"The Wolverine" begins shooting

So apparently this is actually happening. I honestly had my doubts given all the false starts this movie has had. Hopefully it will be a significant improvement over "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" which seemed to have slashed the CG-claw budget to pre-2000 levels. I'm pretty sure the claws weren't supposed to be vibrating, but then again I'm no CG artist.

Anyway, Hugh Jackman has tweeted (isn't it great how we get all our news from twitter these days?) that the start of filming has begun with the adequate James Mangold (Girl, Interrupted, 3:10 to Yuma, Walk the Line) at the helm, replacing the truly inspired choice of Darren Aronofsky.


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The Hobbit is now an unnecessary trilogy

Bilbo catches his own reflection and realizes his ears look stupid. 

So let me get this straight. "The Lord of the Rings" was a massive tome of a book split up into three distinct parts was made into three distinct three hours movies with, after extended editions, becoming around 11 hours in total.

Now, we have a singular book, a couple hundred pages long (if that?) that has ballooned into a brand new massive trilogy. Why? Because Peter Jackson says so, that's why. From his facebook page, take it away, Pete:

It is only at the end of a shoot that you finally get the chance to sit down and have a look at the film you have made. Recently Fran, Phil and I did just this when we watched for the first time an early cut of the first movie - and a large chunk of the second. We were really pleased with the way the story was coming together, in particular, the strength of the characters and the cast who have brought them to life. All of which gave rise to a simple question: do we take this chance to tell more of the tale? And the answer from our perspective as the filmmakers, and as fans, was an unreserved ‘yes.' 

We know how much of the story of Bilbo Baggins, the Wizard Gandalf, the Dwarves of Erebor, the rise of the Necromancer, and the Battle of Dol Guldur will remain untold if we do not take this chance. The richness of the story of The Hobbit, as well as some of the related material in the appendices of The Lord of the Rings, allows us to tell the full story of the adventures of Bilbo Baggins and the part he played in the sometimes dangerous, but at all times exciting, history of Middle-earth.

So, without further ado and on behalf of New Line Cinema, Warner Bros. Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Wingnut Films, and the entire cast and crew of “The Hobbit” films, I’d like to announce that two films will become three. 

It has been an unexpected journey indeed, and in the words of Professor Tolkien himself, "a tale that grew in the telling."

Cheers, 

Peter J

Um, what? Listen, I love Lord of the Rings as much if not more than the next guy, but isn't this getting to be slightly excessive? Granted, this could ultimately be amazing and more incredible than the original trilogy but I have my serious doubts. I fear that this is going to end up being a history lesson on Middle-Earth, which may be fun as an academic exercise all you Silmarillion readers (to which Jackson and Co. do not have the rights), but to the rest of us I wonder how much of the appendices are actually going to be full of interesting stories.

(And if this means more re-shoots and the delay of season 3 of Sherlock, I will punch a baby.)

"Breaking Bad" - "Madrigal" Review

Salt or ricin?

There is very little question that Breaking Bad is the most fascinating show on television. They have the capability to quickly change tone from episode to episode while staying consistent with the larger themes at hand. Even the more coincidental, sometimes somewhat unbelievable, things that happen make sense in the overall scheme of the show while simultaneously being extraordinarily entertaining. So of course when they make the shift to this Mike-centric episode, getting a deeper look at the ever-awesome Jonathon Banks' character and why after Gus' death he will continue to be an integral part of Walt and Jesse's life, that it ends up being nothing short of spectacular.

The episode starts in Germany at Madrigal Electromotive, the conglomerate that was financing Gus Fring's meth empire. After a thrilling demonstration of different dipping flavors for one of their restaurants, an executive is summoned to speak with some police officers. Except, instead of meeting with them, he takes a detour into the bathroom with a defibrillator and kills himself. Kudos to the creative suicide.

Soon after, Walt is shown creating a fake ricin cigarette to replace the one he stole from Jesse. The smart thing to do would be to destroy the ricin altogether, but instead Walt hides the ricin behind an electrical outlet behind a nightstand. Solid hiding spot, but I'll be damned if that doesn't end up coming back into play sometime in these final fourteen episodes. Could Walt's final, irredeemable act be using this ricin against someone we care about? I wouldn't be surprised.

After this, Walt heads over to Jesse's house to help Jesse search for the lost ricin cigarette. It doesn't make sense that it's lost. But after pouring over every inch of the house, they look in one last spot: the amazing DJ Rooma. (Actually, I think Tom Haverford owns the rights to that one, so we'll just call it a regular Roomba.) Jesse pulls the fake ricin out of the pile of dust and garbage the Roomba had swept up and almost immediately breaks down. The fact that he was so close to killing his "mentor" for lack of a better term over something that he now believes was a misunderstanding just crushes him. Jesse hates that he came so close to that, and Aaron Paul sells it so convincingly that just give this man all the awards. All of them. And as a viewer, it's crushing to watch Walt console him, telling him it wasn't Jesse's fault that he got blamed. ESPECIALLY because Walt is in fact to blame.

I even found myself questioning my own morality when I justify that, well, Walt didn't KILL the kid. He just poisoned him a bit. I can't believe I would even attempt to argue that fact. I think I want to see Jesse and Walt continue to get along, but there's no way in the endgame where that will be an option.

Walt then proposes to Jesse they continue to cook, and approach Mike to help with distribution. Mike, seeing Walt as a wildcard who cannot be controlled and whose methods do nothing but put people in danger, declines immediately. There's no way he is going to hook up with these guys and warns Jesse in a fatherly way against continuing to associate with Mr. White. Yet, it just wouldn't be Breaking Bad if things ended up that way.

After a short interrogation by the DEA to members of Madrigal, one of those employees, Lydia, tracks down Mike in a diner. Her European style clearly doesn't mesh well with our salt of the earth diners. She attempts to communicate with Mike clandestinely, but Mike has none of it and sits next to her where she proposes that he kill the 11 people on Los Pollos Hermanos payroll that could be traced back to Madrigal and Gus' operations. She's scared. She does not want to go down. Once again, Mike shuts this down. There is no way he is going to take these people out who he has no reason to believe will talk.

Mike is then brought in to be interrogated by the DEA, specifically Hank and Gomez. The back and forth between Hank and Mike is fantastic, each showing how gifted they are both as actors and characters. At least until Hank reveals that he has taken away the $2 million in one of Gus' offshore accounts under the name of Mike's Hungry Hungry Hippo loving granddaughter. (Mike playing Hungry Hungry Hippos against an 8 year old is one of the highlights of this entire series. Thank you for that, Vince Gilligan.) Mike plays dumb but is clearly incensed at this news. News that shows that he couldn't care less about his own life and the only important person in his life is this granddaughter of his.

Walt and Jesse then visit a neutered Saul Goodman who clearly has fear in his heart after the altercation from last week. Hopefully he'll get his moxie back a bit in the future. They still haven't come up with the logistics as to how they're going to start cooking again, but Walt's opinion is that if Gus could do it, then he can do it. Because in Walt's mind, he's definitely superior to Gus at this point. The one rub is that they're now out of methylamine and there doesn't seem to be any to be found.

Meanwhile, Mike's reluctance to murder his colleagues isn't going to stop our new friend Lydia. She co-opts one of the 11 to start killing all those people, including Mike. Even blowing a hole into our old friend Mr. Chow's head. After already getting a hole in his hand. Guy just can't catch a break. Mike doesn't fall for the ruse and disarms the murderer and reluctantly pulls the trigger a few times. His next step is to visit Lydia in her home and take her out once and for all. But moments before he is to pull the trigger, he stops and asks if she can still get her hands on methylamine. She says possibly. And so, Mike reenters into his partnership with Jesse and Walt.

You can almost see the someone off screen pumping up Walt's head larger and larger with each new win he achieves. It's irrelevant how Mike came to the decision, only that he did. And to Walt, that means what he is doing is working. So he then goes to bed with a Skyler who has been shown almost exclusively in bed the entire episode, her fear prescient as Walt touches her and tenderly kisses her arm. His justifications that he gives to her, that this is all for the family, have now fallen on deaf ears. If this were even remotely true, he would have stopped quite a while ago. But instead he lies in bed with a terrified wife feeling untouchable. And we all know how long those sorts of things last.

Frankly, despite the complete shift in pacing, this was still a fantastically brilliant episode of television. More of Walt's machinations would have been nice, but what was there was great.  I cannot fathom how they are able to so seemingly effortlessly combine tension, drama, and humor in one hour of television, but Gilligan and his team have done it.

EPISODE GRADE: A- 

The Dark Knight Rises Review

A game of Rock, Paper, Scissors goes horribly wrong leading to a snow covered revolution

I remember talking to people in July of 2008 shortly after The Dark Knight was released and we were talking about sequels. There was a collective agreement that creating a sequel to The Dark Knight was essentially an insurmountable task. That Christopher Nolan had crafted something so fantastic that just the mere thought of something better seemed impossible. In fact, I'm fairly confident I believed that it simply couldn't be done.

As time went on, as more information was revealed about The Dark Knight Rises, I began to start believing. I attempted to keep my expectations in check, but the themes that were seemingly going to be explored, as well as the ever growing talented cast, made it appear that this was going to definitely be one sequel that lived up to the hype.

So now here I am a day removed from seeing for myself, and unfortunately, despite an incredibly solid and entertaining entry, one that feels satisfying as a conclusion, the film just doesn't live up to the bar set by its predecessors. Which is almost an unfair statement to make, given that each film should live as its own animal. But I couldn't help walk out of the theater feeling like something was missing.

I'll keep the plot synopsis short since we've all heard it by now. Eight years after the death of Harvey Dent, Gotham is living in a time of peace. The crime that had once nearly destroyed the city has been all but eradicated. Much of it from a law that was put in lauding Harvey Dent as a hero. The Batman hasn't been seen since, framed for the murders committed by Dent, and a masked man known as Bane is attempting to take over the city. Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne stays confined to his mega-mansion with a bum knee and Selina Kyle does her morally ambiguous thief thing.

The performances were all top notch. Anne Hathaway's Catwoman, who was the only character I was on the fence about, definitely proves herself here. There just seemed to be something off  about her inclusion in all the press materials, but I suppose that's what you get for viewing things like that out of context. Because whenever she is on screen, she definitely steals the show whether through her stunt work or generally playful attitude that the series has been lacking up to this point. Strange that I had these doubts, given that Hathaway has always been a solid addition to any cast. Gary Oldman's tortured Commissioner Gordon looks like the man who has been burdened with the guilt of a soul crushing lie over nearly a decade to the point where his family has left him. Alfred (Michael Caine) and Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) are as dependable as ever, barring some extreme circumstances.

The new cast is certainly sufficient if slightly underwhelming. Miranda Tate (Marion Coilitard) is a clean energy investor on the Wayne Enterprises board whose life becomes intertwined with Bruce in an almost jarring start of a relationship. While John Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) shows up as a beat cop who is apparently a master of deduction on par with Sherlock given some of the information he has.

And Bale definitely continues to deliver (save for his kind of ridiculous Batman voice) as the conflicted Bruce Wayne. Wayne continues to torture himself following the loss of Rachel Dawes in the last movie and uses that as an excuse to not move on with his life, allowing Batman to stay out of the limelight until Bane forces Wayne's hand.

The true highlight of the movie though is the one-on-one fight that happens between Bane and Batman about halfway through the movie that has imagery reminiscent of the popular Knightfall arc from the comics back in the 90s. The scene is presented with such brutality, lacking all music and only destructive sound effects. And whenever there is action on screen, Rises is mesmerizing with carefully constructed sequences that truly seem grounded despite the heightened reality. And in IMAX, as the movie is definitely meant to be seen, these sequences are simply jaw-dropping. I wish all directors took IMAX as seriously as Christopher Nolan.

The themes in this movie are rather nebulous, as Bane appears to have a "give back to the people" attitude while simultaneously causing wanton destruction, offering no real solutions to the problem other than just the well-planned terrorist activities that he executes from time to time. Granted, the ending provides ample explanation as to why this is so which ends up deflating Bane's intentions slightly. But prior to this point, the film attempts to be very seriously teeing up a modern day financial allegory that never gets fully explained.

Of course, we also have to deal with Nolan's penchant for momentum stopping exposition. Characters, some of whom inexplicably have what would appear to be very confidential information, will out of nowhere deliver motivation explaining monologues that just seem so inorganic. The information is certainly necessary to understand everything that is going on in a very dense movie, and the actors delivering the lines are fantastic in their own right, but the content is just so blatant that at one point a character literally says "Now this is the important part" when another character is delivering exposition, as if the audience couldn't grasp that fact on their own.

The most unfair criticism I could possibly have is one that I am going to reluctantly take here and that is the lack of Heath Ledger's Joker. The Joker was such a powerful force that his absence in this, as well as the fact that there is not even one mention of him in the entire film, is deeply felt. His perspective among the chaos of Rises would have surely brought the film from very good to obscenely brilliant. Especially a film so determined to take itself so seriously. It's certainly not fair to make that complaint given that it was a literal impossibility for him to reappear in this, but again, when you see how everything else is brought to a natural conclusion, that just feels like a loose end that we're supposed to ignore.

Yet, when all is finished, there is definitely a sense of a completed journey, one that follows a well-defined arc over the course of three films. From a storytelling perspective, and not from a Batman-centric perspective, there is simply no other way for the film to have ended. There is a bittersweet quality to it and a sense that this world will continue beyond what we, the viewers, will experience. While I would definitely love to see more stories told in Nolan's Gotham City, there's a sense of completion that allows me to feel satisfied in a way most other third entries in a series end up. (I'm looking at you, Spider-Man 3.) Few franchises are able to maintain this level of quality, so even if I don't feel that Rises lives up to the levels set by the earlier installments, it's still 10 times more brilliant than most of what passes for blockbuster entertainment these days. I definitely look forward to seeing this one a few more times.

GRADE: B+

2012 Emmy Nominations

Give this man all the awards. Weird photo for the Emmy nominations, right? 

Well, the Emmy nominations have been announced, and for the most part they seem to be pretty predictable with very few surprises. Both Mad Men and American Horror Story are leading the pack with 17 nominations each. I somehow never got around to watching American Horror Story, but maybe I'll give it a shot at some point in the future. I only have so much time! 

In fact, the biggest surprises seem to be in the Best Comedy category having Girls and Curb Your Enthusiasm over Parks & Rec, Archer and Louie. (In fairness, I gave up on Girls after two episodes, and I haven't watched Curb in several years, so it's possible they're fantastic, but I have a hard time believing they're superior to either one of those...or Community.) And let's move on from Modern Family, shall we? The laugh quotient has been getting smaller and smaller. It's still a very likable show, but overall, it's just not the breath of fresh air it started off as. But no nominations for The Office? What a travesty that is! Wait. No, sorry. That was a joke. The Office is currently terrible. 

I can't believe the oversights in some seriously amazing quality shows. Almost no love for Justified, no love for Archer, Parks with only two nominations with such a solid ensemble. And Fringe's John Noble continues to be ignored despite his brilliance. And other people whose opinions I trust are upset with no Happy Endings and no Parenthood. 

I have to say I'm incredibly excited to see Sherlock getting so many miniseries nominations. I hope it sweeps those categories, especially Benedict Cumberbatch in the actor category. That guy's amazing. Although, despite the shortened seasons, I'm pretty surprised to see Luther in the miniseries category. I felt that had enough episodes to warrant an actual series, but what do I know? At any rate, as great as that show is, it simply doesn't hold a candle to the greatness of Sherlock.

Below the jump, you'll see the complete list of nominees, as well as my personal picks in bold. Not necessarily who I think will win, but who I feel SHOULD win. With COMMENTS!

Breaking Bad - "Live Free or Die" Review and Recap

Welcome back Mr. Pinkman. 

It's been nearly a year in our lives since Walter White poisoned a child and convinced an old man to blow himself up along with Walt's mortal enemy Gustavo Fring. In the meantime, I've been digesting every little bit of information about this show since it's inception. And frankly, I become more and more convinced about the sheer brilliance of this show. Simply put, this is easily one of the greatest shows of all time, if not the greatest. And I suppose we'll find out at the end of this final run.

We start this episode at some point in the future. We're exactly two years from the start of the series, kicking off season 5 with Walter celebrating his 52nd birthday in a Denny's, snapping his bacon to form a large 52 over his plate in a callback to the veggie bacon 50 that Skyler had put on his plate two years prior. And this time, it's the real stuff.

But things are VERY different. Walt is claiming to be from New Hampshire. He's sporting a full beard and head of hair. His glasses are borderline hipster. He looks tired. Worn out. Something serious has happened. And we have no idea what that is. Then, the same man from whom he purchased an illegal handgun in season three shows up and hands Walt some keys. He warns Walt not to take this over the border. Walt assures him this will not happen. He walks over to his car as the waitress says goodbye to him, calling him Mr. Lambert. After approaching a car with New Hampshire plates, he removes a bag from the trunk and goes over to the new vehicle and pops that truck to reveal a massive machine gun. With instruction manual, of course.

Except all this is just a glimpse of what is to come. Following the opening credits, we're back to the present day, moments after Gus' death and Walt feels on top of the world. He's cleaned up all his bomb-making material, and disposed of the lily of the valley he used to poison Brock. Things are looking up. Until he remembers the video camera that Gus had in the lab. Which leads Jesse and Walt to recruit a reluctant Mike to help them destroy the evidence that exists on the laptop.

While they are discussing the necessary methods to make this happen, Hank is given a tour of what he had pinned weeks earlier: that the laundry was a front for a mass meth superlab. And he looked up and noticed the remnants of what was once the video camera. Unfortunately, the laptop has already been seized by the Albuquerque police department.  And given Walt's refreshed hubris, there's no reason why they shouldn't be able to come up with a plan to stop it. So as Walt and Mike argue over the most efficient way to get this done (Mike essentially explaining how this is ridiculous and impossible, completely fed up with Walt and his antics), Jesse comes up with the brilliant idea of "Magnets." And so magnets they choose.

The group heads to the junkyard and borrows a giant industrial magnet in order to erase the hard drive of the secured computer. And despite the magnet being so powerful that it tips over the truck they use to hide the magnet, they appear to succeed. Of course, Mike is not convinced and asks Walt how he can be so sure that the plan worked. Walt's response? "Because I said so?" A line delivered with the conviction of the man who believes that he is literally unstoppable.

And why shouldn't he believe that? He has arisen from every single conflict stronger and more powerful, regardless of whether or not he is directly responsible for that ascent. Which is where the brilliance in this episode, and by extension the show, lies. Walt has finally achieved a moment where he believes he's free. He cannot be caught. There is no one to threaten him. And to him, he deserves it. To everyone else, it's frightening.

Nowhere is that more apparent than in the reaction of Skyler throughout the episode. From the moment she hears Walt say, "I won." there's an element of fear. The concern and confusion that washes over her face as she listens to his proclamations is readily apparent. Couple this with Skyler's look of shock, horror, followed by taking the stance of a powerful criminal when dealing with Ted Beneke in the hospital, and Anna Gunn's work is truly a sight to behold as someone who normally gets stepped around when the talk of fantastic acting starts firing up. And her expression after Walt says, "I forgive you." just had me floored.

But we certainly shouldn't forget the solid work of Aaron Paul, whose Jesse Pinkman brings it again with his "Yeah, bitch! Magnets!" ideas. And that idea goes to show the beautiful character progression that has gone on in this series. What once was nothing more than a slacker loser cooking meth with chili powder, now lies a character who is able to develop ideas on his own, who has shown himself to be incredibly compassionate and layered. Before, he wouldn't have even been able to suggest a realistic idea (he was excited over the idea of Walt building a robot back in "Four Days Out" and called a barn a "cow house" in the pilot). Now, he's capable of thinking through a relevant idea and then seeing it to its conclusion, while still maintaining that which makes Jesse, Jesse.

The endgame has certainly begun and I honestly cannot wait to see where it ends up. There was simply no better way to start this fifth and (pseudo-)final season. Having binged on all the episodes, the extra features, and probably 30 episode commentaries over the last few weeks, it simply amazes me how delicately this story has been crafted. I could honestly write several more pages just on this episode alone, but this review is already far too long and it's about time to wrap it up. At any rate, if you're not watching this show: start. I cannot stress this enough. This show and the BBC Sherlock are easily the best shows on the air right now and I urge all of you to watch it.

EPISODE GRADE: A

Whedon undecided on "Avengers 2"

Clearly not content to let Marvel back the Brinks truck up to his house while he comes up with awesome ideas for Avengers 2, Joss Whedon continues to express reservations about taking the helm for "Avengers 2". This really isn't news, given that he's said this in the past and nothing's changed, but I want to bring this to the world's attention in order to make sure that he does it. Because frankly, I don't think anyone else is up to the task. If he must be kidnapped Kim Jong Il style in order to get it done, then Disney needs to do that. I have no moral qualms about such a choice.


(via)

Idiot name explained by "Twilight" author

"I can't wait to hook my fetus up with my former werewolf lover."

Stephanie Meyer has explained where she came up with the name Renesmee for the daughter of Bella and Edward in the most recent Twilight movie, Breaking Dawn. Apparently, because these characters were so otherworldly, they couldn't name their child something normal. And this clearly resulted in her slamming on the keyboard until that word came out because the name is stupid.

She also believes what you name a child will result in that child becoming a stripper or a lawyer. So what does that mean for my future daughter Candy Bambi Diroff, Esq.? I'm expecting adding the esquire to the end will ensure her lawyerly status.

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The "Firefly" reunion sounded incredible

Ten years after a low rated show goes off the air, it's pretty much forgotten. Yet, somehow Firefly has been able to endure stronger than pretty much any other failed show in history. On EW.com, there's a recap of what exactly when down at the nerdiest of all nerd panels. Selected highlights follow:

- To portray River Tam, the then-19-year-old Summer Glau remembered what it was like to be 17. Two years prior. That's some really heavy stuff. Nobody should have to remember what life was like at 17.

- Nathan Fillion is forever grateful to Joss Whedon for giving him the opportunity to be the leading man. Prior to this point, his most notable role was Ryan Reynolds' romantic rival on "Two Guys, A Girl, and a Pizza Place". People everywhere are also grateful to have Fillion in their lives. Not that I have dreams about him or anything.

- Apparently they're going to explore more of the universe in comic form. Yes, because that has been working out so brilliantly for Buffy. I haven't read the Buffy comics but I hear they just continually get more and more atrocious. Please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

- The panel ends with the audience, followed by the cast, giving Joss Whedon a standing ovation.

Now, I know not everyone agrees, but I can't think of more awesome, quality writing than Whedon has done. I still can't get over the fact that Marvel let him make the Avengers movie he wanted to make and that he's now the highest grossing director of all time not named James Cameron. It's amazing. And the fact that Firefly got to live, even as short as it did, and then in movie form no less, is nothing short of a miracle. What I wouldn't have given to by a fly on that wall today. Shiny, indeed.

(via EW.com)

Maybe the new "Community" showrunners DO know what they're doing...

The "Community" panel at the San Diego Comic-con with fresh new showrunners have apparently placated some fears that they wouldn't be able to maintain the level of quality after loss of Dan Harmon. Of course, why would they say anything differently? At the very least, they recognize the inherent weirdness of the show by stating that outright. So that's a plus. The last thing that Community fans want is for the show to become a homogenized version of what it once was, as evidenced by the fake twitter account that was attributed to the new showrunners shortly after they were announced. But at the very least, we'll be seeing an Inspector Spacetime convention and meeting Jeff's dad.

You know, a lot has been said about Harmon's ousting, but from the business side of things, I totally get it. His appearance earlier this week on Attack of the Show kind of puts things into perspective on that front. I'd definitely rather have him at the helm, but hopefully these new guys will mean Community goes out on a strong note rather than just whimper out of existence.

In the meantime, check out some best of season 3 clips.



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First Two Minutes of Dexter: Season 7

Now here's something a little more up my alley. Showtime has (nearly three months early) released the first two minutes of the seventh season of Dexter. Sanitized with bleeps of course. Wouldn't want all those random YouTube users to accidentally come across a f*ck or a sh*t after all.

Honestly, I'm hoping that this shakes things up for the show. The only really good seasons of Dexter have been the first and fourth, and an argument can be made for the second. (Doakes is surely missed.) For a show about a man who moonlights as a murderer, Dexter has become surprisingly formulaic. What once led to genuine suspense has been reduced to a predictable series of outcomes. But with an endgame in sight (current plan is to end after season 8 in 2013), here's hoping that things get back to the insanity they're capable of. (And drop the Deb in love with Dexter thing. It's dumb and creepy and nobody likes it.)

Everyone look out! It's a pseudo-Halo movie!

Now, I didn't really want to relaunch this blog starting with video game content, because that normally comes a distant third to all the movies and shows that I watch, but this was just too interesting to pass up. Apparently, Microsoft has released a trailer for their newest $10-$15 million hype-event, which is Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn, or as I see it, "Halo 4: Looks better than a fan film but shows how ridiculous this would look in a theater". Honestly, the cinematography looks uninspired and less interesting than Neill Blomkamp's "Halo: Landfall" short that they did prior to Halo 3. 

In the meantime, I'll sit back and be snarky about something that I have no stake in, despite the clear ambition on the part of Microsoft. Also, look! It's Susan from Narnia. Where's your Aslan now? 

The Storyverse Re-launch

Two years ago I developed this blog as a way to share information, reviews, and pure excitement with the billions of potential readers of this website. (Except possibly China. I feel this is a blog that would get a China-ban.) After a few random updates, I essentially stopped completely.

As someone who spends a vast majority of time thinking and talking about television and movies (and the occasional video game), I really haven't spent much time writing about them. I left that to the thousands if not millions of other online outlets.

Now, I'm looking to change things. I hope to be bringing you the latest movie and TV news as well as up-to-date reviews on all the best shows, movies, and (from time to time) games.

Hopefully you'll find it enjoyable. If you have any suggestions, definitely drop me an e-mail or a comment and I'll see what I can do about implementing new ideas. I really want this to become the go-to place for news like this on the internet. A lofty goal, to be sure, but might as well shoot for the top.