple. May the afterlife be full of maraschino cherries and lemon-lime soda.

Jimmy Palmiotti, DC Comics writer, is trying to launch an independent graphic novel through Kickstarter called, get this, Denver. Set in a future where Denver remains the last city in a world submerged by water (now tell me Global warming isn’t real!), Denver is about a whole new type of apocalypse. Check out this interview detailing the process.

If you weren’t sold on a Tarzan reboot that star’s Alexander Skarsgard, Samuel L Jackson and Christoph Waltz, the inclusion of The Wolf of Wall Street‘s Margot Robbie as Jane will have your jaw on the ground and your wallet in the air.

Speaking of Sam Jackson, this BAMF went all Black History Month on Sam Rubin during a TV interview for mistaking a commercial Laurence Fishburne did as Jackson’s. While I think that Rubin was just a victim of circumstance – the circumstance being that he told the angriest black man in Hollywood that he looks like another famous black man, it sheds some light on the portrayal of black celebrities among the media. Do you remember when George Stephanopoulos mistook Celtics’ legend Bill Russell for Morgan Freeman?

The hilarious Englishman John Oliver or Daily Show and Community fame will be getting his own HBO show called Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. It sounds like it will be the same format as Jon Stewart’s show, but with more foul language and obscenities – just the way we like it.

The Protector 2, starring Muy Thai legend and actor Tony Jaa, will be released March 27th (date varies). If you don’t know who Tony Jaa is, take ten minutes out of your day to watch this. This guy is 38 years old and still kicking ass. Oh yeah, Wu-Tang legend The RZA will also be acting in the film!

All-New Ghost Rider is coming out in May, and it’s not the Johnny Blaze we know. Check out this feature on the amazing new approach to a classic Marvel character.

For people looking for a reason to cut out cable/dish, Apple TV may be releasing a version that can stream live TV. I’m pretty skeptical, but it sounds like we’re on the right track.

Stephen King’s It was one of the scariest films I’ve ever seen. Alright, I have have been seven when I saw it – give me a break. A reboot has been in the works for almost two years, but director Cary Fukunaga (True Detective) has confirmed that it’s happening.

Now that Nikita is over, lead actress Maggie Q has found a new gig as a Chinese pirate queen Ching Shih in the limited series Red Flag. Shih was a real pirate in the 1800’s who rose through the ranks as a prostitute (they don’t call ’em working girls for nothing). This is in addition to her role of Tori Wu in the upcoming film-adaptation of Divergent.

Guess what Batman: Arkham Origins fans? WB Games has heard your complaints, and they don’t care about your problems. They’re too busy making the next Mr. Freeze DLC. It’s an added frustration to a game that has been riddled (get it?) with issues since it launched in October.

Mob City no mo.’  The TNT mini-series centered around mob life in LA during the 30’s and 40’s has been cancelled. It bums me out because John Bernthal (Shane from The Walking Dead) and friends acted their butts off in this noir Frank Darabont production, and I felt the show could have gone a lot further if renewed.

DC Comics and Robot Chicken are teaming up, once again, to release DC Comics Special: Villains in Paradise. There will also be accompanying variants for special DC Comics issues in March. Check em out here.

There have been several additional castings for Fox’s Gotham show, including: Alfred Pennyworth, Oswald Cobblepot (Penguin), Captain Sarah Essen (Gordon’s coworker and eventual spouse), and Barbara Kean (Gordon’s spouse-to-be and soon ex-spouse).

In the upcoming Flash series (just a pilot at this point), Tom Cavanagh will play Harrison Wells, genius physicist of S.T.A.R. Labs. It’s a huge jump from his portrayal as the title character of Ed, or as JD’s brother in Scrubs, but I think it’s a good call. Also, the original Flash from the 1970’s series will be making an appearance on the show. Our bet is that he will play the first Flash, Jay Garrick.

They just can’t let How I Met Your Mother go. A lead character has been cast for the spin-off, titled How I Met Your Dad. With HIMYM ending on March 31, I think it’s too soon to be moving on to a spin-off.

Joss Whedon and Co. have begun filming Avengers: Age of Ultron, slated to hit theaters in May 2015.

New York’s Fashion Week displayed some of the freshest dresses this side of the galaxy. Check out the Star Wars-themed dresses here.

Would you sleep with Scarlett Johansson, even if it meant being trapped in goo and preyed on by an alien? What, did I lose you after “Johansson?” Well then, you might want to check out Under the Skin, coming to theaters everywhere April 11. Leave you girlfriends at home.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen, along with their 50/50 director Jonathan Levine, will reunite to bring holiday cheer back to the world in Xmas.

Yee-haw! Star Wars fans, saddle up and get ready for Kanan, the cowboy Jedi (although, aren’t they all space cowboys?). Voiced by Freddie Prinze Jr., Kanan will debut in the upcoming Disney animated series, Star Wars: Rebels.

 

Written by Sherif Elkhatib

Weekend Wrap-Up… February 9, 2014

Ubisoft is re-releasing the original Far Cry on the PlayStation and X-Box Live networks this week.  If you are the girlfriend of a gamer, you should plan on not seeing them over Valentine’s.  Just a tip.

Yoshi’s Island and the 3DS are being sold as a bundle.  Slurp!

Flappy Birds ended as quickly as it began.  So long people who won’t talk to you because they are too busy tapping their phones like madmen.

Sonic is going to be a television show on Cartoon Network.  It will be fully CGI and they kinda look weird.  Honest opinion.  Check out more here.

Batman is back.  More than likely, there will be a new Arkham game released.

Kotobukyia is pretty much the best in figures right now.  So it only makes sense that they are releasing new Arkham figures.

The Age of Ultron will feature MIss Marvel.  They also cast The Vision.  Assemble!!!

Will Smith declined to star in the Independence Day sequel.  Now how will we survive the alien invasion?!

The novel Redshirts is being adapted into a mini-series on FX.  Sci-fi nerds will have to wait for this one though, because it looks like the series still needs a writer.

A little late, but Huey Freeman will be gracing your screen again.  Season 4 of The Boondocks premieres April 21st.

The new series Gotham cast its Jim Gordon.  Ladies will definitely approve.

Zombeavers is destined to be the film of our generation.  And the tagline is truly amazing, “You’ll all be dammed!”

Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg are developing a show for AMC based off the comic series Preacher.

The Olympics are happening.  And its super controversial.  But take the time to watch this.

Oh, and The Walking Dead premieres tonight.  Read our predictions here.

written by Adrian Puryear and Sherif Elkhatib

This is the End Review

Genre – Comedy, Stoner Comedy

Director – Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg
Cast – Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, Craig Robinson, Danny McBride, James Franco, Jonah Hill
Alluring element – Some of the funniest guys on the planet… oh and Emma Watson

Check it out if you liked – Pineapple Express, Superbad

Plot –  7
Acting – 8
Representation of Genre –6  
Cinematography – 5
Effects/Environment – 6
Captivity – 7
Logical consistency – 6
Originality/Creativity – 7 
Soundtrack/Music –  9
Overall awesomeness – 6

Plain and simple, this is a Stoner movie.  And perhaps I would have liked it more had I actually been stoned while watching it.  Unfortunately, I was much too sober to fully enjoy This is the End.  I was really excited to see this film because Superbad is my favorite modern comedy.  Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg are a crack team at writing comedy.  All the actors, no matter how small or big a part they were, have all acted in some of the best comedies of the last 5 years.  Yet, the movie lacked the charisma the other movies had.  It’s a little hard to lack charisma when there is so much personality in one room, especially when all the actors are playing themselves, in a sense.  But I think that was the problem; there was too much personality and not enough substance.

This is the End starts with Jay coming to visit his best Canadian friend Seth.  Seth convinces an unwilling Jay to go to a party at James Franco’s home.  Once they arrive, Jay is ditched by Seth, who hangs out with all his Hollywood friends.  We meet a very coked-out and very annoying Michael Cera who slaps Rihanna’s butt.  It is great that Rihanna bitch slaps Cera, but if that scene hadn’t been previously leaked, it would have been funnier.  Craig Robinson is the life of the party singing a song to match his T-Shirt, “Take Yo Panties Off.”  This shirt was possibly the funniest character in the movie.  I want that shirt.  James Franco has two large canvasses hanging prominently in his new home that read “James Franco” and “Seth Rogen”.  Jay soon feels uncomfortable and wants to go to the corner mart.  Seth accompanies him and they argue about Jay feeling uncomfortable and the running joke that Jay and Jonah Hill hate each other.  At the corner mart, the apocalypse begins and those who are good are sent to heaven.  The rest, including our entire cast, are left to what is now hell on Earth.  And thus the large chunk of the movie ensues.

A lot of the movie felt as though the writers, and probably the actors, sat in a room for days on end, got stoned out of their minds, and then made a whole bunch of inside jokes.  Many of which weren’t funny once on screen.  There weren’t a lot of one-liners that came out of this film as being “quotable” as there were in Superbad or Knocked Up.  That is what I love about those movies, is that I can still quote them, and they are still funny.  The one scene that was memorable and quotable is *SPOILER* when the group is trying to exorcise the possessed Jonah Hill.  As Jay stands above him with a crucifix chanting “the power of Christ compels you!”, devil-Jonah mocks ” Guess what? It’s not that compelling.”  The majority of the actors play people they really aren’t and haven’t really been in any other movie.  But Danny McBride was still an ass.  And because of that, I didn’t find him funny.  I kept thinking throughout that the role would have been fitting for someone else, and someone who has never been part of that crew.  Perhaps the great JGL?  I can dream.  Many of the jokes were giggle worthy: Jonah playing with James Franco’s gun, the argument over the Milky Way, the sequel to Pineapple Express.  But some jokes just fell flat.  Discussing Emma Watson and rape in the same sentence is not funny.  And really, any joke about rape, especially written by a group of men is hard to come across as funny.  And what was with The Backstreet Boys being the music of heaven?  Its a little laughable, but it probably only makes sense to those guys.

This is the End is the one of those movies I don’t regret watching, but I probably won’t be watching it again anytime soon.  Maybe next time, Seth.

written by Adrian Puryear