So Far This Week… January 29, 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!

So far this week…

This is so last week, but I think there’s always time for a word from Kid President.

The Super Bowl is this Sunday (in case you’re living in a fantasy world where you’re not reminded that every day), and you know we’re going to be rooting for our Denver Broncos, but Floyd “Money” Mayweather is willing to put his money where his mouth is and put almost $10.5 million on the Orange Crush.

EMPIRE Magazine has just released an EPIC feature for the X-Men: Days of Future Past movie. There are 25 covers in all, chronicling a plethora of characters new and old. I think my brain might just explode in anticipation for this movie.

Better Call Saul will be an amazing show, I’m absolutely sure of it. Debuting in November as a Netflix original series, word has it that Johnathan Banks AKA Mike Ehrmentrout will be joining Bob Odenkirk on the show. No word on any other Bad cast members, but there’s sure to be plenty of guys that know a guy making an appearance.

A Million Ways to Die in the West, a Western-style comedy directed by and starring Seth McFarlane, dropped new posters showing off the main characters. The film hits theaters at the end of May 2014.

The CW’s Arrow show has been exploding with guest spots, as we’ve seen Bronze Tiger, Ra’s Al Ghul, Vertigo and Deathstroke. Adding to the list will be Nyssa, daughter of R’as Al Ghul and the return of Huntress.

In this great clip from the deleted scenes of Thor 2, in the scene where Chris Evans makes a guest appearance, Tom Hiddleston does his best Captain America impression. What a funny guy.

The Walking Dead Escape, a life-like obstacle course full of walkers that we were lucky enough to participate in during San Diego Comic-Con in 2012, will be holding a nation-wide tour. If you live in one of these lucky cities, I highly recommend checking it out.

Not to take away anything from Batman! Live, but Disney is firing back with Marvel Universe Live and I am all about it. The tour starts in July and continues on for the next couple years, not hitting Denver until 1/29/16.

Looking forward to some Star Wars dirt soon? Yeah, don’t count on it. They have JJ Abrams on lockdown!

In preparation for the upcoming Michael Bay Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, some new character models for The Shredder and the turtles have been released. And they look beautiful. I’m not feeling safe yet, but this is a good sign.

BBC has released pictures of the 12th Doctor in costume. Peter Capaldi looks pretty debonair. Whovians, weigh in!

Contrary to popular choice, upcoming PS4 game inFamous: Second Son will not have a multi-player mode – to which I say, “Good.” Judging by the detail we’ve seen in gameplay trailers, I could care less about another throw-away online mode.

Christoph Waltz shaved his glorious beard (and head. and eyebrows) for his role for the futuristic film, The Zero Theorem, about a man trying to find meaning in life. It will be released in the UK March 14, and should make its way to the states this year.

In other video-game news, Sony is working on a Playstation 1 and Playstation 2 emulator for the PS4. This could make a lot of people with a lot of unused games very happy. Can you say Intelligent Qube or NBA Street Vol. 2?

Got $100k (and rising) to blow? Need a place to keep that velociraptor until Valentine’s Day comes around? Somebody on eBay is selling a prop from Jurassic Park of the raptor cages used in the movie.

Hey NERDS! The 40th anniversary to the greatest table-top game in history, Dungeons and Dragons, was just a few days ago. Go roll yourself a 20.

Check back on Sunday to get a new round-up!

Written by Sherif Elkhatib

Thor: The Dark World Review

Genre – Comic Book/Action/Fantasy

Director – Alan Taylor (Thor, the next Terminator film)
Cast – Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Idris Elba
Alluring element – Rides off the coattails of The Avengers, Lots-o-Loki, Natalie freakin Portman 

Check it out if you liked – The Avengers, comic book movies, dry Whedonesque humor

 

Plot – 6
Acting – 8
Representation of Genre – 8 
Cinematography – 9
Effects/Environment – 9
Captivity – 8
Logical consistency – 7
Originality/Creativity – 7 
Soundtrack/Music – 8
Overall awesomeness – 7
Natalie Portman Tom Hiddleston offset - +5

Thor: The Dark World opened with $85.7 million worldwide – not bad for Disney. Acquiring the rights to Marvel films has secured their studios rank among the movie franchise greats. Fanboys can breath a collective sigh of relief. Our nightmares of Professor X sing-a-longs with teacups and woodland creatures can finally be laid to rest. The integrity of our beloved comics has, for the most part, been maintained with only a few noticeable slights along the way, ahem, Iron Man 3.

You lost me at gratuitous…. and totally worth it.

The story is cliché and simplistic, so lets get that out of the way. There was a war, the bad guys tried to obtain a weapon that would defeat the good guys and when they lost, the weapon was buried deep where no one could find it until an unlikely character stumbled upon it and was consumed by its power. The bad guys searched for it and they found it and before they could wield its true power, then they were defeated again by a brave warrior. So in other words, Thor 2 is basically a 120 minute version of The Lord Of The Rings. It even has elves, but its lack of original script is forgiven, more so tolerated, by its incredible CGI and the always adorable Natalie Portman.

Why be an astro-physicist when you can be The Phoenix.

Carrying an entire movie on one name can be a stressful task. Disney was betting on riding Hemsworth’s pecs to a big payday, but the box office can be unforgiving if an A-Lister can’t deliver. Leading roles are becoming exceptionally dull. The overtly moral, one-dimensional character apparently bores writers like Christopher Yost of Dark World. Man of Steel is a perfect example. I can hardly remember Henry Cavill even being in the movie, but Michael Shannon made me a life-long fan with his portrayal of General Zod (“I WILL FIND HIM!”). The list goes on: Kevin Bacon owned First Class, Alfred Molina in Spiderman 2, and we are all aware of Ledger’s glorious performance in The Dark Knight. With that being said, “I am Loki of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose!” Thor 2 can attribute its success to its villain, played by Tom Hiddleston.

As a prisoner of Asgard he kept our attention, pacing his cell like a lion at the San Diego Zoo. His facial expressions read as predatory. Loki is a thinker. He is planning 3 moves ahead of the game. He took us by storm in Avengers. He stole every scene and was just as entertaining as Downing, if not more. He clearly has mastered the art of delivery, placing a breath where it is needed before a line for dramatic effect. It was such a relief to see an actor jump so effortlessly into a role. He is most definitely the best written character as well. Delivering beautiful rebuttal lines like:

Thor: I wish I could trust you.
Loki: Trust my rage.

In one scene he stabs Thor in a ruse to fool the Dark Elves. It was so well done that even the audience was fooled and we once again had a reason to hate and love his character.

This is that part where you give me my own movie.

The remaining cast does not disappoint. Idris Elba had my favorite scene as Heimdall, guardian of Bifrost, the rainbow bridge. At one point, he jumped from the bridge onto one of the Dark Elves warships in an attempt to thwart their invasion. He is a one man army. Plus his armor is sick! The always sarcastic Kat Dennings delivers a wonderfully dry comic relief role as Darcy Lewis, proving that Zooey Deschanel doesn’t have the market cornered for brunette hipsters. Rene Russo has clearly aged. No longer the MILF of the Thomas Crown days, she plays a great sentinel of Asgard wielding a sword to protect Jane Foster, played by Natalie Portman.

The real test of Thor will be whether or not the man with the hammer can defeat The Girl on Fire. The first Hunger Games movie opened at $152.5 million worldwide. Catching Fire will prove to be a good draw and take a large chunk of Thor’s future box office. Traditionally, a Hollywood heartthrob would have little to worry about keeping 14 year old girls and work-from-home moms in the seats, but with the over-all badassery and girl power of Katniss Everdeen on the other side of the aisle it is clear that Thor’s numbers will take a strong dip.

I was super excited for the release of The Dark World, mostly due to the extraordinary job done that was done with his character in The Avengers, so there was an expectation to begin with. Admittedly, I held the film to a higher standard going in. This score is almost all attributed to Hiddleston’s flawlessly deviant characterization of an inconspicuous comic villain. He needs a franchise. Hopefully he will make an appearance in Age of Ultron. I am still a little bummed that James Spader beat out Vin Diesel for the voice of Ultron, but hey, it could have been Affleck.

written by John Soweto